Well my online league (Flatline Poker) had to postpone our Tournament of Champions because the website for the server that we use, Poker Academy, was inexplicably down for the entire month of December.
So what is an action junkie to do with no poker to play, other than the usual brain numbing grind of micro-stakes on Full Tilt? Go to Hollywood Park Casino naturally!
On Sunday, December 21, I had to work. But instead of going for 8 hours at once, which is so common and boring - I skipped out halfway through my day, planning to return in the late afternoon to finish my shift fully. I figured once I spent a couple of hours and donked off my chips in the HPC Sunday Tournament, there would still be plenty of time to be a responsible adult.
The Sunday 10K Guarantee at HPC is the largest regular NLHE tournament in Sourthern California. The Commerce has a bigger poker room, The Bike is more prestigious, but Hollywood Park has the lowest buy-ins and the most regular tournaments. Typically, the Sunday 10K features about 30 tables of ten, with a $35 entry fee (plus another $20 when you sit down) with ulimited $30 rebuys in the first hour and an option for up to a $30 add-on at the break. I budget $120, but rarely reach that limit.
So there I was, excited to shuffle some chips and have a grand old silly time with my fellow degenerates. I wasn't especially planning on cashing, I was there for fun. But over five and a half hours later, I found myself not back in my office, but looking at a shot to make some real money.
Everything started out as it usually does, with the re-buy period encouraging frequently catastrophic aggression. I managed to stay above the fray for the most part, but I doubled up when my checked big blind special AJ hit an ace on the flop. I led out a 2/3 of the pot bet, it folded around to the button who pushed all in. I insta-called and his A7os was crushed to my Top Pair Good Kicker.
Why the snap call for all of my chips?
I had developed a pretty good read on this guy as a fish who was trying desperately to double up, no matter how many times he had to plunk down $30. His mentality was not that uncommon in this tournament, but his propensity for less than good play was definitely high on the donkey scale. So when he pushed after my raise, after limping pre-flop, I knew my call was automatic, and not just because my gut was screaming that I had the best hand.
1. It was the rebuy period, if I got felted I had budgeted ahead to rebuy if neccessary. 2. He had been raising with pocket pairs, not limping. 3. He had frequently pushed his chips in with the worst of it up to this point, he was stuck for probably close to $300, and was quite a bit tilted. I was happy to tilt him some more.
In hindsight, I also see that this play of mine actually had a bit of deception nicely built in. By checking AJ in the BB, not something any book would probably ever recommend, I was sure to get action if I hit an ace, as most (including said fish) would conclude that I would bet a big ace pre-flop.
A short while later I gave fishy back some of his chips, when my JJ failed to hold up against another one of his ace rags. I was okay, not seriously wounded, and I managed to win a couple of more pots before the break to be slightly ahead of the chip average at my table.
I plunked down another $30 for my add-on, and I was ready to go after the break, with only $85 spent - actually pretty good for a patently absurd re-buy tourney with an equally ridiculously fast blind structure in the second half of the day.
I managed to play actual poker for about a half hour or so, I raised and took a couple of pots here and there, in position with decent cards. Besides my AJ double up, I don't recall ever getting to showdown. My standard raises either got everyone to fold, or my continuation bets after the flop did the job - even when I didn't connect. Then our table broke and I moved my pretty average stack to a table that was heavy with chips on the opposite end.
I ran pretty dead for a little while, and before I knew it, the antes had kicked in. This is the time in a single day tournament where if you don't steal, you quickly get eaten alive. I was game to do some thieving, but unfortunately, even though I was technically above the "danger zone" of having only 10 big blinds in my stack, any "standard" raise on my part would essentially commit me to the hand. Barely 3 hours into the day, I found myself almost at the binary mode stage - all in or fold, pre-flop.
This was especially true because the two big stacks on the opposite end of the table from me, were applying pressure to all comers on just about every hand. They would flat call behind an out of position raiser, and take the pot away from him if he didn't fire a second barrel. Sometimes, they would even re-raise and get the job done, either before the flop or after. They had the chips to do it, and they did it well.
Just before I switched over fully to desperate mode, I found I did have one last standard raise in me, with JQ of hearts in middle position. It was essentially an ill-advised steal attempt. I am not normally fond of such trap hands, but when I do bet them I'm almost always in better position than I was here. This was really me tilted a bit, at my recent dearth of playable cards, a suited connector kind of looked like aces at this point.
It was folded around to the tables resident jumbo stack, who flat called. Before the flop hit, I had already decided to push all in if no over cards came. Risky, yes, but I wanted to represent a higher pair and get jumbo to go away - I knew he would fire if I checked, and if I blanked I would have to get away, with nearly an 8th of my stack pissed down the drain. Incidentally, and probably obviously, if I hit the flop in any way shape or form I was also pushing.
The flop came a beautiful two baby hearts and a queen. Top pair with four to a flush. I thought for a moment, and pushed all in. Jumbo tanked for a long, long time, talking to himself the entire time. I didn't say one word or move a muscle. Finally, he convinced himself that I had Ace King. He called me with pocket fours. He was basically crushed, with only one out that mercifully didn't come.
As I counted my now much healthier stack, he remarked "I knew he didn't have shit before the flop." Well, I have to say he was right, but honestly I don't believe that he really knew that.
So I was going to stick around for a little while more. The table broke, rather soon after my double up, and I found myself in a much better environment. I sat down to a table full of senior citizens, a couple of middle eastern chaps, and best of all - no jumbo stacks.
My very first hand, I looked down at AJ suited from UTG +2. I pushed all in. I figured my fold equity was pretty high, they didn't know me at all - and as I sat down I had quickly sized up all the chip stacks and was happy to discover that there wasn't one player that I couldn't hurt severely.
Sure, what I did had some risk, but in hindsight, I think that was one of the best instinctive plays that I've ever made at a live game in a card room. The old codgers literally sat their with their mouths open at my move - and folded around. Sure, if I'd had bad luck and ran into a high pocket pair, that would have been it. But I took a good risk I think, in stealing what amounted to almost a quarter of my stack in blinds and antes AND sending the table a message. "Hi there, good to be here. DON'T FUCK WITH ME."
At this point, well over 3 hours into play, the blinds and antes were hefty - so as to render a "standard" raise by most players at the table into a hand committing maneuver. I had played the majority of the day pretty tight, recognizing the unsophisticated tenor of most of the players - and also recognizing my own limitations against the bigger stacks who were effectively using selective aggression. But now I tightened up even more. I waited patiently for the right cards, and/or the right situation to make a move.
It turns out, I never got the cards at this, my third (and I'd say, my most crucial) table. But it didn't matter. I stole the blinds and antes about a half a dozen times, always with an all-in pre-flop. Not ONCE did I get called. That tells me two things. One, I was very lucky to not run into a monster hand. Two, my selective aggression and reading my targets (I knew who to avoid, and who to steal from) was spot on.
Then, just as things were once again getting desperate, and I dipped below the ever important x10 BB level in my stack for the first time, I looked down at pocket queens. My first pocket pair since my jacks in the rebuy period. I was on the button and one player raised in front of me. I pushed all in.
The small blind to my left, was on a mini-heater, and I'd also say slightly on tilt from winning the last 2 hands (strange, but it does happen). He pushed all-in over the top, the initial raiser folded and I found my queens up against - AQ. Sweet. Again, I mercifully avoided a three out bitch slap.
The double up was much needed, as the bubble (the cutoff point as to who makes the money and who doesn't) approached. I could tell pretty quickly, that I literally could fold my way to the money. And I was fine with this, I was happy, in such a fast structure at this point, to walk out with $130, $45 in profit.
I decided ahead of time at this point to fold everything but Aces or Kings. Thankfully my resolve was not tested, as I got nothing but utter junk until the bubble burst. Now I was ready to go to war without fear.
I was utterly card dead as we went to four tables total (which also happened to be my fourth table of the afternoon) but it didn't matter too much. I was able to steal - all in pre-flop, every other orbit or so, just enough to stay ahead of the game. My craziest move was an all-in shove from the cutoff with Q7os (the computer hand - the very last starting pair that is a favorite to beat any two random cards). I also stole with pocket 10's, and yes, another AJ.
One by one the players dropped around me. I had been a short stack, along with most other players, for well over 2/3 of the tournament. But I was fine with it, especially after the bubble. I honestly was happy with all my moves, even the ones with less than great cards. I was putting my fold equity to the max, not crippling myself ahead of time and letting other players call me and then outplay me on the flop. I had a healthy enough stack to put a real decision to all but the biggest of stacks, which I happily avoided.
Finally, we drew for the final two tables. I sat down with again, less than ten times the big blind. Actually, FAR less than ten times - because the blinds were now CRAZY big. It was that time of the tournament, time to get everyone out before the minimum wage dealers went into overtime pay. I knew I was going to have to take the plunge with garbage cards, I was NOT going to punk out and get blinded off. I had played too well to go out like a biznatch.
But my cards were SO ugly, a 49, a J3, and then UTG I looked down at Q4. I almost pulled the trigger, but then for some reason thought I'd take my chances on the next hand which would be a devastating big blind.
I put almost half of my chips in for the BB, and the player to my immediate left led out with a "standard" raise which was a big chunk of his chips. For some reason, I took that moment to look at my cards. Throughout the tournament I had been very good about not looking until it was my turn to act. But I think I was so eager to see what I would have to call with (I was pot committed with my blind) that I looked down at what I had.
Aces.
I could barely contain myself as the cutoff called the UTG raise. "All in." I calmly announced. UTG got a count and called, as did the reluctant cutoff - who had foolishly priced himself in with, as it would turn out, a very mediocre holding.
So the main pot would triple me up, if I could avoid getting my bullets cracked.
A queen high flop. UTG bet out. Cutoff, hemmed and hawed, and hemmed and hawed for eternity before finally folding his pocket nines face up. UTG quickly turned up his AQ, I proudly showed off my pocket rockets. The table was aghast as I avoided a two outer and scooped up a substantial pot. With the big ass blinds, the chunky antes, PLUS three times my remaining stack, I was officially off of life support.
Two hands later, I looked down in the cutoff, with one caller in front of me, at AK. I pushed all-in. My stack was okay, but I didn't like a call here. The blinds were just too crazy big. I had to put that caller, who I had covered, to the test. It was folded to him and he called quickly. Ugh, I didn't like that speed. He tabled pocket sixes. Meh, not crazy about that call - but I was happy to race.
If he won, I'd be crippled. The flop and the turn didn't look good, I had only six outs. One of them (the case king as it turns out, two others said they folded king-rags) spiked on the river.
Now I had a stack, a real big ass stack. Though, believe it or not, not so big as to let me bully the table - lest I follow in the footsteps of the former big stack in the cutoff during my aces hand. He, through badly timed aggression, was now a mere nub of his former self - all in the space of less than an orbit.
I could see clearly, as we drew for the final table - that all of us (including a "monster" stack who had me at 2 to 1) were actually short stacked. It would be almost entirely luck that determined who won what from this point on.
And that, my dear friends, is why HPC always does a chip count at the start of the final table, and presents an option to chop, based on the relative sizes of the remaining stacks. They don't pressure, they don't cajole, they are very sly about it. They run the numbers and offer very nice pay-outs, and only on very rare exceptions does someone object.
In this case, we were almost all amiable - especially me. I stood to take home $2330 in cold cash, for my fourth place finish. The chip leader was the one potential hold-out. He would be taking the biggest cut of all, receiving 4K instead of 7K. I had been chatting with him a bit during this process, and very gently remarked (a couple of times in a couple of different ways) how quickly the chip standings could evaporate with the blinds the way they were.
It seemed to sink in, as he agreed to the terms just before we were due to sit down. He had to be sure though, that his name would go up on the wall. I laughed inwardly at this. To me, all that mattered was that I had turned $85 into over $2000 in less than six hours. Talk about intoxicating!
But I was a good boy. I went straight back to work and got done all that I had to do.
Needless to say, it was pretty easy to break the news to my wife that I had impulsively snuck away a bit for some poker - when I dropped 20 c-notes in her lap! Yes, all the winnings went to the boss, as they should. My bi-monthly live game is NOT part of my poker bankroll as of yet. It is purely for entertainment - yes, gambling. When I start to crush the HPC tournaments on a regular basis, I might reconsider, but for now I am happy to treat it as a little treat for myself that I get to have every 60 days or so.
I thought I played great, but the cold reality is that I was VERY lucky. I managed to avoid any catastrophic suck-outs for once and I also had good luck in getting more than my fair share of especially good starting cards when I needed them the most.
On the other hand, in all honesty, I don't think I got my money in bad a single time. Every time that I can remember, when I was all in pre-flop (and this was quite a few times as HPC's blind structure gets a bit ridiculous after 3 hours) I was ahead before the board came. I did play very well. I played very tight, maybe too tight occasionally, but I was so hyper conscious of the blinds in relation to my stack - that I know that at least 90% of all my decisions were correct.
I outlasted 290 other players, 29 full tables of ten, by far my best finish ever at HPC. (Although looking back at the year, this was actually my 5th final table, 2 in the admittedly small H.O.R.S.E. tournaments and 2 in the much bigger Hold-em events).
End result - I finished live card room poker for the year ahead well over $2000. My home game also showed a modest profit, and as you all know my online game (with the exception of the Flatline league) went from zero to in the black. Even the Flatline league, in which I am down for the year, I am overall up just slightly.
All in all, a great year - especially great to cap it with such a big win. Ah well, so much for getting over this sickness!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Running good...
My online roll is back up a bit, after taking down two 9 player SNG's in a row.
I was the big winner last night at my home cash game, more than doubling my buy-in.
I finished second in my home game tournament on November 22. (My brother, who has been playing the game all of 2 years, took down the whole thing. It was his THIRD tournament win at my home game this year. In the 4 years I've been hosting, I've won exactly ZERO tournaments.)
I haven't played in a card room since my H.O.R.S.E. second place finish. I'm anxious to get back under the fluorescent lights soon, though it will probably have to wait until next year.
Likewise, my home game is finished until January as well. But my home poker situation promises to be even bigger and better in 2009. Check it out.
For now, this is the time for family and friends. I plan to enjoy it and ignore that constant nagging voice in my brain that craves action.
Oh wait, we still have our online league Tournament of Champions this Monday. Big prize pool. Yep, as soon as I take that one down, I can put poker on hold.
There's also rumblings about a trip to Vegas next year - I had planned to take a poker pilgrimage this year (see my resolution post 12 months ago) but it never materialized. Maybe in 2009 I'll get my chance. I would love to be in town for the WSOP, but even just to go for a long weekend and play tournaments everyday would be fantastic.
The other thing I'd like to accomplish with my game next year, is to finally keep a completely accurate track of my bank roll. I have a pretty good idea of how I did in 2008 - a much better idea than previous years. But I still don't have exact numbers.
I'm not a math guy, and I'm lazy. I need to be precise this next year.
I was the big winner last night at my home cash game, more than doubling my buy-in.
I finished second in my home game tournament on November 22. (My brother, who has been playing the game all of 2 years, took down the whole thing. It was his THIRD tournament win at my home game this year. In the 4 years I've been hosting, I've won exactly ZERO tournaments.)
I haven't played in a card room since my H.O.R.S.E. second place finish. I'm anxious to get back under the fluorescent lights soon, though it will probably have to wait until next year.
Likewise, my home game is finished until January as well. But my home poker situation promises to be even bigger and better in 2009. Check it out.
For now, this is the time for family and friends. I plan to enjoy it and ignore that constant nagging voice in my brain that craves action.
Oh wait, we still have our online league Tournament of Champions this Monday. Big prize pool. Yep, as soon as I take that one down, I can put poker on hold.
There's also rumblings about a trip to Vegas next year - I had planned to take a poker pilgrimage this year (see my resolution post 12 months ago) but it never materialized. Maybe in 2009 I'll get my chance. I would love to be in town for the WSOP, but even just to go for a long weekend and play tournaments everyday would be fantastic.
The other thing I'd like to accomplish with my game next year, is to finally keep a completely accurate track of my bank roll. I have a pretty good idea of how I did in 2008 - a much better idea than previous years. But I still don't have exact numbers.
I'm not a math guy, and I'm lazy. I need to be precise this next year.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Long time no post!
Yes, this blog has been neglected. In all honesty, it's because I've been immersed in poker! Mostly the online variety. I've ever so slowly built my bankroll, a mighty 2 dollars that I won in a 2700 player freeroll tournament, upwards of $15 - by playing one or two tournaments just about every night of the week.
Very recently I've tapered off a bit, now playing every other night or so - I was getting concerned that the wife was getting concerned.
The good news is that my bankroll is about 8 times bigger than it was in September. The not so good news is that at one point I had it up to $29! Variance in tournament poker is pretty high, and I think such a big swing really is because of this fact. I feel very confident with my play, in that any sit-n-go I sit down to, be it NLHE or H.O.R.S.E., I have a VERY good chance of making the money.
Elsewhere, the fairly decent news is that though I haven't cashed recently in Flatline, I'm feeling a lot better about my play in that arena and I still haven't had to make another deposit. The tournament of champions is coming up for that league in 2 weeks, and there's a chance to take down a substantial prize pool. I have faith if I can avoid my typical river coolers, I have a better chance than most and as good a chance as the few better players.
The rather cool news, is that I've finally been cashing regularly in my home game. I scored fourth and third place finishes in back to back tournaments - as well as a $60 profit in the last cash game. Very nice.
The super cool news is that I recently cashed live again - taking down $490 in the Sunday Hollywood Park Casino H.O.R.S.E. tournament. It was a very small tournament, only two tables of 8 - but they only paid 2 places, first and second. And I finished second!
Overall I felt good about my play - though my one big misread of a hand (in Seven Stud/8) brought me one of the biggest pots of the night. The player to my right was a crafty codger who was surprisingly aggressive and had a very good feel of who to steal from and who to avoid. In the hand where I busted him, and another player, I put him on a low draw. He actually had a made 2 pair, very well hidden - and I was drawing dead on the river save for two outs. I hit one of them and he was gone, his friendly table demeanor evaporated as he stormed off scowling under his breath.
The other player was drawing to a low, which he missed. I essentially tripled up.
Two rounds later, playing Omaha/8, I'm very proud to say I looked down at a premium starting hand A4KQ double suited and popped it pre-flop. 3 callers. The flop came 2 5 K rainbow - and I led out with a bet. 3 callers. The turn was a Q. I checked and one player bet. Everyone, me included, called. The river was the dream 3. I led out, 3 callers. I had the stone nuts for both high and low. The one better had two pair Aces up, the other two had even tinier pieces. Big pot for me.
Energized by such fishiness around me, I continued to play exceptionally well - winning a dozen or so more pots - including a big one in Hold-em with a flopped boat, until we got to the final table - when I sat down I was a bit surprised to see that I was BY FAR the chip leader. I probably had a 5 to 1 lead on the next biggest stack, and likely a 10 to 1 lead or more on most of the stubby stacks at the table.
It was this realization, combined with the sheer, almost maniac, aggressiveness of the new players at the table, that I basically folded up and stopped playing for this last part of the tournament. I wanted to mix it up, really, but I new that mathematically there was very little reason to spew my chips away with less than premium starting cards - and I was about as card dead as you can get.
Towards the end, I did manage to bust another player, when my pocket kings in Hold-em held up to a short stack's Ax. This gave me enough chips to have a strangle hold on second. The player to my right, I have to give props to, for his relentless aggression and razor sharp instincts to fold in the right spots and get paid in others. He had a 2 to 1 chip lead on me when the dust settled and there were only three of us left.
The third place guy, who was down to a nub of a stack, was another codger. A regular I had seen before, who suavely suggested a chop. The chip leader graciously agreed to throw him $150 (only 50 more than the buy-in) off his own first place money of $1100, allowing me to keep the full second place amount.
I suppose I could have declined, the nub was sure to bust out in a few hands, and then I could've battled the chip leader. But in all honesty, the fatigue of nearly 6 hours of play had really gotten to me. If I ever play in the World Series of Poker, I don't know how I'm going to handle the 14 hour days! I was spent, and ready to head home, with nearly 5 times the money in my pocket than what I had sat down with. And since I'm being completely honest, I'd also say that the chip leader was simply a better player than I was. And though I would've enjoyed the challenge, it was likely to be at least another hour or two, with exactly the same results as our chop. As the Kenny Rogers song says, you got to know when to walk away...
Very recently I've tapered off a bit, now playing every other night or so - I was getting concerned that the wife was getting concerned.
The good news is that my bankroll is about 8 times bigger than it was in September. The not so good news is that at one point I had it up to $29! Variance in tournament poker is pretty high, and I think such a big swing really is because of this fact. I feel very confident with my play, in that any sit-n-go I sit down to, be it NLHE or H.O.R.S.E., I have a VERY good chance of making the money.
Elsewhere, the fairly decent news is that though I haven't cashed recently in Flatline, I'm feeling a lot better about my play in that arena and I still haven't had to make another deposit. The tournament of champions is coming up for that league in 2 weeks, and there's a chance to take down a substantial prize pool. I have faith if I can avoid my typical river coolers, I have a better chance than most and as good a chance as the few better players.
The rather cool news, is that I've finally been cashing regularly in my home game. I scored fourth and third place finishes in back to back tournaments - as well as a $60 profit in the last cash game. Very nice.
The super cool news is that I recently cashed live again - taking down $490 in the Sunday Hollywood Park Casino H.O.R.S.E. tournament. It was a very small tournament, only two tables of 8 - but they only paid 2 places, first and second. And I finished second!
Overall I felt good about my play - though my one big misread of a hand (in Seven Stud/8) brought me one of the biggest pots of the night. The player to my right was a crafty codger who was surprisingly aggressive and had a very good feel of who to steal from and who to avoid. In the hand where I busted him, and another player, I put him on a low draw. He actually had a made 2 pair, very well hidden - and I was drawing dead on the river save for two outs. I hit one of them and he was gone, his friendly table demeanor evaporated as he stormed off scowling under his breath.
The other player was drawing to a low, which he missed. I essentially tripled up.
Two rounds later, playing Omaha/8, I'm very proud to say I looked down at a premium starting hand A4KQ double suited and popped it pre-flop. 3 callers. The flop came 2 5 K rainbow - and I led out with a bet. 3 callers. The turn was a Q. I checked and one player bet. Everyone, me included, called. The river was the dream 3. I led out, 3 callers. I had the stone nuts for both high and low. The one better had two pair Aces up, the other two had even tinier pieces. Big pot for me.
Energized by such fishiness around me, I continued to play exceptionally well - winning a dozen or so more pots - including a big one in Hold-em with a flopped boat, until we got to the final table - when I sat down I was a bit surprised to see that I was BY FAR the chip leader. I probably had a 5 to 1 lead on the next biggest stack, and likely a 10 to 1 lead or more on most of the stubby stacks at the table.
It was this realization, combined with the sheer, almost maniac, aggressiveness of the new players at the table, that I basically folded up and stopped playing for this last part of the tournament. I wanted to mix it up, really, but I new that mathematically there was very little reason to spew my chips away with less than premium starting cards - and I was about as card dead as you can get.
Towards the end, I did manage to bust another player, when my pocket kings in Hold-em held up to a short stack's Ax. This gave me enough chips to have a strangle hold on second. The player to my right, I have to give props to, for his relentless aggression and razor sharp instincts to fold in the right spots and get paid in others. He had a 2 to 1 chip lead on me when the dust settled and there were only three of us left.
The third place guy, who was down to a nub of a stack, was another codger. A regular I had seen before, who suavely suggested a chop. The chip leader graciously agreed to throw him $150 (only 50 more than the buy-in) off his own first place money of $1100, allowing me to keep the full second place amount.
I suppose I could have declined, the nub was sure to bust out in a few hands, and then I could've battled the chip leader. But in all honesty, the fatigue of nearly 6 hours of play had really gotten to me. If I ever play in the World Series of Poker, I don't know how I'm going to handle the 14 hour days! I was spent, and ready to head home, with nearly 5 times the money in my pocket than what I had sat down with. And since I'm being completely honest, I'd also say that the chip leader was simply a better player than I was. And though I would've enjoyed the challenge, it was likely to be at least another hour or two, with exactly the same results as our chop. As the Kenny Rogers song says, you got to know when to walk away...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Second feels like first!
Finished second last night in my online league, and I have to say beating out 15 other players felt damn good.
Finally, all of my hands held-up. I only got my money in bad a couple of times, and those times, thankfully the damage wasn't too bad. Most every time I did push or call - I was ahead pre-flop, or even ahead after the flop. It was really cool that I didn't get hit with the Gawd awful flush draw suckouts or middle pair turning into trips on the turn.
I did get into trouble a couple of times, with the resident league calling stations. Snow White is probably one of the easiest players to deal with in the league; she only leads out with premium hands, overbets her top pairs, and refuses to let go of pocket pairs in the face of overcards. Should be simple right? Well, she is. My only problem is that I still find it hard to believe that she will keep calling with a pair of nines when a King and Ace are on board. Well, I need to believe it - and next time when I have one of those overcards, I'll get paid.
Thankfully, other players propensity to call me down worked heavily in my favor last night. I was even able to go all in on the river with a full house - and get called by two pair! Awesome.
I think I finally realized this, that my reputation as a super aggressive semi-donkey, can be used to great advantage to make my made monster hands hugely profitable.
The second part of my success then - with big pots coming my way, was to hold on to my chip stack and not push, push, push on every hand. In an ocean of calling stations, who think that 2 to 1 pot odds is a GREAT price for a 4 to 1 flush draw - I've finally learned not to bother applying leverage, or giving the wrong price. In marginal situations - I just fold. Then two hands later, when I push, they get spanked.
The second half of this season is looking pretty dang good so far.
Finally, all of my hands held-up. I only got my money in bad a couple of times, and those times, thankfully the damage wasn't too bad. Most every time I did push or call - I was ahead pre-flop, or even ahead after the flop. It was really cool that I didn't get hit with the Gawd awful flush draw suckouts or middle pair turning into trips on the turn.
I did get into trouble a couple of times, with the resident league calling stations. Snow White is probably one of the easiest players to deal with in the league; she only leads out with premium hands, overbets her top pairs, and refuses to let go of pocket pairs in the face of overcards. Should be simple right? Well, she is. My only problem is that I still find it hard to believe that she will keep calling with a pair of nines when a King and Ace are on board. Well, I need to believe it - and next time when I have one of those overcards, I'll get paid.
Thankfully, other players propensity to call me down worked heavily in my favor last night. I was even able to go all in on the river with a full house - and get called by two pair! Awesome.
I think I finally realized this, that my reputation as a super aggressive semi-donkey, can be used to great advantage to make my made monster hands hugely profitable.
The second part of my success then - with big pots coming my way, was to hold on to my chip stack and not push, push, push on every hand. In an ocean of calling stations, who think that 2 to 1 pot odds is a GREAT price for a 4 to 1 flush draw - I've finally learned not to bother applying leverage, or giving the wrong price. In marginal situations - I just fold. Then two hands later, when I push, they get spanked.
The second half of this season is looking pretty dang good so far.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Cashing in.
Last Friday night saw the return of cash game play to my humble home game.
But for one other player at the table (Svengolly), save for myself, I have to say - I sat down and saw a lot of dead money. Of course, as I've said on this blog before, and I will repeat again; this opinion of mine has no bearing on my poker opponents as people. Indeed, as it is my personal home game, there were and will probably always be fellow players beside me who are some of my oldest and dearest friends.
Still, thankfully for my bankroll, not a wit of them know how to play poker. (Again the lone exception being Sven) Poker is, simply, war - and one must prey on the weak to succeed. But with a smile of course.
Quite simply, I knew by betting for value against the weak passive lot of them, and staying out of Sven's way - it was all but short of automatic for me to make money.
I didn't have the greatest night that I could have imagined, I was fairly cold decked, and yet when I cashed out at the end of the night, I had nearly sixty more dollars in my wallet. Crazy.
Sven was the big winner, finishing with nearly a c-note in the black.
I have to say, when I cashed out, I was surprised. I didn't feel I played especially great, and like I said, I wasn't exactly on a heater when it came to the cards. But I guess it always boils down to game and opponent selection.
Firstly, we played mixed games. As much as my NLHE skills have leaped and grown, I'm still an old school limit stud player at heart. I crushed in Razz, as well as the very wacky 2-7 Triple Draw. I also have to say I got paid handsomely in the limit version of Hold-Em as well as good old evil Omaha/8.
The games that kept me from moving up an income bracket or two were the high version of seven stud (always my weakest stud game) and believe it or not Pot Limit Omaha (that's high only folks!) and Pot Limit Hold-Em as well. I didn't exactly take a beating in these games, but I definitely felt much rockier.
Good times. Looking very much forward to a probably very chaotic mixed game tournament at home next Saturday.
But for one other player at the table (Svengolly), save for myself, I have to say - I sat down and saw a lot of dead money. Of course, as I've said on this blog before, and I will repeat again; this opinion of mine has no bearing on my poker opponents as people. Indeed, as it is my personal home game, there were and will probably always be fellow players beside me who are some of my oldest and dearest friends.
Still, thankfully for my bankroll, not a wit of them know how to play poker. (Again the lone exception being Sven) Poker is, simply, war - and one must prey on the weak to succeed. But with a smile of course.
Quite simply, I knew by betting for value against the weak passive lot of them, and staying out of Sven's way - it was all but short of automatic for me to make money.
I didn't have the greatest night that I could have imagined, I was fairly cold decked, and yet when I cashed out at the end of the night, I had nearly sixty more dollars in my wallet. Crazy.
Sven was the big winner, finishing with nearly a c-note in the black.
I have to say, when I cashed out, I was surprised. I didn't feel I played especially great, and like I said, I wasn't exactly on a heater when it came to the cards. But I guess it always boils down to game and opponent selection.
Firstly, we played mixed games. As much as my NLHE skills have leaped and grown, I'm still an old school limit stud player at heart. I crushed in Razz, as well as the very wacky 2-7 Triple Draw. I also have to say I got paid handsomely in the limit version of Hold-Em as well as good old evil Omaha/8.
The games that kept me from moving up an income bracket or two were the high version of seven stud (always my weakest stud game) and believe it or not Pot Limit Omaha (that's high only folks!) and Pot Limit Hold-Em as well. I didn't exactly take a beating in these games, but I definitely felt much rockier.
Good times. Looking very much forward to a probably very chaotic mixed game tournament at home next Saturday.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Bubbly Fun
Okay, so technically I wasn't the bubble; I went out 7th; but I had a really good feeling when there were ten people left.
Then I looked and saw the chip count.
I just couldn't seem to get a foothold in the crucial final table stages and here's why.
A new player, Ro, had a mountain of chips and decided she was going to play every hand.
After watching her in a few hands, I quickly surmised that Ro was a fishy calling station who had luck-boxed her way into her chips. This was bad news. It meant she wouldn't respect any of my raises, which would have to be uncomfortably big for me anyway - and she was unlikely to lay down to any aggression.
Because she now had over 18K, and I had about 8K, I was literally unable to get involved in a hand unless I was ready to gamble for all of my chips. A crap situation.
Timmytimmy had some stones though, and gave Ro a good run for her money. He was the only player building a stack before luck finally caught up with him.
On the opposite side of the spectrum was Cali, who had also found himself with more chips than he knew what to do with. I knew I didn't have to worry about him. He would passively fold unless he had a piece. If he fired and I had zip, I'd just go away with minimal damage. If he did have a piece and I had a monster, I would still get paid.
Ro on the other hand, with her mountain of chips didn't even understand the value (yes, there is a small amount of value in this) of folding to the money. Nor did she grasp the power that she had to bust players. She routinely "value bet" into short stacks, instead of just putting them all in. I still don't understand why players short change themselves this way.
I took a wild guess that she would spew off her chips before it got to the money. My read was right on - as she did just that.
But before this happened, I took my leave.
As the blinds escalated, I had to suck it up and push when I felt the time was right. Three times I took the plunge and was successful at stealing the healthy blinds and antes. The fourth time I did it, I got called by a pair of tens. My king high failed to improve and I was on the rail.
I think if luck had been with me I had a real shot at taking it down. Especially after Ro imploded in Scotty Nguyen (Main Event 2007) fashion.
The best player remaining, Sven, had all the moves and tools, he just ran into better hands against SSB who mounted an impressive comeback from a faulty internet connection and a tiny stack to take the whole thing down.
After all of my low finishes this season, I felt some solace in a statistic that the league moderator Nacl released last weekend. I sit (or rather sat until last night) at the very top of the list of the percentage of all time cashes in the league, over 34%!
If I look at it this way, the way I'm supposed to, as a LONG game of poker: I'm having a great run! And if I start cashing again regularly, there is no way I won't bust this league!
All Time Cash %
% name
40.0% Dan P. (I DON'T INCLUDE DAN P. BECAUSE HE DOESN'T PLAY ANYMORE, AFTER ONLY PLAYING A HALF DOZEN TOURNAMENTS!)
34.0% Chris M.
33.3% Chris R.
33.3% Willie F.
32.0% Noah S.
31.3% Yano R.
30.0% Dustin N.
30.0% Marleena R.
29.4% Allen Q.
29.4% Tohn S.
27.8% Jake L.
27.7% Timmy Y.
27.3% Dan S-R
26.3% Scott C.
25.6% Chris L.
25.0% Jason H.
22.2% Max E.
21.7% Joe F.
20.0% Gary N.
19.2% Phil D.
16.7% Rick J.
16.7% Steve F.
14.3% Joe M.
14.3% Sam R.
13.8% Jake R.
13.3% Sam B.
11.1% Al B.
4.8% Dan L.
0.0% Bruce C.
0.0% Dave W.
0.0% Jay F.
0.0% John M.
0.0% Marc F.
Then I looked and saw the chip count.
I just couldn't seem to get a foothold in the crucial final table stages and here's why.
A new player, Ro, had a mountain of chips and decided she was going to play every hand.
After watching her in a few hands, I quickly surmised that Ro was a fishy calling station who had luck-boxed her way into her chips. This was bad news. It meant she wouldn't respect any of my raises, which would have to be uncomfortably big for me anyway - and she was unlikely to lay down to any aggression.
Because she now had over 18K, and I had about 8K, I was literally unable to get involved in a hand unless I was ready to gamble for all of my chips. A crap situation.
Timmytimmy had some stones though, and gave Ro a good run for her money. He was the only player building a stack before luck finally caught up with him.
On the opposite side of the spectrum was Cali, who had also found himself with more chips than he knew what to do with. I knew I didn't have to worry about him. He would passively fold unless he had a piece. If he fired and I had zip, I'd just go away with minimal damage. If he did have a piece and I had a monster, I would still get paid.
Ro on the other hand, with her mountain of chips didn't even understand the value (yes, there is a small amount of value in this) of folding to the money. Nor did she grasp the power that she had to bust players. She routinely "value bet" into short stacks, instead of just putting them all in. I still don't understand why players short change themselves this way.
I took a wild guess that she would spew off her chips before it got to the money. My read was right on - as she did just that.
But before this happened, I took my leave.
As the blinds escalated, I had to suck it up and push when I felt the time was right. Three times I took the plunge and was successful at stealing the healthy blinds and antes. The fourth time I did it, I got called by a pair of tens. My king high failed to improve and I was on the rail.
I think if luck had been with me I had a real shot at taking it down. Especially after Ro imploded in Scotty Nguyen (Main Event 2007) fashion.
The best player remaining, Sven, had all the moves and tools, he just ran into better hands against SSB who mounted an impressive comeback from a faulty internet connection and a tiny stack to take the whole thing down.
After all of my low finishes this season, I felt some solace in a statistic that the league moderator Nacl released last weekend. I sit (or rather sat until last night) at the very top of the list of the percentage of all time cashes in the league, over 34%!
If I look at it this way, the way I'm supposed to, as a LONG game of poker: I'm having a great run! And if I start cashing again regularly, there is no way I won't bust this league!
All Time Cash %
% name
40.0% Dan P. (I DON'T INCLUDE DAN P. BECAUSE HE DOESN'T PLAY ANYMORE, AFTER ONLY PLAYING A HALF DOZEN TOURNAMENTS!)
34.0% Chris M.
33.3% Chris R.
33.3% Willie F.
32.0% Noah S.
31.3% Yano R.
30.0% Dustin N.
30.0% Marleena R.
29.4% Allen Q.
29.4% Tohn S.
27.8% Jake L.
27.7% Timmy Y.
27.3% Dan S-R
26.3% Scott C.
25.6% Chris L.
25.0% Jason H.
22.2% Max E.
21.7% Joe F.
20.0% Gary N.
19.2% Phil D.
16.7% Rick J.
16.7% Steve F.
14.3% Joe M.
14.3% Sam R.
13.8% Jake R.
13.3% Sam B.
11.1% Al B.
4.8% Dan L.
0.0% Bruce C.
0.0% Dave W.
0.0% Jay F.
0.0% John M.
0.0% Marc F.
Monday, September 8, 2008
HORSE-ing Around
After spending the day with my beautiful wife and daughter at the Santa Monica Pier (see, I'm a good dad and not a degenerate gambler) I headed off to Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood - a fine, fine, establishment, for some exciting mixed game tournament action.
HPC actually, is a dingy den of degenerates. Adjacent to a failing racetrack, it's where you're most likely to run into players too busy checking their race forms to realize that they should fold. Still, there is a shoddy charm to the place, and they run the most (and cheapest) regular tournaments in town. The floor staff is very friendly as well, and they are pretty good about keeping a lid on outbursts.
This was my very first card room HORSE tournament, which isn't that surprising - HORSE, Hold-Em, Omaha/8, Razz, Seven Stud and Eight or Better Seven Stud, is only recently gaining popularity as NL Hold-em burnout/backlash grows.
Technically, I cashed. I finished 7th out of four tables, 32 players - but all I got was my entry fee back. I also had a lot of fun.
Most reassuring to me was that the dealers were just about as befuddled as we are at my home games. Dealing five different varieties of poker in one setting can be a little confusing to say the least. There were numerous instances of players correcting dealers, players incorrectly correcting dealers, and just a general random good natured frustration all around in trying to keep up. Just like at my games!
Early on I won a big pot in Omaha/8, I turned over my cards and didn't realize that I had a full house - a lady to my left also had a boat, a smaller boat, and the dealer started to push the pot her way. Another player, much to my delight, mentioned that I had a bigger boat. The lady screeched at him "Sir, you aren't supposed to say anything! One player to a hand!" etc. etc. He vigorously defended himself stating (in fact, correctly) that every player was ethically obligated to point out a mistake by the dealer if the winning hand is missed.
This is absolutely the case. People often get confused by the rule "One player to a hand" but in this kind of instance, it simply does not apply. The best hands win, the cards speak, period.
I didn't say one word during this whole exchange, except to apologize to the lady for not knowing what I had - the lady and man continued to bicker, culminating with her calling the floor. The TD said what I knew he would, that the winning hand wins. In fact he went on to add, that if there is a dispute and the cards are mucked, they will go to the security camera tapes and make sure that the pot is awarded correctly.
Players are not out of line to speak up if they see a mistake, in fact they are ethically obligated to see that the best hand wins. I'd also go so far to say that I would want players doing this, and I would do it for them in return.
Unfortunately, even after the lady had conceded the point, the man had to keep needling for a longer period than necessary. Five minutes of silence would pass, and then he would start up again. She would get angry and jibber jabber back. I just ignored it, and eventually, it did die down.
Other than that mild unpleasantness, which is pretty minor for HPC standards, it was a very fun evening. I look forward to going again, hopefully next month. If I can actually cash, then this might become my tournament of choice.
HPC actually, is a dingy den of degenerates. Adjacent to a failing racetrack, it's where you're most likely to run into players too busy checking their race forms to realize that they should fold. Still, there is a shoddy charm to the place, and they run the most (and cheapest) regular tournaments in town. The floor staff is very friendly as well, and they are pretty good about keeping a lid on outbursts.
This was my very first card room HORSE tournament, which isn't that surprising - HORSE, Hold-Em, Omaha/8, Razz, Seven Stud and Eight or Better Seven Stud, is only recently gaining popularity as NL Hold-em burnout/backlash grows.
Technically, I cashed. I finished 7th out of four tables, 32 players - but all I got was my entry fee back. I also had a lot of fun.
Most reassuring to me was that the dealers were just about as befuddled as we are at my home games. Dealing five different varieties of poker in one setting can be a little confusing to say the least. There were numerous instances of players correcting dealers, players incorrectly correcting dealers, and just a general random good natured frustration all around in trying to keep up. Just like at my games!
Early on I won a big pot in Omaha/8, I turned over my cards and didn't realize that I had a full house - a lady to my left also had a boat, a smaller boat, and the dealer started to push the pot her way. Another player, much to my delight, mentioned that I had a bigger boat. The lady screeched at him "Sir, you aren't supposed to say anything! One player to a hand!" etc. etc. He vigorously defended himself stating (in fact, correctly) that every player was ethically obligated to point out a mistake by the dealer if the winning hand is missed.
This is absolutely the case. People often get confused by the rule "One player to a hand" but in this kind of instance, it simply does not apply. The best hands win, the cards speak, period.
I didn't say one word during this whole exchange, except to apologize to the lady for not knowing what I had - the lady and man continued to bicker, culminating with her calling the floor. The TD said what I knew he would, that the winning hand wins. In fact he went on to add, that if there is a dispute and the cards are mucked, they will go to the security camera tapes and make sure that the pot is awarded correctly.
Players are not out of line to speak up if they see a mistake, in fact they are ethically obligated to see that the best hand wins. I'd also go so far to say that I would want players doing this, and I would do it for them in return.
Unfortunately, even after the lady had conceded the point, the man had to keep needling for a longer period than necessary. Five minutes of silence would pass, and then he would start up again. She would get angry and jibber jabber back. I just ignored it, and eventually, it did die down.
Other than that mild unpleasantness, which is pretty minor for HPC standards, it was a very fun evening. I look forward to going again, hopefully next month. If I can actually cash, then this might become my tournament of choice.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Real money online? Believe it.
So I've put off depositing actual cash into my Full Tilt account. Now I have a laptop, and effective privacy - so there is really no excuse.
But I still hadn't done it though the other night when I sat down to a 2700 player $100 freeroll.
Full Tilt runs these freerolls on their sight several times a day - they are free tournaments that pay real money. The total prize pool is $100. The total number of players paid is 27. Out of 2700.
I finished 16th. I won two actual dollars, deposited into my real money account. Time to start grinding!
I think it would be really cool to build my account without ever having to put any of my own money in! Crazy I know, but crazier things have happened.
I hope, using Chris Ferguson's bankroll guidelines, I can work my way up to having an actual functioning bankroll.
Stay tuned!
But I still hadn't done it though the other night when I sat down to a 2700 player $100 freeroll.
Full Tilt runs these freerolls on their sight several times a day - they are free tournaments that pay real money. The total prize pool is $100. The total number of players paid is 27. Out of 2700.
I finished 16th. I won two actual dollars, deposited into my real money account. Time to start grinding!
I think it would be really cool to build my account without ever having to put any of my own money in! Crazy I know, but crazier things have happened.
I hope, using Chris Ferguson's bankroll guidelines, I can work my way up to having an actual functioning bankroll.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Not Much to Say
Busted out 10 minutes in when I hit a set of kings on the turn, I had KQ, villain had AK.
Had I been fully alert I maybe, MAYBE, could have seen what he had. Earlier he smooth called with aces pre-flop, and only re-popped it with a raise from the blinds. On the hand above, there was no re-raise to my standard raise preflop, but he was behind me. He re-raised my continuation bet on the flop, and I called it. When the trips came on the turn, I was going broke. Even with full knowledge of his holdings, which in hind-sight reeked of AK, I think I still did right in a tournament such as ours with quick and slippery blinds, and lots of LAG donks.
I feel okay about it, I actually prefer it to grinding for two hours and bubbling.
I'm hoping I get permission from the wife to indulge this Sunday night in a HORSE tournament at HPC, should be a good time, full report to follow.
Had I been fully alert I maybe, MAYBE, could have seen what he had. Earlier he smooth called with aces pre-flop, and only re-popped it with a raise from the blinds. On the hand above, there was no re-raise to my standard raise preflop, but he was behind me. He re-raised my continuation bet on the flop, and I called it. When the trips came on the turn, I was going broke. Even with full knowledge of his holdings, which in hind-sight reeked of AK, I think I still did right in a tournament such as ours with quick and slippery blinds, and lots of LAG donks.
I feel okay about it, I actually prefer it to grinding for two hours and bubbling.
I'm hoping I get permission from the wife to indulge this Sunday night in a HORSE tournament at HPC, should be a good time, full report to follow.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Finally
So my "poker in the dark" experiment didn't exactly have the earth shattering results I expected. It was fun, but I still busted out early, running into real hands and having to muck after pushing too much on the turn and river. With my chip stack crippled early on, I wasn't long for this world.
Then, I went to Kenya.
I'll be blogging a bit about the trip over on manzoniman soon, but suffice it to say; Kenya was yet another "transformative" trip for me.
My first night back was last Monday, and I was dead to the world. Didn't play.
Fast forward another week, and I'm back in action. I cashed. I cashed God dammit.
Two things factored into this I think. One; I'm still under the lingering effects of jet lag. I find it takes me at least a week and a half to start feeling 100% after having traveled half way around the world in 24 hours. I think my fuzzy brain actually helped me not think too much, which has been my downfall of late.
Reason two: the wife bought me a laptop, so I can now play poker in privacy.
The latter I think had the biggest effect, simply by virtue of not being tied to an environment rife with distraction. I love my little girl so much, that I can't help but be attentive - even in the midst of poker warfare. With her and the wife removed from the picture, I was able to focus my (admittedly addled) brain on the game at hand. Result: fatigue + privacy = best poker I've played in months.
My reads were spot on; I even managed to get coolered a couple of times (my AK fell to an A9) and still fight my way back to a healthy stack. I have no doubt that if uber-donk Scamp hadn't been stinking it up as he repeatedly bet into dry side-pots (letting players with their tournament lives at risk escape) I would have finished even higher. There are some bad players in the league, but for my money - Scamp is the king. Calling station doesn't even begin to describe him, and like others in the league, if he catches cards watch out. He's a one man wrecking ball of trash that routinely rivers and sucks out players that read him like a book.
I'm not griping actually, I'm just thrilled that I played so well. Hell, I'm happy just to have finished higher than wytrabbit, who has been tearing up the league this season.
Next week the plan is: stay up late the night before and wake up early.
Then, I went to Kenya.
I'll be blogging a bit about the trip over on manzoniman soon, but suffice it to say; Kenya was yet another "transformative" trip for me.
My first night back was last Monday, and I was dead to the world. Didn't play.
Fast forward another week, and I'm back in action. I cashed. I cashed God dammit.
Two things factored into this I think. One; I'm still under the lingering effects of jet lag. I find it takes me at least a week and a half to start feeling 100% after having traveled half way around the world in 24 hours. I think my fuzzy brain actually helped me not think too much, which has been my downfall of late.
Reason two: the wife bought me a laptop, so I can now play poker in privacy.
The latter I think had the biggest effect, simply by virtue of not being tied to an environment rife with distraction. I love my little girl so much, that I can't help but be attentive - even in the midst of poker warfare. With her and the wife removed from the picture, I was able to focus my (admittedly addled) brain on the game at hand. Result: fatigue + privacy = best poker I've played in months.
My reads were spot on; I even managed to get coolered a couple of times (my AK fell to an A9) and still fight my way back to a healthy stack. I have no doubt that if uber-donk Scamp hadn't been stinking it up as he repeatedly bet into dry side-pots (letting players with their tournament lives at risk escape) I would have finished even higher. There are some bad players in the league, but for my money - Scamp is the king. Calling station doesn't even begin to describe him, and like others in the league, if he catches cards watch out. He's a one man wrecking ball of trash that routinely rivers and sucks out players that read him like a book.
I'm not griping actually, I'm just thrilled that I played so well. Hell, I'm happy just to have finished higher than wytrabbit, who has been tearing up the league this season.
Next week the plan is: stay up late the night before and wake up early.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Experiment
Having been flustered and frustrated with my online play for a couple of months now, I resolve to try something kind of crazy this Monday. I'm going to set my software to deal me my cards face down. I have to click on the cards to reveal them, but I don't think I'm going to - at least not until the bubble approaches. The highest I've finished in the 8 tournaments this season is 10th. I'm confident if I only play by position and feel, which will free me from the distraction of the potential of my actual cards, I can finish in the top nine.
It may sound ridiculous, but I've actually been practicing on my Poker Academy software this way for a week now, and I'm actually taking down 25 player tournaments without ever looking at my cards. Granted, this is against the computer, which plays idiotically, but still; I was surprised to be so successful. I either busted out super early, or finished in the top three, winning more often than not.
Annette 15, teenage internet poker millionaire and recent winner of the European World Series Main Event, won a big MTT on Poker Stars not looking at her cards except for once. I don't expect I'll do the same, but I know it will be a beneficial thing to try.
Here's hoping the league members have stopped reading this blog.
It may sound ridiculous, but I've actually been practicing on my Poker Academy software this way for a week now, and I'm actually taking down 25 player tournaments without ever looking at my cards. Granted, this is against the computer, which plays idiotically, but still; I was surprised to be so successful. I either busted out super early, or finished in the top three, winning more often than not.
Annette 15, teenage internet poker millionaire and recent winner of the European World Series Main Event, won a big MTT on Poker Stars not looking at her cards except for once. I don't expect I'll do the same, but I know it will be a beneficial thing to try.
Here's hoping the league members have stopped reading this blog.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Taking it Back
Game selection. I hear it over and over again - choose your games (read: your opponents) wisely.
Last night we had a super secret after hours at work game - though the boss actually knows about it and has given permission for us to play. As the lineup of players started to take shape, I couldn't help but think to myself "I stand to win tonight, all but one of these players I consider inferior to me." It was true, looking at the five other guys - they were all (save for one) dead money.
If we'd had our usual gang, Sven, Cali, etc. I'd be about even money. But with TG, DG, FK and HS in the lineup, I knew I would not be going home in the negative. The only one of the bunch I give respect to is MP, and I'm still actually better at hold-em than he is, though he rules me at stud. Running into good cards helped, but I knew very early on in the hands when they had something and I could get away. Conversely, when I had strong hands, I knew I was bound to get paid.
It all sounds so mean spirited, but it's actually at the heart of what makes for a "profitable" poker player. When I sit down with pre-schoolers, even though I'm only barely in the first grade, I make money. When I associate with my fellow classmates, or even some of the bigger kids, it's much more of a gamble, and even potentially a negative value situation. True, sometimes I hold my own, or even win (Saturday nights tournament win against Cali, wytrabbit, and pitboss respectively); but even then I didn't feel nearly as invincible as I did last night.
I feel good about my abilities against most of the people who attend my home game, but honestly I feel not so hot about many players in the online group these days. If I was playing strictly for financial profit, I'd have to reassess my status in that group. Deep down, I still feel I'm one of the best there, but I have to fight my inner doubt every step of the way. Last night, it was easy to be Superman, because there was not a shred of doubt where I stood. I was table captain. Good times.
The money that I dumped over the weekend in the cash games, was quickly taken back (and then some) last night. Nice.
Last night we had a super secret after hours at work game - though the boss actually knows about it and has given permission for us to play. As the lineup of players started to take shape, I couldn't help but think to myself "I stand to win tonight, all but one of these players I consider inferior to me." It was true, looking at the five other guys - they were all (save for one) dead money.
If we'd had our usual gang, Sven, Cali, etc. I'd be about even money. But with TG, DG, FK and HS in the lineup, I knew I would not be going home in the negative. The only one of the bunch I give respect to is MP, and I'm still actually better at hold-em than he is, though he rules me at stud. Running into good cards helped, but I knew very early on in the hands when they had something and I could get away. Conversely, when I had strong hands, I knew I was bound to get paid.
It all sounds so mean spirited, but it's actually at the heart of what makes for a "profitable" poker player. When I sit down with pre-schoolers, even though I'm only barely in the first grade, I make money. When I associate with my fellow classmates, or even some of the bigger kids, it's much more of a gamble, and even potentially a negative value situation. True, sometimes I hold my own, or even win (Saturday nights tournament win against Cali, wytrabbit, and pitboss respectively); but even then I didn't feel nearly as invincible as I did last night.
I feel good about my abilities against most of the people who attend my home game, but honestly I feel not so hot about many players in the online group these days. If I was playing strictly for financial profit, I'd have to reassess my status in that group. Deep down, I still feel I'm one of the best there, but I have to fight my inner doubt every step of the way. Last night, it was easy to be Superman, because there was not a shred of doubt where I stood. I was table captain. Good times.
The money that I dumped over the weekend in the cash games, was quickly taken back (and then some) last night. Nice.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Live Takedown
Our annual Sutter's End Paintball/Poker trip was highlighted for me by my first ever live tournament win. Most players couldn't believe that I had never done it before, but this was the very first time I've ever taken home a first place trophy. Good times.
My cash game play wasn't as successful, we played two nights of it, and I was in the negative on both. Down 12 on Friday and out of 30 on Sunday. Still, with over 110 in the positive on the Saturday night tournament, it was a profitable weekend.
I must say I was most proud of my end game play. I got lucky early on, running into kings twice to double up twice (including kings versus kings where my pair had a heart and made a flush on a four heart board). After that with a lot of chips, I tightened up substantially and won only a small handful of pots. But when it was time to play four, three and finally two way - I was able to shift gears and use SELECTIVE aggression to not only maintain my stack, but actually accumulate as well.
I was especially effective heads up - I started with a three to one chip lead, and I knew going in that it was still very much anyone's game to win or lose. My opponent, the vaunted Cali Al, refused a chop even though the hour was late and so we did battle.
Probably the best advice I ever read about heads up play, which is still a weak point in my game, is that it's a dance. You act and react based on what your partner (in poker, your opponent) does. He's aggressive, you tighten up. He's tight, you push. Cali Al is tight. My objective in my head as we started - keep the pots small, keep stealing as long as he'll put up with it, if he fights back go away (unless of course I hopefully have the nuts).
As the cards fell, when he hit something, he would get me to fold. When he drew blanks I would pounce. I had mostly junk cards, but it didn't matter. By acting based on what HE did, I was able to build my stack whenever he didn't have very good cards or a monster draw - which is, as we all know in poker, most of the time. He caught on pretty early, but he still wasn't willing to pull the trigger with nothing. Advantage, and ultimately victory - me.
He who fires with the best timing, barring a couple of monster coolers, will win in heads up play. In Hold-Em, you miss the flop well over two thirds of the time. In heads up play, you can use this to your advantage if you have an opponent who doesn't stand up to persistent aggression.
That's not to say I was a complete bully. When Cali called my pre-flop raise, I would only sometimes make a continuation bet; unless I hit. When Cali did call my flop continuation bet, I was done with the hand (unless I had hit something). That said, when I caught a piece Cali would fold nearly every bet I made on the turn, and I used that to my advantage to keep firing, even when I was only on a draw or had hit middle or bottom pair.
In the end, I got in with the worst of it K-10 versus his A-6, and I got lucky with a king on the flop. I wasn't thrilled with my play, especially since he had been so tight - I could have gotten away from it. But at that point, I was almost priced into calling simply because the blinds were so big and his remaining chips so few. A good dilemma to have.
The following Monday night I donked out of flat-line, completely sleep deprived. This week I will make my first deposit into the league since it began. I'm still ahead, because I cashed out over $300 at the end of last season, but I was hoping to never have to send money in again. Hopefully this will give me more incentive to start winning.
My cash game play wasn't as successful, we played two nights of it, and I was in the negative on both. Down 12 on Friday and out of 30 on Sunday. Still, with over 110 in the positive on the Saturday night tournament, it was a profitable weekend.
I must say I was most proud of my end game play. I got lucky early on, running into kings twice to double up twice (including kings versus kings where my pair had a heart and made a flush on a four heart board). After that with a lot of chips, I tightened up substantially and won only a small handful of pots. But when it was time to play four, three and finally two way - I was able to shift gears and use SELECTIVE aggression to not only maintain my stack, but actually accumulate as well.
I was especially effective heads up - I started with a three to one chip lead, and I knew going in that it was still very much anyone's game to win or lose. My opponent, the vaunted Cali Al, refused a chop even though the hour was late and so we did battle.
Probably the best advice I ever read about heads up play, which is still a weak point in my game, is that it's a dance. You act and react based on what your partner (in poker, your opponent) does. He's aggressive, you tighten up. He's tight, you push. Cali Al is tight. My objective in my head as we started - keep the pots small, keep stealing as long as he'll put up with it, if he fights back go away (unless of course I hopefully have the nuts).
As the cards fell, when he hit something, he would get me to fold. When he drew blanks I would pounce. I had mostly junk cards, but it didn't matter. By acting based on what HE did, I was able to build my stack whenever he didn't have very good cards or a monster draw - which is, as we all know in poker, most of the time. He caught on pretty early, but he still wasn't willing to pull the trigger with nothing. Advantage, and ultimately victory - me.
He who fires with the best timing, barring a couple of monster coolers, will win in heads up play. In Hold-Em, you miss the flop well over two thirds of the time. In heads up play, you can use this to your advantage if you have an opponent who doesn't stand up to persistent aggression.
That's not to say I was a complete bully. When Cali called my pre-flop raise, I would only sometimes make a continuation bet; unless I hit. When Cali did call my flop continuation bet, I was done with the hand (unless I had hit something). That said, when I caught a piece Cali would fold nearly every bet I made on the turn, and I used that to my advantage to keep firing, even when I was only on a draw or had hit middle or bottom pair.
In the end, I got in with the worst of it K-10 versus his A-6, and I got lucky with a king on the flop. I wasn't thrilled with my play, especially since he had been so tight - I could have gotten away from it. But at that point, I was almost priced into calling simply because the blinds were so big and his remaining chips so few. A good dilemma to have.
The following Monday night I donked out of flat-line, completely sleep deprived. This week I will make my first deposit into the league since it began. I'm still ahead, because I cashed out over $300 at the end of last season, but I was hoping to never have to send money in again. Hopefully this will give me more incentive to start winning.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
First out!
My king flush ran into the nut flush. Oh well.
As I've been neglecting this, and my other blog, of late - I won't wallow too much. But I think my game, and my life, has changed a bit recently. I still am in love with poker, but my focus has definitely softened a bit. When I started playing in this online league, I would literally watch the entire tournament the day after it took place on my software game simulator. I took notes on opponents. I would blog meticulously.
Today, I just don't have time, and frankly the passion has cooled. I know my dry run (I haven't cashed since May) is partly variance - but probably mostly me. My failure to adjust to players who have adjusted to me. My failure to really stop, sit down, and look closely at how I play my hands. This is okay. I'm still having fun, though admittedly it would be more fun if I was crushing the league like I was before; but winning consistently at poker, I'm realizing, takes consistent work.
Who knows, if I happen to cash again, or take down a tournament, I may be invigorated enough to get back to my old "professor poker" ways - but if I don't, it's perfectly fine. I play for the love of the game and of competition, I recognize I'm not Phil Ivey. It doesn't mean I won't try my hardest, as my focus and concentration permits, but there is absolutely no point in beating myself up over something that's supposed to be a fun hobby.
Looking forward to this weekend, our annual paintball/poker orgy up in the woods of Northern California. The weather is supposed to be amazing, in the 80's! I'm counting the hours to the fun, can't wait to shoot some people and get my live game on.
As I've been neglecting this, and my other blog, of late - I won't wallow too much. But I think my game, and my life, has changed a bit recently. I still am in love with poker, but my focus has definitely softened a bit. When I started playing in this online league, I would literally watch the entire tournament the day after it took place on my software game simulator. I took notes on opponents. I would blog meticulously.
Today, I just don't have time, and frankly the passion has cooled. I know my dry run (I haven't cashed since May) is partly variance - but probably mostly me. My failure to adjust to players who have adjusted to me. My failure to really stop, sit down, and look closely at how I play my hands. This is okay. I'm still having fun, though admittedly it would be more fun if I was crushing the league like I was before; but winning consistently at poker, I'm realizing, takes consistent work.
Who knows, if I happen to cash again, or take down a tournament, I may be invigorated enough to get back to my old "professor poker" ways - but if I don't, it's perfectly fine. I play for the love of the game and of competition, I recognize I'm not Phil Ivey. It doesn't mean I won't try my hardest, as my focus and concentration permits, but there is absolutely no point in beating myself up over something that's supposed to be a fun hobby.
Looking forward to this weekend, our annual paintball/poker orgy up in the woods of Northern California. The weather is supposed to be amazing, in the 80's! I'm counting the hours to the fun, can't wait to shoot some people and get my live game on.
Monday, June 23, 2008
I'll never learn...
Warning: I'm typing the following as tonight's poker tournament is still going on! I'm busted and hot, and ready to vent. Anyone in the league who reads this I hope knows that my comments are not about players personally, but rather about their game. Also consider, I'm learning myself, and this is just an expression of that.
No matter how much I think I know the guys in my league, I never learn. First my Queens run into Aces, then with the very same guy he calls me down with a pair of eights on a board of 3Q23. Of course I was bluffing, but I was in position, and he would have been crippled if I'd had a queen or deuce. But again, I give these ABC players way too much credit.
And it's my own fault.
Their game is in a different place, kindergarten. I need to recognize that I'm in grade school and deal with it, and start to crush them the way I crush play chip players. There are maybe a half a dozen guys who have some concept of the game in our league, and the rest just don't get it. I have no one to blame but myself for trying to pull a good move on someone who thinks pocket 8's never lose against a terrifying board.
I need to value bet my monsters and get paid - then I'll have cash money - like I have close to a million play chip dollars on Full Tilt right now. All I do is flat call and try to see a flop for cheap - then when I hit a monster I push, and typically get multiple callers, and then a monster stack. It may not be that extreme in the Flatline league, but it feels pretty close sometimes.
Stay tight, stay focused, get paid. Don't fear the suck out, embrace it - play kings and aces fast, get paid. Play flopped sets fast, get paid. Hang on with the nut flush draw for cheap, get paid. Value bet these fish into oblivion.
Hoo I'm hot! But that's poker! Better here in print than at a live game.
No matter how much I think I know the guys in my league, I never learn. First my Queens run into Aces, then with the very same guy he calls me down with a pair of eights on a board of 3Q23. Of course I was bluffing, but I was in position, and he would have been crippled if I'd had a queen or deuce. But again, I give these ABC players way too much credit.
And it's my own fault.
Their game is in a different place, kindergarten. I need to recognize that I'm in grade school and deal with it, and start to crush them the way I crush play chip players. There are maybe a half a dozen guys who have some concept of the game in our league, and the rest just don't get it. I have no one to blame but myself for trying to pull a good move on someone who thinks pocket 8's never lose against a terrifying board.
I need to value bet my monsters and get paid - then I'll have cash money - like I have close to a million play chip dollars on Full Tilt right now. All I do is flat call and try to see a flop for cheap - then when I hit a monster I push, and typically get multiple callers, and then a monster stack. It may not be that extreme in the Flatline league, but it feels pretty close sometimes.
Stay tight, stay focused, get paid. Don't fear the suck out, embrace it - play kings and aces fast, get paid. Play flopped sets fast, get paid. Hang on with the nut flush draw for cheap, get paid. Value bet these fish into oblivion.
Hoo I'm hot! But that's poker! Better here in print than at a live game.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
2008.1 Season Wrap Up
Yes, I've been a neglectful boy; but summertime is always crazy time for me - both at work and with family weekend obligations. Suffice it to say, this season went out with a wimper, with me failing to cash in the final 2 tournaments and the TOC. I didn't feel I was playing particularly poor, but I'm definitely not in my league crushing mode any more that I've enjoyed for the past 18 months.
Last night was T2 of season 2, and I busted out fairly early, firing with air against a resident calling station / luck box - yes, I should have known better.
We've changed our blind structure to a slower and more player friendly pace, I thought it would help my game, but against most of these guys I'm very impatient, because I know I'm a better player than all but a couple of them. I need to relax and let the good cards come. Now that I've established myself as wild/aggressive, I know that when I stumble across the nuts, or even the second nuts, I'm bound to get paid. Certainly if last night is any indication, I was called down with middle pair twice, back door flush draw and even when I went all in, I found myself up against a suited connecter that of course hit.
This is a good thing, I don't want to discourage such loose play - but I've got to adjust my game a bit, and think of it more like dealing with play chip players.
Last night was T2 of season 2, and I busted out fairly early, firing with air against a resident calling station / luck box - yes, I should have known better.
We've changed our blind structure to a slower and more player friendly pace, I thought it would help my game, but against most of these guys I'm very impatient, because I know I'm a better player than all but a couple of them. I need to relax and let the good cards come. Now that I've established myself as wild/aggressive, I know that when I stumble across the nuts, or even the second nuts, I'm bound to get paid. Certainly if last night is any indication, I was called down with middle pair twice, back door flush draw and even when I went all in, I found myself up against a suited connecter that of course hit.
This is a good thing, I don't want to discourage such loose play - but I've got to adjust my game a bit, and think of it more like dealing with play chip players.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Home CASH game dilemma...
Just wanted to post on the dilemma in my mind over the state of my home poker game. I've been running games once, sometimes twice, a month now - and they have been going great. Especially the tournaments; they are low buy-in, low-key, low -drama and primarily social events where players of all skill levels enjoy an exciting evening of no-limit play.
Periodically, I throw a cash game into the mix; it's always a nice change of pace, and allows for a lot more maneuvering and skill to come into play. As of just recently, I've settled into a pattern of hosting a tournament in the first half of the month, and then having a cash game towards the end of the month. I love this idea, and as I've been reading two spectacular books on how to properly play cash games ("Professional No-Limit Hold-em" by Flynn, Metah and Miller & "Harrington on Cash Games" by poker author legend Dan Harrington) I'm really excited about expanding my cash game prowess.
Here's the problem though...my dilemma as it is. A low cost, low pressure tournament structure works great at home - I get all skill levels and all kinds of happy people showing up, AND I get to really benefit from playing; as the skill level and the techniques I use apply very much to card club play. When I semi-bluff as the bubble approaches in my garage, I'll likely be able to do the same thing down at Hollywood Park Casino or in Vegas at a tournament.
But a cash game is a different story. In order to keep the same low-pressure and jovial atmosphere in a cash game at home, I find I have to have VERY low stakes. Probably, too low. A $20 buy in and fixed limit betting. As I've been playing under this structure for years, I've only recently recognized that I don't get much out of it - other than a highly enjoyable splashing around of chips and shooting the shit with my friends and fellow card lovers.
For a cash game at home to be useful, as far as practicing and building skills for casino play; both the limits and the betting have to have some teeth. To put it concisely, I really need to have a No-Limit/Pot-Limit cash game at home. Wacky poker, micro-stakes poker, all of that is good stuff. It's fun, it's social, it's silly. It in NO way expands my poker knowledge and chops.
But here's the rub; I love that my home game is nearly entirely tension free. If someone misdeals, or miscounts chips, it really doesn't matter. We all know it would be ridiculous to angle shoot. We are all careless about keeping track of chips and cash, typically when people cash out there is a discrepancy; usually the house ends up getting extra dollars.
I know that the moment I raise the limits at all, not only will I lose a certain number of players entirely, but the ones that remain will have to take the game, and the entire evening, more seriously. I will have to step up and actually be banker, we have to be exact in cashing in and out. Also, as wytrabbit correctly pointed out in my e-mail correspondence with him, for NL and PL to work properly - a player has to have potentially his entire stack at risk on every hand. This is not a $10 buy-in with re-buys. This is a players actual cash, upwards of $50 to $100 probably, in front of him. Rabbit also pointed out correctly, that if a player loses this stack, he's going to want to have a chance to get his money back - I can't limit the number of times a player can reload. By the same token, I can't limit the amount of money on the table. The best I can do to save players from themselves is to simply have a scheduled end time for the game.
If I do run the game I have in mind; a $50 buy-in with blinds at 25c/50c; a player could possibly win or lose upwards of $300 in an evening. A very different, and very serious scenario - as opposed to the "monster" swings of $60 or even $80 that we've had in my cash games so far.
I know I play tight in cash games, and I'm unlikely to have swings of more than $100; and I'm confident that most nights I would come out ahead. I'm ready for it, and I'm ready to start playing what everybody plays in the poker world. Fixed limit is it's own skill set, but it is such a boring grind sometimes. As my tournament game has evolved, I've become pretty exasperated with people calling me down to the river chasing a gut shot - and of course hitting it, with no weapons in my arsenal to truly punish them for chasing.
Of course, the other side is - why try to make more money from your friends and poker buddies? Well, I really feel that money isn't so much the issue. As my game has stepped up, I've come to see that for poker to be viable, as POKER and not just as a purely social evening, it has to sting a bit. There has to be consequence, and there has to be reward for those with more skill.
That is what's so great about a tournament, it really is the best of both worlds. We've had prize pool's upwards of a $500, which leads to great excitement and fun - and yet the tension and angst stays very low, in large part because individual players generally only drop $20 to maybe as much as $50 apiece; not very much risk for a potentially hefty reward.
But for a cash game, a $10 buy-in (aka Nickel/Dime/Quarter dealer's choice) simply put, is NOT poker. It's gambling; which can be fun in it's own right - but I'm not addicted to gambling at this point in my life. I am addicted (as if you couldn't tell) to this test of skill called poker. I play real poker at my home tournaments, I want the real thing in my cash games too.
The great secret to all of this of course, and it eludes me how to achieve it; is to put on a "real" cash game, whilst still holding on to as much of the good vibrations (mellow people,no drama, etc.) as I can. I've always prided my home game as a safe and friendly place where people can come and enjoy pleasant competition. I know if I make the leap to a real cash game, there will be nights when someone gets their ass busted.
Sigh. It's a dilemma. But I think I'm going to give it a shot. But I'm going to try following a few rules for myself to help make the transition easy for everybody.
First, I'm not going to cap the number of players anymore. Typically on a cash game night, I try to limit it to a single table; this helps keep the event much more manageable and gives the wife a break from the bedlam that is a tournament night.
With two tables in play, one table will be the usual buy-in and stakes; the other will be the $50NL table.
Eventually of course, the goal is to have the cash game be entirely $50NL, but I think I have to ease people into it. (I would also include in this, Pot Limit Omaha and O8, as well as $1-$2 fixed limit stud games; but these both can be just as pricey as NL).
As an aside, a few months back Rabbit was my guest from the bay area, and I managed to have a second NL table of six people- I lost $40 and Rabbit lost over twice as much - but it was still great fun; and I felt pretty comfortable. I even had players at the table who were happy and excited to be there, that I didn't expect. Both only semi-enthusiastic poker players, and both typically very frugal. They had a blast, and even won a bit. The two remaining players were serious poker enthusiasts, who typically don't bother with my cash game; they had heard that I was spreading No-Limit and they showed up. One made out like a bandit, the other pretty much got hammered. They both had a good time.
My second rule will be to still encourage a low key vibe, as much is as possible. I recognize that I will have to be much more stringent on money issues - and misdeals, and other rule infractions; but I plan to do it in the friendliest manner possible, whilst still maintaining firm control on the game and the cash.
Thirdly, I'll have to recognize the reality of my players. I think a lot of them can't imagine putting $200+ at risk in a single evening - though of course a big bar tab in LA can dwarf that, not to mention a concert or other event. I will encourage and promote this thought, as well as the very important concept of everyone setting a limit for themselves. I plan to stop playing once I'm out of $100. I don't expect this to happen often, but I know it probably will. When it does, I'll be dealer for the evening.
I'm ready for real poker. Tomorrow night, we'll have our usual low limit luckfest; I'll be floating the idea of a second higher stakes NL table. I'm sure many will not want to join in; but I know for a fact I will gain others who don't usually bother to show for my cash games.
I'll keep the 2 table concept going for as long as it will last, and I may have to revert to the old lower limits permanently; but somehow I think that when most of the guys get a taste of real poker - that is, poker with pain, poker with consequences, they are going to be hard pressed to go back to the chip splashing dance of kiddie poker..
That's what the tournaments are for.
Periodically, I throw a cash game into the mix; it's always a nice change of pace, and allows for a lot more maneuvering and skill to come into play. As of just recently, I've settled into a pattern of hosting a tournament in the first half of the month, and then having a cash game towards the end of the month. I love this idea, and as I've been reading two spectacular books on how to properly play cash games ("Professional No-Limit Hold-em" by Flynn, Metah and Miller & "Harrington on Cash Games" by poker author legend Dan Harrington) I'm really excited about expanding my cash game prowess.
Here's the problem though...my dilemma as it is. A low cost, low pressure tournament structure works great at home - I get all skill levels and all kinds of happy people showing up, AND I get to really benefit from playing; as the skill level and the techniques I use apply very much to card club play. When I semi-bluff as the bubble approaches in my garage, I'll likely be able to do the same thing down at Hollywood Park Casino or in Vegas at a tournament.
But a cash game is a different story. In order to keep the same low-pressure and jovial atmosphere in a cash game at home, I find I have to have VERY low stakes. Probably, too low. A $20 buy in and fixed limit betting. As I've been playing under this structure for years, I've only recently recognized that I don't get much out of it - other than a highly enjoyable splashing around of chips and shooting the shit with my friends and fellow card lovers.
For a cash game at home to be useful, as far as practicing and building skills for casino play; both the limits and the betting have to have some teeth. To put it concisely, I really need to have a No-Limit/Pot-Limit cash game at home. Wacky poker, micro-stakes poker, all of that is good stuff. It's fun, it's social, it's silly. It in NO way expands my poker knowledge and chops.
But here's the rub; I love that my home game is nearly entirely tension free. If someone misdeals, or miscounts chips, it really doesn't matter. We all know it would be ridiculous to angle shoot. We are all careless about keeping track of chips and cash, typically when people cash out there is a discrepancy; usually the house ends up getting extra dollars.
I know that the moment I raise the limits at all, not only will I lose a certain number of players entirely, but the ones that remain will have to take the game, and the entire evening, more seriously. I will have to step up and actually be banker, we have to be exact in cashing in and out. Also, as wytrabbit correctly pointed out in my e-mail correspondence with him, for NL and PL to work properly - a player has to have potentially his entire stack at risk on every hand. This is not a $10 buy-in with re-buys. This is a players actual cash, upwards of $50 to $100 probably, in front of him. Rabbit also pointed out correctly, that if a player loses this stack, he's going to want to have a chance to get his money back - I can't limit the number of times a player can reload. By the same token, I can't limit the amount of money on the table. The best I can do to save players from themselves is to simply have a scheduled end time for the game.
If I do run the game I have in mind; a $50 buy-in with blinds at 25c/50c; a player could possibly win or lose upwards of $300 in an evening. A very different, and very serious scenario - as opposed to the "monster" swings of $60 or even $80 that we've had in my cash games so far.
I know I play tight in cash games, and I'm unlikely to have swings of more than $100; and I'm confident that most nights I would come out ahead. I'm ready for it, and I'm ready to start playing what everybody plays in the poker world. Fixed limit is it's own skill set, but it is such a boring grind sometimes. As my tournament game has evolved, I've become pretty exasperated with people calling me down to the river chasing a gut shot - and of course hitting it, with no weapons in my arsenal to truly punish them for chasing.
Of course, the other side is - why try to make more money from your friends and poker buddies? Well, I really feel that money isn't so much the issue. As my game has stepped up, I've come to see that for poker to be viable, as POKER and not just as a purely social evening, it has to sting a bit. There has to be consequence, and there has to be reward for those with more skill.
That is what's so great about a tournament, it really is the best of both worlds. We've had prize pool's upwards of a $500, which leads to great excitement and fun - and yet the tension and angst stays very low, in large part because individual players generally only drop $20 to maybe as much as $50 apiece; not very much risk for a potentially hefty reward.
But for a cash game, a $10 buy-in (aka Nickel/Dime/Quarter dealer's choice) simply put, is NOT poker. It's gambling; which can be fun in it's own right - but I'm not addicted to gambling at this point in my life. I am addicted (as if you couldn't tell) to this test of skill called poker. I play real poker at my home tournaments, I want the real thing in my cash games too.
The great secret to all of this of course, and it eludes me how to achieve it; is to put on a "real" cash game, whilst still holding on to as much of the good vibrations (mellow people,no drama, etc.) as I can. I've always prided my home game as a safe and friendly place where people can come and enjoy pleasant competition. I know if I make the leap to a real cash game, there will be nights when someone gets their ass busted.
Sigh. It's a dilemma. But I think I'm going to give it a shot. But I'm going to try following a few rules for myself to help make the transition easy for everybody.
First, I'm not going to cap the number of players anymore. Typically on a cash game night, I try to limit it to a single table; this helps keep the event much more manageable and gives the wife a break from the bedlam that is a tournament night.
With two tables in play, one table will be the usual buy-in and stakes; the other will be the $50NL table.
Eventually of course, the goal is to have the cash game be entirely $50NL, but I think I have to ease people into it. (I would also include in this, Pot Limit Omaha and O8, as well as $1-$2 fixed limit stud games; but these both can be just as pricey as NL).
As an aside, a few months back Rabbit was my guest from the bay area, and I managed to have a second NL table of six people- I lost $40 and Rabbit lost over twice as much - but it was still great fun; and I felt pretty comfortable. I even had players at the table who were happy and excited to be there, that I didn't expect. Both only semi-enthusiastic poker players, and both typically very frugal. They had a blast, and even won a bit. The two remaining players were serious poker enthusiasts, who typically don't bother with my cash game; they had heard that I was spreading No-Limit and they showed up. One made out like a bandit, the other pretty much got hammered. They both had a good time.
My second rule will be to still encourage a low key vibe, as much is as possible. I recognize that I will have to be much more stringent on money issues - and misdeals, and other rule infractions; but I plan to do it in the friendliest manner possible, whilst still maintaining firm control on the game and the cash.
Thirdly, I'll have to recognize the reality of my players. I think a lot of them can't imagine putting $200+ at risk in a single evening - though of course a big bar tab in LA can dwarf that, not to mention a concert or other event. I will encourage and promote this thought, as well as the very important concept of everyone setting a limit for themselves. I plan to stop playing once I'm out of $100. I don't expect this to happen often, but I know it probably will. When it does, I'll be dealer for the evening.
I'm ready for real poker. Tomorrow night, we'll have our usual low limit luckfest; I'll be floating the idea of a second higher stakes NL table. I'm sure many will not want to join in; but I know for a fact I will gain others who don't usually bother to show for my cash games.
I'll keep the 2 table concept going for as long as it will last, and I may have to revert to the old lower limits permanently; but somehow I think that when most of the guys get a taste of real poker - that is, poker with pain, poker with consequences, they are going to be hard pressed to go back to the chip splashing dance of kiddie poker..
That's what the tournaments are for.
T19 Flatline 2008.1 5/19/08
Not much to report here, I busted out pretty early against a new player when my pocket queens ran into his kings. I certainly blame myself first, but I also recognize that against other players that I knew better I might have had a fighting chance.
He min-raised pre-flop from the cutoff (which is always a red flag in my mind, donk alert!) and I popped it a good chunky raise, I got one caller behind me and new guy flat called. The flop came ragged 8 high, he led out another pitiful min-bet. I pounced with a pot sized bet. The player behind me folded and the new guy insta-shoved.
I tanked for a bit, but I knew I couldn't get away from it. My big fear was that he had flopped a set. I was praying for some stupid thing like an A8os. I thought there was a fairly good chance he was pushing with Jacks, tens or nines. I had committed enough chips already, that I would be down to less than 1K from a starting stack of 1500 if I laid it down. Surely he would raise more than the minimum pre-flop with cowboys or rockets.
Since most of the players in our league who splash around with min-bets and raises tend to suck, I figured new guy did too. I called and his kings smacked my bitch ass silly. Ah well. As I railed the rest of the tourney, I watched his play pretty closely. Yep, he was tighter than a dolphin's ass - a nit as they say. He overbet his made hands (but always min-bet or raised pre-flop) and folded to the merest hint of a continuation bet.
In hindsight, I don't like either of our plays. An over pair in this league, or anywhere I suppose, isn't the automatic stone cold nuts. Yes, if an overcard, King or Ace, had come - I probably would have folded in this instance based simply on lack of information about the player; why I didn't fold in this case was simply a case of aggressive instincts against a ragged board.
One more regular tourney, then it's the TOC. Hopefully I can at least cash in this next one, and preserve my substantial discount into the final Championship.
He min-raised pre-flop from the cutoff (which is always a red flag in my mind, donk alert!) and I popped it a good chunky raise, I got one caller behind me and new guy flat called. The flop came ragged 8 high, he led out another pitiful min-bet. I pounced with a pot sized bet. The player behind me folded and the new guy insta-shoved.
I tanked for a bit, but I knew I couldn't get away from it. My big fear was that he had flopped a set. I was praying for some stupid thing like an A8os. I thought there was a fairly good chance he was pushing with Jacks, tens or nines. I had committed enough chips already, that I would be down to less than 1K from a starting stack of 1500 if I laid it down. Surely he would raise more than the minimum pre-flop with cowboys or rockets.
Since most of the players in our league who splash around with min-bets and raises tend to suck, I figured new guy did too. I called and his kings smacked my bitch ass silly. Ah well. As I railed the rest of the tourney, I watched his play pretty closely. Yep, he was tighter than a dolphin's ass - a nit as they say. He overbet his made hands (but always min-bet or raised pre-flop) and folded to the merest hint of a continuation bet.
In hindsight, I don't like either of our plays. An over pair in this league, or anywhere I suppose, isn't the automatic stone cold nuts. Yes, if an overcard, King or Ace, had come - I probably would have folded in this instance based simply on lack of information about the player; why I didn't fold in this case was simply a case of aggressive instincts against a ragged board.
One more regular tourney, then it's the TOC. Hopefully I can at least cash in this next one, and preserve my substantial discount into the final Championship.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
T18 Flatline 2008.1 5/12/08
Had a fine time with a "mere" 16 players last night. Busted out in seventh place, and it was pretty much an implosion of my own making.
Early on I had fun crippling "crippe", a very aggressive player who has yet to discover that aggression works only with selection. It doesn't do to fire into someone who has close to the nuts, when all you have is squa-doosh.
So with a big healthy stack of 4K plus as we took our places at the final table, I was ready to protect my chips and hopefully pick up a blind here and there to get to the money.
Now when I tell you I lost nearly half of my stack with the starting cards K2os, you may say - Chris, you're an idiot. Well, I'd have to say you'd be right.
Mistake one was even getting involved with these cards to begin with. It's one thing to be on the button or cut off or even hijack seat and take a shot at a blind steal; but I was in the small blind and limped. BIG error.
With only the big blind and button checking and limping, I got frisky and led out with a pot sized bet when I paired my two on an ugly flop. I was guessing I had the best hand at the moment, and it turned out I was right, but my big mistake wasn't firing a bet (it's a minor mistake, I should have just check folded, out of position and against two calling station types) - no, I can live with trying to take down a pot; my big mistake was overbetting. A slightly more than half the pot bet would have done the same thing and I would have saved me some chips. The BB folded, the button called. Error.
Two hearts on the board, so I figured he was on a flush draw. Turn came a ragged club, putting two clubs on the board. Great, something else for him to draw to. My opponent, Dinero, is a fair player who has cashed some and generally exhibits solid tendencies; he's not one to chase too often. Still, I knew what he was doing. His stack was dwindling and he was throwing up the hail Mary. My third mistake here was firing a big ass second barrel - I gave him a little too much credit as a poker player, because he insta-called. I knew he was drawing, and that he had made a shit call. But it was my own doing, and I felt deflated even before the river hit.
Now came what was ultimately the biggest mistake of the hand. The river came a seven of clubs. I should have trusted my initial read, heart draw, and gone all in on the river. I do that, he leaves. Instead I meekly checked. He was happy to turn over a 79 of hearts. Yes he had spiked middle pair on the river, and it beat my lousy deuces. Trash hand, trashy play. Bad call on the turn, questionable call on the flop. It was still my fault.
I know these guys well enough to recognize almost exactly the situation I'm in, yet when push came to shove I didn't have the heart this time to fire that third barrel. Again- my more easily correctable mistakes were early on, getting involved with garbage and leading out into two donkish players. But the lesson learned is, that though my reads were right on, it didn't matter because I didn't man up an do what needed to be done once I was committed to the hand - which was clearly on the turn. He wants my chips, he's got to put his tournament life on the line right now. Next time, if I'm stupid enough to bluff out of position with garbage, I will at least be able to look back and say - I fucking followed through.
On a lighter note, with a stack a former shell of itself, I still felt okay about my chances. I was in the lower half of the middle of the pack, but everyone below me was on life support. If I could bust some of these dinky guys, I'd be right back in it.
Then I ran into doyouphilme, another middle level player in our group who has mostly been off my radar. With him in the BB and a dinky stack on the button, I raised pre-flop with QJ suited from the hijack. The dinky stack called (nearly a quarter of his stack, I don't like that) and Phil defended. Three players.
Flop came Q x 10 with two spades. Phil checked. I did something stupid. With less than 2K in my stack and nearly 1K in the pot, I went all in. Years of playing with free chips have screwed up my game a bit here - betting for value in a free roll basically means punishing the super donkeys by betting for MAXIMUM value. That is, you are aiming to double through the idiots. Well, Phil is no idiot.
Dinky stack folded (probably a mistake, but hey, he lasted longer than me as you'll see.) Phil insta-called. He had Q 10. I was toast. My stack was now on life support. I would exit at his hands shortly thereafter.
I said this was a lighter note, and it actually is. Phil seriously outplayed me here, and I have to say though it stung at the time it does my heart good to see such a good poker play in our league. I have to give him much more mad respect now, though to be honest I never really caught too much of a whiff of donk from his direction. As I said, he's been mostly off my radar.
Phil went on, with solid play and good reads, to take the whole thing down. He made Cali his bitch in heads up. Cali had a decent night, though he confided in me that he felt off - and used good aggression towards the bubble and the end to build his stack. But when he got heads up he was waiting for good cards only. Phil picked up on this and managed to steal Cali blind.
Then Cali finally got a hand, pocket queens, and managed to slow play himself into oblivion - giving Phil the right prices to call all the way down to hit his gut shot on the river.
Cest' le poker'. I do love it so.
Early on I had fun crippling "crippe", a very aggressive player who has yet to discover that aggression works only with selection. It doesn't do to fire into someone who has close to the nuts, when all you have is squa-doosh.
So with a big healthy stack of 4K plus as we took our places at the final table, I was ready to protect my chips and hopefully pick up a blind here and there to get to the money.
Now when I tell you I lost nearly half of my stack with the starting cards K2os, you may say - Chris, you're an idiot. Well, I'd have to say you'd be right.
Mistake one was even getting involved with these cards to begin with. It's one thing to be on the button or cut off or even hijack seat and take a shot at a blind steal; but I was in the small blind and limped. BIG error.
With only the big blind and button checking and limping, I got frisky and led out with a pot sized bet when I paired my two on an ugly flop. I was guessing I had the best hand at the moment, and it turned out I was right, but my big mistake wasn't firing a bet (it's a minor mistake, I should have just check folded, out of position and against two calling station types) - no, I can live with trying to take down a pot; my big mistake was overbetting. A slightly more than half the pot bet would have done the same thing and I would have saved me some chips. The BB folded, the button called. Error.
Two hearts on the board, so I figured he was on a flush draw. Turn came a ragged club, putting two clubs on the board. Great, something else for him to draw to. My opponent, Dinero, is a fair player who has cashed some and generally exhibits solid tendencies; he's not one to chase too often. Still, I knew what he was doing. His stack was dwindling and he was throwing up the hail Mary. My third mistake here was firing a big ass second barrel - I gave him a little too much credit as a poker player, because he insta-called. I knew he was drawing, and that he had made a shit call. But it was my own doing, and I felt deflated even before the river hit.
Now came what was ultimately the biggest mistake of the hand. The river came a seven of clubs. I should have trusted my initial read, heart draw, and gone all in on the river. I do that, he leaves. Instead I meekly checked. He was happy to turn over a 79 of hearts. Yes he had spiked middle pair on the river, and it beat my lousy deuces. Trash hand, trashy play. Bad call on the turn, questionable call on the flop. It was still my fault.
I know these guys well enough to recognize almost exactly the situation I'm in, yet when push came to shove I didn't have the heart this time to fire that third barrel. Again- my more easily correctable mistakes were early on, getting involved with garbage and leading out into two donkish players. But the lesson learned is, that though my reads were right on, it didn't matter because I didn't man up an do what needed to be done once I was committed to the hand - which was clearly on the turn. He wants my chips, he's got to put his tournament life on the line right now. Next time, if I'm stupid enough to bluff out of position with garbage, I will at least be able to look back and say - I fucking followed through.
On a lighter note, with a stack a former shell of itself, I still felt okay about my chances. I was in the lower half of the middle of the pack, but everyone below me was on life support. If I could bust some of these dinky guys, I'd be right back in it.
Then I ran into doyouphilme, another middle level player in our group who has mostly been off my radar. With him in the BB and a dinky stack on the button, I raised pre-flop with QJ suited from the hijack. The dinky stack called (nearly a quarter of his stack, I don't like that) and Phil defended. Three players.
Flop came Q x 10 with two spades. Phil checked. I did something stupid. With less than 2K in my stack and nearly 1K in the pot, I went all in. Years of playing with free chips have screwed up my game a bit here - betting for value in a free roll basically means punishing the super donkeys by betting for MAXIMUM value. That is, you are aiming to double through the idiots. Well, Phil is no idiot.
Dinky stack folded (probably a mistake, but hey, he lasted longer than me as you'll see.) Phil insta-called. He had Q 10. I was toast. My stack was now on life support. I would exit at his hands shortly thereafter.
I said this was a lighter note, and it actually is. Phil seriously outplayed me here, and I have to say though it stung at the time it does my heart good to see such a good poker play in our league. I have to give him much more mad respect now, though to be honest I never really caught too much of a whiff of donk from his direction. As I said, he's been mostly off my radar.
Phil went on, with solid play and good reads, to take the whole thing down. He made Cali his bitch in heads up. Cali had a decent night, though he confided in me that he felt off - and used good aggression towards the bubble and the end to build his stack. But when he got heads up he was waiting for good cards only. Phil picked up on this and managed to steal Cali blind.
Then Cali finally got a hand, pocket queens, and managed to slow play himself into oblivion - giving Phil the right prices to call all the way down to hit his gut shot on the river.
Cest' le poker'. I do love it so.
Friday, May 9, 2008
T17 Flatline 2008.1 5/5/08
Haven't gotten around to going over this tourney yet, and don't know that I'll have time. I usually review the entire thing through the hand histories and replay feature of my poker software, but this week's been a blur of work and home obligations.
So allow me this brief recap without exact hands. Yes, I am posting at work - but after two extra long shifts and during a particularly long rendering session.
I finished third, in a field of 20 players. 20! That's our biggest group ever, and I must say it was a grueling and VERY fun time. I had great reads all night long, as well as fairly decent runs of starting cards. The third element, which is also required to do well, I'm glad to say was with me enough to make a difference. You guessed it, the element is luck.
I sucked out a couple of people here and there, and got runner-runnered myself a few times (thankfully no real devastating blows). I was able to crawl back into contention, and as the bubble approached I was grateful that players like Chipper would call off a quarter of their stack pre-flop and then fold to a too small continuation bet.
Cali of course had to send me into fits of tilt with his cold call of my raise with a 73 in his hand. But it was soooted! His flush draw didn't hit on the river, and thankfully I have learned to just check his passive ass down all the way, even though I was in position. Took the pot, and avoided giving myself a chance to go broke against a trash hand. Yay!
Sven, as we were down to four players; moved all in and Chipper insta called with A4. Yes that wasn't a typo. But it was soooooooted. Busto Chipper.
With three players, on the very next hand I believe I looked down at AK. I popped it, and Sven moved all in again. Time to put a stop to this crap. I guessed he probably had something like a middle pair or a suited baby ace. Hadn't he learned from Chipper not to put your tournament life at risk out of position with no information on what your opponent was holding?
Insta-call.
He turned over pocket tens. Again.
Whoops. Naturally I didn't hit, and that was all folks. I vigorously defended my call in the chat box from the regularly scheduled ridiculing railbird Ytrabbit. After a weeks reflection, I still like my move - but I'm not as in love with it as I was on the night.
Factors in my favor - the payoff was heavily weighted for first place. The difference between second and third? A mere $20! Sven was clearly the more dangerous of the two remaining opponents. (No offense Cali, but I also think Sven is better than me in a lot of ways). Better to bust him now than drag it out.
Factors against me - AK is a drawing hand plain and simple. I was gambling for my tournament life against the new big stack - with an unmade hand.
I'd probably make the same move again, but I would tank a bit more and give myself a chance to see how I really saw things. If this was a more serious $ stakes tourney, there's no doubt I would tank long and hard - and really think through all that I knew about my opponent.
If I could miraculously see his cards somehow, I wouldn't call AA, KK, QQ, JJ or 1010. I'm a huge dog to AA and KK, and the others take away outs from a possible straight. 9's or lower, I'm calling. AK is only a tiny underdog to these, and dominates any other combination of different cards with a king or ace.
Itching to play next monday. Live home cash game coming up on the 24th.
So allow me this brief recap without exact hands. Yes, I am posting at work - but after two extra long shifts and during a particularly long rendering session.
I finished third, in a field of 20 players. 20! That's our biggest group ever, and I must say it was a grueling and VERY fun time. I had great reads all night long, as well as fairly decent runs of starting cards. The third element, which is also required to do well, I'm glad to say was with me enough to make a difference. You guessed it, the element is luck.
I sucked out a couple of people here and there, and got runner-runnered myself a few times (thankfully no real devastating blows). I was able to crawl back into contention, and as the bubble approached I was grateful that players like Chipper would call off a quarter of their stack pre-flop and then fold to a too small continuation bet.
Cali of course had to send me into fits of tilt with his cold call of my raise with a 73 in his hand. But it was soooted! His flush draw didn't hit on the river, and thankfully I have learned to just check his passive ass down all the way, even though I was in position. Took the pot, and avoided giving myself a chance to go broke against a trash hand. Yay!
Sven, as we were down to four players; moved all in and Chipper insta called with A4. Yes that wasn't a typo. But it was soooooooted. Busto Chipper.
With three players, on the very next hand I believe I looked down at AK. I popped it, and Sven moved all in again. Time to put a stop to this crap. I guessed he probably had something like a middle pair or a suited baby ace. Hadn't he learned from Chipper not to put your tournament life at risk out of position with no information on what your opponent was holding?
Insta-call.
He turned over pocket tens. Again.
Whoops. Naturally I didn't hit, and that was all folks. I vigorously defended my call in the chat box from the regularly scheduled ridiculing railbird Ytrabbit. After a weeks reflection, I still like my move - but I'm not as in love with it as I was on the night.
Factors in my favor - the payoff was heavily weighted for first place. The difference between second and third? A mere $20! Sven was clearly the more dangerous of the two remaining opponents. (No offense Cali, but I also think Sven is better than me in a lot of ways). Better to bust him now than drag it out.
Factors against me - AK is a drawing hand plain and simple. I was gambling for my tournament life against the new big stack - with an unmade hand.
I'd probably make the same move again, but I would tank a bit more and give myself a chance to see how I really saw things. If this was a more serious $ stakes tourney, there's no doubt I would tank long and hard - and really think through all that I knew about my opponent.
If I could miraculously see his cards somehow, I wouldn't call AA, KK, QQ, JJ or 1010. I'm a huge dog to AA and KK, and the others take away outs from a possible straight. 9's or lower, I'm calling. AK is only a tiny underdog to these, and dominates any other combination of different cards with a king or ace.
Itching to play next monday. Live home cash game coming up on the 24th.
Monday, May 5, 2008
PSP Home Game Tourney 5/3/08
Good times. 14 players, my usual mix of decent players and newbies; ultra low stakes which keeps the mood light and social.
A $10 buy-in with multi-rebuys and a single add-on let's those on a budget play tight and save - while allowing the action junkies to push.
The world's most perfect home tourney blind structure (polished by me after years and years of doing this) guarantees everyone but the craziest player a good 90 minutes of play time, whilst also making sure that everyone gets the hell out by 1130 or so.
Costco cookies, plenty of cheep beer, two nifty poker table tops, mood lighting courtesy of my work; all encased in a roomy enough garage = a great night of low stakes, low stress home poker.
The game was what everybody plays (NLHE natch) but we also have been alternating by month, in June it'll be a H.O.R.S.E. limit tourney (that would be Hold-em, Omaha/8, Razz [seven stud low only], Seven Stud, and Seven Stud/8). I'm also even squeezing in a cash game before that! We'll see how long this lasts (how long the wife will put up with it that is).
And I'm happy to say I played about my best ever at one of my events; finishing second for a whopping $90 in prize money. I got lucky a few times, cracked someone's aces near the bubble (I felt for him) and otherwise dodged a few bullets; but my reads really felt great - especially against the smattering of VERY green players in the bunch. I think my years of playing free poker have really helped me weed out the poker-deficient players early - and play them differently than those with some modicum of skill
Of mild interest, were it not for the fickle mistress that is variance, I would have taken down the trophy. I played pretty darn brilliantly when it got to heads up, my opponent (Sven from the Flatline league) had a monster chip lead. And I managed to bob and weave, giving him walks when I was in the SB just often enough to make him think I was playing only solid hands, smacking him hard with bluffs and semi-bluffs to build my stack to the point where I actually had him covered.
I limped on the button pre-flop, he then min-raised and I called with K8s. The flop came rag-8-rag. He lead out with an all-in. I insta-called (must have been a subconscious read, I knew he didn't connect and I knew he didn't have a pair) and he grimaced at my cards. He had a middling ace, and of course he spiked it on the river.
I still managed to get my chips in with the best of it on the last hand, and he hit his flush draw on the turn. Ah well, I still felt really good - which says a lot about how far I've come as a poker player. That I'm now able to recognize, truthfully (not just because I'm pissed about losing) that I've made decent decisions and it's not in my control if Sven hits a 3 outer on the river - AND be at peace with it; gets me excited about playing the game for the long haul.
I"m afraid I'll have to flake out about recounting the last two online tournaments; let's just say I played horribly in the one two weeks ago (went out very early) and better but still not so great last week. After Saturday night's game, I know I'll be much more enthusiastic about posting tonight's go-round, no matter how I finish.
A $10 buy-in with multi-rebuys and a single add-on let's those on a budget play tight and save - while allowing the action junkies to push.
The world's most perfect home tourney blind structure (polished by me after years and years of doing this) guarantees everyone but the craziest player a good 90 minutes of play time, whilst also making sure that everyone gets the hell out by 1130 or so.
Costco cookies, plenty of cheep beer, two nifty poker table tops, mood lighting courtesy of my work; all encased in a roomy enough garage = a great night of low stakes, low stress home poker.
The game was what everybody plays (NLHE natch) but we also have been alternating by month, in June it'll be a H.O.R.S.E. limit tourney (that would be Hold-em, Omaha/8, Razz [seven stud low only], Seven Stud, and Seven Stud/8). I'm also even squeezing in a cash game before that! We'll see how long this lasts (how long the wife will put up with it that is).
And I'm happy to say I played about my best ever at one of my events; finishing second for a whopping $90 in prize money. I got lucky a few times, cracked someone's aces near the bubble (I felt for him) and otherwise dodged a few bullets; but my reads really felt great - especially against the smattering of VERY green players in the bunch. I think my years of playing free poker have really helped me weed out the poker-deficient players early - and play them differently than those with some modicum of skill
Of mild interest, were it not for the fickle mistress that is variance, I would have taken down the trophy. I played pretty darn brilliantly when it got to heads up, my opponent (Sven from the Flatline league) had a monster chip lead. And I managed to bob and weave, giving him walks when I was in the SB just often enough to make him think I was playing only solid hands, smacking him hard with bluffs and semi-bluffs to build my stack to the point where I actually had him covered.
I limped on the button pre-flop, he then min-raised and I called with K8s. The flop came rag-8-rag. He lead out with an all-in. I insta-called (must have been a subconscious read, I knew he didn't connect and I knew he didn't have a pair) and he grimaced at my cards. He had a middling ace, and of course he spiked it on the river.
I still managed to get my chips in with the best of it on the last hand, and he hit his flush draw on the turn. Ah well, I still felt really good - which says a lot about how far I've come as a poker player. That I'm now able to recognize, truthfully (not just because I'm pissed about losing) that I've made decent decisions and it's not in my control if Sven hits a 3 outer on the river - AND be at peace with it; gets me excited about playing the game for the long haul.
I"m afraid I'll have to flake out about recounting the last two online tournaments; let's just say I played horribly in the one two weeks ago (went out very early) and better but still not so great last week. After Saturday night's game, I know I'll be much more enthusiastic about posting tonight's go-round, no matter how I finish.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
T14 Flatline 2008.1 4/14/08
Boy I've been neglecting this blog, but not as much as you might think. If you read manzoniman, you'll know that I was in China for the last half of March and the first week of May.
No poker overseas I'm afraid, it's illegal in China and even in Hong Kong! Though they do have horse racing, sports betting and a lottery of course. The only place where a legal casino exists over there is the island city of Macau, and we didn't get to go there.
I missed T11 and T12. Upon my return I promptly slept, literally, through T13. Even though I was back in the US, I didn't play. My brain was awash in a fearsome haze of jet lag. The following week T14 turned out a little better.
I started off slow, but felt good even as I stole a little and lost a little more; I was surprised at how easy it was to get back in the flow. One thing I didn't like was that ytrabbit was on my right. Normally, you want stronger players on your right - so you can see what they do. But rabbit's style is so similar to mine, that he often pulls moves pre-flop (raises and steals on the button, cutoff or hijak) and I have to discard mediumish hands that I normally like to see cheap flops with.
To my left was perhaps the biggest donk in the whole league, Vikingjoe. (I don't mean this in any personal way, it's just that I consistently see really bad poker decisions by him. I'm sure he's a good guy). Though I didn't fear him, I was wary of his inability to recognize when he was being given the absolute wrong odds to call and draw. Thankfully ytrabbit took care of him early on.
1} Manzoni $1,110 4s 9c
3) Viking Joe $1,319 Kd Jc
5) ISAIAS41 $2,045 ?? ??
6) crippe $245 ?? ??
7) nacl $2,170 ?? ??
9) Sammy Ro $1,335 ?? ??
10) ytrabbit * $2,276 7s 7c
Manzoni posts small blind $15
Viking Joe posts big blind $30
ISAIAS41 folds
crippe folds
nacl folds
Sammy Ro folds
ytrabbit raises $60
Manzoni folds
Viking Joe calls $60
FLOP: 7h 5d Js
Viking Joe bets $30
ytrabbit calls $30
This is classic Viking, min betting and raising are his forte'. He fails to protect his top pair and gains zero information on rabbit's holdings - rabbit has the right price to call with just about any two cards - he's also a savvy enough player not to reveal that he's spiked trips. Interestingly, on the flip side, the min bet actually reveals a lot about Viking - since he always bets this way; Rabbit knows that Viking has something, and probably top pair.
TURN: 7h 5d Js 9s
Viking Joe bets $130
ytrabbit raises $515
Viking Joe calls $515
Rabbit springs the trap and Viking insta-calls. Thanks to Viking's min bet on third street, he has zero clue that his top pair with a less than perfect kicker is toast at this point. Incidentally, Rabbit is properly protecting his hand here just in case Viking has a flush draw.
RIVER: 7h 5d Js 9s 6c
Viking Joe checks
ytrabbit bets $1,511 (all-in)
Viking Joe calls $554 (all-in)
ytrabbit shows 7s 7c
Viking Joe mucks
Easy decision for Rabbit as to how much to bet, he knows Viking is unsophisticated and will probably think that his jack is the still the best hand. Rabbit also risks going broke over Viking backing into some weird gut-shot (J8 is a very probably holding for Viking believe it or not) but that's what you have to do against min-raising calling stations who have no clue how the game is played.
ytrabbit wins $2,653 with Three of a Kind, Sevens
So with uber-donk out of the way (a good thing in an ultra-turbo tournament) I was free to try and get Rabbit's chips. Easier said than done.
And before I could do that I had to win against Nacl. A good player who gets better every time I play him. Paradoxically, unlike Viking and his ilk, Nacl and Rabbit respect my play - so I'm able to get away with an occasional move. Case in point was the very next hand. Scary stuff.
1} Manzoni * $1,095 4d Jh
3) Miles 2 Go (sitting out)
5) ISAIAS41 $2,045 ?? ??
6) crippe $245 ?? ??
7) nacl $2,170 ?? ??
9) Sammy Ro $1,335 ?? ??
10) ytrabbit $3,610 ?? ??
ISAIAS41 posts big blind $30
crippe folds
nacl calls $30
Sammy Ro folds
ytrabbit folds
Manzoni calls $30
ISAIAS41 checks
FLOP: 9s Ac Jd
ISAIAS41 checks
nacl bets $90
I'm very sure at this point that Nacl has an Ace with a lame or even medium kicker. Since ISA didn't raise before the flop I can pretty much put him on not having big cards. Knowing that Nacl is capable of folding if he thinks he's beat, I make a move.
Manzoni raises $270
ISAIAS41 folds
nacl calls $270
Not crazy about the call, with only 700 left, I'm committed. I decide to move all in if he checks, before the turn card comes.
TURN: 9s Ac Jd 9c
nacl checks
Manzoni bets $705 (all-in)
nacl folds
Manzoni wins $810 uncontested
He did tank for what seemed an eternity, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when he finally let his ace go. Thank goodness for players who know what they're doing. My betting was a lie, but it was a lie that said I had AK or AQ, or even AJ. He would be crippled if he was beaten; he rightfully respected my position and got away from a small (for him) pot.
Now if most of the rest of the players in the league, whom are fine fellas, but mostly poker retards, would just get on the ball - I could steal them blind! Well, probably not; the key in this game I've found is not only target selection, but circumstance selection as well. Nacl had just recently won a large pot, I had lost a third of my stack - I know his nature is to tighten up when he builds a chip lead; subconsciously I just knew it was time to go.
I coasted for awhile, keeping my stack up by stealing and hitting occasionally and winning most of my pots uncontested. Then, as is often the case in our league; lady luck smiled and my opponent made a colossally bad decision.
1} Manzoni $1,890 Qc Jc
3) Miles 2 Go * $1,365 Ad Jh
5) ISAIAS41 $2,303 ?? ??
9) Sammy Ro $1,038 ?? ??
10) ytrabbit $2,147 ?? ??
ISAIAS41 posts small blind $50
Sammy Ro posts big blind $100
ytrabbit folds
Manzoni raises $125
I'm in the cutoff five handed, so QJ suited is a nice healthy set of cards to pop it with. Even if I'd had rags, I might try to steal here - Miles is probably the tightest player in the league.
Miles 2 Go calls $225
I don't like this. Miles probably has AK or similar. Maybe a chunky middle pair or even 10's or Jacks - though at this point he'd be likely to push with those. I'm out of position against him, and I'm pre-planning in my mind now that I'm ready to give up the hand if it's not a favorable flop.
ISAIAS41 folds
Sammy Ro folds
FLOP: Th 8s 9c
Bingo bango bongo. Against most of the monkeys in this league, I would ABC here - check raise. But Miles is a good player, and sharp to my ways. So leading out with a pot sized bet seems pretty deceptive here. I typically continuation bet 2/3 or the full pot even if I don't hit. I know he knows this, he's liable to think I'm pulling my typical full of shit move.
Manzoni bets $600
Miles 2 Go raises $540 (all-in)
Manzoni calls $540
Wow, he's come over the top of my nuts. For a moment I'm guessing he has the same two cards as me, then I figure he's gotta have a set. The low end of the straight he's folding pre-flop. I'm shocked to see...
Manzoni shows Qc Jc
Miles 2 Go shows Ad Jh
Open ended straight draw? He must really think I had nothing and was pulling my usual steal stuff. He failed to notice my $600 raise was basically committing me to the pot. I would never have pulled the trigger that big if I didn't have something. The great thing about being aggressive, and stealing and seeing a lot of flops - is that perceptive players like Miles eventually realize that you're splashing around chips a lot of times when you shouldn't be; and then they lower their standards.
I also think in this particular case, with Miles down to just over 1K, he realized it was time for him to get some chips or get out. Still, I think if he had stopped to really think it through - if I have two pair (a raise pre-flop with a suited connecter is very likely by me) or even trips (even more likely) he is getting the absolute wrong odds to draw to eight outs. He also can't seriously think that I'm firing with a pair of nines and a good kicker - I've got two pair minimum; and in that case he can't count the three remaining aces (or the potentially three remaining jacks) as outs and should fold. Ah well, glad he screwed up.
TURN: Th 8s 9c 5s
RIVER: Th 8s 9c 5s Kd
Manzoni wins $2,880 with a King High Straight
So then I have almost 3K and we're down to one table and that's when the fun begins. Somebody has donated to Nacl (who left our first table a while back) he now has 3K+. Somebody else (probably a super-donk) has given a boatload of chips to perhaps the most dangerous donkey in the leaugue. Rowser, he has over 4K in chips. Yikes.
I've said it before in this blog; Rowser is blessed with an uncanny ability to read where he is in a hand and mostly stay out of trouble; but he has no concept of what pot odds are or even the thought of what an idiot end of a straight or flush is. His natural aggression as a poker player, makes him deadly though if he gets some ammunition.
As the blinds escelated, I slowly drifted down to 2500K, while Rabbit got crippled playing a big blind special (K3) that spiked top pair out of position against a semi-bluff by Rowser that hit for the nuts on the turn. Fold K3 please, even as a big blind special that hits - it's just such a crap kicker; even Rowser isn't likely to be firing without something that can damage you.
He was crippled with the blinds at 100/200 when...
1} Manzoni $3,605 9d 9s
3) nacl * $3,532 ?? ??
5) ytrabbit $1,449 Js As
6) rowser $8,358 ?? ??
7) cali Al $4,003 ?? ??
8) ISAIAS41 $1,553 ?? ??
ytrabbit posts small blind $100
rowser posts big blind $200
cali Al folds
ISAIAS41 folds
Manzoni calls $200
nacl folds
ytrabbit raises $1,249 (all-in)
rowser folds
He's desperate, 300 is a lot, a third of his stack. Worth a steal. This is an easy insta-call for me.
Manzoni calls $1,249
Manzoni shows 9d 9s
ytrabbit shows Js As
FLOP: 3c Ah 8c
TURN: 3c Ah 8c 5s
RIVER: 3c Ah 8c 5s Qd
ytrabbit wins $3,098 with a Pair of Aces
Cali, who had luck-boxed his way into 4K+ by this point, was incredulous in the chat box. Cali, who reads this, should know that if I have a chance to bust the most dangerous player at the table with not too much damage to my stack - I'm taking it, EVERY TIME. A third of my stack is a lot - but I knew I could still steal and get by with just over 2K if I had to.
And that's what I did for quite a few hands afterwards. I stole a bit, with all in moves against the right targets at the right time; and even managed to "steal" by getting no callers with Kings and Aces on two different occasions. (I was hoping my thieving reputation would get looked up, but the table definitely played tight.)
Then ISA had a brain fart.
1} Manzoni $2,556 Js Jc
3) nacl $3,982 ?? ??
5) ytrabbit $2,898 ?? ??
6) rowser $8,108 ?? ??
7) cali Al $3,403 ?? ??
8) ISAIAS41 * $1,553 8c Tc
Manzoni posts small blind $100
nacl posts big blind $200
ytrabbit folds
rowser folds
cali Al folds
ISAIAS41 raises $800
Manzoni raises $1,556 (all-in)
nacl folds
ISAIAS41 calls $553 (all-in)
Manzoni shows Js Jc
ISAIAS41 shows 8c Tc
FLOP: 5c Jh 4d
TURN: 5c Jh 4d Kh
RIVER: 5c Jh 4d Kh 4c
Manzoni wins $3,306 with a Full House, Jacks over Fours
First of all, yes, I'm short stacked with the blinds at 100/200, so Jacks I'm going all in with even if it's calling another all-in. (Two all-in's behind me, I have to think about it.) But this bizarre behavior of betting over half of your stack doesn't make any sense to me. Yes, it alerts me that you're committing to the hand just as an all in would - but it gives a larger stack a chance to call and then possibly hit something on the flop. If you move all your chips in, you've put your fear and fold equity to the max and given yourself the best chance to win the pot right then and there. I really hope ISA and his pot-raising while short stacked ilk don't read this and catch on.
Now my stack is muck healthier, 4K+; time to shift gears and tighten up. Most of the table were not long for this world. Rowser, as the big stack, did exactly what he should have - pumped up the aggression. Taking pot after pot uncontested. It really took it's toll on the smaller stacks. Eventually Nacl pushed with sevens, and Cali made an ill-advised call with sixes. Hey Cali, google "Sklansky's Gap Principle". Love ya man!
Cali actually stuck around even though crippled (as he is wont to do) and built his stack up quite a bit. Helped by me when he
donked it up calling my big bet with 83. But it was soooted. Naturally he flopped trips. It's okay, I don't want to discourage this kind of play, but it is a bit hard on the blood pressure. In all fairness, the blinds were a third of his stack at this point - he had little choice but to hold his nose and call.
Happily, I got it all back and more on the next two pots - even doubling up against Rowser who was unlucky enough to be holding JQos (a monster set of starting cards in his mind) when I caught A10 and pushed. Cali had to contend with Rowsers love of all cards when his pre-flop push with 9's got called down by a baby ace by Rowser - who naturally hit on the flop.
Four players left. Bubble time. We all had 4kish, except for Rowser who had luck on his side and parlayed his less than selective aggression into a 2 to 1 chip lead. He continued his aggression, raising blindly and getting away with it until...
1} Manzoni $3,517 6d Kd
3) nacl $2,768 ?? ??
5) ytrabbit * $4,179 ?? ??
6) rowser $12,036 ?? ??
Manzoni antes $25
nacl antes $25
ytrabbit antes $25
rowser antes $25
rowser posts small blind $300
Manzoni posts big blind $600
nacl folds
ytrabbit folds
rowser raises $1,200
I've had it, the blinds are gi-normous. I pre planned this one, knowing I was going to shove after Rowser's crap (but at this stage) effective min-raise. I clicked the Jam box (all-in) ahead of time and waited for the donk to pop it. .
Manzoni raises $1,692 (all-in)
He was alarmed in the chat box, with the auto-selection I basically beat him into the pot. He tanked all the way down and auto-folded
rowser folds
Manzoni wins $3,700 uncontested
This is perhaps one of the single greatest examples ever of Rowser's utter inability to grasp the math of the game. A chance to eliminate one of the most dangerous players at the table, without ANY real damage to his stack; plus the right odds to call with basically ANY two cards.
And he folds.
Jesus H. I knew he would call my jam ahead of time, I was just praying for two live cards and a chance to suck him out - ala' Cali with his 83 against me.
And instead he folded.
Ohhhhhkay. I had to laugh, and collect my chips. Back in it, with an excellent chance to cash - now I had over 5K in chips.
Thanks man! Love you!
Allow me to stop here, and say that for all my disdain for Rowser's play, because it is very different from mine; let me just say that honestly - he has a gift and a feel for the game that no matter how hard I study and practice, I will probably never get. It's hard wired with him, and I really do respect his game, if not his technical play. He runs very hot and cold in the league, he has what they call a high variance. When it is down to 3 or 4 handed and he has some chips, he is without a doubt the very BIGGEST threat at the table. He is also my oldest and dearest friend, and FAR smarter than me in so many areas it's not even funny.
I sat back and was fully prepared to fold my way to the money. I had bubbled out twice before this season, and did not want that sting again. I expected to see Rowser bludgeon the two shorter stacks then myself until one took a stand and hopefully busted. Turned out, the two short stacks turned on each other; Rabbit busted Nacl's pocket fives by calling down his shove with a baby ace and spiking on the flop.
And then there were 3. Now I was the shortest stack, and frankly I didn't like my chances. I was just glad to have cashed.
Rowser continued to bully, we submitted. Then Rabbit got a little bit unlucky when his Jacks fell to Rowsers (correct) call with QKos.
Heads up baby. No time for niceties; I pushed in every hand when I was on the button. It was going to be a coin flip, my stack was just two small. For several hands, much to my surprise, he folded to my raises. Then I got unlucky. I had JK on the button, more than good enough. Push.
He slow rolled me with Aces. I had to laugh as Rabbit railed him for his dick move. His hand held up, and completely oblivious to his faux-pas' he signed off with a smarmy farwell. I chuckled, I know Rowser had no idea that he had done anything wrong. What he had done right, was play with tremendous aggression in the last half hour of play; entering nearly every pot with a raise. Well done sir! I salute your game!
And I'm pleased as punch I got second. Next week - an early exit.
No poker overseas I'm afraid, it's illegal in China and even in Hong Kong! Though they do have horse racing, sports betting and a lottery of course. The only place where a legal casino exists over there is the island city of Macau, and we didn't get to go there.
I missed T11 and T12. Upon my return I promptly slept, literally, through T13. Even though I was back in the US, I didn't play. My brain was awash in a fearsome haze of jet lag. The following week T14 turned out a little better.
I started off slow, but felt good even as I stole a little and lost a little more; I was surprised at how easy it was to get back in the flow. One thing I didn't like was that ytrabbit was on my right. Normally, you want stronger players on your right - so you can see what they do. But rabbit's style is so similar to mine, that he often pulls moves pre-flop (raises and steals on the button, cutoff or hijak) and I have to discard mediumish hands that I normally like to see cheap flops with.
To my left was perhaps the biggest donk in the whole league, Vikingjoe. (I don't mean this in any personal way, it's just that I consistently see really bad poker decisions by him. I'm sure he's a good guy). Though I didn't fear him, I was wary of his inability to recognize when he was being given the absolute wrong odds to call and draw. Thankfully ytrabbit took care of him early on.
1} Manzoni $1,110 4s 9c
3) Viking Joe $1,319 Kd Jc
5) ISAIAS41 $2,045 ?? ??
6) crippe $245 ?? ??
7) nacl $2,170 ?? ??
9) Sammy Ro $1,335 ?? ??
10) ytrabbit * $2,276 7s 7c
Manzoni posts small blind $15
Viking Joe posts big blind $30
ISAIAS41 folds
crippe folds
nacl folds
Sammy Ro folds
ytrabbit raises $60
Manzoni folds
Viking Joe calls $60
FLOP: 7h 5d Js
Viking Joe bets $30
ytrabbit calls $30
This is classic Viking, min betting and raising are his forte'. He fails to protect his top pair and gains zero information on rabbit's holdings - rabbit has the right price to call with just about any two cards - he's also a savvy enough player not to reveal that he's spiked trips. Interestingly, on the flip side, the min bet actually reveals a lot about Viking - since he always bets this way; Rabbit knows that Viking has something, and probably top pair.
TURN: 7h 5d Js 9s
Viking Joe bets $130
ytrabbit raises $515
Viking Joe calls $515
Rabbit springs the trap and Viking insta-calls. Thanks to Viking's min bet on third street, he has zero clue that his top pair with a less than perfect kicker is toast at this point. Incidentally, Rabbit is properly protecting his hand here just in case Viking has a flush draw.
RIVER: 7h 5d Js 9s 6c
Viking Joe checks
ytrabbit bets $1,511 (all-in)
Viking Joe calls $554 (all-in)
ytrabbit shows 7s 7c
Viking Joe mucks
Easy decision for Rabbit as to how much to bet, he knows Viking is unsophisticated and will probably think that his jack is the still the best hand. Rabbit also risks going broke over Viking backing into some weird gut-shot (J8 is a very probably holding for Viking believe it or not) but that's what you have to do against min-raising calling stations who have no clue how the game is played.
ytrabbit wins $2,653 with Three of a Kind, Sevens
So with uber-donk out of the way (a good thing in an ultra-turbo tournament) I was free to try and get Rabbit's chips. Easier said than done.
And before I could do that I had to win against Nacl. A good player who gets better every time I play him. Paradoxically, unlike Viking and his ilk, Nacl and Rabbit respect my play - so I'm able to get away with an occasional move. Case in point was the very next hand. Scary stuff.
1} Manzoni * $1,095 4d Jh
3) Miles 2 Go (sitting out)
5) ISAIAS41 $2,045 ?? ??
6) crippe $245 ?? ??
7) nacl $2,170 ?? ??
9) Sammy Ro $1,335 ?? ??
10) ytrabbit $3,610 ?? ??
ISAIAS41 posts big blind $30
crippe folds
nacl calls $30
Sammy Ro folds
ytrabbit folds
Manzoni calls $30
ISAIAS41 checks
FLOP: 9s Ac Jd
ISAIAS41 checks
nacl bets $90
I'm very sure at this point that Nacl has an Ace with a lame or even medium kicker. Since ISA didn't raise before the flop I can pretty much put him on not having big cards. Knowing that Nacl is capable of folding if he thinks he's beat, I make a move.
Manzoni raises $270
ISAIAS41 folds
nacl calls $270
Not crazy about the call, with only 700 left, I'm committed. I decide to move all in if he checks, before the turn card comes.
TURN: 9s Ac Jd 9c
nacl checks
Manzoni bets $705 (all-in)
nacl folds
Manzoni wins $810 uncontested
He did tank for what seemed an eternity, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when he finally let his ace go. Thank goodness for players who know what they're doing. My betting was a lie, but it was a lie that said I had AK or AQ, or even AJ. He would be crippled if he was beaten; he rightfully respected my position and got away from a small (for him) pot.
Now if most of the rest of the players in the league, whom are fine fellas, but mostly poker retards, would just get on the ball - I could steal them blind! Well, probably not; the key in this game I've found is not only target selection, but circumstance selection as well. Nacl had just recently won a large pot, I had lost a third of my stack - I know his nature is to tighten up when he builds a chip lead; subconsciously I just knew it was time to go.
I coasted for awhile, keeping my stack up by stealing and hitting occasionally and winning most of my pots uncontested. Then, as is often the case in our league; lady luck smiled and my opponent made a colossally bad decision.
1} Manzoni $1,890 Qc Jc
3) Miles 2 Go * $1,365 Ad Jh
5) ISAIAS41 $2,303 ?? ??
9) Sammy Ro $1,038 ?? ??
10) ytrabbit $2,147 ?? ??
ISAIAS41 posts small blind $50
Sammy Ro posts big blind $100
ytrabbit folds
Manzoni raises $125
I'm in the cutoff five handed, so QJ suited is a nice healthy set of cards to pop it with. Even if I'd had rags, I might try to steal here - Miles is probably the tightest player in the league.
Miles 2 Go calls $225
I don't like this. Miles probably has AK or similar. Maybe a chunky middle pair or even 10's or Jacks - though at this point he'd be likely to push with those. I'm out of position against him, and I'm pre-planning in my mind now that I'm ready to give up the hand if it's not a favorable flop.
ISAIAS41 folds
Sammy Ro folds
FLOP: Th 8s 9c
Bingo bango bongo. Against most of the monkeys in this league, I would ABC here - check raise. But Miles is a good player, and sharp to my ways. So leading out with a pot sized bet seems pretty deceptive here. I typically continuation bet 2/3 or the full pot even if I don't hit. I know he knows this, he's liable to think I'm pulling my typical full of shit move.
Manzoni bets $600
Miles 2 Go raises $540 (all-in)
Manzoni calls $540
Wow, he's come over the top of my nuts. For a moment I'm guessing he has the same two cards as me, then I figure he's gotta have a set. The low end of the straight he's folding pre-flop. I'm shocked to see...
Manzoni shows Qc Jc
Miles 2 Go shows Ad Jh
Open ended straight draw? He must really think I had nothing and was pulling my usual steal stuff. He failed to notice my $600 raise was basically committing me to the pot. I would never have pulled the trigger that big if I didn't have something. The great thing about being aggressive, and stealing and seeing a lot of flops - is that perceptive players like Miles eventually realize that you're splashing around chips a lot of times when you shouldn't be; and then they lower their standards.
I also think in this particular case, with Miles down to just over 1K, he realized it was time for him to get some chips or get out. Still, I think if he had stopped to really think it through - if I have two pair (a raise pre-flop with a suited connecter is very likely by me) or even trips (even more likely) he is getting the absolute wrong odds to draw to eight outs. He also can't seriously think that I'm firing with a pair of nines and a good kicker - I've got two pair minimum; and in that case he can't count the three remaining aces (or the potentially three remaining jacks) as outs and should fold. Ah well, glad he screwed up.
TURN: Th 8s 9c 5s
RIVER: Th 8s 9c 5s Kd
Manzoni wins $2,880 with a King High Straight
So then I have almost 3K and we're down to one table and that's when the fun begins. Somebody has donated to Nacl (who left our first table a while back) he now has 3K+. Somebody else (probably a super-donk) has given a boatload of chips to perhaps the most dangerous donkey in the leaugue. Rowser, he has over 4K in chips. Yikes.
I've said it before in this blog; Rowser is blessed with an uncanny ability to read where he is in a hand and mostly stay out of trouble; but he has no concept of what pot odds are or even the thought of what an idiot end of a straight or flush is. His natural aggression as a poker player, makes him deadly though if he gets some ammunition.
As the blinds escelated, I slowly drifted down to 2500K, while Rabbit got crippled playing a big blind special (K3) that spiked top pair out of position against a semi-bluff by Rowser that hit for the nuts on the turn. Fold K3 please, even as a big blind special that hits - it's just such a crap kicker; even Rowser isn't likely to be firing without something that can damage you.
He was crippled with the blinds at 100/200 when...
1} Manzoni $3,605 9d 9s
3) nacl * $3,532 ?? ??
5) ytrabbit $1,449 Js As
6) rowser $8,358 ?? ??
7) cali Al $4,003 ?? ??
8) ISAIAS41 $1,553 ?? ??
ytrabbit posts small blind $100
rowser posts big blind $200
cali Al folds
ISAIAS41 folds
Manzoni calls $200
nacl folds
ytrabbit raises $1,249 (all-in)
rowser folds
He's desperate, 300 is a lot, a third of his stack. Worth a steal. This is an easy insta-call for me.
Manzoni calls $1,249
Manzoni shows 9d 9s
ytrabbit shows Js As
FLOP: 3c Ah 8c
TURN: 3c Ah 8c 5s
RIVER: 3c Ah 8c 5s Qd
ytrabbit wins $3,098 with a Pair of Aces
Cali, who had luck-boxed his way into 4K+ by this point, was incredulous in the chat box. Cali, who reads this, should know that if I have a chance to bust the most dangerous player at the table with not too much damage to my stack - I'm taking it, EVERY TIME. A third of my stack is a lot - but I knew I could still steal and get by with just over 2K if I had to.
And that's what I did for quite a few hands afterwards. I stole a bit, with all in moves against the right targets at the right time; and even managed to "steal" by getting no callers with Kings and Aces on two different occasions. (I was hoping my thieving reputation would get looked up, but the table definitely played tight.)
Then ISA had a brain fart.
1} Manzoni $2,556 Js Jc
3) nacl $3,982 ?? ??
5) ytrabbit $2,898 ?? ??
6) rowser $8,108 ?? ??
7) cali Al $3,403 ?? ??
8) ISAIAS41 * $1,553 8c Tc
Manzoni posts small blind $100
nacl posts big blind $200
ytrabbit folds
rowser folds
cali Al folds
ISAIAS41 raises $800
Manzoni raises $1,556 (all-in)
nacl folds
ISAIAS41 calls $553 (all-in)
Manzoni shows Js Jc
ISAIAS41 shows 8c Tc
FLOP: 5c Jh 4d
TURN: 5c Jh 4d Kh
RIVER: 5c Jh 4d Kh 4c
Manzoni wins $3,306 with a Full House, Jacks over Fours
First of all, yes, I'm short stacked with the blinds at 100/200, so Jacks I'm going all in with even if it's calling another all-in. (Two all-in's behind me, I have to think about it.) But this bizarre behavior of betting over half of your stack doesn't make any sense to me. Yes, it alerts me that you're committing to the hand just as an all in would - but it gives a larger stack a chance to call and then possibly hit something on the flop. If you move all your chips in, you've put your fear and fold equity to the max and given yourself the best chance to win the pot right then and there. I really hope ISA and his pot-raising while short stacked ilk don't read this and catch on.
Now my stack is muck healthier, 4K+; time to shift gears and tighten up. Most of the table were not long for this world. Rowser, as the big stack, did exactly what he should have - pumped up the aggression. Taking pot after pot uncontested. It really took it's toll on the smaller stacks. Eventually Nacl pushed with sevens, and Cali made an ill-advised call with sixes. Hey Cali, google "Sklansky's Gap Principle". Love ya man!
Cali actually stuck around even though crippled (as he is wont to do) and built his stack up quite a bit. Helped by me when he
donked it up calling my big bet with 83. But it was soooted. Naturally he flopped trips. It's okay, I don't want to discourage this kind of play, but it is a bit hard on the blood pressure. In all fairness, the blinds were a third of his stack at this point - he had little choice but to hold his nose and call.
Happily, I got it all back and more on the next two pots - even doubling up against Rowser who was unlucky enough to be holding JQos (a monster set of starting cards in his mind) when I caught A10 and pushed. Cali had to contend with Rowsers love of all cards when his pre-flop push with 9's got called down by a baby ace by Rowser - who naturally hit on the flop.
Four players left. Bubble time. We all had 4kish, except for Rowser who had luck on his side and parlayed his less than selective aggression into a 2 to 1 chip lead. He continued his aggression, raising blindly and getting away with it until...
1} Manzoni $3,517 6d Kd
3) nacl $2,768 ?? ??
5) ytrabbit * $4,179 ?? ??
6) rowser $12,036 ?? ??
Manzoni antes $25
nacl antes $25
ytrabbit antes $25
rowser antes $25
rowser posts small blind $300
Manzoni posts big blind $600
nacl folds
ytrabbit folds
rowser raises $1,200
I've had it, the blinds are gi-normous. I pre planned this one, knowing I was going to shove after Rowser's crap (but at this stage) effective min-raise. I clicked the Jam box (all-in) ahead of time and waited for the donk to pop it. .
Manzoni raises $1,692 (all-in)
He was alarmed in the chat box, with the auto-selection I basically beat him into the pot. He tanked all the way down and auto-folded
rowser folds
Manzoni wins $3,700 uncontested
This is perhaps one of the single greatest examples ever of Rowser's utter inability to grasp the math of the game. A chance to eliminate one of the most dangerous players at the table, without ANY real damage to his stack; plus the right odds to call with basically ANY two cards.
And he folds.
Jesus H. I knew he would call my jam ahead of time, I was just praying for two live cards and a chance to suck him out - ala' Cali with his 83 against me.
And instead he folded.
Ohhhhhkay. I had to laugh, and collect my chips. Back in it, with an excellent chance to cash - now I had over 5K in chips.
Thanks man! Love you!
Allow me to stop here, and say that for all my disdain for Rowser's play, because it is very different from mine; let me just say that honestly - he has a gift and a feel for the game that no matter how hard I study and practice, I will probably never get. It's hard wired with him, and I really do respect his game, if not his technical play. He runs very hot and cold in the league, he has what they call a high variance. When it is down to 3 or 4 handed and he has some chips, he is without a doubt the very BIGGEST threat at the table. He is also my oldest and dearest friend, and FAR smarter than me in so many areas it's not even funny.
I sat back and was fully prepared to fold my way to the money. I had bubbled out twice before this season, and did not want that sting again. I expected to see Rowser bludgeon the two shorter stacks then myself until one took a stand and hopefully busted. Turned out, the two short stacks turned on each other; Rabbit busted Nacl's pocket fives by calling down his shove with a baby ace and spiking on the flop.
And then there were 3. Now I was the shortest stack, and frankly I didn't like my chances. I was just glad to have cashed.
Rowser continued to bully, we submitted. Then Rabbit got a little bit unlucky when his Jacks fell to Rowsers (correct) call with QKos.
Heads up baby. No time for niceties; I pushed in every hand when I was on the button. It was going to be a coin flip, my stack was just two small. For several hands, much to my surprise, he folded to my raises. Then I got unlucky. I had JK on the button, more than good enough. Push.
He slow rolled me with Aces. I had to laugh as Rabbit railed him for his dick move. His hand held up, and completely oblivious to his faux-pas' he signed off with a smarmy farwell. I chuckled, I know Rowser had no idea that he had done anything wrong. What he had done right, was play with tremendous aggression in the last half hour of play; entering nearly every pot with a raise. Well done sir! I salute your game!
And I'm pleased as punch I got second. Next week - an early exit.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
T9 Flatline 2008.1 3/4/08
Ill advised.
Those are the best words I could use to describe the maneuver I tried to pull after our 17 players had been whittled down to just 9, about halfway through last nights tournament.
I'd had a great night so far, building a stack simply by stealing the blinds on occasion and reading people correctly and pushing them off of hands. I hadn't caught any cards to speak of - it was pure intuitive skill that saw my stack grow to 2500+ from a starting stack of 1500.
When we got to a single table, a couple of moves I made - plus a couple of decent hands I started with, didn't pan out. So I was around my starting stack when I woke up on the button with pocket fours. My standard raise of 2.5x the big blind had been working well, so I popped it. The big blind, Cali, flat called. He had folded at least twice before to me, so I knew he had something.
Flop came 89k rainbow. Cali lead out with 300. A terrible bet that told me immediately he hadn't connected with the flop. He hits with his KJ he'll bet less, fearful of my kicker. If he has AK he'll value bet more to punish me for staying. (As an aside, if he had AK pre-flop he should have raised then, but he is pretty passive with drawing hands - even the best one in the deck). He runs into a set with 8's or 9's he'll check and try to slow play. This was clearly a "leading" bet, trying to take the pot right then and there. I pondered, and decided he had a smaller pair, or possibly he was semi-bluffing with an open ended straight draw. Either way, I'm getting him off of this hand.
To his credit, he did tank long and hard when I pushed all-in over the top; but eventually he did call with pocket sixes. So much for Doyle Brunson 101 poker. I put the tough decision to him, he wasn't nearly committed to the hand, he could have easily (and should have as far as I'm concerned) figured it out and folded. If I was him, I would have put me on AK or even a middle pocket pair, respected the power of position and laid it down.
But therein lies my biggest mistake. I'm not him. He was willing to risk almost the entirety of his stack because he's fallen in love with a pair of sixes, out of position. And he thinks I'm always trying to steal, cause he reads this blog.
A small part of me does give him credit for reading me well, and there's no doubt that he had information on me. But unless you're Patrick Antonius, you have no idea if I have pocket 4's or pocket 7's. I know he was tilting from his poor play earlier (calling pre-flop with J7os out of position is one lovely play that springs to mind) and I knew that as long as he couldn't get away when he was beaten, he was not long for this tournament. He busted out in sixth place.
Once again, I have learned the lesson to play the player and not just the cards. I've had my biggest successes with Cali simply by having the a very strong hand and moving all in. He is, as far as I can see, unable to discern a good position bet from the stone cold nuts. As long as he keeps calling me down when he gets just a piece of the flop or a pocket pair, I stand to crush him on a regular basis.
Next week; more patient with Cali and his ilk. Stay frosty with the tricksters.
Those are the best words I could use to describe the maneuver I tried to pull after our 17 players had been whittled down to just 9, about halfway through last nights tournament.
I'd had a great night so far, building a stack simply by stealing the blinds on occasion and reading people correctly and pushing them off of hands. I hadn't caught any cards to speak of - it was pure intuitive skill that saw my stack grow to 2500+ from a starting stack of 1500.
When we got to a single table, a couple of moves I made - plus a couple of decent hands I started with, didn't pan out. So I was around my starting stack when I woke up on the button with pocket fours. My standard raise of 2.5x the big blind had been working well, so I popped it. The big blind, Cali, flat called. He had folded at least twice before to me, so I knew he had something.
Flop came 89k rainbow. Cali lead out with 300. A terrible bet that told me immediately he hadn't connected with the flop. He hits with his KJ he'll bet less, fearful of my kicker. If he has AK he'll value bet more to punish me for staying. (As an aside, if he had AK pre-flop he should have raised then, but he is pretty passive with drawing hands - even the best one in the deck). He runs into a set with 8's or 9's he'll check and try to slow play. This was clearly a "leading" bet, trying to take the pot right then and there. I pondered, and decided he had a smaller pair, or possibly he was semi-bluffing with an open ended straight draw. Either way, I'm getting him off of this hand.
To his credit, he did tank long and hard when I pushed all-in over the top; but eventually he did call with pocket sixes. So much for Doyle Brunson 101 poker. I put the tough decision to him, he wasn't nearly committed to the hand, he could have easily (and should have as far as I'm concerned) figured it out and folded. If I was him, I would have put me on AK or even a middle pocket pair, respected the power of position and laid it down.
But therein lies my biggest mistake. I'm not him. He was willing to risk almost the entirety of his stack because he's fallen in love with a pair of sixes, out of position. And he thinks I'm always trying to steal, cause he reads this blog.
A small part of me does give him credit for reading me well, and there's no doubt that he had information on me. But unless you're Patrick Antonius, you have no idea if I have pocket 4's or pocket 7's. I know he was tilting from his poor play earlier (calling pre-flop with J7os out of position is one lovely play that springs to mind) and I knew that as long as he couldn't get away when he was beaten, he was not long for this tournament. He busted out in sixth place.
Once again, I have learned the lesson to play the player and not just the cards. I've had my biggest successes with Cali simply by having the a very strong hand and moving all in. He is, as far as I can see, unable to discern a good position bet from the stone cold nuts. As long as he keeps calling me down when he gets just a piece of the flop or a pocket pair, I stand to crush him on a regular basis.
Next week; more patient with Cali and his ilk. Stay frosty with the tricksters.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
T8 Flatline 2008.1 2/25/08
Fifth hand of the night.
1} Manzoni $1,500 Ac Ad
2) crippe * $1,455 ?? ??
3) timmytimmy $1,440 ?? ??
4) cali Al $1,360 ?? ??
5) Miles 2 Go $1,500 ?? ??
7) rowser $1,500 ?? ??
8) The Rubin $1,795 ?? ??
10) YourDinero $1,450 ?? ??
timmytimmy posts small blind $10
cali Al posts big blind $20
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser folds
The Rubin calls $20
YourDinero folds
Manzoni raises $70
crippe folds
timmytimmy folds
cali Al calls $70
The Rubin calls $70
FLOP: 7d 2h 9d
cali Al bets $140
The Rubin folds
Manzoni raises $210
cali Al calls $210
TURN: 7d 2h 9d Jd
cali Al bets $920 (all-in)
Manzoni folds
cali Al wins $980 uncontested
I'm not crazy with my play here, my raise pre-flop is fair against sensible players - but the two calling stations Cali and Ruben (who was actually Ruben's wife) felt they were getting the right price to call. I like making my bets Ferguson style, keeping the bets the same based on position, rather than on what cards I have - it makes me tougher to read I think. In late position I need to be firing 4 or 5x BB, not 2.5.
I was surprised Cali lead out on the flop - I put him on a semi-bluff with a flush draw; again my mistake here was not raising enough; I should have fired at least a bit more than half the pot 300 or so to give Cali the absolutely wrong odds to call. When Cali's diamond hit on the turn I still could have gotten away for a bit more chips, but he likely might have laid it down with a bigger flop raise from me.
Three hands later it was my turn to outplay Cali.
1} Manzoni $1,270 2h 2s
2) crippe $1,455 ?? ??
3) timmytimmy $1,400 ?? ??
4) cali Al $1,820 Kd Kh
5) Miles 2 Go $1,180 ?? ??
7) rowser * $1,410 ?? ??
8) The Rubin $1,635 ?? ??
10) YourDinero $1,830 ?? ??
The Rubin posts small blind $10
YourDinero posts big blind $20
Manzoni calls $20
crippe calls $20
timmytimmy folds
cali Al raises $90
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser folds
The Rubin folds
YourDinero folds
Manzoni calls $90
crippe folds
FLOP: 3c 5d 2d
Manzoni checks
cali Al bets $270
Manzoni raises $890 (all-in)
cali Al calls $890
Manzoni shows 2h 2s
cali Al shows Kd Kh
TURN: 3c 5d 2d Jc
RIVER: 3c 5d 2d Jc 4s
Manzoni wins $2,590 with Three of a Kind, Twos
Knowing Cali's propensity to overvalue premium cards was a great boon here; I actually put him on aces with his bigger than usual raise pre-flop and was happy to call him with a chance to hurt him if I hit. The flop I knew had nothing to do with his holdings, so I was able to ABC poker him into a check raise and collect.
Was feeling great until the next hand.
1} Manzoni $2,590 4h 3s
2) crippe $1,435 ?? ??
3) timmytimmy $1,400 ?? ??
4) cali Al $550 As 9c
5) Miles 2 Go $1,180 ?? ??
7) rowser $1,410 ?? ??
8) The Rubin * $1,625 ?? ??
10) YourDinero $1,810 4d 4c
YourDinero posts small blind $10
Manzoni posts big blind $20
crippe calls $20
timmytimmy calls $20
cali Al calls $20
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser calls $20
The Rubin calls $20
YourDinero calls $10
Manzoni checks
FLOP: 9s 4s 3c
YourDinero checks
Manzoni bets $140
crippe folds
timmytimmy folds
cali Al raises $390 (all-in)
rowser folds
The Rubin folds
YourDinero calls $530
Manzoni raises $2,040 (all-in)
YourDinero calls $1,260 (all-in)
Manzoni shows 4h 3s
cali Al shows As 9c
YourDinero shows 4d 4c
TURN: 9s 4s 3c 7c
RIVER: 9s 4s 3c 7c 3d
YourDinero wins $2,520 with a Full House, Fours over Threes
YourDinero wins $1,730 with a Full House, Fours over Threes
I forgot to respect Dinero's smooth call; and in my overeagerness to felt Cali I failed to recognize that in the texture of the board, it was HIGHLY unlikely that Dinero was on a draw - it was obvious in hindsight that his hand was made. I felt like an idiot. Dinero is a typical tight passive type, there should have been big red warning bells when he called Cali's bet; I should have just flat called behind him and been content to potentially check it down and probably have the best hand. There was no good reason to get greedy with only two pair after what I failed to recognize as a scary call.
I still had enough chips left to steal blinds a couple of times; and found myself at 790 when I looked down at tens.
1} Manzoni $790 Ts Td
3) timmytimmy $1,420 ?? ??
5) Miles 2 Go $1,165 ?? ??
7) rowser $820 8d 8c
8) The Rubin $2,125 ?? ??
10) YourDinero * $5,680 Jd Jh
Manzoni posts small blind $15
timmytimmy posts big blind $30
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser raises $30
The Rubin folds
YourDinero raises $300
Manzoni raises $430 (all-in)
timmytimmy folds
rowser raises $30 (all-in)
YourDinero calls $460
Manzoni shows Ts Td
rowser shows 8d 8c
YourDinero shows Jd Jh
FLOP: Qs 2h 3d
TURN: Qs 2h 3d Th
RIVER: Qs 2h 3d Th 3h
YourDinero wins $60 with Two Pair, Jacks and Threes
Manzoni wins $2,400 with a Full House, Tens over Threes
With the other short stack min-raising, I knew he had a pocket pair - and probably not a very good one. Dinero's raise screamed out as an isolation move - he probably had a couple of face cards or some such and had read Rowser as I had - and wanted to put him down now. This was an easy all in move for me, especially since I was still a bit tilted at my misplaced aggression a few hands back.
I was not happy when he turned up Jacks, but oh so relieved at my luck on the turn. Better lucky than good sometimes, especially with our tournament structure.
I hovered at 2K+ for awhile, picking up an occasional small pot until...
Mad_Maxx posts small blind $50
Manzoni posts big blind $100
nacl folds
SvenGolly folds
ytrabbit folds
The Rubin folds
The_Chipper folds
Miles 2 Go folds
YourDinero folds
timmytimmy folds
Mad_Maxx raises $100
Manzoni calls $100
FLOP: Jc 6s Js
Mad_Maxx bets $400
Manzoni calls $400
TURN: Jc 6s Js 6h
Mad_Maxx checks
Manzoni bets $300
Mad_Maxx raises $725 (all-in)
Manzoni calls $725
Manzoni shows 6c Jd
Mad_Maxx shows As Ac
RIVER: Jc 6s Js 6h 7d
Manzoni wins $3,250 with a Full House, Jacks over Sixes
Ah the delightfully dreadful min-raise! No matter how many times these guys get creamed by it, they still do it. I had the right price to call pre-flop with any two random cards. Spiking a boat on the flop was a great bonus, and yet Max still made a good bet, big enough to get rid of me with any draws, yet small enough to get away from. Fortunately he was a man who had fallen in love with the prettiest pocket pair in the deck. He didn't bother to read my smooth call as a BIG warning sign; especially someone like me who hardly ever calls with the wrong price on a draw.
The truly retarded part of his play, even more so than the min-raise; was his check raise on the turn. He appeared to have slowed down, but even with my flat call, he still thought he had the best hand. Pocket rockets are sooo seductive. I guess.
Now I was in great shape, with a big chip lead. I could have coasted into the money. Nah. (Donk alert!)
nacl posts small blind $50
SvenGolly posts big blind $100
ytrabbit folds
The Rubin calls $100
The_Chipper folds
Miles 2 Go folds
YourDinero folds
timmytimmy folds
Manzoni calls $100
nacl calls $50
SvenGolly checks
FLOP: 4c 9d Ks
nacl bets $200
SvenGolly folds
The Rubin calls $200
Manzoni raises $3,775 (all-in)
nacl folds
The Rubin calls $1,725 (all-in)
Manzoni shows Jd Kd
The Rubin shows 9h 9s
TURN: 4c 9d Ks Qh
RIVER: 4c 9d Ks Qh Jh
The Rubin wins $4,450 with Three of a Kind, Nines
Mistake #1 - limping on the button. HUGE mistake. I must make Rubin pay for sticking around with a middle pocket pair out of position.
Mistake #2 - (Bigger than Mistake #1) risking the health of my stack with an over-bet that is only going to be called down by a hand that can beat me. BAD BAD BAD POKER. I knew Nacl was fooling around, and I SHOULD have known that another smooth call by an ABC Poker player like Rubin's wife, was a HUGE signal for me to either get out or pop it just enough to confirm the obvious. The correct play in hindsight was to fold with top pair and a big chip lead. Failing that, the next correct play would have been to raise a bit more than half the pot (or even min-raise for that matter) to at least give my stupid self a chance to recognize that Rubinita had a made hand.
NO REASON to put all of my chips into play with top pair and third best kicker.
From this point on my timing was lousy and my cards were worse. After three or four failed steal attempts, I found myself with an M of 4 and decided to try and steal the blinds.
1} Manzoni $1,000 8h Qc
2) nacl $2,356 Jd Ah
3) SvenGolly $2,160 ?? ??
5) The Rubin * $4,157 ?? ??
6) The_Chipper $2,462 ?? ??
7) Miles 2 Go $3,280 ?? ??
8) YourDinero $4,920 ?? ??
9) timmytimmy $2,165 ?? ??
The_Chipper posts small blind $100
Miles 2 Go posts big blind $200
YourDinero folds
timmytimmy folds
Manzoni raises $800 (all-in)
nacl raises $1,356 (all-in)
SvenGolly folds
The Rubin folds
The_Chipper folds
Miles 2 Go folds
Manzoni shows 8h Qc
nacl shows Jd Ah
FLOP: Ks 5c 4s
TURN: Ks 5c 4s 9h
RIVER: Ks 5c 4s 9h 3c
nacl wins $2,300 with Ace High
Not nearly the worst of my mistakes this evening; but I guess I could have held on for another blind or two. Actually, I'm really not that displeased with this hand. I gave myself the best chance to win by moving all-in first - giving the remaining stacks a true pause for thought and putting most starting cards on the wrong end of the gap principle. AJ even is a borderline hand to risk 1K in chips, if it weren't for the fact that Nacl was also short stacked - I likely would have played the same as he.
Next time; I promise to beware the smooth call; especially by opponents that I know I can outplay in other hands - even when they have better starting cards.
Incidentally, Rubinella took this one down, thanks to the generous donations of the final four players. She was on a rush, but she was also playing a very simple style, and very similar to her husband. I wish the other guys were able to read her as good as I could - but then again, it's always easier to read from the rail.
1} Manzoni $1,500 Ac Ad
2) crippe * $1,455 ?? ??
3) timmytimmy $1,440 ?? ??
4) cali Al $1,360 ?? ??
5) Miles 2 Go $1,500 ?? ??
7) rowser $1,500 ?? ??
8) The Rubin $1,795 ?? ??
10) YourDinero $1,450 ?? ??
timmytimmy posts small blind $10
cali Al posts big blind $20
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser folds
The Rubin calls $20
YourDinero folds
Manzoni raises $70
crippe folds
timmytimmy folds
cali Al calls $70
The Rubin calls $70
FLOP: 7d 2h 9d
cali Al bets $140
The Rubin folds
Manzoni raises $210
cali Al calls $210
TURN: 7d 2h 9d Jd
cali Al bets $920 (all-in)
Manzoni folds
cali Al wins $980 uncontested
I'm not crazy with my play here, my raise pre-flop is fair against sensible players - but the two calling stations Cali and Ruben (who was actually Ruben's wife) felt they were getting the right price to call. I like making my bets Ferguson style, keeping the bets the same based on position, rather than on what cards I have - it makes me tougher to read I think. In late position I need to be firing 4 or 5x BB, not 2.5.
I was surprised Cali lead out on the flop - I put him on a semi-bluff with a flush draw; again my mistake here was not raising enough; I should have fired at least a bit more than half the pot 300 or so to give Cali the absolutely wrong odds to call. When Cali's diamond hit on the turn I still could have gotten away for a bit more chips, but he likely might have laid it down with a bigger flop raise from me.
Three hands later it was my turn to outplay Cali.
1} Manzoni $1,270 2h 2s
2) crippe $1,455 ?? ??
3) timmytimmy $1,400 ?? ??
4) cali Al $1,820 Kd Kh
5) Miles 2 Go $1,180 ?? ??
7) rowser * $1,410 ?? ??
8) The Rubin $1,635 ?? ??
10) YourDinero $1,830 ?? ??
The Rubin posts small blind $10
YourDinero posts big blind $20
Manzoni calls $20
crippe calls $20
timmytimmy folds
cali Al raises $90
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser folds
The Rubin folds
YourDinero folds
Manzoni calls $90
crippe folds
FLOP: 3c 5d 2d
Manzoni checks
cali Al bets $270
Manzoni raises $890 (all-in)
cali Al calls $890
Manzoni shows 2h 2s
cali Al shows Kd Kh
TURN: 3c 5d 2d Jc
RIVER: 3c 5d 2d Jc 4s
Manzoni wins $2,590 with Three of a Kind, Twos
Knowing Cali's propensity to overvalue premium cards was a great boon here; I actually put him on aces with his bigger than usual raise pre-flop and was happy to call him with a chance to hurt him if I hit. The flop I knew had nothing to do with his holdings, so I was able to ABC poker him into a check raise and collect.
Was feeling great until the next hand.
1} Manzoni $2,590 4h 3s
2) crippe $1,435 ?? ??
3) timmytimmy $1,400 ?? ??
4) cali Al $550 As 9c
5) Miles 2 Go $1,180 ?? ??
7) rowser $1,410 ?? ??
8) The Rubin * $1,625 ?? ??
10) YourDinero $1,810 4d 4c
YourDinero posts small blind $10
Manzoni posts big blind $20
crippe calls $20
timmytimmy calls $20
cali Al calls $20
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser calls $20
The Rubin calls $20
YourDinero calls $10
Manzoni checks
FLOP: 9s 4s 3c
YourDinero checks
Manzoni bets $140
crippe folds
timmytimmy folds
cali Al raises $390 (all-in)
rowser folds
The Rubin folds
YourDinero calls $530
Manzoni raises $2,040 (all-in)
YourDinero calls $1,260 (all-in)
Manzoni shows 4h 3s
cali Al shows As 9c
YourDinero shows 4d 4c
TURN: 9s 4s 3c 7c
RIVER: 9s 4s 3c 7c 3d
YourDinero wins $2,520 with a Full House, Fours over Threes
YourDinero wins $1,730 with a Full House, Fours over Threes
I forgot to respect Dinero's smooth call; and in my overeagerness to felt Cali I failed to recognize that in the texture of the board, it was HIGHLY unlikely that Dinero was on a draw - it was obvious in hindsight that his hand was made. I felt like an idiot. Dinero is a typical tight passive type, there should have been big red warning bells when he called Cali's bet; I should have just flat called behind him and been content to potentially check it down and probably have the best hand. There was no good reason to get greedy with only two pair after what I failed to recognize as a scary call.
I still had enough chips left to steal blinds a couple of times; and found myself at 790 when I looked down at tens.
1} Manzoni $790 Ts Td
3) timmytimmy $1,420 ?? ??
5) Miles 2 Go $1,165 ?? ??
7) rowser $820 8d 8c
8) The Rubin $2,125 ?? ??
10) YourDinero * $5,680 Jd Jh
Manzoni posts small blind $15
timmytimmy posts big blind $30
Miles 2 Go folds
rowser raises $30
The Rubin folds
YourDinero raises $300
Manzoni raises $430 (all-in)
timmytimmy folds
rowser raises $30 (all-in)
YourDinero calls $460
Manzoni shows Ts Td
rowser shows 8d 8c
YourDinero shows Jd Jh
FLOP: Qs 2h 3d
TURN: Qs 2h 3d Th
RIVER: Qs 2h 3d Th 3h
YourDinero wins $60 with Two Pair, Jacks and Threes
Manzoni wins $2,400 with a Full House, Tens over Threes
With the other short stack min-raising, I knew he had a pocket pair - and probably not a very good one. Dinero's raise screamed out as an isolation move - he probably had a couple of face cards or some such and had read Rowser as I had - and wanted to put him down now. This was an easy all in move for me, especially since I was still a bit tilted at my misplaced aggression a few hands back.
I was not happy when he turned up Jacks, but oh so relieved at my luck on the turn. Better lucky than good sometimes, especially with our tournament structure.
I hovered at 2K+ for awhile, picking up an occasional small pot until...
Mad_Maxx posts small blind $50
Manzoni posts big blind $100
nacl folds
SvenGolly folds
ytrabbit folds
The Rubin folds
The_Chipper folds
Miles 2 Go folds
YourDinero folds
timmytimmy folds
Mad_Maxx raises $100
Manzoni calls $100
FLOP: Jc 6s Js
Mad_Maxx bets $400
Manzoni calls $400
TURN: Jc 6s Js 6h
Mad_Maxx checks
Manzoni bets $300
Mad_Maxx raises $725 (all-in)
Manzoni calls $725
Manzoni shows 6c Jd
Mad_Maxx shows As Ac
RIVER: Jc 6s Js 6h 7d
Manzoni wins $3,250 with a Full House, Jacks over Sixes
Ah the delightfully dreadful min-raise! No matter how many times these guys get creamed by it, they still do it. I had the right price to call pre-flop with any two random cards. Spiking a boat on the flop was a great bonus, and yet Max still made a good bet, big enough to get rid of me with any draws, yet small enough to get away from. Fortunately he was a man who had fallen in love with the prettiest pocket pair in the deck. He didn't bother to read my smooth call as a BIG warning sign; especially someone like me who hardly ever calls with the wrong price on a draw.
The truly retarded part of his play, even more so than the min-raise; was his check raise on the turn. He appeared to have slowed down, but even with my flat call, he still thought he had the best hand. Pocket rockets are sooo seductive. I guess.
Now I was in great shape, with a big chip lead. I could have coasted into the money. Nah. (Donk alert!)
nacl posts small blind $50
SvenGolly posts big blind $100
ytrabbit folds
The Rubin calls $100
The_Chipper folds
Miles 2 Go folds
YourDinero folds
timmytimmy folds
Manzoni calls $100
nacl calls $50
SvenGolly checks
FLOP: 4c 9d Ks
nacl bets $200
SvenGolly folds
The Rubin calls $200
Manzoni raises $3,775 (all-in)
nacl folds
The Rubin calls $1,725 (all-in)
Manzoni shows Jd Kd
The Rubin shows 9h 9s
TURN: 4c 9d Ks Qh
RIVER: 4c 9d Ks Qh Jh
The Rubin wins $4,450 with Three of a Kind, Nines
Mistake #1 - limping on the button. HUGE mistake. I must make Rubin pay for sticking around with a middle pocket pair out of position.
Mistake #2 - (Bigger than Mistake #1) risking the health of my stack with an over-bet that is only going to be called down by a hand that can beat me. BAD BAD BAD POKER. I knew Nacl was fooling around, and I SHOULD have known that another smooth call by an ABC Poker player like Rubin's wife, was a HUGE signal for me to either get out or pop it just enough to confirm the obvious. The correct play in hindsight was to fold with top pair and a big chip lead. Failing that, the next correct play would have been to raise a bit more than half the pot (or even min-raise for that matter) to at least give my stupid self a chance to recognize that Rubinita had a made hand.
NO REASON to put all of my chips into play with top pair and third best kicker.
From this point on my timing was lousy and my cards were worse. After three or four failed steal attempts, I found myself with an M of 4 and decided to try and steal the blinds.
1} Manzoni $1,000 8h Qc
2) nacl $2,356 Jd Ah
3) SvenGolly $2,160 ?? ??
5) The Rubin * $4,157 ?? ??
6) The_Chipper $2,462 ?? ??
7) Miles 2 Go $3,280 ?? ??
8) YourDinero $4,920 ?? ??
9) timmytimmy $2,165 ?? ??
The_Chipper posts small blind $100
Miles 2 Go posts big blind $200
YourDinero folds
timmytimmy folds
Manzoni raises $800 (all-in)
nacl raises $1,356 (all-in)
SvenGolly folds
The Rubin folds
The_Chipper folds
Miles 2 Go folds
Manzoni shows 8h Qc
nacl shows Jd Ah
FLOP: Ks 5c 4s
TURN: Ks 5c 4s 9h
RIVER: Ks 5c 4s 9h 3c
nacl wins $2,300 with Ace High
Not nearly the worst of my mistakes this evening; but I guess I could have held on for another blind or two. Actually, I'm really not that displeased with this hand. I gave myself the best chance to win by moving all-in first - giving the remaining stacks a true pause for thought and putting most starting cards on the wrong end of the gap principle. AJ even is a borderline hand to risk 1K in chips, if it weren't for the fact that Nacl was also short stacked - I likely would have played the same as he.
Next time; I promise to beware the smooth call; especially by opponents that I know I can outplay in other hands - even when they have better starting cards.
Incidentally, Rubinella took this one down, thanks to the generous donations of the final four players. She was on a rush, but she was also playing a very simple style, and very similar to her husband. I wish the other guys were able to read her as good as I could - but then again, it's always easier to read from the rail.
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