Well, it had all come down to this.
I was in second place, only four points behind the leader, and only two points ahead of the third place player. The fourth player was a bit back, but if he got the bounty and played his usual way (he's what I consider to be probably the best player in the group) then he had a real shot at displacing me, and even the leader.
But no pressure or anything.
I promised myself beforehand that I would not go out calling or limping. I was going to start and stay aggressive no matter what. At least, if I busted out early, I could look back and say that I went out like a poker player, and not like a wimp.
It worked well, for about 11 minutes. I first won a hand over-betting (and by over-betting I mean I went all in) with trip fours, everyone folded, and I picked up a nice pot, but it could have been a lot nicer pot if I had used a little restraint. A bet of about a quarter of the pot probably would have gotten the needed action of a caller or two.
A couple hands later, I looked down at JJ UTG. I led out a good chunky bet of just over 3xBB and had two callers, the blinds (who are two of the loosest players in our group.) The board came 3 K 6 rainbow. With me in position, they both checked. Now instead of doing something sensible, say betting half the pot, you know to protect my hand in case someone didn't have a king, or to be able to get away if someone raised because they HAD a king - I did something supremely stupid. I forgot that "aggressive" in poker MUST be selective. I went all-in. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
The SB eagerly called with trip 3's. Since I had won a pot prior, I wasn't eliminated. Merely effectively crippled with just over 400 in chips. My heart sank, as the sheer IDIOCY of my play started to sink in. Nothing to do now but hunker down into survival mode.
But all was not lost, I say "effectively" crippled, because I still had just over x20 times the BB. Normally, a fine place to be - but I knew the blinds were due to double in just a handful of rounds - quickly knocking me down to x10 BB - desperation time.
Still, I could afford to wait a bit for a chance to double up. I managed to win a handful of small pots until that chance came, including checking my BB only to catch trips - and naturally not get any callers. The other pots I'm proud to say, I won by making people fold to my all-in bet. By using my entire stack, I could still hurt people - and so I gave myself two chances to win; one by having my hand hold up (on three of the four times I went all in - I'd say I had a very good to excellent chance of this) and two by having everyone fold, which they did every time.
But finally I got called. And I was dominated. My A10 vs. AQ. I limped in, and was raised by the button, almost half of my stack. I typed in "sigh" in the chat box - I honestly put him on two face cards or a small/mid pair, based on the size of his bet in relation to his own stack. Big enough to chase most of us passive types away, small enough that he could get away from the hand if someone came back over the top. I didn't expect AK or AQ or a jumbo pair. With that I'd expect his bet to be slightly bigger, more of a value bet to get paid by one or two callers - or a bet that he would be happy to go all in with against anyone. In any case, I was still desperate. I knew that the blinds were due to crank again soon, and A 10 might be my best chance. I pushed all in, he insta-called. The real truth of it was, that my stack was simply too puny for him to do otherwise. I thought this was the end.
One of my Aces was a heart, the board came runner, runner, runner to give me the nuts. I got lucky, but I still like my decision. This time, even if I had lost, at least I wasn't the caller - I was the raiser.
Two hands later, there was someone else's luck involved -bad luck for them.
The player whom I've learned the most from over the years about poker, one whose game I have high respect for; the fourth place player who had just miraculously eliminated last weeks winner for a hefty five point bounty, now had a big healthy stack and stood a very good chance of winning the whole tourney and maybe the whole season. But it was not to be.
I limped in the cutoff with KQ, villain did the same on the button. Flop came 5 8 Q with two clubs. Four of us left, two to my right and the villain to my left. Check and check. Subconsciously I knew he had limped pre-flop because he was on a speculative hand. If he had AK or AQ he would have bet out. More likely he was on a suited Ace or a middle pair, very possibly on two face cards.
I bet 115 of my 1200 chips. He raised over 400. The two to my right folded. I had just doubled up, and I didn't want to lose a third of my stack here. Calling was 100% out of the question. My gut was to just fold.
But then I thought about it. If he was drawing to a good flush he would just call; it was a small bet on my part compared to his stack and there was no reason for him to lose more to a semi-bluff. And if already had made trips, he would raise, yes. But a little voice inside my head told me that the pot was now big enough that he would probably just go all in and punish anyone who happened to call by giving them the wrong odds to draw to a flush.
An over-pair was out. Trips was out. Two pair, unlikely for him to limp with a Q rag or 5 8. He had to have Q and a decent, hopefully not too high kicker. AQ, I know he didn't have - he would have raised pre-flop. He could have KQ or JQ very easily. Both not bad outcomes for me.
The clocked ticked down to less than five seconds before the computer would automatically fold me.
At the last second I pushed all in, he called sickeningly fast - but thank God he had JQ. I faded a suckout, and was doubled up again. Even better, he was close to being crippled.
Now I had room to maneuver, but I managed to play only okay and not pick up many hands. Before I knew it, I was whittled back down. One particularly bad hand, had me raising with AQ after a ragged flop with a King - the player to my left, an occasional player and typically a non-factor, found himself on quite a rush and was able to re-raise me out of the pot. My stack was down to the 1500 range with the blinds ready to go into super painful mode.
Then, another miracle hand. This one though didn't involve me.
The good news even before the miracle was that the fourth place player who I severely wounded as well as my old tricky nemesis who was in third behind me in points, both went out with tiny stacks against the same running good player to my left. But the season leader, had managed to cling to life, and still had barely enough chips to remain a very real threat to my chances of winning the whole thing (the season and the tourney itself).
Now, he was technically in "desperation" mode, only about x7 BB. But this player puts a capitol P in passive. x7 BB for him is like x15-x20 BB for the rest of us. He will sometimes literally call with half of his stack, and then fold to a re-raise.
Five players left; All except me limp to see the flop. (I've got 1300, blinds are 150. I've got J 10, a good speculative hand, but 150 is just too much for me out of position).
Flop comes 2 Q 2. The SB checks. Turns out that the BB (the short stacked leaderboard leader) catches a piece with a Q 10. Naturally he checks. The next guy, also has a piece, albeit smaller with Q9. This is the aforementioned ultra-passive player from my stupid play above. But this time he bets, a good value bet. The button, the running good chip leader smooth calls. (Warning! Danger Will Robinson!) The SB gets out of the way, and THEN the BB decides that they are both somehow full of shit and pushes all in. Passive guy #2 slows down and just calls, as does the slow playing button.
Turn is a jack. Passive guy #2 now decides that his Q9 is awesome and goes all in for a big amount, over 2K. The button (who everyone seems to have forgot has a mountain of chips and is on a rush) happily calls with his A2! That's right kids, big trips on a ragged board. Both players are WAY behind before the river, dead to only two queens. Big fat blank on the river, TWO eliminated players - I'm in the final three!
And not only that, I'm tied for the season points lead!
That was truly my biggest break all night. I hoped I would be able to double up soon, I used my entire stack to take down a couple of pots, but I finally ran into my flop of two pair into someone else's trips.
So it's a tie! When all was said and done, I cashed out today with $316! That's awesome, but even better, I can look back and say that for 25 weeks, I was the best (okay, me and one other guy - who also happens to be a dear friend, whose game continues to impress me in unexpected ways, were BOTH the best) out of almost 30 other players!
I feel good, I feel great. God I love this game sometimes.
Next week, our Tournament of Champions! Double the buy-in, double the chip stack, for a super ultra cool chance at a winner take all prize pool. A second chance for everyone to make some extra $ at the end of the year.
The good thing is, the pressure's off - I'm already a winner.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Thanksgiving in Vegas
Of course I live in one of two poker hot-spots in the United States - Los Angeles, with more card rooms than any other city but one. I rarely if ever venture out to play when at home, but when I visit my in-laws (say around holiday time) I find myself in the other poker Mecca - Vegas (baby!).
The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we ventured out to the closest casino to my mother in-law's home, Santa Fe Station. Certainly it wouldn't be my first choice, but it turns out that they (along with most casinos in Vegas) have expanded their poker room, so I had no problem finding a seat at the 2-4 limit table.
Now a 2-4 limit hold-em table is basically, almost always, a fishbowl of calling stations and weak play. And with a monstrous rake, it's a very difficult place to turn any kind of profit. When I play at one of these tables, I look at it basically as a chance to gamble and have fun playing the game I love. I've always cast one eye longingly at the 1-2 No Limit tables, but I know a c-note can vanish in the blink of an eye over there, and these days I'm not made of Benjamins.
So I sit down and look down at AQ suited UTG. I fold. I have to see who I'm up against before I hand over my chips. Call, call, call, call, call and call. An 8 player pot. Okay, these folks are just a bit on the passive side. Just a bit.
I just watched over the next half hour, and saw that any raise pre-flop was basically called down by everyone (a pre-flop raise here was really just a pot sweetener, there was no getting rid of limpers.) I decide to take the plunge with A J os in middle position. Board came ragged, Jxx. I knew I was probably going to get boned, but I raised the aggressive old codger on my right anyway.
To my shock, the rest of the table remembered that I hadn't played a hand yet, and they all folded - except for the codger who called. The turn was another blank, he checked, I fired. He paused for awhile, and called of course. The river hit, allowing for a very remote possibility of a straight. The codger bet. I called. He turned over middle pair. My TPTK took it down.
I don't know why, but live play always gets my heart rate up and puts my stomach in knots. Probably because I don't play that often, but my instincts in this hand - and for the remaining hour and a half that we had allotted to stay (my wife plays the machines, with a HUGE negative EV, so we try to keep our casino trips to under 3 hours) were spot on.
The codger, I began to realize, was LITERALLY playing every single hand. For over two hours, he did this. I kid you not. I managed to win several mid to large size pots over the remainder of the night (including a beautiful set of nines that turned into a bigger full house than what another player had), and finish up over $60. Now that doesn't sound like much, but considering it was only a 2 hour session of ultra-passive, ultra-weak, ultra-low stakes - I impressed even myself.
The hand of the night involved, you guessed it, me and the codger. Once again he was to my right; for once he raised pre-flop. I looked down at Q6 suited. Not really worth playing, but I was in middle position, and the play du jour seemed to be to passively limp and hope to hit something. To my shock, everyone to my left folded, leaving me on the de-facto button. The SB limped in and the BB checked.
Now it's important here to point out, that I had put this codger on cards. I had seen him raise pre-flop four or five times by this point, he always had some marginally strong hand such as AQos or a middle-pair. One time he woke up with KK, and just called, all the way down to the river, where he let himself get drawn out on. As I said, he was literally playing every hand, so most of the time he would call his way down to the river with junk - that surprisingly filled up much of the time.
I figured with a pre-flop raise he had some nonsense like KJ or a baby Ace - very possibly he could have a pair of 8's or similar. Total junk was out, premium cards were out.
The river came one middle card and two low cards, he checked. I bet. He smooth called, softly whistling. I had heard this before, he whistled most of the evening - especially when he picked up a big pot or was running good. Honestly, at the time this hand played out, I was only dimly aware of this tell.
The turn hit, a king. He stared blankly and checked. Decision time for me. I decided at that point I wasn't going anywhere, I was going to gamble on the chance that he didn't have a king. I bet. (Now, remember, on the turn and river the bet amount doubles, this is where most limit players decide if they have the odds and/or the balls to chase). The whistling continued and he called.
The river hit, it was a ten. The board read something like 3 5 8 K 10, rainbow. The whistling stopped. He checked. Without even thinking, I quickly bet. He tanked for a good 2 minutes (an eternity at a low stakes limit table). He mucked. I (stupidly) turned up my rag cards. The rest of the table murmured, impressed. The codger was oblivious, checking his racing form, and getting ready to limp into the next pot.
The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, we ventured out to the closest casino to my mother in-law's home, Santa Fe Station. Certainly it wouldn't be my first choice, but it turns out that they (along with most casinos in Vegas) have expanded their poker room, so I had no problem finding a seat at the 2-4 limit table.
Now a 2-4 limit hold-em table is basically, almost always, a fishbowl of calling stations and weak play. And with a monstrous rake, it's a very difficult place to turn any kind of profit. When I play at one of these tables, I look at it basically as a chance to gamble and have fun playing the game I love. I've always cast one eye longingly at the 1-2 No Limit tables, but I know a c-note can vanish in the blink of an eye over there, and these days I'm not made of Benjamins.
So I sit down and look down at AQ suited UTG. I fold. I have to see who I'm up against before I hand over my chips. Call, call, call, call, call and call. An 8 player pot. Okay, these folks are just a bit on the passive side. Just a bit.
I just watched over the next half hour, and saw that any raise pre-flop was basically called down by everyone (a pre-flop raise here was really just a pot sweetener, there was no getting rid of limpers.) I decide to take the plunge with A J os in middle position. Board came ragged, Jxx. I knew I was probably going to get boned, but I raised the aggressive old codger on my right anyway.
To my shock, the rest of the table remembered that I hadn't played a hand yet, and they all folded - except for the codger who called. The turn was another blank, he checked, I fired. He paused for awhile, and called of course. The river hit, allowing for a very remote possibility of a straight. The codger bet. I called. He turned over middle pair. My TPTK took it down.
I don't know why, but live play always gets my heart rate up and puts my stomach in knots. Probably because I don't play that often, but my instincts in this hand - and for the remaining hour and a half that we had allotted to stay (my wife plays the machines, with a HUGE negative EV, so we try to keep our casino trips to under 3 hours) were spot on.
The codger, I began to realize, was LITERALLY playing every single hand. For over two hours, he did this. I kid you not. I managed to win several mid to large size pots over the remainder of the night (including a beautiful set of nines that turned into a bigger full house than what another player had), and finish up over $60. Now that doesn't sound like much, but considering it was only a 2 hour session of ultra-passive, ultra-weak, ultra-low stakes - I impressed even myself.
The hand of the night involved, you guessed it, me and the codger. Once again he was to my right; for once he raised pre-flop. I looked down at Q6 suited. Not really worth playing, but I was in middle position, and the play du jour seemed to be to passively limp and hope to hit something. To my shock, everyone to my left folded, leaving me on the de-facto button. The SB limped in and the BB checked.
Now it's important here to point out, that I had put this codger on cards. I had seen him raise pre-flop four or five times by this point, he always had some marginally strong hand such as AQos or a middle-pair. One time he woke up with KK, and just called, all the way down to the river, where he let himself get drawn out on. As I said, he was literally playing every hand, so most of the time he would call his way down to the river with junk - that surprisingly filled up much of the time.
I figured with a pre-flop raise he had some nonsense like KJ or a baby Ace - very possibly he could have a pair of 8's or similar. Total junk was out, premium cards were out.
The river came one middle card and two low cards, he checked. I bet. He smooth called, softly whistling. I had heard this before, he whistled most of the evening - especially when he picked up a big pot or was running good. Honestly, at the time this hand played out, I was only dimly aware of this tell.
The turn hit, a king. He stared blankly and checked. Decision time for me. I decided at that point I wasn't going anywhere, I was going to gamble on the chance that he didn't have a king. I bet. (Now, remember, on the turn and river the bet amount doubles, this is where most limit players decide if they have the odds and/or the balls to chase). The whistling continued and he called.
The river hit, it was a ten. The board read something like 3 5 8 K 10, rainbow. The whistling stopped. He checked. Without even thinking, I quickly bet. He tanked for a good 2 minutes (an eternity at a low stakes limit table). He mucked. I (stupidly) turned up my rag cards. The rest of the table murmured, impressed. The codger was oblivious, checking his racing form, and getting ready to limp into the next pot.
Monday, November 26, 2007
T24
One of my favorite poker expressions is "Better lucky than good."
It about summed up this tournament for me.
Not much happened early on, I won a few tiny pots with position betting to stay ahead of the blinds; I lost just as many, frequently laying down what I presumed were second best hands.
The palpable fear at the table was not just my own. There are currently four of us who have a genuine shot at taking down first place and over three hundred bucks in cash. All of us contenders played timidly - while two other guys who are out of the running, had fun playing the roles of aggressive chip bully and spoiler sport.
With the blinds starting to hurt a bit, I woke up with JJ and went all in. The season leader in chips, who has lately been donking it up a bit, called me down with pocket sevens. (This particular call on his part wasn't that donkish, though I confess I did goad him in the chat box to call). I dodged his two outs, and was in a nice (third I think) position as the blinds were due to crank up.
I proceeded again, to play tight as a drum. Not that this was entirely bad, as I was pretty card dead, and the two spoilers were splashing it up in a rather dangerous manner. One of them in particular takes sadistic delight in rasing out of position with any two cards at any random time. He can be fairly easy to bust, he is predictable and at times it seems like he is playing with his cards face up - but on a night where he catches flops he can be lethal. Thankfully, one of his ill-timed raises flopped a complete blank, and his subsequent all-in bluff got called down by a middle pair.
The remaining spoil sport, who has missed much of the season by being overseas, is the king calling-station of the group but he makes up for it simply by being smarter than most of us. He also has a very good intuitive (I would even say subconscious) feel for where he is in a hand, it helps him avoid trouble even though he frequently only pays attention to his own two hole cards. His level 1 play, combined with his instinctual gifts, pretty much mean he either gets busted out early, or is a force to be reckoned with at the endgame. This night, he was the latter.
Though he did double me up by calling me with top pair big kicker against my aces, he managed to make many good reads and stay aggressive at the right times when he actually had nothing. His greatest strength by far in NLHE is his fearlessness when betting with garbage - if he ever learns to use it in tandem with position, he will be absolutely deadly.
On this night, it was enough that he kept firing against the four guys who want to win REALLY bad, so bad that they were timid about looking up the bully.
I managed to outlast my tricky nemesis from last week, he played with supreme passivity - only limping pre-flop, only raising with the nuts or close to it. Easy to dodge, easy to bully.
As I mentioned, the season leader has been off his game, and found himself short stacked most of the night. He would double up, only to lose it with a second best pair or busted draw.
The fourth player, who is last in points, but still has a mathematical decent chance at taking it all down (especially if the three in front of him bust out first next time) found his usual aggressiveness late in the game - and it wasn't enough to save him. He used all-in pre-flop moves effectively, until he ran into the chip leader (spoiler boy) and got hammered.
I managed to hang on to finish in second place; and even though the leader had me under almost a 5 to 1 chip lead, I honestly still felt really good about my chances.
Then his deck ran hot, and mine ran cold. He moved all-in three times in a row, and I KNOW that he had premium cards the first two times. The third time I looked down at a baby ace, pinched my nose and called. He had A9. That's poker.
I made a mistake though, I was not the aggressor, I was the CALLER.
Everything I've read, and in just about every serious poker discussion I've had with people - they all say the same thing. Give yourself two ways to win - they can fold or your cards can hold up. If you are a caller, you cut your ways to win in half. It was a big mistake on my part to be the caller with less than a better than average pair of cards. True, the blinds were huge - but next time I vow to be the one raising - not the one calling down.
It about summed up this tournament for me.
Not much happened early on, I won a few tiny pots with position betting to stay ahead of the blinds; I lost just as many, frequently laying down what I presumed were second best hands.
The palpable fear at the table was not just my own. There are currently four of us who have a genuine shot at taking down first place and over three hundred bucks in cash. All of us contenders played timidly - while two other guys who are out of the running, had fun playing the roles of aggressive chip bully and spoiler sport.
With the blinds starting to hurt a bit, I woke up with JJ and went all in. The season leader in chips, who has lately been donking it up a bit, called me down with pocket sevens. (This particular call on his part wasn't that donkish, though I confess I did goad him in the chat box to call). I dodged his two outs, and was in a nice (third I think) position as the blinds were due to crank up.
I proceeded again, to play tight as a drum. Not that this was entirely bad, as I was pretty card dead, and the two spoilers were splashing it up in a rather dangerous manner. One of them in particular takes sadistic delight in rasing out of position with any two cards at any random time. He can be fairly easy to bust, he is predictable and at times it seems like he is playing with his cards face up - but on a night where he catches flops he can be lethal. Thankfully, one of his ill-timed raises flopped a complete blank, and his subsequent all-in bluff got called down by a middle pair.
The remaining spoil sport, who has missed much of the season by being overseas, is the king calling-station of the group but he makes up for it simply by being smarter than most of us. He also has a very good intuitive (I would even say subconscious) feel for where he is in a hand, it helps him avoid trouble even though he frequently only pays attention to his own two hole cards. His level 1 play, combined with his instinctual gifts, pretty much mean he either gets busted out early, or is a force to be reckoned with at the endgame. This night, he was the latter.
Though he did double me up by calling me with top pair big kicker against my aces, he managed to make many good reads and stay aggressive at the right times when he actually had nothing. His greatest strength by far in NLHE is his fearlessness when betting with garbage - if he ever learns to use it in tandem with position, he will be absolutely deadly.
On this night, it was enough that he kept firing against the four guys who want to win REALLY bad, so bad that they were timid about looking up the bully.
I managed to outlast my tricky nemesis from last week, he played with supreme passivity - only limping pre-flop, only raising with the nuts or close to it. Easy to dodge, easy to bully.
As I mentioned, the season leader has been off his game, and found himself short stacked most of the night. He would double up, only to lose it with a second best pair or busted draw.
The fourth player, who is last in points, but still has a mathematical decent chance at taking it all down (especially if the three in front of him bust out first next time) found his usual aggressiveness late in the game - and it wasn't enough to save him. He used all-in pre-flop moves effectively, until he ran into the chip leader (spoiler boy) and got hammered.
I managed to hang on to finish in second place; and even though the leader had me under almost a 5 to 1 chip lead, I honestly still felt really good about my chances.
Then his deck ran hot, and mine ran cold. He moved all-in three times in a row, and I KNOW that he had premium cards the first two times. The third time I looked down at a baby ace, pinched my nose and called. He had A9. That's poker.
I made a mistake though, I was not the aggressor, I was the CALLER.
Everything I've read, and in just about every serious poker discussion I've had with people - they all say the same thing. Give yourself two ways to win - they can fold or your cards can hold up. If you are a caller, you cut your ways to win in half. It was a big mistake on my part to be the caller with less than a better than average pair of cards. True, the blinds were huge - but next time I vow to be the one raising - not the one calling down.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
T23
With only three tournaments remaining in the season, and myself perched precariously in second points position - I was as ready as I could be. I really felt in the groove as I had fun for the first half hour playing an occasional hand, but mostly trying to guess what other players were holding. I was surprisingly accurate a few times, and of course way off on others. My game has definitely risen a level or two since the days when all I did was play my own cards in the hands I was involved in, and zoned out in hands when only other people played.
Mid-game is when I really hit my stride and became chip leader, with a couple of perfect reads and two flat out steals with all my chips in the middle.
The one I remember well involved the player to my right, who is the contender with me for the second place points lead right now. He's a solid player who (like me) likes to see flops. With the blinds starting to hurt it was folded around to him, he flat called. In the cutoff with K2, I popped it and got the button to go away. The flop came two suited rags and an ace. I had no draw - nothing. Villain checked and I bet out half the pot. After a pause he flat called.
The little voice inside my head put him on a flush draw. It wasn't really a conscious thought, I just knew that's what he had. The turn came, not a third club. He checked. I immediately went all-in. He went into the tank. He had me covered, but if I had him beat he would be crippled. I know for a fact that he was on a missed draw, and he was pondering wether or not to take the 2 to 1 odds to try and hit a 4 to 1 flush (which probably wouldn't even be the best flush, in his mind). Now he may or may have not had a piece of the ragged flop, maybe middle pair - but I knew if he had an ace he would have either bet the flop or check-raised it. A long slow flat call after my bet with a made high pair or set would have been very tricky, even for him, and dangerous with a flushing board. He was on a flush draw, and knew he couldn't call. K2 takes it down.
After that shining moment, the game continued and the blinds grew and grew. With another steal or two, as well as aggressive betting with legitimite hands I continued to have most of the chips; but everyone else was playing well, and the difference between my stack and the next biggest (that would be the season leader in chips) wasn't that great.
Then the season leader decided to go all in with an open ended straight draw (out of position) and was called down by a set of nines. Blank went the river and all of the sudden the player to my left (the 9's holder) had doubled up to what was looking to be a prohibitive chip lead over the rest of us.
Good news, the season points leader was gone. Bad news, the guy he paid off was to my left with nearly twice my chip stack. My stealing days were over, but I had enough accumulated wealth to basically coast to the final three, as the monster blinds - like Stephen King's Langoliers, consumed the two remaining wannabe's stacks. I still managed to steal blinds every few rounds, to keep the monsters at bay myself, and when I cashed I was ready to go to war.
The chip leader played brilliantlly, using the power of his stack to leverage out the aforementioned short stacks. The gentleman to my right also stayed frosty and kept ahead of the escalating structure. When it got down to just us three, I was barely in second place, but I knew because the blinds were HUGE, I had to use my entire stack to get any respect and/or have a chance to have a legitimite hand hold up.
I pushed all-in several times in a row, each time with legitimite starting cards for three handed play, my opponents wisely folded, and I got to collect monster blinds. Then I started running into absolute rags, which I still managed to steal with once or twice (just to keep my head above water). At this point, the chip leader was pumping up the aggression and his stack was a mountain.
I knew I only had two moves every hand, with the blinds starting at nearly a quarter of my stack - it was fold or jam. I looked down at q9 suited. Looks good to me! I clicked the all in box - to my horror the player to my right (tricky second place guy) went all in. I reached to unclick the box, but in a nano second my electronic chips slid in and cards were up. This was only the first or second time that tricky had been all in on pre-flop since we began three handed play. He had always checked or called a smaller bet, I didn't expect him to actually catch anything when I had two beautiful perfectly playable suited cards!
I should have known better and NEVER have checked that box.
BUT, in retrospect, with the blinds the way they were, if he had pushed all-in and I had had time to really think about it; I likely would have called him down any way. I was last in chips at this point. And I probably would have put him on a middle pair; he had been playing tight pre-flop, bringing the hammer only after the flop hit and/or he was in position. He was unlikely to risk it all as first to act with just a couple of face cards. He was also smart enough not to waste a premium high pair, he would have likely slow played AA, KK, or QQ. (At least I would have). A middle pair would likely be the best hand pre-flop, better to get the chips in and go after the hefty blinds, if some sucker calls with AK or worse, tricky is still the favorite.
As I said, in hindsight, I think a call by me was ultimately the correct decision. Pre-flop I was about 45% to win, if I had won I would have been close to even with the leader and tricky would have been crippled. If I folded, I relinquished a quarter of my stack - yes, the blinds were huge.
Of course once the decisions were made, the flop, turn and river played out in appropriately sick fashion. I spiked a pair on the flop - he hit a two outer on the river to make three of a kind. I was a bit dissapointed, but I knew he had the best hand going in.
Overall, I was VERY pleased with my play. Right now the race in points (for big money at the end of the season) has really tightened up. If the points leader bombs out again (please go all in on a draw again! Please!) Then one of us (myself, tricky or chip leader last game) has a legitimite shot at the big prize. I would also be ecstatic to get the second place money, and happy enough to get third. I'm a bit fearful of falling out of the top three, but with only two tourney's left I can't let myself think that way.
I have to stay focused and aggressive. And most of all have fun and enjoy the competition; if I do finish out of the money I only want to be able to look back and say that I played to the best of my abilities. In a sit-n-go that is designed to end in under two hours, I can't put the world on my shoulders - luck will definitely be a factor.
Mid-game is when I really hit my stride and became chip leader, with a couple of perfect reads and two flat out steals with all my chips in the middle.
The one I remember well involved the player to my right, who is the contender with me for the second place points lead right now. He's a solid player who (like me) likes to see flops. With the blinds starting to hurt it was folded around to him, he flat called. In the cutoff with K2, I popped it and got the button to go away. The flop came two suited rags and an ace. I had no draw - nothing. Villain checked and I bet out half the pot. After a pause he flat called.
The little voice inside my head put him on a flush draw. It wasn't really a conscious thought, I just knew that's what he had. The turn came, not a third club. He checked. I immediately went all-in. He went into the tank. He had me covered, but if I had him beat he would be crippled. I know for a fact that he was on a missed draw, and he was pondering wether or not to take the 2 to 1 odds to try and hit a 4 to 1 flush (which probably wouldn't even be the best flush, in his mind). Now he may or may have not had a piece of the ragged flop, maybe middle pair - but I knew if he had an ace he would have either bet the flop or check-raised it. A long slow flat call after my bet with a made high pair or set would have been very tricky, even for him, and dangerous with a flushing board. He was on a flush draw, and knew he couldn't call. K2 takes it down.
After that shining moment, the game continued and the blinds grew and grew. With another steal or two, as well as aggressive betting with legitimite hands I continued to have most of the chips; but everyone else was playing well, and the difference between my stack and the next biggest (that would be the season leader in chips) wasn't that great.
Then the season leader decided to go all in with an open ended straight draw (out of position) and was called down by a set of nines. Blank went the river and all of the sudden the player to my left (the 9's holder) had doubled up to what was looking to be a prohibitive chip lead over the rest of us.
Good news, the season points leader was gone. Bad news, the guy he paid off was to my left with nearly twice my chip stack. My stealing days were over, but I had enough accumulated wealth to basically coast to the final three, as the monster blinds - like Stephen King's Langoliers, consumed the two remaining wannabe's stacks. I still managed to steal blinds every few rounds, to keep the monsters at bay myself, and when I cashed I was ready to go to war.
The chip leader played brilliantlly, using the power of his stack to leverage out the aforementioned short stacks. The gentleman to my right also stayed frosty and kept ahead of the escalating structure. When it got down to just us three, I was barely in second place, but I knew because the blinds were HUGE, I had to use my entire stack to get any respect and/or have a chance to have a legitimite hand hold up.
I pushed all-in several times in a row, each time with legitimite starting cards for three handed play, my opponents wisely folded, and I got to collect monster blinds. Then I started running into absolute rags, which I still managed to steal with once or twice (just to keep my head above water). At this point, the chip leader was pumping up the aggression and his stack was a mountain.
I knew I only had two moves every hand, with the blinds starting at nearly a quarter of my stack - it was fold or jam. I looked down at q9 suited. Looks good to me! I clicked the all in box - to my horror the player to my right (tricky second place guy) went all in. I reached to unclick the box, but in a nano second my electronic chips slid in and cards were up. This was only the first or second time that tricky had been all in on pre-flop since we began three handed play. He had always checked or called a smaller bet, I didn't expect him to actually catch anything when I had two beautiful perfectly playable suited cards!
I should have known better and NEVER have checked that box.
BUT, in retrospect, with the blinds the way they were, if he had pushed all-in and I had had time to really think about it; I likely would have called him down any way. I was last in chips at this point. And I probably would have put him on a middle pair; he had been playing tight pre-flop, bringing the hammer only after the flop hit and/or he was in position. He was unlikely to risk it all as first to act with just a couple of face cards. He was also smart enough not to waste a premium high pair, he would have likely slow played AA, KK, or QQ. (At least I would have). A middle pair would likely be the best hand pre-flop, better to get the chips in and go after the hefty blinds, if some sucker calls with AK or worse, tricky is still the favorite.
As I said, in hindsight, I think a call by me was ultimately the correct decision. Pre-flop I was about 45% to win, if I had won I would have been close to even with the leader and tricky would have been crippled. If I folded, I relinquished a quarter of my stack - yes, the blinds were huge.
Of course once the decisions were made, the flop, turn and river played out in appropriately sick fashion. I spiked a pair on the flop - he hit a two outer on the river to make three of a kind. I was a bit dissapointed, but I knew he had the best hand going in.
Overall, I was VERY pleased with my play. Right now the race in points (for big money at the end of the season) has really tightened up. If the points leader bombs out again (please go all in on a draw again! Please!) Then one of us (myself, tricky or chip leader last game) has a legitimite shot at the big prize. I would also be ecstatic to get the second place money, and happy enough to get third. I'm a bit fearful of falling out of the top three, but with only two tourney's left I can't let myself think that way.
I have to stay focused and aggressive. And most of all have fun and enjoy the competition; if I do finish out of the money I only want to be able to look back and say that I played to the best of my abilities. In a sit-n-go that is designed to end in under two hours, I can't put the world on my shoulders - luck will definitely be a factor.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Home Tourney NLO8
13 fine fellas and myself made for a fun night in my garage, playing a kooky No Limit Omaha/8 tournament. With my patented blind structure that is super slow for 90 minutes, then basically super fast/lottery/crapshoot/"WTF was that garbage" festival for the remainder, a good time was had by all.
We did play pot-limit before the flop, which helped us all see a lot more flops; but after the flop it was just easier to say to hell with the math and open the floodgates with no limit betting.
I played super tight all night long, and was doing fine with an average amount of chips until the blinds got enormous (I like my home tournaments to end before midnight, thank you very much) and I was wittled down to a couple of desperate all-ins that were called down by the chip leader, who had a prohibitive lead.
No colossally bad mistakes, no rememberable regrets.
Coincidentally (oh happy day) the chip leader also happens to be the leaderboard captain in my friendly online league. He was happier than a pig in shit last night, as his ultra-tight style reaped the rewards of such a card-centric game as O8. His gluttony of composite clay was helped along, fueled as they say; by my father-in-law who set a record for the number of rebuys at one of my games.
I love my wifes dad very much, but he views poker as equal to any other form of gambling, instead of the test of skill that it actually can be. Pai-gow, Let It Ride, slot-machines, video poker, the poker room - it's all the same doncha know.
Overall, I was happy enough to bust out in fifth place with no-rebuys and a single add-on ($20 total), where some guys had dropped $60+. I also received some small but very appreciated $ contributions for the snack fund (though curiously nothing from the guys who cashed, but that's okay) which always helps.
Last night in my mild dissapointment at having missed the money once more, I was thinking I could wait until next year to host poker again. This morning as I put away my table top and chips, I felt a twinge of desire to play again and play soon. I sent out an e-vite for a cash game in the middle of December.
I'm a sick man.
In the meantime I will set my sights on cashing in the three remaining tourney's in my online league. I'd also like to get out to Hollywood Park Casino one of these days and play in one of their super low buy in (moderately high payoff) tournaments.
We did play pot-limit before the flop, which helped us all see a lot more flops; but after the flop it was just easier to say to hell with the math and open the floodgates with no limit betting.
I played super tight all night long, and was doing fine with an average amount of chips until the blinds got enormous (I like my home tournaments to end before midnight, thank you very much) and I was wittled down to a couple of desperate all-ins that were called down by the chip leader, who had a prohibitive lead.
No colossally bad mistakes, no rememberable regrets.
Coincidentally (oh happy day) the chip leader also happens to be the leaderboard captain in my friendly online league. He was happier than a pig in shit last night, as his ultra-tight style reaped the rewards of such a card-centric game as O8. His gluttony of composite clay was helped along, fueled as they say; by my father-in-law who set a record for the number of rebuys at one of my games.
I love my wifes dad very much, but he views poker as equal to any other form of gambling, instead of the test of skill that it actually can be. Pai-gow, Let It Ride, slot-machines, video poker, the poker room - it's all the same doncha know.
Overall, I was happy enough to bust out in fifth place with no-rebuys and a single add-on ($20 total), where some guys had dropped $60+. I also received some small but very appreciated $ contributions for the snack fund (though curiously nothing from the guys who cashed, but that's okay) which always helps.
Last night in my mild dissapointment at having missed the money once more, I was thinking I could wait until next year to host poker again. This morning as I put away my table top and chips, I felt a twinge of desire to play again and play soon. I sent out an e-vite for a cash game in the middle of December.
I'm a sick man.
In the meantime I will set my sights on cashing in the three remaining tourney's in my online league. I'd also like to get out to Hollywood Park Casino one of these days and play in one of their super low buy in (moderately high payoff) tournaments.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
T22
Online tournament in friends league. $12 Buy-in. I was short stacked throughout, from fear of not cashing and not getting enough points to finish the league in the championship money pool.
Fear does not a good companion in poker make. From 8 down to four players, I was in the red zone, less than x10 the BB; I was on the big blind and had one limper, looked down at K7. Nothing to get excited about, I checked.
Flop came A 7 7. I checked, villain bet 250 - small for him, big for me. I briefly considered continuing the slow play charade, then I realized, I only would have 3/4 of my stack left if I just called. I also hoped he had an ace and would call my all-in bet. I moved, he insta-called.
Guess what spiked on the turn. Ace. Buh-bye. That's poker.
Overall I wasn't too disgusted with my play, there was quite a bit of aggressive betting, especially in the second half of the tourney from the eventual winner and the villain from my suckout. I tried to pick moments to steal, but was only successful with micro-pots. I bet off a fair amount of my stack without getting any return.
Normally I'm one of the more aggressive players in this group. I have a fairly tight reputation established with these guys, and I've used it to great advantage to accumulate chips from position in the first half of these tourneys without particularly great cards.
Next week, I resolve to lose the timidity that afflicted me this time around. I don't need to risk a big chunk of my chips, but I don't want to stop firing when I'm in position and people are checking it down.
Three games left, I'm holding on to second place on the leaderboard by a thread. With any luck the big leader will go all in with top pair big kicker against a set like he did this week again; then all I need is for two other usual non-factors (like this weeks winner) to be in the top three along with me. I'd prefer first of course, but I'm not too greedy.
This Saturday, a No Limit Omaha/8 tournament at my house. Crazy I know, but they do play it like that online. Expecting about 10 guys. Hoping I can finally break my at home tourney curse. Stay tuned for a report.
Fear does not a good companion in poker make. From 8 down to four players, I was in the red zone, less than x10 the BB; I was on the big blind and had one limper, looked down at K7. Nothing to get excited about, I checked.
Flop came A 7 7. I checked, villain bet 250 - small for him, big for me. I briefly considered continuing the slow play charade, then I realized, I only would have 3/4 of my stack left if I just called. I also hoped he had an ace and would call my all-in bet. I moved, he insta-called.
Guess what spiked on the turn. Ace. Buh-bye. That's poker.
Overall I wasn't too disgusted with my play, there was quite a bit of aggressive betting, especially in the second half of the tourney from the eventual winner and the villain from my suckout. I tried to pick moments to steal, but was only successful with micro-pots. I bet off a fair amount of my stack without getting any return.
Normally I'm one of the more aggressive players in this group. I have a fairly tight reputation established with these guys, and I've used it to great advantage to accumulate chips from position in the first half of these tourneys without particularly great cards.
Next week, I resolve to lose the timidity that afflicted me this time around. I don't need to risk a big chunk of my chips, but I don't want to stop firing when I'm in position and people are checking it down.
Three games left, I'm holding on to second place on the leaderboard by a thread. With any luck the big leader will go all in with top pair big kicker against a set like he did this week again; then all I need is for two other usual non-factors (like this weeks winner) to be in the top three along with me. I'd prefer first of course, but I'm not too greedy.
This Saturday, a No Limit Omaha/8 tournament at my house. Crazy I know, but they do play it like that online. Expecting about 10 guys. Hoping I can finally break my at home tourney curse. Stay tuned for a report.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
I suck at poker.
Since the majority of people who obsess about poker, as I am want to do these days, always think they are themselves God's biggest and bestest gift to the game; I'm getting that nonsense out of the way right now.
I suck at poker.
Well, hopefully not completely. But I am learning on a day by day, sometimes hour by hour, often minute by minute basis.
Currently I play in a friends based online league, with weekly NLHE tournaments at a 10 + 2 buy-in. We are 21 tournies deep in a 25 game season, and I am precariously ensconced at the second position in points. If I cash in the majority of the remaining four tournaments, I'll likely get a nice chunk of change (for me) $100+ or so. If by some miracle I catch the points leader, I stand to win $300+. Stay tuned.
Overall I'm thrilled that I'm atop the standings in a group of 29 guys after half a years play. The competitor in me, and I think this is good, is still dissapointed that I'm not the leader.
The current leader is a good player, I honestly think I'm better. But he has been far better at judging the tenor of our current league.
That's right, this is an honest poker blog. Hopefully it will be brutally honest.
I know, I'm not better than most poker players out there. How's that?
My live game situation is pretty funny; I've excelled at a biweekly ultra low stakes cash game for the past four years - up approximately $300. The game was recently, okay last year, cancelled; and so I've been hosting my own monthy tournament to get my live poker fix.
In half a dozen tournaments so far, I haven't cashed once. I've also had the occasional cash game, in my garage - where I've broken about even.
I love tournament poker, I just don't seem to have a grasp on the live stuff. I also know I'm better suited to the cash game, my tight style and patience has served me well - winning just 3 or 4 monster hands in an entire night is what has propelled my profits. But I do loves the competition and energy of the tournament.
I also, and this is a bit embarrassing; have played for play money online quite a bit for the last year or so. I feel it has helped more than hurt, especially just for gaining practice and experience; but since I've been in this online league, free poker has lost it's luster - I can really see how it's hurt my game when it comes to actual moolah. I still dabble when I'm bored, but I really need to get away from it.
I'd love to have a real money account, but I think I'm going to hold off on that as long as this UIGEA is in effect (our nanny govenrment banning US Banks and credit cards from dealing with online poker sites.) It's just a huge pain in the ass to get an online account, and more importantly there are too many good players online these days. I need it to be completely legal so I can at least have a good shot at positive EV - counting on the massive influx of casual fish like myself to provide profit.
That's it for now. Our next tourney is next tuesday night. I busted out of this weeks game in 4th (what we call the bubble in our league.) Starting to be short stacked, a donkey move by me all in preflop with pocket sixes, called down by the chip leader (who was on a rush) with A10. Guess what spiked on the flop? I deserved to go out.
I suck at poker.
Well, hopefully not completely. But I am learning on a day by day, sometimes hour by hour, often minute by minute basis.
Currently I play in a friends based online league, with weekly NLHE tournaments at a 10 + 2 buy-in. We are 21 tournies deep in a 25 game season, and I am precariously ensconced at the second position in points. If I cash in the majority of the remaining four tournaments, I'll likely get a nice chunk of change (for me) $100+ or so. If by some miracle I catch the points leader, I stand to win $300+. Stay tuned.
Overall I'm thrilled that I'm atop the standings in a group of 29 guys after half a years play. The competitor in me, and I think this is good, is still dissapointed that I'm not the leader.
The current leader is a good player, I honestly think I'm better. But he has been far better at judging the tenor of our current league.
That's right, this is an honest poker blog. Hopefully it will be brutally honest.
I know, I'm not better than most poker players out there. How's that?
My live game situation is pretty funny; I've excelled at a biweekly ultra low stakes cash game for the past four years - up approximately $300. The game was recently, okay last year, cancelled; and so I've been hosting my own monthy tournament to get my live poker fix.
In half a dozen tournaments so far, I haven't cashed once. I've also had the occasional cash game, in my garage - where I've broken about even.
I love tournament poker, I just don't seem to have a grasp on the live stuff. I also know I'm better suited to the cash game, my tight style and patience has served me well - winning just 3 or 4 monster hands in an entire night is what has propelled my profits. But I do loves the competition and energy of the tournament.
I also, and this is a bit embarrassing; have played for play money online quite a bit for the last year or so. I feel it has helped more than hurt, especially just for gaining practice and experience; but since I've been in this online league, free poker has lost it's luster - I can really see how it's hurt my game when it comes to actual moolah. I still dabble when I'm bored, but I really need to get away from it.
I'd love to have a real money account, but I think I'm going to hold off on that as long as this UIGEA is in effect (our nanny govenrment banning US Banks and credit cards from dealing with online poker sites.) It's just a huge pain in the ass to get an online account, and more importantly there are too many good players online these days. I need it to be completely legal so I can at least have a good shot at positive EV - counting on the massive influx of casual fish like myself to provide profit.
That's it for now. Our next tourney is next tuesday night. I busted out of this weeks game in 4th (what we call the bubble in our league.) Starting to be short stacked, a donkey move by me all in preflop with pocket sixes, called down by the chip leader (who was on a rush) with A10. Guess what spiked on the flop? I deserved to go out.
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