Lucky month

January started off abysmally.  Ten or so consecutive losing poker sessions, then the heart attack.  They say when you find yourself in a hole, quit digging.  Good advice.  Nonetheless figured eventually the worm had to turn.  So, finally booked a $200 cash game win.  Yee-ha!!!  Then yesterday playing in the $4/8 Omaha game a miracle happened.  I was stuck about $200 on a very active table with lots of raising going on.  No high hands for me, and only 2 at our table after almost 4 hours of play.  Then, playing 10/10/x/x I got a good but not great flop, 10/9/8 with the 9/8 suited in hearts.  I had the 10 of hearts in my hand.  There was betting and several callers.  The turn brought the case 10 and when it was checked to me I bet and got two callers, probably the worst players at the table.  The river was the 5 of hearts and a player bet into me.  I raised, one caller, then a re-raise.  I thought briefly, decided he had an under-full so i capped it.  They both called.  The first bettor turned over the 6/7 of hearts for the 9 high straight flush, beating my quads.  Bad Beat!!!!!  I lost the $200 pot and the high hand worth $150 but got a consolation prize, half the bad beat jackpot of $5900.  There were lots of high 5's as the straight flush got 25% and the other 25% was split among 5 players, $300  each.  My $2950 got paid about an hour later after withholding paperwork was signed, cards counted and picked up, drivers licenses recorded, etc.  First bad beat jackpot I have been involved with and only the 2nd I have seen.  It resets to $5000, someone said it had recently been hit.  You know what, I don't care.  It capped off my "lucky" month.  Lucky to be alive, and lucky to get out of the hole.  It also felt good to give a giant tip the older lady dealer who has been very kind and friendly to me.

The greens are $25, row of blacks $100 chips (20 of them), reds are $5, blue $1.

Birthday Boy Bubble

In my first poker outing since my heart event decided to play local turbo event.  I sort of like this one, $40 entry, 4000 chips, 16 minute levels.  It was a small turnout, only 28 players, paying 5 places with around $900 prize pool.  I played well, surviving multiple shoves and made the final table.  When we were down to 7, the chip leader suggested paying 2 bubbles.  Only one disagreed, so we played on.  He was eliminated next (karma???), so then the bubble idea was again floated.  This time some grizzled old guy said something about a previous tournament that wouldn't  pay him, so he vetoed it.  As a super short stack 2k with blind 2/4 k I was just looking to survive.  I got dumb, throwing in my last chips in early position (pocket 4's) with the big blind also super short.  The button, aforementioned no bubble jerk, min raised to put him in too. He wisely folded despite having over half his chips already committed.  The button had pocket aces and I was done.  Just a few minutes before the guy was short, all in with 2/6 and got lucky.

Player Down, Almost Seat Open

Playing in poker tournaments, we often hear the phrase "player down".  A player has lost their remaining chips and is eliminated from the game.  In cash games, we hear "seat open", meaning a player has either decided to cash in their remaining chips or has gone broke.  Either way, they are vacating their seat at the game and leaving.  So, last Friday, I came very close to being that player down or seat open in the big poker game of life.

I was just hanging out, my usual routine in the morning, coffee, more coffee, breakfast, playing on the computer.  I had gone to bed early the night before, commenting that I felt "unusually tired".  So, when I felt a squeezing pressure in my chest and some numbness and pain in my arm it was alarming. I needed gas in my car and debated driving to Kaiser Urgent Care, about 15 minutes away.  Finally decided not a good idea, so called my son-in-law to see if he would be available.  He was, and 20 minutes later we headed to Bellevue.  I checked in at the front desk, where they asked about my symptoms.  When they heard chest pain, I was immediately taken to an exam room and hooked up to an EKG.  After discussions with the nurse and a "normal" reading I was sent back to the waiting room.  At least an hour later was invited back to the exam room and met with the doctor.  She had blood drawn and another EKG.  An hour after that, they got my 2nd blood work done, then things started happening.  A cardiac doctor was consulted, given my results and suddenly 3 or 4 people came in and started transferring me to a gurney.  I was whisked to pre-op, and prepped for an operation.  I signed paperwork (undoubtedly releasing the hospital from any liability) to authorize possible surgery.  Informed that I had suffered a heart attack, the plan was to do angiogram and angioplasty either through my groin or arm.  They then took me into the O.R. where the team had assembled after an emergency call to their homes.  They were super quick and it was over in no time. I was awake the entire time, and felt zero pain.  They discovered 100% blockage in one artery, 97% in a 2nd, and 67% in the 3rd.  Two stents were placed, and I may have to return soon for the 3rd one.

Recovery was easy.  The ICU nurses were kind and efficient, got little sleep that night due to constant blood drawing, pressure testing, constant machine beeping, etc.  My wife slept on a small sofa in the room.  A couple of cardiac doctors checked in on me, discussed it all, and assured me of early release. Was cleared to go on Sunday for Monday release which happened around noon.  Really glad to be gone from the hospital and the hook up to monitors, IV hookups in both arms, hospital food, and being easily the wellest person on the floor. My biggest downside was buying all the drugs needed as I had foolishly opted out of part D drug options due to never taking any medication ever.  One drug was $320 for a 30 day supply.  The doctor and I discussed it, and after that a much cheaper generic will be o.k.  Joking with him, told him how I got the "Dr. Phil" poker nickname and commented that I was also a "card-iolist".  Also got to tell him a poker joke.  A doctor was home when he got a call from some colleagues inviting him to a poker game that night.  When he told his wife he had to go out on an emergency medical call, she asked him if it was serious.  "Yes, very serious" he replied, "there are already 4 other doctors there."

So, looks like my poker days will be shortened.  I plan on eating better, exercising more, and not doing such long term sitting at the tables.  They do say sitting is the new smoking and I will have to give up being a chain smoker.    

Player Classifications

First of all, Happy New Year to my devoted blog followers.  Speaking of New Year, attended a party held by daughter's friend, Helen.  Chatting with another guest, I told her that I had been at work earlier.  She asked where I worked and I said at the casino as a poker pro.  We had some discussion about that and she asked me how to determine that you are  pro.  I answered "it is my primary income", which is not true.  So, thinking more about poker player classifications, here is what I came up with.

Level 1
Recreational poker player, plays home games with friends.

Level 2
Occasional casino player, plays small tournaments with low buyins and sometimes limit cash games

Level 3
Regular small tournament player, plays smaller nl cash games.  Probably plays 3x week, holds regular job.

Level 4
Big game player, big buy in tournament player.  Probably plays several days a week but probably not only income source.

Level 5
Grinder.  Plays weak tournaments and small cash games.  Plays every day.  May make a living but probably not a good one.

Level 6
Pro.  Plays big cash games and big tournaments.  Makes a lot of money.  May not be well known.

Level 7
Touring pro.  Sponsored, travels world wide, lots of final tables at WSOP, recognizable name/face by most regular poker players.

Level 8
Poker degenerate.  Thinks about it all the time, plays online, plays as much as possible.

Where am I on this list?  Sort of a mixture.  I am not a big game player but like big tourneys.  Would be a grinder under different circumstances.  Definitely a poker degenerate.

One last thing about new year party.  Chatting with another guest about her being mauled by a bear when she was 10 years old.  How we got to that information I have no clue, but it was a crazy story.  I asked her if she saw "The Revenant", and she had.  Her memories of the mauling were thankfully faint and I didn't see the scars.  Lesson, never come between a mama bear and her cub, and don't run into the cub with your bicycle.

What Would You Do?

Playing 3-300 spread game today at the Carribean Casino in Kirkland, I got stacked 3 times.  My question is, "What would you do in these situations?".
 
1st scenario:  An early position player raises to $18 with about $140 behind.  I have Q/Q in late position.  At least one player has called, I call, and two others call.  The flop is J/x/x with two of a suit but unconnected, the jack is the highest card.  The player shoves.  I tank for a while pondering his hand range.  What kind of a hand shoves here?  AK is possible as well as A/J flopping top pair top kicker and not wanting any more action.  The whole range of small pairs comes to mind, shoving to avoid the overcards.  I finally call.  A king hits the turn and I figure I am dead.  He turns over A/A.  Could I have avoided this by re-raising pre-flop then folding to a shove?  Doubtful.  I decided that it was just a cold deck kind of thing as only 2 hands were ahead of me pre-flop.

2nd Scenario:  I have A/K in early position.  I raise to $25.  A player or two calls and the button re-raises to $75.  I suspect larceny, but with only about $125 behind, I shove.  The other players fold, he calls and the board runs out with small cards.  He has Q/Q, and I am stacked again.

3rd Scenario:  I have K/10 in the cutoff in a multi-way pot that has been raised by a very activmee player to my immediate left on the button.  He has been very lucky and aggressive, straddling every opportunity and hitting a piece of every flop.  The flop comes K/9/5.  It is checked to me and I bet the pot, around $40.  He calls, the other players fold.  The turn card is a 6, I shove around $125, and he says, "sorry, I sucked out on you".  He has 7/8 for the gutshot straight.  I thought his call on the flop was horrible, particularly since there were other players who could possible be trapping with a better king.  Very bad odds for a gutshot 4 outer.

Bonus Scenario:  You have Q/3 diamonds (big blind) in an unraised board of X/x/4, 2 of your diamonds on the flop.  An aggressive young player in the small blind bets $50.  What do you do?

In this case, I shove around $125 and he calls.  There is another 4 on the turn, I hit the ace of diamonds on the river.  He has 4/6 for trip 4's and I stack him.

Overall, a very bad session for me, stuck $400.  With a little luck either with my queens or against them it would have been a different story.  The aggressive player rebought a couple of times, but probably only lost a hundred or two.  My bad on seat choice as we both sat down at the same time but I chose first.  I would have liked to have been downwind of his raises.  I chose that seat based on sitting next to the aggressive kid as I didn't want him to be on the button vs. my big blind.  He was stuck worse than me when I left due to some bad beats.  

Korea Paranoia

Sometime during my brief stint in Korea, I developed a mild case of paranoia.  I was convinced that either one of my fellow soldiers were going to hurt me, or I would be killed in some freak accident. Let me explain why.  While I was there, one of the guys in our 200 man company was killed when he parachuted into the Yangtze River and drowned.  Then, a guy was hit by a "Kimchi Cab" and ended up with a plate in his head.  The real shocker was the day one of our officers asked if any of us wanted to ride "crew" with him in a helicopter flying over to the coast.  I had never been on one before so I volunteered.  It was a real thrill, shooting straight up and hovering then zooming off.  A few hours later we returned.  Wow.  What a lot of fun, plus an authorized day out of work at the office!!!!  The very next day, he again asked us.  I had a bunch of work reports to do so no more fun for me.  Another officer went with him.  The next day, a flatbed truck brought back what was left of the helicopter.  The pilot had crashed into a mountain, killing both of them.

October 08, 1970

WO1 Frank Lloyd Mathias Capt. Kenneth Maurice Cox

Their aircraft crashed and exploded near Chuncheon while on a routine administrative flight from K-16 to Camp Page.

The last incident involved another office guy.  He asked me to stop by his barracks one evening.  I did so, and sitting on a bunk across from him he produced a knife, then asked me if I had stolen his camera.  I of course denied it and suggested that one of the Korean houseboys was probably the culprit.  I left uncut, but it added to my paranoia.  Since I was required to carry a sidearm when on my occasional secret document transfers, I approached the armorer, a buddy of mine and asked if I could just keep the pistol rather than turning it in after use.  He agreed, so I did, even sleeping with it.  I was once asked by the Commanding Officer wearing the shoulder holster in the office, and I mumbled something about carrying the documents. He accepted my answer.  A follow up on the camera guy, when I left Korea he was in charge of the company safe which I had put most of my money in.  I had no proof, but am very sure that it was not the amount I had "deposited".  There was no paperwork nor any way to prove he had taken it.  He probably figured that it was rightfully his.  Stupid not to just spend my money like the rest of the outfit.

High Hand Hosing

Some days the Omaha high hands are easy peasy. Sometimes they are won with very weak full houses.  Sunday I had the high hand of 99955 until seconds before the cutoff time (every half hour) when I was beaten with 25 seconds left by AAA22.  If that was not enough for the player, almost immediately he hit quad jacks for back to back high hands.

Today, I posted quad 8's which looked very good to win high hand.  The player to my left then hit quad queens.  Ouch.  He then lost to another player on our table who got runner runner for a 3 gap 7 high straight flush (he was playing a 3/7 suited).  He didn't even realize what he had as he check called a bet on the river.

Then, I hit an 8 high straight flush with maybe 15 minutes left.  I was playing a 5/6 suited with a 3/4 flop in diamonds.  I hit the 7 on the turn and an 8 on the river, unbelievably, a player at our table made a gutshot 9 high straight flush a few hands later.  What the what?  My hand was the best posted in over 4 hours of play!  He was sitting pretty, waiting to cash in when from another table, the dealer called out "Royal Flush".  Unfreakingbelievable!!!  Either of our hands would have been good for the money during any other half hour period.  Sadly, I really needed the money to break even.  It was not a good day for me