i've been running pretty bad lately in live games and the beginning of last night was not any different. i was quickly down $200 at 2/3 NL, doubled up with a set a Jacks, but then grinded for hours, not making any hands or getting any cards. i more than doubled up with unimproved pocket Qs when i raised on the button and got 4 callers. with 2 other short stacks all in on the flop, and then me going all in over another caller, i was lucky that 1 pair of Qs held up, especially with an Ace on the river.
i could never hit anything better than 1 pair on the flop and continued to get check-raised. very frustrating. i was finally ready to leave, down about $500 when i raised in early position with KQ suited and a guy came over the top of me. i pushed all in, for only $50 or so more and he called. Flop was A-K-10. I stand up and say, "Do you have an Ace?" He smiles and says, "Yep -- 2 pair." He shows A-10 for top and bottom pair. I am drawing to 2 Kings and 4 Jacks, but the board comes runner runner Queens to fill me up for the biggest suck out I can remember giving. wow. i am one lucky donk.
soon thereafter the night got fun. our table broke and i went to sit at another 2/3 table. there was 1 complete fish with over $700 and then there was the crown jewell - our friend we call the Oceans 11 Maniac - Mo. he has actually calmed down a bit, but i remember several months ago sitting with him at a 2/3 table and he was in the game for over $3000. the crazy part is he made it back to even playing the same maniacally loose game that is his style.
soon after sitting down, he doubles through THE fish by making a flush with 10-5hh in a raised pot. the fish turned the nut straight with K-10 as Mo made his 10 high flush. they got it all in on the turn and the flush held. wow -- over a $1200 pot. how do you call all in when you are re-re-raised as the 3 flush hits the board? i just wish i could have gotten in a hand with that guy.
i win another nice pot with QQ, and then call a Mo raise with Q-10ss. i flop top pair of Qs, and he calls my bet. i turn 2 pair and he again calls my bet. i began to doubt myself when he check calls on the river, but he held A-8, no pair. wow. i think he used that hand as advertising for the future, cuz he started catching some cards and got paid off big. people continued to try to bluff him out of pots, but they failed to realize that he will call if he has a piece of the flop. it was unbelievable how time after time he would check call a big bet on the river and be good with third pair. he soon had over $2000 behind. he also made some nice hands: he flopped 2 straights, and flopped 2 sets in the span of 2 hours. he also won a decent pot from me when i flopped top pair with AK and he turned a straight (i re-raised preflop and he called with J-9). i was able to get away from it for less than my whole stack which was nice.
things finally came together in the span of about 45 minutes, i flopped the nuts twice and doubled up both times. obviously it helps to flop the stones, but the challenge was getting all my money in the middle and getting them to pay me off. thankfully, my opponents both had strong hands with some outs to beat me, but my hands held up.
in the first pot, i held AKss on the button and raised a few limpers pre-flop. it folded around to the cutoff, who re-raised me $40 more. this didn't really make any sense. if he held a strong hand in the cutoff, he would have raised. i called instantly. flop was 3 spades. jackpot. i hollywooded the shit out this hand. he checked, and i did the hole card peeky "to see if i had any spades". i checked behind. turn Q. he leads for $70. i think and call. i have only $75 left. the river was a blank and he bets $25 (!!!) into more than $260. what the hell are you thinking dude? i ponder and try to look weak as i push all in. he calls and i show him the nuts. he tells me later he turned top set of Qs, so he had outs on the river, but why bet $25? either check or push me all in for $75....thank goodness for terrible players.
the pre-flop action here was incredibly weak by him...he limped in in the cutoff with Qs, with 3 other limpers already in the pot?!?!? trying to go broke he was.
about 30 minutes later i make a small raise with KJ and flop the nut straight. a guy doubles me up with top 2 pair Q-10. he was pissed at me too for being "greedy". what sir, would you like me to just check down the nuts? we're playing this game for money if you didn't notice. i checked dark on the turn and then raised his $100 bet. he called and then called my all in on the river. he was normally a fairly solid player able to laydown hands, so i was surprised that he paid me off there.
anyway, i got back to positive territory at about 6am after being down for almost 10 hours. crazy game.
i'm planning on playing the viejas $100,000 purse tourney tomorrow and am feeling confident about my game. i plan to cash.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Day 2, Level 7 - 500/1000/100
I have a top 10 chip leader 2 seats to my left. He has over 150,000. Great. Other than that, I like my table for Day 2b. A couple of medium stacks and a couple of short stacks. I am THE short stack though and need to find an opportunity to double fairly soon.
Ugly cards for an hour straight. I had weak Aces twice, but other than that, no playable cards whatsoever. In a cash game, I wouldn't mind so much, but it sucks to be a short stack and not have a chance to even see two high cards. I was pushing with 2 paint or a decent Ace, but got no opportunities to do so. The big stack shows 9s and Qs within the first 8 hands -- so not fair.
Anyway, I was patient, but couldn't wait too much longer, as I'd been blinded down to under 8000 chips an hour + into day 2. I open pushed with J-7 offsuit, which was the best hand I'd seen in a while and was called by 8s. After pairing my J on the turn and taking a big lead, we both make a flush on the river. But his is 8 high and mine 7 high. Done.
Can't wait to play again in years to come!
Ugly cards for an hour straight. I had weak Aces twice, but other than that, no playable cards whatsoever. In a cash game, I wouldn't mind so much, but it sucks to be a short stack and not have a chance to even see two high cards. I was pushing with 2 paint or a decent Ace, but got no opportunities to do so. The big stack shows 9s and Qs within the first 8 hands -- so not fair.
Anyway, I was patient, but couldn't wait too much longer, as I'd been blinded down to under 8000 chips an hour + into day 2. I open pushed with J-7 offsuit, which was the best hand I'd seen in a while and was called by 8s. After pairing my J on the turn and taking a big lead, we both make a flush on the river. But his is 8 high and mine 7 high. Done.
Can't wait to play again in years to come!
Level 6 - 400/800/100
Didn't play 1 hand at this level, besides 2 open pushes with QJ and K10 when it was unopened to me in either the small blind or on the button. With 12-14k chips, I was actually looking to double up if someone called me with A9 or something. Varkonyi wouldn't oblige.
Made it to Day 2b with 13,700 chips. Short stacked, but ready to double!
Made it to Day 2b with 13,700 chips. Short stacked, but ready to double!
Level 5 - 300/600/75
Re-raised a bad early position raiser to 5000 from 1800 with Js. Everyone folded and I took down a smallish pot. At 18,500 chips.
Re-raised all in for 12k more chips on the button with AKo. I stood up and walked around. He thought and eventually folded 9s. I would have been happy to race there, as I couldn't get anything going and was getting terrible cards for long stretches. I felt sorry for Mark who was behind me on the rail, waiting for hours to get to see me play a hand.
Re-raised all in for 12k more chips on the button with AKo. I stood up and walked around. He thought and eventually folded 9s. I would have been happy to race there, as I couldn't get anything going and was getting terrible cards for long stretches. I felt sorry for Mark who was behind me on the rail, waiting for hours to get to see me play a hand.
Level 4 - 200/400/50
1st hand after the dinner break. Two Qs. I blogged about this hand earlier as it was pretty sick that the guy flopped a set of Jacks twice in the same hand, with the same card (Js). I lost 1/3 of my stack on this hand, but made a good laydown with an overpair of Qs.
I immediately get moved to Table 66 with Varkonyi and Ferguson. Ferguson has 60k chips, Varkonyi has 30k, and I have 13k. They both have position on me. Sweeeeeet!
1st hand at the new table. I decide to step up my aggression a bit, and maybe I was steaming after the Qs, but i pick up A-10 in early position and raise. I get 1 caller in the BB. Flop is KQ10. He leads for 1200, I call, with a pair, a draw to the nuts, and an overcard. Turn is 2s. He bets 1200 again and I fold, done being milked by what was probably a very strong hand. AJ or QQQ....whatever, I was beat.
I call a standard raise in the SB with AQ (the nuts baby - my favorite hand in the universe!). I check the K high flop. He checks behind. I turn broadway and lead out for 2000. He smooth calls. I check the club on the river putting a 3 flush on board and he bets 2000. I call not feeling it, and he shows KQcc for the 2nd nut flush. Wow - I had him killed in every way and he makes the 2nd nuts.....nice hand. I'm down to 7000 chips early on at my second table.
I call the blind with 66 in middle position and flop bottom set on a 6-7-10 board. 4 players to the flop. I bet and get 1 caller. on the turn is the 5h, he checks to me, I go all in for 6300. He eventually calls after trying to get me to talk about my hand. He shows 10-8 for top pair and a gut shot. He rivers 2 pair, which is not enough. I more than double up to 16k chips.
I immediately get moved to Table 66 with Varkonyi and Ferguson. Ferguson has 60k chips, Varkonyi has 30k, and I have 13k. They both have position on me. Sweeeeeet!
1st hand at the new table. I decide to step up my aggression a bit, and maybe I was steaming after the Qs, but i pick up A-10 in early position and raise. I get 1 caller in the BB. Flop is KQ10. He leads for 1200, I call, with a pair, a draw to the nuts, and an overcard. Turn is 2s. He bets 1200 again and I fold, done being milked by what was probably a very strong hand. AJ or QQQ....whatever, I was beat.
I call a standard raise in the SB with AQ (the nuts baby - my favorite hand in the universe!). I check the K high flop. He checks behind. I turn broadway and lead out for 2000. He smooth calls. I check the club on the river putting a 3 flush on board and he bets 2000. I call not feeling it, and he shows KQcc for the 2nd nut flush. Wow - I had him killed in every way and he makes the 2nd nuts.....nice hand. I'm down to 7000 chips early on at my second table.
I call the blind with 66 in middle position and flop bottom set on a 6-7-10 board. 4 players to the flop. I bet and get 1 caller. on the turn is the 5h, he checks to me, I go all in for 6300. He eventually calls after trying to get me to talk about my hand. He shows 10-8 for top pair and a gut shot. He rivers 2 pair, which is not enough. I more than double up to 16k chips.
Level 3 - 200/400
On the 1st hand at this level I pick up AsKc in the SB. I smooth call a raise. With an overall perspective on the event, I think I played a bit too tight. I could have easily re-raised with AK in the blind, but then where am I when I air ball the flop? With a combination of the blinds just having increased and my poor position in the hand, I chose to just call the raise to 1200 (with a stack just under 20k).
Flop is AcQc10c. Nice, I finally hit a flop hard, with top pair, top kicker, and a royal flush draw. I check, he bets $1800, I raise to $4100 and he folds. Without an Ace or a high club, I wasn't going to get any more chips out of him, but still I could have smooth called his bet and then led out on the turn. However, if any of my cards come (a Jack, a club, an Ace, or the Jc), he probably isn't going to pay me off anyway on a scary board.
Flop is AcQc10c. Nice, I finally hit a flop hard, with top pair, top kicker, and a royal flush draw. I check, he bets $1800, I raise to $4100 and he folds. Without an Ace or a high club, I wasn't going to get any more chips out of him, but still I could have smooth called his bet and then led out on the turn. However, if any of my cards come (a Jack, a club, an Ace, or the Jc), he probably isn't going to pay me off anyway on a scary board.
Level 2 - 100/200
One hand of note this level. Went pretty card dead.
Re-raised Andy Bloch in the cutoff to 1600 from 600. He calls, the other initial caller folds. Flop is Jack high, he checks, I bet 2300 with AK high and he eventually folds. I put him on a mid pair, 7s, 8s, or 9s there. Most likely 8s. He didn't show. I'm at about 20k chips after this hand.
Re-raised Andy Bloch in the cutoff to 1600 from 600. He calls, the other initial caller folds. Flop is Jack high, he checks, I bet 2300 with AK high and he eventually folds. I put him on a mid pair, 7s, 8s, or 9s there. Most likely 8s. He didn't show. I'm at about 20k chips after this hand.
Hands I played
After some decompression time, I thought I would post some notes on key hands that I played throughout my Main Event.
In 14 hours of poker it was frustrating to make only 3 real hands better than 1 pair.
1. I made that 10d high flush with pocket 10s. I missed a bet on the end there, I assume the other guy had an over pair with no diamond.
2. I flopped set of 6s at my second table and doubled up through top pair / straight draw.
3. I turned broadway with AQ (my absolute favorite hand!!) in the small blind and the guy made his flush with KQ. Lost a decent sized pot there.
Level 1 - 50/100
Nice start to the Main Event - my first hand is 3-5 offsuit.
The first hand I won was with Kh6h in the CO in a limped pot. 4 players to the flop. Flop of 865 rainbow. Check to me, I bet 300, everyone folds.
Twice I held AQ and called standard raises to airball the flop and fold to a bet.
Pocket 4s in the cutoff. Standard raised pot. 3 players see an A high flop. Check, check to me, I bet and take down the pot.
I finally get in a pot with the 1 complete donkey at the table. I make a standard raise to 300 in early position with 9s. Donkey re-raises in the SB to 1300. I call. Flop is 567 rainbow. I could put him on AK/AQ, but really those are the only hands I can beat right now. He checks and I check behind for pot size control and with a chance to make the 2nd nuts with an 8. I don't want to get in a huge pot with pocket 9s at this point. If he has AK, my 9s are still good anyway. Turn is a 10. He checks again, I bet 1500, he raises 5000 more to 6500. I fold. Maybe he had 10s, but I think I was giving him too much credit, based on hands I saw from him later on. But regardless, I couldn't beat too much with 9s. [later he re-raised preflop with A8 and raised big on the river with a flush on a paired board. his opponent had a boat and took down a huge pot].
AA on the button. Unopened to me, so I raise to 225, hoping to get some value for my premium hand. SB folds. BB re-raises to 750. Yea! I've got some action. But he will pay to see a flop. I raise to 1500. To my surprise, he re-pops it to 3500. Alright, I'm pretty sure he has KK or QQ, so I should have just called his raise and let him make a big bet on the flop with an overpair. But, for some reason, I push all in. He thinks then folds and shows QQ. I think a blew an opportunity here to get some chips. After a pretty bad run of losing with AA in the previous month, I was too anxious to get all the chips in. I didn't play smart poker on this hand -- this is the one hand I think I misplayed, as I might have been able to get all his chips.
Pocket 10d-10h on the button. I call an early position raise to 400 along with the cutoff. Flop is all babies. Initial raiser leads out for $900, the cutoff folds, I call. Turn puts 3 diamonds on board, still all undercards to my 10s. He bets out just $1000, so I call with my overpair and flush draw. River is another diamond, putting 4 on board. He checks......and I check behind. I might have missed a small value bet there with a 10 high flush, but certainly didn't want to get check raised if he held the Kd or Ad. A little cautious, but I feel I might have sucked out on that hand if he held JJ or QQ. He was a fairly bad player, so I don't think it was intentional for him to price me in on the turn. My flush was good.
Both the hand before the 10s and the hand right after, I held pocket 9s and couldn't make anything happen with them.
In 14 hours of poker it was frustrating to make only 3 real hands better than 1 pair.
1. I made that 10d high flush with pocket 10s. I missed a bet on the end there, I assume the other guy had an over pair with no diamond.
2. I flopped set of 6s at my second table and doubled up through top pair / straight draw.
3. I turned broadway with AQ (my absolute favorite hand!!) in the small blind and the guy made his flush with KQ. Lost a decent sized pot there.
Level 1 - 50/100
Nice start to the Main Event - my first hand is 3-5 offsuit.
The first hand I won was with Kh6h in the CO in a limped pot. 4 players to the flop. Flop of 865 rainbow. Check to me, I bet 300, everyone folds.
Twice I held AQ and called standard raises to airball the flop and fold to a bet.
Pocket 4s in the cutoff. Standard raised pot. 3 players see an A high flop. Check, check to me, I bet and take down the pot.
I finally get in a pot with the 1 complete donkey at the table. I make a standard raise to 300 in early position with 9s. Donkey re-raises in the SB to 1300. I call. Flop is 567 rainbow. I could put him on AK/AQ, but really those are the only hands I can beat right now. He checks and I check behind for pot size control and with a chance to make the 2nd nuts with an 8. I don't want to get in a huge pot with pocket 9s at this point. If he has AK, my 9s are still good anyway. Turn is a 10. He checks again, I bet 1500, he raises 5000 more to 6500. I fold. Maybe he had 10s, but I think I was giving him too much credit, based on hands I saw from him later on. But regardless, I couldn't beat too much with 9s. [later he re-raised preflop with A8 and raised big on the river with a flush on a paired board. his opponent had a boat and took down a huge pot].
AA on the button. Unopened to me, so I raise to 225, hoping to get some value for my premium hand. SB folds. BB re-raises to 750. Yea! I've got some action. But he will pay to see a flop. I raise to 1500. To my surprise, he re-pops it to 3500. Alright, I'm pretty sure he has KK or QQ, so I should have just called his raise and let him make a big bet on the flop with an overpair. But, for some reason, I push all in. He thinks then folds and shows QQ. I think a blew an opportunity here to get some chips. After a pretty bad run of losing with AA in the previous month, I was too anxious to get all the chips in. I didn't play smart poker on this hand -- this is the one hand I think I misplayed, as I might have been able to get all his chips.
Pocket 10d-10h on the button. I call an early position raise to 400 along with the cutoff. Flop is all babies. Initial raiser leads out for $900, the cutoff folds, I call. Turn puts 3 diamonds on board, still all undercards to my 10s. He bets out just $1000, so I call with my overpair and flush draw. River is another diamond, putting 4 on board. He checks......and I check behind. I might have missed a small value bet there with a 10 high flush, but certainly didn't want to get check raised if he held the Kd or Ad. A little cautious, but I feel I might have sucked out on that hand if he held JJ or QQ. He was a fairly bad player, so I don't think it was intentional for him to price me in on the turn. My flush was good.
Both the hand before the 10s and the hand right after, I held pocket 9s and couldn't make anything happen with them.
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