Weaker ovr teams are ridiculously hard...

antitwisted said:

Haha, I appreciate it, but I can assure you it was the opposite of interesting. All there really is to tell is how I realized the amount of time that went into it FAR exceeded any ROI, although the swings make it look deceiving if you're not keeping numbers. Basically, the best +EV move (expected value) was simply getting a job and making a career. As one would expect.

I gotta ask, how innacurate are all the movies that have some guy counting cards and playing probability? is there really a lot of that or is it just more of a feel and instincts kind of thing? and do you really wear sunglasses in a dimly lit room just to hide any possible expressions or do they just do that on espn for show?

TheNickSix said:

I gotta ask, how innacurate are all the movies that have some guy counting cards and playing probability? is there really a lot of that or is it just more of a feel and instincts kind of thing? and do you really wear sunglasses in a dimly lit room just to hide any possible expressions or do they just do that on espn for show?

Yeah a lot of that stuff is theatrics, though there is some truth to it. Reading tells of people can be pretty hard, although occasionally a factor. I was never the best and certainly was never going to be, and making a living was out of the question as I found out fairly quick. But I think people want to think that image of math, statistics etc, while good to know, was more of them convincing themselves it was worth their time and/or money - sunk cost fallacy. I honestly didn't really get the feeling the game was anywhere near as deep as the "professionals" want to make it, although they are the most successful for a reason at the same time (they have absolutely no life at all). Because really, the game is wild as hell and you encounter tons of drunks and bad players and their mistakes in the majority of cases are calling too much or betting/raising too much too often. A lack of discipline essentially. I saw many of the same poker regulars at slot machines or roulette tables etc. And I'd still get stacked by them because they hit their omg, flush draws. So thinking about ranges several layers deep for a big decision for all your/their chips can potentially be massively overkill and not always even helpful when it could just be some drunk dude had a feeling this time and the only decision is to call or fold. And this is another problem with the game - the mistakes of many players may force you to play for everything on the table, and correct decisions may not be rewarded. As they say "variance is a bi---". The game also certainly got a lot harder after I left it, as it was always inevitably going to. I would probably get ripped apart today.

antitwisted said:

Yeah a lot of that stuff is theatrics, though there is some truth to it. Reading tells of people can be pretty hard, although occasionally a factor. I was never the best and certainly was never going to be, and making a living was out of the question as I found out fairly quick. But I think people want to think that image of math, statistics etc, while good to know, was more of them convincing themselves it was worth their time and/or money - sunk cost fallacy. I honestly didn't really get the feeling the game was anywhere near as deep as the "professionals" want to make it, although they are the most successful for a reason at the same time (they have absolutely no life at all). Because really, the game is wild as hell and you encounter tons of drunks and bad players and their mistakes in the majority of cases are calling too much or betting/raising too much too often. A lack of discipline essentially. I saw many of the same poker regulars at slot machines or roulette tables etc. And I'd still get stacked by them because they hit their omg, flush draws. So thinking about ranges several layers deep for a big decision for all your/their chips can potentially be massively overkill and not always even helpful when it could just be some drunk dude had a feeling this time and the only decision is to call or fold. And this is another problem with the game - the mistakes of many players may force you to play for everything on the table, and correct decisions may not be rewarded. As they say "variance is a bi---". The game also certainly got a lot harder after I left it, as it was always inevitably going to. I would probably get ripped apart today.

Ya, I'd guess anyone in any field that's considered a "professional" doesn't have much of a life outside of that as becoming a pro at anything takes that much more time and energy. Idk if you bother with mcs, or twitch streamers but I know a few I follow have logged up to 12 hours streams, 1-2 videos daily just trying to get into the top 32 of these tourneys let alone the top 8 we get to see. More often than not I'm sure success is defined more by persistence and diligence than luck of the draw type players. I'm sure they had their moments but I'm sure like superior athletic freaks that come out of college that success doesn't last if you do not work hard at it. Meanwhile someone with lesser talents has a better career if they are just willing to work extra hard. Thank you for sharing the experience, what may seem boring to you has been very interesting to me. I am a supervisor of a quality department at a local steel mill and my days are spent watching hot bar get rolled and measurements being entered which is probably about as dull as it gets lol.