Well, no LEAGUE poker. Instead one of my “regular” home games got together on Saturday evening. $20 buy-in, unlimited re-buys for the first hour (15 minute levels). There’s usually a cash game after.
Nine players started the tournament. Early on the flop came with paired 6’s a # of times. We started joking that a 6 was the nuts. But you had to have ONE 6, not a pair of sixes. I won a few hands with a 6 or even bluffed some hand with a 6. The host even raised under the gun with 56, and hit trips on the flop, he won a big pot.
The game settled down after a while. I built up a decent stack, but it was starting to dwindle. 3 handed some donkey had a MASSIVE chip stack and the host and I were down to barely anything. Less than 10 BB probably. We both managed a double up or two.
I’m in the BB and have a little less than the host. Slappy is still the big stack. Host pushes all in, Slappy tanks, and I call with 66. Host shows A7. Slappy shows an A. I dodge the flop and the turn, but the river brings an Ace and I busted on the bubble.
The cash games started while those two battled heads up. It went back and forth for probably another 30 minutes.
Early in the cash game (4 handed- .25/.50), I raised UTG with AQ. I got one caller. The flop was all low. I C-bet and got called. The turn was an 8. I checked and gave up control. The caller bet out and I called. I just didn’t think he had much. The river was a J. He bet out again and I just didn’t think he had anything. He’s been known to push hard when he has busted draws. I called and showed A high. He had Q high and I was good. At that point I only built my stack. At one point, I was up to about 70 bucks (from a 20 buy in). As it got late I found myself bleeding chips. Slappy and the host got into the game (Slappy took it down). I still hovered around the 50 mark. In the end there were only 4 of us again: me, host, host’s brother-in-law, some other guy.
We decide it’s the last hand of the night, I’m UTG so I straddle. The host double straddles and cards are dealt. The SB folds, the BB calls the $2, and I look down at AQ. I raise to 5, thinking no one will believe me since I was a straddler. The host repops it to $15. The BB tanks for 5 minutes. He says he doesn’t want to fold the cards, but doesn’t want to go home with nothing. Finally, he reluctantly folds. I can’t really put the host on too much just because of the re-raise. We were all a little punchy and having fun. I push in my remaining stack, and he insta-calls. RUT ROH. He flips AK. BB folded AK. The cards are dealt and I spike a beautiful Queen on the river and end up cashing out of for $100. So minus the 20 buy in and my original 20 for the tournament, I end the night up $60.
Next Sunday is the league game again. The Double Week. I would LOVE to take that down. 1st place is like 300.
Good luck all!
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
No Poker!
Week 7 is in the Books.
Nothing too memorable about this week. Though I took 2nd place. 1st place went to Tiltbox. I had a good chiplead a few hands into heads up. Though I noticed if I limped on the button he would push. So when I look down at AQ on the button, I limp. He pushes, and I call. He shows K8 and hits both his K and 8. The turn is a Q to give SOME sweat, but the river is another 8 and I lose about half my stack. A few hands later it's all over when I get 66 on the button and push. He calls with JJ. He flops a J, I turn a 6 and river does not give me Quads. 2nd place was good for points, but because two people missed this week, I lost $15 for the night.
The second place puts me solidly in 1st place by 9 points. Week 8 will be in two weeks and it's a double week. I hope to keep playing good and getting lucky.
Online, I tilted any funds away. I guess online poker is just a guilty pleasure. I suck at it, but like to play it.
No league this weekend, but one of my regular home games has a tournament on Saturday. I may go to that. Not sure.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Just A Little Bit More- Part II
Actually, got it up to $7.34 when I continued to play and almost bluffed it off. I guess you can say it worked.
I continued to play because there was a major fish. I stayed after he left because one guy was tilting because he played a bad hand against the fish and the fish caught with 73o.
Tilter followed Fish to another table (I was going to do that, but only because he was a fish, I wasn't tilting). I was watching the table and saw Tilter getting into a big hand with Fish. I decided to try to play off his distraction.
There is one limper and I'm on the button. I limp with 6d8d. Tilter (in the SB) makes it .15. Limper calls, I call. Flop comes JcTd4s. .45 in the pot and Tilter bets .15. I think, BS Continuation bet. Limper folds, I re-pop him to .50, he calls. Uh-oh. The turn is a 9h. I now have the idiot-end of a OESD with a possible straight already out there. He checks.
I figure he might have called the flop raise to save face. And checked to slow down or try to get to showdown cheap (maybe he has a T, or even AK). I bet the pot which is 1.50. He calls. I've now basically bluffed off 1/2 my stack with almost nothing. I'm trying to debate if I think he'll fold (this is .02/.05) or just cut my losses (Me pushing would be about 1/2 pot). I feel tilt taking over and I'm going to push, figuring he has the best hand and probably won't fold.
Suddenly, the beautiful 7h hits the turn. I make my ass-end straight. But at this point, I'm definitely pushing this hand and if he has the better straight, so be it (but I don't think he has it). I push my stack and he folds.
So, I was bluffing the entire time. I hit on the river, but was that considered a successful bluff since I was probably going to push the river either way?
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Just A Little Bit More
I was busto, my rakeback (rakefreeze.com- tell them Unimpressed sent you) kicked in this week. First time I've gotten any rakeback that I can actually play. A whopping $2.40. I put all of it at one .02/.05 6handed NLHE table. And built it up to a monsterous $5 bankroll. Watch out Durrrr!
Hope I can make it to the league game on time. Though, Drunky was running a little late to the game once and we held it a few minutes. He got there just in time for the first hand. He was dealt AQ. Hit an ace on the board of A6x. Stacked off all his chips to some donk playing A6. Busted out on the first hand.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
I Hate To Say I Told You So But...
I suck at online. I tilt. I don't believe people. I'm sure I'll load a few bucks in the future, but I really should learn to control the tilt. I deposited 20 and play .02/.05 NL short handed, plus 2.25 SnGs. I occasionally played the $6.50 turbo short handed.
I hovered between 15 and 30 most of the time. I was at 32 this morning. I'm down to 0.00. Wait, that's a lie. I saved .01 so that I can chat if I'm railing someone.
I tilted about 10 of it off this afternoon. I took a break and started playing again this evening.
I only won one coinflip. And that was shortstacked in a $6 turbo short stacked tourney. I was on the bubble and my 33 held against AQ. I folded and folded. Against the big stack I have AQ. He pushes from the button and I call with AQ. He has KQ. I hit my Ace on the river, but that gave him a straight and I go out in third.
I tilted my remaining $6.00 in a cash game, when I ran my AK into an obvious AA situation. No way I was good. And the stacks were deep enough that I should have been able to fold it. But I was steaming.
The reason I still had 6 bucks was because of an earlier hand. I had QJ. It's raised to 17 (standard pot preflop raise @ .02/.05). I call. Small blind repops to .29. 1st raiser calls and I call the additional .12. The flop comes KT6 rainbow. It goes check, check, and I bet out pot just under $1.00. It's half my stack and I'm planning on pushing the turn if I get a caller. The SB makes is 3.50 (putting me all in). Original Raiser pushes all in. I call (figuring I was planning on pushing and had to hit anyway, but probably some tilt involved there). The SB calls. They show... KK and 66 for set over set. I hit my beautiful Ace on the river and take in a big stack.
But alas, my online account is tapped. What can one do?
Sunday is week 7 of my poker league. I may have to show up late. Going to be in NY and plan on having an early dinner with the in-laws. If we can finish up in just over an hour, I might be able to make it.
Tomorrow Disney with my daughter. My poor parents are going to be watching the little one all day. May be too much for old people to handle.
For anyone interested, I've been updating my twitter account someone frequently. Poker and non-poker items. Feel free to follow me. http://twitter.com/Unimpressed.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Live Poker in Ocala, FL
"It's illegal to play poker for money in Florida."
"No, it is. It's been legal at the indian casinos and about 2 years ago they started allowing it at the paramutuals."
"Uh-huh. What do you play with... matchsticks? Because it's illegal to play for money."
I know my parents live here, but seriously, do they think I'm just making this up. Since we weren't going to Disney on Tuesday because of the chance of rain (good decision as it's pouring now), I decided to hit up the Ocala Poker Room. It's was just a Jai-Alai club, but with the expansion of poker in Florida, many of the paramutuals have added poker rooms. For more on Florida poker, check out Florida's premier poker magazine, Ante Up Magazine.
Since we're on vacation with no rental car, I was forced to borrow my folks tricky Lincoln. First rule... don't open the driver side window. 2nd Rule, after unlocking the door, wait a few seconds before opening, so the alarm doesn't go off. Properly given the rules, I start to backout the driveway. My mom suddenly comes running out. "Oh and one more thing. No matter what, DO NOT TURN ON THE RADIO." Um... OK. Granted this car is 11 years old, but still. Should I worry about the hour drive? I decide to risk it. I want to play some live poker.
Turns out it was only a 40 minute drive. Mostly because it was 8:45 and everyone in Florida was sleeping. If anyone plans on going, you should know that Google gives you wrong directions. It says that getting off 75 you turn left (coming from the south), or head west. It's actually east. The directions from the website are accurate.
The place was mostly paramutual with lots of screens showing various races. The poker room was off to the right when you first walk in. I was planning on doing a proper review, but really, I got there at 9:30 and it's only open until 12. So I sat down with $60 at a 2/2 NLHE table.
I don't have a lot of experiences with live poker rooms. In fact, other than Foxwoods, this is only the 2nd poker room I've seen. Mohegan Sun just opened up their room. And I haven't been to a AC or Las Vegas since I started playing poker. Foxwoods is HUGE. The 2nd largest poker room in the US, I think. Definitely in the top 5. So this was small, about 40 tables. But on a Monday night, it was about 1/2 full.
I don't get many hands early on. The first real hand, I have Tx in the big blind. Flop is KJQ, 2 spades. I check, middle position bets about 1/2 pot. the button calls and I call. The turn is a low 3rd spade and it checks around. The river brings a 9. Giving me a straight. I check, the middle postion guy makes a small bet. The button thinks for a while and puts in his entire stack of about 40+. That almost covers me at this point. I really put him on a flush there. I decide that at best it's a chop. The bettor calls and they both show down a 10. I don't mind my lay down there since I knew I wasn't winning the hand outright. At best it was a 3way chop.
Later on, the same guy that pushed in that last hand, is short stacked ($23). He already made it clear he was pushing in blind. I'm 2 spots from him and decide that I didn't have many more chips, and figured I'd re-buy here. I just call with 8s6s. The button repops it and I have no choice but to call my last 15 prepared to re-buy. I'm up against AJ (raiser) and 2-4 (blind pusher). I hit a 6 and end the hand with a boat. I sheepishly rake in the chips.
A few hands later, I raise with KJ and get two callers. I flop 2 pair and bet out. The guy to my immediate right calls. Turn is a 9. He bets and I raise. He pushes all in. I don't know why, but I called. He of course shows QT. I don't boat and lose 1/2 my stack.
After that I get a string of good hands and start raising 10 ($6 raises didn't do anything). I was accused of being on tilt, but could not get any callers. The toughest was when I raised to 1o the 3rd time in a row with KK got one caller, hit a K and bet out (which I did that last two times). The guy folded.
I ended up winning a big hand with Jx in the BB at the end of the night. I hit a jack, but there was an ace as well. I bet it and get one caller from this old guy who calls everything. This old guy called everything. The dealers all knew him, but didn't think much of his play. I did worry my jack was no good until another jack hit. I really hoped he hit an ace. The river was the case J. I didn't have many chips left. Just under 1/2 the pot. I was going to bet less, but figured that would be obvious. I threw in the last of my stack and waited. The guy tanked for a while (which wasn't uncommon). In the end he folded. I showed my quads.
The final hand I played for the night left me with a small profit. All night I didn't play my draws very strong. With one hand, I raised on the button with Adxd I got two callers (one was old guy). The flop was 356, two diamonds. First limper bets, old guy calls and I push. Bettor tanks and calls, old guy calls. I hit the flush and show. The bettor folds his smaller flush. Old guy stares and stares at his cards, shows his neighbor and mucks. Had 22. Called 2 all-ins with 22.
I don't get any more hands and go home a $17 winner. WOO HOO! I enjoyed the time and liked the poker room. I recommend it if you're close by. I can't comment on any of the other Tampa Bay poker rooms though.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
On Vacation
I'm on vacation this week, visiting my folks in Florida. We're going to hit Disney one day. I'm also going to try to hit the Ocala Poker room one evening. Maybe I'll have a review.
Luckily, the guys at my poker league decided to cancel this weeks game because of the holiday. They normally don't cancel the regular weeks, you just have to miss it.
Week 6
I was going to write a post about the lack of people playing small stakes SnGs on Full Tilt. I waited about 5-10 minutes for 1 short handed tournament to start. First hand I'm dealt AhTh in the small blind. I go to raise it up. DAMN IT! It's limit!
So on to week 6 of my poker league.
This week we finally had some play to the first level. Took over an hour before someone busted. Courtesy of yours truly, in an awfuckit call. I managed to accumulate some chips early and Drunky was short stacked. He pushed all-in. When I counted out my stack, I still had more than my starting stack. I had 8-9 sooooted. It came down to wanting to play the hand. No idea why. Just wanted to gamble. He had two overs, and I hit. I busted him. I felt bad for Drunky. Six weeks and he's first out 4 of those 6 times. And he won the last season.
Game progresses and I continue to get hands. Not "hit in the face" with the deck, but it definitely grazed me a few times. I only had one complete bluff all night with 72. I raised preflop. Got the BB (Host) to call. I continuation bet into a T6x (can't remember that card). He thought hard and ended up folding. I didn't show.
About 1/2 way through, I have a HUGE stack. UTG (Tiltbox) pushes all in. I'm in the SB but have a crappy hand, so I let it go. He takes it down. On the button I look down on KT. Folds to me and I limp. I feel like he's going to push with anything there. SB Folds and I'm right he pushes. I hesitate, but end up calling. I had planned that, right? Gotta stick with the plan. I call and Tiltbox has AQ. I flop a T and even river a K. We collect the chips quickly before he starts throwing them. As he's known to do.
I have a monstrous stack and go heads up with the biggest donkey of them all. He can't even spell POKER.
As expected, he starts gaining on me. I hit a few hands by hitting top or middle pair and push my stack around, but he seems to win any pot that I don't hit. I can't bring myself to pick off a bluff.
We're close to even, but I have the lead. I make a small raise with JJ on the button He pushes and I call. He flips over KdQd. The river doesn't help and puts one diamond out there. The turn brings a 2nd diamond and I'm sweating 15 outs. It doesn't come and I take 1st for the second week in a row. I also take over the overall lead by a few 3 points. Even better for me. That win gave me the enough cash to cover the buy-ins for the rest of the season. Anything else will be all profit. If I could pull off an overall win I can head to down to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun and play with more than one bullet.
We're off next week, which is good, since I'll be out of town. If we were going to be in Florida a little longer, I might have been able to hit up the Ocala Jai Lai and Poker. But since we're not there for long and will be doing one day in Disney with our daughter, I won't get the time to play.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
The Players
Here's a breakdown of the players in this poker league:
Me- I would definitely classify myself as passive right now. I'm working on upping the aggression. I feel like I've been both playing bad and not getting cards, so I've been a bit reserved.
Brian- Obviously a good player. We'll leave it at that.
Host- Another decent player. I think he's pretty straightforward, tight-aggressive, with the occasional bluff here and there. He's won the league a few times. He's a bit distracted with personal problems so I don't know if he'll go far.
Walken- He's the new guy to the league. Likes to do impressions while he plays. He's aggressive and puts pressure if you show weakness. Probably going to be the guy to beat.
Drunky- Plays drunk and gets drunker as the night goes. Very aggressive and likes to bluff. I've seen him so drunk that he could barely stand, but come back from practically 1 chip and win. Apparently won the league last season.
Tighty- Too tight to really win unless he gets hit by the deck, but will almost NEVER be the first one out. He'll often be one of the last 3-4 players in the game and probably be in the race for points.
St8>Flush- The opposite of Tighty. He finally has learned that a flush beats a straight, and he's toned down his aggression a little, and even tightened up his starting hands a little. But he will still play any two suited cards for raises. Likes to make "aw Fuck it!" calls. Him and I had a lot of run-ins last time. This time he seems to be the bane of Brian's existence. He'll win a week or two, but won't be in contention for the overall points.
Muscles- Just a bad player. I busted him last week when I rivered a K high flush (4flush on the board) and he called with A4 (with nothing but a pair of Aces). I've seen him get lucky once and win.
Tiltbox- Similar to Muscles, but probably a little better of a player.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
A New Day
I feel like blogging again, but not sure how much I have to say.
I haven't been playing online. It's a waste of money for me. I just don't play well online. With that said, I just gave some cash to a buddy who is now currently FLUSH with online cash and he transferred me some Full Tilt money (and I'm a playing a couple of cheap SnG's while I'm typing).
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Congratulations Brian. That is some awesome work. Nice consistency! Lets hope you keep playing great in the blogger event... and donking it up in our League.
So the League started up. Oh wait. A LOT has changed in my life. My last post was back in October. I finished up this same league back than. I tied for 2nd place over all so squeaked by with only a little cash overall. I was up over that 16 week period which was nice. They started up the next season, but I took a break. Why you may ask?
Well, on December 8th, my son was born (We already have a 5 year old daughter). He was a big fella too. 9lbs 9oz. So that's taken up my life. He was 2+ years in the making and a lot of trouble to bring into this world. But worth every bit of pain and money it cost.
So the league finished up and a new season started up. I was invited again, and this time I brought along Brian. Not sure why, the league only has a few good players and I definitely think Brian is better than me, however, he's a friend and I can seem to hold my own around him.
I decided to join. I almost didn't. I've had a string of big losses (big for me mind you) at various home games and I was ready to put poker down for a little bit. Plus it's every Sunday night for 16+ weeks, it's a big commitment. But I decided to try it. Put all other poker on hold and see what I do.
If your interested, here's the breakdown of the rule. Major League. The only change is the payout, and it's only slightly different. 2nd place gets their money back plus a little more. The amount is still in question (buyin is 25 and 2nd place gets either 30 or 40).
Just a quick recap of the blind structure. You start with 20 BBs. Blinds don't go up until the first person busts, than they double right then, and double every half hour (1/2, 2/4, 4/8). After 4/8 it goes to 5/10. There isn't much play, especially if someone busts on the first hand. You go from 20 BBs to 10BBs in one hand.
We've finished week 5. I started off slow.
Going out in the middle of the pack in week 1, and a little earlier in the 2nd week. Week 3 saw me finish either 3rd or 2nd (I can't seem to remember).
Week 4 things got interesting.
About 20-30 minutes (no one busted yet) into the game, it limps around to me, and I look down at AJ in position. I raise it to 6 and get a call from one of the blinds (the perpetual drunk guy) and one of the limpers (Christopher Walken). The flop hits me pretty good. J-5-2, two spades. It checks around to me and I decide to bet out 10. Now I've put 16 chips into this pot. That's about 1/2 my stack at this point. Drunky goes all in (has me covered). Walken calls. HUH? If it was just one of them, I'd have to call, since a flush draw is definitely a possibility. I still thought about calling thinking both could be on a flush draw and thus they have less outs. I think for a while and finally muck AJ face up. Now out of the 9 guys, I'd say 1/2 are OK-good players. The rest were all flabbergasted that I could fold top pair top kicker. In the end, Drunky slowplayed pocket Aces, but Walken hit his set of deuces and even quaded up along the way.
I ended up with about 11 chips. Which was an estimate, because some how, all my chips got pushed into the middle and had to figure out what was mine. We estimated at 11 and I got that back. I managed to hold tight and get a lucky double up at some point. Made it heads up with Walken, got to even and he proposed a chop of the money. We weren't sure if 1/2 points were allowed so we decided to deal out a hand in order to figure out who got the extra point for 1st place. Walken got it and I took 2nd. I normally wouldn't have taken the deal, but with just a disparity in prize money between 1st and 2nd, I needed the split in order to fund a few more weeks of the league.
Week 5 went pretty well for me. I got some hands (something I haven't felt I've gotten much in the first few weeks or previous home games). I managed to go heads up against Tighty McTighty (we tied for 2nd place overall last time I played), but I had a HUGE chip lead. I just kept pushing until I won a hand.
So with the 5 weeks, I started off slow, but now I'm in 2nd and behind 1st place (Walken) by 3-4 points.
I'm still not feeling great about my game, but the last two weeks have boosted my confidence a little bit.
With that said, I did finished in 2nd and 1st in the two SnGs I just played. Maybe things are looking up.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
I'm back... maybe.
Just a little heads up folks. I maybe posting again soon. I'm not playing much online, but I did sign up for a poker league again. We're 5 weeks in and it's looking pretty good.
So, just curious. Is anyone still reading this? Please post a comment if you are.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
2 posts in one month???
Damn, I'm a blogging junkie!
Well the league ended with little fan fair for me. I needed to finish 3 spots ahead of points leader in the final tournament, but I didn't. I believe I went out in 5th. The points leader managed 3rd place (and took the season title). In the end it was heads up between the leagues worst, but most aggressive player and one of the leagues tightest players. And with the points, if the tighest player won the final tournament he'd have sole possession of 2nd place overall. If he finished in 2nd in the last tournament, him and I tie for 2nd place overall.
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Heads up didn't last long, and I don't remember the hand, but the aggressive player won and I split 2nd place money. Which is small. Over the entire league I definitely had a profit, but then again, so did the worst player. Typical, he's either out first or wins. He had 3 wins (including the last tournament which is double points and double money) but was still not in the running at all for season leader.
It was a fun time and it's always good to play live. With a baby on the way I couldn't join the next season. But maybe the season after that.
Another monthly home game. Once again I showed a profit. I showed up late so I missed the first two tournaments. The 2nd tournament had me finish 2nd, and then in the final tournamenet I took it down for a small profit. It's always nice to come out ahead. Especially since these tournaments are a lot about luck with the fast blind structure.
And I've mentioned in that past that I'm no good online. I don't have the patience. I think I have to changed that. I have a few bucks for poker, but I don't see me having an opportunity to hit Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. Which means other than the home games, I won't be able to play much poker. And right now I need to find away to suppliment my income. I don't expect to make a ton of money online, but I would like to make some. Enough to pull out a little bit here and there to help with the various household expenses. I don't have the time for a second job, so I want to try to take these few dollars and turn myself into a profitable player. But to do that I need to learn the discipline. So you may see me at the virtual felt again... if you do, remind me that I need to have discipline.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Wow... I don't post.
I've continued in my league. This week is the final week. My first four weeks were golden, 1st or 2nd each week. I took a beat another week against the worst player (JJ vs QJ, he flops and turns a Q).
I was in 2nd place going into last week. 6 points behind first place. I managed to pull out a win. Unfortunately, I went heads up with the 1st place player, thus only gained 1 point. Going into the final week (where points are doubled), I need to finish 3 spots ahead of 1st place player.
I'm crossing my fingers. I'm thinking tight against anyone but 1st place, and play loose aggressive against him. Not sure if I'll be able to pull the trigger, since 2nd place overall still gets money.
In that time since my last post, I played my first monthly home game in 9 months. I started off slow, but managed to win the last two tournaments and make a small profit in the cash game.
I made another deposit into FTP, but blew it. I'm DEFINITELY not good online. I have no patience and I tilt. If I made a bad play live (which I did in the league last week), I can just brush it off and focus. If I make a mistake online... Tiltville, Population: Me.
So, I'm going to avoid online play. Maybe borrow 6 bucks every once and awhile to play in the AIPS events, but other than that... no more online for me.
I'm hoping if I can take down this league play on Sunday (and even win the last tournament), I'm looking at $1000.00 and I can hit foxwoods or Mo Sun's new poker room.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
The League: Week 3
I came into the game, ready to play. I was over the miscounting of chips issue, and made a few jokes about it. I was also a bit more comfortable with these folks, so I was able joke a bit with them. They are definitely a bunch of ex-frat boys. Many of them show up a bit drunk and continue to get drunker... works nicely for the few of us that are sober.
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The game started, and we had an elimination pretty quickly. I can't remember the hand, but it was maybe 10 minutes in. Blinds went up and the timer started. The next few people were out. I was beginning to get the feel of a table, even though i still don't know a few of their names (I need to work on that). I finally got hands early and was able to get some chips. I hit some big hands. I tried to a lot of slow playing, but people weren't falling for it. I think next week I'll play faster with my big hands, just to change things up.
There was an incident with the 2nd bust out (which was maybe 8 hands in), where the chip leader went all in, one player folded, and another called. The chip leader won the hand and knocked out another player. The guy you folded, got up to use the bathroom, and his chips got swept into the pot. We realized that before the next hand luckily and when he came back down we were able to figure out how much he had and fixed the stats. If it would have been later, we would have had a problem. Luckily we resolved it.
I was starting to get low in chips when I limped with JT, the guy who won last week (who REALLY doesn't know how to play, except for his aggressive nature) raised me all in. He had me covered, I thought about it and figuring there was a slight chance I was ahead (but also figured I needed to gamble at some point), I decided to call. He flipped over K7 or something similar. I caught a ten on the flop and took a big double up. Now a little more about him... he thinks soooooted is the nuts. At one point, he has a lot of chips, and raises from middle position. One of the blinds, pushes all in. He's short but it's still a significant raise. Sooootedboy thinks and think and think... and calls... Flips of J4 of clubs. His opponent had AK and doubled up. Soooootedboy would later cripple the same guy when he called another all-in. His opponent shows AJ but Sooootedboy shows QQ.
We get to three handed, with Me, Soooootedboy (just like last week) and a bald dude (bald dude jumped out to an early massive stack, busting the 1st 3 people). I have a slight lead. I went card dead and kept giving Sooooted boy my small blind. I just didn't want to play a hand with 75 or 97 or j5. So I willingly gave up my SB to his BB. I managed to steal some blinds, usually if I was on the button when I put in big raises, but I usually had a hand there. Finally, I'm given Ac2c in the small blind. I'm hoping the button folds, which he does, and I push. Now, any decent player would realize, I folded my SB to this guy about 6 or 7 times. Suddenly I'm pushing. I might have something. He does think about it for a while, finally he calls, figuring he has to "be in it to win it." He flips over Jc5c. He is horrified to see that I have his club flush blocked. Like that's his only problem. I know a J or a 5 is coming. that's just how he rolls. I figured my eyes were broken when for some strange reason they start seeing an Ace on the board. I manage to bust him and get to heads up with a massive chip lead.
The money is put on the table and they pull aside 2nd places $20.00. I comment about how 2nd place money is an insult. That it would be much better if it was even $40 to second place and $140 to first. $40 would give 2nd place a freeroll into the following week (more or less). But that's the way they do it, I was just making commentary. I joke about watching me lose this chip lead and only get that 2nd place money.
First hand of heads up, I'm the button... AA. Nice. I limp, hoping my opponent would push all in. He's got a really short stack. He just checks and I see a flop I'm not all that happy about. 78J rainbow. He things for a few seconds, then pushes, and I think about it for a second, but figure this is still a good shot to try to win this outright. A double up would still leave me with a pretty big chip lead. I call and flip up my Aces. He flips over a respectable T7. He's got 2 7's 3 Ts and 4 8s. None of those come on the turn or the river, and I take first place. I'm glad 2nd place only gets $20.
Week 3: 9 points, $160.00 Cash Total points: 17.
That total points puts me in 4th place. Soootedboy has 19 points for 2nd place. I'm going to try to hold on to the cash as it will serve me for another 8 buy-ins. 1 more win and I'll be "freerolling" the actual tournament buy-ins. I'll still have my end of the season prize pools though.
Total Tournament Buy-ins: $360 (Mine will be $340 since I missed week one). Total Prize Pool extra: $90.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
Horse Prop Bet
There are 67 runners left out of 148.
Bet 1 with Slappy:
SLAPPY
Greenstein - 2nd in chips
Bloch - 25th in chipsDeeb
ME
Ivey - 41st in chipsAntioniusSinger
It's not looking good for me.
Against Jordan of HighOnPoker:
HoP
Bloch - 25th in chips
Lindgren - 16th in chips
ME
Greenstein - 2nd in chips
Ivey - 41st in chips
I'm in better position this one. Let's just hope Ivey can pull this out. I think they'll get to final table tonight, so it may be settled tonight. I'll be a little happier if Andy Bloch would just bust out.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
The League Weeks 1 & 2
Here's a recap of week 1.
I took a horrendous beat and I wasn't able to make it.
A 6 hour car trip from Virginia turned into a 12 hour trip, with a 2 1/2 hour stop on the GW Bridge.
Week 1: 0 points, $0 Cash
...more...
Week 2.
I begin the week in last place overall with 0 points. I have some ground to make up.
My first game. I played super tight. Not getting much to work with. I don't know any of the players, and they don't know me. The guy on my left is pretty aggressive, but will lay down if he has nothing. There was a hand where the pot was about 50+ chips and a re-raised him all-in on the river, but it was only 9 more chips. He folded. Must have had like 34 or something that there was no chance of winning. After a while I got the hang of him. I'd limp with a decent hand, knowing he's going to raise, and then when it got back to him, I'd re-pop it. I did that a few times.
There are a few people who know very little about poker (including one who had to be reminded that a flush beats a straight). There are a few people who know how to play and then the rest somewhere in between. That's my first impression.
This night pots got big pretty quick, and the one person I kind of know, the one who invited me (our kids are in daycare together), said it was rare that they get that big so early. Also, the tournament last about 3 1/2 hours, and he said that was a little on the long side.
At one point I'm getting short and I'm dealt AK. It comes around to me, I raise to 3x. The BB (flush vs straight guy) re-pops me, and I push. It's decent size raise and he thinks for a moment then calls. Now I haven't played many hands. Again, I'm playing very tight. BB flips over KT and I double up. The aggressive guy on my left (I'm going to have to come up with names for these folks) starts to give the BB crap, "What did you put him on? I mean really. What?" He asked him that a few times. The BB knows little about poker and I'm sure he didn't put that much thought into it. A few of us convinced the aggressive guy to cut it out.
Shortly after that hand, I realize I have the tight image so I make sure I get caught in a bluff. I had a decent enough stack that losing the pot didn't hurt. I saw a free flop with 7d3d. Missed me completely with T high. we both checked the flop. I bet the flop he called. we both checked when a Q came on the turn. A blank river and I bet out small. The guy thought a while about calling me with top pair (tens) and a medium kicker. But the chatter involved paying me off to get info. So when he called, I told him he got me and showed my 73.
The game continues. I bust the aggressive guy when there's a limper, I limp with TT, knowing he'll raise, which he does, it folds around to me, and I re-pop him. He thinks and then calls with AQ. I flop a T and bust him. 3 handed lasted a while. Me, the one guy I know and the Flush vs Straight guy. It was a very tight 3 handed group. When i was in the BB, the SB was the guy I know and the button was Flush vs Straight. We pretty much stayed about teh same in chips, each of us getting our share of the blinds. At one point, when I was in the BB, the button folded and the SB pushed, he had been shortstacked for most of three handed, but when ever he pushed I had very little call with and I doubled him up at one point, but now he was back down. He pushed and I look down at K7. A crappy hand, but I figured, he may just push with any Q or J at this point (since he only had one hand before he had to play the BB and would be committed with anything). I called. I was hoping even for a very weak Ace. But no, of course he has to have KQ. Grrr.
Flop comes 5-6-x, a 9 on the turn gives me 7 outs, and a beautiful 8 hit on the river. Giving me the straight and busting him. I make it to heads up. I'm on the Button and have junk so I fold. The next hand I get A2. the BB pushes, and I call. He has 84 suited and turns an 8. We look about even, so we count our chips. He tells me he has 143 chips. I'm counting mine out and see that he has me covered (yes the guy who can't remember that a flush beats a straight won). I push in my chips, tell him good game, exchange pleasantries with the people that stuck around and headed home.
Week 2: 8 points, $20.00 Cash
As I'm driving I start thinking about my chip stack. I had them in stacks of twenty and I was thinking about the # of stacks I had. I think I may have miscounted. I then start to do the math:
9 players @ 40 chips = 360 chips.
360 minus 143= 217
217-143= 74.
Yikes, I had 74 chips (blinds were 10/20). Heck, I would have been the button and only had to put in 10 chips. I could have folded any really crappy hand. I could have come back. I'M HERPES!!!! YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME!!!
Now I'm on tilt all week thinking about my lost chance. One counting error and I go from possiblying winning 160 to only getting 20. BLAH!!!! TILT!!!!
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic (and math is hard!).
Major League
I've joined a live poker league. It's a bit long, but surprisingly, a sunday night weekly event works out nicely for my schedule. It's 16 weeks of poker (a few more for scheduling changes) with a point system. Each week, a portion of the buy-in (20+5 and 40+10) goes into a large pool. At the end of the season, the person with the most points gets 75% of the pool. 2nd place gets 25%.
...more...
You get points for how you finish. Get knocked out first, you get one point. Win and you get 9 (there are 9 people in the league). Week 8 and week 16 are double weeks (buy ins double, stacks double, I think points double). If you miss a week, you get 0 points (but you can't miss weeks 8 or 16, the schedule will be adjusted to accommodate everyone).
Normally, each player gets 40 chips (week 8 & 16 you get 40 chips) and the blinds are 1/2, until the first person busts, then it doubles every 30 minutes (expect it goes from 4/8 to 5/10). I'm usually not a fan of constant doubling of the blinds, but the 30 minute levels makes it feel like there is some play.
The pay out for each individual tournament is a bit unruly. 2nd place gets their buy-in back (not including the money that goes into the pool) and first gets the rest.
They have a things I think are weird. I think, I'm not sure, I have to double check, if 2 people get busted, they both get the same amount of points, doesn't matter who had the bigger stack (this happened in week 2, I'll have to check the points next week). Also, they kind of ignore where the button after bustouts. Meaning, you won't have to pay the big blind twice, but you might get lucky and miss a round of blinds. I think that's kind of crazy, but apparently they've been doing this for a few years. As I'm new and don't really know anyone, I'm not gonna rock the boat.
So I think that's about it. I'm kind of excited, since this will be the most live poker I've played, consistently. After the 16 weeks, I'll probably have played more poker there, than at all my casino trips in the past combined.
Unfortunately, it means I'll probably be skipping any up coming "monthly" home games. I think going twice in one weekend to play poker might lead my wife to leave me. I may be able to hit an August home game @ Slappy's since it will be his first in his new house.
Anyway, that's it for the info. We finished up week 2 this past sunday, and I'll have an update soon.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
2008 WSOP Prop Bet
Well the WSOP is here and I've been following it... somewhat closely. Mostly that involves checking Dr. Pauly's Blog and reviewing winners on Wikipedia's 2008 WSOP Results site.
With that, I totally forgot the 50K H.O.R.S.E. Event was starting today. I've quickly put together a couple of prop bets.
First, one with Slappy. Last Longer. Three pros each. We flipped a coin and he won. Here are the results
1) Barry Greenstein (Slappy)- this was going to be my first pick.
2) Phil Ivey (Unimpressed)- almost a no brainer
3) Patrik Antonius (Unimpressed
4) Andy Bloch (Slappy)- He was also on my shortlist.
5) Freddy Deeb (Slappy)- Last year's champion, I just don't think he'll repeat.
6) David Singer (Unimpressed)- Final tabled this event every time it's been held (twice), and won his first bracelet this year. I think he might potentially win it all.
Second bet is the same basic format. But there are alternates, in case any of our picks don't make it (unlikely since our main picks are almost definitely playing in it). This one is with Jordan from HighOnPoker. Jordan and I had two WSOP prop bet last year. Pick'em Horserace (bracelet and final tables), which I won. Thank you Phil Helmuth. And the # of entrants into the Main Event, which he won (I picked way too high). I netted a big $1.00 total, which, since we don't live near each other, and FTP has a $5.00 minimum transfer, wasn't worth taking the time to transfer and called it a wash. Here's the picks so far:
1) Patrik Antonius (HoP)
2) Greenstein (Unimpressed)
3) Ivey (Unimpressed)
4) Bloch (HoP)
5) Lindgren (HoP)
6) David Benyamine (Unimpressed)
7) David Singer (Unimpressed- alternate).
*edit*
8) Gus Hansen (HoP- alternate)
9) Allen Cunningham (HoP- alternate)
10) Doyle Brunson (Unimpressed- alternate).
Obviously I hope Ivey wins the entire thing. Or Benyamine. I probably should have put more thought into my picks to even them out. Can't really root for Greenstein because then Slappy wins won. OR Antonius, then Jordan wins won. Oh well. We'll see how this goes.
If I had to choose either Greenstein or Antonius winning, I'm not sure who I'd pick. The bet with Jordan is a little more than the bet with Slappy, but Slappy money is the best kind of money!
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
The Hunger
Well I'm back.
I got about $50.00 from rakeback. Thank you Slappy. So I decided to play again. I mostly stick around the .25/.50 game, buying in for $25. I also play in SnGs, $6.00+.50 (turbo's, heads up, 6 handed and 9 handed), with the occasional $11+1(turbo) if I'm winning. I started off not being able to cash in any SnGs, but then went on a mini rushed and cashed in a bunch in a row including a win or two.
I tried one big jump... I took the profit from a successful cash game session and bought into a 4 person HU shootout for 20+1.50. I was WAY out matched. I used to be a decent heads up player. Not so much.
First match I'm playing weak tight. Folding a ton, no continuation bets. My opponent suddenly got really aggressive. I get tired of his raises and called one with 62 off. The flop comes Q65. He bets, and I decide to take a stand. I push (he has small chip lead). He happily calls and shows AQ. I river a 2 and cripple him. Next hand I have AA and I'm on to my 2nd match. I have a while to wait, as these two play for a while. Finally it ends. Apparently there was some jawing back and forth. The less angry person won. Isn't that usually they way?
My opponent once again, outplayed me. I just didn't have the aggression. Even though this was all profit for me, I was still playing scared. In the end, I can't fault my play too bad. Maybe I can. I have T8 on a board of 9TJ. I bet, she raises, and I push. I figured middle pair and an OESD is pretty good. Again, I was pushing back because of her previous aggression. She has, other than QK, she has pretty much the worst hand I could face. J8. I'm basically hoping for 10 cards. And 8 of them give me a chop. Nothing comes, and I'm out.
I'm once again enjoying poker and want to see if this can last. I currently have my account at around 100. It's been up to 125 and down to around 50 recently, but I manage to pull it back up when I suffer losses.
I'm also showing more aggression and getting an idea of when some folks are weak and when they're not. I've noticed myself making a few more re-pops when I think people are weak and being right.
I will probably have more posts soon (not that I think I have any readers anymore). I've playing more online and I've just joined a 16 week poker league. More on that later.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
The Taste...
I think I lost the taste for poker.
This isn't a bad beat story. I decided to hit Foxwoods Saturday night. I don't go often, the drive is an hour and I normally don't have the money to play, but I had been wanting to play for a while. The entire drive, I was thinking, "I'm not looking forward to the drive back." I get there @ 8:30 and the place was packed (in the middle of the preliminaries of the Foxwoods Poker Classic- WPT event. I did see Men the Master sitting at a table (must have busted early from the Reno event). I put my name on a bunch of lists (I love that you can now put yourself on lists); 1/2nl, 2/4 lhe, 4/8 lhe, even 2/5nl. About an hour or so in, I get called for 2/4 and take my seat. I like the tables, a couple of cute girls to flirt and smile with, it's the same as microlimit online so the play wasn't great. I stayed about even, went up a bit with a split pot on a straight. Made a small profit when I played Ah3h with a raise from one of the blinds (I was folding hands like that all night, and decided to try to build a pot in case I hit)- flopped the draw and bet out. Hit the flush on the turn and bet out. Bet the river and won. Unfortunately, unlike most hands, only one person stuck around after the flop.
Around midnight, I get KK in the SB. One limper, I raise, BB and limper calls. Flop is T high. I bet, both call. Turn is a 2- I bet, BB calls, limper raises, I call (but I know I'm in trouble), BB calls. River is a T. dang it. I check, BB bets, limper raises, I fold. BB calls. BB has T6, limper has T2 for the boat. At that point, I though, dang it, I wish this was NL. I can't blame either of them for their calls in limit. Well maybe the limper, but his T2 WAS sooooooted. Anyway, wishing it was NL, but not wanting to put my name back on this very long list, I sighed. Suddenly, God (or the floor person) calls my initials for the 1/2 NL. Wow, 3 1/2 hours on the list. I take it.
Normally, I love the feel and the sounds of the casino. I'm not a "gambler" by nature, but I can feel the excitement. This time I didn't feel it. It felt... depressing. It reminded me of the time I went the Horsehoe in Bossier City, LA. I feeling of desperation in the air.
I stayed until 3am, but then headed home. I booked a loss for the night, mostly on one really bad play. A "zero" play. Put all my chips in (a HUGE overbet), when, in reality, I wasn't going to be called by anyone with a hand less than mine. They don't call it the idiot end of the straight for nothing.
There was a play before that. I had 3d5d in one of hte blinds. The flop comes JJ5. This one lady bet out $10 and I called. No other callers. The turn was a 2. Check-check, and the River was a 5. I bet out $10, she re-raises me to $40. I think and muck with my 5 up.
She later asked if I knew what I threw away. I said, Yes, I put you on the J. She told me she had a 5, as well. At the time, I felt I played it well, even though I was wrong. I trusted my read and went with it. I figured I'd be willing to pay $10 to find out if my read was right and her raise told me it was. The guy next to me (who I ended up stacking off to later) said he put her on the Jack as well.
But if I would have put some actual thought into it, was it likely she had the J? She bet out on the flop, which is fine, nothing says she had to slow play, but if she's willing to bet the flop with a J and I called, why would she just check the turn, instead of betting again? Her bet then check says she had either a different pair (over/under) or a 5 and was worried I was slow playing a jack. Then the 5 hits and what is she betting there? AND if I was willing to call the bet on the flop, what was I waiting for when the 5 came on the river? What other card could I have possibly wanted to hit? What was the reason for calling a flop bet if I folded on the river when the perfect card hit for me? The only hand I didn't beat had one of the 2 final jacks in it. I beat over pairs and under pairs and an Ace which were all possibilities.
So, for the future, I don't plan on playing poker for anything other than fun (ie- home games). And until I'm willing to take the time and think through hands properly, there's no point in playing at a casino. This is live play, no clock to worry about, I should have taken the time to think the hands through.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
