I finally broke my tournament drought. It was only a ten player tournament, but it was in my WSOP League so the win was very important. The points I received for 1st guaranteed me a spot in the finals. 1st and 2nd place in the finals each get $2,000. That would be a nice bankroll booster right before Vegas. Good Luck me.
I have been playing a decent amount of cash games lately. I have been running and playing a little better. I love to gamble and play a lot of hands but that was getting me in a lot of trouble lately. I am very happy to say that I corrected that leak (for now) and I am playing much better. I have been watching players that I know are winning players and trying to learn as much as possible. We shall see how it goes.
I played a cash game at my office last night. We were supposed to start at 7, but everyone had stuff to do, so we did not start until about 9:30 or so. That was fine with me as I met a few friends at the bar attached to my office building. I was feeling pretty good when the game started. I did not play very well for the first hour or so. I had decent hands and decent draws but I was not playing the hands very well. I started with 300 and had to reload a 100. Good thing I did for when this hand came up. Grayday was in the small blind, Megan was in the big blind. I was in earlyish position and look down at AA. I raise to 15. It was kind of a big raise but I hate playing out of position and I was pretty hopeful that the small blind and big blind would call. I had been raising Megan's big blind a lot and she pointed it out so I was hopeful I could get a call. Grayday loves to play ATC so I was hopeful about him as well. It folds to Grayday in the small blind and he raises to 45. Everyone folds to me. I want to four bet, but I figure I can play the pot heads up and in position so I just call. Flop is 24x with 2 hearts. For the life of me, I cannot remember the third card. Grayday bets 75. I decide he has a big pair and will not lay it down on this board so I shove all in. I think I have about 150 or so more. (Normally I remember all this shit, but it was early in the night and it is kind of a blur.) Grayday gathers the chips necessary to call and is about to make the call when he realizes that 24 is on the board. He knows that is my favorite hand. Now he starts talking out loud. Do you really have 24. I know it is your favorite hand, I don't know if I can lay down KK. I was really hoping that my favorite hand being on the board would not cost me the call. He eventually decides his KK is good and calls. I announce I have AA with the A of hearts. Any guess what the turn card is? The King of Hearts. I wanted to puke a little. Luckily for me the 9of hearts hits the river and I double up. These kind of roller coaster hands are why I love to hate this game.
When I posted the game, I said we would play until the game broke. At about 4:30 I was exhausted, but we were having so much fun I did not want to quit. I thought about calling last orbit, but I am DeJen so I did not. We had 4-5 people at that point so the game was still good. When we were 4 handed, Data and Mike T. continued to play pretty tight (i.e. smart poker and folding junk hands even though we were 4 handed). I mixed it up with Grayday quite a bit. One hand we played I had 83 off. I button straddled. I think he raised, but not positive. You know I like to defend my straddles. I flopped a 3 and called his flop and turn bet. I got 2 pair on the river. He checked. Now I was sure he had nothing but I bet pretty big trying to make it look like I missed the club draw. He called. I announced 2 pair. He berated me of course. I kind of deserved that one. I really thought he had nothing until he called the river bet. I really wish I knew what he had.
The final hand of the night was an interesting one. (This was not called as the last hand, it just ended up being the last hand). I was in the small blind. Grayday button straddled. I called the 5 as did Data. I think Mike did also, but not postive. Grayday raised to 20 all day. I called with qj. Flop is k107. It was checked to Grayday who bet. I think he bet 35. (again normally I remember amounts but I was really tired.) I was the only caller. Turn was an A. I checked. Grayday did his stand up look at the board and he checked behind. Shit. I wanted to check raise. River is a 7. I don't love that card as I no longer have the nuts. I bet 50. Grayday shipped it for 252 more. Can you say vomit in your mouth. I actually tanked. I kept thinking did he really fill up here. I started talking to see if I could get any info from him. His check behind on the turn is what confused the hell out of me. He was being very aggressive 4 handed why check the turn after I have shown weakness and checked. Is he trapping with a set or two pair? I could not figure that part out. Finally, when I studied the board I determined that no way he would have checked the turn with 2 pair or a set so I made the fuck it call. He had j7 and river trips. Whew. It may seem like an easy call with the nut straight but I seem to get burned so many times when the board pairs that I just KNEW he was going to turn over k7 or 107 for a boat. The other part of the scenario that should not factor in but did was that if I called and was wrong I turned a night of grinding out a profit to a loss. But then I figured we would continue playing as noone seemed ready to stop playing.
I actually felt bad. I know Grayday got blinded by the fact that he hit what he thought was his miracle card to get me back for the 83 hand. I am not sure he ever saw the straight on board. The game broke just as the sun was coming up over Lake Erie. I love this stupid game.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
I really do hate this game
Julie asked me for the link to my blog so I thought, I may as well post a blog. I would really rather be day drinking, but my two regular choices are currently unavailable. Why the title of this post. I hate poker. It is such a cruel game. In January and February I was running really well and playing well. The wheels have come off. I cannot seem to win a race and my draws are not getting there. This in turn is leading to horrid play by me. I have been working really hard on fixing that and I have been marginally successful at correcting my bad play.
I made a deal with myself that if I do not win a certain amount by a certain date, I will take a break. I know, it is one long session and you cannot look at short term variance blah blah blah. To me it is the only motivation that is working. The thought of taking a month off of poker does not sit well with me at all, so I have been much more focused and have worked really hard on correcting my bad play.
I have been playing at Nautica fairly regularly lately. If that doesn't turn things around nothing will. The people are horrid. (Even worse than me on my worst day) I was playing there on Tuesday and had the following situations occur: I had about 275 in front of me. I was in the small blind. A guy limped for $2 from middle position. A very tight guy in late position raised to $12. (Note this is the first hand he raised in the 2 hours I was there. I look down at KK. I am a little worried that tight guys has AA, but I need to three bet to get heads up with this guy. I make is $32. ( I had been playing very snug) The big blind folds but the limper cold calls $30 more. I guess if it is good for $2, it is good for $32. Tight player just smooth calls the extra $20. I was hoping he would 4 bet as he only had $115. Flop is K104 rainbow. Normally I would always c-bet here, but these guys don't were not paying enough attention so I was not worried about them and I checked. Lets pretend we are afraid of the K. Limper bets $35. Tight guy calls. I call. Turn is the 8 of spades, putting two spades on board. I check. Limper bets $75, tight guy folds. I think for a minute and I go all in. I had another $125. He gets a sick look on his face and says... I have two pair I have to call you. He moves a stack of chips forward to call. I re-look and the board and say, if you have two pair you are drawing dead and I flip over my hand. I did not embarrass the guy and ask to see his cards, but WHAT HAND MAKES TWO PAIR ON THAT BOARD THAT YOU CALL A RAISE AND A RERAISE WITH???? K10? K8? 810? Really? Thank you very much for the donation. It is very much appreciated. As he is leaving the table with his late $20 or so he says to his buddy "That is the way things have been going for me lately," I want to respond, of course it is, you called $30 cold with junk against 2 tight players. Of course I said nothing other than bad luck there. The second hand I lost about $100 on, but I could have gone broke and I didn't so I was happy about it. Tight guy from prior hand limps along with several other limpers. I make it $16 from the button with QQ. 5 people call the $16. Flop is J94 with two diamonds. I had the Q of diamonds Tight guy bets out $35. I really wanted to raise here, but something stopped me. Not sure what, just a gut reaction. After I just called, I whispered to Ang, I really think I should have raised here. Something told me not to. Two or three people called the $35 behind me. Turn is the A of diamonds. Now I am concerned about the A and the diamond. Tight guy bets $50. I don't feel I can fold here. I cannot raise, but I cannot fold. I call as do two people behind me. River is blank card. It gets checked to me. For about one second I thought about betting, but I was positive I was beat and 60% sure that I would get called in at least one spot. I checked. Tight guy turns over aj for top two pair and takes down the nice sized pot. After watching him for the rest of the night I am POSITIVE that he would not have folded top pair and top kicker if I raised him on the flop. He is never folding the turn. So the hand could have cost me a lot more than it did. I would like some opinions on if I made the right move just calling the flop and did I make the right move calling the turn. I will explain my reasoning another day.
Playing Julie's tournament tonight and I really need to get off the snide. I have not cashed in the last eight tournaments that I have played in. That is not acceptable to me because the reason I am not cashing is not bad luck it is HORRID play. Also, I am letting one or two people and their bs tilt me and making me play even worse. Going to try and play smart tonight, focus and not let stupid things bother me. Good Luck Me.
I made a deal with myself that if I do not win a certain amount by a certain date, I will take a break. I know, it is one long session and you cannot look at short term variance blah blah blah. To me it is the only motivation that is working. The thought of taking a month off of poker does not sit well with me at all, so I have been much more focused and have worked really hard on correcting my bad play.
I have been playing at Nautica fairly regularly lately. If that doesn't turn things around nothing will. The people are horrid. (Even worse than me on my worst day) I was playing there on Tuesday and had the following situations occur: I had about 275 in front of me. I was in the small blind. A guy limped for $2 from middle position. A very tight guy in late position raised to $12. (Note this is the first hand he raised in the 2 hours I was there. I look down at KK. I am a little worried that tight guys has AA, but I need to three bet to get heads up with this guy. I make is $32. ( I had been playing very snug) The big blind folds but the limper cold calls $30 more. I guess if it is good for $2, it is good for $32. Tight player just smooth calls the extra $20. I was hoping he would 4 bet as he only had $115. Flop is K104 rainbow. Normally I would always c-bet here, but these guys don't were not paying enough attention so I was not worried about them and I checked. Lets pretend we are afraid of the K. Limper bets $35. Tight guy calls. I call. Turn is the 8 of spades, putting two spades on board. I check. Limper bets $75, tight guy folds. I think for a minute and I go all in. I had another $125. He gets a sick look on his face and says... I have two pair I have to call you. He moves a stack of chips forward to call. I re-look and the board and say, if you have two pair you are drawing dead and I flip over my hand. I did not embarrass the guy and ask to see his cards, but WHAT HAND MAKES TWO PAIR ON THAT BOARD THAT YOU CALL A RAISE AND A RERAISE WITH???? K10? K8? 810? Really? Thank you very much for the donation. It is very much appreciated. As he is leaving the table with his late $20 or so he says to his buddy "That is the way things have been going for me lately," I want to respond, of course it is, you called $30 cold with junk against 2 tight players. Of course I said nothing other than bad luck there. The second hand I lost about $100 on, but I could have gone broke and I didn't so I was happy about it. Tight guy from prior hand limps along with several other limpers. I make it $16 from the button with QQ. 5 people call the $16. Flop is J94 with two diamonds. I had the Q of diamonds Tight guy bets out $35. I really wanted to raise here, but something stopped me. Not sure what, just a gut reaction. After I just called, I whispered to Ang, I really think I should have raised here. Something told me not to. Two or three people called the $35 behind me. Turn is the A of diamonds. Now I am concerned about the A and the diamond. Tight guy bets $50. I don't feel I can fold here. I cannot raise, but I cannot fold. I call as do two people behind me. River is blank card. It gets checked to me. For about one second I thought about betting, but I was positive I was beat and 60% sure that I would get called in at least one spot. I checked. Tight guy turns over aj for top two pair and takes down the nice sized pot. After watching him for the rest of the night I am POSITIVE that he would not have folded top pair and top kicker if I raised him on the flop. He is never folding the turn. So the hand could have cost me a lot more than it did. I would like some opinions on if I made the right move just calling the flop and did I make the right move calling the turn. I will explain my reasoning another day.
Playing Julie's tournament tonight and I really need to get off the snide. I have not cashed in the last eight tournaments that I have played in. That is not acceptable to me because the reason I am not cashing is not bad luck it is HORRID play. Also, I am letting one or two people and their bs tilt me and making me play even worse. Going to try and play smart tonight, focus and not let stupid things bother me. Good Luck Me.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What a January
I had an awesome month. I have been playing well and running well. An awesome combo. I cashed in a several bigger buy in tournaments and really played well throughout. I have a few thoughts for my poker game for 2012.
I am going to stop getting so upset at the horrible suckouts that occur where you have your opponent owned and they get lucky. Really. I am. Honest. Ok. I am going to try. It is my number 1 goal for the rest of the year. I am allowed to get upset for one second, drop an f-bomb or two, but I WILL NOT BERATE ANOTHER PLAYER OR ACT LIKE AN IDIOT. I hope. If you see me act like an idiot or berate someone, PLEASE CALL ME AN ASS AND TELL ME TO STOP. Pretty please. I do not want to be one of those people.
I am also going to play more big buy in tournaments. It is going to hurt the bankroll, but I really think that I am going to bink one of these tournaments for a big score. In an effort to save the bankroll, I am going to play a few more of the 40-60 buy in tourneys and try and play them well. For the last 5 months or so I have only cashed in 6 out of 20 tournaments that have a buy in of under $50. While that is not horrid, it is not great. Many of the tournaments that I did not cash in are because I played HORRIBLE. I cannot seem to stay focused and I play like a donkey. I am better than that. I am going to refocus and play those tournaments like first place is $1,000. Maybe that will help me play better. I have a HUGE leak in my game in that I cannot play well when the stakes are low. I will fix this leak. If I do not fix this leak, I can never say I am getting better at this game.
I am going to try and talk strategy more with players. Julie and I used to talk strategy a lot and we barely do it anymore. I want to correct that. So, be ready Diver. I think it is very important to discuss hands and how they were played and why we played them that way.
I have the debate with myself a lot about whether I should stick to cash games or tournaments or keep playing both. I have determined that I like playing cash a lot better than tourneys, but I am a much better tournament player than cash. HMMMM. What to do about that? Knowing me I will do nothing about it and keep making money at tournaments to support my cash game addiction. Since I started keeping track of my stats back in July of 2007, I have played 269 cash games. I have 135 winning sessions, 133 losing sessions and i broke dead even one time. My hourly rate is a WHOPPING..$2.55. WEEEEEEE. LOL. That makes me chuckle. I have had fun during my HOURS of playing poker for peanuts. Good thing I do not try and do this for a living. New goal for 2012....increase my hourly rate to minimum wage. I can do it.
Does anyone know what a good ROI is for tourneys? What is a good % to cash in? I am trying to analyze my stats and cannot tell if the numbers are good, great, horrid or mediocre.
I am going to stop getting so upset at the horrible suckouts that occur where you have your opponent owned and they get lucky. Really. I am. Honest. Ok. I am going to try. It is my number 1 goal for the rest of the year. I am allowed to get upset for one second, drop an f-bomb or two, but I WILL NOT BERATE ANOTHER PLAYER OR ACT LIKE AN IDIOT. I hope. If you see me act like an idiot or berate someone, PLEASE CALL ME AN ASS AND TELL ME TO STOP. Pretty please. I do not want to be one of those people.
I am also going to play more big buy in tournaments. It is going to hurt the bankroll, but I really think that I am going to bink one of these tournaments for a big score. In an effort to save the bankroll, I am going to play a few more of the 40-60 buy in tourneys and try and play them well. For the last 5 months or so I have only cashed in 6 out of 20 tournaments that have a buy in of under $50. While that is not horrid, it is not great. Many of the tournaments that I did not cash in are because I played HORRIBLE. I cannot seem to stay focused and I play like a donkey. I am better than that. I am going to refocus and play those tournaments like first place is $1,000. Maybe that will help me play better. I have a HUGE leak in my game in that I cannot play well when the stakes are low. I will fix this leak. If I do not fix this leak, I can never say I am getting better at this game.
I am going to try and talk strategy more with players. Julie and I used to talk strategy a lot and we barely do it anymore. I want to correct that. So, be ready Diver. I think it is very important to discuss hands and how they were played and why we played them that way.
I have the debate with myself a lot about whether I should stick to cash games or tournaments or keep playing both. I have determined that I like playing cash a lot better than tourneys, but I am a much better tournament player than cash. HMMMM. What to do about that? Knowing me I will do nothing about it and keep making money at tournaments to support my cash game addiction. Since I started keeping track of my stats back in July of 2007, I have played 269 cash games. I have 135 winning sessions, 133 losing sessions and i broke dead even one time. My hourly rate is a WHOPPING..$2.55. WEEEEEEE. LOL. That makes me chuckle. I have had fun during my HOURS of playing poker for peanuts. Good thing I do not try and do this for a living. New goal for 2012....increase my hourly rate to minimum wage. I can do it.
Does anyone know what a good ROI is for tourneys? What is a good % to cash in? I am trying to analyze my stats and cannot tell if the numbers are good, great, horrid or mediocre.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Tournament poker...
For some reason I keep writing blogs and then never posting them. Maybe it is a sign I shouldn't even try and blog. Well here is one I wrote a few months ago.
I got third in the Cpmg fall classic. Not happy about it at all. Early on I lost a race to Joe (the donkey who won). I had 88 and I raised and he shoved with Aj. He flopped trips. Whatever. One race down. No big deal. Get to the final table and i am up and down. At this point i have a major headache and i just want to be done. These headaches are out of control lately. When we get on the bubble it is me, Joe, Jason, Colin, Randy and Tina. I refuse to chop, but because of my headache I just really want it to be over. Tina shoves about 8 big blinds from the button. I am small blind and have A8. I think for a minute and decide her range includes any two broadway cards so I call. She has a10. Oh well... I like Tina I am glad she is still....oh wait there is an 8. Sorry Tina. Bad suckout. I think I have to call in that spot. It was 51,000 and I had over 220,000. Woohoo we are in the money.
When we are five handed, Jason, who started the day 2nd in chips and started the final table with a really big stack, was bleeding chips. He almost called off his stack with a gutter ball and one over. He eventually laid it down after calling the clock on himself. I could see that Jason was not handling losing some chips very well and he was in desperate mode. Although he still had plenty of chips to play. I raised from small blind with A6 c. He shoved from the big blind. The was he did it just screamed, I am weak please fold. I decided to call. He had 67 o. Sweet. Flop is 89q with 2 diamonds. Ugh. It is never easy. Turn brings another diamond. Of course he has a diamond. Now he wins with any 5, 10 7 or diamond. The river was a blank. As Colin pointed out, he had too many outs. Jason is gone in 5th place. I am glad I got his chips.
I lost a good chunk of chips to Randy in a hand that made my head throb even more than it already was. Randy angle shot me by checking out of position and then shoving after I bet. Data gave him a one round penalty. I appreciated that, but what a db to make that move. He says he limped the button and then just called my raise with QQ. The flop was q66. I had pocket 99. If he really had QQ he may have gotten more chips from me by playing it straight. Whatever.
Colin and I got into a big pot where he limped the small blind and I raised from the big blind. I knew that he was going to ship it on me. I felt it as soon as he limped. He shoved. I snap called with kk. He had 22. Sweet. Domination. Flop 23A. Fuck me. I was pissed. (not at Colin but at the situation..for people who don't understand all of the work that goes into this game they don't understand me so don't judge me- more on that later). Anyway I resuck out with a chop. The board runs out 45. I am saved there.
I used a move on Joe when we were three handed that worked perfectly until Colin got in the way and Joe sucked out. Joe and I were playing a cash game together a few weeks ago and I picked up a betting tell on this guy and I told Joe about. Everytime he did it after that we pointed it out to each other. So I bet that way from the button. Joe ships a lot of chips in the middle. I am itching to call and I only have a9. Colin then shoves from the big blind. I have to fold now. Joe flips over kj o and Colin has a10 (don't remember suited or not). Of course Joe flops a jack and takes a decent sized pot.
Two hands later I am out of the tourney. Small blind I have 1010. I raise and Joe calls from the big blind. Joe has not folded many hands at all. He called a raise earlier from the big blind with 34 o when we were 5 handed. He does not like to fold. Anyway flop is 853. I bet 60,000. Joe goes all in for over 340,000. I know I am good here and I call. He shows a8. No way he is ever folding top pair to me. He couldn't believe that he was beat. Of course the river comes an ace and he has me. I was really upset. I had him exactly where I wanted him. I knew he would shove light and I would pick him off. I was very upset at the cards. If I win that pot I think I win the whole tournament again. Oh well that is poker.
I got third in the Cpmg fall classic. Not happy about it at all. Early on I lost a race to Joe (the donkey who won). I had 88 and I raised and he shoved with Aj. He flopped trips. Whatever. One race down. No big deal. Get to the final table and i am up and down. At this point i have a major headache and i just want to be done. These headaches are out of control lately. When we get on the bubble it is me, Joe, Jason, Colin, Randy and Tina. I refuse to chop, but because of my headache I just really want it to be over. Tina shoves about 8 big blinds from the button. I am small blind and have A8. I think for a minute and decide her range includes any two broadway cards so I call. She has a10. Oh well... I like Tina I am glad she is still....oh wait there is an 8. Sorry Tina. Bad suckout. I think I have to call in that spot. It was 51,000 and I had over 220,000. Woohoo we are in the money.
When we are five handed, Jason, who started the day 2nd in chips and started the final table with a really big stack, was bleeding chips. He almost called off his stack with a gutter ball and one over. He eventually laid it down after calling the clock on himself. I could see that Jason was not handling losing some chips very well and he was in desperate mode. Although he still had plenty of chips to play. I raised from small blind with A6 c. He shoved from the big blind. The was he did it just screamed, I am weak please fold. I decided to call. He had 67 o. Sweet. Flop is 89q with 2 diamonds. Ugh. It is never easy. Turn brings another diamond. Of course he has a diamond. Now he wins with any 5, 10 7 or diamond. The river was a blank. As Colin pointed out, he had too many outs. Jason is gone in 5th place. I am glad I got his chips.
I lost a good chunk of chips to Randy in a hand that made my head throb even more than it already was. Randy angle shot me by checking out of position and then shoving after I bet. Data gave him a one round penalty. I appreciated that, but what a db to make that move. He says he limped the button and then just called my raise with QQ. The flop was q66. I had pocket 99. If he really had QQ he may have gotten more chips from me by playing it straight. Whatever.
Colin and I got into a big pot where he limped the small blind and I raised from the big blind. I knew that he was going to ship it on me. I felt it as soon as he limped. He shoved. I snap called with kk. He had 22. Sweet. Domination. Flop 23A. Fuck me. I was pissed. (not at Colin but at the situation..for people who don't understand all of the work that goes into this game they don't understand me so don't judge me- more on that later). Anyway I resuck out with a chop. The board runs out 45. I am saved there.
I used a move on Joe when we were three handed that worked perfectly until Colin got in the way and Joe sucked out. Joe and I were playing a cash game together a few weeks ago and I picked up a betting tell on this guy and I told Joe about. Everytime he did it after that we pointed it out to each other. So I bet that way from the button. Joe ships a lot of chips in the middle. I am itching to call and I only have a9. Colin then shoves from the big blind. I have to fold now. Joe flips over kj o and Colin has a10 (don't remember suited or not). Of course Joe flops a jack and takes a decent sized pot.
Two hands later I am out of the tourney. Small blind I have 1010. I raise and Joe calls from the big blind. Joe has not folded many hands at all. He called a raise earlier from the big blind with 34 o when we were 5 handed. He does not like to fold. Anyway flop is 853. I bet 60,000. Joe goes all in for over 340,000. I know I am good here and I call. He shows a8. No way he is ever folding top pair to me. He couldn't believe that he was beat. Of course the river comes an ace and he has me. I was really upset. I had him exactly where I wanted him. I knew he would shove light and I would pick him off. I was very upset at the cards. If I win that pot I think I win the whole tournament again. Oh well that is poker.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Its been a while...
I have not posted in a while and it is not from lack of playing. I have actually gotten the opportunity to play quite a bit recently. I wish I could say that I have been playing or running well. I went through about a ten tourney strectch where I did not cash. That is the longest that I have gone without cashing in the last 2 years. Luckily I broke that streak came in third in the last 2 tourneys that I played in. Hopefully my luck will hold out through day 2 of the CPMG classic. I will have a whole post about that after the tourney.
I am playing a lot of cash games. I AM RUNNING AND PLAYING HORRIBLY. I am not really sure why. I seem to get a decent stack and then lose. I have tried to evaluate each session and I do not think that I have been playing too many hands or overplaying my hands. I played at Hip Hop's game on Wednesday. I lost. Again. The first big hand I lost I was really stupid. I just changed tables and Brian was on my left. I really dont like him very much and I think that it played into my horrible play. I raised with AJ s. I am going to fold that hand from now on. Really. Anyway, he makes a smallish three bet. I did not really believe him, but I still need to fold that hand. It does not play well against a three bet and out of position. Of course I called because I am an idiot. Flop is qq10. I have a gutter and a backdoor flush draw. I check raise all in. Why? Because I am an idiot. No other explanation. He has KK. No suckout for me. Rebuy.
I change tables and go back to my original table. The reason I went back was two-fold. I am not a big fan of Brian so I did not want to sit with him and Doug was dealing the other table and I like the way he controls the table. He is a really good dealer and he does not pontificate about hands like Meat does.
I am cruising along chipping up nicely when I run into a cooler hand. Grayday was hammered and raising a bunch. Colin calls his bets to $16. Matt G. is in the small blind and he makes it $55. I really thought that Matt was squeezing, but I am always cautious when he puts chips into the pot. I looked at his stack and miscounted it. I thought he had about $150 total. He had over $200 behind his raise. I raised to $110. I had qq. He shipped it. After I saw how much he had I really wanted to fold, but I could not fold after making it $110. I wish I would have really looked at his stack better. I do not like getting it in preflop in a cash game with qq, especially with a decent stack. Big mistake. He had AA and flopped top set. If I just call his raise I check fold the flop and lose $55 in the hand. Really upset at myself for that.
A little bit later I go broke in a hand that makes my head explode. I raised preflop with AK o. Flop is A67 with 2 diamonds. I had the ace or king of diamonds I do not remember which. I bet 15 on the flop, Pete calls, Mike T raises. I ship for $165. I just wanted to take the pot down there. Pete goes into the tank. (He had a ton of chips and this $165 was nothing to his stack) He tells me he has a tweener hand and goes all in to put Mike T all in. Mike folds. Pete shows 53 of diamonds. Wow. I just got called with the 5 high flush draw. I really could not believe he called. The reason I was so surprised is because of the action it was very possible that Mike or I had the nut flush draw and he is drawing thin. It was his night as he binked the flush on the river. I flung my cards across the table and left. I don't mind the call from Pete, I am just really sick of everyone getting there against me lately. Oh well. That too will pass.
Hopefully I will only have good luck tomorrow night for day 2 of the classic.
I am playing a lot of cash games. I AM RUNNING AND PLAYING HORRIBLY. I am not really sure why. I seem to get a decent stack and then lose. I have tried to evaluate each session and I do not think that I have been playing too many hands or overplaying my hands. I played at Hip Hop's game on Wednesday. I lost. Again. The first big hand I lost I was really stupid. I just changed tables and Brian was on my left. I really dont like him very much and I think that it played into my horrible play. I raised with AJ s. I am going to fold that hand from now on. Really. Anyway, he makes a smallish three bet. I did not really believe him, but I still need to fold that hand. It does not play well against a three bet and out of position. Of course I called because I am an idiot. Flop is qq10. I have a gutter and a backdoor flush draw. I check raise all in. Why? Because I am an idiot. No other explanation. He has KK. No suckout for me. Rebuy.
I change tables and go back to my original table. The reason I went back was two-fold. I am not a big fan of Brian so I did not want to sit with him and Doug was dealing the other table and I like the way he controls the table. He is a really good dealer and he does not pontificate about hands like Meat does.
I am cruising along chipping up nicely when I run into a cooler hand. Grayday was hammered and raising a bunch. Colin calls his bets to $16. Matt G. is in the small blind and he makes it $55. I really thought that Matt was squeezing, but I am always cautious when he puts chips into the pot. I looked at his stack and miscounted it. I thought he had about $150 total. He had over $200 behind his raise. I raised to $110. I had qq. He shipped it. After I saw how much he had I really wanted to fold, but I could not fold after making it $110. I wish I would have really looked at his stack better. I do not like getting it in preflop in a cash game with qq, especially with a decent stack. Big mistake. He had AA and flopped top set. If I just call his raise I check fold the flop and lose $55 in the hand. Really upset at myself for that.
A little bit later I go broke in a hand that makes my head explode. I raised preflop with AK o. Flop is A67 with 2 diamonds. I had the ace or king of diamonds I do not remember which. I bet 15 on the flop, Pete calls, Mike T raises. I ship for $165. I just wanted to take the pot down there. Pete goes into the tank. (He had a ton of chips and this $165 was nothing to his stack) He tells me he has a tweener hand and goes all in to put Mike T all in. Mike folds. Pete shows 53 of diamonds. Wow. I just got called with the 5 high flush draw. I really could not believe he called. The reason I was so surprised is because of the action it was very possible that Mike or I had the nut flush draw and he is drawing thin. It was his night as he binked the flush on the river. I flung my cards across the table and left. I don't mind the call from Pete, I am just really sick of everyone getting there against me lately. Oh well. That too will pass.
Hopefully I will only have good luck tomorrow night for day 2 of the classic.
Friday, September 9, 2011
I am a degen
I am a degenerate. That is what my friend Ed told me today at our 3 plus hour drinking lunch. I guess I have to agree.
I had to drive to Detroit for work so I decided to hit the casino for some poker. I was riding on about 2 hours of sleep so it was not a really great idea to be driving by myself. Oh well.
I only took $600 with me as I did not want to get crazy. I arrive at Motor City about 1:30. They have 3 nlhe games running. The $50-200 buy in game(maybe 300, the $200-$500 buy in game and the $300-$2,000 buy in. I was planning on playing 1/2 nl, but it looked like a lot of people were short stacking it at the 1/2 so I asked for the 2/5 game. (I know- I am not supposed to play 2/5 but I could not help my self.)
I decided to buy in for $400. I also decided that I would play until 3:00 and evaluate where I was at that point. I lost a few pots early and was down to about $300. The guy to my immediate right was crazy. He kept way over betting preflop and post flop. He lost a big hand with middle 2 pair when the other guy rivered his 3 outer. Can you say Uncle Tilty. He reloads for the full $500.
About three hands later he is still steaming. I am the small blind and he is the button. There are 2 limpers in the pot. He raises to 20. I look down at AJo. As you know from previous posts I HATE AJ. I cannot fold to his button raise, but I cannot raise so I decide to just call. I hate calling there, but there was nothing else I could really do. 2 other players call his raise. Flop come AJ5 with 2 spades. I did not have a spade. I check and I know that he is itching to bet. It gets checked to him. He bets 75. I am trying to decide whether I should just call or raise. The player after me shoves for $160 out of position. I pretend that I do not see this and just call the $75. I know that the raiser is on a flush draw-he did this 6 times already. I also know that the guy on the flush draw is NEVER folding a flush draw for his last $160. I want the original bettor to put all of his money into the pot. Luckily he obliges and goes all in. I call. As soon as I call he says, 2 pair right. Turn is a red 10. He shows AQ and is begging for a queen or a king. I fade his outs and scoop a nice pot.
I was going to write about another hand that I won a good size pot with, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was. (the six drinks at lunch may have something to do with that)
I lost a really big pot in a situation that really sucked. I raise to 25 preflop with AK. The guy on the button calls. This guy bought in for 500 and was over 1,900 at this point. He has won every pot he has entered. It was sick. The big blind also calls. The flop comes AK5. I bet 45. I wanted a call there. The button calls. BB folds. I am already thinking how am I going to lose this pot to this guy. The turn is the 8 of spades, putting 2 spades on the board. I bet $120. I want to end the hand here. The button calls. River is 5 of hearts. I check. I am hoping to induce a bet from the button. He obliges and bets $175. I was about to raise him but he just looked too excited. I wussed out and just called. He had 95 off suit. Wow. He later told me that if the river was a blank he was going to go all in and figured I would fold, but since he hit trips he wanted a call. I really wanted to puke.
At this point it was about 6 p.m. I was still up about 300. If I went broke or went back to even it would be a much longer drive home. I was waiting until right before my big blind. I started talking to the guy on my left about the 95 hand and did not realize that the guy on my right stood up and I was now the big blind. The dealer already dealt the cards so I figured I will play a few more hands and then leave.
I look down at 78h. UTG +1 limps. He liked to do that with a variety of hands. The Internet guy who just came from the 5-10 game raised to 25. I called from the big blind. UTG +1 also calls. Flop comes A105 with 2 hearts. Surprisingly it gets checked around. Turn is the Q H. Sweet. I was going to bet, but UTG already was grabbing chips and moving them to bet so I checked. He bet $40. Internet dude folds. I fiddle with my chips and raise to $95. He tanks and makes it $250. I tank and count out my chips. I decided to call. I just felt that my flush was good and that he was searching for another heart. The river was a blank. I checked. He insta bet $300 and before he finished saying the words I called. I just knew I was good. I just put $550 into the pot with an 8 high flush. That is not something I would normally do but it felt right. He just sat there so I just sat there. I was not doing anything until he mucked or showed his hand. Finally after what seemed like 20 minutes but was really probably 45 seconds, he says if you can call you win. I still sit there. He finally mucks his hand. As soon as I see that the cards are safely in the muck, I flip over my hand and start dragging the pot. He went ape shit. How could I call $300 with an 8 high flush. I looked at him dead seriously and asked how could you bet $300 and not beat an 8 high flush. He stormed off and did not return before I left. I finished that orbit and cashed out.
The beautiful thing about the drive home was that I could bill the clients for all of the drive time. A very profitable day.
I had to drive to Detroit for work so I decided to hit the casino for some poker. I was riding on about 2 hours of sleep so it was not a really great idea to be driving by myself. Oh well.
I only took $600 with me as I did not want to get crazy. I arrive at Motor City about 1:30. They have 3 nlhe games running. The $50-200 buy in game(maybe 300, the $200-$500 buy in game and the $300-$2,000 buy in. I was planning on playing 1/2 nl, but it looked like a lot of people were short stacking it at the 1/2 so I asked for the 2/5 game. (I know- I am not supposed to play 2/5 but I could not help my self.)
I decided to buy in for $400. I also decided that I would play until 3:00 and evaluate where I was at that point. I lost a few pots early and was down to about $300. The guy to my immediate right was crazy. He kept way over betting preflop and post flop. He lost a big hand with middle 2 pair when the other guy rivered his 3 outer. Can you say Uncle Tilty. He reloads for the full $500.
About three hands later he is still steaming. I am the small blind and he is the button. There are 2 limpers in the pot. He raises to 20. I look down at AJo. As you know from previous posts I HATE AJ. I cannot fold to his button raise, but I cannot raise so I decide to just call. I hate calling there, but there was nothing else I could really do. 2 other players call his raise. Flop come AJ5 with 2 spades. I did not have a spade. I check and I know that he is itching to bet. It gets checked to him. He bets 75. I am trying to decide whether I should just call or raise. The player after me shoves for $160 out of position. I pretend that I do not see this and just call the $75. I know that the raiser is on a flush draw-he did this 6 times already. I also know that the guy on the flush draw is NEVER folding a flush draw for his last $160. I want the original bettor to put all of his money into the pot. Luckily he obliges and goes all in. I call. As soon as I call he says, 2 pair right. Turn is a red 10. He shows AQ and is begging for a queen or a king. I fade his outs and scoop a nice pot.
I was going to write about another hand that I won a good size pot with, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was. (the six drinks at lunch may have something to do with that)
I lost a really big pot in a situation that really sucked. I raise to 25 preflop with AK. The guy on the button calls. This guy bought in for 500 and was over 1,900 at this point. He has won every pot he has entered. It was sick. The big blind also calls. The flop comes AK5. I bet 45. I wanted a call there. The button calls. BB folds. I am already thinking how am I going to lose this pot to this guy. The turn is the 8 of spades, putting 2 spades on the board. I bet $120. I want to end the hand here. The button calls. River is 5 of hearts. I check. I am hoping to induce a bet from the button. He obliges and bets $175. I was about to raise him but he just looked too excited. I wussed out and just called. He had 95 off suit. Wow. He later told me that if the river was a blank he was going to go all in and figured I would fold, but since he hit trips he wanted a call. I really wanted to puke.
At this point it was about 6 p.m. I was still up about 300. If I went broke or went back to even it would be a much longer drive home. I was waiting until right before my big blind. I started talking to the guy on my left about the 95 hand and did not realize that the guy on my right stood up and I was now the big blind. The dealer already dealt the cards so I figured I will play a few more hands and then leave.
I look down at 78h. UTG +1 limps. He liked to do that with a variety of hands. The Internet guy who just came from the 5-10 game raised to 25. I called from the big blind. UTG +1 also calls. Flop comes A105 with 2 hearts. Surprisingly it gets checked around. Turn is the Q H. Sweet. I was going to bet, but UTG already was grabbing chips and moving them to bet so I checked. He bet $40. Internet dude folds. I fiddle with my chips and raise to $95. He tanks and makes it $250. I tank and count out my chips. I decided to call. I just felt that my flush was good and that he was searching for another heart. The river was a blank. I checked. He insta bet $300 and before he finished saying the words I called. I just knew I was good. I just put $550 into the pot with an 8 high flush. That is not something I would normally do but it felt right. He just sat there so I just sat there. I was not doing anything until he mucked or showed his hand. Finally after what seemed like 20 minutes but was really probably 45 seconds, he says if you can call you win. I still sit there. He finally mucks his hand. As soon as I see that the cards are safely in the muck, I flip over my hand and start dragging the pot. He went ape shit. How could I call $300 with an 8 high flush. I looked at him dead seriously and asked how could you bet $300 and not beat an 8 high flush. He stormed off and did not return before I left. I finished that orbit and cashed out.
The beautiful thing about the drive home was that I could bill the clients for all of the drive time. A very profitable day.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A good weekend
Last weekend was the "deepstack" at Terry's house. What an amazing house. His poker room is amazing as well. Thanks for hosting Terry. It is a great place to play cards.
I started drinking in the afternoon on Saturday before I made the trek to his place. It was one of those days where we took the kids out to lunch and ended up with a few beers. The problem was the "few beers" were 22 ounces each. I met Ang, Nicole and Chaz before the tourney and had another beer (which I could not even finish) and a jager bomb. I hate Jager. (I had to use google to get the correct spelling of Jager) By the time I got to Terry's place I was feeling pretty good.
I ended up with a pretty tough first table. I had Colin, Malcolm, Ang, Chaz, Brad, Meat, Ken and Rob. I really tried to just stay out of a lot of trouble and chip up. I was fairly successful at that table. I picked off a bluff by Ken and then Malcolm three barrelled me and I called with 99. There were only 3 over cards.
When we combined to 2 tables I had a pretty good stack. I played a hand horribly and I wish I could have a do over. I limped with AQ clubs. Why? I have NO idea. I flopped a flush draw. Chaz bet out on the king high board. I just called. Mistake number 2 in the hand. Chaz bet on the turn. I raised her. Mistake number 3 in the hand. Although I knew Chaz was not really strong, she is never folding to me in this spot. The river was a blank. Chaz checked to me. I thought for a minute and my brain was screaming just check behind. Nope. I fired again. Mistake number 4 in the hand. Chaz thought for a while and correctly pieced it together. Good Call. She had k5. Top pair no kicker. I was right in my read that she was not strong, but I did not listen to my self that she will never fold to me in that spot. Hey, it is not often that you can make a mistake at every point in the hand and still have chips.
Somehow I managed to make it to the final table. I was fairly short-stacked when we got there. We played 9 handed for quite a while. I just kept picking my spots and tried to play smart poker. At the break, Meat, Chaz, Prowest and Mark were the chips leaders with well over 60k. Malcolm was close by with about 45k. The rest of us were just hanging around. Meat, being Meat, told Chaz that if (when) they got heads up they could chop. Meat was out 9th. That made me happy. He thinks that he is the best player ever and I love outlasting him. When he got busted, there was talk of an 8 way chop. Um. No freakin way. I was still fairly short stacked but there was still no way I would ever chop 8 handed there. Malcolm tried to entice me to chop by pointing out that if we chopped, Meat would be the bubble boy. HMM. That sounded good, but no way was I chopping 8 handed.
A train wreck occurred shortly after Meat got busted. Malcolm spewed some chips and then shoved with A5. Chaz shoved behind him with AJ. Mark woke up with QQ. A safe board and Malcolm is out, Chaz' stack is decimated and Mark has a bunch of chips. Chaz ended up out soon after that hand on the bubble.
A very funny hand occurred between Karl and Hip hop. Karl limped utg with about 8 big blinds. Hmm. Wonder what he has? Hip Hop shoves with 10 10. I had AQs and insta-folded. Of course Karl has AA. Of course Hip Hop hits a 10. Hip Hop knew Karl had AA or KK at the least but still shoved. I can't really blame in that spot because of his chip stack, but he knew he was behind. 4 handed. Blinds are about to go to 5,000-10,000 in about 3 minutes. Anyone want to chop now. Please. Pretty Please. I only had 40k in chips. No one took me up on the offer. I picked up QQ in the big blind and Hip Hop shoved the small blind while only looking at a K. That is the right move in that spot. I got lucky to wake up with a hand. My QQ held and I was back in the game. Hip Hop got knocked out during that level. We played a few hands 3 handed when Mark who had the chip lead, although not a huge one, suggested an even chop. At that point we were guaranteed more than 2nd place money. Financially it made sense to chop. Also, even the big stack only had about 17 big blinds and the blinds were about to go up to 7,000-15,000. So we chopped 3 way for $800 each. A $700 profit. Not bad for an evening worth of "work".
I folded two hands at the final table that 8 months ago I would have played and I believe it saved my tournament. We were 7 handed. Prowest had been pretty active (surprise surprise) and was raising and limping quite a bit. He made a decent sized raise and I looked down at AJs. It was a weird spot. My chip stack dictated that I could not just call. It was either shove or fold. I could not make my self shove there so I folded. Someone made a comment to him about playing a lot of hands so he flipped over AK. Wow. Good lay down me. I may have caught my J, but I was way behind. It felt really good to fold that hand in that spot. I also folded 66. This was a pretty easy fold, but the old Jen would have seen a pocket pair and gotten all my chips in the middle regardless of the action before me. I cannot remember all of the action now, but I remember I would have lost had I put my chips in the middle.
I played the cash game for a short period of time and lost $20. I was not really in the mood to play cash, but I hung around for the fun.
The next day I had to drive to Detroit for work. That was fun on less than 2 hours of sleep. I cannot be that close to a Casino and not attend. I know that Matt G goes to Detroit fairly often, so I asked him the best place to play. He suggested Motor City, so there I went. I have to actually work now as my boss is a bitch. I will write later about the Detroit trip and my first session of Omaha 8.
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