Most Improved Poker Player....

Ok... it's time for a new award.... And the award for the most improved poker player in the group that I play with anyways.... goes to Big Dave! Yep, he's making some moves that I haven't seen him make before. Maybe he had them all along, but just kept them tucked away in his arsenal, but over the past couple of weeks, he has executed them to perfection. I would tell you what they were, but that wouldn't be fair to Dave..... Yep, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water!

Well, I let it happen again, I let my friendship with someone cost me $$$ at the poker table....

Never again! I've actually let it happen by playing soft against someone and not re-raising them when I knew I had the nuts, but 3 different times last night, I played soft to be N-I-C-E only to have them stick it to me later in the night. It's over guys... your chips will be mine! LOL.

A miserable night of cards at PKR....

It had to be one of the worst nights of cards that I have had in quite some time. I tried to make moves with nothing twice and got called down with small pairs that took the pot. Perhaps it was the reflection on my cleanly shaven dome that was giving off some tell that I wasn't aware of.... I reluctantly moved from the 2nd table over to the first as I seriously wanted some LV revenge. I really shouldn't feel that way, he can't help it. LOL.

There were so many times that I dumped my crap to a $2 limp and even a $1 limp in the small blind trying to play the tight aggressive role to earn the appropriate table image. Didn't work. So I played 8 hours, only had one pocket pair higher than 10s and never flopped a set until the very last hand of the night. I'm the button and limp in with pocket 4s. The flop is Ac, 10h, 4h. Rick is in the small blind and bets $11... such a wimpy bet. LOL. The pot is about $11 although I'm certain that its been raked twice already. LOL. I smooth call knowing the next card will be a heart giving someone the flush. There are 3 callers and sure enough the turn is a heart. Rick checks and I check.... everybody checks. It's a checking kind of day. The river is the case 4. Get the monkey! Everybody checks.... I bet $16 into a $60 pot where people have been going all in with 2 pair and everyone folds. Rick may have killed my action by stating "out of turn" so you stayed in with a 4 and hit trips.... As soon as he said that... everyone folded. Yep, it was definitely his fault.... LOL.

Which brings me to another question, one of etiquette, so many times I have been in a hand where someone will verbalize their analysis of a raisers hand while there is still action behind them. Usually, it's Quinlan... LOL. I've heard, along with everyone else that "if you're not in the hand, keep your mouth shut" but in this instance, Rick was in the hand and, had he waited till it was his turn, there would have been no action behind him, but he verbalized it as soon as I bet... (how's that for memory!). It's my opinion that if there is any action behind you or likely to be other action behind you that you should NOT verbalize your analysis. Just looking for your thoughts......

OK... Even I suck out occassionally!

Yes, I know that it will be hard for you to believe Rick, but even I suck out on occassion. Yes, typically it is a mis-read, but sometimes it is because I know that I'm behind, getting the right pot odds and believe that if I hit, I'll get paid. This particular one is of the first variety.... the old mis-read.

PKR Monday, $1/$2 No Limit, LV has been on card hitting, sucking out tear. I've been the victim a couple of times already where I had the best hand and he sucked out on the turn or river. Yes, maybe I'm a little on tilt, but it happens. I've got Qc, Jh and the flop of Ks, 8c, X. I bet $35 into a $40 pot, LV folds so I think I may be home free. Rick raises $50 and I immediately push all-in for another $90 or so. Rick calls, I didn't like that.... I thought that he might have been on a smaller pair or even a Queen. At any rate, its too late to close the gate after the horses are out. He turns over K, 10. The turn is another Queen to which he begins mumbling to himself something about getting on the blog page.... LOL. And of course the river is a Jack giving me a full house. Ship it!

I do believe though that it was the first time that I've ever sucked out on Rick... compared to his weekly suck outs at Dave's game and in other tournaments!

Benson tourney....

Rick and I decided to take a ride down to Benson on Sunday to check out the "bigger" game that they play there. Buy-in's are $150 for $2000 chips, but you can buy double for another $100 and get another $1500 in chips. Both Rick and I decided to try the conservative route since it would be our first tourney there. You can also re-buy for $100 anytime your chip counts falls below $2000 within the first five levels. At the end of the fifth level, you may purchase an Add-On for another $150 of $5000 in chips. We both made it through the first five levels without any re-buys and both did the add-on. There are a few good players there and several donkeys. It was nice to see someone we recognized in Stone and his wife (she dealt my table).

There were no real amazing hands for me but unfortunately Rick and I were at the same table and I got to witness him getting busted out of the tournament by, what I believe to be, the worst player that I've ever seen. Rick is late in the rotation and "Big Guy" which is what they all called him, raises the $400 blind to $2,000 and Rick pushes all in for another $9,000 or so. Big Guy calls and everyone else folds. Rick turns over pocket Kings and Big Guy has Kh, 7h. The flop is Qh, 6x, 2x. The turn is heart and the river is a heart giving big guy the second nut flush and knocking out Rick. It was fun to watch as Big Guy's huge stack disappeared over about a 10 minute period with him calling huge bets with 7, 2 and 3,4. What an idiot! But I like it!

At any rate, I played very hands and earned a very tight aggressive table image which let me steal a few blinds with big bets and I ended up finishing 3rd which paid $1600! Not bad! Stone was the chip leader when I left and I believe they were going to do some sort of chop, but we didn't hang around. All in all, nice people, nice place. The only downsides were the distance (its about 50 miles from drive way to the poker house in Benson) and they permit smoking in the poker room which I don't particularly care for .... But for $1600 for a $300 buy-in, I'll just have to deal with it!

Betting a small pair...

I don't know why, but the past week or two I've been a little anxious at the table. Last night there were about 8-10 hands that I knew that I shouldn't have played, but I just wanted to.... How stupid is that!

I'm the big blind in $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em. There are about 6-7 limpers and I look down at pocket 3's. I normally don't but I thought "what the heck!" so I raised another $25 on top just to see what happened. Everyone folded except "horns blaring" Dave! This sucks, I really don't want to see a raised flop with pocket 3's. At any rate, guess what comes.... Qc, 3x, 3x! Yee haw! Quads! Get the monkey!

I check... hoping Dave has a Queen. He checks. The turn is an Ace. I bet $40, he calls. The river is a Jc. I bet $55, he calls! It's so unlike him not to go over the top. He never showed and I "got the Monkey"....

A Dream Flop....

Tuesday at Dave's Omaha Hi-Lo and I've got the 2h, 3h, 6s, 7s and I'm the big blind in $2/$4 No Limit. There are about 6 limpers and I only raise with a couple of hands pre-flop Omaha Hi-Lo and this isn't one of them. The flop is the Ac, 4h, 5s. I bet about $20 and there are 3 callers. The turn is the 6h. I love this game! I bet $40 and Rick raises $40 and I go all in for another $200 and he calls. He turns over the top 2 pair and a draw at the nut low. I've got the nut low and the nut high! Enter Jarod the incorrigible! He gives him the 6 on the river to make the boat and we chop the pot!

Nice....

Rick @ PKR on Monday Night

Rick sent me this email and I've posted it .... almost verbatim......

I had to take a few minutes to write about a couple of hands last night at PKR ($1-2 NL). I hung in there for hours, being fairly patient while not catching many cards. Once or twice I was about to throw in the towel and go get some sleep, but luckily my stubbornness kept me from leaving before the cards started coming!

I get Qs-9s in the big blind, just about everyone limps, and Lenny raises in late position to $20. Button and small blind call, I look to my left and see that a couple others are grabbing chips as well, so it's a no-brainer call with odds like that. Flop comes 8h-10s-Js - Sweeeet! I flop the nuts with an open-end straight flush draw!

Small blind checks to me, and I throw out a weakish little bet of $20 just to see what happens. Well, what happens is two callers, then Lenny raising to $60. Be still my heart! Folds to me, and I decide that I'm done slow-playing, since my hand can easily turn to garbage on the turn. I raise another $80 to get isolation against Lenny. It folds to him, and he doesn't hesitate long before moving all-in for another $110 or so.

I call and he turns over pocket jacks, for top set. He's rooting for Ed to pair the board, which (of course) he does. Lenny now has his arms in the air celebrating his full house, when I quietly inform him that the card that boated him (8s), made my straight flush! That alone was worth the price of admission!

20 minutes or so later, I get Ax-Qx in middle position. There's a $10 straddle (I love this game!), and I make a small raise to $25 to see what shakes out. Three callers later (I told you I love this game!), the straddler raises to $50, and everyone calls around to the small blind, who asks if he can raise (uh-oh). I have my A-Q ready to toss into the muck, but I breathe a sigh of relief when he only raises another $25, the minimum. Everyone calls, and we have a nice little pot going.

The flop comes K-J-10 rainbow, and I have the nuts (did I tell you I love this game?)! Small blind leads out with a $50 bet (come to Papa!), and there's one other caller before it gets to me. Even with the huge pot, I decide to take a little chance and not push all-in. I still want action, and I raise another $100. Small blind calls, and the other player folds. At this point, the way the hand was played, I put the small blind on pocket aces. If he had kings he would be acting stronger.

Brick comes on the turn, small blind checks to me. At this point I don't mind seeing a river, so I bet $125, and he quickly calls. Another brick on the river, and he checks to me again. He's got about $350 or so left, but I want to be sure I get paid, so I just bet another $125. He thinks for a minute, and gives a crying call, turning up pocket aces.

He gave a textbook example of how not to play aces. He didn't push heavy pre-flop, even with a lot of money in the middle. He gave everyone odds to call when it got to them, almost regardless of their cards. Worse, however, was that he didn't have the discipline to get away from the hand when a coordinated flop came, with an opponent raising him heavily. Did I mention that I love this game! :-)

Sunday $60 Rebuy Tourney

The overwhelming message from this event is relative to Jack.... the elder Jack. Don't raise him unless you know that you have him beat. He WILL CALL! Doesn't matter what he has.... Just after the rebuy period ended, this is a No Limit Hold'em Tournament. I got through the re-buy period as the chip leader at my table without any rebuys. This is about the 2nd or 3rd hand after the rebuy period ended. I'm on the button and have Js, Qs. The blinds are $200/$400 and I limp in. There are no raises and the flop is Jc, 10h, 8s. It checks to me and I bet $1000 with the top pair and the gut shot. The only caller is Jack. The turn is the 8d. He checks and I bet $1000. He calls. The river is the 9d. He quickly bets $1200 and I push him all in for another $900 which leaves me with about $1600. He turns over Kh, Qd. The nut straight. He called all my bets with nothing until the river!

I thought that I had him beat, I thought that he had 10's with an A or K. My lesson is learned.... The next time that I play at his table, he will go bye-bye!

No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo @ Dave

What a flop! I'm in the big blind of $2/$4 No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo and have Ac, 2c, Js, Qs. There are about 7 limpers. The flop is Kh, 10h, 3c. I'd like to have a flush draw with the hearts, but other than that, I'm not folding this hand no matter what the bet. I bet about $9 just to build the pot and everyone calls around Dean who is on the button. He raises it to $30 which is ok with me too. There are two other callers. The turn is the 4c. Now I'm definitely not folding! It checks around to Dean who bets $50, I call and there are 2 other callers. The river is the 9d which means I've got the nuts and there is no low. I bet $50 and Daves calls and it puts Dean all in and he calls. As expected, he flopped a set and Dave never showed. Scooper!

$110 Tourney on Party Poker

I've played a few tourneys on party poker, but typically play cash games there. I thought that I would give it a shot last night to kill a little time. This was a $110 Buy-in with $40K guaranteed. The hand that knocked me out .... you know, you do the right thing, make the right move.... and I'm certain that this guy is either related to Dave or Rick...... I've got pocket Kings. Blinds are $50/$100 and there are couple of limpers. I'm the big blind and raise to $800. There's one caller. The flop is Jc, 7s, 2h. I bet $1,500 and my opponent raises all in. I call and he flips over Jh, Qc. It's perfect for me until he hits a queen on the river.

The old 2 pair suck out.... Nice!

PKR WSOP Qualifier....

Well, I am going to give this one a shot.... it's a 10 week event where the winner of each weekly contest earns a seat at the series championship table where the winner of this event will WIN a seat WSOP Main Event ($10K seat and $1150 expense money). My goal is to win every week and not have to play in the championship...... How would that be!

The only bad thing about it is that it is on Tuesday nights which conflicts with Dave's.... But if they start on time, I can probably make both.

Let me know if you have any questions.... you should bring your dead money in and let's play!

For more detailed info about the WSOP, check http://www.georgesmart.com/poker

LOL.

PKR - $55 Buy-In (Rebuy) Sunday Tournament

First of all, don't tell Joe... apparently Ed has been making a little extra on this tournament as Joe advertises it as $55, but Ed is charging $60! LOL. Everybody is entitled to a little profit.... At any rate, I gave him a bunch of crap about that yesterday. I decided yesterday that I would try to spice it up a little and be very aggressive during the rebuy period and all that really did was cost me some money. Typically I'll get through the rebuy period of these tourneys with either no rebuys or one at the most. Typically it is none. So I've played very well for the most part, when we got down to 6 handed, I kicked it up a notch and raised all-in 3 times with middle or low pairs pre-flop. Very un-Charles like. I've been doing some reading this weekend and they're saying that a pair of 8's pre-flop will hold up 78% of the time. Well, maybe so, but it seems like 100% if you push all-in and DON'T get called. But if you let them see the flop, there's trouble in paradise. So, on two different occassions, I raised all-in preflop and Ed folded (very un-Ed like) and SHOWED me a higher pair than I had. LOL. That was worth the buy in right there.... At any rate, we get down to 4 handed and we chop in a 4th spot. Blinds are $1k/$2k and I'm the big blind and Ed raises it to $8k total. I push all-in with pocket 9's with another 15K. Ed is the chip leader and barely has me covered and turns over Jh, Qh. Horrible call. At best, he's looking at a coin flip (which is what it was) -OR- worst case, I've got him dominated with jacks or queens or AJ or AQ. The prick hits a Jack on the flop. So I go out in 4th...

I usually tip the dealer... his tip this day is "don't suck out on people who you hope to get a tip from...."

Don't make me mad.... I'll hit the ONE outer!

I guess I should start this one by apologizing to Jeff, but it was kind of his fault. We're at Dave's, early in the night, Omaha 8 *** NO LIMIT *** - that still doesn't sound right to me. Blinds are $2, $4 and generally you can get in with a limp but occassionally someone, usually Dave, gets a wild hair and raises pre-flop. I think there are about 2-3 hands that "possibly" warrant a pre-flop raise in Omaha 8, I would tell you what they are, but you might tell Dave. LOL. This particular hand, everyone limps. The flop is Jc, 8c, 3h. I've got 8h, 8d, 2h, 4c. The middle set with a nice low re-draw. I'm the big blind and I bet $19, just to see if anyone has anything. Since there's a $28 pot, I'm ok with taking it down right then. At any rate, there are a couple of callers and when it gets to Jeff, he raises it to $100. There's a series of folds and it gets to me and I'm about to muck thinking that he either has pocket Jacks or pocket 3's and I'm not willing to risk my stack to find out which one WHEN he begins showing his cards to the folders down at his end of the table. For some reason, it just hit me wrong. I put in the additional $81 as did ... Dave. I never saw his hand, I'm guessing it was the 9c, 10c... LOL. The turn is a 5d and I check. Dave checks and Jeff pushes all in for about $300 and I, in an apparent hurry to turn over all my chips to someone else, call. And Dave calls. I'm sure he has the 9c, 10c now. At any rate, the river is (horns blaring) the 8s. Jeff jumps up now ecstatic that the flush nor the straight got there and realizing that he had the top boat. And I verbalize something like.... "you're probably not going to like this.... " and flip my two 8's when aligned with the board... makes quads! Get the monkey! LOL.

I could tell that it had knocked the taste out of his mouth and he could't believe that I called him down calculating that I probably only had 1 out. Well, sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. I know, I know... I promise, I'll never do it again!

Game Selection

As the cliche' goes, if you can't spot the fish, it's probably you. Make sure that there is at least one person who is stupid, exhausted, desperate, irrational, and/or drunk enough for you to outplay.

The last donkey!

Yep! That was it! The last time I'll ever be the donkey! I've been on about a 2 month tare of winning. Not just cash games, but also tourneys. Last night was the first cash game that I've walked away from minus for the night in about 2 months! It wasn't a big loss, but I had been sitting there for about 2 and a half hours paying more attention to the Carolina Hurricanes/New Jersey Devils hockey game than the poker at the table. When in about a 3 hand stretch I got sucked out on, well, 3 times. Jason was the biggest offender so when he raised my big blind from $2 to $14, I called with Ad, 6d. Not like me at all, but I was getting pissed. At any rate, the flop is 7d, 8h, 10c. I check and he bets $24 and I push all-in with about $110. I really put him on nothing and I thought that even if he had something an ace or a 9 would fix it. Ooops. He calls and turns over pocket jacks and unfortunately we hit the 9 on the turn. Now he has the higher straight and my only out is to chop the pot with another jack. Nope. The ace comes. He wins and I try to work a trade with the dealer to take back the nine, but that doesn't work.

Well, no more of that.... I assure you. But I did do the right thing and left the table to go home and watch the final period of the hockey game and what a finish. In case you missed it, they were tied 1-1 with about 20 seconds in the 3rd period. Everyone is expecting an overtime when NJ scores. The crowd is in shock! But fortunately there was one guy in the building who wasn't and it was the right guy. Coach Laviolette. He pulled Cam Ward, the goalie, and Brind'Amour won the face off and with just 3 seconds remaining Williams/Staal combine to make it 2-2. Overtime takes about 3 and a half minutes for Wallin to make a great play after a feed from Brind'amour to win the game and go up 2-0 in the series. Wow! Glad I was watching!

I hate it when that happens.....

Don't you just hate getting your chips in with the best hand only to have the poor sap that you have dominated suck out on you.... LOL. Hold on... I think that is the theme of this blog site! Oh well... it still sucks when it happens......

Sunday, PKR $60 / $25 rebuys. Two tables started and I'm down to the final two players. It's me and JackZ... sorry that's the only way that I know him. He is one of the guys that I play with at PKR with whom I would bet my house that I would win! Well, two big hands with him today. One during the rebuy period, thank goodness and unfortunately my last hand of the day!

I've got 6h, 8h in the big blind ($1000/$2000). I've got about $20K, he's got about $60K as he has been sucking out on everybody all day long.... LOL. At any rate, he limps in and I just check. The flop is Ad, Ah, 6s. I check and unfortunately he checks. The turn is a 5h. I bet $2000. He raises another $2000 and I push all in. He calls and quickly turns over the 6c, 7h. I've got him dominated! The best that he could even hope for would be a big card where he would chop.... and guess what good old Ed (the dealer) throws on the board. You got it.... the 7s. He wins. Aces and 7's. Nice!

Drinking and gambling.....

There's a really good reason why Las Vegas casinos offer free alcohol to their players: Those drinks aren't really free. Alcohol generally impairs judgement and inspires recklessness, a double whammy whenyou're making critical decisions about your money.

Enter Boston J.....

What kind of player are you?

From my daily calendar.....

You'll encounter many players who like to play loose and aggressive. They are the gamblers, bluffing frequently and occasionally winning with all kinds of junk hands. They also tend to go broke. (On your bad days, however, these types of players demonstrate a most unpleasant tendency to break you in the process).

The last hand of the night....

At Dave's we typically play about 3 different games all NO LIMIT. $2-$4 Texas, $2-$4 Omaha 8 (which I realize is not for most rational players) and ... you're probably not going to believe this.... Low Chicago... a variation of 7 card stud where the person who has the low spade is automatically going to receive half the pot. LOL. You gotta love it! I've built a reasonable stack by playing mostly tight, aggressive all night. I made a couple of "vengeful" calls... LOL. Sorry, it happens. This is Omaha 8 (hi-lo with qualifying).... I've got As, 9h, 8h, 2s and everyone typically limps in for the big blind which means pre-flop there's a $25-$35 pot. The flop is 9s, 5s, 3s.... I've got the nut flush with the nut low re-draw. Sweet! You'd think! But I think for a moment and decide to slow play.... what an idiot! I bet $19 and there are 2 callers. The turn is a 5 which brings in the boat and sure enough one of the callers had top two pair.... and if that isn't bad enough, the river is a 2... now there is a low, but I don't have it!

My fault, no one to blame but me..... Oh well... there's always next week!

Monkey night @ Dave's

It was definitely 'Get the Monkey' night at Dave's this week. I have told you of a little diddy that we do anytime anyone has Aces full or better at Dave's. We have a stuffed monkey that has a whiney scream when you press it's belly any anytime anyone gets a qualifying hand, we flip and squeeze the monkey in honor of their dumb luck. Well, he was getting quite the workout on Tuesday at Dave's this week. One of the guys there, Romey (sp?), in a period of about 5 hours in a 9 handed game received and played QUADS 4-5 times and one straight flush! I'm sure there's a leprechaun with a sore sitter somewhere.... I've never seen anything quite like it! The hand of the night.... Dave has built (at one point) a stack of over $2,000 in a $200 buy-in no limit $2-$4 game! Amazing! Romey has been building his stack as well (as you would expect with the quads and the straight flush) and has nearly $1400 in front of him. Fortunately, my stack wasn't involved with either.... LOL. At any rate, Dave has pocket 5s and Romey has pocket 3s. There is a pre-flop bet (of course) to about $20 and there are several callers. The flop comes K, 5, 3.... Romey bets $30 with his set of 3s. Dave won't stand for this and raises it to $200 with his pocket 5s. Of course, that kills all the other action back to Romey who casually goes all in for about another $1400! He then says that he is trying to be kind and save Dave some money! LOL. Dave asks him ... "Do you have Kings?" When Romey says no, Dave immediately pushes all in. They turn their cards over and Romey is without question... the underdog. There's only one 3 left in the deck. Dave is ecstatic and very excited .... even when J-rod (the dealer) delivers that fourth and final 3 on the river! LOL. Dave immediately begins trying to build support for his full house, but of course the quad 3s wins out and Dave quietly pushes his entire stack of over $1200 over to Romey who is somewhat apologetic, but extremely happy with hitting his one outer!

Oh well... just another night at Dave's!