Frank Nagai Jr's Poker Blog

Part 3

2009-12-20T12:38:00.001-05:00

Going Deep in an Online PLO8 Tournament, Part 3 – Catastrophe Play, Shorthanded Play, and Why Play plo8 at all?

By Dan “FNJ” Wolcott

For part 3, I had originally planned to take you hand for hand through a series of short-handed and low M battles. However, I realized as soon as I put together a draft, that this made the article almost as exciting as the 1040 short form for tax filing.

So instead, I’ll switch things up. I’ll talk about PLO8 MTTs in general, look at a catastrophe hand, offer some general principles for low M play at a full table, and then walk through some Low M decisions.

Why PLO8 MTTs?

As grown up with a mortgage and a day job, I do not have as many opportunities to play MTTs as the average 20 year-old, but I certainly enjoy dedicating an evening to duking it out with the good players, the naked aggression players, and the blessed fools who make these PLO8 MTTs profitable. I have a strong feeling that 10% of the field is actually drunk and playing completely for entertainment purposes in any given tournament, and that 40% of the field makes very poor post-flop decisions.

At the risk of eliminating the suspense, I will confess that I ultimately win this tournament. But winning a single PLO8 MTT is meaningless. I have seen any number of holy fools take down tournaments through naked aggression in combination with being rewarded for making awful decisions. I assert that of all the current popular variants of poker, PLO8 is the one that provides more opportunities for the unskilled to ‘luckbox’ their way out of tight situations, and find scoops when 90% of the possible outcomes lead them to a chop or a loss.

So why bother with this variant at all, since it is clearly a field full of land mines and a guaranteed tilt factory? Precisely because these MTTs are currently populated with a tremendous amount of players who make awful decisions. If you are able to get all your chips in the middle with a favorable chance of scooping against these unskilled players, you can work your chipstack into something that will take you to the final table. Granted, the holy fools have you outnumbered in most tournaments, but you only need to put your money in good a handful of times to amass a stack that could take you to the final table. Better still, if you survive to the final table, your skill advantage will give you a much better chance to cash out higher than those who habitually push QQT4 rainbow from under the gun at a full table.

For the Hold’em tournament players, let me contrast this with your game of choice. In an NLHE tournament, you will occasionally get your chips in the middle with your opponent drawing dead, but more often you will get your chips in the middle in situations where you are the 70/30 favorite, but if your opponent hits, you will lose the contents of the pot, conceivably your entire chipstack. In a PLO8 tournament, you can often get your chips in the middle when you have a lock on ½ of the pot, and you have a decent number of scoop or ¾ outs for a freeroll. When playing against the unskilled, wouldn’t you prefer to lock down half the pot?

Meanwhile, back at the Tournament

We are back from the 2nd break, and we are still waiting for the bubble. As you will see from the hand play to come, this will be a good time to discuss play in Harrington’s ‘Red-Zone’, and how the split-pot aspect of this game affects the zone concepts. I do not have statistical or mathematical proof of my assertions on zone play, and I hope that this starting point generates some productive debate on the two plus two discussion forum.

Hand Play

Level 9 – Hand 120 – Blinds go up to 150/300. There are 29 players remaining, and payouts begin with 12th place.

Level 10 (Hand 130) Blinds go to 200/400, and I was quiet for the whole 9th level, except for an abortive steal attempt that I abandoned at the flop. My M is less than 8. I should steal when I can, and not be too afraid of coin-flips.

Hand 130 – I steal from the button w/J♣4♠5♣6♦ and the SB and BB fold.

In a tournament, you should always be on the lookout for good stealing opportunities. In a split pot game, you should always be happy to walk away with the blinds, even when you have a very strong hand, because even the mighty A23K double-suited is only a 60/40 favorite against the top 70% hand range.

In this particular case, I had a read that SB and BB would have a tight defending range and that fold equity would make this a profitable play. If either of them play back at me, this is a reasonably coordinated hand with some strength in each direction.
• If there is a defense with AWhh, this hand is a 58/43 dog, but J456 is actually the favorite to make a low if villain only has two low cards, thanks to counterfeiting.
• If either villain has an AAxx hand, it is a virtual coin flip, unless the X is a 5 or better. AA3h is only a 61/39 favorite here.
• If either of the villains is inclined to defend too lightly, this hand is virtually a coin flip (53/47) against the top 70-80% of O8 hands and it is a favorite for the low.

Hand 142 – 4♦ A♦ Q♥ A♠ Small Blind (200/400) Chips 4768 (raise to 1200)

No limpers, and an obvious steal hand. Big Blind has 3,879 after posting, and calls the 800.
lop A♣ K♦ Q♣ (pot = 2400; bet 2400 and call a reraise for 679 more)

This is a good news/bad news flop. I am extremely likely to be ahead, since villain has a 7.5% chance of having a JT combination in any random hand, and if villain does turn over JT, I still have redraws to a full house. I cannot give a free card to any drawing hand, such as combinations of flush, straight and backdoor low draws, so I must take my chances that villain does not have JT.

Villain turns over Q♦ J♥ T♣ 4♠ and I am now a big underdog.

Turn/River 6♥7♠ and I now have less than one big blind left, 489 chips.

It is worth commenting on villain’s play here. Villain paid an additional 800 to see a flop, with implied odds of 3079 chips behind. As you can see, this gamble worked out very well for the villain. If either of us had less chips in play, this would not be a great move on villain’s part.

Now that I am in the Red Zone, this is a good time to talk about the concept of zones as discussed in the Harrington/Robertie NLHE tournament books.
Yellow Zone Guidelines

Arbitrarily, let us call 2M to 5M the yellow zone. The split pot element makes the distinction between green and yellow very fuzzy. In fact, I would go as far as to assert that the concept of zones barely even applies to the PLO8 game, except perhaps for the red zone, which is somewhere below 2M.

But here are some guidelines for suggested ‘book’ play in the speculative yellow zone.

• Continue generally tight from early position.
• Be ready to open raise from late position with any hand that is capable of making a low, or any hand with significant high-card strength.
• Get involved in multi-way raised pots with A2Wx
• Defend your Big Blind with a wider range when facing a raiser for heads-up, especially late position raisers.
• Do not defend your Big Blind with junk when there is a raise with one or more callers.
• If you have a read that SB and BB are tight, open-steal with any garbage hand that is not hopeless in either direction. (See hand 130 above.)

You should (sensibly) gamble more in the yellow zone than you do in the green zone. If nothing else, it will make your tablemates hesitant to steal your big blind.

Red Zone Guidelines

Arbitrarily, let us call anything below 2M the Red Zone.

Just as cockroaches can be tough to kill, short stacks can be tough to eliminate. Here are some ‘roaching’ tips.

• If there is an early position raise and you think the blinds are likely to fold, often call with random junk that can make a low, especially with two wheel cards and a third ‘emergency low’ card. With 2M or less, chopping the blinds with an aggressive player pushing AAxx, A2xx or worse is a very good proposition.
• Open raise from early or middle position with WWLX or better
• Open-raise from late position with a very wide range of hands that can make a low
• Virtually never fold your Big Blind pre-flop in a heads-up situation, even when you cannot make a low
• Push any random junk from the Small Blind to open.

Probability states that we will get a hand that contains either AAxx or AWxx about 20% of the time. This means that there is a 75% chance that we will find an AWxx combination to push, if we have six hands before the blinds. If we find nothing playable in those six hands, we are mostly obligated to play a ‘flippament’ in the big blind and begin the selection process over again if we are lucky enough to survive.

Low M Play in Practice

My stack is 489, and blinds are 200/400. It may seem as if I am the walking dead here, but I try not despair, but pick my spots and give myself the best chance to recover. On the bright side here, I have eight hands to choose from before I must put in my chips involuntarily. Also, the tournament is pre-bubble, so the table may be more cautious in general.

Hand 143 – Fold 5♠ 6♥ T♣ 8♠ on the button after a raise and a caller. This is a hand I would be willing to put in heads-up against AAxx or A2xx with the hope of chopping the blinds, but with two players in, my chances at the low are presumably negligible, and my high possibilities with this hand are also negligible.

Blinds have gone up to 300/600, which means I am now below 1M.

Hand 144 – Open call 9♠ 6♦ 7♠ T♦ from the cutoff. This hand has a plausible but poor low, but it is very coordinated for the high, despite the lack of broadway cards.
There are three callers, the final board is 4♣ 3♣ 8♦ 3♦ 2♦ and the weak backdoor flush is good for half of the four way pot. My chipstack is now 978, or 1.5M

Hand 145 - fold T♣ 7♣ K♣ 6♠ after an early raiser with four players yet to act behind me. While this hand has some play heads-up, it will be a huge underdog if any of the four remaining players get involved.

Hands 146-149
Open-fold 6♦ 5♦ 8♣ 9♠ with five players to act.
Open-fold 8♦ 2♦ T♦ 5♦ - with six players to act.
Open-fold 8♣ A♦ T♠ 9♣ - with six players to act.
Open fold 2♣ 9♥ K♥ 4♥ - with seven players to act.

Note that any of these hands would have been playable for a heads up confrontation, but from early position they become folds for the same reason as hands 143 and 145.

Hand 150 – Call a raise for heads-up from BB with 5♠ J♠ 7♥ A♦. I am very fortunate to find an ace-wheel combination. Of course, with 978 chips, the only hands I could have folded here involve trips. I make a broadway straight for a double up against 6♣ 9♦ 6♦ A♠.

My chipstack is now 2256, or 2M. This gives me enough to be picky for at least the next six hands, and in some circumstances, I may even choose to fold my next big blind.

Hand 151 – Open raise from the Small Blind with 9♣ A♥ A♠ 9♦

A no-brainer push results in a chop with T♦ 4♥ 9♠ 3♠. No change to stack (2256).

Hands 152-154
Fold J♣ 6♣ 3♥ T♣ after one limper
Open-fold T♥ 8♦ 6♥ 7♠

This hand has a similar shape to hand 144, but since I have more than 2M, I am playing ‘yellow zone’ which makes this a fold.

Fold 8♠ 2♦ K♠ 9♦ after one raise.
Open-fold K♠6♣6♦3♦

Hand 155 – Open Push A♦9♠2♣5♥ with seven players behind, and there is one caller. This hand is acceptable for heads up or multi-way play from any position with a very low M, since it has a reasonable chance of making top pair heads up, and it has a very decent chance to make the best low in a multi-way pot.

Happily, my one caller holds 2♣3♣4♣6♥ and my Ace-high is good enough for a scoop when neither of us make a pair or a low. I more than double up to 5412, or 4.5M.

Another player is eliminated to spare me the agony of surrendering a big blind, so I get to fold my small blind for 400, and fold hands 156 and 157.

Hand 158 I double up again with A♦A♥6♣9♠ and my stack is now 11,224, a little more than 9M and I am arguably in the green zone.

Summary

The moral of the story is that even with a walking-dead chipstack, you always have some chance of coming back in a split-pot game. If you pick your spots wisely and get a little cooperation from the deck, you may just find a double-up or two and work your way back into the hunt.

2009-12-20T12:37:00.001-05:00

Article 2

2009-06-02T14:05:00.002-04:00

Originally Published in twoplustwo.com on-line magazine. All rights revert to the author 3 months after publishing.

Going Deep in an Online PLO8 Tournament, Part 2 – Middle Stage Play

Abbreviations used in this article.

MP = Middle Pair (6-8);
HP = High Pair (9-K)
WW = Two distinct wheel cards, e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5
X, Y = any card distinct from the cards stipulated
L=6,7,8
H=9-K

Early Middle Stage Play

After the first break, the tournament begins to show more diversity in stack sizes. You need to be aware of situations where pot-odds dictate a call with marginal hands and marginal draws, and you will need to be careful that you are not stealing with weak hands in situations where small stacks will be pushing any reasonable hand. Beginning at the 100/200 level, the blinds are now becoming big enough to merit raising with marginal hands against the right opponents.

Raising/Stealing Ranges – Pre-Bubble

While blind steals are very much dependent upon stack size and opponent tendencies, I will classify some hand ranges and my opinion of them. I do not have hard data to support my assertions, and I expect that other successful PLO8 tournament players will disagree with at least some of what I say here.

Always Raise Hands:
[AAWX] You should always pot any two aces with a wheel card, and almost always repot with this hand shape if someone else has already opened the pot.

[AALX] To open, from any position, and to repot against any player you perceive to be a frequent raiser. About 1% of the time you may want to lay this hand down based on your perception of anyone who reraises you. If you fold this hand more than 1% of the time, that is too often, and those few folds should occur in multi-way pots when your side card is an 8 and you lack suitedness.

[AAA2 – AAA3] These are the only trip hands with any safety at all. You are largely raising on the diminished probability that anyone has an ace to defend with, and if you are faced with a maniac who comes over the top with garbage, you are largely still looking at chops and scoops when all the chips go in the middle.

Often Raise Hands

[A23H – A2LK – A2HP] To open, these hands are fine for stealing from any position, and these are often correct hands for raising any very active players especially with any suitedness. These are mostly fine hands for flat calling for heads up against a raiser.

[AWHX – AWMP] Table dependent, but often fine to open from middle to late position. These are generally not re-raising hands, although these can be flat call hands depending on suitedness and overall hand coordination.

[AWW6 – AWW8] Often fine to open from middle to late position, and occasionally early position. Often a fine flat call hand as well.

Late Raise to Steal Hands

[AAHH] Read dependent. If it goes in the middle you are often a slight underdog, unless villain turns over any AALX hand, when you become a bigger underdog. Personally, I will often fold this hand shape when there is already a significant pot-sized bet and one caller.

[AAAX] Late position to open. If blind defender will call with more than 60% of his hands, it is okay to fold this.

[WWWH] Late position to open

[WWHP] Late position to open

You can very creative with your button open-steal hands if you have a good read on the SB and BB, assuming you know enough about pot odds and overall equity well enough that you can make the mathematically correct play when reraised.

I plan to discuss the mathematics of pushing with junk hands in a later article.

Never Steal Hands

Personally, I never steal with quads or trips, and a villain must be very tight before I will raise with junk that cannot make better than an 8 low.

Hand Play

Level 5 – Blinds 75/150 – 52 players remain, payouts start at 12th

Hand 57 A[diamond]2[heart]5[diamond]9[diamond] Cutoff (75/150) Chips 3,220 (raise to 675 after 1 limper)

The table is eight-handed, and there are four folds, and one loose limper who is two from the button. While I do not have a powerhouse, I do have a reasonable degree of certainty that this raise will take this down, unless the button or blinds come up with an A2xx hand or better. It works, and I increase the stack by 425, or better than 10% without seeing a flop. If I had been called, the plan was to be aggressive with any low draw with a pair, or with a diamond draw, two pair or better, and otherwise not pump more money into the hand.

A flat call with this hand in this position is not an awful play. However, that allows two random hands to see the flop which means that I need to fit the flop very well to continue.

Hand 59 A[diamond]A[club]5[spade]K[heart] Middle Position (75/150) Chips 3,595 (raise to 525 to open)

Completely standard raise, even against a tight opponent I could not fold this to a re-raise. Note this is two pre-flop raises in short order since the break.

Hand 62 A[spade]3[spade]9[heart]K[spade] Big Blind (75/150) Chips 3,670 after posting (check after 4 limpers)

This hand is enough for blind stealing in an unopened pot. However, with four limpers, plus my two recent uncalled raises, a pre-flop raise will prematurely build a pot while I am specifically hoping to flop a deuce or spades, and giving up on a lot of flops multi-way.

Flop 6[diamond] 3[diamond]J[spade] (pot=750; check-fold to a 150 bet and two callers)

I have third pair, no low draw, and backdoor flush draw in a multi-way pot. Fold.

Hand 63 A[club]3[club]T[diamond]7[diamond] Small Blind (75/150) Chips 3,595 after posting (call)

A medium strength hand and an easy call after 1 under-the-gun caller for a 3 way pot. A UTG call often indicates an A2xx hand, so raising here with this stack and these blinds would be ill-advised

Flop A[diamond] T[heart] 9[heart] (pot = 450; Bet 450)

I have top two pair on a one-low board, with a weak backdoor low draw. Ideally, this bet will knock out any strong low draws that do not have hearts, or even take down the pot right now. Under-the-gun calls.

Turn 3[heart] (pot = 1,050; check)

I check and villain checks behind. If villain has the nut flush but not the nut low, he should bet this scary turn card, since his call on the flop represented a draw. My top two may still hold up.

River 7[club] (pot= 1,050; check)

I have four pair, any low on villain’s part is good, and there are many high hands that beat me. Villain checks behind with A[spade] 2[club] K[diamond] J[heart], demonstrating that he called a pot-sized bet on the flush-draw flop with an gutshot draw and no backdoor low. Incidentally, villains hand is strong enough for a steal from early position. . Do not play like this villain.

Hand 64 J[club]Q[heart]3[heart]J[diamond] Button (75/150) Chips 4,270 (fold after 1 limper)

Even on the button, I will not consider ‘set-mining’ without either significant high-card strength or a couple of wheel cards. The implied odds are no good unless I have some chance at the low, or strong high-side redraws. If the set should hit and get action, it is either a split pot or else there are redraws to hands bigger than a set.

Hand 65 2[heart]3[heart]4[club]8[diamond] cut-off (75/150) Chips 4,120 (call)

After four folders, this could be a steal hand, but since I have made two pre-flop raises in the last 10 hands, I choose not to put myself in a situation where I am behind if there is a re-raise. If someone raises my limp here, I will likely call. Button calls, SB completes, BB checks.

I had a peer review this article, and his comment for this hand was “Blech. Raise or fold.” That is a reasonable (and concise) critique of this play.

Flop 6[club]3[diamond]7[club] (pot = 600; check)

I have a gutshot and a plausible low draw. No reason to build a pot. Checked all around.

Turn K[spade] (pot=600; call 150 after a bet and a call)

The small bet seems to indicate a likely nut low attempting to build a multi-way pot. The biggest problem with marginal hands is that they often lead to marginal calls.

River 5[club] (pot = 1,050; call 300 after a bet and a call to close the action)

My gutshot hits, but I am behind clubs or a higher straight, and I hold 3rd nut low. This is a choice between calling and folding, and so I pay 300 for a reasonable chance to collect 1000. Small blind turns over a ten-high flush (along with a pair and a worse gutshot), and Big Blind turns over 2nd nut low. Marginal hands are tricky to play post-flop, as this one demonstrates.

Hand 65 K[heart]Q[heart]K[spade]3[club] middle position (75/150) Chips 3,670 (fold)

Same concept as hand 64. I see a lot of players treat this as a raising hand from any position with any chipstack. There will occasionally be times when this hand dictates a raise, but almost always in short-handed, high-blind situations.

Hand 74 A[club]2[club]6[club]6[heart] middle position (75/150) Chips 3,595 (raise 525)

I have been quiet for a rotation, and this is a hand where I would prefer to be heads-up, or to take it down preflop. Raise and no callers.

Level 6 – Blinds are 100/200 and stack is 12M. Not desperate, but I must be willing to steal and take a few coin flips with this lower-than-average stack. There are 41 players remaining.

Hand 75 A[club]2[club]8[club]Q[spade] early position (100/200) Chips 3,820 (raise 700)

Big Blind calls, with 1148 behind, meaning that there are very few flops where I can fold.

Flop T[spade]5[diamond]3[heart] (pot = 1,500; call 1,148)

Nut low draw plus a gutshot. Easy call. Villain turns over A[spade]8[spade]J[heart]T[club]

Turn/River 6[heart] 9[diamond]

A chop, for a net gain of 50. If I am unwilling to flip, the chip stack can only get worse.

Hand 77 2[club]9[diamond]T[diamond]3[spade] Big Blind (100/200) Chips 3,670 after posting (call 500)

This is an awful hand, where the only redeeming feature is the 23 low draw. However, the raiser is the same short-stacked (5M) villain from hand 75, so I do not expect a true powerhouse. I call with intention of calling on the flop with any low draw, any pair (any pair means that I have a two-pair draw), any gutshot draw, and folding anything worse than that. This is risky, but I want to build a table image that will discourage stealing from my BB in later rounds.

Flop 2[heart]3[club]K[heart] (pot = 1,500; bet 1,000 to put villain all-in)

Bottom two pair is certainly good enough. I want villain to fold any weak low draw, so I bet out. Villain calls with A[spade]3[spade]A[diamond]6[heart], which is stronger than I expected. Villain is a 60% favorite in the hand, with a 3 in 8 chance of scooping, and a 5 in 8 chance of taking the low.

Turn/River Q[club]T[heart]

This is winning ugly at its best! I have increased the stack to a playable 18M, and I have shown the table my willingness to defend with unpredictable trash, assuming that my tablemates are paying attention.

Hand 84 A[club]2[spade]6[club]7[diamond] Big Blind (100/200) 5,368 after posting (check after 1 early limper and SB folds)

This is now a six handed table. This hand is worth a steal to open, but it is unlikely to be ahead of the early limper who has a bigger stack than mine. Flat call is the best choice.

Flop 9[spade]2[diamond]5[heart] (pot = 500; bet 400)

If the limper came in with A2xx, this flop provides no succor. I bet with the intention of often giving up if called (A3xx should usually call here.) Villain folds. My play here shows the trouble with open-limping with A2xx when the blinds are worth stealing.

Hand 85 2[club]3[club]4[spade]5[heart] Small Blind (100/200) Chips 5,768 after posting (call after 1 limper)

Although it has very limited high potential, I consider this an okay open-steal hand, and it certainly merits completing from the small blind, and often merits limping after other limpers. It can be argued that this hand is not strong in enough in either direction to get involved after one limper, since that typically means that one ace is already accounted for, and we are very much looking for an ace on the flop. .This is very similar to hand 65 as a starting hand.

Flop A[heart]3[spade]5[heart] (pot=600; check-raise to 800 after a bet of 200 by Big Blind)

Any board that can make a wheel but not a flush could be described as binary. If you do not have the wheel, you should not get involved. Ideally, you should have the wheel with a redraw to hearts before leading out here. The big stack on my left made a correct play by betting small with nothing into two opponents to take down what is often an orphan pot. My reraise represented the wheel, and villain did not have the wheel.

Theoretically, I could reraise with nothing after the 3rd player folded and achieved the same result, but that is a very high risk play. Representing the wheel too often is much like representing the nuts in hold’em too often.

Hand 88 A[club]A[spade]6[spade]Q[spade] middle position (100/200) Chips 6,468 reraise to 2,100

Villain flat calls, indicating a very likely A2xx hand, as most AAWx hands would put it all in here. (Villain started with 5200 chips.)

Flop 7[heart]4[diamond]T[club] (pot = 4,500; call 3,140)

This hand plays itself. It’s clear villain has A2xy, and I hope the xy does not involve two pair or an open-ended straight draw. Villain turns over A[heart]2[heart]3[diamond]4[spade].

AAxx vs A2xx is the most common all-in preflop situation. Here are a few relevant statistics.

Preflop, this is a 60/40 situation. The A2 hand will scoop roughly 30% of the time, The AAxx hand will scoop roughly 45% of the time, and the other 25% of the time is a chop. Observe that the A2xx hand will come out fine 55% of the time, and the AAxx hand will come out fine 70% of the time. Who would you rather be?

Postflop, the low hand is now a 53% favorite, with a 5/8 chance of making the low, and a 5/16 chance to make the high. A234 has a two-pair draw and some backdoors, and a low draw that is almost exempt from counterfeiting

Turn/River A[diamond]J[spade] for a chop.

Hand 89 – A[diamond]2[diamond]5[club]9[diamond] 2nd position (100/200) Chips 6,418 (raise to 700 with 5 players yet to act)

The Big Blind so far has been tight-aggressive, and appears unwilling to defend with marginal hands. With a this hand shape, stealing is preferable to post-flop play. No resistance.

Hand 92 – A[club]2[club]5[spade]7[spade] under the gun (100/200) Chips 6,918 (call with 8 players yet to act.

This is a late position steal hand, and it also a good balancing hand for an early position call that can stand up to a raise. I do not like raising this early, as I might end up getting my chips in the middle pre-flop against an A2xy hand that has better side cards in both directions.

I routinely see novice players get very excited about double-suited A2xy hands, but my chip stack is deep enough that I prefer to play this hand post-flop, where I can use the leverage of a made low with counterfeit protection to push a marginal high hand out of the pot by the river.

There are two late position callers, small blind folds, big blind checks.

Flop 5[club]T[heart]2[heart] (pot 900; check-fold to a pot-sized bet.)

Despite flopping two pair, this is a dreadful situation. A3xx or A4xx with any heart draw should certainly bet the pot here, as should A3Tx, and a very brave 34xx hand could also bet. As I have no meaningful redraw, this is an easy fold.

Level 7 Blinds go to 125/250 my stack is still close to 15M. There are 36 players remaining, or exactly half of the starting field.

Hand 99 – A[spade]2[club]8[club]T[club] 3rd position (125/250) Chips 6,393 (fold as 3rd to act with six players left to act.

From a later position, this hand would be a steal hand. With a better emergency low or a suited ace, I could happily see a flop or even consider a steal from this position. However, I would hate to be reraised with this hand but I would be unable to fold, despite mostly being behind any raising hand here.

Level 8 starts at hand 112 Blinds go up to 150/300. I have been quiet since hand 92. My stack is close to 15M. There are 33 players remaining.

Hand 113 A[club]7[club]Q[spade]8[spade] Button (150/300) Chips 5,993 (Raise to 1,050 to open)

Compare this hand with hand 99. This has high card strength, an emergency low, and it merits a button steal. The small blind has a healthy stack and has shown a willingness to defend with many hands, although defending from the small blind often narrows the hand range to AWxy hands.

Flop K[diamond]T[heart]6[heart] (pot = 2,400; fold to a 2,400 bet)

Wrong colored flop. The small blind could have made this bet with a naked flush draw and a pair of threes, and I am still behind. This is an easy fold, and I have just lost 20% of my stack from a steal gone awry.

Hand 115 – A[club]5[heart]6[diamond]J[club] 5th position (150/300) Chips 4,943 (fold after one limper)

At 11M, I am not yet desperate. This is an open-steal hand from late position, but after one limper I prefer not to see a flop with this marginal hand , even with position.

Hand 125 – A[diamond]4[heart]8[spade]J[spade] 3rd position (150/300) Chips 4,493 (fold)

This is a button-steal hand, since it has AW, a face card and some suitedness. With a healthier stack, However, we are approaching the bubble and I am not on the button, so I let this go and wait for a better opportunity.

Hand 128 – A[club]2[spade]3[heart]K[diamond] Big Blind (150/300) Chips 4,193 after posting (raise to 2,250 after one limper and a min-raise to 600)

There are very few hands that are ahead of A2Kx, and with A23K, this is an automatic raising hand in the same way as AAWx. Villain flat calls my reraise with 3690 behind, which makes me assume villain will show down A2xx.

Flop 6[heart]8[diamond]Q[diamond] (pot = 4,950; bet 2243 all-in, villain calls)

There was virtually no flop I could have folded with this stack size and this hand, especially since I have to assume villain shares two cards with me. Villain calls with A[diamond]3[diamond]5[club]6[club], and I am sweating on the turn but squeak out a chop.

Turn/River 9[diamond] 7[diamond]

Second Break at the conclusion of hand 129.

Blinds will be going up to 200/400, and I will return to the table with about 8M. This is not a desperate stack, but it is far from commanding.

During levels 5-8, I got a much better distribution of random hands than in the first four levels. There was such a richness of hands, that I actually threw away a junk A2xy hand, and I was much less tempted to fool around with marginal hands, except to make steals. While I did manage to double my stack over four levels, my stack growth was not enough to bring me to a commanding stack. As mentioned in the text, I could have increased my aggressiveness with a few of these hands.

2009-04-04T09:51:00.002-04:00

Going Deep in an Online PLO8 Tournament, Part 1 – Early Stage Play

Originally published in 2p2 magazine, all rights go to the author.

Overall strategy for early levels

Situations to Seek:

Getting it all-in preflop with a 60% or better hand. Ideally, if I can get it all-in preflop against one or two opponents with some AAWx (Ace-Ace-Wheel plus any fourth card) combo, I will not hesitate.

Getting involved multiway with A23x, A24x, A25x, preferably with some flush draws. I would prefer not to get it all-in preflop, but I can mostly call a raise up to maybe 20% of my stack preflop for a multiway pot.

Getting maximum value out of secure hands. I would ideally like a lock on the high side with multiple players chasing the low. Other strong selections include having a nut low with redraw and a strong high side draw, or even flopping strong draws in both directions, such as the often heartbreaking favorite nut-flush-draw/nut-low-draw. (NFD/NLD)

Playing Marginal Hands only with position and large fields. By marginal hands, I mean hands that do not contain AAxy or A2xy. This includes all kinds of ‘Yahtzee!’ and ‘Bingo’ hands that can scoop a pot with an appropriate board. Four high cards with a suited Ace, any three wheel cards, suited ace hands are all candidate hands.

Situations to avoid:

One way chases on a two way board, especially awful in a heads up situation when the opponent is betting heavy. It’s usually not a good situation in multi-way pots either.

Clichéd nut lows in deep pots. If I make a low using A2, it’s much more likely that I am not the only such low than if I make it with 35 or 25. If I have nut low using A2, but I have no real high draws, and no counterfeit protection, it will occasionally be correct to fold it on the flop in the face of heavy multi-way action.

Going deep with Naked Aces. AAxy is typically a pre-flop favorite, but in the early levels, all kinds of hands are getting the correct odds to call a pre-flop raise. If the pot is going deep, and I have a pair of aces and no redraws, this is frequently not a good situation.

Hand Play

Level 1 - Starting 3,000 in chips, 10/20 blinds.

Hand 7 – 2[diamond]3[spade]4[heart]8[spade] Big Blind (10/20) Chips 2,845 (check)

I check this middling but not hopeless hand after two limpers and a small blind completion. I am mostly looking for an ace on the flop. If my opponents hold zero aces, there is a 30% chance to flop one or more aces. If they hold one ace, that drops to 24%. With two aces out, it’s 16%. I’m not getting fantastic implied odds, but there are plenty of chips behind if I hit a bingo.

Flop 3[club]5[club]J[diamond] (pot = 80; check-call 40)

Three checks and late position bets 40. I call with my open-ended straight draw, since the price is still low and I have no reason to assume my 24 low is beaten yet. The other two players call as well.

Turn A[spade]. (pot = 240; bet 180)

Bingo! I now have the nut low, and am only behind right now to anyone else with 24 and a club draw. SB checks, I bet 180, or ¾ of the pot, to prevent any weak draws from staying for free. Three callers, but I have no idea what they could hold, since it is early in the tournament, and these may be unskilled players. Any 24 with the club draw should have raised here, as should any 246x which is free-rolling for a better straight. Thus, I am very likely ahead at this point. I have 2,625 behind.

River Q[diamond] (pot = 960; bet 960)

I am now behind KTxy for the high (unlikely), tied with 24xx for the low, but still very likely ahead of all three callers. Because it is early in the tournament, I would like to get as much from the weaker players as possible, so I bet the pot when the SB checks, and AJ77 in late position (the lead bettor on the flop) is kind enough to pay off, and the other two fold.

Hand 8 –3[diamond]6[heart]9[club]7[spade] Small Blind (10/20) 4,535 chips (fold)

Despite being offered 7 to 1 odds to see a flop, I fold. With a hand like this, it is nearly impossible to make a hand that can scoop and also get paid. (The chances of somehow making quads and getting paid by AAxy are microscopically smaller than 7 to 1, especially since nobody raised pre-flop.)

Level 2 – Blinds are 15/30. No change in strategy.

Hand 23 – A[club]2[diamond]3[heart]9[diamond] Big Blind (15/30) 4,370 chips (raise to 120)

There are 3 limpers, two of whom have previously shown non-standard (dubious) preflop hand selections, so my low draw is probably miles ahead right now. I would like to build up a pot early to give the other players motivation to chase, so I raise to a non-threatening 4bb (120), and 2 of the players come along. The pot is 390, the two other players have 2,900 and 4,000, and the dream is to see them competing for the high side when I have a made low.

Flop Q[diamond]5[heart]8[spade] (pot = 390; check)

I have no high draw, and although I may be giving away my hand with this check, the option of lead betting and getting raised is not at all appealing. All three of us check

Turn 5[diamond] (pot = 390; check)

Betting is now plausible with a weak diamond draw and a good low draw, but given the check-calling passivity I have seen at this the table, I’d rather make a hand before putting more chips in. The action checks around.

River J[diamond] (pot = 390; call 180)

I have a weak flush, and the SB leads out for half the pot. There are three likely meanings here:
1) SB has nothing, but assumes that the other players were chasing lows and cannot call a bet.
2) SB has a diamonds flush, just as likely better than mine.
3) SB has a full house, which seems unlikely, since anyone with a 5 should have bet the turn to shut down any low draws.

After a moment of consideration, I decided that the 180 does not represent enough of my stack to preclude a curiosity call. I expect to lose, but I also wish to advertise that I cannot be easily bluffed.

I call, third player folds, and the bettor shows JJ37 for an unlikely riverboat. I filed this information on the SB on my right for later use.

Level 3 – Blinds 25/50, my stack is 4,100. Game plan largely unchanged.

Hand 32 – Q[spade]4[spade]8[diamond]5[club] SB (25/50) 4000 chips (call)

This is a very weak hand, and a fold is better play, but since only the button has limped, I take the pot odds of 5 to 1 on a trash hand. BB checks.

Flop A[club]2[spade]K[spade] (pot = 150; bet 100)

I have 3rd nut low draw, and 2nd nut flush draw. Since the button did not show strength pre-flop, I lead out for 2/3 of the pot, the BB calls and the button folds.

Turn J[diamond] (pot = 350; check)

I check and the BB checks. I am likely behind in one of the two directions, but not necessarily both, so I want to get to the river cheaply without a made hand

River 9[diamond] (pot = 350; check)

The low-draw/flush-draw combo has missed both ways, as it will around 40% of the time. I will not bluff without a pair, and BB is happy to check behind with K[diamond]2[diamond]3[club]3[spade], an unimproved two pair. Calling the flop with two pair and no low draw is potentially a negative EV play. I could have won a very big pot if a low hit on the turn and allowed me to safely build up the pot in case I hit a spade on the river. However, since the turn and river are bricks, BB wins a small pot.

I have a reasonable amount of information on the players to my immediate right and left, and have seen them make small mistakes that went unpunished, as often happens in PLO8 tournaments. Let’s hope the table doesn’t break up anytime soon!

Hand 33 –4[spade]7[spade]2[diamond]5[heart] on the button, (25/50) 3,900 chips (call)

While this is a marginal hand, three wheel cards occasionally gives big draws, so I call after one early limper. Given what I know of the limper, I am likely ahead for the low draw. The Small Blind folds and the Big Blind checks.

Flop 5[club]5[diamond]9[heart]. (pot = 175; bet 100)

Two checks and I lead out for half the pot and the SB calls.

Turn A[diamond] (pot = 375; call 100)

Small blind leads out for 100. I do not have the diamond draw, but I am not folding trips with a reasonable low draw, but I am not excited enough about my kicker to raise.

River 8[spade]. (pot = 575; call 150)

BB leads for 150, and I have a reasonable made low (but not nut), and trip fives with a poor side card. Raising is an option here, although there are some big blind hands that have us beat.
· 235 with any card higher than 7
· 245 with any card higher than 7.
· 2388, 2488, 2399, 2499

Otherwise I am likely ahead here, and may want to raise. However, will any hands weaker than mine pay me off?

23xx – These hands will pay me off, but I will not gain anything. They may even put me to the test with a reraise.
5 plus a card higher than 7. These hands are also chopping the pot with me. Ideally, I would like to see any combination of 5Txx, 5Jxx, 5Qxx, 5Kxx to fold to my reraise, but if the other two cards make any plausible low, it is unlikely that villain will fold to a repot.
24xx with no fives– I would get ¾ of the pot, so I want to build a pot as much as possible.

It is worth noting that with this hand at this level against an unknown opponent, hand reading is too tricky. I have not shown strength, and villain has also not shown strength, but we both have both shown an unwillingness to fold for small bets. I can likely rule out villain holding a true monster, such as 23 with a full house, but there are few other combinations that I can rule out with this betting sequence, especially when I am at a stage when many unskilled players still possess chips.

In the end, I go with caution and call. The BB turns over A[spade]T[spade]T[club]9[club], meaning that he was leading out with an overpair and no low draw. While failing to raise on the river was an error, it was probably a low-cost error, since BB should have folded to a repot. Still, it’s tough to win tournaments by leaving potential chips un-won.

Hand 34 – 2[diamond]3[spade]5[diamond]7[diamond] Cutoff position (25/50) 3,500 chips (call)

Given the playing habits of my tablemates so far, after two limpers I choose to see a flop cheaply with a very marginal hand that will often end up second best. It does not help to have three cards of one suit, since I am damaging my chances at a flush draw. If an ace does not fall on the flop, I am done with the hand, but if it does, I am optimally looking for a hand where two other players are competing for the high side, and I have a lock low. Any nut low I make here is a ‘non-cliché’ low, of course. This limp represents less than 2% of my stack. If it were much more than that, this hand is a clear fold.

Flop 3[heart]5[heart]7[heart]. (pot = 300; fold)

The UTG limper leads out for a pot-sized bet, and I fold. Even without the flush on the board, it is usually wise to fold with three low pairs, since I cannot make a meaningful low, and building a pot chasing the full house against a made low with any high draw (or a made high) is not good policy.

Incidentally, a hand like A[heart]2[club]xy without a flush should generally bet this flop in the hopes of getting weak flushes to fold. Any A2xy hand without the ace of hearts or a flush should generally not escalate the hand early, since there is a reasonable chance that an A2xx with hearts is in the mix.

Hand 35 – A[diamond]A[heart]2[heart]6[heart] mid-position (25/50) 4,300 chips. (raise 225)

After one limper UTG, I raise the maximum to 225 and the player on my immediate left (from hand 33) and the UTG limper both call. My opponents have 5,300 (left) and 1,800 (UTG).

Flop 6[diamond]6[club]8[club]. (pot = 750; bet 300)

I would love to build up a huge pot against any A2xy hand, or against any 6xyz hand without an 8. I lead out with a sucker continuation bet of 300, slightly less than half the pot. I also want to charge overpairs such as QQxy or JJxy to stay, lest they get a boat for free on the turn. I’d also like to see the small bet interpreted as weakness and be raised. The player on my immediate left calls, and we are heads-up.

Turn 9[diamond]. (pot = 1,350; bet 300 call a raise to 850)

I made an underbet of 300 (I believe I misclicked, but this is an awful bet size!) and villain raises to 850. After a moment, I flat call. I do not have a made low, and cannot rule out a garbage hand such as 88xx or 99xx for the villain, so there is no need to further inflate the pot right now.

River J[club] (pot = 3050; check)

I check, and villain checks behind with K[heart]K[spade]Q[club]9[club], and his clubs are good.

Playing this hand more aggressively from the flop might have won a small pot quickly, or it might have knocked me out of the tourney if villain had committed early with his overpair and a flush draw.

It is worth noting that nemesis called the two (undersized) bets with an overpair, a non-nut flush draw and no low draw, after calling a preflop raise with a marginal hand. One of the commonly accepted tenets of PLO8 is ‘never chase for half the pot’ which is exactly what nemesis did. It is even worse to chase a non-nut hand. In all fairness, my underbets did not show strength, and a big bet on the flop would have likely taken down the pot.

Level 4 – Blinds are now 50/100 and I have 2,900 in chips, or 20M. This is a playable stack and I am far from desperate.

Hand 53 – 2[diamond]3[club]5[club]6[club] UTG (50/100) 2,700 chips (call)

I limp with another marginal three-wheel hand. This is a limp out of boredom, since I haven’t seen a flop for 18 hands. This table has not been very aggressive, so I take a chance that I will not be raised by any hands weaker than AAxy, especially since it would be easy to interpret my UTG limp as a very strong hand, even though it actually is not. All players fold down to the BB, who has a stack larger than ours, and the BB checks. Much like hand 34, I am looking for an ace on the flop. However, since I am only against the BB, I have to assume that any low I make with 23 is very likely to hold up.

Flop K[diamond]9[spade]2[spade]. (pot =250; check)

The BB checks. I have bottom pair and a backdoor low draw, but would have to fold to a check-raise. Seeing the turn for free is better than inadvertently betting into two pair or a flush draw.

Turn 2[club], (pot=250; bet 250)

BB checks, and there is no reason to assume I can make more money by waiting till the river to bet, so I bet the pot, and BB goes away. Not a fantastic hand, but after 18 consecutive folds, it’s encouraging to see a flop and take down a small pot.

Hand 54 – A[spade]2[heart]8[club] 9[spade] BB (50/100) 2,800 chips (check).

There is one EP limper, and the SB completes.

Arguments for checking this hand include:
· backup low (8) is the worst possible emergency low.
· side card (9) has no high strength
· Because the blinds have increased in proportion to my stack, betting the pot could present a very difficult decision on the turn for all my chips with a weak holding
· There are less limpers than in the prior hand
· fold equity is minimal
· If my raise is called, I am out of position for the rest of the hand
· A check keeps the hand completely secret. Because my opponents are unlikely to give me credit for A2xy, I have a better chance of ending up in a big 3 way pot with nut low, and one of the opponents putting in chips on the assumption that his 2nd nut low hand will be good.

Arguments for raising with this hand include:
· There is only one early position limper, whose low is probably worse than A2
· It has an ‘emergency low’ to help with counterfeit protection heads-up
· It has a suited ace
· It has 89, which gives us some chance at a straight
· The Small Blind probably completed with a junk hand and would fold to a raise.
· Given that I have folded every hand for two rotations around, my table image is presumed tight.
· I could win 200 chips without a fight.
· I will be out of position for the remainder of the hand if I do not end it now.

I choose to check because I am looking for a big score at this time. I can either risk an extra 10% of my stack now for a likely 7% increase, or I can risk zero additional chips for a potentially bigger payoff.

Flop J[club]7[spade]2[diamond] (pot = 300; check)

I have bottom pair, backdoor flush draw, gutshot straight, and a very weak low draw. I check and it is checked around. I could make a half-pot bet, but if either villain raises me here, I would have to fold my draws. A3 and A4 are certainly not folding if I take a stab here.

Turn T[club] (pot=300; bet 300)

I have the temporary nuts. There are no possible river cards that preserve the nut hand status, so I would like to take the pot down right now. A pot-sized bet, and nemesis (hands #33 and #35) calls.

River J[heart] (pot =900; bet=700)

This is probably one of the least harmful cards in the deck. Given the action so far, it is very doubtful that villain holds a jack, since top pair plus a low draw, or two pair on the flop would have merited a bet, and the call on the turn strongly indicates a drawing hand. I bet 700, and nemesis folds.

Hand 56 – 2[heart]3[club]6[diamond]8[diamond] Button (50/100) 3,400 chips (call)

There are two limpers, and I elect to limp in with this speculative hand from the button. The SB completes and BB checks. This is a much more sensible limp than hand 53, although choosing to fold this preflop is also sensible.

Flop Q[heart]7[spade]8[spade] (pot=500; fold)

The 3rd player to act bets 300. I am mostly looking for an ace on the flop, and I didn’t get one. I fold 3rd nut low draw and middle pair.

Hand 56 concludes level 4.

Break

Stack is 3,200 at the conclusion of four levels. The bad news is that I failed to increase the chip stack while the weaker players are still splashing their chips like drunken sailors. The good news is that I have outlasted half of the field, as there are 36 players remaining out of a field of 72. The payouts begin at 12th place, so I will need to increase the stack to get to the prizes.

In terms of hand distribution so far, I have seen two A2xx hands, and one AA2x hand out of 56 hands, and not a lot of playable aces in general. Without going into the statistics, I’m quite certain that my starting hands have been below average expectation. This led to a lot of folding, and eventually took me to playing marginal hands out of position, which is an easy way to get into big trouble.

In the early stages of a PLO8 tournament, the player skill level is often low enough that hands cannot be read with any degree of certainty. I have to choose between risking my stack against an enigmatic holding and taking smaller risks for smaller rewards. My choices so far in this tournament have kept me alive, but not built up a big stack.

ICM PLO8 article

2009-01-13T10:47:00.000-05:00

ICM Decisions in Split-Pot Tournaments

The Problem

Congratulations, we have just made it to the final table of a Pot-Limit Omaha Eight or Better Multi-Table Tournament! Now what?

There are 8 remaining at the final table. We are past the bubble and playing to maximize our value on a sliding pay scale. The Payouts, Chip Counts, and Current ICM Values (aka cEV) prior to posting our big blind are as follows:

Position Payout
1 $1,950
2 $1,475
3 $1,100
4 $840
5 $575
6 $450
7 $350
Total $6,740

Chips Current ICM Value
Player 1 21,000 $936
Player 2 7,000 $601
Player 3 38,000 $1,181
Player 4 6,000 $568
Hero 26,000 $1,020
Player 6 32,000 $1,107
Player 7 (BS) 53,000 $1,327
Total 183,000 $6,740

Player 7 has been working the big stack and raising the table more than her share. In the last 10 hands, she has been involved in 6 hands and her cards were exposed four times at showdown. Those hands were:

A578 – Three of one suit
A8JJ – Three of one suit
QQ89 - rainbow
AKJ9 - double-suited

The blinds are 1000/2000 and you are in the BB. As expected, the Bully raises to 5000, and the table folds around to you. If find you have a very strong hand, what is the best possible play? Let’s take a look our table observations and then take a look at the math.

• There are two stacks at less than 3M, in serious danger of elimination
• The difference between being eliminated now and outlasting the two small stacks $575 compared with $350, or a 60% improvement in pay.
• A double-up here makes us the chip leader, giving us a better shot at first prize, especially as cautious as this table has been.
• Based on prior behavior, if we reraise, we expect that the bully will reraise and put us all-in 100% of the time.
• Based on prior behavior, if we flat call, we expect villain to respond to our flop bet with an all-in move about 70% of the time and to fold the other 30%.

Now let’s look at the math. Here are our ICM values in the following scenarios.
• We fold preflop ($995)
• We flat call and fold on the flop ($948)
• We bet the flop and bully folds ($1079)
• We chop the pot and profit by T500 ($1031)
• We double up ($1329)
• We are eliminated ($350)
• We get ¼ of the pot ($803)
• We get ¾ of the pot ($1195)

Option 1 - Push or Fold Only

Here is the ICM value of AA23 double-suited, the strongest possible hand in PLO8. We will assume that villain repots and put us all-in, and we will use propokertools.com simulations of AA23ds versus a random hand to determine the remaining distribution.

Percent ICM Value Result
Losses 17.50% $350 $61.25
Chops 18.35% $1,031 $189.14
Scoops 61.41% $1,329 $816.18
3/4 1.71% $1,195 $20.40
1/4 1.04% $803 $8.32
100.00% ICM Value $1,095

Compared to folding AA23 double-suited preflop ($995), we confirm that raising with the best possible hand is a positive equity play and increases our cEV by about 10%. The ICM model needs to be very severe before we should contemplate folding a monster starting hand.

If we assumed that villain would fold pre-flop 30% of the time that we reraise, the numbers for AA23 would come out as follows.

Percent ICM Value Result
villain folds preflop 30.00% $1,079 $323.70
Losses 12.25% $350 $42.87
Chops 12.84% $1,031 $132.40
Scoops 42.99% $1,329 $571.32
3/4 1.19% $1,195 $14.28
1/4 0.73% $803 $5.82
100.00% ICM Value $1,090

Assuming that villain will always call our reraise, the weakest double-suited hands we can push with and still be marginally profitable include A2Q5 ($996), A35J ($994), A45J ($996), A5JJ ($996). Any AAxx hand that includes one low card will be profitable, but the strong high-side hand AAKK double-suited is only worth $970, somewhat worse than folding that hand preflop.

For the remainder of the article, we will focus on the hand A23K double-suited. Its pushing value is $1009. If the villain folds 30% of the time when we reraise with this hand, our value goes up to $1030. Our risk of ruin is 24% if villain always calls and 16.5% if villain folds 30% of the time that we repot.

Option 2 – See and evaluate a flop and push a wide range of draws and made hands

A second option is to see and evaluate a flop, and only push where we have a flop that meets any of the following conditions.

1) We have a made nut low
2) We have a nut-low draw with one card needed (treat this as a semi-bluff)
3) We have a made high side hand, such as trips or better.
4) We have a high side only semi-bluff hand (Flush draw, pair of aces, pair of kings, and we will classify two pair as a semi-bluff for outcome calculation purposes)

First we generate the number of flops that qualify, and determine the number of flops where we will plan to check fold. For A23K double-suited, we estimate 5840 combinations out of 17, 296 possible flops (34% chance) where we have a flopped nut low or a nut low draw. In addition to these low chance flops, these high-side flops exist outside of the low flop chances.

High Hand Flops Combinations Percentage
Trips or full house 552 3.19%
Quads 4 0.02%
Broadway Straights 64 0.37%
Flopped Flushes discounting 3 low card flushes and 2 low card flushes 140 0.81%
Flush draws with 2 high flush cards and any third card 592 3.42%
Flush draws with 1 high flush cards, one low flush card and one other high card 840 4.86%
Two Pair plus one high card 864 5.00%
(discount flush draw combinations) -272 -1.57%
A King plus one or two high cards (two pair draw) 1752 10.13%
(discount flush and flush draw combinations) -72 -0.42%
An Ace plus two high cards (two pair draw) 513 2.97%
(discount flush and flush draw combinations) -98 -0.57%
Total 4879 28.21%

We estimate that we can push on 62% of all possible flops. We will check-fold the 38% of flops that do not contain a low draw or at least a pair of kings. We simplify the model with the following assumptions.

• Villain will fold 30% of the time that we pot the flop
• For any made low flop we are mostly free-rolling for the high, and chopping 75%, scooping 25%.
• For any two-card low flop, we are struggling to survive when called, and we are losing 40%, chopping 50%, and scooping 10%.
• For any high-hand flop with a made hand, we are scooping 60%, chopping 30% and losing 10%.
• For any high hand flop with a draw or any two-pair and one-pair hands, we are losing 40%, chopping 30% and scooping 30%.

Our outcomes table appears as follows

Occurrence Combinations Percentage
Fold Flop 6577 38.03%
Made Low Chop (75%) 2122.5 12.27%
Made Low Scoop (25%) 707.5 4.09%
Low Draw Loss (40%) 1204 6.96%
Low Draw Chop (50%) 1505 8.70%
Low Draw Scoop (10%) 301 1.74%
Made High Scoop (60%) 456 2.64%
Made High Chop (30%) 228 1.32%
Made High Loss (10%) 76 0.44%
High Draw Loss (40%) 1647.6 9.53%
High Draw Chop (30%) 1235.7 7.14%
High Draw Scoop (30%) 1235.7 7.14%
Total 17296 1

We reorganize our outcomes as follows.

Occurrence Percentage ICM Gross Value ICM Calculated
Fold Flop 38.03% 948 $360
Villain Folds Flop to our bet (30%) 18.59% 1079 $201
Scoop 10.93% 1329 $145
Chop 20.60% 1031 $212
Loss 11.85% 350 $41
Total 1 $960

Our expected cEV from a stop and go where we push the best 62% of flops is actually worse than folding preflop. Our risk of ruin drops from 24% to 12% compared with pushing preflop.

Option 3 – See and evaluate a flop and push a narrow range made hands

What if we evaluate a flop and only continue on hands where we have a very strong flop? Let us revise our betting criteria as follows:

1. We have a made nut low
2. We have a made high hand, two pair or better.
3. We have a nut low draw (need one card to make low) plus any flush draw or open ended low straight draw.

Let us assume that villain will fold 30% of the time that we push on the flop. Let’s also assume that we are mostly either scooping or chopping when we push on the flop, and that we will include a small portion of losses rather than attempting to quantify the number of times that we will get quartered. This strategy offers the lowest risk of ruin (5%) for any option, and offers the best cEV for any of the post-flop options.

Occurrence Percentage ICM Gross Value ICM Calculated
Fold Flop 52.90% 948 $501.46
Villain Folds Flop to our bet (30%) 14.13% 1079 $152.47
Scoop 11.93% 1329 $158.50
Chop 16.14% 1031 $166.35
Loss 4.91% 350 $17.19
Total 1 4737 $996

In other words, compared to folding pre-flop, it is marginally profitable to call with A23K double-suited and only push on highly selective criteria where we have a virtually guaranteed chop and are free-rolling for the other half of the pot. Despite offering a lower overall value than pushing preflop, this may be the best option when playing against certain categories of villains, because it offers the lowest risk of ruin (5%) for any option, and offers the best cEV for any of the post-flop options.

Option 4 – Pure Stop and Go

It can be argued that the villain will tighten up if we put her to the test. If we treat this as a stop-and-go play where we always bet the flop, and villain folds to 65% of our all-in flop bets (an optimistic scenario, unless villains standards for continuing are much tighter than our own) and puts us all-in on the remaining 35% of flops.

Occurrence Percentage ICM Gross Value ICM Calculated
Fold Flop 0.00% 948 $0
Villain Folds Flop to our bet (65%) 65.00% 1079 $701
Scoop 5.46% 1329 $73
Chop 10.30% 1031 $106
Loss 19.23% 350 $67
Total 1 $948

The stop and go scenario above is close in value to the call-and-evaluate model in option 2. However, the number is ‘terribly optimistic.’ If we change our assumption so that villain would fold to our stop and go in the same proportion as we folded in option #2 (38 %), the outcome would degrade as follows.

Occurrence Percentage ICM Gross Value ICM Calculated
Fold Flop 0.00% 948 $0
Villain Folds Flop to our bet (38%) 38.00% 1079 $410
Scoop 9.68% 1329 $129
Chop 18.25% 1031 $188
Loss 34.07% 350 $119
Total 1 $846

It can be argued that if the villain is only folding 37% of the time, villain will be on a draw a significant portion of the time. When we arbitrarily increase the overall chops and scoops, the numbers look better, but this is still not a profitable play compared with pushing only on the strongest flops.

Occurrence Percentage ICM Gross Value ICM Calculated
Fold Flop 0.00% 948 $0
Villain Folds Flop to our bet (38%) 38.00% 1079 $410
Scoop 14.00% 1329 $186
Chop 26.00% 1031 $268
Loss 22.00% 350 $77
Total 100.00% $941

Concluding Thoughts

Much like any other MTT, there are certain times in the tournament when it is correct to push with virtually any hand, and there are times when we should only consider pushing our strongest hands. In this situation with two life-support stacks and a villain who does not perform hand valuations well, we must be highly selective on our pushing hands, since we have minimal fold equity and we stand to lose so much more value in elimination than we could gain in a double up.

By the same token, we should not necessarily cave in to a big stack bully with our strong but not monster hands: with the chips to see a flop without committing, we may prefer to see a flop with our stronger two-way hands, and push on flops where we are very likely to survive and preferably thrive, but give up on flops that do not give us much hope in either direction, without giving up too much tournament equity. Because it reduces volatility, this strategy is particularly recommended when you believe you have a significant skill edge over the villain.

Month in progress - Full Tilt

2008-06-01T14:02:00.001-04:00

June 1 - AM one PLO (high) HU SNG - won
(1, 0 )
Midafternoon one PLO8 HU sng - won
(2,0)

Stars Blog Tourney

2007-10-05T10:09:00.000-04:00

I think I've paid my blogging dues. I wanna play.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 1880285

Suspension of Blogging

2006-12-17T17:57:00.000-05:00

Effective immediately, I am done with poker blogging, unless it's worth a free roll for an on-line tourney. Otherwise, I find it's no longer productive in terms of improving my game, or improving your game. Consider this my new year's resolution come early.

You can find me on the 2+2 boards, playing on-line, or playing live.

To the handful of people who've been reading my blog, thanks for stopping in and sharing your opinions.

Double Hold'em Primer

2006-12-08T12:46:00.000-05:00

At my upcoming home game, Double Hold'em will be offered. The rules are just like Hold'em, except two boards are dealt simultaneously, and the high hand of each board wins.

Here are a few scenarios and percentages to keep in mind.

Starter - Two suited cards, including the ace:
If you magically flop the flush draw on both boards, there are now 6 flush cards accounted for, and 44 unknown cards in the deck. This means that you are 32.6% to hit your flush on board 1, and 34.6% to hit on board 2, about 10% to potentially scoop with a flush on both boards.

Starter - Any low pocket pair

You are 12% to hit your set on the first board flop, just like in holdem. Your odds go up slightly on the second board flop to 13%. That's a 25% chance, or 3 to 1, that you will hit a set on one board. If you hit your set on the first board, you have a 6% chance of hitting a set on the second flop, or about a 10% of hitting it by the river. (That's a 0.8% chance of hitting a set on both flops.)

Update - Misc On-line and the Social Group

2006-12-06T10:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't been on the road, so no Tunica updates. I've been doing okay on 'tards, placing 75th out of 490 in the PLO8 on Tuesday night, placing 10th in an 11$ 180 player NLHE sng, which tells me that my tourney decision making is getting better. In the NLHE sng, I treated it as a freeroll after hitting this 1-outer.

blinds 15/30, I've got 1470 in chips, and QQ utg. I limp, the next player bumps it to 3BB and three callers follow. I re-raise to 450, 12 bB, and one player calls. The flop is K56r and the player pushes for another 600, and I call, hoping for a small pair or an outside straight draw. Unfortunately its the worst possible scenario - KQs, which means I have precisely 1 out in the next two cards, or I'm down to 400 in chips. I river the case queen, and we're off to the races. When we're down to 15 players and everybodys got a small M, I really loosen up, and eventually lose a race w/JTo v AKo to get knocked out for 10th. One hand earlier I had lost J2s v A8s, for 1/4 of my stack.

Concerning the social group, the annual renewal fees are coming up, and even though the money involved means nothing, I'm strongly considering leaving for the following reasons.

1) The message board we moved to a year ago is junk. I just noticed that everything posted before Sept. 10th of this year has been deleted, and nobody knows why. The calendar device is cumbersome, not user-friendly at all.
2) There are fewer and fewer games being posted on the message board.
3) Posting a game on the board doesn't seem to attract new players. We did get ONE player at my last game based on posting to this board, but the rest were people I know and regularly play with. I've got an upcoming game, and expect zero new players.
4) There is a competing local game board which is free and offers up more players. Granted, I don't expect that board to fill seats any better, but at least the price is right.
5) Of 150 members, there are only a handful who like to engage in serious poker discussion, and there is generally not an attitude of improving one another's game, or improving the level of the club as a whole. It's every poker player for themselves, which should not be the purpose of a club.
6) Truth be told, it feels too much like high school, in terms of the social dynamics. Thanks but no thanks.

More PLO8 - Online SNG

2006-12-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

Last night I made 45th out of 450 in a cheap PLO8, and then I took first of nine in a PLO8 sng. Let's see if I'm making good decisions, or if I'm a luckbox.

These are all from a cheap 9 player SNG.

Hands 1-30: I have some victories and losses, yo-yoing up to 2800 and back down to 1600 and getting back up to 2800 by the time hand 31 comes aroud.

hand 31 - blinds are 50/100 and and I'm dealt [As 7h Qc 3s] in the BB

Seat 1: langham1 (4376 in chips)
Seat 2: FrankNagaiJr (2735 in chips)
Seat 3: pawpaw67 (2507 in chips)
Seat 7: pinocchio46 (1937 in chips)
Seat 8: goodcash (1807 in chips)
Seat 9: polodelph (138 in chips)

There is a limp, a bump, one from the SB (langham1), I call, and the limper calls for 800 in the pot.

*** FLOP *** [7c 6d Qd]

I have two pair and not-ridiculous low draw.

langham1: bets 400
FrankNagaiJr: calls 400
pinocchio46: folds
goodcash: folds

This makes me think that my low is probably good if it hits.

*** TURN *** [7c 6d Qd] [Tc]
I'm very sceptical that this improved my opponents hand, unless he was betting the outside straight draw. The following reraise was dodgy, but proved correct.

langham1: bets 800
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1335 to 2135 and is all-in
langham1: calls 1335

*** RIVER *** [7c 6d Qd Tc] [4c]

langham1: shows [Td 6h Jd Ad] (HI: two pair, Tens and Sixes)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [As 7h Qc 3s] (HI: two pair, Queens and Sevens; LO: 7,6,4,3,A)

I would have to study hands 1-30 to determine why I felt that langham had very little, but I think I had a decent read to make this play. If I had been mistaken on my push-raise and he had the straight and a worse low draw, I have 14 outs to make my low, and four outs to make my boat.

Brilliant read or donk play?

Hand 35 - blinds are 75/150, and there are two virtual dead stacks out of the remaining six players. I limp [Jd 8d 4s Ac], and two of the other live stacks limp in.

*** FLOP *** [5h 3d 7s]

I have a weak low draw, as well as four outs for a wheel, and four more outs for a vulnerable straight. Pretty weak, and if the live stack had bet more, I might have gone away.

goodcash: bets 150
FrankNagaiJr: calls 150

*** TURN *** [5h 3d 7s] [9d]
I now have a backdoor flush draw, and any ten for a high straight, and I only have to call a tiny bet to stay? Sure!

goodcash: bets 150
FrankNagaiJr: calls 150

*** RIVER *** [5h 3d 7s 9d] [6h]
goodcash: bets 300
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1788 to 2088
goodcash: calls 1788
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Jd 8d 4s Ac] (HI: a straight, Four to Eight; LO: 6,5,4,3,A)
goodcash: mucks hand

I think I played this hand just fine.

Hand 37 - I attempt a small blind pot-steal and get a call when I'm half naked with [7s Kc 4d Kd]. The flop is Q44, and he folds to my pot-sized cont-bet. Good.

Hand 38 - I'm a huge chip leader, and I limp [3c 5s 4c 6h], and the SB limps. The BB pot-raises (he raises a lot), so I push both players in. Their hands:
pinocchio46: shows [Qc Ad Jh Th]
goodcash: shows [8h 4h Kc Ac]

Two dimes has me at 30% EV pre-flop, so I was getting the odds I needed to show that I wasn't going to fold anything that I limped.

I lost both ways with this board.
*** RIVER *** [8c 9c 7s 6d] [5d]

Hand 51 - I pot-raise one limper w/[9s Ah Ad 6s] and he pushes with a solid hand [2d 4c Jh As] Two dimes puts me at 58% pre-flop, but I lose the coin flip. I'm still 3 to 1 chip leader over any other stack.

Hand 55 - In BB w/[As 6h 4d 2d] and I bump raise two limpers. I pot-bet the flop and take it down.
*** FLOP *** [Ad 7h 2s]

Hand 57 - I limp [7d 5s 2d Ac], and when pot-raised I push into the raiser, who calls with [6h Ah Ad Td]. Because my diamond draw is worthless, I'm the 38% dog here. If I had the Ace of Spades instead, my chances go up to 43%. I scoop with two pair and my A5 making the low. I'm now 5 to 1 against the two remaining stack.s

Hand 58 - the other two duke it out, and now I'm 2 to 1 stack agains the remaining player, who tends not to push preflop, but relies more on post-flop skill to win.

Hand 62 - The decisive hand, which needs some twodiming.

Seat 2: FrankNagaiJr (10173 in chips)
Seat 7: pinocchio46 (3327 in chips)

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kh Ah Ad 5s]
pinocchio46: calls 100
FrankNagaiJr: raises 400 to 600
pinocchio46: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Jd 3s 2s]

I have a decent low draw, and he does NOT have the nut flush draw, even though I don't have a flush draw at all. Still, I can't believe I'm not ahead here.

FrankNagaiJr: bets 1200
pinocchio46: calls 1200
*** TURN *** [Jd 3s 2s] [Qs]

If he's got the flush, I still have to chase the second-best low. If he doesn't I may still be okay with top pair of aces, but I doubt it. Note the inside straight draw that hits.

*** RIVER *** [Jd 3s 2s Qs] [Tc]
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Kh Ah Ad 5s] (HI: a straight, Ten to Ace)
pinocchio46: shows [6c Td 3d 7c] (HI: two pair, Tens and Threes)

Pre-flop, I was only the 56% favorite. If he had NO flush draws, I was the 62% favorite, and if he had one flush draw, I was the 59% favorite. It's good to be double-suited!

On the flop, my ev is 68%, and he needs to make two pair or trips for the high, and/or counterfeit my low draw to survive.

On the turn, nothing changes, and I'm 81% EV.

Game over.

PLO8 on-line SNG

2006-12-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

Let's take a look as to how much was luck and how much came from reasonable decisions:

Hand 1: I toss this tempting starter from MP. 8s Ac Ks 9h. Good choice.

Hand 4: My big blind hand Kh 6d Ac 7s - not ridiculously bad, and I see the flop for free 3 way. There is no action on any street, and I have the low on this board.
[Qc 4d Ts 3s] [As]

Hand 6 - My LP limp - 2c 4c Qh 3h
No action on the flop, and here's the turn, four way.
*** TURN *** [Ah As Kc] [8s]
I folded to a half-pot bet, despite having the nut low draw. I would have risked 40 to win 20, which didn't add up, and I didn't expect other callers, and didn't want o get in the middle of a raising war on the high side. Reasonable decision.

Hand 7 - A reasonable limp, 2h 3h Qs Kh, and the flop is A35. I'm counterfeited and gone.

Hand 8 - A high side limp, 9c Qd Js Kc, and the flop is 942, and I fold to a min-bet multi-way. Okay.

Hand 11 - This hand was very instructive about this opponent.
Seat 1: razzler (1605 in chips)
Seat 2: gater123 (1405 in chips)
Seat 3: beavorsky (1045 in chips)
Seat 4: kent hashr (820 in chips)
Seat 5: BigBanana4u (2360 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (1440 in chips)
Seat 7: ottfig (1755 in chips)
Seat 8: galafish (1586 in chips)
Seat 9: ZYMERGY (1484 in chips)

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [3h 6c Kh As]
BigBanana4u: calls 30
FrankNagaiJr: calls 30
kent hashr: checks
*** FLOP *** [6d 7s Ac]
FNJ I have a weak low draw and two pair here.

kent hashr: checks
BigBanana4u: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 60
kent hashr: raises 60 to 120
BigBanana4u: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 60

*** TURN *** [6d 7s Ac] [Ts]
I had a feeling based on the reraise, that he had the nut low, but not that he would have bet the outside/wrap straight draw, and that my two pair was likely still good. If I was wrong, I still have a chips left.

*** RIVER *** [6d 7s Ac Ts] [Jd]
kent hashr: bets 325 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 325

kent hashr: shows [Td 4s Qc 2s] (HI: a pair of Tens; LO: 7,6,4,2,A)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [3h 6c Kh As] (HI: two pair, Aces and Sixes)

And lo and behold, he was going to town with the second best low, and a weak flush draw. I had also seen this player get agressive on other weak-ish hands.

Hand 12 - 4d Ac 4h 3d - 4 of us limp to see the flop
*** FLOP *** [8s Ad As]

I have trips, and second best low draw, so I test the waters.

kent hashr: checks
BigBanana4u: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 60
gater123: calls 60
kent hashr: calls 60
BigBanana4u: folds

*** TURN *** [8s Ad As] [8d]
I didn't like the turn, but I bet it anyhow, and one player, from the prior hand, came along, and the other two dropped.

*** RIVER *** [8s Ad As 8d] [2s]
Yay, I've got lock low, and trip aces!

kent hashr: bets 480
FrankNagaiJr: raises 803 to 1283 and is all-in

FrankNagaiJr: shows [4d Ac 4h 3d] (HI: three of a kind, Aces; LO: 8,4,3,2,A)
kent hashr: shows [2c 3h 9h 5c] (HI: two pair, Aces and Deuces; LO: 8,5,3,2,A)

And sure enough, this player's tendency to play second best hands catches up with him. I now have a chip stack that allows for a little bit of patience.

Seat 1: razzler (1605 in chips)
Seat 2: gater123 (1315 in chips)
Seat 3: beavorsky (1030 in chips)
Seat 5: BigBanana4u (2300 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (2425 in chips)
Seat 7: ottfig (1755 in chips)
Seat 8: galafish (1586 in chips)
Seat 9: ZYMERGY (1484 in chips)

Hand 20 - Here's a questionable decision on my part. Bear in mind that the raiser frequently came in with a raise whenever he came in.

Seat 1: razzler (1545 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (2410 in chips)
Seat 9: ZYMERGY (944 in chips)

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [5c 9c 9h Jh]

ottfig: folds
galafish: folds
ZYMERGY: calls 50
razzler: raises 150 to 200
gater123: folds
beavorsky: folds
BigBanana4u: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 150

There was 325 in the pot, and I anticipated a call from Zymergy, which would mean I was getting 475 to 150 to call with this two-suited goofball hand. Even though I don't have a low draw, this seemed reasonable.

Sample percentages on two-dimes against an A2xx and and AA3x hand put me at 31%, or if both my flushes were behind, down to 23%, or 4 to 1 against, I would need a specific flop to continue, of course. Oddly, the initial limper disregarded pot odds and folded, and the flop was totally wrong for me, and I folded to big cont-bet. My call was marginally a bad decision, but the expected pot-size cont-bet did materialize, so it wasn't truly bad.

*** FLOP *** [Td 2d 7h]

Hand 29 - I fold this hand [9d Ad 7s 4c] after a limper and a pot raise. It has a flush draw, sure, but it also looks like a great second-best hand. It turns out the raiser (BigBanana4u) had to show this hand [6c Jh 3s Jc], so his raises after this will likely result in looser calls from me.

Hand 35 - I have been tight/passive, and I limp utg [5h 8s Ah Ad], and I make a probe bet into this flop [6c Qs Qd] and get no resistance. Blinds are 50/100, my chip count is 2235, and there are still 8 players of the original 9.

Hand 37 - I make an SB steal to take the BB. I liked my cards [Ad Ac 6h Ks]

Hand 38 - Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [7d 7s Ac 8c] 5 of us see the flop.

*** FLOP *** [6d 9d 5h]
ottfig: bets 100
galafish: folds
ZYMERGY: folds
BigBanana4u: raises 647 to 747 and is all-in

I have the nut straight, and want to push out ottfig if he's got a flush draw.
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1388 to 2135 and is all-in
ottfig: folds

*** RIVER *** [6d 9d 5h Ts] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BigBanana4u: shows [9h 4c As 3d] (HI: two pair, Aces and Nines; LO: 6,5,4,3,A)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [7d 7s Ac 8c] (HI: a straight, Six to Ten; LO: 8,7,6,5,A)

And my opponenet did not have the flush draw, but was pulling for a decent low draw, and an outside straight draw that would have lost to my higher made straight. We chop.

Hand 44 - My 'steal' was correct, and I was rivered. Let's see

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [8d Ad Jh As]
I am in BB and check after two limpers.
*** FLOP *** [9h 6s Tc]
BigBanana4u: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 300
beavorsky: calls 300
BigBanana4u: folds

We check it down and he rivers trips, which he chose not to bet. When I two-dimed the flop, I was the the 72.5% fave, as he has only runner-runner flush draws,, runner-runner QJ, or the two Kings to save him.

*** RIVER *** [9h 6s Tc 3c] [Kc]
FrankNagaiJr: shows [8d Ad Jh As] (HI: a pair of Aces)
beavorsky: shows [Ks 4h Kh 9s] (HI: three of a kind, Kings)

Hand 47 - Blinds are 75/100, I have 1910, and there are still 7 players left. I need to make a move soon. The hand below is a little weak, so I'd prefer not to see a flop.

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ah 6d 7s Kd]
galafish: calls 375
ZYMERGY: calls 300

*** FLOP *** [4d Jc 3c]
galafish: bets 316 and is all-in
ZYMERGY: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 316

If galafish had more chips, I probably would have folded, but I had four fives for the straight, and a hope that he was betting on high and that my weak low might be enough. I was getting 5 to 1 to call.

galafish: shows [Ts 3s 4s Td] (HI: two pair, Fours and Threes)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ah 6d 7s Kd] (HI: two pair, Aces and Kings; LO: 7,6,4,3,A)

Hand 48 - This hand really bothered me. We both had the nut low, and neither of us had a pair till the river.
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (3126 in chips)

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac Qc 3d Ks]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 300 to 450

*** FLOP *** [2h 6s 4d]
beavorsky: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 450
beavorsky: calls 450

*** TURN *** [2h 6s 4d] [Js]
beavorsky: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 1875
beavorsky: calls 1635 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [2h 6s 4d Js] [9c]

beavorsky: shows [Td Ah 9h 3c] (HI: a pair of Nines; LO: 6,4,3,2,A)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ac Qc 3d Ks] (HI: high card Ace; LO: 6,4,3,2,A)

On the river, he was drawing to six outs to not get quartered. That's now two big hands where beavorsky has caught up to me on the river. My chip count is back to 1877 and blinds are 75/150. I do give myself some credit for not tilting at this point and pushing a wider range of hands pre-flop.

Hand 50 - An EP pot raise from a frequent raiser, and I call with two suited, possible low holdings [4s 8h 2s Kh], and if an Ace fell, or two of either of my suits, or even two pair, I would push re-raise on the flop. However, I folded on the following flop, feeling that a weak low draw and a middle pair only was simply too risky. Down to 1352 in chips.

*** FLOP *** [8d Tc 5c]

Hand 51 - I limp-open in SB w/ [7h Ac Td 3d] and bet on the flop,[Ad 4h 6c]
and the BB folds. Yay. Chip count 1502, six players.

Hand 52 - I choose NOT to button steal with this hand [Qd 6d As Jh]. Maybe I'm too skittish?

Hand 54 - I toss this hand [4c 6h Ad 7c] to a UTG bump, which turned into a raising war. I would have been knocked out, as no low came, and I missed the board. 5 players remain after one gets knocked out.

Hand 56 - I am given a free ride in the BB w/ [2h 3c Ac 8d]. Mixed blessing.

Hand 58 - I toss this hand MP after an EP limper. [Qc 6s 8h Qd]. If it were not a rainbow, I might have pushed with it. A queen flopped, but if it hadn't, I was probably in trouble with this hand.

Hand 60 - I utg pot-raise w/ [Ah Qh 2d 4s] and no callers. This will buy me another trip around the blinds, which have gone up to 100/200, and my chip count is 1802 with five players still in the hunt.

Hand 61 - A playable hand that comes out in my favor. I'm in the BB with 400 in the pot on the flop, heads up SV v BB play.

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [4s 8d Jc Ah]
*** FLOP *** [6c As Qc]

The flop could be worse, but all I've got is top pair and a weak low draw. We both check.

*** TURN *** [6c As Qc] [Js]
Two pair and no clear straight or flush draw? I'm going to town!
BigBanana4u: bets 400
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1200 to 1600
BigBanana4u: calls 1200

*** RIVER *** [6c As Qc Js] [Ad]
FrankNagaiJr: shows [4s 8d Jc Ah] (HI: a full house, Aces full of Jacks)
BigBanana4u: shows [5d 3h 2c 6h] (HI: two pair, Aces and Sixes)

Two dimes puts us almost even pre-flop, he's got one flush draw, and some wrap straight possibilities, and I've got some high card strength. On the flop we're still almost even, with him a big favorite on the low, and me a big favorite on the high. When our money went in on the turn, I'm the 71% favorite. He needs either of the 6s to scoop, and any of 19 outs to halve the pot. All the other outs gave me the scoop.

My chip count is now 3604, 5 players still in, 100/200 blinds.

Hand 62 - I attempt an SB limp steal against the BB and give up on the turn when he bets. It's very nice having a predictable player on one's left!

Hand 64 - I finally get the better of beavorsky on the river. I small bet this flop and he called, and I made a teaser bet on the river with a weak flush, and a second-best low. He mucked, so I can't two dime it. but you can see that I flopped an inside draw and a reasonable low draw, and turned the flush draw, that I didn't bet for fear of being reraised, and I thought I had a decent scoop chance on the river.

*** RIVER *** [8h 5c Qd Kc] [7c]
FrankNagaiJr: shows [2s 3c 6s Tc] (HI: a flush, King high; LO: 8,7,5,3,2)

('Hello Grasshoppa!')

I have 4504 in chips, 4 players still in the hunt, and one with less than 2BB, 100/200.

Hand 66 - I get another free ride in the BB, this time with mediocre holdings. Yay.

Hand 67 - I pot-raise to open from the SB w/4h Ac Kc 6s and pick up the blinds.

Hand 68 - I isolate the small stack w/Ts Ah 4h Jh and he calls with 8d 9h 9s As, and we chop. Two dimes had me as the 58% fave.

Hand 71 - I call a bump and one caller from the BB w/4d Kd Qc Js and we check all three streets down collectively. The other two players have the weak high and the weak low. I think I would have folded to any bet on any street.

*** RIVER *** [Th 5d 3c 2c] [Kc]
FrankNagaiJr: shows [4d Kd Qc Js] (HI: a pair of Kings)
razzler: shows [2s 6h 7s As] (HI: a pair of Deuces; LO: 6,5,3,2,A)
beavorsky: shows [Ks 3d 9d Ad] (HI: two pair, Kings and Threes)

Hand 73 - I pot raise w/Kh Qh Ac Qc and steal the blinds. The weak stack has recovered a little, blinds are still 100/200

Seat 1: razzler (1169 in chips)
Seat 3: beavorsky (1536 in chips)
Seat 5: BigBanana4u (3381 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (4954 in chips)
Seat 7: ottfig (2460 in chips)

Hand 74 - I get rivered once again by Beavorsky, who doubles up after push-reraising my initial flop bet. He was drawing to any heart, any king, any jack to win, so I was only the 62% favorite. Nobody had a low draw on that flop.

*** RIVER *** [Ad Qh Th 8c] [8h]
beavorsky: shows [3h Jc Jh Ah] (HI: a flush, Ace high)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [9h As Qs Kd] (HI: two pair, Aces and Queens)

Blinds are now 150/300
Seat 1: razzler (1069 in chips)
Seat 3: beavorsky (3172 in chips)
Seat 5: BigBanana4u (3381 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (3418 in chips)
Seat 7: ottfig (2460 in chips)

Hand 75 - I limp 2c Ac 7c 8h and bet into my runner-runner low draw and outside straight draw. I'm very happy to take the pot down on the flop, with the other three limpers folding.
*** FLOP *** [Ts 3s 9c]

Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (4318 in chips)

Hand 76 - A free ride in the BB. Yay.

Hand 77 - I SB limp into BB w/3d Ts 7h 7d, check the flop , and bet the turn into a flush draw, he folds. Yay.

*** TURN *** [9c Tc Ad] [9d]

Hand 82 - I call the tiny stacks all-in w/3h 9d 2d 6d and miss both ways. 3849 in chips, 150/300 blinds.

Hand 84 - I button limp this two-suited beauty 4c 9h Th 5d and bet the flop to pick up the pot. yay. *** FLOP *** [2s 2h Ad]

Hand 85 - I utg pot-steal w/Kc Js Ks Qh

Hand 86 - A free ride in the BB.

Hand 87 - I SB pot-raise w/7s 4c As 3d and pick up the BB. yay.

Hand 91 - I don't defend from a pot-steal w/6h 9c 7c 7s. If it had been two-suited or 6879, I would have been more likely to go for it.

Hand 92 - I defend my BB from a pot steal w/4s 3c 2h 5h and totally miss the flop. I fold to a big bet. *** FLOP *** [7s Qh Qc]

Hand 93 - I limp this [Qh Td 2d 2h] into the tiny stack and have to call his all-in with nothing. He has a boat to my two pair.

Blinds are 200/400
Seat 1: razzler (1426 in chips)
Seat 3: beavorsky (1522 in chips)
Seat 5: BigBanana4u (5631 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (3661 in chips)
Seat 7: ottfig (1260 in chips)

Hand 95 - I have this in BB after one limper, and I don't raise pre-flop [9d 8d 2d Ac].

*** FLOP *** [Ts 5d Ah]
BigBanana4u: checks
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** TURN *** [Ts 5d Ah] [Js]
BigBanana4u: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 800
BigBanana4u: calls 800
*** RIVER *** [Ts 5d Ah Js] [Qs]
BigBanana4u: bets 2400
FrankNagaiJr: folds
BigBanana4u collected 2400 from pot
BigBanana4u: shows [3s 9s 4d As] (HI: a flush, Ace high)

I was actually the 42% underdog when I bet the flop.

Hand 97 - I'm down to 2061 in chips and make a pot-steal w/2s Kh 3d Ah to pick up the blinds. No opposition, and I've increased my chip stack by 30%.

Hand 100 - I pot steal from SB w/Qs 2c Kd 6s, and my left folds.

Hand 101 one player eliminated, blinds are 200/400.

Seat 3: beavorsky (3608 in chips)
Seat 5: BigBanana4u (7231 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (2661 in chips)

Hand 103 - I SB limp 4c 2c Kd 5s, check the flop, small bet the turn, and push on the river with two pair. Opponent folds to my river bet, which I expected, since the low draw missed, and the diamond draw missed. I didn't think a runner-runner straight draw hit was likely heads up.

*** RIVER *** [5d Ks 8d Qh] [Th]

Hand 106 - I SB limp this [9s Js Jd 2c] and bet the flop *** FLOP *** [4d 7s Qs]
, and the smaller stack reraises me all-in. I have Jacks and a flush draw, so I feel I've got a decent enough high draw to stay. I was the 45% underdog preflop (no low draw, he's got two flush draws to my one flush draw.) On the flop when we pushed it was a complete coin flip, he with the only low draw, and me a 66% favorite on the high side, since much of his wrap draw was counterfeited by my flush draw.

*** RIVER *** [4d 7s Qs 9d] [9c]
FrankNagaiJr: shows [9s Js Jd 2c] (HI: three of a kind, Nines)
beavorsky: shows [5h 5c 8h 6c] (HI: two pair, Nines and Fives)

Hand 119 - I see-sawed with my opponent for 13 hands, till we pushed pre-flop on this hand. I'm the 43% underdog pre-flop since I have no low draw. Once I flop the flush, he needs to runner-runner a low to survive. Game over.

*** RIVER *** [Jc 4c Tc As] [6s]
BigBanana4u: shows [8d Ah Ks 9h] (HI: a pair of Aces)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Qc Qh 9d Ac] (HI: a flush, Ace high)

BD Delaware Cash 12/1/06

2006-12-02T11:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks for a very enjoyable game last night.

Played about 7 hours NLHE at a full table last night, half of whom I had played with many times in the past. It was fun to play at a table where people mostly knew what they were doing. I think that in the whole evening I saw two all-in bets called, one due to stack size, the other due to inexperience on the part of the caller. I almost felt bad for the inexperience player, but he acknowledged that he was out of his depth, and that he was paying for poker lessons, so as long as he knows that.

I bought in and was slightly up, then I was slightly down, and then my mortal enemy went home and the table was mine for the pillaging. For the last couple of hours, I was making reads-and-steals, parrys-and-thrusts, and people rarely wanted to pay me off when I asserted that I had a hand. I did not have any true monsters all night, but based on the action I was getting, nobody else seemed to be hitting monsters either. I did make one ill-advised steal attempt on the flop when my opponent flopped a boat that was ony vulnerable to quads, but he cold called and hoped I would make another bet. When he made a small river bet, I had nothing to call him with, so that was an easy situation to get out of.

All in all a great night of cards and cameraderie.

Greektown Detroit - Never again, baby!

2006-11-27T14:01:00.000-05:00

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.

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

2006-11-14T17:21:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

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)

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

2006-11-13T21:29:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-13T17:36:00.000-05:00

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.

Misc Round-up

2006-11-10T10:02:00.000-05:00

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.

Don't drive money off the table!

2006-11-09T10:48:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

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.'

PLO8 Tourney On-Line

2006-11-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

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.

COCC #6 Oct 21

2006-10-22T12:20:00.000-04:00

Played cash only last night, and found myself at a tough table. There were enough loose calls that I couldn't easily bluff with nothing, and by the same token, I wasn't catching many cards to collect from legitimate betting hands. I sat four about four hours, and took in three decent sized pots, and two much smaller ones, but spent most of the evening tossing 29o and similar cards away, limping with T7o and getting raised and tossing those, etc. Many of the raisers seemed content to simply steal the blinds with a huge pre-flop raise, too.

One of the three hands was a limp with 3s 5c, and I flop the nut straight, but the only problem is that all three cards are spades, so I've got the straight flush draw, but no flush. One player bets into it, and I reraise for twice that amount. We both check the turn and river, and he had a flush draw, but no boat (board paired on turn) and no flush, so my straight was good for a medium pot.

Another hand after 3 hours of crappy cards I get AKs in the BB and there's been a raise with one caller. I make a definition reraise, and get two callers, and check dark. No bets, and there's an A-8-8 flop. I bet the turn and the initial raiser goes away, and the caller pushes his last chips, and he's got AQ, and does not hit on the river. Initial raiser stated he had KK, and I had no reason to doubt him.

About an hour later, I get AA and limp from utg, and of course, somebody is kind enough to raise for me, and I come over the top. He comes along, the same guy I stacked with AKs, and I flop an ace and check it. I small bet the turn, and make a bigger bet on the river, and stack him again. He was glad to see me go.

Otherwise, I made one successful semi-bluff multi-way, one semi-bluff that I got called on my flop bet, and I refused to fire a second barrel, and we both checked it down and his ace high was good, and I tossed oodles of limps that missed multi-way. A profitable evening, thanks to three hands alone, and not getting carried away with steal attempts amid loose callers.

Stud - Was I against a luckbox or not?

2006-10-21T10:02:00.000-04:00

I played some on-line HORSE yesterday, and one player took all of my money in Stud. I'd like to know if he was a luckbox chaser, or if he was playing well.

Note - These hands are in reverse order. (Hand 1 is the last hand we played)

Hand 1
3rd Street
Dealt to mmw74 (Jh Tc)[6s]
Dealt to dabnut [9d]
Dealt to S-E-O-4-hire [9s]
Dealt to TheSnowman21 [Th]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kd Ks 2s]
Dealt to rawmustard [8h]
Dealt to dropkick84 [Ad]

FrankNagaiJr: brings-in low $0.25
rawmustard: folds
dropkick84: folds
mmw74: calls $0.25
dabnut: folds
S-E-O-4-hire: folds
TheSnowman21: raises $0.25 to $0.50
FrankNagaiJr: calls $0.25
mmw74: calls $0.25

Two dimes has me as the 82% favorite over MMW74 right now. The snowman liked to raise on anything, so I just cold-called for now.

*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 [6s] [Qc]
Dealt to TheSnowman21 [Th] [Qs]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kd Ks 2s] [As]

FrankNagaiJr: checks
mmw74: checks
TheSnowman21: bets $0.50
FrankNagaiJr: calls $0.50
mmw74: calls $0.50

I'm still an 85% fave over MMW here. I choose not to raise while my flush develops.

*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 [6s Qc] [7h]
Dealt to TheSnowman21 [Th Qs] [2h]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kd Ks 2s As] [3s]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
mmw74: checks
TheSnowman21: checks

mmw74: bets $1
TheSnowman21: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls $1

I'm now a 95% favorite here. I suppose I could have raised, but I know he would have called. Still, I should have raised as the favorite.

RIVER
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kd Ks 2s As 3s 5d] [Ac]
mmw74: bets $1
FrankNagaiJr: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mmw74: shows [Jh Tc 6s Qc 7h 6h 6c] (three of a kind, Sixes)

MMW74's outs on the river were any two pair or trips, as long as I didn't hit my flush. I think he did luckbox this one.

Hand Two - - It's clear that he didn't luckbox me, but I had the misfortune to score a weaker set of trips than he, and neither of us boated.

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [9d 8d 9h 9c Ah 3d] [2c]
Seat 1: mmw74 showed [Ts Kc As Ks Kh 2s Jh] and won ($11.10) with three of a kind, Kings

Hand 3 - I failed to catch up to his early two pair.

FrankNagaiJr: shows [Kh Kc 2s As 3h 5c Jd] (a pair of Kings)
Seat 1: mmw74 showed [Tc Qh Th Qc 7h 8c 6h] and won ($9.45) with two pair, Queens and Tens

Hand 4 - I really didn't think he could show the straight, since I had 4 of his 8 outs for the visible straight draw.

*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 (Qh 9h )[Kh]
Dealt to Semiclear [6d]
Dealt to dabnut [Kc]
Dealt to S-E-O-4-hire [4h]
Dealt to TheSnowman21 [3h]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac 6c Ad]
Dealt to rawmustard [Qd]
Dealt to dropkick84 [3d]

dropkick84: bets $0.50
mmw74: calls $0.50
Semiclear: folds
dabnut: calls $0.50
S-E-O-4-hire: folds
TheSnowman21: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls $0.50
rawmustard: folds

Why didn't I raise? I dunno, I figure it wouldn't help me much. Advise please?
I'm currently the 67% fave over MMW right now.

4th Street
Dealt to mmw74 [Kh] [Ts]
Dealt to dabnut [Kc] [7s]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac 6c Ad] [2h]
Dealt to dropkick84 [3d] [5d]

The ten has improved MMW's hand, we're now 58.5% and 41.5%.

*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 [Kh Ts] [Qc]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac 6c Ad 2h] [Jc]
Dealt to dropkick84 [3d 5d] [As]

With these cards, our percentages barely budge.

*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 [Kh Ts Qc] [7h]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac 6c Ad 2h Jc] [4s]
Dealt to dropkick84 [3d 5d As] [Qs]

We're virtually a coinflip now - 55% and 45% with one card to go. MMW has picked up the flush draw and could still hit two pair to win.

*** RIVER ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac 6c Ad 2h Jc 4s] [Jh]
dropkick84: checks
mmw74: bets $1
FrankNagaiJr: raises $1 to $2
dropkick84: folds
mmw74: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ac 6c Ad 2h Jc 4s Jh] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
mmw74: shows [Qh 9h Kh Ts Qc 7h Js] (a straight, Nine to King)
mmw74 collected $10.40 from pot

I honestly thought my two pair was good, since I didn't see the flush draw, and knew that I was blocking most of the outs for the visible straight.

Hand 5
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 (3h 9d) [3d]
Dealt to Semiclear [Kc]
Dealt to dabnut [8s]
Dealt to TheSnowman21 [9c]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ks Kh 4d]
Dealt to rawmustard [5c]
Dealt to dropkick84 [6h]

MMW and I are coin flipping here - 60% to 40%.

*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 [3d] [5s]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ks Kh 4d] [7d]

My percent goes up slightly to 67%, since neither of us improved.

*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 [3d 5s] [Qh]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ks Kh 4d 7d] [6c]

I shift slightly up to 70%, again nobody improves.

*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to mmw74 [3d 5s Qh] [7s]
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ks Kh 4d 7d 6c] [9s]

I'm up to 75% here, and am the lead bettor on every street, and he keeps calling with a pair of 3s and optimism.

FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ks Kh 4d 7d 6c 9s Ah] (a pair of Kings)
mmw74: shows [3h 9d 3d 5s Qh 7s 3s] (three of a kind, Threes)
mmw74 collected $7 from pot

And he rivers to win.

That's five hands out of eight where I get decent starters, which is pretty rare, and where I get beat by the exact same player every time. I guess my opponent didn't play atrociously. He left the table immediately after taking all of my money in stud. Sensible fellow.

Tunica Round-up

2006-10-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

Played two nights this week. Here's a roundup.

Tuesday -1/2 NLHE
Started out short handed and bled quite a bit. I clearly need to adjust my play for short-handed, as I was getting smoked with pot-sized river bets that I never wanted to call with only a pair. Needed to rebuy.

I was moved to a full table, with a short stack and at least two wild players. I limped once and got pushed out, then caught EP KK and limped again, wild player 1 raises to 15 and gets two callers, and my push to 60 isolates to heads up, and kings hold. I eventually get past even, leaving with four times my low-point stack for a tiny profit.

Wednesday - Tourney at Horseshoe
Blind structure is reasonable, and I see 90 minutes of hands before going bust, without ever getting my chip stack back to break-even. In the second hand, in BB I make a bump-raise with Ts Js and catch a pair and an outside draw, and I bet heavy and one player calls. The turn is a flush card, and I check and he pushes. I figure that even best case, he's got a pair of Queens, so I muck. Within 10 hands of that I get KK and raise 4bb and get two callers, and an ace flops. Player 1 bets and I muck, and they turn over AJo and ATo respectively. Nothing eventful happens for the next 80 minutes. I'm allowed to see a few flops in BB and I always miss multi-way, and I push on the final hand of level 3 with 7M with 4d 6d, and get called by the SB w/Ad Jd, and the board gives two pair and his ace is good. My only second-guess moment is that I could have pushed at 7M with KQo, except a slightly smaller stack had pushed UTG, and I didn't like having 5 players yet to act in this bounty tourney. In retrospect, it was probably better to have pushed at that time.

1/2 NLHE at Gold Strike
I played pretty well, but there were two big hands that cost me.

1) 9c 8c MP with a straddle to my right, therefore EP. I limp with a handful of others, and I flop a flush draw with an inside draw Kc Jd 7c. The monk underbets (10) and I make a min-reraise (20) and we get to heads up. I turn my flush (3c?), and bet 25, which is half my remaining stack, and he calls. The river is the Ac for a four-flush on board, and I bet my last 27, and he calls and turns over Qs Jc for the better flush.

2) Q5o in SB, and I limp to see the flop six ways. I hit two pair on a Q45 two-suit flop, and check as first to act. The habitual orphan bettor overbets (15), as he always does with marginal hands, and the monk calls him. I raise to 45 and am surprised that both of them call. The turn help neither the straight or the flush draw, so I push, and the luck-box calls for his last 25, and the monk folds. He hits his outside straight on the river.

In both of these hands I think I was making appropriate bet sizes to encourage incorrect calls, and the incorrect calls were both rewarded.

There were some other hands I was happier with the results. I made a really nice 72o EP representation of a high pair, and managed to catch two pair on the turn. This was against the luck-box chaser, so I overbet the turn and he went away. I also made a bet into a decent sized pot with a semi-bluff and knocked out four players, and didn't hit any of my draws against the short-stacked all-in player, but wasn't obliged to show the crowd that I bet my draw.

The luckbox chaser also slow-played a boat against me reasonably well. He called my turn bet as first to act, and checked the river, which to me indicated that he really didn't have anything, so I bet just enough to find out, and when he pushed for his last few chips I didn't even call, since I was playing 9 high. He flips over a boat. That was his best play all night, otherwise he was generally chasing against odds and catching a lot. He didn't seem to hold onto all the money he won though.

COCC #5 Oct 14, 2006

2006-10-14T23:57:00.000-04:00

Went and played (and dealt) the 7:15 tourney and did okay. Here's a couple of interesting hands:

Early on, I've got a decent stack and make an EP raise w/KJs, and the BB pushes. I do the math, and I'm getting 1.5 to 1 to call, so I figure that's decent enough, since the BB had been having a really crappy run of cards and was probably ready to push with TT or even 88. I call and he flips AA, and the flop is ATx with two of my suit, and I turn the nut flush to knock him out.

In a hand I wasn't in, a player says flippantly, 'if I have aces, I'll call'. When there's an EP raise and he's coming back from grabbing a hot dog. Of course, it was indeed AA to beat KK. KK was pissed, of course.

Late in the final table, maybe 6 of us remaining, and I push with AQo and get two callers, and I have an inside draw on the flop (KTX), and the one player pushes, the other calls. The turn is a J and I've hit for the main pot, and the river is a 9, and the two players turn over KK and QT for a runner-runner straight, meaning that the KK got massacred by two separate hands. Freakshow.

My final hand 3 way, I push w/A9s in the BB after 2 limps, and I get one call, from A2o, and he hits his duck on the turn to knock me out.

Overall, I think I played well. I needed one suckout to money, but otherwise I probably folded too much but otherwise did okay.

I also dealt for the entire tourney (about 3.5 hours), and exposed one dealt card and had one misdeal all night long, and I did not once show a card early for the betting sequence, so that's as good as I've ever dealt. It's good practice for paying attention to the game, too.

Horseshoe Tunica - Swelled Head Syndrome

2006-10-12T22:37:00.000-04:00

So I've had a decent run of 1/2 NLHE sessions recently, and I thought I'd dip my toe in the deeper waters. I'm embarrassed as hell to blog this, but maybe it'll stop me from doing something stupid in the future.

I sat down with the min buy-in and I'm nervous, and in the BB. I toss my 'free' cards multi-way with nothing, and have decent limpers in the SB and call, miss and go away. I muck three trash hands, and then raise 3bb in mid-late position w/J9o. The cutoff raises all-in, and I ask for a count, and I'm getting 2 to 1 odds to call since he was down to a small stack. I figure there's a reasonable chance I'm facing big slick, and I call. I'm facing AJo, dominated, and I fail to suck out. I'm at 60% of my original stack.

Three hands later I'm UTG and there's a button straddle. I see KQo and consider raising, but instead call, and everybody folds up to the straddle, who raises to 7BB (or 3.5 straddle) which is 1/3 of my existing stack. I push, and he insta-calls with Aces. I fail to suck out, and get stacked before the button makes a single trip around the table.

There's some lessons to be learned here by me, but I don't feel like elaborating on them right now.

Gold Strike Oct 10

2006-10-11T08:54:00.000-04:00

Got there and there was a wait, but they opened a new table moments later. While I waited for my table, I observed the 1/2 table, and happened to see a player push his stack and get called by a pair of aces on the river. The pusher had a pair of fives and a busted draw.

There were a bunch of people waiting to hit the 2/5 table when that opened, and they seemed to be the most likely players to fold to a bluff.

I ran some bluffs very early coming in to warm up the table, and got away with at least three continuation bets after raising on fluff, and one bizarre hand where I made a nuisance raise with trash, and the board is really scary and we all check down to the river, and I bet the pot on the river and get no curiosity from the crowd.

During this early bluffing time, one of the 25-ers raises to 4bb EP, and I reraise to half my stack. He thinks for a minute and pushes with queens. My kings hold up.

Maybe 10 hands later I get Aces EP and raise 4bb, and the 25-er who strikes me as the toughest player calls me along with one other player. The board is T77, and I check. He bets the pot, and I continue not giving him any eye contact, but simply flat call. The turn is a king, I check and he checks. On the river, I'm confident my aces are still good, and I bet half pot and he folds.

I'm moved to the main table, and maybe three hands in I limp 65o and flop 347 two-suited with six other players. I bet the pot, get a few callers and a reraise. I make the minimum reraise, and one caller and the re-raiser stay on board. The flop is a second three, and there are now a heart and spade flush draw on board, plus the boat. The re-raiser pushes for half of my stack, so I'm getting 2 to 1 odds, and I flat call. I start mentally kicking myself when I remember there's a third player still in the hand, but he agonizes the pot odds, and then folds his draw. The re-raiser shows top pair and a flush draw, and fails to hit. (This was the same guy I saw push on a busted draw when I came in, and that made my call much easier.)

After that, I can't seem to work any magic at the main table. My trash limps all get reraised, my raise with trash finds a big reraise and a flat call, and I dump. Sure enough, Aces in the BB. After 45 minutes of tiny bleeding, I don't feel sharp, so I get out and go next door for a little stud.

I played 20 minutes of stud and broke exactly even. That's an improvement.

Extra bonus - They finished highway 69, which makes Tunica at least 10 minutes closer to Memphis!

A handful of PLO8 cash game hands for analysis

2006-10-07T10:44:00.000-04:00

Hand 1

Here's a limper I came in with on the button
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac 8c Tc 5s]
There were four other players in

Let's compare with some made up hands to give us a pre-flop percentage:
Random collection 1 with some decent starting hands

5s Ac Tc 8c 8214 29748 166085 5543 1416 89204 34236 0.147
Qc Ad 5h 2h 11536 22559 176673 2144 62298 24109 34236 0.269
3s Kd Kh 4h 19742 41180 160127 69 30489 31997 54 0.215
Ks Qs Jd Th 25656 55065 145903 408 0 0 0 0.201
8s 5c 9h 6h 11577 46009 149812 5555 7390 113253 0 0.168

You can see that despite having some week middle cards, it's not a huge dog with this many cards in play. I'm 5.5 to 1 against, and getting 4 to 1 pre-flop odds, so if I collect even a little, it's a break-even play. And with the following flop, I reraised the frequent flop stealer to take it down uncontested, and my return was 7 to 1, so only a slight playoff.

*** FLOP *** [6h Td Ts]

Of course, I'll need to change the fourth hand above to justify the folds all the way around.

When I change random hand #4 to a 9 instead of a ten, my pre-flop goes up to 18% (closer to 4 to 1) and my post-flop percentage explains all of the folds.

5s Ac Tc 8c 170 260 138 8 0 110 18 0.550
Qc Ad 5h 2h 10 10 396 0 77 30 18 0.119
3s Kd Kh 4h 32 33 373 0 41 14 0 0.131
Ks Qs 9s Jd 22 25 381 0 0 0 0 0.058
8s 6s 5c 9h 37 70 328 8 0 89 0 0.142

Hand 2

Here's a hand I call a late position steal raise with:
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [6s Ah 7s 3s]
And the raiser in our heads up: 4c 8c Qd Ac

Here's the preflop numbers

Omaha Hi/Low 8-or-better: 500000 sampled boards
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
7s 6s 3s Ah 172105 212258 287609 133 191509 55268 6412 0.482
Ac 8c 4c Qd 192090 287609 212258 133 64172 148500 6412 0.518

Apparently the suited Ace and the Queen high compensate for the worse low draw., but I've clearly got justification for calling.

Here's the flop:
*** FLOP *** [2c 3d 6c]
And I love that this counerfeits a lot of raising hands and leaves me with a better two pair than anybody who raised with A23X. I couldn't know that I was behind on the low, but we ended up chopping high/low.

Omaha Hi/Low 8-or-better: 820 enumerated boards containing 6c 2c 3d
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
7s 6s 3s Ah 0 459 361 0 0 703 117 0.316
Ac 8c 4c Qd 322 361 459 0 703 0 117 0.684

Hand 3

Here's a bizarre call I made with position on a guy who liked to raise anytime he came in. I'm in the cutoff here.
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [8h 9s 8c 2h]

Pharrell1337: folds
WellHungJury: folds
Pharrell1337 leaves the table
adelbomb: raises $0.35 to $0.60
FrankNagaiJr: calls $0.60
ryanrunrut: calls $0.60
GitmoLovin': folds
xKillButtonx: calls $0.35

The only hand I actually was was the button, who was actually a slight underdog to me:

9s 8c 8h 2h 200684 335419 164581 0 3491 161560 612 0.539
6c 2c 4d 3h 161626 164581 335419 0 250842 0 612 0.461

Let's assume that the raiser and caller had reasonable O8 hands and see where I stand:

If they both have very good starters with two overpairs to my 8s, I'm 5.5 to 1 against

9s 8c 8h 2h 28117 88490 288502 0 0 139604 0 0.155
6c 2c 4d 3h 28018 62341 314651 0 82237 113420 2862 0.207
Ac Kc 5d Kh 83749 120464 255520 1008 13866 87552 2079 0.287
As Ts Td 2d 74933 104689 271295 1008 105863 28854 4887 0.352

If they have reasonable cards, but not overpairs to my pair, with no better heart draw, I'm only 4 to 1 against:

s 8c 8h 2h 48247 107703 269181 108 0 124968 0 0.207
6c 2c 4d 3h 32834 60587 316405 0 77504 101266 2862 0.208
Ac Kc 7d 5d 50039 87038 288257 1697 13144 127376 2079 0.199

Put a better heart draw out, and I'm back to 5.5 to 1 against:

9s 8c 8h 2h 32735 84389 292474 129 0 124968 0 0.156
6c 2c 4d 3h 38996 71958 305034 0 77504 101266 2862 0.225
Ac Kc 7d 5d 56322 98769 276033 2190 13144 127376 2079 0.221
Jd 2d Ah Th 93432 119557 255116 2319 95403 24678 4887 0.398

And here's the flop:
Qc 7h 5h

That's favorable for me. I've got a gutshot and a flush draw, and second pair, so even if I get action, it's worth a shot, especially with a smallish bet and me closing the action.

xKillButtonx: bets $0.50
adelbomb: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls $0.50
ryanrunrut: calls $0.50

I really think the turn helped me out, as I didn't think a pair of queens would have stayed, and two pair with the queen should have raised into that flop. Of course, this makes a low draw a bad deal also.

*** TURN *** [Qc 7h 5h] [Qs]
xKillButtonx: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets $1
ryanrunrut: calls $1
xKillButtonx: folds

Here's the actual percentages
9s 8c 8h 2h 23 35 5 0 0 13 0 0.725
6c 2c 4d 3h 5 5 35 0 17 0 0 0.275

My opponent has a weak low draw, and an outside straight draw.

*** RIVER *** [Qc 7h 5h Qs] [6h]
FrankNagaiJr: bets $3
ryanrunrut: calls $3

And my opponent calls down thinking he has a shot at the high on a paired flushy board??? Did he really think he had a shot at the low? Perhaps I needed to bet more....

COCC #4 - Oct 6

2006-10-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

Got the blessing to play some live cards locally, and played a single table tourney with bounties. One guy (Johnny) got all of the bounties but one, and oddly enough, he won the tourney as well. I started cold, heated up to a healthy stack, then made an ill-advised blind steal w/AJo four-handed and got burned by AKo and then pushed two hands later in SB w/K9s only to find AQ looking me up and winning with no pair. Feh. I've decided I dislike this blind structure, which is 30 minutes starting at 3500 chips and 25/50 with doubling for the first five levels, since it doesn't really leave much room at all for creativity. In the second hand I successfully put my foe on a weak pair, and felt I could buy the pot, and he called me down with his weak pair, and all of a sudden I'm crippled. After one bad hand, you're in double-up or die territory.

Then I was off to the cash table, where I had a very good evening indeed.

* I made a nice read on the very first hand and pushed in against the preflop raiser, who mumbled about how I probably had him outkicked and then he folded his top pair, unidentified kicker.

* One hand later I raise preflop w/As Qs and the flop comes two spades with many straight possibilities and my lead bet gets min-raised, and called, and I've clearly got odds to see one more card, and I hit my nut flush and manage to get some decent action from one of the two bluffies in the hand.

* Another hand and Bluffy raises pre-flop and I isolate raise w/AKo, and end up with the exact same two bluffies as the AQs hand, and I flop top pair of kings on a one-suit board. Bluffy #2 semi-bluffs both the flop and turn and the fourth spade doesn't come, so I simply call down the bets and check the river to win. Easy peasy.

* Right when I was getting ready to leave, I flat called a raise late position w/ 6c 8c and I'm in the pot with the same two bluffies. I flop two pair on a ragged rainbow board A-6-8. Bluffy 1 bets 1/3 of pot, B2 raises to a pot-sized, and I come over the top to double the reraise. I'm very surprised to see B1 call, and not at all surprised to see B2 fold. The turn is a low card, and I push all-in (with paper money it's not as dramatic, but still just as much a rush) and B1 calls. He's got easily 15 outs with a pair and an outside straight draw, but he fails to river me, and I breath a sigh of relief as I grab a big hunk of cash.

I won a couple of other decent pots, I think, and had a dry spell for 45 minutes, but it was a very good night.

The one that got away? I limp QTs and the BB raises 6bb and gets 5 callers including me. I flop a flush draw with two overs on a 477 board, and one of the bluffies bets 1/3 of the pot, and I call as do two others. Turn doesn't appear to help anybody, and bluffy bets LESS on the turn, so it's an insta-call, and the two others also call. The river brings a Qs ,and there are now three spades and a pair on the board, and bluffy bets a much bigger bet, and I look at the two players on my left, and the other bluffy is already counting his money. I feel I've got the better beat with a pair of Queens, but I felt there was a reasonably good chance that there was at least trip 7s behind me, so I fold, and the next player folds, and much to my chagrin, the player counting his money asks how much he has behind, and when he doesn't like the answer, folds his busted draw. Sure enough, the guy I knew that I had beat happily exposed his K4 for 7744 with a K kicker. Glad I wasn't on a losing streak, or I might have steamed over that one.

PLO8 Tourney - Preflop percentages against whack jobs

2006-10-04T00:44:00.001-04:00

I played a PLO8 tourney and went out 7 out of 9 after playing the first 3 levels very tight and then getting pushy pre-flop against whack jobs. Let's see to what degree I was or was not the favorite:

Hand 23 - blinds 50/100 my chipstack is 1888, and I've been tight, and the raiser here certainly hasn't. I push more than half my stack preflop with the intention of putting in the last bit regardless of the flop.

*********** # 23 **************
PokerStars Game #6512715517: Tournament #33065853, $10+$1 Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/10/04 - 00:08:25 (ET)
Table '33065853 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: FrankNagaiJr (1888 in chips)
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [2d 8s Ac Ah]
badbugger: raises 200 to 300
Landau1120: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 650 to 950
badbugger: calls 650
*** FLOP *** [9h Tc 5s]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 938 and is all-in
badbugger: calls 585 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [9h Tc 5s] [7s]
*** RIVER *** [9h Tc 5s 7s] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [2d 8s Ac Ah] (HI: two pair, Aces and Nines)
badbugger: shows [Qc 5c As 9s] (HI: a full house, Nines full of Fives)

Pre-flop, I was only the 62% fave, or 1.5 to 1 fave.
On the flop, I was 34% to win, or 1.5 to 1 against.
I lost.

Hand 24 - Same situation, and now I'm at push or fold only chips
*********** # 24 **************
PokerStars Game #6512726940: Tournament #33065853, $10+$1 Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/10/04 - 00:09:22 (ET)
Table '33065853 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: FrankNagaiJr (353 in chips)
Seat 2: mrfuzzy8 (1335 in chips)
Seat 4: sjking (1050 in chips)
Seat 5: boomerou247 (3235 in chips)
Seat 6: pooru (3282 in chips)
Seat 8: badbugger (3120 in chips)
Seat 9: Landau1120 (1125 in chips)
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind 50
mrfuzzy8: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [5c As Ah 9h]
sjking: folds
boomerou247: folds
pooru: folds
badbugger: calls 100
Landau1120: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 253 to 353 and is all-in
mrfuzzy8: folds
badbugger: calls 253
*** FLOP *** [4d 7c 8s]
*** TURN *** [4d 7c 8s] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [4d 7c 8s Js] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [5c As Ah 9h] (HI: two pair, Aces and Eights; LO: 8,7,5,4,A)
badbugger: shows [5d 2c 6s 9d] (HI: a straight, Four to Eight; LO: 8,7,5,4,2)

Here I'm the 66% fave preflop, still about 1.6 to 1
On the flop I'm a big dog on the high, needing a six to tie, or a runner-runner to win. On the low, if my Ace isn't counterfeited, I'm golden.

Hand 27 - I'm still trying to double up to survive. We don't get to see the third players hand, so we'll fudge some numbers:

*********** # 27 **************
PokerStars Game #6512757354: Tournament #33065853, $10+$1 Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/10/04 - 00:11:54 (ET)
Table '33065853 1' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: FrankNagaiJr (403 in chips)
Seat 2: mrfuzzy8 (1135 in chips)
Seat 4: sjking (1150 in chips)
Seat 5: boomerou247 (3035 in chips)
Seat 6: pooru (3282 in chips)
Seat 8: badbugger (3470 in chips)
Seat 9: Landau1120 (1025 in chips)
boomerou247: posts small blind 50
pooru: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Js Qd 3d Ac]
badbugger: folds
Landau1120: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 250 to 350
mrfuzzy8: folds
sjking: folds
boomerou247: calls 300
pooru: calls 250
*** FLOP *** [5c Kc Tc]
boomerou247: checks
pooru: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 53 and is all-in
boomerou247: calls 53
pooru: calls 53
*** TURN *** [5c Kc Tc] [5s]
boomerou247: checks
pooru: checks
*** RIVER *** [5c Kc Tc 5s] [4c]
boomerou247: checks
pooru: bets 500
boomerou247: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
pooru: shows [3h 4h Jc 5d] (HI: a full house, Fives full of Fours)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Js Qd 3d Ac] (HI: a pair of Fives)

Heads up against this hand, I'm the 60% fave, or 1.5 to 1 again.

Let's pretend player 3 had a few plausible hands and see where we fall
A278 rainbow - I'm still the fave, barely. (41%, 28%, 31%)

Middle pair and plausible low
TT67 - I'm still the fave, the other two switch percentages (41%, 31%, 28%)

AA5K suited Ace - I plummet 6% (35%, 23%, 41%)

Complete middle card trash straight draw
6789 rainbow - I tip slightly up (43%, 29.5%, 28%)

If we look at the money in the pot, was the BB justified in calling?

700 in the pot, 250 to call, or 2.7 to 1.
Generally, the BB was not much worse than 2.5 to 1 against, so not a ridiculous call with three to a wheel and one suit.

27 Player Tourney - Oct 1

2006-10-02T19:00:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm sick of blogging, unless I think something is interesting. Here's a cheapo 27 player tourney.

Hand 3 - I see a flop w/88 calling a bump raise and miss with many players and an ace on the flop. Chip count 1460. (blinds 10/20)

Hand 12 - I haven't seen a flop since hand 3, and I've determined there are at least four totally unbluffable, chatty and cheerful morons at my table. I see a flop as BB w/3c 7s and give up multi-way on the AQ9 flop.

Hand 20 - I've yet to be in a hand, so I raise to 4BB @50 w/KTs to open UTG. I suppose I could have limped, but I wanted to see if anybody was paying attention to how 'tight' I had seemed. (my cards all sucked big time.) The BB calls and an ace flops, and he lead bets it, and I go away. Chip count 1205 (blinds 25/50)

Hand 21 - I call a bump raise in BB w/A7s and fail to connect. I give up to the bumpers continuation bet. Chip count 1105 (25/50).

Hand 24 - I open-raise 3bb in the cutoff, and the button reraises and the BB calls the raise. I toss my QTo, which would have flopped an outside draw. Chip count 930 (25/50).

Hand 27 - BB w/A5o for free, and the flop comes KJ5, and I toss three way when the first player pushes. Chip count 880 (50/100).

hand 29 - I push from the cutoff w/A8o, no callers. Chip count 1030 (50/100)

Hand 34 in the BB w/K3o I flop an outside wheel draw and invest 300 seeing turn and river, and I have nothing on the river. Chips = 630.

Hand 35 - I call in SB w/Q2s and miss the flop 3 way and fold. Chips = 530 (50/100).

Hand 38 - I push to open w/A7o, and I get called by A8o. Groan. Check out the board:
A 8 Q - 6 - Q

A miracle survival card! Chips = 605 (50/100)

Hand 41 - I push UTG w/A2o and get no callers, despite only having 4bb in my stack. Chips = 830 (75/150)

Hand 42 - In BB w/J2o and nobody raises, 3 limpers. I flop J23, and I lead bet the minimum and get reraised by the whack-job who took third place. He doubles me up to 1960 when his diamond flush does not hit.

Hand 43 - I toss 88 to a limp and a min-raise. Don't want to waste my double-up so quickly I guess. The raiser pushed on the K-high flop, so I think my instincts were right, but we'll never know.

Hand 44 - I similarly dump AQo to a limp and a raise by the same two clowns. How tight am I ????

Hand 48 - Another gift in the BB - I have Kd 9d with three limpers, and here's the betting sequence. Of course I was afraid of AT on the river.

*** FLOP *** [Qs Td Js]
JASPERR: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 150
NOLA71: folds
DavSnook: folds
JASPERR: calls 150
*** TURN *** [Qs Td Js] [4h]
JASPERR: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 450
JASPERR: calls 450
*** RIVER *** [Qs Td Js 4h] [7s]
JASPERR: checks
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
JASPERR: shows [Th Kc] (a pair of Tens)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Kd 9d] (a straight, Nine to King)

Chips = 2935, and I can breathe for the first time since level 2.

Hand 52 - Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good! Coach Russ was sure piling up chips despite a lot of plays that seemed really questionable to me.

*********** # 52 **************
PokerStars Game #6494662683: Tournament #32970580, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/10/02 - 00:13:41 (ET)
Table '32970580 1' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: CoachRuss (10315 in chips)
Seat 5: FrankNagaiJr (2860 in chips)
Seat 6: WENDY 90 (710 in chips)
Seat 7: mitzifive (1000 in chips)
Seat 9: DavSnook (3575 in chips)
DavSnook: posts small blind 75
CoachRuss: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [3h 3s]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 450 to 600
WENDY 90: folds
mitzifive: raises 400 to 1000 and is all-in
DavSnook: folds
CoachRuss: calls 850
bigpuffdaddy is connected
FrankNagaiJr: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [7s 5h 3c]
CoachRuss: bets 900
FrankNagaiJr: calls 900
*** TURN *** [7s 5h 3c] [Ac]
CoachRuss: bets 8415 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 960 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [7s 5h 3c Ac] [7c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CoachRuss: shows [6s 6c] (two pair, Sevens and Sixes)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [3h 3s] (a full house, Threes full of Sevens)
FrankNagaiJr collected 3720 from side pot
mitzifive: shows [9d Ad] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)

Chips=6795

Hand 62 - I have bought a few blinds without showing down, which may be why my raise was not respected. I'm proud of myself for not steaming after this happened.

*********** # 62 **************
PokerStars Game #6494741581: Tournament #32970580, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/10/02 - 00:20:48 (ET)
Table '32970580 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: CoachRuss (12905 in chips)
Seat 5: FrankNagaiJr (6585 in chips)
Seat 6: WENDY 90 (720 in chips)
Seat 8: bigpuffdaddy (3880 in chips)
Seat 9: Yogi (1535 in chips)
CoachRuss: posts small blind 100
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ad As]
WENDY 90: folds
bigpuffdaddy: calls 200
Yogi: folds
CoachRuss: calls 100
FrankNagaiJr: raises 600 to 800
bigpuffdaddy: calls 600
CoachRuss: folds
*** FLOP *** [7s 9c 8s]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 3200
bigpuffdaddy: calls 3080 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr said, "nice draw"
*** TURN *** [7s 9c 8s] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [7s 9c 8s Ac] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ad As] (three of a kind, Aces)
bigpuffdaddy: shows [Ks Ts] (a flush, King high)
bigpuffdaddy collected 7960 from pot

Chips = 2705

Hand 63 - CoachRuss may be a whack job, but I appreciate his doubling me up whenever I seemed to need it!

*********** # 63 **************
PokerStars Game #6494752084: Tournament #32970580, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2006/10/02 - 00:21:46 (ET)
Table '32970580 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: CoachRuss (12705 in chips)
Seat 5: FrankNagaiJr (2705 in chips)
Seat 6: WENDY 90 (720 in chips)
Seat 8: bigpuffdaddy (7960 in chips)
Seat 9: Yogi (1535 in chips)
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind 100
WENDY 90: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Qc Ts]
bigpuffdaddy: folds
Yogi: folds
CoachRuss: calls 200
FrankNagaiJr: calls 100
WENDY 90: checks
*** FLOP *** [4s 4d Tc]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
WENDY 90: checks
CoachRuss: bets 200
FrankNagaiJr: raises 400 to 600
WENDY 90: folds
CoachRuss: calls 400
*** TURN *** [4s 4d Tc] [5c]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 1905 and is all-in
CoachRuss: calls 1905
*** RIVER *** [4s 4d Tc 5c] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Qc Ts] (two pair, Tens and Fours)
CoachRuss: shows [Qd Ad] (a pair of Fours)
FrankNagaiJr collected 5610 from pot

Chips = 5610 (blinds 100/200)

Cut to the chase!

Three handed began at hand 95 (knocking out the guy who cracked my aces.) I knocked out CoachRuss on Hand 122 when he makes a really bad decision here:

*********** # 122 **************
PokerStars Game #6495128917: Tournament #32970580, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2006/10/02 - 00:59:36 (ET)
Table '32970580 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: CoachRuss (13768 in chips)
Seat 4: DarvXX (7422 in chips)
Seat 5: FrankNagaiJr (19310 in chips)
CoachRuss: posts the ante 50
DarvXX: posts the ante 50
FrankNagaiJr: posts the ante 50
DarvXX: posts small blind 400
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [7d Jc]
CoachRuss: calls 800
DarvXX: folds
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** FLOP *** [Js 5d 3c]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
CoachRuss: bets 2400
FrankNagaiJr: raises 16060 to 18460 and is all-in
CoachRuss: calls 10518 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Js 5d 3c] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Js 5d 3c 2c] [Qd]
FrankNagaiJr said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [7d Jc] (a pair of Jacks)
CoachRuss: shows [5c Ks] (a pair of Fives)
FrankNagaiJr collected 27986 from pot

After that, I won the tourney on hand 162 when my ATo beat QQ, when I was the 4 to 1 chip leader. I feel that my on-line heads up in tourneys has really gotten strong, so it's a question of making it that far.

So, just a handful of miracles necessary out of 162 hands to win....

COCC #3 - Sep 23

2006-09-30T10:06:00.000-04:00

I did play the COCC in K-ville last Saturday. It was a full day of heartbreaks.

In the first tourney I simply made some bad decisions for most of my chips. I should have been playing ABC poker against unstudied opponenets, and I was trying to bluff people with second pair and so on. I didn't stand a chance.

Then a 1/2 NLHE cash game where I was playing okay, but getting rivered for some big pots. Feh.

Then the second tourney, where early on I had to make a big decision as follows:

Blinds 50/100 - I've got 20M, and I'm in late position. Two limpers, and I raise to 400, and I have one caller, the UTG limper, who I know from many experiences as tight and fairly predictable.

The flop is two hearts, he checks, I bet the pot and he calls.

The turn is another heart, and there is now four to a straight on the board, missing only a seven in the middle. He checks, and I check behind. I have an Ace of hearts, so I could still river a win.

The river is an ace, giving me trips. He pushes, and I agonize for a little bit, consider his playing style and how he played this hand. I have no reason to think that he doesn't have the flush, and failing that, the straight. I fold face up, and he's kind enough to expose Qh Jh.

This knocks my chip stack down quite a bit, and limits my options for the rest of the tourney. When we're down to one table (from two) I attempt to buy the blinds with Js Ts in mid-position, and the big blind pushes, offering me 3 to 1 pot odds. I call, and on the turn I have a flush draw and an outside draw. Neither of us pair, and now I've got a tiny stack.

I find AKo utg and push, no callers, so I'm at 4M in the BB. I've got K6o in the BB with one limper and the SB, and the flop is K54 rainbow. I check, hoping that the early position limper will attempt to pick up the orphan. He does, and I push, and he calls with KJo to win.

Then I play some short handed cash with some unstudied players, and I can't work any magic at all. I bluff out the one decent player a few times, and I bluff out the bad player a couple times, but even so, I bleed for a while before going home.

The irony is that this game and this crowd should be very beatable for me. Maybe I've got to change my attitude in order to beat it?

Gold Strike Wednesday w/Horshoe Stud

2006-09-29T10:48:00.000-04:00

I made one very good read early on at a 1/2 NLHE session at the GS Tunica this past Wednesday. I haven't been at the table for 20 minutes, and I've doubled my usual buy-in since everybody appeared to be loaded for bear. In the BB I've got 7d 9d, and the SB bumps it up to 5, I call, and there are 3 other callers. (Jesse was doing nuisance bets and nuisance raises all night.) and I call, and flop a flush which includes the ace.

Jesse bets 5 as a tester, and I smooth call, hoping I will be interpreted as drawing to an unmade flush instead of a pat hand. two folds and the button raises up to 30. Jesse calls, and I also smooth call. I'm worried at this point about a higher made flush, as there are 3 higher diamonds unaccounted for.

The turn is a non-diamond, and Jesse makes a smallish bet which I smooth call, assuming that the button will come over the top. Sure enough, the button pushes for 95 more, and Jesse folds after some deliberation. I think that I may be in trouble here, but I take a minute to study the button. He is clearly not relaxed at all, and I can see his shallow breathing and what looks like a thinly masked panic attack, which tells me he's betting with something less than the nuts, and would prefer that we both folded and gave him the pot. (OK, his bet also says that too, but it wouldn't be ridiculous in that situation to push with the nuts to misrepresent your hand, right). After about 45 seconds I call.

He doesn't flip his cards till the river comes out, and sure enough, he's got 6d 5d for a made flush weaker than mine, and I've just doubled up based on what I consider to be a daring call.

Then I spent the next two hours giving most of my profit away, on many cold calls, raises that don't work, attempted pot purchases and the like. I don't actually get many decent hands at all, so when people come over the top, I usually have to let go. I think that by the last 30 minutes, people were coming over the top of me with anything because I had let so many pots go. I leave to go next door for 7-stud before I bleed to death.

7-stud I take down two smallish pots in 75 minutes, and otherwise bleed in dribs and drabs. I barely had any playable starting hands, and the few I had failed to improve by fifth street, and bluffing wasn't much of an option at this table.

BTW - I'm getting tired of blogging these days. I'll try to blog the live games as interesting things happen, but it will be more an more sporadic.

Gold Strike Monday

2006-09-19T00:58:00.000-04:00

Embarassing Disclosure - I recently had to reload at Pokertards. Such humiliation! I milked my initial deposit for about 11 months, sold off a little more than what I put in to buddies, and then bled out the remainder on 4.40 180 tourneys, which I'm getting better at, but they're certainly nowhere near profitable for me.

I worked a full day then went to Gold Strike, where I actually had to pay for a meal. (bastards!) I didn't catch a lot of cards, but I was getting very creative with buying orphans and buying it on the river. I think I actually had two winning hands all night, but I collected a lot of pots. It seemed like my radar was really picking up weakness well, or else I was just at a weak table, but I bought one pot with 24o and a busted wheel draw, I bought another pot with second pair after calling down the initial raiser, and I bought a few orphans on the turn or river. My success rate on bluffing must have been better than 50%, and I was very active.

In the end, just under one buy in over 3 hours of play.

Anonymous Message

2006-09-13T23:50:00.000-04:00

Anonymous write:

hey...I hear what you are saying about having so much to learn, but seriously...after having read through most of your posts, I can't help but think your game is pretty solid; it's your confidence that needs some work.

I agree that I've reached a certain level of mechanical poker competence, but I do need to move it up another level to play poker with any artistry. Yes, the confidence needs a boost, but I intend to get it back.

Play in some respectable tourneys and mix it up...more squeeze play, c-bets, stop-and-go's...a little FP syndrome...who cares what your cards are...use position and bully...have fun with it. When you sit at the table, assume everyone else sucks...more times then not, you'll find out you're right.

I appreciate the kind words. These days I'm focusing on the 180 player games specifically to mix it up a little more.

Gold Strike - Tuesday Nighter

2006-09-13T23:37:00.000-04:00

Another run of ABC-ish poker with good luck for a profitable evening last night. I was never down more than 4BB the whole night, catching some nice cards, and getting a little more creative with my bluffs.

Early on, after playing tight, I represented 97o as a high pair with a 3bb raise, and was able to buy it on the flop 3 way.

Then I had a very nice run of legitimate hands, which I generally collected smallish on.

I did collect nicely off a weak boat (TT - boat 88J-T) that rivered quads. Turns out the guy re-raised me on the turn with only a straight when I already had the weak boat. I weak-bet the weak boat, and he raised me, and I 3 bet him back without much hesitation, and he four bets me to more than half my stack, and I deliberate and call, with the intention of calling the river. (I had raised 3bb in the BB and he had early position limped, and not reraised my bump, so JJ was feasible but dubious. He seemed to come out swinging when he had cards.) When I hit my quads, I did not push, but instead put in a teaser bet only, which he called. I guess I could have tried to collect deeper, but I also felt my cold call of his four bet might have made him hesitant, despite getting five to one even if I had pushed.

I was up to 3x buy-in when I got moved off the must-move. For an hour plus I could neither catch cards nor buy a pot, despite my any two cards play. (Okay, I bought one pot when two other players showed weakness, but I also bled like crazy.) It's always frustrating when you feel like you've got a read on nearly the whole table, but you can't find the favorable circumstances to collect. I walked out after bleeding back down to 2x buy-in.

I went in with the intention of learning to read hand tells that Harrington talks about, but I still haven't caught on to that technique. It's on my list.

All-in Math for Tourneys

2006-09-13T23:27:00.000-04:00

Blinds 50/100 - You are in the big blind w/Js 5s, a stack of 1625 (11M) after posting;
3 others in the pot (400$)
The flop comes 5d 7s Ks giving you second pair and a weak flush draw.

You bet 200, and there is a reraise by a larger stack to 400.

If you come over the top and are called, you're putting in 1225 to win 3650 at that point, or 2 to 1 odds for 2 cards.

If you call, you're getting 5 to 1 odds to peel off one card, and presumably your opponent will push you all-in on the turn. If you fold on the turn, you'll be left with 1225, or 8M to move on with.

Against a higher pair with no flush draw, you're about 43% (1.3 to 1) for the next two cards. Against any two spades, you're actually a slight favorite (51% or 1 to 1) here. Against a set, you're 28% or 3 to 1.

I chose to push, and lost to the Kh Jh.

Gold Strike and Stuff

2006-09-08T11:53:00.000-04:00

To my loyal readers (I can think of at least one)

Sorry for the lack of stuff. I've continued to play a lot on-line, but that live tourney really shook my confidence, and I'm trying to rebuild my shattered ego. Maybe I'm not the worldwide poker champion. Yet.

I final tabled twice in the Pokertards 4.40 180s, which is where most of my on-line attention is going these days. One time I final tabled and got a call that my daughter missed her bus, and I had to blind out to seventh place in the 20 minutes I was away. I was bummed, but it happens. The other time I got agressive at the wrong time and made 8th or so. I find that I'm still too eager to make a big laydown in tournament play, even in some LO8 tourneys I played recently.

I also need to work a lot at taking a few deep breaths when I'm in a hand, and to count to 5 before I make any decision at all, even when the decision is crystal clear.

Last night I played a long 1/2 NLHE session at Gold Strike Tunica. I honestly think I played some bad, ABC-ish poker, and it was my good fortune to be at a weak table, and to catch some decent cards. I collected off of Aces twice (didn't need to show them down either time, buying it once on the flop after a big reraise preflop, and once on the river with a frequent bluffer and caller who liked to call and then bet into any weak-looking check.) I collected off of flopped trips twice, once beating a flopped higher two pair, and another time beating something the guy chose not to show. I got stacked early on by a player who cheap-limped 63o, and I've got 45o on the 367 rainbow flop. He makes an overbet, which I cold call, and the turn counterfeits my 4, which I misinterpret as completing an open-ended straight draw that would be higher than mine, so we both check it down. (Dumbass. Take your time.) The river is another 6, which I check, and he makes an overbet to the pot. I take a minute and think that I'm only behind 58 for the straight, and I don't give the boats due consideration. (Dumbass. Take your time.) I hadn't been at the table long, but I did notice over time that the guy only made big river bets with the nuts.

I still need a lot of work on people reading. I can get into some people's heads on their betting patters, but I really have a hard time picking out physical tells. Perhaps I should focus on one aspect of physical tells per session and exclusively look for that tell, rather than trying to paint such a broad canvas of perception.

I got a cheap room at 12:30 AM at the Gold Strike (25$ after 5 hours of card play) and took a 3 hour nap, came back fresh at 4:30. The table was full of players who liked to charge 12$ to see a flop, and any time I got limpers, I was raised, and I never found any over-the-top cards, and don't have confidence enough in my hand reading to go into these big pots with weak starters. Yet another area to work on.

Overall, it was a nice winning session (2.5 buy-in), the first decent take home I'd seen since I came back from my 10 days away from poker.

In short, I've clearly hit the next level of play, where I start to realize how much stuff I've actually got to work on in order to even resemble a decent player.

Once upon a time....

2006-08-22T08:15:00.000-04:00

If you play enough times you might just find a decent starting hand in the first hand of a cheap single table tourney:

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jc Jh]

And you might just limp as 3rd to act, since there always seems to be one person at these events who will raise Q8o, K2s, or even 92o.

Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jc Jh]
beefcutlet: calls 20
xinxa: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 20

And miracle of miracles, nobody raises on the first hand....
thatsenuff: folds
Hershamboy: folds
NVDobson: folds
trawr: calls 20
mik18: calls 10
ZORG1969: checks

And you might just catch a perfect flop for a cheap table where there always seems to be someobody who loves weak aces
*** FLOP *** [Js 4s Ad]

And if you make a micro-bet, certainly somebody will give you a little bit of action for your nutty set with their weak ace.

*** FLOP *** [Js 4s Ad]
mik18: checks
ZORG1969: checks
beefcutlet: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 40
trawr: folds
mik18: folds
ZORG1969: folds
beefcutlet: folds
FrankNagaiJr collected 100 from pot
FrankNagaiJr: doesn't show hand

D'oh!

But I did go on to win the dang thing, so it all works out.

*********** # 173 **************
PokerStars Game #6003216021: Tournament #30402737, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level X
(400/800) - 2006/08/21 - 19:36:03 (ET)
Table '30402737 1' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 3: ZORG1969 (6030 in chips)
Seat 6: FrankNagaiJr (7470 in chips)
ZORG1969: posts the ante 50
FrankNagaiJr: posts the ante 50
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind 400
ZORG1969: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ks Kc]
FrankNagaiJr: calls 400
ZORG1969: raises 800 to 1600
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1600 to 3200
ZORG1969: calls 1600
*** FLOP *** [Qs 4s 7h]
ZORG1969: bets 2780 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 2780
*** TURN *** [Qs 4s 7h] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 4s 7h 4h] [Ah]
FrankNagaiJr said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ZORG1969: shows [Qc Js] (two pair, Queens and Fours)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ks Kc] (two pair, Kings and Fours)
FrankNagaiJr collected 12060 from pot

COCC Visit #2

2006-08-20T09:29:00.000-04:00

I went for the second time to the CO card club, and it was quite similar to my first visit.

Tourney #1 - I couldn't seem to get any hands at a table of Calling Stations, so I saw a lot of flops and folded. On my penultimate hand, I had second pair on an A-7-x rainbow board and 3 of us checked the flop, I bet half my remaining stack and a CS calls. I didn't bet the river because she turned over the Ace, of course. I pushed from the button w/Q6o, and the BB has QJ. I'm out.

Cash Interlude 1 - Not a CS table, the 1/2, but occasionally beatable. I limp K8s early position, and BB raises to 5, which I call. I flop second pair and we both check, then a King turns and I figure I'm ahead of AK or AA, and that KK would have bet the non-ace flop in preference to giving away a freebie. We both check, and the river is another 8 for my full house. He bets 20, I reraise all-in, and he calls with his aces, for whatever masochistic reason. Not many other exciting hands that I was involved in, but lots of cheap flops, and I occasionally buy a pot.

Tourney #2 - I'm at a table with at least four people who haven't a clue, but I fail to get cards much, and I see a lot of flops, and get close to the felt in level 3 when I call a raise w/AKs, miss, and fold after checking the flop and turn with 3 tens on the board. Don turnsover ATo. Then I have a nice turnaround as follows:

Blinds 100/200 - I have 1000 left.
UTG all-in 6 way w/KTo, no calls.
BB 45o, two limpers and I flop the straight draw, everybody checks, and I turn the straight. The guy on my right bets and I reraise all-in and he calls with a pair of 6s, ace kicker. (These folks LOVE Axo)
And I get up to 4500 before the 200/400 level, where I make a 4bb raise w/AQo, get a call from a total CS, we check it down, and she bets 500 on the river, and I call to see ATo, which flopped a pair.
Then I make a raise of half my stack w/ATs, get a call, an ace flops, and he puts me all-in, and I call to see AQo take my remaining chips.

Cash interlude 2 - Uneventful, except the same 20 year old kid who last put me all-in when I had rockets, raises me when I have QQ and I go all in. He calls with 79s, and rivers the inside straight to win.

Mistakes on that big hand in the big tourney

2006-08-08T08:16:00.000-04:00

I've had 24 hours to reflect, and can see a number of specific mistakes I made in the hand where I made the big laydown to the bluff the guy was kind enough to show me.

1) Reaction Time. This was a big tell on my part. I play much more internet tourneys than I do live, so I need to practice this more. As Harrington says, if you have to, count to ten before making your action, but don't be so quick to move. My pre-flop raise, flop reraise and turn check were nearly instantaneous, and this certainly telegraphed my intentions.

2) Reflection time. Also as Harrington says, I've put in quite a bit of money and time into the tourney, the least I could have done is taken more than a minute to figure out my best moves on the turn and river. There were some clues that I didn't take into account.

3) Missed Clue #1 - Stack size. This guy had a huge stack. Did he get it by consistently winning big hands, or was he agressive in nature? Given the two hands I'd seen, he was clearly agressive in nature, so there was a reasonable chance he was pushing a bluff.

4) Missed Clue #2 - Stack size again. I'm a medium size stack, which is the stack that is most easily bluffed. Another reason for him to consider pulling a bluff.

5) Missed Clue #3 - My table image. I had the notebook going (I was taking notes on scrap paper anyhow.) To any thinking player, this implies that I'm probably not a calling station, so one more reason to consider a bluff.

I knew I wasn't ready for the WSOP, and apparently I'm not quite ready for a 500$ tourney either. The first table made me think I was doing well, but then I came across somebody playing at the level that I wish to play at, and it's clear I'm not there yet. I will most likely wait a year before playing any more tourneys at that stake, unless I continue crushing the lower stakes tourneys. Ponzi scheme.

My Big Tourney

2006-08-07T08:06:00.000-04:00

While I usually play very low stakes tourneys, I decided to give myself a shot at a higher buy-in yesterday. $330 at the Gold Strike, 90 players, 40 minute blinds.

Level 1 - blinds 25/25 - 600 in chips.
Started out slow but solid at my first table, there's nobody who's very agressive, but a couple of people playing way too many hands, cheaply.

Hand 13 - I make a 4BB early pos steal and get shot down by a loosy goosy who calls with Kd 8d and hits the flop well. I'm down to 5375.

Hand 16 - I call a raise to 125 in the BB w/ 7c 8c and flop the nut straight and check. When I 1/3 pot bet the turn, the initial raiser and the caller both fold :-( Chips=5625.

Hand 23 is the last hand for the level. My chip stack is still 5626.

Level 2 - Blinds 25/50

Hand 25 - I didn't write down the specifics, but I think I limped cheaply and bought the pot four way with second pair. Chips 6575.

Hand 39 - No notes, but I raise in the SB, and drop down to 5450.

Hand 41 - I call a raise to 225 by a very loose seat 8 who is called by seat 9, and I have pocket 3s. I know that if I hit, I can collect beautifully from these two. Seat 4 raises to 1225, Seat 5 calls, Seat 8 calls, Seat 9 calls, so there is now 5200 in the pot and 1000 for me to call w/33 and close the action. I've got the chips to do it, so I call and miss the flop. Chip count 4225.

Hand 41 - Last hand of level 2, chip count 4225.

Level 3 - Blinds 50/100

Hand 42 - I call a raise to 400 in the BB and miss. Chip count 3825

Hand 43 - I make a loose call and hit a straight on a flush board. I call down the agressor, who bets a lot of stuff, but knows what he's doing, and we show the same one-card straight. Chips 4025.

Hand 49 - In the BB I flop second pair, and bet 1/2 pot into 3 players, no callers. Chip count 4275.

Hand 56 - I raise 88 into the red-hatted CS in seat 9, and he calls. I make a continuation bet that he calls on an AQx board, no surprise, but it doesn't mean he has anything. We both check the turn, and he bets the river (a 2) about 1/3 of pot. I call with my 88 on this board with 3 overs, and he has a pair of 2s. Chip count 5150.

Hand 63 - I raise to 500 w/77 in steal position, and the flop is K8x with two callers, and I bet the pot on the flop. Seat 7 calls for all-in with an 8 and is getting up to walk away when I tell him he's ahead. He turns two pair, and I spike my set on the river. Chip count at the end of level 3 is 7450. Lucky.

Level 4 - Blinds 100/200 Chip count 7450

Hand 65 - I button limp in w/7d 8d and call a raise to 1000 from the BB and flop a runner-runner draw to straight or flush, and the raiser does not bet the flop. The turn gives me a straight flush draw, and the raiser goes all-in for another 2000, and I call. He's got a weak ace, and I turn the straight flush, 6 to 10. Chip count 11,150.

Hand 69 - I get into a dream situation w/89o against a CS where I flop trips, and he makes a weaker boat on the river, so I get another several thousand chips. Too busy to count and note, but about 15K in chips.

Hand 70, I call AKo and the player to my left pushes all-in for 3000, I call and am happy to see KTo in his hand. The ten hits, the ace doesn't. Chip count is now 12, 625.

Hand 74 - Up against the red-hatted CS in seat 9 again. I call his river bet when I river a small pair. He made a pair of aces on the turn that he didn't bet, and had aces up when he bet. That was virtually the only value bet I saw him make. Chip count 11,525.

Hand 75 - I raise w/AQo, miss and go away quietly multi-way. Chip count 10,925.

Hand 76 - Last hand for this table, which is a bummer as I felt I had very accurate reads on everybody.

Hand 77 - I am now in seat 10 of a new table.

Hand 78 - This is the hand that put me on tilt.

S9 calls 200, I raise to 1000 w/AKo and only s9 calls.
Flop xh Kc xh.
s9 bets 1000 (1/2 pot) , I raise to 3000, s9 calls.
The call smelled like a chase call, so I'm leary when the turn is an Ah,
I have two pair so a boat draw if I'm behind.
s9 Checks, I check.
Turn X (no boat for me) and S9 puts me all-in, he's got twice my stack.
I fold after a moment or two, and he flips 4c 6c and tells me that he put me on AK.

Fuck! That's some good play on his part, and I'm wondering how I could have played that differently. I'm now on tilt going forward, with the guy who put me on tilt on my immediate right. That's not so good.

Chip count is now 6950.

Hand 81 - Blinds up to 150/300 w/25 antes.

Hand 82 - I limp AKo utg, hoping to trap the trapper in the BB, who likes to raise frequently, from what I've seen in the last few hands. the SB goes all-in for 2500 in chips, BB folds, and I call. She turns over AJo and fails to suck out. Chip count back up to 8875, but I'm still on tilt.

Hand 98 - I haven't been involved in any further hands at this very agressive table, especially my nemesis in seat 9, who has turned over QQ, KK, AK and a few other hands, as well as been obliged to show a blind steal w/Q7o. He's got a huge stack.

End of level 4, blinds go up to 200/400 with 50 antes.

Hand 102 - This is where my tilt truly kicks in. I've got 7M and catch Ad Jd utg and push. A player has KK and insta calls for 80% of my stack and I'm down to 2M.

Hand 103, I'm in BB and I'm happy to see 8s 9s, and I call seat 9s raise. Seat 9 turns over aces, and I fail to suck out.

Fuck!

New Link

2006-08-04T14:53:00.000-04:00

Preacher's rant fest just made my list of Links. Bishop is off since he hasn't posted for a year. If I know you and you've got a blog, send me the link.

Or in the words of Preach:

Look right, Monkeys.

It's a Plateau

2006-08-04T06:52:00.000-04:00

I've hit a plateuu on the learning curve. I feel like I can generally beat the low-stakes limit games (with cards of course) and I'm no longer shy about playing low-stakes no-limit, and I'm generally happy with my tournament record so far.

However, it doesn't feel like I'm learning as much about poker, or about my own game these days. When I sit at a table for 45 minutes, I generally feel like I've got a read on most of the playing styles at the table, but that doesn't always put me in a good position to capitalize on it.

Let's set some specific goals and see what happens.

On-Line, my current balance is 78$, and I think I should be able to grow it, but I don't seem to do so. Here's the game plan:
Current balance till 120: Only play the 1.20$ 45 player tourneys. Nothing bigger or more expensive. If killing time, play cash at ultra low stakes. (never risking more than 3$ at a throw.
120 - 200: Allow the $5.50 single table tourneys and 45 player tourneys into the mix. Risk no more cash than 10$ at a throw.
Let's not dream about what happens when I get past 200 till I get much closer.

Tournament Play: I should be very picky about what tourneys I play going forward. No more crap shoot tourneys, but only those where the blind structure allows for solid play to be rewarded. If this means paying extra, so be it.

Cash Games: I think I'm ready to move to 6-12 limit, and should stick to 1-2 NLHE. For NLHE, I must become a little more daring and a little less tight.

Almost a week without poker???

2006-07-28T05:39:00.000-04:00

I left town Thursday night, and yesterday (one week later) I got so desperate that I played on-line poker for 2$ an hour at the internet shop. I no longer have the shakes. I was fourth in a sit n go because this one guy pushed almost any high card and beat my AJo with his KQs.

This coming Tuesday I´ll be here for almost 24 hours:
http://www.aviationclubdefrance.com/poker_uk.html

I hope I won´t get my butt kicked, but we gotta give it a shot in any case.

Hello from Spain

2006-07-24T06:14:00.000-04:00

No poker to relate today, but I did put in 20 hours plus of casino last weekend between Tunica, and Mt. Pleasant Michigan, which is smokey, and poorly managed, but at least has competent dealers and plenty of fishy players. I moved up to the 6-12 table for the first time, and found the play to be almost as bad as the 3-6 table. I left about two big bets to the good, but overall I lost money playing in Michigan. If I hadn´t bankrolled my nephew in exchange for a cut, I would have been way behind, but the 19'year'old kid, after minimal instruction, proceeded to go on a tear and triple his buy in over 5 hours.

I don´t expect any poker updates for at least a week. Hanging out at the in-laws, and there´s no poker around here.

Profitable overnighter in Tunica

2006-07-14T10:56:00.000-04:00

Had a 6:30 am flight out of Memphis, so instead of dealing with an attempted night of half-sleep, I played poker all night after an 11 hour shift of work.

First two hours were 7 stud 1-5 spread at the Horseshoe. It was my first ever profitable session (9 bucks) but I owe most of my profit to one hand were I chased with a pair of queens and caught my trips on 7th street to beat the other guys rolled-up fourst. Not my finest moment. Otherwise I tried to play sensible and not chase without odds.

Then I played a 5 hour 1-2 NLHE session at the Gold Strike with a very friendly crew. Everybody was funning it up, and I was the only one not drinking. I doubled my buy-in and would have done even better if I hadn't been rivered twice on biggish two-way hands where I was way ahead on the turn and betting heavy to protect. The two players respectively called my big turn bets with an under pair to my top pair, and with an inside straight draw, and they both hit. One checked to me in the hopes that I would bet, and I didn't. The other made a pot-sized bet, and I stated that I'd credit him w/AJ for a straight and I folded, and he exposed J9 for the low straight.

My play was very ABC all night long, with a random supply of bluffs at orphan pots, but I never got myself in trouble with the bluffs, and I didn't catch a single monster hand, except for a pair of aces heads up where I put in 1/4 of my stack preflop, half my stack on the flop heads-up, and the remainder on the river, and he only had a pair of jacks at that point.

Ohio Poker Roundup (Overdose)

2006-07-09T10:45:00.000-04:00

Finally something nice to write about. Had a three-way chop for first in a field of 36 last night at JB's place. The two other players were playing heads up well, but I had a nice rush of cards to come back from distant third place to (marginal) chip leader. I was in three all-in showdowns that night in which all my chips were at stake (AA narrowly beats K8s in which K8 has a pair, a flush draw and an outside straight draw on the turn - 19 outs!; AA v A5s and an ace flops with no flush draw; JJ v KJ with no king ruining the party) but otherwise made a lot of laydowns to ABC players, and even to frequent bluffers when I didn't want to risk my chip stack on Q-high etc. I was down to 4M before my first double-up w/AA. Both of my AAs were against LJ, who was kind enough to call my push after betting half my stack the first time, and was kind enough to put me all-in when I reraised him with a healthy stack.

It's tough to beat players who think Ace-low offsuit is a pretty good starting hand and bet accordingly, but if the blind structure gives me enough slack, sooner or later they will overestimate their strength.

Last Sunday and Monday I took my brother to a couple more games.

We played an apartment game Sunday with 7 players total, 3 of them quaffing beer and playing any two cards. One player reraised me w/32s, and when I pushed with QJo, he called and hit a wheel on the flop. I failed to runner-runner KT to win that one. Another memorable all-in I had AQo and came over the top short-handed. He calls w/A9o and hits his nine to knock me out for third place. Feh. After that we played the paper and plastic floating game, where I had a very cold run of cards, with a nut-job at the table who was clearly working through personal issues via poker. I left in disgust when he declared two misdeals in a row. That's the dealer's job, right? If I had been running a little warmer, I might not have gotten upset, but it was a decent excuse to leave.

Then we played Monday at E's tourney, special Holiday Weekend edition. It felt like a family reunion, with players I rarely run into. Preacher, OEM, the Suit and others. I played some bad, bad poker that night. Here's my excuses first, then my bad plays:

1) Physical Exhaustion - I had a log splitter that weekend, and between my brother and I, we split and stacked a four-story elm tree and a two-story elm-tree.
2) Poker overdose. My brother showed up Friday night, and we played Friday night, then I gave him some on-line pointers for a couple hours (he took first at a 45-player $1.20 tourney on Stars), then we played Saturday night at a big tourney, then Sunday I gave him pointers for a while on Stars, and we played the Apartment and the paper/plastic game. At the all-you-can-eat buffet, I had consumed all I could eat.
3) Mental exhaustion. In addition to the log splitting, I ended up working a full day Sunday on work-work, putting together some design documents that couldn't wait.
4) Nostalgia-Goofiness. Preacher was on my left, and I was funning it up instead of playing tight-agressive poker. I lost a few chips that way.

Now here's the ways I screwed up.
1) Self-defeat with pocket cowboys.
I had KK and made a position raise early on and both the SB and BB call. The flop is something like 6TJ with a flush draw, and I make a 1/2 pot bet and get two callers. The turn is another ten and I bet and get two callers. On the river Q I haven't improved, and the second player bets into me about 10% of the pot. I muck in disgust with only an overpair to the very dangerous board. I asked him a few days later what he had, and he tells me top-split pair. Whether that's true or not, I still should have made the crying call with my overpair. Again, I was in a very pessimistic frame of mind and neglected the math.
2) Self-defeat with a pocket pair when an ace flops.
My brother makes a raise in steal position, and I've been tutoring him on this so have some idea what he might be up to. I reraise with pocket nines. The flop is AJx and he makes a continuation bet, and I muck my nines face up. He shows me pocket threes. Good play bro! In retrospect, my best option would have been to push pre-flop.
3) Not paying attention to what my opponent might have. I'm goofing it up with preacher and make a steal raise with J-8o, and flop trips. I neglect the board on the turn, assuming I'm golden with my trips and an inside straight draw on the turn. When he reraises my all-in on the turn I happily call, and he's got the made straight. I fill my inside straight draw to chop, and feel like an ass for not considering that he might actually have a hand.

4) Bad timing. I'm at 2M and push from early position with KJo at the final table. There are pockets eights, tens and Aces in that order behind me with progressively bigger stacks. The aces and tens are blocking my straight draws, so it's the thinnest draw ever four-way. D'oh!

Charity Tourney July 1

2006-07-02T09:12:00.000-04:00

Went to a charity tourney last night with my brother and made it one past the bubble, getting my buy-back plus 10$. If I had bought the add-on, I would have been behind 10$.

I had a really hot run of cards at a table of very readable players, and only slowed down when I had three decent hands broken in short order. My AA v QQ and 66 lost to a six on the flop for a quarter of my stack. My AQ in the BB found AK in the SB and didn't improve for a quarter of my stack, and there was one other hand I got slaughtered on in similar circumstances. I was all-in w/K3 suited in desperation, and came up against 44 who flopped the set. I was already walking away when somebody said 'hey, you rivered a straight!' Then I was able to bully, slow-play and somehow find my way back to 4M when we got to the final table.

First hand at the final table I'm UTG w/JJ with 25K in chips, and blinds are 2K, 4K. I make a raise to 15K and a player halfway down puts me all in. There is now 46K in the pot and it costs me my last 10K, so I'm getting 4 to 1 odds. Even if I'm behind, it's reasonable odds, and I certainly don't have enough chips left to play if I fold, so I push my last chips and he turns over KK. Somebody else says they mucked a jack, so I've got one out, and it doesn't come.

There are 3 larger pocket pairs than JJ, and each has a 1/221 chance, and eight players yet to act with cards, so the chance of my being that far behind was 24/221, or just under 11%. I'd play that hand in that chip count and position the same way every time.

Crazy Omaha

2006-07-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

Went to the paper and plastic game last night with my visiting brother, and tried my luck at the 3-6 high-only omaha. Luck held, and I did very well, taking down pots with hands as weak as a set of sixes and even chopping a pot with two pair.

The betting structure was crazy. Let's see if I can explain it.

1) The button is the only poster, and can post anthing between 3 and 6.
2) The button states whether all are dealt 3, 4 or 5 cards. Omaha rules apply no matter how many cards.
3) On a kill pot, 6-12, any better can raise by 12 pre-flop or on the flop. They can also raise or bet by any amount between 6 and 12 as they see fit. (spread)
4) Action starts pre-flop one to the left of the button. On the flop action starts two to the left. Then three. Then four.
5) No checking on any street. Bet or fold only.

Starting to see this? It was wild.

Up and Down in Hollywood

2006-06-29T08:29:00.000-04:00

Had a really bad limit session on Sunday, starting at Gold Strike Tunica, moving over to Hollywood Tunica. Hollywood was the toughest to bear, since I was clearly at a very soft table where I would have collected a decent pot with any winning hand. I bled slowly for the first three to four hours, then I'm afraid I loosened up, and made more calls on the flop against long shots, so I was then bleeding twice as fast. In the space of 8 hours, I may have taken in three decent pots, and three tiny pots, which seems like a statistical anomaly. The guy in the 3 seat was taking up the slack, seemingly doing no wrong, playing at least 60 percent of his hands, and winning at least half of the hands he seemed to be in. It was very demoralizing, but I did put in my hours to play the 'free roll' on Tuesday night.

So I come back for the free roll, which has the following chip structure:

Entry and 1000 chips - Free with 10 hours of playing time at their casino.
Add on 5000 Chips at start - $20
Add on 10,000 Chips after the fourth level - $40

As you can see the add-ons are pretty obligatory.

In the first four levels, I pick up a couple of small pots, very few playable hands. I did get some very accurate reads on my table mates, who could be bluffed, who would pay me off when I had a hand, and who would defend their blinds. I was down to 6M at the break, and buying the 10K in chips brought me up to 15M.

Then I had a QQ v QQ confrontation. No flush, but we got some limping chips. I pushed in SB w/A9s when a much smaller stack had pushed from mid-position, and BB folds and it's A2s I'm against. Board pairs and we chop. I also pushed against the same player in the same circumstance w/T9o one round later to flop a pair and beat 88. Then I get QQ to beat 33 and double up, and KK to double up when a flush draw pushes on the flop and fails to make their flush. We're down to the final table and I'm a chip leader.

Most of the final table was either very short stacked and/or very predictable. The one loose cannon pushes JJ against AA and wins to become chip leader, which means that I've got some work to do to win this. We're down to four, and the second time one of the low stacks survives an all-in and suggests a four-way chop, I agree, and the other low stack agrees. The loose cannon isn't happy to do so as he's got my by 2 to 1, and everybody else by 3 to 1 or better, but states that he doesn't want to be the jerk, and agrees.

I should also mention bluffing success frequency. I think I made five bluffs or semi-bluffs during the tourney and got away with three of them. The ones I didn't get away with were against the loose cannon.

The prize was about a hundred more than I bled through on Sunday, the overall net was about 50 bucks (add-ons $60) for 14 hours of play. Whoo-hoo!

RM's tourney Dublin

2006-06-25T05:06:00.000-04:00

We had a major tourney for our social group on June 24th, with a field of close to 70 players, starting at 4:30 PM and playing till the wee hours of the morning. I went as a player/dealer and felt like I did neither well, but still managed to make it to the final table, just barely in the money. I really enjoyed the tourney, and was pleasantly surprised to make it as far as I did in the mental state I was in (perma-tilt).

I don't have time to blog right now, but here's some themes if I did.

* SB v BB situation late game with a min-raise (killbuck discussion)
* All-in v BB late game with KTo in BB's hands (other discussion)
* Railbird etiquette (don't sit AT the table please, and don't talk with the players)
* Some bad decisions I made
(Calling an all-in w/KJo rather than folding or coming over the top)
(Not pushing A9o in a textbook Harrington scenario as the button with no action before me)
* Some good decisions I made that paid off
(staying with 22 four way after limping, being raised, and closing the betting)
* Some good decisions I made that didn't pay off
(calling a frequent all-inner w/AQ, and losing to KJ)
* Tilty behavior on my part
(misstating my chip count in an all-in situation)
* Why I was on tilt
(one player at my first table was having an astounding/unbelievable run of cards, and I had to lay down on two consecutive heads up flops. I had never played with him before and couldn't tell if we was in my head or actually getting cards.)
* Big all-in hands for me
(v Bishop to survive, v Jeff to survive w/79s, v DAB w/66 to lose to QJo and get knocked out)

Local Tourney June 23

2006-06-24T10:15:00.000-04:00

Played at a 20$ tourney that is only 5 minutes from my home, which is a refreshingly short drive. The next closest, the N'erk tourney is more like 12 minutes, and has a bizarre blind structure at a steep price.

There were 13 of us playing basement poker. I mostly sat tight, since there were very few raises respected all night. At a minimum, seemed like the SB and BB would call with damn near anything. This meant I got to observe other people playing, some well, some atrociously.

Had pocket aces early and managed to collect without incident, and I busted a guy with my Ac Qc after he called me with AJo and couldn't let it go on an AKQ flop. In other games, I would have expected him to have AK, and so I had a big relief on the river when a queen fell. Comical that I didn't require the extra card. Generally, I needed cards to win a pot since somebody was always calling down with second pair, sometimes even ace high on a busted draw. There were a couple players whose raises were respected by the group, which was also funny since one of them was raising pre-flop and betting into pots with a frequency well outside of any reasonable card distribution.

After nursing my short stack well, (I doubled up once on KJo after pushing on a J-high flop), I got knocked out when my AKo met AQs all-in pre-flop. That was after 3 hours of play with four of us remaining out of 13.

Then I played cash for a little while. I enjoyed the tourney, but I don't think I can play ultra-low cash games anymore. (There was a single blind of 0.25 to win.) There's no buzz in it for me.

Tunica Miss Updates

2006-06-23T17:17:00.000-04:00

I've been too busy driving to the casino and playing to deal with blogging. Here's highlights for the last week.

Sunday - Hit the Gold Strike, which was smokier than I remembered (not a smoking room, but very much adjacent to the smokers), and they had easily 15 full tables going. I played NLHE 1/2 while ordering eating dinner, and lost a big chunk to guy who hit his set on the turn to beat my aces. I was not as observant as I needed to be, and I could have saved a bunch of money on his river bet if I was at all alert. Note to self - play LIMIT while ordering and eating dinner, so mistakes don't cost so much. (They bring in free bar food for tips, by the way.)

Then I switched to LO8, and it was the bummer table of all bummer tables. Everybody knew each other, and everybody sat and waited for A23, so there were very few big pots to fight over, and nobody lively enough to break the boredom. I love O8, but a tight/dull table is unbearable.

Tuesday - Hit Sam's Town looking for a tourney, but misread the flier, so I went next door to Hollywood, found a soft 3-6 table and stuck around. The toughest part of limit is when you can't hit a hand at a soft table. I went out 10 bucks ahead after 4 hours of play. Their buffet was 'okay' but the best so far is still the Grand Casino.

Wednesday - Went to the Hollywood again to accumulate table hours for a 60$
'freeroll' tourney next Tuesday. There was a drunk who was slurring his speech on my right who was still playing limit reasonably well, and making money chasing his flushes. There were two very soft players who left 20 minutes after I sat down before I could get their money in circulation. The minute the drunk left, I left as well. I went out ahead 10 bucks.

Then I went next door to Sam's Town for some 1/2 NLHE. I lost my first buy-in early when I called a raise w/Qh Jc in position, and flopped the high straight on a one-suit flop (hearts). The same guy who raised had shown down Ah Kh three hands earliers, so I felt he was on a high pair with a heart draw, and that he didn't already have the flush. That was my thinking when I pushed on the no-heart turn, and he insta-called w/Ah Kh. It took me a couple hours to get to profitable, but I shucked and jived, stole a lot of small orphan pots, and found a couple of spots to double up or collect big.

Ho-hum a 10-high straigh flush

2006-06-15T09:09:00.000-04:00

Last night at 180 player $4.40 I played 6c 9c in the SB at the 10/100 level after 2 others had already limped in. I flopped the inside draw to the straight flush, which is 12 outs. As first to act I lead bet the flop, and I lead bet the river for the same amount without improving. A couple players stayed with me, and my magic 7c came on the river. I bet double the amount of my lead bet and was fortunate to get one caller. The caller must not have had the ace-high flush, or else it was a decsent player.

Reprint - Poker Stars Goal

2006-06-15T00:19:00.000-04:00

My current balance on Tards is 332.65, most of which is from 11$ sngs, and an occasional PLO8 cash table. I have been playing 180 player 4$ games and losing money there, but I think I am improving my tourney game with those. I'm reprinting the goals I set a while back. Looks like I might get past 400 if I keep up my streak on the 11$ sngs, and then I can consider the 20$ sngs.

REPRINT

1) Stick with the $5.50 tables till I get to $200.
2) When I pass 200, play the $11 tables till I'm either back down to 150, or up to 400.
3) Evey time I get past 500, do a little cashout rather than squander it.
4) Accumulate frequent player points, and use those to chase the pipe dream of playing in a major event.

Blinds and Straddles

2006-06-14T23:39:00.000-04:00

At casinos I like to keep my table lively, so I'll occasionally go into manic mode. At least once a night, I'll make a big deal about playing my blind cards blind, betting the flop blind, and looking on the turn when I get action, all the while yakking it up.

Last night at Gold Strike I did this once, asserting I had aces, and I called a small raise, and a bet on the flop blind. He bet into me on the turn and I looked, and I had AT, and there was an ace on the board, so I reraised. He was incredulous and called, and we both checked the river. Turned out he rivered two pair with his QJo, but I was indeed ahead when I called on the flop, and when I looked and reraised.

Last hand of the evening I'm UTG, and so I decide to straddle, and I make a big deal about what I've got, and at least 3 callers. and I make a quarter-pot bet and get only one caller. The flop is A23, and now I'm joking that I've changed my mind and I've got 45. He bets into me, and I look, and this time is AKo, and I reraise again. He calls, and I check the turn blind, and he checks two. The river was a king, and a pair of aces was good anyhow.

Usually this tactic doesn't produce immediate results like this. It usually just loosens the table, if I'm lucky, but a money-loser in the short term.

Tunica Miss - Gold Strike

2006-06-14T01:02:00.000-04:00

I liked the card room a lot, but the buffet was better at the Grand Casino.

Played 90 minutes of Omaha Hi/Lo, 3-6, at the only card room that has it regularly, started out hot and won a few pots, then kept missing monster draws both ways and switched back to 1-2 no limit.

The 1-2 NL has a min buy-in of 100, no maximum, which means that it's dangerous compared to LA. The first table I sat down at (for about 10 hands), half the table had at least 600 in front of them. After I swapped out tables to a newly created table, everybody had 200 or less, which was more comfortable for me.

I was both catching hands and running some decent bluffs, so all-in all it was a good session. NL 1-2 where everybody limps is nice in that I can play a lot of tricky trash, but it also means that when my trash hits, I might not get any action. There was one young lady in particular where I bet a made hand on the river that she refused to call, then I bluffed her off of two rivers with busted draws in fairly short order. In one case I was holding a busted 4-6 straight draw, so it was damn near impossible that she didn't have me beat. It was fun.

Met a guy named Michael from a small town outside of Little Rock. He had been in a car accident two years prior, burned 55% of his body, lost his girlfriend in the accident, and spent 10 months in the hospital after the accident. He was in Tunica with his new girlfriend from across the country who he met through an on-line support group for burn victims. She had also lost her boyfriend in a car accident. Nice guy.

Tunica Missisisip - Grand Casino

2006-06-12T01:04:00.000-04:00

Played the 4-8 for two hours, and walked away with 12.5 big bets, so it was a fine session. The guy two seats to my right raised any hand he played, and he seemed to play any face card, no matter what it was partner with. This meant I generally had to tighten up a lot, so I mostly collected on playable big blinds, (two decent pots) and Aces (they held, and he did me a favor by raising so I could 3 bet pre-flop), and other wise tossed lots of mediocre limpers that would have been playable if he hadn't change my pot odds. I left five minutes after he did, as there were too many competent players at the table at that point.

Loved the buffet. Great ribs and southern/soul food.

Nobody told me that Tunica was a baby vegas! A whole bunch of poker options here.

N'erk Tourney June 9th

2006-06-11T17:37:00.000-04:00

I should have played tight and tighter. As it was, I raised 3BB once UTG and got no callers, and pushed UTG twice and got no callers, all three times with hands where I preferred NOT to see a flop, so that was alright.

I called a 3BB raise in BB w/A7s, and the flop came Axx all of a different suit, and I tossed my top pair based on having a weak ace, and none of the suit. The dude (Clay) flips over his pair of kings with one of the suit and asks for a rabbit hunt, and he hit his flush. So, it was an incorrect fold on my part, but a fortuitous one.

I won the very first hand (about 4BB of the first level) and otherwise did not take down any pot in which I saw a flop. Bummer evening. I tossed mountains of trash pre-flop.

A night of heartbreak on 'tards

2006-06-05T08:33:00.000-04:00

I allowed myself one more 180 player tourney, and I tripled up early with a flush draw to the nuts three way. Sure, it was a risk, but I figure a body needs decent chips to do anything in this tourney, otherwise you'll get blinded out too soon. The other two all-ins were top split pair and a set, so I got lucky. Then I played reasonably well, making some decent moves and staying out of trouble for quite a while, till I pulled another all-in on a flush draw on a 334 board two-way in a raised pot. I was drawing to Ace-Queen with no pair yet, and my opponent was drawing to king-eight flush with no pair yet. That means he had six outs in two cards, and I was roughtly the 75 percent fave here. He rivers his king, and if I had won I would have been the chip leader among 70 remaining players, but instead I move on.

Then I'm in a 45 player sit'n'go, where I get involved in few hands, and eventually find myself pushing QTo from early position at 5M. The person who calls me has AQo and enough chips to look me up. The first four cards are A-Q-T (ouch!) and then another Ace to mean that my two remaining outs are now gone.

Guess I'll go back to the single tables if I'm killing time tonight.

Overs versus pair and runner-runner flush draw

2006-06-04T22:22:00.000-04:00

Playing a 4$ 180 player on tards, and a mediocre chip stack about 4 levels in. I had just won a hand with a large pair without a showdown, and caught JJ and made a bigger raise (5BB) with this lesser pair.

The flop is a rainbow 892, and I had just observed the one player I was up against push pre-flop with a pair of 8s for no particular reason, as his M was reasonable. I had a feeling that he probably didn't have trips, and would call my all-in on my overpair with as weak as ace-high.

I was correct, he called with second split pair and a runner-runner flush draw, making me the 75 percent fave with all my chips in the middle.

His runner-runner hit. D'uh.

Bicycle LA - cash

2006-05-30T11:12:00.000-04:00

Haven't blogged, too busy playing, but must record a beautiful hot streak last night.

Arrived Bicycle LA last night around 9, and played O8 for 45 minutes while I ate dinner, then switched to the 40 max buy in 1/2 NLHE, and had an amazing run of cards, and walked away with almost five buy ins as follows.

Limp 35s (fonzie cards) with five other people and I flop an outside straight draw, which I bet to goose the pot, three people come along. I hit my straight on the turn, and one player comes along for twice that bet. I hit a straight flush on the river, but the last player won't come along for 20 more, and I don't show. I'm getting so jaded about small straight flushes these days.

Limp 77 and call a 5BB raise from the big stack at the table, and we're heads up. I flop my set (making up for the hundreds of sets I didn't catch over the last week.) and he bets into me, and I meekly call. On the turn, I'm first to act, and he's already pushing all of his chips into the middle. Thanks to the 3-5 hand, I've got him covered. He doesn't show what he raised with.

I raise 3BB from the BB into six limpers with AQs, and get four callers and flop a flush draw, and I give a free card. Nobody bets. Turn doesn't help me, and the guy on my right bets 1/4 pot, which I and one other player call. The river is an Ace, and so I call the bet of the guy on my right, and a pair of aces beats his K9 which had paired the king on the turn.

There were a few other hands, but these were the big money winners. It was a great feeling to have such a nice rush in a short time after having such a bad financial run in Vegas and Scottsdale.

Good Times at the Sahara Vegas - Part 1

2006-05-27T18:29:00.000-04:00

I joined my social group buddies for a couple tournaments at the Sahara Vegas. I would give these 42 w/20 rebuys a strong recommendation, because they're very social, and the players all seem to take their poker seriously, and most of them love to kibbitz between hands, which makes the time go faster. I played two of them and bubbled at the final table both times, once on a bad beat, the other on a stupid decision on my part. But let's talk about the good stuff first.

One good read follows another

During the first two levels, I watched one player limp many consecutive pots, possibly as many as six, and he was buying orphan pots, and occasionally he would even show an unlikely winning hand, but he clearly could not have decent starting cards every time, and he clearly could not have matched the board nearly as often as he was limping and betting. While I found it annoying, I was powerless to do anything but watch him accumulate chips from all of us without ever getting into trouble.

Then he limps into my BB from early position, and by this time everyone else seemed to feat him, so it was folded all the way to me. I look at my cards, Q3s, and confidently push my chips to the middle and wait. (I had been very tight till this point.) He folds after pretending to make an agonizing decision, but it was clear to me that he possibly couldn't have called in this situation. I would possibly have made the same move heads up pre-flop with even worse cards.

Exactly one trip around the table later, he limps on my BB, and another player also limps. I am suspicious, and check my reasonable cards. I flop second pair, he bets, and the third player calls. I fold. As I suspected, when the hand was over, he turned over pocket aces to win a big pot, which he had clearly limped in the hopes that I would pull the exact same move twice.

Brief Vegas Report

2006-05-24T11:33:00.000-04:00

Rio - When it's not hosting the WSOP, their poster room is 'okay', but not worth a special trip.

Gold Coast Tourney - Oddball structure - Limit for the first 3 20 minute levels, and then it goes no limit. I got knocked out during the NL portion when my QQ ran into another player's KK. I had played with the guy, an older guy, for an hour plus, so I should have been capable of knowing I was beat on the flop when he pushed, so that was a donk play on my part.

NOBODY handy has O8 :-(

Bellagio - Cheapest limit is 4-8, I played for an hour or two and was four big bets behinds. That's the price I paid for getting to ogle Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman and Barry Greenstein in the glass room. I had a perfect view. It was neat.

Ballys - I sat down to NL, and got two monsters in my first two hands, so I got to double up quickly.

I also ran a couple of good bluffs, one limit, one NL as follows:

Limit Bellagio
Four players see the flop, and I'm last to act on a one-suit flop. I bet into the flop with nothing of the suit and only get one caller. He checks non-suited turn, and so do I. He checks the non-suited river, and I bet it, and he agonizes for about 20 seconds, complains out loud, and folds his hand, which he says was a queen high busted draw. I had a ten-high busted draw.

Ballys' No Limit
I'm just off my hot streak of cards, and I limp Ax suited, and flop a four flush, which I pot-sized bet into a field of four as last to act. I get two callers. The turn has no flush, and they both check to me, and I make a double sized bet compared to the prior bet, and they both fold to my ace high.

Arrived - sleep-deprived

2006-05-23T11:57:00.000-04:00

I got to the hotel Rio at 12PM local time, and then i couldn't sleep, and went looking for a game. There were only four live tables at the Rio, offering 2/5NL and 4/8 limit, both of which were a little too steep for a sleep-deprivation playing session. The neighboring casino is the Gold Coast, which is very old-school vegas, and they offered 2/4 limit and 4/8 limit with a half kill.

The play was generally atrocious and profitable. I walked away with 10BB in the course of about 90 minutes of play, and I was tipping on every hand. I think I have time to fit in a cheap tournament before the conference starts....

Off to Vegas Tonight

2006-05-22T16:06:00.000-04:00

1) I'm there on business. Schmoozing and learning come first.
2) I have a fixed bankroll in my wallet. Must find soft tables within my financial comfort zone.
3) I'll allow myself one ATM withdrawal max if I blow that.
4) I plan to play a few tourneys with reasonable blind structures. The 20 minute structures of the single tables at foxwoods were too damn fast for me.

I have no idea if I'll blog this stuff before I get back or not.

Enough about you, let's talk about me.

2006-05-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

I won a 27 player LO8 live tourney on Saturday night, which I'm very proud of, since I've been working a lot on my O8 game, and it really paid off. I didn't take notes, and can't mentally recreate many hands right now, because I was very 'in the moment' at the game.

I do remember that I won the tourney with 29 of hearts for a flush, and 23 for the lock low with an ace on the board.

I also remember a crucial hand at the final 6 players where I started with A33X and raised from early position, got two callers, and I flopped trips with two low cards on the flop, and I bet them all the way down, both callers stayed through the turn, and one of them even kept me honest on the river, and there was no possible low and my trips held, which gave me the healthy stack I needed to be choosy about my starting hands during the final phase.

The level of play was varied, with at least half the field having a reasonable understanding of O8, and the other half using hold'em logic plus luckboxing to survive. There weren't any luckboxes at the final table that I recall. (except me.) You could tell the hold'em-only players because they would frequently stay to the river with the third or fourth best hand, while those with more O8 clarity had frequently tossed a better hand than what they had stuck around with. That's always frustrating, but sooner or later, fourth-best hand always comes back to haunt you.

Critiquing Somebody Else's (NYCNative) PLO8 Play - Part 4

2006-05-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

I'm going to really speed through the remaining hands.

Dialogue - Looks like your opponent was trying to tilt you by calling you a donk, and you were throwing it right back at him. Didn't you know that the poker professionals always come to the $5.50 sngs in their free time and give lessons?

Hand 51 - I like your play here. You cannot slow play flopped trips with two cards to a low out there, and you play it fast, like you should, putting extra pressure on the turn when a low doesn't fall.
(blinds are 75/150)
Dealt to NYCNative [9d 5c 9s 6h]
*** FLOP *** [5h 2d 9h]
NYCNative: bets 300
Wauzzz: calls 300
*** TURN *** [5h 2d 9h] [Ts]

Hand 55 - Pot purchase preflop with a playable hand. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [6s Jh As 9c]

Hand 58 - A limp with playable cards, to change gears, and a purchase on the flop with some nice draws. Okay.

Dealt to NYCNative [5s Ac 8s 6d]
*** FLOP *** [4s As 7s]

Hand 60 - A perfect flopped high-end straight, and a decent candidate for slow-play since there were already three lows on the flop. Okay. If your opponent had an ace, I'm sure the river steamed him to no end.

Dealt to NYCNative [8h 6c 2h 5d]
*** FLOP *** [3s 4d 7c]
NYCNative: checks
MightyBug: checks
*** TURN *** [3s 4d 7c] [Js]
NYCNative: bets 375
MightyBug: calls 375
*** RIVER *** [3s 4d 7c Js] [Ah]
NYCNative: bets 1125

Player #3 goes out around this time, and it takes you about 25 hands heads-up to best your critic.

Other than a few hands early on, I can't really fault your play.

Critiquing Somebody Else's (NYCNative) PLO8 Play - Part 3

2006-05-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

Moving on from hand 21.

Hand 22 - You raise and buy the flop on a wrap draw. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [Ad 6s 8d 7s]
*** FLOP *** [5h 5s 9h]

Hand 23 - Free flop in BB, you check it down and buy it with trips on the river. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [4d Kc 7c 6s]
*** RIVER *** [9s 6h 9d 3c] [6d]

Hand 24 - In SB, you reraise with this hand, and call the smaller stacks' all in.
Dealt to NYCNative [5c 4s 4c Ac]
I prefer to see a flop before committing the chips, since your stack is only four times as big, and if you double him up, all of a sudden you've let him get a threatening stack. Of course, if you played it that way, you might have given it up on the flop.

*** RIVER *** [9h 9d 7h 2h] [8s]
NYCNative: shows [5c 4s 4c Ac] (HI: two pair, Nines and Fours; LO:
8,7,4,2,A)
MightyBug: shows [4d 3s Ks Kh] (HI: two pair, Kings and Nines; LO:
8,7,4,3,2)
MightyBug collected 2435 from pot
NYCNative collected 2435 from pot

Hand 25 - You buy it pre-flop with this hand. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [5c Qc 7h Ah]

Hand 26 - A clear fold,which you do.
Dealt to NYCNative [8d 3h Kd 6c]

Hand 27 - You get a free ride in the BB
Dealt to NYCNative [8d 3h Kd 6c]

Hand 28 - An SB Limp at 25/50 blinds, a nice flop, and you buy it on the turn presumably counting on the low redraw if you're called. Good.
Dealt to NYCNative [5d 8h 7s 2d]
*** TURN *** [Qs As 6d] [Ac]

Hand 29 - a clear fold, which you do.
Dealt to NYCNative [4s 7s Kc 9h]

Hand 30 - a first-position limp with two-suited and a possible low. You toss top pair when the board pairs on the turn. Fine.
Dealt to NYCNative [7d Kh 9d 2h]
*** TURN *** [6d 9s 3c] [3s]

Hand 31 - In BB, you flop two pair, bet the flop and buy it on the turn. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [Ks 2d 5d 7c]
*** TURN *** [2c Kh 3s] [6c]

Blind are now 50/100

Hand 33 - You try to buy it pre-flop with a pair of kings and a weak low draw, and get called by a weak hand, checking it down to lose to a weak two pair. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [Ks 6d 5d Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Th Ad Jh 5s] [2d]
MightyBug: shows [7h 9h Ac 5c] (HI: two pair, Aces and Fives)
NYCNative: shows [Ks 6d 5d Kd] (HI: a pair of Kings)

Chip stacks are now:
Seat 1: Wauzzz (2440 in chips)
Seat 2: NYCNative (7070 in chips)
Seat 3: Jsleezey (1305 in chips)
Seat 6: MightyBug (2685 in chips)

JSleezey should start to get desperate soon. Try not to get sucked into sub-par hands when JS starts pushing with mediocre hands.

Hand 34 - you buy it pre-flop with a strong high hand. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [Tc Qc Td Ac]

Hand 35 - You are in the bb, and see the flop for free with
Dealt to NYCNative [Tc Qc Td Ac]
In this hand, I don't like your opponents play and think they should have represented the straight and bet the pot on the river, but maybe you've established a table image of somebody who can't be bluffed, or he was giving you credit for A2.

*** FLOP *** [3s 4d Qd]
NYCNative: checks
MightyBug: bets 200
NYCNative: calls 200
*** TURN *** [3s 4d Qd] [6s]
NYCNative: checks
MightyBug: checks
*** RIVER *** [3s 4d Qd 6s] [5c]
NYCNative: checks
MightyBug: bets 200
NYCNative: calls 200

MightyBug: shows [5s Th Ad 8d] (HI: a pair of Fives; LO: 6,5,4,3,A)
NYCNative: shows [Qs 8s Js As] (HI: a pair of Queens; LO: 8,5,4,3,A)

Hand 36 - You limp this reasonable hand from SB against the short stack in BB and one other player. Sensibly, you check it down with a pair of tens and no low.
Dealt to NYCNative [Qc Ac 7h Td]

Hand 37 - Nice fold
Dealt to NYCNative [Qh 2d 9c 6h]

Hand 38 - You limp this nice low draw/wrap draw hand from 1st position, totally miss the flop and fold on the turn with nothing. Sensible.
Dealt to NYCNative [Qh 2d 9c 6h]

Hand 39 - A free ride in the BB
Dealt to NYCNative [Jd Qd 4d 2s]

Hand 40 - A raise with three to a wheel and a high card, no resistance. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [Ks 2h 4s 5d]

Hand 41 - A raise with a high pair, and a dangler. No resistance. Okay. That's two consecutive pre-flop purchases.

Hand 42 - It was time to fold, before the peasants rise up, and you fold.
Dealt to NYCNative [Qs 7c 4d 5c]

hand 43 - You get a free ride in the BB with playable cards. you've put the fear in the peasants.
Dealt to NYCNative [3d Ac 9h 4s]

Hand 44- You call a bump raise in SB, and then fold to what is clearly becoming an all-in hand between the two smallest stacks. A very reasonable move. Unless the ace falls, you're behind on the low and your high is weak, and the action indicates that one, if not two of the aces are accounted for.
Dealt to NYCNative [3d 2c Qs 6c]

Hand 45 - A limp with a marginal, playable hand, a favorable flop and you buy it on the turn with a qualified low and a draw to a straight on a flushy board. Fine.
Dealt to NYCNative [4s 4c Jc 3h]
*** TURN *** [5c 8s 6s] [As]

I like that you've changed gears from very agressive to limpy limperson. This should keep them guessing.

Hand 46 - I don't like this first position limp. You've got three disparate high cards, a dangler, no low draw, and you're blocking your own (second-best) flush. You toss two-pair on the river, which is why you shouldn't have played this hand in the first place. You specifically wanted both a Q and a J to fall or a boat, right?
Dealt to NYCNative [2d Td Kd 9h]

Hand 47 - A free ride in BB with a very powerful two-way hand, which you flash.
Dealt to NYCNative [9d Ah Ad 9s]

Hand 48 - You SB limp a playable set of cards, make a boat on the river, but your opponent's A2 was a lock low on the turn, so he calls you down to chop. Okay.
Dealt to NYCNative [8h 3h 6d 7c]

Hand 49 - The SB is all-in and you raise with a high-only hand to push out the BB. Okay. Your empty side pot was worth more than the main pot.
Your opponent starts to critique you on this play, but you were correct here.
Dealt to NYCNative [Th Kc Ah Ks]

hand 50 - You toss something marginal in first position. Good.
Dealt to NYCNative [Td Qs 3h 4d]

To be continued. Not sure when.

A healthy exchange of ideas

2006-05-21T20:37:00.000-04:00

The guy being critiqued responded, and I respond:

Item 1:

FNJ - Attempt to buy this pot four-way with a weak low and an inside straight draw was insane.

NYC NATIVE - That wasn't my intent. I wouldn't make a small bet to buy the pot. I had the chip lead and the flop might not have helped anyone so I made a feeler bet. Sometimes I take it down there, sometimes I get called and get a "free" turn and reevaluate. If I get resistance, I am beat and I fold.

Maybe this is better done with one opponent rather than two...

FNJ - Your logic makes sense in hold'em. It very easy for four players to miss a flop in hold'em. In Omaha, especially hi/lo, at least one player of the four will have something worth keeping you honest with.

Item 2

FNJ - You now have a very healthy chip stack. You should tighten up for a while at this blind level, and let the shorties duke it out unless you've got premium starters.

NYCNative - And what exactly is wrong with bullying the table a little bit?

FNJ - Again, your logic makes more sense in hold'em. Even with premium holdings, you're rarely better than a 60% fave against any kind of hand. To bully with hands where you probably won't be a favorite is especially risky, since somebody with A2xx will materialize, and then you're crossing your fingers to get HALF the pot without a particularly strong high draw.

Item 3:

NYCNative - I just wanted to defend my blinds with the kind of hand that could flop a monster *and* get paid off. I was holding 2h 5h 5d 6d. If an Ace flops, I could be in line for the low. If I flop a set, I can break stubborn Aces. If I hit the straight, that's good too. Plus as the chip leader, I can mix it up a little bit.

FNJ - If you hold 23 and an ace flops, you're golden. but if you hold 25 and an ace flops, it's just as likely the raiser is holding A23, A24, or even A34, so there's still a lot of ways to be second best low even with your coveted ace. And even is you flop trips, they are weak trips which could easily be bested. Good PLO8 players understand that pocket aces are much more powerful pre-flop than post-flop, and are more willing to toss them than hold'em players.

Yes, you can mix it up as the chip leader, but you can also wait for better starters, and surrender an occasional BB at this level, rather than doubling somebody up by getting sucked into playing a poor hand.

Critiquing Somebody Else's (NYCNative) PLO8 Play - Part 2

2006-05-21T10:28:00.000-04:00

I'm re-analyzing hand 10 to start, because when I re-read the blog, I misread the hand.Ooops, never mind, you did have a boat on the flop. I was pretty tired last night.

FNJ - Hand 11 - Doesn't look as bad this morning as it did last night. Let's look at the pre-flop EV of this hand with the cards face up. See how you (first hand) are in 3rd place pre-flop? That's because you are only looking at half the pot if there is any kind of qualified low. Two aces with one suited is limpable, but I like to have at least an 8 in my hand before I get agressive with something like this.

As 9c Ad Qd 37270 101964 269358 5670 0 0 0 0.192
Ac 2c Kd Qh 66194 86758 284564 5670 156591 25848 7875 0.384
6s 3d Ah Th 43448 103124 273071 797 68484 139374 7875 0.270
Js Jh 5h 2h 37167 79313 297516 163 0 126060 0 0.155

FNJ - In the pre-flop betting sequence, your isolation raise would have made sense if there weren't two players who already called the first raise. It's much more likely in PLO8 that if they call one raise, a big re-raise is NOT likely to push them out. For this reason, I like a call better. If the board contains any two wheel cards, you should get the hell out cheaply.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to NYCNative [9c Ad Qd As]
pokersnail has timed out
pokersnail: folds
pokersnail is sitting out
MightyBug: folds
upcountryboy: raises 75 to 105
barkley05: calls 105
corkylp: calls 105
Wauzzz: folds
NYCNative: raises 465 to 570
Jsleezey: folds
RTBaLLa: folds
upcountryboy: calls 65 and is all-in
barkley05: calls 465
corkylp: calls 465

FNJ - Let's check out your EV on the flop now. There are no lows possible, and you've got the nut flush draw, so you're now the clear favorite here, although your top pair was possibly behind to two pair at this point. If anybody held something like A2QJ, you were behind, but too late to worry about that.

*** FLOP *** [9d Kc Td]
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
As 9c Ad Qd 268 268 248 12 0 0 0 0.519
Ac 2c Kd Qh 128 128 388 12 0 0 0 0.253
6s 3d Ah Th 106 106 421 1 0 0 0 0.201
Js Jh 5h 2h 14 14 514 0 0 0 0 0.027

*** TURN *** [9d Kc Td] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [9d Kc Td Qc] [9s]

FNJ - You were behind on the turn, of course,and had the diamonds, aces, queens and nines as outs. It was a reasonable assumption that the aces were accounted for given the pre-flop action. I'm okay with your post-flop play, but not crazy about your pre-flop play here.

*********** # 12 **************
PokerStars Game #4997021257: Tournament #25073790, $5.00+$0.50 Omaha Hi/Lo
Pot Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2006/05/20 - 15:37:31 (ET)
Table '25073790 1' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Wauzzz (2830 in chips)
Seat 2: NYCNative (5385 in chips)
Seat 3: Jsleezey (1425 in chips)
Seat 4: RTBaLLa (600 in chips)
Seat 5: pokersnail (1600 in chips)
Seat 6: MightyBug (1660 in chips)

FNJ - You now have a very healthy chip stack. You should tighten up for a while at this blind level, and let the shorties duke it out unless you've got premium starters. Let's see if you do just that.

FNJ - Hand 12 - Nope, you keep pushing it. Three to a wheel without a suited ace is limpable, but it's a very dangerous hand to get agressive with. I don't like your play here, and would call this a luckbox result.

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to NYCNative [Ah 5c 7s 4s]
MightyBug: calls 30
Wauzzz: folds
NYCNative: raises 105 to 135
Jsleezey: folds
RTBaLLa: calls 120
pokersnail: folds
MightyBug: calls 105

*** FLOP *** [3d 3s 3c]
Checks all around
*** TURN *** [3d 3s 3c] [6h]
checks all around
*** RIVER *** [3d 3s 3c 6h] [2c]
FNJ - And the luckbox successfully buys the pot with a pot-sized bet on the strength of the nut low. Nice result despite the poor pre-flop play.

FNJ - Hand 13 - I hate this call from early position. You are drawing to a weak low, and a weak high, and crossing your fingers for a miracle. Toss this hand. Of course, you flop a very sweet but unlikely flop, and river the miracle card to buy the pot.

Dealt to NYCNative [Jc 5c 6s 3s]
*** RIVER *** [9h 2h As 8c] [4c]

FNJ - Hand 14 - Nice fold.
Dealt to NYCNative [Kh 5s 6h 5d]

FNJ - Hand 15 - You raise the pot with one limper in and he folds. This was a great hand to do this with.
Dealt to NYCNative [8c 7h 2s As]

FNJ - Hand 16 - You toss this hand in response to an early raise. I trust you also would have tossed it with a suited king.
Dealt to NYCNative [5d Ks 7h Jd]

FNJ - Hand 17 - you raise to open, a much smaller stack goes in, and you call to win with two pair, no qualified low. I'm totally okay with your play here.
Dealt to NYCNative [5d As 2c Jd]

Check out the chip counts at this point. Steady as she goes.
Seat 1: Wauzzz (2665 in chips)
Seat 2: NYCNative (6475 in chips)
Seat 3: Jsleezey (1430 in chips)
Seat 5: pokersnail (1525 in chips)
Seat 6: MightyBug (1405 in chips)

FNJ - Hand 18 - I think you could wait for even better hands with blinds still at 25/50. The blinds are not really worth stealing yet, and your hand is average at best. As it is, you luckbox out when your opponents very nice low hand is double-counterfeited.
Dealt to NYCNative [8s Td Ac Qs]
*** RIVER *** [Js As 7d 7c] [2d]
pokersnail: shows [2c Ad 9c 3s] (HI: two pair, Aces and Sevens)
NYCNative: shows [8s Td Ac Qs] (HI: two pair, Aces and Sevens - Queen
kicker)
NYCNative collected 3100 from pot

Check out these chip counts now:
Seat 1: Wauzzz (2665 in chips)
Seat 2: NYCNative (8050 in chips)
Seat 3: Jsleezey (1430 in chips)
Seat 6: MightyBug (1355 in chips)

Don't get a speeding ticket!

FNJ - Hand 19 - A fine fold in the big blind to an early position raise.
Dealt to NYCNative [Kc 3h 6s 7h]

FNJ - Hand 20 - I really dislike your call in the SB to an early position raise. This is a trouble hand, and you luckbox this one in a big way.
Dealt to NYCNative [2h 5h 5d 6d]
MightyBug: raises 100 to 150
Wauzzz: folds
Wauzzz is sitting out
NYCNative: calls 125
Jsleezey: folds
*** RIVER *** [8d 7s 8s Td] [9c]
And you both check it down to the river, and you didn't bet the river as first to act with a straight, presumaby due to the boat? Unless he raised w/A2T8, I don't see much chance of a boat here.

FNJ - Hand 21 - Your first speeding ticket comes here. I really dislike your raise, even short-handed.
Dealt to NYCNative [Tc 9c As Qh]
Wauzzz: folds
NYCNative: raises 125 to 175
Jsleezey: folds
MightyBug: calls 125

FNJ - I'm also not crazy about betting the pot on a straight draw with no possible low here. It comes back to haunt you.
*** FLOP *** [8h 8d 7d]
MightyBug: checks
Wauzzz has returned
NYCNative: bets 375
MightyBug: calls 375

FNJ - Yes, your call was obligatory despite the obvious flush, and that's the problem with starting out with trouble hands.
*** TURN *** [8h 8d 7d] [Jd]
MightyBug: bets 730 and is all-in
NYCNative: calls 730
*** RIVER *** [8h 8d 7d Jd] [Kc]

MightyBug: shows [Ad 9d 3d Jh] (HI: a flush, Ace high)
NYCNative: shows [Tc 9c As Qh] (HI: a straight, Seven to Jack)
MightyBug collected 2585 from pot

I think that if you had been showing down better hands, mighty bug might have tossed A3 preflop, but you've shown such crappy hands so far, he figured correctly that Ace-three would probably do just fine.

To be continued. Here's our chip count.
Seat 1: Wauzzz (2640 in chips)
Seat 2: NYCNative (6920 in chips)
Seat 3: Jsleezey (1355 in chips)
Seat 6: MightyBug (2585 in chips)

Critiquing Somebody Else's (NYCNative) PLO8 Play - Part 1

2006-05-21T00:57:00.000-04:00

Here's my critique of a buddy's PLO8 tourney that he won.

FNJ - Hand 1 - A very playable starter, nut low draw with counterfeit countermeasure. Hero calls 3 BB in SB, four players see the flop
Dealt to NYCNative [2s 6d Kd Ad]
*** FLOP *** [2d 9d Tc]
FNJ - Not a perfect flop, but tenable.
NYCNative: checks
RTBaLLa: bets 120
pokersnail: folds
barkley05: folds
NYCNative: calls 120
FNJ - You've called w/3 to 1 odds for the scooop draw with 8 outs of 45. Not ridiculous, I guess
*** TURN *** [2d 9d Tc] [8c]
NYCNative: checks
RTBaLLa: bets 500
NYCNative: calls 500
FNJ - I think this call on the other hand, was questionable. Your low draw is weak here, and your opponent presumably has you beat right now.
*** RIVER *** [2d 9d Tc 8c] [4d]
NYCNative: bets 820 and is all-in
RTBaLLa: folds
RTBaLLa said, "had the nuts the whole way until that diamond..... gotta
fold"
NYCNative collected 1500 from pot
FNJ - One of 8 nice cards, and apparently, your opponent had a weak or non-existent low. Now you're the chip leader. Yay.

FNJ Hand 2 - a reasonable fold. However, as chip leader you could also have called cheaply, and if an Ace hit, attempted to buy the pot betting into the unlikely nut low. Of course, there were five folds in front of you, so the pot was negligible.
Dealt to NYCNative [3c 7s Qh 2h]

FNJ Hand 3 - A reasonable limp, you flop top pair and check it down to lose to two pair. sensible.
Dealt to NYCNative [As 8s 9c 5d]

FNJ Hand 4 - Same concept as hand 2. You miss the flop, check it down, and toss it on the river with no part of the trips on the board. Sensible.
Dealt to NYCNative [7h 3d 8s 2d]

FNJ - Hand 5 - I don't like this starter that you limped with from fourth position. You are at a high risk for a second best flush, and a weak low, either of which can only cost you chips. I prefer tossing.
Dealt to NYCNative [Jd Kd 7d As]

FNJ - This is where this hand gets into trouble. Attempt to buy this pot four-way with a weak low and an inside straight draw was insane. Good fold on the reraise.

*** FLOP *** [4h 3h 6s]
MightyBug: checks
upcountryboy: checks
NYCNative: bets 60
RTBaLLa: calls 60
MightyBug: raises 80 to 140
upcountryboy: folds
NYCNative: folds
RTBaLLa: calls 80

FNJ - Hand 6 - Reasonable fold as third to act at a full table. Playable short-handed.
Dealt to NYCNative [8s 3h 5s Td]

FNJ - Hand 7 - I'm not crazy about this limp. If you flop trip sevens, you're still probably behind by the river if not sooner. Your flush draw and low draws are also likely money losers.
Dealt to NYCNative [2d 7d 5s 7c]
NYCNative: calls 20
** FLOP *** [Js 8c 2s]
And you fold to a pot-sized bet. Good fold.

FNJ - Hand 8, you are still chip leader. This is a reasonable limp, but there are arguments for folding it as well, as your low is very weak with no third low draw, and you are blocking your own flush draw. You check it down with five in the pot, which is logical since you didn't hit.
Dealt to NYCNative [Qs 9h 6d Ah]

FNJ - Hand 9 - Good Fold
Dealt to NYCNative [2c Kc 5h 9c]

FNJ - Hand 10 - a reasonable SB limp @15/30 blinds, hoping for a miracle flop with two limpers already in the pot. You flop the miracle and take the pot with no resistance.
Dealt to NYCNative [Kc Qs 4d 3s]
*** FLOP *** [3c 3d Kh]

I'll continue with hand 11, your first luckbox hand, in another posting. Going to bed now.

Was this slowplay justifiable?

2006-05-20T16:31:00.000-04:00

On-line and live, I see AA slow-played poorly, in a fashion that comes back to haunt the slow-player, and I have no sympathy for cracked slow-played aces. Having said that, check out the circumstance in this single table tourney.

*********** # 31 **************
PokerStars Game #4997209828: Tournament #25074570, $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) -
2006/05/20 - 15:57:01 (ET)
Table '25074570 1' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 4: LittleBeauty (2815 in chips)
Seat 5: FrankNagaiJr (1965 in chips)
Seat 6: Hank01 (1850 in chips)
Seat 8: ll sLiNk ll (3950 in chips)
Seat 9: Snafu58 (2920 in chips)
LittleBeauty: posts small blind 25
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ah Ac]

FNJ - You can see there are five of us left, and I am now the short stack, but I do have room to breathe for at least two more levels. I have just been given an early x-mas present of AA in the BB. How can I extract the max dollars?

Hank01: folds
ll sLiNk ll: raises 100 to 150

FNJ - This is good news, because this player has made more than a statistically reasonable share of 3BB raises, so he could have damn near anything, but I will give him credit for having something playable.

Snafu58: folds
LittleBeauty: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 100

FNJ - No sense tipping off my hand yet. If I reraise, he might actually think I've got something and go away, since I've been very passive about my blinds so far, but he might interpret this as my way of standing up to the thief.

*** FLOP *** [Td 7s 8c]

FNJ - This flop could be called mildly dangerous. If he raised w/J9, TT, 77, 88 I am toast, but let's give him a little more rope if he's simply trying to buy it.

FrankNagaiJr: checks
ll sLiNk ll: bets 150
FrankNagaiJr: calls 150
*** TURN *** [Td 7s 8c] [5c]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
ll sLiNk ll: bets 400

FNJ - The turn was innocuous, I cannot believe he improved on it, unless he had 55 and hit his miracle. However, I'd like to figure out where he's at, and possibly get all of my chips in the middle if I'm still ahead.

FrankNagaiJr: raises 500 to 900
ll sLiNk ll: calls 500

FNJ - If he had been slow-playing ME, then I would have expected an all-in raise here, and I could have walked away with 900 in chips if I chose to fold. I liked his call, which says he's either very patient, or can't tell what I've got.

*** RIVER *** [Td 7s 8c 5c] [4c]

FNJ - Another innocuous card. There are now 2125 chips in the pot, so if he's got a pair, it's an almost obligatory call. If I'm beat, I got what I deserved.

FrankNagaiJr: bets 765 and is all-in
ll sLiNk ll: calls 765
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ah Ac] (a pair of Aces)
ll sLiNk ll: shows [Ts Jd] (a pair of Tens)
FrankNagaiJr collected 3955 from pot
ll sLiNk ll said, "very nice play sir"
FrankNagaiJr said, "ty"
FrankNagaiJr said, "I was hoping you wouldn't two pair on me :-)"
ll sLiNk ll said, "i figured you were slowokayin me"
FrankNagaiJr said, "guilty as charged"

Roundup

2006-05-20T10:53:00.000-04:00

I was in Nashville for 3 days. Pretty place, nice strolls around town, no poker except in the hotel. I'm doing okay at the 11$ STTs, but no spectacular. I'm starting to see more clearly where is the fine line between tilty/tired play, and reasonable play for an STT.

I went to the Armory last night and bled for two hours at 3/6 limit. I occasionally caught small pokets and small suited connectors, but missed every damn flop all night long. The single hand I collected on was pocket 9s, where I raised preflop, chasing away nobody, then the board helped nobody, so my 9s held.

Playing the LO8 tourney tonight. I hope I haven't put too much pressure on my own self, since I've got a swelled head when it comes to O8. I'm in Vegas Monday night.

A stupid way to play KK

2006-05-16T13:42:00.000-04:00

I'm on the button with 1490 in chips, second hand of a 9 player on-line SNG w/KK, there are two limpers.

I raise to 6BB, and the first limper calls, all others fold, there is about 250 in the pot.

Flop 236 rainbow, and I bet the pot, and get a call.

Turn is a 5, and I go all-in. He insta-calls and turns over A5s for the unlikely, against pot-odds inside-straight draw that fills.

In retrospect, once he called my pot-sized flop bet, I could have reasonably limited his range of hands as follows:

1) High pocket pair (AA, QQ, JJ)
2) Trips
3) Unlikely straight draw
4) A total donk bluff

In most of the reasonable instances, I'm behind. I should have slowed down a lot after that initial call. It's tough to lay down KK, but there are times....

Key Hands 180 Player $4 - second place

2006-05-15T10:50:00.000-04:00

Hand 1 - A Donk Play pays off

*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #4937729405: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20)
- 2006/05/14 - 22:07:40 (ET)
Table '24760448 17' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (1500 in chips)
Dylanmann: posts small blind 10
Grip'nRip: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Th Kc]
FrankNagaiJr: calls 20
randomfrost: raises 60 to 80
Dylanmann: calls 70
Grip'nRip: calls 60
FrankNagaiJr: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [8d Ks As]
Dylanmann: checks
Grip'nRip: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 150
randomfrost: folds
fishm0nger [observer] said, "rank random"
Dylanmann: folds
Grip'nRip: folds
FrankNagaiJr collected 320 from pot
FrankNagaiJr: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***

Hand 2 - A real hand, but no more profit than the donk hand

*********** # 2 **************
PokerStars Game #4937755022: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20)
- 2006/05/14 - 22:09:41 (ET)
Table '24760448 17' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (1740 in chips)
Grip'nRip: posts small blind 10
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ac Ah]
aznthavi: raises 80 to 100
FrankNagaiJr: calls 80
*** FLOP *** [2c 2s Kc]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
aznthavi: bets 60
FrankNagaiJr: raises 200 to 260
aznthavi: folds
FrankNagaiJr collected 330 from pot
FrankNagaiJr: doesn't show hand

My chipstack is now a healthy 1910. I can breathe for a few hands.

Hand 7 - Fishing and a nice little suckout. Note the misplay of the person who flopped trips and tried to slowplay it multi-way.

*********** # 7 **************
PokerStars Game #4937812178: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20)
- 2006/05/14 - 22:14:13 (ET)
Table '24760448 17' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (1900 in chips)
jvc1: posts small blind 10
yesiam4: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [4s 4c]
Dylanmann: calls 20
FrankNagaiJr: calls 20
aznthavi: calls 20
jvc1: calls 10
yesiam4: checks
*** FLOP *** [Th Tc Qc]
jvc1: checks
yesiam4: checks
Dylanmann: checks
FrankNagaiJr: checks
aznthavi: checks
*** TURN *** [Th Tc Qc] [4d]
jvc1: checks
yesiam4: checks
Dylanmann: bets 100
FrankNagaiJr: calls 100
aznthavi: folds
jvc1: folds
yesiam4: folds
*** RIVER *** [Th Tc Qc 4d] [Kh]
Dylanmann: bets 320
FrankNagaiJr: calls 320
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dylanmann: shows [9h Td] (three of a kind, Tens)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [4s 4c] (a full house, Fours full of Tens)
FrankNagaiJr collected 940 from pot

My chip stack is now a very healthy 2400

Hand 10 - I raise 5BB W/AQo in early position, two callers, null flop. I give it up. Chipstack = 2300

Hand 18 - KK, and pokerstars freezes up and auto-folds me. My internet connection was fine.

Hand 19 - TT and I reraise a guy with half my chip count. He calls, turns over 77 and fails to suck out. My chip count is 3085

Hand 25 - I toss 75o early position and the flop is 775. Bummer.

Hand 26 - Here is a typical example of the level of play in the early stages of a 180 tourney. I was very lucky that the third guy came along for the ride with a crappy hand.

*********** # 26 **************
PokerStars Game #4938166033: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level III
(25/50) - 2006/05/14 - 22:40:54 (ET)
Table '24760448 2' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: ovationdude (810 in chips)
Seat 2: CAPTIN SEXXY (4595 in chips)
Seat 3: mattyman2 (2640 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (3085 in chips)
Seat 5: BroadwayJoe1 (3195 in chips)
Seat 6: redwbase (5022 in chips)
Seat 7: CONRAD118 (1755 in chips)
Seat 8: onevbdeal (955 in chips)
Seat 9: poortom1313 (525 in chips)
mattyman2: posts small blind 25
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jh Js]
CONRAD118: calls 50
poortom1313: raises 475 to 525 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: raises 2560 to 3085 and is all-in
CONRAD118: calls 1705 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [7c Kc 3c]
*** TURN *** [7c Kc 3c] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [7c Kc 3c Td] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Jh Js] (a pair of Jacks)
CONRAD118: shows [8h As] (a pair of Eights)
FrankNagaiJr collected 2460 from side pot
poortom1313: shows [Ac 8d] (a flush, Ace high)
poortom1313 collected 1600 from main pot

Hand 37 - Another example of the calling stations you can find in the early stages. I assumed I was beat once my continuation bet was called.

*********** # 37 **************
PokerStars Game #4938396991: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV
(50/100) - 2006/05/14 - 22:58:21 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: cgcaja (2510 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (3465 in chips)
Hipnotyk: posts small blind 50
Kabe_68: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ah Kd]
01Dave01: calls 100
FrankNagaiJr: raises 400 to 500
cgcaja: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [9c Jc Th]
birdmanNY has returned
cgcaja: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 500
cgcaja: calls 500
*** TURN *** [9c Jc Th] [4d]
cgcaja: checks
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** RIVER *** [9c Jc Th 4d] [3s]
cgcaja: checks
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
cgcaja: shows [Kh 6h] (high card King)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ah Kd] (high card Ace)
FrankNagaiJr collected 2250 from pot

Chip count is now 4715, still very healthy.

Hand 62 - I've been tight for a while, and my raise gets a little respect.

*********** # 62 **************
PokerStars Game #4938854583: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI
(100/200) - 2006/05/14 - 23:33:55 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: AceKQJT (2150 in chips)
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (7720 in chips)
Seat 3: 01Dave01 (4375 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (4015 in chips)
Seat 5: Bradz24 (25637 in chips)
Seat 6: NoPlayNoPay (7004 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (8255 in chips)
Seat 8: evilmaker (1415 in chips)
Seat 9: SandbergFan (3285 in chips)
evilmaker: posts small blind 100
SandbergFan: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ah Kh]
01Dave01: calls 200
FrankNagaiJr: raises 600 to 800
GoldenRic: calls 800
01Dave01: calls 600
*** FLOP *** [Ks 8h Qh]
01Dave01: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 1000
GoldenRic: folds
01Dave01: folds
FrankNagaiJr collected 2700 from pot
FrankNagaiJr: doesn't show hand

My chip count is now 5915, which is nowhere near the table big stack of 25K by a luck box to my left who likes to limp any two cards.

Hand 68 - I'm dealth KQo on the button and fold to a 3BB raise. The raiser was GoldenRic, who I picked as a decent player whose raises should be respect. He went on to take third in the tourney. The flop was K38, but if he had big slick, I was in a world of trouble.

Hand 79 - A coin flip against a smaller stack goes well.

*********** # 79 **************
PokerStars Game #4939039008: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII
(100/200) - 2006/05/14 - 23:49:24 (ET)
Table '24760448 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RaSeC (2853 in chips)
Seat 2: thx4theloot (28033 in chips)
Seat 5: Laeelin (7855 in chips)
Seat 6: coyotte (1830 in chips)
Seat 7: FrankNagaiJr (4798 in chips)
Seat 8: jdespertt (9420 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: dcviperboy (6083 in chips)
thx4theloot: posts small blind 100
Laeelin: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kc Ac]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 600 to 800
coyotte: calls 600
*** FLOP *** [Ks 5c 3c]
coyotte: bets 1005 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 1005
*** TURN *** [Ks 5c 3c] [Kh]
FrankNagaiJr said, "gg"
*** RIVER *** [Ks 5c 3c Kh] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
coyotte: shows [9s 9h] (two pair, Kings and Nines)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Kc Ac] (a flush, Ace high)
FrankNagaiJr collected 4085 from pot

My chip stack is now 7053, which is mediocre for the table I'm at. Luckbox is still at 21K

Hand 80 - I raise 4BB w/QQ and get two callers. The flop is J52 with two hearts, and my half-pot continuation bet gets no callers. Chip stack is 8953.

Hand 83 - Note the questionable call I make here. This player had been playing any two cards, and making lots of scary looking bets. I figured this was a good opportunity to double up or go to bed.

*********** # 83 **************
PokerStars Game #4939090093: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VII
(100/200) - 2006/05/14 - 23:53:49 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (10040 in chips)
Seat 3: jdespertt (8420 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (10478 in chips)
Seat 5: Bradz24 (19877 in chips)
Seat 6: NoPlayNoPay (7304 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (9805 in chips)
Seat 8: evilmaker (2320 in chips)
Bradz24: posts small blind 100
NoPlayNoPay: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ts Tc]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 600 to 800
Bradz24: calls 700
NoPlayNoPay: folds
*** FLOP *** [5h Kd Kh]
Bradz24: bets 19052 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 9653 and is all-in
Bradz24 said, "nh"
*** TURN *** [5h Kd Kh] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [5h Kd Kh 8s] [Jc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Bradz24: shows [8c 5c] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Ts Tc] (two pair, Kings and Tens)
FrankNagaiJr said, "ty"
FrankNagaiJr collected 21281 from pot

My chipstack is now 21281, I have effectively traded stacks with the luckbox.

Hand 92 - I luckbox a little, and publicly advertise that I will raise with mediocre holdings.

*********** # 92 **************
PokerStars Game #4939184044: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII
(200/400) - 2006/05/15 - 00:02:10 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: JDub8601 (7361 in chips)
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (16580 in chips)
Seat 3: jdespertt (7550 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (20281 in chips)
Seat 5: Bradz24 (10124 in chips)
Seat 6: NoPlayNoPay (5879 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (7555 in chips)
Seat 8: bpsnok (17114 in chips)
Seat 9: Image3D (10124 in chips)
bpsnok: posts small blind 200
Image3D: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jd Qs]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 400 to 800
NoPlayNoPay: calls 800
*** FLOP *** [7d Kc 3c]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
NoPlayNoPay: checks
*** TURN *** [7d Kc 3c] [2s]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 400
NoPlayNoPay: calls 400
*** RIVER *** [7d Kc 3c 2s] [Qd]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 400
NoPlayNoPay: calls 400
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Jd Qs] (a pair of Queens)
NoPlayNoPay: mucks hand
FrankNagaiJr collected 4025 from pot

Hand 111 - I may have been bluffed out here. If so, this was a nice bluff.
*********** # 111 **************
PokerStars Game #4939411102: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX
(300/600) - 2006/05/15 - 00:23:07 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (21663 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (20906 in chips)
Seat 5: Bradz24 (8795 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (6555 in chips)
Seat 8: bpsnok (12014 in chips)
Seat 9: Image3D (21299 in chips)
xTerminator2: posts small blind 300
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kh Ad]
xTerminator2: calls 300
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1200 to 1800
xTerminator2: calls 1200
*** FLOP *** [9s 6c 8h]
xTerminator2: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 3000
xTerminator2: calls 3000
*** TURN *** [9s 6c 8h] [7h]
xTerminator2: bets 1200
FrankNagaiJr: folds
xTerminator2 collected 9900 from pot
xTerminator2: doesn't show hand

Hand 125 - Maybe my raise with QJ earlier, and my laydown in hand 111 paid off?
*********** # 125 **************
PokerStars Game #4939531690: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level X
(400/800) - 2006/05/15 - 00:34:56 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Toni_K (18930 in chips)
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (25763 in chips)
Seat 3: dcviperboy (14832 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (13606 in chips)
Seat 6: jvc1 (20309 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (10355 in chips)
Seat 8: bpsnok (9514 in chips)
Seat 9: Image3D (18499 in chips)
dcviperboy: posts small blind 400
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Qh Qs]
xTerminator2: calls 800
dcviperboy: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 1600 to 2400
xTerminator2: calls 1600
*** FLOP *** [7c 9h 4s]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 3200
xTerminator2: raises 3200 to 6400
FrankNagaiJr: raises 4756 to 11156 and is all-in
xTerminator2: calls 4756
*** TURN *** [7c 9h 4s] [8h]
*** RIVER *** [7c 9h 4s 8h] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Qh Qs] (a pair of Queens)
xTerminator2: shows [9s Ts] (a pair of Nines)
FrankNagaiJr collected 27912 from pot

Hand 127 - I steal from the button w/KQo and a 3BB raise.

Hand 135 - I steal from the cutff w/ATo and a 3BB raise.

Hand 139 - I toss 33 in the BB from an early 3BB raise by GoldenRic. I've got a decent stack, but he's got enough to take a chunk of it if I get involved and lose.

Hand 148 - I steal from button w/K8o. 2BB. (blinds are now 600/1200)

Hand 152 - I toss KQo utg.

Hand 159 - I really don't see how this player didn't fold on the turn, but so be it. Pot odds?

*********** # 159 **************
PokerStars Game #4939776375: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XI
(600/1200) - 2006/05/15 - 01:00:41 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Toni_K (49655 in chips)
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (15832 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (29437 in chips)
Seat 6: jvc1 (14854 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (16460 in chips)
Seat 9: Image3D (12595 in chips)
xTerminator2: posts small blind 600
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [9h Th]
Image3D: calls 1200
xTerminator2: calls 600
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** FLOP *** [9d Js Kd]
xTerminator2: bets 1200
FrankNagaiJr: calls 1200
Image3D: calls 1200
*** TURN *** [9d Js Kd] [5c]
xTerminator2: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 2400
Image3D: calls 2400
xTerminator2: folds
*** RIVER *** [9d Js Kd 5c] [Ac]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
Image3D: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [9h Th] (a pair of Nines)
Image3D: shows [Tc Ts] (a pair of Tens)
Image3D collected 12450 from pot

I have just advertised my willingness to be agressive with third pair. Will it pay?

Hand 164 - I utg raise w/JTs and get no callers.

Hand 172 - I toss 33 to the table captains early position 4BB raise. He had made a large number of uncontested 4BB raises, so this might have been a good place to make a stand, but I don't like 33 so much.

Hand 175 - Sometimes a reraise answers your questions. There is no way I could have been ahead on the turn, unless this guy was brain dead or was looking into my soul.

*********** # 175 **************
PokerStars Game #4939864580: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XII
(800/1600) - 2006/05/15 - 01:10:39 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Toni_K (54105 in chips)
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (12932 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (23062 in chips)
Seat 6: jvc1 (8629 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (40105 in chips)
xTerminator2: posts small blind 800
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 1600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [5s 7h]
jvc1: folds
GoldenRic: folds
Toni_K: folds
xTerminator2: calls 800
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** FLOP *** [3h 7d 9d]
xTerminator2: bets 1600
FrankNagaiJr: raises 3200 to 4800
xTerminator2: calls 3200
*** TURN *** [3h 7d 9d] [3d]
xTerminator2: bets 3200
FrankNagaiJr: folds
xTerminator2 collected 13175 from pot
xTerminator2: doesn't show hand

Hand 176 - I finally stand up to the table captain. Believe it or not, he turns into the little professor after this hand, and lectures me for several hands about how bad my play was. I felt that after losing the prior hand, I needed to double up soon or be in trouble, and I knew that I couldn't be any worse than a coin flip with this all-in.

*********** # 176 **************
PokerStars Game #4939873904: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XII
(800/1600) - 2006/05/15 - 01:11:41 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Toni_K (54030 in chips)
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (19632 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (16587 in chips)
Seat 6: jvc1 (8554 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (40030 in chips)
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind 800
jvc1: posts big blind 1600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [8s Kh]
Toni_K: raises 3200 to 4800
FrankNagaiJr: raises 11712 to 16512 and is all-in
Toni_K: calls 11712
*** FLOP *** [6h Ks 3h]
*** TURN *** [6h Ks 3h] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [6h Ks 3h 2d] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [8s Kh] (two pair, Kings and Sixes)
Toni_K: shows [5h 7c] (a pair of Sixes)
FrankNagaiJr collected 34999 from pot

Toni_K said, "I'll remeber that"
FrankNagaiJr said, "yes, and continue to raise w/57o? cool"
Toni_K said, "I only called because I knew you moved in with garbage"
FrankNagaiJr said, "you were correct, but my garbage was superior"

Hand 179 - I raise 3BB w/77 utg and no callers.

Toni_K said, "pretty stupid if you ask me"
FrankNagaiJr said, "thanks for the lesson"

Hand 181 - I call a 1BB raise in BB w/86o and two players. Flop is AAK and I'm gone.

Hand 183 - The little professor pushes with AJo on a 567 flop and loses to AK. He's still got plenty of chips.

Hand 194 - I've been patient. I raise 3BB w/QQ utg and get no callers. My chip stack is 36K and blinds are 1k/2K

Hand 200 - Emboldened I raise 3BB utg w/KTo, and get no callers. This compensates the QQ I guess.

Hand 201 - Cheeky BB play betting into the flush draw leads to a luckbox river. I think this player should have raised w/AQ in the SB rather than assuming he would catch and trap me.

*********** # 201 **************
PokerStars Game #4940065908: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII
(1000/2000) - 2006/05/15 - 01:33:52 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Toni_K (27461 in chips)
Seat 2: xTerminator2 (24039 in chips)
Seat 3: FL-Hunter (62782 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (40224 in chips)
Seat 5: Bears loot (47104 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (68390 in chips)
Toni_K: posts the ante 100
FL-Hunter: posts small blind 1000
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [7s Js]
xTerminator2: calls 2000
FrankNagaiJr: checks
*** FLOP *** [4s 8s 4h]
FrankNagaiJr: checks
xTerminator2: checks
*** TURN *** [4s 8s 4h] [8c]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 2000
xTerminator2: calls 2000
*** RIVER *** [4s 8s 4h 8c] [Jc]
FrankNagaiJr: bets 2000
xTerminator2: calls 2000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [7s Js] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
xTerminator2: shows [Qh Ad] (two pair, Eights and Fours)
FrankNagaiJr said, "nh"
FrankNagaiJr collected 13600 from pot

Hand 209 - This looked like a steal to me, so I figured I'd take the coin flip. I'm happy I did.

*********** # 209 **************
PokerStars Game #4940105651: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIII
(1000/2000) - 2006/05/15 - 01:38:57 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 3: FL-Hunter (152764 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (43024 in chips)
Seat 5: Bears loot (20483 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (53729 in chips)
FL-Hunter: posts small blind 1000
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Qh Ks]
FL-Hunter: raises 4000 to 6000
FrankNagaiJr: calls 4000
*** FLOP *** [8d Js Qs]
FL-Hunter: bets 146664 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 36924 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr said, "phew"
*** TURN *** [8d Js Qs] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [8d Js Qs 8s] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FL-Hunter: shows [Qc 5s] (two pair, Queens and Eights)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Qh Ks] (two pair, Queens and Eights - King kicker)
FrankNagaiJr said, "no suck out, better still"
FrankNagaiJr collected 86248 from pot

Hand 210 - SB Steal w/A9s.

Hand 212 utg steal w/A5o

Hand 214 - I'm a healthy stack, so I take my chances on what looks like a coin flip to me.

*********** # 214 **************
PokerStars Game #4940121711: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIV
(1500/3000) - 2006/05/15 - 01:41:03 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: FL-Hunter (109840 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (90248 in chips)
Seat 5: Bears loot (36466 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (33446 in chips)
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind 1500
Bears loot: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kd Jc]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 6000 to 9000
Bears loot: raises 27316 to 36316 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 27316
FrankNagaiJr said, "nh"
*** FLOP *** [3d Js 8s]
*** TURN *** [3d Js 8s] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [3d Js 8s Ts] [Kc]
FrankNagaiJr said, "gg"
GoldenRic said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Kd Jc] (two pair, Kings and Jacks)
Bears loot: shows [7d 7h] (a pair of Sevens)
FrankNagaiJr collected 73232 from pot

Hand 217 - I steal raise 3BB w/KQs and flop two pair. I check the flop and micro-bet the turn, he folds.

Hand 221 - UTG Steal w/ TJs 3BB.

Hand 225 - Again, reraising is a good friend.
*********** # 225 **************
PokerStars Game #4940154333: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIV
(1500/3000) - 2006/05/15 - 01:45:25 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 3: FL-Hunter (89590 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (132864 in chips)
Seat 7: GoldenRic (47546 in chips)
FL-Hunter: posts the ante 150
FrankNagaiJr: posts the ante 150
GoldenRic: posts the ante 150
FL-Hunter: posts small blind 1500
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jh Qc]
GoldenRic: folds
FL-Hunter: raises 6000 to 9000
FrankNagaiJr: calls 6000
*** FLOP *** [Th 4h Jc]
FL-Hunter: bets 6000
FrankNagaiJr: raises 12000 to 18000
FL-Hunter: folds
FrankNagaiJr collected 30450 from pot
FrankNagaiJr: doesn't show hand

Hand 226 - Third place is awarded, and we're down to heads up.

Hand 229 - This river broke my heart, but the play clearly indicated that he had a Jack.

*********** # 229 **************
PokerStars Game #4940168095: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIV
(1500/3000) - 2006/05/15 - 01:47:18 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 3: FL-Hunter (123486 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (146514 in chips)
FL-Hunter: posts the ante 150
FrankNagaiJr: posts the ante 150
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind 1500
FL-Hunter: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [6h 6c]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 6000 to 9000
FL-Hunter: calls 6000
*** FLOP *** [Jh 6s Js]
FL-Hunter: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 6000
FL-Hunter: raises 6000 to 12000
FrankNagaiJr: calls 6000
*** TURN *** [Jh 6s Js] [7c]
FL-Hunter: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 12000
FL-Hunter: calls 12000
*** RIVER *** [Jh 6s Js 7c] [7d]
FL-Hunter: bets 90336 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr said, "Jx huh?"
FrankNagaiJr said, "you were behind"
FrankNagaiJr: folds
FL-Hunter collected 66300 from pot

Hand 230, 231 I change gears and see some cheap flops and buy the pots on the flop.

Hand 235 - Sure, I'll respect a nice reraise when I've got nothing but overs.

*********** # 235 **************
PokerStars Game #4940187782: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIV
(1500/3000) - 2006/05/15 - 01:50:02 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 3: FL-Hunter (159786 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (110214 in chips)
FL-Hunter: posts the ante 150
FrankNagaiJr: posts the ante 150
FrankNagaiJr: posts small blind 1500
FL-Hunter: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Qh Js]
FrankNagaiJr: raises 6000 to 9000
FL-Hunter: calls 6000
*** FLOP *** [9d 7h 2s]
FL-Hunter: checks
FrankNagaiJr: bets 9000
FL-Hunter: raises 42000 to 51000
FrankNagaiJr: folds
FL-Hunter collected 36300 from pot

Hand 237 - I raise 3BB w/T8s and get a caller. Oops! Flop 866 and I still manage to buy the pot.

Hand 240 - Note that we were both at 20M, so this didn't need to be a push fest. However, I was more than happy that he pushed when I held KK. Bummer result.

*********** # 240 **************
PokerStars Game #4940198894: Tournament #24760448, $4.00+$0.40 Hold'em No Limit - Level XIV
(1500/3000) - 2006/05/15 - 01:51:36 (ET)
Table '24760448 15' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: FL-Hunter (168636 in chips)
Seat 4: FrankNagaiJr (101364 in chips)
FL-Hunter: posts the ante 150
FrankNagaiJr: posts the ante 150
FL-Hunter: posts small blind 1500
FrankNagaiJr: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Kh Ks]
FL-Hunter: calls 1500
FrankNagaiJr: raises 9000 to 12000
FL-Hunter: raises 156486 to 168486 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr: calls 89214 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [2s 2c Ah]
FrankNagaiJr said, "nh"
*** TURN *** [2s 2c Ah] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [2s 2c Ah 6s] [5d]
FrankNagaiJr said, "gg"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Kh Ks] (two pair, Kings and Deuces)
FL-Hunter: shows [Ad Js] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
FL-Hunter collected 202728 from pot
FL-Hunter [observer] said, "gg"

I'll take a moral victory for having the better hand pre-flop.

I didn't need to suck out much at all to make it to second in this tourney. A couple of coin flips, sure, but I was never all-in and worse than 45% to win.

Hypocrite

2006-05-15T01:55:00.000-04:00

As soon as I said 'no more 180s', I go and play a couple of the 4$ jobs. The first one I'm knocked out in 30 minutes, with top pair versus second pair on the flop, and opponent catches two pair on river to knock me out.

Then I start another at 10:30 pm, and I just lost the heads-up moments ago. The stack rations were

Villain: 160K
Hero: 100K

And the total blinds and antes were at 5K, so I had about 20M to play with. I find KK in the BB and when villain limps, I raise 3K(BB) to 12K, and villain pushes. I have no choice but to call, and he turns over AJo. Flop is A22.

But I played a pretty good game over-all, and didn't require many suckouts to make it that far. The trick was to get a healthy stack in the first couple rounds, and then be patient.

I now have over 200 in my account, so I will graduate to the 10$ STTs, and stay there till I'm back below 150, or till I'm past 400.

$0.75 richer

2006-05-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

Last night after the kids went to bet I played a $1.10 LO8 tourney on tards. I placed 38th out of 531 and got $1.85 for my efforts. Whoo hoo!

I have been doing very well at the $5.50 single table tourneys lately, so I think I will concentrate my efforts there. It seems like I should actually try to make some money out of the deal rather than winning some, wasting it on the 180s, and repeating the process.

Here's my new game plan.

Current Balance: $115.

1) Stick with the $5.50 tables till I get to $200.
2) When I pass 200, play the $11 tables till I'm either back down to 150, or up to 400.
3) Evey time I get past 500, do a little cashout rather than squander it.
4) Accumulate frequent player points, and use those to chase the pipe dream of playing in a major event.

Seems like a reasonable plan, if I stick to it.

Countdown to Vegas

2006-05-09T13:35:00.000-04:00

I'll be in Vegas in 15 days for a conference. I've allotted some playing time. My California trip this week got scratched, so I'm at home.

One of my brothers had a heart-attack this weekend, and he's a lifelong smoker in his mid- forties. He's okay, but the short term memory will be a while to recover. He's been advised to give up smoking.

Greektown whining

2006-05-08T01:55:00.000-04:00

1) It was smokey. Technically there was no smoking at the table, but since people could smoke two feet away. Wah Wah Wah.

2) I limp 68s and call a raise in 3/6 limit and flop the perfect 579 rainbow. I raise on the flop and it's down to two handed. Turn 8 and I raise and get reraised, and I call. River T, and I call the bet, he turns over JJ to river the higher straight. Wah Wah Wah.

3) I raise w/QQ and push nobody out, at least 5 others in the pot. Innocuous flop below Q, I bet and get a bunch of callers. Turn comes A, and we all check it round (I assume somebody's got an ace, so I don't bet it.) Flop is innocuous 7, and the guy to my right bets, I make the crying call, expecting a weak aced. Worse still, he flips over 57o for two pair, which says to me that I could have bet the turn and possibly pushed him out to win. Wah Wah Wah.

Other than those two bad beats, I played pretty well. As with all low-stakes limit, you mostly need cards to win big pots, and I wasn't hitting many flops. I walked away with 8BB in four hours.

N'erk Tourney May 5

2006-05-06T01:55:00.000-04:00

Played the 50$ Nerk tonight, and made the final table, but no cash. Notable stuff:

1) Made a really bad BB call with 34s against a player I didn't take seriously. Blinds are 5/10, he raises to 20, and I call for 10 more (my stack is just under 100). I flop a pair and bet it, he calls, we both check the turn, and I hit two pair on the river and bet most of my remaining stack. He calls with the trips he flopped, and I'm very short stacked.

2) In another all-in battle in which my AQs narrowly beats KJo (xxxKA), I realize after the next hand has started that my stack is 10 light from what it should be. I state this to the table, and am told I'm too late. I'll have to watch this crowd like a hawk when my chips are in play, especially all-in situations.

3) Final hand for me I'm in BB w/210 chips including the blind, blinds are 15/30 and 3 players limp, I've got T8o. Flop is 892 rainbow, and we check it round, turn T and I've got two pair. I bet 60, get reraised to 120, and I push. He calls and turns over AT. Of course he hits his three-outer to knock me out.

Other than the hand mentioned above, which almost killed me (I quadrupled up in the SB one hand later to survive), I think I played very well. I didn't get cute with players who don't bluff, and I bet when I was ahead, got out when I wasn't getting the odds I needed to make a call. As a group, it's pretty passive play, with a handful of agressors.

on-line SNG streak continues

2006-05-05T10:21:00.000-04:00

I took first in one PLO8 and one NL $5.50 as my last two tourneys, and in the past week, I've made the money more than 60% of my sngs.

The PLO8 was a partial fluke, starting with making a really bad all-in call with a pair of aces against a stone cold bluff on a scary board, and after that I was getting crazy good cards. Lots of decent starters, and lots of boards that matched my starters.

The NL sng streak I must credit to my ability to lay down more frequently, and to paying careful attention to who I'm up against. Frequently, I figure out who the rocks are, bluff them to keep the blinds at bay, and only go against them with a hand. (In the SNGs where I haven't placed, I've been up against luck-boxes. You've seen these players too often: they call against pot odds, go all-in against pot odds, and find their four-outer, their 7 outer, their two-outer, and occasionally they're actually ahead.)

The most recent NL sng, we were down to four-way with two rocks, myself, and a reasonably tricky/smart player, and it was clear that if tricky/smart got caught up with the rocks (or I out-tricked him....) then I could steal the rocks' blinds in perpetuity. There was a cute hand where T/S and I both turned over T9os with the made straight on the river. We were both all-in figuring we'd outsmarted top pair....

PS: $ watch - still only at $115, but I'm amused at least.

No news

2006-05-04T10:40:00.000-04:00

I was in Cleveland for a few days this week. They don't have a casino, but I spent a lot of time on pokertards in the hotel room. Not much good news. After having made some money over the weekend, I spent most of it on the 180 player sngs. The best I did was #80 when my unsuited KQ failed to best JJ in an SB v BB blind steal situation. I had enough chips that I could have backed down when he pushed, but I felt that I was most likely facing a coin flip, which was true, and that it was a decent chance to double up my below-average stack.

Looks like I'll be in Los Angeles next week. Time permitting, I might check out the Bicycle.

Grab bag

2006-04-30T16:51:00.000-04:00

Was in DC and then drove to NYC last week. A little bit of on-line poker only. Wiped out from the driving. (500 miles over 3 days). Then came home Friday and had a bad reaction to an allergy shot and checked myself into the ER for nasty chest pains and shortness of breath. All is okay now.

In the past 30 hours I've found time for 5 $5.50 sng's on pokertards, and took four consecutive seconds and finally a first. I feel like I'm getting much better about choosing when to be agressive and when to back down. I'm back up to $150 on tards after having been down to $90. Maybe I should stick with sngs for a while to build the account up before farting around with PLO8 and bigger tourneys.

More PLO8 Odds - High Wrap Draws

2006-04-23T09:33:00.000-04:00

High Two-Suited Wrap hands versus one or more low hands

Two suited high wrap only a slight dog against a wheel wrap with one flush draw.
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ad Jd Kh Qh 168102 311381 188619 0 0 0 0 0.479
4s 2s Ac 3d 188619 188619 311381 0 292338 0 0 0.521

Same hands plus a donk hand with an Ace, a wheel card and a middle pair. The donk hand is actually .223 EV
Ad Jd Kh Qh 104248 212857 287143 0 0 0 0 0.317
4s 2s Ac 3d 135072 137323 361649 1028 292928 6101 2023 0.460
9c 5c 9d Ah 68742 148792 350180 1028 9603 191655 2023 0.223

If against two hands both drawing low, the wrap becomes the favorite
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ad Jd Kh Qh 160523 251893 248107 0 0 0 0 0.412
8s 2s Ac 3d 59832 109768 381094 9138 73681 39784 146408 0.299
5c 2c 4d Ah 54058 129201 361661 9138 45090 68183 146408 0.289

If both the lows have a low pair and are drawing to trips, it's much closer to even.
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ad Jd Kh Qh 139403 219976 280024 0 0 0 0 0.359
8s 2s Ac 2d 76401 122461 376936 603 161497 69192 3775 0.331
4c 3c 4d Ah 84848 156960 342437 603 94251 136814 3775 0.310

High Two-Suited Wrap draw versus a suited pair of aces. The wrap is a dog.
Omaha Hi/Low 8-or-better: 500000 sampled boards
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ad Jd Kh Qh 162079 162079 337169 752 0 0 0 0.325
As Ts Ac 9c 337169 337169 162079 752 0 0 0 0.675

Even with unsuited aces, the high wrap is still a big dog if the aces have a low draw.
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ad Jd Kh Qh 134821 190363 309637 0 0 0 0 0.325
As Ac 7d 9h 309637 309637 190363 0 220166 0 0 0.675

Blind three legged pig finds acorn!

2006-04-23T01:29:00.000-04:00

PLO8 turbo tourney. I couldn't pass up the pot odds with a high wrap draw hand.

Seat 1: oldgezer (2914 in chips)
Seat 2: jackpotjb (2313 in chips)
Seat 3: TheRomer (2287 in chips)
Seat 4: Andromedae (4641 in chips)
Seat 5: KMFGB (3508 in chips)
Seat 6: DaHammersbro (2904 in chips)
Seat 7: gorokoch (2156 in chips)
Seat 8: FrankNagaiJr (3575 in chips)
Seat 9: pqmt (2702 in chips)

antes 25
Andromedae: posts small blind 200
KMFGB: posts big blind 400
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Jd Ad Th Qs]

DaHammersbro: raises 400 to 800
gorokoch: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 800
pqmt: raises 1877 to 2677 and is all-in
oldgezer: folds
jackpotjb is connected
jackpotjb: folds
TheRomer: folds
Andromedae: folds
KMFGB: calls 2277
DaHammersbro: calls 1877

Hmm, if I stay to see the flop, I've gotta see all five cards.

FrankNagaiJr: raises 873 to 3550 and is all-in
KMFGB: calls 806 and is all-in
DaHammersbro: calls 202 and is all-in
FrankNagaiJr said, "wheee"

I'm the one below with the .104 EV. That can't be good.

cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ac Ah 6h 5h 98224 135850 240947 195 175299 71028 189 0.448
Qs Ad Jd Th 17236 44276 307893 24823 0 0 0 0.104
Js Ts Jc Tc 26762 76095 276074 24823 0 0 0 0.159
Ks 2s Kd 3d 52580 95753 281044 195 90912 58740 189 0.289

*** FLOP *** [3c 5d Qh]
My EV has skyrocketed to .112!!! (the AA is now .615 EV)

*** TURN *** [3c 5d Qh] [Qd]
I am now virtually a lock on the high, and only AA has a draw to a low.

*** RIVER *** [3c 5d Qh Qd] [Jh]
He shoots, he scores!

KMFGB: shows [Ah Ac 6h 5h] (HI: two pair, Aces and Queens)
FrankNagaiJr: shows [Jd Ad Th Qs] (HI: a full house, Queens full of Jacks)
FrankNagaiJr collected 1208 from side pot-2
DaHammersbro: shows [Jc Js Ts Tc] (HI: a full house, Jacks full of Queens)
FrankNagaiJr collected 606 from side pot-1
pqmt: shows [Kd Ks 3d 2s] (HI: two pair, Kings and Queens)
FrankNagaiJr collected 11133 from main pot
No low hand qualified
FrankNagaiJr said, "wow"

PLO8 - a few all-in scenarios

2006-04-23T00:08:00.000-04:00

I've been playing some tourney PLO8. I'd better learn a few all-in EVs.

All stats from twodimes.net

Suited Aces with no low draw versus three low cards
Aces only slightly ahead in first scenario with one decent flush draw for low
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
As Qs Ac Kc 178503 343501 156499 0 0 0 0 0.522
9c 5c Ad 2d 156499 156499 343501 0 266344 0 0 0.478

Give lows two flush draws, and they pull ahead
As Qs Ac Kc 166022 320697 179303 0 0 0 0 0.487
Ad 2d 9h 5h 179303 179303 320697 0 266411 0 0 0.513

Take away flush draws for the lows, and they plummet in value
As Qs Ac Kc 194297 373539 126461 0 0 0 0 0.568
9s 2c Ad 5h 126461 126461 373539 0 266876 0 0 0.432

Three Lows with one suited ace versus a high pair with no low draw
Lows are ahead here
Ks Qs Kc Tc 151684 307389 192611 0 0 0 0 0.459
9s Ad 2d 5h 192611 192611 307389 0 290483 0 0 0.541

Change the suits in the lows favor, and the high pair is a big dog
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ks Kc Qc Tc 141126 270743 229257 0 0 0 0 0.412
9s 5s Ad 2d 229257 229257 270743 0 290266 0 0 0.588

Here's the tourney hand that killed me a few moments ago:
cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
Ks Kc 3c Qh 155960 279053 219810 1137 0 0 0 0.436
Js 2s Ad Kd 219810 219810 279053 1137 201393 0 0 0.564

I was the 56 percent fave, but the flop brought a king and my low didn't come, and three kings was good enough. Note that he was drawing to one king here. Oh well.

Jack high straight flush

2006-04-22T22:46:00.000-04:00

Forgot to mention that I got a jack-high straight flush last Saturday in a live game with the social group. That seems to me like I've gotten a pretty high quantity of these. Still waiting for my royale.

Human Dealers (the Thong Song)

2006-04-22T11:02:00.000-04:00

At the LO8 table at the casino on Thursday night, I had a BB hand that started out with a flopped two pair and a flush draw, and only one low card. I bet and two chasers come with me (there were at least two players who were happy to chase runner-runner lows all night long....). The turn comes high, and I bet my two pair again, and one player is making, and the nervous player acts out of turn, and the dealer, Thong, flips the river without realizing there was a player yet to act.

The river card gave me boat with no possible low, naturally. The nervous player says that the card should be burned, but the dealer calls the floor manager, and the true river is put back in the deck which is then reshuffled. Naturally, the new river is a low card, but I'm lucky to at least get half the pot, which should have rightfully been my whole pot.

I resolved to stiff the dealer, Thong, for the remainder of the evening, but I was winning so few pots that I only stiffed him maybe 5% of what he took away from me by flipping out of sequence.

Give me credit for not tilting, despite being on a losing streak for the evening.

Foxwoods LO8

2006-04-21T18:57:00.000-04:00

Foxwoods has a zillion Hold'em tables, and they had one LO8 table. I sat down at 9PM and left the table at 4AM, occasionally getting up to pass water. Lost 13 BB in the course of 7 hours, so it wasn't a stellar session, I started with two hours of cold cards at a full table of chasers, and after that I kept playing catch-up, getting close to break even and then bleeding again.

All-in Math

2006-04-14T09:14:00.000-04:00

Let's suppose that you're playing with a whack job who'll make huge pre-flop bets blind, and he's just made one to open the pot. The amount is 60% of your existing stack. You make the call w/KQo, since you've had a cold spell and you don't mind gambling against a random hand. Two other players call behind you, apparently also in the mood to gamble.

The flop comes AT8, so you've got an inside draw to a straight and you check praying for a free miracle. The player to your left, with a bigger stack, pushes his remaining stack in and has you covered, and the other two players fold (including the whack job). Is an inside straight (with a runner-runner flush draw) a clear fold to you?

If there is 240 percent of your stack in the pot, and with this players all-in, you can see the remaining two cards for a pot of 280 with an investment of 40. In other words, you're putting in about 14% of the existing pot to see the next two cards.

We can safely assume your opponent doesn't have trip aces, as he would have pushed. He may reasonably have two pair, trip tens or eights, but probably no worse.

Cardplayer gives odds of 16.57% to win for you against trip eights, and 19% to win against top two pair. Even though your odds are slim, if you've come this far, it is not a statistical mistake to throw your last chips into the pot.

Just be sure to leave cab fare off the table.

Book Review - Kill Phil

2006-04-13T11:41:00.000-04:00

I originally posted this review with the social group, but apparently it will get thrown out after 30 days. I will write anything I wish to keep on the blog and link to it from the social group going forward.

Review - Kill Phil

As a frequent on-line player, I bought this not for my game, but to get into the heads of people who might buy this book.

The first 30 pages tell you why it's such a great book and how it will revolutionize poker, (calling Harrington 'Old School' along the way) and stating that the only way to beat Negreanu, Ivey and their imitators is to push when the situation warrants pushing, and to avoid playing 'Small Ball at all costs'. They state they've got the cookie cutter solution that will neutralize these players.

The next 10 pages gives you 'Kill Phil' Basic, which is a cookie recipe for when to push, and how to handle a free flop in the big blind. (Mostly fold, even with top pair)

The next 70 pages are 'Kill Phil Advanced', which is a poorly written pseudo-cookie cutter formula for taking the very beatable basic to the next level. If it were a real cookie recipe, it would read like this:

If it's raining outside, take 1.5 cups of flower and 3 Tbs of sugar, unless you've got a feeling that it might get sunny later on. If you think your oven is accurate, put it to 350 degrees, but if you have an inkling that your oven might be mis-calibrated....

In short, the Kill Phil Plus tries to make the player act like a real poker player, even venturing into 'small ball' advice that may be sensible, but is poorly written and even more poorly organized. The prose is so heavily peppered with 'however', 'except', 'if', and other ways to say 'it depends', it'll make you want to sneeze.

I don't feel threatened by the army of 'Phil-Killers' on the horizon. I'm happy to loan this book out lest another 20$ goes to waste in this world.

Book Review - Annie Duke How I .....

2006-04-13T10:10:00.000-04:00

More poker porn. This book doesn't really know what it wants to be, and it was clearly written in a hurry to take full advantage of the hyper-popularity that poker and Annie are currently experiencing. If they took the time to edit and re-write, they might lose sales I guess.

As a poker advice book, there's a tidbit every 10 pages or so, some of which I hadn't heard before, or paid attention to at least.

As a poker tourney blow-by-blow story (The structure is almost an exact copy of 'Positively Fifth Street' except that the tourney is interspersed with her biography.), it's readable but frustrating. Sometimes the hands shown and the description of the hands don't match up, and the card suits are almost never mentioned, which takes away the depth of the hand analysis. I should also mention that the WSOP tourney that she won and gives the blow-by-blow for is Limit Hi-Lo Omaha, which might be a bummer for any one-game-only players.

As an autobiography, it's a clinical re-telling of some hard times, which is preferable to a sob-sob boo-hoo retelling of those hard times.

As prose, it's dull and poorly edited. There's nary a mot juste in the whole book.

Having said all that, it's a quick and easy read. I finished it in two nights and sent it back to the library. As a free read, I'd give it a thumbs up.

Markers

2006-04-13T10:09:00.000-04:00

Stuff I may forget.

E - 11$ in pokertards credits
Mr Dab 15 in poker tards credits
Ice - 11$ in pokertards credits PAID

I have two books of the counts. Alvarez and McManus
Count has my 'Kill Phil'
Greyhawke has my Caro DVD

Bubbly PLO8

2006-04-13T08:36:00.000-04:00

I played a 20$ PLO8 on pokertards recently, and made 10th out of 117, which paid 30$. I'd like to blog the whole thing, but I've been busy. Here's the hand that killed me:

*********** # 181 **************
PokerStars Game #4594945101: Tournament #22780346, Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit - Level XI (600/1200) -
2006/04/11
Table '22780346 12' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: moona (29968 in chips)
Seat 3: TaxiGirl71 (25274 in chips)
Seat 4: gg1954 (23159 in chips)
Seat 5: FrankNagaiJr (12974 in chips)
Seat 7: Vlorg (24595 in chips)
moona: posts small blind 600
TaxiGirl71: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [2d Ah 4d 9c]

FNJ - A decent blind stealing hands, with outs.
gg1954: folds
FrankNagaiJr: raises 3000 to 4200
Vlorg: raises 6600 to 10800

FNJ - Viorg has been selectively agressive. Could have a similar hand to mine, or a high pair with a couple lows. If I walk away now I've still got 8000 in chips, but if I can't stand up with 3 to a wheel, what hand will I wait for instead? I won't come over the top, but I won't run away.

FNJ - Twodimes.org gives me a .434 EV for this hand, so I'm a slight dog against the AAKJ. NOTE that if my two suited cards had been spades, I would have an EV of 0.475. If my Nine had been a five, my EV goes up to 0.489. If I flop a perfect wheel, my EV would go up even higher still!

moona: folds
TaxiGirl71: folds
FrankNagaiJr: calls 6600
*** FLOP *** [4h 8d 8c]

FNJ - Reasonable to put in my last chips with. I've got a pair, and a draw for the nut low.

FNJ - Two dimes puts my EV at .403 here.

FrankNagaiJr: bets 2174 and is all-in
Vlorg: calls 2174
*** TURN *** [4h 8d 8c] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [4h 8d 8c 9h] [As]

FNJ - D'oh!

*** SHOW DOWN ***
FrankNagaiJr: shows [2d Ah 4d 9c] (HI: two pair, Aces and Nines)
Vlorg: shows [Ad Jd Kd Ac] (HI: a full house, Aces full of Eights)
Vlorg collected 27748 from pot
No low hand qualified

Bubbly

2006-04-11T00:31:00.000-04:00

played a 20+2/180 on tards for the first time in a few weeks, and placed 24th, 6 positions off the money, when my QQ came up against KK and I was at less than 10M.

I think I played decent poker otherwise, finding the appropriate steal opportunities during the dry spells, and was generally patient, giving up when I felt I was beat rather than tilting and pushing where it made no sense.

More PLO8

2006-04-10T12:36:00.000-04:00

This hand broke me. 5 Limpers at the 25/50 level

Seat 1: $outhern boy (1600 in chips)
Seat 2: FrankNagaiJr (845 in chips)
Seat 3: aronharry (1705 in chips)
Seat 4: pfor (1320 in chips)
Seat 5: mobrown1257 (2680 in chips)
Seat 6: TOPHAT TWO (3495 in chips)
Seat 8: mdizzy53 (340 in chips)
Seat 9: GBuck08 (1515 in chips)

Me: Dealt to FrankNagaiJr [Ad 6s 2d 7h]

Flop: *** FLOP *** [7c 4d Ah]

I felt that I had a decent shot at high with two pair, and a backdoor shot at the low if I got very lucky, here so I pot-raised and then pushed, to face the following two hands:

GBuck08: raises 1215 to 1465 and is all-in
GBuck08: shows [3d Tc 2h 8c]

TOPHAT TWO: calls
TOPHAT TWO: shows [Kh Kd 3c 5s]

As you may observe, I am ahead on the high. GBuck is ahead on the low and drawing to the wheel.

The 5 or 2 kills me both ways for 6 outs against. (One of my opponents makes the wheel and I don't)
The K kills me on the high. 2 outs against.
The 3 with no other wheel card gives me the backdoor low. 2 outs for.
The A or 7 gives me the lock high. 6 outs for.

Twodimes.net gives us the following stats:

cards scoop HIwin HIlos HItie LOwin LOlos LOtie EV
6s Ad 2d 7h 50 386 280 0 55 599 12 0.336
5s 3c Kd Kh 50 164 497 5 65 595 6 0.176
Tc 8c 3d 2h 104 111 550 5 528 120 18 0.488

So one might think KK35 was the big dog here? This player hit their 2 on the river for the miracle wheel scoop.

Any thoughts from PLO8 players here? I know my raise/call wasn't sterling, but I had been pushed out of some other pots by similar re-raises by other players chasing the low only, tossing two pair to see the high taken by a single weak pair.

Straight Flush

2006-04-06T22:06:00.000-04:00

Got a Jack-high straight flush earlier this week in a cash game. I didn't even show it to the table, since my opponent folded to my bet. Still waiting for my Royale with Cheese.