Entrants 468 at $5 plus .5 rake
Total prize pool 2365
Payout top 40
Me - 10th $30 (3 hours of play -(I'll keep the day job for now.)
7th - $70
6th - $95
5th - $118
4th - $ 189
3rd - $237
2nd - $355
1st - $591
1st
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
On-line tourney 10/18/05
I had a 3 hour marathon at a cheapo re-buy tourney. It was advertised as guaranteed $1000 in payouts, and it only had 50 entries with an initial buy-in of $2.25. The site I go to looks pretty shady, and they don't clarify the exact payouts anywhere on the site, but I'll take it on faith they deliver as promised.
My first rebuy was when I had my pocket Aces cracked by pocket Queens in a five-way (!) all-in battle in the first hour. I had been playing well in the conservative mode and was up in chips at that point, but wanted more so that if I doubled up from some idiot, the pot would be worthwhile. I was able to grow this re-buy to an acceptable size by the time of the cut-off, at which time I bought the optional rebuy for good measure.
A total investment of $6.75, while I witnessed others re-buying willy nilly and going all-in as fast as they could catch any kind of starters at all. (This lead to some ridiculously big stacks.) I'm sure many players spent $40 or more for a $2.25 tourney.
I survived to the final table almost without incident. I played very few hands, but was able to use controlled agression to take a few pots with no showdowns, and I took more than 50% of the showdowns, so I never got below 10M.
Payout was to top 10 spots, so I naturally blew a gasket once I made the final table, going all-in with pocket 8's in response to a 3BB raise. Naturally, the raiser had a higher pair (KK) and statistics held true, failing to give me a suck-out. I got what I deserved for losing patience after 3 hours of careful, tedious play.
If I had folded my 88's or at worst called....
My payout for 10th prize? $20, or slightly worse than first prize at a 10 player sit'n'go. Whoo-hoo!
My first rebuy was when I had my pocket Aces cracked by pocket Queens in a five-way (!) all-in battle in the first hour. I had been playing well in the conservative mode and was up in chips at that point, but wanted more so that if I doubled up from some idiot, the pot would be worthwhile. I was able to grow this re-buy to an acceptable size by the time of the cut-off, at which time I bought the optional rebuy for good measure.
A total investment of $6.75, while I witnessed others re-buying willy nilly and going all-in as fast as they could catch any kind of starters at all. (This lead to some ridiculously big stacks.) I'm sure many players spent $40 or more for a $2.25 tourney.
I survived to the final table almost without incident. I played very few hands, but was able to use controlled agression to take a few pots with no showdowns, and I took more than 50% of the showdowns, so I never got below 10M.
Payout was to top 10 spots, so I naturally blew a gasket once I made the final table, going all-in with pocket 8's in response to a 3BB raise. Naturally, the raiser had a higher pair (KK) and statistics held true, failing to give me a suck-out. I got what I deserved for losing patience after 3 hours of careful, tedious play.
If I had folded my 88's or at worst called....
My payout for 10th prize? $20, or slightly worse than first prize at a 10 player sit'n'go. Whoo-hoo!
Thursday, October 13, 2005
On-line play
I finally broke down and started playing on-line for money about 3 weeks ago. My observations so far.
1) NLHE Cash games are too wild for my taste. By the time you've figured out who you're dealing with, it's too late. They've either bluffed you to death, or made an all-in with the nuts and taken your cash.
2) Sit'n'go tourneys are my game of choice precisely because you do have some time to figure out who's full of baloney and who bets the nuts and act accordingly.
3) The quality of play varies wildly, but I've found some good resourceful opponents even in the cheap games.
1) NLHE Cash games are too wild for my taste. By the time you've figured out who you're dealing with, it's too late. They've either bluffed you to death, or made an all-in with the nuts and taken your cash.
2) Sit'n'go tourneys are my game of choice precisely because you do have some time to figure out who's full of baloney and who bets the nuts and act accordingly.
3) The quality of play varies wildly, but I've found some good resourceful opponents even in the cheap games.
Edna Kansas?
I appear to have a regular reader in Kansas. If you have your own blog, send me the link?
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
FonZ's Birthday Tourney Oct 8, 2005
I haven't been blogging much lately, but I must document this Donk maneuver in the hopes of never repeating it.
I played two hours of tight poker at FonZ's, catching maybe four reasonable starters and missing three flops and folding instead of bleeding extra. We go from 13 players down to 1 table, and there are 7 of us left. I pulled a poker 101 Donk maneuver as follows.
Me: Limp with K8s (after having had two all ins with no callers)
Big stack limps, and big blind Checks
Flop: A,2,2 - Check, Check, Check
Turn: A
Me: All-in.
BS: Calls and has the ace.
First of all, I had no business limping with that hand with the big stack yet to act. Second of all, my chip stack was only about 8 BB, so I should have either gone all in or folded. Third of all, to try to bluff the big stack, who easily had 6 times as many chips as me is also stupid. This was compounded stupidity of the worst kind, which is especially painful after having survived so long without any ridiculous plays on my part.
In retrospect, I'll call that a tilt for the sake of calling it something. What possible result could I have been expecting?
I played two hours of tight poker at FonZ's, catching maybe four reasonable starters and missing three flops and folding instead of bleeding extra. We go from 13 players down to 1 table, and there are 7 of us left. I pulled a poker 101 Donk maneuver as follows.
Me: Limp with K8s (after having had two all ins with no callers)
Big stack limps, and big blind Checks
Flop: A,2,2 - Check, Check, Check
Turn: A
Me: All-in.
BS: Calls and has the ace.
First of all, I had no business limping with that hand with the big stack yet to act. Second of all, my chip stack was only about 8 BB, so I should have either gone all in or folded. Third of all, to try to bluff the big stack, who easily had 6 times as many chips as me is also stupid. This was compounded stupidity of the worst kind, which is especially painful after having survived so long without any ridiculous plays on my part.
In retrospect, I'll call that a tilt for the sake of calling it something. What possible result could I have been expecting?
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Tourney Sep 30, 2005
I made it to third place. The hand that killed me was this one:
me: tc9c
Board: QcJcQd
My opponent goes all. I call. I've got him covered. He shows Qx.
Next card is J, and my straight and flush draws are now moot.
Cardplayer.com puts me at 42.1%. At the time I thought I was closer to 50%. Still, there was enough in the pot that I was getting correct odds to call.
me: tc9c
Board: QcJcQd
My opponent goes all. I call. I've got him covered. He shows Qx.
Next card is J, and my straight and flush draws are now moot.
Cardplayer.com puts me at 42.1%. At the time I thought I was closer to 50%. Still, there was enough in the pot that I was getting correct odds to call.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Head's Up Play Sept 15, 2005
I joined a buddy at his home for two heads-up tournaments, both of which were designed to go for about an hour, starting with a tiny blind with soft upticks, but getting into serious blinds about 45 minutes into game play. Between nice cards, the occasional blind stab, and esp-like pre-flop folding, I was able to take both tourneys. An enjoyable evening which I hope to repeat as we are able.
In the space of 2 hours of heads up hands (2 decks, so constant play) I must have seen at least 3 flushes and 3 straights, and at least 4 or 5 two pair offerings. I did not have to show a few of these hands, but I was able to milk at least one additional bet off of several of my made hands. Opponents Aces were also cracked as the decisive hand of the second game. He had made a 2BB raise (total 3 bb) and I called with KQs, and at that point in the blind structure, 20% of our total chips were in that pot. I caught perfectly on a flop of K-Q-x, and I managed to milk it for another 20% of the total chips, which was a major swing. At that point, opponent needed a solid hand quickly or would face blinding out. At that moment I picked up AKs, put him all in, and he called with KJ and failed to suck out.
If I were to critique my opponents play, I would venture that I saw a few differences in our playing styles.
1) I don't remember him folding the SB much at all. As the blinds rose, I was folding easily a third of my small blinds, and avoiding a world of hurt. Maybe he did fold SB as much as me, but it doesn't seem that way in my selective memory.
2) I think I was a little more agressive with bottom pair. While it occasionally came back to hurt me, it also made it tougher to tell whether I was betting bottom pair or something much better, such as trips, straights or flushes. On a few occasions, he called me down and won with middle pair, but on a few more occasions he called me down when I had top pair or better.
3) His pre-flop raises were less frequent than mine, which indicates that either I was getting better cards, or else he was still measuring his cards by a full table standards. You'd never raise A5s on a full table, but that's a decent raise in heads up play, I'd like to think.
These may have been enough to make the difference, especially when I started catching good cards.
In the space of 2 hours of heads up hands (2 decks, so constant play) I must have seen at least 3 flushes and 3 straights, and at least 4 or 5 two pair offerings. I did not have to show a few of these hands, but I was able to milk at least one additional bet off of several of my made hands. Opponents Aces were also cracked as the decisive hand of the second game. He had made a 2BB raise (total 3 bb) and I called with KQs, and at that point in the blind structure, 20% of our total chips were in that pot. I caught perfectly on a flop of K-Q-x, and I managed to milk it for another 20% of the total chips, which was a major swing. At that point, opponent needed a solid hand quickly or would face blinding out. At that moment I picked up AKs, put him all in, and he called with KJ and failed to suck out.
If I were to critique my opponents play, I would venture that I saw a few differences in our playing styles.
1) I don't remember him folding the SB much at all. As the blinds rose, I was folding easily a third of my small blinds, and avoiding a world of hurt. Maybe he did fold SB as much as me, but it doesn't seem that way in my selective memory.
2) I think I was a little more agressive with bottom pair. While it occasionally came back to hurt me, it also made it tougher to tell whether I was betting bottom pair or something much better, such as trips, straights or flushes. On a few occasions, he called me down and won with middle pair, but on a few more occasions he called me down when I had top pair or better.
3) His pre-flop raises were less frequent than mine, which indicates that either I was getting better cards, or else he was still measuring his cards by a full table standards. You'd never raise A5s on a full table, but that's a decent raise in heads up play, I'd like to think.
These may have been enough to make the difference, especially when I started catching good cards.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Manassas NL Cash 9/14/05
Started at the .50/$1 cash table with the younger group, and after 90 minutes, nearly doubled my buy in. Then I switched to the $1/2 table with a generally more mature crowd, and nearly tripled my buy-in. A good night.
At the higher stakes cash game, I was only active in a very small number of hands, and when I had premium starters, I raised accordingly, as opposed to being coy. Sometimes my big raise simply got all four of the limpers to limp at a higher price, which was comical. After the second time, people did start respecting my raises.
Two hands before my scheduled departure (must announce 30 minutes before going is the house rule) I limp with QJos, and a guy who had just shown pocket aces a few hands before makes a 6 BB raise. I'm the only caller. The flop includes an Ace, and I've got a belly straight draw only. He bets half the pot and I'm gone. He flips over the hammer (7-2). It was definitely a good trick, pity I didn't have anything better than a belly draw.
My announced last hand, I call from the button blind. I look down at 2-6s and compare it with a board of 2-6-8 rainbow. The guy on my left (who I had taken some serious money from earlier) bets into me heavy. I call. Another x (no-paint) a big bet and I call. The river is also no-paint, and he checks. I choose not to get frisky with bottom two pair so I check and collect the pot.
There was definitely more action at the 50/1, but there was a lot more drama at the 1/2, better cards, a dedicated dealer and a nicer table.
At the higher stakes cash game, I was only active in a very small number of hands, and when I had premium starters, I raised accordingly, as opposed to being coy. Sometimes my big raise simply got all four of the limpers to limp at a higher price, which was comical. After the second time, people did start respecting my raises.
Two hands before my scheduled departure (must announce 30 minutes before going is the house rule) I limp with QJos, and a guy who had just shown pocket aces a few hands before makes a 6 BB raise. I'm the only caller. The flop includes an Ace, and I've got a belly straight draw only. He bets half the pot and I'm gone. He flips over the hammer (7-2). It was definitely a good trick, pity I didn't have anything better than a belly draw.
My announced last hand, I call from the button blind. I look down at 2-6s and compare it with a board of 2-6-8 rainbow. The guy on my left (who I had taken some serious money from earlier) bets into me heavy. I call. Another x (no-paint) a big bet and I call. The river is also no-paint, and he checks. I choose not to get frisky with bottom two pair so I check and collect the pot.
There was definitely more action at the 50/1, but there was a lot more drama at the 1/2, better cards, a dedicated dealer and a nicer table.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Sep 9, 2005 Nerk Tourney
In the big tourney I lost patience after about an hour of catching very little. I went all-in with pocket 8's and was plowed under by pocket J's.
In a 10 player sit'n'go, I had one very exciting hand
Me: KK
P1 call, P2 call, me raise 4 BB, Call, Call
Flop: Q, 8, 3 rainbow
P1 Bet, P2 call, Me all-in, P1 call, P2, Call
P1- JTos , P2 AQos
Turn Q :-( Now I have exactly two outs :-(
River K !!!
I go on to take second when I grow impatient during heads up.
In a 10 player sit'n'go, I had one very exciting hand
Me: KK
P1 call, P2 call, me raise 4 BB, Call, Call
Flop: Q, 8, 3 rainbow
P1 Bet, P2 call, Me all-in, P1 call, P2, Call
P1- JTos , P2 AQos
Turn Q :-( Now I have exactly two outs :-(
River K !!!
I go on to take second when I grow impatient during heads up.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Sept 5, 2005 - Home Tourney
Is it bad form to win your own tourney? Sorry.
Played some solid poker, never got too far ahead of my holdings in terms of my betting, caught a few lucky draws and some nice starters, and laid down a few even where I felt there might have been a bluff. In a couple cases I paid to see cards even when I knew I was beat, just because pot odds dictated that I do so.
Perhaps my best suck out ever today.
Me: TT
Opponent: AQ
Flop A,K,J,x
Note that a T gives my opponent a straight, so I now have exactly 3 outs.
Q !!!!!!
This made me the big stack with just one opponent left, whom I had at least a 7 to 1 chip ratio on.
Great players today. Nobody went out for the whole first hour, which is pretty rare when you think about it. I think the first player went out on level 5 with 20 minute blinds, which sounds like a tight group of players to me.
Played some solid poker, never got too far ahead of my holdings in terms of my betting, caught a few lucky draws and some nice starters, and laid down a few even where I felt there might have been a bluff. In a couple cases I paid to see cards even when I knew I was beat, just because pot odds dictated that I do so.
Perhaps my best suck out ever today.
Me: TT
Opponent: AQ
Flop A,K,J,x
Note that a T gives my opponent a straight, so I now have exactly 3 outs.
Q !!!!!!
This made me the big stack with just one opponent left, whom I had at least a 7 to 1 chip ratio on.
Great players today. Nobody went out for the whole first hour, which is pretty rare when you think about it. I think the first player went out on level 5 with 20 minute blinds, which sounds like a tight group of players to me.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Ne'rk Game Friday 9/5/2005
In the big game I was out in the first 45 minutes. I was pushed off of winning hands three times, got frustrated and made a suicide pre-flop call (small pockets versus an all-in from early position from a solid player). When I made the suicide call, I still had enough chips that I could have blinded for another hour, so that was a tilt.
Then I played a 10 person satellite. There was bluffy sucking down brews who was dominating the table, and there was nothing I could do to stop him, as I wasn't even catching small pairs, and after a few hands, I didn't limp with anything less than premiums. It paid off, in that an hour in I started catching and winning pots. An older CS who was running lucky the whole game had me by a 15 to 1 ratio when we got down to two handed. (He had just eliminated Bluffy McDrink) and even though I doubled up once, I needed to double up at least four times to have any chance at all, and this guy was calling everything, so he only needed to beat me once, and he did.
DE played on my left, a solid game. He called an all-in on the turn from Bluffy and was correct to do so, as he had a solid hand, and Bluffy had a four-flush. Much to DE's dismay, Bluffy caught his slim draw to knock him out, leaving him fourth in the tourney.
Then I played a 10 person satellite. There was bluffy sucking down brews who was dominating the table, and there was nothing I could do to stop him, as I wasn't even catching small pairs, and after a few hands, I didn't limp with anything less than premiums. It paid off, in that an hour in I started catching and winning pots. An older CS who was running lucky the whole game had me by a 15 to 1 ratio when we got down to two handed. (He had just eliminated Bluffy McDrink) and even though I doubled up once, I needed to double up at least four times to have any chance at all, and this guy was calling everything, so he only needed to beat me once, and he did.
DE played on my left, a solid game. He called an all-in on the turn from Bluffy and was correct to do so, as he had a solid hand, and Bluffy had a four-flush. Much to DE's dismay, Bluffy caught his slim draw to knock him out, leaving him fourth in the tourney.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Self-restraint
Last night I saved some money. I had the option of driving to Manassas for a cash game, but I was also very very tired. I chose not to go, instead of bringing my T game. I got a good night's sleep. Good for me.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Boogster's DC Cash Game - Aug 29, 2005
I was playing a tight, reasonable game for about 3 hours, and I was slightly ahead of my buy-in, and then during my last 20 minutes I had a melt-down, recognized that I was on tilt, and got out without obligating myself to throw away the remainder of my buy-in. Factors that lead to the tilt, in no particular order:
Poker Exhaustion Tilt: The beginning of the tilt was when I raised on a pocket pair, and misread the board thinking that I hit and made a chunky raise and got a call from the big stack. (Big Stack was gobbling up everybody's all-in bets like there was no tomorrow.) I realized what I had done on the turn, and stopped chasing. Once I realized that I missed the trips, I stopped throwing away money, and my opponent checked it down and showed a larger pair.
Angry Tilt: There is one player who shows up late at this game who appears to neither respect the game nor the players. He needs a den mother to remind him it's his turn to play, takes way too long to make the simplest decisions, and pulls really stupid show-offy crap when he's the dealer. (When you're the dealer, just give us a flop. Don't F*ck around, ok?) Moments before my tilt, he had walked away heavy. It wasn't my money, but that stupid inner voice continued to say 'where's the justice?' Shut up, inner voice.
Where's the Justice Tilt: The big stack did not appear to be a good player, but he was catching on a regular basis. I'm sure he was also running stone cold bluffs on a regular basis, but since I rarely caught cards, there wasn't any way that I personally could punish his bluffs.
Tick Tock Tilt: I had been at the table for 3 hours and hadn't made a single kill. On the few hands I was in, I barely got action at all. As the hours got late, I kept thinking 'One good kill and I'm gone.' I should have had the resolve to say 'I'm up, not down. I'm tired and going home.'
Good Starters, Bad Flop Tilt: One of my last and most expensive hands, I make a raise with premium suited starters. I catch nothing, but bet large into the pot. Big Stack calls. I bet large again, BS calls. I check and fold when the river misses me and I have an Ace high hand. I didn't need to bet large into that board. BS was calling raises with trash hands, so there was a reasonable likelihood that he had a weak pair. However, if I don't have a medium pair against this guy, there's no sense running the voodoo down.
I think I need to set time and exhaustion limits on my cash game play. Big Stack was drinking cheap beer all night, but it wasn't taking him out of his game. It was taking me outside of mine.
Poker Exhaustion Tilt: The beginning of the tilt was when I raised on a pocket pair, and misread the board thinking that I hit and made a chunky raise and got a call from the big stack. (Big Stack was gobbling up everybody's all-in bets like there was no tomorrow.) I realized what I had done on the turn, and stopped chasing. Once I realized that I missed the trips, I stopped throwing away money, and my opponent checked it down and showed a larger pair.
Angry Tilt: There is one player who shows up late at this game who appears to neither respect the game nor the players. He needs a den mother to remind him it's his turn to play, takes way too long to make the simplest decisions, and pulls really stupid show-offy crap when he's the dealer. (When you're the dealer, just give us a flop. Don't F*ck around, ok?) Moments before my tilt, he had walked away heavy. It wasn't my money, but that stupid inner voice continued to say 'where's the justice?' Shut up, inner voice.
Where's the Justice Tilt: The big stack did not appear to be a good player, but he was catching on a regular basis. I'm sure he was also running stone cold bluffs on a regular basis, but since I rarely caught cards, there wasn't any way that I personally could punish his bluffs.
Tick Tock Tilt: I had been at the table for 3 hours and hadn't made a single kill. On the few hands I was in, I barely got action at all. As the hours got late, I kept thinking 'One good kill and I'm gone.' I should have had the resolve to say 'I'm up, not down. I'm tired and going home.'
Good Starters, Bad Flop Tilt: One of my last and most expensive hands, I make a raise with premium suited starters. I catch nothing, but bet large into the pot. Big Stack calls. I bet large again, BS calls. I check and fold when the river misses me and I have an Ace high hand. I didn't need to bet large into that board. BS was calling raises with trash hands, so there was a reasonable likelihood that he had a weak pair. However, if I don't have a medium pair against this guy, there's no sense running the voodoo down.
I think I need to set time and exhaustion limits on my cash game play. Big Stack was drinking cheap beer all night, but it wasn't taking him out of his game. It was taking me outside of mine.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Poker Exhaustion
On Friday I played my usual tourney, and coasted into fourth place. I probably could have made it one place (and twice as much prize) if I had had just a tad more patience, but once I was in the money, I went all in on nothing and got what I deserved when big stack called me and had one of my cards covered.
On Saturday I played Rake's big tourney with some hot players, and I started out hot. Then I started bleeding as the blind were raising, and I was at 10 M 2.5 hours into the tourney. I lost a couple hands, threw away a lot of trash. More importanly, I developed a bad case of 'flush blindness' in which I failed to see flushes on the board until I had already wagered without that suit. Then my biggest faux pas, I was the dealer, and mistakenly assumed everyone had folded to a raise, and passed the cards to the next dealer. There was some confusion, and the better showed pocket aces and was quite enraged. It was a bummer for the player, and the player took it quite badly, creating quite a bad vibe at the table. I went out within 20 minutes of that incident, in which I raised on good started, caught top pair, and failed to notice the flush again. When I saw the flush, I went all in on a stone bluff, but he was big-stacked enough to not worry about whether I was bluffing. Sure enough, he had a low ranked flush, but it beat my no-flush.
I'm going to scale back my playing for a while. My regular game will be the Friday after the kids have gone to bed, and I'll probably play some on the road. I'm going to bring down my Columbus social group playing to about once a month for a while. Flush blindness is a clear symptom of playing too damn much, as is misdealing.
On Saturday I played Rake's big tourney with some hot players, and I started out hot. Then I started bleeding as the blind were raising, and I was at 10 M 2.5 hours into the tourney. I lost a couple hands, threw away a lot of trash. More importanly, I developed a bad case of 'flush blindness' in which I failed to see flushes on the board until I had already wagered without that suit. Then my biggest faux pas, I was the dealer, and mistakenly assumed everyone had folded to a raise, and passed the cards to the next dealer. There was some confusion, and the better showed pocket aces and was quite enraged. It was a bummer for the player, and the player took it quite badly, creating quite a bad vibe at the table. I went out within 20 minutes of that incident, in which I raised on good started, caught top pair, and failed to notice the flush again. When I saw the flush, I went all in on a stone bluff, but he was big-stacked enough to not worry about whether I was bluffing. Sure enough, he had a low ranked flush, but it beat my no-flush.
I'm going to scale back my playing for a while. My regular game will be the Friday after the kids have gone to bed, and I'll probably play some on the road. I'm going to bring down my Columbus social group playing to about once a month for a while. Flush blindness is a clear symptom of playing too damn much, as is misdealing.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Private Club, Manassas VA, Aug 24, 2005
Played some cash NL and then a tourney with some very loose novices and some skilled players, and came close to breaking even for the night, but the following hand put me back in the red.
Me: KK - raise 6BB (a standard high raise at the cash game)
P2: Call
P3: Raise - 12 BB
(2 folds)
Me: Call
P2: Call
Flop 9 -8-2
Me: Bet 1/2 pot
P2 &P3 both call
Turn- 8
Three Checks
River - X
Three checks
Showdown
P2: QQ
P3: AA
Ouch!
In a tournament of 17 I made the bubble, and I went out on a decent decision. The player on my right went all in and I called (had him covered). The player on my left put ME all in, and I called that too.
Right: 55 (30.7%) , Me: AQos (33.9%) Left: JhTh (35.5%)
I just looked this up and was surprised to see JT suited as the fave. If AQ were suited in a different suit that nobody else has, they become the 37.2% fave
Flop 3h, 8s, 4h (32.5%, 12.5%, 55.0% are now the respective odds)
Turn: Qs ! (2.4%, 69.1%, 28.6%)
River: xh !
Ouch!
(Looking at the odds, not quite the horrible beat I took it for last night. It's always a bummer to lose it on the river though. )
Great club. It's a screened environment, like most of the games I play at, so you've generally got a decent level of play, and a minimum of jerks.
Me: KK - raise 6BB (a standard high raise at the cash game)
P2: Call
P3: Raise - 12 BB
(2 folds)
Me: Call
P2: Call
Flop 9 -8-2
Me: Bet 1/2 pot
P2 &P3 both call
Turn- 8
Three Checks
River - X
Three checks
Showdown
P2: QQ
P3: AA
Ouch!
In a tournament of 17 I made the bubble, and I went out on a decent decision. The player on my right went all in and I called (had him covered). The player on my left put ME all in, and I called that too.
Right: 55 (30.7%) , Me: AQos (33.9%) Left: JhTh (35.5%)
I just looked this up and was surprised to see JT suited as the fave. If AQ were suited in a different suit that nobody else has, they become the 37.2% fave
Flop 3h, 8s, 4h (32.5%, 12.5%, 55.0% are now the respective odds)
Turn: Qs ! (2.4%, 69.1%, 28.6%)
River: xh !
Ouch!
(Looking at the odds, not quite the horrible beat I took it for last night. It's always a bummer to lose it on the river though. )
Great club. It's a screened environment, like most of the games I play at, so you've generally got a decent level of play, and a minimum of jerks.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Boogster's DC Game - August 22, 2005
I threw away quads last night. I re-raised with trips on the turn, and faced a huge re-raise that gave me about 1.5 to 1 odds for a draw on trips when I could see he already made his straight. I had 10 outs for a boat or quads and so I folded. I asked for a rabbit, and out pops my quad. Bummer.
I also had a monster suck-out in which I accepted an all in with a pair of 6s against a bluffy. Bluffy actually had a pair of queens, but the cards came runner runner for a back-door flush.
There was another interesting all in battle with 3 of us, I came in on a double belly buster draw since there were two other players in the hand, I felt it was a reasonable bet. I failed to hit.
I also had a monster suck-out in which I accepted an all in with a pair of 6s against a bluffy. Bluffy actually had a pair of queens, but the cards came runner runner for a back-door flush.
There was another interesting all in battle with 3 of us, I came in on a double belly buster draw since there were two other players in the hand, I felt it was a reasonable bet. I failed to hit.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
August 19, 2005 Tourney(s)
At the local second hand smoke shop. I went to defend my title, so I was naturally knocked out within 40 minutes of sitting down. One big blunder I made was not playing the pot odds: There were two small pairs on the board, and I had neither of them. On the second pair, the other player bet into me, and I folded a flush, when I was getting at least 4 to 1 or better to make the call. Stupid overthink that was.
Later the same evening, I failed to listen to Mike Caro's book of tells, and a player was betting into me with pocket Aces, but I didn't recognize the physical symptoms until I had already taken the bait. D'uhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Later the same evening, I failed to listen to Mike Caro's book of tells, and a player was betting into me with pocket Aces, but I didn't recognize the physical symptoms until I had already taken the bait. D'uhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Manassas VA Cash Game
This was at a motorcyle repair shop in an industrial part of town. I was up to double my buy in, accepted an all-in with pocket kings on a nothing board. My opponent, who was a big bluffer and risk-runner had A-9. He caught9 and then A on the river to take it. I rebought and played for another 30 minutes and walked away having lost about half my original buy-in.
Good game. Nice folks. There were some different playing style to adjust to, so I'll definitely go back until I've got their respective numbers. One guy who seemed tight lost three buy-ins, another guy who seemed tight waited hours to catch a hand and rarely got action. Another guy had such a defeatist attitude you'd play against him with 2-7 and expect to win. There were two agressive bluffersons who I kept skirmishing with, and another guy who seemed a little more sensible.
Good game. Nice folks. There were some different playing style to adjust to, so I'll definitely go back until I've got their respective numbers. One guy who seemed tight lost three buy-ins, another guy who seemed tight waited hours to catch a hand and rarely got action. Another guy had such a defeatist attitude you'd play against him with 2-7 and expect to win. There were two agressive bluffersons who I kept skirmishing with, and another guy who seemed a little more sensible.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Boogster's DC NL Cash August 16, 2005
This is the second time I've played with this group of players in downtown DC, less than a mile from the Capitol and the White House. When I got there last night, they were temporarily banished to the roof till the clubhouse was open. Not great for poker, but great views of the Washington Monument at least.
Early on I went all-in on pocket Aces against pocket kings with a king on the board. Oops. I was able to make up for it on the second buy-in and leave ahead of the game.
After having played with these guys twice, I feel like I'm starting to get a feel for their starting hand requirements, and who bluffs, and who almost never bluffs, which makes it a little easier to lay down a hand or two even when I feel like I've got decent holdings. I've laid down two pair at least once or twice, depending on who I'm up against and what's on the board, of course. They're starting to catch on to me as well, of course, which means that I have to change gears enough to keep them guessing. After I had taken a few players in on all-in bets in which I had the nuts, my raises were given much more respect than they had been early in the evening.
Here's a cute hand from last night:
Me: BB with K2os
Flop K2x with two hearts.
I re-raise the initial SB post-flop bet from 3BB to 10BB. Bluffy calls.
Turn: x-Heart
I make another 10BB bet. Bluffy thinks a while and calls.
River: 2
I go all in (another 27BB or so). Bluffy thinks a while and calls.
Bluffy was trying to sucker me into pushing him off his hand. He apparently wasn't ready to throw away his Nut Flush to my potential boat. Maybe he should have value bet on the turn.
Is it just me, or does the betting sequence above remind you of the climax in the move 'the Cincinnati Kid' where the Man bets incorrectly and the kid misinterprets the disinformation?
Early on I went all-in on pocket Aces against pocket kings with a king on the board. Oops. I was able to make up for it on the second buy-in and leave ahead of the game.
After having played with these guys twice, I feel like I'm starting to get a feel for their starting hand requirements, and who bluffs, and who almost never bluffs, which makes it a little easier to lay down a hand or two even when I feel like I've got decent holdings. I've laid down two pair at least once or twice, depending on who I'm up against and what's on the board, of course. They're starting to catch on to me as well, of course, which means that I have to change gears enough to keep them guessing. After I had taken a few players in on all-in bets in which I had the nuts, my raises were given much more respect than they had been early in the evening.
Here's a cute hand from last night:
Me: BB with K2os
Flop K2x with two hearts.
I re-raise the initial SB post-flop bet from 3BB to 10BB. Bluffy calls.
Turn: x-Heart
I make another 10BB bet. Bluffy thinks a while and calls.
River: 2
I go all in (another 27BB or so). Bluffy thinks a while and calls.
Bluffy was trying to sucker me into pushing him off his hand. He apparently wasn't ready to throw away his Nut Flush to my potential boat. Maybe he should have value bet on the turn.
Is it just me, or does the betting sequence above remind you of the climax in the move 'the Cincinnati Kid' where the Man bets incorrectly and the kid misinterprets the disinformation?
Monday, August 15, 2005
A Quick Rant about On-Line Kidz
At a few casinos and games I have noticed a clearly delineated set of players, who I refer to as 'on-line kidz' regardless of their age bracket. There's no shame in being an on-line player, but....
When you're in a tournament with humans, I recommend that you play accordingly. I've heard that many on-line players try to put their foes on tilt all the time. If you constantly perform actions and stupid bluffs in person that are designed to put people on tilt, you should expect to be put out of your misery sooner or later, and the rest of us will be saying 'good riddance.'
Another quirk worth mentioning about on-line kidz. Some of you have dedicated zero percent of your mental effort in developing any kind of personality other than 'the quiet dude back in the shadows.' I guess that's fine, but you're not gonna get on my 'most desirable guests' list any time soon. At least some part of live poker is about the social interaction, and if there's nothing there, you're simply someone to be beaten and forgotten.
When you're in a tournament with humans, I recommend that you play accordingly. I've heard that many on-line players try to put their foes on tilt all the time. If you constantly perform actions and stupid bluffs in person that are designed to put people on tilt, you should expect to be put out of your misery sooner or later, and the rest of us will be saying 'good riddance.'
Another quirk worth mentioning about on-line kidz. Some of you have dedicated zero percent of your mental effort in developing any kind of personality other than 'the quiet dude back in the shadows.' I guess that's fine, but you're not gonna get on my 'most desirable guests' list any time soon. At least some part of live poker is about the social interaction, and if there's nothing there, you're simply someone to be beaten and forgotten.
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