pechanga

played the $235 at pechanga last night. doubled early with AA vs. AK (he went all in on the turn with no pair and no draw!!). then a couple of coolers knocked me down to a short stack.

i called the big blind in an unopened pot with 9s6s on the button. flop was 9c6c4d. the blinds checked to me so i bet 3/4 pot. the small blind called. the turn was a 3. he checked, so i bet 3/4 pot. he check raised 500 more chips. i could / should have dumped it right there -- this was an older gentleman that would not check raise with 1 pair. i called. on the river, he led out for 1000 chips. i really didn't want to call, but i did with top 2 pair. i said, "You have 2-5 or 5-7, don't you?" and then i called like an idiot. he showed 5-7 for the straight.

about 5 minutes later i raised one limper in the cutoff with As9s. she called. flop was Ad9h4d. i kinda liked that flop. she bet 500 chips, i raised to 1200. she called. ok, she has something. i thought she probably had something in the range of AJ or A10. i didn't think she'd limp in early position with AQ or AK, but i'm hoping that's exactly what she has. and i put her on being a very straightforward player not likely to lead out with a diamond draw. the turn brought the 5d, putting three diamonds on board. she lead out for 1000. i called. she only had 1000 chips left. the river was a blank and she checked, i could put her in for 1000, but i would have only had 2100 left if i did, so i checked behind on the river. the people at the table couldn't believe i checked behind when i showed down A9 for top 2 pair. she of course had pocket 9s for a flopped set. i can't believe she didn't shove on the river.

i hung around somehow now a short stack after a couple of brutal hands. i later came over the top of a limper and a raiser finally picking up AsKs. the guy who raised said "you're way ahead, but i call." he showed 8c9c. no help on the flop to either of us, but it came runner runner clubs to knock me out. that guy was putting almost his whole tourney on 8c9c as he only had 1000 chips left after calling my all in. that's poker!

almost immediately i got a seat in a single table satellite for today's $1080 tourney. $110 buy in. i hung around and picked up some chips when i bluffed a guy in a blind vs blind hand. i held 3h4h and hit absolutely nothing on the board. i bet enough to put him all in on the river and he dumped it. with 4 players left, i raised on the button with KhJh. a very aggressive player and the chip leader re-raised all in from the big blind. i called instantly. he held Jd9d. i flopped a K to double up. a few hands later that same aggro player open shoved. we were close to even in chips. i held A-10 offsuit. i thought about it and folded face up. he couldn't believe i folded the hand! he held AA and had been trying to get me to call with his table talk. i smelled something there and it was good instincts to fold it. i ended up heads up with a tight player and about a 2:1 chip lead. we played for about 10 minutes with no real change in chip stacks. we agreed to chop with me getting the seat and i gave him $300 cash. i also won the last longer bet that three of us did. we each put in $20 at the beginning and the last man standing got the $60.

i am looking forward to playing some good poker later today in the $1000. the guarantee is $300,000, so i'm guessing first prize is in the neighborhood of $85,000. strippers and blow are on me if i win!

bro fives!

so i walk into oceans 11 last night, put my name on the 2/3 NL list, and walk into the back room to see if i can play 2/2 NL while waiting. i immediately run into a buddy and we get seats at the same 2/2 table within about 2 minutes.

we pretty much owned it from the word go. there was some good action at this table, and by "good" i mean "bad". as in terrible players! within about an hour we were both up over 3 buy ins. they couldn't help themselves from bluffing off buy in after buy in. we were loving it and having a great time taunting these kids. i was playing any two cards against a couple of specific players and i did hit some nice flops. it was obvious that the $100 buy in was a lot of money for some of them, so putting out a $35 bet made them really nervous. i check-raised at will and took down some nice pots with the 2nd best hand.

i remember one hand that i called a UTG raiser in the small blind with 10-4 (the nuts!), flopped 2 pair, and turned a boat. sadly, in a 5 way pot, nobody took a stab at it.

i also won a nice pot with 2-6, flopping trips on a 229 flop. i check raised the flop and got 2 callers. i checked the turn, which was the worst card possible: 9. i had to make a tough call though when Bluffy McLiarpants bet the river. i tanked and called with the under boat and he immediately mucked his cards before i showed. yea for busted flush draws!

i was in the BB and called a raise with several other players in the hand. i had not yet seen my hole cards, so i checked the flop to the raiser. he bet. i peeked down at QQ. i raised him and he folded. i showed my Qs and he claimed to have QQ also, but there's no way. based on how he was playing, mr. mcliarpants would have been all in over the top of me with queens.

i think being able to detach from the meaning of the money really helped me play well. i was making pretty loose preflop calls and simply outplaying them after the flop. [thanks felix]. if i missed, i could get away cheap, but if a hit, at least 1 or 2 people usually paid me off.

i ended up almost 6 buyins (just wish that was at 5/5) after a really fun night.

So you think you can.....raise?

up almost 1 buy in last night and i'm disappointed with that? with how hot i've been running, up 3/4 of a buy in seems like a let down. i was up 1.5 buyins earlier in the night last night, but slid down a bit before i left.

i caught several premium pairs early on and won medium sized pots with most of them. i check raised a small stack with QQ on a 10 high flop and he shoved. i felted. he must have had A-10.

no enormous pots to speak of really. i called a raise on the button with 10hJh. the flop was J high and the BB lead out, the PrF raiser called and i made a nice raise. they both folded. i thought there was a good chance i was ahead, and if not, i thought the BB would laydown J-10 and maybe even QJ. the preflop raiser said he just had AQ high. and i think the BB had an under pocket pair like 9s.

in one decent pot i lost before leaving, i called a raise in middle position with 8s9s. the flop was 8 high and i bet when checked to. i got 3 callers! (?) a nice pot was building here. there was a flush draw and a straight draw, so i could easily put the others on draws and/or overcards. the turn was an 8 giving me trips with a 9 kicker. it checked to me, so i thought i'd take it down with a $100 bet. the short stack tanked and then called all in for $55 and 1 other player thought before folding his flush draw. the short stack held Jc8c for a better trips [he was trying to get the flush draw to call by acting weak]. oh well. kind of a cooler in that i thought i hit my money card. i didn't really want to make 2 pair either, cuz that would have put a straight possibility out there.

anyway, i still logged a winning session (i think that makes it 7 out of 8), but more importantly i think i played relatively well. i played aggressively -- i didn't just call when i could raise, and i made a couple of good laydowns. those saved losing calls definitely add up.

i will try to play one of the pechanga tournaments, possibly friday, and hope to qualify for saturday's $1000 tourney. also looking forward to syndicate event #3 on sunday.

Broadway?? [you're kidding.....]

Another good session on Friday night - Saturday morning at Oceans 11. I have really been running hot / not getting (too) unlucky the last few weeks. I like poker.

hands of note in the session:

i got a guy all in preflop with AA vs 10-10. he caught a 10 on the river. thankfully he only had about $120 behind to start the hand.

i called a raise in the small blind with Ac9c. flop was 5c7c9d. i check-raised all in vs. the UTG raiser. he called with pocket 10s. i won the coin flip making the nut flush on the turn. i felt a bit bad for the guy as i had his number all night. i later busted him again with 9h10h. i raised on the button with a couple limpers in the pot. i got 2 callers including the big blind. the flop was 6d-5h-8d giving me a gutshot draw to the nuts, 2 over cards, and a backdoor flush draw. it checked to me, so i continuation bet. the big blind called. the turn was the 7c, giving me the stone nuts. the BB checked to me again, so i value bet, hoping he made 2 pair. he raised! his bet left him only about $100 behind. i re-raised him all in. he called instantly with 9d5d, a straight and a gut shot straight flush draw. the river bricked out and i felted him for the second time with a 10 high straight vs. a 9 high straight. again someone raising me when i have the nuts. i think i like this trend.

for a stretch in the early morning, the table was fast and loose. there were some huge pots. a really terrible player came in about 6am. it became evident that he didn't know what was going on. he asked what a straddle meant and continued to flip over his cards when he didn't have anything or at least couldn't win at showdown. pretty much the definition of dead money. i was going to leave around that time, but couldn't pass up this opportunity.

i raised in late position with KQ and got a couple of callers. the flop was Q high with 2 clubs, so i bet. the donkey called. the turn was a K giving me top 2 pair. he check-called my pot size bet. i knew he was either on a flush draw or had a weak Q so i knew he was getting his money in with the worst of it by calling a near pot-sized bet on the turn. the river was the Jh. no flush possibility. he thought for a second and moved all in for $250. wow, this really surprised me. i thought he was just trying to steal the pot. i thought maybe he didn't know to raise the turn if he'd made a set. but with the range that i'd seen him show down, he might think QJ or AK was good. the final board read: 2-3-Q-K-J. obviously 9-10 or A-10 had made a straight, but what could he call with on the flop?? i had over $1000 behind, so i could make the call, but i really tried to get in his head to figure if i had the best hand. i failed though and made the all in call. he showed down A-10 for the nut BROADWAY straight (???). bad beat. he obviously couldn't wait to get rid of his chips.

soon thereafter i picked up AA and made my standard raise to $16 in early position. a middle position player re-raised me to $40. the donkey called $40 from the blinds. i re-popped to $110. they both called! flop was Q high and i moved all in after the donkey checked. the re-raiser called and donkey folded. my Aces held up over his JJ for a nice pot. i'd really like to know what some people are thinking when they call a 3 bet preflop with JJ. what hands are you ahead of there? i guess that's what keeps us coming back.

i called a raise with Ac10c and flopped 2 clubs in a 3 way pot, one of whom was the donkey. they both checked, so i bet. the initial raiser folded, the donkey called. i picked up a straight draw on the turn, but still had A high. we both checked the turn. i made a pair of 10s on the river with a 9-J-5-Q-10. he moved in ahead of me. i folded.

the last significant hand i played, i raised a couple of limpers on the button with A-10 (again??). 3 players to the flop of: 6c7cAh. giving me top pair with a decent but not great kicker. the early player checked, middle position bet, i called, and the other player folded. the turn was another A. he leads out for $100. i had already decided i thought i had him beat as he didn't raise from middle position. i thought he would have raised preflop with AJ or better and i thought there was a good chance he would laydown a weak Ace, possibly up to AJ if i raised on the turn. i raised his turn bet to $250. he called instantly with about another $220 behind. i was done betting. he had to have a set here, filling up on the turn, and setting me up to move in on the river. the river was the 4h. he checked!!! yea! i'm happy to show down three aces here without having to call his all in bet. he showed 8c9c for 9 high and my three aces took it down. i felt pretty lucky to survive his open end straight flush draw for a big pot. we were a coin flip on the flop. he muttered that he would have called all in on the turn when i was a 3:1 favorite. i didn't really want to play that big of a pot with A-10, and trips are so vulnerable; i definitely felt i dodged one.

in hindsight, i played the hand correctly, but for the wrong reasons. i put him on the wrong hand (a marginal ace) that i thought i could make him lay down by raising on the turn. when he called the raise, i again made a bad read and put him on a set. but in reality he was betting his monster draw and i made him pay for it on the turn, which is correct. if the cards were face up, i think i would have played it the same way. side bar: if not for the 10c i held in my hand, there was a potential bad beat jackpot on this hand. if i instead held the 10d and the 10c came up on the river, he wins the hand with a straight flush and i lose with aces full of tens. i would have loved to lose the hand that way.

that pretty much ended another great session and a fantastic couple of weeks. bed time for bonzo.

Bay 101 is my friend !

so i got a fantastic session in at Bay 101 in San Jose last night. but first....a couple of weird things they do there.

they have an enormous building with lots of empty space and 20 people or more waiting on every poker game being spread. the board is a white board and pen (even oceans 11 has a projection system for the board in both rooms for cripesaxe). they claim to have food service available for poker players, but there was about 1 service person in the room for about 35 tables. i think i saw her one time and i was lucky enough to flag her down for a scrap. the blind structure: wtf? 2-3-5. the small blind is $3, the big blind is $5 and the "button" blind (??) is $2. since when and/or where is the button forced to put money in the pot blind? AND THERE IS NOT EVEN A BAD BEAT JACKPOT. they use standard shuffle machines. but the dealers are not allowed to deal with them if there is a flashing red light. they are forced to stop the action and call a floor man over to deal with the shuffler and make sure all 52 cards are accounted for in the spare deck. why then do we have to stop playing the hand in progress???

ok, enough complaining. on to the poker.

it was a pretty incredible night. i was off to a relatively slow start down about $200. i don't really remember how, but i worked back to up 400-500. i was playing a bit looser than i normally do and playing well after the flop. 10-8 is the nuts baby!

i raised in middle position with Ah9h and the blinds both called. i completely missed the flop, but they both checked to me so i bet. the big blind called. he checked again on the turn so i bet again. he called. the river paired the board. he checked. i bet. he thought and thought and called with AQ high, and won the pot. wow. 3 bullets - 3 calls. he said he had a read on me.

a bit later i got it back "in spades" from that guy. 3 of us ended up in a pot. the third guy had only $60 behind before the hand. i was about $800 back and the small blind (the guy who called with AQ) was about $650 deep. i held Ad5d. the third guy made a small raise and we both called preflop. the flop was: Jd9d4d. the nuts! we all checked around on the flop. the turn was the A of spades. we both checked and the short stack moved in for like $40. the small blind called and i made a small raise. then something truly beautiful happened: he re-raised me big. "got meself one on the line here betty!" i came back over the top. he called! i was praying for the board to not pair on the river. i could have kissed the 3c. he checked, i value bet and he called. i said, "sorry dude, i got the nuts." he showed pocket Js and had flopped top set. he was left with about $110 after the hand. tough beat, but he was behind any 2 flush cards. his play surprised me a bit since he had made a great call on the river with AQ high. my impression was that of a pretty good player. i guess my 2 street slow play earned me a nice pot here.

i was able to play pretty loose with a big stack. it's fun to play in a lot of pots. i started calling some small raises and doing some betting in the dark. there was a small raise to $15 when i was on the big blind, so i called dark with 4 other players already in the hand. the flop was K-4-3 with 2 spades. i didn't know what 2 cards i held yet, so i had no reason to bet. i checked. the initial preflop raiser bet $15. the next player raised to $100. the cutoff was now thinking about his action, so i decided to peek at my hole cards. i held KhKd. uhhhhhhh......huh huh huh. what? i flopped the stone cold nuts? is that possible? meanwhile the cutoff raised to $200. (!!!) i was next to act in the big blind. how to get the most money in the pot ?? i raised it to $400. the $15 bettor folded and the next player who had raised to $100 tried to re-raise it to $600 [side bar: bay 101 has a couple of other rules. the maximum bet or raise is $200 and there were just 3 raises allowed per street]. his attempted raise to $600 was overruled and he was forced to just call my $400 bet. the cutoff folded. the turn was a third spade, which i didn't really like all that much. i checked and he bet $200. i called. the river was a blank and i checked and he threw in his last $60. i called. he showed AA and my three Ks took it down. thanks dude for getting all your money in the pot with 1 pair. crazy hand! the cutoff said he folded AK!

ok, i just have to say thank you for bad players. he could and should have gotten out of the hand for $115, but instead it cost him $675. i mean how could you think you're still good with AA after a bet, his raise, a re-raise, and my re-raise? it could easily have been set over set, with him in 3rd place. at the very least, one of us has to have at least 2 pair or a set. would i be re-raising from the blinds with KQ?? i know there is a tendency to fall in love with AA, but seriously guy -- you played that hand terribly.

occasionally you flop the nuts. rarely someone bets into you. never do you have a better, a raiser, and a re-raiser before you've acted.

the chip runner came over to help me rack the mountain of chips. i played a few more hands, but left soon thereafter after one of my best nights in poker.

Syndicate event #2

we haven't played very many re-buy tournaments in this group, but this one was. i chipped up early and never ended up re-buying, but of course i did the add on. so in the end it was $20 cheaper for me than a regular $100 freeze out. i came into the final table in pretty solid position relative to the other players, but not so much relative to the blinds. with a small turnout, there just weren't that many chips in play, so the average chip stack was pretty short compared to the blinds / antes.

i called a raise by a fairly strong young player (a new guy named David) with KcQc in position. flop was AQ7. he checked, i bet, he called. i was pretty much done with the hand now. on the turn, he checked again, and i felt like he was trying to induce a bet, so i checked behind. with my stack, i would have had to shove, and i didn't like my KQ that much. i folded to his bet on the river. he later said he had AK. i think my cash game sloshed over into tournament land on this hand, as KQ is so easily dominated and can make 2nd best hands all day long.

i re-stole a time or two, but didn't get too many hands at the final table. a couple of my steal attempts were foiled too. so now i was short stacked. that one hand with KQ crippled me just due to the large blinds and antes.

i open shoved with 66 on the button with a relatively short stack. brady called instantly in the big blind with KK and i was out in 6th. oh well. i felt like i played well except for that KQ hand. i didn't need to bet on the flop as i was either way ahead or way behind. i'll get em next time.

i was glad to see a couple of new faces in the money for this second event. congrats.

Sat. 8/4 session

the bottom line is that i won money in the session. i left a little bit disappointed though, not because barry bonds chose saturday night (the night after we went to the game) to hit his record-tying 755th home run, but because i made a bad call to lose a big pot right before i was going to leave.

after sitting down at a new table when my first one broke, the first hand i witnessed was for $600 (and one guy's whole stack) and was won by a pair of 5s with a 6 kicker with 3 overcards on the board. wow. the winner of the hand is a notorious donator, but the point was do not bluff him. he called a $100 re-raise preflop with 5-6 suited !

i raised in late position with AK and got 2 callers including this maniac. flop was KQ5. i like this flop vs. 2 players. he checks to me, i bet the pot, the button calls, and the maniac raises! i call and the button calls. turn is a J. checks to me, i check, and the button goes all in. the maniac calls, and i end up folding. the button had KJ and the maniac wins the pot with 5s full of Queens when he rivers a 5. and his Q-5 was not suited. just sick.

i later called his straddle in early position with KK. by the script he raised, got a caller, and i re-raised. i knew he was coming along too. he called. flop of course had an A. (i had KK three times in the session and twice an Ace flopped.) he checked, i bet, and he called. turn was another Ace; check-check. he went all in on the river for about $165 with about $240 in the pot. if he didn't have an Ace, i had him crushed, but if he did.......i thought his range was so wide here, and i'm getting a good price, so i called. he showed down A-8.

about 1 orbit later, he later paid me off when i ended up getting all my chips in with AA on the turn. he didn't show, but he couldn't beat 1 pair thankfully. i think he was in the 2/3 NL game for over $1800.

that table broke and i got a seat at the 1 remaining table. there was a lot of money on the table and the game was fast the action was hot.

there was a remarkable hand that played out soon after i sat down. the early position player on my left called the blind, along with a couple of others. the cutoff raised to $12. two callers. the player on my left re-raised to $125. the cutoff smooth called, everyone else folded. the EP player had about $450 to start the hand and was covered by the cutoff. the flop was Q-10-4, they got another $300 in the pot. the turn was a Q and the player on my left went all in and was called by the cutoff! now $900 in the pot. the river was a 7 and then they showed down: the early position showed pocket 8s and the cutoff showed AK, no pair! he won a $900 pot with a two 8s. incredible and / or ridiculous read.

i chipped up pretty well at this table including your standard flopped sets, 2 pair, etc. one hand i doubled up with pocket AA. i re-raised an early position raiser from $10 to $20. 3 players to the flop, which was King high. it checked to me, so i bet $50. the initial pre-flop raiser raised to $120. i shoved and he insta-called. uh oh. until i turn an A. he showed down pocket Ks and had flopped a set, which lost to my turned set of As. suckout, re-suckout. sorry guy. weird though, that he raised to $10 preflop, which was a tiny pot building raise. if everyone just called he could be playing one pair vs about 6 people out of position. then i min-raise him and he just calls??! wow. i didn't feel that badly though, cuz he should have re-raised my $20 bet preflop and we would have gotten it all in anyway.

the hand that left a bad taste in my mouth was literally right as i was going to leave. i was about 13-14 hours into the session and i had As10s in the small blind. i called a mini preflop raise. the flop was 6s9s7d. i flopped the nut flush draw and a gut shot with 2 overs. pretty good flop for me. but with 4 players in, i decided to check and see what happened. there was a bet and a raise on the button. i called the raise and the bettor folded. turn was the 7s, giving me an Ace high flush. i didn't really like that card as it paired the board. i would have rather seen the 8h or the Qs, or a total blank. i'd rather have a draw to the nuts, than have a made flush drawing to 1 out (8s).

checked and called $50 by the button. the river was a blank. i still had an Ace high flush. i checked hoping to show down, but the button bet $200 with about $240 in the pot already. i could beat 2 pair, a straight, or a weaker flush. if he had pocket 6s or 9s, or 9-7, i was dead. he raised the flop bet, so he could have A-9, 6-7, or 8-10, or Ks8s. i called.

what would you have done there?


he showed 9-7 offsuit for the turned boat. don't like my call there. there are just too many ways i'm beat.

but like i said, i still left a winner, just not as winner-ish as i would have liked.