Jared Huggins Big Game Trip Report-Thank You 2+2
To Mods: Trying to get this message to as many 2p2'rs as possible, especially the 1,000 people who signed their name to get me on the show. It's important to me that I thank them. Thanks.
Trip Report:
Thank you to everyone at 2+2 who helped me earn a spot in the PokerStars Big Game, words can't express how thankful I am to you.
What the Big Game Meant to Me:
For me, the Big Game was a once in a lifetime opportunity, to change people's lives, the way my life was changed by you.
In Mark 12 41:44, the story is told, of a poor old woman who gives away money, even though she doesn't have much. This story touched me.
I received emails from hundreds of people around the world, the HU vs. Drooler thread has 397,000 views, the TV show had the chance to reach millions. I felt like I'd stumbled on a genie in a bottle, I had to decide early on, what was the most meaningful thing I could do with my Big Game opportunity.
People responded very strongly to me due to the fact that I used to be homeless, that made this a unique opportunity to bring people together for a common good. The odds were against me but I wanted to use my story to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, or millions, for charity. If nothing else, other people could match my donations, it could have been very big. I wanted to use my one wish, to make lots of people's wishes come true.
I had lots of amazing charity ideas that included you guys. I wanted to win enough to buy at least one wish for the Make-A-Wish Foundation ($7,500), enough to organize charity poker tournaments, enough to build wells, enough to build a school. If I won big on the show I was 100% going to Africa to volunteer. I used to go to sleep at night with a smile thinking about sending checks to various charities and signing them "Members of 2+2 Poker Forum". Thats what most mattered to me, thats what was most meaningful to me.
I thought it'd be worthwhile to take an amount like $25,000 and see how many people's lives we could change with it, then write a book about it. I had lots of ideas, whatever we did, I wanted it to be a group thing, where you guys would vote on it. With your guys help I know that we would have done some amazing things.
2+2 showed me love and trusted me with their hopes and dreams, their secrets. People opened up to me. Telling me about their lives welcoming me into their homes. All kinds of people from 2+2 contacted me. The rich and famous, the poor and diseased. People opened up to me and for that I will always be grateful.
Last year members of 2+2 shipped me $6,000 while I was homeless. Thank you very much.
I spent a few thousand dollars paying my bills while getting ready for the Big Game. I shipped $1,000 to charity. I spent a chunk of that $ and three months making another Free Hugs video (it took a lot longer than I thought it would) where I give out 1000 Free Hugs, thinking when the show aired on TV, it would raise a lot for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Please check this video out because I'm still trying to reach this goal right now:
After losing on the Big Game I was heartbroken like never before. I felt like I still had unfinished business.
So I spent three months making the video above, and volunteering with the homeless in Watts. I'd never done anything like that before, it meant a lot to me, and has brought something awesome to my life. Thank you for inspiring me to get involved in my community 😀
Now that my Big Game journey has come to an end, its starting to sink in just how amazing this journey has been. I can't believe that it happened, and I can't believe that it's over. I feel very lucky and very thankful right now. Sitting here thinking about it, all I can do is smile. Thank you guys for touching my life.
I worked extremely hard to prepare. I gave everything I had to win on the show. To make it the best episode of the PokerStars Big Game ever. I did it for you guys, for myself, for my family, and for God.
Thank you to everyone who befriended me with kind words. Thank you to everyone who helped me get on the show (I shouted out 2+2 and Cody Custer (Free Hugs was his idea) but it got edited out). Thank you to everyone who voted for me. Thank you to PokerStars.
God bless all of you.
♣♦♥♠
Preparation: I took about four months to get ready for the Big Game. It was a full time thing for me. From the very beginning I decided all the strategy and preparation would be geared to the Big Game specifically. This was like 8 months ago so I may be leaving some things out.
Live poker:
I made three solo drives up to Las Vegas before the Big Game. The first trip was to visit the South Point hotel where they film it, so I could get an idea how the show was set up.
I also played live in Vegas, not for strategy, more to practice chip handling, breathing, pretty much getting comfortable going from online to live.
Did more of the same at local LA casinos. I'd always go there with specific things I wanted to work on. Some nights for example, I'd read sections of Caro's Book of Poker Tells. Then I'd sit at the smallest NLHE table they had running and just study the other player's body languages for hours.
I'm very proud of this live preparation because I feel I gained a lot of discipline. My three trips to Vegas for example, I treated as business trips. I went there with a poker schedule, didn't go to clubs, or go out at all, just worked on live poker a ton stopping just to take breaks when needed. For this time period I worked on poker a ton, and then I'd take a day off once a week and visit my family. It was a fun grind.
Online: Online is where I worked on strategy. I got some really good coaching in the last month or so before the show.
-Watched every episode of the show and analyzed each hand
-Played hundreds of 150 hands simulations and took notes
-Played against some very tough opponents who dropped down stakes to play me
-Even practiced how to play like a maniac at the end if need be (you can see my PTR graph start to drop due to these last two as the Big Game got closer lol)
-I played 50,000 hands of 6 max deep online and reviewed thousands of hands.
-And more.
General Play (hand dependent):
I'm very happy with how I played overall on the Big Game. I felt great playing against the pros, relaxed, comfortable. I thought each hand through and made the play I thought was most optimal.
Normally I play 6-max deep NLHE much more aggressively than I did on the show. I 3-bet and 4-bet from the CO/BTN to the point where it annoys my opponents. In the Big Game I played the same as I usually do, what was different wasn't the TV cameras, it wasn't the pros, what was different for me was the cards I was dealt.
6 max deep I 3 with a polarized range...that includes premium hands and also hands that are a little too weak to call with like suited one gappers such as 97s, 86s, and 75s, and other suited hands. In general, deep stacked it's not good to 3 bet hands like A10, K10, and Q10, because your opponents calling range includes hands that dominate you when you hit top pair like AK, AQ, and AJ.
One general concept that greatly improved my game comes from the Memoirs of AeJones, chapter on barreling. The general idea is that when you pick up equity, or a scare card comes of that does not hit your opponents range, you keep barreling.
Even without counting running QQ into KK, I ran bad on the Big Game. When I say I ran bad, I'm not talking about made hands or premium hands at all. By running bad I mean that I didn't have a lot of spots to be aggressive, spots like flush draws, open ended straight draws (had one of these Ep. 1 but the FD made it a call instead of a raise imo), gutter draws or even just two over cards.
I believe my biggest mistakes on the Big Game were 1. Missing a flop bet with 99 against Prahlad (Ep.1) and 2. Failing to use my image early to bluff and win some smallish to medium sized pots. If these are two of my biggest mistakes I feel that I did very well, considering that I was under a huge amount of pressure. That 150 hand session meant a lot more to me, than it did anyone else at the table, or anyone sitting at home watching. I felt relaxed and in the moment the whole time. I give God the credit for that.
In the first 60 hands that I played on the show, I barely won any pots at all, and I didn't get to put my skills on display. 9/10 times, the cards come out very differently and fireworks go off at the table. The episodes of the Big Game I was on, the worst plays were made by the pros in my opinion, but they get to come back and play another day. That's poker.
I'm proud of how I played on the show. Despite not running well, I had a good chance to win a life changing amount of money. I played with a great deal of composure, came in relaxed, had a great decision process, and executed the gameplan. It just wasn't my day. I had a blast playing on the Big Game.
If anyone posts a specific hand history and wants to discuss it, I'll be more than happy to share my thought process, or to respond to yours, if you take the time, to write it out the entire hand, which only takes about 30 seconds.
My Table Presence:
If I had known how I would come across on TV, obviously I would have talked more.
Barry and Nick, the two players to my immediate left, both made mistakes early in episode one, and lost half their stacks in the process ($50,000). Understandably they were not in the chatting mood, and they didn't want to talk to anyone for a while, so they could focus on their game. In that situation most Loose Cannons would come off as quiet at first.
That having been said I should have talked more, so they'd have more to work with, instead of short responses. The table was mostly quiet the whole time, a lot more quiet than I thought it would be. The other players at the table were a lot better than me at adding one liners here and there for the sake of the show. It made a huge difference in the editing.
Stapleton:
I think Stapes is a great announcer, but I do feel he was a little harsh on me. One example, in episode one, midway through, Barry raises UTG with 75dd, Vanessa 3 bets with JJ, I'm in the SB with A10 suited and make the obvious fold. In Stapes opinion my fold is "Tight but I don't hate it".
Folding there is 100% correct. Calling in that spot is the same as lighting money on fire. You're totally out of position in a 3 bet pot, its early, with a hand that's easily dominated, against two aggressive opponents, one of whom is an UTG raiser!
The same hand, Barry bluffs off $50,000 of his stack with 7 high and it's a failed "aggression spell"! That having been said, every losing Loose Cannon gets their game criticized, comes with the territory. Stapleton's jokes are hilarious.
The Players:
I really enjoyed playing against Prahlad, Barry, Antonio, Vanessa and Nick. They are all very cool people. They kept it fun and competitive.
Final Thought:
I'm happy and grateful for what this journey has been. I made some amazing friendships, saw amazing places, and had my dreams come true. I had amazing experiences, that I will never in my life forget, memories that I will always look back upon with a smile.
THANK YOU ALL!
Jared
