The Grind

Calgary

2009-05-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday night and not only am I out of the heads up tourney, but the 1ker too. I must suck at tournies....i'm still a nobody!

The heads up was short and sweet. The structure was decent with 10k starting chips and best 2 out of 3. Unfortunately they took out some blind levels so it wasn't as small ball poker as last year. In the round of 64 I drew Brad Booth, probably 1 of about 5-6 guys I didnt' want to play early on. I have played Brad hu online some at fulltilt and a few times in ring live in BC and Vegas. I have to give credit where credit's due, he played well.

Match 1: He was limping a lot to feel me out. I on the other hand raised most buttons and he was content seeing many flops out of position. Without really getting involved in anything real big I got a 15k to 5k chip lead midway through the 3rd level. During the 3rd level I started limping and min raising a bit so I wouldn't commit too high a % of chips relative to his stack where I would have to fold pre if I had a weaker hand (he started reraising to a pot committed 3 bet out of position) . I found once I started limping a few times he started raising from out of position. Finally I pick up aces when he was down to 4.5k. I limped he raised I flat. Flop was 862 two spades and he fired. By this time he was down to just over 3k with the chips invested in the pot and I thought I would look like I'm trying to float/call light so that he would push the turn, which would be pot size. I didn't necessarily think he had much and I didn't want to scare him away. The turn paired the 2 and he shoved, I called and he showed J9 of spades. The river brought a brick and I faded the flush draw. Note: regardless of how that hand started it was going to probably go in based on the tempo of the match. If I raise pre he defends and the flop is shipped.

Match 2: We banged back and forth through the first level about even. Then on the second level I raised the button with J4 hearts. The flop came 653 rainbow, he checked I bet he called. The turn brought the A of hearts giving me a backdoor flush draw, open ended and a good semi bluff ace rep. He checked and I bet $600, which was about 60% pot. He check raised to $2400, about the first real big checkraise he made to this point. This was a big bet for early blind levels and I figured he was big, likely aces up or better (too early in match and the line on that kind of hand would seem far too risky, much better spots for a big bluff). Anyway I take the heat for $1800 because I think its game over if the heart hits and I may still get paid if the straight hits. The river bricks and makes a big bet (he later told me he flopped a set - we discussed the big pots after the match). So now I'm down to about 7k. We banged around for about another 30min before our next real big pot. He raised from the button (he started to raise the button alot in match 2). I looked down at AK, by far the biggest hand I had seen in match 2. I reraised and we went to the flop, with about 2k in the middle. The flop came Q52 two clubs one spade. I decided to continue because the board was dry and I don't think he could continue with much (maybe a pocket pair or a Q). Plus, I had checked the flop after three betting both times in the first match, once for pot control after missing and once to check raise, both of which he checked and folded once I bet. So I bet 1,200 and he called. The turn brought the ace of spades. I felt I should have the best here unless he fluked a set of 2s or 5s, however I would have expected him to raise the flop with such hands hoping I have something and think he's moving on a flush draw. Anyway, I bet out 2,500 (the pot is too big already for pot control and to induce bluffing, and with the two flush draws out there I can't give a free one. Note: Brad is not dumb enough to bet without a strong hand if I check, so check to raise would not be a viable option where it could work against weaker aggro types). As it turns out he quickly puts me in for another 3k. I was suprised and upset because I was probably beat, however with the cash in there and the fact he could have a Q plus spades type hand or an outside chance he could be trying to run me off my hand if he thinks I don't like the ace (remember I hadn't continued through on the other two preflop 3 bets, meaning he could think I hit the flop which means Q, pocket pair, etc... and follow through with turn ace even though I don't have it so I prevent him from taking away the pot if I check). All these theories were nice but in the end I found that he turned aces up with A5. I didn't negate him on the river and match 2 was done.

Match 3: During some of match 2 and into match 3 I started to limp on the button more. Usually I don't do this but I he started 3 betting more frequently and by limping, sometimes with good hands and sometimes with marginal, I found I was winning the lions share as he had to continue out of position far too much. The the pots much smaller I was able to float, peel, or whatever and it put him in tough spots. Anyway, during the first 3 levels of match 3 I chipped him down and found myself with 13.5k to his 6.5k then this hand happened. Once he hit below 7k he started trying to limp a bit more, obviously to see flops cheap and not risk going into danger low chip levels. On this particular hand it was his 3rd limp in a row from the button. I hand't raised out of position at all during our match with pure junk but I didn't want him to think he could keep seeing flops cheap. So with the blinds at 1-2 I made it 700 with K2 off and he flat. I thought at the time he had some type of 78, j10 type hand he that flops well. So we go to the flop and its KJ2 rainbow. I continue with 1000 and he raises me to 2,500. At this point I think he has K9 suited, mabye aces, but not KJ or 22 because I would expect him to have raised those preflop. So obviously I'm excited because I think its over. I hollywood a bit and shove he insta calls and shows JJ...sick cooler. So know I'm on the short with about 7k. We bang back and forth for another 30 min. Then I pick up 77 and raise to 1050 with only 6k behind, he raises to 2,500 and I fold (this was the first min type raise. He told me after he felt like such a fish pulling that one on me, I told him ya, I would have likely stood with 77 as blinds were going to 3-6 in 5 min - he had AA). A couple hands later and sitting at 6k I raise with AK to 1050 (probably last hand at 2-4). Brad shoves and I call. He had 22 and it held. By the way that AK was the only top 10 hand of the 3rd match. In fact, my hands and flop hitting were weak in the 2nd and 3rd match.

All said and done I think I played well against him. I adjusted to expose his weaker spots (the aggression out of position) and I think I kept him guessing. In the end I felt I was on the wrong side of luck as per usual. I don't know if I have an edge on him or not, if so it would be marginal, either way when skills match up close you have to win the big pots. Brad is down to the final 4 and is playing some kid who just beat Helmuth in the quarters. I hope he wins so at least I can say I lost to the eventual champ. I wouldn't be suprised because he's playing well and has not lost a game since droping the one to me. It should be a good finish as Jeff Madson and some high limit sniper named Terrence are playing in the other semi. No matter what I would have had to play well and had some luck because it was a tough field in general with at least 20 great heads up players out of 93 entrants.

The 1k multi today sucked. Summary: bounced before halfway point and best hand AQ then 66. As a somewhat shorty I pushed on an openended straight and was called then shockingly bricked.

The only luck I had all week was dodging a 1k dinner bill at Caesar's steak house when Kathy and I went down with about 8 other poker players for a bite. Antonio Esfandiari bullied everyone into picking a card where the low card pays the bill. He ended up losing at his own game (but thats ok because he was likely the richest guy at the table).

Work has been very busy and I have been down in Virginia. I will likely be going back in June thus cutting into WSOP time. No choice as it is a critical time for the company and I'm working 12 hour days for the first time in years. I haven't had much time for online, but what time I have spent playing has worked out alright. I expect to play the main event for WSOP but not sure how much more. I will update when I know whats happening for Vegas.

joe

Winter Wrap-up

2009-04-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

Another apology for being so lazy with the blog. In fairness, I have been quite busy on the homefront spending quality time with the family, time at work, and grinding online since coming home last Sunday after Regina.

So, pretty easy to recap the last month and a half...complete waste of time!!! Well, at least financially. I finished off Vegas up maybe 5k after expenses for 3 weeks of play thanks to a 16k upswing in the last week, but then I arrived in Regina for the tourney and it cost me my Vegas profits plus a little interest. They raised the playable limits in Regina to 10/25 nl with a 5k cap so now you can win or lose significant cash. How did I lose there? I think it was a combination of being card dead, tough situations, a couple beats, tough games (basically our home game mixed in with a couple local internet players from Saskatchewan), and not playing anywhere close to my best poker as I would play tired after a long day of tournament poker. As well, Little Ivey was playing and he always seems to throw me off my game. He plays me tough and I never flop against him. I said once before and I'll say it again, the kid is deadly and I wouldn't be suprised to see him on high stakes poker banging heads with Ivey, Antonius, and Durr within a couple years.

The Regina tournaments were long and unprofitable once again. Results as follows:

Day 1: 13th out of 150ish. Ran a tough hand where I raised with QQ and was called by this solid player Mark from the big blind. Flop AQ3 two diamonds, multiple bets on flop turn 7 diamonds, he continued betting I called, river offsuit 2 he bet I raised (I raised because I thought he had aces up or trip 3s pounding the flop out of position and I thought my line in the hand would maximize value) he reraised I folded, he later told me he had A8 of diamonds, what else could he have? Too bad, if I win that hand I would have been a monster. After that hand I was crippled and eventually I defended my big blind with A8 against an aggro button who woke up with 9s. We got 3 bets in preflop and I was allin. 13th was good for a $1250, a profit of $750 on the day. Weeeeee!

Day 2: 23rd out of 180ish. I had better than average chips with about 40 left, which is a big stack for me (as I never seem to be the guy with a million chips), but lost 3 hands down the stretch, twice with the best (standard preflop situational allin vs short stacks). When I was knocked out I was low on chips with 25k and blinds 2k/4k. I had an ultra rock to my left and being on the bubble I tried to chip up while everyone was waiting to cash. Unfortunately, when I pushed from the small blind with 83 off the rock woke up with AK, although he tanked for 30 seconds before deciding to call. When I bricked and was knocked out I could hear the whispers at the table 'wow 83, this guy is really bad, risking his tournament on such a bad hand. He must not know what he's doing, what a fish'. Ok ok you dumb farmer teach me then! Just too bad rockzilla woke up with one of 7 hands he would call me with.

Day 3: 140ish out of 350ish. Had about average chips when I got bounced. I had been reasonably active in late position as the players to my right were playing tight. I raised the button with AJ off and was reraised allin by Richard Webb 'The Champ' as I like to call him. He is a great guy and pretty solid tourney player, but also very lucky. The raise was an overbet and I knew right away it was bs by the size of the raise and by how fast and loud his move was. However, it took me about a minute to call because I know how unlucky I am and I know how big his ass is and thought maybe I should wait for a better spot. In the end I said screw that, I'm not going to have him pushing me around with junk so I called. He tabled A7 and the flop came A73 and I did not improve. Don't know why The Champ insists on playing me hard all the time, plenty of blinds to steal elsewhere.

Day 4: 50 out of 260ish. Again, was doing great with about 85 left had 1 1/2 times average chips then in typical fashion started losing chips once we hit shove mode. My AA with A of spades lost to QJ allin on a 1094 all spade board when the K of hearts binged the river. As well, I lost two flips to shorties then ran QQ into Sammy the Bull's KK, although I folded preflop, which is kinda a sick fold givin I was already getting short by that point. Point of discussion: Sam had 45k when blinds were 750/1500 (about to go to 2k/4k) and I had 33k. He raised to 4k from mid position and he was playing tight (for once hehe!). I reraised to 11k and he shoved. In most cases I would take my chances and gotten it in but I felt that Sammy knew I wasn't going to mess with him and vice versa so we both had to factor that into the strength of each others hands. I knew that Sam would fold JJ there and probably even AK chosing instead to fight with 40k against a relatively easy table then to bang heads with me in this situation. Anyway, that combined with the fact I had 3 easy targets on my left I decided to fold because I thought I could chip back up on blind steals. If I had solid aggressive players on my left I probably would have made a stand, but that is hard to find in Regina. Sammy later told me he had KK, which I believe. After that hand I mucked around for another 1 1/2 hours only to be chipped down then out. I had a chance to get back into it a bit but my KJ could only chop against J9 on a J422 board when an A came on the river. My final hand was in the blinds where I had K8 on AQJ flop against KJ. I flopped nut flush draw gutter, brick brick. And so my tournament woes continue in Regina. I felt I played well givin the limited good situations offered to me. I only had aces twice all week and I lost my first allin every tournament but 1 (In the second tournament I actually won a flip with AJs against 88 in the mid stages when I was short stacked). I'll still be going back because those tournies are good value and the company of winnipegers is good fun.

So the plan leading up to WSOP is to grind online and make as much money as possible over the next 6 weeks. I had a good week last week making about 10k playing small stakes, mostly 2/4 PLO and a little 20/40 HORSE and 20/40 Stud H/L all on Fulltilt. Pretty safe games, smaller wins, but without the sick variance of the 5/10 and 10/20 PLOs. Also, I played some tournies online yesterday for the first time in awhile. I actually won the satellite qualifier on Cake to play in the heads up tournament in Calgary in May. Kathy and I were planning on going anyway so its a bonus to get the 5.5k buyin for 200 bucks. I also played the SCOOP 162 heads up and the nightly. I went deep in both and was knocked out simultaneously, both before significant cash. 6th round in the hu and 93rd in the nightly, good for soupage. I wanted to play the 1500 heads up but I told myself when I came home I need to grind so the buyin is too much for grinding mode. Its kind of like a punishment for not producing since January. I have a busy week ahead so I'm not sure if I'll play any other SCOOP events.

Not much else to report. I am enjoying being home spending time with Kathy and Braeden, however, the ridiculas cold weather is pissing me off. I want the snow to melt sooooo bad so I can kick my friend's asses on the golf course....so bad it hurts. Other than that, I may have to head down to Salem then Richmond Virginia for work in a couple weeks. Its getting exciting on the workfront. Signed a deal with a big manufacturer out there and as it turns out I have to go down there to sell product to some of their clients. Would be nice to get rich the old fashion way so I can enjoy poker without the financial stress. Maybe one day....

I think I'll end this post off here. I'll try to describe some of my hands from Vegas below, however its been awhile now and I have forgotten some of the hands.

My night with Jamie Gold

First of all I would like to say Jamie Gold is the biggest fish of all time. Nice guy, but big fish. He seemed more concerned with his $40 meal then winning or losing tens of thousands of dollars. When I first sat down he was short stacked having just under 2k. He said he was either going to double up or go to sleep. As it turned out I was honoured with the priviledge of doubling him up so he could stay, only to stick it in my ass later on. He open shoved his stack blind 3 times in a row. Nobody called the first 2, but on the 3rd attempt he shoved utg and I found AQ in the big blind so I called. He had 1010 blind and I lost. Great way to start a session. Later on in the evening a wonderful hand came up where I opened in the cutoff with KQ of spades to $80. Jamie reraised from the blind to $240 and I decided to call because he can't release a hand if I were to flop big. As well, by this point he was 7k deep and I had him covered. The flop came down J104 all spades, hmmm gin right? Well he bet out $400 and I raised to $1200 and he called (no point in slow playing against a calling station). The turn was a red Q, he checked I bet $1800, he check raised and we got it allin. He shows AK with A of spades and the river brought a spade, unfortunately not the 9 of spades. Kind of a cooler hand no matter who's playing it, and to be consistent with the trip, I could not fade the 6 outer with 1 card to come for another big pot. After that pot I decided to call it a day. Thanks for the memories Jamie!

Hand #2:

Both hands 2 and 3 are from the same 10/20nl game at the Bellagio. Some middle aged guy sat down with 30k and said 'lets play some poker boys'. I was like ok. The game was playing really deep as I was 15k deep, an aggro solid player George was 30k deep, the new guy who we later found out was a maniac was 30k deep, and a fairly solid asian guy Martin was 50k deep. Anyway, on one of the first hands the new guy played he limped and George raised to $125. I was in the big blind and called with A7 clubs, the new guy called. The flop came A63 two clubs. I checked (to raise) and it was checked around. The turn brought the 2 of clubs so I had the nut flush. I checked again knowing George would not be able to hold back twice with an ace down. The new guy bet $220, George raised to $680. I felt that flatting was useless because I know George would bet a flush draw on the flop so he would check any river if I flatted. I reraised to $1800. The new guy looked puzzled and after a little deliberation he called, George folded. Honestly I felt he had a smaller flush and was confused whether he should raise or call. He struck me as a casual player based on the way he was talking prior to the hand, trying to be 'cool' in front of real poker players so I expected his play to be transparent. The river paired the 3. I was not happy to see the board pair but I thought he had a flush so I value / block bet $2500. He thought for a bit then gave me a speech that I probably had him beat but I raise $8000 more. Wow! The speech then an 8k raise. I thought for a couple minutes and concluded that there is no way this guy would overbet the raise here without 6s full maybe quad 3s. In the end I folded and he showed me 54 offsuit for a straight. He said he wasn't sure if I was feeding off of George's raise with marginal holdings and he thought his straight might be good then but when I bet the river still he figured me for a flush and thought I couldn't take the big raise. At the time I was impressed with the line, although risky, and so sick! Later I realized he was just a complete savage with more balls than brains. He proceeded to lose everything before night's end. Man I wish I would have called that pot, I would be more than 25k richer. Or at least check called the river (had I known he was such a savage that is exactly what I would have done).

Hand #3:

In the same game a little later on in the evening I got involved in a hand I normally would have folded. By this point the game was as hyper aggressive as I had ever seen. The game was 10/20nl but it was playing like a 50/100nl game. There was a pot over 10k at least once every rotation with a 3-bet preflop every hand. I reloaded to about 20k because the maniac was spewing and I knew if I could just catch him in a tough spot I could double through. So, the hand previously I had a touch, straight draw, flush draw that bricked costing me about $1,200 so I was a little upset (about the 10th combo draw I missed in 2 weeks that if I hit I would be paid off big). Anyway, George raises utg to $140 off a straddle and I call in position with KJ of clubs. Martin the tilty asian was on tilt because he lost a big pot to the maniac so he reraised to $460 on the button. George called and I decided to all because I was pissed off from the last hand and because Martin was reraising alot (still KJ out of position in a 3-bet situation is hardly a positive EV play). The flop came down KJ2 rainbow, sweet. George checked, I checked, Martin checked. The turn was an offsuit 3, but brought in a spade flush draw. George checked I bet 800, Martin hesitates then raised to $2200, George folded and the action was on me. I found his line rather strange. I was 20k deep and he had me covered so I didn't want to go too crazy. I felt he was either bluffing or had AA. I think he would bet a flop with KK or JJ to try and build it for a full stack off against me or George who was sitting with over 30k. However, I think he could check AA there fearing George could flop a set or at the very least to pot control AA here to prevent tough big bet decisions against George on later streets because George doesn't mind playing huge pots (sometimes bluffing). Anyway, once George folds and with Martin knowing I won't play big pots without something strong I felt he may raise AA on the turn here for value, or at least to define his position, folding if I reraise. On the other hand, he may think I have a marginal hand like KQ that he could shake me off if he has nothing. And of course there is the off chance he has KK or JJ. In any case, I think my call gives me maximum value here. The river is an offsuit 7 so I don't get negated against aces. I decide to check as I think my line indicates aces are good here as well it opens the door for a river bluff. I probably wouldn't raise the river to a big bet because Martin would fold anything I am beating (we played alot together and I think we both knew each other's tendencies) and I would feel pretty stupid raising only to have him shove with his set of kings. So I check and he fires 6k rather quickly. I was suprised at the size of the bet as a good value bet would be in the 3.5 to 4k range. This bet told me he didn't have AA. It was either an overbet to get paid by a set or a bluff. However, it didn't take long for me to call because overbetting huge hands wasn't the norm for him and I just don't see why he would check a flop with a set when everyone involved was 1000 big blinds deep. The final indicator was the chest heaving, thank you Mike Cairo for your poker tell videos (Ha, hardly a reason to call. I don't know why so many casual or pretend to be poker players feel that physical tells are what its all about. Point of reference *those are the same guys who travel channel it up with bad shades and stupid comments). When I called he said 'nice hand' and mucked. That was my biggest pot of the trip about 18k.

Hand #4:

This hand was my worst payoff of the trip by far. Again, at the bellagio in a 10/20nl game. The game had a solid player who was very agressive, but on my right. I think he was solid and just shooting a little as the game may have been to small for him. Previously he tried to make a move on me after a 3-bet preflop on K54 two diamond board when I had AA. He goon check raised where I either had to push or fold, the pot was too big to flat to see if a diamond came off as I thought he had a K with a flush draw. I pushed and pot comitted he shrugged and called. The Q of diamonds came off on the river and I thought I lost, but he had 76 and I won a 12k pot. I was going to leave and take a 7k win as I had lost a couple sessions in a row and could have used the win, but instead I kept playing until this pot came up.

I had AK diamonds and opened utg for $80. A rather predictable tight solid player called and the aggro reraised from the big blind to $400. He could hold a wide range here but now that I was 12k deep and he had me covered I didn't want to get myself in a tight spot by 4 betting so I flatted, the other guy called which suprised me and my first instinct was he was set mining. I find most average tight players only overcall pocket pairs because they are the only hands easy to play after the flop in big pots, hit it or fold. Too bad I didn't listen to my instincts... The flop came down 884 two diamonds. The aggro guy bet $700 and I just flat called. Even if we were heads up I would not raise here because I felt he would not let a hand like JJ or higher go and he would look to jam the flop. I did not want to race for a 24k pot. Suprisingly the third guy flat called as well. The turn was an A and the aggro checked as did I, thinking my hand is probably not the best when the third guy flatted behind me. The third guy bet $1200, which was only about 1/3 of the pot. The aggro guy folded (after the hand he said he had QQ, too bad I didn't 4 bet preflop). I decided at that price I would call. At the time I was thinking he has an 8 or 44, but for such a cheap price maybe I could win with a diamond against an 8, or in miracle city I could bing an A. I told myself I would fold if he bet the river. Anyway, the river brought a 3 of diamonds. I check again and this time he fires $2500. Again, another cheap price and a value bet I think he would make with an 8 givin I think he would expect me to fire if I made a flush. I thought for about 3 minutes and reluctantly called (I almost folded) and he showed me 44. After the hand I cashed out and took a small win under 3k. I felt so stupid for calling the turn and then the river. No way was this guy coming into a pot with an 89 suited for that price, he had to be set mining for sure and based on the way the hand plays out he could only have 44 or 88.

Hand #5:

I was playing 10/20nl short handed at the Wynn when the following hand came up. I raised to $80 with 109 hearts and had 2 callers. The flop came 943 one heart two spades. I bet $200 and was checkraised to $550 by an aggressive punk who thought he was the next Phil Ivey. He was capable of raising any draw here such as a flush draw, 56, even A5. I flat called. The turn brought a 10. He bet $1400. He started the hand with 5.5k. I know the money's going in on the river no matter what. He looked unsettled and I felt 80% confident I had the best so I shoved. He snap called and I thought I ran into a set. Nope. The river brought a Q and he shows me KJ of spades.

I know there were a few other 10k+ pots I lost I just cannot recall right now and for the exception of the AK of diamonds hand I was in good shape in all of them. Without going into whining mode I would like to say that I found it very frustrating not only to lose most of the big ones (The 12k pot with AA and the 18K pot with KJ were my only 10k+ pots of the trip), but I must have had at least 15 hands where I either missed a huge draw or an action killer card came on the turn or river that would otherwise have resulted in a 10k+ pot for the good guys. Oh well, maybe next time.

Till next time....

Goin Home Soon

2009-03-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

So as per usual I don't have much time to write. Took the day off and went golfing, the weather was fantastic . Going to a nice steakhouse tonight and may play 1 more session before I leave on my ski trip tomorrow night. The last 4 sessions have gone well booking about 16k in winnings, so the trip hasn't been a complete disaster oh and I like poker again :) I played 5-10 for the first time this trip and booked a 4k win. Man I forgot how much easier that game is than 10-20. The game has no trickery to it and you only build big pots when you want to. I will probably have some down time a week from today as I will be in Regina a day before the tournament. I will at that point go over the big hands I played during this trip which should describe why I haven't faired as well as I had hoped. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Later

Till next time...

Could be a long post

2009-03-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to spend time complaining about my luck or spend time talking about much of anything. The games down here are decent and I run like shit. The last 3 days have been alright banking about 12k, but previous to that I had a bad week, banking a couple dirty 8k losses. Overall, I'm up on the trip but if you factor expenses etc... I am not much over break even. My trend seems to be win a bunch of small / medium pots then get dirtied on the big ones, start over win a bunch of small / medium pots then get dirtied, well you know the story.

Its hard to think of all the hand over the last 2 1/2 weeks. I will try to focus on the significant pots both holdem and omaha.

Omaha:

Overall the omaha play down here is weak. Most of the players are nitty nut peddlers that limp to hit big then get their chips in. Many of these players buy in short so the deep stack skill aspect of the game is usually lost. Thankfully, many of the these clowns overplay their aces, especially out of position so it makes it easy to stack them when you hit against their 3 bets (as many will only 3 bet with aces). Most do not not bluff or take advantage of position as they should pouncing on scare cards against opponents who are clearly betting with made hands on previous streets. Anyway, I have probably come across a half dozen solid players but thats about it, most of whom were Europeans.

Hand #1:

I had AKQJ double suit and I three bet preflop in the cutoff and had 3 callers. The flop came KK3 with 2 diamonds. I bet 3/4 pot and was raised pot by a kid from Mississippi who was fairly tight and about 4k deep. The flop raise was to $1,200 so my move was to fold or push. I didn't have to play the hand, but I thought his range would be K3, 33, or any AK combination (not necessarily a fullhouse as I saw him raise fairly light against another deep player 30 min prior). If I was up against K3 or 33 I was close to flipping, but if he held an AK or maybe even KQ combination I would be crushing him because I had the A high diamond draw. I wouldn't call this an ideal spot but I was running good in the game leading up to this point so I decided to gamble and shoved. He called showed 33 and we ran it twice. Running it twice is another reason I call in this spot. It seems to be standard on most big pots and thus in flippy situations you should be able to hit once. Of course I bricked both turns and rivers, goodbye 4k.

Hand #2:

This was the most baffling omaha hand I encountered. From my end it was standard, from my opponent it was pathetic. In a limped pot I was in the cutoff with j1004 and played. The flop came 1062 two spades. Checked to me I bet pot and was raised by some goof, I reraised, he reraised and bang we got it all in. I am generally willing to get it in as fast as I can with top set if it is the nuts at the time (against weak players at least) because I know its possible they could push a bad draw or sometimes not let go of mid set and I don't need to be creative against them because they are donks and are oblivious to my holdings even though it should be pretty damn obvious in this situation. Anyway, after a $50 limp pot we all of a sudden had a 7k pot brewing. I said to him if you show me a big wrap and flush we can run it twice cause i got top set. Goofy agreed to run twice but wouldn't show me his cards so I said forget it, run it once. The turn came 4 of spades and river was a dud. I knew I lost. He showed me AQ82 with A high spade draw. I don't quite know the math, I may only be a 65-35, but the point is what kind of jackass sticks in that thin on a limp pot? Oh well, goodbye 3.5k.

Hand #3

I raised a straddle with AA73 with A high diamonds and was raised from the small blind by Surrendir Sunar, who was one of the few solid players I ran into. We were both about 7k deep and givin his ability to put pressure on me on a bad board if I were to 4 bet I decided to flat his raise (as he would call my 4 bet knowing I had aces if I reraised, he noticed I 3 bet alot but really only 4 bet against shorter stacks with aces). So with deception on my side we went to the flop. The flop came K107 two diamonds and he bet pot. Now, I was running bad at this juncture and although I had an overpair and nut flush draw I didn't want to get it in against a possible KK or some wrap hand like KQJ10, J1098, etc... He was playing tight solid, especially from the blinds so I felt his 3 bet would be dancing around that flop as he would only be reraising with KK or a premium drawing hand. So I flat and the turn brings nothing, a 5 of spades. He pots and I rather quickly call. I felt that with a brick coming out he would definately fire expecting me to ditch most any drawing hand I may have had (that wasn't strong enough to push hard on the flop). Anyway, the river pairs the 10 and he pots me again, this time the price is $3,200. I tank for awhile as I feel the only hands he will do this with are some K10 combination, KK, 108, or a bluff. All other hands I would suspect he would check and maybe call thinking I may represent after missing a big draw. From a bluffing perspective, he would probably expect I would have made a stand on the turn with two pair (such as K10, 77) and raised to make him pay if he was drawing so the likelihood of me holding a 10 is small (unless it was a random pair to go with flush and str8 draws). So, he would know that I would likely have to call light to win. I chicken out and fold. He later says to me he was value betting AK. I don't believe him.

Hand 4:

In this hand I was up against the most agressive player I have ever played with in omaha. He opened 90% of hands with a raise and reraised at least 25%. I had position on him most of the time so I didn't mind. In this hand I was on the button and reraised with KQJ8 double suit. 3 of us went to the flop of A107 two hearts. They checked to me and I bet 80% pot. The kid check raised pot. I tanked for a minute (although I knew exactly what I was going to do) then potted back trying to represent aces. At the time I was indifferent whether he called or not. If the kid had a draw I would be crushing him because he would likely have a weaker wrap with smaller hearts. However, I think givin the board texture he would check call most draws to get there cheap and thus was likely to have a set. The kid had about 5.5k and tanked for about 2 minutes then eventually shoved making a stand with middle set. Pretty sick but I guess I 3 bet him enough times that he wasn't convinced I had it. Anyway, we decide to run it twice as it a flip situation where I need a KQJ9 or heart. Guess what, no KQJ9 or heart in 4 cards. Good times. Goodbye 5.5k

Hand 5:

This one has a good ending. I raised with 7789 double suit and was reraised by this shooter who doesn't really know whats going on but he liked to raise, so I call. The flop came Q75 rainbow. I checked he bet i raised he then reraised. He was about 3.5k deep and I was in for about 900 after raising the flop. I saw him go crazy with bottom two on a previous occasion and thought I don't think I can fold to this guy he could have a wrap hand like 7654 etc.. which i crush. I also factored in two back door flush draws and a gutterball. Before long I said all-in and he showed me QQ42. Turn J, river 10 I straighten out. First time ever, I got lucky on a big pot. Well, first time in a long time. He proceeded to call me a mega-donk for about half an hour. Finally, I told him listen your tattoos frighten me so I ain't gonna talk back and start a fight, but if you want we can go play heads up for as much money as you feel comfortable you just let me know. Things calmed down and he rebought and that was that.

Hand #6:

I had A987 double suit and raised getting 2 callers. The flop came down 863 2 diamonds. Both checked I bet and was check raised by a nit playing 5k deep. I called with nut flush draw open ended. The turn brought an A and he bet pot. I was certain I was up against set of 8s or 6s but I figured the obvious diamond 10 or 5 would win, but my plan was to bluff against a 794 or 2. The river came a 7, the best of the bluffing cards as almost every str8 gets there. The nit suprising puts out a blocking bet of 30% pot. Against savy players the warning signs may go on as sometimes this bet is inviting a raise, but in this case I know the nit was nervous. I fired a big river raise of about 2.3k. He muttered "you fish always chase and get there on me. I fold". After a comment like that I couldn't help myself so I showed my hand. He immediately cashed out.

There were alot of other biggish omaha pots but I'm getting tired and will continue on this another time. Never mind holdem...

I think my plan is I'm going skiing with some buddies in Whistler from Wednesday to Sunday then will go to Regina to hack around in the tournies and hopefully make some cash. Then home to hang with family and friends for awhile. This means I'm cutting the Vegas trip a little short, but givin my luck of late it may be the best thing (plans could always change if I have a mega heater between now and Wednesday but very unlikely).

Later

March Madness

2009-03-08T09:39:00.001-07:00

So as per usual I have been very unmotivated to post an update on my adventures down south and for that I apologize. I flew down to Vegas about 9 days ago, bunked with Trav for a week, and am now on my own for the remainder of the trip. Since arriving, both Trav and I have logged many long sessions, not all resulting in a positive experience.

I would have to rate the games average at best. Most of my sessions have been at the Wynn and I must say the 10-20nl games have been filled with pros. Now, some pros are better than others, and I firmly believe there is edge in such games, however, if you run bad u lose its that simple. Such games result in small mistakes and nobody's giving away the money. The Wynn just doesn't have tourists jumping in to have some fun and drop 10k, stupid recession / depression. The bellagio on the other hand seems to have juicy games. Why don't I play there more? I'm such a moron. The Wynn 5-10nl and 5-10 plo are completely different animals. They are filled with nits and wanna be good poker players that can be read like a big picture book (not as bad as the 2-5 schmuks but weak nonetheless). Too bad I'm still runing like shit so I can't capitalize on poor play, losing most of my big pots with the best hand. What else is new. I feel like I'm playing really good though. I'm not getting a whole lot of good situations and I'm getting a whole lot of tough ones. I would say I'm making great laydown, great value bets, and a couple well times medium sized bluffs and overall I don't think my cash position could be much better based on my style of play. I haven't givin it an exact count but i think I'm up a staggering 4k, whoopdido basil (don't get me wrong thats obviously not pocket change but come on win a couple of the big pots that I should and I'm up 25k).

One interesting observation I have made is the slow increase in interest for plo games. I have played in a couple half/half 10-20 holdem/plo games and also some straight 5/10 plo. The 10/20's have consisted mostly of sharks, but I feel I have edge in plo over most so it doesn't bother me too much to sit. The 5/10's though have several donks with the balance consisting of predictable nits. It's interesting though, plo is growing. I think many of the top level holdem players are realizing the edge has diminished so much in holdem that poker needs a facelift and why not shift to a more edge orientated game. In my opinion, Plo is more complex and medium / long-term results are based more on skill than luck in comparison to holdem, its just not as fluky. I personally love it because it is flop based, not preflop and/or pure aggression based, and your advantage improves if you can work your way through varying board textures. Having said that, it has higher variance and in the short-term a bad run can really sting. For myself, I'm actually down a little bit in plo this trip thus far but I think it has to change.

I just finished playing an all night session at the bellagio with Trav in the juiciest holdem game of the trip. I mean some of the guys in the game were so bad they couldn't beat a 1-2nl game at Club Regent, making big mistakes in big pots. I made out alright but it could have been so much better as I found a couple tight spots and didn't hit too many hands. Trav on the other hand ran into many bad situations and managed a loss in a game that should have banked 10k+ each. Hopefully I see the same faces there tonight.

I'm not going to go into any hands in this post, i'll save it for my next post. Lets just say the donks won the battle but hopefully I will win the war.

Later

Joe

The Home Game

2009-02-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

Got 10 minutes and thought I'd talk about how shitty I play/run at our local home game.

As previously mentioned, I'm back in the peg for a bit (maybe a bit longer due to some tests I need done at the doctor making my departure to Vegas likely around the end of the month). So, to feed my gambling addiction in the meantime I'm forced to play our friendly 5/10 game, which plays like 10/20 holdem game. The game is tough as most everyone left are solely the winning players filtered down from a much larger player pool that started a couple years back. I don't know what it is with this game but I don't hit flops. It plays on my confidence and in the process I feel like it effects my play. I think yesterday I was a non-factor and I played like a predictable nit. I was probably run off at least 5 or 6 pots mostly from Zenni, but a couple from Travis as well where nobody hit the flop but I was pushed out because they knew I had nothing and I just let them have it. I would bet at the wrong time and lay down to any ensuing agression. I must say it is frustrating to never flop good enough to play back at these guys. It is equally as frustrating to never flop enough to call through when they choose to bluff through a hand. BLAH!

The game primarly comprised of Zenni, Travis, Myles, Stu, Rosie, and I. Rosie lost big again, which I feel bad about because he's a great guy and has been getting pounded lately. I think most everyone else won. For me a made a bowl of soup thanks to hitting a big pot against Rosie with the nut straight against his 2 pair, otherwise I didn't do anything special and mostly watched everyone else battle.

I had 1 interesting hand with Travis that I paid off, which was a difficult spot. I raised a straddle to $80 with 45 clubs in position, both Trav and Rosie called to see the flop. The flop came 862 two spades and Trav led out $175 I called and Rosie called, and I had intentions of probably raising the turn unless no 8 or spade. The turn brought the 8 of clubs so now I had doublegutter and flush draw. Trav bet $600. He could have the 8 but he could easily be continuing with a draw trying to shake both Rosie and I with what appeared to a couple rough peels (or maybe he could think I have an overpair). Too risky to raise and with so many cards to still hit against 3 8s I decide to call as we are both really deep. The river brought a 2 of clubs and he bet 2k. I pondered and decided to call. Too many times here he's gonna have a missed flush/str8 draw where he will barrel to shake an overpair. Plus he usually he check raises made hands instead of donk betting me on the flop so I decided to call with my flush. He had 89 and I lost.

Not sure If I'm gonna play the game again as 1 guy keeps getting punished and I don't like that. Also, I'm not really scoring big here and each of the other guys are solid so whats the point? I'll ponder that the next week or two. In the meantime got a stud game Monday and may play online Sunday for the FTOPS and stars 2.5M gauranteed. I'll keep ya posted...

Till next time.

UNNATURAL PART 2

2009-02-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

So, i'm fresh off a 15 hour sleep and ready to vent frustrations built up over the last two weeks. The hands described are not in chronological order, instead they are listed as I remember them. It should be noted that I am only going to describe the big pots. As a backdrop, know that I did not win a single pot over 3k during the losing streak, which started with hand #1, so each of these beats were never softened by a good situation/suckout/or good pot. This made it all the more frustrating.

Hand #1:

This hand and hand #2 stick out most in my mind. Both took place in a wild 10-20nl game in LA where I inevitably lost 8.5k for the day. At the time of this hand I was stuck about 4k for the day.

I raised to $70 from utg with 1010 and the big blind defended. The flop came 1086 rainbow. He checked I bet $110 and was check raised to $375 I called. My opponent was about 4k deep and was a standard player. I knew he would not check-raise a draw here so I felt I could not lose the hand and I did not want to lose him by reraising if he had simply a pair of 8s, JJ, or whatever. So turn came 8 and he bet $550. Now, I feel he has a decent hand here as he has checked after check-raising flops a couple times when called. I am hoping he has an 8 or better yet 86 or 108. Anyway, I decide just to flat as I'm fairly certain he will fire the river, plus if I raise here it looks suspicious that I have a monster, I want it to look like I'm calling along with an overpair or big 10. River brings a 7 so the board is 108876. I thought this card would either kill my action or make it because when I raise the river it will look like I have 99 or J9 and if he has a fullhouse I should get maximum action. Anyway, he bets out $950 and I goon raise allin. His eyes light up and he says 'did you say allin?' I said 'ya', he said 'i call' and quickly turns over 88 for quads. Very nice. Obv in set over set here someone should go broke with 4k stack, too bad I couldn't fade the 1 outer.

Hand #2:

Later in the same night I had managed to battle back. I was only down 2.5k for the session and had about 10k on the table. A young kid had sat down about an hour ago and was pretty agressive but paid off thin. He was about 6k deep. By this point the game had a straddle and usually several went to the flop. I felt like I was getting a rush going and that I had a good read on the table, and still being a little stuck, I had my gamble on.

I was utg +1 and smoothed the straddle with 87 clubs. The young kid smoothed as did one other then a tight player on the button made it $160, not a big raise. The blinds and straddler fold but I feel $160 is cheap here and likely I will get a couple callers behind me so I call. Now the kid acting right after me makes it $460, I think to myself obv AA. Everyone else folds except original button raiser who calls, probably a big pair himself. Well, considering the guy calls thin and I have an aces crusher I gamble to see the flop. The flop comes down AQ10 with Q10 of clubs, i'm like great this one's gonna cost me. I check, the kid fires out for $650 (small bet into about $1500 pot). The tight guy looks confused and makes a reluctant call, I call. The turn is a 4 of clubs. I feel the kid has 3 aces and the other guy may even have a smaller set or minimum touch gutter so I refuse to give a free card and fire out for $2,000 with a flush, as advertised. The kid thinks a minute and calls, the other guy folds. The river brings an offsuit 2, a brick, at this point I'm like sweet, I finally win a big gambly type pot. I quickly tell him i'm allin, which is about 3k to him. He immediately calls and tables AK clubs. So sick. What kind of jackass smooths AK off the straddle then makes a small 4 bet out of position to a tight player on the button. Anyway, he thought he was a genius and I simply stared at his hand for a couple seconds in disbelief. This hand was one of the most suprising loses of my poker career, I quit the game after that hand.

Hand #3:

This was the hand that originally got me stuck that same day in LA. Early in the session I was up maybe 1k then this hand happened. I call on the button with QJs to utg raise of $70. The guy is maybe 2.5k. The flop is QJ3 rainbow. He bets $100 I raise to $290, he raises to $590. At this point I feel he has overpair and his small raise is for information, I figured I might lose him by pushing here as there is no flush draw and the cards are dangerously high so only made hands are going to give action. I elect to call in hopes of getting allin on turn as long as no AK or 3 come down. The turn is a 7, he bets $800, I shove, he deliberates and calls, the rivers a 3 and my two pair lose to AA.

Hand #4:

During my next session I played about 4 uneventful hours tredding water at about even. Then I pickup J10 diamonds and raise to $70 in the cutoff, the button called and the big blind shortstacker shoved for $220. I decided to call as did the button. The button was 4k deep and I had him covered. The button was an aggressive solid player who was about to move to the 20/40 game. He raised alot of flops so I could not assume he had a big hand whenever he gave action. Anyway, the flop came down 984 2 diamonds. I bet $450 into him and he raised to $1,100. No way was I folding this and I decided that his raising range was big and unless he had 98 or 44 he would probably laydown to my push. He immediately called when I pushed and the board went running black aces. My J high was no good and he won with 44 for a fullhouse.

Hand #5:

Probably my worst play of the trip. I had AK on the button and raised the blinds. A solid aggressive kid in the blind defended. The flop came down A75 all hearts. He checked and I checked. The turn brought an offsuit 3 and he checked so I bet $120. He check raised to $500. Honestly, I thought he was making a move with a somewhat overbet after double checking, and previous history between us proved that he is very capable of making a move in this spot. I thought for a minute and told him I was allin, which covered his stack of about 2k total. He snap called and showed a flush, I was drawing dead. In retrospect, I could have folded as I did not have much invested and I did not have a strong hand, but I went with my read and thats that.

Hand #6:

On Superbowl Saturday I was playing a 5/10 nl game at the Wynn that eventually played bigger than many 10/20 games. As a backdrop to the hand I am about to describe I must explain previous history I had with my opponent. He originally bought in for $600, but quickly built up with a flurry of lucky suckouts. First, he raised from utg and 3 of us saw a flop of QJ9 two diamonds, I had 108s, so flopped the straight. He led out for pot $150. I decided to smooth call because I knew I had him good and he would likely fire again on the turn, because thats what this guy does. The turn was not the best card the K of diamonds. He led out $300 into me heads up and he had about $700 behind. I could tell he was nervous and was sure I had the best so I shoved making all draws pay. He shrugged and said 'well I have too much invested, I call'. The river brings a diamond and he shows AK with A of diamond, what a goon flop and turn bet. About 30 minutes later another sick hand took place where he was up against Todd. He raised pre and 4 of us saw the flop 984 two clubs. The goon led out $200, Todd raised to $650 and the goon called. Turn came offsuit Q and buddy led out for $500. Todd paused then shoved for another $1500 and the goon called. The river came 10 and the goon tabled a straight with JJ. Todd lost flopping top set of 9s.

So, givin this history, i'm sure you will understand my aggressive play with 1 pair. The game developed a straddle and some guy made it $60 to go, I looked down at AA and raised to $180. The original raiser and the goon both called and the flop came down K72 rainbow. The goon bet $30o, original raiser folded, and understandably I raised it to $800. The goon called and the turn brought the 4 of hearts, bringing in a flush draw. The goon bet out $700. I decided I'm running bad here and the best hand he will show me is a K with a flush draw and givin that he has been running so well I actually don't want him to call so I decide to shove, which is about another 3k to him. He tanked for several minutes then finally decided his KQ was ahead and he called. The river brought a K, good times. Ah Superbowl weekend, it brings out the best.

Hand #7:

Later on in the evening in the same game as above I pick up 64 clubs on the button. Someone straddled and several called so I called. The goon, in typical fashion, jacked it from the blinds to $140, with what I'm sure was a 'pretty hand' I thought to myself. I had a couple callers so I called. The flop came down 875 two spades. The goon led out $300 and a young aggressive kid jacked it to $900. The kid was about 4k deep and givin the texture of the board and our previous history I decided this was a good spot to jam to make it look like a combo draw and I may get called light. So after I raised to 4k the goon thought for about 2 minutes with what I later found out was JJ. He finally folded, great fold LOL. Then the kid tanked for 5 minutes. He eventually called as he may have thought I was on tilt (which I don't really do anymore, at least live) because I lost $700 to him on the previous hand missing a royal flush draw against his top set of aces. He never saw my hand but I'm sure he thought I was just spewing chips. Anyway, he makes a stand with 98 hearts, which I thought was very thin, because even if I had a hand like A6/J10 spades, he is quite the dog. Anyway, its ok because I run so sick, the river brought a 6 and he won with a 9 high straight.

I quite that game after that hand and booked a 6.5k loss in what may have been the juiciest game of the trip.

Hand #8:

Playing at the Venitian in a 10/20nl game. The game wasn't that good, but was the only 10/20 game going on in Vegas that night. A hand came up with this guy Marvin, who is one of the better higher limit players around. There was a raise from utg he called and I called to see the flop with AJ. The flop came J75 all spades. I decided I was going to check the hand to induce action as I obv flop strong here, if the preflop raiser bets I will be checkraising, he's only 3k deep anyway. Instead the preflop raiser checks and Marvin picks up the bet. Both Marvin and I are 10k + deep and I know he likes to gamble big pots so I decide I'm gonna just call here as I haven't been running good and maybe I can get him to bluff off with a worse hand. The turn brings in an offsuit A. So now I have top two, with nut flush draw. I check and Marvin overbets to about $550 into a $400 pot. This seemed a little fishy. Normally I would raise here but something held me back and I flat. The river bricked a 2 and I checked, Marvin fired again this time for just under 1k. Blah, now I really don't like it, and I don't really have a read on him, and with his capability to bluff in this spot I donate as he shows KQ spades. The pot wasn't that big but really there is an arguement that it could have been build up either on the flop or the turn. Thank goodness I played it soft like a girl.

Hand #9:

Thursday night I played in a wild game at the Bellagio. It got short handed pretty fast as the game consisted of many of the old crusty rocks who felt uncomfortable with the high level aggression. The game was drivin by a guy named Oscar from Norwary. He was drunk and into the game for 3ok. When it got short-handed I raised the button to $70 with 108 sooted, my favorite hand. He called and the flop came 976, gin. He checked I bet $120 he check raised to $420. In many situations I would raise back here as many turn cards could negate action from a big hand, but considering Oscar was raising with air many times I wanted 1 more bet from him before I would apply pressure, as I knew he would fire almost any turn whether he had something or not. The turn was a 3, he fired and I moved allin he called and the river came 10. We chopped the 10k pot as he flopped the smaller straight with 85. I hope you are beginning to understand why I have labelled my luck as unnatural.

Hand #10:

On my last night I played at the Bellagio. Kathy and I only had about 5 hours to play before we had to depart for the airport. I had scrapped together a small 2k win the day before and I was hoping to make another small score before leaving so I wouldn't have to go home and hang myself (just kidding). Finally something went my way.

I was utg+1 and smooth called the straddle. The guy immediately after me made it $180 and everyone else folded. The guy was tight, agressive and about 4k deep so I decided to disguise my hand by flatting as his range would be a big ace or big pair in this spot and by three betting (1-2nl style) I would not get another penny. So the flop came 762 two diamonds. I felt this looked like a drawing board that I may hit so I decided to donk bet $240 looking for a raise. He immediately raised to $650. I thought for minute and decided I was happy to get it in on the flop if he wanted to so I raised another $900. Instead of shoving he flatted. I figured he had a big pair and would stand with it as long as a flush card did not come down. The turn brought an offsuit Q and with the pot at over 3k and he having less than 2.5k left I shoved hoping obviously that he didn't just hit a set of queens. He thought for a minute and eventually called with what I don't know, prolly 1010/JJ/KK, putting me on a draw (in the past couple hours I had raised him out of a few small pots so I'm sure that was factored into his decision, he did seem like a fairly good player). The river came another Q and I took it down. Yeah! My first big pot since the 1010 nonsense.

There were alot of other smaller pots that went bad including 2 or 3 that I played soft with a big draw that if hit would have resulted in big scores because my opponents had huge hands. Even when I started off the trip with some solid wins, I won with lock hands and not by gambling (granted I hit quite a few hands). In fact, in the 17k upswing I only won 1 gambling pot for about 4.5k where I had QQ on a J42 against an ace high flush draw that held. Included in that win was 1 suckout on a 2k pot with J9 against AJ allin on a flop of J77. I thought the short stacker's overbet c-bet on the flop was bs so I shipped and he called and I sucked out.

Now that I have completed my venting session I would like to say that I still view poker as a game of variance and sometimes nothing goes right. If I keep playing well it has to turn around. I'm trying not to look at this trip from a results perspective as it would clearly be a bust, but I do feel I'm in very good control of my table and my game and I get alot of respect from the other tough regulars. The game has grown tougher over the last few years, but after conversing with several regulars that I feel are on the same level as me, each are still making over 500k / year minimum. So opportunity still does exist. I will likely go back down in a few weeks with Trav and hopefully my luck will reverse (or at least I will not get nailed by a 3 outer on every 10k pot). The way I see it is I should gain average to good luck simply by bunking in the same room as Seabiscuit, so the trip should turn profitable very quickly.

Take care and will report in when I go back down south.....and next time around I will try to update more regularily, just so happens when your losing you don't feel like talking about it.

Joe

UNNATURAL

2009-02-07T13:56:00.001-08:00

The title of this blog entry seemed to be the word Todd and I used to describe our bad luck since my last post 5 days into the trip. I'm sure you're thinking to yourself at this moment 'oh ya, here goes Joe with his skewed perspective on poker, offering up another host of reasons why he isn't killin it down south'. Well, all I can do is provide a detailed description of the critical hands and how they went down and I'll leave it to you to decide.

The trip started out well as indicated in my previous post. At my peak I was up close to 17k in cash games after about 1 week of play. The games were pretty good and I was running pretty good, not great, but good. Included in that glorious week of good times I kicked Todd's ass on the golf course for a few benjies and 2009 pre-season bragging rights. The course we played called Industy Hills (the Ike course) was the hardest course I ever played. I shot a 93 and felt good about it. The course was over 7200 yards from the tips (which we played), it was tight, and had tough greens. In fact, the PGA is having a tour event qualifier there in a couple weeks. In summary, it was a treat to be paid to go play (thank you Todd!).

The day after the golf game its like somebody turned on the doomsday switch. Personally, I booked 4 consecutive losses in LA (as did Todd I think). From there, we booked it to Vegas for a change of venue and to change the luck. Unfortunately, not much changed there. Todd left for home 3 days after reaching Vegas frustrated that he could not win a single pot of significance. Kathy came down the night Todd left and we stayed in Vegas for 4 more days before flying home late last night.

The reasons I came home for a break are threefold. First, I am running bad and a break can't hurt. For me, when I run bad it is very difficult to play my A game. I become a little more tentative meaning I scale back my aggression level and willingness to play big pots without lock hands. This is definately negative EV. I prefer when I play tough and I am the guy the table is most scared of. I find if you show your willingness to push light, and if you are always playing back at your opponents (granted you have to flop reasonable to do so), I find they stop playing back at you unless they have the hand, which then makes for easier decisions. The second reason is I am not feeling very well. I have caught a cold. As well, I need to see a doctor because I have bee experiencing frequent numbing of the hand/arms/legs. It freaks me out as it is one of the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes. I have been on a nutritional plan for a month now and have dropped 15 pounds. Its time to change my lifestyle regardless of what test results may show, but with a little luck I am overreacting and it turns out to be nothing. The third reason I've come back is to spend time with family and friends. Kathy's little guy misses me lots, which is cool, so I'll hang with the both of them a fair amount until I go back down (which I suspect will be somewhere around the time Trav goes down).

There were some highlights to the trip I'd like to share before going over key hand history.

1. I almost got into my first fight since I was in grade 2. There was this young, arrogant, pear shaped kid named Chris who was at my table during a stud tournament. I have played with him at the same table or same poker room many times in the past and on each occasion he manages to be the loudest, most obnoxious player in the room. This time was no different. There was a nice old man at the table who clearly did not understand the rules of the game and bet out of turn several times. The first time he did against Chris, Chris lectured him for about a minutes. I said nothing. Then it happened again about a half hour later. This time Chris is going off for at least 2 minutes. Finally, I pipe up and say 'it was an honest mistake, the guy meant no offense by his actions, can we just move on and play some cards'. Chris the pear immediately turned to me and said 'why don't you shut up and mind your own business'. I says 'pardon me?'. He says 'why don't you shut the fuck up and mind your own business'. I couldn't believe this guy. I know he's big but come on, if you act like this eventually you're going to piss the wrong guy off and be beaten to a pulp. Usually, I just blow this kind of stuff off but something about this guy and the way he talked to me, I turned red and was raging inside. I turned to him and said 'you ignorant puke, don't tell me to shut the fuck up, instead why don't you do everyone a favor and you shut the fuck up'. He immediately replies 'fuck you'. I then slam my chips against the table and say 'ok tough guy, why don't we go outside so I can ram your fucking head against the concrete'. He then quickly tries to shift focus away from fighting by challenging me to a 30k heads up freeze out. I replied by saying 'i'll play you as long as we go outside first so I can smash your fucking head in'. Then at about this point security came over and threatened both of us to stop or we'd get kicked out of the casino. Needless to say, I burned my chips off in the tourney because I didn't want to be there anymore. Unfortunately, he's a good player and I would have limited if any edge in a heads up confrontation. Anway, my record stretch of almost 30 years without a fight is still intact and as for the pear, he will get whats coming soon enough I'm sure.

2. The trip had my longest and largest losing streak ever in live poker. I lost 4 straight losing sessions in LA then 3 out of 4 in Vegas where I went from 17k up to about 9k down (plus expeneses and tournament costs). The only positives I can take from the streak is I maintained my composure and confidence throughout knowing it would turn around and I in fact I finished with 2k and 6k wins respectively in my last two sessions before flying home. So overall, I basically breakeven for the trip (before expenses) after running as bad as one can run. There is no doubt in mind that there is huge money to be made both in LA and in Vegas (maybe I have to be a better person so I can get average luck??? I'm looking for answers).

3. Kathy came down for 4 days and did well. She played 2 Venitian deepstack extraveganza tournies bubbling both in setup type situations, but overall played very well. Then on the side she carved up the 2/5 nl game at the bellagio winning several thousand over a two day period. I guess my teachings payoff, perhaps I should charge 25%?

4. I have always talked poorly about the bellagio feeling that the room is too busy and the people are too rude, which leads to an uncomfortable setting. In the past I have avoided the Bellagio like the plague, but this week decided to try it out a few times for a change of pace and to change my luck. There is no question, it has the best games for higher limits. I think from now on I will play the majority of my poker there instead of the Wynn. When Kathy came down we found rooms at the Trump Towers for $109/night. This is cheaper than the Wynn poker rate and is equally as nice. So, if these deals continue to surface I will stay there allowing me flexibility to play wherever I want without having to log 6 hours of play/day at the Wynn.

It seems i've grown a little tired while writing this post. I will save the hand descriptions for my next post, probably tomorrow when i get some time.

Peace out

5 Days In

2009-01-26T01:43:00.000-08:00

Not too much in the form of excitement thus far. I have played two tournies, both 335 nl holdem buyins. The first was on Day 1 and had 1600 players paying 120 spots, I finished around 225ish. I never had big chips and ended up pushing on the big blind with J10 and ran into KK...draw dead on turn, bad beat. The second tourney was earlier today. It had 800 players paying 72 spots, I finished 85th, sweet. Again, I never had big chips. I was floating around average most of the tourney never really getting good situations or good hands. I lost a key hand with 100 left racing 88 against AQ blind on blind after a goon shoved off my raise after everyone folded. I could have folded but figured I was way ahead or was racing at worst and givin the top heavy prize pool this seemed to be a good spot to become a big chip count. After losing when the ace flopped I became short stacked, built back a bit with blind steals, then found 1010 in blinds against the cutoff raise. I shoved and he called a somewhat big raise with A7 sooooted, door card ace. I love tournaments 21-40 minute levels played = $0

Cash games have been ok. The games are decent, but with exception to Day 1, I haven't hit much and seem to lose most of my 'gambly' pots vs short stackers (gambly referring to losing medium/big pots when chips on flop where I'm not at least 80% favorite). I had a bad day Friday losing over 5k, but still managed to pull an overall win close to 10k (in 3 long sessions and 2 short sessions on the tourney days). Could be better could obviously be worse. The main thing is I feel I'm playing solid agressive and my reads are on so with a little luck I good things should be just around the corner.

The weather has been the shits since arriving, however much better than 40 below. Its supposed to be sunny and warm Tuesday and Wednesday so probably will head out golfing one of those day. This should be good to clear the mind, take a break from poker, and take some cash off my buddy.

Tomorrow is the stud tournament. If I get up earlier enough to go for a workout (yes workout...I'm trying to drop a few pounds with daily exercise and good eating) and the cash games are a little slow I will probably play. I can't imagine the field or the prize pool will be big, but better than playing 10-20nl with a bunch of monday morning nits.

I'll try to report back by the end of the week.

Joe

Snowbirdin

2009-01-19T20:10:00.001-08:00

There is not too much on the poker front to tell since my trip to Costa Rica. I have spent the majority of time in Winnipeg hangin out with the family and friends. During this time I did spend a bit of time playing online, mostly on pacific poker. I found the games to be rather soft. The site has alot of sports betters who generously make donations on a regular basis. It has been a pretty good run.

I did go to Vegas for a week with Kathy and Braeden recently, from Jan 2-9th. It was a good time and we spent the majority of time doing things I normally wouldn't do in Vegas, including an almost fatal trip to the rides atop the Stratosphere. No real gambling stories to speak of as I only logged one short session.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to LA for the LA Classic. I'm going down with my buddy Todd and we plan to play there for the entire tournament, which lasts till late February. From there I will be heading to Vegas for the Wynn Classic. In all, I will be down south until the end of March. I will be playing some tournaments, but still focusing the majority of my effort grinding cash games. I plan to write a post at least once a week so look in from time to time. Feeling real good going into this trip, confidence is up and my game is sharp so hopefully a couple TV tables are in my near future.

Joe

LSOP in Costa Rica

2008-11-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

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,

Peek n Valleys

2008-11-17T23:20:00.000-08:00

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...

Quick Update

2008-08-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

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.....

The end is coming

2008-07-17T04:12:00.001-07:00

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

Vegas Update: Long time no speak

2008-07-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

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

Back in Peg

2008-03-13T14:15:00.001-07:00

Small Profit for the Week

2008-03-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

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,

Last Week of Trip

2008-03-04T03:23:00.000-08:00

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,

Good 4 Day Stretch

2008-03-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

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,

Back to the Tables

2008-02-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

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 Rollercoaster

2008-02-16T14:59:00.000-08:00

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 Itinerary is Set

2008-02-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

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.

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....

Tournaments Woes

2008-02-12T19:03:00.000-08:00

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

Fast Start Slow Finish

2008-02-11T04:15:00.000-08:00

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,

Can it get any worse???

2008-02-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

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,

Happier Days

2008-02-07T13:23:00.000-08:00

I didn't last long in the short-handed event. The blinds were only 20 minutes long and we started with 2500 chips so there wasn't much play. My first table was filled with donkeys but it broke early. I got rivered on a pot right away which brought my chip count down to 1500. Then I was moved to a table full of solid players, the first time I experienced tough opponents in any of the tournaments thus far, and I couldn't get anything going. When the blinds reached 100-200 I found KQ and raised. I was called by the big blind and the flop came J104. He checked I pushed he called with QJ and I bricked out.

After the tournament Trav and I got some dinner and he went over the book 'The Wealthy Barber' which I hear is a pretty good book. I have some experience and background in finance so we talked a little about that and a little about everything else. After dinner we hit the tables.

When I first sat down my table was ok at best but I hit a couple of really nice hands and was up over 9k in two hours, which included two sizeable pots with top set - I like the no-brainers they're fun. For the next four hours after that I couldn't get anything going including a couple big pairs gone bad. The table became tough, one of the toughest I had seen to date, and many players were 10k plus deep so I decided to call it a night up 7k. My highlighted hands were as follows:

Hand #1:

Tight solid player UTG raised to $80 (he won one of the earlier events this year) and I called with 1010, big blind called as well. Flop came down 1086 two hearts. Blind checked, preflop raiser checked I bet $160. Big blind called and preflop raiser reraised to $800. I immediately put him on 8s or 6s as I think he would lead out on a flush draw or overpair and I don't think 97 was in his range of early position raises. I hollywooded and decided to push there instead of getting cute and losing action to a heart, 9, or 7 on the turn. He was $2500 deep and I stacked him as he tabled 88. Nice to be on the good side of a cooler.

Hand #2:

UTG fish raises to $80 and I have 1010 again and call. Late position aggressive fish repops to $280 we both call. Flop is 1097 rainbow and we both check to the preflop aggressor. He fires out an overbet of $700 (which I think was with air as he did the same overbet on a J98 board with AK previously). The original raiser check raises to $2000 all-in. I decide to smooth call hoping the aggressor had an overpair, but after the action he quickly folded. Turn was 2 river 3, I showed my 1010 and my opponent mucked, not sure what he had but who cares.

Hand #3:

Same preflop aggressor as last hand calls my raise of $80 and we're heads up. I have AJ off and the flop is AQ10 two hearts. I decide to check for pot control and to allow the goon to pick up the bet, potentially with nothing. He fires out $150 and I call. Turn is an offsuit 8. I check he bets $250 I hesitate and call (my hesitation was for dramatic purposes obviously as I'm not going to fold). The river brings an offsuit 5 and I decide to check again. This time he fires out for $700. I rather quickly call as I think he is bluffing because if he had a really strong hand he would have bet harder on the turn givin the draw heavy board. The second I call he riffles his cards into the muck in disguist. Against unintelligent goons I do prefer to check call alot with vulnerable hands to induce bluffs. Except against a flush draw or touch gutter I either have the best or the worst, and that is unlikely to change through to the river, so I think there is good value in playing the hand this way against certain players. Also, I had noticed that he would generally pick up the bet if someone checked so I think I maximized in this situation.

Hand #4:

My last hand of the night I found KK. Someone straddles to $40 someone called so I made it $240. Both blinds call and the initial caller folded. The flop came down QQ9 two diamonds. The small blind led out for $500 and I felt he had a 9 or a pocket pair. I was pretty sure it was a probing bet as I don't think he was crafty enough to lead out with trips. Unfortunately, the big blind smooth called the bet. He was a very good player that usually plays the 20-40 and higher. He was about 20k deep and was playing tight solid. I felt he proabably had the Q and so I let go of my KK. On the turn an offsuit 7. The small blind checked and he bet $1000, small blind deliberated and called. The river was an offsuit 3 and the small blind checked. He barrelled again this time for $1800. The small blind thought for a couple minutes and called. The solid player mucked and the small blind showed JJ. This hand is interesting on several levels. First, if I wasn't on the way out I may have called the $500 to see what happened on the turn and likely I would have frozen the big blind from running a bluff fearing I'm smooth calling with a Q. Second, his table image was tight and he had not shown down any bluffs. He was likely on a flush draw and I think against any good player he would have taken the pot down on the turn or at least the river as his play clearly reaks of a Q. Unfortunately for him he was up against a meatball who doesn't think it through and gets married to his pair. Of course the meatball quickly states that he read him for a flush draw...lol...more like I'm a calling station and I am making a crying call that you are running a bluff.

Going to take the day off from live poker because they have the $500 buy-in HORSE tournmanent on Full Tilt as part of their FTOPS series. I love HORSE so I gotta play. If I get knocked out early I will venture downstairs to play. As for the weekend, I'm going to play cash games Friday and Saturday as the weekend action is simply too good to refuse. On Sunday I'll likely play the $335 nl Holdem event as cheap weekend buyins usually equate to a smorgisborg of donks.

Tough day for Trav as he lost about 9k, I know that feeling. He was at my table for a short while and couldn't really get anything going. I'm sure he'll make it back this weekend.

Other than that I talked to Todd and I think he'll make it out mid next week as it seems his dog is going to make it. Can't wait till he gets down here so Trav, him, and I can go play Peable Beach (I need a week to mend my sprained wrist anyway. And if by some chance I don't kick their asses at least I have a fallback excuse).

On a final note, I have been conversing with Kathy via email and she is having a blast in Europe and will be there for another few days.

Hope to have a good weekend and will update as frequently as possible...

Cheers,

Same Ol Song and Dance

2008-02-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days continue to be tortureous for me on the tables. My net result is down about $3400. I continue to miss every board until I hit and get coolered. As well, I continue to miss every draw and I mean every draw. Yesterday I had at least 10 flush draws, some both flush and straight draws and I never made one. And of course, my big pairs come so infrequently and when they do I usually find the ace on the flop. Its been several weeks of this and I'm hoping it comes to an end soon because I'm really missing out on big cash. I gracefully watched the two solid players at my table yesterday make close to 10k each as the fishies couldn't wait to donate with slim draws or middle touch. On a similar note, Travis 'seabuscuit' Brown showed up and took the games for over 5k on each of his first two days. Nice to run good sir... (don't get me wrong I'm very happy for him and he's definetely buying lunch today!). A couple highlighed hands from the last two days are as follows:

Hand #1:

Aggressive goon has $1500 in front as is trying to muscle the table. He raises to $120 from early position and everyone folds to me in the big blind. I look down at KK and decide I'm going to slow play him. The flop comes down 852 rainbow. I check he bets $240. I raise to $600 and he instashoves for $1500. I instacall he tables 1010 and suprisingly no 10 comes.

Hand #2:

A tight player (but not really that good) raises to $60 from early position gets 4 caller so I defend from the big blind with 96 diamonds, one of my favorites. The flop comes down 1074 two diamonds. After checking to the initial raiser he fires a continuation bet of $180 and everyone folds to me. I decide to check raise even though I haven't hit a draw since the Reagan administration. I make it $400 to test the waters. He calls and the turn is an offsuit Q. I fire out $600 and he quickly calls. Something about the quick call made me feel he was on the draw or had a vulnerable hand that he was trying to perceive as strong, likely flush draw or maybe A10. Anyway river is a dud like 3 or something and I decide to go after it and I bet $1000 which looks like a solid value bet river with two pair or set. He thinks for awhile and folds.

Hand #3:

I'm on the button with 98 hearts when an early position player makes it $80 and he gets 4 callers. The flop comes down J105 two hearts. The preflop raiser checks and the next in line bets $200. I decide I have to pump this as the better only has about $1200 and I'll gladly gamble my hand for that price. If he was deep I may play less aggressively givin I can't hit and I put him for a big hand. So, I decide to make it $550. All of a sudden a guy from the blind declares he's all in for $1700. The initial flop better calls and action is to me. Into three way action and with the money I've invested I have to call and hope I'm not up against a KQ of hearts type hand or 555. Anyway, I call both all ins and the pot is about $5,000. Both opponents show J10 and I double brick.

Hand #4:

I have 84 of spades in the big blind when an early position player raises to $60. 4 call before action gets to me so I call. The flop is 1053 with two spades. Action is checked to the preflop raiser who bets $250. Everyone folds to small blind who calls. I'm thinking about passing the hand because I'm positive the preflop raiser has a big pair and I think the small blind may be on bigger spades. However, after a little hesitation I call to see what happens on the turn. Turn is offsuit 6. Check check and this time the bet is $550. The small blind tanks then calls, still not sure if he's check calling a 10 or a draw. Now at this point I am 5k deep and the small blind is a fish who is as deep thanks to hitting two sets with action and another hand where he sucked out on the river. The initial better has about $1500 left and is one of those incapable of laying down so I decide there is very good value in the call as I have an open ended straigth as well. In the back of my mind I'm also thinking I could stack the small blind if he has 64 and the offsuit 7 comes. Anyway, the river pairs the running 6s and the small blind fires out $1000 and is called by the preflop raiser. The preflop raiser shows KK and the small blind shows 64. ONE TIME PUT DOWN THE 7! Then the action would be small blind bets $1000, big blind raises allin knowing small blind will call expecting to chop.

Hand #5:

A guy sits down at the table and posts in mid position. Action is folded to him and he raises to $80. Everyone folds to me in the big blind and I call with AJ of diamonds. The flop comes down AJ8 rainbow. I check he checks. The turn is the 6 of clubs bringing in a club draw. I bet out $140 and he immediately raises me to $640. I'm like wtf? I was so confused. I wasn't sure if he flopped, which would be a wierd way to play the hand, turned a set, or more likely, he was making an amateur hour goon play on a flush draw like KQ, K10, or Q10 of clubs. Anyway, I decide to call not really knowing where I was or what was going on. The river brought in the club and I checked. He thought for a minute or two then checked behind and showed me 888. Very strange hand, luckily it didn't cost me too much. The thing is its such a silly way to play the hand. Unless I had a really strong hand like AJ he's gonna make nothing on the hand. Anyway, that same guy proceeded to go on a hitting frenzie and made about 5k without having a clue on how to play.

Thats enough for hand discussions its making me depressed :) My only saving grace is that I have made online what I have lost live (with a little interest). It's funny because what little time I spend playing online I'm crushing it, and the players I play there are 10 times the players I face in the live games.

Oh well, today is another day. I'm going to play a tourney today, the 6-max 500 buy. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers,

Quick Update from Whistler

2008-02-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

Got up to Whistler late yesterday after a 4 hour commute from Vancouver, the roads were the shits. Had a few beers last night and plan to do much of the same today, but probably not until I go snomobiling (I can't ski or snowboard due to my gimp foot, hopefully it will be better soon).

Had a good night before I left pocketing close to 5k in a rather dry game. I hit a couple nice hands and didn't get drawn out on everytime (i'll highlight a few). I'm going to head back late tomorrow after the Superbowl refreshed and looking to make some serious money next week.

Hand #1

I had AK and raised to $80 and had 4 callers. Flop came K52 with two clubs and I bet out $230. The asian woman to my left raised to $600. Normally this would concern me a bit, but givin that I saw her put a tight guy in for 3k 5 minutes before on a QJ4 board and couldn't beat his obvious overpair (KK) after he raised preflop and bet out flop big. I figured she was trying to get even fast and was pushing a vulnerable hand like KQ, KJ, or flush draw. She had another $1,200 after the $600 bet so I put her in. Turn 4 river 7 I tabled my hand and she mucked. She left the table after that, too bad.

Hand #2

Had AA and raised to $90 after one limper. 4 called and flop came down Q32 with two hearts. Checked to me so I bet $300. Everyone folded to a rather tight woman who went allin for another $800 and I quickly called hoping I was up against an AQ type hand. Anyway turned a heart and she tabled A10 of hearts.

Hand #3

Had A2 off on the button on a limped pot. Flop came down A82 two diamonds. Everyone checks to me I bet $90 and am called by one player. Turn is A, he checks I bet $230, he raises to $700 (saying its time to go home). I figured he had 22 or 88 because he had a very small range of starting cards and he was very leary about putting chips in the pot. A couple hands previous I had QQ raised and was called by him heads up. Flop was 992 I bet he called, turn 3 I bet he raised and I mucked (he is not capable of bluffing so I elected to bet the turn to see if he had a small pair, or made hand like 9x, or more likely 22, or AA. In many cases I'll check the turn with intentions to call the river but givin the circumstances I figured there was more value by betting because if he just called I know I could bet big on the river and get paid by JJ,1010, or 88). After I folded he juices me by saying I knew you had nothing thats why I raised with nothing...sure you really got me on tilt now bro. So when this hand came up and he check raised the turn, I asked how much he had left and pushed him in. Well he was right when he said it was time to go home as he tabled 88 and did not river the 1 outer (I'm starting to run a little better it seems). When I put him in he thought he was a lock especially when I said 'you probably got me'. Then when he saw my hand his face turned white. Tit for tat you juice me I juice you.

Hand #3:

There was goon to my immediate right who would auto raise on the button when folded to. This time I looked down at 55 in the small blind so I called his raise. Flop came down 944 I check, he bet I raised assuming he was doing his 100% of the time continuation bet with air. He pondered a bit and said 'man you called me with a 4' and folded QQ face up. I then showed him 55 and he went on instatilt. I didn't get too much of it but within the next 45 minutes he stacked off about 5k. Amazing what a little move like that can do to a player.

Hand #4:

I tight player from early position raised to $60 had two callers so I called with 44 on the button. The flop came down 842 with two spades (woohoo! Third set of the trip, hopefully he doesn't have 88). He bet out close to pot size for $200. I raised to $550. He thought for awhile and called. The turn was a 2 he checked and I decided to check for a couple of reasons. One, and most importantly, he only had $700 left so whether I bet the turn or the river I only have one bet to put him in givin the size of the pot. Two, he was reluctant to put chips in without a big hand so if he had 99 or 1010 he may fold to the turn allin. If I check the turn and fire on the river assuming its not the flush card he will be forced to call pretty thin I think. Third, maybe he has no touch and will try to bluff me on the river (although that doesn't seem to be in his range). Anyway, the river is a dud, he checks I bet him allin and he calls. I don't know his hand but I'm guessing its not that big if he checked the river and maybe if I had pushed on the turn he may have folded.

Hand #5:

Had 98 hearts and opened the pot for $70 getting 3 callers. Flop came down Q74 two hearts. I bet out $180 and had one caller. Turn was an 8 and I decided to fire again this time for $375 assuming my opponent was floating with a mid pair like 99,1010, or had a weak Q like QJ or Q10 suited and maybe I could shake him. He called. River brought an offsuit A and I knew he didn't like the card. So this time I fired out for $1000 and he folded after much deliberation. Hey me! I hadnt' done much three barrel blufs (albeit semi bluffs on flop and turn) as I have not been running good and have been a little cautious. As well, lets not forget that the players are so bad that a person can do very well by playing a rather text book game of betting only when you have it.

Anyway, off to snowmobile. Hopefully, I'll be talking about how I won 20k in a day on my next post.

Cheers,

The Saga Continues

2008-01-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

This will be short. Basically the poker gods continue to frown upon me. I just got knocked out of the Shootout tournament when I was heads up against an aggressive asian kid for 95% of the chips in play on the river...suprise suprise. I never had one big hand the whole time but consistently outplayed my opponents. My table full of fish except this guy Dan who was very tough (regularily plays 300-600 limit and won the BC Open this year). He was knocked out early to a two outer issued by the donk asian.

The Hand:

The asian raised about 70% of the pots on the button and typically overbet making it hard to see flops. I had 11,800 chips and he had the balance of the 25,000. The blinds were 200/400 with an ante. I had hoped to be heads up with the other guy as he was tight and I could small pot him to death, but he was knocked out by the biggest cooler I ever saw. On a limped preflop the flop came 1098 with two clubs one diamond (I had k2 of diamonds by the way). We both checkd to the asian on the button who bet pot. The guy called and the turn was the 6 of diamonds. The action went check check and the river brought the 5 of diamonds. The action was bet raise and allin. The tight guy tabled A10 of diamonds and the asian tabled 97 of diamonds for a straight flush against ace high flush on a backdoor diamond non-paired board.

Anyway, back to the hand, when the asian limped he had bad hands so when he limped on this pot I looked down and found A4. I raised 1,200 more as I must raise at least that much or he would call to see the flop and obviously I don't want to play this kind of hand out of position. Unfortunately, he called. The flop was 1042 with two clubs, which I thought was good. I bet out 2,200 and he quickly raised to 7,000. I thought for about 2 minutes and felt that he was very nervous and thus probably did not have the 10. I hoped he had a small touch where I would have him drawing to 3 to 5 outs. I pushed all in and he shrugged and said he's in too deep and must call. He tables KJ off. Two more clubs come and he wins with the K of clubs. So ridiculas.

To top it off I then go over to Todd's table where he was heads up with another donk who's only move was all-in or fold preflop. Todd had him in chips when I showed up but lost two races in a row to get bounced. AQ to 22 and 99 to AJ. The AQ was gross as the old man limped Todd raised and he pushed back all in with 22. Anyway, both of us outplayed our table, both of us were positioned to make the money round with an opportunity to make some good cash, and of course in typical fashion, both of us got unlucky and make nothing.

FORK U Los Angelas!

Running So Bad

2008-01-28T23:32:00.000-08:00

I really am not sure where to begin. I guess the best place to start is by describing how bad the play is here in California. Perhaps I am just used to playing some of the toughest players around (from mid/high limits online and/or our Winnipeg game which includes Trav, Wolters, Todd, Myles, etc...), but it really does amaze me that at the center of the poker universe only a fraction of the players really know how to play. I will go over the two tournaments I played followed by a summary of the cash games.

Tournaments:

I only played two tournaments because I felt my ROI is far superior by playing deep stack cash over tournaments especially on Friday and Saturday when many casual players are present and many of the regulars are drinking.

Todd and I made a deal that we would chop chop in all tournaments we played together. The first tournament last Thursday was a $320 nl Holdem tabling 1370 players and paying 99 spots. I lasted until about 300 players left, which was reasonable considering I had only one pair over nines (which turned out to be jacks in the blind when the cutoff had aces...sweet). I lost a couple medium sized pots but never really had any chips or good situations. I managed to stay afloat with well timed blindsteals and bluffs. Then I get ak with a smallish stack size so I raise from early position and get called from the button who has lots of chips. The flop is A97 rainbow. I have about 1/4 my chips in with the raise so I figured that checking was the right play for a couple reasons. First, my chip count is relatively small so risking to blow the pot by giving a free card vs inducing a bluff by checking seemed to be worth it. Second, if he had AJ, AQ or better anyway the chips would be going in (as opposed to a situation where I had lots of chips and would need a bet and a raise to get my chips into the pot). Anway, he does bet, but only small which made me nervous but whatever I had to go with the hand givin my chip count....result, he had 99 and I lose. On a side note, Todd finished 87th and cashed for a bowl of soup.

The second tournament I played was today's Stud High. This tournament was a $500 buyin that attracted only 137 players paying top 16 with first at about 20k. During the tournament I must have played with 40 of the players, and in my opinion, there was maybe 2 or 3 that knew the game well. And, without trying to sound conceided, I felt like I had a better read on the hands than anyone (I feel overall Stud is probably my best game). I got off to a great start, but by about midway I started taking some sick beats which included losing to a drawless tripped up 9s on 6th when I had aces up on 4th, a starting pair of jacks turned into jacks up plus four flush on 6th against a pair of 9s hitting a set on 6th, did not draw out (this pot was critical as I would have been chip leader had I won). Then the final blow took place with about 25 left. I had gone card dead and was one of the lower stacks when I picked up wired jacks with a Q showing. Nobody is showing higher than a 10 when the guy to my left raises with an 8 showing. I reraise and for some reason he reraises back. I felt the guy was a bit of a donkey and givin the blinds were getting big I decided to make this my stand so I reraised again with the intentions of getting it all in unless he paired the 8. Anyway, he calls, I bet fourth he calls, I bet fifth, he calls, I bet sixth and he puts me in for another half bet. Neither one of us seemed to have a threatening board. As it turns out he rivered a flush on me. The sick thing was is he started with 883 two spades. Anybody with half a brain should really just lay down when reraised showing a Q. Instead, I get donked out instead of moving into a healthy chip stack. Good times, thanks again LA for another wonderfully played hand.

I will likely play the shootout tournament on Wednesday, but that will be about it until I get back from Whistler. Oh ya, I forgot too mention, I fly up to Whistler on Friday until Sunday. I would almost rather stay and play, but it is my annual ski trip with 10 close friends from University.

Cash Games:

In my previous post I talked about the cap buyin at the 5-10nl and below. Well it sucks because you can't play deep stack poker unless you hit some hands to build your stack. Even if you do, you still have all the other short stackers picking a hand they like and jamming 1/4 in preflop and the rest on the flop. This obviously takes away a good part of the skill to poker. In any case, I watched a little of the 10-20nl and it looked juicy so I hopped in. Overall, I played all day Friday and Saturday losing about 7k (luckily I made that online Saturday night after I quit so I'm about even on the trip). In the process, I ran into about 3 coolers, flopped only two sets (one of which I was oversetted), I made 2 out of roughly 25 flush draws, and 2 out of roughly 35 straights (one where I made a straight when an opponent made a flush), and finally during all of the hands played I was only dealt AA once, KK once, QQ 4 times, and JJ 4 times. I only won one of the QQ and lost with each and every other big pair including running into QQ into KK once and JJ into KK once (both times getting away from the hand on the flop with no overs). If that is not sick enough I will explain some of the big pots I lost.

Hand #1:

On Friday about an hour into the game I had $2400 (my initial buy is always 2k). I raise in mid position with 75 of spades to $70. I have been relatively active but had yet to play any big pots and the table was tight passive except the big blind who was a tough young internet player. Anyway, I get two callers including the big blind. The flop comes 753 two hearts. He checks I bet $190, the passive calling station does what he does best and calls. The big blind reraises to $700. With $2400 total I think the only move here is to pump all in representing a big pair. This kid could be raising with a flush draw, two pair (which would be ideal as I have top two), touch and straight draw, or even the nuts. But givin that I saw him slow play a nut hand once before and knowing that the calling station is likely on flush or has mid pair like 99/1010 I figured I must shove. After shoving, the calling station reluctantly folds and I'm snap called by the big blind who tables 333. Lovely, thanks for letting me flop two pair for once LA.

Hand #2

It's late into Friday night and I have build my chips up to 7k (in for $5300 at this time). The game is getting a little wild and I'm in the big blind. First to act straddled and about 3 called before the button raised it up to $320. I look down and find ak off. The opponent who made the raise is overly agressive and could have alot of hands including bs, AK, JJ, etc... but not likely AA or KK otherwise I feel he would raise less to $220 because I had seen a more milking bet from him before when holding AA. I hesitate for a moment contemplating to reraise and try to take down $550. I instead choose to flat call for several reasons. First, one of the crusty old guys who buys in deep called immediately after the straddle and it is totally within his range to limp into the straddle with AA or KK looking for the back raise so I don't want to committ 1K only to laydown before the flop. Second, the button is hyperaggressive so I don't think I could fold to an allin preflop and I hate racing for that kind of cash (especially when running so bad). Third, I felt I had a good read on him, which could allow me to bluff him or trap him if I hit a good flop. And fourth, I hate AK out of position on big pots. So after calling and everyone else folding, the flop came down K93 two clubs. I of course check as I feel I made gin with that flop. He leads out with an $700 bet. I was suprised by how big his bet was, almost pot size which wasn't typical of him so I sensed either he had nothing or was maybe on flush draw showing me he is commiting himself to the hand. Anyway, with another 2.2k behind him after the bet I pushed him in. He sighs and quickly tells me its time to gamble, then shows 94 of clubs. Yuck! That was about as a bad as I could have imaged it would be. We were basically in a coin flip. In typical LA fashion, the river brought in a club.

Hand #3:

On Saturday I got thumped. Leading up this hand I was about even, but one hand could make or break me because there was a crazy asain guy at our table who was not very good, had lots of money, and who was putting incredible pressure on everyone every hand. At the time of this hand I am about 6.5k deep (at least 4 players had more chips in play than me). I am in the small blind with a10. One guy limped everyone else folded to the asian guy in the cutoff who made a small raise to $350 (he was raising at least 50% of the hands and each raise was obscene ranging from $300 to $500). I decide to call in hopes of catching him. To my suprise the big blind called as did the limper. On the flop AJ10 two diamonds. We all check and the asian guy bets $350 (typically he had been making small continuation bets whether he had anything or not). I decide I have to see where I am in this hand and get out all touch straight draws so I reraise to $900 (and givin that there is already $1400 preflop, the raise must be at least this big to eliminate the weaker hands). The other two opponents in the hand immediately fold and the asian looks confused on what to do so he does what he does best and calls. The turn is an offsuit 5. I lead out $1700. The asian guy thinks for awhile asks me if I'm on a draw blah blah blah. After much deliberation he calls. At this point I assume he has a hand but I'm thinking maybe flush draw or AK, AQ (or maybe even a dry ace given what he has shown down in the past to big bet calls). River is an offsuit 8 and I choose to move all in. The asian guy is flustered and he begins talking to himself then to me. What you got straight? set? So at this point I'm feeling relieved and I'm hoping for a call because I think he definately has AK or AQ. After 5 minutes he says call and shows AJ. I couldn't believe it. First, he had payed off fast with much less several times earlier. Second, if he had AJ and was going to call $1700 on the turn, I would have expected he was going to make a stand with the hand by reraising me all in on the turn (in which I may have folded I'm not sure). In the end given the way he was calling through thin, giving ridiculas action, and givin the significant action preflop and the draw heavy flop, I don't know how I could not lose my chips in this situation. Thanks LA for yet another cooler. It seems like the only time I ever flop two pair is when I'm beat.

Hand #4:

This was by far my worst play of the trip. Early Friday I had just tilted a rich California business man about 5 minutes previously when I raised him allin on a turn on a A85K rainbow board after he raise preflop, bet the flop, and the turn. He folded and I showed him the 9 of clubs. I knew he had nothing as he was steamrolling in typical fashion. The turn bet was $300 (60% pot) and I pushed him for his last $500 so its not as if I was running a huge play (had a9 of clubs anyway). After the hand he immediately called over the floor manager and asked for chips on a marker, 30k to be exact. He was ready for war. So, a hand comes up where there was a straddle and a call and I am in mid position with 99. Similar to the AK hand described above there is a case for calling or raising. I decided to raise this time makin it $180 to go. A short stack in the small blind reraises to $480 total. The rich guy snap calls everyone else folds to me. I had 3.7k to start the hand. I figured there was about a 50% chance the short stacker had a bigger pair than me, but giving the rich guy is steaming, I had position on him, and that I could double through him with the right flop so I decided to put in another $300. The flop came 235 two spades and the rich guy checks. I figured he missed the flop and at the time I wanted him out so I bet $1000 (in hindsight this was a bonehead bet and if nothing else I could have served my purpose for about $800). After putting the money in the rich guy quickly says he's all in. I thought for about 5 minutes. At first I thought I should fold and that he probably flopped a small set or slow played aces, after all he could only be check raising against an allin with a made hand. Then, thinking a little more I felt he could easily be doing this with a flush draw(AQ/AJ spades?) or 44 because for one he is a donk, and secondly I pissed him off with the 9 of clubs and he would like nothing more than to push me off a pot. In the end I folded (against my better judgement as my gut told me it was a flush draw, but it was the beginning of the trip I didn't want to play a big pot with a marginal hand). As it turns out he had qj of spades and bricked out. To add insult to injury the short stacker had 88. On the hand I lose $1480 instead of winning $4100 profit. In retrospect, I played the hand poorly on two counts. One, with position I should check behind one time for a couple reasons. One, to see what what comes on turn, two, to see what the guy does, and three for pot control purposes. Essentially, my rookie overbetting of the flop put me in a difficult situation. Then of course not following through against the steaming donk when I only have 2.2k left after putting in roughly 1.5k with 99 on a 235 board. I was very dissapointed with myself after that hand.

Hand #5:

I was not involved in this hand but I think its worth mentioning to give a flavour of the game. Preflop several people called and that same rich guy made it $90 on the button. A rather tight player that seemed to be playing well made it $350 to go in the big blind. Everyone folded to the rich guy who called as did the small blind. Each player is playing 20k plus. The flop came down AQ10 rainbow. The preflop aggressor made it $900. The rich guy called the other guy folded. The turn brought another Q. He fired again this time for $1900. The rich guy contemplated then called. The river brought an offsuit 7 and the tight player bet 5k. The rich guy thought for awhile then folded saying he had 1010 (LOL such bs, at best he folded AK the way I see it because anything better and he would have likely raised the turn or at least called the river). Anyway, the guy turns over JJ. I thought this play was bad even though he scored a big pot. The rich guy was already on massive tilt and had been calling thin. He obviously is not intimidated by the money so if he likes his hand he will likely call. Perhaps the tight player put him for a dry ace and figured he could represent AA or QQ with a big river bet, knowing that the rich guy would fold. Who knows, seems a little too risky for me though.

I could continue explaining my poor flops, turns, and rivers or I could continue to explain my horrible situational luck, but it serves little purpose and I certainly don't want to sound like a crybaby (may be too late for that). However, just to say, I have been unable to counter my coolers and such with any big hands for big pots (except one hand where I rivered a 2nd nut flush against another guys 3rd nut flush). Most of my money won has come from solid value betting through hands hitting top pair good kicker against opponents with lower kicker / second pair or by bluffing through small/medium sized pots knowing my opponents could not call (I generally don't run big pot bluffs just not enough gamble in me). I really hope that things turn around because I can honestly say that if I could start running average to good I could make 5k / day (at least on weekend nights) and if I could get on a heater that number could increase to 10-15k. The games are just that good.

One final personal observation:

I have a tendency to become passive when I can't hit or after I've taken some beats and I'm stuck. I say to myself "how am I going to lose this one?". When I lose the killer instinct and shift to this defensive playing style it usually leads to losing more money. So far on this trip I have been good at getting up when I fall into this pattern and for that I am happy.

I will try to update this blog a little more frequently over the next couple of weeks and hopefully I will have some good stories to tell. In the meantime, I hope you all have been are enjoying the frostbiting weather of Winnipeg :)

Cheers,

LA Madness

2008-01-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning Todd Webb and I left the -45 freezer of Winnipeg and flew down to play a little poker at Commerce Casino in LA. The plan, at least for me, is to stay here until the LA Classic finishes and the action subsides, which should carry me into March. Suprisingly, my excitement level was not high about coming down. Don't get me wrong I am happy I'm here to give it a shot and on the one hand, I am cautiously optimistic about the prospect of making money and somewhat pleased about getting away from the cold, but on the other hand I am a little sore about leaving those close to me for 6 weeks (Yes babe, that means you and Braeden especially).

Coming down I had a goal, a lofty goal. Grind it out in the 2-5 until I make $7,500. Grind it out in the 5-10 until I make $30,000 and stabilize in the 10-20 for the balance of the trip, hopefully to cash out 100k in 6 weeks. During my play I promised myself not to lose more than 3 buy-ins in any game, no matter how good the game. I also promised myself that I would get into a routine that involved exercise, eating healthy, and not playing too many marathon sessions. We'll see what happens...

So, in the last 24 hours I've had the pleasure of witnessing the skills of California's finest. The 10-20 game was really tight and quite tough. Some of the regulars were saying that the action has died down a little in the bigger games over the last 3 months (10-20 and higher), however, that its expected to be crazy here in February. I did not play in the 10-20 instead chose to play 5-10. I chose 5-10 over my scheduled 2-5 because the cap buy-ins were very small. In the 5-10 you can only buy 400, which is ridiculas, but it does protect the bad players. The game is very preflop orientated until you build your stack and overall it plays a lot smaller than Vegas. However, if you can get it up to a couple thousand though you can make some good money because the play is soooo bad and there is usually one fish with a big stack to go after.

The players of California either check call everything or implement pure rage agression there is little middle ground. Last night I couldn't hit and took several beats (including losing ak to kq thre times to short stack all-ins...damn punisher), but managed a small $500 win. This morning was disguisting and I lost $400...even steven overall, this will change.

To give a litte taste of the play let me give you two examples. In one hand last night five guys limped and Todd raised to $40. The table was deep all over. I folded in the blind as I saw the utg limper grabbing for chips. The limper reraised to $90, which was rather small so 5 went to the flop. Flop qj7 two spades. The limper bets $125 into the $450 pot. 2 called including Todd who had a small flush draw. The guy in the big blind then check raised all in for roughly $450. The initial better immediately declared all-in for about $1000, both Todd and the other guy end up folding as it sure looked like a qqq or jjj. As it turns out the guy who check raised had a3 off and the preflop aggressor had ak...LOL. Todd would have made a flush on the turn and was upset when he saw what forced him out of the pot.

This morning after losing three consecutive pots to bs, I found 1010 in the small blind. Six guys limped so I made it $60 and had only 1 caller. Flop was 1096 rainbow and I decided to check to the goon. He goes all in for about 4 times the size of the pot. I call and he tables 74 of diamonds, turn 8 of spades, river dud...sweet.

In summary, I have to say LA is exactly as I remembered it. It is fully of egomaniacs that think its more manly to bet then check and who would rather payoff a player than take an outside chance of being bluffed. Everyone has sunglasses and everyone has headphones. Everyone is a legend in their own mind and everyone has watched the travel channel one too many times. All I have to say is they can't escape for 6 weeks, eventually they are going to have to pay.

Going to play event #1 in about an hour. $300 buy-in with expectation of 1600 entries. I'm going to gamble and try to get a stack early or I'll venture back to the cash games.

I'll update in a couple days, hopefully with some positive results to post.

Peace...

Back to the Online Grind

2008-01-17T01:02:00.000-08:00

My post is nowhere near as exciting as outplaying Gus Hanson, but I'll try to make it as entertaining as possibe.

I took most of the last couple of weeks off from on-line because I was not running well and may not have been playing well either, which is why I spent a few evenings down at good ol' Club Regent. However, I was Jonesing a little this weekend and decided to start back playin a little online. I play on several accounts on varying sites and this time decided to use Kathy's pokerstars handle 'rockstar2'. I deposited $500 with the intentions of really grinding it out in hopes of making a little extra scratch as a buffer for LA.

Since Saturday I managed to creep the account up to as high as $10k and is now sitting at 9k after losing a bit tonight thanks to a flurry of silly beats (I apologize I have not yet downloaded the software that tracks online hands so I cannot give you examples). Anyway, I'm pretty happy about that little run because I have not really played much higher than 2-4 or 3-6 nl, which means that the money made was with minimal volatility and risk. Most of my hours logged were on heads up tables. I think my heads up game is improving thanks to cardrunners and Taylor Caby. The guy is the best and his videos are well articulated making it easy to understand what he is thinking in an array of situations. I think the changes I've made focus on increased aggression to control the play. I'm finding that the added pressure puts many weaker players on tilt fast causing big pot mistakes. And I think I mentioned in an earlier blog (and will say again) for those truly interested in improving your game, but that have a basic understanding already, purchase the gold membership on cardrunners it will pay for itself in no time!

Not much else to report. I have a stud game tomorrow, which will likely be my last before I leave to LA next Wednesday. And, most likely, I will make one more trip down to Club Regent before I go strickly to punish myself and to pick up a few bad habits.

Oh, and for those that know Myles Bennet you should go on highstakesreport.com and look at the blurb about 'Fennburger'. He played smashed last weekend against the sickest online players around and scored 40k in the 50-100nl... a nice nights work. Other congrats to Travis for his performance in Australia. He may have come up a litttle short in the tournament, but sounds like he's making some cash nonetheless.

Peace

The Club Regent Hackfest Part 2 - Tuesday Tournament

2008-01-10T23:03:00.001-08:00

I wanted to talk a little more about Club Regent. Instead of focusing on the cash games I would like to talk a little bit about the Tuesday night turbo tournaments. I guess I don't have much else to talk about because there haven't been any exciting high limit home games and I haven't been playing a lot of online (as previously mentioned, I am taking a break from higher limit cash games and only log on to slash around in the occasional tournament). Don't worry, LA is just around the corner, I'll have many bad beat stories to share then.

Anyway, Kathy and I went down this Tuesday to play the rebuy tournament. I rarely play this tournament because the blind increase too quickly, but it just so happened that nothing was going on this week and neither Kathy or I had played the tournament in months...so bring on the punishment.

In typical fashion, I had a fun and expensive rebuy period. During what I call 'the power hour' I issued a few beats to those I knew would issue them back after the rebuy. Luckily, I won the last hand of the rebuy with 86 all in preflop. I was up against 99, 1010, and AK, they didn't stand a chance as I rivered a straight. This sent a couple rocks to break talking to themselves saying 'how could he go in with a 86, he must not care about money' and 'the rebuy period is silly, its not real poker, they should just get rid of it'. (of course I will not get into the varying strategies behind rebuys nor will I explain the pros and cons of this tournament setup as most of you already know what I would say. Unfortunately, the typical Regent rock is clueless). So anyway, as we transitioned from rebuy donkey poker to post rebuy donkey poker, I was off to a good start having almost 10k in chips.

Over the next few hours I managed to tread water as I was unable to get anything going. With tournaments so situational, I just couldn't find many spots to pick up chips. People were pushing before it got to me or they would hit the flop against me when I was the aggressor. So, with a little hacking here and slashing there, all of a sudden I looked around and we were down to 3 tables. As I looked a little closer I could see that 15 to 20 of the usual suspects remained as it was now time to put on the blindfolds and start shoving. I have played both the rebuy and the freeze out enough times to know when situational luck takes over completely. In the rebuy its when the field is down to about 30 and in the freeze out its when the field is down to about 15. In both cases, this is far too early as far as I'm concerned, but beggars can't be choosers.

Anyway, with about 10k in chips and the blinds at 400 / 800 a shooter who has shoved about 5 times (called twice showing a4 and k10) announces before the hand that if he gets any ace he will shove again, sure enough action is folded to him and he shoves for about 6.5k. I look down and find AJ and decide I probably have the best and I go over the top all in for 10k. Everyone else folds and shooter shows an AK suited, sweet. I lose and am crippled. Next hand I play is when I was in the small blind with 2800 chips, action is folded to me and I decide to push with 63 diamonds hoping the big blind has nothing. Unfortunately he has AK suited, fortunately though, I win the race and have a little room once again (Note: suckout #3 in about 25 tournaments at Club Regent, I usually run like a three legged horse with a 3oo pound jockey). After the suckout, the blinds kept moving up, and after a couple blind steals and eventual flop bluffs when called preflop, I found myself at 35k without showing a hand. At this point Kathy got bounced and we were down to 22 players with an average stack of about 15k.

It was at this point that I ran into problems with my most problematic hand, AQ. A rather tight player had raised twice in a row from early position and he was once again raising. Both he and I had the most chips at our table. He just knocked someone out and the blinds just went up to 2k/4k that hand. There were 2 big blinds and he made it 8k to go. I knew it was risky but I felt that he would fold anything less than QQ, KK, AA, or AK to my over the top all-in and I could pick up 16k, so I moved in after his raise. All of a sudden everyone was trigger happy and two smaller stacks called all-in followed by the original raiser who had 30k....ouch! I was up against AA, KQ, and KK from the big stack. The KQ was the smallest stack and won the main pot with a flush, the AA took side pot 1, and KK took side pot 2 leaving me with about 5k to maneuver with. Thinking I'm dead, I pushed in the very next hand UTG with Q7 and was isolated by AJ and won. This tripled me up. Then, the very next hand while in the big blind, the button limped and I had 109. This individual was a weaker player that would only bet if he touched the flop so I figured I'd rather see a flop than move on him and maybe get called. Sure enough the flop was rags and he checked behind me. The turn was a K and thus I checked again afraid this card could likely hit him, KJ/K1o,K9 suited, but he checked again. The river was brought in a 4 card straight with 236K5 and I decided to go all-in knowing that card couldn't have helped as his limp range would not hit that card. Sure enough he folded. I pushed all in on 2 of the following 3 hands with quality and all of a sudden I was back to almost 35k. Not two minutes later someone open shoved for 15k with 99 and I found KK and it held. This put me at 50k and now I would lean. By this point we were down to 18 and they paid 15 so it was the perfect time to apply pressure especially when the only big stack was to my right. So, I raised 6 of the following 8 hands and made my way up to 80k before everyone hit the money. Once everyone was in the money, it took approximately 5 minutes to eliminate 5 short stacks that were obviously hanging on to cash, congrats, enjoy the $183.

Final Table:

I started the final table tied for chip lead at 81k and I knew there was going to be a lot of opportunities to steal blinds because there were at least 5 short stacks, most of whom were more inclined to climb the money ladder then to clash with chip leader. However, with blinds at 3k/6k there was not much room for mistake. All said and done I was as confident as one could be about winning given the situation. So, without much delay Tony announced the chip counts, the dealer cut for the button, and we were on our way. On the very first hand I was dealt AQ of diamonds under the gun and raised to 15k. Everyone folded to the big blind who had half her stack invested in the blind and chose to call with A6 (can't say I blame her). The hands turn up, the guy to her right declares he folded a 6, and the dealer reveals a Q for the door card...beautiful. Unfortunately, there was a 6 on the flop, and unfortunately, the case 6 hit the turn. Nice way to start the final table. Instead of moving to 100k I was chopped down to about 65k. Over the next 5 hands, short stacks were pushing, usually with the worst of it, and each time they won. After folding these hands and paying the blinds I sat at about 55k when I picked up JJ in mid position. The blinds just went to 4k/8k and I open shoved. Immediately, I was called by a tight player and I knew I was beat, he showed KK. I laughed to myself wondering how I could be the first out? Was I not a good person, good people deserve better fates. Anyway, without having to wait a jack was the first card out and I soon found myself on top again with 120k, beautiful. I had the poor guy covered by about 2k. The very next hand I had 109 diamonds and raised, unfortunately a short stack found aces and won, down to 108k. Two hands later I was in the blind when another short stack who was going to pay the blind next hand pushed in for 12k, everyone folded to me and I had 89. I called another 4k and he showed me a9, yuck. I lose, down to 96k. Next hand I'm in the small blind and another short stack who also was under the gun raised all in for 14k and everyone folded to me. I only had Q7 suited, but given the fact I had 4k invested, that the big blind was a rock and only had 20k total, I figured I could probably isolate against the desperate short stack and be risking an additional 10k to win a 36k pot. Anyway, somehow the short stackers kept finding legitimate hands, and of course once again, I did not have live cards as he tabled QJ suited. I lost, down to 82k. Over the next 15 or so hands I folded everything as people were pushing all-in every time and not once did I pick up a hand and not once did I have a reasonable situation to steal. During this time I did get free pass on my big blind. Then, in the following big blind I had QJ suited. This guy Wayne from early position min raised to 16k. Wayne was the only guy at the final table with a clue and frankly he was starting to accumulate chips and starting to open too many pots so I decided to call and check blind. I don't check blind very often but I know Wayne will push if I check the flop givin the money already in the middle, so with QJ you either hit or you don't, unlike a small pair where I would like to fire all in if the flop was rags. Also, he may check if he misses as he knows I'm capable of playing the same way with AA or KK. Anyway, the flop comes 532 rainbow and he checks behind me. I know he has missed so I say to myself anything but an A, K, or 10 and I push into him. Turn is a K, I check he fires all-in I fold and he shows me the K. Sick turn or I take down a monster and become big chip leader.

The next time I played a pot we were down to seven players and the blinds were 10k/20k and I was sitting at 70k in the small blind. Everyone folded to the button who was tight and he pushed all in for 28k. I looked down at j10 diamonds and deliberated for a minute. I felt this was the toughest decision to date. I figured I was behind and if I called and lost I would be dangerously low to a point I could no longer steal blinds without showing down. On the other hand, if I could win this hand I would be back up to almost 100k and could apply significant pressure once again (it seemed that every time someone would accumulate a big stack, they would play tight trying to outlast their opponents instead of applying pressure. So, I thought if I could get a good stack again I may be able to steal my way to victory). The big blind had about 38k so if he called I had limited additional exposure. Anyway, I decided to go for the win and call. My opponent tabled AQ and won.

The Final Blow:

2 hands later I had k2 off. On the previous hand, someone was knocked out, which resulted in an extra blind being posted (don't ask me to get into their silly house rules). The action folded to me in the cutoff and I couldn't resist pushing my 42k (besides I didn't have many more looks before I would be blinded out). Both small blinds were short stacks like me and the big blind was the chip leader. I figured that both blinds would fold unless they had a monster hoping instead the big stack would knock me out and each of them would move one step higher on the pay scale. Unfortunately Wayne found AJ and called. The big blind folded and we were heads up for about 125k with all the dead money in play. I lost the showdown and finished 6th for about $1,100.

Its tough to play with the blind structures offered by Club Regent. Maybe one day they will host a real tournament where skill plays a bigger part. In any case, I thought I would provide some rationale behind my decisions. I do know the peanut gallery was snickering from time to time when I revealed some of my less than formidable showdown hands, but what u gonna do? I play to win.

Cheers,

The Club Regent Hackfest

2008-01-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of months I have made at least a half dozen trips down to Club Regent with Kathy. For those of you that don't know, the game of choice down there is a mildly butchered form of 1-2nl. The small minimum and cap buy-ins translates to heavy preflop and flop play with limited maneuvering on the turn and river. Anyway, I go down there to have some fun, give a few beats, and spend some quality time with Kathy.

I have noticed that everytime I go I see the same 20-30 faces. At least 50-60% of the field are regulars. What amazes me is that after playing each and everyday these 20-30 faces still can't grasp the basics of how to play poker. In fact, I have only come across 3-4 guys who had any idea of how to play good poker. I find that there are two types of players. The first is the calling station. This person will call any bet to see the flop with the 2 hole cards he/she likes. This player does not understand anything about pot odds, position, relative chip stacks, etc... Instead, he/she focuses only on the hole cards, seeing the flop, and choosing to continue if he/she hits the flop. This person does not generally bluff except when putting in one continuation bet after a preflop raise. This person is a big losing player. The second player, which I refer to the 1-2nl grinder, is a tight aggressive player. Generally, this person waits for top 20 hands before entering a pot and usually enters with a raise. This person usually bets the flop no matter what 'for information purposes' no matter how scary the flop is and this person usually has a hard time getting away from quasi big hands (such as an overpair or top pair top kicker). This person goes overkill on the math, understands some aspects of position, and can usually be found staring into their opponents soul when played back at. This second type of player is my favorite to crack, largely because they feel they know everything about the game and largely because they are typically young, arrogant, and way too serious at the table. Remember, poker is supposed to be fun first and everything else second otherwise you will never succeed.

Overall, I have done well at Club Regent even though I play like a jackass and never pass a hand before seeing the flop. I don't know the exact details, but I have won 5/6 times with one $800 loss and 3 wins over $1,000. My high variance is due to reckless play. The truth is a person could show up with a $300-400 float and play comfortably.

I don't have much time but I want to talk about a couple hands, one for sentimental reasons, one to illustrate an opponents total donkeyness, and one to illustrate my total donkeyness.

Hand #1

I have 98 hearts and raise to $10 early position. I have about $350. 5 players call and the flop is 763 two clubs. A short stack bets $30 and only has $50 left behind him. I decide to raise to $75 to isolate and hope everyone folds getting me heads up (risking $80 additional dollars to win a $210 pot with my hand seems like a fair investment - understanding that I'm in a gambling mood). Anyway, they all fold to Joe Montreal and he re-raises all in for $230 or so...oops I ran into a set. I have played with Joe enough in years past to know that the only hand he is going to show me is 77, 44, or 33. The short stack calls and I figure why not, let's gamble, Joe runs bad anyway. I tell him nice hand, that I'm just giving him action, and no hard feelings no matter what. He laughs and we turn over all of our hands. Joe shows 77, the short stack shows a9 clubs, and I have a lovely up and down vs the set and flush draw. The turn is the 10 of spades and river is j of diamonds. Nice call me, scalla. I could see the blood rush to Joe's face as he blows a $600 pot with top set. I felt kinda bad because he does run pretty bad, but I know he wouldn't have minded taking my money so I didn't lose any sleep over it. What was kind of amusing though was how Joe had to try his hardest to hold in his rage. He is an emotional player and typically would berate anyone else who gave him such a beat. However, I have lost to him before on big pots and laughed it off so he knew he had to give me the same respect, such is poker.

Hand #2

Last night a player I secretly referred to as 'Rockzilla' got involved with me in what started as a meaningless pot. 4 in the hand for a total of $8. Flop is ak4 all diamonds. I have j7 of diamonds. Everyone checks flop. Turn is offsuit 6. I bet $10. Rockzilla raises to $40. Now, I have been a little wild of late so I decide to raise again hoping to get paid off so I make it $110 total. Rockzilla pauses for awhile then declares all in for $500 total (I have him covered). My initial reaction was how do I fold here, but then I think it through. First, I have shown two thin calls to big river bets so if he had the nut flush he would push right there. Second, this guy has played very tight and has accumulated chips on big pots only showing the nuts. Third, this was a nothing pot and I could only think he could shove back here with the nuts. With anything less I think he would call to see what I do on the river as he has position. After some deliberation I fold and show face up. He proceeds to show me his monster 62 of diamonds. I kinda laugh and say nice hand. He says to me 'I can't believe you folded that' and I calmly reply 'I can't believe you put your life savings in on the 7th nut hand in a $8 pot. He then rationalized by saying 'I felt I had to either go all-in or fold'. Ah, the old low limit Phil Helmuth raise or fold technique. I think this train of thought is a little absurd. If I raise to $110 and he just calls the turn and I choose to bet the river my river bet will be somewhere between $120 to $175 (as the total pot would then be $220). He could see if I have him beat for an additional $120 to $175 as opposed to $500 more. Also, if for some reason I was bluffing he could induce the bluff (however, this is very unlikely as there is no reason to bluff a small pot). Anyway, his suicide play worked for him because he ran into me instead of the other 9 players at the table. In the 9 other situations he would be borrowing bus fair to get home.

Hand #3

I raise in early position to $12 with 65 clubs. 4 call and the flop is 732 one club. Two checks to me I decide to bet $35. The kid on the button raises to $70 total and only has another $100 behind him. Everyone else folds and for whatever reason I decide to just flat call (as I was doing it I was saying to myself what are you doing?). I have watched this kid have bad luck and I have noticed that when he decides to raise he is committed to the hand and will not fold. Anyway, I am not priced to gut him but I try anyway. The turn pairs the 3 and it is a club so I have now have a flush draw and gutter. I push all-in into him knowing he is going to call (another draw I am not really priced to go after). Sure enough he stubbornly calls showing 88, however, I come out smelling like a rose when the river is the K of clubs, man I run good at 1-2nl sometimes. This is clearly an example of your competition wearing off on you. I had been surrounded by donkeys all night and was now playing like one myself.

In total I made $1050 on the night and was happy I went down (Kathy won about $250 herself). I will continue to make occasional appearances as it is fun to see everyone and to blow off a little steam. The only poker this week was a 30/60 stud game on the 2nd where I suffered my first loss in about 20 sessions. It was minimal but I had many nightmares that night over the unbelievable beats I suffered from my good friends Rosie and Larry. I'm hoping to organize another big nl game in the next week and will likely play stud next Wednesday. Otherwise, I may dabble a bit online (although I'm trying to take a bit of a break).

Till next time.......

Merry Christmas

2007-12-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

It has been a week and a half since my last post. This will be a short post as I have little poker to report. My days have been dedicated to visiting friends and family, eating, drinking, sleeping, and more eating. I think I gained 10 pounds and many of my clothes do not fit anymore. No matter, in a couple of days my typical New Year's resolutions kick in and I will be once again frequenting the gym (usually by February this resolution fizzles).

I have played vitually no internet poker. I was going to play today, but instead got carried away with Guitar Hero. By the time I clicked on stars the Sunday Million and heads up $215 were already underway. I don't mind though as I'm a little tired and the Million is $1050 today so I shouldn't play unless fresh anyway at that price. As well, I need to work on my Guitar Hero so I don't get hustled by my friends (Kathy and I had a party on Friday. Travis waited until I was really drunk before asking to play me Guitar Hero for money.....I lost 50 bucks. Oh, and for those that care, play Wolters for cash he really sucks).

I have played live 3 times, all stud. The first game was 20/40 kill and the other two started as 30/60 but were quickly bumped up to 40/80 kill games. I booked three consecutive wins $775, $1925, and $5,400 respectively. No complaints. FOR THOSE INTERESTED THIS GAME IS NOT RAKED so please don't have the gaming commission waste their time investigating.

Anway, the game seems to be getting bigger. A couple of the colourful characters feel that by juicing up the game to 40/80 it will slow down the chasing. In my humble opinion I think it just means bigger pots. Some of these guys really enjoy playing greek style (coming from behind) and I don't think the size of the bets are going to scare them. Obviously, the bigger the game the better as far as I'm concerned, but in the end I go with the flow and be happy that I get to play. I cannot list who regularily plays but I will say that each of them are either businessmen or professionals, all of whom love to gamble and talk trash (the only exception is Todd, but his stud game is still a work in progress so the threat is minimal...hehe). None of them play for a living and I feel I have a very good read on each of them.

Reinacting stud hands is a little more complicated than in holdem but I do want to talk about 2 hands in particular. These two were chosen because I think they are interesting and because they ended happily by me raking in sizeable pots.

Hand #1:

It's 40/80 and I limp in first position with 932 all clubs. In our game we have big blind / small blind with no low card bring in or ante - a bit unconvential, but so is the tempo of this game. There was no point in raising to isolate at this point because it was getting late, people were stuck, and bluffing was very unlikely if I couldn't make a hand. Anyway, Mike calls, Rosie calls, Larry calls, and Nick checks big blind (I will refrain from using last names). Next card out for me is the 4 of clubs so I have a three straight and four flush (92 of clubs showing). However, Rosie shows JJ, Larry shows KQ, and Nick shows 83 (and each player has two cards buried). With a pair showing Rosie fires out $80, Larry raises, and Nick reraises to $240 and action is to me. I know Rosie has only a pair of jacks because he raises almost any pair on 3rd street. I know Larry hit the Q on 4th and raises because he can beat the jacks, a good raise. But Nick in the big blind reraises with 83 showing? I think he may have two pair 8s and 3s, but he is also capable of raising with one pair here to isolate trying to get heads up with Larry. As well, he may be a little on tilt at this point because he lost a few big pots in a row. So, knowing Rosie and Larry are going to call I feel I'm getting good equity on calling against at worst Nick's two pair. One final piece of information is that I have not seen any 5s, 6s, or Aces which means I am more likely to back into a straight and I have only seen 1 other club out so with 8 clubs left I can easily make a flush. Anway, next card I get a 9, Rosie gets a 4, Larry gets a 4, and Nick gets a 3. Checked to Nick he bets. This is tricky now because if Nick had 8s and 3s he now has a fullhouse which means I'm drawing so thin. I have a 3 in the hole though so I'm not convinced he has a fullhouse, and with a pair of 9s now I have additional outs to beat him if he has two pair. So, I call and see what comes next. Rosie and Larry also call, but I'm not afraid of them at this point because if either of them hit jacks up or queens up they would have bet into Nick. On 6th, Rosie gets a 6, Larry gets a 7, Nick gets a 10 and I get a 2. Checked to Nick he bets. Now, I'm a little concerned because he is betting into my hand showing 9922, however I have invested a lot and the pot is big and I have outs even if he has a full house with two 9s remaining. Both Rosie and Larry call, with Rosie stating 'I shouldn't call but there's too much money in there', so I'm not too worried about either of their hands. On 7th I get the a of clubs making an ace high flush. Nick bets out. I was hoping he would slow down on 7th, but his bet made me feel like I was donating to a full house. However, after calling and Rosie and Larry both folding (neither had 2 pair or would have called) Nick shows aces and 3s, two pair, he slow played the aces. Lucky river me, however I had a lot of outs against that hand. Nick proceeds to call me a hack for calling three bets cold on 4th with a flush draw, however, mathematically it was a good call and in fact I would take my hand over any of theirs on 4th 8 times a week.

Hand #2

Same day about an hour later. Nick raised on 3rd and only Rosie and I called. I have 10s in the hole with a 4 up. Rosie has a J and Nick has an 8. I was going to three bet but with Rosie already calling one bet I knew he was going nowhere and Nick was in steamroll mode so I thought I would disguise my strength (I do this sometimes with wired pairs to mix it up. I fast play much more often with split pairs because there is little inherent deception). Fourth, Nick gets a 3 Rosie gets a 5, and I get an A. Nick bets, we both call. My plan is if neither of them get a scare card on fifth I'm gonna raise Nick to get rid of Rosie. On fifth Rosie gets a
K of diamonds and bets out. Rosie's door card J was a diamond as well so I knew he was either betting a pair of kings or a flush draw. Nick calls after getting a 10, I just call getting a Q. On sixth, Rosie gets a dud I think a 2 and Nick gets what I think is a dud 4. I get a nothing card as well, 7. So showing Rosie has J5K2, Nick has 83104, and I have 4AQ7. Rosie bets out and Nick raises. At first glance it looks like an auto-pass because Rosie likely has a pair of kings and Nick must have backed into something. However, after a little deliberation I put Rosie on a flush draw as I think I heard him mumble after being raised 'ok Nick, I got outs' and I think Nick is steamrolling a backdoor draw (he picked up 2 spades - his 8 and 4, remember his door card was the 8 of spades and he could easily have raised on 3rd with three spades, possibly 8a2 of spades, which would also give him a gut straight draw). A lot of times I just pass, but I was rushing and felt I had the best even know my hand was extremely vulnerable. On 7th I don't improve, Nick bets and I see Rosie is dissapointed about missing his draw so I call. Nick says I'm good, I show him a measly pair of 10s and he snaps. He proceeds to lecture Rosie about folding his hand (or showing he is going to fold) before the action gets to him. In reality, I don't think it matters because I can usually tell if Rosie likes his hand so unless I sense strength from him I was going to call Nick down. Why else would I call 2 bets on 6th? Certainly not to see if I can improve to 2 pair. Just the same, Nick has a valid complaint.

Unfortunately all my good decisions do not translate into pots won, however I am happy that I am guessing right. Both of those situations were tough spots, but after playing with these guys so many times I have been able to dissect betting patterns. This stud game is wild and unlike any other I have ever played. 4-5 guys usually call to at least 5th street and it is not uncommon to have 3-4 players going to 7th street. This kind of game forces you to play close attention to each card that falls as opposed to traditional stud where you pound a big pair to 7th street and hope you win. In this game, you could be the better on 5th and folding on 6th.

I think we are going to play again January 2 so good luck to me. Also, I do hope we can organize another nl game soon. It seems to be drying up a little. Heaven forbid, I don't want to rely on the club regent slash fest for my weekly fix of holdem. As for Internet, I'll probably start grinding after New Years with tournaments and Sit-n-gos (taking a break from cash games as I'm running bad online).

Hope everyone has a great New Year's and you'll here from me soon.

Cheers,

Joe

Vegas

2007-12-21T08:37:00.000-08:00

It’s been a busy week so I apologize for not posting this earlier.

Kathy and I spent a week down at the Wynn, Las Vegas from the 9th to 16th of December. I love that hotel as the people are generally hospitable and the environment is comfortable. Their poker room is one of the better ones on the strip offering a regular 1-3 up to 5-10nl and including an occasional 10-20nl. People say the games at the Wynn are the toughest as many of the local pros make this room their destination of choice. If I’m running bad there, or if Kathy and I venture off to play tournaments elsewhere, we sometimes find ourselves playing at the Bellagio, Venitian, or Caesars. Each has their pros and cons as far as I’m concerned.

The Bellagio has the best action, but the people are rude, the lists are usually long, and they cap the buy-in at all games lower than10-20nl. Personally, I love no cap buys so I can play deep stack poker without having to build my stack for the first few hours (if I’m lucky enough to be winning).

The Venitian has the best poker room setup. They also hold the best daily tournaments especially on Saturday where for $540 you get 10k chips and 45 minute levels. Kathy and I both played it yesterday. With 144 players I came in about 133 after taking two retarded beats (losing half my stack with the nut straight when the board paired on the river – to a 2 pair 4 out draw, then losing with aces to kj after hitting a set. Kathy on the other hand went deep finishing 20th. Unfortunately, she went card dead down the stretch and even more unfortunately, they only paid 18. I hope the Venician draws bigger games as time goes on because I really like playing there. As of now they only spread a 5-10nl and it is usually silly tight.

Caesars is my least favourite because they can’t even get a 5/10 going, their tournaments suck as the blinds escalate quickly, the room is right next door to Pure so it is loud and smoky, and most importantly, the waitresses are all 60 plus sporting rather revealing uniforms.

Overall this trip was not great financially. I felt like the games were a little tougher than usual because it is a slow time in Vegas and therefore there were a higher percentage of local pros playing vs. tourist fishies. I felt like I played well on most sessions but was not able to convert that into big wins. In typical fashion, I won a lot of small pots, but could not win the big ones, except one which I will explain shortly. Overall, I ran relatively poor and the net result was positive 3k. I will highlight some key hands mostly from cash as I only played a couple tourneys.

#1 Wynn 5-10nl. There was a fish with lots of money so I bought in 3k (I usually buy equal to the largest weak player’s stack). Had qj of clubs in the cutoff with one limper to me. I put in a pot building raise to $50 and two defended including the big blind (fish) and limper. Flop came down 1084 one club. Check check, I bet $110 (I bet because both of these guys were not very aggressive and I noticed that this table generally slow played big hands. So, I figured it was unlikely to be raised and if someone flopped big I could win a big pot with a 9 or running clubs, as I would get two free cards with my position). Anyway, big blind called. Turn q. He checked, I felt I had best and bet $255. He calls. River q. He checks, now I over bet to $650 he snap calls. He shows me q9. Where is the rest of the pot? Nevertheless, I am happy take home a stress free G note. If I knew he had that hand I would have made a small bet like $325 to induce a raise, but I thought the big bet may look like a power bluff and I may get called down thin. I find that fish generally view a big river bet as a bluff after triple barrelling (preflop, the flop, and turn). I think this has to do with the fact that most fish view the hand as finished after the turn bet if you have a made hand. The thinking is I made them pay to draw and to be safe I’ll now just check and see if I win. Value betting rivers are less frequent with mediocre hands and is one of the big separating points between good and bad players (obviously this is not a mediocre hand having running trips).

#2 Tuesday – Tournament at Wynn 58 players, $330 buy-in. We were down to 11 and 9 got paid. I was about 5th in chips with 22k, blinds 300-600 w/ ante so lots of play. Buddy (many people chose to use villain as the name of their opponent, I prefer buddy) raises from the button for the 3rd time out of 3 opportunities to raise when all folded to him. I passed on other two with horrible hands. This time I have kq clubs and decide to call his raise to 1,800 as this is one of the few hands I like seeing flops with because flopping top pair with either is very strong, and given the high aggression level of buddy I felt I could win a big pot by trapping him (and I cannot call if he pushes to a re-raise preflop as I’m a dog to even an ace rag) . So, he raises, I call and flop is 753 one club. Not good, however, when I check and he bet $1,800 I was so sure he had nothing. I was going to raise there (and in hindsight should have) but instead I decided to call with intentions of raising the turn as long as no ace came or my read changed based on turn action. I had watched him double barrel on several occasions already and had once before been caught bluffing. So anyway, I float and the j of clubs comes. No way was I going to let this go now with two overs and a flush draw. I checked and he bet 4.5k. This was a rather large bet for a double barrel bluff, I was expecting a 3k bet. It was risky that he may have a j here, however, even with a j it would be difficult to withstand a check raise I think especially given that I have not shown a bluff all day and for the most part have not floated any pots of significance. And, if he calls I’m still 1/3 to win assuming my kq or club are good. So, I check raise all-in for another 14k approximately, which is standard with a big hand considering 12k in the pot already and a flush draw out there. Buddy thought for about 2.4 seconds and called showing j8 of diamonds. I was surprised he called so fast with no kicker, but such is life. The river bricked and I bubbled instead of becoming chip leader. The funny thing about tournament poker is it is so situational and there are so many correct/incorrect ways to play each situation. Maybe this one was incorrect?

#3 Wynn 10-20nl. I was stuck about 1k from playing a little 2-5nl and 10-20 Omaha H/L fixed while waiting for a seat. The game was great as there were two golfers from Scottsdale playing and they were bad. For the first hour I had won a few smaller pots and had recouped my 1k plus about $2,000 interest. Then the following hand came up. One of the golfers limped and I had the punisher (the punisher is kq, named so by Chris Wolters because you never win with it but always lose to it). I raised to $80 and had two callers including the golfer. Flop came 910J two diamonds. Finally, I had flopped the bomb. He checked, I bet 160, my standard 2/3 pot continuation bet (some like to make pot size bets but my conservative nature fancies a more cautious approach). My good friend the golfer decides to check raise me to $500. I lot of times I fast play here, but considering his erratic play I don’t want to lose him. Already, he has shown two check-raise-fold scenarios on flops when re-raised. Turn 4 clubs. He leads out $700 and with only another $850 behind I put him in. He tells me he’s committed and has lots of outs, showing q4 diamonds. River diamond.

#4 Wynn 5-10nl. The game was pretty good but I was down about 1k when the following hand took place. Buddy, who I called Ferguson because he looked like Chris Ferguson (luckily his play was much worse) came to the table on a short buy of $400. He was very aggressive preflop, which is common of low limit ram, jam and hope for the best players. In fact, he had repopped about 3 pots preflop in 30 minutes on hands where significant cash was already in the middle (ie. Straddle lots of callers, straddle raise and a few callers, etc…). In this case, I raised the straddle to about $70. Ferguson was in the small, and elected to re raise to $410. $410? This guy is an idiot. About 10 minutes earlier I raised the straddle with 88 and folded when he made an insane re-raise. This time I had jj and was not going to let him push me again. I had to be careful though because he had by some miracle amassed about $1700 total. After thinking a bit and realizing he was nervous about his hand and that he would not kill his action with such an over bet if he held qq through aa, I concluded no way he has better than jj, but I didn’t want to shove and race an aq or ak. So I call. Flop was 974 two clubs. Ferguson proceeded to flex his muscles by leading out for $600 leaving him with about $700. I put him in, he calls and shows ak of clubs….bonk k on turn. I love guys that power through ak from the blind out of position, then push through no matter what the flop is (although Ferguson did hit a fairly good flop for his hand and is a slight favourite over my jacks). No matter how I play the hand though I will lose my money unless I fold preflop. Guys like this don’t ever fold ak.

#5 Caesers – 2-5nl. Ceasers 2-5 is a no cap buy and on this day the game was wild. I was killing some time as Kathy was going deep in another tourney, which I was bounced out of early (I shot it in on a draw against top set – I tend to shoot in smaller tournaments early to either stack up or get out). In this game there was a cowboy he was a complete maniac calling and raising every hand. I bought in for $1,500 and had it up to about 2.5k when the following hand took place. For the first time that evening I picked up aa, in the small blind. A European dude who was pretty solid raised to $20 several called and I repopped from the small to $90. I had been pretty active of late, but rarely re-raising out of position. The European called and the cowboy called. Flop came down ak2 rainbow. By far and away the biggest monkey flop you could ask for. I bet out $150 and they both call. Turn 5 clubs bringing in flush draw. I bet $400 looking for the cowboy to pay me off. All of a sudden the European raises all-in to $1300. Then, the cowboy says to his wife ‘we may be going broke this hand honey – lets gamble’ then declares all-in for $1700. Honestly, I thought he was being honest and thought he had a k and picked up a flush draw. I snap call. The European shows 22 and the cowboy produces 34 off for the straight. Yuck, here we go again with the beats. However, this time the board paired the k on the river and for the first time in ages, I came from behind on a big pot. Sorry cowboy, the angling didn’t payoff. He proceeded to call me the luckiest player ever and that he always takes the worst beats.

#6 Wynn – 10-20nl. The game was the toughest I’d played in on this trip with at least 4 guys who knew the game well. However, there was a rich women playing who was stuck in 5th gear trying to bluff every pot. So, I was playing rather tight waiting for an opportunity to grab her. All of a sudden she opens for $60 and I look down at my friend aa. I re-raise to $220 and she calls, we are heads up. Flop is q1010 with two spades. She leads out $200. I like the flop and I likely have the best but decide to call instead of raising for several reasons. First, we are both deep. Second, I have position and with her not being a creative player I will know I have the best if she checks to me on any street. Third, she may be running a drawing dead bluff so I do not necessarily want to lose her. Fourth, she will not fold if on a draw so wait until turn before punishing a flush/straight draw. Five, if she has no straight or flush draw, it is very hard for her to catch up with a made hand (like a q or a pocket pair), unless already beating me with a 10. Turn is 4 of spades and she leads out again, only this time betting a measly $100. I found this very suspicious as her previous double barrel bluffs increased in size on the turn. I was concerned she hit the flush so I just call. River is an off suit 6 and she fires out $500 into the 1k pot. I think for awhile and was unable to get a good read. I felt she either has a flush or nothing at all and for ½ pot I think I was getting good equity to call so I did. She showed me 44 for a full house….sweet. If I raised the flop I would have won, however, if the 4 didn’t hit I think she would have pushed through in the same manner, so what is the right play?

This last hand centers on the dilemma I have been struggling with for sometime now. Do I play too conservatively and cautious? There are successful players that opt for this approach and there are successful players that are way more aggressive. I am trying to change my style a bit to open up my game and be more aggressive because I feel playing defensively puts a lot of pressure on one’s ability to read hands especially on big turn and river bets. As well, it is difficult to engage in big pots because your opponents notice you only play big pots when you have the nuts. Playing an open game is the most difficult style to play. If you are not able to know where your opponents are in the hand and which cards will hurt you, you will go broke quickly. I think very few people play an open style effectively, but ultimately it is required to play at the top level. In the last couple days, I have begun reviewing videos from Cardrunner from guys like CTS, Greenplastic, and Stinger and I do feel that they take control of hands better than I do, especially preflop with significantly more 3 and 4 betting, and they run more bluffs (at the right times when the right situations present themselves and the right scare cards come down). Having said all of that, I think there are enough fish at all limits that don’t pay attention to how their opponents play so you can play tight-aggressive, without big pot bluffing, and still make a handsome living.

Playing in our local 5/10; 10/25 nl game you see both styles work effectively. For example, I play regularly against two winning players in Travis Brown and Chris Wolters. Travis is very aggressive and he pushes many hands. Sometimes he gets caught bluffing, but his image allows him to get paid off so much more because people feel he is always bluffing (which is not the case). Of course it doesn’t hurt that he runs like god, hence the nickname ‘Seabiscuit’. On the other hand, contrary to popular belief, sparked by his rather donkish approach to the Barca game, Wolters has a more tight aggressive style. He is not afraid to put the chips in, but usually he plays big pots with a big hand or big draw only.

Having said all that, I would play that hand the same way against that lady all day long because she is going to push big bluffs. And, as in this case, she is only drawing to a 2-outers so I’ll take my chances.

That’s enough rambling for one post. I’ll try to put something up in the next couple days to cover our local nl game and I’ll report how I did in the stud game today. As for online, I have not played much of anything this week except Wednesday night where I hacked around in some tournaments. I did finish 3rd in a 77 6-max for a couple thousand, but otherwise nothing exciting to report. I doubt I’ll have much time to play online this next week with many family and friend commitments. If I can squeeze it in I may go to Travis’s on Sunday to play some tournaments otherwise my next adventure will be a Boxing Day 40-80 stud game. All for now….

Intro - Life of a degenerate gambler

2007-12-18T15:54:00.000-08:00

My name is Joe Williams and I am a degenerate gambler. Some of you reading this know me and many do not. For those that do I would like to apologize in advance for using this blog as a platform to vent what seems to be a never ending string of bad beats. For those that do not know me, you should know that when it comes to poker I feel the same way as Phil Helmuth in that ‘if not for bad luck, I would always win’.

I have been struggling with the idea of posting my poker experiences on PegCity for sometime now. On the one hand, I have had reservations about doing it because I feel that many close to me will view this as cheesy and egocentric. As well, I am busy and I am lazy, which both limit my willingness to exert energy for most any new initiative. On the other hand, I think actively documenting my play will help improve overall poker success. The poker landscape is changing as more young kids are treating it like a business with incredible focus and discipline. If I don’t follow suit I may be left behind. I think consistent analysis of play should identify mistakes and consistent record keeping should identify areas of strength and weakness. Finally, I think this will be fun and with a little luck I will be able to install some knowledge on interested readers - such as what not to do in a poker game. I have become an avid reader of Travis’s blog and I must commend him. It is interesting, honest, and he has shown considerable dedication to his listeners (however, I think his choice of hand discussions are a little bias sometimes. Don’t worry Travis I’ll be sure to tell everyone about your futile river bluffs….hehe).

So before I get into where I am at with poker I thought I would offer a reader’s digest summary of my gambling career. It started about 25 years ago when I used to hustle my way out of chores by beating my siblings in games of crib, rummy, and 952. At a very early age I realized that I loved to gamble at everything and that I had a knack for it. I expanded my horizons by hustling on the golf course, pool halls, and small stake house games. My philosophy was if it wasn’t for money it wasn’t worth doing at all.

By the time I was 18 (1991) I was earning enough cash to support my other great love at the time – drinking. By this time I felt like I had amassed a rather diversified portfolio of skills including such games as Stud, Omaha, Pineapple, Tahoe, Draw Poker, Offsuit and a blend of the circus games like In-between, 727, Fiery Cross to name a few. And just when I thought I had all the essentials to make it in the big leagues I expanded my horizons once again by enrolling in Pool Hall 101 at the University of Manitoba. At the time, the pool hall had an area called the ‘Side Pocket’ where many a student lost there tuition money, much of it to me. There I learned card games such as Big 2, 10s, Spades, Bidwist, Gin, and just about any other trump game you can think of. I would arrive at about 11am, usually a little hung-fu from the night before, and would begin the day by hustling some pool for an hour or two before the card games would breakout. This vicious cycle would continue for the better part of 5 years as I floated my way to a degree in business. My good GPA was facilitated by purchasing assignments from geeks, whining and lying to Profs to obtain extensions and extra marks, and of course hiring top notch tutors to filter through the heavy workload during exam time. It’s amazing what money can buy. During these years I learned that money won was so much more satisfying than more earned (sorry to take credit for your line Mr. Paul Newman, but it is so true).

After graduation, a little traveling, and my one short attempt at Corporate America I soon found myself in T-dot for business, lasting from late 1996 to 1999. The business eventually fizzled and I moved back to the Peg. I came home broke and had to decide what to do. After a couple minutes of deliberation I came to the conclusion that it was time to start gambling again. It was at this time that I was introduced to Texas Hold’em. Starting with a zero bankroll I began grinding it out at Club Regent playing mostly 3-6 and 4-8 limit with an occasional visit to McPhillips to play 10-20 with the mopes. I was making what you can expect to make in those game, but I was having difficulties keeping up with my lofty expenditures. I was living in the Ashdown Warehouse with a monthly entertainment expense of over $3,000. At one point, I was close to hanging up the jersey when all of a sudden out of nowhere the clouds parted and the angels brought forth the Scandals game. The Scandals game took place twice a week and was made up of a legendary cast of characters, most of whom could not grasp the basic concepts of poker on the best of days. After 24 beers, or in some cases, multiple bottles of Wild Turkey, the play was embarrassing to say the least. The game lasted for about a year until the bar pulled the plug because too many people began showing up for the unlicensed game.

Almost immediately after the decease of the Scandal’s game, I was approached by two gamblers I knew to open up a club. Now normally I would have declined, but with my recent pay cut I knew I needed an alternative source of income – enter Corydon Club. The Corydon club netted about 10k / month for me between hosting, dealing, and playing. The place did well during its existence as many gamblers preferred the confines of the club to the casino probably due to our appreciation for our customer base. But, like all good things, it came to an end, approximately 10 months in when two lowly crack addicts decided it would be cool to shoot the place up. Luckily nobody got hurt. After Corydon I moved over to Ness where I continued to offer late night entertainment to Winnipeg’s most degenerate souls. I stayed at Ness for about a year before finally tossing in the white flag. My reasons for quitting were twofold. One, I was tired of the lifestyle and tired of the degenerate nature of the customers. And two, profitability was down due to increased club competition and a shrinking player pool. I have no regrets about that chapter in my life however I could never do it again.

After leaving the club scene I soon left for the states with a buddy. We traveled around Southern California playing poker while enjoying a winter without snow (2003). The trip turned out to be a break-even for me financially but it did allow me to reflect and refocus. After an extensive self-diagnostic, I determined it was time for a major life change. So, when I returned from the trip I made a gigantic leap from degenerate live poker gambling to degenerate Internet poker gambling. Jokes aside, this adjustment proved very lucrative for me. In my first month online I managed to make 10k multi-tabling 5-10 limit. In my second month, I jumped up to 10-20 and 15-30 limit and banked over 20k. How sweet was this? I couldn’t believe how bad the play was or how good I was running. For the following year I strung together 12 profitable months sometimes earning upwards of 40k / month playing 10-20 to as high as 100-200 limit. I was logging insane hours but was slowly burning out.

It was then, in the early summer of 2004, that a business opportunity presented itself. My father and two others approached my about an interesting technology for the transportation sector. The product generates hydrogen and oxygen gases from water and introduces them into an internal combustion engine. The net effect is more efficient combustion leading to fuel mileage improvements and lowered emissions. I felt that the market timing for such a product was ideal and that the product was at a reasonable stage of development. So, without much hesitation, we formed a company called Innovative Hydrogen Solutions (I.H.S.), raised some private capital, and began refining the product to a commercialized state. Over the last 3 ½ years, the company has spent upwards of 4 million on product development and only in the last 3-4 months have we begun manufacturing product for sale. During this time, key management (reluctantly I slot myself into the ‘key’ category) have made no money and have endured many headaches along the way. In my case, I have sacrificed time and money by restricting my gambling to a part-time job. All in all, I don’t have any regrets because I think the company will eventually show a huge financial upside.

At about the same time that I.H.S. was created, I met my best friend and current girlfriend Kathy, of whom I have been living with, with her son Braeden for about six months. She is a wonderful person and has been a great supporter of my endeavours. She always jokes around that the honeymoon is over, but the fact is we’re still having as much fun as we did on our first date. She is also becoming one hell of a poker player, especially in tournaments (Most recently she finished 16th in the ladies event in B.C). I expect to see her cashing on a more regular basis in the tournaments we play and maybe with a little luck she can pick up a sponsorship along the way, as there are so few solid females playing the game, at least ones that are hot – sorry Kathy Liebert.

So, in summary, I have been playing part-time poker for about 31/2 years now due to increased responsibilities and a more balanced lifestyle. During this time, I have made money both live and on the Internet, but in amounts that are steadily shrinking. There are several reasons for the decreased incoming cash flow. For one, my busy schedule means that poker fits in when everything else is done. This frequently results in me playing tired and like many, my concentration weakens and my tilt strengthens when I’m tired. Two, the Internet is becoming more and more difficult. A lot of young guys are learning how to play tough from articles, forums, card runners, etc…, to the point where the edge is little if non-existent in the bigger games (games are even getting tough at the 1-2, 2-4, and 3-6 levels). Three, there are no more clubs to run bigger games. The casino is not licensed for big games, and even if they were, nobody would play there because of the attitude and restrictions put on players and games. Four, I have been running bad for the last year. Between online and my regular Vegas trips, I find that every time I get the money in on big pots I am usually between a 60-90% favourite, but I am losing close to 80% of them. For example, I have been involved in 9 20k+ plus pots in my life. I was ahead on 8 of them when the chips went in and only won once.

In Winnipeg, live play has been my only savour of late thanks to the Penguin game and the weekly Stud game. I ran average at the now non-existent Penguin 10-25 game, but still booked a win in all but one session. As for the Stud game, I run like god and have booked 26 wins in 27 attempts averaging at least 2.5k / session. That is a lot for a 20/40 kill game. I almost feel sorry for those that battle me in that game, almost.

Today and Tomorrow:

I live an awesome life all in all, but something is missing. My thirst to play serious poker is increasing and I think that with a little work, guidance, and experience, I can compete at the highest level in the game (in fact I think that there are at least 3-4 other guys in Winnipeg that could too). Ultimately, I want to make playing WPT events and travelling to cool places to be a part of my everyday life. This will be difficult to accomplish without logging serious hours playing poker where serious action takes place.

Due to the drive to compete and more importantly, with the need to make more money, I have been contemplating the idea of playing on the road for some time. 5 years ago, this would have been a rather easy decision, but now in order to balance my life with Kathy, Braeden, and I.H.S., sacrifices must be made no matter what decision is made. After much deliberation and consultation a decision was made to dedicate more time to poker in 2008. I will start in late January by travelling to LA for the LA Classic where I will pound the cash games for a couple months. Commerce casino is the biggest card room in the world and most every pro I talk to say the same thing ‘There is no where else to go if you like money’. I have not yet defined my entire 2008 poker schedule, but I hope to spend some time down in Vegas during WSOP. I’ll keep you informed.

Some General Highlights:

-Biggest Tournament Win: 28k (8 scores over 20k, but never any huge scores.)
-Biggest Cash Game Win: 16k
-Biggest Cash Game Loss: 44k
-Recent trip Performances: Canterbury (Oct) +3k; Regina (Nov) -4k; River Rock (Nov) +15k; Vegas (Dec) +3k
-Overall Performance: At least 100k+ each year for last 4 years with best year about 235k
-Biggest Strength: Hand reading ability
-Biggest Weakness: Chasing a loss instead of quitting for the day
-Favourite Game: H/L Stud
-Favourite Gambling Platform: Deep Stack Tournaments
-Favourite Player: Phil Ivey
-Local Players I feel got game: Todd Webb, Chris Wolters, Travis Brown, and Myles Bennett