It sounds nice, and a $1000 win is nice, but it's extremely extremely frustrating. I played the 70k guarantee on Stars Wednesday night. It paid the top 180. I came out 205th when I had J-J and tried to beat 10-10 after getting it in preflop. 10 on the river and I'm outta there. But what it did do is motivate me to play some more tourneys. After winning the 50k guarantee on Tilt in December, I don't know if I've played 15 tourneys since. And I've done pretty good in live tourneys also but don't play hardly any. Well anyway, I'm a little motivated to try and play more now. So tonight I sat and played the Nightly Hundred Grand on Stars. You start with 3k in chips.. about 15 minutes into it, I was down to 800. I caught A-K and lost with trips to A-Q who had trips and a pair of queens. A couple of hands later, I rivered a gutterball to more than double-up. The very next hand I catch KK and double up again. I went from 800 to over 4k in an instant. And never really looked back. I never caught AA(even though I prayed like a SOB for them). Or a set or any monster hand. I just kept chipping away and making some small winners.
Not long after we got into the money, I played one hand where I coulda busted. I called a min-raise from my BB with 10-7o. The flop came 8-5-2.. I checked... PFR checked.. the turn was an 8. I checked, PFR bet. I raised. He called.. River 2.. I shove.. he thinks and mucks. That hand was one of my only real bluffs. I was so confused of what to do on the river.. because the pot was big and he only had 10k left. The turn bet was 6k. So I knew he had to call with a lot of hands. But if I didn't shove, I knew I was beat and I'd be below average. Luckily he mucked.
I laid down 99 late after I 3-bet preflop. The original raiser shoved. I thought forever and mucked. He showed AcKc. I'm still not sure what I should have done there.
And my last hand was questionable. We're playing 7-handed and the cut-off raised. I was on the button with K-Q0. I shoved. Blinds fold. He calls and shows A-Q. And he wins. I didn't have to shove there. But I was one of the shorter stacks. This guy's range is pretty open with a raise from the cut-off 7-handed. And even if he calls with A-J.. 10-10.. J-J.. or any smaller ace.. I'm not in terrible shape. He happened to have me dominated. I actually flopped open-ended, but failed to spike a 9, A, or K. I'm ok with the play. Mainly because I was getting short. But it sucks either way. To make it down to 15 out of 702 players is quite an accomplishment.. But it always feels like such a waste.
Oh well. On a side note.. They're down to 5 players now and this guy paulsl is still in it. This guy chopped the Sunday Million this past Sunday. I know this final table won't be as nice of a payday, but he seems to be on quite a heater. And as I'm typing this he got it all-in with 7-7 v.s. QQ and spiked a 7 for a monster pot. Then 4 hands later he gets AA v.s KQ.. King high flop and they get it all-in. I'd say he's running good. Ha. Anyway, down to 4 and he's the chip leader. Ok now he's chopping the damn thing.. Two (wins) in a week. Nicely done.
Oh well. I did well and think I played ok. I'm looking forward to the absolute grind that is tournament poker. See ya on the felt!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Running Like a CHAMP
I haven't posted lately about any of my cash sessions. I have been running like God recently. I have been playing at Shorty's about twice a week. I have won in 6 of my last 7 sessions. My last 4 sessions have been..
+475
+890
+1385
+945
I always preferred playing at Harrahs over Shorty's. But since Shorty's lifted their ridiculous 300-max buy-in... and the fact that it's much closer to my house... I have been playing there lately. And I have been running and playing well. I don't remember all my hands from all those sessions so I will just type about my last session. Though I can say that 90% of my winnings on my +1385 session came from Asian Tom. I would call his raise preflop, flop top-pair, check-call the whole way and he'd muck.
Onto my latest session. I played at Shorty's Saturday and picked up $945. I started off down $150 or so on my second hand. I raised from MP with J-J and got 2 callers. The flop was 8-9-9. First player checks, I bet. Next guy mucks. First player check-raises 3x's my bet. I decide to call. I've played with this guy before and I know he can raise with nothing here to get me off of AK, AQ, etc.. Well the turn is an Ace and he fires strong.. I decide to give him some credit and muck.
I bought in for $500 and already I'm down to about $350. Then I pick up 10c7c in MP. I limp along with several others. Then the BB decides to raise, $20 more. Anyone that plays live $5-$5 or $2-$5 knows that everyone and their momma is calling that extra $20. I do as well as everyone else. The flop comes down Kc-4h-Qc. Giving me the 3rd nut-flush draw. The BB(preflop raiser) decides to bet $25. $25 into a $120 pot. Weak? I think so. One player to my right calls. Then I decide to make a play at this pot. I bump it to $100 total. Everyone folds to the preflop raiser. I am fully expecting him to fold. But he contemplates for the longest time and calls. The other player folds and we're heads-up to the turn. The turn is about the best card in the deck, the Ac. I make the 2nd nuts. He checks to me. I have about $250 left and I'm wondering how much to bet here. I think about betting $100 or $150 and keep him in it. But that bet has it's pros and cons. If he does have the Jc(unlikely), I want him to pay for the river. And if he doesn't have a club and a club hits the river, that'll kill my action. If a broadway card hits the board and puts a 4 card straight out there, that may screw my chances of getting paid off too. Anyway.. I am hoping that ace made him 2-pair and I shove my remaining $250 in there. And he calls. The river pairs the board 4's. I cringe for a minute and pray he doesn't show AA, KK, or QQ. But he doesn't and I'm back in the black baby. I win about $470 there.
Later Phil is at our table and raises $25 to go. I look down at AhKh in the BB and I call. We're heads-up. The flop comes down A-x-x. Two hearts. Not too shabby huh? I check and Phil bets $30. I just call. The turn is garbage but the board is straightening out. I check, Phil bets $50. I decide to begin to build this pot and raise to $150. Without much deliberation, he calls. I'm thinking we may have the same hand and I'm freerolling. Or I have him slightly outkicked. The river puts a 4 card straight on board. But he raised preflop and I'm putting him on a big ace. I decide to value-bet $100. He calls and shows A-Q and I drag a nice $300 there.
Later I raise preflop from EP/MP with AhJh. I get 2 callers. The flop comes down Kh- 9c-3h. Giving me an over and the nut-flush draw. The SB leads out $20. Once again, a $20 bet into a $80 pot. Well this time I decide to just call. Asian Tom is behind me but he decides to muck. The turn is the 10h. BINGO.. the nuts. Then the SB checks. I'm thinking, " Shit.. I'm going to bet here and lose him." But I proceed to bet $100. He thinks about it for a while then calls. It genuinely seemed like he didn't want to call. Well the river the 4th heart. Yikes. You never know if that card helped or hurt you in this situation. Then he bets $100 at me. Sweet! Now it's just a matter of how much to raise. It doesn't happen very often, but it's so nice to have the nuts on the river and have someone betting into you. Well he has about $450 behind that $100 bet. I decide to go for $300 total... $200 more to him. He states, "Well there's only one card that beats me." Yes. I know I'm getting paid. He pays off the $200 more. I won $470 there too.
I lose and win some here and there. I'm up about $800 when I catch the following hand. I played this hand badly. I am in the BB with 2-4o and the flop comes down 3-5-6, two diamonds. I flop the 2nd nuts. I decide to bet out $25. I get one caller, then a raise to $100 from Asian Tom. It folds around to me. Tom could have anything here... a pair and flush draw, a pair and straight draw, straight flush draw, two pair, a set, etc.. I decide to just call and see what the guy behind me does. I really should have raised here. It wouldn't have mattered as you will see in the end result. The other player folded and Tom and I are heads up to the turn. The turn is a stupid 4. Now my 2 makes up the low end and any 7 makes the high. Tom has about $250 left. I'm praying now that he has a flush draw, two pair, or set. I know Tom won't slow down with the 4 card straight as Tom NEVER slows down. I check, he bets $110. I decide to just put him in for his last $140. He calls and shows the Jd7d. He hit his gutterball on the turn. He takes about $350 from me there. It doesn't matter how I play the flop. I could have bet my bankroll and Tom wasn't folding a gutshot and flush draw. I'm just upset about the way I played this. Especially the turn. I could have possibly folded the turn to the $110 bet. But coming from this particular source, it was so hard to. I was just hoping he had two-pair, set, or flush draw and I checked the turn so he would bet and commit himself. If the diamond hits the turn I may get away.. But he hit his gut and I lost.. chalk it up... -$350.
Not long after.. I limp with 7-7. It's a limp fest. Then the button makes it $30. I'm in there with everyone else. The flop comes down A-x-x. It checks around to the button who bets $50. I decide to call. I'm tilting just a little. I'm not exactly convinced he has an ace. And my 7-7 is 3rd pair. I call. Everyone folds. The turn is a King. I check, and interestingly... he checks behind.. Hmmm? The river is a 3. I check and he bets $100 pretty forcefully. This isn't quite adding up. Why did he check the turn? Maybe he had A-K or KK and decided he was far ahead. But I didn't think so. This guy was pretty straight-forward and bet often. Then if you do have the monster on the river, why would someone quickly grab a stack, slam it on the table and declare, "One-hundred." I thought it was.. AK, KK, 33 or nothing. I usually don't take much time to make a decision but I took my time here. After all, I can't beat anything but a bluff. I finally called and he said, "good call." Nice. I won about $270 there.
My last eventful hand came when I limped with 4d5d. A couple of limpers to Michael, a co-worker of mine. He raises to $25 or $30. There are a few callers and I call too. The flop comes beautifully... Ad-3d-4s. I flop a pair, and a straight-flush draw. It checks around to Michael who bets $65. Mike M. calls in front of me. Then I decide to check out everyone's stack. Michael only has about $175 left. Mike M has about $350 left and another play who hasn't acted yet has about $300. I was sitting in the 10 seat and last player was in the 2 seat. When I tried to see how much he had left, the dealer did the same. And then he looked at the dealer and said geniunely, "Oh it's on me, I fold." So I know he's out. All I can lose is less than $200 to Michael. And about $350 to Mike M. I decide to shove. I'm pretty sure Michael has an ace. I'm not sure about Mike M. I am just scared Mike M. may have a bigger flush draw. That would suck. That's really why I wanted Michael to fold. I don't care if we have to race. If he has an ace(which he later said he had AQ) I'm almost 60/40. But if he calls, that kinda will price Mike M. in if he has a big flush draw. Well both players fold and I win $240 there.
I picked up shortly after.. a $945 winner. I saw some very badly played hands that remind me why I play this game.
I am going to Harrahs tomorrow to play the $500+$50 event. I'll keep you posted.
+475
+890
+1385
+945
I always preferred playing at Harrahs over Shorty's. But since Shorty's lifted their ridiculous 300-max buy-in... and the fact that it's much closer to my house... I have been playing there lately. And I have been running and playing well. I don't remember all my hands from all those sessions so I will just type about my last session. Though I can say that 90% of my winnings on my +1385 session came from Asian Tom. I would call his raise preflop, flop top-pair, check-call the whole way and he'd muck.
Onto my latest session. I played at Shorty's Saturday and picked up $945. I started off down $150 or so on my second hand. I raised from MP with J-J and got 2 callers. The flop was 8-9-9. First player checks, I bet. Next guy mucks. First player check-raises 3x's my bet. I decide to call. I've played with this guy before and I know he can raise with nothing here to get me off of AK, AQ, etc.. Well the turn is an Ace and he fires strong.. I decide to give him some credit and muck.
I bought in for $500 and already I'm down to about $350. Then I pick up 10c7c in MP. I limp along with several others. Then the BB decides to raise, $20 more. Anyone that plays live $5-$5 or $2-$5 knows that everyone and their momma is calling that extra $20. I do as well as everyone else. The flop comes down Kc-4h-Qc. Giving me the 3rd nut-flush draw. The BB(preflop raiser) decides to bet $25. $25 into a $120 pot. Weak? I think so. One player to my right calls. Then I decide to make a play at this pot. I bump it to $100 total. Everyone folds to the preflop raiser. I am fully expecting him to fold. But he contemplates for the longest time and calls. The other player folds and we're heads-up to the turn. The turn is about the best card in the deck, the Ac. I make the 2nd nuts. He checks to me. I have about $250 left and I'm wondering how much to bet here. I think about betting $100 or $150 and keep him in it. But that bet has it's pros and cons. If he does have the Jc(unlikely), I want him to pay for the river. And if he doesn't have a club and a club hits the river, that'll kill my action. If a broadway card hits the board and puts a 4 card straight out there, that may screw my chances of getting paid off too. Anyway.. I am hoping that ace made him 2-pair and I shove my remaining $250 in there. And he calls. The river pairs the board 4's. I cringe for a minute and pray he doesn't show AA, KK, or QQ. But he doesn't and I'm back in the black baby. I win about $470 there.
Later Phil is at our table and raises $25 to go. I look down at AhKh in the BB and I call. We're heads-up. The flop comes down A-x-x. Two hearts. Not too shabby huh? I check and Phil bets $30. I just call. The turn is garbage but the board is straightening out. I check, Phil bets $50. I decide to begin to build this pot and raise to $150. Without much deliberation, he calls. I'm thinking we may have the same hand and I'm freerolling. Or I have him slightly outkicked. The river puts a 4 card straight on board. But he raised preflop and I'm putting him on a big ace. I decide to value-bet $100. He calls and shows A-Q and I drag a nice $300 there.
Later I raise preflop from EP/MP with AhJh. I get 2 callers. The flop comes down Kh- 9c-3h. Giving me an over and the nut-flush draw. The SB leads out $20. Once again, a $20 bet into a $80 pot. Well this time I decide to just call. Asian Tom is behind me but he decides to muck. The turn is the 10h. BINGO.. the nuts. Then the SB checks. I'm thinking, " Shit.. I'm going to bet here and lose him." But I proceed to bet $100. He thinks about it for a while then calls. It genuinely seemed like he didn't want to call. Well the river the 4th heart. Yikes. You never know if that card helped or hurt you in this situation. Then he bets $100 at me. Sweet! Now it's just a matter of how much to raise. It doesn't happen very often, but it's so nice to have the nuts on the river and have someone betting into you. Well he has about $450 behind that $100 bet. I decide to go for $300 total... $200 more to him. He states, "Well there's only one card that beats me." Yes. I know I'm getting paid. He pays off the $200 more. I won $470 there too.
I lose and win some here and there. I'm up about $800 when I catch the following hand. I played this hand badly. I am in the BB with 2-4o and the flop comes down 3-5-6, two diamonds. I flop the 2nd nuts. I decide to bet out $25. I get one caller, then a raise to $100 from Asian Tom. It folds around to me. Tom could have anything here... a pair and flush draw, a pair and straight draw, straight flush draw, two pair, a set, etc.. I decide to just call and see what the guy behind me does. I really should have raised here. It wouldn't have mattered as you will see in the end result. The other player folded and Tom and I are heads up to the turn. The turn is a stupid 4. Now my 2 makes up the low end and any 7 makes the high. Tom has about $250 left. I'm praying now that he has a flush draw, two pair, or set. I know Tom won't slow down with the 4 card straight as Tom NEVER slows down. I check, he bets $110. I decide to just put him in for his last $140. He calls and shows the Jd7d. He hit his gutterball on the turn. He takes about $350 from me there. It doesn't matter how I play the flop. I could have bet my bankroll and Tom wasn't folding a gutshot and flush draw. I'm just upset about the way I played this. Especially the turn. I could have possibly folded the turn to the $110 bet. But coming from this particular source, it was so hard to. I was just hoping he had two-pair, set, or flush draw and I checked the turn so he would bet and commit himself. If the diamond hits the turn I may get away.. But he hit his gut and I lost.. chalk it up... -$350.
Not long after.. I limp with 7-7. It's a limp fest. Then the button makes it $30. I'm in there with everyone else. The flop comes down A-x-x. It checks around to the button who bets $50. I decide to call. I'm tilting just a little. I'm not exactly convinced he has an ace. And my 7-7 is 3rd pair. I call. Everyone folds. The turn is a King. I check, and interestingly... he checks behind.. Hmmm? The river is a 3. I check and he bets $100 pretty forcefully. This isn't quite adding up. Why did he check the turn? Maybe he had A-K or KK and decided he was far ahead. But I didn't think so. This guy was pretty straight-forward and bet often. Then if you do have the monster on the river, why would someone quickly grab a stack, slam it on the table and declare, "One-hundred." I thought it was.. AK, KK, 33 or nothing. I usually don't take much time to make a decision but I took my time here. After all, I can't beat anything but a bluff. I finally called and he said, "good call." Nice. I won about $270 there.
My last eventful hand came when I limped with 4d5d. A couple of limpers to Michael, a co-worker of mine. He raises to $25 or $30. There are a few callers and I call too. The flop comes beautifully... Ad-3d-4s. I flop a pair, and a straight-flush draw. It checks around to Michael who bets $65. Mike M. calls in front of me. Then I decide to check out everyone's stack. Michael only has about $175 left. Mike M has about $350 left and another play who hasn't acted yet has about $300. I was sitting in the 10 seat and last player was in the 2 seat. When I tried to see how much he had left, the dealer did the same. And then he looked at the dealer and said geniunely, "Oh it's on me, I fold." So I know he's out. All I can lose is less than $200 to Michael. And about $350 to Mike M. I decide to shove. I'm pretty sure Michael has an ace. I'm not sure about Mike M. I am just scared Mike M. may have a bigger flush draw. That would suck. That's really why I wanted Michael to fold. I don't care if we have to race. If he has an ace(which he later said he had AQ) I'm almost 60/40. But if he calls, that kinda will price Mike M. in if he has a big flush draw. Well both players fold and I win $240 there.
I picked up shortly after.. a $945 winner. I saw some very badly played hands that remind me why I play this game.
I am going to Harrahs tomorrow to play the $500+$50 event. I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Two Shorty's Sessions
I decided to post about my two previous Shorty's sessions. First let's start with my Saturday session. It was a pretty short session. I got there about 8PM or so and left at about 10:15PM. My girlfriend got off work early and wanted to go out. I was up $475 so pulled a little "Hit & Run" and went out with her. We had a great time. So here's a little recap:
Shorty's runs a 5-5 game. I sat down with $500 and didn't play too many hands until I hit the gorgeous set over set. I limped UTG with 99. There's a few limpers until the BB decides to make it $30. He was raising preflop quite often and I was hoping to smoke him. Well he got 3 or 4 callers. Flop.. 9-4-K. nice. The BB leads out $50. I decide to just call as the board is pretty harmless. Then the shortest stack at the table decides to shove for $150 total. The table folds, including the preflop raiser. I call. The board runs out. I show my 99 and he shows 44. It's so rare to flop set over set, and I happen to do it to the guy with $150 left. Oh well, let's not be too greedy.
The guy to my left was the most active at the table. He was making some bets/raises that seemed like air to me but never had to show down his hand. A couple of times he was called down and his opponent showed, and he mucked. Well he lost a decent size pot right before the following hand:
I raise $25 to go with KK. He calls to my left. I think there were about 2 callers. The flop comes down Q-4-7. I bet $40. The guy behind me makes it $100. Folds to me. I can definitely be behind here, but this is the type of play the guy has been making. And I'm pretty sure I'm in the lead. I just call. The turn is a 9. I check, he bets $100. And he's got $200 behind that. I really thought he had a queen(A-Q, K-Q, Q-J). But I just called again. The river pairs the board 4s. I decide to bet his last $200. He folds. He said he didn't have a queen, which I now believe. If I check the river, he probably fires again. But I thought he had a good queen and I didn't want the river to go check, check. Oh well. I won about $250 there.
Then I try my one real "play" of the night. A few players call the $10 straddle, including me with Ac8c on the button. The SB and BB complete and the straddle pops it to $30. Not really much of a pop. Well everyone calls. I'm in there. And we see a flop about 6 ways. The flop comes down 4-4-9 two spades. SB and BB check, straddle bets $40(into a $180 pot). A couple of folds to me and I raise to $140. As long as the SB or BB didn't flop a 4, I should be good. The SB folds. Asian Tom is the BB. I'll write a lot more about Tom in my next session. Tom is in all pots and is pretty aggressive. He calls the $140. Shit. The straddle mucks. The turn is garbage. And Tom leads out $125. Huh? Plenty of times this is the bet someone makes after missing their draw. And Tom calling $140 on a flush draw on a paired board is more than possible. This was actually a very good bet by Tom in my opinion. Although, if he would have checked, I would have probably fired again... but he doesn't know that. And this bet really throws me off. I thought he might be on a spade draw and thought about putting him all-in. As he only had a few hundred more. Anyway, I eventually fold. And this guy turns over 9-4 off suit for a flopped boat. LoL. When you put in $30 preflop with 9-4o, I guess you gotta get it some time. Lost $170 there.
I get moved to the main game shortly after. I sat there for a while without playing a hand. There was a big pot won with top pair, top kicker. Bryan raised to about $50 preflop and got a few callers. The flop came down A-x-x. It checked to Bryan and he bets $150. It folds to Joey, and Joey shoves. About $700 or $800 or so. The table folds to Bryan. He has about the same amount in front of him.. about $650 over the $150 he just bet. He thinks about it forever, and then finally calls... with A-K.. and it's good! Joey shows A-9. And the board bricks out. Unbelievable. Joey would have gotten my $150. That being said. He did bet $800 to win about $300. Well I told that story to tell the next 2 hands.
A few hands later, I limp with 5d6d. There's a couple of limpers to Bryan in the BB who raises to $50. 9 of 10 times I fold here. But I haven't played a hand at this table yet so I should get some kind of respect. And Joey is one of the limpers and I'm pretty sure he's calling to get a shot at Bryan. I call. Joey calls. And we see a flop 3 handed. Flop is A-A-4. Bryan checks, I check, Joey checks. The turn is a queen. Bryan checks. I decide to throw out $50. Both fold. Bryan flips over 7-7. I show my 5-6. Hoping to get a little action if I ever do make a hand. Won $100 there
A few hands later, Joey raises to $30 UTG+1 or +2. And the whole table actually folds to me in the BB. I look down at AhKh. I call. Heads-up to a flop of A-6-3. I check and he bets. $40. I decide to just call. The turn is a 7. I check again. And he bets $60. I call again. I usually play this hand a little stronger, but I take an alternate route. The river is a 4. Now a 5 makes a straight. I check again. He picks up his cards, almost as to show his hand. Then puts it down, thinks about it, and fires $100. I call. I'm good. I won about $230 there.
I told my girlfriend I'd meet her at home at 11PM and it was already 10:15 and the weather was bad. So I racked up. Of course I got some "hit & run" comments. Blah Blah Blah.. Check Change $475 on the night. Well actually in a couple of hours.
Well I'll write about yesterday's session soon...
"Wow! (First) the economy, now this!"- Tex's quote when I told him yesterday's Shorty's table was slow and low in money.
Shorty's runs a 5-5 game. I sat down with $500 and didn't play too many hands until I hit the gorgeous set over set. I limped UTG with 99. There's a few limpers until the BB decides to make it $30. He was raising preflop quite often and I was hoping to smoke him. Well he got 3 or 4 callers. Flop.. 9-4-K. nice. The BB leads out $50. I decide to just call as the board is pretty harmless. Then the shortest stack at the table decides to shove for $150 total. The table folds, including the preflop raiser. I call. The board runs out. I show my 99 and he shows 44. It's so rare to flop set over set, and I happen to do it to the guy with $150 left. Oh well, let's not be too greedy.
The guy to my left was the most active at the table. He was making some bets/raises that seemed like air to me but never had to show down his hand. A couple of times he was called down and his opponent showed, and he mucked. Well he lost a decent size pot right before the following hand:
I raise $25 to go with KK. He calls to my left. I think there were about 2 callers. The flop comes down Q-4-7. I bet $40. The guy behind me makes it $100. Folds to me. I can definitely be behind here, but this is the type of play the guy has been making. And I'm pretty sure I'm in the lead. I just call. The turn is a 9. I check, he bets $100. And he's got $200 behind that. I really thought he had a queen(A-Q, K-Q, Q-J). But I just called again. The river pairs the board 4s. I decide to bet his last $200. He folds. He said he didn't have a queen, which I now believe. If I check the river, he probably fires again. But I thought he had a good queen and I didn't want the river to go check, check. Oh well. I won about $250 there.
Then I try my one real "play" of the night. A few players call the $10 straddle, including me with Ac8c on the button. The SB and BB complete and the straddle pops it to $30. Not really much of a pop. Well everyone calls. I'm in there. And we see a flop about 6 ways. The flop comes down 4-4-9 two spades. SB and BB check, straddle bets $40(into a $180 pot). A couple of folds to me and I raise to $140. As long as the SB or BB didn't flop a 4, I should be good. The SB folds. Asian Tom is the BB. I'll write a lot more about Tom in my next session. Tom is in all pots and is pretty aggressive. He calls the $140. Shit. The straddle mucks. The turn is garbage. And Tom leads out $125. Huh? Plenty of times this is the bet someone makes after missing their draw. And Tom calling $140 on a flush draw on a paired board is more than possible. This was actually a very good bet by Tom in my opinion. Although, if he would have checked, I would have probably fired again... but he doesn't know that. And this bet really throws me off. I thought he might be on a spade draw and thought about putting him all-in. As he only had a few hundred more. Anyway, I eventually fold. And this guy turns over 9-4 off suit for a flopped boat. LoL. When you put in $30 preflop with 9-4o, I guess you gotta get it some time. Lost $170 there.
I get moved to the main game shortly after. I sat there for a while without playing a hand. There was a big pot won with top pair, top kicker. Bryan raised to about $50 preflop and got a few callers. The flop came down A-x-x. It checked to Bryan and he bets $150. It folds to Joey, and Joey shoves. About $700 or $800 or so. The table folds to Bryan. He has about the same amount in front of him.. about $650 over the $150 he just bet. He thinks about it forever, and then finally calls... with A-K.. and it's good! Joey shows A-9. And the board bricks out. Unbelievable. Joey would have gotten my $150. That being said. He did bet $800 to win about $300. Well I told that story to tell the next 2 hands.
A few hands later, I limp with 5d6d. There's a couple of limpers to Bryan in the BB who raises to $50. 9 of 10 times I fold here. But I haven't played a hand at this table yet so I should get some kind of respect. And Joey is one of the limpers and I'm pretty sure he's calling to get a shot at Bryan. I call. Joey calls. And we see a flop 3 handed. Flop is A-A-4. Bryan checks, I check, Joey checks. The turn is a queen. Bryan checks. I decide to throw out $50. Both fold. Bryan flips over 7-7. I show my 5-6. Hoping to get a little action if I ever do make a hand. Won $100 there
A few hands later, Joey raises to $30 UTG+1 or +2. And the whole table actually folds to me in the BB. I look down at AhKh. I call. Heads-up to a flop of A-6-3. I check and he bets. $40. I decide to just call. The turn is a 7. I check again. And he bets $60. I call again. I usually play this hand a little stronger, but I take an alternate route. The river is a 4. Now a 5 makes a straight. I check again. He picks up his cards, almost as to show his hand. Then puts it down, thinks about it, and fires $100. I call. I'm good. I won about $230 there.
I told my girlfriend I'd meet her at home at 11PM and it was already 10:15 and the weather was bad. So I racked up. Of course I got some "hit & run" comments. Blah Blah Blah.. Check Change $475 on the night. Well actually in a couple of hours.
Well I'll write about yesterday's session soon...
"Wow! (First) the economy, now this!"- Tex's quote when I told him yesterday's Shorty's table was slow and low in money.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Online Donk
Hi all. Not that anyone is waiting on the edge of his or her seat to read my next blog, but I promise to start blogging more often. I have been playing live a fair bit lately, and some online. I have ran pretty good live.. And terribly online.
Sadly, the title of this post refers to myself. I play tournaments/SNG's ok online.. But I must be the biggest fish in the cash games. I just get involved in too many hands. It's ridiculous. I play pretty solid for a while, then go ape-shit. I can't explain it. I played a 6-max 2/4 game the other night. I played ok for a while.. Got down $100 or so.. then up $100 or so.. and then I blow it. I call a raise with Qd8d. Something I'll do occasionally in live games, but something I do way more often online. The flop comes down Q-9-10. Preflop raiser bets, I call. The turn is a Q. He bets I call. The river is garbage, he shoves... I start saying out loud, "This is ridiculous", "I can't win", "This has to be 9s full or tens full". I'm repeating all of these things aloud. And still click call. Just for him to show 9-9 and I'm bust. I mean WTF? I would almost never call here live. My opponent was solid.... you know what, I won't even go into it. I know I shouldn't call.. I know I'm destroyed. And I still ship him my money.
I was sickened by it. I only lost $350 on the session but I was more disgusted that night, than on nights where I lost 5x's that. It's because I knew I played bad and continue to do it. I sent a text to some of my friends saying, "If you ever see me playing cash online, stop me." And I mean it. It's not like I've lost a big amount or that I can't control myself. I just know if I sit down and play, I'm dead money. I play way too erratic and never give people credit for a hand. I came close to telling Bill to post something on GCP stating... "If anyone catches Matt playing cash online, contact Matt and he'll give you $500." That's how mad I was at myself.
Only because I know I'm better than that. It's like a decent pitcher going out and throwing nothing but hanging curveballs. He knows better, but throws bad anyway.
Bottom line, I'm going to limit myself to online tourneys and SNG's. I have been doing ok live.. Booking mostly small winners. I won $300 at Shorty's the other night. I took $200 from Joe Bueche on one hand (AA-KK). It was nice to finally have a hand hold up against him. I gave all that money to Ms. Lorna soon after when I flopped open-ended and turn a flush draw.. I paid to see the f***ing blank on the river and she won, showing KK. GGEEEEZZ! One time!! I nail the flush or straight and check change.. her stack. Talk about implied-odds. But I doubled up through her later when I flopped two pair, 5s and 4s against her AA and my hand held up.
I played a $340 Hold em' event at the Beau Rivage during the Spring Break Poker Classic. No good. I did last pretty long, but that's just a waste of time. It was the same tourney Bill exited early and Reid ran KK into AA. I did happen to outlast them, Davey, and Joe Beuche. But at least they all spent their day doing something else. Instead of placing somewhere in the 30-40 player spot, for a grand total of $0. I lost a sick hand early in the tourney that would have set me up nicely. I raised preflop with 66 and got 2 callers behind me. Flop 8-6-3. Nice. I decide to check. The guy behind me bets. Other player folds. And I elect to just call. The turn pairs the board 8's. Sweet. I check again. And he fires again. I almost got aggressive here(which I think would have cost me even more money), but I called again. I was planning to bet out on the river. That is until the insane 3rd 8 hit the board. How gross. I now have 66 on an 8-6-3-8-8 board. Yuck. I check and he checks. He shows 10-10.. drag your pot genius. I had this guy on the hook. He needs a 10 or running 8's. He got there. The dealer outplayed me.
I stole a pot or two and was doing ok. Then I got lucky. The worse player at our table was short and shoving every once in a while with not-so-great hands. Well he shoves short again UTG or UTG +1. It folds around to me and I call with A-10. His shove was not too large and my A-10 was well ahead of some of his earlier shoves. Then like clockwork, the player behind me shoves in. SOB! It folds back to me. Now I just called like 1500 or so from the original shove, now it cost me like 1700 or so to call this. I'm severely crippled if I lose this one. God I hate putting in this much with A-10 but I can't fold at this point(not in my opinion). And I have both players covered. I say "Oh well, time to get lucky" and call. The UTG player shows A-K.. yikes.. But the other player shows 55. Ok.. not too bad. At least if I spike an A or 10 I can win the side pot and actually make a little money. Well the flop comes A-x-K. Yes.. I flop an ace and I'm ahead for the sidepot. I'm just thinking.. no 5 no 5. And the board runs out.. queen.... Jack.... Giving me broadway to scoop the whole pot! NICE!
I don't have much to talk about after that.. I steal a couple here and there. Then I got involved in a hand with the chipleader. Bad move.. I got low on that hand. Then I shoved all-in preflop with A-K and got called by A-7 suited.. 7 on the turn and I'm outta there. If I win that "race", I'm average with the high blinds and antes in there. O Well.
I had a eventful night at the $2-$5 game later that night. I don't remember too many hands but I ended up losing $300 on the night. It was a roller coaster ride to say the least. I missed a gut-shot straight flush draw early to go down some. Then I rivered a flush with a gut-shot and flush draw a little later to get back up. Then I lost the following hand...
The 1 seat was the biggest fish at the table. I call the $10 straddle with 9c7c. The 1 seat who religiously pops his straddle 99% of the time, does so to $50. I'm not sure how many calls to me. I decide to call from the button. The flop comes down Q-10-6.. two clubs.. here we go again with these gutterball & flush draw hands. The 1 seat bets $75. Which I thought was small and weak. Folds to me and it's just me and him. I played the other monster draws conservatively. But I had other thoughts on this one. I ask how much he has behind. I can't remember the exact amount but I think it was $260 or so. I say, "I'm all-in." And he snap calls. Oops! bad read.. or so I thought.. The boards comes brick, brick and I'm left with 9 high. He tables A-J for ace high. This f***ker snap calls $260 with ace high. I guess he was tired of getting outplayed by everyone and decided to try and get lucky. Kudos to him.
I ended up running KK into AA.. Then won a lot back when I raised with KK preflop and check called the whole way down against a maniac and won. But then in a raised pot, I flopped 2 pair with 9-7 suited on a 9-7-6 board. I bet the flop hard.. call... call...... I bet the turn... call, call... the river is a 5..... I lose to 9-8.. I don't think there's an amount I could have bet to win that hand.. should have just folded top two earlier.. or played it like a chump and hope it holds... It was definitely a fun session. But a loser overall.
I will start blogging more often so I can recall these hands in more detail. Until then.. good luck!!
"If there wasn't luck in this game, I'd be a millionaire"
-Jerry Bergeron.. Local 3-6-12 player
Sadly, the title of this post refers to myself. I play tournaments/SNG's ok online.. But I must be the biggest fish in the cash games. I just get involved in too many hands. It's ridiculous. I play pretty solid for a while, then go ape-shit. I can't explain it. I played a 6-max 2/4 game the other night. I played ok for a while.. Got down $100 or so.. then up $100 or so.. and then I blow it. I call a raise with Qd8d. Something I'll do occasionally in live games, but something I do way more often online. The flop comes down Q-9-10. Preflop raiser bets, I call. The turn is a Q. He bets I call. The river is garbage, he shoves... I start saying out loud, "This is ridiculous", "I can't win", "This has to be 9s full or tens full". I'm repeating all of these things aloud. And still click call. Just for him to show 9-9 and I'm bust. I mean WTF? I would almost never call here live. My opponent was solid.... you know what, I won't even go into it. I know I shouldn't call.. I know I'm destroyed. And I still ship him my money.
I was sickened by it. I only lost $350 on the session but I was more disgusted that night, than on nights where I lost 5x's that. It's because I knew I played bad and continue to do it. I sent a text to some of my friends saying, "If you ever see me playing cash online, stop me." And I mean it. It's not like I've lost a big amount or that I can't control myself. I just know if I sit down and play, I'm dead money. I play way too erratic and never give people credit for a hand. I came close to telling Bill to post something on GCP stating... "If anyone catches Matt playing cash online, contact Matt and he'll give you $500." That's how mad I was at myself.
Only because I know I'm better than that. It's like a decent pitcher going out and throwing nothing but hanging curveballs. He knows better, but throws bad anyway.
Bottom line, I'm going to limit myself to online tourneys and SNG's. I have been doing ok live.. Booking mostly small winners. I won $300 at Shorty's the other night. I took $200 from Joe Bueche on one hand (AA-KK). It was nice to finally have a hand hold up against him. I gave all that money to Ms. Lorna soon after when I flopped open-ended and turn a flush draw.. I paid to see the f***ing blank on the river and she won, showing KK. GGEEEEZZ! One time!! I nail the flush or straight and check change.. her stack. Talk about implied-odds. But I doubled up through her later when I flopped two pair, 5s and 4s against her AA and my hand held up.
I played a $340 Hold em' event at the Beau Rivage during the Spring Break Poker Classic. No good. I did last pretty long, but that's just a waste of time. It was the same tourney Bill exited early and Reid ran KK into AA. I did happen to outlast them, Davey, and Joe Beuche. But at least they all spent their day doing something else. Instead of placing somewhere in the 30-40 player spot, for a grand total of $0. I lost a sick hand early in the tourney that would have set me up nicely. I raised preflop with 66 and got 2 callers behind me. Flop 8-6-3. Nice. I decide to check. The guy behind me bets. Other player folds. And I elect to just call. The turn pairs the board 8's. Sweet. I check again. And he fires again. I almost got aggressive here(which I think would have cost me even more money), but I called again. I was planning to bet out on the river. That is until the insane 3rd 8 hit the board. How gross. I now have 66 on an 8-6-3-8-8 board. Yuck. I check and he checks. He shows 10-10.. drag your pot genius. I had this guy on the hook. He needs a 10 or running 8's. He got there. The dealer outplayed me.
I stole a pot or two and was doing ok. Then I got lucky. The worse player at our table was short and shoving every once in a while with not-so-great hands. Well he shoves short again UTG or UTG +1. It folds around to me and I call with A-10. His shove was not too large and my A-10 was well ahead of some of his earlier shoves. Then like clockwork, the player behind me shoves in. SOB! It folds back to me. Now I just called like 1500 or so from the original shove, now it cost me like 1700 or so to call this. I'm severely crippled if I lose this one. God I hate putting in this much with A-10 but I can't fold at this point(not in my opinion). And I have both players covered. I say "Oh well, time to get lucky" and call. The UTG player shows A-K.. yikes.. But the other player shows 55. Ok.. not too bad. At least if I spike an A or 10 I can win the side pot and actually make a little money. Well the flop comes A-x-K. Yes.. I flop an ace and I'm ahead for the sidepot. I'm just thinking.. no 5 no 5. And the board runs out.. queen.... Jack.... Giving me broadway to scoop the whole pot! NICE!
I don't have much to talk about after that.. I steal a couple here and there. Then I got involved in a hand with the chipleader. Bad move.. I got low on that hand. Then I shoved all-in preflop with A-K and got called by A-7 suited.. 7 on the turn and I'm outta there. If I win that "race", I'm average with the high blinds and antes in there. O Well.
I had a eventful night at the $2-$5 game later that night. I don't remember too many hands but I ended up losing $300 on the night. It was a roller coaster ride to say the least. I missed a gut-shot straight flush draw early to go down some. Then I rivered a flush with a gut-shot and flush draw a little later to get back up. Then I lost the following hand...
The 1 seat was the biggest fish at the table. I call the $10 straddle with 9c7c. The 1 seat who religiously pops his straddle 99% of the time, does so to $50. I'm not sure how many calls to me. I decide to call from the button. The flop comes down Q-10-6.. two clubs.. here we go again with these gutterball & flush draw hands. The 1 seat bets $75. Which I thought was small and weak. Folds to me and it's just me and him. I played the other monster draws conservatively. But I had other thoughts on this one. I ask how much he has behind. I can't remember the exact amount but I think it was $260 or so. I say, "I'm all-in." And he snap calls. Oops! bad read.. or so I thought.. The boards comes brick, brick and I'm left with 9 high. He tables A-J for ace high. This f***ker snap calls $260 with ace high. I guess he was tired of getting outplayed by everyone and decided to try and get lucky. Kudos to him.
I ended up running KK into AA.. Then won a lot back when I raised with KK preflop and check called the whole way down against a maniac and won. But then in a raised pot, I flopped 2 pair with 9-7 suited on a 9-7-6 board. I bet the flop hard.. call... call...... I bet the turn... call, call... the river is a 5..... I lose to 9-8.. I don't think there's an amount I could have bet to win that hand.. should have just folded top two earlier.. or played it like a chump and hope it holds... It was definitely a fun session. But a loser overall.
I will start blogging more often so I can recall these hands in more detail. Until then.. good luck!!
"If there wasn't luck in this game, I'd be a millionaire"
-Jerry Bergeron.. Local 3-6-12 player
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Couple cash sessions
Hello all. It has been a while since my last post. I have been busy lately and haven't been playing too much. I did play the last 2 Fridays at Harrahs. Last Friday I went there and played mostly 2-5PLO. I showed up and played a little 2-5NLHE and decided to put my name on a very short interest list for a 2-5NLHE/PLO split game. To my surprise the game kicked off about an hour later. I lost a couple hundred playing hold em' before the split game started... Getting priced in for one flush draw and not getting there... then making an 8-high flush and losing to a 9-high flush. I wasn't too thrilled about the lineup for the split game. It was pretty tough. I don't have much to talk about as far as the game goes either. About an hour into it, everyone agreed to make it straight PLO. I didn't make many hands. I actually won a 1K pot with A-A-x-x when the board paired 6's and my two-pair held up on a ridiculous board. It included an all-in player. The betting totals were just right. I got lucky and won a nice one there.
I was lucky on another hand that the player to my left folded preflop. I called the (nearly mandatory)$10 straddle from the button with Ac-7c-7d-4h. The SB folded, the BB completed and the straddle checked his option. The flop came 7-2-2. It checked to me, I bet and took it down. The guy to my left says, "I sure hope you were just bluffing at that and didn't flop 7's full or something. Because I folded two dueces preflop." I showed him 7-7 and he was sick. Had he called the extra $8 preflop, I would have been in bad shape.
Overall I won a little bit playing PLO and ended up losing $69 on the night. What a thrill?!
And now onto my session at Harrahs last night. I went there last night hoping there would be a split game again. I got there at about 8:30 and was surprised to see that there was no list at all for it. I was able to get a seat at a 2-5NLHE game and told Bruce to start an interest list for the split game. Then he tells me the game just broke 30 minutes ago. Unreal? That didn't last long. So I played Hold em' all night. I started off bad early.. bleeding down to $300 from my starting of $500. Then I called a $50 raise preflop with 9d-7d. I know.. not a good idea. But the game was kinda wild and I was dying to stick this $300 in there. Three players to the flop and I'm in position. Flop 10d-10c-6d. Not too bad. Gut-shot straight flush draw. Check, check to me. I almost bet but decide to check. Turn is a black 8. Giving me my gutterball. Nice. The original raiser decides to bet $30 into a $150 pot. The next player raises to $75. I thought the original raiser was weak and the other player picked up on that and is trying to steal it. Screw it... I'm all-in.. now the original raiser calls. Geez! Now I'm dead. At least I was right about the other player, as he folds. Original raiser shows 66 and I can't catch my 8d for a straight-flush. Rebuy!
I bleed down to $200 on my next buy-in. I'm frickin' stuck $800 and aggravated cause I can't catch anything. I reraise a flop bet and shove my last $200 or so in there with the nut-flush draw and 2 overs but get no call.
I hate being short stacked in a cash game. Something that I should probably work on. But I was very very patient last night. I bought several nice pots last night with good reads. Mainly just picking on the weaker players. I got picked off once but overall had a good record. Then I hit a nice flop. I was in the blinds with 10-9o. Flop came J-9-9. I check and it checks to the weakest player at the table and he bets $30 or so. I call. The turn is complete garbage and I check again. Now he bets $40. I thought this bet probably represented a jack. I call. Now the river is garbage again. Here I decide to bet $75. I'm pretty sure I have the best of it. And best of all, this guy will not punish me only a 9. It looks like I missed my straight draw. This guy isn't good enough to make a big play at me here. He ends up calling. I show trips and he mucks. My first decent pot of the night really. I build a nice little amount just stealing pots.
I made my nicest pot on the following hand. I limp from MP/LP with Ks-10s. I had a little more of an aggressive image than I usually have. The flop comes down Q-J-6.. one spade. The weakest player at the table bets $20.. as he does often(he usually gets reraised and mucks). 1 player calls and I raise to $60. Ken(a very solid player and friend) cold calls behind me. It folds to the original raiser who folds and then the guy who called his $20.. raises. Oh shit, time to run. That is until he only raises $100 more. Action is back to me and I'm getting 3-1 basically. He has about $230 behind and I barely have him covered. I still have Ken behind me. Ughh not a situation I enjoy being in. I decide to just call. After some deliberation, Ken folds. Finally(and I do mean finally) I make my hand. 9 on the turn and he puts the rest of it in. I call. The river pairs the board jacks. Yuck. But he flips over Q-6 for 3 pair and I win a nice pot.
All in all I won $20 on the night. But was stuck $800+ so it felt great. I am starting to notice some of the leaks in my game. And I look forward to working on them. Till next time.... Good Luck
I was lucky on another hand that the player to my left folded preflop. I called the (nearly mandatory)$10 straddle from the button with Ac-7c-7d-4h. The SB folded, the BB completed and the straddle checked his option. The flop came 7-2-2. It checked to me, I bet and took it down. The guy to my left says, "I sure hope you were just bluffing at that and didn't flop 7's full or something. Because I folded two dueces preflop." I showed him 7-7 and he was sick. Had he called the extra $8 preflop, I would have been in bad shape.
Overall I won a little bit playing PLO and ended up losing $69 on the night. What a thrill?!
And now onto my session at Harrahs last night. I went there last night hoping there would be a split game again. I got there at about 8:30 and was surprised to see that there was no list at all for it. I was able to get a seat at a 2-5NLHE game and told Bruce to start an interest list for the split game. Then he tells me the game just broke 30 minutes ago. Unreal? That didn't last long. So I played Hold em' all night. I started off bad early.. bleeding down to $300 from my starting of $500. Then I called a $50 raise preflop with 9d-7d. I know.. not a good idea. But the game was kinda wild and I was dying to stick this $300 in there. Three players to the flop and I'm in position. Flop 10d-10c-6d. Not too bad. Gut-shot straight flush draw. Check, check to me. I almost bet but decide to check. Turn is a black 8. Giving me my gutterball. Nice. The original raiser decides to bet $30 into a $150 pot. The next player raises to $75. I thought the original raiser was weak and the other player picked up on that and is trying to steal it. Screw it... I'm all-in.. now the original raiser calls. Geez! Now I'm dead. At least I was right about the other player, as he folds. Original raiser shows 66 and I can't catch my 8d for a straight-flush. Rebuy!
I bleed down to $200 on my next buy-in. I'm frickin' stuck $800 and aggravated cause I can't catch anything. I reraise a flop bet and shove my last $200 or so in there with the nut-flush draw and 2 overs but get no call.
I hate being short stacked in a cash game. Something that I should probably work on. But I was very very patient last night. I bought several nice pots last night with good reads. Mainly just picking on the weaker players. I got picked off once but overall had a good record. Then I hit a nice flop. I was in the blinds with 10-9o. Flop came J-9-9. I check and it checks to the weakest player at the table and he bets $30 or so. I call. The turn is complete garbage and I check again. Now he bets $40. I thought this bet probably represented a jack. I call. Now the river is garbage again. Here I decide to bet $75. I'm pretty sure I have the best of it. And best of all, this guy will not punish me only a 9. It looks like I missed my straight draw. This guy isn't good enough to make a big play at me here. He ends up calling. I show trips and he mucks. My first decent pot of the night really. I build a nice little amount just stealing pots.
I made my nicest pot on the following hand. I limp from MP/LP with Ks-10s. I had a little more of an aggressive image than I usually have. The flop comes down Q-J-6.. one spade. The weakest player at the table bets $20.. as he does often(he usually gets reraised and mucks). 1 player calls and I raise to $60. Ken(a very solid player and friend) cold calls behind me. It folds to the original raiser who folds and then the guy who called his $20.. raises. Oh shit, time to run. That is until he only raises $100 more. Action is back to me and I'm getting 3-1 basically. He has about $230 behind and I barely have him covered. I still have Ken behind me. Ughh not a situation I enjoy being in. I decide to just call. After some deliberation, Ken folds. Finally(and I do mean finally) I make my hand. 9 on the turn and he puts the rest of it in. I call. The river pairs the board jacks. Yuck. But he flips over Q-6 for 3 pair and I win a nice pot.
All in all I won $20 on the night. But was stuck $800+ so it felt great. I am starting to notice some of the leaks in my game. And I look forward to working on them. Till next time.... Good Luck
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Bad Beat, Bad dining, Bad players....
Hello all. I've played a fair bit of poker since my last post. Including last night. I picked up $300. But I was up about $1100 at one point so it felt like a loss. I'll touch more on the session soon. But first, I wanted to mention that I was finally on a Bad Beat Jackpot table last Friday. I received a player's share of $469. I was on the must-move $2-$5NLHE game when I got called to the main game. I went straight there and was dealt in. On my first hand, Jackpot! lol. Two players flopped a set. They got it all in on the flop.. Running Quad, Quad. Sweet! The thing that really blew was the fact that the jackpot hadn't been hit in a while and was built up to $60k+. Then it got hit.... about 3 hours before we hit it. Shit! That would have been a sweet player's share. Oh well, can't be too greedy. Moose held the losing hand and Ray(not GCP Ray) held the winning hand. Moose tipped $700(About 10%), and Ray tipped about $300 or so. I was glad to see the two big winners tip well. And most of the player's share guy tipped also. So Darlene did pretty well. She made more on a $15K jackpot than we did on a $65k jackpot in Amelia.
Now onto bad dining. Lisa and I went eat at Stella! in New Orleans. A rather expensive, upscale restaurant. I was disappointed. Mainly at the menu. There was a wide variety. But nothing I was thrilled about. Our starter was some meat, I had no clue what it was but I decided to gamble. Turns out it was duck or goose liver. Oh well, can't fault Stella! for my decision. I tried it but didn't care for it. And it was a tiny portion. I won't go onto too much detail about the entrees and crap. They were probably prepared excellently, but I just didn't care for either. I'm just too much of a simple guy to enjoy this over the top shit. Service was good and the setting was romantic. I'll just head over to Ruth's Chris next time.
Now onto bad players. It's so much easier to play online. As far as setting. You can sit in your underwear and play $200-$400 if you want. If I want to go play at Harrah's, I have to shower up, get dressed, etc... drive 1.5 hours.... get on the list... etc. But I'm convinced now more than ever......... the live players are so much worse. There are definitely great live players. But there's almost always a couple of big fish at the table. My last 4 sessions have went -350, -1100, +2215 & +300 win last night. The $350 loss was annoying because I knew I couldn't play long and donked off $350. The $1100 loss was brutal. I loss with a set to a flush draw 3 times. It started to become funny. I can't think of too many big hands that I won during the big win. I won a bunch of nice medium-sized pots. I think my biggest win came from a call that I didn't want to make. I limp UTG with AdKd. I'm hoping someone raises. But nobody does. Great, now I have to play very cautiously. That is until the flop came 3 diamonds. It checks around. I think. The turn pairs the board 6's. I bet and someone moves all-in for $300+. Yuck. The bet is a huge one relative to the pot size. But here's why I called. The player moving all-in is a guy in his 20s who showed up at about 5AM, glassy eyed, with a drink in his hand and Mardi Gras beads around his neck. He has only been playing for 20 minutes. And has already shown down garbage. Oh well, I call.. he has 6-2. The board doesn't pair I won a nice pot.
Onto last night. A $300 "win". I was up $150 or so on the 1-2 game while waiting to play 2-5. While the dealer is dealing, I get a call to move to 2-5. Cool, this is my last hand. I look down at two black queens. I raise preflop to $15 and get min-raised to $30 by the SB. I call. The flop comes down 10 high. Now the SB leads up $15? I never have any idea what the hell this means. If you're ever in a game with me and want to make my head spin. Bet $10 into a $400 pot. Anyway, I decide to see where I'm at and raise to $50. Then he moves all-in for $75 more. Damn I hate the way this turned out. I called, praying he had jacks. No, aces and I fail to improve. I didn't like this hand at all. I should have folded to the shove I guess. It just wasn't for a lot more money. I wish he had $150 more or something.
Well I move to the 2-5 game virtually even from the 1-2 game. I won a ton early when I flopped a boat. I straddled for $10. A couple callers to Wayne H. who makes it $30. I'm assuming he's just trying to build a pot cause nobody is folding for $20. Including me from the straddle with 4h7h. We see a multi-way flop of 7-7-4. Two clubs. Nice. I check and it checks around. the turn is a red ace. I bet $65. The loose player behind me calls and Yee makes it $200. The table folds to me and I have a decision. I'm surely not folding. If you have A-7 or AA. Merry X-mas. I'm deciding whether to raise or call. I decide to call, hoping the loose player behind me joins the party, and he does. Three players to the river for $200. The river is the 6c. Completing straight and flush. I'm first to act. I stall for a little while before moving in for $405. The loose player folds and Yee eventually calls. I show my boat. He shows a 7 and mucks. Luckily Yee isn't tight and paid me off. I almost cost myself $400 by not shoving the turn. That 6c was a terrible card for Yee. But he still paid.
I ended up giving a lot back. I played AA a little different than I usually do by checking the flop behind. But the donkey I was in the pot with heads-up would have called with the gutter that he nailed on the turn. He held Q-J and the flop came K-9-8. Check check. The turn is a 10. He bets and I call. Take a guess at the river. That's right, ace. Now I have the 3rd nuts behind Q-J and J-7. He bets $260 all-in on river. Uhhhhhhhh. I call... you win.
Then later I reraised a small raise preflop with JJ and Yee shoves all-in. Lol. He's got several hundred. I fold. A little later Yee raises preflop to $25. I make it $100 with Q-Q. Gets back to him and he shoves again. lol. I'm thinking about it(not really) and he shows me AA. I guess I fold.
I went 0-4 on open-ended straight draws late in the night that cost me. Luckily I rivered a boat with Q-10 on one of my last hands. I over bet the pot on the river. And Yee paid me off with the straight he made on turn.
This post was not to talk much in detail about my hands. But just to touch on the skill level of live players. I have seen so much bad play in my last 4 or 5 sessions. I made a $200 bet with A-10 on a 10-10-7-7-4 board and got paid off by JJ. I only bet $50 on the turn. And then decided to go for $200 on the river. Because I knew the guy was bad enough to pay me off with a seven. Little did I know he'd pay me with JJ lol. I am just a little more inspired right now to play because of some of the bad play I have seen.
I work early the next week so I may go play soon. Good luck to all.
Now onto bad dining. Lisa and I went eat at Stella! in New Orleans. A rather expensive, upscale restaurant. I was disappointed. Mainly at the menu. There was a wide variety. But nothing I was thrilled about. Our starter was some meat, I had no clue what it was but I decided to gamble. Turns out it was duck or goose liver. Oh well, can't fault Stella! for my decision. I tried it but didn't care for it. And it was a tiny portion. I won't go onto too much detail about the entrees and crap. They were probably prepared excellently, but I just didn't care for either. I'm just too much of a simple guy to enjoy this over the top shit. Service was good and the setting was romantic. I'll just head over to Ruth's Chris next time.
Now onto bad players. It's so much easier to play online. As far as setting. You can sit in your underwear and play $200-$400 if you want. If I want to go play at Harrah's, I have to shower up, get dressed, etc... drive 1.5 hours.... get on the list... etc. But I'm convinced now more than ever......... the live players are so much worse. There are definitely great live players. But there's almost always a couple of big fish at the table. My last 4 sessions have went -350, -1100, +2215 & +300 win last night. The $350 loss was annoying because I knew I couldn't play long and donked off $350. The $1100 loss was brutal. I loss with a set to a flush draw 3 times. It started to become funny. I can't think of too many big hands that I won during the big win. I won a bunch of nice medium-sized pots. I think my biggest win came from a call that I didn't want to make. I limp UTG with AdKd. I'm hoping someone raises. But nobody does. Great, now I have to play very cautiously. That is until the flop came 3 diamonds. It checks around. I think. The turn pairs the board 6's. I bet and someone moves all-in for $300+. Yuck. The bet is a huge one relative to the pot size. But here's why I called. The player moving all-in is a guy in his 20s who showed up at about 5AM, glassy eyed, with a drink in his hand and Mardi Gras beads around his neck. He has only been playing for 20 minutes. And has already shown down garbage. Oh well, I call.. he has 6-2. The board doesn't pair I won a nice pot.
Onto last night. A $300 "win". I was up $150 or so on the 1-2 game while waiting to play 2-5. While the dealer is dealing, I get a call to move to 2-5. Cool, this is my last hand. I look down at two black queens. I raise preflop to $15 and get min-raised to $30 by the SB. I call. The flop comes down 10 high. Now the SB leads up $15? I never have any idea what the hell this means. If you're ever in a game with me and want to make my head spin. Bet $10 into a $400 pot. Anyway, I decide to see where I'm at and raise to $50. Then he moves all-in for $75 more. Damn I hate the way this turned out. I called, praying he had jacks. No, aces and I fail to improve. I didn't like this hand at all. I should have folded to the shove I guess. It just wasn't for a lot more money. I wish he had $150 more or something.
Well I move to the 2-5 game virtually even from the 1-2 game. I won a ton early when I flopped a boat. I straddled for $10. A couple callers to Wayne H. who makes it $30. I'm assuming he's just trying to build a pot cause nobody is folding for $20. Including me from the straddle with 4h7h. We see a multi-way flop of 7-7-4. Two clubs. Nice. I check and it checks around. the turn is a red ace. I bet $65. The loose player behind me calls and Yee makes it $200. The table folds to me and I have a decision. I'm surely not folding. If you have A-7 or AA. Merry X-mas. I'm deciding whether to raise or call. I decide to call, hoping the loose player behind me joins the party, and he does. Three players to the river for $200. The river is the 6c. Completing straight and flush. I'm first to act. I stall for a little while before moving in for $405. The loose player folds and Yee eventually calls. I show my boat. He shows a 7 and mucks. Luckily Yee isn't tight and paid me off. I almost cost myself $400 by not shoving the turn. That 6c was a terrible card for Yee. But he still paid.
I ended up giving a lot back. I played AA a little different than I usually do by checking the flop behind. But the donkey I was in the pot with heads-up would have called with the gutter that he nailed on the turn. He held Q-J and the flop came K-9-8. Check check. The turn is a 10. He bets and I call. Take a guess at the river. That's right, ace. Now I have the 3rd nuts behind Q-J and J-7. He bets $260 all-in on river. Uhhhhhhhh. I call... you win.
Then later I reraised a small raise preflop with JJ and Yee shoves all-in. Lol. He's got several hundred. I fold. A little later Yee raises preflop to $25. I make it $100 with Q-Q. Gets back to him and he shoves again. lol. I'm thinking about it(not really) and he shows me AA. I guess I fold.
I went 0-4 on open-ended straight draws late in the night that cost me. Luckily I rivered a boat with Q-10 on one of my last hands. I over bet the pot on the river. And Yee paid me off with the straight he made on turn.
This post was not to talk much in detail about my hands. But just to touch on the skill level of live players. I have seen so much bad play in my last 4 or 5 sessions. I made a $200 bet with A-10 on a 10-10-7-7-4 board and got paid off by JJ. I only bet $50 on the turn. And then decided to go for $200 on the river. Because I knew the guy was bad enough to pay me off with a seven. Little did I know he'd pay me with JJ lol. I am just a little more inspired right now to play because of some of the bad play I have seen.
I work early the next week so I may go play soon. Good luck to all.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Disappointed
I have been playing a fair bit of $3-$6 NLHE 6-max on Full Tilt. As well as some $100 heads-up matches. I've done very well with the heads-up matches. But average at best at the cash game. That's due to my play. As written on the title of this post, I am disappointed in myself. In my cash game play that is. Over the past couple of weeks I have lost way too much money in marginal situations. I could spell it out to you like this...
*I raised preflop with AA and got called by the maniac. Flop is J-9-5. The Maniac has 9-5.
*I had A-K and went broke on a A-8-5-J-A board to a set, turn boat.
*I went broke with QQ to 10-7.. Flop 9-8-x. Turn garbage. River 6.
*I raise with KK.. Get one caller.. flop 8-8-9.. I bet.. he raises.. I reraise.. he shoves..... ahhh I fold.
*Worst of all, I basically decide to coin flip for 1K. After a series of raises. One guy who just called a small raise decides to reraise.. I thought from the way he played it he probably held JJ or QQ.. and not AA or KK. I shove all-in with A-K.. in a big pot with 4 way action preflop. Get called by QQ and board bricks out. This hand I was SO upset with. I mean what the hell am I doing flipping for a grand?? It's not a tournament, I should have waited for a better spot.
*And finally today. Guy limps.. next guy raises to $27. I reraise to $70 with AA. I get cold called by the limper?? Who happens to have 67o.. And Bingo, flop is 5-8-9.
A lot of people would just call this cold-decked and write it off. Well I mean the boards were "cold-decked" but I could have saved a lot more money on these hands. Well I'm not sure about the QQ hand.. I didn't go broke there or double him up. And I was ahead until the river there. And the KK hand I probably play that close to the same. But the first AA hand, both AK hands, and the most recent AA hand... I could have folded earlier in the hand and saved myself a lot of money. Both aces hands I was in the pot with the maniac at the table. So it makes those hands even harder to lay down. But I know I should have gotten away at some point. I know better than to over-value big pairs. It's something about this Internet thing that just makes it so much easier to put it in. I'm playing those big hands way too hard. Like I mentioned earlier, it's not a tournament. The blinds aren't going up. And I know this, I know better... that's what's eating me up. 95% of my poker playing is in cash games. I hardly play any tournaments(comparatively). I know I have to pick better spots. I've folded KK preflop a few times before, and have always been correct. I don't overplay this crap. That is until recently.
I've made nice money with sets, flushes, straights, etc. recently and pissed it away with big pairs. But I know.. the first tier is your money makers. And I have to keep that in mind. I'm just writing this to vent. I'm upset with myself. A little self evaluation should do a little good for my game at least.
*I raised preflop with AA and got called by the maniac. Flop is J-9-5. The Maniac has 9-5.
*I had A-K and went broke on a A-8-5-J-A board to a set, turn boat.
*I went broke with QQ to 10-7.. Flop 9-8-x. Turn garbage. River 6.
*I raise with KK.. Get one caller.. flop 8-8-9.. I bet.. he raises.. I reraise.. he shoves..... ahhh I fold.
*Worst of all, I basically decide to coin flip for 1K. After a series of raises. One guy who just called a small raise decides to reraise.. I thought from the way he played it he probably held JJ or QQ.. and not AA or KK. I shove all-in with A-K.. in a big pot with 4 way action preflop. Get called by QQ and board bricks out. This hand I was SO upset with. I mean what the hell am I doing flipping for a grand?? It's not a tournament, I should have waited for a better spot.
*And finally today. Guy limps.. next guy raises to $27. I reraise to $70 with AA. I get cold called by the limper?? Who happens to have 67o.. And Bingo, flop is 5-8-9.
A lot of people would just call this cold-decked and write it off. Well I mean the boards were "cold-decked" but I could have saved a lot more money on these hands. Well I'm not sure about the QQ hand.. I didn't go broke there or double him up. And I was ahead until the river there. And the KK hand I probably play that close to the same. But the first AA hand, both AK hands, and the most recent AA hand... I could have folded earlier in the hand and saved myself a lot of money. Both aces hands I was in the pot with the maniac at the table. So it makes those hands even harder to lay down. But I know I should have gotten away at some point. I know better than to over-value big pairs. It's something about this Internet thing that just makes it so much easier to put it in. I'm playing those big hands way too hard. Like I mentioned earlier, it's not a tournament. The blinds aren't going up. And I know this, I know better... that's what's eating me up. 95% of my poker playing is in cash games. I hardly play any tournaments(comparatively). I know I have to pick better spots. I've folded KK preflop a few times before, and have always been correct. I don't overplay this crap. That is until recently.
I've made nice money with sets, flushes, straights, etc. recently and pissed it away with big pairs. But I know.. the first tier is your money makers. And I have to keep that in mind. I'm just writing this to vent. I'm upset with myself. A little self evaluation should do a little good for my game at least.
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