The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is all heart, entertainment and loose, loose play – often at the sake of our own EV – in lieu of afternoon poker news bum hunting.
We give action to get action, you know?
Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.
Today in the 3-Bet we find Phil Ivey celebrating his 36th birthday Down Under, Andreas “Skjervoy” Torbergsen taking said birthday boy to task for EV hunting and US election guru Nate Silver laying out some poker life lessons.
1) Ivey Turns 36, Plays Some $1k/$2k?
Is it really possible that poker icon Phil Ivey - he of $17 million+ career live tournament cashes, gazillions won online and guaranteed poker Hall of Fame entry - is only 36 years old?
Seems hard to believe but if Wikipedia can be trusted - and we have our doubts - the man who began his career playing underage at Atlantic City casinos as Jerome Graham has reached milestone 36 today in Australia.
So. How exactly does a poker legend celebrate? Twitter tells us it was likely a low-key dinner with some TeamIvey members, but also suggests he may get some big cash-game action in too.
Shortly after Ivey busted from the main event in 30th our man on the ground in Oz, Arthur Crowson, said a Crown rep came into the media room saying some drunk punters were demanding to play $1k/$2k NLHE and looking for takers.
Given there was a $250k High Roller tournament wrapping up, chances are pretty high they found some. No word yet if Ivey took a swing but we'll see what we can find. We do know he won $600k on Full Tilt though.
Aussie Millions tournament Director Christian Vaughan confirmed the game is running, and even tried enticing $250k High Roller winner Sam Trickett into the action.
@samtrickett1 $1k/$2k NL up and running. Buyin only 10% of tonight's score.— Christian Vaughan (@saintfletcha) February 1, 2013
2) Andreas "Skjervoy" Torbergsen Slaps Ivey for EV Hunting
Speaking of said birthday boy ... Another high-stakes specialist known to go a few rounds with the heavy hitters – a new blog post.
Posting mostly about stepping up his media game and promoting PLO as the game of the future, Torbergsen took his jab while praising the signing of Dwan, Hansen and Isildur to the new FTP team:
It is very smart to hire action seekers like those three, instead of insane EV hunters only. Phil Ivey comes to mind here; he will never play long sessions when he is down, even considering that he is/was infinity rolled, and is not very rail-friendly in my opinion because of this behavior.
He has also stopped playing the big action games (NLHE and PLO), and basically seems afraid to test himself against the elite online in the big bet games. I think it's obvious that he would give anyone a race for their money, but maybe he is just not hungry enough anymore?
So, there is a big difference from Ivey to Isildur1, and it is all heart, entertainment and pushing yourself vs any opponent like Isil does. Also, Gus and Dwan are both underrated online right now, and these are two players that really understand the concept of giving action to get action.
Damn. And on his birthday too! Read the full post here.
3) Nate Silver Shares Some Poker Life Lessons
We were lucky to get a few minutes this past week with Aussie Millions featured guest Nate Silver as the media onslaught on his time has been pretty relentless.
One of the hottest names in the world right now thanks to his US election slam dunk, Silver’s been a true media warrior and embraced it all with open arms.
The result has been some pretty great interviews, including this one with the Australian Herald Sun where Silver shared a few of the many life lessons learned from poker. A sample:
"I think poker helps with understanding (that) you can play the hand as well as you possibly can, and still lose. And vice versa, right?"
"...Poker players grasp (the part luck plays) more than most people in other walks of life. You just become more zen in some sense."
Revealing he did pretty well in his poker career (up about $400k) before moving on to bigger things, Silver says he's still a grinder at heart.
"If that 10 per cent chance had come up and Romney had won, I probably wouldn't be sitting here, I'd be sitting in Atlantic City trying to find a game (of poker)."
