rest easy, reading public. i have not perished. i wasn't arrested for my participation in illegal card room activities. i am alive and well. i thank you all for the virtual barrage of emails i've received begging for blog updates. so buckle in cuz here we go.
i've continued to dominate the poker table basically any time i work my magic with the cards. i really don't understand how or why i'm such a god on earth as of late, but i'm enjoying the run. i think i'm at about 17 winning sessions over the last 20 with relatively minor losses on those 3.
last weekend, i played a session at 2/3 NL oceans 11 in which i was +4 buy ins in less than 4 hours. i really was running hot, and i think got increased action due to people not believing that i had "it" every time. really the cornerstone hand was after i'd won a couple nice pots. i picked up the monster 10c7c in the big blind (with about $800 behind). there was an early-middle position raise to $12 (which was a small raise in this game) and three callers. i called $9. the flop was 10-7-4. i checked, the initial raiser bet $25, everyone else folded and i raised to $65. he called. turn was the 9d for a board of 10-7-4-9, no flush possibility. i bet $100. he thought for a second and pushed all in for $340 more than my bet. do you call?
[i reasoned that he held JJ. he was a fairly new player who had really only played 1 big hand when he flopped bottom set and doubled up. results posted in a later blog entry.....]
i did lose a pretty decent pot with 10-7 when i made a straight in a 3 way pot with 1 guy all in. i lost to a straight flush. nice hand. i was able to lose the minimum though when i checked behind on the turn when we both hit our card, the Js. damn that Jack of spades -- it's the card that caused me to lose 1/3 of my chips in the main event when a guy flopped a set twice in the same hand due to dealer error.
as a going away present from the session, the table thought they would give me something nice. two short stacks and myself ended up all in preflop when i held QQ. i was sure i had them both beat, but the Q on the river sent me the $350 pot.
i've also played this week a couple of nights. there was 1 hand that continues to boggle my mind from monday night. i triple barrel bluffed a guy out of a pot and i was absolutely shocked when he showed his hand as he folded on the river. it went something like this: i called a late position raise on the button with Q-10. the flop was A high and he bet into me. i raised, he called. i had no pair. on the turn, the good news was i picked up a gut shot straight draw. he checked, i made a pretty strong bet that should make him think i had something, but could stand a call. the river came and i held Q high. it did put possible straight and flush possibilities on the board. he checked again. obviously i had to bet. the question was how much? i made a bet that would leave him only about $50 if he called and lost. he tanked for a long time and ended up folding AJ, THE TOP TWO PAIR! he had me beat if i had any other two pair, so he must have given me credit for a set, a straight, or a flush. wow. he was getting 2:1 on the call. wow again. i showed the 10c only as i folded which created quite a stir at the table. i told him i had been bluffing, but caught the straight on the river, just to make him feel good about folding.
it seems like i am honing my weak vs. strong instincts as i've been able to occasionally raise with air when i sensed weakness. i stole a decent pot from an older guy (read: rock) the other day with K high when he fumbled around before making a continuation bet on a Q high flop. he folded instantly when i raised. ESPN baby!
last night, i still came out a small winner, but took a tough beat on one hand. i flopped the ass end of a straight with 3h4h in late position (board 5-6-7) and got raised big by the button on the flop. i thought his most likely hand was a set, cuz i didn't think he would raise so big with the nuts. i couldn't put him on 8-4, but 8-9 was a completely reasonable holding. i pushed him all in and he called with 5-6 bottom 2 pair. turn K. river 5. without having seen his hand, i knew i was beat when the board paired. ouch 4 outers. if you're him do you call off your stack with bottom 2 pair? he probably had to with the odds the pot was laying him, but he had to know he was behind. oh well, poker happens.
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Great post, good humor to start out with. Glad to hear that you are still on a tear.
I ended up finishing 12th in last Saturday's Ocean's 11 tourney. Here's the story, for the rest of the clowns who check in on this site.
I started out like a house of fire on Saturday at the O11 $65 dollar buy-in tourney. Ended up with 8500 chips (you start with 2500) after the first hour of play after ruining a guy with a set of queens to his pocket aces. I was reading people perfectly, dude, I knew what everyone was holding. It helps to get decent cards as well. The aces hand was sweet, because I had the queens UTG+2, raised to three times the big blind, a couple of folds, then the big blind minimum re-raised me (this SCREAMS "I have pocket aces!". I knew at that point I was playing for a set. I called, and prayed to the Lord.
He answered in the form of a pristine flop: Q-7-2 rainbow.
Big blind does the textbook move: all-in. I turn to the dealer and say clearly, "I re-raise all-in." I didn't know if I had him covered or not, but I wanted to make sure ALL the chips got in the pot. The dealer counts it out, and I had him by 50 chips. I say, "Your pocket aces are in trouble, because I have top set." I flip over the queens, and the table oohs and ahs as he turns his aces face up. "I guess I need an ace," he says. It never comes, he's out, and I am the table captain for the rest of the hour, busting out two more people with A-K and my own pair of pocket aces. The cards were coming, and the flops were hitting me. Life is good at that point, my friend.
We take the first 10 minute break at 11 AM, I call up some of you guys and state how things are going, go take a piss, wash my face and hands, and sit back down. It then goes to shit.
Blinds are at 300/600 when I proceed to lose three consecutive hands. From UTG (first to act, or "under the gun"), I look down to find pocket kings. Ah, my current cooler hand. I decide to raise to 1800 to make sure that no raggedy-ass A-x hands stay in. I get two fucking callers. Great. The flop is horrible: three hearts hit the board. Both my kings are black. Fuck. I check. Check, bet follows. My action. I look down at my cards to re-affirm that I am fucked, and say, "There's action behind me. So I'll hold off on my tantrum." I fold. The guy behind me calls. Someone's got the ace, and someone else has whatever. That's my read. Turn is a heart, river is a heart. One guy goes all in, and the second guy calls. You guessed it: the ace high flush loses to a straight flush. I then mention that I folded two black kings and that they were both drawing pretty slim. (Side Note: O'Neil, the guy that won with the straight flush was our buddy (Spandeau Ballet, aka "The Second-Rate Version of Jay Smith", a.k.a "Mark").) He raked a huge pot. I am slightly pissed, but settle down and proceed to lose two more when I call a short-stack's pre-flop all in with my A-Q and the board comes A-A-K. I am happy until he turns over the A-K. Fuck. I lose another pot when I lay down my straight draw to an all-in move on the turn. Not good.
I went from 8500 chips to roughly 3000 chips. Blinds are now at 400/800, and they break our table. I go sit down with 8 unknowns and a girl from my original table. She says, "That was a rough run for you." I agree, then say, "Luckily, I know how you come back from this kinda crap. Just watch."
I make my mind up that I am pushing all-in if I have a pocket pair and it's folded to me. If someone bets pre-flop, then I'm only moving all-in, no calls, and my hand selection will have to be good there, AQsuited or up, pocket tens or higher.
I pick up a pair of pocket sixes on my third hand. One pre-flop limper, so fuck him. I push all-in, everyone folds, he calls the extra 800 chips on a 2600 chip move-in (mandatory call on his part). I say, "You call that 800 chips just like that?!" while laughing. I flip over my sixes, he turns over his queens, and I say, "Nice hand."
I turn to Marta, the dealer, and say, "Marta, you've always saved me in the past. I need a set." First card out on the flop: BANG. A six. The table groans, I say "Thank you, Marta" and two blanks come on the turn and river. As I rake the pot, I say, "Justice." One guy asks me how the hell that can be justice, and I remove my sunglasses so he can get a better look, and say, "Because I look like this, and he doesn't. I am the Chosen One." The girl to my right groans and says, "Are you serious?" while laughing. A few people are visibly disgusted, and two guys are laughing their asses off. One guy names me "Good Lookin'" for the remainder of my time at the table.
Good Lookin' sticks to the plan by RAPING the big blind on an all-in when it was folded to me in the small blind. (I pretended to look at my cards, then pushed so I didn't lose my courage to do so, since he had me about 4-1 in chips). He folded.
I pushed with A-K and with pocket 8's, both times picking up the blinds. I build my stack back to a respectable 10,000 chips before the second 10-minute break. The chick to my right is impressed, when she gets busted out, she wished me good luck and said, "Take them all down." So that was nice.
I come back and now the blinds and antes are starting to devastate my stack. People are pushing and calling, so you have to have a decent starting hand or a death wish. I had neither for quite some time. I finally pick up A-K in first position when the blinds are 1000/2000 with 300 chip antes. I push all-in, get one caller, stand up, and the flop comes A-K-8. The turn is an Ace. I pump my fist, sit back down. Finally, there are just two tables, and people are busting out fairly regularly. I am just trying to hang on and make the final table so I can write to you guys about my amazing performance.
Alas, the antes and blinds eat me up while I fold Q-3, 5-2, and 7-3 repeatedly. The big stacks are moving all-in and calling all-ins with reckless abandon whenever any short stack makes a move, so it ain't like I could play position. There just wasn't any opportunity to pull the Gus Hansen, which sucked. Finally, the big blind hits me again and it represents about 70% of my total stack. I'm playing the hand. Everyone folds to the small blind, who has a ton of chips (and is the guy whose Queens I sucked out on before) and says, "I hate to do it, because I actually like you." I tell him, "Well, they better be good, because I'm playing this hand regardless of what you do." He puts me all in, and turns over 10-8 of diamonds. I have Q-9 offsuit. I'm 3-to-2 to win, roughly. I was actually going to win the hand with my queen high until the river, which paired my nine. Unfortunately, it also gave him a straight. *sigh*
I knock the table and say, "It was a pleasure playing with you all." I busted out in 12th place, two out of the money. I asked the tourney director on the way out, and there were 145 entrants.
Overall, I liked my play. I would have rather had those amazing cards at the end, since that's when they count, baby. But I can't complain, especially since I could have easily been knocked out in something like 30th place if I hadn't spiked that six on that dude's queens. That's poker. You just have to put yourself in the best position to win with some smart decisions, then get a little luck.
In other news, the hot blond that I initially thought was interested, who I actually have had decent phone conversations with, is either too busy or just plain ain't into Mr. JHC. I think she thinks I'm stalking her when I go to play at O11. *Laughing while pointing at own face* Are you kidding me?!
Anyway, I guess that makes me 0-for-2. Doesn't happen that often. I'm kinda glad in a way ... now I understand how you losers feel every day of your god-forsaken lives.
- johnny
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