How The Heck Did I Do That?

"Another Saturday (Friday) night that I ain't got nobody.  I got some money cause I just got paid"  (Sam Cooke)

Friday night at the American Legion.  Nobody wants to deal as usual.  I make the proposition early with Mary that I volunteer to deal, but only table 2.  If I get knocked out early definitely do not want table 1 until 11 p.m.  Fortunately, I do not get knocked out but make the final table with a very unhealthy chip stack, probably 2nd or 3rd shortest.  The dealer for table 1 got knocked out earlier and asks me to deal, which I refuse telling him that I play sooooo bad when I deal.  So, we get to deal with a dealer with attitude.

Amazingly, people quickly get knocked out.  The shortest stack (not even one big blind) goes out the first hand.  Then unexpectedly some big stacks collide in a multiway pot and 2 more or gone.  They are paying 5 places tonight and I see some opportunity to cash.  Down to 6, we agree to pay the bubble their $40 back.  Allrighty then.  The bubble is soon gone and we step up in pay grade.  Love it when that happens.  Then a crazy thing happens.  The two chip leaders......massive stacks get all-in, with the chip leader top pair and the 2nd leader with middle pair.  Suddenly we are down to 4 and I am not even short stack!  He is gone, and with only one blind left I soon follow in 3rd place which is good for $127.  Wow!!!  Very unexpected, and with my dealer money to come later, should finish with about an $85 profit.  Nice.

Comments on a hand:  In a 3 way pot, lots of money in it, a player shoves her last $200 into the $2000 pot on a flop of A/8/8.  A very good player who has many more chips than me calls the 200 and I fold.  She has nothing, he has called with nothing, and her unimproved hand wins.  I would have taken the pot with a pair on the river.  I would have called too for pot odds, which is why he justified his call, but with me behind him, even though I had checked already could not overcall.  The power of position I guess.  Did not want to get bluffed off the pot later.

Another side note:  Don't you just hate it when another player can look into your soul, not to mention your hand.  A player called my exact hand twice.  The first he said, "Black 7's?" as he folded.  I had pocket 7's, however one was red.  The second time i carefully counted my chips before folding to his raise and he said, "Ace Ten", which exactly what I had, suited.  Don't you just hate being in a hand with Daniel Negraneu?  This player finished 4th.  Same player who was in the hand described above.

Thin Value Bets

One of the leaks in my game is my failure to recognize and utilize the "thin value bet".  That is the situation when you have either been the lead bettor or have called with your draw and you reach the river.  My tendency is to check the river without the nuts.  Clearly, this is a time when you should bet for value with a hand that has been in the lead all the way or has reached its goal.  The types of hands and boards that I tend to check are highly coordinated boards, either straight or flush possibilities, hitting my flush but it is not a nut, or when I have a top pair, medium strength kicker kind of hand.  Some examples are:

On a flop of K/4/9, me holding KJ, I bet and get a couple of callers.  Turn is a 5, I bet and get the same callers.  River is a 10, it is checked to me and I usually check back.  Why?  Because the JQ or K10 just beat me, as well as the K9 letting me bet their hand all the way.  This is a situation ripe for a check raise and I just don't want to lose the river bet plus pay off the check raise as well.  Not betting saves me $40 in the 2/20 spread game, but costs me at least $20 if I get called by K/x suited that has only top pair, or even some
pocket pairs that failed to improve.  Note that if I "improve" to 2 pair with a jack on the river instead of the 10, the gutshot Q/10 just made the nuts.  A very tough proposition indeed, but with this one example you can see the dilemma.

The players in the pot, and my position also have a lot to do with my decision.  For instance, a well known check raiser like Anh is someone I never try to value bet because he loves to slow play his big hands and squeeze that extra bet out of you.  I have disappointed him several times this way.  On the other hand, if it is a known bluffer coming out at you when the scare card hits, I will sometimes raise him, even on a rebluff.  They will often fold a hand that might have beaten you.  Usually they do this for only 2 reasons:  the first to bluff or semi-bluff, the second for pot control, reasoning that they are going to call your bet anyway and there is some fold equity in betting.

When I see someone betting (and winning) with middle or even bottom pair I am not sure if witnessing genius poker or someone who has phenomenal card reading skills, or just a clueless donk who is trying to represent a bigger hand than he actually possesses or believes that he has a good hand.  With some players it is hard to tell, yet I see it all the time particularly when the player has raised preflop with a small pair.

Here is a helpful chart and the article I took it from:

http://www.thepokerbank.com/strategy/general/thin-value/

     

That kind of day

Starting my morning with a 40 person online tournament (qualifier for $3500 Halloween tournament) I call a min raise from my big blind with 4/8 of spades.  Flop is awesome, 4/8/K with 2 clubs.  I go ahead and shove as I want the flush draws (there were two other callers), or strong king to call.....which they always do in these games.  Everyone folds to the preflop raiser who strangely calls with.....pocket 5's.  Ha ha ha, donk.  Of course there is a 5 on the river and I am extremely short stacked and out the next hand.

Moving on to the next game, another qualifier with only 20 players, 10 to advance.  Not playing many hands, I flop 2 pair with my 9/10 on a 9/10/K flop.  Not great, but I bet 2/3 of pot into crowd since there are also two diamonds on the flop.  2 callers, including chip leader.  Turn, rut row, a diamond.  I check, big stack bets min, another player shoves.  Easy fold.

Now short stacked, I min raise UTG with 6/6 and get 2 callers until button, an active and aggressive player, who shoves a big stack.  Oh, well, call.  Also called by chip leader.  Button shows KK while CL has AQ suited.  Flop has an ace, I miss my 2 outer and we are both gone.

Firearm Safety Rule #8 : No matter how responsible he may seem, never give a loaded gun to a monkey

Yet another online tournament, I call with 6/6 in a 3 way all in pot.  One opponent with big cards, another with 7/7.  Incredibly I hit my set, but board goes runner runner spades and the pocket 7's knock me out with a spade.

Next to last tournament of the day.  Playing for a Nexus 7 tablet computer.  Won my seat earlier this month in a qualifier.  Over 900 players, not good.  I am running card dead and pick up 5/6 suited in blind.  Player raises to 300 and another player calls.  Flop is 5/5/x.  We both check to the raiser who fires a $300 c-bet (we all have around 4-5000 chips).  Call and call.  Turn is a 9, we check, he bets again, other player calls, I reraise to about 2500 ( over 1/2 my stack, about a pot size bet) and they both shove.  Call.  Original raiser exposes his KK, other player has 9/9 for the full house.  Ouch.  I was trying for value on a pretty dry board and got snapped by a two outer.  Guess I should have check raised the flop and kept KK in for the ride.

Poker Cliches & "Don't slip on the Montana Banana"

Discussion at the table recently about poker cliches.  Here are a few, feel free to add some.  They are often used to "justify" really bad calls.

1.  But they were suited.
2.  I had to call, I was getting pot odds (when clearly they were not).
3.  Big (or small) blind special.
4.  It's my favorite hand.
5.  I won a big pot with this once (sometimes not verbalized).
6. It has a name.  Hmmm, "flat tire", "San Francisco busboy", "Montana banana", "Dolly Parton".  These are all names of really crappy hands.  On a side note, my aces were cracked recently by the 9/2 with my preflop raise of $10 when he was the first caller.
7.  I was priced in.
8.  Had to defend my blind.
9.  Playing the heater.  Actually seem to be a valid reason at times when the deck is running over you.
10.  The voices inside my head told me to.  Not actually heard but maybe was by some players.

I was playing/supervising a $2-$4 limit Texas Hold’em game last night. One of the more entertaining players at the table would often say before the flop, “I think my 9-2 is good.”

It reminded me that although most poker hands that have names are above average starting hands (i.e. A-A, Q-Q) but some very weak preflop holdings also have unique names.

The 9-2 offsuit is referred to as the Montana Banana. It’s a hand that is better suited for the casino game blackjack (for a double down bet or just to draw a face card for a 21) than any poker game, and that is where the name derives from.

The 9-2 offsuit is called the Montana Banana, as the legend goes, because banana will grow in Montana before it ever wins a hand of poker.

There is also a myth that the 9-2 offsuit is called the Montana Banana because poker player was legalized in Montana by Proposition 92. However, poker was actually legalized in Montana through the Card Games Act, 23-5-311.

The next time you get dealt a 9-2 offsuit, don’t slip on the Montana Banana.

Ace Queen (AKA little slick)

 

Admittedly ace queen is often a trouble hand.  You are in deep doo doo versus the following hands:

AA
KK
QQ
AK

You are also in coin flip situations against JJ to 22.  You fare well against KQ, QJ, Q10,etc.  Domination is good, and having 3 outs is very bad.  The ATC (any two cards) player is only a 3 to 1 dog and we all know how that sometimes turns out.

In Sunday's tournament I saw 1 big chip swing and two eliminations with ace queen.

The first one, I raised with AQ in late position and a very healthy stack.  A short stack reraised me out of the big blind, but not all-in.  I commented, "this is clearly a raise or fold situation".  Due to the inflated pot size I elected to re-raise him all-in.  Clearly not a good decision when he tabled AA.  The flop was Q/9/9.  Well, at least I now have a two outer which courteously showed up on the turn.  Player down, AQ rules!!!!  Someone said, they all would have gone in anyway after the flop if you had just called.  True.

Second hand, the big stack at the final table raised big with AQ and is re-raised all-in by a large stack  holding KK.  The kings hold up and we have a new chip leader.

Third matchup, I am desperately short stacked and on the bubble with one big blind and button position.  I awake with KK.  I go all in, small blind completes and big blind re-raises all in with AQ.  Great!  I am soooooo happy.  At least until he flops an ace to eliminate me. on. the. freaking. bubble.

Analysis?  My raise and re-raise in scenario one was entirely proper.  I was not crippled if I lost, it was a $5 bounty tournament, and he could have had many hands that would have been a coin flip or worse.

Second one?  Horrible call of a shove with AQ.  You do not want to get into a coin flip or dominated hand scenario against a big stack.  Plus, he was not "playing the player" who happened to be my age, very conservative and a good player.  Easy fold if it was me.

Third hand.  Very poor play by the AQ.  Gang up on the bubble boy when you can.  It was a small pot and pointless to isolate.    

Great Poker Week

This may have been my best ever poker week.  Not necessarily monetarily, but just from total tournament wins (3) and cash game winning sessions (5), and cash game losses ($0).  My biggest tournament win was $480, followed by $150 and $150.  Cash games were $150, $150, $80, $80, and $8.   Would have been more but aces snapped by queens. 

Hit one monte carlo yesterday during my big $8 win session. Got all a player's chips in preflop with my JJ vs his KK and flop was:  J/J/10.  Smallish pot, about $50, but monte was $100.

Quiz time:  What is one of the only card matchups that does not yield a chop on a board of AKQJ2?

Answer:  54 vs 43   Happened to me yesterday.

This must be a new week.  Bubbled out in big morning tournament.  KK vs AQ (I had the kings, and a minature stack).  I was rolling along as one of the chip leaders and made a horrible mistake in a blind vs. blind hand.  I was small blind with K10 of clubs, I limped (hoping to trap, I guess).  Big blind had 9/5 offsuit.  Flop came 9 high with 2 clubs.  He bet, I called with umteen outs.  Turn miss, he bets bigger, like a donk I call.  River blanks.  Lost half my chips on the one hand.  Had I raised, would have won a small pot rather than losing a large one.  I could even have check raised the flop and probably gotten a fold.  Terrible play.  Discovered that it only takes one misplayed hand to ruin a good tournament.

Overcalling Shoves

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), the weakest calls I see are overcalls of shoves.  You must be strong (or at least have a huge chip stack) to call a shove.  In order to overcall, you must be superstrong or have a dominating chip stack over the 1st caller.  An example from this morning's tournament, I shoved with JJ and am called by A/10.  A fairly short stack (but more than mine) overcalls with A/9.  The flop is 10/9/9 and I am gone.  Very sick.

Another example, from an online game, I shove with QQ am called by one weak ace and AQ then a big stack overcalls all of these calls (I have a very healthy chip stack, but he has me barely covered) with K/6 offsuit.  Naturally, with all the power against him, he spikes a king.  Frankly I do not understand his play.

So, after getting knocked out this morning at the 8:00 tournament, I show up for the 10:00.  I drift along most of the tournament with starting chip stack and make the final table as one of the short stacks.  Miraculously, after getting down to 3 big blinds, make some double ups, start catching some great cards.  Ended up chopping 2 ways (I had the most chips) for $480 each.  Nice win!!!   

Tournament Win....at Last

While visiting in the Tri-Cities this week was able to sneak in one tournament.  Ran really well, made some good and bad laydowns and chopped with Heather (she had about half my chips).  I am all about reducing variance so it was worth it to get $50 more than 2nd place.  Sat down in the cash game for an hour or so and made $30.  Total win for the day $220 (less my $25 buyin plus 20 tip), also won $5 on free play, so netted $180.

Now visiting Seattle to see the new granddaughter then back to Tri-Cities via Portland to drop off wife and sister in law.  This has been a crazy couple of weeks but so grateful that daughter is back home with baby Eva.  Work progresses on our house....roof going on this week. 

Some Online Luck and Dealing Again at Legion

You won an invitation to play in the "WTP $1,500 Fall 2012 Online TOC Champ" tournament which is scheduled to start 11/11/2012 10:00:00 AM, EST. If you have not already done so, you must register for this tournament to play in it. To register for this or any other tournament, log on and click the Tournaments tab. All tournaments and their details, including dates and start times, can be found there.

You won an invitation to play in the "WTP $500 Sept Online TOC Championship" tournament which is scheduled to start 09/15/2012 09:00:00 PM, EDT. If you have not already done so, you must register for this tournament to play in it. To register for this or any other tournament, log on and click the Tournaments tab. All tournaments and their details, including dates and start times, can be found there.

Both of these wins are from the same tournament.  Last hand raised all-in with A/3, called by A/7 (had him covered).  Donkey lucky by hitting a 3 on the flop.

Dealt final table at the American Legion last night.  Knocked out in 15th place (33 or so players), but had to stay till almost midnight dealing.  Got my $40 buyin back plus another $28 so can't complain.  My final hand was A/8 shove with 4 big blinds called by BB with AJ.  Short stacked due to getting allin earlier with AK vs. KQ on a king high flop.  He hit his queen on the river.