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 $1600 seat. I can do. My reads are good. My focus is strong. I have done it before. I expect to win!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Bankroll
-130 -60
Played a 120+10 T at Harrahs this past Saturday. I was again really on my game. Did a great job of acquiring chips. But then I ran into an unfortunate circumstance. I knew the guy on my right was shoving all in light. I was waiting for a decent hand to call him with. At the 400-800 level I found it. ATo. He shoves. I reshove. A donkey behind me calls. I have them both covered. Hands face up: 1st shove had 89 in clubs. Donkey behind me had J9 in spades. Lol! Anyway and A comes out on the flop. But the river card gives the first shover a straight flush. Ah crap. The donkey was felted and I was crippled down to 3 big blinds! I was out of the tournament 2 hands later.
I then took 60$ 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!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
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.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
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!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
WSOP Review
Last month I didn't have anything to show for all my hard work at the WSOP series in New Orleans. I've been thinking about it lately and there were times when I stuck with my strategy and times when I didn't. In the $1600 event in particular there was one hand that I'm still disturbed about.
I had AQs in the blind. A super loose and somewhat stupid player raises in late position as my table is breaking and people are starting to walk off. I put in the 3 bet. He goes over the top all in. The only hand I'm really worried about here is AK. I know he can have an array of hands that beat me, but I don't think he has those hands. I've already seen him put all his chips in with KJ. I've seen him raising with some really weak hands. I finally decide that I will feel terrible if I call for my tournament life and see him turn over AK so I fold my hand. I still regret folding that hand. I had committed enough chips to the pot that I was left with about 15 or 20 big blinds to take to my new table. The strategy that I didn't stick to was my chip collecting strategy. I think there are times in a tournament, even when you might be behind when you need to go for it. It was a close decision for me. And being suited was enough of an edge that should have pushed me into making that call. I don't know. I was probably correct in folding there. He probably had a bigger hand. I know he played like a donkey but I read him as strong and that means that he had my hand at worst which would make my call bad. It's just that I couldn't do any good after that. I got moved to a new table. I kept getting called down by donkeys and bleeding chips. I would shove with hands like AJ and get called by hands like A4 and chop. It was just ridiculous and I felt I could have played that new table better if I had more chips like I had at the previous table. Eventually, I ended up getting sucked out on by someone who called one of my all in s with a weak hand and making something. Next time I am faced with that decision I need to think about the future of my life in the tournament whether I win, lose, or fold. I think that in the past I've only been thinking about the outcome right then and there. If I win THIS hand.... If I lose THIS hand... but never thinking about how my tournament strategy and style might be affected if I FOLD THIS hand after putting myself in this position.
Future strategy: Keep up the 3 bets. It works great for me. I manage to collect lots of chips this way and squeeze out mediocre hands like middle pairs. Keep up the aggression. Think about the consequences of folding before I fold.
I'm ready for another tournament. I don't have the bankroll to find a good one right now, but I'm ready!
I had AQs in the blind. A super loose and somewhat stupid player raises in late position as my table is breaking and people are starting to walk off. I put in the 3 bet. He goes over the top all in. The only hand I'm really worried about here is AK. I know he can have an array of hands that beat me, but I don't think he has those hands. I've already seen him put all his chips in with KJ. I've seen him raising with some really weak hands. I finally decide that I will feel terrible if I call for my tournament life and see him turn over AK so I fold my hand. I still regret folding that hand. I had committed enough chips to the pot that I was left with about 15 or 20 big blinds to take to my new table. The strategy that I didn't stick to was my chip collecting strategy. I think there are times in a tournament, even when you might be behind when you need to go for it. It was a close decision for me. And being suited was enough of an edge that should have pushed me into making that call. I don't know. I was probably correct in folding there. He probably had a bigger hand. I know he played like a donkey but I read him as strong and that means that he had my hand at worst which would make my call bad. It's just that I couldn't do any good after that. I got moved to a new table. I kept getting called down by donkeys and bleeding chips. I would shove with hands like AJ and get called by hands like A4 and chop. It was just ridiculous and I felt I could have played that new table better if I had more chips like I had at the previous table. Eventually, I ended up getting sucked out on by someone who called one of my all in s with a weak hand and making something. Next time I am faced with that decision I need to think about the future of my life in the tournament whether I win, lose, or fold. I think that in the past I've only been thinking about the outcome right then and there. If I win THIS hand.... If I lose THIS hand... but never thinking about how my tournament strategy and style might be affected if I FOLD THIS hand after putting myself in this position.
Future strategy: Keep up the 3 bets. It works great for me. I manage to collect lots of chips this way and squeeze out mediocre hands like middle pairs. Keep up the aggression. Think about the consequences of folding before I fold.
I'm ready for another tournament. I don't have the bankroll to find a good one right now, but I'm ready!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Harrah's New Orleans WSOP Circuit Event #7 - Another Learning Experience
I dreamt about this event last night, and it was intertwined with my nightmares. Then I spent all day mulling over what happened yesterday. Again I was off to a good start. It's a great structure that enables the player to sit back and wait for the right opportunities. There were 647 entrants and at the dinner break I had 36k in chips and an average stack was 21k. Back from dinner I was in the big blind with 99 and the level was 100 antes and 500/1000 blinds. There was a limper in middle position and the button limped. I raised 4k more.
The middle position player threw in 3k and the dealer corrected him to let him know it was 4k not 3k to call. I noticed this and the look on his face and wondered why 1k seemed to make a difference to him. I mean really, if you're willing to call 3k why would 4k be such a big surprise. The button called. The flop came out 422. I bet 9k. The middle position player called and the button folded. What? Why did he call? What the heck can he have? He limped in and then called a big pre-flop raise. Now he's going to stick with the hand? He doesn't make any sense. The turn comes off a 3. Well, I'm thinking, I can't check to him. If I let him bet I'll be stuck with a tough decision. I really can't imagine what kind of hand he could have. Maybe he had or has a straight draw. If he has an Ace I don't really want him in the hand any longer. I shove all in. He insta-calls and shows.... are you ready for this? .... 5h 2h. WTF? An ace comes off on the river improving his hand to a straight and I lose 30k on the hand. I was a bit of jerk after that hand, but I'm not really sorry for it. He was an idiot and that's what I said out loud at the table. He said something like, "Well you were betting into me." And I said, "Well of course. I didn't expect you to be stupid and call 4k preflop with 52. I didn't know you were an idiot." And then he went on to say something about pot committed or some other such nonsense. The fact is he can't justify his hand there. He just called with crap and got lucky. And I was very vocal about how much of an idiot he was. In retrospect I start to see where that 4k versus 3k was a sticking point for him preflop. He's an idiot. He thought his hand was worth 3k more, but would have folded if he'd realized it was 4k more, but since he had already thrown in the 3k he pretty much had to put in the other 1k to see the flop and THAT's what he meant when he said "pot-committed". It's still absolutely ridiculous and he made himself sound like that much more of a dummy by trying to justify his bad play.
So here's my mistake. I forgot my #1 rule of poker. I don't think I've blogged about this, but this is something that I've lived by for years after playing and winning several $2 tourneys on Poker Stars. You ready? Assume every opponent is an idiot! Yep, that's right. Don't give them credit for being a smart player. Assume they will put their money in bad. Assume they will play bad. Assume they are stupid. This assumption can save me lots of money and it's the one revelation that I let slip away yesterday in that hand. In fact, it took me all day to remember this - my very own rule!
So, yes, I recovered from that loss. I used my steaming appearance to acquire chips. I picked up AK and shoved. The big blind called with 66 and I hit my hand to double up to over 12k. He threw his cards in all pissy and all I could think was when you lose 30k to 52 you can get huffy, but losing 6k to AK doesn't warrant your attitude. I didn't say anything though. I just stacked my chips and moved on. A little while later I the idiot was in the big blind. Another player limped in. I had A4 and shoved. The level 100, 600/1200 so with 10 big blinds I was still in short stack mode. The Idiot called the roughly 13k bet and the other player folded. Are you ready for this? The Idiot had K8! LOL hahahaha... proving he's still an idiot he doubled me up to over 25k. Then I pick up AA and make a fairly large preflop raise. Get one caller and the flop comes ... 522! AHHHHH! I shove all in. And the player says, "What? You don't think I play 52?" LOL So I said, "No sir, you look like you're way to smart to play 52." ... me taking another shot at the idiot who was still at the table! LOL He folds and some how I find myself sitting on 50k which is roughly 20k more than an average stack at this point in the tournament.
I pick up 55 and raise to 4k. We're still at the 100, 600/1200 level. The guy on my left raises to 10k. Now, he's been coming over the top of me rather consistently, but he and I have been talking about it and I know it's not that he's picking on ME. But coincidentally he's been picking up hands whenever I do. This time, I decide I'm done with my raise/fold play. I decide to put HIM to the test and I shove all in. He goes into the tank. He looks at the clock and sees that we are comming up on a break. There's about 180 people left. He finally decides to call. He has AK and he hits his hand to double through me and leaving me with 13k in chips. It was a chance and I decided to take it. In retrospect the only other way I would have been content to play the hand would be to call his 6k raise and then I would have had to fold on the flop when the A or the K or both hit. That would have saved me a bunch of money, and ultimately this hand did cost me the tournament. BUT, I did say in my last blog that I wanted to be more aggresive. SOooooo, maybe a good balance between aggressive and not would be appropriate. He's right, it was a decent time to race. And if I'd won the hand I would have been sitting on nearly 100k in chips and sitting pretty for a run at the money. All in all I'm happy with the way I played (minus the 52 idiot hand) and I'm glad I took my game up a notch from where it was when I played on Monday.
Tomorrow is a $200 satellite event to win a seat into the $1600 main event. I plan on winning my seat! I did it back at the IP when there was a WSOP stop there last Oct or Sept or whatever. I can do it again. My plan for tomorrow? Well, I don't have to race for all of my chips. I don't have to take big chances. I can wait for good hands and make them profitable. I don't have to win the whole tournament. I just have to get into the money to get the seat. So, I'll be aggressive, but I'm looking to use well timed aggression to get my opponents chips. I'm good at building my chip stack and this is a great skill to have in a satellite tournament. I EXPECT a win tomorrow.
The middle position player threw in 3k and the dealer corrected him to let him know it was 4k not 3k to call. I noticed this and the look on his face and wondered why 1k seemed to make a difference to him. I mean really, if you're willing to call 3k why would 4k be such a big surprise. The button called. The flop came out 422. I bet 9k. The middle position player called and the button folded. What? Why did he call? What the heck can he have? He limped in and then called a big pre-flop raise. Now he's going to stick with the hand? He doesn't make any sense. The turn comes off a 3. Well, I'm thinking, I can't check to him. If I let him bet I'll be stuck with a tough decision. I really can't imagine what kind of hand he could have. Maybe he had or has a straight draw. If he has an Ace I don't really want him in the hand any longer. I shove all in. He insta-calls and shows.... are you ready for this? .... 5h 2h. WTF? An ace comes off on the river improving his hand to a straight and I lose 30k on the hand. I was a bit of jerk after that hand, but I'm not really sorry for it. He was an idiot and that's what I said out loud at the table. He said something like, "Well you were betting into me." And I said, "Well of course. I didn't expect you to be stupid and call 4k preflop with 52. I didn't know you were an idiot." And then he went on to say something about pot committed or some other such nonsense. The fact is he can't justify his hand there. He just called with crap and got lucky. And I was very vocal about how much of an idiot he was. In retrospect I start to see where that 4k versus 3k was a sticking point for him preflop. He's an idiot. He thought his hand was worth 3k more, but would have folded if he'd realized it was 4k more, but since he had already thrown in the 3k he pretty much had to put in the other 1k to see the flop and THAT's what he meant when he said "pot-committed". It's still absolutely ridiculous and he made himself sound like that much more of a dummy by trying to justify his bad play.
So here's my mistake. I forgot my #1 rule of poker. I don't think I've blogged about this, but this is something that I've lived by for years after playing and winning several $2 tourneys on Poker Stars. You ready? Assume every opponent is an idiot! Yep, that's right. Don't give them credit for being a smart player. Assume they will put their money in bad. Assume they will play bad. Assume they are stupid. This assumption can save me lots of money and it's the one revelation that I let slip away yesterday in that hand. In fact, it took me all day to remember this - my very own rule!
So, yes, I recovered from that loss. I used my steaming appearance to acquire chips. I picked up AK and shoved. The big blind called with 66 and I hit my hand to double up to over 12k. He threw his cards in all pissy and all I could think was when you lose 30k to 52 you can get huffy, but losing 6k to AK doesn't warrant your attitude. I didn't say anything though. I just stacked my chips and moved on. A little while later I the idiot was in the big blind. Another player limped in. I had A4 and shoved. The level 100, 600/1200 so with 10 big blinds I was still in short stack mode. The Idiot called the roughly 13k bet and the other player folded. Are you ready for this? The Idiot had K8! LOL hahahaha... proving he's still an idiot he doubled me up to over 25k. Then I pick up AA and make a fairly large preflop raise. Get one caller and the flop comes ... 522! AHHHHH! I shove all in. And the player says, "What? You don't think I play 52?" LOL So I said, "No sir, you look like you're way to smart to play 52." ... me taking another shot at the idiot who was still at the table! LOL He folds and some how I find myself sitting on 50k which is roughly 20k more than an average stack at this point in the tournament.
I pick up 55 and raise to 4k. We're still at the 100, 600/1200 level. The guy on my left raises to 10k. Now, he's been coming over the top of me rather consistently, but he and I have been talking about it and I know it's not that he's picking on ME. But coincidentally he's been picking up hands whenever I do. This time, I decide I'm done with my raise/fold play. I decide to put HIM to the test and I shove all in. He goes into the tank. He looks at the clock and sees that we are comming up on a break. There's about 180 people left. He finally decides to call. He has AK and he hits his hand to double through me and leaving me with 13k in chips. It was a chance and I decided to take it. In retrospect the only other way I would have been content to play the hand would be to call his 6k raise and then I would have had to fold on the flop when the A or the K or both hit. That would have saved me a bunch of money, and ultimately this hand did cost me the tournament. BUT, I did say in my last blog that I wanted to be more aggresive. SOooooo, maybe a good balance between aggressive and not would be appropriate. He's right, it was a decent time to race. And if I'd won the hand I would have been sitting on nearly 100k in chips and sitting pretty for a run at the money. All in all I'm happy with the way I played (minus the 52 idiot hand) and I'm glad I took my game up a notch from where it was when I played on Monday.
Tomorrow is a $200 satellite event to win a seat into the $1600 main event. I plan on winning my seat! I did it back at the IP when there was a WSOP stop there last Oct or Sept or whatever. I can do it again. My plan for tomorrow? Well, I don't have to race for all of my chips. I don't have to take big chances. I can wait for good hands and make them profitable. I don't have to win the whole tournament. I just have to get into the money to get the seat. So, I'll be aggressive, but I'm looking to use well timed aggression to get my opponents chips. I'm good at building my chip stack and this is a great skill to have in a satellite tournament. I EXPECT a win tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Poker - It's a Mental Game
Lately, I've been playing quite well. I've been playing lots of little tournaments at the Hybrid Poker Club and getting lots of practice. Playing with the same people all the time has it's plusses and it's cons. I'm learning them, and they think they are learning me. I played a little $60 T on Sunday to get one last practice run in before the WSOP Circuit event in New Orle plaans. I played properly - didn't win, but was content with my play. I did a good job of collecting chips. My opponents kept thinking that I was sucking out on the turn, but in reality, I was calling on the flop with inferior hands that had possibilities and using scare cards on the turn to bluff at the pot and I was taking the pots down. In the end, I got all in with 88 and was called with 66 and a 6 hit the turn. No big deal - that's just poker. Sometimes people hit a 2-outer against you. Still I was very content with my play. Mentally, I felt like I was the best player at the table and that I was in control of the game.
Then I went to New Orleans and played in event #1 of the WSOP Circuit event. Again, I started off strong. I was steadily collecting chips. I was raising pots at the right time, and re-raising pre-flop at the right time and by the right amounts to win chips. We started with 10k in chips and by the first break I had improved to 16k on a rather tight table. No one had been felted at our table yet so it was a real chore to collect chips. Then after the break things started to change. One guy who was very short on chips opened for a 3x raise. I held 88 and reraised to half his remaining stack with every intention of isolating the pot against him and calling his all in. That part of the plan worked beautifully. Everyone else folded, he moved all in. I called and he showed AA. Oh well. I could afford it at the time anyway. Moving on.
At the 100/200 blind level, I open for a raise to 600 under the gun with AK. I'm in seat 5 at a 9 handed table and the player in seat 7 reraises to 2100. He's been playing small ball lately and this is the biggest raise I've seen him make. This has me concerned that he has a big hand. Then all the shit breaks loose. The big blind sits in torture over what to do. He'd directly to my right and somehow he flashes his cards. I miss it, but the whole table see them, including seat 7 who is still in the hand. This is troublesome. I don't know what those cards are. He folded and it's up to me. Well, I feel like I'm in a bad spot here. If seat 7 has AA or KK and an A or a K flops what the heck am I going to do? Maybe he's got a smaller pair, but he's been playing this small pot poker so now maybe he's picked up a bigger than normal hand. Well, I fold and decide to live to play another day.
My stack is steadily dwindling down and, in retrospect I can say that it affected my play. I started to play soft. Later, I open for a raise to 500 with QhJh. Seat 7 goes over the top to 2100. Crap. What the heck. This guy is started to beat me up. I decide to call this time. My hand has some possibilities. The flop come J rag rag rainbow. In this situation, I like to check call to give my aggressive opponent a chance to hang himself. So I check. He bets 1000. I call. The turn is another rag card. Here have some more rope... check. He bets a smallish bet like 2500. I call. The river is another rag and I think to myself, perhaps I should lead out with a bet here to control the size of the river bet and get into a showdown situation. Then I get all girly and scared. "What if he comes over the top? Then what'll I do?" oh crap. I don't really know that my hand is good enough to win with but I do have showdown value. I check. What? I was supposed to bet or move in but I checked? crap. He goes all in. Well, our stacks are fairly even so one of us will either be out or severly crippled. Here's where I really go wrong. Talk about playing like a girl. I fold! What the heck? Why did I put all those chips in the pot? To fold? No. That's not my normal play here. Mentally, I went totally off my game and screwed up. No, I don't know what he had, but let's analyize the hand. He could have preflop raised with AK or AQ both of which I could beat or AA, KK, QQ, JJ, all of which I'd lose to, or a smaller pair which I probably beat unless he made a set somewhere along the way. His smallish bets on the flop and turn could have represented a monster hand and he was sucking me in to get me to contribute to the pot. Or they could have been bluffs. From the way he played and my read on the situation, I had put him on a bluff the whole time. If that's the case I should have stuck with that read on the river. Of course if he was bluffing his only move to win the pot was to go all in. Dummy! That was my cue to make a hero call. Why am I analyzing this hand of all the hands to death? Because I think this was the hand that made or broke the tournament for me. He bled chips from me in this hand and after this, I was just stuck and never could get the bleading under control. Yes, he could have had a monster. In fact, after I folded I decided that he had JJ there and I was crushed all the way. Oh that made me feel better about the fold. But here in the aftermath, I really wish I'd played that hand differently.
I've decided that you can't play scared in a tournament. Every hand is a chance to collect chips. Either collect the chips and go on to win the tournament or lose all your chips and get the heck out. But don't let yourself get crippled mentally and in terms of chips and then try to just hang on by your fingernails through the rest of the tournament. I've got to buck up if I'm going to win in the next tournaments I play. I can't let people push me around. In fact, I think my best play on that hand would have been to check/shove the turn! If he did set up on the river, I would have eliminated that possibility. If I don't check/shove the turn, then I should have shoved the river. And if I didn't shove the river I should have check/called his shove on the river. Right or wrong it was a lost opportunity.
So, knowing what I did wrong in that tournament, I decided to play event #2. It was half PLO and half PL Hold-em. PLO isn't really my game, but I've had some practice lately and it's not too hard if you use your brain. Again I did well through the first 4 levels. Then I came to that fateful decision point. I was in the small blind in a limped pot with As8s. I raise the pot and get 1 or 2 callers. The flop is 567 rainbow. This is a good flop for me so I pot it. BB folds and the under the gun player repots it. Well, I aint going anywhere now. The bet is 2850 and I call. The turn is an A. This is a great card for me and after getting raised I lead out again with a bet of 3000. Ok, that's my mistake right there. I really should have potted it rather than making a bet that was less than half the pot. He glares at me, like how dare you bet into me when I just raised you. But he doesn't raise, he calls. I feel good about the hand until the river card comes off - an 8. CRAP. That puts 5678 on the board. So if he has a 9 or more likely a 4 he wins the hand and It's even worse for me because I have top 2 pair. I check (regretting that I didn't pot it on the turn) and he goes all in. He does take a little time before he shoves and that's a good move on his part. He could have two pair. He could have the straight. He could be bluffing at the river. In fact, it's very likely that he has a hand like 56 or 67 and flopped 2 pair. Well, Mom and grandma were done playing at this point and I decided to go big or go home at a decent hour. I called. There was enough value in catching a bluff or a weaker two pair here and if he had the straight then oh well that's just a crappy river card. Of course, he had 45 (another of his likely holdings) and he won the pot. The good news is, I could live with my decision on the river here and I got to bed at a decent hour. Oh, and surprisingly, the PLO portion of the game played better for me than the Hold-em portion of the game... go figure!
Well, next weekend I plan on playing a satellite to win my way into the $1600 main event. And I plan on keeping my head together so that I can win it. In the meantime, maybe I'll play the wild and crazy rebuy tournament on Wed night at the Hybrid for more practice. Two weeks ago I won $700 in that tournament by getting to a 3 way chop. And the more practice the better!
Come on loosey goosey players, I'm not scared and don't expect me to play like a girl. I'm going to play like a poker player! So you better have the goods or you're going to get busted by a girl!
Then I went to New Orleans and played in event #1 of the WSOP Circuit event. Again, I started off strong. I was steadily collecting chips. I was raising pots at the right time, and re-raising pre-flop at the right time and by the right amounts to win chips. We started with 10k in chips and by the first break I had improved to 16k on a rather tight table. No one had been felted at our table yet so it was a real chore to collect chips. Then after the break things started to change. One guy who was very short on chips opened for a 3x raise. I held 88 and reraised to half his remaining stack with every intention of isolating the pot against him and calling his all in. That part of the plan worked beautifully. Everyone else folded, he moved all in. I called and he showed AA. Oh well. I could afford it at the time anyway. Moving on.
At the 100/200 blind level, I open for a raise to 600 under the gun with AK. I'm in seat 5 at a 9 handed table and the player in seat 7 reraises to 2100. He's been playing small ball lately and this is the biggest raise I've seen him make. This has me concerned that he has a big hand. Then all the shit breaks loose. The big blind sits in torture over what to do. He'd directly to my right and somehow he flashes his cards. I miss it, but the whole table see them, including seat 7 who is still in the hand. This is troublesome. I don't know what those cards are. He folded and it's up to me. Well, I feel like I'm in a bad spot here. If seat 7 has AA or KK and an A or a K flops what the heck am I going to do? Maybe he's got a smaller pair, but he's been playing this small pot poker so now maybe he's picked up a bigger than normal hand. Well, I fold and decide to live to play another day.
My stack is steadily dwindling down and, in retrospect I can say that it affected my play. I started to play soft. Later, I open for a raise to 500 with QhJh. Seat 7 goes over the top to 2100. Crap. What the heck. This guy is started to beat me up. I decide to call this time. My hand has some possibilities. The flop come J rag rag rainbow. In this situation, I like to check call to give my aggressive opponent a chance to hang himself. So I check. He bets 1000. I call. The turn is another rag card. Here have some more rope... check. He bets a smallish bet like 2500. I call. The river is another rag and I think to myself, perhaps I should lead out with a bet here to control the size of the river bet and get into a showdown situation. Then I get all girly and scared. "What if he comes over the top? Then what'll I do?" oh crap. I don't really know that my hand is good enough to win with but I do have showdown value. I check. What? I was supposed to bet or move in but I checked? crap. He goes all in. Well, our stacks are fairly even so one of us will either be out or severly crippled. Here's where I really go wrong. Talk about playing like a girl. I fold! What the heck? Why did I put all those chips in the pot? To fold? No. That's not my normal play here. Mentally, I went totally off my game and screwed up. No, I don't know what he had, but let's analyize the hand. He could have preflop raised with AK or AQ both of which I could beat or AA, KK, QQ, JJ, all of which I'd lose to, or a smaller pair which I probably beat unless he made a set somewhere along the way. His smallish bets on the flop and turn could have represented a monster hand and he was sucking me in to get me to contribute to the pot. Or they could have been bluffs. From the way he played and my read on the situation, I had put him on a bluff the whole time. If that's the case I should have stuck with that read on the river. Of course if he was bluffing his only move to win the pot was to go all in. Dummy! That was my cue to make a hero call. Why am I analyzing this hand of all the hands to death? Because I think this was the hand that made or broke the tournament for me. He bled chips from me in this hand and after this, I was just stuck and never could get the bleading under control. Yes, he could have had a monster. In fact, after I folded I decided that he had JJ there and I was crushed all the way. Oh that made me feel better about the fold. But here in the aftermath, I really wish I'd played that hand differently.
I've decided that you can't play scared in a tournament. Every hand is a chance to collect chips. Either collect the chips and go on to win the tournament or lose all your chips and get the heck out. But don't let yourself get crippled mentally and in terms of chips and then try to just hang on by your fingernails through the rest of the tournament. I've got to buck up if I'm going to win in the next tournaments I play. I can't let people push me around. In fact, I think my best play on that hand would have been to check/shove the turn! If he did set up on the river, I would have eliminated that possibility. If I don't check/shove the turn, then I should have shoved the river. And if I didn't shove the river I should have check/called his shove on the river. Right or wrong it was a lost opportunity.
So, knowing what I did wrong in that tournament, I decided to play event #2. It was half PLO and half PL Hold-em. PLO isn't really my game, but I've had some practice lately and it's not too hard if you use your brain. Again I did well through the first 4 levels. Then I came to that fateful decision point. I was in the small blind in a limped pot with As8s. I raise the pot and get 1 or 2 callers. The flop is 567 rainbow. This is a good flop for me so I pot it. BB folds and the under the gun player repots it. Well, I aint going anywhere now. The bet is 2850 and I call. The turn is an A. This is a great card for me and after getting raised I lead out again with a bet of 3000. Ok, that's my mistake right there. I really should have potted it rather than making a bet that was less than half the pot. He glares at me, like how dare you bet into me when I just raised you. But he doesn't raise, he calls. I feel good about the hand until the river card comes off - an 8. CRAP. That puts 5678 on the board. So if he has a 9 or more likely a 4 he wins the hand and It's even worse for me because I have top 2 pair. I check (regretting that I didn't pot it on the turn) and he goes all in. He does take a little time before he shoves and that's a good move on his part. He could have two pair. He could have the straight. He could be bluffing at the river. In fact, it's very likely that he has a hand like 56 or 67 and flopped 2 pair. Well, Mom and grandma were done playing at this point and I decided to go big or go home at a decent hour. I called. There was enough value in catching a bluff or a weaker two pair here and if he had the straight then oh well that's just a crappy river card. Of course, he had 45 (another of his likely holdings) and he won the pot. The good news is, I could live with my decision on the river here and I got to bed at a decent hour. Oh, and surprisingly, the PLO portion of the game played better for me than the Hold-em portion of the game... go figure!
Well, next weekend I plan on playing a satellite to win my way into the $1600 main event. And I plan on keeping my head together so that I can win it. In the meantime, maybe I'll play the wild and crazy rebuy tournament on Wed night at the Hybrid for more practice. Two weeks ago I won $700 in that tournament by getting to a 3 way chop. And the more practice the better!
Come on loosey goosey players, I'm not scared and don't expect me to play like a girl. I'm going to play like a poker player! So you better have the goods or you're going to get busted by a girl!
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