A quick note to mention Victoria Coren's great blog:
http://www.victoriacoren.com/main/blog/archive/pick_on_someone_your_own_size
I really like the idea of poker being friendly and open to new players. I think the Womens' Event is an amazing example of that. Every year, I get a little jealous that I can't play it. Or, won't, I guess.
I tell my students that if they are doing something where if everyone were doing it, things wouldn't work - then they're being rude. So, this excerpt stood out to me.
"Do you understand this, Brandon Uhl? Do you understand what happens, if everybody thinks like you do? Or did it never cross your mind?"
I think that sums up why guys shouldn't take advantage of this loophole any longer. Let the women play. And, maybe emulate the positive aspects of their game in yours.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tommy's Last Day in Vegas
Since I had decided to take today off from poker, and it was Tom's last day in town, I figured I would just follow him around.
We got a late start and then headed to the Rio. He was going to play one last sng. So, I jumped in one. $125 buyin (with a 4 way $60 last longer). I did not play forever. Like the first 40 hands. Then, with 725 left it folds to the old guy who mentioned the little player fans they used to have at Binion's to avoid smoke. Ok, he's been playing for awhile and knows what he's doing (and it probably too tight). He raises. The foreign guy next to me who took the majority of my chips in my sng yesterday jams. He's tight. I look down to see AQo. Wow. But, after a very short tank I muck. Foreign guy has a very limited range there and seems very strong. Sure enough, old doctor calls with 77 and loses to KK (and yes, an Ace came and I would have tripled up). By the time it's three handed, I finally steal from the sb a couple times and get one walk. The foreign guy and I have between 1k and 2k and the other guy (who knows sng strategy and organized the last longer) has the rest, around 6-7k. I'm being very patient. I get it in with A4 v. A8 once and manage a chop. I chip up a little and so does foreign guy. He shoves from the small blind and I call with 88. It holds up against his KQo, and he's left with 100. He's all in on the button in the next hand, I call the bb and we check it down. I win both pots with J5o that paired the J. I now have 5100 and last longer guy has 4900. We immediately agree to chop everything 50/50. So, I make 680 (+495). Nice. Takes the sting off yesterday. A couple of sidenotes. One, that 88 v. KQ ends up to basically be a coinflip for $680. Glad I won. And, two, patience pays off in these things. I know it's correct to play very loose late, especially with a tight image from early, but there's still room for risk aversion.
We leave the Rio and head to Venetian. We check our comps and go to the Grand Lux. Great meal and then onto the sportsbook to sweat our Rangers RL bet. They have to win by 2. Down 2-0 for much of the game, they leave two on in the bottom of the 7th. Then, they load the bases again in the bottom of the 8th. Cruz comes to the plate. We've seen him do it before. Can he jack a slam? No, but he works a walk, and now it's 2-1 with the bases still loaded. Gentry hits one deep that the LF seems to misplay. It turns into a base-clearing triple, and we're good. 4-2. Tom's yelling and we're high fiving. Good times. Sheppers (who?) comes in to work the 9th. He looks shaky but gets two outs. Then, of course, he gives up a meaningless home run that was out by about a foot and the Rangers win 4-3. F bombs ensue. Tom really does run bad. I blame him. The good news is that the Reds game went under, so I still made money for the day.
We stop back by the house to chill then head out to the club. Good times. Hit up Roberto's on the way home and now it is time for some zzzzzzzz.
I'm planning to go to the PPA Town Hall tomorrow, but I'm not fully committed to it. Would also like to see "Ted" and have talked about going to see Marcy Playground at Mandalay.
Later.
We got a late start and then headed to the Rio. He was going to play one last sng. So, I jumped in one. $125 buyin (with a 4 way $60 last longer). I did not play forever. Like the first 40 hands. Then, with 725 left it folds to the old guy who mentioned the little player fans they used to have at Binion's to avoid smoke. Ok, he's been playing for awhile and knows what he's doing (and it probably too tight). He raises. The foreign guy next to me who took the majority of my chips in my sng yesterday jams. He's tight. I look down to see AQo. Wow. But, after a very short tank I muck. Foreign guy has a very limited range there and seems very strong. Sure enough, old doctor calls with 77 and loses to KK (and yes, an Ace came and I would have tripled up). By the time it's three handed, I finally steal from the sb a couple times and get one walk. The foreign guy and I have between 1k and 2k and the other guy (who knows sng strategy and organized the last longer) has the rest, around 6-7k. I'm being very patient. I get it in with A4 v. A8 once and manage a chop. I chip up a little and so does foreign guy. He shoves from the small blind and I call with 88. It holds up against his KQo, and he's left with 100. He's all in on the button in the next hand, I call the bb and we check it down. I win both pots with J5o that paired the J. I now have 5100 and last longer guy has 4900. We immediately agree to chop everything 50/50. So, I make 680 (+495). Nice. Takes the sting off yesterday. A couple of sidenotes. One, that 88 v. KQ ends up to basically be a coinflip for $680. Glad I won. And, two, patience pays off in these things. I know it's correct to play very loose late, especially with a tight image from early, but there's still room for risk aversion.
We leave the Rio and head to Venetian. We check our comps and go to the Grand Lux. Great meal and then onto the sportsbook to sweat our Rangers RL bet. They have to win by 2. Down 2-0 for much of the game, they leave two on in the bottom of the 7th. Then, they load the bases again in the bottom of the 8th. Cruz comes to the plate. We've seen him do it before. Can he jack a slam? No, but he works a walk, and now it's 2-1 with the bases still loaded. Gentry hits one deep that the LF seems to misplay. It turns into a base-clearing triple, and we're good. 4-2. Tom's yelling and we're high fiving. Good times. Sheppers (who?) comes in to work the 9th. He looks shaky but gets two outs. Then, of course, he gives up a meaningless home run that was out by about a foot and the Rangers win 4-3. F bombs ensue. Tom really does run bad. I blame him. The good news is that the Reds game went under, so I still made money for the day.
We stop back by the house to chill then head out to the club. Good times. Hit up Roberto's on the way home and now it is time for some zzzzzzzz.
I'm planning to go to the PPA Town Hall tomorrow, but I'm not fully committed to it. Would also like to see "Ted" and have talked about going to see Marcy Playground at Mandalay.
Later.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
I lost a G today.
12 hours ago, I was profitable for the trip. Now, I've built myself a decent hole. Tough day.
I got up and went to see "Moonrise Kingdom" at the Orleans. Decent movie. Then, it was on to the Rio. I register late for the 2pm Deepstack. My table forms and we begin play just after the beginning of Level 2. I don't play many hands until I 4bet AQo from the sb and then jam a rag flop. I get called by TT, and am really short. I'm considering whether or not to re-enter and trying to find a place to shove. I double with T9o v. AQ, then shove over a raise and don't get called, and now I'm up a little over 7k. I get moved to another table. Immediate tilt when I see my least favorite Vegas local at the new table. But, I come in and he's got 97 aipf against AA. Cool. Then, he flops a straight. Fuck. A few hands later, right before the break, I shove AQo over a utg limp, he calls with 99 and IGHN. I decide not to re-enter. Instead, I play a little sng. $125. I hit a couple hands, and have 2600 at 150/300 5 handed. I open shove ATs utg, the bb wakes up with TT, and I'm out a couple hands later. Ok, time to cool off. I go grab a burger and head into the 50k FT and watch Michael Mizrachi finish it off.
I'm feeling good, so I decide to take a shot at 2/5. I'll skip the next 4 hours. In for 600, as low as 340, now sitting on a little over 700. Button straddle, sb folds, I call in the bb with A8ss. No raise, and we see the flop four ways. J75ss. I bet 20, fold, fold, button makes it 60. I can reraise here, but I decide to call. My plan for the turn is to check/ship all straight cards and Aces, check/click back any spade, and check/call anything else. I check dark, 6h comes, he bets 120, I say "all-in" and he snap calls. River 8c. He flips over 84o. Perfect turn card.
Criticism welcome on any of the above mentioned hands.
I'm kinda ok, but will probably take tomorrow off to regroup and figure out my plan for the next couple of weeks.
I got up and went to see "Moonrise Kingdom" at the Orleans. Decent movie. Then, it was on to the Rio. I register late for the 2pm Deepstack. My table forms and we begin play just after the beginning of Level 2. I don't play many hands until I 4bet AQo from the sb and then jam a rag flop. I get called by TT, and am really short. I'm considering whether or not to re-enter and trying to find a place to shove. I double with T9o v. AQ, then shove over a raise and don't get called, and now I'm up a little over 7k. I get moved to another table. Immediate tilt when I see my least favorite Vegas local at the new table. But, I come in and he's got 97 aipf against AA. Cool. Then, he flops a straight. Fuck. A few hands later, right before the break, I shove AQo over a utg limp, he calls with 99 and IGHN. I decide not to re-enter. Instead, I play a little sng. $125. I hit a couple hands, and have 2600 at 150/300 5 handed. I open shove ATs utg, the bb wakes up with TT, and I'm out a couple hands later. Ok, time to cool off. I go grab a burger and head into the 50k FT and watch Michael Mizrachi finish it off.
I'm feeling good, so I decide to take a shot at 2/5. I'll skip the next 4 hours. In for 600, as low as 340, now sitting on a little over 700. Button straddle, sb folds, I call in the bb with A8ss. No raise, and we see the flop four ways. J75ss. I bet 20, fold, fold, button makes it 60. I can reraise here, but I decide to call. My plan for the turn is to check/ship all straight cards and Aces, check/click back any spade, and check/call anything else. I check dark, 6h comes, he bets 120, I say "all-in" and he snap calls. River 8c. He flips over 84o. Perfect turn card.
Criticism welcome on any of the above mentioned hands.
I'm kinda ok, but will probably take tomorrow off to regroup and figure out my plan for the next couple of weeks.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
HORSE tourney turns into all-nighter.
I worked out and swam and felt good going to play poker about 15 hours ago. I went to the MGM, as I had heard about their Tuesday night HORSE tourney.
I played cash first. I did well, abusing weaktight play. Always fun.
My last hand, however, I think I played badly. I had AhJc. 1 limp in front of me, I limp, aggro kid next me makes it 12, good lady calls behind him, limper calls, I call. We see a flop of 568hhh. I check, kid bets 15, lady calls, I call. Turn is the Jd. I check, aggro bets 30, lady raises to 90. My hand is obviously totally underrepresented, but it also has something else working for it. Yes, I have the nut flush draw. But, that also obviously means this lady doesn't have the nut flush. She had 220 back. I think maybe I'm supposed to jam (/get there?). Hmmmm.
I then play the HORSE tourney like a total donk. I know mixed games better than my opponents, but it's not like anyone at the table was clueless. I made many small mistakes, and one big one (as I tweeted, my low got there, and I called down for half...but, we were playing stud). The structure seemed fast, but obviously they don't want to be there all night. I'll probably go back. It was fun.
I then grab some dindin and sit down at 1/2 at the V. Ridiculously unfriendly/no action table. More and more I'm finding that part of my role this summer is to be talkative and get games out of the muck. I'd love to sit back and just analyze everyone and play well, but if everyone is doing that it doesn't work. I think all serious poker players need to promote the game as much as possible. Sometimes that means being social.
I decide the Mirage is usually good for a drunk or two and head on over. No drunks at my table, but pretty good action, and I runz good.
I cashed out up a decent amount but it should have been more. Ubertilt kid straddles, and I'm just going to make a move this hand. Pool dude calls the straddle, and I make a production $20 bet with 83o. Dorky nitburger calls to my immediate left and chases all the others out. Flop 985r. I check/call $25 'cause "hey." Turns my good card - a 3. I check/call 50. Alarms were going off on the flop. I called this guy nitburger for a reason. But, I manually bypass the alarms. 'Cause, "hey." River J. I've got 3rd and bottom pair against nitburger. I check. He goes all in for 135. Easy fold, right? No, I tank call, 'cause "hey." I'm a dumby.
Anyways, it was a good night. I got back a couple of hours ago and need to get some beauty sleep so I can watch a little soccer tomorrow, and still have time for the gym and a full session.
I played cash first. I did well, abusing weaktight play. Always fun.
My last hand, however, I think I played badly. I had AhJc. 1 limp in front of me, I limp, aggro kid next me makes it 12, good lady calls behind him, limper calls, I call. We see a flop of 568hhh. I check, kid bets 15, lady calls, I call. Turn is the Jd. I check, aggro bets 30, lady raises to 90. My hand is obviously totally underrepresented, but it also has something else working for it. Yes, I have the nut flush draw. But, that also obviously means this lady doesn't have the nut flush. She had 220 back. I think maybe I'm supposed to jam (/get there?). Hmmmm.
I then play the HORSE tourney like a total donk. I know mixed games better than my opponents, but it's not like anyone at the table was clueless. I made many small mistakes, and one big one (as I tweeted, my low got there, and I called down for half...but, we were playing stud). The structure seemed fast, but obviously they don't want to be there all night. I'll probably go back. It was fun.
I then grab some dindin and sit down at 1/2 at the V. Ridiculously unfriendly/no action table. More and more I'm finding that part of my role this summer is to be talkative and get games out of the muck. I'd love to sit back and just analyze everyone and play well, but if everyone is doing that it doesn't work. I think all serious poker players need to promote the game as much as possible. Sometimes that means being social.
I decide the Mirage is usually good for a drunk or two and head on over. No drunks at my table, but pretty good action, and I runz good.
I cashed out up a decent amount but it should have been more. Ubertilt kid straddles, and I'm just going to make a move this hand. Pool dude calls the straddle, and I make a production $20 bet with 83o. Dorky nitburger calls to my immediate left and chases all the others out. Flop 985r. I check/call $25 'cause "hey." Turns my good card - a 3. I check/call 50. Alarms were going off on the flop. I called this guy nitburger for a reason. But, I manually bypass the alarms. 'Cause, "hey." River J. I've got 3rd and bottom pair against nitburger. I check. He goes all in for 135. Easy fold, right? No, I tank call, 'cause "hey." I'm a dumby.
Anyways, it was a good night. I got back a couple of hours ago and need to get some beauty sleep so I can watch a little soccer tomorrow, and still have time for the gym and a full session.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Euro
At one point, crazy told me Germany had no chance against Italy in the Euro semis. I told crazy he was crazy. He offered to bet, even odds, no juice, for however much I wanted. If I knew the guy, I would have bet a lot. But, what do you do in that situation? If you lose, you have to go find the guy and pay him. If you win, you have to go find the guy and collect. The trust factor killed my action.
What's up with the what's up? That's what's up.
I played 1/2 at the Venetian and Caesar's yesterday. Precious few hands to speak of. In about 4 hours at the Venetian, I never felt the need to add on to my original short stack. I had one premium starting hand in that time, so mostly I was folding. The one premium, I limped for the straddle in the new utg with KK. Good player to my left makes it 20. Folds around to me, I'm all-in. He calls. I flop and turn Kings, and my quads hold up. He tells me he had JJ, which makes sense. That pot puts me up to me high for the session - a whopping $156. I eventually leave up $17.
During the session, the reason why I didn't feel the need to add-on is because there wasn't any big stacks giving away money. I tried to loosen up the action by talking and then getting a show one card when not called agreement. I had different deals with the players to my right and left about if it's folded to us in the blinds. I asked if one guy's hair was real. Alas, still not huge mistakes being made, so we went to dinner.
At this point, I was happy to go upstairs and have some Panda, but that wasn't good enough for Tom. So, I trick him into paying the extra on my meal at Noodle Asia. I should add that money to my poker winnings. Hi-yaa.
We head to Caesar's. Sidenote: Don't walk through the Forum Shops. I proceed to get in one of the best, juiciest, gambliest 1/2 games EVAH. People are calling 40 on the river with K high, talking about how hard it is to fold top pair shitty kicker for an all-in from a nit, and bluffing for stacks regularly. Nice. I proceed to win 5 hands in 4 hours. I saw a neverending string of 93o, J4o, J6o, T4o, etc.
At one point, a kid sits down on my right for a little less than 300. He proceeds to get it in pre against the crazy at the table, with AQ. He hits a Q, and the other guy only shows an A (so I think he got it in with AT or worse, since he would have shown AK and there were two jacks on the board). A little while later, the kid bets pre, flop, and turn for obvious value against crazy with a final board of 86j63, with a flopped club flush draw getting there on the river. Sure enough, despite the board pairing on the turn, crazy overbets enough to put the kid all-in on the river, and the kid tank folds. Crazy shows T9o and explains how to play to the kid. About an orbit later, kid raises to 10 in EP and crazy and one other idiot with over 1k in front of him both call. Flop J52r. Checks around. K on the turn. Ch/ch/20. Crazy then check/raises to 80. Kid makes it 150, crazy snap shoves, and kid snap calls with JJ to double up (to 760). A couple of hands later, kid makes it 10 pre, crazy raises to 45, idiot calls, kid reraises to 210, crazy calls, idiot folds. Flop 984r. Kid jams, crazy thinks for a second and calls. Kid shows QQ, turn pairs the 9, river a blank. Crazy mucks, meaning he played a 1300 pot with relative shit. Yes, he lost 1k in two hands at 1/2. Without much. It was a good game. And, he wasn't the only spot. And, yes I only won 5 hands in 4 hours. Frustrating, but I was happy to leave up 240.
There are more hands that I could use to relay the craziness, but they don't offer much that interesting. One guy flopped a boat after limping aces, got the turn and river to double pair the board so he could get paid. Wow.
I'll tell you one hand that makes me look good. I have Tc8d in the bb. It limps around and we see a flop of Qd9d3s. A young, dour foreigner bets 10 after a check by me and crazy, folds to me, I call, crazy calls. Turn Td. Checks around. River As. I check, crazy bets 55, dour folds, and I tank hero-call and am good. Easy game.
Ok, I didn't play the GN HORSE yesterday. I think MGM has a Tuesday night HORSE, so I am planning to play that. Also, I didn't work out Sunday, but I did get to the gym yesterday. So, today it's work out, play cash, play MGM HORSE. Go, Jim!
During the session, the reason why I didn't feel the need to add-on is because there wasn't any big stacks giving away money. I tried to loosen up the action by talking and then getting a show one card when not called agreement. I had different deals with the players to my right and left about if it's folded to us in the blinds. I asked if one guy's hair was real. Alas, still not huge mistakes being made, so we went to dinner.
At this point, I was happy to go upstairs and have some Panda, but that wasn't good enough for Tom. So, I trick him into paying the extra on my meal at Noodle Asia. I should add that money to my poker winnings. Hi-yaa.
We head to Caesar's. Sidenote: Don't walk through the Forum Shops. I proceed to get in one of the best, juiciest, gambliest 1/2 games EVAH. People are calling 40 on the river with K high, talking about how hard it is to fold top pair shitty kicker for an all-in from a nit, and bluffing for stacks regularly. Nice. I proceed to win 5 hands in 4 hours. I saw a neverending string of 93o, J4o, J6o, T4o, etc.
At one point, a kid sits down on my right for a little less than 300. He proceeds to get it in pre against the crazy at the table, with AQ. He hits a Q, and the other guy only shows an A (so I think he got it in with AT or worse, since he would have shown AK and there were two jacks on the board). A little while later, the kid bets pre, flop, and turn for obvious value against crazy with a final board of 86j63, with a flopped club flush draw getting there on the river. Sure enough, despite the board pairing on the turn, crazy overbets enough to put the kid all-in on the river, and the kid tank folds. Crazy shows T9o and explains how to play to the kid. About an orbit later, kid raises to 10 in EP and crazy and one other idiot with over 1k in front of him both call. Flop J52r. Checks around. K on the turn. Ch/ch/20. Crazy then check/raises to 80. Kid makes it 150, crazy snap shoves, and kid snap calls with JJ to double up (to 760). A couple of hands later, kid makes it 10 pre, crazy raises to 45, idiot calls, kid reraises to 210, crazy calls, idiot folds. Flop 984r. Kid jams, crazy thinks for a second and calls. Kid shows QQ, turn pairs the 9, river a blank. Crazy mucks, meaning he played a 1300 pot with relative shit. Yes, he lost 1k in two hands at 1/2. Without much. It was a good game. And, he wasn't the only spot. And, yes I only won 5 hands in 4 hours. Frustrating, but I was happy to leave up 240.
There are more hands that I could use to relay the craziness, but they don't offer much that interesting. One guy flopped a boat after limping aces, got the turn and river to double pair the board so he could get paid. Wow.
I'll tell you one hand that makes me look good. I have Tc8d in the bb. It limps around and we see a flop of Qd9d3s. A young, dour foreigner bets 10 after a check by me and crazy, folds to me, I call, crazy calls. Turn Td. Checks around. River As. I check, crazy bets 55, dour folds, and I tank hero-call and am good. Easy game.
Ok, I didn't play the GN HORSE yesterday. I think MGM has a Tuesday night HORSE, so I am planning to play that. Also, I didn't work out Sunday, but I did get to the gym yesterday. So, today it's work out, play cash, play MGM HORSE. Go, Jim!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Friday/Saturday
I write for me, obviously. I know not many people read this. I think that truth probably frees me up a bit, but I think I'd write better if I had the pressure of readers.
Anyways, in my last post I mentioned that I expected to play quite a bit of poker the last two days. And, that happened. Results were mixed, but I don't have as much in the bankroll today as I did Thursday night, so that's never good.
Session 1 - TARGET. There are many idiots and douchebags who play poker. In my experience, however, the vast majority of people who are really good at the game are also great people. Add to that my enjoyment of poker theory in addition to poker practice and you can see why I try to make time for the wpdg and BARGE groups. An offshoot of BARGE is TARGET, an annual satellite between us dorks into a WSOP event. I got AA once, stole the blinds, and had NO other hands to speak of. After the first break, I had 1400 of my original 2k stack in the SB. It folded to me, and I decided to ship Q4+. I shipped, BB called, and there were two Q on the flop, so I wish I had the bottom of my range instead of the AJo I had which didn't improve against the BB 99. The guy who busted me ended up being one of the three winners, so good on him. We have 3 horses in various events, and we all get a piece, so hopefully one of them makes a good run.
Session 2 - I had planned on being in the satellite longer and/or being involved in some craps shenanigans which were cancelled, so I had some free time to kill before the reindeer dealer's choice game was to start with the same group Friday night. After hitting up my go-to (Panda), I headed downtown. A couple hours of NL at the Nugget did my confidence and bankroll some good. No hands worth mentioning, but I made some moves and won a little.
Session 3 - Reindeer games. I enjoy games other than NL against friends, and especially games I have to try to figure out, so this was perfect. We played some Razzdugi, some Murder, some Mississippi Stud'em, some Stud 9 or better bottoms up, and even invented a new game (crazy pine-omaha now re-named Hawaii 508). I called boring ol' TD2-7 both times I got to choose, simply because I never get to play it. I was able to play well and run really well, and cashed out up a couple of racks.
Session 4 - After a decent sleep, I got up and Dave, Tom, and I headed to the Rio for the daily deepstack. For $235, you get to play a crapshoot with a chance to cash out $50k. Pretty awesome. I call it a crapshoot, but there is play in the first couple of hours. I chipped up nicely and had a great table. Unfortunately, in Level 6 I got involved in a huge pot with the best of it and lost. My story is that had I won the hand, I would have been in great shape. I guess we'll never know.
Session 5 - We hit up the South Point after dinner. I played for 6 fucking hours and didn't get any hands. I rode the roller coaster of emotion of missing hands, getting chops, idiots talking, playing great, being in the zone, etc. and left after a last stand. I was in EP and limped AJhh. One more limp on the button, and then the BB makes it 35 with 63 behind. Obviously AJhh is a pretty easy fold here, except, as I mentioned, I was in the zone. I knew I was ahead, and racing at worst, and might even get a dumb fold. So, I raised AI. Other limper folds obv and BB tank calls. He had KQo, but hit a Q. Then, I did something I rarely do. A little backstory first. One guy at the table was especially on my nerves. All night, he had been talking about other peoples' hands while making his decisions. This is ok, even if not smart, headsup. Multiway, however, it's not allowed (or at least not good manners). The dealers, however, rarely run the game since that might hurt their tips. So, I told the guy (in a friendly way) that what he was doing was bad etiquette. He replied, "no, it's not" and looked at the dealer who confirmed that indeed he shouldn't talk about a hand until headsup. He shut up for about 15 minutes, but then went back to it. His inane scattershooting wasn't contained to this offense, but I won't spell it all out. Well, when the hand mentioned above happened, my opponent and I didn't flip our hands on their backs. When he showed after the board ran out, I mucked quietly (if maybe obviously frustrated). He then goes on a rant to his neighbor about how dumb it is for players not to expose their hands. He just doesn't get it haha. I mean why is everyone so scared to expose their hand haha? At this point, instead of calmly explaining why a player wouldn't show their hand when they aren't required to and maybe even explaining why it's bad etiquette to deride other players' actions and further expound on why he shouldn't share his reads in multiway pots, I decide to simply tell him to shut the fuck up. After that, I left. Time to find my boys. I find them, and they are drunk. Really drunk. So, I tell them to enjoy the rest of the show and come find me at the blackjack tables when they're ready to go. Well, they decide instead to come over and sweat me then get in the game themselves. Hijinks ensue. At least I recouped some of my losses and had some fun playing blackjack.
Today is a scheduled day off. Laundry, working out, and maybe a movie. Tomorrow, I win the GN HORSE tourney.
Later.
Anyways, in my last post I mentioned that I expected to play quite a bit of poker the last two days. And, that happened. Results were mixed, but I don't have as much in the bankroll today as I did Thursday night, so that's never good.
Session 1 - TARGET. There are many idiots and douchebags who play poker. In my experience, however, the vast majority of people who are really good at the game are also great people. Add to that my enjoyment of poker theory in addition to poker practice and you can see why I try to make time for the wpdg and BARGE groups. An offshoot of BARGE is TARGET, an annual satellite between us dorks into a WSOP event. I got AA once, stole the blinds, and had NO other hands to speak of. After the first break, I had 1400 of my original 2k stack in the SB. It folded to me, and I decided to ship Q4+. I shipped, BB called, and there were two Q on the flop, so I wish I had the bottom of my range instead of the AJo I had which didn't improve against the BB 99. The guy who busted me ended up being one of the three winners, so good on him. We have 3 horses in various events, and we all get a piece, so hopefully one of them makes a good run.
Session 2 - I had planned on being in the satellite longer and/or being involved in some craps shenanigans which were cancelled, so I had some free time to kill before the reindeer dealer's choice game was to start with the same group Friday night. After hitting up my go-to (Panda), I headed downtown. A couple hours of NL at the Nugget did my confidence and bankroll some good. No hands worth mentioning, but I made some moves and won a little.
Session 3 - Reindeer games. I enjoy games other than NL against friends, and especially games I have to try to figure out, so this was perfect. We played some Razzdugi, some Murder, some Mississippi Stud'em, some Stud 9 or better bottoms up, and even invented a new game (crazy pine-omaha now re-named Hawaii 508). I called boring ol' TD2-7 both times I got to choose, simply because I never get to play it. I was able to play well and run really well, and cashed out up a couple of racks.
Session 4 - After a decent sleep, I got up and Dave, Tom, and I headed to the Rio for the daily deepstack. For $235, you get to play a crapshoot with a chance to cash out $50k. Pretty awesome. I call it a crapshoot, but there is play in the first couple of hours. I chipped up nicely and had a great table. Unfortunately, in Level 6 I got involved in a huge pot with the best of it and lost. My story is that had I won the hand, I would have been in great shape. I guess we'll never know.
Session 5 - We hit up the South Point after dinner. I played for 6 fucking hours and didn't get any hands. I rode the roller coaster of emotion of missing hands, getting chops, idiots talking, playing great, being in the zone, etc. and left after a last stand. I was in EP and limped AJhh. One more limp on the button, and then the BB makes it 35 with 63 behind. Obviously AJhh is a pretty easy fold here, except, as I mentioned, I was in the zone. I knew I was ahead, and racing at worst, and might even get a dumb fold. So, I raised AI. Other limper folds obv and BB tank calls. He had KQo, but hit a Q. Then, I did something I rarely do. A little backstory first. One guy at the table was especially on my nerves. All night, he had been talking about other peoples' hands while making his decisions. This is ok, even if not smart, headsup. Multiway, however, it's not allowed (or at least not good manners). The dealers, however, rarely run the game since that might hurt their tips. So, I told the guy (in a friendly way) that what he was doing was bad etiquette. He replied, "no, it's not" and looked at the dealer who confirmed that indeed he shouldn't talk about a hand until headsup. He shut up for about 15 minutes, but then went back to it. His inane scattershooting wasn't contained to this offense, but I won't spell it all out. Well, when the hand mentioned above happened, my opponent and I didn't flip our hands on their backs. When he showed after the board ran out, I mucked quietly (if maybe obviously frustrated). He then goes on a rant to his neighbor about how dumb it is for players not to expose their hands. He just doesn't get it haha. I mean why is everyone so scared to expose their hand haha? At this point, instead of calmly explaining why a player wouldn't show their hand when they aren't required to and maybe even explaining why it's bad etiquette to deride other players' actions and further expound on why he shouldn't share his reads in multiway pots, I decide to simply tell him to shut the fuck up. After that, I left. Time to find my boys. I find them, and they are drunk. Really drunk. So, I tell them to enjoy the rest of the show and come find me at the blackjack tables when they're ready to go. Well, they decide instead to come over and sweat me then get in the game themselves. Hijinks ensue. At least I recouped some of my losses and had some fun playing blackjack.
Today is a scheduled day off. Laundry, working out, and maybe a movie. Tomorrow, I win the GN HORSE tourney.
Later.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Let the Poker Summer Begin.
I drove all day Wednesday to get out here to Vegas. I've actually only been here just under 24 hours now (2:30am Friday). Today, I went and got a month membership at the gym, got groceries, slept, and watched some soccer. Then, I watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals. I dislike the Heat, as I think many of you know. However, I'm glad it's over as it opens me up to fully concentrate on poker for the next couple of weeks. That's what I'm here to do.
Tom's in town, too, so after basketball, we hit up the Venetian 1/2 game. Not a good night for me. Just didn't have hands/spots and didn't create any. I'm back at it tomorrow. I've got a satellite with some poker friends and then some friendly mixed games with them. Saturday, I'm planning to play the 2pm deepstack at the Rio. I'll try to post some about both days.
Tom's in town, too, so after basketball, we hit up the Venetian 1/2 game. Not a good night for me. Just didn't have hands/spots and didn't create any. I'm back at it tomorrow. I've got a satellite with some poker friends and then some friendly mixed games with them. Saturday, I'm planning to play the 2pm deepstack at the Rio. I'll try to post some about both days.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Downtime.
I'm chillin' for a couple of days. I feel ready for Vegas, but I've got a few things to handle around here first. Of course, I'm doing those things slowly and/or finding reasons not to do them before I go.
But, I have to tell you that there is not much to do during the day. All 4633 channels on TV suck during the day. I've cleared out my DVR. It's almost like I'm now forced to be productive.
Game 2 is tonight. That should be fun. I have nothing on this series or game, and am just watching for fun. I ended up fast forwarding through much of Game 1, so we'll see if it keeps me into it tonight.
Anyone have ideas for things to do with old magazines?
I played in a home game with the author from hardboiledpoker last night. Doing this blog again on a semi-regular basis really drives home how impressive his daily content is. I recommend his work.
Klosterman hasn't written much for grantland recently. I hope a new book is the reason.
Speaking of writing and books, I think I'm going to start including some book reviews here.
Any at-home business ideas?
Ok, back to the to-do list. cya
But, I have to tell you that there is not much to do during the day. All 4633 channels on TV suck during the day. I've cleared out my DVR. It's almost like I'm now forced to be productive.
Game 2 is tonight. That should be fun. I have nothing on this series or game, and am just watching for fun. I ended up fast forwarding through much of Game 1, so we'll see if it keeps me into it tonight.
Anyone have ideas for things to do with old magazines?
I played in a home game with the author from hardboiledpoker last night. Doing this blog again on a semi-regular basis really drives home how impressive his daily content is. I recommend his work.
Klosterman hasn't written much for grantland recently. I hope a new book is the reason.
Speaking of writing and books, I think I'm going to start including some book reviews here.
Any at-home business ideas?
Ok, back to the to-do list. cya
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Hellmuth
Hellmuth won his 12th last night, and did so in my favorite game (razz). I've posted my thoughts about him before, so won't do so at length again. Obviously, he's a great player AND can be quite the jerk.
Meanwhile, as I type, the anti-Hellmuth is in the 5k LHE FT with five players left. Andrew Prock is a rather humble genius. The developer of PokerStove is widely unknown in the poker world. He's a guy for whom I can cheer.
It's the difference, in my mind, between poker players and poker fans.
Meanwhile, as I type, the anti-Hellmuth is in the 5k LHE FT with five players left. Andrew Prock is a rather humble genius. The developer of PokerStove is widely unknown in the poker world. He's a guy for whom I can cheer.
It's the difference, in my mind, between poker players and poker fans.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Frustration.
I know that cashing 5 of 6 tourneys in my little home game series that I play has to be better than expectation. But another 2nd tonight has me feeling peeved instead of grateful. It didn't help that I had a side bet to win the tourney again. I'm probably too emotional about the result right now to write rationally about it, so I won't.
Maybe I'll just vent about the Heat. Nah, I'm too pissed about that too.
Ok, maybe I'll just go jump in the pool.
Maybe I'll just vent about the Heat. Nah, I'm too pissed about that too.
Ok, maybe I'll just go jump in the pool.
New Home Game
Drove out to BFE last night. I had been getting e-mails about this game for awhile, but never made it up there. If I don't have other plans on Fridays, I usually come home and crash. But, it was worth it. I didn't have much in the way of cards, but still managed to more than double up. The biggest hand was 78o on a flop of Q65, turn 3, river 9 (nuts) where I c/c/c/shoved. Easy game.
My favorite hand of the night, however, was one I didn't play. It was about 3am. We're down to four players on our table. I had been encouraging straddles, and sure enough, utg straddled to 4. This guy was a solid player. There were some things in his game that could be taken advantage of, but I hadn't gotten to them and he had chipped up steadily all night. The button raised to 20. She was an attractive Asian, I'm guessing late 20s/early 30s. She was also solid. And, also opinionated despite not really understanding some things about the game. Later someone told me that she had introduced herself as a poker pro. I wasn't surprised by that bit of information, but I'd be surprised if it turned out to be true. I had made fun of her a bit for the lack of gamble she displayed, but she had trouble understanding. Ok, enough scattershot descriptions. I fold, Rob folds his bb, and the straddle reraises to 45. She calls. Flop 982r. He bets 45 again, and she raises to 155. He agonizes and calls. Turn 9. Check, she instajams, and he calls. He has a horribly pained look on his face and asks if she has it. She purses her lips, leaves her cards facedown and deals an Ace on the River. Then, she proudly flips AT, a bluff that somehow got there. He shows his KK. She then proceeds to talk about how this was her first 'gamble' of the night. That's not a gamble. That's a blowup/spew that somehow caught a miracle. But, instead of admitting luck and politely racking her new huge stack (probably close to 800), she argues with the guy who just lost when she caught her 7%. As I'm walking out of the bathroom, the host is having to tell them to "stop, when I say stop, I mean stop it, both of you." Apparently, her husband had defended her honor a bit as well.
Here's the deal. Maybe she planned it all preflop. I'm gonna call this extra 25 and pretend I've flopped a set and outplay this guy. If so, it almost worked. My opinion, however, is that she should have folded to the 3bet pre and moved on to the next hand. My perception is that she just got stubborn when she had been challenged and tried to give away her stack. When that happens, real poker players make a sympathetic face and say "wow, I can't believe how lucky I was."
We then consolidated and played for a bit more with a gambly table. I treaded water, and we left at about 4. I'll be going back.
My favorite hand of the night, however, was one I didn't play. It was about 3am. We're down to four players on our table. I had been encouraging straddles, and sure enough, utg straddled to 4. This guy was a solid player. There were some things in his game that could be taken advantage of, but I hadn't gotten to them and he had chipped up steadily all night. The button raised to 20. She was an attractive Asian, I'm guessing late 20s/early 30s. She was also solid. And, also opinionated despite not really understanding some things about the game. Later someone told me that she had introduced herself as a poker pro. I wasn't surprised by that bit of information, but I'd be surprised if it turned out to be true. I had made fun of her a bit for the lack of gamble she displayed, but she had trouble understanding. Ok, enough scattershot descriptions. I fold, Rob folds his bb, and the straddle reraises to 45. She calls. Flop 982r. He bets 45 again, and she raises to 155. He agonizes and calls. Turn 9. Check, she instajams, and he calls. He has a horribly pained look on his face and asks if she has it. She purses her lips, leaves her cards facedown and deals an Ace on the River. Then, she proudly flips AT, a bluff that somehow got there. He shows his KK. She then proceeds to talk about how this was her first 'gamble' of the night. That's not a gamble. That's a blowup/spew that somehow caught a miracle. But, instead of admitting luck and politely racking her new huge stack (probably close to 800), she argues with the guy who just lost when she caught her 7%. As I'm walking out of the bathroom, the host is having to tell them to "stop, when I say stop, I mean stop it, both of you." Apparently, her husband had defended her honor a bit as well.
Here's the deal. Maybe she planned it all preflop. I'm gonna call this extra 25 and pretend I've flopped a set and outplay this guy. If so, it almost worked. My opinion, however, is that she should have folded to the 3bet pre and moved on to the next hand. My perception is that she just got stubborn when she had been challenged and tried to give away her stack. When that happens, real poker players make a sympathetic face and say "wow, I can't believe how lucky I was."
We then consolidated and played for a bit more with a gambly table. I treaded water, and we left at about 4. I'll be going back.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Return.
I made a quick jaunt up to Choctaw today. Made $1. Gave it to the cashier. But, it felt good. I'm sure I could have made more, and I know I could have lost more. I feel like I played really well. I'm going to play in a couple home games over the next couple of days. I hope plan to make some money.
I'm also obviously making a return to the blog. The end of the school year was tough.
OKC has everything they need to win the championship. They look really good. I hope the Celtics beat the Heat on Saturday, but it doesn't look too good after tonight. I think they'll play much better Saturday, but it may not matter. The Finals will be fun to watch.
I haven't been watching hockey or baseball, which is obviously weird for me. I've watched a good amount of the French Open and plan to watch some of the Euro 2012. I'm excited for the Belmont.
But, my focus is poker. This is my summer.
I'm also obviously making a return to the blog. The end of the school year was tough.
OKC has everything they need to win the championship. They look really good. I hope the Celtics beat the Heat on Saturday, but it doesn't look too good after tonight. I think they'll play much better Saturday, but it may not matter. The Finals will be fun to watch.
I haven't been watching hockey or baseball, which is obviously weird for me. I've watched a good amount of the French Open and plan to watch some of the Euro 2012. I'm excited for the Belmont.
But, my focus is poker. This is my summer.
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