Hi there, Blog. Long Time No See.

Wow. I can't believe how long it's been since I have written.  I failed to write about my wins last year.  I won two ladies tournaments and cashed in a 6 max at the Beau.  There were so many hands that I could have written about from those nights that I can no longer remember in enough detail to write about today.  Ugh... Lessons not learned, because if I don't remember them then they don't serve me.  Having said that, let's talk about today.

I have not been playing very much.  A year ago I played pretty much as often I could get out of Baton Rouge down to the Beau Rivage to play.  Lately, it's hit or miss. I rarely play a cash game anymore.  Well, today was the St. Patrick's Day parade and since I am still paraded out and the BR had their $15,000 guarantee it seemed like a great time to take the day to Biloxi!

I entered the $235 event.  It started at noon and we arrived shortly after the tournament started.  My starting stack of 8,000 had been whittled down by a few blinds, so no big deal.  Of course like any player who arrives late to the game I said hello to everyone who addressed me, came in for a raise, and took down the first pot on the flop.  Why is this? Every time there is a seasoned player that comes late to a tournament, you can almost always expect them to look down at the first hand and fall in love with it.  I see it all the time. I say that I am immune to this style of thinking.  And that's about the time I found myself throwing the raise into the pot. Duh.

The day started out like any other day.  I won some pots. I lost some pots. I bluffed some pots. I got caught bluffing some pots. Nothing exciting.  I sat up in my chair with my Beats headset, listened to my tunes, and studied my opponents.  Some of the players I already knew and that meant that I knew what to expect from them. Others didn't take long to figure out and I simply waited for an opportunity to use the information that I was collecting.  Then our table broke and I was moved to another table.  And it all started again.

There was one player in particular at the opposite end of the table from me.  I had my immediate judgments about his skill level.  He had a lot of chips.  I was certain that he had acquired most of those chips because of some fluke and certainly not because he was particularly good.  As I continued to watch, I noticed more and more that I was correct. This was truly the guy who would dump his chips off to me.  But then he started dumping chips to other players.  He got short stacked.  He went all in. I snap called with my JT.  He turned up AA.  I doubled him up and thought, "Of course he has AA against me when he has something stupid against everyone else." He collected a few more chips.  I kept noticing that he WAY overplayed top pair and even second pair.  So I just waited. And waited.  and waited.  Finally he was short stacked again, and he shipped it.  This time I had 77 when I snapped his preflop all-in.  He turned up Ac6c.  The flop came down. I saw a 7 in the window and I thought, "Finally, he doesn't get me." Then as the dealer spread the flop I realized there was an A under the door card and a 7 right behind that.  I had flopped QUADS.  This guy stood up knowing that he now needed to go A on the Turn and A on the river in order to win.  Fail! I win. He goes home and I get his teeny tiny stack added to mine.  This was such a bittersweet victory. His stack was so small because he had already donked off all the other chips he had earlier that I was trying to get from him. Anyway, target gone... I needed to pick out a new ATM.

The spot on my right gets filled by a guy I play with a lot named Mo.  He knows me and how I play as I do him.  I am so excited to see him come to the seat on my right.  I am usually unlucky enough to get him on my left where he has the advantage at outplaying me. Not today. Today it's my turn, baby!  So he raises from the button, unchallenged. I have pocket 55's in the sb and call.  It's just me and him.  The board doesn't scare me. I fully expect him to have an unpaired hand.  My plan here is to check-call him the whole way.  I check. He bets. I call.  Then the Turn. I check. He bets. I call. The river. I check. He is about to bet.... but thinks better of it and checks behind. I win.  Ok, Mo, we are off to a good start. It happens again later. This time I have 77.  He is slowly sending his chips right from his stack into mine and I am a happy camper about this.  I work my stack up to 25,000 at the break.

Now for the hand that undoes me.  We started the tournament with 90 players.  Blinds are 100/400/800.  I am in the small blind with 9T.  Everyone folds around to Mo who is on the button. I expect him to raise here an he obliges with a raise to 2400. I call. The big blind who is a nit also calls and this gives me some concern. The flop is 6s Th 2s.  With top pair and potentially the best hand of the three of us I check with the expectation that Mo will c-bet and I will raise.  After I check the bb debates... WAIT... what is he doing? Is he thinking of making a bet? No. The way this is supposed to go is he checks, Mo bets, I raise, and old man in the bb folds. So why is he contemplating a bet. What does he have? He checks. Mo makes his cbet of about 2300.  I make my checkraise to 6500.  And the bb... well he does not instamuck and I had expected. Instead he .... what? ... he calls?  Why is he calling?  "Crap, I think to myself.  He must have AT or KT." The action moves to Mo who acts like he is thinking of shipping it, but I know better. He eventually folds leaving me with nitty BB.  The turn was a 2.  I check.  He checks behind!!!! Now I know what he has. He absolutely has AT or KT.  But he SHOULD be betting here. He should be trying to push me away from a flush draw or at least trying to find out what kind of hand I have.  I could have 66 or 62 or 22 or T6 or T2 or JJ or 99.  The truth is, he has no idea what I have here and I feel like I have the power in the hand because I absolutely know what he has. He may as well just turn his cards face up, because he is screwed.  Now I just have to get the outcome that I want.  The river comes down a spade. YAY! I couldn't have been happier if I had actually made a flush, because I know that my play tells the story of a possible flush or full house hand.  Now, I just have to make him believe it. I decide that a bet of 5000 should be small enough that I still have something to work with if I lose the hand but big enough for him to fold. It should also look like a bet that I want to have called. I mean, if I have a full house or a flush here, I am totally betting about 5000 here anyway.  So the bet makes sense with the story I am telling.  He counts out the chips for the call and thinks about it.  Now if he calls and loses he only has about 2100 left in his hand.  He won't survive more than 1 orbit with that so, surely he can't call unless he thinks he has the best hand.  He can't afford it.  In fact, if he thinks he has the best hand, he should go on and go all in here to maximize his win.  But if he thinks for even a second that I hit that flush on the river or the deuce on the turn for a set then he MUST FOLD.  Because it would be absurd to make the call just to see that you are right and yes you did lose the hand.  BUT this guy is not astute enough as a player to make this fold.  And after much deliberation, he calls.  Just a call. Not an all in.  His play here is terrible. Yes he wins the hand and stacks all those chips in the pot but imho he did not play the hand correctly at any point... not preflop, not postflop, not at all.  Alas, I am left with about 9900 and have only a couple of options.  I few hands later my stack is a tad smaller. Mo makes his button raise to 2300.  I ship it for an additional 6500 and he calls with a weak Ace.  I had QJ.  The board ran out A55Arag and I was done.

Moral of the story? Well, I liked my play with the 9T.  Yes I could have folded the hand pre-flop, but that's no fun.  There are some people that I want to play against as often as I can and Mo is one of those players.  And he does the same to me.  He and I can be very imaginative with our starting hands when we play each other.

As for me, I am plotting when my next trip down to Biloxi might be.... we shall see.

Aaarrhhgg

If I believed in luck, I'd go jump off a bridge after today's poker sessions.

AA vs KJ
Board KQ56K

QhJh vs Ac8c
Board: Qc5d4sTc river was some other club.

AdKd vs A4
Board all rags with a 4.

AA vs KhTh
Board: 6s5c9h2hAh

KdQd vs AsTs
Board: QJ9KA

That's just a small sampling of my day. Yes I was the one with the hand that lost by the river in each scenario.  I have been racking my brain about the quality if my play. I wish someone was watching me play so we could analyze it. Did I play some hands poorly? Yes. But overall I think I played well. The combination of playing a minute number of hands poorly along with constantly being sucked out on leaves me broke for the day. Played a sit n go last night and it was the same. Here's the hand that killed me in that sit n go.

A5 vs Kd4d
Board: 5d2d5h turn a blank river a diamond. Oh and we were all in on the flop. That hand I played against Sam Bernhard. He was raising light, which I knew. Then I catch big on the flop and he open shoves. I instacall and lose like a big loser. That only set the stage for today. Oh and I had AA last night too. On the button. Right after losing to Lucky Sam. And not a soul called my raise. Shit, this is a hard way to make a living. Good thing this isn't how I make my living! Oh, and I call him Lucky Sam because I watched him get it in bad twice against sets and catch. In a sit n go! Usually sit n go's aren't that forgiving of bad play.

Today I played the noon for $355, a sit n go for $65, and the 6pm Mega for $185. And last night I played a sit n go for $125 plus a $20 last-longer. What a bankroll killer!

Ok. I am done whining. Maybe I can get my head straight and come back one day this week.

WSOP NOLA update

Did not win my seat yet. The T that I played last Monday didn't have enough players to give away a seat so it turned out to be little more than practice. Played a sit n go last night. While I played extremely well, luck got the best of me. Interesting thing happened though. Sam Bernhard was at my table and now that I have seen him play, I cannot figure why he has been so successful. He lucked up twice last night. Once he shoved light with QTo and got called by 88 who flopped a set. Sam went card card for a straight to double up. Later he raised a hand against me. I notice he raises preflop infrequently but with any two cards so I call with A5. He had K4 of diamonds. The flop was 5d 5h 2d. He shoved. I snap called and again he hit a diamond on the river to crack me down fro 4k in chips to 1,500. Then I pick up AA at the 100-200 level and raise om the button to 500. No callers. Then I get QJ of diamonds in the cutoff and shove. The BB wakes up with QQ and that was that.

Today I will register and play in the noon event for $355. I have to win today. I can do it. I make  good reads and even better decisions. I am the winner today!

Paying Attention

Why is it so important to pay attention? I cannot for the life of me understand the player who is reading a magazine while playing cards. Or playing a video game... or some other such nonsense. If you wanted to read a magazine, curl up on the couch at home and read a magazine? These people are losing so much information to be had from the table in front of them. And it doesn't matter that it's a poker magazine because that poker mag is not making you any money while you are playing cards.

I played $4-$8 limit hold-em last night at the Belle. Now, I know this is low stakes, but I like to pay attention. It's good practice for when it's not a low stakes game and any little bit I win in low stakes and furher my bankroll for a bigger stakes game! So one hand in particular, I held A7. The flop came KT9. I was in early position, and there were 4 of in the hand. Everyone checked. The turn brought another K. We all checked to an older man in last position who bet. Now, I decided that he wouldn't have checked top pair on the flop in last position. And he wouldn't have some other pair that he is now betting. So even though I read him as a tight player, I decided he did not have anything and called. Everyone else folded. The river brought another K. When he did not bet here, I knew I was right. He turned over A8 and we chopped the pot. If I had been reading magazine and playing only my cards and not the player I would have lost a half pot here.

Another example from the same session. In this case I had something goofy like A4. I really don't remember what was on the board. Maybe a possible straight, but I do remember that a 5 hit the river. We all checked all streets. Again a tight player leads out on the river with a bet. I decide that he could have a 5 here or he could have nothing at all. As he is holding his cards I see a T flash in his hand. So that means that he doesn't have a straight. Again, maybe a 5. But a tight player wouldn't bet just a pair of 5's here. So it's more likely that he has nothing and is just trying to steal the pot. I call. All else fold and he holds his cards close to him, looks at the dealer who confrims to him that someone called him, and he mucks his hand - no show. I win the pot with my Ace high by calling down a bluff with a bluff call and I don't even have to show my hand. Another pot I would have lost by reading a poker magazine or playing a video game.

I left $140 ahead on the night. Tomorrow I am going to take a shot at winning a seat into the NOLA WSOP Circuit main event. It costs $135 to win a $1600 seat. I can do.  My reads are good. My focus is strong. I have done it before. I expect to win!

Bankroll

-130 -60

Played a 120+10 T at Harrahs this past Saturday. I was again really on my game. Did a great job of acquiring chips. But then I ran into an unfortunate circumstance. I knew the guy on my right was shoving all in light. I was waiting for a decent hand to call him with. At the 400-800 level I found it. ATo. He shoves. I reshove. A donkey behind me calls. I have them both covered. Hands face up: 1st shove had 89 in clubs. Donkey behind me had J9 in spades. Lol! Anyway and A comes out on the flop. But the river card gives the first shover a straight flush. Ah crap. The donkey was felted and I was crippled down to 3 big blinds! I was out of the tournament 2 hands later.

I then took 60$ and sat in a 4-8 game until Mom and grandma were ready to go. 3 guys in the game were celebrating a bachelor party and 2 of them won almost every hand. I left my $60 behind and went home.

Tonight, Easter, we went to the Belle. I played a little 4-8-12 half and half. I love that game! But not tonight. Couldn't hit a hand. I flopped a set of tens and the board ran out straight cards! I would start with AKQ9 double suited and the flop would come 662. It was ugly. I moved into the 4-8 holdem game and found a few juicy players willing to donate to my cause and I left the night with the same $200 that I started with. No profit. But more importantly, no loss!

There's always tomorrow!

Time is running out for me to put a bankroll together. In just a month the wsop starts at Harrah's and I am way behind on bankroll status. I think I will play the little 40$ T this wednesday with my local poker friends. If I win there I should be able to pick up 200 or maybe even 300 for an outright win. That would be a start!

Bankroll update

On Friday we went to the Hollywood and I played a little $1-$2 no limit. Its was a juicy game with one fish in particular that made my mouth water. But after several hours passed I never had been able to get myself into an opportunity with him. I guess I should have known early on. One hand I had pocket AAs and he ended up folding on the turn, but not before he commented, "I've played with you before. And you took all my money." He was such a wonderful juicy delicious fish but he wouldn't give me action. A few hours later I had pocket 88's and flopped a set. I thought, "Now, here we go. Just what I have been patiently waiting for." Again he folded on the turn. I don't k ow why he had to be semismart against me! I mean this guy was so dumb that he was calling my mom down with no pair, no straight draw, and just hoping a diamond would come to make his 8 high flush! EIGHT! But I couldn't get any action from him. Lesson learned. Next time some guy remembers me (I didn't remember him) and is scared to play against me I may as well leave for the day. I ended up being card dead most of the day and since I was unable to capitalize on the few hands I had, I left $300 down on the day.

Then on Monday we went to New Orleans and played in their $60 tournament. Now first I have to say that Sunday night I decided that I would win. I didn't just think it. I felt it. I was certain of it. So we were on the way there and Mom and Grandma were talking about us all being on the final table (a fantasy that we all three share before every tournament we play) and I said to them, "Look y'all I realized yesterday that I am going to win today. Ya'll are welcomed to join me at the final table but I am going to win." They laughed and we talked more about us all in the end.

I started the tournament at the same table as my mom. We had the slowest dealer in creation. The T had 15 minute levels and from the time they said "shuffle up and deal" and the time we actually got our first hand 5 full minutes had ticked off the clock. The final four was on NOLA so there was lots of fish to take advantage of. I watched my table for a hand or two and noticed they were not tournament players. They would make min raises and min reraises and play almost anything. Content that I had at least half of my table figured out after 2 hands I set a plan in motion. These Ts go very fast. The 15 minute levels would be ok but I know that by the time I get to the final table the levels are so big with relation to the chips in play that most or all of the players are technically shortstacked. Added to that my slow as molasses dealer and I decided to play this one pedal to the metal. No time for small pot poker here. Have to make big pots. Try to felt other players. And collect chips as frequently as possible. And if I get felted in the process? Well thats just a consequence of unfortunate circumstance when you play big pot poker. So i never made. 3x raise the whole day. I started out with big raises and kept my bets proportional to the pot to keep growing it. This strategy combined with luck, good opportunities, good reads, and good timing on my part did work. I made it to the end. When we were 5 left we agreed on a chop. The chip leader wanted more money out of the deal. I sat 3rd in chips and would only agree to an even chop. So the other players worked out the arrangement. I would get the even chop amount $469. They would each give extra to the chip leader so he woukd be happy. So it worked out that with 3rd chip stack I got the second most money out of the tournament. It was a good deal for me. And the guy with the second highest chip stack? It was probably his first time. He didn't seem to realize that he had more chips than me and was taking less money!

So -300 +469 -70 (tournament buy in) leaves me back in the positive range plus whatever I said I was ahead in my previous blog.

Thats it for now. Sorry about the typos.... writing this from my phone.

Building a Bankroll

I want to play in some tournaments this year in May at Harrah's. There's a lot of work to do between now and then and my bankroll building is going very slowly. Here's an accounting of my recent poker outings. Played a $40T and cashed $80. Played a $40 T and did not cash. Played $4-$8 limit holdem and left $40 ahead. Played $4-$8 holdem and left $40 ahead. Played $4-$8 holdem and $4-$8-$12 Omaha and left $66 ahead. The good news is that I am leaving ahead after each session. But this is a painfully slow process that is not doing much good for the action junkie inside of me.

I have decided to starr tracking my poker win/loss records. This post is the first step in my accounting process.

Did I mention the newest tell I found? Its a slight and instantaneous smirk. I went back and watched an old Annie Duke poker dvd and she talked about this smirk. Then just a few days later I got to see it in action. Its a quick smirk that a bluffing bettor will make just before implementing the bluff. I saw Gary do it in the $4-$8 limit game on the river. He was called. Not by someone who knew he was bluffing or even saw the tell. He was just called by some donkey who happened to call at the right time. In fact, I am the only person at the table that saw the tell. Once he got called, he instantly mucked his hand! Instamuck! I love this tell. It will make me hundreds of dollars because I often play against him in the no limit game. There have been several others times when I thought he was bluffing but didn't have enough of a tell to call off all my chips to find out if he was bluffing. Now I know! Now I am ready for his bluff shove!