Writing Team Expanding!

Effective this week I am soliciting the writing skills of a friend or two who will hopefully be regular contributors to this Blog site.... One has already agreed to assist, Rick. Hopefully we'll begin to see some of his thoughts and experiences on hands and the general state of the poker nation.

Welcome Rick and we are waiting with baited breath....

Charles

Police Raid Local Poker Room....

It's a sad state of affairs when some friends can't get together to play a little poker! WRAL reports today that 15 people were charged as "authorities" busted up the local poker ring. It went on to say that this concluded a 2 month investigation culminating with the bust. It just seems to me that they ought to have better stuff to do than waste resources, time and money to hunt down a group of adults whiling away the hours playing poker. The next thing you know they'll be busting up golf games for playing $1 Nassau or $1 Wolf.

I guess its up to us to try to put into office those people who understand that no one is being hurt at a friendly poker game. Of course, it was less than 3 months ago that it was a Class 2 misdemeanor for having a lottery ticket in your possession. LOL.

Well, hopefully this will blow over and things will get back to normal. I certainly hope so.

For more detailed information, check http://www.georgesmart.com/poker

PKR Sunday Tourney $60/$25 Re-buy

Rick and I had planned on going over to Benson to try our luck with the larger game there, but some last minute Father's Day plans had me backing out so we both went to PKR. As it turned out, it worked out for both of us as we ended up chopping 1st and 2nd money. LOL. Nice!

There were a couple of standout hands for me.... the first was before we made the final table. I was dealing at the tightest table that I've played at in a while.... especially at PKR. I believe through the entire re-buy period that we had only two re-buys! Unlike the other table where Rick was playing, they had re-buys going like crazy! Jason alone had 12 RE-BUYS! Wow! At any rate, I was able to take advantage a couple of times to the very tight play going on at my table. Once was really, really lucky! I had As, Js in the big blind and raised the $50/$100 blinds to $700 and had one caller. The flop was not friendly to my hand, but I knew that if I bet, if he didn't have a monster, he would go away. The flop was 10h, 8h 5h. I bet another $700 and he called. The turn was the 3h and I immediately pushed all in with nothing buy spades in my hand and he folded! Whew! The other hand was with Ed Flush who as we were consolidating to the final table was a monstrous chip leader. He must have had $40,000 plus chips! At any rate, due to some circumstances with Tracey, I had been very aggressive with any, practically ANY kind of hand. In this particular hand, the blinds are up to $400/$800 and Ed raises to $1700 and I look down and find Ah, Ad. I mumbled something about .... "I don't think that I can just call!" and raised it another $4,000 to which Ed quickly calls. The flop is Qh, 8s, 6d. Ed checks and I push all-in. He calls and turns over Kd, Qd and fortunately doesn't suck out on me.... LOL.

Thursday night @ PKR via Big Red

A dead night last night. I played for hours and only saw a few cards higher than a six. About the only thing that stood out were two drunk guys that farted constantly, so all-in-all it was not a pleasant night.
I did have one memorable hand, however, when I make a $15 pre-flop raise with 10x-10x and get two callers, one being the older drunk farting guy. The flop comes Qx-10x-10x - Bingo, Yahtzee, and get the monkey! I'm first to act, and make a little bet of $15, and older drunk farting guy raises to $60. I take a minute to call and give him some rope by checking the turn to him, and he goes all-in for another $180 or so. I call and turn over my quads, which beat the bejesus out of older drunk farting guy's pocket queens - talk about a cold deck!

Anyone else I'd feel bad for, but that's what the bean-eating bastard gets for farting all night long. In the immortal words of John Lennon: "Instant Karma's gonna get you…"

Cardrack?

A friend of mine that doesn't play a lot of poker was asking me about how to know when to put your chips in, when to bet? First of all, I'll say it for you Rick, "you're definitely asking the wrong guy...." LOL. I'm sure this varies by individual, and it varies based on the game you're playing, and whether its a cash game or a tourney, and who else is in the hand and will they call. And probably the most important question, do you have the nuts? It has been my experience that typically within a 4-5 hour sitting, if you have the NUTS 2-4 times, that can make for a great night. If I am playing well, it is likely that I'll actually fold what will become the NUTS, 2-4 times. LOL. Well, Tuesday night at Dave's, Eric must have had the NUTS or very close to it, 15 or 20 times. It was unbelieveable! The best example of a CARDRACK that I've ever witnessed live.... It almost seemed that if he needed a card on the flop, he got it.... if his opponent hit on the flop and Eric needed a card to make a higher/better hand, he got it on 4th or 5th street! If I flopped a monster, his monster was either better right then or it got better on the turn or river.

There are several examples but probably the two hands that stand out to me the most happened pretty late in the evening. I had Kx, 10x and the flop was Ah, Qs, Js. I like to bet a strong hand rather than slow play it (unless Dave's in of course, as he'll start the betting process for me, LOL) so I lead out with a $21 bet against a $16 pot. Eric raises to $50 and I push all in.... what do you think that Eric has for his hole cards? Ks, 10s! Same hand with the second nut flush redraw and of course the royal flush redraw. Thank goodness the flush didn't come and we ended up chopping..... Another hand, I've got pocket nines and the flop is Qx, 9x, 6x. I bet $30 and he raises to $60. I immediately push all-in and he turns over pocket queens! What a night! He cashed out big.... I think, of the short-handed game that we were playing, 6 players at peak, Rick won a very little and everyone else busted out, some more than once.... me included!

We've got to get the participation up on this game or its going to die. Personally, I'm not playing anymore unless there are at least 8 players committed to being there. It's just a losing proposition on a short-handed table with aggressive players and an aggressive rake.

Will the suck outs never end!

No, unless I quit playing poker and then they won't really end... it'll just be someone else getting sucked out on....!

So I finished second in the $60 Buy-in, $25 Re-buy, $25 Add-on tourney today to, who I believe to be the suck-out master... Elvie! In one hand, I had pocket 5's and raise about 5X the blinds when there were just 3 players remaining. Elvie calls with 10h, 4h. The flop is 4s, 6s, 9h. I bet $5,000 and Elvie calls. The turn is the 2h . I bet $5,000 and he calls. The river is 3h and Elvie bets $15,000. I fold and he shows the 10h, 4h. There just isn't any justice! No suck-outs there... I just got out-played!

A couple hands later, I get a little revenge when I have As, Jh on the button. The blinds are $1,000/$2,000 and I raise to $7,000. Elvie calls and the flop is Ah, Jd, 7s. Elvie bets $10,000 and I re-raise all-in for another $13,000. He calls and flips over Ad, 8s and thank goodness the turn and river are bricks.

He called a $5,000 pre-flop raise with A, 3 and the flop was A, K, 9. I had K, 10 and we ended up getting all our chips in and his stinky ace was good enough to get him first. Yes, I know, he didn't suck out that time, but of course, I can't suck out him. I never get to suck out on anybody!

I'll be back....

PKR Saturday Poker Tourney

I played really well today. It actually hurt to catch cards.... Yep, I said it.... Within the first hour, I had pocket Aces twice and pocket kings twice and only won one of the four hands making healthy pre-flop raises. In only one of the hands did the guy who beat me have a hand that should have called my pre-flop raise. But I expect some of that as there are several very poor players in this tourney.... it's why I go! LOL. At any rate, probably one of the bigger hands that I played near the end of the tourney went like this. I am late in the rotation and Rick was the big blind. Randy raises the $6000 Blind another $10000. Everyone folds to me and I have 7h, 7s. I'm debating whether to re-raise or smooth call and I see that Rick in the big blind is short stacked and I'm pretty certain that he will call if I call. I re-raise all-in for another $18,000 and I've got Rick covered, but not Randy. He probably has another $10,000 or so. Randy is a very tight player and it is possible that he might even lay down a bigger pair to a big raise. At any rate, Rick calls and after much, much, much.... did I say much? deliberation, Randy calls. He turns over pocket fives. And amazing as it may seem, the sevens hold up against the fives and Rick's A, X.

When we got down to two players, me and Lenny, he (and others) asked if we were going to chop, but after a big hand for Lenny that knocked out JoeBob, he was slightly ahead in the chip count so I offered to let him have second right then or we could continue to play. LOL. He opted to continue playing. I took down a big pot that left him short stacked and when I raised pre-flop with A, Q, he reraised another $20,000 and I pushed all-in. He called with an A, 8 and thankfully didn't improve..... so I took down first place and also moved into first place in points in the overall ranking for the twelve game final table championship! Nice....

What are the odds?

I'd thought that I would do this JUST for Dave. Now he'll know when he calls a BIG bet with suited connectors just how awesome it is when it/if it hits!

A Straight-Flush off 9-8 Suited 4,899 - 1
A Straight-Flush off 9-7 Suited 6,532 - 1
A Straight-Flush off 9-6 Suited 9,799 - 1
A Straight-Flush off 9-5 Suited 19,599 - 1

So now you know, if you hit that straight flush, you are definitely da' man!

Tuesday @ Dave's....

Just as expected, I landed last night with a vengeance! I bought in for $200 and did some quick double-ups. Remember my goal for this week was to UNDO Dave.... LOL. I isolated him several times and he made some good folds to keep me from winning time with family members. But I still made a nice cash out to off-set him pummeling from last week. It was 2 days later before I got the taste back in my mouth from the severe trouncing that he administered to me on Thursday of last week.

There were a couple of significant hands ..... One, I broke my "internal rule" of never raising with top set in Omaha Hi-LO when there are two cards to the low on board. I had Queens and Kh, 9h in the big blind when the flop came Q, 8d, 6d. I checked and Mikey bet $35 from middle position. Everyone folds around to me and I have to decide whether I am going to play top set and how. I was hoping that he was betting middle set or bottom set with a possible low draw so I pushed all-in for about $400 (he only had about $100 more). He immediately calls and hits his open ended straight draw and he has the only low.... SCOOPER!

Another hand of interest was Hold 'em and I'm in the big blind with Ks, 10s. There's a $20 raise made by Dave in the small blind and I call along with everyone else at the table and two guys that were driving down the beltline. LOL. The flop is 10, 10, 7.... Bingo, Bango, Bongo! Dave bets $100 and I re-raise all in. Everyone folds to Dave and he calls with his pocket 9s. Sweet.... And good old Jarod (the dealer) managed not to stick it in me and break it off.....

I flopped top pair in another when I played Ah, Jh and the flop was J, 3, 3..... I lead out betting $8 and Rick raised to $30. Yes, I know that he had a 3, but he only raised he only raised $22. LOL. Definitely a hand that I can easily get away from if he overbets.

I heard that after I left Dave hit a gut shot straight flush to bust take down a medium sized pot from Jeff B....

I should probably give Dave blogging rights on here so we can get his perspective on some of these hands.....

Monday @ PKR....

What a night! I arrived a little early since the family was using the Hurricanes tickets for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We had a full table by 7:30 and were playing. I was pretty aggressive and had won a couple of pots with good betting and good cards. There were several hands that warrant posts.....

1) John limps in on the button with pocket nines. I check the big blind with Jc, 10h. The flop is 9c, 8h, 7s. I check as there are several aggressive players at the table and someone bets a whopping $4. There are several callers including John and I raise to $23. A pot sized bet. Everyone folds except John. The turn is Kx and I bet $75 and John pushes all in for $8 more. The river pairs the King and we're off and running..... LOL. I guess it could have been worst and I definitely want that call...... I just don't want it to hit.

2) About 7-8 hands later, I get the As, Ah on the button. Little Eddie bets $11 and there are 2 callers so I raise to $24 content with taking the pot right there. Eddie pushes all-in and I try to act weak hoping for one more caller. Doesn't work. I call and Eddie hits a two outer on the turn with his Ks, Kh. Nice.....

3) This is more a series of hands than one hand that is significant. I'm late in the rotation with worms.... 3h, 3s. The small blind attempts to raise to $7, but fails to announce raise and the old 1 chip rule lets me see a cheap flop. The flop is 4h, 5s, 7c. The small blind mumbles something about letting me hit my straight or set and when the table checks around to me I giggle and flip in a bet of $11. The big blind reluctantly calls and everyone else folds. The turn is 10d. The big blind checks and I bet $24. He looks to be scared to death and after much deliberation, calls. The river is a Ks. The big blind checks and I bet $65 figuring that he had to fold anything at this point and after what seemed to be an eternity, he calls and flips over his set of 7's. Who would have thunk it!

At any rate, that hand is important because we've just consolidated tables and all the new guys got to watch me get called all the way down to the river with an under pair. Sweet! At any rate, the next hand I get Qs, Qh. I'm late in the rotation and after about 7 limpers, I raise to $16 and there are four callers. I flop is Qc, 8d, 6d. Check, Check, Check and a guy with about $250 in front of him bets $24 and I raise to $55. Everyone folds to the better and he calls. The turn is 2x and he bets $24 and I push all-in for about $125 more and he immediately calls. Sweet... He turns over pocket sixes and I know its hard to believe but he doesn't hit the one outer on the river.

Within a couple of hands, I limp in with Ah, 7h. The flop is 7c, 7s, 5d. The guy who just doubled me up bets $11 and I smooth call. There's one other caller and me and the turn is 2s. The same guy bets $45 and I come over the top for another $65 and it folds to the better who pushes all-in for a little bit more. The river is my ace and I show sevens full of aces..... Nice!

The only other hand of significance that happened after that was I had the Ad, Ks. The flop is Kd, 10d, 6d. There are about 6 ppl in and my buddy that has now almost doubled me up twice bets $12 and I really do love this flop. At any rate, I call and there are two callers behind me. The turn is 2c. The same guy bets $20 and me and the small blind calls. The river is the 9d. Both check and I bet $55 and the small blind pushes all-in for about $15 more. My buddy folds.... and I call and announce as Dave would like for me.... "Nuts, I guess I call!"

The small blind turns over the Queen high flush that he flopped and failed to protect. And yes, I can actually suck out on some one too. I love it when that happens!

Sunday $60 Rebuy Tourney

I played very well.... considering I didn't catch any cards and ended up chopping first and second with Jeff B who is playing really well right now.....

It doesn't hurt that he also caught some cards.... in one hand, he flopped top set of 10s against a guy who flopped middle set and just for good measure.... he hit quad 10s on the river!

Nice.....

Thursday at Dave's....

I only have a couple of comments about Thursday night.... 1) I have been on a pretty sweet win streak for about the past 4 months and Dave just kept catching cards to beat me last night. The biggest loss that I've endured in about 7-8 months. 2) Dave.... your chips are mine!

I was going to lay off from playing poker at Dave's for a couple of weeks as I don't particularly care for short handed play unless its in a tournament and I'm at the final table. I like that... Short handed play is especially painful you're playing 3 handed and Dave is raising every pre-flop to $20-$30.

All I have to say is that I'll be his KRYPTONITE next week!