It was definitely a shoot-em-up kind of tournament today.... the largest pot for a 6 handed tournament that I've seen there. And as usual, don't get your money in while you are ahead... it won't work out! LOL. I was all-in 6 times today with a pocket pair or a dominating ace only to lose to the suckouts. Jacks twice, Queens twice and Kings once.... Sweet! My final hand of the day happened when we were down to four-handed play and Ed raises under the gun the $500/$1,000 blinds and additional $3,000. I'm in the big blind and it folds back to me and I look down to find pocket Queens! I push all-in for an additional $11,000. Ed won a couple of big hands early which made him the chip leader. At first I didn't want him to call, but the longer he took meant that the crappier his kicker was..... He finally calls and turns over AJos.... The flop was 10x, 9x, 5x.... The turn is a king which means if I hit my queen, he wins with a straight! And although the Queen doesn't come, he hits an Ace on the river to knock me out.
I'm happy with the way that I played and look forward to the suck-outs stopping.... yeah right!
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Saturday PKR Tourney - Dec 30
Well, I made it back from Canada! What a trip! Hockey, Hockey, Hockey!
I got back just in time to plug into the PKR tourney today and played a little more aggressive than normal and when I do that it typically means I have more re-buys! Yep, one or two! At any rate, I finally flop a pretty good hand in the big blind and let me play it back for you.... Jason has been playing a lot of hands and making some pre-flop raises and taking down the pots, but he showed pocket Queens about 3-4 times.... so I've tried not to get hooked up with him today. Well, I'm the big blind and Big Dave calls, Jason calls and the new guy calls (sorry, I don't remember his name).... I look down to find a paltry 8h, 6d... nothing to get overly excited about, but I'm the big blind so I just check.... The flop 10h, 8d, 6c..... sweet! The blinds are now $400/$800 and I've only got around $6000.... the small blind checks and I push all-in to the $3,200 pot. Big Dave folds, Jason says I've got to call and the small blind folds. He turns over exactly what I was hoping he had.... Qh, 10d. He's got outs, but this is one of the hands that if I must get called that I wanted to call me. The turn brings a 5x and the river brings another 5x. He knocks me out of the tourney with a better two pair!
Well, I'm back!
I got back just in time to plug into the PKR tourney today and played a little more aggressive than normal and when I do that it typically means I have more re-buys! Yep, one or two! At any rate, I finally flop a pretty good hand in the big blind and let me play it back for you.... Jason has been playing a lot of hands and making some pre-flop raises and taking down the pots, but he showed pocket Queens about 3-4 times.... so I've tried not to get hooked up with him today. Well, I'm the big blind and Big Dave calls, Jason calls and the new guy calls (sorry, I don't remember his name).... I look down to find a paltry 8h, 6d... nothing to get overly excited about, but I'm the big blind so I just check.... The flop 10h, 8d, 6c..... sweet! The blinds are now $400/$800 and I've only got around $6000.... the small blind checks and I push all-in to the $3,200 pot. Big Dave folds, Jason says I've got to call and the small blind folds. He turns over exactly what I was hoping he had.... Qh, 10d. He's got outs, but this is one of the hands that if I must get called that I wanted to call me. The turn brings a 5x and the river brings another 5x. He knocks me out of the tourney with a better two pair!
Well, I'm back!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Per Charles' Request
Charles keeps pestering me to blog, so here goes...
I played poker on Tuesday.
I had some good hands and some bad hands.
I won a little money.
It was fun.
The End.
I played poker on Tuesday.
I had some good hands and some bad hands.
I won a little money.
It was fun.
The End.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
PKR Sunday Poker Tournament
We were a little short-handed today probably due to Christmas eve.... although I know that most "serious" poker players have no family life... LOL. We just played the regular event that was scheduled. Jason, Ed, Carl, me and a couple of guys that were apparently Ed's friends, which I know is contradictory as I don't know that Ed has any friends. If he did yesterday, he won't after they see him today wearing a lovely black blouse with ruffles... I don't know where he got it, I can only assume he lost a bet. He caught hell all afternoon about it. He kept mumbling that the women love it. Yes, I think they love it when they were wearing it themselves, not on a dude... Dude! Oh well, we all make poor wardrobe decisions on occasion! LOL.
Back to the cards.... Carl played really well today and I let him bet me off the best hand a couple of times including once we had the same hand and another time when I had an over pair to his pair, but with an ace on board, it was an easy lay-down for me. I got a little "Gus Hansen" like and raised a couple of times with basically nothing and showed both of them. Probably the corner turner for me was I was the button with pocket 7's and had already pushed all-in several times and got no callers.... Well, Carl had a suited A, 3 and decided that he would defend his small blind. The flop brought a Q, J, 7..... ding, ding, ding, ding! He had runner runner outs, but they didn't come. At about 4:30 or so, he really wanted to leave and he was the chip leader. He wanted us to just chop the pot between me, him and Ed as we were the last ones remaining. I agreed to play 20 more minutes and then chop as I really didn't want to chop it and although I was not the chip leader, I felt good about the possibility of winning it. By the time, the 20 minutes were up, Ed and I were pretty close and Carl was just about out of chips. But the agreement was already in place so we chopped...
Back to the felt!
Back to the cards.... Carl played really well today and I let him bet me off the best hand a couple of times including once we had the same hand and another time when I had an over pair to his pair, but with an ace on board, it was an easy lay-down for me. I got a little "Gus Hansen" like and raised a couple of times with basically nothing and showed both of them. Probably the corner turner for me was I was the button with pocket 7's and had already pushed all-in several times and got no callers.... Well, Carl had a suited A, 3 and decided that he would defend his small blind. The flop brought a Q, J, 7..... ding, ding, ding, ding! He had runner runner outs, but they didn't come. At about 4:30 or so, he really wanted to leave and he was the chip leader. He wanted us to just chop the pot between me, him and Ed as we were the last ones remaining. I agreed to play 20 more minutes and then chop as I really didn't want to chop it and although I was not the chip leader, I felt good about the possibility of winning it. By the time, the 20 minutes were up, Ed and I were pretty close and Carl was just about out of chips. But the agreement was already in place so we chopped...
Back to the felt!
PKR Tourney Today @ 2:PM
PoKeR Tournament - Sunday, in Cary
60 - Buy-in - 3,000 Chips
25 - Re-buys - 2,000 Chips (First Three blinds)
25 - Add-ons - 5,000 Chips (At end of re-buy period)
Call me with questions or to sign up.
Charles R 796-5082
When: Sunday, December 24, 2006 at 2:00 PM
Where: PKR Cary, NC 27511
919-796-5082
60 - Buy-in - 3,000 Chips
25 - Re-buys - 2,000 Chips (First Three blinds)
25 - Add-ons - 5,000 Chips (At end of re-buy period)
Call me with questions or to sign up.
Charles R 796-5082
When: Sunday, December 24, 2006 at 2:00 PM
Where: PKR Cary, NC 27511
919-796-5082
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Friday PKR Omaha Hi or Hi-Lo
I wanted to wrap up my posts today with a comment about this game... First of all, I have turned into a much bigger fan of Omaha as I believe it to be a much more ACTION type of a game. The pre-flop pot in the $2/$5 pot limit game is very likely to be $60 to $100 or so whereas the pre-flop Hold'em pot nowhere near that amount.
You are also likely to run into players who feel they are very good at Hold'em and don't quite get the querks of Omaha who will pay you off chasing a low draw or calling you down with 2nd or 3rd nut.... It's not unusual in Omaha 8 to have several pots per night total way over $1,000 each. And some, considerably higher!
Well, I really enjoy the game and I feel that Joe and PKR are doing everything possible to make it even better so I'm definitely hooked and hope that we can make this Friday night game even bigger! Although we did have a good table full 9-11 players from about 7:30 till about 4AM! Not bad....
Well, at any rate, I hope to see you at PKR for Friday night Omaha!
You are also likely to run into players who feel they are very good at Hold'em and don't quite get the querks of Omaha who will pay you off chasing a low draw or calling you down with 2nd or 3rd nut.... It's not unusual in Omaha 8 to have several pots per night total way over $1,000 each. And some, considerably higher!
Well, I really enjoy the game and I feel that Joe and PKR are doing everything possible to make it even better so I'm definitely hooked and hope that we can make this Friday night game even bigger! Although we did have a good table full 9-11 players from about 7:30 till about 4AM! Not bad....
Well, at any rate, I hope to see you at PKR for Friday night Omaha!
Saturday PKR Tourney....
I had a Christmas luncheon out of town which almost caused me to miss the tournament today. I had them post my blinds and fold my hands for the entire re-buy period and I arrived just as they were playing the last hand of the re-buy period. I bought the add-on and away we went.... I played very well and made a couple of moves before we broke down to one table and got paid and double-uped rather quickly. I was determined to get into the money in this tournament and made several lay-downs when I was in early positon of pocket pairs which have been my downfall in other tourneys at PKR recently. It just seems that if I made a move with a small or even a middle pair, someone would call me with A, X and hit it so I changed that strategy up and only played the small or middle pairs from late position or from the big-blind. It worked, I ended up chopping 1st and 2nd for nearly $500 each.
I raised pre-flop 3 times with pocket kings and never got a caller.... I only attempted a steal at the final table one time when everyone folded to me in the small blind and I had 9h, 10h and the big blind re-raised me and I folded. Had I not been so committed to getting into the money, I would have probably called his re-raise, but I was determined to get in the money.
The blinds were going up quickly and I only had $5,000 in chips with $2,000/$4,000 blinds. It was my big blind and Rick was on the button and limped and Billy was in the small blind and limped. I knew they would call whatever I did to try to knock me out and I glance down to find Ah, Qc and so I put it all in. The flop was a Queen high and the river was an Ace giving me top 2 pair. They held up and I tripled up!
There was an interesting hand with Billy and the guy that I chopped 1st and 2nd with.... Billy limped in with pocket 10's and the flop was 9h no pairs. He bet $10,000 into the $12,000 pot and the guy, I think Chad, maybe.... re-raised him all-in for another $15,000 and Billy eventually, and I do mean eventually folded. Chad turned over AK off-suit. Nice bluff. That pretty much was the end of it for Billy. He made a move a couple of hands later with 10, 7 all-in and I woke up with pocket queens and I re-raised all-in. I flopped a set and he was pretty much drawing dead.
The other hand of interest was against Rick.... he tends to calculate pot-odds and play for pot-odds more than I do. I will lay-down a big re-raise if I think that I am behind regardless of the pot-odds unless I have a ton of chips. In this hand, he raised the $4,000 blind to $12,000 and I pushed all-in for another $19,000 and he called. I turned over Ah, 10d and he turned over As, 5s and my 10 held up. That pretty much was the tournament for me as it gave me over $50,000 in chips!
At any rate, since I came in late because of my travel schedule, I ended up chopping 1st/2nd and only had to play about 2 hours or so in the tournament. Sweet!
Back to the felt!
I raised pre-flop 3 times with pocket kings and never got a caller.... I only attempted a steal at the final table one time when everyone folded to me in the small blind and I had 9h, 10h and the big blind re-raised me and I folded. Had I not been so committed to getting into the money, I would have probably called his re-raise, but I was determined to get in the money.
The blinds were going up quickly and I only had $5,000 in chips with $2,000/$4,000 blinds. It was my big blind and Rick was on the button and limped and Billy was in the small blind and limped. I knew they would call whatever I did to try to knock me out and I glance down to find Ah, Qc and so I put it all in. The flop was a Queen high and the river was an Ace giving me top 2 pair. They held up and I tripled up!
There was an interesting hand with Billy and the guy that I chopped 1st and 2nd with.... Billy limped in with pocket 10's and the flop was 9h no pairs. He bet $10,000 into the $12,000 pot and the guy, I think Chad, maybe.... re-raised him all-in for another $15,000 and Billy eventually, and I do mean eventually folded. Chad turned over AK off-suit. Nice bluff. That pretty much was the end of it for Billy. He made a move a couple of hands later with 10, 7 all-in and I woke up with pocket queens and I re-raised all-in. I flopped a set and he was pretty much drawing dead.
The other hand of interest was against Rick.... he tends to calculate pot-odds and play for pot-odds more than I do. I will lay-down a big re-raise if I think that I am behind regardless of the pot-odds unless I have a ton of chips. In this hand, he raised the $4,000 blind to $12,000 and I pushed all-in for another $19,000 and he called. I turned over Ah, 10d and he turned over As, 5s and my 10 held up. That pretty much was the tournament for me as it gave me over $50,000 in chips!
At any rate, since I came in late because of my travel schedule, I ended up chopping 1st/2nd and only had to play about 2 hours or so in the tournament. Sweet!
Back to the felt!
PKR Pot Limit Omaha Hi or Hi/Lo - Friday night!
Well, Friday at PKR turned into quite the 'shoot-em-up' .... there were several new players that you could tell were just getting their feet wet in Omaha and an expensive foot washing it turned out to be for them.... Rick made out like a bandit AGAIN! I let him and a couple other guys bet me off the best hand a couple of times and really only was in one monster hand with so many outs to the nuts I couldn't count them all.... I'll tell you about that hand first. I'm in late position with Ah, Kh, 10d, 2d and limp in to the straddled $10 pot along with 8-9 other players. The flop is Qd, Jh, 7s..... Rick, in early position, leads out with a $100 bet and there are 3 other callers in front of me and I call. The turn is 6c and Rick bets about $500 or so and there's one caller in front of me and one of the new guys still to act behind me.... Rick's bet has me covered by about $250 so I'm definitely getting the right pots odds to call especially with ANY card above an 8 that doesn't pair the board gives me the nut straight and ANY low card that doesn't pair the board (other than a 2) gives me the nut low except for the Ace which will give me the NUT HIGH. There's NO WAY that I don't call...... almost the any card that doesn't pair the board puts me in the money other than a 2. I make the call, the new guy behind me makes the call and Chuck throws me the 2. I get nothing and the new guy behind me wins the low with something like 5, 6....
On the bright side, I had come into the game with only $280 as it was raining and I didn't want to have to get out at the ATM to get more cash... I really like to take at least $1,000 to this game and when I was playing at Dave's, I wanted to take at least $1,500 to $2,000. So after that monster draw corn-holed me, I ended up borrowing about $700 from JC and another $300 from Rick and at one point during the night I was down to around $100 or so.... so I was into the game for nearly $1300. Not a typical night for me by any stretch of the imagination. But before we cashed out, I had won back all that money and a little juice.... Nice!
I'm hoping that Rick will blog a couple of his hands for you as I believe that I've got another name for him... I never liked Big Red. The new name is N3 or N-cubed. When he's playing Omaha 8, at least in one of the hands that he won, he had "N"othing on the flop, "N"othing on the turn and the "N"uts on the river..... so N times 3! It's amazing how many hands that he wins playing from behind.
Well, off to the races!
On the bright side, I had come into the game with only $280 as it was raining and I didn't want to have to get out at the ATM to get more cash... I really like to take at least $1,000 to this game and when I was playing at Dave's, I wanted to take at least $1,500 to $2,000. So after that monster draw corn-holed me, I ended up borrowing about $700 from JC and another $300 from Rick and at one point during the night I was down to around $100 or so.... so I was into the game for nearly $1300. Not a typical night for me by any stretch of the imagination. But before we cashed out, I had won back all that money and a little juice.... Nice!
I'm hoping that Rick will blog a couple of his hands for you as I believe that I've got another name for him... I never liked Big Red. The new name is N3 or N-cubed. When he's playing Omaha 8, at least in one of the hands that he won, he had "N"othing on the flop, "N"othing on the turn and the "N"uts on the river..... so N times 3! It's amazing how many hands that he wins playing from behind.
Well, off to the races!
Friday, December 22, 2006
No Online Poker Room WSOP Registrations
Copied from the Triangle Poker Journal
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Triangle Poker Journal™Covering Local News on America's Favorite Game
Subscribe free at http://www.trianglepokerjournal.com/
Got a comment, local update, or story idea?
No Online Poker Room WSOP Registrations
If your favorite online poker room is telling you that you can win a seat into the 2007 World Series of Poker, think twice before investing too much time, money and energy into winning said seat. Harrah’s, the company that owns the WSOP brand and runs the show every year, has officially announced that they will not accept registrations for the WSOP from online poker rooms. This is likely due to the heat turned up by the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. While the UIGEA says nothing about the legality of online poker itself, too much heat has been placed on the poker industry because of it for Harrah’s to ignore.
Editor’s Note: While the IRS only requires reporting of winnings over $10,000, Harrah’s (and all their brands: Showboat, Caesar’s, Horseshoe, etc.) are reporting all payouts over $600. Yes, $600.
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Triangle Poker Journal™Covering Local News on America's Favorite Game
Subscribe free at http://www.trianglepokerjournal.com/
Got a comment, local update, or story idea?
No Online Poker Room WSOP Registrations
If your favorite online poker room is telling you that you can win a seat into the 2007 World Series of Poker, think twice before investing too much time, money and energy into winning said seat. Harrah’s, the company that owns the WSOP brand and runs the show every year, has officially announced that they will not accept registrations for the WSOP from online poker rooms. This is likely due to the heat turned up by the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. While the UIGEA says nothing about the legality of online poker itself, too much heat has been placed on the poker industry because of it for Harrah’s to ignore.
Editor’s Note: While the IRS only requires reporting of winnings over $10,000, Harrah’s (and all their brands: Showboat, Caesar’s, Horseshoe, etc.) are reporting all payouts over $600. Yes, $600.
How To Play Online Poker (Green Belt Level)
| See this special download from Phil Hellmuth's White Belt to Black Belt Poker Course! Get insider tips for online play from the 10-time World Series of Poker champion. Find out the biggest mistakes online poker players make, so you have the advantage! Don't Wait To Start Winning Money Download Now Learn how to play poker like the pros with 10-time World Series of Poker Champion Phil Hellmuth. In the "Green Belt" course, Phil will tell you everything you need to know about cyber poker and how to manage your opponents. Find out the biggest mistakes online poker players make and how to avoid them, or use them to your advantage. If you want to maximize your online poker winnings, then this video is for you! | |
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Christmas Comes Early!
Ho ho ho hold Dave down while I mount him from behind. Tuesday was one of the biggest action nights we’ve had in quite a while, and for The Jizz’s game, that’s really saying something! Most of the tighter players (Dean, Jonathan, Charles, Nate, etc.) were absent, which left a table full of Santa (Dave) and his elves (Bill, Elvie, Eli, Michael, Frank, John M, etc.) ready to make my Christmas a good one.
Again the night started a little slow (as has normally been the pattern over the past couple months), but nothing to sweat about. I lost a few smaller pots early and was down around $200 or so before the craziness began. There were so many big hands and large pots that I won’t even attempt to post all the details, and I imagine that the ones I do post may have an error or two. Hell, it’s not like we tape these things… :-)
Anyway, one nice pot was in Omaha 8, when I have 10-10-X-X, the flop comes ten-high, and I boat on the river for a scooper after a few chasers miss their draws. I had another winner when I flopped middle set in Omaha 8, and scooped a nice multi-player pot when the board paired and the low didn’t come.
Another huge pot was in Hold ‘em, when I get 5-5. I just limp in early position, several others limp, John M. raises from the small blind, and Dave re-raises to $100 from the big blind. Both Dave and I have huge stacks at this point, and as I’ve said many times, with Dave it’s all about the implied odds. John will raise pre-flop with any number of hands, so I wasn’t particularly worried about him moving in when it got back to him. Though I definitely can’t call an all-in with this hand, I take a small chance and call, hoping to get a couple callers behind. It worked out beautifully, I think both Elvie and Eli call behind, John calls to complete the betting, and there’s a nice little pile of chocolates in the middle for whoever gets lucky and hits the flop. Flop comes Q-6-5…BINGO! Before I can even begin planning the best way to play it, John moves all-in, then Dave goes over the top all-in! Sa-weet - I move in as well. With all the money in there, you could tell that Elvie and Eli are doing their best to visualize some kind of runner-runner scenario which would allow them to take the pot, but in the end they reluctantly fold. I don’t remember what John or Dave have, or even if they turn their cards up, but my set holds up and I end up raking a huge pot.
Another mammoth pot came in Omaha 8, when Dave raises pre-flop to $100, and pretty much the entire table calls. I have some cheese like a two-suited 10s-8x-7x-3s, and I make the call (remember, implied odds…). I’m not very excited about the flop (I think 9s-5s-3x with two spades), but I have some possibilities (baby flush, straight, trips, crappy low, etc). Dave leads out with a large bet ($400 maybe?). This night I have Dave on my right. There are pros and cons to having him on either side of me. Normally you like the loose players on your right, but Dave is so loose that there’s always the danger of you calling him knowing you’re ahead, then the guy with the real hand popping in a large re-raise behind. And if that happens, Dave is almost guaranteed to move in and force you to play for all your (or all his, as the case may be) chips. Anyway, I call hoping nobody raises, and we get another couple callers.
Though Dave is a wild man, he’s not a complete idiot. I know he has a hand (probably some A-A-2 combination). At this point I’m not anywhere committed to the hand, and I’m ready to dump it if I don’t improve on the turn. The turn brings a 10x, which is a good card for me. Now I have two pair and an open-end straight draw, to go along with my other crappy draws. Unless someone flopped a set (and nobody raised Dave’s flop bet), then there’s a great chance I have the best hand at this point. Dave leads out with a $500 bet, and I take a moment to debate raising to isolate. I decide that’s just chumming the waters, and there are just too many danger cards that could come, so in the end I just call. I think everyone else folds anyway, and the river brings a sweet little 3, boating me up! Dave checks, I move in, and he reluctantly calls, showing A-A-2-4 (aces up). He had the suited As, so it was really a monster flop for him – nut flush draw, uncounterfeitable nut low draw, open end straight draw, etc. Hard to believe, but none of them got there. As we say so often about our intrepid dealer: “Jarod f**ks another one.” I say it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy, and I scoop a $3,800 pot.
The night wore on, and people started leaving, but the hands kept coming. The key to winning large pots is not just having a hand; someone else also has to have a good hand as well. On this night several of my opponents were unfortunate enough to have good hands at the wrong time. One example of this was a Hold ‘em hand against Eli. I raise to $30 pre-flop with Q-Q, and get a several callers. Flop comes 9-5-2, I lead out with a $125 bet, Eli raises all-in for another $240 or so, and everyone folds to me. I suspect I’m behind, but I’m getting well over 2:1 on my money. Plus, I had a mammoth stack and just won a big pot off of him a few minutes ago, so I kind of figured “what the hell” and called. He turns over 9-5 for two-pair. I’m rooting for a 2 on the turn to give me a higher two-pair, but a 5 comes instead, boating him up. Of course, you know what’s coming – the river brings my two-outer Q, and Eli is out the door. Jarod… well, you know...
Frank is another victim of a cold deck as we’re playing Hold ‘em short-handed. He’s on the button to my right, and raises to $30. I have A-A in the small blind and re-raise to $100, and he calls. Flop comes A-J-7, I check my top set, he bets $150, I min-raise to $300, and he calls. The turn brings an 8, and I move in for the remainder of his chips ($400-500 or so). He calls and turns over A-7 for a flopped two-pair, and he’s drawing dead. The funny thing about this was that a 7 comes on the river, and he throws up his arms and yells “Yes - I’ve got a boat!” And what a cute little boat it was. Oh well, nobody’s brain is functioning properly at 6am, especially after inhaling Schirk’s burps all night…
Again, these were just a few of the big hands I was involved in. Luckily I wasn’t involved in any the hands where Eli flopped quads! The monkey seemed to be a curse – whoever was sitting behind it started bleeding chips immediately. After all was said and done, I cashed out at 7am for $8,100 - not bad for a $600 investment. Looks like it won’t be a K-Mart Christmas after all…
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Again the night started a little slow (as has normally been the pattern over the past couple months), but nothing to sweat about. I lost a few smaller pots early and was down around $200 or so before the craziness began. There were so many big hands and large pots that I won’t even attempt to post all the details, and I imagine that the ones I do post may have an error or two. Hell, it’s not like we tape these things… :-)
Anyway, one nice pot was in Omaha 8, when I have 10-10-X-X, the flop comes ten-high, and I boat on the river for a scooper after a few chasers miss their draws. I had another winner when I flopped middle set in Omaha 8, and scooped a nice multi-player pot when the board paired and the low didn’t come.
Another huge pot was in Hold ‘em, when I get 5-5. I just limp in early position, several others limp, John M. raises from the small blind, and Dave re-raises to $100 from the big blind. Both Dave and I have huge stacks at this point, and as I’ve said many times, with Dave it’s all about the implied odds. John will raise pre-flop with any number of hands, so I wasn’t particularly worried about him moving in when it got back to him. Though I definitely can’t call an all-in with this hand, I take a small chance and call, hoping to get a couple callers behind. It worked out beautifully, I think both Elvie and Eli call behind, John calls to complete the betting, and there’s a nice little pile of chocolates in the middle for whoever gets lucky and hits the flop. Flop comes Q-6-5…BINGO! Before I can even begin planning the best way to play it, John moves all-in, then Dave goes over the top all-in! Sa-weet - I move in as well. With all the money in there, you could tell that Elvie and Eli are doing their best to visualize some kind of runner-runner scenario which would allow them to take the pot, but in the end they reluctantly fold. I don’t remember what John or Dave have, or even if they turn their cards up, but my set holds up and I end up raking a huge pot.
Another mammoth pot came in Omaha 8, when Dave raises pre-flop to $100, and pretty much the entire table calls. I have some cheese like a two-suited 10s-8x-7x-3s, and I make the call (remember, implied odds…). I’m not very excited about the flop (I think 9s-5s-3x with two spades), but I have some possibilities (baby flush, straight, trips, crappy low, etc). Dave leads out with a large bet ($400 maybe?). This night I have Dave on my right. There are pros and cons to having him on either side of me. Normally you like the loose players on your right, but Dave is so loose that there’s always the danger of you calling him knowing you’re ahead, then the guy with the real hand popping in a large re-raise behind. And if that happens, Dave is almost guaranteed to move in and force you to play for all your (or all his, as the case may be) chips. Anyway, I call hoping nobody raises, and we get another couple callers.
Though Dave is a wild man, he’s not a complete idiot. I know he has a hand (probably some A-A-2 combination). At this point I’m not anywhere committed to the hand, and I’m ready to dump it if I don’t improve on the turn. The turn brings a 10x, which is a good card for me. Now I have two pair and an open-end straight draw, to go along with my other crappy draws. Unless someone flopped a set (and nobody raised Dave’s flop bet), then there’s a great chance I have the best hand at this point. Dave leads out with a $500 bet, and I take a moment to debate raising to isolate. I decide that’s just chumming the waters, and there are just too many danger cards that could come, so in the end I just call. I think everyone else folds anyway, and the river brings a sweet little 3, boating me up! Dave checks, I move in, and he reluctantly calls, showing A-A-2-4 (aces up). He had the suited As, so it was really a monster flop for him – nut flush draw, uncounterfeitable nut low draw, open end straight draw, etc. Hard to believe, but none of them got there. As we say so often about our intrepid dealer: “Jarod f**ks another one.” I say it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy, and I scoop a $3,800 pot.
The night wore on, and people started leaving, but the hands kept coming. The key to winning large pots is not just having a hand; someone else also has to have a good hand as well. On this night several of my opponents were unfortunate enough to have good hands at the wrong time. One example of this was a Hold ‘em hand against Eli. I raise to $30 pre-flop with Q-Q, and get a several callers. Flop comes 9-5-2, I lead out with a $125 bet, Eli raises all-in for another $240 or so, and everyone folds to me. I suspect I’m behind, but I’m getting well over 2:1 on my money. Plus, I had a mammoth stack and just won a big pot off of him a few minutes ago, so I kind of figured “what the hell” and called. He turns over 9-5 for two-pair. I’m rooting for a 2 on the turn to give me a higher two-pair, but a 5 comes instead, boating him up. Of course, you know what’s coming – the river brings my two-outer Q, and Eli is out the door. Jarod… well, you know...
Frank is another victim of a cold deck as we’re playing Hold ‘em short-handed. He’s on the button to my right, and raises to $30. I have A-A in the small blind and re-raise to $100, and he calls. Flop comes A-J-7, I check my top set, he bets $150, I min-raise to $300, and he calls. The turn brings an 8, and I move in for the remainder of his chips ($400-500 or so). He calls and turns over A-7 for a flopped two-pair, and he’s drawing dead. The funny thing about this was that a 7 comes on the river, and he throws up his arms and yells “Yes - I’ve got a boat!” And what a cute little boat it was. Oh well, nobody’s brain is functioning properly at 6am, especially after inhaling Schirk’s burps all night…
Again, these were just a few of the big hands I was involved in. Luckily I wasn’t involved in any the hands where Eli flopped quads! The monkey seemed to be a curse – whoever was sitting behind it started bleeding chips immediately. After all was said and done, I cashed out at 7am for $8,100 - not bad for a $600 investment. Looks like it won’t be a K-Mart Christmas after all…
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Joseph Hachem Wins the Five Diamond World Poker Classic!
**********************************
From the World Poker Tour Website! www.worldpokertour.com/
**********************************
Final Recap
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Wow, what a tournament. 583 players came out to Bellagio for the Five Diamond North American Poker Classic, comprising of what was probably the toughest field of 2006. In the end, one true champion remained.
Joe Hachem, the 2005 World Champion, has joined the elite fraternity of players who have won both a World Series and a World Poker Tour, joining Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortenson and Scotty Nguyen. For Hachem, it was massive validation, and put to rest any suggestion his '05 victory was anything but earned.
Hachem defeated former NFL player Jim Hanna in the final, after Hanna disposed of the new all-time WPT money leader Daniel Negreanu. It was just Hanna's second World Poker Tour. We expect there will be many more.
Outside of the final table, the big stories of the weekend centered around Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi winning the CardPlayer Player of the Year title and the depth of the field. Every day one table had multiple famous faces, with some table holding as many as seven well-known pros. Regardless of who the victor was, the win here was going to represent a remarkable achievement. That it was Hachem just made it more so.
Congratulations to Joe Hachem on his victory. The World Poker Tour will be back in the new year when we travel to to Atlantis in the Bahamas. In the meantime, be sure to keep checking in at worldpokertour.com, where WPTAacademy and our new weekday content will keep your poker appetite satisfied. Thanks for following along everyone. Happy Holidays!
http://www.worldpokertour.com/index.php?
From the World Poker Tour Website! www.worldpokertour.com/
**********************************
Final Recap
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Wow, what a tournament. 583 players came out to Bellagio for the Five Diamond North American Poker Classic, comprising of what was probably the toughest field of 2006. In the end, one true champion remained.
Joe Hachem, the 2005 World Champion, has joined the elite fraternity of players who have won both a World Series and a World Poker Tour, joining Doyle Brunson, Carlos Mortenson and Scotty Nguyen. For Hachem, it was massive validation, and put to rest any suggestion his '05 victory was anything but earned.
Hachem defeated former NFL player Jim Hanna in the final, after Hanna disposed of the new all-time WPT money leader Daniel Negreanu. It was just Hanna's second World Poker Tour. We expect there will be many more.
Outside of the final table, the big stories of the weekend centered around Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi winning the CardPlayer Player of the Year title and the depth of the field. Every day one table had multiple famous faces, with some table holding as many as seven well-known pros. Regardless of who the victor was, the win here was going to represent a remarkable achievement. That it was Hachem just made it more so.
Congratulations to Joe Hachem on his victory. The World Poker Tour will be back in the new year when we travel to to Atlantis in the Bahamas. In the meantime, be sure to keep checking in at worldpokertour.com, where WPTAacademy and our new weekday content will keep your poker appetite satisfied. Thanks for following along everyone. Happy Holidays!
http://www.worldpokertour.com/index.php?
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Friday Omaha
Another Friday, another game of Omaha with the boys at PKR. My original goal was to play solid, and wait for good cards. I thought I showed considerable restraint by waiting a good 8-10 minutes before abandoning the plan. The night started rough – I just simply couldn’t hit a flop, and when I did, someone else improved on the turn or river to win the hand. I had one interesting stretch of three hands in a row where I held A-2-3-X, with the ace suited, only to have all high cards come on the flop. Oh well, such is poker in general, and definitely Omaha. I was down $600 before turning the ship around.
One of the intriguing things (and one of the things I really like) about poker is that no two nights seem to be the same. Though I won a lot of money Tuesday, I won no really big pots. I just plugged along winning small to medium pots, but won a large percentage of the pots I got involved in. On Friday, I won two or three decent pots, and one very large one. The big pot came when I flopped middle set, and two to the low and two to the flush were out there.
I’ve already forgotten the specifics of the hand, but I think I held 7-7-X-X with a flop of 9-7-2. A bet and a couple pot-sized raises later, half the table is all-in (for a moment I thought we were back at Dave’s!). Definitely not the action I wanted to see, but by then I was going along for the ride like everyone else. I think the turn paired the board with a 9, and the river paired it again with a 2. Two sweet cards for me, as the only hand I was really worried about someone having was a flopped two-pair with a redraw. Luckily, everyone had some combination of straight, flush, and low draws, and I end up scooping a monster pot. Thanks in large part to that one pot, I was able to cash out over $1,400 to the good
Omaha, much more so than Hold ‘em, is a drawing game. Most of the money gets in on the flop or turn, so you need to take a chance every now and then. Especially in pot-limit, multiple players will often be chasing draws, and if you have enough players chasing, they’re usually getting the right price (if not, they think they are!). Since half the table can be involved deep into a hand, this creates several moments of excitement throughout the evening that Hold ‘em just cannot match. Though I love Hold ‘em, I’d prefer a game of Omaha any day. To those stubborn ones of you who have not taken the time to learn or play the game, go read a book, then come out and play!
Dave, if you’re reading this, the above does not apply to you. You’re doing fine, and a book would just confuse you – please don’t learn any more…
See ya at the tables…Rick
One of the intriguing things (and one of the things I really like) about poker is that no two nights seem to be the same. Though I won a lot of money Tuesday, I won no really big pots. I just plugged along winning small to medium pots, but won a large percentage of the pots I got involved in. On Friday, I won two or three decent pots, and one very large one. The big pot came when I flopped middle set, and two to the low and two to the flush were out there.
I’ve already forgotten the specifics of the hand, but I think I held 7-7-X-X with a flop of 9-7-2. A bet and a couple pot-sized raises later, half the table is all-in (for a moment I thought we were back at Dave’s!). Definitely not the action I wanted to see, but by then I was going along for the ride like everyone else. I think the turn paired the board with a 9, and the river paired it again with a 2. Two sweet cards for me, as the only hand I was really worried about someone having was a flopped two-pair with a redraw. Luckily, everyone had some combination of straight, flush, and low draws, and I end up scooping a monster pot. Thanks in large part to that one pot, I was able to cash out over $1,400 to the good
Omaha, much more so than Hold ‘em, is a drawing game. Most of the money gets in on the flop or turn, so you need to take a chance every now and then. Especially in pot-limit, multiple players will often be chasing draws, and if you have enough players chasing, they’re usually getting the right price (if not, they think they are!). Since half the table can be involved deep into a hand, this creates several moments of excitement throughout the evening that Hold ‘em just cannot match. Though I love Hold ‘em, I’d prefer a game of Omaha any day. To those stubborn ones of you who have not taken the time to learn or play the game, go read a book, then come out and play!
Dave, if you’re reading this, the above does not apply to you. You’re doing fine, and a book would just confuse you – please don’t learn any more…
See ya at the tables…Rick
Tournament Strategy
Well, it’s hard to believe, but I witnessed it again on Saturday. It never ceases to amaze me how some seemingly experienced tournament poker players will do everything in their power to keep another guy around, when their goal should be exactly the opposite. A new person to our Saturday game would probably naturally assume there was collusion, but I know the players involved, so I’m sure this wasn’t the case.
I’ll leave the names out so as not to embarrass anyone. Although I was in the hand, that fact is beside the point - I would be just as upset if it were someone else. In fact, I’m a little surprised nobody else at the table said anything. Perhaps they were daydreaming, talking or watching television, and didn’t notice the egregious blunder. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good that they didn’t say anything - I’m just surprised. :-)
The hand in question came when blinds are $500/1,000 and we’re down to 7-8 players. Player One limps from middle position and it folds to Player Two in the small blind, who calls. This leaves Player Two left with only $1,400, so just calling the big blind pretty much commits him to the hand. I’m in the big blind with 6s-7s, and I check my option. Flop comes Kd-9s-7d, giving me bottom pair and a couple of backdoor draws. Player Two pushes in (as he should, hoping we make bad folds), and since I have no reason to believe I don’t have the best hand, I make the call.
Now basic tournament strategy #101 dictates that in a situation like this, the other players in the hand call the all-in and check it down, unless one has a monster hand. The painfully obvious reason is that two or more players have a much better chance of knocking out an opponent than one player does heads-up. The main goal at this point is to eliminate players, therefore bringing yourself one step closer to the money. I fully expect Player One to call and check it down with almost anything, especially since he’s the big stack at the table. Instead, he immediately announces that he’s all-in! Well, I figure it’s just bad luck on my part, and I ran into a set or something. Although I’m a short stack, it’s a pretty easy fold given the circumstances.
Player Two turns over queen-high. As I suspected, he has nothing, and is making the only play available to him. Player One turns over….less than nothing! He has some goofy crap like a six-high flush draw. The turn and river bring two bricks, and Player Two triples up with queen-high. I hope that if Player Two ended up cashing, he at least bought Player One dinner. I’m sure Player One had some kind of “strategy” that made perfect sense to his cannabis-clouded brain, but I really don’t want to know what it was.
Mentally, I was done with the tournament at that point. I figure if we’re not going to try to knock other players out (ie: play poker…), then I’d rather go home and catch up on some TV. I pushed all-in on the next hand with some crap like K-3, and got knocked out by, ironically, Player Two. Good for him - I hope he went on to win the tournament. If he got any more help from Player One, then he was a shoe-in…
See ya at the tables…
Rick
I’ll leave the names out so as not to embarrass anyone. Although I was in the hand, that fact is beside the point - I would be just as upset if it were someone else. In fact, I’m a little surprised nobody else at the table said anything. Perhaps they were daydreaming, talking or watching television, and didn’t notice the egregious blunder. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good that they didn’t say anything - I’m just surprised. :-)
The hand in question came when blinds are $500/1,000 and we’re down to 7-8 players. Player One limps from middle position and it folds to Player Two in the small blind, who calls. This leaves Player Two left with only $1,400, so just calling the big blind pretty much commits him to the hand. I’m in the big blind with 6s-7s, and I check my option. Flop comes Kd-9s-7d, giving me bottom pair and a couple of backdoor draws. Player Two pushes in (as he should, hoping we make bad folds), and since I have no reason to believe I don’t have the best hand, I make the call.
Now basic tournament strategy #101 dictates that in a situation like this, the other players in the hand call the all-in and check it down, unless one has a monster hand. The painfully obvious reason is that two or more players have a much better chance of knocking out an opponent than one player does heads-up. The main goal at this point is to eliminate players, therefore bringing yourself one step closer to the money. I fully expect Player One to call and check it down with almost anything, especially since he’s the big stack at the table. Instead, he immediately announces that he’s all-in! Well, I figure it’s just bad luck on my part, and I ran into a set or something. Although I’m a short stack, it’s a pretty easy fold given the circumstances.
Player Two turns over queen-high. As I suspected, he has nothing, and is making the only play available to him. Player One turns over….less than nothing! He has some goofy crap like a six-high flush draw. The turn and river bring two bricks, and Player Two triples up with queen-high. I hope that if Player Two ended up cashing, he at least bought Player One dinner. I’m sure Player One had some kind of “strategy” that made perfect sense to his cannabis-clouded brain, but I really don’t want to know what it was.
Mentally, I was done with the tournament at that point. I figure if we’re not going to try to knock other players out (ie: play poker…), then I’d rather go home and catch up on some TV. I pushed all-in on the next hand with some crap like K-3, and got knocked out by, ironically, Player Two. Good for him - I hope he went on to win the tournament. If he got any more help from Player One, then he was a shoe-in…
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Friday, December 15, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Back in the Saddle Again
After a rare losing night (and a big one at that!) last week, it was time to get back on track. And what better way to do that than a Tuesday night with The Jizz?! I love Dave’s game. He welcomes you with open arms, he wines you, he dines you, then gives you a big pile of money as you walk out the door. It kind of makes me feel like a high-class call girl, except I get to leave with my dignity (and sphincter) intact. He’s Richard Gere to my Julia Roberts…
It was a strange night for me, in that I didn’t get involved in any gigantic pots. For the most part, I did a pretty good job of keeping the pots low when I was drawing, and being ahead when any significant amount of money went in. One monster pot I opted out of, I kind of wish I hadn’t. I was in late position in NL Omaha 8, and held A-2-X-X. The flop comes three middle cards with two to the low; something like 9-8-6. There’s a big bet, then three players are all-in by the time it gets to me! I don’t have much of anything except for a low draw, and I don’t have any insurance to go with the A-2. I’m the big stack, but I fold and let everyone duke it out. Everyone turns over straights or sets, and of course, another low card comes, meaning my nut low would have taken half of a monster pot. Oh well, you can’t play results poker, though there are always those one or two times a night I wish I was a worse player – the kind who makes a bad call and comes out smelling like a rose!
I don’t really have any hands of note, I just steadily built my stack until everyone left for the night except John M. We decided to play $5/10 NLHE heads-up for a couple hours. We went back and forth a little, but he played well and caught a few cards at the right time, and ended up winning the battle. I don’t recall how much he took exactly, but it was probably around $200-300. The biggest hand, and the one that turned out to be the difference between winning and losing, was when I pick up Q-Q. I think he raises to $30 on the button, I raise to $90, and he calls. He’s raising at least half the time on his button, but I put him on some kind of hand since he calls my re-raise. The flop comes 10-9-4, and I’m liking where I’m at. I lead out with a $100 bet, and he calls immediately. I can’t put him on A-K or A-Q, as he would have either mucked or thought for a few more seconds before calling. I can’t put him on a set either, as he would have thought about raising for a few seconds. My best guess is that he has A-10, K-10, A-9, or possibly a middle pair.
The turn brings a J. I like this card, as it’s an undercard that gives me an open-end straight draw. The only hand I’m a little worried about is J-10, but I bet another $100, and again he quickly calls. The river brings a 10 – not the card I was looking for. Now I’m facing a dilemma, to bet or not to bet. I convinced myself that, if I check to him, John’s going to push all-in regardless of what he has. There was $580 in the pot at this point, and I think he’ll take a stab at it with a missed draw. I make a bet of $200 (in retrospect a poor bet), and he immediately moves all-in for another $230 or so. Crap. I know I’m beat, but it’s only $230 more into a $1,200 pot, so I pay him off like the donkey I am at 7am. He turns over A-10. I wonder if he thought he was ahead the whole time, or if he just stayed in trying to hit the five-outer. The way the betting went it would have been tough to put me on anything other than a big pair. I didn’t get out of line all night – especially firing three big shells in a row. Maybe I should have pushed in on the turn, but the fact is I wanted action, and sadly, I got my wish! :-)
We finally called it a morning a little after that, and I cashed out for $3,500, even after dropping a little bit to John-Boy. I look forward to next Tuesday, when I can again back up the armored car to Dave’s door. I’d appreciate a little help loading it, Dave – my back’s a little sore…
See ya at the tables…
Rick
It was a strange night for me, in that I didn’t get involved in any gigantic pots. For the most part, I did a pretty good job of keeping the pots low when I was drawing, and being ahead when any significant amount of money went in. One monster pot I opted out of, I kind of wish I hadn’t. I was in late position in NL Omaha 8, and held A-2-X-X. The flop comes three middle cards with two to the low; something like 9-8-6. There’s a big bet, then three players are all-in by the time it gets to me! I don’t have much of anything except for a low draw, and I don’t have any insurance to go with the A-2. I’m the big stack, but I fold and let everyone duke it out. Everyone turns over straights or sets, and of course, another low card comes, meaning my nut low would have taken half of a monster pot. Oh well, you can’t play results poker, though there are always those one or two times a night I wish I was a worse player – the kind who makes a bad call and comes out smelling like a rose!
I don’t really have any hands of note, I just steadily built my stack until everyone left for the night except John M. We decided to play $5/10 NLHE heads-up for a couple hours. We went back and forth a little, but he played well and caught a few cards at the right time, and ended up winning the battle. I don’t recall how much he took exactly, but it was probably around $200-300. The biggest hand, and the one that turned out to be the difference between winning and losing, was when I pick up Q-Q. I think he raises to $30 on the button, I raise to $90, and he calls. He’s raising at least half the time on his button, but I put him on some kind of hand since he calls my re-raise. The flop comes 10-9-4, and I’m liking where I’m at. I lead out with a $100 bet, and he calls immediately. I can’t put him on A-K or A-Q, as he would have either mucked or thought for a few more seconds before calling. I can’t put him on a set either, as he would have thought about raising for a few seconds. My best guess is that he has A-10, K-10, A-9, or possibly a middle pair.
The turn brings a J. I like this card, as it’s an undercard that gives me an open-end straight draw. The only hand I’m a little worried about is J-10, but I bet another $100, and again he quickly calls. The river brings a 10 – not the card I was looking for. Now I’m facing a dilemma, to bet or not to bet. I convinced myself that, if I check to him, John’s going to push all-in regardless of what he has. There was $580 in the pot at this point, and I think he’ll take a stab at it with a missed draw. I make a bet of $200 (in retrospect a poor bet), and he immediately moves all-in for another $230 or so. Crap. I know I’m beat, but it’s only $230 more into a $1,200 pot, so I pay him off like the donkey I am at 7am. He turns over A-10. I wonder if he thought he was ahead the whole time, or if he just stayed in trying to hit the five-outer. The way the betting went it would have been tough to put me on anything other than a big pair. I didn’t get out of line all night – especially firing three big shells in a row. Maybe I should have pushed in on the turn, but the fact is I wanted action, and sadly, I got my wish! :-)
We finally called it a morning a little after that, and I cashed out for $3,500, even after dropping a little bit to John-Boy. I look forward to next Tuesday, when I can again back up the armored car to Dave’s door. I’d appreciate a little help loading it, Dave – my back’s a little sore…
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Bubble Boy Goes to Benson
Well, apparently I’m a bit behind on my blogging, so here's a long one to keep Charles off my back (for a couple days anyway)...
I made my way out to Benson on Saturday, to try my luck in the $500 buy-in tournament they hold every 2-3 months. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, there are several things I don’t like about the tournaments out there. First and foremost, they allow smoking inside. This is pure torture for a non-smoker like me, and is the primary reason I don’t play out there more often. I can only assume there are many others like me, but I’m also sure there are some smokers who wouldn’t play if the place went to non-smoking. Second, they habitually start all tournaments at least an hour later than the scheduled time. Maybe they do this on purpose, so that their “captive audience” plays craps or blackjack while they’re waiting, or maybe the regulars just know they start late, so they show up late, thus creating a domino effect. Lastly, it’s simply a long drive. It’s close to an hour each way, which is a lot farther than I’d prefer to travel for a poker game.
Those things having been said, there are several things I like about the place. The people there are very friendly, and make you feel at home. I have yet to run into one of those “buttheads” that seem to pop up occasionally in the Raleigh games. They really take care of you. They usually have a nice barbecue meal waiting for you, and the ladies working the kitchen will offer to cook you a burger or anything else they have available. The facility is nice, and fairly out of the way and secure, with lots of parking. Overall, the players are fairly loose and bad, though there are several very good players (Jody G, Chris Bell, Stone, among others) who are regulars. The tournaments are pretty well-organized (except for the starting time), and the dealers are usually pretty solid.
As far as the tournament goes, I don’t remember exactly, but I think there were about 85 entries. The $500 buy-in gets you $4,000 in chips, and you can rebuy ($300 for $3,000 in chips) right away, or anytime your stack falls below $4,000 during the first six levels (20 minutes each). After the rebuy period, all players then have the option of purchasing an additional $6,000 in chips for $400. Unless you have accumulated a very large stack, this is usually a good purchase.
I picked up a few decent hands early, stole a few blinds, and slowly built my stack up to just over $12K by the end of the rebuy period. About the only hand of note to this point was when I busted a kid when I raise with 10-10, and he calls with A-K. Flop comes 10-7-2. I check my set, and he checks behind. I suspect he has A-K or A-Q, so I’m hoping for a big card on the turn. Sure enough, the turn brings a K, and I lead out with a little bet. He raises, and I decide to take a little chance and just call. A 7 comes on the river, boating me up. I hesitate for a moment, trying to make it look like I’m debating making a bluff. I then announce I’m putting him all-in, he takes a good minute or two before calling, and I take about $3K from him on the hand.
A killer hand for me comes just after the rebuy period. I’m in middle position with A-A. I raise, and a guy in late position re-raises. I re-raise, and he pushes in. I assume he has K-K, but he turns over J-J. Extremely weak play on his part. Nobody in their right mind could think that a guy who makes the third raise pre-flop has a hand worse than J-J! Anyway, you know what’s coming. I lose about ¾ of my stack, and it’s back to the drawing board. I continue to play (I think) very good poker during the next few hours, and build my stack back up again. During this time, a couple hands stick out. I made a nice bluff, re-raising all-in with 9-4os against a big stack. He was getting around 2:1 on the call so it was extremely risky, but I just knew he was going to lay it down, which he did.
The other hand came when I had a suited K-2 in the big blind. It folds to the small blind, who makes a fairly large raise of about 4x the BB. This guy way playing fairly tight, but for some reason I felt he was bluffing. One of my strengths is reading people, and I tend to trust my instincts, especially in tournaments. I’ll call a large bet with ace-high if I think it’s good, and I’ll lay down a straight if I think it’s not. Of course I’m wrong sometimes, but I’m right more often than not. Probably the greatest percentage of chips (or money) I lose is a direct result of not listening to “that little voice,” but I’m learning to trust it even more often. Anyway, I call his raise, and the flop comes Q-6-2, giving me bottom pair. He makes a pot-sized bet, and I simply feel like I have the best hand. I call, the turn brings a 3, and he makes another big bet, about ¾ of the pot. I can’t imagine the 3 helped him, so if I though I was good on the flop, I’m not folding now. Again I call, and the river brings an 8. Our hero hesitates for just a second before shoving a huge bet out there – about twice the size of the pot! One of my first thoughts is “What the hell did I get myself into.” I actually stood up and walked around for a minute, which is something I don’t ever remember doing. I replay the action in my head, and simply can’t put him on a hand that beats me. To me, that river bet is an obvious bluff, and although the call would have crippled me if I was wrong, I went with my instincts. I call and turn over my hand. He looks at it, smiles, and turns over 10-7, announcing “Nice call.” Whew!
I continue to scratch and claw for every chip I can get my hands on, and before you know it we’re down to two tables of five players each. The tournament is paying nine places, with ninth paying something like $2,800, and first paying around $30K. Blinds are $3K/6K, and I have around $70K in chips - a little below the average but still in good shape. I get moved from one table to the other after the 11th place guy gets knocked out, in order to even out the numbers. I end up sitting to the left of the largest stack remaining, a guy they called “Crazy Mike,” an older guy with Coke-bottle glasses who was sitting on over $170K. I hadn’t played with this guy before, but a couple people told me he lives up to his nickname. It became clear very quickly that he was the “table bully.” He raised or re-raised at least half of the six or seven hands played since I sat down. I knew that this was a guy that I could trap in the right situation.
That situation came sooner than I expected. I’m the big blind, and it folds to His Craziness in the small blind. He looks at me, then makes a big show, waving his hands and loudly announcing that he’s all-in. I look down at A-Jos, a hand that I’ve probably folded at least a half-dozen times to a raise or re-raise during the tournament. Interesting situation. If my goal is to make the money, then it’s an easy fold. There are a couple short stacks, and I’m a good enough player to outlast at least one of them if I decide to go into the deep-freeze. My goal is not eighth or ninth, however. I came to win, and this is a golden opportunity. If I call and win, I have over $140K, and all of a sudden I’m the chip leader. The only question in my mind is whether or not I’m a big favorite. If I thought he had a small pair and we’d be racing, then I’d fold immediately. Every instinct I had told me I was way ahead, so I only thought for a few moments before calling. Sure enough, he turns over 9-8os, and I’m about a 2:1 favorite. We’ve all seen this movie before, so the ending should come as no surprise. The flop brings a 9, the turn and river are blanks, and I’m in the car driving home before Mikey can stack my chips. As is so often the case, no good play goes unpunished.
A missed opportunity, to be sure. 9-10 hours of solid play and tough decisions comes down to one hand, and I leave with…no money. If you took a sampling of poker pros, I’m guessing their opinions would be split on whether or not to call in that situation. Some would never put their tournament life at risk, even if the cards were turned up, and some would call in a heartbeat. I’d probably make the same call again. That’s one of the interesting things about this game; there’s almost never a single correct play in any situation.
I’d like to hear everyone’s opinion. Assuming your goal was to win the tournament, what would you do in that scenario?
See ya at the tables…
Rick
I made my way out to Benson on Saturday, to try my luck in the $500 buy-in tournament they hold every 2-3 months. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, there are several things I don’t like about the tournaments out there. First and foremost, they allow smoking inside. This is pure torture for a non-smoker like me, and is the primary reason I don’t play out there more often. I can only assume there are many others like me, but I’m also sure there are some smokers who wouldn’t play if the place went to non-smoking. Second, they habitually start all tournaments at least an hour later than the scheduled time. Maybe they do this on purpose, so that their “captive audience” plays craps or blackjack while they’re waiting, or maybe the regulars just know they start late, so they show up late, thus creating a domino effect. Lastly, it’s simply a long drive. It’s close to an hour each way, which is a lot farther than I’d prefer to travel for a poker game.
Those things having been said, there are several things I like about the place. The people there are very friendly, and make you feel at home. I have yet to run into one of those “buttheads” that seem to pop up occasionally in the Raleigh games. They really take care of you. They usually have a nice barbecue meal waiting for you, and the ladies working the kitchen will offer to cook you a burger or anything else they have available. The facility is nice, and fairly out of the way and secure, with lots of parking. Overall, the players are fairly loose and bad, though there are several very good players (Jody G, Chris Bell, Stone, among others) who are regulars. The tournaments are pretty well-organized (except for the starting time), and the dealers are usually pretty solid.
As far as the tournament goes, I don’t remember exactly, but I think there were about 85 entries. The $500 buy-in gets you $4,000 in chips, and you can rebuy ($300 for $3,000 in chips) right away, or anytime your stack falls below $4,000 during the first six levels (20 minutes each). After the rebuy period, all players then have the option of purchasing an additional $6,000 in chips for $400. Unless you have accumulated a very large stack, this is usually a good purchase.
I picked up a few decent hands early, stole a few blinds, and slowly built my stack up to just over $12K by the end of the rebuy period. About the only hand of note to this point was when I busted a kid when I raise with 10-10, and he calls with A-K. Flop comes 10-7-2. I check my set, and he checks behind. I suspect he has A-K or A-Q, so I’m hoping for a big card on the turn. Sure enough, the turn brings a K, and I lead out with a little bet. He raises, and I decide to take a little chance and just call. A 7 comes on the river, boating me up. I hesitate for a moment, trying to make it look like I’m debating making a bluff. I then announce I’m putting him all-in, he takes a good minute or two before calling, and I take about $3K from him on the hand.
A killer hand for me comes just after the rebuy period. I’m in middle position with A-A. I raise, and a guy in late position re-raises. I re-raise, and he pushes in. I assume he has K-K, but he turns over J-J. Extremely weak play on his part. Nobody in their right mind could think that a guy who makes the third raise pre-flop has a hand worse than J-J! Anyway, you know what’s coming. I lose about ¾ of my stack, and it’s back to the drawing board. I continue to play (I think) very good poker during the next few hours, and build my stack back up again. During this time, a couple hands stick out. I made a nice bluff, re-raising all-in with 9-4os against a big stack. He was getting around 2:1 on the call so it was extremely risky, but I just knew he was going to lay it down, which he did.
The other hand came when I had a suited K-2 in the big blind. It folds to the small blind, who makes a fairly large raise of about 4x the BB. This guy way playing fairly tight, but for some reason I felt he was bluffing. One of my strengths is reading people, and I tend to trust my instincts, especially in tournaments. I’ll call a large bet with ace-high if I think it’s good, and I’ll lay down a straight if I think it’s not. Of course I’m wrong sometimes, but I’m right more often than not. Probably the greatest percentage of chips (or money) I lose is a direct result of not listening to “that little voice,” but I’m learning to trust it even more often. Anyway, I call his raise, and the flop comes Q-6-2, giving me bottom pair. He makes a pot-sized bet, and I simply feel like I have the best hand. I call, the turn brings a 3, and he makes another big bet, about ¾ of the pot. I can’t imagine the 3 helped him, so if I though I was good on the flop, I’m not folding now. Again I call, and the river brings an 8. Our hero hesitates for just a second before shoving a huge bet out there – about twice the size of the pot! One of my first thoughts is “What the hell did I get myself into.” I actually stood up and walked around for a minute, which is something I don’t ever remember doing. I replay the action in my head, and simply can’t put him on a hand that beats me. To me, that river bet is an obvious bluff, and although the call would have crippled me if I was wrong, I went with my instincts. I call and turn over my hand. He looks at it, smiles, and turns over 10-7, announcing “Nice call.” Whew!
I continue to scratch and claw for every chip I can get my hands on, and before you know it we’re down to two tables of five players each. The tournament is paying nine places, with ninth paying something like $2,800, and first paying around $30K. Blinds are $3K/6K, and I have around $70K in chips - a little below the average but still in good shape. I get moved from one table to the other after the 11th place guy gets knocked out, in order to even out the numbers. I end up sitting to the left of the largest stack remaining, a guy they called “Crazy Mike,” an older guy with Coke-bottle glasses who was sitting on over $170K. I hadn’t played with this guy before, but a couple people told me he lives up to his nickname. It became clear very quickly that he was the “table bully.” He raised or re-raised at least half of the six or seven hands played since I sat down. I knew that this was a guy that I could trap in the right situation.
That situation came sooner than I expected. I’m the big blind, and it folds to His Craziness in the small blind. He looks at me, then makes a big show, waving his hands and loudly announcing that he’s all-in. I look down at A-Jos, a hand that I’ve probably folded at least a half-dozen times to a raise or re-raise during the tournament. Interesting situation. If my goal is to make the money, then it’s an easy fold. There are a couple short stacks, and I’m a good enough player to outlast at least one of them if I decide to go into the deep-freeze. My goal is not eighth or ninth, however. I came to win, and this is a golden opportunity. If I call and win, I have over $140K, and all of a sudden I’m the chip leader. The only question in my mind is whether or not I’m a big favorite. If I thought he had a small pair and we’d be racing, then I’d fold immediately. Every instinct I had told me I was way ahead, so I only thought for a few moments before calling. Sure enough, he turns over 9-8os, and I’m about a 2:1 favorite. We’ve all seen this movie before, so the ending should come as no surprise. The flop brings a 9, the turn and river are blanks, and I’m in the car driving home before Mikey can stack my chips. As is so often the case, no good play goes unpunished.
A missed opportunity, to be sure. 9-10 hours of solid play and tough decisions comes down to one hand, and I leave with…no money. If you took a sampling of poker pros, I’m guessing their opinions would be split on whether or not to call in that situation. Some would never put their tournament life at risk, even if the cards were turned up, and some would call in a heartbeat. I’d probably make the same call again. That’s one of the interesting things about this game; there’s almost never a single correct play in any situation.
I’d like to hear everyone’s opinion. Assuming your goal was to win the tournament, what would you do in that scenario?
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Famous Poker Quotes...
"You have it in your power to turn a bad-beat around simply by realizing this simple truth: The more bad beats you encounter, the luckier you are. It's a sign that you are playing against opponents who continually take the worst of it, and if you can't beat someone who always takes the worst of it, you can't beat anyone. "
-------------Lou Krieger
-------------Lou Krieger
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Tuesday night @ Juice's
What's that smell? Is that the smell of roast beef in the air? The smell of rotten flesh? No.. .that's the smell of skid marks in Juice's shorts when I turned over quads... AAAA. What a beautiful hand.
Just a couple quick noteables from last night...
AJ on the button, and Rick raises in the cutoff to $25. I call on the button after debating the call, and Juice calls in the SB. Flop ATx, all clubs. Granted, he's got quite a few outs, but I knew I was ahead, so I had to call Juice's all-in of about $200 more. He's got KredJc, and of course catches the King of clubs. Dirty dealer.
I think I was rivered a few more times before making a little run... AAAA, and one pot where Juice raised preflop to like $25. I flop 3 pair, Q23, and he and I and Bill get all my chips in. His AA6?x doesn't improve when the low comes but counterfeits him, and my two pair hold up. I end up scooping a monster $600ish pot with a terrible hand. Then the hand of the night (until I left anyway, after which Juice gave me the best hand of the night in the bathroom).
I have all high cards in O8, AhThxx, I think JJ or something. Flop is 567, with two hearts. At least 5, maybe 6 people call a flop bet from Bill of about $50. Turn is 8. Bill bets $100ish and we lose maybe 1 person, with 5ish callers. River is 4h. Checks around and I get 2 callers of about $150-$200 with my nuts. Was a very nice pot.
There were more noteables, mostly suckouts, and few little pots. One nice hand that Rick kept betting huge bets into me when I was basically freerolling for a club that would have won me a nice large pot had it hit... because with his decent low, and a pot about $400 before the river, he might have had to call $200-300 more on the river against my scooper... maybe, maybe not.
Anyway... we'll see you all again next week for another installment of the same jokes that just never get old ;)
Just a couple quick noteables from last night...
AJ on the button, and Rick raises in the cutoff to $25. I call on the button after debating the call, and Juice calls in the SB. Flop ATx, all clubs. Granted, he's got quite a few outs, but I knew I was ahead, so I had to call Juice's all-in of about $200 more. He's got KredJc, and of course catches the King of clubs. Dirty dealer.
I think I was rivered a few more times before making a little run... AAAA, and one pot where Juice raised preflop to like $25. I flop 3 pair, Q23, and he and I and Bill get all my chips in. His AA6?x doesn't improve when the low comes but counterfeits him, and my two pair hold up. I end up scooping a monster $600ish pot with a terrible hand. Then the hand of the night (until I left anyway, after which Juice gave me the best hand of the night in the bathroom).
I have all high cards in O8, AhThxx, I think JJ or something. Flop is 567, with two hearts. At least 5, maybe 6 people call a flop bet from Bill of about $50. Turn is 8. Bill bets $100ish and we lose maybe 1 person, with 5ish callers. River is 4h. Checks around and I get 2 callers of about $150-$200 with my nuts. Was a very nice pot.
There were more noteables, mostly suckouts, and few little pots. One nice hand that Rick kept betting huge bets into me when I was basically freerolling for a club that would have won me a nice large pot had it hit... because with his decent low, and a pot about $400 before the river, he might have had to call $200-300 more on the river against my scooper... maybe, maybe not.
Anyway... we'll see you all again next week for another installment of the same jokes that just never get old ;)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
A New Place to Play....
Well, a couple of weeks back, Joe gave me Matt's name and number and told me that he had a game in Cary on Thursday and Sunday nights. I decided to give it a try and last night Rick and I went down to test the waters. It was $2/$5 No Limit and after a slow start the table was full for several hours. My cold deck continued from PKR however and for quite a while I either got 100% crap or when I did get a decent hand, the cooler was right around the corner. I did manage to scratch and claw my way to even before we left, but only after waiting patiently for a couple of hours to set a trap for a guy that was raising about every hand.....
I'll tell you more about that one in a minute, but I will tell you about my best read of the of the night. These two guys came in together and sat down in card-rack seats and both of them built up nice stacks within just an hour or two. I only got heads up with either of them 2 times during that period and didn't win a hand, but I am proud of the read that I put on one of them just before they left. I was the button and had pocket sevens. One of the guys in middle position raised the $5 blind to $20. He had been doing this quite a bit and I decided to call to try to spike a 7. The flop Ax, 10x, 7x! Sweet! He checks and I lead out with a $30 bet. After thinking a little about that series of events I realized that this was the first hand that he had not raised after the flop regardless of the flop. So when the turn brought a brick, he checked and I checked. The river was a brick and he leads out with a $40 bet. Normally I would have come over the top here, but something just felt funny and so I called. He turned over a set of 10's and I ended up losing about as little as I think I could lose when I flopped a set on a disconnected board. Sometimes it isn't about winning, sometimes it is about not losing anymore than you can help with the 2nd or 3rd nut.
Those guys cashed out with two nice stacks and another guy soon climbed into the seat where I had just gotten pummeled with set-over-set. And this guy was raising just about every hand and based on my table position after another guy had left, I ended up on the button when he was UTG. This was good in that he often straddled. The one hand that I really wanted him to straddle, he limped.... pocket Aces. I had them one time earlier and raised to $20 and everyone folded so I thought I would take it down a notch and only raised to $15 and everyone folded except the guy who had been raising most of the night. The flop was Kc, Qc, 7h. He bet $20 and I raised to $60 and he called. The turn was a brick and he bet $20 and I moved all-in for another $150 or so but he only had about $140 but he quickly called. I flipped my Aces and he mucked.... The river was a brick.
I was very pleased to find this new place to play. It's very nice with a good player pool.And one of the dealers there is probably the best dealer that I have run into outside of a casino. I believe his name was Brian and although the other two dealers were good as well, he was definitely the best. Their processes are excellent as well in that the player on the button doesn't shuffle so the dealer is completely responsible for the deck. They wash the cards after every hand and Brian was excellent at keeping the action moving along and everyone's focus on the flow of the game. He made certain of everyone's action by counting their chips in front of them and then stacking them along-side the other callers before carefully leaning them into the pot. They also keep the rake out in front of them until the end of the hand so that everyone can see what they are raking which is a very fair $1 on $10 to a maximum rake of $5 per hand. Nice!
Matt actually played a little with us when there was room at the table. He made a very nice lay down to me just before we broke up for the night. He was in middle position and raised the $10 straddle to $20 (I'll come back to that in a moment).... I find pocket Kings and while I like his raise I want to make certain that I'm not playing with 5 guys on this one so I bump it up to $60 and everyone folds to him and he calls. I've put him on Queens or Jacks... don't know why but that is just my thoughts on what I think he has..... At any rate, the flop Q, 7, 7.... crap! He checks and I've got to find out where he stands so I bet $60 and he struggles a little with it and folds. I showed him the Kings and he told me that he folded Jacks. So it was good night of poker and I have found a new place to play when time will permit.
I'll definitely be back!
I'll tell you more about that one in a minute, but I will tell you about my best read of the of the night. These two guys came in together and sat down in card-rack seats and both of them built up nice stacks within just an hour or two. I only got heads up with either of them 2 times during that period and didn't win a hand, but I am proud of the read that I put on one of them just before they left. I was the button and had pocket sevens. One of the guys in middle position raised the $5 blind to $20. He had been doing this quite a bit and I decided to call to try to spike a 7. The flop Ax, 10x, 7x! Sweet! He checks and I lead out with a $30 bet. After thinking a little about that series of events I realized that this was the first hand that he had not raised after the flop regardless of the flop. So when the turn brought a brick, he checked and I checked. The river was a brick and he leads out with a $40 bet. Normally I would have come over the top here, but something just felt funny and so I called. He turned over a set of 10's and I ended up losing about as little as I think I could lose when I flopped a set on a disconnected board. Sometimes it isn't about winning, sometimes it is about not losing anymore than you can help with the 2nd or 3rd nut.
Those guys cashed out with two nice stacks and another guy soon climbed into the seat where I had just gotten pummeled with set-over-set. And this guy was raising just about every hand and based on my table position after another guy had left, I ended up on the button when he was UTG. This was good in that he often straddled. The one hand that I really wanted him to straddle, he limped.... pocket Aces. I had them one time earlier and raised to $20 and everyone folded so I thought I would take it down a notch and only raised to $15 and everyone folded except the guy who had been raising most of the night. The flop was Kc, Qc, 7h. He bet $20 and I raised to $60 and he called. The turn was a brick and he bet $20 and I moved all-in for another $150 or so but he only had about $140 but he quickly called. I flipped my Aces and he mucked.... The river was a brick.
I was very pleased to find this new place to play. It's very nice with a good player pool.And one of the dealers there is probably the best dealer that I have run into outside of a casino. I believe his name was Brian and although the other two dealers were good as well, he was definitely the best. Their processes are excellent as well in that the player on the button doesn't shuffle so the dealer is completely responsible for the deck. They wash the cards after every hand and Brian was excellent at keeping the action moving along and everyone's focus on the flow of the game. He made certain of everyone's action by counting their chips in front of them and then stacking them along-side the other callers before carefully leaning them into the pot. They also keep the rake out in front of them until the end of the hand so that everyone can see what they are raking which is a very fair $1 on $10 to a maximum rake of $5 per hand. Nice!
Matt actually played a little with us when there was room at the table. He made a very nice lay down to me just before we broke up for the night. He was in middle position and raised the $10 straddle to $20 (I'll come back to that in a moment).... I find pocket Kings and while I like his raise I want to make certain that I'm not playing with 5 guys on this one so I bump it up to $60 and everyone folds to him and he calls. I've put him on Queens or Jacks... don't know why but that is just my thoughts on what I think he has..... At any rate, the flop Q, 7, 7.... crap! He checks and I've got to find out where he stands so I bet $60 and he struggles a little with it and folds. I showed him the Kings and he told me that he folded Jacks. So it was good night of poker and I have found a new place to play when time will permit.
I'll definitely be back!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
I am COLD DECKED to death....
What a day! We were a little short-handed and decided to play an $80 Freeze Out at PKR. I want to tell you about four hands....
1) Pocket 10's in the small blind and smooth call - BJ is in the big blind and the flop comes 5s, 6s, 7c so I lead out with a $500 bet into the $100/$200 blinds and BJ immediately raises $1,000. I put him on at least two pair and fold. He turns over 3s, 4s. The crap end of the straight with a straight flush draw.
2) Pocket 9's in the small bind and raise to $800 the $200/$400 blinds. BJ smooth calls and the flop is 10, 7, 7.... I check, he checks. The turn is an 8 and I check, he checks. The river is a Queen and I check and he goes all-in. I flip up my nines thinking that he had A, 10. He turns over 10, 10.
3) I'm the big blind with $300/$600 blinds and Ed is the small blind. He goes all in and I find Jh, Jd and immediately call. He turns over Qh, Qs and the flop is Ah, Jc, 7h. The turn is a heart and the river is a heart giving him a Queen high flush to my Jack high flush.
4) I'm on the button... four handed with $400/$800 blinds and have AJ suited. I push all-in and Scott calls with pocket Kings and they hold up....
I feel like I've been hit by a truck.... LOL.
1) Pocket 10's in the small blind and smooth call - BJ is in the big blind and the flop comes 5s, 6s, 7c so I lead out with a $500 bet into the $100/$200 blinds and BJ immediately raises $1,000. I put him on at least two pair and fold. He turns over 3s, 4s. The crap end of the straight with a straight flush draw.
2) Pocket 9's in the small bind and raise to $800 the $200/$400 blinds. BJ smooth calls and the flop is 10, 7, 7.... I check, he checks. The turn is an 8 and I check, he checks. The river is a Queen and I check and he goes all-in. I flip up my nines thinking that he had A, 10. He turns over 10, 10.
3) I'm the big blind with $300/$600 blinds and Ed is the small blind. He goes all in and I find Jh, Jd and immediately call. He turns over Qh, Qs and the flop is Ah, Jc, 7h. The turn is a heart and the river is a heart giving him a Queen high flush to my Jack high flush.
4) I'm on the button... four handed with $400/$800 blinds and have AJ suited. I push all-in and Scott calls with pocket Kings and they hold up....
I feel like I've been hit by a truck.... LOL.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
PKR Pot Limit Omaha Hi or Hi/Lo
Another whacky night at this game.... probably the biggest pot of the night (especially that I was tied up in) came around midnight when, on the turn, I had Nut Flush DRAW, 2nd Nut Lo DRAW and 2nd NUT STRAIGHT! I don't remember who started the bet but Rick goes all-in for about $200 straight (he had the nut straight at the time) and of course there are a be-zillion callers including me. The river pairs the board and Rahj wins the lottery with Jacks-full-of-crap.... Nice! Such is the nature of Pot Limit Omaha......
I played two hands way too conservatively.... This one hand in particular from late position I have Qd, 8d, Ad, X... the flop comes 9d, 10d, Jc. Akash bets the pot and there are 2-3 callers and I raise it to $50. He just calls and there is one other caller. The turn is a low brick and it checks all the way around.... I should have popped it up there. The river is another low brick and Akash bets $100 and Elvie immediately calls so for some reason, unknown to man, I thought that he had possibly slow-played the nut straight when I raised. And with Elvie making such an immediate call, I can't make my middle straight the best hand and they both turn over 2 pair with Akash winning the pot with top two.
Oh well.... and that was pretty much the way my night went!
I played two hands way too conservatively.... This one hand in particular from late position I have Qd, 8d, Ad, X... the flop comes 9d, 10d, Jc. Akash bets the pot and there are 2-3 callers and I raise it to $50. He just calls and there is one other caller. The turn is a low brick and it checks all the way around.... I should have popped it up there. The river is another low brick and Akash bets $100 and Elvie immediately calls so for some reason, unknown to man, I thought that he had possibly slow-played the nut straight when I raised. And with Elvie making such an immediate call, I can't make my middle straight the best hand and they both turn over 2 pair with Akash winning the pot with top two.
Oh well.... and that was pretty much the way my night went!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Sunday PKR Tourney....
We had another good showing today at the tourney. I didn't make the money, but I did make a few good plays that permitted to finish near the top even though I probably had the worst day of cards that I can remember. I had only 2 pocket pair and AK only twice. I did however see 23os probably 15 times and an unsuited 2 in at least another 20 hands or so... I couldn't believe it! Anyone up for deuces wild?
At any rate, there were some usual donkey plays and some good play... mostly donkey however.... when I left there were still about 5 ppl in the tourney. I just made my desperation move at the wrong time... I'm in the big blind with $500/$1000 blinds and I've only got about $5,500. I get Jc, 10d and make a move only to run into JJ.... of course it holds up. As well it should. Nice playing Scott!
LOL. Back at ya....
At any rate, there were some usual donkey plays and some good play... mostly donkey however.... when I left there were still about 5 ppl in the tourney. I just made my desperation move at the wrong time... I'm in the big blind with $500/$1000 blinds and I've only got about $5,500. I get Jc, 10d and make a move only to run into JJ.... of course it holds up. As well it should. Nice playing Scott!
LOL. Back at ya....
Saturday at PKR
Yesterday was the beginning of a new 12-week “season” of Saturday tournaments, and I was anxious to get to work defending my points victory from last season. The day had a good start, as I walked in the door just as the tourney started, and looked down at A-Q. I raise, get a few callers, and the flop comes A-Q-X. I bet ¾ of the pot and get two callers, but both fold to a turn bet. After adding 30% to my stack on the first hand, the day started going to hell. I got outdrawn on three times in about ten minutes (A-Q against my K-K, etc), and made a couple bad plays as well, translating to a couple rebuys. I won a nice little pot towards the end of the rebuy period, however, to put me among the chip leaders at the table.
Sadly, the outdraws hadn’t ended yet, and after the rebuy period ended I fell victim yet again. The latest one took almost all my chips, leaving me with only $1,200, with blinds $200/400. I need to find a hand to play, and quickly. I’m only two hands away from the big blind, and running out of time, when I look down at A-K. I shove my paltry stack in, and get four callers. The other three guys check it down to the river, and the board shows five unpaired cards 10 or lower. I know someone has to have Q-10, a small pocket pair, etc, and I’m halfway out the door. Hard to believe, but my A-K actually holds up, and now I’m back to over $5K again. I go from out the door to in the game!
I must say that hand gave me a big confidence boost, and my luck started turning around as well. I picked up A-A shortly after that to win a decent pot after Raj pushed in with a very short stack. A little later I doubled up when my A-K outdrew Q-Q, and I was back in business. I took the momentum and ran with it, playing some of the best poker I’ve played in a while. I made some nice bluffs, some nice laydowns, won a key race or two, and all of a sudden I find myself heads-up against Big Dave, who had been the monster chip leader for most of the final table. He was late for an engagement of some sort, and asked if I wanted to chop. We were almost even (I think he had me outchipped $94K to $91K), and I agreed. I was really in the zone and would’ve been more than happy to play it out, but I’ll almost always chop heads-up if the other guy wants to (and we’re about even). Dave played a great tournament (as did Chad, who finished third), and deserved to be there at the end. I hope he becomes a regular.
It was a solid start to the new season. I’ll be missing next week’s tourney to go play in a big one in Benson instead. Then I’ll have my work cut out for me, as by then I’ll probably be down to fourth or fifth in points. Then again, I love a challenge! As the saying goes, “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.”
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Sadly, the outdraws hadn’t ended yet, and after the rebuy period ended I fell victim yet again. The latest one took almost all my chips, leaving me with only $1,200, with blinds $200/400. I need to find a hand to play, and quickly. I’m only two hands away from the big blind, and running out of time, when I look down at A-K. I shove my paltry stack in, and get four callers. The other three guys check it down to the river, and the board shows five unpaired cards 10 or lower. I know someone has to have Q-10, a small pocket pair, etc, and I’m halfway out the door. Hard to believe, but my A-K actually holds up, and now I’m back to over $5K again. I go from out the door to in the game!
I must say that hand gave me a big confidence boost, and my luck started turning around as well. I picked up A-A shortly after that to win a decent pot after Raj pushed in with a very short stack. A little later I doubled up when my A-K outdrew Q-Q, and I was back in business. I took the momentum and ran with it, playing some of the best poker I’ve played in a while. I made some nice bluffs, some nice laydowns, won a key race or two, and all of a sudden I find myself heads-up against Big Dave, who had been the monster chip leader for most of the final table. He was late for an engagement of some sort, and asked if I wanted to chop. We were almost even (I think he had me outchipped $94K to $91K), and I agreed. I was really in the zone and would’ve been more than happy to play it out, but I’ll almost always chop heads-up if the other guy wants to (and we’re about even). Dave played a great tournament (as did Chad, who finished third), and deserved to be there at the end. I hope he becomes a regular.
It was a solid start to the new season. I’ll be missing next week’s tourney to go play in a big one in Benson instead. Then I’ll have my work cut out for me, as by then I’ll probably be down to fourth or fifth in points. Then again, I love a challenge! As the saying goes, “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.”
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Friday Omaha at PKR
It was kind of an uneventful night for me. The regulars were there most of the night, and a couple newer guys showed up later. As usual, I was bored and played way too many hands. I slowly bled off chips for an hour or two before winning a big hand, and this was the pattern for the entire night. I only had 4-5 decent hands, and I’ll post two of them.
The first was a monster. Omaha 8 - We had a $7 straddle going most of the night ($1/3 blinds), and this hand was no exception. I’m in straddle position and have another crap hand (9-9-4-3), but my lottery numbers can win just like anyone else’s can. I think the entire table throws in the $7, Frank makes a raise to $20, and most everyone calls that as well. My initial read was that he had aces and maybe another low card. The flop comes 9-9-2, BINGO! It checks to me, and I check, of course, to try and let others develop some kind of hand - with any luck someone will have pocket deuces. No luck there, and it checks around. The turn brings an 8. Not a bad card, as I know half the table will normally chase some crappy low draw (lol). The pot is around $160 and I make a little bet of $50, but I think only Frank calls. I still have him on aces, and I catch myself thinking “ace, ace, ace...” I’ll be damned if an ace doesn’t come on the river, giving me the double nuts! I figure if he hit a monster he’ll raise, and if he missed he’ll fold to a big bet, so I make a small bet to throw him some rope. He raises the pot, I re-raise, and we get all the chips in. He figures I have a low, and announces that “we’re chip-chopping” as he turns over his aces. I say, “Oh, there will be no chip-chopping” as I turn over my monster!
The other hand of note was the last hand of the evening (well, morning, since it was 4:15am). Omaha 8 - I think there are six of us left, and we’re all tired and bored after a long session. We decide to straddle, re-straddle, re-re-straddle, etc, to make it a true lottery. We each had $100-150 in blind (it was late, I don’t remember exactly…) with everyone all-in except Frank, Elvie and me, and I look down at some cheese like 9-8-7-5. The flop comes 7-5-5. I toss the rest of my chips in, and both Frank and Elvie call. They both have chips left, but check down the turn and river. Another low card comes, but my boat holds up to win half the main pot. I actually scoop the entire side pot, as neither of them have a low.
I ended the night winning money, though not as much as usual. I played pretty poorly overall, making a couple calls when, though I had a good hand, I knew I was beat. I would’ve lost money for the night if that last hand turned out differently. It just goes to show you how boredom can affect your game. All those $3 big blinds (and $7 straddles!), add up after 8-10 hours of poker. People normally talk about the “big hand” that is the difference between a winning and losing session. While this may be true, they often fail to realize that if they’re playing good poker, the “big hand” should normally be the difference between winning a little and winning a lot!
See ya at the tables…
Rick
The first was a monster. Omaha 8 - We had a $7 straddle going most of the night ($1/3 blinds), and this hand was no exception. I’m in straddle position and have another crap hand (9-9-4-3), but my lottery numbers can win just like anyone else’s can. I think the entire table throws in the $7, Frank makes a raise to $20, and most everyone calls that as well. My initial read was that he had aces and maybe another low card. The flop comes 9-9-2, BINGO! It checks to me, and I check, of course, to try and let others develop some kind of hand - with any luck someone will have pocket deuces. No luck there, and it checks around. The turn brings an 8. Not a bad card, as I know half the table will normally chase some crappy low draw (lol). The pot is around $160 and I make a little bet of $50, but I think only Frank calls. I still have him on aces, and I catch myself thinking “ace, ace, ace...” I’ll be damned if an ace doesn’t come on the river, giving me the double nuts! I figure if he hit a monster he’ll raise, and if he missed he’ll fold to a big bet, so I make a small bet to throw him some rope. He raises the pot, I re-raise, and we get all the chips in. He figures I have a low, and announces that “we’re chip-chopping” as he turns over his aces. I say, “Oh, there will be no chip-chopping” as I turn over my monster!
The other hand of note was the last hand of the evening (well, morning, since it was 4:15am). Omaha 8 - I think there are six of us left, and we’re all tired and bored after a long session. We decide to straddle, re-straddle, re-re-straddle, etc, to make it a true lottery. We each had $100-150 in blind (it was late, I don’t remember exactly…) with everyone all-in except Frank, Elvie and me, and I look down at some cheese like 9-8-7-5. The flop comes 7-5-5. I toss the rest of my chips in, and both Frank and Elvie call. They both have chips left, but check down the turn and river. Another low card comes, but my boat holds up to win half the main pot. I actually scoop the entire side pot, as neither of them have a low.
I ended the night winning money, though not as much as usual. I played pretty poorly overall, making a couple calls when, though I had a good hand, I knew I was beat. I would’ve lost money for the night if that last hand turned out differently. It just goes to show you how boredom can affect your game. All those $3 big blinds (and $7 straddles!), add up after 8-10 hours of poker. People normally talk about the “big hand” that is the difference between a winning and losing session. While this may be true, they often fail to realize that if they’re playing good poker, the “big hand” should normally be the difference between winning a little and winning a lot!
See ya at the tables…
Rick
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Poker - Bad Beats & Great Hands
I QUIT!!!!!!!!!
When I was a little boy growing up about the age of 7 I was taught the lessons of life that still are with me today. When playing a game with others who are better than you at the game instead of quiting like a little bitch, play like a champion!!! That has been my philosophy in life as well. Kill the competition and you never have to go home wondering did I act like a pussy in the game that I was playing. Simple rules of life have kept me on the winning side of life. If at first you don't succeed, and you start belly aching & bitching to everyone, about everything, then you really should quit. You are going to lose in the long run nomatter what the game is, unless it is "bend over and take it like a 2$ whore" I here that is a game that losers can win at easily!!!! Oh, Tuesday night at the Juices "The Juice" won!!!
The Juice
When I was a little boy growing up about the age of 7 I was taught the lessons of life that still are with me today. When playing a game with others who are better than you at the game instead of quiting like a little bitch, play like a champion!!! That has been my philosophy in life as well. Kill the competition and you never have to go home wondering did I act like a pussy in the game that I was playing. Simple rules of life have kept me on the winning side of life. If at first you don't succeed, and you start belly aching & bitching to everyone, about everything, then you really should quit. You are going to lose in the long run nomatter what the game is, unless it is "bend over and take it like a 2$ whore" I here that is a game that losers can win at easily!!!! Oh, Tuesday night at the Juices "The Juice" won!!!
The Juice
The Queens did it to me today!
We had a very good turn-out for today at PKR for the 40/40/40. I ended up having to deal one table to assist as we had two full tables.... there are several big hands that I remember today. The first one was Rick on the short stack shortly after the buy-in period is over when he only had about $1600 in chips left with $100/$200 blinds. He pushes all in from late position and gets 3 callers. They all check it down.... no betting! LOL. Rick gets up to leave the table only to discover that his unsuited big slick no pair takes down the pot and he quadruples up! LOL. I'd rather have his luck than a license to steal.
My big hands all featured Queens.... the blinds are about $400/$800 and there are about 5 limpers after we have busted down to one table. I'm in late position and look at AQos. I decide to push hoping to just take down the dead money and the blinds. Both the blinds fold and gets around to Crazy Carl who calls and everyone else folds to me. I have Carl covered by $1,000 and he turns over unsuited AK.... yep, the Queen hits the flop and holds up.... I apologize about 1/2 dozen times before Carl can get out the door.
Now I've got near $40,000 in chips and pretty much the chip leader. I'm the big blind and there are several limpers and I catch 6x, 7x. The flop comes A, 7, 6. The small blind checks and I bet $4,000 and it folds to the small blind who calls. The turn is an 8x. The small blind checks and I bet $8,000 and he pushes all-in for another $13,500. I immediately call as I had put him on a big Ace... He turns over AQ and rivers a Queen. I then proceed to break one of my rules of play. Never play the next hand or two after a bad beat..... especially one that basically cripples you. I'm the small blind and everyone at the table is pretty much in shock from that bad beat and folds around to me. I've got J, 9os and Hari is the big blind and we both limp. The flop comes Q, 9, 6.... I check and Hari bets $2,500 and I push all-in for my remaining $6,000 or so. He calls and turns over his Queen which holds up. From chip leader to out in two hands. Nice!
Back to the felt!
My big hands all featured Queens.... the blinds are about $400/$800 and there are about 5 limpers after we have busted down to one table. I'm in late position and look at AQos. I decide to push hoping to just take down the dead money and the blinds. Both the blinds fold and gets around to Crazy Carl who calls and everyone else folds to me. I have Carl covered by $1,000 and he turns over unsuited AK.... yep, the Queen hits the flop and holds up.... I apologize about 1/2 dozen times before Carl can get out the door.
Now I've got near $40,000 in chips and pretty much the chip leader. I'm the big blind and there are several limpers and I catch 6x, 7x. The flop comes A, 7, 6. The small blind checks and I bet $4,000 and it folds to the small blind who calls. The turn is an 8x. The small blind checks and I bet $8,000 and he pushes all-in for another $13,500. I immediately call as I had put him on a big Ace... He turns over AQ and rivers a Queen. I then proceed to break one of my rules of play. Never play the next hand or two after a bad beat..... especially one that basically cripples you. I'm the small blind and everyone at the table is pretty much in shock from that bad beat and folds around to me. I've got J, 9os and Hari is the big blind and we both limp. The flop comes Q, 9, 6.... I check and Hari bets $2,500 and I push all-in for my remaining $6,000 or so. He calls and turns over his Queen which holds up. From chip leader to out in two hands. Nice!
Back to the felt!
Friday, December 01, 2006
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
