I didn't play that well in any of these tournaments. I am rather disappointed. I really wanted to play the final table in Vegas.
As I sit here thinking about it, I guess I played way too aggressive. I put myself into a bad spot in each of the tournaments. Then when I would build my stack back up, I would give it away again. I don't mind losing, but when I lose because of bad play on my part, it is hard to take.
I just didn't play the game I like to play. I have tried to be more aggressive as of late. It has paid off in some instances, but not all. Just another adjustment I need to make.
I look forward to playing another tournament this week. I wasn't able to play in Dr. Pauly's tourney on Saturday. Thus I need to make it up somewhere.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
You know, we could save time and you could just give me your money
I went to a reunion of sorts last night. A group of people I used to work with got together to relive the old times. Some were amazed by some of my poker stories.
Others thought I was full of shit.
But he wasn't at the end of the night. For the record, I think I am still drunk as I type this. Note the time stamp. Yes it is just about 8 in the morning.
But said person wanted to play poker. So I indulged him when he found a deck of cards. I though we were going to play no limit. That is why I suggested we just play for $20. But he wanted to play limit.
Mistake on his part.
Isn't it fun when the deck hits you hard in a HU situation? I was getting K K, J J, A Ko a couple of times. I got cards left and right. Even my crappy blinds hit something on the board.
$40 later, he realized he was outmatched. I smiled, thanked him and walked away. I like getting paid to drink.
Others thought I was full of shit.
But he wasn't at the end of the night. For the record, I think I am still drunk as I type this. Note the time stamp. Yes it is just about 8 in the morning.
But said person wanted to play poker. So I indulged him when he found a deck of cards. I though we were going to play no limit. That is why I suggested we just play for $20. But he wanted to play limit.
Mistake on his part.
Isn't it fun when the deck hits you hard in a HU situation? I was getting K K, J J, A Ko a couple of times. I got cards left and right. Even my crappy blinds hit something on the board.
$40 later, he realized he was outmatched. I smiled, thanked him and walked away. I like getting paid to drink.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Donk poker
I hadn't had much time to play any poker this week. I have had numerous things to take care on Monday and Tuesday and will have other stuff to do Thursday through Sunday. So when I had time to enter a tournament, I fired up PokerStars to check out the 20 table max tournaments they run. I have heard some good things and wanted to see how I would run.
Chipped up a bit early but gave it away. Then had each flop miss me again and again. Then I went card dead for about 45 minutes.
I was then short stacked and had to push with the power that is K 4. UTG had raised it with 8 8. But the K hit the flop and I double up. Next hand I push on the OESD flop and catch my straight on the turn to double again. I was now back to 2400 and in a spot to play. I move up to 4200 when my 10s hold up against A 5.
Next I donk it all away. I raise UTG with K Q spades. It folds to the BB and he pushes for 2800. I think and decide to call. Why? I thought I may be good there. Why? I don't friggin know! He shows A Q. Needless to say, no K and I am back to short stacked. I then push with K 9o and go up against a big stack who calls with K Js. See ya! Done in 42nd. I could have stayed tight and had a much better chance at cashing.
I had played rather patiently with my short stack to build up. I still can't understand why I didn't fold the suited K Q.
I have read a number of posts from others stating they think tournament poker is for suckers. They believe it comes down to getting lucky. That it is like playing the lottery. My comment would be that maybe you are playing tournaments like cash games. Or the wrong tournaments. It takes one good payout to make up for all the entry fees you pay. Along the way, you should be making the money here and there as well- not all the time but enough to make it worth while. If you are not, then you may not be cut out for it.
Chipped up a bit early but gave it away. Then had each flop miss me again and again. Then I went card dead for about 45 minutes.
I was then short stacked and had to push with the power that is K 4. UTG had raised it with 8 8. But the K hit the flop and I double up. Next hand I push on the OESD flop and catch my straight on the turn to double again. I was now back to 2400 and in a spot to play. I move up to 4200 when my 10s hold up against A 5.
Next I donk it all away. I raise UTG with K Q spades. It folds to the BB and he pushes for 2800. I think and decide to call. Why? I thought I may be good there. Why? I don't friggin know! He shows A Q. Needless to say, no K and I am back to short stacked. I then push with K 9o and go up against a big stack who calls with K Js. See ya! Done in 42nd. I could have stayed tight and had a much better chance at cashing.
I had played rather patiently with my short stack to build up. I still can't understand why I didn't fold the suited K Q.
I have read a number of posts from others stating they think tournament poker is for suckers. They believe it comes down to getting lucky. That it is like playing the lottery. My comment would be that maybe you are playing tournaments like cash games. Or the wrong tournaments. It takes one good payout to make up for all the entry fees you pay. Along the way, you should be making the money here and there as well- not all the time but enough to make it worth while. If you are not, then you may not be cut out for it.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Finally, another score
Played the Full Tilt $14k guaranteed tourney tonight after a day of drinking. Finished 4th out of 643 when my pocket 4s was beat by A 10s with the river 10. Won $1350 for my efforts. Some details to follow. Right now I need some sleep.
Update 11/13
I had come home from watching the Badger lose their game to the Hawkeyes. I had a belly full of Leinie's Red and Goldschlager. Some say you should play poker while drinking. I say they don't know what they are talking about. I think I play better when tanked.
That may be why I didn't do as well in Pauly's tournament. I finished somewhere in the 20s I believe. I had built up a decent stack and was doing well until I lost chunk of chips when my flopped set of 7s ran into flopped set of Qs. But I fought my way back and was doing well again until I donked off my chips to GRob. He took the last of my stack when the Hiltons beat my pocket 10s. Seems fitting.
So when I got home half in the bag and fired up the pc, I didn't intend to play another tournament. Intentions are one thing. Actions are another. I registered for a Razz tourney on Full Tilt. Did ok for a while before I got two great starting hands hit with a ton of bricks. Finished 38 out of 66 there.
As the Razz tournament was going I saw there appeared to be a nice overlay on the $14k tournament that was to start in 10 minutes. Why does there always seem to be a mad rush in the last couple of minutes that kills the overlay?
The no limit tourney started out well. I double up early and was playing pretty good. I had just about tripled up when I lost 3/4 of my chips losing A Qo to 9 10 suited. I had raised it preflop 3.5xs the BB and the SB came along. Flop was Q 9 4. He bet the pot on the flop. I just min-raised thinking that would get him out. He called. The 10 hit the turn and he checked. I pushed him all in and he insta-called showing the two pair. At first I was shocked. Then mad. I should have made a bigger flop raise.
It was at this point that I realized the problem I was having in these tournaments. I was playing aggressively but wasn't changing gears. If I built up my chips early on, I would end up getting involved in pots with weak hands when I was trying to steal. I needed to tighten up in the middle of the games when the time was right. That is what I did during the 14k.
Of course, I did get lucky along the way. I had built my stack back up thanks to some Cowboys and Pocket Rockets. I went on a little rush that got me back into the game. But there were two key hands that not only propelled me into the top ten, but also guaranteed I would be in the money with 90 left and 63 paying.
With A 8o, and about 18k in chips, I made my first move. I think blinds were 800/1600. UTG limped and it folded to me in MP. The LPs were all pretty passive so I figured I could take down the pot right there. I read the limp by the UTG player to be a weak ace as well. A weak ace that he would fold. So I was surprised to see the call and him turn over A 9o. I wouldn't play that to a push. So I was about to leave when an 8 hit the flop. I hit my 3 outer for once and doubled up. My opponent then started bitching in the chat box. I did my best to get him totally on tilt and chatted it up. Sure enough, he donked off the rest of his chips within the next 5 hands.
Later with about 88k, I got really lucky. I was dealt 10 10 UTG. I made a pot size raise. It folded to the button who re-raised the min. That left him just 10k behind. The blinds got out of the way and it was 51k to me. I pushed him all in. I figured he had A K or A Q at best. I was partially right. He did have an A. But he had another one to go with it. I looked to see if I lost the hand I would have 11k with. The flop looked innocuous- Q 9 x. The J on the turn suddenly gave me 4 more outs. I was pleasantly surprised to see the K on the river giving me a straight. The table went bonkers and I was able to sit back and breathe a sigh of relief.
I was now over 160k. From there I tightened up into the money. I was able to steal some blinds along the way but I stopped making too many loose calls in an effort to knock people out. People fell like flies and before I knew it, it was the final table. My plan was simple at this point. Outlast the 4 small stacks to get a bigger payday and get some chips to make a stab at victory. The small guys stuck around for about a half hour before dropping off. I was able to win some good pots but never got over 225k. I lost a chunk with A 3. My continuation bet was called on a Q high flop. I made one last stab with on the river with a 30k bet but had to fold to a raise. I could have tried to outlast one other player into 3rd place, but to do so would mean not playing to win. If I was going to win, it meant I had to double up and get the ammo I would need to be a force. Thus, I had to win a coin toss with my 4 4. It looked so good until the river.
I felt ok about 4th. The payout was nice. Third was good for another 400 while second would have meant another grand. I was also lucky enough that the power didn't go out on me. A big wind storm came blowing through Milwaukee in the early hours. With 5 of us left, the light flickered and I though the electricity was going to go. About 4 hours later, it did. So I feel I dodged a bullet there as well.
Now if only I can win today in the shootout...
Update 11/13
I had come home from watching the Badger lose their game to the Hawkeyes. I had a belly full of Leinie's Red and Goldschlager. Some say you should play poker while drinking. I say they don't know what they are talking about. I think I play better when tanked.
That may be why I didn't do as well in Pauly's tournament. I finished somewhere in the 20s I believe. I had built up a decent stack and was doing well until I lost chunk of chips when my flopped set of 7s ran into flopped set of Qs. But I fought my way back and was doing well again until I donked off my chips to GRob. He took the last of my stack when the Hiltons beat my pocket 10s. Seems fitting.
So when I got home half in the bag and fired up the pc, I didn't intend to play another tournament. Intentions are one thing. Actions are another. I registered for a Razz tourney on Full Tilt. Did ok for a while before I got two great starting hands hit with a ton of bricks. Finished 38 out of 66 there.
As the Razz tournament was going I saw there appeared to be a nice overlay on the $14k tournament that was to start in 10 minutes. Why does there always seem to be a mad rush in the last couple of minutes that kills the overlay?
The no limit tourney started out well. I double up early and was playing pretty good. I had just about tripled up when I lost 3/4 of my chips losing A Qo to 9 10 suited. I had raised it preflop 3.5xs the BB and the SB came along. Flop was Q 9 4. He bet the pot on the flop. I just min-raised thinking that would get him out. He called. The 10 hit the turn and he checked. I pushed him all in and he insta-called showing the two pair. At first I was shocked. Then mad. I should have made a bigger flop raise.
It was at this point that I realized the problem I was having in these tournaments. I was playing aggressively but wasn't changing gears. If I built up my chips early on, I would end up getting involved in pots with weak hands when I was trying to steal. I needed to tighten up in the middle of the games when the time was right. That is what I did during the 14k.
Of course, I did get lucky along the way. I had built my stack back up thanks to some Cowboys and Pocket Rockets. I went on a little rush that got me back into the game. But there were two key hands that not only propelled me into the top ten, but also guaranteed I would be in the money with 90 left and 63 paying.
With A 8o, and about 18k in chips, I made my first move. I think blinds were 800/1600. UTG limped and it folded to me in MP. The LPs were all pretty passive so I figured I could take down the pot right there. I read the limp by the UTG player to be a weak ace as well. A weak ace that he would fold. So I was surprised to see the call and him turn over A 9o. I wouldn't play that to a push. So I was about to leave when an 8 hit the flop. I hit my 3 outer for once and doubled up. My opponent then started bitching in the chat box. I did my best to get him totally on tilt and chatted it up. Sure enough, he donked off the rest of his chips within the next 5 hands.
Later with about 88k, I got really lucky. I was dealt 10 10 UTG. I made a pot size raise. It folded to the button who re-raised the min. That left him just 10k behind. The blinds got out of the way and it was 51k to me. I pushed him all in. I figured he had A K or A Q at best. I was partially right. He did have an A. But he had another one to go with it. I looked to see if I lost the hand I would have 11k with. The flop looked innocuous- Q 9 x. The J on the turn suddenly gave me 4 more outs. I was pleasantly surprised to see the K on the river giving me a straight. The table went bonkers and I was able to sit back and breathe a sigh of relief.
I was now over 160k. From there I tightened up into the money. I was able to steal some blinds along the way but I stopped making too many loose calls in an effort to knock people out. People fell like flies and before I knew it, it was the final table. My plan was simple at this point. Outlast the 4 small stacks to get a bigger payday and get some chips to make a stab at victory. The small guys stuck around for about a half hour before dropping off. I was able to win some good pots but never got over 225k. I lost a chunk with A 3. My continuation bet was called on a Q high flop. I made one last stab with on the river with a 30k bet but had to fold to a raise. I could have tried to outlast one other player into 3rd place, but to do so would mean not playing to win. If I was going to win, it meant I had to double up and get the ammo I would need to be a force. Thus, I had to win a coin toss with my 4 4. It looked so good until the river.
I felt ok about 4th. The payout was nice. Third was good for another 400 while second would have meant another grand. I was also lucky enough that the power didn't go out on me. A big wind storm came blowing through Milwaukee in the early hours. With 5 of us left, the light flickered and I though the electricity was going to go. About 4 hours later, it did. So I feel I dodged a bullet there as well.
Now if only I can win today in the shootout...
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Wouldn't this be somthin'!
My play last night was rather abysmal. I couldn't take advantage of the clown who liked to push with any two cards. It was amazing watching him win hand after hand when he a huge underdog preflop. A Ks vs. 8 5 off? No problem. Flop the 5 and watch it hold up. This happened time and time again. I hoped to double through on him but it never happened. I switched tables a couple times and never got any traction. That clown finished 62nd.
I got a little redemption by making the money in a 2 tabler, but donked off my chips on a bad read. I think I need to step back and take a day or two off. I feel like I am playing well at times, but I can't get as deep as I need to.
The WPBT Winter Classic is approaching fast. Bill, PokerProf, and HDouble have put a lot work into making this happen. Again, I can't thank them enough. But I also noticed on Linda's blog at Table Tango that she is working on getting Daniel Negreanu to show as well. Daniel even quipped about playing the winner of the tournament head's up in a freeroll. Wouldn't that be somethin'! Granted he may not be in town and this is far from a done deal. Thanks for thinking of us little guys Linda.
Yeah, Vegas is totally on my mind now. It should be a fantastic time, once again.
I got a little redemption by making the money in a 2 tabler, but donked off my chips on a bad read. I think I need to step back and take a day or two off. I feel like I am playing well at times, but I can't get as deep as I need to.
The WPBT Winter Classic is approaching fast. Bill, PokerProf, and HDouble have put a lot work into making this happen. Again, I can't thank them enough. But I also noticed on Linda's blog at Table Tango that she is working on getting Daniel Negreanu to show as well. Daniel even quipped about playing the winner of the tournament head's up in a freeroll. Wouldn't that be somethin'! Granted he may not be in town and this is far from a done deal. Thanks for thinking of us little guys Linda.
Yeah, Vegas is totally on my mind now. It should be a fantastic time, once again.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
As good as what else is on
I feel a bit inspired today after reading the Poker Geek's idea. Over the last couple days I have been getting deep into tournaments just to fall about 20 places out of the money. All except for one is a result of being drawn out. My A Q runs into A J. J J beat by A K. People hitting runner runner flushes. It is quite exasperating. But I feel a bit better knowing I got my money in as a favorite. Right now I am losing all the coin tosses.
So when I read the letter that the Geek had "sent" to the WPT founder, I couldn't help but think what would be even better than those bad boys of poker. The answer was quite simple.
They should show a WPBT tournament. Seriously. It would be as good as any of the celebrity poker, the Ultimate Poker Challenges, or the GSN shows. There are a number of reasons why.
So when I read the letter that the Geek had "sent" to the WPT founder, I couldn't help but think what would be even better than those bad boys of poker. The answer was quite simple.
They should show a WPBT tournament. Seriously. It would be as good as any of the celebrity poker, the Ultimate Poker Challenges, or the GSN shows. There are a number of reasons why.
- Characters- The WPBT is full of great, funny, lovable characters. Picture a table with Iggy, Dr. Pauly, CJ, AlCantHang, BG, Bobby Bracelet, Derek, Badblood, the Poker Princess & Maudie. You can't begin to imagine the table talk. Hands would be slowed down for dial-a-shots across the table. Prop bets would be slinging around. Guns flexed. Junk exposed- er, well hopefully not. The banter and razzing going on between everyone would have a TV audience laughing on their couches. Of course, Iggy wouldn't be shown on TV but we could always put a fuzzy box over his face.
- The play- Wouldn't it be something to see the Hammer played out on TV? Not like Matusow did in the WSOP with his call, but a pre-flop raise and hard action afterwards. The people that will be at the Imperial Palace play good poker. Maybe not "world class" according to some but much better than anyone on Celebrity Poker.
- The "relate to them" factor- Regular home game players would also be able to relate to what they are seeing on TV. Not only could they put a face on some of their favorite bloggers, but they would get the jokes and understand more of why some of the hands are played out. They have seen such plays either online or at their home games. It is just a regular bunch of poker players whooping it up, having some fun. Face it, TV poker needs more drinking and bullshitting going on at the tables.
There are more reasons. That I am sure of. Just that now I am brain dead and need to work. But you can see the premise. A show of just a regular bunch of guys from over the country playing poker could work. I am not talking WSOP or WPT ratings but better than Celebrity Poker at least.
Monday, November 07, 2005
So much for the weekend
I am not sure what is worse. Suffering a bad beat or playing well throughout a tournament just to make one bad move that cripples you.
I feel I played well in both Dr. Pauly's tournament on Saturday and Bill's Shootout on Sunday. But in each, I made one bad move that killed me. A move I didn't need to make but did so to be more aggressive.
Lately, I have been very aggressive in my tournament play. It is working well for the beginning of the tournaments. Mid way through, I turn the aggression down a bit and look for the right spots. But on this weekend, when I thought I had the right spot, I was either wrong, or I just played it like crap.
Yesterday was just picking the wrong spot. I was short stacked with 13 people left in the Shootout. Blinds were 100/200 and I had a stack at 1800. I could wait another orbit if I needed to. I posted the BB and was dealt A 6. It was bad enough I had Hank on my right who was either the biggest thief or on a rush. He was raising quite often forcing me to fold. I was just hoping to push back at any point. So when Joe Speaker raised on the button for the second consecutive orbit, I put him on a steal. I re-raised all in hoping he was going K high. I was right about the K. But that wasn't his high card. Didn't catch one of my sixes and I was done. I didn't think Joe was that strong. I could have waited for something stronger and in retrospect think it was the right move. I took him for a steal which seemed logical. Just that he wasn't. Oh well.
As for the Pauly tournament on Saturday, I was a little pissed off on the way I went out. It was a combination of me playing the hand wrong, and my opponent making- in my opinion- a very loose call. Of course I don't like the call because it crippled me, but it seems like a bad play even when I think it over. I believe blinds were 100/200. MP raises to 600. I am in the BB with J 8 diamonds. I have seen this person make some weird moves already and decide I want to see a flop. It comes J high, rainbow, no straight possibilities. I check. He bets out 900. I raise to 1800. He pushes. It is only 500 more to call, which I do. He shows A Qo. What? Of course, the A hits the turn and a Q on the river to rub it in.
On the flop, I was very confident he missed with his A high. I thought my raise would get him out of the hand. Why are you going to push with just two overcards? I think that was a horrible move on their part. You have to figure you are behind. Someone called your pre-flop raise, then check-raised you. How can you make the call there?
But my play on it was bad too. I either should have pushed on the flop, or check-raised all in. Now mind you, I am not sure my opponent folds in either spot. But I can apply pressure by making the move first. Especially on the flop. But either way, I should have been the one to push in I expected them to lay down their hand. That one hurt as I was cruising along quite well.
I feel I played some good poker, but not good enough. I am going to work on my game during the week to make sure I am ready for the weekend. Both of these tournaments are quite good.
I feel I played well in both Dr. Pauly's tournament on Saturday and Bill's Shootout on Sunday. But in each, I made one bad move that killed me. A move I didn't need to make but did so to be more aggressive.
Lately, I have been very aggressive in my tournament play. It is working well for the beginning of the tournaments. Mid way through, I turn the aggression down a bit and look for the right spots. But on this weekend, when I thought I had the right spot, I was either wrong, or I just played it like crap.
Yesterday was just picking the wrong spot. I was short stacked with 13 people left in the Shootout. Blinds were 100/200 and I had a stack at 1800. I could wait another orbit if I needed to. I posted the BB and was dealt A 6. It was bad enough I had Hank on my right who was either the biggest thief or on a rush. He was raising quite often forcing me to fold. I was just hoping to push back at any point. So when Joe Speaker raised on the button for the second consecutive orbit, I put him on a steal. I re-raised all in hoping he was going K high. I was right about the K. But that wasn't his high card. Didn't catch one of my sixes and I was done. I didn't think Joe was that strong. I could have waited for something stronger and in retrospect think it was the right move. I took him for a steal which seemed logical. Just that he wasn't. Oh well.
As for the Pauly tournament on Saturday, I was a little pissed off on the way I went out. It was a combination of me playing the hand wrong, and my opponent making- in my opinion- a very loose call. Of course I don't like the call because it crippled me, but it seems like a bad play even when I think it over. I believe blinds were 100/200. MP raises to 600. I am in the BB with J 8 diamonds. I have seen this person make some weird moves already and decide I want to see a flop. It comes J high, rainbow, no straight possibilities. I check. He bets out 900. I raise to 1800. He pushes. It is only 500 more to call, which I do. He shows A Qo. What? Of course, the A hits the turn and a Q on the river to rub it in.
On the flop, I was very confident he missed with his A high. I thought my raise would get him out of the hand. Why are you going to push with just two overcards? I think that was a horrible move on their part. You have to figure you are behind. Someone called your pre-flop raise, then check-raised you. How can you make the call there?
But my play on it was bad too. I either should have pushed on the flop, or check-raised all in. Now mind you, I am not sure my opponent folds in either spot. But I can apply pressure by making the move first. Especially on the flop. But either way, I should have been the one to push in I expected them to lay down their hand. That one hurt as I was cruising along quite well.
I feel I played some good poker, but not good enough. I am going to work on my game during the week to make sure I am ready for the weekend. Both of these tournaments are quite good.
Friday, November 04, 2005
I didn't really want to play that tournament anyway
Signed up for the Wil Wheaton weekly. I looked like the maniac at first too playing all 3 hands.
Yes 3.
Got pocket 10s on the first hand took down a tiny pot.
Then tried to slam the hammer down but my opponent turned the straight and I had to fold.
Finally I got the Cowboys. Ran into a re-raise that turned all-in. I even called it typing in the chat that I was running into A A. A good player would fold there, knowing what they had.
Not me. Done at 125. Oh, 128 started so I wasn't first out.
Whatever that is worth. Maybe I will have better luck in Dr. Pauly's tournament.
I thought I would at least get my buyin back on a SnG but that table was so damn tight. I ended in 3rd when A Q went down to A 10 and then a rivered straight took out my deuces.
Crap. Time to hit the bar.
Yes 3.
Got pocket 10s on the first hand took down a tiny pot.
Then tried to slam the hammer down but my opponent turned the straight and I had to fold.
Finally I got the Cowboys. Ran into a re-raise that turned all-in. I even called it typing in the chat that I was running into A A. A good player would fold there, knowing what they had.
Not me. Done at 125. Oh, 128 started so I wasn't first out.
Whatever that is worth. Maybe I will have better luck in Dr. Pauly's tournament.
I thought I would at least get my buyin back on a SnG but that table was so damn tight. I ended in 3rd when A Q went down to A 10 and then a rivered straight took out my deuces.
Crap. Time to hit the bar.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Damn those girls!
I jumped back into the fray tonight. Got involved with the Full Tilt 5k guarantee. 249 to take on. Should be fun.
I watch a guy chip up even though he was really weak. He was getting away with his min raises. Well, not for long. I started to raise it up against him. I jacked it with any pocket pair and played the board hard.
I played my 7 7 aggressively on a K 5 4 flop. I raised his 1/4 pot bet and bet 1/3 on the turn. That was too much for his A Q (or so he said). Before that, I represented a set with 9 9 and two Jacks on the board.
Watched as one guy had his A A cracked by trip 9s. He slowplayed the rockets and was beat by A 9. He knew he messed up and typed it in the chat. So when I raised with A A moments later and showed it, something great happened. Everyone started to show their raised hands.
Nice.
I pick up some blinds here and there and finish the first session just under a triple up.
The second session starts slow. I play my blinds but don’t get many good hands. I just check in late position with A Jo when 2 people limp and fold to the pot size flop bet. Later when I get A Jo again, I raise it up and all 3 limpers fold. Figured if they are just limping, I must be ahead.
I get a straight with my BB hand of 9 10 but the small blind is way too tight to bite on my min bet. I would have checked the turn, but the flush draw was there. Plus, he has been pushing preflop with any decent hand.
The push monkey on my right is finally called down by someone. Though he bet 1700 with blinds of 100/200, a guy with A Ko decided that is good. A lot of people think A Ko is a great call. I don’t. Not saying I would lay it down, but you are still drawing against a very tight player. Not a good move.
I then get 10 10 and raise it up to 600. Big stack on my left goes all in for 10k. WTF? I don’t understand that raise.
In the blinds I call the button raise with 9 10 clubs. Flop comes 9 10 J, two diamonds. I check. He bets 1000 into a 1300 pot. I have 3700 and raise it to 2500. He pushes. I am confident I have the best hand, with him having a draw at best. I call to see 5 5. Huh? I was pot committed. What did he think that raise was going to do? I bump my way up over 8.5k.
I was a guy’s A A run into A Qs and have flashbacks to Sunday. The A Q had their straight on the turn but a Q hit the river for a split pot. Were was that on Sunday?!?!?!?!
I fold a lot until I get Cowboys in the SB. With the big stack still on my left, I raise it again hoping he would be froggy. Nope. Just blinds and antes come my way. So it’s time to start stealing blinds again.
But it is tough when your Q Q runs into K K. I am done in 48th. I saw the small raise and figured he had a ragged A at best. Thus I pushed on a 7 8 8 flop. I had figured on pushing pre-flop.
Ouch!
Oh well, back to the drawing board.
I watch a guy chip up even though he was really weak. He was getting away with his min raises. Well, not for long. I started to raise it up against him. I jacked it with any pocket pair and played the board hard.
I played my 7 7 aggressively on a K 5 4 flop. I raised his 1/4 pot bet and bet 1/3 on the turn. That was too much for his A Q (or so he said). Before that, I represented a set with 9 9 and two Jacks on the board.
Watched as one guy had his A A cracked by trip 9s. He slowplayed the rockets and was beat by A 9. He knew he messed up and typed it in the chat. So when I raised with A A moments later and showed it, something great happened. Everyone started to show their raised hands.
Nice.
I pick up some blinds here and there and finish the first session just under a triple up.
The second session starts slow. I play my blinds but don’t get many good hands. I just check in late position with A Jo when 2 people limp and fold to the pot size flop bet. Later when I get A Jo again, I raise it up and all 3 limpers fold. Figured if they are just limping, I must be ahead.
I get a straight with my BB hand of 9 10 but the small blind is way too tight to bite on my min bet. I would have checked the turn, but the flush draw was there. Plus, he has been pushing preflop with any decent hand.
The push monkey on my right is finally called down by someone. Though he bet 1700 with blinds of 100/200, a guy with A Ko decided that is good. A lot of people think A Ko is a great call. I don’t. Not saying I would lay it down, but you are still drawing against a very tight player. Not a good move.
I then get 10 10 and raise it up to 600. Big stack on my left goes all in for 10k. WTF? I don’t understand that raise.
In the blinds I call the button raise with 9 10 clubs. Flop comes 9 10 J, two diamonds. I check. He bets 1000 into a 1300 pot. I have 3700 and raise it to 2500. He pushes. I am confident I have the best hand, with him having a draw at best. I call to see 5 5. Huh? I was pot committed. What did he think that raise was going to do? I bump my way up over 8.5k.
I was a guy’s A A run into A Qs and have flashbacks to Sunday. The A Q had their straight on the turn but a Q hit the river for a split pot. Were was that on Sunday?!?!?!?!
I fold a lot until I get Cowboys in the SB. With the big stack still on my left, I raise it again hoping he would be froggy. Nope. Just blinds and antes come my way. So it’s time to start stealing blinds again.
But it is tough when your Q Q runs into K K. I am done in 48th. I saw the small raise and figured he had a ragged A at best. Thus I pushed on a 7 8 8 flop. I had figured on pushing pre-flop.
Ouch!
Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Shocked and disappointed
Just received an email from PokerShare. I have reprinted just the first sentence.
We would like to thank you for being a member of PokerShare. We are
writing to inform you that due to a policy change as of November 1, 2005 North
American residents are no longer able to play in the PokerShare cardroom.
Needless to say, I very disappointed. They only reason I can see them doing that is because of security registration laws. My guess is they are looking to go public sooner than expected.
However, I cannot help but wonder if it has anything to do with me having an old Ultimate Bet account there as well. I contacted support because it would not take a deposit from my Firepay account. As soon as I provided them a user name, I got the email shutting me out. At least I just took the bulk of my funds out on Sunday.
If anyone else was playing at PokerShare from the U.S., I would like to know if the plug was pulled on you too.
Time to focus on my Full Tilt tournament.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
A day of poker to forget
Sometimes, it just doesn't matter what you do. It seems everyone hits their 2 and 3 outers to beat you again and again on the river.
That is how this Sunday went. Every joker that played their J x suited hit two pair on the river. Everyone that needed their Q or J on the river to hit their gutshot straight got it on the river. My A A and K K were slapped silly again and again.
To add injury to insult, I was playing well in the Poker Blue freeroll just to have my A A cracked by A Q by hitting runner runner Q Q to have my aces full of queens beat by quads.
EP raised and I came over the top with a pot sized bet. He moved all in and had me covered by about 500. Flop came x A Q. Needless to say I was shocked to see the case Q hit. Seriously. What kind of idiot moves all in after he was just re-raised with A Q offsuit?
That was hard to take. I would have been the chip leader. Instead I was staring blankly at my monitor.
I give up.
The poker gods don't want me to win this today. As much as I want to get back on the horse and win, I just can't do it.
The donkeys win. For now.
That is how this Sunday went. Every joker that played their J x suited hit two pair on the river. Everyone that needed their Q or J on the river to hit their gutshot straight got it on the river. My A A and K K were slapped silly again and again.
To add injury to insult, I was playing well in the Poker Blue freeroll just to have my A A cracked by A Q by hitting runner runner Q Q to have my aces full of queens beat by quads.
EP raised and I came over the top with a pot sized bet. He moved all in and had me covered by about 500. Flop came x A Q. Needless to say I was shocked to see the case Q hit. Seriously. What kind of idiot moves all in after he was just re-raised with A Q offsuit?
That was hard to take. I would have been the chip leader. Instead I was staring blankly at my monitor.
I give up.
The poker gods don't want me to win this today. As much as I want to get back on the horse and win, I just can't do it.
The donkeys win. For now.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
The Hammer claims another victim
As I have said before, I rarely chat while I play poker. But when the opportunity arises, I love to just piss someone off.
Let's take a look at what happened at Titan Poker on Saturday. Hand folds around to me in the SB. I have the Hammer and promptly raise. BB calls. Flop is A high and totally misses me. Of course, I bet. He folds.
StB shows 7 2
StB: Hammer!
Hammer Victim: smart ass
Hammer Victim: way to make yourself look cool
StB: you have no clue what just happened to you
Hammer Victim: you acting cocky and really having the best hand
StB: dropping the hammer isn't about being cocky
StB: I will let you vent your anger afterall, you just took the brunt of the Hammer
Hammer Victim: I'm not angry..just think it's funny you though you bluffed me..I was behind when I folded
StB:it wasn't a bluff
Hammer Victim: lol ok
StB: I knew I had the best hand
StB: I had the best hand in poker
Hammer Victim: now you are just talking out your asswhich I'm surprised you can..normally something else in it
StB: your tongue?
StB: usually people recover from the Hammer better than that
Hammer Victim:I was behind dipshit
StB:in life too I see
Hammer Victim:I made the right play
StB:of course, you fear the Hammer!
Hammer Victim: you must be 12 tell dad to password protect his computer
StB: you funny
StB: next time I raise I will have the Hammer again
Hammer Victim:you talk a lot for someone who had his ass handed to him a few times (I was up 10BB at this point)
victim leaves table
It was quite fun tilting this guy. I should go find another victim.
Let's take a look at what happened at Titan Poker on Saturday. Hand folds around to me in the SB. I have the Hammer and promptly raise. BB calls. Flop is A high and totally misses me. Of course, I bet. He folds.
StB shows 7 2
StB: Hammer!
Hammer Victim: smart ass
Hammer Victim: way to make yourself look cool
StB: you have no clue what just happened to you
Hammer Victim: you acting cocky and really having the best hand
StB: dropping the hammer isn't about being cocky
StB: I will let you vent your anger afterall, you just took the brunt of the Hammer
Hammer Victim: I'm not angry..just think it's funny you though you bluffed me..I was behind when I folded
StB:it wasn't a bluff
Hammer Victim: lol ok
StB: I knew I had the best hand
StB: I had the best hand in poker
Hammer Victim: now you are just talking out your asswhich I'm surprised you can..normally something else in it
StB: your tongue?
StB: usually people recover from the Hammer better than that
Hammer Victim:I was behind dipshit
StB:in life too I see
Hammer Victim:I made the right play
StB:of course, you fear the Hammer!
Hammer Victim: you must be 12 tell dad to password protect his computer
StB: you funny
StB: next time I raise I will have the Hammer again
Hammer Victim:you talk a lot for someone who had his ass handed to him a few times (I was up 10BB at this point)
victim leaves table
It was quite fun tilting this guy. I should go find another victim.
Friday, October 28, 2005
The line starts here
Didn't play much last night. I did get in a two table tourney on Full Tilt. I felt cold-decked throughout the game. I defended blinds and hit flops. So when it came time to push with my short stack, I was happy to do so with A Ko. With 3 limpers, I was going to triple up (actually ver close to tripling). Only the big stack called my push. But when I saw A 8o, I had the ugly vision. The vision was reality. The 8 came quickly and that was it. I was done in 8th.
Such is poker. The stupid callers will hit their 3 outer.
But let's talk about stupid television poker. Where to begin? I am willing to form the line. I know it will be a long line too. This line is to have the chance to slap Norm Chad for every stupid remark he makes during the WSOP shows.
Is there any time he may actually give internet players some credit? His stupidity is amazing. The last two players spent a lot of time playing at PokerStars before they won. Sure Raymer also played Foxwoods but honed his craft online. Stop making comments about how bad the internet players supposedly are. Because you are able to comment after the hands have gone down, don't be so pompous on how the players have played them. Hell, I bet the majority of them could beat Norm any and every day. There are some plays I make that I am positive people laugh about. But if they understood what I was trying to do (steal blinds, bluff, etc.) and the timing of the play, it may make sense to them.
The other night Chad made a stupid comment about how internet players are too tied up in defending their blinds. To him it is a stupid concept that just makes them play inferior cards and lose more chips. Not all the time there Chad. I fully believe defending your blind in a tournament can be important. You don't do it all the time but if you have a very aggressive button on your butt, you will need them to stop if you intend to win. Chad likes to make it sound like every internet player if calling raises with 8 3o in the BB. When the time is right, I will defend my blinds. But only when the time is right.
And Lon McEachern isn't much better either. His smarmy comments warrant opening a line to smack him around too. The "pros can do no wrong" attitude of his gets boring quickly. Every time they bluff some one out of a pot, the pro has made a great move. If the amateur does it, they got lucky on a bad play.
So boys, how about getting your head out of your asses and give some of these unknown players some credit. They don't get this far in the tournament on luck alone. They must have some skill to have first won their way in, and two, make it into the money.
Such is poker. The stupid callers will hit their 3 outer.
But let's talk about stupid television poker. Where to begin? I am willing to form the line. I know it will be a long line too. This line is to have the chance to slap Norm Chad for every stupid remark he makes during the WSOP shows.
Is there any time he may actually give internet players some credit? His stupidity is amazing. The last two players spent a lot of time playing at PokerStars before they won. Sure Raymer also played Foxwoods but honed his craft online. Stop making comments about how bad the internet players supposedly are. Because you are able to comment after the hands have gone down, don't be so pompous on how the players have played them. Hell, I bet the majority of them could beat Norm any and every day. There are some plays I make that I am positive people laugh about. But if they understood what I was trying to do (steal blinds, bluff, etc.) and the timing of the play, it may make sense to them.
The other night Chad made a stupid comment about how internet players are too tied up in defending their blinds. To him it is a stupid concept that just makes them play inferior cards and lose more chips. Not all the time there Chad. I fully believe defending your blind in a tournament can be important. You don't do it all the time but if you have a very aggressive button on your butt, you will need them to stop if you intend to win. Chad likes to make it sound like every internet player if calling raises with 8 3o in the BB. When the time is right, I will defend my blinds. But only when the time is right.
And Lon McEachern isn't much better either. His smarmy comments warrant opening a line to smack him around too. The "pros can do no wrong" attitude of his gets boring quickly. Every time they bluff some one out of a pot, the pro has made a great move. If the amateur does it, they got lucky on a bad play.
So boys, how about getting your head out of your asses and give some of these unknown players some credit. They don't get this far in the tournament on luck alone. They must have some skill to have first won their way in, and two, make it into the money.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Trying to get it going
After playing some unspectacular poker yesterday (no money in two tournament finishing in the top 40% and donking off some cash in 3/6), I had to do something to get back on the horse and be on the winning side.
So joined the $5k guaranteed at Full Tilt. Not much happened in the first session as I chipped on up to about 2.5k. In the second session, I had the deck hit me in the face and chipped to 4.5k.
One hand left me wondering if I had misplayed it. I must have because I don't think I got the most chips off of my opponent. In the BB, I had A Jo. MP had raised the pot. It folded to me. I call. Flop is A A J. I slow play and check on the flop and turn. My opponent bets the turn. I pause then call. River is a rag. I bet about a third of the pot. I do not get called. I wonder if I should have raised on the turn. Do I check hoping my opponent makes another grab at the pot? The river also gave a heart flush. I hate trying to check raise the river.
Meanwhile, I get A Q three out of the next four hands and get more chips with it failing on just one flop. Things are going great until the push monkeys take over. With blinds of 80/160, suddenly everyone needs to go all in for 2500, 3200, etc. Made no sense but the push monkeys were having fun. Little do they realize that they could make more by just raising. Then again, maybe they are scared to actually play poker. One guy could have gotten more chips off of me if had just raised a smaller amount. I was open ended on a straight draw and started the betting. Guy on my left raises 3500 into a 650 pot. I folded though I would have called a smaller bet. I knew he was on a flush draw. But the dope save me some chips instead. Do some play a game other than I were the purpose is to get the fewest amount of chips?
I chug along picking up some blinds but losing them when I have to post. I pull off a nice bluff with 7 5 off in the SB. I smooth called to see a flop of 8 4 3. I have the gut shot and call his pot sized flop bet. Loose? Yeah a bit but I was sure he didn't have anything. He was a push monkey and he didn't push. Turn was a 10. It checked around. River was a Q. I bet 500 and he folded. If I was on the other side, I would have raised on the...
Good question. What would I have raised on? We don't know because Blogger ate the post. You think I would learn by now and type this in Word or notepad instead of blogger.
Let's see what happened. I got lucky to stay alive. I lost a big post when KK was beat by AK. I made the money coming in 18th.
I also talked about how hot Ninya in American Casino is. She has a nice rack and finally showed some cleavage.
Of course, the writeup I had was quite a bit more interesting than the recap, but Blogger didn't want you to read that.
At least I was happy with the way I played tonight. Without some bad breaks, I feel I would have made the final table. Anyway, it is a good step forward.
So joined the $5k guaranteed at Full Tilt. Not much happened in the first session as I chipped on up to about 2.5k. In the second session, I had the deck hit me in the face and chipped to 4.5k.
One hand left me wondering if I had misplayed it. I must have because I don't think I got the most chips off of my opponent. In the BB, I had A Jo. MP had raised the pot. It folded to me. I call. Flop is A A J. I slow play and check on the flop and turn. My opponent bets the turn. I pause then call. River is a rag. I bet about a third of the pot. I do not get called. I wonder if I should have raised on the turn. Do I check hoping my opponent makes another grab at the pot? The river also gave a heart flush. I hate trying to check raise the river.
Meanwhile, I get A Q three out of the next four hands and get more chips with it failing on just one flop. Things are going great until the push monkeys take over. With blinds of 80/160, suddenly everyone needs to go all in for 2500, 3200, etc. Made no sense but the push monkeys were having fun. Little do they realize that they could make more by just raising. Then again, maybe they are scared to actually play poker. One guy could have gotten more chips off of me if had just raised a smaller amount. I was open ended on a straight draw and started the betting. Guy on my left raises 3500 into a 650 pot. I folded though I would have called a smaller bet. I knew he was on a flush draw. But the dope save me some chips instead. Do some play a game other than I were the purpose is to get the fewest amount of chips?
I chug along picking up some blinds but losing them when I have to post. I pull off a nice bluff with 7 5 off in the SB. I smooth called to see a flop of 8 4 3. I have the gut shot and call his pot sized flop bet. Loose? Yeah a bit but I was sure he didn't have anything. He was a push monkey and he didn't push. Turn was a 10. It checked around. River was a Q. I bet 500 and he folded. If I was on the other side, I would have raised on the...
Good question. What would I have raised on? We don't know because Blogger ate the post. You think I would learn by now and type this in Word or notepad instead of blogger.
Let's see what happened. I got lucky to stay alive. I lost a big post when KK was beat by AK. I made the money coming in 18th.
I also talked about how hot Ninya in American Casino is. She has a nice rack and finally showed some cleavage.
Of course, the writeup I had was quite a bit more interesting than the recap, but Blogger didn't want you to read that.
At least I was happy with the way I played tonight. Without some bad breaks, I feel I would have made the final table. Anyway, it is a good step forward.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I'd like to thank the Academy...
I feel honored to have PokerStars pick my entry for what makes a good blog. I tried to express my thoughts on how I have made some great friends that share an interest in being a better poker player. I soon realized that there are bigger payoffs by sharing with others.
This blog may never be the most popular, the best written, or the most informative. There are links on the right for that. If you are not reading Dr. Pauly, Iggy, the Up For Poker gang, or the Poker Prof, you are missing out on a lot. They are much better writers than I. They have better content. They play better poker.
I am just humbled that people enjoy what I type away here. It started as a way to pass along stories about playing poker to my friends. It has evolved into a kind of therapy, where I can vent or seek help about how to play better.
What it has done is made life better. I have new friends from around the country. I have found a hobby that is exciting, profitable (at least for now), and exercises the brain. Simply put, I am having a blast playing this game and the numerous payoffs that it provides. When you realize it is more than the money, then you are truly winning at poker.
This blog may never be the most popular, the best written, or the most informative. There are links on the right for that. If you are not reading Dr. Pauly, Iggy, the Up For Poker gang, or the Poker Prof, you are missing out on a lot. They are much better writers than I. They have better content. They play better poker.
I am just humbled that people enjoy what I type away here. It started as a way to pass along stories about playing poker to my friends. It has evolved into a kind of therapy, where I can vent or seek help about how to play better.
What it has done is made life better. I have new friends from around the country. I have found a hobby that is exciting, profitable (at least for now), and exercises the brain. Simply put, I am having a blast playing this game and the numerous payoffs that it provides. When you realize it is more than the money, then you are truly winning at poker.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Disappointed
I fucked up. Yeah, there is no other way to say it.
I fucked up.
I thought the Poker Stars tournament started at 5 CST. Thus when I logged in at 4:30, I was a little shocked that the tournament was well under way.
To add insult to injury, I get K K 2 hands in and push with my tiny count of 245 (blinds of 100/200) and run into A A. I barely had time to talk with BadBlood on my left.
Total crap. I give up. The one tournament I was looking forward to playing and I totally screwed it up! DAMN!
Because I was in the mood to play some poker, I then further screwed up some more at Full Tilt. I had a token for a $24 entry tournament. Without realizing what the prize was, I signed up for a Ultimate Poker Challenge satellite tournament. That didn't start for another 30 minutes so I hopped on a $5 dollar MTT to wait for the other to start.
Why I joined the $24 MTT I do not know as I had intended to use that for a $8k guaranteed MTT. Of course, I pissed that tournament away in record time, last 15 minutes when I tried to run my high cards against the guy who refused to fold his pair of 10s. My A Q offsuit was clobbered even though a K was on the board. Yeah, I could have folded it but I was ticked off.
But I did hit the final table on my $5 buy in. I ended in 8th. Final tables at Full Tilt are still pretty cool with the audience background. I probably should have survived longer but when I tried to go all in on the flop, I didn't quite pull the cursor over to the left before hitting the raise button. So my opponent hit his pair on the river to knock me out. At least I cashed at a final table. And I dropped the Hammer midway through the tournament. My victim had no clue what the heck hit him.
But I think I need to take G-Rob's advice via Otis, and start playing higher buy in tournaments that the $5 dollar jobs. I have some confidence in my play and will never get anywhere playing some of these lower limit buy ins that do not pay that much.
Thus my goal is now to play at least two of the $24 buy ins at Full Tilt each month, if not more. I feel I can do well in these. It is now time to put my skills to the test.
Update: The PokerStars tournament wasn't a total loss. I did get an email saying my entry for a good blog won me a fleece pullover. Thanks Ryan at PokerStars!
I fucked up.
I thought the Poker Stars tournament started at 5 CST. Thus when I logged in at 4:30, I was a little shocked that the tournament was well under way.
To add insult to injury, I get K K 2 hands in and push with my tiny count of 245 (blinds of 100/200) and run into A A. I barely had time to talk with BadBlood on my left.
Total crap. I give up. The one tournament I was looking forward to playing and I totally screwed it up! DAMN!
Because I was in the mood to play some poker, I then further screwed up some more at Full Tilt. I had a token for a $24 entry tournament. Without realizing what the prize was, I signed up for a Ultimate Poker Challenge satellite tournament. That didn't start for another 30 minutes so I hopped on a $5 dollar MTT to wait for the other to start.
Why I joined the $24 MTT I do not know as I had intended to use that for a $8k guaranteed MTT. Of course, I pissed that tournament away in record time, last 15 minutes when I tried to run my high cards against the guy who refused to fold his pair of 10s. My A Q offsuit was clobbered even though a K was on the board. Yeah, I could have folded it but I was ticked off.
But I did hit the final table on my $5 buy in. I ended in 8th. Final tables at Full Tilt are still pretty cool with the audience background. I probably should have survived longer but when I tried to go all in on the flop, I didn't quite pull the cursor over to the left before hitting the raise button. So my opponent hit his pair on the river to knock me out. At least I cashed at a final table. And I dropped the Hammer midway through the tournament. My victim had no clue what the heck hit him.
But I think I need to take G-Rob's advice via Otis, and start playing higher buy in tournaments that the $5 dollar jobs. I have some confidence in my play and will never get anywhere playing some of these lower limit buy ins that do not pay that much.
Thus my goal is now to play at least two of the $24 buy ins at Full Tilt each month, if not more. I feel I can do well in these. It is now time to put my skills to the test.
Update: The PokerStars tournament wasn't a total loss. I did get an email saying my entry for a good blog won me a fleece pullover. Thanks Ryan at PokerStars!
Friday, October 21, 2005
Big weekend
StB will be playing in theOnline Poker Blogger Championship!
This event is powered by PokerStars.
Registration code: 7848011
It all end with this bad baby. Should be interesting to say the least. With over 1400 signed up, I expect this to be a lot like the PokerRoom freerolls. Lots of calling stations and mind boggling calls are on the way.
I will have a snoot full by the time it gets going. Nothing better than playing drunken poker!
Bad read, lucky river
I can't be the only one who notices this. Yesterday while playing 4/8 on PokerShare (Bonus Code Iggy BeerCity), I had an interesting hand go down. On the previous hand, I had raised with A Jo on the button and was re-raised by the BB. Flop came A high. I was check raised on the flop. On the turn I just called fearing my kicker wasn't good and I was up against A K or A Q. The river was checked and I took down the pot with my pair of aces beating his pocket queens. I kicked myself for not betting the river when he checked for two reasons. One, I left a bet out there and two, I could have taken his last $7. Because I knew what would happen on the very next hand.
I was in the cutoff with 6 6. Two players limp and I limp as well. The $7 man, of course, raises (think Seinfeld here "Did you ever notice how someone will lose the majority of their stack and raise the very next hand to go all in no matter what they have?). UTG+1, who had limped, now re-raises. Damn, if I taken that schmuck out, I wouldn't be tossing in 3 bets to see a flop with a pair of 6s.
The flop comes J 9 3. The limp re-raiser bets. I think and call. It seems that every time some limp re-raises, he never has a monster hand. NEVER. I put the clown on A 10 or A 9. Without an A on the board, I think I am ahead, but will see what he does. The turn is a blank. He bets, I call. The river is a beautiful 6. Yeah, I got lucky. But my opponent checks. I bet, he calls and mucks. I check the hand history to find he had A 9 offsuit.
He then goes bezerk in the chat. I rarely pay attention to chat, but every once in a while, I like to toss some fuel on the fire and tilt someone good. I go back and forth with him for a bit until he busts out 10 hands later. I noticed he then went to a 3/6 table. I tried to get on that table but it was full and I waited forever.
I had the right read on him. I was confident he was playing a ragged ace. Little did I know I was behind. But when is limp re-raising in a limit game ever a good idea? I say never. But that is just me.
I was in the cutoff with 6 6. Two players limp and I limp as well. The $7 man, of course, raises (think Seinfeld here "Did you ever notice how someone will lose the majority of their stack and raise the very next hand to go all in no matter what they have?). UTG+1, who had limped, now re-raises. Damn, if I taken that schmuck out, I wouldn't be tossing in 3 bets to see a flop with a pair of 6s.
The flop comes J 9 3. The limp re-raiser bets. I think and call. It seems that every time some limp re-raises, he never has a monster hand. NEVER. I put the clown on A 10 or A 9. Without an A on the board, I think I am ahead, but will see what he does. The turn is a blank. He bets, I call. The river is a beautiful 6. Yeah, I got lucky. But my opponent checks. I bet, he calls and mucks. I check the hand history to find he had A 9 offsuit.
He then goes bezerk in the chat. I rarely pay attention to chat, but every once in a while, I like to toss some fuel on the fire and tilt someone good. I go back and forth with him for a bit until he busts out 10 hands later. I noticed he then went to a 3/6 table. I tried to get on that table but it was full and I waited forever.
I had the right read on him. I was confident he was playing a ragged ace. Little did I know I was behind. But when is limp re-raising in a limit game ever a good idea? I say never. But that is just me.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Who wouldn't play this hand?
You are in the BB in a limit game. MP raises. Two others call. You look down and see 4 2 offsuit. Is there a reason you wouldn't call?
If you hit the flop, chances are great you are taking down a monster. Especially if an A or K is on the board. Best yet, you have the chance to tilt someone or have them think you will play any two cards.
That is exactly what happened to me while playing last night. Flop came down 2 2 K. It checked to the button who bet. But I was the only one who called. That sucked. When a 3 hit the turn, I check raised. I then bet the river and got two more bets out of him. He had A K.
He then proceeded to give me a ton of action. Not respecting my raises and calling down with A or even K high. Nice action for what I believe was properly playing my blind.
Of course it wasn't all rosy tonight. I busted out of a tournament half way through. I had made a nice comeback from 600 up to 3700. I maximized my hand twice to double through on a set and a flopped straight.
But I went out on play that I still can't believe my opponent called. Tell me if he/she played this hand well: UTG limps. I am UTG+1 and I raise it the pot with A J clubs. It folds to the limper. He calls. Flop comes 9 2 6, 2 clubs. UTG bets the min. The pot is at 1300. I have about 2100 behind, my opponent 3700. I push. I figure I represented a big hand preflop and that I don't want him to have a cheap draw. He thinks and calls with 5 5. No help and I am done.
Should I have pushed? If I make pot size raise, I don't know if he gets out of the hand. Is pushing screaming I don't want to see another card? How can they call with two overcards on the board? Especially with a low pair?
Aahhh! Questions. Please, give me some answers.
If you hit the flop, chances are great you are taking down a monster. Especially if an A or K is on the board. Best yet, you have the chance to tilt someone or have them think you will play any two cards.
That is exactly what happened to me while playing last night. Flop came down 2 2 K. It checked to the button who bet. But I was the only one who called. That sucked. When a 3 hit the turn, I check raised. I then bet the river and got two more bets out of him. He had A K.
He then proceeded to give me a ton of action. Not respecting my raises and calling down with A or even K high. Nice action for what I believe was properly playing my blind.
Of course it wasn't all rosy tonight. I busted out of a tournament half way through. I had made a nice comeback from 600 up to 3700. I maximized my hand twice to double through on a set and a flopped straight.
But I went out on play that I still can't believe my opponent called. Tell me if he/she played this hand well: UTG limps. I am UTG+1 and I raise it the pot with A J clubs. It folds to the limper. He calls. Flop comes 9 2 6, 2 clubs. UTG bets the min. The pot is at 1300. I have about 2100 behind, my opponent 3700. I push. I figure I represented a big hand preflop and that I don't want him to have a cheap draw. He thinks and calls with 5 5. No help and I am done.
Should I have pushed? If I make pot size raise, I don't know if he gets out of the hand. Is pushing screaming I don't want to see another card? How can they call with two overcards on the board? Especially with a low pair?
Aahhh! Questions. Please, give me some answers.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
What makes a good poker blog? PStars wants to know!
PokerStars is having a contest that I found to be rather thought provoking. They ask what makes a good blog? To make it more interesting and relevant, if you have a poker blog, what makes a good poker blog? So with out further ado, here are my thoughts.
******
A good poker blog tells you a story that you can relate to and fosters friendships. Whether the purpose is to give you current news, updates on tournaments, trip reports, or the progress of the writer’s skills, if you can relate to what they are saying, you can visualize it in your mind and not only learn by their experiences, you enjoy the tale they tell. You are then going to check out what they have to say on a daily basis. Soon you are leaving comments, then exchanging emails, and finally meeting off in Vegas to meet and play in tournaments.
Let’s translate this to real life. I started reading poker blogs about a year ago. I found some that were more interesting than others. I liked how they told their tournament stories or how they were moving up in limits. The best blogs were those that were honest. They told how they went on tilt and blew a lead or how they dump a large portion of their bankroll by playing- by their own admission- bad poker. They weren’t blaming their results on bad beats, dead cards, or luck. On the other side of the coin, their success wasn’t always the result of superior skill. They admitted they got lucky at times or caught a nice rush of cards.
Even better, they would explain key hands that led to their success or failure. They give you opportunities to learn from their skills or mistakes. They give you tips that can help improve your own game.
Good blog writers don’t brag about winning a big prize or killing a game. They tell their story in a way that you feel like you have won too. Soon enough, they are giving you feedback on your own blog entries; encouraging you on your victories, consoling you on defeats.
You feel you know them personally. They invite you to play on online tournaments so you can meet others that hold the same interest in you. The emboldened take it a step further by setting up a live tournament in Vegas. Even when you can’t make it, you read the stories they have to tell, some the same story told by a different vantage point, that make you feel like you weren’t miles away but were behind them as a sweater. It feels all that much better when you are able to attend the next big get together and meet everyone in person.
A good blog fosters a friendship that can last a lifetime. I have already met some great people by reading their blogs. I hope to see them in December. It will be a successful trip whether I win or lose.
******
A good poker blog tells you a story that you can relate to and fosters friendships. Whether the purpose is to give you current news, updates on tournaments, trip reports, or the progress of the writer’s skills, if you can relate to what they are saying, you can visualize it in your mind and not only learn by their experiences, you enjoy the tale they tell. You are then going to check out what they have to say on a daily basis. Soon you are leaving comments, then exchanging emails, and finally meeting off in Vegas to meet and play in tournaments.
Let’s translate this to real life. I started reading poker blogs about a year ago. I found some that were more interesting than others. I liked how they told their tournament stories or how they were moving up in limits. The best blogs were those that were honest. They told how they went on tilt and blew a lead or how they dump a large portion of their bankroll by playing- by their own admission- bad poker. They weren’t blaming their results on bad beats, dead cards, or luck. On the other side of the coin, their success wasn’t always the result of superior skill. They admitted they got lucky at times or caught a nice rush of cards.
Even better, they would explain key hands that led to their success or failure. They give you opportunities to learn from their skills or mistakes. They give you tips that can help improve your own game.
Good blog writers don’t brag about winning a big prize or killing a game. They tell their story in a way that you feel like you have won too. Soon enough, they are giving you feedback on your own blog entries; encouraging you on your victories, consoling you on defeats.
You feel you know them personally. They invite you to play on online tournaments so you can meet others that hold the same interest in you. The emboldened take it a step further by setting up a live tournament in Vegas. Even when you can’t make it, you read the stories they have to tell, some the same story told by a different vantage point, that make you feel like you weren’t miles away but were behind them as a sweater. It feels all that much better when you are able to attend the next big get together and meet everyone in person.
A good blog fosters a friendship that can last a lifetime. I have already met some great people by reading their blogs. I hope to see them in December. It will be a successful trip whether I win or lose.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Tournament poker and football
I sat back watching the Cowboys at NFL.com and playing poker all day. The Cowboys won. Would I?
It started at Party Poker. I started playing the Party Poker Millions SnG step tournies. I played the first one and squandered a lead at the end to finish second. I played the second one and came in second again. If it pointed out anything, it is I need to work on my heads up game. I didn't play that well when it was down to the last two.
So I still have a Step 1 to complete. As I watched the game, I then pulled up Bodog to see what tournies they had scheduled. All the big overlays were over an hour out. But they did have one of their "Cheap Seats" about to start so I put down the entire $1.50 to play. If I would place in the top 6, I could move on to a regular tournament with the ultimate prize being a WPT or WSOP seat.
The Bodog software isn't the best in the world, but it also isn't the worst. It always sounds like an old motor sputtering around. But with the caliber of the player that puts their cash down at Bodog, it is just about always +EV.
This game was different. I folded a lot but pushed the envelope when I could. The calls that these people make are mind boggling. Lots of calling all in with just draws. I chipped up nicely because of that. With just under 2 hours into the tournament, the 127 starters was down to 20. I was the chip leader with just over 21k. Second was at 15k. 3rd was at 8k. I knew I could push with my stack but not be too stupid as to donk it away.
I didn't have much to worry about. I did like how some guy min-raised with his A A. He then checked the flop thus allowing the other guy to catch his straight on the turn. But soon enough, someone would be willing to call down with Q Q and two Ks on the board. Yeah, I was trying to steal it with 4 2o, but how does someone call with that. Yes, call, not raise it back. I would like someone to tell me how his play was good. I was at that table for maybe 5 hands so there wasn't any read he could have.
If anything, it told me how to play him. Heavy and hard. With K 9 in the SB, I saw the cheap flop against him of K J Q. I kept betting it out just to have him call. So I pushed after two rags hit. He folded. I then watched someone else not bet enough to keep him on his draw. Makes me wonder if people pay attention to how others play.
We get down to the final table. My lead is now gone. But I am only in 3rd. There are 4 stacks below 10k so I need to make sure I play my chips well. Especially with the leader on my left.
It is also at this time that the Poker Blue tournament started up. There were 187 players battling for the WPT/WSOP seat.
As I was logging into Poker Blue, one guy got knocked out. There are 8 left. I need to survive two of them to get the second entry. Basically I can sit back and wait on a hand. Which is nice because I am getting crappy cards.
In both tournaments. My Poker Blue is off to a very slow start. Getting nothing there. On Bodog, the small stacks are playing scared. It is rather boring. Thankfully a big stack makes his move on a small one- who pushes on his draw- and knock him out with his pair of 8s.
I can now focus on the Poker Blue tourney. In moving back and forth, I noticed one guy at my table who was playing a lot of hands and calling a lot down. He had moved to over 6k quickly. I set my sights on taking him down a notch.
But instead I dribble some chips off by playing A 8 suited. I raised it up and then stupidly called a re-raise and a flop bet. I should have folded to the re-raise. Now I have a bit of a hole to dig out of. Worse yet, my focus wasn't on the game. I didn't really fell like playing. I try to steal a pot with a turn raise (on an open ended straight draw) but just check the river. WTF? If I am trying to steal I need to make that bet. My opponent won with A high. I then call a raise with 7 7 and push on the flop to basically get knocked out. It was the wild guy I was up against. I figured he had a big A at best. Sure enough. A Qo. So I get back above 1000 to 1170. Now if I can get focused.
Having those stupid Burger King commercials on TV doesn't help much. Is it me or is that king character just plain creepy. Like molest your daughter if he could creepy.
So I continue to not catch cards and fold for a while. Mike, who was at the Bash at the Boathouse, is at my table and talking to me. Of course I am not paying much attention to the chat until someone asks about bloggers. I was laying low until Mike outed me. Not that it matters. I might as well chat if I don't have any cards.
I catch my most loathed hand, A 10o and try to get a pot with a raise. But I fold to the re-raise. I hate that hand! So I feel better when K K shows up but I only get the blinds and a limper.
I get some blinds with K Qo and try to make Presto work but all paint hits the flop. I then get 9 9 and raise it up. I have one caller, UTG who limped. Flop comes K Q 4. I bet it again and he calls. Is he slowplaying me? Turn is a 3. He checks. I bet again and he calls. River is a 4. He checks yet again. This time I check as well. He shows J 10. Interesting. I finally am above the starting stack.
Then the Hiltons come to visit. UTG raises it. It folds to me in the BB. I raise it the pot. He promptly comes over the top and all in. He shows A Ks. No help on the board and I double up. Needless to say, I am a bit more focused now. Except for typing this up.
I take down a good pot with K J clubs. I raised it and had 3 callers. I didn't like the flop though- Q Q 7. Only 1 club. But I bet it again. Two callers. Turn is a club. Not bad. I bet a small amount and get called again. River is a beautiful 10 of clubs. I push him all in- and he calls with 5 5! How dumb was that? Anything on the board had him beat. If you are going to put those chips out there do it right away. Then again, maybe he wasn't focused like me.
I am up to 9th now with 5500. I can push some people around and make a move now. Still there are 69 people left so there is a long time to go. A K suited comes along but it is only the blinds I will get. Same thing with Q 10 suited.
Then the big boys come. UTG+1 I have A A. I raise it like normal but everyone folds again. They aren't thinking I am stealing by raising again? I was tempted to just call or min-raise but that never seems to work well. Plus, I am 99.9% against it.
The table then seems to fall into moron mode. One guy pushes with his draw and is called by second pair. Another pushes on a bluff to run into quad 8s. He then pushes his remaining chips with K Qs to run into A A. Bad part is none of these guys is bleeding them off to me. A guy raises and then re-raises with 2 callers just to show 6 6. It stood up to K Js and A Ks. What the K J was doing in there I don't know. It was bad enough the 6 6 pushed to a raise. The A Ks then went out on the next hand (surprise!) with 7 9 suited. All the while I am folding.
I call a pot raise in the BB with A 6s. Flop gives me two of the suit so I bet enough to put him all in. He folds. I can't get anyone to play with me. But I do notice one new guy at the table who is pretty hyper. I loosen up a bit to see if I can take some chips from him. With K Jo, I raise it up 3xs. It fold around to hyperboy but he folds. The chip leader is in the BB and takes his sweet time to fold. He has seen me raise but fold to re-raises so I am glad he doesn't put a move on me. I try again with A Ko. This time the person to my right goes over the top. They just got moved here. I look and call quickly not realizing that it is over 2k to call. Here is one thing I don't like about Poker Blue. When you go to showdown, you don't see your opponent's cards until the river is dealt. I was happy to see them show A Q and I move up over 10k. I have a chance to do something now with 31 players remaining.
Just before the break, I dump 5k on Q 4 from the BB. I was getting 7-1 odds to see a flop. Flop came K high and it checked around. Turn is a Q. I bet and get insta-called by the original raiser. The others fold. River is a Q. I bet 2k, just under half the pot. He min-raises. I have a bad feeling he has a Q and easily outkicks me. I call to see his A Q. Ouch. Now I have to work my way up again. 29 runners left and I don't want to be number 29 out.
After the break I fold, fold, fold, fold. Until the Hiltons come along again. I smile. But the guy on my right pushes. Hmmm... I call (he has me covered by 300). A tiny stack decides to try and get lucky and goes along for the ride. Nicki and Paris stand tall again knocking A 6 and Q J. Yes the pusher had Q Jo! Yowza! Back over 10k. I then get frisky in the BB with A 8 calling a min raise. Flop comes A 4 5. I check and then push on his bet. Oops. The chip leader. This could be trouble. Fold. Whew! I am over 16k and up to 5. Time to focus some more.
I get A Qo in the big blind. 3 people try to limp. I don't allow limping and raise it 3k. They all fold. Nice of them to give those chips up. On the button I steal the blinds to go over 20k. Then Nicki and Paris come by again. But no flop. Then I get 9 9. This time I limp. Yeah, not a good move but the flop is 5 high. I bet and the BB folds.
We then play fold em for a couple orbits. Or so it seemed. 10 2, J 3, 8 2, 7 3. Fold-a-rama. I see the Hiltons get cracked by 7 7 on the river. The short stacks are pushing and taking blinds left and right. And there is nothing I can do about it. The same guy has his 10s cracked by 4 7 off suit. I finish him of in the BB with 5 7 off with a small call.
But then I make a dumb call with Q 10 suited. I raised it to 4k and was re-raised by the BB. It was another 8k to call. Not a good move as I watched the chips move across the table. Now I am in a bad spot. With 11 left I am in 9th place. Chip leader is over 50k. I have quite a lot of ground to make up. Crap in the BB doesn't help. Worse crap in SB kills me. I then try to get my blinds back with Q J suited. After saying "Don't call" 20 times, the blinds fold. The blinds come around with more crap. Nice to get 3 4 off in both blinds. Being at the 5 person table is hurting my chances. Blinds are coming around fast. Nice of them to all fold for once.
The blinds are 100/2000 and I have 7100. Need to do something and quick. Let's see, 4 9o? No. Not that desperate. Q 3o? Nah. A 8 in BB? Yep. SB had just called so I pushed. He thinks and calls. Q J. His two pair knock me out in 11th place. No final table for me.
It rather sucks. To play that long and hard with nothing to show for it. One bad call killed my stack. Time to regroup and get ready for the PokerStars tourney next week. If I can play as well next Sunday as I did today, I can take some swag home.
It started at Party Poker. I started playing the Party Poker Millions SnG step tournies. I played the first one and squandered a lead at the end to finish second. I played the second one and came in second again. If it pointed out anything, it is I need to work on my heads up game. I didn't play that well when it was down to the last two.
So I still have a Step 1 to complete. As I watched the game, I then pulled up Bodog to see what tournies they had scheduled. All the big overlays were over an hour out. But they did have one of their "Cheap Seats" about to start so I put down the entire $1.50 to play. If I would place in the top 6, I could move on to a regular tournament with the ultimate prize being a WPT or WSOP seat.
The Bodog software isn't the best in the world, but it also isn't the worst. It always sounds like an old motor sputtering around. But with the caliber of the player that puts their cash down at Bodog, it is just about always +EV.
This game was different. I folded a lot but pushed the envelope when I could. The calls that these people make are mind boggling. Lots of calling all in with just draws. I chipped up nicely because of that. With just under 2 hours into the tournament, the 127 starters was down to 20. I was the chip leader with just over 21k. Second was at 15k. 3rd was at 8k. I knew I could push with my stack but not be too stupid as to donk it away.
I didn't have much to worry about. I did like how some guy min-raised with his A A. He then checked the flop thus allowing the other guy to catch his straight on the turn. But soon enough, someone would be willing to call down with Q Q and two Ks on the board. Yeah, I was trying to steal it with 4 2o, but how does someone call with that. Yes, call, not raise it back. I would like someone to tell me how his play was good. I was at that table for maybe 5 hands so there wasn't any read he could have.
If anything, it told me how to play him. Heavy and hard. With K 9 in the SB, I saw the cheap flop against him of K J Q. I kept betting it out just to have him call. So I pushed after two rags hit. He folded. I then watched someone else not bet enough to keep him on his draw. Makes me wonder if people pay attention to how others play.
We get down to the final table. My lead is now gone. But I am only in 3rd. There are 4 stacks below 10k so I need to make sure I play my chips well. Especially with the leader on my left.
It is also at this time that the Poker Blue tournament started up. There were 187 players battling for the WPT/WSOP seat.
As I was logging into Poker Blue, one guy got knocked out. There are 8 left. I need to survive two of them to get the second entry. Basically I can sit back and wait on a hand. Which is nice because I am getting crappy cards.
In both tournaments. My Poker Blue is off to a very slow start. Getting nothing there. On Bodog, the small stacks are playing scared. It is rather boring. Thankfully a big stack makes his move on a small one- who pushes on his draw- and knock him out with his pair of 8s.
I can now focus on the Poker Blue tourney. In moving back and forth, I noticed one guy at my table who was playing a lot of hands and calling a lot down. He had moved to over 6k quickly. I set my sights on taking him down a notch.
But instead I dribble some chips off by playing A 8 suited. I raised it up and then stupidly called a re-raise and a flop bet. I should have folded to the re-raise. Now I have a bit of a hole to dig out of. Worse yet, my focus wasn't on the game. I didn't really fell like playing. I try to steal a pot with a turn raise (on an open ended straight draw) but just check the river. WTF? If I am trying to steal I need to make that bet. My opponent won with A high. I then call a raise with 7 7 and push on the flop to basically get knocked out. It was the wild guy I was up against. I figured he had a big A at best. Sure enough. A Qo. So I get back above 1000 to 1170. Now if I can get focused.
Having those stupid Burger King commercials on TV doesn't help much. Is it me or is that king character just plain creepy. Like molest your daughter if he could creepy.
So I continue to not catch cards and fold for a while. Mike, who was at the Bash at the Boathouse, is at my table and talking to me. Of course I am not paying much attention to the chat until someone asks about bloggers. I was laying low until Mike outed me. Not that it matters. I might as well chat if I don't have any cards.
I catch my most loathed hand, A 10o and try to get a pot with a raise. But I fold to the re-raise. I hate that hand! So I feel better when K K shows up but I only get the blinds and a limper.
I get some blinds with K Qo and try to make Presto work but all paint hits the flop. I then get 9 9 and raise it up. I have one caller, UTG who limped. Flop comes K Q 4. I bet it again and he calls. Is he slowplaying me? Turn is a 3. He checks. I bet again and he calls. River is a 4. He checks yet again. This time I check as well. He shows J 10. Interesting. I finally am above the starting stack.
Then the Hiltons come to visit. UTG raises it. It folds to me in the BB. I raise it the pot. He promptly comes over the top and all in. He shows A Ks. No help on the board and I double up. Needless to say, I am a bit more focused now. Except for typing this up.
I take down a good pot with K J clubs. I raised it and had 3 callers. I didn't like the flop though- Q Q 7. Only 1 club. But I bet it again. Two callers. Turn is a club. Not bad. I bet a small amount and get called again. River is a beautiful 10 of clubs. I push him all in- and he calls with 5 5! How dumb was that? Anything on the board had him beat. If you are going to put those chips out there do it right away. Then again, maybe he wasn't focused like me.
I am up to 9th now with 5500. I can push some people around and make a move now. Still there are 69 people left so there is a long time to go. A K suited comes along but it is only the blinds I will get. Same thing with Q 10 suited.
Then the big boys come. UTG+1 I have A A. I raise it like normal but everyone folds again. They aren't thinking I am stealing by raising again? I was tempted to just call or min-raise but that never seems to work well. Plus, I am 99.9% against it.
The table then seems to fall into moron mode. One guy pushes with his draw and is called by second pair. Another pushes on a bluff to run into quad 8s. He then pushes his remaining chips with K Qs to run into A A. Bad part is none of these guys is bleeding them off to me. A guy raises and then re-raises with 2 callers just to show 6 6. It stood up to K Js and A Ks. What the K J was doing in there I don't know. It was bad enough the 6 6 pushed to a raise. The A Ks then went out on the next hand (surprise!) with 7 9 suited. All the while I am folding.
I call a pot raise in the BB with A 6s. Flop gives me two of the suit so I bet enough to put him all in. He folds. I can't get anyone to play with me. But I do notice one new guy at the table who is pretty hyper. I loosen up a bit to see if I can take some chips from him. With K Jo, I raise it up 3xs. It fold around to hyperboy but he folds. The chip leader is in the BB and takes his sweet time to fold. He has seen me raise but fold to re-raises so I am glad he doesn't put a move on me. I try again with A Ko. This time the person to my right goes over the top. They just got moved here. I look and call quickly not realizing that it is over 2k to call. Here is one thing I don't like about Poker Blue. When you go to showdown, you don't see your opponent's cards until the river is dealt. I was happy to see them show A Q and I move up over 10k. I have a chance to do something now with 31 players remaining.
Just before the break, I dump 5k on Q 4 from the BB. I was getting 7-1 odds to see a flop. Flop came K high and it checked around. Turn is a Q. I bet and get insta-called by the original raiser. The others fold. River is a Q. I bet 2k, just under half the pot. He min-raises. I have a bad feeling he has a Q and easily outkicks me. I call to see his A Q. Ouch. Now I have to work my way up again. 29 runners left and I don't want to be number 29 out.
After the break I fold, fold, fold, fold. Until the Hiltons come along again. I smile. But the guy on my right pushes. Hmmm... I call (he has me covered by 300). A tiny stack decides to try and get lucky and goes along for the ride. Nicki and Paris stand tall again knocking A 6 and Q J. Yes the pusher had Q Jo! Yowza! Back over 10k. I then get frisky in the BB with A 8 calling a min raise. Flop comes A 4 5. I check and then push on his bet. Oops. The chip leader. This could be trouble. Fold. Whew! I am over 16k and up to 5. Time to focus some more.
I get A Qo in the big blind. 3 people try to limp. I don't allow limping and raise it 3k. They all fold. Nice of them to give those chips up. On the button I steal the blinds to go over 20k. Then Nicki and Paris come by again. But no flop. Then I get 9 9. This time I limp. Yeah, not a good move but the flop is 5 high. I bet and the BB folds.
We then play fold em for a couple orbits. Or so it seemed. 10 2, J 3, 8 2, 7 3. Fold-a-rama. I see the Hiltons get cracked by 7 7 on the river. The short stacks are pushing and taking blinds left and right. And there is nothing I can do about it. The same guy has his 10s cracked by 4 7 off suit. I finish him of in the BB with 5 7 off with a small call.
But then I make a dumb call with Q 10 suited. I raised it to 4k and was re-raised by the BB. It was another 8k to call. Not a good move as I watched the chips move across the table. Now I am in a bad spot. With 11 left I am in 9th place. Chip leader is over 50k. I have quite a lot of ground to make up. Crap in the BB doesn't help. Worse crap in SB kills me. I then try to get my blinds back with Q J suited. After saying "Don't call" 20 times, the blinds fold. The blinds come around with more crap. Nice to get 3 4 off in both blinds. Being at the 5 person table is hurting my chances. Blinds are coming around fast. Nice of them to all fold for once.
The blinds are 100/2000 and I have 7100. Need to do something and quick. Let's see, 4 9o? No. Not that desperate. Q 3o? Nah. A 8 in BB? Yep. SB had just called so I pushed. He thinks and calls. Q J. His two pair knock me out in 11th place. No final table for me.
It rather sucks. To play that long and hard with nothing to show for it. One bad call killed my stack. Time to regroup and get ready for the PokerStars tourney next week. If I can play as well next Sunday as I did today, I can take some swag home.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Break even
I played about 3 hours on the bad beat tables yesterday at Party. Jackpot was over $500k. I plodded around the 2/4 tables swinging wildly up and down. Net take was $1.25.
Pretty sad, huh?
Shocking how people will call 2 bets with K 4 suited, and then suck out runner runner to fill their flush. Of course, that is with having a flop completely miss you.
I also had my flopped set of 10s beat by the flop set of Kings. It happens. I must have been up against one of the brainiacs because he didn't raise pre-flop with the kings. He did raise me on the flop, but not the turn or river. I would try to figure that out but I would have to lose IQ points to understand why he wasn't betting 4th or 5th street. Saved me money.
Thanks to Beck for giving an opinion on playing the bad beat tables. I totally agree. People will still play their big gapped suited cards no matter how many bets are out there. Last I checked, big gap suited will not win you a jackpot. But no other thoughts on the matter?
It did get me to thinking. I haven't looked but does Party show a history of who has won the jackpots and with what hands? I would really like to see that. I would find it hard to believe that someone's 7 high straight flush beat quads to take it down.
My guess is that most hands are quads over quads or the aces full of kings being taken out by quad kings. I just hope the jackpot is still up there by the time I get home.
Pretty sad, huh?
Shocking how people will call 2 bets with K 4 suited, and then suck out runner runner to fill their flush. Of course, that is with having a flop completely miss you.
I also had my flopped set of 10s beat by the flop set of Kings. It happens. I must have been up against one of the brainiacs because he didn't raise pre-flop with the kings. He did raise me on the flop, but not the turn or river. I would try to figure that out but I would have to lose IQ points to understand why he wasn't betting 4th or 5th street. Saved me money.
Thanks to Beck for giving an opinion on playing the bad beat tables. I totally agree. People will still play their big gapped suited cards no matter how many bets are out there. Last I checked, big gap suited will not win you a jackpot. But no other thoughts on the matter?
It did get me to thinking. I haven't looked but does Party show a history of who has won the jackpots and with what hands? I would really like to see that. I would find it hard to believe that someone's 7 high straight flush beat quads to take it down.
My guess is that most hands are quads over quads or the aces full of kings being taken out by quad kings. I just hope the jackpot is still up there by the time I get home.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Those guys playing on Party are too smart for me
I usually don't pay any attention to the chat while I play poker.
Except at Party.
Those brainiacs kill me. Especially the "experts" that PokerTracker has assigned little fishes to.
These guys were yelling at players who would raise pre-flop. Kept calling them idiots for doing so at a bad beat table. The loudest was one who had Q Q cracked twice because he didn't thin the field out. He was willing to keep limping and losing with good hands.
They keep thinking that they need to let more players see a flop on the offchance that someone gets lucky and lays a bad beat. Their analysis was mindless.
I think that doesn't make any sense. First, people are going to call the raises anyways. They will not fold those suited connectors. What, are you afraid to scare out the one gap suited players? If they are playing those, they will still call. They aren't going anywhere.
My thoughts on any kind of jackpot hand to play the hand normally. Slow play if necessary but don't think that your opponents won't call you. They will.
I would love to hear people's thoughts on
Except at Party.
Those brainiacs kill me. Especially the "experts" that PokerTracker has assigned little fishes to.
These guys were yelling at players who would raise pre-flop. Kept calling them idiots for doing so at a bad beat table. The loudest was one who had Q Q cracked twice because he didn't thin the field out. He was willing to keep limping and losing with good hands.
They keep thinking that they need to let more players see a flop on the offchance that someone gets lucky and lays a bad beat. Their analysis was mindless.
I think that doesn't make any sense. First, people are going to call the raises anyways. They will not fold those suited connectors. What, are you afraid to scare out the one gap suited players? If they are playing those, they will still call. They aren't going anywhere.
My thoughts on any kind of jackpot hand to play the hand normally. Slow play if necessary but don't think that your opponents won't call you. They will.
I would love to hear people's thoughts on
That wasn't much of a party
While surfing around yesterday, I saw that Iggy was back from his tour of the UK. More importantly I saw the bad beat jackpot was over $350k at Party. I had intended to ignore their reload for October but with that kind of money up for grabs, I had to try and get a taste.
All I tasted was shit. I went through a bad run. I played pretty tight until I tilted. My nut straight ran into a boat. My big slick would hit runner runner for the flush. Top pair top kicker would lose to the clown playing 3rd pair but getting two pair on the river. Bottom pair calling down all bets to beat my A high.
It was quite irritating. But those factors make those games beatable. Yeah, I should have kicked myself for capping the turn and river with the nut straight. I figured he had a set. I failed to recognize the full house possibility. That one was my fault. But the majority of the others were not.
Yet bad sessions can change quickly with one big pot. I never got the one big pot last night. Hopefully no one has hit the jackpot by the time I get home. If they have, I will work off the bonus and play some tournament poker. I feel the need to get back into that swing.
All I tasted was shit. I went through a bad run. I played pretty tight until I tilted. My nut straight ran into a boat. My big slick would hit runner runner for the flush. Top pair top kicker would lose to the clown playing 3rd pair but getting two pair on the river. Bottom pair calling down all bets to beat my A high.
It was quite irritating. But those factors make those games beatable. Yeah, I should have kicked myself for capping the turn and river with the nut straight. I figured he had a set. I failed to recognize the full house possibility. That one was my fault. But the majority of the others were not.
Yet bad sessions can change quickly with one big pot. I never got the one big pot last night. Hopefully no one has hit the jackpot by the time I get home. If they have, I will work off the bonus and play some tournament poker. I feel the need to get back into that swing.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Don't know how that happened
Kudos to the PokerStars support team. They got me logged back in. Somehow the date on my pc was reading January 7, 2006.
Don't know how that happened.
Good to see me listed on the tourney page. Now I need to play some tourneys as a warm up. It would be nice to not only win something but take the whole thing down.
Don't know how that happened.
Good to see me listed on the tourney page. Now I need to play some tourneys as a warm up. It would be nice to not only win something but take the whole thing down.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Maybe I won't be playing
I noticed something strange that occurred again last night. I tried to log onto PokerStars to check out how many people were registered for their blogger tournament. Note how I said I tried.
It wouldn't let me connect. I had a box that read "Connecting..." but it couldn't get into the network. I sent support an email but didn't hear back yet. I even uninstalled the hardware, played with the firewall but nothing happened.
Anyone else have this problem in the past? Any remedy is glady accepted.
It wouldn't let me connect. I had a box that read "Connecting..." but it couldn't get into the network. I sent support an email but didn't hear back yet. I even uninstalled the hardware, played with the firewall but nothing happened.
Anyone else have this problem in the past? Any remedy is glady accepted.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
3rd quarter report
The 3rd quarter was quite an interesting one for me. It started with wondering where to focus my game. Whether I should work on tournaments or ring games. I thought I should go with tournaments because the payoff is bigger and that is where I have done better. But with a pending September trip to Vegas, I became determined to kill some tables in Sin City. After reading Small Stakes Hold Em, I put in all in to play and had terrific results. Couple that with use of Poker Tracker and the quarter was pretty good. I went from $4300 to over $5800 with my online bankroll.
Yeah, there was a bit of bonus whoring going on, but for the most part, it was sitting back and playing some solid poker. My ring game play is much better than it was in June. I popped from 1/2 up to 3/6 and some 4/8. My aggression factor has picked up as well. There are many spots where I may have missed a draw with say A Q but with what the board is showing, I can take it down with the flop or turn bet. Or it has won be bigger pots.
The best part of it has been playing some straight forward poker. I mix up my game here and there when necessary but with the use of Poker Tracker, I have been able to play the players even better. Why I haven't used it earlier is beyond me. It has given me solid information on how to bet some people. And with the "tricky" plays too many people are trying to employ after watching the WPT, it has helped to take down huge pots. Next time you are playing a limit game, count how many times someone slow plays their flopped flush or straight. You will run out of fingers. Unless I know I have Mr. Aggressive behind me, I will always bet these hands out. Just about every single time. Because every jabronie out there thinks you are bluffing. When they see those 3 hearts hit the board on the flop, they think "He couldn't have flopped a flush, he would slow play it". That is when someone is raising you on the turn to take you off your "bluff". They end up capping the turn and paying you 3 bets on the river with their two pair. Seems to happen that way more than not.
My training online paid big dividends in Vegas where I didn't experience a losing session at the poker tables. I did very well in the 2/6 spread game at the Excalibur- even spinning the wheel once. Next time I need to play some higher stakes though. Hitting up the Mirage and the 6/12 is a must in December.
Besides improving my ring game, I also took down one of the next major tournaments in the making, the Good & Plenty Championship. Against a tough field of players, I took down the title and the prestige that goes with it.
About the only other thing to note about the quarter was playing at PokerShare. In about a month and a half I too my initial deposit of $250 up to over $1500. Being a UB skin, there are always player there. Best part is that most are pretty bad. I have played against people that see over 70% of all flops. They suck out to stay afloat for a while but just about always give it back. I may begin to just play limit games there.
As I look on to the 4th quarter, I am once again thinking of what goals I want to accomplish. I would still like to win a seat to a major WPT or WSOP tournament. But I am enjoying the ring games and the money that can be won there. I have played on Poker Blue to get in on the Sunday freeroll for a chance at a seat but lately I have had connection problems with them so getting the necessary 4 hours a week has been a problem. Couple that with football and it is even tougher to sit down at a PC on a Sunday afternoon. I see that Full Tilt will be offering more tournaments soon. I like the software there and enjoy the tournies. Though the structure isn't necessarily the best IMO, I do like it overall.
I know what I really need to do. I need to cut down on some sites and consolidate my money to a couple. I can see using PokerShare for ring games. I may use PokerRoom and Full Tilt for tournaments. For SnGs, I may keep Noble or Titan though that is doubtful. Then there is Bodog where the overlays are always there. The software isn't great but the players aren't either.
So somehow I need to mix in ring games with tournament play and football. I will probably lose a number of buyins on tournies but hopefully make that up in the ring. And maybe somehow football won't suck up my weekends. After reading this, I don't seem to have much of a plan. Guess I will have to dive in somewhere and just do it.
Yeah, there was a bit of bonus whoring going on, but for the most part, it was sitting back and playing some solid poker. My ring game play is much better than it was in June. I popped from 1/2 up to 3/6 and some 4/8. My aggression factor has picked up as well. There are many spots where I may have missed a draw with say A Q but with what the board is showing, I can take it down with the flop or turn bet. Or it has won be bigger pots.
The best part of it has been playing some straight forward poker. I mix up my game here and there when necessary but with the use of Poker Tracker, I have been able to play the players even better. Why I haven't used it earlier is beyond me. It has given me solid information on how to bet some people. And with the "tricky" plays too many people are trying to employ after watching the WPT, it has helped to take down huge pots. Next time you are playing a limit game, count how many times someone slow plays their flopped flush or straight. You will run out of fingers. Unless I know I have Mr. Aggressive behind me, I will always bet these hands out. Just about every single time. Because every jabronie out there thinks you are bluffing. When they see those 3 hearts hit the board on the flop, they think "He couldn't have flopped a flush, he would slow play it". That is when someone is raising you on the turn to take you off your "bluff". They end up capping the turn and paying you 3 bets on the river with their two pair. Seems to happen that way more than not.
My training online paid big dividends in Vegas where I didn't experience a losing session at the poker tables. I did very well in the 2/6 spread game at the Excalibur- even spinning the wheel once. Next time I need to play some higher stakes though. Hitting up the Mirage and the 6/12 is a must in December.
Besides improving my ring game, I also took down one of the next major tournaments in the making, the Good & Plenty Championship. Against a tough field of players, I took down the title and the prestige that goes with it.
About the only other thing to note about the quarter was playing at PokerShare. In about a month and a half I too my initial deposit of $250 up to over $1500. Being a UB skin, there are always player there. Best part is that most are pretty bad. I have played against people that see over 70% of all flops. They suck out to stay afloat for a while but just about always give it back. I may begin to just play limit games there.
As I look on to the 4th quarter, I am once again thinking of what goals I want to accomplish. I would still like to win a seat to a major WPT or WSOP tournament. But I am enjoying the ring games and the money that can be won there. I have played on Poker Blue to get in on the Sunday freeroll for a chance at a seat but lately I have had connection problems with them so getting the necessary 4 hours a week has been a problem. Couple that with football and it is even tougher to sit down at a PC on a Sunday afternoon. I see that Full Tilt will be offering more tournaments soon. I like the software there and enjoy the tournies. Though the structure isn't necessarily the best IMO, I do like it overall.
I know what I really need to do. I need to cut down on some sites and consolidate my money to a couple. I can see using PokerShare for ring games. I may use PokerRoom and Full Tilt for tournaments. For SnGs, I may keep Noble or Titan though that is doubtful. Then there is Bodog where the overlays are always there. The software isn't great but the players aren't either.
So somehow I need to mix in ring games with tournament play and football. I will probably lose a number of buyins on tournies but hopefully make that up in the ring. And maybe somehow football won't suck up my weekends. After reading this, I don't seem to have much of a plan. Guess I will have to dive in somewhere and just do it.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
The motherload of freerolls!
StB will be playing in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!
This event is powered by PokerStars.
Registration code: 7848011
Friday, September 30, 2005
I hope they got something
The charity game at work was somewhat of a disappointment. Where we had 11 people signed up, only 9 played. The sidebets didn't come through much either. It was rather sad showing. In fact, the big bowls of pretzels, chips and salsa is still out in the atrium area this morning.
Still, the 9 that showed up were determined to win. After noticing that the people in charge were mostly winging it, I stepped up to smooth out the process. We started with T155 and blinds of 1/2. Blinds would double every 15 minutes. I figured that there would still be some action and give people some time to play.
The crew was a motley one. In the one seat was a guy from the review team. He liked to play a lot of hands. Seat 2 had the Advisor rep. He runs a home game now and then which I have yet to attend. Seat 3 is your humble blogger. Seat 4 had Smartwick, a phone rep I have played against before. Seat 5 had a techie who looked like he was ready to go out to a club. Seat 6 was one of the managers who was also one of the game's organizers. Seat 7 housed another web guy as did seat 9. Seat 8 had the one guy I thought might be the wildcard. He works as a trader so I thought I would keep an eye on him.
I am wondering how this game might flow. In my head, I keep thinking "Paaaaaaaaaaarty Poker!" Little did I expect how passive things would be.
With the side bets that were place, the trader and review guy got some extra chips. They would put those chips to battle early and often. Review guy gets an early straight to inflict some damage on the trader. For some reason, the trader thought his pair of 6s would be good. Trader would go out soon after club man dumped some chips with his A 4o to a higher kicker.
I sat there folding hand after hand. I was intent on winning this thing. Afterall, I have a rep to live up to as the Good & Plenty Championship winner! I finally do enter a pot with A Ko. I raise it up and get 2 callers. With a K on the board I follow up with another bet just to have everyone fold. That is pretty much how this game would go. I would make a bet preflop, have players see a flop and maybe a turn just to fold. Little did they know what I was playing.
We were down to 6 people when I opened my game up. I knew the group was rather passive so I went on the warpath, especially against the big stack. I used position on him a couple of times to pull off some successful bluffs. I caught his tell right away and put it to use.
I dropped the line about being the current Good & Plenty Championship Champion to intimidate my opponents. I think it worked.
It was with 4 left that I pulled in line with the big stack and passed him up. With 6 4 in the BB, a small stack on the button just called. The SB folded and I check. With a flop of Q 8 6, we both checked. When a second Q hit on the turn, I bet out. He re-raised. For only 50 more, I had to call. I was pretty sure he wasn't slow playing a Q. In fact, no one had done anything tricky in this game, something I had noted. Sure enough, he had an overcard. No help and we are down to 3.
I have the lead now. The Advisor guy is on the short stack with the webbie at a slight disadvantage to me. Once again, I would hit the slot machine in the BB. Button folds, SB completes and I check with 10 7. The flop is a blogger table's nightmare or dream depending on whether you hold the Hammer or Pocket Rockets. 7 7 2. But knowing this wasn't a blogger table, I breathed a sigh of relief. I flop trips and slowly check. Advisor checks. Turn is a Q. There is a chance for a flush now but not much else. I check again hoping he will bet. He comes out firing. Bingo, the Q must have helped him. I push. He calls with his Q and has the river waive bye bye to him.
We are now heads up. I have what may be either a 4 or 3 to 1 chip lead. I am feeling very confident at this time. Maybe too confident. In the SB, I just call with K 8o. My opponent pushes. I gave it only a quick thought. Though he hadn't raised too often, I was thinking he didn't have much of a hand. Of course, I should have thought this out a bit longer but I was willing to roll the dice to end the game quickly. I called his all in and told him that I was willing to take a chance with my K. He looked at me like I was crazy, even asking me in a shocked tone if I did call. He turned over A A. Oops! Yeah, should have thought it out. Flop comes 10 4 8. Hey, I have something on the board! That is a start! Turn is a beautiful 8. River is a rag.
I cracked aces to win! My prize is chip set to be delivered to me at a later time. Overall it was a good time. We raised some money for charity and got to play poker at work. And I thought it was only those FTP guys who got to do that! The only disappointing part was not getting to drop the Hammer on someone.
Still, the 9 that showed up were determined to win. After noticing that the people in charge were mostly winging it, I stepped up to smooth out the process. We started with T155 and blinds of 1/2. Blinds would double every 15 minutes. I figured that there would still be some action and give people some time to play.
The crew was a motley one. In the one seat was a guy from the review team. He liked to play a lot of hands. Seat 2 had the Advisor rep. He runs a home game now and then which I have yet to attend. Seat 3 is your humble blogger. Seat 4 had Smartwick, a phone rep I have played against before. Seat 5 had a techie who looked like he was ready to go out to a club. Seat 6 was one of the managers who was also one of the game's organizers. Seat 7 housed another web guy as did seat 9. Seat 8 had the one guy I thought might be the wildcard. He works as a trader so I thought I would keep an eye on him.
I am wondering how this game might flow. In my head, I keep thinking "Paaaaaaaaaaarty Poker!" Little did I expect how passive things would be.
With the side bets that were place, the trader and review guy got some extra chips. They would put those chips to battle early and often. Review guy gets an early straight to inflict some damage on the trader. For some reason, the trader thought his pair of 6s would be good. Trader would go out soon after club man dumped some chips with his A 4o to a higher kicker.
I sat there folding hand after hand. I was intent on winning this thing. Afterall, I have a rep to live up to as the Good & Plenty Championship winner! I finally do enter a pot with A Ko. I raise it up and get 2 callers. With a K on the board I follow up with another bet just to have everyone fold. That is pretty much how this game would go. I would make a bet preflop, have players see a flop and maybe a turn just to fold. Little did they know what I was playing.
We were down to 6 people when I opened my game up. I knew the group was rather passive so I went on the warpath, especially against the big stack. I used position on him a couple of times to pull off some successful bluffs. I caught his tell right away and put it to use.
I dropped the line about being the current Good & Plenty Championship Champion to intimidate my opponents. I think it worked.
It was with 4 left that I pulled in line with the big stack and passed him up. With 6 4 in the BB, a small stack on the button just called. The SB folded and I check. With a flop of Q 8 6, we both checked. When a second Q hit on the turn, I bet out. He re-raised. For only 50 more, I had to call. I was pretty sure he wasn't slow playing a Q. In fact, no one had done anything tricky in this game, something I had noted. Sure enough, he had an overcard. No help and we are down to 3.
I have the lead now. The Advisor guy is on the short stack with the webbie at a slight disadvantage to me. Once again, I would hit the slot machine in the BB. Button folds, SB completes and I check with 10 7. The flop is a blogger table's nightmare or dream depending on whether you hold the Hammer or Pocket Rockets. 7 7 2. But knowing this wasn't a blogger table, I breathed a sigh of relief. I flop trips and slowly check. Advisor checks. Turn is a Q. There is a chance for a flush now but not much else. I check again hoping he will bet. He comes out firing. Bingo, the Q must have helped him. I push. He calls with his Q and has the river waive bye bye to him.
We are now heads up. I have what may be either a 4 or 3 to 1 chip lead. I am feeling very confident at this time. Maybe too confident. In the SB, I just call with K 8o. My opponent pushes. I gave it only a quick thought. Though he hadn't raised too often, I was thinking he didn't have much of a hand. Of course, I should have thought this out a bit longer but I was willing to roll the dice to end the game quickly. I called his all in and told him that I was willing to take a chance with my K. He looked at me like I was crazy, even asking me in a shocked tone if I did call. He turned over A A. Oops! Yeah, should have thought it out. Flop comes 10 4 8. Hey, I have something on the board! That is a start! Turn is a beautiful 8. River is a rag.
I cracked aces to win! My prize is chip set to be delivered to me at a later time. Overall it was a good time. We raised some money for charity and got to play poker at work. And I thought it was only those FTP guys who got to do that! The only disappointing part was not getting to drop the Hammer on someone.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Charity overlay?
With about a half hour until the cards are in the air, there appears to be only 11 people signed up. I think first place is a some kind of chip set. No clue if second place gets anything.
Which got me to thinking. If they went and got a good chip set, and maybe something for second, and if half the buy in is going to charity, is it possible for a charity event to have a huge overlay?
I got stuck with some work so I wasn't able to go across the street to get some beer in me. I always play better with some barley-pops in my belly.
Let's see if I can lay the hammer down on someone!
Which got me to thinking. If they went and got a good chip set, and maybe something for second, and if half the buy in is going to charity, is it possible for a charity event to have a huge overlay?
I got stuck with some work so I wasn't able to go across the street to get some beer in me. I always play better with some barley-pops in my belly.
Let's see if I can lay the hammer down on someone!
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Charity poker
If you came here looking for Bash stories, go here.
Tomorrow I will be partaking in a charity poker game. Half of the $20 entry goes to the United Way or somewhere else. The other half to some sort of prize(s). Not quite sure what prizes are being given away or what the structure might be.
My gut feeling is that this could be a joke. If there are people who do not have a clue how to set up a tournament running the event, it could be a disaster. But it doesn't matter too much because it is for a good cause.
Plus, they are encouraging side action. Get this. If you aren't going to play, you can place a "bet" on who you think may win. For your $10 donation, you can win something if your player does win. Plus, for every bet the player receives, they get extra starting chips. Uh, ok.
Makes me feel like trash talking others. I mean, do they understand they are going up against the Good & Plenty Championship Champion? I may have to go buy a box and spill some out onto the table...
Tomorrow I will be partaking in a charity poker game. Half of the $20 entry goes to the United Way or somewhere else. The other half to some sort of prize(s). Not quite sure what prizes are being given away or what the structure might be.
My gut feeling is that this could be a joke. If there are people who do not have a clue how to set up a tournament running the event, it could be a disaster. But it doesn't matter too much because it is for a good cause.
Plus, they are encouraging side action. Get this. If you aren't going to play, you can place a "bet" on who you think may win. For your $10 donation, you can win something if your player does win. Plus, for every bet the player receives, they get extra starting chips. Uh, ok.
Makes me feel like trash talking others. I mean, do they understand they are going up against the Good & Plenty Championship Champion? I may have to go buy a box and spill some out onto the table...
Monday, September 26, 2005
The Good & Plenty Championship
When poker players really want to play their game, they will find a way to get it done. When you find yourself outside of Philadelphia wanting to get some action going, you just need to adapt to your surroundings. Of course someone will always have some cards on them or in their luggage. But what do you do when you don't have any chips?
Head to the candy section!
As you can see, Good & Plenty can substitute for chips. The whites soon became ones while the pinks became fives.
Dr. Pauly suggested we have ourselves a quick little SnG before heading over to the Bash at the Boathouse. I guess the room that Pauly and Derek were in had some ventilation problems as their was an odd skunky smell in the room. Didn't matter. We did some re-arranging to the room to make the playing conditions more comfortable. The couch was pushed to the wall, the table pulled out of the corner and the chairs from the bedrooms brought in.
Pauly, Derek, and Bobby Bracelet put down $20 to compete with me for the now to be converted title of winner of the Good & Plenty Championship. It was winner take all. They also could have the candy if they wanted.
I took control early when I saw a flop for cheap with A 7. I was heads up with Pauly where an A hit the flop. He bet out and I just called. I was trying to figure out if he had an ace or not. I was not positive he did, but concerned about my kicker and if it would play. When the turn put a Q out there, I called his bet again. The river paired the board up. Now Pauly applied the screws to me. He pushed all in. At least my concern did not have to be focused on my kicker. It was whether he had A K or A Q. I thought a bit and decided to call. He was running a bluff. The good Dr. was out early.
Next, I would knock out the 860th best poker player as of June 2, 2005. I can't recall how I did it, but Bobby Bracelet was gone. He had some good hands, but none of them held up. Now it was down to me and Derek.
I had roughly a 3-1 lead on him. My thought was to lay back a bit and then bully him later. Blinds had gone up by now and we came to the realization that they Good & Plentys may not be enough. Beside they fact they liked to roll around, blinds were too high (40/80) to keep counting whites to toss out there. Once again, we had to improvised. So we stole an idea from the European casinos. We introduced placards to the game. Ok, they were sugar packets, but they did the job. They were given a value of 10 and play resumed after we ran the whites off.
Derek played some good cards, hitting some gutshots to take down some pots. I thought I would have him gone when we saw a flop of 7 5 6. I was holding 6 4 off while Derek had a powerful 4 2 off. I was in a commanding position. Until the 3 hit. I went from winning to splitting a pot. Soon I would be behind.
Derek finally got a monster hand and played it well. The Hilton Sisters came through for him. I thought my pair may have been good. I put him on an A and just making a move. I went from being a leader to short stacked just like that. Blinds were pretty high and I was desperate. So desperate that I made my next move blind. I pushed all in without looking. It worked. I am back in the game.
Then came the big blow for Derek. With K 2 suited, I pushed again. I hit runner runner for the flush. I now had control again.
On the next hand, the game would end. Not able to even fully call the big blind, Derek was finished off by the powerful 10 7 offsuit. The 10 paired and I was declared the Good & Plenty Championship winner.
There is a lot of pride that goes with winning an event like this. I took out 2 formidable bloggers as well as a WSOP player. I also paid for the beer that I believe helped me attain victory.
Too bad I couldn't carry that over to the cash game. I knew it wouldn't be pretty. NL ring games are not my area of expertise. When Landow bluffed me out of a pot with his 6 6 , forcing me to fold K K when an A hit the flop, I could feel it slipping away. But at least I dropped the Hammer.
Head to the candy section!
As you can see, Good & Plenty can substitute for chips. The whites soon became ones while the pinks became fives.
Dr. Pauly suggested we have ourselves a quick little SnG before heading over to the Bash at the Boathouse. I guess the room that Pauly and Derek were in had some ventilation problems as their was an odd skunky smell in the room. Didn't matter. We did some re-arranging to the room to make the playing conditions more comfortable. The couch was pushed to the wall, the table pulled out of the corner and the chairs from the bedrooms brought in.
Pauly, Derek, and Bobby Bracelet put down $20 to compete with me for the now to be converted title of winner of the Good & Plenty Championship. It was winner take all. They also could have the candy if they wanted.
I took control early when I saw a flop for cheap with A 7. I was heads up with Pauly where an A hit the flop. He bet out and I just called. I was trying to figure out if he had an ace or not. I was not positive he did, but concerned about my kicker and if it would play. When the turn put a Q out there, I called his bet again. The river paired the board up. Now Pauly applied the screws to me. He pushed all in. At least my concern did not have to be focused on my kicker. It was whether he had A K or A Q. I thought a bit and decided to call. He was running a bluff. The good Dr. was out early.
Next, I would knock out the 860th best poker player as of June 2, 2005. I can't recall how I did it, but Bobby Bracelet was gone. He had some good hands, but none of them held up. Now it was down to me and Derek.
I had roughly a 3-1 lead on him. My thought was to lay back a bit and then bully him later. Blinds had gone up by now and we came to the realization that they Good & Plentys may not be enough. Beside they fact they liked to roll around, blinds were too high (40/80) to keep counting whites to toss out there. Once again, we had to improvised. So we stole an idea from the European casinos. We introduced placards to the game. Ok, they were sugar packets, but they did the job. They were given a value of 10 and play resumed after we ran the whites off.
Derek played some good cards, hitting some gutshots to take down some pots. I thought I would have him gone when we saw a flop of 7 5 6. I was holding 6 4 off while Derek had a powerful 4 2 off. I was in a commanding position. Until the 3 hit. I went from winning to splitting a pot. Soon I would be behind.
Derek finally got a monster hand and played it well. The Hilton Sisters came through for him. I thought my pair may have been good. I put him on an A and just making a move. I went from being a leader to short stacked just like that. Blinds were pretty high and I was desperate. So desperate that I made my next move blind. I pushed all in without looking. It worked. I am back in the game.
Then came the big blow for Derek. With K 2 suited, I pushed again. I hit runner runner for the flush. I now had control again.
On the next hand, the game would end. Not able to even fully call the big blind, Derek was finished off by the powerful 10 7 offsuit. The 10 paired and I was declared the Good & Plenty Championship winner.
There is a lot of pride that goes with winning an event like this. I took out 2 formidable bloggers as well as a WSOP player. I also paid for the beer that I believe helped me attain victory.
Too bad I couldn't carry that over to the cash game. I knew it wouldn't be pretty. NL ring games are not my area of expertise. When Landow bluffed me out of a pot with his 6 6 , forcing me to fold K K when an A hit the flop, I could feel it slipping away. But at least I dropped the Hammer.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Blogger Birthday Bash
One last day of the Vegas trip is still coming. But there is a blogger tournament report to kick out. 67 of the best (?) bloggers on the net ponied up their cash to participate in the Dr. Pauly Birthday Bash on Titan Poker. How Pauly found time to play himself is beyond me. The man just got back from Europe and is working the Borgata Open in AC. Does he ever take a break?
My first table was interesting. Didn't recognize a single person. I also didn't recognize any hands. I got crap for the first two orbits. I did learn that "crap" is a forbidden word on Titan though. Yeah, you cannot say crap but you can say turds. And bitches.
So since I am not getting any cards, I loosen up a bit to get some chips. With Q J suited, I raise it up from EP. Get one caller. Flop is all low 3 6 8, two diamonds. I bet half the pot and get called. Turn is a 2. I bet half the pot and my opponent folds. Back above where I started.
Tourney seems tight. Takes about a half hour for someone to bust out. And for me to get moved to a new table. I don't recognize any of the players here either. Poker Bully mentions his site. As I go to check it out, something strange happens. I get some cards. Raise with A Q but no action. Raise with A A and no action. Raise with the Hammer and someone pushes all in. WTF? At least I got to play some poker without doing anything too stupid.
I then get moved AGAIN! This time to a star studded table. Easycure, SirWafl, Poker Geek, and Gracie.
I pony back and forth here getting some chips and giving them back until I lose a big hand from the small blind. I just call with 10 3. Flop comes 2 10 K. I check and call the bet. Turn is a 10. I check raise him. On the river I bet 500 and just get called. He shows K 10 for the boat. Ouch! The break soon comes and I am at 565. Dead last among the living. That puts me at 52. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.
Once action gets going I look for something to move with. The BB soon comes around and with 9 9, I push my 485 in to take on the two limpers. SirWafl calls right away and I think I am toast. He shows K Q spades. Flop is J J 10. Ugly. Turn a 2 and the river a J. I double through.
Couple of hands later, I get A A. With 2 limpers, I pop it to 350, looking like I want to buy it a bit. But it folds around. Damn. But I am at 1490, close to the start.
But just for a while. Blinds come and go. I then make a move with K 10 suited in EP but get re-raised by Poker Geek and have to fold. I try it again later and get the blinds. Then I begin to bleed some chips in the blinds as the cards have abandoned me again. I double up with K J against 5 5 but I give a chunk back when I try to drop the Hammer but run into J J. I called his all in bet simply because I had to try to drop the Hammer on someone.
I then bounce back up again with A J clubs hitting the flush on the turn. Sorry EZ.
I don't see many hands up into the break. The big stack is using his chips to push me around in the blinds. Then a push monkey comes in to my right. I am just begging for something to fight back with. Finally I get A J suited (diamonds) but run into A J suited (hearts) to split a pot.
A few hands later A K shows up and I double up. I need one more double and I can make a run for the final table. Then the ladies show up- the Hilton Sisters. They look beautiful. The big stack makes his usual raise again to 1000. I push my 3700 in. He calls and shows- K K! FUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGG! 8 10 J flop. Not too bad. A 9 would save me. Nope. No 9 or Q and I am done in 21. See ya! Those bitches let me down.
Overall I am ok with the way I played. Could have been more aggressive in some spots but feel I did ok considering I haven't played many tournaments over the past quarter. I don't know if I will keep money over at Titan. Software is blah, but play is soft. I may grind out some on the limit tables before moving on. I just hope they don't need for me to fax pictures and stuff to withdraw.
My first table was interesting. Didn't recognize a single person. I also didn't recognize any hands. I got crap for the first two orbits. I did learn that "crap" is a forbidden word on Titan though. Yeah, you cannot say crap but you can say turds. And bitches.
So since I am not getting any cards, I loosen up a bit to get some chips. With Q J suited, I raise it up from EP. Get one caller. Flop is all low 3 6 8, two diamonds. I bet half the pot and get called. Turn is a 2. I bet half the pot and my opponent folds. Back above where I started.
Tourney seems tight. Takes about a half hour for someone to bust out. And for me to get moved to a new table. I don't recognize any of the players here either. Poker Bully mentions his site. As I go to check it out, something strange happens. I get some cards. Raise with A Q but no action. Raise with A A and no action. Raise with the Hammer and someone pushes all in. WTF? At least I got to play some poker without doing anything too stupid.
I then get moved AGAIN! This time to a star studded table. Easycure, SirWafl, Poker Geek, and Gracie.
I pony back and forth here getting some chips and giving them back until I lose a big hand from the small blind. I just call with 10 3. Flop comes 2 10 K. I check and call the bet. Turn is a 10. I check raise him. On the river I bet 500 and just get called. He shows K 10 for the boat. Ouch! The break soon comes and I am at 565. Dead last among the living. That puts me at 52. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.
Once action gets going I look for something to move with. The BB soon comes around and with 9 9, I push my 485 in to take on the two limpers. SirWafl calls right away and I think I am toast. He shows K Q spades. Flop is J J 10. Ugly. Turn a 2 and the river a J. I double through.
Couple of hands later, I get A A. With 2 limpers, I pop it to 350, looking like I want to buy it a bit. But it folds around. Damn. But I am at 1490, close to the start.
But just for a while. Blinds come and go. I then make a move with K 10 suited in EP but get re-raised by Poker Geek and have to fold. I try it again later and get the blinds. Then I begin to bleed some chips in the blinds as the cards have abandoned me again. I double up with K J against 5 5 but I give a chunk back when I try to drop the Hammer but run into J J. I called his all in bet simply because I had to try to drop the Hammer on someone.
I then bounce back up again with A J clubs hitting the flush on the turn. Sorry EZ.
I don't see many hands up into the break. The big stack is using his chips to push me around in the blinds. Then a push monkey comes in to my right. I am just begging for something to fight back with. Finally I get A J suited (diamonds) but run into A J suited (hearts) to split a pot.
A few hands later A K shows up and I double up. I need one more double and I can make a run for the final table. Then the ladies show up- the Hilton Sisters. They look beautiful. The big stack makes his usual raise again to 1000. I push my 3700 in. He calls and shows- K K! FUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGG! 8 10 J flop. Not too bad. A 9 would save me. Nope. No 9 or Q and I am done in 21. See ya! Those bitches let me down.
Overall I am ok with the way I played. Could have been more aggressive in some spots but feel I did ok considering I haven't played many tournaments over the past quarter. I don't know if I will keep money over at Titan. Software is blah, but play is soft. I may grind out some on the limit tables before moving on. I just hope they don't need for me to fax pictures and stuff to withdraw.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Playing on a mattress at the Castle
Having just won 3 bills in the Crazy Pineapple tournament, I looked to unwind a bit by passing some time at a Pai Gow table while my friend played his 2/4 game. I didn't quite have the success playing Pai Gow as I did Crazy Pineapple. Broke even but got a couple of beers.
From there we headed over to check out the new "poker room" at Paris. I put it in quotes as it isn't a room. It is a roped off section by Gustav's bar. I believe 8 tables, of which only 1 was going. Another 2/4 game. We figured we were better off going back down to the Excalibur than checking anything in mid Strip.
After going up to the room to wash up a bit, I went down to the tables hoping for a chance to spin the wheel. I was placed up front of a table right by the rail. The table looked like a mattress has been stuffed under the felt. It raised up at least 3 inches from the rail. I felt I could sleep on it if necessary. It also felt like a TV table. The rail would get packed with people just watching. They would catch the action, put at players and inform someone of just what happened. Weird stuff.
The table itself sucked at first. It was all locals except for me and 2 others. Each dealer knew these old rocks that were sitting there. It didn't take much to figure some of them out either. The two old ladies played tighter than tight, never raising and chasing with their aces and suited cards. Two of the men played just the best hands and raised only after they had a made hand. Two others were really loose and calling 2 or 3 bets just to fold on the flop or turn. The tourist just plain stunk. I don't know if he ever played before but he burned a rack and left.
Things didn't start well for me. I had K K cracked by a guy who sucked out an A on the river. My set of 9s saw a runner runner for a flush. I was quickly down half a rack before I chipped up a bit.
I missed an early opportunity to spin the wheel when I would have had quad 5s. But I folded my Q 5 suited in EP. But I got my chance later on. With K 2 in the BB, I got to see a free flop with one of the old ladies and 3 other limpers. Flop came 6 2 2. Knowing that these people wouldn't fold with over cards, I bet out 4. Sure enough 2 callers. On the turn, the case 2 hit. I made another small bet of just 4. The old lady called. I then bet 6 on the river. She sat there thinking. I even told her I had the 2. She called anyway. From there I got the huge sum of $20 which was doubled up to $40. Not bad. I'll take it. It basically got me back to even.
But it also seemed to be the impetus for me to knock the table around. I went on a nice roll from there. My good hands filled out nicely and I my K K and Q Q weren't cracked. I took down a nice pot when the Hiltons held up against 2 other players with ace rag. I didn't like the K on the turn but kept firing away with them calling with nothing.
I also got quite a bit of table respect from it. There was one curmudgeon at the end who didn't like my raising. He would reluctantly call me down with any pair. What he didn't realize was how I could read his hand with the way he raised pre-flop. He would bet 6 with A A or K K. He would bet 4 with J J or 10 10. He just called with A K. I noticed that right away and folded some hands that I was tempted to call down with pass the turn, but got out when a J or 10 hit and he was betting again. If he didn't hit the flop, he became very passive.
Thankfully some of the rocks dumped their chips and left. Some younger more aggressive blood hit the table and then it got fun. I was talking with a guy who just moved from Seattle and was involved with video production. No, nothing good, just commercials. I slow played A A vs him hoping to get them cracked but they held up. I never did get the rockets wrecked during this trip. But I didn't mind that. It might be +EV with the wheel spin but it has to be bad mojo. Another guy who used to deal at the Excalibur took a seat. He compared notes with each of the dealers. As it turned out, there was another dealer from the Stratosphere playing in the 3 seat.
I played to until just pass midnight and took off when the table got short. I had been drinking bourbon all night just so I could get to sleep. My friend was snoring pretty bad and waking me up. I figured I could get drunk and to sleep before he showed back up.
But before I did, I played one last hand. I tried to drop the hammer on the rock that was still there. He called me all the way down and showed K high to win. Old fart! I still walked away with 3 racks though. It was a nice night.
From there we headed over to check out the new "poker room" at Paris. I put it in quotes as it isn't a room. It is a roped off section by Gustav's bar. I believe 8 tables, of which only 1 was going. Another 2/4 game. We figured we were better off going back down to the Excalibur than checking anything in mid Strip.
After going up to the room to wash up a bit, I went down to the tables hoping for a chance to spin the wheel. I was placed up front of a table right by the rail. The table looked like a mattress has been stuffed under the felt. It raised up at least 3 inches from the rail. I felt I could sleep on it if necessary. It also felt like a TV table. The rail would get packed with people just watching. They would catch the action, put at players and inform someone of just what happened. Weird stuff.
The table itself sucked at first. It was all locals except for me and 2 others. Each dealer knew these old rocks that were sitting there. It didn't take much to figure some of them out either. The two old ladies played tighter than tight, never raising and chasing with their aces and suited cards. Two of the men played just the best hands and raised only after they had a made hand. Two others were really loose and calling 2 or 3 bets just to fold on the flop or turn. The tourist just plain stunk. I don't know if he ever played before but he burned a rack and left.
Things didn't start well for me. I had K K cracked by a guy who sucked out an A on the river. My set of 9s saw a runner runner for a flush. I was quickly down half a rack before I chipped up a bit.
I missed an early opportunity to spin the wheel when I would have had quad 5s. But I folded my Q 5 suited in EP. But I got my chance later on. With K 2 in the BB, I got to see a free flop with one of the old ladies and 3 other limpers. Flop came 6 2 2. Knowing that these people wouldn't fold with over cards, I bet out 4. Sure enough 2 callers. On the turn, the case 2 hit. I made another small bet of just 4. The old lady called. I then bet 6 on the river. She sat there thinking. I even told her I had the 2. She called anyway. From there I got the huge sum of $20 which was doubled up to $40. Not bad. I'll take it. It basically got me back to even.
But it also seemed to be the impetus for me to knock the table around. I went on a nice roll from there. My good hands filled out nicely and I my K K and Q Q weren't cracked. I took down a nice pot when the Hiltons held up against 2 other players with ace rag. I didn't like the K on the turn but kept firing away with them calling with nothing.
I also got quite a bit of table respect from it. There was one curmudgeon at the end who didn't like my raising. He would reluctantly call me down with any pair. What he didn't realize was how I could read his hand with the way he raised pre-flop. He would bet 6 with A A or K K. He would bet 4 with J J or 10 10. He just called with A K. I noticed that right away and folded some hands that I was tempted to call down with pass the turn, but got out when a J or 10 hit and he was betting again. If he didn't hit the flop, he became very passive.
Thankfully some of the rocks dumped their chips and left. Some younger more aggressive blood hit the table and then it got fun. I was talking with a guy who just moved from Seattle and was involved with video production. No, nothing good, just commercials. I slow played A A vs him hoping to get them cracked but they held up. I never did get the rockets wrecked during this trip. But I didn't mind that. It might be +EV with the wheel spin but it has to be bad mojo. Another guy who used to deal at the Excalibur took a seat. He compared notes with each of the dealers. As it turned out, there was another dealer from the Stratosphere playing in the 3 seat.
I played to until just pass midnight and took off when the table got short. I had been drinking bourbon all night just so I could get to sleep. My friend was snoring pretty bad and waking me up. I figured I could get drunk and to sleep before he showed back up.
But before I did, I played one last hand. I tried to drop the hammer on the rock that was still there. He called me all the way down and showed K high to win. Old fart! I still walked away with 3 racks though. It was a nice night.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Pineapple de loco
Wednesday seemed like a normal day. We were up and about, deciding where to go. The thought of a tournament seemed like a good idea but which one was somewhat the question. A question that could be answered on the road, er walk.
We headed across the street from the castle to New York New York and over to the Monte Carlo. The plan was to take the tram to the Bellagio and figure out what to do. I had to show Cor THE poker room in Vegas. I really wanted to sit down and play. It hurt to stand outside explaining Bobby's Room and the higher limit area. But my friend wasn't comfortable playing 4/8 so all we could do was watch the half dozen tables clacking their chips around.
I had to get out so I suggested we go across the street to Ballys for the 11 (or was it noon) tournament. I knew they had a tourney around this time so it seemed like a great idea. I like Ballys. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something about the place that feels good. I know it isn't that long ass walkway/escalator thing out front. I HATE THAT! But inside it feels good. Same with Paris. I will probably miss Ballys if/when they tear it down. Once we finally got inside, we headed over to the poker area. Yeah, poker area. Any place that doesn't have walls is a poker area. I quickly inquired about the tournament and whether they had spots available. We were told yes and to head to the cage. At the cage I handed over $50 to enter the tournament. Just after I did this, I hear it wasn't the no limit tourney I was expecting, but Crazy Pineapple. I had no problem with this but I kinda felt bad about my friend. I am positive he had no idea how to play. I quickly tried to explain it is like no limit with a bit of Omaha but simply told him to play like it was no limit. I left it up to him as to whether he wanted to play or not. I was happy he decided to give it a whirl. I guess he truly wanted to play some kind of tournament.
The game started with 26 players. Top 4 would pay out. We were given 1500 in chips to start and blinds of 25/50. I was able to quickly deduce my table as being not that tough. There was one old guy who knew what he was doing. Then there were the two guys who truly had no clue how to play Hold Em, let alone Crazy Pineapple. I took my time waiting a couple hands before doing anything. I acted with A K hearts, J diamonds. I raised 3.25x the blinds. I got two callers, one the old guy who had already scooped some pots and one of the clueless. Flop came out and totally missed me. There were two of a suit out there. I made my continuation bet and was called by the old guy. Hmm.... Turn is another miss. I bet again. He calls after thinking a bit. I like that. River doesn't put the flush out there. I know the only way to win is to bet. But I have like 650 behind me. I bet 400. I thought this out quickly and came to this conclusion: An all in bet looks like an attempt to buy it. If I get raised, I can bail and fight back with a good hand. But a 400 bet looks like I have decided I might get him to call if he has anything. I put him on the flush draw (where he won his other pots) and figured he missed it. Needless to say, I was relieved when he folded.
That is basically all I played before the first break. Cards weren't coming my way but that wasn't a big deal to me at this time. I had a decent stack to work with until I caught something. One entertaining moment was one of the clueless guys. He called down a couple of hands just to fold on the river. He bled chips. One guy who started the tourney late came in and cracked his aces. The loser got so pissed that he flinged the cards at the guy. The winner looked at him and flung his own cards back at him! I was stunned at first but then smiled when I when I looked at the winner. I liked his retaliation. Only idiots get pissed when their aces get cracked. It happens. If you are scared then go to the Castle and play cards.
I don't believe I won another big pot after that. Maybe another small one before I got moved to the same table as my friend Cor. We were down to 2 tables now. Once I sat down I saw Cor make a great call and take down a pot. His pot odds were there and more importantly, he probably had the best hand at the time. He did and was stacking chips. At this time I was happy to point out the Brewers were pounding the Reds. An omen?
Suddenly they took us down to the final table. I was kinda surprised as I didn't notice a bunch of people had busted out. We started the final with 9. I looked around and it appeared I was the short stack, if not at least one of them. The old guy had a healthy stack as did a Braves hat guy. But the true talk of the table had to be California flag shirt. Cal flag shirt had been making some interesting calls along the way and winning pots. I would soon have my own showdown with him. But for now I needed a hand to double up on.
We lost a couple players when my friend Cor goes out on a bad beat with Cal flag shirt. His J J got beat by a straight on the river. Cal flag took out two players on that move where he simply got lucky to beat the other dude's set of 5s. We are down to 5 players when I suggest a save of $50. The old guy who still has a decent stack agrees right away. But the other 3 don't say a word. I am shocked as one guy has less than me and the other barely much more. No one says anything and a save isn't going to happen. Screw them. I am still needing to double up.
Then my opportunity came. I made my move in late position with a pair of nines down. I pushed and was called by a slightly bigger stack that had 3 3. I double up. A couple hands later I double up again with K K vs. 9 9. Sweet. Suddenly I am the chip leader. We lose the other two and I am in the money. Old guy is the short stack. I probably have Cal flag shirt by 3-2. Old guy is blinded down and forced to play a couple hands that he keeps on winning. Damn. Get busted out already.
I then make a big mistake. I see a flop from the BB with A Q 3. The flop is Q J 6. Cal flag shirt makes a big bet. Old guy is already all in. I look at him and ask why he isn't calling it down. I think about whether he is trying to steal the pot or not. I think he may have a J at best. What I didn't recognize was why he was making the bet. It never occurred to me that he may have a monster. So I push he all in, which he quickly calls. He turns over his set of jacks. Damn. I give up a good lead. Old man soon busts out and I have second place, but my stack is pitiful. Blinds are up and I have basically two hands to play. End result: second place.
I won over $300 so that ain't bad. Gave the dealers a tip and walked away happy with my success at Crazy Pineapple. I declare myself the Crazy Pineapple Champion of Great Milwaukee. Afterall, who can question that?
Now where is that Pai Gow table?
Coming up: A final night and day in the Excalibur.
We headed across the street from the castle to New York New York and over to the Monte Carlo. The plan was to take the tram to the Bellagio and figure out what to do. I had to show Cor THE poker room in Vegas. I really wanted to sit down and play. It hurt to stand outside explaining Bobby's Room and the higher limit area. But my friend wasn't comfortable playing 4/8 so all we could do was watch the half dozen tables clacking their chips around.
I had to get out so I suggested we go across the street to Ballys for the 11 (or was it noon) tournament. I knew they had a tourney around this time so it seemed like a great idea. I like Ballys. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something about the place that feels good. I know it isn't that long ass walkway/escalator thing out front. I HATE THAT! But inside it feels good. Same with Paris. I will probably miss Ballys if/when they tear it down. Once we finally got inside, we headed over to the poker area. Yeah, poker area. Any place that doesn't have walls is a poker area. I quickly inquired about the tournament and whether they had spots available. We were told yes and to head to the cage. At the cage I handed over $50 to enter the tournament. Just after I did this, I hear it wasn't the no limit tourney I was expecting, but Crazy Pineapple. I had no problem with this but I kinda felt bad about my friend. I am positive he had no idea how to play. I quickly tried to explain it is like no limit with a bit of Omaha but simply told him to play like it was no limit. I left it up to him as to whether he wanted to play or not. I was happy he decided to give it a whirl. I guess he truly wanted to play some kind of tournament.
The game started with 26 players. Top 4 would pay out. We were given 1500 in chips to start and blinds of 25/50. I was able to quickly deduce my table as being not that tough. There was one old guy who knew what he was doing. Then there were the two guys who truly had no clue how to play Hold Em, let alone Crazy Pineapple. I took my time waiting a couple hands before doing anything. I acted with A K hearts, J diamonds. I raised 3.25x the blinds. I got two callers, one the old guy who had already scooped some pots and one of the clueless. Flop came out and totally missed me. There were two of a suit out there. I made my continuation bet and was called by the old guy. Hmm.... Turn is another miss. I bet again. He calls after thinking a bit. I like that. River doesn't put the flush out there. I know the only way to win is to bet. But I have like 650 behind me. I bet 400. I thought this out quickly and came to this conclusion: An all in bet looks like an attempt to buy it. If I get raised, I can bail and fight back with a good hand. But a 400 bet looks like I have decided I might get him to call if he has anything. I put him on the flush draw (where he won his other pots) and figured he missed it. Needless to say, I was relieved when he folded.
That is basically all I played before the first break. Cards weren't coming my way but that wasn't a big deal to me at this time. I had a decent stack to work with until I caught something. One entertaining moment was one of the clueless guys. He called down a couple of hands just to fold on the river. He bled chips. One guy who started the tourney late came in and cracked his aces. The loser got so pissed that he flinged the cards at the guy. The winner looked at him and flung his own cards back at him! I was stunned at first but then smiled when I when I looked at the winner. I liked his retaliation. Only idiots get pissed when their aces get cracked. It happens. If you are scared then go to the Castle and play cards.
I don't believe I won another big pot after that. Maybe another small one before I got moved to the same table as my friend Cor. We were down to 2 tables now. Once I sat down I saw Cor make a great call and take down a pot. His pot odds were there and more importantly, he probably had the best hand at the time. He did and was stacking chips. At this time I was happy to point out the Brewers were pounding the Reds. An omen?
Suddenly they took us down to the final table. I was kinda surprised as I didn't notice a bunch of people had busted out. We started the final with 9. I looked around and it appeared I was the short stack, if not at least one of them. The old guy had a healthy stack as did a Braves hat guy. But the true talk of the table had to be California flag shirt. Cal flag shirt had been making some interesting calls along the way and winning pots. I would soon have my own showdown with him. But for now I needed a hand to double up on.
We lost a couple players when my friend Cor goes out on a bad beat with Cal flag shirt. His J J got beat by a straight on the river. Cal flag took out two players on that move where he simply got lucky to beat the other dude's set of 5s. We are down to 5 players when I suggest a save of $50. The old guy who still has a decent stack agrees right away. But the other 3 don't say a word. I am shocked as one guy has less than me and the other barely much more. No one says anything and a save isn't going to happen. Screw them. I am still needing to double up.
Then my opportunity came. I made my move in late position with a pair of nines down. I pushed and was called by a slightly bigger stack that had 3 3. I double up. A couple hands later I double up again with K K vs. 9 9. Sweet. Suddenly I am the chip leader. We lose the other two and I am in the money. Old guy is the short stack. I probably have Cal flag shirt by 3-2. Old guy is blinded down and forced to play a couple hands that he keeps on winning. Damn. Get busted out already.
I then make a big mistake. I see a flop from the BB with A Q 3. The flop is Q J 6. Cal flag shirt makes a big bet. Old guy is already all in. I look at him and ask why he isn't calling it down. I think about whether he is trying to steal the pot or not. I think he may have a J at best. What I didn't recognize was why he was making the bet. It never occurred to me that he may have a monster. So I push he all in, which he quickly calls. He turns over his set of jacks. Damn. I give up a good lead. Old man soon busts out and I have second place, but my stack is pitiful. Blinds are up and I have basically two hands to play. End result: second place.
I won over $300 so that ain't bad. Gave the dealers a tip and walked away happy with my success at Crazy Pineapple. I declare myself the Crazy Pineapple Champion of Great Milwaukee. Afterall, who can question that?
Now where is that Pai Gow table?
Coming up: A final night and day in the Excalibur.
Monday, September 12, 2005
At the Trop, Aladdin and MC
I got my butt handed to me yesterday in a 3/6 game on Party. Three big pots went across the table that should have been mine. The one that hurt the most was the clown playing 7 9 hearts to a raise, then hit runner, runner, on a gut shot to get his straight. Man, was I pissed. Then someone played their K 9 off to a raise again to crack my aces when he hit trips on the turn. It killed a good run I was on. However, it showed me how bad they are at the 3/6 level. I will be back.
On Tuesday, I woke up wanting to do something different. I had the intention of making my way up the Strip to hit the tournament at the Aladdin. But since it was early and the Tropicana was just across the street, I wanted to check out their new poker room. I wouldn't have known it even existed if I hadn't read the report on LasVegasVegas.
After wandering around the Trop, we found the poker room off by the MGM side. There was one table going, spreading 2/4. Since they had 2 seats available, me and Cor sat down to play a bit. I didn't want to play low limit like this but there was nothing available. Plus, I thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to do some fishing.
At the table were a couple of young guys who claimed they hadn't slept in 24 hours. One even claimed he was making tuition. At a 2/4 table? That could take a couple weeks. Dude on my left was killing time before heading back to Atlanta. He had come to Vegas, moved on to San Diego and Tijuana, and was back before going home. He had a blast in Tiajuana. Of course, who doesn't? There was tight playing black guy across from me who claimed he wasn't getting any cards. A mullet wanna-be older guy sat down to play every hand. He quickly went through a rack before leaving. Thankfully he came back to donate some more later. But the star of the table was the old guy on my right. He was cracking some people up. Telling old jokes. I didn't catch him but he kept some of the guys in stitches.
Play was typical for 2/4. Slow, people drawing out on every hand. I didn't catch much for cards. When I did, I tried to take advantage of the table by playing them hard. After that, I bluffed a couple of hands to win some pots. But that was few and far in between. So I did what any good blogger would do to liven a table up. In the big blind, I raised it up without looking. I told the black guy I would do it. I raised and kept the 3 callers. Interesting. Flop comes and I bet again. Turn card is placed on the table and I am betting.
They both fold.
I hadn't even touched my cards and they were gone. Lucky for them too. I had a K high straight on the turn. Sweet.
We played for maybe an hour there. The table was getting boring. Also, I noticed all the dealers were from China. Must have a factory over there. Before leaving though, this one youngish couple sat down. I found their play to be rather predictable. They were playing the any ace, any suited. She had a decent looking rack as well. And I ain't talking chips. They played one hand heads up that defied any logic or reasoning. The got into a pre-flop raising war with each other. Because they were heads up, the dealer let them go (though technically it was wrong I believe as there was one other player that had limped but folded to their raises. It should have gone unlimited on the raises after the flop. Anyone can correct me if the dealer was right). They had to raise each other about 7 or 8 times. All the while, the dealer is telling them to just check it down because they were together. He tried to explain that only the casino would benefit on the rake. But the girl didn't listen. She even bet out on the flop too. It turned out she had Q Q and he had A A. With the 2 aces on the board, he had quads. Could have spun the wheel at the Castle.
We soon got up and walked across to the MGM to check out their room. There were a couple tables in action as we walked about. We then saw they were getting ready for their tournament. I believe it was a $60 buy-in with no rebuys. But it was sold out. We then talked about the Aladdin and went north to check it out.
We grabbed lunch at the cafe before going to play poker. For some reason, we passed on the tournament. I don't know if it was too high of a buy-in for Cor's taste or if we decided to pass on it. Instead we got involved with a new 3/6 game. This is where I was reminded of what a bitch variance is.
The 2 seat was red hot for catching flops. I had my K K broken by quad 3s on the flop. I didn't pay him off as the J hit the river to pair the board but the Aladdin paid him to the tune of close to $500. Same guy would hit flush after flush with crap. He was taking down good sized pots before he had to leave to catch his flight. The lady who took the seat when he left did the same thing. Played any two suited to the river and caught her flush. It was disgusting.
I did make a great play. I had taken control of betting out the hand. I had two pair and one player on a flush draw and the other on just top pair. Problem was their was a flush and straight draw on the board. On the river, the flush wasn't there. It was checked to me. I knew the guy on my right didn't want to call a bet. But the guy on my left drinking the Coronas may have hit the straight draw. I was about to check when the guy went to muck his hand. The dealer told him to wait. Instantly I changed my mind and bet it out. He quickly mucked his hand, but not after showing my friend what he had. The other player folded and I started to stack chips. Turn out the guy did hit his straight but was too focused on making the flush that he didn't recognize it. You need to pay attention when in a hand. Needless to say I was disappointed when Corona left.
In the 3 or 4 hours I spent at the table, I had to be down about 90% of the time. I would have had a losing session if I hadn't had a mini rush. It started with 3 2 off in the BB and 5 limpers. For 2 bucks I had to call. I even told the big blind I had to put the 2 bucks in the slot machine and get lucky. Flop came 2 2 J. I took down a nice pot. A couple of hands later I have A A and take down another good pot. Then A J suited. Get a flush for the good guys for once. I leave up 7 bucks. Victory was mine!
There was another incident of a local sitting down, playing for a half hour and then disappearing for an hour. Why casinos tolerate this I do not understand. Why players pull this shit is even a better question. The Jersey girl wanted the chair pretty bad too. But she had to wait for someone else to bust out because this old fart felt it better to talk with every dealer and old player in the room. It is funny the excuses you hear from the dealers. They say if he is gone by the time 2 dealers push in, the chips are picked up. However, none of them have a clue how long the player has been gone. Thus, nothing is ever done. Except for keeping people that want to play poker waiting.
We then made our way down the Strip to the Monte Carlo. We stopped into the sports book to watch the Brewers game for a bit. The poker room had little in terms of waiting but we decided we should eat something first.
That was a mistake. I had the chicken Parmesan. It was pretty damn good. But it gave me so much gas I was dying. I had to take frequent walks to the mens room to relieve myself. I had started on a 2/4 table but moved to the 4/8 half kill when it started. Some real interesting people in this game. Two locals down by me, a lady and an old man that kept acting like experts. On the other end was a tourist and his wife from Texas. Some guy who liked to bet a lot was over there too. An extremely passive player was across from me. But the buzz cut was the best though. Buzz cut had his aces cracked about 5 hands into the game. Why? Because he slowed played them. He rarely raised pre-flop. So he slow played the aces and lost. Can't remember what to, but he started crying afterwards, "I hate aces!". As tempted as I was to laugh out loud at him, I didn't. I hate aces. I hate aces. He said it a couple of times. Dude, if you hate aces, you are in the wrong game. Go play tiddlywinks. You hate them because you play them like a pussy, expecting them to win every time. Hint: They don't. Besides, if you play them that bad, you should be over at the Excalibur spinning the wheel. Instead, your stupid self is at the Monte Carlo.
Not much happened for me at the MC. I cashed out with 2 and half racks. My gut was killing me. Plus, buzz cut took off. He had rebought and looked to be done. Then he pulled one out of his ass. He called 5 bets preflop and had all his money in on the flop with 5 5. He made his set on the flop, cracking a guy's aces. I was stunned. I sat back shaking my head. The Texan whose aces were cracked noticed me and asked me in a pissed off tone "You think I played that wrong?". I just replied calmly, "No sir, you played the hand as you should". He asked me again and I said the exact same thing. This time he knew I meant that guy was beyond stupid and doesn't realize how lucky he got. When buzz cut left I did so as well.
Coming up: Crazy Pineapple!!!
On Tuesday, I woke up wanting to do something different. I had the intention of making my way up the Strip to hit the tournament at the Aladdin. But since it was early and the Tropicana was just across the street, I wanted to check out their new poker room. I wouldn't have known it even existed if I hadn't read the report on LasVegasVegas.
After wandering around the Trop, we found the poker room off by the MGM side. There was one table going, spreading 2/4. Since they had 2 seats available, me and Cor sat down to play a bit. I didn't want to play low limit like this but there was nothing available. Plus, I thought it wouldn't be a bad thing to do some fishing.
At the table were a couple of young guys who claimed they hadn't slept in 24 hours. One even claimed he was making tuition. At a 2/4 table? That could take a couple weeks. Dude on my left was killing time before heading back to Atlanta. He had come to Vegas, moved on to San Diego and Tijuana, and was back before going home. He had a blast in Tiajuana. Of course, who doesn't? There was tight playing black guy across from me who claimed he wasn't getting any cards. A mullet wanna-be older guy sat down to play every hand. He quickly went through a rack before leaving. Thankfully he came back to donate some more later. But the star of the table was the old guy on my right. He was cracking some people up. Telling old jokes. I didn't catch him but he kept some of the guys in stitches.
Play was typical for 2/4. Slow, people drawing out on every hand. I didn't catch much for cards. When I did, I tried to take advantage of the table by playing them hard. After that, I bluffed a couple of hands to win some pots. But that was few and far in between. So I did what any good blogger would do to liven a table up. In the big blind, I raised it up without looking. I told the black guy I would do it. I raised and kept the 3 callers. Interesting. Flop comes and I bet again. Turn card is placed on the table and I am betting.
They both fold.
I hadn't even touched my cards and they were gone. Lucky for them too. I had a K high straight on the turn. Sweet.
We played for maybe an hour there. The table was getting boring. Also, I noticed all the dealers were from China. Must have a factory over there. Before leaving though, this one youngish couple sat down. I found their play to be rather predictable. They were playing the any ace, any suited. She had a decent looking rack as well. And I ain't talking chips. They played one hand heads up that defied any logic or reasoning. The got into a pre-flop raising war with each other. Because they were heads up, the dealer let them go (though technically it was wrong I believe as there was one other player that had limped but folded to their raises. It should have gone unlimited on the raises after the flop. Anyone can correct me if the dealer was right). They had to raise each other about 7 or 8 times. All the while, the dealer is telling them to just check it down because they were together. He tried to explain that only the casino would benefit on the rake. But the girl didn't listen. She even bet out on the flop too. It turned out she had Q Q and he had A A. With the 2 aces on the board, he had quads. Could have spun the wheel at the Castle.
We soon got up and walked across to the MGM to check out their room. There were a couple tables in action as we walked about. We then saw they were getting ready for their tournament. I believe it was a $60 buy-in with no rebuys. But it was sold out. We then talked about the Aladdin and went north to check it out.
We grabbed lunch at the cafe before going to play poker. For some reason, we passed on the tournament. I don't know if it was too high of a buy-in for Cor's taste or if we decided to pass on it. Instead we got involved with a new 3/6 game. This is where I was reminded of what a bitch variance is.
The 2 seat was red hot for catching flops. I had my K K broken by quad 3s on the flop. I didn't pay him off as the J hit the river to pair the board but the Aladdin paid him to the tune of close to $500. Same guy would hit flush after flush with crap. He was taking down good sized pots before he had to leave to catch his flight. The lady who took the seat when he left did the same thing. Played any two suited to the river and caught her flush. It was disgusting.
I did make a great play. I had taken control of betting out the hand. I had two pair and one player on a flush draw and the other on just top pair. Problem was their was a flush and straight draw on the board. On the river, the flush wasn't there. It was checked to me. I knew the guy on my right didn't want to call a bet. But the guy on my left drinking the Coronas may have hit the straight draw. I was about to check when the guy went to muck his hand. The dealer told him to wait. Instantly I changed my mind and bet it out. He quickly mucked his hand, but not after showing my friend what he had. The other player folded and I started to stack chips. Turn out the guy did hit his straight but was too focused on making the flush that he didn't recognize it. You need to pay attention when in a hand. Needless to say I was disappointed when Corona left.
In the 3 or 4 hours I spent at the table, I had to be down about 90% of the time. I would have had a losing session if I hadn't had a mini rush. It started with 3 2 off in the BB and 5 limpers. For 2 bucks I had to call. I even told the big blind I had to put the 2 bucks in the slot machine and get lucky. Flop came 2 2 J. I took down a nice pot. A couple of hands later I have A A and take down another good pot. Then A J suited. Get a flush for the good guys for once. I leave up 7 bucks. Victory was mine!
There was another incident of a local sitting down, playing for a half hour and then disappearing for an hour. Why casinos tolerate this I do not understand. Why players pull this shit is even a better question. The Jersey girl wanted the chair pretty bad too. But she had to wait for someone else to bust out because this old fart felt it better to talk with every dealer and old player in the room. It is funny the excuses you hear from the dealers. They say if he is gone by the time 2 dealers push in, the chips are picked up. However, none of them have a clue how long the player has been gone. Thus, nothing is ever done. Except for keeping people that want to play poker waiting.
We then made our way down the Strip to the Monte Carlo. We stopped into the sports book to watch the Brewers game for a bit. The poker room had little in terms of waiting but we decided we should eat something first.
That was a mistake. I had the chicken Parmesan. It was pretty damn good. But it gave me so much gas I was dying. I had to take frequent walks to the mens room to relieve myself. I had started on a 2/4 table but moved to the 4/8 half kill when it started. Some real interesting people in this game. Two locals down by me, a lady and an old man that kept acting like experts. On the other end was a tourist and his wife from Texas. Some guy who liked to bet a lot was over there too. An extremely passive player was across from me. But the buzz cut was the best though. Buzz cut had his aces cracked about 5 hands into the game. Why? Because he slowed played them. He rarely raised pre-flop. So he slow played the aces and lost. Can't remember what to, but he started crying afterwards, "I hate aces!". As tempted as I was to laugh out loud at him, I didn't. I hate aces. I hate aces. He said it a couple of times. Dude, if you hate aces, you are in the wrong game. Go play tiddlywinks. You hate them because you play them like a pussy, expecting them to win every time. Hint: They don't. Besides, if you play them that bad, you should be over at the Excalibur spinning the wheel. Instead, your stupid self is at the Monte Carlo.
Not much happened for me at the MC. I cashed out with 2 and half racks. My gut was killing me. Plus, buzz cut took off. He had rebought and looked to be done. Then he pulled one out of his ass. He called 5 bets preflop and had all his money in on the flop with 5 5. He made his set on the flop, cracking a guy's aces. I was stunned. I sat back shaking my head. The Texan whose aces were cracked noticed me and asked me in a pissed off tone "You think I played that wrong?". I just replied calmly, "No sir, you played the hand as you should". He asked me again and I said the exact same thing. This time he knew I meant that guy was beyond stupid and doesn't realize how lucky he got. When buzz cut left I did so as well.
Coming up: Crazy Pineapple!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
