Nickname Quiz

Grinder, The Mouth, Texas Dolly, Jesus, Devilfish, Unabomber... Even casual players that catch the occasional episode of the WPT know these nicknames. Let’s test your knowledge with some lesser known nicknames and see if you’re a real poker fan. Match the following players with their nicknames (answers at end of column):

Names
1. David Pham
2. Doug Lee
3. Gavin Smith
4. Joe Beevers
5. Joe Cassidy
6. John Hennigan
7. John Juanda
8. John Phan
9. Ken Flaton
10. Kido Pham
11. Mike Caro
12. Paul Darden
13. Paul Phillips
14. Randy Jensen
15. Steve Zolotow
16. Thomas Keller

Nicknames
A. Bald Eagle
B. Birdguts
C. Canadian Superbomber
D. Dot Com
E. Dragon
F. Dream Crusher
G. Freeroll
H. Luckbox
I. Mad Genius
J. Razor
K. Sheriff
L. Skyhawk
M. The Elegance
N. The Truth
O. Thunder
P. World

Answers
1E, 2C, 3B, 4M, 5K, 6P, 7H, 8J, 9L, 10G, 11I, 12N, 13D, 14F, 15A, 16O

Results
0-4 You call yourself a poker player?!
5-8 Dude, you need to watch more poker on TV
9-11 Not bad - you have something to add to the poker table conversation.
12-14 Impressive - you keep up with the poker scene!
15-16 Dude, you’re watching way too much poker on TV – Get a life!

See ya at the tables...
Rick

Still Alive at the WSOP....

From Day 2A....

140 Phil Ivey 20,000
133 Lane Flack 25,000
122 David Grey 45,000
107 Hoyt Corkins 58,000
105 Chris Ferguson 60,000
92 Annie Duke 73,000
84 Carlos Mortensen 82,500
79 Kevin Brown 84,000 (Could this be our Kevin that used to work with Joe and Jeffrey?)
70 David Pham 95,000
62 George Lopez 104,000 (Not... the George Lopez?)
57 Humberto Brenes 110,000
26 Allen Cunningham 172,000
10 Eric Molina 220,000
10 Bill Gustafik 220,000
9 Matthew Maroon 230,000
8 Justin Holmes 235,000
7 Joe Fuhriman 280,000
4 Michael Lynn 290,000
4 Paul Wasicka 290,000
4 Matt Woodward 290,000
3 Jason Strasser 330,000 (Durham boy)
2 Ken Jacobs 395,000
1 Jon Lane 405,000

So there you go.... for the rest of them, please check out www.cardplayer.com -

Back to the felt!

Still Alive at the WSOP....

There are some big names still alive at the close of day 2B! I was unable to find a complete list of remaining players and all the information surrounding the available lists sounds as if they may be incomplete. There's approximately 1200 remaining as they start play today at noon. But here's a few names that I have been able to find that still have a chip and a chair..... These are the Day 2B Leaders.... (Thanks, Rick)....

112 Benny Binion 19,000
92 Kathy Liebert 55,000
82 Freddy Deeb 58,000
78 Cecilia Mortensen 60,000
74 Nam Le 63,000
69 Minh Nguyen 72,500
62 Josh Arieh 82,000
60 Cindy Violette 85,000
40 Ted Forrest 125,000
30 Joseph Hachem 142,200
13 William Thorsson 195,000
12 Daniel Heimiller 200,000
11 Jeff Cabanillas 210,000
10 Bradford Davenport 220,000
9 Alex Balandin 237,000
8 Jon Finkel 240,000
7 Dario Mineri 246,000
6 Michael Binger 254,000
5 Philippe Boucher 305,000
4 Terris Preston 310,000
3 Daniel Negreanu 331,000
2 Daniel Pelletier 335,000
1 Dmitri Nobles 553,000

The payouts have been published as well. The winner will cart out $12,000,000... Yep, TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS! They will pay out through the top 873 players with the bottom check $14,597! 2nd place only gets $6,102,499! And the final 12 players will all receive in excess of ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

It appears that the best updates are still at cardplayer.com - They took a day off yesterday and resume play today at noon when blinds will be $600/$1200 with $200 ante. There'll be over 1200 players remaining when play resumes. The remaining schedule looks like this:

8/4 ABCD Play down to 600
8/5 Play 600 down to 300
8/6 Play 300 down to 150
8/7 Play 150 down to 60
8/8 Play 60 down to 27
8/9 Play 27 down to 9
8/10 **** FINAL TABLE ****

I've got to be there next year!

Raleigh Poker Meetup Group Back in Action

After much time and deliberation over whether to continue with the website, Jeffrey has decided to pump up the volume! I like it! He's got the site back up and running and some plans for some poker tournaments starting the end of August! Nice!

Here's the link.... please visit and join as I think that this might be a great opportunity to meet others in Raleigh who are interested in tourneys and ring games.

Here you go... Sign up Today!


The Raleigh Poker Meetup Group
http://poker.meetup.com/889/

I Sure Would Like to Post a "Great Hand", but....

For me, great hands are rarer than finding a $50 whore without open sores....anyway.

Tournament play, UTG I look down at the Hilton Sisters. This is a very aggressive table so I just limp in knowing there will be raises. Lots of callers, the button raises (as they should with just about any two cards in this situation) , the SB folds, the BB reraises. I immediately push all in.
SB calls, BB (who is the big stack) calls. I'm feeling really good when I flip over my queens, until the Button shows cowboys and the BB turns over rockets. Umm..ok I'm screwed.
Flop comes A,K, 10. Just to rub it in, they trip up. Wait, I just need a J for the straight and I can fuck 'em both up. Yeah...no. I'm out.

Raise The Hammer, Biatches.
Your donkey in heat,
Big Slick, Sergio

Surgesilk aka Jeff aka the human ATM

The Juice's Nice Guy List from the WSOP.....

Dave got to meet several of the "celebrity" players at the main event.... the ones that made the NICE GUY list are:

Greg Raymer - Dave said that he spent about 8-10 minutes just socializing and talking with him about poker in NC and the fact that John S who plays with us occasionally is a guy he plays with fairly regularly online.

Barry Greenstein -

Daniel Negreanu -

Joe Hachem - I am pretty certain that Dave was stalking him.... LOL. He said that they criss-crossed several times in the halls and elevators.

*********************

Entertainers.... He said that he saw Jessica Simpson and Pamela Anderson! Nice!

Thanks Dave, but BLOGGING really isn't difficult... you should try it!

Dave's Donkeydom!

Well, Tuesday night and as usual, things get pretty wild early. I was playing pretty well and had caught a few nice hands but got very few callers. We do have two pretty tight players at table..... Dean (I'll bet on the river..... IF I have the NUTS!) and Randy..... both are the slow rollers of the group. And Randy, not meaning to be spiteful or deceitful slow-rolled me and I got about as upset as I have been at the poker table in a while, but he was very nice about it and I got over it. Dave did slow-roll quads against Dean last night and seemed to really enjoy it..... heck.... I may try it!

There were a couple of hands of significance.... first of all, I got the monkey in early position and waited on someone to bet.... nothing! Quad Kinds waisted.... Nice.... Then a fairly significant hand occured between me and Jim.... one of my favorite people over there and one of the funniest guys that I know. He has signed up to BLOG with us but is having MAC issues.... LOL. At any rate, I've got 6c, 4c, Ad, 2d and the flop is the 6h, 4c, 3c.... Jim is in first positon and bets $22 and Dave, the Juice calls and of course Bill calls and I call.... the turn is 8s and Jim bets $40, Dave folds and Bill calls and I call... The river is my magic card.... the 6d. Jim immediately pushes all in for about $140 or so and everyone folds to me and I call as quickly as I can with the boat and the nut low.... He turns over the 6s, 4d with a no low so I get 3/4 of the pot and half of his all-in chips in front of him.... Nice!

The other big hand of the night came against Dave... go figure! I've got the 6d, 4d, 8h, 3h and the flop comes 2c, 5h, 6s. Dave bets $20 and I raise to $50 and he is the only caller. The turn is the 4d and Dave bets $100. I am trying to figure out what he is betting. Could he have the 7, 8? Could he be on the club flush draw? I actually suspected that the 4 hit his gut shot wheel.... LOL. At any rate, its a little bit of a scary board but I call as I am tired, it is late and I'm ready to roll.... The turn is the 7c... Dave checks and I go all-in. He whimpers and whines and shows me his 3, 6 and folds.... I do show him the 6d, 8h making the nut straight draw.... I was so tired and I didn't even notice that the 7c put the flush on the board. I can't believe that he didn't have them..... it's so unlike him..... So that was nice little pot....

Just another night @ Dave's.....

The Juice goes to the WSOP!

So old Davey made the trip to "Lost Wages, Nevada" for the WSOP and I understand that neither will ever be the same..... He asked me to BLOG it for him since he is so technologically challenged! I'll try to do this from some quick notes....

Dave's day one began with the Juice playing only quality hands.... I can only assume that means the Q, 3 was suited... LOL. No, he told me that he played only quality hands and very tight all day, 100@ solid, no bluffing. At one point the had accumulated about $19,600 in chips.... The hand that did him came at 9:05PM of his first day. He is in late position with Qh, Jh and calls the $600 blind with about $11,700 in chips. The flop is Ah, Kh, 5h and the big blind bets $600 and Dave raises to $1200 WITH the NUT FLUSH and the Royal Flush re-draw..... Sweet! The big blind pushes all in for about $7,600 and of course Dave calls and I think any of us would call at that point. The big blind turns over AKos and hits the King on the turn. The general consensus of the table was that the guy was an idiot and just got lucky..... But, Dave still has an out.... the old 10h. And I'm sure that he were playing it against me, he would have hit it, but the river was a brick.... The next hand with only about $2300 in chips, he gets AJos and pushes all in and gets a caller with I believe that he said pocket 10's. The board came 6,6,6,4,2.... So the low got there!

The rest of the story is perhaps the best part.... as Dave pushed all-in, he appropriately stood up when he was called and his tournament life was on the line. Once the final card hit, a muffled announcement came over the PA and applause errupted. Dave thought that perhaps the announcer had gotten word that "The Juice" has just busted out and as he looked around, he saw no one else standing up but him and most people applauding and looking in his general direction.... So he gives a royal wave before he looks behind where he was standing to see Doyle Brunson exiting from the tournament having just busted out as well and waving politely to folks applauding.... I hope ESPN got that.....

At any rate, we're glad to have you back..... yep, when Dave left Nevada and came to NC, the average IQ dropped in both states......

Back to the felt!

Monday @ PKR....

Well, I went down to play PKR last night. I don't get out much during the week but at the last minute, my son scheduled a trip to local club for teen night with one of his buddies that isn't far from PKR so rather than make 2 trips down there, I decided to drop him off, go play some poker and then pick him up when he's ready to go. I know... it won't be long till he has his driving license. I haven't figured out whether that is a good thing or not.

At any rate, there were several interesting hands..... most involving Eddie and another guy that I don't know his name and Eddie's girl friend. Let's see....

First big hand of the night for me goes something like this.... I've got Ac, 5c in the big blind .... of course, this is $1/$2 no limit. The entire table and two guys that were walking up old Apex Road called so thinking that I would "change up" my play just a little, decided that I would raise to $8 and there are about 5 callers including Eddie who is in the small blind. The flop comes 2c, 3h, 4d..... nice.... Eddie leads out with an $12 bet, I call and there is one other caller.... don't know the guys name, but he is without question, one of the tightest players at the table.... maybe in the world. At any rate, the turn is the Jh. Eddie bets $30 and I decide it's time to make certain that I don't get sucked out on .... "cheaply." So I raise it up to $75 which is about 1/2 of Eddie's remaining chips and my remaining chips. Eddie immediately pushes all in and now I'm wondering if he has the nut straight as I have the second nut. At any rate, I can't get away from it. Eddie turns over the 2h, 4h. And for once, Ed doesn't screw me on the river.

A little while later, Eddie and I get tied up again, I'm the button and he raises to $12. I check my cards and find AA.... I raise another $40 and he pushes all in for about $12 more. He's got pocket nines and flops a 9 and the ace doesn't come for me. Nice!

Just about 2 later laps, I have Jd, 9d on the button and bump it up to $10 straight and there are 4-5 callers including Eddie's girlfriend. The flop is 7d, 10h, Js and she immediately moves all in from early position with $11 and everyone folds to me. I call and turn over my top pair and gut shot straight draw and in true Ed Flush fashion he proceeds to pair her Queen on the turn and it holds up. Nice!

Probably my favorite hand of the night really wasn't much of a hand... the guy that I mentioned that I don't know his name but really don't care much for..... I've got Ac, 8c on the button and he raises to $8 from early position. There are a couple of callers and I call. The flop is 6h, 9c, 10s. He bets $15 and I call everyone else gets out of the way. For some reason, I'm not putting him on anything very strong and the turn is a 2d. He bets $30 and I call. The turn is a 3c (yep, now my flush draw improves... if only there were River/River). He bets $40 and I re-raise $75. He folds and mumbles something about his cards aren't that strong and shows his paired 6. Just to put him on tilt (hopefully), I turn over my cards to reveal no pair, ace high.... Sweet! He turned even whiter than he is normally.....

The next big hand with him was even sweeter.... about 30 minutes later, he's still talking to himself... and he raises my button to $16. I've got Kc, Jc and although I like Kojak, I don't like calling with it as its very possible that I'm dominated. At any rate, it's my buddy raising... right! So I call along with 3 others.... The flop is Kd, Kh, Jd.... how do I say... OOOooops! At any rate, he bets $24 and the tight as a tick guy calls and of course I call.... The turn is a 2d... Sweet! The flush got there..... Goofy bets $40, the other guy folds and re-raise $75. He calls. The river is the 5d... Sweet! He checks and I bet $75 and he folds and turns over his King.... I laugh and show him the Jack. I love this game when it is working right!

Back to the felt!

Poker Memory

I find it interesting how we poker players think we’re always owed something by the poker gods. When we “finally” catch a river card, it’s simply “justice for the last 17 times we got sucked out on…” We seem to always remember the bad beats we take, yet we conveniently forget the hands where we get lucky. I think I’ll coin a new phrase and call that phenomenon poker memory.

(By the way, thank you Charles, for the inspiration. I hope I don’t have to pay you royalties if it catches on and becomes part of the common vernacular…)

See ya at the tables…
Rick

The Perfect Player

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

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

So who makes up your perfect player?

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Benson Tourney - Part 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See ya at the tables!
Rick

Welcome to the new members....

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

Benson Tourney

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

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

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

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

Back to the felt!

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

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

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

Back to the felt!

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

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

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

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

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

Well, it was good reading anyway!

Back to the felt!

WPT Cruise in December!

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

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

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

Back to the felt!

The Olde One Outer....

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

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

Back to the felt!

Donkey Dave's...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Monday Night @ PKR

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

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

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

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

Streaking

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Saturday PKR Tourney....

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

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

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

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

Every Bad Beat Story Ever Told…

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

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

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

Five people call.

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

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

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

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

See ya at the tables…
Rick

Welcome to the NEW MEMBERS!

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

Let me know if you have any questions and ENJOY!

Joe & MikeD & Mike F Headed for WSOP!

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

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

Thank you Charles..my first post

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

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

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

A couple of big hands.....

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

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

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

WSOP LOCAL UPDATES!

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

60 Person NLHE Tourney on Saturday

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

FU

Jeff, aka Sergio, aka Slick aka #1 Fish

Adding more contributors!

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


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

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

Charles

Sunday is now.... DONKEY-DAY

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

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

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

Charles

2nd Best Hand Night @ Dave's!

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

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

Nice playing! I really do enjoy heads up play.

I know, let's have a spelling contest!

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

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

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

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

But he is the suckout king!

You want to go where?

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

Russian roulette?

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

Don't splash the pot....

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

The right to know!

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

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!

Most Improved Poker Player....

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

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

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

A miserable night of cards at PKR....

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

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

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

OK... Even I suck out occassionally!

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

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

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

Benson tourney....

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

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

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

Betting a small pair...

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

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

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

A Dream Flop....

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

Nice....

Rick @ PKR on Monday Night

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday $60 Rebuy Tourney

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

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

No Limit Omaha Hi-Lo @ Dave

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

$110 Tourney on Party Poker

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

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

PKR WSOP Qualifier....

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

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

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

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

LOL.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game Selection

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

The last donkey!

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

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

I hate it when that happens.....

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

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

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

Drinking and gambling.....

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

Enter Boston J.....

What kind of player are you?

From my daily calendar.....

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

The last hand of the night....

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

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

Monkey night @ Dave's

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

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

It was TRAP me night at Dave's....

but fortunately, it didn't work out every time! LOL. Full table most of the night AND a couple of new guys that seemed determined to donkey off all their chips. One of them accidentally stumbled into a very good play and it startled both of us! LOL. At any rate, a couple of hands that turned out to be monsters.

Two different times playing NO LIMIT Omaha-8, I had AA and flopped top set with no flush or straight on the board. Both times I had people go all in in front of me.... got to love it. In both instances, they had smaller sets and were drawing to a one outer. You got to love it.

But I did get sucked out on a couple of times including by the new comer who hit a gut shot straight against my trip Aces. As it grew late, I caught a couple of hands that righted the ship. Once in hold 'em, I had AKos and Jeff raised pre-flop to $8 in $2-$4 no limit. As always, there were several callers and the flop was Kh, Qd, Jd. I bet $29 and there were a couple of callers. Dave called and Dean moved all in for another $16. The turn was a 7d and Dave bet $50 at which point I pushed all in for another $350. He called and the river was a 10c. I took Dave's $350 and Dean and I chopped the main pot as he had an Ace as well.

I cashed out up about $300..... not fantastic but considering I was in for about $600 at one point, I was happy with it!

Alrighty.... I'm back!

I have been badgered by several poker buddies to start the blog up again and .... against my better judgement, here goes...

Tuesday night at Dave's has turned into more of a dinner and a movie than poker...... 2 plasma tv's running non-stop porn and some of the best eating that I get to do. There are some times that I have to chew and turn away from the tv to keep from gagging. There's some gross stuff on there that you really don't want to see while you're eating, well, anything.

So, to the post, we're playing $2-$4 No Limit Omaha 8 (I know, that can't be right, but it is) ---- I'm the button at an 8 handed table and my cards are Ah, Qh, 2c, 3c.... I like it. Most of the time and I stress MOST of the time we're able to see a $4 flop, but there are 3 guys at the table who will raise for no apparent reason pre-flop. My personal opinion is that there are about 3 hands worth raising pre-flop Omaha 8 with and I think I've seen one of them once in my entire life. At any rate, everyone limps and the flop is 6h, 8h, Kc. Everyone checks to me and I love this flop so I bet a pot builder hoping that one of my miracle cards comes on the turn, $9. Everyone calls. I love it. The turn is 2h! Danger... Will Smith! Everyone checks to me and I bet $30, there are 2 callers and Corey raises it to $60. I push all in for another $340 or so. Dave calls (I have him covered) and Corey has me covered and calls. The side pot with Corey is about $320. I love these callers when I have the old double nut! At any rate, Jared turns the river and it is the 9d and my double nut holds up. It was a very nice pot! I received half for the nut flush and half of the other half with the nut low (Corey had A, 2 also, he got quartered) and good old Dave was drawing to the straight flush (5h, 7h) which thankfully didn't hit! I know, I probaby couldn't have laid it down either.... the old 2 outer! If there is a place on the planet where they DO hit regularly, it is at Dave's! I cashed out early with a tidy little profit.

Welcome back!