Drowning On The River: A Low Limit Poker Blog

Where The Hell Have You Been?

2012-02-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Well, as usual I've gotten lazy. I see I haven't posted a blog post since before Christmas. I've had a few irons in the fire (so to speak) and I haven't been playing regularly enough to justify regular postings.

As most of you are aware, I have re-booted the CPMG podcasting machine. My friend Eddie J did a series of podcasts years ago (he was ahead of his time) but nothing much came out of it. I decided the time was right to revisit the concept but with a more organic flow. Ugh, I hate that I even typed the words "organic flow". Anyway, I asked our Organizer Supreme Mr. Data to give it a go and it seems to be fairly popular. We decided to get Colin on and do a cash game 'cast first as cash seems to be king lately and it would provide a good wealth of material to discuss. I was surprised at how well things have jelled with us.

John and I make a decent team, I think. He does a lot of show prep, including making a list of hands and questions for the guests. I do little to no prep, I just let it fly and see what happens. It seems to be working well, he fills in the gaps in conversation with ease and plays the straight man to my jokes. Hopefully it picks up steam and we can keep it going as a regular thing. John recently decided to spring for the hosting fee (currently $30/year) despite my offering to pay for half. He felt I was in enough already since I had purchased the microphone ($58 on Amazon with free shipping) and was doing all the tech work. If it gets to where we need more bandwidth I'll definitely be kicking in to cover our usage. We're even listed with iTunes now and seem to be drawing in listeners from there. In three days we had over 80 downloads on our podcasts and almost 100 site hits. I'd say that's pretty good for two goofballs working on a shoestring budget.

If you want to check it out for yourself, go to http://cpmgpodcast.podbean.com

The link will also be added to the links section next to this post.

As for poker itself, I've stopped playing NLHE completely for cash. I'm also whittling my tournament time down and concentrating on rebuilding my ravaged bankroll. A little advice to you out there - don't have kids. Kids are bankroll kryptonite. I've had to dip into it a few times now to cover presents, birthday gifts, etc since business has been slow. My roll is pretty much evaporated, so it's time to stop playing for a while.

Kirsten and I are planning on taking an epic road trip for my birthday. It's been two years since I was in Vegas and I really want to go again. With airfare so high right now, we decided to rent a car and drive to Nevada and back. We're going to head through the South, stopping along the way in Texas and ending up in LV. On the way back I believe we're going to take the Northern route and stop and see a few things I missed on my Reno road trip with Greg. This trip means a lot to me, and in order for me to enjoy it properly I need to concentrate on saving up my bankroll instead of playing. Willpower isn't my strong point, so we'll see how it works out. I am currently planning on taking $3200-3600 with me (part of which will cover expenses too).

So, for the time being, look for irregular updates and the occasional podcast link.

Oh Give Me A Home Where The Cashalo Roam

2011-12-02T14:54:00.001-08:00

(this post dedicated to the creative stylings of Matt G who did not write nor endorse this post)

Dusk was nearly upon them. Their horses were thirsty and tired. The trod along slowly, taking in the scenery. It had been another long, lonely day roaming the plains of the mighty Cuyahoga, herding and protecting their charges.

Ole Grayday stopped and gazed at the spot where a fence was being erected. He heaved a long sigh. He was a grizzled old veteran, his skin sunbleached and weathered like the leather hat that sat haphazardly on his head. He looked over at his partner.

"Damn shame, that is..." he said, motioning toward the fence.

"Yup. Remember when you couldn't have put a fence there 'cause there was so many cashalo around here? It'd be trampled near instantly".

His partner Matt G was younger but just as battle weary. He had a scar on his face from his first week on the job, a large and unwieldy cashalo charged him and bashed him up pretty bad. He had considered quitting right there but Ole Grayday convinced him otherwise. He shifted his weight on his horse.

"C'mon, let's take this old war horses over to McCarthy's Creek and wet 'em down" said Matt.

"Whatever".

They steered their horses over to the creek and gazed out at Nautica Ranch. Once, years ago, the ranch had been teeming with cashalo (Cash Buffalo). There were so many wandering around you couldn't keep track. Then the hunters came, killing more and more cashalo without letting any of them recover or letting them reproduce. After years of non stop killing, the cashalo had all but vanished. The few that remained were not very desirable. They were tough to kill and there wasn't much meat on them. The hunters had started turning on each other, fighting over the few cashalo that were worth killing.

Ole Grayday mused out loud.

"I remember when this place was PACKED. ALL cashalo, as far as you could see. We could eat like kings for days courtesy of one large cashalo. We'd take our time, make sure we did it gently. We'd spend hours cooking the meat and storing it away. Now they strip them like pirhana. Savages..."

Work was drying up for professional cashalo rustlers like Matt and Ole Grayday.

"Hey Grayday, you ever think of heading over to one of the tuffalo ranches?" Tuffalo (Tournament Buffalo) were looked down upon by the cashalo hunters. Tuffalo tended to be much smaller, harder to strip clean. It took forever to deplete a tuffalo. Cashalo hunters wanted big game and large hauls, not small packets.

"Fuck that" he said. "I'll go to fuckin' Rivers first".

Rivers was the last of the golden hunting grounds that was anywhere near where they were. Matt and Grayday often spent weeks up there chasing game. Even there the hunting was getting tough and the scores getting smaller.

The tuffalo ranches were thriving though. They had plenty of meat, it was just smaller and less filling. You had to slaughter a lot more tuffalo to eat the same as you could have before. Matt wished the hunters had been more patient, had taken the time to help young cashalo grow and prosper rather then slather them with steak sauce as soon as they got big enough. No one wanted to nuture a cashalo. Even other cashalo hated their young. Whenever a calf would wander too close to the big game they would be beaten or shocked into running away.

The horses finished drinking and the two old sage ranchers looked at each other.

"Want to head over to Myers Ranch?" asked Ole Grayday.

"I guess."

The two horses trotted off toward Ridge Road. The faint voices of the two veterans could be heard on the breeze as they swapped stories of days gone by.

"That fuckin' bull hit a two outer on me!"

Another Classic Fall

2011-11-24T07:39:00.001-08:00

This is my (tardy) Fall Classic report. I haven't been blogging as much due to a distinct downswing in my playing time. I've been working full time and dealing cards (sometimes two nights a week) and haven't had time to do what I'd WANT to do - which is camp out at the Rivers $4/8 limit. I did manage to free up a Saturday night and headed to TK's in Seville for the CPMG Fall Classic™.

I wasn't going to play originally. $200 is a bit to plunk down (especially when you've been playing dead awful) but I decided to give it a go after receiving some backing for half my buy-in. Apparantly someone in the group decided lighting $100 on fire would be fun so they offered it to me.

In the first few levels I played pretty well. I made a few hands, built a decent stack. Then came UNREASONABLY LARGE HAND I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IN #1. We're in the $75/150 level I believe and T. Meats raises to around $700. Diablo three bets him to $1700. Julie calls. I know for a fact Meat will squeeze here, it's too much money and he doesn't want to play the hand four ways. I call with 7-7. Meats four bets to $5100. Diablo calls. Julie, oddly, folds. I know that (a) I am behind, (b) I am closing the preflop action, and (c) my stack can take the hit if I am wrong. There's so much in there that I decide to call. The flop is K-6-7 two hearts. Now, my preflop thought is that Meat is either on AA or AK, and I figure if I check raise him he's very likely to fold as he would suspect I seriously outflopped him. I decide to open/shove my stack in. Meat snap calls. Diablo reluctantly folds and I show the bad news. Meat has AK and is drawing dead on the turn. I scoop the pot and then decide to needle the living shit out of the loser afterwards. A few people commented to me how class-less and uncouth I was behaving, but I have been dealing with Meats for YEARS and feel I've earned the right to thoroughly enjoy his misery. I capped the display by raking in the pot and rubbing his chips all over myself before stacking them. (ewww, right?).

I also manage to cripple and then stack Grayday with AA. I raised him preflop, flop was J-7-3 with two clubs. I am first to act and C-bet only to have him raise the shit out of me. I can't flat - it's either push or fold. I am seriously close to folding but ultimately decide my stack can survive the hit if I'm wrong. I shove and he calls with AJ and I stack him.

Then, I played UNREASONABLY LARGE HAND I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN IN #2. From the button I raise to $5k with 89d. I only have to get through Cleveland Josh and Rufe to collect the blinds so I'm not worried about it. Josh does more nitting than a Chinese factory worker and if Rufe played any tighter he would squeak when he walked. Josh shoves on me, 28k more. Rufe folds and I find myself in a spot. Normally any decent player would fold. I convince myself that the only way to pry chips out of Josh is to get it in worst, which I do. I turn an 8 and brick the river and his QQ doubles up and I officially enter the DP Blowup. I run my stack down low and after the final break I have only 20k left. I get it in on the last hand of the night with K9 (6 handed) and of course Jen wakes up with QQ in the big blind and I am out.

I played really shitty and couldn't take my foot off the gas after running my stack up to 94k at one point. The only reason I didn't cash is because I played stupid and took risks I didn't have to. I made a bad call and it cascaded into more bad plays. I CAN lay blame on the one player at the table that always seems to have my number. This guy is fucking horrible and runs me down every time. I can't shake him off a hand most of the time and he's dead awful.

That'd be me.

In my next blog I will be doing a "Q&A with DP". Email/text/FB msg me your questions and I will post them along with whatever bullshit answers I have.

Poker and I Decide To Hang Out A Little

2011-10-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

I was on my own last weekend and decided that I would play a little poker for a change (since I had done little of that lately). I have been dealing once a week but haven't been at a cash game since TK had his 8 game a few weeks ago. I decided to play Data's Poker After Dark on Saturday night.

I got there in time for the start and was treated to an 8 handed game instead of 9 due to some late cancellations. No matter, I was ready. I started off well, raising a few hands and taking down flops uncontested. My competition was a nitfest - Data, Jamie, Meats, Rufe, Mark H and then for some action Randy and Tuttle. I snapped it off in Mark early on in what was considered a controversial hand. There was a raise preflop (can't remember who it was - I believe Meats) and I called with 3-5c, despite my poker coach's repeated admonitions about suited garbage. The flop came 2-4-6 two spades. I check/raised my hand and Mark came along. The turn brought the third spade, but I decided to bet anyway because I'm an idiot. I slammed it in and Mark snap called me. I tossed my cards in and said "You're good", and Mark showed a set of 6's no spade. I immediately retrieved my cards despite Mark's protest that I had mucked. Data ruled that in an all-in situation the cards get turned up no matter if they are mucked or not. My straight held and he was broke. He left in a bit of a huff, and I guess I understand why. When he called so fast I assumed he had the flush but he didn't and I got off on a technicality.

After that it was a lot of up and down. I was getting playable hands but missing flops, and then I ran my AA into Data's set of 8's to double him up. I was getting frustrated. I raised preflop with ATh and got a few callers. The flop was A-T-4 one heart. I bet the flop as I usually would after a raise and got Jamie to call. The turn was the Jh, giving me Broadway and nut flush draws along with top two. I bet again and Jamie raised me. I shoved all-in and he tanked. He finally called and showed AQ off. I flushed on the river but I didn't need it. I whittled my stack away again and was getting short when I got into a cluster with Jamie. I had looked at him and gotten the feeling that he was going to raise his BB if I just limped. I decided if I had a hand I was going to pound him. It folded to me in the SB and I raised with 44. He stalled as he was grabbing raising chips and I grabbed my stack while he wasn't looking. He raised and I instantly shoved in on him. He quickly called and showed JJ. Ooops! 4 on the flop, quads on the turn. From there I ran my stack up to about 60k and just played well. I busted Rufe when he shoved with QJ and I called with K9s. After Jamie bubbled Data and I played heads up. It was over fairly quick. I raised with A4s from the button. He three bet me. I expected him to be very aggressive and he had been, so I decided to four bet shove. He snaps and shows AK. 4 on the river and I have him crippled. A few hands later he put it in with 67 against my K9 and hit a 6. Then he open/shoved with 97 on a steal and I called with K9d. My K held up and I took down $360.

Sunday I decided to play Pete's $1/2 since I had won the tournament and could afford a buy-in. Within the first few orbits I doubled up. I raised preflop to $12 with AKs. Four people called. Flop was 10 high with 2 spades. Adam led out for $40 and I shoved on him. He snap called and rolled over QT off no spade. Bink! 2s on the turn and I scoop. I took a few medium pots from there until I called Hiphop's all-in with KQ. Flopped a Q and it was good against his AK. The last big pot I was in involved Adam again. He made it $8 preflop and I called from the BB with 93c. Couple other people peeled the flop as well. Flop was K-Q-4 two clubs. It checked to Adam who bet $15. I called and everyone else bailed. Turn was a 9. I checked and Adam bet $40. I called. River was another 9. I missed my flush but I was sure trips was good. I let out for $100, making it look like I missed my clubs. He quickly called and I showed him the 9's. He mucked and shipped me $100 more. I played a few more orbits and cashed out +$430.

I run good once in a while I guess.

Adventures In Civic Duty

2011-10-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

SPOILER: There is NO poker content in this blog post. It also a very long post about my jury duty experience. If you're easily bored then I suggest heading over to Grayday's blog for a bit.

So, as most of you are aware I was pressed into jury service a couple of weeks ago. I've been called before for various municipalities but never even had to show up before. I blew it off once, taking a 90 day postponement because I had to work and summer is busy time. Since I was "between jobs" I decided not to postpone again and just showed up. I had heard that I'd likely get cut loose by Wednesday since it probably wouldn't be busy.

For those of you that have never had the pleasure, anyone who is a licensed driver OR registered voter is a potential juror for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. They tell you on the summons that service is minimum 5 days. I had no idea whatsoever what I was getting into, so I showed up day one with 209 other upstanding residents of our county with only my iPod and $5 in my pocket. We got hustled into a room where we had to scan our summons in, show ID, and get our pamphlet explaining just how much bullshit you were in for. Then you get herded across the hall into the jury holding pen (AKA "The Pit"). You're allowed to roam and graze but you cannot leave the penned in area lest you be poached.

After a half hour of sitting around we were treated to a badly shot video from the late 80's about how jury service works. We also got to talk to an actual judge (who came down from up on high to speak to us common folk in our own language - how quaint!). I decided that it was a mistake not to have a book, iPhone charger, newspaper, etc to keep me entertained. After an hour of drudgery they began calling names. The process is pretty simple - they call roughly double the jurors they need and march you up to the courtroom's jury deliberation room. You wait there until they muster you and march you into the courtroom. Sometimes the cases settle and you just sit there until they release you back to The Pit. Lucky me, our case was a go. Luckier me, I was in the first 12. This meant I got to sit in the jury box and not the gallery.

Our group got marched into the courtroom of Judge McGinty and were seated in the box. The next step in the process is the "voir dire (french for 'speak the truth')" . During voir dire, the lawyers for the prosecution and defense list their witnesses and go over the charges, and they ask the jury questions to make sure you don't know anyone involved in the case. Our case turned out to be a pretty big one. The defendant was a 49 year old guy from Lakewood who met a 17 year old mentally handicapped girl online and ended up inviting himself over to her house repeatedly and coercing her into sex. I was pretty sure I would get excused from the jury, as I mentioned during the questioning that I knew someone who is currently serving time for something similar. The judge brought up that we would be shown videos that the defendant made of the encounters he had with the girl. A few people were visibly rattled by this, one kid was excused after saying he thought the defendant was disgusting. Several of the women waffled on being able to watch the videos but the judge was reluctant to excuse people. The defense and prosecutors took turns excusing jurors until we got a break around 4PM. During the break, one of the alternates decided he was done and left. When we got back up the courtroom he got called and wasn't there. They couldn't skip over him, so the judge excused us for the night. Instead of getting jury selection done in one day we had to come back. We were all admonished not to dicuss details with anyone and then we were cut loose.

Day two I decided to bring some stuff to amuse me since I was expecting to be excused. I had my phone, charger, a deck of cards, newspaper, etc. We were supposed to be there by 9AM to be called up to finish jury selection. We were called up at 9 and had to wait until 10 to get into the courtroom. The lawyers excused all the alternates we had, so 6 more people were called up. (We originally had 22 people to fill 15 seats - 12 jurors and three alternates). We cycled through all of them until the lawyers ran out of challenges and we were down to 15. Oddly, I made the jury. After lunch we were given notebooks and the prosection opened. Trial is nothing like on TV. The courtroom was surprisingly small and stuffy and the testimony was droll. Questions were asked over and over, the amount of repetition is mind numbing.

The first witness we saw was the victim. She was definitely "off", you could tell something wasn't right with her. She broke down crying at one point and we had to take a break. The crux of the case was that she was too impaired to understand she was being taken advantage of. The defense cross was very weak, they didn't want to attack her and make the defendant look like more of a scumbag. After a few more witnesses we got excused for the day again. Day 3 was probably the most boring of all. We had to listen to cop after cop testify to the same exact things - where they served the search warrant, what they seized, what their training was, etc etc. I was so bored I had to drink copious amounts of coffee to stay awake.

Day 4 was the most "controversial" day of all. That was the day we got the meat of the testimony from the main detective on the case. They showed us a power point presentation listing the videos the idiot defendant had made of himself. Each video was broken down for us and we were only shown key points. The judge and lawyers had decided not to make us sit through all 90 minutes of it and instead we got "bullet points". Then we were treated to the defendant's wedding video (he forced the victim to marry him when the cops got involved because he thought she wouldn't be able to testify against him at trial). We also got to see a video of his police interview where he babbled on and on about how he knew she was hanicapped but he didn't think he was doing anything wrong. There was an expert witness that testified as to how the girl was exceedingly naive and vulnerable to control. I made a point of paying little attention to the videos. I knew the other jurors were taking a ton of notes and I felt it was more important to watch the reactions of the defendant, the witnesses, etc as the videos played. People give you their most honest reactions when they don't feel like they are being watched and every set of eyes except mine was on the video presentations. The defendant at time rolled his eyes, had a smirk on his face, or was otherwise not reacting like someone who believed he was in some serious shit. After the dog and pony show we were released for the night. The judge promised us we would have the case by Friday to start deliberating.

Day 5 (Friday) was supposed to go quick. The defense was not planning on actually putting on a defense, so we should've been getting the closing arguments fairly quickly. Instead we sat around until almost noon waiting to be called in. When we finally were marched in, we sat down and the defense rested it's case. Then we were immediately dismissed for lunch. We were in the courtroom less than 5 minutes in four hours. After lunch the closings began. The prosecution got to do the first and last closings. They opened with one prosecutor basically babbling for five minutes and resting. This was a dodge on their part - they gave the defense nothing good to rebut in their presentation. The defense was relatively short - they were gambling that the state simply hadn't proved it's case well enough. The defense rested and the final prosecution presentation started. This was much more polished, with another power point display and some theatrics on the part of the attorney. Finally we got to jury instructions, which was two and a half hours of the judge reading all 45 charges and the applicable laws and definitions to us. At 5 we were sent to pick a foreman before they would let us leave. Everyone wanted the school teacher on our panel to do it since she had been on a jury before but she refused. I finally volunteered and we broke for the night. Monday was a holiday so we had to come back Tuesday to deliberate.

On Tuesday I expected this to go quick. We all agreed on about half the charges - child porn (he had clearly made videos while she was underaged), tampering with evidence (when the police arrived to serve the warrant the criminal mastermind pried his hard drive out with a screwdriver and threw it out the window), and endangering a child (goes with the child porn). The sticking point turned out to be the rape and imposition charges - in order for him to be guilty we had to all agree the girl was too impaired to realize what she was doing. 10 of us agreed, 2 did not. One guy felt she wasn't that impaired and had "lured" the guy in. One of them was so spaced out she wasn't sure who did what and was confused about everything. We finally decided as a group to watch every video all the way through to see how she acted the whole time. After doing so the other two were convinced and we convicted him on all 45 counts. Once the verdict was read in court we were told we had to return for one more day but we weren't told why.

On Wednesday (Day 8) we arrived at 1PM and got called in. Since we had convicted the defendant was had to now decide if he was a violent sexual predator. We finally got told his criminal history - he had previous felony convictions for molesting an 8 year old boy, had dozens of arrests for indecent exposure, etc. We deliberated less than an hour and decided he was. Once everything was decided we were excused and got to meet the judge in his office. He told us about why the trial had been delayed and thanked us all for our service. We left confident we had done the right thing.

A week later the defendant was sentenced to 100 years to life in prison.

"DP, Why Don't You Update Your Blog?"

2011-10-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a bit since my last blog post. This is for a few reasons. One, I've played very little poker. I have attended a few small tournaments and a few mix cash games, but very little worth reporting on in here. Second, my last post might have been the best one I've ever made. It's a little hard to follow up. (Oh, for those of you who couldn't wait to tell Colin I was taking shots at him in my last post - grow up. I've never hidden behind a blog, if I want to take shots I'll do it in person. Learn to read. I clearly said more than once I feel he's one of the best cash players in the group). Third, I've been a busy boy. Since last we talked I have started a new job, spent two weeks on jury duty, and been dealing more poker than I've been playing.

I did attend Mr. Data's $4/8 O8 game a few weeks ago. That was a colossal clusterfuck. I took a marker to play (which I normally don't do, but the table seemed to be to my advantage). I ran myself -$310 in about 5 hours and was very close to tapping out (and driving off a bridge) when Jimmy Bunch arrived. I changed seats and began to dig myself out. By the end of the game I had paid off my markers (yes, that's more than one) and had $45 in profit. That stands as my biggest come back in a limit poker cash game. I could regale you with tales of Adam literally hitting every flop (I have never seen so many flopped full houses in my life, not to mention his straight flush and flopped quads). The guy runs God-like. For him, it's a bad beat when he DOESN'T flop the nuts. (that line courtesy of the Meats). I could describe my heroic comeback. What's important is I dug myself too deep a hole and somehow managed to get back out.

This was not the case at TK's this past week. I played his tournament and was actually doing very well when I just made a horrific decision and lost 90% of my stack. I had a good stack, Pyxis had moved all-in and Data re-shipped (I thought) to protect. For reasons I can't explain I put my stack in with 10-7d and got mutilated by his AA. It was a complete dissociative experience. The cash game didn't go very well either. We played 8 game (first time this year) and the 2-7 triple draw mauled me. Every time I made a draw Jen made one better. Twice I was dealt 2-3-4-7 to start and drew three bricks. I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I finally tapped down $200. I guess I shouldn't say I tapped, it was 5 AM and TK kicked us out.

I've also been dealing for a local game. Those of you who follow my blog and message board posts have already pointed out to me that it seems hypocritical for me to criticize certain home games and then go deal for one. As I pointed out - (1) I'm dealing not playing, and (2) I never said I wasn't a hypocrite. Deal with it.

I've also spent the past two weeks in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court empaneled on a jury for a juicy 45 county felony case. I won't post details here but if you ask me in person I will convey to you the tedium that is juror service. Surprisingly, I would do it again. I think I missed my calling, I would've made a hell of a public defender.

More blog posts will follow as I actually play more. I plan on attending the Fall Classic $200 two day Chop-a-ment and will keep everyone updated on my lack of progress as a player.

2011-09-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

"For a guy like DP, taking a shot is playing the $1/1 at Terry's because he's been hitting" - Colin (at Adam's $4/8 O8 game).

Ego.

It's a poker player's worst enemy. Ego causes more bad poker decisions than reading Harrington on Hold'em. A year ago, that comment by Colin would've pissed me off. A year ago I was still clinging to the delusion that I could play as good as anyone else in the group. I thought that when I was sharp I could outplay anyone else. I mean, you have to believe that, right? Why the fuck would anyone sit at a cash table knowing they were going to get owned? Yet, I did it over and over and over. For years.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks in my poker development has been my generous ego. Win a few pots off Colin or Brian and I feel like Mike McD in Rounders, ready to go blow my load on Teddy KGB. Then I'd go and get crushed a few times and curse my bad luck. After all, I couldn't have been outplayed right? I wasn't outmatched was I? Of course not! Oh, wait, yes I was.

It takes a lot out of a poker player to admit that he simply sucks at a game. For me, that part of poker that I am terrible at is NLHE cash games. I've told myself every excuse available to soothe my damaged ego. Look back into the past two years of my blog, they're all in there. I had convinced myself that I simply ran bad for three years. How is that even possible? I was sure it was because I was at times severely under bankrolled for games. The problem with that excuse is that I played equally bad when I was flush with bankroll. I just didn't notice all the losses until they tapped me. One of the things that has helped me with my cash game decisions is the Poker Journal app for the iPhone. After installing it, I was finally able to see just how fucking horrible I was. Not only that, but PJ breaks down for me what games I am getting trounced at. Guess which ones? Yes, NLHE cash. I would play NL for a while, sometimes bank a few wins, then spew it all off. Then I'd crawl back to LHE and grind up a roll and do it all over again. My only profitable games are the ones that most everyone agrees I am best at - Limit HE and mix games.

So, why don't I just play the games I'm best at? Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? From a strictly statistical point of view, that's the smartest thing to do. An investor on Wall Street wouldn't continue to dump money into a stock that he KNEW was a long term loser. So, why would I dump money in such a manner? I used to marvel at John (Mr. Data) and the discipline he showed by never playing NLHE cash with us. He knew it wasn't a profitable game for him, and simply wouldn't play it. Instead of marveling at him, I should've taken the hint.

Ego.

I wanted to beat the better guys. I wanted to be the one doing the owning. Over the course of the past few months, I have reached a turning point. I am very serious about pursuing poker as not just a leisure but a source of income. I just need to overcome my ego. I have to be able to admit that I am not (by a longshot) the best NLHE cash player in the group. In fact, I am probably one of the worst. I always thought that given a large enough roll I could outplay anyone else. There's been a few things that have happened that have convinced me of how wrong I was.

First, I read a book. This particular book expounded at length about how willing stupid people are to sit and get cleaned out by "pro" players. The author was amazed that otherwise smart people would volunteer to sit with pros and lose money to them happily just to say they played with someone that good. I realized that part of the reason I continued to play with the best players we have is just to maintain that illusion that I was as good as them. They'd all invite me to games first because I was easy money to them. The second thing was my lack of bankroll in the past few months. I'd had to dip into it to clear bills, buy things for the kids, and pay my own expenses. It was left pretty decimated. This actually forced my hand - with a bankroll of only a few hundred dollars I simply CAN'T play any NLHE cash games. I can't afford it. I had to play limit games - and suddenly I was grinding out a profit. Consistently. Add some mix games (except for my bad weekend two weeks ago where I had no business even playing) and I'm actually turning my Poker Journal needle around.

I'm one of the few people in the group that can admit that I am a losing player. Not that it's a secret, mind you. I am down overall for the past two years. 90% of it is NLHE cash. Ask any five people from our group, and all five will tell you they're ahead for the year. I know a few people (I won't mention names but if you play regularly you can fill in the blanks) who seem to never have a losing session. They are never down. They always manage to dig back out when they are stuck. Every time I ask how they did I hear them say they're up (even when other people at the table agree they were massively stuck). I understand it though. No one wants to say they're a loser. No one wants to face the idea of being a bad player. It's like the guy who never makes a bad play or never makes a bad call. Everyone else knows he's full of shit, but he feels like he has to justify his stupid call or he'll lose face. What more of image do I have to lose? Everyone agrees (usually behind my back but lately even to my face) that I am a bad player. So, what will be saved by me continuing to delude myself? Nothing.

So, I am refocusing. With my personal situation changing, I have more freedom than ever before in my life. I am able to take off when I feel like it and go play. I can take the car and point it at Rivers when the mood strikes me to and play $4/8 all weekend. I can sniff out the good mix games and festivals and grind them out. Will I make $1000 at a sitting playing low limit? No. Will I finally get my shit together and become a winning player? I hope so.

Otherwise, what's the point in playing? Ego?

2011-09-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

The Poker Player's Christmas

So, everyone in our area that enjoys poker LOVES Labor Day weekend. It's an extra day off to play poker, AND the area is jammed with local church festivals that have poker games going. I had a full weekend of poker booked, starting with Data's Poker After Dark. The day of the game (around 2PM) he lets me know the A/C doesn't work. So, me being an A/C mechanic, I head there after the game and get it running. I buy in and leave, running home for a shower and wardrobe change. I should've stayed home.

The first hand I play is AA. It folds to the SB (to my right, a new guy named John I think). He limps, I raise. He calls. Flop Q-10-2. He checks, I bet, he quickly calls. Q on the turn. Ruh roh. He checks, and I decide to see where I'm at. I bet and he quickly calls again. Shit, he has a Q. River is a brick and he checks a third time. I roll over AA and he slaps QJ down and scoops the pot. After last weekend's horrible run I seriously consider just leaving at that point. I can see I'm going to be running bad and I'm already demoralized and stuck. I stick around for another couple hours, winning only a few small pots. I finally bleed down to nearly nothing and shove 7BB with pocket 3's. Colin calls with A8 and I am drawing dead preflop. Sure enough, A on the flop. Ugh.

Saturday I had decided I wasn't going to play, until Ryan Rufe (proprietor of Rufebert's Poker Room) decided to host a single table $40 SNG. I headed over and we ended up 8 handed. Jack had asked if we could do a single emergency rebuy and Ryan agreed if you busted before the first break. I was running bad early and kept raising into better hands or getting trapped. I reshipped my stack with A5h against Jimmy's 10's and he reluctantly called, busting me. I rebought and went on a heater. I began making hands and good reads. I busted Yosh and his friend and built up the #2 stack at the table. Jack went out on the bubble and it was me vs. Jimmy heads up. I doubled up early with Q2 against his 99 (Q on flop). I started chipping away at him until I had a slight lead, then I finished him. I shoved preflop (blinds at this point had me with 15BB and chip lead) with 78c. He snap calls with AA, and I flop a straight and flush draw. River 6 locks it up for me and I win.

With that win (and a bankroll again) I decided to hit the St. Elias charity festival. Most of my CPMG friends were heading to St. Rocco's to play NL because their games were notoriously soft. I wanted to play limit, and from what I heard it was a zoo trying to get in at St. Rocco's so I went to Brooklyn instead. I bought in at $3/6 and got sat at a table of absolute morons. There were only two other people who knew how to play and we took turns beating up the fish. I ground out a $175 profit (at $3/6 this is a huge win) and left. I was up, I left with a profit, and fuck it all I felt good! I stopped at the main tent while I was waiting for the rain to die down and watched the arab girls belly dancing.

Sunday I decided to go make another withdrawal at St. Elias. I got there at 1:05 (doors open at 1) and got waitlisted for $3/6. I was about to sit at $1/2 when someone got up to move to $1/2. I took the limit seat and was steady grinding for a few hours. I was up $110 when the cards turned on me. I got rivered in a few big pots. I made a few iffy calls and they didn't work out. I was back to about dead even when I went on the sickest low limit run I've had in over a year. First I get dealt 33 in a kill pot (the limits are doubled for one hand). I flop 3's full and get paid. Then I win the next pot with 96 off from the button (flopped a 6, turned trips and cracked AA). Kill again. I get A-10, raise and get one callers. Flop A-4-5 get called all the way by QQ. Kill again. (These are consecutive hands). Get dealt 8-6 off and get into the biggest hand of the day at the table. One limper for $6, guy at other end makes it $12. Three callers to me. I already have $6 in or I wouldn't but fuck it, right? I call and lady behind me calls. Flop K-10-8 two clubs. From nowhere the lady inexplicably leads for $6 into the raiser. call-call-call to me. Hmph. I call. Turn, 6h. Bink! She leads for $12, call-call-fold to me. I bump it to $24. She snap calls, as does original raiser. Angry arab guy who had been tagging along gets mad and slams hand into the muck. River 2d. Check check to me. I lead for $12 as I am sure I have the best hand. Call-call. Angry arab who folded is having convulsions. Lady shows A-10 for a pair of 10's, original raiser has QQ for Q's, and I show my two pair and scoop a monstrous pot. Arab guy explodes, calling me horrible for raising him off his pocket 2's that would've won. Aw, sorry. I scoop it and post another kill which I take down by raising to $12 with 67d and getting no callers. Finally I post one last kill and fold 4-8 preflop to a raise. In that short span I went from even to +$402. I take a pic and send it to Kirsten who pleads with me to get up and leave. Data (who was on the rail) agrees I should leave. I play one more orbit, folding to the blinds again before getting up and banking my win. I mean, how much more can I reasonably expect to make?

Excited and happy, I walk out +$577 for two days work at $3/6. Sometimes, I really love this game.

2011-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

I Run Bad (My tardy "Weekend of 8-27/28 report")

So, as you might have noticed, my blog about two weeks ago is conspicuously absent. "Why didn't he post about his trip to PA?" you might be asking. More likely you are asking "Why do I keep reading this shit blog?". Probably to see if I'm going to trash anyone from the group.

Anyway, so I went to Rivers last Saturday to play more $4/8. I had been invited to play $3/6 HORSE+Triple Draw at Colin's but the guest list included someone who I personally despise and did not want to be around, so I decided to go to PA. Rivers has sent me a set of free parking passes for the entire football season. I know enough to know I don't want to get there late on a football day, so we leave at 3:30 knowing the game is at 7. Well, fuck. From the bottom of the off ramp to the parking garage at Rivers (normally 30 seconds) takes almost an hour. We were re-routed around the casino and around a highway detour and back. Note to self: Go early or don't go.

Inside I sat at $4/8. There was only one table and it wasn't full. I figured it would fill out after the game so I wasn't worried. I bought in $400 and proceeded to play awful for the next 10 or so hours. I was stuck $120 early merely from calling and bricking flops and missing draws. At one point I switched seats because there's a blind guy (no shit, he's 94% blind as he will tell you repeatedly) sitting to my right who gets up and leans over me every hand to see the board. He's a nice guy but it drives me nuts so I move. I go on a heater, winning three pots and am actually UP $3. Sad as it is, I consider leaving as I am feeling impatient and tired and am not hitting hands. Instead of doing the smart thing I stay too long and end up spewing off $200. I decided to get up when the table started breaking and sat down at a $1/3NL. I received 0 playable hands for almost 2 hours before going broke on a draw heavy board that I bricked twice. Tired, pissed off, and fairly broke I decided to shuffle back to Cleveland. That two hour drive home seems like 10 hours when you're stuck. Fortunately, I learned a long time ago to leave gas, toll, and food money in the car in case the session doesn't go well.

The next day I wanted to play the $4/8 O8 at Adam's but was having a liquidity problem with my cash flow (the well ran dry). I tapped another player for a buy-in and sat in the game. I ran really well for a while, building the $150 up to $270 before I had to leave for 45 minutes to run an errand. Upon my return I proceeded to miss everything, play too many hands, and spew off the stack. I borrowed another $100 which I managed to run myself almost back to even with, but Adam called the game before I could get completely unstuck. I ended up -$30 and embarrassed that I didn't leave when I was +$120.

The lesson to be learned here is: Stop playing when I'm so tired, and get up when I get up.

2011-08-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

Common Mistakes I See At Limit Hold'em Tables (Or, it's slow at work and I'm bored so here's a bonus blog entry)

I play a lot of Limit Hold'em. I do this for several reasons. First, most LHE players in casinos are AWFUL. They are inexperienced, they have the most obvious tells, and generally are easy to read and control. Second, LHE offers me a chance to limit my variance by being able to control pot size and betting. It's virtually impossible to get stacked in LHE on one hand, someone with a lot of experience can make a decent profit by grinding. LHE offers me a chance to build my bankroll without the risk of losing my entire stack to a two outer on the river. True, you don't generally make as much as you would playing NL but you also don't generally lose as much.

Most LHE players make the same mistakes over and over again, and they generally won't learn from the failures or don't understand them. I present to you a small list of common mistakes I see and how you can avoid doing the same and also capitalize on them yourself. In these examples I am referencing $4/8 limit but it applies to whatever you're playing.

1.) Buying In Too Short
This is the most common mistake I see. People often buy in to a limit table for the minimum or close to it. I don't understand why I see people put $100 on the table, lose it, and buy another $100 over and over. Why not just buy $200-$300? You simply cannot focus on playing good poker when you're this low. At NL short stacking is popular, but at limit it's just dumb. At limit tables I like to buy for a MINIMUM of 50BB (so, if you're playing $4/8 with $2/4 blinds, that'd be $200). I personally prefer to have closer to 100BB when I sit down. This gives me plenty of room to make mistakes and tight calls and still have enough chips to avoid feeling pressure.

2.) Checking Down Too Many Hands
I can't tell you how aggravating it is to see people check monstrous hands like full houses, flushes, etc on the river. WHY? If I have a full house and you're check/calling me I will let you go up to the window and get more chips to put in. I know a lot of locals at the table will try to play "friendly" with other locals and check down big hands, but I often see people check bottom full house because they are scared of quads or something stupid like this. You absolutely MUST squeeze every bet you can out of the suckers in the hand with you, ESPECIALLY at lower limits. If you miss 10 value river bets a night you're giving up $80 in profit at $4/8. That's retarded! Am I sometimes betting into quads? Sure, but if you're any good you should be able to limit the damage in spots like this.

3.) Calling People Too Light
Idiot: "I thought he was bluffing!"
Me: "At $4/8? That's a suicide run."
Idiot: "He done bluffed me once in 1956 with four aces on the board"
Me: "It's $4/8...you know what, nevermind. Good call with 22 on a board of AKQJJ."

Nothing drains your stack quicker than bottom pair/no kicker in limit. People think "Ah, it's just a couple of bets" to run someone down and see what they had. Why? I can sometimes justify a call on the flop if you're in position and no one's going to raise. If you don't turn help (like two pair or trips) the hand should be jettisoned. Bleeding $4 at a time adds up over a night. 10 saved flop bets is still $40. I would like $40. Give it to me and I'll slap you. Same idea.

4.) Playing Too Passively/Not Raising

People (often broke NL players trying to rebuild their stacks) will whine that you can't protect your hand at limit hold'em. Sure you can. I played 6-1/2 hours of $4/8 at Rivers last weekend and there were exactly two times the betting was three bet preflop and both times it was me needling a bad player (see last week's blogisodes). This is unacceptable. In late position with anything mildly playable I am raising. Even if only one idiot folds I am still bettering my odds. True, people WILL run you down in limit more often than NL. You need to adjust your game for this though. If I raise with AK (which I do every time) and the flop is 4-5-7 and the guy across from me wets his pants then I can check. Oh well, lost two bets. Ask yourself this - if it's limped to me, would I call two bets with this hand? If the answer is yes, RAISE. Maybe you miss (and you often will) but you will build a bigger pot and win more if you continue to raise. Playing too passively alerts people when you DO have a big hand because if you're a nit you never raise otherwise. Nits at LHE are doomed to be perpetual losers. If I see a table full of nits limping I will pound them to loosen it up. Just be sure you can take your foot off the gas if you're missing too many flops or getting run down a lot.

Hope you've learned a few things. Limit hold'em can be a gold mine for players like us. The people are easy to read, hands easy to figure out, and the money can be good if your hands hold up. Be prepared to take a ton of beats (limit is like paying $4 a hand to be kicked in the balls) but the pots you do win will make up for it. Control your emotion, exploit theirs.

Full weekend report will be posted Monday(ish).

2011-08-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

Poker Is A Game Of Skill, Or Is It?

(Part II of my special two part "you probably are getting sick of the length of my blog posts" series - make sure you read Part I below first)

Remember how I felt good and poker liked me back? Yeah, that didn't last. I was all jazzed up about playing at Terry's. Up to this point the weekend had been going well and I felt like I could win. I bought into the $100 deepstack and decided to snug up my play. I have been adjusting my tournament play including keeping a journal with notes on my play, strategy against certain players, tells, etc. I started off slow and it got even slower. I received precious few playable starting hands and the ones I did play either missed completely or won me small pots. I couldn't get a stack going and never once was above my starting amount. I folded round after round of Q3, J2, K3, etc etc. I was literally blinding to death. I finally got down low and open raised with AJ. Data shipped it in from the button. Caveman anguishes and folds JJ, and Data shows 99. After I busted I got a seat in the cash game. I was hesitant to play this game for two reasons: (a) this was a $1/1 but I knew it would play like a $2/5 or worse, and (b) these guys typically eat me alive. They're all overly aggressive and I have trouble beating them. I thought since I had been hitting it would be OK to take a shot. My first buy I was down $50 just from blinds and calling small raises and missing flops. I ended up stacking off to Ang when I flopped a set and she turned a straight. I didn't even see the straight, which should've been my signal to leave. Instead I lit fire to another buy-in. I got dealt aces and decided to slow play it. On a flop of Q-8-7 two diamonds I get my stack all-in against Krazy Mike who promptly turns a one out Q to get the rest. At that point I couldn't justify another buy-in, it wasn't likely I would make it back and the max buy was too low to chase. Instead I left.

Sunday I decided to take a trip to Pittsburgh and play some $4/8 at Rivers. I could've went to Nautica, but the limit tables there are so rife with cheating and angle shooters that I'd rather drive two hours away to play. I bought in and started playing and on hand three turned quad 5's with my 35h. I made about $30 that hand and spent the next five and half hours swinging up and down. I was up $40, then stuck $110. I would get ahead and then lose to some calling station who couldn't let go of a draw. Fortunately, there was a guy at the table whom I've played with before and he's AWFUL. He looks (and plays) like a former CPMGer who has trouble keeping track of the bank. When I got there he was running the table over, raising every bet and pushing. When he would get called he would refuse to table his hand until he saw yours. I knew immediately I wanted this guy in every hand with me. Every time I got stuck, he would come through and try to run me over. He had $300 in front him when I sat down, after an hour he was rebuying. I counted six rebuys at $100 each (why he didn't just put a few hundred on the table at once I don't understand). At one point, he took a break after a beat and left to go smoke. When he returned he was calm and started playing better. I couldn't have that, so I decided to needle him. I started raising every time he was a blind. About the 3rd time I did it I had AJc and he was getting steamed. He three bet me and I capped him immediately. The flop came K-K-J. He immediately leads and I raise, he three bets and I cap. On the turn he fires again and I consider the outside chance he has a K. I just call the turn and the river is another J. He bets, I raise and he calls. I flip over the AJ and he is MAD. He starts whining about how lucky I got. I tell him "Look, you don't seem to get it. I am never, ever folding a hand to you". After that, the table caught on to him and began calling him down with ace high and bottom pair (all of which were good). He spewed off another couple hundred and left. In the last hour I caught fire. I made a diamond flush to take a good pot, then bet on the come with a spade flush draw against two people who had flopped straights. My spade came on the turn and I dragged a monstrous pot (almost $300 in a $4/8!) I finished way up and decided to leave at 10:30.

So, despite my awful outing at Terry's my weekend finished off on an UP note. Next weekend is a plethora of CPMG limit mix games (my specialty) so I will hopefully be posting another positive blog entry next weekend. BTW, if you have the chance to play Terry's house I recommend it. He has a wonderful place and he and wife are awesome hosts.

2011-08-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

Poker Is A Game Of Skill. Or Is It?

(Part I of a special two part blogisode since it would've been way to much to digest as one long post)

I started this poker weekend with a much better outlook. After last week's seizure inducing chip vomiting I knew I had to improve my concentration, get my frustration under control, and stop making stupid calls. I played at Pyxis' $40 Friday tournament first. Only once was I above my starting stack of $10k. The first hand I played was QQ from the SB. Randy limped for $50, I raised to $150, Jamie reluctantly calls and so does Randy. Flop is 5-6-7 two diamonds. Guess which Q I don't have? I lead for $450, two calls. Turn is a 3. I fire barrel #2 hoping shitty two pair would go away, but it calls and then Randy raises. Awesome, he has to have a 4. I show Tuttle my QQ and fold. Jamie folds his 6-7 and Randy shows A4. Nice hand sir. A few hands later I raise from the cutoff with 88. Pyxis and Randy call. Flop A-4-7. They check, I bet. She hesitates and calls, Randy folds. I put her on diamonds. Turn 4. She checks, I fire out half my stack. She tanks and finally folds an A. Whew! Only hand I played well all night. I gave most of it back to her a round later when I raised from the button with 45h. Flop 3-4-T. She checks, I bet, she calls. Turn Qh putting flush draw out. She shoves. Damn, I didn't see how short she was. I call, she has JJ and I brick. First hand after the break I get AK and raise. Randy three bets me and I shove. He snap calls and rolls over AA. Ooops. I am out.

From there I decided it was too early to go home so I headed down to Nautica. The limit list was insane so I took a $1/2 seat and bought in for $160. First orbit I get 67h in the cutoff and make it $10. Three callers. Flop is J-6-3 two diamonds. Checks to me, I fire $40. Aggro guy shoves all in over the top. It's $127 back to me, I decide he's on a flush draw and call. Two bricks come out, he says "You got me" and shows K9d. I show the 6 and everyone is muttering about my call. Fuck it, I have to show these kids I'm not afraid to stack off to their retarded bets. After that the avoid me like the plague, only three betting or pushing with made hands. One of the super tight players raises preflop, I call in position with J7c. Flop K-9-2 two clubs. I check/call him. Turn 3c. Bink! I open/shove. I was sure he would call, but he tanks. Finally he shows a set of kings and folds. I laugh and tell him I had K9 and thought he was bluffing. He was pretty rattled after that. My stack is around $300 when the table starts breaking and it's close to closing time. I get dealt A5d on the button. I limp, guy on my left just lost a huge pot and is spewing. He makes it $15 to go. Lady to my right calls, I call. Flop 9-7-2 two diamonds. I check, Spewy fires off $25, lady calls. I raise to $80, Spewy angrily folds, lady calls for less and shows me a 9. Turn brick, river A. Ship it! I cash out $388 total. Not bad at all.

Emboldened (and hitting) I return Saturday at opening time for more Nautica. I buy in $200 and in the first hand get AA. No callers. Up $3, tempted to book a win. All of a sudden I remember how to play. I am reading people awesome, making good calls, hands are holding up. For a minute, I felt like Colin. I couldn't miss. People were paying me off. I hit three different gutters, two flushses, two sets, and got a LAG-tard to overplay AJ against my KK for his stack. I roll out of there with $480, and am freerolling for TK's $100 tournament tonight. For once, I felt like I enjoyed the game and the game liked me back a little and might want to meet after school to fool around.

2011-08-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

A Self Inflicted Poker Wounding

This past weekend was not a good one for me. I played two tournaments and three cash games and failed to win a single dollar. Not one. Did not leave with a single $1 bill in profit. In fact, I rather unintentionally donated a bunch of dollars to a bunch of other people.

First I went to Data's single table deepstack tournament. I felt good before this game, felt sharp. I started off well (as what usually happens) and in the first few orbits had made AK, a set, and a flush to put me ahead. I was hitting, I was smooth. Then, as what usually happens, the wheels came off. The first major mistake I made was raising from mid position with K5h. I was attempting to steal (in actuality, my first steal attempt. Previous raises had all been with real hands). My table was playing very tight/nitty and I felt like I should be taking more hands preflop. Unfortunately, I picked the exact time that the new kid at the table (a) had a real hand, and (b) was tired of being manhandled. He shoved over the top of my raise and without even considering it I snap called. He had AQ, I lost over 1/3 of my stack. It was so idiotic I couldn't believe I had done it. I was irritated at the large re-raise and was determined to catch him on a bluff/re-steal or some other retarded reasoning that didn't make sense. I had, in fact, shot myself in the foot. The next hour and a half or so was a combination of me getting zero cards preflop and missing the few flops I took. I blinded off until I was short stacked and managed a near triple up through the new kid but it was all for nought. I blinded down to about 10BB when I was dealt an A. I immediately shoved before getting the second card. I did this to convey that I did indeed have an A and probably the best hand. Unfortunately, I didn't have the best hand by far. Immediately to my left Data had QQ and shoved over the top of me. After that hand I had time to go get something to eat whilst Kirsten was still in. When I left she was short stacked, when I returned she was playing Linda heads up for the money. She finished second, which is remarkable because she hasn't played many tournaments this year.

After that stellar performance I went to Linda's Saturday night tournament. Again I started off well, doubling up my stack by turning a flush and crippling Randy. Less than a round later I gave it right back on yet another dumb call. Preflop I made it $700 in the $100-200 round with AQ. Adam called as did Linda. The flop was A-J-3. It checked to me and I bet out $2k. Adam snap raised me to $5k and Linda folded. I tanked for a minute. I couldn't put him on AK because every time he had it preflop he was three betting. I didn't think he would slam it with AJ when I was betting out. I decided he either had A3 or he was crushed. I re-raised him all in and he snap called. His hand? A3 of course. Insult 3 on the river and he got over 1/2 my stack. It was a horrendous call on my part but again I was irritated by the check raise. I had convinced myself he was just pushing with a shit ace because he felt I was c-betting and had missed the flop. It nagged at me because I know I should've folded it but I didn't. After that I couldn't hit he broad side of a barn. I missed flops and blinded down a lot. There was no stealing with Adam at the table, he was hitting everything and made a point of check raising every hand I raised after that. I finally got it in good against Mr. Data when he shoved light with Q-10. I called from the button with A5h and he proceeded to flop a Q high straight. Down to crumbs I shoved into Jack's AJ with my A3 and had time to kill before the cash game started. I wandered down to Nautica and sat at a $1/2 with Brad for about 3 orbits. I had two playable hands, both of which I had to fold post flop when I missed and other people were betting and raising.

I came back to Linda's for the triple pot limit cash game. I played a high variance game with a VPIP of nearly 100% and it cost me. I was in damn near every hand and I was getting pummelled. I made two bad calls that cost me most of my stack. The final blow was raising in the PLO round with AA26. The flop came 2-7-8 off. Data check-raised me all-in and instead of immediately folding I paid to see his monstrous wrap which he immediately hit on the turn.

I was looking forward to the mix game on Sunday. I had been having a shitty weekend so far (mostly due to my own impatience) and wanted to play a few games where I felt I had an edge. I played 7 hours or so of mix game and had absolutely no edge. When I wasn't being horribly outdrawn by a table full of people who refused to fold I was making bad decisions and getting my money in bad. I let Meat rattle me after a hand of Razz where he ran me down despite having two pair showing and jamming the whole way. After that I got spewy, playing too many hands and letting myself get behind. I finally left when the game broke having lost my buy-in, a rebuy, and $8 of a marker. I would get into specific hands, but I frankly don't remember most of them plus I'm confident most of it was my fault.

I played undiscipled, shitty poker this past weekend and the results were what you'd expect in that case. I need to get my shit together if I want to have any chance of cashing at this weekend's tournaments.

2011-08-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Consistency and I Need to Make Up.

Before I start, for those of you haven't read it, check out Grayday's Poker Blog. It's an unintentionally hilarious look into the mind of one of the CPMG's most beloved cash players.

I played the CPMG Heads Up tournament last weekend and didn't do too well. I know this comes as a surprise to a lot of you. I drew Nautica Brian as my first opponent which meant I was going to have to plan an overly agressive game. As predicted, he raised every button and got in a bunch of three bets as well. He stabbed me early when he bet a flush draw and got there and I paid him off. I had two pair and wasn't 100% if he had a big pair or made his draw. I battled back, raising preflop and flopping trip J's. He shoved on a gutter and missed. I had to do a lot of three betting and donk betting to try and keep him from running over me. I finally slow played myself out of the tournament. He limped with K3 off, I had AA and checked in instead of raising. Flop came K-8-3. He check raised me and I shoved, he snaps and I am out. I think I did well, if the cards had held up I'm pretty sure I would've beaten him.

After that (while waiting for cash) I decide to go to Nautica. I sit at a new $1/2 table with $160. The first hand I decide to play is 97 off. I am in the cutoff, early raiser makes it $15. Three people call before me. Well, fuck. I call. Flop is J-10-8 offsuit. First guy bets $50. Two folds. Guy to my right shoves in $110. I shove over the top. First guy tanks and finally calls. They both show J-10. Turn brick, river is a J and I watch two people hit a two out miracle and split my stack. I decided not to bother rebuying and headed home until the cash game at Linda's started. The cash game at Linda's went very well, and I recovered $91 of my previous losses.

That Saturday I decided to hit Rivers Casino with Special K. We had all weekend to kill so I could play unrushed poker. I sat in on a $1/3 whilst waiting for a $4/8 to open. I opened weak, raising several pots preflop and being bet off my hands on the flop. I was down $100 when I hit a streak. I flopped a couple sets and big two pair hands and got paid. After three hours I was +$500. They were just opening a $1/3 HA table ($500 max) so I decided to go take a shot with my profits. Whoops. I got eaten alive. I flopped a straight flush draw, turned to pair, and lost $300 when the wrong card paired on the river and the guy who had grossly overplayed AAxx made a better two pair. I floundered for a while and gave up, taking my last $200 in profit and heading back to $1/3. I sat at a new table and stacked off in the first orbit. I was sitting with a guy who was making it $40 preflop every hand. I finally called a preflop raise in position with QJd. Flop comes 10-9-2 off. He throws a hundred at it, I shove on him, guy behind me calls and so does he. Q on the turn and river a brick. He shows J-10, but the idiot between us had called $40 preflop with 9-2 and flopped two pair. Disgusted, I left. I fidgeted around at $4/8 for a while until a $5/10 limit O8 game opened. I sat in there and ran my $215 stack back up to about $500. We had a drunk guy at the table with a VPIP of 100%. He called everything and didn't care if he won or lost. I also witnessed the worst live beat I've seen at Rivers. It would've won the Bad Beat Jackpot had it been hold'em. Guy to my right flops quad 6's and jams, betting the whole way. Drunk guy runs him down on the river with a gutshot straight flush (neither makes a low) and drunk guy scoops a monster.

K and I decided to take this weekend off of poker. I have quite a few games going the next couple weekends (including TK's $100 deepstack) so I guess I could use a weekend to get my head straight. I'm not really mad about my play in either game, I think I'm playing decent enough to win. I just keep running into people who are getting horribly lucky. If I can figure out how to dodge one and two out miracles I'd be OK.

2011-07-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Better Lucky Than Good, I Guess

I've been playing tournaments exclusively for a few weeks. This is due to a variety of factors, notably a lack of good limit games in Cleveland and my recent tournament game has been decent. I played the $60 bounty at Adam's house. I was swingy all game, up and down and back up. I made the final table and the final 6 before I shipped it preflop with KKxx and ran into Linda's AAxx. It's always bad to ship and have Linda snap call before you even get your stack out. Oh well. In the cash game I was running awesome. Some of Adam's friends were there and they all wanted to play PLO. I was up around $100 (in a .50/.50 game) before Adam himself sat in. Within three hands I was felted. The guy simply could not miss. First I turned a full house and ran into his bigger full house. Then a few hands later it was set over set. Finally he crippled me when we both flopped trip 9's and he had me on kicker. Luckily I had purchased a horse in the tournament and actually ended up breaking even for the day. Beats losing, I guess.

I also played Linda's triple pot limit tournament last weekend. I never really got any traction going there. I was up a little, lost it back on a monstrous combo draw, won some back on a few hands, then ran into Patty and got stacked. Malcolm raised preflop with AA46. I called with KK46 and Patty called with KKT9. Flop was J-5-7 two diamonds. Patty bet out, Malcolm called off his stack for less, and I called. Turn was an 8. I open/shipped with my straight and she snap called with her better straight and stacked us both. Whoops. Afterwards I managed to nurse a $50 stack in 3 and 4 handed PLO (.50/.50) until about 2AM when I flopped trip 6's with an A and ran into Data's rolled up boat.

I was a little stung from the night before but I decided to go to TK's poker tournament after the golf outing. I figured the golfers would all be tired from being out in the 100º heat all day and they'd all be piss drunk so I'd have an advantage. The game that followed was an absolute ZOO.

I got seated with one of Hiphop's friends who was completely hammered. He wasn't even sure what game he was playing. On hand #2 I get QQ. Cheryl raises, guy re-raises, I flat. She flats. Flop comes all unders. He leads out for the pot, I call, Cheryl folds. Turn another under, he bets again and I call. River same deal and I am plus 5k when he shows KJ for nothing. He doubled through another player and a few hands later I got AQd. Malcolm raises, I call, guy re-pops it again. Malcolm calls, I call. Flop three unders and two diamonds. We check to him, he bets, Malcolm folds and I call. Turn a brick that pairs the board. Check-call. River same thing, I check and he bets. I make hero call with A high and he shows 6 high and ships me another 5k. I piddled around for a while before getting dealt AA on the button. Brad raises from middle position and I three bet him. He calls. Flop comes A-K-2 two hearts. He checks, I lead for about 3/4 the pot. He snap shoves all in and I call before he can finish his sentence. He shows A8 of hearts and I fade the flush and bust him.

After the break I hit a stride and take a bunch of pots. They move some seats around and we end up with Meat at our table. I get into a monstrous four way all-in pot. Chasity raises to around 4k (about half her stack). Malcolm shoves in for 10k. I look around and see that Pete is ready to put his last 4k in and Chas will likely call. I decide to gamble 1/3 of my stack and potentially bust three people with my T8s. I call, Pete shoves for less and Chas calls. Chas has QQ, Malcolm AQs, Pete 98h. The board runs out and Chas wins the main pot, Pete is busted, and Malcolm takes the side pot. After that hand I start playing a little fast. I'm a little steamed from that pot plus I am getting impatient. Meats raises from mid position and I call from the BB with T9c. Flop comes T-7-2 one club. I check, Meat bets, and I shove on him. He snap calls and rolls over KK. Whoops. Turn Ac. River Qc and my flush busts him. After jubilant celebration I turn my attention back to the game and start running over the table.

I got into another multi-way clusterfuck when I got dealt K2s in the BB. Cheryl limps in, someone in the middle limps, Krazy Mike raises to 3k. I call, Cheryl calls, mid calls. Flop 2-2-6. Mike open/shoves his stack in. I call. Everyone else abandons ship. Mike tables 10-10 and bricks twice, then gets up and has to go outside to blow off steam. I don't like Mike's shove here, he's only going to get called by a hand that has him destroyed. I think a half pot bet would've been better, I would've flatted and when the board paired 6's on the turn he could've gotten away from his hand. Last hand before the break I doubled up Linda. She shoves her last 6k with AQ and I call with QJ. Then, first hand after break I get AA on the button. She limps, I raise, she shoves and I snap call. After Linda busts we get to the final table. I snapped off Randy when he shoved with KQ and I called with AQ.

The final table played impossibly slow. Grayday was hammered and taking forever to make any decisions. TK also was inexplicably slow, causing me to get impatient again as we weren't getting nearly as many HPH as we should've been even with Mike dealing for us. Grayday is also getting distracted by the cash players taunting him. I get up and walk away a couple of times trying to get myself focused. Finally Grayday shoves his stack in and I decide to make a bad call with J8h. He shows 88. J on the flop and he's gone. After he left it was the bubble which went on for a very long time. Finally Mike's friend Luke busted and we were all in the money. TK busted next in a hand that I couldn't understand. He raises preflop and Hacker calls. Flop comes J-9-9 two spades. Hacker bets into him. He raises. Hacker three bets. TK shoves and Hacker snap calls and rolls over 69c for trips. TK shows 77 and busts out. Three handed was over quick. I got AJ on the button and shoved my last 11 blinds in. Hacker snap calls and rolls over AK and I get third.

I played this tournament very poorly, and I know it. Despite cashing I should've been out a whole lot sooner. Several times I found myself getting impatient and I made some poor decisions because of it. I was getting good cards and hitting a lot, and I let my hand selection slide because of it. I made a lot of marginal calls in spots where I know I shouldn't have. I need to work on this.

I'm planning on hitting Rivers this weekend and crushing the $4/8 game. Report will follow.

2011-07-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

Poker and I Make Up (A Little)

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Summer is usually busy time for me, and with everything going on I haven't been playing much poker. I had to cancel my Vegas trip after the dismal spring we had kept me from amassing anything that resembled a playable bankroll. Vegas is depressing when you only have a few hundred to play off.

I have only played a few tournaments in the past couple months. I went to Pyxis' game a few weeks ago. 13 players, I felt good (for a change) and things went well. I won a bunch of small pots early, then went on a heater. I busted Cindy and another guy when I flopped three Aces. Guy raised preflop, we're short handed so I call with A-10. Cindy calls. Flop A-3-A. He open/shoves. Cindy tanks and calls. I can't fold, so I call. He has KK, Cindy has a flush draw and bricks. After that hand I had a pretty good command on the table. I did make one hero fold I shouldn't have. I got AK from UTG and limped. Papa Z was short stacked and shoved (as I had anticipated). All of a sudden Jamie shoves over the top of him. Jamie had me covered and I knew I was behind now so I folded. He showed QQ to Papa Z's 44 and won. The turn was a K, I would've scooped a pretty massive pot. The final table went pretty quick. I snapped a hand off in Pyxis that should've won me the tournament. Folds to me, I limp from SB with 58c. She checks. Flop 5-7-9 one club. I lead out and bet, she raises me. I am trying to decide if she has 68 from the BB and flopped the joint. I just call. Turn is the Qc. I check, she bets a little over half my stack. I now have a pair, gutter, and flush draw. I call. River is a club and I open/shove. The pot is so massive she has to call and I table my flush. She shows KK and curses me. That pot pushed me over and I made it to heads up where I donked off to a new kid who got hit with the deck. Every time I tried to take a pot from him he woke up with a monster. I finally dumped my stack when I shoved from the button with 4-6 on a steal and he snap called with A6. Ooops. Second was still OK.

I have been playing a little bit of $2/4 and $3/6 hold'em at Nautica. That place is a trip, playing limit poker there is an exercise in patience and attention. If you're not hitting, you're screwed. There's no bluffing at these limits, so you have to show down a hand. I sat down with a hundred and lost half my stack on hand #1 when I flopped top set J's and turned a full house. I lost to a two out K's full on the river. FIVE PEOPLE played that hand all the way down to capped betting. It was sick. I did see the most ridiculous attempt at cheating that I've ever witnessed at a live game before. We're playing $3/6 and it's close to closing time. A kid sits down with a rack of white chips and plays a few hands. He gets dealt into a hand when I am the button. He limps, I fold and the blind raises to $6. A few people including the kid call. Flop comes J-6-6. The initial raiser bets, two people call. I look over at the kid and his cards are gone. The dealer puts out a 4 on the turn. Raiser bets again, again two calls, again kid sitting there and no cards. River is a K. Raiser bets again, someone in between raises him. Back to the inital bettor who calls. The three people who've been betting all table ragged J's for a three way chop. All of a sudden, the kid jumps up and says "I win" and throws AK down on the table. Everyone looks at him like he's got a lobster on his head. He reaches over to scoop the pot and the other guys all stop him. Arguing ensues as kid never put any money in post-flop and no one could see his cards (he took them off the table). He starts arguing it's his pot, then when everyone including me and the dealer point out he never put any money in or said anything he gets defensive. He tried to argue they skipped him but he never said a word and no one saw his cards. Finally the dealer calls for the floor and security, and the kid jumps up, grabs his rack and cashes out before anyone can come talk to him.

For the week at Nautica I was plus $18, not bad I guess. I can never seem to consistently win there, and the NL tables are getting tougher.

I went to Data's mix game last Saturday. I could only stay a few hours since I had to go back to work, but I made the most of it. I decided to tighten up my hand selection (especially in stud games) and it paid off. I only won a few pots but they were all good size. I got lucky, too. I had rolled up sixes twice (and won both), and turned a gutshot Broadway straight in Stud 8 whilst inbewteen competing low hands. I only lost a few hands, and I think I only played one hand bad (I stayed in a stud hand with pocket 7's despite Adam folding a 7 in the door and I ended up making two pair and paying off a better two pair. Other than that hand I think I did well and finished up $160. I took a video of a hand of Stud 8, it had been boring until fifth street when it got capped four ways. This is my first attempt at filming a live hand so bear with me on it:

2011-06-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

The Poker Summer So Far

I haven't been playing much lately (hence the lack of posts) so this one post ought to catch you all up.

I played the $40 PLO tournament at Adam's house last weekend. Started off grinding, built up a stack and dusted off most of the profit. I was up and down for a while but I felt good and was playing well. There were two spots where I used the ole Stop-N-Go with much success (got Adam and Con both to lay down flush draws on the turn - both would've hit if they stayed in). Made the final table pretty easy, there were only 15 runners. I got into one hand where I made my patented DP Idiot Call™ in a three way hand. I got dealt AQd99. I limped in and Lakewood Josh potted himself all in for 3x the blind (I want to say 2500ish). Data repots over the top of him and all in. I hear the little voice in my head say call, so I do. I end up making the nut flush on the river and stacking both. After that I turned a gutshot straight flush and stacked Con. At the beginning of three handed play (in the money) it was me, Adam, and RR Dave. I had 100k in the chips, the other two 25k a piece. We played three handed for a long time before Dave finally stacked off to Adam. Heads up was all me until my AAxx got cracked and Adam went on a tear, winning a few races and finally crippling me. I ended up second, which bothered me because I felt I played better than 2nd place but what can I do when a guy gets hit with the deck heads up?

Played a bit at Nautica this week with little success. The $2/4 and $3/6 limit games are turning into a circus sideshow. The cheating/angle shooting is so obvious it's ridiculous. It's clear no one at Nautica gives a shit what happens at these tables. I was playing $2/4 with three guys all playing out of the same handful of cash, they would pass chips back and forth. They were also selling chips to other players (not allowed) and pocketing the cash rather than putting it on the table (also not allowed). There is rampant signalling and soft play. The angle shooting is ridiculous. I played $3/6 with this one guy who has $200 in cash in his hand, which he never sets on the table. He buys $20 in chips off of someone and plays a hand and loses, then buys $20 more. The table minimum is $60. If he's in a hand he buys more chips and puts them in play mid hand, also not allowed. He and two other guys were there yesterday all showing each other their cards. If they didn't like a card on the deal they would intentionally fuck up the deal and start yelling "Misdeal!" even if it wasn't. The volunteer dealers are woefully stupid and just redeal. We had three misdeals in four hands because of this, which caused me to leave. I am not losing anything at these tables, but I'm not killing them either. Sometimes it's just funny to watch the show. I gave up complaining to the floor months ago because they don't care and won't stop any of it.

I played some $1/2 with little success as well. I got into a horrendous hand a few days ago that I'd like to share. Playing $1/2 around 11PM (an hour to close - usually crazy time). I start with $200 and work it up to $350 with a flush. I get into this hand: on the button dealt Js-10h. UTG (who has over $1200) limps. Girl at the end makes it $16, she has only about $60 behind. I call the $16 as do the SB and BB. UTG re-raises to $69. I have seen him do this repeatedly with very light holdings to try and squeeze. Mid girl shoves. I flat call, SB and BB fold. Flop comes K-J-3 two spades, but I don't see it because I am staring down Mr. Big Stack. He is staring back and open/shoves all-in. I tell him I think he missed and I call. Turn is the Qs, so I have open ended straight draw, flush draw, and a pair of jacks. River is 10d. He says "straight" and tables A-8h for the two out miracle river. $830+ pot vaporizes in front of me. What do you say to a hand like that? Yes, you can argue I shouldn't have called $69 preflop but I read the hand perfectly and had way the best of it when the money went in.

Had a spotty day yesterday. Lost $40 in Linda's tournament and decided to hit Nautica to kill time. Lit fire to $110 in the cash game playing $1/2. I didn't drag a single pot. Turned trip A's from the BB lost on the river, flopped lots of open end straight and flush draws and bricked them all. Went back to Linda's with Krazy Mike and caught fire in the triple pot limit. Stacked Chuck for $30 when I raised preflop in PLO8, turned straight, flush, and low draws and missed them all. He was also on a draw and my A high won the pot. Bought in $60 and cashed out $238, covering my losses for the day with a little cherry on top.

Some days I feel like I really can play this game.

2011-05-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

It's Easier To Blog When You're Winning

It's Memorial Monday, hats off to anyone who reads this who also served in the military. I have mad respect for anyone willing to put their ass on the line for this country.

I am winding down my weekend of poker debauchery, and it's been a good one. I started off Saturday with the team tournament at Dave's. I managed to talk Special K into playing (though lately she hates tournaments). I had asked Ryan Rufe to be the third on our team, and he initially declined but changed his mind after the other person we asked cancelled on us. There were 48 people in the tournament (16 teams). It was a zoo. As with anything Meat handles, it went painfully slow.

The beginning stages were not good for me. I started with 15k in chips and quickly dusted off 6k. I flopped a set of 8's and lost to a guy with QQ who drew a gutter on me (-$4k). I also lost 2k to Con when I flopped a pair of K's and tried to check-raise him. He had raised preflop and I expected a c-bet but he checked behind and hit his two out set on the turn. Con, I discovered, has a horrible tell and after that hand I had zeroed in on his preflop hands. I could tell when he had a large Ace or K, a mid pair or medium cards, or nothing. After that I got into one scrap with him where (from his tell) I was certain he had a small/medium pair and I had AKs. Flop was 345 two spades. I check raised him and he shoved. I had to conclude he was either over the board or had a set and I folded since I have not been winning many races. He showed a set of 5's (thanks for confirming your tell again BTW). After a few rounds I picked up some steam. I busted a short stack who shoved with AQ and only 2500 in chips with my Q8 (8 on the flop).

I played a monstrous hand where Con raised preflop (and his tell indicated he had a large Ace). The guy between us (can't remember who it was) shoved for $11k. I flat called with 55. Con tanked and folded. The other guy had QQ (oops!). A five on the flop sealed it for me. I busted Randy a few orbits later. I limped with 97 offsuit. Con limps, Randy checks in. Flop 9-8-2 two hearts. Randy open/shoves his whole stack. I flat call. As Con is thinking Randy excitedly flips over 10-7h for the open ended straight flush draw. Con tanks now, seeing the cards. He uses a consult with Malcolm and finally folds. I roll over my pair of 9's and Randy catches two bricks. Con would've also bricked.

In between I also made a bad read on Krazy Mike that worked out for me. He raised preflop with 99. Monsignor calls and I call with 44. Flop comes J-8-7. Checks around. Turn is another J. Monsignor checks, Mike bets. I decide Mike has AK or AQ and figures we don't have jacks. I flat call. River is a 4. Mike checks, I bet about half the pot. He calls and I show the boat and he gets upset. I made the correct play for my read, just got lucky. I smoked Tuttle in a hand where I flopped two pair from the button with 10-8, turned a boat and he paid off a river bet. He didn't say what he had but I think he made a flush. I made a good read on Monsignor and picked off a semi-bluff. He fired two barrels with nut flush, wheel, and over card draws. I called him down with a low pair (6's?). He was not happy. After the break I got into the hand that made my entire tournament. I had AA on the button. Con opened for a raise to 1500 or so. Hiphop raises to 11k. I shove. Con folds and Hip tanks. He consults Colin who tells him to push. He calls off his last 10.5k with AK and I win a monstrous pot almost 50k. I gave some back after Eskimo (who had a horseshoe up his ass) flopped trip J's on me, plus I took a shot at busting both Krazy Mike and Con and whiffed both. I worked my way back up to 88k for the final table. By then the structure made it mostly push-n-pray so it was pretty straightforward. I folded AQ preflop to a Data shove (he had me covered, said he had 88). I snapped off Con by limping with KK, he shoved and I overshoved. His A-10 didn't get there. I was up to 170k and guaranteed 4th place cash when I finally got horsefucked.

I was SB with 55. Nick open shoves his stack $160k. I call. Eskimo and Jen fold. He has A5. Bink, A in the door. If he doesn't his his three outer I stack him and would have enough chips to win, but sadly it wasn't so. Fourth paid $210, still not bad. K mashed the cash game for several hundred dollars before cashing out.

The next day when we got up, K and I kicked around the idea of going to Rivers casino in Pittsburgh. We were both up and had been playing well, so we decided to do it. I went in and decided to play some of the Hold'em table game. I sat down in the poker room at $4/8 and went on a heater. Made straights and flushes, got paid. Pairs held up. People folded to my raises. It was magical. For one day, I knew what it was like to be Hiphop and hit everything. I raised with large aces preflop and flopped pairs. It was awesome. I finished up $267 which is a huge profit for $4/8 limit. I gave some of it back playing video poker but still left with a profit, which is just fine with me. I made it back to Cleveland with enough money to begin repleneshing my bankroll. The next few weeks at work will be nuts, it's been three straight days of 80º+ outside and the A/C calls will be non-stop. I hope I get some time to grind some $3/6 at Nautica this week.

2011-05-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Adventures In Staking A POY Contender

(WARNING: This is another long one.)

"...a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid." - Captain Jack Sparrow

So, at the beginning of this last POY season I had to make a decision. I had played in the previous three seasons and their Main Events, and I never got very far. I wanted to scale back my tournament play and knew I couldn't dedicate every Saturday to the season. I decided instead that I wanted to buy a horse - a runner who could play every week, play well, and make a serious shot at the title. I made a short list and started making phone calls.

My first choice (who I won't name) hasn't played regularly in a few years. I wanted to get him back into grinding and help him re-establish a bankroll (as well as peeling off a profit for myself). After some discussion he declined, citing a few factors including his tournament rust plus his feeling that he wouldn't be able to dedicate enough time. The next name on my list was someone whom I'd been playing with since well before my CPMG days. I knew his play inside and out, knew he had all the free time in the universe, and knew he couldn't pass up my offer. So, I called Meat and asked if he wanted to be staked for POY IV.

The deal was simple: I would front Meat 100% of his buyins (minus the two tournaments that had already run while I was trying to make this arrangement). When he cashed, I would get 60% of his winnings. When he didn't cash, I would eat the loss. Once I added up the remaining buyins and percentages, it meant that Meat would have to earn 1800 points (that is, cash $1800) for me to break even on the season's worth of buyins (60% of $1800 or $1080). The other benefit would be that if he did crack $1800 anything over that would be profit, plus I would essentially be freerolling for 60% of whatever he cashed in the Main Event. (We agreed that if he won I got to take a picture with the bracelet but that he would keep it).

I felt that this deal was plenty fair for us both. Yes, he was giving up a decent chunk of profit but he was playing with literally no risk to himself. If he busted, then he didn't have to worry about where the next entry was going to come from. There was concern that he might play extra stupid since it wasn't his money, but I felt he was serious enough about being the champion that he would put his best effort into it. I was also taking the risk that he'd have a shitty season (especially since this was the first year he was TD for the games). I put a few ground rules out there for him. When you deal with him on a regular basis you get used to the fact that you MUST spell out SPECIFICALLY what you expect or he makes assumptions on his own. I expected him to play his best game. I expected him to try and squeeze the most profit possible out of the game. I also expected him to go the whole season. I offered him the chance to "opt out" after 10 tournaments if he was unhappy with the deal. He also had the option at the winter break to opt out. He re-signed both times. I also promised that I would not attempt to influence his play or try to make him change his style. He was also free to chop without my approval if it was in his best interest to do so.

There were a few things about the arrangement that irked me. For one, I had initially forbade him to speak of it to anyone else. I was concerned that people might take a more aggressive approach to him if they knew he wasn't playing on his own dime. I also wanted to avoid having other players hitting me up for money. Nontheless, by the end of the first month word was out. I sometimes think that keeping things a secret causes him physical pain. Toward the end of the season, as he approached 1800 points, he started whinging a bit about the split because he knew that over that amount he was giving away equity. He also rankled me when he told me outright that he made a questionable call for his stack (and lost) because "I knew I could make more in the 8 game than if I won the tournament". This pissed me off because (whether he was right or not) he had made a commitment to trying to earn us both money. I also had to repeatedly chase him down for details. He rarely texted me updates on anything. I felt it was common courtesy to text your backer even if you lost and at least let him know what happened. I sometimes had to read it the next day on the board because he would ignore my texts. He also peeled some money out of our cashouts to donate for this or that without checking with me first (not that I object to him putting money in the jar for Elizabeth or kicking Dave $ for supplies). Again it was a matter of courtesy.

Luckily, as the season drew down it became clear that I would get exactly what I was trying for - a free shot at 60% of his Main Event cash. I avoided hounding him about the big game, as I felt he knew what he had to do to get himself to the money. I also stopped in to help with the tournament so he could devote as much time as possible to the actual play. For the two day game I felt he played really well. I think Grayday offering a $500 bounty to anyone who busted Meat on the bubble really fucked us both over. It was definitely on the other players' minds and it made Meat snug it up a lot more when he should have been stealing. It was a shitty thing to do and I am sure it won't be allowed next year. It's one thing to offer a small bounty just to razz someone, it another to try and fuck them over in the biggest game of the year. People like to give Meat shit (me included) but he knows the field better than anyone and he brought his A game. Unfortunately he only made it to 5th. Still, I ended up with a profit on the season (which I am sure wouldn't have been the case if I had been staking myself).

Now that it's over, I don't think that I will end up doing this again next year. For one, chasing after Meat is exhausting. You have constantly be on him about details. He's constantly looking for an edge or advantage in everything and will chisel you on every little dime he can. I think he likes to make things more difficult in the hopes that you'll say "Fuck it" and give in to what he wants. Secondly, although he made it to the break even point this year for me I doubt he can do it two years in a row. Third, I am contemplating a return and making a serious run at the POY title next year since it will be the last year at Dave's (and possibly the last ever). I cannot afford to stake two people for a full season.

So, what's with the Pirates quote at the beginning? Several people asked me why I would stake Meat, and why I put up with his constant haggling. The quote reminds me of him, not that he's dishonest, but that I can count on him to act consistently. He's always going to be this way, but in the end I know he's going to do his best to win. He's not the smoothest motherfucker around, but when it counts he's always showed up.

That's why I consider him a friend.

2011-04-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

Just When You Think Things Won't Get Worse (or, Why I Should Just Quit).

It's been a while since my last post so bear with me as it's going to be a bit longer. Go ahead, grab a snack. I'll wait.

OK?

So, I played the April 9th at Dave's. It was pretty uneventful for me, I was up a little in the beginning and gave some back. I ended up losing my first buy-in to Data (yet again). I raised preflop with AK with the Kh. He called with KQ (no heart). Flop comes Q-8-6 all hearts. He checks and I shove, he tanks for a while and then finally calls (about 2/3 of his stack). Of course I brick the over and flush draw twice and I rebuy. Lately he's been owning me, I guess it's variance paying me back for all the times I stacked him with something stupid.

After the rebuy I call a small raise with 46s on the button and the flop comes K-4-4. I get it all in against KQ and double up. I hit my stride, doubling up again when my 99 survives against AK. I took a few smaller pots here and there and then snapped it off in Danny. He open/shoves with A9, I look down at AQ and can't call fast enough. Flop comes A-Q-x and I am up to 18k. I run it up to 21k after the break and then get involved in a weird hand. I get dealt KK on the button. I have Pyxis to my left in the SB and she is displaying her tell that she has a good hand. Meats raises from mid position and I decide to whopperjaw the pot, making it look like a steal. I slam it all in and Pyxis tanks. Finally she surrenders and it's the Meat Show. He basically says he has QQ and I want desperately for him to call. He finally decides he can't risk his stack and folds. Pyxis had JJ. I show the KK and decide I played it wrong. If I flat call Meat, Pyxis shoves and Meat will be nearly pot committed by calling her, so I could wedge them both in and triple up. I didn't expect her to fold JJ so I assumed when I slammed it she would shove in and he'd make the obligatory "I guess I gotta call". Oh well.

After that hand I finally do double up Pyxis with A6s. She was way short and shoved, it was only 6k to call so I did and she had AK. I hover around 18k until I get into a retarded hand with Data. Data open/shoves 15k from middle position (blinds 800/1600 I think). I have been picking up a read on him and am convinced he's shoving light to steal. Folds to me with A8c. I decide to call (stupid) and he rolls over J-10s. He is 99.99999999999992% to win preflop. Sure enough, I flop an A but two spades, and turn is the Ks no waiting. Crippled, I put it in with QJ a few hands later and A2 snaps me. My feeling on the all-in was that (a) I was sure I had the best hand preflop, and (b) if I win I'm all but guaranteed a final table seat. Run better, I guess.

I played Linda's triple pot limit game on the 15th, I folded for the first round and a half (not playing a single non-blind hand) The first hand I played I had Q-J-9-x in PLO and flopped the nut straight (J-10-8 on flop two spades). I slow played against Jeff R. because of the flush draw. On the turn was the 2d. He bet out, I raised him, he potted all in and I called. He has the same straight along with a 9 high spade draw. River? Bink. Crippled, I lose the last 3k flopping a pair of Q's against Linda's pocket kings. I am granted an emergency rebuy and commence losing chips again. It got to be comical - had AQ flopped broadway in PLH Linda rivers full house with her KJ. Flop trip Q's in PLO lose on kicker (My K loses to AQ). Flop nut low with A3 in PLO8 counterfeited by two out A on river to lose both halves. After the break I hit a rush, build my stack from 10K back up to 28K before I have my 2nd blowup. In PLO8 raise preflop get one caller, flop nut low draw and have a pair, other guys leads out with a value but and I shove. He tanks forever and calls with a dry pair of aces and I hit two bricks. I didn't do very well at cash either, dropping $50 in PLO8 when I raised preflop with AQ35 (AQd). Flop J-4-2 two diamonds. Catch two bricks and give up.

Played Dave's 4-16 tournament. I was feeling good when I arrived but that quickly dissipated. Early on a guy at the end of the table played a hand where he three bet preflop and ended up rolling over AA. A round later, I get QQ on the button. He raises to $150, I make it $500. He four bets me to $1000. I roll over QQ face up and he proudly shows Q8s. I put him on being a pretty weak player, so I guess I misread him. I should've just shoved since I had a rebuy but I wimped out. I blinded down to 3600 before taking the rebuy. I piddled around before making the worst fold of the night. Preflop I have 56 off in the BB. Mid position makes a raise to 1000. Cutoff (who is pretty bad) flat calls. I have 7k and decide to call. Flop comes Q-5-9. Initial raiser open shoves. Cutoff tanks and finally calls for less. I think for a while - I know I have initial raiser beat. I say out loud "He has AK (pointing to initial raiser) and he has some shitty Q like Q8 (pointing to cutoff)." I decide a 3k sidepot isn't worth it and fold. First guy turns up AK and cutoff turns over Q7. Turn 8 river 7 I would've made a straight and tripled up. After that I blind down to 4800 before open shoving with 98h on a steal. Of course TK wakes up with KK in the SB and calls, and I am out.

I played the cash game once a $.50/.50 HA game started. It was fairly uneventful. I ran my $100 up to around $180 and managed to lose it all in the worst live PLO beat I have ever taken. I have KQ83 in the SB. Malcolm raises preflop to $2. Danny calls, I call, and Meat calls. Flop comes Q-K-3 with two clubs (I have the Kc but no flush draw). I decide to test the water and bet out $8. Meat folds, Malcolm calls, Danny calls. Turn is a K giving me the abominable nuts (K's full). I check for deception but no one bets. River is the Ah. Danny leads into me for $17. I am putting him on J-10-x-x and figure he made Broadway. He by his own admission isn't that good at Omaha and was calling with straight and flush draws on paired boards all night. I pot him $66 on top. He tanks for a long time before finally repotting me all in. I snap and roll over KQ for my boat and he rolls over AAxx for the win. I was over 95% to win on the turn and got stacked. I couldn't put him on AK since he hadn't bet the turn (and I doubt he'd have checked trip K's, he was playing his made hands very aggressive). It crossed my mind for a half second that he might have had AK and I almost flat called the $17 but I decided it was very unlikely he would check trip K's so I dismissed it.

That hand took the wind out of my poker sails. It literally murdered my desire to play poker. It's been beat after beat after beat (with a few poor decisions tossed in to spice it up) since last July. I have decided to take the summer off from poker. I may play the infrequent tournament here or there but I am done with cash for now. My kids are moving to Maine with their mom in July and it's best I spend my extra time with them anyway. That last PLO hand was the nudge I needed to take some time off and get my shit together.

My blog posts will probably be more infrequent until I actually decide to play on a regular basis again.

2011-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

More Tournament Failure

I haven't been playing much poker lately, the bankroll well ran dry after I had to pillage it to pay bills, and there's not much work going on so I am keeping to a few low buy-in tournaments and the very occasional cash buy-in. I'm in poker limbo - I have the desire to play but not the means at the moment. It's gotten bad enough that I've had to cancel my plans for Reno and Vegas in June. I try to go every year but work is fucked and I simply cannot manage it. I am trying to reschedule for November but it may be next year before I head out west again. It's frustrating because I had wanted to move to Nevada by now and things keep getting in the way.

Anyway, played Dave's $40 bounty on March 26th. It was a huge tournament, 48 buyins if I recall correctly. I had to come late since I was on call for work and didn't want to risk driving all the way out only to have to turn around and come back. I got seated at a new table and set to work losing my chips. I made an ill-timed bluff on Chaz that got picked off, and chopped a pot with Doc when we both played our QQ like pussies. There weren't a lot of hands of note, I did a lot of folding and blinding off. Our table broke and I got stuck in Action City. There wasn't any small ball or limping, it was huge raises and stacking off. I finally got down to around 10 BB and tried to make a move with 58 suited from the BB. Lot of limpers, Danny in the SB shoves with only 5BB, I reshove to protect, cutoff was slow playing AJc and picked us both off. Cash game was a loss too, got stacked by Jack T-way on a two out miracle turn for him in the Omaha round. I left pretty frustrated.

Last weekend I decided I had too much money and went to play the $30 at Dave's. I took Special K with me (she hasn't played much with the CPMG lately, she prefers to take weekenders at Rivers). I'm not sure what happened but she was out in the first round. She ended up watching a movie on her iPod until cash opened up (which was surprisingly fast). I ran like Hiphop for the first few rounds, flopping sets and taking pots. Early on I doubled up off of Mick (I think his name is Mick). He limped UTG with Q8 off, I limped with K9 suited, flop comes Q-J-10. I made a pot sized bet and got two calls, turn was an 8. I shove, Randy folds and Mick calls with his two pair. My straight holds and it's off and running. I felt good and felt like I should cash. I was up and down a little after that, but I noticed my big pocket pairs were not holding. I had JJ cracked three times, QQ once and KK once. I peaked at 21k (off a 5k starting stack) when I flopped a set of sixes and dodged TK's straight flush draw to stack him. At the break I took the add-on and had 22k left.

After the break the wheels came off. QQ got mushed by Host Dave's 9 high flush, turned trip 10's and lost to three out gutter ball, JJ runs into quad 4's (lucky for me he was so excited at the second four on the board that I knew I was fucked and didn't double him up). My table started getting really aggressive and Randy started flopping sets or better every hand. I began bleeding chips and couldn't get it turned around. I snugged it up and stopped coming into pots but I was blinded down pretty bad. I worked myself back up to 18k when I took a shot at busting Big Keith. He's such a rock that it's nearly impossible to get chips out of him. He usually just blinds away to nothing and forces himself to shove light. He shoved on me with about 7k and I called with 10-9 suited. His AJ held despite me flopping a 10. I did pick off a stellar bluff he tried to lay on me a few hands later. If you play with him for more than 10 minutes you know how he bets - or rather, he doesn't bet. He just waits for the nuts and hammers the pot. We got into a hand where it folded to him in the SB and he just limps. I check from the BB with 3-8 off. Flop comes Q-10-4. He checks, I check. Turn is the 3h, putting two hearts on the board. He bets the minimum. This is a very odd thing for him to do, he never min bets. I suspected a draw and called. River is a brick and he bets two BB at me. I know he missed whatever he was on, so I call and table my three which was good. Let this be a lesson to all - mix your game up more or end up being picked off by idiots like me.

We also had our annual CPMG Clusterfuck before the second break. Sometime around 10 minutes to go we got down to 20 players (and would normally pause the game and break tables) but the TD didn't notice. Around 6:30 someone busted from the first table leaving the tables 7-6-6. Colin announced man down to Meats and was told we had to wait until break to split tables. This was (in everyone's opinion) too long to wait short handed with the blinds so high. Colin told the table he was refusing to pay another BB and would stall. He also encouraged the rest of them to stall and they then had a misdeal (which I was told later really was accidental). I called the floor over and demanded the entire table be penalized for colluding to stall their game. He refused and put a clock on Colin. Much arguing and posturing ensued until it was finally break and tables broke down.

After the melee ended we restarted. I was solo BB at my table and told everyone I wanted a walk. I look down at AA and am praying to someone to steal but instead they all folded. A few hands later I get JJ, Data open-shoves with Q-10 and I call. I am 99.999999999% to lose preflop and sure as shit the flop is Q-10-x. Turn was a 9 to give me false hope, river was the insult 10. I didn't play any cash, K and I left and we called it a night.

I am going to be short rolled for most of the summer as it looks, I have some bills to take care of still and I need to get myself a decent car. I'm planning on playing this Saturday night, will update the blog a bit sooner if I get time.

2011-03-22T05:20:00.001-07:00

Before I get into the poker content, I just wanted to take a moment and mention that my friend Elizabeth (a former CPMG regular) is doing a charity walk for the Komen foundation this coming July and is looking for sponsors. If you're a regular at the games you can donate at Dave's (via the coffee can) or you can contact them via their blog: Hot Pink Warriors. I rarely do charity work, but this IMO is a good cause. Now on to poker content:

In A Poker No-Man's-Land

Haven't posted in a couple of weeks, been busy busting out of tournaments and lighting money on fire.

Played Dave's regular Saturday night two weeks ago. I bought short and was determined to play snug. The problem with the structure at Dave's is that playing snug early is fine, but the levels jump so much after the first break that you have to start getting lucky. I was up and down early, building a 7K lead (starting stack is 5k when you buy short). I blew that all doubling up a short stack. After that, I raised preflop with J9 suited and got one customer. Flop came 6-7-8. I bet the flop, he calls. Turn is a brick, I bet again and he hesitates. He clearly doesn't want to call but does. River pairs the 6 and this guy practically jumps out of his seat. I roll my eyes and check knowing I can't bluff him now and he snap shoves his stack in. I Hollywood for a minute and wave goodbye to my chips. I had to take the add-on (3k in chips). I get dealt KsKc and decide to limp/back raise. Well, shit. Everyone limps/checks and I take a flop four ways that's got an A on it and is all hearts. Surprisingly, the hand checks all the way down and I show KK and take it. I was sure I was screwed, and couldn't bet. By the break I am crippled, slide down to 3600 with blinds at 300/600. I get 33 UTG and shove. I get called by Danny in the BB who rolls over K8d and I turn a boat. I then hit my stride. I get QJ on the button. Colin open/shoves from early and everyone runs screaming. I decide I will either have chips or leave, so I call. I flop a J and his A-10 jobs to me. I then busted a short stack and was up over 15k. I get into a comical hand with Meats. I am BB, he is SB. Folds to us, he limps and I check with 8-3h. Flop comes A-K-J two hearts. He checks, I bet 2k and he shoves. I call. He says "I have the nuts" and rolls over Q-10. Turn is a heart and I say "Not anymore" and scoop the pot. I am still hearing about this hand two weeks later.

I get to the final table with 17k when the roll finally stops. Monsignor shoves from early position and I look down in the BB at KK. My first thought is to fold, but I am too stupid to fold kings and I call. He rolls over A-9 and I am drawing dead preflop. Sure enough, A in the door. Crippled, I blind off a round and then get QJ suited UTG+1. I decide to take my chances and shove. Meats tanks and then shoves over top. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Everyone else folds and of course he has AJ. I flop the Q but he flops the A and I brick out. I played a few rounds of the Hold'em/PLO mix game but couldn't get any traction. I folded a hand I apparantly shouldn't have and then got stacked later. $1/1 PLO, I get Q-9-8-4 (suited Q) in the BB. Button min raises to $2. I call, as do a few others. Five take a flop of J-10-9 offsuit. I bet $10, short stack shoves for $19. Button over shoves to put me all-in. I show 2nd nuts and fold, and watch in amazement as the other two roll over K-10-9-x. Had I called I'd have scooped a $100 pot.

This past weekend I decided to hit Linda's $40 Friday. I stopped at Nautica first for some $3/6 limit. It's all players I know from my $5/10 days and it's super soft. Only won one big hand, flopped a set of 8's and got called all the way down and it held. I was up $80 at one point but I bricked a few draws and lost about $20 on the last hand flush over flush. I left down $1. Linda's was a bust. I never really got any traction. I had a favorable table but I kept raising and missing flops, and Ryan S. was playing very aggressive (and he was hitting a lot). The only big hand I won was defending by BB. Ryan button raised (as he had been doing all night) and I decided to defend. I shoved with 2-6h and he calls with AQc. I go runner runner flush to double up before break, but after the break it comes apart. I double up Kris Rao, then Silent Dave shoves blind twice on me and I call with the best hand both times but it doesn't hold. Finally I pulled a stop and go on Ryan and Dave, but ran into Dave's flopped set of 9's and stacked off. Boo.

Dave's tournament this past weekend didn't go so well again either. I short buy again and arrive in time to see Hacker lay down a sick bluff on TK. Blinds are $50/100, hacker makes it $300. TK three bets to $700 from the BB. Hacker four bets him to $1700. TK looks sick, declares he has two outs, and calls. Flop comes K-A-K and Terry open mucks QQ face up. Hacker smiles, rolls over 5-8c and scoops the pot. Sick. I take a few small pots early, but I'm not really making a lot of progress. I grind my stack up to 11k at break and take the add-on. I tried my one bluff of the night on Chas and I picked a bad spot. I had her convinced I had trip 9's but the river gave her Aces up and she called me down, I blew about 5k in that pot. I gave away another 3k to Dave O. when I raised with 99, flop comes 10-8-3 and he check raises me. He showed me a 10 and folded, he said later he flopped a set. From there I was short stacked. RR Dave shoves into me, I look down at 88 and shove over the top. Guy at the end calls short with AQc. Dave shows 88. AQ guy makes a flush and Dave and I chop the pitiful leftovers. Next hand Dave shoves again, I call with A5. He rolls over A2 and for the second hand in a row I chop an all-in pot with him. He busts on the next hand from the BB and then we hit break. After break I have 5k left and am in the BB for 2k. I shove with Q7, TK calls with 55 and Danny calls with J8. A river 8 kills us both.

I borrowed a buyin for the cash game and sat down at $1/1. I was down to around $60 when I get dealt 99 and raise from the SB. Flop comes 10-10-8. I bet out, everyone but Tony folds. Turn is a 4. I shove my stack in, Tony calls. River is a 9. I declare boat and roll it over, but Tony only had A-8 and was behind anyway. After that double up a $1/1 HA opened up. I sat down seven handed and was in the first orbit when I got dealt 10-9-8-8 double suited. I call a small raise and take a flop of J-7-6 offsuit. I check with every intention of raising but no one bets. Turn is a 2. I check again, guy on my left makes it $20. Guy across from me pots, which is enough to put me all-in. I think about it for a long time and realize I have too many outs to fold. I call and the inital bettor folds. River is an 8 and I make my straight against his set of Jacks. After that it was cruise control time. I was up and down a bit but I was determined not to lose my profit. By the end of the night I cashed out +$145 (I gave $25 back in 7 aces). We all ended up at IHOP at 6am eating breakfast and watching a car drive by with it's lights off, the front end smashed, and a flat tire that was driving on the rim. Good times.

2011-02-27T12:17:00.001-08:00

Comeback comes to a screeching halt

I played the $40 H-A mixed tournament at Dave's yesterday. It started off really well for me. I doubled up in the first PLO round off a guy who flopped top set and stacked off to my monster wrap that got there. I didn't get any playable hands in the hold'em rounds. The wheels came off before the break in the $150/300 level. I lost about half my stack to BC after I flopped a monster draw, straight and flush draw plus an overpair. I lost to his two pair 9's and 2's when I caught two bricks. A few hands later I get it all in against Colin and BC. I had KK82 two clubs against Colin's Q-Q-10-9 (also two clubs) and BCs's K-10-5-5 (two diamonds). I flop the club draw and my pair is good until BC catches running diamonds to flush out and stack us both.

I head over to the cash game and it becomes obvious early that I will be running uphill. Brian raises preflop to $7, I am the only caller with AQ. Flop Q-8-2. He checks, I bet $15, he calls. Turn K. He checks again and I pick up what I think is a pretty obvious tell on him. I put him on a draw and bet $30. He calls. River is an A (of course). He checks again and I check behind, he shows J-10 for the runner runner broadway. I thought at first that the tell I picked up was deliberate, but as I watch him I see him do it repeatedly. We get into another hand where he raises and I call with 5-7. Flop comes Q-5-3 (I think, not sure). I check, he checks and does his tell, Nick bets $10. I call, Brian pops it to $35. Nick folds, I shove for another $16 knowing he's on a draw. He calls with his 9-6 diamonds and hits a 6 on the river for a better pair. I also got my QQ snapped off by Colin's 9-5h. I raised preflop, two callers. Flop 9-7-6 offsuit. Colin leads for $15, I shove for 69 on top, guy inbetween calls, Colin calls. Turn? 9. Colin shoves and the other guy calls. He doesn't show as Colin scoops with his trip 9's. I should've left at this point but I decided to try and play through it. I steamed through two more buyins (including turning a gutshot straight and stacking off to Colin again who of course turned a better gutter). I finally gave up and left after stacking off to Dave's JJ with another draw hand that did not make it.

Looking back at my play, it was totally awful. It was clear early I wasn't going to hit any draws, and my made hands just weren't holding up. To make it worse, Colin was in that mode where he gets a lot of chips and just decides to play everything (and hit it). It was a bad table to be at, and I should've left much sooner.

2011-02-20T14:18:00.001-08:00

Turning This Poker Truck Around

So, this past Wednesday I decided to hit Nautica again and take another shot at the $1/2. I was originally going to just play $2/4 but they had an open NL seat at a table full of nits (my favorite) so I decided to make a run. I bought in $120 and sat down. First hand I get J/10 spades, raise to $7. Two callers take a flop of 3-5-6. The guy next to me leads into me for $20, I fold and he shows 3-5 off and declares he will play any two cards to any raise. AWESOME. Next hand I get AQ, call a raise to $6. Flop comes K-J-3 and two players bet/raise before it gets to me. I am quickly down to $91 when I get into the biggest clusterfuck of the year so far. In the BB I get dealt 7-7. The entire table limps to me, I see no point in raising out of position with a shitty pair so I check in. Flop comes A-9-8 two clubs. Everyone checks. Turn is the 7s (putting two spades on board as well). UTG bets $20. Four callers back to me. I decide to nip this in the bud and pump it all-in for $69 on top. Two callers, one guy on the end shoves for a bit more than me, another short stack calls for less. As I am monkeying up the two side pots, Meat comes up behind me and asks why it's always me in these fucked up hands. Dealer puts out the Kc, and Meat slaps me on the back and says "Well, THAT fucked you!". I declare a set and table my hand, and to my astonishment everyone mucks and I drag a huge pot. Looks like things might just be turning around! Afterwards, Meat and I cashed out and hit trivia at the tavern. On the way home, I felt genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. I played some poker, won some money, hung out with friends and had a good time. Why can't my life be like this all the time?

I played Dave's last night. I had to buy into the tournament late since I am on call and had to make sure I didn't have any more work before I went out there. I came in a round and a half before break and was dealt a steady succession of nothing. For the first two rounds I didn't play a hand except the blinds, which I folded. The first hand I decide to play is from the BB with KQ suited. Krazy Mike makes it $1000 to go, Malcolm flats, I call. Flop Q-8-6. I check, Mike and Malcolm check. Turn is a brick, I open/shove my stack, Mike folds, Malcolm snaps with a set of 8's and I am crippled. A few hands later I shove with J9, Malcolm calls with 99 and I am off to the cash game. My horse didn't fare much better, he blew a 24k chip stack in two hands and was out soon after me.

The cash game didn't start so well either. I bought in $80 and sat between a steaming Silent Dave and Hiphop. I lost a bunch of small hands and then got into a three way all-in for my last $50 that I watched two people with AK chop. I tapped a friend for another $100 and rebought. I was up and down a lot. Flopped a set of 6's against a guy who flopped a flush and paid him off. Then I snapped off a bluff by Silent Dave for a $100 pot. We moved tables and I just got into the zone. I was playing well, my reads were good, and I didn't lose to any miracle hands. I did make a few bad plays still (my one big bluff of the night AGAIN picked off, this time by Hiphop and his Q's with a 3 kicker). I played a lot of pots in the $50-60 range and won. I kept my hand range pretty tight and kept my betting even to try and keep people from picking up any betting tells. Even Colin commented that I was playing very well. The biggest pot I won was a BB special. Got dealt 6-8, call a $5 preflop raise from short stack. Flop Q-9-5. Checks around. Turn 6. Checks around again. River 6. I bet $12, short stack across from me shoves for $38. TK just flat calls. TK's flat calls stalls me - I'm not sure if he's baiting me or expecting me to fold so I flat call and roll over the trips for the win. There weren't any monster pots I won, just played solid and took down a lot of decent pots.

Going to take a few days off while I serve out my on-call, then will probably have a degenerate weekend next week since I am off work and don't have the kids. I might even drag K back out to play, bad wheel and all.

2011-02-16T06:25:00.000-08:00

Light at the end of the tunnel?

I played in Dave's again this past weekend. It started out small - two tables at launch - but opened up to a 29 player donkfest by break. I again decided to go with the $20 buy and save the add-on rather than take it all up front. I also decided to narrow my hand range a bit more and to be more conscious of my position.

Things did not start well. I am at a table with four women, Data, and Dave W. It's a nit-fest from go, everyone decides to be a dirty trapper except Dave, who decides he's going to be Sir-Raise-A-Lot. I'm getting a whole lot of nothing and can't brush him back, so I sit there and fold a ton of blinds. I'm sitting with a new girl I've never met before, and she seems to be getting smacked with the deck. When it's checked to her and she's got a pair she's betting, and the rest of the table is running screaming. She seems to be pretty passive though, folding most of the time to pressure. I decide to take a run at her on a four club board, firing all three barrels at her trying to budge her. Every time I bet she winces like she's in pain, yet she calls off 2/3 of her stack with the K. Ooops. Every time I do get a hand and raise everyone folds. Finally I get JJ on the button and raise. Data calls, flop comes A-Q-6. He checks, I c-bet, he calls. Turn is a blank and he fires into me. I show JJ and fold, down another 1k. (John later said he had AQ for top two). Frustrated, I take the add-on early to keep from having to shove.

Got into a strange hand with the new girl. I get dealt AK in mid position and decide to limp for 300 (since everyone is folding to my raises). She limps on button, SB folds, BB (Dave) checks in. Flop comes 10-9-6 offsuit. Dave checks, I check, she checks. Turn is a 3. Again Dave and I check, again she checks. River is a K. I check, Dave checks, she bets 1000. This is the first time she's made a pot sized bet at anything. Dave folds and I tank. I start trying to narrow down what she button limped with that's suddenly worth 1k. I decide she doesn't have K-10 or K-9 because she's been betting pairs and wouldn't have checked it twice. Likewise I eliminate sets or 10-9. It's doubtful she limped with something stupid like 10-3, 9-3, or K-3. I narrow her down to either 7-8 or Q-J for a straight, AK like me, or K-Q or K-J. I decided I can't beat much and fold A-K face up. The table is stunned and she collects her pot. She told me at break she didn't have a straight, so I might have been good but I doubt it.

Just before break I finally get a hand and flop a set of 6's against Nicole and nearly double up. After break I come on strong. I make Broadway against Cheryl and take a nice pot, then bust short stack Pyxis with KK after she shoves with A-10 and I fade the three outer (It's a fuckin' miracle!). A few hands later I bust Data and our table breaks. I get moved to the feature table, where I stay the rest of the game. I get seated next to a new guy who makes Meat look loose and aggressive. He's literally blinding to death. Blinds are 400-800, he has 2800, and he's limping in and folding. When it gets to 600-1200, he folds a BB and SB and leaves himself with 600 in chips. He finally has no choice to be all-in in the BB with 4-7 and loses. WTF is wrong with these people?

I did play one stupid hand, called a raise from Dawn preflop with J-10 on the button. Flop comes K-9-7. She open/shoves with K5 and I call with my double gutter and turn an 8, scooping the pot and putting me up over 20k for the first time. I get into a three way pot, got JJ in the SB. Mid position limper, button makes it 4500 to go. I debate shoving, but I don't know this guy and am not sure if this is a button play or not. I decide to flat, to my surprise the BB (Jesse) flats as well. Flop comes 9-6-2. I open/shove, Jesse folds, button tanks and folds. I show the JJ and drag a monstrous pot. I did make one misstep. With 31k in front of me, I call two short stacks who were all-in with A4s. BC had J-10, Dave had AK, three 10's on the flop and BC triples up. At the final table I still had 19k. Massive clusterfuck in one hand. Cheryl open/shoves with AQ. Jack Treadway also has AQ and shoves. Dave O. tanks forever and then calls with AK. Case A on the flop and Dave has a monster stack. Got up to 35k when I busted Jesse (don't remember what I had...maybe Q's?).

Blinded off a bit and then crippled by Linda. She open/shoves with A6, I call from BB with 77. Flop 6-8-9, turn 6 of course, river a brick and I am crippled. 5 handed UTG I decide to launch my only steal attempt of the night and shove with 4/5. Dave O. snaps with 10-10 and I am out 5th.

My tighter hand selection seems to be paying off. I saved a lot of chips simply folding small pairs. Example: BC is short stacked at the 200-400 level, I am in the SB with pocket 3's. Folds to me, I show and fold the pair and he shows a decent Ace. I rabbited a quick flop and there was an A on it. I also folded any pair below 9's until the final table, where I was forced to play pairs due to the blinds and my stack.

I also took a trip to Nautica on Sunday, wow is the new building a DUMP. It's a disorganized mess. When I was there, there were 50+ names in the $1/2 list. They refused to open tables at 5pm because they needed dealers for the 7pm tournament and were short. I got on the $2/4 list (there's rarely a list for $2/4) and got a seat with a bunch of crabby old men. The guy on the end had over $400 in front of him and a VPIP of 100. He played every hand to every raise and was killing it. I left after dropping $100, just couldn't get anything going. My last hand I made the wheel and lost to Mr. 100 when he hit his gutter higher straight.

Hopefully on call is light this weekend and I can make another run at Dave's. Let's see how the new tournament strategy works out.

2011-02-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

Another DP meltdown

I played the $30 at Dave's last Saturday night and was doing pretty well. I decided to seriously tighten up my hand selection - no suited connectors, no aces less than A-10 (even suited), and I was folding small pairs (<9's) preflop. I built a decent stack early on, buying in for $20 and saving the rebuy/add-on for later. Blinds at 100/200 I get KJ in the BB. Guy in early position limps, TK calls, I check. Flop comes 10-8-2. TK checks, I check, other guy checks. Turn A. TK leads for $600. I read him as weak and decide to float him (as I'm pretty sure he's just stabbing and doesn't have an A). To my surprise the guy after me flats as well. Now I have to catch as I don't think I can bluff them both. River? Q. I have the nuts. TK checks, I lead out for $2500, guy on my left snaps, TK folds. He shows AJ and I collect a nice pot by accident.

I take a few more pots here and there and then get into a nice little cluster. I limp with QJc, short stack shoves in for 1400 more. I call and everyone else bails. He rolls over 99 and the flop comes Q-9-8 one club. 10c on the turn gives me straight and flush redraw. River J and we chop the pot with the same straight. By the break I had nearly 25k in chips. After the break the wheels come off. I limp in with A6s on the button six handed (mistake #1). Flop comes J-7-3 offsuit. Checks to me, I check (mistake #2). Turn is an A. SB leads out for $1000 and I flat call (mistake #3). River is a 5. SB leads out for $2500, I flat (mistake #4) and he rolls over A7 for aces up. Whoops. I still have about 18k left and take a few deep breaths and plow on. Our table gets down to 5 handed as we approach the final table. I get dealt KQ on the button. I limp, SB makes it $4500 to go. (800/1600 blinds). I flat (mistake #1). Flop comes 9-7-6 offsuit. He checks, I check behind (mistake #2). Turn 3. He checks again, I check again (mistake #3). River comes 10. He checks for the third time, I decide to value bet bluff the 4 card straight board and toss out $4000. (mistake #4). He tanks and finally calls, rolling over AK for the hero call and the win. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Down to 9100 I get AK in the big blind. As soon as see my hand the little poker voice in my head says "Don't play it - you'll get fucked" but I am shortstacked. Mid position Krazy Mike shoves in 8500 with K-10. I call and roll over AK. Flop is all blanks, turn gives me spade draw, river is the two out 10. Down to 600 in chips it's academic at this point. I throw it all in with K2d and am busted.

I was going to leave, but my horse offered to front me a buy-in for the cash game. I looked at the table and saw a guy we called World's Greatest Dad (because he wore a shirt that said that the first time he played with us), Jeff R., Terry, and some new players. I figured I'd take one shot at it. I sat down and blinded off a little until I got AKd in mid position. I make it $6, Jeff and WGD call. Flop J-9-4 offsuit. Jeff looks disinterested and checks, WGD checks, I decide to continue with a $15 bet. Jeff folds, WGD hems and haws and makes it $30. I fold and he rolls over 9-4 for bottom two. Oh boy. A few rounds later I get KK. I make it $6 again, and again Jeff and WGD call. Flop comes A-A-9. WGD leads into me for $15 and I insta-muck. Jeff calls. Turn is an 8, WGD bets $15 again, Jeff makes it $40. WGD calls. River is a 7, WGD shoves all in. Jeff calls, WGD rolls over A7 for the boat. Jeff disgustedly shows the case A and folds. I keep getting a lot of playable hands but missing flops or getting mushed. I'm down to about 95 when I get AQ on the button. Terry makes it $4 to go, Colin makes it $12, I call. Unfortunately, so does the rest of the table. Flop comes A-K-5. It checks around to me, I shove my last $73 in. Folds to TK who snaps all-in. He rolls over A5 and I catch two bricks and leave.

I need to tweak the tournament strategy some more, but the narrow hand range seems to have helped a bit. I am still losing to 2 and 3 out miracles, not sure what I can do about that. Maybe fold AK from the BB?

2011-02-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

Keep On Postin'

I haven't posted in a few weeks mainly because I haven't really been playing cards. I did attend the Chili Cookoff at Dave's in Lorain, another good time. I played the $50 deepstack tournament and did not make it to the first break. I started off OK, made a few hands and chipped up a bit early on. I then made an idiotic hero call, donked off all the profit after I put a new guy on a missed flush draw and called with K high to see his rivered full house. I never really recovered from that hand. I know the hero call is my weakness sometimes but I was just sure I'd read him properly. Oh well. The hand that really knocked me out was a fucking debacle from go. Blinds are at 150/300, I have 14K in front of me. In the BB with 47h. UTG makes it 1100 to go. He's a new guy, haven't played much with him but he seems pretty aggressive. I put him on Ace/x and call (mistake #1). Flop comes 2-2-3 two hearts. I check and he bets 1100. I took this to mean he did not like the flop (as Greg mentions when people bet the same on the flop as they did preflop it often indicates weakness). I decide he missed and call. (mistake #2). Turn is the Jd. I check and he hesitates. He definitely does not like the J. He takes a minute and bets 2200. I call again (mistake #3). River is the 10h. I decide to open/shove my stack in (mistake #4). He snap calls and rolls over 10-10 for the boat. Fuck.

#1, I never should have played this hand out of position into a nothing pot. I fucked that up. #2 on the flop I should be check raising. I would likely put my whole stack in on that flop, after all what else are you waiting for with 47h? #3 I should've shoved on the turn bet, I knew he didn't like the J and I probably could've gotten him to fold here. #4 Shoving here is dumb, though I likely would've stacked off to an all-in anyway. I deserved to lose this hand and I did. Let's see if I learned anything. It was a bad night for my horse too, he didn't get any traction and busted out later on. As a side note, if someone is backing you in a tournament isn't it common courtesy to send a few texts and update your backer? Even if you bust?

The only other game I played was the CPMG Monday Madness on PokerStars. Typical donkfest, got all my money in with AQ got snapped by a guy with J7s and I am drawing dead preflop. (It was suited!)

In other news I have mostly finalized plans for this year's WSOP. It's my intention to play my first event, #25 (7 card stud 8 or better). K and I are planning on going to Reno for a few days first to visit Greg, purveyor of The Biggest Little Poker Blog in the World. I also mean to visit my old friends Pam and Cherie, who I haven't seen in a while. They moved out to California, about 2 hours from Reno. From there we'll be heading to Vegas for a week of WSOP action. I have expectations for this year - I expect to do better at cash, I expect to cash in my event, etc. I will try to sell some of my tournament action but I honestly don't think anyone's going to buy. Would you back someone as outright terrible as I've been lately? I wouldn't. I think I'll have to earn back some cred before anyone backs me again. I really wanted to go to the Ohio Championship and the Hollywood Poker Open but it looks like if I want to have a serious roll for LV I need to buckle down and keep my head low.

I will probably be playing Dave's this weekend again, I am also going to reinstate my live game updates via Twitter. For those that don't know or follow me, I am @DougPoker on Twitter. I will keep you updated until I bust, which if things continue will likely only be a few tweets.

2011-01-17T17:27:00.000-08:00

My Atlantic City Trip Report (or, "Drowning on the Jersey Shore"). WARNING: LONG AND RAMBLING POST.

So, K and I packed up a rental car and headed to AC for a winter poker trip. As a Christmas gift she got me tickets to the Anti-Social Network comedy show (Jim Norton, Dave Attel, Bill Burr, and Jim Breuer). We left early Friday and decided to make a stop in Philly at the new Parx Casino. They have an amazing poker room, it's huge and very well run. They have brush stations staggered throughout and they are on the ball. I saw several people try to just walk in and sit down without being on a list and they picked them off every time. They also have roaming chip vendors that bring you buyins so you don't have to get up. I played some $4/8 O.E. (Omaha Hi/Lo - Stud Hi/Lo mix) as I was waiting for a seat at the regular $4/8 game. My table was all 60+ year old men and one internet douchebag who was getting mauled. The old men never fold and the kid was trying to outplay them with no luck. I played a few rounds, never really got a hand and then got moved. The $4/8 limit was a complete donkfest. I was seated with an angry little asian lady that never folded and hit every hand. She played every hand all the way and twice drew out on me with gutshots. I was stuck $100 or so when the cards took a turn for the worse. In the BB I get dealt J8 off. I check in and the flop comes J-J-10 with two hearts. I lead for $4 and get two callers. Turn is a heart and I decide to lead and see if anyone raises me. Two callers and the river comes Ah. I do not have a heart so I check and the other two check. One rolls over KQ off for a straight, the other had 97 with the 9h and wins. After this I get an array of very playable hands (pairs, AK, AQ, etc) and win only one pot at the table with a flush. Frustrated, I cash out the last $85 I had on the table and we head to Atlantic City.

For our first day in A.C. we head to the Tropicana. The poker room is old and stuffy, but they had a bunch of tables going so we sit down. I buy into $2/4 for $200 and in the first round get dealt AK in the big blind. I make it $4 and the lady next to me gets mad, turns around and points at me and says "We got another one of THOSE here!" and then chastises me for raising preflop. She's pissed I raised her blind and she calls me. The flop comes K-9-5 offsuit and she checks to me. I bet, three callers. Turn is a 2. She checks again, I bet again and only she calls. River is a 4. She leads out for $4. I know she's not betting me off the hand so I just call and she rolls over 9-5 off for two pair. She then proceeds to lecture me about why I shouldn't raise and I tell her I will do it every time I have a hand. I lose about $120 over the next hour as it becomes clear that (a) no one folds, ever and (b) I cannot make a hand stick. I make two different sets that lose to gutshots and decide to just sit in at the $1/2 for a bit. It is the only bright spot in my trip. I buy in $180 and sit next to a local who informs me that the two idiots at the end are playing out of the same roll and split their money afterwards. One is a loudmouth bluffer who is simply steamrolling the table, the other is a nit. I get AJd in mid position and make it $10 to go. Three callers, flop comes J-10-4. The BB leads into me for $15 and I snap/raise to $50. He shows J3 and folds and I take a pot. I cruise for a bit until I get into a clusterfuck. I get 77 in mid position and limp. Mr. Aggro makes it $15. Three callers including his partner. I call. Flop comes 5-6-8. Mr. Aggro's partner bets $35 into the pot. I call, as do the other two. Turn is a 10. Everyone checks to me. I decide that Mr. Aggro and his partner are trying to buy this pot so I shove on them, which neither is expecting. Everyone folds and I show my pair and scoop it. After people see that Mr. Aggro is full of shit they all begin shoving on him, after losing a few hundred he and his partner leave. I then play the best hand of my trip.

I limp from UTG with AQ off and the guy across from me makes it $11 to go from the cutoff. He has a horrible betting tell - when he's weak he makes it $11 or $7 to go, when he's strong he makes it $17-$21 to go. I call him. Flop comes 3-5-6 off. I check and he bets $25. I noticed he tends to bet large/pot sized when he's missed or on a draw and tends to check raise or value bet when he hits. I decide I am good and call. Turn is a 7. I check, he bets $40. Again I call. River is a 5. I check and bets $60. I decide my read is good and I call. He says "Ace high" and rolls over A8. I table AQ and everyone is gobsmacked at my call. I scoop the pot and decide to cash out with my $14 profit and after lunch K and I head to the Taj. The Taj is a disorganized mess. The woman running the brush up front has a bad attitude and continues to berate the floor people over the microphone because they aren't moving people fast enough. I get a seat at $3/6 and play a few hands before the nasty black woman next to me starts a bunch of shit. Our table is physically smaller than the other tables around it, so the floor only seats 9 at it. She's pissed because she wants to sit 10 handed. They have one person waiting to play but the floor guy comes over and tells her it is staying 9 handed. She keeps bitching, in the meantime someone else cashes out and the guy waiting sits. He quickly chirps in with her about the 9 handed seating and the floor polls us. We all want to stay at 9 except them, so I finally tell the woman "If you want to play 10 handed, move to another table". She gives me the "Oh HELL no!" and the chicken neck and angrily storms off to another table. I tell her "Bye!" and she sits in a $2/4 and keeps bitching FOR AN HOUR. WTF is wrong with limit players? After Mz. Attitude leaves I play about an hour and take a stunning array of beats. Among my favorites: Raise from the button with 56d, turn trip 5's, lose to guy with K5. Call raise with pocket 3's, flop set, lose to runner runner flush. I cash out down $120 and sit in at $1/2 NL. I piddle along for a bit until I get into this beauty of a hand. In the cutoff with 10-9h. Raise to $10. Three callers including arabic guy who literally plays every hand. Flop comes 10-8-7. I bet, arabic guy raises me. I shove, he snap calls and rolls over 9-7. Turn? 7. River brick and he stacks me. Frustrated, I decide to leave.

After the comedy show we decided to play Borgata. I got on a $1/2 and sat at a table with a couple internet pros (headsets, hoodies, pale skin and bad attitudes). They're all trying to out level each other, and there's a drunk guy next to me playing every hand. I get into a hand with one of the "pros" who seems to be French. He limps in, I limp on the button with A9d, blinds check in and the flop comes A-2-5. Everyone checks to me, I lead out for $15. Everyone folds except Frenchie. Turn is a 4. He suddenly leads into me for $25. I've seen him trying to outplay his idiot friends, so I am trying to decide what he limped in with from the hijack that would have a 3 in it. I don't think he has an A, he'd been raising with any A. I call the $25 and the river comes A. He bets out $35 and I call, he rolls over 2-3 for the wheel. He and his internet pro buddies discuss how well he played the hand, etc. Like a real prick, he decides to rub it in by saying "Oh, it was SUITED" to me. I hadn't said anything to him about the hand, but now I was pissed off. Irritated, I wait for a chance to extract it back. A round later I get dealt 95c in the BB. One of the internet pros makes it $15 and four people call to me. I decide to take a shot and call. The flop comes Q-J-3 with 2 clubs. Frenchie inexplicably open shoves for his whole stack. I call with my flush draw and everyone else folds. Turn comes a 5, river a 9 so instead of the flush I made two pair. Frenchie proudly declares "Missed your flush, eh?" and smugly rolls over AA. I say "two pair" and table my hand. Stunned, he immediately begins trashing me for playing junk, etc, and I take delicious pride in turning to him and saying in a mock French accent "but, it was SUITED!". He begins steaming bad. A few hands later I pick up JJ in the cutoff. Frenchie makes it $20 to go. I call. Drunk guy next to me clumsily raises to $40. Frenchie shoves his stack in for $100 and I make the mistake of calling. Drunk guy calls and we take a flop of K-K-10. I check, he bets out $50. I call. Turn is a 4. I check, he checks. River is an A, I check again and he says "I think I lost" and turns over A-10. Frenchie rolls over 9's and I blow most of my profit on a stupid play. I should've shoved over top and closed out drunk guy, but I called thinking he was going to fold. I piddle some more off before I just cash out and leave.

We return to Borgata and I decide to take another run at the $3/6. I sit down with $200 and have a great table. Everyone is playing soft, they're all easy to read, I figure I can make some money back here. I am very, very wrong. I play tight for a while before getting dealt 2-5 off in the BB. Everyone limps and I check, flop comes Q-4-2. I check, as does everyone else. Turn is a 2. Bingo! I lead for $6, Vietnamese girl at the end of the table raises me. She's been pretty solid, I put her on a Q and three bet her. She just calls. River is a J. She checks, I bet $6, she just calls and rolls over JJ for a rivered boat. Ugh. A round later I get 67c on the button. I make it $6, three callers. Flop is 4c-5c-2d. SB leads out, I raise him. He calls and it's heads up. Turn is a Q. He bets again, I raise again, he calls. River is a 6. He checks to me, I check, he rolls over K3 for the straight. I mean, Christ, WTF do I have to do to hit a draw or make a hand stick? Frustrated, I soldier on. In mid position I limp with 45h. Flop comes 3-4-5 and the guy who made his straight on me bets out. Everyone else folds and I two bet him. He calls and the turn comes a K. He leads again, I raise again, he calls. River Ace. He leads again, I make the crying call and he shows AK for the running two pair. A few hands later I am in the BB again with Q6 off. A few limpers and I check in. Flop comes Q-2-3 one club. SB leads out for $3, asian lady calls, I call. Turn is the 4c. Everyone including me checks. River comes a 5 and puts three clubs out. Everyone checks to me, I put $6 out to see if my straight is good. Asian lady reluctantly calls and rolls over K9c for the flush. At least she isn't trying to get value for her hands. I rebuy another $100 and go on a ridiculous string of bad beats including flopping a set of J's and losing to runner runner flush against Mr. Lucky who has turned his $100 buyin into $500 by simply playing and winning every hand. At this point I decide I've lost enough at poker and give up. After dinner I kill time at video poker until K is ready to leave and we head back to sleep it off and drive back.

Seriously, I know I made a few bad plays/bad reads here and there, but how can one person run so bad for so long?

2011-01-02T06:20:00.001-08:00

New Year, New Dedication To Blogging

I see that my last post was from October, and I wonder if anyone still checks here for updates. I got lazy and stopped posting for a few reasons, most notably the continuing slide in my cash games. Since it's a new year, I've decided to try to blog at least once a week as I think it helps me recall hands and see what/if I could've done better.

As you may already know, the downward slide continues. Since my last post, I've had only two (yes, two) positive cashouts in cash games. I am in the worst rut in the past three years, it's gotten so bad that I have become gun shy while playing and I think that's making it worse since I am not getting value like I should for hands. I simply cannot make a hand stick - I've lost to so many 2, 3, and 4 out miracles that I just expect it now. I know this is bad for my game, as once you've lost positivity your game suffers. A few examples of my horrible run:

In the $40 satellite at Dave's, got about 9k in front of me. Blinds T$75/$150. I limp from early position with 77. Yosh calls. Dave raises to $500 from the SB. Dave doesn't raise much, and I know he has a big hand to raise out of position into two people that he knows will likely call him. I call, Yosh calls. Flop J-7-3 two spades. I check, Yosh checks, Dave bets T$1400. I call, Yosh bails. Turn is a 4c. Dave leads for T$4400. I shove, he snap calls and rolls over AA. River? Oh yeah, two outered. Ad FTW.

In the BB at River Pete's $1/$1 game. Get dealt 48c. Few limpers, I check in and flop comes A95 all clubs. I check the flush, Cindy bets $11. I flat, everyone else bails. Turn is the 2s. I check expecting her to bet, she checks behind. River? 9d. I just know that card fucked me, so I check. She bets $20. I should've folded for a few reasons - Cindy is unlikely to bet without either a higher flush or a boat, AND I've been running so horrible. I decide to just call and she declares BOAT and rolls over 55. I show my flush and muck and everyone is astonished that she didn't stack me. This is a spot where my shitty run saved me money, as if I was running good I would've raised her and probably got stacked as she at no point in the universe will fold a set, even if she knows she is beat.

Also at Pete's $1/1. In middle position get dealt AJh. Raise to $3, Pete snaps it up to $11. He likes to three bet me a lot, and I don't give him credit for much of a hand. I call the $11 and it's just us to the flop of J-7-2. I check, he bets $16. I know he whiffed this, and I'm positive my J is good. I call. Turn is the 3d. I check, Pete shoves in for $40. I call. River 4d and Pete says "The Nuts" and rolls over AQd for the runner runner flush. So, on the flop he must catch a Q or runner runner flush making me roughly a 7.5 to 1 favorite (or about 99.9999999999995% to lose as things are currently going). Again, you can argue the best hand preflop won, but no one is folding AJh in a cash game AND I had the hand read perfectly. If the flop comes Q-J-2 I don't call his bet.

In the BB at Aaron's, been getting my ass kicked all day at PLO/Hold'em mix. I have $12 left and get dealt A-Q-10-8 two hearts. I raise and Aaron pots. I shove in my $12 and he calls with A-K-K-7 also two hearts. I have his flush draw dominated. Flop comes Q-8-2 two spades. I pummeled the flop and fully expect to lose. I declare "deuce on the turn and I brick the river". Sure enough, a two drops on the turn and then the 7c on the river and I am out.

It goes on and on. These are just a few recent examples. I've been adjusting my game but I just can't seem to stop the leakage. I've been thinking hard about this and have come to a few conclusions. I've decided not to play any more NL cash games with CPMG players. There's a few reasons for this. First, the more I think about it the more ridiculous it seems to keep sitting at a table full of people who are either at or beyond my skill level when I can sit with morons at casinos or Nautica. These people all know me, have reads on my play, and are much better equipped to outplay me than tourists or fish. If I went into a casino and saw a table of regulars who all knew each other and a table of guys in suits throwing money around, I would sit with the tourists. I will (of course) play limit or mix games, but sitting at any NL with group members is a suicide run. I will still play tournaments, but I expect to slowly scale back my involvement in the CPMG. I've been there for at least four years, and I have a lot of friends in the group, but I just cannot make money in those games.

There is also a LOT of shit talking going on behind my back. Apparantly there are people who not only feel they are better than me at poker BUT they feel the need to talk loads of shit about me when I am not there. They don't think I hear about it, but the one thing people like more than listening to someone run their mouth is to tell me "So and so said you're fucking horrible, you're welcome at his game anytime, etc etc". I get texts all the time like "X asked us how we could let you cash out with money" and so on. I'm all for drama, but why willingly subject myself to it? I am aware that most group members feel that I am a horrible player (and they may be correct) but it's bad business to tap on the fish tank fellas. I'm not naming any names, I'm sure if you regularly attend games you know who runs their mouth.

I am rededicating myself to poker. My goal was (and still is) to become a good enough cash player (and establish a large enough bankroll) to be able to support myself with my card playing. I don't think I could be a pro, but with enough work I do think I could make a consistent profit and be able to afford the things I want. I don't expect I'll be able to do this consistently at NL until I vastly improve my game. Rather than blow a few buyins at Dave's, I am going to start taking regular trips to Pittsburgh to kill the $4/8 limit game. I can make enough there to supplement my game until I have a large enough roll to stab at the $1/3 again. (Yes, Greg, I am aware that is actually backwards of the normal strategy of taking stabs at NL to establish a solid limit bankroll).

Look for more updates next week as I intend to blog even if I haven't attended a game that week. To those of you who read this and are my friends, have a good new year and play well. The rest of you? Well, fuck you too.

2010-10-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-09-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-07-05T19:25:00.001-07:00

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.

2010-06-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-04-18T15:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-03-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-03-17T05:24:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-03-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-03-05T21:44:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-03-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-02-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-02-04T17:43:00.001-08:00

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.

2010-01-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-01-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-01-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

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).

2009-12-29T18:51:00.001-08:00

Back From Hiatus

I haven't posted in about a month, with the holidays and work it's been tough to get free time to ramble on here. So, I offer a few jumbled observations from the haze of the past few weeks, and then I shall commit to posting regularly again.

So, a few highlights: I took 3rd in Dave's tournament on 12/12 for $110. Not a bad way to kill some time. I'm not really concentrating on tournament play much anymore, especially with the surge in 8 game play. I have also secured a guaranteed seat in the POY final with that cash, so I no longer need to keep contributing the +$1. I know that annoys the shit out of Mailman, but why should I keep dumping extra dollars into a pot I have little real chance of winning? It seems +EV to me stop paying extra and still get a shot at the kitty.

With the push for 8 game lately I've been doing much better in cash, albeit at lower increments. I'm not cashing out $1K a night but I've certainly been covering my expenses with it. I only have one losing session, and most of that loss was at NLHE while I was waiting for mix game players. I've also slowly begun playing props with the other guys, I'll probably get more into it as it progresses.

I downloaded a trial version of the "Poker Journal" app for the iPod Touch. I want to give it a try before I plunk down the $13 for the full version. All the reviews I read on the web were positive, most people say it's worth the money. I'm going to give it a run and see.

More after this weekend's pokering.

2009-12-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

Nautica: Bad For My Bankroll

So, last entry I promised my observations on Nautica Charity Poker. I have played probably a dozen sessions there and haven't had nearly the success that others have claimed. There are several reasons for this: the loose play there requires a larger bankroll than I have available, I have had several plain AWFUL runs of cards there (flopping nut flushes and losing to runner runner FH, etc). One of the other reasons, and the reason I won't be playing there anymore, is the rampant cheating.

Yes, cheating. Everyone I've talked to from the CPMG that plays there says they've seen stuff here or there, but in the past few weeks I've noticed blantant cheating teams that weren't even trying to hide what they were doing. Some examples: I moved to a $5/10 limit table and sat down in between two players who were obviously together. At different points during hands, he would pick his cards up in a way so she could see them, and she was doing the same. They started blantantly whipsawing the table (raising each other to trap suckers in between). They would raise each other until everyone else folded, then they would check it down. At one point she ran low on money and he handed her some away from the table. They got into a huge hand where he flopped a set and they started raising each other, trapping a poor guy in the middle who didn't realize what was going on. When he said "What the fuck?" I said loudly "It's a whipsaw!". They both shot me a dirty look, and shortly after that they left. They're there all the time, everyone knows them but no one ever calls them out for their blantant collusion. The floor are a bunch of useless volunteers, they can't figure shit out and if you can't prove beyond a doubt what's happening there's little you can do. At a different session, I sat with them again and watched as he slyly got up every time his blind was coming around, and then sat back in without posting after it passed him. The third time he did it, I made the dealer stop and made him post. He got mad and took his money off the table and left.

The final straw came a few days ago at the $1/2 NL. I got seated at a table with some regulars (who play there all the time and all know each other). In a limped pot, the board came 8-8-K. One player who I suspect of colluding picks up his chips and throws out a bet way to the side toward his buddy. It looked so unnatural and forced that it caught my attention. I had a K (KQc), and was immediately suspcious when the friend just called. I folded my K and everyone else folded to them. The guy who opened the betting just mucked his hand on the turn and shoved his friend the pot with no showdown or betting. Later on, as I was watching them, I noticed they were using chip signals (putting chips in certain places on their cards to indicate hand strength) and were also whipsawing pots (bet, someone in between calls, raise, etc). I decided to stop playing there when my final $50 went in with 8-8 against 6-6 and K-2 (no kidding, K-2). K2 flopped trips and I was out.

Nautica seems to be a breeding ground for collusion and cheating. There's little oversight, the cameras don't see everything and no one monitors them anyway, and there are way too many people with their hands in pots, on the cards, etc. At the $5-$10 I watched a guy chop up a pot so the dealer could get the next hand out, and he managed to drop a $5 on his own stack even though he wasn't in the hand. I called him out on it, and he quickly returned it to the pile saying "Oh, whoops". Yes, whoops indeed. I finally quit the $5/10 when the shuffler popped up red and said it was short a card. I opened the shuffler and was going to count the deck down when one of the players said "it does that all the time, leave it alone". I insisted, saying that if it was missing a card we should know. When the same person kept arguing with me I was certain he had slid a card off the table. They made the dealer hand shuffle to keep the action going, and I left. I can't prove what happened and I don't need to. The fact that I suspect it all is reason enough to avoid the place.

2009-11-30T16:56:00.000-08:00

Another 8 Game Victory

I haven't been blogging as much lately, I actually haven't been playing cards that much either. I hit Dave's last week for the 8 game and sat at a full table with TK, Meats, RR Dave, Dennis, and Data. I did pretty well, cashed out up $116. Terry was up a couple hundred, he really does well at the stud games (where he learned limit). I was surprised he would even play when a NL game was on, but he stayed at our table all night.

Last Saturday was spectacular. I went early to play the $50 deepstack. I made one bad play that crippled me (called Data's raise with A-10 in position, he had AK, we both flopped an A and I put him in and lost). I doubled up with a good play on Dave (shoved over his raise with 88 and he folded). I got KK under the gun with only 9900 left and made it 2k to go. The button raised to 7k and I shoved, of course he snap calls and turns up 10's and I am out after a river 10. I decided to sit at the NL game and nit it up for a while until the 8 game busted out. I made a huge call early that helped out. I was in the BB and Rich straddled for $2. Couple calls, I look down at Q3s and tossed another $1 in, Rich checked. Flop is Q-J-3. Checks around to Danny, he fires out $10. Jamie calls, I call, everyone else folds. Turn is another J, at which point Jeff R rolls his eyes and slaps the table. I am a bit worried about being counterfeited so I check again to see what happens. Danny bets another $10. Jamie calls, I call. River is a 10. Check-check to Danny, he fires out $36. Jamie folds, and it's to me. I only have $50 left, but I start running through the hand. If he had AQ, QQ, KQ or QJ he would've raised preflop. He could conceivably have Q-10 but I just feel like he missed something. I decide if I'm wrong I'll rebuy and I call. He shows 4-4 and I scoop a nice pot. 8 game finally opened up and I cash down to $150 and move.

The 8 game was a lot peppier this week than the week before. Hip Hop, Colin, and Pro West sat in with us, which made for a lively table. HH did a lot of raising in spots he really shouldn't have (a common mistake when NL players try to move to limit) and lost a lot of pots he had no business being in. It's fun to watch a NL player twist in the wind when he can't bet enough to bluff or push someone off a hand. For example: in 2-7 Triple Draw I make the nuts on the last draw and lead out. Meats gets worried and just calls, and HH two bets me. Colin looks over and asks "What the fuck are you doing?" as I three bet it. Meats gets sick and lays down a 7-6 low while HH calls with his 8-6 low. I show the nuts and scoop. I tried to avoid getting into any NL or PL hands with HH as I know these are not my strongest games and there was no reason to put my stack at risk in a dick waving contest. I did lose a nasty PLO hand where HH raises preflop with 3-3-5-8. I call with AK66 (suited A) and flop the nut flush. I check call his pot bet on the flop. On the turn the board pairs 5's and we both check. River? 8. I check call him again and lost $25 to his runner runner boat. He didn't believe I flopped the nuts but I know that any other way I play that hand I get stacked. He would call a repot on the flop and once he turns trips he's going nowhere. He might be dumb enough to pump it with a flopped flush but I'm not.

Ended up the night +$300 after covering my tournament loss. 8 game seems to be gaining some faithful followers, we actually had more people playing it this week than were playing NL. Chan closed down the NL table after felting a few people. They were begging for players and no one wanted to leave our table. I am confident there will be another 8 game this weekend as well, I can't wait to go extract more profit.

In my next post I will attempt to analyze my history at Nautica and explain why I won't be playing there anymore.

2009-11-15T15:54:00.001-08:00

A Much Needed Poker Win

I decided to make my way to Dave's again Saturday to play the tournament and try to work on my game a little. I was floating around the 8k starting stack until after the break when I got moved to Gary's table. Gary raised to 16k and 5 people (including me) called. I had K-10, flop was 10-10-3. Gary bet, I shoved and he called with A3c. He turned a wheel and club draw but bricked the river and I suddenly had 24k. I got moved to table 3 (incidentally, I ended up being moved enough times that I played at all 4 tournament tables at one point or another). I was in the BB for 1200 when the SB raises to 2500. I call with 98c and the flop comes J-8-2. He shoves for his last 4K and I call, he has A9 and misses. With 32K I get moved back to the feature table and then start getting pummelled. I lose 9K to Monsignor when he re-raises me all-in with J-10d against my AJ. Of course he hit his flush on the turn, I'm drawing dead. Crippled, I lose a few more small pots and get moved AGAIN to table 2. I blind off some more until I get AK on the BB. Colin button raises and I shove my last 16K in, he snap calls with A7d and sure enough he rivers a flush. Shell shocked, I get up.

With that we had enough people to open an 8 game table for $3/6 stakes. The game played mostly solid except for Jack being in damn near every hand. I get dealt rolled up K's in stud, bet it like it's going out of style, and lose to Jack's gutshot straight draw that gets there on 7th street. I also turned a straight and flush draw in PLO and lost $25 on the river when I made my flush and paid off Meat's higher flush. I finished the cash game up $9. A win is a win, I'll take it. After a 5AM run to IHOP with the 8 game crew I head home to sleep it off.

I get up Sunday at 1 and decide to meander over to Julie's for the $60. Julie gets crippled early by Kristina when they both flop trips and Kristina has an Ace with hers. In a limped pot I flop top pair Jacks with QJ and lead out. Julie snap calls. On the turn a 2nd diamond comes out, and Julie shoves her stack in. I call and she shows 10-7 for a gutshot and a flush draw. She bricks and I win. I then cripple myself when I call a raise in position with 3-4d. Flop 4-5-10 2 diamonds. I check raise the original raiser and he calls. Turn is the Kh and he shoves half his stack in. I have a monumental brain fart and just shove on him, he snap calls and rolls over AKd. Brick on the river and I'm down to 200. I get K2d on the button, Kristina min-raises and I shove. There's 1100 in the pot and I raise her 2100 more. She calls with A4 and I am out.

I decide to head over to Nautica and ply my trade at $5/10 limit. I was surprised to see Andre at the $2/5 tables, when I left he had over $1600 in his stack. I sit down and fold for a little bit and watch the table. There's an ATM at the end that is in hyper aggressive mode. He's betting and raising every chance he can, and people keep folding to him. Finally someone gets pissed and calls him with a pair of 2's which end up being good. Smelling blood, the regulars and I begin running him down. I get AQ in the blind and call his raise, flop is K-8-2 all spades (I have the As). He bets and I smooth call with a few others. Turn the Js. DA NUTS! He bets again and I smooth call him, down to just us. River is a blank and he bets again. I pop it to $20 and he gets mad and calls, I show him the nuts and scoop a nice one. I win a bunch of smaller pots and after 2 seat fees decide I don't want to pay a 3rd. I cash out up $150, recovering my two tournament losses for the weekend and adding a bit of scratch to my poor, anemic bankroll. I think I need to spend more time at the $5/10, I can play it pretty soft and still make a decent profit.

2009-11-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

The Wheels Have Come Off

So, I decided to hit Dave's game last Saturday and play some cash. I made it with 3 minutes to spare for the tournament, and there weren't many people there so I bought in. First hand AK off, Gary K makes it 1200 to go. I call and miss the flop compeletely and am forced to fold off 6.5% of my stack. After the break, blind down to 4500 (started at 7900) and finally shove on Malcolm with J9 suited. He tanks for a minute and calls with 66. Board comes AAKK4 and I win on kicker. I plod along for a while and make the final table. I get into a monster three way all-in between me (AJ off), Jamie (A2 off) and TK (A8s). TK makes trip 8's on the turn and I take the side pot and eliminate Jamie, breaking mostly even. TK then doubles me up with his AK against my 99. I make it down to 3 handed and bust with my J9 (again, I know) against a new guy who couldn't lay down QJ off. I take my $100 cashout to the cash game, where I promptly lose it in less than 2 orbits.

I sit down and don't play a hand until I get JJ. Raise to $6, two callers. Flop A-A-8, I bet $12 and they fold. Then I get 44 in the blind. Paul Millions makes it $6. I call, as does Father Time. Flop 10-6-5. I check, Paul checks, Joe checks. Paul oftens raises/checks with big Aces, I am figuring he missed this flop. A-10 or a pocket pair would've bet, so I think I might be good. Turn a 6, I check again. Paul bets $12. I am fairly sure he's on air. Joe calls, I call. River 4. Bingo! I open/shove for $50. Paul smooth calls. Joe folds. I declare "I have a full house" and Paul says "So do I..." as he tables 10-10. Oops. FUCK! I decide not to rebuy and just leave.

Kirsten and I were bored Sunday and I talked her into a trip to Nautica so I could play some $5/10 limit. I buy in for $220 and proceed to blow $80 in two hands to the same exact beat. I flop top pair, get a guy betting it the whole way like he has the nuts only to see his runner-runner flush. I called $5 on the button with 6-5d and flop comes A-6-5. I bet it the whole way and watch the pot go to the guy with AJ who hits his J on the river card. I rebuy another $100 and just get pummeled. Call a raise with AK, flop a K, bet the whole way and get run down by a guy with J9 who catches runner-runner two pair (he calls a check-raise on the flop with no pair and no draw and gets lucky). I get up $320 lighter and decide that I am finished.

With that loss my bankroll is officially flat. It seems that poker and I need to see other people for a little while. I am going to stick to a few tournaments and stay out of the cash game mix for a while. With Christmas coming up I can't dump any more money into poker right now, I need to take care of my kids first. I'm sure if the occasional sweet limit cash game (like an 8 game at Dave's) pops up I'll play, but NL and I are taking some time off. First of the year I am making a few changes to my bankroll and how I track it, I've been reading some books and want to take a few steps to start taking poker more seriously. I've been playing too casually, it's taking a toll.

2009-10-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

Cash Game Meltdowns

I've been putting off a new entry for a few days since I've been taking a horrendous (and mostly self inflicted) beating at the cash tables. Last week at Nautica I dropped $500 in two sessions. I went last Tuesday and only had time to play until 7PM. I got there at 5:10 and didn't get seated until 5:50 at the $5/10. I piddled away $50 until a $1/2 seat opened and I jumped in. My table played pretty solid for about an hour, I was about even when the tournament was beginning and most of my table was leaving to play in it. Last hand before they broke, I get 8-3 off in the BB. UTG makes it $10 and everyone calls back to me. "Fuck it, last hand!" I think and toss in two reds. Flop 8-5-8. I check, UTG fires $25, one call in the middle. I call. Turn 2. I check, UTG fires another $25, mid raises all-in for $100 more. I snap call and UTG folds, he shows 9-8 and I leave with a small handful of reds, completely disgusted at my own stupidity. I deserved to lose that.

I decided to go back Thursday night and make another go at it. I bought in for $200 and blinded down for a while. It sucks when you're not getting hands, because you're hamstrung. There's NO bluffing these retards. For example: On a board of 4-4-7-7 two spades UTG leads out for $10 after limping and checking around the flop and turn. I raise to $40 with AJ figuring (correctly) that UTG has nothing. I am surprised to see old man behind me tank for a minute and then call. I figure him for a 4 and kiss my $40 goodbye. UTG folds. River Q. I check, old man rolls over Q5 of spades, he hit his Q on the river chasing a flush on a double paired board. Gotta love it. I am down to about $110 when I get K10h on the button. Mid position raises it to $7, whole table calls. Flop A-K-9 two hearts. I open-shove for $100, get snap called by a guy with A-5 (no heart). I flush on river and double back to even. I then shank a girl for her $100 buyin when I turn Aces up on her. Feeling good, half hour till I gotta leave. Internet douchebag at the table is racking up his $1k and decides "one more hand". He's UTG and limps, I limp with A-10. Flop A-7-8. He leads for $10, I raise to $40. He snap calls and says "I think you're on a draw". Turn is a 6, he leads for $100. I shove and he snap calls, shows the dead nuts (10-9). I hit insult Ace on river. It was a horrible play on my part, I was so sure Douchebag was trying to push me around. I never stopped to consider why he would do that on his last hand instead of just folding and leaving. Another loss I had coming to me, I guess.

So, smarting from that I decide to play Dave's Saturday night. Rolling along pretty good when I get Timmy at my table. He's playing a bit aggressive, and at the $300/600 level he starts making steal raises. He makes it $2100 to go with A-9 off and I look down at 66. I shove, and he tanks for a minute and then calls me. Board runs K-5-7-K-7 and I lose on kicker. Disgusted, I sit down at the cash game for $150. I start out flopping huge draws, straights and flush draws. I brick out time and time again on them. The one time I turn my inside straight I have to lay it down to a huge raise by Eddie J. He just looked like he smashed the board, and I had the lower straight so I opted to fold it. He told someone else he had two pair, oh well I guess. I get down to $70ish when I make it $6 to go from cutoff + 1 with 9-7s. Eddie calls, Ken makes it $10 more. I call, Eddie folds (great). Flop J-9-7. Bingo! Ken open-shoves, I snap call and roll over my two pair. He turns up KK and I know I'm fucked. Yep, K on the turn and drawing dead. I reload and get into a stupid hand with Pyxis. She'd been raising a lot more than I remembered, and she was betting flops and pushing. She made it $10 preflop and I called with 88. Flop K-9-7 two clubs. She bets $15 and it smells like a c-bet to me. Chan even says "C'mon, you can't hit every flop". I call and the turn is the Ac. Three clubs on board and she fires out $25 without missing a beat. I think about it and decide she has to be on either AK or AQ, and I don't think she has a club. I call and the river is an 8 giving me a set. She puts out $40 and I shove. She thinks about it for a while and calls, I say "set" and she rolls over 9-9 for a higher set. I decide that's enough shitty play for me, I need to go.

My bankroll has taken a monster hit over the past few weeks, which I attribute mostly to me playing fast and loose. I'm not sure how I let it get that out of control, but it's clear I need to lay off the gas. I'm going into bankroll rebuild mode, going to concentrate on limit games and smaller tournaments until I can get my game back under control.

Also, as has been noted elsewhere one of the local cash games was robbed last night. I don't normally play this game, it's a very loose/open $1/2 that plays like a $5/10 by the end of the night. The incident reminds me of why so many hosts like to say "No New Players" and why no matter who you're playing with you should always keep one eye on your chips and one on the door. I expect a show of force at Dave's this weekend, plenty of people with CCW's will be there and will be ready if trouble decides to show up.

2009-10-18T08:59:00.001-07:00

Vegas Trip Report (Possibly long and boring)

Got back from Las Vegas yesterday morning, actually had a pretty decent trip this time. Vegas is getting better for me now that I know where to go to get in the games I like and avoid the never ending procession of douchebags.

We got in early and after sleeping off the plane ride decided to head over to Venetian to play $1/2. I sat down and got mauled early for my first buy-in. I limped with 77, 5 to the flop. Q-10-7 two diamonds. SB makes it $10. BB pops it to $25. I shove $200 in. Button says "I KNOW you have a set, I'm here to gamble" and shoves his money in. Folds around and he flips up A8d. Turn? Flush of course and brick on the river.

Played some more Venetian and was stuck about $600 and pretty frustrated when I decided to take another shot at the $1/2. I sit down at a very tight table full of nits who are limping every pot and check calling. I get A-8 in the cutoff and pop it to $10. One caller. Flop 8-6-3 rainbow. Caller checks, I toss in $20. He calls. Turn 2. He leads into me for $25. I can't imagine he has a set, he certainly would've checked and tried to induce more betting from me. What could the 2 have done for him? Not much. I decide to test him and pop it to $80. He tanks for a minute and then shoves. I can't figure out what he's on so I call and he tables 9-9. Hurf! Rebuy! I muck and tell him nice hand and he starts acting like a dick, telling me I'm an idiot who overplayed my AK. I slowly run my stack back up to about $300 when I get 8-8 in mid position. I limp and Asshole there makes it $12. I call and the flop comes K-8-4. I check and he fires out $25. I pop it to $60 and he gets mad, slamming his chips on the table and yelling at me "Do you really think I'm bluffing?! ALL IN!". I call. Turn a 4 and I fill up. River a blank, eh rolls over AK like he just won the lottery. "Boat" I say, tabling my 8s. He blows a fuse as he counts out my $300. A few hands later I get KK and raise to $10. Same guy calls. Flop A-3-2. He checks, I look at him and am sure he has an Ace by how he's sitting. I check behind. Turn Ks (two spades now). He checks, I fire out $25. He just calls. River 3s. He checks again, I fire out $60. He snap-shoves all-in. I call and he flips up AQs for the flush. He's pleased as punch until I say "Boat." again and turn over my KK. He goes beserk, screaming about how I was so dominated on the flop blah blah. He ships the rest of his chips and continues to berate me. I tell him "You know what, sir? Your chips and I are leaving". I rack up and cash out +$444 as the table begins to give the guy shit for driving me away.

I decide to go play some .05¢ video poker to kill time while I waited for Kirsten to finish her game. I had a $25 voucher I put in, and I meant to bet 4 nickels but I fat fingered the machine and bet 6 or 7. I tried to cancel out but it wouldn't let me. I decided to run it up to the 100 bet max and try to get it roll back over to 1 but it didn't. Now stuck, I just decided to blow the $5 and deal. I drew two deuces on the deal. OK, cool, trips is break even so I won't lose any money. I keep the deuces and draw, WHAM! Two more deuces. I win 20,000 nickels. I decided to go ahead and cash out the $1000 and leave while I was ahead. This was my best day so far.

I played a lot of limit at Mirage in between, killing time and keeping my variance low. When I was stuck bad I played a 13 hour session and made $13, but getting all those hands in helped to keep my head straight and profit is profit. I played in the $150 mega stack tournament at Harrah's on Wednesday and was completely unimpressed. First off, the payouts are top heavy and they pay too few spots. Secondly, the Harrah's floor staff is loaded with assholes. I caught two Brits colluding with each other in a hand. One raised, the other calls. They bet at each other on the flop. On the turn, the first one bets half his friend's stack and gets called. On the river, they both check and one rolls over the dead nuts, an Ace high flush. I called them out on it, asking if they had a deal to soft play each other. I made a stink about it but nothing happened to them and the dealer mucked the hand so we couldn't get the floor involved. Then there was a spot where I had $100 in the SB and tossed a $500 chip on top as a raise to $600. The dealer said "Call" and I stopped him, saying I had raised because there were two chips in. He replies "No, that's a single oversize chip. It's a call". I argued that it was two chips, but the floor agreed with the dealer and ruled it a call, and then rolled out the WSOP rule book to show me the rule. I busted to one of the cheaters when I flopped top set, check raised him all in and he bit with QQ and caught running spades to flush.

I played a lot at Flamingo after that and got into the hand of my trip there. I was playing a pretty tight table and had $545 in front of me when I limped in with K2h from the button. BB is a tight/solid player with a $900 stack who hasn't been in many pots. He makes it $15. UTG calls, he's an idiot who's been in every hand, he has $180 behind. Flop is 4-5-7 with two hearts. BB checks. UTG leads out for $30. I call, BB shoves in $130 on a check raise. UTG flat calls. Now there's $330 in there and I have to call $100 for the next call. I flat call. Turn is a 3, giving me the open ender and the flush draw. BB open shoves. So, now I have to call off $415 into a pot of $845ish. I tank and finally call, river is another 4. BB rolls over 7's full and I am stuck $500. I don't regret my call, I didn't read him as being that strong. I put him on a big pair, and was wrong.

We played at Binion's for the next two nights, not much happened there except for me dropping another few buyins and finally giving up, finishing my trip at the $1 video blackjack while Kirsten played out. I will note that Binion's is really trying to get more players in - they are offering $2/hr comps (double what everyone else is doing) and a 10% max $3 rake (+$1 for high hand jackpots). Kirsten hit two different high hands while there (quad Jacks for $50 and a straight flush for $150). She also won two seats to their Playboy giveaway tournament which she sold for $22 each.

All told I finished -$800 for the week but had fun and was generally satisfied with my play. We're thinking of doing a CardPlayer cruise next year, can't wait to see. Until then, back to the home game grind.

2009-10-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

More Ups and Downs

Started my poker weekend off very, very wrong. Went to Eddie J's $1/1 game and sat down with $150. I got bloodied, bad. I lost half of my first buy-in on two stupid bluffs (I know better than to bluff ProWest, even though I read him correctly and he was weak he still called and picked me off). I didn't get a single pair higher than 9's, flopped no sets (had trip 5's once with 5-4 in my hand), no straights, no flushes, only one boat (the 5-4 hand). Every single time except for one when I raised a hand I missed the flop completely and was forced to fold to post flop action. Each time I got my money all-in I had the worst of it and lost all but one all-in (I cracked Bill's KK with Q9 for $70). Throw in a public fight with Kirsten about me sitting at the same table as her and you have a -$450 night.

I got up Saturday morning and, after cleaning a furnace for a nice old lady, I decided to try and make some money back at the $5/10 at Nautica. I got there at ten till 3 and got on the list. At 3:15 I was still only halfway up the list and they weren't opening another table. Itching to play, I decide to accept a $1/2 seat when they ran out of waiting. I sat down at a table with some deep stacks, one guy (Mr Aggressive) had over $800 in front of him. Hand 3 I get pocket 10's and raise to $7. Six of us take a flop of 6-7-8. Mr. Aggressive leads into me for $15. Guy in the middle calls. I raise him to $45. He calls the $30 and so does the other player. Turn is a J and both players check to me. I fire out $100 (leaving $42 behind). Mr. Aggressive mubles something and folds, middle guy (with $136 left) says "I got an open ender, I know if I hit it I am good". He tanks for a minute and shoves the $100 in. River is another 7 and he checks. I bet the $36 and he calls. I show the 10's and he shows 9-8, ship it! I debate cashing out now but it's only 3:30. I figure I'll wait for the seat fee again. A round later, I am in the BB with AK. 8 others limp, and I decide a raise here won't do much good because I am out of position and have been missing flops. I check and the flop comes K-10-3 with two diamonds. I fire out $10 and Mr. Aggressive snap calls. He's on tilt now because a player at the end of the table took half his $800 stack in two hands. Three other players call. Turn is the Kc. I fire out $50. Mr. A snaps calls. Everyone else folds. River is a blank. I fire out another $100. He sighs and the throws the hundred in and declares "I have a K". I say "Ace King" and table my hand. Ship it again! I'm up to $650+ right now. Seat fee is closing in, I look down at 5-7s in the cutoff. Middle position guy makes it $7, one caller, I call, button makes it $28. Button is very tight/solid, I know he's on a top 5 hand. First raiser calls, and I decide if the other guy calls I will too. Of course he does, and I do. Flop 4-6-A with one spade. First raiser checks, middle guy checks, I check, and button...checks. OK, he's got KK, QQ, or JJ. Turn is the 9s. Now I have straight and flush draws. First raiser bets $40. I know he's got an Ace. Middle folds. I call and button languishes and folds. He told me later he had QQ. River is an 8. Yahtzee! Checks to me, I fire out $100. Guy goes in the tank and finally calls and shows AJ and I scoop another huge pot. I am sitting on $886 when I get tapped on the shoulder to pay my fee. I decide to cash out, filling two racks and salvaging my weekend in less than 45 minutes.

Saturday night at Dave's was not so kind. These up and down swings are seriously aggravating. Sit down 4 handed with Jewish Andy, Dave, and Kirsten. Plod along for a bit and down to $75 of my original $100 when I get AJ suited. Dave raises to 3, I re-raise to $8. He calls. Flop Q-10-Q. Check check. Turn A. He checks again, I bet $15. He shoves on me. I really think he's either on a weaker Ace or a 10 and he doesn't believe me. I call and he shows me the Q-10 for a flopped full house. Total idiotic misread by me, and I reach in the ole pocket. Second buy-in bleeds away to about $60 when I get 10-10. I raise preflop to $6. Flop comes K-7-3 all diamonds (I do not have a diamond). Andy bets into me, I shove. He reluctantly calls and asks if I flopped it, I show my 10's. Turn is a 5 and he turns up 4-6 for the inside straight. Rebuy! I screwed myself in two big hands against Dave. The first one he raised preflop and I called with 6-8. Flop comes 2-3-4. Check check. Turn a K. I bet out $10. He raises to $25. I shove and he tanks, and I realize he has a hand. Oops! He turns a K face up and asks if it's good. He seems to be convincing himself that I have a straight, so I turn up the 6. He finally folds and I show the bluff. Jeff runs the board out, I hit the 5 and would've doubled up if I hadn't been bluffing. UGH. Later on, I get 6-7. Dave raises preflop again, I call again. Flop 3-4-7. I bet $10. Dave makes it $20. I put another $50 on it. Dave tanks, and I declare I have $120 behind. He counts out $170 and sits there discussing the hand. He says he has an overpair, so I tell him pick a card. He picks the 7 and I turn it up. Now he's really confused, do I have a set? 2 pair? He asks for a deal - he puts the $50 in and we cap and run it out. I decide to accept and turn the straight. Dave said later he wouldn't have put any more in if I refused the deal, so I guess I got as much as possible. Later on, about $100 from even I dump about $60 to K in a hand. I get 9-7h, she raises and I call. Flop A-10-8 2 hearts. She bets, I raise her $40 more. She tanks and I show her the 9h. She's still deciding what to do so I show the 7h and she's really sick. She asks for the same deal as Dave, call the $40 and run it out. I offer to run it twice, she refuses. I agree and she turns up KK no heart. I brick out (of course, too many outs) and she scoops. Total for the night: Down $175.

Decided to head to Nautica and make another withdrawal from the $5/10 donkeys. I bought in for $200 and was up and down a little. I took a nice $80 pot off of a rock early on. He hadn't been playing any hands, and suddenly raised to $10. Most of the table called, as did I with 4-8c. Flop Q-4-7. He leads out for the $5, 5 callers. Turn a 6. I have 4's and a gutshot. He leads for $10, everyone folds to me, I call. River a blank, he leads again and I call again. He says "No pair" and I table my 4's. Ship it! The wildest hand happened when I was getting close to leaving. I had bled down some more, kept getting playable hands but missing flops. I was the blind with 3-7d when someone in the middle made it $10. Someone else three bet it to $15 and two callers. I decided to cap to prevent an extra turn around and I had a feeling on this one. Flop 6-7-8 all clubs. Check to the three bettor, he makes it $5 and is sickened when everyone calls. Turn is the 7s. Yahtzee! Checks to him, he puts $10 in. I raise to $20. Three callers. River is a Jh. Checks around to me, I bet the $10. Three callers. I table my 7 and they all piss and moan and fold. Ship it! After three seat fees and parking I profit $77. Not spectacular but not bad either. I'll take a win.

Final weekend tally: +$97. One week till Vegas.

2009-09-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

Another Rollercoaster Week

Decided to head to Nautica on Thursday to get some cash game in since I couldn't play much this weekend. Sat down at a brand new table and proceeded to win exactly one hand. I cannot get anything going down there, and every hand turned into $35 preflop by the 2nd orbit. I got all my money in with AQh, board ends up Q-Q-10-2-4 and I chop with AQ off. Nice. Last hand I get my final $90 in with AK on the turn with a board of A-A-8-9 two diamonds. Get called by K5d and of course - river diamond that doesn't pair the board. Nice hand, sir.

Well, I couldn't play any of the regular games this weekend due to "family commitments" (read: can't leave kids in car whilst playing). After dropping them off at home I had about an hour and a half before I had to get Kirsten's car back so she could go to work. I decided to go fast-play some $5/10 limit at Nautica. Oh sweet mama, I think I've found my game. They were literally throwing money at me (they use cash, not chips in the limit games). I sit down with $180 after seat fee and parking, and get to work. Some notable hands: I get 2/5 in the blind (only one $5 blind) and it limps to the girl on the button. She pops it and I call (as does the entire table). Flop A-2-4. Checks around to her, she slaps down another $5 and everyone but me folds. Turn 6. Check-check. I know she doesn't have an Ace now, or she would've bet for sure. River 2 and I lead out for $10. She snap calls and flips over QQ, I show the 2 and drag a nice pot.

Later on I get 5-7 in middle position and this aggressive guy on the end pops it to $10 without looking at his cards. I call along with 4 others. Flop K-9-7. Checks to Mr. Aggro and he forcefully bets $5. I call and chinese lady in position calls. Turn 5. Bingo! I bet $10 and chinese lady calls. He goes "5-7 huh? Fine." and calls. River 4, I bet out again. Chinese lady calls (uh-oh) and he says "I know you have 5-7. I'm sure of it". He calls. I sheepishly turn over 5-7 and they both muck their dry kings. He starts talking shit, saying "I knew it, I was right" and I finally said "Way to make the correct read and still pay off". He got steamed and told me I wasn't playing tricky. I told him "Duh, I led out when the 5 hit, I wasn't trying to be tricky". He blew through another $200 before I got up.

My last big hand was against one of the mouthy Arab guys that plays. He pops it from middle position and I call with AJ. Flop is K-10-3. Checks around to him, he bets the $5 and everyone including me calls (I gotta call $5 into a pot of $60 something on a gutshot and two overs). Turn was a J. He bets out $10 again and I start thinking he's on QJ. I call and we take a river, A of spades. He checks disgustedly, and I would've bet $10 but I was almost sure he was on QJ. I check and show Aces up and he gets pissed, slamming his K-10 on the table and cursing my runner-runner. I scoop a nice $100+ pot. The only big hit I took was with QQ. I almost didn't even play it, but I decided to raise with it. Two callers, flop J-10-9 two hearts. Check-check, I bet, call-call. Turn is the 5d. Check, bet. What? Hmmm. I slow down and call, first guy folds. River is a 2 no heart. Check, check. I show QQ and he shows 10-9 for two pair. Nice hand, sir. I hate big pockets in limit, no way to shake the bums out. So, after parking and seat fee I cash up $187. I cut my loss for the week back to $39, which is certainly better than being stuck $226.

2009-09-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Weekend of Tournament Hell

My tournament poker has continued to downslide. There's nothing I can do about it right now, I don't seem to be able to fade the 2 and 3 outers. Friday night at Eddie J's I got seated at a table of complete fish. They were all playing scared and none of them wanted to get paid off. First level (25/50) Aunt Patty raises to 1050 preflop with AK, flops top top with the nut flush draw and shoves. FIRST LEVEL. I lost in two hands, really. First I get QQ, blinds 100/200, I make it 700. Patty calls. Flop 6-6-5. I bet 2K, she shoves. I show Q's and fold, she shows A6. Nice. My last hand, I get AA and make it 700 again. One caller, flop 9-6-4 off. I shove and get snap called by 44. Turn? 4. Nice hand, sir. Cash wasn't much better, nursed a single buyin for 5 hours and then finally busted at 3:45AM.

Dave's Saturday wasn't much better. Very first hand of the tournament, I am in BB with 9-4. Flop 9-9-4. I check, new guy on the end bets 50. I call. Turn? Q. I check, he bets 200. Nice. I call. River? Q of course. I check, he bets 50 again. I call and he shows Q9. I couldn't even raise, I knew he wasn't betting on a bluff. I bled chips all night, called an all-in with the nut diamond draw, other guy turns quad Q's of course. Insult flush on river. I busted in a battle of the luckboxes. I open shove my last 2800 with 77. Jack calls. Brian (Captain Luckbox) raises 3K more. Jack calls. Flop A-J-9. Jack shoves, snap called by Brian. Jack has Q-10, Brian A-Q and I am out.

The cash game showed me a little more love. I got KK and made it $6, Matt G. raises in his first hand of cash to $20. I shove, he snap calls. His AK doesn't get there and I am up. I also snapped one off in Grayday for one of his (many) buyins. I limped with K9 six handed. Flop K-10-9. Grayday bets $10, I raise it to $60. He goes in the tank and asks if he can show. I say sure, he turns up K-8. I try to figure out what I can do to make him call. I slowly roll over the 9 of spades, and he convinces himself I have A9 and calls. I let the board run out and then show him the K. Ship it! Finish cash game up $140, so down $20 overall for the weekend so far. Julie's Sunday tournament was a wash, couldn't get any real run going and the women players were hitting everything. Julie got an absolute gift when Captain Luckbox flopped a flush with a double gut straight flush draw and decided to slow play it 3 ways, letting her fill up on the river card. He then handed her another 8K chasing an open ended straight and missing. I finally bled down to 7200 and open shoved with JJ at the 300-600 level. Cheryl shoves for less with AKd, and another girl in the middle (don't know her name) says "I guess I have to call" and puts 80% of her stack in with AQ. They turn up the hands and I grab my stuff and get ready to leave. Sure enough, 3 out Q on turn and she scoops it. Total for the weekend down $60. Oh well, could be worse I guess.

2009-09-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Another Late Weekend Comeback

After a long day helping Kirsten cater her brother's wedding reception, we decided to head over to Dave's a bit late and play cash. The game was wild from the start, $1/1 blinds but it played like a $2/5 easily. Some highlights: Early on we are playing 7 handed. New guy limps, Jamie makes it $7. TK raises to $15. I look down at JJ and make it $100 even. New guy shoves for $128 (uh oh). Jamie goes in the tank and finally shoves for $150. TK folds and I am obligated to call. I am up against new guy's AA and Jamie's KQc. I win the side pot but lose the main. A few hands later I get Q10c and call a raise by Frank to $6. Flop is K-J-2 2 hearts. Frank checks, I shove for $72. He calls and shows K9s. River Ace gives me broadway. From there I ran it up and sat on them for a while.

We split tables for a bit and I got into a few hands. Father Time got me for $80 when he shoved preflop with AA and I called with AKh. No good. I laid down the bluff of the evening on Grayday and tilted him good. He was in a straddle and had been raising quite a bit. I raised to $12 from middle position with KJ. Grayday bumped it to $45. I didn't believe him at all, and I popped it $247 more all-in. He goes in the tank and asks if he can expose his cards. We tell him yes and he tables QQ. He's talking himself into believing I have KK or AA. I shuffle my two cards and roll over the K, making it look like I had KK and was going to show either one. He instantly folds, convinced I have it. I then roll over the J and he explodes. He goes on a tear, losing a ton before he finally got it under control.

It was also a good night for K. They were just throwing chips at her. One of my favorite hands ever happened to her. Someone made it $6 to go (Rich maybe?) and Grayday did his ole "$15 all day". Rich, Hiphop, and K call. Flop is 10-9-2 offsuit. HH and K check, Grayday goes $25. Rich raises him to $60. Hiphop goes in the tank for a minute and then puts out $200. He had this huge shit eating grin on his face, as if he knew he had picked them both off. He was definitely pleased himself until Kirsten says "I'm all in" for $600. HH looked like someone had sucker punched him. Grayday and Rich fold, and HH is pot committed for his last $160 with his QJ. Turn is a Q and river a 9 and Kirsten fills up, 10's full. Ship it.

The look on HH's face was worth the price of admission. Priceless.

2009-09-12T07:12:00.001-07:00

A Disappointing Friday

Played the $40 at Julie's last night. I knew it was going to be a rough one early, lot of folding in the first couple rounds whilst the women at the table were card racks. I lost a big hand early to Jen and it was downhill from there. I raised with A-10h in mid position, she called from the button. Flop A-10-9 two spades. I bet the pot, she calls. Turn Qc. I bet, she calls again. River? King. She checks and I just know she has a Jack. I check behind and she shows J-9s for the straight. I lost about 3K there and never really recovered. It was another night where I did not get dealt a pair higher than 10's, got AQ once, and AJ a few times. I didn't make a single straight or flush draw. Every move I made seemed to be the wrong one. The crippling blow was 8 handed, I had 8200 left and was in the BB for 1600. Wolverine Dave shoves from early position for a bit less than 8000, and Data flat calls. I almost shove blind but look down at 2-4. I fold it face up and watch the flop come out 3-5-6. A few hands later on the button I get A-5s and shove, Data calls with QJd and hits a Jack. At least Kirsten cashed (4th), so the night wasn't a total loss.

2009-09-09T13:09:00.001-07:00

Salvaging My Poker Weekend

After the beating I took at Dave's Saturday night I was leery about playing any more this past weekend but I decided to go to Julie's on Sunday night and play the $40 tournament. Started out treading water, went up to about $20K when I busted Kerry's dad. I raised on the button with A5d, he called. Flop A-5-J. He bet into me, I shoved and he called, his AQ didn't get there and I was rolling...for a few minutes. Two rounds later, I raise on the button again with A7d, Monsignor calls. Flop A-4-2 two spades. He check raises me, I shove in and he snap calls his 14K stack off with K8s. Turn? Spade, of course. I was crippled down to $2500 but tripled up with 99 against AK and AJ. By the final table I was back up to $20K when I got really lucky. Monsignor raised on the button with AK, I shoved in with 77 and unexpectedly Cheryl called. Monsignor folded and she showed AA. I flopped a 7 and went on a roll, smashing the final table. The only bad part was sitting next to Patty. She made a point of rubbing against my leg all night, trying to get me upset or tilted. When it got down to me and her heads up, I moved to the other side of the table. Data offered to give her a penalty for the touching, but I wasn't going to give the satisfaction of thinking she got to me or the attention she so desperately wants from me. I beat her in three hands by hitting a 3 out 8 on the flop.

With the tournament cash in my pocket I hit St. Rocco's with K. I bought in for $100 and ran it up to $280. There were some truly horrible players. We ran into the jackass that called Kirsten a "lowlife" at the Parma Hts game because she wouldn't show him her cards. I took glee in busting him in two straight hands. He's truly horrible - he plays every hand no matter how much preflop and pisses and moans every time he loses. We finally cashed out and went to Con's omaha game. We left Con's after a couple of orbits though. I was expecting a more serious game, and it was very casual (and smoke filled). We headed back to St. Rocco's and I bought in for $100 again. I ran it up to $314 before feeling the fatigue set in, I decided to cash while up and waited for K to finish so we could split. Not a bad way to finish up the weekend, my Vegas roll is looking plenty healthy.

2009-09-06T06:27:00.000-07:00

Dave's Labor Day Weekend Cookout.

Nice time yesterday, it's always good to interact with these humans and observe their social behaviours. Yes, I put a "u" in behaviours. The cookout was smaller, not as many people showed up for food as the last one but still a decent spread. Once it got closer to game time the place blew up, 40 people in Dave's basement.

The tournament started out good for me. I was all amped up and focused. I snapped one off in Meats for his first stack with QQ (Meats, why do you raise 1/3 of your stack UTG with KQ?). Lot of new players and landmines. I love being on my game - the reads come too easy. It was sickening to see some of the idiotic plays. For example: New Player 1 raises preflop to $600 (level 100-200). New Player 2 calls. Flop Q-9-8 2 clubs. 1 checks, 2 bets, 1 calls. Turn J of clubs. So, you have straight flush draws everywhere. 1 checks, 2 moves all in. 1 goes in the tank and finally calls, showing KJ with no club. He called off 1/2 his stack on that board with a naked J and....it was good. 2 shows 6-6 (no club either). Board pairs 8 on river and KJ felts a guy. How do they make these plays??

I made possibly the best bluff I've laid down in 2 years when we were down to two tables. New guy raises preflop and I call with K5c. He's been playing pretty stupid and I'm sure I can outplay him postflop if he misses, plus I have position. Grayday's new pal Phil calls behind me. Flop is J-5-4 two hearts. Phil checks, New guy bets 2K, I flat call, Phil calls. Turn 7h. Phil checks, new guy checks, I check. I don't bet here because I want to see what Phil does on the river. If he flushed, no way he checks the river card. River is a blank (I forget exactly). Phil checks, new guy checks, I fire out 8K. I had picked up a tell on Phil and I knew he was weak here, so I was reasonably certain he would fold. (I discussed his tell with RR Dave, he saw it as well). Phil finally slides his cards in the muck and new guy tanks for a minute before deciding it was too much to call with AJ. He folds and I show the bluff and scoop a 10K pot with a pair of Balls (suited). Phil claims he laid down QJ, not sure that's true though. I put him on weaker and he folded, reaffirming my tell. That was my only bluff of the entire night.

I finally busted on a horrendous play. 5 handed (final table bubble) I get 5-5 UTG. I have 30K and the BB is essentially all-in this hand (BB is 3K, he has 45oo total). I decide to open-shove, because I want to narrow it down to me and the random hand, plus the table had been playing tight and I was fairly certain all but the nuts would fold. TK tanks, and I immediately hope he has AK. Nope, he has QQ and calls, and I bust 10th. If I put in a raise there to 10-12K I am essentially committed anyway, he's certainly going to at least call and the flop was low. I would've probably shoved the flop to isolate anyway. My first instinct was to just fold, but I didn't listen to myself and it cost me.

Cash game was also another beating. I tripled up to $300 early after raising with 6-7d and making a flush on the river. After that, it was back to getting my ass kicked. My AQ loses to KK, QQ beat by A9 and A5, and I made a poor read on Phil and folded a hand I shouldn't have. He raised to $12 preflop and I called with KQs. Flop A-K-7, he bets out $20. My first thought was he missed, but I pussied out and folded, and he showed 6-6. Note made. I finally busted after shoving on Mailman with KQh, he calls off $62 with A8s and high cards me. Nice. I can't seem to get any traction in the cash games, I win one or two pots early and the wheels come off. I guess I will stick to tournaments until Vegas. Just 5 weeks to go until I am chilling at Harrah's for a week.

2009-09-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

A Mountaineer Mauling

Made it down to Mountaineer yesterday for some $1/2 with the hillbillies. Made a couple of bad reads and got pummelled. Had A/K in the cutoff, mid position guy (pretty solid) makes it $12. I call as does a donkey I recognize as a regular. Flop is AK2 w/two diamonds. Checks to me, I bet out $25. Donkey calls, solid guy ups it $75. I shove, donkey folds, other guy calls and snaps off his set of K's into me for my stack. I had to get up and walk that one off. I think I misplayed it, I should've either folded or flat called, the turn was a 2 that made a flush and paired the board. Seeing that card I could've easily folded.

Later on, I get some internet wonders at my table. They start making it $35 preflop every hand (why don't they just sit at the $2/5?) I get JJ, one of them does the $35 thing and I shove over top of him for his last $105. He snap calls, KK of course. Just to rub it in, he has a higher diamond and makes the nut flush on the turn. Oops. Several hands later, I call a $10 raise with 5/7s on the button, flop comes 4-6-A two spades. The raiser shoves his stack in, and I call. He has A4, and I brick out again. I played a 5.5 hour session and didn't make a single straight or flush, didn't flop a set, and only had a pair higher than 10's three hands (JJ twice and AA once). I've been running so fucking bad it's ridiculous. Yes, you can argue the 5-7 hand was a bad preflop call but I had position and got about the best possible flop for it. My streak is still alive at 8 straight visits to Mountaineer without a positive cashout (one break even session).

So, in non poker news I found a baby bunny today. It was hiding behind the service valves on an air conditioner I was working on. It was pretty scared, and it's nest had been destroyed by the neighbor's cat. His littermate had not gotten so lucky, he was mangled in the front yard. I put Mr. Bun Bun in a small box with a washcloth and took him with me. After a couple phone calls, everyone said go put him back because his mom would come back for him. So, I drive all the way back to this call and when I lift him out of the box...he's dead. Stiff. In rigor, couldn't have been dead an hour. I promptly secured the box in several layers of funeral grade plastic bag and interred his remains in our Rubbermaid crypt/trash cannister.

I wanted to get out to Dave's tonight, but I don't own a car anymore (turns out if you stop paying the loan the greedy fuckers come and take back the car). My work truck is lo/jacked to it's not going anywhere except work. I guess it's time for me to go get a beater.