only took 3 weeks to be at the right place, right time, and no clouds. Rent-a-scope would be a good find.
Cheers!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
I understand now why I came this way?
only took 3 weeks to be at the right place, right time, and no clouds. Rent-a-scope would be a good find.
Cheers!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Short Kiwi Stop...
OK, so the 13 hour flight is done and, except for the TWO crying babies in business class it was just fine. This, however, resulted in Justin sleeping but the rest of us got probably 6 hours between 3 adults. meh.
Shower in the Koru club and now its off to Brisbane.
My email wont send here and I'm the dumb American who left his power adaptors in his checked luggage. idiot.
Shower in the Koru club and now its off to Brisbane.
My email wont send here and I'm the dumb American who left his power adaptors in his checked luggage. idiot.
Monday, December 10, 2007
G'Day Mate!
Well, off we go. The next 24 hours or so should be a blast.
We've got 90 min to LA, 5 hours in the glory that is LAX (including the Koru club), 13 hours to Auckland, 2 hours there, and then 3 1/2 more to Brisbane.
If only my QQ hadn't run into aces yesterday I might have splurged on the NYE Sydney boat ride. I still might but it would have been less painful.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Grand Sierra $300 NL
81 players today, 9 spots paid.
My first table was awful. Some real bad play. I was able to take a bunch of pots off of people who were too weak-tight to follow through. Some of these were well timed all-ins on the turn or river. This style of play does have high variance though, and I fluctuated within 1000 of the 3000 starting stack.
Eventually I get moved and get pretty short. Then I go on a heater, winning pot after pot until I'm up around 12000 or so. Dustin Fox gets moved two to my right. He's aggro and he makes a 3xBB raise from the button. SB folds. I have 99 and push. We have about the same chip stack. He tanks. He tanks a looong time, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna call. At least, he makes it look that way-- Dustin's a good enough player to just make me sweat it out if he raised with air, so its possible he had nothing here. Its also possible he laid down something as good as JJ or AQ. Anything better and he's calling I think. Eventually he folds.
Fox gets moved to the other table and we're down to 13 players. I've been very card dead, but surviving by stealing fairly liberally. Sometimes they call and I take the pot on the flop or turn. Whatever- these players don't seem to call unless they have it and since most of the time you don't have it, they are folding a lot.
When it gets folded to me in the SB with QQ I'm pretty stoked. I haven't had a hand this good all day. I raise the 1200 blind another 4000. The BB is gonna play- Great! He contemplates his move and he's gonna raise. That's fine with me cause I'll just put him all in. Well, he says "I can't fold, so I might as well go all-in" Bleh. OK. Well, that doesn't really change anything. I call. He flips over AA and its gg me.
My first table was awful. Some real bad play. I was able to take a bunch of pots off of people who were too weak-tight to follow through. Some of these were well timed all-ins on the turn or river. This style of play does have high variance though, and I fluctuated within 1000 of the 3000 starting stack.
Eventually I get moved and get pretty short. Then I go on a heater, winning pot after pot until I'm up around 12000 or so. Dustin Fox gets moved two to my right. He's aggro and he makes a 3xBB raise from the button. SB folds. I have 99 and push. We have about the same chip stack. He tanks. He tanks a looong time, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna call. At least, he makes it look that way-- Dustin's a good enough player to just make me sweat it out if he raised with air, so its possible he had nothing here. Its also possible he laid down something as good as JJ or AQ. Anything better and he's calling I think. Eventually he folds.
Fox gets moved to the other table and we're down to 13 players. I've been very card dead, but surviving by stealing fairly liberally. Sometimes they call and I take the pot on the flop or turn. Whatever- these players don't seem to call unless they have it and since most of the time you don't have it, they are folding a lot.
When it gets folded to me in the SB with QQ I'm pretty stoked. I haven't had a hand this good all day. I raise the 1200 blind another 4000. The BB is gonna play- Great! He contemplates his move and he's gonna raise. That's fine with me cause I'll just put him all in. Well, he says "I can't fold, so I might as well go all-in" Bleh. OK. Well, that doesn't really change anything. I call. He flips over AA and its gg me.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Our money used to be so cool...
I think I've been reading too many articles on the decline of the dollar. It makes me think about buying gold, which leads to a study of old gold coins, and somehow to how awesome old US coins are. When i am declared lord protector of the realm, I think I'll decree that Misters Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR and even George W. take a rest from our coinage and we'll have a contest to bring Lady Liberty back.
Collecting coins from pocket change must have been more interesting when the mint didn't make 1.2 Billion pennies in a year. Nowadays, its possible to find a pre-64 dime once in awhile, a war nickel, and wheat cents are still fairly common- but that's it. There aren't any key dates floating around in circulation, and there never will be.
If I were to collect again, it would by a type set of proofs. I wonder what that would cost...
Monday, December 3, 2007
PM Sunday $115
3 players left. Me and two ladies.
Button: 5 stacks of chips
SB (me) 4 stacks of chips
BB 1 stack of chips (which is about 4 BB's or so)
Blinds are 1000-2000
Prizes are roughly 1500-900-600
Button raises to 1 stack.
Hero pushes from SB with AJs
BB tanks and calls with 33.
Button barely tanks and calls with A6o.
I found this quite disgusting. Button had been "caught" raising light before, and while A6 certainly demands a raise here, she would have been much better off just open-shoving (although I would have called.) BB taking a stand here I guess is reasonable, but she's either flipping or way behind, and she's likely going to get crushed if button decides to call also. I just can't figure out why button would call here, knowing it is likely she has the third best hand and that the BB has a decent chance of busting. Wtf?
Button: 5 stacks of chips
SB (me) 4 stacks of chips
BB 1 stack of chips (which is about 4 BB's or so)
Blinds are 1000-2000
Prizes are roughly 1500-900-600
Button raises to 1 stack.
Hero pushes from SB with AJs
BB tanks and calls with 33.
Button barely tanks and calls with A6o.
I found this quite disgusting. Button had been "caught" raising light before, and while A6 certainly demands a raise here, she would have been much better off just open-shoving (although I would have called.) BB taking a stand here I guess is reasonable, but she's either flipping or way behind, and she's likely going to get crushed if button decides to call also. I just can't figure out why button would call here, knowing it is likely she has the third best hand and that the BB has a decent chance of busting. Wtf?
Saturday, December 1, 2007
The worst hand I've ever played...
Ugh. I wasn't going to post this, but I'm convinced no one reads this blog except me so who cares. It becomes like a live online diary I guess. Here goes:
WSOP Circuit, $5000 buy in at Lake Tahoe. 10K starting chips with 75 min levels. Deep stack poker.
My table seems pretty weak. Mike Kinney is on it and I know he's a good player. There is a looney tune in seat one who stacks off calling an all-in 4 bet with AK against AA. An obvious idiot. I won't make the same mistake. Reminds me of playing a hand at the Bellagio in a $3K buy in when TJ Cloutier raised, I called with AK, and then a woman re-raised, TJ re-raised and I got out of the way very very fast. AA vs KK then.
In the first level I get 99 and raise and get one caller. I don't recognize the guy. His name is Aaron. Short hair, sunglasses, ipod. Could be any internet kid. Anyway, the flop comes Ten-high and the board does nothing else and I lose the hand to his T8o. Meh. Later I have Q8s and lose to him on a board of 3-3-5-8-8 when he had limped with 63s. Hmmm.
So its the third level, 100-200. Aaron has played fairly aggro, but he's never 4-bet. A guy UTG limps (which he's done many times with who knows what) Aaron raises to 750. I look down at KK and make it 2250. Folded back to Aaron and he repops it another 3000.
Wow. Didn't expect that. OK, I started the hand with about 12K and he had me covered with 16K or so.
At this point my brain just turned off. The analogy I have made was some times in early residency doing surgery and coming into a situation that was new and not knowing how to proceed. Poker is easier though, because the default play when holding KK is to simply 5-bet push. I know this and I contemplate it. But I hesitate. Something isn't right. And the only thing that can't be right is that Aaron (who later I realized was Aaron Kanter, 4th place finisher in the 2005 Joe Hachem WSOP ($2M for 4th) also the same Kanter who knocked Greg Raymer out with QJ when Raymer held KK) well- the only thing he can hold that makes me hesitate is AA of course.
Crap. I don't want to bust out here running into AA. What else is in his range? KK, but that would be pretty unusual since I have KK. AK, again less likely. How bout lesser aces like AQ or AJ? If so, its a complete resteal and he would have to fold if I push. I suppose he could be holding other pairs like QQ, JJ, TT, or maybe worse? I dunno. All I know is that something is telling me he has AA and that I shouldn't push. My brain doesn't like it, but pushing doesn't feel right.
I could fold I suppose. I still have plenty of chips. But WTF?, did I come here to get pocket Kings and fold preflop? That seems worse than pushing for sure. Blech. I'm not folding.
OK, I can call. Yeah, thats it, I'll call. And then if there is no ace on the flop I'll ignore the feelings that led me not to push and I'll push on the flop. Brilliant! What a plan! (I'm an idiot)
I call.
Flop comes J-J-T, and Aaron checks.
Blech. I hate this flop. But what hands can he hold that hit this flop? JJ, TT, AJ, AT, JT. If he has JJ or TT then its probably gg for me. No way he 4-bet preflop with AJ, AT or JT. No way. OK, so I'm ahead of AK, AQ and QQ. Everything else he's holding I'm behind. I still think he has aces i guess. I check.
Turn: Another Ten.
He checks again.
What? Now he's checked twice. Would he do that with AA? No way. I'm lost now. I don't know what he has, but I cant see how he's hit this board unless he's made quads and that is always unlikely. Fuck it, I push.
He calls.
Ace-ten offsuit. ZOMG. ATo. Meh. Just for good measure the river brings an ace. He smirks and comments that if I would have bet the flop he would have gone away.
*********************
So, this was just a horribly played hand on so many levels. Just awful. A victim of the great overthink, next time I just push and take my beat from AA if that is the case.
WSOP Circuit, $5000 buy in at Lake Tahoe. 10K starting chips with 75 min levels. Deep stack poker.
My table seems pretty weak. Mike Kinney is on it and I know he's a good player. There is a looney tune in seat one who stacks off calling an all-in 4 bet with AK against AA. An obvious idiot. I won't make the same mistake. Reminds me of playing a hand at the Bellagio in a $3K buy in when TJ Cloutier raised, I called with AK, and then a woman re-raised, TJ re-raised and I got out of the way very very fast. AA vs KK then.
In the first level I get 99 and raise and get one caller. I don't recognize the guy. His name is Aaron. Short hair, sunglasses, ipod. Could be any internet kid. Anyway, the flop comes Ten-high and the board does nothing else and I lose the hand to his T8o. Meh. Later I have Q8s and lose to him on a board of 3-3-5-8-8 when he had limped with 63s. Hmmm.
So its the third level, 100-200. Aaron has played fairly aggro, but he's never 4-bet. A guy UTG limps (which he's done many times with who knows what) Aaron raises to 750. I look down at KK and make it 2250. Folded back to Aaron and he repops it another 3000.
Wow. Didn't expect that. OK, I started the hand with about 12K and he had me covered with 16K or so.
At this point my brain just turned off. The analogy I have made was some times in early residency doing surgery and coming into a situation that was new and not knowing how to proceed. Poker is easier though, because the default play when holding KK is to simply 5-bet push. I know this and I contemplate it. But I hesitate. Something isn't right. And the only thing that can't be right is that Aaron (who later I realized was Aaron Kanter, 4th place finisher in the 2005 Joe Hachem WSOP ($2M for 4th) also the same Kanter who knocked Greg Raymer out with QJ when Raymer held KK) well- the only thing he can hold that makes me hesitate is AA of course.
Crap. I don't want to bust out here running into AA. What else is in his range? KK, but that would be pretty unusual since I have KK. AK, again less likely. How bout lesser aces like AQ or AJ? If so, its a complete resteal and he would have to fold if I push. I suppose he could be holding other pairs like QQ, JJ, TT, or maybe worse? I dunno. All I know is that something is telling me he has AA and that I shouldn't push. My brain doesn't like it, but pushing doesn't feel right.
I could fold I suppose. I still have plenty of chips. But WTF?, did I come here to get pocket Kings and fold preflop? That seems worse than pushing for sure. Blech. I'm not folding.
OK, I can call. Yeah, thats it, I'll call. And then if there is no ace on the flop I'll ignore the feelings that led me not to push and I'll push on the flop. Brilliant! What a plan! (I'm an idiot)
I call.
Flop comes J-J-T, and Aaron checks.
Blech. I hate this flop. But what hands can he hold that hit this flop? JJ, TT, AJ, AT, JT. If he has JJ or TT then its probably gg for me. No way he 4-bet preflop with AJ, AT or JT. No way. OK, so I'm ahead of AK, AQ and QQ. Everything else he's holding I'm behind. I still think he has aces i guess. I check.
Turn: Another Ten.
He checks again.
What? Now he's checked twice. Would he do that with AA? No way. I'm lost now. I don't know what he has, but I cant see how he's hit this board unless he's made quads and that is always unlikely. Fuck it, I push.
He calls.
Ace-ten offsuit. ZOMG. ATo. Meh. Just for good measure the river brings an ace. He smirks and comments that if I would have bet the flop he would have gone away.
*********************
So, this was just a horribly played hand on so many levels. Just awful. A victim of the great overthink, next time I just push and take my beat from AA if that is the case.
FTP 6-handed 8 PM PST
This is the tourney I'm most likely to be in each week. It starts at 8 PM and I found out a couple weeks ago that it ends around 130 AM. Yes, I was the last one standing and won $7200 or so. Sweet. Managed to get all-in heads up with middle pair and a str8 draw against top pair and the same draw. I make trips on the river to win the tourney. Lol.
Chronic Pain?
I have some new respect for people who live in pain. I've had this nagging low back thing for over a year now. 18 mos actually.
It started when I carried a sleeping Justin what seemed like miles from a July 4th fireworks show at Zephyr cove. Then I did some stupid twisting motion in the gym and made it worse. Getting myself into impossible positions with a weight on my head at work everyday doesn't help either.
I saw a spine surgeon a year ago who told me I have "facet syndrome" and that I should consider an intra-facet joint injection. I have had several "trigger point" shots which make it feel perfect for about 2 hours till the local anesthetic wears off, then its kinda nasty again.
I chickened out, and have been trying to manage it "conservatively." This means, advil, heat, massage, and thinking about doing Pilates three times a week. I need to stop thinking about it and doing it. Its also quite interesting how narcotics help short term, but do little for the long term.
We have a dinner tonight and it would be fun to dance, but seems pretty unlikely. Snowboarding out of the question.
OK, it will probably get better again-- it always seems to-- but those of us who have crap like this every day of their lives and get through it are awesome.
It started when I carried a sleeping Justin what seemed like miles from a July 4th fireworks show at Zephyr cove. Then I did some stupid twisting motion in the gym and made it worse. Getting myself into impossible positions with a weight on my head at work everyday doesn't help either.
I saw a spine surgeon a year ago who told me I have "facet syndrome" and that I should consider an intra-facet joint injection. I have had several "trigger point" shots which make it feel perfect for about 2 hours till the local anesthetic wears off, then its kinda nasty again.
I chickened out, and have been trying to manage it "conservatively." This means, advil, heat, massage, and thinking about doing Pilates three times a week. I need to stop thinking about it and doing it. Its also quite interesting how narcotics help short term, but do little for the long term.
We have a dinner tonight and it would be fun to dance, but seems pretty unlikely. Snowboarding out of the question.
OK, it will probably get better again-- it always seems to-- but those of us who have crap like this every day of their lives and get through it are awesome.
Cal is pretty awful
Looking back, I made some predictions about going to the Rose Bowl and how I would have to consider flying home from Sydney to catch the game.
What a joke.
There is a blog out there called "Rose Bowl before I die." Someone commented that the owner should change the name of the blog to "Rose Bowl before the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the earth."
Maybe, just maybe, Cal will manage to beat the 'furd today and keep the cherished axe. Fwiw.
What a joke.
There is a blog out there called "Rose Bowl before I die." Someone commented that the owner should change the name of the blog to "Rose Bowl before the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the earth."
Maybe, just maybe, Cal will manage to beat the 'furd today and keep the cherished axe. Fwiw.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Peppermill $1000 main event
119 players, 10,000 starting chips, 40 min levels, blinds started at 25-50. Decent structure. Paying 13 spots, first placde $41K
I have Susie Issacs at my table in the 2 seat. Another woman in the 8, a aggro bluffer (as i will see) named Fred in the 1, and two weak players in the 3 and 5. I'm in the 9.
I get 4c5c second hand, check my BB to a few limpers and then flop a flush with the 2c-3c-Qc. I bet out and everyone folds. Meh.
Next hand I have red KK in the SB. Player in seat 7 limps. I decide to get tricky and complete and the BB checks. Flop comes 3 babies and I bet half the pot. 1 seat calls. Turn an ugly Ace and I check-fold. Meh again.
I'm playing more hands than I planned on, but no junk, and I'm chipping up a bit. Fred likes to make big bets on the river, and he's done so with nothing more than ace high at least once (another player called him with 4th pair). Eventually I get JJ UTG and raise the 100-200 blinds to 625. Fred calls. Flop comes Q-3-7 rainbow and I want to check raise but he checks behind. Turn is a duece and I bet 1200. He calls. River is an offsuit 9. I bet 2000. He immediately makes it 6000. Wow. Didn't see that coming. Well, its a pretty big bet, and if I call and lose I'm down to about 3-4000 chips. Then, after only tanking a short time he calls a clock on me. I dunno if he expected me to fold at that point but it must have pushed me to call. He has A7 for no pair and I win a big pot and have about 20K in chips now.
I end up playing some pots I shouldn't-- I get suited connectors a bit and actually flop draws but have to pay to see them. At one point I have 74o in the BB and see a free flop of 5-6-T. Hmm. It costs me a bet to see the turn which is another 5. There is also a spade draw out. The river brings the 3s, completing a flush draw, giving me a straight, and of course the board is paired. I bet out 1500 and woman #2 in the 8 seat pushes. Meh meh meh. I can't call, although it occured to me she might have just had trip fives.
At the 150-300/25 level this hand comes up:
I am in the BB with 9To. Two people limp and 3 to the flop of 9c-Tc-2d Nice. I bet out 600. First limper raises to 1800. Second limper calls 1800. Now, there is a possibility that I am behind to a set of deuces here, but that is about it. The other hands out there are like AT, a flush draw, and maybe JQ, but I doubt it. I think I'm good and I raise another 3000, leaving me about 10,000 behind. First limper folds, but the next guy calls. Hmmm.. Turn is an offsuit Jack. I don't really like this card, but unless he has exactly 78 or 22, I'm still good. I can't see that he called my 3-bet on the flop with JT. The pot has over 10K in it so my options are pretty limited. I'm not going to fold to his bet, so I just push. I'm pretty sure this is correct. He tanks. Damn. I really want to just take this down now-- its a big pot. He calls and flips over J9o. Ugh. The horror. I'm drawing pretty thin and he busts me when another 9 hits the river, filling us both up.
Now, how does this guy call me on the flop with J9? I don't really understand what just happened. I think I played it right and the guy was just a donkey. He had middle pair, no draw and I was showing lots of strength.
I have Susie Issacs at my table in the 2 seat. Another woman in the 8, a aggro bluffer (as i will see) named Fred in the 1, and two weak players in the 3 and 5. I'm in the 9.
I get 4c5c second hand, check my BB to a few limpers and then flop a flush with the 2c-3c-Qc. I bet out and everyone folds. Meh.
Next hand I have red KK in the SB. Player in seat 7 limps. I decide to get tricky and complete and the BB checks. Flop comes 3 babies and I bet half the pot. 1 seat calls. Turn an ugly Ace and I check-fold. Meh again.
I'm playing more hands than I planned on, but no junk, and I'm chipping up a bit. Fred likes to make big bets on the river, and he's done so with nothing more than ace high at least once (another player called him with 4th pair). Eventually I get JJ UTG and raise the 100-200 blinds to 625. Fred calls. Flop comes Q-3-7 rainbow and I want to check raise but he checks behind. Turn is a duece and I bet 1200. He calls. River is an offsuit 9. I bet 2000. He immediately makes it 6000. Wow. Didn't see that coming. Well, its a pretty big bet, and if I call and lose I'm down to about 3-4000 chips. Then, after only tanking a short time he calls a clock on me. I dunno if he expected me to fold at that point but it must have pushed me to call. He has A7 for no pair and I win a big pot and have about 20K in chips now.
I end up playing some pots I shouldn't-- I get suited connectors a bit and actually flop draws but have to pay to see them. At one point I have 74o in the BB and see a free flop of 5-6-T. Hmm. It costs me a bet to see the turn which is another 5. There is also a spade draw out. The river brings the 3s, completing a flush draw, giving me a straight, and of course the board is paired. I bet out 1500 and woman #2 in the 8 seat pushes. Meh meh meh. I can't call, although it occured to me she might have just had trip fives.
At the 150-300/25 level this hand comes up:
I am in the BB with 9To. Two people limp and 3 to the flop of 9c-Tc-2d Nice. I bet out 600. First limper raises to 1800. Second limper calls 1800. Now, there is a possibility that I am behind to a set of deuces here, but that is about it. The other hands out there are like AT, a flush draw, and maybe JQ, but I doubt it. I think I'm good and I raise another 3000, leaving me about 10,000 behind. First limper folds, but the next guy calls. Hmmm.. Turn is an offsuit Jack. I don't really like this card, but unless he has exactly 78 or 22, I'm still good. I can't see that he called my 3-bet on the flop with JT. The pot has over 10K in it so my options are pretty limited. I'm not going to fold to his bet, so I just push. I'm pretty sure this is correct. He tanks. Damn. I really want to just take this down now-- its a big pot. He calls and flips over J9o. Ugh. The horror. I'm drawing pretty thin and he busts me when another 9 hits the river, filling us both up.
Now, how does this guy call me on the flop with J9? I don't really understand what just happened. I think I played it right and the guy was just a donkey. He had middle pair, no draw and I was showing lots of strength.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
You win, Julia.
I made a bet with my nine year old cousin. Loser wears the other team's hat. Sigh.
Well, I lived my dream of seeing Cal play in the rose--- no, I saw Cal play AT the Rose Bowl, not in it, and with 2 brutal back to back losses now, its not going to happen this year. Again. I know what Cubs fans feel like.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
New Truck decisions....
I'm debating a new Silverado 2500 Duramax vs the new Toyota Tundra. Looks like Toyota uses Chevy's to tow their rigs... hmm.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Hee Haw. $2500 Grand Sierra Main Event
Only 85 people showed up to play this one. 1 hour levels, 5000 chips. This is the kind of tournament that I would like to play on at least a monthly basis. Enough chips and time for some play, and a buy-in that puts some decent players in the game. This is why Vegas is great-- you can play a $1060 at the Bellagio twice a week.
Anyway, I chip down a bit and then an old guy raises to 225 in EP. I call with 22. This guy "EP" who we have been calling "Eskimo" (although i think he's hispanic) flat calls also. Nice. Flop is 7-3-2 with two hearts and I've flopped a set. Yee-haw. I don't figure to win much though-- the flop I want is A-Q-2 or the like. Old guy leads out for 500, I make it 1500 and Eskimo repops it to 3000 or so. Wow. Old guy folds. Well, it is certainly possible that he has 33 or 77 and I'm toast, but an overpair or a flush draw is much more likely. I push. He tanks. Good. It means for sure he doesn't have 77, and maybe he has 33. Eventually he calls and shows JJ. He misses and I double up.
I really don't do much after that. I win my share of pots pre-flop, and don't play any big pots. I get moved to Champie Douglas' table. At 100-200 a guy makes a min raise to 400 UTG+1. Folded to me in the BB and I have AKo. I make it 1400. He turbo 4-bets me another 2000. He has me covered. Yuck. I tank a bit and eventually muck. My ace flips face up. He tells me later he had KK. Good laydown.
I make a steal raise with 95o and get called. Flop comes Q-5-3 and I check-call a 1/2 pot bet. Meh. What am I doing in this hand? There are 2 hearts out there and if another one comes I'm taking the pot with my fake flush. Turn is another 3. I check, player bets 2000 and I'm done with the hand and my stack is a bit shorter. Stupid.
I get AA and win the blinds. Meh.
A fairly aggro player raises to 625 and I repop him to 2000 from the BB with KQo. He folds. Someone notes that "that move has been suiting you well all day." Hmmm. I don't remember reraising preflop much. Besides the AA, the biggest pocket pair I had was 77. I have been fairly aggressive post-flop though, letting people take stabs at pots and then coming over the top. Clearly the next time I do this I will have a big hand...
But before anything else happens they move me to a much more laggy table. This really sucks, as I had pretty good reads on the players and was chipping up. I raise the first couple pots pre-flop and take them down. We go to 200-400/50. A player goes all in for abotu 4200. I have around 9000 and look down at 66 in LP. I'm thinking about calling, but before I can act, the big blind announces "call." Well, that makes my decision for me. I muck, and my cards hit the dealer and turn up. The raiser has AKdd and the caller 99. Flop comes 9-6-x, two diamonds. Wow. Good thing I mucked, because if I came along I'm pretty sure the pocket nines weren't folding. Next card is another diamond and the AK doubles up. Dodged that one.
A little later and I'm down to 7500 or so. I raise in LP with K9ss. BB calls. Flop comes Q-Q-J, two diamonds. Check-check. Turn is 9d. BB checks. We have about the same stack size, (he covers me slightly) and any bet one of us makes pretty much committs us to the pot. I dunno why, but I thought he had nothing and if I bet I win. Betting half my stack looked awkward (at least to me) so I just pushed. He instacalls with A5dd. Right into the nut flush i push! Idiot. I think I'm drawing dead, but actually a Queen would save me. And then BOOM- a queen comes on the riv-------------------------no. not really. nothing comes on the river and I'm out and I kick and hee haw my way out of there. Yuck. What a moronic play. Just awful.
Anyway, I chip down a bit and then an old guy raises to 225 in EP. I call with 22. This guy "EP" who we have been calling "Eskimo" (although i think he's hispanic) flat calls also. Nice. Flop is 7-3-2 with two hearts and I've flopped a set. Yee-haw. I don't figure to win much though-- the flop I want is A-Q-2 or the like. Old guy leads out for 500, I make it 1500 and Eskimo repops it to 3000 or so. Wow. Old guy folds. Well, it is certainly possible that he has 33 or 77 and I'm toast, but an overpair or a flush draw is much more likely. I push. He tanks. Good. It means for sure he doesn't have 77, and maybe he has 33. Eventually he calls and shows JJ. He misses and I double up.
I really don't do much after that. I win my share of pots pre-flop, and don't play any big pots. I get moved to Champie Douglas' table. At 100-200 a guy makes a min raise to 400 UTG+1. Folded to me in the BB and I have AKo. I make it 1400. He turbo 4-bets me another 2000. He has me covered. Yuck. I tank a bit and eventually muck. My ace flips face up. He tells me later he had KK. Good laydown.
I make a steal raise with 95o and get called. Flop comes Q-5-3 and I check-call a 1/2 pot bet. Meh. What am I doing in this hand? There are 2 hearts out there and if another one comes I'm taking the pot with my fake flush. Turn is another 3. I check, player bets 2000 and I'm done with the hand and my stack is a bit shorter. Stupid.
I get AA and win the blinds. Meh.
A fairly aggro player raises to 625 and I repop him to 2000 from the BB with KQo. He folds. Someone notes that "that move has been suiting you well all day." Hmmm. I don't remember reraising preflop much. Besides the AA, the biggest pocket pair I had was 77. I have been fairly aggressive post-flop though, letting people take stabs at pots and then coming over the top. Clearly the next time I do this I will have a big hand...
But before anything else happens they move me to a much more laggy table. This really sucks, as I had pretty good reads on the players and was chipping up. I raise the first couple pots pre-flop and take them down. We go to 200-400/50. A player goes all in for abotu 4200. I have around 9000 and look down at 66 in LP. I'm thinking about calling, but before I can act, the big blind announces "call." Well, that makes my decision for me. I muck, and my cards hit the dealer and turn up. The raiser has AKdd and the caller 99. Flop comes 9-6-x, two diamonds. Wow. Good thing I mucked, because if I came along I'm pretty sure the pocket nines weren't folding. Next card is another diamond and the AK doubles up. Dodged that one.
A little later and I'm down to 7500 or so. I raise in LP with K9ss. BB calls. Flop comes Q-Q-J, two diamonds. Check-check. Turn is 9d. BB checks. We have about the same stack size, (he covers me slightly) and any bet one of us makes pretty much committs us to the pot. I dunno why, but I thought he had nothing and if I bet I win. Betting half my stack looked awkward (at least to me) so I just pushed. He instacalls with A5dd. Right into the nut flush i push! Idiot. I think I'm drawing dead, but actually a Queen would save me. And then BOOM- a queen comes on the riv-------------------------no. not really. nothing comes on the river and I'm out and I kick and hee haw my way out of there. Yuck. What a moronic play. Just awful.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Winner!
Well, I navigated the minefield that is a $125 buy in tournament at the Grand Sierra Pot of Gold. 296 entries. First place. I was playing very well. Didn't have that many big hands, but did a lot of chipping up with well-timed raises and staying out of troubling spots. What I found in this tourney was that hand reading and people reading seemed very easy. Part of this is certainly due to the poor quality of the field. Its a lot easier to read players in a $125 MTT versus one where the buy in is $5K or so.
One key hand was the first hand of the final table. I came in as the chip leader I think, and we were 10 handed for the first time. To my left was Scott Gould, a hyper-aggressive player who I've played with before, and fortunately had the opportunity to play with for several hours at this event. Scott raises just about every pot he plays, an effective style that created a big stack. It also puts him at risk of getting trapped so this was the plan. I also thought that Scott was the most dangerous player at the final table, so when he smooth-called my standard raise I was a bit worried. I held KQ off-suit and the flop came K-8-7 with two spades. I made a continuation bet of about 2/3 of the pot and Scott pushes all in. Its a substantial bet, and I'm really not sure if he was trying to make me go away or he was betting for value. If it was the first cause, he miscalculated as my chip stack was large enough to be able to lose the hand and still be at the average. If he had a set its a strange bet. More likely he has a spade draw. I called him and he flipped over pocket nines, drawing to two cards. He missed and I had a very nice chip lead.
We then lost several more players and got down to 5. I made a couple attempts to knock out short stacks and also found situations where I would raise pre-flop, face an all-in from a short stack, and then have to call based on obvious pot odds, despite knowing that my AT or the like was a dog. This went on for awhile and about 2:30 am I asked for a chip count. I had 165K which was 2% better than the second place player. The prize pool was the following:
1st $10,652 + $2600 entry into the main event on Saturday
2nd $ 5859
3rd $ 2996
4th $ 2330
5th $ 1997
Using their chip count calculator, they had me getting about $5800 and second place getting $5100 or so. Everyone else got over $3000. The main event seat had real value to me as I was planning on buying in anyway. It also took the tourney director about 20 minutes to figure this out and they wouldn't stop the clock. They also would not let us do a chop and then play on for the entry or the trophy. This was also strange because they had done so in past tourneys. Finally, it seems that the GSR was implenting new IRS rules about tourney wins greater than $5000 having withholding and reporting. That made it simple for me. I offered to take $4999 in cash plus the entry. The second chip stack would take the $700 or so I was giving up, and everyone else got what was calculated. One guy objected, trying to milk out another couple hundred bucks. Whatever. I paid him a bit just to get the deal done and that was that. Its a nice trophy and I hope to add to it by taking down the bigger tourney this weekend.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
A Night at the Oaks
Staying in Emeryville overnight to catch Cal-Arizona tomorrow. After trolling around Berkeley, my young friends and I hit the Oaks card room. The 3 of them have never played in a casino. They had a $1-$2 game which was perfect for them. None of them won, but they got all the first time jitters out of the way and had fun. I sat down at a $15-$30 game briefly and won $125 in the two orbits before it broke. Sat in a $6-$12 game briefly waiting for the $30-$60. My name is called and I buy in for $1000.
I don't think I've every played $30-$60 before. Whatever. Its limit poker and the amounts don't really matter at all- its just the number of bets. I post $15 behind the button and get 56ss. I flop a flush draw, raise the flop for a free card, and hit on the river. This game is easy.
I claw my way up about $500. Its a very comfortable table. Rare 3-bets. Very ABC for the most part. Asian woman at the other end of the table raises my BB and I make a very soft call with A2. Flop 8-4-2 and I check-raise her. She 3 bets me. Hmmm. I think she's FOS and call. She check-calls both the turn and river and her AK is no good. She tilts a bit.
A few hands later she rasies pre-flop again and I call from the SB with A8hh. I flop the nut flush Q-T-7. I bet out, call, call and then she raises. I call. It gets raised again. She raises again. wow. I've got the nuts. I actually lose track of the betting for a moment and it looks silly when I try to reraise and they tell me its already capped. Meh. The turn bricks. I bet, get a caller and then she raises again. wow. I look again to make sure there is no straight flush out there. There isn't . I have the nuts. I reraise. This is the biggest pot of the night. Both players call. The river brings a miserable ten, pairing the board. Oh well, the poker gods didn't shine on me there. Check-check and then she bets of course. I wonder whether a fold is correct, but again, its limit hold em, the pot is ginormous, and, well, I call. She has QQ for the flopped set and winning boat. Meh. I believe we both played the hand correctly, as she had odds to call and I had value to bet/raise the whole way.
Crawled back a bit after this to end the night +$500 or so, but losing a $1200+ pot in the middle was not in the plan.
I don't think I've every played $30-$60 before. Whatever. Its limit poker and the amounts don't really matter at all- its just the number of bets. I post $15 behind the button and get 56ss. I flop a flush draw, raise the flop for a free card, and hit on the river. This game is easy.
I claw my way up about $500. Its a very comfortable table. Rare 3-bets. Very ABC for the most part. Asian woman at the other end of the table raises my BB and I make a very soft call with A2. Flop 8-4-2 and I check-raise her. She 3 bets me. Hmmm. I think she's FOS and call. She check-calls both the turn and river and her AK is no good. She tilts a bit.
A few hands later she rasies pre-flop again and I call from the SB with A8hh. I flop the nut flush Q-T-7. I bet out, call, call and then she raises. I call. It gets raised again. She raises again. wow. I've got the nuts. I actually lose track of the betting for a moment and it looks silly when I try to reraise and they tell me its already capped. Meh. The turn bricks. I bet, get a caller and then she raises again. wow. I look again to make sure there is no straight flush out there. There isn't . I have the nuts. I reraise. This is the biggest pot of the night. Both players call. The river brings a miserable ten, pairing the board. Oh well, the poker gods didn't shine on me there. Check-check and then she bets of course. I wonder whether a fold is correct, but again, its limit hold em, the pot is ginormous, and, well, I call. She has QQ for the flopped set and winning boat. Meh. I believe we both played the hand correctly, as she had odds to call and I had value to bet/raise the whole way.
Crawled back a bit after this to end the night +$500 or so, but losing a $1200+ pot in the middle was not in the plan.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Just for Kids at Barnes and Noble!!!!
Justin was looking for spiderman books. He found these scarier ones instead...
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The wait is over!
Five years ago I put my name on the Sine Qua Non waiting list. Twice a year they have sent me this hilarious postcards apologizing for not being able to sell me any wine. Today, the wait is over! I moved from the waitlist to the real list and will get a case of this stuff next spring!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Why CAL will go to the Rose Bowl in 2008.
The Bears haven't been to Pasadena since 1959. Not in my lifetime. They've been very close in several of the past years, losing a BCS vote to Texas two years ago. (When I had tickets in hand)
So I've planned to go should they ever get there, shave my head, and paint it blue and gold.
Since we'll be in Australia over New Year this year, they will certainly win the Pac-10. Hopefully I can find some yank bar in sydney that is open at god knows what hour to watch....
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Fire on the Mountain
editied because the photo I was borrowing is gone!
So the lot where we were going to build our house is just to the left of the big house in the bottom right corner of the photo. They are calling this the "Hawken Fire" since it started on Hawken Road. This could just as well happen on Kinney Lane, but having the Govenor as a next door neighbor should have its benefits in such a catastrophe....
So the lot where we were going to build our house is just to the left of the big house in the bottom right corner of the photo. They are calling this the "Hawken Fire" since it started on Hawken Road. This could just as well happen on Kinney Lane, but having the Govenor as a next door neighbor should have its benefits in such a catastrophe....
Sunday, July 1, 2007
The icing on the Cake
Meh.
This was a very fun yet very unlucky Vegas trip. I wanted to activate my credit line at Bellagio so I played $25 craps for about 25 min. WTF??!!?!?! I played a -EV pit game that I know I can't beat. Insane. Funny thing is, its the first time I won ANYTHING the entire trip. I was ahead $25 when I quit. Plus I must have earned at least $1.75 in comps. Sweet.
Then I played a sattelite to the nightly $1080 at the Bellagio. I crushed it. Just dominated it. Caught cards, made the right calls, the right laydowns. It was sick.
Then I chip down drasticaly from 5K to 3200 in the event and at 100-200 I decide I need chips and pull a stop and go. I have A2s in the BB and a guy who was fairly liberal with his raises makes it 600 UTG+1. Folded to me and I call. Flop is 6-3-2, bottom pair with a backdoor flush draw. Good enough. I push. He taaaaaaaaannnnnnnnkkkkkksssssss. In fact, I'm SURE I have him and in fact want him to call so I double up. He gathers his courage, throws in his chips and shows me King-Three soooooted. Nice UTG raise sir. His pair of 3's are good and its gg, me.
So I decide that I haven't had enough abuse yet and play some 5-10 cash game. This goes badly at first, but I make a good comeback, making sick river bets and raises with air and not getting looked up. Clearly this is satisfying. So satisfying that fate has it the table will be turned: The last hand I play on this trip goes like this:
I have KK in MP and make it 50 after one limper. BB calls. Limper folds. Flop is Q-9-6 rainbow. BB checks, I bet $130 and he shoves for another $400. WTF? I call. He laughs and flips over A8o for nothing. Until the Ace hits the turn. "What you have, pocket Kings???" Yeah donkey, I have fucking pocket Kings and its 330 am and I don't have the energy and can't summon the anti-tilt to stay here and grind my chips back from you. Good game.
This was a very fun yet very unlucky Vegas trip. I wanted to activate my credit line at Bellagio so I played $25 craps for about 25 min. WTF??!!?!?! I played a -EV pit game that I know I can't beat. Insane. Funny thing is, its the first time I won ANYTHING the entire trip. I was ahead $25 when I quit. Plus I must have earned at least $1.75 in comps. Sweet.
Then I played a sattelite to the nightly $1080 at the Bellagio. I crushed it. Just dominated it. Caught cards, made the right calls, the right laydowns. It was sick.
Then I chip down drasticaly from 5K to 3200 in the event and at 100-200 I decide I need chips and pull a stop and go. I have A2s in the BB and a guy who was fairly liberal with his raises makes it 600 UTG+1. Folded to me and I call. Flop is 6-3-2, bottom pair with a backdoor flush draw. Good enough. I push. He taaaaaaaaannnnnnnnkkkkkksssssss. In fact, I'm SURE I have him and in fact want him to call so I double up. He gathers his courage, throws in his chips and shows me King-Three soooooted. Nice UTG raise sir. His pair of 3's are good and its gg, me.
So I decide that I haven't had enough abuse yet and play some 5-10 cash game. This goes badly at first, but I make a good comeback, making sick river bets and raises with air and not getting looked up. Clearly this is satisfying. So satisfying that fate has it the table will be turned: The last hand I play on this trip goes like this:
I have KK in MP and make it 50 after one limper. BB calls. Limper folds. Flop is Q-9-6 rainbow. BB checks, I bet $130 and he shoves for another $400. WTF? I call. He laughs and flips over A8o for nothing. Until the Ace hits the turn. "What you have, pocket Kings???" Yeah donkey, I have fucking pocket Kings and its 330 am and I don't have the energy and can't summon the anti-tilt to stay here and grind my chips back from you. Good game.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Donkey sighting
So I'm playing the $550 at the Venetian today. My table is so nitty tight. I'm splashing around good, raising preflop, raising C-bets, floating flop bets where i hit bottom pair-- stuff like that. Its working pretty well, although my variance is high. We are at 100-200/25, and this friendly guy in the 1 seat "Chris" from Oklahoma, is lamenting his lack of cards. He seems to be dealt Q2 a lot I guess and he cant play Q2. Well, it gets folded to him on the button and he makes it 800. I joke with him: "So this is the hand, huh?" "Even a blind chicken finds a corn kernel from time to time" I have KK and make it 3000. BB folds and he instacalls. Hmmm. Flop comes Q-T-4 and he throws his 6200 chips in the pot and says "all-in"
Thing is, its MY turn. The dealer shoves his chips back to him. Now what? I don't really like the flop, because QQ and TT are in his range, so I'm only beating JJ, AQ and KQ (??) But if he had a set, would he really be so eager to toss his chips all in like that? I mean, I showed aggression pre-flop, and I'm likely to bet out and he could repop me with a set. I think AA is a big possibility also. Stack sizes being what they are, if I bet 3000 I will call his push. If I check, he will push, and I will call his push.
I push. He calls. He tables AQ. He sucksout with a Q on the turn. I actually got pissed because I asked him what the hell he could have put me on when I put my chips in knowing he was going to call. WHAT DID HE PUT ME ON? JJ ???? He said he thought we would have a chopped pot.... Reality is, he didn't put me on anything. He just saw top pair, top kicker and was throwin all his chips in, doubling up or going back to Oklahoma. Yippie Ki Yay.
Thing is, its MY turn. The dealer shoves his chips back to him. Now what? I don't really like the flop, because QQ and TT are in his range, so I'm only beating JJ, AQ and KQ (??) But if he had a set, would he really be so eager to toss his chips all in like that? I mean, I showed aggression pre-flop, and I'm likely to bet out and he could repop me with a set. I think AA is a big possibility also. Stack sizes being what they are, if I bet 3000 I will call his push. If I check, he will push, and I will call his push.
I push. He calls. He tables AQ. He sucksout with a Q on the turn. I actually got pissed because I asked him what the hell he could have put me on when I put my chips in knowing he was going to call. WHAT DID HE PUT ME ON? JJ ???? He said he thought we would have a chopped pot.... Reality is, he didn't put me on anything. He just saw top pair, top kicker and was throwin all his chips in, doubling up or going back to Oklahoma. Yippie Ki Yay.
Friday, June 29, 2007
WSOP $2K NLHE
WSOP $2K NLHE
About 2100 entries. On the 4th hand or so I raise with J8dd and this caveman looking kid calls. Flop comes 7d-9h-5c. Check-check. Turn is Td, giving me the str8 with a flush and str8flush redraw. Nice. He bets out 600 and I make it 1200. He calls. Hmmm. River is Th. He bets 1200. You only start with 4000, so if I raise here we are both basically going to be all-in. I hate the river. Thing is, if I had played with this guy for 30 min more I would have push-raised the river instantly. Without this info I just call and he mucks. Most nitty players have more than top pair there-- he must have had AT, and he likely would have called my push. Oh well. Unfortunately, he becomes the most aggro player at the table and I find that he's won a couple big tourneys at the Bellagio. He's two to my left and floats most of my in position raises which sucks.
I'm up and down a bit. I pick up QQ at 50-100 and there is one limper and i make it 400 and he calls. Flop comes three little and i bet 1000 after he checks which he calls leaving himself only 1200 more(???) Another little card comes and he check-folds to my push. wtf? Must have had AK i guess.
I get AK UTG and raise to 400. One caller and then this patent lawyer makes it 1400. Yuck. I only have about 6000 chips and this is a pretty big raise. I think about pushing, and then I think about all the time I've pushed AK into AA and I just call. Flop misses and I check-fold a quarter of my stack. This hand sucks and I need a better line here. I don't know. Fold PF sucks. Reraise PF kinda sucks. Making the C-bet kinda sucks.
My stack drifts down. Most PF raises are being called or reraised. I catch JTo in EP and raise. Folded to the BB who looks like he's going to muck but then decides to reraise from 600 to 1800. He has me covered as I only have another 2800 or so. I'm not sure what I picked up on him but I instapush and he tanks and mucks. This was my best played hand of the day. There was one other opportunity to make a big raise on a C-bet which was successful. I'm pretty sure that I'm way behind in this area compared to the internet kids out there, but its a part of my game I need to develop more.
Caveman makes an EP raise (which means nothing) and I float him from the BB with A7o. Flop comes A-x-x and I bet 600. He calls. Turn is X, I bet another 600 (wtf i did this i dunno- its idiotic) He calls. River is another baby and we check it down and his A9 is good. Meh.
Right before we get moved I get JJ UTG and raise to 600. Caveman calls. Flop A-2-2. Check-check. Turn 7. I fire 1000 which he calls. River blank. I have about 3500 left. He's made some sick calls, and i think he calls with any ace here, esp with how I've played the hand. He could have a deuce also. I check. Meh. I want a free showdown. Should have just made a blocking bet. He bets 1600. I tank and fold.
New table. Seems friendlier as there is only one big stack just to my left. Everyone else seems to have a starting stack size. Third hand I get AQs in the SB and its folded to me and I complete, hoping the big stack will raise. He obliges and I shove. He calls with 66 and I flop a Q to double up. Nice.
Unfortunately, I suffer the same indignity preflop here as the last table. My raises get called or reraised and there is aggression post-flop that I can't play with. And I'm getting a lot of hands that are troublesome: AT, QJs, KJ, 77 that sort of thing. I pick up 88 and make it 650, the big stack makes it 2000 and I have to decide if this is the moment. If I call, I will have about 3500 left. I don't think that is folding equity per se, but if he misses the flop I should be good. Stop and go it is. But I'm not going to do it if an Ace flops or if two overcards flop. Or so i tell myself. LOL. Flop is Q-high, one overcard and I push. He calls. Damn. He has TT and its GG for me. My stop-n-go might have worked had the flop come A-K-x....
About 2100 entries. On the 4th hand or so I raise with J8dd and this caveman looking kid calls. Flop comes 7d-9h-5c. Check-check. Turn is Td, giving me the str8 with a flush and str8flush redraw. Nice. He bets out 600 and I make it 1200. He calls. Hmmm. River is Th. He bets 1200. You only start with 4000, so if I raise here we are both basically going to be all-in. I hate the river. Thing is, if I had played with this guy for 30 min more I would have push-raised the river instantly. Without this info I just call and he mucks. Most nitty players have more than top pair there-- he must have had AT, and he likely would have called my push. Oh well. Unfortunately, he becomes the most aggro player at the table and I find that he's won a couple big tourneys at the Bellagio. He's two to my left and floats most of my in position raises which sucks.
I'm up and down a bit. I pick up QQ at 50-100 and there is one limper and i make it 400 and he calls. Flop comes three little and i bet 1000 after he checks which he calls leaving himself only 1200 more(???) Another little card comes and he check-folds to my push. wtf? Must have had AK i guess.
I get AK UTG and raise to 400. One caller and then this patent lawyer makes it 1400. Yuck. I only have about 6000 chips and this is a pretty big raise. I think about pushing, and then I think about all the time I've pushed AK into AA and I just call. Flop misses and I check-fold a quarter of my stack. This hand sucks and I need a better line here. I don't know. Fold PF sucks. Reraise PF kinda sucks. Making the C-bet kinda sucks.
My stack drifts down. Most PF raises are being called or reraised. I catch JTo in EP and raise. Folded to the BB who looks like he's going to muck but then decides to reraise from 600 to 1800. He has me covered as I only have another 2800 or so. I'm not sure what I picked up on him but I instapush and he tanks and mucks. This was my best played hand of the day. There was one other opportunity to make a big raise on a C-bet which was successful. I'm pretty sure that I'm way behind in this area compared to the internet kids out there, but its a part of my game I need to develop more.
Caveman makes an EP raise (which means nothing) and I float him from the BB with A7o. Flop comes A-x-x and I bet 600. He calls. Turn is X, I bet another 600 (wtf i did this i dunno- its idiotic) He calls. River is another baby and we check it down and his A9 is good. Meh.
Right before we get moved I get JJ UTG and raise to 600. Caveman calls. Flop A-2-2. Check-check. Turn 7. I fire 1000 which he calls. River blank. I have about 3500 left. He's made some sick calls, and i think he calls with any ace here, esp with how I've played the hand. He could have a deuce also. I check. Meh. I want a free showdown. Should have just made a blocking bet. He bets 1600. I tank and fold.
New table. Seems friendlier as there is only one big stack just to my left. Everyone else seems to have a starting stack size. Third hand I get AQs in the SB and its folded to me and I complete, hoping the big stack will raise. He obliges and I shove. He calls with 66 and I flop a Q to double up. Nice.
Unfortunately, I suffer the same indignity preflop here as the last table. My raises get called or reraised and there is aggression post-flop that I can't play with. And I'm getting a lot of hands that are troublesome: AT, QJs, KJ, 77 that sort of thing. I pick up 88 and make it 650, the big stack makes it 2000 and I have to decide if this is the moment. If I call, I will have about 3500 left. I don't think that is folding equity per se, but if he misses the flop I should be good. Stop and go it is. But I'm not going to do it if an Ace flops or if two overcards flop. Or so i tell myself. LOL. Flop is Q-high, one overcard and I push. He calls. Damn. He has TT and its GG for me. My stop-n-go might have worked had the flop come A-K-x....
More Vegas Ramblings
Played the 6 Max $5K at the Rio. Flopped a set and rivered a boat early but didn't get paid off. Ran up and down until the first break and hovered around 8K chips. Table was pretty aggro. There were several times I floated raises with small pairs and then someone repoped it and I had to fold. Meh. Eventually I raise PF with AKss and get one caller. Flop comes 8s-9h-Js and I bet, get raised and push into a guy holding 9Tss for a pair and the OESFD. I miss. GG me.
On to the $2500 at the Bellagio. I chip up for awhile. I make some pretty good reads. I lay down J9cc on a QT2 board with two diamonds after a player goes all in and gets called. I had odds for the str8, but was afraid of diamonds. Sure enough, Kd comes on the turn and the player with A5d takes the pot. Later I raise to 1000 with AK only to have the action go reraise-call-all-in and I have to fold. Next hand I pick up JJ and get all in against TT and hold up. Later I get AA vs KK and double again. Lots of chips. I raise with AJ and we see a flop 3 ways of A-6-6. Well, i end up doubling up a very tricky player who called my PF raise with 63s. (He previously had limped PF with both AA and KK, so tricky indeed)
I get down to two tables, paying one. I'm a bit below average, and a couple people have huge stacks. I raise with JJ and get a caller. The huge stack then reraises and I decide its time to double or go home. He has AK and sends me home when a King comes. Very frustrating as I was playing well and really should have cashed today.
On to the $2500 at the Bellagio. I chip up for awhile. I make some pretty good reads. I lay down J9cc on a QT2 board with two diamonds after a player goes all in and gets called. I had odds for the str8, but was afraid of diamonds. Sure enough, Kd comes on the turn and the player with A5d takes the pot. Later I raise to 1000 with AK only to have the action go reraise-call-all-in and I have to fold. Next hand I pick up JJ and get all in against TT and hold up. Later I get AA vs KK and double again. Lots of chips. I raise with AJ and we see a flop 3 ways of A-6-6. Well, i end up doubling up a very tricky player who called my PF raise with 63s. (He previously had limped PF with both AA and KK, so tricky indeed)
I get down to two tables, paying one. I'm a bit below average, and a couple people have huge stacks. I raise with JJ and get a caller. The huge stack then reraises and I decide its time to double or go home. He has AK and sends me home when a King comes. Very frustrating as I was playing well and really should have cashed today.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Bellagio $1K
Landed in Vegas at 730-- no cab line. The cab right behind the one I got in was driven by Mr. Diggery-Doo himself and I had to do a double take. Get to Bellagio and they won't upgrade me to a suite, but put me in the spa tower which is cool, except I realize later (much later) that it is a smoking room and this sucks.
Get to the tourney at about 830, and sit down just as the 50-100 level starts. In the first orbit it is folded to me in the SB and I have 88 and raise to 300 and the BB calls. I flop a set and somehow he gets all his money in with top pair no kicker and I'm up to 8500 chips pretty quickly.
I then basically play ABC poker for a long time. I make some standard raises and fold when I get played back at. I chip up for the most part, but eventually the blinds catch up. There are two guys at the table who are playing really laggy and I get down to about 15 BB's at one point and decide that the next time they raise in LP I'm gonna repop them all in. In fact, I'm going to do so without even looking. Well, I'm in the big blind and its time and I'm just waiting for someone to raise since there hasn't been a single walk at the table. They all fold. I look down at my hand as they push me the pot and of course I have AA. Amazing.
No too long after that I get AA again and this time there is a raise in front of me. I push, and the poor bastard to my left pushes also with KK. I hold and now have some chips.
They are paying 9 spots, but there really isn't any big money till 3rd or 4th as usual. 1st pays $34K or so. We get down to 2 tables and I'm about average. There is this Asian guy, John Lee I think who has a reputation for never folding. It seems to hold-- he defends his blinds all the time, floats bets on the flop, and sometimes just pushes his huge stack. With blinds at 600/1200-100 there are 4 limpers to me and I have AKcc. I make it 6500, folded to Lee who calls. Flop K-K-2 with two hearts. He bets about 7000 which is more than half my stack so I just push. He calls with a flush draw and misses. Now its close, and I might have enough chips to fold into the money. I dunno. But I do know that it is past 2 am and coming in 9th for $1800 or so would suck if I had a chance to get $10K. So I stay aggro. I raise with 77 and fold to a push. A few hands later I limp with 77, 3 others limp and Lee pushes and I fold. He's so active.
With blinds now at 800/1600-200 Lee makes it 4500 to go. I have AJdd and tank. I could just push, I could call and see a flop, I could raise. I dunno. He splashes so much his range could be anything. My stack is decent but he has me covered. I think my hand is probably either dominating him or its a flip. I raise to 12000 and he pushes. Meh. He still looks weak. I call. He has red kings. Damnit. The flop brings me 11 outs as two diamonds show up. This gives me a little hope and some validation also, because I know all the money would have gone in here anyway. I miss though and I'm done, 14th place.
Tomorrow is the 6 handed $5K at the Rio. I need some sleep now....
Get to the tourney at about 830, and sit down just as the 50-100 level starts. In the first orbit it is folded to me in the SB and I have 88 and raise to 300 and the BB calls. I flop a set and somehow he gets all his money in with top pair no kicker and I'm up to 8500 chips pretty quickly.
I then basically play ABC poker for a long time. I make some standard raises and fold when I get played back at. I chip up for the most part, but eventually the blinds catch up. There are two guys at the table who are playing really laggy and I get down to about 15 BB's at one point and decide that the next time they raise in LP I'm gonna repop them all in. In fact, I'm going to do so without even looking. Well, I'm in the big blind and its time and I'm just waiting for someone to raise since there hasn't been a single walk at the table. They all fold. I look down at my hand as they push me the pot and of course I have AA. Amazing.
No too long after that I get AA again and this time there is a raise in front of me. I push, and the poor bastard to my left pushes also with KK. I hold and now have some chips.
They are paying 9 spots, but there really isn't any big money till 3rd or 4th as usual. 1st pays $34K or so. We get down to 2 tables and I'm about average. There is this Asian guy, John Lee I think who has a reputation for never folding. It seems to hold-- he defends his blinds all the time, floats bets on the flop, and sometimes just pushes his huge stack. With blinds at 600/1200-100 there are 4 limpers to me and I have AKcc. I make it 6500, folded to Lee who calls. Flop K-K-2 with two hearts. He bets about 7000 which is more than half my stack so I just push. He calls with a flush draw and misses. Now its close, and I might have enough chips to fold into the money. I dunno. But I do know that it is past 2 am and coming in 9th for $1800 or so would suck if I had a chance to get $10K. So I stay aggro. I raise with 77 and fold to a push. A few hands later I limp with 77, 3 others limp and Lee pushes and I fold. He's so active.
With blinds now at 800/1600-200 Lee makes it 4500 to go. I have AJdd and tank. I could just push, I could call and see a flop, I could raise. I dunno. He splashes so much his range could be anything. My stack is decent but he has me covered. I think my hand is probably either dominating him or its a flip. I raise to 12000 and he pushes. Meh. He still looks weak. I call. He has red kings. Damnit. The flop brings me 11 outs as two diamonds show up. This gives me a little hope and some validation also, because I know all the money would have gone in here anyway. I miss though and I'm done, 14th place.
Tomorrow is the 6 handed $5K at the Rio. I need some sleep now....
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Er, Libertarians make great idealists
"Dr. Steve Friedlander, President of the Nevada Ophthalmological Society, looks on as Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons signs AB 385 into law. The bill includes a provision that laser surgery on the eye be performed only by a fully-trained Ophthalmologist."
So, this law isn't really a big deal, but it does build a small wall around Nevada should the evil national optometric lobby try to show its face here. Of course, every optometrist that i spoke to could care less because they are quite happy doing what they do and don't want the hassles of surgery. Getting it passed took about 18 months, and some very grueling days in the legislature for our lobbyist. Excellent experience for me, but I still can't really imagine being one of the 63 people who make laws in this state. What an amazing amount of work they have to do.
In a liberatarian society, every joe blow could put up a shingle and do eye surgery or whatever. Government wouldn't license people and the public would have to look at credentials, outcomes, costs etc to decide where to go.
Fantasyland.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Venetian Day 2
I meet Fu at the Rio and he tells me to "gammbooool" I like it. Chips are good.
First hand, UTG I have KQs and push to take the blinds and antes.
Second hand in the BB it gets folded to a very aggro kid on the button who raised all the time yesterday. I have already decided that I have to play back at him when he raises or he'll just clean my clock. He has me covered of course. So, when he raises and I look down at A5o, I push. Ooops. He has AK and calls. And then the board comes brick-brick-brick-brick-FIVE. LOL. I am the official suckout master. I double up, now have over 200K and am rockin.
Third hand gets folded to me in the SB and I raise with AJo. BB bigstack calls. Flop three babies, check-check. Turn is a Jack and I bet and take it. Poker is easy.
Pretty much nothing happens for awhile. Blinds go to 3000-6000/1000. I'm laying pretty low, taking a few pots here and there. No big hands. One time I make a reraise with JJ and take it preflop. I also find that if I decide that I'm going to raise in late position that its better if I don't look at my cards. Just raise. Look if they look me up. Much more relaxed that way, because I can still look down and be surprised by a monster. (not that this ever happens) Anyway, I think I'm pretty inline, fairly tight compared to the rest of the table and I'm sitting with 225K. Hand before the break I decide to steal and make it 20K to go in MP with 72o. SB ponders, BB calls. Damn. Flop comes Ace-high with two spades, and I decide that I can't put anymore money in this pot. I check behind. Turn is another spade. Now when the BB checks I decide there is just too many chips in there not to take a stab at it and I bet 30K. He calls. Since nothing can realy help me on the river I have to decide what to do when he bets another 30K. Do I shove with my 7-high? That would be pretty sick. I can't do it. I dump 50K on this hand. meh.
Then this happens:
12 left, six-handed. Blinds are 4000-8000/1000. Typical aggro table. Most hands get a raise to 22000-25000 or so. Some get reraised. Rare to see a flop.
Rough guess of stacks:
Aggro UTG: 420K
Hero (button): 200K
SB: 100K
BB: 900K
UTG fumbles with his chips a little and ends up making a min-raise to 16000. I really wasn't sure if he just wanted to call or raise.
Hero has As 3s and calls. (?)
SB completes.
BB checks.
4 to the flop: (pot 70,000)
A h Ks 6s
Checked to hero, who does the most absolute wrong thing and bets about half the pot. Really dumb. I like a push so much better, and even checking and taking a free one might be OK (although if I make the flush my action is killed) The SB pushes over me and I'm still getting 2-1 on my money and call. He has AT, I miss, and now I'm short.
Now I go into a shell. I literally get nothing. I finally open-push a pot with 99 and take it down. The next hand is raised to 25K and then the SB smooth-calls. There is over 60K in the pot, I have about 100K in my stack, and this seems exactly right to squeeze here. I push. Original raiser folds. SB has JJ, and my 67o isn't looking so good. It looks better with the flop comes 8-9-x, but the str8 doesn't get there and I'm done in 12th place. $3590 payoff which kinda sucks, but is better than nothing, especially with the 2-outer, 4-outer, 3-outer I hit along the way.
First hand, UTG I have KQs and push to take the blinds and antes.
Second hand in the BB it gets folded to a very aggro kid on the button who raised all the time yesterday. I have already decided that I have to play back at him when he raises or he'll just clean my clock. He has me covered of course. So, when he raises and I look down at A5o, I push. Ooops. He has AK and calls. And then the board comes brick-brick-brick-brick-FIVE. LOL. I am the official suckout master. I double up, now have over 200K and am rockin.
Third hand gets folded to me in the SB and I raise with AJo. BB bigstack calls. Flop three babies, check-check. Turn is a Jack and I bet and take it. Poker is easy.
Pretty much nothing happens for awhile. Blinds go to 3000-6000/1000. I'm laying pretty low, taking a few pots here and there. No big hands. One time I make a reraise with JJ and take it preflop. I also find that if I decide that I'm going to raise in late position that its better if I don't look at my cards. Just raise. Look if they look me up. Much more relaxed that way, because I can still look down and be surprised by a monster. (not that this ever happens) Anyway, I think I'm pretty inline, fairly tight compared to the rest of the table and I'm sitting with 225K. Hand before the break I decide to steal and make it 20K to go in MP with 72o. SB ponders, BB calls. Damn. Flop comes Ace-high with two spades, and I decide that I can't put anymore money in this pot. I check behind. Turn is another spade. Now when the BB checks I decide there is just too many chips in there not to take a stab at it and I bet 30K. He calls. Since nothing can realy help me on the river I have to decide what to do when he bets another 30K. Do I shove with my 7-high? That would be pretty sick. I can't do it. I dump 50K on this hand. meh.
Then this happens:
12 left, six-handed. Blinds are 4000-8000/1000. Typical aggro table. Most hands get a raise to 22000-25000 or so. Some get reraised. Rare to see a flop.
Rough guess of stacks:
Aggro UTG: 420K
Hero (button): 200K
SB: 100K
BB: 900K
UTG fumbles with his chips a little and ends up making a min-raise to 16000. I really wasn't sure if he just wanted to call or raise.
Hero has As 3s and calls. (?)
SB completes.
BB checks.
4 to the flop: (pot 70,000)
A h Ks 6s
Checked to hero, who does the most absolute wrong thing and bets about half the pot. Really dumb. I like a push so much better, and even checking and taking a free one might be OK (although if I make the flush my action is killed) The SB pushes over me and I'm still getting 2-1 on my money and call. He has AT, I miss, and now I'm short.
Now I go into a shell. I literally get nothing. I finally open-push a pot with 99 and take it down. The next hand is raised to 25K and then the SB smooth-calls. There is over 60K in the pot, I have about 100K in my stack, and this seems exactly right to squeeze here. I push. Original raiser folds. SB has JJ, and my 67o isn't looking so good. It looks better with the flop comes 8-9-x, but the str8 doesn't get there and I'm done in 12th place. $3590 payoff which kinda sucks, but is better than nothing, especially with the 2-outer, 4-outer, 3-outer I hit along the way.
Venetian $1060 deepstack
(includes two of the biggest suckouts ever!!!)
I'm playing pretty tight. This has been a major adjustment since I've been so laggy lately and I think players in general are playing back more. So I want the goods. In the 25-50 level I raise UTG with AA, get no action and show my hand. There are a couple active players, so when I pick up KK at 50-100 and limp UTG I'm really hoping someone will pop the pot. After the 4th limper I'm worried, but this guy who is playing with a magnifier because he has some horrible corneal disease and can't see makes it 600. Sweet. I make it 1600 and he smoothcalls. Flop comes 3 babies and I pot it. He pushes. Uh oh. Well, you need chips to win these things and if he has a set so be it. I call. He has Aces! F-word. Didn't really consider that-- he's supposed to reraise me preflop. I get up from the table, start packing my things and don't even see the King hit the river. OK, the poker gods are going to smile on me a little more today than yesterday. Good.
There is an aggressive Italian guy who keeps raising preflop. I call him in the SB with A6s and the flop comes A-6-8. I check-raise the flop and then check-raise him all in on the J turn. He calls with QJs for a flush draw and misses. I'm up to 30,000 chips.
I get moved and the guy named after the Dave Matthews band is at my table. He raises me in LP and I repop from the BB with QQ. He pushes, I call. He shows A8o. He catches. Meh.
I get moved. First hand at new table. 100-200/25 I get JJ and raise. Guy pushes for 7000! Screams weakness, right? I tank and then call. He has A5s. He misses.
I raise with A7hh and get a caller. I flop the flush draw and when the guy bets into me I put him all in. I miss the flush but catch an ace and bust him.
200/400-25 I have AA UTG again. I raise, two callers. Flop is K-Q-x. I don't like it. I take a long time before I bet out and they both fold quickly.
Folded to me in the SB. I have Jack-duey. I complete, and tell the young kid named Stu in the BB that I have my favorite hand. Flop K-2-2. Nice. Check-check. Turn: Jack. I bet 400, he calls. River: ace. I bet 3000. He raises me to 10,000 and I push. He calls off his chips with a straight to my dueces full of jacks. Jack-duey good. I have about 70,000 and might be the chip leader.
300-600/50 Moved again. Sean Rice at my table. He's pretty short. He plays tight. He goes all-in preflop and I look down at 77. Its about 8000 chips. I don't want to double him up, but I also would like to see him leave the table. I muck. He shows AQ... damn. I would have taken that flip there.
He raises again, I smoothcall with AK. Flop comes K-3-3. He bets, I raise, he folds.
This guy from LA named Rob is good. I decide to make a play at him. Really one of the few plays I make all day. I raise with 34o. He calls. Flop comes T-8-3 and I make a big check-raise and he mucks. He knows I worked him though....
Rice raises again and I reraise with TT. He calls. Flop Q-J-x. He only has 8000 left so I try to buy it. Stupid. He has AQ. Bad play.
I limp with 66. 6 see the flop of 9-6-5 with two spades. One guy bets and I push. Rob pushes. Other guy folds. Rob shows 78o for the flopped straight and the board doesn't pair and I lose about 30,000 chips when I flop a set. Damn.
400-800/75 Solid player raises to 4000, one caller. I have QQ in the BB and don't know what to do, because I sense strength from the first guy. I decide to call and miss the overcards. This is stupid in retrospect. Flop comes 8-9-J all diamonds. I have the Qd. I bet 12K, solid guy pushes and I tank. He must have the Ad, and maybe he has AKd and is already there. Shit. I call. He has Ad Jc and he misses. Sweet. I'm up to 120K or so. As I'm stacking my chips a short stack goes all in and is called by a guy with 50K. I look down at KK and push. 50K guy calls with AK. Shortie has A7. To my dismay, another ace shows up and most of the chips I win with the QQ hand go away. Damn. That would have been ginormous.
600-1200/100
I raise utg with AQss and a shortie next to me pushes. I tank again. I tank alot tonight. Sean Rice doesn't understand why I'm taking so long. I dunno either. I call. He has JTss but a str8 on the board saves him for a split pot.
OK HERE IS THE HAND OF THE NIGHT:
I raise early with AKo and get called by the solid guy from the QQ hand when all diamonds flopped. I have him covered, but he still has a lot of chips. Flop comes 6-8-J and I make a donk c-bet of 4000 which he smoothcalls. Turn is a Ten and I somehow decide that if I bet enough here he will fold. I bet another 12,000. This results in him pushing for another 9500 to me. So, lets see its about 42,000 in the pot and 9500 to call. I figure that at least one of my overcards is good if it hits, and I have a gutshot also. For some reason, a pretty big crowd has gathered around our table. I joke with the dealer and ask him if he is going to be nice to me on the river. This is really a horrible call and a very badly played hand. Uh,,, I call. He flips over 66 for a flopped set. Ugh. OK, I say "Queen" and BOOM- THERE IT IS! The guy I beat ran out of the room so fast. It was just insane. They must have thought I was a witch or something.
After that, nothing really happened. No big hands, no big pots. I went card dead. I would pick up blinds here and there and eventually found my stack getting below average. In the last level (2000-4000/500) I made a couple successful resteals to get my stack to 112,500 at nights end. 31 players left and we are in the money. I'm only one double up away from being in real contention for the $110,000 first prize.
I'm playing pretty tight. This has been a major adjustment since I've been so laggy lately and I think players in general are playing back more. So I want the goods. In the 25-50 level I raise UTG with AA, get no action and show my hand. There are a couple active players, so when I pick up KK at 50-100 and limp UTG I'm really hoping someone will pop the pot. After the 4th limper I'm worried, but this guy who is playing with a magnifier because he has some horrible corneal disease and can't see makes it 600. Sweet. I make it 1600 and he smoothcalls. Flop comes 3 babies and I pot it. He pushes. Uh oh. Well, you need chips to win these things and if he has a set so be it. I call. He has Aces! F-word. Didn't really consider that-- he's supposed to reraise me preflop. I get up from the table, start packing my things and don't even see the King hit the river. OK, the poker gods are going to smile on me a little more today than yesterday. Good.
There is an aggressive Italian guy who keeps raising preflop. I call him in the SB with A6s and the flop comes A-6-8. I check-raise the flop and then check-raise him all in on the J turn. He calls with QJs for a flush draw and misses. I'm up to 30,000 chips.
I get moved and the guy named after the Dave Matthews band is at my table. He raises me in LP and I repop from the BB with QQ. He pushes, I call. He shows A8o. He catches. Meh.
I get moved. First hand at new table. 100-200/25 I get JJ and raise. Guy pushes for 7000! Screams weakness, right? I tank and then call. He has A5s. He misses.
I raise with A7hh and get a caller. I flop the flush draw and when the guy bets into me I put him all in. I miss the flush but catch an ace and bust him.
200/400-25 I have AA UTG again. I raise, two callers. Flop is K-Q-x. I don't like it. I take a long time before I bet out and they both fold quickly.
Folded to me in the SB. I have Jack-duey. I complete, and tell the young kid named Stu in the BB that I have my favorite hand. Flop K-2-2. Nice. Check-check. Turn: Jack. I bet 400, he calls. River: ace. I bet 3000. He raises me to 10,000 and I push. He calls off his chips with a straight to my dueces full of jacks. Jack-duey good. I have about 70,000 and might be the chip leader.
300-600/50 Moved again. Sean Rice at my table. He's pretty short. He plays tight. He goes all-in preflop and I look down at 77. Its about 8000 chips. I don't want to double him up, but I also would like to see him leave the table. I muck. He shows AQ... damn. I would have taken that flip there.
He raises again, I smoothcall with AK. Flop comes K-3-3. He bets, I raise, he folds.
This guy from LA named Rob is good. I decide to make a play at him. Really one of the few plays I make all day. I raise with 34o. He calls. Flop comes T-8-3 and I make a big check-raise and he mucks. He knows I worked him though....
Rice raises again and I reraise with TT. He calls. Flop Q-J-x. He only has 8000 left so I try to buy it. Stupid. He has AQ. Bad play.
I limp with 66. 6 see the flop of 9-6-5 with two spades. One guy bets and I push. Rob pushes. Other guy folds. Rob shows 78o for the flopped straight and the board doesn't pair and I lose about 30,000 chips when I flop a set. Damn.
400-800/75 Solid player raises to 4000, one caller. I have QQ in the BB and don't know what to do, because I sense strength from the first guy. I decide to call and miss the overcards. This is stupid in retrospect. Flop comes 8-9-J all diamonds. I have the Qd. I bet 12K, solid guy pushes and I tank. He must have the Ad, and maybe he has AKd and is already there. Shit. I call. He has Ad Jc and he misses. Sweet. I'm up to 120K or so. As I'm stacking my chips a short stack goes all in and is called by a guy with 50K. I look down at KK and push. 50K guy calls with AK. Shortie has A7. To my dismay, another ace shows up and most of the chips I win with the QQ hand go away. Damn. That would have been ginormous.
600-1200/100
I raise utg with AQss and a shortie next to me pushes. I tank again. I tank alot tonight. Sean Rice doesn't understand why I'm taking so long. I dunno either. I call. He has JTss but a str8 on the board saves him for a split pot.
OK HERE IS THE HAND OF THE NIGHT:
I raise early with AKo and get called by the solid guy from the QQ hand when all diamonds flopped. I have him covered, but he still has a lot of chips. Flop comes 6-8-J and I make a donk c-bet of 4000 which he smoothcalls. Turn is a Ten and I somehow decide that if I bet enough here he will fold. I bet another 12,000. This results in him pushing for another 9500 to me. So, lets see its about 42,000 in the pot and 9500 to call. I figure that at least one of my overcards is good if it hits, and I have a gutshot also. For some reason, a pretty big crowd has gathered around our table. I joke with the dealer and ask him if he is going to be nice to me on the river. This is really a horrible call and a very badly played hand. Uh,,, I call. He flips over 66 for a flopped set. Ugh. OK, I say "Queen" and BOOM- THERE IT IS! The guy I beat ran out of the room so fast. It was just insane. They must have thought I was a witch or something.
After that, nothing really happened. No big hands, no big pots. I went card dead. I would pick up blinds here and there and eventually found my stack getting below average. In the last level (2000-4000/500) I made a couple successful resteals to get my stack to 112,500 at nights end. 31 players left and we are in the money. I'm only one double up away from being in real contention for the $110,000 first prize.
Friday, June 8, 2007
LOL Donkaments!
Hmmm. As far as poker goes I think today was Worst. Day. Ever. Yuck. Started out watching the end of the movie "300" I think this might have affected my play....
$1500 WSOP 6 handed. I'm in seat 3 and seats 4,5,6 are weak-tight donks. Seat 1 is a scandinavian TAG, and seat 2 is a middle-aged (meaning "older than me") LAG. Just when I figure all this out and create my master plan for table domination, I get moved. Meh. New table (30 min into the tourney) and a LP player raises my SB to 250. I repop him to 600 with pocket ducks and he pushes back at me. Yuck. Before I get another chance at him they move me again!. I only started with 3000 chips and now have less than 2000. Sure, the blinds are low, but this tourney is very aggro. There isn't that much room to maneuver. So 45 min into the tourney on my third table I get TT and its like deja vu for when I had the deuces- it gets raised, I repop, the guy pushes. Meh. I hate calling here but I think its 50% a flip, 20-30% I'm screwed, and the rest of the time the guy is just making a play with an underpair and I'm good. This time he has Queens and my WSOP day is over.
So, naturally, I head over to the venetian. I get a cabbie who at a stop light says "you mind if I make an outgoing call" and picks up this diggerie-doo and and starts blowing at it pretty hard. It was cool. At the V I'm an alternate for their $540. I get in about 2 o'clock and its already 100-200. I pick up some chips early and I'm feeling pretty good about things. At the 200-400/25 level a LP raiser makes it 1200 and I repop him to 3500 with 89s. He folds. I make a few plays like this. Sometimes I get played back at of course and I'm hovering around 12K in chips. There are about 500 people in this tourney. Then this happened:
Stacks:
HJ 23K
Hero (button) 12K
BB 14K
Folded to HJ who raises to 1300
Hero calls with K Q
BB starts asking for chip counts, sees that HJ has him covered and just calls.
Flop:
Q75
BB bets 3000
HJ tanks slightly and folds.
Hero???
(insert Jeopardy! theme here)
I pushed, and the BB tanked a looooooong time before calling with AQ. Boo.
Decided that I needed a small bet on cleveland and got 8 points.
Went to the Wynn to sweat Kent, but he was busted out. We both played some NL and nothing good happened.
Cleveland loses by 9.
Back to the Venetian where I donk out of the $130 nightly in about 15 minutes. (my T9 vs K7 vs KT on a 9-T-K-7-x board)
Back to the Rio where I play a $500 sat and the best thing that happens today is that with 5 left we decide on a save and I get my money back!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSS! I won something today!
Tomorrow is another day.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
The 4th raise means Aces.
or so says Phil Gordon. Tonight, playing in a $525 satellite, I raise UTG to 150 (25-50) with KK. UTG+1 makes it 400 and there is a caller. Back to me and I make the third raise to 1200, but I only have another 700 behind so I'm pot committed anyway. Should have just pushed, but UTG+1 pushed for me. The caller tanked and folded, and then I *had* to call his "4th raise" with my lowly KK. He even flopped an Ace to take away what little suspense there was.
I registered for tomorrows event in about 25 seconds. No line at all, right to the window. The room has all these hanging banner ads this year which makes it feel smaller and darker. Weird.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Back to Vegas....
So there's the prize--of course, a five or six digit cash would be great, but a bracelet would really rock. So far I'm only planning on Event #12, $1500 NL 6-handed starting Thursday June 7th. Updates to follow....
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sweet Child O' Mine
Ah. The post-wedding letdown now over, I can reflect that walking Nell down the aisle (and the rest of the night) has bumped "birth of Justin" and "marriage to Rina" down to the #2 and #3 spots on the "proudest moments of my life" list. (If I were to really have such a thing) The totality of the positive energy and the overall goodness of the union seem rare in this day and age. If i could change two things about the night, I would have thanked the Bolstas for their support in my short speech, and I would have not missed the starting point of my Rumba with Shanel (which led her to get a demerit for attempting to lead later in the dance) Oh well. Such small things to complain about. A blessing on your head, to see your daughter wed-- indeed.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Look what I found
A sweet magnum of 1995 Latour, just in time to open for Shanel's wedding this weekend. Completely forgot about this one, and even have a second magnum in the locker. On the list to crack inlcude 95 Harlan, 98 Trotanoy, 95 Calon-Segur, 96 Potet-Canet, 97 Togni, 93 Dunn HM from magnum, and who knows what else. Of course, much of this will be consumed prior to the actual wedding as the facility is proud to pour round hill cab and chard for ten bucks a bottle.....
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Big hands in Vegas
OK, this guy, Amir Nasseri, MD, gets my vote for biggest maniac/action junkie I've yet encountered. Ob-Gyn. Has serious ties to the American Hospital in Dubai. I tell him he should meet my partner. I played with him twice. The first hand I played with him, a $5-$10 NL game at the Venetian, I was still stacking chips from a $5K pot I had just won when I looked down at AA. I raised to $60, he went all-in for $1000 and I called and won. Cool.
I have no idea who this guy was. After a couple hands, I realized that playing with him would require some stylistic changes! He open raised every pot to somewhere between $70 and $120. Well, almost every pot. He missed one or two an hour. Otherwise, he raised with any two cards. This worked out great if you had a big hand, because you would often get paid off. Making a little pot building raise to say $30 though was silly, since one knew that you'd be playing for $130 by the time it got back to you. In any event, I leave the first night ahead $5K.
The next night I buy in for $3K and get it up to $5K. My good doctor friend has over $10K on the table though and I want some of it. He will fold sometimes when people play back at him big, but he will also run bluffs and has done so for several thousand dollars.
So after winning the first hand against him I lost the last one. I get dealt red Kings and limp from the cut-off. He makes it $200 from the button and I call. This is the pot I've been waiting all night for. The flop comes K-T-7, all spades. Almost perfect. Not quite of course because his range is any two cards, but chances are I'm way way way ahead. I bet $200 and he calls. OK, this is good.
Turn is a red brick and I bet out $500. He makes it $1100. Hmmm. At this point, I have to figure he has one spade and as long as the river isn't a spade I should win this pot. If he flopped a flush then I still can have the board pair for me. I didn't really think much about his raise as I still thought I was good at this point. In retrospect, if he had air here he might have just put me all in. This way, I'm pretty much forced to either call or push as folding is not an option. I call.
River is another red brick. I should have check-called here, but I bet out and he put me all in. I had to call another $1200 into a pot that was about $8000 or so. I knew I was beat but since his bluffing frequency is high I thought a call was in order. Sure enough he tables Q4 spades and he had me the whole time.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Rebuys... and Cowboys
I always rebuy as soon as I can for as much as I can. This advice has been given by multiple authors and I think its sound. There is something about covering all the other people who dont rebuy. Here's a hand from last night which demonstrates the difference between short stack, fast tournaments and slow deep-stack ones.
First hand and I have 2000 chips and raise the 25-25 blinds to 125 with KK in MP. I make some crack that I have to raise the first hand because I'm a maniac and many of the regulars at the table nod their heads in agreement. A guy in LP repops it to 350. He started with 900 chips, as he had the original 800 plus a 100 bonus for playing live games. Folded to me.
So what's my play here? Usually in a short stack tourney (the villain only has 550 left) I just jam here. There really isn't room for a smaller raise, is there? If I call, what am I going to do on the flop? I'm pretty much gonna jam any flop I think, although I suppose an arguement could be made for check-folding if an Ace flops. But in reality, I'm so far ahead of this guys holdings almost every time that I should just get his money in pre-flop so he can't get away from his JJ or AK or whatever monster he thinks he has.
As I'm grabbing my stack he says, very Jamie Gold-like "You wanna go all-in?", and despite what should clearly be a red flag I respond "Yeah", push in my stack and he beats me to the pot with his AK.
After losing half my stack on that suckout, I came back pretty well. Eventually I catch AKo UTG with blinds at 50-100. I have about 1800 left. I make it 300. I get two callers. Then someone goes all in for 1200. Then the next guy goes all in for 1800. Back to me. Again, this demonstrates why I would really like to limit my tourney play to deepstack events. What choice do I have here except to call? I must be behind, and the fact that there were so many people interested in this hand makes me wonder how many of my 6 outs are really still alive. The good news is that the second all-in guy is a complete donk and has shown some awful awful hands. I call. The two initial callers fold. I'm up against 99 and K8s ???!!!. Flop comes three babies with two clubs and the K8 has a draw. Turn is an off-suit Ace!!! Wow! What a monster stack I will have if I can just avoid a club or a 9 on the river.... Here it comes.. 9 of clubs. I love this game.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The elixer of the gods
Nothing like sipping a little d'Yquem on a Monday night with Rina. While some wines have nuances and characters that require study and patience to understand, this stuff just rocks every single time I get to taste it. And I've never met a soul who didn't "get it" immediately. The house wine of billionaires, I'm fortunate to indulge in a couple 375's a year. If you're out to that fancy dinner and looking over the dessert list, go ahead and spend the $30 for the glass. You may not recall the main course that night, but you will not forget your taste of d'Yquem.
Monday, April 30, 2007
"You are so conservative"
Puffing spice at the yearly meeting of the Nevada State Medical Association this past weekend, I had the opportunity to meet with several docs who are high up in the pecking order of organized medicine. (which is an oxymoron in itself for the most part) Now, I have a lowly role as "alternate delegate" to this shindig, although I am the President and PAC chairman for our state ophthalmology society blah blah blah.
From time to time I will send out some emails, and I'm a little heavy on the "reply to all" button when it comes to medical matters. Recently in Nevada there have been several bills proposed which would require insurance companies to cover specific things across the board. Prostate cancer screeening and the new cervical cancer vaccine are two of them. Of course, these feelgood measures sound great and might be a good thing, but they cost money and drive up the costs of insurance. This has played out in many states (especially in the Great Blue Northeast) where the costs of insurance have become huge with all the state-mandated stuff.
So, I feel like this is a bad idea and I let all the "reply to all" people know it.
At the meeting, I introduce myself to one of the officers of the association and he says "I know who you are- I've read your emails- You're SO CONSERVATIVE" (emphasis is sorta mine) We proceeded to have a short chat about the issues, but it wasn't particularly comfortable for either of us I suppose and ended quickly.
But it made me wonder a bit. I think there are a good number of people who think of me and have the same thoughts that this doc expressed. And perhaps it might do me some good if I took some offense, but for the most part I feel quite complemented.
From time to time I will send out some emails, and I'm a little heavy on the "reply to all" button when it comes to medical matters. Recently in Nevada there have been several bills proposed which would require insurance companies to cover specific things across the board. Prostate cancer screeening and the new cervical cancer vaccine are two of them. Of course, these feelgood measures sound great and might be a good thing, but they cost money and drive up the costs of insurance. This has played out in many states (especially in the Great Blue Northeast) where the costs of insurance have become huge with all the state-mandated stuff.
So, I feel like this is a bad idea and I let all the "reply to all" people know it.
At the meeting, I introduce myself to one of the officers of the association and he says "I know who you are- I've read your emails- You're SO CONSERVATIVE" (emphasis is sorta mine) We proceeded to have a short chat about the issues, but it wasn't particularly comfortable for either of us I suppose and ended quickly.
But it made me wonder a bit. I think there are a good number of people who think of me and have the same thoughts that this doc expressed. And perhaps it might do me some good if I took some offense, but for the most part I feel quite complemented.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Raising forever with the second nuts
$5-$10 Limit game with a full kill and its a $10-$20 kill pot. I've just sat down with $300, and the villain in this hand has about $200. I'm dealt QQ in mid position and raise two limpers. The flop comes Q-8-8 and I've flopped the second nuts. My opponent bets out I raise and he calls. Turn is a blank and now it gets interesting. He bets, I raise, he reraises, I rereraise, he goes again, and at this point I just look at him and ask him "Do you have pocket 8's?" He shakes his head No and I believe him, so I raise again, and he pops it one more time all in as he is holding Q-8, which from his perspective is also the second nuts. Now I suppose he never thought I was holding queens full of eights until I turned my cards over-- but I really wonder how long the heads up raising would have gone on had he (and I) had really deep stacks....
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Am I really a Libertarian?
After some coaxing I agreed to serve as the President of the state Ophthalmology society. This mostly means that I am supposed to raise money and advocate for the profession on the state legislature level. I'm pretty cool with that. But two bills I am supporting have given me pause about how I've pidgeonholed myself as a Libertarian.
The first one has a clause in it that states that if a person does laser surgery on the eyeball that they have to be an ophthalmologist. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? I think so, but the optometrists probably arent too happy about it since their national agenda is to expand their scope of practice by legislative fiat. The pure Libertarian position would be that the government has no business telling people what they can and can't do in matters like this and that they have no power to "protect the public" as this type of legislation purportedly does. In a Libertarian society there would be no medical boards, and I could have someone with a high school education open up a shop next to me advertising that he fixes retinas. In theory, I would succeed in this marketplace because I would have private companies (Like the American Board of Ophthlamology) or the like certify me as knowing what I am doing. I suppose one could then take their chances with Joe Bob's retina palace (which would no doubtedly charge them less than I would), but this stipulates that the public is educated enough to make the distinction.
The second bill makes it illegal for hospitals to enter into exclusive contracts with insurance companies. One of the hospitals in town (the Big Nasty Hospital or BNH) has some phat exclusive contracts which drive patients into its facilities. The smaller players in town are lobbying to eliminate this practice. I personally don't like the way the BNH does business so I find myself supporting the little guys here. But its very anti-libertarian. The market shouldn't be interfered with by the state, and this bill is just incompatible with pure Libertarian principles.
I voted for Harry Browne in 2000. I'm more convinced all the time that I wasted my vote.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Push into the Nuts (again)
Maybe I should retitle this blog.
Typical Sunday crowd at B & M $100 tourney. Down to 14 spots, and I'm bullying my way to about 9000 in chips with blinds at 300-600. I open raise with 89s to 2000 and get called by a woman who has a big stack and hasn't played much. Flop comes A-K-6, none of my suit and I check-fold when she bets 1000 into the 6000 pot. I'm annoyed by this donkey move and I want to get her now. Next hand she open raises UTG to 2000, folded to me in the BB with the black cowboys. Sweet. I'm gonna raise her to 5000 and push any non-ace flop. Good plan. She calls. Flop comes Q-J-5 all diamonds. I don't have enough chips here to do anything but push anyway and so be it if she has a set. I push, she calls with AdKd and you just sat through a bad beat story i think. Have a great day.
Typical Sunday crowd at B & M $100 tourney. Down to 14 spots, and I'm bullying my way to about 9000 in chips with blinds at 300-600. I open raise with 89s to 2000 and get called by a woman who has a big stack and hasn't played much. Flop comes A-K-6, none of my suit and I check-fold when she bets 1000 into the 6000 pot. I'm annoyed by this donkey move and I want to get her now. Next hand she open raises UTG to 2000, folded to me in the BB with the black cowboys. Sweet. I'm gonna raise her to 5000 and push any non-ace flop. Good plan. She calls. Flop comes Q-J-5 all diamonds. I don't have enough chips here to do anything but push anyway and so be it if she has a set. I push, she calls with AdKd and you just sat through a bad beat story i think. Have a great day.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
More signs of Global Warming
Well its Earth Day in Lake Tahoe, and we got about 5 inches of the softest, driest champagne powder you could imagine.
And since you can take the boy out of LA, but can't take the LA out of the boy-- I drove the wrong vehicle up here last night. Didn't Spring begin a month ago??
I stay up way too late...
Just busted out of the Full Tilt Poker $20 Rebuy MTT. I cash in this one more often than the other MTT's I play on the site. But it really doesn't matter unless you make the final table. I busted out about 16th, which paid a whopping $93, and I bought in for $62. Took four hours. A little over $7 an hour. Now if I had won the tourney the hourly rate would be closer to $700, but people who push their entire stack right into the nuts generally don't do this well.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
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