All I can say is, math works for and against everybody equally. Some people call it luck. But, really , it's just that sometimes, some crazy stuff happens.
So, I'm playing online in a 9 player sit-n-go for $100. One player (an actor from ER) has already been elimated. You start with 1500 in these tourneys so it's helpful to catch a double up somewhere along the way if you hope to make it to the final 3 and make some cash. I have 10,10 in the small blind. Blinds are 30/60, and I have 1275 to start the hand. The guy who knocked out the actor raises from the cutoff to 180 (a standard 3x the BB raise). I rarely give too much credit to button and cutoff raises in these quick tournaments so I think my 10's are the best hand. Of course, I don't really want to see an Ace, King, or Queen on the flop.
The button folds. I reraise to 360, leaving me with 945. Ok, one more point to note, when I have less than 1000 in these sit-n-go's I get nervous. You don't have much after-the-flop folding equity if you have less than 1000 and make a preflop raise. The big blind folds and I'm head's up with the other raiser who calls my reraise. The flop comes 2d, 9s, Jc. That's a good flop for my hand. I think it's possible but unlikely that he flopped a pair with the Jack. It's a rainbow flop and I doubt he'll want to play a big pot with a straight draw. So, I go for the check raise. I check.
Of his now 2630 stack he bets 240. That looks like a standard continuation bet and the pot is now 1020. I have 945 left and would really like to just take the pot down here. I raise all-in. So this is the point at which you might want to try to guess at what you think my opponent has.
Ideas?
Ok, I'll go on. He calls my all in bet, and I see that he has 99 for a set. Ugh. I now have to hit one of 2 tens left in the deck... and I do! Right there on the turn comes the 10 of clubs. A meaningless Ace hits the river and I double up.
Math? Well, mathematically, I'm a HUGE favorite preflop with the over pair. But there IS a POSSIBILITY that my opponent might spike one of the 2 remaining 9's in the deck to beat me and he does. Then, after the flop I'm a HUGE DOG. But the ten comes and I feel like everything is right with the world. The best pre-flop hand won regardless of the crazy cards.
Of course, my opponent then calls me an idiot in the chat screen and starts saying something (probably calling me bad names) in another language. So, whatever... I don't care what anybody calls me as long as I am the one who drags the chips into my stack.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Crappy Play
So, I've been winning. In fact, it seems I can do no wrong. So I have to keep telling myself, "Respect the money." And I'm also have to some self talk now about what's the right play and why I'm making the play. The other night, was not my best play. In fact, I think that while I made some decent plays, I really could have (should have) done better.
Example 1: I raise with AJ off suit. This guy in the ten seat calls. The flop comes out ten high and I bet. He calls. On the turn we both check. On the river I check and he bets $120. Now, as I'm thinking about this, I think that he's bluffing. I think he probably had a straight draw or a flush draw and he missed. And the only way he thinks he can win is by betting to take the pot down. Trouble is, I only have Ace high. That could be a winner if he was on a straight draw. Well, I call. He says, "Good call. I only have one pair." Yes, he was bluffing. Yes he did miss the straight. BUT he also had a small pair of 5's to go along with his nothing, so he was betting with the best hand! Ugh. So what did I do wrong? Well, I played the hand like we were playing $4-$8 limit. I checked the turn and called the river. No, folks, this is nolimit. In no limit, I should have bet the turn or RAISED on the river. OR I could have folded. But a flat call was not the correct play. The trouble is that it's tough for me to raise a $120 bet when I have Ace high. Well, I need to get over that. If I think that my opponent is bluffing, I need to suck it up and take the pot away from them. Good read. Bad play.
Example 2: I have 56 off suit and a player that I really don't like raises to $30 preflop. Of course I call. It's always fun to beat someone that you don't like. Here's the other reason I call. I know that she plays about 90% of the hands she's dealt. Some she raises with and others she limps with, but I have her pegged as a fairly dumb, weak player who likes to see lots of flops. Oh, let me clarify why I say "dumb". She plays poker almost every day, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why she, seemingly, can never figure out what her opponent holds. She's almost always wrong. So, I think she's dumb. Oh, and she's not likeable either. She's usually a bitch to people when they beat her. So, it's fun to beat her. Ok, so I call the $30 raise and so does another player (also a weak player, but this person is nice and likeable, she's also wealthy and a loose player). The flop comes 8,7, and some other meaningless card that I can't remember. There are 2 spades and 1 club on the flop. The player I don't like bets $65. Of course I'm calling here with my openended straight draw. The other weak player also calls. I'm worried about a flush. The turn is a club that doesn't make anybody's hand. The player I don't like bets out $110. I think about this. I have at least the four red cards that make my hand, and maybe the four black ones too. If the other lady calls then she's certainly drawing for a flush and I'm dead. But if the other lady folds, then I'm not worried about the flush. Oh, but it's so much fun to beat someone that you don't like... I call. Ok, folks, calling to beat someone you don't like is not a good reason to call. You should only call when you have a positive expectation that this is a money making hand. Against most other players I would have folded because I'm likely in a negative EV situation. (EV=Expected Value). But this is technically a good call against a person who I feel could have any two cards and may only have AK or QQ because she raised preflop and continued on the flop. In fact, it's probably not AK, because I don't think she'd make the second continuation bet on the turn. So it's probably JJ, QQ, or KK. No, probably not KK. I think JJ or QQ. Anyway, I called and the 9 of spades peels off on the river. That's great! I made my hand. The other weak player had folded on the turn so it's just me and the player I suspect has a big overpair. She checks. And I CHECK! What? What did I just do? I checked! Oh crap... I should have bet. Wrong play, wrong play, wrong play.... bet bet bet! I checked. Of course I won the hand. But I could have gotten another $60-$100 from her by betting the river. But no. Because I was scared she might have been playing the flush the whole way looking for a check-raise on the river, I checked. Gosh. That was stupid. Now who was the dumb player in that hand? Me. Because I didn't get all of the money that I should have gotten from that hand.
All in all I did leave the game $1000 ahead for the night. But there were a few plays that were less than optimal. So, I'm writing this to remind myself that I'm there to make money. I'm not there to prove who the best player is. I'm not there to beat down bitches that I don't like. I'm not there to try to suck out when I have a negative EV hand. I am there to make the best, most sound decisions I can with the information that I have with the end goal of winning all the money on the table.
If I forget that, you have my permission to slap me in the head.
Oh, one more note. There are times when it is a sound decision to make a call for a suck out with a negative EV hand. Those are the times when I'm looking to put a volatile player on tilt so as to win more money from him/her in the future. That is a play I'll make!
Example 1: I raise with AJ off suit. This guy in the ten seat calls. The flop comes out ten high and I bet. He calls. On the turn we both check. On the river I check and he bets $120. Now, as I'm thinking about this, I think that he's bluffing. I think he probably had a straight draw or a flush draw and he missed. And the only way he thinks he can win is by betting to take the pot down. Trouble is, I only have Ace high. That could be a winner if he was on a straight draw. Well, I call. He says, "Good call. I only have one pair." Yes, he was bluffing. Yes he did miss the straight. BUT he also had a small pair of 5's to go along with his nothing, so he was betting with the best hand! Ugh. So what did I do wrong? Well, I played the hand like we were playing $4-$8 limit. I checked the turn and called the river. No, folks, this is nolimit. In no limit, I should have bet the turn or RAISED on the river. OR I could have folded. But a flat call was not the correct play. The trouble is that it's tough for me to raise a $120 bet when I have Ace high. Well, I need to get over that. If I think that my opponent is bluffing, I need to suck it up and take the pot away from them. Good read. Bad play.
Example 2: I have 56 off suit and a player that I really don't like raises to $30 preflop. Of course I call. It's always fun to beat someone that you don't like. Here's the other reason I call. I know that she plays about 90% of the hands she's dealt. Some she raises with and others she limps with, but I have her pegged as a fairly dumb, weak player who likes to see lots of flops. Oh, let me clarify why I say "dumb". She plays poker almost every day, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why she, seemingly, can never figure out what her opponent holds. She's almost always wrong. So, I think she's dumb. Oh, and she's not likeable either. She's usually a bitch to people when they beat her. So, it's fun to beat her. Ok, so I call the $30 raise and so does another player (also a weak player, but this person is nice and likeable, she's also wealthy and a loose player). The flop comes 8,7, and some other meaningless card that I can't remember. There are 2 spades and 1 club on the flop. The player I don't like bets $65. Of course I'm calling here with my openended straight draw. The other weak player also calls. I'm worried about a flush. The turn is a club that doesn't make anybody's hand. The player I don't like bets out $110. I think about this. I have at least the four red cards that make my hand, and maybe the four black ones too. If the other lady calls then she's certainly drawing for a flush and I'm dead. But if the other lady folds, then I'm not worried about the flush. Oh, but it's so much fun to beat someone that you don't like... I call. Ok, folks, calling to beat someone you don't like is not a good reason to call. You should only call when you have a positive expectation that this is a money making hand. Against most other players I would have folded because I'm likely in a negative EV situation. (EV=Expected Value). But this is technically a good call against a person who I feel could have any two cards and may only have AK or QQ because she raised preflop and continued on the flop. In fact, it's probably not AK, because I don't think she'd make the second continuation bet on the turn. So it's probably JJ, QQ, or KK. No, probably not KK. I think JJ or QQ. Anyway, I called and the 9 of spades peels off on the river. That's great! I made my hand. The other weak player had folded on the turn so it's just me and the player I suspect has a big overpair. She checks. And I CHECK! What? What did I just do? I checked! Oh crap... I should have bet. Wrong play, wrong play, wrong play.... bet bet bet! I checked. Of course I won the hand. But I could have gotten another $60-$100 from her by betting the river. But no. Because I was scared she might have been playing the flush the whole way looking for a check-raise on the river, I checked. Gosh. That was stupid. Now who was the dumb player in that hand? Me. Because I didn't get all of the money that I should have gotten from that hand.
All in all I did leave the game $1000 ahead for the night. But there were a few plays that were less than optimal. So, I'm writing this to remind myself that I'm there to make money. I'm not there to prove who the best player is. I'm not there to beat down bitches that I don't like. I'm not there to try to suck out when I have a negative EV hand. I am there to make the best, most sound decisions I can with the information that I have with the end goal of winning all the money on the table.
If I forget that, you have my permission to slap me in the head.
Oh, one more note. There are times when it is a sound decision to make a call for a suck out with a negative EV hand. Those are the times when I'm looking to put a volatile player on tilt so as to win more money from him/her in the future. That is a play I'll make!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Money Money Money - You Gotta Respect It!
So, I've been running up against a cold deck for about 2 years now. However, ealier this year I started to come out if it. Thank Goodness. But there's something that I learned that I think may have been the key to coming out of the black cloud.
You know when you play no limit texas holdem you can be dealing with lots of money. Even at the low limits! One day I played $1-$2 blinds and left with over $1500. That's a lot of money. And usually playing at $2-$5 blinds it's common to have $1000 sitting right there on the table in front of you at any given moment. So here's what I learned. You become complacent... complacent to money. When you have a thousand, two thousand dollars right there in front of you and there's probably ten thousand dollars on the table in play at any given moment, it's pretty easy to get a little "lost".
I learned a few years ago that you have to play without fear. You can't "need" the money or you'll play scared. But now I'm learning that you can't disrespect the money either. There's a fine line to tow here... an almost invisible line between being fearless and respecting that money. What I have learned this year is to respect the money. And since I've learned that lesson, I've been winning. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Example: A few months ago, I won a tournament in Kinder. I told you about it. My goal was to cash $2000 in that tournament. People were wanting to chop earlier, but I held out and met my goal before I agreed to a chop. What I didn't tell you is the "self-talk" I did during the tournament. In fact, this is probably when I had this little "revelation". I told myself, "You have to respect the money." What that meant is that I can't go around without regard or respect for money because it will all slip through my fingers if I do. "Respect the money." That's what I told myself. And it kept me in line. And I met my goal in that tournament.
Example 2: Since I've been winning it's been easy, right? Wrong. Last night I bought into the $2-$5 game for $400. Within an hour I had $1200 in front of me. And then it started to slip away. My stack dwindled down to about $500 and I said to myself, "Respect the money." That paradigm shift enabled me to leave the game last night with $1200. You see what I realized there is that when you can win or lose A THOUSAND DOLLARS in an hour, you start to get complacent... again. (Of course it also helped that I picked up pocket 5's again and flopped a set again, for the third time in the past two weeks!)
So I have to check myself. Am I becoming complacent? Am I the donkey at the table? Am I making good decisions? What is driving me to make the decisions that I make? That last question requires more insight than I think most players make about themselves.
"A thousand dollars," I said to myself last night, "is more money than some people make in a whole week, and certainly more money that most people make in a day and here I've obtained it in an hour." One hour! One Thousand Dollars! You know how I know when I'm starting to disrespect the money? When I say it's only a hundred dollars or it's only a thousand dollars... as if that's a drop in the bucket!
Well, I'm no millionaire and a thousand dollars is still a very real and very large amount of money to be passing through my hands in an hour's time. So for me, I have to remember to "respect the money" or it won't respect me.
You know when you play no limit texas holdem you can be dealing with lots of money. Even at the low limits! One day I played $1-$2 blinds and left with over $1500. That's a lot of money. And usually playing at $2-$5 blinds it's common to have $1000 sitting right there on the table in front of you at any given moment. So here's what I learned. You become complacent... complacent to money. When you have a thousand, two thousand dollars right there in front of you and there's probably ten thousand dollars on the table in play at any given moment, it's pretty easy to get a little "lost".
I learned a few years ago that you have to play without fear. You can't "need" the money or you'll play scared. But now I'm learning that you can't disrespect the money either. There's a fine line to tow here... an almost invisible line between being fearless and respecting that money. What I have learned this year is to respect the money. And since I've learned that lesson, I've been winning. I don't think that's a coincidence.
Example: A few months ago, I won a tournament in Kinder. I told you about it. My goal was to cash $2000 in that tournament. People were wanting to chop earlier, but I held out and met my goal before I agreed to a chop. What I didn't tell you is the "self-talk" I did during the tournament. In fact, this is probably when I had this little "revelation". I told myself, "You have to respect the money." What that meant is that I can't go around without regard or respect for money because it will all slip through my fingers if I do. "Respect the money." That's what I told myself. And it kept me in line. And I met my goal in that tournament.
Example 2: Since I've been winning it's been easy, right? Wrong. Last night I bought into the $2-$5 game for $400. Within an hour I had $1200 in front of me. And then it started to slip away. My stack dwindled down to about $500 and I said to myself, "Respect the money." That paradigm shift enabled me to leave the game last night with $1200. You see what I realized there is that when you can win or lose A THOUSAND DOLLARS in an hour, you start to get complacent... again. (Of course it also helped that I picked up pocket 5's again and flopped a set again, for the third time in the past two weeks!)
So I have to check myself. Am I becoming complacent? Am I the donkey at the table? Am I making good decisions? What is driving me to make the decisions that I make? That last question requires more insight than I think most players make about themselves.
"A thousand dollars," I said to myself last night, "is more money than some people make in a whole week, and certainly more money that most people make in a day and here I've obtained it in an hour." One hour! One Thousand Dollars! You know how I know when I'm starting to disrespect the money? When I say it's only a hundred dollars or it's only a thousand dollars... as if that's a drop in the bucket!
Well, I'm no millionaire and a thousand dollars is still a very real and very large amount of money to be passing through my hands in an hour's time. So for me, I have to remember to "respect the money" or it won't respect me.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Hand Analysis and Reading Opponents
It's been a while since I posted anything so I'll get you caught up on my action before we go into 2 hands I want to discuss. First, while Mom and Grandma were in Vegas, I signed up for a Heads'Up Tournament in Lake Charles at the Isle of Capris. I defeated a few opponents to cash in this tournament. It was quite fun and my first live heads'up T. I'm going to look to play in a few more of those in the future. (Oh, one other bonus. I was the only girl and a few of my rather cocky male opponents were crushed by my poker prowess after underestimating me!)
Then I played a small T at Coushatta in Kinder and cashed for $2000. Everybody kept wanting to chop, but my goal was to walk away with $2k so I kept blocking the chop talk until we knocked out enough players to meet my goal. Mission accomplished!
Then we went down to the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and I played a $350 tournament there. The tournament went really well for me. I got lucky and I played great too. After 14 hours of play we chopped the prize pool 17 ways. I walked away with $6500.
Exhausted from all that play and then waiting another 2 hours to get paid, I lost about $1500 over the next two days. But I still managed to come back to Baton Rouge with a bankroll sufficient for me to move up from the $4-$8 limit and into the $2-$5 no limit game.
We played in New Orleans a week or so ago and I lost about $900 in the $1-$2 game, but I played pretty well all in all. So I wasn't too upset about the loss. I felt like I did all that I could. A few times my opponents sucked out to win the big pots. Here's one hand in particular. This one has to do with reading opponents. I had something like A8. On the flop there was an 8 and a K and some other rag card. I checked. The big blind checked and the next guy bet $20. I read him a weak so I called. The BB, who had raised pre-flop figured that his pocket J's were beat with that guy betting and me calling so he folded the best hand here. Now that it was just the two of us and I figured he did have anything, I bet $40 thinking he would fold on the turn. He did not fold, but called instead. That confused me a bit. Another K hit the river and I checked. The guy bet about $65. This really had me wondering if I'd been wrong all along. While I'm thinking about it I'm "shuffling" my hole cards. I notice that he catches this move from the corner of his eye and his eyes move from my eyes to my cards. I'm wondering here, did he think I was folding? I think he wants me to fold. Usually when someone has a big hand they'll look at your "chips" to imagine them in their own stack. But he looked at my cards! He was also leaning over the table and staring me down (something he had not done before when he did have big hands). I decided to stick with my originial analysis that he didn't have anything all along and the K on the river couldn't have helped so I called. He had total air and I won the pot. That's the first time I'd noticed a player looking at my cards...
That takes me to this week. I was playing at the Belle in Baton Rouge in the $2-$5 no limit game. We'd been playing for a while so all the players were familiar with each other. I raised to $20 with 55 in middle position. I got 4 callers. (A nit player, a donkey caller, and two guys that like to see flops). The flop came down Kh Qh 5d. Wooo hooo! I just flopped a set. Now, let's make some money. I don't like the flush/straight draws so I don't want to mess around too much. The first 2 check. I bet $65. The nit calls. One of the "likes to see a flop" guys calls. And the donkey caller, calls. The turn is a 6c. Thank goodness that didn't make anyone's straight or flush. The first two check to me. I decide that I want to bet enough to take the pot down right here. No need to allow those pesky draws to see the river. I bet $300. The nit calls! What the heck? The other two fold. So the easy to beat players are out and the guy who usually has the nuts is in the hand. What's going on here? He was supposed to fold. The river is a Jd. That card doesn't make a flush but it could make a straight. I decide that along with that card being a scare card for me, the pot is big enough (and what can he be calling with?) so I check. He shoves in an intimidating stack of green chips - $500! Now I go into the tank.
I think I spent the next 5 minutes going over the hand. I really thought I had the best hand. What just happened? He's looking at me to see what I'm going to do. I look at him and ask, "Ace-ten?" He looks away. What's that mean? Is he looking away because I called his hand? Is he looking away because his hand is much weaker than a straight? "Ace ten of hearts? really?," I say. No reaction from him. I'm shuffling my cards and he looks at them. What? Did he just look at my cards? Is he looking for me to fold? Ok, did he slow play pocket K's or Q's? No, I don't think so. I think he would have reraised with one of those two hands either pre-flop or on the flop. Did he turn a set of 6's? No, I don't think he called $65 on the flop with a medium pair to hunt out a set on the turn. Ace ten of hearts? really? No. I don't think he called THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS on the turn with a draw - no matter how big. It would have been foolish to call a pot sized bet on the turn with a gut shot/flush/royal draw. But some people can't away from royal draws. By this time, I'm really contemplating folding here. If I call and lose I'll have about $120 left to take home and go home a $780 loser on the night. I'm holding my cards up and the players to my left and right can see them at this point. But I'm still working my way through this hand. This guy hasn't been able to look at me ever since I asked him it he had Ace ten. Ace ten of hearts is the only hand that makes sense here. Wait a minute. KQ also makes sense. In fact, KQ makes more sense. I just don't think he would have called the $300 on the turn. I say to Mom, "I think we're going home after this hand, win or lose." By now, I am comfortable with my decision no matter what he has. My voice is almost a whisper, "I call". He turns to look at me. The dealer says, "What? You call?" I say, "Yes, I call". He turns up KsQs. YES! I turn up my pocket 5's and take down the $2000 pot.
It turns out that it was a huge decision for me. But the thing that had me calling the most, was something I saw in his face. Something I can't describe. There was just something there when I first asked him if he had Ace-Ten. Maybe a micro-expression. Maybe it was something that my subconscious understood better than my conscious mind, but something told me to call and to be ok with it either way. So really, even though my brain said, "fold he's got to have the nuts." Another part of me said, "call." Since I was having an inner struggle I took the time to go through the hand in my mind and to make a conscious decision that Ace ten didn't actually make that much sense... not with HIM. Another donkey caller - yes, but not HIM.
In the end, I was ok with it. If he turned up AhTh, then that would be that. But I was about 90% certain I had the winner after taking the time to work through the hand before calling.
That's it for now. Time to get ready to go win some more money!
Then I played a small T at Coushatta in Kinder and cashed for $2000. Everybody kept wanting to chop, but my goal was to walk away with $2k so I kept blocking the chop talk until we knocked out enough players to meet my goal. Mission accomplished!
Then we went down to the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and I played a $350 tournament there. The tournament went really well for me. I got lucky and I played great too. After 14 hours of play we chopped the prize pool 17 ways. I walked away with $6500.
Exhausted from all that play and then waiting another 2 hours to get paid, I lost about $1500 over the next two days. But I still managed to come back to Baton Rouge with a bankroll sufficient for me to move up from the $4-$8 limit and into the $2-$5 no limit game.
We played in New Orleans a week or so ago and I lost about $900 in the $1-$2 game, but I played pretty well all in all. So I wasn't too upset about the loss. I felt like I did all that I could. A few times my opponents sucked out to win the big pots. Here's one hand in particular. This one has to do with reading opponents. I had something like A8. On the flop there was an 8 and a K and some other rag card. I checked. The big blind checked and the next guy bet $20. I read him a weak so I called. The BB, who had raised pre-flop figured that his pocket J's were beat with that guy betting and me calling so he folded the best hand here. Now that it was just the two of us and I figured he did have anything, I bet $40 thinking he would fold on the turn. He did not fold, but called instead. That confused me a bit. Another K hit the river and I checked. The guy bet about $65. This really had me wondering if I'd been wrong all along. While I'm thinking about it I'm "shuffling" my hole cards. I notice that he catches this move from the corner of his eye and his eyes move from my eyes to my cards. I'm wondering here, did he think I was folding? I think he wants me to fold. Usually when someone has a big hand they'll look at your "chips" to imagine them in their own stack. But he looked at my cards! He was also leaning over the table and staring me down (something he had not done before when he did have big hands). I decided to stick with my originial analysis that he didn't have anything all along and the K on the river couldn't have helped so I called. He had total air and I won the pot. That's the first time I'd noticed a player looking at my cards...
That takes me to this week. I was playing at the Belle in Baton Rouge in the $2-$5 no limit game. We'd been playing for a while so all the players were familiar with each other. I raised to $20 with 55 in middle position. I got 4 callers. (A nit player, a donkey caller, and two guys that like to see flops). The flop came down Kh Qh 5d. Wooo hooo! I just flopped a set. Now, let's make some money. I don't like the flush/straight draws so I don't want to mess around too much. The first 2 check. I bet $65. The nit calls. One of the "likes to see a flop" guys calls. And the donkey caller, calls. The turn is a 6c. Thank goodness that didn't make anyone's straight or flush. The first two check to me. I decide that I want to bet enough to take the pot down right here. No need to allow those pesky draws to see the river. I bet $300. The nit calls! What the heck? The other two fold. So the easy to beat players are out and the guy who usually has the nuts is in the hand. What's going on here? He was supposed to fold. The river is a Jd. That card doesn't make a flush but it could make a straight. I decide that along with that card being a scare card for me, the pot is big enough (and what can he be calling with?) so I check. He shoves in an intimidating stack of green chips - $500! Now I go into the tank.
I think I spent the next 5 minutes going over the hand. I really thought I had the best hand. What just happened? He's looking at me to see what I'm going to do. I look at him and ask, "Ace-ten?" He looks away. What's that mean? Is he looking away because I called his hand? Is he looking away because his hand is much weaker than a straight? "Ace ten of hearts? really?," I say. No reaction from him. I'm shuffling my cards and he looks at them. What? Did he just look at my cards? Is he looking for me to fold? Ok, did he slow play pocket K's or Q's? No, I don't think so. I think he would have reraised with one of those two hands either pre-flop or on the flop. Did he turn a set of 6's? No, I don't think he called $65 on the flop with a medium pair to hunt out a set on the turn. Ace ten of hearts? really? No. I don't think he called THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS on the turn with a draw - no matter how big. It would have been foolish to call a pot sized bet on the turn with a gut shot/flush/royal draw. But some people can't away from royal draws. By this time, I'm really contemplating folding here. If I call and lose I'll have about $120 left to take home and go home a $780 loser on the night. I'm holding my cards up and the players to my left and right can see them at this point. But I'm still working my way through this hand. This guy hasn't been able to look at me ever since I asked him it he had Ace ten. Ace ten of hearts is the only hand that makes sense here. Wait a minute. KQ also makes sense. In fact, KQ makes more sense. I just don't think he would have called the $300 on the turn. I say to Mom, "I think we're going home after this hand, win or lose." By now, I am comfortable with my decision no matter what he has. My voice is almost a whisper, "I call". He turns to look at me. The dealer says, "What? You call?" I say, "Yes, I call". He turns up KsQs. YES! I turn up my pocket 5's and take down the $2000 pot.
It turns out that it was a huge decision for me. But the thing that had me calling the most, was something I saw in his face. Something I can't describe. There was just something there when I first asked him if he had Ace-Ten. Maybe a micro-expression. Maybe it was something that my subconscious understood better than my conscious mind, but something told me to call and to be ok with it either way. So really, even though my brain said, "fold he's got to have the nuts." Another part of me said, "call." Since I was having an inner struggle I took the time to go through the hand in my mind and to make a conscious decision that Ace ten didn't actually make that much sense... not with HIM. Another donkey caller - yes, but not HIM.
In the end, I was ok with it. If he turned up AhTh, then that would be that. But I was about 90% certain I had the winner after taking the time to work through the hand before calling.
That's it for now. Time to get ready to go win some more money!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Back on the Horse
I know it's been a while, but I just didn't know how to keep writing about losing. So, I've finally moved through my cold deck spell. I played a $26 Bracelet Race on Full Tilt to win a $2000 WSOP package. I got second place and cashed $400+. Next, I played a $26 Razz Tournament on Full Tilt and took down 1st place for $930. And, about a week ago, I bought in for $100 in a $4-$8 limit game at the Belle of Baton Rouge. I started the night off by picking up pocket AA's under the gun and flopping quads. I followed that hand up with a big blind special, 74 off suit and flopped 774 for a full house. That night I proceeded to win pot after pot and went home with $600 of winnings.
Yesterday, Mom and Grandma left Baton Rouge to fly to Las Vegas and play in a few WSOP tournaments. After the flight they took a rest, not planning to play any tournaments that day. In fact, Grandma didn't plan to play any tournaments at all, because she says she's too old to play in a tournament for 3 or 4 days... HOGWASH! So after their nap they met up with Captain Tom Franklin (who Mom met just a month or so ago at the IP in Biloxi when she, Tom, and one other guy made a deal as the final 3 players of a $2000 tournament to chop $20,000 each). Tom talked them into signing up for the tournament yesterday even though it had already started. Grandma pulled a table with Tom Durrrr Dwan on her right, Phil Ivey on her left, and Chris Ferguson two to her left. Go, Granny Go!
And Go she did... as she sent Phil Ivey to the rail! There was quite a raucous around her table as and unknown "little old lady" picked up A's against Ivey's K's and sent him packing. Apparently it was the "shot heard round the world", because they went to Binions today and found that word had spread of a little old lady felting Phil Ivey. As the day wore on, she did start to tire and fell just short of making the money... but who cares... she's got the best story of anybody to tell and had a great experience!
Back to me. I'm working on winning a seat in the WSOP. I've falled short a few times in sateliting into big events. Last year, I missed a WSOP seat on Full Tilt as I finished in 2nd place to cash $800+ and just missing the $12k WSOP Main Event package. And in November I fell short on Poker Stars when I took 31st place in a $700 tournament that awarded 30 people $10k prize packages to the PokerStars Carribean Adventure in the Bahamas. I'm done with bubbles. This year I'll take the prize!
Ok, one short hand analysis from last night. (Of course, I had to go to the local poker room to brag about Grandma felting Ivey.) Last night I played 62 - a random hand - from late position. The button raised to $8. There were a few callers including me for the additional $4. The flop came KK2 with two hearts. Everyone checked to the button and he checked his cards before he continued with a $4 bet. I read this to mean that he did not have a K. People tend to remember if they have a big card in their hand. No one with any sense has to go back and look at their hand to see if they have a K or an Ace. So, everyone folded and I called. The turn was a 2. This was a great card for me. I was now heads up with the preflop raiser and I still didn't figure him for a King so my full house was probably the best hand. Still, I check-called his $8 bet. The river was a blank. I checked, he bet, and I called. Now, if the river had been a heart, I probably would have raised him on the river, but to minimize my losses in case I was wrong and because I didn't think he would call a raise anyway on the river if he had "air" I just called. It was a great read. He had AhQh - a busted flush draw and his head sunk as he saw that I'd called him down with 62. Now, I can usually fold these hands, but if I think my opponent doesn't have the goods, then I'll be making those calls and I'm proud of it! That's something you can't do with online poker. You can't see your opponent go back to check his cards. And that was the primary tell that gave me information about his hand!
Yesterday, Mom and Grandma left Baton Rouge to fly to Las Vegas and play in a few WSOP tournaments. After the flight they took a rest, not planning to play any tournaments that day. In fact, Grandma didn't plan to play any tournaments at all, because she says she's too old to play in a tournament for 3 or 4 days... HOGWASH! So after their nap they met up with Captain Tom Franklin (who Mom met just a month or so ago at the IP in Biloxi when she, Tom, and one other guy made a deal as the final 3 players of a $2000 tournament to chop $20,000 each). Tom talked them into signing up for the tournament yesterday even though it had already started. Grandma pulled a table with Tom Durrrr Dwan on her right, Phil Ivey on her left, and Chris Ferguson two to her left. Go, Granny Go!
And Go she did... as she sent Phil Ivey to the rail! There was quite a raucous around her table as and unknown "little old lady" picked up A's against Ivey's K's and sent him packing. Apparently it was the "shot heard round the world", because they went to Binions today and found that word had spread of a little old lady felting Phil Ivey. As the day wore on, she did start to tire and fell just short of making the money... but who cares... she's got the best story of anybody to tell and had a great experience!
Back to me. I'm working on winning a seat in the WSOP. I've falled short a few times in sateliting into big events. Last year, I missed a WSOP seat on Full Tilt as I finished in 2nd place to cash $800+ and just missing the $12k WSOP Main Event package. And in November I fell short on Poker Stars when I took 31st place in a $700 tournament that awarded 30 people $10k prize packages to the PokerStars Carribean Adventure in the Bahamas. I'm done with bubbles. This year I'll take the prize!
Ok, one short hand analysis from last night. (Of course, I had to go to the local poker room to brag about Grandma felting Ivey.) Last night I played 62 - a random hand - from late position. The button raised to $8. There were a few callers including me for the additional $4. The flop came KK2 with two hearts. Everyone checked to the button and he checked his cards before he continued with a $4 bet. I read this to mean that he did not have a K. People tend to remember if they have a big card in their hand. No one with any sense has to go back and look at their hand to see if they have a K or an Ace. So, everyone folded and I called. The turn was a 2. This was a great card for me. I was now heads up with the preflop raiser and I still didn't figure him for a King so my full house was probably the best hand. Still, I check-called his $8 bet. The river was a blank. I checked, he bet, and I called. Now, if the river had been a heart, I probably would have raised him on the river, but to minimize my losses in case I was wrong and because I didn't think he would call a raise anyway on the river if he had "air" I just called. It was a great read. He had AhQh - a busted flush draw and his head sunk as he saw that I'd called him down with 62. Now, I can usually fold these hands, but if I think my opponent doesn't have the goods, then I'll be making those calls and I'm proud of it! That's something you can't do with online poker. You can't see your opponent go back to check his cards. And that was the primary tell that gave me information about his hand!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Poker: Love it or Hate it
Right now I'm hating it. Ugh, What a day! I started out the day ready to go get em. I played $1-$2 no limit for a while and started out great. I especially pissed this guy off when he threw out a $100 bluff on the river, and after deliberting it, I called with a mere pair of 8's. It felt like a bluff so I went with my gut and I was right. It was all downhill from there.
Later against the same guy I called a preflop raise from him with 67. The flop came AQ6. He started to check out of turn and I read him as missing the flop. I turned a 7 and led out $30. He min raised and I called. The river was a blank and I bet $50. Then all hell broke loose when he shoved all in. Just then I thought, did he slow play a big hand like AQ or AA? I really didn't give hime much credit after the earlier bluff, and quite frankly I thought he was kinda dumb. Add to that the fact that I read bhim as weak on the flop and you have a formula for disaster. I called with my 2 pair and he, the classless jackass that he was, said, "Well I guess you got me cuz all I have is three A's." I paid out the pot saying, "That's a good hand, but there's no need to be a smartass about it." A couple of other players commented on his being a jerk too. I brushed it off, rebought and moved further into poker hell.
Later I called $12 from position with 89. The flop came K89. The preflop raiser bet $60. I loved that bet and wanted him to pour more money into the pot so I called. The turn was a Qc putting 2 clubs on the board. He bet $90. Again, I knew I had the best hand so I called... and let him get there. Yep, the river was a club. He had AcKc for the nuts and I couldn't get away from the hand. Crap! The only thing I could have done differently was to push on the flop and take the hand down there, but I felt like I was far in the lead so I let him bet his way into a perfect turn, perfect river, winner.
Then I played a hand where I flopped open-ended, turned a straight, and my opponent rivered a full house. That's when I quit. So sick, my day at no limit. I feel like I suck. So I went on to play the $345 Mixed game event on the WSOP circuit in New Orleans. I found out that I'm pretty good at all the games except PLO. So for PLO, I tried to take a walk and miss most of the 8 hands. Anyway, I made it halfway through the field of 60+ players to about 30th place. I nursed a short stack after I crippled myself in the very first round of PLO. In the end, I was card dead for Razz, and finally picked a 456 in stud to stick my money in. I ended up missing the straight and catching 2 pair 6's & 4's which was not enough to hold on.
I've really tried to play my best (except for Pot Limit Omaha), but I'm feeling like a loser. All this losing really does that to you. Poker can be so cruel, and when you are runnign good and playing good you feel like a god. But when you go home with nothing to show for your efforts (good play or not) you feel like the scum that costes the inside of the gutter. I need one of grandma's tranquilizers so I can blow it all off. Tomorrow, I'll need to get back to my real job before poker breaks my heart and my bank.
Hand Analysis in NOLA
So I played the NoLimit in New Orleans yesterday fro $555. Here's how a few of my hands played out.
57s SB. Limped pot. QdT7d. Lead out. BB raises, a player calls, I call.
Turn: 7. Check. BB bets. Other player calls. I raise, big. BB folds. Other player calls. 3d river. I bet 2200. Insta call from other player. He has AQ. I win. (BB had 73 and would have won) What's interesting to me is that I'm surprised the AQ called. When I made the check raise at the paired board from the blind I said to myself, "I shouldn't have done that. It's so obvious that I have a 7. What can they call with but a better hand or a diamond draw." It worked out though because the 7 with no kicker (who would've filled up on the river) folded and I was left with a donkey caller.
EP raise from a weak player. I call with ATs. I know he raises weak hands. Flop Q9d8d. He bet 600. I call. Turn blank. He bet 600. I call. J on the river. He bet 1100. I raise to 3k. He calls. I win. I knew that I was drawing to a gut shot, but there was the possibility that my A high was good enough to win and I figured if an A came I would win, so I counted on more outs than just the J. Of course when the hands went face up, the other guy had something like Q7 suited. I can't believe he donked off another 2k+ on the river when I raised him! And I can't beleive that this donkey made it to the final 20 players in the tournament! Ugh! Especially when I'm watching from the rail.
Ad3d SB. There's a smallish raise. 2 callers. I call. Flop is 873. I check. Preflop riaser bets. I call. Others fold. Turn 3. I check. He bets 3k. I call. River is a blank. I check. He has 3k left but checks. I win. This hand was most interesting because I sent this guy on tilt. I checked the river thinking that he'd fire a third barrell and I'd get him all in. He bet something like 2 or 3k on the turn and left himself with just 3k so I felt he was pot committed and willing to bet the river. Anyway, I missed a bet here.
The game changed a little and I started finding myself with good hands running into better hands. I had a spot where I could have called all-in as a 60% favorite but instead opted to fold. In a cash game I would have called in a heartbeat, but in a tournament my hand was a drawing hand. Me: TsJs. Board: 8c6s9s. Here are my 15 outs: 7h7d7s7cQdQhQsQc2s3s4s5s8sKsAs. I tbhought that I might be up against AK so I raised his flop bet instead of flat calling like I should have done. He then shoved all-in and I, after much debate, folded. I believe he had AA on that hand and I had to hit or go home.
Later I picked up AT. The player on my right raised and I kn ow he's been raising a lot. I sbhould have reraised him preflop, but I didn't. The flop came 57T. He lead out and, again, I should have raised him, but I didn't and I just smooth called. The turn was a 5 and he checked. I shoved all in and he snap called with 5d2d to eliminate me from the tournament.
That was my day in the tournament. There were other bands in the sitngos and in the cash game that are woth discussing, but my fingers are tired. Suffice it to say that I won my buyin back before the day was out. See ya'll later!
Monday, May 10, 2010
WSOP in NOLA
This week is the final stop of the World Series of Poker Circuit events, and their final stop brings the WSOP close to home. It's been a while since my last big cash and I'm feeling a littlew down about my poker lately. Yesterday we went to scope out the action. The $1-$2 NL game was it's typical Donkey-laiden game and I dumped $300 into the hands of the donkeys there. I chose not to rebuy when my pocket QQ's were cracked by 83 off suit. Then I played a single table sit n go for $125. The final 3 of us chopped. I got $300. Player 2 got $300. And the chip leader took $500. I played another $125 sng and ran my AK into donekys twice and finally lost my chips. I'm not sure I understand some of these guys strategies with the sng's, but I think we'd all do better if they didn't push donkey hands too early.
I won the rest of my money for the night at a 3 card poker table game machine! Go figure. At first I didn't realize that 1=$5 so when I though I was betting $15 I was actually betting $75 per hand! Whoa! So without knowing what was going on I turned $120 into $270 in a snap. I played it 2 more times before leaving for the night. Both times I turned $100 into $300. So for the night I was $300 ahead.
I'm finally ready. I've spent the last 24 hours with visualizations, watching poker videos, and handling life maintenance. I feel like I'm ready for the $550 tomorrow. I'm ready to be on my game and to win that tournament!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Poker at the IP
Well, we've been at the IP in Biloxi for a few days. I'd need to look at a calendar to say how long. I'm dead tired and all my days are running together. Friday (I think) we left Baton Rouge at 4:45pm to drive to Biloxi (2 hrs 15 mins away) to make the last cash tourney in their week of events at 7pm. We arrived at 6:50 and made it into the T. Me? I ran bad. Mom? She ran great! At 2:30am (nearly 24 hours after she had woke up) she chopped to cash $1725 six ways in the T. Off to bed.
Day 2: We hit the noon tourney which was a free entry with $20 rebuys and an optional single or double addon for $30 each to try to win a $10k seat into the WSOP. The rebuys & addons went to pay entries into a $100 tourney at 8pm. So I played on a super weak table that gave me a chance to see lots of cheap flops. After running into Aces twice I ended up pouring $80 in rebuys into this stupid tournament and then I hit a rush. I started flopping 2 pair and hitting underpairs for sets to knock out player after player. Then I went card dead and with the blinds and antes rapidly increasing in this turbo I ended up going out after the break after adding another $60 for my double addon. I won the stupid seat into the 8pm T but no wsop seat.
The $100 tourney was another rebuy and I planned NO rebuys. It was to win a seat into the $2250 main event for the next day. I was out in 5 hands or less. All I can say is that I got it in good and lost.
At 8pm Mom bought into the $340 to win a seat into the $2250 tourney. 7 people won seats. Mom was one of them. Then they continued to play it out to win the one seat to the WSOP. At 4am Mom got knocked out in 3rd.
Next Day: Me? Still totally card dead. Mom? Played in the $2250 T and as I write this she is chip leader ir second chip leader with 5 people left. She'll cash somewhere in the range of $2000 - $37539.
Go Mom! At least I get see what it looks like to win!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Poker: Winning, Losing, Winning, Losing AND Focus
Well, I haven't written in a while. It's because I just get more depressed when I lose and then write a blog about losing. Ugh. But since I feel the need to be honest with myself (and possibly whoever else might be reading), I'll go ahead and note my failures and successes so far.
Since my last writing, I went to Memphis for a funeral. Of course, being poker players, we stopped in Tunica for a couple days on the way back. I BLEW through $600 in 3 days. Now, I know many people BLOW through much more money in a much shorter time frame. And maybe I didn't do all THAT bad since I only lost $600 in 3 days, but I sure did FEEL like a big fat L O S E R. So here's what happened. I started with some good old fashioned $1-$5 7 Card Stud. I used to LOVE that game. But I never remember it being such small stakes. I did "ok" in the Stud, but I kept getting antsy. I'm just not used to a game with $10 pots.
So I switched to $1-$3 No Limit Holdem for a little and couldn't do any good. Well, I was doing pretty good. I had a nut straight on the turn and managed to get my opponent all in. He had pocket QQ's and managed to spike a 3-outer on the river to suck all the life out of my stack with his K high straight. The next day I played in a $70 tournament at 11a. We got to the final table. With 6 of us left and 4 players getting paid, my mom moved all in. I looked down at AK. Ugh. Now what? Well, if another player had moved all-in here, I might fold. I'd already folded an AQ preflop to a super tight player. And Mom is pretty tight - much tighter than me. The thing is that my stack is "decent". It aint great. But no one has a "great" stack because of the tournament structure. First place pays only $450. 2nd = $250, 3rd =$200, 4th=$100. If someone else behind me calls and knocks her out, I'll be upset that I laid down the AK. I figure that if I go all in over the top of her no one else will call and at the very least, one of us will be a MONSTER chip leader in a tournament where everyone is short stacked. The truth is that I do want one of us to win. It's not really collusion, but I would lay down the AK here and pick a better spot to chip up rather than risking 95% of my stack if it's anyone else. I push. All else fold. She turns over AQ and is instantly crushed. Then a Q hits on the turn. Two hands later, Mom knocks me and another player out in one hand to take the tournament down to 4 players. They chop and Mom takes $400 away from that tournament.
Later in the day, we play in another $75 Tournament. I become a monster stack early on when I flop a flush and get a guy with pocket AA's all in and drawing dead against me. But a dumb donkey gets drunk at my table and starts playing any two cards. It's weird. When she felt like playing a flop she did no matter what the cost. Which wouldn't be so bad except that she was smack ass LUCKY too! There were no opportunities to take down blinds and antes. My stack started to dwindle down. I made the final table, but again only 6 places were paid and my stack was super short. Mom made the money again and they all agreed to a chop of $300 a peice when they got 4 handed. The dummy was a monster chip leader and I figure too dumb to know that she could have gotten herself a better deal. And the rest of the players were smart enough to recognize that dumb and lucky were a hard combination to beat so they all readily agreed to the chop.
But that's two T's I walked away from with nothing. I played a little more stud and won about $20 or $40 bucks. Then went into a wild and crazy $4-$8 game. I played my first hand blind and won a huge pot with 72. I guess I should have played all my hands blind because all of the rest of my hands I could see and all of them lost.. pocket pairs, AKs, AJ, AQ, ugh ugh ugh... again I went to bed a loser.
So, I didn't want to blog about that weekend. I've been playing on PokerStars since I got home. I play mostly small tournaments. Nothing bigger than $11 buyins. I've been winning a little. Won a Pot Limit Badugi Tournament for about $30 and some change. Won a pot limit 5 card draw tournament to gain an entry into one of the SCOOP tournaments. Cashed in a $11 deep stacks tournament. And that's after losing most of my stack and getting below $300 in chips EARLY in the tournament. I had to go show a house in the middle of the tournament. I built my $300 stack up to $20,000+ then lost down to $9000 and called Mom to play for my while I showed. She go the stack back up to $22,000+. Then I got tired and accidentally clicked "raise" when I meant to "click" fold. So anyway, I went out in the money and cashed about $21.
And as I write this I'm in a $2.20 NL $4k Guarantee and doing fairly well. Ever since I started playing under the assumption that all of my opponents are complete and total donkeys, I've been doing much better. I now know to fold my hand when they make some stupid raise or stupid all-in on the river and hit their miracle card. I have set my level of expectations from my PokerStars opponents very low and it's made it much easier for me to fold a hand. I've learned that the big bet they make on the river isn't usually a bluff. It usually meant they were a HUGE dog the whole way and went card card to hit some stupid miracle hand.
Yes, I know I'm cynical, but it's working for me so I'm gonna hold on to my cynicism. See ya'll later.
Oh, one more thing. I know that Annette Oberestad wants to be known as the best female player in the world. Frankly, that's my goal too. So, here I am putting it out into the universe. In a perfect world, I'll win a seat into the 2010 WSOP main event. And in the end it'll be me and Annette playing for the bracelet. And, of course, I'll wipe the table clean with her! No offense, Annette! You're a great player. I just want to be better than you and some proof of it too!
Since my last writing, I went to Memphis for a funeral. Of course, being poker players, we stopped in Tunica for a couple days on the way back. I BLEW through $600 in 3 days. Now, I know many people BLOW through much more money in a much shorter time frame. And maybe I didn't do all THAT bad since I only lost $600 in 3 days, but I sure did FEEL like a big fat L O S E R. So here's what happened. I started with some good old fashioned $1-$5 7 Card Stud. I used to LOVE that game. But I never remember it being such small stakes. I did "ok" in the Stud, but I kept getting antsy. I'm just not used to a game with $10 pots.
So I switched to $1-$3 No Limit Holdem for a little and couldn't do any good. Well, I was doing pretty good. I had a nut straight on the turn and managed to get my opponent all in. He had pocket QQ's and managed to spike a 3-outer on the river to suck all the life out of my stack with his K high straight. The next day I played in a $70 tournament at 11a. We got to the final table. With 6 of us left and 4 players getting paid, my mom moved all in. I looked down at AK. Ugh. Now what? Well, if another player had moved all-in here, I might fold. I'd already folded an AQ preflop to a super tight player. And Mom is pretty tight - much tighter than me. The thing is that my stack is "decent". It aint great. But no one has a "great" stack because of the tournament structure. First place pays only $450. 2nd = $250, 3rd =$200, 4th=$100. If someone else behind me calls and knocks her out, I'll be upset that I laid down the AK. I figure that if I go all in over the top of her no one else will call and at the very least, one of us will be a MONSTER chip leader in a tournament where everyone is short stacked. The truth is that I do want one of us to win. It's not really collusion, but I would lay down the AK here and pick a better spot to chip up rather than risking 95% of my stack if it's anyone else. I push. All else fold. She turns over AQ and is instantly crushed. Then a Q hits on the turn. Two hands later, Mom knocks me and another player out in one hand to take the tournament down to 4 players. They chop and Mom takes $400 away from that tournament.
Later in the day, we play in another $75 Tournament. I become a monster stack early on when I flop a flush and get a guy with pocket AA's all in and drawing dead against me. But a dumb donkey gets drunk at my table and starts playing any two cards. It's weird. When she felt like playing a flop she did no matter what the cost. Which wouldn't be so bad except that she was smack ass LUCKY too! There were no opportunities to take down blinds and antes. My stack started to dwindle down. I made the final table, but again only 6 places were paid and my stack was super short. Mom made the money again and they all agreed to a chop of $300 a peice when they got 4 handed. The dummy was a monster chip leader and I figure too dumb to know that she could have gotten herself a better deal. And the rest of the players were smart enough to recognize that dumb and lucky were a hard combination to beat so they all readily agreed to the chop.
But that's two T's I walked away from with nothing. I played a little more stud and won about $20 or $40 bucks. Then went into a wild and crazy $4-$8 game. I played my first hand blind and won a huge pot with 72. I guess I should have played all my hands blind because all of the rest of my hands I could see and all of them lost.. pocket pairs, AKs, AJ, AQ, ugh ugh ugh... again I went to bed a loser.
So, I didn't want to blog about that weekend. I've been playing on PokerStars since I got home. I play mostly small tournaments. Nothing bigger than $11 buyins. I've been winning a little. Won a Pot Limit Badugi Tournament for about $30 and some change. Won a pot limit 5 card draw tournament to gain an entry into one of the SCOOP tournaments. Cashed in a $11 deep stacks tournament. And that's after losing most of my stack and getting below $300 in chips EARLY in the tournament. I had to go show a house in the middle of the tournament. I built my $300 stack up to $20,000+ then lost down to $9000 and called Mom to play for my while I showed. She go the stack back up to $22,000+. Then I got tired and accidentally clicked "raise" when I meant to "click" fold. So anyway, I went out in the money and cashed about $21.
And as I write this I'm in a $2.20 NL $4k Guarantee and doing fairly well. Ever since I started playing under the assumption that all of my opponents are complete and total donkeys, I've been doing much better. I now know to fold my hand when they make some stupid raise or stupid all-in on the river and hit their miracle card. I have set my level of expectations from my PokerStars opponents very low and it's made it much easier for me to fold a hand. I've learned that the big bet they make on the river isn't usually a bluff. It usually meant they were a HUGE dog the whole way and went card card to hit some stupid miracle hand.
Yes, I know I'm cynical, but it's working for me so I'm gonna hold on to my cynicism. See ya'll later.
Oh, one more thing. I know that Annette Oberestad wants to be known as the best female player in the world. Frankly, that's my goal too. So, here I am putting it out into the universe. In a perfect world, I'll win a seat into the 2010 WSOP main event. And in the end it'll be me and Annette playing for the bracelet. And, of course, I'll wipe the table clean with her! No offense, Annette! You're a great player. I just want to be better than you and some proof of it too!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
What a night!
And I don't mean that in a good way. Geeze. I just kept having big hands and they just kept hammering. I wish I were card dead tonight. Card dead would have been cheaper. If I had queens or Kings, they had Aces or straights. When I had AT and the flop came AKT the other guy had pocket tens. Yeah sure I won a few hands, but I sent a ton of pocket pairs into the muck. I'm sure I'm due to flop a set after tonight.
The good news? Well, my reads were spot on for the most part. The only time I was left scratching my head was against the set of tens. And that's because he never bet them. He'd smooth call all bets or raises. It was a little weird, but I noticed he did that very same thing on other hands. So, if my reads stay good, and my focus is tight, I'll hammer them next time. If sometimes your the windsheild and sometimes your the bug, tonight I was definitley THE BUG!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Winning Streak
Well, I sure hope this lasts forever. I'm back. I'm focused. I know when I'm making good EV decisions and I know when I'm not. I don't need to see my opponents or their hands. I know where I stand. Maybe I'll try playing a tournament without looking at my cards! Nah, I'm not that good...yet!
So here's the latest results. Yes, this is all small ball, but I decided to start small and grow. I played 4/8 Fri at the Belle and lost $100. Went back on Mon and won $100. Saturday and today I played small tournies on Poker Stars. Played 11 tournaments and cashed in 7.
I got a small cash first for like $4 in a $2 T.
Then placed 3rd in a 18 player Fixed Limit T. $1.75 buyin, $5.40 cash
Next played a single table Badugi $1.20 T and took 1st for a whopping $4.
Placed 6th in a 87 player $2.20 mixed limit/nolimit tournament for $7.83.
Took 55th place out of 3395 players and cashed $14.59 in a $2.20 NL tournament.
Cashed 10th place in a 1000 player 4-handed NL tournament that cost $4.40 and paid me $70.40.
And I won a stupid 10FPP rebuy sattellite which got me a seat into a $3 rebuy tournament that I didn't want to play. 22 people won entries and I hoped I could unregister from the $3 T but it had already started so I just donked out... too many screens open so I chose to focus on the others.
My secret? Shhh, don't tell anyone. I figure that everyone in a $4, $2, $1 tournament is a donkey. With that in mind I keep the pot small and then hammer them when I got the goods! I'm also prepared to fold when I think that donkey might have just gone card, card to catch some stupid hand. I expect them to make stupid calls and I expect to profit from their stupid calls.
Maybe it's a safer outlook to have on poker in general. Instead of thinking, "There's no way you made 2 (or more) bad calls to run me down so I must have the best hand and I call your all in," my new philosophy is, "Yeah, I know you're a donkey, and I had the best hand all the way, but not anymore and I'm not married to it." And sometimes my thinking is, "No, your Ace high is not good enough but thank you for pushing allin and my pocket threes will gladlyy take all your chips."
You know it really is amazing at just how big of a donkey these players are. I reraised with AK. An Ace hits the flop, and this guy dumped dumped his whole stack on my lap with KK. I love donkeys. And I love rich Texans... next stop, Coushatta! I don't know when, but my mouth waters when anyone even mumbles the word "Kinder". Yeah Baby.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A Little Refocus Goes a Long Way
So i took my own advice from my Focus blog and got right back out there. I went to play in the $4-$8 limit game at the Belle. I don't like the no limit game there, generally, because it's same bunch of tightwads all the time. Now if something special is going on or i see a juicy fish in the game then I'm all for it. But usually the $2-$5 no limit game at the Belle isn't worth playing for. It's hard to get money out of a table full of nits. So limit was my choice last night.
The game was a little soft, but there's usually one or 2 calling stations. It was a good mix of players. One guy was trying to act wild by juicing up the pots. There were a couple of weak-tight players and no more than 2 calling stations at any given moment. One thing that I like about this game is that it's easy. It's a good game to go to when my confidence is failing. I can practice my reads and it costs me no more than a few big bets to find out if I'm right or not.
I'm generally a calling station, myself, in the $4/$8 limit game if I have any pair. I find that often times the guy with a missed hand like AK will continue betting and my flopped middle pair will win. I'm able to see the flop with trashy hands, fold if I miss, and drag some big pots when I hit. And there's the bonus of pissing people off or giving them the impression that I'm a donkey when I hit these hands. Hey, they don't know that I do, in fact, know exactly what I'm doing!
So last night I bought in for $90. I widdled away dow to $30 and built my stack from there. I ended up leaving with $340 and a renewed confidence in my reads. Oh yeah, and it was fun too! Poker is always fun when I win!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
My Run in Biloxi Last Week
I have to just followup on last night's post. Yes I did play the second half of my last session poorly. But I also had a few recent wins to talk about. Last week we went to Biloxi for the Spring Break Poker week. I played in 2 of the noon tournaments. The first day i felt badly all day and had trouble concentrating. I did surprisingly well for feeling so bad and being card dead for about 2 hours, but I did not cash.
The next day, feeling all better, I hit a $200 noon event. I made a mistake early on from which i did a good job of recovering. Then I hit my hand. I raised with TJ and got 2 callers. The flop came 89Q. The big bling checked. I led out with a bet. The button folded. And the big blind shoved all in. He had me covered by a mile. He had just knocked out another player by hitting a 2 outer to make a bigger full house than his opponent. Of course, I have the nuts here and am not going anywhere. This is my chance for a double up that has me sitting pretty. He shows 2 hearts. He just shoved with a heart draw! The Kc hit the turn. Whew dodged a bullet there. Then a heart came crashing down on the river to eliminate me from the tournament. Ugh. I felt just awful, but I know there's no other way to play it when you flop the nuts. I mean I gotta take the chance here for a double up and my opponent only has a 30% chance to catch against my made hand. Well, I still felt bad.
That night I played a little live action at the IP. There was a donkey at the table. He was stuck for $900. He left for a little and then came back with $300 more and lost it on the first hand. Stuck for $1200 he rebought, but I was tired and needed some sleep. I went to bed a mere $100 ahead in that $1-$2 no(imit game.
The next day I woke up, packed my things, loaded the car and head over to the IP poker room. Ahhh, one seat was open just to the left of the same donkey who had been there when I left the night before. Wearing the same clothes, I figured his style and his luck couldn't have improved. I sat with him to my right and bought in for $300. I picked up AQ. He raised. I reraised to isolate. And the fun began. I started taking down pot after pot, sometimes making my raises to $150 preflop with just AQ. But it worked. The other whiney men at the table could nothing but watch as a "girl" was getiing all the donkey's money. Oh they were making all kinds of wise cracks about me, but I knew exactly what i was doing. I mean, hey, the donkey was so bad, that half the time he would simply fold on the river and I would take down the pot by default! In 45 minutes I made $900. Then we went to have breakfast.
After breakfast, we played in a small $70 tourney at the IP. I played really well, although one of the whiney babies from the cash game was at my table complaining about how bad I played. Ha! Let me tell you just how bad! Everyone folds to me in the cutoff. I raise with 78. Mr. Whiney Baby calls from the small blind with 9T. The Big blind calls with 4h5h. The flop was something like 9hThblank. Small blind makes a weak bet. The big blind calls. And I call with favorable pot odds and even better implied odds. The turn lands 6d. I have the nuts here and the Small blind make a biggish bet. The big blind calls. Right here I shove. You see these two guys both got to start the tournament with 3000 more chips than me and I want to make up that disadvantage. Mr. Whiney Baby calls with 2 pair. The big blind folds his flush draw and I more than double up, leaving Mr. Whiney Baby with just his 3000 extra chips and a lot of crying about how far I was behind when I had the nuts! LOL. I went on to finish in the top 4 of that tournament. We chopped when we got to the last four. 3 of us took $408. The chip leader took $448. I was very pleased because I received almost the equivalent of second place money.
All in all I finished the trip ahead despite my bad run in the 2 tournaments that I played at the Beau.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Focus
Something's missing. I've been losing too much lately. Sure i have a few wins, but my losses are begining to outweigh my wins and that's not good. Well, at least i can say that I've noticed. I'm playing too many hands and playing them poorly. My reads are off. Or are my reads on, but I'm still making bad decisions?
I'd like to say that i should take a break. That's always helped me to return to my game more focused. But I don't think a break is what I need. What I need is to, simply, refocus and get back into the game. It's just not that complicated. Poker can be tricky because human nature tends to get in the way of smart rational decisions. We tend to see fewer losses and justify bad play. But I'm not going to allow myself to do that.
I went to Harrah's the other day and I played well for the first half of my session. Then I spiraled into crappy, crappy play. I'm not sure when, exactly, I lost my focus or my good decision-making skills but it I do know it all went to hell.
This blog is to assure myself that I will not continue to play like a loser. I will get back my winning edge, and I will smoke my opponents. I am the winner I expect myself to be. I have my focus. I am a predator at the poker table. I am a force to be reckoned with. Look out, world. I'm ready!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Don't Be a Poker Brat
So last night I went out to play cards. I've been working on improving my bankroll lately and have been doing a good job of it. There are a few table games that have proven profitable for me in the past and I usually do well at limit and no limit texas holdem. Our local casino has $4/$8 limit hold 'em and $2/$5 no limit. Sometimes they hold a $4/$8/$12 half and half limit game as well. I've come to love that game. The $12 river bets really help to build a pot and thereby build a bankroll!
Anyway, last night I head upstairs and get on the $4/$8 list. While I'm waiting I play a little 4 card poker and some of the Texas Hold'em table games. Then I'm called to my seat. On my left there's a player missing from the game. He's got two buttons in front of him so I know he's been gone for a little while. Then they announce over the loud speaker that the second round of the 3 card poker tournament will have registration open for another 10 minutes. I play one more hand of Hold'em, leave my chips on the table, and run downstairs.
I love tournaments. Any kind of tournament is good for me! I enjoy the strategy. I'm not much of a 3 card poker player. It's a table game and, on a whole, I'm not a big fan of table games. I have a rather conservative approach to these games, and only play when I feel like I have a strategy that wins over the long term. On a side note, I also like to play blackjack tournaments. I never play blackjack, but a tournament is just a different game. We sit down. Quickly 2 players get knocked out of my table. Then another leaves. Finally, I'm head's up with one last player. She has me out chipped 2 to 1 and there are 5 hands left. (In case you are unfamiliar with these tournaments. The idea is to have more chips than anyone else at the table by the time the last hand completes because one player from each table advances to the next round.) So, I push my bet at this point. I pop $100 on the Pair Plus and $50 on the ante. I spike a straight and roll in the dough. Now I'm the chip leader at my table. Sitting comfortably, I post min bets the rest of the way. My opponent does not "out-luck" me and I advance to the semifinals.
I had a fast dealer so we finished ahead of some of the other tables. My mom (who's never played a hand of 3 card poker in her life) is still playing at her table. Having about 1.5 hours before the semifinals play, I head back upstairs to get back to my stack in the limit game. The guy on my left is still not back. I'm hearing reports from other players around the table that he plays a hand and leaves. Mom comes upstairs and tells me that she won her way into the semifinals! Can you believe it? Never played 3 Card Poker before and she wins the first round. She actually wildcarded into the semifinals. In addition to the chip leader at each table the two chip leaders of the rest of the contestants advanced. She was one of those chip leaders.
She tells me how this one guy at her table had a monster chip lead and then put it all in for no reason and lost all his chips. DONKEY! The missing guy from my table comes back and I find out from her conversation with him, that HE IS THE DONKEY! He goes on to bitch and whine and complain, claiming that he's "the best poker player in the history of the world," and he can't understand why this is happening to him. My mom and I look at each other and conspicuously roll our eyes. He's like, "Yeah yeah, I know what you think, but I really am the best player in the world." And he goes on and on and on.
You see apparently he played in round 1 and couldn't get into the semi finals. Then he bought into round 2 and missed the semi finals because he donked himself out. Next, he leaves the table again to buy into round 3! He must think he's best player in the world, because he's just dumped $75 into a single tournament. A tournament that only cost me $25 to get into the semifinals. hahahaha.
After he leaves the table the rest of us were laughing at him for his bold claim that he's the best poker player in the world. He comes back, and the best poker player in the history of the world loses the rest of his money in this little podunk $4/$8 limit game! He leaves and everyone has a good time at his expense some more.
9:00pm rolls around and it's time for me to head down to the semifinals and Mr. Best Poker Player in the History of the World is at my table. ... oooh I'm so scared of his prowess... NOT. It gets down to the three of us and I keep waiting for the best poker play to make a move but he never does. He only bet the pair plus bet maybe twice. He never grew his stack and it seemed he was creating his own losing destiny, himself. Ok, back to me. I'm playing against the other guy at my table who has me outchipped with 5 hands to go. Again, I push a bigger bet, luck-up, and chip up. Now I'm back to my min bets. On the last hand, I get nothing and fold. The dealer turns a straight. (I'm thrilled.) My opponent has a bigger straight and he out-chips me on the last hand. Ugh. I find out that I'm in the lead for a wildcard spot into the finals.
Mr. Best Poker Player in the History of the World comes in third with us and... well... you know.. loses again. He stands next to me and starts his whining again. "I feel like I could just drive my car into a brick wall at 200 mph"..."you just don't understand, I'm the best F%$^ing poker player in the history of the world"..."I should be going to Vegas and playing but I can't because I've got a business"... and on and on and on. So I say, "Yeah, well it just rolls that way sometimes. I'm gonna go watch them finish up since I'm in the lead for a wildcard spot." I walk AWAY to watch the last table finish their last five hands. And the guy FOLLOWS me over there! Geeze. Take a hint Buddy!
So he goes on. "I could beat that stupid Phil Gordon. And stupid Phil Laak."... And I'm not even going to repeat what he said about Jennifer Tilly. He was just a ripe jackass. Then he even said, "I'll play Phil Laak headsup my $1000 to his $100 anyday." What a moron. Phil Laak probably drops a $100 bill out his pocket and doesn't even notice it. Why on earth would he think that Phil Laak would want to prove his poker skills to some moron for $100? Just stupid. Admitedly he did have bad luck upstairs in the limit game, but his bitching and whining was way more than I wanted. And he would stop F(*&ing this and F%^&ing that. I wanted to send him to "manners" school so he could learn how to speak in public to a female stranger who doesn't really give a good GD what you're saying anyway.
So on the final hand of the last table, the short stack goes all in. She lucks-up and hits a hand and beats me out of the wild card spot by $200. So it wasn't meant to be for me to win a 3 card poker tournament last night. Anyway, between all the games I played I ended up about $100 ahead on the night. I even won a little more on the 4 card poker right before the semi final rounds.
If you've ever seen Mike Matasow or Phil Hellmuth on TV whining and complaining, they don't hold a candle to this guy. This guy may not have been the best poker player in the world but he sure was the best complainer in the world.
So what happened to Mr. Best F*&$ing Poker Player in the History of the Whole G$# D$#m World? ? ? ? Who cares? He lost at everything that I saw him play last night.
By the way, if you are "that" guy, I hope you learned from this post what a jackass you look like to others. Just shut it. The rest of us don't want to get dragged down by your bad attitude. And if you are losing so much even though you're the best in the world, there are two possibilities. 1: You're not the best; you actually suck at poker. or 2: You are creating your own crappy destiny by making poor decisions.
Anyway, last night I head upstairs and get on the $4/$8 list. While I'm waiting I play a little 4 card poker and some of the Texas Hold'em table games. Then I'm called to my seat. On my left there's a player missing from the game. He's got two buttons in front of him so I know he's been gone for a little while. Then they announce over the loud speaker that the second round of the 3 card poker tournament will have registration open for another 10 minutes. I play one more hand of Hold'em, leave my chips on the table, and run downstairs.
I love tournaments. Any kind of tournament is good for me! I enjoy the strategy. I'm not much of a 3 card poker player. It's a table game and, on a whole, I'm not a big fan of table games. I have a rather conservative approach to these games, and only play when I feel like I have a strategy that wins over the long term. On a side note, I also like to play blackjack tournaments. I never play blackjack, but a tournament is just a different game. We sit down. Quickly 2 players get knocked out of my table. Then another leaves. Finally, I'm head's up with one last player. She has me out chipped 2 to 1 and there are 5 hands left. (In case you are unfamiliar with these tournaments. The idea is to have more chips than anyone else at the table by the time the last hand completes because one player from each table advances to the next round.) So, I push my bet at this point. I pop $100 on the Pair Plus and $50 on the ante. I spike a straight and roll in the dough. Now I'm the chip leader at my table. Sitting comfortably, I post min bets the rest of the way. My opponent does not "out-luck" me and I advance to the semifinals.
I had a fast dealer so we finished ahead of some of the other tables. My mom (who's never played a hand of 3 card poker in her life) is still playing at her table. Having about 1.5 hours before the semifinals play, I head back upstairs to get back to my stack in the limit game. The guy on my left is still not back. I'm hearing reports from other players around the table that he plays a hand and leaves. Mom comes upstairs and tells me that she won her way into the semifinals! Can you believe it? Never played 3 Card Poker before and she wins the first round. She actually wildcarded into the semifinals. In addition to the chip leader at each table the two chip leaders of the rest of the contestants advanced. She was one of those chip leaders.
She tells me how this one guy at her table had a monster chip lead and then put it all in for no reason and lost all his chips. DONKEY! The missing guy from my table comes back and I find out from her conversation with him, that HE IS THE DONKEY! He goes on to bitch and whine and complain, claiming that he's "the best poker player in the history of the world," and he can't understand why this is happening to him. My mom and I look at each other and conspicuously roll our eyes. He's like, "Yeah yeah, I know what you think, but I really am the best player in the world." And he goes on and on and on.
You see apparently he played in round 1 and couldn't get into the semi finals. Then he bought into round 2 and missed the semi finals because he donked himself out. Next, he leaves the table again to buy into round 3! He must think he's best player in the world, because he's just dumped $75 into a single tournament. A tournament that only cost me $25 to get into the semifinals. hahahaha.
After he leaves the table the rest of us were laughing at him for his bold claim that he's the best poker player in the world. He comes back, and the best poker player in the history of the world loses the rest of his money in this little podunk $4/$8 limit game! He leaves and everyone has a good time at his expense some more.
9:00pm rolls around and it's time for me to head down to the semifinals and Mr. Best Poker Player in the History of the World is at my table. ... oooh I'm so scared of his prowess... NOT. It gets down to the three of us and I keep waiting for the best poker play to make a move but he never does. He only bet the pair plus bet maybe twice. He never grew his stack and it seemed he was creating his own losing destiny, himself. Ok, back to me. I'm playing against the other guy at my table who has me outchipped with 5 hands to go. Again, I push a bigger bet, luck-up, and chip up. Now I'm back to my min bets. On the last hand, I get nothing and fold. The dealer turns a straight. (I'm thrilled.) My opponent has a bigger straight and he out-chips me on the last hand. Ugh. I find out that I'm in the lead for a wildcard spot into the finals.
Mr. Best Poker Player in the History of the World comes in third with us and... well... you know.. loses again. He stands next to me and starts his whining again. "I feel like I could just drive my car into a brick wall at 200 mph"..."you just don't understand, I'm the best F%$^ing poker player in the history of the world"..."I should be going to Vegas and playing but I can't because I've got a business"... and on and on and on. So I say, "Yeah, well it just rolls that way sometimes. I'm gonna go watch them finish up since I'm in the lead for a wildcard spot." I walk AWAY to watch the last table finish their last five hands. And the guy FOLLOWS me over there! Geeze. Take a hint Buddy!
So he goes on. "I could beat that stupid Phil Gordon. And stupid Phil Laak."... And I'm not even going to repeat what he said about Jennifer Tilly. He was just a ripe jackass. Then he even said, "I'll play Phil Laak headsup my $1000 to his $100 anyday." What a moron. Phil Laak probably drops a $100 bill out his pocket and doesn't even notice it. Why on earth would he think that Phil Laak would want to prove his poker skills to some moron for $100? Just stupid. Admitedly he did have bad luck upstairs in the limit game, but his bitching and whining was way more than I wanted. And he would stop F(*&ing this and F%^&ing that. I wanted to send him to "manners" school so he could learn how to speak in public to a female stranger who doesn't really give a good GD what you're saying anyway.
So on the final hand of the last table, the short stack goes all in. She lucks-up and hits a hand and beats me out of the wild card spot by $200. So it wasn't meant to be for me to win a 3 card poker tournament last night. Anyway, between all the games I played I ended up about $100 ahead on the night. I even won a little more on the 4 card poker right before the semi final rounds.
If you've ever seen Mike Matasow or Phil Hellmuth on TV whining and complaining, they don't hold a candle to this guy. This guy may not have been the best poker player in the world but he sure was the best complainer in the world.
So what happened to Mr. Best F*&$ing Poker Player in the History of the Whole G$# D$#m World? ? ? ? Who cares? He lost at everything that I saw him play last night.
By the way, if you are "that" guy, I hope you learned from this post what a jackass you look like to others. Just shut it. The rest of us don't want to get dragged down by your bad attitude. And if you are losing so much even though you're the best in the world, there are two possibilities. 1: You're not the best; you actually suck at poker. or 2: You are creating your own crappy destiny by making poor decisions.
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