Arrived this evening and checked into my comped sweet suite at the Palazzo. Nice. High floor with good view.
Went to the Rio to get my registration in order. Table 23 Red, Seat 1 for the short handed event tomorrow. Saw that Zak still had chips in the $2K today and was nearing the money. Decided to try a satellite and a $525 started up. Some strange play (big overpushes early) but for the most part everyone was solid. We started with 2000 chips at 25/25 and 20 min levels. No one busted for the first 4 levels. Sick. This turns it into a shovefest. I chip up and down and then knock a guy out who pushes from the button and I call with JJ. Very next hand a guy pushes UTG and its folded to me on the button and I have JJ again. This guys range must be huge, and since he has only 9 BB's he prob just open pushes with his whole range. I think I'm usually ahead here and I call. He has QQ and I miss. Now I'm short. With blinds at 150-300, I post the BB and have 450 left. Yuck. The button goes all in, the SB (who I think is only 19 and has a Millennium Falcon chip protector) tanks and then goes all in. I just go all in blind. I hae QJo, the SB has ATo and the button opened with KQ. Someone the board comes 8x9xT and I make a str8 to triple up. Whoot. We get 5 handed and the kid has a monster stack and he's raising a lot. He raises, I have KQ and push and he calls with AQ and its GG me.
I head over to the tourney that Zak is in and they are hand for hand on the money bubble. I watch this complete donkey call off his last chips with AQo only to lose a raise against a big stack who had open raised with 77. The caller had at least 6-7 BB's left, and it sure looked like he could have folded into the money. I hope the dumbass factor is as high tomorrow.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Warrior Week!
Just a shout out to my boy who is currently slogging through the mud carrying an M16 learning how to kick ass!
Strong work Brent!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A Win at the PM
Well, its just the $125 nightly with 5 tables. So no big deal. And the quality of the play is just atrocious. Its like, I know all the players that I know and I know how they play. The ones I don't know can't play for shit. So it seems pretty easy. Just try not to get unlucky. You get 4000 chips to start, and they made the levels 20 min and added an ante. All good. They still pay the whole final table though which just blows. If I win this tourney, I want at least $2K in my pocket. And if I come in 9th, I really don't care about getting my money back.
Second hand I get red KK. The CO raises and I reraise from the BB. He calls. Flop comes A-high, all clubs. I bet, he raises, I muck face up. I'm soooooo goooood.
I play a lot of hands, but people fold all the time. I only show good hands. Its a joke. Despite this, its easy to screw up. A really bad woman player limps in early position with blinds at 150-300. I raise from the button with ATo, she calls. Flop comes A-6-4 and she bets 1000. WTF? I raise and she pushes and I realize too late that I have like 4-1 to call. Yech. She has A6o and cuts me down a lot. But who just calls a raise in EP with A6 ?? WTF??
Eventually a guy raises and I'm short and I push with 66. He has JJ and the poker gods smile on me and I spike a 6. I call a push with 33 and beat AJ. I get to the final table.
First hand its raised to me and I look down at AA. I massage the pot and the guy commits preflop. He has KQs and flops two Q's. A few hands later I get AA again, this time all in against the bad lady player. She has T8s. Nice. I get up cause I don't want to watch her suck out. Sure enough, when I get back she has made a str8 and I'm short again.
By this time there are 7 players left, and the chip leader says "The call me Mr. Chop- I'm willing to make a deal. How bout I take $1000?" LOL. First place is $1600, 2nd is $870. This guy wants more than 2nd place money with 7 people left. I laugh at him. He inspires me.
I pick up KK and double through him. I pick up AA and knock him out. I pick up QQ and they hold up against the BLP's 72o. We get 3 handed. I call a raise with 67cc. The flop comes 8c9hKc-- I have six million outs twice. The guy pushes. I call. He has no pair and a gutshot???? I pick up a 6 on the turn which is good enough.
I get HU with Randy L. who is really the only player at the FT that I had any respect for and would be willing to chop with. I outchip him a lot and tell him there really isn't any deal that makes sense for him. Despite this, I take $1450 and call it a night. Yee haw. Bring on the WSOP! Whoot!
Second hand I get red KK. The CO raises and I reraise from the BB. He calls. Flop comes A-high, all clubs. I bet, he raises, I muck face up. I'm soooooo goooood.
I play a lot of hands, but people fold all the time. I only show good hands. Its a joke. Despite this, its easy to screw up. A really bad woman player limps in early position with blinds at 150-300. I raise from the button with ATo, she calls. Flop comes A-6-4 and she bets 1000. WTF? I raise and she pushes and I realize too late that I have like 4-1 to call. Yech. She has A6o and cuts me down a lot. But who just calls a raise in EP with A6 ?? WTF??
Eventually a guy raises and I'm short and I push with 66. He has JJ and the poker gods smile on me and I spike a 6. I call a push with 33 and beat AJ. I get to the final table.
First hand its raised to me and I look down at AA. I massage the pot and the guy commits preflop. He has KQs and flops two Q's. A few hands later I get AA again, this time all in against the bad lady player. She has T8s. Nice. I get up cause I don't want to watch her suck out. Sure enough, when I get back she has made a str8 and I'm short again.
By this time there are 7 players left, and the chip leader says "The call me Mr. Chop- I'm willing to make a deal. How bout I take $1000?" LOL. First place is $1600, 2nd is $870. This guy wants more than 2nd place money with 7 people left. I laugh at him. He inspires me.
I pick up KK and double through him. I pick up AA and knock him out. I pick up QQ and they hold up against the BLP's 72o. We get 3 handed. I call a raise with 67cc. The flop comes 8c9hKc-- I have six million outs twice. The guy pushes. I call. He has no pair and a gutshot???? I pick up a 6 on the turn which is good enough.
I get HU with Randy L. who is really the only player at the FT that I had any respect for and would be willing to chop with. I outchip him a lot and tell him there really isn't any deal that makes sense for him. Despite this, I take $1450 and call it a night. Yee haw. Bring on the WSOP! Whoot!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
WSOP Circuit at Caesar's Vegas
The Nevada State Medical Association was kind enough to schedule their annual dog and pony show at the same time as the WSOP Circuit was in Vegas. Nice. I showed up a day early to play a Venetian $300 Deep Stack event. The Venetian has great tourneys. Their room is spacious, the service excellent, and the structures can't be beat. We had 6000 starting chips with 40 minute levels, and very slowly moving blinds. The tourney I played had about 190 players and I busted out 28th, paying 18. I played very erratic. Some excellent plays and some very bad ones, and I got my money in both bad and good.
Some hands:
I raise UTG with AKs and then 4-bet all in when I get repopped by a fairly aggro player who has me covered. He tanks forever and finally folds. I tangle with him again later when my stack isn't great and I 3-bet him with 99. He eventually calls with AT, which is pretty lame, but given that he folded the earlier hand I sort of expected he wanted to see what I was doing. An ace came in the door and I stood up, only to be saved by a 9 on the turn.
Later that same player raises all-in, and a tight player to my right just calls. The bet is about 5000 or so and the two of us probably have another 10-15K each behind. I have KK and figure pushing here looks like I'm just trying to isolate and he might bite. He tanks and then folds, later telling me he had AK.
I lose all my mojo against the AK player from above-- a shorty limps UTG, it gets folded to the SB who raises. Now, he's been pretty tight I suppose, but the range for this play should be very wide. I have JJ in the BB and I repop. Unfortunately, the SB pushes, and the pot size demands a call-- he had QQ. Meh.
After this hand I got really really short. In fact, I was down to an M of around 2 at one point, open shoving only to have the blinds fold, which was just horrible. Somehow I managed to win quite a few pots and got my stack healthy again. I then 3-bet a guy who really didn't want to fold but managed to. The next hand he raises again and I have JJ and 3-bet him again. This time he pushes. Such a weird spot, given the table dynamics. I just made a play on him the hand before, now I actually have a hand and he defends. Meh. Well, I call and he shows me QQ-- then derides me for "not being able to fold Jacks."
I'm down quite a bit again, and I'm not interested in limping into the money- I want to get healthy and have a real shot at winning. A guy shorter than me in MP opens for 5X the BB, which looks to be about 40% of his stack or so. Its folded to me in the BB with 33, and I think I'm good. He's just too invested at this point to fold though. I call, planning to move in on the flop. The flop comes Ac-5c-5d, and I move in. He calls me with Kc Jc-- (a good call I suppose if he knows my hand) and he catches his flush. Oh well. I bust shortly after.
OK...
The $2080 buy in event had 191 entries, 6000 chips, and 1 hour levels. I draw a table with David Pham to my right. He doesn't play many pots at all for the first level. The table is pretty tight overall, and I chip up playing small pots. I float a lot in position and manage to snag a bunch of chips on the river several times. Nice. First hand when the blinds go to 25-50, I raise in the CO with KTo and get called by the button. Flop comes KcQdTc. I bet 300, he makes it 900. Hmmm. That's pretty yucky. I really should fold with that board but I manage to call. The turn is the Jc. I check-fold to his 600 bet and he shows the AQc for the royal. The table breaks.
I get moved to a table where I don't know anyone, and I win a lot of pots. I don't make any big hands, and I don't really get in any major confrontations-- but I do manage to rake in some key spots. I win about 3000 chips on a hand holding JT on a Q4JTK board, with the villain calling with Q7. I have A9hh and call a raise to see a flop of 679, one heart. The Jh comes on the turn and I reraise all in with a good read and win another 4000 or so. At the end of 4 levels I'm sitting well above average with about 18000 chips and I like my table.
Back from break, I find that my table has been broken. Bummer. I get moved with Men the Master on my left, Chainsaw Kessler on my right, JJ Lieu to his right, Dutch Boyd 3 to my left. Ugh. Dutch busts Kessler with AK>QQ.
With blinds at 100-200/25, I pick up TT UTG and make it 600 to go. I get two callers, with JJ Lieu calling on the button. I flop golden: T-7-4 rainbow. Wow. This is my dream hand. I decide to lead at it and bet 1600. They both call. The turn brings a low club, putting a flush draw out there. I tank a little, and then fire out 5500. The MP player folds, but JJ tanks. She's playing with her chips. The bet will basically commit her as she only has another 2000 or so. I don't look at her. I actually feel like my hand is face up. I mean, I have top set, and its the nuts for now. She must be able to see that. I can see out of the corner of my eye that she's staring at me. I don't look. I look at all the pictures of the pros on the walls of the poker room. Men the master is up there, and there's some women- Annie Duke, Cindy Violette, Jenn Harmon- I don't see JJ up there. Eventually she calls, and groans when she sees my hand. She tables 97cc for middle pair and a flush draw. the river is another 7 and I fill up and bust her. Sweeeeeeeet.
I set mine once against Men. I raise with 33 to 600 and he repops to 1600. Its folded back to me. He's got a big hand here, and if I hit a 3 I'm pretty sure I will stack him. I call. I miss. I check-fold and he flashes me bullets. Its a good play.
Before dinner, Dutch and this young guy get involved in a pot. I don't remember the preflop action, but the flop comes 9-9-3 and Dutch checks. Kid bets 2000. Dutch tanks, starring aimlessly forward in a trancelike state, and then methodically calls. The turn is another 9 and Dutch checks again. The scene repeats as the kid bets 4000 and the same show is displayed as Dutch tanks, trances, and calls. The river was a 7 and now Dutch tanks, trances, and pushes. Wow. From my seat it looks like a value bet. The kid thinks so also and mucks, later telling me he had Jacks. We go to dinner and Dutch is behind me in the food line. "What did you do in that last hand with those 9's out there?-- check-call, check-call, push??" "Yeah, pretty tricky, huh?"
After dinner, Dutch limps UTG and the kid limps behind him. There is then a raise from a small stack and Men calls the raise. Dutch then pushes. Kid then pushes. Shorty folds. Men shows JJ and folds. Dutch has AK and has trapped himself behind the kids KK. The Kings hold up and Dutch is out. The kid does a little fist pump-- for some reason this looks mandatory when you trap and then bust Dutch Boyd. nh sir.
I get up to about 28000 and get moved. I go card dead. Bleh. I then make "the big mistake", which results in me losing my mojo and is the turning point in the tourney. With blinds at 200-400/50 I'm in the BB with 8h8s. It get folded to the cutoff, a player named Richard who I shared a cash game table with the night before. (Edit: It turns out that I google him and he is the CEO of the exotic car dealership in the Caesars forum shops- what a frickin phat gig) He knows what he's doing. He raises to 1200. I have about 20000 or so at this point. It seems like a good spot to 3-bet, so I make it 4000. He thinks just a little and calls. Bad result. The flop is OK: T-6-7 with 2 diamonds. I don't see how I can I check here. I bet 5000. He calls. Damn. So now I'm in for about half my stack, out of position with a marginal hand against a good player showing strength. How great is that. On top of that, even if I hit my set now I might not be good to a flush or str8. Its just plain ugly. The turn is the Jd and I can't find the strength to donk-push another barrel. I check and he checks behind. The river comes the Kd, putting 4d on the board. Fuck. I have to take a look at my hand again. Nope, no diamond. So there are now a million hands that beat me, he has enough chips to call a "value" bet from me here-- even if I push he's getting almost 3-1 on the call. Just frickin miserable. I check. He checks. I turn over my hand and say "there is no way these can be good" and he tables black ATo for TPTK on the flop. Men the Master is at this table also now and he remarks "there is no way he thought he was good either" True that, and maybe a turn or river push would have taken it down. I don't know, but now I'm short.
I get moved again- this time to the left of Shannon Shorr. Jon Little joins the table a little later. Shannon is really short- he's nursing a stack of about 3K. I have about 8K, and blinds are 300-600/75. I win a couple pots when I repop with AK and don't get called. I repop later with JJ and a guy lays down 99. Dang- that would have been a good spot to double up. Blinds go to 400-800/100 and I get moved again. Tim West at my table. Richard from before as well. Some huge stacks. I'm floating between 9-12 BB's for the most part. I feel like I have a great resteal stack, but the three guys to my right are all probably 2+2er's or P5er's and will see that for what it is. So I need a hand. I get AK, open push and pick up the blinds and antes. It helps. We are down to 37 players, 18 get paid, first place is $102K. I get JJ utg and ponder my options. I raise to 2500 and plan on calling a reraise. It gets folded to the BB who ponders and puts me in. OK, I call. He shows 44 which is just awesome. Until he flops a set and my day is over.
Standard.
Some hands:
I raise UTG with AKs and then 4-bet all in when I get repopped by a fairly aggro player who has me covered. He tanks forever and finally folds. I tangle with him again later when my stack isn't great and I 3-bet him with 99. He eventually calls with AT, which is pretty lame, but given that he folded the earlier hand I sort of expected he wanted to see what I was doing. An ace came in the door and I stood up, only to be saved by a 9 on the turn.
Later that same player raises all-in, and a tight player to my right just calls. The bet is about 5000 or so and the two of us probably have another 10-15K each behind. I have KK and figure pushing here looks like I'm just trying to isolate and he might bite. He tanks and then folds, later telling me he had AK.
I lose all my mojo against the AK player from above-- a shorty limps UTG, it gets folded to the SB who raises. Now, he's been pretty tight I suppose, but the range for this play should be very wide. I have JJ in the BB and I repop. Unfortunately, the SB pushes, and the pot size demands a call-- he had QQ. Meh.
After this hand I got really really short. In fact, I was down to an M of around 2 at one point, open shoving only to have the blinds fold, which was just horrible. Somehow I managed to win quite a few pots and got my stack healthy again. I then 3-bet a guy who really didn't want to fold but managed to. The next hand he raises again and I have JJ and 3-bet him again. This time he pushes. Such a weird spot, given the table dynamics. I just made a play on him the hand before, now I actually have a hand and he defends. Meh. Well, I call and he shows me QQ-- then derides me for "not being able to fold Jacks."
I'm down quite a bit again, and I'm not interested in limping into the money- I want to get healthy and have a real shot at winning. A guy shorter than me in MP opens for 5X the BB, which looks to be about 40% of his stack or so. Its folded to me in the BB with 33, and I think I'm good. He's just too invested at this point to fold though. I call, planning to move in on the flop. The flop comes Ac-5c-5d, and I move in. He calls me with Kc Jc-- (a good call I suppose if he knows my hand) and he catches his flush. Oh well. I bust shortly after.
OK...
The $2080 buy in event had 191 entries, 6000 chips, and 1 hour levels. I draw a table with David Pham to my right. He doesn't play many pots at all for the first level. The table is pretty tight overall, and I chip up playing small pots. I float a lot in position and manage to snag a bunch of chips on the river several times. Nice. First hand when the blinds go to 25-50, I raise in the CO with KTo and get called by the button. Flop comes KcQdTc. I bet 300, he makes it 900. Hmmm. That's pretty yucky. I really should fold with that board but I manage to call. The turn is the Jc. I check-fold to his 600 bet and he shows the AQc for the royal. The table breaks.
I get moved to a table where I don't know anyone, and I win a lot of pots. I don't make any big hands, and I don't really get in any major confrontations-- but I do manage to rake in some key spots. I win about 3000 chips on a hand holding JT on a Q4JTK board, with the villain calling with Q7. I have A9hh and call a raise to see a flop of 679, one heart. The Jh comes on the turn and I reraise all in with a good read and win another 4000 or so. At the end of 4 levels I'm sitting well above average with about 18000 chips and I like my table.
Back from break, I find that my table has been broken. Bummer. I get moved with Men the Master on my left, Chainsaw Kessler on my right, JJ Lieu to his right, Dutch Boyd 3 to my left. Ugh. Dutch busts Kessler with AK>QQ.
With blinds at 100-200/25, I pick up TT UTG and make it 600 to go. I get two callers, with JJ Lieu calling on the button. I flop golden: T-7-4 rainbow. Wow. This is my dream hand. I decide to lead at it and bet 1600. They both call. The turn brings a low club, putting a flush draw out there. I tank a little, and then fire out 5500. The MP player folds, but JJ tanks. She's playing with her chips. The bet will basically commit her as she only has another 2000 or so. I don't look at her. I actually feel like my hand is face up. I mean, I have top set, and its the nuts for now. She must be able to see that. I can see out of the corner of my eye that she's staring at me. I don't look. I look at all the pictures of the pros on the walls of the poker room. Men the master is up there, and there's some women- Annie Duke, Cindy Violette, Jenn Harmon- I don't see JJ up there. Eventually she calls, and groans when she sees my hand. She tables 97cc for middle pair and a flush draw. the river is another 7 and I fill up and bust her. Sweeeeeeeet.
I set mine once against Men. I raise with 33 to 600 and he repops to 1600. Its folded back to me. He's got a big hand here, and if I hit a 3 I'm pretty sure I will stack him. I call. I miss. I check-fold and he flashes me bullets. Its a good play.
Before dinner, Dutch and this young guy get involved in a pot. I don't remember the preflop action, but the flop comes 9-9-3 and Dutch checks. Kid bets 2000. Dutch tanks, starring aimlessly forward in a trancelike state, and then methodically calls. The turn is another 9 and Dutch checks again. The scene repeats as the kid bets 4000 and the same show is displayed as Dutch tanks, trances, and calls. The river was a 7 and now Dutch tanks, trances, and pushes. Wow. From my seat it looks like a value bet. The kid thinks so also and mucks, later telling me he had Jacks. We go to dinner and Dutch is behind me in the food line. "What did you do in that last hand with those 9's out there?-- check-call, check-call, push??" "Yeah, pretty tricky, huh?"
After dinner, Dutch limps UTG and the kid limps behind him. There is then a raise from a small stack and Men calls the raise. Dutch then pushes. Kid then pushes. Shorty folds. Men shows JJ and folds. Dutch has AK and has trapped himself behind the kids KK. The Kings hold up and Dutch is out. The kid does a little fist pump-- for some reason this looks mandatory when you trap and then bust Dutch Boyd. nh sir.
I get up to about 28000 and get moved. I go card dead. Bleh. I then make "the big mistake", which results in me losing my mojo and is the turning point in the tourney. With blinds at 200-400/50 I'm in the BB with 8h8s. It get folded to the cutoff, a player named Richard who I shared a cash game table with the night before. (Edit: It turns out that I google him and he is the CEO of the exotic car dealership in the Caesars forum shops- what a frickin phat gig) He knows what he's doing. He raises to 1200. I have about 20000 or so at this point. It seems like a good spot to 3-bet, so I make it 4000. He thinks just a little and calls. Bad result. The flop is OK: T-6-7 with 2 diamonds. I don't see how I can I check here. I bet 5000. He calls. Damn. So now I'm in for about half my stack, out of position with a marginal hand against a good player showing strength. How great is that. On top of that, even if I hit my set now I might not be good to a flush or str8. Its just plain ugly. The turn is the Jd and I can't find the strength to donk-push another barrel. I check and he checks behind. The river comes the Kd, putting 4d on the board. Fuck. I have to take a look at my hand again. Nope, no diamond. So there are now a million hands that beat me, he has enough chips to call a "value" bet from me here-- even if I push he's getting almost 3-1 on the call. Just frickin miserable. I check. He checks. I turn over my hand and say "there is no way these can be good" and he tables black ATo for TPTK on the flop. Men the Master is at this table also now and he remarks "there is no way he thought he was good either" True that, and maybe a turn or river push would have taken it down. I don't know, but now I'm short.
I get moved again- this time to the left of Shannon Shorr. Jon Little joins the table a little later. Shannon is really short- he's nursing a stack of about 3K. I have about 8K, and blinds are 300-600/75. I win a couple pots when I repop with AK and don't get called. I repop later with JJ and a guy lays down 99. Dang- that would have been a good spot to double up. Blinds go to 400-800/100 and I get moved again. Tim West at my table. Richard from before as well. Some huge stacks. I'm floating between 9-12 BB's for the most part. I feel like I have a great resteal stack, but the three guys to my right are all probably 2+2er's or P5er's and will see that for what it is. So I need a hand. I get AK, open push and pick up the blinds and antes. It helps. We are down to 37 players, 18 get paid, first place is $102K. I get JJ utg and ponder my options. I raise to 2500 and plan on calling a reraise. It gets folded to the BB who ponders and puts me in. OK, I call. He shows 44 which is just awesome. Until he flops a set and my day is over.
Standard.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Getting close online
Online poker is probably a very good exercise for me. The game of course requires much patience, both live and online, but sitting in your bathrobe on a Sunday staring at the screen for hours and hours is sometimes much more challenging. Yesterday, while slogging through the Sunday Million, i did 4 loads of laundry, watched two great NCAA games, made some business related phone calls, and tried to fix my oven.
One would imagine it might be more profitable to just play poker?
And of course the whole "psych up" thing about live poker is there. I got really "up" for Reno because its only once a year. I have a chance at over $200K every Sunday, and usually at least twice on Sundays.
So yesterday I started out in a FTP $40,000 guarantee tourney, around 700 entries, with about $25K to first. I'm doing very well, go deep, and make a reraise all in with pocket tens on the final table bubble. The monkey who tanks and eventually calls has 97 of clubs. Wow. I should just stove that real quick..... hold on.....yeah, that is what I thought. I got my money in as an 81% favorite. I was still 77% on the flop, but running clubs ended my tourney in 10th and I got about $1000 for my time.
Then I play the Million. This week its a $1000 buy in, which reduces the field quite a bit. There are only 1900 entries or so, compared with the usual 7000 when its a $200 buy in. Last week I had a lot of chips, around 90,000 when I tried a silly bluff against Isabelle Merceir and got broke. This week I run pretty well and go deep. Still can't make it to the really big payday though- (18th and higher got 5 digits, first prize was over $366,000!!) But I end up 59th for $4200 or so. There is always next week.....
One would imagine it might be more profitable to just play poker?
And of course the whole "psych up" thing about live poker is there. I got really "up" for Reno because its only once a year. I have a chance at over $200K every Sunday, and usually at least twice on Sundays.
So yesterday I started out in a FTP $40,000 guarantee tourney, around 700 entries, with about $25K to first. I'm doing very well, go deep, and make a reraise all in with pocket tens on the final table bubble. The monkey who tanks and eventually calls has 97 of clubs. Wow. I should just stove that real quick..... hold on.....yeah, that is what I thought. I got my money in as an 81% favorite. I was still 77% on the flop, but running clubs ended my tourney in 10th and I got about $1000 for my time.
Then I play the Million. This week its a $1000 buy in, which reduces the field quite a bit. There are only 1900 entries or so, compared with the usual 7000 when its a $200 buy in. Last week I had a lot of chips, around 90,000 when I tried a silly bluff against Isabelle Merceir and got broke. This week I run pretty well and go deep. Still can't make it to the really big payday though- (18th and higher got 5 digits, first prize was over $366,000!!) But I end up 59th for $4200 or so. There is always next week.....
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
I'm so out!
LOL.
They got 260 entries, way down from previous years. We start with 15K in chips with 75 min levels. I sit in the 6 seat to see TJ Cloutier in the 7. John Juanda sits in the 9. Men the Master is in the 1, and Kathy Liebert is in the 2. The other 4 I don't know, but the guy in the 5 seat is a Canadian kid who acknowledges he is the sucker at the table. OK, I thought that was me, but if he thinks its him, then OK.
25 min in and I'm dealt pocket Kings in the SB. The UTG player opens for 250. Its the first pot he's played. I may have taken a small pot down prior to this. Its folded to me and I make it 750. TJ folds. UTG puts in a pink 1K chip, and at first I thought he was reraising but it was only a call. The flop comes three little cards with 2 clubs. Nice. No ace. Before I can consider my action, the UTG player puts two pinks in (2K). Hmmmm. WTF? That sucks. OK, well he can still easily have something between 99 and QQ. I decide I'll check-raise. I check, he puts in the 2K and I make it 6K and he instacalls. Uh oh. The turn is a Q. I have a pot sized bet left. So my choices here are check-fold, check-call or push. UTG sure doesn't look like he's going anywhere. There is no way he has AK or AQ here. And there is no way he played JJ like this either. No frickin way. So I'm not beating anything now. I check, he pushes, I muck face-up and Juanda says "Damn- give me those Kings!" lol. If the guy didn't have AA he did a helluva job convincing me that he did. The guy basically didn't play anything after that, so he was either planning an elaborate move early to get chips (doubtful) or he was a big-ball player who coolered me (more likely)
Oh yeah. Juanda goes out like this: He raises in late position, like he has most pots. Canuck calls him from BB. Flop comes 5-6-7 with two spades. Now the fireworks-- Kid bets, Juanda raises, Kid repops, Juanda pushes. Kid calls him with 54o! Wow. He's got bottom pair and a str8 draw. Juanda turns over 9Tss for the flush draw, gutshot str8 draw and two overcards. I didn't expect to see either of these hands. Sick. Juanda catches a 9 on the turn, but Canuck makes two pair with a 4 on the river and busts Juanda. Send him a Full Tilt T-shirt!
Now it sucks, cause I have half of what I started with. Meh. I play some pots, limping when possibly, playing small pairs trying to flop a set. None come. I'll call a small raise in a multi-way pot with suited connectors but they don't hit either. So I chip down. Bleh. In fact, I chip down to near 5K in chips, which is enough to repop nicely when someone raises to 750 or after a couple limpers. Before the break I raise the button to 300 with AKs, TJ makes it 850 and I push. He folds.
At 75-150 there are 2 limpers to me. Again I have AKs and I make it 700. I have another 5200 or so behind. Its folded to the first limper and he reraises another 2K. Folded to me. Ugh. I don't really think about it enough I guess, because all I'm thinking is that if I get in a race to double up I'm stoked at this point. I don't want to sit here for 14 hours milking a short stack. That just blows. So I push. Right into his fuckin Aces.
This leaves me a nice 1100 stack. Kathy opens to 5, gets a caller and I push with red tens. They both call. Why she can't repop him for me I dunno. Flop comes K-high and he bets her off it with his AK which is good and I'm done.
Worst table draw ever for sure, and I got badly coolered on the KK hand. Still, it feels like I won $7K since I didn't lay the cash down to buy in....
They got 260 entries, way down from previous years. We start with 15K in chips with 75 min levels. I sit in the 6 seat to see TJ Cloutier in the 7. John Juanda sits in the 9. Men the Master is in the 1, and Kathy Liebert is in the 2. The other 4 I don't know, but the guy in the 5 seat is a Canadian kid who acknowledges he is the sucker at the table. OK, I thought that was me, but if he thinks its him, then OK.
25 min in and I'm dealt pocket Kings in the SB. The UTG player opens for 250. Its the first pot he's played. I may have taken a small pot down prior to this. Its folded to me and I make it 750. TJ folds. UTG puts in a pink 1K chip, and at first I thought he was reraising but it was only a call. The flop comes three little cards with 2 clubs. Nice. No ace. Before I can consider my action, the UTG player puts two pinks in (2K). Hmmmm. WTF? That sucks. OK, well he can still easily have something between 99 and QQ. I decide I'll check-raise. I check, he puts in the 2K and I make it 6K and he instacalls. Uh oh. The turn is a Q. I have a pot sized bet left. So my choices here are check-fold, check-call or push. UTG sure doesn't look like he's going anywhere. There is no way he has AK or AQ here. And there is no way he played JJ like this either. No frickin way. So I'm not beating anything now. I check, he pushes, I muck face-up and Juanda says "Damn- give me those Kings!" lol. If the guy didn't have AA he did a helluva job convincing me that he did. The guy basically didn't play anything after that, so he was either planning an elaborate move early to get chips (doubtful) or he was a big-ball player who coolered me (more likely)
Oh yeah. Juanda goes out like this: He raises in late position, like he has most pots. Canuck calls him from BB. Flop comes 5-6-7 with two spades. Now the fireworks-- Kid bets, Juanda raises, Kid repops, Juanda pushes. Kid calls him with 54o! Wow. He's got bottom pair and a str8 draw. Juanda turns over 9Tss for the flush draw, gutshot str8 draw and two overcards. I didn't expect to see either of these hands. Sick. Juanda catches a 9 on the turn, but Canuck makes two pair with a 4 on the river and busts Juanda. Send him a Full Tilt T-shirt!
Now it sucks, cause I have half of what I started with. Meh. I play some pots, limping when possibly, playing small pairs trying to flop a set. None come. I'll call a small raise in a multi-way pot with suited connectors but they don't hit either. So I chip down. Bleh. In fact, I chip down to near 5K in chips, which is enough to repop nicely when someone raises to 750 or after a couple limpers. Before the break I raise the button to 300 with AKs, TJ makes it 850 and I push. He folds.
At 75-150 there are 2 limpers to me. Again I have AKs and I make it 700. I have another 5200 or so behind. Its folded to the first limper and he reraises another 2K. Folded to me. Ugh. I don't really think about it enough I guess, because all I'm thinking is that if I get in a race to double up I'm stoked at this point. I don't want to sit here for 14 hours milking a short stack. That just blows. So I push. Right into his fuckin Aces.
This leaves me a nice 1100 stack. Kathy opens to 5, gets a caller and I push with red tens. They both call. Why she can't repop him for me I dunno. Flop comes K-high and he bets her off it with his AK which is good and I'm done.
Worst table draw ever for sure, and I got badly coolered on the KK hand. Still, it feels like I won $7K since I didn't lay the cash down to buy in....
I'm IN!
whoo hoo and double fist pump! took down a 148 entry satellite with 13 seats. gets hairy at then end of these things, but some short stacks obliged the rest of us by playing their hands.
sweat me on card player.com- I'm feeling good about how I'm playing and lets see how far it goes!
sweat me on card player.com- I'm feeling good about how I'm playing and lets see how far it goes!
Monday, March 24, 2008
The last Reno WPT
starts tomorrow. I'm still not sure if I'm playing. I have a nice phat wad of 77 benjamins ready to throw down, but the way I have been running/playing/thinking/donking it seems like a pretty thin EV situation. That and the fact that the fields this past week have been very tough.
I've been thinking about how an amateur player has any chance to compete with these fields anymore. The challenges of online poker have caused a contraction of the universe of players so that when I sit at an online tourney table I recognize several names every time. These are people who grind for a living, playing >10 hours daily and who have amassed hundreds of thousands of hands of experience-- how can i realistically expect to compete with that? The thing is that even with all that experience, the edges remain small. Winning a race once in a while would also be helpful.
I've played this tourney 4 times. Previously its been a $5100 entry. In 2004 I went out very early. I was a superfish, highly intimidated by the field, and I called off all my chips with top pair with QJ to a guy who had flopped a set of nines. I almost rivered a flush, but ended up making an exit after only about 2 1/2 hours of play.
In 2005 I made a big run, headed into day 2 as one of the chip leaders, and getting into the money and into day 3. Played with Phil Ivey on that third day and got all my chips in with TT to be called by AQ. Flop came with two Queens, so it was not to be my day. Barry Greenstein eventually busted my A5s with QT.
2006 brough Hassan Habib to my first table and he just bulldozed the rest of us. After half a day's play I found myself with AQ on a Q high flop and lost all my chips to a well-disguised KK.
2007 started off fairly well. Phil Laak and Mike Simon were at my first table. Made it to the dinner break, but was fairly short. Kirk Morrison rivered an ace with his AT against my all in 77 and that was that.
The opportunities to satellite into this tourney this year have decreased. There is a mega-sat tourney today that I might give a whirl. Failing that, I'll have a talk with Mr. Franklin from the bank and see where he is best placed.
I've been thinking about how an amateur player has any chance to compete with these fields anymore. The challenges of online poker have caused a contraction of the universe of players so that when I sit at an online tourney table I recognize several names every time. These are people who grind for a living, playing >10 hours daily and who have amassed hundreds of thousands of hands of experience-- how can i realistically expect to compete with that? The thing is that even with all that experience, the edges remain small. Winning a race once in a while would also be helpful.
I've played this tourney 4 times. Previously its been a $5100 entry. In 2004 I went out very early. I was a superfish, highly intimidated by the field, and I called off all my chips with top pair with QJ to a guy who had flopped a set of nines. I almost rivered a flush, but ended up making an exit after only about 2 1/2 hours of play.
In 2005 I made a big run, headed into day 2 as one of the chip leaders, and getting into the money and into day 3. Played with Phil Ivey on that third day and got all my chips in with TT to be called by AQ. Flop came with two Queens, so it was not to be my day. Barry Greenstein eventually busted my A5s with QT.
2006 brough Hassan Habib to my first table and he just bulldozed the rest of us. After half a day's play I found myself with AQ on a Q high flop and lost all my chips to a well-disguised KK.
2007 started off fairly well. Phil Laak and Mike Simon were at my first table. Made it to the dinner break, but was fairly short. Kirk Morrison rivered an ace with his AT against my all in 77 and that was that.
The opportunities to satellite into this tourney this year have decreased. There is a mega-sat tourney today that I might give a whirl. Failing that, I'll have a talk with Mr. Franklin from the bank and see where he is best placed.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Grand Sierra $1000 NL
Long time no post. Didn't think anyone was reading!
This is the first of the >$1000 tourneys at the Grand Sierra (formerly Reno Hilton) as part of the WPT World Poker Challenge. I've played the main event the past four years, and this year is reportedly the last they will play in Reno. I'd like to play the big tourney, but they also increased the buy in to $7700 (from $5150) making it more difficult to satellite in.
129 players, 6000 starting chips, 40 min levels
The blind structure kinda sucks- it goes up way too fast early on, forcing the players to accumulate or get short stacked. I have decided to play tight today, avoiding speculative hands most of the time, and definitely not making any plays until necessary.
Early on, I get AKdd in the BB and the pot is raised to 225 by MP and the button calls. I call. I flop just about as good as I can do with the 2-3-4 all diamonds showing up. I check. The raiser bets 300, the caller raises to 650, and I think it must be Christmas. Wow. Well, both players are interested, I have the nuts, and my hand can really only get worse (unless the 5d comes) I decide to raise to 1400, and the first player folds, but the button calls. Turn is a complete blank. Now what? Since I have both the Ace and King of diamonds, it would make a good story to this guy that I'm drawing at a flush. I convince myself that he flopped a set, and he really doesn't want another diamond to come off. Given this line, I figure that either a paired board or another diamond will kill my action, so I should bet again. I bet 2500. He tanks for about 5 minutes, and then folds the 5d 7d face up. Wow. How on earth did he get away from that?
Later I have 33 in the blind and flop a set, turn a boat and take a nice pot. By the first break I have 12000 chips. Nice.
I find an older guy to pick on. He's playing pretty weak-tight and I'm able to take him off a couple hands with reraises.
I get moved. I'm now in the 9 seat with Bryan Devonshire in the 7, Tom Franklin in the 8, and Tuna in the 1. Yuck. The table is way more aggro and its hard to find spots. Devo raises all the time. I chip up and down and eventually find myself in MP with 88. With blinds at 200-400/50 I make it 1100. The BB, who has a big stack, reraises to 3500 and I instapush for another 5200 or so. He tanks, and eventually calls with AK and I skate and double up.
I raise with A9o and have to dump to a reraise.
Blinds go up to 500-1000/100 and I have only 12000 chips. There are 38 players left, paying 18, and I must make a move. Fold all my junk, and when Devo pushes from the button and I see AK I call. He has A8, and I find that he barely covers me when he flops an 8 and my day is done. Tomorrow is a $1500....
This is the first of the >$1000 tourneys at the Grand Sierra (formerly Reno Hilton) as part of the WPT World Poker Challenge. I've played the main event the past four years, and this year is reportedly the last they will play in Reno. I'd like to play the big tourney, but they also increased the buy in to $7700 (from $5150) making it more difficult to satellite in.
129 players, 6000 starting chips, 40 min levels
The blind structure kinda sucks- it goes up way too fast early on, forcing the players to accumulate or get short stacked. I have decided to play tight today, avoiding speculative hands most of the time, and definitely not making any plays until necessary.
Early on, I get AKdd in the BB and the pot is raised to 225 by MP and the button calls. I call. I flop just about as good as I can do with the 2-3-4 all diamonds showing up. I check. The raiser bets 300, the caller raises to 650, and I think it must be Christmas. Wow. Well, both players are interested, I have the nuts, and my hand can really only get worse (unless the 5d comes) I decide to raise to 1400, and the first player folds, but the button calls. Turn is a complete blank. Now what? Since I have both the Ace and King of diamonds, it would make a good story to this guy that I'm drawing at a flush. I convince myself that he flopped a set, and he really doesn't want another diamond to come off. Given this line, I figure that either a paired board or another diamond will kill my action, so I should bet again. I bet 2500. He tanks for about 5 minutes, and then folds the 5d 7d face up. Wow. How on earth did he get away from that?
Later I have 33 in the blind and flop a set, turn a boat and take a nice pot. By the first break I have 12000 chips. Nice.
I find an older guy to pick on. He's playing pretty weak-tight and I'm able to take him off a couple hands with reraises.
I get moved. I'm now in the 9 seat with Bryan Devonshire in the 7, Tom Franklin in the 8, and Tuna in the 1. Yuck. The table is way more aggro and its hard to find spots. Devo raises all the time. I chip up and down and eventually find myself in MP with 88. With blinds at 200-400/50 I make it 1100. The BB, who has a big stack, reraises to 3500 and I instapush for another 5200 or so. He tanks, and eventually calls with AK and I skate and double up.
I raise with A9o and have to dump to a reraise.
Blinds go up to 500-1000/100 and I have only 12000 chips. There are 38 players left, paying 18, and I must make a move. Fold all my junk, and when Devo pushes from the button and I see AK I call. He has A8, and I find that he barely covers me when he flops an 8 and my day is done. Tomorrow is a $1500....
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.
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