I played with the normal crew on Friday night. It went ok. I came into the night telling myself I was going to just have fun and play more reads. It went pretty well. I especially liked it because I was tabled with some players I haven’t started with in a while. I was talking it up and having fun all night, but when not in a hand I was studying like mad!
I folded the first hand of the night to a huge raise, but then I took down the next 6 pots in a row. Some I came in raising and others I just went off my gut. I almost got called on that 6th pot by a super tight player (we call him “Gold” cause he consistently gets lucky like Jamie Gold). Gold only had a pair of 2’s. I figured I would give it a rest for a few hands. I waited for a couple button rounds and then went right back at it. There were a couple players at the table that I wouldn’t try to mess with if they came in raising. But, if I had position and a bunch of limpers in front of me I was coming in firing.
I had one hand that I misplayed, and it cost me a pretty good chunk. It was one of those hand where I knew I screwed it up as soon as I didn’t raise on the flop. Here’s the hand:
Guy to my right raises pre-flop, but I don’t give him much credit on the hand. I look down at Ad 8d and call. Flop comes out:
7h Ac Kd
He leads out with about ¾ of the pot. Here comes my big mistake- I just called. I had originally put him on a weak hand, hit my ace, and still didn’t raise. I played it like a donkey. If I would have thrown out a raise I would have taken it down. Here comes the turn:
Jh
I didn’t like that card. The guy bets out again this time a little smaller. This threw up a red flag to me, but obviously not a big enough one. I ended up calling again. There were two reasons I called- 1) the odds were there to call 2) I have seen this player fire two bullets but not the third…I am hoping he checks the river so I can check behind and show it down. Here’s the river:
As
This card sucked huge for me. I just rivered trip aces. He bet out bigger on the river. I just sat there and was going through hands in my head. The only hand I would see him doing this with Q 10. But that would mean he bet out on a gut shot on the flop. This guy never goes after gut shots. I had to call just to see. I was right he had Q 10. That one hurt a little, but not too bad. I ended up doubling up a couple hands later off the guy to my left.
I made it to the final table, and was second in chips. I was ready to play some cards. Fireworks went off on the first hand and the guy to my left took out 2 players in one shot. So we were down to 7 players pretty quick, but after that. It slowed down. I took down the blind a couple times which I will always take- they were up to 1,500/3,000. There was a lot of pre-flop action so we didn’t get to see many flops. I doubled up a short stack when he pushed in from early position and I called with 10d 10h. He had Ad Kd. He turned the nut flush on me. That was about a 14,000 chip hit. Here is the hand I went out on:
The hand is dealt. The player under the gun looks and doesn’t like what he sees. I move on to try to read other players on the table because I just know he is folding. The next thing I know under the gun says “All in.” I was stunned I knew he didn’t like it. It folds around to me I look down at big slick. I wait for a second, and then call. He had me covered by 2,000 in chips. As he is flipping his cards he says “you’ve got me.” In my head I’m saying of course I do. He flips them over- Kd Jd. What an idiot, right? Well the guy ends up turning the nut flush on me. I’m out in 6th place.
I wasn’t mad at all. Just stunned. I played it correctly. The cards just didn’t work out. Although, it does stink to be slapped around by 2 nut diamond flushes!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Day After Christmas
I played in my usual home game last night (21 players). It went OK. When I got there I really wasn’t feeling too focused. I really don’t know what it was. Could have been a number of things- the table (the actual playing surface) was horrible, the lighting was awful, I was trying out some new ear-buds with my i-pod and I just couldn’t get comfortable. But I guess I can’t complain, at least I was playing.
I really didn’t do anything special- made a couple good lay downs, made a few steals, didn’t really give or take any bad beats (until the final table). I was pretty card dead. I saw more J 2’s and 9 3’s then I think I have ever seen. I just tried to exercise patience. It went pretty good. I felt I was playing boring, straightforward poker. At times I thought my play was transparent, but it seemed to be working. I was sitting on a decent amount of chips.
With 21 players we moved fairly quickly to 2 tables. My table was not the action table. All I heard was cheers and sounds of anguish coming from the other table. Evidently one of the guys at table 1 was calling down every one, and just beating the snot out of them. He had a HUGE stack of chips. Let’s put it this way- 210,000 chips in play. When we got to the final table of 9 players he was probably sitting on about 75,000.
The final table was pretty crazy. Here are my first 6 hands at this table: pocket 5’s, pocket 4’s, pocket 9’s, 9 4 off suit, pocket 4’s, and then pocket 5’s again. Pretty funny, huh? I was able to build up some pretty good chips on those few hands (even though I lost some on my 9’s). I felt 10 times more comfortable at this table than I did the other one. I really only noticed one thing that made me a little weary. The chip leader was calling everyone down. I guess he thought he had to be the sheriff since he had a butt-load of chips. So, if I was going to get in a hand with him I had to have something decent.
Here was my one lucky hand of the night: blinds are 1,000/2,000. I have 21,000. The chip leader limps in from early position. I look down at pocket 6’s, in the cut-off. I make it 8,000 to go. I am trying to send a message to the chip leader, but the guy calls anyway. Here is the flop:
3c 8d 9s
As soon as the flop hits he says, “I’m all in.” This was out of the ordinary for him. He loves to check raise not lead out. I took forever. Some guy calls the clock on me. I start to count the pot. There was 19,000 in the pot before his all in. I have 13,000 left. And the blinds were going up to 1,500/3,000 soon. I felt that I had to call. So I pushed them in, turn up my 6’s and say “I think I need a little help.” The chip leader turns over 9c 10h.
The turn- 10c
The river- 7 d
I just went runner runner for the straight.
The chip leader starts pouting and giving me crap. I just looked at him and told him that’s what he gets for calling me with a 9 10 off-suit, as I rake in my pot.
Here is the hand that crippled me- button raises (and I read him as weak). I look down at AsKs. I push all in. I have him covered by 16,000. He said he is pot committed and calls with a 8c10c. He flops his 10 and I brick the turn and river. I am crippled. It’s 4 handed. I have 16,000 left. The blinds are 2,000/4,000. I finish 4th.
It’s cool though. The monster chip leader…he got 2nd. What an idiot. That’s what he gets for doubling up half the table!
I really didn’t do anything special- made a couple good lay downs, made a few steals, didn’t really give or take any bad beats (until the final table). I was pretty card dead. I saw more J 2’s and 9 3’s then I think I have ever seen. I just tried to exercise patience. It went pretty good. I felt I was playing boring, straightforward poker. At times I thought my play was transparent, but it seemed to be working. I was sitting on a decent amount of chips.
With 21 players we moved fairly quickly to 2 tables. My table was not the action table. All I heard was cheers and sounds of anguish coming from the other table. Evidently one of the guys at table 1 was calling down every one, and just beating the snot out of them. He had a HUGE stack of chips. Let’s put it this way- 210,000 chips in play. When we got to the final table of 9 players he was probably sitting on about 75,000.
The final table was pretty crazy. Here are my first 6 hands at this table: pocket 5’s, pocket 4’s, pocket 9’s, 9 4 off suit, pocket 4’s, and then pocket 5’s again. Pretty funny, huh? I was able to build up some pretty good chips on those few hands (even though I lost some on my 9’s). I felt 10 times more comfortable at this table than I did the other one. I really only noticed one thing that made me a little weary. The chip leader was calling everyone down. I guess he thought he had to be the sheriff since he had a butt-load of chips. So, if I was going to get in a hand with him I had to have something decent.
Here was my one lucky hand of the night: blinds are 1,000/2,000. I have 21,000. The chip leader limps in from early position. I look down at pocket 6’s, in the cut-off. I make it 8,000 to go. I am trying to send a message to the chip leader, but the guy calls anyway. Here is the flop:
3c 8d 9s
As soon as the flop hits he says, “I’m all in.” This was out of the ordinary for him. He loves to check raise not lead out. I took forever. Some guy calls the clock on me. I start to count the pot. There was 19,000 in the pot before his all in. I have 13,000 left. And the blinds were going up to 1,500/3,000 soon. I felt that I had to call. So I pushed them in, turn up my 6’s and say “I think I need a little help.” The chip leader turns over 9c 10h.
The turn- 10c
The river- 7 d
I just went runner runner for the straight.
The chip leader starts pouting and giving me crap. I just looked at him and told him that’s what he gets for calling me with a 9 10 off-suit, as I rake in my pot.
Here is the hand that crippled me- button raises (and I read him as weak). I look down at AsKs. I push all in. I have him covered by 16,000. He said he is pot committed and calls with a 8c10c. He flops his 10 and I brick the turn and river. I am crippled. It’s 4 handed. I have 16,000 left. The blinds are 2,000/4,000. I finish 4th.
It’s cool though. The monster chip leader…he got 2nd. What an idiot. That’s what he gets for doubling up half the table!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Good Play - Bad Finish
I finished 2nd in my league tournament last night. While I am not happy with second, I am happy with how I played to get there. Once I got heads up I made a couple dumb moves- flat called when I should have raised being the worst mistake, and it ended up costing me. I’ll get to that in a minute.
When we got started one of my goals was to make myself go with my gut/read more. I think I did a pretty good job. I had one guy to my immediate right that I just slapped around all night long. It was a thing of beauty. I honestly can’t remember a pot that he won off of me. He was getting a little ticked off. You know you are getting to a player when you hear him say, “How can you call me all the way down with that hand?”
I miss played one hand and donked off a few thousand chips. I thought I could push a guy out pre-flop so I re-raised with an A 7 of spades from the button. I should have probably made it bigger and he would have mucked, but he called. He check raise me all in on the flop. I had nothing but an A with pretty much no kicker. I had to let it go. It was ok though, within about 20 minutes I built them back up.
When it got short handed I hit a little snag. I know there are supposed to be no friends at the poker table, but I had one there. One of my true friends (of about 15 years) and I were in the final 3. That sucked. I really wanted one of us to win the whole thing. So I changed my game and played softer than normal (what an idiot). After a couple hands I noticed that his game wasn’t the same either. Later we talked and both admitted we played like little girls. One of us would have for sure won if we both played our game.
Pretty soon my buddy ends up getting busted by the other guy. So now I am heads up. I am out chipped though. He’s probably got me close to 2 ½ to one. I thought I was ready to play heads up…turns out I wasn’t. I really didn’t play that well. I let him raise on the button a couple times when I shouldn’t have, and didn’t raise a couple times when I should have. He ended up getting me with the board 6 4 4 10 K. I was holding KQ. He had a 4.
I wasn’t disappointed that I lost. I was just mad that I misplayed my hand. I should have played that last hand differently (win or lose). He raised from the button, and I smooth called. That was my mistake. I should have re-raised. He couldn’t have called. He even did this thing with his hand as he tossed his chips in on his raise. I knew he was weak. I was trying to flop something and hope he bet into me. I guess that’s what I get for playing it the way I did.
When we got started one of my goals was to make myself go with my gut/read more. I think I did a pretty good job. I had one guy to my immediate right that I just slapped around all night long. It was a thing of beauty. I honestly can’t remember a pot that he won off of me. He was getting a little ticked off. You know you are getting to a player when you hear him say, “How can you call me all the way down with that hand?”
I miss played one hand and donked off a few thousand chips. I thought I could push a guy out pre-flop so I re-raised with an A 7 of spades from the button. I should have probably made it bigger and he would have mucked, but he called. He check raise me all in on the flop. I had nothing but an A with pretty much no kicker. I had to let it go. It was ok though, within about 20 minutes I built them back up.
When it got short handed I hit a little snag. I know there are supposed to be no friends at the poker table, but I had one there. One of my true friends (of about 15 years) and I were in the final 3. That sucked. I really wanted one of us to win the whole thing. So I changed my game and played softer than normal (what an idiot). After a couple hands I noticed that his game wasn’t the same either. Later we talked and both admitted we played like little girls. One of us would have for sure won if we both played our game.
Pretty soon my buddy ends up getting busted by the other guy. So now I am heads up. I am out chipped though. He’s probably got me close to 2 ½ to one. I thought I was ready to play heads up…turns out I wasn’t. I really didn’t play that well. I let him raise on the button a couple times when I shouldn’t have, and didn’t raise a couple times when I should have. He ended up getting me with the board 6 4 4 10 K. I was holding KQ. He had a 4.
I wasn’t disappointed that I lost. I was just mad that I misplayed my hand. I should have played that last hand differently (win or lose). He raised from the button, and I smooth called. That was my mistake. I should have re-raised. He couldn’t have called. He even did this thing with his hand as he tossed his chips in on his raise. I knew he was weak. I was trying to flop something and hope he bet into me. I guess that’s what I get for playing it the way I did.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Getting Rewarded for Bad Play Part II
It’s Tuesday night. I am home early from my poker league tournament. I took yet another bad beat. I’ll get to that in a little later. I am a little ticked off at the moment.
So I get to the tournament, register, draw my seat, and find my chair. As usual, I am keeping an eye on who else draws my table. Once all is said and done we have 8 players at my table, 8 at table 2 and 7 at table 3. I take a second to recall info on the players at my table. From my left back around here’s how it goes: 1- super tight, 2- super tight, 3- crazy player, 4- straight forward player, 5- calling station, 6- easy money, 7- the mathematician.
With super tight & super tight on my left- I am stealing their blinds all night. I am not going to try to get mixed up with crazy player (#3) unless I have a strong hand. The tight semi-aggressive player needs league points tonight; he will be playing a little tighter than normal (plus two weeks ago he told me that he plays tight early). I have good reads on the players in #5 and #6. Player #7 is all about math.
When I am not in hands, I watch the action. I try to remember everything I can. When a player opens a pot- First, I look at my position. Then, does he seem strong? Or is he weak? How long has it been since he played a hand? What were the last few hands he has shown? How many chips is he sitting on in relation to me? This all flashes through my head, then I look at my cards.
I think all this is often my downfall. Since I do these things I often expect others to do the same. I expect them to analyze the situation the way I do. Well, they don’t. Go figure, huh? I guess I take the game more seriously than some of the other guys in the league.
Alright, now that I have lost half the people reading this…with all the boring stuff…here is why I am ticked-
I have 14,700 in chips. The blinds are 300/600. I haven’t played a hand in a couple button rounds. Pretty card dead. It folds around to me I have four people left behind me, including the crazy idiot in the big blind. I look down and see two kings. I make it 2,600 to go. It folds to the big blind. It’s 2,000 more to him. He has me out-chipped by 800 chips. He looks at his cards, does this shrug/hand wave, and pushes all in. I am loving it. I know he is full of crap. I call in about .01 seconds. He yell’s out “aw, shit!” He knows he just got caught. He flips over a Q 8 off-suit.
I am loving it. I am about to double up, and take the chip lead at the table. The flop comes out:
10 Q 7 (rainbow)
Some idiot says, “Man, you need an eight”
Here comes the turn- 8 and the river is a J. I just got knocked out of the tournament.
I was ticked. What do you do? Say nice hand? Yea right! He looks at me and says, “Sorry man, I thought you were trying to make a move.”
WHAT?? Make a move? I have yet to show a weak hand. I am two away from the button. I haven’t played a hand in 3 button rounds. I bet out almost 20 % of my stack. Yea, let me tell you…what a move!
I was steaming. My first thought was- “that had to have been the easiest lay down in history if I was in his seat.” A player that you have out chipped by the skin of your teeth commits 20% of their stack pre-flop and you are holding a Q 8 off-suit. You lay it down.
I know that I played the hand right, but it just stinks that another idiot got lucky on me. Another moron was rewarded for bad play.
So I get to the tournament, register, draw my seat, and find my chair. As usual, I am keeping an eye on who else draws my table. Once all is said and done we have 8 players at my table, 8 at table 2 and 7 at table 3. I take a second to recall info on the players at my table. From my left back around here’s how it goes: 1- super tight, 2- super tight, 3- crazy player, 4- straight forward player, 5- calling station, 6- easy money, 7- the mathematician.
With super tight & super tight on my left- I am stealing their blinds all night. I am not going to try to get mixed up with crazy player (#3) unless I have a strong hand. The tight semi-aggressive player needs league points tonight; he will be playing a little tighter than normal (plus two weeks ago he told me that he plays tight early). I have good reads on the players in #5 and #6. Player #7 is all about math.
When I am not in hands, I watch the action. I try to remember everything I can. When a player opens a pot- First, I look at my position. Then, does he seem strong? Or is he weak? How long has it been since he played a hand? What were the last few hands he has shown? How many chips is he sitting on in relation to me? This all flashes through my head, then I look at my cards.
I think all this is often my downfall. Since I do these things I often expect others to do the same. I expect them to analyze the situation the way I do. Well, they don’t. Go figure, huh? I guess I take the game more seriously than some of the other guys in the league.
Alright, now that I have lost half the people reading this…with all the boring stuff…here is why I am ticked-
I have 14,700 in chips. The blinds are 300/600. I haven’t played a hand in a couple button rounds. Pretty card dead. It folds around to me I have four people left behind me, including the crazy idiot in the big blind. I look down and see two kings. I make it 2,600 to go. It folds to the big blind. It’s 2,000 more to him. He has me out-chipped by 800 chips. He looks at his cards, does this shrug/hand wave, and pushes all in. I am loving it. I know he is full of crap. I call in about .01 seconds. He yell’s out “aw, shit!” He knows he just got caught. He flips over a Q 8 off-suit.
I am loving it. I am about to double up, and take the chip lead at the table. The flop comes out:
10 Q 7 (rainbow)
Some idiot says, “Man, you need an eight”
Here comes the turn- 8 and the river is a J. I just got knocked out of the tournament.
I was ticked. What do you do? Say nice hand? Yea right! He looks at me and says, “Sorry man, I thought you were trying to make a move.”
WHAT?? Make a move? I have yet to show a weak hand. I am two away from the button. I haven’t played a hand in 3 button rounds. I bet out almost 20 % of my stack. Yea, let me tell you…what a move!
I was steaming. My first thought was- “that had to have been the easiest lay down in history if I was in his seat.” A player that you have out chipped by the skin of your teeth commits 20% of their stack pre-flop and you are holding a Q 8 off-suit. You lay it down.
I know that I played the hand right, but it just stinks that another idiot got lucky on me. Another moron was rewarded for bad play.
Monday, December 11, 2006
PL Omaha
I played a little pot limit Omaha on FT last night. It was a single table sit and go. I was doing pretty good for a while. Took down some good sized pots, and worked my way up to second in chips. I got in a little hand with the chip leader, and played it very cautiously. The board was pretty ragged. I was a little nervous that my two pair wouldn’t hold up, but they did.
I had two hands that I had the lead on, and then got nailed.
First one- four players left, and I am the chip leader. I am under the gun. I limp with 33jj double suited (spades and hearts). The small blind (the short stack) calls me. Here is the flop 2 c 3 d 9c. The small blind pushed right away for the rest of his stack. I call with my set of threes. I figured he was on the draw. I just needed him to miss. Well, I was right he played KcJc9h10h. His club hit on the river. Board obviously didn’t pair. I missed that one.
Second hand- I am under the gun again. I am holding 4c4d5c6d. A decent little hand. I limp, and so does everyone else. Flop come out 9 9 4 (don’t remember the suits…cause they didn’t matter). I just flopped the boat. It checks to me. I bet the pot. Two players fold, and the big blind calls. I know he has a 9. I just have to hope he doesn’t pair one of his other cards. If he had quads he would have pushed in with it. He didn’t have much. So the turn comes off- a 3. He checks. I put him all in. He thinks for a second and calls. His hand turns up, and it was nasty. He had a 9 10 3 6 rainbow! All I had to do was dodge one of those cards! Here comes the river- 10. Ouch. Now I am the short stack.
I ended up pushing the rest of it with QdQh9d10h. It didn’t hold. Some guy called me with rags and caught the wheel. I guess I can’t blame him though. He had a ton of chips. I didn’t have much at all.
I still need some work on my Omaha. I’m not all that good at it...yet.
I had two hands that I had the lead on, and then got nailed.
First one- four players left, and I am the chip leader. I am under the gun. I limp with 33jj double suited (spades and hearts). The small blind (the short stack) calls me. Here is the flop 2 c 3 d 9c. The small blind pushed right away for the rest of his stack. I call with my set of threes. I figured he was on the draw. I just needed him to miss. Well, I was right he played KcJc9h10h. His club hit on the river. Board obviously didn’t pair. I missed that one.
Second hand- I am under the gun again. I am holding 4c4d5c6d. A decent little hand. I limp, and so does everyone else. Flop come out 9 9 4 (don’t remember the suits…cause they didn’t matter). I just flopped the boat. It checks to me. I bet the pot. Two players fold, and the big blind calls. I know he has a 9. I just have to hope he doesn’t pair one of his other cards. If he had quads he would have pushed in with it. He didn’t have much. So the turn comes off- a 3. He checks. I put him all in. He thinks for a second and calls. His hand turns up, and it was nasty. He had a 9 10 3 6 rainbow! All I had to do was dodge one of those cards! Here comes the river- 10. Ouch. Now I am the short stack.
I ended up pushing the rest of it with QdQh9d10h. It didn’t hold. Some guy called me with rags and caught the wheel. I guess I can’t blame him though. He had a ton of chips. I didn’t have much at all.
I still need some work on my Omaha. I’m not all that good at it...yet.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Math, Math, Math...
I was tooling around on Barry Greenstein’s website- before I go any further I have to say that I think Barry is one of the greatest poker players…pretty much ever. I have the utmost respect for his play, but also how he handles his tournament winnings. I am sure everyone in the world knows that “The Bear” gives all his tournament winnings to charity, a very noble act (especially today).
So anyway, I found the link that said calculating outs. I clicked on it. I have always kind of enjoyed calculating outs and win percentages. I know, that is a little on the nerdy side, but what can I say. I was always good at math….that is….I thought I was good at math- until I read this article. MAN this is some deep stuff. It took me a time or two of reading it to finally grasp the concept, but I think I finally got it.
Now I have always done the little short cuts to calculate hands. You know. Take the number of outs, subtract 2, multiply it times 4 on the flop. If you miss on the turn you take that number (# of outs) and multiply it times 2. This method gives a rough estimate on where you stand in the hand. I think I am going to have to keep using my “rough estimate” method, because I can’t multiply numbers like 39 X 38 or 29 X 28 in my head. Well, maybe that’s not entirely true. I could figure out 39 X 38 in my head, but I am pretty sure someone would call the clock on me once the first 10 minutes had past. I wish my brain worked at super speeds like Barry’s.
I am telling you this way of figuring outs is sick! It takes into account runner runner combinations and everything. No matter if you get into the math side or not…you have to read this article. Here is the link:
http://www.barrygreenstein.com/Calculating%20the%20odds.doc
Take a minute, read it, and let’s hear what you think!
So anyway, I found the link that said calculating outs. I clicked on it. I have always kind of enjoyed calculating outs and win percentages. I know, that is a little on the nerdy side, but what can I say. I was always good at math….that is….I thought I was good at math- until I read this article. MAN this is some deep stuff. It took me a time or two of reading it to finally grasp the concept, but I think I finally got it.
Now I have always done the little short cuts to calculate hands. You know. Take the number of outs, subtract 2, multiply it times 4 on the flop. If you miss on the turn you take that number (# of outs) and multiply it times 2. This method gives a rough estimate on where you stand in the hand. I think I am going to have to keep using my “rough estimate” method, because I can’t multiply numbers like 39 X 38 or 29 X 28 in my head. Well, maybe that’s not entirely true. I could figure out 39 X 38 in my head, but I am pretty sure someone would call the clock on me once the first 10 minutes had past. I wish my brain worked at super speeds like Barry’s.
I am telling you this way of figuring outs is sick! It takes into account runner runner combinations and everything. No matter if you get into the math side or not…you have to read this article. Here is the link:
http://www.barrygreenstein.com/Calculating%20the%20odds.doc
Take a minute, read it, and let’s hear what you think!
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Getting Rewarded for Bad Play
In my first post I had mentioned that a buddy of mine and myself started up a poker league. Well, last night we had one of our weekly tournaments. We had 21 players. Not a bad little turn out for a Tuesday night. Just so you know we all start with 10,000 in chips, the blinds go up every 20 minutes, and the blinds start at 25/50. I was ready to play last night, BUT let me just tell you…the deck hated me last night.
Man, it was bad. I can’t tell you how many Q 2’s, 7 4’s, and 9 3’s I saw in the first few rounds. I finally took a stab and raised in mid to late position with a 5s 6s. I raised a little more than triple the blind, and got a call from the button. I hit my miracle flop: 5c 6d 10c. I bet out about a pot size bet, got a raise from the player on the button, and I re-raised all in. I knew I had him beat, and I didn’t want to see another card. The button thought for a second and then mucked. He flashed me his pocket 9’s. What’s really funny is that he asked to run it out (I have no idea why) the turn Ad and the river As. If he would have called my all in my 2 pair would have been counterfeited on the river. BUT that is why I pushed. I knew he couldn’t call.
There was one hand that really ticked me off. A donkey played against me and got lucky. Here is how it went: I am on the button. The blinds are 200/400. Seat 4 (under the gun +1) makes it 1200 to go. Seat 6 smooth calls. It fold around to me. I look down. Ks Kh. I know that I am way ahead, but I also know that seat 4 CONSTANTLY overvalues his hands. He was probably sitting on a mid range ace. Seat 6 is just a calling station he probably has a similar hand. So I announce raise, and I make it 3500 to go (about 30% of my stack). The blinds fold out, seat 4 says…”I’ve got my favorite hand. I call”, and seat 6 folds. I know exactly what seat 4’s favorite hand is. He refers to it every time we play. It’s an A 10. Yea…that’s right. An Ace FREAKIN’ 10. Here is the flop:
A ___ 10
The second card was accidentally left face down for a second. I am thinking- please be a freakin’ King so I can bust the snot out of this donkey…I know he has A 10. What idiot calls a re-raise with an A 10.
Well the middle card was flipped over. It was a 5. The donkey in seat 4 immediately moves all in. I flip my kings over and muck. He shows and Ac 10d. Yea, yea, yea. I know. Some tool is reading this thinking “that’s poker.” If that tool is you…you suck big, fat, sweaty elephant balls.
I know that people get lucky in cards. I don’t have a problem with that. Every poker player that has ever played the game has been lucky plenty of times. What I do have a problem with is donkeys getting lucky, and actually thinking they are skillful players. I have played with seat 4 a decent number of times. I have seen this guy call with hands that are way behind, hit his two outer on the river, and then brag about how he played the hand. This just REALLY bugs me.
I really don’t mind that he called. My kings are going to crush his A 10 off suit most times. I just hate that he keeps getting lucky. It is like he is being rewarded for bad play.
Man, it was bad. I can’t tell you how many Q 2’s, 7 4’s, and 9 3’s I saw in the first few rounds. I finally took a stab and raised in mid to late position with a 5s 6s. I raised a little more than triple the blind, and got a call from the button. I hit my miracle flop: 5c 6d 10c. I bet out about a pot size bet, got a raise from the player on the button, and I re-raised all in. I knew I had him beat, and I didn’t want to see another card. The button thought for a second and then mucked. He flashed me his pocket 9’s. What’s really funny is that he asked to run it out (I have no idea why) the turn Ad and the river As. If he would have called my all in my 2 pair would have been counterfeited on the river. BUT that is why I pushed. I knew he couldn’t call.
There was one hand that really ticked me off. A donkey played against me and got lucky. Here is how it went: I am on the button. The blinds are 200/400. Seat 4 (under the gun +1) makes it 1200 to go. Seat 6 smooth calls. It fold around to me. I look down. Ks Kh. I know that I am way ahead, but I also know that seat 4 CONSTANTLY overvalues his hands. He was probably sitting on a mid range ace. Seat 6 is just a calling station he probably has a similar hand. So I announce raise, and I make it 3500 to go (about 30% of my stack). The blinds fold out, seat 4 says…”I’ve got my favorite hand. I call”, and seat 6 folds. I know exactly what seat 4’s favorite hand is. He refers to it every time we play. It’s an A 10. Yea…that’s right. An Ace FREAKIN’ 10. Here is the flop:
A ___ 10
The second card was accidentally left face down for a second. I am thinking- please be a freakin’ King so I can bust the snot out of this donkey…I know he has A 10. What idiot calls a re-raise with an A 10.
Well the middle card was flipped over. It was a 5. The donkey in seat 4 immediately moves all in. I flip my kings over and muck. He shows and Ac 10d. Yea, yea, yea. I know. Some tool is reading this thinking “that’s poker.” If that tool is you…you suck big, fat, sweaty elephant balls.
I know that people get lucky in cards. I don’t have a problem with that. Every poker player that has ever played the game has been lucky plenty of times. What I do have a problem with is donkeys getting lucky, and actually thinking they are skillful players. I have played with seat 4 a decent number of times. I have seen this guy call with hands that are way behind, hit his two outer on the river, and then brag about how he played the hand. This just REALLY bugs me.
I really don’t mind that he called. My kings are going to crush his A 10 off suit most times. I just hate that he keeps getting lucky. It is like he is being rewarded for bad play.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Low Stakes On-Line Poker
So I sign on to Full Tilt last night and start playing a few sit and go’s. Busted out of the first one 5th. It really wasn’t the smartest move. I was in the small blind holding pocket 9’s and there was a raise from the button. The thing is, this guy had been raising just about every time he had the button. I had been playing pretty tight. So, my thought was- if I come over the top he will let it go. He was probably sitting on some marginal hand, would see a raise from a fairly tight player, and wouldn’t want to double me up.
Well, as soon as I pushed he insta-called. For a second I thought I was good. Maybe he had a dry ace, but then his cards show up on my screen- he was sitting on cowboys, and that’s pretty much all she wrote!
So naturally I signed into another sit and go. I sat there in amazement of the first hand. Here is how it went down. I was in the big blind (seat 3) with a Jc 10c. The player in seat 5 puts in a min-raise (60 to go). Seat 7 re-raises to 160. Seat 8 flat calls. I sadly let go of my J 10 suited (one of my favorites). The action gets back to seat 5- he flat calls. Total pot of- 525. Here is the flop-
6c 6d 9d
Seat 5 bets out 225. Seat 7 Raises to 500. Seat 8 calls the 500. Seat 5 calls the remaining 275. For a total pot of 2,025. The turn-
10s
Everyone checks around after the turn. The pot is still 2,025. The river-
4c
Seat 5 bets out 300. Seat 7 pushes all in. Seat 8 flat calls. Seat 5 calls. I am dumbfounded. I know there are at least 2 donkey players that are about to get busted but which two. It turns out they are all idiots. Here is what they had-
Seat 5- pocket 4’s. He ended up rivering a boat- 4’s full of 6’s.
Seat 7- Who turned out to be Mr. “I play every hand” showed a 6 9 off suit. He flopped a boat- 6’s full of 9’s. (Remember he re-raised an early position bet pre-flop with a 6 9 off-what a donk).
Seat 8- This guy was an even bigger idiot than the other 2. He shows an AhQh. That’s right….hearts. He had no pair and no draw. AND a lot of action in front of him. What a freakin’ idiot!! I guess he was hoping to get lucky, and then just got frustrated and pushed the rest of his stack in when he didn’t hit a thing!!
Needless to say the play on this table was beyond horrible. But hey…that is low stakes on-line poker for you!!
Well, as soon as I pushed he insta-called. For a second I thought I was good. Maybe he had a dry ace, but then his cards show up on my screen- he was sitting on cowboys, and that’s pretty much all she wrote!
So naturally I signed into another sit and go. I sat there in amazement of the first hand. Here is how it went down. I was in the big blind (seat 3) with a Jc 10c. The player in seat 5 puts in a min-raise (60 to go). Seat 7 re-raises to 160. Seat 8 flat calls. I sadly let go of my J 10 suited (one of my favorites). The action gets back to seat 5- he flat calls. Total pot of- 525. Here is the flop-
6c 6d 9d
Seat 5 bets out 225. Seat 7 Raises to 500. Seat 8 calls the 500. Seat 5 calls the remaining 275. For a total pot of 2,025. The turn-
10s
Everyone checks around after the turn. The pot is still 2,025. The river-
4c
Seat 5 bets out 300. Seat 7 pushes all in. Seat 8 flat calls. Seat 5 calls. I am dumbfounded. I know there are at least 2 donkey players that are about to get busted but which two. It turns out they are all idiots. Here is what they had-
Seat 5- pocket 4’s. He ended up rivering a boat- 4’s full of 6’s.
Seat 7- Who turned out to be Mr. “I play every hand” showed a 6 9 off suit. He flopped a boat- 6’s full of 9’s. (Remember he re-raised an early position bet pre-flop with a 6 9 off-what a donk).
Seat 8- This guy was an even bigger idiot than the other 2. He shows an AhQh. That’s right….hearts. He had no pair and no draw. AND a lot of action in front of him. What a freakin’ idiot!! I guess he was hoping to get lucky, and then just got frustrated and pushed the rest of his stack in when he didn’t hit a thing!!
Needless to say the play on this table was beyond horrible. But hey…that is low stakes on-line poker for you!!
Sunday, December 3, 2006
My First Cash Game Ever
I have to tell you guys this story I thought it was pretty funny. I think I will always remember my first hand in a live cash game. It was a couple years ago. Here is how it went down-
My buddy and I pulled up to a dark parking lot and he called some guy from his cell to come pick us up (the host did this so he didn't have 15 cars parked in his driveway at 4:00am). While we are waiting for the car my buddy hands me 200 bucks, and tells me "...don't worry about it. If you loose it fine, but If you make money I get a share of your wins." I was nervous. I know he said not to worry about it, but I would feel like a big turd if I lost his 200. So anyway, we get in the door and head straight down to the basement. There was one table going, with another set up and ready. After a couple minutes a few more players showed up and we started up the second table (playing 1/2 NL).
There were 6 players at the table. I was in fairly early position. I look down, and of course...it's rockets. I stop for a second because I couldn't believe I am picking up the monster of all monster starting hands on the first hand of my first ever live cash game. I didn't know quite how to play them. I had never played at this place before so I didn't know if they were real tight or crazy loose. Well I took a shot and made it $10 to go (had $200 total). I got two callers- one behind me (stacked at about $150) and one in front of me (the small blind, stacked at about $325), for a total pot so far of $32. My friend shoots me a look like...man, you are a moron. I just look over at him and give him a wink. The flop:
Ac Jd 8c
Not too shabby, I flopped a set, and it was checked to me. I liked the flop because I knew I would get action, but I had to be careful there were some serious draws out there. So I bet out 17 bucks with the intent to re-raise if I got raised. The guy after me folded. The guy in the small blind calls. Total pot- $66 The turn:
Jc
I just turned the boat, and on top of that it was a club. I was hoping that the small blind was on the flush draw. He bets out 35 bucks. I sit and think for a second. I want to give him some more rope. I just smooth call. Total pot- $136. The river:
7s
The small blind sits and thinks for a minute and he says- "I'm all in" For about .2 seconds my mind says...pocket jacks, but by the time .3 seconds had past my sanity came back. I call, flip my hand over, and double up. He just mucked. So after one hand my stack on the table goes from $200 to $412, BUT that's not the best of it. What is really sweet is- they were running a high hand pot. My Aces full of jacks easily bumped the Aces full of 8's out of the lead. I just needed it to hold up for 45 minutes.
It did. I won the high hand pot that was up to $250. Turns out I didn't turn $200 into $412 in one hand. I turned $200 into $662 in one hand. I took the cash from high hand and put it in my pocket. There was my buddies $200 that he gave me. Then I was just free-rolling!!
My buddy and I pulled up to a dark parking lot and he called some guy from his cell to come pick us up (the host did this so he didn't have 15 cars parked in his driveway at 4:00am). While we are waiting for the car my buddy hands me 200 bucks, and tells me "...don't worry about it. If you loose it fine, but If you make money I get a share of your wins." I was nervous. I know he said not to worry about it, but I would feel like a big turd if I lost his 200. So anyway, we get in the door and head straight down to the basement. There was one table going, with another set up and ready. After a couple minutes a few more players showed up and we started up the second table (playing 1/2 NL).
There were 6 players at the table. I was in fairly early position. I look down, and of course...it's rockets. I stop for a second because I couldn't believe I am picking up the monster of all monster starting hands on the first hand of my first ever live cash game. I didn't know quite how to play them. I had never played at this place before so I didn't know if they were real tight or crazy loose. Well I took a shot and made it $10 to go (had $200 total). I got two callers- one behind me (stacked at about $150) and one in front of me (the small blind, stacked at about $325), for a total pot so far of $32. My friend shoots me a look like...man, you are a moron. I just look over at him and give him a wink. The flop:
Ac Jd 8c
Not too shabby, I flopped a set, and it was checked to me. I liked the flop because I knew I would get action, but I had to be careful there were some serious draws out there. So I bet out 17 bucks with the intent to re-raise if I got raised. The guy after me folded. The guy in the small blind calls. Total pot- $66 The turn:
Jc
I just turned the boat, and on top of that it was a club. I was hoping that the small blind was on the flush draw. He bets out 35 bucks. I sit and think for a second. I want to give him some more rope. I just smooth call. Total pot- $136. The river:
7s
The small blind sits and thinks for a minute and he says- "I'm all in" For about .2 seconds my mind says...pocket jacks, but by the time .3 seconds had past my sanity came back. I call, flip my hand over, and double up. He just mucked. So after one hand my stack on the table goes from $200 to $412, BUT that's not the best of it. What is really sweet is- they were running a high hand pot. My Aces full of jacks easily bumped the Aces full of 8's out of the lead. I just needed it to hold up for 45 minutes.
It did. I won the high hand pot that was up to $250. Turns out I didn't turn $200 into $412 in one hand. I turned $200 into $662 in one hand. I took the cash from high hand and put it in my pocket. There was my buddies $200 that he gave me. Then I was just free-rolling!!
My New Blog
We are going to see how this goes. My intention is to post my thoughts on poker, both on-line and live happenings. The question of the day is...can I actually keep this up or will my blog fall by the way-side and be forgotten forever?
Just so you know where I am coming from: I have been playing poker for a few years. I guess you could say that I am one of the Chris Moneymaker generation. I am a little sad to admit that (Chris hasn't done a thing since his big win), but that is when my buddies and I started playing no limit holdem'. We started playing little tourneys for 5 bucks, or the occasional penny poker game. Since then we "graduated" to 20 or 30 dollar tourneys and then 50+ tourneys.
A good friend of mine started up a 1/2 NL game that he and another guy ran very successfully for a year or so. I think this is when I really got into the game. I was there just about every Friday night and would play for 6-8 hours straight. Every once in a while I would show up just to deal...man you can really work on your reads while you deal.
For the last couple years I have been playing about twice a week live and 2 or 3 times a week on-line. A few months ago that same good friend and I started up a poker league. It's pretty cool. We have about 30 members, we all paid dues, and we have weekly tournaments in which you earn points (as well as cash). The end of the season is actually coming up soon. There are only 3 tournaments left. At the end of the season we will be sending 7 players to Tunica to compete in some of the WSOP satellite events. I need to make up a little ground, but I could be in a lot worse shape. But hey...it's no big deal. I will just win the next 3 tourneys!!
Just so you know where I am coming from: I have been playing poker for a few years. I guess you could say that I am one of the Chris Moneymaker generation. I am a little sad to admit that (Chris hasn't done a thing since his big win), but that is when my buddies and I started playing no limit holdem'. We started playing little tourneys for 5 bucks, or the occasional penny poker game. Since then we "graduated" to 20 or 30 dollar tourneys and then 50+ tourneys.
A good friend of mine started up a 1/2 NL game that he and another guy ran very successfully for a year or so. I think this is when I really got into the game. I was there just about every Friday night and would play for 6-8 hours straight. Every once in a while I would show up just to deal...man you can really work on your reads while you deal.
For the last couple years I have been playing about twice a week live and 2 or 3 times a week on-line. A few months ago that same good friend and I started up a poker league. It's pretty cool. We have about 30 members, we all paid dues, and we have weekly tournaments in which you earn points (as well as cash). The end of the season is actually coming up soon. There are only 3 tournaments left. At the end of the season we will be sending 7 players to Tunica to compete in some of the WSOP satellite events. I need to make up a little ground, but I could be in a lot worse shape. But hey...it's no big deal. I will just win the next 3 tourneys!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
