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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.