December 5th, 2023 Newsletter

Cold Deck Quote:

"Poker is a combination of luck and skill. People think mastering the skill part is hard, but they are wrong. The trick to poker is mastering the luck." - Jesse May

The News... My Favorite Player

*Adrienne at 3:45 am after taking down first place out of a field of 370 at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas in the summer of 2023.

Adrienne Culpepper

- Hiker, Game Player, Business Woman, Aggie, and with Great Taste in Men -

Me: How did you find the game of poker?

Adrienne: Well my dad would play 5 card stud and tried to teach us the basics for nickels and dimes. But it was probably 2005 when a friend at that time started a weekly home game that I started having fun and enjoying the social aspect of poker. During this period, we still didn't know what we were doing but we realized that there was some strategy involved. It was 2017 or so that I started taking the game more serious (or so I thought was serious at the time).

Me: Do you like playing games?

Adrienne: Yes. I like playing most games whether with a ball, a board, cards, dice... most anything.

Me: Do you consider yourself a cash game player or tournament?

Adrienne: I play a lot more tournaments mostly because of availability. Interesting story, one of my first casino trips (c.2006), the tournament that we traveled to Louisiana to play (Isle of Capri) was cancelled. So we sat down at the cash game. I was as nervous as could be but I did not crash and burn. That really helped build my confidence.

Me: Wow. That's a good memory. I was there and would not have thought of that.

Me: How do you feel when you sit down against unknown players?

Adrienne: Nervous! I am almost always nervous when I sit down at the table. If it is all unknown players or a casino at which I haven't played, that only makes it worse. Once I sit down on the second day, I am a lot less anxious.

I will do a breathing exercise and have a short affirmation to calm these nerves.

Me: In June of 2018, you won a satellite for a prize package at Galveston's Vault Poker Club for Airfare, lodging, and $10,000 WSOP Main Event buyin. What are your memories and mindset going into this?

Adrienne: Michael compelled us to play in this one. At the time, I was slightly intimidated due to the stakes, being a lady, and the number of unknown players. I calmed after a bit and just felt like i was on cruise control. By the time I got to the final table, I was really feeling it and got heads up with Anthony. He was one of the few people in the room that I knew and had some history with. I somehow came out with the win and then the buyout offers came in from the owners of the club. I wanted to give the whole package to Michael's cousin John who is a very good player who was going through a very tough time. However, they wouldn't allow the transfer. So we took a couple shots of whiskey and took the trip!

Editor who was in attendance note: Adrienne had Anthony on the ropes early with a pocket pair but Anthony spiked a Queen on the river to stay alive. He took the chip lead from her but after almost an hour, Adrienne fought back and won it all with a 7 card straight to the ace.

Me: What was your experience at the 2018 Main Event?

Adrienne: It was a very different experience than what I believe I would have now. After I won that seat, Michael gave me Phil Gordon's "Little Green Book". Stan gave me his entire class syllabus and worksheets. We had planned a trip to Mexico so I brought all that with us and studied A LOT. I believe doing those exercises did help me discover "bagging" and getting to day 2. However, I now realize that poker and poker study has come a long way. We now study in a much more systematic way that we both enjoy and I know that my experience now would be much different than in 2018.

That said, it was super fun. The sounds of the chip rifling was like hearing a waterfall. Overall, I had a good experience. The first day, I was in the pavillion that was a huge room and it was well lit. Day 2, I spent in the Amazon room (home of the feature table when WSOP was at the RIO). That room was a lot darker and smaller. I don't really remember any hands but I think I busted with pocket 8s.

Me: Last question: You won (as in first place) a tournament at the Golden Nugget Las Vegas this past summer. I'm not interested much in how that win made you feel I would rather know what happened in the span between your Main Event and this tournament that brought you this progress in your game?

Adrienne: Oh my coach. Michael started delving into poker and learning. He asked me if I would like to learn with him and I said yes. Next thing I know, the guy has something for me to watch, listen to, or read every time I turn my head.

We enjoy learning things together and we both love games and figuring things out and being competitive.

Me: I lied. I really do want to know how winning that tournament felt. You bested 370 people. How did it feel to take something like that down?

Adrienne: To be fair, it was a 5 way ICM Chop but I was chip leader. To answer your question: It felt Awesome!

This week's Tip of the Cap goes to Ryan Conner. Ryan is playing at the Wynn at the WPT Championship in Las Vegas. Good luck Ryan!

Next time: I will give more clarification on our running prize pool and the potential prizes.

Zoom with Joe! Joe hosts a free zoom meetup during our Tuesday Freezeout games. Give it a try if that sounds like fun.

The ZOOM password is 432777

2023-2024 Points Leaders

Michael Culpepper 29
Marty Kunz 15
Joe Schwenk 15
Adrienne Culpepper 14
Stan Blazyk 14
Rey Martinez 13
Tommy Harken 10
Efren Hinojosa 9
Brenda Ayala 9
Moody Freunberg 9

Recent Results

November 28th, 2023
1st - Mikie C.
2nd - Stan B
3rd - Carlos
December 5th, 2023
1st - Mikie C.
2nd - Stan B.
3rd - Tommy H.

Coach's Corner

If you have ever wondered "Do I have a good enough draw to make this call?" It's a great question that, fortunately has a mathmatical answer.

In this beginner video, Lexy Gavin goes over the basics of pot odds. If your eyes glaze over when math is brought up, fear not. This video is very basic but will supply you with at least the things you should be thinking when considering a call with a draw.

Enjoy and for those of you who want more, we will delve a little deeper next time.