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.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
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....
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