Played him like a violin

In the mookie last night, its the third hand of the tournament. Surflexus makes a raise and I call from the BB with 77. We are deep stacked at 3000 chips to start.

Flop is 79J ALL HEARTS. I make a pot size bet of 130 and he raises to like 550. I know my set is vulnerable, but does he have 1 heart or two? I call here because its early and I have this chips to call here.

Turn is a beautiful 9. I have the love boat. I check, as this is the best way to represent a draw who did not like that card. He bets about 500 and I have to think about calling or raising. Which will get his chips into the pot? What does he have?

As I think about it, he must have an overpair with a heart. I figure it may even be AA. If I am correct, I need to raise here to get his chips in. Ok, how much. If I raise the minimum to 1000, then I have 800 behind and he has half his chips left if he folds. I estimate he cant fold aces and if I bet this amount, he is likely to push. If I push, he might just escape. I raise the minimum and he pushes on cue.

Click the link below to see the exciting conclusion...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsNIUHkwC-s

when you go head-hunting, take a BIG gun

My foray into the 26k Sunday...

[an hour passes]

At the first break. Only interesting hand to this point is an AK. Utg limps and I am Utg+1. I raise it up and it folds around the Utg who moves all-in. The old limp re-raise with AA. But for some reason that I cant explain, I don’t put him on AA/KK So I call and see his QQ.
I win the race with an Ace on the flop. I played a few other hands, but none make it to the turn. At the break, my Q is just under 1. My M is about 19-20 at the next level.


First hand after the break

Gave about 550 back bluffing with KQ on a ragged flop, heads up, with a player checking. After I made the continuation bet, he check-raised me all-in and I insta folded.
5365 in chips now, avg 3300


Lots of folding… Lots more folding…
4800 and avg now.

Then, I raise pre-flop Utg to 2.5xBB with KQ and the big stack calls. He is drawing and accidentally hits a pair on the river.
The very next hand, I flop TP and have to fold to an all-in who obviously had a middle pair like 88 which just became an over-pair.
On the ropes at 3300 (avg 5400)




Folded. Correct?




Its all going in…
Picked up the blinds and the limper chips…
Not good enough… its slipping away…




This doesn’t work out for me… he re-raises all in from the back… its almost over.



Antes started, no time to waste.


I folded this? But I need to get lucky!
About 20-25 from the money. I change my focus from winning to cashing…



3395 at second break. 146th of 191, pays 180. 11 left to the money. Chips at point 181 = 1500. So I am twice the bubble boy.



Are you freaking kidding me?

I am bubble-boy... FREAK!

Hello, I must be going!

A 10 minute mookie for me last night. 50 players. Early on, I am playing A8 on a flop of T97. He bets, I call. The turn is the 6 and I figure we are going to split or he has 2 pair. He bets, I raise, he calls. River is another T. I check, he bets 870 (a pot size bet) and calling seems mandatory. After all, what are the odds that he has Quads? Oh, he has Quads.

So, 1/3 of my chips left and I flop TPTK and convince a OESD to call my all-in. Hits it on the river. IGHN. QED.

Railbirds are Go!

I was going to go watch TV as I have been under the weather this week. But I decide to sneak in a Sit N go. I have been toying with the idea of recording and posting the video, and inviting advice. So as a practice, I am ina quiet room narrating my play aloud as I go. I opt to cronicle it in screens and comments as I often see other bloggers do. I am not sure of the value here though, as this Sit N Go almost played itself. I don’t think I had a single “go into the tank” moment…


so without further adeu, "A Sit N Go in 20 meaningful hands"

Sit N Go. EARLY hand, 1 player out already in level 1.



I took most of clock here, figuring I had 4 tens, 3 aces, 3 kings and the remaining 8 or so hearts. In the end, I just could not fold to a Q or Jack here. And one out for a straight flush (cool). I figure I am a favorite if he does not have a set. And only a slight dog if he does (if at all).

I make the call and see KcJc.
Turn 7c (ugh)
River Td


And I double up early. Why did it take me so long to call? Because I have some innate desire not to play big pots in level 1. Even when I am the favorite. Sad really. But I got past it here. Note: if I did not have the flush draw and just the straight draw to the Ten and the probable clean overs for 10 outs twice or 40%, I would have folded in level 1 of a SnG.








Nice flop. Limped in. Flopped a straight. Won a small pot here when I at least got him to call a raise here of double his bet. He checked the turn, I bet $190 trying for a call, but he folds.






I raised after this shot… he folded. I think he calls with a nine, don’t you?

Down to 7 handed… then 6… I have not yet made the adjustment to smaller table, biding my time. I get dealt two red aces, and get no callers for my 4xBB bet.




Here I decide to put him all in. He calls… My raise discouraged the BB from being in there with us.


Tens hold! Ok! Now were cooking.






More dangerous than it seems at first. When they all check, I bet 100. The BB calls. What does he have? Q?
I make a marginal call when he bets 300 on the turn…




Jackpot.
He makes a large river bet of $1500 and I decide to call. If I had more time to I should have raised for value here. That was a possible mistake. But I hate betting into a river where the river card would have made the OESD draw complete like it would here with 89.
Note that he was betting with bottom pair and an over. I bet this guy does not make the money. Why would he try that into me? Tight image? Or bad play on his part?



No action. Did I bet too soon?



Even though I bluff to steal a small pot in order to show, I decide not to show it afterwards. I decide to keep my tight image intact. I am the chip leader, no need to rush…



In the BB no less! I wonder if I can entice…



>No need! He shoved on A3o. That was easy… 4 left…

I raise with any Ace now… I get a walk in the BB. They are weary of the big stack.
I fold some hands just to fold them.. Marginal ones like Kx even.

I concentrate on maybe knocking out a player.



I call. He has AQ. Ugh.
The table is getting bolder now…



Will he call 500?! He raises! I throw up in my mouth and make a crying call to see the Ace of hearts. But I need to make this call here.





Big bet to get the pot and run… I raise pre-flop so he can put me on a Q too.
Eeking my way back to the forefront.



Walked the hammer?! Oh no!














Call or raise? A few weeks ago, I might have just called here. What was wrong with me?!

RAISE to 900!

They all fold.








99 gets no action on the very next hand. Even though I thought I had a recent image as a bully.

Another played knocked out. Now we are in the money. Raise with AJo but get no action. So I raise with 97o. That works too. I have about a 40% chip advantage over the other 2 and suddenly they get their money all –in. One ace-x out kicks the other and sends him packing.

Now its Good news/bad news
Good news: we are Heads up
Bad news: I am behind 5.5k to 7.6k (not such bad news. whenever I enter the final 2 and he hasn't got a better than 2-1 chip advantage, I am fine.)




Hands 17a and 17b: the river giveth...

I put together a good story on this hand to take it here. I played it like I was making value bets with a 7, then make a more aggressive bet on the turn.

But then, "the river taketh away" as I lost it right back to a rivered flush.





He calls a bigish bet on the turn and then bets 1200 on the river?! (siren goes off)
I actually fold this now. I had to based on his track record. Really.
In retrospect, this is probably the best hand I played. (and I lost)
Columbo777: raises 200 to 400
s234sd: calls 200
Pot is 800

*** FLOP *** [5d Ts 7h]
s234sd: checks
Columbo777: bets 400 (1/2 the pot)
s234sd: calls 400
Pot is 1600

*** TURN *** [5d Ts 7h] [6d]
s234sd: checks
Columbo777: bets 800 (1/2 the pot again)
s234sd: calls 800
pot is 3200

*** RIVER *** [5d Ts 7h 6d] [Qs]
s234sd: bets 1200
Columbo777: folds (no crying call this time)

I fold here because he was only betting on the later streets with made hands the entire game. 6 made the OESD, but AT or KT would also be a decent holding here (and QT is even plausible).
But its that lead bet on the river that seemed more of a value bet afraid of me checking, than a value bet. Too much to be a blocking bet…




Go time…
Turns out he had Q9 for Top Pair… Heh!
Now I am the chip leader…
Now the pressure comes to him…

I start raising every single hand.



Until its over…

Overall a decent run of cards. I wonder about that

WPBT #9, NL Deep Stack

Next Event
What: WPBT Event #9, NL-DS
When: Sept 25th - Tuesday
Time: 9:30pm EST
Where: Full Tilt
How Much: $24 or token
Restrictions: Bloggers only, please.

Please pimp...

What the deal with winning?

Its so hard to understand it. Playing in a 20 table MTT, I think statistaically, I am going to get my money in bad at least once. In this tournament, I got my money in bad twice. The first of which crippled me. After that I "chased average" for over an hour before 22 held up vs. JJ and AT to triple me up. (To be fair, I got the money in first, and got 2 unexpected callers.) From there, I kept getting big stacks to call me from behind. Sometime WAY behind. Why? At one point, there were 14 left and I was 3rd.

But alas, I got caught up in a hand where I felt I had to blow the escape pod. I lost a good amount of chips, and limped into the final table. But even so, I had 20k and the chip leader on 55k. The blinds are 500/1000/50 and surprisingly, a push with AT was called by the BB (who had just 1000 invested) for 22k with 86o. Why he takes this risk I don't know, but an 8 seals my fate at 9th. Again, called from behind by a bigger stack.

I cant for the life of me think to why a player in 3rd or 4th would take this risk at the final table as the caller. 40% of their chips on the chance of getting lucky as a dog. I understand KOD theory that he thinks I might be panicked, but he is a dog to almost any holding here (even a steal) and is far from a panic situation. Not mad, just surprised.

In non-poker news (NFL) news:

The Lions go 2-0. But the story behind the story is how the Vikings were even in this game. It's 10-0 and the Vikings look awful. On 3rd and short, they AGAIN decide to pass and throw a ball that bounces at the receivers feet and into his hands. Inexplicably, the ref calls a completion. The Vikings, in a heads-up move to defeat instant replay, simply run up to the line and spike the ball. In doing so, they take away any challenge that the Lions can make and render the instant replay a non-factor.

Obviously this was
a) Not the intent of instant replay. Its not supposed to be a trick, like bouncing a pass off a ref. It was to fix bad calls. Certainly not to insure them.

and more importantly,

b) this is NOT the intended purpose of the quick-spike. That rule was put in to make game ending drives more exciting while protecting the QB against an unnecessary hit because they had to get out of the pockek to to throw the ball away to stop the clock. It was NOT meant to be a defeat of instant replay!!! Shame on you Vikings.

Someone in the NFL rules committee needs to fix this. You should not be able to spike the ball to avoid a red flag.

The Lions go on to win anyway, despite 5 turnovers and a starting QB who only played 2 quarters. The Vikings looked awful. Just awful.

talk about hating local card rooms

In response to players who complain that they raise to $10 at the $1-$2 NL local card room tables, and get 5 callers. Especially with big pairs.

1. If you go all-in with AA, and someone calls with KK, he has made a mistake. We can all understand this. But you can not win 100% when AA vs. KK. It just cant happen. But you'll probably take the chance everytime your given it. which you did. Once and a while, statistically, you HAVE to lose.

2. Who says it IS correct to raise with a big pair at every table you play it. What makes a good player is not just understanding the math, but understanding how to adjust to a table. I often play the 1-2 tables when I travel to San Jose. Some tables are tight, some are loose. Some are redonkulous. When they are, I am coming in for a smaller raise with AA and making that same raise with 78s.

3. MANY low limit tables are loose-tight. Very loose pre-flop and then tight post flop. There is
a good justification for this. Its because players cant let go of big pairs. So when they flop 2 pair or a draw, they may win a very large hand while only risking a small amount. If you dont understand this, you end up raising to $12 with KK and getting 4 callers... and losing. If 4 players take the flop with you, you had better be able to understand where your big pair is at.

4. Last week, I played AT vs. a perpetual button raiser/caller. The flop is 67Q rainbow. I check and he uncharicteristically checks. The turn is a T putting a second heart on the board. I make a pot size bet, he calls. The river is a 3 (non-heart). I think I am in trouble here and I check. He bets 1/2 the pot and I make the crying call to see 45 hearts. He checked the missed flop, picked up a big draw on the turn and decided to call it even though the odds were a bit light. I lost probably the minimum I could. and there were other ways to play the hand, for sure. But that darn river straight is hard to dodge. So be it. He was not a donkey, just 2 hands clashing and only 1 can win. I like to think I will win more of those than lose, but if I am wrong, I am a losing player.

I guess what I am trying to say is, understand the table you are at and adjust away from A-B-C poker. And its ok to lose some hands you would win at a tighter table.

WPBT SEPT - NLHE DS*

Its back to basics, with a NLHE-DS at Full Tilt. Banners and such to follow. I wanted to get this out WAY in advance this time!!!

In order to minimaize conflicts, we are going for a Tuesday night at 9:30 pm EST start. This avoids football and weekend committments. I would plan on the 25th, as that is 10 days away.

Last chance for comments...

Yet Another Cliche'

I have been experimenting as of late, with a much more aggressive style. I have 4 results, twice squeaked inside the bubble, once was the bubble, and then that old cliche'...

I ran Kings into Aces. But really, in a FREEROLL, with 8 left and I am the shorty, is it correct to fold KK in any situation pre-flop? I doubt it.

Tonight I will play in a tournament with a strange front-loaded structure. 110 chips, blinds start at 1/2 and creep up to 5/10, then go bonkers. So, you need to accumulate chips fast. Even at the 3/6 level, you really needed to have doubled up already. This is a strucutre where Q matters very little. You need to get chips fast and race ahead. Should prove interesting the way I have been playing.

Thoughts on reading players and situations:
Early in a tournament, I usually retreat from aggression because the pots are small enough to give up and the players are making big bets to get paid off, not to bluff.

In the End Stages, I read situation and players pretty well.

In the MIDDLE STAGES, I am completely lost in large fields. I mean, its all about the pot size. I cant see how you can win big pots and accumulate chips in these stages unless 1 oo 2 things happen:
1. You are betting with a big draw and it hits. (You have to be betting BEFORE you make the hand).
2. Some idiot will call a push with second best hand.

If you have neither of the above 2, you have to be a freakin maniac pushing players out of mid-sized pots to get chips.

The bigger the field, the harder the reads.

Am I missing something simple here?

Other random NFL thoughts:

I am SO happy that the guy on Buffalo that went down with the spinal may be recovering. The latest word has shifted from pessimistic to optimistic. Thank goodness. No one deserves that.

Pats Picking Signs? Duh. But continuing using a photograpaher, when you almost got caught twice before? Just dumb.

A quick one, while he's away

Man, did I go out fast in the Hoy last night. 3 table MTT and I am playing tiger-style this week, chipping up about 15% and then...


excuse my poor memory...
Raise with ATs. Hoy calls in BB. Flop is Qxx with 2 clubs. Hoy bets, I call.

At this point, I figure he might have missed...

Turn is an ACE. of clubs.
I Hoy checks, I bet, Hoy puts in big raise. about 60% of his stack. I figure him now for a Queen and a club, or an ace and a club.

I needed to call time here and think that if Hoy DID have and Ace, I would be behind his probable holdings. But instead, I quickly pushed so he would think I made the best hand.

I had him really worried I made the flush, but he still called with top two (AQ) no club. Nice call.

I think I get away with this if Hoy has 30% of his stack in there, or it is much later in the tournament when someone feels "time vested". But here, I should have seen this call.

This game is tough. It didn't help that my dish was acting up and I was missing the game. But that is really an excuse. And we dont need excuses, just lessons.

Lesson learned: Early, players are not time vested and will not fold a hand when over 40% of their chips are in.

Welcome to Bizarro Detroit

Where U of M is 0-2 and...

Lions win... on the road!!! to start the season!!


and I think I crushed the picks in the Hoy pick-em league... But I took both the underdogs for Monday night.

who do you want to be today?

who do you want to be?
who dp you want tto be today, do you wanna be just someone on TV?
just like somebody on TV!

Friday night I played a 20 table MTT and a 5 table MTT online... I have been playing too tight lately and decided I was playing for chips. I was going to work on chip accumulation and taking volatility. I squeeked inside the bubble on each, giving myself a chance, but coming up short.

Last night was league night month 2. I had a lousy month 1 outing and needed to place in the top 8 this week (30 players). I am taking flops early, trying to outplay opponents, but missed alot of flops and worked my 10000 down to 8500 when we were down to 16.

I lose a battle to a short stack when I decide to push pre-flop with TT and the limper calls and hits his King on the turn. Had I run stop-n-go, I could have pushed him out on the flop. I have about 6k left. (Note: I really like the Stop-N-Go heads up where statistically, players miss the flop 2/3rds of the time)

Then this hand... Much frustration and unable to get good cards, I make a late position steal raise with 63o. The BB, a solid player capable of making a big laydown, goes into the tank. He is also short stacked, even worse than me at 3k. Eventually, he calls and takes the flop.
The flop is AA9. I figure there are only 2 dangerous hands and I am ahead of everything else. Ax 99. (He took too long for AK). ANY other hand, and he is force to fold to a push. With 2 big aces on the flop, the only holding I fear is 99. I put him all in and him calls with the 99. Argh.

I am crippled down to 3k. I go reckless and am moving in any chance I get. I boldly declare I am coming with any Ace, pair or just 2 paint. After about 3 rotations of this, I have chipped back to nearly 9k! (Q of .5).

I even take a flop against the much tighter Scott, who raises pre-flop with what I expect is a decent pair. I call with KQs and the flop is K-high. When he pushes, I go with my original read and make the call. He had QQ and was crippled. He was shocked I made that call. I was shocked he played what amounts to middle pair, that fast. It was a dangerous play, much more dangerous than my taking the flop. Especially with my current image.

I continue this short stack recklessness as we go short-handed, threatening to make anyone who calls play for it all. Someone finally calls me, and I not only am ahead, but it holds. No one has noticed, but I move to the final table with 18k in chips. Q of .75

From here, I am again aggressive when I play a hand, but much more selective now that I am at a full table again. Although I am the short stack the ENTIRE time at the final table, I survive. I am practically dodging bullets, as I make 3 pre-flop laydowns with big hands. All three I would have been behind or a dog. A couple of times I am "willing to die" to win a hand, and get the other guy to fold.

I play well, am conscious of position, and kill off a short stack. I have nearly 40k with 5 left (pays 4). Stacks at the table range from 40k to 80k, with 2 players (1 is me) with 40k. The other previous short stack who killed me with 99 is now about 65k in chips.

LOTS of stealing now, and not much re-stealing. Most steals are legit and I have slowed way down. But after 3 rotations, I am reluctant to bleed to death. I post the BB of 4k (go time) and it folds around to the button who bets 10k. I want to play against this guy for 3 reasons.

1. when he is in position, he ALWAYS bets when its checked to him. I can use that.
2. He probably has an Ace.
3. I look down at JJ.

Now, with him putting 25% of his stack in, I expect he calls if I push. I once again wish to go to my play-book for the stop n go and hope for an non-ace flop. I make the call and then flop comes Ten high, with 3 spades. There is no way he can call a big bet, but I check to allow him to bet again before I spring the trap. He bets 10k, I push, he insta-calls with A8 of spades. oops. I bubble.

Still, a sound performance. 5th, when with 19 left, I was the short stack.

High Stakes Poker Returns

The comment this year "Not in the Grid", referring to the Phil Hellmuth & his imaginary chart of 1 degree of seperation personal contacts, got me thinking about my favorite poker expressions (other than the Hammer, of course).

• Hope-a-Tron (also from HSP)
• Donkey-Draw (Drawing to a straight or flush which will only use 1 of your hole cards)
• weeeeeeeeeee!
• A-x is GOLD! (most sarcastic bloggers)
• Crushered (being totally dominated with a hand like QTo) I miss this one.
• The Ace-Rag Army! (Drizz nickname for donks)
• DQB!

and of course

• K-O-D

more 1-2 play

I did not want to let that last session bother me, so back I went. Won two FULL buy-in by being patient, and slightly loose pre-flop, TAG post flop. Finally, someone noticed (or thought he noticed) that I never played a big pot without a big hand, but I showed him the Kh on a K77T 3 heart board and he was conviced I bluffed. I had KT. But I convinced him I bluffed out his Ah with a river bet. Ha. Sometimes the illusion of bluffing is even better than the bluff itself.

tiny setback

Ended last nights session down 1/4 of a buy-in. Now, this seems like normal variance execpt I played for like 3 hours. So, this was very dissappointing.

The scenario was a difficult one. Many regulars playing, the girlfriend of one who could not fold, calling large pre-flop raises with no concern for starting hands, often calling flop bets regardless of the flop. How do you adjust? Me, I usually try to see more flops from position, take more flops with connectors, and be prepared to fold big pairs on the turn if players are not going away.

Which is exactly what happened. The results were killing me though. In 3 hours, I flopped an OESD ONCE, and someone over bet the pot. I hit a couple of flush draws, but raked only medium size pots. And my Kings (once) and Jacks (twice). Lots 2/3. One time the Jacks were an overpair to the board and held. The Kings flop had no ace, yet I bet pot and got not one but two callers. The turn put out the straight card, and I was able to escape what was a one card straight draw versus 2 pair (or so he says). The river gave "girlfriend" the one card straight. But here was the MO for her: If she decided to play a hand. She would call ANY size bet and call it all the way down. Great opportunity to just gut her, but I never got the opportunity. I made money on my big hands, but in the end, it was calling the limps with connectors and missing so many times that bled off my chips.

I have seen other players that when they encounter this type of table, start raising everyhand to reduce the field and modify the playing style of the table. Everytime I have personally experienced this, two things happen:
1. The table DOES change to a tighter pre-flop table with less limpers and callers.
2. The guy doing all the raising loses a ton of money.

So, what's a player to do at this type table other than wait for cards?

more 1-2 cash games

Well, went down a buy-in, then worked my second buy-in to 4 buy-ins. Then left with 3 buy-ins for a profit of 1 buy-in. But here was the biggest hand of interest...

UtG limps. MP limps, I limp with 8d7d, BB checks. Flop is 699. UtG bets 2xBB again. MP calls, I decide to call, BB folds.

Turn is the T. UtG checks, MP bets $20, I call. UtG moves all-in for $110. MP goes into the tank...

[FLASHBACK to 15 minutes ago]
EP moves all-in for $75 on a flush board. tank guy (again in MP) goes all-in with 2 pair, I call with a Ten flush. Original raiser shows 9 flush. River is blank and I rake a BIG pot.
[END FLASHBACK]

He moves all-in and has about $100 in chips. Now its decision time for me. 9T has me beat with a boat. But, 98 or 97 are very plausible hands, which I am ahead of. Could they both have a 9?! That is certainly the best case. But if one of them does not, what does he have? T8? T7? TT? JJ? JT? so hard to put someone on the second hand...

I call. UtG ALSO has 87 for the straight. Tank guy called off his stack AGAIN with 2 pair as a 5-1 dog. River is a 10 and I lose a buy-in of profit.

Las Vegas part 2, cash games

Up two and 1/2 buy-ins in 2.5 hours?! Hey, this is easy.

Well, the details are more reflective of the truth. Played a bit tights, and my big hands got action and held up. I play SLAG (slightly loose aggressive) so when I hit a hand, it just looks like I came in to the pot and am playing top or middle pair. But you would think SOMEONE would notice I never play a bit pot without a big hand? NOPE.

Unlike in the Ceasar's tournament, I have pocket KK twice (once each 1 session) and both times I got a call on my raise and no ace flopped. One guy even ran me down with TP.

But now my dilemma of the week. Not once, but TWICE I flopped a set on a all suited board and I had none of that suit*. AA and the flop is AcTc3c. Or a set of sevens on an all heart board. (*Obviously if its an all suited board, and you flop a set, you CANT have one of that suit, but just wanted to be clear). Both times I was either heads-up or 2 opponents at the most. How do you like to play this situation?

In one case the turn and river came JJ. He thought I had a Jack and was bluffing and hit runner-runner :) I was ahead the entire time.

I don't put a ton of credence in that whole "try to get a tell, or stare at someone for information" type stuff. I like to attribute players with a style and a set of behaviors and then work backwards to what they hold. Just what works for me. But on an all-suit board, players do strange things that are wiggity-wack.

WPBT
Speaking of that, I think it may be time to fold the monthly WPBT game. Either that, or convert it to Holdém only. Attendance has been dismal and the junkets to Las Vegas are the only anchor event anyways. Anyone agree?

What does one need to do to win a vegas tournament

Apparently, have a plan, execute it and play well just is not good enough.

I am in Vegas for 1 day, and I arrive early enough to enter my favorite tournament, the Ceasars $150 7pm. I like this one for 3 reasons:

1. Vegas tournament under $200
2. usually 5 tables or less (tonight was 4) [this is a sweet spot for me, 3 is even better]
3. lots of chips. Especially at 7pm where its 5000 to start.

In levels 1 and 2 (each 40 minutes), I play SLIP poker. Slightly Loose, flops In Position. I missed all 10 I played in the first 80 minutes, but just as level 2 was ending, I checked with the Hammer in the BB and the flop was 7 high. Nice thing here is that when you bet, someone thinks they should call with 2 overs. The turn was the 2 and I bet again. Everyone went away and I entered the break even at 5200.

Now, this is what is cool about this tournament. The blinds go up AND Ante's are introduced. You should shift to SLAG poker now (Slightly Loose AGressive) and steal alot more. I was the only player at the table who adjusted. At the end of level 3, I had chipped up with 7k without even getting a caller, just steals. I know the image I must have now, and I am ready to exploit it. Of course, only 1 or 2 players were paying enough attention to notice. Both would play in the following hands.

Now, the guy 2 to my left, is a big talker, drinker and card player. He knows what I am doing and has let me steal his small blind twice now. This time, it gets to me on the button with KK and I know exactly what to do. I make a quick splash raise of the exact amount I made all the steal raises with knowing he will raise with an Ace thinking steal. I hope he gets an Ace. I luck out and he pops me to 2700. I have him covered by about 1100 and I say "all-in". He INSTA-CALLS with AQ?! Ace comes RIGHT OUT THE DOOR. damn. I lose 6k.

I have 1100 left and I raise all-in with K9s and get no callers. I proclaim "get used to that", and do this 3 more times in 10 hands.. I continue to make big raises until I have chipped up to almost 4k. I decide I am going to slow down now and use a big hand to trap someone with my image. I even limp in the SB knowing I will get poped and have to fold, just to show everyone I am slowing down. Less than a rotation later... Sure enough, I raise with AKs and the SB thinks he can re-steal and goes all-in. I know he is weak and slightly desperate and insta-call to see his 9hTh. (remember, I am still a short stack at shy of 4k., I cant fold AKs here.)

The flop is T high with 2 hearts. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

I NEVER got my money in bad, never made a major mistake, and unfortunately never had a big hand hold up.

As I walked away, AQ drinking corona and spilling salt all over the table guy get up to go to the bathroom. He makes some comments about how I played well and just was unlucky. Feh.

Its just not enough to play well, you have to win as a favorite when it counts. I am sad. I walk for 6 blocks and return to my room.

WPBT Event #8 (new time)

WPBT 07 event #8
Password: wpbt72 [bloggers only please!]
Date: 8/26 (Sunday)
Time: 2 pm (Eastern/Server Time)
Buyin: $24 or token
Game: Pot Limit HO (Hold'em / Omaha Mixed)

my streak shattered

kids interupting, a blown fuse during a game, and a bee sting all contributed to my downfall. That and a hell of a lot of Qxo. where x is typically 2,3 or 4.


and then in the mookie, buddydank radio (mostly wedding music) played Simon and Garfunkel...

columbo: 50 ways to fold you aces
columbo: into the muck, chuck
Julius_Goat: just hit the ISD, lee
columbo: save the chips, chip?
columbo: dont push in your stack Jack
Julius_Goat: just drop the hamma, gramma
wwonka69: step out the back jack
Julius_Goat: it just don't pay to chase, grace
Julius_Goat: just don't try to bluff, russ
Julius_Goat: just peddle the nuts, gus


GOOD poker songs:
Cheap Sunglasses (ZZ Top)
Aces of Spades (Motorhead)


Who are the luck boxes this week to compensate for KQo, JJ and AQs (twice) as my only 4 premium hands the entire first hour?! I won 1, lost 2, and TIED one!

It was like an oragami class for me! FOLD, FOLD, and more FOLD.

ARGH... my bee sting hurts...

After the break, it was suicide. plan and simple. I got my money in AJs vs. AJs and make a flush. triple up to 1/2 the starting stack size. and two hands later run my weak ass hand into a SET. bye bye... a merciful end...

Maybe its time to move up?

I read Chad's post about the SNG tournament manager software and decided to give it a try. While I dont agree with paying $40 for a program that onyl handles Sit-N-Gos only, I was curious. I imported my garbage and did not see much that was interesting, other than I play VERY FEW S-n-Gs.

I decide to give the S-n-G world a tour of duty and played 6 of them over the last 2 days since I downloaded the software.

My results were, uhhhmmm, surprising...

WPBT Event #8

I just could not resolve my Triple Draw issue with Poker Stars in time, so we are moving to HA at Full Tilt. It should be this Sunday at a new time, 7pm (to avoid the "big game").

A tale of two Hands

Hand #1: Dealt JJ in LP at a tight cash 1-2 table. Raise from MP to 6. I raise to 18 and the blinds fold. Pot is about $40. Flop is T65 rainbow. He bets like $18 and I raise POT/All-in for another $60. He goes into the tank and get this... CALLS with 86o?!?! Um, thanks for $70 bucks?

Hand #2: 5 hours later in the Hoy. Tight 7 handed table, folded to me in MP and see JJ. Make a 2xBB raise, and everyone folds except the blinds. (Big blind is the chip leader with 4 times every one's stack size). Flop is T65 with 2 clubs. blinds check and I bet 2/3rds the pot. The chip leader simply pushes all in. Effectively betting $2000 into a $600 pot and putting me all in with an overpair. Even though I would normally fold here, I called. He shows 56s and takes me out.

I figured he was pushing with the T of clubs and maybe another club for Top pair with a flush redraw. Thus, even though it would be a very marginal call, I am a favorite. Except it wasn't TP with a draw, it was a blatant attempt to felt me. So obvious in fact, that I discounted it because of hand #1.

Funny?

Donkament

I played in my first Donkament (pw:donkarama) Friday night. For those of you who have never heard of this Donkey-Fest, its a private $1 NLHE with $1 add-on and $1 rebuys for the first HOUR. Not for the faint of heart. Went broke on HAND 1 with JJ vs. 88 and AT. All the money in pre-flop! It was not always ridiculous though, and after the break, I was 4th in chips.

But like all tournaments of this type, the trick is to SLOW DOWN and not remain a maniac. Easier said then done.

I accidentally raised instead of folding one hand, so I decided to fire TWO more barrels. Both were called. Ugh. Lost a chunk there. And Bayne cant fold middle pair to save his life? But, for maybe the first time in my entire poker life, I could actually PUT someone on middle pair and was contemplating the odds of him folding to a push (I had 77, he had AT). I NEVER push KNOWING I am behind, but suddenly, something was working that had been dormant in my brain.

Too bad it was against Bayne, who would call. But, maybe another time...

Despite being a $1, it was great rebuy experience. Highly recommended.

Oh yes... I almost forgot. B-A-Y-N-E!!!
My KJ flopped trips, only to see Bayne show his AK limp. I now have a nemesis...

NEMESIS!

Was yesterday Suckout day?

I laid down OESD to a big bet and the A of hearts on an all-heart flop to an all-in, but when the tables are turned and I flop a King high flush and go all-in, a lone Ace calls. And when I 2 pair, the flush draw calls. Both times they hit.

"I hope you had a hell of a piss Arnold!!!" - Brad Hamilton at All American Burger

WPBT Event #8

The next event is scheduled to be Triple Draw on Poker Stars. This is the only Poker Stars event of the year. It would notmally be on the 26th, but I can get that to work, so I am hoping for permission to run it on the 19th (along side the Big Game). Maybe a different start time (like 10:30pm ) would work?

Its a Token Frenzy

Time for a longer post... Many of my posts are short, to the point and devoid of comic flare. Ironic for an ex-comic, eh? But poker is no jpoking matter!

First off, let me state my opinion of the Token Frenzy. Yum. You start with $1500 in chips, and getting to about $4000 allows you to click "Sit out" and walk away. Yet, on NUMEROUS occasions, I saw stacks bigger than that getting involved with hands. This is great for you, the informed reader and donkey puncher, as you could conceivably make it simply by getting to $3000 in chips. Why? because bigger stacks actually ATTEMPT to eliminate players. Yum. They do all the work for you. Just get to twice your starting stack and wait. Pure gold.

Next, on the non-poker subject of Camping. My family LOVES camping. Freaking loves it. Because of this, I have made every attempt to enjoy camping. We bought a new trailer and it actually has a bed! What a HUGE difference this makes. Huge. I have a laptop that actually stays in the camper with its own set of campfire friendly software. The wife tries to only camp where they have wireless, although its often spotty. Its still better than being offline. Her mother has an awesome campsite in Claire, but we can never stay there since I cant even get cell coverage without driving 2 miles. I have really learned to enjoy these little trips and even played the Hoy Monday night from the campfire. All that being said, I think camping would be better in a multi-family situation. My goal for next year is to coordinate camping with other friends.

My work situation is very much in flux right now. I was a high-level person with a mid-sized company. That company being acquired, has placed me back in "middle mgt", which means "not a VP". This MAY be a setback, then again, maybe not. A re-alignment may create a situation where I am reporting to a VP, but have 6 times the reports I had at the mid-sized company. Where opportunity meets preparation... I will be ready for a promotion in 2 years at a company 20 times the size of the previous one. I can choose to be pessimistic or optimistic. I always assume I will succeed. Is that optimism, ego, or a little of both.

That being said, I have decided to break my own rule and commit now to playing in a 2008 WSOP event. I have always said that if I don't satellite in, I wont play. Well, I can afford the $1500 event, and if I don't satellite into a single event, I will plunk it down and play just for the experience and donk it up with the rest of the field. So be it. I am playing in two "leagues" this fall (second wed and second Saturday of the month) in the hopes of working the home-game satellite option also.

I look forward to the WPBT winter fest and decided to put together a flyer for 2008. Sort of a marketing flyer (tongue firmly in cheek), but I would luv to see us represent in the 2008 WSOP. There were some huge cheers during 2007 as we learned of fellow bloggers cashing. In 2008, I will once again take orders for the WPBT hats if you want one to use for the events or the WSOP itself. (I hope I can still get them at the same place. They were very cost-friendly.) I would also like to put together a Thursday night Beer-Fest at the Hoffbrau House Beer-hall across the street from Hard Rock. (Home of the 1/2 liter pilsner) Anyone?

Hoyoza and Chad (KOD) recently wrote the book on stealing and playing in big field donk-fests. There two articles are better than the Full Tilt Tournament book itself. Read them and save $22 bucks.

I myself have not written a strategy post in quite some time. I think this is because I have no major epiphanies over the recent months. Just using what I learn to improve my finishes. If you would have told me in January, that I would be $7 from the money lead in the Hoy in August, I would have laughed at you. My goals for the second half of 2007? Cash in a big field tournament and learn how to win in cash games instead of playing for hours to break even. (This happens to me OFTEN.) Every trip to California now, I will play cash games after dinner until I have to go to bed. (And my heads up game needs work.)

I put a link to the poker Google calendar (which I keep updated) on the blog...
Sunday is the big-game and the occasional WPBT event
Monday is the Hoy
Tuesday is an off-night
Wednesday is the Mookie
Thursday are Ante-up games and the pokersluts tour.
Friday is the donkament.

All that in addition to FTOPS, token frenzys, the DONKEY CHALLENGE sit n Go tables, the 50/50, etc.

Big Brother comment: The "America's player" ended exactly as expected. The chaotic choices made week to week without a long range plan, results in the player being singled out as suspicious. Duh. of course, his complete lack of a subtle bone in his body certainly contributed. Even more disconcerting is that COMPLETE lack of strategy of ANY of the "houseguests". Do any of them plan more than a single move in advance?! Most are REACTIVE, and that's you lose a chip stack.

The Ante-Up podcast recently did a great episode on the WSOP bootcamps. The big take-away for the emphasis on AGGRESSION. I, for one, am SICK of hearing this tired sound byte. Can anyone even tell me what it means anymore? What does aggression mean to YOU?

Despite my words about camping, the family took their most recent trip WAY up north and I was only able to get up there 1 weekend. The rest of the time, I went on my annual fix-about, where I fix every little thing wrong with the house. I am exhausted, and I know the minute the family returns, the house will start its downward spiral again. Life is maintenance. I also wanted to go to the casino one night, but there was a 90 minute wait for a table at Motor City?! On a Tuesday night at 7pm? Ugh. I hope MGM opens on time!

I read recently, that the government asked Second Life to shut down gambling on the VIRTUAL world due to proof of real money laundering. I am not even sure how that works. (Apparently there is a $270-$1 fake to real exchange rate?!) Now, there has been an old fashioned circa 1929 bank run in Second Life. When your entire economy is gambling and virtual sex, shutting off gambling completely cripples 1/2 the economy. Ok, more like 10% since Second Life is 90% virtual night clubs, virtual sex, and the sale of advanced genitals. (yeah, really).

Good News Everyone! A distribution decision has FINALLY been made on the future Futurama episodes. One movie to be released in November of 2007, followed by 3 "movies" split up into 1/2 hour episodes with added material. Someone made a decision.

That's it for now... Thanks for visiting!

shutting up now...

remember all that belly-aching last week? HA!

I was on Machinaw Island this weekend and bought a 3 dollar horseshoe before playing in the Hoy Monday night. I set myself up around a campfire, with campsite wireless and a beer. The wireless was so bad, that I dropped in and more than a teabag. heh. teabag.

anyways...

I was emotionally wrapped up in the game too, throwing my latop onto the grass when I ran my K4 into K5 thinking I was out before the money. We chopped.

I had a couple of big pairs early and then was card dead often for 3-4 rotations at a time. It was painful. But I went into the Hoy noticing that we only started with 3 tables. There was no need to play my normal SLAG style and tightened up to a more traditional TAG style. I am not so fond of TAG because I feel you waste value pushing players off of hands when they are behind. But I often do just that when the tournament is 5 tables or less.

In the end, I got sucked out on, watched other players suck out to prevent my from the money, then sucked out to make the money. Ahh poker. Twice MM was my victim. Ironically they came after I was robbed of the #3 spot twice.

Its too bad the blinds get up there so fast that you end up shoving. But that's the way it works at 1:30am.

I could not listen to buddy radio as I could barely keep a conection link. So I missed out on a lot of distractions.

Campfire, no radio, played traditional TAG, got a tad bit of luck at the end (K8 beat KQ to pop the bubble).

A major setback

I know now why I am playing badly. I have reverted to some old habits. Here is what happens:

Player 2 to my right, who is pretty good, raises to 3xBB. He looks like he has a big hand. I wake up in the small blind with AA. After much delay, I call, but the BB surprisingly calls.

The flop is uncoordinated and with a Q. I check, BB checks, and the CUTOFF bets big. I already hemmed and hawed pre-flop, now I re-raise. The pot is big enough that I can justify all of it without the alarm bells going off. BB folds, he calls with KK. I win a BIG pot and have doubled through.

The VERY NEXT HAND. I have AQ and pop it 3xBB. The cutoff calls. The flop is KJT. Check, check.

Turn is a 7 and a second heart. Now I have to bet and bet 1000. Call.

River is a second Ten. KJT7T. check and I bet out 1500. RAISE is announced.

Now, what would you do here? Let me tell you what I THOUGHT I WOULD DO here. I would expect a re-raise here of about 2000-2500. If it was MORE than that, I would be seriously worried of a boat. That or less, I am calling and seeing what happened. I figure the player for AT. and they expect they are ahead. But if they had JT or KT, ugh.

INSTEAD of that logical move, when I hear raise, I pull a Helmuth and shove all my chips in the pot. WTF? I dont try to get a read, I dont take any time, I just ASSUME that its AT. again wtf?

I mean, as I play it out, I almost certainly call most bets here. BUT, to not wait and see what the bet is, and how it is made, and at least try to get a read, was just plain "amateur hour".

I was embarrassed and full of self-loathing. Although I was able to crawl back for a while, another chance to accumulate chips never cam my way and the blinds ate me up.

So, in order to compensate for my lame tendancies, I have to add a 5 second rule to myself. or something. Whatever I do, I cant continue to just assume that every read I make stays correct through the hand.

I read that I was ahead and I was, until the river. There is just no excuse. Amatuer hour. Sad really, that after 3 years, I can still have trouble playing back-to-back big hands.

It happens, players make hands on the river.

How much of Poker is mental?

I played a 1 table 6max SnG last night, a HORSE SnG, the Mookie and the Dookie. What did they all have in common. I did poorly in each. Heck, only a suckout propelled me to 14th in the Mookie.

This morning I am discouraged and feel as though I have no "A" game.

When this feeling comes over you, what is the best way to "reset"?

Risk Reward Scenario

I did not post this for days as I contemplated the hand and my finish Monday night. 3 table MTT of NLHE. There are SEVEN left, pays but 3. Note my stack size. I cant make the money by folding. I estimate I need to reach 24k in chips to cash. With the top 3 in chips at 15k+, my EFFECTIVE FINAL TABLE Q is .5, and that is very important to me here... Tell me what you do here...

FINAL Table - 150/300 Ante 25
Seat 1: PokerBrian322 (21,090)
Seat 2: RaisingCayne (5,230)
Seat 3: bartonf (15,524)
Seat 4: IslandBum1 (3,458)
Seat 5 [BUTTON]: hoyazo (16,770)
Seat 6 [SB]: columbo (8,580)
Seat 7:[BB}jeciimd (7,348)
PokerBrian322 antes 25

PokerBrian322 folds
RaisingCayne folds
bartonf folds
IslandBum1 folds
hoyazo has 15 seconds left to act
hoyazo raises to 1,225

Dealt to columbo [Ts Td]
Hoyazo is not know to me to be a "big stack bully", but is famous for his discussions of stealing and re-stealing. AND its folded to him on the button.

If I CALL here, its 15% of my stack and I believe I commit myself to a Stop n Go.

If I RAISE here, its still enough to matter as it would be a 4 times pot raise and 1/2 of Hoyazo's chips.

If he has a premium pair, on the button, folded around, I am dead (JJ,QQ,KK,AA). (Hoyazo has had AA twice in the last 30 minutes.) Based on sheer statistics, I'll ignore that one. If he has Ace-X, he might be afraid of a bigger Ax.
If he has AK, especially suited, he probably calls ANY bet I make, which makes the Stop N Go a better choice. On a non-Ace flop, I would be pushing, but I am SECOND to act. What if he pushed all-in on the flop before I can? Or makes a bet that commits himself? Dunno...

So, what do you want to do here?

Waffles cracks my Aces

with 77. How do I feel?

http://nigoro.jp/game/rosecamellia/rosecamellia.php

Awesome but Trivial Victory of the Day!!!

In this new segment, I am going to share with you an awesome yet trivial victory that we sometimes achieve but go hopelessly unappreciated. Do I have you hooked yet? Read on...

Unlike Waffles, who will shell out for WoW when there are perfectly good poker tables to be played, I like to drop by Kingdom of Loathing. I get my 15-20 minutes a day fix and I am done. and I am no stranger to computer games... which makes this so much more fascinating.

The following actually happened not a hour ago...

You step outside your home office to get some air. It has just rained and the air smells pleasant but its very humid. The mailbox flag is down.

GO MAILBOX

But its sooooo bright out.

INVENTORY

You are carrying the following:
Sunglasses (in shirt pocket)

WEAR SUNGLASSES
You put on your sunglasses and return you regular glasses to your shirt pocket.

As you approach the mailbox, you see your hedge clippers left lying in the driveway. "Oh yeah, I need to cut a branch with hornets on it".

TAKE CLIPPERS

taken.

USE CLIPPERS

The end is bent. You'll have to fix that first.

GO MAILBOX.

You are at the mailbox. A sewer gate is below your feet.

USE GRATE

huh?

BEND CLIPPERS WITH GRATE

Using your superior chimp intellect, you stick the end of the hedge clippers through the grate and push down. Its called leverage! The hedge clippers are now repaired. As you stand up, your glasses slip out of your pocket and into the sewer.

Argh!


GRAB GLASSES

Even if you could put your big mits through the grate, its a good 10 feet to the bottom.

LOOK GRATE
At the bottom you see some recent rain water, some green moss, mudd. And Glasses.

QUIT
No way.

GO HOME
You enter the house

LOOK
You have a vast array of items. Try something...

GET COATHANGER

ok, you now have a coathanger

GET THE THING YOU CLEAN OUT THE DRAIN WITH?
Huh?

GET SNAKE

A real snake or the tool?

GET SNAKE TOOL

You have a snake tool.

ATTACH COATHANGER TO SNAKE

You make a series of unbends and bends and manage to attach your COATHANGER to your SNAKE. Hehe... sounds dirty.

MAKE HOOK

You fashion a hook at the end of the COATHANGER.

LOWER SNAKE

You fish around for a few minutes and hook your glasses. Huzzah!

LIFT SNAKE

You slowly lift up your glasses to the top of the grate being careful to not jostle them.

GRAB GLASSES.

You win! Your adventure score is 95%. (you left the bees)
Your time was 11 minutes.
Thank you for playing Trivial Victory.


HAHAHAHAHA TAKE THAT UNIVERSE!!!

A post from Tilty McTilt

What's all this I hear about "Zen and poker"?! Bah! To play poker is to tilt, and to live live fully, you need to tilt it up like a weasel looking at a falling bird. Last night, I tilted after I had to fold middle pair. Middle Pair people! I did not even expect to be ahead and when I got pushed into, I tilted!

And watching KOD tilt, after his OESD got called by TPBK, just plain inspired me. I think he pushed an OESD on the turn in an early level and was surprised when TP called him, despite extolling this strategy on his blog! Just his luck to run into a reader. But he tilted off in chat. And that actually affected me! HOW? (I honestly don't know!) It makes no sense. How can someone ELSE'S exit affect my tilt?!

And what does one do when he is on irrational tilt? That's right! He Multi-Tables RAZZ. I had 3 to 8 or better with an Ace over a DOZEN times in the first 15 minutes and lost all but the 12th one. Then with not even a full raise left in my stack AND the bring-in, doubled up 3 times in a row?! Now that's tilt people! We need to be trying harder out there!

And just a comment on the mookie and the buddydank radio show that accompanies it. I love it.

The next morning...

I am awake now, having gotten up at 8am having played the Hoy until 1:30am. By the time I was unwound it was closer to 2:30am. Then there was the power outage, the plumber, and its raining. Gez.

I got some good One Minute Mystery hands last night, but I really got some great experience in 2 regards.

The first was my final table play. I am ALWAYS too loose at the final table, using aggression to Always Be Closing. Aggression + lack of thought = Bubble. Last night, after losing my chip lead and making a questionable call of an all-in with A7s (only to see AJ), I tightened it down still managed a few steals and finished 2nd.

The second was taking the bully on my right for a ride on the roller coaster of variance. The best part was that he would win chips, then eventually pass them down to me. Why he even played a hand with me I will never know. One hand, I flopped an Ace and let him bet on every street and "just walked the dog down to the river". He doubled me up twice last night. The second time he went out with the bathwater.

At the end, my fate was determined on a board of 2567. I had A5, and my opponent pushed me all in. After MUCH thought, I folded. He said he had 83 when it was over. Makes sense, but I then made a mistake folding there. I was fooled by his flop bet I think, and if I bet, I was confused by his call. I will need to go replay that hand again...

I am reading the new FT strategy guide and I must say that some pros live in their own world. Like the Fergeson "post" about always bettin the same up front. Can't agree (assumes a tight tight pro-level table). But I did like his discussion on how he determines his post-flop bet. He does it by estiamteing "the outs his opponents would have" based on the board. The MORE outs they have, the LARGER (not smaller) the bet he makes. BUT, he assumes HEADS UP play on the flop. (Thus the reason he is always raising or folding pre-flop). This just wont mesh enough with my style to use on every pot I play, but I love it as a heads-up methodology.

The next "post" on "leverage" is funny to read right after the above, since there are some conflicts. Lederer loves to have a second barrel pointed at you (similar in style to blogger doubleas) but is based more on position that outs. Lederer's strategy of leverages pressure works much better from position (or so I believe). He likes to rely on the "amount of the reraise" that has to be made to determine the outcome of the hand. His 3-10-X rule. I need to finish readying it before I form a final opinion, but I find it very similar to "creating pressure points", but explained in a more roundabout way. -The big thing is not not try to blow people off the hand post-flop, but rather bet in a way that they are making the maximum mistake if they are calling from behind. This is done with proper bet sizing based on stack sizes and the pot size (if you are deep stacked). He assumes it is rare for a player with a better hand to "walk the dog". Hmmm.

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. boo-hoo-boo

Another Monday night and another Hoy. I might have broken into 2nd on the Hoy cash leaderboard now as I put in a strong 2nd place finish. Despite going to the final table with a monster 3-1 chip lead, it just got chopped away like a rain forest hosting a lumberjack convention. But eventually, I held on by using tighty-ness, position, stealing and focusing on the little-er guys.

all in all, a BIG dissapointment to get so close to winning a blogger tournament (I have ALOT of 3rds), but ultimately failing.

I am in need of some coaching maybe?

How does one play an O8B tournament

Ok, I thought Hold'em could be a crap shoot, but O8B with escalating blinds structure will be the death of me. Has anyone written a good article about this?

I played good O8B last night for a while, then the blinds started moving up. Suddenly, I realize I am two lost pots from done. I got rivered (from scoop to 1/2 the pot) TWICE, then rivered twice after that for scoops from half. IGHN.

How does one just shove in O8B? In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, "Who are these people?"

A Giant amoung Men...

I played in a home game Friday night, which sort of borke down to a very aggressive player host who is used to rolling over people, and his victims, mainly family and friends (at least in this case).

Little small buy-in two table MTT and I go out FIRST when I flop a straight and I get RAISED. Ok, let me guess... Flush draw? Well, I cant fold with 1/3 of my stack in there and the best hand, so I shove my chips in and watch the diamond fall on the river.

Normally, I would leave at this point, but if this was the play, I figured I would stick around and play the "bust-out cash game", which often is short-handed. Smart decision. I won four times my buy-in in just 90 minutes. Here was the absolute best hand:

I already have double my buy-in in front of me, and since its short handed, I am playing almost ATC. I call a min-raise from the BB with J5o. (I think we are 5 handed). The UtG made the min-raise, the player to his left calls, two folds and then my call...

Flop is the miracle JJ5. And now the best part. UtG makes a bet of about 1/2 the pot, maybe more. The second player RAISES! And me with the immortal nuts. I smooth call and so does UtG. I am sure that the UtG has an overpair of QQ, KK or AA and that the other player has a Jack. And in this rare instance, I am going to walk TWO dogs and try to break them both!

Turn is the 8 and maybe, just maybe the other player has J8. I mean, its possible right? HA! I am not looking for monsters lurking in the closet. I am in fully-engaged extraction mode. UtG now makes a BIG bet and the other players now CALLS. It's time to slam the door. I raise enough that the UtG will have to go all in, but I dont want to push in case the other Jack wants to call. Now, I know if the board pairs the 8 I have to split, but its just too much of an off chance.

UtG goes all in and I am SURE he has aces. the other player folds. I say, "I call. I have a boat". And the guy with Aces says "Already?". (and much to my credit, I did not crack a smile). But he was upset as the J5o I played registered in his brain. I think the play by him with the min-raise with AA short-handed was ok, but how are you NOT scared of two raisers post-flop on a paired board. The AA folding was an easy escape in my book.

The most amazing part was the the other guy? What do you think he had? JT maybe? AJ maybe? Nope, he was BLUFFING. OMG. He couldn't even beat a the board. I must be a good actor. He thought I was making a play at the pot.

So, now a second chance SnG starts and its same thing all over again. Only this time the flush does not crack my made straight. With 4 left, I am second in chips but determined to wait out the short stack who is tired, tipsy, and not as good as his believes he is at this moment in time. He finally goes out and with 3 left its so late I propose a terrible chop for the 3rd place player just to see if they will bite. They dont. Good for her. So, we play it out. I just call with an Ace in the SB vs. the BB giant stack and the flop is 6A6. I check. Nor the reason I check is that the last time we played a hand, I checked, he bet, I meekly folded. So, I figure he is primed to bet here. But, he suspects something and checks. Ugh.
The turn is a 9 and I bet. He RAISES all-in?! And Since I put him on 9s and 6s now, I call. He had 99 in the hole and made a miracle boat on the turn. I cash third and drive home, with a total of over 150% profit. Not bad.

EVENTS!

The google link to the right is a great way to track blogger events. I added the old one from Byron and added all the latest events... and now (drumroll)....

Fraser goes down!

Police investigating a report of a severed head in a parking lot have concluded that a man used an innovative method to end his own life.

According to the authorities, the man tied one end of a rope to a tree and then looped the other end around his own neck. Then he drove off in a car, which caused the rope to slice through his neck and cut off his head, which flew out the back of the car. Police found a suicide note inside the car.

And here now is the poker equivalent. Take a monster stack lead into the final table and finish 6th?!

Here is how I severed my own head:

Tight, tight play from the table, including me. But as I watched people pick off blinds (especially mine), I would try to time a steal. I went 0 for 5. ZERO. Just re-steals and re-raises and me with air...

Al and Jade double up, whilst I bleed and esacpe second best hands.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2930725821: Riverchasers Online Poker Tour (22093219), Table 6 - 800/1600 Ante 200 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:04:06 ET - 2007/07/13
Seat 1: BuddyDank (19,565)
Seat 2: -o-LuckTruck-o- (10,805)
Seat 3: Blinders (27,188)
Seat 4: kazor (6,874)
Seat 5: tmcmenamin1 (9,790)
Seat 6: columbo (16,597)
Seat 7: AlCantHang (31,115)
Seat 8: jade2002 (37,066)
antes 200
columbo posts the small blind of 800
AlCantHang posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #5

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to columbo [? ?]
jade2002 folds
BuddyDank folds
-o-LuckTruck-o- raises to 10,605, and is all in
Blinders calls 10,605
kazor folds
AlCantHang: captiain overbet
tmcmenamin1 folds
columbo has 15 seconds left to act
columbo has requested TIME
columbo: dammit blinders
Blinders: yuor priced in
columbo folds <= I am still thinking about this fold...
What CAN I call with here? I have 16k in chips, its 800 lost to fold.

Could you make this call with JJ? KK? How about AKs?

AlCantHang folds
-o-LuckTruck-o- shows [As Tc]
Blinders shows [Qc Qh]
*** FLOP *** [7h 9s Kd]
*** TURN *** [7h 9s Kd] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [7h 9s Kd Jh] [2h]
-o-LuckTruck-o- shows Ace King high
Blinders shows a pair of Queens
Blinders wins the pot (25,210) with a pair of Queens
-o-LuckTruck-o- stands up

(I had AKs) Am I tilting now? Maybe...
This makes me the short stack when Seat 4 and seat 5 go out and pop the money bubble for me.

and then Frashier goes down...

Full Tilt Poker Game #2930790848: Riverchasers Online Poker Tour (22093219), Table 6 - 800/1600 Ante 200 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:10:34 ET - 2007/07/13
Seat 1: BuddyDank (20,039)
Seat 3: Blinders (41,793)
Seat 5: tmcmenamin1 (21,790)
Seat 6: columbo (12,797)
Seat 7: AlCantHang (25,915)
Seat 8: jade2002 (36,666)
antes 200
columbo posts the small blind of 800 <==again, the SB is my nemesis. Learn something columbo!

AlCantHang posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #5

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to columbo [Js 7s]
jade2002 folds
BuddyDank folds
Blinders folds
tmcmenamin1 folds
columbo calls 800
AlCantHang has 15 seconds left to act
AlCantHang checks

hey, free flop! alright!
*** FLOP *** [6c 9s 6s]
columbo has 15 seconds left to act
I have An over and a live scare card, plus a flush draw. I figure Al either missed the flop (66%) or hit a pair (30%) that would require him to make a big bet if I check.

columbo bets 10,997, and is all in <== I think this is a good move. COMMENTS?

AlCantHang calls 10,997
columbo shows [Js 7s]
AlCantHang shows [Th 6d] TRIPS? ARGH

But I am only a 2-1 dog!!

*** TURN *** [6c 9s 6s] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [6c 9s 6s 6h] [Kd]
columbo shows three of a kind, Sixes
AlCantHang shows four of a kind, Sixes
AlCantHang wins the pot (26,394) with four of a kind, Sixes
columbo stands up
IGHN. Bubble casher.

best mookie finish ever

This was a VERY interesting hand and here it is in grave detail...

17 left in the mookie and I am about 10th-ish here... I was FIFTH, but had to release a hand and escape..

With a round costing 1350 with antes, my M is 6-7, but my Q is about 1.0 +/- 0.1

Full Tilt Poker Game #2921499396: The Mookie - Arrgh Matey (22098113), Table 6 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:25:16 ET - 2007/07/12

Seat 1: GCox25 (11,078)
Seat 2: weak_player (7,246)
Seat 3: jeciimd (8,745)
Seat 4: willwonka (9,854)
Seat 5: riggstad (7,665)
Seat 6: Astin (19,119)
Seat 7: IslandBum1 (8,147)
Seat 8: columbo (8,398)
Seat 9: HighOnPoker (20,305)

antes 75
IslandBum1 posts the small blind of 300
columbo posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #6

folded around to Astin.
Astin raises to 2,400 <==Button Raise
IslandBum1 folds
columbo calls 1,800 with [? ?]

*** FLOP *** [2h 7s 4s]
columbo has 15 seconds left to act
columbo bets 5,923, and is all in

Do I look strong here or weak?

AI programmer wanted

I am looking for a programmer interested in AI to work with on a project. I have an theory that I have been playing around with for quite some time. Its an AI algorithm based on "Trinary-state Pattern Recognition".

I find poker a perfect test of the algoritm because it requires to use of partial information and the same situation can have multiple results. (I am NOT writng a bot, nor would that work as I am spending ZERO time trying to hide the fact that its AI and it will not initiate actions, but rather "sit over your shoulder and learn").

If the theory were to hold, then the only paymount would be accolades and resume fodder, but goodd stuff if this is your cup of tea.

I have no idea of time invovled as I have not actually written code in a decade, so only the developer could do an estimate. I would prefer to work with someone I have met or once removed.

Please let me know if you or someone you know is interested.

I don't suck!?

Stats for columbo in the Battle of the Bloggers
Rank based on PROFIT: 19th of 315 (2 better than me played only the Big Game AND made final table)
Events played: 24

Some other fun stats not in the above metrics:

Number of Mookie events played: 8
Number of Mookie events that I even made the first break, much less the points: 0

Number of Monday at the Hoy events played: 9
Rank of "money won 2007" in the Hoy for 2007: 3rd! (as of a week ago)

Profit on FullTilt for 2007, -$150 (wtf?)

Beware the Trips

I went broke TWICE last night playing poker, both times with trips. (And I doubled up with them once). I did notice something that maybe I haven't noticed in the past. When you have trips and someone Pushes into you, they likely have an overpair and are about to go broke. When you have trips and you might have kicker problems, the push wont come until after you look committed. Interesting, huh? As you think about this, it seems more and more obvious that "of course" its that way...

I have also noted that when you have JT and iht trips on the flop or turn, you OFTEN will be surprised by KJ or AJ (or KT/AT if trip tens). I am not saying to play trips scared, but I am saying that if your M>20, you had better be prepared to get away from trips in the right situation. Still, it will be hard.

WPBT event #7

Subject: Re: private tourney setup (WPBT) request

Hello,

Thank you for your e-mail and tournament request. I have created your
private HORSE tournament as you requested in your e-mail below and it is
open for registration at this time. In order to locate your tournament,
click the "Private" tab in the tournament lobby.

Tournament #22093715 (7/22/07 21:00ET)

Your tournament has been created as a double stack tournament with 3000
starting chips, if you wish to update it to a single stack tournament or
require any changes to be made to your tournament structure, do not
hesitate to reply to this e-mail.

NOTE: See earlier post on how to join the WPBT...

quick updates

It's WSOP main event time, so if I post too much, you'll miss out on the great updates from Dr. Pauly. Don't do that!

I joined the Pokersluts Tour V for the next 6 sundays, once again taking me to 3 weekly online games (hoy and mookie).

The WPBT Event #7 HORSE will be 7/22...

BBT ends with a bang

Well, I played in my first "Blogger Big Game" last night, since it was the last event in the BBT series. I consider it a tad expensive for my online bankroll, but I certainly like the competition.

I had more volatility than i expected in this high level game. I had to get away from a middle pair with flush redraw because the other player pushed on the turn. Then worked it back to starting size.

Then I pushed the hammer into a player on a stone cold bluff, only to be shown a SET of Tens and losing half my stack. The very next hand, *I* am dealt Tens, flop a set, and double up against QQ to be back at starting stack size. Online poker is rigged.

I work it up to about 25% over start stack size, when this happens. Folded to me in MP and I have QJo. I decide to limp since the table was tight the last few hands. The button MIN-RAISES and I am the only caller. The flop is all undercards with two clubs and we both check. The turn is a Q. He bets. I raise, he calls. River is the 3rd club and we both check. He has AQ and now I am just below start stack size.

10 minutes later, I am in MP. UtG limp. I have KK and make it 3xBB. The player to my left, who has just a few more chips than me, raises it 3x my bet. This is almost 1/2 my stack to call. The blinds and the UtG fold. I have a reasonable expectation here of the following:

He has AK and he is going to call as a big dog.
He has QQ or JJ and he is going to call as a big dog.
He has AA and has me crushed.
He has the hammer and will fold to any push.

I reason that since my Q<1, that I am totally justified in disregarding AA and trying to get his stack in there.

I am also reasonably sure than if I push, he will call. I really think he has AK and I am a 4-1. If I KNOW he has AK, could I possibly fold? I mean, I am a 4-1 favorite and I believe if I ever folded KK to AK, then I would have to quit playing poker because I had become a tit-mouse.

I push, he calls with AK. Ace on the flop and IGHN.

I think I will play the big game again...

Saint Bayne

Not unlike a grease stain on a wall that looks like Elvis, railbirds and players alike last night were witness to a very rare event. The canonization of Saint Bayne.

His ascension completed at approximately 1:10am, as he won the "Monday at the Hoy" tournament, which culminated in a unanimous vote of poker playing cardinals, hereto anointing Bayne, The Patron Saint of Card Racks.

As if auditioning for the part, Saint Bayne took great pride in stealing my blinds with some of his more marginal hands such as AJ, AQ, AK, JJ and AA. When he saw a flop, he had much better cards. Top Pair became almost a sign of the devil, which Bayne would vanquish with a simple flick of the wrist.

At the final table, almost as if on cue, the table glowed and so did Saint Bayne, winning each and every hand he touched. The players, unable to muster any more resistance, watched in awe as we were dismissed one by one.

So let it be know, that today is Saint Bayne day. 6/26. Mark it on the most paper of calendars, lest we forget to bring the pope-mobile to Vegas in December for his emminence.

Oh yeah, I came in third.

What’s a precipice?

I played in the "riverchasers" 3 table HORSE MTT yesterday. Get a load of this:

After the first hour, I was chip leader.

After the second hour, I was LAST (second to last?) and down to a VERY short stack. Basically, any hand I play, I am committed to.

At the final table I was the CHIP LEADER with 8 left (pays 4).

I bubbled and went out 5th?!

What the heck is wrong with me? How does one go from Chip Leader, to LAST, to Leader, to bubble??!!!

Am I any better at all? or just suddenly more volatile?

strange days

The Hoy last night:
Pocket Kings FOUR times...
Won 3 races, all of which sent a player to the rail...
Had an Average stack with 20 left (just in the points)...

I LIMP with a small pocket pair.
LP players bets 3xBB (which is pretty big now). I have about 10xBB total (despite being avg stack).
I figure that the limp, all-in may look like aces and if I get called I am probably a slight favorite. I push 44 into what turns out to be AK.
Flop is AKx and IGHN.

Was I foolish and impatient or was it just my time? I noticed in reflecting on my play, that I dont think I see enough flops and instead rely on odds when the blinds are large. Good or bad?

Taking Stock and Kicking Ass

After playing with the bloggers for a weekend, I had to admit somethings to myself. The hardest was that I am not as good as I SHOULD be after 3 years of being a wanna-be.

1. I dont read hands well! I read SITUATIONS well, but not hands. I am going to start recording hands as I play them and write down what I think my opponent has on every street.

2. Because of #1, I am too risk adverse on the turn with lowers my EV. I need to use the turn for PRESSURE.

3. I still struggle with calling raises with marginal cards despite being in position. After the first raise goes in, I tighten up considerably. This is ok in a tournament, but foolish in a cash game where people are raising up with A5s.

4. I am not aggro at a loser table. BUT I FIXED THAT MONDAY. I walked over the bridge to the TI, plocked down $60 for the 10pm tourney and chopped with the other 2 remaining players when the blinds got too high for sanity. I was SUPER-AGGRO all night, until the bubble, where I watch the short stacks committ suicide...

I have a new goal... and its nasty... (cue eye of the tiger?)

WPBT Recap

Another WPBT party draws to a close and what a fun weekend it was. So much to say, lets just start talking.

I flew in Friday and made the $250 HORSE down at Binions. 224 entries was a bit too high for my normal sweet spot. I played very well through level 11, but never could get very far above an average stack size. I was reading the newspaper on the plane and I noted that some new tennis star won a match and they wrote that she had only 11 unforced errors. I thought to myself, what a great way to measure your success in HORSE! So at the end of level 11, I had only 3 unforced errors, and 1 forced error. (I consider an unforced error one where you simply make a mistake with a hand. An unforced error is anything where you are better off taking the action, such as calling with a draw on the river because you have pot odds, and then you miss and have to muck.) So I am playing very well. But now the levels start to really move up and everyone's M drops significantly. You basically have 2 showdowns with an average stack. I ended up stuck with an O8B hand where I was cheated for High on the turn, then cheated for Low on the river and made a crying call which was at the time $4k of my $26-$2k-$2k-$4k stack. Ends up I make a lower aces up and second nut low to nuts. I lose half my stack and suddenly its the dinner break. Level 13 is razz and I get in short stacked with 3 to low only to end up with a boat to finish me off. I finished 38th out of 224, 14 places out of the money.

Then, it was off to the MGM mixed games. but the MGM could not get the table going at first, so it was drinks and greets at the bar. Attendence was much lower (40 people) this summer, but that meant I got to meet every single person this time, which I really enjoyed. They did eventually get our HORSE 3-6 going, where we all bought in for 200 chips. 20 minutes later the casino manager came by and they were out of blue chips now and had to buy some back! priceless. The game broke up just before 3am.

Saturday was the tourney where I finihsed out of the money, but in the points. Pauly did a nice write-up on Tao of Poker. In the end, Mrs. Spaceman was crowned champion, besting Grubette.

The Poker Room manager treated us as if we were an annoyance on his otherwise fulfilling life, and the Orleans will probably never see a blogger (or any of its readers I hope) every again. Say what you will about vegas and poker, but in 3 years and 6 tournaments, the IP was HANDS DOWN the best and most customer friendly to the blogger community and they deserve to host our tournament in December. Volunteers to help arrange it are being sought.

Saturday night was poker with the bloggers where I had to play at a 1-2 table featuring the all-star lineup of Hoy, Blinders, Miami Don, CrackinAces, Likaris, penerii, and statickling and still look like I knew what I was doing. One hand made the OMM for next week. I held my own, until the end of the night, when a civilian filling an empty seat, flopped a set on my overpair on only his 3rd hand and I lost my stack. (I heard Miami Don releaved him of his new stack before the bloggers left.)

Sunday was the private HORSE tournament at the IP, which due to a mistake on My part, I missed and had to watch. Again, the IP not only did that for the pokersluts crew, they that evening they dealt us mixed games including some awesoime rounds of budagi and triple draw until 2 am.

And now, its time to pack it in and return to our otherwise pedestrian lives. The WSOP is going on all around me here in Las Vegas, but I never even stepped foot in the RIO as I was having too much fun. Maybe next year...

Celebrate Good Times, come on!

For those of you who didn’t realize, yesterday was “Hit a flush against Columbo” day. If you were in the Bay area last night, I hope you enjoyed your FREAKING CELEBRATION!!


...Off to Vegas in the morning. Next stop, Binions $250 HORSE.