12 hours and dead even. It could have been worse. I could have lost money. Tried to catch the last of the drunkards on Friday night, but didn’t find any at my first table. Early on I doubled up a guy who flopped trip 5s versus my pocket 10s. then I lost a $500 pot with the 2nd nuts to da noootz. I made a king high flush and of course he had the acey deucey of diamonds. I am certainly not good enough to lay down the 2nd nut flush on an unpaired board with just 3 board flush cards. I guess I’ll have to continue paying that hand off.
I finally started making some hands and made it back to even about 6am. Even wasn’t good enough though – what was the point of leaving even? I figured out that leaving even meant I could have gotten some sleep. Our table broke and I got a seat at a table with 6 ladies who were there from oklahoma for the women’s tournament. It was a bad omen to flop 2 pair with 10-9 and win my first hand there. I proceeded to miss about a bazillion (or maybe it was a gazillion, I can’t quite remember) flops in a row, and get check raised when I continuation bet with AK high. I don’t think I flopped a set all session.
There was a terrible player who was sitting 2 seats to my left. He had mentioned that he was down close to $3k. I raised in late position with J-10 and he called, which didn’t mean much, cuz he played about 70% of hands. The flop was J-9-2, which looked pretty good to me. He lead out and I raised him big, being pretty sure I was ahead. Whoops, he insta-pushed for over $300 more and I had to lay it down. He showed 9-2 as he folded. And he wondered how he could be losing money.
I did, however, make 1 nice hand. I was getting a little frisky at about noon and re-raised a middle position raiser to $25 on the button with AhJh. He called. This player was pretty tight / weak, and I hadn’t seen him play big pots except when he flopped a straight flush with Qh10h. The flop was K high with 2 hearts and he check raised my $40 bet to $100. Ok, so he’s got KQ or AK. I thought about re-raising him all in, but my hand had a lot of potential and I didn’t necessarily want to lose him. I had the nut flush draw and a back door nut straight draw with an overcard. So I called the check raise on the flop. The turn was a Jack, so I picked up a pair to go with my nut flush draw. He checked to me on the turn (see, I told you – he was weak tight). I thought about moving all in with at least 11 clean outs plus some fold equity. In retrospect, I think I should have shoved here, I’m not sure he would have been able to call with 1 pair, albeit top pair. I checked the behind on the turn. The river was the lovely 9h. he checked to me again. I value bet $125 on the river and he called pretty quickly with AK.
The last hand I played I raised in late position with Qc9c. I think 4 people called the raise. The flop was all low cards with two diamonds and an early position player lead out for $15 into a pot of $75. This was almost always either a weak made hand or a draw and I didn’t think he could stand much heat. I raised to $55, he called. Heads up to the turn. The turn was a brick and he checked, I bet $105 and he thoughtfully folded. Think long, think wrong, right? He showed QdJd for a flush draw. Of course he asked what I had and of course I had an over pair. It was either that or show the bluff. I didn’t need to generate any action though as I was planning on leaving soon. That pot put me almost back to dead even for an eventful but non-winning / non-losing session.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
1/2 NL fun
played the other night at winstar casino (http://www.winstarcasinos.com) just across the texas border into oklahoma. i should move there. [or not]
despite being in the middle of nothing (kinda like state line in nevada), they have a really nice poker room. they were spreading all kinds of games too, including PLO, omaha hi/lo, and no limit holdem games up to 5/10 NL. there were at least 2 maybe three tables of the "big game" going on and this was a wednesday night.
i didn't really bring much of a roll with me this trip, so i decided to play 1/2 NL. right away it was evident that these blumpkins were not serious poker players. most hands would see several people limping in or mini-raises to like $7. when i had something i would 3 bet preflop, or out of position i would call small raises with almost any two. the first hand i won was 8c4c when i picked up straight and flush draws on the turn, hit my straight and got paid by 1 pair.
i did help my image early on when i raised in early position with AA and flopped top set. i bet out into 4 other players and got 1 caller. really the only draw was a flush draw, which missed on the turn, so i went all in for about a pot sized bet thinking i would take down the pot. he called with KK!! wow, i guess he could beat a bluff or a missed flush draw, but i think he just saw his cards and they looked so nice, that he had to call. so i got to show my top set having played the hand fast and aggressively.
i almost got paid again when i flopped top 2 pair in the big blind with 10-6. i would have probably dumped the hand if someone had raised, but pocket 8s in late-ish position failed to raise preflop. he almost called my check raise all in! i showed the table my 2 pair letting them know i "always" had the goods. this gave me license to steal with any pair / any draw.
later after showing down some winners, i took down a pot with 7h4h. i called a raise to $10 in position with 5 players to the flop, which was 2c3h5h. [the other thing they all liked to do was make massive underbets.] the guy who bet the flop, bet $10 into a pot of over $50. i raised to $30 and everyone folded. i showed them my 7 high.
i can't even remember how many times i raised with middle pair or a straight draw and took down the pot. after about 5 hours of them giving me money, the crowning hand of the evening took place. the pot was unraised to me in the big blind with 99. i made a nice raise. i got 2 callers. the flop was A high, so i checked, middle position bet, the other guy folded, and i raised. he called. whoops. i didn't put him on an ace as he didn't raise preflop, and definitely not a strong ace. i thought he was probably a good enough player to lay down a bad ace, but most of the rest of the table would definitely call off their stack with top pair no kicker. i wasn't quite sure how i was going to proceed in the hand before the 9d hit the turn. i checked, hoping he would take a big stab at it. he didn't.....so i made nice value bet on the river (which did happen to complete a flush draw), and he raised! i just didn't believe him. i called and he tabled pocket 6s. i guess he was planning on stealing the pot the whole hand and figured i would be able to laydown a one pair hand. too bad so sad, i had better than 1 pair and plus i had him beat anyway.
i logged close to a +5 buyin session which was some of the easiest money ever with virtually no difficult decisions. thanks oklahoma, you're OK!
[am i seriously spewing out dad humor already.....? i'm not even pregnant.]
despite being in the middle of nothing (kinda like state line in nevada), they have a really nice poker room. they were spreading all kinds of games too, including PLO, omaha hi/lo, and no limit holdem games up to 5/10 NL. there were at least 2 maybe three tables of the "big game" going on and this was a wednesday night.
i didn't really bring much of a roll with me this trip, so i decided to play 1/2 NL. right away it was evident that these blumpkins were not serious poker players. most hands would see several people limping in or mini-raises to like $7. when i had something i would 3 bet preflop, or out of position i would call small raises with almost any two. the first hand i won was 8c4c when i picked up straight and flush draws on the turn, hit my straight and got paid by 1 pair.
i did help my image early on when i raised in early position with AA and flopped top set. i bet out into 4 other players and got 1 caller. really the only draw was a flush draw, which missed on the turn, so i went all in for about a pot sized bet thinking i would take down the pot. he called with KK!! wow, i guess he could beat a bluff or a missed flush draw, but i think he just saw his cards and they looked so nice, that he had to call. so i got to show my top set having played the hand fast and aggressively.
i almost got paid again when i flopped top 2 pair in the big blind with 10-6. i would have probably dumped the hand if someone had raised, but pocket 8s in late-ish position failed to raise preflop. he almost called my check raise all in! i showed the table my 2 pair letting them know i "always" had the goods. this gave me license to steal with any pair / any draw.
later after showing down some winners, i took down a pot with 7h4h. i called a raise to $10 in position with 5 players to the flop, which was 2c3h5h. [the other thing they all liked to do was make massive underbets.] the guy who bet the flop, bet $10 into a pot of over $50. i raised to $30 and everyone folded. i showed them my 7 high.
i can't even remember how many times i raised with middle pair or a straight draw and took down the pot. after about 5 hours of them giving me money, the crowning hand of the evening took place. the pot was unraised to me in the big blind with 99. i made a nice raise. i got 2 callers. the flop was A high, so i checked, middle position bet, the other guy folded, and i raised. he called. whoops. i didn't put him on an ace as he didn't raise preflop, and definitely not a strong ace. i thought he was probably a good enough player to lay down a bad ace, but most of the rest of the table would definitely call off their stack with top pair no kicker. i wasn't quite sure how i was going to proceed in the hand before the 9d hit the turn. i checked, hoping he would take a big stab at it. he didn't.....so i made nice value bet on the river (which did happen to complete a flush draw), and he raised! i just didn't believe him. i called and he tabled pocket 6s. i guess he was planning on stealing the pot the whole hand and figured i would be able to laydown a one pair hand. too bad so sad, i had better than 1 pair and plus i had him beat anyway.
i logged close to a +5 buyin session which was some of the easiest money ever with virtually no difficult decisions. thanks oklahoma, you're OK!
[am i seriously spewing out dad humor already.....? i'm not even pregnant.]
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
not to leave you hanging
in reference to the 9/20 posting below, i said i'd report what the kid held when i called his all in on the turn.
if you remember, i had 10-7, and the flop was 10-7-4. i check-raised on the flop and then lead out on the turn, when he raised all in over my bet. i called thinking he had an overpair and he had A-10 for top pair top kicker. my 2 pair held for the nice $1050 pot.
--------------
the other thing i didn't yet post was the brutal beginning to my week in texas a couple of weeks ago. i was flying to houston via dallas for a training seminar that began on monday morning. so, naturally, i left san diego on sunday. we were held up leaving due to weather in dallas and then when we finally got there, we sat on the tarmac for 25 minutes or so. they had announced that since the arrivals had been delayed into dallas, the connecting flights were also going to depart later than scheduled. i mosied (i didn't quite run, but i walked fast -- not the gay speed walking you see on the olympics, but a nice paced walk) over to my gate to fly to houston. the last passenger was just getting on and i was relieved i had made it just in time. "i'm sorry sir, we gave your seat away to a standby passenger 10 minutes ago."
wow - that sucked. we had been sitting on the tarmac for 25 minutes and i would have had plenty of time to get there. it was the same damn airline that i was connecting to (thanks american airlines -- you were not pocket Aces that day), you'd think they knew that we had landed and were waiting for a gate. maybe they could hold the very last plane of the night for the 6-8 of us that were connecting from the san diego flight. i guess not though.
i was sans luggage in a t-shirt and shorts in stormy dallas. thankfully, they hooked me up with a crappy ass hotel room for the night where i could get 5 hours of sleep and get back to the airport for a 6:20am flight. but the american flights were all full, so i had to fly american eagle to shreveport and then connect to a continental airlines flight to houston. that all went okay, except for the hotel airport shuttle almost causing me to miss the flight from dallas.
oh, but the real kicker was that continental only flies to houston intercontinental airport (Bush), not hobby, as i was originally scheduled. so i arrive in houston to no luggage. american says they can't track it cuz my final carrier into houston was continental. continental says the luggage is not in their system, so they have no way to track it. i spend the next 2 hours at the continental counter with up to 3 people trying to figure out what to do and how to find my luggage. in the end, we fill out a lost baggage claim form, and i just leave the airport, not knowing if i'll ever get it.
i rush over to the training seminar and get there about 12:30pm, not having really eaten anything yet, and in my shorts and t shirt from the previous day. i'm hoping they hadn't taken a lunch break yet, but of course they had, so i starve for an hour or two until the next break when i run to get something to eat.
when i get to the hotel that evening, i find that continental airlines had delivered my luggage that afternoon. it had flown to hobby airport based on my initial itinerary, of course.
anyway, it was a pretty "bad beat" to start my long week in texas.
[wow - those poker jokes are really really bad.....]
if you remember, i had 10-7, and the flop was 10-7-4. i check-raised on the flop and then lead out on the turn, when he raised all in over my bet. i called thinking he had an overpair and he had A-10 for top pair top kicker. my 2 pair held for the nice $1050 pot.
--------------
the other thing i didn't yet post was the brutal beginning to my week in texas a couple of weeks ago. i was flying to houston via dallas for a training seminar that began on monday morning. so, naturally, i left san diego on sunday. we were held up leaving due to weather in dallas and then when we finally got there, we sat on the tarmac for 25 minutes or so. they had announced that since the arrivals had been delayed into dallas, the connecting flights were also going to depart later than scheduled. i mosied (i didn't quite run, but i walked fast -- not the gay speed walking you see on the olympics, but a nice paced walk) over to my gate to fly to houston. the last passenger was just getting on and i was relieved i had made it just in time. "i'm sorry sir, we gave your seat away to a standby passenger 10 minutes ago."
wow - that sucked. we had been sitting on the tarmac for 25 minutes and i would have had plenty of time to get there. it was the same damn airline that i was connecting to (thanks american airlines -- you were not pocket Aces that day), you'd think they knew that we had landed and were waiting for a gate. maybe they could hold the very last plane of the night for the 6-8 of us that were connecting from the san diego flight. i guess not though.
i was sans luggage in a t-shirt and shorts in stormy dallas. thankfully, they hooked me up with a crappy ass hotel room for the night where i could get 5 hours of sleep and get back to the airport for a 6:20am flight. but the american flights were all full, so i had to fly american eagle to shreveport and then connect to a continental airlines flight to houston. that all went okay, except for the hotel airport shuttle almost causing me to miss the flight from dallas.
oh, but the real kicker was that continental only flies to houston intercontinental airport (Bush), not hobby, as i was originally scheduled. so i arrive in houston to no luggage. american says they can't track it cuz my final carrier into houston was continental. continental says the luggage is not in their system, so they have no way to track it. i spend the next 2 hours at the continental counter with up to 3 people trying to figure out what to do and how to find my luggage. in the end, we fill out a lost baggage claim form, and i just leave the airport, not knowing if i'll ever get it.
i rush over to the training seminar and get there about 12:30pm, not having really eaten anything yet, and in my shorts and t shirt from the previous day. i'm hoping they hadn't taken a lunch break yet, but of course they had, so i starve for an hour or two until the next break when i run to get something to eat.
when i get to the hotel that evening, i find that continental airlines had delivered my luggage that afternoon. it had flown to hobby airport based on my initial itinerary, of course.
anyway, it was a pretty "bad beat" to start my long week in texas.
[wow - those poker jokes are really really bad.....]
Monday, September 24, 2007
WSOP videos
i found some you tube videos from the espn broadcasts that show me in the wsop. these are clips from the third episode in the main event series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Vcg5wHM1U
part 3, 2:57
(shows my arm sitting next to varkonyi on his right)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bBczPe3zro
part 6, 1:11
(shows the back of my head, next to varkonyi in the red shirt and my brother on the rail with the camera)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axh1AXI-NT4
part 7, 1:06
(best view.....congratulating varkonyi on his double up)
i'm going to try to somehow download these videos and post them, but you tube has some weird encoding.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Vcg5wHM1U
part 3, 2:57
(shows my arm sitting next to varkonyi on his right)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bBczPe3zro
part 6, 1:11
(shows the back of my head, next to varkonyi in the red shirt and my brother on the rail with the camera)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axh1AXI-NT4
part 7, 1:06
(best view.....congratulating varkonyi on his double up)
i'm going to try to somehow download these videos and post them, but you tube has some weird encoding.....
i knew it was a matter of time
what a blow up last night. first i donkey my way out of the syndicate tournament (lost 2 big pots with big pocket pairs, then lost flush over flush), then i get unbelievably cold decked for an entire session at oceans 11. i had QQ and JJ about 7 times in the session and didn't win one of the hands. i did win a medium size pot with KK, but that was several buy ins in.
it seemed like every time i had one of those premium pairs, i was in the blinds and had 6 people already in the pot. i made the mistake of not re-raising enough out of position. that won't be happening again.
i think three or four times i had QQ or JJ the board came paired. i made bad decisions twice to not call an all in raise in one hand when i'm pretty sure i was ahead (the guy turned out to be an absolute tard-a-thon in a box), and then pay off a relatively passive player when he raised all in on my turn bet after we checked it around on the flop. of course he had A-8 offsuit under the gun, called my preflop re-raise........and then flopped trip 8s, obviously. the donkariffic guy claimed he had K-10 on a 2-7-7-10 board after calling a pot sized bet on the flop with no pair and no draw. i doubted he could be that bad at poker, but after watching and listening to his thought process on some later hands, i do believe he called me with no pair / no draw on the flop, then when i bet the pot again on the turn, he thought his K-10 was good, raised me all in and i laid down JJ.
oh yeah, one other time i had QQ, a guy had KK and turned a set to leave me drawing dead. that was nice.
early on i attempted a bluff on the definition of a calling station. of course, i had never played with the guy and gave him credit enough to be able to lay down 3rd pair with a J kicker. my mistake. damn that AQ. i raised with it in late position, and i raised him on the flop, and bet the turn strong, and then pushed on the river. nice call with J-8, one pair. wow.
the only, and i mean the only, bright spot was flopping a boat with 99 to win a medium pot. the other player was all in preflop with AQ, but at least there was some dead money in the pot.
the highlight of the night was my final encounter with QQ. we were down to 6 handed and there was a raise under from under the gun to $16 and a call by the idiot luckbox in seat 4 (wow - terrible player and hit the shit out of every flop.....he would call almost every preflop raise and kept hitting. it was maddening). i raise to $55 with QQ. the small blind cold calls $55 as do the other 2. 4 to the flop. flop is 4-8-8. pretty good flop for me and i'm almost sure i have the best hand. KK or AA would have likely repopped it preflop. it checks to me, so i push for about $135. the small blind calls the others fold. i still might be good if he has a pair under mine like 10s or Js. then he says : "i have quads." and flips over pocket 8s. the turn is not a queen, so i muck and get the hell out of dodge. it was not my night.
i was reminded of the lesson to not chase a losing session like that. it's hard to not get more and more frustrated and end up playing worse and worse. i tried to bet my hands when i had them, but continued and continued to get outflopped.
looking forward to a bit of time off this week.....i've still had great cumulative results over the past 2 months, so i just need to shake it off.
it seemed like every time i had one of those premium pairs, i was in the blinds and had 6 people already in the pot. i made the mistake of not re-raising enough out of position. that won't be happening again.
i think three or four times i had QQ or JJ the board came paired. i made bad decisions twice to not call an all in raise in one hand when i'm pretty sure i was ahead (the guy turned out to be an absolute tard-a-thon in a box), and then pay off a relatively passive player when he raised all in on my turn bet after we checked it around on the flop. of course he had A-8 offsuit under the gun, called my preflop re-raise........and then flopped trip 8s, obviously. the donkariffic guy claimed he had K-10 on a 2-7-7-10 board after calling a pot sized bet on the flop with no pair and no draw. i doubted he could be that bad at poker, but after watching and listening to his thought process on some later hands, i do believe he called me with no pair / no draw on the flop, then when i bet the pot again on the turn, he thought his K-10 was good, raised me all in and i laid down JJ.
oh yeah, one other time i had QQ, a guy had KK and turned a set to leave me drawing dead. that was nice.
early on i attempted a bluff on the definition of a calling station. of course, i had never played with the guy and gave him credit enough to be able to lay down 3rd pair with a J kicker. my mistake. damn that AQ. i raised with it in late position, and i raised him on the flop, and bet the turn strong, and then pushed on the river. nice call with J-8, one pair. wow.
the only, and i mean the only, bright spot was flopping a boat with 99 to win a medium pot. the other player was all in preflop with AQ, but at least there was some dead money in the pot.
the highlight of the night was my final encounter with QQ. we were down to 6 handed and there was a raise under from under the gun to $16 and a call by the idiot luckbox in seat 4 (wow - terrible player and hit the shit out of every flop.....he would call almost every preflop raise and kept hitting. it was maddening). i raise to $55 with QQ. the small blind cold calls $55 as do the other 2. 4 to the flop. flop is 4-8-8. pretty good flop for me and i'm almost sure i have the best hand. KK or AA would have likely repopped it preflop. it checks to me, so i push for about $135. the small blind calls the others fold. i still might be good if he has a pair under mine like 10s or Js. then he says : "i have quads." and flips over pocket 8s. the turn is not a queen, so i muck and get the hell out of dodge. it was not my night.
i was reminded of the lesson to not chase a losing session like that. it's hard to not get more and more frustrated and end up playing worse and worse. i tried to bet my hands when i had them, but continued and continued to get outflopped.
looking forward to a bit of time off this week.....i've still had great cumulative results over the past 2 months, so i just need to shake it off.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
pulled out a winner
started stuck pretty quickly on saturday night at O11, but i loved my table. there were a couple of super loose bad players at the table, so i felt like it was just a matter of time. one of the guys played about 80% of the pots and raised preflop about every other hand. in one hand, he raised, got a couple of callers, and i called in the small blind with 88. i knew i could take it down preflop, but out of position, i didn't want to play a big pot with 88 if someone called. i checked the 9 high flop which checked around. the turn was a 4, but it put 3 hearts on board, i lead out with a decent bet. the crazy loose player min-raised me. i thought he probably had a flush draw or maybe had paired the 4. i called. whoops, there goes my strategery of not playing a big pot with 88 out of position. the river was a blank, and i checked, he bet $100, which gave me about 3:1. i called and he showed a queen high flush.
our 2/3 NL game broke and i ended up sitting at 5/5 for most of the night / morning. there was a mix of players with several tighties, and a couple of loose cannons, and some solid players. i picked up some medium pots with pocket KKs twice, but slowed down a bit from the 2/3 game and played a bit tighter.
i raised a couple of limpers to $20 on the button with 4c5c. there were 3 callers. the flop was 2c3cKd, giving me an open ended straight flush draw. when you raise on the button with a speculative hand like low suited connectors, i'm not sure what more you can ask for. an early position player led out for $25 into a pot of $80. i raised to $80. he called and we were heads up to the turn, which was the 10d. he checked, and i decided to continue my semi-bluff rather than check behind and give him control. i felt he would have a tough time calling with anything less than 2 pair as i had played the hand strong and fast the whole time. i bet $200. he called relatively quickly. as it turns out, i probably should have eyed his stack before making this bet. he had only about $150 left after making the call. i should have bet about $150 on the turn to leave him with $200 on the river, so that it would be easier for him to fold on the river. anyway, the river was another blank, the 8h. he checked to me. obviously the only way i can win the pot is to push him in. i had him covered so i quickly pushed my "All-In" pumpkin into the middle. he thought for a few seconds and laid down Kc6c. wow. dodged one there. i showed him my 5 high, which got an angry "Nice hand!" out of him. i guess he must have put me on AA, AK, or KQ, or a set to fold the hand.
a bit later, i re-raised butch (of O11 infamy) in the small blind with QQ to $100. both he and the button called. the flop was Q-10-10. ummmmmm......jakepot! i wanted my action to seem pained, so i waited it out and watched butch carefully before i checked. he checked and the button bet $200. i thought for a few and pushed it all in. butch folded instantly, and the button made a pretty easy fold too with AQ [sorry brett - i was looking for butch to follow up with a continuation bet]. he had about $400-500 left which was the size of the pot, but there is really no hand he could be ahead of, except if i was making a suicide move with JJ or AK. i showed my top boat to take down a nice pot. butch said he folded KJ, but i was surprised he wouldn't try to take down the pot with his open ended straight draw, even though he was drawing dead.
anyway, after being down early, i pulled out a decent win for the session with those two big pots. after checking out my spreadsheet i started on Aug 1, that makes 20 of 23 winners.
our 2/3 NL game broke and i ended up sitting at 5/5 for most of the night / morning. there was a mix of players with several tighties, and a couple of loose cannons, and some solid players. i picked up some medium pots with pocket KKs twice, but slowed down a bit from the 2/3 game and played a bit tighter.
i raised a couple of limpers to $20 on the button with 4c5c. there were 3 callers. the flop was 2c3cKd, giving me an open ended straight flush draw. when you raise on the button with a speculative hand like low suited connectors, i'm not sure what more you can ask for. an early position player led out for $25 into a pot of $80. i raised to $80. he called and we were heads up to the turn, which was the 10d. he checked, and i decided to continue my semi-bluff rather than check behind and give him control. i felt he would have a tough time calling with anything less than 2 pair as i had played the hand strong and fast the whole time. i bet $200. he called relatively quickly. as it turns out, i probably should have eyed his stack before making this bet. he had only about $150 left after making the call. i should have bet about $150 on the turn to leave him with $200 on the river, so that it would be easier for him to fold on the river. anyway, the river was another blank, the 8h. he checked to me. obviously the only way i can win the pot is to push him in. i had him covered so i quickly pushed my "All-In" pumpkin into the middle. he thought for a few seconds and laid down Kc6c. wow. dodged one there. i showed him my 5 high, which got an angry "Nice hand!" out of him. i guess he must have put me on AA, AK, or KQ, or a set to fold the hand.
a bit later, i re-raised butch (of O11 infamy) in the small blind with QQ to $100. both he and the button called. the flop was Q-10-10. ummmmmm......jakepot! i wanted my action to seem pained, so i waited it out and watched butch carefully before i checked. he checked and the button bet $200. i thought for a few and pushed it all in. butch folded instantly, and the button made a pretty easy fold too with AQ [sorry brett - i was looking for butch to follow up with a continuation bet]. he had about $400-500 left which was the size of the pot, but there is really no hand he could be ahead of, except if i was making a suicide move with JJ or AK. i showed my top boat to take down a nice pot. butch said he folded KJ, but i was surprised he wouldn't try to take down the pot with his open ended straight draw, even though he was drawing dead.
anyway, after being down early, i pulled out a decent win for the session with those two big pots. after checking out my spreadsheet i started on Aug 1, that makes 20 of 23 winners.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
yes, i'm still alive....
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.
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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