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.

No comments: