Poker Is A Game Of Skill. Or Is It?
(Part I of a special two part blogisode since it would've been way to much to digest as one long post)
I started this poker weekend with a much better outlook. After last week's seizure inducing chip vomiting I knew I had to improve my concentration, get my frustration under control, and stop making stupid calls. I played at Pyxis' $40 Friday tournament first. Only once was I above my starting stack of $10k. The first hand I played was QQ from the SB. Randy limped for $50, I raised to $150, Jamie reluctantly calls and so does Randy. Flop is 5-6-7 two diamonds. Guess which Q I don't have? I lead for $450, two calls. Turn is a 3. I fire barrel #2 hoping shitty two pair would go away, but it calls and then Randy raises. Awesome, he has to have a 4. I show Tuttle my QQ and fold. Jamie folds his 6-7 and Randy shows A4. Nice hand sir. A few hands later I raise from the cutoff with 88. Pyxis and Randy call. Flop A-4-7. They check, I bet. She hesitates and calls, Randy folds. I put her on diamonds. Turn 4. She checks, I fire out half my stack. She tanks and finally folds an A. Whew! Only hand I played well all night. I gave most of it back to her a round later when I raised from the button with 45h. Flop 3-4-T. She checks, I bet, she calls. Turn Qh putting flush draw out. She shoves. Damn, I didn't see how short she was. I call, she has JJ and I brick. First hand after the break I get AK and raise. Randy three bets me and I shove. He snap calls and rolls over AA. Ooops. I am out.
From there I decided it was too early to go home so I headed down to Nautica. The limit list was insane so I took a $1/2 seat and bought in for $160. First orbit I get 67h in the cutoff and make it $10. Three callers. Flop is J-6-3 two diamonds. Checks to me, I fire $40. Aggro guy shoves all in over the top. It's $127 back to me, I decide he's on a flush draw and call. Two bricks come out, he says "You got me" and shows K9d. I show the 6 and everyone is muttering about my call. Fuck it, I have to show these kids I'm not afraid to stack off to their retarded bets. After that the avoid me like the plague, only three betting or pushing with made hands. One of the super tight players raises preflop, I call in position with J7c. Flop K-9-2 two clubs. I check/call him. Turn 3c. Bink! I open/shove. I was sure he would call, but he tanks. Finally he shows a set of kings and folds. I laugh and tell him I had K9 and thought he was bluffing. He was pretty rattled after that. My stack is around $300 when the table starts breaking and it's close to closing time. I get dealt A5d on the button. I limp, guy on my left just lost a huge pot and is spewing. He makes it $15 to go. Lady to my right calls, I call. Flop 9-7-2 two diamonds. I check, Spewy fires off $25, lady calls. I raise to $80, Spewy angrily folds, lady calls for less and shows me a 9. Turn brick, river A. Ship it! I cash out $388 total. Not bad at all.
Emboldened (and hitting) I return Saturday at opening time for more Nautica. I buy in $200 and in the first hand get AA. No callers. Up $3, tempted to book a win. All of a sudden I remember how to play. I am reading people awesome, making good calls, hands are holding up. For a minute, I felt like Colin. I couldn't miss. People were paying me off. I hit three different gutters, two flushses, two sets, and got a LAG-tard to overplay AJ against my KK for his stack. I roll out of there with $480, and am freerolling for TK's $100 tournament tonight. For once, I felt like I enjoyed the game and the game liked me back a little and might want to meet after school to fool around.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
A Self Inflicted Poker Wounding
This past weekend was not a good one for me. I played two tournaments and three cash games and failed to win a single dollar. Not one. Did not leave with a single $1 bill in profit. In fact, I rather unintentionally donated a bunch of dollars to a bunch of other people.
First I went to Data's single table deepstack tournament. I felt good before this game, felt sharp. I started off well (as what usually happens) and in the first few orbits had made AK, a set, and a flush to put me ahead. I was hitting, I was smooth. Then, as what usually happens, the wheels came off. The first major mistake I made was raising from mid position with K5h. I was attempting to steal (in actuality, my first steal attempt. Previous raises had all been with real hands). My table was playing very tight/nitty and I felt like I should be taking more hands preflop. Unfortunately, I picked the exact time that the new kid at the table (a) had a real hand, and (b) was tired of being manhandled. He shoved over the top of my raise and without even considering it I snap called. He had AQ, I lost over 1/3 of my stack. It was so idiotic I couldn't believe I had done it. I was irritated at the large re-raise and was determined to catch him on a bluff/re-steal or some other retarded reasoning that didn't make sense. I had, in fact, shot myself in the foot. The next hour and a half or so was a combination of me getting zero cards preflop and missing the few flops I took. I blinded off until I was short stacked and managed a near triple up through the new kid but it was all for nought. I blinded down to about 10BB when I was dealt an A. I immediately shoved before getting the second card. I did this to convey that I did indeed have an A and probably the best hand. Unfortunately, I didn't have the best hand by far. Immediately to my left Data had QQ and shoved over the top of me. After that hand I had time to go get something to eat whilst Kirsten was still in. When I left she was short stacked, when I returned she was playing Linda heads up for the money. She finished second, which is remarkable because she hasn't played many tournaments this year.
After that stellar performance I went to Linda's Saturday night tournament. Again I started off well, doubling up my stack by turning a flush and crippling Randy. Less than a round later I gave it right back on yet another dumb call. Preflop I made it $700 in the $100-200 round with AQ. Adam called as did Linda. The flop was A-J-3. It checked to me and I bet out $2k. Adam snap raised me to $5k and Linda folded. I tanked for a minute. I couldn't put him on AK because every time he had it preflop he was three betting. I didn't think he would slam it with AJ when I was betting out. I decided he either had A3 or he was crushed. I re-raised him all in and he snap called. His hand? A3 of course. Insult 3 on the river and he got over 1/2 my stack. It was a horrendous call on my part but again I was irritated by the check raise. I had convinced myself he was just pushing with a shit ace because he felt I was c-betting and had missed the flop. It nagged at me because I know I should've folded it but I didn't. After that I couldn't hit he broad side of a barn. I missed flops and blinded down a lot. There was no stealing with Adam at the table, he was hitting everything and made a point of check raising every hand I raised after that. I finally got it in good against Mr. Data when he shoved light with Q-10. I called from the button with A5h and he proceeded to flop a Q high straight. Down to crumbs I shoved into Jack's AJ with my A3 and had time to kill before the cash game started. I wandered down to Nautica and sat at a $1/2 with Brad for about 3 orbits. I had two playable hands, both of which I had to fold post flop when I missed and other people were betting and raising.
I came back to Linda's for the triple pot limit cash game. I played a high variance game with a VPIP of nearly 100% and it cost me. I was in damn near every hand and I was getting pummelled. I made two bad calls that cost me most of my stack. The final blow was raising in the PLO round with AA26. The flop came 2-7-8 off. Data check-raised me all-in and instead of immediately folding I paid to see his monstrous wrap which he immediately hit on the turn.
I was looking forward to the mix game on Sunday. I had been having a shitty weekend so far (mostly due to my own impatience) and wanted to play a few games where I felt I had an edge. I played 7 hours or so of mix game and had absolutely no edge. When I wasn't being horribly outdrawn by a table full of people who refused to fold I was making bad decisions and getting my money in bad. I let Meat rattle me after a hand of Razz where he ran me down despite having two pair showing and jamming the whole way. After that I got spewy, playing too many hands and letting myself get behind. I finally left when the game broke having lost my buy-in, a rebuy, and $8 of a marker. I would get into specific hands, but I frankly don't remember most of them plus I'm confident most of it was my fault.
I played undiscipled, shitty poker this past weekend and the results were what you'd expect in that case. I need to get my shit together if I want to have any chance of cashing at this weekend's tournaments.
This past weekend was not a good one for me. I played two tournaments and three cash games and failed to win a single dollar. Not one. Did not leave with a single $1 bill in profit. In fact, I rather unintentionally donated a bunch of dollars to a bunch of other people.
First I went to Data's single table deepstack tournament. I felt good before this game, felt sharp. I started off well (as what usually happens) and in the first few orbits had made AK, a set, and a flush to put me ahead. I was hitting, I was smooth. Then, as what usually happens, the wheels came off. The first major mistake I made was raising from mid position with K5h. I was attempting to steal (in actuality, my first steal attempt. Previous raises had all been with real hands). My table was playing very tight/nitty and I felt like I should be taking more hands preflop. Unfortunately, I picked the exact time that the new kid at the table (a) had a real hand, and (b) was tired of being manhandled. He shoved over the top of my raise and without even considering it I snap called. He had AQ, I lost over 1/3 of my stack. It was so idiotic I couldn't believe I had done it. I was irritated at the large re-raise and was determined to catch him on a bluff/re-steal or some other retarded reasoning that didn't make sense. I had, in fact, shot myself in the foot. The next hour and a half or so was a combination of me getting zero cards preflop and missing the few flops I took. I blinded off until I was short stacked and managed a near triple up through the new kid but it was all for nought. I blinded down to about 10BB when I was dealt an A. I immediately shoved before getting the second card. I did this to convey that I did indeed have an A and probably the best hand. Unfortunately, I didn't have the best hand by far. Immediately to my left Data had QQ and shoved over the top of me. After that hand I had time to go get something to eat whilst Kirsten was still in. When I left she was short stacked, when I returned she was playing Linda heads up for the money. She finished second, which is remarkable because she hasn't played many tournaments this year.
After that stellar performance I went to Linda's Saturday night tournament. Again I started off well, doubling up my stack by turning a flush and crippling Randy. Less than a round later I gave it right back on yet another dumb call. Preflop I made it $700 in the $100-200 round with AQ. Adam called as did Linda. The flop was A-J-3. It checked to me and I bet out $2k. Adam snap raised me to $5k and Linda folded. I tanked for a minute. I couldn't put him on AK because every time he had it preflop he was three betting. I didn't think he would slam it with AJ when I was betting out. I decided he either had A3 or he was crushed. I re-raised him all in and he snap called. His hand? A3 of course. Insult 3 on the river and he got over 1/2 my stack. It was a horrendous call on my part but again I was irritated by the check raise. I had convinced myself he was just pushing with a shit ace because he felt I was c-betting and had missed the flop. It nagged at me because I know I should've folded it but I didn't. After that I couldn't hit he broad side of a barn. I missed flops and blinded down a lot. There was no stealing with Adam at the table, he was hitting everything and made a point of check raising every hand I raised after that. I finally got it in good against Mr. Data when he shoved light with Q-10. I called from the button with A5h and he proceeded to flop a Q high straight. Down to crumbs I shoved into Jack's AJ with my A3 and had time to kill before the cash game started. I wandered down to Nautica and sat at a $1/2 with Brad for about 3 orbits. I had two playable hands, both of which I had to fold post flop when I missed and other people were betting and raising.
I came back to Linda's for the triple pot limit cash game. I played a high variance game with a VPIP of nearly 100% and it cost me. I was in damn near every hand and I was getting pummelled. I made two bad calls that cost me most of my stack. The final blow was raising in the PLO round with AA26. The flop came 2-7-8 off. Data check-raised me all-in and instead of immediately folding I paid to see his monstrous wrap which he immediately hit on the turn.
I was looking forward to the mix game on Sunday. I had been having a shitty weekend so far (mostly due to my own impatience) and wanted to play a few games where I felt I had an edge. I played 7 hours or so of mix game and had absolutely no edge. When I wasn't being horribly outdrawn by a table full of people who refused to fold I was making bad decisions and getting my money in bad. I let Meat rattle me after a hand of Razz where he ran me down despite having two pair showing and jamming the whole way. After that I got spewy, playing too many hands and letting myself get behind. I finally left when the game broke having lost my buy-in, a rebuy, and $8 of a marker. I would get into specific hands, but I frankly don't remember most of them plus I'm confident most of it was my fault.
I played undiscipled, shitty poker this past weekend and the results were what you'd expect in that case. I need to get my shit together if I want to have any chance of cashing at this weekend's tournaments.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Consistency and I Need to Make Up.
Before I start, for those of you haven't read it, check out Grayday's Poker Blog. It's an unintentionally hilarious look into the mind of one of the CPMG's most beloved cash players.
I played the CPMG Heads Up tournament last weekend and didn't do too well. I know this comes as a surprise to a lot of you. I drew Nautica Brian as my first opponent which meant I was going to have to plan an overly agressive game. As predicted, he raised every button and got in a bunch of three bets as well. He stabbed me early when he bet a flush draw and got there and I paid him off. I had two pair and wasn't 100% if he had a big pair or made his draw. I battled back, raising preflop and flopping trip J's. He shoved on a gutter and missed. I had to do a lot of three betting and donk betting to try and keep him from running over me. I finally slow played myself out of the tournament. He limped with K3 off, I had AA and checked in instead of raising. Flop came K-8-3. He check raised me and I shoved, he snaps and I am out. I think I did well, if the cards had held up I'm pretty sure I would've beaten him.
After that (while waiting for cash) I decide to go to Nautica. I sit at a new $1/2 table with $160. The first hand I decide to play is 97 off. I am in the cutoff, early raiser makes it $15. Three people call before me. Well, fuck. I call. Flop is J-10-8 offsuit. First guy bets $50. Two folds. Guy to my right shoves in $110. I shove over the top. First guy tanks and finally calls. They both show J-10. Turn brick, river is a J and I watch two people hit a two out miracle and split my stack. I decided not to bother rebuying and headed home until the cash game at Linda's started. The cash game at Linda's went very well, and I recovered $91 of my previous losses.
That Saturday I decided to hit Rivers Casino with Special K. We had all weekend to kill so I could play unrushed poker. I sat in on a $1/3 whilst waiting for a $4/8 to open. I opened weak, raising several pots preflop and being bet off my hands on the flop. I was down $100 when I hit a streak. I flopped a couple sets and big two pair hands and got paid. After three hours I was +$500. They were just opening a $1/3 HA table ($500 max) so I decided to go take a shot with my profits. Whoops. I got eaten alive. I flopped a straight flush draw, turned to pair, and lost $300 when the wrong card paired on the river and the guy who had grossly overplayed AAxx made a better two pair. I floundered for a while and gave up, taking my last $200 in profit and heading back to $1/3. I sat at a new table and stacked off in the first orbit. I was sitting with a guy who was making it $40 preflop every hand. I finally called a preflop raise in position with QJd. Flop comes 10-9-2 off. He throws a hundred at it, I shove on him, guy behind me calls and so does he. Q on the turn and river a brick. He shows J-10, but the idiot between us had called $40 preflop with 9-2 and flopped two pair. Disgusted, I left. I fidgeted around at $4/8 for a while until a $5/10 limit O8 game opened. I sat in there and ran my $215 stack back up to about $500. We had a drunk guy at the table with a VPIP of 100%. He called everything and didn't care if he won or lost. I also witnessed the worst live beat I've seen at Rivers. It would've won the Bad Beat Jackpot had it been hold'em. Guy to my right flops quad 6's and jams, betting the whole way. Drunk guy runs him down on the river with a gutshot straight flush (neither makes a low) and drunk guy scoops a monster.
K and I decided to take this weekend off of poker. I have quite a few games going the next couple weekends (including TK's $100 deepstack) so I guess I could use a weekend to get my head straight. I'm not really mad about my play in either game, I think I'm playing decent enough to win. I just keep running into people who are getting horribly lucky. If I can figure out how to dodge one and two out miracles I'd be OK.
Before I start, for those of you haven't read it, check out Grayday's Poker Blog. It's an unintentionally hilarious look into the mind of one of the CPMG's most beloved cash players.
I played the CPMG Heads Up tournament last weekend and didn't do too well. I know this comes as a surprise to a lot of you. I drew Nautica Brian as my first opponent which meant I was going to have to plan an overly agressive game. As predicted, he raised every button and got in a bunch of three bets as well. He stabbed me early when he bet a flush draw and got there and I paid him off. I had two pair and wasn't 100% if he had a big pair or made his draw. I battled back, raising preflop and flopping trip J's. He shoved on a gutter and missed. I had to do a lot of three betting and donk betting to try and keep him from running over me. I finally slow played myself out of the tournament. He limped with K3 off, I had AA and checked in instead of raising. Flop came K-8-3. He check raised me and I shoved, he snaps and I am out. I think I did well, if the cards had held up I'm pretty sure I would've beaten him.
After that (while waiting for cash) I decide to go to Nautica. I sit at a new $1/2 table with $160. The first hand I decide to play is 97 off. I am in the cutoff, early raiser makes it $15. Three people call before me. Well, fuck. I call. Flop is J-10-8 offsuit. First guy bets $50. Two folds. Guy to my right shoves in $110. I shove over the top. First guy tanks and finally calls. They both show J-10. Turn brick, river is a J and I watch two people hit a two out miracle and split my stack. I decided not to bother rebuying and headed home until the cash game at Linda's started. The cash game at Linda's went very well, and I recovered $91 of my previous losses.
That Saturday I decided to hit Rivers Casino with Special K. We had all weekend to kill so I could play unrushed poker. I sat in on a $1/3 whilst waiting for a $4/8 to open. I opened weak, raising several pots preflop and being bet off my hands on the flop. I was down $100 when I hit a streak. I flopped a couple sets and big two pair hands and got paid. After three hours I was +$500. They were just opening a $1/3 HA table ($500 max) so I decided to go take a shot with my profits. Whoops. I got eaten alive. I flopped a straight flush draw, turned to pair, and lost $300 when the wrong card paired on the river and the guy who had grossly overplayed AAxx made a better two pair. I floundered for a while and gave up, taking my last $200 in profit and heading back to $1/3. I sat at a new table and stacked off in the first orbit. I was sitting with a guy who was making it $40 preflop every hand. I finally called a preflop raise in position with QJd. Flop comes 10-9-2 off. He throws a hundred at it, I shove on him, guy behind me calls and so does he. Q on the turn and river a brick. He shows J-10, but the idiot between us had called $40 preflop with 9-2 and flopped two pair. Disgusted, I left. I fidgeted around at $4/8 for a while until a $5/10 limit O8 game opened. I sat in there and ran my $215 stack back up to about $500. We had a drunk guy at the table with a VPIP of 100%. He called everything and didn't care if he won or lost. I also witnessed the worst live beat I've seen at Rivers. It would've won the Bad Beat Jackpot had it been hold'em. Guy to my right flops quad 6's and jams, betting the whole way. Drunk guy runs him down on the river with a gutshot straight flush (neither makes a low) and drunk guy scoops a monster.
K and I decided to take this weekend off of poker. I have quite a few games going the next couple weekends (including TK's $100 deepstack) so I guess I could use a weekend to get my head straight. I'm not really mad about my play in either game, I think I'm playing decent enough to win. I just keep running into people who are getting horribly lucky. If I can figure out how to dodge one and two out miracles I'd be OK.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Better Lucky Than Good, I Guess
I've been playing tournaments exclusively for a few weeks. This is due to a variety of factors, notably a lack of good limit games in Cleveland and my recent tournament game has been decent. I played the $60 bounty at Adam's house. I was swingy all game, up and down and back up. I made the final table and the final 6 before I shipped it preflop with KKxx and ran into Linda's AAxx. It's always bad to ship and have Linda snap call before you even get your stack out. Oh well. In the cash game I was running awesome. Some of Adam's friends were there and they all wanted to play PLO. I was up around $100 (in a .50/.50 game) before Adam himself sat in. Within three hands I was felted. The guy simply could not miss. First I turned a full house and ran into his bigger full house. Then a few hands later it was set over set. Finally he crippled me when we both flopped trip 9's and he had me on kicker. Luckily I had purchased a horse in the tournament and actually ended up breaking even for the day. Beats losing, I guess.
I also played Linda's triple pot limit tournament last weekend. I never really got any traction going there. I was up a little, lost it back on a monstrous combo draw, won some back on a few hands, then ran into Patty and got stacked. Malcolm raised preflop with AA46. I called with KK46 and Patty called with KKT9. Flop was J-5-7 two diamonds. Patty bet out, Malcolm called off his stack for less, and I called. Turn was an 8. I open/shipped with my straight and she snap called with her better straight and stacked us both. Whoops. Afterwards I managed to nurse a $50 stack in 3 and 4 handed PLO (.50/.50) until about 2AM when I flopped trip 6's with an A and ran into Data's rolled up boat.
I was a little stung from the night before but I decided to go to TK's poker tournament after the golf outing. I figured the golfers would all be tired from being out in the 100ยบ heat all day and they'd all be piss drunk so I'd have an advantage. The game that followed was an absolute ZOO.
I got seated with one of Hiphop's friends who was completely hammered. He wasn't even sure what game he was playing. On hand #2 I get QQ. Cheryl raises, guy re-raises, I flat. She flats. Flop comes all unders. He leads out for the pot, I call, Cheryl folds. Turn another under, he bets again and I call. River same deal and I am plus 5k when he shows KJ for nothing. He doubled through another player and a few hands later I got AQd. Malcolm raises, I call, guy re-pops it again. Malcolm calls, I call. Flop three unders and two diamonds. We check to him, he bets, Malcolm folds and I call. Turn a brick that pairs the board. Check-call. River same thing, I check and he bets. I make hero call with A high and he shows 6 high and ships me another 5k. I piddled around for a while before getting dealt AA on the button. Brad raises from middle position and I three bet him. He calls. Flop comes A-K-2 two hearts. He checks, I lead for about 3/4 the pot. He snap shoves all in and I call before he can finish his sentence. He shows A8 of hearts and I fade the flush and bust him.
After the break I hit a stride and take a bunch of pots. They move some seats around and we end up with Meat at our table. I get into a monstrous four way all-in pot. Chasity raises to around 4k (about half her stack). Malcolm shoves in for 10k. I look around and see that Pete is ready to put his last 4k in and Chas will likely call. I decide to gamble 1/3 of my stack and potentially bust three people with my T8s. I call, Pete shoves for less and Chas calls. Chas has QQ, Malcolm AQs, Pete 98h. The board runs out and Chas wins the main pot, Pete is busted, and Malcolm takes the side pot. After that hand I start playing a little fast. I'm a little steamed from that pot plus I am getting impatient. Meats raises from mid position and I call from the BB with T9c. Flop comes T-7-2 one club. I check, Meat bets, and I shove on him. He snap calls and rolls over KK. Whoops. Turn Ac. River Qc and my flush busts him. After jubilant celebration I turn my attention back to the game and start running over the table.
I got into another multi-way clusterfuck when I got dealt K2s in the BB. Cheryl limps in, someone in the middle limps, Krazy Mike raises to 3k. I call, Cheryl calls, mid calls. Flop 2-2-6. Mike open/shoves his stack in. I call. Everyone else abandons ship. Mike tables 10-10 and bricks twice, then gets up and has to go outside to blow off steam. I don't like Mike's shove here, he's only going to get called by a hand that has him destroyed. I think a half pot bet would've been better, I would've flatted and when the board paired 6's on the turn he could've gotten away from his hand. Last hand before the break I doubled up Linda. She shoves her last 6k with AQ and I call with QJ. Then, first hand after break I get AA on the button. She limps, I raise, she shoves and I snap call. After Linda busts we get to the final table. I snapped off Randy when he shoved with KQ and I called with AQ.
The final table played impossibly slow. Grayday was hammered and taking forever to make any decisions. TK also was inexplicably slow, causing me to get impatient again as we weren't getting nearly as many HPH as we should've been even with Mike dealing for us. Grayday is also getting distracted by the cash players taunting him. I get up and walk away a couple of times trying to get myself focused. Finally Grayday shoves his stack in and I decide to make a bad call with J8h. He shows 88. J on the flop and he's gone. After he left it was the bubble which went on for a very long time. Finally Mike's friend Luke busted and we were all in the money. TK busted next in a hand that I couldn't understand. He raises preflop and Hacker calls. Flop comes J-9-9 two spades. Hacker bets into him. He raises. Hacker three bets. TK shoves and Hacker snap calls and rolls over 69c for trips. TK shows 77 and busts out. Three handed was over quick. I got AJ on the button and shoved my last 11 blinds in. Hacker snap calls and rolls over AK and I get third.
I played this tournament very poorly, and I know it. Despite cashing I should've been out a whole lot sooner. Several times I found myself getting impatient and I made some poor decisions because of it. I was getting good cards and hitting a lot, and I let my hand selection slide because of it. I made a lot of marginal calls in spots where I know I shouldn't have. I need to work on this.
I'm planning on hitting Rivers this weekend and crushing the $4/8 game. Report will follow.
I've been playing tournaments exclusively for a few weeks. This is due to a variety of factors, notably a lack of good limit games in Cleveland and my recent tournament game has been decent. I played the $60 bounty at Adam's house. I was swingy all game, up and down and back up. I made the final table and the final 6 before I shipped it preflop with KKxx and ran into Linda's AAxx. It's always bad to ship and have Linda snap call before you even get your stack out. Oh well. In the cash game I was running awesome. Some of Adam's friends were there and they all wanted to play PLO. I was up around $100 (in a .50/.50 game) before Adam himself sat in. Within three hands I was felted. The guy simply could not miss. First I turned a full house and ran into his bigger full house. Then a few hands later it was set over set. Finally he crippled me when we both flopped trip 9's and he had me on kicker. Luckily I had purchased a horse in the tournament and actually ended up breaking even for the day. Beats losing, I guess.
I also played Linda's triple pot limit tournament last weekend. I never really got any traction going there. I was up a little, lost it back on a monstrous combo draw, won some back on a few hands, then ran into Patty and got stacked. Malcolm raised preflop with AA46. I called with KK46 and Patty called with KKT9. Flop was J-5-7 two diamonds. Patty bet out, Malcolm called off his stack for less, and I called. Turn was an 8. I open/shipped with my straight and she snap called with her better straight and stacked us both. Whoops. Afterwards I managed to nurse a $50 stack in 3 and 4 handed PLO (.50/.50) until about 2AM when I flopped trip 6's with an A and ran into Data's rolled up boat.
I was a little stung from the night before but I decided to go to TK's poker tournament after the golf outing. I figured the golfers would all be tired from being out in the 100ยบ heat all day and they'd all be piss drunk so I'd have an advantage. The game that followed was an absolute ZOO.
I got seated with one of Hiphop's friends who was completely hammered. He wasn't even sure what game he was playing. On hand #2 I get QQ. Cheryl raises, guy re-raises, I flat. She flats. Flop comes all unders. He leads out for the pot, I call, Cheryl folds. Turn another under, he bets again and I call. River same deal and I am plus 5k when he shows KJ for nothing. He doubled through another player and a few hands later I got AQd. Malcolm raises, I call, guy re-pops it again. Malcolm calls, I call. Flop three unders and two diamonds. We check to him, he bets, Malcolm folds and I call. Turn a brick that pairs the board. Check-call. River same thing, I check and he bets. I make hero call with A high and he shows 6 high and ships me another 5k. I piddled around for a while before getting dealt AA on the button. Brad raises from middle position and I three bet him. He calls. Flop comes A-K-2 two hearts. He checks, I lead for about 3/4 the pot. He snap shoves all in and I call before he can finish his sentence. He shows A8 of hearts and I fade the flush and bust him.
After the break I hit a stride and take a bunch of pots. They move some seats around and we end up with Meat at our table. I get into a monstrous four way all-in pot. Chasity raises to around 4k (about half her stack). Malcolm shoves in for 10k. I look around and see that Pete is ready to put his last 4k in and Chas will likely call. I decide to gamble 1/3 of my stack and potentially bust three people with my T8s. I call, Pete shoves for less and Chas calls. Chas has QQ, Malcolm AQs, Pete 98h. The board runs out and Chas wins the main pot, Pete is busted, and Malcolm takes the side pot. After that hand I start playing a little fast. I'm a little steamed from that pot plus I am getting impatient. Meats raises from mid position and I call from the BB with T9c. Flop comes T-7-2 one club. I check, Meat bets, and I shove on him. He snap calls and rolls over KK. Whoops. Turn Ac. River Qc and my flush busts him. After jubilant celebration I turn my attention back to the game and start running over the table.
I got into another multi-way clusterfuck when I got dealt K2s in the BB. Cheryl limps in, someone in the middle limps, Krazy Mike raises to 3k. I call, Cheryl calls, mid calls. Flop 2-2-6. Mike open/shoves his stack in. I call. Everyone else abandons ship. Mike tables 10-10 and bricks twice, then gets up and has to go outside to blow off steam. I don't like Mike's shove here, he's only going to get called by a hand that has him destroyed. I think a half pot bet would've been better, I would've flatted and when the board paired 6's on the turn he could've gotten away from his hand. Last hand before the break I doubled up Linda. She shoves her last 6k with AQ and I call with QJ. Then, first hand after break I get AA on the button. She limps, I raise, she shoves and I snap call. After Linda busts we get to the final table. I snapped off Randy when he shoved with KQ and I called with AQ.
The final table played impossibly slow. Grayday was hammered and taking forever to make any decisions. TK also was inexplicably slow, causing me to get impatient again as we weren't getting nearly as many HPH as we should've been even with Mike dealing for us. Grayday is also getting distracted by the cash players taunting him. I get up and walk away a couple of times trying to get myself focused. Finally Grayday shoves his stack in and I decide to make a bad call with J8h. He shows 88. J on the flop and he's gone. After he left it was the bubble which went on for a very long time. Finally Mike's friend Luke busted and we were all in the money. TK busted next in a hand that I couldn't understand. He raises preflop and Hacker calls. Flop comes J-9-9 two spades. Hacker bets into him. He raises. Hacker three bets. TK shoves and Hacker snap calls and rolls over 69c for trips. TK shows 77 and busts out. Three handed was over quick. I got AJ on the button and shoved my last 11 blinds in. Hacker snap calls and rolls over AK and I get third.
I played this tournament very poorly, and I know it. Despite cashing I should've been out a whole lot sooner. Several times I found myself getting impatient and I made some poor decisions because of it. I was getting good cards and hitting a lot, and I let my hand selection slide because of it. I made a lot of marginal calls in spots where I know I shouldn't have. I need to work on this.
I'm planning on hitting Rivers this weekend and crushing the $4/8 game. Report will follow.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Poker and I Make Up (A Little)
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Summer is usually busy time for me, and with everything going on I haven't been playing much poker. I had to cancel my Vegas trip after the dismal spring we had kept me from amassing anything that resembled a playable bankroll. Vegas is depressing when you only have a few hundred to play off.
I have only played a few tournaments in the past couple months. I went to Pyxis' game a few weeks ago. 13 players, I felt good (for a change) and things went well. I won a bunch of small pots early, then went on a heater. I busted Cindy and another guy when I flopped three Aces. Guy raised preflop, we're short handed so I call with A-10. Cindy calls. Flop A-3-A. He open/shoves. Cindy tanks and calls. I can't fold, so I call. He has KK, Cindy has a flush draw and bricks. After that hand I had a pretty good command on the table. I did make one hero fold I shouldn't have. I got AK from UTG and limped. Papa Z was short stacked and shoved (as I had anticipated). All of a sudden Jamie shoves over the top of him. Jamie had me covered and I knew I was behind now so I folded. He showed QQ to Papa Z's 44 and won. The turn was a K, I would've scooped a pretty massive pot. The final table went pretty quick. I snapped a hand off in Pyxis that should've won me the tournament. Folds to me, I limp from SB with 58c. She checks. Flop 5-7-9 one club. I lead out and bet, she raises me. I am trying to decide if she has 68 from the BB and flopped the joint. I just call. Turn is the Qc. I check, she bets a little over half my stack. I now have a pair, gutter, and flush draw. I call. River is a club and I open/shove. The pot is so massive she has to call and I table my flush. She shows KK and curses me. That pot pushed me over and I made it to heads up where I donked off to a new kid who got hit with the deck. Every time I tried to take a pot from him he woke up with a monster. I finally dumped my stack when I shoved from the button with 4-6 on a steal and he snap called with A6. Ooops. Second was still OK.
I have been playing a little bit of $2/4 and $3/6 hold'em at Nautica. That place is a trip, playing limit poker there is an exercise in patience and attention. If you're not hitting, you're screwed. There's no bluffing at these limits, so you have to show down a hand. I sat down with a hundred and lost half my stack on hand #1 when I flopped top set J's and turned a full house. I lost to a two out K's full on the river. FIVE PEOPLE played that hand all the way down to capped betting. It was sick. I did see the most ridiculous attempt at cheating that I've ever witnessed at a live game before. We're playing $3/6 and it's close to closing time. A kid sits down with a rack of white chips and plays a few hands. He gets dealt into a hand when I am the button. He limps, I fold and the blind raises to $6. A few people including the kid call. Flop comes J-6-6. The initial raiser bets, two people call. I look over at the kid and his cards are gone. The dealer puts out a 4 on the turn. Raiser bets again, again two calls, again kid sitting there and no cards. River is a K. Raiser bets again, someone in between raises him. Back to the inital bettor who calls. The three people who've been betting all table ragged J's for a three way chop. All of a sudden, the kid jumps up and says "I win" and throws AK down on the table. Everyone looks at him like he's got a lobster on his head. He reaches over to scoop the pot and the other guys all stop him. Arguing ensues as kid never put any money in post-flop and no one could see his cards (he took them off the table). He starts arguing it's his pot, then when everyone including me and the dealer point out he never put any money in or said anything he gets defensive. He tried to argue they skipped him but he never said a word and no one saw his cards. Finally the dealer calls for the floor and security, and the kid jumps up, grabs his rack and cashes out before anyone can come talk to him.
For the week at Nautica I was plus $18, not bad I guess. I can never seem to consistently win there, and the NL tables are getting tougher.
I went to Data's mix game last Saturday. I could only stay a few hours since I had to go back to work, but I made the most of it. I decided to tighten up my hand selection (especially in stud games) and it paid off. I only won a few pots but they were all good size. I got lucky, too. I had rolled up sixes twice (and won both), and turned a gutshot Broadway straight in Stud 8 whilst inbewteen competing low hands. I only lost a few hands, and I think I only played one hand bad (I stayed in a stud hand with pocket 7's despite Adam folding a 7 in the door and I ended up making two pair and paying off a better two pair. Other than that hand I think I did well and finished up $160. I took a video of a hand of Stud 8, it had been boring until fifth street when it got capped four ways. This is my first attempt at filming a live hand so bear with me on it:
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Summer is usually busy time for me, and with everything going on I haven't been playing much poker. I had to cancel my Vegas trip after the dismal spring we had kept me from amassing anything that resembled a playable bankroll. Vegas is depressing when you only have a few hundred to play off.
I have only played a few tournaments in the past couple months. I went to Pyxis' game a few weeks ago. 13 players, I felt good (for a change) and things went well. I won a bunch of small pots early, then went on a heater. I busted Cindy and another guy when I flopped three Aces. Guy raised preflop, we're short handed so I call with A-10. Cindy calls. Flop A-3-A. He open/shoves. Cindy tanks and calls. I can't fold, so I call. He has KK, Cindy has a flush draw and bricks. After that hand I had a pretty good command on the table. I did make one hero fold I shouldn't have. I got AK from UTG and limped. Papa Z was short stacked and shoved (as I had anticipated). All of a sudden Jamie shoves over the top of him. Jamie had me covered and I knew I was behind now so I folded. He showed QQ to Papa Z's 44 and won. The turn was a K, I would've scooped a pretty massive pot. The final table went pretty quick. I snapped a hand off in Pyxis that should've won me the tournament. Folds to me, I limp from SB with 58c. She checks. Flop 5-7-9 one club. I lead out and bet, she raises me. I am trying to decide if she has 68 from the BB and flopped the joint. I just call. Turn is the Qc. I check, she bets a little over half my stack. I now have a pair, gutter, and flush draw. I call. River is a club and I open/shove. The pot is so massive she has to call and I table my flush. She shows KK and curses me. That pot pushed me over and I made it to heads up where I donked off to a new kid who got hit with the deck. Every time I tried to take a pot from him he woke up with a monster. I finally dumped my stack when I shoved from the button with 4-6 on a steal and he snap called with A6. Ooops. Second was still OK.
I have been playing a little bit of $2/4 and $3/6 hold'em at Nautica. That place is a trip, playing limit poker there is an exercise in patience and attention. If you're not hitting, you're screwed. There's no bluffing at these limits, so you have to show down a hand. I sat down with a hundred and lost half my stack on hand #1 when I flopped top set J's and turned a full house. I lost to a two out K's full on the river. FIVE PEOPLE played that hand all the way down to capped betting. It was sick. I did see the most ridiculous attempt at cheating that I've ever witnessed at a live game before. We're playing $3/6 and it's close to closing time. A kid sits down with a rack of white chips and plays a few hands. He gets dealt into a hand when I am the button. He limps, I fold and the blind raises to $6. A few people including the kid call. Flop comes J-6-6. The initial raiser bets, two people call. I look over at the kid and his cards are gone. The dealer puts out a 4 on the turn. Raiser bets again, again two calls, again kid sitting there and no cards. River is a K. Raiser bets again, someone in between raises him. Back to the inital bettor who calls. The three people who've been betting all table ragged J's for a three way chop. All of a sudden, the kid jumps up and says "I win" and throws AK down on the table. Everyone looks at him like he's got a lobster on his head. He reaches over to scoop the pot and the other guys all stop him. Arguing ensues as kid never put any money in post-flop and no one could see his cards (he took them off the table). He starts arguing it's his pot, then when everyone including me and the dealer point out he never put any money in or said anything he gets defensive. He tried to argue they skipped him but he never said a word and no one saw his cards. Finally the dealer calls for the floor and security, and the kid jumps up, grabs his rack and cashes out before anyone can come talk to him.
For the week at Nautica I was plus $18, not bad I guess. I can never seem to consistently win there, and the NL tables are getting tougher.
I went to Data's mix game last Saturday. I could only stay a few hours since I had to go back to work, but I made the most of it. I decided to tighten up my hand selection (especially in stud games) and it paid off. I only won a few pots but they were all good size. I got lucky, too. I had rolled up sixes twice (and won both), and turned a gutshot Broadway straight in Stud 8 whilst inbewteen competing low hands. I only lost a few hands, and I think I only played one hand bad (I stayed in a stud hand with pocket 7's despite Adam folding a 7 in the door and I ended up making two pair and paying off a better two pair. Other than that hand I think I did well and finished up $160. I took a video of a hand of Stud 8, it had been boring until fifth street when it got capped four ways. This is my first attempt at filming a live hand so bear with me on it:
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Poker Summer So Far
I haven't been playing much lately (hence the lack of posts) so this one post ought to catch you all up.
I played the $40 PLO tournament at Adam's house last weekend. Started off grinding, built up a stack and dusted off most of the profit. I was up and down for a while but I felt good and was playing well. There were two spots where I used the ole Stop-N-Go with much success (got Adam and Con both to lay down flush draws on the turn - both would've hit if they stayed in). Made the final table pretty easy, there were only 15 runners. I got into one hand where I made my patented DP Idiot Call™ in a three way hand. I got dealt AQd99. I limped in and Lakewood Josh potted himself all in for 3x the blind (I want to say 2500ish). Data repots over the top of him and all in. I hear the little voice in my head say call, so I do. I end up making the nut flush on the river and stacking both. After that I turned a gutshot straight flush and stacked Con. At the beginning of three handed play (in the money) it was me, Adam, and RR Dave. I had 100k in the chips, the other two 25k a piece. We played three handed for a long time before Dave finally stacked off to Adam. Heads up was all me until my AAxx got cracked and Adam went on a tear, winning a few races and finally crippling me. I ended up second, which bothered me because I felt I played better than 2nd place but what can I do when a guy gets hit with the deck heads up?
Played a bit at Nautica this week with little success. The $2/4 and $3/6 limit games are turning into a circus sideshow. The cheating/angle shooting is so obvious it's ridiculous. It's clear no one at Nautica gives a shit what happens at these tables. I was playing $2/4 with three guys all playing out of the same handful of cash, they would pass chips back and forth. They were also selling chips to other players (not allowed) and pocketing the cash rather than putting it on the table (also not allowed). There is rampant signalling and soft play. The angle shooting is ridiculous. I played $3/6 with this one guy who has $200 in cash in his hand, which he never sets on the table. He buys $20 in chips off of someone and plays a hand and loses, then buys $20 more. The table minimum is $60. If he's in a hand he buys more chips and puts them in play mid hand, also not allowed. He and two other guys were there yesterday all showing each other their cards. If they didn't like a card on the deal they would intentionally fuck up the deal and start yelling "Misdeal!" even if it wasn't. The volunteer dealers are woefully stupid and just redeal. We had three misdeals in four hands because of this, which caused me to leave. I am not losing anything at these tables, but I'm not killing them either. Sometimes it's just funny to watch the show. I gave up complaining to the floor months ago because they don't care and won't stop any of it.
I played some $1/2 with little success as well. I got into a horrendous hand a few days ago that I'd like to share. Playing $1/2 around 11PM (an hour to close - usually crazy time). I start with $200 and work it up to $350 with a flush. I get into this hand: on the button dealt Js-10h. UTG (who has over $1200) limps. Girl at the end makes it $16, she has only about $60 behind. I call the $16 as do the SB and BB. UTG re-raises to $69. I have seen him do this repeatedly with very light holdings to try and squeeze. Mid girl shoves. I flat call, SB and BB fold. Flop comes K-J-3 two spades, but I don't see it because I am staring down Mr. Big Stack. He is staring back and open/shoves all-in. I tell him I think he missed and I call. Turn is the Qs, so I have open ended straight draw, flush draw, and a pair of jacks. River is 10d. He says "straight" and tables A-8h for the two out miracle river. $830+ pot vaporizes in front of me. What do you say to a hand like that? Yes, you can argue I shouldn't have called $69 preflop but I read the hand perfectly and had way the best of it when the money went in.
Had a spotty day yesterday. Lost $40 in Linda's tournament and decided to hit Nautica to kill time. Lit fire to $110 in the cash game playing $1/2. I didn't drag a single pot. Turned trip A's from the BB lost on the river, flopped lots of open end straight and flush draws and bricked them all. Went back to Linda's with Krazy Mike and caught fire in the triple pot limit. Stacked Chuck for $30 when I raised preflop in PLO8, turned straight, flush, and low draws and missed them all. He was also on a draw and my A high won the pot. Bought in $60 and cashed out $238, covering my losses for the day with a little cherry on top.
Some days I feel like I really can play this game.
I haven't been playing much lately (hence the lack of posts) so this one post ought to catch you all up.
I played the $40 PLO tournament at Adam's house last weekend. Started off grinding, built up a stack and dusted off most of the profit. I was up and down for a while but I felt good and was playing well. There were two spots where I used the ole Stop-N-Go with much success (got Adam and Con both to lay down flush draws on the turn - both would've hit if they stayed in). Made the final table pretty easy, there were only 15 runners. I got into one hand where I made my patented DP Idiot Call™ in a three way hand. I got dealt AQd99. I limped in and Lakewood Josh potted himself all in for 3x the blind (I want to say 2500ish). Data repots over the top of him and all in. I hear the little voice in my head say call, so I do. I end up making the nut flush on the river and stacking both. After that I turned a gutshot straight flush and stacked Con. At the beginning of three handed play (in the money) it was me, Adam, and RR Dave. I had 100k in the chips, the other two 25k a piece. We played three handed for a long time before Dave finally stacked off to Adam. Heads up was all me until my AAxx got cracked and Adam went on a tear, winning a few races and finally crippling me. I ended up second, which bothered me because I felt I played better than 2nd place but what can I do when a guy gets hit with the deck heads up?
Played a bit at Nautica this week with little success. The $2/4 and $3/6 limit games are turning into a circus sideshow. The cheating/angle shooting is so obvious it's ridiculous. It's clear no one at Nautica gives a shit what happens at these tables. I was playing $2/4 with three guys all playing out of the same handful of cash, they would pass chips back and forth. They were also selling chips to other players (not allowed) and pocketing the cash rather than putting it on the table (also not allowed). There is rampant signalling and soft play. The angle shooting is ridiculous. I played $3/6 with this one guy who has $200 in cash in his hand, which he never sets on the table. He buys $20 in chips off of someone and plays a hand and loses, then buys $20 more. The table minimum is $60. If he's in a hand he buys more chips and puts them in play mid hand, also not allowed. He and two other guys were there yesterday all showing each other their cards. If they didn't like a card on the deal they would intentionally fuck up the deal and start yelling "Misdeal!" even if it wasn't. The volunteer dealers are woefully stupid and just redeal. We had three misdeals in four hands because of this, which caused me to leave. I am not losing anything at these tables, but I'm not killing them either. Sometimes it's just funny to watch the show. I gave up complaining to the floor months ago because they don't care and won't stop any of it.
I played some $1/2 with little success as well. I got into a horrendous hand a few days ago that I'd like to share. Playing $1/2 around 11PM (an hour to close - usually crazy time). I start with $200 and work it up to $350 with a flush. I get into this hand: on the button dealt Js-10h. UTG (who has over $1200) limps. Girl at the end makes it $16, she has only about $60 behind. I call the $16 as do the SB and BB. UTG re-raises to $69. I have seen him do this repeatedly with very light holdings to try and squeeze. Mid girl shoves. I flat call, SB and BB fold. Flop comes K-J-3 two spades, but I don't see it because I am staring down Mr. Big Stack. He is staring back and open/shoves all-in. I tell him I think he missed and I call. Turn is the Qs, so I have open ended straight draw, flush draw, and a pair of jacks. River is 10d. He says "straight" and tables A-8h for the two out miracle river. $830+ pot vaporizes in front of me. What do you say to a hand like that? Yes, you can argue I shouldn't have called $69 preflop but I read the hand perfectly and had way the best of it when the money went in.
Had a spotty day yesterday. Lost $40 in Linda's tournament and decided to hit Nautica to kill time. Lit fire to $110 in the cash game playing $1/2. I didn't drag a single pot. Turned trip A's from the BB lost on the river, flopped lots of open end straight and flush draws and bricked them all. Went back to Linda's with Krazy Mike and caught fire in the triple pot limit. Stacked Chuck for $30 when I raised preflop in PLO8, turned straight, flush, and low draws and missed them all. He was also on a draw and my A high won the pot. Bought in $60 and cashed out $238, covering my losses for the day with a little cherry on top.
Some days I feel like I really can play this game.
Monday, May 30, 2011
It's Easier To Blog When You're Winning
It's Memorial Monday, hats off to anyone who reads this who also served in the military. I have mad respect for anyone willing to put their ass on the line for this country.
I am winding down my weekend of poker debauchery, and it's been a good one. I started off Saturday with the team tournament at Dave's. I managed to talk Special K into playing (though lately she hates tournaments). I had asked Ryan Rufe to be the third on our team, and he initially declined but changed his mind after the other person we asked cancelled on us. There were 48 people in the tournament (16 teams). It was a zoo. As with anything Meat handles, it went painfully slow.
The beginning stages were not good for me. I started with 15k in chips and quickly dusted off 6k. I flopped a set of 8's and lost to a guy with QQ who drew a gutter on me (-$4k). I also lost 2k to Con when I flopped a pair of K's and tried to check-raise him. He had raised preflop and I expected a c-bet but he checked behind and hit his two out set on the turn. Con, I discovered, has a horrible tell and after that hand I had zeroed in on his preflop hands. I could tell when he had a large Ace or K, a mid pair or medium cards, or nothing. After that I got into one scrap with him where (from his tell) I was certain he had a small/medium pair and I had AKs. Flop was 345 two spades. I check raised him and he shoved. I had to conclude he was either over the board or had a set and I folded since I have not been winning many races. He showed a set of 5's (thanks for confirming your tell again BTW). After a few rounds I picked up some steam. I busted a short stack who shoved with AQ and only 2500 in chips with my Q8 (8 on the flop).
I played a monstrous hand where Con raised preflop (and his tell indicated he had a large Ace). The guy between us (can't remember who it was) shoved for $11k. I flat called with 55. Con tanked and folded. The other guy had QQ (oops!). A five on the flop sealed it for me. I busted Randy a few orbits later. I limped with 97 offsuit. Con limps, Randy checks in. Flop 9-8-2 two hearts. Randy open/shoves his whole stack. I flat call. As Con is thinking Randy excitedly flips over 10-7h for the open ended straight flush draw. Con tanks now, seeing the cards. He uses a consult with Malcolm and finally folds. I roll over my pair of 9's and Randy catches two bricks. Con would've also bricked.
In between I also made a bad read on Krazy Mike that worked out for me. He raised preflop with 99. Monsignor calls and I call with 44. Flop comes J-8-7. Checks around. Turn is another J. Monsignor checks, Mike bets. I decide Mike has AK or AQ and figures we don't have jacks. I flat call. River is a 4. Mike checks, I bet about half the pot. He calls and I show the boat and he gets upset. I made the correct play for my read, just got lucky. I smoked Tuttle in a hand where I flopped two pair from the button with 10-8, turned a boat and he paid off a river bet. He didn't say what he had but I think he made a flush. I made a good read on Monsignor and picked off a semi-bluff. He fired two barrels with nut flush, wheel, and over card draws. I called him down with a low pair (6's?). He was not happy. After the break I got into the hand that made my entire tournament. I had AA on the button. Con opened for a raise to 1500 or so. Hiphop raises to 11k. I shove. Con folds and Hip tanks. He consults Colin who tells him to push. He calls off his last 10.5k with AK and I win a monstrous pot almost 50k. I gave some back after Eskimo (who had a horseshoe up his ass) flopped trip J's on me, plus I took a shot at busting both Krazy Mike and Con and whiffed both. I worked my way back up to 88k for the final table. By then the structure made it mostly push-n-pray so it was pretty straightforward. I folded AQ preflop to a Data shove (he had me covered, said he had 88). I snapped off Con by limping with KK, he shoved and I overshoved. His A-10 didn't get there. I was up to 170k and guaranteed 4th place cash when I finally got horsefucked.
I was SB with 55. Nick open shoves his stack $160k. I call. Eskimo and Jen fold. He has A5. Bink, A in the door. If he doesn't his his three outer I stack him and would have enough chips to win, but sadly it wasn't so. Fourth paid $210, still not bad. K mashed the cash game for several hundred dollars before cashing out.
The next day when we got up, K and I kicked around the idea of going to Rivers casino in Pittsburgh. We were both up and had been playing well, so we decided to do it. I went in and decided to play some of the Hold'em table game. I sat down in the poker room at $4/8 and went on a heater. Made straights and flushes, got paid. Pairs held up. People folded to my raises. It was magical. For one day, I knew what it was like to be Hiphop and hit everything. I raised with large aces preflop and flopped pairs. It was awesome. I finished up $267 which is a huge profit for $4/8 limit. I gave some of it back playing video poker but still left with a profit, which is just fine with me. I made it back to Cleveland with enough money to begin repleneshing my bankroll. The next few weeks at work will be nuts, it's been three straight days of 80ยบ+ outside and the A/C calls will be non-stop. I hope I get some time to grind some $3/6 at Nautica this week.
It's Memorial Monday, hats off to anyone who reads this who also served in the military. I have mad respect for anyone willing to put their ass on the line for this country.
I am winding down my weekend of poker debauchery, and it's been a good one. I started off Saturday with the team tournament at Dave's. I managed to talk Special K into playing (though lately she hates tournaments). I had asked Ryan Rufe to be the third on our team, and he initially declined but changed his mind after the other person we asked cancelled on us. There were 48 people in the tournament (16 teams). It was a zoo. As with anything Meat handles, it went painfully slow.
The beginning stages were not good for me. I started with 15k in chips and quickly dusted off 6k. I flopped a set of 8's and lost to a guy with QQ who drew a gutter on me (-$4k). I also lost 2k to Con when I flopped a pair of K's and tried to check-raise him. He had raised preflop and I expected a c-bet but he checked behind and hit his two out set on the turn. Con, I discovered, has a horrible tell and after that hand I had zeroed in on his preflop hands. I could tell when he had a large Ace or K, a mid pair or medium cards, or nothing. After that I got into one scrap with him where (from his tell) I was certain he had a small/medium pair and I had AKs. Flop was 345 two spades. I check raised him and he shoved. I had to conclude he was either over the board or had a set and I folded since I have not been winning many races. He showed a set of 5's (thanks for confirming your tell again BTW). After a few rounds I picked up some steam. I busted a short stack who shoved with AQ and only 2500 in chips with my Q8 (8 on the flop).
I played a monstrous hand where Con raised preflop (and his tell indicated he had a large Ace). The guy between us (can't remember who it was) shoved for $11k. I flat called with 55. Con tanked and folded. The other guy had QQ (oops!). A five on the flop sealed it for me. I busted Randy a few orbits later. I limped with 97 offsuit. Con limps, Randy checks in. Flop 9-8-2 two hearts. Randy open/shoves his whole stack. I flat call. As Con is thinking Randy excitedly flips over 10-7h for the open ended straight flush draw. Con tanks now, seeing the cards. He uses a consult with Malcolm and finally folds. I roll over my pair of 9's and Randy catches two bricks. Con would've also bricked.
In between I also made a bad read on Krazy Mike that worked out for me. He raised preflop with 99. Monsignor calls and I call with 44. Flop comes J-8-7. Checks around. Turn is another J. Monsignor checks, Mike bets. I decide Mike has AK or AQ and figures we don't have jacks. I flat call. River is a 4. Mike checks, I bet about half the pot. He calls and I show the boat and he gets upset. I made the correct play for my read, just got lucky. I smoked Tuttle in a hand where I flopped two pair from the button with 10-8, turned a boat and he paid off a river bet. He didn't say what he had but I think he made a flush. I made a good read on Monsignor and picked off a semi-bluff. He fired two barrels with nut flush, wheel, and over card draws. I called him down with a low pair (6's?). He was not happy. After the break I got into the hand that made my entire tournament. I had AA on the button. Con opened for a raise to 1500 or so. Hiphop raises to 11k. I shove. Con folds and Hip tanks. He consults Colin who tells him to push. He calls off his last 10.5k with AK and I win a monstrous pot almost 50k. I gave some back after Eskimo (who had a horseshoe up his ass) flopped trip J's on me, plus I took a shot at busting both Krazy Mike and Con and whiffed both. I worked my way back up to 88k for the final table. By then the structure made it mostly push-n-pray so it was pretty straightforward. I folded AQ preflop to a Data shove (he had me covered, said he had 88). I snapped off Con by limping with KK, he shoved and I overshoved. His A-10 didn't get there. I was up to 170k and guaranteed 4th place cash when I finally got horsefucked.
I was SB with 55. Nick open shoves his stack $160k. I call. Eskimo and Jen fold. He has A5. Bink, A in the door. If he doesn't his his three outer I stack him and would have enough chips to win, but sadly it wasn't so. Fourth paid $210, still not bad. K mashed the cash game for several hundred dollars before cashing out.
The next day when we got up, K and I kicked around the idea of going to Rivers casino in Pittsburgh. We were both up and had been playing well, so we decided to do it. I went in and decided to play some of the Hold'em table game. I sat down in the poker room at $4/8 and went on a heater. Made straights and flushes, got paid. Pairs held up. People folded to my raises. It was magical. For one day, I knew what it was like to be Hiphop and hit everything. I raised with large aces preflop and flopped pairs. It was awesome. I finished up $267 which is a huge profit for $4/8 limit. I gave some of it back playing video poker but still left with a profit, which is just fine with me. I made it back to Cleveland with enough money to begin repleneshing my bankroll. The next few weeks at work will be nuts, it's been three straight days of 80ยบ+ outside and the A/C calls will be non-stop. I hope I get some time to grind some $3/6 at Nautica this week.
Monday, May 23, 2011
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.
(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.
Monday, April 25, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
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?
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?
Thursday, February 03, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, January 17, 2011
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?
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?
Sunday, January 02, 2011
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.
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.
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