oopsie

ok, got my KK vs. AA hands out of the way for awhile - 2nd hand I played in a $20 6 man tonight - lost all my chips. Played it perfectly - would have gotten paid off the JJ/QQ/TT on the same flop. Didn't affect me mentally - that's a good sign.

Hopped on another tourney minutes later. 15 hands in, I get AA, raise it up, get a shover, then a caller. Hmmm. I call. I'm up against KK and 9Ts. Looks ok, until the flop comes 778 - dude flops an open ender, just to give me a heart attack. Fortunately the turn and river brick and I triple up. So we're even on the AA/KK luck, I guess.

monthly tourney - job well done

Last night was the monthly tourney in our housing development clubhouse. Anthony, the guy who runs the tourney (and does an excellent job, BTW), anticipated a smaller than usual crowd, and he was correct - we ended up with 32 on the night - 8 players at 4 tables.

My cards were horrific early on. This tourney features quite a few limp/callers in the early levels, and I know these guys are chipping their stacks away with JT/K9 type hands. I would not fall into the trap. My Q6/J2/T4 type hands were thrown into the muck, even from the small blind.

I played exactly one hand in the first three blind levels. I got 78 offsuit on the button, limped in with one other limper. The big blind raised it up, but only a minraise. The original limper called and so did I. I actually hit my 7 as a middle pair, but the big blind lead out and the original limper called, so I threw away my pair with no draw.

My first raise came from under the gun - I had a whopping A7o with 6 players at the table. Very weak, but the table was well aware that I wasn't playing anything, so I popped it up. Everyone folded. The guy to my right, a decent player, said "I thought about calling you, but since you hadn't played in forever...." I replied "so you're saying that by this time I've established my tight image?" He laughed.

My first decent hand came with about 1300 chips left of my starting 1500, but it was not an ideal situation. Blinds were 50/100. I had AJo in middle position, and 2 players limped to me. I felt trapped in between - there were enough good, aggressive players behind me to raise up a bunch of limpers, and raising it up myself would commit my entire stack to this pot. Did I really want to die on the hill tonight with AJo? Ugh. Folding was not correct, either, though. Double Ugh. I limped and didn't feel very good about it. There were 5 to the flop... which came J 2 3 rainbow. Ok, then, this looks pretty good. I've got top pair/top kicker on a weak board. Sure, there could be the hidden set out there or a crummy 2 pair in this limped pot, but there could also be JT/J9 type hands that will pay me off, since my AJ is pretty well disguised by my limp. I decided that now was the time I could die on the hill with AJo. I lead out 350 into a 500 pot, and everyone folded. This bumped my stack up to 1800.

Soon after I get TT and pop up a limper with a big stack, he calls. The flop came all under ten - something like 7 5 3. He checks and I lead out almost a pot size bet, and he calls. The turn comes another undercard, putting a small straight draw on the board, but no flush draw. Another check, I lead out again (half pot this time), he calls again. "Oh great, I'm walking into a set" I think to myself. The river couldn't have helped his draws (I don't remember what it was), and I actually still have an overpair to the board. He checks. I rule out a big hand, but maybe he's weakly playing JJ, or has a goofy two pair, so I check behind. He calls and shows A3. He must have decided I had nothing and he was going to call me down with bottom pair, and I win a nice pot with a TT that doesn't improve.

I then hit some nice flops. I got 68s and a free play from the blind vs. 2 opponents. Flop comes gin -457 for the hidden straight, with 2 diamonds. Do I check or bet here? I decide to lead out and hope someone's got an overpair or even a set. I get one caller - from the same guy who I beat with my Tens early. I know I'm ahead now, but I still need to be cautious.

Of course, the turn comes the dreaded third diamond, a Jack. I check and so does he. His check is pretty quick - but I can't decide if he's slowplaying the flush or or he is as afraid of the flush as I am.

The river bricks all draws. A tricky situation - the pot is 1200, I've got a straight out of position on a flushy board. I choose a 400 chip bet - big enough to get some value, small enough to get away from if he raises me up. When he announces "call", I breathe a sigh of relief - even if I'm beat by a baby flush, I know that I played this hand well and didn't lose all my chips overplaying a straight. I announce "small straight" and flip my cards over, and he disgustingly tosses his hand into the muck. I still can't decide what he called me with on the flop and river (maybe JK/JQ?).

I get the feeling that this guy's getting frustrated now - I've taken 2 big pots from him and knocked him from a bigger stack to an average one. This frustration leads to his demise soon after. A new player joins our table. This guy is an occasional player in our home game - and I know that he will never fold if he has any type of a hand. Never. Tonight he's playing every pot and hitting some hands, and his stack is in the 5000-6000 range.

Mr. Frustrated gets into a hand with Mr. Neverfold - the ending board has an Ace and a Queen and a Jack, 3 clubs, and Mr. Frustrated brings out a pot size bet on the river. Mr. Neverfold calls - with pocket fives. Mr. Frustrated turns into Mr. Tilt and chucks his King-high hand into the muck. "How can you call that?" he grumbles. Mr. Neverfold honestly doesn't know what he did "wrong" - he looks apologetic as he scoops up the chips. The two guys to my left, both younger guys with online experience, look at each other and start talking mumbling to each other. "How could he call that?" one says to the other. I look at them and say - "I know this guy - he doesn't fold". Each glances at the other - I think they're about to make an adjustment.

One of them takes a big pot from Mr. Neverfold with Q9 when he hits his queen from a blind. Mr. Neverfold had bottom pair. Then the other goes all-in with his 1000 chips and 2 pair and Mr. Neverfold calls him with a gutshot draw, but it doesn't come in. Mr. Neverfold is below average again.

My home-game friend John puts his last 500 into the pot under the gun, without looking at his cards. Folds around to me, I peek at my cards and find a lovely KK. I shove over him. We get heads up and he turns over K3. I'm 94% to win and I do.

Soon after we get seated at the final table - 10 left out of 32. My stack is average, maybe a bit below. There are 2 shorties and one bigger than average, then the rest of us around 4000-6000. I've still got some work to do. Mr. Neverfold overplays a hand in his typical way and bows out, then the 2 shorties go out. I'm stealing a blind or two. The player to my right is personally knocking out each player in turn, and his stack is growing and growing. He seems to be getting good cards and making all the right moves, until one possible badly played hand. We're on the bubble with 6 players. My home game friend Kevin has less than the big blind, he puts all his chips in. Bigstack calls from the small blind, as do I of course. I've got A4s. The flops come 88A, and Mr. Bigstack bets the pot into me! We're trying to bust the bubble here. I've got a decent piece of this flop, but of course he could have an 8 or have me outkicked. Do I raise here? Just call? I decide to drop the hand, and say to him "boy I hope you've got an 8". He doesn't - he's got complete crap - 96o. Kevin's got QT and his hand holds up - he triples up. My Ace would have knocked him out of the tournament.

Did Bigstack make a mistake there? There is some argument. One line of thinking is that the big stack at the tournament actually wants to keep the shorties on life support on the bubble - but I don't buy this at all. What if that guy goes on to hit some big hands and double through you a few times - how do you feel then when your big stack becomes average from a guy you could have knocked out with almost no risk to your stack?

Unfortunately, my good friend Tony falls victim to the bubble - based on a very poorly played hand. Tony's got A7 under the gun, and the guy in the big blind has a tiny stack. Tony thinks that he doesn't even have enough to cover his small blind next hand - so he limps in, figuring this guy will automatically push his last couple chips in and Tony, whose stack is pretty small himself, will have a decent chance to win with his Ace. and knock the shortie out. Before we get to the blinds, though - Mr. Bigstack limps in behind him. The shortie big blind checks his option, the flop comes, both shortie and Tony check and - Mr. Bigstack leads out. Both players fold. Then Tony reaizes what he's done - shortie posts his small blind and has a single 100 chip left. He can survive another orbit! Tony, on the other hand, now also has a short stack and has to post both blinds, which will leave him with almost nothing. He fails to catch cards and gets knocked out on the bubble, pushing Mr. single 100 chip into the money.

I feel bad for Tony - I know he'll beat himself up for aweek over this - but hey, I've made it into the money myself! I'm thinking to myself that any result after this is gravy - but my stack is fine and I've still got a good shot to win this thing. About two hands after the bubble breaks, I'm in the big blind and Mr. single 100 chip, under the gun, puts his last chip in. I haven't looked at my cards yet, but I know I'll be calling. Then Kevin shoves over him for 3600 more. Hmmm, that sounds like a big hand - I suppose I have to check my cards now. I look down and find my old friend KK. Oh damn. Can I really fold KK here? If I call and Kevin's got Ax (or God Forbid AA) and hits his A, he knocks my stack in half. Do I just let him win the one 100 chip and move on?

no way - I'm not folding KK here. If Kevin beats me with KK, then the poker gods have spoken. I call. Mr. single chip has 99 - I'm crushing him - then Kevin flips over - J T! Ok, then, that was a nice call. I'm 70% to win vs. both of them, and the Poker Gods actually oblige and my kings hold up. I knock out 2 players and we're down to 3 - Mr. Bigstack, me, and a guy named Jason who has the amazing (to me) ability of knowing everyone's exact stack size at all times. More than once at the final table, when someone has asked how much Player A has left, Jason has immediately said the amount. Most of the time, he was dead right or off by one or two chips. I was impressed. His wife also plays, and she's a good player as well.

The next two orbits, I raise it up from the button. Once I actually have a hand- QQ. The other time, I think I had crap - something like T7. Both times both players fold. After the second time, Jason says to me "by the way, I'm not letting you steal my blind the rest of the night". I like this information - if I can get lucky enough to get one more good hand from the button - I'm overbetting and hope he calls thinking it's another steal.

This doesn't happen, though. Instead, I play J9 from the small blind. Jason checks his option. The flop comes 2 9 T and I lead out with middle pair. Jason calls. The turn comes another 9, and I bet the pot. Jason says - "damn, you looked a little nervous when you bet the flop, then you relaxed right up when the 9 came on the turn, I can't believe you hit that 9. He folds in disgust and shows T7. Holy cow - he can read me like a book! I say "it seems I need to work on my body language a bit". Tony, who has taken over dealing for the last 3 of us, jokes "no, you don't - please don't".

Then, I get stuck in another tricky spot and get very lucky. Jason raises it up. He has been complaining about horrible cards since the final table was set - and I'm pretty sure his raise represents a decent hand. Bigstack calls. From the big blind, I look down at JJ - oh great. The standard play here is to overshove and see how Jason likes his cards, but in the end I play it conservative and call. I know right away that this is the wrong, weak play with a premium hand...

...but I quickly forget all of that when the flop comes A J x. I've hit my set, and Jason goes all in. He's got an Ace, of course. (AA? boy I hope not). I call. He says "I've got an Ace", along with a 7. I reply "I've got 2 Jacks", which briefly raises his sprits, until he glances at the board and sees that there's a third one on the board. He looks up at the sky as the turn and river come with no help and knock us to heads up.

Heads up is anticlimatic, actually. My opponent raises every time from the small blind, but only twice the amount of the big, giving me 2-1 odds to call. I call several times but never hit my hand. He fires out a bet almost every time I check. I know that half of these are bullshit but there isn't much I can do about it. One time, I decide to minraise with nothing (and an Ace on the board) and get him to fold. Another time I try this and he calls and I have to give it up. I don't hit a pair for about a dozen hands, and soon he's got a 5-1 chip advantage over me. I start shoving as my only move, which keeps me alive for awhile. He finally calls my K3 with a JT - my hand holds up until the river when a Jack comes and ends the tournament. Second place for me and a $350 purse.

All in all - I feel like I played extremely well. My few mistakes were strong hands that I played too weakly - certainly better than overplaying weak hands and losing lots of chips. I stayed disciplined and rock-tight early when the cards weren't coming - took a few shots when I was pretty sure they would work, and most of them did. I didn't get my money in when behind the entire night, and when I got my money in ahead, I avoided the suckout.

A Job well done, I would say.

a nice win

Full Tilt Poker, $30 + $3 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 30/60 Blinds, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

CO: 880
Hero (BTN): 3,435
I've already flopped a set and knocked someone out with top pair, and I've been bullying the table. Big fun!
SB: 880
BB: 2,090
UTG: 1,715

Pre-Flop: (90) 3 3 dealt to Hero (BTN)
2 folds, Hero raises to 150, SB calls 120, BB folds
standard button raise. SB, a half-decent player, defends.

Flop: (360) 4 Q 6 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks
no set, I'm done with the hand...

Turn: (360) 3 (2 Players)
or am I?
SB bets 360, Hero raises to 840, SB calls 370 and is All-In
he bets into me (5 7? god I hope not. Well, he doesn't have many chips left, so I put him all in)

River: (1,820) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 1,820 Pot
Hero showed 3 3 (three of a kind, Threes) and WON 1,820 (+940 NET)
SB showed J K (King Queen high) and LOST (-880 NET)
He shoved it in on a flush draw. Wonder why he didn't do that on the flop, it would have gotten me out of there.

break in the poker for Opeth

My buddy since the 7th grade, Larry, scored some free tickets to see Opeth last night. I'm a metal fan, but growling Death Metal is usually too much for me. However, Larry (and another friend) have been telling me for several years that Opeth is the one black metal band that I need to dig deeper into.

Larry was right - this Swedish band is something special. Yes, their songs have many black Death Metal elements to them, but they also feature acoustic passages, jazz elements, classic rock-type hooks, and traditional singing mixed in with the growling. This band simply cannot be compartmentalized.

After the show, I left the 700 seat House of Blues auditorium a bit dazed, feeling somewhat like I had been intellectually pummeled. I was witness to something very dark and complex. I did not sleep well.

Opeth has a new fan.

the comeback trail continues

First, the real life news, my little one Sophia got a 96% on her first math test of the year. This is a big accomplishment, indeed. Sophia is a solid B student - but it doesn't come as naturally to her as it does to her older sister Gabriella. She has to work a bit harder. She also succumbs to test anxiety, which can lead to the occasional crash and burn test every once in awhile. However, for this material, we were able to work with her several times, and I spoke with her a long time about not being nervous. I felt like she really knew her stuff, so I told here there was no need to worry. And, thankfully, it paid off.

When I got home from work today, the first thing I asked her was "did you get your math test back?". She replied "no", but she had that little "I'm fibbing" grin on her face, so I knew what was up. I had to find it. After I changed clothes and went to the old PC to check email, there it was, taped to my monitor.

In poker, 2 tournies tonight - took third in a 9 man and second in a 6 man. In the first, I was shortstack on the bubble and should have been shoving a very wide range, but there were 2 poor players still in the game and I felt like one of them would make a mistake before I would become blinded out. This intuition paid off - someone busted out and put me in third. I might have gotten farther - too - I got all my money in with AK vs A9, but the bigstack spiked a 9 and out I was.

After tourney 1, I waffled a bit between playing again and retiring early, but Sharkscope made up my mind for me - I quickly found a $30 6-man rated "triple fishy" with only 3 players entered so far! Holy cow. I quickly signed up.

Nobody at the table had played more than 169 tourneys (I'm not much farther out at 229). The ROIs at the table were -36, -34, -23, +10, +60 (only 9 games played) and me at +24.

I wish I could say I totally duped some fish into giving me all of his chips, but this wasn't the case. I never quite got the cards. My biggest win was an all-in race (me 88 vs. his AQo) that kept me in the running.

My headsup opponent was pretty transparent - he liked to bluff with pot size bets, but bet smaller for value. He also overshoved a few times - not sure what those were b/c I didn't have anything to call with (my guess was 2 pair+). The last hand I shoved K6s and he called with A4 - it held up. ICM says this was an easy shove (actually an "unexploitable" shove) considering our chip stacks, so I have no qualms about getting knocked out in 2nd on this one. I still need some ICM practice, though - I reviewed my headsup hands and there were many I should have shoved that I did not.

4 tourneys - $32.

Played 4 $20 six-man tourneys tonight, and my luck was pretty good overall, I guess. I took first and second place in 2, bubbled one, and in the fourth I lost a race with AK and then got VERY unlucky on the river to bust out fourth.

In that last one, I shoved with KT of spades. My M was less than 4, this was the right play. A bad player called me. Then a good player shoved over him, and like a donk he called again! Donk showed 77, good player showed JJ. Ok, not the end of the world, maybe I can hit a K and triple up.

No king, but by the turn I had a flush and was looking good. The flop was 8s 8h 3s 6s, so all I had to fade was a jack, eight, or 7. Of course, the river came an 8 and the good player 4 outed me and the donkey. I was 85% to win that hand on the turn.

In the tourney that I bubbled I made a poor overshove - I had A7o in the big blind, button raised me. He had done this several times before, so I figured him on a steal (even though his PFR was under 10). He insta-called me with AK. I probably could have let that one go.

The first tourney was the luckiest yet. I played 6 hands. In the first hand, 3 people went out and there were only three left! Then, my internet connection died. I kicked and swore and spat but couldn't get it working. I finally rebooted my PC and, 10 minutes later (I checked my logs, it was really 10 minutes), I got back in. There were only 2 players left! However, I only had 400 chips left, so I shoved my next hand (97o), but he had AT and knocked me out. I suppose coming in second in a tourney that you missed most of can be considered some of that hidden luck, going my way for once.

For the month, I'm down $135. I also noticed that I'm almost dead even for the last 90 tournies or so (3 months) Need to keep cranking...

a win!

man, it's been a long time coming, but I posted a first place finish in a $20 9-man tonight (as well as another bubble in a $20 6-man, for my 2,345th bubble of the month).

Finally hit some big flops. Raised it up with JK, got a caller from the blind., flop came KK4. We both check. Turn comes an Ace. I'm hoping he called with an ace. He obliges me by leading out. I raise him 2.5x his bet, he calls. (uh, oh - AK? Not again). River comes a Tc - now I'm behind AK and AJ. He checks. The pot is 2720 and I've got 915 left. Quick check to the skill of my opponent - he's a modest winner with 151 tourneys played. He is capable of dragging AK. He's also capable of calling a raise with a gutshot that now hit. Aw hell, screw it - I put my 915 in. He thinks for a second and calls and shows AQ! Basically he didn't put me on a king, and I'm back in contention.

A couple hands later I get into a blind vs. blind deal - I flop a one card open ended straight and minbet twice to build the pot in case the straight comes. It doesn't come, but I decide that the river didn't help him either, so I bet pot with my busted draw, and get a fold! Now that's some good poker.

My headups opponent is a weak-tight -8% ROI. He folds way too much heads-up, and I punish him mercilessly with raises. The few times he raises, I simply get out of the way. I get lucky on the last hand as he tries to slowplay AK - I have 9-6o. The final board reads J-J-K-9-9 and he gets it all in. I'm dead to a jack but I've got a 3-1 chip lead and seem to be a better player, so I decide it's worth a call. My boat smacks down his 2 pair and I get my long-time-coming victory - the first in 23 online tournaments, dating back to September 2. I still have a bunch of work to do before the end of the month to get back to even.

Interesting fact - did you know that KK is a 91% preflop favorite over KQ? I did not know that until the donk in the first tourney called my preflop over-bet with KQ and hit a straight on the turn. Egads.

serious home game

Tony and I went back to the "serious" home game last night. As usual, Tony fared well, winning $120. And, as usual (at least this month), I lost - about $64 this time.

Most of these losses came in two hands. In the first, I got a free play in the big blind with K8o. The flop comes 8 8 4. I check, someone bets out, everyone else folds. I reraise, and he pushes. Ok, now I have to call - I'm only behind 2 hands in the deck, A8 and 44. How can you fold that? You can't fold, not for $20. I call and he's got A8. Once again, nothing you can do there. You're destined to get it all in and lose. Seems I've quite a few of these this month.

The second hand was well-played by my opponent - I had As6s and the game had turned into a limpfest (this game switches inexplicably from raise/reraise preflop to limp/limp/limp at a moment's notice). I got to get in cheaply. The flop came 3 3 K with two spades. We all got to see a free turn card as everyone checked. The turn was an ace, and one player from the big blind bet out. I didn't know if the ace had put me ahead or not, but the nut flush draw was still there, so I decided to call. The river blanked out, but my opponent bet the same small amount on the river that he had on the turn. I decided in the end that he had a K - his turn bet was a feeler bet, but once I called he was afraid of the Ace and didn't want to push too hard. I called. He turned over 3c9c and his trips took the pot. His small river bet sucked the perfect amount of value from me - I'm pretty sure I would have folded to a pot size river bet.

I also won a few hands, but the pots were small and I was never over $10 profit. In one, I played A8 and flopped 8 8 A, but couldn't get anyone to play along. In another, I had 4 people limp to me in the big blind, and I raised it up with QQ, but everyone folded preflop.

The last hand of the night (preannounced as the last hand before the table was breaking up), I had my last $4 in chips on the table, and was under the gun with Tc9c. I figured "what the hell" and shoved it all in. I knew I would have callers since it was the last hand, and we ended up with 4 to the flop. The flop came nine-high, giving me a bit of hope, and then the turn came another 9, and I finally felt pretty good about a showdown (unless someone turned over J9, of course). Showdown came and I took the main pot, quadrupling up to $16! A nice last hand to turn another poor night into a slightly-less-poor one.

Most of the rest of the night was a slew of crappy preflop non-starters (J5/Q7 type crap), and a few missed flops (AK vs. Tony, flop comes Q 2 2, he donks into me, ended up having AQ).

In the end, I felt like a played very well - that call with the pair of aces against trip 3s was not the smartest in the world, but I don't think I made many other mistakes. I maintained my tight discipline in the face of 2 hours of stone cold dead cards, and I didn't let the losses affect me mentally.

One other note - one of my Friday night home game guys, Kevin, tagged along with Tony and I on this trip, and lost $300 in the biggest displays of second-best hands and river drawouts/suckouts that I have ever witnessed live. It was quite uncanny. Kevin lost out with a flopped set three different times. He lost 2 pair hands to flushes and counterfeits, he lost just about every showdown he was in. It was a grade A trainwreck of a night for him.

a bigger and bigger hole

Sigh, two more tourneys tonight- two more losses.

First tourney, the player to my left is a beginning player, splashing around, making raises that don't make sense, going broke on 1 pair and then hitting a winner late. I know I can crush him with the right hand.

I get 66 in the small blind and it folds to me. I raise it up and he calls. Please give me a 6, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease. Board comes [Ks 6s Td] (oh thank you). I check, he bets, we get it all in, he's got KQo and I double up through him and feel pretty good about myself....

...for 2 hands.

I get ATo in middle position. I raise it up. The button calls me. He's a solid player with a slight negative ROI. The flop comes [Ts Ac 3d] - Top two pair, nary a draw in sight. He checks, I bet 180 he calls. Calls? What's he calling with?

Turn comes 2h. He checkraises me, we get it all in. I'm praying he's got AK/AQ. Then he shows and a hand I hadn't ever considered - AA. I've been dead the whole time. Oops. I don't think there's any way in hell I get away from that hand, though. No way in hell.

Second tourney, I'm getting short on the bubble - the super-aggro chipleader (9000 chips, 1600 is the 2nd place guy) - raises it up to 300, I shove with AQo. I expect a fold.... except that the guy in the big blind decides to call with 99 (is that a good call?) and I lose the race. Again, I make the right play with a good hand, but someone has a better hand.

Chances look pretty high I'm going to finish with my first negative month. I suppose I need to study these tourneys and see if I'm doing anything differently, but I'm inclined right now to think it's just a downswing. I've got 6 bubbles in 23 tourneys played.

sandwiched

Bad month continues in my first tourney tonight. I won a few hands early, but then lost a few and got short. Shoved into a limper with a low M and 67 offsuit, thought he would fold, nope, he called with 88. Crushed.

In tourney 2, couldn't get a playable hand. Had loose passive limpers before me, with cards not good enough to isolate. then once they got knocked out, the table got aggressive. My stats were 3/0/0 after 31 hands. (my one play - a limp into a multiway pot with A-x suited).

In hand #32, 2 black Aces UTG, raised it up 2.5 times BB, somone in position calls. Flop comes 5c 2d 8c. I check with the intention of checkraising, he checks behind. I'm about to bet any turn card when the Ad comes. I slam on the brakes and check again. He checks behind. Then I see there are 2 clubs on the board and he's been drawing for free. Uh-Oh. Of course the river comes the Tc. I bet about half pot - for value if he doesn't have the flush, and enough to get away from if he does (I also figure since I have the Ac, he would have many fewer hands he could have called a bet with that had 2 clubs). He calls and shows A5. Whew. Couldn't have asked for a better result there.

Then I raise up with 99 vs. the shortstack. If he shoves over I'll have 2-1 odds and will have to call. He shoves over and I call, expecting TT over my nines. Nope, 88! It holds up and I'm now third in chips. From a frustrating 31 hands to third in a mere 2 hands...

With 5 players left and the stacks pretty even, I get caught stealing twice - once with J4s, and once with J9o, but I hit a top pair J both times and bet in position and the blind defender folds. Still fighting, now in second place.

Then, 2 big hands.

In the first, I get AcJc in late position. Blinds are 100/200. A loose aggro player minraises it up to 400. I think about repopping, but I'm not sure I want to stake my tourney life on AJ in case his minraise means a big hand. I call in position, as does the big blind with fine odds.

Flop comes Kh Js 3c. Middle pair and a backdoor flush draw, not too shabby. Both players check to me. I could fire out a bet here, but I decide to let my position do the work and check behind. (if I raise and get checkraised, I have to let middle pair go).

The glory card comes on the turn - Jd. Now it's on. (If he has KK, KJ or 33, I'm going broke). The big blind leads out 400. He's an aggressive player, and I decide he's got a King and was hoping to checkraise someone on the flop, but it didn't work. The original raiser folds. I could raise here, but I think I can extract some more money by calling and hoping he fires again on the river. (one other thought that occurs to me now - my image was pretty unclear to this player b/c I played so few hands early. He could have me pegged for a calling station shooting for a gutshot or something since I've played this hand with so little aggression).

The river comes the Ace of diamonds. This hand keeps getting better and better! Now I'm ahead of KJ and 33 and only behind AA and KK. Still going broke if necessary. He does fire out a bet - 400 again. Too small, he doesn't have much, I decide. I raise it up to 100. I am rewarded by the single chat response "crap" in the chatbox and a fold.

During the next hand (which I fold), I type, "got caught with your hand in the cookie jar?", seeing what info I can get. He writes "I had a nice piece of that on the flop". I type back - "something like "KQ"? He writes "can you see my cards?" which makes me feel pretty good. I thank him for the information by replying "no, just a guess. I had AJ", which lets him know his fold was a good one.

While this conversation is ending, I get invoved in another hand. I've got 56o in the big blind and get two limpers - the same two players from the hand above. I check my option and we're off to the flop... which comes 4s Ac 3d. I've got a nice straight draw, but I figure someone who limped with Ace rag (or represents an Ace) will make it too expensive for me to draw to this straight, so I check. The villain bets 300, just under half pot. This is the same guy who bet half pot at me two hands ago. I don't really have odds to call this bet, but I'm currently chipleader and decide to take a shot at some implied odds. I call.

The turn comes the Jc. I check, knowing his limp could have easily connected with this card, but he checks behind. Another thought enters my mind. If my straight card doesn't come, I can bluff at something. He would have re-bet a pair of Aces, right? Even if he did pair this Jack, my guess is that he's worried about my check/call, now.

The river doesn't oblige with my straight card or a third club, but it does bring up another opportunity - the Jack of hearts! Now there's an Ace and two Jacks on the board, just like the hand we were just playing only moments ago. I decide that it's a great opportunity to bluff at the pot and I fire off a half-pot bet of 600, just small enough to look like I want him to call, but also small enough that I can gladly fold if he's been dragging a set of 4s or somesuch. He folds almost immediately, and I collect a 1300 pot, putting me squarly in the chip lead.

I carry this lead into second place in the tourney. This gives me another $10 profit on the night - not great, but hopefully a slow climb out of my negative September so far.

home game

Got the old home game going last night after a 4 week (for me) absence. We ended up with 6 players. Our home game is probably 50% Texas hold-em, 25% Omaha, and 25% "other". Last night we played a few hands of Kings and Little People (it was nice to flip over my cards and see 3 kings, a nine, and the Jack of Clubs - that's a royal flush for me!), 2 hands of night baseball, one hand a 7 card stud, and 2-3 hands of Tahoe Holdem, and one hand of of Andover Holdem, a concoction we made up that makes the river card wild.

Stakes are small - most games are quarter ante, and 1 or 2 bucks max bet depending on the game (holdem is $1/$2 for example).

I was ahead for awhile until my personal nemesis CS showed up. CS likes to see showdowns, and if I'm in the hand with him, his cards at the end will almost always be better than mine. Last night's example, I raised preflop with A8. He called. Flop came A42. I bet, he called. Turn came a King. I bet, he called. River came another king. I bet, he raised. I knew he had a King, but I had to call anyway. He had K6.

All told, I was down $4 on the night. Considering my recent online run and Mountaineer disaster, I'll take it. I played solid poker, even as the beers went down (the home game is the one event where I'll drink - it's as much a social event as serious cards). We have a "no checkraising" rule to keep things neighborly - so playing weak or drawing hands out of position is basically useless - I usually fold everything below KQ in the first two positions, and then make up for all those folds by playing all kinds of crap in late position (remembering that nobody in front of me can checkraise me, either).

apparently I suck at poker now

Not good. 3 tourneys tonight. The first I get knocked out with AQ, bad player calls, board comes 789T then A. I bet, he minraises, I decide to call b/c he could have called with a worse ace. He did, A6 and he had the straight. This crippled me and I'm out soon after. What a crappy call.


Second tourney, out in 2 hands. Call a raise with TT from the small blind, flop comes TJK, I overbet my set, he puts me all in. I decide he's got a combo draw like AK or AJ, no way he flopped the nut straight and has AQ, right? Nope, he flopped the nut straight.

Last tourney I was desperate to find some fishies on Sharkscope - dropped all the way down to a $10 6 man after looking for a table for 30 minutes. The good news, I place second and my bad, heads up opponent flopped straights, flushes, and two pairs all over the place. (net profit - $10. Woohoo!). Once I held AA and flopped A33 but he didn't pay me off. Just about every other hand he started off ahead or outflopped me (or so it seemed). He was very easy to read - he might as well had his cards face up. Minbet = I have nothing or a little something like bottom pair. No bet = I have nothing (maybe a draw). Half pot bet = I have top pair. Pot bet = I have better than top pair.


Below was an interesting hand, of course I hit the idiot end of a straight on a flushy board, but the pot was offering 2.35-1 after my bet - figure I gotta call. (especially after the turn check). Does anyone disagree with my action here? Check-folding a straight, even the idiot end, seems pretty weak. If I check, he'll shove, and my odds will be much lower, so I'm wondering if this gives me the best odds to win.

See? Hands like these are why I suck at poker.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, 30/60 Blinds, 3 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: 5,227
BTN: 883
Hero (SB): 2,890

Pre-Flop: (90)
8 9 dealt to Hero (SB)
BTN calls 60, Hero calls 30, BB checks

Flop: (180) T J A (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets 60, BTN calls 60, Hero calls 60

Turn: (360) 2 (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN checks

River: (360) Q (3 Players)
Hero bets 200, BB folds, BTN raises to 763 and is All-In, Hero calls 563

Results: 1,886 Pot
BTN showed T 9 (a flush, Ace high) and WON 1,886 (+1,003 NET)
Hero mucked 8 9 (a straight, Queen high) and LOST (-883 NET)

Everyone's tired

I help the two coaches on my daughter's U12 soccer team. Last night was our first game of the season, and we got beat 5-0 by a pretty poor team. The two real coaches were not happy. Their anger didn't stem from poor play or mistakes - they were disappointed by the lack of effort, especially in the first half of the game. The girls seemed to snap into gear for the second half, but still didn't put anything together offensively.

Tonight was practice and we ran the girls pretty hard. My daughter Gabby was pretty bushed when we got home - she went to bed early - almost unheard of for an 11 year old.

I was pretty tired too, but wanted to squeeze one tourney in. I played extremely well early and in the midgame, but we got down to 5 handed and my stack went from #1 to average, then to 4 out of 5. Then #3 beat #5 and I was way behind on the bubble. Last hand, one player limps (I had never seen him do this with a strong hand, I figured he had KJ/QJ type of hand), I shove with 22 and an M below 5, he calls with 77. Oops - bubbled again. Once again, my month is looking pretty bleak - 16 tourneys, only 4 monies (and only 1 win). Hopefully I can turn it around in the second half.

(An aside, is that a bad shove? I can't run ICM models if there's a limper. Do I just give up 22, or figure it's probably a race and I need to win it).

The hand below was very early. I am leaving off the result to ask you if you call on the river or reraise all in.

Seat 1: jfranz (1,485)
Seat 2: ACSnakes7 (1,500)
Seat 3: taglius (1,470)
Seat 4: bagelman2 (990)
Seat 5: Alpine021 (2,145)
Seat 6: Meff13 (1,410)
Seat 7: yellow rat (1,500)
Seat 8: beffyIII (1,500)
Seat 9: MYPOTFOOL (1,500)
taglius posts the small blind of 15
bagelman2 posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to taglius [Ts Tc]
(3 folds)
beffyIII calls 30
(2 folds)
ACSnakes7 raises to 90
ACSnakes is rated a good player by sharkscope, so a 3x raise after a limp looks fishy to me. I'm going to look out. Then again, he gave me odds to come into the hand, so here I come.
taglius calls 75
bagelman2 folds
beffyIII raises to 150
the limper reraises, again a very small amount. I smell pair, maybe a big one?
ACSnakes7 calls 60
taglius calls 60
I've got like a zillion-1 odds to call here.
*** FLOP *** [Qd 3d Ks]
flop misses my pair, 2 overs, I'm done with the hand
taglius checks
beffyIII checks
ACSnakes7 checks
*** TURN *** [Qd 3d Ks] [Qh]
hmmm, it checked around. I might be good here, but I'm still out of position and the preflop action raised up my rader. Sounds like another check.
taglius checks
beffyIII checks
ACSnakes7 checks
*** RIVER *** [Qd 3d Ks Qh] [Td]
well, lookee here! I hit my boat. I think that's worth a bet.
taglius has 15 seconds left to act
taglius bets 300
beffyIII raises to 600 (minraise?)
ACSnakes7 calls 600 (and a call???)
taglius ???? (call or raise here)

did I do something wrong to someone? did I kick a cat or something?

ok, I played a tourney tonight with the worst player I have ever seen. This dude loved any 2 suited cards. I saw him limp in, then call a 6x raise, with the five of spades and the two of spades. Lordy Lordy.

So I'm waiting for the hand to trap him with, and of course the poker gods are giving me 82, T7o, etc. Then, I get my wish- 2 black aces in the hole, and Limpy Callerson is in the small blind. Better yet, a decent player UTG raises before me. Nice - he's got QQ/KK/AK, and I'm going to get some of his money too.

I raise it up to 560 (blinds 40/80). Limpy Callerson calls the $560 (half his stack). UTG reraises all in. This is too good to be true. I call. Limpy Callerson calls. UTG has QQ, I show my black rockets, and Limpy Callerson shows QhTh. Beautiful. I'm 75% to win.

Flop comes Kh9s9c. Now I'm 90% to win. Limpy Callerson could hit a jack, the case queen could come, other than that I look ok.

Turn comes a heart. Uh-oh.

River comes a heart. Dude hit runner runner flush to take me out.

Second tourney, get whittled down to M=8, get AKo, ship it in on the button (hoped the slight overbet would look like a steal and KJ or something would call) , but both blinds call with 88 and KK. Nice deck. No Ace comes for me. (actually 88 wins with a 5 6 7 9 on the board for a straight). I got my money in good and bad tonight, no luck with either.

I need some luck, man, somewhere. This is starting to suck.

Follow me! (please)

They've turned on the new "Blogs I'm following" feature on blogger this week - I would appreciate it if you add your name to the new widget on the right column if you've been reading about me and my poker travails.

I hit some hands tonight!

First hand of tourney. I've got 4s6c on the button after 2 limpers. I figure what the hell and limp in position.

The flop comes nothing spectacular - 2d 3c Jh. I've got a gutshot. It checks around - 4 players.

Then the turn, a 5! I've got the nuts right now, and I pray someone has just hit a set. One guy bets out (minbet), another calls, I put in a big raise, and everyone runs away. Damn!

Then I raised it up with AJ, and the worst player at the table calls me. I figure I've already got him outkicked, but then the flop comes JJ4, with two diamonds. He bets the minimum - this is the "please, I've got a little something or a draw, just call". I respond with a big raise. He calls.

Turn is the 9d. He minbets again. It didn't work the first time, it doesn't work this time - I raise to 400. He calls again. Now, can we just avoid a diamond on the river, please?

River is the 9h, and I've got the one card boat (I would have welcomed the 9d, he probably would have gone broke with a flush, even with a 2 paired board). He checks, I figure he doesn't have anything, but I want to see if I can sucker him a bit more, so I bet half his stack. He folds. Oh well, I took about 600 from him.

Finish second in that tourney.

Next tourney I play really well, go up to 2225 early, but then get stuck there and then get it all in with AQ vs villain's AK. Oops. My M was 6 and I was in "shove and don't look" mode anyway, nothing I could do there. (why couldn't he have AJ?)

The play is definitely more ragged at the $20 - I feel like I'll do well in the long-term. Need a few first place finishes, though, these 2nd place coupled with a bomb out net me $10 for a night's work.

The $456 T-Shirt, Part 4

Alrighty then - to review:

I'm in the Mountaineer Poker Room in WV. I've brought a paltry $300 and burned through it in 5-6 hours. I buy in for $200 more and switch to limit holdem, which goes well for awhile, but the combination of lack of sleep and bad cards knocks me down to $40. We go to bed.

I'm ready to call it a trip right there - my play has sucked, my luck has sucked, and I'm down about $460. But Tony has won in every session, it's Saturday, and we've got no deadlines to get home. We compromise and decide to go back to the poker room for 3 hours - from 10 am - 1 pm.

I take my last $40 and sit back down at the $2-$4 limit table. My mind is fresh and I got a decent night's sleep, and I've vowed to tighten up and play solid poker for a few hours and see if I can end the trip on a winning note, even if it's $5.

The guy to my left is on a little rush - he's raising up a bunch of hands and showing strong cards. He tips the dealer and tells her to "keep 'em coming". I hope I can use this to my advantage, somehow.

In one hand, I get K9 in the small blind. There is only 1 limper to me (odd for a limit table where 4-6 routinely take the flop), and I complete as well. Mr. LuckyCards checks the table. The flop comes with a King high card and very dry, and I decide to try a top-pair checkraise. I probably wouldn't try this in no-limit, especially with a 9 kicker, but I feel like Mr. LuckyCards would have already raised with an ace or King-Paint and he might have caught middle pair here and bet out. I check and sure enough, he bets, the other limper folds, and I raise it up. I'm immediately rewarded when Mr. LuckyCards says "you've got the King, huh? Ok, I'll pay you off". I read this as an honest statement as opposed to some type of misdirection. I bet the turn and river, he calls me down with middle pair (and no draw), and I win a nice pot

I won a second pot on an opponent's mistake. I call with A8 suited against an early position raise from a decent-playing female. The big blind plays as well. The flop comes with an Ace and Queen and she bets out, I call with my paired Ace and backdoor flush draw. The big blind calls as well. On the turn, she gives up the betting, telling me she doesn't have the ace, and I decid to take the betting away and lead out myself. The big blind calls and she folded (she later admits she had a pocket pair of tens). I was worried about my kicker now and planned on checking the river. Then the river pairs the Queen, and now I have even more to worry about - he could have been calling with second pair and now has me beat, or he could have a better kicker for his ace. I check. He bets out, and while I'm strongly considering folding, for some unknown reason he turns over his cards before I call my action. Her shows me A6 and I actually have him outkicked. He looks embarassed, and although I could have raised, I simply say "well, sorry, I've got to call you now", put the $4 into the pot, and turn over my A8.

The telltale hand of the trip - I play KQo in late position (no raise). The flop comes 9 T 4. One player leads out, I call with my 2 overcards and a gutshot. The turn doesn't help anyone - some low card - the villain bets out again and I call again with a possible 10 outs. The river comes a J, giving me the nuts. He checks and I bet out - he thinks for a second and finally calls. I turn over my cards, saying in a semi-apolgetic way "I hit the gutshot on you". Then I briefly turn around to see if Tony was still at the table. When I turn back around to stack my chips, there are no chips in front of me! I looked up at the dealer and said "wait a minute, I had the nut straight on that last hand, where are my chips?". She looked confused. She had already pushed them to my opponent, who was now stacking them. The cards are already gone so we can't look at the board. A big debate follows. My opponent explains he had Q9. He says that he honestly didn't think I had KQ - he thought I had KJ. I reply "well even if I had KJ, I would have won with the J on the river anyway". 2 people at the table knew I had the straight "for sure". The player to my right, an excellent player, by the way, was not sure I had the straight because he couldn't remember the board, but knew I had KQ. He asked if there was a 9 on the board. I said I knew there was a 9 on the board, because my opponent was claiming victory with a pair of 9s. He then said "well, if there was a 9 on the board, then you definitely had a straight".

We eventually called the floor man over. They were going to check it out on video. My opponent turned out to be a class guy - he said that he just wanted the correct result, and if it turned out that it was my pot, he would gladly give over the chips to me. I said the same, in case there was some small chance that I was wrong about the hand (though I was pretty sure I was right).

It was a frustrating hour that followed. The floor captain came back twice reporting results, but for the wrong hand. He would come over and say something like "ok, which one of you had an 8?". We would reply "neither", and he would scurry back off.

At about 12:15, the final indignity of the weekend came. I got KK and got to 3 bet a raiser in early position. There were 2 callers. The entire board came low cards with no real draws and I bet it all the way down. One older guy called me to the river - he had played 46o against a 3 bet and had hit 2 pair on the flop. This was the final straw for me, I stood up. I had a paltry $9 in chips, plus the possible $20-odd bucks from the pot that I had won but had been taken away from me. I was steaming from both ears now - I cashed in my $9 indignantly, thinking that at least I would get out of my weekend alive by exchanging chips for cash in some fashion by refusing to donk away this last little dribble of cash. Then I sat at the bar and waited for the floor guy to come out a third time. He did, finally getting the correct hand this time. We were able to piece together the result from his notes and the conclusion was that indeed had QK and the nut straight. He asked the other gentleman to give me $20, which was pretty close to the size of the pot. He went back to the table and came back with chips and handed them to me, and I thanked everyone for bearing w/ my insistence on getting the pot correct. I told them if I was up $400 instead of down, I probably wouldn't have been such a bear about the whole thing.

I was amazed at the time that the casino didn't just fix this problem on the spot by comping me a room or a meal or something. I think it was pretty clear to him that I was not having a good weekend at the table and that this paltry $20 was in some way important to me. They seemed very intent on getting the result right, even though that meant taking chips out of another player's stack. That player could have been angry himself - it wasn't his fault that the dealer didn't get the hand correct (he turned out to be a class act, though). Why doesn't the casino just make this problem go away with a quick comp and keep both players happy?

When Tony was done, he asked if the floor guy had given me a T-Shirt, because he was looking for me, and had already given one to the the other player in the disputed pot. I said I hadn't seen him in 20 minutes or so. We hunted him down, and I said "thanks again". He said a few nice things but didn't mention a T-Shirt, so I finally said "my friend says you were looking for me earlier?". He comes back "oh yeah, I was going to give you a shirt if you wanted it", kind of hinting that I wouldn't want it, but I shot back, "sure, free is free, I'll take it". He ran off behind the main desk and came back with my official, sparkling white Mountaineer T-Shirt.

Over lunch, I joked to Tony that this was by far the most expensive T-Shirt I had ever purchased - exactly $456, all told. For that sum of money, I got a nice shirt and some serious education on live, cash game hold'em.

my, what fun.

When you get all your money in the middle with QQ vs. a desparate short stack, and an aggro-tard, and they both turn over AKo, that's good, right? Their hands interfere with each other, and you stand to triple up, right?

In fact, Pokerstove says I'm 65% to win the hand - over double the pot equity of the 33% I need to win the hand. What a brilliant play. I get all my money in the middle with 4 outs to beat me.

So when not one but TWO of those outs come on the AK4 flop - I'm supposed to focus on the great decision I made and not the horrendous suckout by two bad players to put me out in 7th place, right?

It ain't easy.

In other news, I've decided to drop back down to $20 tourneys - not for bankroll reasons, but to work on ICM and endgame stuff. My $30 tourney stats are about 0 ROI, and I've got quite a few bubbles. I'm going to do some reading and practice on endgame/bubble play before I move back up.

Didn't get that far with my QQ tonight.

I will say that the play on the $20 table looked much more ragged than the $30 tables I've been on recently. Lots of mistakes - like going all in on second pair and on flush draws and such. Hope that helps my stats...

Took 2nd in the 2nd tourney - the bubble was a harrowing affair where I went from chip leader down to 4th place then back up to 4 almost dead-equal chipstacks (I wonder what ICM says about that). The bubble did break, though (I wasn't involved), and then I took out the third place finisher to get us heads up. I got it all in again with QQ, this time against K8. Was 72% to win, but alas, lost again to a King on the flop.

Maybe I should just play at the end of the month, seem to do much better then.

friday nights on fulltilt

guess the bad players (and drinkers) come out on Fulltilt on Fridays. I usually don't play online Friday b/c of my home game, but tonight the home game didn't happen, so I logged on. Here is a gorgeous sharkscope grid of the $30 table I played at:

Yup, that's $11,000 lost by three players. Beautiful. I was up to 5000 chips in 8 hands. First all in was against the bottom player, I raised his big blind from the small blind with AQ, he must have thought it was a steal b/c he shoved. I thought "great, out in 6 hands", but I called since his stats were so bad and he had Q9. Q9! Hah! Avoided the deadly 9 and doubled up.

Very next hand I get AKo. Good player raises me, I call in position (haven't been 3 betting AK in position lately, let's take a flop and see what happens in a tourney situation). Bad player in the blind shoves over us for the apparent squeeze. Original raiser folds, I figure my call probably disguised the strength of my hand so I call. He shows AQ! Again the 3 outer avoids me and I'm up to 5000.

The old hidden luck was a factor again. Got KK twice, one I raised and everyone folded, once I was in the BB and everyone folded to me. Got AA once, even got a caller, but the final board was 6789T (I kid you not) and villain shoved. Had to get away from that one - any J beats me.

I end up coming in second. Player who came in first was one of the three bottom fishies, he always overbet when he had a weak hand (like bottom pair) - not once did I catch a hand to call his overbet with (I would have gladly called it with top pair, my read was so good). He was also in love with any Ace, no matter the kicker. Finally got AK, he raised me, figured he was probably playing A6 or something, we reraised until we got it all in. nope, he had JJ and I lost the 50-50 race for the zillionth time this week.

grrrrrrr

Tonight I think everyone could see my cards. Got AA twice in 3 hands, raised it up (I don't limp with Aces) and everyone folded both times. Then I raised it up from the button with J2 suited and donkey calls me. More of the hidden luck I was talking about.

Had an almost identical hand tonight from the one last night. This time I raised up AK from UTG and got a call from the worst player at the table. I knew he called with a worse ace or some KJ-ish trash, but this time I was out of position and was more careful. Flop ended up 2 pairing and we ended up tying for the pot - again I had AK and villain had AJ. AGAIN! When you've got someone dominated twice and tie both times, something's goofy.

Two knockouts - was the big favorite in one (KK vs. AK) and the dog in another (AQ vs JJ). didn't matter, lost em both. I actually did win a race in the middle of one of the two tourneys, so I guess I'm 1 for 4 this week. YeeHaw

hidden luck

We'll get back to the Mountaineer story later. Played twice last night, bombed out of both - here is an interesting little hand very early in a tourney

Full Tilt Poker Game #7925438210: $30 + $3 Sit & Go (60263826), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:52:19 ET - 2008/09/03
Seat 1: montanared (1,485)
Seat 2: dunhillsmoka (1,455)
Seat 3: taglius (1,500)
Seat 4: danmarino1975 (1,470)
Seat 5: hornwriter (1,500)
Seat 6: Gypsum35REM (1,500)
Seat 7: adam55867 (1,500)
Seat 8: SUPER DONK 505 (1,500)
Seat 9: Duckhook (1,590)
danmarino1975 posts the small blind of 15
hornwriter posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to taglius [As Kc]
(4 folds)
montanared raises to 105
dunhillsmoka folds
taglius calls 105
AKo is a hand you can go crazy with, but no need to early in the game and in position. I call.
danmarino1975 folds
hornwriter folds

*** FLOP *** [5s Ac 6c]
montanared bets 150
taglius calls 150
Flop hits me - TPTK. Villain could be c-betting, or have an ace. Either way I'm ahead. Again, I call. (raise here? You don't want to build a big pot wit TPTK, do you?)

*** TURN *** [5s Ac 6c] [Ad]
montanared bets 30
Ok, he's officially worried now with this wimpy bet. My guess is that he has an Ace with kicker problems, or no ace at all. Time to raise it up.
taglius raises to 240
montanared calls 210
He calls - not ready to go away yet. Any chance he's got a boat right now? (A5/A6).

*** RIVER *** [5s Ac 6c Ad] [6h]
And the board pairs, nullifying my kicker. My K loses all value.
montanared has 15 seconds left to act
montanared bets 420
pretty sure we're tied here
taglius calls 420

*** SHOW DOWN ***
montanared shows [Ah Jh] a full house, Aces full of Sixes
taglius shows [As Kc] a full house, Aces full of Sixes
I had him the whole time. Lucky river counterfeits my kicker and we tie the pot.
montanared ties for the pot (938) with a full house, Aces full of Sixes
taglius ties for the pot (937) with a full house, Aces full of Sixes

Little hands like this can spell success/failure. If that 6 doesn't come on the river, I outkick montanared and move up to first place in the tourney. Instead, we tie and I end up where I started. I a later hand I raise it up, get called, hit nothing, c-bet, get called, then give it up and get knocked down to 1100. From there is tighten-up mode, then desperation mode, then I get knocked out in a race (me AQ, him KJ, J comes).

The $456 T-Shirt, Part 3

A brief review - I'm at the Mountaineer Casino and Racetrack poker room - the trip is less than half over, but my money is all gone. My backup plan was to take out a bit more cash and switch to $2-$4 limit hold'em.

I went to the bank of ATMs at the poker room and took out $200 - my final $200 to be blown on poker, I decided to myself as I was pulling it out of the machine. I then exchanged $140 of that money for chips and was immediately seated at a $2-$4 limit table ("the kids table", I joked to Tony).

The pace of limit poker is of course much different. Aggression doesn't work in limit poker because you can't push people off of hands with big bets - so you have to find other ways to make money. The game doesn't attract the aggressive jerks and bullies that no-limit can feature (not that all aggressive players are jerks, not at all - being an aggressive player is pretty much a requirement to being a successful no-limit player, and there are plenty of nice ones out there). Anyway, since the aggro-types don't play limit, the overall mood of the table is much friendlier. No guys sitting in sunglasses and iPods - no idle threats of "watch out now" when you come in for a raise, none of the testosterone-fueled BS. It plays more like a semi-friendly home game. This dynamic had the effect of levelling out my mood right away and getting rid of the stress of the past morning and evening. It was good to just sit down and play cards for a few hours.

Limit poker is usually also the game that attracts the casual, non-serious players that don't want to risk a ton of money playing cards - they just want to have a good time for a few hours. And, God Bless'em - I had 2 such people at my table. A couple, a (presumably) married young man and women sat on opposite ends of the table to play some poker. Well, sort of. They got up to smoke and to call home to check the kids more than once per hour, so they weren't always at the table - but their presence when they were there allowed me to make some money for awhile.

It was obvious that they didn't know what the hell was going on. Neither one understood the button and the blinds. Neither one understood how much they could bet, and both needed the dealer the help them out on just about every hand they were in. And thank goodness they were in almost every hand. Mr. Newbie also liked to raise the pot any time he hit a pair. Top pair, bottom pair, middle - didn't matter - he had a pair and he was raising it up. I took three or 4 pots from him having top pair, or the same pair with a better kicker. He almost looked like he didn't understand the kicker concept as the dealer pushed the chips my way, but was too embarrased to ask for clarification.

The mommy of the couple took back some of the money I won off the daddy through blind luck. Once I got a free play in the big blind with J5 - a 5 came on the flop and then again on the turn - so I bet my trips hard with mommy in the pot. She called all the way down as I expected, but then turned over A5. Oops! She also hit two pair against my top pair and dragged another pot. Later, in a hand I wasn't involved in, she turned over a flush against her opponent's flopped set, and asked if she had won or not because she didn't know which hand was better. Thank Goodness for the bad players!

Disclaimer: I'm fairly sure that if any of my opponents at the no-limit tables are bloggers, they are saying the same thing about me.

After the couple left, I was able to build a bit more of my stack with some strong hands. My monster hand of the weekend was a KK that I raised up and got two callers. The flop came KK6, giving me flopped quads. Why couldn't that have come when I was playing no-limit!?! I checked the flop but then bet the turn and river and both villains stayed with me, thankfully, giving me a decent pot.

Soon after, I played 9T of spades and the board came 782 with 2 spades. Someone lead into me with a pair (presumably), and I made my favorite move - raising a good draw in position. He called. The turn didn't help me, but the villain checked to my raise and I had successfully bought myself the free card. The river came a 6, giving me my straight. The villain checks, I bet my $4, and he calls with his top pair.

The hand immediately after, I got to limp into a multiway pot with Ace-rag suited and hit the flush on the river, and was able to extract some more money against another bad player who didn't see the flush on the board.

This brought me to about 6pm. I had about $200 in my stack, and this was my high-water mark for the day, sadly. What followed was a miserable run of bad cards and bad boards for my playable hands. Example - I raise it up with TT, get 2 callers, and the flop comes J K 2. I bet the cheap $2 flop, but when they both call, there's no sense throwing good money after bad.

By this point of the day I had hit the wall based on my lack of sleep the night before, and of course my play deteriorated. I started following the chain of limpers that often come from the passive limit game with crap hands like 23s and 46, often without position, knowing that the chances of a preflop raise were small enough that I would get to see the flop cheaply. While I did successfully see a lot of cheap flops, I was playing way to many hands for this to be profitable, and I wasn't hitting any big hands, so my stack dwindled down and down as the night continued. I should have probably got up from the table and either called it a night or moved to a different table, but these things didn't occur to me at the time. I burned through my $140, bought in for $40 more, and was able to hold onto this until 1:30 or so when Tony finally decided he was done for the day as well. We went back to the hotel and I fell asleep within 5 minutes.

Part 4 coming soon, featuring controversy, another brush with KK, and a wrapup.

The $456 T-Shirt, Part 2

Before we continue our story- I posted my JJ hand on the 2+2 forums, and the overwhelming opinion there (along with the disappointingly-all-too-frequent berating of the beginning player making a bad play) was that I should have pushed preflop. I'm assuming that the original raiser with KK would have called and I would have went busto anyway, but this isn't 100% for sure because he ended up folding to my shove on the flop, probably thinking that there was some small chance I had AA, I suppose. Maybe my shove preflop would have taken down a $70 and changed the outcome of the entire weekend. Maybe.

Ok, then - when we last left off, I was lying awake all Thursday night figuring out what I was going to do. I was under-bankrolled with $200 in my pocket and at least 15 hours of poker to play on Friday. My confidence was low and I would probably be exhausted by 7pm. Sounds like a recipe for a winning poker session, no?

Unfortunately, I simply wasn't able to throw money at this problem. I didn't really have the means to yank $800 out of my bank account (4 more buyins) and keep playing. Of course, what this means is that I really didn't have the money for this trip in the first place. Well, lesson learned - but I still needed a plan for Friday that didn't include watching 12 hours of poker from the rail.

Here's what I came up with. I was going to sit down with my full $200 (a normal buy-in) at the $1-2 and play my best game, money be damned. If I busted out early, I would take another $200 out of my bank account and switch to playing $2-$4 limit hold'em. Obviously this isn't ideal, as limit poker isn't really my area of expertise, but then again neither is live $1-$2 ring no-limit play.

And busto I went, of course. This time it took 3 hours instead of 2, and this time it was a suckout instead of my donkey play, but the result was the same. I got KK in late position. A relative newcomer to the table - but someone who clearly liked action and was splashing around many pots, raised it up from middle position. I reraised, and he put me all in. I said "I call" with almost a defeated sound to my voice - thinking I knew what was coming next. He then turned over 33, looked at my cowboys, and shook his head. Seeing my 4-1 advantage made me feel a little better, but only a little.

The flop came safe for me, but the turn was his magical 3 and my laughably small bankroll was gone, just before noon on Friday. We were scheduled to leave Saturday morning.

I took a nice break at this point - took a walk around the facility, watched a few other games from the rail, sat at the bar and had some water/coffee. I was not at all steamed about the suckout itself - I knew that this was part of the game and was bound to happen, around 1 in 5 times for these two hands, in fact. I was angry at myself for my lack of preparedness, for my inexperience. I had truly brought a knife to a gunfight here, and was paying the price in fear-based play at the tables, and literally losing sleep over it.

Tony ended his morning session and we had a decent meal. Tony was up a couple hundred in both of his sessions so far, and getting angry about things like not extracting enough value for his monster hands, or bad players leaving the table too early. He was on a nice little run and of course wanted to tell me about every hand and every read he had and all the mini-stories that come from the table. I, of course, wasn't in much mood to talk poker, but I listened intently and remained engaged, hoping maybe I would learn something.

When we continue our story, we'll talk limit hold'em...