Owned!!!!

My poker day started great today.  Arriving a half hour or so early for the 11 o'clock tournament I grabbed a seat in the 3/6 limit game.  Running good was up $85 when had to cash out.  There were 59 players signed up,  and I was playing well but not a lot of traction  to make it down to 2 short tables.  Highlight early on was quad jacks, sweet, but not a huge pot.

Moving tables, was on the button with A/Q suited and folded to me.  I raised to put short stack big blind older lady all in.  She calls with K/10.  She hits a 10 on the flop and doubles up.  A round or two later, I raise her again with A/8.  She calls all in with 7/9 of hearts.  Flop comes down A/8 (hearts)/10.  Turn is a great card for her, 5 hearts, giving her flush, straight and straight flush draws.  River is 6 hearts for a runner runner straight flush.  She owns my sorry ass.

Eventually down to just $500, with blinds at 1000/2000, a player shoves with Q/Q.  I have K/K.  He hits a queen on the river and I am out.  Sad.

Money for nothing

Just listening to some classic 70's soft rock.  I have come to love the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing".  Googling the lyrics, you understand it is a song written from the perspective of some working class blue collar guys who are mocking and envying the rock and roll band guys.  Ironic, eh?  There was criticism over the use of the word "faggot", but I find that argument spurious as they are really describing themselves, including banging on bongos like a chimpanzee.

www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/direstraits/moneyfornothing.html

Side notes, Sting sings the falsetto in beginning and end.  From their Sultans of Swing album which contains my other favorite song of theirs from the album title.

70's music

At the dentist's this week talking to the munchkin assistant I quoted some lyrics from Fleetwood Mac.  She had a blank look on her face.  I then told her the source.  She had never heard of the group.  I then patiently (get it, I am a patient) explained that some of the finest music was from the 70's and 80's.  She said, "I was born in 1993".  That makes sense, I am only slightly familiar with 30's and 40's music, ten to twenty years before I was born.  Dang that made me feel old.  That and getting two dental implants.

Update on Sunday Omaha game:

High hands won:  0
Hours played:  7
Net profit:  $49.00
Earnings/hr.:  $7. or almost 2 big blinds/hr.

Chasing

Yesterday morning stopped in at my local casino for a short session.  Only game going was 3/6 limit, which changed to 4/8 kill.  I just cruised along with little variance for two hours.  On one hand I limped behind a crowd, on the button with 7/9.  Flopped a 7, called flop, turn bets, and rivered a 9.   The betting player made a nasty remark about my chasing and immediately called for $200 more chips.  I commented, "yes, I am the only chaser".  He then proceeded to raise every hand I was in.  When I left he was stuck over $100.  Me, down $22, and would have been up $100+ if I had chased two gunshot draws.

Truthfully, all non no limit games are chasing games.  And they are filled with "acemasters" and "flushmasters", those who play any ace and any two suited cards.  Be careful out there kids.  Getting ready to sit in the ultimate chase game, 4/8 Omaha high low limit.  Always a crowd, always draws against you.

Back at Beach Poker

Trying to ready the beach house for sale, spent last week there.  The Wednesday game at the Bayway was just 2 tables, but got to visit with friends some.  My cards were rotten and I was eliminated shoving over a raise.  He had j/j vs. My 6/6.  My heart soared like an eagle when I flopped my 2 outer 6, but I was crushed on the turn when he hit his 2 outer jack.

Moving on to Friday action at the legion, pretty card dead all night and went out with 7/7 vs. A/Q When the board runnered 8/9/10/J, giving him the higher straight.  Cest la vie.  Worked pretty hard, towing a full 5 x 8 trailer back, great to see some poker buddies.  I am planning on going back next week for more house projects.

One Thin Dime

I must make an admission.  I pick up money from the ground.  My grandmother, Jetty (cool name huh), walked the same path to the grocery store for many years.  She would pick up coins that she found and put them into a jar in her closet.  After she passed away we found her jar.  It probably had a hundred dollars of face value inside.  But, the real value was in the very old dates.  There were Indian head pennies in there! She was from an era where pennies matter.  My mom had a collection as well.  She was a child of the depression, when pennies really mattered.  When she passed away, my brother and I divided the coins.  Some of them were really old and valuable.

So, I am a child of a child of the depression and I don't save the coins I find, but willingly will stoop to pick up a lost penny that most today will walk right over.  Side note:  why the heck are we still producing pennies today?  There are estimated to be several hundred billion in circulation, with 4 to 8 billion produced each year.  Most of these are in jars.  The cost of producing a penny today is 1.5 cents, or 50% more than its value. Crazy, huh?

 Which brings me to poker yesterday.  Claiming my seat in the 4/8 Omaha game, I looked on the floor and there was a dime!  Well, if I will pick up a penny, sure as hell gonna pick up 10 of them!  I nicknamed it "my lucky dime" and placed it atop my starting stack of $100 in blue poker chips.  Was it lucky for me?  Well, i did manage to hit a king high straight flush and claim the high hand for $200.  Sweet.  Unfortunately it was a day of suckouts, losing several big pots on the river.  After 7 hours of play, I cashed out for exactly my buyins and left with a total profit of...........10 cents, the dime I picked up.

Home (in) On The Range

A key skill is figuring out a preflop player's raising range.  What cards would he raise with in which position?  Some players are easy peasy because they play such tight ranges, others not so much.  I regularly play against an older fellow who cagily, he thinks, always min raises in early position with aces.  Have seen it several times.  It is so great to call in position with a wide range and either fold on the flop or get it all in when you hit big like two pair or a set.

 My nemesis described in a previous post was again sitting to my immediate right in a tournament last week.  Shit!  His range is pretty much any two cards.  So, after he survived two all ins with crap (did i mention he is very lucky too?), this hand came up.  He raised from the big blind.  I had limped utg with 6/6, doing me some set mining.  There were 2 other callers.  The flop was j/j/5.  He put out a "c" bet of maybe 1/3 pot size.  I called, the others folded.  At this point i felt i had him as no way is he betting trips here, but had to worry about the other players.  The turn was a queen and he looked warily at me and checked.  Trapping or squadooch?  I checked back giving myself the opportunity to fill up.  The river was a 9, and he bet almost pot size.  A bad call cripples me.  Our table had just broken and the tournament was on hold awaiting my decision.  I tanked and considered his range for way out of position preflop raise.  All pairs, A/9, A10, AJ, AQ, AK, 10K, 10/Q, 10J, JQ, JK.  What could I beat here?  Probably only 2s, 3s, or 4s.  Finally I folded as my stack was just o.k. and he flips over A/3.  Given his range, I was a little upset but not as much as when he knocked me out later with his A/Q call of my 9/10 suited shove.  He would not have had enough chips to do so had I made the earlier call.

Quick side note on my shove.  In a turbo with only 6 blinds, this is definite late position material.  I much prefer this over weak aces and small pairs. Yesterday in the Omaha game won $100 high hand with it, making a king high straight flush😎