Heads Up Tournament, and some reckless play...
I drew Dennis in the first round of the Heads Up tournament. The brackets were:
Dennis/Gregg
Long/Lehman
Tieds/Moneymaker
Simpson/Dycka
I had said going in that our match would be the longest. I would think that the Simpson/Dycka match would be long too, and most people were done within 40 min. But not us...nope, we played for just over 2 hours! It was grueling, and Dennis is a tough opponent as he bluffs a hell of alot more in heads up, I guess you have to. I hit a couple of rough spots early on and lost confidence and was done about 700 chips. I then went on a spree of 2 pair flops and nut draws that developed and worked my way to be up 50 chips.
It was then that Dennis slowed down finally and I got to play my game, or at least control how it would be played. As long as I stayed patient I was sure that I could win this game. I eventually raised 4x the BB 7 hands in a row, regardless of what I had and wore him down until he came back at me preflop one hand and I had Q9. I called his raise this time and the flop came A94. I checked, he went all in, and I called. He said "oh...shit" and that's when I knew it was pretty much over. He had J8 i believe and almost hit runner runner straight, but did not.
I then played Long and was quite frankly tired. We battled back and forth, and I set the tone early with my aggressiveness. Against Long, I think you have to because he loves to push chips around when he has them. I turned a straight against him and went all in on the river after he raised my bet. I bet 250, and he raised to 700. I could have MAYBE gotten a little more out of him, but the play looked too strong in retrospect.
I got 99 and won a nice pot, and out of nowhere, I seemed to lose a lot of chips. I don't even know how it happened, but he must have chipped away at me, and I didn't even realize it. I guess calling too many preflop raises and folding when I miss. He raised typically preflop and I had AK. I decided not to go all in, but raise 700 more. He called, and the flop came all spades with no picture cards. I had no spades but pushed all in, and he called instantly with A6s for the nuts. I was drawing dead and that was it.
I then jumped into the NL cash game which was .25/.25 blinds and a max buyin of $20. I played almost every hand and actually won some of them, but for the most part I was the big loser. I just couldn't focus on the game when a raise preflop was cheaper than the BB for the game I usually play. But Tieds was right, and by calling that many hands, I wasn't leaving myself enough to play after the flop for the most part. Oh well, these things happen.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Heads Up Tournament, and some reckless play...
I drew Dennis in the first round of the Heads Up tournament. The brackets were:
Dennis/Gregg
Long/Lehman
Tieds/Moneymaker
Simpson/Dycka
I had said going in that our match would be the longest. I would think that the Simpson/Dycka match would be long too, and most people were done within 40 min. But not us...nope, we played for just over 2 hours! It was grueling, and Dennis is a tough opponent as he bluffs a hell of alot more in heads up, I guess you have to. I hit a couple of rough spots early on and lost confidence and was done about 700 chips. I then went on a spree of 2 pair flops and nut draws that developed and worked my way to be up 50 chips.
It was then that Dennis slowed down finally and I got to play my game, or at least control how it would be played. As long as I stayed patient I was sure that I could win this game. I eventually raised 4x the BB 7 hands in a row, regardless of what I had and wore him down until he came back at me preflop one hand and I had Q9. I called his raise this time and the flop came A94. I checked, he went all in, and I called. He said "oh...shit" and that's when I knew it was pretty much over. He had J8 i believe and almost hit runner runner straight, but did not.
I then played Long and was quite frankly tired. We battled back and forth, and I set the tone early with my aggressiveness. Against Long, I think you have to because he loves to push chips around when he has them. I turned a straight against him and went all in on the river after he raised my bet. I bet 250, and he raised to 700. I could have MAYBE gotten a little more out of him, but the play looked too strong in retrospect.
I got 99 and won a nice pot, and out of nowhere, I seemed to lose a lot of chips. I don't even know how it happened, but he must have chipped away at me, and I didn't even realize it. I guess calling too many preflop raises and folding when I miss. He raised typically preflop and I had AK. I decided not to go all in, but raise 700 more. He called, and the flop came all spades with no picture cards. I had no spades but pushed all in, and he called instantly with A6s for the nuts. I was drawing dead and that was it.
I then jumped into the NL cash game which was .25/.25 blinds and a max buyin of $20. I played almost every hand and actually won some of them, but for the most part I was the big loser. I just couldn't focus on the game when a raise preflop was cheaper than the BB for the game I usually play. But Tieds was right, and by calling that many hands, I wasn't leaving myself enough to play after the flop for the most part. Oh well, these things happen.
I drew Dennis in the first round of the Heads Up tournament. The brackets were:
Dennis/Gregg
Long/Lehman
Tieds/Moneymaker
Simpson/Dycka
I had said going in that our match would be the longest. I would think that the Simpson/Dycka match would be long too, and most people were done within 40 min. But not us...nope, we played for just over 2 hours! It was grueling, and Dennis is a tough opponent as he bluffs a hell of alot more in heads up, I guess you have to. I hit a couple of rough spots early on and lost confidence and was done about 700 chips. I then went on a spree of 2 pair flops and nut draws that developed and worked my way to be up 50 chips.
It was then that Dennis slowed down finally and I got to play my game, or at least control how it would be played. As long as I stayed patient I was sure that I could win this game. I eventually raised 4x the BB 7 hands in a row, regardless of what I had and wore him down until he came back at me preflop one hand and I had Q9. I called his raise this time and the flop came A94. I checked, he went all in, and I called. He said "oh...shit" and that's when I knew it was pretty much over. He had J8 i believe and almost hit runner runner straight, but did not.
I then played Long and was quite frankly tired. We battled back and forth, and I set the tone early with my aggressiveness. Against Long, I think you have to because he loves to push chips around when he has them. I turned a straight against him and went all in on the river after he raised my bet. I bet 250, and he raised to 700. I could have MAYBE gotten a little more out of him, but the play looked too strong in retrospect.
I got 99 and won a nice pot, and out of nowhere, I seemed to lose a lot of chips. I don't even know how it happened, but he must have chipped away at me, and I didn't even realize it. I guess calling too many preflop raises and folding when I miss. He raised typically preflop and I had AK. I decided not to go all in, but raise 700 more. He called, and the flop came all spades with no picture cards. I had no spades but pushed all in, and he called instantly with A6s for the nuts. I was drawing dead and that was it.
I then jumped into the NL cash game which was .25/.25 blinds and a max buyin of $20. I played almost every hand and actually won some of them, but for the most part I was the big loser. I just couldn't focus on the game when a raise preflop was cheaper than the BB for the game I usually play. But Tieds was right, and by calling that many hands, I wasn't leaving myself enough to play after the flop for the most part. Oh well, these things happen.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Ahhhh, the swings
Part 2 of what I started last week but never finished. Later that night, Karen and I decided to play craps. Well, I've decided that I don't really like or hate this game. When I win, I love it, when I lose, I hate it with a passion. One of the fastest ways to lose $100 and your confidence all in one. The dice passed ONCE while we were there, and they crapped out 5 times out of 7 before a point was thrown. So, we decided to play some blackjack. Admittedly, these are not my games, but Karen feels more comfortable playing them, so I obliged. All in all, down $100 in less than 30 min. Not good.
I go off to a 7 handed NL table with $250, and Karen goes up to bed. First hand I pick up is in the 4th hand I see. 2 black Aces. I raise it to $12 preflop, and actually get a re-raise from 2 seats down to $24. It passes back to me, and I don't even fuck around, moving one stack of nickles to the center for $100. He knows what I have and flips over 2 black 7's. I show as well.
Granted, this is not the best way I could've played this hand, but god forbid he hits a set and all undercards, I'm gonna lose a fortune.
Next rotation, I get QQ, and raise to $12 again. I get 4 callers this time. Flop comes Jc9h2c, and it's first to me. I bet $25 and get a raiser from the seat next to me up to $50. It passes back to me and I call, putting him on KJ. Now watch what a retard I develop into. The 4d comes on the turn, and I check. He bets $60, and with the best hand I JUST call. I should've gone all in as the pot was about $220 now. The Kc comes on the river, completing the flush and my imaginary 2 pair. We both check, and he shows KdJh. I lost about $130 in that hand, and could've won $220 right there on the turn, but I played it like an idiot, and quite frankly, deserved to lose.
Another hand, I flopped top two pair on a board of 467 with 67d in the BB, and lost to bottom set from the button. Another killer. I even got all my chips in with A9 on the flop for like $16 and hit top pair, but another guy flopped a straight. It was just one of those nights.
I get back to NY, and hit up Hall's 3/6 game on Friday night, and make $130 in a pretty short time. No game on Saturday, and I go back on Sunday for the NL at night. I make another $150 and I'm close to even for the week. Then Tuesday, after the tournament, I play a little 3/6 and see the biggest pot I've ever seen in that limit, the pot was $300+! Was I involved? Hell yeah!
I get 44 (a hand I would get a total of 5 times that night) and there's a preflop raise and I'm in the cutoff. The button is quite conservative and I figure he'll fold, thus giving me the button. I call the raise and Mike Hall in the BB 3 bets it. The original raiser caps it, and since there's 6 people in, I'm getting a good price to flop my set. The flop comes 4d6c7h. It gets bet by Hall, raised by the original raiser, call call, and I 3 bet it. Casey who is by far the tightest player at the table, cold calls the 3 bets and it gets capped around. A 3d comes off on the turn, and it's bet and 3 bet by the time it gets to me! Hmmmm, someone snuck in with A5 I'm guessing. I call, hoping to pair the board on the river, and the 2c comes off. I get checkraised into paying off 2 bets on the river and Maltese has A5 and Casey of all people got involved in the hand with J5d. He did turn a flush draw though. They chopped it up and got $150+ each. That kind of killed me and I never recovered, leaving down $100.
Eddie's on Wednesday night was a joke. I got there 20 min late, and never made it past the 2nd level. I played 7s9s to see a cheap flop and checked then folded. I raised with A9 on the button after everyone passed to me, and the BB went all in for 1700 more. No thanks. My last hand I called a raise with Ad9s. The flop came KdTd8d. The pot was 1200 and checked to me and I was last to act. I bet 800 and got one caller in the SB who is very conservative. The As came on the turn and he checked, I bet 1200 not leaving me much more, about 625 to be exact, making it look like I had a good hand but not going all in. He put me all in right away, and I called with the nut draw and top pair. He had QdJs for the nut straight. No diamond, and I was gone in the blink of an eye. At least my car was still warm.....
Part 2 of what I started last week but never finished. Later that night, Karen and I decided to play craps. Well, I've decided that I don't really like or hate this game. When I win, I love it, when I lose, I hate it with a passion. One of the fastest ways to lose $100 and your confidence all in one. The dice passed ONCE while we were there, and they crapped out 5 times out of 7 before a point was thrown. So, we decided to play some blackjack. Admittedly, these are not my games, but Karen feels more comfortable playing them, so I obliged. All in all, down $100 in less than 30 min. Not good.
I go off to a 7 handed NL table with $250, and Karen goes up to bed. First hand I pick up is in the 4th hand I see. 2 black Aces. I raise it to $12 preflop, and actually get a re-raise from 2 seats down to $24. It passes back to me, and I don't even fuck around, moving one stack of nickles to the center for $100. He knows what I have and flips over 2 black 7's. I show as well.
Granted, this is not the best way I could've played this hand, but god forbid he hits a set and all undercards, I'm gonna lose a fortune.
Next rotation, I get QQ, and raise to $12 again. I get 4 callers this time. Flop comes Jc9h2c, and it's first to me. I bet $25 and get a raiser from the seat next to me up to $50. It passes back to me and I call, putting him on KJ. Now watch what a retard I develop into. The 4d comes on the turn, and I check. He bets $60, and with the best hand I JUST call. I should've gone all in as the pot was about $220 now. The Kc comes on the river, completing the flush and my imaginary 2 pair. We both check, and he shows KdJh. I lost about $130 in that hand, and could've won $220 right there on the turn, but I played it like an idiot, and quite frankly, deserved to lose.
Another hand, I flopped top two pair on a board of 467 with 67d in the BB, and lost to bottom set from the button. Another killer. I even got all my chips in with A9 on the flop for like $16 and hit top pair, but another guy flopped a straight. It was just one of those nights.
I get back to NY, and hit up Hall's 3/6 game on Friday night, and make $130 in a pretty short time. No game on Saturday, and I go back on Sunday for the NL at night. I make another $150 and I'm close to even for the week. Then Tuesday, after the tournament, I play a little 3/6 and see the biggest pot I've ever seen in that limit, the pot was $300+! Was I involved? Hell yeah!
I get 44 (a hand I would get a total of 5 times that night) and there's a preflop raise and I'm in the cutoff. The button is quite conservative and I figure he'll fold, thus giving me the button. I call the raise and Mike Hall in the BB 3 bets it. The original raiser caps it, and since there's 6 people in, I'm getting a good price to flop my set. The flop comes 4d6c7h. It gets bet by Hall, raised by the original raiser, call call, and I 3 bet it. Casey who is by far the tightest player at the table, cold calls the 3 bets and it gets capped around. A 3d comes off on the turn, and it's bet and 3 bet by the time it gets to me! Hmmmm, someone snuck in with A5 I'm guessing. I call, hoping to pair the board on the river, and the 2c comes off. I get checkraised into paying off 2 bets on the river and Maltese has A5 and Casey of all people got involved in the hand with J5d. He did turn a flush draw though. They chopped it up and got $150+ each. That kind of killed me and I never recovered, leaving down $100.
Eddie's on Wednesday night was a joke. I got there 20 min late, and never made it past the 2nd level. I played 7s9s to see a cheap flop and checked then folded. I raised with A9 on the button after everyone passed to me, and the BB went all in for 1700 more. No thanks. My last hand I called a raise with Ad9s. The flop came KdTd8d. The pot was 1200 and checked to me and I was last to act. I bet 800 and got one caller in the SB who is very conservative. The As came on the turn and he checked, I bet 1200 not leaving me much more, about 625 to be exact, making it look like I had a good hand but not going all in. He put me all in right away, and I called with the nut draw and top pair. He had QdJs for the nut straight. No diamond, and I was gone in the blink of an eye. At least my car was still warm.....
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
After starting my new job in the city last night, I decided to take Karen down to Atlantic City this morning so she could get to her 2pm show. I hit up the NL tables of course, and went on the coldest streak of cards I've hit in a while. Actually, I've been cold decked for the past 10 days, and granted in the grand scheme of things, I have to accept it, it's just a part of the game. I only won 2 pots in 3 hours and those I completely bluffed at with K high both times on the flop after I got in fairly cheap in multiway pots.
After that, I was down about $50, and Karen got back from the show to sweat some action, and brought a friend who I haven't seen in about a year and a half. When they got there, I picked up some hands. I got 99 and raised and got one caller, the BB. Flop came 744. He check/called me 2x and then I checked on the river too, and he had 88! He had me nervous for a bit.
Same thing happened later with TT. I caught a flop 9 high and he check called me all the way down again, and I never saw his cards. By now I was up $96. I probably should have left but Karen said she was going to go to the room, come back and we'd get some dinner. I'm starting to believe in good luck and karma because as soon as she left, I got A10 in the BB and the pot was unraised with 5 players. The flop came T75. I bet $10, 1 caller. This guy was a crazy Asian guy who had a Scotty Nguyen-like attitude. He called and the board paired 5's. I bet $20 and he called again and did a little dance with his arms in his seats, pretty funny. Another 7 peeled off on the river, and I checked, and he said "no, no more checks, I bet $40." He then proceeded to say that we had the same hand and he's like "i have a 10" blah blah blah. I decided to call and he flipped over J7. Oh well, lost $70 in the hand. Overall, after a few more beats, I was down $25 and went to dinner. More info later as I go back for my next session.
After that, I was down about $50, and Karen got back from the show to sweat some action, and brought a friend who I haven't seen in about a year and a half. When they got there, I picked up some hands. I got 99 and raised and got one caller, the BB. Flop came 744. He check/called me 2x and then I checked on the river too, and he had 88! He had me nervous for a bit.
Same thing happened later with TT. I caught a flop 9 high and he check called me all the way down again, and I never saw his cards. By now I was up $96. I probably should have left but Karen said she was going to go to the room, come back and we'd get some dinner. I'm starting to believe in good luck and karma because as soon as she left, I got A10 in the BB and the pot was unraised with 5 players. The flop came T75. I bet $10, 1 caller. This guy was a crazy Asian guy who had a Scotty Nguyen-like attitude. He called and the board paired 5's. I bet $20 and he called again and did a little dance with his arms in his seats, pretty funny. Another 7 peeled off on the river, and I checked, and he said "no, no more checks, I bet $40." He then proceeded to say that we had the same hand and he's like "i have a 10" blah blah blah. I decided to call and he flipped over J7. Oh well, lost $70 in the hand. Overall, after a few more beats, I was down $25 and went to dinner. More info later as I go back for my next session.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
I got called in to play drums as a sub for a show last night in Smithtown. The show went well, and afterwards I went to Hall's for a little 3/6 action. It was 2 rounds of Hold em, and 1 round of Omaha high. After 20 min, I was up $105.
In Omaha, I had Ad6d8c5h in the BB. I checked in a 5 way pot and the flop came 8s8d5s. Having to check my cards as did everyone, I made sure I had top full house and the SB bet. I raised and everyone called. The Kh came on the turn, I bet again, and everyone called. I cried out "NO SPADE" on the river and the beautiful 6s came off the deck. The SB then bet out, and I thought about it for a minute, then realized I had an even better full house now and raised. Everyone folded and he called with As2s for the nut flush. While I would have liked if he got there on the turn, at least he got there and gave me 2BB on the end.
Same rotation, I picked up AKQT. I limped in from the cutoff and Pete raised on the button. 4 others called, as did I and we saw a flop of J96 rainbow. Gregg bet out in the SB and was raised by a MP player, Bill. I called the 2 bets and Pete did as well and Gregg. The turn was the Ks giving me the nuts right now. Gregg bet again, Bill raised, and I 3 bet it. Gregg capped it and Bill called the cap as did I. The 2h came on the river and Gregg bet again, and Bill raised, I 3 bet it and Gregg capped it. I expected a 3 way chop, but it was only 2 ways, as Gregg and I had the QT. Bill had flopped top set with JJ. It was a $220 that was chopped up, probably the biggest I've seen in a 3/6 game.
Well, I lost some pots here and there too. Bad preflop calls and chasing too much, so I got up and got a drink and came back to the table. All in all, I was up $40 when I left and I played for 3 hours for a profit of about 2.2BB/hr. I approve.
In Omaha, I had Ad6d8c5h in the BB. I checked in a 5 way pot and the flop came 8s8d5s. Having to check my cards as did everyone, I made sure I had top full house and the SB bet. I raised and everyone called. The Kh came on the turn, I bet again, and everyone called. I cried out "NO SPADE" on the river and the beautiful 6s came off the deck. The SB then bet out, and I thought about it for a minute, then realized I had an even better full house now and raised. Everyone folded and he called with As2s for the nut flush. While I would have liked if he got there on the turn, at least he got there and gave me 2BB on the end.
Same rotation, I picked up AKQT. I limped in from the cutoff and Pete raised on the button. 4 others called, as did I and we saw a flop of J96 rainbow. Gregg bet out in the SB and was raised by a MP player, Bill. I called the 2 bets and Pete did as well and Gregg. The turn was the Ks giving me the nuts right now. Gregg bet again, Bill raised, and I 3 bet it. Gregg capped it and Bill called the cap as did I. The 2h came on the river and Gregg bet again, and Bill raised, I 3 bet it and Gregg capped it. I expected a 3 way chop, but it was only 2 ways, as Gregg and I had the QT. Bill had flopped top set with JJ. It was a $220 that was chopped up, probably the biggest I've seen in a 3/6 game.
Well, I lost some pots here and there too. Bad preflop calls and chasing too much, so I got up and got a drink and came back to the table. All in all, I was up $40 when I left and I played for 3 hours for a profit of about 2.2BB/hr. I approve.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Well, since the last posting some 2 weeks ago about, I've been playing quite a bit of poker. I've been to Eddie's twice, Hall's a bunch of times, and the SPT championship event. Where do I begin? I guess from the beginning.
Starting with Eddie's after my last post, I busted out early when I made a huge bluff for a huge pot and I got called by bottom set. Good trap on the other guy's part. The following week I went to see 2 shows in NYC. Saw Wicked at 2PM then saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at 8PM. Having seen Wicked before, I realized that I didn't really need to go see it again, although I love the show. DRS though was quite a surprise. Much funnier than I imagined it to be, and I was thoroughly entertained the entire time. Look for it to be nominated for some Tonys in June.
There have been some cash games at Hall's as well, mostly 3/6 limit. I had a couple of losing sessions in the game at about $10-$20 at a clip, and then an $11-$25 profit here and there was well. It's funny how people view the game and if they don't make $100 dollars when they only start with $60, the view it as a loss, or just poor. The times where I made $20 bux in 3 hours, I was slightly better than average when you think about it, I was thrilled, and considered it to be a successful day.
I seem to be on somewhat of a good roll in the month of February. I made a nice comeback to take 2nd place in the SPT overall rankings, finishing just 150 chips short of Tieds. I won the Saturday tournament, came in top 5 in the next game, and then won the Omaha 8/b tourney the following week. I showed up to deal the satellite only to gather information from who would win and how I could play against them the next night. Lehman ended up winning and my gameplan going into the Championship table was clear. Get involved in pots with Lehman and hopefully trap him as he was the most inexperienced player at the table. (Sorry Lehman, nothing personal, just strategy!) It turned out to be in my favor as I flopped the 2nd nut straight against him and trapped him for almost all his chips. Ditty finished him off the next hand with TT.
From there, I got real real lucky. I was dominated against Tieds in a hand when he called my all in with AQ and I held AT. (I believe I had AT, Tieds help me out) I ended up flopping my undercard and doubled through. I got it all in again with KQ and Ditty called with 77. Flopped a K to stay alive again. Eventually I tumbled in 3rd place when my AJ went up against Eddie's A5 and the board came 7755x. It was time for me to lose when I was in a dominant position, it was only fitting.
I then went to Hall's game and dropped around $100 at his 3/6 game. Poor poor play on my part, I should have never gone. I said that I probably wouldn't go back on Sunday for the tourament, but I showed up for the cash game at night. Not enough people decided to play a cash game, so I played a 10 person tournament, and won, beating my arch nemesis Gregg Maltese (another Gregg M).
Then I had the dreaded task of taking Karen down to Atlantic city which is like throwing Brer Rabbit in the Briar Patch. I played 1-2 NL from 11-4am on Sunday night and from 12:30-7 on Monday. I made $425 and look forward to playing again when I go down there. I bluffed a guy off a hand, but it cost me a lot to do it. The risk/reward was enticing.
I raised in the cutoff with 9Td to $15. There was a European guy who had sat down at my table and he was calling every bet cold to the turn and then usually folding. I figured I could get him in and just try to outplay him to see what happens. He called as did 1 other. With a pot of $48 the flop came J64 with 2 diamonds. The action was checked to me, and since I had a pretty tight image to people who were paying attention, I bet $35. The one player that I wanted to call, called, the other folded. The turn came a 8c, giving me an inside straight draw for 6 more outs. He checked again and with the pot at $118, I fired $60 and thankfully he folded. He asked the dealer to rabbit hunt the last card to see if he hit his draw. I said to go for it, and flipped over my cards to show my bluff. The guy was irate and played super aggressive on every hand I was in, but I showed him the nuts 3 times in a row and he paid me off every time. I flopped a straight one time when he had QQ and didn't raise preflop. Then I slowplayed my flopped set of 9's and took out his AA. All in all it was a great experience. I'll probably get my ass kicked the next time I play this game. Karma...
Then I've been back to Hall's and I won his tournament this past Tuesday for $130 payout, and then played a shorthanded $3/$6 game on Wednesday night, waiting for Karen to get home from AC. I played for about 100 min or so and won $130, or as I like to thank about it, 21.5 BB. Damn, I would've been happy being up $9 or $10 bux, but I'll take it! The game was perfect really, people raising me on the river with an underpair when I have top two, or even just top pair. He tried it on me 2x, and I just called, so every time he did it to me again, I would just 2 bet him and consider it a value bet in my mind, because he was so weak.
One hand of note: I was in the SB with ATh and it was raised by Maltese, and 3 bet by Frank. Normally I wouldn't play this hand here, but a) we were shorthanded, b) the players are weak. So I just call the 3 bet and so does Maltese and 2 others. The comes 653 with 2 hearts. Normally I don't bet out here, but the implied odds are that a)Frank will raise in the middle, thereby trapping 2 other people for 2 bets and b) if everyone just calls, I'm getting 5-1 on a draw that I'm going to get there 1 in 4 times. Sure enough, Frank does raise it up and everyone calls 2 bets, which is perfect. The Jh on the turn shows up and I think if Frank will bet this hand. I decide to not risk it and just bet. Frank raises it again! and it comes back to me and I 3 bet it and everyone calls. The 5c comes on the river to pair the board and I still bet and it's just call call call call. I show my nut flush and everyone folds, but Frank says he had 88. Wow what a pot. As my friend Phil says "you just need a pulse in these easy games and people will pay you off through the nose"
Ahhh, if all days could go as well as this. I'm going to hit up the cash game tonight and then tomorrow he's spreading a 1/2 NL game. I'm interested to see how the competition is for this game. Well, that's all for now. I'll post tomorrow during work. Seacrest, out!
Starting with Eddie's after my last post, I busted out early when I made a huge bluff for a huge pot and I got called by bottom set. Good trap on the other guy's part. The following week I went to see 2 shows in NYC. Saw Wicked at 2PM then saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at 8PM. Having seen Wicked before, I realized that I didn't really need to go see it again, although I love the show. DRS though was quite a surprise. Much funnier than I imagined it to be, and I was thoroughly entertained the entire time. Look for it to be nominated for some Tonys in June.
There have been some cash games at Hall's as well, mostly 3/6 limit. I had a couple of losing sessions in the game at about $10-$20 at a clip, and then an $11-$25 profit here and there was well. It's funny how people view the game and if they don't make $100 dollars when they only start with $60, the view it as a loss, or just poor. The times where I made $20 bux in 3 hours, I was slightly better than average when you think about it, I was thrilled, and considered it to be a successful day.
I seem to be on somewhat of a good roll in the month of February. I made a nice comeback to take 2nd place in the SPT overall rankings, finishing just 150 chips short of Tieds. I won the Saturday tournament, came in top 5 in the next game, and then won the Omaha 8/b tourney the following week. I showed up to deal the satellite only to gather information from who would win and how I could play against them the next night. Lehman ended up winning and my gameplan going into the Championship table was clear. Get involved in pots with Lehman and hopefully trap him as he was the most inexperienced player at the table. (Sorry Lehman, nothing personal, just strategy!) It turned out to be in my favor as I flopped the 2nd nut straight against him and trapped him for almost all his chips. Ditty finished him off the next hand with TT.
From there, I got real real lucky. I was dominated against Tieds in a hand when he called my all in with AQ and I held AT. (I believe I had AT, Tieds help me out) I ended up flopping my undercard and doubled through. I got it all in again with KQ and Ditty called with 77. Flopped a K to stay alive again. Eventually I tumbled in 3rd place when my AJ went up against Eddie's A5 and the board came 7755x. It was time for me to lose when I was in a dominant position, it was only fitting.
I then went to Hall's game and dropped around $100 at his 3/6 game. Poor poor play on my part, I should have never gone. I said that I probably wouldn't go back on Sunday for the tourament, but I showed up for the cash game at night. Not enough people decided to play a cash game, so I played a 10 person tournament, and won, beating my arch nemesis Gregg Maltese (another Gregg M).
Then I had the dreaded task of taking Karen down to Atlantic city which is like throwing Brer Rabbit in the Briar Patch. I played 1-2 NL from 11-4am on Sunday night and from 12:30-7 on Monday. I made $425 and look forward to playing again when I go down there. I bluffed a guy off a hand, but it cost me a lot to do it. The risk/reward was enticing.
I raised in the cutoff with 9Td to $15. There was a European guy who had sat down at my table and he was calling every bet cold to the turn and then usually folding. I figured I could get him in and just try to outplay him to see what happens. He called as did 1 other. With a pot of $48 the flop came J64 with 2 diamonds. The action was checked to me, and since I had a pretty tight image to people who were paying attention, I bet $35. The one player that I wanted to call, called, the other folded. The turn came a 8c, giving me an inside straight draw for 6 more outs. He checked again and with the pot at $118, I fired $60 and thankfully he folded. He asked the dealer to rabbit hunt the last card to see if he hit his draw. I said to go for it, and flipped over my cards to show my bluff. The guy was irate and played super aggressive on every hand I was in, but I showed him the nuts 3 times in a row and he paid me off every time. I flopped a straight one time when he had QQ and didn't raise preflop. Then I slowplayed my flopped set of 9's and took out his AA. All in all it was a great experience. I'll probably get my ass kicked the next time I play this game. Karma...
Then I've been back to Hall's and I won his tournament this past Tuesday for $130 payout, and then played a shorthanded $3/$6 game on Wednesday night, waiting for Karen to get home from AC. I played for about 100 min or so and won $130, or as I like to thank about it, 21.5 BB. Damn, I would've been happy being up $9 or $10 bux, but I'll take it! The game was perfect really, people raising me on the river with an underpair when I have top two, or even just top pair. He tried it on me 2x, and I just called, so every time he did it to me again, I would just 2 bet him and consider it a value bet in my mind, because he was so weak.
One hand of note: I was in the SB with ATh and it was raised by Maltese, and 3 bet by Frank. Normally I wouldn't play this hand here, but a) we were shorthanded, b) the players are weak. So I just call the 3 bet and so does Maltese and 2 others. The comes 653 with 2 hearts. Normally I don't bet out here, but the implied odds are that a)Frank will raise in the middle, thereby trapping 2 other people for 2 bets and b) if everyone just calls, I'm getting 5-1 on a draw that I'm going to get there 1 in 4 times. Sure enough, Frank does raise it up and everyone calls 2 bets, which is perfect. The Jh on the turn shows up and I think if Frank will bet this hand. I decide to not risk it and just bet. Frank raises it again! and it comes back to me and I 3 bet it and everyone calls. The 5c comes on the river to pair the board and I still bet and it's just call call call call. I show my nut flush and everyone folds, but Frank says he had 88. Wow what a pot. As my friend Phil says "you just need a pulse in these easy games and people will pay you off through the nose"
Ahhh, if all days could go as well as this. I'm going to hit up the cash game tonight and then tomorrow he's spreading a 1/2 NL game. I'm interested to see how the competition is for this game. Well, that's all for now. I'll post tomorrow during work. Seacrest, out!
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
This will be a quick update for today. On Sunday, I went to Hall's. He had a $40 tournament with $20 rebuys, and an optional $20 add-on at the end of the 3rd level. I generally am not a fan of this for many reasons. 1) The loose style that people play are favorable to the better players, but it leads to flipping coins for $20 a pop, in the first hour or so. 2) By the end there are SO many chips in play that the final 3 or 4 take hours to complete because of the blinds. 3) I just think that once you're out in a tournament, you're out. Yes, it creates action and the house can take more of a cut, but I think the game is just plain different (read worse) because of the style of the game. Should you take more chances to build a stack so you don't have to addon at the end of the period? Otherwise you turn a $40 tourney into a $100 or $100+ tourney. I myself got knocked out once and got back in and then took the addon, for an $80 tournament. I thought to myself, this is ridiculous. I'm much more a fan of one buy in and for god's sake, a slow structure. Again, back to flipping coins for your entry fee. I could've done that in the parking lot with an actual coin.
But I digress...
So I had the loosest player I've ever played with to my left to start the tournament, and Dycka to my right. It always seems like we end up sitting next to each other. The rest of the table was fine. I lost an occasional pot here and there, nothing really to make a note of. Then in the 2nd level, the loose guy just keeps going all in. I assume that he knows he has to make a move before rebuys are over, but he's goin all in for like 11x the BB. I really want to get him and I find 88 in the BB and he goes all in UTG, everyone folds like usual, and I call. He flips over AK, great! now he has a hand...He flops a K and it's rebuy time. I made it to the final table after taking an add-on and have about 6Kin chips, below average by all means.
Now Dycka is to my left when we start the final table. Right off the get go, I get 10's in MP and go all in. It was for a good amount, about 10x the BB, so it was enough to hang around and play or go home. After much thinking, a smart player who I respect, Kevin, called me with AK and everyone else folded. Flop came K high. But the turn peeled off a 10, and I was right back in it with a nice double up. Dycka would later get involved in a similar spot with Kevin, who again had AK against Dycka's 44. Again Kevin flopped an A, but Dycka rivered a 4 to stay alive. He couldn't catch a break it seems in coin flips that night.
Blinds 300/600 with a 50 ante, I get JJ and re raise all in after Frank had made it 2500 to go. It folds around to the loose guy to my left at the first table. He's now down the table from me and can't decide what to do. If it was anyone else I'd be worried that he has QQ, cause he can't make a decision. But it's this guy so I put him A10 or some other hand that a guy like him can't get away from. He decides to call eventually, and Frank folds for another 10K. Frank folded 77, and the loose guy flips over 910D!!!! What a call! Well, the flop came 8K2. The turn was a 6, and now he needed 1 of the last 2 7's in the deck. Well, of course the river was a 7. I had him covered so I was able to stay around.
Then I played the biggest pussy in the game. I just waited for blinds to come around and eat other people up so I could get in the money. Eventually it worked and I ended up chopping 2nd and 3rd's prize money to take home $160. I'm sorry I don't have more hands for this time of the game, but nothing really happened with me, or really worth writing about. Another cash, and tonight I have Eddie's game that I won 2 weeks ago. Let's see if the ride continues....
But I digress...
So I had the loosest player I've ever played with to my left to start the tournament, and Dycka to my right. It always seems like we end up sitting next to each other. The rest of the table was fine. I lost an occasional pot here and there, nothing really to make a note of. Then in the 2nd level, the loose guy just keeps going all in. I assume that he knows he has to make a move before rebuys are over, but he's goin all in for like 11x the BB. I really want to get him and I find 88 in the BB and he goes all in UTG, everyone folds like usual, and I call. He flips over AK, great! now he has a hand...He flops a K and it's rebuy time. I made it to the final table after taking an add-on and have about 6Kin chips, below average by all means.
Now Dycka is to my left when we start the final table. Right off the get go, I get 10's in MP and go all in. It was for a good amount, about 10x the BB, so it was enough to hang around and play or go home. After much thinking, a smart player who I respect, Kevin, called me with AK and everyone else folded. Flop came K high. But the turn peeled off a 10, and I was right back in it with a nice double up. Dycka would later get involved in a similar spot with Kevin, who again had AK against Dycka's 44. Again Kevin flopped an A, but Dycka rivered a 4 to stay alive. He couldn't catch a break it seems in coin flips that night.
Blinds 300/600 with a 50 ante, I get JJ and re raise all in after Frank had made it 2500 to go. It folds around to the loose guy to my left at the first table. He's now down the table from me and can't decide what to do. If it was anyone else I'd be worried that he has QQ, cause he can't make a decision. But it's this guy so I put him A10 or some other hand that a guy like him can't get away from. He decides to call eventually, and Frank folds for another 10K. Frank folded 77, and the loose guy flips over 910D!!!! What a call! Well, the flop came 8K2. The turn was a 6, and now he needed 1 of the last 2 7's in the deck. Well, of course the river was a 7. I had him covered so I was able to stay around.
Then I played the biggest pussy in the game. I just waited for blinds to come around and eat other people up so I could get in the money. Eventually it worked and I ended up chopping 2nd and 3rd's prize money to take home $160. I'm sorry I don't have more hands for this time of the game, but nothing really happened with me, or really worth writing about. Another cash, and tonight I have Eddie's game that I won 2 weeks ago. Let's see if the ride continues....
Friday, February 11, 2005
Just a quick note, after sticking up for Phil Hellmuth for the past couple of years, I'm done with him. Does he still play poker? I honestly haven't read a NEW article from him on cardplayer since Tobey Maguire won his tournament. This week's article is from his book and from Foxwoods 2003!!! The past few weeks of his posting has been articles or stuff from YEARS ago against TJ, and even that was a horribly written hand. Has he not played recently and can't dwell on recent events? His lack of work ethic is terrible. Shit, even I'm doing more posting than him, granted he has a lot more bracelets.
He who makes the least mistakes...(or how to win a NL Hold 'Em tournament)
I apologize for stealing your format of title Ditty, but you stole it from Dr. Strangelove anyway.
Poker @ Ditty's last night...good times. 3 handed I had more than 1/2 the chips in play. Did I win? No. How did I lose all my chips? Well, like a good episode of Alias, let's flashback to the beginning and go over some key hands of how I amassed my chips before getting to the terrible end.
At the first table, blinds 25/50, Hall raised from MP to 175. Rich calls, and I find AQh in the BB and call as well. Flop comes Kh9h3s. I bet out 350 to take it right there and/or find out if Rich has AK. Hall just calls (a weak play imo) and Rich raises it up to 700. I decide to call because with Hall's money I've got some good odds here. Hall ended up folding. The turn is the 4h and I lead out with a weak 600 into a 2300 pot. Rich didn't bite though, and just called. I wouldn't have minded another heart on the river but the Kc came for a final board of Kh9h3s4hKc. With not much else to do I went all in with the hope that he didn't have a boat, and he had AK.
I had a side bet with Dycka that for every pot Hall and Maltese were in, if they were heads up by the turn, I would lay 2-1 that Maltese would win the pot. Unfortunatly, they only got into one pot and Hall won. I slid $2 under the table to Dycka.
Another pot, Dycka raised UTG while I was in the BB. Blinds were 50/75 and he went up to 275. I found AK in the BB and just called. I didn't want to be on the losing side of a race, out of position, and especially with the comfy stack I had. We took a flop of 10 rag rag. I checked and Dycka bet 300. I called with the hopes of pushing him off the hand on the turn. Another 10 came to pair the board, and it was decision time. Would he fold to a bet here? Would he believe that I check called top pair? I decided that this was the worst card for my previous action and decided to check again, bascially giving up on the hand. Dycka bet 300 again, a smallish bet, which I commented on, but folded. He flashed 2 rockets at me, and I felt better. That one's filed away in the mental filing cabinet.
Artem and I got involved in a hand soon after. He raised from LP and I got AJ in the BB. I wasn't re-raising alot in this game for some reason, prolly cause I didn't think I could get Artem to fold preflop. I'm not saying anything about his game, but last night he seemed to want to play alot of pots and I figured if I could get in cheaper and hit it hard, I could make more money. Anyway, the flop comes A34. I check hoping for a bet, and Artem fires out 300. I go all in for about 1275 more, and he calls instantly.....with 34o!! What a steal gone good! Well, I spiked a J on the turn, and then an A on the river.
Later on, I got pocket 10's in UTG +1 and raised it up to 4x the BB. Jack had limped in before me and called the bet. Flop came 8h9s3c. Jack checked, and I bet 800, about the size of the pot. Jack thought about it and I told him to roll the die and see what happens. He did roll and got a 20! I don't know much about it, but that's the best possible roll I believe. So he decided to call. Turn came the 7h. Even better for my hand, Jack checked again and I decided to go all in for another 2250, now that I picked up a redraw in case my hand went bad. Jack decided to call because the die had rolled a 20 previously and flipped over A6h! Now if I hit my set, I lose to a straight, and any heart beats me too. The 4s came on the river and I won a huge pot as Jack was 2nd in chips next to me at this point.
Now I sat well at about 7800 chips. Artem went on a little bit of a tear before we broke for the final table and he was sitting well also. Final table was a little tough, I enjoyed Tieds' sarcasm about the situation. I had CK and Ike to my left, Ike I've never played with. He took the place of DGlove with his methodical calls and deliberate actions. To my right, I had Artem and Bob with Tieds and Long in the middle.
No real craziness here. I ran well and got some big pots here and there. There was one hand where I may have had a winner, but I folded preflop. UTG CK raises to 925 with blinds 150/300. Long asks how much to re-raise and makes it 2K to go. I look down in the BB to find AJ. I would've played against CK, but the re-raise here makes me hate my hand. I force it into the muck. Flop comes KJ7. They both check the flop and and after a deuce hits the turn, CK checks and Long puts CK all in. CK mucks Q 9 and the more I think about it, it's very possible for Long to have QQ there.
Artem goes all in on the button and I find 88 in the SB and re-raise all in to push CK out. He folds and Artem tables A6o. No help for him and we are down another player. CK and Ike got involved in a hand as well where the action folded to them and CK went all in. Ike thought about it and decided to take a stand and call. CK has 23h and Ike has 103d. Flop comes 102x I believe. Turn is another 2. River? Case deuce. CK doubles up with 23h!!
Ike was down to about 4x the BB and I picked up ATd in the SB and planned to get him all in but Bob raises in front of me. Hmm I wanted this pot, so I call and not play back at him, but I put him on a weak ace. Flop comes JTx. With a sidepot of 400, I checked hoping that Bob wouldn't bet me out of a sidepot when a player elimination is one the line. He checked as well. I spiked an A on the river and thought about betting because I figured I'd get some action. But I did not, and I took the pot down with 2 pair, and eliminating Ike.
Eventually we are 3 handed with Long and Bob. We were really trading blinds back and forth with no real action. I got K9c on the button and decided to raise 1/2 of Long's 6K chips to see if he wanted in. I figured he's not going to call, he'll go all in or fold, and for some reason, I had a good feeling about the hand, call it intuition if you will. Long decides to go all in and Bob folds and I call. Long has 5h5s and it's race time. Flop comes Kh9hx. 2 more hearts come on the next 2 streets, and Long's flush beats my hand. 3 hands later, on the button again, I got A3o, and I went all in for 8K, a GROSS overbet on my part, but I was rattled for the first time in weeks and decided to push it in. Long didn't want to right away, but he did call with 77, and eliminated me when the flop came 232 and no more help.
About 5 hands later, Long won the whole thing. I wasn't watching the final hand because Ditty put in an awesome Ali G DVD with Borat in the Hamptons. I can't really complain except that I wish I had played the hand slower to get away from it at the end. But I hate taking stands now with 4x or 5x the BB. I wanna double up big or just stop. I think that was my problem before, I would just whittle away and not be afraid to gamble. As much skill as there is in this game, it's still gambling and you must treat it as such in certain situations. Another cash and more points to move me up the leaderboard as well. I'm very happy with the way I've been playing lately and that A3 is the real only big mistake that I've made in the last 3 weeks. Tonight, is a 2/4 game at Hall's. I'll prolly go to work on my limit game as the aquarium is fresh to be tapped.
I apologize for stealing your format of title Ditty, but you stole it from Dr. Strangelove anyway.
Poker @ Ditty's last night...good times. 3 handed I had more than 1/2 the chips in play. Did I win? No. How did I lose all my chips? Well, like a good episode of Alias, let's flashback to the beginning and go over some key hands of how I amassed my chips before getting to the terrible end.
At the first table, blinds 25/50, Hall raised from MP to 175. Rich calls, and I find AQh in the BB and call as well. Flop comes Kh9h3s. I bet out 350 to take it right there and/or find out if Rich has AK. Hall just calls (a weak play imo) and Rich raises it up to 700. I decide to call because with Hall's money I've got some good odds here. Hall ended up folding. The turn is the 4h and I lead out with a weak 600 into a 2300 pot. Rich didn't bite though, and just called. I wouldn't have minded another heart on the river but the Kc came for a final board of Kh9h3s4hKc. With not much else to do I went all in with the hope that he didn't have a boat, and he had AK.
I had a side bet with Dycka that for every pot Hall and Maltese were in, if they were heads up by the turn, I would lay 2-1 that Maltese would win the pot. Unfortunatly, they only got into one pot and Hall won. I slid $2 under the table to Dycka.
Another pot, Dycka raised UTG while I was in the BB. Blinds were 50/75 and he went up to 275. I found AK in the BB and just called. I didn't want to be on the losing side of a race, out of position, and especially with the comfy stack I had. We took a flop of 10 rag rag. I checked and Dycka bet 300. I called with the hopes of pushing him off the hand on the turn. Another 10 came to pair the board, and it was decision time. Would he fold to a bet here? Would he believe that I check called top pair? I decided that this was the worst card for my previous action and decided to check again, bascially giving up on the hand. Dycka bet 300 again, a smallish bet, which I commented on, but folded. He flashed 2 rockets at me, and I felt better. That one's filed away in the mental filing cabinet.
Artem and I got involved in a hand soon after. He raised from LP and I got AJ in the BB. I wasn't re-raising alot in this game for some reason, prolly cause I didn't think I could get Artem to fold preflop. I'm not saying anything about his game, but last night he seemed to want to play alot of pots and I figured if I could get in cheaper and hit it hard, I could make more money. Anyway, the flop comes A34. I check hoping for a bet, and Artem fires out 300. I go all in for about 1275 more, and he calls instantly.....with 34o!! What a steal gone good! Well, I spiked a J on the turn, and then an A on the river.
Later on, I got pocket 10's in UTG +1 and raised it up to 4x the BB. Jack had limped in before me and called the bet. Flop came 8h9s3c. Jack checked, and I bet 800, about the size of the pot. Jack thought about it and I told him to roll the die and see what happens. He did roll and got a 20! I don't know much about it, but that's the best possible roll I believe. So he decided to call. Turn came the 7h. Even better for my hand, Jack checked again and I decided to go all in for another 2250, now that I picked up a redraw in case my hand went bad. Jack decided to call because the die had rolled a 20 previously and flipped over A6h! Now if I hit my set, I lose to a straight, and any heart beats me too. The 4s came on the river and I won a huge pot as Jack was 2nd in chips next to me at this point.
Now I sat well at about 7800 chips. Artem went on a little bit of a tear before we broke for the final table and he was sitting well also. Final table was a little tough, I enjoyed Tieds' sarcasm about the situation. I had CK and Ike to my left, Ike I've never played with. He took the place of DGlove with his methodical calls and deliberate actions. To my right, I had Artem and Bob with Tieds and Long in the middle.
No real craziness here. I ran well and got some big pots here and there. There was one hand where I may have had a winner, but I folded preflop. UTG CK raises to 925 with blinds 150/300. Long asks how much to re-raise and makes it 2K to go. I look down in the BB to find AJ. I would've played against CK, but the re-raise here makes me hate my hand. I force it into the muck. Flop comes KJ7. They both check the flop and and after a deuce hits the turn, CK checks and Long puts CK all in. CK mucks Q 9 and the more I think about it, it's very possible for Long to have QQ there.
Artem goes all in on the button and I find 88 in the SB and re-raise all in to push CK out. He folds and Artem tables A6o. No help for him and we are down another player. CK and Ike got involved in a hand as well where the action folded to them and CK went all in. Ike thought about it and decided to take a stand and call. CK has 23h and Ike has 103d. Flop comes 102x I believe. Turn is another 2. River? Case deuce. CK doubles up with 23h!!
Ike was down to about 4x the BB and I picked up ATd in the SB and planned to get him all in but Bob raises in front of me. Hmm I wanted this pot, so I call and not play back at him, but I put him on a weak ace. Flop comes JTx. With a sidepot of 400, I checked hoping that Bob wouldn't bet me out of a sidepot when a player elimination is one the line. He checked as well. I spiked an A on the river and thought about betting because I figured I'd get some action. But I did not, and I took the pot down with 2 pair, and eliminating Ike.
Eventually we are 3 handed with Long and Bob. We were really trading blinds back and forth with no real action. I got K9c on the button and decided to raise 1/2 of Long's 6K chips to see if he wanted in. I figured he's not going to call, he'll go all in or fold, and for some reason, I had a good feeling about the hand, call it intuition if you will. Long decides to go all in and Bob folds and I call. Long has 5h5s and it's race time. Flop comes Kh9hx. 2 more hearts come on the next 2 streets, and Long's flush beats my hand. 3 hands later, on the button again, I got A3o, and I went all in for 8K, a GROSS overbet on my part, but I was rattled for the first time in weeks and decided to push it in. Long didn't want to right away, but he did call with 77, and eliminated me when the flop came 232 and no more help.
About 5 hands later, Long won the whole thing. I wasn't watching the final hand because Ditty put in an awesome Ali G DVD with Borat in the Hamptons. I can't really complain except that I wish I had played the hand slower to get away from it at the end. But I hate taking stands now with 4x or 5x the BB. I wanna double up big or just stop. I think that was my problem before, I would just whittle away and not be afraid to gamble. As much skill as there is in this game, it's still gambling and you must treat it as such in certain situations. Another cash and more points to move me up the leaderboard as well. I'm very happy with the way I've been playing lately and that A3 is the real only big mistake that I've made in the last 3 weeks. Tonight, is a 2/4 game at Hall's. I'll prolly go to work on my limit game as the aquarium is fresh to be tapped.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
*Quick update*
I got a call from the electrician today and he was at my house to run another line down from my satellite so I can get my TIVO. I figure I'm +400 and change this week in cards alone, might as well splurge. I don't know how they can do it so cheap, but TIVO from DirecTV is only $99 for the box, and $5 a month for the service. The reason I needed another line is because it's a dual tuner box so not only can I tape one thing and watch another, I can tape 2 things that are on at the same time. Gotta love it!
I got a call from the electrician today and he was at my house to run another line down from my satellite so I can get my TIVO. I figure I'm +400 and change this week in cards alone, might as well splurge. I don't know how they can do it so cheap, but TIVO from DirecTV is only $99 for the box, and $5 a month for the service. The reason I needed another line is because it's a dual tuner box so not only can I tape one thing and watch another, I can tape 2 things that are on at the same time. Gotta love it!
Report from Eddie's game on 2-2-05
I almost didn't go. Having my first class of grad school this semester and getting into my car at 7:30, I gave up all hope of getting to Eddie's by the 8PM start time. Somehow though, I got to his exit at 8:02 and decided to swing by and see if I could still get in. Luckily they were JUST about to start and I was able to get a seat. Buy in was $30, and there were 23 players on 3 tables. I pulled a table of almost unknowns to me, so I played the waiting game early to see who was capable of what. I actually got no hands for a while and lost 1/3 of my stack early on in a hand that I did have.
I saw a free flop in the BB with 94o. Flop came J96 rainbow and I bet 200 into a 300 pot. I got one raiser and no callers, I called with hopes of hitting big or folding. A 9 peeled off on the turn and I checked and the guy put me all in. I called and he had KJ and I had life once again. I really don't remember winning any more hands before we combined for the final table.
When we combined, 2 people had half of the 69,000 starting chips. I had 2800 and the chipleader sat directly to my right. The rest of the players had very low stacks too, so it was a constant all in battle between the short stacks. I ventured to guess that I could wait for other people to gamble crazily before I picked up a hand and maybe move up into the money. Final table was 10 handed and only 4 paid out. This would be an uphill climb.
I was dealt into the SB with binds of 300/600 and got 24o. Action before me and I folded. I picked up nothing for about 5 hands. 1 player got eliminated and in the SB again, a player in middle position limped in and the button chipleader, raised and said he'd put me all in. I hadn't looked yet and saw AA. I thought about it and the guy asked me, "what do you have, aces?" I told him no but it was good enough to gamble with. The limper also called here and we took a flop of QQK. The limper bet out 4K, and the chipleader after much thought folded. I asked him "AQ?" and he said "jacks". WOW! I was still alive. After more than tripling up with the antes and other blind, I was back in business.
Very next hand on the button it passes to me and I find AT. I'm up against 2 blinds who are very short stacked with 1500 and 1200 total. I go all in and just the SB calls with J9. Flop comes JK3. I shout for a Q. Turn is a 4. River is a Q! Another player down and more chips for me.
The chipleader then became relentless and I guess was pissed that he wasn't dominating the table anymore. So he started to run over everyone, and now that I wasn't in a position to gamble anymore, I let him and he picked off 2 more people. Now 5 handed, we're on the bubble. I find AK on the button. The chipleader raises 4K more from the 600. Now I have a decision. No doubt I have the best hand, but do I want to gamble with a 60/40 all in here? Or what if he does have a pair? Then I'm 50-50 and I don't really HAVE to gamble here. The blinds are coming around so fast, I'm pretty much guaranteed money here. I decide just to call, and the flop comes with garbage. He bets 3500 on the flop and I raise to 8000. He folds and I show him the AK to show that I had a hand, not necessarily on the flop but that you can't run over me everytime.
A few hands later I get AA again! C'mon really? It was ridiculous the cards that kept coming. Chipman raised it again, and I decided that he wouldn't call my all in so I re-raised him about 3x his raise. He called and we saw a flop of QQ9. He checked and I bet 10K. He folded and I showed it again. He was really getting upset at the cards I was catching, and frankly, I couldn't blame him.
5th place busts out, and now we're in the money. We trade back and forth for a few hands and on the button the following hand occured. Blinds 400/800 with a 100 ante. The chip leader raises out another 5000. I look down to see KK. I didn't want to see a small pot develop here, so I go all in for about 16K. The SB calls and BB folds and the chip leader says that he would call if the other guy didn't. SB shows AT. Flop comes ATJ. I shout for another Q to save me like last time, and on the river AGAIN, another damn Q comes out. I couldn't believe it.
We play 3 handed for a little while and I start to chip away and the old chipleader, as I've taken the lead now. One hand he raised to 4K and I called in position with 86d. Flop came 9T6. He checked and I bet 6K. He thought about it and asked how much was in the pot. Eddie said 8300 and he called. Now what could he have? What kind of draw that he wanted a price on? He hasn't done this the entire game, so I put him on QJ or something similar. A 3 peeled off on the turn and he checked again. I bet 8K this time, not leaving me with much, but I the pot was huge. He eventually folded and I didn't show it this time. He wanted to see a river card and an 8 came off and he groaned. Maybe he did have the draw I thought, the world may never know.
I eventually got AQ and just went all in after the player on my right had raised on the button and I was in the SB. The BB folded and he decided to take a stand with A6d. No help came for him and now we were heads up.
Next hand, I get AQ again and go all in and SB folds. I go all in 3 more hands in a row. No calls. Finally, the guy raises half of his stack on the button to 2800, and I have A4c. I go all in and he calls with K9o. No help for him and I take down the victory and a $265 1st place. I should play more often when I'm sick as I seem to be on somewhat of a roll lately. Being outchipped almost 10-1 when you get to the final table and winning is nothing short of miraculous/lucky as hell. I got AA 2x KK once and a plethora of big aces. This game's easy when you get the cards! And to think I almost didn't go.....
I almost didn't go. Having my first class of grad school this semester and getting into my car at 7:30, I gave up all hope of getting to Eddie's by the 8PM start time. Somehow though, I got to his exit at 8:02 and decided to swing by and see if I could still get in. Luckily they were JUST about to start and I was able to get a seat. Buy in was $30, and there were 23 players on 3 tables. I pulled a table of almost unknowns to me, so I played the waiting game early to see who was capable of what. I actually got no hands for a while and lost 1/3 of my stack early on in a hand that I did have.
I saw a free flop in the BB with 94o. Flop came J96 rainbow and I bet 200 into a 300 pot. I got one raiser and no callers, I called with hopes of hitting big or folding. A 9 peeled off on the turn and I checked and the guy put me all in. I called and he had KJ and I had life once again. I really don't remember winning any more hands before we combined for the final table.
When we combined, 2 people had half of the 69,000 starting chips. I had 2800 and the chipleader sat directly to my right. The rest of the players had very low stacks too, so it was a constant all in battle between the short stacks. I ventured to guess that I could wait for other people to gamble crazily before I picked up a hand and maybe move up into the money. Final table was 10 handed and only 4 paid out. This would be an uphill climb.
I was dealt into the SB with binds of 300/600 and got 24o. Action before me and I folded. I picked up nothing for about 5 hands. 1 player got eliminated and in the SB again, a player in middle position limped in and the button chipleader, raised and said he'd put me all in. I hadn't looked yet and saw AA. I thought about it and the guy asked me, "what do you have, aces?" I told him no but it was good enough to gamble with. The limper also called here and we took a flop of QQK. The limper bet out 4K, and the chipleader after much thought folded. I asked him "AQ?" and he said "jacks". WOW! I was still alive. After more than tripling up with the antes and other blind, I was back in business.
Very next hand on the button it passes to me and I find AT. I'm up against 2 blinds who are very short stacked with 1500 and 1200 total. I go all in and just the SB calls with J9. Flop comes JK3. I shout for a Q. Turn is a 4. River is a Q! Another player down and more chips for me.
The chipleader then became relentless and I guess was pissed that he wasn't dominating the table anymore. So he started to run over everyone, and now that I wasn't in a position to gamble anymore, I let him and he picked off 2 more people. Now 5 handed, we're on the bubble. I find AK on the button. The chipleader raises 4K more from the 600. Now I have a decision. No doubt I have the best hand, but do I want to gamble with a 60/40 all in here? Or what if he does have a pair? Then I'm 50-50 and I don't really HAVE to gamble here. The blinds are coming around so fast, I'm pretty much guaranteed money here. I decide just to call, and the flop comes with garbage. He bets 3500 on the flop and I raise to 8000. He folds and I show him the AK to show that I had a hand, not necessarily on the flop but that you can't run over me everytime.
A few hands later I get AA again! C'mon really? It was ridiculous the cards that kept coming. Chipman raised it again, and I decided that he wouldn't call my all in so I re-raised him about 3x his raise. He called and we saw a flop of QQ9. He checked and I bet 10K. He folded and I showed it again. He was really getting upset at the cards I was catching, and frankly, I couldn't blame him.
5th place busts out, and now we're in the money. We trade back and forth for a few hands and on the button the following hand occured. Blinds 400/800 with a 100 ante. The chip leader raises out another 5000. I look down to see KK. I didn't want to see a small pot develop here, so I go all in for about 16K. The SB calls and BB folds and the chip leader says that he would call if the other guy didn't. SB shows AT. Flop comes ATJ. I shout for another Q to save me like last time, and on the river AGAIN, another damn Q comes out. I couldn't believe it.
We play 3 handed for a little while and I start to chip away and the old chipleader, as I've taken the lead now. One hand he raised to 4K and I called in position with 86d. Flop came 9T6. He checked and I bet 6K. He thought about it and asked how much was in the pot. Eddie said 8300 and he called. Now what could he have? What kind of draw that he wanted a price on? He hasn't done this the entire game, so I put him on QJ or something similar. A 3 peeled off on the turn and he checked again. I bet 8K this time, not leaving me with much, but I the pot was huge. He eventually folded and I didn't show it this time. He wanted to see a river card and an 8 came off and he groaned. Maybe he did have the draw I thought, the world may never know.
I eventually got AQ and just went all in after the player on my right had raised on the button and I was in the SB. The BB folded and he decided to take a stand with A6d. No help came for him and now we were heads up.
Next hand, I get AQ again and go all in and SB folds. I go all in 3 more hands in a row. No calls. Finally, the guy raises half of his stack on the button to 2800, and I have A4c. I go all in and he calls with K9o. No help for him and I take down the victory and a $265 1st place. I should play more often when I'm sick as I seem to be on somewhat of a roll lately. Being outchipped almost 10-1 when you get to the final table and winning is nothing short of miraculous/lucky as hell. I got AA 2x KK once and a plethora of big aces. This game's easy when you get the cards! And to think I almost didn't go.....
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
The Poker Gods, They DO Smile
I went to Hall's place again last night, only on the condition that the same person who was there the previous time, would not be there. In a nutshell, the guy there was very abrasive and when I commented on his decision to tell people to just throw their money in the middle, he told me that "while you were swimmin, I was dealin'..." He then proceeded to call my all in of AK with an A on the board with A4 after checking to me. He hit a 4 on the river and proclaimed his hand to be great and this that and the other thing. Also their blind structure was a joke and I ended up paying $60 for 3 hands and leaving.
So....
I go back last night and he has a 16 person freezeout tournament. Some reason, we only started wtih 1500 in chips so I decided my strategy was to gamble early on and build up a stack. My first few hands were 92c, turned a flush, 64h missed, but I was showing some random hands that people didn't expect me to. Also, the game was tight as can be, and at this structure, if you waited for a hand, you'd be blinded to death. No one else picked up on this, so off we went.
About 10 min into the game, there was a raise before me to 200 at the 25/25 level. The whole game and before I was reading Supersystem 2 about Omaha 8/b to get ready for Thursday, and not really paying attention to the players. I look at my cards to see KK, and reraise to 450. The BB reraises to 700, orginal raiser calls, and I figure with that much in there already, we're gonna get it in on the flop, so let's do it now, and make it another 1900 to go. BB folds after a while and the original raiser calls and I tell him nice hand cause I know he has AA. I start to put my coat on when we see a 1092 flop. But a K on the turn more than doubles me up, and the coat goes off.
6 hands later, there's a raise to 250 and I get KK again! I reraise this time and the SB goes all in for 650 and the raiser calls. Flop comes 10 high and she goes all in, I call instantly and she has a set of 10's. I say nice hand again, and the SB flips over QQ. Turn comes a Q! Oh man...and the river? A King!!! We all had sets, unbelievable, and I eliminated 2 more players.
I ran well until the final table and lost some pots here and there. But people started getting knocked out left and right. Finally 5 handed, I had QQ and with blinds of 100/200, I raised to 900 into a player with alot of chips who ONLY calls, and usually with marginal hands, nothing great. He calls and we see a flop of AJQ. I think he might have an A so I go all in for 3200 and he calls after thinking about it for a while with KJ. The damn 10 comes off on the turn and I get my coat. But the river is another 10! I swear to god, I couldn't believe how lucky I was getting.
3 handed, I was shortstacked, and a player who has improved made a crucial mistake by going all in on a flush draw when Hall flopped 2 pair and basically gave me 2nd place. He didn't really have to gamble as I was running low, but he did it anyway. I went all in dark 1st hand heads up with 104s. Hall woke up with AK and it was over. +80 for the night, not bad. But seriously, the gods did smile upon me last night.
I went to Hall's place again last night, only on the condition that the same person who was there the previous time, would not be there. In a nutshell, the guy there was very abrasive and when I commented on his decision to tell people to just throw their money in the middle, he told me that "while you were swimmin, I was dealin'..." He then proceeded to call my all in of AK with an A on the board with A4 after checking to me. He hit a 4 on the river and proclaimed his hand to be great and this that and the other thing. Also their blind structure was a joke and I ended up paying $60 for 3 hands and leaving.
So....
I go back last night and he has a 16 person freezeout tournament. Some reason, we only started wtih 1500 in chips so I decided my strategy was to gamble early on and build up a stack. My first few hands were 92c, turned a flush, 64h missed, but I was showing some random hands that people didn't expect me to. Also, the game was tight as can be, and at this structure, if you waited for a hand, you'd be blinded to death. No one else picked up on this, so off we went.
About 10 min into the game, there was a raise before me to 200 at the 25/25 level. The whole game and before I was reading Supersystem 2 about Omaha 8/b to get ready for Thursday, and not really paying attention to the players. I look at my cards to see KK, and reraise to 450. The BB reraises to 700, orginal raiser calls, and I figure with that much in there already, we're gonna get it in on the flop, so let's do it now, and make it another 1900 to go. BB folds after a while and the original raiser calls and I tell him nice hand cause I know he has AA. I start to put my coat on when we see a 1092 flop. But a K on the turn more than doubles me up, and the coat goes off.
6 hands later, there's a raise to 250 and I get KK again! I reraise this time and the SB goes all in for 650 and the raiser calls. Flop comes 10 high and she goes all in, I call instantly and she has a set of 10's. I say nice hand again, and the SB flips over QQ. Turn comes a Q! Oh man...and the river? A King!!! We all had sets, unbelievable, and I eliminated 2 more players.
I ran well until the final table and lost some pots here and there. But people started getting knocked out left and right. Finally 5 handed, I had QQ and with blinds of 100/200, I raised to 900 into a player with alot of chips who ONLY calls, and usually with marginal hands, nothing great. He calls and we see a flop of AJQ. I think he might have an A so I go all in for 3200 and he calls after thinking about it for a while with KJ. The damn 10 comes off on the turn and I get my coat. But the river is another 10! I swear to god, I couldn't believe how lucky I was getting.
3 handed, I was shortstacked, and a player who has improved made a crucial mistake by going all in on a flush draw when Hall flopped 2 pair and basically gave me 2nd place. He didn't really have to gamble as I was running low, but he did it anyway. I went all in dark 1st hand heads up with 104s. Hall woke up with AK and it was over. +80 for the night, not bad. But seriously, the gods did smile upon me last night.
Monday, January 31, 2005
WOP (Weekend of Poker) 2005
Well, I was sick on Friday, ruining my plans of going to the city for Karen's roomate's birthday party. They even got a Hummer Limo and everything. Saturday, Karen came out early on the train and we headed to Ditty's for a 12pm tournament, specially added for the SPT Season 2. Still not feeling very well, I pulled the usual "alternate" table. I've only started at the actual table once this whole season. Kudos to Tieds though for bringing his card table though, it was better than usual.
My opening table went something like this. Me, Lehman, Artem, Bob, Simpson, Moneymaker, Tieds, and Rich. I had to say I was pleased with my spot, and the table overall. Actually, whoever sat in my seat was going to get my cards, so I guess I just got lucky. Here's how the first 2 levels went.
I put alot of pressure on other people with good hands and didn't bluff once. I was hoping people would think I was at some points, but my hands were too good to bluff. For instance, I had built up some chips when the blinds were 25/50 and CK raised UTG to 200. I decided to take a flop with 33. Bob also called. I didn't care who was in the pot when the flop came QJ3 with 2 spades. CK bet out 300, and I raised to 700. Bob folded and CK called. Turn came another spade, and CK checked, and I wasn't sure what to do. CK is definitly capable of pulling a check raise bluff here, but I figured I had to bet something here to see if I could win it here, or if he really had a big hand. Now how much could I bet? He had about 2K left, so I bet 600. He called. The river brought a red 10 and he fired out 700 real quickly. I couldn't raise him without the best hand cause now a straight was out, and the flush was out there too. So I called and showed my set, and he mucked, but told me later he had AQ, which is the only thing he could've had if he was in the hand that long.
A few hands later I picked up KQ in middle position and called a raise from Bob with Rich also calling. Flop came AJx. We checked to Bob who bet 200 and Rich called. I called because it was not heads up and IF I hit a 10, I would get alot of action I'm sure. Also, I was using my big stack effectively here and I wanted to represent a strong hand. The turn came the perfect 10c and now Rich bet out 400 into me. Again, how much could I raise where he'll still call? Rich is a notoriously tight player so I had to be smart about this. I raised to 900 and Bob folded and Rich called, albeit reluctantly. The river came a Q so I felt like we might chop it up, but Rich checked and I bet 1K. He folded and Tieds said "you couldnt' have had KQ, how could you call the flop?" So, I advertised that hand.
Karen went out in the next few minutes. She hit her flush card on the river which also gave DGlove his full house. Tough times when those things happen. I applaud her efforts and she gets an A+ in my book just for showing up, only having played a few times prior.
Around now I had about 8K or so in chips, more than doubling up from our 3K start. I was UTG, blinds 25/50 still and Lehman opens HUGE for 500 after I fold. Everyone folds to him and he collects 75.
NEXT hand. I'm in BB and Lehman opens again for 400. Not having looked at my cards yet, I said that I can't play this hand for that much unless i have Aces. When it was my turn, as fate would have it, I had AA and raised it to 900. Lehman just called, leaving himself with 600, which I bet on the flop of I Don't Remember. Lehman called and was out and I added some more chips to my stack which was the biggest of the tournament at this point, hovering around 10K.
I limped into a 4 way unraised pot on button with 7c8c and got a flop of 776. Bob, who was in the BB, bet out 200 and I raised to 500, he called. A K came on the turn, and this time he checked, and I bet 600. He called again, and now I expected a huge bet on the river with a better hand than I had. The river brought a J and he checked. I should've bet here, this was my mistake, but I didnt' think he would call anything I bet so I announced trip 7's and he mucked. I wonder what he had.
One of the last hands before the final table, after Rich was taken from our table to even up the other one, Tieds was now directly to my right. Blinds were 75/150 I think, and he raised on the button to 450. I find 66 in the SB and decide that I likely have the best hand so I'll re raise, which I do to 1175. Tieds called and we saw a flop of K87 with 2 clubs. We both checked the flop and it was now that I put him on AJ or AQ, wasn't sure which one yet. A blank came on the turn and I bet 1600. After much deliberation he folded and I showed him that I did have a pair, we're friends and I didn't want him to think I was being a jerk with my big stack, and that I was actually playing back at him with the best hand. We broke for the final table and I had a commanding chip lead with about 15000 of the 51000 starting chips.
Going into the final table I wanted to avoid situations with marginal hands. In middle position and with blinds at 100/200, I raised to 650. DGlove, directly to my left, calls, and Jack after watching Celebrity Poker during the break, said that the TV told him that when he felt like he had to, to go all in. So he did just that for about 2400 or so. I called and DGlove folded. He showed A9, I showed AK. Flop came 10 high and Dennis said he folded pocket 10's. Whew. Turn A....good...river 9.....bad....So, I double Jack up on the first hand of the final table.
I stay kinda quiet for a little while and eventually get some hands here and there that are all won preflop. Then, the action limps around to me in the SB where I have A9s. Simpson on the button had just called as had 4 others. I raised to 650 again and it folded to Simpson, and after thinking he pushed all in. Based on what he had been doing earlier in the day I put myself on the best hand, and called very quickly. He had Q3o I believe. Flop came 345 of spades. YES I flopped the nuts. Turn comes a 7s. Hmmm...Simpson on a 1 outer to just chop the pot, yes we get the miracle 6s on the river to have a straight flush on the board. I've never seen that happen before.
Myra and I got into an interesting 2 hands in a row. First one she was in the BB and saw a free flop of 9 6 4. I had A6d and she bet and I called. She went all in on a turn of a blank and I thought about it, and for some reason called. She had 9 3 for top pair, and I got no help and doubling her up. The very next hand, I get 88 and bump it up to 700. She thinks about it and goes all in again! Ugh...now what to do...yeah yeah, fold sounds good. But I put her on AK for some reason and decided to "race" for my chips back that I had just given her. Well, she flipped over QQ and I was in a world of hurt. I got no help and just like that I had lost 12K of my chips in just a few hands by doubling people up, and Myra back to back!
It was at this point that my head got completely out of the tournament and I started to think that it wasn't meant for me to win this one. For about 20 min, I gave up all hope until Tieds got pushed around in a hand by Pete and went all in on his button for 2100. I had 3600 left and had Q10d in the BB. I felt like he was on a steal, and I needed chips too at this point, so I decided to gamble. He flipped over 5 7 and I hit a 10 on the flop to get some much needed chips back in my stack.
From here I was kind of unstoppable hitting hand after hand. I eliminated Simpson with AK when he had QJ, and even took out Pete with 108h when he had 2 undercards. Finally it was heads up with me and DGlove. With the table full of railbirds and the blinds at 400/800, the following hand came up.
I had 64o and was first to act on the flop. Flop came 10 6 3. I bet 2000 and Dennis called after a while. (Each move Dennis makes is very deliberate, and thus can take a long time to complete.) The turn hit a 7, and I had a big decision to make here. Now, 2 times before this, Dennis and I had gotten to the turn and I had checked and he went all in after I led out on the flop. I felt like he might do this to me again, and the only way I was going to win this pot was if I countered his bluff with a semi-bluff of my own. So I went all in on the turn before he could go, and just waited. He eventually folded.
On the button I raised to 3K. Dennis re-raised me another 4K. I thought about how to play this hand, and decided to go all in right there. I had Dennis covered so I knew I'd see another hand if this one didn't hold up. He called and said "YES!" when I flipped over A6 and I felt like I was dominated. But he had 22, so let's race!!! I ended up catching a 6 on the turn, and winning the tournament! My first win of SPT Season 2 and it was the biggest game of the year so far, putting me in 4th place if my calculations are right. After getting into the money on Thursday and a win on Saturday, it renewed my confidence in my playing, and I look forward to hopefully participating in the Championship table. I will post later about Hall's rebuy tourney and my lack of appreciation of it. Later. Thanks for reading.
Well, I was sick on Friday, ruining my plans of going to the city for Karen's roomate's birthday party. They even got a Hummer Limo and everything. Saturday, Karen came out early on the train and we headed to Ditty's for a 12pm tournament, specially added for the SPT Season 2. Still not feeling very well, I pulled the usual "alternate" table. I've only started at the actual table once this whole season. Kudos to Tieds though for bringing his card table though, it was better than usual.
My opening table went something like this. Me, Lehman, Artem, Bob, Simpson, Moneymaker, Tieds, and Rich. I had to say I was pleased with my spot, and the table overall. Actually, whoever sat in my seat was going to get my cards, so I guess I just got lucky. Here's how the first 2 levels went.
I put alot of pressure on other people with good hands and didn't bluff once. I was hoping people would think I was at some points, but my hands were too good to bluff. For instance, I had built up some chips when the blinds were 25/50 and CK raised UTG to 200. I decided to take a flop with 33. Bob also called. I didn't care who was in the pot when the flop came QJ3 with 2 spades. CK bet out 300, and I raised to 700. Bob folded and CK called. Turn came another spade, and CK checked, and I wasn't sure what to do. CK is definitly capable of pulling a check raise bluff here, but I figured I had to bet something here to see if I could win it here, or if he really had a big hand. Now how much could I bet? He had about 2K left, so I bet 600. He called. The river brought a red 10 and he fired out 700 real quickly. I couldn't raise him without the best hand cause now a straight was out, and the flush was out there too. So I called and showed my set, and he mucked, but told me later he had AQ, which is the only thing he could've had if he was in the hand that long.
A few hands later I picked up KQ in middle position and called a raise from Bob with Rich also calling. Flop came AJx. We checked to Bob who bet 200 and Rich called. I called because it was not heads up and IF I hit a 10, I would get alot of action I'm sure. Also, I was using my big stack effectively here and I wanted to represent a strong hand. The turn came the perfect 10c and now Rich bet out 400 into me. Again, how much could I raise where he'll still call? Rich is a notoriously tight player so I had to be smart about this. I raised to 900 and Bob folded and Rich called, albeit reluctantly. The river came a Q so I felt like we might chop it up, but Rich checked and I bet 1K. He folded and Tieds said "you couldnt' have had KQ, how could you call the flop?" So, I advertised that hand.
Karen went out in the next few minutes. She hit her flush card on the river which also gave DGlove his full house. Tough times when those things happen. I applaud her efforts and she gets an A+ in my book just for showing up, only having played a few times prior.
Around now I had about 8K or so in chips, more than doubling up from our 3K start. I was UTG, blinds 25/50 still and Lehman opens HUGE for 500 after I fold. Everyone folds to him and he collects 75.
NEXT hand. I'm in BB and Lehman opens again for 400. Not having looked at my cards yet, I said that I can't play this hand for that much unless i have Aces. When it was my turn, as fate would have it, I had AA and raised it to 900. Lehman just called, leaving himself with 600, which I bet on the flop of I Don't Remember. Lehman called and was out and I added some more chips to my stack which was the biggest of the tournament at this point, hovering around 10K.
I limped into a 4 way unraised pot on button with 7c8c and got a flop of 776. Bob, who was in the BB, bet out 200 and I raised to 500, he called. A K came on the turn, and this time he checked, and I bet 600. He called again, and now I expected a huge bet on the river with a better hand than I had. The river brought a J and he checked. I should've bet here, this was my mistake, but I didnt' think he would call anything I bet so I announced trip 7's and he mucked. I wonder what he had.
One of the last hands before the final table, after Rich was taken from our table to even up the other one, Tieds was now directly to my right. Blinds were 75/150 I think, and he raised on the button to 450. I find 66 in the SB and decide that I likely have the best hand so I'll re raise, which I do to 1175. Tieds called and we saw a flop of K87 with 2 clubs. We both checked the flop and it was now that I put him on AJ or AQ, wasn't sure which one yet. A blank came on the turn and I bet 1600. After much deliberation he folded and I showed him that I did have a pair, we're friends and I didn't want him to think I was being a jerk with my big stack, and that I was actually playing back at him with the best hand. We broke for the final table and I had a commanding chip lead with about 15000 of the 51000 starting chips.
Going into the final table I wanted to avoid situations with marginal hands. In middle position and with blinds at 100/200, I raised to 650. DGlove, directly to my left, calls, and Jack after watching Celebrity Poker during the break, said that the TV told him that when he felt like he had to, to go all in. So he did just that for about 2400 or so. I called and DGlove folded. He showed A9, I showed AK. Flop came 10 high and Dennis said he folded pocket 10's. Whew. Turn A....good...river 9.....bad....So, I double Jack up on the first hand of the final table.
I stay kinda quiet for a little while and eventually get some hands here and there that are all won preflop. Then, the action limps around to me in the SB where I have A9s. Simpson on the button had just called as had 4 others. I raised to 650 again and it folded to Simpson, and after thinking he pushed all in. Based on what he had been doing earlier in the day I put myself on the best hand, and called very quickly. He had Q3o I believe. Flop came 345 of spades. YES I flopped the nuts. Turn comes a 7s. Hmmm...Simpson on a 1 outer to just chop the pot, yes we get the miracle 6s on the river to have a straight flush on the board. I've never seen that happen before.
Myra and I got into an interesting 2 hands in a row. First one she was in the BB and saw a free flop of 9 6 4. I had A6d and she bet and I called. She went all in on a turn of a blank and I thought about it, and for some reason called. She had 9 3 for top pair, and I got no help and doubling her up. The very next hand, I get 88 and bump it up to 700. She thinks about it and goes all in again! Ugh...now what to do...yeah yeah, fold sounds good. But I put her on AK for some reason and decided to "race" for my chips back that I had just given her. Well, she flipped over QQ and I was in a world of hurt. I got no help and just like that I had lost 12K of my chips in just a few hands by doubling people up, and Myra back to back!
It was at this point that my head got completely out of the tournament and I started to think that it wasn't meant for me to win this one. For about 20 min, I gave up all hope until Tieds got pushed around in a hand by Pete and went all in on his button for 2100. I had 3600 left and had Q10d in the BB. I felt like he was on a steal, and I needed chips too at this point, so I decided to gamble. He flipped over 5 7 and I hit a 10 on the flop to get some much needed chips back in my stack.
From here I was kind of unstoppable hitting hand after hand. I eliminated Simpson with AK when he had QJ, and even took out Pete with 108h when he had 2 undercards. Finally it was heads up with me and DGlove. With the table full of railbirds and the blinds at 400/800, the following hand came up.
I had 64o and was first to act on the flop. Flop came 10 6 3. I bet 2000 and Dennis called after a while. (Each move Dennis makes is very deliberate, and thus can take a long time to complete.) The turn hit a 7, and I had a big decision to make here. Now, 2 times before this, Dennis and I had gotten to the turn and I had checked and he went all in after I led out on the flop. I felt like he might do this to me again, and the only way I was going to win this pot was if I countered his bluff with a semi-bluff of my own. So I went all in on the turn before he could go, and just waited. He eventually folded.
On the button I raised to 3K. Dennis re-raised me another 4K. I thought about how to play this hand, and decided to go all in right there. I had Dennis covered so I knew I'd see another hand if this one didn't hold up. He called and said "YES!" when I flipped over A6 and I felt like I was dominated. But he had 22, so let's race!!! I ended up catching a 6 on the turn, and winning the tournament! My first win of SPT Season 2 and it was the biggest game of the year so far, putting me in 4th place if my calculations are right. After getting into the money on Thursday and a win on Saturday, it renewed my confidence in my playing, and I look forward to hopefully participating in the Championship table. I will post later about Hall's rebuy tourney and my lack of appreciation of it. Later. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Long Time, No See
Well, it's been a month since the last posting, and a lot has happened. Went to see Hairspray in New York over the holidays in a fun gathering of family, then went out to the S T L to see Karen with high hopes of maybe meeting Nelly and/or Chingy. Alas, it was not meant to be and I ended up hanging out with Rockettes and was dubious of a really good time.
Another girl's boyfriend was there, Dave, and he liked to play cards too, so we decided on our down time (i.e. they were at their show) we would search St. Louis for their casinos. First up was Harrah's, and I have to say I was dissappointed. It was basically a smaller Foxwoods and the whole "casino inside a shopping mall" vibe was ever present. You walk in and there's 2 entrances, with a players club booth right in the middle. We tried to get in and were instructed to go to the booth, because every player needs a card for admission. While waiting on line we read the pamphlet about Missouri gaming commissions, and found that you can only buy in for $500 every 2 hours. Since everyone needs a card it just tracks how much you're in for and will not give you chips until the window is up. What I found interesting was that they were running a 5/10 NL game in the poker room and people had mountains of chips, clearly more than $500 so people must be bringing chips home with them.
As for the casino itself, I found it to be very small and a TON of slots with not many table games to speak of. The poker room was also very small and had maybe 12 tables. I guess I'm spoiled. Anyway, we only had a little bit of time to play and make it back (the casino was 9.3 miles away from our room, almost too good to be true) so we put our names on 3/6, yeah i'm a pussy, and waited to be called. It took a while and I met another guy on the rail who had told us about the Ameristar Casino that was much nicer that had Bad Beat Jackpots and High Hand Jackpots, they also had more tables. I put in a quick 45 minute session and lost $3.
The next day, the girls had 2 shows, so we decided to make it an all day affair at the Ameristar, which was 1.4 miles futhur than Harrah's. Now, I didn't think it would be nicer off the bat, because it sounded like a casino from the makers of a generic form of soda from Costco. But sure enough it was nicer, albeit just like the atmosphere of Foxwoods too, but overall, nicer. I played 3/6 there for about 6 hours and ended up making $145. *Memorable hand* This backwoods-ish guy with a trucker hat and stringy hair and possibly 8 teeth sat down and was your stereotypical raise every hand guy. He won a fair amount of pots as people at this limit do, but I called his preflop raise with 72o in the BB, and he as 2 to my right. Flop came T72 rainbow and I checked, the guy next to me checked and raiser fired $3. I called and the player to the left called. Turn came a J and I fired out $6, got raised, and 3 bet by the original raiser, I capped it and everyone called. River came a 4, I bet out $6 got raised, got called, I 3 bet it and they both called. I showed my 2 pair and the original raiser showed me KJs and the middle player had AJc. Nice $154 pot.
Flew home on the 1st and spent some days relaxing with Karen. Hall's season then had their freeroll, and they were nice enough to wait for me to come home before they had it. Top 10 people played and Top 3 paid out. I honestly don't remember any key hands except that Maltese almost got eliminated and the river card doubled him up and he went on to be chip leader about 4 hands later. I was severe short stacked (nothing new, and more on this later), and for some reason, 5 handed the 2 big stacks of Erod and someone else decided to get into it on a hand with Casey joining them. Casey took out both players, and somehow, I found my way into the money. I was eliminated soon after and took $50 for not much work really. Casey ended up winning the prize, with Maltese after him. Congrats to both.
There were a few weeks off from Eddie's game which just started last week again. He upped the buy-in to $30 and the chips from 2300 to 3000. He also just has one game a night now instead of 2. Last week, I finished on the bubble, and at Ditty's game I finished on the bubble again. Last night at Eddie's out of 20 i was the 6th person out. Here's how a key hand went down:
Blinds 25/50, I limped in with 78h. 4 others did too including Eddie, right to my left. BB raises it another 100, and everyone calls. With 600 in the pot the flop comes T96 with 2 clubs. What a flop! BB checks, middle position bets 100 and I raise to 650. Eddie smooth calls and everyone else folds. Turn comes a 4s and I bet 750 and Eddie calls. River comes the dreaded 2c and I check and Eddie bets 700 into a pot of 3400. It was a damn good value bet and a hell of a suck out when Eddie flipped over 57c. I felt terrible after this hand, and it seemed to be representative of the way cards have been going for me lately. I always have a good attitude going in, and then something happens and it's over.
Now, looking back, the turn bet was too weak by me, i bet a little less than 1/3 of the pot, and without knowing it, Eddie picked up 6 extra outs on the turn with an open ended straight draw. So, as much as I hate going all in during the first level, I guess I had to do it on the turn to shut out all the draws. This was my mistake and it cost me everything. I was able to double up with 6's when the BB called me with K 10. But after that I got anted to death and went all in with A10s and got 2 callers. Flop came 46Q and one guy bet 500, the other folded, he flipped over 35o, wow I was ahead! Turn came a 5...doh...river came a 7...doh doh! And again, another night of poor play. I went home and indulged in another terrible episode of Alias and impossible to get away from, yet addicting MTV reality shows, then cried myself to sleep*
* not really true
Well, it's been a month since the last posting, and a lot has happened. Went to see Hairspray in New York over the holidays in a fun gathering of family, then went out to the S T L to see Karen with high hopes of maybe meeting Nelly and/or Chingy. Alas, it was not meant to be and I ended up hanging out with Rockettes and was dubious of a really good time.
Another girl's boyfriend was there, Dave, and he liked to play cards too, so we decided on our down time (i.e. they were at their show) we would search St. Louis for their casinos. First up was Harrah's, and I have to say I was dissappointed. It was basically a smaller Foxwoods and the whole "casino inside a shopping mall" vibe was ever present. You walk in and there's 2 entrances, with a players club booth right in the middle. We tried to get in and were instructed to go to the booth, because every player needs a card for admission. While waiting on line we read the pamphlet about Missouri gaming commissions, and found that you can only buy in for $500 every 2 hours. Since everyone needs a card it just tracks how much you're in for and will not give you chips until the window is up. What I found interesting was that they were running a 5/10 NL game in the poker room and people had mountains of chips, clearly more than $500 so people must be bringing chips home with them.
As for the casino itself, I found it to be very small and a TON of slots with not many table games to speak of. The poker room was also very small and had maybe 12 tables. I guess I'm spoiled. Anyway, we only had a little bit of time to play and make it back (the casino was 9.3 miles away from our room, almost too good to be true) so we put our names on 3/6, yeah i'm a pussy, and waited to be called. It took a while and I met another guy on the rail who had told us about the Ameristar Casino that was much nicer that had Bad Beat Jackpots and High Hand Jackpots, they also had more tables. I put in a quick 45 minute session and lost $3.
The next day, the girls had 2 shows, so we decided to make it an all day affair at the Ameristar, which was 1.4 miles futhur than Harrah's. Now, I didn't think it would be nicer off the bat, because it sounded like a casino from the makers of a generic form of soda from Costco. But sure enough it was nicer, albeit just like the atmosphere of Foxwoods too, but overall, nicer. I played 3/6 there for about 6 hours and ended up making $145. *Memorable hand* This backwoods-ish guy with a trucker hat and stringy hair and possibly 8 teeth sat down and was your stereotypical raise every hand guy. He won a fair amount of pots as people at this limit do, but I called his preflop raise with 72o in the BB, and he as 2 to my right. Flop came T72 rainbow and I checked, the guy next to me checked and raiser fired $3. I called and the player to the left called. Turn came a J and I fired out $6, got raised, and 3 bet by the original raiser, I capped it and everyone called. River came a 4, I bet out $6 got raised, got called, I 3 bet it and they both called. I showed my 2 pair and the original raiser showed me KJs and the middle player had AJc. Nice $154 pot.
Flew home on the 1st and spent some days relaxing with Karen. Hall's season then had their freeroll, and they were nice enough to wait for me to come home before they had it. Top 10 people played and Top 3 paid out. I honestly don't remember any key hands except that Maltese almost got eliminated and the river card doubled him up and he went on to be chip leader about 4 hands later. I was severe short stacked (nothing new, and more on this later), and for some reason, 5 handed the 2 big stacks of Erod and someone else decided to get into it on a hand with Casey joining them. Casey took out both players, and somehow, I found my way into the money. I was eliminated soon after and took $50 for not much work really. Casey ended up winning the prize, with Maltese after him. Congrats to both.
There were a few weeks off from Eddie's game which just started last week again. He upped the buy-in to $30 and the chips from 2300 to 3000. He also just has one game a night now instead of 2. Last week, I finished on the bubble, and at Ditty's game I finished on the bubble again. Last night at Eddie's out of 20 i was the 6th person out. Here's how a key hand went down:
Blinds 25/50, I limped in with 78h. 4 others did too including Eddie, right to my left. BB raises it another 100, and everyone calls. With 600 in the pot the flop comes T96 with 2 clubs. What a flop! BB checks, middle position bets 100 and I raise to 650. Eddie smooth calls and everyone else folds. Turn comes a 4s and I bet 750 and Eddie calls. River comes the dreaded 2c and I check and Eddie bets 700 into a pot of 3400. It was a damn good value bet and a hell of a suck out when Eddie flipped over 57c. I felt terrible after this hand, and it seemed to be representative of the way cards have been going for me lately. I always have a good attitude going in, and then something happens and it's over.
Now, looking back, the turn bet was too weak by me, i bet a little less than 1/3 of the pot, and without knowing it, Eddie picked up 6 extra outs on the turn with an open ended straight draw. So, as much as I hate going all in during the first level, I guess I had to do it on the turn to shut out all the draws. This was my mistake and it cost me everything. I was able to double up with 6's when the BB called me with K 10. But after that I got anted to death and went all in with A10s and got 2 callers. Flop came 46Q and one guy bet 500, the other folded, he flipped over 35o, wow I was ahead! Turn came a 5...doh...river came a 7...doh doh! And again, another night of poor play. I went home and indulged in another terrible episode of Alias and impossible to get away from, yet addicting MTV reality shows, then cried myself to sleep*
* not really true
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Did I deserve better? (to steal a quote from Phil Hellmuth)
I had Eddie's freeroll last night, and all in all it was alot of fun with some good, albeit interesting, poker action. I'm looking forward to season 3.
Eddie took an idea of mine for the final table and he decided to have everyone have descending chip counts from 1st ranked to the 11th seat (yes we played 11 handed). I moved up from 7th to 4th in recent weeks, so I started with 32,000 in chips. 1st started with 50K, and 11th had 7500. I thought it put an interesting feel to the game, and with the blinds starting at 100/200, the top people got to play with deep stacks for the first time in a while. They held a satellite earlier in the night with all the money going towards the prize pool. Final pot = $1050. Top 5 pay out.
Somewhere in the first 4 hands, I picked up KK in middle position. There was a raise UTG by the satellite winner to 600, and a caller 2 seats over. I made it 2400 to go, and it folded to the raiser who called as well as the original caller. I like this raise alot because if the flop comes with no Ace, which is what I put the raiser on, he would have to call if he hit the flop because he has 5K left or so, and there's 7500 in the pot. Flop comes Q 10 7 rainbow. Action is check, and the middle player bets 2000 into me. I decide to raise to 4000 and the original raiser goes all in for 5100 which doesn't open the raising. We both call, and check down the turn and river, and I say "just kings". I never saw what Anthony, the middle player, had. The original raiser had AQ, and I took down the pot and eliminated a player early on.
In fact, the first 4 players gone were the 11th, 10th, 9th and 8th in a row. Anthony built up a huge chip lead (pushing 100K) early on and was seated 2 to my right. He put alot of pressure on me when he had the button or was in the cutoff. At the first break i had 55K in chips for 2nd place so far, and with blinds going up to 800/1600, some people were going to have to make moves, and I'd have to be careful where to gamble. If there was one crazy thing about the game, it was that most people were scared to play postflop, so they would go all in for like 20x the BB preflop, and usually have like A 10 or something, but get no callers. I was waiting for a hand that I could pounce on.
Tim, who finished first overall, and started with the most chips had a healthy stack and raised in middle position to 8K. I wake up with QQ in the small blind, and having about 32K left after taking a hit, I decide to go all in to make it look like a semi-weak hand like everyone else was showing. Now, Tim's a smart player and I could tell he thought I was up to no good, but he called the extra 2300 or so, and flipped over AJ. No Ace for him and I won a really nice pot. Tim was soon out after I crippled his stack. Down to 5 people now, we were all in the money, the next one out would get $50.
We played for well over an hour, and with the blinds at 1600/3200 and a 400 ante, I raised to 8000 UTG with 66. Anthony, who granted had my number all night, called in the SB, and we took a rainbow flop of 6 9 Q. He immediatly bet 10K into me, and finally the situation I had been dreaming of all night came about. There was 18K plus the 10K that he bet, and I had 32K left. Just for Tieds, I did my best acting job, and said that I didn't have enough to fold, and went all in. He thought about it for a while, but I guess he felt since he hit, he'd have to call if I was bluffing. He flipped over K 9 for middle pair, and actually hit a K on the river, but it didn't matter. I had taken a nice chunk from the chip leader who was now down to 83K and I had upwards of 72K or so.
I was waiting for one of the short stack to die, but she wouldn't, she would keep surviving her all-ins, then ante her chips to death, then survive again. Everyone seemed to be playing for the money, and being very timid. I felt like Negreanu in Paris last year, NO ONE would go broke, so I volunteered myself....
I'll be damned if I don't remember this hand for the rest of my life. I'm in the SB and pick up AA. One player there had been all-in for a ton of chips preflop many times. He raised under the gun to the minimum of 6400. I decided to just smooth call (we'll discuss this play later, and Ditty/Tieds/Will, feel free to leave comments on what you think I should have done). Flop comes As10h8c. I check and he goes all in!!! I call before he can push his chips, and he flips over Jd6d. Turn brings a Qc, and I joke with Eddie that if he flips over a 9 or a K, I'll punch him. The river brings the 9s, and I lose 38,000 chips due to a perfect runner runner. I had him covered but with blinds at 2k/4k with a 500 ante, I had to make a move soon. I picked up A 10 on the button and went all in and the guy who took my chips before called my with AJ! Oh well, it was not meant to be, and I finished in 5th for a winning of $50.
After the game, I kept thinking about that hand. Obviously, if I bet the flop I win, but I really wanted the big score there, and to also send a message to the other players that I can trap them easily too. I was an 80% favorite to win that hand preflop and an 85% favorite on the flop. I think I'll get my money in there the same way every time.
After my exit, I gave Eddie $5 that he's collecting from people for the purchase of a table for the next season. I look forward to it.
I had Eddie's freeroll last night, and all in all it was alot of fun with some good, albeit interesting, poker action. I'm looking forward to season 3.
Eddie took an idea of mine for the final table and he decided to have everyone have descending chip counts from 1st ranked to the 11th seat (yes we played 11 handed). I moved up from 7th to 4th in recent weeks, so I started with 32,000 in chips. 1st started with 50K, and 11th had 7500. I thought it put an interesting feel to the game, and with the blinds starting at 100/200, the top people got to play with deep stacks for the first time in a while. They held a satellite earlier in the night with all the money going towards the prize pool. Final pot = $1050. Top 5 pay out.
Somewhere in the first 4 hands, I picked up KK in middle position. There was a raise UTG by the satellite winner to 600, and a caller 2 seats over. I made it 2400 to go, and it folded to the raiser who called as well as the original caller. I like this raise alot because if the flop comes with no Ace, which is what I put the raiser on, he would have to call if he hit the flop because he has 5K left or so, and there's 7500 in the pot. Flop comes Q 10 7 rainbow. Action is check, and the middle player bets 2000 into me. I decide to raise to 4000 and the original raiser goes all in for 5100 which doesn't open the raising. We both call, and check down the turn and river, and I say "just kings". I never saw what Anthony, the middle player, had. The original raiser had AQ, and I took down the pot and eliminated a player early on.
In fact, the first 4 players gone were the 11th, 10th, 9th and 8th in a row. Anthony built up a huge chip lead (pushing 100K) early on and was seated 2 to my right. He put alot of pressure on me when he had the button or was in the cutoff. At the first break i had 55K in chips for 2nd place so far, and with blinds going up to 800/1600, some people were going to have to make moves, and I'd have to be careful where to gamble. If there was one crazy thing about the game, it was that most people were scared to play postflop, so they would go all in for like 20x the BB preflop, and usually have like A 10 or something, but get no callers. I was waiting for a hand that I could pounce on.
Tim, who finished first overall, and started with the most chips had a healthy stack and raised in middle position to 8K. I wake up with QQ in the small blind, and having about 32K left after taking a hit, I decide to go all in to make it look like a semi-weak hand like everyone else was showing. Now, Tim's a smart player and I could tell he thought I was up to no good, but he called the extra 2300 or so, and flipped over AJ. No Ace for him and I won a really nice pot. Tim was soon out after I crippled his stack. Down to 5 people now, we were all in the money, the next one out would get $50.
We played for well over an hour, and with the blinds at 1600/3200 and a 400 ante, I raised to 8000 UTG with 66. Anthony, who granted had my number all night, called in the SB, and we took a rainbow flop of 6 9 Q. He immediatly bet 10K into me, and finally the situation I had been dreaming of all night came about. There was 18K plus the 10K that he bet, and I had 32K left. Just for Tieds, I did my best acting job, and said that I didn't have enough to fold, and went all in. He thought about it for a while, but I guess he felt since he hit, he'd have to call if I was bluffing. He flipped over K 9 for middle pair, and actually hit a K on the river, but it didn't matter. I had taken a nice chunk from the chip leader who was now down to 83K and I had upwards of 72K or so.
I was waiting for one of the short stack to die, but she wouldn't, she would keep surviving her all-ins, then ante her chips to death, then survive again. Everyone seemed to be playing for the money, and being very timid. I felt like Negreanu in Paris last year, NO ONE would go broke, so I volunteered myself....
I'll be damned if I don't remember this hand for the rest of my life. I'm in the SB and pick up AA. One player there had been all-in for a ton of chips preflop many times. He raised under the gun to the minimum of 6400. I decided to just smooth call (we'll discuss this play later, and Ditty/Tieds/Will, feel free to leave comments on what you think I should have done). Flop comes As10h8c. I check and he goes all in!!! I call before he can push his chips, and he flips over Jd6d. Turn brings a Qc, and I joke with Eddie that if he flips over a 9 or a K, I'll punch him. The river brings the 9s, and I lose 38,000 chips due to a perfect runner runner. I had him covered but with blinds at 2k/4k with a 500 ante, I had to make a move soon. I picked up A 10 on the button and went all in and the guy who took my chips before called my with AJ! Oh well, it was not meant to be, and I finished in 5th for a winning of $50.
After the game, I kept thinking about that hand. Obviously, if I bet the flop I win, but I really wanted the big score there, and to also send a message to the other players that I can trap them easily too. I was an 80% favorite to win that hand preflop and an 85% favorite on the flop. I think I'll get my money in there the same way every time.
After my exit, I gave Eddie $5 that he's collecting from people for the purchase of a table for the next season. I look forward to it.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Some ramblings, and a much needed break
I have decided to take a break from playing cards for a week or so. After tonight's freeroll at Eddie's, which I'm trying to get excited about, but lacking enthusiasm, I will not play until next week in St. Louis. Honestly, the thought just isn't that exciting anymore. This all stems from a beating I took at the 5/10 game the other night. I was pissed about losing my buy in, and I've just been in a funk ever since. Also, I haven't been feeling well lately, just very run down, but I know why. A good break from the game will hopefully invigorate me, and I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing 5 days in St. Louis. Oops, then I have Hall's freeroll the Tuesday after that.
So anyway, shopping in the mall I came across the conclusion that FYE and Saturday Matinee are in fact the same goddamn store. FYE focuses more on music, but carries movies, while the latter just carries movies. The prices there are absurdly expensive compared to Best Buy and even Amazon sometimes, but it apprears that people don't know any better and are price fixed into spending more money, regardless of which in-mall store they choose. I guess they figure, kids are going to hang out in malls anyway, so they'll pay whatever prices we tell them too. You don't see kids congregating at Best Buy to shoot the shit.
Well, for the 6 people that actually read this, have a happy holiday and the best of luck to everyone in the new year. I will post after Eddie's game tonight, but after that I probably won't have anything until '05. Rock, rock on!
I have decided to take a break from playing cards for a week or so. After tonight's freeroll at Eddie's, which I'm trying to get excited about, but lacking enthusiasm, I will not play until next week in St. Louis. Honestly, the thought just isn't that exciting anymore. This all stems from a beating I took at the 5/10 game the other night. I was pissed about losing my buy in, and I've just been in a funk ever since. Also, I haven't been feeling well lately, just very run down, but I know why. A good break from the game will hopefully invigorate me, and I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing 5 days in St. Louis. Oops, then I have Hall's freeroll the Tuesday after that.
So anyway, shopping in the mall I came across the conclusion that FYE and Saturday Matinee are in fact the same goddamn store. FYE focuses more on music, but carries movies, while the latter just carries movies. The prices there are absurdly expensive compared to Best Buy and even Amazon sometimes, but it apprears that people don't know any better and are price fixed into spending more money, regardless of which in-mall store they choose. I guess they figure, kids are going to hang out in malls anyway, so they'll pay whatever prices we tell them too. You don't see kids congregating at Best Buy to shoot the shit.
Well, for the 6 people that actually read this, have a happy holiday and the best of luck to everyone in the new year. I will post after Eddie's game tonight, but after that I probably won't have anything until '05. Rock, rock on!
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Calling me down with 10 high, and destroyed by quads.
Phil invited me to a local 5/10 limit game near his house in Lindenhurst, so having no SPT this week at Ditty's I took him up on his offer. He assured me the game was easy, but no way did I expect what happended. We arrived and I sat down in the 2 seat, and they have a nice rule where as long as you come in behind the button, you don't have to post. I got garbage for a while and never even limped but I studied the players for a while to see who plays too many hands, who keeps winning, and more importantly, what they're showing down.
I sat patiently, and my first big pot was when I had QQ, and made it $10 to go. 5 callers and the board had all undercards by the river, and I won a $180 or so pot. The weird thing is that only one player called my river bet, and I shit you not, he had 10 high.....no pair.....just 10 high...The dealer told me I won a kill pot and now I had to throw $10 bux in forced, and it was essentially a $10/$20 game. Phil raised UTG to 20 and I folded my J 6, but oh boy, I could've spent that one bet when the flop came J 6 6. Phil ended up spiking a Q on the river and he took it down with AQ but still, I question whether or not I made the right play in such a loose game for 1 bet. Anyway....
I had doubled up my $200 buy in to $430 or so and I AA in middle position. Of course, there was a raise before me so I 3 bet it making $15 to go. 4 callers see the flop of 6 7 8 with 2 spades. Locke, a tight player (but I didn't know that at the time!!!!) in 1st position bets out, and I raise. 3 callers and Locke see a turn of a Kh. Locke checks, I bet 2 callers. Last card comes a 6d, Locke bets, I raise, and he pops me again! I have to call, and he flips over 66 for quads. What a friggin hand and I had my blinders on the whole time...didn't even pay attention to what was going on. I learned not to deal with him anymore and focus on the other players.
I turned trip Q's another hand with QK and got sucked out when an 8 hit the river and I had to pay off 2 bets to a guy with Q8. At one point I was down to $60, but I fought back to $160 and decided to cut my losses. Phil also bought Super System 2 off some guy there for $100, but he didn't care cause it wasn't his money from being up $500. Phil is a very good limit player, and I respect his game alot. We've talked about hands many times as we feel that we complement each other's game well, as he thinks I'm a better no limit player. A fun game with profitable players, including the bookie in the 4 seat who bought in for $100 10 times, and had no profit. The game is on Mondays and Thursdays, and since I have SPT on Thursdays, I think I know where I'll be on some mondays. Till next time!
Phil invited me to a local 5/10 limit game near his house in Lindenhurst, so having no SPT this week at Ditty's I took him up on his offer. He assured me the game was easy, but no way did I expect what happended. We arrived and I sat down in the 2 seat, and they have a nice rule where as long as you come in behind the button, you don't have to post. I got garbage for a while and never even limped but I studied the players for a while to see who plays too many hands, who keeps winning, and more importantly, what they're showing down.
I sat patiently, and my first big pot was when I had QQ, and made it $10 to go. 5 callers and the board had all undercards by the river, and I won a $180 or so pot. The weird thing is that only one player called my river bet, and I shit you not, he had 10 high.....no pair.....just 10 high...The dealer told me I won a kill pot and now I had to throw $10 bux in forced, and it was essentially a $10/$20 game. Phil raised UTG to 20 and I folded my J 6, but oh boy, I could've spent that one bet when the flop came J 6 6. Phil ended up spiking a Q on the river and he took it down with AQ but still, I question whether or not I made the right play in such a loose game for 1 bet. Anyway....
I had doubled up my $200 buy in to $430 or so and I AA in middle position. Of course, there was a raise before me so I 3 bet it making $15 to go. 4 callers see the flop of 6 7 8 with 2 spades. Locke, a tight player (but I didn't know that at the time!!!!) in 1st position bets out, and I raise. 3 callers and Locke see a turn of a Kh. Locke checks, I bet 2 callers. Last card comes a 6d, Locke bets, I raise, and he pops me again! I have to call, and he flips over 66 for quads. What a friggin hand and I had my blinders on the whole time...didn't even pay attention to what was going on. I learned not to deal with him anymore and focus on the other players.
I turned trip Q's another hand with QK and got sucked out when an 8 hit the river and I had to pay off 2 bets to a guy with Q8. At one point I was down to $60, but I fought back to $160 and decided to cut my losses. Phil also bought Super System 2 off some guy there for $100, but he didn't care cause it wasn't his money from being up $500. Phil is a very good limit player, and I respect his game alot. We've talked about hands many times as we feel that we complement each other's game well, as he thinks I'm a better no limit player. A fun game with profitable players, including the bookie in the 4 seat who bought in for $100 10 times, and had no profit. The game is on Mondays and Thursdays, and since I have SPT on Thursdays, I think I know where I'll be on some mondays. Till next time!
Friday, December 17, 2004
Poker--->Free Pizza--->Poker
Eddie's game on Wednesday night started with 27 players, and everyone was vying up for the freeroll which takes place next week for over $1k. Players were fighting for position to crack the top 10 who have the chance at the freeroll. Already placed 5th, I didn't think I had much to worry about. Most other players higher ranked than me busted early for some reason, and I picked up a good stack in the early beginnings, up to around 5K from our 2300 chip start. My table was super tight, so I stole as often as I could. There was a real quiet guy to my right who raised in the cutoff +1 and I called with 6h9h, everyone else folded. The flop came 8h7d2s. He bet out half the pot, I raised it to double the bet and he called. Turn came a Jh. He bet into me this time, I thought, and had seen him check raise the nuts before so I figured he didn't have it now. I called. River was a 5c. He bet a nice chunk of his stack, about 1500, and I had a decision to make. Do I raise with my made hand? I looked at him and said, "I can't raise you, I only have the 2nd nuts", and called. He flipped over 4c8c for a busted straight draw and a busted 2 pair draw (like that Tieds?). After than hand, my table got broken up and I went downstairs to a new table. I was 2nd or 3rd in chips at this table, but I picked up 0 hands and got anted to death. 2 action players love a raise before every flop, so seeing some cheap hands is not an option here. I picked up KcQc in the BB. I had enough of these raises and needed to take control of the game back. I got one caller, and the flop came As9c4c. I pushed it all in on a semi-bluff, and got called by A10, which held up. This happened to be my last hand and I finished somewhere on the bubble of not making the final table, somehwere around 11th or 10th.
Whenever I get knocked out before 11pm, I take the 10 minute drive to Phil's pizzeria to pick up some free food before the 2nd game. We talk about stuff and I eat as much as I can before they close. When I got there, they were playing some kind of baseball game in the back with some large spatulas. Phil, his friend Danny, and I went back for the 2nd game.
13 people in this one and I ran really really well all the way. The same guy with the 4c8c and I got tangled again. I called his raise in position with Jc9s. Flop came 10 7 6 which gave me a straight draw and he bet and I called, putting him on overs and making a move on the turn if I thought he missed again. Turn was a 4 which he bet again, and i raised him this time, and I could tell he reluctanly called. He checked the river when a 4 paired the board. I bet 1000, my only way to win the hand, and he mucked KdJd face up in disgust and said, "you have me" to which I showed him the bluff, and stole a line from E-dog, "you folded, but you should have called." I like to advertise in this game as people will later look you up for big pots when you have a hand.
Well, onto the VERY next hand. I raise in middle position with KK. 4c8c calls in the SB. Flop comes 10 4 2 rainbow. 4c8c goes all in! I quickly call and he flips over Ac4s. No improvements and I'm glad that I showed him the previous hand and put him on tilt. We then combine to one table and in the 3rd hand, Tommy and I get into a big big hand.
First off, let me tell you a little about Tommy. He just seems to have a bad attitude about everything. He's really irritable and the smallest things piss him off, plus he thinks he's Jesus of the felt. Oh, and he thinks I'm gay. That or he likes to call me "fag" as a friend. I don't know, I could be reading it wrong. Well, this sounds like bragging, but I've had Tommy's number for about a year now, and he could never really beat me at Phil's house. Until last week, he beat me 2x in a tournament in one week, and I've never seen him happier. So he's seated directly to the left of me and the following hand comes up.
75/150, I have the button and it folds to me, and I raise to 475 with A6 offsuit. Tommy looks and quickly calls in the SB and the BB folds. Flop comes J 6 6. Tommy bets 500, and I think how I can possibly get more out of him. I figure calling is best here, maybe he'll hit 2 pair on the next card. Turn comes a 4, and he bets out 1000. I have 5200 left and wonder if he'll call it all. I make a minimum raise to 2000 and he quickly goes all in, which I call. He flips over QJ and has an expression like "I gotcha", but I show him my hand and he's disgusted. I double up leaving him with 1K to my 12000 or so.
This sounds terrible, but sometimes I play personal poker against him because I know he dislikes me so much. I honestly didnt' play another hand for 2 levels because i didnt' want to risk my tournament, and take the chance, let other people gamble. Eventually I took Eddie out in 3rd when I decided to coin flip him with my deuce deuce against his AdJd, and won. I then went heads up and the girl who I was playing and I had a 1K chip lead. We should have chopped, but she had done the "I'm so tired right now, I just want to go to sleep" routine for 90 minutes that I figured I could out play her. When she raised it to 3K with blinds of 500/1000, I found A5 and decided I had the best hand. I moved all in for 17K. She called with A7.....wow how wrong you were Gregg. Board came AKK, I prayed for the board to pair. It didn't and I was left with 1K in chips. I went all in blind the next hand and doubled up when I flipped over QQ! I went all in again with K high, she called with 10 high to try and end it, flopped a 10, and I turned a K to double up again! Next hand I had KJ and went all in again, and she had A 7 and called again, and this time, Greggers got knocked out and came in 2nd for $80 and a guaranteed spot in the $1K+ freeroll next week. I need to get my game on for this one, as this would be good Xmas spending money. Right Karen???
Next up when I get the chance, my 5/10 game last night. Later
Eddie's game on Wednesday night started with 27 players, and everyone was vying up for the freeroll which takes place next week for over $1k. Players were fighting for position to crack the top 10 who have the chance at the freeroll. Already placed 5th, I didn't think I had much to worry about. Most other players higher ranked than me busted early for some reason, and I picked up a good stack in the early beginnings, up to around 5K from our 2300 chip start. My table was super tight, so I stole as often as I could. There was a real quiet guy to my right who raised in the cutoff +1 and I called with 6h9h, everyone else folded. The flop came 8h7d2s. He bet out half the pot, I raised it to double the bet and he called. Turn came a Jh. He bet into me this time, I thought, and had seen him check raise the nuts before so I figured he didn't have it now. I called. River was a 5c. He bet a nice chunk of his stack, about 1500, and I had a decision to make. Do I raise with my made hand? I looked at him and said, "I can't raise you, I only have the 2nd nuts", and called. He flipped over 4c8c for a busted straight draw and a busted 2 pair draw (like that Tieds?). After than hand, my table got broken up and I went downstairs to a new table. I was 2nd or 3rd in chips at this table, but I picked up 0 hands and got anted to death. 2 action players love a raise before every flop, so seeing some cheap hands is not an option here. I picked up KcQc in the BB. I had enough of these raises and needed to take control of the game back. I got one caller, and the flop came As9c4c. I pushed it all in on a semi-bluff, and got called by A10, which held up. This happened to be my last hand and I finished somewhere on the bubble of not making the final table, somehwere around 11th or 10th.
Whenever I get knocked out before 11pm, I take the 10 minute drive to Phil's pizzeria to pick up some free food before the 2nd game. We talk about stuff and I eat as much as I can before they close. When I got there, they were playing some kind of baseball game in the back with some large spatulas. Phil, his friend Danny, and I went back for the 2nd game.
13 people in this one and I ran really really well all the way. The same guy with the 4c8c and I got tangled again. I called his raise in position with Jc9s. Flop came 10 7 6 which gave me a straight draw and he bet and I called, putting him on overs and making a move on the turn if I thought he missed again. Turn was a 4 which he bet again, and i raised him this time, and I could tell he reluctanly called. He checked the river when a 4 paired the board. I bet 1000, my only way to win the hand, and he mucked KdJd face up in disgust and said, "you have me" to which I showed him the bluff, and stole a line from E-dog, "you folded, but you should have called." I like to advertise in this game as people will later look you up for big pots when you have a hand.
Well, onto the VERY next hand. I raise in middle position with KK. 4c8c calls in the SB. Flop comes 10 4 2 rainbow. 4c8c goes all in! I quickly call and he flips over Ac4s. No improvements and I'm glad that I showed him the previous hand and put him on tilt. We then combine to one table and in the 3rd hand, Tommy and I get into a big big hand.
First off, let me tell you a little about Tommy. He just seems to have a bad attitude about everything. He's really irritable and the smallest things piss him off, plus he thinks he's Jesus of the felt. Oh, and he thinks I'm gay. That or he likes to call me "fag" as a friend. I don't know, I could be reading it wrong. Well, this sounds like bragging, but I've had Tommy's number for about a year now, and he could never really beat me at Phil's house. Until last week, he beat me 2x in a tournament in one week, and I've never seen him happier. So he's seated directly to the left of me and the following hand comes up.
75/150, I have the button and it folds to me, and I raise to 475 with A6 offsuit. Tommy looks and quickly calls in the SB and the BB folds. Flop comes J 6 6. Tommy bets 500, and I think how I can possibly get more out of him. I figure calling is best here, maybe he'll hit 2 pair on the next card. Turn comes a 4, and he bets out 1000. I have 5200 left and wonder if he'll call it all. I make a minimum raise to 2000 and he quickly goes all in, which I call. He flips over QJ and has an expression like "I gotcha", but I show him my hand and he's disgusted. I double up leaving him with 1K to my 12000 or so.
This sounds terrible, but sometimes I play personal poker against him because I know he dislikes me so much. I honestly didnt' play another hand for 2 levels because i didnt' want to risk my tournament, and take the chance, let other people gamble. Eventually I took Eddie out in 3rd when I decided to coin flip him with my deuce deuce against his AdJd, and won. I then went heads up and the girl who I was playing and I had a 1K chip lead. We should have chopped, but she had done the "I'm so tired right now, I just want to go to sleep" routine for 90 minutes that I figured I could out play her. When she raised it to 3K with blinds of 500/1000, I found A5 and decided I had the best hand. I moved all in for 17K. She called with A7.....wow how wrong you were Gregg. Board came AKK, I prayed for the board to pair. It didn't and I was left with 1K in chips. I went all in blind the next hand and doubled up when I flipped over QQ! I went all in again with K high, she called with 10 high to try and end it, flopped a 10, and I turned a K to double up again! Next hand I had KJ and went all in again, and she had A 7 and called again, and this time, Greggers got knocked out and came in 2nd for $80 and a guaranteed spot in the $1K+ freeroll next week. I need to get my game on for this one, as this would be good Xmas spending money. Right Karen???
Next up when I get the chance, my 5/10 game last night. Later
Lots to write about
So, I haven't posted in a week, and there's been 3 sessions to talk about. First off, Hall's game on Tuesday.
Tuesday being a very special night and all, my birthday, since Karen isn't around, what better way than to play cards all night? So, I go to the first tournament of the night, and this is the last one to accumulate points for the freeroll which will take place in a couple weeks. I get cold decked the whole time, and miss all of my flops with good starting hands. I finally get all my chips in with AK and get called by AK and 88. An 8 on the turn sends the birthday boy home to watch "The Passion of the Jew" and other religion based South Park episodes. I get a call during the last episode from Phil to let me know there's a 10/20 game in Lindenhurst. I say it's too much for me, and I'll see him tomorrow at Eddie's. Back to Hall's I go for a 2nd shot at the tournament.
I run pretty smoothly and finish up chopping heads up against Big Daddy again. Someone gets the idea that it's time for a cash game, and it being 2AM, I'm not going home, so I oblige. 5 handed, everyone buys in for like 10 bux (I buy in for $16 to get rid of my singles) and we play .25/.50 NL. I call a preflop raise in the small blind with AA and the flop comes K high. I check call, then check raise the turn, which sets him all in. Raiser has AK, and I take the pot. Eventually players were buying chips from me, and I soon had $60 underneath my $35 or so in chips.
UTG I raise with 88. (Typical pre-flop raises were to around 1.25, 1.50) 3 callers and the flop comes 8s6s3d. I bet 3.00 and get raised to 6 by Maltese. Honestly, this is the situation I have been waiting for all night. Getting raised with top set and nut hand right now is a dream come true. Now, in his defense I did get caught playing with garbage a few times that night, but that's why this play worked so well. So, it's $3 back to me, and I reraise, and take a $10 bill out from under my stack and make it $13. Perhaps this was a poor raise as he doesn't usually push a draw so hard. I found out later that 2 people in the hand had made 2 pair on that flop. Wow, if the board had paired, it would only have been a better birthday.
One other hand. I got 3d6d the BB and the flop came Kd4s5h. I was into betting my draws in the cash game as it was very profitable. Pushing my pot equity edge right ditty? Turn brought the 10d giving me 9 extra outs and Maltese bet strongly, but way not enough for me to fold. 2h on the river for another nice pot. My $16 buy in found it's way up to a $115 cash out. Combined with the 2nd tournmaent chop it put me ahead $115 for the night. Only at Hall's.
So, I haven't posted in a week, and there's been 3 sessions to talk about. First off, Hall's game on Tuesday.
Tuesday being a very special night and all, my birthday, since Karen isn't around, what better way than to play cards all night? So, I go to the first tournament of the night, and this is the last one to accumulate points for the freeroll which will take place in a couple weeks. I get cold decked the whole time, and miss all of my flops with good starting hands. I finally get all my chips in with AK and get called by AK and 88. An 8 on the turn sends the birthday boy home to watch "The Passion of the Jew" and other religion based South Park episodes. I get a call during the last episode from Phil to let me know there's a 10/20 game in Lindenhurst. I say it's too much for me, and I'll see him tomorrow at Eddie's. Back to Hall's I go for a 2nd shot at the tournament.
I run pretty smoothly and finish up chopping heads up against Big Daddy again. Someone gets the idea that it's time for a cash game, and it being 2AM, I'm not going home, so I oblige. 5 handed, everyone buys in for like 10 bux (I buy in for $16 to get rid of my singles) and we play .25/.50 NL. I call a preflop raise in the small blind with AA and the flop comes K high. I check call, then check raise the turn, which sets him all in. Raiser has AK, and I take the pot. Eventually players were buying chips from me, and I soon had $60 underneath my $35 or so in chips.
UTG I raise with 88. (Typical pre-flop raises were to around 1.25, 1.50) 3 callers and the flop comes 8s6s3d. I bet 3.00 and get raised to 6 by Maltese. Honestly, this is the situation I have been waiting for all night. Getting raised with top set and nut hand right now is a dream come true. Now, in his defense I did get caught playing with garbage a few times that night, but that's why this play worked so well. So, it's $3 back to me, and I reraise, and take a $10 bill out from under my stack and make it $13. Perhaps this was a poor raise as he doesn't usually push a draw so hard. I found out later that 2 people in the hand had made 2 pair on that flop. Wow, if the board had paired, it would only have been a better birthday.
One other hand. I got 3d6d the BB and the flop came Kd4s5h. I was into betting my draws in the cash game as it was very profitable. Pushing my pot equity edge right ditty? Turn brought the 10d giving me 9 extra outs and Maltese bet strongly, but way not enough for me to fold. 2h on the river for another nice pot. My $16 buy in found it's way up to a $115 cash out. Combined with the 2nd tournmaent chop it put me ahead $115 for the night. Only at Hall's.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Why you shouldn't call raises with KQ
Eddie's Wednesday night game, and I'm feeling confident with how I've been playing there the past few weeks. Lots of final tables, and I feel like I know everyones tendencies there, well, almost everyone. More on that later. *side note-I had a weird feeling going into the game that I didn't want to make an embarrassing play and lose on the first hand or something. I want to get into that freeroll at the end and ranked 7th out of 65 or so, I wanted to advance my spot*
We started with a whopping 33 players on 4 tables. I feel comfortable with the large fields at the game because I've won the previous biggest turnout, 32 players. One table that we usually use downstairs is having the floor redone, so that left with us 3 indoor tables, and yup, one table of people who played outside in the cold. There was only one person at my (inside) table who I had never met or played with before, and boy did we tangle from the get-go.
I'm high-carded the button, and find 9-9. At 25-50 UTG (new guy)limps, middle player limps, I raise to 200. Both blinds and UTG call. I verbally declare to the guy to the right of me that "I hope I hit my set." Wish granted! with a flop of K 9 2, but the thought of my "embarassing finish" loomed in my head. The action is checked to the UTG and he bets out 300. I know now he has top pair, but how much more will he call? Action folds to me, and I raise to 700. He just calls and now as long as a K doesn't come he's drawing dead. Turn comes a 4 with no draws. He checks and I go all in for my last 1400. Looking back, this was a huge bet, but the pot was huge too, around 2000. He asked me how much more it was, and I reminded him that this was the first hand, so our chips were equal. I was hoping he would think I was bluffing and would call. He did, and turned over AK. A J completed the board, and I doubled up and elimnated a player. Play is fairly loose in this game, as we regularly clear half the field out within the first hour. As long as you can survive that hump with some chips, I've found you can have great success.
A player was eliminated in the 2nd hand as well, and the chips went to a player who is looooose aggressive and will play any 2 cards if he has chips, and somehow hit 2 pair all the time. He was directly to my left, so I didn't like this too much. I was able to move my stack up to 6K without showing down a hand for the first 30 min or so. Blinds 50-100 I'm dealt 88 in the SB. Action goes around with 3 limpers and the button calls. I raise to 375 and just the button calls. I know he only called because of the position, I don't know, something about his reluctance and frustation to just see a flop. Flop came Q 9 6 with 2 clubs. I made about a half pot size bet and he calls. Turn comes another 9, and I check, and he fingers his chips, thinks about betting and checks. Now I'm feel like he has trip 9's, but wants to trap me. Thank god he checked, because the river came with the 8 of clubs. Ta DA! I think about it for a second then push all in, which is more than him. He calls with K 9 and no clubs! Mind boggling...but now I have a huge advantage on the table with about 9K.
A few hands later, I'm dealt 26H in the small blind. Action comes around and a fairly straightfoward player who likes to bluff in the button calls, blinds check and we see a cheap flop. Flop comes A 3 4 with 1heart. Checks around and the turn comes a 9 of hearts. I bet out 200 and the button calls, with what I feel is Ace rag. River is a 5, and I check it to him, and he bets out 600. I feel that maybe he'll call the rest of his chips, so I push it in with the 2nd nuts. He calls with what I think was A 4 for 2 pair. Another trap attempt gone wrong at my benefit.
I run well till we make a final table. I try to look at the other table next to us and see who's sitting well and who I'll need to look out for. When we get to the final table, I have about 20K for 1/3 of the chips in play. I start off in the cutoff, don't play the first 4 hands, and a player is eliminated in EVERY hand. First hand Anthony, who came to the final table with 2200 or so triples up when his KK meets AK and A9. I tell him that I folded 99 which is true, and now small stack is right in the middle of it. He then elimnated another player and get more chips. Pretty soon, without even playing a hand, we're 6 handed and I have lost the chip lead.
Blinds 300-600 with a 50 ante. Middle position I get KQ (see the title!!) of clubs and there is a raise from a tight normal player to my right. He only ever raises the minimum, one time he raised more, and had AA. So I hope I have 2 live cards, and call the 1200. Sof, who I've played with once, but didn't know his tendencies, bumps it to 2400, adn the action folds around to the raiser. We both call, even though I HATE my hand right now, but I figure, if I miss, I can get out, and if I hit, I'll have a monster. To tell you the truth, the flop of Q high with no clubs was not my first choice, but I'll take it. Raiser bets out 1K, I call, and Sof pushes all in for another 1700 more. Raiser quickly calls, and now I hate my hand even more. STUPIDLY, someone talk some sense into me, I call. Turn comes a blank and he bets again which I call. On the river the raiser goes all, so now I think he might have a worse Q to shut me off the hand. It races through my head also that we're tied and he wants the side pot. I decide that I'll call, and yup, we were tied. Then Sof flips over AQ and I know I made a 5000 chip mistake. Oh well, last time I'll make that mistake against Sof.
Few hands later I call Danny's all in with QQ from the BB. He says "you got me, I wanted the blinds" and flips over J7 of hearts. But the board read K 8 6....turn 9....river 10...Lost another 5K right there. I was able to get Randy out when I called his all in steal of K 3 with A Q. Flop came 6 3 9. And I asked him how much he had left, and the turn came an A to take the pot! My JJ got busted at the end by K rag and I ended up finishing in 4th place for $75. Just as important, everyone else left in the game was lower than me on the stat sheet.
The 2nd game I went card dead forever and I made it somehow to the final table with 775 and the blinds at 100-200. I ended up doubling through a few times and finished 4th again, but with a field of 19, only top 3 paid out.
Ditty's game last night was Pot Limit Omaha, admittedly NOT my best game. I was 2nd out of the tournament in an 11 person game, very disappointing, but I came in 2nd in a NL hold'em game to Ditty at the end of the night when my 44, got CRUSHED by Ditty's AQ when 4 clubs hit the board and his Q gave him the flush. I broke even last night, buy my spirit was broken. (Like that one?)
Wed-Thurs Poker Time 10 hours. +$35 Sleep: not enough
Eddie's Wednesday night game, and I'm feeling confident with how I've been playing there the past few weeks. Lots of final tables, and I feel like I know everyones tendencies there, well, almost everyone. More on that later. *side note-I had a weird feeling going into the game that I didn't want to make an embarrassing play and lose on the first hand or something. I want to get into that freeroll at the end and ranked 7th out of 65 or so, I wanted to advance my spot*
We started with a whopping 33 players on 4 tables. I feel comfortable with the large fields at the game because I've won the previous biggest turnout, 32 players. One table that we usually use downstairs is having the floor redone, so that left with us 3 indoor tables, and yup, one table of people who played outside in the cold. There was only one person at my (inside) table who I had never met or played with before, and boy did we tangle from the get-go.
I'm high-carded the button, and find 9-9. At 25-50 UTG (new guy)limps, middle player limps, I raise to 200. Both blinds and UTG call. I verbally declare to the guy to the right of me that "I hope I hit my set." Wish granted! with a flop of K 9 2, but the thought of my "embarassing finish" loomed in my head. The action is checked to the UTG and he bets out 300. I know now he has top pair, but how much more will he call? Action folds to me, and I raise to 700. He just calls and now as long as a K doesn't come he's drawing dead. Turn comes a 4 with no draws. He checks and I go all in for my last 1400. Looking back, this was a huge bet, but the pot was huge too, around 2000. He asked me how much more it was, and I reminded him that this was the first hand, so our chips were equal. I was hoping he would think I was bluffing and would call. He did, and turned over AK. A J completed the board, and I doubled up and elimnated a player. Play is fairly loose in this game, as we regularly clear half the field out within the first hour. As long as you can survive that hump with some chips, I've found you can have great success.
A player was eliminated in the 2nd hand as well, and the chips went to a player who is looooose aggressive and will play any 2 cards if he has chips, and somehow hit 2 pair all the time. He was directly to my left, so I didn't like this too much. I was able to move my stack up to 6K without showing down a hand for the first 30 min or so. Blinds 50-100 I'm dealt 88 in the SB. Action goes around with 3 limpers and the button calls. I raise to 375 and just the button calls. I know he only called because of the position, I don't know, something about his reluctance and frustation to just see a flop. Flop came Q 9 6 with 2 clubs. I made about a half pot size bet and he calls. Turn comes another 9, and I check, and he fingers his chips, thinks about betting and checks. Now I'm feel like he has trip 9's, but wants to trap me. Thank god he checked, because the river came with the 8 of clubs. Ta DA! I think about it for a second then push all in, which is more than him. He calls with K 9 and no clubs! Mind boggling...but now I have a huge advantage on the table with about 9K.
A few hands later, I'm dealt 26H in the small blind. Action comes around and a fairly straightfoward player who likes to bluff in the button calls, blinds check and we see a cheap flop. Flop comes A 3 4 with 1heart. Checks around and the turn comes a 9 of hearts. I bet out 200 and the button calls, with what I feel is Ace rag. River is a 5, and I check it to him, and he bets out 600. I feel that maybe he'll call the rest of his chips, so I push it in with the 2nd nuts. He calls with what I think was A 4 for 2 pair. Another trap attempt gone wrong at my benefit.
I run well till we make a final table. I try to look at the other table next to us and see who's sitting well and who I'll need to look out for. When we get to the final table, I have about 20K for 1/3 of the chips in play. I start off in the cutoff, don't play the first 4 hands, and a player is eliminated in EVERY hand. First hand Anthony, who came to the final table with 2200 or so triples up when his KK meets AK and A9. I tell him that I folded 99 which is true, and now small stack is right in the middle of it. He then elimnated another player and get more chips. Pretty soon, without even playing a hand, we're 6 handed and I have lost the chip lead.
Blinds 300-600 with a 50 ante. Middle position I get KQ (see the title!!) of clubs and there is a raise from a tight normal player to my right. He only ever raises the minimum, one time he raised more, and had AA. So I hope I have 2 live cards, and call the 1200. Sof, who I've played with once, but didn't know his tendencies, bumps it to 2400, adn the action folds around to the raiser. We both call, even though I HATE my hand right now, but I figure, if I miss, I can get out, and if I hit, I'll have a monster. To tell you the truth, the flop of Q high with no clubs was not my first choice, but I'll take it. Raiser bets out 1K, I call, and Sof pushes all in for another 1700 more. Raiser quickly calls, and now I hate my hand even more. STUPIDLY, someone talk some sense into me, I call. Turn comes a blank and he bets again which I call. On the river the raiser goes all, so now I think he might have a worse Q to shut me off the hand. It races through my head also that we're tied and he wants the side pot. I decide that I'll call, and yup, we were tied. Then Sof flips over AQ and I know I made a 5000 chip mistake. Oh well, last time I'll make that mistake against Sof.
Few hands later I call Danny's all in with QQ from the BB. He says "you got me, I wanted the blinds" and flips over J7 of hearts. But the board read K 8 6....turn 9....river 10...Lost another 5K right there. I was able to get Randy out when I called his all in steal of K 3 with A Q. Flop came 6 3 9. And I asked him how much he had left, and the turn came an A to take the pot! My JJ got busted at the end by K rag and I ended up finishing in 4th place for $75. Just as important, everyone else left in the game was lower than me on the stat sheet.
The 2nd game I went card dead forever and I made it somehow to the final table with 775 and the blinds at 100-200. I ended up doubling through a few times and finished 4th again, but with a field of 19, only top 3 paid out.
Ditty's game last night was Pot Limit Omaha, admittedly NOT my best game. I was 2nd out of the tournament in an 11 person game, very disappointing, but I came in 2nd in a NL hold'em game to Ditty at the end of the night when my 44, got CRUSHED by Ditty's AQ when 4 clubs hit the board and his Q gave him the flush. I broke even last night, buy my spirit was broken. (Like that one?)
Wed-Thurs Poker Time 10 hours. +$35 Sleep: not enough
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