temporary post

Hey all,

Blogger is not allowing me to post right now (along with some small number of other users). I can post via email only.

Have lots of stuff to say – with pictures, etc, so hopefully it will be back up soon (has been down for 24 hours).

June is over. I made it to 58 tourneys played – the most ever in a month (even more than December, when I was off for half the month. My results are decidedly “meh” – 5% ROI, barely hanging on. My all-in luck appears to be a bit bad, but not overwhelmingly so. There are other forms of bad luck, of course, that don’t show up in all-in pots, like getting KK, raising, having 3 callers, then a bet and call on an A24 board before the action gets back to you.

Will report more when able.

tourney annotation

I spent some time over the weekend annotating the hand history of an 18 man tourney that I took first place in. You can read the hand history in the links below.

I'm sure this doesn't make for great reading. I did it as more of an exercise for my own use than for anyone else's entertainment. However, if you feel so inclined, have at it.

Hands 1-20
Hands 21-40
Hands 41-60
Hands 61-80
Hands 81-100
Hands 101-150
Heads Up

amazing stuff

I took second in an online tourney tonight. I caught good cards, including quad 4s (on a 444 board), a set of Jacks (against and Ace master who called my raise with A6 and hit his ace), pocket kings back to back, and a couple big slicks.

I must say, though, that this tourney was the most amazing display of "worst hand winning" that I have ever seen. Ever. I must have counted 10 cases where the worst hand that got the money in won the hand. Against myself, I got two pair in against top pair, he hit his 3 outer. The key hand of headsup was my AK vs. his AQ - a king on the river gave him a straight. The final hand of the tourney was my 33 vs. his A7. Neither of us hit a thing, but the board came QQ55 and counterfeited me.

I wasn't the only sufferer of this cruel fate, either. Our bubble was almost 60 hands long, primarily because the short stack sucked out over and over and over. It was almost mathematically-defying. I might document it, in fact, hand-for-hand (at least the all-ins). Bizarre stuff.

Waterbury Tourney Report

Summer months seem to make it harder to gather players for Texas Holdem. What's wrong with these people? . Anthony managed to find 27, with lots of newbies among them, to sit down at 7pm and join his $50 tourney in my housing development's party clubhouse (less than a half mile from my house).

I was stoked to look around at my table selection - lots of new faces. Hopefully this meant less-than-stellar poker skills, and I could build up some chips. On my right was a "cadgey codger" type (see Arnold Snyder's book for player typecasting - this book helps a ton when playing live tourneys). On his right was a new guy - I'll call him RSG for "red shirt guy". On my left was a woman - new to this tourney. On her left was a musclebound guy with a tight T-Shirt and a Jamaican accent. Opposite the table was Crane - a guy from my Thursday game - solid all around.

I also had Rob at my table - the crazy-loose player who knocked me for a loop last month. Rob is a menace if he can get some chips. My plan was to simply avoid him unless I hit a monster hand.

My first observation when the tourney started was that both RSG and the woman to my left, although both new to this game, were not fishies to be donating chips. Both players were folding most of their hands. RSG also donned the sunglasses when the tourney started - maybe a bit much for our local tourney, but not altogether uncommon. His first two hands played were also raises - once an open raise in early position, and once more raising up a limper. His mannerisms and choice of language suggested some experience.

The woman to my right played typical to many ladies that I have witnessed - unaggressive preflop. No raising, always coming in with a limp, cold-calling the occasional normal raise. She was not loose - she folded most of her hands. Her play also demonstrated some amount of experience - she kept track of the action, knew when it was her turn to act, etc. She was also not afraid to put chips into the pot postflop, and her bet sizes seemed in-line. I got the feeling she was playing fit-or-fold poker, though, and perhaps I could take some orphaned pots away from her.

Jamaican guy, on the other hand, looked like the mark at the table. He was playing too many hands, showing down junk like T9o from early position, and taking these hands too far after catching a pair. I hoped I could earn some chips from him.

My own play started poorly. In the first level I received AJo, in the UTG+1 position. I should have raised this hand up or folded it - instead I limped in. Two other limpers followed. A nice flop came for me - J 4 5, giving me top pair, top ticker, on a nonthreatening board. I chose to lead out for $35 into the multiway pot. Crane raised my bet right away, to $100, and it folded back to me.

Crane is a solid player, capable of making moves and testing you, but I didn't think he would be tossing chips around on the first level with some kind of bluff. He had something. I ruled out a slowplayed AA/KK/QQ immediately - Crane would play these straightforwardly. He could have the same hand as I did - AJ, or he could have KJ/QJ and is making a little raise to see if I'm taking a shot with a middle pair on this unthreatening board. Worst case, of course, is a set of fives or fours.

I mulled all these things over in my mind, and came the to conclusion that I should simply fold. Why go broke with TPTK, out of position, in the first level of the tourney? Yup, just fold and wait for a better opportunity.

After coming to this decision, however - I ignored it completely and called the raise - pulling my $35 back and replacing it with $100 chip. I regretted this decision before I even had the black chip in the pot. What card was a I hoping for? What was my plan? Ooof, I'm an idiot.

The turn was a middle 7-9 type card, which didn't help me, so I checked. Crane lead right out for $125 more, and I corrected my first mistake right away by folding. As a probe for information, I offered "I might be folding the best hand here". Crane told the table he had a set of fives, which I believed entirely. As I folded the next orbit around the table, I inwardly chastised myself for donkey play all around. That crap wouldn't get the job done.

I made up chips in the next level by completing my small blind with KT in an unraised pot. A broadway board with an ace scared everyone from acting on the flop, and the turn gave me a nice hidden straight. I bet my straight and got a caller from the woman to my left. The river didn't help her, though, so I was unable to get a second street of value. This put me back to even.

Nemesis Rob gets knocked out early in a three way all-in. On a board of A2234, both him and Jamaican dude shove their chips in with a 5. RSG calls them both with an A2 boat, and down they both go. I am not unhappy to see him go. As is often the case, crazy Rob is either at the final table or one of the first ones out.

The third level, with 25/50 blinds, is where I was able to make my move. As the big blind, I watched around the table as the limpers limped in. One, two, three, four. I'm not looking at my cards anymore until it's my turn to act, so I'm thinking to myself "what's my plan if I've got a monster under here?". When action got to me, I peeked at my cards and saw two black shiny "A"s looking back at me. The monster indeed! After pausing for a moment, I choose a raise of 200 chips to try and get at least one customer. Everyone folds except for Jamaican guy, who needs some help making his call correct.

We take an all-red flop with a Jack, a nine, and a seven. No need to get fancy here - I make it $200 chips and he calls right away. There are straight and flush possibilities, but my guess is that this player isn't even looking at those. He has a piece of this flop, probably maybe a JT/QJ top pair type of hand, and I am going to slow down only if another jack comes, or the flush (since the jack was the odd-suit out).

The turn is the other red seven, no flush yet. Scary if he has a seven, but I've ruled this out. I go for $300 this time, and he's still calling. My read is still the same.

The river brings a nice surprise - a red ace. I've got the big boat now. The red ace also completes the flop flush that was available. If my friend has a Jack, this ace will probably put the kibosh on me getting any more money. If he somehow has the flush, though - now an Ace-high flush, he might go broke. I raise my bet up to $500 and he throws his cards into the muck like they're on fire. He hints at having a jack. I decide this is a good time to turn my aces over for all to see - I want people to know that I'm playing straightforwardly right now, which might give me license to steal some later.

Now I have some chips and can sit back a bit. I fold my crap for a few orbits. Right before the break - I end up taking 2 back-to-back shots with some sub-standard hands (a pair of threes, Ace-duece soooted on the button), and neither of them work out. Right after this, RSG open raises from early position. I look down at a pair of sevens and decide to muck them - I've given back enough chips and don't need to speculate further.

After the break, my table gets several new players as the tables combine. Jamaican guy is replaced by his friend with whom he came in. "Biker lady" also joins the table - a tough looking, but nice-enough woman with whom I played last month.

It is time to get aggressive. I raise up 55 on the button, and Jamaican guy's friend defends his blind. Not good. This guy is completely clueless as to what the bet is, when it's his turn to act, etc. We see a Q67 board with two hearts and he checks. Good enough for me - I make a half pot bet. Clueless guy looks like he's going to put chips into the middle right away, sinking my heart a bit, but then he thinks further and further and then mucks his cards. I'm guessing he paired the 6 or 7, or had a medium pocket pair that I just got to fold, with the way he considered a call there. Whew.

From the big blind, RSG open-limps into me on the button. I shoot into him with a raise and A9s. I'm hoping my aces from the big blind are fresh in his mind. We flop a harmless 447 and I fire right into him - my "overpair" is just as good as it was preflop, my friend. He folds.

Biker Lady has typical weak-tight tendencies. Twice she limps into a pot with AK and then fools someone with a weaker ace. She is very excited when she wins a pot - perhaps experiencing some of her first poker success. She is not making large mistakes, and getting good cards on top.

There are several short stacks at the table now, two of them to my left. This prevents me from button stealing with pure crap, so I tighten way up and wait for some cards. They don't really come.

My biggest mistake on the night comes when 5 handed, right before we combine into a single table. I have KTs. I'm under the gun, but there are only 5 at the table. I also have around only 12 BB. I think long and hard about this hand - is it good enough to raise? Should I just fold it? In the end I decide to try and play it, but I only raise 2x, which has been done a couple times at this table. What has also been done, though, is calling this small raise. Biker lady and a solid player in the small blind (who replaced the now out RSG) both call it, and we're three handed.

The turn gives me an open ended straight draw, but the solid player fires a solid value bet into the pot. This bet would be half my stack. A semi-bluff is not possible - his big bet gives him over 2-1 odds to call, and he's betting like he has something worth calling. I fold. A rabbit hunt shows an ace. Solid player says "that wouldn't have helped you, it would have given me top two", indicating he had AQ. I told him he would have doubled my KT straight up. Arrrrgh! Just a few more chips and I would have semibluffed into him and doubled up.

We combine to the final table. I have 3200 chips, but the blinds are 200-400 and I'm not comfortable. There are only 2 people with large enough stacks to relax, everyone else is fighting for their lives.

A few hands in, biker lady grabs some chips like she's ready to raise, then thinks better of this and limps in for 400. A player pushes all-in into her. She calls, flips over TT, and knocks out A7s.

The very next hand, I've got KJ in the small blind. Biker lady limps again, as do two other pretty short stacks who have no business limping. I weigh my options with the rookie hand. I could try a "limp and go" - complete the blind and push all in if I hit one of my cards. Or I could push all in with the dead money in the pot and take my shot now. My biggest fear with this move is that biker lady can have me crushed with AJ/AK, as she has already shown she is not raising with nearly any hand.

I take a look at the clock. 4 minutes left until 300-600 blinds, dead money in the pot, and a possibility for a 50-50 coin flip. The biggest stack at the table is two to my left. Time is running out. I shove all in, hoping for two live cards. Biker lady calls pretty fast, and the limpers fade away.

She shows 99 - Probably the best hand I could hope for. A coin flip to double up. A nine on the turn kills my overcard outs, but gives me a straight with a Ten. The ten doesn't come, and I take 9th place in the tourney. Biker lady is very excited at her continued success. I walk around the table to shake her hand, and hightail it out of the party room right away.

A few mistakes as usual - the KTs hand late cost me the most. A weak hand played weakly. A fold was my best option there. My first level AJo hand was butchered all the way around, but didn't cost me much.

My Kojack final hand was a sticky situation, but I can't really think up a way to play it better. If I fold, I'll be left with 5BB when the blinds go up and pushing into big stacks. The limp-and-go seems like a waste of chips and too much "fit or fold" - especially if an ace comes on the flop (I guarantee one or both of the limpers had Ace-rag in their hand). The all-in is a bit scary with KJ against this type of opponent, as the threat of domination is high, but the decision turned out ok, as I got probable (A-rag) better hands to fold, and got into a coinflip race to stay alive. I just lost the race.

Whaddya gonna do about it?

Typical Thursday night cash game start. An Ace-Jack loses a medium pot, a few raise/whiff/c-bet/showdown losses, and I'm down $15. Mr. Pietzak is the table captain - raising up any ace, any two broadway cards, connectors, pairs. Raising a lot. He makes the old Johnny Chan check/call flop - lead turn play to take a pot from me. I admonish him - "I know what monkey business you're pulling over there". His joking reply "Yeah? What are you going to do about it?".

A fair question. He knows about some of my recent hands that I've played less-than-strong postflop. He will often defend his blind against me, putting me on a narrow range of hands and then playing my tendencies and fears.

In other words, he's a better poker player than I am.

Clearly, I need to mix things up a bit more. Most of the players at this game are at least as good as I am, and many are better. I can continue to TAG it up, win some money from the less-skilled players, and get dealt the occasional big hand for a big pot from the good ones. That's called "breaking even". Or, I can start pushing the envelope a bit more and try to squeeze a bit more blood from this Thursday night stone.

A limp, from under then gun, with AT. Not exactly a great starting hand, or a great start to the "new me", but you gotta start somewhere. My limp makes it through to the big without a raise, and I hit my Ace on the flop. There's also a king, and a low rag. The big blind, Chris S., leads out for $4. Chris can be tricky with his postflop betting - he will bet complete air all the way to the river trying to get you to fold. When you take a stand on him, he seems to come up with the two pair or the gutshot straight to send you packing.

Those possibilities aren't really present here. Chris would have probably raised any better Ace than my Ace-Ten preflop. I think I'm ahead here. I check my stack - about $20 left due to my early losses. Any raise commits my stack, and I'm pretty sure I'm ahead.

What are you going to do about it? Pietzak's question flits through my mind.

I shove my stack in.

Chris doesn't think very long before replying "I've got to call you". This statement would scare the crap out of me from some other players, but to Chris it just means he's got some piece of this board and he's willing to gamble to hit a bigger piece. He flips over a king and a rag- fortunately a different rag than the one on the board. I've got 5 outs to dodge, and I manage to do so, bringing me back to even on the night.

This win gives me some confidence. I started with a marginal ace, but was able to read the situation correctly and get my money in ahead. I also managed to avoid getting unlucky - something that shouldn't affect your self-analysis but we all know it does.

Next orbit or so, a rare fold-around to me on the button, and I've got 46. I raise it up on a pure blind steal, and Tony defends his blind. Tony hasn't won a hand tonight and might be on closing in on tilt city, if not already there. I keep this important fact in mind, knowing I might not be able to budge him off of a marginal hand in the likely event of me whiffing this flop.

No whiff this time- two fours and a ten, and I've got perfectly disguised little monster. Tony's strength is his aggression and his ability to put people on hands, I should be able to win some money here. We both check the flop - the textbook "way ahead, way behind" scenario. No reason for either of us to bet.

I expect Tony to come out firing on the turn, and I plan on raising big. If he's got an overpair (more likely based on the recent way he has been playing them), I don't think he'll fold. If he's got unpaired broadway cards, I'll probably blow him off the hand. Once again my plans go wonky, though, when the turn is dealt a six, giving me a full house. Tony does in fact fire out - a pot size bet. He's either trying to get value for something, or trying to take the pot away from my likely whiffed AK/AQ-ish hand. There's also a flush draw out there. My play is to think for a few minutes, act like I'm counting up the pot to see if I have odds for the flush, and to call. If the flush doesn't come, I should expect another bet. If it does, I probably won't get much out of him - we'll blow up that bridge when we get to it.

No flush on the river - no broadway either - a black eight. Tony leads out for $8. I think he has something now. There's no straight and no flush, so there's not much for him to be afraid of if I raise. But I don't want to overbet in case he has Jacks or Ace-Ten and can easily find a fold. I finally played rags and hit the board hard, and you need maximum value from those situations. I settle on a $10 raise. Tony shakes his head and throws the extra 2 red chips in. I never see his cards after I show down my boat. If he was close to tilting before, I've just got him a bit closer.

Later in the evening - a 2.5x raise from Bill - a tight, solid opponent whom I've never seen make a big mistake. The raise is a little small, though. Bullets? Kings? I defend the small blind with JQ, looking for a big hand. Not going broke with top pair here. The big blind defends as well.

No big flop for me, but there are two spades - a king and an eight. Possibilities for sure. I check with nothing. The small leads out for $5, and Bill immediately minraises to $10. Yup, smells like Aces or Ace-King. Pockets kings definitely smooth-calls top set. I suppose KQ might do this as well, to see where he's at.

Well, I have a naked flush draw with the A still out there. No overcards. Nine outs to beat top pair/overpair. The big blind is still available to reraise behind me. The right move is to fold, but both of my opponents are decent, thinking players who are playing attention. Anything out of the ordinary will raise their radar. What's the most out of the ordinary thing I could do here? What are you going to do about it?

I smooth call the $10.

Probably a dumb play. Certainly dumb from the math standpoint, but I'm trying to think up a bit higher now. What does the smooth call of reraise look like to a thinking opponent? My guess is that it screams "SET! SET!" to the table. That's what it looks like to me, anyway. The big blind calls as well. I'm looking for the right turn card to take this pot away, or to just get lucky and hit the flush.

I get the right card. Not a spade, but a red Ten, which gives me an open-ended straight draw to go with my flush draw. The timing of this is important - I can't think too long here about my actions if I've got a set, like I'm supposed to. I declare all-in as quickly as I can. $40 more.

The big blind folds, and now I've just got to see if Mr. Aces/Ace-King can do the same. Then I hear the scariest thing I've heard all night. As I'm moving my $40 worth of chips to the middle, Bill says "I've only got $9 left".

Ohhhhhh, crap. He's not folding Aces or Ace/King for $9. I had lost track of his chip stack, and now it was going to cost me (unless I hit one of my 15 outs). Bill thinks and thinks. Then he slowly flips over his cards to gauge my reaction. Two aces. I smile - genuiniely - based on my read of the situation, but irritated inside knowing I'll probably be paying off this blunder.

Strangely, unexpectedly, gloriously, Bill folds his bullets. I scoop a big pot.

Getting late - my cards are cold the last hour. I'm ahead. I follow a limper with AKo and Mr. Pietzak in the big blind. I'm hoping he raises it up. He does, and I 3-bet, knowing he'll call and try and outplay me postflop. Once again, I am correct. Can I just one friggin time flop two pair here and beat the table captain?

No such luck - QJx rainbow. I'll need a ten to win this one with my cards, and maybe my ace or king would be good also. Pietzak checks. I fire out my cbet and he calls instantly. He doesn't believe me, and he is correct. As usual.

A garbage turn card. I'm still behind. I figure Pietzak is going to lead into me now - he knows what I have, that I've whiffed - he's going to pull the Johnny Chan play on me, as he's already done once tonight. Strangely, though, he checks.

I go over the hands he has in my mind. If I assume he has enough of a something to call my flop bet, he's got a small pair, a jack, or a queen with a meh kicker. Queen with a good kicker might have reraised my limp/reraise. Two draws out there - 9T and KT. Possible, not likely. He could have a big hand and is walking the dog - QJ for two pair, maybe AA/KK (without 4 betting preflop for deception). There is always the possibility that he has nothing and plans on taking the pot away on the river.

When I run through all the hands he can have, I think there are way more possibilities of check/call type hands and garbage than there are monsters or strong draws. The most likely possibility, to me, is that he's got one pair and would love to see a showdown with it.

They say that in poker, if you can figure out what your opponent wants, you are supposed to dissapoint him by doing the opposite. At this point, I think I know what my opponents wants - a showdown with one pair.

What are you going to do about it?

I shove all-in. About $45. With ace high.

Pietzak goes into the tank. He has an obvious difficult decision, meaning that I've correctly done my job. He says something to the effect of "my head says fold, or my heart says call". I might have those reversed. He's got something alright, but not something enough to wager $45 on.

After what seems like 25 minutes, he offers up "nice bet, Matthew" and folds. For future reasons, I whip over my Ace-King. I wanted Pietzak to know, this one time, what I did about it.

Pietzak nods his head - I'm sure the possibility of an ace-high bluff appeared in his head, but it's hard to put a nit like me on that liklihood. He turns over one card - a queen for top pair. My guess is that his kicker was garbage or he would have called much more readily.

The dealer flips over the river - a king. Had he made the correct call, I would have sucked out on him anyway.

A Birthday win

Things started badly last night - knocked out in 7 hands of my first tourney overplaying KJ against a bad player. He raised my big blind from the small, I defended - board came KK8. Do you ever fold there in a SNG? No way. He could be overplaying a pair (Aces/Queens/Jacks) - he doesn't have to have the last king.

But he did- KQ. Whoopsie.

Needed a change of pace, so I signed up for an 18 man, $11 tourney. I went down in level to hopefully get a few more inexperienced players at my table and improve my chances. This worked early - I was able to flop a set of sixes and win a decent pot to put me at 2400 or so chips early. Then the tables shuffled and it seemed like all the bad players were on table 2, and I was on table 1 with all the good players.

I did manage to win the tourney - some good practice for my live 30-45 man monthly tourney coming up tomorrow. I felt very "tuned in" to the action and the ability to put players on ranges of hands. I was also able to make some nice bubble moves, playing on people's fears of going out when there was a tiny stack at the table.

I am considering annotating the hand history for this tourney as an exercise - I will post it up if I decide to do so.

Tonight is our live cash game, tomorrow is the monthly tourney. Poker in my future, can't wait...

the verdict is in...

Made a (renewed) vow to whine less in this blog about cardsw, so I'll keep it shut about the poker. We'll just say I was unlucky.

My trial completed this afternoon. It was a complex thing regarding a carjacking by two boys - we were on the trial of one of them. We could not find him guilty of 3 of the 4 counts - mainly because the prosecution could not put him at the scene of the crime as it occurred, only before and after. We did find the defendant guilty of one count of receiving stolen property (the car), and he will do jail time for this offense, but none of the great offenses.

I am glad for the experience of sitting on my first jury. All 12 of us seemed to take our duties seriously and try to follow the judge's instructions to our best ability. The best part was after the verdict was read, we were escorted back into the jury room and met with the judge and both attorneys, who questioned us on our reasoning and what details we felt were important in coming up with our decisions.

I felt like I helped the system work today- that was pretty cool.

a little trap

After seeing your headsup opponent overbet the pot 4 times in row, you strongly suspect it's not for value. All you have to do then is hit a hand and show just a little weakness...

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 150/300 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): 8,080
BB: 5,420

Pre-Flop: (450) K Q dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero calls 150, BB checks

Flop: (600) K 2 T (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Got my top pair, decent kicker. Just one check should trigger this guy's aggro-donk mode...

Turn: (600) 9 (2 Players)
BB bets 5,120 and is All-In,
Success. Now all we have to do is call and avoid draws...

Hero calls 5,120
River: (10,840) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 10,840 Pot

Hero showed K Q (a pair of Kings) and WON 10,840 (+5,420 NET)
BB showed 9 4 (a pair of Nines) and LOST (-5,420 NET)

Only had to avoid 5 outs one time - a 9-1 favorite to take the tourney.

I have been empaneled

I reported to my first Jury Duty today, and was empaneled on a jury around 2:30 in the afternoon. I will of course give no details of the case I'm hearing. Kind of exciting, or at least a break in the 5-days-work-two-days-off routine over and over.

In poker news, I played only one tournament last night - took second place. The bubble saw me knock out Mr. #4 with a pair of sixes against his AhTh. Just to make me sweat, the flop arrived with 2 hearts meaning that I was a statistical dog by the river to lose, but I guess I sucked out (with the best hand).

9% ROI this month - still positive, with all the 2-tabling, but lower than normal.

One thing I noticed about last month (a negative ROI overall) - I achieved my normal ROI in the $22 buy-in, but a very negative buy-in in the $33s I played. There were only 10 of these overall in May, so I shouldn't get too crazy analyzing results of such small sample sizes, but it is interesting. I have similar results in June, with even fewer $33 tourneys played (only 4, but a negative ROI).

Going back to Jan 1, I only have 21 played at the $33 level. My average finish is 4.62, whereas my average finish in the $22s in that same time is 3.97. So I don't think I'm way off the mark here - this could easily be variance or poor table selection. All you need is one more decent player at the table to be the guy who traps you or knocks you out..

In any event, it looks like I'll be sticking with the $22s for a bit longer...

fun with Poker Tracker 3.

Here's something I uncovered today in my PokerTracker 3 stats. Very illuminating.

Create the following filter:
Starting Hands: AQ, both suited and offsuit.

Now look at the "Positions" tab. In positions 5 and 6 (UTG and UTG+1 at a 9 man table), my own starts are
-1.42 BB/Hand and -3.05 BB/Hand for AQ. These are truly awful numbers. Small sample sizes apply here: I have only seen these hands 22 times in these two positions in my 582 tourneys played. However, my VPIP percentage for AQ in these two positions is over 85% for both.

Overvaluing AQ in very early position? I think so.

THERE'S the old kick in the nuts I'm used to.

Watching moron run over the table - 54/37 stats. I've got no cards - my stats are 10/8. Raise, Raise, Raise. He shows down K6s once. J9. Q8.

We're down to the bubble - I get AK under the gun and raise. He cold-calls from a blind. Board comes QQJ - pretty dangerous, and a whiff for me. We both check.

Then we both check the turn. He's aggressive, so I figure he would have bet by now. Maybe he's got a Queen and is slowplaying. Maybe QJ, even.

The river gives me the straight - a ten. He bets, I raise, he shoves. QJ? Possibly. I'm not folding the ace high straight in a SNG to a bad player, though, forget that. He could show any number of things here, trip queens, the bottom end of the straight, AJ two pair idiocy.

I call. He shows QT for the boat. The ten that gave me the straight gave him the boat. Swell. Nice preflop cold-call from a 10/8 player raising under the gun. Nice powers of observation, there, sparky.

4 hands later, I small blind shove into the big with TT - looks like a steal. Good villian instacalls with 88 - the right move - but I have him crushed. He hits his 8 on the flop to bubble me.

There's the old tilty goodness rising up inside me...

Second tourney I don't get the chance to play against anyone. 56 unplayable hands until I shove my last 6 BB into someone holding a bigger Ace.

Meekly into the night

Thursday night cash game - 2 players have just announced that this is their last hand, effectively ending the game as there are only 5 left. I started off down but crawled back up to close to even. Check that - I count up my chips before the last hand is dealt - I'm dead even. To the penny. I let out an audible laugh - I will fold my probable Jack-4-off last hand and take out exactly as much money from the kitty as I've put in.

I'm first to act in this last hand... and my cards are.... 3 4

Aw, Freddie, why ya gotta do me like that?

Fred is my next door neighbor who just passed away from lymphoma last week at age 35. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he was a good man and a bad poker player. Mind you, I am not criticizing here - he knew he was bad and didn't care. Freddie wasn't playing in Vegas or any of the nearby poker rooms - he only played in this particular .50/$1 cash game one time. Strictly a neighborhood, quarter stakes guy out to have fun. Nothing wrong with that.

Fred's favorite hold'em hand was 34 - I'm not sure why this came to be his favorite hand, but he loved to knock out my AK on the old K34 board. Just the funniest thing in the world to him.

I had been dealt 34 twice before tonight. Once I was in one of the blinds, played free/cheap, and folded on a total whiff. The other time I folded preflop.

I'm all about honoring my friend's favorite poker hand, but let's get real here. I don't have to play it every time, right? After all, it's friggin three-four.

Back to the present, though. I've got 34 sooted, under the gun, on the last hand of the night. It's only a 5 handed table, maybe everyone will fold if I raise and I'll throw them over and have a good laugh...

I raise it up to $3.50. Tony, to my left, immediately calls. Tony has had position on me all night, and the one hand where we tangled where I had position - he had Kings. Oh Joy. I lost $13 on that hand finding out he had Kings, but I was happy with the way I played it overall. He lead out on a JJ9 board and I raised it up, thinking I could get him to fold 9T or AK/AQ or maybe even pocket eights and lower. I had pocket sevens. He called my raise, but then checked the turn and river and we got to a relatively cheap showdown - cheaper than me call/call/calling down to the river. He said my raise scared the shit out of him - he was thinking Ace Jack or 99.

Tony and I take the flop heads up - everyone else is content with their stack as-is for the night. The board is one of the best you could hope for playing 34 .. it comes

J 3 8.

Bottom pair, baby flush draw. Nicely done. I debate between leading out and checkraising - I think they're both close here, but decide I took the lead raising up preflop, so I need to keep the lead. I bet $3.50.

Tony calls the $3.50 and makes it ten more.

My first, gut instinct is to shove all my chips in the middle. I've become famous for several spectacular final hand blowouts in this game (winning some, losing others). I have lost with Aces vs. Kings, and I've won with boat over boat, all on the final hand.

Tony would be the perfect opponent to make this move, also. He will calmly fold AJ/KJ/QJ here, or Tens, maybe even an overpair. Tony believes in "big hand, big pot/small hand, small pot", and doesn't necessarily consider an overpair a "big hand". This might be even more true on the final hand of the night, with him hanging onto a nice profit for the evening.

What Tony might not fold, however, was a bigger flush draw than mine. I think he would go with AK or AQ. That would suck. However, if he has those hands, then I'm currently ahead with my pair of threes! In truth, I'm not a big underdog to any reasonable hand except the three sets, and I feel I have a ton of fold equity. Yup, if there was ever a time for the all-in semibluff on bottom pair and a flush draw, this is the time.....

Except, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I choked. I had a good situation, the right opponent, and a probable statistical favorite to a winning hand (an ever-so-slight favorite, surely), and I just let it go, taking my $7 loss and calling it a night. I flipped over my 34 soooted - Tony (Fred's best friend in the neighborhood) laughed and knew exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it. Tony, in turn, revealed his hand - 2 Kings. Again with the Kings!

"I almost pushed all in on you" I told him. "Bottom pair, flush draw. Would you have called?".

"Nope, he calmly explained. I would have put you on pocket jacks and hitting your set. I would have folded."

Lovely.

ups and downs.

A frustrating night overall, although I did well. My first place finish came by sucking out after getting my TPTK in bad against aces. (hey, it happens), but I played well after that. My two losses both came against maniac opponents (37/24 types) who built up big chip stacks and then didn't mind racing for half of them.

I lost 4 races tonight, but won by hitting a 2-outer. Amazing.

In the last of the four tourneys, I got to headsup and hit some great hands - pocket queens three times, two flushes, a gutshot straight, and a flopped full house (57 on a 775 board), and couldn't get paid on any of them. Ended up getting my money in good, though, with two pair on a three flush board - the villain had top pair and a flush draw and hit his other card for a higher two pair. I don't mind his call too much with 14 outs, although I was better than a 2-1 favorite with only one card to come.

End tally - 1 first place, 1 second place, 2 bombouts. As I said, a good night, but perhaps more luck than skill.

Early in the night - I was witness to a sweet cold deck 3-way all in. In a raised pot, board comes J-3-3. Action goes bet, call, raise, reraise all-in, call all-in, call all-in. First guy turns over pocket queens - second guy turns over pocket jacks for the overboat. Third guy types "thanks" into chat and flips over pocket threes for flopped quads. Ouch.

Not a fan of the "thanks" in the chat (you can't really fault either player for getting it in there), but nice hand, sir.

lost a buck - and the worst poker I have ever seen.

played only 2 tonight, net loss of $1.

First tourney, nothing I could do - I watched a horrible player call a small river bet with second pair (QT) on a four diamond board. He had no diamond. He was one of those 48/3 guys. Later, I raised his limp with AcKc. The turn brought the diamond flush, along with my ace.

I bet the river for value and he raised me all in (less than the size of my raise, I was short). I knew at this point he probably had the flush but also knew I was taking TPTK all the way against this doofus. He had Kd4d, which he had called my preflop 4x raise with. Oh joy. King-Blanking-Four-So0oted.

The second tourney brought a hand played so badly that I still cannot not fathom it.

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 20/40 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UTG+1: 1,485
UTG+2: 1,215
MP1: 1,570
MP2: 1,550
CO: 2,620
BTN: 585
SB: 275
BB: 1,410
Hero (UTG): 2,790

Pre-Flop: (60) T T dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero calls 40,

TT under the gun. A true borderline hand I'm one of the bigger stacks so I can afford a raise, but a full table so my hand is right on the edge. I choose limping, deciding to call an all in from the BTN or SB who are short. Both are bad players, and BTN might be on tilt.

3 folds, MP2 calls 40, CO calls 40, BTN raises to 260, SB raises to 275 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls 235, MP2 folds, CO calls 235, BTN calls 15

BTN raises the limpers but doesn't shove. A huge hand? Maybe. When SB puts all of his chips in, I figure at worst I could setmine now with lots of dead money in the pot. I have just under 3-1 odds to call with TT, though I might be against a big hand.

Flop: (1,180) 5 5 8 (4 Players - 1 is All-In)
Hero checks, CO checks, BTN bets 310 and is All-In.

I now have 4.81-1 odds to call this all-in, with an overpair. This guy has played the hand like he's got a big pair, but then again he's so bad he might have an underpair as well, or a whiffed AK/AQ. There's one guy behind me - if he folds I won't have to put any more money into the pot. If he calls also I could be in trouble...

Hero calls 310, CO folds

Turn: (1,800) 3 (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
River: (1,800) 7 (3 Players - 2 are All-In)

Results: 1,800 Pot
BTN showed 2 K (a pair of Fives) and LOST (-585 NET)
SB showed 3 J (two pair, Fives and Threes) and LOST (-275 NET)
Hero showed T T (two pair, Tens and Fives) and WON 1,800 (+1,215 NET)

Let's review. BTN raised up 2 limpers with K2s, putting nearly half his tiny stack into the pot. Then, after seeing this show of strength, SB puts his whole stack in, too - only 15 chips more than BTN - with J3o, guaranteeing everyone will call.

The flop comes 558 rainbow, and Mr. K2 shoves his whole 310 in, with, giving me nearly 5-1 odds to call.

There is almost no explanation for the bad poker here. Even if you don't know a thing about math, odds, etc - do you bluff off half your stack with K2? Or do you actually think that's a good hand?. Do you stake your whole tourney life on J3, knowing you'll have at least 3 callers?

Yumpin-yiminy.

Took second on this tourney vs. a decent player that played his big stack well. I got lucky to knock out #3 (ICM shove with Queen-Rag vs. 88, hit my Queen) - then #1 raised every hand for about 6-7 in a row, I took a stand with second pair - he hit top pair.

not 100% bad...

3 losses tonight (including the dual-click bonus loss described in the last post), but I did make one nice play.

Full Tilt Poker, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Sit n' Go, 50/100 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: 2,545
CO: 3,095
Hero (BTN): 1,690
SB: 1,200
BB: 1,080
UTG: 3,890

Pre-Flop: (150) K A dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, MP calls 100, CO folds, Hero calls 100, SB calls 50, BB checks

Big blind was a good player, aggressive, and short on chips. I thought maybe he'd try raising the limpers with a wide range, so I just limp behind with AK, with the intention of calling his shove. He doesn't have anything shove-worthy, though, so we're three-handed to the flop.

Flop: (400) 6 K 6 (4 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP bets 400,

Well, can't ask more a much better flop with AK. I suppose MP could have limped with Aces, or maybe he's semibluffing with spades. Of course, this is a limped pot, so BB might wake up with a 6 and really send me to the wall, but I'm going to shove it in and pray he is six-less.

Hero raises to 1,590 and is All-In, 2 folds, MP calls 1,190

When MP calls the all-in, I figure him for KQ/KJ. Good read.

Turn: (3,580) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,580) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: 3,580 Pot
MP showed Q K (two pair, Kings and Sixes) and LOST (-1,690 NET)
Hero showed K A (two pair, Kings and Sixes) and WON 3,580 (+1,890 NET)