Game 4 wrapped up sometime in the am hours of Saturday night... Chris got his 1st win of the season after being runner-up to Shae last game. Shae, of course came in 2nd place and I was 3rd. It's pretty nice having 3 cashes in 4 games, though a few times I thought I was in great position to get another win. I'm really hurting on details of any hands whatsoever, though...and I wasn't able to play in the Sunday 2pm cheap bastard tournament. I do remember one hand, though. We're down to 3 players, I'm on the BB with 10-9offsuit and it's the 3rd or 4th time all night I've had this and couldn't play it due to early position raises, an all-in, etc... Man, I can't even remember the blinds...maybe 800-1600, 100 ante?, I had about 25K total, Chris had about 60K, Shae had about 15K. Chris raises on the button(only 3 players left) to 3800, Shae folds and I call, hoping to be able to shove decent looking boards or maybe wait for the turn depending... flop is 9-7-4 with 2 clubs, I believe I have the 10c. I figured he's going to c-bet a lot of the time so instead of betting or shoving I decided to check-raise-shove. I was also ok with him calling as I figured a lot of time he might call with an Ace high, basically, I figured there were a lot of times he could call with less than my 9s, 10 kicker so a check-raise where he might think he's committed to calling is okay with me. I check, Chris puts in 5200 and I shove all-in. Chris thought for a loooong while before folding. He asked if I'd tell him what I had after the tournament and I told him I would if he told me what he folded. Blinds caught up to me along with Shae shoving a lot of hands I'd have liked to call light, however 8-2 and 9-3 and the run of really dead cards tortured my stack down to a pittance until I was finally unable to beat Chris with my A-6suited against whatever his hand was...K-J? Not sure, maybe Chris can fill me in in the comments... For my blog's sake, I'll have to do a better job of not mixing beer and poker...or maybe, as time goes on, I'll start to remember other hands...like shoving with A-7 and about 12 blinds and knocking out Terri with AK and 8 blinds by hitting runner-runner-straight cards...just remembered that...Terri was so mad at me...I told her I shoved with A-7, I didn't call a shove with it... I really hope the Rivers continue's their cheap bastard tournaments after January... I also have no idea what went down with the HEADS UP CHAMPIONSHIP, I haven't decided yet if I'll spoil it or just not pay attention until it's on TV, whenever that is...
I'll post up any rememberances I might have and the standings as soon as Chris puts them out. I might even update my stats and put a few out there soon!
Play Where the Pros Play!!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Poker League Season 9 Week 4 - and NHUPC are this week!!
Lots of poker happening this week!!
The National Heads Up Poker Championship hosted by NBC announced it's list of players for this year after their hiatus last year. Here's the list:
Gaelle Baumann, Jean-Robert Bellande, Andy Bloch, Viktor Blom, Liv Boeree, Justin Bonomo, Doyle Brunson, Olivier Busquet, Daniel Cates, Mohsin Charania, Joseph Cheong, Shaun Deeb, Jonathan Duhamel, Tom Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Will Failla, Andy Frankenberger, Phil Galfond, Matt Glantz, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand Grospellier, Jennifer Harman, Brian Hastings, Isaac Haxton, Phil Hellmuth, John Hennigan, Maria Ho, Phil Ivey, Faraz Jaka, Kyle Julius, Eugene Katchalov, Phil Laak, Ben Lamb, Andrew Lichtenberger, Matt Matros, Mike Matusow, Jason Mercier, Greg Merson, Michael Mizrachi, Chris Moneymaker, John Monnette, Chris Moorman, Carlos Mortensen, Daniel Negreanu, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Rob Salaburu, Matt Salsberg, Nick Schulman, Huck Seed, Erik Seidel, Scott Seiver, Joe Serock, Mike Sexton, Sam Simon, Dan Smith, Justin Smith, Jason Somerville, Jennifer Tilly, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, David Williams
Notables missing: Annie Duke (for obvious reasons: Epic Poker League...) Vanessa Selbst tweeted that she's playing in the Aussie Millions instead(unless she makes the final table, bummer) I think Pius Heinz should've been invited since he was the WSOP champ for 2011. And I have no problem with Gaelle Baumann, but we should also have Elizabeth Hille, too...
Questionable entries, at least to me: John Hennigan: he's solid, but more of a blast from the past...right? Has he done something recently I'm forgetting??
Jennifer Tilly - She's the only "celebrity" still invited, unless I missed someone else...she has a bracelet, though...so there's that...I'd rather see Hille, though...maybe Tilly's playing better these days...?
The tournament will run the 24th-26th and I'm guessing they'll announce the brackets tomorrow sometime.
Poker League Season 9 Week 4 will play out on Saturday night so that should be fun and Sunday, hopefully I won't be too hung over to play in the 2pm River's Sunday $40 "Cheap Bastard" tournament.
Wish me luck!
The National Heads Up Poker Championship hosted by NBC announced it's list of players for this year after their hiatus last year. Here's the list:
Gaelle Baumann, Jean-Robert Bellande, Andy Bloch, Viktor Blom, Liv Boeree, Justin Bonomo, Doyle Brunson, Olivier Busquet, Daniel Cates, Mohsin Charania, Joseph Cheong, Shaun Deeb, Jonathan Duhamel, Tom Dwan, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Will Failla, Andy Frankenberger, Phil Galfond, Matt Glantz, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand Grospellier, Jennifer Harman, Brian Hastings, Isaac Haxton, Phil Hellmuth, John Hennigan, Maria Ho, Phil Ivey, Faraz Jaka, Kyle Julius, Eugene Katchalov, Phil Laak, Ben Lamb, Andrew Lichtenberger, Matt Matros, Mike Matusow, Jason Mercier, Greg Merson, Michael Mizrachi, Chris Moneymaker, John Monnette, Chris Moorman, Carlos Mortensen, Daniel Negreanu, Greg Raymer, Vanessa Rousso, Rob Salaburu, Matt Salsberg, Nick Schulman, Huck Seed, Erik Seidel, Scott Seiver, Joe Serock, Mike Sexton, Sam Simon, Dan Smith, Justin Smith, Jason Somerville, Jennifer Tilly, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, David Williams
Notables missing: Annie Duke (for obvious reasons: Epic Poker League...) Vanessa Selbst tweeted that she's playing in the Aussie Millions instead(unless she makes the final table, bummer) I think Pius Heinz should've been invited since he was the WSOP champ for 2011. And I have no problem with Gaelle Baumann, but we should also have Elizabeth Hille, too...
Questionable entries, at least to me: John Hennigan: he's solid, but more of a blast from the past...right? Has he done something recently I'm forgetting??
Jennifer Tilly - She's the only "celebrity" still invited, unless I missed someone else...she has a bracelet, though...so there's that...I'd rather see Hille, though...maybe Tilly's playing better these days...?
The tournament will run the 24th-26th and I'm guessing they'll announce the brackets tomorrow sometime.
Poker League Season 9 Week 4 will play out on Saturday night so that should be fun and Sunday, hopefully I won't be too hung over to play in the 2pm River's Sunday $40 "Cheap Bastard" tournament.
Wish me luck!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Tournaments are difficult
Played the 7:15, $40 game at Rivers yesterday. They got 62 or 64 players, paid 7. I didn't make it very far, around 43rd. I only got myself up from 10K to 15K and then I spent the most of the time between 10K and 6K until I was KOd around 43rd place.
A couple hands I played below:
25-50 no ante - I'm up a few thousand after playing 2-3 other hands. I look down at black 7s and after 3 limpers I raise it up to 225 in middle position. I never know if I should set-mine with these middle pairs or raise them up and keep everyone guessing my hands. I try to switch it up, though, to keep them guessing anyway... UTG limper calls. I don't know much about this guy, just that he's not really loose and I wouldn't figure him to be extremely tight either. I assume his utg limp-call would put his range somewhere in a high-mid-ace or 2 paints or a low pair role. Flop isn't too bad except it's all hearts, 10h-5h-3h. He checks, I bet 350 and he calls. I'm not feeling fantastic about my hand, but I think it's still probable he's floating with a heart, maybe his pocket pair has a heart, etc... Turn is a Jc and I decide not to give him a free heart if that's what he's looking for and my line is pretty strong still so I bet out 600, he thinks for a moment calls. River was a 4h and he checks. This, to me, caps his hand at some middle heart he fell into more than an Ace of hearts he was drawing to so I thought I had more of a chance of having the Ace of hearts than he did so I bet out 1000 hoping it looked to value-ish and he'd be able to fold a middle heart. To my surprise, and very quickly after my 1K bet, he actually raised me to 3000...well I couldn't call so after mowing over shoving I decided to fold. I think it seems unlikely he's got the Ah, but at the same time it's difficult for him to raise me on the river without it...so I hollywooded for a couple moments and folded...back down to about 10K
100-200 no ante - I have AJoffsuit, seat 2 in mid position, utg+2 or 3 so I raise it up to 500 and get 2 callers, seat 4 and seat 6, blinds fold. Flop is 10h-7h-4s and I c-bet out 1100, seat 4 folds, 6 calls. Turn is a Kc and we both check. To me this, along with her 1100 call caps her hand at some pair, maybe the 7 or a 9-10 kind of hand(10 with a weak kicker), and I kind of felt like I should bet here, but I think there's more profit in betting a lot of rivers based on the fact that people will fold more when their hand can no longer improve so turn bets are called more than river bets, I think, anyway...so a King hits on the river, she checks and I bet out 1500, she thinks for a bit and calls, I flip over Ace high and she flips over pocket 6s. Maybe 2K would've been enough...? I noticed her make some serious bluff-catching calls and I figured (hopefully I'm not being sexist here...) that being a woman playing poker she might be used to calling light because so many men will attempt to bluff her(I noticed this as well at least 2 other times). So this also means that I should value bet her to death if I can...
Another hand during 100-200 no ante - I preflop raised with Ah-Qh middle position to 500 with 8K behind, seat 6 in the BB called, the flop was Ac-Jc-5c. She checked, I bet out 500 and she thought, checked her cards and called. I immediately thought she was calling only with a high club here so a 9d on the turn wasn't scary to my Aces so after she checked again I bet out 1100, she thought again and called. River was a 9s, she checked and I bet out 1600, hoping for a bluff-catching call again. She looked like she was thinking of folding but ended up calling and flipped over Qc-9h...bleh...I remember thinking at least I was right on the flop call and the way she played her hand now made more sense but I just felt really unlucky that the river wasn't a club yet she back-doored trip 9s. I think against other players I might not bet the river here, but she was usually calling down with bluff-catcher type hands against everyone so in these cases I think a bet has profit. Unfortunately, running 9s ended up being a really strong bluff-catcher-turned-into-a-hand...
100-200, 25 ante - I have Qh-9h in seat 2 utg+1 and 5800 total, blinds are playing pretty tight and I have a pretty tight aggressive image so far. Seat 3 was rocky and seat 4 was only aggressive as an opener, I haven't seen him 3-bet anything yet. I figured if I wanted to play this hand I needed to raise it and not let seat 3 open me off of it. Seat 5 has 2000 total and maybe I make a slight mistake by raising for that reason, but he was pretty much folding himself into oblivion anyway, even frustrated that he hadn't gotten any cards so I figured he'll probably fold as he's done every time prior. I raise it up to 800, seat 3 and 4 fold, seat 5 shoves it all-in for 2K, seat 6 calls(she called preflop raises a lot, not necessarily with bad cards, though), folds around to me and I thought about shoving for my last 3800 but I'm probably slightly bad against seat 5's range so I was hoping to at least be profitable against seat 6 and she might call a post flop shove if it hits me nicely. Plus the fact that a lot of times people check down an all-in she'll probably check a lot of flops. Flop is Q-J-6, 2 clubs, seat 6 checks, I look over at seat 5 and he doesn't look at all irked about this flop so I check, hoping a brick falls on the turn and maybe I can shove my last 3800 and get a confused bluff-catching call as she gave me last hands we played in. Turn is a 7s. She checks again and I shove. She thinks for a few moments and calls and then it felt pretty awesome when she flipped over a pair of 9s, while unfortunately seat 5 flipped over QJ I made a slight profit on a hand that was supposed to cripple me, sitting about where the all-in guy now sat around 7K.
I played 1 hand and lost since that last hand, now at 200-400, 50 ante - I have 5300 in chips and I'm the big blind. I like my stack size for a 3bet shove if the situation presents itself. I'm in the BB in seat 2, seat 5 raises it up to 800 with 6000 behind. He's the same guy that just tripled up thanks to me and seat 6. Now this guy is rocky, so a raise at all gives me pause, though he just shoved with QJ and it almost looked like he was going to raise more and decided against it....He appeared more like he had a hand he thought he should raise with now that he has some chips, but he didn't particularly think was all that strong/didn't want to lose the chips he just got or play a big pot, etc... Something like KQsuited, maybe A-10off and down to maybe to A-5suited, mid pair, etc. When he put out the 800(min-raise) I thought that if someone else calls I have a good opportunity to 3-bet shove and get a nice pot on a squeeze. As she'd been prone to do, seat 6 calls and it folds to me. I look down at Ad-8d and I figured this is as good as anything to pull a squeeze with so I shove for my 4850 I have left. Seat 5 thought for a couple seconds and actually picked his cards up almost tossing them into the muck before announcing "eh, well, I'm all in", seat 6 folded and I told him "good call", flipping over my hand he flipped over AJoff. flop was 7-9-9, no diamonds and nothing else on the board paired so I was knocked out in the lower 40s. One of these days I'll make a deep run... I honestly played a lot less hands this game than those prior, maybe I played too tightly...? 2 times I felt like I went against my "instincts" I had 5-6offsuit and limped for 200 with 4 others and seat 3 opened to 700 in probably the 3rd raise within this orbit, so I figured he wasn't that strong and after 3 others called I thought maybe I should see a flop and I just had that feeling, but folded instead. Flop was 2-3-4rainbow and 2 players put in bets the whole way, seat 3 was bluffing, seat 6 limp-called the whole way with 10s. I don't let things like that get to me, but it did sting after the flop and all that action. The other hand was the A-8suited 3-bet-shove I kinda had a bad feeling about it even though I think it's a decent play. I'm probably folding or calling the 400 more if seat 6 doesn't call, however, it seemed like a good spot when seat 6 calls...
I'm starting to remember why A-8 was my least favorite hand all those years ago, it's probably my least profitable hand, maybe I'm playing it too strongly...though I'm sure I'm only remembering the times it fails me horribly rather than the small pots I bring in with it...It is responsible for 2 eliminations of the last 3 tournaments so maybe there's some merit to my hatred...
A couple hands I played below:
25-50 no ante - I'm up a few thousand after playing 2-3 other hands. I look down at black 7s and after 3 limpers I raise it up to 225 in middle position. I never know if I should set-mine with these middle pairs or raise them up and keep everyone guessing my hands. I try to switch it up, though, to keep them guessing anyway... UTG limper calls. I don't know much about this guy, just that he's not really loose and I wouldn't figure him to be extremely tight either. I assume his utg limp-call would put his range somewhere in a high-mid-ace or 2 paints or a low pair role. Flop isn't too bad except it's all hearts, 10h-5h-3h. He checks, I bet 350 and he calls. I'm not feeling fantastic about my hand, but I think it's still probable he's floating with a heart, maybe his pocket pair has a heart, etc... Turn is a Jc and I decide not to give him a free heart if that's what he's looking for and my line is pretty strong still so I bet out 600, he thinks for a moment calls. River was a 4h and he checks. This, to me, caps his hand at some middle heart he fell into more than an Ace of hearts he was drawing to so I thought I had more of a chance of having the Ace of hearts than he did so I bet out 1000 hoping it looked to value-ish and he'd be able to fold a middle heart. To my surprise, and very quickly after my 1K bet, he actually raised me to 3000...well I couldn't call so after mowing over shoving I decided to fold. I think it seems unlikely he's got the Ah, but at the same time it's difficult for him to raise me on the river without it...so I hollywooded for a couple moments and folded...back down to about 10K
100-200 no ante - I have AJoffsuit, seat 2 in mid position, utg+2 or 3 so I raise it up to 500 and get 2 callers, seat 4 and seat 6, blinds fold. Flop is 10h-7h-4s and I c-bet out 1100, seat 4 folds, 6 calls. Turn is a Kc and we both check. To me this, along with her 1100 call caps her hand at some pair, maybe the 7 or a 9-10 kind of hand(10 with a weak kicker), and I kind of felt like I should bet here, but I think there's more profit in betting a lot of rivers based on the fact that people will fold more when their hand can no longer improve so turn bets are called more than river bets, I think, anyway...so a King hits on the river, she checks and I bet out 1500, she thinks for a bit and calls, I flip over Ace high and she flips over pocket 6s. Maybe 2K would've been enough...? I noticed her make some serious bluff-catching calls and I figured (hopefully I'm not being sexist here...) that being a woman playing poker she might be used to calling light because so many men will attempt to bluff her(I noticed this as well at least 2 other times). So this also means that I should value bet her to death if I can...
Another hand during 100-200 no ante - I preflop raised with Ah-Qh middle position to 500 with 8K behind, seat 6 in the BB called, the flop was Ac-Jc-5c. She checked, I bet out 500 and she thought, checked her cards and called. I immediately thought she was calling only with a high club here so a 9d on the turn wasn't scary to my Aces so after she checked again I bet out 1100, she thought again and called. River was a 9s, she checked and I bet out 1600, hoping for a bluff-catching call again. She looked like she was thinking of folding but ended up calling and flipped over Qc-9h...bleh...I remember thinking at least I was right on the flop call and the way she played her hand now made more sense but I just felt really unlucky that the river wasn't a club yet she back-doored trip 9s. I think against other players I might not bet the river here, but she was usually calling down with bluff-catcher type hands against everyone so in these cases I think a bet has profit. Unfortunately, running 9s ended up being a really strong bluff-catcher-turned-into-a-hand...
100-200, 25 ante - I have Qh-9h in seat 2 utg+1 and 5800 total, blinds are playing pretty tight and I have a pretty tight aggressive image so far. Seat 3 was rocky and seat 4 was only aggressive as an opener, I haven't seen him 3-bet anything yet. I figured if I wanted to play this hand I needed to raise it and not let seat 3 open me off of it. Seat 5 has 2000 total and maybe I make a slight mistake by raising for that reason, but he was pretty much folding himself into oblivion anyway, even frustrated that he hadn't gotten any cards so I figured he'll probably fold as he's done every time prior. I raise it up to 800, seat 3 and 4 fold, seat 5 shoves it all-in for 2K, seat 6 calls(she called preflop raises a lot, not necessarily with bad cards, though), folds around to me and I thought about shoving for my last 3800 but I'm probably slightly bad against seat 5's range so I was hoping to at least be profitable against seat 6 and she might call a post flop shove if it hits me nicely. Plus the fact that a lot of times people check down an all-in she'll probably check a lot of flops. Flop is Q-J-6, 2 clubs, seat 6 checks, I look over at seat 5 and he doesn't look at all irked about this flop so I check, hoping a brick falls on the turn and maybe I can shove my last 3800 and get a confused bluff-catching call as she gave me last hands we played in. Turn is a 7s. She checks again and I shove. She thinks for a few moments and calls and then it felt pretty awesome when she flipped over a pair of 9s, while unfortunately seat 5 flipped over QJ I made a slight profit on a hand that was supposed to cripple me, sitting about where the all-in guy now sat around 7K.
I played 1 hand and lost since that last hand, now at 200-400, 50 ante - I have 5300 in chips and I'm the big blind. I like my stack size for a 3bet shove if the situation presents itself. I'm in the BB in seat 2, seat 5 raises it up to 800 with 6000 behind. He's the same guy that just tripled up thanks to me and seat 6. Now this guy is rocky, so a raise at all gives me pause, though he just shoved with QJ and it almost looked like he was going to raise more and decided against it....He appeared more like he had a hand he thought he should raise with now that he has some chips, but he didn't particularly think was all that strong/didn't want to lose the chips he just got or play a big pot, etc... Something like KQsuited, maybe A-10off and down to maybe to A-5suited, mid pair, etc. When he put out the 800(min-raise) I thought that if someone else calls I have a good opportunity to 3-bet shove and get a nice pot on a squeeze. As she'd been prone to do, seat 6 calls and it folds to me. I look down at Ad-8d and I figured this is as good as anything to pull a squeeze with so I shove for my 4850 I have left. Seat 5 thought for a couple seconds and actually picked his cards up almost tossing them into the muck before announcing "eh, well, I'm all in", seat 6 folded and I told him "good call", flipping over my hand he flipped over AJoff. flop was 7-9-9, no diamonds and nothing else on the board paired so I was knocked out in the lower 40s. One of these days I'll make a deep run... I honestly played a lot less hands this game than those prior, maybe I played too tightly...? 2 times I felt like I went against my "instincts" I had 5-6offsuit and limped for 200 with 4 others and seat 3 opened to 700 in probably the 3rd raise within this orbit, so I figured he wasn't that strong and after 3 others called I thought maybe I should see a flop and I just had that feeling, but folded instead. Flop was 2-3-4rainbow and 2 players put in bets the whole way, seat 3 was bluffing, seat 6 limp-called the whole way with 10s. I don't let things like that get to me, but it did sting after the flop and all that action. The other hand was the A-8suited 3-bet-shove I kinda had a bad feeling about it even though I think it's a decent play. I'm probably folding or calling the 400 more if seat 6 doesn't call, however, it seemed like a good spot when seat 6 calls...
I'm starting to remember why A-8 was my least favorite hand all those years ago, it's probably my least profitable hand, maybe I'm playing it too strongly...though I'm sure I'm only remembering the times it fails me horribly rather than the small pots I bring in with it...It is responsible for 2 eliminations of the last 3 tournaments so maybe there's some merit to my hatred...
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Rivered at the Rivers
The River(s)
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, right? I mean the place is called Rivers... Well, the last 2 weeks I've tried my luck at what I'm calling "The Cheap Bastard Tournaments" held on Sundays at Rivers Casino. Sunday at 2pm and 7:15 pm Rivers hosts a 30+5+5(+5 dealer add-on) tournament, so overall it's $45. The tournament is actually a really good deal for your money. It appears to be the same blind structure, time and blind-wise as the more expensive Mon-Wed $80 game and/or the $120 game Thurs. and Friday. I've only gotten as far as level 5 or 6, though. You start with 8000 in chips, +2k for $5 dealer add-on, so 10K in chips. Blinds are 20 minute levels and increase like so: 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 100-200 w25ante, 200-400 w50ante, 300-600 w75ante, 400-800 w100ante and I think it goes to 600-1200, 800-1600 and then not sure after that as I haven't made it that far yet...(I have made it further in the $80 game but I don't remember the blinds after this point...) I'm not sure if this tournament will continue after January, however, if turnout is any indication I'm thinking it will...84 players for the 2pm yesterday, 74 for the 2pm Sunday prior. In my past trips I've seen the $80 game get as much as 50 but it appears to usually stick around the 35-40 mark. I guess the money the tournaments bring in is the same, 84 at $40 or 40 at $80, however, only the casino would be able to more accurately judge the amount of money the increase of 40 people would bring in, I can't imagine everyone in those games is like me and won't play anything else if I don't win anything(this was really hard to do, though...)
I'm noticing a trend with my last couple of poker trips, though. I've had a few too many bluff-catching river calls turn out to be 2nd best hands(last week I had 3). Yesterday I had the unfortunate luck of being constantly rivered(4 times that I can remember) I also had a really nice start turn bad, too. I sat down at table 2, seat 5 about 8 minutes into level 1: parking and then there was a line of late registrants like me...(parking isn't that bad, but I've most recently just zoomed up to floor 8 to find a nice easy spot) My first hand I look down at KdQc, I'm in mid position and a limper to my right, so I raised it up to 175, someone made a comment that I missed so I asked what the standard raise at the table had been so far, older guy to my left said 175 is a good one so I figure it must have been light to that point. 4 callers later and the flop was K-K-9. 3 players checked to me and I had the guy with the most chips up to this point behind me in seat 9. This fact made me think he was pretty loose and/or aggressive, but he didn't yet know what to make of me so I thought a nice c-bet was needed for this pot, especially since I didn't want to give any gutters a free card here and any K or 9 is definately calling, I figured my opponents should have hands like QJ,J-10,8-9,K-J,K-10 and possibly any pocket pair might be able to call a bet so I put out about 350 and took it down, unfortunately. I showed my K to set precidence... Very next hand I look down KhKc and raise it up, this time to 150.(No tell here...but maybe they don't yet know that...), there just weren't any limpers in at the time, so I was only opening to the blinds and figured 3x was a good bet in that spot. I got 2 callers and the flop was 6h-9h-7s I put out another bet, 350, just as before and 9 seat, just as I suspected about his aggression, raised me to 1200. I acted a bit and I probably should've raised and probably taken it down but I felt like I was way ahead here so I called. I wasn't really scared of hearts and when the 7h hit I was still feeling like I was good, so I checked to him figuring him for a bet. He obliged with a bet of 2000 and I felt like maybe shoving at this point, but it's one of those spots you only get called if you're beat, maybe he can fold a 7 but I just didn't put him on that, I was more putting him on a decent Ace(A-9?) or 2 paints he was bluffing me with. The river was a Jh, strange as it is, I'm now only sitting on a bluff-catcher if he bets again on the river, which I'm guessing he'd only do with nothing hoping I fold or an Ah, hoping I call. He bets out 2k again and I don't really like it, but I'm not sure I can fold even though he's most likely NOT bluffing, right...? I called and he flipped over Ah-10c, which is pretty gross/awesome that I got him to put that many chips in not very good(it happens 2 more times later against this guy) I showed my hand not really to get sympathy, though that happened, but to strengthen that I'm a rock of a player because I'm going to have to semi bluff a few times after losing half my stack already to chip back up...next hand I had pocket 7s, raised, 2 callers, no surprise seat 9 was in, flop was K-Q-10, seat 3 checked, I checked and 9 bet out and I didn't feel like putting in the rest of my stack by the end of this hand just yet so I folded... I sat around 4-5K for a while, gaining a little here to negate the 2 other rivered hands. I raised at 100-200 to 500 in early position with 8-9offsuit. 2 callers, seat 2 and seat 9 included. Flop was A-A-7 and I didn't want to bet into an Ace so I checked, both checked, turn is an 8 so I put out another 500, seat 9 raised me and seat 2 folded. I felt like he couldn't find it in himself to check an Ace so I figured I was probably good at this point, so I called. River was a K and we both checked. I flipped over my 8-9 and he flipped over K-10 for a rivered K...jeeze..., I was actually able to get back up to near 10K when another rivered hand I can't remember knocked me down to about 6k...A few hands later I raised to 500 again with A-9suited and about 6000 in chips, mid-position, 2 callers seat 9 and seat 4 to my right. I couldn't tell you what seat 4 looked like until this hand even though he'd been sitting next to me the whole game... Flop was A-7-4 rainbow, seat 4 checked, I checked hoping to induce seat 9 to bet out, though he checked. Turn was a 2d putting a diamond flush draw out there, but not much else, seat 4 checked and I figured 9 couldn't resist to bet so I checked and he checked, oh well... River was a 5s, the board was now double suited and a club, so no flush draws got there and I figured I'm probably good for at least a look-up call so after seat 4 checked I bet out 1000, seat 9 folded, seat 4 put in 3000, almost enough to put me all-in. I almost put it all in, too, but this guy was not bluffing, sometimes I get myself into trouble feigning weakness and then figuring a river bet to be lighter than it is, but not this guy...I asked him if he had A-2 and after a few seconds he said "Nope, I'll even show you" He was a little too confident to be bluffing, too so after I tanked a little longer I folded and he said he had pocket 5s and....come to think of it, I don't tremember him showing...but he probably wasn't lying...maybe I should've check-called there instead of betting, I'm probably begging to be raised there, I don't know...now I actually got myself into some horrible territory, blinds just went up to 200-400 and I have about 4500 left. Probably less than 5-6 hands later I shoved with A-5suited. If you looked around at the table, there were too many players with large stacks that I thought having 3K-ish stack was going to be called possibly by more than 1 player, so I thought my fold equity with A-5suited was better with 4500chips than having a slightly better hand and chips in the neighborhood of 3K, anyway, that's my explanation...folds around to a guy with about 2600 in chips(he was tight and got rivered by seat 9 badly) who shoves, too, all else folds and he flips over A-J, I never improve and I'm gutted to 1900...next hand I look down at Ks...great, I wish I just waited one more hand instead of shoving the A-5, right? Oh well, I actually almost tripled up when I got one caller and held up(first time Ks held up at this table, 3 other times they lost, including my 2nd hand) Some hands later I looked down at pocket 9s, 200-400 blinds so I shove my now 4800, get no callers and I'm sitting on just over 6K now. 200-400 and blinds are just about to go up I look down at pocket 7s. My stack was just the right amount where I wasn't sure if I should shove or just raise...I decided that latter to 1000 and seat 4 calls me. The flop was 8-6-4 all spades. I didn't have a spade, but I bet out 1000, seat 9 calls me and seat 4 raises all-in(it was about 15k, an overbet to say the least...)he had to have nailed that board somehow, small spades or an overpair(9's with no spade?) I folded and seat 9 thought for actually quite a while and then folded. seat 4 said he had a set of 8s and I figured I dodged a bullet there by not shoving(though he'd still have to call a preflop shove he probably would've ended up calling) Now with blinds up to 300-600 I only had about 4800 in chips left so after seat 9 raised my BB and everyone else folded I shoved my A-10off and he called with A-K and I never got any help and he finally finished the job that probably should've been taken care of much earlier and put me out of my misery... I lasted longer than Terri did, though! she was knocked out a few minutes earlier when Qs ran into 5s,8s and J-10, all of which went all in and the flop was Q-8-9, if it weren't Terri I might not believe it... Terri: out 58th, Fred out 56th.
Jon was coming in to play the 7pm game but Brie likes to have her daddy home to tuck her in at night so after some deliberation(1 whole hour of waiting and a free Coke from Terri for me to finally decide to leave...) I skipped out. Jon was supposed to give me text updates after 7, but I haven't heard from him, makes me think he didn't do very well cause I know if he got even to the halfway point he'd have let me know to rub it in...
A hand from last Sunday.....
A question I have based on a hand from last Sunday: I was utg at late 200-400 and probably viewed as loose-aggressive. I raised to 1000 with Ad-8d and 14K. guy in BB to my direct right only calls, but he appears stronger than just a call(not sure how else to explain that...body language/demeaner) flop is K-8-5 and he checks, I bet out 1000 and he thinks for a moment and calls. Now I'm putting him on some weak pair that he didn't want to give me credit for the K so I figure he'll probably check fold a turn so I might check and call-or bet the river. turn is a Jc, putting 2 clubs out there and he surprised me a little with a bet of 1500, I thought for a while and felt like he was pretty capped at something less than a monster and he looked extremely weaker than his preflop call so I called with a plan of "value" betting the river and I was thinking if he bet out I was actually planning on possibly shoving the river as a semibluff. River is a 2 and he bets out 2500. He had about 8K behind and I had about 9K behind and since it just felt like a big bluff as I figured he'd check something with showdown value and bet if he couldn't win so I called and he didn't even want to show his hand, so I waited, he actually giggled like I just caught him in a real cookie jar and then sheepishly flipped over pocket Queens... This was the 3rd hand of this type I had called with what I thought was a bluff-catcher but it be the 2nd best hand and I haven't yet decided if it's me playing a hand badly(I should raise the river or somewhere...?) or if sometimes that happens with bluff-catching... What's your opinion?
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, right? I mean the place is called Rivers... Well, the last 2 weeks I've tried my luck at what I'm calling "The Cheap Bastard Tournaments" held on Sundays at Rivers Casino. Sunday at 2pm and 7:15 pm Rivers hosts a 30+5+5(+5 dealer add-on) tournament, so overall it's $45. The tournament is actually a really good deal for your money. It appears to be the same blind structure, time and blind-wise as the more expensive Mon-Wed $80 game and/or the $120 game Thurs. and Friday. I've only gotten as far as level 5 or 6, though. You start with 8000 in chips, +2k for $5 dealer add-on, so 10K in chips. Blinds are 20 minute levels and increase like so: 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 100-200 w25ante, 200-400 w50ante, 300-600 w75ante, 400-800 w100ante and I think it goes to 600-1200, 800-1600 and then not sure after that as I haven't made it that far yet...(I have made it further in the $80 game but I don't remember the blinds after this point...) I'm not sure if this tournament will continue after January, however, if turnout is any indication I'm thinking it will...84 players for the 2pm yesterday, 74 for the 2pm Sunday prior. In my past trips I've seen the $80 game get as much as 50 but it appears to usually stick around the 35-40 mark. I guess the money the tournaments bring in is the same, 84 at $40 or 40 at $80, however, only the casino would be able to more accurately judge the amount of money the increase of 40 people would bring in, I can't imagine everyone in those games is like me and won't play anything else if I don't win anything(this was really hard to do, though...)
I'm noticing a trend with my last couple of poker trips, though. I've had a few too many bluff-catching river calls turn out to be 2nd best hands(last week I had 3). Yesterday I had the unfortunate luck of being constantly rivered(4 times that I can remember) I also had a really nice start turn bad, too. I sat down at table 2, seat 5 about 8 minutes into level 1: parking and then there was a line of late registrants like me...(parking isn't that bad, but I've most recently just zoomed up to floor 8 to find a nice easy spot) My first hand I look down at KdQc, I'm in mid position and a limper to my right, so I raised it up to 175, someone made a comment that I missed so I asked what the standard raise at the table had been so far, older guy to my left said 175 is a good one so I figure it must have been light to that point. 4 callers later and the flop was K-K-9. 3 players checked to me and I had the guy with the most chips up to this point behind me in seat 9. This fact made me think he was pretty loose and/or aggressive, but he didn't yet know what to make of me so I thought a nice c-bet was needed for this pot, especially since I didn't want to give any gutters a free card here and any K or 9 is definately calling, I figured my opponents should have hands like QJ,J-10,8-9,K-J,K-10 and possibly any pocket pair might be able to call a bet so I put out about 350 and took it down, unfortunately. I showed my K to set precidence... Very next hand I look down KhKc and raise it up, this time to 150.(No tell here...but maybe they don't yet know that...), there just weren't any limpers in at the time, so I was only opening to the blinds and figured 3x was a good bet in that spot. I got 2 callers and the flop was 6h-9h-7s I put out another bet, 350, just as before and 9 seat, just as I suspected about his aggression, raised me to 1200. I acted a bit and I probably should've raised and probably taken it down but I felt like I was way ahead here so I called. I wasn't really scared of hearts and when the 7h hit I was still feeling like I was good, so I checked to him figuring him for a bet. He obliged with a bet of 2000 and I felt like maybe shoving at this point, but it's one of those spots you only get called if you're beat, maybe he can fold a 7 but I just didn't put him on that, I was more putting him on a decent Ace(A-9?) or 2 paints he was bluffing me with. The river was a Jh, strange as it is, I'm now only sitting on a bluff-catcher if he bets again on the river, which I'm guessing he'd only do with nothing hoping I fold or an Ah, hoping I call. He bets out 2k again and I don't really like it, but I'm not sure I can fold even though he's most likely NOT bluffing, right...? I called and he flipped over Ah-10c, which is pretty gross/awesome that I got him to put that many chips in not very good(it happens 2 more times later against this guy) I showed my hand not really to get sympathy, though that happened, but to strengthen that I'm a rock of a player because I'm going to have to semi bluff a few times after losing half my stack already to chip back up...next hand I had pocket 7s, raised, 2 callers, no surprise seat 9 was in, flop was K-Q-10, seat 3 checked, I checked and 9 bet out and I didn't feel like putting in the rest of my stack by the end of this hand just yet so I folded... I sat around 4-5K for a while, gaining a little here to negate the 2 other rivered hands. I raised at 100-200 to 500 in early position with 8-9offsuit. 2 callers, seat 2 and seat 9 included. Flop was A-A-7 and I didn't want to bet into an Ace so I checked, both checked, turn is an 8 so I put out another 500, seat 9 raised me and seat 2 folded. I felt like he couldn't find it in himself to check an Ace so I figured I was probably good at this point, so I called. River was a K and we both checked. I flipped over my 8-9 and he flipped over K-10 for a rivered K...jeeze..., I was actually able to get back up to near 10K when another rivered hand I can't remember knocked me down to about 6k...A few hands later I raised to 500 again with A-9suited and about 6000 in chips, mid-position, 2 callers seat 9 and seat 4 to my right. I couldn't tell you what seat 4 looked like until this hand even though he'd been sitting next to me the whole game... Flop was A-7-4 rainbow, seat 4 checked, I checked hoping to induce seat 9 to bet out, though he checked. Turn was a 2d putting a diamond flush draw out there, but not much else, seat 4 checked and I figured 9 couldn't resist to bet so I checked and he checked, oh well... River was a 5s, the board was now double suited and a club, so no flush draws got there and I figured I'm probably good for at least a look-up call so after seat 4 checked I bet out 1000, seat 9 folded, seat 4 put in 3000, almost enough to put me all-in. I almost put it all in, too, but this guy was not bluffing, sometimes I get myself into trouble feigning weakness and then figuring a river bet to be lighter than it is, but not this guy...I asked him if he had A-2 and after a few seconds he said "Nope, I'll even show you" He was a little too confident to be bluffing, too so after I tanked a little longer I folded and he said he had pocket 5s and....come to think of it, I don't tremember him showing...but he probably wasn't lying...maybe I should've check-called there instead of betting, I'm probably begging to be raised there, I don't know...now I actually got myself into some horrible territory, blinds just went up to 200-400 and I have about 4500 left. Probably less than 5-6 hands later I shoved with A-5suited. If you looked around at the table, there were too many players with large stacks that I thought having 3K-ish stack was going to be called possibly by more than 1 player, so I thought my fold equity with A-5suited was better with 4500chips than having a slightly better hand and chips in the neighborhood of 3K, anyway, that's my explanation...folds around to a guy with about 2600 in chips(he was tight and got rivered by seat 9 badly) who shoves, too, all else folds and he flips over A-J, I never improve and I'm gutted to 1900...next hand I look down at Ks...great, I wish I just waited one more hand instead of shoving the A-5, right? Oh well, I actually almost tripled up when I got one caller and held up(first time Ks held up at this table, 3 other times they lost, including my 2nd hand) Some hands later I looked down at pocket 9s, 200-400 blinds so I shove my now 4800, get no callers and I'm sitting on just over 6K now. 200-400 and blinds are just about to go up I look down at pocket 7s. My stack was just the right amount where I wasn't sure if I should shove or just raise...I decided that latter to 1000 and seat 4 calls me. The flop was 8-6-4 all spades. I didn't have a spade, but I bet out 1000, seat 9 calls me and seat 4 raises all-in(it was about 15k, an overbet to say the least...)he had to have nailed that board somehow, small spades or an overpair(9's with no spade?) I folded and seat 9 thought for actually quite a while and then folded. seat 4 said he had a set of 8s and I figured I dodged a bullet there by not shoving(though he'd still have to call a preflop shove he probably would've ended up calling) Now with blinds up to 300-600 I only had about 4800 in chips left so after seat 9 raised my BB and everyone else folded I shoved my A-10off and he called with A-K and I never got any help and he finally finished the job that probably should've been taken care of much earlier and put me out of my misery... I lasted longer than Terri did, though! she was knocked out a few minutes earlier when Qs ran into 5s,8s and J-10, all of which went all in and the flop was Q-8-9, if it weren't Terri I might not believe it... Terri: out 58th, Fred out 56th.
Jon was coming in to play the 7pm game but Brie likes to have her daddy home to tuck her in at night so after some deliberation(1 whole hour of waiting and a free Coke from Terri for me to finally decide to leave...) I skipped out. Jon was supposed to give me text updates after 7, but I haven't heard from him, makes me think he didn't do very well cause I know if he got even to the halfway point he'd have let me know to rub it in...
A hand from last Sunday.....
A question I have based on a hand from last Sunday: I was utg at late 200-400 and probably viewed as loose-aggressive. I raised to 1000 with Ad-8d and 14K. guy in BB to my direct right only calls, but he appears stronger than just a call(not sure how else to explain that...body language/demeaner) flop is K-8-5 and he checks, I bet out 1000 and he thinks for a moment and calls. Now I'm putting him on some weak pair that he didn't want to give me credit for the K so I figure he'll probably check fold a turn so I might check and call-or bet the river. turn is a Jc, putting 2 clubs out there and he surprised me a little with a bet of 1500, I thought for a while and felt like he was pretty capped at something less than a monster and he looked extremely weaker than his preflop call so I called with a plan of "value" betting the river and I was thinking if he bet out I was actually planning on possibly shoving the river as a semibluff. River is a 2 and he bets out 2500. He had about 8K behind and I had about 9K behind and since it just felt like a big bluff as I figured he'd check something with showdown value and bet if he couldn't win so I called and he didn't even want to show his hand, so I waited, he actually giggled like I just caught him in a real cookie jar and then sheepishly flipped over pocket Queens... This was the 3rd hand of this type I had called with what I thought was a bluff-catcher but it be the 2nd best hand and I haven't yet decided if it's me playing a hand badly(I should raise the river or somewhere...?) or if sometimes that happens with bluff-catching... What's your opinion?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Poker League Season 9 Game 3 Results
Here are the results after Game #3. I'm still in the lead, however, they're gaining on me!
| Player | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Bounty | Total Points | Kos | Kos | Kos | Tot Kos | CASHES |
| Fred | 14 | 14 | 3 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | |
| Chivers | 10 | 9 | 10 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Jaime | 8 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Jake | 9 | 10 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Terri | 11 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Craig | 12 | 8 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Jon | 7 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Chris | 2 | 7 | 12 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 1 | |
| Shae | 5 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Heck | 3 | 12 | 4 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| Steve | 6 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Sean | 0 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ashley | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Poker League Season 9 Game 3
Well, game 3 is in the books, and I wish I could say I had a lot of hands to write about but I was knocked out short of another win...I was 3rd one out this time... I was following a pattern of previous games, though where I get a little low and then jump back up. This time my hand didn't hold up, but I think I'm okay with how it happened. There were only 2 or 3 hands total that might be interesting to write about.
I'm up a few thousand early on and then I open with Q-10offsuit in the hijack, with Shae and Sean as the blinds. Sean is a rock of a player and Shae will probably call raises a little too often, especially if she's already invested. So I figured I would be playing a flop against Shae with Sean folding. This was the exact opposite with Shae folding and Sean saying "I guess I'll call..." Anyone who sees Sean play for at least 1 tournament knows that he'll only play 1 or 2 hands an hour and that's only if he gets dealt Aces or Kings. I've only seen him call with hands like Qs, Js, AK.(Though one time I saw him "open up" his game and 4 or 5bet shove with AK, lost to Dejo's Aces) I'm saying this guy probably folds 10s to a preflop raise... The only thing against me is that I hadn't yet played with Sean this season and maybe I forgot how insanely rocky he really is or maybe I figured one day he'll change up his game since we all know him to be a true diamond... Him calling at least I can figure him for something less than Aces-Kings but what I have no idea... Flop comes out as Q-J-9 I don't remember if it was suited. Sean immediately bet out 1K(I think we were at 25-50 where my preflop raise was probably around 175-200 so the 1K bet was over-the-pot large.) I know this about Sean, that he'll bet his monsters and fold anything less. I've since relearned that he'll probably NEVER bluff and I've only seen him open his game up to mid-Kings at top 3. Based on him betting at all I figured his hand is now strong enough to call a shove if my open ender hits, but I'm really confused with what he could possibly have. So while I figure he'll either raise me with the nuts and fold with just about anything less I have no idea what he'd call preflop with that he'd now be betting the flop...so maybe out of pure confusion I called. Turn was a brick and he bets out 2K. I should've folded at this point because even the first call was probably no good even given some implied odds against what I might give Sean's range... I think I was just still confused with what Sean would only call with preflop that he's now betting postflop and I was too busy licking my chops hoping to hit the open ender. I really only could see 9s (10s, maybe?)being a hand he'd only now be betting unless what I was hoping was that he'd actually opened his game up a little. I compounded mistake after mistake by calling his river bet and seeing him flip over K-10 in what's probably my most expensive "of course!" lesson of me being stupid in a long time...I also was victim of a flopped flush later when I actually flopped a decent part of the flop...
I played a few other hands that I thought were just about monsters until Sean called and even 3-bet me a few times(Aces/Kings), which isn't going to bode well for my tournament life. I was up and down a little bit here and there and then after a flopped flush hurt me, this hand happened:
Blinds of 200-400, 25 ante were nearing their end, next is 300-600, 50 ante I think. I had 4800 total and was looking for a few good hands to 3-bet shove. I'm in the hijack position(right of the button) with Ad-8d, which is probably my least favorite hand, however I'm fairly certain Shae is going to call a lot of the time I raise with just about anything and Sean will most likely fold almost everything(I'm adding K-10 to his range of calling hands that only includes K-10). I guess in this game I could've probably raised and folded a bad flop (or maybe even shoved any flop and won a lot of the time), however, the blinds going up shortly I couldn't figure I'd have a better situation to steal the blinds and antes and have a back-up type hand in case I get called. Jon to my left folds and Shae in the SB ponders a call, even showing her hand to Jon kind of pleading to him that a call is ok(not really a fan of that move though he tried not to help her out...). I was actually hoping she'd fold at this point, thinking she was pondering something like an A-10/A-J type hand at worst. I thought interesting was the way she made her decision to call was by counting out a call with her big chips and realizing it was a lot of her stack(just about half her stack if not slightly more) and then resizing the call to use more of the lower denomination chips. I think this is so she can in her head "think" that it's less than it actually is... So after resizing her chips to a mix of large and small chips she makes the call, Sean folds(said he had AJ, not sure if he'd have called if Shae hadn't) and she flips over what I'll probably call the Sylvia for a while now: QsJs... I felt bad afterwards but I actually said something like "What...? You thought that long with that...?" I guess I was just confused because I thought the ponder and then the call meant I was really behind and to be ahead was a surprise... Dejo told me later he might make that call and reminded me of when I knocked out Jaime with QJ suited. I told him it was a completely different situation but he also told me that my range is really wide in these spots so while I agree, I'm not sure it's that wide... :-) 1st card on the flop was an 8, which, even though made no difference(I was still ahead) it felt pretty good, until I realized the rest of the flop was 9 and 10, no diamonds...bleh... Nothing of consequence came on the turn/river and I was out... This was the 3rd flopped straight up to that point at our table and the 2nd one I was going to be a victim of...What Chris told me got me curious, so I'm going to analyze this with Poker Stove and try to determine what my range has to be to make the call good. The pot was 4800+200+400+200=5600 and Shae had to call 4400 to win 5600 roughly 1.3 to 1 so QJsuited has to be something like 45% or better against my shoving hand range. It actually might be closer to a call than I originally thought at the time, however, I still don't think it IS a call. I'll try to get a better analysis.
Good news, if there is any, about me going out early is that I believe everyone else with high values for points went out earlier than usual and the top 4 players were Terri, Sean, Chris and Shae, in that order. Yes, Shae ended up winning. If it weren't for the most fun I've had playing a no-money ridiculous dealer's choice poker game that started up with the losers I'd have a better idea of how it happened. Chris, with 6 players left had just about half the chips in play(near 50K) and I don't think he let up, but he also doesn't push his stack around, either. At heads up I noticed Shae had bridged the gap to close to even at some point and both players had 4-5 KOs each. Chris told me the deciding hand was an A-7-9 flop where he had 7-9 vs Shae's A-7/9 and the chips went into the middle after the flop, crippling him. Great job to Shae! She wasn't sure if this was her first win, I think it was her 2nd. Whether or not I think her QJ call was the right one, she must have otherwise made some good plays after that to get herself the win and all of those knockout chips. I'll post up the results after 3 when Chris sends the results out to me.
Also, Chris and I have a "most wins" bet and prior to this game I pretty much chalked myself into winning that bet until I saw his stack at final 6. I did get a little concerned but thanks to Shae and an A-7 I'm pretty confident I'll be making up call/raise/fold terms for him at the finale!
I'm up a few thousand early on and then I open with Q-10offsuit in the hijack, with Shae and Sean as the blinds. Sean is a rock of a player and Shae will probably call raises a little too often, especially if she's already invested. So I figured I would be playing a flop against Shae with Sean folding. This was the exact opposite with Shae folding and Sean saying "I guess I'll call..." Anyone who sees Sean play for at least 1 tournament knows that he'll only play 1 or 2 hands an hour and that's only if he gets dealt Aces or Kings. I've only seen him call with hands like Qs, Js, AK.(Though one time I saw him "open up" his game and 4 or 5bet shove with AK, lost to Dejo's Aces) I'm saying this guy probably folds 10s to a preflop raise... The only thing against me is that I hadn't yet played with Sean this season and maybe I forgot how insanely rocky he really is or maybe I figured one day he'll change up his game since we all know him to be a true diamond... Him calling at least I can figure him for something less than Aces-Kings but what I have no idea... Flop comes out as Q-J-9 I don't remember if it was suited. Sean immediately bet out 1K(I think we were at 25-50 where my preflop raise was probably around 175-200 so the 1K bet was over-the-pot large.) I know this about Sean, that he'll bet his monsters and fold anything less. I've since relearned that he'll probably NEVER bluff and I've only seen him open his game up to mid-Kings at top 3. Based on him betting at all I figured his hand is now strong enough to call a shove if my open ender hits, but I'm really confused with what he could possibly have. So while I figure he'll either raise me with the nuts and fold with just about anything less I have no idea what he'd call preflop with that he'd now be betting the flop...so maybe out of pure confusion I called. Turn was a brick and he bets out 2K. I should've folded at this point because even the first call was probably no good even given some implied odds against what I might give Sean's range... I think I was just still confused with what Sean would only call with preflop that he's now betting postflop and I was too busy licking my chops hoping to hit the open ender. I really only could see 9s (10s, maybe?)being a hand he'd only now be betting unless what I was hoping was that he'd actually opened his game up a little. I compounded mistake after mistake by calling his river bet and seeing him flip over K-10 in what's probably my most expensive "of course!" lesson of me being stupid in a long time...I also was victim of a flopped flush later when I actually flopped a decent part of the flop...
I played a few other hands that I thought were just about monsters until Sean called and even 3-bet me a few times(Aces/Kings), which isn't going to bode well for my tournament life. I was up and down a little bit here and there and then after a flopped flush hurt me, this hand happened:
Blinds of 200-400, 25 ante were nearing their end, next is 300-600, 50 ante I think. I had 4800 total and was looking for a few good hands to 3-bet shove. I'm in the hijack position(right of the button) with Ad-8d, which is probably my least favorite hand, however I'm fairly certain Shae is going to call a lot of the time I raise with just about anything and Sean will most likely fold almost everything(I'm adding K-10 to his range of calling hands that only includes K-10). I guess in this game I could've probably raised and folded a bad flop (or maybe even shoved any flop and won a lot of the time), however, the blinds going up shortly I couldn't figure I'd have a better situation to steal the blinds and antes and have a back-up type hand in case I get called. Jon to my left folds and Shae in the SB ponders a call, even showing her hand to Jon kind of pleading to him that a call is ok(not really a fan of that move though he tried not to help her out...). I was actually hoping she'd fold at this point, thinking she was pondering something like an A-10/A-J type hand at worst. I thought interesting was the way she made her decision to call was by counting out a call with her big chips and realizing it was a lot of her stack(just about half her stack if not slightly more) and then resizing the call to use more of the lower denomination chips. I think this is so she can in her head "think" that it's less than it actually is... So after resizing her chips to a mix of large and small chips she makes the call, Sean folds(said he had AJ, not sure if he'd have called if Shae hadn't) and she flips over what I'll probably call the Sylvia for a while now: QsJs... I felt bad afterwards but I actually said something like "What...? You thought that long with that...?" I guess I was just confused because I thought the ponder and then the call meant I was really behind and to be ahead was a surprise... Dejo told me later he might make that call and reminded me of when I knocked out Jaime with QJ suited. I told him it was a completely different situation but he also told me that my range is really wide in these spots so while I agree, I'm not sure it's that wide... :-) 1st card on the flop was an 8, which, even though made no difference(I was still ahead) it felt pretty good, until I realized the rest of the flop was 9 and 10, no diamonds...bleh... Nothing of consequence came on the turn/river and I was out... This was the 3rd flopped straight up to that point at our table and the 2nd one I was going to be a victim of...What Chris told me got me curious, so I'm going to analyze this with Poker Stove and try to determine what my range has to be to make the call good. The pot was 4800+200+400+200=5600 and Shae had to call 4400 to win 5600 roughly 1.3 to 1 so QJsuited has to be something like 45% or better against my shoving hand range. It actually might be closer to a call than I originally thought at the time, however, I still don't think it IS a call. I'll try to get a better analysis.
Good news, if there is any, about me going out early is that I believe everyone else with high values for points went out earlier than usual and the top 4 players were Terri, Sean, Chris and Shae, in that order. Yes, Shae ended up winning. If it weren't for the most fun I've had playing a no-money ridiculous dealer's choice poker game that started up with the losers I'd have a better idea of how it happened. Chris, with 6 players left had just about half the chips in play(near 50K) and I don't think he let up, but he also doesn't push his stack around, either. At heads up I noticed Shae had bridged the gap to close to even at some point and both players had 4-5 KOs each. Chris told me the deciding hand was an A-7-9 flop where he had 7-9 vs Shae's A-7/9 and the chips went into the middle after the flop, crippling him. Great job to Shae! She wasn't sure if this was her first win, I think it was her 2nd. Whether or not I think her QJ call was the right one, she must have otherwise made some good plays after that to get herself the win and all of those knockout chips. I'll post up the results after 3 when Chris sends the results out to me.
Also, Chris and I have a "most wins" bet and prior to this game I pretty much chalked myself into winning that bet until I saw his stack at final 6. I did get a little concerned but thanks to Shae and an A-7 I'm pretty confident I'll be making up call/raise/fold terms for him at the finale!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Poker League Season 9 Standings after Game 2
Possibly going to the River's casino tomorrow. I'd hate to put in $120 with my current bankroll of about 600 into a tournament but I'm playing really well I should keep it going, right?
Correction: I've just checked River's web-site and they appear to be having 180+15+5 tournaments on Friday nights...too steep for me, however, Sundays are full of a 2pm 30+5+5 and 7pm 30+5+5 games! Holy crap, is there a better way to build a bankroll than $30 tournaments a week at a time!?!? That's how I built my old bankroll of 5K in just 6 months playing at the KOC back in the day, lost it all by putting it into my wedding. I won that "gamble", though, so it was worth it! :-)
Here is a truncated version of the Poker League standings currently. We play this Saturday night at Heck's house again, I have a really good track record there so far of winning everytime I play there :-)
I've done some additional stats and here's everyone's profit so far this season:
Can't wait for this weekend!
Correction: I've just checked River's web-site and they appear to be having 180+15+5 tournaments on Friday nights...too steep for me, however, Sundays are full of a 2pm 30+5+5 and 7pm 30+5+5 games! Holy crap, is there a better way to build a bankroll than $30 tournaments a week at a time!?!? That's how I built my old bankroll of 5K in just 6 months playing at the KOC back in the day, lost it all by putting it into my wedding. I won that "gamble", though, so it was worth it! :-)
Here is a truncated version of the Poker League standings currently. We play this Saturday night at Heck's house again, I have a really good track record there so far of winning everytime I play there :-)
| Player | Week 1 | Week 2 | Bounty Bonus | Total Points |
| Fred | 14 | 14 | 28 | |
| Jaime | 8 | 11 | 2 | 21 |
| Craig | 12 | 8 | 20 | |
| Chivers | 10 | 9 | 19 | |
| Jake | 9 | 10 | 19 | |
| Heck | 3 | 12 | 15 | |
| Terri | 11 | 4 | 15 | |
| Jon | 7 | 6 | 13 | |
| Ashley | 4 | 5 | 9 | |
| Chris | 2 | 7 | 9 | |
| Steve | 6 | 3 | 9 | |
| Shae | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| Sean | 0 | 2 | 2 |
I've done some additional stats and here's everyone's profit so far this season:
| KO Profit | Current Cost | Season Cost | Current Profit/Loss | Total Profit/Loss | |
| Fred | 40 | 40 | 60 | 215 | 195 |
| Heck | 10 | 40 | 60 | 40 | 20 |
| Craig | -10 | 40 | 60 | 10 | -10 |
| Jaime | 10 | 40 | 60 | 10 | -10 |
| Terri | -5 | 40 | 60 | -5 | -25 |
| Sean | -5 | 20 | 30 | -20 | -30 |
| Chivers | 0 | 40 | 60 | -30 | -50 |
| Jake | 0 | 40 | 60 | -30 | -50 |
| Ashley | -10 | 40 | 60 | -40 | -60 |
| Chris | -10 | 40 | 60 | -40 | -60 |
| Jon | -10 | 40 | 60 | -40 | -60 |
| Shae | -10 | 40 | 60 | -40 | -60 |
| Steve | -10 | 40 | 60 | -40 | -60 |
Can't wait for this weekend!
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