Monday, November 27, 2006

Greektown Detroit - Never again, baby!

Hit Greektown Detroit briefly on Thanksgiving day, and had an all-around unpleasant gambling experience. Smoking at the table was okay for starters.

No-limit 100$ buy-in. I discovered after folding a hand, that there was no reloading until you were tapped. So if you buy in at 100$ and have a bad hand or two and are down to 40$, your options are to walk away, or play with the tiny stack. I was at 45$ and couldn't reload when they switched dealers and asked for 6$ seat rent, which would have brought my stack down to 39$. I walked away, thanks.

Limit 3-6. The table I was at looked very beatable, with some testoserone driven clowns raising and betting pure trash. I took one small pot, and then got involved with pocket-rockets, and we capped it pre-flop. The flop came two-suited, and somebody else bet, and I raised as last to act. The turn paired the board, and it was checked to me, and I bet into the two remaining chasers. The river brought a flush card, and I made a crying call, as did the other guy. I got to see that there were precisely 11 outs to beat me on the river, because the guy who won it stayed on a pair of 5s unimproved until the river. The other guy had the worthless nut flush of course. I don't consider this a bad beat, but evidence that this table could cough up a lot of stupidity-tax money if a body was patient enough.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

My Best 180 player on-line yet - Part 3 - Final table

As of hand 185, 600/1200 75 ante
Seat 1: dbstamp (27220 in chips)
Seat 2: KING TJ (5190 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (35851 in chips)
Seat 4: Eye of Ra (12330 in chips)
Seat 5: dojdoj74 (30220 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (14570 in chips)
Seat 7: -XE-Klump (54493 in chips)
Seat 8: SittingBully (50739 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (39387 in chips)

Hand 187 - I have AJo on button, and knock out King TJ, who pushed with A8o and didn't suck out. (We both flopped a pair.)


Hand 189 - I steal w/KQs

Hand 191 - It's been a tight table, so I ep steal w/76s and the flop is AKQ. I was very happy not to seen any resistance on my cont-bet!

Hand 195 - I attempt a steal w/KQo and get an all-in reraise from a healthy stack who I hadn't played with much. I back down.

Hand 199 - I attempt a steal w/22 and get called. I give up on the flop via check-fold.

Hand 200 - another player knocked out, our chip counts as follows, with 800/1600 75 ante blinds.

Seat 1: dbstamp (22620 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (35491 in chips)
Seat 5: dojdoj74 (34458 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (21282 in chips)
Seat 7: -XE-Klump (66223 in chips)
Seat 8: SittingBully (53539 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (36387 in chips)


Hand 204 - I bump-raise a limper w/76s and the flop is 887. My pot-sized flop bet takes it down.

Hand 210 - I steal w/QJo, no resistance

Hand 211 - I limp 33 and take a stab 3 way on an AJ6 flop with no resistance from SB or BB. I would assume they smelled a trap with my limp.

Hand 214 - Another steal, Q6o, successful.

Hand 218 - EP steal w/KTo, successful.

Hand 220 - Steal w/K9o, successful.

Hand 221 - Here's an interesting hand. I don't remember my chain of thought, but his river bet really didn't smell like he had the flush and this player had generally been tight. Even though he had the opportunity to stack me, he gave it up. My play on the turn and river did make it look like I was on a draw, too.

*********** # 221 **************
PokerStars Game #7006236522: Tournament #35770611, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (800/1600) - 2006/11/13 - 04:25:18 (ET)
Table '35770611 4' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (43966 in chips)
Seat 5: dojdoj74 (22558 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (21557 in chips)
Seat 7: -XE-Klump (76473 in chips)
Seat 8: SittingBully (59434 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (46012 in chips)
FrankNagaiJr: posts the ante 75
dojdoj74: posts the ante 75
thesock007: posts the ante 75
-XE-Klump: posts the ante 75
SittingBully: posts the ante 75
Carnite: posts the ante 75
dojdoj74: posts small blind 800
thesock007: posts big blind 1600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Tc Ac]
-XE-Klump: calls 1600
SittingBully: calls 1600
Carnite: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 1600
dojdoj74: folds
thesock007: checks
*** FLOP *** [Th Kh 8s]
thesock007: checks
-XE-Klump: bets 1600
SittingBully: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 1600
thesock007: folds
*** TURN *** [Th Kh 8s] [Qs]
-XE-Klump: bets 1600
FrankNagaiJr: calls 1600
*** RIVER *** [Th Kh 8s Qs] [9h]
-XE-Klump: bets 1600
FrankNagaiJr: raises 10400 to 12000
-XE-Klump: folds
FrankNagaiJr collected 17250 from pot
FrankNagaiJr: doesn't show hand

Hand 227 - I steal w/Q8o. There seems to be a tacit agreement among the big stacks to keep the pressure on the small stacks at all times.

Hand 230 - I steal w/A5o

Hand 235 - My steal w/A3o is thwarted by an all-in reraise. I fold and am shown AQo.

Hand 237 - I defend from a steal by calling w/K9o, and I give up to the cont-bet with no pair and no draw. Blinds are 1000/2000 ante 100, so there is one player to be ganged up on at this point:

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (43266 in chips)
Seat 5: dojdoj74 (43158 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (15007 in chips)
Seat 7: -XE-Klump (69723 in chips)
Seat 8: SittingBully (47334 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (51512 in chips)

Hand 239 - My 'steal' is reraised, and I happen to have AKs, and I push when reraised to see dojdo with A6o. We both flop a pair, and Dojdoj74 lost a bunch of money by pushing at the wrong time with a marginal hand.

Hand 248 - I'm still chip leader, silent since 239. I steal w/KQo

Hand 249 - My steal w/QTo is called, and the flop is ATJ. My cont-bet with third pair takes it down.

Hand 253 - I steal w/Q3. The shortest stack is 23K and blinds are still 1000/2000.

Hand 255 - My steal w/44 gets no resistance.

Hand 257 - I defend from a steal w/K2o and give up to the cont-bet.

Hand 260 - Blinds are now 1500/3000 and my steal w/AJo gets one caller, and I'm reraised on my standard cont-bet and I fold. I'm still marginally the chip leader.

Hand 262 - I toss AKo in response to a steal raise and a re-raise. I think I'm playing well enough that I don't want a coin flip at this moment.

Hand 263 - I toss KQo behind a steal raise. Once again, I'm avoiding volatility, since one player has only 15K in chips and should be going out soon.

hand 264 - The 15K player pushes A9o and loses to 33.

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (69074 in chips)
Seat 7: -XE-Klump (38373 in chips)
Seat 8: SittingBully (112548 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (50005 in chips)

Hand 265 - My QJo steal is called, and I make a halfpot bet into AAQ to take it down.

Hand 266 - The short stack pushes and is eliminated with J7 after attempting to take down a K66 board and getting called down by QTo, which caught a pair and won. Blinds are still 1500/3000

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (73874 in chips)
Seat 8: SittingBully (156921 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (39205 in chips)


The battle continues, but I'm tired of typing.

My Best 180 player on-line yet - Part 2 - Survive to final table

My table chip count at this 180 player SNG at the end of hand 45

Seat 1: penibal (3245 in chips)
Seat 2: M.v.H (3480 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (6470 in chips)
Seat 4: StrawDog81 (1045 in chips)
Seat 6: dstemarie (1185 in chips)
Seat 7: limoni (1960 in chips)
Seat 8: deviative (11330 in chips)
Seat 9: jburn812 (6402 in chips)

Hand 48 - I have 49s in the BB and get to see it for free. There has been zero action four way on the river, and I buy it with a pot-sized bet.

Hand 50 - I limp A5s @100 blinds, make a big reraise on the flop, check the turn and give it up on the river.

Hand 55 - I have QTo in the BB and flop second pair, tens. I call deviatives opener bet and we both check it down. My tens are good.

Hand 56 - I have K2s in the SB, limp and flop two pair. Deviative calls my flop and turn bets, and when the flush card hits on the river I bet anyway, and he folds. Not sure what he was chasing not to call my similar sized river bet, but it was nice of him to give me some action in any case.

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (7945 in chips)
Seat 8: deviative (11610 in chips)

Hand 58 - Deviative limps A5o EP and calls a smaller stack all-in, and hits the straight to beat QQ.

Hand 62 - I EP limp QJo and flop top pair. My only caller is Deviative, who bump reraises me. I call his flop, turn and river bets, and he had a pair of queens with a four kicker (and a wheel draw on the turn!). My queen, jack kicker holds up.

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (9070 in chips)
Seat 8: deviative (11520 in chips)

Handf 66 - Deviative and I triple up a very small stack. I hit two pair and attempt to collect from Deviative, but he actually folds for a change. Drat!

Hand 74 - I attempt a steal w/KQs and flop a flush. I get paid my non-greedy bets all way to the river for a nice stack.

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (10650 in chips)
Seat 8: deviative (10350 in chips)

Hand 85 - I raise EP w/AQo and get one caller. My cont-bet into KJx does not get called. Deviative has meanwhile begun to caught up with the laws of probability. I'm now the table chip leader, but there are at least two threats.

Seat 1: galileedream (10180 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (11400 in chips)
Seat 4: StrawDog81 (2875 in chips)
Seat 5: fishroger (10550 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (1740 in chips)
Seat 7: M.v.H (1930 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 8: deviative (5280 in chips)

Hand 93 - I attempt a utg steal w/AJo and the big stack in BB calls me. I check the missed flop and give up on the turn.

Hand 105 - Otherwise - I've seen a few flops and missed and give up. I am now far from the chip leader, and deviative is waiting to die.

Seat 1: galileedream (13180 in chips)
Seat 2: bobloblaw123 (5210 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (7825 in chips)
Seat 5: fishroger (13175 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (12360 in chips)
Seat 7: DIRTY DOUG23 (4640 in chips)
Seat 8: deviative (2065 in chips)
Seat 9: jburn812 (7677 in chips)

I make a steal attempt w/A3o in position, and my cont-bet gets reraised, and I go away.

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (5400 in chips)

Hand 106 - deviative pushes preflop w/35o in response to an EP raise. He flops an outside draw but fails to beat QQ. Laws of gravity take him out.

Hand 109 - I make a push steal against one limper w/A3o, in SB with only the BB left to act. Why did I do this? Because the single limper had habitually pre-flopped with any cards he even seemed to half like, and I had concluded that he was not the type who would limp AA and hope for a raise. I could have been mistaken and been knocked out on this hand, but instead he folded. A questionable play with a decent result.

Hand 114 - I'm dealt KK and raise 3bb EP (200/400 blinds) I'm happy to see a reraiser, and I happily push. I have a scary moment when ATs flops the flush draw, but then fails to hit the ace or the heart to win. I'm back to a playable chip stack.

Seat 1: galileedream (6780 in chips)
Seat 2: bobloblaw123 (4935 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (11475 in chips)
Seat 5: fishroger (11300 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (17700 in chips)
Seat 7: DIRTY DOUG23 (4365 in chips)
Seat 9: jburn812 (9577 in chips)

Hand 116 - QQ in the BB and nobody attempts to steal, and nobody calls. Bummer.

Hand 120 - A mid-position steal w/KJo and no callers. Yay.

Hand 127 - an MP raise w/A5s and a cont-bet takes the pot two way. I had no pair and no draw on the flop, so I was happy.

Hand 139 - I have seen no cards or flops since 127, and am given a free ride in the BB, so I didn't need to figure out how to handle A6o against a stealer. There's been one maniace at our table pushing every third hand or so, and never getting called, so that may have been a tough/borderline decision for me.

Hand 146 - I make a steal w/A8o, my first playable hand for quite a while.

Hand 149 - I make a 'steal' w/JJ

Hand 151 - Another steal (QTo) The guy on my left has been so passive that if he ever defends, I'm gone!

Hand 152 - A player is knocked out and we are down to the final 18. Here is our table. Blinds are 400/800 ante 50.

Seat 1: galileedream (1755 in chips)
Seat 2: bobloblaw123 (16660 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (15100 in chips)
Seat 4: Eye of Ra (8675 in chips)
Seat 5: thibax (5990 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (22820 in chips)
Seat 7: mateo$55 (4822 in chips)
Seat 8: Paybax (16164 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (25387 in chips)

Hand 154 another steal w/98o and no takers. Our table seems to take turns stealing, with very few flops seem. Some players appear to refuse to steal without a real hand.

Hand 160 - I 'steal' w/QQ and get a caller. My pot-sized bet is reraised to all-in and I'm put to a tough decision on a J-high flop. I call and double up from AJo.

Hand 161 - The guy on my left raises from UTG into my blind. The whole table has been paying attention and folds.

Hand 162 - I reraise to isolate a small-stacks all-in w/AKo. I beat his TT to get more chips. I'm up with the chip leaders.

Seat 2: bobloblaw123 (4965 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (34522 in chips)
Seat 4: Eye of Ra (7775 in chips)
Seat 5: thibax (5940 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (19520 in chips)
Seat 8: Paybax (14464 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (30187 in chips)

Hand 170 - I have Q9o in the SB and call a much smaller stack's all-in to knock out A4o.

Hand 176 - I'm back to stealing w/Q3 after attempting a limp steal with KJo at hand 172 and folding on the flop. The steal works.

Hand 180 - Steal w/A2o successful. We are down to 11 players.

Hand 184 - We are down to the final table. Blinds are 600/1200 75 ante
Seat 1: dbstamp (27220 in chips)
Seat 2: KING TJ (5190 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (35851 in chips)
Seat 4: Eye of Ra (12330 in chips)
Seat 5: dojdoj74 (30220 in chips)
Seat 6: thesock007 (14570 in chips)
Seat 7: -XE-Klump (54493 in chips)
Seat 8: SittingBully (50739 in chips)
Seat 9: Carnite (39387 in chips)

Monday, November 13, 2006

My Best 180 player on-line yet - Part 1 - in Deviative's Shadow

Hand 2 - I watch player 'deviative' at my table call the flop with an inside draw on Q9o , and call a push when he hits third pair. He wins.

Hand 3 - I make a meaningless late position steal and continuation bet successfully.

Hand 4 - 'deviative' raise 3bb and gets no callers.

Hand 5 - 'deviative' calls 3bb w/Q9o. He calls the flop bet with no draw, hits a queen on the turn to win.

Hand 6 'deviative' calls 3BB with A9s, misses the flop and turn and calls gradually increasing bets on flop and turn to hit his 9 on the river and take down yet another pot.

Hand 7 - I limp JJ EP and four of us see the flop cheaply, and I flop the straight draw (89T) and my pot sized bet gets no callers.

Hand 8 'deviative' gets into another raised pot with god-knows what, and he actually gives up to a river bet after all 3 check the turn.

Hand 9 - I don't have to wait long to begin taxing the luckbox. Note that I chose not to bet the river since I felt that he could have been on two pair. I only discovered later that he bets when he's got two pair or better.

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ad Ah]
deviative: calls 20
LionHeart46: calls 20
majboy: folds
MarineBlair: calls 10
FrankNagaiJr: raises 80 to 100
deviative: calls 80
LionHeart46: calls 80
MarineBlair: folds
*** FLOP *** [9h Qd 7s]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 220
deviative: calls 220
LionHeart46: folds
*** TURN *** [9h Qd 7s] [7h]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 400
deviative: calls 400
*** RIVER *** [9h Qd 7s 7h] [2d]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
deviative: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ad Ah] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
deviative: mucks hand
FrankNagaiJr collected 1560 from pot


My Chip count before and after this hand:

Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (1600 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (2440 in chips)

Hand 10 - I perform an isolation raise w/KJo to isolate deviative, and I make a strong bet into an A99 flop. If he called, I was gone in a shot of course.

Hand 16 - Deviative calls 4bb @30 w/89o and pays off flop and turn bets to hit the inside straight. When he hits it, he makes a huge raise and collects. Bless his heart.

Hand 19 - Deviative reraises w/QQ and doubles up. Check out our table chip leader:
Seat 8: deviative (5685 in chips)

Hand 21 - I am dealt AKo and fold to a raise and a reraise by deviative. I feel that my other option, push-reraising is more volatility than I want with a player who will eventually give away his chips on second pair. Sure enough, he's got QQ again, and knocks out another player. He's pretty much the chip leader for the whole tournament right now, by virtual of some really bad calls, and a couple of big pocket pairs that have held up. (My AK would have lost, btw.)

Seat 8: deviative (9040 in chips)

Hand 23 - I call a bump in the BB w/T9o and flop top pair as one of four players (T24 rainbow). We all check, and then I make a big reraise on the turn to take it down without any resistance.

Hand 24 - Deviative knocks out a small stack w/A3o

Hand 26 - Deviative EP limps 45o and flops the nut straight, and actually performs a check raise to knock out yet another player. The check-raise surprised me, but maybe he had seen it on TV?

I am the second biggest stack at our table. Deviative is still a tourney chip leader.

Seat 8: deviative (11005 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (2575 in chips)

Hand 30 - I toss KJo to an early bump and miss out on a KK5 flop that nobody connected with. Oh well.

Hand 33 - My first double up. I had seen LionHeart in enough hands such that I knew that I was ahead when he only called my reraise. Set over set and I double up.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jd Jh]
FrankNagaiJr: calls 50
StrawDog81: folds
TruRounder34: folds
dstemarie: folds
powmoe: folds
deviative: calls 50
LionHeart46: raises 150 to 200
JohhnyAce: folds
TC 270: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 400 to 600
deviative: folds
LionHeart46: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Jc Tc Kd]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 300
LionHeart46: raises 750 to 1050
FrankNagaiJr: raises 750 to 1800
LionHeart46: raises 735 to 2535 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 175 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Jc Tc Kd] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Jc Tc Kd Qd] [Kc]
FrankNagaiJr said, "wow"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Jd Jh] (a full house, Jacks full of Kings)
LionHeart46: shows [Th Ts] (a full house, Tens full of Kings)
FrankNagaiJr collected 5275 from pot

New chip count
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (5275 in chips)
Seat 8: deviative (9705 in chips)

Nobody else at our table is above 1600 in chips.

Hand 35 - I finish off lionheart46 with a pair of pocket 8s when he pushes with A7s and fails to hit his ace.

Hand 36 - I make a meaningless late position steal w/K4s and get no resistance.

Hand 44 - I make a late steal w/87s and a small stack pushes JTs, I hit two pair on the river to knock him out.

Here is as high as deviative gets before his inevitable downward spiral:
Seat 8: deviative (11330 in chips)
Seat 3: FrankNagaiJr (6470 in chips)

He will continue to make atrocious calls and his luck will run out. If this were a more of a crap shoot tourney, deviative would already be in the money, but this tourney structure actually does eventually punish players who habitually defy common sense and probability.

COCC Interlude #7

Had a really crap series of cards Friday night. First sat down for the tourney and lasted four levels till I blinded out. Prior to that I had raised w/AJo and give up on the turn, and raised w/TT and given up on the flop, and call a raise w/KTs and given up on the flop, made one blind steal, and otherwise not seen a flop in four levels. I couldn't even pick a moment to attempt steal-pushes since the other players seemed to all be on heaters and there were virtually no pots without one raise and one caller or reraise, which makes it tough to push w/J3o.

I was very frustrated from that and sat down to a cash game and got stacked in the first five hands via limping J4s and turning a second best flush to Q9s. Less than five hands later I have Ah Jh and flop top pair and a flush draw, and I make a slight reraise on the flop, but not enough to kick anybout out. The turn is a Q and I make a bet and get reraised to where I've got 2 to 1 odds to call, and I call and we both check the river, and he's got a weak two pair w/Q7o. I storm out after less than 20 minutes cash.

Apart from a horrendous night of cards, I would like to critique the blind structure of the tourney as being worse than on-line. There are a lot of older people playing, and so any given hand takes a minimum of 3 minutes, but more frequently 5 to 6 minutes. If that's an average of 4 minutes, thats 7.5 hands per level, and if you don't double up in four levels, you are way behind the blinds. In other words, that's a crap shoot blind structure in this environment, and I grow tired of crap shoots.

The cash game is not that bad, but it's always the same players, and some nights there's not nearly enough fish.

Think I'll give the COCC a rest for a while, and I think I'll do my damnedest to avoid these tourneys going forward.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Misc Round-up

On-line tourneys

I've continue playing and charing the 180 player tourneys, and have recently monied several. However, I always seem to get down to 5M and push with something marginal towards the end. The ones who seem to do well strike me as semi-maniacs, willing to call smaller all-ins preflop with suited trash, and if they make a steal attempt, they will call the all-in reraise no matter what trash they were stealing with. Since it seems to work for them, I may need to study their methods and the math a little more. Most likely the blind speed rewards the risk takers.

Live tourney with an empty stomach. Bad idea!

I wanted to play one last Tunica tourney, at the Horseshoe, and traffic is awful. I make it just in time to register, I go to the restroom and I've only missed a hand or two. For the first hour I play well and build up my chip stack with a few minor setbacks. When I'm moved to another table, I've got 150% of my original chips. I win my first hand at the new table with a luckbox flush in the BB, then I lose two hands in quick succession where I fold on the turn or river. At that point I tilt and push with A6s against an EP raiser with a bigger stack than me. He considers for a minute, says 'let's race' and turns over AQ and I don't suck out. At that point I recognize that the push was a 'hunger tilt' since it was 7:30 and I hadn't had a bite since noon. I could have skipped a few hands and hit the sandwhich bar and lasted a few more hands. D'oh!

A good run at the Gold Strike to say goodbye.

In addition to the nice run at Pot-Limit 1/2 Omaha, I also had a nice run at 1/2 NLHE, tripling my buy-in over the first hour, and giving a small portion of that back on a pre-flop raise that ran into a flopped straight. I only lost the raise and my pot-sized flop bet, and I think I played that hand well. The guy who pushed over the top into two of us saw the flush draw and way overbet as opposed to attempting to collect from the two of us, so he didn't milk me at all. The flush draw guy missed.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Don't drive money off the table!

Also at the G-Strike last night, we (I) managed to get a 1/2 pot-limit Omaha high game rolling by virtue of a 1/2 NLHE table about to bust and a casual suggestion that took wing. There were two fishy-looking type, two presumed sharks (including a bracelet holding dealer who I NEVER got in a hand with), and a few in the middle. I was very patient and bled on a few flops and pre-flops, but never got hung out to dry on the turn and river. I knew that the fish would pay me sooner or later.

Sure enough, I do find my spots and double up about three hours in, and then I find a raised pre-flop multi way hand where I flopped no pair, K-high flush draw and outside straight with a redraw if counterfeited. The inital raiser bets the pot, I re-pot and he puts me all in. I flush, and his trips don't boat, and I'm golden. Now that's gambling!

Around that same time as that hand, I see that the biggest fish has left the table, so I'm ready to go home. One or two hands later ...

A young-twenties testosterone job sits to my immediate left, sandwiched between me and the dealer. He had four seat choices at that time. On his first hand I tell him that I can see his hole cards, attempting to be friendly. (My tone may have been patronizing, I dunno.) He responds with a curt 'Then don't look.', to which I say, 'Okay, I'll only tell you once.'

To which he responds, with the voice of a high-school athlete taunting a drama clubber, 'You're in my space, why don't you move away.' And gives me a look like we're gonna be fighting in the playground at recess.

If he had said any of this in a friendly manner, it would have been fine. Maybe I didn't start off on the right foot. In any case, my inner voice said a few things:

1) The fish is gone. Why stay?
2) You just made a killing, and nobody's got even a third of your stack. Why stay?
3) You're tired and there's new faces at the table. Why stay?
4) The dude is trying to put you on tilt. Why stay?

So I took my marbles and went home.

The young guy who I had just stacked made a pained remark about all the money leaving the table, but the guy who got in my face was apparently a buddy of his. Maybe they'll figure out between them why all the money left the table in a hurry.

Tap the Glass

Last night I'm at the G-Strike, and asking for a table, and I overhear the young man stating it's his first ever casino poker experience, and he's vacillating between 1/2 NL and 3/6 limit. I grab a chair, and see him standing by and watching. Between hands, I walk over and politely. softly recommend that he start at 3/6 limit. He responds that the casino pit boss said that he'd probably be okay at 1/2. I don't repeat myself.

Moments later he's on my right, and his questions make it clear that this really is his first time, it's not an act.

He lasts precisely three hands before he busts with a pair of 2s, getting way overinvolved on a 337 flop.

Why did I warn him? Because I'd rather have repeating players, than have people play once, get really disgusted and never sit down again. For all I know, this may be the youngsters only casino poker experience for the rest of his life. That's a loss that is not compensated by the hundred bucks he left on the table.

But of course, my policy on advice 'one time only for strangers.'

Thursday, November 02, 2006

PLO8 Tourney On-Line

Here's some key hands, and analysis of whether I was playing poorly or not.

Hand 3 SB
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [6s 7c 5h 3d]
A sucker hand that needs a perfect flop to collect, but I was getting 11 to 1 to limp in.
Everybody checks the flop, so we come to the turn:
*** TURN *** [Kh 6d 7d] [5s]
I small bet into it with three pair, then I think again when reraised, that I have six outs for a not-guaranteed half the pot, so no sense getting into a pissing war. I fold to the reraise and kick myself for betting this hand multi-way.

Hand 5 - I am the button with a decent hand.
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [6d 5s As 2s]
There is a raiser and 4 callers, including me. The flop comes
*** FLOP *** [7c 8h Jc]
Giving me nut low draw, and an outside str8. I'm hoping that I can make a big bet in both directions and potentially knock out any weak flush draw. Nobody's going away quietly, and we have 3 all-ins and two fold here.

mugginslv: checks
jojoma44: checks
Superdad7777: bets 200
Corn Rules: calls 200
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1020 to 1220
mugginslv: folds
jojoma44: folds
Superdad7777: calls 820 and is all-in
Corn Rules: raises 310 to 1530 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 80 and is all-in

Corn Rules: shows [2h Kd Ad 3d]
FrankNagaiJr: shows [6d 5s As 2s]
Superdad7777: shows [8c Ah Ks Js]

Now that we can see the cards, here's some twodimes numbers.
Preflop, the AK8J is a slight favorite (35%) my hand is 33% and A23K with three in one suit is 32%.

ON the flop, the two pair hand is the 44% fave, I've got 34% expectation, most likely a chop for the low.

Here's the turn:
*** TURN *** [7c 8h Jc] [9h]
And all of a sudden I'm 65% EV, with the straight, and nobody drawing to the flush. Two pair has four outs to scoop, and of course there are plenty of outs where I have to settle for 3/4 of the pot (3456 for 10 outs) and my 2 could be counterfeited for settling for 1/2 the pot (2 outs).

The boat 9 hits on the river. Bummer, but I've still got chips.

Seat 5: FrankNagaiJr (560 in chips)

Hand 7
A no brainer with a low chip count - suited ace, A2 with a backup wheel card.
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac 2s 4h Tc]
I limp and it works out pretty well. This guy limped UTG with this hand:
Superdad7777 showed [4d Kd Td 3s]
Which strikes me as pretty optimistic.

*** RIVER *** [3c 6s 2d 3d] [5h]
Note that we had a split on the turn, me with lock low, and he with trips, and a diamond draw, so the 5 non-diamond was a very lucky card for me to quarter him.

Hand 10

Here's a freakshow showdown. Note that we have the exact same hand.
*** RIVER *** [7h Kd 2d Kh] [5d]
Corn Rules: shows [Qd 2h Ah Ks] (HI: a full house, Kings full of Deuces)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Kc Qs 2s As] (HI: a full house, Kings full of Deuces)

Hand 14
I almost consider my bet here a bluff, since a boat was possible, my nut flush was kind of weak. Bear in mind I was betting into two people who willing called my flop bet. Since neither of them reraised, I figured trips on the flop was not likely. I picked up the pot with my almost-all-in turn bet.
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [5d 7c As Qs]
*** TURN *** [Js Ks 4h] [4s]

Hand 22
Only a mother could love this weak SB hand, but it grew nicely. I called the villains flop and turn bets, and neglected to bet the river, assuming it was a chop, and was surprised to find that my low was good too. Note to self - Bet the high nuts with a weak low on the river always.
*** RIVER *** [5c 6d Ts 3h] [9h]

I may continue this tourney later. I got knocked out halfway through after misplaying several hands in a row. Suffice to say I've got miles to go before I'm the PLO8 king.