I went broke on FTP a few weeks ago and have been busy with school so I haven't reloaded. Well I just got my rakeback deposit... woo hoo $5.58. I contemplated a few things, $1.00 tournaments/SNG, one $5.00 one, or just cash games. Ultimately I chose the cash game option and onto a table DETERMINED to play solid poker (I was working on my paper at the same time, hoping that would keep me tight).
After about an hour, I'm at $1.20. OUCH. I was pretty annoyed with my craptastic play. I was pretty much done. I'm in the BB with K2 suited. No raises, so I just check my option (there are about 4 limpers. The flop comes K-6-9 w/ 2 diamonds (I have none). Early position bets a little less than the pot, everyone folds to me. I'm about to throw it away, but tired of my recent play, I decide that I really shouldn't be playing right now and punish myself with a donkey push. Bettor calls and shows his better kicker- KT.
The old adage applies: "God protects fools and drunks." I was not drunk.
2 on the river, and I double up.
I see this as a reprieve and that I should stop being a dumb-ass. I double up again and eventually manage to push my stack to almost 10 bucks. I drop down to under five again when I make some bad plays (I still consider myself a beginner and a couple of times overvalue the flush draw- calling pot sized raises and folding when I miss the river),but worked it back up. I made some good calls, figuring a guy for weak and calling a continuation bet and a turn bet with ace high. Guy backed down on the river and checked and I had him beat.
The final play of the night, I'm not sure if I made a good play or a bad one. I know I made some mistakes.
I have just over 10 bucks, and am the chip leader.
I'm in middle position and look down at AQ suited.
UG+1 raises to $0.20 (-I hate min raisers).
UG+2 calls
UG+3 calls
I call (-stupid play, I probably should have raised)
BB re-raises to $0.30 (-ok, another min raise).
Everyone calls around to me, (-wow big surprise no one folded for 10 cents there)
(-Now, even though the raises are min raises, a raise and a re-raise could spell trouble. If I raise, someone is likely to raise or push all-in with AK or even a middle or high pocket pair, forcing me to fold. But I'm not folding when it'll cost me .10 to win 1.45- or is it 1.55 including my .10).
So I call.
Flop comes 9-A-5 rainbow.
BB is short stacked and has about 1.50 in his stack. He pushes. (-I knew he would. My thought process is that if anyone raises his bet, I gotta let the hand go)
UG+1 folds
UG+2 just calls. (-he's got about 3 bucks left after the call)
UG+3 folds
(-Well I'm closing the action here and no one raised.)
I call. (-I'm really hoping to be able to check to the river on this (but that's not as likely in a cash game as a tournament.)
Turn: Q. (-yahoo)
UG+2 checks. (-Checking to the river is no longer gonna happen)
(-There's about $6 in the pot and he has $3 left)
I push.
UTG+2 thinks for a second then calls.
(-I'm surprised when the hands are flipped up. Not because of how they were played, but because I was right on my reads after the flop. I figured AK vs 2 pair but at this level it could have been AT vs AJ or almost any two aces. I just didn't trust my reads enough to get away from the hand... and I'm glad I didn't)
BB shows AK
UTG+2 shows A9.
(-now I was UTG+2 played it, he could have had a pocket pair that flopped a set, but I was pretty sure BB didn't have a pocket pair. I don't think he would have re-raised, either just called the .20 or put in a large re-raise to protect his hand.)
The river is no 9 or K and I scoop a big pot.
I finished the night @ about $16.00.
And I finished the paper... unfortunately I stayed up until 3:30 am playing Call of Duty 3. I'm tired.
My Rakeback
December Homegame
It's been almost 9 months since my last home game. The last time I was able to make it, we only had 3 or 4 people, so we went to Foxwoods instead. The nice thing was that the host pushed it out one week because it was the only weekend I could play.
I've mentioned it before, but the home game is like a WPT Touranment. Blinds DOUBLE every 15 minutes. At the end it's pretty much an All-in 'fest. Buy in is usually $10.00. But you get $20.00 in chips. Blinds start @ .25/.50, and like I said, double every 15 mins (so we never have 3-6 or 5-10, it's 4-8 ,to 8-16). We start at 3pm and pretty much play until midnight, usually getting in about 6 games.
We normally have between 7-12 players with 7 of them being regulars. There are no players that are CLEARLY better than the rest, but there are some others that are "easier" than the others.
This month there were 7 players (payout being $50/$20). We had most of the regulars and one guy who's been there a couple of times. No one new. Most are decent players (for low limit players). With a few extremes:
Crazy Luckbox- I have a reputation for being aggressive and not afraid to throw my chips around, but this guy is nuts... and lucky.
Mr. The Rock- Tight player, easy to read.
Mr. Station- annoying as hell, easy to read, will call with pair or draw until the river and fold at that point, easy to tilt too.
The other three aren't as easy to read, so I haven't put much effort into it.
Because we had only 7 players, 2nd gets 2x the buy in back and winner gets the rest. The first game, I didn't do much, except I knocked out the luckbox. He's always been the bane of my existence at the homegame.
The second game, I managed to get heads up with the guy who gave me the Herpes nickname. I was severly shortstacked. But was destined to win as I hit every hand and double up a number of times. Pretty much there was nothing he could do.
The 3rd game started and I was just on a roll. Winning one of these pretty means you're freerolling for the rest of the night. At worst you end up even. It opens up your game a little bit. I basically opened up my starting hands a little (which are loose to being with). I ended up heads up with the same guy again. This time we started about even in chips. The lead went back and forth. The final hand was good one (wish I could remember what each of our hands were). I was first to act. And limped. He checked (neither of us are afraid to play after the flop). The flop hit me with, giving me a pair of 9s. I bet and he called. Turn was a 10. This gave me a open ender. I checked and surprisingly he checked. The river was a Q. giving me a straight. I think about it for a while, and take a big risk and check. He thinks for a second and pushes all-in. He was barely done saying all-in when I call and flip over my straight. It's a great feeling to set someone up.
The 4th and 5th games, I didn't do much, other than tilt Mr. Station and bust Mr. Luckbox. Mr. Station actually won one and so did Mr. Rock.
The final game I finished 2nd (AGAIN heads up with nickname giver). He set me up nicely after the flop. Flop came K-K-x. we both check. Turn is a 6 (which pairs me). He checks and I push all in. He calls and flips over the K. Unfortunately there was only 6 folks in that one so 2nd place got the buy-in back.
It was a good time and I came home up about 40 bucks, which includes all the buy-ins, chips and soda and ordering food.
Can't wait for the next one.
I Failed!
My self-quaratine from poker failed miserably. I definitely have a problem... I even donked off a bunch of my most recent deposit, but got some of that back between SitnGos and micro-limit Cash games.
But I thought I would take this time to mention some hands on FTP last night in an SnG. People are always talking about sucks outs and bad beats that they see at FullTilt, and I've seen my share, but I was playing in an 18person $5.00 +$.50, SnG. I made the final table and cashed in 4th (the first money spot). But to get there I had hands that held up. Two or three times, I had all my chips (I was short stacked a for a while) in with top pair or 2 pair, and my opponent would show either a flush draw or a straight draw. Those draws never made it, and I stayed in the tournament. And on my final hand, I had A10 vs KK, and guess what, an ACE didn't come. KKs knocked me out.
What does this mean? Well basically it means, take the time to notice when you're good hands hold up. Makes it easier to digest the times that they don't. If there wasn't chance/luck in poker, it would be called Chess.
Frustration
I'm back in school and that is going to be taking a lot of my time with papers and readings this semester, so I've decided to take a break from online poker. Basically if I'm going to be working on my computer I should be doing school work. OK, I'm working on it. But boy was I looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend. My brother in law was going to set up one of his $50 buy-in home games. A bit steep, but I've won that last two. I talked to him and he said to come down to the restuarant and we'd be playing around 11pm. So I get there only to find out that most of the people decided not to play. He tries to get a 4th person. That person agrees, but then leaves without a word. So we scrap the game and I head to back to the house. I decide, that this is a special occasion, and throw some cash onto Full Tilt and start playing.
I jump in the $10+1 Midnight Madness Tournament, which is a fun one. Played and sweated a buddy of mine who was also playing. 1300+ people, I finished 160. Won about 2x the buy-in. Unfortunately I dusted off a bunch of other money playing other MTT SnGs.
Finally I sat down at a micro-limil NL cash game, and won enough to be just about even for the night. Finally had to call it a night @ 3am.
Big hand of the night in the cash game.
I had pocket 4s and was playing with a maniac.
Flop was 3-6-Q. He bet a little less than the pot, I called.
Turn: Q. He bet again, I called.
River: x but it was higher than my pair.
He pushes all in, which was about 2x the pot, but that was less than 20% of my stack (i'd still be showing a profit it I call and lost). I think and because he's too much of a maniac, I called. He showed 7-3, and I stacked him.
Left shortly after since after he left it was just me and another guy, who was a pretty big luckbox.
Channeling Jack Straus
"Chip and a Chair"
Sure this wasn't the WSOP Main Event, it was only a $5 + $0.40 Heads Up Shootout (4 players) on FullTilt.
I ended up my first headsup opponent in 23 hands.
BLINDS ARE 15/30
The first hand of my second match (each have 3000 chips), I'm dealt A3o. I call the BB and my opponent just checks.
*** FLOP *** [Ah 9c Qd]
I simply bet the 1/2 the pot (30) and my opponent folds. I win 60 chips.
Hand 2. I'm in the BB with 6c4c. Opponent calls the BB, I simply check.
*** FLOP *** [3d 2h 5s]
BINGO! Can't beat that flop. I bet the pot (T60). He smooth calls.
*** TURN *** [3d 2h 5s] [5d]
Stupiditiy abounds here. I bet the pot (T180). I get min raised to T360. I raise to T1,260. He raises to T2,160. I finish it off, pushing all-in to T2940. He calls his last T720. I get T60 back (woo freakin' hoo).
My opponent flips over his Quad 5s. I'm done. I congradulate him on a good game. And wait to throw in my final chips.
Chip Count (T5940 vs T60).
I'm dealt 6c9c in the SB. and I push all in for 60. I hope he folds (yeah right). He calls, and shows pocket 3s.
I flop two pair and double up.
(T5880 vs T120).
Next hand I'm dealt pocket 7s. I push all in and he calls with Q7. My hand holds up.
(T5760 vs T240)
I call the BB (additional 30) w/ Jd2d. We check it down and he catches a 5 on the river.
(T5790 vs T210) - Blinds increase to 20/40.
He min raises to 80, I push all in with KQo and he folds. More chips!
(T5710 vs T290)
I have Q6o. Call the BB. FLOP is [4s 3h 3s]. We both check. TURN: Qc. He bets 80, I push all in and he calls. He shows 4dTd. The river is a 3, giving me a better boat.
(T5420 vs T580)- I definitely have some breathing room now (with the blinds 20/40), despite the huge chip disadvantage. That was the 7th hand of heads up with this guy.
A few hands go by where not much happened. We checked down to the river, only losing the blinds, or I fold to a bet on the turn.
Hand #10. (T5340 vs T660)
I'm dealt 57off in the SB. I limp he min raises to T80. I call.
*** FLOP *** [Kh 5h 5d]
Opponent bets T160, I of course push, he calls and shows KJo. I, of course and sweating because preflop I was 98% to lose. No improvement for him and I have T1320!
Again there's a lot of checking down or folding to bets. I re-raise him a few times to take down pots.
(T3710 vs T2290)
Hand #58 - blinds are 40/80.
I'm dealt KJ in the BB. He limps, I just check.
*** FLOP *** [Qh 6h Ks]
I check, he bets T160, I just call.
*** TURN *** [6c]
We both check.
*** RIVER *** [8s]
I bet the pot T480. He calls.
I show my KJ, he shows T8 and I take down a T1440 pot to take a slight chip lead.
(T2990 vs T3010)
ABout 10 hands later, I lose the chip lead when I bluff of 1200 in chips, trying to represent a flush with 4 spades on the board. I bet 1/2 the pot value bet bluff on the river, he calls with 2 pair. I wonder if I bet more if he would have folded?
(T3600 vs T2400) - Blinds 50/100
I beat Kojack AGAIN this time with KQ. I'm in the SB. He min raises to T200, I call.
*** FLOP *** [Qc 4c 2s]
I check, he bets T400, I min raise to T800, he calls.
*** TURN *** [Ks]
I check, he pushes all-in, I call for my last T1400. He shows his KJ, I shows my KQ for two pair. The RIVER brings an unneeded Q for my boat. I'm the chip leader again.
(T1200 vs T4800).
It's over two hands later.
(T1100 vs T4900)
He raises to T200, I call with Kd7c.
*** FLOP *** [Tc 8h 9d] I hit an open ender, but with the idiots end. The reasoning behind my next move was two fold. First it was late (3:30am) and second, I figure I could push him around, and even if he wins, I would still have a slight chip lead. I pushed All-in. T4700 (though really only the T900 he had) into a 400 pot. He calls with AJ. He also has the, I guess, genius end of the OESD.
*** TURN *** [Js] Gives me the straight.
*** RIVER *** [Qd] For a split second I thought this was a chop giving us both the Q high straight on the board, but then I noticed my little King sitting there, all neglected, giving me a K high straight and taking down the Shootout.
A hard fought battle and a the biggest comeback I've ever faced. 99 to 1 chip deficit. Probably won't do that again in my life.
HERPES LIVES!
post soon
Had the second greatest comeback story. EVER. Ok, maybe second only to Jack Staus. I'll post soon (those of you from MSR got a short version) as soon as FTP sends it to me (don't ask).
Suck Out Saves The Day
Playing in a NL game on FTP, this morning. I bought in for the max. And a few hands in I'm dealt KcQc in the SB. EP guy raises to 3x the BB. MP, Button, Me, BB all call. Five to the flop.
FLOP: 5d - Kh - 6d.
I bet the Pot, it folds around to BB, who min raises me pretty quickly. I think about just calling, but the moron in me says RAISE, RAISE!!!! So I push all-in. Stupid! He insta-calls and has me covered by a little bit.
He shows AdKd, for top pair, top kicker WITH the nut flush draw. Kickin' myself.
TURN: Qs - JACK POT!
Now I have to dodge an ace and any diamond.
RIVER: 5c. WOO HOO!!
My first suck out... EVER!!!!
No, not really, but probably my biggest win from a suckout.
... And Sometimes You're Just a Big F'in Donkey!
The Ante Up AIPS Touranment's 9th Event took place Thursday night. It was a Limit Hold 'em Event, which I've been doing quite well in LHE cash games. Yes, tournaments are different (with blinds increasing) but that still didn't explain my total sucking and playing soooo loose, and betting down to the river with absolutely nothing. It was ugly. Horribly ugly. I did play some limit cash games after I busted out (I think I was 4th out or something) and make some of that back. Still, overall, it was a disappointing evening.
----
I'm clumsy, but it's never cost me $139 million.
Sometimes You're Just Not Meant to Win.
That's not to say you won't cash, but you're not going to win.
I entered a 45-person SnG. While I waited for it to start I "sat" down at a .50/1.00 limit and proceeded to win my buy-in to the SnG, plus the money I lost earlier. YEAH! Free SnG.
So it starts, and I wait, and I wait, and I wait. I'm not playing supertight, but I'm not going broke with top pair either. Most of the time I'm below average in chips. At around 3 tables, I being to accumulate decent chips. I make the final table with about average (top 6 pay). I make the money and sometime after # 6 busts out, I'm chip leader. To a point where I have almost 30k, and 2nd has about 17k, and the last three have between 5k-7k. I lose some chips, but not too many. Still have a healthy lead.
I'm dealt AKs in UTG. I make a raise of about 3.5x the BB. Folds around to the BB. My raise is for nearly all his chips so he pretty much has to push. It's nothing to me. I call. He shows a beautiful AQ. I'm doin' the Cabbage Patch at my desk. Oh wait... I need to see a flop. How bad can it be.
Q-x-Q. Ouch. Ok, I have about 19K in chips. I'm still good.
Next hand, I have ATs in the big blind. There's two limpers, including the small blind (AQ guy). I push to take the pot. One folds, but SB calls, he's all in again. I have him beat (but not too bad this time) as he flips over KQ. Of course he rivers a K. I'm suddenly in a 3 way race for last. I feel a little tilt coming on but manage to shake it off and play smart. I still have enough chips to make people fold (my stack is about 1/3 of the chip leader). I steal some blinds with K3s and the like. I actually get up to 2nd place. In the end, I get crippled (by the same guy who sucked out on me twice), but I forgot the hand. I'm left with barely any chips left. Wasn't even enough for the BB (which I was). They both call and check it down. I'm outta there, but I finished in third and had a decent payday (about 7x the buy-in).
It feels good to play good poker... especially after donking off so much on Sunday morning.
Picture Moths Flying Out of My Pockets.
Well for the last week or two, I've been messing around with about $100 on FTP, I've been up, I've been down, nothing unusual. I'm at the in-laws this weekend and wake up at 4am. I couldn't fall back asleep. If you get up to use the bathroom you get bombarded by all the dogs (my dog and their two dogs). "Pet me! Pet me! I haven't seen you in years! Love me! Oooh, Let me out! Let me out!"
So I hopped online (ACK MODEM!) and played a mix of cash games (1/2 limit - .25/.50 NL) and some SnGs. Next thing I know, I have just over $20.00 in my account. No that's not a typo, I'm not missing a zero. Donked off about $80 bucks. Grrrr. And I can't even say it's the swing of poker it was lots of donking. Why do I sit there and say, OK, tight, tight, tight... no bluffing. Oops, missed the flop. Only way to win this hand is to bluff. Donk, Donk, Donk.
Monday, I booked a small winning session.... VERY SMALL. So last night I played again. Had enough for a couple of cash game buy-ins, plus a couple of $5.50 SnGs. Played a bunch made it last, but in the end, donked some and got bad beat (see therapy 10/23) a few times.
To quote I Had Outs, "tap, tap, tap." Time to deposit.
$0.25/$0.50 NL
First, as many of you know (yeah, like I'm talking to a huge crowd; Hi Josh and Statikkling!), I play on Full Tilt (I have to redo my FTP adds) and I hear a lot of talk about all the amazing beats that happen. I really don't see it. I get sucked out on and I put beats others. It happens, but nothing out of the ordinary. I was in a SnG last night, and had a guy dominated. He hit his card, and took half my stack. No biggie, didn't get upset. I continued to play good and managed to finish 2nd. I had Ace high on a boards of 2-3-7-7-J. I just didn't think he hit. Figured A high was good. He had KJ. Shoulda known, I was 98% to lose preflopd.
Anyway, I play a lot of 1/2 limit on FTP and am doing well. I've currently giving .25/.50 a try(middle buy-in is $20, just like the 1/2 limit). I have to work on my discipline a little. Which is also the occasional problem at a limit table.
I had started with $20 and worked my way up to $75. I just doubled through one guy. I played J8s and the flop gave me a flush draw (4-5-Q). The turn brought my flush when a 5c popped up. I was heads up against the same guy I doubled through. I bet and he called. The river brought a blank. He put out a about half pot bet. I should have called. He could easily have a better flush PLUS it's a paired board. I should've called, but pushed all in. I had him covered. He called. Flipped over pocket 4s. Flopped his set, turned his boat. Had me the entire way.
I ended up with $22. If I would have called, I would have had just under $40. I still ended up ahead leaving with $45.
Moral: Beware of a paired board.
New Format
I'm really diggin on the new beta format. Hope you guys don't mind the green. Reminds me of money!
Trying to slow down my online poker playing. Haven't been spending that much quality time with the Mrs. recently. Basically we put our daughter to bed, maybe watch TV show or two together, then I'm in the other room playing poker and Xbox. Want to re-establish some intimacy. I don't want it to start to feel like we're room mates.
With that said, Lost and the Nine are on tonight. Awesome shows. I'll get back from school during the middle of Lost, so with the marvel of TiVo, we'll just start watching when I get home.
How did people survive without TiVo?
I'm also falling behind on all my poker podcasts because my Ipod is in the shop! How did we function without Ipods???
Horn High Yo!
Saturday afternoon my buddy swung by the house and off we went to Foxwoods. I've been jonesin' for Foxwoods. We meet up with Buddy 3 (we'll call him Jerk- fyi he's not a jerk, but it's a nickname), and we all get on the list for 2/4 limit. They quickly call all of us and we get put at separate tables. But only one table away from each other. I am the youngest person at my table, by about 30 years. A few times I waited extra long to make a call or bet, hoping the person would die. I figure that means they fold. But alas, they all lived... and they took my $60.00. That didn't bother me. As live $2/$4 can be, it was a chasing game, and a lot of those chases caught. Which whittled down my funds until I had only a few bucks left and got AK. 3 bet preflop, missed the flop, only had about 6 bucks left so made sure I got it all in.
I walked away without any ill feelings. Still rarin' to go. After a 2 hours, my buddies were hungry (This was Jerks first time at a casino and he was feeling self-conscious, like people were talking about him at the table). We decided to hit Fuddruckers.
Jerk didn't feel like going back to the poker tables so we walked around a bit. He played some slots then decided to head out. Left me and my other buddy. We saddled up to a Craps table and threw down some cash. Now I know a little about craps, but my buddy knows a lot. I started off somewhat conservative and slowly built up my chips. I took my initial buy-in off the table and was playing with pure profits. I loosened up a bit, throwing some money on doubles, and occasionally betting High Hand Yo.
This one guy (Yankee Cap Guy)managed to hold on to the dice for 20 minutes. He could almost roll 6's and 8's at will. After a while I pressed some bets on 6 and actually had $56 on it. Luckily I hit the 6 once with that kind of money on it, before he crapped out. I was up about $175 at that point. My buddy and I stuck around another orbit, until Yankee Cap Guy had the dice again. His first roll... a 6. Bunch of money hit the table. Next roll 7. Adios. We left the table, I was up about $125. My buddy was up about $250.
Back in April, Foxwoods upgraded their poker room, making it a World Poker Tour poker room. They added more tables, more tournaments, and even Sit n Go's. We decided to check out the $100.00 SnG ($80+20, yes their rake is high, but their the only game in town). About halfway full. We wait around 10 minutes and they call us. WOO HOO.
I get involved in a couple of pots early, but never really hit anything. I actually folded JJ preflop, when I called an UTG raise, but then a guy after me RE-RAISED, I figured I might be beat. I was disheartened when a J came on the flop. Hand never made it to show down so I don't know if I was beat preflop or not. I think I was. After all that I was down to 1000 chips (starting with 1500). I managed to stick around 1500 for a while. My buddy got bad beat early. There were 8 players left (started 10 handed) my buddy was pushed out of a couple of pots by this one guy. My buddy raise, the guy re-raised all-in (he had my buddy covered). My buddy almost threw his hand away a few times. He said if it was anyone else he would have folded. He finally calls and flips over AJ. His opponent shows AT. My buddy is ECSTATIC! Until the flop comes A-X-T. Rivered another T just for good measure. My buddy stomps off to find a crap game on mega tilt.
I was hit with a smiliar fate when I had JJ later on. Got all my money in preflop (with a slight chip lead) against one opponent. He shows sometimes like QT, I don't even remember. I just know that by the river, I'm screaming for no JACK! As a set for me gives him a straight. Obviously there would be a more cheery tone if the Jack didn't spit in my eye on the river. I can't remember for the LIFE of me what he had. I remember worrying about the jack, but not any other card. And I think I remember someone saying it was a two outer, so maybe he was 10-9 or something, but how could he have called an all-in with 10-9. I know there was an A and a K on the board, the Jack came on the river, but I don't remember the two other cards on the board. I'm pretty sure one was a rag. That frustrates me more than the beat.
Anyway, I picked up A8 in the next hand in the cutoff. There are a couple of limpers so I push my remaining stack in. I get one caller. He flips over A5. My hand holds up. And I'm still alive. On life support but still alive. I get a bunch of junk and a few orbits later. I'm in the big blind with Ac5c. I have a 3rd of my stack in there, no real choice but to push. I'm called by an Qd7d. No drama, the flop comes Q-x-7. The to kill ANY chance, a Q on the turn gives him the boat, and I'm sent to the rail. I finished in 5th. Next one out is the bubble. I stick around for a bit and watch suckout after suckout keeping people alive. I finally head off to the craps table to find my buddy. Again, I left feeling OK about my play. I never got in with the worst of it (or even an actual coin flip for that matter). And sometimes that's the best you can hope for.
I find him at a different craps table with only a couple of chips left. He's betting against the dice and losing bad. At one point he has money on 10 and 4, and the guy rolling this 4 twice than a 10. My buddy goes on mega Craps Tilt. He's down about $110, and that's after winning $250 (plus he was up from original poker foray about $40). I'm down only $40 for the night. We decided to see how the list is for 1/2 no limit. Me? I'm fine, I'm on an even keel. Having a great time. But the entire walk to the poker room you can tell my buddy is not focused. I suggest we just head out (we've been there 7 hours). He says no, we'll just check out the list. But as we got closer to the top of the escalator, he must have felt his impending doom, he turned off and looked at me sheepishly, "You mind if we just head home?"
And that ended a great time at the casino. I was sad that the Jerk didn't have as much fun. But with some more experience I think he'll enjoy it, and he's gotta be willing to bring some more cash. As much fun as poker was (even when not winning), and me and my buddy (my buddy, my buddy... my buddy and me!) doing well at the craps table, the best time was just sitting at fuddruckers shootin' the shit. I've been in Connecticut for almost two years now and everyday I miss my solid group of friends back in St. Louis, I have yet to make any real close friends like that here. These two are the closest friends I have here and outside of work I only see them at the monthly home game (and those have been on hiatus for awhile). It was just nice to sit around a table, chowing on some good food and just talking about whatever. Good times... Good times.
I'm still playing.
A lot has happened in the poker world in the last few weeks. Many sites are freaking out about the "ban" that will be going into effect soon. Companies are bailing on their US customers faster than... well faster than Bill Frist can sneak an internet gambling amendment onto a Port Security bill that no politician in their right might (though I think there were two) could vote against.
Sites like Party Poker and Titan and even Firepay (a non gambling, no US site) are abandoning their US customers, HUGE portions of their base (I, for one, will not do business with them again- except when Party gives me free money). For what? For questionable legislation, that isn't completely clear on what's being banned. Poker insiders think that the poker isn't included because of the skill factor, and that the only thing that the bill is restricting is what people do with their own money.
For now, life goes on as normal. My favorite site, Full Tilt Poker is continuing business as usual. I have money in there. I'll admit I withdrew about 2/3 of the money I had in there as a precaution, however, I continue to play.
BACKDATE: I ended up winning one of those $20 SnGs that I tried. It was a one time thing and haven't done one again. Nice feeling pullin' in $90.
After I cashed out, I had about $80 left. I ran that up to $125, but then with some of the worst play I've ever done, dropped it down to $50. Last night (3am) I jumped into a $10.00 4 player heads up shootout. Win 2 heads up matches and win all the money. I beat my first opponent relatively easily and watched the other two play. As I watched, I knew the money was mine. There'd be 100 chips in the pot, and one guy would push all his chips in (1500+). It was crazy. Twice I watched his opponent called him having him dominated. Maniac just says, "You caught me." Maniac ended up losing, but his opponent wasn't much better. I'd hit a hand and just have to let him bet off all his chips. In the end, I made up for the horrible cash games I've played recently (I still love 1/2 limit!).
Anyway, Saturday, my monthly home game was supposed to start up again (we haven't had one in a couple of months), but a few people couldn't make it, so four of us decided, instead, we're hitting Foxwoods! WOO HOO! I've been jonesin' to go for a while now. I need something more than just internet poker. I keep donking off $50 and then winning it back, so I'm not really moving very far in my bankroll.
Anyway, so saturday will be a day spent at Foxwoods. I'll try to get some good posts out of that one.
And I try not to beg, but if there are ANY readers, please leave a comment. I'm curious as to how many I have, if any.
Lack of posts
My lack of posts has been for two reasons.
One: lack of comments. Less urgent feelings of posting. Of course, the lack of readers, could be because of lacking posts. It's a vicious cycle. Chicken or the Egg and all that.
Two: A lack of poker playing. I'm broke on the home front so I can't go to a casino. I tilted and donked off my money on Titan Poker. So I stopped playing for a little bit.
However, I had a tournament on Full Tilt that I wanted to play. The AIPS tournament by Ante Up podcast. I deposited $50, made a $30 profit (from cash games), cashed out $60, and kept some cash to play. I did well in the first AIPS tournament.
113 entrants, top 18 paid. I finished 16 when my AK improved on the river with a K. Unfortunately, my opponents pocket 7's improved on the Flop... ... and on the turn. :(.
I was still happy with the way I played. I don't normally do well in MTT, but I played smart poker. Willing to fold and wait for better spots when I could. It also helped that in the beginning people were giving me chips, and I was chip leader for pretty much the first hour. And I was in the top 7 for almost the entire tournament.
Now, I started this weekend with about $35 bucks on FTP and playing 1/2 Limit, ended it with $115. Lets hope this is the start of a good run. I know this is poor bankroll management, but I just don't get as excited playing the lower limits. I can play lower limits, but it's too boring to sit there and play tight for an hour or two and show a $5 profit. I'd rather be able to finish a session up 30 or 40 bucks. That's "real" money to me. Don't get me wrong, it's not a compulsion that I'll always need to move up in stakes, if I build this up to an appropriate bankroll, I'll stay at my 1/2 limits. At least until I have a large enough bankroll to swing a higher limit. I just have to play smart.
The other day I decided to multi-table two 1/2 limits. Bought into $30 on one table (table A), and $20 on the other (table b) (yes half my "current" bankroll... and I probably won't do that again). At first, table A was doing well. I nearly doubled up. However, table B was way down. I was up overall, but just barely. I had about $6 left on table B and decided to rebuy, so I bought in another $20 (that makes my buyins were $70... w/ a $100 bankroll). Finally table B finally started to do well. Table A... not so much. Had about $15 on that table now. In the end I stopped after about 2-3 hours of 1/2 limit with a $10 profit.
I might try to turn a quick profit this evening (Thursday night) with a $20 SnG. Not sure yet. There's another AIPS tournament tonight. But it's 7-card Stud. Nothing something I'm particularly good at. Might need to spend some quality time with the Mrs and I'll miss that tournament.
Broke and Barely Playing
Well on both the poker front and home front I'm pretty broke, so I haven't been playing much poker. Some freerolls on Pokerroom.com and messing around with my remaining few bucks on Titan.
I've been loving the WSOP Main Event coverage, and of course High Stakes Poker on GSN (hands down the best poker on TV).
I was watching the Main Event coverage last night and nearly busted a gut during the edition of, The Nuts, with Doyle and Barry vs Daniel and Eric playing golf.
Lingren just mentioned that he was up late drinking the night before.
Barry: That's the problem with the younger players. Doyle was probably in bed by 11 with milk and cookies.
Doyle (pointing to two attractive women standing next to him): Yeah, this is Milk and this is Cookies.
I know it was set up, but man did I laugh out loud.
And whether Daniel Negreanu's getting unlucky and making poor calls, or just getting cold decked, the man can read his opponenets. How do you put your Main Event life on the line with 10 high because you think the guys weak. He could be weak with a better hand?!
The Race.
You have JJ vs AK. You're a slight favorite, but for agruments sake we'll say it's 50-50. You raise, and AK just flat calls. The flop comes 5-3-9 rainbow (you're about 75% favorite). You bet the pot. AK calls.. TURN is a 9 (you're about an 85% favorite). You bet, AK again calls (OK so he's a donkey). The RIVER is a K. You check, he bets, you make a crying call.
Now the conventional wisdom is it's a suck out. Is this truly a suck out?
Yes, after the Turn you were a 85% favorite. But TECHNICALLY he had a 50/50 chance to HIT an A or K by the river, not just on the flop.
Luck plays a HUGE factor in poker. You have no control of how the cards come out. That's all predetermined by the shuffle. SKILL comes into play to determine how much money you'll win or lose DEPENDING on luck. The TRUE skill comes in reading and being able to get the most out of winning hands and losing the least when you're beat.
So... SKILL is not about negating the effects of LUCK over time, but using LUCK to your benefit.
I'll Only Play A Quick One!
I burned through my FullTilt bankroll a month or so ago, and the majority of my Titan Poker bankroll, being a donkey. I've been reluctant to put money back in FTP. So I've been using Titan to slowly build that up. I've also switched to limit (again, these are micro limits).
This morning, I had some time before work and figured I'd play some .25/.50 limit. I hop to a table and wait until I'm in the BB. First hand, Ah-Qh. Very nice. It limps around to me (seriously about 6 limpers). I raise, everyone calls.
FLOP: 4h-5h-Ac. SWEET! Top pair and nut flush draw. The SB checks, I bet, EVERYONE calls. Nice lookin' pot.
TURN: 7h- let's hope no one was crazy enough to call me with a 3h-6h or 6h-8h. I bet, and am raised and re-raised, by two people, until it's capped.
River: Jh. I bet out, still think it's good, and it ends up being capped again.
One guy shows 3h-6c (whew!), the second guy showed Khx. Ended up tripling my $5.00 buy-in. Went one round and finished with about $17 and padded my Titan roll a bit.
I Missed It By *That* Much!
I was listening to Phil Gordon's Poker Edge Podcast (from ESPN) and he commented that this week he was actually in Bristol, CT. That's the location of ESPN's headquarters. It's also about 20 minutes west of Hartford, CT... which is where I live. Of course, I was listening to it this morning, but it was posted yesterday. At the end he informs his listeners that he would be going to Foxwoods to play some 1-2 No Limit! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! I sooooo would have dropped everything and headed down last night if I knew he was going to be there! Sonofabitch!
Limit vs NL... online.
I think when it comes to online poker, Limit is more my game. I keep a small bankroll on Titan Poker and it has gotten low. I started to build it up slowly playing their micro limits, NL game. WELL, that wasn't going well. I'd get impatient and make a mistake (which I do a lot) and all the money I've made up was gone. (I'm definitely better at NL live than online).
Last night I switched over to Limit and jumped in with my entire miniscule balance. I was playing the "higher" micro limits (.25/.50). And managed to get get some of the bankroll back. It was a full table and it slowly broke down to only two people left. So I played HU cash game for a bit. At first, I had a hard time because my opponent had a HUGE stack compared to mine, and he could call me down to the river with A high. I had to make sure I had a hand (I had never played heads up CASH game before and it was a bit different feel than a heads up SnG). Overall we were about even for the HU, he was probalby ahead a couple of bucks. Occasionally a 3rd person would jump in, but wouldn't last too long. Finally monster stack left, leaving me with someone who had about half of the chips that I had. A few hands in, he was about to go broke, when a 3rd person jumped in. I finished off the first guy, and figured I'd play a hand or two with the next guy before calling it a night. About 30 minutes later I had his entire stack too. Ahh... heads up, how I love thee.
For the night, limit got me back all the money I lost playing NL. I really should leave the NL to live play.... I need to get to Foxwoods.
Titan Freeroll (Weekly Depositors)
Had the opportunity to play in this freeroll Saturday evening. As it's a freeroll, I don't have a lot at stake in it. It goes off with 803 people. Top 30 pay.
So VERY early on in the tournament, a guy at our table gets a large chip lead. I'm guessing he had to leave or something because he started going all-in on every hand. He was showing such crap and getting lucky. Then he starts to lose a few of them and is no longer the chip leader. I finally decide to look him up. I'm in the SB, he was in middle position and pushes all-in. I have K9o. I call (I have about 80 more chips than he does), figuring it's a freeroll, so if I'm out, no biggie, but if I win, I have a nice chip stack. I am a little worried because if any of the other folks wake up with a hand, they might call. But hopefully my call scares them away. All for naught, it folds around to him. Sure enough, he actually had a hand AT that time and cripples me. Oh well. Blinds are 10/20, but I have a few hands before I'm in the blinds again.
Long story short, about I managed to work that stack up to about 17,000, and finished in 49th place. On a stupid play too. Pushed All-in on a missed (something like 228) flop with AK. He had an overpair and I was gone. But was still proud of my strong battle back.
HERPES LIVES!
Heads Up: Over Betting
I love heads up play. Full Tilt has 4 person heads up tournaments. I LOVE THOSE! Booked a win in one last night. Which I made the bad beat I took right before that easier to take
--- 18 person $8 token tournament. First hand I"m dealt JJ in the SB- Button raises 3 times BB. I re-raise 3 times that. He pushes All-in. Too me that says, no AA or KK since he'd want to put in a smaller raise to keep me on the hook. Maybe QQs, but could easily be a coin flip, and I'd risk a coin flip early to double up and have a nice healthy stack. Wasn't a coin flip... he pops, Kd-3d. Hits his K on the river. I'm out. I took it OK. Stayed around the table to talk some sh-t. Was not suprised to see that guy knocked out 3 people later. So I hoped into that 4 person HU tournament.
Anyway on to the Subject matter. I had some time this morning while my daughter was waking up and jumped into a $5 heads up match. Blinds are low, and I'm widdling the guy down. Every once in a while, I'll check the flop, he'll push 300-400 into an 60 pot?!?! Unless I have a hand, I'm folding. Even if he is bluffing. I'm not going to lose 2/3rd of my stack for 30 chips. So I wait until I get a hand, have him do it, and pop him back. He folds. Sure, he'll get some back, but still. At least he didn't do it every hand. Probably when he hit low or middle pair, or had a small pair. We checked a lot of hands down when he had nothing. But I just couldn't see the benefit of doing that, he would win VERY little, unless I had a strong hand.
He liked to slowplay Kings (which he got twice). Once he won a little bit off me: I hit middle pair, and he bet min amount on flop and turn and made a 1/2 pot bet (still small I think half pot was 80) on the river. 2nd time he slowplayed them, I flopped (or turned, forget which) a straight. Got him down to 400. Few hands later, he went all-in with J4 and I had AT, which held up.
The Lesson: In Heads Up, don't overbet the pot early on. You'll only get called by a strong hand. If you're bluffing you're going to lose chips, and if you have a monster, you won't action that often.
At the Same Time
I was also playing in the $8 token (value: $26) 18 player SnG. Top 5 get tokens, 6 gets money. That one took some patience. I got no good hands and saw my stack dwindling. Before the merge, I was able to double up which put me at just over the original starting chips of $1500. I finally got some cards and chips, stole some pots, and was manage to make my way to the token cash.
Now I need to decide if I want to use it to win a $75 token or enter a Guarnteed $26 tournament. Hmm...
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In one of the SnGs I was playing, I found this hand to be interesting. Basically, I played a hand a certain way, NOT to win money, but to NOT provide info.
In the BB (30/60), I'm dealt pocket 6s. It folds around to the Button who calls, the SB completes, and I check. I was kind of worried about the button limp. Button was known to raise if it folded to him or had minimal limpers.
(180 in the pot)
The Flop wasn't too bad, 2c-Kh-3c.
SB bets, 120, I call, Button folds... guess I didn't need to worry. My call was poor play. I thought I might have the best hand, but still wanted the set before I got aggressive.
(420 in the pot)
TURN: 4d Gives me a gutshot, and still only one over card. But I'm still scared.
SB Bets 360, I call. I only call because if I bet and he re-raises a significant amount, I'll fold.
(1140 in the pot)
RIVER: 6s, no flush possiblities. My fears are gone, but now I'm embarrassed about how I played this hand.
SB bets 600, I re-raise to 1800, he folds. Now I may have done the same type of re-raise should I have played this hand better from the beginning. But I knowingly raised that hoping he'd fold and I wouldn't have to show my catch, no value bet there.
The worst part of this hand is that I'm the chip leader (started hand as chip leader w/ 3660 vs SB's 2355) and I still had this fear. Felt like a complete donkey on this hand.
The funny thing is that it worked for me. I was more than likely ahead the entire time and won more money than if I would have been aggressive early one.
Interesting observation: I could have played this correctly, two ways:
- Aggressive after the flop- wouldn't have made so much money.
- Confident my hand was best... same way I played it, got the same amount (maybe a min raise on the river to try to get a call).
Last Minute Decision to Play
Last night, instead of playing poker, I watched a bunch of it that I had TiVo'd. WSOP 2006, Poker Superstars III and GSN High Stakes. First, ESPN can put together a good show, but can't TOUCH High Stakes Poker with a 10' pole! The best poker on TV, and there's A LOT out there. Poker Superstars III is pretty good, but it's not about the poker, but about the tournament format.
Anyway, afterwards, the Mrs and I watch some shows we had TiVo'd (Treasure Hunters and My Name Is Earl), then she goes to bed. It's getting late, so I figure I'll head to bed shortly too. Hop on the computer, um.. just to check my poker sites (can't get on to Titan to verify I'm registered for the Weekly Depositors Freeroll on Saturday). While I'm on Full Tilt, I decide to see if there are any heads up matches waiting to take off. None at the moment. OK. Well, let's just browse through the SnGs. Hmmm... Well, there's a $8+ token 18 person SnG about to take off. Yeah, why not. CLICK. Oh look a $5 18 person SnG is also about to take off. I could use a little extra cash in my account... CLICK.
Can you say junkie?
Anyway, those turned out to be good choices.
$5 SnG. This one I started off strong, getting some good hands and building an early chip stack.
One key hand - Blinds 25/50 (no SB).
Dealt (K-Jo) on the button. Two limpers, I limp (not a great play, but didn't want to be re-raised with this hand), BB checks.
Flop was decent for me... K - J - K. Gotta play carefully in order to get any money.
BB check, check, bet 150, I call, checkers fold. I'm praying for a K or a J in their hand!
Turn is a blank. Bettor checks. I want to bet, but figure I'll lose him, so I check.
River is a 9, Bettor Checks. Pot is about 500, I bet 350, which... is enough to get a call as he 8-9. He was surprised to see my KJ. If only he knew he was 98% to lose preflop!
We hit the "final table" (basically the 2 tables merged). I had 8000 in chips, 2nd place had 3500. Unfortunately, my stack would fluctuate highly as we got closer to the bubble (top 4 paid).
I was almost crippled with 7 people left, I stepped on a landmind. I was 2nd in chips (5220) and tangled with 4th in chips (but we were close in chips).
I picked up AQo on the button (blinds were 200/400).
PREFLOP: Folds to me I raise to 1400, SB just calls, BB folds.
FLOP: 9-2-2 rainbow. WHIFF, but with just a smooth call, he probably missed this too. He could have 99 (but might have raised preflop), and could have A9. He could have a smaller pair too. I thought and pushed all-in for 3820. He thinks, and thinks. It looks like he's going to time-out fold. So I'm feeling better. He finally calls, and flips over AK. ARRRRGGHH!
TURN is a 3. I'm pretty much done. Gonna be left with less than 1000 in chips.
I check my other SnG to see how I'm fairing in that one. I play my hand there.
I come back to this table, have a marginal hand and want to double check my chip stack before pushing all-in. HUH??? I have my original stack plus 200. Click on Hand history...
AH, the river was a 2nd 3. Giving us BOTH 2s and 3s with an A kicker... SWEET SUCKOUT!
It rejuvenated me. I played hard, and managed to get heads up with a slight chip DISadvantage. Worked it up to a BIG chip advantage... dropped it down to about 5000 to 22,000. Built it back up to even money, then proceed to drop it and finish in 2nd.
I felt good about the play and was glad I finished with some good cash.
New Section
I put in a new section on the sidebar today.
I don't often tell bad beats, and I can usually let them run off of me without too much tilting, but sometimes I just need to vent. So go ahead and skip it unless you like to read bad beats (these aren't crushing beats, just ones that pop up day-to-day that all poker players come across.
Flop a Set.. Fold a Set
2nd hand of a turbo Cardiff ($1 sng, shorthanded).
In the cutoff, I'm dealt pocket fives.
UTG folds.
UTG+1 min raises to 20.
I call.
Button calls.
SB raises TO 80.
Everyone, like sheep, calls the extra 60.
FLOP: Ah-5h-Qh. YES A SET, could be in trouble, but I still will likely get some chips in the pot.
SB ALL-IN - 910. No problem, if he had the flush he probably wouldn't have bet it so heavy. I'll be calling that!
BB Calls... OK, now I'm worried... think, think.... I could still be good.
UTG+1 Calls.. Adios Set.
SB had Aces (no heart).
BB had K-10 off (king of heats) flush and straight draw.
UTG+1 9h-10h flush.
TURN came another heart, giving K10 the win.
Obvious lay down for me. But still hurts to put down a set. Might have been my first time.
A much needed Vacation - non poker related.
OK. Well, yet another long while w/o a post. I have SOME excuse this time. I was away with the family on vacation. It was our first actual vacation since our daughter (who's now 2 1/2). In the past we had taken all our vacations to visit her family and my family. But now that we live two hours away from my wife's family and we seem them every month, we actually have one free week.
We decided to stay with in driving distance, and headed up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. VERY nice! My daughter LOVED the pool. We got her some floaties, and one of those big long pink foam "noodles". She put the noodle under her arms, swam around singing, "I'm swimmin' like a noodle." She's so precious.
We also spent a lot of time at the playground in town. Had a big jungle gym in the playground and a little water area that the kids could run around and get soaked.
We did some typical touristy things. Went up a big gondola to the top of a mountain. But it was too buggy and cloudy to see. We also drove to the top of White Mountain (scary ass road!), 6288ft, but again, cloudy and didn't have much view from the top. On the way up (and down) we were able to stop and get some breathtaking views.
There's also a little amusement park there, called Storyland. Has a bunch of rides and sets up based on fairy tales. It was perfect for her age and we spent the whole day there.
It was just a nice relaxing vacation, and much needed. And an entire week without poker! I don't know how I tolerated it!
Herpes Lives!
I was playing in a $2.40 Zurich (turbo 10 handed). I made the mistake of selecting turbo 10 handed. Blinds go too fast. I like Turbo 6 handed. ANYWAY... I was super card dead. And people were playing kinda tight. So I found myself with 7 people left (blinds at 150/300) with about 650. I REALLY got nothing to play. A two levels (50/100) earlier I got AA in the BB. Folded to SB who called. I raised to 300, he folded.
Anyway I'm in the BB and have half my chips, it's folded to me. In teh SB I go all in, and the BB folds. I get some marginal hands, I battle back. I'm short stacked 4 handed. Battled some more. Got REALLY lucky on two hands, doubling through the chip leader twice. Ended up 3 handed, and I was the chip leader. I ended up taking it home.
HERPES LIVES ON!
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They call me, Herpes. Just when you think you got rid of me, I'm back!
Multi Tabling
I like to multi-table. Usually, I like to play 2 maybe three. Usually a combination of SnGs and Cash games.
This morning I played a heads-up SnG on FTP and lost. So I decided to play a 2nd one. As I started my 2nd heads-up tournament, I started another heads up match on Titan.
I managed to win both (after falling behind in both). But let me tell you, I suggest you don't multi-table heads up? You're in every hand and have to concentrate on each match. Woo! That was a mistake.
Note: I like Phil Gordon, but his fake laugh (ESPN's Poker Edge Podcast) is SOOOO annoying (don't hate me Dawn).
Atlantic City closing Down?
From CNN:
New Jersey begins statewide shutdown
Lottery stopped; casinos could be next
What will Dawn and Karol do??? There will be rioting in the streets!
I figured their forays to AC would pay for any budget problems NJ had!
An Experiment
I usually play the micro limits at any online site I play, whether it's no-limit or limit. Well I decided to up my limits for once. This is only a test. Playing some low limit I was able to cash $150 out of Titan and Party Poker. It's been sitting there while I try to decide what to do with it. I decided to put $50 into Full Tilt and give a go @ the 2-4 limits. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons. I want to build the bankroll a little faster, and will do this only for $50, if I blow it, I won't be throwing in more money. Basically, at the micro-limits it's a tough grind. You wait, wait, wait, get a monster, and BAM, you win $5.00. This will put a little more meaning into the amounts being bet, and a little more excitement into the grind.
I started this morning. The key thing for me to do is to stick with the full table games, and focus on patience. I only played a little this morning, and patience did fail me when I decided to play Q10 from middle position. I hit a Q (QJ7) on the flop. I bet it, got a re-raise, and just called. The turn came an Ace, I bet. Guy called. The river was a blank, I bet, he thought and thought and then folded. I'm glad I won, but I'm kickin' myself for playing it. Anyway, I didn't play long (about two rotations), but I finished up $30.
I'll keep you up to date on how I progress.
Why, oh why do I tilt...
And KNOW I'm tilting, but continue to go down that destructive path!
Thursday morning, I had $25 left in Party Poker after cashing out another $50 (from the free $20 they gave me). I blew threw $10 of it. So last night, I played and turned the $15.00 into $35.00.
So this morning, I decide to try to make some quick money. It's all free anyway now. So I take $15 and hop at their $1/$2 limit table. I quickly blow threw that, trying to bluff even when I know I shoulded. I blow through that. I take $10.00 to the .50/1.00 limit table... and proceed to blow through that. (I've tilted myself for playing @ the 1/2 when I know I shouldn't have). Then I say screw it, major tilting for blowing through $30 of my $35, I take the remainder (it's actually $6 plus change), to their lowest NL (.10/.25) and wait for a hand and push. I get dealt AK a few hands in, and preflop there's a small raise. I re-raise from the BB, and one limper, re-raises, then another puts another big raise, limp-raiser, pushes all-in, so does next player, and me, knowing one of them has aces... calls (both had me covered). Now I don't know their hands until all cards are dealt. And watching it, the flop comes x-Q-J. I'm golden after the turn of a 10. Follow that up with a Q on the river. The first raiser (not the limp-raiser) has the aces, which I would have cracked, if the limp-raiser didn't show his pocket Js for the full boat.
This entire morning was a joke and a tilt fest of which I knew I was doing and shouldn't have been playing. But I did anyway. WHY???? So my party poker account is depleted. Now I just have to watch for them to throw some more cash my way. I still have about $30 on Titan (blew threw $10 of that online in a mini-tilt fest). Plus, $150 sitting in my firepay account. I don't want to hit that, because I want to cash that out and put that money towards either a laptop or a Xbox 360.
This weekend I might be playing in my brother-in-laws game. He usually tries to put one together when I'm in town. It's a $50 buy-in, he usually has 9-10 people. Winner usually takes home $250, and the last two times I've played, I was that winner! What I like about it is that there are plenty of chips there is plenty of play and you're never worried about the blinds!
Father's Day, Kids Say The Darndest Things, and That was My Idea!
OK, I missed the World Blogger Championship on Pokerstars today. Father's day, and the family and I went to see, Cars. Funny movie (but I love Pixar movies). If you plan on seeing it. Stay for the credits. There is a hilarious scene where the cars are watching other Pixar movies. I had tears in my eyes.
I've noticed this trend for a few years now, so it really irks me. Many moons ago, when I was in college the first time, I took a marketing class. One of the projects, was to create an ad campaign for a niche product. Basically, something that there wasn't a big market for already. So my group (me and two girls) first weret going to do a better Playgirl. From what I was told (I swear I wouldn't know), Playgirl was pretty lame. The girls thought it was cheesey and had no real content, whereas Playboy has the adult side, but is more than just a nudie mag (It is???) Anyway, we ended up scrapping that idea (I had no problem doing it, I forgot why it was scrapped) and went with marketing a shower gel towards men. There wasn't one on the market, they were either gender neutral or aimed towards women. So we drew up storyboards, for a commercial and we thought we did really well. We only got a B on the project, and from the response and questions from the teacher, we felt he gave us that grade because he didn't think the product would sell. NOW I SEE COMMERCIALS FOR BODY GEL FOR MEN ALL THE TIME!!!! SOMEONE OWES US ROYALTIES!!!
One evening I was picking out books to read to my daughter before she goes to bed (she's 2 1/2). I asked her if she wanted Curious George. "No, it sucks."
Good night everybody.
Who's The Bigger Donkey?
I think it was me, because I knew I was self-destructing. I was playing some $.50/$1.00 limit on Party Poker last night. I have $30 in there, and bought in for $10. There are lots of action at the table, not allowing limps and stuff, so I'm waiting for hands. I had my buy in up to 15 and down to 5. Finally at one point with about $9 bucks after an hour, I'm getting frustrated. And I feel myself becoming self-destructive.
I'm dealt pocket 9s in the SB. I raise and get a re-raise from the button (who limped) and I call (we're the only two in the hand).
The flop is 8 high (8-6-2 rainbow). I BET and right there I actually think.. "I'm probably beat here, but I'm going broke with this hand." I bet, button raises, I re-raise, and he caps it.
Turn is a J, same process.. capping betting.
River is a K, same process... I end up all-in.
He flips over pocket 5s. I double up. I asked him who he thought was the bigger donkey.. he didn't know either.
Funny hand later, I'm dealt KJo (which everyone knows is 98% to win preflop), so I raised, and got a couple of callers.
Flop comes: K-7-8. One guy checks, I bet, 2nd guy folds, checker calls.
Turn: 9. Checker BETS... oh crap, don't tell me he hit two pair or his straight. I call.
River: 10. CRAP! now I KNOW he hit his straight. He had to! I'm waiting for him to bet, I have it on AUTO-CHECK in case he checks to induce a bet, I'll just check (though I'll call if he bets). Suddenly it hits me. I HIT A STRAIGHT. Sweet. He bets, I re-raise, he calls. All he had was a pair of 9s.
Ended up finishing the session up an extra 17 bucks.
Another Day, Another Quads.
Not normally a fan of PartyPoker.com, but they gave me $20 to play, I can cash out after I played 200 raked hands. Did this once before a couple of months ago, but hated the software. I decided this time to play 0.50/1.00, limit this time. I did enjoy their limit better than the no limit side of things (I hate their damn slide bar!)
The limit was a bit high for my $20, but since it's limit I wasn't going to lose it all on a mediocre hand. At the same time I played 6 handed, which allowed me to open up my starting hand requirem
Dealt QQ. Flop comes QKQ. That's nice.
What's nicer, is my opponent flopped a straight draw, that came on the river with a J. Was able to get him all-in, and make a nice chunk.
I was able to play about 100 raked hands, and turn turn the $20.00 into $70.00. Maybe I'll stick around this time.
A Great Feeling
I'm gonna rehash this question from TripJax survey a month ago.
12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot?
There really should be a 3rd option to this. While Aces holding up is nice, you don't have too much control over that. And with bluffing, if you show them, it feels really good, but if you don't show many hands, people won't know they've been bluffed.
To me, the best feeling is when they fall into your well set trap (ie Quad Control). It's a great feeling when they push all-in and all you have to do is smile and flip over your cards. Sets are great for that too. Though I had sets cracked twice last night. Both time getting all the money in on the turn with my sets good. Once vs two pair Aces and Fives... 3rd ace came on the river. 2nd time vs AdKd, flop was Qd-Jd-x, turn was a blank. River was a diamond. While that does suck, the feeling of being able to flip over your monster or semi-monster, knowing it's best feels fantastic.
Quad Control
Seriously, over the last 2 weeks, I've hit quads... 5 or 6 times. Seriously. I hit it last night (I don't rememer the situation, I'll have to check it out later). Then again this morning.
I'm in a $5 Shorthanded Turbo SnG on Titan. I was the chip leader early, then with three left, I hit a couple of hands and doubled up twice through the 2nd place person, the second time, all but knocking him out.
Suddenly, I'm heads up with someone who has a slight chip lead. I'm the BB with the blinds of 150/300.
I'm dealt Qs6s.
Button raises to 600. I call.
FLOP: Q - Q - 2
Bingo! I thought about putting a bet out there, thinking a slow play might be obvious here, but during the tournament I had checked abunch of times after I missed the flop.
He bets 300. I wait a few seconds and call.
TURN: Q
BINGO! BANGO! BONGO! OK, lets see if we do it again. I wait, then check. He bets out $600. This time I let the time run almost out, and call.
RIVER: J
Please, please, PLEASE have a J. OK. If he has nothing, I don't think I'll get anything. One more time than. Check. He doesn't hesitate... ALL-IN! BIIIIIGGGG Smile. I take a moment to let him know, "I have Quads." Then hit call. He had absolutely nothing. I think 10-5 off. A few hands later, I bust him.
I have to say poker is easy when you can get quads everytime.
Some Hand Analysis.
Three Hands from the other night.
First hand of a SnG - I’m the BB and I’m dealt 10-4o. It limps around to me (with 3 limpers).
FLOP: 3d-5s-6d
SB and Myself Check, early position bets 10, all but SB calls.
TURN: 2s
SWEET! I bet out 50. One caller.
RIVER: 4h….. to quote Dawn…. “Sad Panda.”
I check, opponent bets the pot: 170. I make the crying call, and he shows his 67 for the higher straight. I’m lost about a 1/4 of my chips.
VERY NEXT HAND
HERO: 77 in the small blind. (5)
A couple of limpers preflop, but then the button raises to 100. I call, really just wanting to see the flop. This might be a mistake. But it’s hard for me to lay down a pocket pair preflop, I want my set! Anyway, UTG calls the raise as well.
FLOP: 8d-7h-4c *DING! DING! DING!* We have a winner.
I simply check. UTG does the same, and Button bets 100.
I delay a few seconds, to give the impression of thinking and smooth call. UTG does the same, and I get a little flicker worry about an 88 from him.
TURN: Qh
I like that card. I check, UTG checks again. OK, he can’t have 88. I mean who would check their set TWICE! Oh wait… I just did. Button pushes All-in (790). I have UTG acting after me, but part of me wants him to call (560 more). Losing Set over Set is nothing to be ashamed of… right…… RIGHT? A moot point as UTG folds. And I know it’s mine.
The Queen was more beautiful than I knew. Button shows, AQ, and I take down a HUGE pot. I win 1740 and BUTTON gets his 230 back.
OK, a little while later Button From Above (BFA) was still short stacked and he’s UTG. I’m UTG+1.
I’m dealt QQ. HA!
BFA goes All-In for 280.
Normally this is an automatic call for me. But this time I actually stop to think… not about whether to call… that’s obvious, but do I want to RAISE. I decide, yes, I want to isolate and just eliminate this guy. So I raise HUGE to $1040.
UTG+2 calls. HUH? Unexpected. But his call is just for 935, so I have him covered. Folds around.
BOARD: 7s – 9h – Jc – 3c – Jh
UTG: had A2s
UTG+2: AQ. I LOVE you AQ! STAY AWAY FROM ME!
I take down another big pot. Have a HUGE chip lead. Eliminated 2 people (6 handed SnG). Unfortunately, I busted out 3rd, just out of the money :(
Email Me!
One complaint about www.Blogger.com is the lack of an anonymous email option. I want folks to be able to get a hold of me if they wish, AND at the same time, not leave my email out there for anyone to find. But, luckily for me, I found Lyco HTML GEAR. Some good free options for websites. So now you have the option to contact me via email (check out the ABOUT ME section or my profile) besides comments. Please still leave comments. Love to here from my three stalker... er... readers!
I’m a SUCH a Donkey… (I should work on this… it’s a running theme to this blog)
Luckily, my opponent was a bigger one.
I decide to play one game of heads up (on Titan Poker) last night before I go to bed.. I usually play $1 or $2, sometimes as high as $5. This time however, I decided on one game of $10. My goal is to turn this 50 into 100 and cash half out to go to another site (not sure if it'll be back to Full Tilt, go to PokerStars or try that WorldPX.com). I figured I could afford to lose $10, and if I win I'm about $10 bucks away from my goal.
$10 HEADS UP MATCH
Blinds started 5/10 – 1000 in chips.
First Hand:
Button: Big Donkey (aka me)
Big Blind: Huge Donkey (opponent)
BD is dealt K8o.
BD raises to 35. (4x is the kind of the standard raise the way their drag bar is set up)
HD raises to 60.
BD calls.
FLOP – 3s-8d-6s
HD bets 90
BD raises to 270. My thought process is, 90 could be continuation bet, I want to see where I am. Figuring, if he raises, I can fold this.
HD raises all-in.
Now I wish I could say that I thought this out. And reasoned my way to figuring he had no real hand. But it was just a feeling with no basis. I never played with the guy it was the first hand. He was aggressive throughout, he could have had pretty much any higher pocket pair or over cards, a set. Anything. I just didn’t think so. I called pretty quickly.
My K8 is flipped, his Q8 is flipped, TURN and RIVER is no help to him. I take down the entire match on one hand.
WOO HOO!
Sometimes It's Just Not Your Night
Finished up some homework... (yes I'm back in school... jeez almost 9 years have gone by since I got my degree), decided to play some poker while I waited.
First was a simple $5.00 short-handed SnG. Could NOT get a hand at all, managed to finish 4th.
At the same time I jumped into a $1.00 SnG with my MSR Cohorts. I managed 2nd (which is where the most money is), but again, that was just a waiting game, and all I did was manage to NOT bust out. I got very few hands. I was going to try one more SnG, but thought better of it, and headed to bed by 11pm for the first time in a week!
HU and Donkey Play (2 Separate Subjects)
Played this person tonight, heads up. Check this out:
Blinds are 10/20- I was ahead in chips- 1100 to 900. And I'm on the button.
Hero: QQ.
Hero: Calls 10 (just a limper here, I'm hoping for raise)
Donk: Raises another 20.
Hero: (this was a dumb play by me). I raise it 160 (I clicked the slider too fast, and was about to adjust it back, but figured to try for the over-bet to get a call.
Donk: Thinks for a long time....... Calls (pot is now 360).
FLOP: 7h - 2c - 8h.
Hero: Thinks.... Bets a little less than the pot (280).
Donk: Min-raise to 560.
Pretty much a no brainer. If he wouldn't have thought so hard about the 160 preflop, I would have been worried about AA or KK, heck even AK. But the fact that he thought so hard and then quickly min-raised me. I figured he was putting a move. And if he had a set, so be it.
Hero: Pushes all-in (635)
Donk: Calls (135 and is all-in)
Donk shows Ac-5d.
TURN: Jd
RIVER: 9s
I take down another win.
------------
After that, I decided to check Titan Pokers records of my matches over the last 30 days.
27 heads up matches
17 wins
------
63% - not too shabby.
Poor Showing In Heads Up II
Well, I made it past the first round, soundly beating my opponent 2-0 (this time around, they changed the format to 2 out of 3). It took about 2 weeks to finally hook up with my 2nd opponent. I took at early lead beating him in the first one. He was card dead and I got a bit lucky on a few hands. The second match he got the cards. The third match. Well the third match, I lost because I played poorly. There were two calls that were HIGHLY questionable... by questionable, I mean fucking stupid.
First I lost about 200 with K3 on a board of nothing 10c-2d-Qd-Jc-3c. I tried to buy it with 80 on the flop. We both checked on the turn. He bet another 80 on the river. I knew my 3 was no good but called it anyway.
The very next hand, I lost 320 on a hand of 10/4s. Board came 4c- Jc- 5s - 3d - 5c. I bet about 60 on the turn, which was called, then I bet 120 on the river. He re-raised to 240, and I called knowing I was beat.
At that point I was on the ropes and with a 300 to his 1700. I got it up to about 350, but that was about it. And I was out. I definitely felt like I could beat him, but I played those two poorly. I also felt I played the shortstack pretty crappy too. The blinds were 20/40 when I lost. And while I had less than 10x the big blind. I should have played some hands a little slower to try to get more action.
I'll get 'em next time. Good job Pock!
Change In Comments
For those who read this but aren't registered users, you can now leave comments. if you use anonymous, just rember to let me know who you are.
Damn Pride!
Titan Poker has set up a short-handed SnG for the MSR All-In Poker Podcast. It's a simple $1.05 buy-in, winner gets a token into a monthly tournmanet (where the winner of THAT tournaments gets a token into Titan's 25K Guaranteed Tournament). Second Place= $3.00, 3rd= $1.80 and 4th= $1.20. Unfortunately, as it stands, winning a 2nd token means nothing. So going into the SnG I was aiming for 2nd. Now the problem with that, is that this is a SnG with people I "know" from the podcast's message boards.
I do pretty well the entire SnG, and end up getting heads up the chip leader (I think 6500 vs 2500) and was torn. I wanted to go for the cash, but pride was on the line as well. If this was a bunch of strangers, I would have slowly donked of chips, raising then folding. But since these were people that I talk to and play against on a semi-regular basis, and compound that with the fact that my opponent is a psuedo-celebrity on the podcast (finshed 11th I believe 2 or 3 years ago at the WPT Finals @ Foxwood AND won entry into this years WSOP Main Event on Full Tilt), part of me wanted to win.
I've played my opponent before (weekly tournaments, the Token SnG and once heads up- beat him in that one heads up match) and it feels good to play well against him. The first half of heads up battle I was trying to win, but discussing with him if I should throw it. He said he didn't want to win if I was going to throw it, so I decided to try for first (still torn, but was trying to win). He's win some chips back and I'd knock him back down, then I'd double him up once or twice and knock him back down. I think I had him as low as about 1100 in chips. In the end, he developed a strong read on me, and was able to avoid pots, where he didn't hit anything. And with my aggressive style, milk chips out of me when he did. The worst was when I hit 2 pair on the turn and double him up. I think on that turn he got his Straight (he may have had it on the flop). I think I picked up something too, but it wasn't until after the match that I realized it. So, I'm sure we'll face each other again, I'll see if I can use that to my advantage. In the end the 2 pair vs Straight, was the beginning of the end. I doubled him up two more times, giving him the chip lead and I never got it back. He had me on the ropes, once where I started to fight back, but was quickly swatted down and knocked out. Of course, I am now claiming that I threw the match for the money :)
I managed to get the top money spot of the SnG by finishing 2nd, which was what I wanted going into it, but my pride took a pounding. I'll see you again Yo. Count on it.
Quads for EVERYONE!
Dawn, from I Had Outs writes:
I have to say poker is easy when you can get quads everytime.
Well, while reading that post, I was sitting in a Titan Poker 6 handed SnG (unfortunately, Titan's hand history SUCKS and you can't cut and paste it). Shortly after finishing the post, I get pocket 10s UTG I raise about 4 times the BB, everyone folds to the SB who's short stacked, he re-raises (less than double my raise), I push all-in, he calls with AQ. Flop gives me my set of 10s. Turn is a blank. River gives me my 4th 10. Gotta love quads.
7 hands later, I'm SB (4 handed now) with KQo. Dealer min raises (blinds 30/60). I call. Flop comes Q-5-Q (note: the hand RIGHT before this, the flop was Q-5-Q). JACKPOT... I check. Button bets 200, I min raise to 400. He raises another 400, I finally just push all-in. He calls (I have him covered). He shows pocket 9s. Weird. Anyway, the turn comes... Q. Giving me my 2nd QUADs of the SnG.
Poker IS easier when you hit quads!
Poker Stars World Blogger Championship.
I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.
Registration code: 7330476
FOXWOODS NOTICE!!!
No, no new news about Foxwoods. But just wanted to let all my readers ( I think there are three of you) know that I plan on hitting Foxwoods the evening of Saturday June 3rd. So if anyone else is going to be there that evening, drop me a line.
That's the day of my usual monthly home game, but I think I'm going to start alternating between the home game one month and Foxwoods the next. Hard to make any cash at the home games. Even if you win two tournaments you're still only a few bucks up.
TripJax 21 Questions
Sure, I'll jump on the bandwagon, always looking for something that my 3 readers can read. This is a questionaire from TripJax
1. What is the biggest mistake people make at a NL table?
- I play micro limit cash games, I'd have to say, over-valuing ace high after the flop.
2. What is the biggest mistake people make at a Limit table?
- Bluffing.
3. Why do you play poker?
- It's fun, it's risky, and it's gambling. I love that you're not playing the house, so the odds aren't stacked against you.
4. If you weren't playing poker, what would you be doing?
- Playing video games or watching TV with the wife (I'm trying to cut down on my online playing in order to hang with her a bit more)
5. What is your favorite poker book and why?
- Positively Fifth Street (listened to the Audiobook). It combined poker with the Binion Trial. It mixed it up.
6. Who is your favorite poker player and why?
- Favorite... Daniel Negreanu. Great friendly personality, and has some great reading ability. How he didn't go broke earlier on the 1st day of the 2005 WSOP (against Farha) is beyond me. The most amazing laydowns I've ever seen.
7. Which poker player do you dislike the most and why?
- The Mouth, he's basically just a jerk. He tries to put spin on it, but he's basically a jerk.
8. Do your coworkers know about your blog?
- Nope, I just let the folks at MSR's All-in Poker Podcast know I have a blog though.
9. What is the most you have won in a cash game or MTT (both live and online)?
- Cash game Live: $350 (1/2 NL). (though I've won $250, twice at my Brother-in-Law's home games) Cash game Online: probably about $70 in one session (.5/1.00 NL)
10. What is the most you have lost in a cash game or in one day total (both live and online)?
- Live: Probably $150. I usually don't bring a ton of money. Since i live close to Foxwoods, I don't mind busting out and heading home. Online: Probably about $100 in one sitting, but it was a combination of cash games, SnGs and online Craps.
11. Who was your first poker blog read?
- F-Train. And that led me to I Had Outs, which is my favorite.
12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot?
- If it's against my friends, the bluff. Casino (or online), Aces... though my biggest satisfaction comes from seeing a cheap flop and hitting my set and getting someone to put all their chips in (and it holding up).
13. Why do you blog?
- I have no one around me interested in poker enough to really discuss it.
14. Do you read blogs from an RSS reader like bloglines or do you visit each blog?
- Visiting each individual site. Though I might switch to bloglines for some.
15. Would you rather play poker for a living than do what you currently do for a living?
- I dislike my job. So Poker.
16. Do you wear a tin foil hat on occasion?
- I have no idea what you are talking about... but if you love me... if you EVER loved me, you'll find my baby a HUSBAND! (any takers on that quote?)
17. If you had to pin it down to one specific trait, what does a great poker player have (or do) that separates them from an average player?
- Observational skills.
18. Is Drizz the coolest person on the planet for naming his baby Vegas?
- I have no idea who Drizz is. However, I do kinda like the name.
19. What is your primary poker goal and are you close to accomplishing it?
- Simple and common... become a winning poker player. I often feel like I'm close, but then I go on donking sessions.
20. What is your primary online site and why?
- Full Tilt, I like their set up. Feels comfortable. I also like Titan Poker, but only because they're sponsors for MSR.
21. What site do you dislike and why?
- PartyPoker. Their software sucks.
Simply A Donk... But A Lucky One.
Once again I donked off all my FTP cash and most of my Titan. I was down to my last $3, which I need most of that to play my next heads up match. Well, I jumped into a SnG with 5 MSR board bangers, and got unlucky, not bad beats, just whenever I caught a hand, someone would catch a slightly better one (K8 vs K9, AT vs AJ, etc.). Combine that with the fact that I was playing MLB 2005 and the game was cheating (throwing to First base when no one was there! JERK!), I was tilting. So I say screw it, take my last 2.30, which is what it will cost to play my heads up matches, and jump into a .02/.04 cash game. Either losing it or doubling up.
So I do play conservative, waiting for hand. Get pockets 9s on the button. UTG limps in, so does a few other folks, I raise to a frightening $0.16! I know crazy. The Blinds fold and UTG re-raises All-in (he has me covered). Everyone else folds.
OK, side note. I wasn't really paying attention. I was more focused on the SnG I just got knocked out of, so all of a sudden the table I'm at is flashing, so I pop over, and see a raise and just call. Didn't even check the size of the raise. In that split second I knew I was doomed. Raise like that screams aces or kings. Well Titan doesn't show usually show you the hands at an all-in until AFTER the hand is over (big complaint). But my worry about losing my final 2 bucks ended on the flop.... X - 9 - 9. Quad NINES! Sweet. My opponent had KK. And I doubled up.
That pulled me off my tilt and I played smarter. I got it up to 8 bucks last night when I won a 6 person Turbo SnG. Winning hand was another suck out. I had Q3, my opponent just checked. FLOP comes 7-5-Q (rainbow). I bet, he just calls. TURN: 4 (made 2 to a flush on the board). This time I figure I want to put him to the test, and push all-in (we're about even in chips, I have a slight lead). This time Titan shows the hands before the rest of the cards, and he has AA. OUCH! But the river quickly comes the beautiful 3. Ahhh, two pair.
Home Game Tournaments.
This weekend was my monthly home game with some friends and co-workers. Basically they start @ 3pm and we tend to play 5-6 $10 tournaments. You start with $20 in chips, and the blinds are .25/.50. Unfortunately, the blinds double every 15 minutes. It guarantees getting a bunch of tournaments in during that time, but the downside is that there's little room for play torward the end.
I did pretty well, managing 2 first place finishes. But after a long night of playing a bunch of tournaments, plus ordering food, and picking up flowers on the way home for the wife for Mother's Day, I broke about even. But this is a friendly game, and not really there to make money. It's about playing poker.
And I played pretty well in the two games I won. It's been a few days so details are a little fuzzy. The first game was really, just waiting for the right moments and outlasting a few folks. Then a strong heads up performance.
The 2nd game I won, was more getting hit with the cards, and knowing the right time to check and let them bet into me. Two key hands I did this:
(5 people left) I was dealt K9o in the SB. I called a raise of 3x BB from th button. no other callers. Flop comes K-x-x. All low. I quickly check. The button thinks for a moment. For a moment and goes all-in. I quickly call. "FUCK! You have the King." I flip over my hand. He shows pocket 10s. Turn and River doesn't help him and I bust him out.
(4 people left), I'm dealt Ac5c in the BB. Everyone limps and I make a small raise to reduce the field. Cutoff calls. Flop comes with 2 clubs. I check, he checks. Turn brings my beautiful nut flush. I check. He checks. DAMN. The river brings a 4th boarded club. Now I figure I really got no chance at money. I check. CO things, and pushes all-in. I quickly call. I flip over my nut flush and he mucks and is eliminated.
(side note: I had something very similar happen online a few days later. Unfortunately the 4th club on the river brought my opponent a straight flush! DOH! Can't complain about losing to a straight flush).
Three handed, I had a HUGE chip lead (only top two get paid). I'm dealt Q8, I raise, one caller. Flop comes 3-8-J. I don't hesitate and push all-in. The guy goes into the tank, trying to figure out what I had. Asking if I had pocket jacks. I'm worried. not worried about the 8. Finally he folds, just not liking it. I muck 'em. He starts asking me what I had. I didn't want to tell him at first. He asked, "Did you have 2 pair?"- "No".- He tells me he had a pair.- "Me too." - "Jacks?" "No." He's starting to think. I can tell he's about to tilt. "I had an 8." He's pissed (not at me). Didn't say he what he had but it was either pocket 10s or pocket 9s. He couldn't stop talking about that misread and ended up busting out the the other guy a few hands later. AH, I love the power of the big stack.
MSR HEADS UP CHAMPION
That's right kids, I won the heads up tournament I was in, with my fellow boardbangers, at MySportsRadio.com. I ended up going heads up vs Cornishjames in the best 2 out of 3.
The sad thing is that I had only enough to play two heads up matches on Titan in my bankroll. I made sure I had enough that if I lost the first match, I could play the 2nd one. I think his lack of sleep had something to do with it. But in fairness, I offered to play the matches another time. He insisted. He just finished his semi-finals and I think he was feeling good, despite the fact that it was like 4am his time.
The first match, I got off to an early lead about 5 hands in when my top pair beat out his 2nd pair. After that he had trouble battling back. This was another scenario where I took the lead and never looked back. He got unlucky in that when he did push a big raise at me, I often had something, and would push back harder, and he'd have to fold. There were a few times where the fact that I won the first game made me a bit more aggressive. He'd push, and if I thought he was weak or just felt like gambling, I'd push back and he'd have to fold. In the end he didn't play his short stack aggressive enough. I had about 1800 to his 200 and he'd fold or call and then fold to any bet I made. At one point he had just over $100 and chips. And this is how it went down.
Blinds were $10/$20.
CJ (SB)
ME (BB): KJo (which everyone knows this is a 98% favorite).
CJ limps in.
I check.
FLOP: 7c - 2c - As
I bet $40
CJ calls
TURN: 3c
I go All-in (which will basically put him all in as he only has $110 left.)
He folds
Afterwards he says he had KK, but the ace and the 3 clubs scared him away. In headsup, especially if you're that short stacked, that's an auto-all-in. Oh, well. I put him away the next hand when I have Q-6o and he had 6-2o. And that time he did push all-in preflop.
I played pretty good in those matchups, minimizing my losses. I think my biggest mistake was limping in with an ace. Which I did numerous times, trying to hide the strength of my hand. Doing it once or twice is OK, but I did it pretty much every time. Oh well, it worked in the end.
So here's what the bracket looked liked:
I'm glad to say that they're putting together a 2nd Heads Up Tournament, and I'll be defending my title.
I'll go into my monthly home game in another post.
I Know When I'm TOO Tired To Play
So yesterday morning, I was trying to schedule my second match up in the MSR Heads Up Tournament. The plan is to play tonight, but I told my opponent I would hop on LAST night and see if we can get it out of the way. Well, my opponent wasn't on, and I was thankful. I was too tired to really focus on playing. So what did I do? I played heads up against other people on Titan Poker. And proceed to drop about $50. Then in an effort to make money back, I did what I say I'd never do. I played online Craps on their site. And proceed to lose almost all of my bankroll (lucky it was all free money). In the end, my $100+ account, ended with $5.50. Nice. I was RIGHT! I was TOO tired to play poker. JERK!
Poker Playlist?
I love my Ipod. I mean... truly love it. It's an unnatural love. But I'm trying to put together some poker related playlist, and only have a few so far. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The Gambler- Kenny Rogers
That Was a Game of Poker- O.A.R
A Little Less Conversation- Elvis vs JXL (not really poker, but has some links)
Mike Matusow's "He Was a Donk" (can't stand the guy so I might delete it).
Money- Beatles.
A Valuable Lesson Learned
I was playing in a satellite into the FTP's 200k Guaranteed. It's early and I'm at average stack. Meanwhile, I'm also playing in a cash game (I will often multi-table a tournament and a low, no-limit cash game. Keeps me playing tighter so I don't donk of my chips by being bored. In the cash game I'm dealt a pretty bad hand, and I'm about to fold it. Suddenly, the tournament window pops open and I accidentally re-raise someone with 45o. I was pretty much all in and had a gutshot straight after the flop so I put in my remaining chips and said good bye.
When playing more than one table, make sure the windows are staggered so you don't accidentally act on the wrong table because it pops up.
That is my public service announcement.
FTP Affiliate
I've recently joined the Full Tilt Poker Affiliates. Basically, I get bonuses for signing up people. SOOOO.... this is where I pimp myself... If anyone was planning on signing up for Full Tilt Poker you can click on one of the links on the right and in the bonus code section put in: unimpressed
Thank you for your time.
