Friday Legion

Another Friday night at the American Legion. I started off like a house on fire, doubling up early when AK raised, I reraised with AA, and he went all-in. I ended up making Aces full of 4's on the hand (which held up all night as high hand, good for $66). Virtually every hand was hitting me solidly or people would fold when I raised because I was so smoking hot. There was a consolidation of tables and a seat change which did not help me. I was easily still chip leader in the tournament when a short stack went all in (with q/10...kids don't try this at home) and the dealer went all-in over the top. I really just miscalculated the dealers chips (he had just won a big pot). I had pocket 9's, so I called his pocket aces and lost about 3000 in chips. OUch! Anyway, made the final table and was 2 out of the money with around 10K in chips, in really good shape when I got pocket kings in early position. With blinds at 600/1200 I decided to just go all-in to pick up blinds and drive out aces and maybe get called by a weak pair on the short stack. A slightly drunk player who has been ultra lucky and was probably 2nd in chips (had me covered by $500) calls me with his ace king offsuit and hits his 3 outer on the flop and I was gone.....Definitely would have cruised into deep money had he not gotten very lucky.

Some days it seems like no matter which side of the equation you are on you lose the coin toss, but in every tournament I have gone out in lately am proud to say that I have been the favorite in nearly every one with the pair vs the overcard(s). On tilt a little at home I played in a 90 person SNG and came in 3rd for a great replenishment of my cash.

Getting The Spirit

Yesterday was an 11 hour day at Spirit Mountain. I began playing at 12:30 and finished at nearly midnight. The 4/8 kill game was not particularly kind to me, with a small loss, so I signed up for the 7:00 tournament. It is a little bit of a strange format with a $30 buy-in with 500 chips, but if you are a "Coyote Club" member you get 100 extra and if you played at least 3 hours live you get 600 more. So, with an above average chip stack I started the tournament with 119 other players (I think around 30 alternates). I lost my entire chip stack early when I raised pre-flop on the button with jacks and was called from the blind with a 10/2 suited????? He flopped a 10 and one heart so naturally when he bet and I reraised all-in he called. The turn brought a two and I had to rebuy (did I forget to mention this was a dreaded re-buy tournament?) So, for another $20 I got a lousy 500 in chips while the blinds went up to 100/200. By the break I had $200 remaining but wait. At the break you are allowed to add-on 2000 for another $20 and 500 for a "dealer appreciation" add-on for $5. So, now I am in for $75. and short-stacked comparatively. There are a couple of guys at my table in for 3-4 rebuys each so I feel a little better. I do pick up some better cards, get them all-in with a caller twice and end up on the final two tables. In this format tournament the entire final table gets paid ($800 something) so I can smell the cash. I am relatively short stacked however and blinds at 1200-2400 with 300 antes and me with around 8000 in chips I pick up pocket 4's on the button with a giant stack in BB and one short stack (but not as short as me) limping in. I raise all-in and after some deliberation the shortstack calls with everyone else folding. I am very happy with his jack/queen offsuit (what was he thinking limping? Or calling?) but he catches a queen on the coinflip situation and I am out. Youch! In retrospect I am pretty happy with my play overall and really given the situation would not have played any other way. Just needed that bit of luck near the end.

Big Hit on My Poker Bankroll

Last night was a disaster for my bankroll. Let me explain first that I have never made a deposit on Ultimatebet. I won some money on a freeroll and have been playing on that ever since, rolling it up and always trying to play within my bankroll limits, never risking more than about 10% in any one game. Lately I have been fairly hot, winning a few tournaments and doing good on cash omaha games. But then I got cocky, playing in some higher limit rebuy tournaments (always a big cash sink), and higher limit omaha games. Last night I went on a real roll then had to take a quick break to return a couple of rental movies. When I returned I could not win! Every big starting hand failed to deliver, every draw failed to come in, and to make matters worse a donkey was raising preflop with almost any hand, then getting very lucky. There seems to be one of these on every table. They burn through your chips and their chips, roll up big gains only to lose them later, or lose a lot and leave. What is frustrating is getting pushed off a hand you would "like to see a flop with" and folding to his raise and a real hands reraise. This happened last night with my pocket 10's which I like but don't love. Sure enough I would have hit quads, but could not justify paying 4 bets preflop to see it. That was the straw that broke my back and put me on tilt, but I recognized my mindset and quit. It is a lot like the low limit Moose games sometimes. Anyway, my account is now at it's almost all-time low and I have to tighten up in a big way playing very low limit tournaments and slowly building my money back up or (shudder) try to fund my account with a deposit!!

Mixed Results

This has been a tough week overall. The Friday night American Legion Tournament was a disaster. I was the first one out, though Sandy disputes that as she got caught with pocket queens all-in vs. pocket kings and pocket aces. How sick is that! I just got unlucky early with some great draws that didn't come in plus some top pairs that didn't hold up. The turning point (or perhaps tilt point would be more accurate) was when I called a raise preflop from a very good player with my pocket 6's only to get reraised behind me from someone I would describe charitably as a "lucky idiot" who I had seen jam & rejam with callers with only overcards earlier. The original raiser flat called and I did too. When the flop came out small with the board paired with 3's, the original better put in a big bet saying, "Not a good flop for your ace-king". That is usually a dependable tell....when a player describes a hand he can beat he either has that beat, or has that hand, with the emphasis on having it beat. I was slightly confused, and even though I was convinced someone had a big pair, I laid down my 6's even though my pot odds were very good. The bad player called and the river brought my 6. Pocket queens won the hand (original better), and even though I know it was a good decision it put me on tilt knowing I would have been right back in the game with a lot of chips if I had just pushed it all in. That is the sick luck part of the game as it would have been a very bad call, then hitting my 2 outer. That happened to me today online in a big buy in tournament. I was cruising along with over average chip count when I pick up pocket kings and raise only to get 3 callers and a reraiser. I decide to push all in, and everyone drops but the reraiser with pocket queens. He of course has me covered in chips, and hits his queen on the flop. A poor decision rewarded!

I did get in the money in two tournaments today. 4th place in a 45 person SNG and 2nd in an 18 person SNG.

A good poker day

Some days you are just hot. Yesterday I advanced two steps in the WSOP seat chase and increased my on line bankroll by 50% playing in a very aggressive omaha high/low game. My big hand was hitting top set (jacks) on the flop with two others hitting sets with 8's and 4's. Despite me jamming the pot, they insisted on rejamming with the undersets. I slowed down on the turn with a possible straight card hitting, but the river brought me quads and everyone filled up. Jam, rejam, and cap all the way with two callers. Sweet!

Omaha Ambivalence

I am hating the Omaha tournament more and more.  Wednesday night we had only 9 players so the prize pool was dinky.  I see the worst plays possible in that game.  One guy, I will nickname him "Papa Smurf" just had to see every flop and call every bet and get lucky on every hand.  He knocked me out with my flopped two pair all-in with some random hand that found a straight.  I was sincerely hoping he would bring his second place money to the cash game, but he left.  I did great in that game, up $238 including $75 in high hand money (10 high straight flush).  I was glad the game broke when it did as I was starting the giveback procedure.

My online tournaments have been going well.  Two money finishes yesterday and a step advance, and a 4th place money finish today in a 45 person sit-n-go.  Nice. 

Bad Plays, Damn Ace Queen again

The Sunday a.m. Moose tournament was really disappointing to me. This is a "sorta deep stack", with 5000 starting chips and slow blinds. I really like the format. I nearly doubled up early when I flopped a set of 9's and doubled up a couple of hands later when my aces met queens. As chip leader early I like to play a little more aggressively and see more flops. I managed to give back some chips like this and when the table broke I had about 9,000, still a very good stack. I was on a table that had knocked out a lot of players and Joe had the big stack and was running very hot. Example: pocket kings, ends up calling an all-in by a good player who has flopped an ace and hits his king on the river. Also got quads early with 3 of them on the board and a non-believer. Anyway, I make one mistake, raising early with suited QJ and getting reraised by a semi-short stack who has pocket 10's. I folded to the re-raise, which brings me to the p0int: if you are going to raise early, ya better be prepared to throw the chips in to a reraise. I should have just limped/folded or better yet folded. I managed to make the final table with a pretty short stack (7,000), and just went card dead. Ended up going all in for my last 2500 (blinds 1/2000) with KQ suited. With 3 callers a good opportunity but missed and lost to A/10 hitting his 10.

My worst play of the weekend was at Jokers deep stack. 10,000 in starting chips and I was doing very, very well. When our table broke I had about 30,000 in chips with blinds at 500/1000. With 30 times big blind and moving to a new table I should have just been patient, getting reads on the new players, but nooooooooo. About 3 hands into the new table I re-raise the under the gun raiser (3000) all-in with AQ. He had 25,000, so my play was very, very dumb. My thought (if you could call it a thought) was that he would lay down almost any pair and AK for all of his chips. Unfortunately he is holding AA so that is just not an option. So, the very next hand, I am down to 5000 chips and a short stack (7500) goes all-in with one caller (a top player) just calling. I decide that my Q10 suited probably has two live cards, plus straight and flush options and is a good spot to triple up. Wrong. I run into pocket aces again (how sick is that), and two of us are gone. What can I say except how stupid can I be!!!

Last comment. Playing the 3/6 game at the moose is just getting to be stupid most of the time. I played last night and lost $10 after about an hour and got up and left. The idiot next to me played every hand, raised most of them, sometimes didn't even look at his cards, overtipped the dealer so that when he did win took the chips out of play (tipped dealer $10 on a $40 pot). Idiot!!! Plus he went broke twice and didn't rebuy immediately, but also sat at the table so the dealer kept dealing him in accidently. I finally could not handle it anymore so I left. Horrible, horrible game.

Bubble Boy

After winning (3 way chop) the Friday morning Moose, I was feeling in good tournament shape. The Saturday morning went well for me, making the final 6, with a deal cut to pay 4th & 5th $50 each. I went out on the bubble with AQ. I raised under the gun to $3500 with the blinds at $500-1000 and the big blind called me with 8/9 offsuit. The flop came king/Jack/9. He checked and I went all in for another $3500 with 10 outs (3-aces, 3 queens, 4 tens). He makes the hero call with his pair of 9's and they hold up. Unbelievable! Even though he was in the big blind with "only" $2500 more to call, it was still a very weak call. Then, with my preflop raise in mind and the big card flop, it was just dumb to call the all in. I am ahead of him with almost any hand you would raise with including pocket 10's up, the ever-popular AK, AJ, and almost a coin toss with my AQ. Oh well. I should however in honor of the fairness doctrine and truth in advertising tell you that I knocked Derek, a very good player, out of the tournament with a 3/5 offsuit. I was running very card dead early so I took a chance by limping in the small blind. The flop came out with a 10 , queen and another small card. Everyone checked around (4 players). The turn brought the 3 and Derek bet 500. I thought long (and probably wrong) and eventually called. The river brought the 5 and I checked, Derek went all-in with his pair of 10's and I called to knock him out. Lucky me. You just have to "adjust" sometimes and switch gears. The mistake that I made with my AQ was not just going ahead and pushing with them, as the blinds would have folded to that sized bet, though I commented that I was happy with the call cause I did need action to chip up. Ya gotta be careful what you wish for sometimes.

Omaha High Low

I am an admitted Omaha fan. I play online almost every day for small stakes, and do fairly well. The Wednesday night Cable Bridge Omaha tournament is not one of my favorites, though I did go through a time last Fall when I could not lose. The problem is two-fold. First, there are never more than two tables, so the ultimate prize is just not that much. Second, with a 1500 chip stack and moving quickly to no limit you must connect early to get some chips and are frequently short stacked and forced to move all in or committ a big chunk of your chips to play any hand. I really prefer bigger stack, slower blind tournaments. I played o.k. I think, but never really got going. I lost a big pot with pocket aces against a two pair flop and it just went downhill from there.

Playing in the 3/6 kill cash game afterwards I quickly lost $100, only to end the evening up $90, so it was a net win of $62 for the day.

Stuck and Unstuck

Things have not been going well for me pokerwise the past few days. I played in the Sunday morning tournament and went out in 11th place. I do think that was an amazing finish as I never had more that around starting chip stack (except for a few minutes when I won an all-in and got up to around 8,000 very late when the blinds were huge). I have basically been "cold-decked" most of the time. During the tournament I only had 4-5 pocket pairs, and most 7's or below (did have pocket aces late and won a small all-in pot). I did not even see many face cards. Most of my hands were of the big/little unsuited type or the small non-connected 6/2 variety. It is very difficult to get any chips with those cards unless you are very lucky and very bold in bluffing. Gus Hansen could win with those hands, but few others. When I am cold decked in the future I think that I will push hard when in position and hope for the best!

I may be turning around on my fortunes with a small ($100) cash win last night in the 4/8 game. I got stuck $100 faster than it has taken me to type this blog with some great starting cards, lots of callers to my raises, and either missed flops or chasers with almost no draws who got incredibly lucky. Example: Raised preflop with AJ suited in early position, Anh calls from the small blind with 7/3 offsuit. Flop is 7/3/Ace. Sick! Next example: Raise in late position with pocket jacks. Flop has one overcard, but I bet it, 3 callers, continue betting and one caller with a 5 on turn. 5 on the river, I bet and caller raises...with 4/5 offsuit! He had no straight draw, No flush draw, and no overcards on the flop, picked up a 5 on turn and miracle on the river. Unbelievable! The only consolation I have is that those who live by runner runner, die by runner runner.

Update on step tournament. Back up to step 3. Have decided that this is definitely a tough way to earn a wsop seat as you have to finish in top 4 every time to either advance or stay at the same level. If you think about doing this 10 times in a row it is extremely tough!!

Misdeal at the Legion

I missed the action week before last, but got a great story last Friday. The dealers at the American Legion tournament also play in the game. I have dealt several times, so obviously it is a little amaturish, though all the dealers are competent. When you deal you receive several benefits: $10 off your $40 entry fee, 3 free drink tickets, and a chance for a big tip at the final table (if you are the first dealer to request dealing it). The trouble started I think with the free drink tickets. The final table dealer had pounded down at least 3-4 beers when this situation came up. They were down to the final 3 players with one all-in in the big blind for $2000. The button, who is the chip leader, looks down at pocket aces so he reraises all in to isolate the big blind. When they turn over their cards, she has 4/6 offsuit. She walks away from the table over to the bar and the dealer, rather than running the board like he should, mucks her cards and awards the pot. Someone then calls for a discussion of the action and the decision is somehow made by "committee" that they will give everyone back their chips and redeal the hand. The big blind doubles up, doubles up again and again and ends up winning the tournament. The big stack was on tilt the entire time. The dealer? He ended up with a $10 tip because everyone was upset with him! Toooooo funny!!!