Another Up And Down Weekend

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

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

Riding The Poker Rollercoaster

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

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

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

Playing at the Gemini Club

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

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

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

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

A Profitable Weekend (Long and Rambling, sorry)

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

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

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

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

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

A Break Even Weekend, Sort Of...

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

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

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

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

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

Back From Hiatus

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

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

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

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

More after this weekend's pokering.

Nautica: Bad For My Bankroll

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

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

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

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

Another 8 Game Victory

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

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

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

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

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

A Much Needed Poker Win

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

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

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

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

The Wheels Have Come Off

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

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

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

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

Cash Game Meltdowns

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

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

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

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

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

Vegas Trip Report (Possibly long and boring)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More Ups and Downs

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

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

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

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

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

Another Rollercoaster Week

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

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

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

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

Weekend of Tournament Hell

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

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

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

Another Late Weekend Comeback

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

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

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

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

A Disappointing Friday

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

Salvaging My Poker Weekend

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

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

Dave's Labor Day Weekend Cookout.

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

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

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

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

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

A Mountaineer Mauling

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

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

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

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