I think it almost a week since I last posted. Work has been a real bear lately. My PM did such a bad job estimating time for my project that I had to work an extra 20 hours this past week. On top of that, one of my poker buddies died this past weekend - car accident with a drunk driver. Great guy too. Loved playing poker with him and he's funny. Never met anyone who didn't like him.
So I was thinking about dedicating my WSOP run this year to him. Sort of in rememberence of him and to really bring to light that I'm lucky enough to pursue what I want in life. So I think I'll do that.
PS is now offering online satellites to the WSOP already. So I'll be on the lookout to qualify this year. I think my game has improved immensely since August in terms of knowledge and my game has gone deeper. I've also discovered another hole in my game. Game speed is something I never thought of. This is what I mean.
Let's say you flop trips or even a straight. Now, how do you think most people would play the hand? They'd slow-play the hand and hope someone aggressive will build the pot for them. Most of the time, that would be correct if you have someone who is aggressive. We understand that situation of "Slowplaying". But what does it mean to play "fast" then? It would be the opposite - betting aggressively when you don't have much of a hand. I think most players would play that way. I sure did. I'd try to represent when I didn't.
But how about if someone good picked up on this tendency? You'd make no money on your big hands and lose on your weaker hands. So I realized that it's a good strategy to switch to playing your good hands fast once in a while. Especially if you shown down a hand you played slow and took down a big pot. The opposite also tends to work very well for me. I think it's more difficult to pull off because you're playing a weak hand slow and so it's a very natural tendency to begin with. I think it requires another skill to assess your opponents' relative strength in a particular hand. You'll have to read them more intently.
For example, if I have a very poor hand out of position with an Ace on the flop and against two other players and they both check, I see another free card. If it turns another Ace, that's a good card for me. It's unlikely that either of them have an Ace. If either one bets at it, especially the late position player, I'm guessing he only has two pair and playing their position. Me calling is going to send a message to both players that I'm actually strong which will let me know where the middle player stands. If they call, I'll check the river and give up the pot. But in many instances the middle player will fold and I'll be heads up. Regardless of the river card, I'm going to make a substantial bet, like half the pot. At this point, the other player has to believe I've had the Ace the entire time and will have to fold unless he's a novice or a calling station. If that's the case, I wouldn't even bother setting up such an elaborate scheme because it's all wasted on someone who wouldn't understand what I'm doing. A good player, on the other hand, would have picked up on the fact that I slow-play my good hands. And that's exactly how I played this hand - slow; but for a different reason - I was actually weak.
As you can see this type of play is more difficult to set up than playing your monsters fast. Everything in the hand has to go the right way and allow you to tell a consistent story for your opponent to put the pieces together and fold the best hand.
Anyway, that's another dimension definitely worth considering when playing. Not just tight/loose and passive/aggressive.
Anyway, a quick recap of the last week regarding my online experiences.
I went on about a 6 game losing streak. I decided to play the $50 sng and lost all of them. I think I'll have to work my way up a little. My $30 record is pretty good. I think I'm over .500 so I just need to build.
So I've backed down to the $30 and have been winning again. Wierd but two distinct games involved very tight play. I mean everyone folded all the time. My usually tight game won't work because if everyone plays tight and the blinds get to $100/$200 with antes, there will be no more poker left to play. It will be an all-in fest. The only way around this is to steal blinds and build enough of a lead that once everyone goes into "all-in" mode, I should be able to stay ahead of everyone and default into the money. Which is exactly what happenned. I played more aggressive and they all folded their blinds.
However, the trend has been squeaking into the money. I've seen a lot of bonehead plays and all I can say is, "Thank you!" A bunch of thirds and seconds. I took a first and so I think I'm better at minimizing my losing streaks. Had those $50 sng been $30, I'd have an extra $100 in my account. And so my losing streaks aren't as long now. I'd sometimes go 10-14 losing game streaks.
Anyway, I might not into all the tournament details anymore. I'm not sure how beneficial they are to read. Let me know.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
charity tournament
I recently got invited to play in a tournament through a friend of a friend. He's well connected in my area with other poker circles. Anyway, the tournament was yesterday at 5PM. Here was the structure:
Rebuy tournament; $30 buy-in, unlimited re-buys during the first three rounds. After the third round, re-buy and add-on optional for $30 each. There were 36 players on 4 tables.
My strategy was to play loose and crazy the first three rounds and either build a huge chip stack by then or go broke and re-buy possibly 5-6 times. So I brought $250 in cash just in case.
So, the tournament is about to get underway and I'm seated in the ninth spot. I'm striking up some conversation with some players and getting a feel for how they play. Hard to do from just a conversation so I reserve some judgements until I see how they play.
So the tournament starts, the blinds are $25/$50 and my very first hand is KdJd. Everyone folds to me and I raise my standard 3X the BB. Everyone folds and the BB calls. Flop comes, A39. The BB checks and I bet $150, about half the pot and he calls. The turn comes - rag. He checks, I slow down and check. The river puts a 2 on the board. He comes out firing $400. I call and he shows me two pair 3s over 2s. I muck my cards. I'm officially on tilt. I didn't like him calling my raise with 32o. So now I'm gunning for this guy which isn't normally good. But it's a re-buy tournament, I can afford to go on tilt a little.
A couple of hands later, same guy raises to $200. I look down at my hole cards and see J8o. I decided one bad call deserves another. Another caller and we have a $600 pot. Flop comes J93. Initial raiser bets $500. I immediately go all-in with another $1000 and change. He was very surprised. But not as surprised as me when I heard the next guy go all in. So my nemesis folds and me and the other guy show down. He shows JT and I show J8. The turn reveals a 9 and the river - Ac. Split pot. My nemesis, having folded QQ, realized his error for not calling knowing he could have re-bought had I actually made a strong hand. After seeing I would go over the top with J with a poor kicker, put HIM on tilt. That hand put me back off-tilt and I started playing some sane poker again.
A couple hands later, I picked up A8. My nemesis again raised and he got 4 callers this time - me included. The flop came out, KTJ - rainbow flop. He goes all in. Someone called him and I sat there thinking, "Should I push it and try to catch a Q?" I felt hitting a Q would be too difficult. So after deliberating for about 30 seconds, I folded. Everyone else folded and he showed the nuts AQ making "Broadway" while the caller had AK. The river showed a Q and it was a chopped pot. I would have split it with them had I called. After the hand was over, he said he wanted me to call because he wanted my money. At that point, I knew he was still on tilt.
Round three: I pick up A8 and limp in with that. My nemesis also limped in. There were about 5 people in the hand. There was about $800 in the pot before anyone saw the flop. The flop came: A9A. My nemesis, first to act, goes all in with $2000. Folded around to me and I called with my trip Aces. I show him my ace and he's felted. He rebuys back in and I almost double up.
My nemesis eventually gets eliminates within the rebuy period and doesn't rebuy. He raised with AQ and someone with AK called. They both spike the A on the flop and he goes all in and gets called with a better kicker. No Q came to bail my friend out. He leaves in a huff of frustration. Bye Bye.
I think people tend to overplay one pair. That was the theme I noticed that night. One pair, especially top pair is nice with an A kicker. However, it turns out that the average strength for a winning hand in hold 'em is two pair. So one pair is technically below average. To go all in with one pair, even top pair is somewhat foolish, especially if you don't know your opponents very well.
Anyway, once I established a good chip stack, I realized I was in that grey area between, "Should I still play reckless and plan to re-buy?" or "Should I build on the stack that I have?" I decided to play the stack that I have. After all, it's worth about $60 (rebuy and the add-on - however, I added-on anyway).
With the stack I had, I started playing "small ball" poker - which is a lot of jabbing and out-maneuvering your opponents in small pots, rather than going for the knock out with huge all-in plays. It was the first time I actually employed this strategy. And it was working! I'd call a modest raise with some rags but decided to make a play later in the pot. Like once, I had 85o. The flop came out 83A. I had middle pair and wasn't sure how good they were. The pot was 3 handed and I was first to act. I checked, second guy checked and the late position person bet out about 2/3 the size of the pot. I called and the middle guy also called. Turn: 3. I checked, the second guy checked and the third guy also checked. Up until this point, my analysis lead me to believe that late position guy didn't have an Ace and was playing his position but was now scared that somone, like me, was slow playing either an A or a 3. Now the river came: Ace. Now I come out firing. I bet 3/4 the size of the pot. I knew that nobody had the ace and all the other check-callings in the earlier rounds that I have done now painted a very logical picture that I'm setting up a trap. Both players folded and I take down the pot. Maybe my eights would have held up. Who knows. But I think I played that well out of position.
What was slowly happening to me at the table I started out at was the small ball game was working. I was slowly taking control of the table. I make a small pot here and there. They're giving up the pots to me. I was loving it. One hand I had an open ended straight draw on the flop with two spades showing though. I had 8 outs but only 6 of them were clean. I needed a T or a 5 to make a straight. There was about 8K in the pot at the time. The Ts showed up on the turn and I made my straight. I didn't know where I stood with my straight. I led out the betting in early position with 5K and my two opponents folded.
However, my table image was about to change as my seating assignment got changed to a new table. I had to re-establish my table image all over again. That didn't last long though. I played about 8 hands and got moved again back to my original table.
Back in the same table, I took down a few more pots. I limped in with AJ as under the gun. The host was playing at my table and raised it up. Everyone folded and I called. I checked in the dark to get some position on him. I scored a J on the flop and made top pair. Now I've played a few pots with him and he has this tendency to bet strong on the flop when he has missed. So I was expecting a bet from him....which he did: 4K to go. I raised him all-in because 8K would have been about 2/3 my stack and there's no point in saving the last 1/3. He folded and my stack continues to grow.
Finally, we collapse to the final table. I was able to take down enough pots to stay alive until this point. However, I'm one of the short stacks. There was this huge chip stack, Julio, who seemed eager to play anyone close to elimination. I had to be careful. I carefully guage out who I can steal blinds from and who I can't. My chip stack was about $20000 in chips and the blinds were $1K/$2k with $50 antes. My can't afford to raise to $6k, get re-raised and then fold. My options at this point were all-in or fold. I pick up AJo and went all in on two blinds I were confident would fold if they had average valued blind hands. They fold and pick up the antes and blinds. I survive a few rounds. Next hand, 99. All-in again. No callers and another pot. One big pot was I was in the BB with 57o. The chip leader limps in with 4K (blinds were 2K/4K with $100 antes). Everyone folds and it's me vs Julio.
Flop comes: 246 - rainbow flop. I'm in a pickle here. I'm open ended here and I have no idea what hand Julio could have. If I bet, he will undoubtably raise and put pressure on me. I could check-raise him but then he's priced in and would call. I felt the best thing to do is to go all in. I figured I'm surely behind whatever he has right now but even if he made trip 6s, I can make a straight with 8 outs with two cards to come. If he has nothing, going all in might get him to fold and even if he calls, I can still draw to the nuts. So I go all in. He almost insta-called. He slow played AcQc. He was trying to trap me. But going all in, I was actually in pretty good shape. I was behind like my instincts told me but with 8 outs to the straight and 6 more by hitting any 5 or a 7. 14 outs with 2 more cards to come makes it about even money.
Turn: 6
River: 5.
I make two pair and double up to $45K. Now I'm in really good shape. I was the first one to double up through Julio. A couple players get knocked out and there's 6 of us...now in the money. So now I'm waiting for a few rounds and get knocked down to about $33K and now the blinds are at $4k/$8K. Now it's an all-in fest and everyone is short-stacked. Now with only 5 of us, I pick up AQo. The under-the-guy (UTG) seat goes all in. He's slightly less stacked as I am and I thought he was a pretty solid player and he could have gone all in with a variety of hands. I put him on a weaker Ace. So I called his all in. I had about 5K left and would have gone all in had I known but since I called, Julio decided to also go all-in to knock me out. I called and he showed AT. However, the UTG had pocket Aces. Wow. I hit a Q on the flop but couldn't wiggle out another one though. I was crippled. My remaining 5K doubled through Julio but $10K is absolutely nothing with the blinds at where they were.
Next hand, I'm all-in blind. Everyone folds except for the newly tripled up chip leader. It cost him another 2K to knock me out. He shows pocket aces AGAIN! Ugh. I haven't looked at my cards yet but flipping them up, I actually liked them very much. 6d8d. Suited connectors. About 30% of beating aces. The best chance any two cards can have against aces.
I flop a gut-shot straight. But no such luck in filling it. I'm out in 5th place. $270. Not bad.
Rebuy tournament; $30 buy-in, unlimited re-buys during the first three rounds. After the third round, re-buy and add-on optional for $30 each. There were 36 players on 4 tables.
My strategy was to play loose and crazy the first three rounds and either build a huge chip stack by then or go broke and re-buy possibly 5-6 times. So I brought $250 in cash just in case.
So, the tournament is about to get underway and I'm seated in the ninth spot. I'm striking up some conversation with some players and getting a feel for how they play. Hard to do from just a conversation so I reserve some judgements until I see how they play.
So the tournament starts, the blinds are $25/$50 and my very first hand is KdJd. Everyone folds to me and I raise my standard 3X the BB. Everyone folds and the BB calls. Flop comes, A39. The BB checks and I bet $150, about half the pot and he calls. The turn comes - rag. He checks, I slow down and check. The river puts a 2 on the board. He comes out firing $400. I call and he shows me two pair 3s over 2s. I muck my cards. I'm officially on tilt. I didn't like him calling my raise with 32o. So now I'm gunning for this guy which isn't normally good. But it's a re-buy tournament, I can afford to go on tilt a little.
A couple of hands later, same guy raises to $200. I look down at my hole cards and see J8o. I decided one bad call deserves another. Another caller and we have a $600 pot. Flop comes J93. Initial raiser bets $500. I immediately go all-in with another $1000 and change. He was very surprised. But not as surprised as me when I heard the next guy go all in. So my nemesis folds and me and the other guy show down. He shows JT and I show J8. The turn reveals a 9 and the river - Ac. Split pot. My nemesis, having folded QQ, realized his error for not calling knowing he could have re-bought had I actually made a strong hand. After seeing I would go over the top with J with a poor kicker, put HIM on tilt. That hand put me back off-tilt and I started playing some sane poker again.
A couple hands later, I picked up A8. My nemesis again raised and he got 4 callers this time - me included. The flop came out, KTJ - rainbow flop. He goes all in. Someone called him and I sat there thinking, "Should I push it and try to catch a Q?" I felt hitting a Q would be too difficult. So after deliberating for about 30 seconds, I folded. Everyone else folded and he showed the nuts AQ making "Broadway" while the caller had AK. The river showed a Q and it was a chopped pot. I would have split it with them had I called. After the hand was over, he said he wanted me to call because he wanted my money. At that point, I knew he was still on tilt.
Round three: I pick up A8 and limp in with that. My nemesis also limped in. There were about 5 people in the hand. There was about $800 in the pot before anyone saw the flop. The flop came: A9A. My nemesis, first to act, goes all in with $2000. Folded around to me and I called with my trip Aces. I show him my ace and he's felted. He rebuys back in and I almost double up.
My nemesis eventually gets eliminates within the rebuy period and doesn't rebuy. He raised with AQ and someone with AK called. They both spike the A on the flop and he goes all in and gets called with a better kicker. No Q came to bail my friend out. He leaves in a huff of frustration. Bye Bye.
I think people tend to overplay one pair. That was the theme I noticed that night. One pair, especially top pair is nice with an A kicker. However, it turns out that the average strength for a winning hand in hold 'em is two pair. So one pair is technically below average. To go all in with one pair, even top pair is somewhat foolish, especially if you don't know your opponents very well.
Anyway, once I established a good chip stack, I realized I was in that grey area between, "Should I still play reckless and plan to re-buy?" or "Should I build on the stack that I have?" I decided to play the stack that I have. After all, it's worth about $60 (rebuy and the add-on - however, I added-on anyway).
With the stack I had, I started playing "small ball" poker - which is a lot of jabbing and out-maneuvering your opponents in small pots, rather than going for the knock out with huge all-in plays. It was the first time I actually employed this strategy. And it was working! I'd call a modest raise with some rags but decided to make a play later in the pot. Like once, I had 85o. The flop came out 83A. I had middle pair and wasn't sure how good they were. The pot was 3 handed and I was first to act. I checked, second guy checked and the late position person bet out about 2/3 the size of the pot. I called and the middle guy also called. Turn: 3. I checked, the second guy checked and the third guy also checked. Up until this point, my analysis lead me to believe that late position guy didn't have an Ace and was playing his position but was now scared that somone, like me, was slow playing either an A or a 3. Now the river came: Ace. Now I come out firing. I bet 3/4 the size of the pot. I knew that nobody had the ace and all the other check-callings in the earlier rounds that I have done now painted a very logical picture that I'm setting up a trap. Both players folded and I take down the pot. Maybe my eights would have held up. Who knows. But I think I played that well out of position.
What was slowly happening to me at the table I started out at was the small ball game was working. I was slowly taking control of the table. I make a small pot here and there. They're giving up the pots to me. I was loving it. One hand I had an open ended straight draw on the flop with two spades showing though. I had 8 outs but only 6 of them were clean. I needed a T or a 5 to make a straight. There was about 8K in the pot at the time. The Ts showed up on the turn and I made my straight. I didn't know where I stood with my straight. I led out the betting in early position with 5K and my two opponents folded.
However, my table image was about to change as my seating assignment got changed to a new table. I had to re-establish my table image all over again. That didn't last long though. I played about 8 hands and got moved again back to my original table.
Back in the same table, I took down a few more pots. I limped in with AJ as under the gun. The host was playing at my table and raised it up. Everyone folded and I called. I checked in the dark to get some position on him. I scored a J on the flop and made top pair. Now I've played a few pots with him and he has this tendency to bet strong on the flop when he has missed. So I was expecting a bet from him....which he did: 4K to go. I raised him all-in because 8K would have been about 2/3 my stack and there's no point in saving the last 1/3. He folded and my stack continues to grow.
Finally, we collapse to the final table. I was able to take down enough pots to stay alive until this point. However, I'm one of the short stacks. There was this huge chip stack, Julio, who seemed eager to play anyone close to elimination. I had to be careful. I carefully guage out who I can steal blinds from and who I can't. My chip stack was about $20000 in chips and the blinds were $1K/$2k with $50 antes. My can't afford to raise to $6k, get re-raised and then fold. My options at this point were all-in or fold. I pick up AJo and went all in on two blinds I were confident would fold if they had average valued blind hands. They fold and pick up the antes and blinds. I survive a few rounds. Next hand, 99. All-in again. No callers and another pot. One big pot was I was in the BB with 57o. The chip leader limps in with 4K (blinds were 2K/4K with $100 antes). Everyone folds and it's me vs Julio.
Flop comes: 246 - rainbow flop. I'm in a pickle here. I'm open ended here and I have no idea what hand Julio could have. If I bet, he will undoubtably raise and put pressure on me. I could check-raise him but then he's priced in and would call. I felt the best thing to do is to go all in. I figured I'm surely behind whatever he has right now but even if he made trip 6s, I can make a straight with 8 outs with two cards to come. If he has nothing, going all in might get him to fold and even if he calls, I can still draw to the nuts. So I go all in. He almost insta-called. He slow played AcQc. He was trying to trap me. But going all in, I was actually in pretty good shape. I was behind like my instincts told me but with 8 outs to the straight and 6 more by hitting any 5 or a 7. 14 outs with 2 more cards to come makes it about even money.
Turn: 6
River: 5.
I make two pair and double up to $45K. Now I'm in really good shape. I was the first one to double up through Julio. A couple players get knocked out and there's 6 of us...now in the money. So now I'm waiting for a few rounds and get knocked down to about $33K and now the blinds are at $4k/$8K. Now it's an all-in fest and everyone is short-stacked. Now with only 5 of us, I pick up AQo. The under-the-guy (UTG) seat goes all in. He's slightly less stacked as I am and I thought he was a pretty solid player and he could have gone all in with a variety of hands. I put him on a weaker Ace. So I called his all in. I had about 5K left and would have gone all in had I known but since I called, Julio decided to also go all-in to knock me out. I called and he showed AT. However, the UTG had pocket Aces. Wow. I hit a Q on the flop but couldn't wiggle out another one though. I was crippled. My remaining 5K doubled through Julio but $10K is absolutely nothing with the blinds at where they were.
Next hand, I'm all-in blind. Everyone folds except for the newly tripled up chip leader. It cost him another 2K to knock me out. He shows pocket aces AGAIN! Ugh. I haven't looked at my cards yet but flipping them up, I actually liked them very much. 6d8d. Suited connectors. About 30% of beating aces. The best chance any two cards can have against aces.
I flop a gut-shot straight. But no such luck in filling it. I'm out in 5th place. $270. Not bad.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
..No points for second place
Tonight, after watching 'Poker After Dark', I decided to play my favorite $30 sng on stars. I also decided to multi-task and play a $25 turbo sng. The turbo went fast and I was going well until I picked up QQ. Here's how it played out...I ran into a cooler! This guy raised it up in position which I perceived as a weaker hand than my queens. In this particular case, he had the goods. Here's how it played out:
Seat 2: tl (2870 in chips)
Seat 3: shanu208 (3860 in chips)
Seat 6: bigtime4k (3385 in chips)
Seat 7: andre006 (2030 in chips)
Seat 8: cobnib (1355 in chips)
tl: posts small blind 100
shanu208: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Qh Qd]
bigtime4k: raises 300 to 500
andre006: folds
cobnib: folds
tl: raises 900 to 1400
shanu208: folds
bigtime4k: raises 1985 to 3385 and is all-in
tl: calls 1470 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [7h 8d 5s]
*** TURN *** [7h 8d 5s] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [7h 8d 5s 2d] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [Qh Qd] (a pair of Queens)
bigtime4k: shows [Kh Kd] (a pair of Kings)
bigtime4k collected 5940 from pot
Honestly, I'm not sure how I could get out of this pot. After my re-raise, half of my chips were in. I think I had committed myself to this pot now.
So that was it on the turbo for the night. I did much better in the non-turbo $30 sng. I took down second although I was a huge chip leader very early in the tournament. Even on the bubble, I had over half the chips in play but unfortunate hands, I took down second. No points for second place (...a line from Top Gun - a long time favorite movie of mine.)
However, here's a few key hands that led me to the early huge chip leader:
1. My AsJs vs. AT and KK:
Seat 1: AndUran (470 in chips)
Seat 2: tl (1490 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (1480 in chips)
Seat 4: Da Baron (1340 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: gamblor333 (1800 in chips)
Seat 6: biz71 (2560 in chips)
Seat 7: OSUGreg1983 (1470 in chips)
Seat 8: Morrocca (1410 in chips)
Seat 9: shoeshiner (1480 in chips)
shoeshiner: posts small blind 10
AndUran: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Js As]
tl: raises 40 to 60
hit16catch5: folds
Da Baron: folds
gamblor333: raises 60 to 120
biz71: calls 120
OSUGreg1983: folds
Morrocca: folds
shoeshiner: folds
AndUran: folds tl: calls 60
*** FLOP ***
[Tc 8s 2s]
tl: checks
gamblor333: bets 400
Da Baron is connected
Da Baron has returned
biz71: raises 2040 to 2440 and is all-in
tl: calls 1370 and is all-in
gamblor333: calls 1280 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Tc 8s 2s] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 8s 2s 5s] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
gamblor333: shows [Ks Kh] (a pair of Kings)
biz71: shows [Ts Ac] (a pair of Tens)
gamblor333 collected 620 from side pot
tl: shows [Js As] (a flush, Ace high)
tl collected 4500 from main pot
The flop was huge. I had a great draw but had to seriously consider my outs. Obviously I had 9 outs to fill my flush but I also figured hitting an Ace would also be a winner. The way they were betting seemed to indicate JJ, QQ or KK type of all in. Although the guy with KK only bet 400. So 3 more outs, I had a total of 12 with 2 cards to come. So roughly 45% to catch my card and win. With the pot so big, thanks to biz71, I had great pot odds. So after a long deliberation, I made the call. gamblor333 surprisingly also called with his KK after I called the all in. I'm not saying I'd definitely fold the KK but I'd consider someone having trips....especially a check caller for an all-in.
2. A few hands later, I'm the SB with Th3h. I flopped a flush showing the Ah and the Jh. I bet into the pot with my flush and then all hell broke loose. Some guy raises it to $450. Another guy calls and goes all-in in the process. I figured if one of them is on a nut flush draw, I was going to make them pay by re-raising all-in to isolate. That didn't happen though. The raiser also went all-in. They both show J7 - bottom two pair. Good thing they were blocking each other from out-drawing my flush. Here's there breakdown:
Seat 1: AndUran (440 in chips)
Seat 2: tl (4480 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (1280 in chips)
Seat 4: Da Baron (580 in chips)
Seat 5: gamblor333 (620 in chips)
Seat 6: biz71 (1750 in chips)
Seat 7: OSUGreg1983 (1470 in chips)
Seat 8: Morrocca (1410 in chips)
Seat 9: shoeshiner (1470 in chips)
tl: posts small blind
15hit16catch5: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [3h Th]
Da Baron: folds
gamblor333: calls
30biz71: calls 30
OSUGreg1983: folds
Morrocca: folds
shoeshiner: folds
AndUran: calls 30
tl: calls 15
hit16catch5: checks
*** FLOP ***
[Jh 7h Ah]
tl:bets 60
hit16catch5: folds
gamblor333: calls 60
biz71: raises 390 to 450
AndUran: calls 410 and is all-in
tl: raises 4000 to 4450 and is all-in
gamblor333: folds
biz71: calls 1270 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Jh 7h Ah] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 7h Ah 8c] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [3h Th] (a flush, Ace high)
biz71: shows [Js 7s] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
tl collected 2620 from side pot
AndUran: shows [7c Jd] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
tl collected 1440 from main pot
That hand catapulted me into a huge chip leader with blinds still at $15/$30.
Many hands later, we were about 5 handed and I pick up pocket Kings. This guy shoeshiner decides to raise it with K8o. I'm not sure why but when I'm faced with a raise with a monster hand like KK, I'm raising. I re-raise his $150 to $250. Everyone folds, and we're heads up. The flop comes out and we both hit the K. Bad card for him, great card for me. He checks, I check. A blank turns - shoeshiner probe bets with $400. Little did I realize he made two pair now. However, I still conceal my hand by just calling. The river shows the Ah which would complete a flush draw but I doubt that is the case here. I figure he's committed too much $$ and he's going all in. He does and I show him the bad news:
Seat 2: tl (6808 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (1410 in chips)
Seat 7: OSUGreg1983 (2222 in chips)
Seat 8: Morrocca (1885 in chips)
Seat 9: shoeshiner (1175 in chips)
shoeshiner: posts small blind 25
tl: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Kc Ks]
hit16catch5: folds
OSUGreg1983: folds
Morrocca: folds
shoeshiner: raises 100 to 150
tl: raises 100 to 250
shoeshiner: calls 100
*** FLOP ***
[Tc 3h Kh]
shoeshiner: checks
tl: checks
*** TURN *** [Tc 3h Kh] [8s]
shoeshiner: bets 400
tl: calls 400
*** RIVER *** [Tc 3h Kh 8s] [Ah]
shoeshiner: bets 525 and is all-in
tl: calls 525
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shoeshiner: shows [8h Kd] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
tl: shows [Kc Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
tl collected 2350 from pot
However, all these chips only got my a second place. Here's the final hand:
Seat 2: tl (4386 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (9114 in chips)
tl: posts the ante 25
hit16catch5: posts the ante 25
tl: posts small blind 100
hit16catch5: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [8d Kc]
tl: raises 400 to 600
hit16catch5: raises 800 to 1400
tl: calls 800
*** FLOP ***
[4d 8h 4h]
hit16catch5: bets 2400
tl: raises 561 to 2961 and is all-in
hit16catch5: calls 561
*** TURN *** [4d 8h 4h] [As]
*** RIVER *** [4d 8h 4h As] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hit16catch5: shows [Qh Qd] (two pair, Queens and Fours)
tl: shows [8d Kc] (two pair, Eights and Fours)
hit16catch5 collected 8772 from pot
So I had K8 heads up which is a pretty decent hand. Any K is pretty good heads up. Definitely worth raising. He re-raised to 1400. So I put him on a better hand. Probably an Ax suited or AK down to AT. The flop came out, 484. I hit my 8 and was fairly certain that if I was up against AK or AQ, I have the best hand right now. "hitcatch" bets 2400 into the 2800 pot. I felt that he missed with his high cards and was trying to push me off my 2 pair. I raise him back all in and he called with QQ. Too tough for me to make that kind of a read. I think it's equivalent to ask him to fold QQ to think I had 88 and flopped a boat.
Having a high pocket pair head's up is too good of a hand. The deck is practically crippled and I would have to hit a great flop like flopping a straight or flush.
Anyway, my winning streak continues for now.
It's late now. Gotta wake up early and workout.
Seat 2: tl (2870 in chips)
Seat 3: shanu208 (3860 in chips)
Seat 6: bigtime4k (3385 in chips)
Seat 7: andre006 (2030 in chips)
Seat 8: cobnib (1355 in chips)
tl: posts small blind 100
shanu208: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Qh Qd]
bigtime4k: raises 300 to 500
andre006: folds
cobnib: folds
tl: raises 900 to 1400
shanu208: folds
bigtime4k: raises 1985 to 3385 and is all-in
tl: calls 1470 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [7h 8d 5s]
*** TURN *** [7h 8d 5s] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [7h 8d 5s 2d] [3d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [Qh Qd] (a pair of Queens)
bigtime4k: shows [Kh Kd] (a pair of Kings)
bigtime4k collected 5940 from pot
Honestly, I'm not sure how I could get out of this pot. After my re-raise, half of my chips were in. I think I had committed myself to this pot now.
So that was it on the turbo for the night. I did much better in the non-turbo $30 sng. I took down second although I was a huge chip leader very early in the tournament. Even on the bubble, I had over half the chips in play but unfortunate hands, I took down second. No points for second place (...a line from Top Gun - a long time favorite movie of mine.)
However, here's a few key hands that led me to the early huge chip leader:
1. My AsJs vs. AT and KK:
Seat 1: AndUran (470 in chips)
Seat 2: tl (1490 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (1480 in chips)
Seat 4: Da Baron (1340 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: gamblor333 (1800 in chips)
Seat 6: biz71 (2560 in chips)
Seat 7: OSUGreg1983 (1470 in chips)
Seat 8: Morrocca (1410 in chips)
Seat 9: shoeshiner (1480 in chips)
shoeshiner: posts small blind 10
AndUran: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Js As]
tl: raises 40 to 60
hit16catch5: folds
Da Baron: folds
gamblor333: raises 60 to 120
biz71: calls 120
OSUGreg1983: folds
Morrocca: folds
shoeshiner: folds
AndUran: folds tl: calls 60
*** FLOP ***
[Tc 8s 2s]
tl: checks
gamblor333: bets 400
Da Baron is connected
Da Baron has returned
biz71: raises 2040 to 2440 and is all-in
tl: calls 1370 and is all-in
gamblor333: calls 1280 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Tc 8s 2s] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 8s 2s 5s] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
gamblor333: shows [Ks Kh] (a pair of Kings)
biz71: shows [Ts Ac] (a pair of Tens)
gamblor333 collected 620 from side pot
tl: shows [Js As] (a flush, Ace high)
tl collected 4500 from main pot
The flop was huge. I had a great draw but had to seriously consider my outs. Obviously I had 9 outs to fill my flush but I also figured hitting an Ace would also be a winner. The way they were betting seemed to indicate JJ, QQ or KK type of all in. Although the guy with KK only bet 400. So 3 more outs, I had a total of 12 with 2 cards to come. So roughly 45% to catch my card and win. With the pot so big, thanks to biz71, I had great pot odds. So after a long deliberation, I made the call. gamblor333 surprisingly also called with his KK after I called the all in. I'm not saying I'd definitely fold the KK but I'd consider someone having trips....especially a check caller for an all-in.
2. A few hands later, I'm the SB with Th3h. I flopped a flush showing the Ah and the Jh. I bet into the pot with my flush and then all hell broke loose. Some guy raises it to $450. Another guy calls and goes all-in in the process. I figured if one of them is on a nut flush draw, I was going to make them pay by re-raising all-in to isolate. That didn't happen though. The raiser also went all-in. They both show J7 - bottom two pair. Good thing they were blocking each other from out-drawing my flush. Here's there breakdown:
Seat 1: AndUran (440 in chips)
Seat 2: tl (4480 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (1280 in chips)
Seat 4: Da Baron (580 in chips)
Seat 5: gamblor333 (620 in chips)
Seat 6: biz71 (1750 in chips)
Seat 7: OSUGreg1983 (1470 in chips)
Seat 8: Morrocca (1410 in chips)
Seat 9: shoeshiner (1470 in chips)
tl: posts small blind
15hit16catch5: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [3h Th]
Da Baron: folds
gamblor333: calls
30biz71: calls 30
OSUGreg1983: folds
Morrocca: folds
shoeshiner: folds
AndUran: calls 30
tl: calls 15
hit16catch5: checks
*** FLOP ***
[Jh 7h Ah]
tl:bets 60
hit16catch5: folds
gamblor333: calls 60
biz71: raises 390 to 450
AndUran: calls 410 and is all-in
tl: raises 4000 to 4450 and is all-in
gamblor333: folds
biz71: calls 1270 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Jh 7h Ah] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [Jh 7h Ah 8c] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [3h Th] (a flush, Ace high)
biz71: shows [Js 7s] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
tl collected 2620 from side pot
AndUran: shows [7c Jd] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
tl collected 1440 from main pot
That hand catapulted me into a huge chip leader with blinds still at $15/$30.
Many hands later, we were about 5 handed and I pick up pocket Kings. This guy shoeshiner decides to raise it with K8o. I'm not sure why but when I'm faced with a raise with a monster hand like KK, I'm raising. I re-raise his $150 to $250. Everyone folds, and we're heads up. The flop comes out and we both hit the K. Bad card for him, great card for me. He checks, I check. A blank turns - shoeshiner probe bets with $400. Little did I realize he made two pair now. However, I still conceal my hand by just calling. The river shows the Ah which would complete a flush draw but I doubt that is the case here. I figure he's committed too much $$ and he's going all in. He does and I show him the bad news:
Seat 2: tl (6808 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (1410 in chips)
Seat 7: OSUGreg1983 (2222 in chips)
Seat 8: Morrocca (1885 in chips)
Seat 9: shoeshiner (1175 in chips)
shoeshiner: posts small blind 25
tl: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Kc Ks]
hit16catch5: folds
OSUGreg1983: folds
Morrocca: folds
shoeshiner: raises 100 to 150
tl: raises 100 to 250
shoeshiner: calls 100
*** FLOP ***
[Tc 3h Kh]
shoeshiner: checks
tl: checks
*** TURN *** [Tc 3h Kh] [8s]
shoeshiner: bets 400
tl: calls 400
*** RIVER *** [Tc 3h Kh 8s] [Ah]
shoeshiner: bets 525 and is all-in
tl: calls 525
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shoeshiner: shows [8h Kd] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
tl: shows [Kc Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
tl collected 2350 from pot
However, all these chips only got my a second place. Here's the final hand:
Seat 2: tl (4386 in chips)
Seat 3: hit16catch5 (9114 in chips)
tl: posts the ante 25
hit16catch5: posts the ante 25
tl: posts small blind 100
hit16catch5: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [8d Kc]
tl: raises 400 to 600
hit16catch5: raises 800 to 1400
tl: calls 800
*** FLOP ***
[4d 8h 4h]
hit16catch5: bets 2400
tl: raises 561 to 2961 and is all-in
hit16catch5: calls 561
*** TURN *** [4d 8h 4h] [As]
*** RIVER *** [4d 8h 4h As] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
hit16catch5: shows [Qh Qd] (two pair, Queens and Fours)
tl: shows [8d Kc] (two pair, Eights and Fours)
hit16catch5 collected 8772 from pot
So I had K8 heads up which is a pretty decent hand. Any K is pretty good heads up. Definitely worth raising. He re-raised to 1400. So I put him on a better hand. Probably an Ax suited or AK down to AT. The flop came out, 484. I hit my 8 and was fairly certain that if I was up against AK or AQ, I have the best hand right now. "hitcatch" bets 2400 into the 2800 pot. I felt that he missed with his high cards and was trying to push me off my 2 pair. I raise him back all in and he called with QQ. Too tough for me to make that kind of a read. I think it's equivalent to ask him to fold QQ to think I had 88 and flopped a boat.
Having a high pocket pair head's up is too good of a hand. The deck is practically crippled and I would have to hit a great flop like flopping a straight or flush.
Anyway, my winning streak continues for now.
It's late now. Gotta wake up early and workout.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
snowed in
Well, we've had some pretty nasty weather here on the east coast. The government announced a 2 hour late opening. On top of that, I work from home on Wednesdays. So I usually turn off my alarm the night before and sleep in a bit, workout and fire up my vpn. But since I don't have to really get started until 11 this morning, I decided to play some stars.
This first $30 sng I won. Here are the highlights of the win. By the way, right now I'm on an "up" trend. I definitely have my winning and losing streaks.
1. I'm under the gun with AsKs. Blinds are $10/$20. I do my standard raise to $60. Got two callers. Flop comes with T33. I check in early position, the next guy checks and the last position bets $80 into the $180 pot. I figure he's playing his position and I'm fairly confident he missed the flop as well. I call as well as the middle guy. I spike an A on the turn. I come out firing. $250 is the bet. The middle guy calls and the late position person folds, as I thought he probably would. I probably put him on a KQ or KJ kind of a hand. River: 7h. A nothing card for the most part. I come out with another bet: $350. He calls and I win the pot. I figure he had a weaker A.
Here's the breakdown:
Seat 1: nino4141 (1660 in chips)
Seat 2: Supa4real (1470 in chips)
Seat 3: alkaatch (1170 in chips)
Seat 4: My B&B (1450 in chips)
Seat 5: elkim (1850 in chips)
Seat 6: benpaulb (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: MelbourneJoe (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: lapensee182 (1400 in chips)
elkim: posts small blind 10
benpaulb: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [As Ks]
tl: raises 40 to 60
MelbourneJoe: folds
lapensee182: calls 60
nino4141: folds
Supa4real: folds
alkaatch: folds
My B&B: calls 60
elkim: folds
benpaulb: folds
*** FLOP *** [Tc 3d 3s]
tl: checks
lapensee182: checks
My B&B: bets 80
tl: calls 80
lapensee182: calls 80
*** TURN *** [Tc 3d 3s] [Ah]
tl: bets 250
lapensee182: calls 250
My B&B: folds
*** RIVER *** [Tc 3d 3s Ah] [7h]
tl: bets 350
lapensee182: calls 350
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [As Ks] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
lapensee182: mucks hand tl collected 1650 from pot
2. My pocket 9s vs. AcKc: The SB had the AK in this situation. I limped in with 9s. I don't particularly think 9s are strong enough to raise with in early position with the blinds at $25/$50. But the AK did raise it up to $250 total to go when it got to him. I called. I usually call non-raising pairs up to 5X the BB (a la Phil Gordon's Green book - great read...I recommend it highly). Flop comes out: Q8Q - rainbow flop. The small blind comes out betting $450. So at this point, a bunch of things go through my head. I find it highly unlikely he'd bet that much if he made trips. So that ruled out hands like AQ and KQ. I doubt he had Aces or Kings. So the only hands that could make sense would be JJ or TT. Those would be the two hands that currently would beat me. Any other hand is an attempt to take down the pot...which is what I thought he was doing. So I re-raised him another $450...which put him all in. I think he was committed at that point and he called. He didn't hit on the turn or river and I took down a very nice sized pot. Here's the breakdown:
Seat 1: nino4141 (2225 in chips)
Seat 3: alkaatch (1630 in chips)
Seat 4: My B&B (1185 in chips)
Seat 5: elkim (2770 in chips)
Seat 6: benpaulb (1150 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (1985 in chips)
Seat 8: MelbourneJoe (1350 in chips)
Seat 9: lapensee182 (1205 in chips)
benpaulb: posts small blind 25
tl: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to tl [9h 9d]
MelbourneJoe: folds
lapensee182: calls 50
nino4141: folds alkaatch: calls 50
My B&B: folds
elkim: folds
benpaulb: raises 200 to 250
tl: calls 200
lapensee182: calls 200
alkaatch: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qh 8c Qd]
benpaulb: bets 450
tl: raises 450 to 900
lapensee182: folds
benpaulb: calls 450 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Qh 8c Qd] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 8c Qd Jd] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
benpaulb: shows [Ac Kc] (a pair of Queens)
tl: shows [9h 9d] (two pair, Queens and Nines) tl collected 2600 from pot
3. This hand isn't so pivotal but worth putting in because I don't want to show only hands I win but also hands I lose; big and small. I was chip leader but not by a lot and was on the button with Kd9d. Everyone folds and I decide to limp in. Flop: 2hAc6c. It gets checked around and I bet the size of the pot. The SB folds and the BB calls. Turn: Ad. I check, he checks. River: Ah. I check, he bets $100. At this point my only options are to fold or raise the right amount to represent a boat or the quads. After thinking about this hand, it's possible he was on a flush draw. Won't be real sure what he had. My gut says he had an Ace.
Here's the hand hx:
Seat 1: nino4141 (3205 in chips)
Seat 3: alkaatch (1730 in chips)
Seat 4: My B&B (1235 in chips)
Seat 5: elkim (2670 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (3435 in chips)
Seat 8: MelbourneJoe (1225 in chips)
MelbourneJoe: posts small blind 50
nino4141: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to tl [Kd 9d]
alkaatch: folds
My B&B: folds
elkim: calls 100
tl: calls 100
MelbourneJoe: calls 50
nino4141: checks
*** FLOP *** [2h Ac 6c]
MelbourneJoe: checks
nino4141: checks
elkim: checks
tl: bets 300
MelbourneJoe: folds
nino4141: calls 300
elkim: folds
*** TURN *** [2h Ac 6c] [Ad]
nino4141: checks
tl: checks
*** RIVER *** [2h Ac 6c Ad] [Ah]
nino4141: bets 100
tl: folds nino4141 collected 1000 from pot
The rest of the tournament was pretty academic because the blinds were getting real high $200/$400 and I had over half the chips in play. We were 4 handed for quite a while and the other three were trying to knock each other out while I held onto my chips. There were two situations where I knocked out people where I had them dominated like AK vs A7. However, they would flop their kicker and then I'd turn or river my kicker. I was beginning to think I wasn't destined to win having them suck out on me but in the end they held up. I personally don't like the roller-coaster finish but a win's a win.
My second sng for the day was around 8PM. The weather got pretty bad and I cancelled my training session with my client. So I fired up stars again and got into another $30 sng.
Overall, I did well and played my usual game. I was close to on my way to another first place finish but only took down 3rd. However, earlier in the game, I made a great play which really illustrates the power of position. Take a look:
Seat 1: TrueOrange (2840 in chips)
Seat 2: adawg87 (965 in chips)
Seat 3: Morrocca (1440 in chips)
Seat 4: buddha33 (1685 in chips)
Seat 5: slaps825 (2015 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (1610 in chips)
Seat 8: JDH8668 (1775 in chips)
Seat 9: yotekiller (1170 in chips)
buddha33: posts small blind
25slaps825: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [6d 6h]
tl: calls 50
JDH8668: folds
yotekiller: folds
TrueOrange: folds
adawg87: folds
Morrocca: folds
buddha33: raises 150 to 200
slaps825: folds
tl: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2c Tc 8c]
buddha33: bets 250
tl: calls 250
*** TURN *** [2c Tc 8c] [Kh]
buddha33: checks
tl: checks *** RIVER ***
[2c Tc 8c Kh] [8d]
buddha33: bets 150
tl: raises 350 to 500
buddha33: folds
tl collected 1250 from pot
tl: doesn't show hand
Now, buddha raises 4X the BB as the SB. I initially limped with pocket 6s. The raise in early position indicates a pretty strong hand. And I haven't seen this guy play enough to get a read on him. So I assume he's got a above average hand. However, when 3 clubs show up on the flop, I'm guessing he didn't like that flop. I think he wanted to take down the pot right then and there which probably means he doesn't have a club in his hand. Maybe AK, AQ, AJ, AT or even JJ, QQ. In any case, I call. Kh comes out. He checks, I check. Since I checked the turn and had called such a big bet on the flop, I either made the flush or I'm waiting for another club on the river. So the 8d comes on the river. My supposed club didn't come. I really wasn't worried since I was pretty sure he didn't have a club. He fired $150 into that pot, which wasn't too much. He's hoping I missed. Now I realize the only way to win is to represent either a made flush or the Kh helped me. So I have to put in a reasonable amount to represent that so he can't call. So I raise it up another $350 which represents about 1/4 of the pot. So it's totally believable that I'm value betting my made flush. So he folded.
While that helped my stack, I still came in third. As usual, it's pretty straightforward on my losses. Coinflips - as usual, I'm the favorite going in:
Seat 1: TrueOrange (3400 in chips)
Seat 5: slaps825 (8470 in chips)
Seat 7: TL Inc. (1630 in chips)
TrueOrange: posts the ante 25
slaps825: posts the ante 25
TL Inc.: posts the ante 25
TrueOrange: posts small blind 100
slaps825: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TL Inc. [6d 6c]
TL Inc.: raises 400 to 600
TrueOrange: folds
slaps825: raises 1200 to 1800
TL Inc.: calls 1005 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [2d Qs 8d]
*** TURN *** [2d Qs 8d] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [2d Qs 8d 3h] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
slaps825: shows [Ah Js] (a pair of Jacks)
TL Inc.: shows [6d 6c] (a pair of Sixes)
slaps825 collected 3385 from pot
Oh well...time for 'Lost'
This first $30 sng I won. Here are the highlights of the win. By the way, right now I'm on an "up" trend. I definitely have my winning and losing streaks.
1. I'm under the gun with AsKs. Blinds are $10/$20. I do my standard raise to $60. Got two callers. Flop comes with T33. I check in early position, the next guy checks and the last position bets $80 into the $180 pot. I figure he's playing his position and I'm fairly confident he missed the flop as well. I call as well as the middle guy. I spike an A on the turn. I come out firing. $250 is the bet. The middle guy calls and the late position person folds, as I thought he probably would. I probably put him on a KQ or KJ kind of a hand. River: 7h. A nothing card for the most part. I come out with another bet: $350. He calls and I win the pot. I figure he had a weaker A.
Here's the breakdown:
Seat 1: nino4141 (1660 in chips)
Seat 2: Supa4real (1470 in chips)
Seat 3: alkaatch (1170 in chips)
Seat 4: My B&B (1450 in chips)
Seat 5: elkim (1850 in chips)
Seat 6: benpaulb (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: MelbourneJoe (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: lapensee182 (1400 in chips)
elkim: posts small blind 10
benpaulb: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [As Ks]
tl: raises 40 to 60
MelbourneJoe: folds
lapensee182: calls 60
nino4141: folds
Supa4real: folds
alkaatch: folds
My B&B: calls 60
elkim: folds
benpaulb: folds
*** FLOP *** [Tc 3d 3s]
tl: checks
lapensee182: checks
My B&B: bets 80
tl: calls 80
lapensee182: calls 80
*** TURN *** [Tc 3d 3s] [Ah]
tl: bets 250
lapensee182: calls 250
My B&B: folds
*** RIVER *** [Tc 3d 3s Ah] [7h]
tl: bets 350
lapensee182: calls 350
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [As Ks] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
lapensee182: mucks hand tl collected 1650 from pot
2. My pocket 9s vs. AcKc: The SB had the AK in this situation. I limped in with 9s. I don't particularly think 9s are strong enough to raise with in early position with the blinds at $25/$50. But the AK did raise it up to $250 total to go when it got to him. I called. I usually call non-raising pairs up to 5X the BB (a la Phil Gordon's Green book - great read...I recommend it highly). Flop comes out: Q8Q - rainbow flop. The small blind comes out betting $450. So at this point, a bunch of things go through my head. I find it highly unlikely he'd bet that much if he made trips. So that ruled out hands like AQ and KQ. I doubt he had Aces or Kings. So the only hands that could make sense would be JJ or TT. Those would be the two hands that currently would beat me. Any other hand is an attempt to take down the pot...which is what I thought he was doing. So I re-raised him another $450...which put him all in. I think he was committed at that point and he called. He didn't hit on the turn or river and I took down a very nice sized pot. Here's the breakdown:
Seat 1: nino4141 (2225 in chips)
Seat 3: alkaatch (1630 in chips)
Seat 4: My B&B (1185 in chips)
Seat 5: elkim (2770 in chips)
Seat 6: benpaulb (1150 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (1985 in chips)
Seat 8: MelbourneJoe (1350 in chips)
Seat 9: lapensee182 (1205 in chips)
benpaulb: posts small blind 25
tl: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to tl [9h 9d]
MelbourneJoe: folds
lapensee182: calls 50
nino4141: folds alkaatch: calls 50
My B&B: folds
elkim: folds
benpaulb: raises 200 to 250
tl: calls 200
lapensee182: calls 200
alkaatch: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qh 8c Qd]
benpaulb: bets 450
tl: raises 450 to 900
lapensee182: folds
benpaulb: calls 450 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Qh 8c Qd] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 8c Qd Jd] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
benpaulb: shows [Ac Kc] (a pair of Queens)
tl: shows [9h 9d] (two pair, Queens and Nines) tl collected 2600 from pot
3. This hand isn't so pivotal but worth putting in because I don't want to show only hands I win but also hands I lose; big and small. I was chip leader but not by a lot and was on the button with Kd9d. Everyone folds and I decide to limp in. Flop: 2hAc6c. It gets checked around and I bet the size of the pot. The SB folds and the BB calls. Turn: Ad. I check, he checks. River: Ah. I check, he bets $100. At this point my only options are to fold or raise the right amount to represent a boat or the quads. After thinking about this hand, it's possible he was on a flush draw. Won't be real sure what he had. My gut says he had an Ace.
Here's the hand hx:
Seat 1: nino4141 (3205 in chips)
Seat 3: alkaatch (1730 in chips)
Seat 4: My B&B (1235 in chips)
Seat 5: elkim (2670 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (3435 in chips)
Seat 8: MelbourneJoe (1225 in chips)
MelbourneJoe: posts small blind 50
nino4141: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to tl [Kd 9d]
alkaatch: folds
My B&B: folds
elkim: calls 100
tl: calls 100
MelbourneJoe: calls 50
nino4141: checks
*** FLOP *** [2h Ac 6c]
MelbourneJoe: checks
nino4141: checks
elkim: checks
tl: bets 300
MelbourneJoe: folds
nino4141: calls 300
elkim: folds
*** TURN *** [2h Ac 6c] [Ad]
nino4141: checks
tl: checks
*** RIVER *** [2h Ac 6c Ad] [Ah]
nino4141: bets 100
tl: folds nino4141 collected 1000 from pot
The rest of the tournament was pretty academic because the blinds were getting real high $200/$400 and I had over half the chips in play. We were 4 handed for quite a while and the other three were trying to knock each other out while I held onto my chips. There were two situations where I knocked out people where I had them dominated like AK vs A7. However, they would flop their kicker and then I'd turn or river my kicker. I was beginning to think I wasn't destined to win having them suck out on me but in the end they held up. I personally don't like the roller-coaster finish but a win's a win.
My second sng for the day was around 8PM. The weather got pretty bad and I cancelled my training session with my client. So I fired up stars again and got into another $30 sng.
Overall, I did well and played my usual game. I was close to on my way to another first place finish but only took down 3rd. However, earlier in the game, I made a great play which really illustrates the power of position. Take a look:
Seat 1: TrueOrange (2840 in chips)
Seat 2: adawg87 (965 in chips)
Seat 3: Morrocca (1440 in chips)
Seat 4: buddha33 (1685 in chips)
Seat 5: slaps825 (2015 in chips)
Seat 7: tl (1610 in chips)
Seat 8: JDH8668 (1775 in chips)
Seat 9: yotekiller (1170 in chips)
buddha33: posts small blind
25slaps825: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [6d 6h]
tl: calls 50
JDH8668: folds
yotekiller: folds
TrueOrange: folds
adawg87: folds
Morrocca: folds
buddha33: raises 150 to 200
slaps825: folds
tl: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2c Tc 8c]
buddha33: bets 250
tl: calls 250
*** TURN *** [2c Tc 8c] [Kh]
buddha33: checks
tl: checks *** RIVER ***
[2c Tc 8c Kh] [8d]
buddha33: bets 150
tl: raises 350 to 500
buddha33: folds
tl collected 1250 from pot
tl: doesn't show hand
Now, buddha raises 4X the BB as the SB. I initially limped with pocket 6s. The raise in early position indicates a pretty strong hand. And I haven't seen this guy play enough to get a read on him. So I assume he's got a above average hand. However, when 3 clubs show up on the flop, I'm guessing he didn't like that flop. I think he wanted to take down the pot right then and there which probably means he doesn't have a club in his hand. Maybe AK, AQ, AJ, AT or even JJ, QQ. In any case, I call. Kh comes out. He checks, I check. Since I checked the turn and had called such a big bet on the flop, I either made the flush or I'm waiting for another club on the river. So the 8d comes on the river. My supposed club didn't come. I really wasn't worried since I was pretty sure he didn't have a club. He fired $150 into that pot, which wasn't too much. He's hoping I missed. Now I realize the only way to win is to represent either a made flush or the Kh helped me. So I have to put in a reasonable amount to represent that so he can't call. So I raise it up another $350 which represents about 1/4 of the pot. So it's totally believable that I'm value betting my made flush. So he folded.
While that helped my stack, I still came in third. As usual, it's pretty straightforward on my losses. Coinflips - as usual, I'm the favorite going in:
Seat 1: TrueOrange (3400 in chips)
Seat 5: slaps825 (8470 in chips)
Seat 7: TL Inc. (1630 in chips)
TrueOrange: posts the ante 25
slaps825: posts the ante 25
TL Inc.: posts the ante 25
TrueOrange: posts small blind 100
slaps825: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TL Inc. [6d 6c]
TL Inc.: raises 400 to 600
TrueOrange: folds
slaps825: raises 1200 to 1800
TL Inc.: calls 1005 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [2d Qs 8d]
*** TURN *** [2d Qs 8d] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [2d Qs 8d 3h] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
slaps825: shows [Ah Js] (a pair of Jacks)
TL Inc.: shows [6d 6c] (a pair of Sixes)
slaps825 collected 3385 from pot
Oh well...time for 'Lost'
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
online play
Well, I played my first tournament for the day. I got outta work early since the government closed early today due to inclement weather. I play at Pokerstars almost exclusively. I have accounts at Full Tilt and Party Poker but the tournament action is so active at Stars that I rarely play elsewhere.
Well, the first tournament, I took first place. A couple of key hands helped me.
1. My 2d2c vs Qc9c: I flopped a set with 9s 2s 8c. Obviously I really liked my hand. Didn't realize my opponent had top pair with a backdoor flush and straight draws. The turn brought a Tc. A great card for both of us. It created more outs for my opponent and I was value betting the entire time but eventually got all in after the river. Here's the break-down:
Seat 1: cjm321 (1610 in chips)
Seat 2: chip danser (2810 in chips)
Seat 3: stendas (1470 in chips)
Seat 4: davey0725 (1530 in chips)
Seat 5: tl (1190 in chips)
Seat 6: jim1111111 (1890 in chips)
Seat 8: Spookster999 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: Slaughter84 (1500 in chips)
jim1111111: posts small blind 10
Spookster999: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [2d 2c]
Slaughter84: calls 20
cjm321: folds
chip danser said, "t"
chip danser: folds
stendas: raises 60 to 80
davey0725: folds
tl: calls 80
jim1111111: calls 70
Spookster999: folds
Slaughter84: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [9s 2s 8c]
jim1111111: checks
Slaughter84: bets 200
stendas: folds
tl: raises 400 to 600
jim1111111: folds
Slaughter84: calls 400
*** TURN *** [9s 2s 8c] [Tc]
Slaughter84: bets 120
tl: calls 120
*** RIVER *** [9s 2s 8c Tc] [5d]
Slaughter84: bets 200
tl: raises 190 to 390 and is all-in
Slaughter84: calls 190
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [2d 2c] (three of a kind, Deuces)
Slaughter84: shows [Qc 9c] (a pair of Nines)
tl collected 2560 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2560 | Rake 0
Board [9s 2s 8c Tc 5d]
Seat 1: cjm321 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: chip danser folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: stendas folded on the Flop
Seat 4: davey0725 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: tl (button) showed [2d 2c] and won (2560) with three of a kind, Deuces
Seat 6: jim1111111 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Spookster999 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Slaughter84 showed [Qc 9c] and lost with a pair of Nines
2. My next semi-big pot was when I lost a pot with pocket Aces. I always feel I am the only one who could lose in the most creative ways with Aces. There was a severe short stack in the BB and ended up calling my raise with Js5s. He flopped a flush draw and I hit my Ace on the turn but it was the As. Of course! Here's that break down:
Seat 1: Player1 (2185 in chips)
Seat 2: Player2 (1755 in chips)
Seat 3: Player3 (370 in chips)
Seat 4: Player4 (1455 in chips)
Seat 5: tl (2210 in chips)
Seat 6: Player6 (4100 in chips)
Seat 8: Player8 (1425 in chips)
Player2: posts small blind 15
Player3: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Ac Ad]
Player4: folds
tl: raises 60 to 90
Player6: folds
Player8: folds
Player1: folds
Player2: folds
Player3: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Ks 2s 4h]
Player3: checks
tl: bets 120
Player3: calls 120
*** TURN *** [Ks 2s 4h] [As]
Player3: checks
tl: bets 160
Player3: calls 160 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Ks 2s 4h As] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Player3: shows [5s Js] (a flush, Ace high)
tl: shows [Ac Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
Player3 collected 755 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 755 | Rake 0
Board [Ks 2s 4h As 7c]
Seat 1: Player1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Player2 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Player3 (big blind) showed [5s Js] and won (755) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: Player4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: tl showed [Ac Ad] and lost with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: Player6 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Player8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
3. Here's a very pivotal hand for me in the tournament. It involved a great setup of a huge bluff. First, let me set the stage. Jim1111111 has been playing loose and aggressive the entire tournament. That information helped me out in this particular hand. He and I were the blinds, I was the SB and he was BB. Everyone folds. I pause and limp. I have 6d 4s. The flop: 2d Ac 6h. I flopped middle pair. I felt it was the best hand at the time. I bet out 75 and Jim1111111 raises to 150. That bet is totally meant to steal. I know he doesn't have an Ace since he would have raised with any Ace pre-flop to avoid seeing a flop as a short stack. So I call pretty much immediately knowing my 6s were good. The turn brings on the Qh. I check and he had about 1565 and bet 900 of it. Now, I still didn't quite believe him so I check-raise him back another 900 which put him all in. Now he's put into a bad situation. I called his raise after the flop and check-raise him on the river. He had to believe I hit the Ace and laid down his hand. Afterwards, I show him the bluff. I felt too smug. I probably shouldn't have done that. Here's the history (hx).
Seat 1: cjm321 (2950 in chips)
Seat 3: stendas (2545 in chips)
Seat 4: davey0725 (2400 in chips)
Seat 5: tl (3590 in chips)
Seat 6: jim1111111 (2015 in chips)
tl: posts small blind 75
jim1111111: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [6d 4s]
cjm321: folds
stendas: folds
davey0725: folds
tl: calls 75
jim1111111: checks
*** FLOP *** [2d Ac 6h]
tl: bets 150
jim1111111: raises 150 to 300
tl: calls 150
*** TURN *** [2d Ac 6h] [Qh]
tl: checks
jim1111111: bets 900
tl: raises 900 to 1800
jim1111111 said, "man"
tl said, "call"
jim1111111 said, "q q"
jim1111111: folds
tl collected 2700 from pot
tl: shows [6d 4s] (a pair of Sixes)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2700 | Rake 0
Board [2d Ac 6h Qh]
Seat 1: cjm321 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: stendas folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: davey0725 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: tl (small blind) collected (2700)
Seat 6: jim1111111 (big blind) folded on the Turn
I ended up winning that sit-n-go. A nice $135 into my account.
Well, the first tournament, I took first place. A couple of key hands helped me.
1. My 2d2c vs Qc9c: I flopped a set with 9s 2s 8c. Obviously I really liked my hand. Didn't realize my opponent had top pair with a backdoor flush and straight draws. The turn brought a Tc. A great card for both of us. It created more outs for my opponent and I was value betting the entire time but eventually got all in after the river. Here's the break-down:
Seat 1: cjm321 (1610 in chips)
Seat 2: chip danser (2810 in chips)
Seat 3: stendas (1470 in chips)
Seat 4: davey0725 (1530 in chips)
Seat 5: tl (1190 in chips)
Seat 6: jim1111111 (1890 in chips)
Seat 8: Spookster999 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: Slaughter84 (1500 in chips)
jim1111111: posts small blind 10
Spookster999: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [2d 2c]
Slaughter84: calls 20
cjm321: folds
chip danser said, "t"
chip danser: folds
stendas: raises 60 to 80
davey0725: folds
tl: calls 80
jim1111111: calls 70
Spookster999: folds
Slaughter84: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [9s 2s 8c]
jim1111111: checks
Slaughter84: bets 200
stendas: folds
tl: raises 400 to 600
jim1111111: folds
Slaughter84: calls 400
*** TURN *** [9s 2s 8c] [Tc]
Slaughter84: bets 120
tl: calls 120
*** RIVER *** [9s 2s 8c Tc] [5d]
Slaughter84: bets 200
tl: raises 190 to 390 and is all-in
Slaughter84: calls 190
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tl: shows [2d 2c] (three of a kind, Deuces)
Slaughter84: shows [Qc 9c] (a pair of Nines)
tl collected 2560 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2560 | Rake 0
Board [9s 2s 8c Tc 5d]
Seat 1: cjm321 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: chip danser folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: stendas folded on the Flop
Seat 4: davey0725 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: tl (button) showed [2d 2c] and won (2560) with three of a kind, Deuces
Seat 6: jim1111111 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Spookster999 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Slaughter84 showed [Qc 9c] and lost with a pair of Nines
2. My next semi-big pot was when I lost a pot with pocket Aces. I always feel I am the only one who could lose in the most creative ways with Aces. There was a severe short stack in the BB and ended up calling my raise with Js5s. He flopped a flush draw and I hit my Ace on the turn but it was the As. Of course! Here's that break down:
Seat 1: Player1 (2185 in chips)
Seat 2: Player2 (1755 in chips)
Seat 3: Player3 (370 in chips)
Seat 4: Player4 (1455 in chips)
Seat 5: tl (2210 in chips)
Seat 6: Player6 (4100 in chips)
Seat 8: Player8 (1425 in chips)
Player2: posts small blind 15
Player3: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [Ac Ad]
Player4: folds
tl: raises 60 to 90
Player6: folds
Player8: folds
Player1: folds
Player2: folds
Player3: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Ks 2s 4h]
Player3: checks
tl: bets 120
Player3: calls 120
*** TURN *** [Ks 2s 4h] [As]
Player3: checks
tl: bets 160
Player3: calls 160 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Ks 2s 4h As] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Player3: shows [5s Js] (a flush, Ace high)
tl: shows [Ac Ad] (three of a kind, Aces)
Player3 collected 755 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 755 | Rake 0
Board [Ks 2s 4h As 7c]
Seat 1: Player1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Player2 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Player3 (big blind) showed [5s Js] and won (755) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 4: Player4 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: tl showed [Ac Ad] and lost with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: Player6 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Player8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
3. Here's a very pivotal hand for me in the tournament. It involved a great setup of a huge bluff. First, let me set the stage. Jim1111111 has been playing loose and aggressive the entire tournament. That information helped me out in this particular hand. He and I were the blinds, I was the SB and he was BB. Everyone folds. I pause and limp. I have 6d 4s. The flop: 2d Ac 6h. I flopped middle pair. I felt it was the best hand at the time. I bet out 75 and Jim1111111 raises to 150. That bet is totally meant to steal. I know he doesn't have an Ace since he would have raised with any Ace pre-flop to avoid seeing a flop as a short stack. So I call pretty much immediately knowing my 6s were good. The turn brings on the Qh. I check and he had about 1565 and bet 900 of it. Now, I still didn't quite believe him so I check-raise him back another 900 which put him all in. Now he's put into a bad situation. I called his raise after the flop and check-raise him on the river. He had to believe I hit the Ace and laid down his hand. Afterwards, I show him the bluff. I felt too smug. I probably shouldn't have done that. Here's the history (hx).
Seat 1: cjm321 (2950 in chips)
Seat 3: stendas (2545 in chips)
Seat 4: davey0725 (2400 in chips)
Seat 5: tl (3590 in chips)
Seat 6: jim1111111 (2015 in chips)
tl: posts small blind 75
jim1111111: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to tl [6d 4s]
cjm321: folds
stendas: folds
davey0725: folds
tl: calls 75
jim1111111: checks
*** FLOP *** [2d Ac 6h]
tl: bets 150
jim1111111: raises 150 to 300
tl: calls 150
*** TURN *** [2d Ac 6h] [Qh]
tl: checks
jim1111111: bets 900
tl: raises 900 to 1800
jim1111111 said, "man"
tl said, "call"
jim1111111 said, "q q"
jim1111111: folds
tl collected 2700 from pot
tl: shows [6d 4s] (a pair of Sixes)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2700 | Rake 0
Board [2d Ac 6h Qh]
Seat 1: cjm321 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: stendas folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: davey0725 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: tl (small blind) collected (2700)
Seat 6: jim1111111 (big blind) folded on the Turn
I ended up winning that sit-n-go. A nice $135 into my account.
Monday, February 12, 2007
"hello world!"
An appropriate title since my daytime profession is being a software developer. When we learn a new language to program in, the first program we write is called the "Hello World!" program.
As this is my very first post, this is what I decided to post.
Anyway, an introduction; I'm a software developer by trade, a part-time wannabee professional poker player. Now you might think, "Yah, another aspiring Chris Moneymaker." Well, I've been playing poker for at least 4 years before the big poker boom back in 2002 so I'm not quite a result of the boom. Granted, my interest in Hold 'Em has gone up tremendously since the boom. Before though, I'd play a lot of $2/$4 stud in Atlantic City. Plus, my friends and I also play on Monday nights and play dealer's choice which is often a mix between stud and different types of hold 'em games such as Omaha high/low split.
Another passion of mine is fitness. I work a few hours a week personal training and I walk a pretty tight line when it comes to my own fitness by working out and eating right. It's probably the one thing in my life that I will not compromise. I mean, if you don't have your health, what good are ya? So my favorite thing about fitness is the psychology of change and helping people through the transition because that's the hardest part - overcoming fear and doubt.
But that's a little bit about me. This blog is for poker so let's get right into it.
Just came back from Atlantic City (AC) this past Saturday for a tournament at the Hilton. It was a $60 + $15 tournament with $5000 in chips with blinds starting out at $25/$50 with 20 minute rounds. I wasn't doing great only because I didn't have cards to play with really. Occasionally I'd come into a pot with some decent hands like AsTs and KQo. I almost always raise the pot if I'm first to bet. But will still call with these types of hands if I'm very late in position and/or can close out the betting round, meaning as the BB before the flop. And sometimes, very rarely, I will come in for a raise with suited connectors such as 78s or 79s (I consider 1 or 2 gappers as suited connectors. I know some people do not but if I can make a straight with my cards, I consider them connected).
Anyway, back to the tournament. I survive for the first 3 rounds and make it to the first break. After the 10 minute break, we reconvene. Suddenly the tournament director asks me to move to another table. So I grab all my chips in one hand (about 4 grand) and move to the next table. Anyway, it's about more of the same. I'm folding a lot of hands because 1. I'm out of position with bad cards or 2. I'm in position with bad cards but the pot has been raised.
So 20 minutes goes by and the director moves me again, but this time it was because they were going to break down my table. So I finally move to my third table and there's decent stacks all around me. At this point, I'm about $5000 in chips, about where I was when I started. But the blinds are $200/$400 with $50 antes. So I'm still playing pretty tight until I'm on the button with Ad9d and I raise to $1200 - standard 3x the BB. The small blind calls and the big blind folds. So we see a flop: As Qc 7d. Up until this point, I've noticed the small blind is a pretty solid player and seems to play premium hands. So for him to call, I had to put him on any range of hands from AA-99, AK-KJ. He looks at my stack and puts in exactly the amount I had left (about $3600). So now the small blind bets into me and puts me all in. Now I have to think. I knew there were four Ax combinations that could beat me right now. I have only a back-door flush at this point to bail me out. If he has AQ, hitting a 9 won't help me. So I'm thinking through all the possibilities and I figure I'm beat at the moment and now have to commit all my chips to draw to an unknown number of outs. So I folded. He showed me his cards: AQ. Good lay down by me.
So now I'm down to $3600 in chips and now the blinds have gone up to $300/$600 with $75 antes. Reading Harrington's Volume II, my "M" is not even 3: $3600/($900 + $750). This means, it's "all in" time with any two cards as long as I'm first to bet. So I pick up A9o. The dealer, during the deal, accidentally exposed an A. So I'm thinking, that reduces the chance someone else having an A with a better kicker so I make a stand and go all in. Everyone folds to the big stack who pauses for like a half-second, asks for my chip count and makes the call with pocket 10s. A player two spots to my right said he folded an A as well. Great! Now I'm drawing to the one remaining A in the deck. Flop: 7 A 5. Bingo! I hit my A. Two blank cards come on the turn and river and I double up.
So now I'm still low on chips but not as desperate anymore. My chip count is now around $8000 after that double up. So I'm still playing tight and survive another round. So now my chip stack is down to about $5000 and change. My "M" is still hovering over 3. Gotta make another stand. I peek down at my hole cards, K. That's one good one. Let me see the next one....K. I'm doing cartwheels inside. Someone actually called the BB....sweet! Extra dead money if I go heads up. Now I need someone to double me up. An average stack guy - big black guy with glasses thinks about it for a while. He decides to call. The blinds and the limper fold. I show my cowboys and he shows me A4o. I already had a bad feeling about this. For some reason of late, I seem to lose when I'm in dominating situations. I didn't like this at all. It was a loose call and those are the ones I have bad vibes on. So now I'm waiting for the flop. I shout out, "Ace!! Show me an Ace" in my Unabomber style. Just as I asked for it - there it came - on the flop. I needed a King to bail me out but no such luck - probability decided to work. Afterwards, I said, "Nice hand." and left. I really couldn't complain, I was on borrowed time when I hit a one-outer on my last all-in.
I've really taken my bad beats in stride lately. I think the past 6 months has been a good maturing process for me. Winning poker is about making the right decisions at the right time. The game rests on 4 distinct actions: folding, betting, raising and calling. So there are only so many decision trees if we're limited to just those actions but what makes poker so complex is the amount of money associated with those actions and how they are interpreted by your opponents.
Anyway, that was an insight I stumbled upon recently. Bad beats are just a part of the game. If every bad decision was punished, poker would not attract the bad players. I've made a decision to be a good player and plan on playing for a long time. Bad beats are a part of poker, and to love the game is to accept the bad beats and move on.
Anyway, it's time to watch 'Heroes'. I will post my online games as well.
tl
As this is my very first post, this is what I decided to post.
Anyway, an introduction; I'm a software developer by trade, a part-time wannabee professional poker player. Now you might think, "Yah, another aspiring Chris Moneymaker." Well, I've been playing poker for at least 4 years before the big poker boom back in 2002 so I'm not quite a result of the boom. Granted, my interest in Hold 'Em has gone up tremendously since the boom. Before though, I'd play a lot of $2/$4 stud in Atlantic City. Plus, my friends and I also play on Monday nights and play dealer's choice which is often a mix between stud and different types of hold 'em games such as Omaha high/low split.
Another passion of mine is fitness. I work a few hours a week personal training and I walk a pretty tight line when it comes to my own fitness by working out and eating right. It's probably the one thing in my life that I will not compromise. I mean, if you don't have your health, what good are ya? So my favorite thing about fitness is the psychology of change and helping people through the transition because that's the hardest part - overcoming fear and doubt.
But that's a little bit about me. This blog is for poker so let's get right into it.
Just came back from Atlantic City (AC) this past Saturday for a tournament at the Hilton. It was a $60 + $15 tournament with $5000 in chips with blinds starting out at $25/$50 with 20 minute rounds. I wasn't doing great only because I didn't have cards to play with really. Occasionally I'd come into a pot with some decent hands like AsTs and KQo. I almost always raise the pot if I'm first to bet. But will still call with these types of hands if I'm very late in position and/or can close out the betting round, meaning as the BB before the flop. And sometimes, very rarely, I will come in for a raise with suited connectors such as 78s or 79s (I consider 1 or 2 gappers as suited connectors. I know some people do not but if I can make a straight with my cards, I consider them connected).
Anyway, back to the tournament. I survive for the first 3 rounds and make it to the first break. After the 10 minute break, we reconvene. Suddenly the tournament director asks me to move to another table. So I grab all my chips in one hand (about 4 grand) and move to the next table. Anyway, it's about more of the same. I'm folding a lot of hands because 1. I'm out of position with bad cards or 2. I'm in position with bad cards but the pot has been raised.
So 20 minutes goes by and the director moves me again, but this time it was because they were going to break down my table. So I finally move to my third table and there's decent stacks all around me. At this point, I'm about $5000 in chips, about where I was when I started. But the blinds are $200/$400 with $50 antes. So I'm still playing pretty tight until I'm on the button with Ad9d and I raise to $1200 - standard 3x the BB. The small blind calls and the big blind folds. So we see a flop: As Qc 7d. Up until this point, I've noticed the small blind is a pretty solid player and seems to play premium hands. So for him to call, I had to put him on any range of hands from AA-99, AK-KJ. He looks at my stack and puts in exactly the amount I had left (about $3600). So now the small blind bets into me and puts me all in. Now I have to think. I knew there were four Ax combinations that could beat me right now. I have only a back-door flush at this point to bail me out. If he has AQ, hitting a 9 won't help me. So I'm thinking through all the possibilities and I figure I'm beat at the moment and now have to commit all my chips to draw to an unknown number of outs. So I folded. He showed me his cards: AQ. Good lay down by me.
So now I'm down to $3600 in chips and now the blinds have gone up to $300/$600 with $75 antes. Reading Harrington's Volume II, my "M" is not even 3: $3600/($900 + $750). This means, it's "all in" time with any two cards as long as I'm first to bet. So I pick up A9o. The dealer, during the deal, accidentally exposed an A. So I'm thinking, that reduces the chance someone else having an A with a better kicker so I make a stand and go all in. Everyone folds to the big stack who pauses for like a half-second, asks for my chip count and makes the call with pocket 10s. A player two spots to my right said he folded an A as well. Great! Now I'm drawing to the one remaining A in the deck. Flop: 7 A 5. Bingo! I hit my A. Two blank cards come on the turn and river and I double up.
So now I'm still low on chips but not as desperate anymore. My chip count is now around $8000 after that double up. So I'm still playing tight and survive another round. So now my chip stack is down to about $5000 and change. My "M" is still hovering over 3. Gotta make another stand. I peek down at my hole cards, K. That's one good one. Let me see the next one....K. I'm doing cartwheels inside. Someone actually called the BB....sweet! Extra dead money if I go heads up. Now I need someone to double me up. An average stack guy - big black guy with glasses thinks about it for a while. He decides to call. The blinds and the limper fold. I show my cowboys and he shows me A4o. I already had a bad feeling about this. For some reason of late, I seem to lose when I'm in dominating situations. I didn't like this at all. It was a loose call and those are the ones I have bad vibes on. So now I'm waiting for the flop. I shout out, "Ace!! Show me an Ace" in my Unabomber style. Just as I asked for it - there it came - on the flop. I needed a King to bail me out but no such luck - probability decided to work. Afterwards, I said, "Nice hand." and left. I really couldn't complain, I was on borrowed time when I hit a one-outer on my last all-in.
I've really taken my bad beats in stride lately. I think the past 6 months has been a good maturing process for me. Winning poker is about making the right decisions at the right time. The game rests on 4 distinct actions: folding, betting, raising and calling. So there are only so many decision trees if we're limited to just those actions but what makes poker so complex is the amount of money associated with those actions and how they are interpreted by your opponents.
Anyway, that was an insight I stumbled upon recently. Bad beats are just a part of the game. If every bad decision was punished, poker would not attract the bad players. I've made a decision to be a good player and plan on playing for a long time. Bad beats are a part of poker, and to love the game is to accept the bad beats and move on.
Anyway, it's time to watch 'Heroes'. I will post my online games as well.
tl
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