Saturday, December 30, 2006
Revenge of the 3s
Two nights earlier, I was beaten senseless with 3s. Tonight, I’ll get my revenge with those damn 3s.
On this Friday night, I’m hosting the poker game. I really enjoy the shit out of hosting. I don’t have to drive anywhere. I don’t have to worry about playing too late, etc.. The Pistons are on the TV. I can enjoy a beer or two. Plus, it’s a nice set-up for a home game,….if I must say so myself.
Anyway, we started playing 11 handed Pot Limit Hold’Em/Omaha round by round with $1/$1 blinds with $100 max buy-in. I won a few small hands. Then, I won a pretty big hand ($160) when I flopped top set (Queens) in Omaha, a big bet the turn, and checked the river when the board showed a broadway straight possibility. I was up about $100 in the first hour.
Then, as more players arrived, we split into 2 tables. One table continued with the PL Hold’Em/Omaha round x round. The other table spread H.O.R.S.E. – which is a limit game where the game cycles between 5 popular poker games on every rotation of the deal (Hold’Em, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8).
So I played $2/$4 H.O.R.S.E. 6 handed game. It was really fun. All 6 of the players were solid. This would be no cake-walk. Play was pretty aggressive (many pots were raised preflop, check-raising, etc…), but it was not maniacal. Most people would use pretty good judgment. I think the biggest mistake people made (including myself) was to chase draws a little too far.
I think I played pretty good, but nothing exceptional. I must have had some good cards or something because before I knew it, I was up another $200 playing this low limit game.
Then, as players busted, we combined to one table again and played $1/$1 blinds NL Hold’Em and $1/$1 PL Omaha round x round. I got some sort of “special exception” to bring my approx $400 into this $100 max buy-in game. This gave me a bit of an advantage, but I think players viewed this as more of an opportunity for them as opposed to an advantage for me.
Before I get to the “revenge of the 3’s” hand, I have to say I ran pretty hot here too. I was catching some cards. But, this was one of the only times like I felt that I was getting some control of the table. I felt for a while like I was able to manipulate some players into making mistakes. I felt for a while like I was controlling how big/small the pot was going to be. It was kind of cool. I guess that just goes to show how catching cards can improve your skill as a player. Ha!
Anyway, on this one hand of NLHE, 3 players limp. I find a 2h 3h in middle position, so I call. Behind me, a somewhat short-stacked player who had been playing pretty tight raises to $7 and much to my disappointment it’s folded back to me. This player has about $75 behind. I make a pretty bad call on the flop. I really want to play this hand, even for a raise, but only if it has the potential to really score when it connects. What I mean by really score, is win a $150 pot.Anyway, the flop comes with X-3x-4x. I check. Moneymaker makes a decent bet ($10?) into this $15 pot. Now, I start thinking about Karma and shit like that. So I call with my bottom pair of 3’s. I have 5 outs to potentially win all of Moneymaker’s stack if he is holding a big pair.
The turn card comes another 3. Perfect! Talk about friggen’ karma. I thought about leading out here, but I thought this might give just too much info. If I had to do it all over again, I’d lead out here and build a bigger pot. Anyway, I check and Moneymaker checks behind. Damn!
The pot now has around $35 I think. The river is a blank. The board reads X-3x-4x-3-X with no card higher than a 10. I decided to make a pretty decent bet and hope he goes all in. I bet $40. He deliberates for a short time and calls. I show my 2-3 suited and am somewhat embarrassed to have busted Moneymakers pocket Aces with this trashy little hand.
So in the end, I get a little back by playing with the 3s. As it turns out this is really a good lesson NL play. Preflop hand values are really not all that important in NL. Hand values are really determined by how much money they can win post flop. A pair of 4s has more potential to win a monster pot than a pair of Kings. Kings will frequently and routinely win a nice small pot. A pair of 4’s will infrequently but occasionally win a monster. I just want to win 2 of those monster pots each session. In this case, a 2-3 suited is completely live cards, suited, and can bust the shit out of a player if the long shot comes through, but all the conditions need to be favorable.
My mistake was thinking that I could get all of Moneymaker’s stack. He’s just too good of a player to make that mistake, so my evaluation of implied odds was faulty. Plus, he didn’t have that much behind. So this time, I played it oh so wrong, but it turned out oh so right.
So I end up $450 for the night. That’ll take the sting off of the debacle from 2 nights ago.
The Attack of the 3's
It was turning out to be a horrible end of year run at poker for me. After getting beat up by the Canadians playing 5/10 limit Hold’Em in Canada for -$190, I followed that up with a smack-down at Greektown playing $1/$2 NL Hold’Em for -$200. Then, just to keep things rolling before the New Year, I had my single biggest losing session to date at a home game in Clarkston on Wed night. I lost $300 playing NL Hold’Em.
Thankfully, I had a good comeback on my very last session of the year (I'll save the details for the next post).
The details of this loosing session are pretty gruesom. Proceede with caution.
Loosing $300 was surprisingly easy. I've seen plenty of people play like donkeys and still have difficulty loosing. I thought I'd play like a donkey for a while, but I lost my money pretty efficiently.
I started the session off playing pretty loose. I bluffed into 2 small pots with the game’s host acting behind me. After, I checked the river on my failed bluff attempts, he bet and I laid down a hand that couldn’t beat anything. I was pretty sure he was bluffing back at me on the river, but I couldn’t really defend. Then, I moved seats so that I was positioned to his left. This may have been one of my best moves of the night. I was thinking I could use these 2 hands to set up some plays later in the night as I now have position on him.
I got my chance toward the end of the night to trap game’s host – Daryl. I know, this sounds a little hostile, but hey, it’s poker. It’s all good.
But first, an important hand that I slaughtered pretty good. I’m in the big blind with 2 random cards that I can’t remember. The UTG player, Lance who is pretty solid, raised to $5, which is a small bet playing with $1/$2 blinds. He gets called in about 4 places – including me.
The flop comes Ax 7x X. SB checks. I check. Lance fires in a continuation of $5. It goes fold around to me. I call. I’m not exactly sure why. I’ve got no piece of this board, but I thought his bets were awfully weak. I saw him throw out a series of small blocking bets earlier in the session when he was drawing to a flush and this looked very similar. The turn card comes with a 7x which I treated as a good bluff card for me. I bet $20. He thinks and calls. The river card comes a 2. The board reads Ax-7x-X-7x-2x. I bet $20 into a $70 pot. He puts me all in for my last $50. I muck. He shows Aces full of sevens for the second nuts. So, here’s the summary. I chose this spot to try to bluff a solid player, out of position, with an Ace on the board after he open raised from under the gun. Brilliant.
Then, the story of might night unfolds. The story is about the evil of 3’s.
So, I’m dealt pocket Kings in middle position. After 3 limpers, I raise to $12. This was a slightly larger than normal open and must have screamed “I need protection” to the field. I’m called in 2 places. The pot now has $43. The flop comes 3x 3x 6x. The first limper opens for $15. I make it $45. It gets folded back to the original opener. Now this guy, Dave, seems like a pretty solid player. I’ve only played with him a few time and a few hands, but he seemed like he knew what he was doing at the poker table. Also, he wasn’t “money-scared”. He didn’t mind putting all of his chips in the pot.
Dave decides to bump it. He makes it another $100 on top of my bet. He doesn’t have Aces; otherwise, we’d have all of our money in the pot already. He could have Qs, Js, 10s. More likely, he as 66 for sixes full. I’m not sure how I can lay my hand down here. I had just recently got unstuck and now had about $350 in front of me. Dave has me covered. Something nagged me. He really seemed like he had me beat here and was worried about me drawing to 2 outs. This didn’t seem like a bluff to me. I agonize and fold. I beg him for some info and he shows me a 3. Ouch!
I swear it wasn’t 5 hands later, I’m dealt Ah Kh in middle position. The hand plays out the exact same way. Flop comes 3x 3x X. Dave leads out for $15. I make it $45. He pushes. I make a much easier fold. He flashes a 3.
Damn, I just lost $114 to some frigg’n 3s. I hate 3s. I hope I never see them again.
Now, back to my trap hand with Daryl. I’m dealt Kx 5x in the big blind. Daryl is in the SB. The pot is raised to $4 on the button. Daryl and I call. The flop comes Kx Jx 8x. It goes check, check, check. The turn comes a blank. I bet $8. Button folds. Daryl pauses and calls. I really read this as Daryl thinking of a way to make a move. I truly expected a bluff lead bet on the river. I had Daryl pegged dead-on. The river comes with a 9. The board now reads (Kx Jx 8x 9x).
On queue, Daryl leads out for $50 into this $28 pot. I had made my read and I need to stick with it….right? So I call. Daryl shows a set of nines that he hit on the river. Oh well. I had the play set up oh so good, but it turned out oh so bad.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
One myth debunked
So my wife threw her back out on Christmas eve eve. She can't get around very well and she can't stand up for very long. That leaves me with a huge problem. Who'll cook the Christmas meal? Who'll wrap presents? Who'll keep the house clean why I watch TV and play with the kids and their new toys?
The way I see it, I have one of two choices. (A) I can just call off Christmas or (B) I'm gonna need to step up to this challenge.
So, I'm literally driving down I75 south headed to Motor City, when I mentally commit to this challenge. I turn the car around. I head home. I mean, how hard can it be? You cook a few things. You run the dishwasher a few times. Fold some clothes. What's the big deal....right?
So, I start cleaning. I start the laundry. I go to the store and buy the Christmas meal.
Before too long, the house is clean. I've got the laundry put away. I stay up late on Sunday night wrapping presents (and playing online poker....and watching poker on TV). Things are going pretty good.
Wake up early Monday morning. Everyone opens presents. Things are going good. I start cooking around 9a. Turkey is in. Ham is in. Corn casserole, check. Green bean casserole, check. Pies, check. Mashed potatoes and gravey, dinner rolls, check check.
Everything turns out great. I'm a little drunk from the bottle of wine I drank while cooking . I was jamming out to Christmas music. Dinner served at 2p.
Afterwards, my wife says, "now you know how horrible it is to cook the Christmas meal."
Upon reflection, it wasn't that horrible. It was actually kind of enjoyable preparing the meal. I liked it. Of course, I was a little sauced, but it really wasn't that bad. I think I may have just debunked the myth that cooking the Christmas meal is some sort of agonizing torture that women-folk somehow endure just to please their man and their family.
I think they're just looking for a little appreciation. No problem! Henceforth, I'll not only volunteer to help with some of the Christmas cooking, I'll volunteer to help with clean up (which is the real sucky part of the meal), and I'll try to be more appreciative.
The way I see it, I have one of two choices. (A) I can just call off Christmas or (B) I'm gonna need to step up to this challenge.
So, I'm literally driving down I75 south headed to Motor City, when I mentally commit to this challenge. I turn the car around. I head home. I mean, how hard can it be? You cook a few things. You run the dishwasher a few times. Fold some clothes. What's the big deal....right?
So, I start cleaning. I start the laundry. I go to the store and buy the Christmas meal.
Before too long, the house is clean. I've got the laundry put away. I stay up late on Sunday night wrapping presents (and playing online poker....and watching poker on TV). Things are going pretty good.
Wake up early Monday morning. Everyone opens presents. Things are going good. I start cooking around 9a. Turkey is in. Ham is in. Corn casserole, check. Green bean casserole, check. Pies, check. Mashed potatoes and gravey, dinner rolls, check check.
Everything turns out great. I'm a little drunk from the bottle of wine I drank while cooking . I was jamming out to Christmas music. Dinner served at 2p.
Afterwards, my wife says, "now you know how horrible it is to cook the Christmas meal."
Upon reflection, it wasn't that horrible. It was actually kind of enjoyable preparing the meal. I liked it. Of course, I was a little sauced, but it really wasn't that bad. I think I may have just debunked the myth that cooking the Christmas meal is some sort of agonizing torture that women-folk somehow endure just to please their man and their family.
I think they're just looking for a little appreciation. No problem! Henceforth, I'll not only volunteer to help with some of the Christmas cooking, I'll volunteer to help with clean up (which is the real sucky part of the meal), and I'll try to be more appreciative.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
A year in review
So the year in review is pretty positive I guess. I ended the year on a down note (with one game left). but I went on a pretty good run for most of the year at the cash games.
I made it out to Vegas for the World Series and broke about even for the trip. I made it out to the Foxwoods this fall and broke about even.
I had some moderate tournament success.
I think I managed my bankroll pretty good and played within the limits of my bankroll. I don't really remember the last time I needed to go to the bank for a withdrawl for a stake in a game.
So the goals for 2007 will really be to (A) strike a good balance between poker and non-poker activities (B) keep playing at limits that keep the bankroll in tact (C) really try to improve tournament poker results (D) really try to improve on my casino NLHE performance (E) keep promoting the mixed game.
Friday, December 22, 2006
The Beatdown at Greektown
So I played a little poker at Greektown yesterday. Before I get to that, I won another H.O.R.S.E SnG on Full Tilt last night. That'll take away just a fraction of the sting that I'm feeling from my beatdown at Greektown.
So a new table of $1/$2 blinds NL Hold'Em with a $100 max buy in opens. I along with 9 other hopefuls take our seats, arrange our chips, and make ready for battle. There were several 'buddies' that joined the table. I'm always leary of playing with a group of guys that know each other. I'm worried they'll soft-play each other, give clues via table talk (i.e., "I'm holding the same hand I took you out with last Saturday at Jimbo's house so ya better fold"), or even sort of partner-up to squeeze some players in the middle. Anyway, as it turned out, I was just being parinoid. They were cool.
The day didn't go so well. The stacks are so short in this game that it quickly degraded to an all-in fest right from the beginning. I now realize that it is so important to get off to a good start, otherwise you and the other short stacks end up sticking all of your money in with marginal cards and there's really no chance to play poker.
My stragegy going in was to take alot of flops, keep the pots small, but play hands that stood a real good chance of busting another player.
A small blunder.
On one hand, I have about $75 left, I'm in middle postion. It's limped in 3 spots to me. I find AKs. I raise to $15. I get called by 2 of the early position limpers. The flop comes 4h-5h-6s. It goes check, check to me. I have $60 left and am looking at a $50 pot. I bet $30. Why I bet $30, I have no idea. It just felt like $30 was the right bet. I'm probably putting all of my money in with this hand anyway, I might as well do it on the flop. My mistake!
Anyway, both limpers call. The flop comes off a 9c, so the board reads 4h-5h-6s-9c. This looked like a safe card for me, so after it goes check, check, I go all in for my remaining $30 into a $140 pot. Both limpers agonize and call. The first one says, "I ain't shit, but I'll call. I know you have a pair". He was all-in for his last $25. The second player says, "I ain't got shit either, but I'll call so that I can reload." He's all in for his last $20. EP1 shows AKo. EP2 shows QJo. So I chop a pot with with another AK. The outcome was favorable. Had I went all in after the flop I would have won $50. As it turns out, I won $60.
A cool Deck
So like I said, my strategy was to take some flops, when in postion, with marginal hands that have pretty good value after the flop if they connect. In retrospect this is not such a good strategy since the stacks are so short I really can't afford to be calling $10 raises on every 4th hand. Anyway, I played a handful of pocket pairs that way (5s 3s and 8s), but had to give them up on the flop. On one key hand, I was on the button with 8s 5s. It's limped in 2 spots to me. I limp. The SB raised to $12. The BB calls. I call. We're 3 handed.
The flop come gin. 8x-5x-9x. It goes check, check to me. I bet $15 into this $40 pot. SB calls. BB goes all in for $45 more. I call. Then the SB goes all in for his last $35. I'm in great shape to win this monster. The main pot has $115. SB tables 6h-9h for top pair with a gut shot. BB tables Ac-9c for top pair top kicker. I'm in good shape (55%) to win. The turn comes a Qd. I'm in great shape 66% to win. The river comes another Q. I'm toast. First suckout of the day. No problem.
A Cold deck.
So this time in late postion with 10sQh. Action is limp to me. I call. The big blind, a guy who just joined the table is already down to about $40, raised it to $15. EP limper calls. I call. The pot has $46
The flop comes J-J-K. It goes check, check, and I take my free straight draw. The turn is a blank. Action goes check, check to me. I think a while and decide to take my free straight draw. The river is an A. I have a straight but the board is paird. Finally, the BB bets. He goes all in for his last $25. I call. He tables AJ for a rivered boat. Is it getting chili in here?
A Friggen Iceberg
Last hand of the night. I'm bought in for $200 and I'm down to may last $36. The UTG player straddles for his last $15. This is the guy from above that called all in with QJo. He was pretty wild. I figured Karma would set in and he'd be dealt the worst possible hand and I'd get a monster here. UTG+1 folds. I look down and find KK. I thought about smooth calling here, but I know the other players will view that $15 straddle like it was crack cocain to an addict and I don't want to play these Ks against 6 players. So I go all in for $36. The small blind thinks and says something like "yada yada yada...pot odds. I call." The big blind says something like, "duh, I guess...pot odds right? I call."
The flop comes Q-J-x. The SB checks. The big blind bets into a dry side pot. The SB goes all in. The big blind calls off his last $40.
SB shows AA for the boss overpair.
BB shows Q8 for top pair poor kicker.
UTG straddler shows 10 9 for an open ended.
Of course, I'm left with garbage. My 2 king outs are no good for the main pot.
The turn brings an 8. The straddler made his straight. I need a King for the side pot. Not today.
So a new table of $1/$2 blinds NL Hold'Em with a $100 max buy in opens. I along with 9 other hopefuls take our seats, arrange our chips, and make ready for battle. There were several 'buddies' that joined the table. I'm always leary of playing with a group of guys that know each other. I'm worried they'll soft-play each other, give clues via table talk (i.e., "I'm holding the same hand I took you out with last Saturday at Jimbo's house so ya better fold"), or even sort of partner-up to squeeze some players in the middle. Anyway, as it turned out, I was just being parinoid. They were cool.
The day didn't go so well. The stacks are so short in this game that it quickly degraded to an all-in fest right from the beginning. I now realize that it is so important to get off to a good start, otherwise you and the other short stacks end up sticking all of your money in with marginal cards and there's really no chance to play poker.
My stragegy going in was to take alot of flops, keep the pots small, but play hands that stood a real good chance of busting another player.
A small blunder.
On one hand, I have about $75 left, I'm in middle postion. It's limped in 3 spots to me. I find AKs. I raise to $15. I get called by 2 of the early position limpers. The flop comes 4h-5h-6s. It goes check, check to me. I have $60 left and am looking at a $50 pot. I bet $30. Why I bet $30, I have no idea. It just felt like $30 was the right bet. I'm probably putting all of my money in with this hand anyway, I might as well do it on the flop. My mistake!
Anyway, both limpers call. The flop comes off a 9c, so the board reads 4h-5h-6s-9c. This looked like a safe card for me, so after it goes check, check, I go all in for my remaining $30 into a $140 pot. Both limpers agonize and call. The first one says, "I ain't shit, but I'll call. I know you have a pair". He was all-in for his last $25. The second player says, "I ain't got shit either, but I'll call so that I can reload." He's all in for his last $20. EP1 shows AKo. EP2 shows QJo. So I chop a pot with with another AK. The outcome was favorable. Had I went all in after the flop I would have won $50. As it turns out, I won $60.
A cool DeckSo like I said, my strategy was to take some flops, when in postion, with marginal hands that have pretty good value after the flop if they connect. In retrospect this is not such a good strategy since the stacks are so short I really can't afford to be calling $10 raises on every 4th hand. Anyway, I played a handful of pocket pairs that way (5s 3s and 8s), but had to give them up on the flop. On one key hand, I was on the button with 8s 5s. It's limped in 2 spots to me. I limp. The SB raised to $12. The BB calls. I call. We're 3 handed.
The flop come gin. 8x-5x-9x. It goes check, check to me. I bet $15 into this $40 pot. SB calls. BB goes all in for $45 more. I call. Then the SB goes all in for his last $35. I'm in great shape to win this monster. The main pot has $115. SB tables 6h-9h for top pair with a gut shot. BB tables Ac-9c for top pair top kicker. I'm in good shape (55%) to win. The turn comes a Qd. I'm in great shape 66% to win. The river comes another Q. I'm toast. First suckout of the day. No problem.
A Cold deck.
So this time in late postion with 10sQh. Action is limp to me. I call. The big blind, a guy who just joined the table is already down to about $40, raised it to $15. EP limper calls. I call. The pot has $46
The flop comes J-J-K. It goes check, check, and I take my free straight draw. The turn is a blank. Action goes check, check to me. I think a while and decide to take my free straight draw. The river is an A. I have a straight but the board is paird. Finally, the BB bets. He goes all in for his last $25. I call. He tables AJ for a rivered boat. Is it getting chili in here?
A Friggen IcebergLast hand of the night. I'm bought in for $200 and I'm down to may last $36. The UTG player straddles for his last $15. This is the guy from above that called all in with QJo. He was pretty wild. I figured Karma would set in and he'd be dealt the worst possible hand and I'd get a monster here. UTG+1 folds. I look down and find KK. I thought about smooth calling here, but I know the other players will view that $15 straddle like it was crack cocain to an addict and I don't want to play these Ks against 6 players. So I go all in for $36. The small blind thinks and says something like "yada yada yada...pot odds. I call." The big blind says something like, "duh, I guess...pot odds right? I call."
The flop comes Q-J-x. The SB checks. The big blind bets into a dry side pot. The SB goes all in. The big blind calls off his last $40.
SB shows AA for the boss overpair.
BB shows Q8 for top pair poor kicker.
UTG straddler shows 10 9 for an open ended.
Of course, I'm left with garbage. My 2 king outs are no good for the main pot.
The turn brings an 8. The straddler made his straight. I need a King for the side pot. Not today.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
In a Virtual Hole
I’m in a virtual hole.
I’ve played a lot of small stakes online poker over the last couple of years. The highest limits I’ve played at are $2/$4 limit and $.50/$1.00 pot limit. Most of my online hours have been logged playing $1/$2 Omaha H/L, but I’ve played all the games (limit, pot limit, and no limit) and most recently started playing a lot of $1/$2 H.O.R.S.E on Full Tilt.
So my history with Online play is that I’ve made 4 deposits of $50 each. I ran each of these deposits up quite a bit but eventually ended up loosing everything about 6 months ago. So I decided to quit for a while. I was sick of online play and determined to not make any more deposits to these evil sites.
The hiatus was really nice. I kind of enjoyed not playing online. It sort of felt like I just quit my part time job. I spent time talking to my kids, helping with chores around the house, etc…
This retirement from Online poker lasted about 3 months. Then, I decided to stick another $50 on Full Tilt. After all, my girl friend Clownie Gowen represents Full Tilt, so I better play on this site. They had a nice bonus at the time.
I plodded away and made some money. I transferred some extra money to Poker Star (my favorite site). I had it going on. I had both accounts at over $300 each. Not too bad. My goal was to be playing $4/$8 or $5/$10 regularly, so I figured I need about $1000 in my account.
Then, I started to develop a fondness for PL Omaha, had some early success, then I’d loose $50 here. I’d loose $50 there. I played some $20 tournaments. Loose. Loose. Before I knew it, I’m down to $55 left on FT.
So I’m going to put some pressure on myself. I will not reload this (or any account) for 3 months if I should loose my last $50.
BTW, last night I won a $5 H.O.R.S.E tourney, so I’m up $20 to $70. I think I’ll focus on playing these tourneys a while. I usually cash about 40% of the time. If I really play smart – avoid chasing in stud and Razz, I’ll do OK.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Friggn' Canadians
Who taught the friggen' Canadian donkeys how to play limit poker? If Daniel Negreanu wrote a book advising Canadian donkeys to call 4 bets cold with a 6c 2c, I really need to read this book because it worked like magic.
I got crushed, again, playing limit hold'em in Canada. The Great Blue Heron escaped my revenge....this time. I got stuck for $190.
I don't mind, too much, having my bigs hand cracked every once in a while. My problem is that when my big hands held up, I won a nice small pot. When my big hands lost, I lost a gianormous pot. When I chased longshot draws into big pots, I never won the long shot gianourmous pot.
Here's my formula. I win small pots. I loose gianormous pots, and when I chase long shot draws, I need to get real lucky to win. This doesn't sound like a winning formula to me.
Think about it. On your longshot draws - say you are a 12:1 dog on the river (gut shot) into a pot that contains 18 bets, you are getting the right price to call, but you'll still miss that draw almost every time.
I have 2 hands to recap. One that I played like a donkey (hey - the Canadians must have infected me or something) and one where I got donkified by a Canadian donkaholic.
This time I'm the Donkey
It's 5/10 limit hold'em 11 handed. Stack sizes are not material. So I'm in the big blind. UTG+1, a very solid player, open raises. Middle position loose agressive player 3 bets. He's been raising with a wide variety of hands. He could have any Ace or any 2 broadway cards or any pair.
Canadian born donkaholic in the SB cold calls 3 bets. I have not seen him fold a hand pre-flop in about 3 hours, so cold calling 3 bets does not set off much of an alarm to me.
I peek down and find pocket Aces. Now, I'm liking my hand. I capped it, but I'm not sure anyone noticed. I didn't make much of a grand gesture when I capped it. I meekly pushed out 4 red chips and everyone auto called. Now that I think about it, if I'm going to cap a pot, from now on people better damn well know it was I who did so.
I'm happy to have a capped pot, 4 handed, but I'm worried with the pot this big this early, I'm probably going to get chased down like mad. The flop comes with a Qc 7x 4c. It goes check to me. I bet, UTG+1 calls, MP calls, SB calls. No alarms here. People at this table chase hoplessly. If anyone had as little as 2 outs, they'd call one small bet here. The pot now has 20 small bets.
The turn brings a 9c. I'm slightly worried about a flush but I'm determined to not play timid here, so after the SB checks, I bet. UTG+1 raises. MP folds. SB check raises making it 3 bets.
Now if I wasn't donkified by playing with the Canadian donkaholics for the last 5 hours, I'd simply fold. After all, I'm not only beat, I'm drawing dead....so I call 2 bets cold. The river is inconsequential. SB bets. I call. UTG+1 calls. The SB scoops a pot with 19 big bets ($190) after showing his made flush with 6c 2c.
I was somewhat demoralized to find out I was in 3rd place in this hand as UTG+1 flopped top set with the Queens.
I donked off 3 big bets on this hand that I didn't need to. I came into this game with $200, so I just donked about 15% of my stake. I guess that's the nature of limit poker....you have to avoid these types of mistakes.
This time I'm the victim of a donkifiscation
UTG +1 open raises. This guy has been unconscious. He has been open raising with good hands and trash hands all night and his trash hands have connected in so many ways that he now has 7 towers of 40 red chips each. I give him no credit for any hand here. If I have a Q high, I'm 3 betting it.
The guy to his right (UTG+2) is a real beginner. He had to be admonished about 3 times from trying to bet $40 on the turn. "Sir, this is a $5/$10 limit game, you can only bet $10 on this round" Anyway, he had scored some nice pots early, but he was taking a beating recently. This might be because he was calling people down with bottom pair everytime he showed his hand. This guy calls the 2 bets cold.
The donkaholic to my right (from the hand above) has never seen a hand preflop that he can throw away. He cold calls 2 bets.
I'm next to act. I indeed have Q high and it is paired with another Q for added attractivenss. I 3 bet. It's folded to UTG+1 manic who dutifully calls as does everyone else. The pot now has 13.5 small bets.
The flop cooperates and comes with a Jx 8x 4x.
UTG+1 manic opens. UTG+2 beginner calls. Donkaholic calls. I raise. Call. Call. Call.
The pot now has 21.5 small bets.
Turn card is the 3x. Perfect! The board is Jx 8x 4x 3x. No flush. No straight. And I've got an over pair.
It goes check, check, check to me. I think my hand is good. I bet. It goes call, call, and finally donkaholic gives it a break and folds one. Amazing. The pot now has 14 big bets
River is 4x. The board reads Jx 8x 4x 3x 4x. It goes UTG+1 maniac - check, UTG+2 beginner - bet, what? What just happened here? This is what it feels like to get rivered. I now shut it down a little. I call. UTG+1 folds.
UTG+2 shows a 10 4 off suit "good buddy". He scoops a nice pot with 16 bets in it.
Let's take a look at his play. I'm going to skip his preflop play - just grant me this one. It was a bad preflop play. But on the flop, the pot has 13 small bets. He has 5 outs twice and the board is uncoordinated. He's getting 14:1 immediate pot odds when he is a 9:1 dog on his call. Then, when he is facing more bet back to him, he is getting around 21:1 on his call. Not bad.
On the turn, he is getting 14:1 when he is a 9:1 dog. His call is OK.
The river plays itself. He bets and collects one last bet from me after he catches one of his 5 outs.
Oh well. I guess I'll just keep trying to play percentage poker and call when the calling odds are favorable and fold when there not. I think I need a coach.
I got crushed, again, playing limit hold'em in Canada. The Great Blue Heron escaped my revenge....this time. I got stuck for $190.
I don't mind, too much, having my bigs hand cracked every once in a while. My problem is that when my big hands held up, I won a nice small pot. When my big hands lost, I lost a gianormous pot. When I chased longshot draws into big pots, I never won the long shot gianourmous pot.
Here's my formula. I win small pots. I loose gianormous pots, and when I chase long shot draws, I need to get real lucky to win. This doesn't sound like a winning formula to me.
Think about it. On your longshot draws - say you are a 12:1 dog on the river (gut shot) into a pot that contains 18 bets, you are getting the right price to call, but you'll still miss that draw almost every time.
I have 2 hands to recap. One that I played like a donkey (hey - the Canadians must have infected me or something) and one where I got donkified by a Canadian donkaholic.
This time I'm the Donkey
It's 5/10 limit hold'em 11 handed. Stack sizes are not material. So I'm in the big blind. UTG+1, a very solid player, open raises. Middle position loose agressive player 3 bets. He's been raising with a wide variety of hands. He could have any Ace or any 2 broadway cards or any pair.
Canadian born donkaholic in the SB cold calls 3 bets. I have not seen him fold a hand pre-flop in about 3 hours, so cold calling 3 bets does not set off much of an alarm to me.
I peek down and find pocket Aces. Now, I'm liking my hand. I capped it, but I'm not sure anyone noticed. I didn't make much of a grand gesture when I capped it. I meekly pushed out 4 red chips and everyone auto called. Now that I think about it, if I'm going to cap a pot, from now on people better damn well know it was I who did so.I'm happy to have a capped pot, 4 handed, but I'm worried with the pot this big this early, I'm probably going to get chased down like mad. The flop comes with a Qc 7x 4c. It goes check to me. I bet, UTG+1 calls, MP calls, SB calls. No alarms here. People at this table chase hoplessly. If anyone had as little as 2 outs, they'd call one small bet here. The pot now has 20 small bets.
The turn brings a 9c. I'm slightly worried about a flush but I'm determined to not play timid here, so after the SB checks, I bet. UTG+1 raises. MP folds. SB check raises making it 3 bets.
Now if I wasn't donkified by playing with the Canadian donkaholics for the last 5 hours, I'd simply fold. After all, I'm not only beat, I'm drawing dead....so I call 2 bets cold. The river is inconsequential. SB bets. I call. UTG+1 calls. The SB scoops a pot with 19 big bets ($190) after showing his made flush with 6c 2c.
I was somewhat demoralized to find out I was in 3rd place in this hand as UTG+1 flopped top set with the Queens.
I donked off 3 big bets on this hand that I didn't need to. I came into this game with $200, so I just donked about 15% of my stake. I guess that's the nature of limit poker....you have to avoid these types of mistakes.
This time I'm the victim of a donkifiscation
UTG +1 open raises. This guy has been unconscious. He has been open raising with good hands and trash hands all night and his trash hands have connected in so many ways that he now has 7 towers of 40 red chips each. I give him no credit for any hand here. If I have a Q high, I'm 3 betting it.
The guy to his right (UTG+2) is a real beginner. He had to be admonished about 3 times from trying to bet $40 on the turn. "Sir, this is a $5/$10 limit game, you can only bet $10 on this round" Anyway, he had scored some nice pots early, but he was taking a beating recently. This might be because he was calling people down with bottom pair everytime he showed his hand. This guy calls the 2 bets cold.
The donkaholic to my right (from the hand above) has never seen a hand preflop that he can throw away. He cold calls 2 bets.
I'm next to act. I indeed have Q high and it is paired with another Q for added attractivenss. I 3 bet. It's folded to UTG+1 manic who dutifully calls as does everyone else. The pot now has 13.5 small bets.
The flop cooperates and comes with a Jx 8x 4x.
UTG+1 manic opens. UTG+2 beginner calls. Donkaholic calls. I raise. Call. Call. Call.
The pot now has 21.5 small bets.
Turn card is the 3x. Perfect! The board is Jx 8x 4x 3x. No flush. No straight. And I've got an over pair.
It goes check, check, check to me. I think my hand is good. I bet. It goes call, call, and finally donkaholic gives it a break and folds one. Amazing. The pot now has 14 big bets
River is 4x. The board reads Jx 8x 4x 3x 4x. It goes UTG+1 maniac - check, UTG+2 beginner - bet, what? What just happened here? This is what it feels like to get rivered. I now shut it down a little. I call. UTG+1 folds.
UTG+2 shows a 10 4 off suit "good buddy". He scoops a nice pot with 16 bets in it.
Let's take a look at his play. I'm going to skip his preflop play - just grant me this one. It was a bad preflop play. But on the flop, the pot has 13 small bets. He has 5 outs twice and the board is uncoordinated. He's getting 14:1 immediate pot odds when he is a 9:1 dog on his call. Then, when he is facing more bet back to him, he is getting around 21:1 on his call. Not bad.
On the turn, he is getting 14:1 when he is a 9:1 dog. His call is OK.
The river plays itself. He bets and collects one last bet from me after he catches one of his 5 outs.
Oh well. I guess I'll just keep trying to play percentage poker and call when the calling odds are favorable and fold when there not. I think I need a coach.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
I'll Have My Revenge Great Blue Heron
I just saw the sickest play ever on televised poker. I think this was from the last season of WPT during an episode titled "bad boys of poker."
Gus Hanson and Antonio Estanfardiari are the chip leaders at the 5 handed final table each with about 350k in chips. With blinds around 5k/10k, Antonio opens the pot for 30k with pocket 7s. Gus raises to 100k with 10d 8d. Antonio goes into the tank. When he emerges, he pushes all in for the remainder of his 340k. Up to this point, everything seemed like pretty "ordinary" stuff.
Then it got interesting. Gus calls all of his remaining chips with a 10 high. He calls with a 10 high. Unbelivable! Antonio wonders out loud to Gus, "Did you just loose your mind?". Of course an 8 hits the board on the flop and the hand is over. Gus is either a donkey or a genius. He goes on to win his 5th WPT event.
Ok, so my results at the Great Blue Heron Charity Casino in Port Perry Ontario have not been that impressive. I guess I'm stuck a little. The game is $5/$10 limit Hold'Em. My last 4 outings ($175 loss, $150 loss, $170 loss, $130 loss). Ok, so limit hold'em isn't my strongest game, but I've studied up since then and I've played alot of limit hold'em on line since my last visit in Feb. In addition, I really don't like those backwoods Canadian donkeys. It's personal this time. This next outing is not just about the money. I'll be playing for the pride of the US, for the pride of Detroit. I'm going to play uber-agressive but only the top 7 hands.Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Addiction
So it’s last Saturday. I’m resigned to not playing poker for the weekend. My son has a holiday party and I’m his transportation. I’m kind of missing not being able to play poker all weekend, but I figure, hey!, I don’t need to play every weekend….do I? I should be happy just to play once or twice a month, right? I’m not that addicted…am I?
As Saturday is progressing, I get to thinking about how much I enjoy my Saturday evening poker games. I love the competition, the camaraderie, and the occasional payoff $$.
Now it’s Saturday late afternoon, I’m really starting to miss not playing. I'm starting to obsess a little. So, I start to scheme, in my mind, ways that I can take my son to the holiday party and still play some poker.
I figure I can drop my son off at 7p and be playing poker by 8:15p. Then, if I leave by 9:15p, I can pick up my son by closing time - 10p. Of course, I’d need traffic to cooperate. I’d need to execute this plan to precision. There can’t be any delay in getting a seat at the table. Maybe I can call ahead. This will give me 1 hour max of playing time…not long enough. What if I just meet a parent at the party that will agree to give my son a ride home? No, that won’t work – the wife would object! I’m stuck.
So I take my son to his party and return home to sulk. No poker for me. Then, I get a gift. My son calls me at around 8:30p and says he’s bored and would like me to come pick him up. My mind immediately jumps to ….30 minutes to pick him up/drop him back at home, 45 minutes travel time to the home game, I’d be there by 9:45p…or 10p tops. I could play poker for 3 or 4 hours, make $200, and split.
My wife wrecks this scheme by calling me on my way to pick up my son and asks me to stop by Kroger for some much needed milk. Ok, this will add another 15m to the plan. No problem. So, I get to Kroger, grab the milk, jog to the check out…..forgot the wallet. Damn! Now, I’m screwed. If I don’t bring milk home, there’s no way wife will agree to let me play some poker.
So, I return home. No milk and no poker for me. By the way, I find my wallet in my coat pocket that I was wearing….at the store. Idiot! I sulk around for an hour and go to bed at a reasonable hour for once. Maybe, I’ll actually be a productive member of the family on a Sunday morning for a change.
Now, it’s Sunday. Of course, I feel great. I got to bed at 10p – up at 8a. I need to run some errands. Need to drop off some clothes at the Salvation Army and then swing by Sears at Summit Place mall to pick up some vacuum bags.
This trip takes me on the same route I would have traveled last night had I got the chance to play poker. So I travel through Pontiac, take the M59 loop, take the sharp right onto M59 west. This is a very familiar and often traveled route to the particular home game I’ve played at dozens of times.
Just traveling this route gets me to really miss not being able to play last night. The feelings from last night come rushing back.
Now, I’m freaking out a little. Ya see, I’ve never had a problem with booze, drugs, cigarettes, etc…, so I’m not sure what it would be like. But, I’m starting to get a sense that an addiction probably starts with this type obsessive thinking – sort of a craving of the mind to engage in an activity (i.e., poker, booze, drugs). So I really get to wondering, as I’m headed down M-59 west past Elizabeth Lake road, is this how someone who is addicted would be feeling? Is this what an addict would be thinking? Are these the early ‘tells’ to an addiction?
So, I get done with the errands, go bowling with my son, do some housework, and rationalize away all this crap about addictions as just “hey man!, I like to play poker, what’s the big deal?”
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Sklansky on NL and 2nd order thinking
A few posts ago, I described my understanding of 2nd and 3rd order thinking in poker (link). I mentioned that there are probably poker authors out there that describe this topic much more accurately and vividly.
Well, I just got to the chapter "multiple level thinking" of this excellent book by Sklansky & Miller. I was right. They spend about 8 pages describing this topic in pretty good detail.
BTW, this is an excellent book. There are a few chapters that after you read them you just have to ask, "what the hell is this guy talking about?" Then, there are other chapters, where you just have to go, "My God, how have I been playing NL without this?"
One of the most 'illuminating' concepts for me can be found summarized on page 124 and reads, "In deep stack no limit, preflop hands derive most of their value from how well they extract money after the flop from your opponents. Comparing hands based on how often they win a showdown or on thier poker 'hand rank' is worse than worthless"
Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. When I play real deep stack NL online (blinds .25/.50 and I buy in for $50 bucks), I like to call preflop raises with pretty marginal hands (i.e., J8 suited) in position, because if I hit just right, I can stack a player holding a premium hand like KK. I've noticed this in live action as well.
If the game seems particularly loose (like at the Vankeno Casino), I tend to tighten up and just play premium hands. I've noticed that certain players always seem to call my preflop raises with margial hands when they have position on me. Now that I think about it, this is a form of free-rolling. There is a chance that they'll get my whole stack if they flop just right, but there is no chance that I'll stack them.
The key for this strategy is that you must be playing deep stack NL. If you are only at 30x to 50x the big blind (i.e. $1/$2 blinds with only $60 - $100 stack sizes), the risk of calling a preflop raises with a marginal hand is not really worth the reward.
For example, say you are playing $1/$2 NL with $80. A tight/agressive opponent with $80 opens for a raise preflop to $10. It's folded to you on the button and you hold J8s. I don't think you can call here. When you combine the probability of out flopping him with the probabilility of stacking him if you outflop/turn him, you are a real long shot. Let's just say you are 3:1 on both. This makes you a 9:1 dog to stack your opponent. If you call a $10 preflop bet, you can only make 8:1 if your long shot comes through. You need a much better overlay than this to call.
On the other hand, if you are playing $1/$2 NL with $280. A tight/agressive opponent with $280 opens for a raise preflop to $10. It's folded to you on the button and you hold J8s. You might call here. When you combine the probability of out flopping him with the probabilility of stacking him if you outflop/turn him, you might still be a 9:1 dog to stack your opponent but now your $10 preflop call might be getting 28:1 if it comes through. You're a 9:1 dog to make 28:1. Not too bad.
Comments?
Thursday, December 07, 2006
3 things that you too can hate
I hate...
shopping on ebay
online poker
and Adam Morrison - putting up 2 points 1 rebound in my fantasy league (nice work rookie!)
shopping on ebay
online poker
and Adam Morrison - putting up 2 points 1 rebound in my fantasy league (nice work rookie!)
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Oh, the Outrage!
So the entire state of Michigan is outraged over being snubbed in the BCS selection for the college football national championship game. Ordinarily, due to my intense dislike for Michigan, I would take some sort of pleasure in this news. But, oddly, I don’t. Something is changing. I’m changing. I’m not sure I like it. I actually feel some weird sense of sympathy for the Wolverine fans. I’m sure this is temporary and I’ll get over it soon.
Anyway, the Cornhuskers lost the big 12 championship game vs. Oklahoma. Nebraska spotted them 7 points on the 2nd play of the game after a turnover on the NU 5 yard line and then basically played them even for the rest of the game. They had a pretty good season though. They had 4 losses – of which 3 of the losses were to teams in the hunt for the national championship game most of the season (USC, Texas, and Oklahoma – if it weren’t for a fluke bad call vs. Oregon). 1 bad loss for Big Red though– Oklahoma State. But even when you loose, you sometimes win. NU gets a great bowl - they face Auburn in the Cotton bowl on New Year’s day.
As for poker this weekend, I went to a neighbor’s house for a “Couples Night”/Euchre Tournament/Poker game. It was a lot of fun. I volunteered to sit out of the Euchre Tourney so that we had the correct numbers of players. This allowed me to focus on the Husker game. As I watched the Euchre action, I was really sort of pissed that I didn’t play. It looked fun. It was also cool to hang with the wife for a night.
The poker was a series of 1 table NLHE SnG tourneys w/$20 buy in. There were a lot of inexperienced players. I was asked to set up the blind schedule and format. I had one case of chips to work with that allowed each player to start with $1000. I started the blinds at $25/$50. We increased the blinds on each rotation until we were down to 8 handed, then the blinds increased every 15 minutes. 11 people started the first game.
I fared really well for the evening. I won the first two tournaments and placed 2nd in the third tourney of the night. I think the formula for these results was ((0.55*skill)+(0.45*luck)) = $239 in winnings.
Early on, I could see that the play was pretty slow, the blinds structure was really fast, and I’d have to gamble it up a little. I was sort of telling myself, “do not bluff at this game, it won’t work”. Then, on one hand I was dealt an AJ in middle position. I raised it PF. The button and small blind called. The flop comes Kxx. SB checks and the button mentions something like “is that a queen?” This gives me some insight that I might be able to make a play at the pot here. I fire in a continuation bluff/bet. The button folds, but the SB check-raises me all-in.
I can’t call. I’m pretty sure the SB was on a naked bluff, but he snapped me off pretty good. Henceforth, his name will be “bluffer”.
OK lesson learned – do not bluff. On a later hand with 2 limpers and the blinds at 100/200, I go all-in from middle position with a pair of 8s. The button agonizes for 1 full minute before mucking. I take this to mean that an Ace was just mucked most likely with a Queen or Jack. It’s folded around to the 2nd limper who reluctantly calls with AK. I double up and am on my way to victory lane. Whoo Hoo!
As a corollary to this story, I did find that it was much easier to “speculate”. Preflop action was rarely raised, and when it was raised, the raise was usually to double the big blind. I think the lesson was two-fold when playing at a table with many inexperienced players (1) Don’t bluff (2) speculate more.
I played one such speculation had with tremendous results. I was in late position with A9s in spades. With blinds at $25/$50, action is limped in 2 places to me. I guess an argument could be made to raise here (to define my hand, to build a big pot, or to eliminate real trash hands like J5s that can stack me if it hits just right). In the end, I decided to limp. I was pretty sure I couldn’t raise enough to fold everyone. A normal sized raise would just be called by everyone and they would, unwittingly, be committed to the rest of the hand by calling this pre-flop raise.The flop is really good for me. I’ve got 2nd pair/top kicker with a redraw to the nut flush. Action goes SB-check, EP1-bet $100 (pot started with $200), EP2-calls $100, I call $100 (I’m hoping one/both of these EP players are on a flush drawn or have 2 big cards like A10 or AJ). The SB (the guy who check raised all-in from the hand above), makes the same move, he check raises everyone to $250 more – he’s all in. Bluffer!
EP1 calls. EP2 calls. I call (I’m getting a real sense that one/both of these players on straight or flush draws. If the flush comes, I’m getting paid off. If a blank comes, I might get another bluff and then I can push all in. If an A comes, I’ll probably get paid off. I decide to gamble a little and just call here).
The pot now has $1600. I have about $1200 behind. My 2 opponents have $800 and $600 behind respectively.
The turn brings a blank. Here’s where my memory gets a little fuzzy. I can’t remember the action, but I think it went EP1-bet $200, EP2-call, JJ-call.
The pot now has $2400. I have $1000 behind. EP1 has $600 behind, EP2 has $400 behind.
The river is a spade. EP1 bets $200 again. EP2 goes all in. I go all in. EP1 calls.
Can you believe it? There was 3 quality flush draws out there and an open ended straight draw. Wow!
I drag a pot of about $4000 and eliminate 3 players.
A little while later, I have three quarters of the chips in play when we get down to 3 handed. The two other players decided to concede 1st to me and chop 2nd and 3rd. Great deal for me! I accept!
On the third SnG of the night (which started at 230a), we start with 7 players. I grind myself into 2nd place at about 4a. I have $3000 chips, chip leader has $3500, and 3rd place has about $2000. 2 places paid (65%/35%). The hosts are standing by the door, tapping their feet, arms-crossed, glancing at their watches every 30 seconds. I take an unfavorable straight distribution chop deal.
Pretty good evening!
