A Disturbing Week

This week was going so well.  Picked up my sisters-in-law on Monday and enjoying a visit, looking forward to entire family coming this weekend.  Then, I receive a very disturbing email from my lessee on our commercial property.  They have been on a lease with option to purchase for the past 7 years.  They have been successful in their business, improved the property by adding an addition, and made a substantial down payment.  Trouble was on the horizon when their balloon payment came due in May.  They were unable to obtain financing, so I granted an extension for 6 months with their assurance that they would be able to make it happen by then.  On Tuesday I received an email informing me that they were going to move their operation to Portland and close the store in September.  I am now back to square one, albeit with some money and a better building.  I am now weighing my options, which include:  selling the building, leasing the building, or re-opening my old business there with some changes.  I am not excited about running a seasonal business in a resort town again, but it may be my only option.  The cost of keeping a building is fairly cheap with utilities taxes and upkeep, but it is a constant drain on my resources. 

Pocket Jacks & C-Bet Pro Advice

Source: www.foxnews.com via Filadog on Gentlemint

Testicle biting fish may be invading Denmark.  Places I have taken off my "want to visit" list:  Denmark

 

Exceptions to the "no cash game rule"

Every rule should have an exception, right?  I have been determined this week to play only in tournaments and stay the hell away from the Moose cash game.  Mission sort of accomplished.  Played in 3 tournaments Friday (8 & 10 a.m. Moose, then the 3:00 Jokers).  Made the final table all three times, but only got money bubble $40 at Joker's.  What was bad, was that they chopped after I was eliminated for $240 each.  The hand I lost was K7 on the button, flop was K/10/7.  Small bet from SB there is a flush draw, I shove, he calls with K/10.  How sick is that?  The worst part was that I stayed in the tournament so long that I lost my seat in the Omaha game.  Fearing that I would not get a seat....and yes I know this is a cash game.....was ready to leave but stayed and chatted with a player that I had not seen for a while.  Then a seat opened up and bought in for $200.  The usual suspects were playing, Dougie Fresh, old Bob, my friend Bob, Matt the dealer, Evan, and a couple of others I recognized.  I lost about $20 early on, but from there it was nothing but win.  The manager, Steve, even commented, "Getting any flops you like Phil?"  Oh yeah.  Draws came in, I folded early when beaten, scooped several....which is key in high/low....too many chops are really bad.  Long story short, I broke several players and broke the game when I left with 6 full racks of chips.  Excellent session of poker, and covered all tournament buy-in losses for the week.

Saturday played in only 2, the 8 a.m. & 10 am moose.  We chopped the 8 o'clock 6 ways for $70 each, and I just missed cashing the 10 o'clock.

Finally, Sunday a.m. moose, I am playing well but not getting anywhere.  Missed a huge pot when Donna shoved $1900 with A/10 on a Q/10/x board.  I made the mistake of calling her instead of re-raising all-in with my K/J.  The action got to Marco who shoved about $4500 more.  A call on my draw would have cost me all but about 1500 of my stack, placing me on life support.  I considered calling for two reasons:  first the $10 bounties, second, I owed Marco a bad beat from my last visit.  I put out of my head that revenge idea and focused on the financial.  I knew they both had gotten a chunk of the flop (Marco had Q/10), and figured that keeping a decent stack was more important than the other considerations.  However, I did not consider that winning the pot would propel me to the top chips on the table and a great shot at winning.  I folded.  The turn was no help, the river brought the ace and Donna tripled up, hurting Marco.  Opportunity missed.

My last hand was at the 300/600 level.  I was on the button and there were 2 limpers, including Gary sitting in the cutoff next to me.  With 2100 in the pot and my stack at 4200, I find pocket 8's.  There was no hesitation on my shove.  Everyone folded to Gary, who commented that he thought I was stealing.  I assured him that I had a "real hand" but he called with his Q/J offsuit.  The flop brought k/k/Q and I could not catch a two outer.  This was the first tournament this week that I did not make the final table, and the second one that I lost with a race where I started with a pocket pair.

Final weekly tally (leaving tomorrow morning):  Played freaking 8 tournaments, final table on 7, two small cashes, total investment loss:  $255 buy ins, less $110 cash, $20 free play wins, net:  $125 loss.
Cash game:  $397 win.  Total net win for the week $272 for about 20 hours of play.  Better than minimum wage.  With just a couple of breaks it would have been double that. 

Loose and Fast

In the tri-cities for a few days and last night went to the Lucky Bridge Casino for the first time in over a year.  Very slow and quiet with no cash game going.  Signed up for the 6:00 deepstack $25 turbo tournament.  Despite the 10K starting chips, and 25/50 blinds, the ten minute blinds assure that the tournament will be over in a couple of hours.  I got wounded early when I raised in middle position with A/A.  Both blinds and the limper called.  The flop was K/Q/9, two hearts.  I did not have a heart.  One of the blinds led out for 1300 (pot size was 1600).  I re-raised to 3000 to isolate and test his strength.  The other players folded and he re-raised all-in.  I folded the aces face up, and said, "Nice Hand, I am trying not to stay married to my aces but divorce them when necessary".  The player later said that he had flopped a set of queens.  In any case, there was just too much possible to beat me either on the flop or later.  I thought it was good advertising value for me to show my big laydown as it could get respect later.  Boy, was I wrong on that one.  This table was way too loose and stupid to appreciate it.

A couple of hands I would like to describe, one I was not part of, the other my last one.  The first, a fairly tight player who had chipped up nicely and was table leader raised UTG about 4 big blinds (300/600) to 2400.  The next player flat called.  Everyone else folded to the big blind who shoved with about 12,000.  The initial raiser tanked for a moment, then folded.  The caller then called the shove for all but about 2,000 chips.  The all in turned over K/9 offsuit (really? Kevin?) while the caller showed A/J offsuit.  The ace paired and player down.  The original raiser made some comment about folding the winning hand, said he had A/Q, while the winner said, "you should have played it, then".  Uncomfortable moment.  We had a break shortly afterward and I was discussing the play with the winner.  I asked him if he played with the guy a lot and had a good read on him.  He basically said no.  I said it was a perfectly executed squeeze play, and I was surprised that he had called with AJ.  He said he would have folded if the guy had more chips.  Since he would have been totally crippled if he lost, with only a couple of blinds, I was confused at his thinking.  Such is the nature of a $25 game.

That brings me to my final hand.  With blinds at 500/1000, and only 6500 remaining, I am in the big blind with K/9.  There is one limper and everyone else folds.  The flop is 10/J/2 with 2 spades.  I have the king of spades.  I check, and the other player checks behind.  The turn is another 2, I check again and he bets 2,000.  I think for a moment and decide that there is no way he caught any of the flop, so it is a positional bet.  I have a draw for the straight and a king over card.  Plus, on a no pair showdown, the king has a lot of value.  So, I call.  The river bring another 2.  With trips on the board and my decision that he has none of it, I shove for 3500.  He calls with 6/6 and wins, eliminating me.  I was surprised by his holding (I would think he might shove/raise preflop) as he can only beat a bluff, and my call of his turn bet should have put his spidey senses on alert that I had caught part of that.  Oh well.  Like I said, a loose and stupid table.     

Overfull vs. Underfull

 

The screenshot above is the best example I have seen for a while about the perils of under-full vs. over-full.  The player in the 1 seat has 4's full of 10's, the 2 seat has queens full of 10's, while the 5 seat has 10's full of queens.  You don't see many of these full over full over fulls, but as you can see by the pot size of $754 in a 10/20 game, it can be expensive with raises and re-raises the whole way with 2 flopped boats and one rivered one (the one seat flopped trips with a good kicker, then hit his set of 4's to fill up on the river). 

 

The other idiot, the guy in the 4 seat, kept calling with his open ended draw till he ran out of money.   I fold straight and flush draws if the board is paired, my cards always show on a replay screen save which is why you see them.  These types of hands are very difficult to fold, and most of us will not, particularly since some players are absolute idiots or geniuses and will ram and jam with two pair, flushes, straights and low draws.  Sometimes you just have to lose your money, but I have learned to fold these with multiple players jamming.

 

Here is another example of a huge pot with full over full.  Notice that SGTDANA flopped two pair.  His fate was sealed when I flopped a set of aces as he was drawing dead except to running 4's or 10's.  I never lose any sleep (anymore) when I flop the best possible full house and lose to quads.  Shit happens.  Also take note of hand selection.  I have a pair of aces with a nut flush draw, but otherwise barely playable hand.  The other player is starting with 3 high cards and a "dangler", the 4.  Even though the 3 cards are connected, which is great in Omaha, they are the same suite, which reduces the odds of getting the flush, which you can also note he would lose to me with my ace high spades.  His hand is one that I would lose no more than a big blind, as I would fold it pre-flop in any other position.  Big blind, I call one bet with the two pair, but check and call the under-full to the river.  Two pair in Omaha virtually never wins, and even if you fill up, this can happen.  I am learning to fold two pair to aggressive betting as it usually means a set, a made straight or draw, a made flush or draw, or low hand (or draw), that will make it very expensive to win a half of a pot.  There are just so many better spots to get your money in.

 

Races, small pairs, curse continues

This is starting to look familiar.  I walk into the American Legion last night, fairly early, though there are no parking spots remaining.  Mary asks me if I would like to deal table 2.  I cannot turn down her request as there are few players willing to deal and they do so much more to run the tournament.  I admire their consistency, just being there from start to finish every week.

The players straggle in and we finally begin with 28 warm bodies.  I kind of like my table as there are few calling stations, but also there are 3 of my Nemesis's sitting around me.  I get injured early with a raise from my 8/8 and a call by A/9 (one of the above named).  The flop is 9 high, and I just cannot make myself drop it to relatively small bets.  If I was not dealing I think it would have been easier for me to fold.

I have said many times that you must win races to win tournaments.  I was eliminated with my shoved 9/9.  Blinds were 200/400 with one limper and my stack was 2500.  I was called by the limper, who also was the big stack at the table.  He had QJ suited and spiked a jack in the door.  Really bad luck as a little later I pushed pots to 3 all in's who had 6/6 vs. over-cards, and the small pairs held up every time.  I even managed to find a two outer for a shoved 8/8 vs. A/A.  In general, pre-flop shoves are fairly easy to read.  The person usually does not want a call, which translates to a pair, but not AA, KK, or QQ.  If you call with broadway cards, you should always realize that you are racing.  Therefore, I usually will not call with a medium or really big stack as I do not want to double someone up or cripple myself.  A small stack call is o.k. as you really do need to gamble it up at that point.  That said, QJ is really a bad call as some players will also shove with AK or AQ, which is bad news for that hand.

Races are inevitable in poker.  At some point you will have to participate in one, and you must win them if you are vulnerable.  My personal philosophy will continue to be happy to get my chips in with the pair vs. overcards as you have a "made" hand vs. a draw.  It absolutely did not upset me to be eliminated this way, but as I watched several small pairs win could not help but curse my continued lack of luck.

The players were very generous in their tipping, particularly the guy who cracked the aces.  I ended up with $30 in tips so my evening only cost me $10.