Back to Back Quads

Playing online tonight, I had back to back quads.  Never done that before.  I was kind of bummed having busted out of two tournaments right before.  The first one I flopped top two pair with my K/J suited.  A player with J/10 got frisky and reraised me all in on his open ended draw and caught on the river.  The second tournament I flopped top pair top kicker with my AK, then lost to trip 9's.  Short stacked I went all in with my A/10 and bumped into.....AK.  Can't win with them, can't win against them.

How can you write about poker when you don't play any poker?

I was not feeling well Friday night so no poker for the week.  There is no poker at the Legion this Friday due to using the area to prep for Christmas baskets.  Play online is not worth talking about, so, here is a cartoon for your amusement.

 

Another Tournament Cash

This time, only 4th place, good for $60.  The hand of the day which would have propelled me to 1st place and eliminated 2 players (one of whom chopped 3 ways) was this:  Jeff shoved a fairly big stack with 4/4 on the button.  I had limped with AJ.  The big blind shoved a smaller stack with A/10.  I tanked and ultimately folded.  Pocket 4's won, but would not have with a jack that came on the river.  Opportunity missed.  I think Jeff would have folded if I had shoved, but I had too big a stack to shove, and he probably would have called or shoved if I had raised.

The unusual pot of the tournament was a shove by Rob with small suited connectors.  Another player called also with suited connectors.  I was in the big blind and called with Q/3 suited.  The board paired with an ace on the flop,  a brick hit on the turn, then the board paired again.  The other players and I thought that I had won with my queen kicker.  Both Rob and the other player got up and left before the dealer split the pot 3 ways.  Rob never returned and it looked as if the other wouldn't either.  A buddy of his chased him down, he returned and ultimately was one of the 3 players to chop.

Seat Reservation for One, Hall Party-Final Table

Tournament life is treating me well lately.  I stayed away from the Moose yesterday as had not slept well the night before and had a lot of business stuff to attend to.  This morning chopped 3 ways after arriving short stacked and in the big blind on the final table.  The button raised almost enough to put me all in, then the small blind shoved.  Before I even looked at my cards, the button mucked.  That helps.  Finding pocket 9's, I called for all my chips.  She turns over AJ suited, and when the board double pairs queens and 7's, I take the pot (the initial raiser said he had A/7, his bad).

From then on, I just stayed out of trouble and coasted to the finish line.  Honestly, I am somewhat surprised anymore when I don't make the final table or cash.

Sunday Tournament Hands

Had my typical bounty tournament experience.  Got exactly two bounties including my own when we did a 3 way chop for $400 each.  How is that even possible?  My true bounty was a great one.  To lead up to it, I was seated at the back table and dismayed to see Jimmer in seat 8.  I really do consider him to be the one of the best players locally and if he got some chips it would be a very tough table.  Also at the table were Ali, who can bluff with the best, Marco, who can play very tricky and solid, Chad, who paid me the ultimate compliment by saying, "Crap, you had to be on my table".  When I asked why, he said, "because you always get my chips".  Nice rep!!!  Kathy, Jimmer's wife was seated to my right, and Heather to my left.  Kathy can play very aggressively while Heather is fairly predictable with very solid hands if she is calling, and monsters if she is raising.  Rob was seated next to Heather. The other players were wild cards for me.

Jimmer played aggressively the first couple of hands, and took them down.  Then, Marco called one of his raises.  Flop was high cards, Marco checks out of position and Jimmer bets.  Marco calls.  Turn is a brick, Jimmer bets bigger (around $800 I think), Marco calls.  River is an ace, Marco says, "All-in", but Jimmer wearing headphones does not hear him, and bets out $1800.  The floor is called and ruled that the $1800 must stay, but he does not have to call the all-in.  He folds, but is now down to about 1/2 original stack.  He recovers some and then I pick up 8/8 in early position (UG +1), I raise 3x blind and Jimmer as well as others call.  Flop is 10 high and I bet around $300, Jimmer raises to $600 and everyone else folds.  I call.  Turn is another small card and I ask Jimmer how many chips he has left.  $1200.  I bet $1200 and he calls.  Good call with 10/7.  Luck however cannot be denied and I spike my 2 outer 8 on the river.  Player down!  I think everyone at the table owed me a big "thank you".

Another noteworthy hand:  Rob goes all in with a short stack and is flat called by Barbara.  Fred (I think that is his name), flat calls, then Marco shoves a fairly large stack, having everyone covered except Fred.  Barbara calls, and Fred goes in the tank.  After much deliberation, he makes the call.  Here are their hands:

Rob:  5/5
Barbara:  7/7
Marco: 10/10
Fred:  Q/Q

No-one hits their pair and 3 players are out.

Later, on the final table, this hand comes up:

Scotty:  6/6 shove
Me:  8/8  fold
Carolyn:  7/7 all-in   (we were seated in that exact order, which is interesting)
Steve:  A/10 call, having everyone easily covered.

Flop is 7/A/x, turn x, river 10

Carolyn takes it all, if I had called would have fallen to Steve's 2 pair as I had her covered (barely).  She donks out shortly thereafter with a preflop shove of her good sized stack with 6/6.  Steve calls with AK and rivers and ace.  I double up through Steve when I got cute 4 handed raising with A/3 suited and him flat calling with A/K.  Flop is low, with a 3 and I shove.  He calls, but no miracle king on the river this time.  If he had re-raised me might have folded, but had about 40% of my stack involved so maybe not. Already being in the money may have gone ahead and gambled.    

Profitable but Unenjoyable

Last night's cash game was painful and marginally profitable.  Mistakes were made that cost me high hand (bet the sole opponent off hand with AK on a flop of AA5.  He bet the flop when I checked, so I called.  On the turn a 10 hit, so thinking I did not want to give a free card that could fill a straight, or fill up a pocket pair, I bet $20.  He folded and the dealer did a rabbit hunt and showed me that I would have hit quads for high hand.  Crap!

The thing that made it painful was not the money, I ended up $101., but it was a loud and obnoxious player.  I even moved to get farther away from him.  Good seat choice, Hendler took the seat and hit quads.  The player was told by the floor to quit talking about an incident (you know the player and the incident...it involved two former employees).  I offended my as I liked the dealers and really dislike playing with this guy.  His final hand that I saw, he bluffed a side pot with 7 high.  The all-in player was an idiot and folded his hand before showdown.  Unbelievable.

Today's morning Moose made the final table but Ali kept snapping me.  I shove with A/J on an ace high flop, he calls with A/4.  The board pairs twice, first the ace then a 9 so we chop.  I shove heads up in blinds with AK suited, he calls with 4/4.  I hit an ace on the flop, pick up the nut flush draw on the turn, then he rivers a 4, but not the 4 of diamonds.  Player down.  Unbelievable.

Moving to the cash game, I play tight until picking up K/K under the gun.  I limp to encourage raisers or plan to bet big if the flop does not contain an ace.  The button makes it 7 to go, Hai calls, and I re-raise to $27.  They both call.  The flop is 9/2/2, I bet $20, the raiser re-raises, Hai calls, I re-raise, he re-raises all in and Hai folds.  I call and see the bad news, pocket 9's.

Moving to the main table, I again get snapped kings, this time with Aaron and Joe in the hand.  Flop is 3/9/J as I remember.  I bet $20, they both call.  turn is another 3, I bet $20, both call.  River is a queen. I check, Joe checks, and Aaron bets $20.  We both call, he has 8/10 for the straight, Joe has trip 3's.  Kings probably cost me over $150 today.

I manage to eke out a $47 profit for the session.   

Flushed Away

Getting ready to play in the Legion tournament tonight I played several sit 'n goes online.  In almost all of them I was flushed away after flopping very strong hands, sets, straights, top/top, etc.  The gamblers won every time, even if it required runner runner to do it.  The last tournament took the cake.  I had ace/king in the big blind while the UTG player raised to 4 times the blinds.  Two other players called, I called and the flop was 4/4/x.  As first to act, I shoved with a small stack and the UTG called while the others folded.  Amazingly, he had A/4 suited and even caught the case 4 on the river. 

Tournament Update

I was expecting a large turnout for the Friday tournament with it being a holiday weekend.  I called in my reservation early and even volunteered to deal table 2 or 3, anticipating 4 full tables.  It was surprising to me that only 19 players showed up.  So, dodging the dealing responsibility got to focus on playing well.  Really unremarkable cards, no big hands for me or anyone else (high hand was won by AAAJJ with the winning hand A/3...there is no requirement to play both cards....he had to be asked to table his hand to post it on the board).  Basically just tried to stay out of trouble and ended up as a short stack on the final table.  Totally card dead, I just let bigger stacks get knocked out and ended up shoving 3 or 4 times and surviving.  With so few players, we paid 4 places (plus bubble).  Managed to finish in 3rd place for a $116 win ($66 after tip and buy-in).  My last hand was a shove with J/J called by the biggest stack with KQ.  They hit the queen on the flop and the king on the turn.  An ace was on the flop, but no miracle 10 or J on the river.

Big Pairs vs. Connectors

I noticed last night that big pairs were not doing well.  One player knocked out with KK vs. A/6, another with QQ vs AK, 10/10 fell to KJ, my JJ to KQ, and there were others.  The lesson learned is that a big pair is only one pair and seldom (once out of 7.5 times) improves to a set, while overcards can win as a pair, and any two cards can make two pair or if connected and/or suited do well as two pair, straight, or flush.  I am seriously rethinking my poker strategy about the hands I am choosing to play against raises.

Keeping Track of Poker Wins

Started recording my poker wins and losses this month.  It is a good practice for both discipline, honesty, and even possibly for taxes (if you can show a loss to offset monte carlo wins).

This is kind of hard to read, but total is $694 net win.  My goal was to earn $1800, but with limited opportunities here on the coast that did not happen.