I guess it's time for my monthly poker post. I certainly hope to revitalize this blog, once I get the time to decide what topics I'd like to focus writing about in this space. For now, a mildly interesting poker hand history will have to suffice in the interim.
I recently began dabbling in microstakes mixed games online, as I haven't had much time recently to hit the local cardrooms for any live play. So far, the results have been very good even though the profits are trifling in magnitude. I've enjoyed experimenting with alternate strategies and practicing hand reading fundamentals against a lot of really bad players.
I decided to get tricky here with a premium hand. Comments? (For all four of you LHE enthusiasts still reading this blog, do you think the line I took here was good exploitive play against an unsophisticated villain (it certainly wasn't optimal!), or was it a fancy play which I should purge from my arsenal?
Edit: Bonus material
Hand #2 (pure brag):
I wish this hand had been at higher stakes! It's nice to get paid off on the proper side of a cooler for a change.
Showing posts with label limit hold'em. Show all posts
Showing posts with label limit hold'em. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Back to basics: minimizing your losses
I didn't manage that today. I could try to come up with original content, but why bother when someone else has already summarized what happens when you can't win a pot at a good LHE table? Like him, I won precisely one pot at showdown in approximately five hours, even though I flopped some very big made hands and draws. I made a couple of crying river calls, but I don't believe I made any significant errors all night.
Best decision of the night? Quitting when I hit my stop-loss (for only the second time in my poker career), rather than reach into my wallet (even though the game was still excellent). Rules are rules and I needed to get out of there and fight another day. The game will still be there tomorrow.
Piaf said it best: Non, je ne regrette rien!
Best decision of the night? Quitting when I hit my stop-loss (for only the second time in my poker career), rather than reach into my wallet (even though the game was still excellent). Rules are rules and I needed to get out of there and fight another day. The game will still be there tomorrow.
Piaf said it best: Non, je ne regrette rien!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Back to basics: maximizing your wins
I've been working on incorporating thinner value bets on the river in my game during the past month or so in my regular LHE play at my local cardroom with the stated goal of maximizing my true winrate -- although, this increases your variance, which is a consequence one must learn to cope with. This guy's last couple of blog posts gave me a prod in posting a few thoughts about this concept, since optimal play on the big-bet streets in LHE is every bit as important as it is in PLO or NLHE. Delving into these psychological issues is, I think, a key improvement to make once you have reached a certain plateau and are looking for ways to grow one's poker game to a new, higher level. If your "A-Game" can become even better, and you master ways to play your best game more often, you should see better results in the long run.
Here is a recent example from my regular game where I think I clearly wussed out and missed out on significant value. After I raked in the pot, I forced myself to sit out for an orbit as I mulled over the mistakes I had made and refocussed for the remainder of my session.
I found myself on the button with AcKc. Naturally, I put in a re-raise to three bets when given the opportunity, as a player in late position had put in a raise over a couple of limpers. The small blind, a middle-aged Asian woman who was lighting money on fire that night, although she is probably a small long-term winner in the game from what I've seen, called three bets cold and five players saw the flop (with about 8 big bets already in the middle). The beauty of this situation is that I had well over my fair share of pot equity; with a lot of dead money involved, I was in a good spot with position and a premium hand.
The flop came down KQJ with two hearts (and one club, for a backdoor nut flush draw). It was checked to me, I bet, the small blind check-raised and the original preflop raiser called two bets cold. I overcalled. The three of us saw the turn, which was an offsuit jack. She led out, the other player called, and I overcalled, even though I strongly suspected (due to past experience with these players and some fairly reliable tells) that I had the best hand. Consequently, it follows that I missed a raise for value against the range of hands my two opponents were playing, and I failed to charge all the drawing hands and worse made hands to outdraw me. This was a major error, to my mind. If I had been re-raised, I could safely throw AK away (I don't think either of the two players I was tussling with was capable of 3-betting a worse hand than mine); if I trusted my read at the time, I should follow through and attempt to maximize my equity whilst making a strong play with the benefit of position.
The river blanked and it was checked around. Again, I arguably missed a value bet, even though the board was scary. Why should I expect these players to check better hands than mine in this situation? Answer: I shouldn't, so I should bet for value and strongly consider bet-folding if I were check-raised on the end.
As it turned out, the small blind showed KhTh for missed straight and flush draws and the other player mucked, claiming to have held KTo. I played the river horribly, I think - nearly as badly as I misplayed the turn. Heck, you could even argue that I should have 3bet the flop (although the small blind would have been justified in capping it against me).
Comments on the larger issues are welcome, as well as duly-earned criticisms on how I butchered this hand.
As an aside, happily my local cardroom is regularly getting a 10-20 LHE game going Fri-Sun. I should be regularly playing in this game very soon and hopefully will be able to report back with some interesting hands during the next few months. The 5/5 PLO game still goes regularly and is good but I don't feel the time is right to take shots at that game, mostly due to expected variance issues given the fact that I am not properly rolled for it yet and would prefer not to have to rebuild my BR if I went on a string of losing five buyins.
Here is a recent example from my regular game where I think I clearly wussed out and missed out on significant value. After I raked in the pot, I forced myself to sit out for an orbit as I mulled over the mistakes I had made and refocussed for the remainder of my session.
I found myself on the button with AcKc. Naturally, I put in a re-raise to three bets when given the opportunity, as a player in late position had put in a raise over a couple of limpers. The small blind, a middle-aged Asian woman who was lighting money on fire that night, although she is probably a small long-term winner in the game from what I've seen, called three bets cold and five players saw the flop (with about 8 big bets already in the middle). The beauty of this situation is that I had well over my fair share of pot equity; with a lot of dead money involved, I was in a good spot with position and a premium hand.
The flop came down KQJ with two hearts (and one club, for a backdoor nut flush draw). It was checked to me, I bet, the small blind check-raised and the original preflop raiser called two bets cold. I overcalled. The three of us saw the turn, which was an offsuit jack. She led out, the other player called, and I overcalled, even though I strongly suspected (due to past experience with these players and some fairly reliable tells) that I had the best hand. Consequently, it follows that I missed a raise for value against the range of hands my two opponents were playing, and I failed to charge all the drawing hands and worse made hands to outdraw me. This was a major error, to my mind. If I had been re-raised, I could safely throw AK away (I don't think either of the two players I was tussling with was capable of 3-betting a worse hand than mine); if I trusted my read at the time, I should follow through and attempt to maximize my equity whilst making a strong play with the benefit of position.
The river blanked and it was checked around. Again, I arguably missed a value bet, even though the board was scary. Why should I expect these players to check better hands than mine in this situation? Answer: I shouldn't, so I should bet for value and strongly consider bet-folding if I were check-raised on the end.
As it turned out, the small blind showed KhTh for missed straight and flush draws and the other player mucked, claiming to have held KTo. I played the river horribly, I think - nearly as badly as I misplayed the turn. Heck, you could even argue that I should have 3bet the flop (although the small blind would have been justified in capping it against me).
Comments on the larger issues are welcome, as well as duly-earned criticisms on how I butchered this hand.
As an aside, happily my local cardroom is regularly getting a 10-20 LHE game going Fri-Sun. I should be regularly playing in this game very soon and hopefully will be able to report back with some interesting hands during the next few months. The 5/5 PLO game still goes regularly and is good but I don't feel the time is right to take shots at that game, mostly due to expected variance issues given the fact that I am not properly rolled for it yet and would prefer not to have to rebuild my BR if I went on a string of losing five buyins.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
March of the Queens
It's been a long time since I posted an interesting poker hand for discussion. I was involved in such a hand a week ago that might generate some good arguments ... not that many of you play live limit hold'em cash games, but here goes ...
Last Saturday night, I found myself at my regular live 4/8 LHE kill game -- in fact, this hand took place during the session I mentioned in my previous post. I am up for the session and have consistently shown down winners. I have noticed that some of the players have begun to realize that when I raise preflop, I usually have a premium hand. The table is the usual mix of loose players who will play any two cards preflop. Postflop the play becomes a bit more aggressive, but not significantly so.
In this particular hand, the UTG player limps in. He is an older player who is the epitome of the table. LAG preflop, TAG postflop, calling station when on the draw: very exploitable; I will always know where I stand. He pays off more than most with second best hands because he hates to be bluffed. I paid him off earlier with AA when he flopped a small set; I got my revenge soon afterwards by extracting maximum value in a kill pot with TPTK (where I held AQo in the big blind *with the kill* but I didn't re-raise preflop; the flop came queen-high with a flush draw and he called my turn check-raise and river value bet with worse). Four other players limp in and I look down at my cards and see QQ.
Because of my table image and innate dislike for being out of position, I check my option (there are sound arguments for raising here with a preflop equity edge, to be sure).
The flop comes down with a rainbow board of J98. The pot contains five small bets.
I check, looking for clues on how to proceed from the actions of my opponents. Depending what happens behind me, I was definitely planning to check-raise. Somewhat to my surprise given this dynamic flop, it is checked around. Before seeing the turn, I quickly formulate a plan of leading out almost 100% of the time.
The flop brings a very interesting card, a queen (no backdoor flush draws have materialized). So I've improved to top set in a very small pot, and it's reasonable to suppose that one of my four opponents might very well have improved to a straight. I decide to execute my plan and lead out, but this is a close decision. The UTG player immediately raises. I decide that if it's folded around to me I should reluctantly fold the river unimproved, because I think my opponent is never bluffing here (given my read of the situation, this is a fairly easy laydown but I'm not in the habit of regularly folding top set before seeing all five board cards). However, a third player calls two bets cold, throwing a new wrinkle into this situation, and I opt to close the action with a trivially easy call. The pot is now 8.5 big bets.
The river is a jack, giving me the overfull. I lead out hoping that I will get raised by my left-hand opponent, but the UTG player pauses for a few seconds and only calls, the third player folds, and I drag the 10.5 BB pot.
Comments on how this hand was played on every street are welcome. What, since folding is not a palatable decision at any point, would you do differently to maximize your positive expectation in this situation and others like it?
Last Saturday night, I found myself at my regular live 4/8 LHE kill game -- in fact, this hand took place during the session I mentioned in my previous post. I am up for the session and have consistently shown down winners. I have noticed that some of the players have begun to realize that when I raise preflop, I usually have a premium hand. The table is the usual mix of loose players who will play any two cards preflop. Postflop the play becomes a bit more aggressive, but not significantly so.
In this particular hand, the UTG player limps in. He is an older player who is the epitome of the table. LAG preflop, TAG postflop, calling station when on the draw: very exploitable; I will always know where I stand. He pays off more than most with second best hands because he hates to be bluffed. I paid him off earlier with AA when he flopped a small set; I got my revenge soon afterwards by extracting maximum value in a kill pot with TPTK (where I held AQo in the big blind *with the kill* but I didn't re-raise preflop; the flop came queen-high with a flush draw and he called my turn check-raise and river value bet with worse). Four other players limp in and I look down at my cards and see QQ.
Because of my table image and innate dislike for being out of position, I check my option (there are sound arguments for raising here with a preflop equity edge, to be sure).
The flop comes down with a rainbow board of J98. The pot contains five small bets.
I check, looking for clues on how to proceed from the actions of my opponents. Depending what happens behind me, I was definitely planning to check-raise. Somewhat to my surprise given this dynamic flop, it is checked around. Before seeing the turn, I quickly formulate a plan of leading out almost 100% of the time.
The flop brings a very interesting card, a queen (no backdoor flush draws have materialized). So I've improved to top set in a very small pot, and it's reasonable to suppose that one of my four opponents might very well have improved to a straight. I decide to execute my plan and lead out, but this is a close decision. The UTG player immediately raises. I decide that if it's folded around to me I should reluctantly fold the river unimproved, because I think my opponent is never bluffing here (given my read of the situation, this is a fairly easy laydown but I'm not in the habit of regularly folding top set before seeing all five board cards). However, a third player calls two bets cold, throwing a new wrinkle into this situation, and I opt to close the action with a trivially easy call. The pot is now 8.5 big bets.
The river is a jack, giving me the overfull. I lead out hoping that I will get raised by my left-hand opponent, but the UTG player pauses for a few seconds and only calls, the third player folds, and I drag the 10.5 BB pot.
Comments on how this hand was played on every street are welcome. What, since folding is not a palatable decision at any point, would you do differently to maximize your positive expectation in this situation and others like it?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Misadventures in babysitting
On Saturday night, I decided to withdraw some funds from my other bank account -- the 4/8 LHE with full kill game that runs at a local casino downtown. Seeing as how I'm on hiatus from online play, I've been trying to play at least a few hours per week when I can stand to be indoors during the summer. My results have been very good overall -- the game plays like 8/16, and I'm putting up a nice 7BB/hr winrate for 2009, and averaging 8 or 9 winning sessions for every ten I play -- and I'm sure I'll put in even more hours when the summer weather turns to the typical Vancouver autumn rain.
My planned withdrawal went as planned -- I cashed out with four more racks than I started with, which is good work for a relatively short session of about four hours -- but I also witnessed some entertaining shenanigans during the course of the evening which were definitely worthy of a blog post.
As I've mentioned before, this casino happens to spread the biggest public game in the city, a full-ring 5/5 PLO with a max 200 BB buyin. I have kept a close eye on this game throughout the summer with the goal of taking a shot or two or four when the time is ripe.
So as I'm waiting near the door for my seat to come open at my regular game, I wander over to see how the PLO game is doing. Who should I happen to spot in the one seat but a minor Canadian poker celebrity. He didn't have a million dollars in front of him, unlike here, and he wasn't facing Phil Ivey, but it seemed as if he was in the midst of booking a solid winning session against a lineup that wasn't exactly a murderer's row of poker talent.
Soon afterwards I got called to my game, which I was thankful for as the list behind me had swelled to 30+ names deep due to a large 105K bad beat jackpot. This was a causal factor which would lead to quite the fiasco later on. Little did I know that something unusual was about to occur...
Now, it just so happens that the 4/8 kill game I play is located at the front of this rather dingy poker room. Once you walk up a couple of steps into a small foyer, you immediately take a 90-degree turn into the poker room. On your left is a railing and a small elevated area containing four or five tables for the "big game", the 5/5 PLO, and a few 2/5 NL games. Immediately in front of you and to your right is the 4/8 kill game I was seated at, and rows of 1/2 NL and some additional 4/8 LHE tables towards the back, with the cage located at the back right corner of the room. I happened to be seated in the five seat, which gave me a direct view of the entrance.
Poker players being the degenerates that they are, often congregate outside the front entrance to smoke while they are waiting to play. And this night, there were a lot of impatient and desperate gamblers looking for a shot at the big jackpot. So, about three hours later two seats opened up at my table, including the seat to my immediate right. As I am listening to the floor call two fresh names to come sit down at my table, my expectation is that these seats will be filled promptly and the game will proceed with a full complement of ATMs (oops! I mean to say respected fellow players).
Then I see something bizarre out of the corner of my eye.
Now, I wouldn't be exaggerating much if I claimed to be legally blind. I am quite near-sighted and have had to wear glasses since the sixth grade. So it was a near-miracle that I spotted a twenty-something dark-skinned guy peer through the front glass doors of the room, identify the empty seat on my right, and execute a mad sprinting dash over to sit down in it, pulling out about half a rack of chips from his coat pocket as he sat down. It took him about five seconds to pull off this stunt, and as I began to gape at him I realized he'd just done a fair impersonation of a shifty running back scuttling and bobbing and weaving away from would-be tacklers on a football field. Which is not something you expect to see in a poker room.
Of course, the proverbial fecal matter hit the fan about two minutes later once the players who had been called found their way over and discovered one of their rightful seats had been usurped. By a rude sprinter who refused to vacate "his" seat and began haranguing the dealer about the "dumb" rules of the poker room.
Our resident NFL running back exhibited a fine command of invective and strongly reeked of liquor as the promptly summoned floorman stood over him, quite properly directed the dealer not to deal him any cards, and told him in no uncertain terms that he'd have to get up and wait for his proper turn in line for one of the seats in the regular 4/8 LHE game. Since, as it turned out, he wasn't even on the list for the kill game. This guy clearly wasn't playing with a full deck, and I was almost sorry to see him go.
Once he was out of sight, however, he soon went clean out of my mind as I turned my attention back to enlarging my withdrawal. However, not 30 minutes later the climax of this little drama came to pass. This incident, you see, was merely the prologue.
You see, our desperate drunken football player had eventually been called to a seat in the regular 4/8 game. And wouldn't you know it but he soon went off on a full-blown tirade, demanding to be awarded a pot he had no right to at the top of his voice. Some chips were flung, a full baker's dozen floor people materialized at the scene, and in short order he was ejected from the casino cursing all the while as the staff attempted to babysit him until a taxi arrived. And on his way out, he assaulted the shift supervisor (who had called him a cab and had tried to defuse the situation as best he could) with a few sharp elbows to the chest worthy of a professional NHL pest looking to instigate a fight. I went to a poker room and a hockey game broke out ...
All I can say is, he's lucky criminal charges weren't pressed. I certainly wouldn't have offered my services to defend him in court.
With all the excitement over with, I got back to my profitable endeavour of making money from the less vocal, but no less desperate, LHE players who were looking for a share of the large jackpot for a little while longer before I called it a night. Please, keep chasing your inside straights against my made hands. It's a good idea ...
As I walked out the doors of the casino into the fresh night air, I smiled to myself. There's always something new to see at a poker table. For a while there, I thought I might have been about to see my first arrest, but that will have to wait its turn for a future poker session.
My planned withdrawal went as planned -- I cashed out with four more racks than I started with, which is good work for a relatively short session of about four hours -- but I also witnessed some entertaining shenanigans during the course of the evening which were definitely worthy of a blog post.
As I've mentioned before, this casino happens to spread the biggest public game in the city, a full-ring 5/5 PLO with a max 200 BB buyin. I have kept a close eye on this game throughout the summer with the goal of taking a shot or two or four when the time is ripe.
So as I'm waiting near the door for my seat to come open at my regular game, I wander over to see how the PLO game is doing. Who should I happen to spot in the one seat but a minor Canadian poker celebrity. He didn't have a million dollars in front of him, unlike here, and he wasn't facing Phil Ivey, but it seemed as if he was in the midst of booking a solid winning session against a lineup that wasn't exactly a murderer's row of poker talent.
Soon afterwards I got called to my game, which I was thankful for as the list behind me had swelled to 30+ names deep due to a large 105K bad beat jackpot. This was a causal factor which would lead to quite the fiasco later on. Little did I know that something unusual was about to occur...
Now, it just so happens that the 4/8 kill game I play is located at the front of this rather dingy poker room. Once you walk up a couple of steps into a small foyer, you immediately take a 90-degree turn into the poker room. On your left is a railing and a small elevated area containing four or five tables for the "big game", the 5/5 PLO, and a few 2/5 NL games. Immediately in front of you and to your right is the 4/8 kill game I was seated at, and rows of 1/2 NL and some additional 4/8 LHE tables towards the back, with the cage located at the back right corner of the room. I happened to be seated in the five seat, which gave me a direct view of the entrance.
Poker players being the degenerates that they are, often congregate outside the front entrance to smoke while they are waiting to play. And this night, there were a lot of impatient and desperate gamblers looking for a shot at the big jackpot. So, about three hours later two seats opened up at my table, including the seat to my immediate right. As I am listening to the floor call two fresh names to come sit down at my table, my expectation is that these seats will be filled promptly and the game will proceed with a full complement of ATMs (oops! I mean to say respected fellow players).
Then I see something bizarre out of the corner of my eye.
Now, I wouldn't be exaggerating much if I claimed to be legally blind. I am quite near-sighted and have had to wear glasses since the sixth grade. So it was a near-miracle that I spotted a twenty-something dark-skinned guy peer through the front glass doors of the room, identify the empty seat on my right, and execute a mad sprinting dash over to sit down in it, pulling out about half a rack of chips from his coat pocket as he sat down. It took him about five seconds to pull off this stunt, and as I began to gape at him I realized he'd just done a fair impersonation of a shifty running back scuttling and bobbing and weaving away from would-be tacklers on a football field. Which is not something you expect to see in a poker room.
Of course, the proverbial fecal matter hit the fan about two minutes later once the players who had been called found their way over and discovered one of their rightful seats had been usurped. By a rude sprinter who refused to vacate "his" seat and began haranguing the dealer about the "dumb" rules of the poker room.
Our resident NFL running back exhibited a fine command of invective and strongly reeked of liquor as the promptly summoned floorman stood over him, quite properly directed the dealer not to deal him any cards, and told him in no uncertain terms that he'd have to get up and wait for his proper turn in line for one of the seats in the regular 4/8 LHE game. Since, as it turned out, he wasn't even on the list for the kill game. This guy clearly wasn't playing with a full deck, and I was almost sorry to see him go.
Once he was out of sight, however, he soon went clean out of my mind as I turned my attention back to enlarging my withdrawal. However, not 30 minutes later the climax of this little drama came to pass. This incident, you see, was merely the prologue.
You see, our desperate drunken football player had eventually been called to a seat in the regular 4/8 game. And wouldn't you know it but he soon went off on a full-blown tirade, demanding to be awarded a pot he had no right to at the top of his voice. Some chips were flung, a full baker's dozen floor people materialized at the scene, and in short order he was ejected from the casino cursing all the while as the staff attempted to babysit him until a taxi arrived. And on his way out, he assaulted the shift supervisor (who had called him a cab and had tried to defuse the situation as best he could) with a few sharp elbows to the chest worthy of a professional NHL pest looking to instigate a fight. I went to a poker room and a hockey game broke out ...
All I can say is, he's lucky criminal charges weren't pressed. I certainly wouldn't have offered my services to defend him in court.
With all the excitement over with, I got back to my profitable endeavour of making money from the less vocal, but no less desperate, LHE players who were looking for a share of the large jackpot for a little while longer before I called it a night. Please, keep chasing your inside straights against my made hands. It's a good idea ...
As I walked out the doors of the casino into the fresh night air, I smiled to myself. There's always something new to see at a poker table. For a while there, I thought I might have been about to see my first arrest, but that will have to wait its turn for a future poker session.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Always something new
I saw something last week during a live 4/8 LHE session that I've never seen before. I'm curious if any of my vast readership has witnessed something similar ...
Two players were dealt pocket aces at my table. They get into a raising war preflop, obviously, and somewhat to my surprise they didn't pick up any hitchikers desperate to gamble it up to see a flop to crack a big pair. One of the live players then asked if the betting is capped at four bets now that everyone else has folded and the pot is now headsup. Dealer announces no, the betting is uncapped. The floor is consulted and verifies that the dealer is correct.
A few raises latter -- about 9 or 10 -- and one of the players involved tells the other that he's willing to go all-in (for about $400). The other player acquiesces, having about the same amount behind. They both push their chips over the line. So we now have your standard $830-ish pot at a 4/8 table with all the betting complete before the flop has been dealt. Each flips over AA.
Sadly, the flop was an anticlimax, featuring three different suits, which put the kibosh on what would have been a jaw-dropping four-flush scenario if someone got lucky.
I just sat back in amazement, laughing my guts out. I just wish we could have had a sweat for the turn and river.
Poker. Always something new under the sun.
Two players were dealt pocket aces at my table. They get into a raising war preflop, obviously, and somewhat to my surprise they didn't pick up any hitchikers desperate to gamble it up to see a flop to crack a big pair. One of the live players then asked if the betting is capped at four bets now that everyone else has folded and the pot is now headsup. Dealer announces no, the betting is uncapped. The floor is consulted and verifies that the dealer is correct.
A few raises latter -- about 9 or 10 -- and one of the players involved tells the other that he's willing to go all-in (for about $400). The other player acquiesces, having about the same amount behind. They both push their chips over the line. So we now have your standard $830-ish pot at a 4/8 table with all the betting complete before the flop has been dealt. Each flips over AA.
Sadly, the flop was an anticlimax, featuring three different suits, which put the kibosh on what would have been a jaw-dropping four-flush scenario if someone got lucky.
I just sat back in amazement, laughing my guts out. I just wish we could have had a sweat for the turn and river.
Poker. Always something new under the sun.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Summer musings
June has been a strange month so far.
The good:
Vancouver weather has been great and I've been playing a lot of disc golf.
An old friend has moved back to town, escaping from a bad job in the rural wilds of Alberta.
My sister and her husband just purchased a new condo and I had some fun pouring over all the documents as a refresher in solicitor's work in a real property transaction.
I hear this local blogger has actually done some wheeling and dealing for a change. Who knows if he'll blog again any time soon though.
The bad:
My fourth live session of LHE went south in a hurry. -40BBs as I lost all five big pots I played with sets and overpairs that got run down. (On the plus side, the game was fantastic and it was variance that did me in, not my decision-making.)
I got my car towed by parking oh, five meters from an intersection near my place yesterday (the law says park 6+ meters away). Of the 15k illegally-parked vehicles in my neighbourhood, I got picked on. A fun $112.90 siphoned out of my pocket.
The "meh":
Still no concrete developments as I am looking to change jobs. Don't want to defend pirates - I mean, criminals - any longer so that means I am kicking the tires elsewhere and waiting to hear back on some leads. But I should have this sorted out by the end of the summer.
The good:
Vancouver weather has been great and I've been playing a lot of disc golf.
An old friend has moved back to town, escaping from a bad job in the rural wilds of Alberta.
My sister and her husband just purchased a new condo and I had some fun pouring over all the documents as a refresher in solicitor's work in a real property transaction.
I hear this local blogger has actually done some wheeling and dealing for a change. Who knows if he'll blog again any time soon though.
The bad:
My fourth live session of LHE went south in a hurry. -40BBs as I lost all five big pots I played with sets and overpairs that got run down. (On the plus side, the game was fantastic and it was variance that did me in, not my decision-making.)
I got my car towed by parking oh, five meters from an intersection near my place yesterday (the law says park 6+ meters away). Of the 15k illegally-parked vehicles in my neighbourhood, I got picked on. A fun $112.90 siphoned out of my pocket.
The "meh":
Still no concrete developments as I am looking to change jobs. Don't want to defend pirates - I mean, criminals - any longer so that means I am kicking the tires elsewhere and waiting to hear back on some leads. But I should have this sorted out by the end of the summer.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Hold On ....
I just couldn't ... not when it mattered.
I didn't think games this consistently beatable existed anymore, but in my third live LHE session (3 hours in length) of the month I booked a +38BB win vs. a table full of Crasians of various ages (Vancouver does have a relatively high Asian population; and we all know they are predisposed to gamble it up).
I kept some good notes on this session and the telltale sign that it was an excellent game was that I ran poorly despite winning that much.
In sequence, here are five notable hands that took place during the session. Two of them I won, and three of them I lost.
Hand #1: As was often customary, seven players each paid two small bets to see the flop. I was on the button with 5h6h. The flop came down 7-high with two diamonds giving me a gutshot. Someone bet and *everyone* called. The turn was another diamond and not a picture card. Surprisingly, it got checked around. The river was another rag and everyone checked to me, so ... I bet. Everyone folded. Since I was a solid winner at this point I opted, somewhat uncharacteristically, to show the bluff, to more than a few murmurs of amazement and some laughter. My motive for doing so was to induce more action the next time I got a premium hand.
Hand #2: On the very next deal, I get AA in the cut-off. You can't script this any better, I thought to myself. Sure enough, I raised it up and I got three callers, including an extremely loose payoff wizard three to my left who would regularly call with absolutely anything and wanted to see every flop. On the river, his 9h2h had improved to bottom two pair and he check-calls me and I get the bad news. I flash the AA and he acts all surprised as he collects the pot (5-outer).
Hand #3: I raise a bunch of limpers with AcJc on the button and get a bunch of callers. The flop comes down J-high and the BB (old grizzled Crasian) leads out, I pop him, he 3-bets. He leads out on the turn and the river and spikes two pair on the end with KJ. I run goot (3-outer).
Hand #4: I lose the big one. The kill was on and a young Crasian wearing an old KVOS baseball cap had the kill button UTG. I see a spot to create a ton of dead money so I re-raise from the cut-off with a small pair (44). Six players cap it preflop with the UTG kill player ramming and jamming with me. The flop comes down KQ4 rainbow. If there's one thing I believe in, it is playing small sets fast. Three of us cap the flop and we force the other three out of the pot. The turn is a deuce and both players check to me; I bet thnking there is absolutely no way I'm beat here ... and they both call. The river is a nine (JT got there) and it gets checked to me, I bet again, UTG calls and the MP player folds. UTG player announces "I have a set". My heart sinking, I say "So do I" and table my fours. He flips over ... 99. Goodbye, 48BB pot. (2-outer that really stung)
My 14 BB profit for the session evaporated in one fell swoop and I'm back down to my starting stack.
Undeterred, I battled back and win some pots (97ss was a very good hand for me several times), and I was able to play AK on the button vs. the villain from #4 for maximum value with a AJT flop, forcing him to fold QQ to a river raise after he'd taken the lead with a preflop 3-bet and I had just kept calling his bets on the first two streets. Then I get some revenge in Hand #5, another kill pot where again I had good table position. I held the mighty 5c7c and take down a juicy 28BB pot when I flopped a double-gutter on an Ad3s4d board, got there on the turn when an off-suit 6 fell, and was able to milk some extra big bets from two aces-up hands.
All in all, my wallet continues to grow fatter and the 5/5 PLO game inches ever closer. I may have to rethink my plans though ... I don't know that I can reliably beat that game for $100/hr with anywhere near the consistency I've shown so far in the LHE, and the variance issue is important when comparing fixed-bet to big-bet games. Even with losing a huge pot to a 22:1 shot I came out well ahead overall; in PLO I would lose my whole stack and have to rebuy. As long as I can book the wins at this rate, I'll stick with the LHE.
I didn't think games this consistently beatable existed anymore, but in my third live LHE session (3 hours in length) of the month I booked a +38BB win vs. a table full of Crasians of various ages (Vancouver does have a relatively high Asian population; and we all know they are predisposed to gamble it up).
I kept some good notes on this session and the telltale sign that it was an excellent game was that I ran poorly despite winning that much.
In sequence, here are five notable hands that took place during the session. Two of them I won, and three of them I lost.
Hand #1: As was often customary, seven players each paid two small bets to see the flop. I was on the button with 5h6h. The flop came down 7-high with two diamonds giving me a gutshot. Someone bet and *everyone* called. The turn was another diamond and not a picture card. Surprisingly, it got checked around. The river was another rag and everyone checked to me, so ... I bet. Everyone folded. Since I was a solid winner at this point I opted, somewhat uncharacteristically, to show the bluff, to more than a few murmurs of amazement and some laughter. My motive for doing so was to induce more action the next time I got a premium hand.
Hand #2: On the very next deal, I get AA in the cut-off. You can't script this any better, I thought to myself. Sure enough, I raised it up and I got three callers, including an extremely loose payoff wizard three to my left who would regularly call with absolutely anything and wanted to see every flop. On the river, his 9h2h had improved to bottom two pair and he check-calls me and I get the bad news. I flash the AA and he acts all surprised as he collects the pot (5-outer).
Hand #3: I raise a bunch of limpers with AcJc on the button and get a bunch of callers. The flop comes down J-high and the BB (old grizzled Crasian) leads out, I pop him, he 3-bets. He leads out on the turn and the river and spikes two pair on the end with KJ. I run goot (3-outer).
Hand #4: I lose the big one. The kill was on and a young Crasian wearing an old KVOS baseball cap had the kill button UTG. I see a spot to create a ton of dead money so I re-raise from the cut-off with a small pair (44). Six players cap it preflop with the UTG kill player ramming and jamming with me. The flop comes down KQ4 rainbow. If there's one thing I believe in, it is playing small sets fast. Three of us cap the flop and we force the other three out of the pot. The turn is a deuce and both players check to me; I bet thnking there is absolutely no way I'm beat here ... and they both call. The river is a nine (JT got there) and it gets checked to me, I bet again, UTG calls and the MP player folds. UTG player announces "I have a set". My heart sinking, I say "So do I" and table my fours. He flips over ... 99. Goodbye, 48BB pot. (2-outer that really stung)
My 14 BB profit for the session evaporated in one fell swoop and I'm back down to my starting stack.
Undeterred, I battled back and win some pots (97ss was a very good hand for me several times), and I was able to play AK on the button vs. the villain from #4 for maximum value with a AJT flop, forcing him to fold QQ to a river raise after he'd taken the lead with a preflop 3-bet and I had just kept calling his bets on the first two streets. Then I get some revenge in Hand #5, another kill pot where again I had good table position. I held the mighty 5c7c and take down a juicy 28BB pot when I flopped a double-gutter on an Ad3s4d board, got there on the turn when an off-suit 6 fell, and was able to milk some extra big bets from two aces-up hands.
All in all, my wallet continues to grow fatter and the 5/5 PLO game inches ever closer. I may have to rethink my plans though ... I don't know that I can reliably beat that game for $100/hr with anywhere near the consistency I've shown so far in the LHE, and the variance issue is important when comparing fixed-bet to big-bet games. Even with losing a huge pot to a 22:1 shot I came out well ahead overall; in PLO I would lose my whole stack and have to rebuy. As long as I can book the wins at this rate, I'll stick with the LHE.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Old School, redux
Played a short second session at local casino. Same juicy soft 4/8 LHE w/ full kill. I scouted 5/5 PLO game again as I waited for my seat. Game looked promising, same as last time. Majority of players seemed to buy in for the full 200BB maximum. I witnessed the one shorty maneuver majority of his stack in preflop (holding the obvious AAxx) vs. a single LAGtard playing a poor rundown hand -- AA was cracked. Saw several other fundamental mistakes made as I skulked in the corner.
The LHE session featured a fun migration pattern where I started in the 5s and was able, over time, to progressively slide down to the 8s to get a better view of the table. Each time I slid down, I would have more and more racks of chips to move with me. Other players would then request a seat change to my old seat in hopes of getting lucky.
Things did not go well right at the beginning, however. After I posted and folded my first set of blinds I woke up to red aces on the button. Six players (almost all Crasians of various ages) capped preflop and I ended up folding to a double check-raise on the Qh9h3s flop. I make a reluctant fold and watch in disbelief as a mere top pair hand (Q6off or some such trash) held up vs. a bare eight-high flush draw.
Fortunately I shake it off and play my best for the next 2.5 hours and book a 40BB profit. I extracted maximum value from various hands, including a flopped trips hand (ye olde BB special, the T2off) where I was able to get in three bets on the flop and two more streets of value vs. queens up, a flopped Broadway straight vs. flopped two pair, a nice river bluff with KQ unimproved set up by a preflop 3-bet vs. a weak-tight player, and one nice big juicy kill pot where I turned trips and was able to check-raise the one young 25 year-old Crasian woman (the only player who regularly straddled) who exhibited aggro postflop play with ace-high. The betting line was pretty hilarious. I was in early position with Ah2h and several players paid 3 bets to see a flop of 8c6s2c. I led out and got two callers. Turn was a 2s. I led out and Crasian raised. Headsup to the river, which was a king. I check, she bets, I raise, she grumbles and pays off with top pair.
Some of the conversations I had with players sitting near me were hysterical. There was one very nice, but clearly clueless fiftyish Caucasian man in the 10s who gave off innumerable tells. (Needless to say, he went broke several times and I tried to play as many pots as possible against him with some isolation plays when I had positional advantage.) By the time I moved over to the 8s we had chatted pleasantly about various topics. I had already observed him make many horrible postflop calls as he chased any possible draw. He would raise non-nut flushes and fold to heavy action despite getting over 12:1 on a final river call heads up. Perhaps my favourite kernel of information that I gleaned from him was in a three-way pot on the flop where he defended his big blind to my button raise with presto. Flop came down A34. It was checked around to me and I saw him clearly get four chips ready for a call. I was mildly concerned with the third player, who seemed to be semi-competent Crasian who actually played decently postflop. So I checked behind. On the turn target led out and was called, so I threw away my hand. Afterwards, I casually pumped him for information by saying that I thought about betting the flop and had noticed he was all ready to call. He replied in all seriousness: "Well, I had a gutshot straight draw, so I wasn't folding." (Note: the pot contained only seven small bets.)
Find these players whenever you can and play against them as much as you can. Several players at my table rebought at a furious rate; I was happily raking in their chips at a fast pace. They are contributing heavily to my PLO fund. So far I have a ridiculous 9BB/hr winrate.
The LHE session featured a fun migration pattern where I started in the 5s and was able, over time, to progressively slide down to the 8s to get a better view of the table. Each time I slid down, I would have more and more racks of chips to move with me. Other players would then request a seat change to my old seat in hopes of getting lucky.
Things did not go well right at the beginning, however. After I posted and folded my first set of blinds I woke up to red aces on the button. Six players (almost all Crasians of various ages) capped preflop and I ended up folding to a double check-raise on the Qh9h3s flop. I make a reluctant fold and watch in disbelief as a mere top pair hand (Q6off or some such trash) held up vs. a bare eight-high flush draw.
Fortunately I shake it off and play my best for the next 2.5 hours and book a 40BB profit. I extracted maximum value from various hands, including a flopped trips hand (ye olde BB special, the T2off) where I was able to get in three bets on the flop and two more streets of value vs. queens up, a flopped Broadway straight vs. flopped two pair, a nice river bluff with KQ unimproved set up by a preflop 3-bet vs. a weak-tight player, and one nice big juicy kill pot where I turned trips and was able to check-raise the one young 25 year-old Crasian woman (the only player who regularly straddled) who exhibited aggro postflop play with ace-high. The betting line was pretty hilarious. I was in early position with Ah2h and several players paid 3 bets to see a flop of 8c6s2c. I led out and got two callers. Turn was a 2s. I led out and Crasian raised. Headsup to the river, which was a king. I check, she bets, I raise, she grumbles and pays off with top pair.
Some of the conversations I had with players sitting near me were hysterical. There was one very nice, but clearly clueless fiftyish Caucasian man in the 10s who gave off innumerable tells. (Needless to say, he went broke several times and I tried to play as many pots as possible against him with some isolation plays when I had positional advantage.) By the time I moved over to the 8s we had chatted pleasantly about various topics. I had already observed him make many horrible postflop calls as he chased any possible draw. He would raise non-nut flushes and fold to heavy action despite getting over 12:1 on a final river call heads up. Perhaps my favourite kernel of information that I gleaned from him was in a three-way pot on the flop where he defended his big blind to my button raise with presto. Flop came down A34. It was checked around to me and I saw him clearly get four chips ready for a call. I was mildly concerned with the third player, who seemed to be semi-competent Crasian who actually played decently postflop. So I checked behind. On the turn target led out and was called, so I threw away my hand. Afterwards, I casually pumped him for information by saying that I thought about betting the flop and had noticed he was all ready to call. He replied in all seriousness: "Well, I had a gutshot straight draw, so I wasn't folding." (Note: the pot contained only seven small bets.)
Find these players whenever you can and play against them as much as you can. Several players at my table rebought at a furious rate; I was happily raking in their chips at a fast pace. They are contributing heavily to my PLO fund. So far I have a ridiculous 9BB/hr winrate.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Old School: Limit Hold'Em
It's not only on the Las Vegas strip that you'll find soft full-ring limit hold'em games. I hadn't played live poker since my first-ever blogger winter gathering last December, and I was hankering for some live play. Recent online shenanigans meant that I needed to get back on the horse and if that meant enduring the slower pace and other inconveniences of a second-rate public cardroom, so be it. So I found myself at Vancouver's downtown casino, not more than ten minutes' drive from my humble abode, and patiently waited for a seat in the biggest LHE game in the room - a 4/8 kill game. As soon as I sat down (in seat 3), I recognized this game was a gold mine. Tons of weak passive play, not many preflop raises, transparent opponents who would pay off TPGK on three streets ... this game had it all.
Unfortunately, I lost the first four pots (including two kill pots) I played so after three hours I was sitting with less than half my starting stack.
Then I was finally able to get some positive momentum. I actually got some cards (AA in a five-handed kill pot is a recipe to recoup some losses) and flopped some hands. When you can get in for one bet with suited connectors in late position, eventually you will rake in some monster pots. And that is what happened.
The first big pot featured crubs, which always get there. I called a raise in the big blind with the mighty 47cc getting about 8:1 on my money. The flop came down Kc8c5s. I checked, the player to my left bet, and two players called. I decided to check-raise with my flush draw + gutter. The original bettor called, and then the villain in seat 7 three-bet. But before I could put in my call, the dealer precipitously acted and dealt out the 6c on the turn! The floor was called, I inwardly winced as the card was set aside, the two of us put in our calls ... and I was rewarded as the Tc rolled off. Was there any doubt? So I check-called the turn, then finally donk-bet the river and was paid off by 9c7s and K5o. Crubs: good for what ails you.
The second one featured spades, which is assuredly the boss suit. Again, limped in with A8ss in late position. The flop came down 933 with two spades. The small blind led out and there were a couple of calls. The turn was a spade. Small blind led out again, I smooth called, and a loud drunk overcalled. The river blanked, the small blind led out yet again, I raised, the drunk called two bets cold, and the small blind reluctantly called. My hand was good as the drunk cheerfully flashed the KQss at the table.
Then the rush came as I capped off the night a solid winner with three more racks than I started with. At one point I kept the kill button and won five consecutive pots, the last three as the game was kicked up to 8/16. The first of the five was an amusing one. A Crasian sitting two to my left had built up from a paltry $80 to about $250 and proceeded to donate a bunch of it in my direction. My 89 of spades flopped an open-ended straight draw, got there on the turn with a spade flush redraw, and he went to war with a flopped bottom two pair -- raising me on the turn, and paying off my check-raise on the river even though a heart flush completed. And the next four hands, I just kept flopping something as the rest of the table missed, and got paid off twice by the young Asian kid sitting two to my right in seat one, who literally played 85% of his hands. He just didn't believe me or wanted to fulfill his role as the table payoff wizard as I showed him two pair and a straight to crush his meager holdings.
As the night came to a close, though, it was readily apparent to me that it was time to book the win. For one thing, I was inwardly harping at myself as fatigue caused me to miss about three clear value bets where I left money on the table. For another, another 4/8 LHE table broke and we got three new players. A nails-on-the-chalkboard late middle-aged woman with a thick Eastern European accent kept talking off my left ear and I couldn't successfully tune out her inane babble. Add the fact that the loud drunk to her left kept getting louder and more obnoxious, and my concentration began to waver even more. He kept asking the dealer how much he could bet on every street, and his comedy act wasn't getting any laughs from anyone. And as two of the table donators racked up, I followed suit, since I knew I was no longer playing my "A" game.
Part of me thinks I should start playing in the juicy 5/5 PLO game (max 1K buyin) that regularly runs here (they also sometimes get a 1/2 game going). At first, I might just experiment with short-stacking the game, but the play looked so bad (players were regularly calling pot-sized bets with bare eight-out draws, and entering pots for a raise preflop with hands like JJJT) from what I saw I should probably just man up and get ten buyins together for that game. I typically haven't put most of my live bankroll at risk for any one game, but the opportunity might just be too great to miss out on. I could easily envisage nights where I could buy in for $500 and walk out the door with 3K.
Opinions on this last issue are welcome.
Unfortunately, I lost the first four pots (including two kill pots) I played so after three hours I was sitting with less than half my starting stack.
Then I was finally able to get some positive momentum. I actually got some cards (AA in a five-handed kill pot is a recipe to recoup some losses) and flopped some hands. When you can get in for one bet with suited connectors in late position, eventually you will rake in some monster pots. And that is what happened.
The first big pot featured crubs, which always get there. I called a raise in the big blind with the mighty 47cc getting about 8:1 on my money. The flop came down Kc8c5s. I checked, the player to my left bet, and two players called. I decided to check-raise with my flush draw + gutter. The original bettor called, and then the villain in seat 7 three-bet. But before I could put in my call, the dealer precipitously acted and dealt out the 6c on the turn! The floor was called, I inwardly winced as the card was set aside, the two of us put in our calls ... and I was rewarded as the Tc rolled off. Was there any doubt? So I check-called the turn, then finally donk-bet the river and was paid off by 9c7s and K5o. Crubs: good for what ails you.
The second one featured spades, which is assuredly the boss suit. Again, limped in with A8ss in late position. The flop came down 933 with two spades. The small blind led out and there were a couple of calls. The turn was a spade. Small blind led out again, I smooth called, and a loud drunk overcalled. The river blanked, the small blind led out yet again, I raised, the drunk called two bets cold, and the small blind reluctantly called. My hand was good as the drunk cheerfully flashed the KQss at the table.
Then the rush came as I capped off the night a solid winner with three more racks than I started with. At one point I kept the kill button and won five consecutive pots, the last three as the game was kicked up to 8/16. The first of the five was an amusing one. A Crasian sitting two to my left had built up from a paltry $80 to about $250 and proceeded to donate a bunch of it in my direction. My 89 of spades flopped an open-ended straight draw, got there on the turn with a spade flush redraw, and he went to war with a flopped bottom two pair -- raising me on the turn, and paying off my check-raise on the river even though a heart flush completed. And the next four hands, I just kept flopping something as the rest of the table missed, and got paid off twice by the young Asian kid sitting two to my right in seat one, who literally played 85% of his hands. He just didn't believe me or wanted to fulfill his role as the table payoff wizard as I showed him two pair and a straight to crush his meager holdings.
As the night came to a close, though, it was readily apparent to me that it was time to book the win. For one thing, I was inwardly harping at myself as fatigue caused me to miss about three clear value bets where I left money on the table. For another, another 4/8 LHE table broke and we got three new players. A nails-on-the-chalkboard late middle-aged woman with a thick Eastern European accent kept talking off my left ear and I couldn't successfully tune out her inane babble. Add the fact that the loud drunk to her left kept getting louder and more obnoxious, and my concentration began to waver even more. He kept asking the dealer how much he could bet on every street, and his comedy act wasn't getting any laughs from anyone. And as two of the table donators racked up, I followed suit, since I knew I was no longer playing my "A" game.
Part of me thinks I should start playing in the juicy 5/5 PLO game (max 1K buyin) that regularly runs here (they also sometimes get a 1/2 game going). At first, I might just experiment with short-stacking the game, but the play looked so bad (players were regularly calling pot-sized bets with bare eight-out draws, and entering pots for a raise preflop with hands like JJJT) from what I saw I should probably just man up and get ten buyins together for that game. I typically haven't put most of my live bankroll at risk for any one game, but the opportunity might just be too great to miss out on. I could easily envisage nights where I could buy in for $500 and walk out the door with 3K.
Opinions on this last issue are welcome.
Friday, March 27, 2009
My busted draw beats your busted draw
7-high was good. I felt sick on the river and checked behind, giving up in utter disbelief ... crubs didn't get there. As a staunch believer, I was stunned; I had put four bets in on the turn. Then the pot was pushed to me and I was incredulous ...
Yes, the small blind 3-bet preflop with 2d5d. Standard donkery in a 1/2 mixed cash game.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Live by the sword, die by the sword
Tonight's Skills Game was going smoothly. I was in the top ten most of the evening.
[Edited]
But then two things happened: I made a big flush and lost the maximum when the board paired.
And then I played this hand. 85ss was betrayed. I'm sure NB is in shock (and laughing his guts out).
This brilliantly-played hand brought to you by yours truly and Heffmike. I guess he figured he could "represent" an overpair and bluff me, when I was having none of it. Most sane players would fold an underpair on the flop when I make a 4-bet. But hey, sometimes you can chase down an 86/13 favourite. It's only limit hold'em, right?
The joke was on me, indeed. I shall pretend villain had a masterfully-played overpair to the board.
NB. A good case can be made for me to take an alternate line: I can call the flop bet and raise any turn card. This might get a lot of hands to fold even if, as here, opponent is sticky with bluff-catchers.
[Edited]
But then two things happened: I made a big flush and lost the maximum when the board paired.
And then I played this hand. 85ss was betrayed. I'm sure NB is in shock (and laughing his guts out).
This brilliantly-played hand brought to you by yours truly and Heffmike. I guess he figured he could "represent" an overpair and bluff me, when I was having none of it. Most sane players would fold an underpair on the flop when I make a 4-bet. But hey, sometimes you can chase down an 86/13 favourite. It's only limit hold'em, right?
The joke was on me, indeed. I shall pretend villain had a masterfully-played overpair to the board.
NB. A good case can be made for me to take an alternate line: I can call the flop bet and raise any turn card. This might get a lot of hands to fold even if, as here, opponent is sticky with bluff-catchers.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
And then there were four
And by four, I mean quads.
I bubbled the Skillz tourney with a bad run at the final table, but early on in the first level of the tourney I had quite the run: two hands where I got paid off with four-of-a-kind (significantly more on #1, but I still got some bets in on #2). I love bloggaments!
[Edit] Then I caught another one in cash and got fully paid by a donkey.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Holiday fun preceding exam time
Labour Day weekend. The calm before the storm.
I knew I would be resting up this weekend prior to beginning my Bar course. Time to catch up on chores, prepare a planned routine for the next few grueling weeks, and to wrap up one last task for my principal to hand over late tomorrow after the orientation session at the Law Society. And fit in some family time before my sister and her husband head off on their two-week vacation to Scotland later this week.
So ... in betweeen sorting through some of those aforementioned chores I fired up a 2/4 LHE table on FTP, and chatted with emptyman, who is on a real heater when it comes to HORSE tourneys to say the least.
I didn't equal his tourney winnings -- he was in the process of winning yet another HORSE MTT this afternoon, but it felt good to rack up a killer 153-hand session where I booked a big win [+150BBs], with a stellar 87% win at showdown.
I had forgotten just how soft low-limit LHE can be. As long as you can run just average, you can book a solid profit. I happened to run fairly hot after a slow start, and I got paid off in spades.
This was a fun note to end upon as I'll be playing very little poker during the next two months.
I knew I would be resting up this weekend prior to beginning my Bar course. Time to catch up on chores, prepare a planned routine for the next few grueling weeks, and to wrap up one last task for my principal to hand over late tomorrow after the orientation session at the Law Society. And fit in some family time before my sister and her husband head off on their two-week vacation to Scotland later this week.
So ... in betweeen sorting through some of those aforementioned chores I fired up a 2/4 LHE table on FTP, and chatted with emptyman, who is on a real heater when it comes to HORSE tourneys to say the least.
I didn't equal his tourney winnings -- he was in the process of winning yet another HORSE MTT this afternoon, but it felt good to rack up a killer 153-hand session where I booked a big win [+150BBs], with a stellar 87% win at showdown.
I had forgotten just how soft low-limit LHE can be. As long as you can run just average, you can book a solid profit. I happened to run fairly hot after a slow start, and I got paid off in spades.
This was a fun note to end upon as I'll be playing very little poker during the next two months.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Mixed games are fun
And sometimes the best hands hold up. I managed to win the first NL/LHE mixed tournament held at the regular Friday poker club.
I got a lot of chips early when I nut-peddled a flopped ace-high flush vs. this poor unfortunate who flopped a straight with a 1-out straight flush redraw. Action was multiway and I was able to get the betting capped on the turn when the bets got big, which was rather clever of me if I do say so myself. 3 to the river and I got paid off in spades (literally). Then I subsequently took half of his stack in a NL hand with my AA vs. his QQ (he correctly folded to my flop c-bet). Then I cracked his KK with my AK (in the BB) on your standard AAA flop and extracted 3 streets of value-town betting to get him basically crippled.
The other huge limit hand where I got paid off was vs. a shorty and three other players. I capped it preflop with JJ and extracted many additional bets vs. a 2-pr hand and a hitchhiker who liked the ace on the turn. Valuetown, baby!
I busted another player defending my BB with 34s when I check-raised your standard straight flush draw vs. TPTK on the K56 flop and he insta-called and I got there with the nut straight on the turn with a deuce.
It ultimately got down to headsup with me holding a relatively narrow chiplead. My edge in limit really took over. I also caught a big bluff in NL with my (fifth!) AA of the night on a 5757K board (two flush draws didn't get there) and got the pot away from K9 that rivered a pair.
The structure was awesome and I am glad we got a chance to try one used by the WSoP.
I got a lot of chips early when I nut-peddled a flopped ace-high flush vs. this poor unfortunate who flopped a straight with a 1-out straight flush redraw. Action was multiway and I was able to get the betting capped on the turn when the bets got big, which was rather clever of me if I do say so myself. 3 to the river and I got paid off in spades (literally). Then I subsequently took half of his stack in a NL hand with my AA vs. his QQ (he correctly folded to my flop c-bet). Then I cracked his KK with my AK (in the BB) on your standard AAA flop and extracted 3 streets of value-town betting to get him basically crippled.
The other huge limit hand where I got paid off was vs. a shorty and three other players. I capped it preflop with JJ and extracted many additional bets vs. a 2-pr hand and a hitchhiker who liked the ace on the turn. Valuetown, baby!
I busted another player defending my BB with 34s when I check-raised your standard straight flush draw vs. TPTK on the K56 flop and he insta-called and I got there with the nut straight on the turn with a deuce.
It ultimately got down to headsup with me holding a relatively narrow chiplead. My edge in limit really took over. I also caught a big bluff in NL with my (fifth!) AA of the night on a 5757K board (two flush draws didn't get there) and got the pot away from K9 that rivered a pair.
The structure was awesome and I am glad we got a chance to try one used by the WSoP.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
An example of a misplayed limit hold'em hand
This is an excellent example of how frustrating a bloggament can be. Anonymity has been preserved for the villain in this hand, but let's be very clear: this player busted out way short of the final table. Sadly, he took a bunch of my chips with him.
Full Tilt Poker, Limit Hold'em Tournament, 150/300 Stakes, 9 Players
UTG+2: 2,520
Hero (MP1): 5,045
MP2: 2,615
CO: 8,950
BTN: 3,395
SB: 6,700
BB: 4,385
UTG: 3,840
UTG+1: 1,815
Pre-Flop: (225) Q
K
dealt to Hero (MP1)
3 folds, Hero raises to 300, 2 folds, BTN calls 300, 2 folds
Completely standard situation preflop. I open-raise when it's folded to me and the button cold calls two bets preflop.
Flop: (825) Q
6 8
(2 Players)
Hero bets 150, BTN raises to 300, Hero raises to 450, BTN calls 150
I figure to have the best hand and charge the button the maximum for his draw or worse one-pair hand.
Turn: (1,725) 9 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 300, Hero calls 300
I slow down on the turn and decide to call down.
River: (2,325) 5 (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 300, Hero calls 300
I'm not folding here but I have the impression I'm going to puke at showdown.
Results: 2,925 Pot
Hero mucked Q K (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-1,350 NET)
BTN showed J T (a straight, Queen high) and WON 2,925 (+1,575 NET)
I really, really go on tilt for a moment or two as I realize the villain drew to a gutshot straight draw on a two-tone flop with no spades.
The moral of the story: the play by villain here is hugely -EV, as he was drawing here in this situation to a mere 3 clean outs (the 9s is very tainted). Dodging mines like this is essential in the BBT3 bloggaments. This hand knocked a lot of wind out of my sails and I lost 3 crucial races late to bust out about two-thirds of the way to the final table (30th of 90 or so.)
By far the most crucial skill to go deep in bloggaments (besides getting lucky) is situation selection. A disciplined player in the villain's shoes would have done well to dump this hand on the flop instead of gambolling it up with a very, very longshot draw (4:1 against) to win two big bets after putting in several bets as a huge dog. He's just not getting the requisite implied odds to continue here.
Full Tilt Poker, Limit Hold'em Tournament, 150/300 Stakes, 9 Players
UTG+2: 2,520
Hero (MP1): 5,045
MP2: 2,615
CO: 8,950
BTN: 3,395
SB: 6,700
BB: 4,385
UTG: 3,840
UTG+1: 1,815
Pre-Flop: (225) Q
K dealt to Hero (MP1)3 folds, Hero raises to 300, 2 folds, BTN calls 300, 2 folds
Completely standard situation preflop. I open-raise when it's folded to me and the button cold calls two bets preflop.
Flop: (825) Q
6 8 (2 Players)Hero bets 150, BTN raises to 300, Hero raises to 450, BTN calls 150
I figure to have the best hand and charge the button the maximum for his draw or worse one-pair hand.
Turn: (1,725) 9
(2 Players)Hero checks, BTN bets 300, Hero calls 300
I slow down on the turn and decide to call down.
River: (2,325) 5
(2 Players)Hero checks, BTN bets 300, Hero calls 300
I'm not folding here but I have the impression I'm going to puke at showdown.
Results: 2,925 Pot
Hero mucked Q
K (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-1,350 NET)BTN showed J
T (a straight, Queen high) and WON 2,925 (+1,575 NET)I really, really go on tilt for a moment or two as I realize the villain drew to a gutshot straight draw on a two-tone flop with no spades.
The moral of the story: the play by villain here is hugely -EV, as he was drawing here in this situation to a mere 3 clean outs (the 9s is very tainted). Dodging mines like this is essential in the BBT3 bloggaments. This hand knocked a lot of wind out of my sails and I lost 3 crucial races late to bust out about two-thirds of the way to the final table (30th of 90 or so.)
By far the most crucial skill to go deep in bloggaments (besides getting lucky) is situation selection. A disciplined player in the villain's shoes would have done well to dump this hand on the flop instead of gambolling it up with a very, very longshot draw (4:1 against) to win two big bets after putting in several bets as a huge dog. He's just not getting the requisite implied odds to continue here.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Category Five (Okay, Maybe Only Category Three) Rant
Warning: some profanity ensues.
Well, it will once I have calmed down just a bit and copied over some hand histories from the ridiculous demonstration of "skills" that the poker blogger community put on in the limit hold'em tourney tonight.
For now, I'm off to relieve some frustration the old fashioned way. By drinking.
*********************
I thought some alcohol would calm me down. It has, to some extent. But not enough for me to laugh when I looked over some of the most retarded plays I've ever seen in a limit tournament.
I really should have known better. I thought perhaps some of the field just might have a clue how to play limit hold'em. It's certainly the game I first played when I started to become a student of the game. I've played it profitably up to the 5/10 level online (which is still very low limits, believe me) and I figured I wasn't alone in that background.
Well, I'm not going to change any names to protect the innocent. If you're in one of the hands I show below, you'll just have to grin and bear it.
Here's Hand #1.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ah Qc]
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
PirateLawyer raises to 60 -- standard raise
BamBamCan folds
Kajagugu folds
emptyman calls 30 -- BB defends
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7c 3c]
emptyman checks
PirateLawyer bets 30 - standard c-bet with ace-high and the Q-high flush draw
emptyman raises to 60 - c/r; probably has a flush draw
PirateLawyer raises to 90 - time to jam the pot
emptyman raises to 120
PirateLawyer calls 30 -easy call
*** TURN *** [Jc 7c 3c] [Qd]
emptyman checks
PirateLawyer checks - giving a free card is painful but he could already have the flush
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7c 3c Qd] [3s]
emptyman bets 60
PirateLawyer calls 60 - easy call on a blank river
*** SHOW DOWN ***
emptyman shows [5h Ac] a pair of Threes - how to lose nearly the maximum with a naked flush draw
PirateLawyer shows [Ah Qc] two pair, Queens and Threes
PirateLawyer wins the pot (495) with two pair, Queens and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 495 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc 7c 3c Qd 3s]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Ah Qc] and won (495) with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 2: BamBamCan (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Kajagugu (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: emptyman (big blind) showed [5h Ac] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Astin didn't bet (folded)
Look how many extra bets emptyman managed to spew off here. Just awful. He was supremely lucky that I didn't charge the maximum for his draw on the turn or value-raise the river.
Hand #2.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [7c Ah]
BamBamCan folds
Kajagugu folds
emptyman calls 40
FishyMcDonK calls 40
Astin folds
PirateLawyer checks - no need to raise it up in this spot
*** FLOP *** [5s 9d Ac]
PirateLawyer checks - I will c/r here 100% of the time if I get the chance
emptyman checks
FishyMcDonK checks
*** TURN *** [5s 9d Ac] [8h]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 80
FishyMcDonK folds
PirateLawyer calls 80 - time to milk this situation as best I can with a check-call line
*** RIVER *** [5s 9d Ac 8h] [Kc]
PirateLawyer checks - hoping to c/r here again, but this is really a bit too fancy
emptyman checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
emptyman shows [Qs Jd] Ace King high -- if you're going to bluff in a multi-way pot, have some outs!
PirateLawyer shows [7c Ah] a pair of Aces
PirateLawyer wins the pot (300) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 300 | Rake 0
Board: [5s 9d Ac 8h Kc]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (big blind) showed [7c Ah] and won (300) with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: BamBamCan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Kajagugu didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: emptyman showed [Qs Jd] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: Astin (small blind) folded before the Flop
Hand #3.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ks Jd]
PirateLawyer raises to 100 - easy first in raise PF
BamBamCan folds
emptyman calls 100 - villain cold calls, which is an awful play; he should 3-bet almost anything here to fold out the blinds
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc Qd 8d]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 50
PirateLawyer calls 50 - I know he'll fire, so let's let him hang himself
*** TURN *** [Jc Qd 8d] [4s]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 - as above
*** RIVER *** [Jc Qd 8d 4s] [6s]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 - I really should be willing to finally c/r but I settle for calling down
*** SHOW DOWN ***
emptyman shows [5d 4d] a pair of Fours
PirateLawyer shows [Ks Jd] a pair of Jacks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (775) with a pair of Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 775 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc Qd 8d 4s 6s]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Ks Jd] and won (775) with a pair of Jacks
Seat 2: BamBamCan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: emptyman (button) showed [5d 4d] and lost with a pair of Fours
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Astin (big blind) folded before the Flop
Well, he actually had a real flush draw and bet it the whole way. But is there any way a pair of fours is good here? Not likely. Betting with a draw in a small pot is just spewage. Again he's lucky I didn't re-raise at any point.
Hand #4.
Our first real suckout of the session. This one is a classic 3-outer on the river variety.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Js Kc]
emptyman folds
FishyMcDonK raises to 100
Astin folds
PirateLawyer raises to 150 - easy re-raise to isolate a bad player out of position
BamBamCan folds
FishyMcDonK calls 50
*** FLOP *** [Kd 2c Ts]
PirateLawyer bets 50 - no reason not to lead with a good top pair hand
FishyMcDonK raises to 100
PirateLawyer calls 50 - easy call
*** TURN *** [Kd 2c Ts] [6h]
PirateLawyer checks
FishyMcDonK bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 - let's let him hang himself, I'm well ahead of his range here
*** RIVER *** [Kd 2c Ts 6h] [9d]
PirateLawyer checks
FishyMcDonK bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 -I'm committed to showdown
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FishyMcDonK shows [Kh 9s] two pair, Kings and Nines
PirateLawyer shows [Js Kc] a pair of Kings
FishyMcDonK wins the pot (950) with two pair, Kings and Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 950 | Rake 0
Board: [Kd 2c Ts 6h 9d]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (small blind) showed [Js Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: BamBamCan (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: emptyman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK showed [Kh 9s] and won (950) with two pair, Kings and Nines
Seat 6: Astin (button) didn't bet (folded)
I got this villain to bet with an inferior hand the whole way and he happened to hit a miracle river. Whee! It's retarded to play an easily dominated hand like K9 out of position vs. a 3-bettor's range of hands.
Hand #5.
Simply put, I check-call down with ace-high and catch out a bluff, since this villain has shown a propensity to bet with complete air.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [As 9s]
itsgotmetoo folds
emptyman folds
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
PirateLawyer raises to 160 - simple opening raise
BamBamCan raises to 240
PirateLawyer calls 80
*** FLOP *** [4c 6h 5s]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan bets 80
PirateLawyer calls 80
*** TURN *** [4c 6h 5s] [4h]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan bets 160
PirateLawyer calls 160
*** RIVER *** [4c 6h 5s 4h] [Jh]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan bets 160
PirateLawyer calls 160
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BamBamCan shows [Kd Qc] a pair of Fours
PirateLawyer shows [As 9s] a pair of Fours
PirateLawyer wins the pot (1,280) with a pair of Fours
At some point you have to give up with king-high.
Hand #6.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [9c Jc]
itsgotmetoo folds
emptyman folds
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
PirateLawyer calls 40
BamBamCan raises to 160
PirateLawyer calls 80
*** FLOP *** [8d Jh Qh]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan checks
*** TURN *** [8d Jh Qh] [Js] - nice turn card for me, certainly
PirateLawyer bets 160 - time to lead out, certainly
BamBamCan raises to 320 - now he raises!?
PirateLawyer raises to 480 - easy 3-bet
BamBamCan calls 160
*** RIVER *** [8d Jh Qh Js] [Qd]
PirateLawyer bets 160 - I don't like this card but have to bet
BamBamCan calls 160 - what can he possibly be calling with?
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [9c Jc] a full house, Jacks full of Queens
BamBamCan mucks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (1,600) with a full house, Jacks full of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,600 | Rake 0
Board: [8d Jh Qh Js Qd]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (small blind) showed [9c Jc] and won (1,600) with a full house, Jacks full of Queens
Seat 2: BamBamCan (big blind) mucked [8c Ac] - two pair, Queens and Jacks
I have no idea how anyone could figure that an eight was good here. No idea.
Hand #7.
Waffles goes nuts with AK unimproved. Which should be good here about 5% of the time. I've been moved to a new table and have a solid TAG image.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [9s Js]
jeciimd folds
Willywonka1 folds
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 200
MiamiDon calls 150
SirFWALGMan raises to 300
PirateLawyer calls 100
MiamiDon calls 100
*** FLOP *** [7c 3h 6h]
MiamiDon checks
SirFWALGMan bets 100
PirateLawyer raises to 200 - I have nothing but need to raise in this good bluffing situation
MiamiDon folds
SirFWALGMan calls 100
*** TURN *** [7c 3h 6h] [4s]
SirFWALGMan checks
PirateLawyer bets 200 - Need to keep the pressure on
SirFWALGMan calls 200
*** RIVER *** [7c 3h 6h 4s] [3s]
SirFWALGMan checks
PirateLawyer bets 200 - This is a horrible board for a big ace, so let's fire again
SirFWALGMan calls 200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [9s Js] a pair of Threes
SirFWALGMan shows [Ks Ac] a pair of Threes -- that's a lot of hero calls
SirFWALGMan wins the pot (2,100) with a pair of Threes
Waffles, this rant is for you. You played AK horribly and are lucky your soul-mastery had its day here.
Hand #8. I get a monster hand and get paid off by an overplayed Ax hand, of course.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Kc Kd]
PirateLawyer raises to 240 - first in and auto-raise with this monster
MiamiDon folds
SirFWALGMan folds
jeciimd folds
MiamiDon has returned
Willywonka1 raises to 360
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 480 - auto cap here obviously
Willywonka1 calls 120
*** FLOP *** [2s 8c 7c]
Willywonka1 checks
PirateLawyer bets 120 - auto flop bet
Willywonka1 calls 120
*** TURN *** [2s 8c 7c] [Qh]
Willywonka1 bets 240 - villain leads out, so the queen likely hit him
PirateLawyer calls 240 - I will sneakily call here and raise almost any river
*** RIVER *** [2s 8c 7c Qh] [Tc]
Willywonka1 bets 240 - villain bets out again
PirateLawyer raises to 480 - I raise on cue
Willywonka1 calls 240
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [Kc Kd] a pair of Kings
Willywonka1 mucks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (2,760) with a pair of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,760 | Rake 0
Board: [2s 8c 7c Qh Tc]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Kc Kd] and won (2,760) with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: MiamiDon didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: jeciimd (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (small blind) mucked [Ah Qd] - a pair of Queens - classic overplayed TPTK
Seat 6: avoque (big blind) folded before the Flop
Victim should have dumped on the flop unimproved. Instead he spewed several more bets when my 4-bet range has him crushed ( he only beats JJ; QQ+ or AK all take him to the cleaners, as I did here).
Hand #9.
I wasn't involved in this hand but I felt quite sorry for poor MiamiDon such that I need to include this ridiculously overplayed KQ hand:
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Jc Qd]
jeciimd folds
Willywonka1 folds
avoque raises to 240
PirateLawyer folds
MiamiDon raises to 360
SirFWALGMan folds
avoque raises to 480
MiamiDon calls 120
*** FLOP *** [9h 6s Th]
MiamiDon bets 120
avoque raises to 240
MiamiDon raises to 360
avoque calls 94, and is all in
MiamiDon shows [Ah Ad]
avoque shows [Qs Ks]
Uncalled bet of 26 returned to MiamiDon
*** TURN *** [9h 6s Th] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [9h 6s Th Js] [Qc]
MiamiDon shows a pair of Aces
avoque shows a straight, King high
avoque wins the pot (1,748) with a straight, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,748 | Rake 0
Board: [9h 6s Th Js Qc]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: MiamiDon (small blind) showed [Ah Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: jeciimd didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: avoque showed [Qs Ks] and won (1,748) with a straight, King high
Notice the donkey here hit a miracle two-outer on the turn (I had folded a jack). Capping preflop with KQs is the height of idiocy. Putting the rest of your stack in unimproved on the flop with a mere gutshot is insane.
Hand #10.
This proved that this villain was just about the worst limit tournament player in existence. He called off a huge portion of his stack with ace-high, no pair and no draw. Words fail me.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [9d Jd]
Willywonka1 raises to 300
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 450
NumbBono folds
SirFWALGMan folds
Willywonka1 calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2h 7h 5s]
Willywonka1 bets 150 - he leads out on a flop that can't have helped him
PirateLawyer raises to 300 - easy bluff raise
Willywonka1 calls 150
*** TURN *** [2h 7h 5s] [6s]
Willywonka1 checks
PirateLawyer bets 300 - no time to stop firing
Willywonka1: hey stop
Willywonka1 has 15 seconds left to act
Willywonka1 calls 300
*** RIVER *** [2h 7h 5s 6s] [7c]
Willywonka1 checks
PirateLawyer bets 300 - again, he has no piece of this board, I need to bet to win
Willywonka1 has 15 seconds left to act
Willywonka1: whatever
Willywonka1: a gift
Willywonka1 calls 300 - insane hero call
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [9d Jd] a pair of Sevens
Willywonka1 shows [Td Ad] a pair of Sevens
Willywonka1 wins the pot (2,925) with a pair of Sevens
Willywonka1: i win - no shit Sherlock
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,925 | Rake 0
Board: [2h 7h 5s 6s 7c]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (button) showed [9d Jd] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 2: NumbBono (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Willywonka1 showed [Td Ad] and won (2,925) with a pair of Sevens
Seat 6: avoque didn't bet (folded)
Ace-ten. He went to war with ace-ten unimproved on every freakin' street. There were no diamonds to match his pretty suited cards. Pure insanity.
Hand #11: oh I run good. Sure this shorty was kinda priced in but this was a retarded spot to push ATC.
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (2,455)
Seat 2: NumbBono (4,565)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (7,469)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (7,302)
Seat 6: avoque (593)
Willywonka1 posts the small blind of 100
avoque posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Kd Kc]
PirateLawyer raises to 400 - UTG raise with a monster to isolate the shorty and win the blinds
NumbBono folds
SirFWALGMan folds
Willywonka1 folds
avoque raises to 593, and is all in
PirateLawyer calls 193 - instacall!
avoque shows [3c As]
PirateLawyer shows [Kd Kc]
*** FLOP *** [Ah 3d 5d] - fawk you FTP
*** TURN *** [Ah 3d 5d] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 3d 5d Jd] [2h]
avoque shows two pair, Aces and Threes
PirateLawyer shows a pair of Kings
avoque wins the pot (1,286) with two pair, Aces and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,286 | Rake 0
Board: [Ah 3d 5d Jd 2h]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Kd Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: NumbBono didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: avoque (big blind) showed [3c As] and won (1,286) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Hand #12. I'm steaming from the last hand and am now short-stacked. So I actually suckout vs. AQ for a change with A9s, go figure.
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (1,162)
Seat 2: NumbBono (3,479)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (8,269)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (7,202)
Seat 6: avoque (2,272)
NumbBono posts the small blind of 100
SirFWALGMan posts the big blind of 200
SirFWALGMan: wow
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ac 9c]
avoque: oooouuuuucccccchhhh
avoque: jesus
Willywonka1 folds
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 400 - easy opening raise on the button
NumbBono calls 300 - SB cold calls
SirFWALGMan raises to 600 - Waffles 3-bets from the BB
PirateLawyer raises to 800 - easy cap as I'm pot committed
NumbBono folds - I get the SB to fold and create some dead money for a nice overlay; this is a key concept to master for cash games
SirFWALGMan calls 200
*** FLOP *** [2c 7c Kh]
SirFWALGMan bets 200
PirateLawyer raises to 362, and is all in - easy jam on this flop
SirFWALGMan calls 162
PirateLawyer shows [Ac 9c]
SirFWALGMan shows [Qs Ah]
*** TURN *** [2c 7c Kh] [3c] - I get there!
*** RIVER *** [2c 7c Kh 3c] [4h]
PirateLawyer shows a flush, Ace high
SirFWALGMan shows Ace King high
PirateLawyer wins the pot (2,724) with a flush, Ace high
PirateLawyer: one time
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,724 | Rake 0
Board: [2c 7c Kh 3c 4h]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (button) showed [Ac 9c] and won (2,724) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: NumbBono (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (big blind) showed [Qs Ah] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 5: Willywonka1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: avoque didn't bet (folded)
Sometimes you have to gamble it up when your big hands get cracked.
Lucky Hand #13, my bustout hand. It really speaks for itself.
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (1,324)
Seat 2: NumbBono (2,067)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (5,894)
Seat 4: itsgotmetoo (13,430)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (11,124)
PirateLawyer posts the small blind of 125
NumbBono posts the big blind of 250
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Kh As]
SirFWALGMan folds
itsgotmetoo folds
Willywonka1 folds
PirateLawyer raises to 500
NumbBono has 15 seconds left to act
NumbBono calls 250
*** FLOP *** [5c Jh Kc]
PirateLawyer bets 250
NumbBono raises to 500
PirateLawyer raises to 750
NumbBono raises to 1,000
PirateLawyer calls 74, and is all in
NumbBono shows [3d Kd]
PirateLawyer shows [Kh As]
Uncalled bet of 176 returned to NumbBono
*** TURN *** [5c Jh Kc] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [5c Jh Kc 3s] [8s]
NumbBono shows two pair, Kings and Threes
PirateLawyer shows a pair of Kings
NumbBono wins the pot (2,648) with two pair, Kings and Threes
PirateLawyer stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,648 | Rake 0
Board: [5c Jh Kc 3s 8s]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (small blind) showed [Kh As] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: NumbBono (big blind) showed [3d Kd] and won (2,648) with two pair, Kings and Threes
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: itsgotmetoo didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 didn't bet (folded)
I hope these hands illustrate just how cavalierly people were treating their tournament lives. It was a gong show. Fawk!
Well, it will once I have calmed down just a bit and copied over some hand histories from the ridiculous demonstration of "skills" that the poker blogger community put on in the limit hold'em tourney tonight.
For now, I'm off to relieve some frustration the old fashioned way. By drinking.
*********************
I thought some alcohol would calm me down. It has, to some extent. But not enough for me to laugh when I looked over some of the most retarded plays I've ever seen in a limit tournament.
I really should have known better. I thought perhaps some of the field just might have a clue how to play limit hold'em. It's certainly the game I first played when I started to become a student of the game. I've played it profitably up to the 5/10 level online (which is still very low limits, believe me) and I figured I wasn't alone in that background.
Well, I'm not going to change any names to protect the innocent. If you're in one of the hands I show below, you'll just have to grin and bear it.
Here's Hand #1.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ah Qc]
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
PirateLawyer raises to 60 -- standard raise
BamBamCan folds
Kajagugu folds
emptyman calls 30 -- BB defends
*** FLOP *** [Jc 7c 3c]
emptyman checks
PirateLawyer bets 30 - standard c-bet with ace-high and the Q-high flush draw
emptyman raises to 60 - c/r; probably has a flush draw
PirateLawyer raises to 90 - time to jam the pot
emptyman raises to 120
PirateLawyer calls 30 -easy call
*** TURN *** [Jc 7c 3c] [Qd]
emptyman checks
PirateLawyer checks - giving a free card is painful but he could already have the flush
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7c 3c Qd] [3s]
emptyman bets 60
PirateLawyer calls 60 - easy call on a blank river
*** SHOW DOWN ***
emptyman shows [5h Ac] a pair of Threes - how to lose nearly the maximum with a naked flush draw
PirateLawyer shows [Ah Qc] two pair, Queens and Threes
PirateLawyer wins the pot (495) with two pair, Queens and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 495 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc 7c 3c Qd 3s]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Ah Qc] and won (495) with two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 2: BamBamCan (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Kajagugu (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: emptyman (big blind) showed [5h Ac] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Astin didn't bet (folded)
Look how many extra bets emptyman managed to spew off here. Just awful. He was supremely lucky that I didn't charge the maximum for his draw on the turn or value-raise the river.
Hand #2.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [7c Ah]
BamBamCan folds
Kajagugu folds
emptyman calls 40
FishyMcDonK calls 40
Astin folds
PirateLawyer checks - no need to raise it up in this spot
*** FLOP *** [5s 9d Ac]
PirateLawyer checks - I will c/r here 100% of the time if I get the chance
emptyman checks
FishyMcDonK checks
*** TURN *** [5s 9d Ac] [8h]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 80
FishyMcDonK folds
PirateLawyer calls 80 - time to milk this situation as best I can with a check-call line
*** RIVER *** [5s 9d Ac 8h] [Kc]
PirateLawyer checks - hoping to c/r here again, but this is really a bit too fancy
emptyman checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
emptyman shows [Qs Jd] Ace King high -- if you're going to bluff in a multi-way pot, have some outs!
PirateLawyer shows [7c Ah] a pair of Aces
PirateLawyer wins the pot (300) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 300 | Rake 0
Board: [5s 9d Ac 8h Kc]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (big blind) showed [7c Ah] and won (300) with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: BamBamCan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Kajagugu didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: emptyman showed [Qs Jd] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: Astin (small blind) folded before the Flop
Hand #3.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ks Jd]
PirateLawyer raises to 100 - easy first in raise PF
BamBamCan folds
emptyman calls 100 - villain cold calls, which is an awful play; he should 3-bet almost anything here to fold out the blinds
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
*** FLOP *** [Jc Qd 8d]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 50
PirateLawyer calls 50 - I know he'll fire, so let's let him hang himself
*** TURN *** [Jc Qd 8d] [4s]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 - as above
*** RIVER *** [Jc Qd 8d 4s] [6s]
PirateLawyer checks
emptyman bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 - I really should be willing to finally c/r but I settle for calling down
*** SHOW DOWN ***
emptyman shows [5d 4d] a pair of Fours
PirateLawyer shows [Ks Jd] a pair of Jacks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (775) with a pair of Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 775 | Rake 0
Board: [Jc Qd 8d 4s 6s]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Ks Jd] and won (775) with a pair of Jacks
Seat 2: BamBamCan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: emptyman (button) showed [5d 4d] and lost with a pair of Fours
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Astin (big blind) folded before the Flop
Well, he actually had a real flush draw and bet it the whole way. But is there any way a pair of fours is good here? Not likely. Betting with a draw in a small pot is just spewage. Again he's lucky I didn't re-raise at any point.
Hand #4.
Our first real suckout of the session. This one is a classic 3-outer on the river variety.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Js Kc]
emptyman folds
FishyMcDonK raises to 100
Astin folds
PirateLawyer raises to 150 - easy re-raise to isolate a bad player out of position
BamBamCan folds
FishyMcDonK calls 50
*** FLOP *** [Kd 2c Ts]
PirateLawyer bets 50 - no reason not to lead with a good top pair hand
FishyMcDonK raises to 100
PirateLawyer calls 50 - easy call
*** TURN *** [Kd 2c Ts] [6h]
PirateLawyer checks
FishyMcDonK bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 - let's let him hang himself, I'm well ahead of his range here
*** RIVER *** [Kd 2c Ts 6h] [9d]
PirateLawyer checks
FishyMcDonK bets 100
PirateLawyer calls 100 -I'm committed to showdown
*** SHOW DOWN ***
FishyMcDonK shows [Kh 9s] two pair, Kings and Nines
PirateLawyer shows [Js Kc] a pair of Kings
FishyMcDonK wins the pot (950) with two pair, Kings and Nines
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 950 | Rake 0
Board: [Kd 2c Ts 6h 9d]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (small blind) showed [Js Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: BamBamCan (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: emptyman didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: FishyMcDonK showed [Kh 9s] and won (950) with two pair, Kings and Nines
Seat 6: Astin (button) didn't bet (folded)
I got this villain to bet with an inferior hand the whole way and he happened to hit a miracle river. Whee! It's retarded to play an easily dominated hand like K9 out of position vs. a 3-bettor's range of hands.
Hand #5.
Simply put, I check-call down with ace-high and catch out a bluff, since this villain has shown a propensity to bet with complete air.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [As 9s]
itsgotmetoo folds
emptyman folds
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
PirateLawyer raises to 160 - simple opening raise
BamBamCan raises to 240
PirateLawyer calls 80
*** FLOP *** [4c 6h 5s]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan bets 80
PirateLawyer calls 80
*** TURN *** [4c 6h 5s] [4h]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan bets 160
PirateLawyer calls 160
*** RIVER *** [4c 6h 5s 4h] [Jh]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan bets 160
PirateLawyer calls 160
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BamBamCan shows [Kd Qc] a pair of Fours
PirateLawyer shows [As 9s] a pair of Fours
PirateLawyer wins the pot (1,280) with a pair of Fours
At some point you have to give up with king-high.
Hand #6.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [9c Jc]
itsgotmetoo folds
emptyman folds
FishyMcDonK folds
Astin folds
PirateLawyer calls 40
BamBamCan raises to 160
PirateLawyer calls 80
*** FLOP *** [8d Jh Qh]
PirateLawyer checks
BamBamCan checks
*** TURN *** [8d Jh Qh] [Js] - nice turn card for me, certainly
PirateLawyer bets 160 - time to lead out, certainly
BamBamCan raises to 320 - now he raises!?
PirateLawyer raises to 480 - easy 3-bet
BamBamCan calls 160
*** RIVER *** [8d Jh Qh Js] [Qd]
PirateLawyer bets 160 - I don't like this card but have to bet
BamBamCan calls 160 - what can he possibly be calling with?
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [9c Jc] a full house, Jacks full of Queens
BamBamCan mucks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (1,600) with a full house, Jacks full of Queens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,600 | Rake 0
Board: [8d Jh Qh Js Qd]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (small blind) showed [9c Jc] and won (1,600) with a full house, Jacks full of Queens
Seat 2: BamBamCan (big blind) mucked [8c Ac] - two pair, Queens and Jacks
I have no idea how anyone could figure that an eight was good here. No idea.
Hand #7.
Waffles goes nuts with AK unimproved. Which should be good here about 5% of the time. I've been moved to a new table and have a solid TAG image.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [9s Js]
jeciimd folds
Willywonka1 folds
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 200
MiamiDon calls 150
SirFWALGMan raises to 300
PirateLawyer calls 100
MiamiDon calls 100
*** FLOP *** [7c 3h 6h]
MiamiDon checks
SirFWALGMan bets 100
PirateLawyer raises to 200 - I have nothing but need to raise in this good bluffing situation
MiamiDon folds
SirFWALGMan calls 100
*** TURN *** [7c 3h 6h] [4s]
SirFWALGMan checks
PirateLawyer bets 200 - Need to keep the pressure on
SirFWALGMan calls 200
*** RIVER *** [7c 3h 6h 4s] [3s]
SirFWALGMan checks
PirateLawyer bets 200 - This is a horrible board for a big ace, so let's fire again
SirFWALGMan calls 200
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [9s Js] a pair of Threes
SirFWALGMan shows [Ks Ac] a pair of Threes -- that's a lot of hero calls
SirFWALGMan wins the pot (2,100) with a pair of Threes
Waffles, this rant is for you. You played AK horribly and are lucky your soul-mastery had its day here.
Hand #8. I get a monster hand and get paid off by an overplayed Ax hand, of course.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Kc Kd]
PirateLawyer raises to 240 - first in and auto-raise with this monster
MiamiDon folds
SirFWALGMan folds
jeciimd folds
MiamiDon has returned
Willywonka1 raises to 360
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 480 - auto cap here obviously
Willywonka1 calls 120
*** FLOP *** [2s 8c 7c]
Willywonka1 checks
PirateLawyer bets 120 - auto flop bet
Willywonka1 calls 120
*** TURN *** [2s 8c 7c] [Qh]
Willywonka1 bets 240 - villain leads out, so the queen likely hit him
PirateLawyer calls 240 - I will sneakily call here and raise almost any river
*** RIVER *** [2s 8c 7c Qh] [Tc]
Willywonka1 bets 240 - villain bets out again
PirateLawyer raises to 480 - I raise on cue
Willywonka1 calls 240
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [Kc Kd] a pair of Kings
Willywonka1 mucks
PirateLawyer wins the pot (2,760) with a pair of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,760 | Rake 0
Board: [2s 8c 7c Qh Tc]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Kc Kd] and won (2,760) with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: MiamiDon didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: jeciimd (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (small blind) mucked [Ah Qd] - a pair of Queens - classic overplayed TPTK
Seat 6: avoque (big blind) folded before the Flop
Victim should have dumped on the flop unimproved. Instead he spewed several more bets when my 4-bet range has him crushed ( he only beats JJ; QQ+ or AK all take him to the cleaners, as I did here).
Hand #9.
I wasn't involved in this hand but I felt quite sorry for poor MiamiDon such that I need to include this ridiculously overplayed KQ hand:
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Jc Qd]
jeciimd folds
Willywonka1 folds
avoque raises to 240
PirateLawyer folds
MiamiDon raises to 360
SirFWALGMan folds
avoque raises to 480
MiamiDon calls 120
*** FLOP *** [9h 6s Th]
MiamiDon bets 120
avoque raises to 240
MiamiDon raises to 360
avoque calls 94, and is all in
MiamiDon shows [Ah Ad]
avoque shows [Qs Ks]
Uncalled bet of 26 returned to MiamiDon
*** TURN *** [9h 6s Th] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [9h 6s Th Js] [Qc]
MiamiDon shows a pair of Aces
avoque shows a straight, King high
avoque wins the pot (1,748) with a straight, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,748 | Rake 0
Board: [9h 6s Th Js Qc]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: MiamiDon (small blind) showed [Ah Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: jeciimd didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: avoque showed [Qs Ks] and won (1,748) with a straight, King high
Notice the donkey here hit a miracle two-outer on the turn (I had folded a jack). Capping preflop with KQs is the height of idiocy. Putting the rest of your stack in unimproved on the flop with a mere gutshot is insane.
Hand #10.
This proved that this villain was just about the worst limit tournament player in existence. He called off a huge portion of his stack with ace-high, no pair and no draw. Words fail me.
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [9d Jd]
Willywonka1 raises to 300
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 450
NumbBono folds
SirFWALGMan folds
Willywonka1 calls 150
*** FLOP *** [2h 7h 5s]
Willywonka1 bets 150 - he leads out on a flop that can't have helped him
PirateLawyer raises to 300 - easy bluff raise
Willywonka1 calls 150
*** TURN *** [2h 7h 5s] [6s]
Willywonka1 checks
PirateLawyer bets 300 - no time to stop firing
Willywonka1: hey stop
Willywonka1 has 15 seconds left to act
Willywonka1 calls 300
*** RIVER *** [2h 7h 5s 6s] [7c]
Willywonka1 checks
PirateLawyer bets 300 - again, he has no piece of this board, I need to bet to win
Willywonka1 has 15 seconds left to act
Willywonka1: whatever
Willywonka1: a gift
Willywonka1 calls 300 - insane hero call
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PirateLawyer shows [9d Jd] a pair of Sevens
Willywonka1 shows [Td Ad] a pair of Sevens
Willywonka1 wins the pot (2,925) with a pair of Sevens
Willywonka1: i win - no shit Sherlock
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,925 | Rake 0
Board: [2h 7h 5s 6s 7c]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (button) showed [9d Jd] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 2: NumbBono (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Willywonka1 showed [Td Ad] and won (2,925) with a pair of Sevens
Seat 6: avoque didn't bet (folded)
Ace-ten. He went to war with ace-ten unimproved on every freakin' street. There were no diamonds to match his pretty suited cards. Pure insanity.
Hand #11: oh I run good. Sure this shorty was kinda priced in but this was a retarded spot to push ATC.
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (2,455)
Seat 2: NumbBono (4,565)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (7,469)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (7,302)
Seat 6: avoque (593)
Willywonka1 posts the small blind of 100
avoque posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Kd Kc]
PirateLawyer raises to 400 - UTG raise with a monster to isolate the shorty and win the blinds
NumbBono folds
SirFWALGMan folds
Willywonka1 folds
avoque raises to 593, and is all in
PirateLawyer calls 193 - instacall!
avoque shows [3c As]
PirateLawyer shows [Kd Kc]
*** FLOP *** [Ah 3d 5d] - fawk you FTP
*** TURN *** [Ah 3d 5d] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [Ah 3d 5d Jd] [2h]
avoque shows two pair, Aces and Threes
PirateLawyer shows a pair of Kings
avoque wins the pot (1,286) with two pair, Aces and Threes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,286 | Rake 0
Board: [Ah 3d 5d Jd 2h]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer showed [Kd Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: NumbBono didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: avoque (big blind) showed [3c As] and won (1,286) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Hand #12. I'm steaming from the last hand and am now short-stacked. So I actually suckout vs. AQ for a change with A9s, go figure.
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (1,162)
Seat 2: NumbBono (3,479)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (8,269)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (7,202)
Seat 6: avoque (2,272)
NumbBono posts the small blind of 100
SirFWALGMan posts the big blind of 200
SirFWALGMan: wow
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Ac 9c]
avoque: oooouuuuucccccchhhh
avoque: jesus
Willywonka1 folds
avoque folds
PirateLawyer raises to 400 - easy opening raise on the button
NumbBono calls 300 - SB cold calls
SirFWALGMan raises to 600 - Waffles 3-bets from the BB
PirateLawyer raises to 800 - easy cap as I'm pot committed
NumbBono folds - I get the SB to fold and create some dead money for a nice overlay; this is a key concept to master for cash games
SirFWALGMan calls 200
*** FLOP *** [2c 7c Kh]
SirFWALGMan bets 200
PirateLawyer raises to 362, and is all in - easy jam on this flop
SirFWALGMan calls 162
PirateLawyer shows [Ac 9c]
SirFWALGMan shows [Qs Ah]
*** TURN *** [2c 7c Kh] [3c] - I get there!
*** RIVER *** [2c 7c Kh 3c] [4h]
PirateLawyer shows a flush, Ace high
SirFWALGMan shows Ace King high
PirateLawyer wins the pot (2,724) with a flush, Ace high
PirateLawyer: one time
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,724 | Rake 0
Board: [2c 7c Kh 3c 4h]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (button) showed [Ac 9c] and won (2,724) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: NumbBono (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (big blind) showed [Qs Ah] and lost with Ace King high
Seat 5: Willywonka1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: avoque didn't bet (folded)
Sometimes you have to gamble it up when your big hands get cracked.
Lucky Hand #13, my bustout hand. It really speaks for itself.
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (1,324)
Seat 2: NumbBono (2,067)
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan (5,894)
Seat 4: itsgotmetoo (13,430)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 (11,124)
PirateLawyer posts the small blind of 125
NumbBono posts the big blind of 250
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to PirateLawyer [Kh As]
SirFWALGMan folds
itsgotmetoo folds
Willywonka1 folds
PirateLawyer raises to 500
NumbBono has 15 seconds left to act
NumbBono calls 250
*** FLOP *** [5c Jh Kc]
PirateLawyer bets 250
NumbBono raises to 500
PirateLawyer raises to 750
NumbBono raises to 1,000
PirateLawyer calls 74, and is all in
NumbBono shows [3d Kd]
PirateLawyer shows [Kh As]
Uncalled bet of 176 returned to NumbBono
*** TURN *** [5c Jh Kc] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [5c Jh Kc 3s] [8s]
NumbBono shows two pair, Kings and Threes
PirateLawyer shows a pair of Kings
NumbBono wins the pot (2,648) with two pair, Kings and Threes
PirateLawyer stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,648 | Rake 0
Board: [5c Jh Kc 3s 8s]
Seat 1: PirateLawyer (small blind) showed [Kh As] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 2: NumbBono (big blind) showed [3d Kd] and won (2,648) with two pair, Kings and Threes
Seat 3: SirFWALGMan didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: itsgotmetoo didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: Willywonka1 didn't bet (folded)
I hope these hands illustrate just how cavalierly people were treating their tournament lives. It was a gong show. Fawk!
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