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!
Why, oh why do I tilt...
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.
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After that, I decided to check Titan Pokers records of my matches over the last 30 days.
27 heads up matches
17 wins
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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.
