Thinking About Poker Basics

The more poker I play the more I seem to get confused.  What constitutes a good hand?  When should you raise?  How much?  I do not seem to get the results I want (although I do make a heck of a lot of final tables) but how do I improve my play/results?  I watch players rake big pots with hands I would cheerfully throw away, then I lose with what I consider premium holdings.  I was thinking about hand selection this morning and have a few comments:

1.  Here is what I consider premium hands.

• Big Pairs.  By that I mean only three hands:  AA, KK, QQ (and am soft on this one)
• Big suited connectors:  AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, QJ, and sometimes J10.  Note that these are all broadway cards.  I could include A10 in this mix, but I am not bullish on it, nor on AJ as I see too many people felted with these holdings.
• Medium pairs:  JJ, 1010, 99, 88.  These pairs often get you in big trouble as any raise you make short of all-in will miss your hand most of the time and find an overcard nearly 100% of the time.  Any time you raise and are called you can expect one of the above mentioned premium hands to call and probably beat you.  An all in bet really is a semi-bluff, though you probably have the best hand pre-flop.
• Suited connectors:  10/9, 9/8, 8/7, 7/6.  The smaller connectors do not seem to me as winners often enough.
• Small pairs:  77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22.  These can be powerful hands, but usually only when they hit sets.  I like to play these very, very cautiously.   

All other hands could be viewed as "situational hands"....those gapped suited connectors like Q/10, J9, etc.  Single gappers can be good, particularly if higher ranks.  The suitedness does not help much if you are counting on winning with a flush.  The do make sneaky straights, but require hitting the gap.  Same goes for two gappers, but you obviously need to hit both cards in the middle.  Two pair hands are pretty good usually when you play these....but consider that you might be in deep straight trouble with people playing the connectors of 6/7 when you have 5/8.  You will probably win most of the time, but playing for a big pot with someone with a lot of outs.  When I speak of situational hands, most of the time I like these in unraised pots in the blinds or button...never in early or middle position.

The only other hands worth mentioning are the suited aces.  I like all of them except A/6 & A/7 due to the low kicker value.  They just get you in trouble most of the time.  The low suited aces are valuable for wheel draws, which add a little something-something.  A/8 and A/9 have fair kicker value.

Why do I list these obvious things?  Just trying to keep in the front of my mind which are playable hands.  We often get drawn into playing stuff that frankly is totally speculative, particularly if playing loose in the blinds.  My tendency is to muck nearly all blind hands unless they are premium, and even some of those against a raise.  I will raise the big blind if folded to my SB with these, but sometimes it is just as good to limp and hope for a raise so I can put in a big re-raise.  That said, limping is usually very lame as you may give the 9/2 a free shot at flopping two pair or trips...and that is not good if he would have folded pre-flop.

    

Seaside American Legion

I had heard about their Monday night tournament for a long time, but never really thought about driving over to try it until yesterday.  A couple of the guys from here talked about it, said it had a little better structure plus more starting chips, so thought I would give it a try since I am going to miss next Friday's tournament in town.

The Seaside Legion is really a bigger and nicer version of ours.  Big open area for bingo, dances, etc., interesting displays (MIA/POW) featuring some M-16's and other cool stuff.  The tournament itself seemed a lot more.....unstructured.  The guy taking money did not take your name, hit me up for an extra $5 because I was a first time player (said it went to replacement equipment, cards, etc.).  There were tons of guys from Cannon Beach there, so I felt pretty much at home.  My table draw was table 2...there were three tables.....and many familiar faces plus some new ones.  The dealer was a young hotshot player who absolutely was the sloppiest dealer I have ever seen.  Once he even mucked his own cards.  It was fairly chaotic.  I survived, chipping up a little before the tables broke.  My best hand was flopping two pair, betting, getting called, betting the turn when a third heart hit, getting flat called, then filling up on the river where I check raised the flush.  Other than that no other outstanding pots.  Which brings me to a subject that really should be reserved for a separate blog post, but here it is:  Donk calls.

I watched a couple of players bust out with really big stacks when they didn't properly appreciate the texture of the board.  Example:  Obvious broadway straight with a 10/K/A showing and all-in over his bet and re-raise....he had AK.  Just really a case of not being able to fold a hand or recognize strength.
Aces lost big to possible straight (he had 2 pair) on a baby flop.  Again, pot control with single pair hand would be called for.  Another big stack fell with JJ vs QQ.  She let herself get drawn into an all-in situation pre-flop.  Just bad judgement in my opinion.

Anyway, I unfortunately was not the beneficiary of any of these donk plays, but the sloppy dealer was.  He donked off a ton of chips with AJ vs. QQ....again, why risk big stacks with a marginal hand?  Saw another player fall with AJ.....when will they learn?

We got down to 5 players with 4 places paid.  Two of us were on life support (2-3 big blinds).  The suggestion was made to pay the bubble boy.  All of us agreed except the big stack.  The other tiny stack reminded him that he had given him a ride there (about 30 miles)...so he changed his mind.  Good for me as the other shorty got them all in bad with A8 vs A9 but spiked an 8.  I was blinded out shortly afterward having won exactly one hand on the final table and put my last chip in with K3 suited vs. 9/9 and managed to hit only my 3.

Things That Drive Me Crazy

I am referring almost exclusively of course to online poker, but some similarities exist in "real" poker.

1.  People shoving preflop with any two cards the first hand dealt.  This happens a lot in "Zynga" poker.

2.  Players calling preflop shoves the first hand with any two cards.

3.  Players overcalling preflop shoves the first hand with any two cards.

Note:  I will sometimes join this donkfest, but typically I will have only one of three hands, AK suited, AA or KK.....sometimes QQ.  All other hands I fold.  That said, I prefer to preflop fold nearly all hands in any position due to the excessive number of players limping.  I prefer to save my chips, let the donks knock each other out and end up "in the money" even if short stacked and outplay 1 or 2 opponents.  I do this a lot.

4.  Players making a min-raise from the small or big blind after nearly the whole table limps.  What is going through their little mini-pea-brain minds?  The pot gets swollen if all call (and they all will) and becomes a drawing nightmare with the initial raiser woefully out of position.  Usually when cards are finally exposed they have raised with garbage hands like weak aces, K10, etc.

This brings me to a play I actually like, which is a big stack who min-raises after lots of limpers from the button.  This accomplishes so much!!!  First, they take command of the hand if no one re-raises.  Second, they put pressure on short stacks, taking some more of their chips.  And, they get reaction from the "real hand" who then raises big, again pressuring short stacks and enabling the big stack to fold.

5.  Out of proportion raises at any time.  O.K., you raised to $500 when the blinds are 30/60, everyone folds, you pick up blinds.  Nice move assmunch, way to waste your big hand.  I see this move way too much even in live games.  I really understand big raises with scary boards, but it is so much better to just give them poor odds for their draws, not crazy raises that if called put your tournament in jeopardy due to the inflated pot size when the draw hits or making them "pot committed" to the river.

6.  The trappers in the world who whine after they sneakily limp with their giant hand and are snapped by 2/6 in the big blind who would have mucked to a min raise.

7.  Trash talk online.  Had two this morning that would not stop.  I personally knocked both of them out.

There will be more as I think about it.  Will add to comments. 

Frustration

Very frustrating night at the Legion tonight.  In turn, I get unlucky, play poorly and have opponents get lucky against me.  I flop gutshot, turn double gutter, whiff.  I flop two pair, lone opponent rivers a gutshot straight.  I flop bottom pair, turn flush draw, straight draw comes in, whiff.  Last hand, flop a set of 6's vs. AQ off.  Two of his diamonds on flop....runner runner diamonds, player down.  The hand before vs. this player I folded bottom pair on flop, turned trips....nice pot too bad I folded.

The table was extremely toxic.  Two major calling stations, one X factor playing like a calling station and getting lucky.  Four good players, and one luckbox.  My plan is to keep getting my money in good and make a draw now and then plus avoid getting unlucky.

Back to Beach Poker

So, my Friday night tournament started out great with a double up the second hand dealt.  With a bunch of limpers I completed the small blind without checking my cards.  The flop included 2 spades, and lo and behold I had the Q/7 of spades.  Hallelujah!!  I bet around $120 into the 120 pot and was raised to $240.  The other players folded and I reraised to 540.  Keep in mind that our starting chip stack is only $2150.  The player called my 3-bet.  The turn brought another spade and I shoved.  He tanked for a few minutes and finally called, turning over J/9 of spades and drawing dead.  Nice start.

I wish that I could say that everything fell into place after that, but twice I raised (KQ, AQ) and was called.  Missed flop and folded to big bets.  Flopped a set of 5's and won a nice pot, but couldn't get the other player all in.  Knocked out the dealer later....I was the only one who had knocked out anyone when our table broke.  Moving to another table I met disaster after disaster, folding winners and playing losers.  Honestly though, would you call a big bet with A7 and an all in bet?  No problem for A/10 to snap QQ but I folded a full house with A/7/7 on the board.

My nemesis Carl came back from a short stack with AK, then knocked me out with another AK on my UTG shove with A9.  The board paired jacks, so I had lots of outs as the board pairing again gives us a chop, but no.  Player down.

On a more positive note, playing online after that, I advanced to step 7 in my quest on Cardplayer website.

Here is a downside of online poker...Playing today for a seat in the Las Vegas deepstack, twice I had the stone cold nuts and my computer froze up.  When I reconnected, my hand had been folded!  So, I reverted to a "shove or fold" strategy.  This works pretty well, and I chip up but also get snapped a couple of times by a very loose player.

Despite having to leave when I was poised to win a seat on level 2, things turned out great.  The reason I left early was to collect money for the 4:00 tournament at the American Legion.  The regular person was out of town and she asked me to fill in.  I wasn't sure if the $100 once a month tournament was a good one for me, but the structure was better than Friday night's with more chips and longer blinds.  With 20 entries, the prize pool paid 4 places:  $900, 500, 300, 200 and change, with 100 to high hand.  Decided to play (other option was to deal and get guaranteed maybe 100).  I ran card dead early and late, but had a great middle game, entering the final table with 2nd largest chip stack...another card dead early player caught fire just before the FT.  I really just survived, getting AQ snapped by A4 from the giant stack, and losing to 6/6 blind vs. blind with my Q/J suited (flop was 10/K of my suit)  had way too many outs to hit...any Q, any J, that is 6, plus any ace (4 more), any 9, 4 more, any diamond, 7 more, giving me a total of 21 outs twice on the flop....Jeesh, and he was low stack on the bubble.  How the heck do you miss that many outs?  Anyway, discussion was had about paying the bubble, and the huge stack agreed to go along with what everyone else decided.  But, one player said no....so no deal.  Being the short stack then, was not too happy.  The other short guy decided to gamble with Q10 and was called by the big guy with A9 who spiked an ace.  Saved some money not paying the bubble.  We played until a break and counting chips found that three of us had nearly identical stacks of around 10K, while the chip leader had 57K.  I proposed we give him first and chop the balance, which was $330 each, about a $205 profit after buy-in and tip.  We all agreed and ended the game after 4 1/2 hours of play.

2 & 3 Outers

There is probably no more frustrating situation in poker than to have your opponent(s) totally dominated, yet lose to them when they hit a 2 or 3 outer.  I absolutely love it when my shove with AK is called by A/7 off.  What? A seven on the river?  Nice catch sir.  KQ vs. QJ, no problem for the villain to catch a jack to finish you off. But I digress.  Yet again. To illustrate that it is possible however for even me to get lucky in these situations, I will tell you about a couple of hands yesterday online.

First hand of tournament (CardPlayer.com) for a seat in a $1000 cash tournament final.  There are 88 players.  I am on the button with....8/8.  Some kind of omen, huh?  Sure enough, some donk shoves, followed by another.  Hmmm.  8's probably no good here, but signs are signs.  I call for all my chips.  Whoa, yet another player shoves.  Hey, this hand is no good.  Cards revealed, A/10, K/J, Q/3.  O.K., only every overcard in the deck except for the 9.  Flop comes with 2 spades, jack high.  Not good.  Turn an ace...of spades.  Really bad, except for one thing....I have the only spade.  Gin/Yahtzee/...etc., spade on the river.  I become the early tournament chip leader with over 4,000.  Would like to say it had a happy ending, but despite cracking kings with my J/9 (flop J/2/3), turn 3, river J., I ended up 8th in tournament with only 4 moving on.  It hurt that I sat out for nearly an hour while taking the dog to the beach. But, hey, at least I hit my 3 outer!!!! Congratulations luckbox boy. 

No News is Good News?

Not much to post about poker adventures since the Friday night Legion game was off because of some dumb holiday (oops, 4th of July is not dumb).  We enjoyed the local parade with little granddaughter Eva catching a lot of candy thrown from the vehicles. Afterwards we made our way to the fire station to enjoy a barbequed hotdog, complements of the taxpayers (me) I suppose.

My online games consist of:  having the best hand, someone catching some improbable cards to beat me.  Example: pocket aces cracked by A/7 with him using the 7 to make the bottom end of a straight.  Here's another:  shove with 10/10, 4 callers!!!!  The amazing result, everyone beat me.  K/J caught a jack, Q/8 made a queen high flush, Q/3 made a flush with his 3, and jack/8 made 2 pair.  Wow!!!

This is not to say that I did not make some good and even great hands.  For example, playing K/J suited, I flopped four to a royal flush, then completed it on the turn.  It was bet by another player and a caller on flop and turn.  Another heart on the river killed my action, but hey, you don't get a royal flush every day.

I am trying to score again on the 10 step tournament for $10,000 prize pool.  Have worked my way up to step 6 at this point.  There is also another cool tournament for a Vegas trip, entry in a $1500 deepstack plus $1500 in travel expenses.  Definitely need to focus on that bad boy.

The good news is that this Friday the Legion tournament is back on, plus there is a once a month Sunday tournament for $100 buy-in.  Will definitely be there for that.

I am enjoying a visit from the Seattle family, they leave tomorrow, so gotta go.      

Random Pictures from WSOP Trip

 An overview of tables.  Impossible to show how large the room is and how many poker tables.

 Took this picture at midnight the last night we were in town.  The $1500 buy-in super deepstack tournament was just breaking for 20 minutes.  It was a madhouse.

 Don and I leaving the Rio.  Car packed and ready to go to Phoenix.

 Stopping at a rest stop on the way to Phoenix.  Intimidating sign.  I saw a couple of huge lizards on this tree.  Must have been 110 degrees in the shade there....except there was no shade.

Selfie taken while waiting for plane out of Vegas back to Tri-Cities.  The display featured '60's era flight uniforms.  Nice stewardess outfit.