The Perfect Player

I was watching one of the poker shows the other day, and someone described Phil Ivey as the “perfect player.” This got me thinking, if I could somehow take bits and pieces from several of the pros to build my own perfect player, what would I take, and from whom. Here’s what I came up with (in no particular order):

The patience of Howard Lederer
The heart of Carlos Mortensen
The reading ability of John Juanda or Ted Forrest
The table presence of Daniel Negreanu
The eyes of Phil Ivey
The brain of Chris Ferguson
The confidence of Mike Matusow
The experience of Doyle Brunson
The unpredictability of Layne Flack or Gus Hansen
The memory of T.J. Cloutier
The sheer aggression of Michael Mizrachi or Mark Seif
The style of Marcel Luske
The tournament skills of Phil Hellmuth
The cash game skills of Chip Reese
The overall game of Barry Greenstein
The reputation of Johnny Chan
The looks of Jessica Alba (I don’t know if she plays poker, but this is my list…)
The bankroll of Bill Gates (while we’re dreaming…)

So who makes up your perfect player?

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Benson Tourney - Part 2

Following up on Charles’ posting below regarding the Sunday Benson tourney. I ended the day with mixed feelings. The good news is that I felt very confident going in, and that I ended up playing some of the best tournament poker I’d played in months. The bad news is that I ended up falling just short of the money, and left with nothing tangible to show for my efforts – always disappointing. I’m usually one to look at the big picture, however. Though I didn’t cash, I feel like the experience I gained will make me even more money later on.

I really like the structure of the tournament. There are rebuys through the first five levels, so the donkeys (of which there are several), end up juicing up the prize pool quite nicely. By the end of the rebuy period, the better players usually have a decent arsenal of chips. The blinds progress slowly as well. This allows for actual poker play, rather than the all-in fest thinly disguised as poker that I usually end up playing on the weekends.

I’ll reiterate Charles’ sentiments on the negatives about playing there. The main thing for me is the smoking. It’s a fairly large room, but to a non-smoker like me, well, let’s just say I might as well be playing poker in the middle a warehouse fire. It’s a bit of a drive, and it always starts late (3:00pm starting time posted, 4:00pm starting time announced, and we actually started about 4:30pm). I also don’t understand what the long breaks are for. They’ll bring food to your table, and (sadly) it’s not like you have to leave the room to smoke. For Pete’s sake, take a couple minutes to pee if you need to, then let’s get those cards in the air! The people are friendly though, and do their best to make you feel at home. The dealers are pretty good, and keep the action moving while making very few mistakes. Not to mention any names (ahem, ED FLUSH), but this is another thing I’m not used to. :-)

As for the action, I had a couple of decent hands and made a couple of nice bluffs early, pretty much doubling my chip stack. I was playing pretty tight, but stole a few blinds along the way as well. Then came the big hand: I’m under the gun with blinds at $200/400, and look down at pocket aces. I raise to $1,300 and the guy to my left pushes all-in for $3,100 or so (sweet!). The next guy calls as well, with about the same amount of chips (sweet, another caller!), and another player calls as well (wait – no more callers!). Aces may be a favorite against one, maybe two hands, but rarely would they be favored against three hands.

Anyway, the third guy who called was a very tight player, and this was the first significant hand I saw him play, so I knew he either had queens or kings. He had about $2,000 behind, so of course I put him all-in when it gets back to me. I figure if I can win the side pot it will make up for most of my loss in the main pot when I get sucked out on! The cards are turned up and the first guy has A-K, the second guy has A-J (like I said, there are several donkeys out there, and this is their king…), and the third guy has Q-Q. Somehow the board is kind to me, and my aces hold up to take down a very nice pot.

I ended the rebuy period as chip leader with $25,500. The nice thing about that was not needing to pay $150 for the 3,000 chip add-on. Sadly, as is usually the case, the chip leader midway through rarely seems to finish off the job, and it was no different on this day. I ended up getting second-best hand several times in a row, so I tightened up and tried to ride out the bad streak. It worked for a while, and once we got down to six-handed we stayed that way for more than an hour. Then a series of bad luck and bad timing spelled my ultimate doom.

It started when action folds to me in the small blind (blinds $2,000/4,000), and I look down at 2-2. I raise the big blind all-in (he has $5,000 left) he thinks for a minute before calling with 10-8os, and of course, the 10 comes on the turn. Not a bad call, he was getting a great price and had to take a chance. This guy just won’t die, by the way. He’s been all-in countless times and just keeps drawing out on people.

A few hands later I'm under the gun, look down at Qd-Jd and limp in (arguments can be made for limping, raising and folding in this situation). One other guy calls, the small blind calls, and the big blind pushes in for another $10,500. Rats! I know I’m behind, but I’m getting 2.5:1 on my money. Unless I put him on a monster, I have to call. I call, the others fold, and he turns up Ac-9c. About as good a result as I could hope for, as I’m about a 11:9 dog. Unfortunately the flop brings an ace, and I end up losing the hand.

After stealing a couple blinds, a few hands later it folds to me on the button, and I look down at Q-9os. Blinds are still $2,000/4,000 (but about to go up) and I only have $16,000. The big blind has been card-dead for at least an hour, and I figure now is as good a time as any. I push in, the small blind folds, but the big blind wakes up with Ac-10c and calls. The good news is that I spike my queen on the river. The bad news is that it’s the queen of clubs, which gives him the nut flush. Oh well.

I think that if any one of those last three hands went my way, the turnout would have been different. But, such is poker. Everyone that busts out can look back at a key hand or two and say the same thing. I look forward to my next trip out there (perhaps with a CDC suit), and with a little luck I’ll win the darn thing next time!

See ya at the tables!
Rick

Welcome to the new members....

By the way, I did want to say welcome to the new members and please feel free to blog.... We want to hear from you!

Benson Tourney

Rick and I made the trip to Benson for the Sunday tourney today and both played extremely well I thought. We both made the cut to the final table with reasonable stacks. I had doubled-up early while Rick and I were at the same table. I believe the blinds were $50/$100 and was on the button with 9h, 10h. There was a small raise and there were a couple of callers of the big blind's raise to $200. The flop was 8h, Qh, 6s. The big blind bets $1200, everyone folds and I call. The turn is the Kh and big blind bets $2400 and I push all-in. He calls and turns over Ace, King and no hearts! Yippee.....

Over the next couple of hours I went all-in probably 5 times and in every instance I was way ahead when the chips went in. I had Ah, Kh and raised to $2400 and had a guy push all-in with about $700 more. I called and he turned over Ks, 9s and the river made his flush. Another time, I was in early position with Qs, Qh and raised to $4000. The small blind pushed all in for $150 more and turned over Gretsky, 99. He turned trips and the river made me a spade flush but paired the board and he won with a boat. LOL. Nice..... Probably one of the biggest hands of the tournament for me came when Lee in the small blind pushed all in for another $6500. One of the guys in late position announced call, but didn't realize that Lee had pushed all-in for another $6,000 or so. After much debate, house rules determined that he had to complete the bet. I've got Ah, 10h and thought that I might have the best hand, but it would have been over half my chips and I wasn't willing to risk it against two players. In hindsight, I should have re-raised all-in. Lee, the raiser, turns over As, 9s and the other guy had Kh, 8h.... Crap! At any rate, the flop was the Kc, Qc, Jc.... yep, I would have flopped the nut straight. Lee was eliminated and I would have almost trippled up.

The hand that knocked me out of the tourney in 7th place was shortly after I had taken another bad beat and was down to about $10,000 in chips. I've got Kh, 10d and in late positon and raise the $1,600 blinds to $5,000 (half my stack)... unfortunately for me again.... the big blind wakes ups with pocket Aces. He pushes and I think that he's bluffing and make the call and the Aces hold up.... It was almost an hour before Rick busted out.... He went out 6th and then almost immediately the 5th guy busted.

I'm sure he'll post some about the games as well. I really do like the game, but I don't like the smoke, the ride or the late start and game delays. There are a bunch of nice guys there and I enjoyed playing even though I lost.... Oh well... Another day!

Back to the felt!

Must have been the right move... must have been the wrong time!

The last two weeks in a row, I've gotten pretty deep at the PKR $40/$40/$40 Tourney only to run into just bad luck late. Last week, in 7th place, I made a move with a suited Ace only to run into pocket Jacks in the little blind. This week we're down to 4 handed play and have just agreed to chop in 4th place. I have just laid down pocket 5's to a pretty big raise from JoeBob on the button. Next hand I'm the button and JoeBob limps, I have pocket 3's and push all-in. The little blind calls and turns over Kh, Ks.... and then turns a set. Fortunately, I've got him covered in chips. Next hand, I'm under than gun and find Kd, 7d which in 4 handed play is pretty good. I push all in for $12,500 (blinds are $2k, $4k). JackZ calls from the small blind with Ad, Kh. Turns an Ace and I'm out in fourth.

With this kind of luck, its probably a good thing that I didn't make the trip out to Lost Wages!

Back to the felt!

You think we've got editing problems....

The WSOP is underway and the first player busted out in just 7 minutes. Too bad, Dave! LOL. No, I don't know if it was Dave or not, but smart money.....

I was reading through some of the action and came across this apparent editing/proof-reading problem.....

Fri Jul 28 12:38:00 PDT 2006
Jett Takes A Hit
Chip Jett makes it $150 to go from early position, and is called by the small blind. The flop brings the Jc, 9h, 4d. The player in the small blind checks, Jett bets $250, and his opponent calls. The 4d rolls off on the turn, and this time the small blind leads out for $350, which is called by Jett after a momentary pause. The 2s on the river induces the small blind to bet $350 again, and Jett once again thinks for a short moment, but this time decides to muck. Jett now has approximately $8,500.

It's got to hurt when that second 4d rolls of on the turn..... LOL.

Well, it was good reading anyway!

Back to the felt!

WPT Cruise in December!

Wow! Just stumbled across this one on the WPT website. How sweet would this be to put together a cruise for the group!

http://www.wptbootcamp.com/index.php?fn=10&id=25

The payout for the 3 day tourney is entrants into 5 WPT Main Events for the next 3 years....

Back to the felt!

The Olde One Outer....

Per Rick's request, Omaha 8 No Limit, an entire table of limpers and I find Ad, As, Jh, 7d in middle position. The flop comes Ah, Js, 7h. Check, check, check... I bet $22 into a $28 pot and there are a couple of callers. The turn is the 8h which puts a flush on the board. The river is another 8 giving me the top full house. Dean bets $130, unfortunately I've only got $110 but know that there is a good chance that Dean has hit quads. To say he's tight would be an understatement. He's tighter than Dick's hat band! At any rate, it gets around to Bill who starts mumbling about I want to call but there's a strong chance that I've got only the second best hand. To which I offer a $500 bet to him that he definitely doesn't have the second best hand. I know at this point that either Dean has Jacks full of eights -OR- and most likely quads which either me or Dean has second best hand. I was looking for some way to get back the $110 I just put in the pot. LOL. Bill asked if I were talking about high or low and I said high. Bill folds and Dean immediately proclaims, "Get the Monkey!"

Twice in the past two weeks he has hit one or two outers on me to take down a big pot! Let's see what I can do about fixing that.....

Back to the felt!

Donkey Dave's...

Well, it was another entertaining night at Donkey Dave’s (I kid because I care, Dave…), with an interesting mix of tight and loose players. I like to play at tables that have a combination of player types, so it was almost as much fun to watch as it was to play last night.

Representing the ultra-tight players of the world were Randy and Dean. Randy is pretty disciplined, and is able to lay down a big hand. If he raises, you’d better be getting good odds drawing to the nuts, because you’re probably beat at that moment. Dean will throw out a feeler bet, or even a bluff on occasion, but he normally won’t bet unless he has the stone-cold nuts (as luck would have it, that happened quite often last night). I always get a chuckle when the flop comes three of a suit and it gets checked down to the river. By then, you’re thinking your two-pair might be good, but Dean will invariably turn over a jack-high flush or something, commenting that he “couldn’t bet it, because there were two higher flushes out there.” LOL

On the other end of the spectrum we had Dave and Bill, both as loose as a $2 crack whore, though both very different players. Dave, of course, is extremely aggressive, and will think nothing of pushing all-in with any hand in any situation. Bill is much more passive, and will call large bets (eventually, once he realizes it’s his turn…) with draws or marginal hands. Me likey!

As for the rest of us, Charles and Corey are usually somewhat tight, maybe a bit right of center, and in this game anyway, I’m normally a bit left of center. After a few hours of rebuys, there are usually so many chips (and loose players) on the table that you’re getting great implied odds to play a variety of hands, which is the main reason I like to see a lot of flops in this game.

The night began with Dave being, well, being Dave. He heavily raised the first six or seven pots, so I just kicked back and waited to trap him. I didn’t have to wait long, A hand or two later I was able to get all my chips in with A-Q suited, but unfortunately it got busted by his A-5 (damn fives!). Sometimes you fall into your own trap. I really don’t mind losing chips to Dave though, I consider it an extremely short-term, extremely high-interest loan. I have no doubt that it must be some kind of violation of the RICO Act. :-)

Since the others left before sunrise (wimps!), Charles and I hung out a while longer and played heads-up. We usually have a pretty fun match, with the chips bouncing back and forth between us. Last night the pattern was me whittling away at his stack, then him getting back to even by doubling up and winning a big pot. This pattern repeated itself several times before I finally won the big pot for a change. So after all was said and done, despite a couple of early evening rebuys I ended up making a tidy little profit for the night.

Dave’s is by far my favorite game in town, and the fact that it’s a positive expectation for me is just one of several reasons. We’ve always got great food, an open bar (though I’m not much of a drinker these days), and a very nice environment. Most of all though, it’s just a great bunch of guys (except Charles, of course…). Speaking of the old man, he was the victim of an ice-cold deck against Dean (the night’s big wiener, who flopped a set 483 hands in a row), but I’ll let him tell the story. I’m sure he can’t wait…

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Monday Night @ PKR

An interesting hand occurs.... Rick and I suck out on each other.... Dang! That doesn't sound at all as I had hoped... LOL. I've got Ah, Kh on the button and raise to $12 in a $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em hand with 3 limpers. Rick calls in the small blind with what I found out later was pocket Queens. The flop is Ks, 7h, 3h. I bet $24 and Rick calls. The turn is 7d. I bet $33 and Rick calls. The river is a Queen and I bet $45 and Rick pushes all-in for another $45 or so and I call just because there is so much in the pot and sure enough, he has hit the two outer on me.... At least when I hit my King on the flop I was drawing to 6 outs, not two....

Revenge comes a little later when I raise all-in with a flush draw to the King of spades. There is an ace on board and he calls my $199 all-in with top pair and a Queen kicker only to see my flush hit on the river.... Nice!

I also had a nice hand against Chad... a guy that I've seen there a few times but haven't really gotten to know him. I'm in the big blind and Chad is in late position and raises the $1/$2 blind to $12. I glance down at Kh, Kc and after much deliberation raise to $25 on top. He calls and we go to the flop. Apparently Chad put me on A, K cause when the flop 8 high with no pairs, I bet $45 and he pushed all-in with another $75 or so. I quickly call and he reveals pocket Queens and was just unlucky with a cold deck.

We only played till about 11 and when Rick busted out, I left as well..... Hopefully, the game will pick back up soon.

Streaking

No Charles, I’m not talking about running naked through a soccer game….

Poker, in many different ways, is a game of streaks. It’s the rare player (I certainly haven’t met one yet) that either wins or loses roughly the same amount every time out. The vast majority of players have good runs that last for days, weeks, months, in some cases even years, and these good runs are invariably followed by bad runs of varying lengths of time as well. The goal, of course, is to maximize the length of the good runs, and the money won during these runs. Conversely, you need to try and minimize the length of the bad runs, and the money lost during these times.

We’ve all had them, those periods where the stars align, and the cards are just slapping us upside the head. Those periods where you win all the races, where it seems like every decision you make is the correct one, and when you do make a bad decision you draw out on the other guy anyway. I believe the good runs pretty much take care of themselves. There’s really not a lot to be said about them, except: Ride that rush! Play as much as you can, and enjoy it while it lasts (because it may not last long).

I don’t need, nor want, to describe the opposite situation in detail, but we’ve all been there as well! In the relatively short time I’ve been playing this game, I’ve been fortunate enough to have not had a bad run last more than a week or so. I’m not naïve enough to think a longer run isn’t out there waiting for me, in fact I’m sure that it is, but I’d also like to think I’m mentally prepared for it when it comes.

Many poker players, as with other types of gamblers (whether poker is considered gambling or not is a topic for another day…), seem to have a “double up and catch up” mentality. So often I’ve seen players who are having bad night, rebuy time after time then push the action to try and get their chips back. Needless to say, more often than not the result is that they just end up losing up more money. It’s my belief that sometimes when things aren’t going your way, you just need to suck it up, book the loss and call it a night.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that you should necessarily pack up and leave just because you’ve lost a couple races or suffered a few bad beats. If you’re surrounded by weak players, there’s a lot of money on the table, and if you’re not tired or on tilt, then you’re most likely better off staying for a while. I’m simply saying to always be aware of your situation, be disciplined enough to step back and look at it through subjective eyes.

One of my favorite sayings is very appropriate for this discussion: Don’t throw good money after bad. I don’t steam too often (real steam, not the fake steam designed to trap opponents), but it happens. On nights where things haven’t been going my way, and I felt the hot vapor begin its steady escape through my auditory canals, I’ve usually been fortunate enough to recognize it in time for me to leave with the rest of the money in my wallet. I certainly can’t recall many times where I fought my way through the steam and made some or all of my money back.

If a bad run continues, consider spending a week or two away from the tables. Go fishing, do crosswords, go watch a movie, clean the garage, anything to get your mind off poker for a while. If all else fails, as a last resort you can even spend time with your family. That should do the trick, because for most of us it will quickly remind us why we took up poker in the first place. Okay, kidding aside…

Poker players are a competitive lot, and hate admitting “defeat” on any given night. I like to think of one night of poker as just one inning in one game during a long season of baseball. The fact is that every poker player, from pro to amateur, will have many, many losing nights. You have to be able to see the big picture. Michael Jordan missed more than 9,000 shots in his career. Cy Young lost 316 games. Reggie Jackson struck out almost 2,600 times. You get the idea…

Nobody likes to lose, but poker is a game that many of us will (hopefully) play for the rest of our lives at one level or another. Being able to put the bad streaks in the proper perspective, and learning to play through them, will help add to the enjoyment of this crazy, wonderful game.

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Saturday PKR Tourney....

I played like a real donkey today! The other thing really bad about my DONKEY moves was that a new player joined us this weekend and he had to witness them.... LOL. We got to meet George Smart as he came over and played in the tourney AND he had to witness my DONKEY moves. What a nice guy! And he's got game..... George is the Editor of the Triangle Poker Journal, a publication that I have been a regular follower of for quite some time as it always contains timely and reliable information. Here's the site.... http://www.georgesmart.com/poker He brought everyone some nice tee shirts and detailed information about his website.

At any rate, I don't know what came over me... I typically will get through the re-buy period without re-buying, but I am pretty certain that this was my record with 3 re-buys! LOL. The plays weren't really that bad.... and the hand that knocked me out of the tourney was just unlucky... I'm down to about $5,000 or so in chips and in late position with one limper, Akash with $300/$600 blinds and they are just about to go up. I look down at Ac, 4s and move all in. Randy calls from the little blind so I know he's on some sort of mid to high pair. Everyone else folds. Yep. He turns over pocket Jacks and they hold up. Akash tells me he laid down A, Q and had Randy folded and Akash called I would have won with a 4 on the flop.... LOL.

At any rate, nice playing guys and we'll see you soon.... Hopefully we'll be hearing from our friends at the WSOP as I know Joe, Mike D and et al were playing in a couple of tourneys over the past couple of days... and I really hope that at least one of them takes down some cash if not a tourney.

Be sure to check out the Triangle Poker Journal at http://www.georgesmart.com/poker

Every Bad Beat Story Ever Told…

The other day I was playing online in a .05 cent - .10 cent limit hold ‘em game. There are seven limpers, and when it got to me I looked down to see 8-8! I put in a raise (you know, to let everyone know where they’re at), and every one of them calls the additional .05 cents. Fools, don’t they know I have the best hand right now!

Anyway, the flop comes 2-4-7 rainbow – Yes, come to Papa!! Everyone checks to me, and I bet another .05 cents into the pot, and I get called by six players. Fools, all of them! The turn comes a 10x. Sure it’s an overcard, but I’m not worried. After all, who in their right mind would call my powerful raises with a ten in their hand?!

It gets checked to the guy on my right, who actually bets the .10 cents. This donkey can’t actually have a ten in his hand, can he? No way, he’s bluffing! I raise to .20 cents (take that, Buckwheat!).

Five people call.

WTF?! These fish really have no idea how strong I am! I’m sitting on a gold mine! Anyway, the river comes 3x – cha-CHING! Now I’m pretty sure my eights are platinum. Strangely, there is a bet, raise, re-raise and a call in front of me. These people all hate money! I cap it, and everybody calls.

One guy turns over K-10 (top pair), another has 10-7 (two pair), another has A-5 (straight), and another has 5-6 (the nuts). I can’t %#^@ believe it; I get sucked out on again! I have the best hand before aaaaand after the flop, and these Bozos do their best to donk off their money to me!

Online players suck! They have no idea how to play the game! I know, I know, you say - all I can do is bet with the best hand, I can’t control what cards come. Still, this kind of thing happens to me all the time, and it’s so just frustrating when the best player (me) gets beat EVERY TIME by people playing inferior cards!! AAAARRGGHH!!!!

I’ve had enough, I think I’m going to move up to .10 cent - .20 cent limit hold ‘em to compete with better players that are closer to my level. I hear there are much fewer bad beats there…

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Welcome to the NEW MEMBERS!

I just wanted to say WELCOME to the new members and I hope that you'll try to get a post going as soon as possible. We want to hear from you!

Let me know if you have any questions and ENJOY!

Joe & MikeD & Mike F Headed for WSOP!

They're leaving today and plan to play in several events and the CRAPS tables! LOL. At any rate, although they won't have access to any computers while they are there, they have agreed to keep me updated regularly on how they are doing, any big hands and any big names that they meet, etc.,

Thanks guys and good luck! I hope you all win!
Charles

Thank you Charles..my first post

Charles invited me to join this fine collection of poker players and their blog. I will do my best to uphold what appears to be some fine story telling of hands and evening at the poker table.

Let's start my first post off with what could easily lable me a donkey for life (sorry Rick, I was in a bad place)

As the hand unfolds I find myself, John and Rick all in the hand. It is bet up preflop and I have something like Q-9 suited. After the flop of J-10-9 I find myself open ended, John leads out and fires $50 into the pot, after much thought I call having no idea what was about to come....Ricks "ALL IN". Damn you Rick!!! I just put $50 in that pot. John folds and now I'm mad at myself for calling that $50, I could have laid it down. I try getting Rick to give me back $20 but he will have none of it. I tell him if he does not give it back I'm going to call....damnit!!! Now, Im just steaming mostly at myself for putting me in this predicament. Ricks all in as about $250 more dollars and I hold to my word and call since he won't give me back $20. Well of course the turn is the K for my straight and the river is another K for yet my straight again. Rick flopped the bottom end and I sucked out on him. Surely this put me in a new category of poker players in Ricks eyes...I moved from Fish to Donk. Will I ever reclaim my rightful name?

A couple of big hands.....

There were a couple of interesting hands last night and I think I saved money on one and made as much as I could make on the other. First hand was Hold 'em and I'm out of position with pocket Jacks and Rick raises the $2/$4 blinds to a straight $14. I smooth call planning to take over the betting on the flop. The flop is 10, 8, brick. I bet $27 and Rick raises to $65. After much deliberation and a little calculation, I call hoping to spike a Jack on the turn. No such luck. The turn is an Ace (JROD at work) and delivered to Rick the second card on one of two hands that I put him on, either A, 10 or pocket 10's. He leads out with a big bet and I fold and of course P-Rick doesn't show..... I think that I was beat.

The next hand was a little later in Omaha 8. I've got A, 3, 5, 6 and no one raised the blinds. The flop was 2x, 4x, 4x. Dave bets $11, I call and there are 4 other callers. The turn is a 6 giving me the nut low and a straight. Bill bets about $50 and Dave goes all-in for about $127 and I call. Bill calls. Sweet little pot and fortunately Bill made a boat and Dave was the 3rd nut low! Woo-hoo!

Hopefully we'll hear from some others who played now and have posting ability!

WSOP LOCAL UPDATES!

Looking for anyone with updates on how any of our local players who are participating in ANY of the events. Let us know who and how they are doing!

60 Person NLHE Tourney on Saturday

I am ashamed. Truly. This tournament is only a $50 tournament, with no juice, the 'players' need their memories refreshed on how to deal the game, and no one has any idea on how to bet. I've only played in two of their monthly tournaments (don't ask me why just 2...its such a high EV that I should be there even if my dog died) and won one and chopped for more on the other.
This night started...as it should...by doubling up on the first hand. In early position, I look down at Ad-10d. I raise 3x BB and get 3 callers. Flop comes A, 10, x, rainbow. I bet out 3/4 of the pot (oh yeah its 5k in chips, 100/200 to start), and I get re-raised. Yummy. I reraise and he pushes all in. I think for a nano second and call. He's holding AK and my hand holds up.
So I'm in good shape right? Let's play some premium hands and thin the field...
2 hands later, I look down at my lucky A,10 again, this time in late position. I raise, the SB folds, and the BB calls.
Flop comes A, ,J,10 rainbow. I bet out, BB raises, I reraise and he goes all in. Now I actually think about it. There is about 4 k in the pot and its another 8 to call. I guess I should have folded, but I call thinking I have the best hand. I don't he had K,Q and flopped the nuts. FU ok?
So now I have maybe 7K left..not great not terrible.
Two hands later in the SB I look down at 8,8. A bunch of limpers and I decide to get them out of my pot, I push 2,000 into a 1200 pot and get two callers.
Flop comes Kh, 8h, 2d. Nice flop, right? FU nice flop...check, check, I go all in and they both call me?! Ahh shit, I stepped in it. One guy has K, 10, no hearts. The other guy has 6,5h.
Do I need to say what the turn is? The river doesn't pair the board, and after doubling up the first hand, I am out 20 minutes later.
I suck. I am a fish. I know it...now you know it..and Chuckie and Rickie definitely know it.

FU

Jeff, aka Sergio, aka Slick aka #1 Fish

Adding more contributors!

I have asked several of my friends from 10 years of home poker games to join us on this blog site. If you respond positively to your invite, you'll be able to create a post just as I do. I do ask that you not use anyone's last name or any specific addresses so we don't create any problems for anyone of any kind. Try to abbreviate any colorful language so that anyone can enjoy the writing without nausea.... other than that, let's talk about poker!


In addition, I've asked Jeff to help Rick and I manage the blog site and he has agreed. I feel that between the three of us, we're probably playing seven nights a week and ought to be able to get some pretty creative banter going!

Welcome Jeff and I still owe you lunch....

Charles

Sunday is now.... DONKEY-DAY

Sunday afternoon at PKR! Quite the Donkey-Fest.... the format of the tourney actually encourages it! $50/$10 Buy-in with $20/$5 rebuys through first 3 blinds with $20/$5 add-on. For the original $60, you get $3000 and anytime your chip count drops below $2000 you can re-buy within the first 3 blinds for $25 and get $2,000 more in chips. Then at the end of the re-buy period, you can add-on another $3000 in chips for $25. Yep! Donkey-fest coming at you!

I typically try.... TRY to get through the re-buy period without having to re-buy. Most of the time, I pull it off. On this particular Sunday, I get sucked out on twice and end up re-buying twice. After the second re-buy I double-up, once against Jason, who probably holds the record at PKR for the most re-buys in any one tournament AND probably the most in ALL tournaments. LOL. At any rate, he is very aggressive and raised $50/$100 blinds to $400 and I was the button and called with 10s/Js (the old Willie Nelson.... 5th of Jack and a dime bag). The flop is 4h, 9c, Qc. He bets $400 and I push all in for another $3,500. He deliberates and then calls. He turns over Ah, Ks. And as fate would have it, the river hits his king giving me the nut straight! Yee haw! I remember saying.... "So that's how it feels to suck out on somebody.... I like it!"

I ended up finishing 2nd to Scott who called my all-in when I had Js, 10s with Ac, Jh.... and no tens and no spades.... Life just isn't fair!

Charles

2nd Best Hand Night @ Dave's!

It was one of those nights.... at least 5 times last night, I flopped or turned a boat only to have someone turn or river a better boat. Once I turned the nut flush only to be beat by a straight flush! How I got with all my private parts, I don't know!

There were a couple of hands late that I think Dave wanted me to mention ... and then choke on! We were playing $5/$10 No Limit Head's up. I had A, A and raised $25 pre-flop, Dave called. The flop was Q, 7, 5 and I bet $40, Dave re-raised $50 and I went all in and he called. I didn't see the cards, but he said that he flopped a set of sevens. I believe him. The turn was a queen and the river was (horns blaring).... my ace! Sweet! That took him down to about $35 remaining and over the next 20 minutes, he did a great job of building that up to over $200. The final big hand of the night went something like this.... I had As, 7s and Dave raised to $25 straight. I called the flop was 5h, 5s, 6d. Dave bets $40 and I call. The turn was 7h. Dave bet $75 and I called and that's when he mumbled something about me having a 5. The river was the 5d. Dave pushed all in for another $265. After a minute or two of deliberation, I called with about $225 as I just couldn't put him on a 5 or an overpair. He turned over nothing and I busted him out in the next hand when he pushed all in and I called with A, Q and the 2nd nut no pair held up.

Nice playing! I really do enjoy heads up play.

I know, let's have a spelling contest!

I'm beginning to feel like Ike Clanton in the 1993 movie "TOMBSTONE" ..... perhaps poker just isn't my game. I've been playing really good poker over the past six months, probably the best that I've ever played. I went through a 4 month stint where while playing 3-5 times per week, I probably had 3 losing nights. And the past two live nights and the last online session, I've lost. Not big losses, but I lost and I don't like losing. LOL. Let me give you some idea of how unlucky I really was.....

Last Thursday @ Dave's, no less than 6 times during the night did I get my chips in with the best hand where Dave and in one instance, Rick, was drawing almost dead only to hit their miracle 1, 2, 3 outer to take the pot down. Last week in one hand, I had Ah, 9h and the flop was 9d, 6h, 3h. I bet Dave calls. I push all-in and Dave calls and turns over the 9s, Qh. He rivers a queen.

On party poker, no limit hold'em, I flop top set with Jacks after I raised pre-flop. I bet $50 into a $45 pot and get re-raised by a girl who flopped bottom set, sevens. I push all-in, she calls and rivers the one outer, seven.

The last hand last night at Dave's. We're short-handed, 4 players, Omaha Hi-Only NO LIMIT. I have been sucker punched about 4 times already. I'm the big blind and flop two pair with a baby flush and I bet $15. Rick calls. The turn pairs another of my cards so I push all-in for $50 more with 3 pair and a flush draw. Rick calls with no pair thinking he has a shot at low. The river is an over-card, 10. It hits his pocket 10s and he drags the pot. He had no pair on the board and a wheel gut-shot needing a four. So he only had 6 outs and hit it. That's some good playing there!

But he is the suckout king!

You want to go where?

Poker is a very social game, as long as you don't mind socializing with a tired, drunk, and unshaven lot who'd like nothing more than to separate you from your money.

Russian roulette?

No-limit is a little bit like Russian roulette, which would be a phenomenal game---you're a 5-1 favorite!---if only the penalty for losing weren't so cost-prohibitive.

Don't splash the pot....

In most cardrooms you cannot "splash the pot" as its' very difficult to discern exactly how much money is being tossed in there. When you're looking to add chips to the pot, just place them in front of you, allowing the dealer to verify the size of the bet before sweeping them into the middle.

The right to know!

You have the right to ask to see any hand that, once play has ended, hasn't been folded. It's considered bad form, however, to make such requests with any regularity---allowing your opponents to lose with dignity isn't just common courtesy, it's good poker.