I've Got a Ticket To Ride

Bought my cashier's check for WSOP Event #40 today.  Got to get to the post office and send by certified mail.  It has to be there 2 weeks prior.  I am getting excited.

Quote of the day:
                                          There is more to poker than life.
                                          - Tom McEvoy

World Series Coming

Dear John, I’m sorry I broke off our engagement. I miss you terribly and regret my decision. Please take me back.

Love,
Mary

PS. Congratulations on winning the World Series of Poker Main Event.

This Can't Be Good

You know how some poker tables are just......toxic?  Sometimes when you sit down and look around you think, "Shit, not these guys".  Last night at the Legion I drew table 1 which I really like, and as a bonus, Jeff is dealing.  He is methodical and very competent.  He is also a very good player as are most of the others seated.  I like this.  There are two newbies, one which is clueless, the other knowledgeable (he is buddies with Billy, who I will get to later), but new to poker.  He works in finance so is a numbers guy and has a good grasp of odds.  Anyhow, I play well, chip up a little but unfortunately get moved to a table that is toxic.  There are two calling stations and a totally incompetent guy that I have never seen before who keeps loading up on the free popcorn.  Seriously, 3 trays that I saw.  Also, Billy, who has had a lot to drink and has tripled up, busting the dealer's aces with his flopped set of kings.  He is the chip leader at the table.

Billy and I have a great conversation between hands (we are sitting next to each other) about the WSOP.  Turns out he is playing the same event as me, staying nearby at the Flamingo.  We make plans to huddle up before the tournament.  Anyway, I go on a heater, first busting my friend Matt out who had pocket aces with my 7/8.  Small raise, other callers, in big blind, flopped 6/9/Q.  I had him well covered so called his all in on the draw and hit my 10 on the river.  Sorry Matt!!!!

Next, I flopped a straight with my QJ vs A10 on a 10/K/A flop.  Now in very good chip position as table leader I raised pre-flop under the gun with A/7 suited.  Hmmm, might be getting cocky now.  I am called by the only one at the table who has skills, position and chips, Mr. Billy.  Flop is K/K/X, with one of my suite.  I check and Billy, who is capable of a steal, bets 1200 into the 3,000 pot.  Suspecting a steal, I attempt a re-steal (remember, we are the two chip leaders, and both have MAD skills!!!!) by check raising 2500.  Billy tanks, then begins talking about just calling in order to put me all-in on the turn.  I honestly thought he might fold at this point.  Instead, he shoves.  Oops.  My bad.  I fold, showing my ace.  Billy later says, "did you actually fold aces?"  I was semi-honest and said, "No, big suited ace".  He told me at the break that he had K/Q.

Now brought down to earth, but still with about twice starting chips, I run into two of my nemesis, who shall remain unnamed, like Voldemort.  They have both knocked me out before due to their stubbornness and luck.  Player "A", raises her short stack (but not all-in, which is a mistake) with KK.  My other nemesis calls from the small blind.   Now officially priced in from the big blind with 3/4, I decide to call.  The flop is a dream for me, A/3/4.  Small blind goes all-in.  I immediately put him on an ace, probably with an average kicker and decide to go for both players.  I re-raise all-in with 1500 more than the biggest stack.  Now, faced with an all-in and an overcall, player "A", both clueless, and lucky as she is, makes the genius call for her last 1,000 in chips.  Billy went into the tank by the way and reluctantly folded.  I proudly turned over my two pair only to see player "B" with aces up, A/3.  Now "A" turns over KK.  Wow!  Told you she was clueless.  The river of course following the theme of "luck" brings a king.  She wins the main pot, the other player takes the side pot.  Unbelievable.

Our table breaks down, and I move to table 2, along with player "A".  With 3 1/2 big blinds I am looking to get my chips in soon before blinds increase.  I get my chance under the gun with QJ.  I shove and am called by....are you ready?......player "A", who has no business still being in the game.  Everyone else folds and she turns over KK!!!  The flop brings me a gutshot straight draw, the deck fails to help me and she eliminates me.  Another player, a total jerk, helpfully points out that she made runners for a king high flush.  Thanks.  The pair of kings was good enough.

   

Joke

A guy shows up late for work.  The boss yells, "you should have been here at 8:30!". He replies: "Why?  What happened at 8:30?"

Chinese Poker Tutorial

Vegas Recap

Wow, how do you even start to talk about 4 days of poker in Las Vegas?  Our first day there was a long session, until about 3 a.m.  I played both 1/2 No Limit and 4/8 hi/low limit omaha. Neither game was particularly good for me and got stuck about $400.  Tuesday decided to play my first tournament at the Venetian, a $150 deepstack bounty tournament ($25 bounty).  I was playing tight, not getting involved in many hands.  The table was aggressive and one player got knocked out early while another almost got eliminated.  There were at least 4 all-ins within the first 20 minutes.  My first big hand was with 2/2 against a smallish raise with a couple of callers.  The flop was almost perfect:  A/2/3 with 2 hearts.  I checked to the raiser and he did not dissapoint, betting almost the pot.  Everyone else folded and I flat called to spring the trap on the turn.  The turn brought a 4, also a heart, and when I checked (a big mistake), he checked behind.  Feh.  Now the turn brings a 5 of hearts to put a straight on the board.  With no heart in my hand (wow, now if it had been the 2///), I check/folded to his large river bet.

Now I hit my last hand of the tournament.  I raised with JJ and was called by a deeper stack on the button.  The flop was J/10/9 and by the opponent's face (he expressed great sadness), I could tell that he connected solidly, perhaps having a queen/ace, J/10, or even K/Q.  I bet a half pot continuation bet and he "reluctantly" called.  My turn bet on a brick was met with an all-in raise.  I very briefly considered the possibilities, but felt that I had better than a 50/50 chance to double up.  A fold would have left me with less than 1/2 my starting chips, maybe 3000 or so.  Blinds were only about 100/200 so I would have been fairly short stacked.  Decided to gamble and saw the bad news.  He had called my preflop raise with 7/8 offsuit and had the low end of the straight.  He wasn't excited to see my set, as I think he put me on aces or kings and realized I had tons of outs (10 to be exact).  Unfortunately I missed and was out early.  The cash games continued to elude me and dropped some more money.

Wednesday turned out to be a great poker day for me.  Starting with the 11:00 Mirage $60 tournament I chopped 4 ways for about $180 (there were only 17 players and huge house cut, plus we gave the chip leader more).  But, hey, a win is a win.  Then sat down in the 1/2 NL game and ran pretty even until the table got short stacked.  I raised with A/J of diamonds, got a couple of callers.  The flop was A/K/6 and the big blind bet $20 while a lady to my right called.  I briefly considered flat calling, but wanted to go heads up, so I raised all-in.  He called and she folded.  The turn brought the second diamond, and I had a royal flush draw.  The river was a jack and he tabled A/6 for flopped two pair to lose to my rivered 2 pair.  After that, the table broke down and I left up almost $300 for the day.

Moving back over to the Venetian after seeing "Jersey Boys" at Paris, played until the wee hours in a 4/8 omaha.  Finished that game up a $100 or so about 1:30 a.m.

Last sessions before we left on Thursday, very short 1/2 NL stuck about $40, moved to 4/8 limit game, crushed it in 20 minutes up over $100, then moved to omaha 4/8 and quit up another $20 or so.  Time to leave for the airport.

A great trip with good friends, lots of poker, stuck slightly, about $400 for the 4 days which includes all my food, taxis, tips, drinks, etc.  Not bad entertainment for the price.

Recap:  1/2 NL:  loss
            4/8 limit:  win
            4/8 omaha:  win
           tournaments:  small loss

Last Blog Before Returning From Vegas?

Always on Saturday must do reporting from the major coastal event, the Friday night American Legion tournament.  First of all, did not deal.  Wasn't asked, didn't volunteer.  Secondly, no beer.  Third, no changing it up.  Decided to play squeaky tight, folded all hands for first 20 minutes or so.  Mostly because I was being dealt absolute crap.  Went for a short streak where my highest card was a 7....maybe 5 hands.  Also being dealt lots of big little off-suit combinations, you know, Q/3, etc.  Meanwhile, the guy next to me is tripling up, knocking out the two dumbest players at the table.  Honestly, would you call an all-in with your straight when there are 3 of a suit on the board?  Or with two pair when a straight or flush is obvious?  If so, you are just not paying any attention to texture.  So, anyway, this kid, who had never played here before hits the jackpot and continues to tear up the game.  As they say, "the deck was hitting him".   I won a couple of hands before break and had about 3,000 chips, (starting stack of 2,150), and blinds up to 100/200 after break.

Now, from my reading about fast tournaments...and I consider this one of them due to the blind structure and 16 minute blinds, I am in definite short stack territory with only 15 BB's.  So now, my only move is all-in.  Re-drawing seats to another table, where I am again next to the red-hot kid, I go all-in, double up and win another smaller pot with a raise.  Now back in better chip position I miss a huge opportunity when the dealer raises half his stack with A/6 and is called by the kid with 6/6.  I refuse to over-call (remember my earlier blog) with A/10 suited since I reasoned that all of his chips would go in post flop due to pot commitment, plus figured there was at least a pair and/or bigger ace out there.  The flop was 10 high, with 2 hearts (my suit) and it was checked on the flop and turn.  The dealer went all-in on the river, the kid anguished, folded his winning hand face up and the dealer showed the bluff.

A few hands later, I raised the now short dealer with K/J suited, he went all-in with K/9 off, and managed to turn a 9 and then river another.  Opportunities missed.  I always love seeing the dominated hand but poker has a big luck element and have not been running that lucky.

Managed to make the final table, and due to 2 knockouts we entered it with only 9 players, with 5 making the money.  Wish I could report that I went on to win it, but very bad cards for me again.  We got to 6, agreed to the bubble pay.  I went all-in next hand and won.  Robert, a very lucky player, and the short stack went all-in against "The Kid", (who had back to back queens on the FT) and doubled up.  Unfortunately, Roberts luck ran out a few hands later, he went out on the bubble.  Hooray for me!!!!  I ended up shoving with K/Q under the gun with only 3 or 4 BB's and was called by A/J.  He hit a jack on the flop, which was actually good for me since the flop was J/9/8, giving me 4 more outs.  Failed to hit them and collected my $72.00 5th place.  After buy-in and tip,  netted $27.00.  Oh, well.

Here's a trivia fact for you.  Went the whole tournament without being dealt a pocket pair.  How is that even possible?  And more so, making the money.  It does show you that you do not need pairs to win.  As nice as rockets or kings look, they seldom make more than top pair hands.  I read recently that the average winning holdem hand is two pair, which you can do with top pair, but it requires the board to pair which can mean doom if someone has trips.


there’s a guy who lives in London. One morning, he hears a booming voice. The voice says, “Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.” He ignores the voice, but can’t help thinking about this seemingly divine message. Later in the day, he hears the voice again. “Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.” Again, he ignores the voice. Soon he hears the voice every minute of the day. “Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.” He can’t take it anymore. He believes the voice. He quits his job, sells his house, takes all his money, and flies to Las Vegas. As soon as he steps off the plane, the voice says, “Go to the Rio.” He goes to The Horseshoe. The voice says, “Put all your money into a World Series of Poker (WSOP) entry.” He puts up his $10,000 and buys an entry into the WSOP. He goes to his assigned tournament table. The first hand is dealt and the guy is dealt pocket Aces. The voice says, “Go all in.” He pushes his entire $10,000 bankroll into the pot. Three players call. The dealer lays down the flop which is Jh10h9h.

The voice says, “Damn!”

Online Cash

Playing in this online tournament I found myself down to practically antes but fought back and ended up finishing in 6th place.  Originally over 1100 players.  How much did I win?  $5.00, glad you asked.

I am re-reading a couple of tournament poker books and it is giving me lots of food for thought.  I am hoping that this run continues next week when I am in Las Vegas.

Here is another online tournament, same night, did better, winning it.

Last tournament of the night, on the verge of qualifying for final.  Had to get in top 10 of semi-final for this one.  Probably just fold my way in.  There are some points you can win, but have a half million or so already.  First is 50,000, already got that in the other one.

Gave up and went to bed.  Qualified, in no. 2 spot.

New Link I found

   
Poker Wonks Blog Community

I am trying to link with them so folks can read my blog.

Here is something I found on one of the blogs. Pretty funny. How he sees the table and how a donkey fish sees it. Note the three action buttons at the bottom of the table. Gambool!!!

This is sick

Played for 4 hours in this tournament.  781 players, only one prize, Google chromebook computer.  Was in 1st place for an hour until lost about half my chips to a donk with K10 who shoved preflop, I called with AK and he hit two pair.  Lost the rest of my chips to him when he called a shove (AJ), and my overshove (J/10 suited) with his 9/7 offsuit.  He hit a 7 of course to knock both of us out.  I finished in 13th place, the AJ finished 12th.

You Might Be A Donk if...........

You might be a donk if:

You call a big raise out of position with any two suited cards

You raise out of the blinds after many limpers with a weak ace.

You call a big raise with a weak ace.

You go all in with a small pair with more than 20 big blinds.

Overcalls & Out of Position Preflop Raises

Help me out of this one commenters.  I cannot understand the players who choose to raise from the blinds, particularly with lots of limpers, with really average hands (think A/10, K/J, etc.)  I see this quite often, and granted, it sometimes works since no one has shown any strength evidently, but jeesh.  The disadvantage of acting first against a crowd (since the earliest limper is most likely to call, thus creating a "limpede"), is that you will have to act first for the rest of the hand.  This is a huge disadvantage and leaves you guessing which is not a good way to play poker.  The only way it is good is if your raise is large enough to thin the crowd to heads up, and then only if you have a super premium hand, not AK or even queens!

The next questionable practice that I see is the overcall and over-over call.  Example:  The previously mentioned out of position raiser sees the flop, raises big or goes all in and a player calls, then another, then another.  Not only does the third and fourth player have to beat the original, but the others too.  Even a single overcall, without flopping the nuts is just crazy.  Yet, I often see it with weak draws, bottom or middle pairs, etc.

As Ricky used to say to Lucy, "You got some splainin' to do!"

Changing it Up (Maybe not a good idea...especially after pressure washing all day)

Decided to change things up at the Legion last night.  First of all, no dealing.  No big thing, wasn't asked, but planned to pass anyway.  Oh yes, the controversy I mentioned was o.k.  I was not part of the problem as it turned out.  She was super nice to me.

Second change.  I have a rule, well, make that a guideline, that I don't drink while playing poker.  Something about impaired judgement.  Yesterday I spent all afternoon pressure washing my decks.  Hard work, not used to that!!!  Anyway, I was very tired and ordered a beer before the tournament.  Went down easily and quickly, so, ordered another one.

Third change.  Decided to play more aggressively, bluff more.  That had mixed results.  The first hand of the tournament limped in with J7 suited.  Flopped a gutshot draw and decided to bet it.  Kept firing and top pair kept calling.  Also played A/9 aggressively, raising pre-flop and raising an early position bettor who folded two pair face up with my big turn bet.  Flop was A/Q/7....he had A/7.  I give him props (and he sometimes reads my  blog) for being a smart player....which he is....and not wanting to commit a lot of chips early, which I was doing.

Finding myself about 500 below starting chip stack just before the first break, I found AK suited on the button with about 5 limpers.  I raised big (to 400 with about 540 in the pot) and got folds until an early limper decides to shove with 3/3.  I had him covered...barely by only $60, and I insta-called.  Generally I like to be on the other side of races, and frankly I would have folded 3's in his situation (or shoved pre-flop before me), but hey, you pays your money and get to play em as you like.  Anyhow, he hits a freaking 3 on the flop and I am drawing dead on the turn.  Just a side comment on this:  I have lost every freaking race lately.  Doesn't seem to matter which side I am on!!!

Returning from break with one chip (we chipped up) and blinds at 100/200, I put it in with 9/9, tripled up, but still had only 1 1/2 blinds.  In my BB, the UTG player to my left raised big (with K/K, and got like 3 callers).  I found A/6 and threw in my last chip into the volume pot.  The flop was small, he bet big and everyone folded.  I was unable to find running 6's or an ace and went out.  Will have to change up my change up next week I guess. 

Rejection Hurts

Source: bitsandpieces.us via robscot on Gentlemint

Just thought this was exceptionally funny!  Happy Friday.  Plan on playing the Legion tournament tonight, but not dealing.  I just play so much worse when I do that.  Also, not looking forward to seeing the nice lady who runs it.  She had a meltdown last week and fear that I may have contributed (a long story, and definitely did not "start" it, but unfortunately did not help the situation).  Lesson learned, STFU.  Hope she did not decide to bail on us as she is major glue keeping it together.  Flowers?  Candy? Wine? Hmmmm. 

http://kontradictions.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/dear-democratic-gun-control-lobby-how-to-get-better/

Back to an old subject.  This article makes a lot of sense.  I am very tired of the gun debates, activism, insertion of the discussion in every political opportunity.

One of the big things I realized was that when they say the "big bad NRA" is influencing legislators is that the NRA is not an entity.  It is a collection of members, the numbers which are growing exponentially with every attempt to control guns (estimated 400-500,000 new members in one month).  Various sources peg membership at around 3-4 million.  That is 3 or 4 million voters in every state and district.  Oh, and p.s., I am not an NRA member nor are a number of my pro-gun, pro-2nd amendment friends.  The real number of supporters is probably 5 or 10 times the membership.  What politician wants to fight that?

With that said, I fully support keeping guns out of the hands of crazies.  I also think safety is super important.  My new gun safe is on order for safety at home.