A Near Push

I went play Tuesday at Harrah's and Wednesday at Shorty's only to lose $28. I won $130 at Harrah's and lost $158 at shorty's. Exhilarating huh? Well let's start at Harrah's. My girlfriend Lisa and I went to a costume shop on Camp St. conveniently located right near Harrah's. Afterwards we headed over to Harrah's. I sat at a 1-2NLHE game and got the ball rolling pretty quickly. I was down $50 early just not connecting with anything. I also got lucky when an Asian guy with a Raider beanie raised to $15 preflop. 1 caller to me and I call with A-K. The action gets around to an older gentleman who moves all-in for $62 total. Action goes back to Asian Raider who shoves all-in for about $150. Dammit! Folds to me and I decide to fold. The flop came A-J-6.. then brick brick.. The older man had A-K also and Asian Raider shows a set of jacks. Had he only called the all-in preflop I would have given him some more money with my A-K. Anyway, I dodged a bullet there.

Well not long after, a guy raises to $12 from the 1 seat. 2 callers to me in the BB with Qc-10c. I call the additional $10 and we see a 4-way flop.. BINGO.. Kh-Js-9s.. I check, 1 seat bets $45.. Asian Raider calls, other guy folds...action is to me. I only have about $120 total.. I'm all-in. Both players call! I'm thinking shit.. there's no way I can dodge 2 streets here. The turn is 6h.. check, check.. River is 2h.. Nice! Spade flush didn't get there.. nor did the board pair.. If someone back doored a heart flush, so be it. Nope.. I was up against K-Q from the 1 seat, and 10s-4s from Asian Raider. SWEET! So now I'm up like $200 or so.

I end up flopping a set of 2's to win about $150 from K-K. I was up almost $400 at one point... only a couple hours into play. Until disaster strikes. I haven't played a hand in a while until I'm dealt Js-9s. I swear to you my previous blog about my session where I made all my money with J-9 never even crossed my mind. For some reason I guess this hand looks good to me. Well it folds to me in MP and I decided to mix it up a little and raise to $15. Well a guy 2 seats to my left calls and starts a chain reaction.. We go to the flop like 5 or 6 handed. That wasn't exactly how I planned it. So I know I'm gonna have to smoke this flop or I'm pretty much done with the hand. Well the flop is 9h-2s-5s. Geez! Giving me top pair and a flush draw. Checks to me and I bet $45. The guy 2 seats to my left calls. A guy to his left moves in for $60 something total. It folds around to me and I call(because I can't raise even it I wanted to). Now here's the part that actually kinda messed with my head. The guy 2 seats to my left is a somewhat regular. I've played with him a few times before. He's pretty solid/tight. Now he asks the dealer, "Can I raise?" Which she promptly says, "No". And he calls. The turn is the 7s. Giving me a jack-high flush. For some reason I check, pretending to be afraid of the flush. I am hoping he flopped a set and will bet to protect against a spade so I can check-raise him. Him asking if he could raise the flop really fooled me. I don't think he did it as some sort of strategy. And if he did, Koo dos(if that's how you spell it) to him. He bets $80... leaving himself with about $120. Here's my thoughts.. I've played with this guy before. I don't think he's the type of player who would want to raise on the flop and isolate with just the nut-flush draw. After all, I did raise preflop then bet a nice size bet into 6 people. Maybe if he flopped a flush and straight draw. But I also didn't think he would be the first to call $15 with some type of As-3s or As-4s preflop. So I thought he had a set. I check-raise all-in.. He calls and flips over As-3s for the nuts and I lose like $280 or something on that one. The asking if he could raise thing really made me think he had a set or something. Damn J-9 suited lol. I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not that I raised with it preflop as apposed to calling. That board would have cost me a lot regardless.

I ended up playing a while longer until finally I picked up winning $130. It did do a little something for my confidence though. The last time I booked 3 winners in a row Michael Jackson had a fro.

Onto Shorty's. Like I mentioned before, I lost $158 on this session and I was damn lucky to only lose that. I only played from 1:15-6 but I was SOOO card dead. I showed up and started a new must-move table. It was only 1:15 or so and I was helping start the 3rd NL table. Nice. I buy-in for $300 and pick one of the only seats left available. With Tim Hebert to my right and Bruce to my left. Bruce is a tough opponent. He likes to mix it up. It was my second time playing with him and was impressed by his play. The only other time playing with him I lost about $1k to him on one of the worst hands I have ever played. I'm still kicking my ass for that one.. he reraised me preflop with 7-7 when I held A-K and the flop came K-7-x.. tough one, but I had plenty of opportunity to get away. You live and you learn. Anyway, onto this day. At least I was lucky enough to be on Tim's left as he was raising and betting a lot of pots. I didn't catch anything to play. Occasionally playing small pairs and Broadway cards for raises, only to completely miss. Well a couple of people were up from the table when everyone folded to me on the button with K-Qo. I raised the blinds to $25 and both called. The flop came down Qc-3h-7d. Check, check to me. I bet $45. Bruce studies for a moment and calls. Bruce is the type of player who likes to make very thin calls. Not that anything is wrong with that. He just likes challenging himself and making sure he doesn't have the best hand. The BB folds. Bruce's call on the flop makes me believe he has a 3 or 7.. possibly 5-6 or something like that also.. Remember, I said he mixes it up. Heads-up to the turn.. 9d. Bruce checks. I know he's thinking this is where he's going to see if I actually have something or I was just making a c-bet. Well the turn didn't really scare me. I'm really thinking he has a 3 or 7 and I'm pretty far in the lead. So I decide try and disguise my hand and check. By doing so I think he's gonna bet the river if he misses. In which case I'll just call. Or he'll check the river and try to make a hero call with a small pair. Well the river is the 10d. It puts a backdoor flush and straight out there. But I still think I'm in the lead.. Now he checks. I'm hoping he didn't make 2-pair with 7-10 suited or Q-10 or something. But I decide and go for the value bet. I bet $50.. leaving myself with about $120. Here is where I'm expecting him to call very light. After all, I played this how plenty of people would play A-K, A-J type hands.. Raise preflop, continuation bet, slow down once you get called... and bet the river as a final attempt to buy the pot. ANYWAY, he does something I wasn't expecting.. he raises. He starts cutting out enough chips to put me all-in. I beat him into the pot and he says, "That's probably a good call." I turn over my K-Q and he mucks. He was a little flustered but overall understood. We discussed it afterwards and I think he realized I'm not just someone who can't get away from top-pair. Here is the perfect example of the difference between most 1-2 players and a tricky 5-5 player. In the 1-2 game at Harrah's I would have just bet the turn like I'm supposed to. But just from playing with Bruce for a few hours I know some of his tendencies. I fully expected him to bet the river or just call light. But the all-in check raise didn't make much sense. I had been playing pretty tight. I checked the turn. If he made a set, flush, straight, etc... he should have bet the river. He can't rely on me to bet there.

I'm up almost $200 now. But after a while of catching shit..I'm back to the $300 I started with.. Or maybe a little lower. A guy named Bill(Not you Wild Bill) came sit to my immediate right. Though maybe this guy is nicknamed "Wild Bill" also. At least he should be. From the very first hand he came in raising preflop. And continued the trend quite often. He was raising A LOT preflop.. c-betting 100%, and overall didn't slow down too much. It was working for and against him. I played snug for a long time until the following hand. 1 guy limps for $5 and it gets to Bill in the SB. Like clock-work he pumps it to $25. I look down to see A-10off. I call from the BB. Normally I fold here but I haven't seen a hand in ages and I know I'm miles ahead of Bill's range. The limper calls. The limper is a very tight player who also commented that he was in the middle of the worse run of his life(which in my opinion makes him even tighter). Well the flop comes down J-7-3 rainbow. Bill is first to act and bets $45. I don't know why I want this pot but I do. I know if I call, the limper isn't gonna call/raise unless he has a J or flopped a set. So I call and the limper folds. The turn is a rag and Bill does something I didn't remember seeing before. He checks. What? Apparently he has some sense and knows I haven't played a hand in a hour and thinks I called the flop with something. Here is where I "misplayed" this hand. You'll see later why I put misplayed in quotes. I should have bet here. The board was nowhere near a raising hand and a bet from me here should probably take this thing down. But I'm still a little gun shy from running badly that I check.. Hoping he checks the river and I can see if my ace-high is good. Well the river is probably the worst possible card, Kd. It completes a backdoor flush but I'm not sweating that because there's not a chance in hell Bill is checking a flush draw if he picked one up on the turn. He pretty quickly says "One-hundred" and sticks a stack of red out there. I quickly call with my ace-high. Before I reveal my hand he says, "That's a good call." And I'm thinking, "Well you haven't seen my hand yet." Lol. Because he would say the same thing if he had A-Q or 55 or any pair for that matter. Well I flip over A-10 and he looks at it.. reviews the board.. looks back at my hand.. reviews the board and says, "Wait he's got nothing." I'm thinking, "Oh shit, here comes the pocket 2's or something." But he rolls over the Q-10 and I drag a nice little pot with ace high. This was a very risky call. One I don't make often. A lot of times that day he made big bets with strong hands. Every time he would say, "Ahhh let's make it $200." or "Wellll why don't we just put it all-in." Or something kinda laid back and casual. The $100 bet in our hand was much more forceful. He just said roughly, "One-hundred." I didn't think he had much at all(obviously). I stuck with my read and pulled the trigger. I mentioned earlier that I had "misplayed" the turn. I wrote misplayed in quotes because if I did bet the turn, he probably would have folded and I would have missed out on that $100. But it was still definitely the correct play. He ended up putting the pressure on me. And I was forced to make a tough decision I don't like making.

Well that's why I said I was lucky to only lose $158. That's about the only 2 hands I can write about. I was so card dead it was sick. There was plenty of action but I couldn't get my feet wet. I played for 5 hours and my best hands were A-K twice and 7-7. Luckily I'm bad enough to call off all my money with top-pair and ace-high. LoL.

That's it for this entry. I'm not sure when I'll play again. I work early again Saturday so I may make it to Harrah's 3 Saturdays in a row. Who knows.

"I'm the best poker player in Terreborne Parish." - Jerry Bergeron

Matt Bryant has conquered the World!

Or at least the 1-2 game for 2 straight sessions lol. And truthfully, I don't really know how. I can't remember any real hands were I made money. I went play last night at Harrah's. Joe and I arrived at about 10:30 or so. We both got on the 1-2 list and it wouldn't be long before my biggest nightmare would occur... We are starting a new game. I don't mind playing 1-2 at all if the stacks are somewhat deep. But I hate this shit. 3 people(including Joe & I) buy in for $200, 2 people buy in for about $150. 1 person for $100 and like 4 people buy-in for $60. I haven't played one hand and I'm aggravated already. Not to mention 5 people at our table were Georgia fans from the LSU/Georgia game. And these were the idiots who bought in for $100 and less. Half the table didn't know what a straddle was. Well I win a few small pots. I flopped the wheel and broke one of the short stacks. I'm up $100 or so. I remember one hand were I raised preflop to $10 from MP with 6c-4c. The table was pretty tight. I got one caller from a tight player behind me. The flop came out A-K-x... two clubs. This guy was tight so I thought this flop probably smoked him. I wanted to represent the ace. But this guy was so tight I thought he had an ace and I didn't want to get raised and not be able see if I hit my flush. So I check and he checks behind. The turn is a rag.. but my 3rd club. I bet out $15 and he called. The river was a 10. I bet out $30-$40. And he payed me off. He allegedly had A-K but who knows. Scooped up a nice one there. I win a few and lost a few here and there. I ran my boat into quads. Everyone was beating up on this one annoying ass woman from Georgia. Everyone but me that is. I played with her for 6 hours and I swear she did not shut up for 30 seconds. She was solid but bad.. if that makes any sense. She was decent but over-valued her hands. I could not beat her to save my damn life. I flopped a set of 6's on a 6-4-7 board. I reraised a bet on the flop from another guy. She cold calls. Turn is an 8 and she ships it. Unreal. I fold... Another hand I raised preflop with Ad-Jd. She called from the SB as did the BB. The flop came out jack high.. 2 clubs and she leads like $15 into me?? The BB folded. She had no imagination what-so-ever. But I mean I raised before the flop and it came like J-5-2 or something like that. I elect to just call because I don't know if I'm up against a set or J-10 or some shit like this. I played this hand pretty much the same exact way I did against the donkey in my last blog. The turn is garbage and now she bets like $25. I'm so clueless. I call.. the river is the Kc, completing a flush. And she ships it. (I should note that someone was all-in preflop or on the flop). I study for a second and decide to fold. She shows K-J for top two and wins the pot. I played this hand like a chicken shit but thank God I did. Because there's no way in hell she was laying down K-J postflop. And she would have rivered me. One guy came to our table with $100 and lost it pretty quickly. One of the million 1-2 players who over value top pair. And it's not a good idea to buy in for 50BB's and over value anything lol. Well he rebuys and quickly wins a nice little pot before we get into a hand. I limp for $2 with 7-8o and we see a multiway flop. Flop is 6-7-9. It checks to me and I bet $10. The before mentioned guy calls. The turn is an ace. I check and he bets $20. Now normally I would probably fold here but I know if this guy has an ace, and I make my straight(even with 4 to a straight out there), he's gonna give me some money. So I call and make a stupid play which worked out in my favor. Like an ass, I check in the dark. The river is a 10, making my straight. Luckily for me this guy was an idiot and bet $20. By checking in the dark, I made it easy for him to check behind, in which case I would have lost a bet. But he bet $20. I raised him to $75. And without much thought, he calls and flips over A-6 for 2 pair and I drag a nice little pot there. I wasn't really happy to make the turn call, that's why I checked in the dark. But if I did bet the river, he probably just calls and I lose $40 or so. I was lucky he was dumb and it worked out in my favor. Our table breaks and most of us move to the same table with some others. One young guy was over-playing the shit out of his hands all night. I ended up flopping a set of nines after he raised preflop. We were both deep-stacked and I was PRAYING he had an overpair because I knew he would he given me major money. But he ended up having like A-8 and paired his 8 and only gave me a little money. Like I mentioned before, I don't remember too many big hands. I guess I just picked up a few decent pots and stayed out of harms way for the most part. I flopped the nuts with K-J on a Q-10-9 board. Only to have someone else hold K-J also. I ended up winning $420 overall. I have been playing more patiently and it's worked out so far. I have played a fair bit of $5-$10NLHE and a lot of $2-$5. In those games, especially $5-$10, the stacks are deeper and you can play some serious poker. You have to be creative and always keep the other guy guessing. I knew this from the get-go, but now it's REALLY sinking in.... You should play $1-$2 pretty much by the book(unless you happen to run into a tricky opponent). Because nobody is folding. There isn't much room at all to bluff because the stacks aren't seep enough(usually), and again... BECAUSE NOBODY IS GOING TO FOLD! I've been trying to play small ball and ABC poker for now. It's worked OK in these last two sessions. But that can all come crumbling down in a second. But wish me luck!!

"Life is too easy to play dice."- Phil Ivey

J-9 suited the new nuts?

Only for a small-time donk like me.. I actually had a great session last night. Well this morning actually. I left work at 8pm and talked to Joe on the phone. He agreed to lend me more money if I wanted to go play. Well I finished watching LSU sneak by South Carolina then we met in Raceland on our way to Harrah's. We arrived at about midnight and sat at the same 1-2 game. When we sat down, an older gentleman who Joe knew was leaving and whispered to us, "If ya'll don't get any money from the 2 seat, I'm gonna come back and kiss your ass." Or something to that effect. Basically saying the 2 seat was an idiot. Which excites me. Especially since he's the chip leader with like $1,500 in front of him. Well not long into my session I flop a set of 3's and win a decent pot to nearly double my $200 buy-in to almost $400. I won a couple of hands to build me up. Then a couple people leave, Joe and some other guy are up from the table.. and suddenly we are playing like 6 handed. Good thing is, the idiot in the 2 seat was still there. Well I would win a couple of sweet pots from him. The guy limped with nearly everything and called a raise with nearly everything. I raised with Q-Q and got 2 callers. The idiot being one of them. The flop comes down 10-8-2 and he leads into me with $50. I elect to just call and the guy behind me folds. The turn is garbage and he bets $50 again. I'm pretty sure I have the best hand here. But I can't be sure as a hand like 10-2 suited is definitely in his range. I don't want to create a huge pot with this moron with one pair so I just call again. A king hits the river and we check, check. He shows 10-6o and I win a decent pot. If I raise the flop, he calls.. and I would have won a nice pot later.. but I was so unsure if he out flopped me, I elected to play small ball. A couple of hands later I won a pot from him with K-J when the flop came jack high and I rivered a 3rd jack(not that that was necessary). Another nice lil pot. I was rolling right along. Then became pretty card dead for a while. Then suddenly Joe, who is sitting to my immediate right, raises like 3 out of 5 pots. I'm sure he had monsters every time lol, but I was getting a little tired of it. Also, the game was loose and I wanted to mix it up. Well after a few limpers, he raises his SB to $17. I look down to see Jd-9d. Oh yeah.. I'm in there. I call along with a couple others. Flop Q-10-8. Two diamonds.. Umm not bad. Joe bets $40. I just call, actually hoping everyone folds and we can check it down. Well the guy to my left calls and we have a pot. 3 handed to the turn.. a black 4. Perfect. Joe checks.. and I bet $125. And to my surprise, they both call! Now I'm pretty sure I don't want to hit a diamond. COME ON BRICK!! River was in fact a brick. I bet $125 again but get no callers. Joe shows Ad-Kd for a monster draw. And the other guy claimed to have J-10. Now a month ago I would have flopped that straight, bet the turn, got 2 callers, and the 4 of diamonds would have hit the river to complete everything and I would have been smoked. Finally the deck slaps me in the face. Well I am up a good bit now. Like up $700 or so. I play pretty snug for a while. Until the following hand occurs. Action is to me and I limp with Jc-9c. Or so I thought, I looked up to notice Melvin raised to $15. Oh well. I call hoping one of the 2 loose guys behind me call but they let me down. Melvin and I to the flop... Flop... 10-8-7. Wow I did it again. He checks and I bet $30, thinking I'm about to take it down when he calls. The turn is again a blank. But this time is was a little more relevant.. like a 5 or something. And it also puts the 2nd club on board. I pick up a flush draw with my already made nuts lol.And now he decides to bet $100 into me. I thought maybe he flopped a set now. After a while of deliberating whether to raise or call, I just call. The river is a blank.. I want to say it put a 4 card straight out there but my J-9 was still the nuts. Now here's where you know you're running good, he throws 4 black chips into the pot. AMEN! He only has about $300 behind that. I sit for a while, pretending to have a decision on my hands. He then says, "It's not a tournament, you can buy more chips after." I don't say anything, and a few seconds later I announce that I'm all in. He says, "Well I guess I missed" and mucks his hand. I made about $550 on that one. I didn't play many hands afterwards. Not any of any relevance. Until my last hand.. I called a raise from Melvin with 9-9. 3-way to the flop of Q-J-x. Melvin checks, I check, guy checks. I'll put it like this... The other guy has 10-8 and I have pocket 9's... Take a guess at what the turn card was.... yeah a 9. I bet the turn, he calls, Melvin folds. River is shit and I bet $50. He raises to $125 and I end up paying him of. I lost almost $200 on that one and I picked up. I cashed out at $1308. I won $1108. Paid Joe back the $800 I owed him. And pocketed $500 myself. Long overdue. There were a few more I could write about. I had Q-Q again against the idiot and he shoved on the river and I layed down. I had 2 hands where I had a pair and the nut flush draw on the turn.. Got raised on the turn, called and missed. One of those times I made a lay down I'm not sure was correct, but I'm almost certain it was. I had Ah-2h. The flop came with 2 hearts and it checked around. The turn was an ace. I bet and was raised by a tighter older gentleman. I called. the river was a 2nd ace, giving me trips. I check and he bets $100 from the button. I didn't really know what I could beat. The flop was something near 10-8-7. He didn't seem like the type of player to bet in position when he got counterfeited or something. He was the type to just give up. Nor did I think he raised me on a draw. Anyway, I folded and he showed one card, a 7. I said, "7's full are good" and he smirked and nodded his head a lil. I think he had 7-7 or A-7. Who knows, I just thought I was beat and decided to lay down. It was GREAT to win again. I definitely had some help from the deck. But I was happy with my 1-2 play in general. I felt like I didn't limp into every pot that I have something decent. It was a loose table with plenty money and I was patient. I can't wait to get back at it again. I may attempt a trip to Shorty's Wednesday. I'm not sure. I did have two Gene D sightings while I was there. He played Saturday night and I think had a winning session. Congrats Mr. D. Later guys

"I once cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man without any feet." - I don't know who said this but I liked it

NO discipline and my new Poker term

I recently deposited $60 into my Full Tilt account only to pretty much piss it away. I started by playing a small MTT and heads up SNGs. Both of which I usually do fairly well at. And it started out as planned. I made a small cash in the tourney and played 2 2-table heads up matches, winning both. I played a few different things until my girlfriend came home. Here's where I made the most stupid play of the night. I was playing some heads-up SNG while she was in the shower. Well it ended as she was getting out and I didn't want to start another because I knew we were about to spend some time together. Well what can I play so I can get up when I want? A cash game. My big mistake. I decide to play a heads-up cash game and piss away most of my $60+. So stupid. I haven't had too much success playing heads-up cash online. Mainly due to a Heads-up $5/$10 match I played months ago where I flopped a set of kings and my opponent back doored Broadway with Q-10. Ugly. If I'm ever talking to one of you and I tell you I'm playing heads-up cash online, please just tell me to transfer my money to your account.. instead of giving it to the guy I'm playing against. Anyway, I played here and went broke with J-8 on a J-10-8-x-x board. Pretty impossible to put him on the straight the way the hand played but he had a set of 10's and I'm down to $7 on my online account. This hand is where I thought of my new poker term. It's gonna sound corny as shit, as any new "poker term" would. But I thought it would be pretty cool. You know top and second pair are considered "top two". There's "bottom two", etc. Well in my hand I had top and 3rd pair. A hand I thought would be cool to call, "The corners". As a reference to baseball. You know when there's base runners on 1st and 3rd it's considered, "runners on the corners." Well I had "the corners." LoL I know, pretty stupid. But someone has to make up this shit. lol I mean come on.. Big Slick? Fish hooks? Motown? (OK I confess, that one was pretty cool). Anyway, I don't plan on "the corners" being used on the WPT anytime soon, I'm just bored. Well.. let me throw away this last $7 and I'll be back here shortly.