Monday, August 06, 2007
Only Problem - There's no queen!
So I’ve been continuing to tick up then down, then up, then down. Last 3 sessions: -$55, +$140, -$105.
First Session (-$55): $1/$2 and $2/$4 limit mixed game shenanigans. Most memorable hand was the last hand of the night. The game was $2/$4 limit Omaha High/lo. The pot was god awful big. I got a little out of hand by raising/capping preflop with Ah-Qx-10x-5h. Then, when the flop came high only (9s-10x-Js), I thought I could run people with low hands out of the pot. With 4 players (I’m acting 3rd), it goes bet, call, raise (me), call, re-reaise, call, cap (me), call, call, call. Then, the perfect card came off on the turn. A King hits and I make the nuts. Three of us put in another 2 bets. The river was a horrible card. The Ks comes off making a flush and paired board. Action goes check to me, I check, Hespy bets and says “I got there again”, Flushie check-raises him. I fold, Hespy calls and shows Jack full of Kings. Flushie slow rolls quad kings. He went runner-runner Kings to make quads and win a $100 pot.
That got me to thinking about a leak in my game (probably yours too) when it comes to playing the last hand or last round of the night. I notice people really start playing some marginal hands when the “last round” is announced. I, not wanting to miss an opportunity to play against others who may be playing weak holdings, usually end up throwing in a small bet as well to see what hits the board – big mistake. I hereby resolve to stop playing bad hands toward the end of a session.
Second Session (+$140): This was a game of $2/$4 limit Hold’Em, 10 handed, deep stacks, the players were all very creative and aggressive. The betting was often capped preflop with real marginal holdings (i.e. 3h – 5h). Very unusual hands were winning pots. This was going to be a tough game to crack.
1st observation: I’ve seen the same betting pattern emerge from some of those loose, wild maniacs. They bet/raise with any hand, proudly showing down their weird plays - win or lose. Then, when you are not paying attention, they switch gears and really tighten up. This is a pretty good strategy, because as they are playing the loose, maniac style, they occassionally win big pots, then when they switch gears, they get people to start calling them down with bottom pair and they start winning extra bets.
2nd observation: I noticed some players are really affected by playing with maniacs. They tend to really shut down on their creativity and aggressiveness. They turn into check/calling stations. This is a big mistake. One of the most effective weapons against the manic is the check-raise and the re-reraise. I was determined not to become passive. Instead, as I saw this pattern starting to emerge (people playing like maniacs and then switching to a tighter style), I thought I’d swim upstream and play really tight but really aggressive at the beginning. It worked! I caught big hands (Q-Q and 10-10) and won some nice pots. I suffered a couple of suck-outs and I’m back to even. Then, when the table started tightening up, I started pushing with marginal hands and I was able to score some nice pots without a showdown and by hitting some suck-out hands.
Third Session (-$105): Down tick -$50 from a Limit Hold’Em tournament. I played really, really bad. 1st mistake-I didn’t really have a game plan. I just sort of went into this thing “winging” it. The stacks were deep ($5000), the blind levels were long (30 min) and the blinds were small $25/$50. In limit poker, there is no chance you can stack anyone by playing a hand creatively. There are no good bluffing opportunities during the first few stages. The optimal strategy would have been to fold all but the top 10 hands. I didn’t!
If I found a hand to play and was first to act, I’d raise (not a bad play), but then when the flop missed, I’d continue to bet (not too bad), when called, I continue to bet the turn (not too smart). Then, I’d fire one last bullet on the river. I ran this same play about 3 times and found myself nearly out of chips in the third level. If I didn’t learn my lesson, I tried this move from UTG with a Kd-Qd. I raised and it was folded around to the big blind. He calls. The flop is a blank J-4-5. He checks. I bet. He calls. (Alarms should be going off now). The turn is another 5. The board reads J-4-5-5. I bet and as I’m making change for my $1000 chip, he check raises me (the sirens should be deafening at this point). I call without thinking. (Huge mistake. Just fold it JJ – ya got nothing and you were just check raised). The river is a blank. I can beat a bluff, but now I’m out of chips. BB bets and I have to call my last $200. He shows down a hand with a 5 and I’m out early.
Lesson here – go into the tournament with some sort of strategy. Think about the situation that is presented with the starting chips, the blind levels, the caliber of players, etc… Don’t just wing it. A “top 10 strategy” would probably have won this tournament.
The cash game after was pretty fun (down tick $55). We played round-by-round Pot Limit Omaha and NL Hold’Em with $1/$1 blinds and a $40 cap. The Omaha rounds played more like limit and were frequently capped and called multi-way. An interesting hand came up that had everyone wondering “what are the odds of that?” We’ll here they are. I ran the simulation on Sunday, but have lost the details. Here’s the best of my recollection
Rock is in the SB. Ryno calls. TLowe calls. JJ (Ks 5s Kc 6c) raises to $6. MP player calls. Rock raises to around $32. Ryno caps at $40. TLowe tanks it and finally folds. JJ calls. MP player folds. Rock calls. Showdown time.
Rock show (9c-7c-9d-Xd). Ryno shows (Ad-Xd-Ax-Xx). Rock is 22% (4:1) when he was getting 2:1 on his money. Ryno was about 42% (1.4:1) in a pot where he was laying 2:1 on his money. JJ was about 33% (2:1) and laying 2:1. So, whose the Donkey? Would you believe no one? That’s right. Everyone played the hand pretty much correctly.
Ryno called from first position with Aces. From 1st position you can’t adequately protect a hand like Aces. Your opening bet can only be $4. Open betting $4 is like inviting everyone behind you to come in. You get more callers with a $4 opening bet than if you just limp. He planned to check-raise if given the opportunity or open bet pot if the flop comes harmless. Not bad.
JJ's pot sized bet with double suited Ks was pretty good. I could make it $6. This hand is pretty good, but I would really like to be acting last after the flop. Maybe this bet will buy me the button.
Rock’s pot sized reraise was pretty good as well. Rock is holding cards that other players are probably not holding. He stands a good chance of taking down the pot with his re-reraise. Even if he’s called, he figures to only be about a 2:1 dog if he gets heads-up against someone holding Aces or Kings or 4 Broadway cards.
Ryno’s cap is automatic – he’s holding Aces for God’s sake.
JJ’s call is a little thin. I’m holding Ks (good). I’m double suited (good), but I’m not really a big favorite over hardly anyone. I’ve only put $6 into this pot. I could be (and probably am) up against Aces which makes me a dog. I won’t be able to bet anyone out of the pot (it’s already capped). A fold here would be OK. I think a call here is OK as well.
Turns out Rock wins it and adds $80 more in chips to his mountain.
Donkey play(s) of the night. JJ shows real aggression through the turn in an Omaha hand when suddenly Jules takes the initiative and caps the river for another $16 dollars. JJ tanks it and finally calls. Brandon comments, “nice call JJ with your pair of deuces”. I’m insulted and claim that I turned 2 pair Qs and 2s – only problem is that when I recheck the board there is no queen. Then, in a hand of Omaha 8, I make a marginal high (2 pair) and a marginal low (live 6) and decided to call a pretty big river bet from Andy. Andy claims a set of deuces for the high. I check and recheck and finally claim that I have a live 6 for the low half. The table erupts in laughter and reminds me that we are playing Omaha High – no low.
First Session (-$55): $1/$2 and $2/$4 limit mixed game shenanigans. Most memorable hand was the last hand of the night. The game was $2/$4 limit Omaha High/lo. The pot was god awful big. I got a little out of hand by raising/capping preflop with Ah-Qx-10x-5h. Then, when the flop came high only (9s-10x-Js), I thought I could run people with low hands out of the pot. With 4 players (I’m acting 3rd), it goes bet, call, raise (me), call, re-reaise, call, cap (me), call, call, call. Then, the perfect card came off on the turn. A King hits and I make the nuts. Three of us put in another 2 bets. The river was a horrible card. The Ks comes off making a flush and paired board. Action goes check to me, I check, Hespy bets and says “I got there again”, Flushie check-raises him. I fold, Hespy calls and shows Jack full of Kings. Flushie slow rolls quad kings. He went runner-runner Kings to make quads and win a $100 pot.
That got me to thinking about a leak in my game (probably yours too) when it comes to playing the last hand or last round of the night. I notice people really start playing some marginal hands when the “last round” is announced. I, not wanting to miss an opportunity to play against others who may be playing weak holdings, usually end up throwing in a small bet as well to see what hits the board – big mistake. I hereby resolve to stop playing bad hands toward the end of a session.
Second Session (+$140): This was a game of $2/$4 limit Hold’Em, 10 handed, deep stacks, the players were all very creative and aggressive. The betting was often capped preflop with real marginal holdings (i.e. 3h – 5h). Very unusual hands were winning pots. This was going to be a tough game to crack.
1st observation: I’ve seen the same betting pattern emerge from some of those loose, wild maniacs. They bet/raise with any hand, proudly showing down their weird plays - win or lose. Then, when you are not paying attention, they switch gears and really tighten up. This is a pretty good strategy, because as they are playing the loose, maniac style, they occassionally win big pots, then when they switch gears, they get people to start calling them down with bottom pair and they start winning extra bets.
2nd observation: I noticed some players are really affected by playing with maniacs. They tend to really shut down on their creativity and aggressiveness. They turn into check/calling stations. This is a big mistake. One of the most effective weapons against the manic is the check-raise and the re-reraise. I was determined not to become passive. Instead, as I saw this pattern starting to emerge (people playing like maniacs and then switching to a tighter style), I thought I’d swim upstream and play really tight but really aggressive at the beginning. It worked! I caught big hands (Q-Q and 10-10) and won some nice pots. I suffered a couple of suck-outs and I’m back to even. Then, when the table started tightening up, I started pushing with marginal hands and I was able to score some nice pots without a showdown and by hitting some suck-out hands.
Third Session (-$105): Down tick -$50 from a Limit Hold’Em tournament. I played really, really bad. 1st mistake-I didn’t really have a game plan. I just sort of went into this thing “winging” it. The stacks were deep ($5000), the blind levels were long (30 min) and the blinds were small $25/$50. In limit poker, there is no chance you can stack anyone by playing a hand creatively. There are no good bluffing opportunities during the first few stages. The optimal strategy would have been to fold all but the top 10 hands. I didn’t!
If I found a hand to play and was first to act, I’d raise (not a bad play), but then when the flop missed, I’d continue to bet (not too bad), when called, I continue to bet the turn (not too smart). Then, I’d fire one last bullet on the river. I ran this same play about 3 times and found myself nearly out of chips in the third level. If I didn’t learn my lesson, I tried this move from UTG with a Kd-Qd. I raised and it was folded around to the big blind. He calls. The flop is a blank J-4-5. He checks. I bet. He calls. (Alarms should be going off now). The turn is another 5. The board reads J-4-5-5. I bet and as I’m making change for my $1000 chip, he check raises me (the sirens should be deafening at this point). I call without thinking. (Huge mistake. Just fold it JJ – ya got nothing and you were just check raised). The river is a blank. I can beat a bluff, but now I’m out of chips. BB bets and I have to call my last $200. He shows down a hand with a 5 and I’m out early.
Lesson here – go into the tournament with some sort of strategy. Think about the situation that is presented with the starting chips, the blind levels, the caliber of players, etc… Don’t just wing it. A “top 10 strategy” would probably have won this tournament.
The cash game after was pretty fun (down tick $55). We played round-by-round Pot Limit Omaha and NL Hold’Em with $1/$1 blinds and a $40 cap. The Omaha rounds played more like limit and were frequently capped and called multi-way. An interesting hand came up that had everyone wondering “what are the odds of that?” We’ll here they are. I ran the simulation on Sunday, but have lost the details. Here’s the best of my recollection
Rock is in the SB. Ryno calls. TLowe calls. JJ (Ks 5s Kc 6c) raises to $6. MP player calls. Rock raises to around $32. Ryno caps at $40. TLowe tanks it and finally folds. JJ calls. MP player folds. Rock calls. Showdown time.
Rock show (9c-7c-9d-Xd). Ryno shows (Ad-Xd-Ax-Xx). Rock is 22% (4:1) when he was getting 2:1 on his money. Ryno was about 42% (1.4:1) in a pot where he was laying 2:1 on his money. JJ was about 33% (2:1) and laying 2:1. So, whose the Donkey? Would you believe no one? That’s right. Everyone played the hand pretty much correctly.
Ryno called from first position with Aces. From 1st position you can’t adequately protect a hand like Aces. Your opening bet can only be $4. Open betting $4 is like inviting everyone behind you to come in. You get more callers with a $4 opening bet than if you just limp. He planned to check-raise if given the opportunity or open bet pot if the flop comes harmless. Not bad.
JJ's pot sized bet with double suited Ks was pretty good. I could make it $6. This hand is pretty good, but I would really like to be acting last after the flop. Maybe this bet will buy me the button.
Rock’s pot sized reraise was pretty good as well. Rock is holding cards that other players are probably not holding. He stands a good chance of taking down the pot with his re-reraise. Even if he’s called, he figures to only be about a 2:1 dog if he gets heads-up against someone holding Aces or Kings or 4 Broadway cards.
Ryno’s cap is automatic – he’s holding Aces for God’s sake.
JJ’s call is a little thin. I’m holding Ks (good). I’m double suited (good), but I’m not really a big favorite over hardly anyone. I’ve only put $6 into this pot. I could be (and probably am) up against Aces which makes me a dog. I won’t be able to bet anyone out of the pot (it’s already capped). A fold here would be OK. I think a call here is OK as well.
Turns out Rock wins it and adds $80 more in chips to his mountain.
Donkey play(s) of the night. JJ shows real aggression through the turn in an Omaha hand when suddenly Jules takes the initiative and caps the river for another $16 dollars. JJ tanks it and finally calls. Brandon comments, “nice call JJ with your pair of deuces”. I’m insulted and claim that I turned 2 pair Qs and 2s – only problem is that when I recheck the board there is no queen. Then, in a hand of Omaha 8, I make a marginal high (2 pair) and a marginal low (live 6) and decided to call a pretty big river bet from Andy. Andy claims a set of deuces for the high. I check and recheck and finally claim that I have a live 6 for the low half. The table erupts in laughter and reminds me that we are playing Omaha High – no low.
