****I thought that this was posted a while ago. Oops.*****
Vegas was a blast. I had a really good time but I could not win. I was at a bunch of tables with the WORST players ever and I lost everytime. It was crazy. One guy had two of the biggest tells I have ever seen and I could not capitalize on either of them. Everytime I got in a hand with him I knew exactly where I was with him, but someone else (who also knew where they were with him) interfered. It really sucked. I was at a point where I was seriously considering giving up playing poker, but as I thought about the hands, I do not think that I would have played the hands differently. I think I just had a lot of bad luck. There was some bad play, but not enough to make me give up. I am getting there though.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Cash game or Tournament? Which to play.
Friday nights when there is not a home football game I get to play poker. Last Friday I had my choice. A tournament near my house or a great cash game about 35 minutes away. Hmm. I decided to only risk $60 of my bankroll and play the tourney. Since I am leaving for Vegas on Sunday I figured it was best to save my money to play against the really bad players in Vegas. The cash game players in the group are pretty tough. Some are horrible, but most are pretty good.
I got knocked out of the tourney in the third level. It was horrible. I lost a decent chuck of chips when Jack had JJ and I had 99 and the board was 10 high. I couldn't put him on a hand that beat me so I called his bets. He played it well and got maximum value of this hand. Then he played like Jack.
He called a pot sized bet on the flop out of position with a gutter ball to the sucker straight on a flushy board. The board was AJ7 with 2 clubs. I had AJ with the A of clubs. He had 89 off. Of course he hit the 10 on the turn. I couldn't fold my top two pair to him. I thought when he raised me on the turn that maybe he had KQ, but I actually thought he wouldn't call a big bet there with a gutter ball. Stupid Jen. He will call any bet with anything. I lost most of my remaining chips in that hand.
A few hands later the blinds are 75/150. I have 1025 chips left. He limps UTG. I look down at 77. All in. Of course he calls saying I will give you some chips back. Of course he limped UTG with 910 o. Hmm..what do you think came on the flop? I know he had about 18000 chips but really. 910 o.
I tried to get Data to let me buy back in but he would not budge. The rest of the players wanted me to buy in because they knew I was tilting and would probably spew chips. Better to spew in a $60 tourney than go to Terry's and spew with $300. Julie made my decision easy by giving me $200 to go to Terry's. I intentionally only brought an extra $100 with me so I would not be tempted to go to Terry's. It wasn't even 9 p.m. yet. I couldn't go home yet on my actual night out.
Off to Terry's cash game. I bought in for $300 and was seated with Jeremy, Ryan, Joe, Uncle Bob and Pyxis. Not a bad table. I stacked Ryan early on. I had KK, He flopped the nut flush draw. I was pretty sure he was pushing with the draw so I was willing to gamble. I was playing pretty tight, picking my spots trying to stay out trouble. It was working. I was up about $250.
Then I had a cooler hand that I just do not think I can fold. The game is 1/2 and it is pot limit preflop. I raise to 7 with 77. Uncle Bob reraises from the small blind to 21 (I think). I decide to set mine. I was in position so I think I have to do that. Flop is K79 with 2 clubs. He bets $20. I raise to $60. He raises another $100. Now this is where I should have thought longer. I did not spend enough time thinking about what he could have here. I just thought..Hey this is uncle bob...he could be doing this with a flush draw...with AK or with AA. I am all in. As soon as he insta calls I knew it. You have a set right. Yep. Top set. Grrr. Can I fold bottom set there for $250 total? Against a different player I can maybe fold..but I am not sure that I am a good enough player to fold a set there. Maybe if we are really deep stacked I can fold bottom set, but not when he has less than a buy-in in his stack. Thoughts? Fold?
I build back up from that cooler hand when I run into another cooler. The other table decides to take a break. During their break Charlie grabs part of his stack and sits at our table for a little bit. He is pretty aggressive and we have a lot of history. I know that he thinks that I do not like to play big pots with him. This thought blinded me from making what in retrospect is an easy fold to Charlie. I am in the big blind, he is the small blind. A few limpers. He raised to 12. I reraised to 30. I had QQ. It folds to him and he raises the pot. Now this is where I tanked. I thought for quite a while before deciding to commit my stack. He had KK and hit quads just to rub it in. I know better. I do not need to stack off there with QQ. Charlie is really aggressive and likes to put a lot of money into pots....post flop. He would always rather play post flop because he is a really good player. I know that. As soon as he made the third raise I should have known better. With a smaller pair or a big Ace he is just going to call my raise even out of position to see a flop. He knows that he can outplay me after the flop. (I know it...he better know it.)
Two big pots and I am rebuying. A few people leave and we combined back to one table. My stack goes up and down. I lost a decent sized pot when Jeremy called with k4 s and hit the flush. I had AQ. I had top two pair and should have known better, but I still bet into him on the river and paid off his min raise. Dumbass. (Me not Jeremy)
Next hand I am UTG and look at one card the A of diamonds. Fuck it. I am not looking at the other card. I can only raise to 7 anyway, if I get raised I will look. (Can you say Tilt from the K4 hand). Flop is Axx. One diamond. I bet out. I think I got two callers. The turn is a 5. (I eventually looked and I had A5) I bet, Jeremy raised me all in. I call. I got there. River is blank and my two pair beat his AQ. Just trading chips.
We end the game at 2 am. I am down $275 total for the night. Not to bad for those two big pots that I lost. I have resigned myself to the thought process that I had to call with the Set and should have folded the QQ. I have been thinking about many of the hands from that night for the last few days. Hopefully I learned something from all of the hands and I can really start to get my game back together. I have been running bad which leads to playing bad so I am really trying hard to get it together.
I got knocked out of the tourney in the third level. It was horrible. I lost a decent chuck of chips when Jack had JJ and I had 99 and the board was 10 high. I couldn't put him on a hand that beat me so I called his bets. He played it well and got maximum value of this hand. Then he played like Jack.
He called a pot sized bet on the flop out of position with a gutter ball to the sucker straight on a flushy board. The board was AJ7 with 2 clubs. I had AJ with the A of clubs. He had 89 off. Of course he hit the 10 on the turn. I couldn't fold my top two pair to him. I thought when he raised me on the turn that maybe he had KQ, but I actually thought he wouldn't call a big bet there with a gutter ball. Stupid Jen. He will call any bet with anything. I lost most of my remaining chips in that hand.
A few hands later the blinds are 75/150. I have 1025 chips left. He limps UTG. I look down at 77. All in. Of course he calls saying I will give you some chips back. Of course he limped UTG with 910 o. Hmm..what do you think came on the flop? I know he had about 18000 chips but really. 910 o.
I tried to get Data to let me buy back in but he would not budge. The rest of the players wanted me to buy in because they knew I was tilting and would probably spew chips. Better to spew in a $60 tourney than go to Terry's and spew with $300. Julie made my decision easy by giving me $200 to go to Terry's. I intentionally only brought an extra $100 with me so I would not be tempted to go to Terry's. It wasn't even 9 p.m. yet. I couldn't go home yet on my actual night out.
Off to Terry's cash game. I bought in for $300 and was seated with Jeremy, Ryan, Joe, Uncle Bob and Pyxis. Not a bad table. I stacked Ryan early on. I had KK, He flopped the nut flush draw. I was pretty sure he was pushing with the draw so I was willing to gamble. I was playing pretty tight, picking my spots trying to stay out trouble. It was working. I was up about $250.
Then I had a cooler hand that I just do not think I can fold. The game is 1/2 and it is pot limit preflop. I raise to 7 with 77. Uncle Bob reraises from the small blind to 21 (I think). I decide to set mine. I was in position so I think I have to do that. Flop is K79 with 2 clubs. He bets $20. I raise to $60. He raises another $100. Now this is where I should have thought longer. I did not spend enough time thinking about what he could have here. I just thought..Hey this is uncle bob...he could be doing this with a flush draw...with AK or with AA. I am all in. As soon as he insta calls I knew it. You have a set right. Yep. Top set. Grrr. Can I fold bottom set there for $250 total? Against a different player I can maybe fold..but I am not sure that I am a good enough player to fold a set there. Maybe if we are really deep stacked I can fold bottom set, but not when he has less than a buy-in in his stack. Thoughts? Fold?
I build back up from that cooler hand when I run into another cooler. The other table decides to take a break. During their break Charlie grabs part of his stack and sits at our table for a little bit. He is pretty aggressive and we have a lot of history. I know that he thinks that I do not like to play big pots with him. This thought blinded me from making what in retrospect is an easy fold to Charlie. I am in the big blind, he is the small blind. A few limpers. He raised to 12. I reraised to 30. I had QQ. It folds to him and he raises the pot. Now this is where I tanked. I thought for quite a while before deciding to commit my stack. He had KK and hit quads just to rub it in. I know better. I do not need to stack off there with QQ. Charlie is really aggressive and likes to put a lot of money into pots....post flop. He would always rather play post flop because he is a really good player. I know that. As soon as he made the third raise I should have known better. With a smaller pair or a big Ace he is just going to call my raise even out of position to see a flop. He knows that he can outplay me after the flop. (I know it...he better know it.)
Two big pots and I am rebuying. A few people leave and we combined back to one table. My stack goes up and down. I lost a decent sized pot when Jeremy called with k4 s and hit the flush. I had AQ. I had top two pair and should have known better, but I still bet into him on the river and paid off his min raise. Dumbass. (Me not Jeremy)
Next hand I am UTG and look at one card the A of diamonds. Fuck it. I am not looking at the other card. I can only raise to 7 anyway, if I get raised I will look. (Can you say Tilt from the K4 hand). Flop is Axx. One diamond. I bet out. I think I got two callers. The turn is a 5. (I eventually looked and I had A5) I bet, Jeremy raised me all in. I call. I got there. River is blank and my two pair beat his AQ. Just trading chips.
We end the game at 2 am. I am down $275 total for the night. Not to bad for those two big pots that I lost. I have resigned myself to the thought process that I had to call with the Set and should have folded the QQ. I have been thinking about many of the hands from that night for the last few days. Hopefully I learned something from all of the hands and I can really start to get my game back together. I have been running bad which leads to playing bad so I am really trying hard to get it together.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Horseshoe Indiana continued
The cash games at the Horseshoe were unbelievable. I was bummed about getting busted out of the tourney, but I was really excited about being able to get back to the cash games. I played Saturday night. Mike and I get seated at the same table and he immediately asks for a table change. Thank you Mike. This was the easiest table to play against.
Seat One. Open
Seat Two. Youngish girl who keeps rebuying for $100. If she missed the flop or if there were cards higher than her pocket pair..her face told the whole story. All you had to do was look. We got into several big pots together. The first one..I button straddle to $5. She raises to $20. I look down at AK s. There were two callers before me. I call. Flop is qq5. I know that she does not have a queen. She goes all in for about $95. I have two overs and a back door flush draw. I call. Turn J, River J. Her pocket 88 done. She rebuys. About ten hands later... I get AK again. I raise to $20. She calls. Flop K87. She checks, I bet $45..she goes all in for about $35 more. I call. She has 87. Nice hand. What was funny about the hand is she says oh wow.. I get my money back. I said...Some of it..for now. That did not sit well with her. I busted her about two rounds later. I do not even remember the hand. Buh Bye.
After she leaves a really aggressive guy sits down. I took about $100 off of him in a few small pots. I am ready to leave up to about $800 when this hand happens...I am under the gun.. I pick up KK. I raise to $12. He re raises to $55. Back to me..I look he has about $200 total. I bet $200. He calls off his stack with 1010. Of course he hit runner runner straight. Really. $200 with 10 10. Wow. I decided to stick around for a little bit more.
Seat Three. Olderish lady who had about $450 when I sat down. I only won a few small pots off of her, but she kept giving her money away. She check raised a guy on the river with the board showing A34510 with a pair of 10s. And she thought she was good. He of course had the straight. She finally cashed out with about $75. I did not get much directly from her but I got a lot of her money from the rest of the table.
Seat Four. He is dating or married to the original seat 2. Whenever he entered the pot he raised to 17 or 20. Kind of a big raise for 1/2 when there is not a straddle. I pick up 66 and call his raise I am in the cutoff. Flop is 8 high. He way over bets the pot and goes all in for about $85. I tank. I look at him and say...I think you missed with AK. I call. I was right. Ship it. He leaves the table. The guy who takes his seat is pretty abc and I did not get into any hands with him.
Seat Five. Very aggressive. Very good. If I wasn't winning the hand he usually was. We only got into one semi major pot when I had kq and flopped two pair. He called my bet on the flop and turn but folded the river. I think he was chasing a flush draw. Of course he did not have the odds to chase..but that never stopped anyone before.
Seat Six. Pretty aggressive good player. He has about $600 in front of him so we avoided playing big pots together. He was the recipient of the gift check raise from Seat three. I called a decent sized river bet from him early on with middle pair when I knew we was full of it. We avoided anything with each other after that.
Seat Seven. Some donky woman from Cleveland.
Seat Eight. Ok player. Understood mostly how to play, but did call some really crazy hands. The first being my first button straddle to $5. I raise to $20 with AKs. He was first to act and called with A5. His rationale. It was suited. He took a decent pot from me early on with that hand when he flopped two pair.
Seat Nine. Solid player. Able to fold when he thinks he is beat. Had about $500-600 in front of him most of the night. He made a great lay down to me that EVERYONE at the table thought was horrible. He was right. I raised in late position with a4 d. Why am I raising with this junk. Because I can at this table. the flop is A62 with two diamonds. Nice. I over bet the pot trying to look like I am afraid of the flush draw. Three callers. Turn a diamond. Now here is where I make my mistake. Grrr. I check raise his $55 bet on the turn to $100 straight. He just smooth calls. River is blank. I have the nuts. I bet $125. He tanks. He shows the 89 of diamonds and mucks. F***. Why did I check raise the turn. I should have waited. Damn. Seat Five went ballistic and asked if he could play those cards. He thought the guy should have shoved on me. Damn why wasn't he the one who hit. I later told the guy that he was right and that I had the nuts. I am not sure that he believed me.
Seat Ten. The first guy did not play too long because the donk in seat seven took most of this stack. Right after I lose $200 with KK vs 10 10 we get involved in a hand. I am Big Blind. I have A6. He raised to $12. About 5 callers. Normally I do not like to play this hand..but i am a little steamed. Flop is A55. I check he bets about $20 (don't remember exact amount). I do remember thinking..ok Jen...do not go broke with a weak ace against an unknown player. Turn is the beautiful 6. Nice. I check he bets $50. I just call. I want to make sure the river is a blank. River is a 9. Ok. I do not think this guy has A9. I lead out for $75. I thought about checking but I am not sure he would bet the river. He thinks for 2 seconds and calls. I say two pair. He nastily says show me. I really wanted to slow roll him and just show the ace or the six. But I decided that is a really dick move and I do not want to be that person. He showed A10 off. He left about three hands later.
The new seat ten. This hand may be one of the weirdest I have ever seen. It is about 4:30 am. I am getting tired and cold. I decide I am only playing one more round. I did not really play any hands with this guy but I have been pretty active. I button straddle for $6. (I LOVE THE BUTTON STRADDLE). Before the dealer even finishes dealing he raised to $15. Umm it is not your turn to act. The small blind acts first. Even knowing he is raising to $15 they both call. The dealer releases the $15 when it is his turn. Everyone else folds. I do not even look at my cards...I make it $45. Small blind really wants to call but he reluctantly gets out of the way as does the big blind. Guy calls. I finally look down at 68 h. I like that hand. Flop is 6710 with 2 hearts. Nice. I have a pair, a flush draw and a straight draw. I bet $50. He calls. Hmm. Turn is a 5. Even better. Open ended. I look at his stack he has about $85 left. I go all in. He thinks and thinks. He shows the hand to his girlfriend sitting behind him and continues to think. Finally he looks back at her and she says something to him and he calls. I was not happy about that. What happened to one player per hand. I call the floor over and explain what happened. He says she did not say anything to him. I call bullshit and say he shouldn't have even showed her his cards.
The floor guy is completely lost as to what to do. I said his hand should be dead. He says no. He says we will play for the money already in the pot and not the rest of his stack. I argue. I said no. I either have the best hand or the best draw. If we are going to see the river he should have to commit the rest of his stack. He does not agree. The river is a blank. He shows qj of hearts. Wow. Really glad that the heart did not come. Guess I did not have the best draw. BUT...I did have the best hand. Ship it. I then proceed to tell the dealer that I do not want her sitting behind him anymore. They leave the table. He yells some bullshit to me that there is no way I know what they said because they were speaking in Chinese. I then said..ok asshole...another rule violation..English only at the table! That was fun. It cost me about $80 bucks.
I yelled at the floor guy later that it was the worst ruling ever. He semi agreed but did not know what else to do. I said..call his hand dead...give him a warning.. a penalty...guess he never thought about that.
I finally decided that I needed some sleep for the long drive home the next day and went to bed about 5. It was a wild game. I wish that I could have stayed all night. I love casino poker.
Seat One. Open
Seat Two. Youngish girl who keeps rebuying for $100. If she missed the flop or if there were cards higher than her pocket pair..her face told the whole story. All you had to do was look. We got into several big pots together. The first one..I button straddle to $5. She raises to $20. I look down at AK s. There were two callers before me. I call. Flop is qq5. I know that she does not have a queen. She goes all in for about $95. I have two overs and a back door flush draw. I call. Turn J, River J. Her pocket 88 done. She rebuys. About ten hands later... I get AK again. I raise to $20. She calls. Flop K87. She checks, I bet $45..she goes all in for about $35 more. I call. She has 87. Nice hand. What was funny about the hand is she says oh wow.. I get my money back. I said...Some of it..for now. That did not sit well with her. I busted her about two rounds later. I do not even remember the hand. Buh Bye.
After she leaves a really aggressive guy sits down. I took about $100 off of him in a few small pots. I am ready to leave up to about $800 when this hand happens...I am under the gun.. I pick up KK. I raise to $12. He re raises to $55. Back to me..I look he has about $200 total. I bet $200. He calls off his stack with 1010. Of course he hit runner runner straight. Really. $200 with 10 10. Wow. I decided to stick around for a little bit more.
Seat Three. Olderish lady who had about $450 when I sat down. I only won a few small pots off of her, but she kept giving her money away. She check raised a guy on the river with the board showing A34510 with a pair of 10s. And she thought she was good. He of course had the straight. She finally cashed out with about $75. I did not get much directly from her but I got a lot of her money from the rest of the table.
Seat Four. He is dating or married to the original seat 2. Whenever he entered the pot he raised to 17 or 20. Kind of a big raise for 1/2 when there is not a straddle. I pick up 66 and call his raise I am in the cutoff. Flop is 8 high. He way over bets the pot and goes all in for about $85. I tank. I look at him and say...I think you missed with AK. I call. I was right. Ship it. He leaves the table. The guy who takes his seat is pretty abc and I did not get into any hands with him.
Seat Five. Very aggressive. Very good. If I wasn't winning the hand he usually was. We only got into one semi major pot when I had kq and flopped two pair. He called my bet on the flop and turn but folded the river. I think he was chasing a flush draw. Of course he did not have the odds to chase..but that never stopped anyone before.
Seat Six. Pretty aggressive good player. He has about $600 in front of him so we avoided playing big pots together. He was the recipient of the gift check raise from Seat three. I called a decent sized river bet from him early on with middle pair when I knew we was full of it. We avoided anything with each other after that.
Seat Seven. Some donky woman from Cleveland.
Seat Eight. Ok player. Understood mostly how to play, but did call some really crazy hands. The first being my first button straddle to $5. I raise to $20 with AKs. He was first to act and called with A5. His rationale. It was suited. He took a decent pot from me early on with that hand when he flopped two pair.
Seat Nine. Solid player. Able to fold when he thinks he is beat. Had about $500-600 in front of him most of the night. He made a great lay down to me that EVERYONE at the table thought was horrible. He was right. I raised in late position with a4 d. Why am I raising with this junk. Because I can at this table. the flop is A62 with two diamonds. Nice. I over bet the pot trying to look like I am afraid of the flush draw. Three callers. Turn a diamond. Now here is where I make my mistake. Grrr. I check raise his $55 bet on the turn to $100 straight. He just smooth calls. River is blank. I have the nuts. I bet $125. He tanks. He shows the 89 of diamonds and mucks. F***. Why did I check raise the turn. I should have waited. Damn. Seat Five went ballistic and asked if he could play those cards. He thought the guy should have shoved on me. Damn why wasn't he the one who hit. I later told the guy that he was right and that I had the nuts. I am not sure that he believed me.
Seat Ten. The first guy did not play too long because the donk in seat seven took most of this stack. Right after I lose $200 with KK vs 10 10 we get involved in a hand. I am Big Blind. I have A6. He raised to $12. About 5 callers. Normally I do not like to play this hand..but i am a little steamed. Flop is A55. I check he bets about $20 (don't remember exact amount). I do remember thinking..ok Jen...do not go broke with a weak ace against an unknown player. Turn is the beautiful 6. Nice. I check he bets $50. I just call. I want to make sure the river is a blank. River is a 9. Ok. I do not think this guy has A9. I lead out for $75. I thought about checking but I am not sure he would bet the river. He thinks for 2 seconds and calls. I say two pair. He nastily says show me. I really wanted to slow roll him and just show the ace or the six. But I decided that is a really dick move and I do not want to be that person. He showed A10 off. He left about three hands later.
The new seat ten. This hand may be one of the weirdest I have ever seen. It is about 4:30 am. I am getting tired and cold. I decide I am only playing one more round. I did not really play any hands with this guy but I have been pretty active. I button straddle for $6. (I LOVE THE BUTTON STRADDLE). Before the dealer even finishes dealing he raised to $15. Umm it is not your turn to act. The small blind acts first. Even knowing he is raising to $15 they both call. The dealer releases the $15 when it is his turn. Everyone else folds. I do not even look at my cards...I make it $45. Small blind really wants to call but he reluctantly gets out of the way as does the big blind. Guy calls. I finally look down at 68 h. I like that hand. Flop is 6710 with 2 hearts. Nice. I have a pair, a flush draw and a straight draw. I bet $50. He calls. Hmm. Turn is a 5. Even better. Open ended. I look at his stack he has about $85 left. I go all in. He thinks and thinks. He shows the hand to his girlfriend sitting behind him and continues to think. Finally he looks back at her and she says something to him and he calls. I was not happy about that. What happened to one player per hand. I call the floor over and explain what happened. He says she did not say anything to him. I call bullshit and say he shouldn't have even showed her his cards.
The floor guy is completely lost as to what to do. I said his hand should be dead. He says no. He says we will play for the money already in the pot and not the rest of his stack. I argue. I said no. I either have the best hand or the best draw. If we are going to see the river he should have to commit the rest of his stack. He does not agree. The river is a blank. He shows qj of hearts. Wow. Really glad that the heart did not come. Guess I did not have the best draw. BUT...I did have the best hand. Ship it. I then proceed to tell the dealer that I do not want her sitting behind him anymore. They leave the table. He yells some bullshit to me that there is no way I know what they said because they were speaking in Chinese. I then said..ok asshole...another rule violation..English only at the table! That was fun. It cost me about $80 bucks.
I yelled at the floor guy later that it was the worst ruling ever. He semi agreed but did not know what else to do. I said..call his hand dead...give him a warning.. a penalty...guess he never thought about that.
I finally decided that I needed some sleep for the long drive home the next day and went to bed about 5. It was a wild game. I wish that I could have stayed all night. I love casino poker.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
What a weekend
Went to Horseshoe Indiana for the WSOP circuit event. It was a blast. Played quite a bit of poker, most of it good.
Friday afternoon..sit at the 1/2 game with $200. It is a great table, I am the youngest player at the table and the standard raise is to $6. If I cannot beat this table of nits, I have no business playing this game. I am playing tight aggressive because they see me as a rock and I do not want to get out of line too early. Win a few small pots. Then I pick up A9 on the button. There is a raise to $6. I just call. No reason to go crazy. Flop is 9 high with 2 diamonds. Sb bets 10 dollars. Hmm.. that smells like a flush draw. I thought about raising here, but he did not seem like the guy that would fold a flush draw ever...so lets play pot control. Turn is a Queen. Another $10 bet. I guess I could raise here, but I really don't want to go crazy with Top pair in case my flush draw read is wrong. River is a king. Now he grabs 40 dollars, adds 20, then takes away 10 and bets $50. What the hell is going on here? Was he betting the flush draw and hit a king? I think he missed the flush draw and is trying to bet me off this hand. I call. He just sits there. I look at him and say "Sir, I call..what do you have?" He shakes his head and shows a 7 high flush draw. I turn over my hand and scoop the pot. The older guys at the table were telling me/him that they would NEVER have called there but placating me with the standard "good call honey". I just kept my mouth shut and prayed that they would all stay at the table. About 15 minutes later I hear the call...cash game players this is your last hand..we will be closing all the tables for the freeroll. What? No way, this is the best table ever. Grr. That is a bad beat. I left the table up $193 in 45 minutes.
The freeroll was a joke. I did not even really want to play. Busted that pretty quickly with kk v. a7. Oh well.
Played again later in the night and had Colin and Gross at my table for most of the time. Colin could not win there so he left and went to another table. There were mostly standard junk there, nothing too fun. Except the 2 4 hand. I got 2 4 a bunch of times that day and I folded it almost every time. That is very hard for me to do, but I am really trying to get better at this game and playing 2 4 for a lot of money is just not a good thing. A really aggressive guy sits at the table and I can tell he is just waiting for some action and big pots. He button straddles for $10. I am utg and raise to $30 with the old 2 4. I know that there is no way this guy is folding his button straddle so I want to play a pot with him with my favorite hand. Gross then interferes and calls the $30. WTF. Aggressive guy calls as well. Flop is A K 5 rainbow. Not a great flop for 24, but a great flop for the "nitty woman" who raised to $30 under the gun. I bet $55. Tom thinks for a few minutes and finally folds. Aggressive guy insta mucks. I really wanted to show the 2 4, but I decided not a good idea yet. Gross tells me that he had JJ. I tell him..well you know I had one of two hands. AA or 2 4. I later told him it was the 2 4.
Gross got his money back from me later when we both flopped trip fours and I had him outkicked and he went runner runner flush. Luckily I just check called the river. Phew. Left that table up only about $30 after about 2 hours.
I was done for the night as I developed a migraine and I could not continue to focus.
Saturday is the Tourney. My table draw seems ok, a few older players really solid, a few older donks and a few randoms. As I am staring at the guy on my left I see that he has what appears to be 2 WSOP circuit rings. Great. Of course I ask him about them and find out that he was the "unofficial" WSOP circuit event player of the year for 2009. Nice. Maybe I can learn something from him. We chit chat and he shows me his cards some times after he folds and we discuss strategy a little. Worth the price of admission.
We had a guy who did not show up for the first three levels and then this black guy sits down. Hmm. He looks a little familiar. Dwyte Pilgrim. Just won the Borgata Open for 780,000. Nice. He only lasts a few levels and he is busted. Interesting to watch him play. He got coolered in a big hand and that took most of his chips.
The old Donk on my right bled most his chips away and we got into a big pot together. I called on the button with j10 s. Flop is j 5 9, two hearts. He checks. I think about checking behind, but decide..I better bet here. I bet about 2/3 of the pot, he tanks and shoves. I know that he has a flush draw. Fuck. What should I do. Why didn't I check the flop and see what comes on the turn. Grr. I call. Before he turns over his cards, I say "Show me 10 high flush draw." Nope. The 7 high flush draw. Really? The turn is another J, please do not let him get there. 6 of hearts on the river. Grr. Why does it always get there.
I lost a few other medium sized pots. Almost ready for dinner break and I have 6600. I want to push because after dinner the blinds will be 500/1000. I do not want to come back to six big blinds. Even I could not push with the garbage that I had. Off to dinner break.
Two hands after dinner I am in the big blind. Please let me double up or get knocked out. Poker tournaments are boring when you cannot play any hands. The button raised by BB for the 100th time, so I thought no matter what I have I am pushing. I look down at 10 10. All in. He calls with q3 and I avoid his over and the flush draw that he picked up. Yeah. I doubled up. Soon after that I get moved to a new table. I manage to double up one more time there to a high point of 27,000. Then, I lost about 4,500 with Aj vs. Ak. Luckily he did not reraise me preflop and luckily I did not hit an Ace. I lose a few more blinds and antes and have 21,500 when I pick up 99. The blinds are 700/1400 with a 200 ante. I raise to 4600 in mid position, one caller. The big blind goes all in for 19600. What do I do here? I would have 16,900 left if I fold. A little more than 10 big blinds. Can I really expect to get a better hand than 99? I finally decided to call because about 20 minutes ago this guy pulled the same move with 910 o and he did it another time when he did not have to show his cards. I am going back and forth in my head about the call. I think I have to call there.
I wanted to shove the next two hands, put i picked up 5 high each time and I wanted to get my money in a little better. I end up in the big blind with 10 2 and call all in for my last 500 chips above the big blind. He has A10. Of course. I cannot even have 2 live cards. We both hit the 10, but it is not enough and I am out of the tourney about 105 place. That really sucks. Oh well. Off to play cash.
I will talk about the nightly cash game later. It was juicy!
Friday afternoon..sit at the 1/2 game with $200. It is a great table, I am the youngest player at the table and the standard raise is to $6. If I cannot beat this table of nits, I have no business playing this game. I am playing tight aggressive because they see me as a rock and I do not want to get out of line too early. Win a few small pots. Then I pick up A9 on the button. There is a raise to $6. I just call. No reason to go crazy. Flop is 9 high with 2 diamonds. Sb bets 10 dollars. Hmm.. that smells like a flush draw. I thought about raising here, but he did not seem like the guy that would fold a flush draw ever...so lets play pot control. Turn is a Queen. Another $10 bet. I guess I could raise here, but I really don't want to go crazy with Top pair in case my flush draw read is wrong. River is a king. Now he grabs 40 dollars, adds 20, then takes away 10 and bets $50. What the hell is going on here? Was he betting the flush draw and hit a king? I think he missed the flush draw and is trying to bet me off this hand. I call. He just sits there. I look at him and say "Sir, I call..what do you have?" He shakes his head and shows a 7 high flush draw. I turn over my hand and scoop the pot. The older guys at the table were telling me/him that they would NEVER have called there but placating me with the standard "good call honey". I just kept my mouth shut and prayed that they would all stay at the table. About 15 minutes later I hear the call...cash game players this is your last hand..we will be closing all the tables for the freeroll. What? No way, this is the best table ever. Grr. That is a bad beat. I left the table up $193 in 45 minutes.
The freeroll was a joke. I did not even really want to play. Busted that pretty quickly with kk v. a7. Oh well.
Played again later in the night and had Colin and Gross at my table for most of the time. Colin could not win there so he left and went to another table. There were mostly standard junk there, nothing too fun. Except the 2 4 hand. I got 2 4 a bunch of times that day and I folded it almost every time. That is very hard for me to do, but I am really trying to get better at this game and playing 2 4 for a lot of money is just not a good thing. A really aggressive guy sits at the table and I can tell he is just waiting for some action and big pots. He button straddles for $10. I am utg and raise to $30 with the old 2 4. I know that there is no way this guy is folding his button straddle so I want to play a pot with him with my favorite hand. Gross then interferes and calls the $30. WTF. Aggressive guy calls as well. Flop is A K 5 rainbow. Not a great flop for 24, but a great flop for the "nitty woman" who raised to $30 under the gun. I bet $55. Tom thinks for a few minutes and finally folds. Aggressive guy insta mucks. I really wanted to show the 2 4, but I decided not a good idea yet. Gross tells me that he had JJ. I tell him..well you know I had one of two hands. AA or 2 4. I later told him it was the 2 4.
Gross got his money back from me later when we both flopped trip fours and I had him outkicked and he went runner runner flush. Luckily I just check called the river. Phew. Left that table up only about $30 after about 2 hours.
I was done for the night as I developed a migraine and I could not continue to focus.
Saturday is the Tourney. My table draw seems ok, a few older players really solid, a few older donks and a few randoms. As I am staring at the guy on my left I see that he has what appears to be 2 WSOP circuit rings. Great. Of course I ask him about them and find out that he was the "unofficial" WSOP circuit event player of the year for 2009. Nice. Maybe I can learn something from him. We chit chat and he shows me his cards some times after he folds and we discuss strategy a little. Worth the price of admission.
We had a guy who did not show up for the first three levels and then this black guy sits down. Hmm. He looks a little familiar. Dwyte Pilgrim. Just won the Borgata Open for 780,000. Nice. He only lasts a few levels and he is busted. Interesting to watch him play. He got coolered in a big hand and that took most of his chips.
The old Donk on my right bled most his chips away and we got into a big pot together. I called on the button with j10 s. Flop is j 5 9, two hearts. He checks. I think about checking behind, but decide..I better bet here. I bet about 2/3 of the pot, he tanks and shoves. I know that he has a flush draw. Fuck. What should I do. Why didn't I check the flop and see what comes on the turn. Grr. I call. Before he turns over his cards, I say "Show me 10 high flush draw." Nope. The 7 high flush draw. Really? The turn is another J, please do not let him get there. 6 of hearts on the river. Grr. Why does it always get there.
I lost a few other medium sized pots. Almost ready for dinner break and I have 6600. I want to push because after dinner the blinds will be 500/1000. I do not want to come back to six big blinds. Even I could not push with the garbage that I had. Off to dinner break.
Two hands after dinner I am in the big blind. Please let me double up or get knocked out. Poker tournaments are boring when you cannot play any hands. The button raised by BB for the 100th time, so I thought no matter what I have I am pushing. I look down at 10 10. All in. He calls with q3 and I avoid his over and the flush draw that he picked up. Yeah. I doubled up. Soon after that I get moved to a new table. I manage to double up one more time there to a high point of 27,000. Then, I lost about 4,500 with Aj vs. Ak. Luckily he did not reraise me preflop and luckily I did not hit an Ace. I lose a few more blinds and antes and have 21,500 when I pick up 99. The blinds are 700/1400 with a 200 ante. I raise to 4600 in mid position, one caller. The big blind goes all in for 19600. What do I do here? I would have 16,900 left if I fold. A little more than 10 big blinds. Can I really expect to get a better hand than 99? I finally decided to call because about 20 minutes ago this guy pulled the same move with 910 o and he did it another time when he did not have to show his cards. I am going back and forth in my head about the call. I think I have to call there.
I wanted to shove the next two hands, put i picked up 5 high each time and I wanted to get my money in a little better. I end up in the big blind with 10 2 and call all in for my last 500 chips above the big blind. He has A10. Of course. I cannot even have 2 live cards. We both hit the 10, but it is not enough and I am out of the tourney about 105 place. That really sucks. Oh well. Off to play cash.
I will talk about the nightly cash game later. It was juicy!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Just under the wire
I said I would post sometime within a week. I made it. It was a crazy weekend for me. I rarely get the opportunity to play two nights in a weekend, but this was a "special" weekend and my husband did not care that I played both nights.
Friday night. Deep Stack tourney at Colin's house. I was to the left of Colin and he was on fire. He could not miss, 2 pair, a set, flush etc. etc. At one point he almost had the table covered and he sure let us know it. I am being patient and not pushing or being stupid. I was actually disciplined. I think that I only played about 8 pots the whole tourney. The first time I actually get a hand is in the small blind, I pick up KK. Tom limped UTG and it folded to me. I could not believe that Colin folded his button. WTF. I'm a little weary about Tom's UTG limp, but I put a smallish raise out there. BB folds and he calls. Hmm. Flop k99. Nice flop. How can I get any money from Tom? It is the first hand I have raised all tourney, I think that if I check here, he is going to be very suspicous. So...lets make a scared bet. I don't think that the chips were even out of my hand and his cards were in the muck. Grrr. Oh well. I am finally scooping a few chips.
Two orbits later, I pick up KK again and again in the small blind. Thank you Colin for dealing. Folds to cut off, she min raises, no callers until me. I think about reraising but for some stupid reason I just call. As soon as I said call, I was pissed at myself because I know better than to just call in that spot. I am out of position. Flop, AQ2. Grr. There is almost always an ace out there. I check, she make a weak bet. Hmm. Let's check raise and see if we can get her out of here. She thought it through, but we have too much history for her to fold here to me. She thinks that I like to bully her too much. She calls. Turn is blank. Check check. River is a 2. Hmm. Everyone knows that my favorite hand is 2 4. Maybe she will believe me now. I make an almost pot sized bet. She had the cards near the muck and then she just could not fold her A5. Really. A5. Wow. I just kept my mouth shut. I was mad at my self. I should have reraised preflop. Ok I still have some chips left. I am not desperate yet and I am a good short stack player. I steal the blinds a few times over the next few orbits, but I cannot really get anything going because the table is being very aggressive.
The final hand. I get KK in the small blind again. I am starting to wonder if Colin is monkeying the deck and is just off one player. (Just kidding.) Blinds are 400/800 and I have 6,400 left. One limper, Colin raises the button to 2,400, I shove, he has to call. He raised with 7 5 spades. Great. I KNEW I was not going to win this hand. He flops a flush draw, turns a straight draw and hits both on the river. Nice hand. Dick. We argued for a minute about his raise there. I think that he is needlessly putting his chips at risk, he thinks pressure pressure pressure. There were 3 short stacks behind him that he raised into. Pick on the medium stacks. The short stacks have to push. I still think that it was the wrong play for him. I was an 80% favorite in the hand. I will take it. Hopefully next time I will be luckier. But whatever. Let's play the cash game.
I love to play cash games. I can have fun. I almsot stacked Meat with aq vs. kq. We both flopped a queen and I let him do the betting for me. I hit two pair on the river and he still bet and called my raise. I guess me bluffing him a while back with 2 4 still sticks in his head. Hey Dude, I know you will call me down light..I will not be bluffing you for a while.
Later I flopped a pair and straight draw, turn the flush draw and hit the flush on the river. Because it was runner runner flush he could not fold to my river raise. I think I let Mike take a pot away from me. I am not sure. I felt beat. I called in raise with j10 in position. Flop is J10A, with 2 hearts. He bets 15, I raise to 40. He reraises all in for about 280. Hmm. I cannot stack off here with bottom two pair. Can I? I think I am beat. KQ is his favorite hand and I think he is protecting against the flush draw. I show the hand and fold. He looked surprised so I think that he flopped broadway and was sick that I folded. I hate bottom two. I am committed to playing smarter poker and I think it was the right fold.
Saturday was ladies night. Wow. The amount of alcohol that I consumed was crazy. I think that I played poker that night, but I am not really sure. I took some notes during the game, but I do not have the notes with me. I will post about the hands later.
Friday night. Deep Stack tourney at Colin's house. I was to the left of Colin and he was on fire. He could not miss, 2 pair, a set, flush etc. etc. At one point he almost had the table covered and he sure let us know it. I am being patient and not pushing or being stupid. I was actually disciplined. I think that I only played about 8 pots the whole tourney. The first time I actually get a hand is in the small blind, I pick up KK. Tom limped UTG and it folded to me. I could not believe that Colin folded his button. WTF. I'm a little weary about Tom's UTG limp, but I put a smallish raise out there. BB folds and he calls. Hmm. Flop k99. Nice flop. How can I get any money from Tom? It is the first hand I have raised all tourney, I think that if I check here, he is going to be very suspicous. So...lets make a scared bet. I don't think that the chips were even out of my hand and his cards were in the muck. Grrr. Oh well. I am finally scooping a few chips.
Two orbits later, I pick up KK again and again in the small blind. Thank you Colin for dealing. Folds to cut off, she min raises, no callers until me. I think about reraising but for some stupid reason I just call. As soon as I said call, I was pissed at myself because I know better than to just call in that spot. I am out of position. Flop, AQ2. Grr. There is almost always an ace out there. I check, she make a weak bet. Hmm. Let's check raise and see if we can get her out of here. She thought it through, but we have too much history for her to fold here to me. She thinks that I like to bully her too much. She calls. Turn is blank. Check check. River is a 2. Hmm. Everyone knows that my favorite hand is 2 4. Maybe she will believe me now. I make an almost pot sized bet. She had the cards near the muck and then she just could not fold her A5. Really. A5. Wow. I just kept my mouth shut. I was mad at my self. I should have reraised preflop. Ok I still have some chips left. I am not desperate yet and I am a good short stack player. I steal the blinds a few times over the next few orbits, but I cannot really get anything going because the table is being very aggressive.
The final hand. I get KK in the small blind again. I am starting to wonder if Colin is monkeying the deck and is just off one player. (Just kidding.) Blinds are 400/800 and I have 6,400 left. One limper, Colin raises the button to 2,400, I shove, he has to call. He raised with 7 5 spades. Great. I KNEW I was not going to win this hand. He flops a flush draw, turns a straight draw and hits both on the river. Nice hand. Dick. We argued for a minute about his raise there. I think that he is needlessly putting his chips at risk, he thinks pressure pressure pressure. There were 3 short stacks behind him that he raised into. Pick on the medium stacks. The short stacks have to push. I still think that it was the wrong play for him. I was an 80% favorite in the hand. I will take it. Hopefully next time I will be luckier. But whatever. Let's play the cash game.
I love to play cash games. I can have fun. I almsot stacked Meat with aq vs. kq. We both flopped a queen and I let him do the betting for me. I hit two pair on the river and he still bet and called my raise. I guess me bluffing him a while back with 2 4 still sticks in his head. Hey Dude, I know you will call me down light..I will not be bluffing you for a while.
Later I flopped a pair and straight draw, turn the flush draw and hit the flush on the river. Because it was runner runner flush he could not fold to my river raise. I think I let Mike take a pot away from me. I am not sure. I felt beat. I called in raise with j10 in position. Flop is J10A, with 2 hearts. He bets 15, I raise to 40. He reraises all in for about 280. Hmm. I cannot stack off here with bottom two pair. Can I? I think I am beat. KQ is his favorite hand and I think he is protecting against the flush draw. I show the hand and fold. He looked surprised so I think that he flopped broadway and was sick that I folded. I hate bottom two. I am committed to playing smarter poker and I think it was the right fold.
Saturday was ladies night. Wow. The amount of alcohol that I consumed was crazy. I think that I played poker that night, but I am not really sure. I took some notes during the game, but I do not have the notes with me. I will post about the hands later.
Monday, September 20, 2010
I forgot about this blogging thing
I was reading some blogs the other day and I remembered, I wrote a blog once. I think it was about 2-3 months ago. I started searching for it and I realized I wrote it last November. Whoops. I think that I am going to start writing in it. I am making a commitment to write something at least one time per week.
Why am I making this commitment? Because I lack discipline. I have ZERO. Guess what? That kills you at the poker table!
I played poker on Thursday night for a little bit. I was set to leave at 6:30 so that I could go drink and hang out with Julie, Scott, Ang and Tommy. I grabbed a rack and was ready to leave. I was up about $250. My first winning cash session in a while. Yea me. Then I accidentally (really it was by accident) posted my big blind. Now that I have paid for the blinds I have to see my free hands, right? So, about 6:50, its right before my big blind and I am going to cash out and I lose a big pot. Now I am up about $100. Ok that sucks, but a win is a win. The cage at Nautica was closed for 20 minutes. Really? Well, I cannot just stand around with my money, I guess I am playing one more round. I play stupid in two hands. Why? Because I LACK DISCIPLINE! I cannot help myself. I cannot just sit there. So now I am down $220. I am pissed. My lack of discipline in leaving when I said I would and playing hands that I know I should not play has burned me again.
Alright, one last hand and I am leaving. Really! I pick up JJ. UTG raises to 10, next player reraises to $60...what the hell am I supposed to do here with Jacks? Fold, raise, set mine? I have position on the raisers so I decide to take a flop. With these players I know that I am ahead of the raiser and behind the reraiser. I need a jack. Flop is K-10-5 rainbow. Hmm. The raiser checks. The reraiser looks visibly disgusted with that flop. (The reraiser thinks that I am a tight solid player- even kind of nitty so he hated my smooth call preflop) He bets 75. I have to call this. I am starting to think that I can take this pot away from him. I think he has QQ. Turn A. Ok, now I have a gutshot and position lets see what happens. He checks. I bet $110. A smallish bet, but I wanted it to look scary and I only had another $134 behind so he has to know that all my chips are going into the pot. He just calls. What is going on here? Does he already have a straight? Does he have two pair? A set? I am so confused. River is 2. He looks disgusted and checks. I go all in for my last $134 and resign myself to going drinking without any extra money. Its a $680 Pot he has to call the last $134. Right? But wait a second, he is a really good smart player.
Well, luckily for me, this is the one guy at Nautica that does not just put his money in and pray. He thought it through and figured there is no way he can be good here and he would rather save the money. WHEW! He said he had QQ. I believe him. I did not show the bluff, I just said, good lay down, whatever you had. He convinced himself that I had a set of kings. Right you are. Good fold. I left up about $180 dollars. If I had any discipline at the table I would have left up $250 AND I would have been able to see Julie and Scott. Sometimes I really piss myself off.
OK. So I finally have a winning session at poker, lets go to Eddie's for a game with calling stations. Yipee. I am doing really well, playing tight, smart poker. I am even playing solitaire on my Ipod to help prevent the bored play. Well as always, that fails and I start splashing around and playing stupid. I just have to call the reraise with 24 s, its my favorite hand. I do not however have to put another $150 in the pot because I hit the 4. I know better. I knew as I was calling and betting that I was beat and that this cannot end well for me. I ended up losing $300 for the night. Grrr.
OK. Enough for now. I need to have something to talk about for my next blog that will occur some time in the next 7 days.
Why am I making this commitment? Because I lack discipline. I have ZERO. Guess what? That kills you at the poker table!
I played poker on Thursday night for a little bit. I was set to leave at 6:30 so that I could go drink and hang out with Julie, Scott, Ang and Tommy. I grabbed a rack and was ready to leave. I was up about $250. My first winning cash session in a while. Yea me. Then I accidentally (really it was by accident) posted my big blind. Now that I have paid for the blinds I have to see my free hands, right? So, about 6:50, its right before my big blind and I am going to cash out and I lose a big pot. Now I am up about $100. Ok that sucks, but a win is a win. The cage at Nautica was closed for 20 minutes. Really? Well, I cannot just stand around with my money, I guess I am playing one more round. I play stupid in two hands. Why? Because I LACK DISCIPLINE! I cannot help myself. I cannot just sit there. So now I am down $220. I am pissed. My lack of discipline in leaving when I said I would and playing hands that I know I should not play has burned me again.
Alright, one last hand and I am leaving. Really! I pick up JJ. UTG raises to 10, next player reraises to $60...what the hell am I supposed to do here with Jacks? Fold, raise, set mine? I have position on the raisers so I decide to take a flop. With these players I know that I am ahead of the raiser and behind the reraiser. I need a jack. Flop is K-10-5 rainbow. Hmm. The raiser checks. The reraiser looks visibly disgusted with that flop. (The reraiser thinks that I am a tight solid player- even kind of nitty so he hated my smooth call preflop) He bets 75. I have to call this. I am starting to think that I can take this pot away from him. I think he has QQ. Turn A. Ok, now I have a gutshot and position lets see what happens. He checks. I bet $110. A smallish bet, but I wanted it to look scary and I only had another $134 behind so he has to know that all my chips are going into the pot. He just calls. What is going on here? Does he already have a straight? Does he have two pair? A set? I am so confused. River is 2. He looks disgusted and checks. I go all in for my last $134 and resign myself to going drinking without any extra money. Its a $680 Pot he has to call the last $134. Right? But wait a second, he is a really good smart player.
Well, luckily for me, this is the one guy at Nautica that does not just put his money in and pray. He thought it through and figured there is no way he can be good here and he would rather save the money. WHEW! He said he had QQ. I believe him. I did not show the bluff, I just said, good lay down, whatever you had. He convinced himself that I had a set of kings. Right you are. Good fold. I left up about $180 dollars. If I had any discipline at the table I would have left up $250 AND I would have been able to see Julie and Scott. Sometimes I really piss myself off.
OK. So I finally have a winning session at poker, lets go to Eddie's for a game with calling stations. Yipee. I am doing really well, playing tight, smart poker. I am even playing solitaire on my Ipod to help prevent the bored play. Well as always, that fails and I start splashing around and playing stupid. I just have to call the reraise with 24 s, its my favorite hand. I do not however have to put another $150 in the pot because I hit the 4. I know better. I knew as I was calling and betting that I was beat and that this cannot end well for me. I ended up losing $300 for the night. Grrr.
OK. Enough for now. I need to have something to talk about for my next blog that will occur some time in the next 7 days.
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