Back from the abyss

So it has been awhile since I have posted and I have a few poker related tales to tell.

Inactivity is the bane of my poker game. I don't play often enough and I lose traction on my play, all the little things I remind myself about the style of poker I should play. I am a fitting example of the player who plays the style that fits his personality and often I need to mix things up to avoid the ruts of one style. However, I often realize that I'm mixing it up at the wrong moments and it's often losing some hands or laying down failed plays that remind me the importance of having a structure to your own poker game and that I must establish myself before mixing anything up. Duh.

Lay ground work.

Set up a play or an image.

Follow through with it.

At a key moment, play off that image or style to great benefit.

Simple, right?

But alas, it does not always work. I was recently in W. Palm Beach, FL and decided to make a stop over at the Palm Beach Kennel Club to check out the poker room there. Now, I had scouted the website and because it was not much to speak of, I wasn't expecting too much. Plus, it is the dog track, you know? An exacta on the 2,5 isn't the same when they're chasing a mechanical rabbit. But at the least I figured for some loose play, hopefully by some degenerates, that I could play a relatively tight game into and feed off of and hope for the big hands. After all, I was only heading there for a few hours, not a big session at all.

So my first surprise was finding that the max buy-in for the entire room, regardless of game, was $100. So I bought in for a hundo at a 1-2 table and was, not surprisingly, a short stack. However, there was not a ton in the big stacks so I felt room to make plays would be available.

And here, I went awry, as I tried to get involved with some decent, but not fantastic, holdings right away. And when the flops missed me and I was bet into, it was either put it all in with air or fold. So I folded twice and paid my blinds and waited. And I made another mistake, though not on purpose, but rather through inexperience. Having never been in a room with the buy in limit, I was not aware that I should have reloaded back to my initial $100 after each pot I lost. Instead, I chipped down by about half and when I looked down at A,A and made an all in re-raise and was snap-called by K,K, it meant a double up to my initial stack instead of a full double up of the buy in. And again, it showed me why fishing around with marginal holdings early on was a bad play. Had I been playing more often, the first hour would not have been merely a reminder of little things forgotten and opportunities missed.

One other note about the Kennel Club is that many of the players there are new to the game and like the low buy in stakes but make no-limit their first introduction to the game. So there is plenty of opportunity there, no doubt. Unfortunately, none of it was seized upon by me, as evidenced by the following:

At one point hours later at a new table when I had folded for literally hours and won pots without ever having shown down, a guy two to my right told a new player how loose I was playing even though he had never seen a single card of mine. No one had seen anything I had played since I had sat. I asked him if he really thought I was playing loosely and he nodded. I pointed out that he hadn't seen a single card yet, hoping that he would get the hint that I was only playing winning hands, so I could make a move on his chips at a later point. Well, he didn't get the point or perhaps it came too quickly because only a few hands later I flopped the nut flush draw, an open-ended straight and (as it turns out) one over card. So when I bet into my monster and basically pot-commit myself, he shoved with middle pair and NO DRAW. Of course I called, 18 outs twice for me and none came home. What I should have realized that he wanted to see my cards more than he thought I was playing winning hands and was willing to lose money in order to see. But he got both and that is why, on occasion, poker is a cruel, cruel game.

Harrah's Part 2

So still smarting from my loss of the previous day, I lived up the early part of Friday night of Bill's pre-wedding festivities with a great dinner and drinks, got to hang with some old friends from all over the country (met Gene D and his wife as well) and then hit up Harrah's late night with Fast Eddie, another old friend who has had good success at Harrah's tables in the past. Considering that I showed up wearing a suit, I knew everyone would immediately book me for the tourist that I was, so I made a decision to play up that angle as much as possible. Luckily, there were a couple drunk guys at the table, not surprising considering the time of night and while my chips ($200) were en route to the table I got involved in a hand with the first two cards dealt me, KcQc. I flopped a flush draw, bet at it, got called, hit the flush on the turn (meanwhile my chips had been delivered but I still tried to bet without using them, furthering my image as the table rube) but then slowed down a bit on the river as the board paired (all the while remembering my brutal river beats of the previous day.) Fortunately, my opponent had neither a boat nor the nut flush and I dragged a nice little opening pot to get things started.

Hey, things change from day to day, minute to minute in poker. Maybe this was my night, right? Well, it certainly appeared as if I might go on a nice run a few hands later, when from the button I peek down at the two black aces. The pot had been raised by a short stack to $15 and he had drawn a caller. I popped it up to $45, the blinds folded behind me and the short stack called for his last $23 ($38 total) and the other caller also came along. So we had a main pot of $117 already and a side pot of $14 (the $7 difference between my raise and the short stack's amount. Can you smell that? Oh yeah. It's the sweet smell of the Painkillers. The bullets. In position, in a big pot, ready to inflict damage.

But before they do, a funny thing happened. The flop came 8,9,Q. Rainbow. And then a not-so-funny thing happened. Johnny Poker decided to lead out with $90. Into my aces. $90. Really? Really. And I was insta-ready to reshove, except for a small, nagging voice in my head that told me I had just gotten out-flopped. And it didn't help the villain that he bet out the exact amount of my incorrect hero call of the previous session.

So I decided to assess my options and see what I could find out. I started talking at him. First, I asked him how much he had behind. He had about $125 behind, had me covered by just a few dollars. He counted it out for me, restacked it for himself. I played along, peered in and asked if he was sure of his count. He was.

I'm beat. I know it.

But I have aces on a rainbow board.

I ask if he has Jack, Ten, ask if he flopped the straight. I get nothing in return. Did you flop a set of queens? Again, not much of a reaction.

And across the table, drunk guy number one asks if we can play some poker. Luckily for me, the guy to my left, a punk-rock guy with his girlfriend playing in the seat to his left, tells him to cool it, that it's a big pot. I silently thank him for buying me more time, 'cause at the moment, I'm torn on my decision. Why would he lead out so big if he hit a monster? Bottom set? I tell him he doesn't have kings because we would have gotten it all in preflop. Is he even listening? I've got nothing so far, except my own rambling dialogue on the hand. And finally, I ask the right question, or rather, just say the right thing which was almost just a passing thought I happened to voice.

I've got a big hand, I say.

And he shrugs. He shrugs. He could care less. I think if you had taken a photo of me at that moment, my mouth would be slightly open, my eyes wide and a little glimmer of understanding would be all over my face.

I look at the dealer and announced that I fold. I fold face up. My end of the table winces at the aces.

The short stack turns over Q,Q for top set. Wow, I think.

The villain turns over J, 10 for the nuts. WTF, I think.

Why he bet at me considering that I had been the pre-flop raiser, I will never understand. If he checks at that moment, I would have led out for a good amount, he could have generated himself a side pot with me practically dead to rights and either just smooth called me or raised me after I had pretty much pot-committed myself. Just a terrible play by him and it allowed me to extricate myself from a really bad position with minimal damage.

To make matters worse for him, perhaps in some sort of karmic punishment of his play, the board paired itself on fifth street and the short stack took the main pot down with a river boat.

So needless to say, I was a little wary of table 15 (same table as the previous day's session) as it seemed to have it in for me. About a half hour later, I look down at 8,8 and make a raise to $12, which promptly gets called by two players and popped to $45 (all in) by one of the blinds. And again, something didn't feel right so I trusted my instincts and folded. Both players behind me called and as it turns out everyone was wired, with the all in having the aces. No side pot developed in the face of a painted board so again I was left wondering when my break was going to happen, the hand that would get me going.

While contemplating that, the drunk guys left, a couple guys busted and our table broke up. I, along with an older lady who had just sat, moved over to another table in front of the cage, the same table where Fast Eddie was sitting. And immediately, the old lady begins firing at pots, and firing back straight whiskeys. She's making crazy plays and getting away with them, showing bluffs when they work and luck-boxing into two pair on the turn and river when leading out from behind. And she's talking, a lot. She's railing on people and telling them how awful their play is, all the while misreading hands and earning a big, fat bulls-eye with her mouth and her bloated stack of chips.

So after watching about an hour or so of this and watching some good play and some mediocre play from the rest of the table, I get bored. So I decide to egg on the old lady.

"Philhemina, you getting in this pot?" I lean forward and ask, as the cards slide around the table.

She looks over her half-rim glasses at me, eyes blurred with whiskey and money. "You got such a big hand, you want me in?" she drawls at me, even though the cards are still being dealt. She takes the briefest of glances at her cards and grabs a stack of reds and pounds them past the line. "A hunnert."

Now, I don't know about you, but a hundred dollar bet into an unopened 1-2 pot with such abandon and recklessness deserves to be punished. It's just begging to be taken, itching to be taught a lesson.

I look at the guys at my end of the table as the action is folded to me and mouth the standard, "One time," I say. "One time."

And I actually have something. Nines. Two of them.

I don't even glance at the hundred in there as I double-fist my stack into the center of the table. "Yup. All-in." I bang it up to $238 total.

Three seats to my left grimaces as he folds. "I want to play. That's my favorite hand."

It gets back to Philhemina. She wastes no time, and i mean none, in getting the other $138 out to complete her call, and I about regurgitate all the dinner and drinks from Bill's rehearsal dinner. Please, I think, don't let her have actually snuck into a big hand. She doesn't show as the flop comes out king high, no straight or flush draws. Turn brings a queen and I draw my breath tighter and the river throws out a brick. I flip my nines and wait. She looks at them and checks her hand. No eruption from her but I still hold my breath. She might be reading her own hand wrong for all I know.

Finally she flips up A,8 offsuit and I let out a laugh, partially in relief, partially in disbelief, partially because she still has a stack of chips in front of her that I want.

"Philhemina," I look down at her as I stack up, "that was a great call."


Day three at Harrah's to come.

New Orleans poker (and Wild Bill's wedding)

So I was down in New Orleans for Wild Bill's wedding and managed to sneak in 3 sessions at Harrahs while there, so figured I would give a long-overdue update and detail some of the action, which as many locals probably already know, can be pretty head-scratching.

The first session didn't go so well. Bill and I sat down late afternoon for $200 at a just-opened 1-2 NL table and I promptly folded about two rounds of garbage trying to get a feel, having not played in awhile.

The key sequence was consecutive hands immediately after that. I looked down at A,K suited, raised to $15 and got a caller. Flop came K, 10, x rainbow and I led for $20, getting the taker and feeling good about where I was. Turn brought another brick and I put out $30 and again the guy two to my left came along with a call. River came with a Q and here I pulled up the brakes. Was this guy playing K,Q? Or even worse, A,Q? I checked and he came out for $90. Now, writing this makes it seem obvious to me that I was beat, but at the time, at the table, when I knew for all the world that I had been ahead until that point, made me want to call down that $90. So I made the call and he showed neither K,Q nor A,Q but Q,9 for the gutterball and not even the nuts gutterball, to add insult to financial injury.

So, taking all this in, I hope to be able to get back in a hand with this guy, and soon. Well, careful what you wish for, because the very next hand I look down at K,K. I raise once again to $15 and this time get 3 callers. Well, wouldn't you know it, the flop again brings a K high rainbow and I check my set. Guy to my left bets at it, gets both callers along and I put my last $30 or so on top, getting 2 of them along for the ride and feeling nice and toasty.

Which, as anyone who plays regularly knows, is a bad idea. Running cards fire the guy to my left another straight into my face and I'm down a buy in. He admits he thought I was tilting. No consolation to me.

Bought back in and did some grinding for a few hours until an ill-timed bluff forfeited my meager comeback and left me down for the session.

Day two to come...

Poker Interlude, Part II

A few years ago ESPN, as part of their WSOP coverage, had little features called "The Greatest Hand I Ever Played." Offhand, the only one I can remember was a great bluff that Gavin Griffin made on his way to a bracelet victory. They were nice little stories and they added clips of the hands to augment it. Overall a good little break from the action without having to go to commercial. Much better than the moronic "Nuts" pieces they do. Really, do I care if pros have leaks worse than the Titanic and bet $50,000 on three holes of golf or play Rock, Paper, Scissors to kill time?

The reason I bring this up is because I melted down in the bizarro counterpart to this feature, which I feel certain is The Worst Hand I Ever Played. I can see a producer figuring out exactly how they are going to document my facial tics after I have irreversibly blown the hand, how they are going to put my awful decisions into slow-motion to make them more dramatic, how they are going to throw some voice-over of a fake poker announcer (I wonder if bizarro Gabe Kaplan is available) to mock me and wonder aloud exactly what the hell I am doing. Maybe they'll throw some special effects in and riddle my hunched over, broken body with a slew of bullets to put me out of my misery before the hand even ends. Whatever my fate, I deserve the ridicule that comes with a play so stupid that I made it twice.

That's right. Twice. In the same hand. And it wasn't just some meaningless middle position hand in the 25/50 round, it was a hand that defined a whole night's worth of effort, that derailed any and everything that I had done until that point.

In other words, it was The Hand.

And I blew it.

Twice.

To get up to speed, read my previous post on how my tournament had gone. I'm now at the final table and we're seven-handed. Top five get paid, the good money is in the top three spots. I'm on a medium-ish stack, there are two stacks shorter, two really big stacks and three around the same as mine.

On The Worst Hand I Ever Played, I was in late position, fourth of seven to act preflop. The first two fold. The player to my right shoves for his last 4150 (I have a little more than 14k) and lo and behold, hallelujah, after suffering through scores of just brutal non-playable hands, I look down at J,J.

And here's where I short-circuited. Instead of taking the time (really it would have only taken seconds had I stopped to think) and assessing my options, I immediately just call. Not shove, just call.

Giant mistake #1, because the chip leader to my left and on the button, has now been priced in and his huge stack can afford the price without any worry. Not only that, but he could be, and probably is, playing any two cards here. Awesome.

Compounding my mistake, and proving to me that I'm a moron, the big blind decides that it is worth his while to get in and mix it up as well. So basically any flop can be dangerous to me, or so I think, conveniently forgetting that I have a PREMIUM HAND.

The horror, the horror.

The flop comes perfectly for me: 2,3,10 rainbow. The BB checks and...

I go all in and drag the pot!!!!

Um, no, wait. That's not what happened. Not at all. Because I, being an utter fool, check behind him and the button/big stack checks behind me.

The sheer stupidity of this play is mind-boggling. At this stage of the tournament, at this level of blinds (500/1000) I need this pot to have a chance to win. And they're offering it to me. They've forgiven my mistake of not isolating the all-in, they've added their own chips to the mix for me to take and I...FREAKING...CHECK.

Riddle me with those bullets right now.

Because a 4 came on the turn and the BB, not being an idiot like me, went all in. He had me covered and I folded, as did the button. He turns over A,5 for the wheel that he had drawn inside to because I had let him.

The all-in flipped over his losing A,Q and I just sat there, contemplating all the different ways that I could, and should, have won that pot. All the different ways that I had misplayed the hand. All the ways that I just wasted five hours getting to the position where I could have assured a cash, put myself in second in chips with six players left and all the ways that I am sometimes just plain dumb.

Needless to say, I bubbled out in sixth about 10 minutes later. No money for my effort, nothing but the hope, that small hope that I cling to, that it was behind me:

The Worst Hand I Ever Played.

Poker Interlude

So I've been waiting on Bill to get through his stories where they would finally mesh with my own and he's almost there, but until he reaches that point I don't want to provide any details to his hilarious recap by giving my perspective on the events in Vegas where our poker paths crossed.

So for now, I'll give you a recap of my most recent home tournament escapade, in which I made a play so horrendous, so absolutely mind-boggling idiotic, that if anyone had suggested that I give more money to the prize pool as some sort of penalty, even after I had busted, I would have nodded my head and paid it. Really, it's that bad. On a cringe-inducing scale, it falls probably somewhere between watching Jim Mora, Sr. give a press conference and seeing slow motion replays of Lawrence Taylor snapping Joe Theismann's leg over and over.

I'll get to that shortly. First, the setup: Same structure as usual, two rebuys available, 30 minute levels, 1500 in starting chips. 41 people turned out, a great showing for a home tourney and the prize pool promised to be juicy. Unfortunately, as I sat down, I noticed a slew of the game's regulars and strongest players also grabbing seats at my table. No big deal, I decided. I had promised myself I would be aggressive with my stack and I was at first, right out of the gate firing at flops with nothing when I missed and 3 betting pots where I had raised preflop. I built a stack and then watched it drain away as those same plays fell perfectly into the hands of players who, you know, actually had made hands. So shorty I ran for a good long while as just absolute dreck found its way into my hands. I mean, not even a whiff of cards that I could push my stack in and hope to double with (with the rebuys, my short stack was almost assuredly getting called down when it got in.) Still, I knew that I had to get it in and quickly. No point in hanging around with few chips when shoving can, at the very least, double my stack through a rebuy.

And that is exactly what happened. No, this is not the horrendous play. Not yet. Patience. It's awful, I promise. No, this was one of those "I see a face card, I'm all in regardless of my other card" hands. One of those hands so forgettable and ordinary that, well, I've forgotten what it was. Either way, I can confirm that I did not win and I joined the chorus of those pitching in money for a rebuy. My table had dispatched a player and unluckily for us, drew another player I recognized as a tough regular. The table tightened up and my cards seemed intent on proving that it is not true that a player cannot have a deuce in his hand every hand for nine consecutive hands. I wish I were kidding. With a slew of players still going, my chances of cashing looked bleak unless I could catch some breaks or power my way through the Nordic conditions at my seat.

Luckily, a little of both happened. My table lost another player and fortunately for me, broke just into 100/200 blinds. At this point I was still on my exact rebuy of 1500 one way or another (I believe I got a walk through on my BB post-rebuy.) Anyway I move to another table, now down to 3, and am moved into, what else, the 200 big blind. And what else is new, I look down at 2...10. Munson. I mean, Brunson. Miracuolously, three limpers come in and I check. The flop throws a Jack high rag board that also includes a 2, pairing me. I remind myself that I am now ahead of any A,x hand that just missed the flop and with only 1300 behind and 900 in the pot already, I decide to fire. I push it all in and two hands fly into the muck, followed by a big stack ever so slowly, one by one, counting out the chips to make 1300 and moving them in.

"I've got a deuce" I say, and flip my cards, "And I'm ahead?" as the villain turns over a Q,6 offsuit that has missed everything. Huh? My previous tablemates from the brutal first table eyeball one another as the turn and river brick out and I more than double up. So this is how the play is going to be over at our new table is the common thought flashing across their eyes. After the solid, tight play previously, for me at least, it is welcome. As is the A,K I look down at on my very next hand when I raise a limped pot up and then am subsequently re-raised to 1800 by an all-in shove. I call and this new villain tables a 10,10 that holds and I'm back down again. No fear, however, as I immediately hit a flop as I play my rush and drag another pot. Unfortunately for me though, is that after only about 6 hands at this table I'm carded out to switch again. Two smart, solid players are now on my left but at the other end of the table are a couple of bigger stacks that have apparently called everything and drawn out. And as often happens with those players, eventually the cards don't fall their way and they don't adjust their play and boom, boom, boom, in only a few hands, they're out and an opportunistic, patient player is stacking their chips. I was not that lucky player on this night though, as my big hand of Q,Q raised up a raiser who then buckles under my pressure. A little later, with blinds moving up, I make a semi-bluff when my AcJc flops two clubs and I get my chips in first against the player to my left. Luckily, he is one of the players at the table who can realize hand ranges and potential crippling calls and analyze if there is a better spot to get his money in. Even though he has me on something that he suspects is worse than his hand (he is claiming 2nd pair, 8s) he eventually mucks it. A little rabbit hunting is somewhat ugly for me as it turns out I would have made my flush on the river and felted him.

After this, I mostly play position as my little run of good and decent cards ends and I go back to picking up zilch. I make big raises to steal blinds a couple rounds in a row and maintain my stack, which is on the low/middle end. Not in dire straits by any means yet but when blinds move, pots build fast and fold equity lowers almost exponentially. The other remaining table sees more action as our host is absolutely marauding through his tablemates, busting players and then following that by bullying the shorthanded table. Finally, he felts another and we're down to the final table.

I draw the worst seat, to the host's right, inches from his mammoth chip stack. As far as what I need to do, I know it: I need to double up quickly or my stack is ending up ten inches to the left. However, the one thing I do like about this position is that it will be easier, if I pay close attention, to try and get a quick read on the big stack's starting hands if he lets anything slip. More than any other player, when cards were dealt, if he moved for his, I was watching covertly. If he didn't, I was trying to gauge his reaction to others' raises. Sometimes big stacks don't want to get involved with certain other players, and as the host, he knew everyone at this table better than the rest. Little things I was trying to pick up.

Two smaller stacks busted almost immediately, bringing us to 8. Fortunately for me though, one of them was not Mr. Q,6 offsuit. Because after biding my time through a round of blinds and folding under combined pressure and poor hands, I look down at K,2 in the BB and again it's an unopened pot. A king flops for me and I make the "No mistake, I've got a K, you should fold now" all in move. Once again, chip...chip...chip...push it in call, this time with...Q,J off?? Which has again missed like a Chris Dudley free throw??? I'll take it, and when the turn brings another king and clinches it for me, I do.

Now I'm back in good shape. And after I flop a Q a couple hands later and take the rest of Mr. Q,6's chips, thus becoming the final table's Mr. Fortunate timing, I am up over 14,000 in chips at the 500/1000 stage of the table and we are now down to 7. Top five are cashing and the top 3 spots are a tidy little profit. The table is moving, some good play with chips getting out there. The two smart, solid players who had been on my left at the 2nd to last table are now both to my right. The big stack is to my left, with a small/medium stack, 2nd biggest stack and another small/medium stacks to his left rounding it out.

Which brings us to The Worst Hand I've Ever Played.

Don't worry, I didn't forget. That, my friends, would be impossible.

To Be Continued...

Caesar's Tournament #1

Continued from last post.

So while waiting for everyone to arrive in Vegas I bought into one of Caesar's daily $65 +5 tournaments and was put into the 4 seat. Right off the table appeared tight and I won a couple of multi-way pots when the flop bricked out and I was the only one to lead out into it. I did, however, spew some of those chips back over the next few hands, as I kept being aggressive with rags but when those same players came back over the top I knew I had to clear way.

About twenty minutes into the first level was one of two hands that I want to recap in a little more detail. I squeezed out 9s,10s in late position and called the raise to my immediate right. Another guy called from the 1 seat and we went in 3 handed. Flop brings 3,10,10 and visions of chips flying my way fill my head. 1 seat checks, 3 seat puts out a pot sized bet, I call and the 1 seat folds. Turn bricks and 3 seat puts out a bigger bet. I stare down the board, hoping he'll guess I'm chasing an ace, maybe put me on big slick. Finally, I can my bad acting and announce a raise and am called instantly. Could he have hit with a pair of 3s? No way, he wouldn't have led into a 3 way pot with them. River brings another brick and he weakly leads out for something like 300 into a pot of 3000. I jam and he folds his A,A face up and I rake it in.

Cracking the painkillers has left me the table chip leader and I try to take advantage by getting involved in a lot of pots, hoping the tight play will continue and I'll be able to apply some pressure with my stack. Unfortunately, I give a bunch back as I get caught raising my A,x when I flop an ace, only to see a raise and a re-raise behind me and fold thinking I'm outkicked at best or have run into two pair or a set, only to see the showdown and see that I would have been good. This sticks with me a bit as my biggest criticism of myself as a player is that I give my opponents too much credit sometimes for being on bigger hands. I dig back in and only a couple hands later, during 50/100, with two limpers already in the pot, I find A,A in middle position. I raise to 350 and get four callers, not my ideal scenario with the painkillers. Flop comes Q, 7, 4 rainbow. Check, check and my friend from the 3 seat leads out. He's on the shortstack now, with not much left behind. The pot is around 2000 or so and my stack is not much more than that. I jam it in. The 5 seat to my left insta-calls. Checkers both fold and the 3 seat shoves his small stack in as well. He flips over 4,4 for a set of 4s. To my left the 5 seat flips over Q,Q for a set of Qs. I'm down to one of the remaining aces to stay alive, as the 5 seat has me barely covered. Neither comes and I'm bounced. Not my best moment and I'm left thinking about aces being cracked and how I could have forgotten how often it happens. The lesson, as always, is that some nights the painkillers make the pain even worse.

Next up: Wild Bill's poker bender and another Caesar's tournament.

Ah, Vegas

I have been on the go for a few weeks in a row, and have some catching up to do. It started with a long weekend way up in northern Vermont, about 5 miles from the Canadian border. We rent what Vermonters call a "camp" what everyone else would call a lake house in the woods. It hit the spot and 3 days of fishing, grilling and swimming provided a great reprieve from mid-July weather back home.

The following week, I put in three long days at work and on the third, headed to the airport for a trip to Vegas for Wild Bill's bachelor party. Flight cancellations and delays were brutal but somehow I managed to get DJ and I on a later flight and arrive in Vegas a cool 8 hours past our scheduled arrival time. So instead of settling in with a fun Wednesday night of action at the tables, we checked in at 4:30 in the morning. Nice. Thanks, airline industry. Every time I think it has hit its lowest, I'm proven wrong.

The one consolation of the lost time was the fact that Caesar's had given away our room, even though they had been informed by phone hours earlier that we would be checking in late because of the flight delay. Why is it a consolation? Because they bumped us up from our standard room to a "Petite Suite" which was bigger, had a sweet flat screen TV (who watches TV in Vegas? More on that later…) and two bathrooms which connected through a double-headed shower. One of the bathrooms had a jacuzzi tub and a bidet and overall I felt like somehow fate had at least made an attempt to balance out the poor luck with which the trip had begun.

Anyway, local Vegas buddy Big E provided airport transportation for us and we in turn bought him entry to the Caesars buffet at 7 am sharp. I was impressed with the buffet, Caesars has it located right next to their pools with both indoor and outdoor seating. And while no one was yet at the pool at 7 am we still snagged a window seat and chowed down. After breakfast, we took a walk through Caesars to get a feel for it and DJ sat down at a video poker machine, won a few dollars and proceeded to act as if it were still Wednesday night at 9 pm rather than Thursday at 8:30 am by ordering a double whiskey coke no ice straight off. Only in Vegas.

We checked out the Caesars craps tables and since $25 tables right off weren't really appealing to us, we hit up the Flamingo, which was dead so we sauntered next door to the place formerly known as the Barbary Coast and now known as Bill's. Coincidence? We thought we would find out. We settled in at a craps table and hovered around even, drinking multiple whiskey cokes and dropping maybe $75 each before DJ got a hot run going. Over on the table next to us, they were holding a daily "How to play craps" informational session and when it broke DJ was in the midst of firing us back up, having hit a few points and smothering the 6 and 8, which we were playing as well. Well, of course as soon as the yokels got done with their craps lessons, they decided to head over and play some. Not only does one dude squeeze into a non-space right next to the shooter (DJ) making him uncomfortable, he immediately asks if the table is hot. DJ and I exchange glances, followed by the inevitable 7-out seconds later. Well, it was a hot table buddy, thanks for the moosh.

So we left the tables up a few dollars and headed back to Caesars, planning on getting out to the pool. Of course, it's July, it's the desert and it's 1 pm, so of course it is 112 degrees outside. Undaunted, we poured buckets of sunscreen on (I don't tan, I crisp. Anything less than spf 30 and I sport a full on lobster red after 5 minutes) and snagged two seats by one of the pools. As we settle in, about 15 feet away half a dozen gorgeous Italian women pose for a friend's photo. I track down some water and a couple Coronas. Poolside in Vegas. Sun. Women. Beer. Nice.

An hour later we head back up to the room. We had escaped the midday heat by hanging out in the water but after a while it became a little too much and we needed a little air conditioning. Back in the room we checked on the arrival of BH, due in a couple hours. In the meantime, I thought it would be a perfect time to check out the poker room. As it turns out, a 3 pm tournament was beginning in 15 minutes. $65+5, 50 person max, 30 minute levels, 2000 in starting chips. Seats still available.

I bought in.

Next installment: The Painkillers run amok.

Main Event/Podcasts

I've been following the Main Event vicariously through reports and Andrew Feldman's excellent podcasts on ESPN. He does a solid job in the interviews and getting interesting guests to come on (including players still alive) and discuss the quality of play, decision-making processes and other topics. Here are the most recent after Friday's and Saturday's play, with the links along with an article on Brandon Cantu and Jeff Madsen (both of whom are on the 07/12 podcast.)

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/columns/story?columnist=wise_gary&id=3484515

This is not 38, This is Old 97

Home tournament last night. Approximately 25 players, same format at previously with two rebuys available. With the WSOP going on, several of the steady players are out in Vegas, so it was a motley crew of folks who showed up. I made some mental notes that perhaps there were going to be some unbluffable folks and some players who might make some charitable donations to the cause.

With that in mind, I decided to be patient. Of course, the second hand of the night I flopped the nuts when my Q,10 off hit a K,J,9 flop. It got a little worrisome when a second 9 came on the turn, with the levels being low and the game having just started, I didn't figure to make much but if by chance someone was slow (or mis) playing pocket jacks or kings, I was going to take my first rebuy sooner than expected. As it turns out, I was up against A,J and no J or 9 came on the river so I won a decent pot right off.

The next couple levels were pretty rough, as I mainly folded garbage and watched some big pots go on without me. Sets against top pair, that kind of thing. I got caught speculating a few times and dumped bottom pair in one instance and A,Q that had missed everything in another when I did pick up some hands.

But patience is something I pride myself on at a table and tonight I remembered it. Literally. After folding for awhile to some strange play, I got the itch to play. Anything. Any 2 cards.

But I didn't. I constantly reminded myself to make good plays and not to get antsy and start limping just to get the feel of being in the game.

Instead I waited. And I got bested when I flopped top pair in the BB with Q,8 and my middling stack was immediately called by the table captain and his A,Q. But I didn't panic, didn't think about how I had to shove immediately with my rebuy. The levels were at 100/200 when I rebought for 1500 and I was able to steal some blinds. Then, at 200/400 I woke up to Brooklyn, the borough of Kings. No brainer shove from 2nd position for 1700 but no one picked up anything. Bummer, but I rake the blinds. Now at 2300. Very next hand, painkillers: AcAs. I'm under the gun. The guy I rate as the most knowledgeable of the other players at my table is in the BB. He just watched me shove and pull the blinds and I didn't show. He's in for 400 already. Of all the people in the BB, I'm glad it's him, as he would be the most suspicious of my back to back moves. I shove, it comes around to him, he smiles and lays it down. He tells me that if he had any face card, he was going to call. I show him the aces to put in the back of his mind for later on, just in case.

Then, a few hands later, I get the hand that helped me the most through the middle stages of this game. A monster 5,10 offsuit. But I'm in an unopened pot in the SB and I limp. The BB follows suit and the flop is money: 10,5,3 rainbow. I check, BB bets 600, I shove and he instacalls with top pair. He doesn't match up his kicker and I'm doubled.

After this, patience. And more patience. It makes for a dull recap but a solid game. I rode my stack to the final table, where I got literally nothing for 3 rounds as the blinds crept up. Anything marginal and I was beaten to the pot by a shove or something to preclude my move. Finally, after joking to the table in an effort to remind everyone that I hadn't yet played, I look down at 2,2 in early position. My stack is marginal comparative to the others and not in good shape with regard to the blinds. I need to make something happen.

But I fold. A month ago I probably would have shoved after folding so much. Behind me comes a shove and a call. 6,6 and A,A. Bullets dodged, literally. (incidentally a 6 flopped and an A came on 4th street. Rough.)

So I wait. And finally, I get a break. In the BB, I look at 10,8 and three players limp. I check my option and get the sweetest sight: 7,9,J. Boo-yah baby. Needless to say, I raised it up after someone came in and doubled through them. It got me comfortable and a few hands later, I see the Brooklyn boys again. Again, they only rake me the blinds but the blinds are significant at this point and no need to risk a flopped ace when I can smell the money.

And then, the heavy lifting was done by others. After I had won a good pot when my A,7 turned into lucky sevens on the flop and turn, I sat back and folded as people got overagressive or desperate. Again, the blinds were big and I could have made moves with hands like A,8 but I didn't see the need when committing to a multi-way pot this late could bust me or cripple my stack. Here is where I was happiest with my patience. Throwing away openers that can play in order to achieve my goal of cashing. And cash I did. I ended up 3rd after my run of cards ended and I pushed from the button with Q,6. K,10 called and that was that when a 10 flopped.

A follow up tomorrow to break down a couple hands.

We Went Dutch, Dutch, Dutch

Anyone who is following Euro 2008 can't help but be impressed by the performance so far of the Dutch squad. Not only did they emerge from the so-called Group of Death, but they thoroughly obliterated their competition in doing so. Results like 3-0 over the World Cup champion Italians, 4-1 over the Cup runners-up French and 2-0 against #12 in the world Romania sent a powerful message to the rest of the world that this may be the time for the Netherlands. Their counterattacks have been cruel, doling out punishment to the sides who dared press forward or got caught napping, and in doing so exposed some glaring weaknesses in back of the French and Italian sides.

All this after coming in with what seemed to be a barrage of injuries to boot. The quarters promise some great matchups, Italy/Spain being perhaps foremost. Whichever side flops more should prevail. Who that will be is anyone's guess.

Anyone interested in a lighter take on all things soccer-related that happen from an English perspective should check out the following blog, a quality mix of sarcasm, humor and jealousy:

http://sniffingtt.blogspot.com

When you need to feel better about your game...

The facial expressions and reactions are priceless. If you ever need to cheer yourself up, just watch this over and over.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN6wAHTWeEA

The Empty Bottle Was Half-Empty

Preface: I didn't mean for this post to be a story of bad beats but sometimes it's inevitable, like that brutal flush card on the river.

Losing money is never fun. Never. Sometimes, however, it is worse than others on the felt. I was victimized to the tune of a couple buy-ins in Atlantic City this weekend but came away shaking my head not in anger but in that semi-disbelief kind of way. (can disbelief be only semi? I'll have to check on that.)

Anyway, I sat at a 1-2 table with a 300 stack and felt like I had been put at the wrong table. From the 3 seat I watched and folded my first few hands as each pot was raised not to 10 or 12 or 15 but to 20 or 25 and then promptly reraised and called. The second hand I sat for was raised to 16 and the raiser got 5 callers. Immediately my thought was that this was a wiiiiiide open table and I needed to be patient and wait for a hand to slice and dice some of the loose action. However, watching everything go down I wondered if I would get the chance. A preflop re-raise (I had already folded) to 52 was called by 2 players and then one of the callers led out post-flop for about 125 and induced a fold, then flipped over a 2,7 off that had missed everything. The initial raiser who had folded under the bet was not happy and did some grouching about the call of 52 with such a hand. Me? I was salivating, just hoping to pick something up quickly while everyone was hot. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough. Two hands later, the same two guys tangled again, mixing it up preflop and clearing out the field. The flop came 3 diamonds and they tread cautiously, unusual for what I had seen thus far. However, once the river came with a blank, the fireworks started. Bet, raise, all-in, insta-call. The guy who had previously had the 2,7 had flopped the K high flush. His nemesis, however, had flopped the nut flush and not only raked in a 700 pot but threw in an unnecessary comment about the previous hand. The table rightfully pointed out that he should shut up about having been outplayed, particularly after winning a big hand right back.

Unfortunately, this left the pot-builder on a short stack and the other guy on a monster, which it became immediately evident he wasn't going to relinquish, as he went into hibernation and left the table about a half hour later. So things cooled down before I could heat up. As it turns out, I never did get the gas past about 3 on the dial. My position plays with marginal hands got raised and bet at post flop and when I picked up some monsters (A,A, K,K) I couldn't get the necessary action. And then the gods of the felt took some jabs at me. My A,Q ran into an A,K. My A,6 in position hit an A on the flop and my steadily increasing bets didn't force out a similarly suited A,8 and I was check-called down the whole way, culminating when we both made river flushes with our kickers. Pocket 3s when I was short-stacked and all in for 45 was called by Q,J off and a J hit the flop. In the BB, my Q,5 appeared huge when the flop came Q,5,3 only to actually be a massive dog, as my opponent had pocket 3s. Miraculously, he didn't bust me as he checked the river after rags on the last two streets. A,2 hit me for top and bottom pair on the flop only to fall victim to a flush on the turn when a flop bet couldn't chase out a chaser. Basically, the cards didn't fall for me. In any of these cases, a slight turn could have amounted to a big change in the course of my night. But they didn't. That's how it happens on occasion and I accept it.

I finally busted my second buy in (only 200 this time) when I had about 150 left and made a position call with Q,9 off in a multi-way pot. Flop came Q,3,2 rainbow and it was checked to me. I bet out and got one caller. Turn came with another Q and this time early position led out for more than the pot. Folded to me and I considered what could be. A few minutes I contemplated whether I could lay down three Queens in the face of only one big bet. The way I had been running all night was forefront in my mind, as was his check-call and overbet of the pot on the turn. Ultimately, I couldn't get away, though I suspected I had been trapped by a higher kicker. A blank came on the river and my opponent shoved. Now I knew I was beat but with only about 50 left behind, I made the call and sure enough K,Q was felted to best my kicker.

Running cold is one thing, running scared another. I left knowing I would catch up another day.

A Couple Thoughts on the WSOP Circuit Final Table at Harrahs

I was taken aback by the first hand of the Final Table at Harrahs New Orleans in the recent circuit event. Here is how it went down, with my thoughts mixed in. Remember, this is the very first hand of the day:


Chip Leader (687k) raises from the 4 seat to 22k.

2nd in chips (400k) re-raises to 45k from the 6 seat.

4th in chips (300k) smooth calls from the 7 seat.

Let's break that sequence down: Chip leader raises, no big deal. 2nd in chips picks up a hand or wants to send a message, reraises. 4th in chips smooth calls so he must have a monster since the chip leader still has to act behind him on the re-raise. He can't figure he's priced into anything. At this point I would give the credit to the 7 seat, 4th in chips and put him on the biggest hand.

Until...

Chip leader reraises to 120k.

2nd in chips moves in for his 400k.

4th in chips calls for his entire 300k.

Wow. A ton of action. This sequence would tell me that the chip leader has a hand. If it was only 1 reraiser, maybe he comes back over the top with a marginal hand. But a reraiser and a smooth-caller? He must have something. The shove by 2nd in chips tells me he must have aces to have re-raised the initial raiser, been smooth-called and then re-raised again on top of it and still feels like his hand is the best. Aces or perhaps Kings. He was only invested for 45k, he could easily get away from almost anything else. The problem, however, is that I feel the same way about the smooth-caller's call. He must have aces or kings with only 45k invested and all that action in front of him (raise, re-raise, re-raise, all-in). How can he call with anything else? Being priced in is not a factor at this point for either of 2nd or 4th in chips since if they lose, they go out with something like $23,000 for 9th and a little more for 8th and the winner of it all takes $387,000. Only the chip leader can really contemplate that since he has them covered and can still have a good stack to play with. However, even he can still get away as he's in for 120k and there is still another 280k to call and there has already been one caller.

And the kicker.

Chip leader also calls the double all-in. AND he had the A,A. He must have been in shock when these guys started shoving and knowing that he had aces, had them dominated.

2nd stack turns over J,J for, in my opinion, a poor play. Very poor. You've had a raise in front of you, re-raised yourself only to have been called and re-raised (warning flags, anyone????) and you decide to shove for everything when you're only in for 45k and have 400k total??? With J,J???? I hate that play. You have to figure one of them has you. Plus, there is no need to shove at that point. The shows of strength around you are there. If you want to play them, call that re-raise and try to take it away on the flop if anything comes that could be considered a scare card. At that point, a call could mean he had almost any pocket pair that he initially re-raised with and Aces and Kings would be wary of any set.

Similarly, I don't like the play by Q,Q to call the all-in. Yes, it is hard to lay down Q,Q, much harder than J,J. But again, he had not once raised this pot, the other 2 guys each raised twice, doubling and tripling the amount (3x raise, 2x raise, 3x raise, 3x raise) and you're going to call that for everything? Again, only 45k invested at the time the action came back to him where he was put all-in. Have to figure one guy has at least K,K or A,A and another has at worst A,K. Don't like the call at all. Not as bad as the shove with J,J into the pot at the time, but still pretty rough. Just no need to risk it. The risk of all your chips and 9th place prize money (since he was the smaller of the chip stacks that could be eliminated, he would get the lower finishing spot if they were both eliminated) where you could easily be dominated 4 to 1 vs. reward (at best a coin flip for all your chips, where if you win you take the chip lead) doesn't seem to fit to me, not with all the action.

I can only recall seeing one hand like this, in the final table at the USPC at AC one year when one of the local pros (a young Italian-American guy) had a ton of action before him, looked down at Q,Q and folded it in about 1 second and watched the other two turn over A,A and K,K.

So the cards come, the A,A painkillers hold up and 2nd and 4th chip stacks are eliminated on hand 1 of the day.

The only thing I can think is that it being the first hand of the day, no one was in a groove yet or could believe that they were going to get cold-decked right out of the gate.

What a way to start the day though, huh?

One Flies In, One Flies Away

Home tournament again last Friday. Finished 8th, top 5 got paid. I need to do something to step up in this game and cash. I seem to be able to make the final table by playing with selective aggression but never seem to be able to make the plays that will get me to a powerful stack size while there.

A few hands to recap:

4th hand of the tournament, 25/50 (opening stack: 1500). I look down at 8c9c and raise to 150 in middle position, get one caller, then a guy in the small blind reraises to 375. Another 225 into 725(big blind folded) and I make the call and the other caller folds. Pot is now 950 and we're heads up. Flop is a bonanza for me 8,8,3. He leads out for 600 and I reraise all in for another 525. Again, with two rebuys allowed I know he's going to call as there is no benefit to folding and playing short stacked. He even says to me "I have to call you," and I expect he knew he was behind. We flip and he shows K,K no flush draw. Turn is a brick, river brings him another K and fills up his boat. Rough. I would have loved to have been an early chip leader and to start to lean on people and loosen right up.

Rebuy. Get A,8 suited right away and think that I don't like it so much but I have to play it so I raise and sure enough end up losing even more when the flop misses me by a mile and my c-bet gets reraised all in. Now 40% of my second rebuy is gone and I know I have to tighten up and either wait for cards or the right spots to shove over the top. I pull of the latter a couple of times and rake in a few hundred each time, slowly trying to build back up. I give some chips back trying to make something with a pair of threes but then finally wake up to a few hands. I shove with 10,10 and get a call by a guy who didn't want to and his Ace/rag combo goes down. Then I get K,K and unfortunately my raise draws no callers but I pull in the blinds. Then at 200/400 I get A,10 suited, raise it up to 1600, get reraised all in (I'm at 3200), another person on a short stack calls and I realize I'm priced in and with a rebuy in my pocket there is no sense in folding into the big pot and being left with 1600 when I can rebuy for another 1500 so I call. Dominated by A,Q on the big stack and 9,9 on the short one. No flush falls for me and a 9 hits the turn and I bust again.

Rebuy #2. Short stack blinds at 200/400 and about to raise up. I shove almost right away and my A,J suited rivers me a flush to double up. I decide to be patient even though I need to accumulate chips, probably a bad decision, but I was hoping to get some decent cards and lop some chips off the table chip leader who had more than the rest of us combined. Finally after hovering for awhile I reraise all in with J,J and get a call by shortstacked A,9 and the jacks hold up and give me enough chips to not sweat the ever-increasing blinds for a couple rounds, as well as knock out the player that allows us to consolidate to the final table.

Final table. Well, I just played awfully here. I barely made any moves. In fact, I can only remember playing two hands. First, at 300/600 I raised to 2000 with A,Q suited and got no callers, including the big blind who folded 5,5. He had me outchipped by maybe a couple thousand but didn't want to play for most of his stack with that hand. Not sure if I wanted him to either but since the play was aggressive at the table and I was not making moves a race was probably the best I could hope for. Then a few hands later in the small blind at 300/600 I outthought myself and felt the burn of knowing I made an awful play. After three limpers into the pot and with my stack at about 4400, I look at K,5 off. Another 300 to call but the big blind to my left has just used his last rebuy and I feel certain if I limp he will shove for his 1500 and I decide I don't want to play K,5 for 1500 so I fold. Of course, he doesn't shove, only checks his option and the flop comes king high, which ends up would have been the winning hand. Just brutal. The very next hand on the button, I fold J, 8 off under a raise and the flop comes J,8,x and the raiser shoves all in and my burn is gettting worse by the second. So I think you know how this song is going to end. A couple hands later I find K,9 of diamonds, raise it up to 2000, get reraised all in for my last 2400 and after checking the time (blinds went up to 400/800 right after this hand started) decided to make the call. I had had success earlier with King high when going all in, and I generally (not always) would rather do it with a hand like this than with a weak ace but in typical fashion, he flips over the painkillers (A,A). I pick up an inside straight draw (Q) on the flop, a flush draw on the turn but nothing materializes and I'm out again.

I have to mix up my game more and make the necessary adjustments at levels like 100/200 in this game to accumulate chips. Playing back at people in earlier levels with rebuys available usually draws calls and in later levels usually draws shoves. But I am handcuffing myself with tight play in all rounds and need to fix that, and quickly.

I Put $900 On The 5th Horse, In The 6th Race

A little post-Kentucky Derby perspective and analysis. First off, I had keyed Big Brown at the top of my bets. His trainer, Dutrow, often only enters horses he believes will win races. A few years ago he entered a horse called Connie's Magic in two races only three or four days apart at Belmont and won both. So when I heard him talking about all the money their stable was going to be laying on BB, added to his past performances, I was sold.

Unfortunately, I had planned on a quicker pace, something that would benefit the closers and allow them to get up to fill out the exotics. The first quarter of 23 1/5 was nowhere near the speed duels of past years, when either rabbits or overmatched horses figured their only shot was to get out in front and try to hold up. This pace scenario played perfectly into a stalker's situation and Big Brown was properly situated near the lead the entire race and showed himself the best around the turn and down the stretch. Unfortunately for me, the closers that I had filled out underneath Big Brown - Colonel John, Visionaire, Court Vision and Pyro - never got the trip, the ride or the pace they needed and left me with a handful of losing tickets.

Big Brown looks to be for real and I fully expect to see him in person at Belmont gunning for the Triple Crown in June.

Mama Tried to Raise Me Better, But Her Pleading I Denied

Played in the home tourney again last Friday night. 28 players. I came out firing and playing loose/aggressive from the get go and got some chips on bluffs and reading weak play when I had marginal hands. Unfortunately, I was at a table of half people who were among the less experienced in the tournament and I donked away half my chips on a big post river bluff with 10,8 off on a board with 3 spades, an ace and a queen and I bet big and a guy with pocket jacks (!!!) made the call. So I then ended up pushing in with nothing when I was in the BB to either win or rebuy and a guy with K,7 called and won. Note to self: don't try to bluff beginning players, they get married to hands. So I rebought and was starting to get cards and bully people a little when I was in the 200 BB with about 3000 (1500 to start). One limper, an all-in of 500, then a call before me. I look down at 3,8 off and make the call, as does the initial limper. 2000 in the pot. Flop comes K, 8, 3. SB checks, I go all in, hoping it will be read as an overbet by someone with a king. Initial limper doesn't hesitate and counts out his chips methodically and calls. We show. Initial all in of 500 has nothing, I have 2 pair and limper (who didn't reraise after the 500 raise since he was a novice player who limped or called everything, never raised) shows K,K for a set. Turn gives him quads and I'm busted again.

So I rebought again, my final allowed rebuy of 1500 (starting chip count). Blinds were at 100/200 and only a few minutes before moving to 200/400, so I began to shove in order that the blinds wouldn't catch me and the guy next to me was doing the same with his last 2 rebuys and I won both of those off of him in 3 hands, once with a better kicker on my ace, then another when my pocket sevens held up against his A,8. Right after that happened I also was able to double up when two players went all in short-stacked with nothing and I woke up to a nice A,K.

My table finally splits (down to 2 tables) which was a good thing. I get to my new table and pick up a couple of hands right away and grab some more chips. Then I get the painkillers (aces) against another player's preflop all in of A,x and am really piling it on, probably now close to 14-15k in chips. I got bluffed out of a hand a couple later, but I hadn't made a hand myself postflop (A,Q) and couldn't make a call anyway and was happy to fold, even though it turned out I was ahead. No need to risk. However, against the same guy a few hands later, I get K,J and call his raise. Flop comes K and 2 rags. He goes all in and I call immediately. He has ace high and I'm ahead but an ace comes on the turn and I lose. I thought he had me outchipped but he didn't and I went from about 15,000 in chips to 3,800. I moved all in the next hand with Q,J suited and picked up the 400/800 blinds so got some breathing room there. After that, I played pretty well, made the proper moves to pick up limped pots by shoving and built up to more than 8,000 again. Then, got lucky in a 3 way pot (other 2 all in and I had them both easily covered) when I had Q,Q against 9,9 and A,K. Flop brought a K, Turn brought an A and river brought a Q and won it for me. So I was back again up to about 14,000 and sitting nicely and made it to the final table of 10.

My first move at the table was questionable, I'm sure the other guy hated it and I kind of did too but I am still testing out not being so conservative in my play and trying to take some risks, even some very dubious ones. I'm in the 1400 BB, a guy moves all in for 4000 total before me and everyone else folds. 6100 in the pot and 2600 to call, I have rags, I called. He was wired with Jacks and easily beat me. So I was down to maybe 9000 after that round but then made a button play on a guy who had raised to 3000 two to my right. I look down at A,K suited and shove for my 9000 and the blinds and he all fold. I got credit for a power button move by the table but in reality I had a hand and that was my only play. But I took the credit anyway. This hand is important because of how things went later on.

As an aside, I had the host, the best player at the table, to my right and another real solid guy to my left (he gave me the props for the button play). To his left were 2 players who I didn't think were as strong, then it alternated around with good and average players.

So I was back up to around 14k and folding dreck. One player busted and was done and another 2 busted but had rebuys left and rebought and folded a few hands in a row while not in the blinds. In theory, I should have figured they would have busted soon and brought us to the bubble (top 6 got paid). In reality, the very next time I was on the button, I look at A,J off. Same guy two to my right raises again, this time to $4000 and everyone else folds. I shove for roughly 14,000 and the blinds again fold. He almost insta-calls with Q,7 of hearts, without bothering to figure out pot odds or anything. He also had over 20,000 in chips so could have folded without being crippled in any way. Now, the pot odds (roughly 2 to 1 on his 10,000 call) make it a viable play as long as I don't have aces, kings or queens in which case he's a huge dog. However, to lose this hand does really hurt him and makes him probably 3rd shortest stack. Personally, I would have dumped it as there wasn't a need at that point to risk 70% of your chips on Q,7 of hearts. Maybe he thought I was bullying him specifically or playing from position only. Don't know. Maybe he thought I should have folded to his raise or was merely stealing again but if I double through him, I'm the chip leader. I checked the odds calculator after I got home and I was 60/40 ahead preflop. Either way, the flop came Jack high (pairing me) with two hearts (now down to 54/46 in my favor) and the turn flushed him and I was drawing dead. It hurt because I had played pretty well for 4 hours and even my bust out was not a bad play in my opinion, maybe even a good one and it all added up (or subtracted down) to a $60 loss for the night.

I still can't get over that hump to the winning zone but I feel like it's only a matter of time. I'm pleased that I didn't turn into a rock when we got down to 9 players, I went for the big play with a good (the best) hand and got marginally unlucky, rather than make it a foldfest and hoping others busted to get me into the money.

I'm hoping to make it to Atlantic City, perhaps this weekend, for some more live action at the tables.

Slow times

I have been bogged down the past couple of weeks with trying to find a place to live. Sounds easier than it is in my neck of the woods. However, there will be some poker this weekend and I promise to fire a couple of card-related posts up.

I've also been perusing some of the poker clips on you tube, love the high-stakes poker game where kid poker runs into quads twice in the same session and donks off a half mil or so even in the face of his opponents' both representing monsters. Even the pros are not immune to getting married to hands. I encourage you to track the clips down if you have the time. one is against Lindgren and the other against Hansen.

Running into the Painkillers

Sorry on the delay of the report on my first taste of the home tournament I played in last Friday night. It's a great game, very well run, populated by players who run the gamut of experience. For instance, two to my right was a pro player who regularly plays very high level games at the Borgata in Atlantic City. Then, a few seats over from him was a woman who had virtually no poker experience and zero hold 'em experience. Stepping in as a new player into this tournament, which has been regular and ongoing for a number of years, put me at an immediate disadvantage since I needed to figure out who was who in terms of experience, aggressiveness and skill, as well as make my decisions with regard to the structure and blinds, which was one of the most vital aspects of the game.

Chip and clock management was so vital in this game because while the blinds and levels were manageable with relation to opening stack size (1500), each player was allowed 2 rebuys, making for some very aggressive play. At any point, in any level, you were at risk of playing a hand for all your chips. Anytime your stack dwindled even a little below its opening count, you were better to start shoving with any decent hand (and sometimes with anything, period) and hope to pick up pots or get called and get lucky. Of course, being new to this game and structure, I wanted to be aggressive but found that most times I was beaten into the pot or had nothing to play if I wasn't. I did succeed in following my plan to stay aggressive from position in all instances and picked up some pots when my preflop raises drew other players' warning flags and my c-bets finished the pot off. However, in such a delicate structure, without having amassed a great deal of chips (some raises were re-raised or shoved upon and a couple of bluffs got sniffed out) I found myself just over my starting count when I looked down at 6,6 out of position. I raised, was re-raised all in and rather than play with a small amount of chips against growing stacks, made the call, hoping to be in a race against a big ace. Well, I was against a big ace. Two of them in fact, and I was left behind like Macaulay Culkin. I had him outchipped by a 25 chip so I tossed that in the next hand, waiting to lose it so I could rebuy. Well, of course I look down at Q,Q and inwardly bemoan my luck to make the move one hand too early or not to have been able to rebuy just yet. Well, as it turned out, I would have lost that rebuy immediately as two other hands shoved, one with 9,9 and another with K,K that held up.

So I rebuy and only a few hands in I look down at 5,5 in the BB. I raise the limped pot and only the small blind calls. The flop brings me a set with two diamonds on board as well. SB bets and I shove all in. He mutters to himself what a bad call it would be if he makes it. Then he revises his previous comment and now says it would be a terrible call. Of course, he eventually does make the call and is on a diamond draw. Not a terrible call in this structure, especially since he had the chips to make it but I manage to fade any diamonds or backdoor straight possibilities and double up.

At this point, the blinds moved to 100-200 and I began to try to make things happen and ran into some roadblocks. Raises were shoved back at by smaller stacks looking to double up (or possibly to give them a chance to rebuy) and some of the bigger stacks were now formidible, having gobbled up small stack shoves themselves. So picking spots was very important, but after getting caught stealing a couple times, I was able to snag blinds with shoves UTG with Qc10c and Kh9h in consecutive rounds. However, I needed to make something happen quickly, so upon looking down at 4,4 in an unopened pot, I shoved out of position. I was immediately called by the player to my left, not a good sign since she too was out of position. Everyone else folded and once again I had picked the wrong moment to shove and had come face to face with the Painkillers, aka A,A. I again did not catch up and at this point in the game the 100/200 level was only seconds from ending and with the next level at 200/400 and the BB about to hit me, I chose not to use my last rebuy since I would have had to shove in the first 2 hands and then likely again in the next several if I did not double up immediately. So I was left slightly lamenting that I didn't push earlier in previous rounds where I might have been able to double up or take down a pot or rebuy if I didn't, whereas now I found myself with the last rebuy worthless to me.

I plan to try and play regularly in this game, and as the skill levels are so wide but with the majority of the players seemingly above average, I think it promises to provide a lot of good experience in a wide variety of situations.

Home tourney preview

Playing in a home tournament tonight, that is semi-regular. It's my first time playing in it and it is supposed to have players of wildly different skill levels. What I like about it is that it is a cheap entry and they allow 2 rebuys, so I plan to mix up my play. Usually I play cautiously, with bouts of aggression at selected opportunities. Basically, I try to get myself in good spots and hit them hard, then stay out of the fray when uber-aggressive and uber-tight guys make plays into pots, unless I have a hand worthy of mixing it up or I'm really priced in. I pride myself on my patience ordinarily and making good reads on my opponents and dictating my play based on how the table is playing. However, tonight, with the 2 rebuys in my pocket, I plan to play very aggressively from position even so far as becoming one of those uber-aggressive guys, represent hands early and often and chase down some draws where I would ordinarily muck. In short, get out of my comfort zone and play as if I'm at a single table satellite type event, where early chip-gathering is a must. I think there will be about 25-30 people at this thing so it will be important for me to identify early on the better players so not to attempt bluffs on the more inexperienced players who will call down everything with top or second pair. We'll see how my adaption to a new style fits and whether or not I'm suited to such a style of play.

Love and Basketball

Jason Love, that is. He's a 6'10" center for Xavier, and in my opinion, the key to tonight's Xavier/UCLA Regional Final game. His role will be to try and provide quality minutes to slow down his UCLA namesake, Kevin Love and K. Love's awful beard. J. Love is capable of doing it and I expect him to come out with a high level of intensity, however he is foul prone so he needs to keep his aggression controlled because I fully expect K. Love to get any and all calls when there is physical play down low.

I think this one is going to be interesting. Xavier has shown a resilience that belies a veteran senior and junior-laden team, overcoming a big deficit against Georgia, showing poise against Purdue and never panicking against W. Virginia after losing a big lead and falling behind by 6 in overtime. UCLA, other than its 16/1 first round matchup, has shown alarming lapses in play. Its defense has been extraordinary in 5 of its 6 halves though and this is the key to the game, Xavier's offensive execution against UCLA's stifling defense. As I wrote a couple of days ago, Xavier has very balanced scoring and they will need contributions from a lot of players to overcome the Bruins.

My pick? Xavier does it, 65-60.

As for UNC/Louisville, this game can and will end one of two ways: a UNC win 100-80 or a game that comes down to the last shot for Louisville. If Louisville's press doesn't cause the kind of turnovers that Clemson was mostly successful with in their games against UNC, the Heels will win and win big. If they can get the cheap turnovers and capitalize on them, it will be interesting. My one guarantee for this game is that Padgett, Caracter and Palacios for UL will combine for at least 13 fouls. I expect the national POY to get to the line about 10-12 times in this one.

The pick, as much as I don't like to do it, is UNC. I will still root for UL though.

Hoops Friday

Picked the four winners correctly yesterday, went even against the spread as I thought the UNC game would be tighter and UCLA never put away WKU. I'm happy with my analysis of the other two games though, as Josh Duncan showed up big time as I predicted and Tennessee's apathetic, sloppy play was punished by an interesting Louisville team. Interesting because they have size and athleticism but their play was ragged. I think Pitino is one of the great college coaches and if he can have them focused and tight against UNC it could be a very interesting game.

As for today's games, I like Stanford over Texas, Memphis over Michigan State, Wisconsin over Davidson and Kansas over Villanova.

Sweet Sixteen

Ah, Sweet Sixteen. It brings back the memories of overdone, overwrought parties filled with anxious adolescents seeking that elusive teenage liberation. It recalls memories of a John Hughes movies jammed with longing, lust, angst, wild keggers and Long Duck Dong. (As an aside, has any lead in a teen comedy been more of a washout than Jake Ryan? He dumps his hot girlfriend, misses the best party of the year, at his own house no less, while he's upstairs looking through his yearbook, then spends Saturday outside the church on the off chance that he can make out with Molly Ringwald. What a waste.) It also brings to mind the crucial round of the NCAA basketball tournament. By now, most of the pretenders have been sent packing, along with the hopefuls and you're left with the teams that have a legitimate chance. At this point anyone can reel off 2 wins to reach the final four and 4 wins to the championship is not an unreasonable thought for any of them. Here are my picks for Thursday's matchups (and I'll stick with the John Hughes/Sixteen Candles theme):

North Carolina -8.5 against Washington State. This matchup is Jake Ryan's girlfriend Caroline, the hottest girl in school, against Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald). On the surface it's a no-brainer, Caroline is the party-hungry prom queen who looks about 25, but if you remember, Molly Ringwald sneaks in and steals Jake while Caroline is busy partying. She lost focus. Carolina better not do the same. I think they'll recover from WSU's mind-numbing tempo in time and squeak out a victory, provided that they don't simply try to outscore WSU and actually put forth a semblance of a defensive effort. If they come to play on the defensive end, WSU will end up like Sam Baker in the locker room, wrapped in a towel and staring in envy.

Louisville -3 against Tennessee. The line tells you everything you need to know about this one. It's Anthony Michael Hall against Jake Ryan. One is the higher seed who peaked prior to everything getting started and has been looking sluggish throughout. The other has everything going for it at the moment and is trying to make big things happen. I like Louisville to wake up the next morning in a Rolls Royce in the parking lot with the prom queen.

Xavier +1 against W. Virginia. This is a little more interesting and you have to really look to find the right comparison, but eventually you realize that it is Bryce against Cliff, the two geek brothers who are Anthony Michael Hall's best friends. In the movie Cliff is the more confident of the two and seems to be the leader but in the long run you realize that it is Bryce, played by John Cusack, who had the staying power. W. Virginia is the sexier pick with Huggins, Joe Alexander and an upset win over Duke but I think Xavier, who has a better 6'9" inside outside player in Josh Duncan and tremendous offensive balance, will use its depth to its advantage and be standing at the end. Look for Xavier's stellar FT shooting to be the difference in the endgame.

UCLA -12.5 against W. Kentucky. This looks to be the least competitive game of the day, both in reality and spread-wise. I liken it to Joan Cusack vs. the water fountain. Joan Cusack eventually wins an ugly, comic battle and you feel a little guilty for laughing but you do anyway. UCLA advances.

the Beats go on

The bad beat has been hovering all around me the past couple of weeks, not in the lowercase sense (i.e. "Holy crap, that was a bad beat") but rather in a bigger sense. A Bad Beat way, jackpot included.

Two weeks ago Caesars in AC had just paid off a table to the tune of 27k when someone's quad 6s got snuffed by a straight flush. Then, last Friday, halfway through my basketball/poker session, the excited voices rose to a new decibel and then exploded. Turns out that quad 7s were way ahead of trip Qs (or Queens full of 7s actually) until the river when the final lady showed up to the party and netted the loser a cool 20k. The winner pocketed 10k and the other 8 players split about 10k.

These Beats always lead to a discussion among players and dealers on the appropriate amounts to kick back to the dealer. In the latter instance above, the kid threw back a grand to the dealer, even though his buddies were telling him to tip half that amount. Personally, I think it is up to the discretion of the player, each case is different, each dealer is different, the player's personal circumstances might dictate a little more or a little less. Everyone has a different opinion.

Either way, it's a dilemma that I hope to be able to write about in a practical sense at some point in the future.

Basketball and Poker

Went back to Atlantic City last Friday in order to play poker and watch basketball simultaneously. Caesar's was my poker room of choice, they have a lot of games going, the televisions are nicely placed in height and distance from the tables, the room is a little bit wilder than the average and you get the feeling that patient play might get handsomely rewarded.

Of course, that really didn't apply to me on Friday since all I really wanted to do was watch hoops. The poker was really a secondary measure to being surrounded by the college action. As a result, I chose a brand new 2-4 limit table and grabbed the 10 seat, where I could easily monitor three televisions as well as the cards being felted. My favorite game of the day was obviously Drake/W. Kentucky, it was one of the classic NCAA games that you'll see THE clip from for the next 20 years, and well-deservedly so. The kicker of that game is that the W. Kentucky guard who receives the inbounds pass and rushes the ball upcourt had more than 30 points and I along with everyone else was certain he was going to fire the final shot. Not so. He kicked it back for a 28 footer, the buzzer went off with the ball in midair, it found the nylon and W. Kentucky moved on. Just a great game.

What was not a great game was my 2-4 limit game. It was the exact opposite, in fact. NFHE was in full effect and in three hours I had some dream starting hands (aces, kings, queens twice) all lose as there was simply no way to get anyone off hands. And I don't mean draws, I mean hands, period. Like Jack/Deuce offsuit. Or 3,9. Soon enough, between the basketball and the best-hand-always-wins mentality of the table, I was down a decent chunk of money. But, luckily for me, there were more games on the tube. I settled in and sure enough, all that loose play sent my money right back to me over the next few hours during the late games. All in all, I think I ended up clearing a couple bucks and having a great day watching games, which was my intention for the day anyway.

Shaking off the Rust (in a mostly unsuccessful way)

Lessons learned. I'm good at remembering them but often learn them through trial and error rather than a more abstract approach, like watching someone else fail.

I’ve been getting in more play recently, after a few months of nothing and my inactivity has showed, as my play has been erratic and my decisions questionable. As always, I try to take away something from each game and making mistakes, in some cases huge blunders, always sears those scenarios into my head for future reference.

A few games and hands worthy of mention because they feature a couple of mistakes I made, one because I didn’t consider all the options and one because I did:

I played in a home game a few weeks back, 1-2 NL, $300 min buy in, rotating two rounds of NLHE with one round of Pot Limit Omaha. I tried to play tight/aggressive but in retrospect I played mostly tight, content to take down pots when ahead instead of milking them. Until the following boneheaded play, that is.

Hovering around even, I folded A,7 o/s in the face of a raise and a call and watched as the other three aces hit on the flop and turn. The pot was small as the two remaining players tread cautiously (pocket Js and suited connectors I believe) but my tightness cost me money and left me watching from the side. The very next hand, however, I pick up As9s and call a preflop raise. The flop comes 10,9,4 rainbow and I bet out and the preflop raiser comes over the top with another raise. Red flag, right? Right? Well, unfortunately my flagman had taken a coffee break. I call. The turn brought another nine, giving me a set and I make the worst possible play and move all in. In this instance I can only be called by hands that have me crushed. Everything else will fold under this bet and I will not make any additional money. Of course I am immediately called and he turns over pocket 10s for the top full house. Just an awful play on my part. I never thought about the bet, didn’t take the extra ten or fifteen seconds to think about the scenarios in which I could most make or most lose my money, just fired blindly. Attribute it to rust, poor decision-making or just stupidity, any way I slice it it is still an awful play. Lesson learned. Think.

The second hand that I want to recount was in Atlantic City. Got into a 1-2 NLHE game at the Tropicana with $300 and again was hovering around even but this time feeling pretty good about my play. I had lost a couple races against smaller all-in stacks where my hands and the pots dictated calls but then won it back by opening up a little and catching some big hands when I got in the mix with lower connectors and made good value bets. The hand that was the crucial one of the day unsurprisingly was when I looked down at pocket aces from the big blind. It was folded around to the old guy directly across from me who made it $22 to go and everyone folded to me. I popped it to $60 and he made a quick call, no hesitation. He was tight and I put him on a big pair. Flop comes J,7,2 rainbow and I led out for $50. He immediately goes all in and I go into the tank. I stare at him, which elicits some joking comments from the table but they give me the time to make my decision. I ask him if he has pocket jacks and he tells me that he will show me if I fold. I tell him that if I fold, I don’t want to see what he has. I’m 80% sure he has the jacks. He’s got me covered, it’s another (roughly) $190 to call into the pot, which is now at around $410 and ultimately, this is what did me in, that I figured I was getting better than 2 to 1 on my call and that I’ve got the edge on any hand he can probably be playing other than pocket jacks. And ultimately, I should have listened to my instincts because I called and he showed the pocket jacks and I didn’t catch my two outer. Again, lesson learned. Think, but trust instinct.

The one thing both of these cases had in common that I seem to have ignored is the strength of the hands my opponent was holding and telling me that they held, by the post-flop reraises. I got married to both hands and couldn't get away, wanting to believe that I was ahead and talking myself into it. But talking myself into it is not the same as actually being ahead, and I plunged ahead with my losing hands, instead of seeking a divorce, ended up busted.

(Well, only kind of, actually. As a postscript to both of these stories, I rebought and began grinding and ended up nullifying my losses by more than half. Not how I envisioned the two sessions but still better than a total washout.)