I wish I had good things to say about poker lately. The best thing is I gained another follower. James Aiken. Turns out he is a pro in the UK. Welcome, James to my bitchy (currently) corner of the web.
I am letting Full Tilt settle a bit. It seems I does not want me to stay sane. Therefore, I turned to Cake poker. They have a $3K rebuy tourney I have taken down a couple of times. I chip down a few times and rebuy once again. I get my first big hand of the night with AK in the big blind. UTG limps in as do five others. I have about T3000 left and the pot is around T1100 so I just push. Happy to just take it down The utg instant calls and everybody else folds. Uh oh. AA for sure, right? Nope K8os. K8 OFF SUIT. Bitchy story, he flops two pair and I can not catch up. I rebuy now. I hit some hands and after the add on I am in the middle in chips. I chip up some more with a nice run of cards and I am in the top fifteen with 50 left and 25 getting paid.
I pick up AA in the big blind. I will ask it again, is there much else better than getting AA in the big blind in poker? Maybe the button? Anyway. Middle position raises it up four times the blind. I am the last one left so I pop it up to T4200 about a third of my stack. I like to do that here because it screams AK and I am just trying to win right there. He instant calls. The flop is 899. I push the rest of my stack. He instant calls. Drum roll.......... he has?????? 77.
Yep, he called off three fourths of his stack with 77. Turn is a K. No flush or straight possibilities. The river is the 7. Super well played sir. I can;t bitch, he did what I wanted him to. I sold AK and he bought and went with his read. The poker gods just like messing with me right now. Oh gods of poker, please let my %95 hands hold once in a while. Thanks MT
Prayer over
Fired up FT thinking maybe the mojo had switched to Cake. Played a $3 bounty tourney. I get to the final 14 with a decent stack. Finally get AQ and push. The big stack calls with JT just because he can and busts me. It was a fifth of his stack. Is this the correct play? Is this how a lot of you sit n go guys play it? Get a commanding lead and call off 1/5 of your stack to try to bust players and/or get bounties? I always thought a big aspect of sit n go tourneys is preserving your chip stack. I really would like to know, because I can not seem to play these things correctly. I have been playing them for years and have yet to take one down. Second a few times, but never first.
I will keep playing, but I may need a new laptop. Mine keeps flying out of my lap at the end of my tournaments for some reason.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
AAAAAAAAAAAnd ON
More humorous than anything now. All in on turn. He called down my pot sized raises the whole way.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Full Tilt s telling me something
Sat down to play a fun tournament I found on Full Tilt. It is the $10k guaranteed $1 re-buy rush tournament that starts at 9:40 or so. The first time I played I took 159 out of over 2000 runners. I have not cashed since, but I love the format. Top prize is usually over 3k. I was playing last night and went up and down. I had chipped up into the money with about a thousand runners left. I get AA in the big blind. Is there much better than AA in the big? There is a limper and a min raiser. Two more limpers. Blinds are 400/200. I pop it up to T8400. Big over bet, trying to look like a steal. Limper folds and the original raiser just flats. We are heads up. The flop is 3c4c8d. I bet the pot and he flats. Hmmm. The turn is the Jh. I push all in and he instant calls. He is all in. I am in for 2/3 my stack. Any idea as to what he had here? The river is the 8c. And he flips over KcTc. Trying to give me his chips. That pot would have put me in the top 30. I still have 15k left and keep going. I am up and down a bit and then down to 11k. I pick up AK in the big blind. Blinds 800/400/. Folded to the cut off who makes it 2200 to go. I push my 11k. He instant calls with JTos. for 3/4 his stack. He flops and then turns two pair and IGH.
I fire up a $6 ko sit n go and this happened
I took it as a sign and turned off the computer.
Woke up this morning and fired up a $2.20 cash out tourney, just to mess around. I lose half my stack with AK. On a JsKs9h3dQs board where a guy in position is just calling me down. I check the river and fold to his all in bet. I have T1500 and get AK utg. I raise the pot and get called. Next guy min raises and I push in. Original limper folds and the min raiser calls. He has TA DA 56os. The flop is AK7. Turn 8. River 9. I call him a donkey and he says sorry he was priced in. Yeah because you priced yourself in. Are you really priced in here? He had to call T1000 to win T2200. Are you really priced in when the best you can hope for is what he got, up against two overs? I really want to know readers. Do you ever make this call because you are priced in? It meant calling off over half his stack.
I fire up a $6 ko sit n go and this happened
I took it as a sign and turned off the computer.
Woke up this morning and fired up a $2.20 cash out tourney, just to mess around. I lose half my stack with AK. On a JsKs9h3dQs board where a guy in position is just calling me down. I check the river and fold to his all in bet. I have T1500 and get AK utg. I raise the pot and get called. Next guy min raises and I push in. Original limper folds and the min raiser calls. He has TA DA 56os. The flop is AK7. Turn 8. River 9. I call him a donkey and he says sorry he was priced in. Yeah because you priced yourself in. Are you really priced in here? He had to call T1000 to win T2200. Are you really priced in when the best you can hope for is what he got, up against two overs? I really want to know readers. Do you ever make this call because you are priced in? It meant calling off over half his stack.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Praire Band Casino.
Months ago my buddy Prasad asked if I wanted to go to an Indian casino, Prairie Band, on a Friday night. I gave my wife plenty of notice and that day was Friday last. Prasad was telling me how they spread a 2-5 game. I have never played above 1-2 before, but he said the game was pretty soft. It turns out I got myself into a game with a bunch of regulars. I picked a hell of a time to move up in limits. I had the worst run of cards I had ever experienced in my life. I saw AQ or AK four times. AJ, 33, 44, 66, 88, 99, JJ, and AA exactly one time. I got KK once in a chopped pot. I played for eleven hours straight. And the marginal hands I did play were getting drawn out on.
My best play of the night was when I started out seated at the feeder table. I get a walk with A7os in the big blind. Flop 7A5. Bingo. The small blind bets out. I smooth call and the button min raises. I go from bingo to uh oh. 57 flashed in my head. I had been playing with this guy for a while and he had been active. This is the type of bet he would make with that hand. The only other hand that fit for him here is A5. I could not put him on a set. The turn is a nasty 5. We check to him and he bets over 3/4 the pot. Now I know I am beat. The small blind folds and so do I. I flash him my cards and says "me too". I asked if he had top two pair as well. He only had an ace. His eyes got huge when he saw my lay down. I was right though. The button flipped up 57 for the boat. He was so proud. If he only knew.
I got moved to the main table and things just kept getting worse. Fold after fold. I finally got short and went broke on the nut flush draw. I reloaded and started to fold some more. There was this crazy Asian woman sitting at the table. She put the sickest beat on a guy to my left. She was calling all pre flop bets with any two cards. It got heads up on the flop of 423 when she bet and he moved all in. She called a $400 flop bet. The pot was over $500. The turn was a ten. The river was an ace. He had flipped over her jacks after the flop. She was standing holding her cards. She looked at the board, looked at her cards, back and forth. She very deliberately and smugly took one card out and placed it face up next to the the ace on the board, pairing it. He other card was a seven. Yep. A7 calls $400 bet on a 423 board. JJ guy was reeling while the rest of us salivated. She announced she would leave when she got to 2K. She only had $150 to go. If I could only get a hand.
The night wore on and I had little to no traction. We are playing five handed. The lady is still there. We are there because she is there. I get AJs and raise it up. She calls and we are heads up. Flop is Ac9h2d. I bet out $50, which is a little less than the pot. She calls. The turn is the 4d. I bet out the pot. She calls and only has $6 left. I toss the $6 in the pot as the river is dealt. It is the 9d. I flip over my hand. She does the same thing that she did with the JJ guy. Can you guess what she had? J2 of diamonds. She yells "frush" and tells the dealer to "give me his money" I had my hand to get paid and get screwed by the poker gods. I win that hand and I am back to even after a horrendous night. She goes broke soon afterward and reaches in to her pocket for $150 more. She busts again and goes to do it again. The dealer asks if she can short buy again. We all about scream YES!!! I finally pick up AA on the button. I raise it to $25 knowing she is going to call from the big blind. The board comes J high and we get it all in. She has J2 again and my aces hold. She has had enough and the game breaks. The last hand gets me to only a few hundred down.
Prasad tells me that there are usually three or four more like her. It was just a slow night. I was just not my night.
My best play of the night was when I started out seated at the feeder table. I get a walk with A7os in the big blind. Flop 7A5. Bingo. The small blind bets out. I smooth call and the button min raises. I go from bingo to uh oh. 57 flashed in my head. I had been playing with this guy for a while and he had been active. This is the type of bet he would make with that hand. The only other hand that fit for him here is A5. I could not put him on a set. The turn is a nasty 5. We check to him and he bets over 3/4 the pot. Now I know I am beat. The small blind folds and so do I. I flash him my cards and says "me too". I asked if he had top two pair as well. He only had an ace. His eyes got huge when he saw my lay down. I was right though. The button flipped up 57 for the boat. He was so proud. If he only knew.
I got moved to the main table and things just kept getting worse. Fold after fold. I finally got short and went broke on the nut flush draw. I reloaded and started to fold some more. There was this crazy Asian woman sitting at the table. She put the sickest beat on a guy to my left. She was calling all pre flop bets with any two cards. It got heads up on the flop of 423 when she bet and he moved all in. She called a $400 flop bet. The pot was over $500. The turn was a ten. The river was an ace. He had flipped over her jacks after the flop. She was standing holding her cards. She looked at the board, looked at her cards, back and forth. She very deliberately and smugly took one card out and placed it face up next to the the ace on the board, pairing it. He other card was a seven. Yep. A7 calls $400 bet on a 423 board. JJ guy was reeling while the rest of us salivated. She announced she would leave when she got to 2K. She only had $150 to go. If I could only get a hand.
The night wore on and I had little to no traction. We are playing five handed. The lady is still there. We are there because she is there. I get AJs and raise it up. She calls and we are heads up. Flop is Ac9h2d. I bet out $50, which is a little less than the pot. She calls. The turn is the 4d. I bet out the pot. She calls and only has $6 left. I toss the $6 in the pot as the river is dealt. It is the 9d. I flip over my hand. She does the same thing that she did with the JJ guy. Can you guess what she had? J2 of diamonds. She yells "frush" and tells the dealer to "give me his money" I had my hand to get paid and get screwed by the poker gods. I win that hand and I am back to even after a horrendous night. She goes broke soon afterward and reaches in to her pocket for $150 more. She busts again and goes to do it again. The dealer asks if she can short buy again. We all about scream YES!!! I finally pick up AA on the button. I raise it to $25 knowing she is going to call from the big blind. The board comes J high and we get it all in. She has J2 again and my aces hold. She has had enough and the game breaks. The last hand gets me to only a few hundred down.
Prasad tells me that there are usually three or four more like her. It was just a slow night. I was just not my night.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
More Matter
Went to Harrahs to drop off my weekly $50 donation to the luck fest they call a tournament. I did just that in three hands. I call a five times blind raise with AJs. I get heads up with a older guy who has just open raised every hand of the tournament. Flop is JJ7. Woot Woot. He continue bets and I call. Turn is a blank. He bets bigger and I call. River is a blank and he bets bigger and I push. He has 77 for the flopped boat. IGH. On to cash.
I had played about half of hour of cash before the tourney. The last hand before I have to go to the push fest, I pick up KK on the button. Four limpers ahead of me, so at least I can pick up some dead money. I raise it to $15. The small blind folds and the big blind makes it $45. Folds around to me. I decide to just call. I am in position and can get away from the flop if an ace falls. The guy I was up against I had played with a bit. He is tight aggressive and easily could have aces or even as low as AK. I was on the button, so he could put me on a steal. We had even stacks so one of us was probably gonna double up. If no ace flops, I am pretty much committed to the pot. The flop is T73 rainbow. He pauses a split second and pushes out a stack of $100. This is a bit over the pot size. The size made me think he did not have AA or TT, the only two hands I am really afraid of here. I think he bets smaller with those hands. $100 felt like QQ or JJ. He wanted to win there and was getting rid of AK. I think this through for a moment and move all in. I have him covered by $10. He has to call and does. I flip over my kings and ask if he has aces. He gives a slight shake of the head and I know I am ahead. He does not show his cards. The turn is another 3, great. The river is the very nasty Qh. My insides fall a little in anticipation of the bad news. He shakes his head and mucks and I am up $180 in half an hour. Nice.
How do you feel about opponents not revealing their hands on all in hands? If he had hit his jack, it would have felt a lot like a slow roll. I know it is not, it just feels that way. I do not mind it here because he called my all in. What really gets me is the guys that I call down and do not show. It not raging mad, just annoyed.
I went to another table after the tourney. I was absolutely card dead. I saw zero pairs and one big ace in the first three hours of play. This is where Zen and the Art of Poker has really helped me. I just kept repeating it is not my turn in my head. In the past I would have pressed and lost money. I just waited for the cards to turn. The guys at my end of the table kept needling me. I just told them the truth. I got T3 four hands in a row. Q2, 86, J5, all the goodies. I did pick up KK in the small blind for the chop. There is a bad beat at Harrahs, but he did not have a cheeseburger hand. When my cards did come, I stole some blinds. I finally strung together four playable hands in a row and then started to get action. I picked up AA in the small blind and flatted a raise from utg. I flopped a set and won a small pot. I hit a couple of flushes and another set and ground to a $167 profit. Up about $350 for the day.
There was one guy at the table who could not lose. All the cards came to his seat. He left with $1300 for his eight hours of work. The one big hand I saw was his 22 vs KQ vs KQ on a 2KJ4 board. The set was betting the whole way and both KQ called the whole way. One had picked up a flush draw, but still bad calls. he won a $700 pot there.
I had played about half of hour of cash before the tourney. The last hand before I have to go to the push fest, I pick up KK on the button. Four limpers ahead of me, so at least I can pick up some dead money. I raise it to $15. The small blind folds and the big blind makes it $45. Folds around to me. I decide to just call. I am in position and can get away from the flop if an ace falls. The guy I was up against I had played with a bit. He is tight aggressive and easily could have aces or even as low as AK. I was on the button, so he could put me on a steal. We had even stacks so one of us was probably gonna double up. If no ace flops, I am pretty much committed to the pot. The flop is T73 rainbow. He pauses a split second and pushes out a stack of $100. This is a bit over the pot size. The size made me think he did not have AA or TT, the only two hands I am really afraid of here. I think he bets smaller with those hands. $100 felt like QQ or JJ. He wanted to win there and was getting rid of AK. I think this through for a moment and move all in. I have him covered by $10. He has to call and does. I flip over my kings and ask if he has aces. He gives a slight shake of the head and I know I am ahead. He does not show his cards. The turn is another 3, great. The river is the very nasty Qh. My insides fall a little in anticipation of the bad news. He shakes his head and mucks and I am up $180 in half an hour. Nice.
How do you feel about opponents not revealing their hands on all in hands? If he had hit his jack, it would have felt a lot like a slow roll. I know it is not, it just feels that way. I do not mind it here because he called my all in. What really gets me is the guys that I call down and do not show. It not raging mad, just annoyed.
I went to another table after the tourney. I was absolutely card dead. I saw zero pairs and one big ace in the first three hours of play. This is where Zen and the Art of Poker has really helped me. I just kept repeating it is not my turn in my head. In the past I would have pressed and lost money. I just waited for the cards to turn. The guys at my end of the table kept needling me. I just told them the truth. I got T3 four hands in a row. Q2, 86, J5, all the goodies. I did pick up KK in the small blind for the chop. There is a bad beat at Harrahs, but he did not have a cheeseburger hand. When my cards did come, I stole some blinds. I finally strung together four playable hands in a row and then started to get action. I picked up AA in the small blind and flatted a raise from utg. I flopped a set and won a small pot. I hit a couple of flushes and another set and ground to a $167 profit. Up about $350 for the day.
There was one guy at the table who could not lose. All the cards came to his seat. He left with $1300 for his eight hours of work. The one big hand I saw was his 22 vs KQ vs KQ on a 2KJ4 board. The set was betting the whole way and both KQ called the whole way. One had picked up a flush draw, but still bad calls. he won a $700 pot there.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Matter
My high school physics teacher always used to say matter is just stuff. I just have some stuff today.
I missed the Very Josie last night. It starts just a little too soon for me here in the central time zone. Kiddos are still getting to bed. I did make the Mookie. I bubbled. TT vs AQs of NYRambler. I can not win a race against that dude. gracie That was my 4 year old typing her name.
Anyhoo. I ended winning a 27 man $6 sit no go later for around $65. Felt better.
I went on my weekly Harrah's run. I sign up for the tourney and have an hour to kill before I meet my brother for lunch. I try to get on a 1/2 game, but all that is open is a 3/6 limit game. I take the seat and proceed to win $100 in about thirty minutes. I then get my 1/2 seat and win another $30 before lunch. Nice to win my buy in for the tourney, lunch, and another $50 to boot. Nice hour of work.
Have a good lunch with the brother. When we were getting seated, I asked the hostess if my brother had come in. I see her every week so she knows who I am. Turns out my brother is right behind us. I say there he is and throw him some homemade chex mix I brought for him. The hostess said that was a nice thing to do for my little brother. Now I am about three inches taller than him but about fifty pounds lighter. I am also eleven years younger. I told her she was mistaken. She would not believe me. I even told her about the age difference. She thought I was full of shit. My brother has been blessed with a full head of dark hair. I have been gray and getting grayer for about ten years. I also am a losing some hair up front. I can see how she made the mistake. But if you look closely at us, his face shows the real story.
I played the tournament. Starting stacks T2000. Took some hits early and was down to T850. I look down at 33 and limp. Five of us see the flop. J53 rainbow. The big stack utg pushes all in. Now, he had been doing this a lot. Every time he did it he showed top pair. He even did it with the nuts. He never slow played that. No matter I am getting it in with my set here every time, obviously. It was just cool to know right away. I knew he had AJ. He was the epitome of playing your own cards. Down right disbelief and anguish registered on his face when he saw my cards. It never occurred to him that he was behind. I doubled up and had my original stack back. I chipped up along the way and had about T4400. I knocked out a shorty and had about 5k. I lost a bit and needed a hand because blinds just went up to 400/800. Let the push fest begin. I get KK utg. Whew!!! I push and the same guy, who is still the chip leader says "I have to call". He has AJs. I flip over my hand and he again cant believe he is behind. Ace on the flop and IGH. I hold here and I am one of the chip leaders. That guy amazed me. I stole from him some. He always bet his hand if he hit. He never got sneaky. I would have really beat him up with a stack. Oh well.
The cash game afterward was great. I lost half my buy in early. I had two 2/5 players on my left just splashing away at the pot. I play super tight. I finally get KK in ep and rerasie it $15 to the utg player who made it $5. Four of us see the flop of KJT rainbow. I should have bet out, but I shut down. I was convinced utg had AQ. It checked around. The turn brought the ugly Q. Utg ends up having AT. I played it ok. I don't know. I guess I should have bet out the flop and see where I am. I think I was just intimidated by the guys to my right. Weak I know.
I get KK again and bet it the same. Same four callers. Flop comes eight high and I push. I win. One of the 2/5 guys leaves and I move one seat over from the one seat to the two seat.. I hit AA three times and get paid. One time by a LAG that called off $170 with I do not know what. He raised pre flop $10. Three call and I pop it to $50. He calls and it is heads up. Flop is 9 high with two spades. I bet 3/4 the pot. He flats. The turn is the 4 of diamonds. He agonized over the turn when I pushed all in. He finally calls off $100 with I do not know what. The nasty four of spades comes out and I am sure I am crushed. I flip over my AA and he folds and leaves. Yay me.
I limp utg with QQ. Three callers around to lp. One guy raises to $20. The button moves all in for $60. I move all in. The button asked for the exact flop he had earlier when his 22 flopped a set. The dealer obliged. He flipped his cards over while telling the dealer thank you. I casually turned mine over and the button calls me a butt hole. The door card was a Q. Q24. Turned quads. If the river came 2 we win a bad beat. Close as I had ever come. The other guy had JJ.
I hit KK three times. Fun seat. I end up #340. $470 or so for the day.
I will be in Vegas for a family thing December 6-11th. Nice coincidence heh? I will try to make it over to the IP or wherever everybody is. I really wanted to play the tourney.
I missed the Very Josie last night. It starts just a little too soon for me here in the central time zone. Kiddos are still getting to bed. I did make the Mookie. I bubbled. TT vs AQs of NYRambler. I can not win a race against that dude. gracie That was my 4 year old typing her name.
Anyhoo. I ended winning a 27 man $6 sit no go later for around $65. Felt better.
I went on my weekly Harrah's run. I sign up for the tourney and have an hour to kill before I meet my brother for lunch. I try to get on a 1/2 game, but all that is open is a 3/6 limit game. I take the seat and proceed to win $100 in about thirty minutes. I then get my 1/2 seat and win another $30 before lunch. Nice to win my buy in for the tourney, lunch, and another $50 to boot. Nice hour of work.
Have a good lunch with the brother. When we were getting seated, I asked the hostess if my brother had come in. I see her every week so she knows who I am. Turns out my brother is right behind us. I say there he is and throw him some homemade chex mix I brought for him. The hostess said that was a nice thing to do for my little brother. Now I am about three inches taller than him but about fifty pounds lighter. I am also eleven years younger. I told her she was mistaken. She would not believe me. I even told her about the age difference. She thought I was full of shit. My brother has been blessed with a full head of dark hair. I have been gray and getting grayer for about ten years. I also am a losing some hair up front. I can see how she made the mistake. But if you look closely at us, his face shows the real story.
I played the tournament. Starting stacks T2000. Took some hits early and was down to T850. I look down at 33 and limp. Five of us see the flop. J53 rainbow. The big stack utg pushes all in. Now, he had been doing this a lot. Every time he did it he showed top pair. He even did it with the nuts. He never slow played that. No matter I am getting it in with my set here every time, obviously. It was just cool to know right away. I knew he had AJ. He was the epitome of playing your own cards. Down right disbelief and anguish registered on his face when he saw my cards. It never occurred to him that he was behind. I doubled up and had my original stack back. I chipped up along the way and had about T4400. I knocked out a shorty and had about 5k. I lost a bit and needed a hand because blinds just went up to 400/800. Let the push fest begin. I get KK utg. Whew!!! I push and the same guy, who is still the chip leader says "I have to call". He has AJs. I flip over my hand and he again cant believe he is behind. Ace on the flop and IGH. I hold here and I am one of the chip leaders. That guy amazed me. I stole from him some. He always bet his hand if he hit. He never got sneaky. I would have really beat him up with a stack. Oh well.
The cash game afterward was great. I lost half my buy in early. I had two 2/5 players on my left just splashing away at the pot. I play super tight. I finally get KK in ep and rerasie it $15 to the utg player who made it $5. Four of us see the flop of KJT rainbow. I should have bet out, but I shut down. I was convinced utg had AQ. It checked around. The turn brought the ugly Q. Utg ends up having AT. I played it ok. I don't know. I guess I should have bet out the flop and see where I am. I think I was just intimidated by the guys to my right. Weak I know.
I get KK again and bet it the same. Same four callers. Flop comes eight high and I push. I win. One of the 2/5 guys leaves and I move one seat over from the one seat to the two seat.. I hit AA three times and get paid. One time by a LAG that called off $170 with I do not know what. He raised pre flop $10. Three call and I pop it to $50. He calls and it is heads up. Flop is 9 high with two spades. I bet 3/4 the pot. He flats. The turn is the 4 of diamonds. He agonized over the turn when I pushed all in. He finally calls off $100 with I do not know what. The nasty four of spades comes out and I am sure I am crushed. I flip over my AA and he folds and leaves. Yay me.
I limp utg with QQ. Three callers around to lp. One guy raises to $20. The button moves all in for $60. I move all in. The button asked for the exact flop he had earlier when his 22 flopped a set. The dealer obliged. He flipped his cards over while telling the dealer thank you. I casually turned mine over and the button calls me a butt hole. The door card was a Q. Q24. Turned quads. If the river came 2 we win a bad beat. Close as I had ever come. The other guy had JJ.
I hit KK three times. Fun seat. I end up #340. $470 or so for the day.
I will be in Vegas for a family thing December 6-11th. Nice coincidence heh? I will try to make it over to the IP or wherever everybody is. I really wanted to play the tourney.
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