oh well -- last night i lost back what i had won on monday night playing 2/5 NL (instead of the 1/3 that we played on monday). it was still fun to play in that environment, quite different from my normal digs. the availability of insurance juices the action because even if you're all in, you still have a chance to lock up part of the pot before the river card is dealt.
there was a nutty hand that i was initially involved in that basically resulted in the table breaking up. i checked my option in the big blind with 9-8 and flopped top pair and a gut shot. i raised the weak lead of the small blind, who was the main reason most of us were sticking around at the table. he was a really bad player who was running super hot and had a lot of chips. we all knew they were on loan, and were chomping at the bit to get in a hand with him. anyway, the button smooth called my raise, then the small blind raised it up. i folded and then the button re-raised. [good fold by me as i didn't give the small blind much credit, but the button was a solid player]. after the re-raise they both got all their chips in the pot as fast as humanly possible. they had both flopped the nut straight with 7-8. and they both had a backdoor flush draw. runner runner diamonds shipped the $1500 pot to the button which was really disappointing to the rest of us. the donkey left, and the game broke up soon thereafter.
there was a 1/3 pot limit omaha hi/lo 8 or better game going on in the back room and there was no shortage of cash on the table (probably about $15k for 8 players). i sat and watched for about 30 minutes just to see how the game works. with 1/3 blinds, the game doesn't sound that big, but it was. the typical bring in was $15 with three or four to the flop. $50 on the flop was the initial bet with the pots escalating in a hurry. "Pot!" made for some big ones. if you could scoop or "sweep" as they called it, with both the high and the low you took down a nice pot. minimum buy in was $300, but that was about 1-2 hand's worth.
thanks J.T. [no, not me, the poker room host] for a fun 1st experience with underground poker.
i'm now in lovely laredo, texas and heading to dallas tomorrow night. if you want cheap mexican food and cheap real estate and don't mind the occasional carjacking or drive by, this place is for you!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
underground poker
i am in texas all week and i popped my underground poker club cherry! i sat next to this lady in a rio cash game in june and she mentioned she was going to be opening a poker room in houston. well, i checked it out and it was pretty sweeeeeet. [duuuuuuude.........sweeeeeeeeeet]. it was a former restaurant and it is a perfect spot. very spacious with satellite tvs, huge kitchen facilities, great tables and chairs, and professional dealers. all three dealers were just as good as you'd find in any vegas poker room. in fact 2 of them had dealt in vegas before moving to houston. the best part about the place though, was the inexperience of some of the players. i mean, some of these guys were so easy to read and/or so bad it was laughable. [hahaha -- that's me laughing]. in tune with texas spirit, everyone was very friendly and there was nothing shady about it.
i won a few nice pots, but then donked off some chips at the end and left up 1 buyin. i actually made the high hand of the night with Aces full of Queens with AQ in my hand. thankfully the chick made a straight on the river and check-raised me all in. they never learn with a paired board.
the one thing that was completely different than anywhere i've ever played was the "insurance" factor. if 2 players are all in, the person who is ahead can lock up part of the pot by giving the house insurance, which is calculated based on the number of outs the trailing player has. the trailing player can then take the insurance and forego the pot, or let it play out. if the player who was behind in the hand draws out, the house has to pay him. i was still trying to figure out all the details as it was kind of confusing to figure if i should take insurance when i got a player in with JJ vs. my KK. i took it on the turn as he picked up a straight draw in addition to his J outs. as it turns out, i gave up $100 for taking insurance, but locked up 80% of the pot. ehhh.
i had fun and ate a great steak dinner for free. and with the added excitement of a possible raid, how can you go wrong??
i needed that night after a brutal last 2 days trying to get to houston from san diego, and then trying to find my luggage. i'll leave that story for next time...
i won a few nice pots, but then donked off some chips at the end and left up 1 buyin. i actually made the high hand of the night with Aces full of Queens with AQ in my hand. thankfully the chick made a straight on the river and check-raised me all in. they never learn with a paired board.
the one thing that was completely different than anywhere i've ever played was the "insurance" factor. if 2 players are all in, the person who is ahead can lock up part of the pot by giving the house insurance, which is calculated based on the number of outs the trailing player has. the trailing player can then take the insurance and forego the pot, or let it play out. if the player who was behind in the hand draws out, the house has to pay him. i was still trying to figure out all the details as it was kind of confusing to figure if i should take insurance when i got a player in with JJ vs. my KK. i took it on the turn as he picked up a straight draw in addition to his J outs. as it turns out, i gave up $100 for taking insurance, but locked up 80% of the pot. ehhh.
i had fun and ate a great steak dinner for free. and with the added excitement of a possible raid, how can you go wrong??
i needed that night after a brutal last 2 days trying to get to houston from san diego, and then trying to find my luggage. i'll leave that story for next time...
outdraws were due
ended up with a nice session on friday night winning over 2 buyins, but it was a rollercoaster. early in the session i checked my option in the big blind with 8-2, a veritable powerhouse i normally would have three bet preflop. i flopped top pair and checkraised the two other players in the hand. they both called. keep in mind it was a limped pot. i made a nice bet on the turn, which was a 9, and they both called again! i guess my pair of 8s wasn't the best hand. the river was a 2, giving me 2 pair, not a likely card to have helped my opponents. the pot was pretty decent and i was happy to show down 2 pair. i checked, and the middle position player bet $100, which was a relatively significant bet for the pot. the other player folded, but i was new to the table and didn't know how to interpret the bet. i hadn't played with this guy and i seriously considered folding. i ended up calling as there were no straights or flushes, and he confidently showed down pocket JJ. my 2 pair took down a pot worth more than an entire buy in! it was his own fault -- he didn't raise preflop with JJ!?!?
i later double barrel bluffed with Jd9d from the big blind after three betting preflop. the guy called significant bets on the flop and the turn, but then when i luckily made a king high straight on the river and pushed all in, he folded. if i had shown down that hand, which was a pure bluff up until the river, it would have destroyed any kind of tight image i had fostered and i could have gotten paid whenever i did actually have a hand !! but sadly he didn't call. it was still a nice pot, granted one in which i got lucky.
that same guy in seat 9 turned out to be my nemesis. i thought he was a typical tight aggressive player, but he switched it up on me and called my preflop raise with 2s4s from the small blind when i held JJ. with four cards to a straight on board, his 4 made the worst possible straight on the turn. i pot controlled with a check behind. i had to call his little value bet on the river and was kind of surprised that he played 2-4 for a raise.
2 more hands against that same guy: 1) i held 4-5 and called the blind in middle position. i flopped an open end straight draw with a 2-3-K flop and turned the nuts with a 6. seat 9 and i got it all in on the turn after he pushed over my raise. i (obviously) called instantly with the stone nuts. the K on the river put me in 2nd place when he showed down pocket 6s for the boat. ouch. 2) soon thereafter i made a nice re-raise in the blind with KK and seat 9 called me again. the flop was Q high and i bet close to the pot -- he called !! i thought he must have a nice pair like JJ, or that he was slowplaying QQ waiting for me to fire big on the turn before dropping the hammer. i checked the A on the turn and he checked behind. i checked the river and he showed down AK. brutal 3 outer on the turn vs my dominating hand. i couldn't beat that damn guy!
our table broke and we moved over to a new one. i hung around for a while without many hands. i raised in late position with 4-5 and flopped 2 pair........but the flop was 4-5-6. a good, but not fantastic flop for my hand. the first player checked, the 2nd bet, and i made a good raise, happy to take it down right now. the early position player cold called 2 bets. that's not really what i was looking for, i was hoping to isolate, or just to win the pot. they both checked the brick turn to the raiser, me. my stack was just about the size of the pot now, and i didn't fancy giving it up. i could be drawing very slim vs. 7-8 or 2-3, (7-3 wasn't a likely hand for these players). i was hoping they were both on pair/straight draw hands and i pushed all in. the early position player called instantly -- whoooooooops! the other guy folded and i knew i was all but dead. i made a bad read and put my money in on a dangerous board. he of course showed 7-8 for the nuts. i then made one of my biggest recent suckouts with a 4 on the river. wow. i felt bad as i stacked the mountain of chips (hahahaha!).
i stuck around for a while and won most of the small pots i entered. it was a fun night, but that was the end of the suckouts.
i later double barrel bluffed with Jd9d from the big blind after three betting preflop. the guy called significant bets on the flop and the turn, but then when i luckily made a king high straight on the river and pushed all in, he folded. if i had shown down that hand, which was a pure bluff up until the river, it would have destroyed any kind of tight image i had fostered and i could have gotten paid whenever i did actually have a hand !! but sadly he didn't call. it was still a nice pot, granted one in which i got lucky.
that same guy in seat 9 turned out to be my nemesis. i thought he was a typical tight aggressive player, but he switched it up on me and called my preflop raise with 2s4s from the small blind when i held JJ. with four cards to a straight on board, his 4 made the worst possible straight on the turn. i pot controlled with a check behind. i had to call his little value bet on the river and was kind of surprised that he played 2-4 for a raise.
2 more hands against that same guy: 1) i held 4-5 and called the blind in middle position. i flopped an open end straight draw with a 2-3-K flop and turned the nuts with a 6. seat 9 and i got it all in on the turn after he pushed over my raise. i (obviously) called instantly with the stone nuts. the K on the river put me in 2nd place when he showed down pocket 6s for the boat. ouch. 2) soon thereafter i made a nice re-raise in the blind with KK and seat 9 called me again. the flop was Q high and i bet close to the pot -- he called !! i thought he must have a nice pair like JJ, or that he was slowplaying QQ waiting for me to fire big on the turn before dropping the hammer. i checked the A on the turn and he checked behind. i checked the river and he showed down AK. brutal 3 outer on the turn vs my dominating hand. i couldn't beat that damn guy!
our table broke and we moved over to a new one. i hung around for a while without many hands. i raised in late position with 4-5 and flopped 2 pair........but the flop was 4-5-6. a good, but not fantastic flop for my hand. the first player checked, the 2nd bet, and i made a good raise, happy to take it down right now. the early position player cold called 2 bets. that's not really what i was looking for, i was hoping to isolate, or just to win the pot. they both checked the brick turn to the raiser, me. my stack was just about the size of the pot now, and i didn't fancy giving it up. i could be drawing very slim vs. 7-8 or 2-3, (7-3 wasn't a likely hand for these players). i was hoping they were both on pair/straight draw hands and i pushed all in. the early position player called instantly -- whoooooooops! the other guy folded and i knew i was all but dead. i made a bad read and put my money in on a dangerous board. he of course showed 7-8 for the nuts. i then made one of my biggest recent suckouts with a 4 on the river. wow. i felt bad as i stacked the mountain of chips (hahahaha!).
i stuck around for a while and won most of the small pots i entered. it was a fun night, but that was the end of the suckouts.
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