Taking a shot

I thought CJ brought up a excellent point in the discussion about playing the pocket 4s like I did. Yeah, I got lucky with the flop. I took a chance and it paid off. Most of the time a tournament may come down to taking a chance on one hand. It seems many players don't take that shot until they have been blinded down and are forced to do so.

Have you ever played one tournament where every big hand you caught became stronger on the flop? Where the cards hit right each and every time you got your chips in? Probably not. I don't think anyone has had one of those nights where they have dominated a tournament from start to finish where they didn't get lucky to catch a card (no, I am not getting into the luck factor here).

Sometimes you need to find a spot and take a chance. In my case, I was comfortable seeing a flop with my pocket pair. I did not read my opponent to be as strong as he was. But if I folded the flop, I still had 2500 to work with and blinds at 60/120. With the flow of the table, I felt confident I could win that 1000 back quickly.

Mind you, it was not a quick call either. Usually I would fold in this case. I know the 4s are most likely dominated here, but the 3-1 odds was tempting. The implied odds were huge. So I took a shot and bingo, bango, bongo, I flopped a boat. I highly expected a K to hit and was naturally thankful that it didn't. I believe the big mistake was made by my opponent. If he had made a pot sized raise (I think it would have been to 1440 if my calculation is correct), my odds would have been terrible to call.

As I said, most times I would fold there. Many times I have received middle pairs on a tight table and folded in MP when a player in EP has raised and been called by someone in LP. They end up in a showdown and the result for me would have been a win had I been in the hand. I have seen that many times. Of course we remember those hands that we would have won a huge pot if we had been involved. We tend to forget the ones in which we would have dumped a lot of chips.

But I have decided to start taking these chances and it has paid off for me. Not all the time, but in a number of instances. And it has worked well. I would like to think most of the time it is because I have made a good read. The best example for me was the WPBT Winter Classic this past December. I had been moved to a new table where Joaquin was seated. He had a nice chip stack and was in control of the table. I started raising to take that control away and set forth the aggressive image. I took a couple of uncontested pots down when I looked down to see 10 10 UTG (I believe). I raised it up 3xs the blind. MP went all in and had me covered. I didn't know who he was (turned out to be Studio Glyphic who went on to win it all) and wasn't quite sure what he had. I thought about whether he had the overpair or not. My 10s weren't feeling too strong either.

After I thought it over, I felt good that I had the better hand. I also thought to myself that you need to find the spot to double through and get in a position to make a serious run to the final table. I realized this was the spot. I called and saw his pocket 8s. Unfortunately for me, he spiked an 8 on the turn and I was done.

But I found a spot and made the right call. I took my shot and it just didn't work out.

Would you call?

It is about 2/3 of the way through the 200k satellite on Full Tilt. I have about 3500 in chips, putting me in the middle of the pack. My table is feeling rather tight now.

I get 4 4 UTG. I raise to 420 (60/120 blinds). Guy on my left re-raises to 1000. It is 580 to call.

Do you call?

I did. Flopped a full house to crack his kings. I checked, he pushed, his chips come to me.

I then hear for the next 15 minutes what a bad play it was. I am not saying it was a stellar move, but I figured I was getting close to 3 to 1 to see a flop. If I hit it, I win a huge pot. If not, I have 2500 to work with and plenty of time.

So who wouldn't call there?

A horse is a horse

Finished 3rd in the WPBT Circuit event tonight. Not too shabby for a H.O.R.S.E event. I wish I wouldn't have donked off my chips in the end though. I knew the Poker Princess wasn't going to lay the hand down. Her Stud game is waaaaay better than mine. But I did have outs. Yeah, I know that is a lame excuse. Congrats to CJ for winning the H.O.R.S.E event. Well done.

Things didn't look too good for me early on. I wasn't getting anywhere. My cards were average at best. I took down some small pots but nothing big. I figured I would have to be patient and then hope to double up. Basically that is all that happened. I was down about 900 and it was looking bleak. In the Omaha round I got a hand that included a pair of 9s. Yeah, not strong but the table had tightened up so I figured I could try for a steal. What I didn't realize was CJ was in the big blind and he likes to defend those blinds with a passion. I then got lucky by flopping a set and having it hold up.

Once I got back above the starting spot I turned on the aggression to chip up. I was willing to bully the small stacks when I had position, something that can be easily done in Razz. I did make one huge mistake in Razz. It was towards the end, not sure if it was with 3 or 4 people left. I was dealt A J 10, all diamonds. I raised it up and CJ called. The next card was a blank for me. I continued betting and CJ called. The next card was a Q. I kept thinking I have a gutshot straight draw and back door flush. This time CJ bet. I raised. He thought a bit and re-raised. I hated that move. I knew he had two pair. Queens and fours. I took my time to decide if I wanted to go for the straight or not. Instead I folded. CJ was quite relieved. I knew I was behind. He even mentioned startling his dog because he was yelling for me to fold. It wasn't until two hands later that I realized we were playing Razz, NOT STUD. All throughout the hand I was playing the wrong game. Turns out I was ahead, not behind. Damn!

Still not a bad finish. I have stayed patient at the end though. I may have gotten lucky if I had survived the stud rounds.

Funny

There are some things that are just too funny to believe.

Dutch "The Crook" Boyd is announcing that not only in the Crew getting back together but they are making a reality show.

After my initial reaction of "Hahahahahahahahaha!", I couldn't help but think "Uh, who cares?"
Really, who cares that these dopes are getting the gang back together? They came off as bunch of donkeys a couple years ago in the WSOP and were laughed at.

The cluelessness of this bunch is amazing. They were the joke of the poker world and now they think they will be making a TV show? If it makes it to TV, I predict it gets buried somewhere on cable. Who wants to watch a bunch of cocky young poker guys walk around a house playing online poker?

I also like how Boyd thinks that the Crew is a hot topic again as well. I think he needs to take his medication. For a topic that is hot, why does he need to try and dig up sponsors or even a network to pick up the show?

Maybe I should play more

It was about 15 minutes before the weekly WWdN started that I signed up. I wasn't necessarily in the mood to play poker but there was little else to do. Tuesday night TV is a barren dessert. There is really nothing on. I mean absolutely nothing.

So I figured I might as well play and see what happens. It hadn't dawned on me that I hadn't played in a tournament for well over a week. I wonder why? I had no reason to not play when given the chance for poker. I just had been playing ring games instead.

I think it showed early on. Though I was a couple of early pots, they were all tiny. The table seemed tight so I started playing loose and raising with just about anything. Until I started bleeding chips. So after 45 minutes of not getting any action on big hands, and drawing out on crap hands, I decided to go to push mode. That didn't net me any more than the big hands and I ended up at the break under 800. Most good tournament players will tell you that you should be able to double up in the first round, which puts your in a great spot for the second session where people get tighter. They are right. So why had I done the opposite?

As the second session began, I knew I had to push to get back in. So with any decent hand or position, I was shoving chips in. Got back to 1500, then 2000, then back to 1700. My yo yo impression was pretty good. Then I caught my first break. I got a caller with A A. His 8s did not crack my boys so I doubled through to just under 3k.

Then I got lucky. I stayed aggressive and kept making raises. This time however, I kept an eye on where the big stacks were. I tried to key up my moves only when they acted first whether they had limped, or raised. If they folded, I could try to pound the smaller stacks behind me. This is where I got lucky a couple of times. A 8s beats J J by filling a gutshot straight on the river. K 5 suited (bad steal attempt but I had to only call a little more) defeated A high with a flush on the turn. Add a bluff or two in and suddenly I was up in 2nd place.

I was taking some chances that I wouldn't when I was playing tighter. Some paid off, others didn't. But sometimes you know that if you miss the chance to knock someone out, and suddenly you drop 3000 to them, you feel inside that the game is still flowing in your direction. You know you can either bully the table or the cards will come. It isn't about whether you will get that 3000 back, but how long will it take. That is a nice comfort zone to be in.

In the end, I finished in 4th place when my 5 5 lost the flip to A J. I didn't like the way I played that final table though. I started ok but I wasn't focusing on trying to win. Sounds stupid to play all that way and not try to win. But I realized that is what I was doing. I shoved with the 5s when I could have made a standard raise or limped. I think the blinds were 600-1200 at the time. Shoving isn't a bad move, but if I do a normal raise, I can get away from the overcards on the flop and find a better spot to push with. It may not have mattered but I wouldn't have been left with the bad taste of pushing with a small pair of 5s.

Nice Party

I don't know why I was trying to clear the Party bonus. It was only $30. I hate the software, hate the annoying players talking trash, hate the fishiness that always seems to suck out on me. Why was I playing there?

That $30 carrot they were dangling in front of me annoyed me. I think it was the number I saw in Poker Track that did it. It was in red. Yes, I admit it, I am a losing player on Party. I could rattle off bad beat story after bad beat story but I would own too many people money that I would have to go to the Summer Classic and hand out dollar bills like an ATM.

I was grinding out 300 hands at the 3/6 tables for the last week. Except for one ugly hand (typical of the Party player), I had a nice run, more than doubling what I had at Party. I had only one losing session and that wasn't too bad. I stayed aggressive and pounded people for trying to draw out with their anything suited hands.

It felt good to play some solid poker. Not perfect but good enough to make some coin. And I will take that any day.

Maybe this time, I can show up at the beginning

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7330476

Good to see PokerStars is throwing another blogger appreciation party. Maybe I can remember to show up for the start of this tournament. Last time I thought it started at 5, just to realize I was 2 hours late. I played exactly one hand, pushing my short stack in with K K, just to run into A A. Funny how this game can be.

I did however win a fleece for best essay. My teachers would have been so proud.

This time around I have the time correct. I just need to make sure I am back in town. I think I am off camping that weekend.

Twice the pain

What can I say about the Gemini tournament last night? Hmm... interesting idea, but overall I didn't care for it. I give Biggestron credit for being creative but this was not a realistic tournament idea. I hope this isn't attempted again.

If a tournament cannot be held in the same format live, then it shouldn't be done. Yes, we mostly play internet poker but the way this tournament was set up, it took away one major skill set needed to play successful tournament poker. Focus. With two tables going, it was hard to stay focused on what was happening at what table. Many times you were prompted to act at the same time. For me, this lead to wasting time banks on one table as I made a decision on the other.

It also took me out of the flow at one table. People would fold around and before you know it, it was time to act again. But you didn't see what was happening because of the play at your other table. I think there were some great stealing opportunities lost because of this.

I also didn't care for starting with the same players at both tables. That took some strategy out of it. Once the table changes started, it got better, though it was fun trying to pull off the same move on the same person at two different tables.

The tilt factor was interesting. If you got a beat at one table, it could affect you at the other. I went out 20 in one, 10 in the other. I took a bad card at the river, double pairing the board and making my opponent's A kicker come into play (I had 6 6, he A J, board ended up with Ks and 7s). That had an effect at first at the other table where I was in a good spot. I can't complain because I did crack SoxLover's A A, and later someone's K K.

Patience, discipline, and focus are key for doing well in these tourneys. Take one out of the mix and it becomes more of a crapshoot.

Just my opinion. I would rather stick to current formats instead of creating them.

Freerolling once again

Absolute Poker hosted the Poker Source Online blogger free roll. Only 118 showed up. The site said they had 460 registered. Maybe next time they will not have it on a Saturday night

I was taking it easy to begin with. In the first hand, I was pretty sure I had the best hand from the blinds with 7 4 and a flop of 2 2 4. But with the min-raise in mid position and the overbet on the flop, I decided not to go to battle on the first hand. Why bother?

An interesting thing happened about 10 minutes into the tournament. All the no shows were removed. Just like that 40 people were gone. I don't know if I like that or not. It prevents people was collecting chips on dead players but if you were just running late you got screwed.

They also posted the payouts. 27 places would pay with first place paying $540. Not bad.

I could check all of this out and more because I folded for the next 15 minutes. Man, what crappy cards! I steal a hand or two. This is getting boring. To lighten things up, I suggest to the table that we get everyone to chop the prize pool and head out for beers. That would be interesting if somehow we could get the entire tourney to agree to a big distribution of the prize money.

If I wasn't able to go on a nice rush of stealing blinds, I would be below the starting stack. And bored. The Absolute software isn't the best. Feels slow and clunky. Don't care for it. Or the cards I am getting.

I finally hit a big pot. Note I said big pot, not a big hand. With A Q clubs, I raise to 350. BB calls. Flop comes out with 2 clubs. The BB bets out. With just 1200 behind and the pot at 1050, I push. He calls and shows the J 10 of clubs. No J or 10 hits and I suddenly double up. I was shocked by this. Not the call but to suddenly bump up after hardly playing is a nice surprise.

I go back into my folding game for a while. Then 9 9 comes along. I bump it up to 400. Only problem is the SB goes all in. I don't feel like gambling here and fold. A raise of 2000 here seems fishy. Of course I don't get any action when I get K K a couple of hands later.

I finished in 35th when I made a bad read. I tried to limp with A 4s. The button raised and I called. Flop came 5 Q Q. I called his min bet. I put him on A K right away. The turn was a 4. I check-raised him all in. He insta called with A Q. Oops. Wrong read.

Oh well. I didn't play bad for what I got dealt. One bad read sent me to the rail. This tourney was easy money. Then again, I guess not if I didn't get any.

Another 8

Finished 8th in the WWdN tourney tonight. GRob did a good job of pushing the table around at the end. He is my hero.

Not unhappy with the way I played. It just rough when I stopped hitting flops and my bets were raised. Felt like any respect or image I had was suddenly gone. Like they were looking at my cards.

8 isn't bad especially considering I got knocked around again in the Full Tilt token tournies. For the life of me I cannot win one of those things again. I get in with the best hand just to lose. Frustrating. But it has to be temporary. I hope.

8th

Haven't been playing much lately. So with it all rainy and cold outside, I figured it would be a good day to waste away on this game.

I cleared the PokerStars bonus thanks to their double points giveaway. At the same time I noticed an email from Titan giving me a whole $10. Curious as to whether I still had some cash over there, I logged in to see I did have just under $25. So to get my game back in shape, I hopped into a $5 MTT that was about to start. I had been avoiding the low buy in tournies because of the donkey play but felt I need to get my feet back under me after the absence.

I was hitting some flops pretty well early. Like first hand when I see a set of 8s. I pushed when the first guy bet the pot. Quick and easy double especially when I see guy had top pair only. But he didn't disappear. I forgot that most of the Titan tournies are rebuys. Damn!

I don't care for rebuy tournaments too much. Play is usually erratic and one bad beat can really tilt you. But then I thought of Speaker's posts on the Paradise rebuy and figured he may be right about taking advantage of the donktastic play. So leaned back and got into rock mode.

By the first break, I had only double up to over 2k so I too the add on. My investment was $10.50 of Titan's money. I would need to get to 30 to win $23.70. Not quite life changing.

One other aspects of rebuys that I find intriguing is the people who can shift their games once the rebuy period is over. Some still are terrible while you can see the shift to playing poker in others. I stuck to my the tight image I was trying to portray but started to steal more. Thankfully no one called me down with my K 9o.

Before I knew it we hit the second break and people were falling like rocks. Then we hit the money and more people dropped like flies. Blinds were going up every 10 minutes. With people taking too much time to fold, there was barely an orbit of play before blinds went up again. It became push poker. You could barely get above an M of 5.

I kept hitting the all in button like a slot player in their tournaments. Made the final table too. Went out in 8th when A K ran into A A. Oh well. Earned a $94.80 prize for my efforts. Only problem is that I now need to play on Titan to clear the money for withdrawal. Not quite sure how many hands I have to play either.

Funny how a cash can force me to play more at a site I had deserted.

Interview

If I wasn't in such an alcoholic daze through the weekend, I would have posted the interview I did with Biggestron. So without further delay, here it is. I will take my 15 minutes of internet fame. It comes with a six pack so that is good.

Otherwise I haven't played much poker lately. The real world is exerting pressure on me. Some shit hit the fan over the weekend. Thankfully nothing too serious but some matters that need to be dealt with.

When I have found a chance to get some time in, I have been struggling. I took a small whooping at 5/10 so I dropped back again. I continue to play a bit of NL ring but not much to make a difference. Even the number of tournaments I have been in has fallen off. Like most of the time, I have no focus on what to play.

Let's hope I can get lucky somewhere and make a nice score.

What is worse?

I haven't been playing all that much poker lately. It is nicer outside and other things have needed a tending too. I am not hooked on poker; I immensely enjoy playing it. I have noticed that right now I am not missing it much. Maybe cuz I am not making any money playing. Nor am I losing. Status quo. Except for the Peep tournies where I cannot earn a chip to save my life lately. That is frustrating.

I pose this question to all. After reading Joe Speaker talk about how he had a group of morons at his table to open a MTT on Full Tilt, I wondered what was worse....

1. Having a group of morons at your table and you are card dead. You watch people pushing with J 3o or 4 4 from early position; extremely non-sensical moves. You are begging to get a high pair or any group A hand just so you can take advantage of the situation and chip up early. Alas, those cards only come after the table dramatically tightens up.

or

2. On the first hand, you are dealt A A. MP pushes (yes, he puts all 1500 in) with 3 3 or A Jo. He proceeds to hit his 3, a straight or runner runner Js to knock you out.

Which is worse...not getting a hand to beat the moron with or having the moron crack your aces?

Both painfully brutal in their own way.

7 card folding game

The Stud game was interesting last night. I played well, but with stud not being my game, I ended up in 15th. Congrats to SoxLover for reeling in a victory. This coming after I made a comment that New Yorkers had no clue on how to play stud since Pauly, Derek, and the Rooster had just busted out in the low 30s. Of course, they have probably forgotten more about stud than I learned from reading the book yesterday morning.

I had every intention to be the tightest player in the game. It was easy to do early when I was watching the Sopranos. I folded like a champ. I was getting crap cards so it wasn't too hard to do. Nothing was high or connected or suited. Then I caught some hands and chipped up a bit. I catch my first big hand, the Anti Christ 6 6 6. It would fill to a full house and I would suddenly be on top.

I then loosened up a bit and stole a couple of pots. Then my hands didn't complete and I fell back a bit. Stakes had risen nicely so I knew I had to really make a move if I was going to have a chance to make the final table. I thought it came when I had two kinds. Early position raised, and then there was re-raise. I raised again to isolate what appeared to be a pair of queens. But EP came along for two more bets. 4th street didn't appear to improve any of us and I bet it out again. But on 5th, EP suddenly bet out. I had a feeling that I was now behind to 3 of a kind. I should have folded but instead decided to jam. A fold would leave me with just over 1000. Betting was at 200/400 and the pot already had over 4k in it. Sure enough, EP had stayed in to 5th just to get lucky. I didn't get a 3rd king and was done.

I was somewhat disappointed. I should have stopped when I knew I was behind. I don't think his play with the 9s was that great either. He put in a lot of chips to try and hit his 2 outer.

I still am proud that I reside on the top of the WPBT POY board. Staying on top is not going to be easy, especially with just 4 months down, 8 to go. All I can do is continue to give it my best. If I end up on top, it will be a great honor and accomplishment. If not, I know I made a good showing. There are a lot of cards yet to be dealt. And I intend to get my fair share of those cards.

I am a Stud

What: WPBT-POY Seven-card Stud Event
When: Sunday April 30th at 9:30pm EST
Where: Poker Stars
Tourney Info: #21991049 (Look under Private tab)
How Much: $20 + 2
Password: wpbt72Attire: Pants optional

Lifted straight from Dr. Pauly's site is the reminder above. Since I sent Pauly to the rail on Monday, I figure I can help make a donation come Sunday in his effort to final tabling in the Stud event.

What do I know about Stud? Very little. About the same as Omaha and look what happened with that. So I will go with the tried and true formula. I will pick up Phil Hellmuth's book on Sunday and read all about Stud strategy. If possible, I will play a warm up SnG on Stars before the tournament. Do they even have Stud SnGs?

That would be something though. To win a Stud event after reading Hellmuth's book. Can lightening strike twice?

DADI

Played in my first DADI event. It was being held in conjunction with the weekly WWdN and WPBT POY. A battle royal of poker blogging events. 77 people came to take a chance to win a $1500 seat at the WSOP. Plus, there were some other prizes involved as well. Big thanks for TripJax and Jordan for getting this together.

A battle royal would best describe my first table. The venerable Dr. Pauly was on my right but he was busy working at the Bellagio. If you are not reading Pauly's reports, then you are wastig time on the net. Pauly has gotten even better after his brief hiatus. Poker as never reported before. But back to the table. WillWonka was to my left, followed by SlimeFace, yosoyveneno, LaParka, and RandomSam. I have played with each of them, except for LaParka before. I knew I was going to have to be good to survive. This is one tough table to start at.

Soon Garthmeister and Iggy would show as well. It wouldn't get any easier.

I basically kept folding a lot of hands. Tried to see some cheap flops (had deep stacks of 3000 instead of 1500) so I could play a tad loose but not

Scored my first knockout when I called a raise from the big blind with 3 3 and promptly flopped a set. Garthmeister had outs as he showed the K Q. The diamonds on the board gave me a chance for the flush. Luckily for me, he didn't his his outs and I moved up nicely, knocking him out.

I would get lucky again when A 9 flops two pair. But the 10 on the board had me worried about A 10. I bet the flop and was quickly raised. Confident he just had a high ace. Made most of my move on the turn betting just under the pot. Slimeface raised to 2000. I felt my two pair was good. I raised it back to 3000. All the money was in on the river. My read was right. His A K was no good.

I was at over 10k now and in first. But too many players are still in. Time for me to really mix my game up. I am able to drop the Hammer but that was really about it. The cards I was getting were ugly. Anything decent had me out of position. So instead of being loose, wild, and free, I sat back looking for spots to hit. I hit the first break just over the 10k mark and in second place.

After the break, those pocket 3s would visit again and win me a nice pot. With 1 raiser and 3 callers ( I called from the SB ), it somehow checked around on a K high flop. The 3 on the turn had me betting the pot, hoping to make it look like I was buying it. Instead, I was taking down 1200.

I knocked out Pauly by busting his Hilton Sisters. From the BB I was dealt A K. With Pauly busy blogging the WPT event, I figured he may have been just trying to make a move. I re-raised his bet from 600 to 2000. Thus I was a bit shocked when he re-raised me all in. Uh oh, he had a hand. I called the remaining amount and was glad to see an A hit right away. Lucky for me, no Q or running clubs and I had eliminated Dr. Pauly. Somehow I have a feeling I was getting booed in the Fontana room.

That also could be why I then tried to make a move on Bobby Bracelet next. With K Js, I raised from early position and then called his all in bet for just 1100 more. He had me dominated when he showed A J. Even more so when he flopped an A. I tried. I would tangle with Bob again in a losing manner. Maybe I will think twice next time.

I steal some blinds here and there and work on defending my own. I get lucky when I call a 3x bet with A 7. A flop of Q A 10 looks good. I doubt he raised with K J. I bet it out and get called. On the turn I decide to push. I feel he may have a better ace. He claimed to have K K so I didn't get paid.

I then waste K K when no one raises or limps with me in the SB. So I then steal with K J the next hand. A couple hands later I still can't get any action with A K. I then get complacent and try with A 4o but fold to a re-raise. Time to tighten up again. I feel like I have been card dead for the last 30 minutes. At the second break, I am in 5th with 11500. Very little improvement in the second session. Pitiful in fact.

I would soon take my first bad beat of the tournament. With K K, I raised it to 800 (100/200 25) and have one caller. On a 10 high flop, I bet the pot. My opponent calls. The turn is an A, the one card I don't want to see. So I try to act like I have A K and push. He calls with A J. WTF? You call a pot sized bet with just overcards? Of course, no K and I am hurt. And totally pissed off. I just about tilt my remaining chips to Iggy on the next hand but suck out a straight on the river. But he didn't pay me.

Even an orbit after the hand, I am still steaming. Just wrong. I need another Maker's and ginger and then maybe I will relax. Work may suck tomorrow at this pace. Should I have pushed with the kinds to protect my hand?

I then watch another call of a pot sized bet where someone just have overcards. I just don't see that as being smart. In this case he did have a huge stack but not the best play I would think. Yeah, still on tilt. I do get some blinds with A 10 and A Q so that helps a bit. Then I get to keep my BB and the antes. Weeeeeee!

I then start to steal more. Any suited ace looks good. Hopefully I can change my image from tight to loose and then hit the jackpot. Heck, I even raise with the hand I hate most- Q 10. I also learn that you cannot type in kung fu on PokerStars. The fu is no good and will be blocked out. Very interesting.

I steal the blinds with A K and then defend with A 10. One limper in EP so I pushed not wanting to see a flop. Just trying to get my chips back. I then go on further tilt when I see my chips go across the board when the guy who busted my kings calls an all in bet with 3 3. WTF??? Made little sense to me, but what do I know.

I then had my first table change. There was Gracie, Drizz and Katitude. Apologies to those that I do not know of your blogs. I make a quick steal here. I like that move. Stealing blinds on the first hand you get dealt at a new table.

At the third break, I am handing by a thread. In last place with just under 5K. What a freefall. But I have hope. I just need to double up 5 times. That is all.

But that doesn't happen. From the button, I push with K J. Drizz calls with A 9 suited. No help for either of us and his ace high is more than good. Done in 12th. Not quite what I was hoping for. Oh well, always the next one.

Cards weren't smokin

The smoker was all that I expected it to be. Bad players, bad plays, and unfortunately bad cards. Not quite sure how I lasted 2 hours without dragging a single pot. I think it was the break for dinner that made it feel like I was there longer than I needed to be.

I know that I saw 3 flops. I opened with a bet just once (with A Jo ) and had to fold to a re-raise that would have committed me (he had K K). Other than that I saw a flop from the big blind and I limped with J 10 on the button once. Didn't win a single pot. Didn't see a pocket pair all night. Didn't do much beside take up space.

It was frustrating to say the least. In the first orbit, A A showed up 3 times. In each instance, I thought they were poorly misplayed. On the first hand, 2 limpers so the guy limped as well- no raise. He ended up losing to a rivered straight. He bet the flop, checked the turn, and called a river bet. I was laughing inside at how he played that hand. Laughing and licking my chops.

The second time, same thing happened. A loose passive guy had them. He was luckier than CJ last night. He did the same thing. No preflop raise- just called- and made only one bet after the flop. His aces held up though. Then the guy who got them on the first hand got aces again on the 5th hand and limped. He dragged a little pot.

I was shocked to not only see aces that many times right away but at how bad they played the hands. In fact, it wasn't until the second orbit that someone raised preflop. This table was very passive. I was very pissed that I couldn't take advantage of it.

I got blinded down with very little play. When all was said and done I went in with A 2 and just twice the BB. Loose guy calls with Q J. Has two pair on the flop and then a full house on the turn. IGHN.

I did make some money playing in a SnG afterwards so the evening was profitable. My friend Brian cashed in 8th so that was good too.

But if only I could have had some decent hands to play. This is such an easy field. I know I will be back.

Smokin again

Off to another smoker tonight. I earned a freeroll into this one so what I cash will be nice. Hopefully the guys will remember they promised me the free entry. I have it confirmed by email but I wasn't able to get it printed. I don't anticipate it being a problem.

I am looking forward to playing aggressively tonight. The crowd that plays is below average in skill. The majority of the guys show up again and again and have little understanding of basic strategy. Play tight early and push your big hands hard.

If I make the final table, I hope to be super aggressive. The last two times I have been card dead so I am begging for a change. I know I can run over a final table with just good hands, not even great.

If I do bust out, hopefully there will be some hockey on. I wonder if the SpaceMan would like to put a little wager on who last longer, my team or his.

Ever get one of those sessions...

where you get total crap for cards? I mean, absolute crap!

I just had one. Played 54 minutes. In that time span, I raised exactly 0 times. Limped in 4 times with suited connectors or a suited ace and won one pot from the BB when I flopped two pair with Q 7o.

What a waste of time. Amazing how bad these cards were. Maybe I was being way too tight, but I don't think so.

Hopefully this means I get hit silly by the deck the next time.

A good run

Made a good run in EasyCure's tournament to Hammer Out Cancer last night. Finished 7th and barely made back some money. Beside winning it (of course!), I was hoping to make enough money where I would donate some money to the cause after getting my entry back. Instead, I barely got my entry back for 7th. The classy Dr. Pauly did donate half of what he won for coming in 2nd. The good doctor. One very charitable dude.

Must also give props to Frankl for winning. Nice job! Beside congratulating him for his victory, check out the half nekkid women. You know you will be adding it to your favorites now.

Finally, thank Biggestron for all the WPBT POY work he does. I have clawed back to the top of the leaderboard. Lucky for me the year ends after the DADI event on the 24th. The trophy is all locked up in my greedy little paws!

Wait, you mean it goes for all of 2006? Uh..yeah, I knew that.

I was quite happy with my play last night. I took my time with playing some hands instead of rushing in to satisfy my action jones. I chipped up a bit just to give it all back with some loose calls. I had my aces cracked the first two times they arrived. I feel lucky that I was up against small stacks only at the time. Aces continue to be just what they are. A 33% favorite. It wasn't until the 3rd time they arrived that they help up. That got me into the game and help propel me to the final table. A fourth time didn't hurt either.

If only my A Ko would have held up on BG's A 10. I would have been in position to win. With about 9300 left and blinds 500/1000, I just raised pot from the button. My thought was that if I pushed, it would look like a strong hand (my thinking at least). I decided to just raise pot to make it look like a steal, hoping I would be called by a weak ace. It appeared to work as BG pushed. I liked seeing A 10, but not liking went away with the flopped 10. Oh well.

I found myself replaying the hand in my head. If I push, will I get called. Yes, I am pretty sure he would have called. I would have called from the BB too in that position. Thus it wouldn't have really mattered. I do think that pushing was the right way to go now. A Ko is strong but it needs help to win.

As always, it was a good time playing. This tournies are more competitive that most I see. The skill set is always on the rise. If you don't bring your A game, you won't be around for long.

Not happy

I am going to focus on playing some more tournaments instead of ring games. Just part of my indecisive nature right now. Doesn't help that I am getting knocked around a bit in the ring games.
I made the money in the Full Tilt 5k yesterday. But I wasn't happy. 14 was ok, but I played rather crappily. Two hands in particular pissed me off. One where I raised with K J off (yeah, I know) UTG and was re-raised. I knew I was so beat and was going to fold. But then I thought "let's see a flop" and made the call. It totally misses me and I fold. But I put 4000 in for what?

In another hand I set my bluff up and didn't execute. From the big blind, I called a min-raise. Flop came with 2 diamonds. I checked and called the min bet. Another diamond on the turn. I bet out, bluffing the flush. I bet 3/4 of the pot. He thinks and calls. River is a blank. Instead of firing away, I checked. He checked behind and showed two pair. I don't think he would have called a bet there. I was so pissed at myself. I set up the bluff and didn't execute.

Today I played better but got sucked out on. What is with all the limp-call the big raise with a small pair shit going on? Makes no sense. Some schmuck cracked my Hiltons with his pair of 3s when he flopped a set. I had kept an eye on the guy for over an hour and knew how to play him. He was in practically every hand and folded to raises. But how do you call with a pair of 3s?

I think this has convinced me that there is no such thing as table image online. I have watched people play maybe 1 hand every half hour. Each time they have monsters. But people are calling their bets and sucking out. Amazing how bad it can be. It is brutal to watch.

Quite strange. To play bad and make some money. To play much better and get knocked out by a clown. Man, do I hate this game!

Come play EasyCure's Hammer out Cancer tourney tomorrow at Full Tilt. It is for a great cause!

Bad donkey, bad

I don't know why I tried the WWdN tonight. I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I tried to hit the PokerSavvy freeroll but those bastards never sent me the password and I didn't realize it until 10 minutes before it started.

I basically donked my chips away trying to be too aggressive. Not good.

I haven't played much poker lately. Just busy with other things and taking it easy. I know the bug will bite soon enough and I will dive back in. I just need to get in the right frame of mind.

I bought a copy of the new Richard Marcus book, Dirty Poker. If it is anything like American Roulette, I will be happy. It does have an interesting start. It basically infers that Jennifer Tilly's win at the WSOP was fixed. That she paid off the table so she could win to boost her career.

When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all!

CHAMPIONS!!!

Slapped back down

I tried to move up to the 5/10 game. After a couple of sessions with results that were not favorable, I backed down. I took some big beats, made some overly aggressive plays and flat out didn't do well. I found myself losing a big pot early and having to work to make up the losses. I was playing from behind too many times.

I will go back once I get my game in order. I need to move some money to take on the game properly. I am confident I can do well. I just need to be in the right frame of mind.

I have also dabbled a little into NL ring as well. This is definately my weakest area, yet the area that is so profitable right now. I have read many a trip report that tells of the soft tables in Vegas. A little online play can only help to make that transition to live come July. The way I see it, I can afford to lose a buy in or two, but I rather be ready for the game.

Some WPBT POY coming up soon. Check out Easy Cure's Hammer out Cancer Tournament on Full Tilt. That is on April 16. Come play for a great cause. If I make the final table, I will donate half of whatever I win. So feel free to dump some chips to me. :)

They all lie!

I am Batman!

Wait, did I get this wrong?

Collection

I muddled through the field yesterday. As I muddled, I wasn't happy with my play. For the first 2 hours, I played rather crappily. The only reason I was still alive was because of the 5000 starting stack.

Iggy set up it. A deep stack starting at 8pm with 30 minute levels. If you have a good game, you will do well if you can sidestep the bad beats. Patience could be paid off. Plus, the little guy is probably figuring it is the best way to train his players for the WSOP.

Yes, I said his players. With the enthusiam and zeal he had on this project, I see this as Iggy's Army. He probably would get as much satisfaction of seeing one of us bloggers win an event this year as the person winning.

So I was dancing through the tables, dodging minefield like my internet connection (went down twice) and the players around me. It started with CJ on my left. Not what you would like to see. Huntsvegas, an eventual winner, was just to his left. Then Bobby Bracelet shows up on my right. Not what I wanted to see.

Later I would have Maigrey on my right and Wonka two spots over. Every time I put a blind out there I knew I may have to fight to keep the thieves away. Thankfully I got a couple good hands to send a message but that would only last for the time being.

As I had said before, I wasn't too happy with my play early on. I was too loose. Making some flop calls with just bottom pair, hoping I would get lucky. It was just shit poker I was playing. CJ did put a great move disguising his A A on one hand. It was that hand that would send me into a funk and give chips away like Halloween candy.

So I had to tighten up. I set an immediate goal to get back over the starting stack. I felt one hand could do it. That hand came in the form of K K. I looked at it and drooled a bit. This was my hand. With an aggressive short stack on my right, I was already counting his chips as being mine. What I didn't expect was the UTG limper, Shep, to come along for the ride as well. My kings held up and I was in much better shape. Like I was reborn.

I continued to chip up until I was in 11th place. I felt good now feeling I could make a serious run at it again. After the 3rd break, I made a steal attempt that backfired. With J 10 I made my move from the button. But the BB raised it. I called hoping to catch a piece of the flop. J 10 x. Nice. My oppoent bet out. I raised wanting to just take it down. But he reraised. Hmm...what does he have. I was confident he didn't have a set. With that flop and the re-raise preflop, I put him on A J. I pushed. He called with A 10. Not quite what I expected to pop it in with second pair. But of course an A spiked the turn and I was crippled.

I folded a couple more hands when the Hilton Sisters came to visit. I thought this would be nice. I figured I could get the short stack to my left's chips at the very least. I raised it 3.5xs the blind and was immediatley re-raised all in by the short stack. But the next player took a timeout to think about what he would do. He then re-raised. ??? It folded back around to me. I wasn't necessarily committed here but felt a need to get back into it. I pushed my remaining chips and was called by ... 10 10? This baffled me. Why would you re-raise with just 10s? He was putting out a third of his chips for what may be a small advantage at best over just A high? Not a good play in my mind. But of course he would spike a 10 on the turn to win the pot and send me out.

Each time I got my chips in with the best hand but was drawn out on. Nothing you can do when the poker gods are not on your side. Oh well.

Congrat to Huntsvegas and Lucko for winning their seats.

I also had another thought. Since Iggy kicked in some cash to get another seat last night, the least we can do is take a collection to pay his buy-ins in the rest of the tournies. A nice gesture to pay back his efforts and work to make these happen. Let me know your thoughts. It would cost you just a buck or two.

Plans

I am finishing up my plans for the WPBT Summer Classic. April has the info. I haven't book a room quite yet.

I received some mail from the Rio yesterday offering me a good rate on rooms during this time. Some day I will stay there but I don't know if it will be this time around. I would like to stay at the Hooters Hotel if I could. Rate is around 90 a night when split between two people. Who wants to stay at Hooters?

The Castle is a decent enough place and may be the choice. The poker room is always a good time too. Something tells me that their rate will get even better as summer draws near. I may go ahead and book it and then keep an eye on the rate. When it drops I would just have to give them a quick call and I know they will give me the best rate. That is one good reason to stay there. They do treat their guests well.

Questions.

Otis has written something that had me thinking (man, do I have a headache now!). I had actually asked myself two of these questions earlier today when someone made the comment about why I was still working and not playing poker for a living. To me the answer was quite easy. Then I read what Otis had to say. I decided to answer the questions he had posed.

1) I'm playing because I have more fun playing poker than playing any other game? Answer: Yes. I truly enjoy playing poker. I like the strategy involved, especially in tournament play.

2) I'm playing because I want to challenge myself and actually believe I am good at something? Answer: Yes. I think a lot of people don't realize how challenging poker can be. There is a definate discipline and skill level that needs to be built. A skill that can transgress to other activities in life.

3) I'm playing because I think I have the potential to eventually win life-changing money? Answer: Maybe. I think I could do well against a pro field but only on my best day. Best part of this is that I do not have a definitive answer. I am still learning. I realize I will always be learning. I know where I am at right now, and that level is below those on TV. Or at least that is my perception. I could be wrong. But on good day, yeah, I think I could play well enough to make some serious coin in a tournament.

4) I'm playing because I want to play professionally? Answer: No interest in being a pro at all. A good example is that I have no interest in winning a seat into the Main Event at the WSOP. It is scheduled for two weeks. I do not know if I could get that kind of time away from work.

5) I'm playing because I can't afford not to play? Answer: Not even sure what Otis meant by this. If it is that the games are easy money, I would say, kinda yes. Do I need to play? Nope.

6) I'm playing because I'm addicted to action? Answer: No. Beer maybe, but not gambling.

I am a firm believer in introspection. Not only in poker but in life. One of the worst things you can do is fool yourself. By knowing what, why, where and how you are doing, you can succeed.

WPBT POY Event 2- Fat Stacks!

When the WPBT POY event started, I wasn't paying much attention. I was finishing up a satellite tourney on FTP for a chance to play for a WPT seat. I was doing ok, having made the final table. Only two entries would be awarded and money to the top 5. I bubbled out. I let my aggression get in the way with some steals that got caught. Of course I saw the little stack get lucky and double up so I wouldn't even get a consolation prize. Oh well. I really want to focus on these satellites. I would love to win a WPT entry. But next time I am not playing a $6 buy-in. I rather token my way into a higher event and capture a slot when they give more than two seats out.

But now it was time to focus on the main event.

My stack was getting kicked around. Though we started with 3000, I was losing them fast. I lost a big chunk when I called a raise with A J and saw the A high flop. The initial raisor bet it out and I raised. I hated the response- all in! Damn! I folded as it was way too early to go out with a J kicker.

I was down to 1300 when I was able to double up with 8 8. Then doubled again with Q Q. At first I was just happy to be back above the staring stack size. It felt like a new beginning.

And a new beginning it was. At the end of the 2nd break I was in 1st, having just cracked the Hilton Sisters with A J. I went on a nice run, combining aggression with patience, and just a bit of luck.

I then had some fun when the Rooster (why weren't you playing?) showed up in chat looking for me. I guess he didn't know my screen name. Maybe he was just playing along but it was funny. Said some nice things about me. Like how I could cash in beer bottles to pay off debts.

Playing a big stack can be weird at times. You can afford to take extra risks. To an extent, it feels like a responsibility. On behalf of others, you need to use that stack to knock out the short stacks. Like when I had 7 7 hold up on Q J when small stack pushed. With extra chips I can afford to lose, I can make the call easily. But if I was short stacked myself, I may fold it because it could mean being knocked out or crippled.

But wielding the big stack has it's advantages, especially when you start stealing. I knocked out Joe Speaker when he pushed with 9 9 against my Q Q. Granted that his only move but I had stolen a couple blinds just before the Hiltons visited.

Then I went card dead. I stole some blinds but that was far and few between with the low cards I was getting. This would be the one question I would like to throw out to the pros. What do you do when you have a big stack and go card dead? Sit back and watch others catch up, or keep firing away and hope you get away with it?

At the final table, I had a nice lead and wanted to protect it to the money. Which isn't hard when you are card dead. 5 3, J 6, 10 4, A 2, Q 3, 10 3, 3 9, K 4, 10 8, K 3. Those are my actual 10 hands at the beginning of the final table. It was driving me nuts. Then when I try to play a hand, K 10, I just about run into aces but wisely laid down. Yikes!

I run a nice bluff and steal when I bet an A high flop with crap. A couple hands later 10 10 looks like gold. But BadBlood raises UTG. Hmm...I have to pop it back and am glad he folds. He is playing really tough at this final table. I don't want to tangle with him on his terms.

My cards aren't improving much either. If I want to get back in, I need to play some good post flop poker. I did when I called a raise from the button with 7 6s (apologies that I do not have your site to link. Send it and I will update). Flop was A 6 3 and I bet it out hoping he was just on a steal. He was and I took it down.

But on the next hand, the same thing was going down. Same guy raised but this time I had K Qs. So I re-raised hoping he was playing a big ace. He just called my raise; no re-raise. Flop was K J x. I like this flop and bet half the pot. Now he pushed. Ruh roh! My gut told me I was behind. I felt there was a good chance he was playing K J. But then again, I may be good. I thought I would go with my initial reaction that he had just an A, maybe A J. I called. Oops. He had A A and I was done. Very well concealed play there.

Blood would go on to win it. Fantastic job! I knew I didn't want to have to battle with him for a reason.

I am happy with the run I made. In retrospect I am not too happy with how I went out, but I fell to a good play. I should have gone with my gut instinct. I felt I had a good read on some of the players at the final table. A check at the end would have save my chips and I wouldn't have been committed to the pot. That is poker though. One bad move and you can be done.

Now I need to scout some others spots out. I got out of my token slump and am collecting them again. I will begin to play more of the $75 SnG token tables, but wish they would have more events out there for the bigger tokens. The times don't work well for me.

Overall Sunday was a good day at the tables too. In clearing the rest of the small Paradise bonus, I walked away up 30 bb for an hour of play at the 5/10 tables. For once all the big pots came my way. It is nice to have over $250 come your way instead of some clown hitting their gut shot straight on the river.

Movin on up

I kicked it up a notch on the limit game by moving up to 5/10. After the blogger satellite on Paradise, I decided to use the deposit there to focus on my limit game and reinforce some fundamentals.

My early results are mixed. I am up slightly. I noticed that the play isn't necessarily tougher because the limits are higher than I have been playing. People are still calling down with bottom pair, or chasing the gutshot, and calling 3 bets pre flop with 8 9 offsuit. The one challenge I see is deciding on making the value bet on the end and risk the check raise or calling the guy who suddenly bets the river and just tossing chips in meekly.

I then may work on developing NL ring game skills. I have tried in the past but the crushing blow of a suckout has always forced me to stop. But I feel I need to give it another go as this truly seems to be where the money is. Especially when playing live.

Felicia has an excellent post up about playing tournaments and NL ring games. She hits the nail on the head. You may hit in a tourney but you still need the money to get in. And you need to play where the best money is.

I believe that is 5 in a row

Crack!

That is the sound of me with A A in SnGs. Especially when it is early. The last 5 straight have been cracked. 3 of those by mid pairs.

Am I wrong to think it is beyond moronic to limp in, then call a big raise or re-raise with a pair of 8s? Is this the backlash that is happening in online poker. Because too many morons try the limp re-raise to portray A A that they never think they may be running into A A?

Plus, why would you piss away so many chips early on? Not the spot to try and get lucky.

I guess that is why I keep coming back. The streak has got to come to an end and then it will get profitable. Yet, you will never hear me say I hate pocket aces. I am glad they are holding up in the MTTs.

I am stunned more every day when I see some stellar plays. I had a guy put 80% of his chips into a pot with 10 7s. Yes, he tried to limp at first but then called my raise. I had A 10 and was making a play on the pot from the BB. What is the saying? You need a better hand to call a raise with than make a raise with. Yet this guy who thought his hand was worth a limp suddenly thinks it is even better for him to put 900 more in. Of course he won. But I was sitting there shaking my head. My play was aggressive but it is usually profitable.

Has anyone tried the Party WSOP freerolls? I "played" two this weekend. Yes, played is a loose term here. It was push-monkey poker. Some clown would keep going all in, get lucky, and then bully the table. No skill involved. I didn't feel like waiting 2 hours for a chance to play poker and make it to the top 50. I would try to signup and skip the first hour but they may take my seat away.

But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Big congrats to Gracie for winning the first satellite last night. She played damn good and deserved to win. Well done!

I cannot be totally disappointed with how I did last night. I felt my game was on last night. At times I was in the zone making some good calls and what may have been good laydowns. Twice I folded Q Q when my bet on a flop with an overcard was re-raised. Other times I made a call with 10 10 and an overcard on the board to take down some good pots.

Those 10s were pretty damn good to me last night. I used them to re-raise F-Train on more than one occasion. They treated me very well. Except once. And then my outlook and survival looked bleak. I was doing good until my 10 10 ran into A K. I remember watching this happen to Iggy early on and was surprised by the play that was made. Then Iggy pushed after a raise and the call came very quickly. Instantaneously quick and Ig's A Qs was up against 10s. I was shocked that someone would call that fast with just pocket 10s.

I didn't make the call quickly like that but had to think about it. I was sure I was not up against an overpair. My reasoning for calling was he had A rag and I just had to avoid an A. Well it didn't happen and I went from being in the top 5 to the bottom quickly. It also didn't help that I didn't play a hand or steal for the next 45 minutes. Totally. Card. Dead.

I was quite frustrated that I just about made a move with A 3o. But stayed patient. I got back on the horse with a steal when I finally got something to play. The steals helped not only in getting some chips but in getting some confidence back. I was dead last when we got down to 20 people.

Then got I lucky with my 8 8 holding up. That gave me the boost I needed. I then got luckier when I just completed from the SB with K 7. I called EasyCure's flop bet when I had an OESD. A beautiful 5 on the turn filled my straight. My thought was how to maximize the play. To push or slow play. I figure pushing would look like an overpair play and that he had more than on e pair. He showed two pair and was crippled. Sorry Easy. Though it seems otherwise, I am not out to get you.

Suddenly after that rush, I went from being in last to 2nd. From just over 2000 to 33,000. Those 10s came back to help me again when I re-raised a steal attempt. I was sitting pretty going into the final table.

Our chip leader, the Poker Gnome, was killing the final table. He was a one man wrecking crew, continually raising and pulling some sick beats. I was somewhat content to let him do the work. But I didn't want him to pull away. I was keeping one eye on his stack to make sure when I got heads up with him that I wasn't at that big of a disadvantage.

Maybe I was thinking too far ahead. We got down to 3. Gracie had let the Gnome do the work as well, but she was just behind me. She took a lead when I tried a steal with Q J but she re-raised me. Next hand, I intended to get those chips backs.

My initial reaction when I saw my cards was a sign. K K. My eyes lit up and I smiled a bit. But then I had a bad thought. It was the kind of hand that you can dump a bunch of chips with. Little did I know that thought was right. I re-raised Gracie's bet. I was shocked to see her push there. Easy call for me as I felt I had the best hand. I have no problem getting all in with K K here. If I am against aces, so be it. I was surprised to see she had 5 5. I was sad to see a 5 hit the flop.

I was done.

That's poker.

I live by the mantra that I cannot be unhappy if I get a bad beat. They happen. The only control you have is to make the right move. Get you chips in when you have the best hand. I did. It just wasn't to be. It hurts to play all those hours and go out on a suckout. Next time, maybe the odds will hold up and I win the hand.

That is the best thing. There is a next time.

WPBT Satellite- So close!

I came so close. If not for a suckout of epic proportions, I may have won. But my K K fell to 5 5 and Presto, I was out! But I had a good run considering. More to come tomorrow.

Smoker

Played in a smoker again last night. 45 people ponied up $50 to go for a shot at 800. The setting once again was St. Florians, the place I had cashed in the other time I had played. Knowing how bad the level of play was going to be, I couldn't miss this one.

It was also good to see Tiger's Hat again (no, you will not have your name changed here).

I will never claim to be a world class poker player. I am a student of the game, playing online and live, reading books, blogs and some forums. There are many avenues the poker enthusiast can drive down to improve their game. It amazes me how some people will shell out 50 bucks and be pretty much clueless about the simplest of poker strategies.

My first table was encouraging. I had played with 3 of the players before and knew them to be weak loose. The others I would take in slowly and garner an opinion as play went on. Off the top, I figured only 2 of the players would be a concern. Santa Claus down on the end with his "Hold Em" hat and card protector seemed rather loose at first but he clamped down hard after losing a couple of hands and got quite aggressive. The other was Fu Manchu, an Asian player who seemed to know what he was doing. Then again, he pulled out sunglasses and was listening to a pink iPod. The others looked like they were simply here hoping to get lucky.

The tone of the table was set early. Tight play. Everyone was folding to a regular 3xs raise of the blinds. When a flop was seen, a continuation bet took it down. My assessment was that everyone was playing A rag. So when I got K Qs, I popped it and got a caller. On the 7 high flop I bet 3/4 of the pot and won. Next hand, I did the same with A K, bet a 10 high flop and took it down. With A Q I popped it hard with 3 limpers once and took it down preflop.

That felt like the highlight of my early action. My cards were far from fantastic all night. In fact, the biggest pot I won was from the SB. Two limpers are in and I look down at K 3s. I complete for just 50 more knowing the BB isn't going to raise unless he has a monster. Flop gave me two of my suit. I bet half the pot and was min-raised by a weak player. The turn gave me my flush. I checked and called his all in bet. He showed A 7 (he was playing second pair) and was drawing dead. That got me a $10 bounty. Sweet!

But that would be the last and only big pot I would win. Except for stealing blinds, I never started with any strong hands. In fact, A Ks was the best hand I saw all night. No big pairs (I believe 6s were the only pocket pair I had all night), A Q twice and A J once. That was it.

Yet, because I could find spots to steal blinds or defend my blinds, I managed to stay at the status quo and made the final table. There I was a short stack and had to find a way to get to 8th place to get my money back. It felt like it wouldn't be too hard either because the final tables here are extremely tight. Usually there are 3, maybe 4 big stacks and 2 medium stacks and the rest that cannot survive two orbits. Everyone is scared to play, even the big stacks.

That is the only problem with this tournament. The guys running it do a fantastic job with the early rounds, giving you lots of play. However, they run into a time limit where they need to be out of the church by 11 or midnight and then the blinds go up rapidly. They should really consider putting in antes to speed up the action.

At the final table, I was one of those that could survive 2 orbits. I drew the 8 seat so the blinds wouldn't be around for a while. I folded continuously until the BB came and the SB pushed all in. With only 700 to call and getting 3 to 1, I called blind. My 9 4 wouldn't improve and Santa Claus survived. I then made a mistake here. I posted the small blind of 500 and had only 2000 behind. I should have pushed with any hand here but couldn't when I saw 5 2. The blinds were going up and I would only be able to call here. Granted if I go out in 10th I get nothing but if I want to make some money I need chips.

Instead I folded and waited once again for the blinds to come around. When I saw A 7s, if felt like gold, easily the best hand I had seen in an hour. I pushed my last 2000 in and went up again two players. The board paired up deuces and treys and my A kicker was good. I survived for now.

I ended up going down when I had the BB again and this time pushed with my small stack. We were down to 9 at this point and the guys running the tourney had decided to give 9th a free entry into the next event. Being happy with a freeroll, I pushed blindly when the action came around. My lone opponent had a small stack and had pushed with 8 8. I turned up my cards to see 9 7. Ugh. Only one overcard. The flop though gave me a 9 and I was in business. The turn was a rag and the river a 9. But there were 4 spades on the board. My opponent's 8 was a spade. Done in 9th.

At least I collected a bounty in the fray. I still am amazed at how poorly the play can be. Beyond players making dumb calls or bad bluffs, time and time again I saw the mistake of min-raising. A good example was a min raise from MP that the BB thought about before calling. The flop was 2 5 10, two hearts. BB checks and the MP makes a min bet. It is called. The turn is a heart. Again, BB checks and the MP puts him all in. BB thinks and then calls showing 5 2 suited. MP has A K, no heart and the BB takes the pot down. If the MP had raised anything but the minimum pre-flop, he wouldn't have dumped 2/3 of his stack across the table.
That is why I keep going to this event. There are a lot of players who will limp and then automatically call any raise. I am thankful they will never pick up a book.

SnG suckage

Though I had some success in MTTs lately, my SnG run has been brutally ugly. I had been running well but just have gone into the tank lately watching a $300 profit dwindle to just $50.

I have been looking through the notes trying to figure out what is happening. I am trying to not fool myself into thinking I have just been the victim of bad luck. I have taken some beats but who doesn't?

One thing I may have noticed is a hole in my game. It is possible to overplay A A preflop? I had my aces cracked 3 times when I got all my money in preflop. Each time they flopped the set and I was down early. The action was usually the same. Either I opened the action with a hefty raise, got re-raised and then I would push. Or I would re-raise them and call the all in bet.

Now I can see calling with the latter. But when I am opening the action, I am beginning to think I should be just calling the re-raise. That way I can protect myself if the flop is ugly, say all one suit or all paint. Plus, it could disguise the strength of my hand.

In the meantime, I am going to start playing some more ring games and get the basics down again. I may make a run at the WSOP qualifiers on Full Tilt.

Just some thoughts on how I have been getting smacked around. How are you playing your aces?

And why are there only 18 people signed up to play the first WPBT satellite this Sunday? This isn't a time to wait. Go to Paradise and put your name in!

Being the glutton for punishment, after I wrote this I opened a SnG on Paradise and took it down. Maybe reflection works.

Don't ask me how this happened

If someone would have told me that I would win the first WPBT-POY event, a Pot Limit Omaha event, I would have told them they were crazy. I can barely play Omaha, much less pot limit.

So when I woke up, I grabbed the only book I own that mentions Pot Limit Omaha and read it. The book is by one of everybody's favorite players, Phil Hellmuth. Yes, I read the Pot Limit Omaha section of Play Poker Like the Pros and won a tournament.

I even taunted Drizz about this on his blog.

Thanks to everyone for cheering me on at the end. And thanks to Biggestron for setting it all up.

Monday morning update:
I woke up late because the storm that rumbled through Milwaukee knocked the power out around midnight. Funny how the power soon went out after I won an Omaha event. I wonder if it is getting cold in Hell?

I am still amazed that I won this event. Seriously. Omaha? Pot Limit Omaha? Like others I have donked around in the play games learning the basics, tossing chips around to see flops. But I never played Pot Limit Omaha before. I "practised" by playing a ring game Sunday morning (had K K x x double suited beat by A A x x and then against the same guy my A A x x double suited was cracked by his K K x x). I then played a $5 SnG to get a feel for tournament mode.
That after reading around 30 pages of Phil Hellmuth's book.

I don't have much details to pass along either. I know when it got down to 4, I was barely in 3rd place. At 3, I was out chipped by 3 to 1 by both of my opponents. I got lucky when I sucked out a flush and moved into second.

When we got heads up, I took a lead that was short lived. I then made one big call that gave me a big lead. I don't recall exactly what I had, or exactly what the board showed (I think it was 7 Q 6 6 8)but the river gave me a 10 high straight. There was no flush potential on the board but the two 6s out there didn't make me comfortable. I bet out the river and my opponent, SpiderK, suddenly bet the pot, which would be me all in. He had me covered by just over 300 chips so it was do or die. I liked my hand, but wasn't sure if he hit the boat or not. I called TIME and thought about the betting pattern. I came to two conclusions. First, if he had hit the boat, I don't think he would have checked the turn. Second, if I call and I am correct, I will be taking this tourney down.

I called and I believe he showed two pair. My first thought was Wow! That was a monster pot, the game deciding pot. It was a bold bet. You have to give credit to someone who can make a big bet like that. Great game SpiderK!

Thanks again to everyone with their support at the end. Go check out the WPBT POY leader board. Have to pimp it while I am on top!

I thought I had turned the corner...

...but I guess not. In the last two SnGs I played I went out in 10th. Both times, my aces got cracked. One by Q Q, the other by A 9 suited. With the Queens, we were all in preflop. On the A 9, I raised 5xs the blinds, bet 75% of the pot on the flop and pushed on the turn. Guy called all the way and hit.

With the flush, I doubt it would have mattered if I pushed on the flop. He still would have called. Worse was the full house I had to fold to the guy earlier. I flopped trip 6s. I tried to slow play but that went out the door when an A hit the turn. So much for being ahead.

Pouring over my notes to see what I am doing wrong. I am trying not to let ego get involved but so far it looks like bad luck.

Maybe I should hit more multis for a bit...

Gotta try to get it going

Was playing in the WWdN tourney on Stars yesterday. Over the last couple of weeks I have been playing this game filled with bloggers and readers. For some reason I never took them seriously. Don't know exactly why, but I found myself making dumb plays, trying to bluff too much, and not doing my best. This time around, I was set on making it deep.

And I did.

In fact, I spent a good portion of the second hour in the top ten. Only the final table would pay, with first receiving $255. Not too shabby for only 10 bucks.

Basically I played pretty tight for the first hour before loosening up a bit in the second. I found my reads to be pretty good. A couple of times I was re-raised pre flop with some not so strong hands like A J or K J and laid them down. In one case I was terribly behind when one person called and another re-raised. The caller had Kings while the raiser had Jacks. No ace would have hit so I would have been crippled.

I also began to notice a hole in my game, or at least what I perceive to be a hole. There are some hands that I should be calling a raise with that I am not. Or at least that is my thinking. I will need to do some research to find out what others would do.

When the final table started, I was sitting in 4th place with 11000 chips. I was in a good spot and was figuring out how to win this thing. The problem was the chip leader had over 40k. The short stacks would have to play push poker. I just needed to catch a couple good hands. At least I had some experience playing with 3 of the other players so I knew what to expect from them.

The huge stack was bullying the table too. I wasn't getting any cards either so I didn't have to worry too much about her. In fact, I wasn't getting any hands to play. If I had something decent, I was folding to another raise. Man, it sucked. For a while, it seemed the only pot I would drag would if it folded around to me in the BB. But then the short stacks started dropping out. Then one player apparently just gave up.

Before I knew it, it was me, the huge chip leader, and the disconnected. The chip leader was gracious enough to allow us to blind the other player out. Thanks Villainess. When it was heads up, I was outchipped by about 4-1. To say I had my work cut out for me is an understatement. With blinds at 600-1200 and about 30k in chips, I had some room to work with and be patient. If I caught a monster, I would play it hard.

Funny though, I was chipping up not with monsters, but with tiny pairs. I would see a flop for the cost of one more bet and flop bottom pair. Somehow, they kept holding up. I worked my way up to over 50k. I kept doing it until I did get my monster. A K off. Flopped a K and slowplayed the flop. I pushed on the turn and suddenly I was the big leader. Except for going quickly for the death blow, I held on to those chips. Then with 8 9 suited in the BB, I got lucky and flopped two pair to end it.

It is a good feeling to win tournaments. But this one meant something. As I said before, I wasn't too happy with the way I had been playing these. I really wanted to take one of these down. It wasn't as much as the money as it was having a great showing in front of my peers. To win this was big. Hopefully I can keep it going.

Thanks to everyone who stayed around to watch. Sorry for the crap image I put up. Maybe I should work on those paint shop skills.

O fer

As in 0 for the last 6. As in stinking up the joint. No better than 6th place in any of them.

Ouch!

Maybe I am playing too tight. My notes are getting extremely repetitive. No cards. Flops not hitting me. Getting bad beats. No, I won't go into detail about how my A A was cracked by K 5 suited when he called my all-in bet preflop. Heck, I cannot even win a token in extremely loose FTP qualifers.

It seems I have nothing more but a list of excuses. But I have given back a chunk of what I had won over the last couple of weeks. That just plain sucks. I have thought of taking a couple of days off but to an extent, I have. I haven't played every day.

I think part of it right now is definately mental. I feel like staying away because I cannot win to save my life. But to get over the hump, you need to play.

I think I will test the waters some more. The way I see it, I am due for a nice run. Hopefully it comes sooner than later.

What am I doing?

That is what I was asking myself tonight. My game is all over the map. I am getting too streaky with the downside lasting longer than the upside.

I am finishing just out of the money too many times lately and frankly, it is pissing me off. I am getting sick of watching people make stupid plays and get paid off. I think that is because I see that and make the same damn move but do not get paid.

But I am seeing what my holes are. Not paying attention; reading too much in the beginning stages of tournaments. Trying to pick up a lot of small pots early. Running bluffs against bad players. These are correctable.

I am hoping that I am at the low point of the coaster ride again. Hopefully I can go on a nice little run soon and have some more fun.

What are you doing here?

You should be off reading Dr. Pauly. Click on the banner because I am too lazy to put in the link.

I have been going through the ups and downs of tournament poker lately. Had some really bad beats. No, I won't talk about them. I am holding to the old adage that if you get all your chips in with the best hand, that is the best you can do.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

This pro/am tourney going in Hollyweird seems pretty interesting. Wil Wheaton is doing well. I can't be the only one that noticed he has been running well lately. It would be nice to see him take one down.

I would like to play one of these events. Yeah, we all would but I would for a different reason. The Tilt Factor. For starters, I would wear a Bush/Cheney t-shirt. That would get the Hollywood crowd in an uproar. Oh, they would begin to hate me with a passion.

Second, I would stay quiet. I would only toss out little barbs in response to comments. Avoid confrontation. Heck, I would be there to have fun. And get polluted. I would be drinking beer from beginning to end.

I think that would be the winning strategy. The shirt alone would irritate this crowd. Even better would be the minority that would come up to you and silently agree with you.

Just another way to play the psychological side of poker.

SnGs- how some beats are killing me

Did pretty well over the last 10 SnGs. Monied in 6 of 10. 2 first, 3 second, 1 third. Not shabby.

Better yet, in each I have gotten my chips in with the best of them. That is all you can ask for. But the cards aren't always going to hit the board in your favor. I have had runner runner again and again to beat me. I can handle that.

The one beat that always sucks is when your pocket pair is defeated by someone playing A x. I don't mean be defeated by a pair of aces. I mean when the board double pairs and you lose by the A kicker. That is a swift gift to the family jewels.

The next 10 are under way and you can tell I am not off to a good start. The last one was the beat by the A. I felt good about the game too until my K K was cracked by Q Q. The guy even said I probably had A A or K K but he called my re-raise of his re-raise anyways. I had chips after that and was making a run until by pocket deuces were cracked by the A kicker.

Guess, I will go back to Full Tilt for a bit and win some tokens. That always makes me feel better.

Full Tilt 60k guarantee

Played the Full Tilt 60k guarantee. There were 457 players including Erick Lindgren, Layne Flack and Quiet Lion. I noticed something different right away when they started us with 2000 in chips. I am hoping to make some money today.

In the 2nd hand I am dealt A Qs in the SB. I raise to 100. BB makes it 300. Flop comes 3 4 6, two clubs. I bet 300 and get pushed all in. WTF? I hope this isn't how this is going to be as I fold.

Next I get 6 6 and raise it up to get one caller. I bet the Q high flop and get raised another 300. I call. On the turn, my opponent pushed. I fold. I have given up 1500 in chips already. Not the way I want to start. Maybe I should have made the “Fuck it” call and tossed my chips in. But that isn’t how I want to go out.

BB comes around and I get dealt A 10. UTG had min raised. Smells like A A. One caller and me see a flop of 8 7 5, 2 diamonds. My A is a diamond. Surpringly it checks around. The turn is a diamond, the 4. Checks around again. River is the 6 of diamonds. I have the nut flush but not the nuts. UTG checks. The other player bets the pot. I push with just 120 more, figuring I would see my opponent turn over the straight flush. Instead, he just has the K. I am back to 1000.

Now I plan to play extra tight. Fold K Qs to a raise. I watch a player call bets down on an A high flop just to hit their set of 9s on the river. Person betting never bet high enough to protect their pair of aces. I find this encouraging.

I get Q Q soon enough. UTG limped so I raised it to 250. It fold around to the limper. He calls. Flop looks good to me 2 7 8, two diamonds. He pushes. I kinda expected that. I call and see A K diamonds. Great. Of course it is the Q of diamonds that hits on the turn and I am done in 374. Just had absolutely nothing going for me today. No luck. Oh well, there is next time, I guess.

In honor of THE live blogging Man...

Dr. Pauly is working his ass off in LA. For us poker players, he not only reports what is going on in the tournament, he gives us insight into the scene behind the scenes.

I had thought of sending an email off to Dr. Pauly to "interview" him. But then I realized he would be either too busy writing some more or catching his hour of sleep.

So I went to the next best source of Pauly. His brother, Derek. A fine writer in his own right. I posted Derek 3 questions on Pauly. He was gracious enough to answer. Go read D and Dr. Pauly already.

Now to the interview. I tried to come up with 3 good questions for Derek to answer about his brother. After 14 hours of beer, this is the best I could do:

1. Does Pauly never really sleep? Pauly is one of the few people who sleeps less than me. I usually get 4 maybe 5 hours of sleep a night max. Pauly gets even less sleep than that. He's a man on a mission. I feel like a sloth in comparison. He's a true insomniac whereas i'm just a fucking amatuer. Who needs sleep when there's so much booze and weed to consume.

2. How many strippers can he juggle at once? i must say that i've never been to a strip club with the good doctor. pretty weird huh? he says that his face seats 4 comfortably but grubby tells me that pauly's just being modest and that he can actually handle 5 strippers at once! i'm not too impressed though. now 6 strippers at once would be something to hoot and holler about. yawn.

3. Does he steal your stash when you are not looking? LOL!!! good question Stb. i like your thought process! He used to steal from my stash in the dark days of yester-year but ever since the poker boom in 2003 . . . our roles have been reversed. I find myself stealing from his stash more and more these days. the best part about that is that the good doctor is always on the road these days so my access to his large stash is unlimited. sorry pauly!! REFILL and REBUY!!!!

Bonus question: Will he pass out at the Boathouse this year? As Rodney Dangerfield once said . . . "I don't know how to fall asleep . . . I only know how to pass out." Though I will say this about Dr. Pauly . . . . he never passes out in public!

On a mission

Right now I am sitting back and drinking. I have a mission to complete. Plus it is cold outside. Let's see if I can win some money tonight. At the least, I will be reading what is going on at the LA Poker Classic. You should too. Go read Dr. Pauly!

I came in 2nd in a SnG. My opponent got lucky twice by having a bigger pocket pair than mine. I don't hit my outs and I end up just marginally richer.

Currently I am in the middle of a satellite to a $60k guarantee on Full Tilt. Doing good. 37 players were entered. There is one player though that has me close to tilting. Guy always calls my preflop raise. Always. No matter what. He then calls me down and usually hits something on the river.

Makes me feel like Rodney Dangerfield. No respect!

With 12 left, I am in 1st place. Top 4 go on to the next level. I am stealing when the opportunity is right.

Antes just kicked in. Time to kick it up a notch on the steal factor, especially with still just 6 at a table. After what seems like forever, we are at the final table. Currently I am in second. Need to keep my status. Time to play tight.

Just pulled off one of my favorite moves. 4 people limp to me in the big blind. I pop it the size of the pot and watch each one reluctantly fold. Of course it doesn't hurt to have A Ks. But I like to do that with any good calling hand. With all those limpers, you know they have marginal hands at best. The UTG guy is the only one who scares me as I have been burned by the limp re-raise with A A move many times.

Patience pays off when A A comes around. On the button, it folds to me. I raise it pot just to make it look like a button steal. BB calls. Nice. I then make a small bet on a 4 4 2 flop hoping to keep him along but he folds. Still, the pot was nice and puts me over 10k in chips.

Just about got into it with the chip leader. He limped in the cutoff. From the SB I made it 2k to go. BB folded but my opponent called. With a flop of J 6 7, I bet half the pot. He took his time before folding. My guess is he is playing any ace right now. 7 left and I am back on top.

I basically hold my own for a couple orbits. We are at 5 now and there are two stubborn short stacks hanging around. Funny part is one of them is a former chip leader who totally blew a hand and got crippled.

Well it is over. I took matter into my own hands and took out the last small stack. My A K held up over his A Q when I hit my K on the flop. He had a chance with a Q on the turn but the K on the river said I was playing for a piece of 60 grand on Sunday!

LA Poker Classic

No, I am not there. But it feels like I am there. How?

I read Dr. Pauly to get my live blogging updates. You should too!

Go read Dr. Pauly now!

No smoker

I didn't play in the church game on Friday night. Got drunk instead. But for some stupid reason I did sign up to play in a "fund raiser" game at the bar that would benefit the softball teams. Benefit the softball teams is about all it was good for.

The structure and payout of the tournament was absolutely terrible. The level of play was crappy with luck being more of a factor than skill. I did ok but made two terrible moves that knocked me out.

With about 36 people playing, for some reason they had 6 tables of 6, instead of 4 tables of 9. None of this was explained on the signup sheets either which ticked me off. I believe we started with a total of 1200 in chips. Blinds started at 25/50 and would double every half hour. But with 6 at a table, they came around quickly. Plus, it was a rebuy tournament as well, another fact omitted to us. Personally, I hate rebuy tournies as they give the morons more a chance to get lucky. This rebuy was even worse in my opinion. They allowed rebuys for the first hour and a half, which only got you an extra 1000. By the end of the rebuy period, blinds were at 200/400. Why would you rebuy at that level?

They never did consolidate to one large table. They kept the going at 5 or 6 all the way through. With blinds at 400/800, I made the first of my bad moves. The guy on my right liked to raise with total crap. If he was going all in or making a 3xs raise, he had nothing. Knowing that, I made a call with A 8 suited. What I didn't know was my friend Jodi (who would end up in 2nd- CONGRATS AGAIN!), had only 200 more left behind the 1200 raise. If I had realized that, I wouldn't have called. I knew I had him beat, but I wasn't sure I would be ahead of her when she quickly called. Sure enough, her A J suited held up.

A couple of hands later, I made another move on the same guy out of the big blind with K 10. with 25% of my stack in as the BB, I went all in over his raise. UTG had limped and I figured I may take it down right there. But the UTG looked and decided to call. He flopped a set of deuces and took down the pot and knocking me out. How the hell do you limp with deuces, and then call a raise and re-raise? I really shouldn't have played the hand to begin with. I should have folded and wait another round.

But in the end it really wasn't worth it. I believe second play paid $150 or $190 or something like that. First I think was $350. With the final table being paid, they pocketed a portion the buyins and basically all the rebuys, which I know there was a number of. At my table alone, there 9. I am willing to bet they kept more than what they paid out.

Now, I don't mind them making money for their softball teams, but I would like to know exactly how much the teams are making. It just seemed like there was a lot of basic information withheld about what was going on. If you had told me it was a short handed tournament and a rebuy, I may have not played. At the very least, I would have gone in with a different strategy.

Smoker?

I may be attending another poker game at a church tonight. There is a smoker at St. Ritas tonight. Hopefully the same grade of player will show up and keep it easy. My plan is to hit if we have no snow.

From what I hear the food and drink is kept on the cheap there. It may be Milwaukee's Best on tap. Ugh! I will have to get a bit of a buzz going before going out I guess.

It is noon in my part of the world and I think that is a good time to leave work. I am bored. I am better off getting in a SnG or two after I shovel some snow.

Hopefully I will have a good story for you tomorrow.

Ugly

If I would post a picture of me on this site, it would have to be with my arms extended outward, with my hands up. That way, I can easily take my ass as it is handed to me.

The last 10 SnG tables have been UGLY. After winning the first, I then finished out of the money on the next 8. I finished in 3rd to end the losing streak.

I don't feel I necessarily played that bad. I did play one pretty damn stupid. But for the most part, I may have just played too tight. Time and again I went out 4th or 5th. Got short stacked and just couldn't recover. Yeah, there were some suckouts but that is only an excuse.

Yet I am still encouraged. The number of mind boggling plays I have seen is phenomonal. The concept of the weak kicker is very foreign to many players still. So is chasing the gutshot straight. Thus I still feel the experiment will be very profitable.

I need to tweak my game. I think I am playing the SnGs more like a MTT. I need to loosen up a bit and collect chips faster, especially when the price is right.

Expect nothing

Bill Rini has put forth a "challenge". He has asked people to blog on a central theme. Thinking it is a good idea, I decided to pop forth my own entry. Think the game show Password when you read this:

The theme is: Expect nothing from a hand. Play each street based on the information at hand.

Bill speaks of how various people play aces. I liked that. Thus, I will go on a slight tangent. A K. Big Slick. It is a strong starting hand, especially when suited. It will give you TPTK, nut straights or flushes. People love this hand.

Some love it too much. They play it like they have A A or K K. They feel they are entitled to the pot and cry when all rags hit the flop. Time and time again they just can let the hand go. Soon they are broke and busted out of the tournament.

A K is nothing more than a drawing hand. A strong drawing hand. But the majority of the time it needs help and won't stand on its own like a pocket pair will. You really need to read the board and more importantly, the actions of your opponents.

A hand I played last night in the WWdN tournament is a good example. I am in MP and have A Ko. I raise 3xs the blinds. I believe only BadBlood called in the BB. Flop comes all undercards. Damn, totally missed me. I bet out around half the pot. Blood calls. Hmm...I do not like that. Turn is another rag. I bet around a third of the pot. I have a bad feeling I am either slightly ahead or way behind, though it is possible he is about to lay the Hammer on me. Blood raises. I have really no decision. I have to fold. I will still have some chips left so I muck the hand. Turns out Blood had flopped a set of 5s. I was waaaay behind.

Yet, so many people would have not only called, hoping to draw a card on the river. They will not even recognize the call on the flop tells them they are in trouble. They may even try to push their opponent off their hand and go all in.

I think I took the best approach. Raise pre-flop, make a continuation bet on the flop, and a turn bet. My turn bet could have been higher but it didn't matter. The only way I was going to win the hand was to keep firing. The mistake would have been to try and check it down.

Likewise, Blood played the hand well too. I like his turn raise. Some would just call hoping to get more out of their opponent. But the extra card could make his set vulnerable.

With A K, you cannot expect to win. The flop will determine where you are going. You need to determine where you are and whether you can push someone off their hand.