Well I just read the message board on Pegcity and noticed someone wrote that the Costa Rica tourney may be worth a post or two. Well, I would have to agree it is definately worth a post.
The tournament had just under 60 players, which was far less than was represented to me before I decided to go down, but realistically I probably would have went anyway givin the sweetheart deal offered to me. The buyin was 3k US. The field consisted of about 15 pros from a group called the 'Pic Club' or something like that, maybe 30 internet qualifiers, and a couple of randoms like myself. The tournament tournout was weak for two reasons. One, the venue was in the middle of nowhere, far removed from downtown San Jose so casual local player representation was limited. And two, they just had two major tournaments played in Costa Rica so perhaps many of the local casual players were tapped out.
The tournament structure was good. We started with 12k in chips with a long slow moving blind structure that increased once every hour - take note Club Regent. I found the field suprising weak/passive with very limited 3-betting preflop. Many of the internet qualifiers were players from DSI poker, a smaller site that has small nl games. Therefore, the tough higher limit online players were nowhere to be seen. As for the Pic Club players, obviously a couple of them are tough like TJ Cloutier, Kenna James, Kathy Liebert, Krazy Cannuck, etc... but most of them are nothing special, and some of them like Barbara Enright for example, I find are fishy. Luckily for me I didn't have to play with any of them till late in Day 1.
Day 1:
My early table draws were good, but I didn't really chip up. This one old lady kept hacking me down. She check, I bet, she call, she check, I bet, she call, and so on and so on, and everytime the cards were revealed she would win, usually tabling some ridiculas hand that beat me on the turn or river. Luckily, she was so bad and didn't bet her hands when she was strong (probably because she didn't know what she had) so I was able to fade being knocked out. By the end of level 3 I was actually down to 5k in chips, then my table broke. At my next table I went on a heater and was up to 20k in chips within 3o minutes thanks to some good situational luck and some well timed bluffs. Several hours later Mike LiSante from Winnipeg moved to my table with chips and within minutes took a ridiculas cooler. I raised utg with ak clubs, a tight player called, who has flatted me several times with big pairs, and Mike was in the big blind. The 3 of us went to the flop and it came Q83. I check cause I know that Q is likely to hit one of them. The tight guy bets after we both check and Mike check raises, I fold, and they both get it in. Mike flopped a set of 8s and the other guy had a set of queens, eww gross... so long Mike. By the end of day 1 I had 31k in chips, which was just over average with 23 guys left. The remained of the day was rather uneventful for me as I accumulated chips mostly with blind stealing or c-bets after the flop. A couple interesting hands went as follows:
First hand I opened a pot from mid position with AQ of diamonds and 5 took the flop, which was abnormal. The flop came Q42 with the 42 of spades. The big blind donk bet me for 1/2 pot and I raised as it seemed like a feeler bet with a smaller Q, then I was 3-betted by the button who was tight. I laid down even though I had quite a few chips in the middle already. I never saw his hand, but I am confident he hit a small set as we were both deep and he didn't seem like the type to gamble a Q plus flush draw type hand for a big pot. The second hand I was in the small blind with KQ, man I hate that hand, however a player raised from the cutoff for the 3rd time in a row when all folded to him. The big blind called as well and 3 of us went to the flop. The flop came K108, two diamonds. I checked, the big blind bet out 3/4 pot, and the original raiser went all in for about double the donk bet. I felt the big blind led out with some type of K or big 10 maybe, and I knew the short stacker would push with a wide range including KQ, KJ, a diamond draw, and maybe even a gutter like AQ or AJ with a diamond. I felt his push range was big enough that I would be winning well over 50% of the time so I decided to push all in to kick out the big blind. After pushing the big blind tanked for 5 minutes before finally folding, 108 as it turns out. The shortstacker had KK so I was drawing almost dead and ended up losing the pot. This hand was interesting, interesting most of all because my read of the situation was so far off. I was most suprised that the big blind would bet out with two pair givin the fact that the original raiser was short and would push with so many hands if checked to him. Plus, I am put into a squeeze and may call fairly light against the short stacker, so it is a great spot to pick up alot of chips by checking. Anyway, I guess he didn't think through the situation very well, at least in my opinion, but thank you for folding buddy or I would have been knocked out. The third hand is simple, but noteworthy, because it represents the first time in about 7 tournaments where I have been all-in in a tournament for a significant pot and won. Utg opened the pot and it was folded to me in the big blind. The hand took place shortly after the KQ so I was getting fairly short, about 12 big blinds. I looked down at AK and shoved knowing I may get called light as it was the same guy that folded the 108 to me. The guy snap called with AQ. Flop Q84, great, here we go again, the tournament curse continues, the turn came 10, river K. Bing! I couldn't believe it, I won.
Day 2
Prior to bagging my chips after day 1, I overheard the tournament director say that day 2 will start at 3:00. So, I left the poker area to go out for dinner and have a couple drinks with Myles, Jamie, and Mike and I did not return to the poker room until the next day. I casually made my way up to the poker room at about 2:50. When I walked into the room I instantly knew there was a problem because everyone was playing. A rather sick feeling went through my body and I immediately asked someone, what are they playing over there? Someone responded, oh, thats the tournament main event. Jesus! I immediately went over to the remaining two tables and asked where my seat was. The dealer said are you Joe Williams? I said ya. He said, we've been trying to get ahold of you for the last hour, the tournament started at 2:00 (The tournament director changed his mind on the start time wtf???). Good times, they had already lost 6 players and my chips were blinded off from 31k to 20k. I took it quite well and told myself, it'll just make for a good story when I win, sure....
When I sat down I took a quick look to survey situation. I had about 17 big blinds and noticed I had some tough opponents as TJ and Kenna both had at least 100k in chips and Kenna was two to my left. About 5 hands in I picked up AK of clubs. Someone I hadn't played with opened from early position and I had no read on him yet. I had enough chips to flat the hand to see the flop in position, but being one of the short stacks, and partially worked up by losing 1/3 of my chips to blinds and I decided I was going to commit to the hand so I reraised. He pondered and just called, which was rather strange considering close half my stack was in with the reraise. The flop came J93 two clubs and he checked. Well, pretty good flop I guess unless he's getting cute with aces or flopped a set of jacks, but otherwise I'm sure he'd a shoved into me on the flop with a better hand than AK (such as 1010, 88 etc... - QQ or KK obv pushes preflop). He checked I moved in and he folded, probably AQ. Shortly thereafter I picked up a few blinds and next thing you know I was close to 40k in chips, ok I'm over the late arrival thing, maybe it was a good thing allowing me to escape a draw out or cooler that would have sent me to the rail? Who knows. The rest of the play leading up to the final table was pretty standard for me. I was able to steal my share of blinds, however, at one point I got a little too active and Kenna started three betting me, so I tightened up a bit and he backed off. Our table had the majority of the short stacks trying to rock there way into the cash so I even go a few walks. The hand before the final table I picked up JJ and a short stacker jammed with A8 and I won. Wow, two preflop allins that held up in two days, amazing. One interesting hand prior to final table discussion involved TJ getting bounced. TJ raised from mid position and Kenna called from the small blind. 3 went to a flop Q1010 two clubs and Kenna led out for pot size. TJ called and the turn was an A. Kenna checked TJ bet big, close to pot, Kenna check raised allin and TJ called. TJ had KJ for straight and Kenna had 107. River was 7 and TJ steamed off complaining that his bad luck never ends. In fairness, I have seen him take some dirty ones in late stages of tournaments more than once. After that hand, Kenna had at least 1/3 of the chips in play.
Final Table
The tournament paid only 9 so I knew the play would be tight until someone got knocked out. There were 2 real small stacks. I was part of the 4 small/medium stacks. Kenna had a huge stack and Humberto Brennes had the dominent second biggest stack. Anyway, about 8 hands in this tight player raised in early position. I was in the big blind and looked down at what Mike Sexton calls 'the weapons of mass destruction'. Sweet, first time all tournament actually. I knew the kid had a real small range raising from early position on the bubble. I also knew he would fold everything but kk to a reraise so I decided to flat call. The flop came 652 with 2 diamonds. I checked he bet I raised allin, which was about standard givin my chip stack. I figured he would call with 1010 and up, especially with the flush draw out there. He called and showed KK, dirty. I faded the K on both the turn and river and all of a sudden I had a chance to win, moving into second in chips. After that hand we were in the money and both short stackers started pushing. I didn't pick up much for 1/2 hour so I just sat back until the short stackers were gone and we were down to 6. During this time, Kenna got rivered on a huge pot that would have givin him 75% of the chips in play. Allin on a A73 flop, Kenna had 77 against his opponents AK with K of hearts, river heart.
Once down to 6 players I started to shift gears and opened about every 3rd pot, mostly with junk. All of a sudden I picked up KK and I raised for 3rd time in a row. Kathy Liebert immediately moved all in and I called, she showed AQ. Givin she was getting short that was pretty standard and I won. Next, I chipped down Kenna, then knocked him out. On the first hand, I limped in with AQ from the small blind after the action folded to me. He raised, I reraised, and he shoved. After my reraise I had 50% of my chips in and was not going to fold. He tabled A10 and I doubled up becoming chip leader. He said he thought I was making a move. The second hand played out the same. Everyone folded to me in the small blind and I had AQs. I raised this time and he reraise, I shoved he tanked and called with 88. I flopped the ace and it held, man its nice to run good. At this point I had 1/2 the chips in play. Soon after, two more guys were bounced and I was heads up with Humberto with a 2 to 1 chip count.
Heads Up
About 10 hands in I doubled up Humberto. On a limped pot I had 53 in the big blind. The flop came J52 with two spades. I checked he bet I called. The turn came a 3 I checked and he bet strong, about pot size. Givin the size of the pot, his chip count, and the vulnerability of my hand I check raised him all in thinking I probably had the best. He snap called and showed A4. After that hand he were about even in chips and it stayed that way for about 1/2 hour. Humberto did a lot of limping, sometimes with big hands looking for a raise preflop. I respected the fact he sometimes limped with big hands so I rarely raised from the big blind. Also, I felt I had an edge on him on flop play. He is obviously a very good tournament player, but his tournament skills lie more in his preflop decision making than crafty postflop play, especially in heads up situations. During the early part of the heads up match he was clearly catching better cards and outflopping me and he eventually took the chip lead. Two key hands came about before finally making a deal. The first hand, he limped and I raised with QJs. The flop came KQ9 and I lead out and he made a big push allin. I really felt he had KJ, K10, or maybe Q9 and after doing the math and factoring in I had an advantage playing small pots I decided to fold leaving myself with about 1/4 of the chips. About 10 hands later and being chiped down a bit he open shoved for about 15 big blinds. In previous situations, he would raise about 2 3/4 the big blind with big hands and I felt that he was pushing with a weaker type hand such as two pictures or a weak ace. I decided to make a stand with A7 and he tabled A5. Somehow we didn't have a chopping board and I doubled up. After the hand, we became almost even in chips and he asked me if I would want to give second place 40k, taking 7.5k off of first. I agreed and we continued to play for the title and a 10k differential. Our battle continued and last about 2.5 hours before I eventually won. A few key hands go as follows:
Hand 1: I had A5 of spades he raised I called. The flop came Q109 rainbow I check he checked. The turn was a 7 bringing in a diamond draw. I led out for 2/3 pot knowing he would not check a big hand on the flop giving the texture of the board, he called. River blanked and I bet 100k, a big bet, close to 3/4 pot and he eventually folded. I put him on a hand like K10 at best and figured he would noot take the river heat.
Hand 2: On a limped pot I had K10 and the flop came Q63 rainbow, I checked he bet I raised he folded. Up to this point I had check raised him with air on about 4 pots never showing. Normally I would never show, but he continued to play very catious and I was starting to tire so when he asked me what I had I turned over my hand and he got upset. After this hand, he started to push harder creating an opportunity for me to finish him if I picked up a big hand.
Hand 3: I had chipped up and had Humberto down to less than 1/3 of the chips. After losing a pot at showdown, he open shoved for 13 big blinds and I looked down at AQ and quickly called. He showed K3 and turned a K to double up.
Hand 4: On a limped pot with Q9 I flopped quads. I checked he checked. The turn came 7 and I led out and he raised pretty big. I decided to flat trying to represent a 7 and knowing he would fold to a reraise no matter what. River blanked I checked hoping he would bet if he had nothing. He thought for a minute, shrugged and said check. I showed my hand and he chuckled, i'm pretty sure he had nothing. I find those kind of hands hard to play. How can you get more chips here?
Hand 5: I raised the button for the 3rd time in a row. Humberto was getting pretty low, about 14 big blinds, as the blinds were starting to get fairly big, and he shoved. I had AQ and quickly called, he showed A6 and I won. Good game, good times, i'm starting to really like AQ.
I had several partners/horses for this tournament so I didn't make that much money when the smoke cleared, but I will say it was a real sweet victory. I have had some real bad luck in big tournaments over the last couple years and to win won, albeit not a huge tournament, is great for my confidence. Hopefully, this win will jump start a spectacular 2009 tournament run. Also, some of my poker collegues can't bug me as much anymore for being 'a tournament hacker'. I don't blame them, up to this point I had never cashed over 15k in a live tournament in my life.
Anyway, in vegas right now till Friday then home where I will hang out through to the end of the holidays. Kathy, Braeden, and I will likely go on a vacation early January (hopefully Bahamas if I can qualify) then probably off to the states for more poker action late January. I will update if anything exciting happens.
Later,
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Peek n Valleys
Its a boring Monday night. I just got back from the Harvest Poker Classic in Regina and poker is on my mind. I am sooo lazy when it comes to the blog and for that I apologize, that is if anyone reads it.
The last couple months have been a struggle. I continued having great success online on Cake for the remainder of August (as I continued to run/play well, wish I could run well more often). Unfortunately, the doomdsday switch was once again issued upon me in September. It didn't help that I increased limits to compensate for the losses, looking for the quick score to get even (one day I will learn that this is not a wise strategy). In the end, I had a 50k downswing in September, significantly denting my summer profit.
In October, I dropped limits and hours logged considerably online. Due to the downturn it was hard to motivate myself to play. I did go to Niagara Falls with Trav, where I continued to run bad, and towards the end of the trip probably played bad. Luckily the players were soft so I was able to book a small win of 8k when the smoke cleared. I stuck mostly to the 10/25 games as the 25/50 had tougher players and I was not hitting.
October also marked the beginning and probably the end of the high stake home games. Since coming home Trav has organized several home games with blinds 5/10, however, the game turns out playing like a 10/20nl, mabye higher. I have run rather poor in these games as well, usually missing every board until I hit a solid second best hand, your welcome Rosie for the 17k cooler... Anyway, regardless of my luck, I will say I did not play my best poker.
Screw the game anyway it sucks and probably won't last much longer. With most of the 'weaker' players unwilling to show up anymore the game consists of Travis, Zenni, Myles, Rosie, and 1 or 2 tight/solid shortstackers. I think I could find a better game in Bobby's room. These guys are good! I have seen some pretty creative stuff from each of them and think it has helped me look at some situations in a different light. Obviously, Trav and Myles are successful players that have been for awhile, but I would like to give special praise to Zenni or 'Little Ivey' as we like to call him. This kid has only been playin for a couple years, with maybe 9 months of higher stake games under his belt and the truth is he may be the most dangerous player of em all. He has a great approach to the game with the right demeaner, he mixes it up alot, reads well, and he is certainly not scared to play a big pot. I have had the chance to play and chat with him lots as of late, in games in and out of town, and I really quite like him. I won't be suprised to see him achieve great successes in poker.
After Niagara, I took the better part of 2 weeks off so I could recharge and clear my head before heading down to Regina for the Harvest Classic. I knew I was starting to play bad and I just needed a break to get back on track. Its funny, during those almost 2 weeks I had a hard time staying away, like a crack addict without his crack.... I have a gambling problem, oh well.
Regina has always been my favorite venue for poker because of its proximity to Winnipeg and the volume of peggers that show up every year to play a little poker and drink alot of booze. I have been going down for 9 years now, usually once a year, and still have yet to win a tournament. In fact, I think I've only had 2 final tables. This year turned out to be no different and the results were as follows:
-I got cut up by a bunch of butchers in the omaha h/l and finished mid pack. I never had chips cause I kept getting rivered. I played with close to 20 different people and the truth is not one knew the game well;
-I finished just passed mid pack in 100 rebuy. I never had big chips as everytime I won a pot I would be chopped down by a dirty setup;
-I finished 19 out of 365 a good but frustrating finish. I ran 2/8 in showdowns were I was either dominating or flipping, including the hand that killed me where I had AK run into J10 all in preflop for serious chips to give me a shot.
-I finished 34 out of 220 in main event, 11 out of the cash. This one was really upsetting because I had massive chips early and into the later stages of the tourney. Again, could not win a showdown, going probably 2/7 in key hands where I was favored over shortstack preflop jams, sometimes heavily favored. Also, it didn't make it any easier when I was moved to the toughest Regina table I've ever had with 50 players to go. Oh well, at least my buddy Chris took the tournament down, I'm happy for him.
-Made some in the cash games though so the trip was positive 3.5k after expenses.
Its back to back trips this go around. I returned last night from Regina and am off to Costa Rica on Wed morning with Myles for a tournament. Our friend Jamie Harvey provided an offer we couldn't refuse, which included an all expenses paid trip and entry into the tournament, where I play and split any profit 3 ways. The offer was too good to pass up so no BC Open this year. Hopefully it will be a worthwhile trip.
Getting tired so I'm off. Will try to update after Costa Rica, maybe to describe how I faded a 5 outer to win a tournament for once, who knows, time will tell. Cheers...
The last couple months have been a struggle. I continued having great success online on Cake for the remainder of August (as I continued to run/play well, wish I could run well more often). Unfortunately, the doomdsday switch was once again issued upon me in September. It didn't help that I increased limits to compensate for the losses, looking for the quick score to get even (one day I will learn that this is not a wise strategy). In the end, I had a 50k downswing in September, significantly denting my summer profit.
In October, I dropped limits and hours logged considerably online. Due to the downturn it was hard to motivate myself to play. I did go to Niagara Falls with Trav, where I continued to run bad, and towards the end of the trip probably played bad. Luckily the players were soft so I was able to book a small win of 8k when the smoke cleared. I stuck mostly to the 10/25 games as the 25/50 had tougher players and I was not hitting.
October also marked the beginning and probably the end of the high stake home games. Since coming home Trav has organized several home games with blinds 5/10, however, the game turns out playing like a 10/20nl, mabye higher. I have run rather poor in these games as well, usually missing every board until I hit a solid second best hand, your welcome Rosie for the 17k cooler... Anyway, regardless of my luck, I will say I did not play my best poker.
Screw the game anyway it sucks and probably won't last much longer. With most of the 'weaker' players unwilling to show up anymore the game consists of Travis, Zenni, Myles, Rosie, and 1 or 2 tight/solid shortstackers. I think I could find a better game in Bobby's room. These guys are good! I have seen some pretty creative stuff from each of them and think it has helped me look at some situations in a different light. Obviously, Trav and Myles are successful players that have been for awhile, but I would like to give special praise to Zenni or 'Little Ivey' as we like to call him. This kid has only been playin for a couple years, with maybe 9 months of higher stake games under his belt and the truth is he may be the most dangerous player of em all. He has a great approach to the game with the right demeaner, he mixes it up alot, reads well, and he is certainly not scared to play a big pot. I have had the chance to play and chat with him lots as of late, in games in and out of town, and I really quite like him. I won't be suprised to see him achieve great successes in poker.
After Niagara, I took the better part of 2 weeks off so I could recharge and clear my head before heading down to Regina for the Harvest Classic. I knew I was starting to play bad and I just needed a break to get back on track. Its funny, during those almost 2 weeks I had a hard time staying away, like a crack addict without his crack.... I have a gambling problem, oh well.
Regina has always been my favorite venue for poker because of its proximity to Winnipeg and the volume of peggers that show up every year to play a little poker and drink alot of booze. I have been going down for 9 years now, usually once a year, and still have yet to win a tournament. In fact, I think I've only had 2 final tables. This year turned out to be no different and the results were as follows:
-I got cut up by a bunch of butchers in the omaha h/l and finished mid pack. I never had chips cause I kept getting rivered. I played with close to 20 different people and the truth is not one knew the game well;
-I finished just passed mid pack in 100 rebuy. I never had big chips as everytime I won a pot I would be chopped down by a dirty setup;
-I finished 19 out of 365 a good but frustrating finish. I ran 2/8 in showdowns were I was either dominating or flipping, including the hand that killed me where I had AK run into J10 all in preflop for serious chips to give me a shot.
-I finished 34 out of 220 in main event, 11 out of the cash. This one was really upsetting because I had massive chips early and into the later stages of the tourney. Again, could not win a showdown, going probably 2/7 in key hands where I was favored over shortstack preflop jams, sometimes heavily favored. Also, it didn't make it any easier when I was moved to the toughest Regina table I've ever had with 50 players to go. Oh well, at least my buddy Chris took the tournament down, I'm happy for him.
-Made some in the cash games though so the trip was positive 3.5k after expenses.
Its back to back trips this go around. I returned last night from Regina and am off to Costa Rica on Wed morning with Myles for a tournament. Our friend Jamie Harvey provided an offer we couldn't refuse, which included an all expenses paid trip and entry into the tournament, where I play and split any profit 3 ways. The offer was too good to pass up so no BC Open this year. Hopefully it will be a worthwhile trip.
Getting tired so I'm off. Will try to update after Costa Rica, maybe to describe how I faded a 5 outer to win a tournament for once, who knows, time will tell. Cheers...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Quick Update
Its late Sunday night. I was doin some work and decided to hop online for a bit. Had a good 2.5 hour session banking 9k. And now that I'm in a good mood, I have become somewhat inspired to update my blog. It has been at least a month since my last entry, maybe longer??? In summary, I have been back in the Peg for a couple of weeks already and should be here for another 1-2 months. Likely, by the beginning of October I will go to Niagara Falls followed by Regina and BC in November, Vegas in December, then home for Christmas.
I have not played a whole lot of live poker since returning from Vegas, excluding two weekends ago when I went with Myles and Todd to check out the games in Niagara Falls. They are good and suprisingly, they consistently host at least one 10/20nl everyday, with multiple games springing up on the weekends. The best part is there are no quality players in the room...should be good times in October. The only down side is they cap the buy-in at 3k.
On a side note, on my return from Vegas to Winnipeg I drove back with Kathy and we stopped in Vancouver and Calgary. The games there stink, you can't even find a regular 5/10nl. So Niagara Falls may become my new resting place when not in the States.
As for online, I have been doing well on Cake, probably cashed a good 40k since my last update. I play PLO almost exclusively as the holdem games suck at the higher levels. The games are really good there, and for the most part, I have run fairly well (not as well as 'GroovyT' though....I have noticed his name popping up at my tables from time to time. Some of the weak draws he goes for makes me shiver, but somehow the river repeatedly ships him pots - he's not really THAT bad at PLO though, just havin fun Trav). No real exciting hands to speak of except one:
I was playing a fish and crushing him in 5/10 PLO. He seemed to have a lot of cash and challenged me to a 'real game'. I felt my edge was too big to refuse so I jumped up to play him heads up 50/100, which is above my comfort zone (anything higher than 10/20 makes me nervous, especially with PLO because the game plays bigger than holdem). He loaded 10k, I loaded 6k and we were off to the races. Within 10 minutes I'm up to $8,700 and he had me covered because he kept topping up. In typical fashion, when I jump limits the poker gods stick it to me with a cooler or a beat. In this case, it was a cooler. I had 88910 double suit on the button and raised to $300, the fish repopped to $900. He was playing aggressive preflop so I figured I had a good enough hand to see the flop. The flop came down 873 with two clubs...yummy. Long story short we got it all in on the flop, he had AA with the nut flush draw and rivered an A. It was tempting to reload, but I told myself going in I was going to take one shot only. Obviously losing 17.5k pots suck, but I really feel that I may have lost out on a lot more if I had won the pot. This guy is a fish, he had money I think based on his constant reloading, and he seemed capable of massive tilt, so if he lost that pot who knows, maybe he could have went off for 50k? This is an interesting point that I have discussed with a few other players. I firmly believe that many of the nosebleed regulars caught their break winning a few 'key hands' like that, went on a nice run, and backed into a healthy bankroll that allows them to play at higher limits comfortably. Whereas the players that keep losing the 'key hands' continue to struggle, grinding out a meager existence...man my life is so tough :} Of course, it might just look like i'm getting unlucky when I play bigger, when the truth is I'm not good enough for the game. Who knows? All I know is PLO rocks and holdem sucks. My prediction is that PLO will become more popular than holdem with 5 years, can't wait. In fact, people in Vegas are calling it the crack cocaine of gambling. When is Pegcityhustling gonna hold a PLO tourney? I'd like to do a last longer with Groovy for a thousand.
Not much else to report on the poker front. I'll probably torture myself with a couple visits to Club Regent while in Winnipeg and I will probably donate at least 60% of the time because I can't help but to play like a jackass when I'm there. Actually, I went there each of the last two Tuesdays and it seems not much has changed...1/2 of the dealers give a shit 1/2 don't; 1/2 know what they're doing 1/2 don't; most, not all, of the 'management' suck and have bad attitudes; and yes it still happens to be the worst run room in North America (although slightly better than 12 months ago, maybe there's hope?). Funny, during one of my two visits I was kicked out of the casino because I could not produce proper ID. Sweet, they singled me out while they let a couple dudes go by who looked no older than 16. Even after I told them most of the staff in the poker know me, which could be verified, and that I have been here since the casino first opened, they still told me to take a hike. Good work security, good discretion.
Gettin tired so off to sleep.....
I have not played a whole lot of live poker since returning from Vegas, excluding two weekends ago when I went with Myles and Todd to check out the games in Niagara Falls. They are good and suprisingly, they consistently host at least one 10/20nl everyday, with multiple games springing up on the weekends. The best part is there are no quality players in the room...should be good times in October. The only down side is they cap the buy-in at 3k.
On a side note, on my return from Vegas to Winnipeg I drove back with Kathy and we stopped in Vancouver and Calgary. The games there stink, you can't even find a regular 5/10nl. So Niagara Falls may become my new resting place when not in the States.
As for online, I have been doing well on Cake, probably cashed a good 40k since my last update. I play PLO almost exclusively as the holdem games suck at the higher levels. The games are really good there, and for the most part, I have run fairly well (not as well as 'GroovyT' though....I have noticed his name popping up at my tables from time to time. Some of the weak draws he goes for makes me shiver, but somehow the river repeatedly ships him pots - he's not really THAT bad at PLO though, just havin fun Trav). No real exciting hands to speak of except one:
I was playing a fish and crushing him in 5/10 PLO. He seemed to have a lot of cash and challenged me to a 'real game'. I felt my edge was too big to refuse so I jumped up to play him heads up 50/100, which is above my comfort zone (anything higher than 10/20 makes me nervous, especially with PLO because the game plays bigger than holdem). He loaded 10k, I loaded 6k and we were off to the races. Within 10 minutes I'm up to $8,700 and he had me covered because he kept topping up. In typical fashion, when I jump limits the poker gods stick it to me with a cooler or a beat. In this case, it was a cooler. I had 88910 double suit on the button and raised to $300, the fish repopped to $900. He was playing aggressive preflop so I figured I had a good enough hand to see the flop. The flop came down 873 with two clubs...yummy. Long story short we got it all in on the flop, he had AA with the nut flush draw and rivered an A. It was tempting to reload, but I told myself going in I was going to take one shot only. Obviously losing 17.5k pots suck, but I really feel that I may have lost out on a lot more if I had won the pot. This guy is a fish, he had money I think based on his constant reloading, and he seemed capable of massive tilt, so if he lost that pot who knows, maybe he could have went off for 50k? This is an interesting point that I have discussed with a few other players. I firmly believe that many of the nosebleed regulars caught their break winning a few 'key hands' like that, went on a nice run, and backed into a healthy bankroll that allows them to play at higher limits comfortably. Whereas the players that keep losing the 'key hands' continue to struggle, grinding out a meager existence...man my life is so tough :} Of course, it might just look like i'm getting unlucky when I play bigger, when the truth is I'm not good enough for the game. Who knows? All I know is PLO rocks and holdem sucks. My prediction is that PLO will become more popular than holdem with 5 years, can't wait. In fact, people in Vegas are calling it the crack cocaine of gambling. When is Pegcityhustling gonna hold a PLO tourney? I'd like to do a last longer with Groovy for a thousand.
Not much else to report on the poker front. I'll probably torture myself with a couple visits to Club Regent while in Winnipeg and I will probably donate at least 60% of the time because I can't help but to play like a jackass when I'm there. Actually, I went there each of the last two Tuesdays and it seems not much has changed...1/2 of the dealers give a shit 1/2 don't; 1/2 know what they're doing 1/2 don't; most, not all, of the 'management' suck and have bad attitudes; and yes it still happens to be the worst run room in North America (although slightly better than 12 months ago, maybe there's hope?). Funny, during one of my two visits I was kicked out of the casino because I could not produce proper ID. Sweet, they singled me out while they let a couple dudes go by who looked no older than 16. Even after I told them most of the staff in the poker know me, which could be verified, and that I have been here since the casino first opened, they still told me to take a hike. Good work security, good discretion.
Gettin tired so off to sleep.....
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The end is coming
Well the series is over and the action is dying. Originally, I thought i would stay through to August, but in fact i'm going to leave early next week. I have been running pretty bad live, at least at the Wynn, where I play most of my poker.
My plan is to drive back spend a week or so in the peg then going to Niagara Falls on the 8th of August with a few buddies to play their apparently juicy 10/20nl game. Not sure how long I will stay, but it will depend on my success.
The last week has been ok overall. I have logged more hours than any other week since being down here, much of it online playing plo on cake poker. Travis sent me 3k and I turned it into close to 14k so 11k profit. Live I am around even maybe down 1.5k. So many beats and coolers that I will not talk about hands played, excpet 1 from online I found funny while playing on cake and it goes as follows:
I had akj10 with a suited ace and raised in a 3/6plo game. One guy called and a short stacker re-pots from the bb. Three of us went to the flop and it came down AA8. The short stacker pushed all in for just under the pot and I called, the other guy folded. The short stacker had KKJ8 with no backdoor draws. Unfortunately, the longest shot possible came in, the ol' 2 outer / 1 outer combo and he wins a $600 pot at about 800:1 underdog...sweet. Glad it wasn't a big pot.
I won't be making it up to Canada in time for Regina, oh well...i'll go there for the November tournament, its usually the best 1 anyway. Looking forward to travelling to a few spots in Canada over the next couple months once I recharge with a little R&R in the peg. Gotta keep building the roll so I can responsibly move up to bigger games. Hopefully will be in some big games by next wsop, we'll see.
ciao
My plan is to drive back spend a week or so in the peg then going to Niagara Falls on the 8th of August with a few buddies to play their apparently juicy 10/20nl game. Not sure how long I will stay, but it will depend on my success.
The last week has been ok overall. I have logged more hours than any other week since being down here, much of it online playing plo on cake poker. Travis sent me 3k and I turned it into close to 14k so 11k profit. Live I am around even maybe down 1.5k. So many beats and coolers that I will not talk about hands played, excpet 1 from online I found funny while playing on cake and it goes as follows:
I had akj10 with a suited ace and raised in a 3/6plo game. One guy called and a short stacker re-pots from the bb. Three of us went to the flop and it came down AA8. The short stacker pushed all in for just under the pot and I called, the other guy folded. The short stacker had KKJ8 with no backdoor draws. Unfortunately, the longest shot possible came in, the ol' 2 outer / 1 outer combo and he wins a $600 pot at about 800:1 underdog...sweet. Glad it wasn't a big pot.
I won't be making it up to Canada in time for Regina, oh well...i'll go there for the November tournament, its usually the best 1 anyway. Looking forward to travelling to a few spots in Canada over the next couple months once I recharge with a little R&R in the peg. Gotta keep building the roll so I can responsibly move up to bigger games. Hopefully will be in some big games by next wsop, we'll see.
ciao
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Vegas Update: Long time no speak
I have been very lazy in recent months and obviously have not posted anything since my winter trip to LA / Vegas. Since then I can best summarize my poker endeavors as follows:
Came back to Winnipeg at end of March. Didn't play too much, just a little on-line, mostly on Cake Poker. Since March I really focused effort on improving my PLO game. It is without question the game of the future, and in my estimation will take over the holdem fever within 5 years...may as well get a leg up now. During April I made about 25k on Cake, playing relatively conservative stakes, and thus was happy with my results. Even live its incredible how bad some people play this game. Its almost like holdem 5 years ago.
Left to return to Vegas Mid May and am still here playing, and with exception of a 1-week return to Winnipeg for work I have been hangin out at the tables. I am staying with my buddy Jon Hanec, who rents a place off of Antonio Esfandiarie (?) pardon my spelling. The place is cool and is about 10 minutes off strip. Being off strip is helpful because its a nice break from the constant fast action of the strip. Don't get me wrong I like the fast action, but it can wear on you after awhile.
I usually play only when I feel like playing and generally when I'm well rested, consequently my total hours logged / week is down considerably from my winter trip amounting to about 40-50 hours / week. However, up until last Thursday, my hourly profit was much improved.
For most of this trip I have been fairly conservative in the stakes I have played. Generally, I have played 5/10 holdem and PLO, usually at the Rio or Wynn. Occasionally, I have played 10-20, but have been selective in these games as I want to prevent big swings. The games have been pretty good and with exception of last Thursday's almost 10k loss, (thanks to an untimely draw out on a 14k pot) I have won almost every session. Because I am playing smaller my goals are smaller. In 6 weeks of play I am up just over 40k, which I am happy with.
During the last week I stepped it up a bit playing some short field 10-20. Of course, I ran bad and it cost me about 15k. So, I am now stepping back down to grind another 20k....hopefully.
I won't go into my tournament blunders, I haven't played many and actually avoided all the small-buy WSOP events because I thought they had little value. The few tournies I played generally resulted in me accumulating big chips early only to be coolered, bad beated, or unable to win the key flip, usually for big pots, and usually in the last 25% of the field.
Not sure how long I'm going to stay down here. Overall, I have spent a little more money than I would have liked, unfortunately Vegas during WSOP is like a revolving door of Winnipegers, and I feel compelled to be a good host :} I'm thinking I would like to hang out in Winnipeg for some of August / September at least. Beyond that, I'll probably spend some time playing in Calgary and Niagara Falls in September / October. I hear Calgary has a steady juicy 5/10 game in both holdem and PLO whereas Niagara Falls has a steady 10/20. Not ideal places to play but I can only spend 6 months in the US per calendar year so I may have to make due. Following tournies in Niagara, Regina, and BC in October and November, I will probably return to Vegas at the end of November for Doyle's tourney at Bellagio in December.
Anyway, enough muttering. I'll try to start posting a little more often.
Ciao
Came back to Winnipeg at end of March. Didn't play too much, just a little on-line, mostly on Cake Poker. Since March I really focused effort on improving my PLO game. It is without question the game of the future, and in my estimation will take over the holdem fever within 5 years...may as well get a leg up now. During April I made about 25k on Cake, playing relatively conservative stakes, and thus was happy with my results. Even live its incredible how bad some people play this game. Its almost like holdem 5 years ago.
Left to return to Vegas Mid May and am still here playing, and with exception of a 1-week return to Winnipeg for work I have been hangin out at the tables. I am staying with my buddy Jon Hanec, who rents a place off of Antonio Esfandiarie (?) pardon my spelling. The place is cool and is about 10 minutes off strip. Being off strip is helpful because its a nice break from the constant fast action of the strip. Don't get me wrong I like the fast action, but it can wear on you after awhile.
I usually play only when I feel like playing and generally when I'm well rested, consequently my total hours logged / week is down considerably from my winter trip amounting to about 40-50 hours / week. However, up until last Thursday, my hourly profit was much improved.
For most of this trip I have been fairly conservative in the stakes I have played. Generally, I have played 5/10 holdem and PLO, usually at the Rio or Wynn. Occasionally, I have played 10-20, but have been selective in these games as I want to prevent big swings. The games have been pretty good and with exception of last Thursday's almost 10k loss, (thanks to an untimely draw out on a 14k pot) I have won almost every session. Because I am playing smaller my goals are smaller. In 6 weeks of play I am up just over 40k, which I am happy with.
During the last week I stepped it up a bit playing some short field 10-20. Of course, I ran bad and it cost me about 15k. So, I am now stepping back down to grind another 20k....hopefully.
I won't go into my tournament blunders, I haven't played many and actually avoided all the small-buy WSOP events because I thought they had little value. The few tournies I played generally resulted in me accumulating big chips early only to be coolered, bad beated, or unable to win the key flip, usually for big pots, and usually in the last 25% of the field.
Not sure how long I'm going to stay down here. Overall, I have spent a little more money than I would have liked, unfortunately Vegas during WSOP is like a revolving door of Winnipegers, and I feel compelled to be a good host :} I'm thinking I would like to hang out in Winnipeg for some of August / September at least. Beyond that, I'll probably spend some time playing in Calgary and Niagara Falls in September / October. I hear Calgary has a steady juicy 5/10 game in both holdem and PLO whereas Niagara Falls has a steady 10/20. Not ideal places to play but I can only spend 6 months in the US per calendar year so I may have to make due. Following tournies in Niagara, Regina, and BC in October and November, I will probably return to Vegas at the end of November for Doyle's tourney at Bellagio in December.
Anyway, enough muttering. I'll try to start posting a little more often.
Ciao
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Small Profit for the Week
The net result since my last post is about 3k to the positive. I had a couple of small wins then lost 6.5k Thusday and won almost 7.5k yesterday. The day I lost big was totally my fault as I sat in a tough 10-20 game and found myself on the bad side of a couple rivers and an ugly setup. The point is I should not have sat in the game because it was me against the Bellagio regulars who don't really give anything away.
Up until last night I ran pretty bad most of the week. I took the day off yesterday opting to sit by the pool with Kathy and followed it up with a little shopping at the fashion mall across from the Wynn. She arrived late Thursday so we could spend some quality time before her friends arrived last night for a 3-day stagette.
I'm off to meet by buddy Jon for a steak dinner and then will be off to the tables one more time. I have not yet booked my ticket home because I will be playing the HOSE event tomorrow and if I make it through to the final table I will have to be here until Tuesday. If I get knocked before then I will book a flight for Monday.
Overall, I'm happy with my play. There is a lot of money to be made here however the edge in the 10-20 is noticably small because it is usually made up of the regulars who know what they are doing and if you run bad you lose. The 5-10s play big for 5-10s and for the most part are made up of fish and rocks so really it is a stress free game that should turn an average profit between 2-3k a session. In hindsight, I should have stuck to this game everyday as I would most likely be up more money. Oh well, live and learn.
Key hands:
Hand #1:
I had 87 of spades UTG and limped. Everybody folded to an aggressive fish on the button who raised to $50. He had about 3k and I had him covered so I decided to call. The flop was 456 all hearts. I checked he bet $120. I decide to call here thinking I have the best hand, but I don't want to build a big one until I see one more card that isn't a heart. The turn is the K of diamonds, I check he bets $260. I raise to $600. He ponders and reraises to $1600 leaving himself just over 1k behind. I think for a bit and feel that with a big flush he would have raised less to keep me in the hand. As well, his heart was pounding like a guy who just finished running a marathon so I felt at best he had a hand like KKK and was nervous about what I would do. I decided to push allin, he pondered and eventually folded. He later told me he had AK with K of hearts. Hmmm, I think more like AK off as I think he would put his last 1K in with the heart redraw giving what was already invested. If he did have the heart I'm happy he folded because the way I run it surely would have fallen on the river.
Hand #2:
UTG preflop raise to $40 and I call from the big blind with K4 of hearts after 4 call. The flop is K64 two clubs. I check preflop raiser bets $140 and all fold to me. I raise to $420 and he calls. The turn is an offsuit J and I lead out $600. The preflop raiser makes it another $1000 to go. At this point we are both over 10k deep and he is a relatively good aggressive player. I feel I'm in a vulnerable spot out of position. I had noticed he limps with small pairs from early position and felt that the only hands I could be losing to were KK and KJ. On the other hand, I could be beating AK, AA, or K plus flush draw, which he is very capable of raising the turn to check the river if he didn't improve. I decide to flat call with intentions of calling a big river bet if a dud fell. If he bet the river it would likely be a bluff or KK. I think with KJ he would check fearing I flopped a small set. The river was an offsuit 3, I check he checks I show he mucks and says 'so sick'. Hmmm, I spend $30 more to see a flop and I outflop him...so sick. Next time don't bet thousands against me with one pair after I check raise you on the flop dumbass.
Hand #3:
Playing in the 10-20 game against a very aggressive tricky bluffing machine. I have JJ and reraise the bluffer who opens 50% of the pots, making it $400 to go. He calls and the flop is 855 two hearts. He checks I bet $550 he calls. The turn is an offsuit K he checks I check. River is another 5 and he bets $900. I ponder for awhile and feel I have to call as he could so easily have a busted straight or flush draw as his range is any two. I cannot beat K8, K with flush draw, 88, or the case 5. As it turns out he has a real hand AK of hearts. I'm kind of lucky we don't play a bigger pot there. He tells me against anyone else he would have jammed the flop, but told me he liked me so he played it soft. I believe it as we generated a good rapport leading up to the hand, and he most certainly had a lot of gamble in him.
Hand #4:
Same game but now down to 5 players. Myself, 3 Bellagio regulars, and some young drunk kid that just sat in the game. I raise off the straddle to $14o with KJ of hearts. The kid, in his third hand of the session, defends. The flop is A73 two hearts. He checks I bet $200 and he check raises to $550. The kid has about $3000 behind the raise so I call hoping to hit my flush (my percentage of hitting a flush has steadily increased to about 1 in 15 so I felt I was almost getting the odds). Anyway, the turn is the 7 of hearts and he checks. I fire out for $700, he hesitates for about 10 seconds then declares allin. I call right away as it is so likely he has a smaller flush or a hand like AQ with Q of hearts. Of course, he tables 33 for a fullhouse and I'm drawing dead.
Hand #5:
Same game but earlier in the night. I raise to $80 UTG with QQ and get 5 callers. The flop is 1075 rainbow and I check, likely to raise but also to see the action to the hand. It gets checked around and the turn is a 3. I fire out for $320 and am smooth called by a very solid player then get raised another $1000 by a different tight player. I end up mucking convincing myself that the kid must have turned a set of 3s to make that move. After the hand he said he bluffed, sure.... What was interesting about that hand though was later on when talking to the solid player, my buddy Amron, he told me he had AA and was first intending to slow play, but once I checked the flop he said he thought I was checking to raise with 1010 and decided to check for pot control. Very interesting....I thought I blew the pot. Usually he would bet for information regardless, I guess he felt very strong about that read. Anyway, thought that was an interesting hand.
Hand #6:
In a different 1020 game couple nights back I had AA. I rather tight player limped UTG and another tight player raised to $120. I made it $380 to go and had 4 callers, which was rare for this game with a raise, reraise. The flop came down J53 two clubs and they all checked to me. I bet $750 and they all folded to the last guy who check raised me all in for another $2500. This player does not put his chips in lightly so I knew he was big. I did not have the A of clubs so he could have an AK or AQ of clubs hand. With KK he most likely would have reraised with all those callers and took his chances I didn't have AA. So that leaves the flush draw QQ or JJ. I was in a tough spot and figured 50/50 he would show me JJ. Someone put the clock on me rather quickly, which I thought was in bad taste as I usually made decisions faster than most, but I took the time bank down to 3 before finally deciding to call. He shows JJ and I lose.
Hand #7:
Last night in a 510 game I had AA and raised to $50 after one fish limped. We end up heads up and the flop came 642 with two clubs. He checked I bet $100 he called. The turn was an offsuit 9, he checked I bet $300 he check raised to $600 with another $1300 behind. I decided to flat call as he could have any two and I felt I could ascertain his strength by how scary the river is and how big his bet would be. The river pairs the 2 and he fires for $450. I really felt I had him beat and should put him allin. I deliberated for a minuted but eventually chickened out and just called. He shows Q9 off, nice flop call... I was mad about not putting him in. I think he may have called if I shoved based on later play in the night.
Hand #8:
I had AQ off and limped off the straddle as the game was very loose with several calling stations. First, I hate that hand and second, I could not isolate this field for $100 so may as well see if I can hit a flop. As it turns out a couple call and the straddle who has shown to be rather tight raises to $120. He was reasonably deep so I decided to call with position and three go to the flop. The flop is Q82 with two spades. He bets out $250 and I decide to call to see how hard he pushes the turn. I think I had the best and could extract value later in the hand if he checked and I bet through, to get paid off by 1010 or JJ. We end up heads up and the turn pairs the Q, he leads out again this time for $500. I decide to raise with the flush draw out there and if he had a big pair he may call through. I make it another $800 on top. He ponders and shoves all in for another $1400. I call the river pairs the 2 and he shows KQ suited. Damn, chop chop.
Hand #9:
In the same game have Q8 of hearts on the button after several limpers. A mega fish who is deep thanks to a couple suckouts makes it $100 to go from the small blind. One guy calls so I decide to see a flop as the fish may be steaming from losing a pot on the previous hand. The flop is 872 rainbow and he leads out for $200. The other player calls, who is also deep, and I decide to call to see the action on the turn. At this point, I think I may be winning as the fish could have anything and the other guy is likely calling with a pocket pair between the 2 and 7 (he is too tight to see a flop that hits the 7 or 8, hopefully he didn't flop set). The turn pairs the 8 and the fish leads out $500. The other guy folds and I decide to flat call so I don't lose my customer. The river is a 3 and the fish leads out for another $500. I knew by the turn that the fish had a hand and with the small river block bet I knew he was afraid I had the 8. I decide to raise another $1,200, unfortunately he folds 1010 face up. Would have like to get paid there but at least I got another $500 out of him on the river by not raising the turn.
Hand #10:
In a 1020 five handed game I get KQ of diamonds on the button and raise to $80 and both blinds defend. The flop was J104 two hearts. They check I bet $210 and am check raised to $500 and I call as I think he is strong and with a 9 on the turn I could get paid big givin we are both over 10k deep. The turn is a Q and he fires for $750. I don't really think I'm winning here, but I think I can take this one down with a raise. I had not shown any bluffs for awhile and he could easily give me credit for a straight. I raise him $1500 on top and he tanks for awhile, finally folding J10 face up. Whew....
There's a lot more hands to talk about, but I've run out of time, gotta go for dinner. I have had alot of interesting hands play out this week with alot of tough decisions. I did not get very many no brainers and was put to the test with marginal hands in big pots. Hopefully I can make one more big score tonight and follow it up with a good result in the tourney tomorrow. So looking forward to the tourney tomorrow....
I'll probably not post again until I fly home next week. Looking forward to getting back to spend some time with Kathy, Braeden, and my buds. As well, I hear the boys are itching to take my money in the stud game...game on.
Cheers,
Up until last night I ran pretty bad most of the week. I took the day off yesterday opting to sit by the pool with Kathy and followed it up with a little shopping at the fashion mall across from the Wynn. She arrived late Thursday so we could spend some quality time before her friends arrived last night for a 3-day stagette.
I'm off to meet by buddy Jon for a steak dinner and then will be off to the tables one more time. I have not yet booked my ticket home because I will be playing the HOSE event tomorrow and if I make it through to the final table I will have to be here until Tuesday. If I get knocked before then I will book a flight for Monday.
Overall, I'm happy with my play. There is a lot of money to be made here however the edge in the 10-20 is noticably small because it is usually made up of the regulars who know what they are doing and if you run bad you lose. The 5-10s play big for 5-10s and for the most part are made up of fish and rocks so really it is a stress free game that should turn an average profit between 2-3k a session. In hindsight, I should have stuck to this game everyday as I would most likely be up more money. Oh well, live and learn.
Key hands:
Hand #1:
I had 87 of spades UTG and limped. Everybody folded to an aggressive fish on the button who raised to $50. He had about 3k and I had him covered so I decided to call. The flop was 456 all hearts. I checked he bet $120. I decide to call here thinking I have the best hand, but I don't want to build a big one until I see one more card that isn't a heart. The turn is the K of diamonds, I check he bets $260. I raise to $600. He ponders and reraises to $1600 leaving himself just over 1k behind. I think for a bit and feel that with a big flush he would have raised less to keep me in the hand. As well, his heart was pounding like a guy who just finished running a marathon so I felt at best he had a hand like KKK and was nervous about what I would do. I decided to push allin, he pondered and eventually folded. He later told me he had AK with K of hearts. Hmmm, I think more like AK off as I think he would put his last 1K in with the heart redraw giving what was already invested. If he did have the heart I'm happy he folded because the way I run it surely would have fallen on the river.
Hand #2:
UTG preflop raise to $40 and I call from the big blind with K4 of hearts after 4 call. The flop is K64 two clubs. I check preflop raiser bets $140 and all fold to me. I raise to $420 and he calls. The turn is an offsuit J and I lead out $600. The preflop raiser makes it another $1000 to go. At this point we are both over 10k deep and he is a relatively good aggressive player. I feel I'm in a vulnerable spot out of position. I had noticed he limps with small pairs from early position and felt that the only hands I could be losing to were KK and KJ. On the other hand, I could be beating AK, AA, or K plus flush draw, which he is very capable of raising the turn to check the river if he didn't improve. I decide to flat call with intentions of calling a big river bet if a dud fell. If he bet the river it would likely be a bluff or KK. I think with KJ he would check fearing I flopped a small set. The river was an offsuit 3, I check he checks I show he mucks and says 'so sick'. Hmmm, I spend $30 more to see a flop and I outflop him...so sick. Next time don't bet thousands against me with one pair after I check raise you on the flop dumbass.
Hand #3:
Playing in the 10-20 game against a very aggressive tricky bluffing machine. I have JJ and reraise the bluffer who opens 50% of the pots, making it $400 to go. He calls and the flop is 855 two hearts. He checks I bet $550 he calls. The turn is an offsuit K he checks I check. River is another 5 and he bets $900. I ponder for awhile and feel I have to call as he could so easily have a busted straight or flush draw as his range is any two. I cannot beat K8, K with flush draw, 88, or the case 5. As it turns out he has a real hand AK of hearts. I'm kind of lucky we don't play a bigger pot there. He tells me against anyone else he would have jammed the flop, but told me he liked me so he played it soft. I believe it as we generated a good rapport leading up to the hand, and he most certainly had a lot of gamble in him.
Hand #4:
Same game but now down to 5 players. Myself, 3 Bellagio regulars, and some young drunk kid that just sat in the game. I raise off the straddle to $14o with KJ of hearts. The kid, in his third hand of the session, defends. The flop is A73 two hearts. He checks I bet $200 and he check raises to $550. The kid has about $3000 behind the raise so I call hoping to hit my flush (my percentage of hitting a flush has steadily increased to about 1 in 15 so I felt I was almost getting the odds). Anyway, the turn is the 7 of hearts and he checks. I fire out for $700, he hesitates for about 10 seconds then declares allin. I call right away as it is so likely he has a smaller flush or a hand like AQ with Q of hearts. Of course, he tables 33 for a fullhouse and I'm drawing dead.
Hand #5:
Same game but earlier in the night. I raise to $80 UTG with QQ and get 5 callers. The flop is 1075 rainbow and I check, likely to raise but also to see the action to the hand. It gets checked around and the turn is a 3. I fire out for $320 and am smooth called by a very solid player then get raised another $1000 by a different tight player. I end up mucking convincing myself that the kid must have turned a set of 3s to make that move. After the hand he said he bluffed, sure.... What was interesting about that hand though was later on when talking to the solid player, my buddy Amron, he told me he had AA and was first intending to slow play, but once I checked the flop he said he thought I was checking to raise with 1010 and decided to check for pot control. Very interesting....I thought I blew the pot. Usually he would bet for information regardless, I guess he felt very strong about that read. Anyway, thought that was an interesting hand.
Hand #6:
In a different 1020 game couple nights back I had AA. I rather tight player limped UTG and another tight player raised to $120. I made it $380 to go and had 4 callers, which was rare for this game with a raise, reraise. The flop came down J53 two clubs and they all checked to me. I bet $750 and they all folded to the last guy who check raised me all in for another $2500. This player does not put his chips in lightly so I knew he was big. I did not have the A of clubs so he could have an AK or AQ of clubs hand. With KK he most likely would have reraised with all those callers and took his chances I didn't have AA. So that leaves the flush draw QQ or JJ. I was in a tough spot and figured 50/50 he would show me JJ. Someone put the clock on me rather quickly, which I thought was in bad taste as I usually made decisions faster than most, but I took the time bank down to 3 before finally deciding to call. He shows JJ and I lose.
Hand #7:
Last night in a 510 game I had AA and raised to $50 after one fish limped. We end up heads up and the flop came 642 with two clubs. He checked I bet $100 he called. The turn was an offsuit 9, he checked I bet $300 he check raised to $600 with another $1300 behind. I decided to flat call as he could have any two and I felt I could ascertain his strength by how scary the river is and how big his bet would be. The river pairs the 2 and he fires for $450. I really felt I had him beat and should put him allin. I deliberated for a minuted but eventually chickened out and just called. He shows Q9 off, nice flop call... I was mad about not putting him in. I think he may have called if I shoved based on later play in the night.
Hand #8:
I had AQ off and limped off the straddle as the game was very loose with several calling stations. First, I hate that hand and second, I could not isolate this field for $100 so may as well see if I can hit a flop. As it turns out a couple call and the straddle who has shown to be rather tight raises to $120. He was reasonably deep so I decided to call with position and three go to the flop. The flop is Q82 with two spades. He bets out $250 and I decide to call to see how hard he pushes the turn. I think I had the best and could extract value later in the hand if he checked and I bet through, to get paid off by 1010 or JJ. We end up heads up and the turn pairs the Q, he leads out again this time for $500. I decide to raise with the flush draw out there and if he had a big pair he may call through. I make it another $800 on top. He ponders and shoves all in for another $1400. I call the river pairs the 2 and he shows KQ suited. Damn, chop chop.
Hand #9:
In the same game have Q8 of hearts on the button after several limpers. A mega fish who is deep thanks to a couple suckouts makes it $100 to go from the small blind. One guy calls so I decide to see a flop as the fish may be steaming from losing a pot on the previous hand. The flop is 872 rainbow and he leads out for $200. The other player calls, who is also deep, and I decide to call to see the action on the turn. At this point, I think I may be winning as the fish could have anything and the other guy is likely calling with a pocket pair between the 2 and 7 (he is too tight to see a flop that hits the 7 or 8, hopefully he didn't flop set). The turn pairs the 8 and the fish leads out $500. The other guy folds and I decide to flat call so I don't lose my customer. The river is a 3 and the fish leads out for another $500. I knew by the turn that the fish had a hand and with the small river block bet I knew he was afraid I had the 8. I decide to raise another $1,200, unfortunately he folds 1010 face up. Would have like to get paid there but at least I got another $500 out of him on the river by not raising the turn.
Hand #10:
In a 1020 five handed game I get KQ of diamonds on the button and raise to $80 and both blinds defend. The flop was J104 two hearts. They check I bet $210 and am check raised to $500 and I call as I think he is strong and with a 9 on the turn I could get paid big givin we are both over 10k deep. The turn is a Q and he fires for $750. I don't really think I'm winning here, but I think I can take this one down with a raise. I had not shown any bluffs for awhile and he could easily give me credit for a straight. I raise him $1500 on top and he tanks for awhile, finally folding J10 face up. Whew....
There's a lot more hands to talk about, but I've run out of time, gotta go for dinner. I have had alot of interesting hands play out this week with alot of tough decisions. I did not get very many no brainers and was put to the test with marginal hands in big pots. Hopefully I can make one more big score tonight and follow it up with a good result in the tourney tomorrow. So looking forward to the tourney tomorrow....
I'll probably not post again until I fly home next week. Looking forward to getting back to spend some time with Kathy, Braeden, and my buds. As well, I hear the boys are itching to take my money in the stud game...game on.
Cheers,
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Last Week of Trip
Just one more week of playing until I return to Winnipeg. I most certainly will not be achieving my goal of 100k after expenses. I got off to a horrible start in LA and consequently could not build my roll enough to play in the bigger games where big money is made.
The Wynn continues to be kind to me overall as I have now posted six consecutive wins, most recently winning $1,500 Saturday and $4,700 Sunday. Saturday was especially fun as a bunch of Winnipegers got together for a sushi dinner and followed it up with a little $200 cap PLO. The game was a shootout with allins almost every hand. I finally gave up after losing my fifth consecutive rollem hand and headed over to a juicy 10-20nl across the room. Many of the guys played all night, and in fact Jon Hanec played through to Sunday night. Needless to say when I came to visit him 24 hours later he was in need of some sleep and a shower.
Today may have been the best day of the entire trip, with exception to seeing my girfriend of course. I would like to let everyone know how I schooled Mr. Seabiscuit on the golf course. Originally, it was supposed to be four of us but two guys jammed leaving Groovy and I to battle it out heads up. The stakes were match play $100 front and $100 back with Trav giving me a hole a side. We pushed on the front and I closed out the match on 17. He had it two up overall after 12, but after a par, par, birdie, par, bogey run I dusted him easily :) He blamed his collapse down the stetch on lack of sunlight and cold. Ha, I think he couldn't take the pressure as he is used to battling Angst and Grimes who typically choke when it counts. When played back at he folded like a cheap tent. To top it off he pressed 18 double or nothing and choked. My drive hit a fairway bunker and nestled up against the lip, so gross, reminds me of my bad luck on 18 against Todd all the time. Trav hit it 300 down the middle. My third, still shooting out of the bunker, travelled to the 150 stick, the hole was a 530 par 5. Trav elected to lay up due to a huge canyon in front of the green. My forth ended up 3 yards off the green about 35 feet from the hole. Trav chunked his wedge approach nearly dunking it in the canyon before the green, but ended up leaving it 40 feet short of the hole on the fringe. I went up and down, he went up and down in three. Chop chop, I still win $200.
I think I will be mounting those two Benjamin Franklins on the wall at home next to the 10 other ones I won off Todd last year, what generous friends I have. No matter what happens in golf this summer I own bragging rights for the next couple months. Maybe you could take some of your poker winnings and get some earlybird lessons there Trav?
I will be playing strictly cash over the next week except for Sunday's $1000 HOSE tournament. I really feel like I have an edge in the mix tournaments so I'm going to give it a shot. Its so hard to take time out for tournaments, especially if I keep running well and booking wins in cash games.
Last night's game was the most aggressive I have played in in a long time. There was a very tough european/asian/internet player (=agressive, agressive, agressive), a guy nicknamed Boxer who I've seen on a couple WPT final tables, and most notably The Grinder. The game played very LAG. The only reason I played is because I had position on the Internet kid and the Grinder and because there was some golf pro in the game who was very deep and very fishy. My stack was up and down for most of the session as I won and lost a few small and medium sized pots, and won a big pot. I played very tight as the Grinder and the internet kid were opening 70% of the pots and would take alot of heat with a wide range of hands, putting pressure on their opponents when they felt they could push them off pots. So I felt waiting for big edge situations was the best strategy. I have to say, the Grinder really does play tough. I have played with him in tournaments a few times, and alot of limit poker online back in the day, but this was the first time I played deep stack nl cash with him. His reads were great, his pressure was heavy, and his range was so wide you could not peg him for a hand under any circumstances. No wonder he owns the poker world. Of course, if my poker bankroll was in the mulit-millions I could probably play a more open style too!
I apologize but I cannot see to remember most of my key hands of late, or maybe I'm just too lazy to describe them, so the highlights will be short.
Hand #1:
In a loose 5-10nl playing deep. Kid raises to $50 after one limper and I call in position with A4 of diamonds, 4 see the flop. Flop is 653 rainbow and the kid bets $200, I call everyone else folds. The turn is the 9 of diamonds bringing in a diamond draw. The kid bets $400 and I elect to call as he is deep and I don't think he is the kind of player who would laydown an overpair, which is what I put him on. The river is an A and he checks. I bet $600, he calls, I show, he mucks.
Hand #2:
I am playing a five handed 10-20nl with a straddle, so the game is playing big. I have AJ off in the small after several callers to the straddle and I elect to call. Sometimes I would raise but the problem is 2 players are calling stations so I must hit to win and being out of position I didn't see value in raising. Anyway, flop is A87 rainbow and it gets checked around. The turn is another A, which brings in a flush draw and I check again. A pretty solid asian kid bets out $140 one guy calls, I jack it to $450. The asian kid calls, the calling station folds and the river is a J. Sweet the nuts. I bet out $900 and he calls with A7. No matter what the river was my bet would be the same. I put him on an A or a big 8 and not a draw and givin my J kicker I would have to bet for value. I love no brainers.
Hand #3:
Same game a littler earlier, actually three hands into the session I pick up QQ. A fishy asian guy raises to $140 off the straddle and I make it $500. He calls and the flop is 732 rainbow. He checks and I bet $800. I wanted to bet heavy for three reasons. One, I felt I had the best hand as he looked like a tourist who would surely reraise preflop with KK or AA. Second, I wanted to look reckless playing a big pot three hands into the session. And three, he looked like a calling station based on the few hands I watched from the rail. Anyway, he pondered for a minute shook his head and said 'I dunno, you probably have the best hand, but whatever, I'm all in', which was for another $2750. Three hands in and I had a tough decision. It didn't take me long to call though because I truly believed he was telling the truth with his words and I put him on a mid pair. After I called he tabled JJ and rivered a J. Great way to start the session. I proceeded to get stuck close to 6k in the game within an hour against a rather fishy lineup. Luckily, by the end of the session I turned a $1,500 profit.
Hand #4:
Back to last nights game. I had QJ suited on the button and called a raise of $100 from the internet kid with 5 people to the flop. The flop comes down QJ4 all spades and the action is checked to me and I bet $375. The internet kid calls and we are heads up. The turn is an offsuit 3 and he checks. I do have a strong hand here but something smells fishy. I felt he could have an AK or A10 hand with a spade otherwise he had monster. I don't know what else he could check call with, but would not bet out with. Anyway, I give a free card also inducing a bluff river by him if he had nothing, which is definately in his range. The river is a red 7 and he fires for $900 and I call rather quick. He shows A6 of spades for the nuts. Ugly situation, but that pot could have been bigger if he leads out on the flop.
Hand #5:
Earlier in the session I pick up a beautiful no brainer, maybe the best of the trip. The internet kid raises to $80 in early position, the Grinder calls, and I call on the button with AK hearts. More often than not I would reraise with this hand on the button, but givin how deep and tricky my opponents are and givin the fact I have been playing tight and I do not want to give away the strength of my hand, I decide to call. The flop is QJ10 rainbow, hmmm am I dreaming? The kid leads out for $250 and the Grinder calls. I feel that both opponents have strong hands and I decide to raise to build what I believe could be a double up pot. I make it $700 total, the internet kid calls and Grinder folds, later saying he had 98 (maybe/maybe not). The turn is the 5 of clubs bringing in a club draw. The kid checks and I bet $1,200. He asks me what I have left I tell him about $3,000 more. He quickly puts out 5 yellow chips putting me allin. I snap call and he says, 'shit, you got AK?' I say yes he chuckles and says 'gimmie a club then' and he shows KQ of clubs. The river bricks for once and I scoop a 10k pot.
Hand #6:
Playing a rather LAG 5/10 game. I'm deep and pick up 1010 and raise it from early position to $50. A loose deceptive player calls from mid position as do 3 others. The flop comes down 843 rainbow and I bet out $175. The deceptive player calls everyone else folds. The turn is a 7 and I feel I have the best, but I feel my opponent is dancing around those cards so I bet out a heavy $450. He thinks and decides to raise to $1000. I tank for a bit and convince myself he has a touch draw like 76, 54, 64, 53, etc... I feel with a set or straight he will let me bet out the river as he only has another $1000 after the raise so I go allin, he shrugs and folds. Later he told me he had K6 and floated to make a move on me.
Hand #7:
It was a rather tight agressive 5/10 game, the same game Travis value towned me with 106. I was pretty card dead all session and finally picked up JJ. I raised and was called by a tough player Trav and I call 'Black Hat', because he's always wearing a black hat...go figure. Anyway, I flop a complete no brainer with J22 two hearts. I lead out $100 and he calls. The turn is a J which is overkill, but I think I have to continue betting because I think he will check behind with a lot of hands. He is a good player and knows I will check call alot of hands on this non-bluffing board. So I make it $200 and he calls. At this point I think he has a pocket pair or a flush draw. The river brings in the Q of hearts and I rather quickly lead out for $500. He tanks for a minute and folds showing me a 2. Damn, stupid turn card may haved cost me a double up as we were both over 5k deep. He told me he would have called if the river wasn't a heart. In other words, no way would I barrel on a JJ22Q river flush board with air, so I must have the jack. In hindsight, I should have check raised the river as he would have bet $500 and likely folded to a check raise. I underestimated his ability to fold and thought he would pay me off with what I thought was a flush (note: if he had pocket pair I figured he would fold on that river and certainly check behind if I checked, so I concluded betting was optimal for value...I was wrong).
On a side note, that game got tougher after Travis called it a night. We got down to 5 handed and Greg 'FBT' Mueller hopped in the game. He is aggressive and pretty solid. Also, he overbets everything making the game play much more like a 10-20 or 15-30nl.
There are many other tough medium sized pots that I just cannot put to mind right now. However, I want to talk about one more hand that I was not involved in, but illustrates just how sick the Grinder is.
Hand #8:
The Grinder straddles and about 5 people call. He reraises to about $240 and only the internet kid calls. The flop is A86 rainbow. The kid checks and Grinder bets $300 the kid calls. The turn is a J and the kid checks. Grinder thinks for a minute and bets out $600, the kid hesitates and calls. The river is a 3, the kid checks, and Grinder says 'Well, looks like I don't have to bluff the river, I know you have 97 or 910 so that makes my pair of three's good'. Grinder shows 34 off, the internet kid chuckles and says good play your right and mucks.
I'm going to go down and play right now. Its pretty late but I had a nap and am ready to go. I'll try to update by mid week.
Cheers,
The Wynn continues to be kind to me overall as I have now posted six consecutive wins, most recently winning $1,500 Saturday and $4,700 Sunday. Saturday was especially fun as a bunch of Winnipegers got together for a sushi dinner and followed it up with a little $200 cap PLO. The game was a shootout with allins almost every hand. I finally gave up after losing my fifth consecutive rollem hand and headed over to a juicy 10-20nl across the room. Many of the guys played all night, and in fact Jon Hanec played through to Sunday night. Needless to say when I came to visit him 24 hours later he was in need of some sleep and a shower.
Today may have been the best day of the entire trip, with exception to seeing my girfriend of course. I would like to let everyone know how I schooled Mr. Seabiscuit on the golf course. Originally, it was supposed to be four of us but two guys jammed leaving Groovy and I to battle it out heads up. The stakes were match play $100 front and $100 back with Trav giving me a hole a side. We pushed on the front and I closed out the match on 17. He had it two up overall after 12, but after a par, par, birdie, par, bogey run I dusted him easily :) He blamed his collapse down the stetch on lack of sunlight and cold. Ha, I think he couldn't take the pressure as he is used to battling Angst and Grimes who typically choke when it counts. When played back at he folded like a cheap tent. To top it off he pressed 18 double or nothing and choked. My drive hit a fairway bunker and nestled up against the lip, so gross, reminds me of my bad luck on 18 against Todd all the time. Trav hit it 300 down the middle. My third, still shooting out of the bunker, travelled to the 150 stick, the hole was a 530 par 5. Trav elected to lay up due to a huge canyon in front of the green. My forth ended up 3 yards off the green about 35 feet from the hole. Trav chunked his wedge approach nearly dunking it in the canyon before the green, but ended up leaving it 40 feet short of the hole on the fringe. I went up and down, he went up and down in three. Chop chop, I still win $200.
I think I will be mounting those two Benjamin Franklins on the wall at home next to the 10 other ones I won off Todd last year, what generous friends I have. No matter what happens in golf this summer I own bragging rights for the next couple months. Maybe you could take some of your poker winnings and get some earlybird lessons there Trav?
I will be playing strictly cash over the next week except for Sunday's $1000 HOSE tournament. I really feel like I have an edge in the mix tournaments so I'm going to give it a shot. Its so hard to take time out for tournaments, especially if I keep running well and booking wins in cash games.
Last night's game was the most aggressive I have played in in a long time. There was a very tough european/asian/internet player (=agressive, agressive, agressive), a guy nicknamed Boxer who I've seen on a couple WPT final tables, and most notably The Grinder. The game played very LAG. The only reason I played is because I had position on the Internet kid and the Grinder and because there was some golf pro in the game who was very deep and very fishy. My stack was up and down for most of the session as I won and lost a few small and medium sized pots, and won a big pot. I played very tight as the Grinder and the internet kid were opening 70% of the pots and would take alot of heat with a wide range of hands, putting pressure on their opponents when they felt they could push them off pots. So I felt waiting for big edge situations was the best strategy. I have to say, the Grinder really does play tough. I have played with him in tournaments a few times, and alot of limit poker online back in the day, but this was the first time I played deep stack nl cash with him. His reads were great, his pressure was heavy, and his range was so wide you could not peg him for a hand under any circumstances. No wonder he owns the poker world. Of course, if my poker bankroll was in the mulit-millions I could probably play a more open style too!
I apologize but I cannot see to remember most of my key hands of late, or maybe I'm just too lazy to describe them, so the highlights will be short.
Hand #1:
In a loose 5-10nl playing deep. Kid raises to $50 after one limper and I call in position with A4 of diamonds, 4 see the flop. Flop is 653 rainbow and the kid bets $200, I call everyone else folds. The turn is the 9 of diamonds bringing in a diamond draw. The kid bets $400 and I elect to call as he is deep and I don't think he is the kind of player who would laydown an overpair, which is what I put him on. The river is an A and he checks. I bet $600, he calls, I show, he mucks.
Hand #2:
I am playing a five handed 10-20nl with a straddle, so the game is playing big. I have AJ off in the small after several callers to the straddle and I elect to call. Sometimes I would raise but the problem is 2 players are calling stations so I must hit to win and being out of position I didn't see value in raising. Anyway, flop is A87 rainbow and it gets checked around. The turn is another A, which brings in a flush draw and I check again. A pretty solid asian kid bets out $140 one guy calls, I jack it to $450. The asian kid calls, the calling station folds and the river is a J. Sweet the nuts. I bet out $900 and he calls with A7. No matter what the river was my bet would be the same. I put him on an A or a big 8 and not a draw and givin my J kicker I would have to bet for value. I love no brainers.
Hand #3:
Same game a littler earlier, actually three hands into the session I pick up QQ. A fishy asian guy raises to $140 off the straddle and I make it $500. He calls and the flop is 732 rainbow. He checks and I bet $800. I wanted to bet heavy for three reasons. One, I felt I had the best hand as he looked like a tourist who would surely reraise preflop with KK or AA. Second, I wanted to look reckless playing a big pot three hands into the session. And three, he looked like a calling station based on the few hands I watched from the rail. Anyway, he pondered for a minute shook his head and said 'I dunno, you probably have the best hand, but whatever, I'm all in', which was for another $2750. Three hands in and I had a tough decision. It didn't take me long to call though because I truly believed he was telling the truth with his words and I put him on a mid pair. After I called he tabled JJ and rivered a J. Great way to start the session. I proceeded to get stuck close to 6k in the game within an hour against a rather fishy lineup. Luckily, by the end of the session I turned a $1,500 profit.
Hand #4:
Back to last nights game. I had QJ suited on the button and called a raise of $100 from the internet kid with 5 people to the flop. The flop comes down QJ4 all spades and the action is checked to me and I bet $375. The internet kid calls and we are heads up. The turn is an offsuit 3 and he checks. I do have a strong hand here but something smells fishy. I felt he could have an AK or A10 hand with a spade otherwise he had monster. I don't know what else he could check call with, but would not bet out with. Anyway, I give a free card also inducing a bluff river by him if he had nothing, which is definately in his range. The river is a red 7 and he fires for $900 and I call rather quick. He shows A6 of spades for the nuts. Ugly situation, but that pot could have been bigger if he leads out on the flop.
Hand #5:
Earlier in the session I pick up a beautiful no brainer, maybe the best of the trip. The internet kid raises to $80 in early position, the Grinder calls, and I call on the button with AK hearts. More often than not I would reraise with this hand on the button, but givin how deep and tricky my opponents are and givin the fact I have been playing tight and I do not want to give away the strength of my hand, I decide to call. The flop is QJ10 rainbow, hmmm am I dreaming? The kid leads out for $250 and the Grinder calls. I feel that both opponents have strong hands and I decide to raise to build what I believe could be a double up pot. I make it $700 total, the internet kid calls and Grinder folds, later saying he had 98 (maybe/maybe not). The turn is the 5 of clubs bringing in a club draw. The kid checks and I bet $1,200. He asks me what I have left I tell him about $3,000 more. He quickly puts out 5 yellow chips putting me allin. I snap call and he says, 'shit, you got AK?' I say yes he chuckles and says 'gimmie a club then' and he shows KQ of clubs. The river bricks for once and I scoop a 10k pot.
Hand #6:
Playing a rather LAG 5/10 game. I'm deep and pick up 1010 and raise it from early position to $50. A loose deceptive player calls from mid position as do 3 others. The flop comes down 843 rainbow and I bet out $175. The deceptive player calls everyone else folds. The turn is a 7 and I feel I have the best, but I feel my opponent is dancing around those cards so I bet out a heavy $450. He thinks and decides to raise to $1000. I tank for a bit and convince myself he has a touch draw like 76, 54, 64, 53, etc... I feel with a set or straight he will let me bet out the river as he only has another $1000 after the raise so I go allin, he shrugs and folds. Later he told me he had K6 and floated to make a move on me.
Hand #7:
It was a rather tight agressive 5/10 game, the same game Travis value towned me with 106. I was pretty card dead all session and finally picked up JJ. I raised and was called by a tough player Trav and I call 'Black Hat', because he's always wearing a black hat...go figure. Anyway, I flop a complete no brainer with J22 two hearts. I lead out $100 and he calls. The turn is a J which is overkill, but I think I have to continue betting because I think he will check behind with a lot of hands. He is a good player and knows I will check call alot of hands on this non-bluffing board. So I make it $200 and he calls. At this point I think he has a pocket pair or a flush draw. The river brings in the Q of hearts and I rather quickly lead out for $500. He tanks for a minute and folds showing me a 2. Damn, stupid turn card may haved cost me a double up as we were both over 5k deep. He told me he would have called if the river wasn't a heart. In other words, no way would I barrel on a JJ22Q river flush board with air, so I must have the jack. In hindsight, I should have check raised the river as he would have bet $500 and likely folded to a check raise. I underestimated his ability to fold and thought he would pay me off with what I thought was a flush (note: if he had pocket pair I figured he would fold on that river and certainly check behind if I checked, so I concluded betting was optimal for value...I was wrong).
On a side note, that game got tougher after Travis called it a night. We got down to 5 handed and Greg 'FBT' Mueller hopped in the game. He is aggressive and pretty solid. Also, he overbets everything making the game play much more like a 10-20 or 15-30nl.
There are many other tough medium sized pots that I just cannot put to mind right now. However, I want to talk about one more hand that I was not involved in, but illustrates just how sick the Grinder is.
Hand #8:
The Grinder straddles and about 5 people call. He reraises to about $240 and only the internet kid calls. The flop is A86 rainbow. The kid checks and Grinder bets $300 the kid calls. The turn is a J and the kid checks. Grinder thinks for a minute and bets out $600, the kid hesitates and calls. The river is a 3, the kid checks, and Grinder says 'Well, looks like I don't have to bluff the river, I know you have 97 or 910 so that makes my pair of three's good'. Grinder shows 34 off, the internet kid chuckles and says good play your right and mucks.
I'm going to go down and play right now. Its pretty late but I had a nap and am ready to go. I'll try to update by mid week.
Cheers,
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Good 4 Day Stretch
The last 4 days have been poker, poker, and more poker. Overall, I would say I logged an average of 12 hours a day winning in each of my four sessions ranging from $1,200 to just over 5k. The games were good Tuesday and Wednesday and reasonable on Thursday and Friday. In total, my winnings are over 10k. The Wynn classic is well underway and the Wynn is where its at. I'm kind of tired and feeling rather lazy so this will be a rather short post and I don't feel like rehashing hands, will do at some point in future when I'm in the mood to write.
The main difference for me is I'm not getting coolered or rivered on big pots very often as I continue to get the money in good. The only real exception was yesterday getting it all in on a flop with 33 on a 1093 against 109 where my opponent turned a 9.
Travis continues to do well and Danny almost had a great day yesterday placing 11th in the first Wynn classic event. Unfortunately, his 1010 was not good enough to beat JJ on a 1022 board to become one of the chip leaders with 13 to go. Good job anyway buddy!
A bunch of us were supposed to golf today but we all slept in so it'll have to happen next week. I'm gonna probably play another good session of poker tonight as my luck is ok right now and I need to make some more money. I may venture down to the Golden Nugget or Ceasers. The nugget is housing all of the NASCAR guys who apparently like to shoot it up and Ceasers is currently running a big heads up invitational that includes Chris Moneymaker who has been dumping in the side action. I think the $10 cab ride to Ceasers is worth it if I can sit down the Moneydumper. Played with Greg Mueller the other day and he said that Chris dumped about 10k in a couple hours at a 5-10nl. We'll see how the night goes.
Probably will have some time tomorrow to details some of my recent highlight hands so tune back then.
Cheers,
The main difference for me is I'm not getting coolered or rivered on big pots very often as I continue to get the money in good. The only real exception was yesterday getting it all in on a flop with 33 on a 1093 against 109 where my opponent turned a 9.
Travis continues to do well and Danny almost had a great day yesterday placing 11th in the first Wynn classic event. Unfortunately, his 1010 was not good enough to beat JJ on a 1022 board to become one of the chip leaders with 13 to go. Good job anyway buddy!
A bunch of us were supposed to golf today but we all slept in so it'll have to happen next week. I'm gonna probably play another good session of poker tonight as my luck is ok right now and I need to make some more money. I may venture down to the Golden Nugget or Ceasers. The nugget is housing all of the NASCAR guys who apparently like to shoot it up and Ceasers is currently running a big heads up invitational that includes Chris Moneymaker who has been dumping in the side action. I think the $10 cab ride to Ceasers is worth it if I can sit down the Moneydumper. Played with Greg Mueller the other day and he said that Chris dumped about 10k in a couple hours at a 5-10nl. We'll see how the night goes.
Probably will have some time tomorrow to details some of my recent highlight hands so tune back then.
Cheers,
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Back to the Tables
Sorry for the lack of updates. Perhaps Travis is right and I am lazy. I have averaged not more than 4 hours of poker a day over the course of my week’s stay in Vegas as Kathy came into town last Monday and left Sunday night. We adjusted our daily schedules to include an itinerary beyond cards. We had a lot of fun, and with the exception of me getting exceptionally drunk and stupid last Thursday, it was mostly really good times.
The limited hours spent on the tables were mostly cash games. Kathy and I only played two tournaments, both at the Venician. The first was a nightly $200 that we both bowed out early on and the second was a $550 deep stack extravaganza event that recruited almost 500 players. Kathy lasted until about 200 remained then lost a race. I lasted until about 125 remained losing a huge pot to put me in the top ten chips. In typical fashion, I was rivered after putting my chips in as a 5:1 favourite on the turn.
We predominately played cash games at the Wynn. This week was a little slow in Vegas and 10-20nl was hard to find. I would say I played half 5-10 and half 10-20. The games will pick up this week however with the LA classic done and the Wynn classic starting tomorrow. The games here in Vegas are very different from LA. Vegas players are made up of crusty old men that like to see the flop before committing chips. Their conservative approach creates a limp orientated game with pot control checking. The best way to win is to small pot them to death with good starting cards, positional raising and continuation bets. If they miss they fold. LA players on the other hand raise first and ask questions later. And, during the LA classic, there were many tricky players making the game aggressive and tough at times. Overall, the pots were generally bigger in LA and so was the variance.
My run in Vegas has been disappointing to date as has the trip overall. I continue to run really bad, probably the worst of my life. I guess I can sleep well knowing that if I run as bad as possible I should still post a small profit. It is difficult for me to remember all of the hands over the last week and a half but a few stick out in my mind.
Hand #1:
Finally had big pair over big pair. During my last day in LA I was running poorly and leading up to this hand it looked like I was on tilt. About ten hands previous I was overflushed (again, running about 40% of flushes made I am overflushed) and after that I began raising a few hands including coming over the top with 1010 heavy preflop and continueing through on a K42. So, it looked like I was pushing and I don't blame my opponents play on the this hand.
Finally I look down at AA. A strong opponent to my left raises to $120 after a few limpers so I reraise to $420. He is about $6,000 deep and I have him covered. He decides to call. The flop was 632 rainbow he checks I bet $600, he calls. The turn pairs the 3 he checks and I bet $1,500 knowing he has a pair 9s or higher for sure. He thinks for awhile and decides to check raise me all in. I snap call, he asks do you have aces I say yes, he shugs an 8 hits the river and I win. He didn't show his hand, but I can only assume he had KK. Finally, a setup my way on a board I know I don't have to sweat. That $12,000 took me out of the red for the day as I was stuck good to that point.
Hand #2:
Early on that same night I got involved with the toughest player at my table. I have played 10-20 against him many times in Vegas and he is solid. Generally, we don’t play many pots together, but he was near the end of his session and I think he wanted to gamble a bit to get even. I have QQ in early position and raise to $70. He is the only one who calls me and the flop is 1097 rainbow. I decide to play this hand a little different than normal to try and extract value without building too big a pot as we are both close to 10k deep. I find you have to mix it up against tough players so they stay out of your way for one, and for two, if you don’t you’ll never extract money from them in the long-run. So I check the flop and he bets $130, I call. The turn is a 2 and I lead out for $350, he raises to $900. At this point, I feel he has something like a touch draw like 78 or 89 suited. I just don’t see him having a set (except maybe 7s) or a bigger pair because he is the kind of player that would reraise with position with those hands preflop most of the time. At the same time I don’t want to play a huge pot against a tough player who is capable of taking the semi bluff to the next level by reraising allin if I played back at him. So, I just call with intentions of calling any river bet he makes as long as the river is not a 7 to J. The river brings a J, which I feel is the absolute worst card. I check he bets $2000 and I fold. He chuckles and shows me KQ. He also told me he would have barrelled any river for about $2,000 and I told him what I was thinking, that I would have called any bet outside the 7 to J range. He replied, good thing the J came then. Ya, good thing.
Hand #3:
That same night, late in the evening I get moved to Travis's table and in the first rotation I pick up KK and open for $70. Unfortunately, about 5 people call and the flop comes down Q103 two spades. It’s checked to me and with another 3 players to act after me I decide to check first to see how much action there is to the hand, and unless there is serious action I plan to check raise. Similar to the hand before, I like to mix things up like that sometimes. It gives me information, but I find that I get a lot of free turn cards when I need them because I opponents know I check alot of big hands on the flop. Also, when I fire out on the turn my opponents will fold more often instead of making a play or float to the river. So many players check medium hands on flops then stab on the turn when there is no action on the flop and good players pick up on that, and consequently, feed off of the bet to take down the pot knowing that the delayed continuation bet cannot withstand a raise. Anyway, in this hand it gets checked through and the turn is a 4 bringing in a heart draw. Action is checked to me and I bet out something like $300 and all fold to the small blind who check raises me another $500. I haven’t played with this kid before so I didn’t really know what to think or what to do, damn I should have bet the flop to get the information I need :) By checking the flop he could have read me for a weak hand like JJ or 99 that he could shake me off of especially if he had a draw like hearts or touch straight draw. Anyway, I stubbornly call and the river pairs the 4. He leads out $1000 and after much deliberation I call. He shows 33 for a set. Stupid call or not? I haven’t made up my mind on this one. The one problem with playing the flop the way I did is I don’t find out as much information about other player’s hands. After playing with this kid for another hour I realized he didn’t really run big bluffs and usually had the goods upon showdown. Surely, if I had this information ahead of time I would have layed down given the risk I was losing vs how much I had invested.
Hand #4:
At the bellagio 10-20 game. I crazy European sits down puts $10,000 on the table and starts bullying a rather tight agressive table. I have had bad luck to date and am down about $1,500. I am in late position and open the pot to $70 with AJ off, a chain reaction takes place and everyone behind me and in the blinds call so 5 go to the flop. The flop comes AJ8 two hearts and the European leads out $140 into the field. I immediately make it $400 and everyone folds leaving us heads up. He calls and the turn brings an 8. He checks and I bet $700 and he check raises to $2000. I think for a bit and call. I can't put him on an 8 as he would not be into the field with bottom pair dry on that board. As well, if he had flopped two pair like A8 or J8 he would have reraised me again on the flop. It is possible he was check raising on a draw as it is in the range of the maniac but thats about it, note the J is the non-heart so he could not have had the 8 plus heart draw on the flop. Anway, I determine calling is the bets because with another $3,000 behind me I don't want to lose him with the bluff as it's likely he'll follow through on the river. Sure enough the river is an offsuit K and he puts me allin. I don't really like it but I am obviously calling if I don't laydown on the turn, please don't show Q10. In the end he tables QJ off and I win a monster.
Hand #5:
In the same game at the bellagio I get my favorite hand AA. Two limp and I make it $130 everyone folds to the initial limper who is the only caller. The flop comes down 1087 two hearts. He checks and I decide to check. This is a tight player and I feel the most likely limp call would be with a middle pair or medium/high suited connector. The turn pairs the 10 and he checks so I put out a bet of $240 and he calls. The river pairs the 8 now and he checks. At this point, I put him on 99 or JJ or a missed flush draw and I feel I must value the river so I bet $400. He calls and shows me 77 for a fullhouse...LOL. Does he think I have a 10? Anway, its not a big pot but it is interesting how it was played out. My opponent seemed like a solid player otherwise, but I think we was a littel too cute and passive on this hand, at least river raise me bro.
Hand #6:
At the Wynn in a rare 1020 game. A wild rich hedge fund manager raises to $70, which was standard for him. I look down at KK and reraise to $290 knowing he'll give me action. We get heads up and the flop was KJ4 rainbow. He checks I bet $425 and he calls. Turn is the A of diamonds bringing in a flush draw. He checks and I bet $900. He delibrates and calls. The river is a 7 of diamonds and he laughs and tells me I don't think you should bet. I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I believe he is telling the truth so I check behind. He shows me J6 for a flush. Man, can't win with those damn kings, especially when I flop top set. Thank goodness he is a rich guy who is just there to have fun and give his money away, to everyone else that is. Obviously, I am supposed to lose another couple thousand on the hand if he wasn't being nice. I got him later that evening and cut him a break so it evened out.
Hand #7:
Playing 5-10 at the Wynn late and short-handed. There is this old rich guy with a hole in his throat. Apparently, he owns about 25 nightclubs and strip joints in San Fran. He was loose and would call through very thin. Of course, he had my number most of the night including this hand. He raises to $70 and I look down at AA. I reraise to $270 and he calls. The flop is 822 two hearts one spade. He checks I bet $350 he calls. The turn is the 10 of spades and he leads out for $600. At this point, I feel he has one of three hands, an 8 with spades, a 10 with hearts, or a bluff. Not sure which as he did not check call then lead out so I have to assume the turn helped in some way. I decide to call with intentions of raising the river if a dud came. The river brought the K of hearts and he bet $1,200. I didn't like the card, but this guy had run a few big bluffs so I felt I had no choice but to call and he showed me J10 of hearts.
Hand #8:
Same game same guy same result. I had J10 of clubs after a small raise preflop. The flop came down Q94 two clubs. Some woman comes out firing for $150 and the strip club maniac reraises to $350. I am on the button and decide to reraise to $1000. The lady folds and the maniac reluctantly calls. The turn is another 4 and he checks. I feel he is really weak here and so I decide to try again this time firing for $1800. He thinks for a minute and calls. The river bricks an offsuit 7 and he checks. He has about $4,000 left and I have him covered. I decide to check and give up because I feel if he could call the turn would call the river unless he had a flush draw as well. As it turns out he has A9. Such a savage call down and of course with 21 cards to hit twice I miss. This guy was so bad, easily one of the three worst I came across, but I could not get him. He was cleaned out though and someone at our table made over $10,000 off him. Must be nice....
Hand #9:
I had 109 of diamonds in the big blind in a 5-10 game at the Wynn. It was a fun table and there was a lot of sillyness going on. Everyone limped and I made it $20 to go for a joke. Someone made it $30 and about 8 of us went to the flop. The flop was 10102 two spades. I led out for $90 and was reraised to $290 by a tight player who undoubtedly had the case 10. Another person called, obviously on a flush draw and I just called as I was not sure if I was outkicked and if I hit the 9 on the turn, especially the 9 of spades, I could make a real big pot givin I would check, the tight player would bet and the flush draw would call/raise etc... Anway, the turn was a 6 of hearts and I check. The same aggressor bets $480 and the flush draw folds. I decide to simply call here as I'm not sure who's winning. The river is a 4 and I check. This time he fires $1000 and I tell him I don't think he knows how big my hand is. He tells me the same and I reluctantly fold. He shows me 104 good buddy. Great river.
Hand #10:
Playing 5-10 last night and made the worst play I have made since the 9s during my first session at Commerce. In a limped pot the board came down 1074 and I have 44. I am new to the table and a young kid bets $60. I raise to $180 and he raises to $380 and I call ready to pounce later in the hand. The turn is a Q and he checks. I thought this was kind of strange but I bet $450. He check raises me to $950. At this point I'm very confused. The kid had another $1800 behind him after the check raise. I hadn't seen anything less than text book from him so I have to be concerned he turned QQ. Preflop he was the first limper. With 77 or 1010 I think he would open for a raise, but with QQ I could see limping to generate action. I dunno? Anyway, I call. The river is a dud 5 (although it brings backdoor diamonds brining in 1 hand that he could play this way - 86 of diamonds, looking for a free turn, but then check raising with a double gutter / flush draw). On the river he fired allin. I don't know what went through my mind, I think I was tired or something. I ended up folding after 2 minutes in the tank. If I'm going to take the reraise on the turn I have to call the river, no questions asked. I think the way I played it I would maximize value as I'm either beat or I'm not and that won't change no matter what river. If he was on a move then I would get him, if he oversetted me then I'm done either way. The kid never showed but my gut tells me it was a move. So stupid of me, I guess when you run bad sometimes you convince yourself of the worst case scenario in the heat of the moment. If is was a move though I will say that it seems silly to push a dry pot.
Hand #11:
The deep stack tournament hand. I had just under 20k in chips with blinds 600/1200. I am in the big blind with Q10 off and we have a rare limp fest. 5 people limped and I checked my option. The flop came down KKJ rainbow and it was checked around. The turn is an A it is checked around to the original limper who makes it 5k to go. All fold around to the small blind who raises to 15k. I look over at the first limper and I see he is upset by the raise so I'm not concerned with aces full. The small blind has a K for sure. With AK he would have raised preflop and with KJ I think he would have smooth called and bet the river. So, my straight is gold and I push. The small blind calls and shows K2 and the river is an A. Lovely, the pot was 50k and I would have been well situated to make a run at the $60,000 first place prize.
There are a lot of other hands but I am tired of the memories. The Wynn classic tourneys start tomorrow and I'm going to play the first event as it gets the best turnout. Travis is coming down tonight and Todd is MIA. I'll likely be here for another couple weeks and hopefully I'll start making some serious money. This bad run is really starting to piss me off. The timing is bad.
I miss the peg a bit and all those important to me, but I'll be home shortly, just in time for the end of winter.
I'll report back shortly....
The limited hours spent on the tables were mostly cash games. Kathy and I only played two tournaments, both at the Venician. The first was a nightly $200 that we both bowed out early on and the second was a $550 deep stack extravaganza event that recruited almost 500 players. Kathy lasted until about 200 remained then lost a race. I lasted until about 125 remained losing a huge pot to put me in the top ten chips. In typical fashion, I was rivered after putting my chips in as a 5:1 favourite on the turn.
We predominately played cash games at the Wynn. This week was a little slow in Vegas and 10-20nl was hard to find. I would say I played half 5-10 and half 10-20. The games will pick up this week however with the LA classic done and the Wynn classic starting tomorrow. The games here in Vegas are very different from LA. Vegas players are made up of crusty old men that like to see the flop before committing chips. Their conservative approach creates a limp orientated game with pot control checking. The best way to win is to small pot them to death with good starting cards, positional raising and continuation bets. If they miss they fold. LA players on the other hand raise first and ask questions later. And, during the LA classic, there were many tricky players making the game aggressive and tough at times. Overall, the pots were generally bigger in LA and so was the variance.
My run in Vegas has been disappointing to date as has the trip overall. I continue to run really bad, probably the worst of my life. I guess I can sleep well knowing that if I run as bad as possible I should still post a small profit. It is difficult for me to remember all of the hands over the last week and a half but a few stick out in my mind.
Hand #1:
Finally had big pair over big pair. During my last day in LA I was running poorly and leading up to this hand it looked like I was on tilt. About ten hands previous I was overflushed (again, running about 40% of flushes made I am overflushed) and after that I began raising a few hands including coming over the top with 1010 heavy preflop and continueing through on a K42. So, it looked like I was pushing and I don't blame my opponents play on the this hand.
Finally I look down at AA. A strong opponent to my left raises to $120 after a few limpers so I reraise to $420. He is about $6,000 deep and I have him covered. He decides to call. The flop was 632 rainbow he checks I bet $600, he calls. The turn pairs the 3 he checks and I bet $1,500 knowing he has a pair 9s or higher for sure. He thinks for awhile and decides to check raise me all in. I snap call, he asks do you have aces I say yes, he shugs an 8 hits the river and I win. He didn't show his hand, but I can only assume he had KK. Finally, a setup my way on a board I know I don't have to sweat. That $12,000 took me out of the red for the day as I was stuck good to that point.
Hand #2:
Early on that same night I got involved with the toughest player at my table. I have played 10-20 against him many times in Vegas and he is solid. Generally, we don’t play many pots together, but he was near the end of his session and I think he wanted to gamble a bit to get even. I have QQ in early position and raise to $70. He is the only one who calls me and the flop is 1097 rainbow. I decide to play this hand a little different than normal to try and extract value without building too big a pot as we are both close to 10k deep. I find you have to mix it up against tough players so they stay out of your way for one, and for two, if you don’t you’ll never extract money from them in the long-run. So I check the flop and he bets $130, I call. The turn is a 2 and I lead out for $350, he raises to $900. At this point, I feel he has something like a touch draw like 78 or 89 suited. I just don’t see him having a set (except maybe 7s) or a bigger pair because he is the kind of player that would reraise with position with those hands preflop most of the time. At the same time I don’t want to play a huge pot against a tough player who is capable of taking the semi bluff to the next level by reraising allin if I played back at him. So, I just call with intentions of calling any river bet he makes as long as the river is not a 7 to J. The river brings a J, which I feel is the absolute worst card. I check he bets $2000 and I fold. He chuckles and shows me KQ. He also told me he would have barrelled any river for about $2,000 and I told him what I was thinking, that I would have called any bet outside the 7 to J range. He replied, good thing the J came then. Ya, good thing.
Hand #3:
That same night, late in the evening I get moved to Travis's table and in the first rotation I pick up KK and open for $70. Unfortunately, about 5 people call and the flop comes down Q103 two spades. It’s checked to me and with another 3 players to act after me I decide to check first to see how much action there is to the hand, and unless there is serious action I plan to check raise. Similar to the hand before, I like to mix things up like that sometimes. It gives me information, but I find that I get a lot of free turn cards when I need them because I opponents know I check alot of big hands on the flop. Also, when I fire out on the turn my opponents will fold more often instead of making a play or float to the river. So many players check medium hands on flops then stab on the turn when there is no action on the flop and good players pick up on that, and consequently, feed off of the bet to take down the pot knowing that the delayed continuation bet cannot withstand a raise. Anyway, in this hand it gets checked through and the turn is a 4 bringing in a heart draw. Action is checked to me and I bet out something like $300 and all fold to the small blind who check raises me another $500. I haven’t played with this kid before so I didn’t really know what to think or what to do, damn I should have bet the flop to get the information I need :) By checking the flop he could have read me for a weak hand like JJ or 99 that he could shake me off of especially if he had a draw like hearts or touch straight draw. Anyway, I stubbornly call and the river pairs the 4. He leads out $1000 and after much deliberation I call. He shows 33 for a set. Stupid call or not? I haven’t made up my mind on this one. The one problem with playing the flop the way I did is I don’t find out as much information about other player’s hands. After playing with this kid for another hour I realized he didn’t really run big bluffs and usually had the goods upon showdown. Surely, if I had this information ahead of time I would have layed down given the risk I was losing vs how much I had invested.
Hand #4:
At the bellagio 10-20 game. I crazy European sits down puts $10,000 on the table and starts bullying a rather tight agressive table. I have had bad luck to date and am down about $1,500. I am in late position and open the pot to $70 with AJ off, a chain reaction takes place and everyone behind me and in the blinds call so 5 go to the flop. The flop comes AJ8 two hearts and the European leads out $140 into the field. I immediately make it $400 and everyone folds leaving us heads up. He calls and the turn brings an 8. He checks and I bet $700 and he check raises to $2000. I think for a bit and call. I can't put him on an 8 as he would not be into the field with bottom pair dry on that board. As well, if he had flopped two pair like A8 or J8 he would have reraised me again on the flop. It is possible he was check raising on a draw as it is in the range of the maniac but thats about it, note the J is the non-heart so he could not have had the 8 plus heart draw on the flop. Anway, I determine calling is the bets because with another $3,000 behind me I don't want to lose him with the bluff as it's likely he'll follow through on the river. Sure enough the river is an offsuit K and he puts me allin. I don't really like it but I am obviously calling if I don't laydown on the turn, please don't show Q10. In the end he tables QJ off and I win a monster.
Hand #5:
In the same game at the bellagio I get my favorite hand AA. Two limp and I make it $130 everyone folds to the initial limper who is the only caller. The flop comes down 1087 two hearts. He checks and I decide to check. This is a tight player and I feel the most likely limp call would be with a middle pair or medium/high suited connector. The turn pairs the 10 and he checks so I put out a bet of $240 and he calls. The river pairs the 8 now and he checks. At this point, I put him on 99 or JJ or a missed flush draw and I feel I must value the river so I bet $400. He calls and shows me 77 for a fullhouse...LOL. Does he think I have a 10? Anway, its not a big pot but it is interesting how it was played out. My opponent seemed like a solid player otherwise, but I think we was a littel too cute and passive on this hand, at least river raise me bro.
Hand #6:
At the Wynn in a rare 1020 game. A wild rich hedge fund manager raises to $70, which was standard for him. I look down at KK and reraise to $290 knowing he'll give me action. We get heads up and the flop was KJ4 rainbow. He checks I bet $425 and he calls. Turn is the A of diamonds bringing in a flush draw. He checks and I bet $900. He delibrates and calls. The river is a 7 of diamonds and he laughs and tells me I don't think you should bet. I get a sick feeling in my stomach as I believe he is telling the truth so I check behind. He shows me J6 for a flush. Man, can't win with those damn kings, especially when I flop top set. Thank goodness he is a rich guy who is just there to have fun and give his money away, to everyone else that is. Obviously, I am supposed to lose another couple thousand on the hand if he wasn't being nice. I got him later that evening and cut him a break so it evened out.
Hand #7:
Playing 5-10 at the Wynn late and short-handed. There is this old rich guy with a hole in his throat. Apparently, he owns about 25 nightclubs and strip joints in San Fran. He was loose and would call through very thin. Of course, he had my number most of the night including this hand. He raises to $70 and I look down at AA. I reraise to $270 and he calls. The flop is 822 two hearts one spade. He checks I bet $350 he calls. The turn is the 10 of spades and he leads out for $600. At this point, I feel he has one of three hands, an 8 with spades, a 10 with hearts, or a bluff. Not sure which as he did not check call then lead out so I have to assume the turn helped in some way. I decide to call with intentions of raising the river if a dud came. The river brought the K of hearts and he bet $1,200. I didn't like the card, but this guy had run a few big bluffs so I felt I had no choice but to call and he showed me J10 of hearts.
Hand #8:
Same game same guy same result. I had J10 of clubs after a small raise preflop. The flop came down Q94 two clubs. Some woman comes out firing for $150 and the strip club maniac reraises to $350. I am on the button and decide to reraise to $1000. The lady folds and the maniac reluctantly calls. The turn is another 4 and he checks. I feel he is really weak here and so I decide to try again this time firing for $1800. He thinks for a minute and calls. The river bricks an offsuit 7 and he checks. He has about $4,000 left and I have him covered. I decide to check and give up because I feel if he could call the turn would call the river unless he had a flush draw as well. As it turns out he has A9. Such a savage call down and of course with 21 cards to hit twice I miss. This guy was so bad, easily one of the three worst I came across, but I could not get him. He was cleaned out though and someone at our table made over $10,000 off him. Must be nice....
Hand #9:
I had 109 of diamonds in the big blind in a 5-10 game at the Wynn. It was a fun table and there was a lot of sillyness going on. Everyone limped and I made it $20 to go for a joke. Someone made it $30 and about 8 of us went to the flop. The flop was 10102 two spades. I led out for $90 and was reraised to $290 by a tight player who undoubtedly had the case 10. Another person called, obviously on a flush draw and I just called as I was not sure if I was outkicked and if I hit the 9 on the turn, especially the 9 of spades, I could make a real big pot givin I would check, the tight player would bet and the flush draw would call/raise etc... Anway, the turn was a 6 of hearts and I check. The same aggressor bets $480 and the flush draw folds. I decide to simply call here as I'm not sure who's winning. The river is a 4 and I check. This time he fires $1000 and I tell him I don't think he knows how big my hand is. He tells me the same and I reluctantly fold. He shows me 104 good buddy. Great river.
Hand #10:
Playing 5-10 last night and made the worst play I have made since the 9s during my first session at Commerce. In a limped pot the board came down 1074 and I have 44. I am new to the table and a young kid bets $60. I raise to $180 and he raises to $380 and I call ready to pounce later in the hand. The turn is a Q and he checks. I thought this was kind of strange but I bet $450. He check raises me to $950. At this point I'm very confused. The kid had another $1800 behind him after the check raise. I hadn't seen anything less than text book from him so I have to be concerned he turned QQ. Preflop he was the first limper. With 77 or 1010 I think he would open for a raise, but with QQ I could see limping to generate action. I dunno? Anyway, I call. The river is a dud 5 (although it brings backdoor diamonds brining in 1 hand that he could play this way - 86 of diamonds, looking for a free turn, but then check raising with a double gutter / flush draw). On the river he fired allin. I don't know what went through my mind, I think I was tired or something. I ended up folding after 2 minutes in the tank. If I'm going to take the reraise on the turn I have to call the river, no questions asked. I think the way I played it I would maximize value as I'm either beat or I'm not and that won't change no matter what river. If he was on a move then I would get him, if he oversetted me then I'm done either way. The kid never showed but my gut tells me it was a move. So stupid of me, I guess when you run bad sometimes you convince yourself of the worst case scenario in the heat of the moment. If is was a move though I will say that it seems silly to push a dry pot.
Hand #11:
The deep stack tournament hand. I had just under 20k in chips with blinds 600/1200. I am in the big blind with Q10 off and we have a rare limp fest. 5 people limped and I checked my option. The flop came down KKJ rainbow and it was checked around. The turn is an A it is checked around to the original limper who makes it 5k to go. All fold around to the small blind who raises to 15k. I look over at the first limper and I see he is upset by the raise so I'm not concerned with aces full. The small blind has a K for sure. With AK he would have raised preflop and with KJ I think he would have smooth called and bet the river. So, my straight is gold and I push. The small blind calls and shows K2 and the river is an A. Lovely, the pot was 50k and I would have been well situated to make a run at the $60,000 first place prize.
There are a lot of other hands but I am tired of the memories. The Wynn classic tourneys start tomorrow and I'm going to play the first event as it gets the best turnout. Travis is coming down tonight and Todd is MIA. I'll likely be here for another couple weeks and hopefully I'll start making some serious money. This bad run is really starting to piss me off. The timing is bad.
I miss the peg a bit and all those important to me, but I'll be home shortly, just in time for the end of winter.
I'll report back shortly....
Saturday, February 16, 2008
The Rollercoaster
I don't have much time so I'll keep it short. The last couple days have been a rollercoaster of swings. Overall, I am around even but I have played a lot of big pots. Online I am down about 5k and live I am up about the same.
The play at Commerce has become progressively worse. At times, I feel like I'm playing with 5-6 pros all attempting to isolate the 1-2 weak players at the table. Last night was a little different however. Something must have been in the air as everyone was in the gambling mode. I switched from Holdem to PLO back to Holdem back to PLO and finallly back to Holdem again.
The Holdem games started out rather dry and over the course of 5 hours I made about a grand. I then decided to play a little 10-20 PLO. My omaha game is getting better, but I would hardly call myself a seasoned pro. Luckily, most of the other players are not very strong either with exception for 2 young guys who seemed to know exactly what they were doing. I played the day before and made a few thousand so I thought I'd try again. This time I was totally card dead and was faced with several difficult decisions. Overall, I lost about 3k in the game, which is like even in that game. After I left the game got absolutely crazy as I was playing Holdem at a neighboring table. This guy sat down that automatically potted to see the flop. As well, there was a straddle on so the game was playing more like a 40-80 PLO and every pot was 10k plus.
The late night Holdem game was not too different as there was one kid who was shooting it up like crazy causing a frenzy at our table. In the end, the kid got lucky on a hand, against me of course, and quickly cashed out after giving the beat. I don't have time to talk about many hands so I'll focus on just a couple and will update tomorrow when fly to Vegas.
Hand #1:
Sickest PLO hand which I was not involved with. Straddle to $40, bunch of callers, maniac repopps to $340. Flop comes down K87 two diamonds. The maniac leads out for pot. This kid who was a tough player repots and the maniac repots and the kid declares allin. The kid has A1096 two diamonds so wrap and nut flush draw. The maniac has the worst hand I ever saw - QJ43 two diamonds. I had never seen anything like that before, there was a 40k pot a guy through it in with no pair and third nut diamond draw. Anyway turn is Q river is 2 no diamond and the maniac issues the worst beat I ever saw in PLO.
Hand #2:
I have AK off. Its late, the game is crazy, I am stuck and have been opening a ton of pots with a huge range of hands. There is a straddle of $40 with one caller so I make it $160. I loose aggressive player, who is pretty solid, reraises from the small blind to $575 and action is folded to me. He is 5k deep and I have more so with position and knowing he could reraise with a fairly wide range of hands, I decide to call. The flop is Q94 all diamond. He checks. Now normally I would probably take a free one, but I am on semi-tilt and my read was that he didn't like the flop perhaps a pair under the Q with no diamond? Anyway, I decide to bet 1k with AK A of diamonds to shake him knowing that this was a rather bad play, but I too came to the game to gamble. He instantly check-raises allin. At this point I'm really mad I didn't check. I know now he has one of two hands to be able to check raise such as scary flop. He has KK with the diamond backup or he has a set of Qs. With $1,500 invested and with him having $3,500 left I decide to make what is a borderline money call to draw out. If he has KK with the diamond it is a good call, if he has QQ then it is not. The turn is the 8 of diamonds and the river is the 2 of diamonds. He has KK with the diamond as it turns out and I win my first big pot of the trip getting lucky.
Hand #3:
Fresh off of losing a hand with 1010 in the big blind against JJ on the button heads up on an AAA board, I get QQ on the button. There are a couple limpers and I raise to $130. The big blind calls and the maniac kid under the gun reraises to $600. The kid has a hair under 4k total so I decide to smooth call what I think is a nonsense raise as he has done the back raise on several occassions and previously told people he wants to gamble to double up to get even or go home broke. Anyway, we get heads up and the flop is 865 two diamonds, the kid leads out $600. I know he is nervous and hated that I called him preflop. I decide this board is more than good enough to get the chips in against him so I declare allin. The kid hesitates and chooses to call off an additional $2600 with 53 off. Turn 2 river 3, two pair. So sick, just like the old party poker days.
Hand #4:
Not even five minutes after being issued the beat I pick up KK. Guy raises to $70 and I reraise to $300 he calls. Flop is 986 two clubs. He checks I bet $550 he calls. Turn pairs the 9 and he has $1500 left. I am almost positive he has 1010 to QQ as with aces or a set he would check raise me all in, note I have K of clubs so I know he doesn't have AK clubs. The guy has $1700 left in chips and I decide to push him in hoping to get a call as he may be thinking I'm steaming from the QQ and am trying to buy the pot. He calls the river pairs the 8 I show he mucks and I get back alot most of what I lost a couple hands previous.
I don't want to sound like a broken record, but my luck continues to suck. The AK was a very lucky hand no doubt, but I have had so many other hands play out poorly its making me sick. And, I can never hit a draw, i'll talk about a couple huge draws gone bad in my next post.
Leaving for Vegas tomorrow and will hopefully have some better luck. At the very least, I get to have some fun and see my girl.
I'll update tomorrow, peace out!
The play at Commerce has become progressively worse. At times, I feel like I'm playing with 5-6 pros all attempting to isolate the 1-2 weak players at the table. Last night was a little different however. Something must have been in the air as everyone was in the gambling mode. I switched from Holdem to PLO back to Holdem back to PLO and finallly back to Holdem again.
The Holdem games started out rather dry and over the course of 5 hours I made about a grand. I then decided to play a little 10-20 PLO. My omaha game is getting better, but I would hardly call myself a seasoned pro. Luckily, most of the other players are not very strong either with exception for 2 young guys who seemed to know exactly what they were doing. I played the day before and made a few thousand so I thought I'd try again. This time I was totally card dead and was faced with several difficult decisions. Overall, I lost about 3k in the game, which is like even in that game. After I left the game got absolutely crazy as I was playing Holdem at a neighboring table. This guy sat down that automatically potted to see the flop. As well, there was a straddle on so the game was playing more like a 40-80 PLO and every pot was 10k plus.
The late night Holdem game was not too different as there was one kid who was shooting it up like crazy causing a frenzy at our table. In the end, the kid got lucky on a hand, against me of course, and quickly cashed out after giving the beat. I don't have time to talk about many hands so I'll focus on just a couple and will update tomorrow when fly to Vegas.
Hand #1:
Sickest PLO hand which I was not involved with. Straddle to $40, bunch of callers, maniac repopps to $340. Flop comes down K87 two diamonds. The maniac leads out for pot. This kid who was a tough player repots and the maniac repots and the kid declares allin. The kid has A1096 two diamonds so wrap and nut flush draw. The maniac has the worst hand I ever saw - QJ43 two diamonds. I had never seen anything like that before, there was a 40k pot a guy through it in with no pair and third nut diamond draw. Anyway turn is Q river is 2 no diamond and the maniac issues the worst beat I ever saw in PLO.
Hand #2:
I have AK off. Its late, the game is crazy, I am stuck and have been opening a ton of pots with a huge range of hands. There is a straddle of $40 with one caller so I make it $160. I loose aggressive player, who is pretty solid, reraises from the small blind to $575 and action is folded to me. He is 5k deep and I have more so with position and knowing he could reraise with a fairly wide range of hands, I decide to call. The flop is Q94 all diamond. He checks. Now normally I would probably take a free one, but I am on semi-tilt and my read was that he didn't like the flop perhaps a pair under the Q with no diamond? Anyway, I decide to bet 1k with AK A of diamonds to shake him knowing that this was a rather bad play, but I too came to the game to gamble. He instantly check-raises allin. At this point I'm really mad I didn't check. I know now he has one of two hands to be able to check raise such as scary flop. He has KK with the diamond backup or he has a set of Qs. With $1,500 invested and with him having $3,500 left I decide to make what is a borderline money call to draw out. If he has KK with the diamond it is a good call, if he has QQ then it is not. The turn is the 8 of diamonds and the river is the 2 of diamonds. He has KK with the diamond as it turns out and I win my first big pot of the trip getting lucky.
Hand #3:
Fresh off of losing a hand with 1010 in the big blind against JJ on the button heads up on an AAA board, I get QQ on the button. There are a couple limpers and I raise to $130. The big blind calls and the maniac kid under the gun reraises to $600. The kid has a hair under 4k total so I decide to smooth call what I think is a nonsense raise as he has done the back raise on several occassions and previously told people he wants to gamble to double up to get even or go home broke. Anyway, we get heads up and the flop is 865 two diamonds, the kid leads out $600. I know he is nervous and hated that I called him preflop. I decide this board is more than good enough to get the chips in against him so I declare allin. The kid hesitates and chooses to call off an additional $2600 with 53 off. Turn 2 river 3, two pair. So sick, just like the old party poker days.
Hand #4:
Not even five minutes after being issued the beat I pick up KK. Guy raises to $70 and I reraise to $300 he calls. Flop is 986 two clubs. He checks I bet $550 he calls. Turn pairs the 9 and he has $1500 left. I am almost positive he has 1010 to QQ as with aces or a set he would check raise me all in, note I have K of clubs so I know he doesn't have AK clubs. The guy has $1700 left in chips and I decide to push him in hoping to get a call as he may be thinking I'm steaming from the QQ and am trying to buy the pot. He calls the river pairs the 8 I show he mucks and I get back alot most of what I lost a couple hands previous.
I don't want to sound like a broken record, but my luck continues to suck. The AK was a very lucky hand no doubt, but I have had so many other hands play out poorly its making me sick. And, I can never hit a draw, i'll talk about a couple huge draws gone bad in my next post.
Leaving for Vegas tomorrow and will hopefully have some better luck. At the very least, I get to have some fun and see my girl.
I'll update tomorrow, peace out!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Itinerary is Set
Back in my room after a rather short session of play. I only logged about 6 hours today. The games weren't great and my neck is killing me. If its not one thing its the next, I sure hope this is not what getting old is all about. I must have slept funny and developed a kink just as my foot and wrist were starting to feel a little better.
I did alright today for a tough field profiting about $3,400. I had a couple good hands and had a couple bad rivers. Overall though I think I played solid.
Hand Summary:
Hand #1:
About 5 hands in I looked down at 33 and limped from early position. The only fish at the table raised to $100 with about $1300 behind. There was one other caller so I called knowing if we both flopped big he would never laydown. Flop K83 rainbow. I check he bets $100 and I raise to $3oo, either he has a K or he doesn't. He flat calls and turn is 2. I bet $400 he shoves I call and he shows me AK, drawing dead. Unfortunately he didn't rebuy.
Hand #2:
On the button with AA with two limpers to me. I make it $120 and both call. Flop is Q53 rainbow. They both check and I bet $280. The first limper reraises to $800. At this point I have $5,000 and he has me covered. I have played with him before and he is rather crafty and could have a set, straight draw, or just a Q. Anyway, I decide to flat call as I have position to the hand and can see what he does on the turn. The turn pairs the 3 and he checks. I decide to check behind for a couple reasons. He is capable of checking a fullhouse to raise again, whether on the turn or river, and I want to control the pot. If he doesn't have me beat then he likely has a Q which makes it near impossible to lose with the 3s paired (note: if the 3s weren't paired and he checked I would likely bet). And, if I check the turn I may get value on the river from a Q. Anway, river is 8 and he checks again. This time I bet $1000 and he calls and mucks. Probably a KQ, QJ type of hand.
Hand #3:
I have K10 of hearts. Someone straddles to $40 and action is folded to me in the cutoff, I make it $140 and get two callers from the blinds. The flop is 1053 rainbow. The first guy checks and the second guy donks into me for $300 with only another $700 behind. I sense the other guy will fold so I put the guy allin. The turn is an 8 and river Q I show my hand and he mucks.
Hand #4:
I have 72 off in the big blind. All fold to the button who limps with the small blind. Flop is K72 two spades. Small blind checks I bet $50, button folds and small blind makes it $160. I just call as he could have two pair and with position I will value bet at any point that he checks. Also, I am never a fan of pouring in huge cash on flops with bottom two, they get negated so often against donks who can't lay down top pair. The turn is a Q and he bets $250. I call. The river is a 9, with no flush coming in, the guy bets $350. Well, I'm not happy about the river bet as he seems like a guy who would check the river with one pair, but he is making it so cheap I have to call as he may be pounding a flush draw. Anway, I call and he shows KQ. I think I lose minimum this hand, but too bad the six outer comes otherwise I'd win about $1000 instead of losing $750.
Hand #5:
Same scenerio one rotation later. Everyone folds to the button he limps and we see a flop. This situation is almost unheard of at this level but the guy on the button is a real donk. Anyway, I have 98 off and the flop is 1076 two spades. We both check to the button and he makes it $50. The small blind calls and I decide I'm gonna mix it up by calling then betting into him on the turn. I had just won a different pot off him a couple hands previous by betting to come and it came so maybe I could induce a raise and build a big one. The turn is the 5 of clubs and so I bet $200 into him. He looked puzzled and clearly was suprised by the bet. Unfortunately, he did not take the bait and flat called, the small blind folded. The river brought the J of spades. I didn't really feel that he was on spades so I continued betting this time $325. He hollywooded for awhile then declared raise and made it $1000 to go. I thought about it for a bit thinking to call because this same guy river bluff raised somebody else when a flush came in, showing it proudly when the guy folded. In the end I folded and I am pretty sure he had a flush because I saw the 4 of spades when he tossed in his cards.
Hand #6:
I had 98 of clubs in mid position and opened the pot for $70. Two people called including the button. The flop came down 652 with 52 of clubs. I bet out $180 and was immediately raised by the rock on the button. He made it $425 to go. I know this guy is super tight and I am 95% sure he has a set, if not a set then AA. He is close to 10k deep and so I obviously call begging for the offsuit 7 so I can lead into him on the turn representing a big pair. An offsuit 7 would likely lead to a double up if the river did not pair the board. And certainly a flush results in a big pot as well. Unfortunately, the turn was a red Q. I check and this time he bets $1250. At this point, its a little out of my price range with only $6,500 in front of me and obviously if I flat call the turn and the club comes, I won't be getting paid. So I fold. Sure would be nice to hit one of those sneaky ones when it counts, very similar to the 84 of spades hand I posted a couple weeks back.
I did alright today for a tough field profiting about $3,400. I had a couple good hands and had a couple bad rivers. Overall though I think I played solid.
Hand Summary:
Hand #1:
About 5 hands in I looked down at 33 and limped from early position. The only fish at the table raised to $100 with about $1300 behind. There was one other caller so I called knowing if we both flopped big he would never laydown. Flop K83 rainbow. I check he bets $100 and I raise to $3oo, either he has a K or he doesn't. He flat calls and turn is 2. I bet $400 he shoves I call and he shows me AK, drawing dead. Unfortunately he didn't rebuy.
Hand #2:
On the button with AA with two limpers to me. I make it $120 and both call. Flop is Q53 rainbow. They both check and I bet $280. The first limper reraises to $800. At this point I have $5,000 and he has me covered. I have played with him before and he is rather crafty and could have a set, straight draw, or just a Q. Anyway, I decide to flat call as I have position to the hand and can see what he does on the turn. The turn pairs the 3 and he checks. I decide to check behind for a couple reasons. He is capable of checking a fullhouse to raise again, whether on the turn or river, and I want to control the pot. If he doesn't have me beat then he likely has a Q which makes it near impossible to lose with the 3s paired (note: if the 3s weren't paired and he checked I would likely bet). And, if I check the turn I may get value on the river from a Q. Anway, river is 8 and he checks again. This time I bet $1000 and he calls and mucks. Probably a KQ, QJ type of hand.
Hand #3:
I have K10 of hearts. Someone straddles to $40 and action is folded to me in the cutoff, I make it $140 and get two callers from the blinds. The flop is 1053 rainbow. The first guy checks and the second guy donks into me for $300 with only another $700 behind. I sense the other guy will fold so I put the guy allin. The turn is an 8 and river Q I show my hand and he mucks.
Hand #4:
I have 72 off in the big blind. All fold to the button who limps with the small blind. Flop is K72 two spades. Small blind checks I bet $50, button folds and small blind makes it $160. I just call as he could have two pair and with position I will value bet at any point that he checks. Also, I am never a fan of pouring in huge cash on flops with bottom two, they get negated so often against donks who can't lay down top pair. The turn is a Q and he bets $250. I call. The river is a 9, with no flush coming in, the guy bets $350. Well, I'm not happy about the river bet as he seems like a guy who would check the river with one pair, but he is making it so cheap I have to call as he may be pounding a flush draw. Anway, I call and he shows KQ. I think I lose minimum this hand, but too bad the six outer comes otherwise I'd win about $1000 instead of losing $750.
Hand #5:
Same scenerio one rotation later. Everyone folds to the button he limps and we see a flop. This situation is almost unheard of at this level but the guy on the button is a real donk. Anyway, I have 98 off and the flop is 1076 two spades. We both check to the button and he makes it $50. The small blind calls and I decide I'm gonna mix it up by calling then betting into him on the turn. I had just won a different pot off him a couple hands previous by betting to come and it came so maybe I could induce a raise and build a big one. The turn is the 5 of clubs and so I bet $200 into him. He looked puzzled and clearly was suprised by the bet. Unfortunately, he did not take the bait and flat called, the small blind folded. The river brought the J of spades. I didn't really feel that he was on spades so I continued betting this time $325. He hollywooded for awhile then declared raise and made it $1000 to go. I thought about it for a bit thinking to call because this same guy river bluff raised somebody else when a flush came in, showing it proudly when the guy folded. In the end I folded and I am pretty sure he had a flush because I saw the 4 of spades when he tossed in his cards.
Hand #6:
I had 98 of clubs in mid position and opened the pot for $70. Two people called including the button. The flop came down 652 with 52 of clubs. I bet out $180 and was immediately raised by the rock on the button. He made it $425 to go. I know this guy is super tight and I am 95% sure he has a set, if not a set then AA. He is close to 10k deep and so I obviously call begging for the offsuit 7 so I can lead into him on the turn representing a big pair. An offsuit 7 would likely lead to a double up if the river did not pair the board. And certainly a flush results in a big pot as well. Unfortunately, the turn was a red Q. I check and this time he bets $1250. At this point, its a little out of my price range with only $6,500 in front of me and obviously if I flat call the turn and the club comes, I won't be getting paid. So I fold. Sure would be nice to hit one of those sneaky ones when it counts, very similar to the 84 of spades hand I posted a couple weeks back.
So I'm going to just hang out in my room for the balance of the evening, likely to play a little online and yup you guessed it watch another movie. I better start booking bigger wins so I can offord the room charges. Actually, its been alright the last couple days. I made a couple thousand online in each of my last two sessions. If I can string a good week and a half together I think I might jump into the 20-40 game. It looks juicy and there is no shortage of action, but it plays really big. Most of the serious players buyin for 30k or more. If I play I will be short-buying for 5k.
Going to play the tag team event tomorrow with Todd. He is scheduled to arrive an hour before it starts. He has been stuck in transit for two days now in Toronto thanks to a snow storm. Way to save $100 on your flight by doing the milkrun. Now your paying double on hotels and are missing out on some key play time....loser:)
Also, I'm going to be leaving for Vegas early Sunday morning. The action is growing tougher everyday here as more and more of North America's finest players are arriving as we near the main event. Maybe Vegas will be good with all the pros absent. Also, I hope to try out the Venetician deep stack extravaganza. Kathy is meeting me down there late Sunday night and is staying for a week. We'll hang out, have some fun, and likely, play a bit of cards. Thursday night we will be returning to LA so I can play the Supersatellite on Friday. And, with a little luck, I'll qualify for the main event, which starts Saturday.
Till next time....
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tournaments Woes
Just finished playing a $1000 nl Holdem event and busted in level four. I had reasonably tough table as far as tough goes in tournaments. Each player started with 3000 chips with 1-hour blinds. I really couldn't get anything going sinking to as low as $1800 chips before doubling up by flopping a flush. I got knocked out with AK as usual. I was in the cutoff with AK spades and raised to 600 with blinds 100-200. A rather active player reraises to 1700. I'm not particularily happy about the reraise but decide to make a stand. If I won I would certainly have more than average in chips and could start playing poker again. He tanks after my shove and calls with 99. In typical fashion, I brick out. Funny, I had four premium hands JJ, JJ, QQ, and the AK suited. I went 0/4.
Last night I didn't feel like playing serious poker so I decided to play some 5/10. I was up $2000 at one point, but ran KK into AA where I guy just smooth called my reraise and the board came 7 high so we got it all in. On another hand I flopped two pair and got rivered by a flush. So in the end I made just under $900. I went back to the room though and made a couple thousand online so the day worked out.
Going to play shortly and play to put in a good session so hopefully I run well. I am going to Vegas this weekend and plan to hang out there till the following Thursday before returning to Commerce for the SuperSatellite to the main event. Kathy is meeting me down in Vegas on Sunday night so should be good times - a little quality time, a little entertainment, and a little cards. Other than that Todd is enroute and plans to spend a couple weeks here playing cash games.
I'm not going to go into detail about hands from the 5/10 game. Though it is worth mentioning that the play is so much worse than the 10/20 game. Hopefully I can report a solid win tomorrow....time will tell.
Peace
Last night I didn't feel like playing serious poker so I decided to play some 5/10. I was up $2000 at one point, but ran KK into AA where I guy just smooth called my reraise and the board came 7 high so we got it all in. On another hand I flopped two pair and got rivered by a flush. So in the end I made just under $900. I went back to the room though and made a couple thousand online so the day worked out.
Going to play shortly and play to put in a good session so hopefully I run well. I am going to Vegas this weekend and plan to hang out there till the following Thursday before returning to Commerce for the SuperSatellite to the main event. Kathy is meeting me down in Vegas on Sunday night so should be good times - a little quality time, a little entertainment, and a little cards. Other than that Todd is enroute and plans to spend a couple weeks here playing cash games.
I'm not going to go into detail about hands from the 5/10 game. Though it is worth mentioning that the play is so much worse than the 10/20 game. Hopefully I can report a solid win tomorrow....time will tell.
Peace
Monday, February 11, 2008
Fast Start Slow Finish
I decided to play tonight instead of watching a movie. I slept in so was unable to play the tournament, oh well.
When I first sat down I won two sizeable pots and was up $4,000 right away. For the next seven hours I could not pick up a hand or hit a flop, except flopping a small set only to be drawn out against. I feel kind of stupid though because the game was brutal down the stretch and about 30 minutes before I quit I was up $4,500. Instead of leaving I stayed and dumped back over $2,000 including a silly call down for $1,500 on my last hand of the evening. The end result was $2,300 to the positive. At least it was a win, but overall I don't think I maximized as I blew a couple small pots by not making continuation bets on dry boards and of course the last hand where I should have folded on the river instead of flushing $800 down the drain.
Big pot summary:
Hand #1:
The second hand I played I had J6 of hearts in the small blind and limped for an extra $5. The flop was A92 all hearts. I check and a lady bets $100 and everyone folds, I call. The turn is an offsuit 3 I check she bets $280 I check raise to $800 she calls. At this point I figure she has a small flush or a set of 2s because she was not impressed with the check raise. The river is an offsuit 4 I bet $1000 she contemplates and finally calls. She has a set of 9s.
Hand #2:
About 10 minutes later I raise UTG with 99 and get two callers. The flop is 862 two hearts. I bet $200 and the same lady min raises me to $4o0 and the other player folds. I'm not quite sure what the min raise means so for $200 I decide to call and see what happens on the turn. The turn is the 9 of hearts. I check and she now bets $600 leaving herself another $1400 behind. At this point I put her on a set to be able to bet that turn so hard. I don't think she has a flush as my gut tells me she is not the type of player to raise a flush draw on such a dry flop against a UTG raiser. Anway, I pause for about a minute knowing full well I'm pushing. Eventually I declare allin and she squirms. Eventually she calls me with two black aces and the river doesn't improve her hand. Had the turn been anything but a 9 and she bet big I most likely would have folded.
Hand #3:
I am in the big blind with 33. Someone raises from early position to $80 and 4 people call. The flop comes down J83 all clubs. I check and the initial raiser continues for $350 and everyone folds to me. I figure he has an overpair more than likely with a club. I make a goon raise putting him allin for another $1600. I figure he has a big hand and I want to make him pay to play. As well, I have been running bad and don't want to be blow a pot by getting cute to a hand like 1010 or JJ with a club. Anyway, he calls rather quick with AJ A of clubs and rivers a flush.
Hand #4:
I have A10 of diamonds on the button and the pot is raised from early position to $70 with 5 callers. The flop is A85 two spades -one diamond. The preflop aggressor bets out $250 and gets one caller. Both players are rather deep so I decide to take one off. The turn is the 4 of diamonds. He leads out for $500. Another opponent calls after much deliberation. At this point I have several options. I think the preflop raiser has an AK or AQ type hand and is making one more attempt to take the pot with the flush draws out there. I think the other opponent is on spades. I think for a minute and decide to raise to $1800. The 4 is an interesting card and I don't think the preflop raiser can call with anything less than 1010 or AA. My bet really looks like a flopped set or 67. As it turns out both players fold. He tells me he laid down AK and I tell him good fold.
Hand #5:
My last hand of the evening. I have 87 of clubs in the big blind and an active player raises to $80. One player calls so I call. The flop is Q84 rainbow with one club. I check she bets $170, the other player folds. I decide to call as I'm not convinced she has much. Secondly, she has displayed an inability to lay down big hands so if I can turn two pair I feel I can win a big pot if she has a big Q or overpair. The turn is the 5 of clubs. I check and she bets $400. At this point I feel she has something good as she typically gives up after flop continuation bets with air. I decide to call though having the backdoor flush draw. The river is an offsuit 7. I really don't know what to do here. I almost block bet for $600, but instead decide to check hoping that if she did have a set she would check do to the scare of the 1-card straight. Unfortunately, she fires again this time for $800. I tanked for about 2 minutes. I was confused because she did not strike as a player that would value bet that river for so much with a set. At the same time, my gut was telling me she wasn't nervous about the hand. Could she really be holding something with a 6 that she could fire on all streets? My decision was really on the fence and in the end I went against my first instincts and decided to call with two pair, she showed 76 of spades for the straight. This is definately the worst call down I made this trip.
As for the rest of the evening I really was card dead as usual. I had JJ once and KK once, both getting no action. I had one AK, two AQs, and a handfull of small pairs and suited paint, but that was it. And, as per usual, I flopped nothing big with any of them except the 9s and 3s, one of which I lost. Overall I am of course happy to take a win, but I felt I could have made at least 5k if I was playing optimal poker. For some reason, probably due to fatigue, I chickened out on at least 3 continuation bets down the stretch on dry boards where I normally would have taken down pots adding up to lost wages of about $500 to $600 easily. Once I called down and lost the 87 of clubs I knew it was time to quit before I start donking off more chips.
Going to get some sleep now and recharge. I also need to recharge my phone and I-Pod as they're both dead. Sorry babe if your reading this and couldn't get ahold of me :)
Tomorrow is a $2,500 buyin Holdem event. It is a little steep and they don't give you that many chips so I think I may pass it up and play cash.
Cheers,
When I first sat down I won two sizeable pots and was up $4,000 right away. For the next seven hours I could not pick up a hand or hit a flop, except flopping a small set only to be drawn out against. I feel kind of stupid though because the game was brutal down the stretch and about 30 minutes before I quit I was up $4,500. Instead of leaving I stayed and dumped back over $2,000 including a silly call down for $1,500 on my last hand of the evening. The end result was $2,300 to the positive. At least it was a win, but overall I don't think I maximized as I blew a couple small pots by not making continuation bets on dry boards and of course the last hand where I should have folded on the river instead of flushing $800 down the drain.
Big pot summary:
Hand #1:
The second hand I played I had J6 of hearts in the small blind and limped for an extra $5. The flop was A92 all hearts. I check and a lady bets $100 and everyone folds, I call. The turn is an offsuit 3 I check she bets $280 I check raise to $800 she calls. At this point I figure she has a small flush or a set of 2s because she was not impressed with the check raise. The river is an offsuit 4 I bet $1000 she contemplates and finally calls. She has a set of 9s.
Hand #2:
About 10 minutes later I raise UTG with 99 and get two callers. The flop is 862 two hearts. I bet $200 and the same lady min raises me to $4o0 and the other player folds. I'm not quite sure what the min raise means so for $200 I decide to call and see what happens on the turn. The turn is the 9 of hearts. I check and she now bets $600 leaving herself another $1400 behind. At this point I put her on a set to be able to bet that turn so hard. I don't think she has a flush as my gut tells me she is not the type of player to raise a flush draw on such a dry flop against a UTG raiser. Anway, I pause for about a minute knowing full well I'm pushing. Eventually I declare allin and she squirms. Eventually she calls me with two black aces and the river doesn't improve her hand. Had the turn been anything but a 9 and she bet big I most likely would have folded.
Hand #3:
I am in the big blind with 33. Someone raises from early position to $80 and 4 people call. The flop comes down J83 all clubs. I check and the initial raiser continues for $350 and everyone folds to me. I figure he has an overpair more than likely with a club. I make a goon raise putting him allin for another $1600. I figure he has a big hand and I want to make him pay to play. As well, I have been running bad and don't want to be blow a pot by getting cute to a hand like 1010 or JJ with a club. Anyway, he calls rather quick with AJ A of clubs and rivers a flush.
Hand #4:
I have A10 of diamonds on the button and the pot is raised from early position to $70 with 5 callers. The flop is A85 two spades -one diamond. The preflop aggressor bets out $250 and gets one caller. Both players are rather deep so I decide to take one off. The turn is the 4 of diamonds. He leads out for $500. Another opponent calls after much deliberation. At this point I have several options. I think the preflop raiser has an AK or AQ type hand and is making one more attempt to take the pot with the flush draws out there. I think the other opponent is on spades. I think for a minute and decide to raise to $1800. The 4 is an interesting card and I don't think the preflop raiser can call with anything less than 1010 or AA. My bet really looks like a flopped set or 67. As it turns out both players fold. He tells me he laid down AK and I tell him good fold.
Hand #5:
My last hand of the evening. I have 87 of clubs in the big blind and an active player raises to $80. One player calls so I call. The flop is Q84 rainbow with one club. I check she bets $170, the other player folds. I decide to call as I'm not convinced she has much. Secondly, she has displayed an inability to lay down big hands so if I can turn two pair I feel I can win a big pot if she has a big Q or overpair. The turn is the 5 of clubs. I check and she bets $400. At this point I feel she has something good as she typically gives up after flop continuation bets with air. I decide to call though having the backdoor flush draw. The river is an offsuit 7. I really don't know what to do here. I almost block bet for $600, but instead decide to check hoping that if she did have a set she would check do to the scare of the 1-card straight. Unfortunately, she fires again this time for $800. I tanked for about 2 minutes. I was confused because she did not strike as a player that would value bet that river for so much with a set. At the same time, my gut was telling me she wasn't nervous about the hand. Could she really be holding something with a 6 that she could fire on all streets? My decision was really on the fence and in the end I went against my first instincts and decided to call with two pair, she showed 76 of spades for the straight. This is definately the worst call down I made this trip.
As for the rest of the evening I really was card dead as usual. I had JJ once and KK once, both getting no action. I had one AK, two AQs, and a handfull of small pairs and suited paint, but that was it. And, as per usual, I flopped nothing big with any of them except the 9s and 3s, one of which I lost. Overall I am of course happy to take a win, but I felt I could have made at least 5k if I was playing optimal poker. For some reason, probably due to fatigue, I chickened out on at least 3 continuation bets down the stretch on dry boards where I normally would have taken down pots adding up to lost wages of about $500 to $600 easily. Once I called down and lost the 87 of clubs I knew it was time to quit before I start donking off more chips.
Going to get some sleep now and recharge. I also need to recharge my phone and I-Pod as they're both dead. Sorry babe if your reading this and couldn't get ahold of me :)
Tomorrow is a $2,500 buyin Holdem event. It is a little steep and they don't give you that many chips so I think I may pass it up and play cash.
Cheers,
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Can it get any worse???
I just finished a marathon session at Commerce that last about 16 hours. The games this weekend were not quite as good as two weeks ago, nevertheless, there were still many fish in the sea.
I am suprisingly not upset even though I posted two losses on the weekend, $2200 and $106o respectively. On the one hand, I am frustrated, frustrated because this is by far and away the worst run of cards (live or on internet) I have had for many moons. On the other hand, I am pleased that I am playing some of my best poker ever.
I think my solid play can be attributed to gained experience in deep stack play. I have played a lot of deep stack poker in the past, but in the last couple weeks I have been playing a lot and have been fortunate / unfortunate? enough to play with and observe some of the toughest guys around, absorbing how they deal with a variety of hand situations. Overall, I think I play as well as almost anybody at least in the 10-20s, its just that I keep ending up on the wrong side of luck. However, I will stick to my guns and say that its got to turn around soon. The great Brian Townsend says 'bad luck is just an excuse for bad play. There is no such thing. When you play good and the results are bad just chalk it up to variance'. Well Brian, I'll listen to you a little longer, but I will say that if you were to hire a PHD statistician to track the averages of my good vs bad hands I get, good vs bad coolers, and overall inability to hit the flop and/or draws I would think he/she would label me a statistical anomolie sitting somewhere in the 99.99 percentile to the bad.
Big pots summary as follows:
Hand #1:
The dirtiest of the bunch. I have KK UTG and decide to limp because the table is aggressive and two players to my left are solid and deep. Also, I haven't been raising much, partially due to lack of cards and partially due to the fact I don't want to be repopped and forced to pay $500 to see the flop. If I were to raise the good players would immediately put me on a small range of hands and may put pressure on me givin the right flop....blah blah blah, so I decide to hide the strength of my hand. Anway, the fish immediately to my left makes it $120 to go and suprisingly everyone folds back to me. The fish only raises with about 10 hands so I know he has a pair 9s or higher or AK/AQ. He has about $6,000 thanks to 3 earlier no brainers. He is ripe to be stacked though because he cannot lay down a big hand and has shown to overbet with quasi-vulnerable hands. For these reasons I decide to simply call hoping to get some real value with the proper flop. So flop comes down KQ10 rainbow. I check he bets $200 I call waiting to grab him later in the hand. The turn is a 9 though and in case he has JJ I don't want to bet myself out of the hand so I check and he relectantly checks so I do put him on a big hand not liking the potential straight. The river brings the Q. I fire out $500 and he hollywoods for awhile finally declaring the goon all in raise for an additional $5000 and change. I think for a second and presume he has 1010 or 99 so I call. Unfortunately he shows me QQ for quads. So ridiculas, the good ol' one outer to cost me $6000. How about a 9, 10, or K one time??? I know he put me on a straight. Of course, if I had a straight I would not be falling for his ridiculas river overbet. Anyway, when I see his hand I was in disbelief once again at how bad I am running I mean I just want mediocre luck and leave skill to dictate the rest. Lately, I feel like a guy in a streetfight trying to fend off 3 black belts with handcuffs on and my shoelaces tied...fck'n variance. As a side note, this happened to be the only set I flopped all night.
Hand #2:
Another hand from early on last night. A standard player raises from the cutoff to $80. The button reraises to $320. The button has been rather active and aggressive so by no means can I assume that he has a big pair. I look down and find QQ and decide to call as did the original raiser. At the time I had $3000 in front and both my opponents had more. The flop came down 852 all hearts. I check, the original raiser checks, and the button bets $750. This is a tough spot as I have the third best possible pair with a flush draw (as I have the Q of hearts). This player is not stupid. I know he has a big hand to bet so much on such a dangerous board into 2 guys. Nevertheless, after a little deliberation I came to the following conclusions. With such a large bet I cannot simply call to see what he is going to do on the turn because this is not a straight forward player and certainly is capable of pressuring me on the turn with a weaker hand than I held. Therefore, it was time to move all in or fold. The only hands I am crushed by are AA or KK with the heart redraw. As well, I don't really want to see AK off with a heart. However, I could be a huge favorite over JJ,1010, or even a dry A of hearts, or a bluff. Furthermore, there is a chance that if I pushed he may lay down AA or KK with no heart redraw. I know the other opponent will fold as his expressions already solidify that he hates the flop. So I say to myself, I'm not going to get pushed off this pot like I did with the 9s a couple weeks ago against the rich dude so 'I'm allin'. The guy snap calls me and my heart sunk. Sure enough he shows me AA with the heart redraw. Bonk, no miracle Q for this cowboy. Goodbye initial buyin.
Hand #3:
Also from earlier tonight. The big fish that nailed me with quads raised from UTG and a rock called. At this point, I had made a reasonable comeback and had about $8,000 in front, not even 1/3 of the fish's stack as he continued his spree of sillyness by overtighting in a 20k pot against another player...must be nice. Anyway, he raises the rock called and I looked down at 95 spades. This is the kind of hand I don't mind investing $100 more to flop a straight, flush, two pair, etc... because if the fish has an overpair I'm going to get paid and in all likelood thats exactly what he has as his raising range is so small. The flop comes down J87 with 87 of spades. I check, the fish checks, and the rock bets out $275 (note: if the fish had bet I may just call because we are so deep and givin he may not fold the last thing I want to do is jam against JJ to AA for 10k givin the way I'm running and especially givin the way he's running). The rock on the other hand is playing with about $3,500. I decide to raise and I make it $900. Screw it, I'll gamble $3,500 on this hand if I have to, eventually I have to hit at least one of these 15 out double draws. As it turns out the fish folds and the rock calls. The turn brings the 5 of clubs. At this point I am positive the rock has either QQ to AA or a big ace suited in spades, if he had a set I would have found out on the flop as he most definately would have jammed allin. He is cautious and knows I am capable of a wide range of hands and obviously is scared I have flopped something big. He has about $2500 left so I put him allin. He tanks for about 2 minutes and actually for a second I thought he was going to call, but in the end he folded. I always seem to get the no brainers. What a joke, the only way I can win any money these days is by running bluffs that almost put me into a state of cardiac arrest.
Hand #3:
The only showdown I had tonight for pots over $1,000, which is crazy for a 16 hour session. I am UTG with Q9 of hearts and limp. Again, at this time I am deep as are many others at the table including the fish and like the two other solid players, I want to hit something really big so the fish can double me up. So I limp and someone makes it $60. Such a gay raise, and not suprisingly, 6 people call. The flop comes down A52 with two hearts. The small blind leads out for $170. This player is playing about $2000 and is on luke warm tilt as he was cleaned out 30 minutes prior. I look around the table and it didn't appear that anyone was overly excited about the flop so I call hoping nobody behind me raises. Sure enough I end up heads up with donk better who I feel has a made hand and was inviting a raise from the preflop aggressor. As it turns out the 2 of hearts falls on the turn. This was the 4th flush I made all trip, unfortunately, on two of the previous 3 I was overflushed. Anyway, my opponent checks and I think for a bit and eventually make a bet of $400. My opponent shruggs then declares allin. I actually took about 2 minutes to call because it seemed very plausible that he could have been leading out on the flop with the ace high flush draw, touch on ace. As well, the previous overflushing and underquading began flashing through my mind. Thank you again LA for your lack of compassion towards those continually shat upon. After a little deliberation I told myself no way I can fold here I'm beating too many hands. Besides, if he had the A high flush he would have min raised me or wait until the river and bet out as this player would definately be lumped into that kind of amateur hour category (as for the K high flush, or any flush for that matter, I was not worried because there is no way he would have donked bet into the field on a naked flush draw against preflop action with an ace on board). As it turns out he has A5 with the A of hearts. The river pairs the 2 and finally I win a showdown hand somehow managing to escape his 11 outs.
Hand #4:
Yesterday early on in the session I picked up AK of clubs in the big blind. Some guy in mid position made it $80 and the button reraised to $230. I called as did the initial raiser. The inital raiser was $10,000 deep, the button was $3000 deep and I was around $4000 deep. The flop came down J105 with the J10 of clubs. I check the initial raiser bets $250 and the button calls. The initial raiser is a pro capable of a lot of moves. In this case, I think he was taking advantage of the text book style of the inexperienced player on the button and was implementing some kind of blocking or probing bet. The call by the text book player had me thinking he likely had AK himself, either that or was getting cute with JJ or 1010 although he seemed a little confused and nervous about the flop and the bet into him. Well, the big draws have not been kind to me, but I gotta go with this hand. Furthermore, givin the action on the flop I felt like I might be able to take it down with a check raise as I didn't feel either one of them was that strong and I could represent a set of 10s or Js. So, I check raise to $800. The initial better folds and the button thinks momentarily then declares he's allin. Oh great, I misread the hand, he must have a set, but with the money already in the middle I am pot committed to try and draw out so I call. To my delight the button shows two red queens making me about 2 to 1 to win the hand. Of course, in typical fashion, I double brick and lose out on the almost 7k pot. On a side note, I thought his play with QQ was retarded. Amazing how bad some people play. By night's end however, that same gentleman walked away up 5k. Does LA purposefully favor donks? Are they running the same software as PartyPoker? I don't know maybe its some kind of conspiracy against white Canadian folk?
Hand #5:
An aggressive fish in early position raises to $70. Two call and I call on the button with 107 of spades. The fish is about 5k deep and I have him covered. The flop comes down 1052 two spades. He continues with a bet of $200. Action is folded to me leaving just the two of us in the pot. I elect to just call with intentions to raise the turn unless it brings an A or I sense he has a huge hand. The turn brings the A of spades and I have a flush. He checks so I bet out $400. I bet pretty strong because I thought I was going to get paid by a fearful AK or AQ possibly with a spade redraw. As it turns out I get min raised to $800. I was totally suprised by this play. Under some circumstances I think I could lay down the hand right here, but this fish has shown some very irratic betting pattern, which include wierd bluff raises, double checking the nuts, and now the min raise. What does it all mean Basil? Anyway, not really sure what he has so I decide just to call, see what comes on the river and see what he does. The river is a complete dud leaving me with the 4th nut flush. He hesitates for a moment then bets $1000 on the river. Totally confused I decide to donate hoping to see trips, an AK type hand, or even a smaller flush. Nope, he shows me KQ of spades. I had only been playing for two hours on Friday, but between that hand and the AK of clubs I decided to take my $3,000 loss and leave the tables (however later on I went on to hack around in the 5/10 with Danny where I made back close to $1,000).
There are a lot of other hands gone bad but I'm getting tired so I'm going to cut it short. One quick note, I had JJ twice in my last hour of play this morning and both times the flop came AKQ with significant action.....sweet three overs.
So, in the words of White Snake 'here I go again', not really knowing what to think. In theory, I should be making a killing out here, in reality, I am up a bowl of soup and likely after expenses I am pretty darn near break even. I am not the only one having trouble though. Trav took a hit last night and after conversing with Danny and Chris they too are having their fair share of troubles (they came down for a couple days from Vegas in a buddy's car).
I'm going to catch some z's then wake up and play the $300 rebuy this afternoon. Tonight I think I'l take a night off and watch a movie in the room.
T'ill next time,
I am suprisingly not upset even though I posted two losses on the weekend, $2200 and $106o respectively. On the one hand, I am frustrated, frustrated because this is by far and away the worst run of cards (live or on internet) I have had for many moons. On the other hand, I am pleased that I am playing some of my best poker ever.
I think my solid play can be attributed to gained experience in deep stack play. I have played a lot of deep stack poker in the past, but in the last couple weeks I have been playing a lot and have been fortunate / unfortunate? enough to play with and observe some of the toughest guys around, absorbing how they deal with a variety of hand situations. Overall, I think I play as well as almost anybody at least in the 10-20s, its just that I keep ending up on the wrong side of luck. However, I will stick to my guns and say that its got to turn around soon. The great Brian Townsend says 'bad luck is just an excuse for bad play. There is no such thing. When you play good and the results are bad just chalk it up to variance'. Well Brian, I'll listen to you a little longer, but I will say that if you were to hire a PHD statistician to track the averages of my good vs bad hands I get, good vs bad coolers, and overall inability to hit the flop and/or draws I would think he/she would label me a statistical anomolie sitting somewhere in the 99.99 percentile to the bad.
Big pots summary as follows:
Hand #1:
The dirtiest of the bunch. I have KK UTG and decide to limp because the table is aggressive and two players to my left are solid and deep. Also, I haven't been raising much, partially due to lack of cards and partially due to the fact I don't want to be repopped and forced to pay $500 to see the flop. If I were to raise the good players would immediately put me on a small range of hands and may put pressure on me givin the right flop....blah blah blah, so I decide to hide the strength of my hand. Anway, the fish immediately to my left makes it $120 to go and suprisingly everyone folds back to me. The fish only raises with about 10 hands so I know he has a pair 9s or higher or AK/AQ. He has about $6,000 thanks to 3 earlier no brainers. He is ripe to be stacked though because he cannot lay down a big hand and has shown to overbet with quasi-vulnerable hands. For these reasons I decide to simply call hoping to get some real value with the proper flop. So flop comes down KQ10 rainbow. I check he bets $200 I call waiting to grab him later in the hand. The turn is a 9 though and in case he has JJ I don't want to bet myself out of the hand so I check and he relectantly checks so I do put him on a big hand not liking the potential straight. The river brings the Q. I fire out $500 and he hollywoods for awhile finally declaring the goon all in raise for an additional $5000 and change. I think for a second and presume he has 1010 or 99 so I call. Unfortunately he shows me QQ for quads. So ridiculas, the good ol' one outer to cost me $6000. How about a 9, 10, or K one time??? I know he put me on a straight. Of course, if I had a straight I would not be falling for his ridiculas river overbet. Anyway, when I see his hand I was in disbelief once again at how bad I am running I mean I just want mediocre luck and leave skill to dictate the rest. Lately, I feel like a guy in a streetfight trying to fend off 3 black belts with handcuffs on and my shoelaces tied...fck'n variance. As a side note, this happened to be the only set I flopped all night.
Hand #2:
Another hand from early on last night. A standard player raises from the cutoff to $80. The button reraises to $320. The button has been rather active and aggressive so by no means can I assume that he has a big pair. I look down and find QQ and decide to call as did the original raiser. At the time I had $3000 in front and both my opponents had more. The flop came down 852 all hearts. I check, the original raiser checks, and the button bets $750. This is a tough spot as I have the third best possible pair with a flush draw (as I have the Q of hearts). This player is not stupid. I know he has a big hand to bet so much on such a dangerous board into 2 guys. Nevertheless, after a little deliberation I came to the following conclusions. With such a large bet I cannot simply call to see what he is going to do on the turn because this is not a straight forward player and certainly is capable of pressuring me on the turn with a weaker hand than I held. Therefore, it was time to move all in or fold. The only hands I am crushed by are AA or KK with the heart redraw. As well, I don't really want to see AK off with a heart. However, I could be a huge favorite over JJ,1010, or even a dry A of hearts, or a bluff. Furthermore, there is a chance that if I pushed he may lay down AA or KK with no heart redraw. I know the other opponent will fold as his expressions already solidify that he hates the flop. So I say to myself, I'm not going to get pushed off this pot like I did with the 9s a couple weeks ago against the rich dude so 'I'm allin'. The guy snap calls me and my heart sunk. Sure enough he shows me AA with the heart redraw. Bonk, no miracle Q for this cowboy. Goodbye initial buyin.
Hand #3:
Also from earlier tonight. The big fish that nailed me with quads raised from UTG and a rock called. At this point, I had made a reasonable comeback and had about $8,000 in front, not even 1/3 of the fish's stack as he continued his spree of sillyness by overtighting in a 20k pot against another player...must be nice. Anyway, he raises the rock called and I looked down at 95 spades. This is the kind of hand I don't mind investing $100 more to flop a straight, flush, two pair, etc... because if the fish has an overpair I'm going to get paid and in all likelood thats exactly what he has as his raising range is so small. The flop comes down J87 with 87 of spades. I check, the fish checks, and the rock bets out $275 (note: if the fish had bet I may just call because we are so deep and givin he may not fold the last thing I want to do is jam against JJ to AA for 10k givin the way I'm running and especially givin the way he's running). The rock on the other hand is playing with about $3,500. I decide to raise and I make it $900. Screw it, I'll gamble $3,500 on this hand if I have to, eventually I have to hit at least one of these 15 out double draws. As it turns out the fish folds and the rock calls. The turn brings the 5 of clubs. At this point I am positive the rock has either QQ to AA or a big ace suited in spades, if he had a set I would have found out on the flop as he most definately would have jammed allin. He is cautious and knows I am capable of a wide range of hands and obviously is scared I have flopped something big. He has about $2500 left so I put him allin. He tanks for about 2 minutes and actually for a second I thought he was going to call, but in the end he folded. I always seem to get the no brainers. What a joke, the only way I can win any money these days is by running bluffs that almost put me into a state of cardiac arrest.
Hand #3:
The only showdown I had tonight for pots over $1,000, which is crazy for a 16 hour session. I am UTG with Q9 of hearts and limp. Again, at this time I am deep as are many others at the table including the fish and like the two other solid players, I want to hit something really big so the fish can double me up. So I limp and someone makes it $60. Such a gay raise, and not suprisingly, 6 people call. The flop comes down A52 with two hearts. The small blind leads out for $170. This player is playing about $2000 and is on luke warm tilt as he was cleaned out 30 minutes prior. I look around the table and it didn't appear that anyone was overly excited about the flop so I call hoping nobody behind me raises. Sure enough I end up heads up with donk better who I feel has a made hand and was inviting a raise from the preflop aggressor. As it turns out the 2 of hearts falls on the turn. This was the 4th flush I made all trip, unfortunately, on two of the previous 3 I was overflushed. Anyway, my opponent checks and I think for a bit and eventually make a bet of $400. My opponent shruggs then declares allin. I actually took about 2 minutes to call because it seemed very plausible that he could have been leading out on the flop with the ace high flush draw, touch on ace. As well, the previous overflushing and underquading began flashing through my mind. Thank you again LA for your lack of compassion towards those continually shat upon. After a little deliberation I told myself no way I can fold here I'm beating too many hands. Besides, if he had the A high flush he would have min raised me or wait until the river and bet out as this player would definately be lumped into that kind of amateur hour category (as for the K high flush, or any flush for that matter, I was not worried because there is no way he would have donked bet into the field on a naked flush draw against preflop action with an ace on board). As it turns out he has A5 with the A of hearts. The river pairs the 2 and finally I win a showdown hand somehow managing to escape his 11 outs.
Hand #4:
Yesterday early on in the session I picked up AK of clubs in the big blind. Some guy in mid position made it $80 and the button reraised to $230. I called as did the initial raiser. The inital raiser was $10,000 deep, the button was $3000 deep and I was around $4000 deep. The flop came down J105 with the J10 of clubs. I check the initial raiser bets $250 and the button calls. The initial raiser is a pro capable of a lot of moves. In this case, I think he was taking advantage of the text book style of the inexperienced player on the button and was implementing some kind of blocking or probing bet. The call by the text book player had me thinking he likely had AK himself, either that or was getting cute with JJ or 1010 although he seemed a little confused and nervous about the flop and the bet into him. Well, the big draws have not been kind to me, but I gotta go with this hand. Furthermore, givin the action on the flop I felt like I might be able to take it down with a check raise as I didn't feel either one of them was that strong and I could represent a set of 10s or Js. So, I check raise to $800. The initial better folds and the button thinks momentarily then declares he's allin. Oh great, I misread the hand, he must have a set, but with the money already in the middle I am pot committed to try and draw out so I call. To my delight the button shows two red queens making me about 2 to 1 to win the hand. Of course, in typical fashion, I double brick and lose out on the almost 7k pot. On a side note, I thought his play with QQ was retarded. Amazing how bad some people play. By night's end however, that same gentleman walked away up 5k. Does LA purposefully favor donks? Are they running the same software as PartyPoker? I don't know maybe its some kind of conspiracy against white Canadian folk?
Hand #5:
An aggressive fish in early position raises to $70. Two call and I call on the button with 107 of spades. The fish is about 5k deep and I have him covered. The flop comes down 1052 two spades. He continues with a bet of $200. Action is folded to me leaving just the two of us in the pot. I elect to just call with intentions to raise the turn unless it brings an A or I sense he has a huge hand. The turn brings the A of spades and I have a flush. He checks so I bet out $400. I bet pretty strong because I thought I was going to get paid by a fearful AK or AQ possibly with a spade redraw. As it turns out I get min raised to $800. I was totally suprised by this play. Under some circumstances I think I could lay down the hand right here, but this fish has shown some very irratic betting pattern, which include wierd bluff raises, double checking the nuts, and now the min raise. What does it all mean Basil? Anyway, not really sure what he has so I decide just to call, see what comes on the river and see what he does. The river is a complete dud leaving me with the 4th nut flush. He hesitates for a moment then bets $1000 on the river. Totally confused I decide to donate hoping to see trips, an AK type hand, or even a smaller flush. Nope, he shows me KQ of spades. I had only been playing for two hours on Friday, but between that hand and the AK of clubs I decided to take my $3,000 loss and leave the tables (however later on I went on to hack around in the 5/10 with Danny where I made back close to $1,000).
There are a lot of other hands gone bad but I'm getting tired so I'm going to cut it short. One quick note, I had JJ twice in my last hour of play this morning and both times the flop came AKQ with significant action.....sweet three overs.
So, in the words of White Snake 'here I go again', not really knowing what to think. In theory, I should be making a killing out here, in reality, I am up a bowl of soup and likely after expenses I am pretty darn near break even. I am not the only one having trouble though. Trav took a hit last night and after conversing with Danny and Chris they too are having their fair share of troubles (they came down for a couple days from Vegas in a buddy's car).
I'm going to catch some z's then wake up and play the $300 rebuy this afternoon. Tonight I think I'l take a night off and watch a movie in the room.
T'ill next time,
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