How not to play in a Rivers Tournament...Probably...

I've made it a priority now(New Years Resolution, anyone?) to start playing poker more regularly, at least tournaments for now as my bankroll is pretty nonexistent.  My plan for now is to take $150 for this past pay period and start my bankroll from that, if needed refill either next 2 week pay or more likely in pay increments of 2(each month). 

I started my quest two Sundays ago when I registered for the 35+10+5 cheap bastard Sunday 2pm tournament at the Rivers.  I was slightly late to the tournament so I believe I sat down at the end of level 1, I played my 2nd hand at the table, pocket 9s. 
25-50, I raised it up to 225(3 other limpers) in the cutoff with 9s and got 2 callers, flop is A-Q-7 I think 2 diamonds.  Checked to me so I bet out 650 hoping to rep the ace and take it down right there.  Folds around, guy on my direct right calls.

Turn is a Q.  He checked, I checked.  River was a J and he bet out 650.  That seemed strange like unless he wanted to check-raise me with the 2^nd Queen and didn’t want to risk getting nothing on the river, however his bet of 650 seemed small if he was trying to get back lost turn chips and/or get value on the river, it seemed more of a blocker-type bet, like this is the amount he was comfortable with losing so instead of checking and allowing me to bet the amount I was comfortable with.  So after some thought, the only way I win this pot is a raise and if he’s capped at not having a Queen and might actually have only a weak Ace or not even and my range is much stronger than his, I raised to 1800.  He looked puzzled and thought for a few moments before finally calling.  He looked really puzzled/surprised at my hand/play and I was hoping I could use that against him later on, even though I lost the hand I felt like I played it pretty good and put him to a test he might have made a mistake folding on…  I think in retrospect the fact that any Ace chops and my small amount of raise was enough for him to speculate, though...  The perfect spot to look spewy landed a few levels later however, I was (to say it really pc) an F%$#ing idiot…

100-200, 4 limpers(including guy to my right) and I look down at Ks in the HJ, I have about 7K.  I raise it up to 800 and get 3 callers, 1 limper folds.  Flop is 10-J-7 rainbow.  1^st guy checks, 2^nd guy checks, guy to my right looks really confident.  Since my previous hand above, He’s been playing a lot of connector kinda junky hands.  As he reached down to bet I was already hoping it would be enough that I could shove.  He bet out 2500.  In retrospect, this is a great amount and afterwards he did bet “pot” on a lot of flops he hit, however at the time it appeared really strong and slightly high bet to me.  I think it seemed too good to be true so I looked for the thunder in the clear blue sky.... I got a strange feeling like I was about to get coolered and I started to feel “monsters under the bed” syndrome…  8-9, 10-J, 7s, strangely played 10s…were all I kept thinking he was going to flip over and so I actually folded my Ks…WTF…right…?  It was only afterwards that I thought, “Dummy, he probably just had A-J or something, that also fits, QJ or KJ, too…ugh.  I couldn’t decide prior to folding what would be more gross, thinking about how I folded that hand or thinking about how I got coolered and I finally decided “I’ll find a better spot”  (I know...I'm not sure where a better spot can be found...) I never did find a better spot...duh....and soon after I found myself at 4000, 200-400 blinds and all-in or fold mode.  I looked down at A-8 UTG+2 and folded instead of shoving my 13bet stack.  I have a history with A-8 that I don’t like and so maybe against better strategy I folded…Wow...I'll never win with this style...

After that I won 2 straight hands preflop shoving with 5s, a postflop shove with A-J after hitting an Ace and then I look down at A-Q, 5900 total in chips at this point, 3 limpers at 300-600 and I shove, girl to my left(now this was the 3^rd time I saw someone do this) puts in a stack of 1Ks, like 10K, having like 2K behind.  I’m not sure why you’d do this, if someone actually goes over the top of her, could she decide to fold?  And if someone does go over the top, their range has to be really tight that she’d have to be crushed, I guess I just don't like calling off my chips as much as shoving them in first…? All folds to her and it’s AQ vs Js and the board ran out low, low, low,....low and..... low…gone in 60 minutes or less it seemed… I asked the guy what he had that hand he bet 2500, “Jack with an Ace”…blech…sometimes you just play like crap, right…?(I really never ever feel this way, but I did actually play like an imbecile...hence, feeling like crap...) 

I’ll be thinking about my stupidity all week now till I play again next Sunday to try to redeem myself…

Some things I really loved about my table that I never got to utilize:(maybe next time...?)

 -People were post-flop betting extremely large amounts a lot, like a flop with 1500 in the pot was getting a bet of 2500 or 3K for some reason…my strategy at that point was to play suited nuts and connectors, set-mine, etc… try to get a large pot with a flopped nuts hand.  I actually looked down at 7-10suited and had a strange feeling but since I lost a few hands in a row that I played I folded it, low and behold the flop is 6-8-9rainbow and 2 guys betting into it…ugh…

-Everyone was really passive, nobody was raising preflop, a lot of limped pots and then as I said, larger postflop bets…

-1 woman was betting 4x-5x preflop that’s always good if she’s a nit, which she was, call and then bet the flop, she folds…however, later I 3bet-shoved on her 4x raise preflop and she folded so I guess her preflop raise range was wider than I was giving her credit for, or just her calling range is a lot tighter than her preflop raise range…which makes the 4x-5x betting patterns that much nicer!

Another hand 100-200 I raised to 600 with QJsuited, 2 callers and flopped a Q with a gut-shot straight draw(I think needing a 10), 1^st to act, I checked and Girl in seat 1 bets out 6K(she had 12K, the pot was like 1500…wtf…?) I was seat 9, girls were in seat 6(older lady), seat 10(20-something who ko’d me later) and 1(30-something) at my table)  I folded…what else can I do, right…?  Lots of females in this tournament, which is always good to see (for the game)

 

In the end, I still can’t believe I folded Ks for what turns out to be basically no good reason…that’s as textbook-shove as it gets, right…?  Conversely, I suppose if the guy said he had 10-J I’d feel good about the fold, though…nope, I hate playing badly...it eats my soul...

Poker League Season 10 Game #3: Poker Against Humanity

Poker League Season 10, Game #3 is in the books...not the best finish...but I'm ok where I'm at so far...

Player	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Bnty	Tot Pts	Drp Pts
Heck	12	9	10		31	22
Fred	9	12	7		28	21
Terri	7	7	9	2	25	18
Chris	10	8	3		21	18
Jon	8	0	12		20	20
Jaime	5	5	8		18	13
Jake	4	10	0	1	15	15
Sean	6	6	2		14	12
Chivers	3	4	5		12	9
Shae	2	0	6		8	8
Craig	0	0	4		4	4

First of all, I was the bounty.  I wasn't sure how this would effect anyone's play against me and it turns out it didn't do all that much as I don't think anyone was playing more or less due to my "disadvantage/advantage" of being worth an extra point upon being Knocked Out.  I did find myself with just about a double stack early on, however, I think it was due to some nice hands that were catching and not really due to extra calls that wouldn't have happened if my opponents weren't trying to cooler me.  My tournament was going smoothly, Shae was to my left and as Shae usually does, she calls probably way too much and wittles down her stack really early.  Then I looked down at Ac-6c and raised it up.  tables are split up 5 and 5(missing Jake).  I have Shae to my left, then Jaime, Terri, Chivers and then me.  Yes, I'm at the girls+Chivers table.  Anyway, Ac-6c, 100-200 level and I raise it up to 550, Shae calls, because that's what Shae does, folds all around.  Now I notice Shae only has about 4K left over.  The flop is pretty awesome, 3-3c-4c, I think and a big part of me hopes that Shae has some small/mid over-pair that she'll like.  I bet out 1100 and she raises all-in.  This is strange, Shae will have the nuts almost all of the times she does this, however, she previously stated how all her chips were pretty much gone and she'd probably be out soon so I was thinking she just didn't want to be bullied and thought her over-pair was probably best.  I like the option of the nut flush draw and possibility Ace would be good, or even a 6 could be good in this spot, though not as likely as the others.  I think it was 3500 more to call and so I'm getting 2 to 1 on a call and I'm cool with that plus I have a large stack.  She flips over 2-3(off...I think...?) and I Ace the river but my flush doesn't come so she's doubled up and I'm back down from 16K to 11K.  Next group of hands I lost a few pocket pairs, one hand with open ended w/2 overs didn't catch and was down to about 8K(starting stack) and Shae was pummelling me, probably had her stack to about 14K.  At this point she lost a large pot(5K or so) to Chivers in a 2-pair vs 2 pair struggle and so I was hoping to get them back from Chivers when I looked down at Ks.  Chivers, 200-400, raised it up to 1200 UTG, I 3bet him to 2500 and was hoping to get stacks in asap as he actually only had about 7K more and that's more Chivers style.  Chivers called and the flop was K-J-7.  Chivers bet out 2500 and I shoved, thinking he'd never fold in this situation.  He thought for a few moments and then folded, I swear he told me he folded Jacks, but afterwards, I'm thinking he meant 1 Jack and not a set of Jacks...
Oh well, I got a decent stack of 10K moving to the final table when I doubled up Shae again and then Terri, too... I hate it when I just can't seem to knock anybody out and this is what seemed to be happening.  I could've had Shae out 3 times, Chivers folded but I could've had him, Terri had the best hand going in, but not by much and out of 5 all-ins I didn't get 1 winning hand...  Sometimes poker is just poker!  With 7 players left, blinds at 500-1000, Chivers raised to 2500 under the gun, Heck folded and Craig shoved all-in for 2700, I folded small blind.  This is one of those interesting spots, if Jon calls, Chivers can't raise because Craig's all-in isn't a complete raise.  betting opens if Jon raises, however...Jon only calls the 2700, 1700 more than his blind.  Chivers put in the extra 200.  I can't remember the flop, but I think Jon bet, Chivers shoved and Jon called.  K-9 for Jon ends up being the best hand, Craig had AJ and I think Chivers had KJ, maybe the board was K-high I don't know...but Jon KO'd 2 players in one amazing crappy hand and had a huge stack top 5. 

I had to play "survivor" shoving in situational spots because my hands were just not there and my stack was dwindled down... I looked down at 9-4hearts, I was the button with a little over 5K left, Jon is the small blind to my left, Terri next to him as the BB.  I had already won a few all-in preflop shoves with no callers and since Jon was stacking his chips, I figured he'd probably fold a really large amount of hands since he was worried about stacking chips and Terri folds a really large range of hands no matter what so when it folded to me I shoved.  Jon folded with a hint of thought, but went back to counting/stacking his chips and Terri looked down and looked like she got sick, but blurted, "Alright, I'll call..." in her best impression of Eeyore.  I asked her, "Do you have a 9", hoping I'm at least live... I think she thought I asked her that because I had 8s or something and after flipping over pocket 7s kind of irritably, she perked up when she saw it was only 9-high... The board ran pretty dry, not even a heart in sight to give me any kind of hope and I was out 5th...So no "all cash season" for me this year...  I will say that I usually suck out on Terri and that's probably the only times I've KOd her so I definately owed her a few double-ups over the years.  The only good things that came out of this last game:  Dejo was KOd prior to the final table when he was coolered Ks vs K-8suited AIPF, Chris is in great shape to double up, however, Heck used his "ONE TIME" for the season and turned a flush.  This was good for me in that I would be able to rack up KO count distance on him, however, as I stated, 5 all-ins and not one win for me, then I couldn't win my own all-in...

Fred Vs Dejo KO Bet Count:
Fred: 7
Dejo: 2

About the time I was KOd, others were starting to play a new game Sean brought called Cards Against Humanity(I had previously played this game with my family over Christmas/New Years and had a blast) and we had a ton of fun with this amazing and horrible game.  I think they call it a "Great Game for Horrible People".  Aint that the truth.  It's like "Apples to Apples" in that a card is read by a player and cards supplied by the other players are compared against that card to answer/complete a sentance and that player picks the best card, giving points to whomever's card is picked...(not my best explanation...):
For example: "The U.S. postal service spent 3 million dollars last year promoting _______"
All of the other players have 5-10 cards that they use to fill in the blank.  Each player turns in the card they pick to be their best to fill in the blank and the original reader reads them aloud to much hysteria and picks their favorite/best.  The person who's card was picked as the best gets a point.  The significant difference/specialty of this game is that it's extremely, ugh...dirty, to say the least...
Turns to be the reader move in a clockwork fashion and we just played until nobody had any cards left.  Up until the last round I was leading with 7 points, Dejo had 6 and he won the last card, which for some reason was deemed worth 2 points and so he won.  Nobody cares about winning, though, as the game is just too much fun to play and hear all the ridiculousness.

Some were even saying we should play that instead of poker next time, while I don't think that's happening, I know we'll definately be playing both games again next time...

Supplied by Jaime
1st: 55 gallon drum of lube
2nd: HotPockets
3rd: Profit!

Poker League Season 10, Game #2 Results

Edit: This post is late due to me thinking I would get the log for the game and then not getting it...waiting...then finally not getting it and deciding to try to remember everything with no fact-checking available...

Game #2 is in the books and Craig has yet to be seen...  Poker League players were in short supply Saturday night due to a large amount(in the North) of snow.  We had 8 players, missing Jon and Shae along with Craig's 2nd miss of the season.  I really hope Season #8's MVP plays this season, however bleak it might seem...I also have a present for his new son that if Craig's not in the next one his son will probably outgrow...  One of the "cool" things about having 3 missed players is that 1st one out still gets like 4 points or something!  That's at least what I was telling myself early on when I literally didn't win one hand until right before break.  I had gotten a few pocket pairs and I think I played them ok but possibly a little too aggressive early on.  I didn't hit a set and it seemed that someone always hit the overcard.  Finally, I looked down at KQ and opened it up on the button, got 2 callers, Heck and Jaime in the blinds. (8 handed table) I flopped top pair, something like Kc-8s-4c.  Jaime bet out and Heck folded, I thought about raising but I thought the hands she donks with I'm either way ahead or way behind.  So instead of taking it down right here most of the time with a raise or losing it right here if she's ahead I thought I could get her to put more chips in on the most times I'm ahead.  Turn was an As.  Jaime bet again and while I didn't like the A all that much I felt like based on her flop bet and turn bet I didn't feel that she just hit 2 pair, I think she might have taken more time to consider slow-playing it.  So she either just hit a naked Ace that she donked with or I was still way ahead.  The river was really nice, though, Qd hits and Jaime checks so I bet out about 3/4 pot hoping to look a little bit like that was the only way for me to win the hand, unfortunately she folded and I suppose she was chasing a crappy flush and just whiffed.  I won another slightly mid-sized pot against Jaime with KQ later on, flopping a Q.  Other than those 2 pots, I believe I lost every other single hand I played.  I was even down to 3900 at one point(near the end of 100-200 with 150-300 looming), I shoved uncalled a few times and got myself up to 5K-ish when I beleive that's near when we lost Chivers and then 2 really sweet hands happened in succession. 

I can't remember exactly the specifics of the first hand, but Jaime and Chris went at it for stacks.  Jaime bet something like 3K on the flop or turn leaving herself like a little over 4K more.  I remember checking her stack at this point because of the 3K bet.  Chris called the 3K and upon looking at his stack I realized he had pretty close to the same amount left over, but based on him only calling I wasn't sure he exactly realized that they were very close...  The river Jaime goes all-in and Chris quickly calls, again, I don't think he knew how close the stacks were...  I don't even remember what the hands were, but Jaime lost and was about to seceed her chips to Chris when I said that we should get a count because it's closer than everyone thinks based on looks.  I also have a vested interest in the KOs Chris gets based on our seasonal prop bet(this year we're not betting on most wins, but most KOs, Currently Chris:1, Fred:4)  Sure enough, Jaime ended up having 150 more than Chris and therefore he didn't get her KO chip just yet, sweet!

Very next hand I looked down at pocket 5s, I believe there were 2 limpers and an open from Jake, this was enough in the pot and I believe I had a small amount of fold equity so I raised all-in, Jaime hated her cards and while I told her it was probably in her best interest to try to win this pot, where she can get a much larger amount of blinds and antes compared to if she folds and would have to win 3 all-in hands to get the equivalent, I think my advice fell on deaf ears.  It's also in my best interest to get a KO, too!  She folded to try to win the next hand...  Heck called really quickly(I think mostly just to KO me), Jake folded.  Chris was loving the fact that I might be KOd so early and also get no KOs for this game, or at least not getting Jaime's KO chip.  Heck had QJ vs my 5s and I smacked a 5 on the flop and never looked back.  I'm now sitting on 10K+ and feeling pretty good, though it would've been nice to get Jaime's KO chip after sort of keeping Chris from getting it.  I think Jake ended up KO-ing Jaime next hand, she had a better hand this time than her previous 9-3 when I had 5s, and shoving all-in no matter how much you have left is no fun if you've got 9-3 so I understand... You'd just feel better about yourself after shoving almost any other hand than 9-3.  So we've lost Chivers and Jaime, 8 total, 6 left.  I believe Sean was next to go, though this is where I usually check out the log file of the game to see who went out when and I can then jog my memory as to the events that transpired to cause said KOs...Sean and Terri both had small stacks and possibly played 5 hands total all night, at this point it looked pretty much like me/Heck/Jake/Dejo would be winning this week.  Sean and Terri both were KOd I believe in that order(Terri may have KOd Sean, and then still had a short stack, that's how little I'm talking about...and I think Dejo KO'd Terri...doh!)

Fred: 4
Dejo: 2

and then Chris lost a ton of chips in a hand with Jake that he described as follows:

".  I was really bummed about how I played a hand against Jake.  It was so stupid… I think blinds were 7/14, I’m the in the BB and it folds around to him in SB.  He doubles the blind, and I call with 9-2o.  Mostly just to defend since he was raising a lot, but whatever.  It was probably stupid right there.  So the flop comes 7s-6s-7c and we both check.  Turn is a 2h, and he leads out for the minimum.  I’m thinking to myself, OK, so there’s a chance he has a 7, but he did raise preflop, so maybe not.  Maybe he has 2 overs to the board and wants me out.  He can’t put me on a 2 here can he?  So what the hell I’ll call.  This was stupid mistake #2.  Then the worst thing in the world happens, a 9d on the river.  He waits a minute and bets 3k.  So this bet to me seems like an odd bet considering how he’s played it so far.  And in my head, I’m yelling at myself HE HAS 3 SEVENS YOU ASS!! JUST FOLD!  But then there’s that little devil on my shoulder saying he can’t put you on a 9 here… you should call!  So after a while, I did and of course he has 3 sevens."

I think I told him that playing 9-2 isn't in itself a complete mistake, but I think as tough as it might be at 7/14, raising might be better here than calling, since I don't think 9-2 is ever a hand you'll like hitting a card with, as Chris didn't like his 2 and even at the end, didn't like the 9 either...just tough to play 9-2...probably should either be a fold or raise.

Chris had a cooler of a hand versus Heck AJ vs AQ and wasn't the same after that.  He didn't have much when I KO'd him, but it always feels good to knock him out so I'll take the KO+1

KOs:
Fred: 5
Dejo: 2

3 of us played for a decent amount of time(again, I need the log for specifics...doh!)  Probably from top 4 or 5, we had "SLAPSHOT" the movie on in the background.  Unfortunately or possibly fortunately the TV was to my back so I missed it, however, I did notice that Heck was enjoying it and would very often check his cards early and had a few movements signifying playable or folding hands.  This was nice since he was directly to my left.  I noticed he looked down at his hand while I was SB, Jake was making his decision but Heck was already looking up at the poker timer, this signified that he either wanted to raise or see how much longer before the blinds changed.  I thought this meant either way he wanted to play the hand.  I looked down at AKoff and it might be the first and only time I got AK all night come to think of it...I decided to complete the blind hoping Heck to raise.  He was also making a slightly larger raise than Jake or I were making, I believe we were making 3800-4000 raises while he'd made a few 5K raises.  Sure enough he raises to 5K, I shove all-in and he calls, flipping over QJ.  I think I hit trip Ks on the turn and I'm pretty sure that was Heck's last hand, it sent Jake and I to heads up.

KOs
Fred: 6
Dejo: 2

Jake and I went to heads up with 4 to 1 stacks with me being favored.  I think it lasted 1 or 2 hands.
I raised to 5K with KJsuited, he shoved, I got a count and called 6 or 7K more
K on the flop and it was pretty unsatisfactory for Jake.  Me on the other hand, I went from being possibly the 1st or 2nd one out to top 4, taking out 4th,3rd and 2nd place players to win.  It felt pretty nice. 

Next game is at my place this weekend, wish me luck!!

Oh yeah, almost forgot:
KOs
Fred: 7
Dejo: 2

FYI: We've decided that your own KO chip doesn't count, so we're strictly counting actual KOs.  That's why I don't have 8 :-)  I'm hoping to really put some distance this weekend on the bet so I can focus on the decision of Chris' costume :-)

Poker League Season 10, Game #1 Results

Here are the standings after Game #1

Player	Week 1	Total Points
Heck	12	12
Chris	10	10
Fred	9	9
Terri	7	8
Jon	8	8
Sean	6	6
Jaime	5	5
Jake	4	4
Chivers	3	3
Shae	2	2
Craig	0	0
Player	Knockouts	Cashes
Fred	4	1
Heck	3	1
Chris	1	1
Terri	1	0
Chivers	0	0
Craig	0	0
Jaime	0	0
Jake	0	0
Jon	0	0
Sean	0	0
Shae	0	0

Terri got the extra point for Knocking out Jaime, who was the random bounty.

Poker League Season 10, Game #2 is Saturday night!
I'm also planning on playing at the River's Sunday 2pm $55 tournament.
I also may try my luck in Saturday morning's 22.50+2.50 rebuy to get into the 200+20 deepstack but most likely just the Sunday game.

Pittsburgh Poker Open Winter Series Event #13

Jon and I played an event at the Pittsburgh Poker Open last week, Event #13. There looked to be 8 tables setaside for the tournament in a 3X3 set up. Jon was sitting at seat 5 in the exact middle table when I walkedin. My only hope was to not have to sit at his table and/or tangle with him at least until late in the tournament if I could help it. I got my table and seat, table 5, seat 2. I looked at the designated tables and I really hoped table 5 wasn’t in the middle and after walking to 2 other tables I was hoping were table 5 and weren’t, I moseyed myself over to Jon, said “Yo” and realized that, in fact, he was at table 5… at least I was going to be in position most of the time... We started off with about 4-5 players at the table and we filled in about 8 or 9 near the end of the first level(20 minutes). In the end, there were about 65 players, 50+ total with about 10+ re-entries, 6-7 tables of players. 

I guess I have no issue sitting at his table except that we both know each other way too well.  We have history...  It's a rich history, one of me winning large sums of money and KO-ing large amounts of players and him just KO-ing one player and winning trophies like nobody's business...  He also has a string of KOs with my name on them, usually sucking out or just having the slightliest(not a word?) better hand than mine.  Lately, I think I've turned the tables on my luck against him, even though he's won the coveted "Luckiest Bastard" trophy, I've been the beneficiary of most of our recent hands.  I think we'll probably not go out of our way to pick on the each other, mostly because the variance would be too high, however, I have little doubt that we'll probably play a significant hand eventually, and probably for a lot of chips...  It's just kind of our thing...  We mostly ignored each other at first, I was getting pretty nice cards and hitting them insanely and he was mostly folding...which is usually what he does anyway at the start...

 

We started with 15K in chips, 20 minute blinds, fairly tight table-mates and my image appeared to be tight-super-aggressive.  A few of my first hands were crazy good(Jon will attest to that!),

Example: 25-50 blinds, 7 players, 2 callers on an AdJd preflop raise to 175 and hit a J-high board. I bet 250 and get a caller.  A on the turn, I bet again 525, and villain obliges again.  A on the river is a nice one, I overbet to 2200 and villain called...maybe I could've gotten more, Villain didn't show but he must have had some weaker J(KJ?) and I'd hoped the river Ace told him that I couldn't possibly have one.  Next hand he lost to AK with a K high board and A-A for the boat, too.  Needless to say, this guy was on suicide watch after like 3 hands and was KO'd pretty quickly. Unfortunately for me I didn't get anymore chips from him as a parting gift of his uber-tilt. 

 

My nice string of hands continued.  Later, continuing my streak of good luck, I decided to raise UTG with Ad-2d, got 2 callers and an amazing flop of Kd-Qd-8d.  I decided to bet out and made it a slight overbet of the pot, to which both players folded...bummer, I think I wasted that one I should've bet small or check-called to see who was interested or wasn't.  Jon actually played more hands than I thought he would this early and at one point after a few levels, I think we were running the table.  Either he was raising and winning a nice pot or I was.  I think I might have broken my streak of nice hands because I folded one to Jon.  Blinds are 75-150, Jon is in the blind, BB maybe, 1 or 2 callers and I look down at black 5s.  I raise it up to 350 and get 2 callers, Jon and "Thinker" guy.  I'm calling him that because if he was bluffing or weak he'd hold his hand under his chin like "The Thinker" and try not to move.  When he was more comfortable you could easily tell, hands to his side, relaxed, leaning back, etc...  Anyway, he called with Jon, flop was 6-7-8rainbow.  I like this board except Jon, who was the BB could've hit that decently as well, Thinker, probably not so much.  I check, Jon checks, Thinker bets out, I call, Jon raises.  This was strange to me, Thinker calls and I don't like chasing the low straight in a pot that looks like it could get larger in later streets.  Jon doesn't raise as a bluff, or even with a decent hand, nothing is situational here, he's got what is most likely the best hand and he's just check-raised, and checked with only 1 player to go, unheard of...  I fold and even after the turn is a 4, Jon bets, Thinker folds and Jon wins the pot.  I hated that 4 for a few more hands, even though I know my fold was right, it still stings that I could've won that pot and continued my juggernaught-ing of the table... It's actually more probable that Jon flopped the nuts on that hand and I got lucky folding...  Jon had about 25K, I had about 30K and others were really moving up and down a lot.   

Not very much later, however, Jon found himself down to about 9100 on a few too many calls(it appeared) and a couple second best hands at showdown, then...

Jon raised under the gun(200-400 blinds) to 1200 and got 2 callers.  I looked down at A-Qoffsuit and decided to 3-bet it to 3300, Jon 4-bet all-in for 5800 more, 2 others folded.  I think if I could do this again I probably just call with AQ and being in position figure out Jon post-flop.  At the time I figured Jon plays so tight that he’ll probably fold most hands to 2 callers and my 3-bet and only be able to shove really strong hands where at that point I still have decent odds to call.  After he shoved and I owed 5800 more I wondered if I really gave Jon no other option than to fold or shove given his stack.  Also, prior to this hand I folded against his raise a few times and he played one particular hand against me and another player a little strangely(I thought) and I wondered if he was playing slightly differently against me given our history(I probably fabricated that, mostly though…)  I’m also not sure if I can fold 5800 to win 1200+12000+3300+3300+5800=14800, 2.5 to 1 I have to be 28% or better to make this call.  A-Q vs Jon’s perceived range of 10s or better seems to fit that bill…Even against Ks I’m 28%...  I figured he could do this with 10s or Js or better, I’m 25%-ish to win in those cases.  And if I lose, I’m only down to about 17K.  The only bad part of winning this hand is that I knock Jon out of the tournament and feel a little bit bad about it.  I'll feel pretty good about it when I get to tell the story at Poker League, though, conversely pretty horrible if he gets to tell the story of how I doubled him up, though...  If he had more chips I could find a fold, but in this case, even though Jon’s range is fairly tight I think it’s a decent call…

So I call, making a grimacing face and calling him a douche (all in love) as he flips over AKoffsuit, K on the flop, Q on the turn for a not-really-a-sweat sweat and doubling up Jon and nearly cutting my stack in half, though I wasn’t in any kind of tilt or worry as I was crushing the table prior to this hand and figured I should be able to continue this.

The next bunch of hands I got a lot of mid/small pocket pairs and I tried to switch up my style playing them.  A few Calling/set mining, I raised a few and nothing hit, I was 3-bet a few times pre and post-flop and nothing was hitting/working at this point…  I kind of think my AQ hand showed the rest of the table I was human and maybe I looked like a blaster to them... They were either hitting a lot or knocking me off of my hand a lot.  I also folded Ks in a hand where I think I lost the absolute minimum amount possible.  I 3-bet preflop and got 1 caller, flop was A-8-5, guy checked and I bet out knowing he’s gotta fold even a mid-ace to my image and betting at least on the turn.  He thought for a moment and called, turn was a 10 and he bets out appearing really strong.  I felt like the 10 really helped him (10s…or A-10?) and so after mulling it over I folded.  A few more speculative pairs/suited connectors(10Jsuited, etc..) and next thing I know I get to break(re-entry period over)45/ out of 65 players left and I’m sitting on 5900, blinds will be 400-800, 75 ante(I don’t think they were 500-1000 yet, but maybe they were…?) first hand from break Jon makes a comment that we should go play BlackJack after we’re done, so I say ok, I look down at As-5c under the gun so I shove all-in.  It actually folds all the way to the BB who looks at his cards and calls, unfortunately quickly, flipping over 9s.  Jon says, “I didn’t mean we should go right now!?”

I think I had a gut-shot on the flop(2-4-8), turn was another 2 and river was a 9 filling up his boat, not that he needed it.  I’m out around 40^th place.  People were falling like flies from this point of the tournament, it’s really when the game starts up in a lot of ways.  The guys who are too aggressive either get mega stacks or go home, the guys who just held on for dear life begin disappearing/blinding down and those who adapt are generally the ones that survive.  Soon after I was eliminated, our table was broken up, Jon went to table 1 or 2 and played for about another half hour when this happened.  Jon had A-10 on a K-10-A flop, not sure who started, but both went all-in and called, Villain shows K-10 for both having 2-pair, Jon having top-bottom, villain having middle-bottom, the turn is a K, brutal…. river is another K(not that it was needed, just that it sucks royally…)

Jon was ousted around 30^th.

I think we both played pretty well, I got unlucky for a bunch of hands in a row and Jon got unlucky once, and that’s all it takes sometimes…

I wish I just stayed away from Jon, though, sorry/or you’re welcome buddy!

I didn't get to play another event of this PPO, but I'm planning on playing a few satellites or Sunday Cheap Bastard tournaments again in the near future to try to get into the weekly 200 or the monthly 500 again

Poker League Season 10 game #1 results

Fairly decent start to Season 10 of Poker League.  There are 10 of us this season(11 with Craig, if he plays, he missed game 1).  We lost Steve and Ashley on the account of them planning a wedding and they just bought a house, etc...  I know, excuses, excuses... ;-)  We were unable to add anyone this season, a few prospects flaked out, but maybe next season.  I think it's pretty awesome we've been able to keep a strong core of players the last many seasons and it's also really interesting that everyone has a really good read on everyone else based on so much playing time with each other.

Prior to my description of game 1, I'll state that Chris and I make a bet every season against each other.  Last season was based on most wins and I'm pretty sure it's always been based on most wins.  I also don't remember that I've ever lost this bet?(Chris can correct me if I'm wrong)  We have tied before, and in those cases we both technically "lose"  This season Chris asked me if we could change it up to some other stat.  I have kept an unhealthy amount of stats over the seasons and I'll tell you that other than finale winnings, I don't think Chris has beaten me ever in any stat that would matter.  He decided to go with most KOs.  I told him that was probably the worst bet to make, however, I also understand that from his point of view, he probably would still have a chance to overtake me up until the final game of the season, whereas, most wins bet could be over prior to the last or 2nd to last game.  I will also let you know that in the last 2 seasons, I've knocked out avg of 20 per season to Chris' 10 per season, so I'm pretty favored, but we'll see...The loser has to wear a costume of the winner's choosing.  I have a really good idea for my costume I'll be picking for Chris so I hope luck and skill shine on me again this season!

Game 1, we started off pretty quickly at our table.  Jaime was the bounty(we're making it public knowledge prior to the start of the game who the bounty is)  it was a 5-6 vote for knowing.  I didn't care either way, I think it's not going to effect much unless/until it's me.  Everyone seems to try to make plays and gun after me a lot more than anyone else anyway.  Jaime played a few larger pots against her hubby and Chivers and wasn't on the winning end for the most part.  Shae called a little too much and found herself short when I looked down at 10sJs and raised up her blind.  We're 5 handed, She called, Jaime called.  Flop was 4-9-K with 2 clubs.  Both checked, I bet out thinking I might just win outright or at least get one off her hand and figure out how to proceed from there.  Shae called, Jaime folded.  Shae always calls quickly, so I figured she had a pair or had at least something, 9 or some small pair probably, so a 10 or J would be good and 8 or Q give me another chance to bet.  Turn was an 8h, Shae checked and I thought I should check as well figuring to get a river call on most cards in this situation.  River was a 7s and Shae announces "all-in"  I did a quick double-check to make sure I didn't misread the board as Shae doesn't go all in unless she has something, meaning there's no bluff there ever.  I made sure nothing beat me and called.  She flipped over 8s for a set and I flipped over my straight and she was the first out. 

Chris vs Fred most KOs bet: Fred 1, Chris 0

Soon after, I raised with Queens, Chivers called and a flop of Kh,Qh,8h, he bet, I raised, he shoved and I called and he flipped over AhKc vs my set of Qs.  He couldn't get a heart and I even hit Quad Qs on the river to get another KO

Chris vs Fred most KOs bet: Fred 2, Chris 0

Sean wittled himself down to about 4-5 bets and shoved all-in on a Q-high flop when myself and Heck both held QJoffsuit and we weren't sure how to decide who gets the KO chip.  I guess this never happened before.  We decided on a high card flip and I grabbed a 10 vs Heck's 5 and won the KO

Chris vs Fred most KOs bet: Fred 3, Chris 0

Sometime later, with Jon, Heck, Chris and myself left in the game, I knocked out Jon.  I believe he was pretty forced to go all-in with 3 bets and I had a better than average hand so I knocked out Jon

Chris vs Fred most KOs bet: Fred 4, Chris 0

2 hands sum up my top 3 finish.  1 hand with Heck, the other with Chris.

Heck:  I limped with 5s and Heck min-raised, I called.  flop was Kh-4s-2h.  We both check.  turn is a 10s and I bet out, Heck thinks for a while and calls.  River is a Ks and I bet out what I hoped to look somewhere between a bluff and value bet and Heck thought for quite a while before slightly-above doubling my bet.  I really wanted to call, and I thought I probably should've called, but it felt like one of those times Heck hit some rediculous backdoor flush and I'd just feel stupid after calling.  I folded and Heck told me later he had A-high...bleh...
That hand really chopped out my legs and I was really grasping to get back in the game.  Then this hand I limped with K-2suited.  Chris min-raised, which I think was Heck and Chris' strategy against me, which in this case was working because I was card-dead horribly...hence my defend with K-2 suited...  Flop is J-J-2.  Chris checks, I bet out and he raises me all-in.  Chris wouldn't do this with nothing, and I think to him even A-high would be nothing...I kept telling myself.  And I think if it weren't for the hand with Heck and the recent card-dead-ness I would've felt less run over and could've folded as I wanted to, however, I called reluctantly, hoping I'd catch him doing this with a weaker 2, which was more probable than an Ace, but probably the absolute low-end of Chris' range here and he flipped over Qs and I got no help, I think a Q actually hit the turn...

Chris vs Fred most KOs bet: Fred 4, Chris 1

Chris didn't win, but I did give him 1 KO that I shouldn't have...

Congratulations to Heck for the first win of season 10!

I'll post up the official results as soon as Chris sends the results and the game log to me!

The Kids and I have been sick since Sunday(cold), but I'm getting better so I'm pretty sure I'm playing tonight at the Rivers PPO 5K guarantee. Jon said he was going to come down as well, wich us luck!! 

November is the month for Poker!!

Poker League Season 10 is starting, first game is 11/23/13, not sure who's hosting as of yet, but it should be a great season.  10 is a great number for me to finally get my name on the Trophy, right?  Also in November, The Rivers casino is hosting another Pittsburgh Poker Open, Winter Series from November 21st to December 2nd.  I'll be playing in at least 2 tournaments.  My early prospects are Events #2, #8, #10, and/or #13 with the possibility of playing in a 55+7+3 satellite for the Main.  All of these are normal NLHE, except Event 10 is a 6-max.  It would be really awesome to cash in one of these, even more awesome to cash enough that I could buy-in to the Main Event.  Events #2, #8 and #13 have a 5K guarantee, which is nice, but I also want to test out my 6-max ability in Event #10, however it's on a Monday night with no guarantee, so I'll have to gauge how much popularity the other tournaments are bringing in to see if no guarantee would be worth it. 

Also November had the WSOP Champion be crowned, Congratulations to Ryan Riess, who defeated Jay Farber Heads up last Tuesday night.  He's actually who I picked to win the entire thing based on ESPN's November 9 photo.  I actually thought he looked like what I envisioned the 2013 Winner to look like.  And I actually thought, after reading one of ESPNs articles last week that Riess was actually Newhouse.  When I got home Monday night and started watching the coverage, I first saw the list of who was still in and who was knocked out and saw Newhouse 1st out and I was like, crap, I was way wrong...until I saw the actual table and Newhouse was actually Riess.  After watching 4 hours of the footage prior to passing out on the couch I thought I made a good pick, Riess played really well, picking spots, building his stack, letting others make moves against each other and striking when opportunity knocked.

Once Riess got stacks even after the hand he held Jacks I figured there was no easy way Farber would be able to overtake Riess.  I believe Reiss took the lead for a few, then Farber, then Riess whittled him down to 77K vs 113K.  Then arguably, the hand of the night happened: Riess opened to 2.5M, Farber calls, flop is 7c-3s-3 rainbow.  Farber checks, Riess bets out 3M, Farber calls.  2c on the turn and Riess bets out 5M, to which Farber raises to 13M, after some thought, Riess calls.  At this point I really thought with stacks the way they are and the pot the size it is, 38M, Farber either has to give up or make a huge bet.  I also thought it would be tough for Riess to get away from most hands he'd have played this way, too.  9s hits the river and Farber bets out 24M, leaving him with, I think something like 30M+ behind.  I thought that it's a tough call, but it appeared to me that Riess, unless he was hoping to make a similar play on a checked river and had nothing, he'd find it hard to fold.  I also felt like a had a really nice read on Farber and he looked really weak to me, very similar to a couple hands he was weak with the night before.  Farber played his hand like he had a 3 or a boat or nothing.  I suppose it would be easy for me to say I'd be able to call in Riess' shoes, but something just seemed funny and I like to think I could've made that call(though you can't raise there, ever.).  Riess thought for 6+ minutes and folded, he must have thought something smelled funny, too, but didn't want to fall too far behind in case he was wrong and there's merit in that, too. 
Farber had 5-6 for 6-high and Riess had Q-7 for a pair of 7s, top pair until the river 9.

Riess was able to come back from that and retake the chip lead, whittled Farber down a lot faster, and had a few better hands while Farber ended up having a few 2nd best hands when Farber shoved with Q-5 and Riess woke up with AK to make the easy 15BB shove call and become the next WSOP Champion.  It was pretty awesome to see how much it meant to him to win, he teared up.  I believe he'll be a good champion/ambassador for the game in the next year!

Update(11/11/13)
Poker League is on November 23rd and looks like it'll be hosted at Chivers place.  Excited to see his place, he just bought it in the last year I think.

Excited to get the next group of tournaments I'm playing under way!!  Be they Poker League or Rivers PPO Winter Series.