Saturday, October 09, 2010

Reno Trip Report

I haven't posted in a few months for a few reasons, most notably the monster swing in my cash game. I've logged 13 losing sessions out of the last 14 and have had to shift my game to limit poker to try and stop the bleeding. I'm in one of those downswings where everything I touch turns to shit, and it's getting infuriating. It's one thing to just not get cards, it happens to me a lot. It's another entirely to be flopping straights, flushes, and boats and getting squashed. In order to get away for a little, I agreed to help move my friend Greg (the proprietor of The Biggest Little Poker Blog in the World) to Reno. The plan was to drive him across country and then fly back to Cleveland. We left Sunday morning and drove to Hammond, IN, home of the Horseshoe Hammond. The room in Hammond is OK, it's roughly the size of the poker room at the Hollywood (old Argosy) but it's not as well run. The brush put me on the list for $3/6 and I was 6th to get a seat. They decide to open a new table and call the first 10 except me. I walk up and ask why I wasn't called and they tell me I'm not on the list, despite my name being on the board. I finally get the seat anyway and piddle away a few hours. I run mostly even, treading water. The only really big hand came when I got dealt J-10 in mid position. I two bet it, guy behind me three bets and I cap, three of us take a flop. Flop is A-K-Q two clubs. I lead out, guy raises, and all three of us cap the flop. Turn is a 10, which irritates me but since it isn't a club I keep firing, all three of us cap the turn. River is a blank and I fire again and get two callers. The guy across from me has AK for two pair and the other guy had J-9 and made his gutter on me for a split. I whiled away some more time before we had to leave and I ended up stuck $60 or so (plus $40 for a much needed massage).

On day 2 we drove from Hammond, IN to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where there is conveniently another Horseshoe. After checking in I headed to the very anemic poker room. There were only two tables running, a $1/2 and a $3/6. I got on the $3/6 and got a seat within a half hour or so. I immediately started running very, very bad. I was getting big hands (AK, AQ, pairs, etc) and either missing flops completely or losing to idiotic hands. For example: I two bet preflop with K-10 from the button. Flop K-10-8 one club. Guy across from me leads out, I two bet it, four people call. Turn 6c. Check to me, I bet, all call. River 2c. Checks to me, I bet, all of them call and the little old lady with J3 clubs wins with a flush. She called two bets cold with no pair no draw on the flop and got there, AND she didn't raise when she made the flush. That lady played every hand all the way, never folding. It was unreal. She kept reaching in her purse for another $100. I flopped a straight with K9 (board Q-J-10) and lost to a guy who slow played AK. It got comical, and I began to just bleed chips. Every hand I made lost to some bizarre suckout. I got down short and decided not to rebuy. I had about $26 left when I got dealt AQ. I two bet it and got instantly three bet by a guy who limped UTG. I four bet him and he called. Flop was K-10-4 offsuit. I bet, he raises, and we cap. Turn Ah. I put my last in and he calls and shows 2-6 hearts. River? Heart of course. He backraised me with 2-6h, capped with me on the flop with no pair and only runner runner hearts, and got there. Disgusted, I left. Greg sat down there after me and mentioned that they were talking about the guy from Cleveland who kept getting mushed.

Tuesday was a rough day for us. We left Iowa early and had to drive 15 hours to Salt Lake City, UT. The drive was particularly grueling because I was in a U-Haul the whole way. There's literally nothing to see in Iowa or Nebraska until you get really close to Wyoming. Wyoming is a beautiful state, and the views are awesome. I would definitely like to return and drive through it when I have time to stop and look at everything. We did stop at a place called Point of Rocks, WY. It was along the original pioneer stage coach trail to California. It's a one square mile town whose main purpose is the power plant located in it. It's also home to the Almond Stage stop, a stagecoach stop from the 1860's. After we left P-O-R, we headed deeper into the mountains. We arrived at Salt Lake City after sundown, and due to Greg's schedule we couldn't hang around to see anything. We stayed overnight and then packed up for the 9 hour run from SLC to Reno. On the way out of Utah we saw the salt lake and the salt flats they race on. Along the roadside in the salt flats people leave messages in stone formations, or plant beer bottles upside down in the salt in patterns. Mostly love messages or people's names. As we entered the mountains again we got caught in a rainstorm, and I was amazed at how awesome mountain rain is. Everyone should get to do that, it's just beautiful. The drive to Reno went by pretty quick, and we arrived about 2pm on Wednesday.

Once Greg was unloaded we headed over to the Peppermill. Greg had a suite booked and it was loaded. We had a giant bathroom with a jacuzzi, a shower with two shower heads, and soap made with blood orange that made me smell like a fruit salad after I showered. I headed down to the $4/8 and bought in for $200. I played for an hour, not winning a single hand. I flopped huge hands (straight flush draws, etc) and bricked. One example: I raise preflop with AKc. Flop comes 8-9-4 two clubs. Aggressive 'tard at the end of the table (whom Greg said resembled Andy Hillstrand from Deadliest Catch) leads into me. We cap on the flop, and I slow down when I brick the turn. River is also a brick and he shows pocket 6's FTW. After that horrendous beating I decide to take a break and play some video poker. I didn't want to go get more money so I just drop $10 in the machine and play .05¢ a hand. Around hand #10 I get A-Q-J-10 of hearts. I draw the Kh for the natural royal, the fucking atomic bomb of video poker hands. Had I played the $2.50 max instead of the .05, I would've cashed out with $4,000. I got up and moved to another machine near the poker room, where I proceeded to make two more royal flushes (both with wild cards) and cash out. I sat down at $2/4 and ran it up to $310 over the course of the night, finally things were turning around and I was up for a change. The next day I played a little more $4/8 before I had to go to the Reno airport. Of course, winning streak over and I got squashed again. I turned trip 10's with an A and lost to a guy with J-8 who made his gutshot on the river. I was in the BB with 5-7, flop comes 5-5-7. I check and of course no one bets. Turn K. I check, no one bets again. River? K. Guy with K-3 bets into me and I have to pay it off. Etc, etc.

The plane ride back was uneventful save for a wild eyed asshole who tried to storm the jetway onto our plane at O'Hare. He came running up and just tried to barge down the ramp without even showing a boarding pass. After three guys stopped him they discovered he was a first class passenger who thought he was missing the flight. I finally got in at midnight on Thursday and have been sleeping it off since. It's going to be a little while before I play any more cash poker, I need to get past this horrible luck I've been having. I hope to get back to Reno again some time next year, I'd like to spend more time exploring the $20/40 limit game there.

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Navigating the Waves at Nautica

After my successful Hollywood trip I decided to try Nautica again with my renewed bankroll. I have also finally stumbled on a winning strategy for me at Nautica, and I've been putting it to work. I've noticed (thanks to Poker Journal) that every long session I played at Nautica was a negative one. I've figured out that if I stick to around 2 hours or less, I seem to do better. I think part of the problem is that I get tired of nutting it up and start playing more hands the more I sit there, which screws me. By limiting my time, I'm not as worried about boredom.

Last Saturday I went down there and ended up at a table next to fellow CPMGer Mike T (who, I am sorry to say, I bored to death my nearly non-stop BSing). I started out slow, winning $50 off a nit who raised with JJ and bet an A high flop into my AK. My raise pushed him off and I kicked myself a little for opening early. I plodded along, making pairs here and there and taking smaller pots. Then, I got into a total train wreck. BB I get dealt 8-3s. Everyone except Mike limp to me, I check in. Flop 9-8-3 two hearts. I check, kid down in the middle bets $25. Two callers back to me, I decide to peel off a card. My thinking is that if it isn't a straight or a flush card I'm going to hammer the pot. I figure a set or two pair isn't going to flat call the flop with all that money and all those draws out there, so I'm pretty sure I am best. Turn 2s. I open/shove for $300. Original flop bettor abandons ship (despite only having $45 behind). Guy at the end emphatically slams his $120 stack in. Dude across from me says "I feel lucky, I'mma gamble!" and puts his last $175 in. River Jc. I declare "Two pair" and table my hand as the other two muck. The kid who had folded short gets mad, chastising me for pushing in. Turns out he would've hit a straight had he called. Oh well, thanks for not having the balls to call! I played two more rounds and cashed out my profit.

I went back Sunday to play some more and got put at a table of nits. It was limp-limp-limp-take a flop-someone bets $10-everyone folds. I decided to start raising a little and opening it up. I jammed myself up misplaying a hand. I get dealt J9 on the BB. Kid on the end makes it $25 preflop. One call in between, and I call. Flop 9-8-4 two hearts. I check, raiser bets $35, calls to me, I call. Turn is 4d. I check again, raiser checks, guy inbetween checks. River 2d. I check, raiser checks, kid across from me bets $65. I immediately put him on a busted flush and snap call. Initial raiser is about to fold but stops, counts the pot, and tanks. He finally calls. I say "This guy missed his flush, and I have a 9". Kid at the end shows A9 and scoops. Other guys shows his missed flush. FUCK. If I had shoved on him instead of flat calling I would've won that pot. Stuck a little, I get dealt Q5c and proceed to play the most ridiculous hand, ever. I call a raise to $15 with it when the guy on the end (who is also stuck) shoves in for $89. Guy next to me who made it $15 tanks and just flat calls. Feeling froggy, I call as well. Flop comes A-2-3 two spades. Kid next to me open/shoves for $158 and I hear the little voice in my head say call. I call and he flips up A-K. Turn is the miracle 4 and I say "I win" but don't show my hand. River is a Q and I say "Wheel!" and roll over my hand. The entire table erupts, and I stack two players. After that the table went bananas, $100 raises preflop and action galore. I played one more round and scooted out of there with my winnings.

Went back Tuesday and was running up and down a little, decided to nit it up since I'd been donking it up a lot lately and didn't want to start spewing chips. I'm sitting at a table with a bunch of internet kids who are straddling and raising each other. I get dealt KQ on the button while the straddle is on. I bump it to $15 and get two callers including the straddler. Flop J-10-9 two spades. First kid bets $25, second kid makes it $50. I shove for $181. First kid tanks and folds, second kid can't call fast enough. I say "I flopped the joint, good luck on your spades" and table my hand. He bricks out (he didn't show but kid next to him said he saw spades) and I scoop a big one. A round later, I get 4-6 off in the SB when a kid raises to 17. Four callers to me, I decide to peel off a flop and see if I could bingo it. Flop was Q-10-4 two diamonds. I check, it checks all the way around. Turn 4. I lead out $25, initial raiser calls, everyone else bails. River is the 6d. I bet $35. Kid cuts out a big stack and starts setting them out when I declare "I call". He mucks and I show the 6. He gets mad, saying "I know you had a 4" and I tell him I just had pocket 6's but I knew he was full of shit.

I took a few days off and then went back last night for a couple of hours. My table started off rocky. We got seated with this loon that's been coming lately, he's a wiry black guy in a suit and tie with dark glasses. He walks with a cane and carries a bookbag around. He's also rude, nasty, and generally unpleasant. The first few people called to sit next to him refuse the seat until we find a guy who will sit there. After a few rounds, the guy is badgering the dealer and being an asshole to the point where the dealer calls the floor over and has him removed. After he's gone we settle down and get to pokering. I am stuck $100 early, I keep getting playable hands but no help on the flops and am losing $10-12 at a time. I add on $100 and move seats, hoping to change it up a little. Finally, it's train wreck time. I get dealt A3h on the button. UTG makes it $15 to go. Two callers, guy to my right makes it $45. He's been pretty snug so I'm sure he's not stealing. I consider folding but the other players are already counting out calls, plus I have position. I call, other two players call. Four of us take a flop of A-2-5 two clubs. Everyone checks to me, and I shove for $169. Initial raiser calls for less, guy next to him tanks for a minute and then calls. Guy who made it $45 folds. I show the Ace, guy across shows AJ. Turn 10, river 4. BINGO! I roll over my wheel and scoop the whole thing. The very next hand, the two guys I stacked have rebought. I get dealt 5-5. I limp for $2. BB makes it $15. UTG who had limped shoves his whole $100 in (he's the guy who had AJ last hand). I look at BB who bought full and has $185 left. He looks like he's calling for sure. I want to fold but I keep hearing that little voice say call. I decide to shove all in, and BB snap calls. Flop comes Q-5-J. I declare I flopped a set. The other two roll over KK and AA and the board runs out and I scoop them both again. Both guys leave the table and we get some new players. I lose about $125 back to a guy who chased all the way down with bottom pair/A kicker and hit his ace to crack my Q's. After that I skin out, still up $400.

I am waiting for the wheels to come off, but so far I've been doing OK. I am giving the appearance of being extremely wild and stupid, and it's been working to my advantage as I am getting paid off when I do have hands. It's fun while it lasts! We'll see if my luck holds out through this next big poker weekend. Look for another update Tuesday!

Monday, August 23, 2010

A Hollywood Welcome

I'm back to blogging, summer is slowing down at work and I'll have more time to contribute. This has been the hottest summer in a few years and the A/C business has been running me ragged.

I went with Special K. to Hollywood Casino for the Indiana Poker Championships. We left early on Saturday AM so that we could get a few hours of cash play in before I headed to the $230 Stud tournament. The poker room was in complete chaos. Evidently the poker room staff wasn't prepared for the sheer volume of people that were coming for the Deepstack and didn't have enough dealers. There were only 5 tables going, three $1/3 games, a $5/10 and a $2/5. The list for each game was 60+ people and there were interest lists for a dozen other games that were 20+ deep but they didn't have any dealers available. The floor lady was a complete bitch and was obviously tired of people asking when they would open more tables. We got on lists and I went upstairs to piddle away some time at the Crazy 4 Poker table.

After an hour and a half I got a seat at a newly opened $3/6. I bought in for $200 and was easily the youngest person at the table. In the first orbit I made two sets and turned quad 10's. After an hour of play I was up over $200 and cashed out to prep for the stud game. The stud tournament was a complete wash. The structure was a bit too fast and I was at a table with 6 calling stations and a rock. Several times I had two pair or better by 5th street and lost to miracle gutshots and and an awesome one out trips that a guy chased me all the way to 6th to hit. I busted out shortly after the first break and headed back to the poker room. I got a seat at the $1/3 and sat down with $300. Hollywood has changed the buy-ins and what they spread now. They have $1/2 $200 max, $1/3 $500 max, and $1/3/5 no cap. I played pretty snug for a bit and was up a little when I got into a weird hand. I had 2-5h in the BB. Guy in mid position opens for $13, four callers. I call and the guy UTG who had limped shoves for $50 total. Everyone else folds to me, and I call. He shows AK, flops a K and runs it out. I go to muck and he says "I want to see his cards!". I still have my cards in my hand and tell him no. He presses the dealer who says I have to show and I contest this, saying since I called I don't have to show. I deliberately munge my cards into the muck and the dealer scours them out and turns them up. The guy starts giving me shit (despite winning the hand), so I decide to just cash out my $50 profit and leave for the night. I go get some dinner and head up to the room to get some sleep.

I get up at 4AM and decide to head back to the poker room and see what's going. There's still three tables of $1/3 going (and Kirsten is still there from yesterday morning with a monster stack) so I grab a seat next to a bleary eyed Colin. He's visibly exhausted from being up all night. The table is playing really snug, except for the calling station on the end who's in all the way. He nicks me a few times and I decide to mix it up a little. I raise UTG with 8-6d and he calls. Flop is 9-8-5. I'm pretty sure I'm ahead so I c-bet it and he smooth calls. Turn is another 8. I bet again and he calls. River is a brick and I bet again. He calls again and I show him my 8. The table starts to loosen up a little and then I find myself in a complete train wreck of a hand. I am UTG with 2-4 off and limp for $3. The SB (who's been a complete rock) makes it $25 to go. Colin calls. I'm about to fold but the two people behind me are already counting out their calls. I decide to try and bingo a flop and call. The other two call and the flop comes out 4-5-6 with two spades. SB bets $75. Colin smooth calls. I am sure SB has a big pair, and I'm 80% that Colin is either on a draw or pair over the board. I'm sure with a set or straight he would just shove. I tank for a bit and decide that $75 to win $275 is pretty good and I call. Turn is a red 3. SB shoves $120 or so. Colin smooths leaving himself about $40 behind. I call. River is a blank and Colin and I check. I show the straight and the SB shows AA and leaves the table in a huff.

After that hand I misread a newer player who called off $30 on the flop with a gutterball and paid off his straight for $300. I was stuck about $250 for the session when my table broke and I headed to another table full of drunks who'd been playing all night. I plod along for a few rounds until I get K7h on the button. Mid position raises to $12, I call and so does BB. Flop Q-9-3 two hearts. BB checks, mid bets $20. I call. BB raises to $140. Mid folds and I immediately know this guy is weak and wants me off a draw. I call the $140. Turn 2h. He slams his chips on the table and checks, and I shove my last $120 in. He shows a Q and proceeds to berate me for almost an hour for calling with my flush draw. After that I begin taking small pots here and there. I picked off an obvious river bluff from a guy that bet his flush draw the whole way and bricked. I then played the biggest hand of that session for me. I am on the button with 10-9 and come in for the $3. BB is an asian woman that has not played a single hand in three orbits. She makes it $13. Mid position (the guy that got mad at me) calls. I call. Flop comes Q-10-3 two clubs. We both check to her, she bets $20. We both call. Turn is the Kc. We check to her again and she shoves $150. Mid guy folds instantly and I tank. I can't explain why, but I think she's bluffing. Against all logic I call. River is a brick (red 4 I think). I'm hestitating to show my shit hand because I'm sure she smoked that board when she says "I missed" and mucks. I show my 10 and she says it's good and I take a monster pot. The other guy in the hand is going bananas now that I called her down and he folded a Q. I'm racking my chips up and declare last hand when I get dealt A-10. I limp for $3, two other callers, new guy to the table who bought for $100 shoves it in. I look at him and he looks like a dick so I call. Board runs 10-5-6-J-9. I declare "I have a 10 and it's good" and I show my hand. He disgustedly mucks and I take his stack and cash out $900, up $425 for my session. I head up to check out of the hotel and grab a (disgustingly bad) buffet.

After a quick lunch we return to the poker room. All the CPMG degenerates are playing Let It Ride or Hold'em tables games, we decide to play more $1/3. I buy in for $350 and sit at a table full of scared nits. The seat to my left is a middle eastern guy who's been steamrolling the table, and across from me is a horrible old lady who I'm told later put $500 on a flop with no pair or draw and made runner runner flush on a guy who flopped top 2 pair with AK. Within one orbit old lady has cracked my two pair Q's and J's with runner runner spade flush and beat my trip 9's with a miracle boat on the river. I add on $100 and decide I decide to come after the old lady. I straddle for $6 and get dealt 2-9 off. From the button she makes it $45. I call. One guy in the middle calls as well. Flop is A-2-5 two hearts. I check, middle guy checks, she puts out $65. I shove in on her for $200 more. mid guy runs away and she tanks. She starts mumbling "Do you have a set, I can't lay this down". I begin taunting her about how she always calls anyway, and she finally calls and flips up A-K. I have successfully executed the DP blowup and I'm reaching in my pocket for more black chips when I river a 9 and declare "Two pair, 9's up!" and proudly show my hand. The middle eastern guy is shocked, she loses her shit and has to get up and walk off the hand. I start roughing up the table, telling them "I'll out-donkey any one of you donkeys, go ahead and keep calling me down and see what happens to you!". The very next hand I have the BB when arab guy straddles. Couple limpers, I have 10-4d and call $3 more. He does the same shit, making it $45 to go. I have been watching him and he has a horrendous chip tell. I decide to call him since he shows weak and I am sure I can outplay him. Flop comes A-A-4. I check, he does the tell and bets $25. I call. Turn a Q. I check, he bets $45 and I call. River is a blank and I check again, he fires out $65. I snap call and he says "Jacks". I ask to see it. He shows one jack. I tell him to turn over both cards and he won't. The dealer looks at me and I say I'm not showing until he does because I paid to see his hand. The guy gets pissed and says "Your A is good, just take the pot!". I won't show and the dealer is about to call the floor when the guy shows J-8 for absolutely nothing. I show my 4 and collect he pot and it's off to the races. The guy just loses his shit, ranting for over an hour about how I'm an idiot and on and on. Every time I am BB after that he straddles and raises me big, I stab him a few more times and then he doubles up off me with a miracle 3 outer when I had him on the ropes. We go at it a few more times and then I get up for a break, when I return he's gone. He got dealt AA and overplayed it, stacking off to two pair and leaving in a rage. After that I stack a few short stacks with flushes and cash out over $1k.

I head up to the Hold'em table game and make another $125 while I am waiting for K to cash out. We both headed back to Cleveland with a nice profit for our effort. Despite the obvious lack of customer service at the casino it was still a nice trip. I should be back to writing regularly, Dave's POY season is starting soon and I'll be playing a lot more.

Monday, July 05, 2010

A Valuable Lesson Learned in Las Vegas

Just got back on Saturday from my week in Vegas. This trip was a learning experience, as I put in over 50 hours at just the Venetian card room plus the games I played elsewhere on the strip. I have come to several conclusions which I will explain later.

I started off my week at the Mirage, since it was directly across the street and they have a better game selection than Harrahs. I would strongly discourage anyone from playing poker at Harrahs unless you are hobbled and can't go anywhere else. The games suck, the floor/brush people are inattentive, and the games plod along. Anyway, bought into the $1/2 at Mirage and get mushed pretty quick. I was up a little when I got dealt AA. The guy behind me raises and I re-raise him. He calls. Flop was Q-J-2. He bets into me, I raise all-in and he calls. He shows KK and is a 99.99999999992% favorite to win. Sure enough, turn 10 river A. I don't bother with a second buy, I get up and go blow off some steam at the table games.

I decided to start off day two with some play at Venetian. I bought into an $8/16 T-HORSE game (HORSE plus Triple Draw). I played very loose and aggressive and got generally picked apart. I played way too many triple draw hands and ended up second best a lot. I dropped my buy-in when I got into an insane O8 hand where I flopped top two and the nut low only to be absolutely horse fucked by a guy who ran me all the way down to hit a 2 out deuce to make the wheel on the river. Disgusted, I decided to walk away for a bit.

As an aside, the Venetian is definitely the play to be playing poker right now in Las Vegas. They were in the middle of the Deepstack Extravaganza, and there were over 40 cash tables running at 3:30AM on a Tuesday. INSANE. They will spread whatever you want, I kid you not. I sat in a mix game that was Stud8, Razz, BadAcey (Badugi and A-5 lowball split game), Big Omaha (5 card Omaha hi/lo), and 2-7 Triple Draw). They'll start a list and table if you can get the players together, and I was impressed at how accomodating the brush and the floor were.

I hit the Hold'em table game at Harrahs and went on a sick run, plus $600 in about an hour. I normally don't play the bonus bets but I was hot, hitting QQ, KK, AK, and AA twice. I cashed out way ahead and was feeling pretty good. After an insane breakfast at Hash House a Go Go at Imperial Palace (mashed potato and bacon stuffed burger FTW) I went back to Venetian on Wednesday to take another shot. I sat down at the HORSE game again and made some adjustments. They paid off as I doubled up my buy-in and got quite a lot of live experience against some really good players. I hit the Hold'em table game for another $300 before calling it a night.

The next day Kirsten wanted to go somewhere else so we hit the MGM poker room. They are spreading a .50/$1 NL "beginners game" which I should've been in but I instead decided to hit the $1/2. On hand #2 I get AA and make it $15. Four callers. Flop Q-5-6 all diamonds (I have the Ad). I lead out for $50 and get shoved on, I call and watch two bricks fall and my hand loses to the K9d. I buy back in full and take another stab at this table. They are playing a style of poker that aggravates the shit out of me - they're all passive and limp around until someone raises, then they start re-raising and shoving. Everyone's trying to trap and it ends up being either $2 to see a flop or $50. I blow through a second buy-in trying to make a play at a pot and running into pocket queens AND pocket kings. Frustrated, I decide to head over the Venetian and play some $8/16 Hold'em. I lose a buyin to a guy who decides to call a cap (5 bets) preflop with 10-6d. He flops a four flush and I flop Broadway, the flop and turn are capped and calls along happily to his flush on the river. Crippled, I decide to leave.

I took a little time off from the tables and headed out for lunch at Jack in the Box by the Stratosphere. JITB is some of the best fast food available, the sourdough burgers are awesome. After lunch we headed over to the Gun Store, where Kirsten bought me the WWII package as a birthday gift. I got to shoot a German submachine gun, a Tommy gun, and a Colt 1911. It was a lot of fun and I even got her to shoot.

Early in the morning I hit the card room at Harrahs and sat in on a $1/2 NL game. I lost about half my stack on the first orbit when I flopped trip kings and lost on kicker. I worked by stack back up a little and then started blinding off. I couldn't get a hand to hold up, I would raise preflop with hands like AK or AQ and miss the flop completely and have to fold to bets/raises. I finally went broke when I flopped a pair of aces with AQ suited and lost to AK. I was at the table when a guy hit the royal flush bonus, he flopped a royal in clubs with AJc and won a $4900 bonus. I also played a $100 tournament at Harrahs, it runs kind of like Dave's. The buyin is $60 with an optional $40 add on. There's also a $10 bounty on every player you bust. I busted when I turned a flush with 8-7 suited and lost to AK suited and a guy with trips who bingoed his full house. It was the only tournament I played during the entire week.

I spent the rest of the week at Venetian playing $8/16 Hold'em or Mix Games. I did pretty well, making back most of my losses from the week. Some of the interesting things to note: I played $4/8 Hold'em with a holocaust survivor (he had the number tattoed on his arm). One of the dealers actually asked him "What does your tattoo mean?". He wasn't a very good player either but was pleasant and didn't mind losing. I was also hopped on by a regular after a hand. I held 9-8 on a flop of J-8-2. I bet out and was called by an asian guy. Turn a blank, bet and call again. River another blank and I bet again and was called. I turned over my hand and the dealer says "Straight". The asian guy mucks and the dealer pulls his hand into the pile, then he looks at the board and says "Wait, I had pocket 9's!". They want to pull his hand out of the muck but I've already been pushed the pot. I object and the regular calls the floor over. The floor agrees - if the asian guy had shown his hand he would've gotten the pot but since he mucked it was mine. Then they wanted me to split the pot with him, which I refused. I told them I had no idea what he had and wasn't splitting shit with anyone. I ended up stacking the regular later when I raised with KJ and flopped a boat, he chased me all the way down with a pocket pair and lost.

My last day in Vegas I was playing break even at $8/16 when I decided to sit at the $1/2 PLO. I played exactly one hand and won, taking down a $400 pot. I flopped two pair, a flush and straight draw, and ended up winning with Q's up. I also found out that I could use my Venetian comps ($51 by Saturday) for a massage, which I did. I can't wait until we move out to Nevada, I'm sure I'll be a regular there.

This trip taught me a few things about my play - that I am severely under-bankrolled for playing NL and that it turns out that I am a very good limit Hold'em player. I finally found a stakes at limit that is both profitable and comfortable for me to play. I think I'm going to dedicate myself more toward limit play and less towards NL for cash. I'm not going to quit playing NL completely, but I need to pick better games for myself and try to maximize my profit.

I am taking a poker vacation probably for the next few weeks until the busy season at work is over. After a week solid of playing I need some time off.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

WSOP Warmup Doesn't Go Quite As Expected

I haven't posted in a while because I have been on a small poker hiatus leading up to my Vegas trip. K and I had a free weekend so we decided to hit the road to the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg IN (the old Argosy) for some poker. When we got there (about 11AM Saturday) it was NUTS. The place was packed with players.

I started out on the Texas Hold'em table game. I have had pretty good luck with this game, it's generally profitable if you avoid the bonus bets and play a basic tight/solid hold'em strategy. However, variance and I are still not talking to each other and I got smacked around for $170. The highlights? I didn't bet the bonus and got dealt pocket aces, lost $60 on the hand when the dealer's 9-4 made a four card heart flush runner-runner. I was flopping huge - straight/flush draws, two pair, etc, and getting mushed on the river every time. I decided to go downstairs and play some $1/3 NL to get my groove back on. Sat down at a table with $300 and on hand two got dealt QJ offsuit UTG. I limped, guy in the middle made it $15 and three people called behind me, I called. Flop 10-9-8 offsuit. I check, raiser makes it $50. Two callers. I pop it to $150 figuring for sure I'm going to stack someone. Everyone runs away screaming and I kick myself for overplaying it. After that it was mushing time. I piddled away a lot of $10 and $15 bets preflop with pairs, big aces, etc and missed every board and draw. My table was odd - either everyone limped or it turned into a circus preflop with $120 raises. There was no middle ground. I lost about 1/3 of my stack in a hand with a guy that still has me shaking my head. Preflop I limp from the cutoff with 97d. Flop 9-6-3 two diamonds. I bet $10, guy at the end agonizes and calls. Turn Ac. He checks, I bet $25. He agonizes more and calls. River is a blank but I'm sure he missed whatever draw he was on. I bet $60 and he calls and rolls over A5. He called with no pair/no draw on flop and hit his two out ace (the Ad would've given me a flush so he couldn't hit it). I finally stacked off to an old man on an oxygen machine. Preflop he made it $20 to go (he had previously only raised once, to $50 with aces and no one called). I called with 10-7d. Flop was 9-7-A two diamonds. He bet out $55 and I shoved. He snap calls and rolls over AJ off (no diamonds). Turn 7 (sweet!). River? The two out ace of course.

Irritated, I decided to walk it off and go back to the Hold'em table game. I sat down with $200 and ran it up to over $525. The big hit was right after they switched decks on me, they had been nagging me to play the bonus (which I usually don't) so I put $10 on it. I got dealt QQ (10-1) and made a full house, profiting me $150 on that hand. I cashed out and went back down to the $1/3 feeling good. I bought in for $300 and finally hit my stride. I stacked two players when I flopped a pair of kings with KJ and two people shoved on gutshots (I know, right?) and I called. I got into a monster hand when I called a raise with A10 suited on the button. Flop was 10-3-2, short stack open shoves for $57, guy behind me calls, I call. Turn A. I check, other guy bets $100, I shove. He tanks and then folds. I turn up my A10 and the short stack shows J10, drawing dead. I finally cash out $700 even. I had time kill since Kirsten was still playing so I headed up and played some 3 card poker for a bit. With a few hours to go until we left, I bought back into the $1/3 a third time. On my fifth hand I got dealt 9-7 on the button. Flop was 9-3-2, two clubs. I led out for $10. SB calls. Turn was a 10d. I bet $30. SB calls. River is the 6s. SB opens up for $100. I put him on missing his flush draw and call, he turns up 9-6 for two pair and I lose to another three out miracle. I blinded off for a while down to about $90 when I get QQ. I get all the money in preflop, SB (the same idiot with the 9-6) insta-calls me with KQd. Flop? K of course. ANOTHER THREE OUTER! How many fucking times can I get three outered? Seriously, after a while it starts getting comical. It makes you not want to play your hands or bet them properly because you start to feel like you just cannot win. I mean, I want these guys in there trying to hit two and three out miracles, but it's not funny when they do.

I quit for the session and headed up to play Crazy 4 poker until Kirsten wanted to go. This was a very frustrating trip for me. I feel like I played very well, bet my hands when I was ahead, got my money in the best I could and still got kicked around. My next post will likely be in July when I return from Vegas and my WSOP trip. I sure hope it goes better than this.

Monday, May 03, 2010

Poker Pays For A Classic

It's been a couple weeks since my last blog post, I'd offer up an explanation but anything other than "I'm too lazy to write" would be a lie.

Two weeks ago I played the $10 rebuy mania at Dave's. I built my T1,000 stack up to T7,800 at one point, but rebuys are too swingy and I ended up donking most of it back (the biggest hand - I shove with 66, get called by 55 and AJ, J on the flop). After the tournament I bought into the cash game. They were playing .50/.50 HA round by round when I sat down, but three hands in they needed players at the $1/1 so I moved over. I started off bad again, running two buyins deep with no luck. I decided on one last buyin and started over. I started hitting hands and built myself back up to even when Colin joined our table and the DP/Colin/Grayday show began. Grayday decided to play aggressive, big stack poker and was taking some huge swings. He had about $500-600 in front of him before he gave most of it away. I got him two hands in a row. In the first, I have about $175 in my stack I get QQ and make it $6 to go. Few callers, including Grayday. Flop K-J-9 two spades. I c-bet $15. Grayday calls. Turn J. I shove. Grayday counts out the money and tanks...starts talking himself out of calling. I ask if he wants to see a card and he says "Yes, the one on the right". I turn over the left card. He starts mumbling. KQ? Q10? He shows me the Kc. Ruh roh. He finally gets mad and says "I don't want to see another fuckin' card again" and folds. I show the other Q and he gets furious. (It was the 2nd time he folded the best hand after seeing a card - Meats did it to him with A8 earlier).

Then, the VERY NEXT hand I get AA. I raise to $10 and get Dave W and Grayday in. Flop 10-9-7 offsuit. I check, Dave checks, Grayday leads for $15. I make it $40. Dave folds. Grayday slows down and calls. Turn is another 7. I shove again. He tanks again and starts mumbling. "Want to see one?" I ask. He says "Yeah, the one on the left" and this time I oblige, turning over an A. He calls my all-in and I say "Aces" and open the other one up. He looks dumbstruck, "Really?" he says, craning over to see my hand. River a blank and I scoop two in a row. The very next hand, Grayday shoves over my raise all-in for his remaining $100. I call with A-Q on the button and we run the board out and my A high is good. He showed Colin a lower A. On one of the last hands of the night, I get AA again and limp in for the straddle of $2. Grayday makes it $20 and I shove over top. He calls and I roll over my Aces and they hold up.

I cashed out way ahead and put the money toward the sweet 1965 Buick Lesabre 400 I bought that weekend. I didn't play much poker this past week, made the final two tables at Dave's on Saturday but managed to blow a 48K stack and not cashing. Cash game was not as nice. I lost my first buyin when I was getting whittled down and shoved my last $50 with AJd. Linda calls with AKs and turns a K. I rebuy and get mushed by Holiday Inn Jim's buddy who cracks my K with Ax. I raised preflop and he calls, flop 2-3-4. I bet $15 he calls. Turn a 7. I bet $25 he calls. River an A and he goes "Oh!" and bets $25. I muck disgustedly and add on for one final buyin. I run it up to $420 and am not smart enough to cash it out. We lose a few players and then I get caught in the Danny and Chan show. They both decide to keep raising and re-raising each other, and Danny goes on a sick run where he starts hitting every hand. I run down to about $65 and then build it back up to about $200 when we move tables. Danny and Chan are still going at each other when I start getting agitated. I limp on the button with 58 when Danny raises again to $6. I decide to push him and re-raise to $40. He shoves in his last $71 and I accidentally price myself into calling. I flop two pair and it holds up, and I make a quick speech about how I am going to start shoving with junk to combat the aggressive players. The table slows down a bit and I start cruising. I crack a big Linda pocket pair with my 8-3s (two pair) and in my final hand I stack Kirsten by turning the nut flush and rivering the low end of a straight flush. After the up and down I am +100 for the night, so not too bad.

Blog posts may be spottier than usual for a bit, I have a busy couple weekends with my kids since I had to shuffle my schedule to accomodate the two big tournaments at the end of the month.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

The Poker Rollercoaster Stops at the Top

After not playing any poker last weekend I was looking forward to my once a month free weekend. Friday night I decided to start at Julie's house for the $40 tournament. I was doing well early, including making a clutch call for all of Mike's stack. I had AJ off and raised preflop. Flop came 10-9-3 two diamonds, I c-bet and he shoved in. I put him on a drawing hand and after tanking finally called. He showed KQd and bricked twice. After the break I hit my nut gut Broadway draw on Big Country for his stack. Then the wheels came off. I was at 48000 when Kristina hit me for 18000 on her three out miracle two pair. Then I made a bad read on a guy who was all-in and I called him with 66. Of course he has AA, and I double him up. After that I lost to an increasing series of 3-4 out draws until I shoved with KQ on the button and ran directly into Aces (again).

Irritated, I set off to TK's house for some $1/1. We started a PLO game and I was up about $100 when the game split and we condensed to one table of Hold'em. Full table I started getting hit, including my last hand where I raised preflop with QQ, flop comes 2-3-2 and I stack off to Ryan's A2. It sucked that we could only buy $150 at a time, as by that time average stacks were $300-500 and no one was folding for $12 preflop.

Saturday we hit Dave's for the tournament and my bad run continued. I flopped two different straight flush draws and bricked both, losing about half my stack. I then stacked off when I shoved with a double gutter and got called by bottom pair/open ended straight and bricked out. I reluctantly agreed to bank the cash game, as I was only 2nd out. I started with $100 and got mushed on hand #5. I called Wolverine Dave's raise preflop with KQ, flopped a pair of Q's, turned a set of Q's and lost to his AQ. Rebuy! I got crushed on my 2nd buyin when I shoved with an open ended and pair and lost to a dry pair of 10's. Third buyin of $100 I got mushed when I shoved with my two overs and flush draw against pocket 9's and bricked out again. I was going to quit but I decided one more full buyin, since K was still in the tournament and I was banking. I bought $150 more and started finally making hands. I raised with AK, flopped top two, and stacked a guy with A-rag. I got lucky on Dawn, I called a raise preflop with AK and flop comes K-9-3. I bet, she raises, I shove and she snap calls and shows K9. I then catch running clubs for the nut flush and stack her. I made the majority of my profit in two absolutely horrible hands. In the first one, I limp UTG 6 handed with K9. Mailman and Colin limp, Mike and Meats check. Flop K-9-4. We all check to Mailman who bets $5. Mike folds, Meats makes it $10. I raise to $20. Colin folds, Mailman tanks for a minute and then makes it $70. Meats calls all-in for less. I tank. I try to narrow down what Mailman limped with that he's suddenly getting froggy with. I eliminate KK and 99, as I am holding K9 plus he didn't raise preflop with position. I figure if he has K9 we chop, K4 I have mushed, and AK-KQ-KJ I have demolished. I decide he's on AK and I shove over top of him. He snap calls and Colin says "set", at which point Mailman shows 4-4 for bottom set. Turn? 9. River a brick and he's shellshocked as I hit my four out miracle. Meats BTW had AA. Everyone wants to be a dirty trapper, sometimes it bites you in the ass.

The second big hand was a cluster as well. Meats makes it $3 preflop (his usual raise), I call and Colin calls. Linda makes it $20. Meats tanks, fiddles with his chips, and finally calls. I have A5d, I decide to call as I am certain Colin won't re-raise Linda. Colin calls and we see the flop, A-5-7 one diamond. We check around to Linda, whom I am expecting to bet her Ace. She checks. Turn Kd. Meats checks, I bet $40. Colin folds, Linda immediately makes it $140. Meats folds back to me (Meats shows me QQ after the hand, no diamond). Linda has only another $100 behind. I table my hand and look for a reaction. I count down my stack and decide that if I shove and I'm wrong I am still up for the night anyway, so I push her all-in. She snap calls and shows KK for a set. River? 4d. Ship it again! After that I blinded off a little before we called it quits for the night. I was in $450 deep and cashed out $1150. Not bad for playing like an idiot!

Today I decided to head over to Nautica and donk off a buyin at the $1/2. I sit down and on hand #4 immediately get into a train wreck. Guy on my right (who knows me somehow, but I don't remember him) makes it $12 to go. I call with 2-2. Two other callers, BB shoves for $59 total. Guy who raised initally has only $80 behind and flat calls the $59. I am 50/50 on a call when I notice the two guys to my left already have the $59 counted out. I decide to call, and they both call. Flop A-K-3. It checks around! No one bet! Turn? 2 of course. I open/shove for $128. Everyone else folds, guy who shoved initially says he has an A. I table my hand and the case 2 comes out on the river. QUADS BITCHES! A few hands later, I call a preflop raise on the button with 88. Flop 10-6-4. Arab guy to my left (who has been very aggressive) makes it $20. I think he's trying to buy it so I call. Turn is another 6. He checks to me, I make it $85 and he snap calls. River 9, he checks again and I shove in for $210 more. He gets pissed off, shows me Q-10 and folds. I show him the 8's and he's steaming. A few hands later, I get 5-6 in the BB and check in. Flop Q-6-6. It checks around to Uncle Bob, who fires out $12. I call, arab guy calls. Turn A. It checks around. River 3. I lead out for $35 and arab guy snap calls and shows an A. "I just have a 6" I say, scooping it. He's even more mad now. My last big hand was a doozy too. I get 10-9 clubs, guy to my right makes it $17 preflop. I call, and he says "I should've made it $40 so you'd fold". I tell him "I don't think I fold this one, not even for your stack". Guy in the middle calls and we take a flop of 9-8-4 with 2 hearts. Initial raiser bets $40 (leaving himself $30 behind). I think of raising but instead call. Guy in the middle shoves for $100 even. The guy on my right folds and I pony up the $60 extra. Board goes 4-K and he says "I missed my flush but I have a pair." I table the 9's and he shows an 8 and mucks. I scoop that pot and decide that I am getting out while I'm up. I cash out +$575, making it a $1200+ upswing this weekend.

Better lucky than good, I guess!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Back on a Winning Track

I haven't played a lot of poker since returning from Indiana, I've had to sit and rebuild my roll a bit. I went to Ken Walker's house last week for his $60 tournament. I was down most of the game (kept losing to river cards), and finally busted when I put a hellacious bluff on Yosh for his whole stack and he couldn't let pocket 9's go on a board of 5-7-3 all clubs. I sat down at the cash game and ran my $150 up to about $225 when I got into a trainwreck with Matt G. and Grayday. I get dealt K7d in the small blind. Matt makes it $4 to go. I call, Grayday calls. Flop is J-4-3 with two diamonds. I check, Grayday checks, Matt bets $10. I call, Grayday calls. Turn 5h. Grayday leads out for $30. Matt G. shoves all-in $108. Grayday only has $49 behind and looks eager to put it in. I tank for a minute and call with my gutshot and flush draw. River 6s giving me straight. Matt turns over a set of 5's and Grayday had jacks with a heart flush draw and missed. Ship it! After that hand I played a lot of big pot poker. When I had a hand I hammered the pots, and people were folding to me all night. I laid an awesome river bluff on Eddie J for a good $100 pot with my pair of 2's (Q kicker, of course). I finally made it to an even $500 up and cashed out. I needed to book a win and this was enough for me to quit on.

I didn't play live again until last night. I hit Dave's for the deepstack tournament. My only two cashes at Dave's tournaments this year are in deepstacks, so I was feeling good about it. I even paid the $2 for the POY. I was doomed from the start. I got put at a table of calling stations who couldn't let hands go. Despite my efforts, people simply check-called all the way down. I made a huge misread on Pyxis for most of my stack (she flopped top set and I put her on missing the flop). I finally busted when I shoved with A9s and got called by AJ. After that debacle I bought into the cash game. I bought $100 and blinded off about half of that. I added on $80 more and plodded along. I finally got on track when I picked off Jewish Andy in a pot. He raised preflop to $4 and I called on the button with A9. The flop came 10-8-10 with 2 hearts. Andy c-bets $6 and I raise to $16. I am certain he doesn't have a 10, but he calls the raise. Turn is the Ah. Andy bets out $15. I now have Aces with a 9h flush draw. I call. River is a 9, Andy bets half my remaining stack ($28). I flat call and he says "I have a pair". I turn over A9 and scoop it. He said he had Q's but he didn't show it. After that I went on my run, scooping a bunch of decent sized pots. Grayday was blowing through chips, and I made sure to get my share of them. He was being so aggressive that El Diabl0 and I called him down on his river bets three separate times with only Ace high and won all three pots. He started steaming bad and lost a ton of chips trying to push us around. I cashed out +$400 at 3AM, he was still playing and the tournament was still going. Looks like my horrific streak may be ending, time to rebuild. Maybe Vegas in June after all?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Drowning On The River(boat) ((WARNING: LONG POST))

Finally back from the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg IN for the WPT event. The casino is actually the nicest one in the Midwest area I'd say. The poker tables (both cash and tournament) are very nice, the poker room is efficiently run, and they comp you very well. Players get $1 an hour comps, plus if you sign up new for a players card you get a BOGO buffet and they give you a meal comp on your card. I didn't pay for a single meal on this trip.

Monday I got in early with the Meats and Mailman and decided to play some cash before the WPT tournament. I sat down at a newly opened $1-3-5 PLO table with $300. The play was surprisingly nitty for PLO, lot of unraised pots and check downs. I won only two pots. One guy straddled my BB and I called with J-9-8-7 double suited and flopped trip 9's. I checked to the straddle, he pots for $75 and one guy calls in between. I shove and both players fold. The other pot I raised preflop with AAKJ double suited, flopped top set and nut draw and didn't get any action. I floated for a while before getting 3-5-6-7 double suited in the BB. Flop is 5-6-7 with two of my suit. One guy pots, I call and guy behind me calls. Turn K gives me second flush draw. Guy bets again, I flat call as I know he's on a straight and I don't want to push him out of betting if I hit. River 2h, complete brick. I fold when he pots again and the guy behind me calls, they split pot with nut straight. I get stacked when I pot preflop with QQJ10, flop Q-J-9, get the money in and lose when a 10 drops and the guy next to me rolls over Broadway.

Off to the $340 tournament. When we sat down they announced that the blind levels were split, so instead of having 30 minutes of stud and then 30 minutes of Omaha we were having 15 minutes of each at that same blind level. So, level 1 was 15 minutes of $100-200 Omaha and 15 minutes of $25-100-200 Stud. This, in my opinion, was stupid. With only 15 minutes in each game we were getting roughly four hands of each per level. I was also seated at a table with a guy who had never played Stud (or any limit poker) before and had to be told what he could bet every time. Between him and the stud hands taking so long it became excruciating. The guy turned out to be a complete calling station, too. He had no idea what to do, so he simply called every bet all the way down and turned his hand up for the dealer to figure out what he had. By the dinner break he had over T30K and had eliminated a player and crippled me. He couldn't miss, at one point I advised him not to use the bathroom because the horseshoe up his ass might fall out. I posted a more detailed hand report on the tournament on the Meetup Site. I busted in Level 13 after a five way Omaha train wreck where Mr. Calling Station got half with a 3 out gutshot for high and the low got quartered. I was not unhappy with my play. I played patient, jammed pots when I was ahead, and escaped from several spots where I could've gotten stacked earlier. I didn't try to run anyone over and wasn't stealing or tilting, even after being crippled by idiocy. I simply couldn't make a hand hold up.

After that debacle I went back over to play cash. I sat down at $1/3 with $100 and decided to short stack my table. All the people there had at least $600 except for me and the guy to my left. There were a lot of black chips on our table. Hollywood is weird - the dealers have fully stocked trays but are not allowed to sell you chips out the tray, they're only for change and raking chips. You can buy chips off another player but not chips that are on the table. The chip runners take forever and often ignore the dealers calling for chips. Most of the regulars buy two or three buyins in black chips and keep them in their pocket so they can rebuy quickly rather than lope off to the cage for chips. Anyway, I played somewhat aggressive. I double up early when I flopped a pair of Aces and shoved on a guy with a flush draw. He missed and I rode my stack up to about $400 when I got train wrecked. Guy to my right button raises to $10. I call with KTc. BB calls. Flop K-9-5 two clubs. I bet out $15, both call. Turn 8c. I bet out $45. BB raises to $155. I call with the intention of check raising him all in on the river. River 5h. I check, he shoves. I was going to call when he took two black chips off his stack and tossed them in with a flourish. I had only seen him do this one other time, and that time he had the unforgiving nuts. I turned up the Kc and asked if my flush was good. He smiles and shows the Jc. I am then certain he has the Ac. I muck my flush and he shows the Ac. After that the pasting begins, I flop two pair and get mushed by a rivered set. My last hand I raise with 67d. Flop 5-7-8 two clubs. The girl at the end leads into me for $10 and I shove on her. She tanks and finally calls with 9-8. No straight and she stacks me. Frustrated, I leave.

After a comfortable night sleeping on the floor of the hotel room I choke down one of the worst breakfast meals of all time. Powdered eggs and lukewarm rubbery sausages. Ugh. Head back to Hollywood and give the $1/3 another go. I buy in for $200 and get to work. I am floating for a while when I get 77 on the button. Guy in the middle (who works brush for another card room) raises to $15. Three callers, I come in. Flop 8-3-8. Checks around to me, I check. Turn 7. BINGO~! Initial raiser bets $30. Action Jackson at the end of the table calls. I shove $160. Guy behind me can't call fast enough. Everyone else folds. I ask if I just got coolered and he doesn't answer. River is a blank and I roll over my 77. He flips up 88 and I am broke. I rebuy and piddle around until I get KK on the button. Raise preflop and Action Jackson calls. Flop A-6-4. He checks, I fire out a healthy c-bet. He immediately calls. I check the next card and he checks. River checks down and I know he called me with a shitty ace. I muck and am down to $40. A few hands later I get AJ on the button. Action Jackson limps, I open shove for $40. He snap calls. Board runs out Q-8-5-4-2 four clubs. He says no club and I turn up AJ. He rolls over KQ off and scoops. I put my final buyin on the table and am floating down to about $150 when I get K-9 suited on the button. Cutoff makes it $15. I call, flop is K-J-9 offsuit. Guy leads into me for $50. I consider Q-10 but decide he's pretty solid and wouldn't have raised with it. I shove in and he snap calls. Turn A. River K. I flip over the K when he turns up AA and scoops. After losing twice with full houses I decide it's time to quit.

The last week of poker has been the absolute worst in my live game history. I got bludgeoned at every turn, couldn't get a hand to hold up, and finally had to just give up. The only bright spots were a $100+ cashout at $3/6 limit whilst I was on break from the tournament, and a +$125 cashout from the Hold'em table game. I think it's time for me to take a break from cash poker and try to reorganize.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Still Sliding The Wrong Way.

Short poker weekend this week, have to keep my bankroll intact for the WPT on Monday. I played Dave's last night and got horribly crushed. I bought into the tournament and ran my 8k up to 20k. I could actually feel the cards turn the other way. I lost 2k to Mailman in a three way pot, then lost about 8k to TK when he hit his 1 out set on me (which, of course, gave me two pair). I slid down some more before being moved twice in less than a round. I end up at Table 3 and it's playing really snug. I get pocket 7's UTG +1 and just open shove with them. Folds around to button who tanks and then calls with 10's. They are good. Down to 3200 and posted for 600 when I get J-10d. Pyxis raises and I can't just call, so I shove. She, of course, has Aces. I'm out, head to cash game.

I buy in for $100 in the $1/1 and run it up to $150 when I get into a hand with Dave's neighbor. He's been bragging all night about how he just won 20k on an instant lottery ticket, so you know he doesn't give a shit about the $100 in front of him. I raise preflop with AQ, flop is Q-2-7. He bets into me and I raise him all-in. He snap calls. His Q-2 holds up and I am now stuck. I lost the rest of my first buyin when Hacker raises preflop and I call with 9-7s. Flop 10s-8s-3. He c-bets and I shove. Snap call. Brick-brick and his pocket Jacks are good. I rebuy and run it back up to $200 when Dave sits down. He raises preflop and I call with 4-3c. Flop 7-4-7. He leads out for more than the pot. I have seen him do this before and it usually means he's on AK and missed. I take the turn which is a 5 giving me a gutshot also. He hesistates and shoves, and I call. River is a blank and he tables 8-8. I get AQ again, raise it up. Rich and Dave's neighbor call. Flop A-K-8 two diamonds. I c-bet, two callers. Turn is a 3. I bet out about $45 two callers. River is a 10. I check and Rich shoves. I fold and he shows A-10, hit his three outer. I lose the rest of that stack when I get AKd, Dave raises and I flat call. Rich re-raises and I shove. He says "Are my Kings good?" and you know what? They are. I rebuy for the last time and bleed off to about $50 when I get K9c. Rich makes it $7 and I call along with Dave's neighbor. Flop A-J-2 with 2 clubs. Rich bets $15, guy calls, and I shove. Two callers later and you just know what happened. Brick-brick, Dave's neighbor shows Q-10c and Rich's AJ is good. I decided to just get up and leave. I got crushed every time I started to get anything going, and it just wasn't my night. I decided to just conserve my roll in anticipation of the WPT event tomorrow.

I will be tweeting live updates from Indiana as I play the $300+$40 Stud 8/Omaha 8 event at WPT Hollywood. I will probably also play some of the cash games. We're going out Monday, staying overnight, and returning Tuesday. Stay tuned for a trip report and results in a special Wednesday edition of my blog.

Friday, March 05, 2010

My Poker Weekend

My poker weekend started off just dandy. I decided to go to Pete's $1/1 game and play. When I got there it was $1/1 round by round hold'em and omaha. I lost my first buy-in to Meats when I raised with AQ, he re-raised with KK and I shoved. I flopped the nut flush draw and of course caught two bricks. Rebuy. Get my money in with a pair preflop in Omaha, flop a straight flush draw, and lose to Hiphop's dry pair of jacks on the river. Rebuy. Lost my third buyin when I misread Jesse in a hand, he was shoving and I thought he missed and called with a pair of 10's. No good. I decided to leave and head over to Gemini with a buyin. I run it up to $380 and then get snapped off for $130 in two hands. First I get 99, raise to $7. One caller. Flop 8-3-4. I bet $15, short stack makes it $25 more. I call. He says "Two pair" and then turns over 8-3 SUITED. Turn an 8. Then I get into an absolutely monstrous hand. I am in the BB with J-9. UTG makes it $10. Five callers. I call and take a flop. Flop 10-8-7 two spades. I check, initial raiser bets $15. Guy in the middle makes it $50. I shove $258. First guy calls off his last $40. Middle guy tanks...takes forever. He says "I know you have a straight...fuck it, I call". He rolls over a set of 7's and I am fucked. Turn 8 no waiting. I decide to leave after dropping $520 tonight. Everything I touched turned to shit, I couldn't hit a draw if I had to.

I decided to hit Dave's Saturday night and see if I could turn things around. I bought in the tournament short and tried to get going but couldn't really get a stack built. I finally took the add-on and ended up busting 30th. I couldn't hit a draw or get a hand to stand up, and I was constantly getting run over by sets. After I tapped out I decided to play NL instead of 8 game. Bought in $100, ran it up to about $400 when I got stabbed pretty hard by Matt G. I limped with 2's, flop was 2-3-5 two spades. Matt led out and I raised him. He called. Turn was a blank and he checked so I put him on a draw and shoved on him. He snap called and 4-6 was good. Lost about $150 there. Then I started playing frustrated when I got into a three way hand with Andrew and TK. TK raised preflop and I called with 6-5h, and Andrew called also. Flop was J-10-5 one heart. Andrew checks, TK bets. I call, Andrew calls. Turn is the Ah. Andrew bets out into TK. TK calls. I raise enough to put them both all-in. They both call. River 3h. I table my flush and Andrew shows JJ. TK mucks and I take a huge pot out of sheer frustration and luck. I had no logic for still being in the hand other than I was steaming and got lucky. After the usual beration for my poor play I tightened it back up. I was up and down a little more (ended up making trip 2's three times and losing all three, twice to 3 out boats). I finally cashed out +$426, taking my two day total to -$74 instead of -$500. I really need to work some more on controlling myself after I take a beat, I should probably be walking those off or something instead of continuing to play.

Headed over to Gemini to play some $1/2 for a bit. Bought in $245 (with tokes) and cashed out exactly $0. I had run it up to $711 at one point, and then the wheels came off of me. I picked off a $300 bluff and lost anyway when he hit his 2 outer on the turn. Got all the chips in three ways with top two and lost to the donkey straight. Etc, etc. Hands wouldn't hold up, my reads were way off, and I just generally played bad. One hand I have pocket 5's. Super nit guy makes it $10 preflop. Flop comes K-4-2 and guy slams $45 out, which is more than half what he has left. He's also moving tables next hand and I am sure he missed the flop. I raise him all-in, and the short stack behind me calls for less. Nit guy snap calls. Turn K. River 5. Ship it! He had aces, I horribly misread the hand and got lucky anyway. I never got AA or KK, had QQ twice and lost once with it, JJ once and lost, 10-10 once and lost, and none of my lower pairs tripped up. I did not make any straight draws, and only one flush (runner runner to boot).

I need to slow the fuck down, I am playing too fast. I think returning to internet poker and especially Rush Poker on Full Tilt are fucking up my live game. Ever since I returned to online I've done horribly IRL. I am going to quit internet poker again and see if I can turn my live game around. I want to be in good form for the WPT in two weeks, want to go and play the Stud 8/Omaha 8 mix event.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Riding the rush, until the wheels fall off

So, I've been playing almost exclusively cash games lately. Last week at Gemini I went on the heater of a lifetime, cashing out for a new record (for me). I bought in for $255 ($200 + $25 fee + $30 in tokes over the course of the night). I sat down to play $1/2 and was hitting cards early. I raised from the cutoff with Q-10h and got two callers. Flop 10-10-8. I continuation bet, one call. Turn a Q. I check, kid behind me fires out $50. I raise him all-in and he dumps. I show the Q10 and am off and rolling. Over the course of the night I got dealt a ton of small pocket pairs and kept flopping sets. Some of the bigger hands: I get 6-6 in the SB. Button makes it $16 to go. He's been fairly conservative, but I am running hot so I call. Flop K-6-3. I check, he bets $35. I raise him to $100 even. He shoves in on me and I snap call. Turn? 6. Ship it! That pot was a hair over $700 total. A little later on, a really tight player makes it $21 to go preflop. I call with A3c and the guy behind me calls. Flop 2-4-5 offsuit. She puts $100 in. I raise all-in. Guy behind me calls off his last $30. She shoves her stack in. I table my straight, she shows AA, guy behind me has K3. Turn A. River a blank and I drag another huge pot despite splitting the main with the guy behind me. I dragged a bunch more smaller pots before getting moved to the main table. I finally felt the rush dropping off and lost about $160 back before getting up and leaving with $1600.

I went back a few days later and took a stab at the $2/5 table. I bought in for $450 and had it up to about $700 before getting mushed by Kai and his Q2. I finally busted out with AQ when I shoved into a guy with KK. Oops. I took a few days off and went back to play this last Friday. When I got there, there was a $1/3 PLO going but no seats, so I took a $1/2 NL seat. I ran my $200 up to about $300 before getting moved. I played for about 2 hours and dragged only two pots. The first was when I got a short stack all-in with my nut flush/gutshot draw and hit the straight. The second hand was completely idiotic on my part. I had 8-5-5-4 with the 5-4d. Bunch of limpers, BB makes it $15. A few callers, I call as well. Flop J-6-5 offsuit. I check with the intention of check-raising the loose player who raised, but he checks also. The tightest guy at the table pots it for $75. I immediately think JJ but I want to see if the turn helps me or not. Turn Kd for diamond draw also. I check, he shoves all-in. I am frustrated and a little stuck, and I don't even stop to consider pot odds or anything. I snap call. River 5. Quads, sirs. I roll it over and the guy explodes, showing his JJ and berating my awful play. That particular guy ended up making three nut boats that night and losing all three hands to quads. Sick.

I bleed down a bit and decide to go play $1/2NL since I can't get a hand to stick. The floor moves me to a brand new table and I run up my $200 to about $300 when our table breaks. They ask if I want to go back to the $1/3 and I do. With some different players I start on my rush. I pick off a few bluffs and cash out about $600 ahead. I couldn't play Saturday so I decided to head back yesterday (Sunday) and take another run at the PLO. There wasn't a table going so I ended up at $1/2 with Hiphop. On my third hand I flopped the nut straight and checked. Guy behind me bets $35 and gets two callers. I slam it all-in and take it down. Finally I get my PLO seat and get rolling. I am down early, including losing my first buyin to Sammy when I flopped a set of Q's and lost to his 2 out broadway straight on the turn. I rebuy for $200 and am down to about $150 when I turn a J high straight and fade three guys with draws to drag in about $300. I plod along for a bit, hitting Q's full and getting two guys with two pair to pay off my $45 bet. I then get into my PLO hand of the year so far. I get 9-7-7-4 with the 74s from the button. Family pot, flop is AJ7 with two spades. The hillbilly on the end (complete with coveralls) bets the pot. Sammy just calls. I call. Turn is the 9d. (two spades two diamonds now). Hillbilly pots again, Sammy just calls. I call. River 6c. Hillbilly shoves his last $95 in. Sammy flat calls. I tank. I am relatively sure the hillbilly was on spades and missed. Sammy's flat call confuses me. All night when he had the nuts he would re-pot instantly. The only hands I am afraid of are JJ and 10-8. I doubt Sammy has JJ because he would've re-potted the flop. I rule out 10-8 because he didn't re-pot the river. I finally call and table my set. Sammy shows AJ and the hillbilly mucks and I drag a HUGE pot. I play two more rounds and cash out up $500 (plus a massage) for the evening.

This weekend is going to be a big poker weekend for me, stay tuned for updates.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Another Up And Down Weekend

This was my last free weekend for a while, so of course I decided to play poker the whole time. Friday night Kirsten and I headed to Gemini to play. I knew I was in trouble early on. I buy in for $200, get dealt Q9c in the BB. Mid position short stack makes it $10. I'm the only caller. Flop K-J-10 offsuit. I open-shove on him, he snap calls. Turn K. River A. I know immediately I am fucked, and he rolls over a K and shows it. Then he waits. The dealer goes to shove me the pot and he finally rolls over the A and shows the full house. Not only did he need runner runner to beat me, but he was a slow-rolling asshole about it too. I add on another hundred and get J-10 the very next hand. I limp and BB makes it $10. I am the only caller. Flop Q-J-9 with one spade. I check, guy bets $20, I call. Turn 8s. I have the straight. I check, he bets $25, I call. River 3s. I bet out $40, he snap calls and rolls over a 6 high spade flush. AWESOME. He was betting the whole way on runner runner 6 high flush and got there. I rebuy another $100 and start blinding down. I get plenty of playable hands (AK, AQ suited, pairs, etc) but can't make any hands. I finally lose my last $85 when I get dealt KJ suited. I raise it to $10 from the button, guy behind me (who has been re-raising people all night) makes it $22. I shove my $85 in and he snap calls. Flop K-Q-2 2 hearts. Turn 8c. River 8d. I show KJ and he rolls over AK and I am done. Kirsten cashes out and we head home. It's still fairly early so I decide to go to River Pete's and try to earn some of it back. I sit at the $1/1 where TK and Slacks are totally shitfaced. Terry is throwing a party. On my 3rd hand I get 5-7c. Terry raises it to $7 and I call. Flop is J-4-2 two clubs. I check, Terry bets, and I call. Turn is a club. I check, Terry bets, and I repop it all-in. He tanks for a second and finally calls. River is a blank and I roll over the flush. He shows AJ (no club) and I double up. I plod along up and down a little. I get into a hand with HipHop where I raise to $7 preflop with A-10. He calls, flop comes Q-8-4 all spades. He bets $15 into me. I have the 10s, and it occurs to me that if he flopped a flush he'd let me bet. I pop him all-in (another $50). He tanks and starts talking to himself. I turn up the 10s to show him. After a few minutes he calls. Turn 4, River A. He tables Q-8 for flopped 2 pair and show my Ace for the pot. I got into one other big pot later on. I get pocket 2's and Grayday makes it $10 to go. Hiphop and I call. Flop 4-Q-4. HH and I check, Grayday bets $35. He has another $51 behind. HH folds, I tank. I put him on AK, I think he completely missed it. I shove in and he snap calls and rolls over AA. Oops. Turn Q. River 2, ship it! I cash out +$210 and a much needed win.

Saturday K and I planned to hit Gemini early and head to Dave's later for cash. We get there at 6 because there's supposed to be a $5/10 limit game but despite 12 people on the list only 5 show up and it doesn't go. I sit down at $1/2 and prepare for the usual ass-kicking. I sit at a table with this girl I remember from Mountaineer, she runs with a crew that play $1/2 and $2/5 around town. She's being extremely quiet, and gets mad at me when she gets in a big hand with someone else and pulls her hood down to cover her eyes. I want to see what she does so I lean down and stare at her from the table level. She ends up mucking her hand but won't speak to me after that. She gets in a hand with Kirsten where she flops top 2, Kirsten turns Broadway, and she rivers a boat. On the river bet she pops K $100 even and I pick up a tell on her. We get into a hand a few minutes later, she has the button, I am one behind the cutoff. Table folds to me, I limp. She limps. SB makes it $10. I call with 10-9. She calls. Flop 9-7-6. SB checks, I check, she bets $25. We both call. Turn 8. No flush on board. SB checks, I bet $45. She raises it to $145. SB folds. I catch her tell, she either has the same hand as me or I am nutted. I don't want to play for stacks with 2nd nuts, I fold the straight face up and she stares at me. I am sure she had J-10. She bet the gutshot when we both checked as a semi-bluff or steal and hit the gutter with me. I should've repopped the flop bet or checked her the turn. Hmph. I also picked up a huge tell on Matt S ("Little Fag"). He bet me off a few pots and I finally got his tell, then it was confirmed when he showed down a huge bluff in a $200 pot. I moved tables before I could use it against him though, but I'm sure we'll play together again and I can pick him off. I got bumped to the $5/10 and started off great. I get AK on the button, flop comes K-10-9. Checks to me, I bet, 4 callers. Turn 9. Molson leads out into me. I call. River 6. He bets again, I call. He shows 9-7 for trips. Next hand I get QQ. Bump it to $10, three callers. Flop Q-7-5 two spades. Checks to me, I bet. Three callers. Turn 2s. Checks to me, I bet again. Three callers. River 5. Checks to me, I bet again. One caller. He shows KK, I show the boat. Ship it. It was the only $5/10 pot I won. About 10 minutes later I get AQ on the button. Raise to $10. 7 callers. Yes, 7. Flop K-J-10 offsuit. Mid position bets $5, I raise to 10. EVERYONE CALLS. Initial bettor makes it $15, I cap at $20. EVERYONE CALLS. 8 people to the turn. J on the turn. Mid position bets his last $3. I pop to the full $10. EVERYONE CALLS. River 6. No flush. Checks to me, I bet $10. EVERYONE CALLS. I show my straight, the guy who capped with me on the flop rolls over KJ for the boat. Everyone else shows cards, they all had face cards. He literally had only ONE OUT and hit it. I've played NL with him too and I'm sure that hand plays out like that in NL too. I request a $1/2 seat again now that I've dropped $100 in two hands. Bumped back to $1/2 I get dealt K-10. Angry arab guy on the end is making it $17 preflop every hand. He's stuck and he's spewing chips. I call, two other calls. Flop K-Q-3. Check to him, he bets $33. I call. One other caller. Turn 10. I shove $214. Guy behind me snap calls. Arab guy snap calls. River a blank. I show K-10. Guy in the middle shows K-10. Arab guy had KJ and missed and we split his stack. Angry internet kid between us berates us for our play. A few hands later, internet kid makes it $10 to go and I call with AKh. Flop 7-4-2 2 hearts. He bets half his stack, $35. I push all-in for $340. Folds around to him, he calls off his last $30. Turn Qs and he flips up Q-10 off. River a brick and he wins on his 4 outer. I cash out for the night +$60 instead of +135 or more. I guess a win is a win though.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Riding The Poker Rollercoaster

I have had a very up and down week in poker, and now I'm back stuck in the mostly down part. I couldn't play last Friday due to "family commitments" (no day care at Gemini), so I decided to hit Dave's Saturday for the Chili cookoff and semi-deepstack tournament. I also entered the chili cookoff as a goof. I had talked to several people about entering a canned chili to see if the "judges" could tell it from all the others. They couldn't. My 9 cans of Chunky Roadhouse chili finished in second place and only lost to El_Diabl0's chili by 7 points (which is nothing, really). After they announced the winners I let everyone know what they'd be eating. I found out later that Mark had entered a large can of chili dog topping he put peppers in. The idea wasn't mine, Steve Graham wanted to do it years ago but never followed through.

The tournament was really large - 56 buy ins I believe. I got lucky early on. This new kid raised, and when he did he was shaking bad. I knew he had a huge hand. I called his raise with J9c. Flop came 10-3-2 with one club. He continuation bet, and I called hoping to either turn a draw or bet him off on the turn. The turn was the Qc, giving me a straight and flush draw. I open-shoved on him and he tanked for a minute before calling and turning over KK. River? 8. Ship it! After that, I got into a sick hand with Karl. He raised preflop, and I called with J9 again. Caveman folded, and when he did he accidentally showed me the Ace of spades. Flop came A-9-2. Karl leads out, and I think about this...only one over on the flop, and I know an Ace is dead. I decide Karl missed and I shove on him. He snap calls and rolls over A-10. River J pumps me up to 30k and I cruise to the final table. I finished 4th after I raised with K-10 4 handed, flopped a K and got it all in against Caveman, and lost to his runner runner 2 pair. Had I won that pot I would've had over half the chips in play and would've squashed that final table. As it was, I cashed $380 and only had time for a few rounds of 8 game where I dropped $50.

Sunday I decided to hit Gemini again and play some $1/2. I took a few horrendous beatings (including a hand where I flopped a set of 9's and lost to runner runner heart flush). I dropped my tournament earnings back there and decided to call it a night. Monday night I went back for a few hours of $1/2 and took yet another squashing. I should've got up after the first beating, but I stuck it out. I got AA on the button and mid position made it $10. I raise to $30. BB (who just rebought $100) shoves his $100 in. Mid folds and I snap call and show my AA. He rolls over AKh and I am fucked. Flop? KKQ. So, I rebuy $100 and play a bit more. At one point I triple up with QJ after flopping top two and consider leaving but am too stupid to do so. I then proceed to lose $250 in two hands after paying off two rolled up sets. I finally go broke when I flop and open ended straight flush draw, get called all-in by a $2/5 guy with KJ high, and go brick brick to lose. Discouraged, I decided not to buy in again and just leave. Today I went back with another $300 and had a go at it. I barely made it an hour. Hand #4 I raise with QJc. Flop K-3-4 two clubs. I bet and get called. Turn 10c. The other player shoves in and I snap call. River a blank and he rolls over K7c. FUUUUUUUUUUUCK! I rebuy $100 and lose half when I turn K's and Q's and the other guy rivers a 6 high heart flush. On my last hand I get AKc. I raise to $10 and get a few callers. Flop 3-4-5 with 2 clubs. I check, guy in the middle bets $25, I push in $100 more and he snap calls and rolls over 6-5h. Turn 6 river 5 and he fills up. I decide to leave, down $300 again. So far, I have only profited in my first trip there and have proceeded to get pounded in my last four trips. I apparantly need to take a break from there for a little bit. I hope Dave's Saturday will be a good rebuilding game.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Playing at the Gemini Club

So, yesterday I tried out the new Gemini Players Club. When I got there a little before 7 there was no cash table and only 5 people for tournament. We stayed a little and finally a table scraped together. I bought in for $245 total ($200 buyin, $25 fee, and $20 in dealer tokes). I sat down and immediately took $100 off of one of the regulars. I raised with AK, flopped a King, and it ran. I built my stack up with a few different hands. I was hovering around $600 when I raised with A8h on the button. One caller for $10, flop 2-2-3 with 2 hearts. I c-bet the flop for $20, he calls. Turn Qh. Bingo. I bet $40, he calls. River is a blank, he checks and I bet $100. He flat calls and mucks when I table the flush. I finally cashed out at the end for $886. I was plus $1465 for the weekend after this session.

I went back today and discovered that the rush was over. I bought in for $235 ($200 + $25 + $10 in tokes). First hand I get JJ, raise it preflop to $10, three callers. Flop is 8-2-4 two diamonds, checked to me and I lead out for $20. Short stack shoves for $55, I repop it all in. Third player folds and I lose to a set of 4's. I bleed down to about $80 when I get 77 in the cutoff. UTG makes it $10, few callers and I call $10. BB makes it $35. UTG (who is tilting from a previous beat) angrily calls. Three others call. I shove for $58 more. BB shoves all-in. UTG shoves in. Everyone else folds. Flop is all blanks, turn a 9, river a blank. BB shows AK, UTG shows A9 suited, my 7's get mushed. I rebuy and play a few hands before the final doozy of the night. Old man at the end of the table makes it $20 UTG. He's been severely overbetting with A-x and I am sure he doesn't have a pair. I wake up to 10's and call. Everyone else folds. Flop 5-8-2 2 hearts. He open shoves for $210. I have $213 behind and snap call. He shows A-J and is 99.999999997% to win. Turn a blank, river an A. I decide I've had enough and leave, still up $200+ for the two days.

As for the club itself, it's very well run. The dealers are quick and efficient, and they bring checks right away when you need them. The food and drink are OK, overall it's a classy place. There are some concerns I had about the security last night though. The guard doesn't look like he could stop an ice cream truck. Unless he's doing the Mr. Furious routine from Mystery Men, that is. The cage door was left unlocked and unattended repeatedly. I understand there was only about 10 people there, and there are cameras everywhere, but it's still a bad idea. Tonight was better, two people covering the cage it was attended all the time. I am told that Saturday night there was over $70k on the tables, so they definitely need to stay on top of the money.

I will definitely play again, and I recommend it to the CPMGers at large. The owner/manager/whatever and I talked and he is emphatic that he wants to spread a variety of games and would absolutely get experienced dealers if we wanted to do mix games or draw games. I hope this takes off.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

A Profitable Weekend (Long and Rambling, sorry)

This is my one free weekend this month (no kids, no on call for work) so I decided to be as big a degenerate as possible for me. Kirsten and I hit Eddie J's on Friday night for some $1/1 NLHE. I've been staying away from NL for the most part due to the excessive beatings I've been taking at it, but she really wanted to go and I didn't feel like sitting at home alone, so I decided to take a couple buy-ins and just nit it up.

I lost half my $150 stack early on, guy raised with 10's preflop, I called with 58s and flop came 3-5-6 2 spades. I check-raised him all-in and he quickly called, of course I bricked out. I was hovering around $80 when I got moved to the second table. The table was playing very passive except for the guy on the end who decided to bet every hand when it was checked to him since people kept folding. I check-raised him for $50 on a stone bluff (my one try for the night) and he folded, bringing me back up to a little profit. That hand got me rolling, and then I started slamming the game hard. I limped with 2-2, no raises, flop comes Q-10-2 two diamonds. Dawn bets out $10, I raise to $25. She re-raises to $60, I shove. She tanks, and calls out my hand "I know you have a set of 2's". She turns her hand up, she has Q-10c. She talks herself into believing I'm on a draw and shoves in $150 more and my hand holds up. I then slid into that awesome zone where I was actually making hands and getting paid. I called a raise with AK and flopped Broadway, I raised preflop with J's and turned J's full of 4's, etc. I ran it up to about $500 and was considering leaving when we got merged to one table.

I continued to hit hands including flopping another set of J's against someone with KJ, and I put a couple of sick suckout beats on Aunt Patty. She got me early on with a couple of dumb plays (raises UTG with 78 off, I flop trip 9's and she turns a straight, etc). She was getting short stacked and opened for a $12 raise with 6's. I called with AK. Flop was 2-4-7. She shoves for about $45, I call. Turn A, I take it down. She got all mad, but she had what I figured her for (plus I was WAY up at that point) and putting a beat on Patty is just desserts. There was one giant clusterfuck hand with Eddie J that cemented my night. In early position, Jewish Andy (who, BTW, is not Jewish) raises to $8. I call with Q9h, Eddie calls, a couple other people call. Flop comes 9-9-8 2 clubs. Andy leads out and I pop it to $50. Eddie re-raises all-in. Guy behind him calls for $47. Andy tanks and folds (he said he had KK I think). I tank for a minute, but I decide that Eddie's range is open and he could be anywhere from a draw like J-10c to a 9. I figure in a cash game I really can't fold trips, so I call. Eddie tables 8's for a flopped full. Turn is a blank, river a Q for a higher boat. Eddie looked like someone shot his dog. Up to about $750, I hit cruise control for a while until it comes down to the very last hand of the night. I am in the blind with JJ, Eddie raises from the mid to $8. I pop it to $20. He thinks I'm making a move because it's last hand, he calls. Flop is 2-3-3 two hearts. I lead for $50. He tanks for a minute and just calls. Turn is a Q. I am concerned that he may be on overs like AQ or KQ, but I am not folding. I put $100 out. Eddie tanks again and finally shoves for another $40. I call and table my Jack's. River is a blank and Eddie mucks. I finally cash out $963 on a single $150 buyin.

Saturday night at Dave's did not go as well. I busted out of the tournament about halfway in, I had been floating and couldn't get any momentum. Tournament just isn't my game right now. I sit down at 8 game and for the first few orbits I can't miss. I get into a couple hands with Colin and I put a couple of horrible beats on him, and I run my stack up to about $400. I then proceed to give $150 of it to RR Dave on a stone bluff (my one of the night) and was of course picked off. I put a lot of pressure on him, but he couldn't lay down bottom set and I get snapped off. (I don't think he made a bad call, certainly I would've. I obviously didn't put him on a set or I wouldn't have bluffed at all). I spiral down to about $55 and get up to go play NL. The NL table is down to me, K, Mailman, Dave, Paoli, and Roland. It's a nit-fest, with everyone folding to $3 raises. I float there until Mailman flops a set against Roland's flopped straight and busts, breaking the table. I head back to 8 game with 15 minutes left to final orbit. I get into a couple of huge hands with Jeff Reigler (including making a wheel in Stud 8) and run myself back up to about even. When the table finished I was back up to $184, minus my tournament loss I profited $4 for the session. This was after I covered about $50 in prop losses, my Jack of Hearts really fucked me last night, I couldn't hit shit in the first round of props.

Today I'm going to go over and check out this Gemini Players Club and see what the deal is. Everyone says it's a berry patch, so I may end up liking it and it's pretty close. I will report back on it after I play a little and try it out.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

A Break Even Weekend, Sort Of...

I didn't get to play a lot of poker the past week, I have been on call for work. Working 14+ hours a day takes it out of me (I'm not 23 anymore, and I can feel it) and it's tough to concentrate on poker when the threat of the phone ringing lurks behind you. I made it to Dave's last night for some hot 8 game action and was seated at the most ridiculous tournament table. I'm sandwiched inbetween Chan and Gary K, who have decided that they don't really care about the tournament and are playing like it.

Chan is raising blind before the cards are dealt, Gary is calling without looking, Chan is shoving blind on the flop, etc etc etc. Can I get a hand to hold up? Nope. I take the rest of Gary's first buyin with pocket Jacks, but other than that I couldn't get any momentum. I blinded down to about 6K when I shoved on Mailman with KJh. He snap called with A2 and I was out. In the cash game, I sit down at NL for a few minutes until the 8 game opens up. No real hands of note, though I did make $40 in about 10 minutes. Once 8 game opened up it got more interesting. Jeff was in full calling mode, running me down several times in stud and razz with hands he shouldn't be calling a bring in with. I can't complain too much, I want him to stay in with this crap, it just gets frustrating to see him in so far behind and then win the hand.

There was the usual drama, too. We ended up with Grayday at our 8 game table because the NL broke up at 3:15. Chan and Andrew had decided that they didn't want to play five handed NL anymore, so they got up and moved to a different table to play heads up NL. With only three people left the NL table broke and Grayday sat with us. He's both a gift and a curse - he has no idea how to play (and that's good for my profit) but it slows the game down with the constant "How much can I make it?" and "What do I have?".

I should be back to regular pokering soon, the winter season is letting up and spring is slow for work so I will have more free time to roll. I am finally out of debt and making money for the first time in three years, so I can establish a roll and seek out better games for my skill set. I heard there was a $5/10 Stud 8 game at Mountaineer recently, I would take the day off work and rob someone to play in that game.

As for my new poker app, I like it. I think I'll buy the full version. It's easy to set up, and the chart does not hide anything from me. I do like seeing the little line moving upward after every 8 game session (though this time it only went up $7, but they can't all be life changers I guess).