Blogworthy?

One question I’ve been asked a few times over the past year or so is why I blog one particular hand over another one. For example, why would I blog a hand that won (or lost) a $600 pot and not a hand that won a $2,000 pot?

Probably the biggest factor as to whether I blog at all is time. I do most of my blogging at work, and my job is such that I’m usually either relatively bored or extremely busy - there’s not a whole lot in-between (I guess you can tell what today’s like…). I may not blog for a few weeks, but then I might post one or two large ones. I stare at a 19” computer screen most of the day, so jumping on the computer is about the last thing I want to do when I get home. Since I have cable, TiVo, and a Pioneer plasma, I prefer to stare at a 50” screen instead…

For me, there are a couple things that might make a hand “blogworthy.” Of course, the sheer size of the pot would be a factor. If I scoop (or get rivered out of) a $3,000 pot, that’s probably getting blogged. We’ve all had those moments of anticipation while involved in a huge pot, waiting for the river card that will almost certainly determine our fate for the evening. Your entire stack is at risk. You catch your card, you probably go home a big winner – your opponent catches theirs, you go most likely go home a loser. Although most of us not named Dave would prefer to avoid these moments of heart-stopping terror, they are sometimes inescapable.

The other, more important factor of a hand’s blogworthiness lies in the uniqueness of the hand. Perhaps it was quads vs. quads. Perhaps, if played differently, the hand might have had a drastically different outcome. Perhaps it was the last hand of the night, and four players decided to go all-in blind. These are not necessarily huge pots (though that last scenario could be), but I might find them interesting.

Those of you who are regulars know that I don’t mind sharing my thought process during a hand. Heck, to me that’s half the point of blogging at all – to share your thoughts on a particular hand or situation, and get others to put in their two cents on what they may have done. Some players are afraid of sharing their thoughts, for fear that others may “figure them out.” Oh, please…

The truth is that information like this doesn’t help a bad player at all (and in fact will probably just confuse him even more). This information won’t do much for a good player either, because he’s most likely already “figured you out” after 30 minutes of sitting at a table with you.

I look at a blog site like this not just as a great opportunity to share triumphs, tragedies, suckouts and bad-beats, but as a forum to openly discuss strategies so we all can expand our knowledge base and improve our game. If the site attempted to be 100% entertainment I believe it would become irrelevant, and if it attempted to be solely a poker lab, then it would just seem too much like college (but without the drunk coeds).

I would encourage everyone to post the hands that interest them. One of the great things about poker is that the size of the game is all relative. For me, a $3,000 pot will get my juices flowing. For others, a $20 pot may be a monster. Others, however, may not get excited about any pot with less than $100,000 in it (gulp!). In this respect, the money is not important, so don’t be afraid to post a hand just because the pot was “only” $72. If it was interesting, I’d like to read about it, and I’m sure others would also!

See ya at the tables…
Rick