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.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
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.
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