All In

That didn't take long

2006-10-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Nick,

In light of the new reality about to come into force in the USA with the “Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act”, NoblePoker has regretfully decided to stop accepting new real-money players from the USA.

As you are probably aware NoblePoker, is part of the Empire Online group (www.ep.com) and as a public limited company we respect the decision of the United States Congress and will abide by its ruling.

What this means for you as a member of our poker room is that you will be unable to place any more bets or make any new deposits, however, you will of course be able to cash-out any money still in your account, in any way you choose.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank-you for choosing to play at NoblePoker, we appreciate your patronage and we look forward to welcoming you back at our tables, under better circumstances in a brighter future.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the above, please do not hesitate to contact us at support@noblepoker.com.

Yours sincerely,

Edward Spencer
Manager
Noble Poker
"The odds are in your favor"
http://www.noblepoker.com

Nothing changing

2006-09-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

I am playing in a 3 table sat. tourny for a shot at a 250k tournament on sunday tonight. The top 5 payout, 2 getting seats in the big tournament. I get down to 7 people with an average chip stack.

The table has been pretty active with a lot of raises recently.

I am in first position with QQ and decide to get fancy with the active table.
I limp (I know I am cursing myself and calling the poker gods to come get me)

Fold,Fold,Fold, Raise +400... YES it worked....

folds back to me (except the guy to seats to my left who had $10 left)
I look down at my $2250 and try to decide to limp to the raise or push back. If I push back she probably folds and I get the $400 which I need with the blinds at 50/100. If I limp I can fold to an Ace on the flop and keep my seat, albeit short stacked. I decide that I dont want to play short stacked anymore and I am putting my money in the pot. I go all in. She thinks about it and calls, flips over AK off. The guy two seats to my left shows A10 off.

Flop
5510

Turn
J

River
KING!

Of course. I was racing from the beginning (although I was slightly ahead because of the two aces), but why do I feel like I knew that king was coming. She had me covered by about $150 chips.

The thing that gets me is her making this call. I know I cant complain about people playing badly, and I am not sure it is even a bad move, but I think it is.

I have seen this limp-all in move done a handful of times. Every single time the person has had a pair. I have never seen anyone limp-all in with AQ off. In fact 80% of the time I have seen the limp-all in move it is with AA,KK. I am seriously thinking about folding AK in that situation for my tournament life. I am not sure I can make that call...

Any ideas?

Some people have asked me

2006-09-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Some people have asked why I haven't been playing cards as much. Why I haven't been blogging as much. Well they kinda run hand in hand. I have not had a winning session in I don't even remember how long. I don't think I am playing bad, but I must be. I have to be doing something wrong here, but I can not spot it. I have watched big stacks slip away. I have watched myself claw back into tournaments with small stacks. I have peddled away. I've done it all, same result. I want to take a few minutes to chronicle my last couple sessions just to clear my head of them. I know I really have only made one big mistake in these sessions (well probably two). I spot my mistakes. Usually its too late when I spot them, but I still spot them. I learn from these mistakes, at least I try. Here we go

3 weeks ago
$100+$30 local tournament, about 86 people.

We are just after the first break and I have a decent chip stack. By decent, I mean slightly more then average. We are probably down to about 50 or so people. The guy to my left has kept his stack alive by bluffing big at small pots. I have only seen him show down a couple big hands, and he played those slowly. Classic mistake. Overplaying weak hands, underplaying big hands. I have raised two hands in a row with AKs, QQ. I am on the button now and get dealt A4s. It has folded around to me. I attempt to limp, but like an amateur idiot I throw out $400 when the blinds are $100/$200. I think I said call before I put the money in the pot but I quickly notice my mistake and let it go. I don't want to get in a argument with anyone over $200 chips. I think the table sees my mistake and will probably call the $400 as if it was just the $200. The small blind calls and the big blind folds.
I deal out 2310 rainbow.
The small blind moves all in.
I was shocked at first at this overbet, but then I remembered how he has been playing. The pot was $1000, he just moved in for $8000. I have 12000. I can not possibly make this call, but yet I find myself thinking about it. I mean this guy has been playing like this all night right? He is probably bluffing. If he isn't bluffing, I have outs right? I know I have 4 outs, but probably 7 outs (if he doesn't have the ace). Still cant make the call. What do I do? I make the call. I trusted my read.
"I don't have anything but a bluff catcher.... but I think your bluffing"
I said that directly to him and looked at him. There he sat, crossing his arms with a "either call or shutup" look on his face. He looked intimidating. Quick quiz, what does that usually mean? His style, his demeanor, it all said "I am bluffing but you don't have the balls to call an overbet like that with nothing" Little does he know. The tight image I have shown most of the tournament isn't my style as we start to get deeper. I play looser taking advantage of my reads and (usually) chip position (whether big or small). I call, and about kick myself for doing it. He flips over A10 off. Why didn't I see that? (sidenote: this inspired my humble yourself post). What hand is he going to call the min-raise but want to end right there? A10.

Ok, time to pick your jaw off the floor and move on with the story. I was injured but not killed. I had about 4000 chips and the blinds where 100/200. Two hands later (the last hand before break) I (almost) double up with K10 when I hit two pair on the flop. I am sitting at like 7000 going into the break and blinds are about to go to 150/300 with a $25 ante. I have an M of over 10, so as long as I play tight I can build my stack back where I need to be. I also have to play tight. I cant throw my chips around to build my stack up because 2 hands before I made that stupid call three new players joined my table. All they know of me is that I called an all in bet with nothing but ace high, weak kicked and a gutshot. I have to use that to my advatange. Get a big hand and double up when they think I am playing "any two cards".

I sit around folding, folding, folding. My stack dwinldes a bit. I get into a position where I feel I can limp into a pot, or move all in, but nothing between. I have made a few calls (KQs,AQs to a raise,10Js on the button) but haven't been able to do anything with them. Meanwhile the blinds are at 200/400 with a 50 ante. I have like 5000 left, so my M is a little over 4. I get dealt 55 and decide I don't want to push with this hand, but I want to play it. Why? I have no reason. That was as good as hand as any to move my chips in the pot preflop with only 2 players left looking for a race. So I make the limp. The flop comes a pretty harmless 34J rainbow. I like this flop, but I have a problem. The guy who was in the big blind put a 1200 bet out. The pot was 1600. I have been watching this guy a lot (as I had been watching the other guy previously) and I felt weakness. I thought he probably has KQ,K10,A4, something small like that. I really couldnt afford to be wrong here, but the question was could I afford to fold? If I fold I have about 4600 left. Basically the same position I was before this flop. The pot is 2800, and I have two moves. I cant call, because I am giving him another card for free if he doesn't yet have me beat, while committing myself to go to the end with my hand. I finally move all in. I know its not the best play here, but it is probably not a horrible play. He quickly calls ( I almost expected him to call with a lot of hands). Shows down KJ, and despite hitting a 6 for an OESD on the turn, I don't improve.

I feel pretty bad about this tournament. Actually, I feel really bad about this one. I haven't cashed in a local tournament in a long time (busting on the bubble twice), but I haven't played this bad in a local tournament in a long time either.

I give it a week to recoup, and saddle up for the next one the following Saturday.
Same place, same buyin, less people. This time about 40 show up. This is what I need to get myself back in the black. I need a small tournament like this where I can outplay a lot of the people and make an easy 600-1800. Short story, I get knocked out before the first break. I get a pretty easy table, but forget one thing... you need cards to play poker.

I play pretty tight early on in this tournament, not really showing a lot of hands down. Meanwhile there is a guy three seats to my left just adding and adding onto his stack. He is a bad player. Calling with anything. Calling raises with 7Qoff. You know the kind. I keep my eye on him and hope to double up once or twice threw him. My stack dwindles down to about 4k (started with 7) when I am dealt 89d. I limp in from mid position. The big stack is in the big blind. It folds to him and he checks.

Flop comes 5c6h7h. Holly shit, I cant believe the situation I am in. I am going to double up here. No doubt in my mind. I check the flop to him (knowing he is going to bet, even if he has 2 hearts he is betting here, so I am not giving him a free card after I push my chips in the pot). Sure as the sky is blue, he puts out $1200. I count out 1200, look at the rest of my stack look back the 1200, look at my stack again and then say All In. He quickly calls and shows down Akoff. I say, I got the nuts and resist collecting my chips before the next two cards fall. They fall harmlessly and I collect my prize. Thing is, that didn't phase this guy. He continues his horrid play. Which is great for me. I can sit around a bit more and get into another good situation to put my chips in against him. The next rotation comes with me collecting the blinds when I raise with AK, and KK without being called, and folding the other junk I had. I then wake up in first position with AA. I through out a raise of 3xBB. The guy to my left reraises me to about 6xBB. It folds back to me. I look at him and say All In. I start to count out my chips after I announced my all in, and he utters, it doesn't matter I am calling, we can figure it out later. Well, now I know what he is going to turn over. Sure enough, he flips up AA. Neither of us get kicked in the junk and we split up the blinds. Probably 3-4 hands later I am sitting with AKs. It was raised to my left by my early victim. Once he announces raise, Im thinking about pushing. The problem is, the lady to his left calls. She is a good solid player who I have played with a lot. I know that she knows that he is a bad player. This is my big mistake of the tournament, that actually ends up saving me my chips stack. I should have pushed. If I push she gets out of the way. I know she is limping here hoping to outplay him after the flop. She is in perfect position to do that. I ignore this detail and smooth call his raise. It is just the three of us to the flop.

8s10sAh

Hmm, interesting flop. Mr. Loosey bets outs. I expected that. What I didn't expect was the lady to his left to move all in. She didn't have much, but enough to hurt me. I count out my chips and think a bit. She has a little less then half my stack. He has about 5 times my stack. I think about just calling her raise, which I quickly eliminate. If I am in this hand it is to the end. I either push all my chips in and hope he calls or I fold. She has two pair. I know she has to pair. In fact I think she has A10. He is going to call my push 95% of the time with weaker hands than me. If I push, and he calls I can make chips off of him and still loose to her. Its a fancy idea, but I think it might work. I announce all in. The only problem here is after thinking for a while Mr Loosey decides to fold. Uh oh. I look at her and say, you got two pair huh? She nods and flips over 810. Well, Im not in as bad of position as I thought I would be, but I am in pretty deep. She wins the hand and I loose a bit of my stack.

I tighten up for a little while, until I get KQs on the button. Mr. Loosey limps, as does another guy to my left. I limp as does the SB, and the BB checks.

Flop comes
34Q.
Check,Check,Check,Check.
I do the only thing I really can and push all in for about 2k. The pot is at like $3200 and offering me a great situation on top pair second best kicker. The blinds fold and Mr Loosey quickly calls. I almost expected that, and I actually want him to call here (figuring him for A4, or worse). What I don't expect is the guy to my left to call also. It took about 1/3rd of his chips to make that call, and I am a bit concerned here.
Turn comes J. I don't like this card, but I don't hate it either. They both check, so I am feeling a little better about my situation. The river comes 2. This card has to be harmless. Mr Loosey makes a small bet and my stomach starts to turn. The guy to my left moves all in and I think, I guess I am out. Mr Loosey quickly calls and shows off his 56 for a rivered straight. Ouch. The guy to my left shows off Q2 for his rivered two pair. Ouch. I flip up my KQ and say nice game guys as I collect my stuff and make my way to the snack bar. I was ahead the entire hand. I didn't think I was ahead after getting two calls. Both of them came from behind (although it only took one) to beat me on the river.

I don't feel as bad about this tournament as I did the one past. My mistake was pushing all in with AK. Oh, I forgot to mention, Mr Loosey folded a flush draw in that situation (a bad fold mathematically) and would have hit not one, but two spades on the next two cards. So my mistake actually save me money. If I pushed preflop with AK he calls with KQs, and she folds her 810. I don't loose to her two pair, but to his flush. If I just call her all in bet, he probably calls and I loose to his flush but she gets knocked out also. So the only right move there is to fold. Its a tough laydown, but I guess one I need to make. BTW, I am happy that I protected her there because I feel she could probably take all of his chips if she sat at his table long enough.

So that brings me to tonight. I will keep this one short. I am playing in a 6 player SnG. A cheap $10 tournament hoping to build up my roll a bit. I get dealt 68 in the SB. 2 players call before me, so I limp for an extra $20. The BB checks and the pot is $160. The flop comes 8h6d10d. I check my two pair in first position awaiting a bet from the horrible player to my right. Sure enough, I get check-check-small bet. I make a big raise to eliminate any draws and see if I can get all in with the guy to my right. Fold-Fold-Reraise. Thats interesting but I push all in figuring to be ahead. Sure enough I am ahead. He flips over a HORRIBLY played AA. He is dead to the Jack, Jack that hit on the river and turn.

Ouch.

That hand brings me to this post.

Hope you all enjoyed and got this far.

Why?

2006-09-02T20:37:00.000-07:00

I really out-think myself sometimes. I play in local tournaments where if I just sat back and played my game I could win/place a lot. Instead, I get myself into situations that I shouldnt be in. I have strecthes where I play great poker. I have stretches where I am absouletly on top of my game. These stretches give me hope. They make me feel like I can play with the big boys. I get confident. You need confidence to be sucesfull right? I feel like if I only play my game, dont let small things distract me, dont "outplay" myself I can dominate. I am not talking about winning a few bucks here and there, I am talking about sitting at a big tournament and getting deep enough to gaurentee a big payout. I am talking about sitting at a big cash game and walking away with a deep bankroll. I am talking about bluffing johny chan off of a hand in atlantic city (nice little rounders shout out). What happens? Why dont I walk away satisfied? Why do I walk away with less money then I walked in with? I outplay myself. I out-think myself. I call all in bets that cost me 60% of my stack in pots that start with less then 5% of my stack, because I think its a bluff. I raise calling stations. I overplay middle pair. I do these things because I think I am better then I am. One thing we all need to learn in poker is that we are not bigger then the game. No matter how much experience we have, no matter how many books we have read, no matter how good we have played up to this point, all that matters is the two cards we have, what is on the board, and our opponent. We cant overplay 55 and expect to win everytime. We run into AA with KK. Our opponents will make stupid calls with A10 off. Our opponents will "keep us honest". We give off tells. These things happen. They happen a lot. We can't outplay these situations. No matter how good of a poker player you are you will loose with A3 more then you will win with it. Sometimes we just need to simplify our game. Get back to basics. Humble yourself...

Telaat and other Misfits...

2006-08-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

Stay off my blog. If you do not have any better way to make money then to SPAM peoples blogs you really need to get a life. I already have to put up with word verification because you guys cant be trusted, and I really dont feel like having to go back and delete a ton a comments that you leave. Stay Away!

Sorry for that rant, but it had to be said...

More poker coming soon.

Another Situation

2006-08-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

5 People left in a 2 table SnG. Top 4 pay out. You are in BB with about 1500 chips, blinds are 50/100. Person in 2nd position moves all in for $4500. Folds to you. You have AdQd. What do you do?

What do you do?

2006-08-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you know you are beat, I mean your holding nothing but Ace-Face after the cards are dealt, and you are put all in but if you fold you leave yourself extremely short stacked and the pot is offering you better then 6-1 odds? Do you call and hope and pray that you are calling a bluff? Can you fold and leave yourself with an M of between 1-3? What if in the process of trying to determine if your opponent is bluffing he gives off a tell saying that he has a good hand? What if he gives you a tell saying he has a bad hand?

Poker Dome

2006-08-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

How do they get these guys? Have you watched Poker Dome? Some of the players on there are horrible. I mean these are the guys that you dream about sitting at the same table with. I am watching right now with some guy Bulev playing in the final two. He has folded his big blind to a limp 8 times in this broadcast. Thats right, the small blind limped and he just folds. He has folded when first to act isntead of checking. He called an all in with 9-4 off. This guy is heads up for the win tonight. First he had to qualify online, then he had to outlast at least 8 others to get in this position. I mean how did he do that?

Well I didnt live blog...

2006-08-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

Couldn't get much signal in the poker room so I gave up on the live blogging. The fact that I am posting this only 5 hours after the tournament started should key you in to how I finished. Ended up about 30ish out of 130ish. So who wants a bad beat story? Its not a one outer, but it still left a sour taste in my mouth..

We were at $500/$1000 blinds with $100 ante and I had a chip stack of about $15k. Not horrible, not great... My M was about 6ish but I was at a very weak table. I had only been at the table 1 round but already had a feel for how I could push the table around. There wasn't a lot of action, but I was hoping to stay at the table for a little while possibly double up once or twice and put myself in a good position for a run at the $4k first price.

Ok, so I set the situation here is the hand. I am on the button and its folded around to me. I look down and see JJ. I had raised twice since I have been at the table both times about 1.5 times the BB. Both hands had gone uncalled. With that in mind, and only two people after me to act I figured I would slow down a little bit. I raised 1k to make it 2k to go. I did this knowing the small blind had only about $7k left and his move was all in or fold. He folded as expected. The big blind was a little bit different. He had almost as much chips as me. He raised up to $7k total. Action back to me, and I knew I had him. I pushed all in for another $10k. It came back to him and he muttered well I guess I have to call here since I am already committed. This even furthered my thought that I had him. He called as expected and flipped over Ac2c....

Well I guess you know how it ends.
2 on the flop, Ace on the river, no Jack.

Left me with $125 in my stack. All in on the next hand with 5d6d, which improved to two pair by the river but still lost to 88 who hit his set on the flop.

A few other interesting hands from the night that I will post later for analysis.

First post for live updates

2006-08-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

First post for live updates this is just a test post

2006-08-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to head over to Singerly for the monthly poker tournament. If you havent read it hear before its a $130 buy in, with a field ranging from 80-100+. I am going to try to update my blog during the tournament from my new cell phone, lets see how this works. Tournament starts at 6, with $5k chips and blinds of $25-$50. I will try to update at every level, but probably end up just doign so during breaks.

2006-07-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Time for a completely off subject post....

Horse Racing...

What do you think about it?

Despite it being -EV do you find it fun?

How often do you bet on it?

2006-07-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Adjusting your hand values deep in a tournament

Anyone who has ever been successful in any big tournament (300+) knows that the key to getting deep is avoiding some huge landmines. They will be there. Your top pair-Ace Kicker is going to run into two pair. Your straight is going to run into a flush. The key is getting yourself out of these situations without suffering a mortal blow.

You can limit the impact of these situations in a few ways
1) Learning your fold equity. If you might be beat you have what is called fold equity. Basically, by folding the hand now you are gaining chips because you wont put them in a pot in which you are not going to win.
2) Watching other players. How have these other players adjusted their game? Have they sat back and not entered many hands? Are they playing a lot of hands. Compare their play to whats on the board.
NOTE: The top two really need to be applied at all points in a tournament
3) Dont pick on the little guy, dont pick on the bully. This is an important aspect of poker. Here is an example/ You look down at 2h2c. There is one player to your left then the blinds. Your M is 20, his is 3. What is your first reaction? Is it to make a big raise and isolate the small chip stack? If it is, you are dead wrong. Here is why: By raising 5x-7x times the big blind you will probably get it heads up with him, unless you run into AA,KK,QQ,AK with a moderate stack. If you do you are an underdog. That isnt the issue here though. You are going to get called by the small stack. I dont care what he has. You are going to go into the hand AT BEST a 51% favorite, AT WORSE a 76% dog. This isnt the time to risk droping from an M of 20 to 17. If you have to play this hand, call the blind let him push all in and get the SB and BB to call his all in bet. Then you have to decide to come back over the top and isolate him (which I do not suggest enless you have a read on the SB,BB) or to limp for value.

Now lets look at that same situation, except the guy to your left has an M of 40. Before you get tricky here, remember he has twice your chip stack for a reason. Also remember he isnt afraid of your 5x BB raise. In fact you are best folding here. If you limp he will often raise, putting yourself in a bad situation. Just stay out of his way until you get a good hand. Dont make it look like you are trying to steal from him. Let him have his blinds. Let him isolate players. Then when you have a legit hand, make your move. More often then not he will pay you off. If he doesnt, increase the hands you move with until you are feeding yourself. Just know his limit and dont push it. When he pushes back you will be sorry, because your M suggest that you dont have the stack to fight with him.

Now, the third situation. Suppose you still have that M of 20. The guy to your left has an M of 6. He isnt in panic mode yet, but he is getting there. Push him around a bit. He isnt likely to want to go to war without a premium hand. He can not limp to your raise with K8off. He is likely to get out of your way. Final thought is that even IF he does push back you are arent risking a huge portion of your stack to get in what is most likely a coin flip.

Identifying these players who dont have a lot of chips but arent in panic mode is huge. You want to watch their actions. They likely have 1 move, all-in or fold. There is a big tell in knowing this. If you see them min-raise or make a very small raise (which will still commit themselves to the pot) flags should be going off. He really doesnt want to commit himself to a pot for a small raise. The most likely holding in this situation is a high pair or AK.

The main point of this post is that to get really deep in tournament play you need to be able to steel blinds. You cant just sit on your stack and wait for action. You cant just assume you will have a shot to raise when you get on the button. You have to be proactive in looking for ideal spots to throw a raise in knowing that you have a good chance of not being called. If you can steel blinds effectively you greatly increase your shots of lasting deep. The key in doing this is knowing when you can and can not steel blinds. Also, you dont need to do this too often. Once in a table turn is more then enough. Maybe once every couple times around the table. This should give you enough time to get the hands you need to stay alive. If you start trying this too often you will get noticed and people will start calling you with lesser hands. When this starts to happen you will loose your ability to steel blinds and need to tighten your playing hand selection. It often has an inverse effect because you will be raised by 33 when you through a raise in with AQ and often you will have to make a very tough decision.

Bottom line, it is imperative to pick good spots to steel blinds in big tournaments when the blinds start to increase. Dont do it too often, and dont start too early (when other players M's are still relatively large).

2006-07-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

So Close

Well, I almost made a final table in a tournament with 1000+ players...

I wanted to clear out my party poker account so I played in a $3 MTT.

In the Image above thats me Highlighted NickChristy1.

Finished in 11th place for a grand total of thirty some dollars, top place was over $800. Got caught trying to steal the blinds in the big blind with A5 for over 2/3rds of my chips, which left me short stacked. After that I folded until I got back into the big blind with only $31k left and the blinds at 15k/30k. Actually got a great flop for the hand I had (2c4c) when 5dAc5c hit the board. I was actually thinking the poker gods where on my side and going to give me enough to fold into the final table and hopefully double up a couple times. Didnt happen. My straight/flush draw didnt improve and 9dQd took the pot down.

What really sucks is that I just played 5 hours of poker and only got $30 to show for it...

Oh well, maybe next time :)

2006-07-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

Situational Poker Answer

Here was the situation....

Late in a 6 player SnG
Three players left, payout is two
You have 2600 chips
person to your left has 6900 chips
person to his left has 2500 chips
Blinds are 75/150, you are in Big Blind

Little bit of history before we get to this situation,
the guy to your right (two seats to your left) has been very aggressive
He bets when you don't show strength, he raises on draws.
The hand before this hand he lost a huge pot to the guy on your left when his AA was cracked by 6J.

He limps into the pot and you look down at 5c6d and check
The flop comes Kc2c6s
He bets $1000 into the pot.

What do you do?
a) put him on a better hand then you, more then likely the king and fold
b) put him on tilt figuring he has a flush draw, but fold because you are only 50/50
c) put him on tilt figuring he has a flush draw and raise all in
d) put him on an ace hoping that no-one hit the board and push all in
e) figure you have him beat but with the payout at 2 you would rather play it safe and fold

First of all, thanks for the comments guys
I ended up folding the hand. My reasoning follows some of the same line that you guys took. I was close to the money, and this wasn't the hand to gamble on. I thought I had a pretty good read on him and put him on a flush draw. The way he acted seemed like he was tilting a bit from the previous hand and wanted to get his chips back quickly, whats the best way to do that? Get all in. He bet big after the flop on a draw knowing that I would have either hit the flop hard and pushed all in, or missed it and folded. If I hit the flop hard he was at worse at 35% dog, but probably at 51% favorite (based on what cards he had, whether he had overs or not, which he probably did). The other key input that I used to make this decision was a simple one. I thought I was a better poker player then him. This is real simple but it helped me make my decision. I knew that I wasn't in immediate danger of being blinded out and that given enough hands I could put myself in a better situation against him for all his chips. If I thought he was a better player then me, my thinking might have changed. I might have thought this was going to be a coin flip and the best chance I will get, so I should take it.

Even though I folded my hand, he showed his cards (I guess to say... ha I was on a draw and you folded) and it turns out that I was right. Ac8c, he had two overs to my pair and a flush draw. He was the slight favorite there so the fold actually was the correct play.

As a small sidenote he would knock me out on the very next hand when I got all in preflop with KcKd and he hit a straight with KhQh. Whats the lesson in this? Sometimes it is best to wait for a better situation to get your money in the pot even if you think you have a pretty good read on a player, and then when you get to that better situation he still might draw out on you.

2006-07-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Situational Poker

Here is an interesting situation for you.

Late in a 6 player SnG
Three players left, payout is two
You have 2600 chips
person to your left has 6900 chips
person to his left has 2500 chips
Blinds are 75/150, you are in Big Blind

Little bit of history before we get to this situation,
the guy to your right (two seats to your left) has been very aggressive
He bets when you don't show strength, he raises on draws.
The hand before this hand he lost a huge pot to the guy on your left when his AA was cracked by 6J.

He limps into the pot and you look down at 5c6d and check
The flop comes Kc2c6s
He bets $1000 into the pot.

What do you do?
a) put him on a better hand then you, more then likely the king and fold
b) put him on tilt figuring he has a flush draw, but fold because you are only 50/50
c) put him on tilt figuring he has a flush draw and raise all in
d) put him on an ace hoping that no-one hit the board and push all in
e) figure you have him beat but with the payout at 2 you would rather play it safe and fold

Leave your move in the comments and I will explain what I did and why and post the final outcome as well later in the week...

2006-07-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

We interrupt this blog to bring you this news warning....

STOP LOSING BIG POTS WITH TOP PAIR

.... back to your normally scheduled poker post.

2006-07-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

Results from last post

Only had 1 person leave a guess so I cant give an award or anything for being the closest to the actual results, but here they are for fun...

Original raiser had 10d10h
Second to act had Kd9h
Button had 2s4s
Small blind had Ad8d

So first guy bet $25 with an overpair, next guy raised $28 with top pair king kicker, next guy moved all in with two pair, last to act now had the odds to move in with her diamond draw. And the first guy called the rest of his chips (although he probably shoulda folded here).

I was the K9. I know it was probably a horrible move to raise back over the top. I wasn't really worried about the first guy, figured him for a flush draw (because that is the way he plays flush draws). The next person usually plays decent cards so I didn't think had gotten a piece of that flop in any way. The last to act at best had flush draw or mid pair (because she likes to play suited cards and weak aces). Calling the $25 was not an option because I would become committed to the pot, so it was either all in or fold. I shoulda folded, but fell victim to something I often fall victim to... Downplaying my opponents hands when I know they are weak opponents. I shoulda seen the players left behind me, and the $25 bet in front of me and folded..

Oh, how did the hand end up?
10 hit the turn and the set of 10s held up.

2006-07-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hand Analysis

don't have much time, just wanted to post a quick hand from a real live home cash game I played in last night. It was 1-2 no limit, most people buying in around $100. See if you can diagnose this hand..

There was a raise preflop to $10 with 3 callers
Flop comes

2c9d4d

First to act bets out $25
Second to act moves all in for $66
Third to act moves all in for $80
Fourth to act calls all in for $70
original better calls for $80

Preflop positions were
First to act (who raised 10, and lead out for 25) was in the big blind
Second to act was in mid position
Third to act was on the button
Fourth to act was in the small blind

Other information that might be handy
There was 2 additional callers before the big blind raised preflop.
Preflop
When the first caller of his raise called the $10 bet the pot was $22
When the button called the $10 bet the pot was $32
When the small blind called his raise the pot was $42

After the flop
The raiser led out with his $25 bet into a $52 pot
Second to act raised all in to make the pot $118
The button raised all in to make the pot $198
The small blind called all in to make the pot $268
The big blind (original raiser) called the all in to make the pot $328

What do you think the
Original raiser had?
Second to act had (mid position)?
Button had?
Small blind had?

Obviously you wont put them on their exact hands, but a range.

Just thought this would be a fun exercise to test your reading ability... I sure had it wrong..

I will tell you which one I had in a later post.

2006-07-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Someone tell me this is a joke? Are you kidding me? Atlantic City Casinos have been ordered to close their doors. Apparently there is a huge dispute over the NJ budget and the state of NJ ordered all non-essential employees to not report to work. This effects the gaming commission, therefore the casinos can not operate. The irony in all of this? The casinos are a huge part of the revenue for the budget. Even more irony? I had a scheduled trip to AC today!! Out of all the days for something like this to happen, how do you suppose they pick the day that I have my trip planned for?

Well, looks like I will have to get back to online play today :(

2006-07-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th to all.

I will be leaving for AC in the morning, wish me luck!!!

Any suggestions on which card rooms are the best? I have been up a few times, but haven't played heavily at any particular room. This trip I want to be able to sit down and play a lot of poker.

I want to go back and look at another big hand from my last tournament..

This one was title Big hand 4.
I am chip leader at my table at this point with about 20k blinds are 300/600.
I am dealt QQ in the big blind.
3 callers to me, I raise to 2400.
1 caller to the flop
caller was out of position and checked in the dark
94A came out.
I put a feeler bet of 2400 out and he raised to 6000.
I called his raise.
Turn brought a 6.
He went all in

What do you do in this situation? I had enough information on the player (although I hadn't been playing with him long) to sit back and contemplate making a call here. A friend of mine warned me when he came to my table that he was solid. If he hadn't told me this I might have folded to the ace off the bat. However this piece of information made me stop and think a little longer. Could he be making a move without the ace?

This has turned into a big pot and is definitely worth fighting for at this point. What other pieces of information do I have..
He called a raise of 2400 with 4800 in the pot preflop.
He was being offered 2-1 on his money preflop. Not horrible, but not great. Not good enough to be playing any suited cards, but good enough to hold a hand like 10J suited, double paint, a high ace, or a pocket pair.

What holdings concern me here?

A pocket pair, say 99 or 66 that hit a set.
KK the only pocket pair not to hit the board that beats me, and a high ace.
If it is a high ace it is unlikely that he has AQ because I hold two queens.
To call the preflop raise I think he would need at least A10. He has shown pure strength up to this point, which makes me doubt A10,AJ.
These hands are strong but not strong enough to raise then push all in after the raise was called. Ak is a strong possibility, except for his preflop action. He acted before me. He just limped into the pot prior to my raise. A solid player usually does not limp with AK.

He probably wouldn't limp with any strong ace. That leaves 99,66,44. I think 66,44 are strong possibilities based on how he has played this hand.

What other pieces of information do I have available? Remember he raised my 2400 off the flop. I took a good amount of time to make that call. He very well could be playing off of this. If I took a while to call his initial raise I would certainly have to improve to call another big raise. Could a 6 have improved me? Probably not. He knows I fear the ace at this point. He has to know I fear the ace. That explains his moves, but I still don't have enough information to make this call.

I glance over at him quickly to see how he is handling me taking a little while to make my decision. He is sitting with his arms folded staring away from me. He is sitting in a very stern manor to suggest that he is very tense right now. He wont look at me, which makes me question what he is hiding. I look under his folded arm and see his heart beating from the side of his chest. He is breathing heavily. That is it, he is bluffing. He has to be bluffing. He is doing everything he can to not give me a tell, he knows I am weak against an Ace and he is making a move.

I take one more second to make sure I want to make this call, and finally I say it... "I call".

He looks at me and utters... "I really didn't want to hear that" as he flips over K9. I jump up from my seat in amazement that I just made that read. He is shaking his head, saying I cant believe you could make that call.. The hand ends and his chips slide over to my stack. He walks over and shakes my hand, telling me how amazed he was that I made that call. I hear him in the background saying he would play that hand the exact same way again.

My question to you is, do you think (ignoring the end result) that I made the right move?

Would you have made the call with the same information available?

2006-06-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

Its been a little over a week now since the North East FD tournament, so I think its time to start dissecting some of the hands... Lets start at the hand that I labeled Big Hand 3. This is where the tournament really started to turn for me, so its logical to work my way from here...

I am going to walk through the hand play by play.
I am on the button with J9 spades. I have about 15k in chips with blinds of 200-400. There are two callers, then a raise to 1k before me. With about 2400 in the pot I call the 1000 raise. This is probably a loose call but getting almost 2.5-1 on my money with suited 1 gappers isn't horrible. Blinds fold, only one of the original callers makes the call.

Pot is now 4000.
Flop comes 9d5c2d.

First impression is that I like this flop. I am not sold on my top pair, but I think its good enough to extract some money on a hand like AK,AQ,AJ,A10,88 or a flush draw.

First caller checks, the the guy who raised preflop bets $1000.

Here comes my first decision. I can call his bet knowing I am getting 5-1, I could fold or I could raise. Here is what I am thinking.
a) I like my pair of jacks right now. I am behind to AA,KK,QQ,JJ,1010,99,AJ,KJ,QJ,44,66. I AA,KK,QQ,AJ are possibilities. JJ is unlikely but possible. 99 is very unlikely but also possible. I am not too concerned about 44,66 right now. Really I am thinking the bettor has AA,KK,QQ,1010,AK,AQ,AJ,A10,88. He is a fairly tight player, and I sense his 1000 is more a feeler bet then anything. If that is the case I have to narrow it down to AK,AQ,AJ,A10,88. Even without narrowing it down, I dont feel I am behind and I am at least calling this hand.
b) Can I just call? If I call I am getting no information and letting the third person play to a possible flush. She is already getting 5-1 if I fold, and if I call she is getting 6-1. I dont know she has a flush draw, but if she does I can not give her those odds. What if the bettor has a flush draw and he is on a semi-bluff. Calling doesn't do much except set him up to push a little more on the turn. I dont like a call in this situation and dont see it as an option
c) If I am not folding, not calling, how much do I raise? The pot is 5000, I am facing a 1000 bet. I have 14k in my hand. First impression is lets keep the pot below my chip stack so I dont commit myself to a pot without a strong hand. Second impression is lets get rid of any flush draws. Third lets see how strong of a bet the 1000 actually was. To get rid of the flush draws I need to offer at most 2.5-1. That works out to be about a $2300 raise to bring the pot to $8300. This will make the third caller actually have to put in $3300 to a $8300 pot with the possibility of being raised again by the original better. This isn't exactly a +EV play. If she does make a call, then I am giving the original better odds to call on a flush draw but I cant count on that being the case. How does this put my stack in relation to the pot being built? My stack stands at 1400, subtract 3300 and my stack would be 10700. That would make the middle stack at 8300. If we get any callers my stack becomes less then what is being played for. This isn't a great situation, but I still have some folding equity. I still figure I would give a few % points on the flush draw to pick up a little more folding equity. I also am against min-raising here, so there isn't a whole lot I can do about becoming pot committed on this hand.
d) I arrive at about 3000. Its a solid 3x raise, puts the next to act in a situation where calling with a flush draw is a marginal call at best. And barring the first better being on a bluff we are looking at going to the turn with an 10k pot and 11k in my hand.

I announce the raise and put my 3k into the middle. The other lady calls for 1k. When she is told the amount is actually 3k, she gets this disgusted look on her face and folds her hand. In this process she revels her cards (kd10d). After doing that the other guy in the pot yells over to her to be more careful, and he is clearly mad that she showed her cards. This is a big tell for me. I dont like this tell. He is clearly upset that she exposed to diamonds and revealed that she was on a flush draw. He is telling me that he doesn't have a flush draw and he thinks I am on a flush draw. If he doesn't have a flush draw he is probably sitting on AA,KK,QQ. I believe he is ahead right now. I still dont understand his 1k bet. He knows that he is offering all kinds of odds. To have a monster hand and offer those odds to a possible flush draw is questionable at best. I have to play off him thinking I am on a flush draw, and the fact that he probably has me beat.

Turn comes down 9.
This is my bingo card. He doesn't have me beat now. 99 is impossible, and the only other cards he could hold that would beat me are 44,66. I dont see him raising preflop with either of those. But remember, he thinks I am on a flush draw. I dont see him on a flush draw so I have to play this very carefully. I dont want him to think I have a 9, I want to set him up for a bluff on the river. He bets 2k to me, and I simply call. This moves me down the road of becoming pot committed, but I dont care. I want all his chips. I have a top trips with a decent kicker. The only thing that beats me is Q9,K9,A9,44,66 which I have already discounted. Fairly innocent sequence of events, but I think this will be effective in setting up for a bluff on the river. If I have trip 9s he has to be looking for another raise from me. I raised before seeing the two diamonds but not after. I want him to put me on a flush draw so that if it doesn't hit I can reraise all in and induce a call.

River brings 3d. This completes a flush. I checked on the turn because I didn't think he was playing like he was on a flush draw, so I cant change my mind here. I set him up to take another stab at this pot. I dont think he will take a stab at this pot now though. If he thought I was on the flush draw I just hit it. He cant like his overcards right now. There is no way he is putting much more money into the pot. He is first to act...

He moves all-in. He has me covered so basically he is putting me all-in. This makes me rethink my situation. Was he semi-bluffing on the flop with his 1k bet? Was he not disgusted at the lady for showing her cards but disgusted that he had two less outs? I still think he is holding AA,KK,QQ. He just made a horrible mistake. I dont know what he is putting me on but moving all in here with those cards dont make any sense. I cant put him on a flush draw and cant put him on a stronger 9 either though. I rumble this decision back and forth for a few minutes.

Finally I call.

He turns over AA.

BINGO.

Big pot and I have doubled up.

He goes on mega tilt. I we go to break 5 minutes after this hand and I hear him talking to people about how he lost AA to J9. Of course he isn't replaying the entire hand. If he was he would see how badly he played this hand. He made a few big mistakes here, and I will leave it up to you my readers to find those mistakes.

Feel free to comment on my play or his play in this hand.

2006-06-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

Time for a new goal...

Raise $560 by July 5th playing poker. That gives me 2 weeks and some change to get this up. Its going to be a very tough goal, but I think I can do it. The idea is to play in the Borgata Summer Poker Open event #1. It is a $500+$60 buy in, and I am sure it will attract a big crowd. After my play on Saturday I think I am ready for a big tournament, and so it is time to find out if I am right.

More to come shortly on my hands from Saturday.

By the way, any other bloggers going to be in AC for the Summer Poker Open?

2006-06-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

I just played about 6 hours of the best poker I have ever played. Too bad I followed it up by probably an hour of some of the worst poker I have ever played. Doesnt the game humble you? It doesnt matter how good you have been playing, how many chips you have in front of you, or what you have done up until point x, if you make a bad move at point x you are done. I am only going to talk a little bit about tonight right now, I am going to let it sink in, then come back and analyze some of my play.

I want to put up a couple hands and set the situation, then tell you about my phil ivey like blowup. Actually, if there ever was a time to be compared to Phil Ivey it would be tonight. I was blowing threw people left and right in this tournament, then I blew up so close to the end. In no way am I even good enough to put myself in the same sentence with him, but for tonight just for a little while I think I was. Every single call I made was right. Every move that I made was the correct move. Every mistake my opponent made I capitalized on. Then I took the 6 hours of progress and threw it out of the window in a matter of a dozen or so hands.

Lets set the situation:
North East Fire Department $125 buyin poker tournament.
Total crowd of about 65ish.
Starting stack of 5k, blinds start at 25-50.

Big hand 1)
flopped two pair, extracted a lot of chips.
Big hand 2)
flopped two pair, made a nice fold to a set
Big hand 3)
j9, floped top pair (952), turned trip nines, river brought a potential flush...
This was a huge hand. The chip leader was to my right and we were heads up.
He bet the hand the whole way down to this point.
When the river card came out he moved all in (and had me covered).
I went into the tank for about 5 minutes (almost prompting a timer)
I thought back to 2 previous hands where he had monsters in which he didn't make big bets until the river.
The more I thought about it the less and less a flush made sense... Don't ask me why... It just didn't make sense.
I finally called, and he turned over AA.

Big hand 4)
I am chip leader at my table at this point with about 20k blinds are 300/600.
I am dealt QQ in the big blind.
3 callers to me, I raise to 2400.
1 caller to the flop
caller was out of position and checked in the dark
94A came out.
I put a feeler bet of 2400 out and he raised to 6000.
I called his raise.
Turn brought a 6.
He went all in
I called (after taking another 5 minutes)
He turned over K9 and lost all his chips.
I want to talk about this hand in a future post so I wont spend much time on it now. Think about how you would have played this hand, and what tells would need to be visible for you to make this move.

Big hand 5)
88 on the button.
flop of 10-9-5 offsuite comes out
guy to my left moves all in
I but his A5 with my 88.
I want to talk about this hand also. Think about what tells need to be present for you to make this call.

Then we get down to about 15 people and I implode... all the way to 10th place...

I had the chip lead when 16th place got knocked out. I was probably ok up to fold into the money all the way to 2 hands prior to getting knocked out.

I will dedicate an entire post to my falling apart, because:
1) I want you to learn from this..
2) I need to learn from this..
3) and I think everyone reading will get a good laugh at my expense.

that's it for now because I am beat. After the night sinks in a little I will post my follow up remarks.

2006-06-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

Some guys have all the luck

Playing in a nice 800+ person $11 MTT on Party Poker I see a common sight. This guy at my table tripled up on his first hand with 99. He hit a set on the flop and full house on the river when the second Queen hit. Only problem was that two other guys had AQoff and also where all in. Nice hand. See him knock another guy out with AA when the other guy reraised him all in preflop with KK. A few hands later I get involved with him. What was I thinking, this guy had monsters and was dropping people like crazy. I was dealt 10-10 in the BB when he min-raised. Someone else reraised to 3x bb, I called and so did he. Flop came 3h9h10c. I make a 2/3rds pot bet, which he smooth calls. The original re-raiser folded. Next card is a blank, I pot bet, he re-raises me all in. I sit back and try to figure out what he coulda hit, and the only thing I can ponder is 2 pair. This has to be where his luck turns, right? Wrong, he turns over two hearts and hits his flush on the river. This guy knocked me out and now had 5-6x his original stack. I didnt need to keep an eye on him after I left the table to figure out how he would do. I know his type. I have seen people go on runs like that before. All to often. Actually I have been that guy before. Hitting everything off the bat. Getting huge hands that beat big hand The problem is all too soon your luck will turn around. You will get your money in and loose. You are a gambler at heart. You will be dying to get your money in the pot. You will watch it get spread out over the table. THen you will get involved with someone who has more chips then you realize. You may have a monster stack, but when you loose 2/3rds of it you are still crippled. In order for us to win money, and I mean real money playing online poker we need to recognize these situations. Go take a nap or something. Come back in a little while. Play only premium hands. Just dont let your chip stack take you out of your game. Easier said then done.

Whatever you do, just repeat this line, "its a long tournament and I cant stay this lucky".

2006-06-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Well I was feeling like my break from poker really helped me...

Then I remembered what playing poker is really like...

Three hands in a row.. I am 2nd in chips with 6 left in a SnG
JJ - raise 3x bb no-one calls
AA - raise 3x bb get one caller, flop comes Jd4c3c I bet, he raises, I re-raise all in, he calls with Jc9c... 9 on the river and I am now last in chips with 400
AhKh - raise all in with my final 400, get called by 3 people flop of 6s8s3s, and I am out to the guy who called with QsJs...

Um.. Yeah... I thought there was some kinda buffer before I started getting bad beats...

Guess not...

Oh well, I know all of you were so excited to hear the news that I was back blogging and the last thing you want to do is login and see me complaining about bad beats. So instead I am going to sit hear and complain about the orioles being down again... umm... yeah I am sure you dont want to hear that either...

well I guess I am out of things to say for the night, maybe I will come up with something sorta intellegent before the week is over... dont count on it..

2006-06-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm Back!!

After a month of seemingly dropping off the face of the earth I am back. Sorry for disappearing guys, life called. We moved into our new house and are starting to settle down. Back to poker here shortly. I actually played a little last night on PartyPoker, only because they sent me some free money again. This time I have actually cleared the free money and tripled up my $20. Lovely what a month off from poker does for you at the table. Seriously, I hadn't played much more then a hand in a month (maybe a couple while drinking with buddies but nothing serious). I get back to the tables and was playing great. Clear headed, no stupid mistakes. Maybe we all need to step back every once in a while and clear our poker heads. Well the computer is up and running at the new house, the internet is on, the poker is installed, and I just purchased Dan Harringtons VIII workbook. Add those factors together and I should be back to my normal 3-5 posts a week.

Sorry to leave everyone without much notice, but I'm back!!!

2006-05-16T06:06:00.000-07:00

Today is settlement day on my new house, wish me luck!

Ironically, I had a post about min-raises, then I get an email with an article written by Phil Gordon from full tilt on min-raises.

Check it out:

Say you're playing in a low-stakes no-limit ring game. The blinds are $.50 and $1, and it's folded to you in middle position. You find a nice hand - pocket Tens - and bring it in for a standard raise of three times the big blind. It's folded around to a player in late position, who re-raises the minimum amount, making it $5 to go. I've seen this sort of play repeatedly in the past few months while researching my next No-Limit Hold 'em book by playing in low-stakes games. Every time I've been faced with a minimum re-raise, I've been up against a monster - pocket Kings or Aces. A player who opts for the small raise may think he's being crafty by getting me to put a little extra money in the pot while he holds a big hand. But this is not a profitable play. There are two major problems with the minimum raise.
I've already mentioned the first problem: My opponent has telegraphed his hand. And making good decisions is pretty easy when you know exactly what your opponent holds. The second problem is mathematical. My opponent is giving me 5 to 1 to call the additional raise. (In this example, my extra $2 will give me a chance win $10.) When I make the call, I know that I stand to win a very big pot. My implied odds the money I stand to make if I hit my hand - more than justify the call. If my opponent started the hand with a $100 stack, I could get paid at a rate of 50 to 1. So I call and see a flop. If there's no Ten on the board, I'm done with the hand. And if there is a Ten, I'm going to wipe my opponent out. As I said, poker is a pretty easy when you know what your opponent holds.What's the proper play when you hold Aces and a player has raised in front of you? Find the Bet Pot button and click it. Put pressure on a player who you know is starting with a second-best hand. Who knows, if he's got pocket Queens or A-K, he may be willing to put his entire stack in pre-flop. If he holds something like Jacks or Tens, your big raise will minimize your opponent's implied odds.You should be wary of minimum raises at other stages of a hand, as well. Say you raised pre-flop with A-K and one player called. You hit top pair top kicker on a K-8-4 board. You bet out the size of the pot and your opponent min-raises you. At this point, you need to be very concerned that your opponent has hit a set. You have to wonder why he'd be raising an amount that almost begs for your call.
I've already mentioned the first problem: My opponent has telegraphed his hand. And making good decisions is pretty easy when you know exactly what your opponent holds. The second problem is mathematical. My opponent is giving me 5 to 1 to call the additional raise. (In this example, my extra $2 will give me a chance win $10.) When I make the call, I know that I stand to win a very big pot. My implied odds the money I stand to make if I hit my hand - more than justify the call. If my opponent started the hand with a $100 stack, I could get paid at a rate of 50 to 1. So I call and see a flop. If there's no Ten on the board, I'm done with the hand. And if there is a Ten, I'm going to wipe my opponent out. As I said, poker is a pretty easy when you know what your opponent holds.What's the proper play when you hold Aces and a player has raised in front of you? Find the "Bet Pot" button and click it. Put pressure on a player who you know is starting with a second-best hand. Who knows, if he's got pocket Queens or A-K, he may be willing to put his entire stack in pre-flop. If he holds something like Jacks or Tens, your big raise will minimize your opponent's implied odds.You should be wary of minimum raises at other stages of a hand, as well. Say you raised pre-flop with A-K and one player called. You hit top pair top kicker on a K-8-4 board. You bet out the size of the pot and your opponent min-raises you. At this point, you need to be very concerned that your opponent has hit a set. You have to wonder why he'd be raising an amount that almost begs for your call.
My advice here is twofold: First is that you should all but eliminate the minimum raise from your game. In some rare circumstances when you hit a full house or quads, it might be appropriate, but that's about it. Second is that alarm bells should go off whenever you see a min raise. Your opponent probably has a big hand and you need to proceed accordingly.
My advice here is twofold: First is that you should all but eliminate the minimum raise from your game. In some rare circumstances when you hit a full house or quads, it might be appropriate, but that's about it. Second is that alarm bells should go off whenever you see a min raise. Your opponent probably has a big hand and you need to proceed accordingly.

Phil is addressing a difference aspect of the min-raise, but still very usefull information.

2006-05-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of updates recently, I have been very busy with finalizing details for the new house (settlement on tuesday!!) that I haven't had a whole lot of time to play or post. That will change soon. I have been thinking about poker though, so I do have some stuff stored and ready to fire. I want to address an issue here that has been on my mind recently. Min-Raises. I will be the first one in line to the "Min-Raises Are Stupid and Pointless" camp, but I am going to attempt to rationalize a couple situations where it might be a good play.

First things first, if you do not have experience, or you dont understand what you hope to accomplish, you should never be min-raising. I see it time and time again by people who just dont have a clue. You should never min-raise with AA. Let me repeat that, because some people love to do that. You should never min-raise with AA. If you are going to min-raise with AA, dont cry when my K9suited cracks your hand, hell dont cry when I crack your hand with 97suited from the BB. You have done nothing at all by min-raising, except build the pot a little bigger.

Lets look at a situation here
Blinds 25/50
person 1 (2000) - Kh2c - SB 25 - fold
person 2 (2500) - 7s9s - BB 50 - ????
person 3 (1200) - AcAh - raise 100
person 4 (3200) - Ks10c - call 100
person 5 (1500) - KcJc - call 100

Ok, lets look at the BB. He has a pot of $375 in front of him and it cost $50 to call. 7.5-1 odds on suited one-gappers. He is probably going to make this call 9 out of 10 times.

Let's assume he makes the call.

What has been accomplished by the person holding AcAh? He did not raise enough to take out K10,KJ,79. He is going to the flop with 3 other people, and he is no longer in a dominant position. Change the situation and say he had raised to $300. He maybe gets 1 caller (KcJc). He can dominate KcJc heads up. He can not dominate K10,KJ,79. He is 57% favorite to win this hand, where heads up he is a 82% favorite. By min-raising he brought more people into the pot and lost 25% off of his odds to win the hand. That is not a good way to win at poker.

Ok, so now I am done with the duh-nick-I-already-knew-that-information and ready to provide some insight.

I am going to claim that it may be a good idea to min-raise if you are in the following situation:

In the BB, SB or one the button AND
Have 3 or more callers in front of you AND
have a hand that holds up against a big table AND
the small and big blinds are not hyper aggressive players

In other words the planets need to align.

But if they do, lets look at the situation above, but with new cards...
Blinds 25/50
person 1 (2000) - Jd10d - SB 25
person 2 (2500) - Ks9s - BB 50
person 3 (1200) - Ac3h - call 50
person 4 (3200) - 5s6s - call 50
person 5 (1500) - KcQc - call 50

If it is your turn to act here I am going to suggest you min raise to 100.
Why?!?!?!?
Lets look at some odds, then act out the rest of the hand..
Before I reveal the odds, who do you think is favored to win this hand?
The Jd10d is ahead slightly right now..

Jd10d-27%
Ks9s-12.5%
Ac3h-22.3%
6s5s-15%
KcQc-22.3%

That being said, you need to raise here. Ideally you would like to make that Ace go away. But remember you dont know the cards here. You arent really concerned about a lonely ace, because you can walk away from a hand that doesnt hit you here. Remember when I warned that you needed to have experience? That is where this comes into play. You need to be able to throw away your hand on a flop like AJ3, or 237, or Js10s3s. These flops will hit, and will get action, but you dont want this action. Lets look at what you would be doing with a min-raise, verse a normal raise, verse a call...

We already outlined the odds going to the flop with a straight call.
If you min-raise you can assume you are getting called by everyone. In fact it would be the right play for even the lonely 12% hand to call, because he is in the big blind and it will cost him only $50 to see $450 pot with bigger implied odds. Lets assume everyone makes the mathmatically correct play of calling. We can argue that the right play would be for KQ to make a move here, but lets not get into that for this discussion.

Prior to the flop the pot is now $500.
Lets look at three flops

Js10s3c
Bingo you hit two pair. You do have an issue here because the board has 2 spades. You dont know that there are two people sitting on 2 spades in there hand, and that one of them has a gutshot to go along with it. Here are the odds now:
Jd10d-38%
Ks9s-35%
Ac3h-4.5%
6s5s-3%
KcQc-17%

You are still ahead, but the two spades dont help much. Tread carefully here and dont get into a pissing match. If you do, and get all in against player 2 and player 5 you are going to loose more often then you like. If you can trickle out some money here you can go for the kill on a later street.

As9d5d

Jd10d-41%
Ks9s-14%
Ac3h-29%
6s5s-13%
KcQc-1%

Do you see how hard this flop hit you? You are a 40% favorite to win in a hand where top pair/middle pair could easily be taken out of the hand. In fact you can slow down a bit here and call the small bet made by player 2 or player 3 and make your move on the turn.

Kd2h7c

Jd10d-12%
Ks9s-10%
Ac3h-12%
6s5s-5%
KcQc-58%

This hand didnt hit you hard at all, but yet you are still in a position to either see another card to a small-moderate bet, or fold to a moderate-big bet. With this many people in the hand KQ can not think he is almost a 60% favorite. K9 can not like his hand without any spades on the board. You are in a position where KQ will probably throw out about 1/3 to 1/2 pot bet if he were first to act. But wait, K9 is before him. He needs some information on this pot quickly. Assuming you check (which may not be the right decision either) K9 is probably going to throw a small bet out. player 3,player4 will probably fold, and KQ will determine your action. If KQ simply calls you now are in a good situation to make a call and make a suckout. If he raises, get out of the hand and let them fight it out. Lets look at what types of bets you can call here...

you with implied odds you probably need 10% money to call. Your implied odds arent great, because KQ and K9 are probably going to play this with caution. They may not though. KQ may decide that no-one has K7,77,22,K2,AK and throw his money into the pot. If he does it now, like we have already discussed you are folding. In order to get 10% money you need 10-1 pot odds.

Lets assume K9 follows the preflop betting and puts $100 out there.
If KQ calls, you are looking at a pot of $700 and it cost you $100. Not good enough.
What if he bets $50. Now you are looking at a pot of $600 and a cost of $50. Thats enough. Where is your cutoff line? About $60. Anything over it you are getting into fold territory, anything under you will be happy to stay to the river with.

Ok, so that is that. Lets go back to preflop and assume you had made a bigger raise...
Remember our odds..
Jd10d-27%
Ks9s-12.5%
Ac3h-22.3%
6s5s-15%
KcQc-22.3%
and it is at you with 3 callers and a pot of $375. Lets assume instead of min-raising or calling you raise to $200 (a 4x BB raise).

K9 has a pot of $550, and needs to put in $150, he should fold here..
A3 has a pot of $550, and needs to put in $150, he should fold here..
6s5s has a pot of $550, and needs to put in $150, he should fold here..
KcQc has a pot of $550, and needs to put in $150, he should probably call here with implied odds.
Now you are two handed to the flop, and a slight favorite.

Lets look at the 3 flops again:

Js10s3c - you are a big favorite, but not winning without a fight here. Have to be carefull not to bet too much or two little. This is a tricky situation to play right two handed.

As9d5d
You are ahead here, but he is folding to any action

Kd2h7c
You are behind here and should fold to any action

My point in running this situation out is that you have limited your action on hands you hit hard, and the ones you will get action on are sometimes tricky to play heads up.

I feel like I am cutting this post short (yea right??) because I could get a lot more analytical on it, but I just dont have time right now. Any thoughts?

(sidenote: after writing this post, I played a SnG and was involved in this hand which was all to ironic not to post it... notice how bad min-raising with AA is?)

2006-05-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

I am a winner!!!

Ok, maybe not really, but it feels really good to report my first +$$ session in a long while. Hopefully this will turn my luck around. You may remember my bad luck spell, well I took a couple weeks break from cards... hit the tables tonight and at first I thought it was going to continue (see my aces getting cracked)

After that lovely hand, things started to turn around a bit. I played a little loose preflop (a lot more then I usually play) but was able to outplay my opponents after the flop.

Anywho, feels nice to report a +$50 session...

Next action...Back to the SnG challenge !!!

2006-05-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Things you should expect to see on the virtual felt

10) QQ,JJ (or similar) loose to AK when all three are all in
9) A2 crack AK
8) The Tilt. The guy who takes a bad beat (see #9) and then starts pushing his chips in the pot with any Ace.
7) The Idiot. The guy who overbets every hand. You know the kind, AJ all in preflop without a raise in front of him.
6) The Idiot who thinks he is smart. The guy who min-raises with AA,KK because he thinks he is outplaying everyone.
5) The limp-raise all in. See #6 & #7. Usually has a good hand. At first decided to slow play, then got a raise and now is ready to push all in.
4) The gambler. This is the guy who is willing to put all his chips in the pot with 2 overcards, a flush draw, a straight draw, middle pair, basically anything for the thrill.
3) The smart player. Plays optimal hands optimally. Doesn't make too many mistakes. Bottom line, stay away from him and concentrate more on #8-#4.
2) The guy who talks about how much money he makes, but yet is a horrible player.
1) Two people have the same hands, get into a bidding war, end up splitting the pot, and then type LOL into the chat window... As if something is funny

2006-05-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Go out and read this post from wired pairs, then read the comments. Add in your two cents, either over there or here. I am interested in other points of view...

Here is the hand in question at his blog....

This is the first 2k NL hand history I'm posting without results. Please feel free to discuss my play and what you think my opponent had.

In this particular hand, there was no showdown (I folded), but my opponent showed his hole cards after I folded. I will be posting the results of the hand as a comment in a TBD time.

$2000 NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, December 31, 17:40:41 EDT 2005
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: captZEEbo ( $2007 )
Seat 3: WherezMyNutz ( $2662 )
Seat 4: IG2609 ( $4133 )
Seat 5: twylla ( $10315.50 )
Seat 6: madphly ( $2201 )
Seat 7: keeper00 ( $3578 )
Seat 9: calmjackal ( $1655 )
Seat 8: fluxer ( $1957 )
Seat 2: LeDozer ( $2122 )
Seat 10: Sydni_N ( $1487.25 )
keeper00 posts small blind [$10].
fluxer posts big blind [$20].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to fluxer [ Kc Ac ]
calmjackal calls [$20].
captZEEbo folds.
LeDozer folds.
WherezMyNutz calls [$20].
IG2609 calls [$20].
twylla calls [$20].
madphly folds.
keeper00 raises [$115].
fluxer calls [$105].
calmjackal calls [$105].
WherezMyNutz folds.
IG2609 folds.
twylla folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ks, Th, 2h ]
keeper00 bets [$450].
fluxer calls [$450].
calmjackal folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7s ]
keeper00 bets [$1400].
fluxer folds.
keeper00 shows ?
keeper00 wins $2732 from the main pot with ?

2006-05-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

April Stats..

decreased from 61% returning visitors to 57%.

Month of April

Top Referrer: Alan 19
Visitor Breakdown: 57% returning 43% new
Total Visits: 232

top 5 keywords
1. Nick+Christy google me, get me!
2 Nick Christy weird, aint it?
3. sngs fill out this form and get free $$ to play sngs at Noble!
4. lederer+"All-In+Camp" Think this is what you are looking for
5. Billirikas,+Steve+-+MrSmokey1 - Yes...he is Steve MrSmokey1 on PokerStars

2006-05-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

Took a night trip to Atlantic City Friday night. A spur of the moment night trip (they are the best). Went with a real good friend (it happened to be his idea, and he has never been there before) . We ended up leaving from his house around 6:30ish, getting up to AC around 9ish, we didn't make too bad timing considering we had to avoid 95 north for the first 30 miles of the trip because of a bad accident and Friday rush hour, and add to that the fact that we completely missed the AC expressway and ended up taking rt 40 through NJ.

First stop - Taj Mahal. It was about 9:30 when we finally got parked and into the Taj. The place was packed. My buddy Carter sits down at the very first slot machine he sees (overwhelmed at this point by the urge to gamboool). I figure, why not and sit next to him then proceed to blow $20. I get up, irritated at myself for sitting down and the "stupid old-school slots" that I swear to stay away from (only video slots for me!). We head over to the money wheel, and end up +$10. Then back to slots for a bit. I get a royal flush at video poker, but being an idiot I only had 2 coins in the machine instead of 4. The royal flush had 2 wild cards so it wasn't the top jackpot but I woulda taken home $250 if I had it fully loaded. Instead I cash out for like $50. Now I am warmed up and ready to hit the tables. Carter and I decide to meet up at the ATM machine at 10:45. I go over to the poker room only to find the smallest table they got going is $2/4 limit, and $3-6 no limit and they have 20 people waiting list right now. No worries, I put my name on the bottom of each and head around the room. Quickly I spot an opening at the Texas Holdem table game. I wrote a blog about it coming out here... Well its out, and very popular.

Here is how it works..
I first sat at a $5 min table... but dont expect like I did that $80-$100 is good at a $5 min table...

Here is how to bet at a $5 min table:
Before the hand - You must put at least $5 on the ante, and you have the option of putting up to $300 on the bonus.
Dealer then deals out 2 cards to everyone including himself.
You now decide if you like you cards and want to stay. If you want to stay you must put in double your ante ($10) in the preflop section of the table.
After everyone takes their turn the flop comes out.
Now you decide if you want to bet or check. If you want to bet you must bet the size of your ante (in this case $5).
Dealer flips over the turn and you decide if you want to bet again. This is your last chance to bet at this hand. If you want to bet you must bet the size of your ante again ($5).

After that round of betting the river is dealt.
Now the dealer shows his cards, and announces what he has.
Then the dealer will go to each person to see if they beat him (you do NOT have to beat the other people at the table, just the dealer).
If you beat the dealer he pays off each of your bets 1-1 and you keep your ante. For example/
if you bet $10 preflop, $5 after the flop, and $5 after the turn he gives you $20 and you keep your $5 ante.
If you have a flush or higher, the dealer will pay your ante off as well. So in the above example if you won with a flush he would pay you $25.
As previously mentioned there is a bonus section on the table. This gets paid off based on starting hands. Here is the chart
AA 30-1
AK suited 25-1
KK,QQ,JJ 20-1
AQ suited 15-1
AK off suite 10-1
AQ,AJ off suite 5-1
1010-22 3-1

You do not have to play the bonus section, but most people do. In fact I saw a Japanese lady play it like 30 straight hands without hitting, give up on it then get dealt AK suited, AQ off, and AJ off in 3 hands in a row. She was furious, and started putting chips in her bonus section after she was dealt cards (this consequently made the floor manager come over and ask her to stop) She was also a real pain because she kept arguing for pushes whenever someone was outkicked by the dealer.

Oh one more thing, the only bet you have to make is the ante. Once your cards are dealt you must bet in the first round of betting if you want to stay in.
Ok, now that you know how to play it, would you?

I figured I would give it a shot and bought in for $100 at the $5 min table.
Quickly I was down to $60, then won a couple and was back at like $120. Before I new it, it was time to meet up with Carter. I asked the dealer to mark my spot (hold it for me) ran over and got him, and we both sat down. When I got back the min had been pushed to $10. I was doing well so I figured we had enough. We both played for a little while. I was dealt a couple bonus hands and was up $300 at one point. Carter was up $320. Then the cards went bad. Quicker then I made the $320 I had lost it. Two pairs where loosing to straights, A8 was loosing to 28, etc... This was just bad luck. Here is the thing about this game... it is luck. They have eliminated all the skill from texas holdem, given the house the advantage and it is just as addicting.

Overall we had a great time at AC and looking to go back again soon so I can actually get on the card tables.

2006-04-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

These are the types of calls that can make you a lot of money when you read people right, but they can also cost you a lot of money when you read them wrong or they catch up. These are also the hands that I have been judging 100% correctly (folding when I am behind and moving in when I am ahead) recently, and then preceding to loose to suckouts. Look-over the hand (think about how much you hate my call in this situation) and think about a situation when you would actually make the same call I did. Then later I will post why I made this move... This will help me see if I am on the right thought path here or not..

***** Hand History for Game 4111099261 *****
deathtron111 finished in sixth place.
0/0 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 22737819) - Thu Apr 27 18:35:10 EDT 2006
Table Table 95263 (Real Money) -- Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: NickChristy1 (2630)
Seat 2: azrael2679 (3260)
Seat 3: spud2602 (1425)
Seat 5: GALAXY30 (2565)
Seat 6: Stamp25 (2120)
spud2602 posts small blind (20)
GALAXY30 posts big blind (40)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to NickChristy1 [ 9h, 9c ]
Stamp25 calls (40)
NickChristy1 raises (160) to 160
azrael2679 folds.
spud2602 folds.
GALAXY30 folds.
Stamp25 calls (120)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 3h, Th, 6d ]
Stamp25 checks.
NickChristy1 bets (380)
Stamp25 raises (1960) to 1960
Stamp25 is all-In.
NickChristy1 calls (1580)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Jc ]
** Dealing River ** : [ Kc ]
Creating Main Pot with $4300 with Stamp25
** Summary **
Main Pot: 4300 |
Board: [ 3h Th 6d Jc Kc ]
NickChristy1 balance 4810, bet 2120, collected 4300, net +2180 [ 9h 9c ] [ a pair of nines -- Kc,Jc,Th,9h,9c ]
azrael2679 balance 3260, didn't bet (folded)
spud2602 balance 1405, lost 20 (folded)
GALAXY30 balance 2525, lost 40 (folded)
Stamp25 balance 0, lost 2120 [ 4c 5c ] [ high card king -- Kc,Jc,Th,6d,5c ]

2006-04-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Online Poker Sites read my mind

Haha, based on my title, this post should really get a lot of gooooooogle traffic...

After taking some more bad beatings last night (I really don't feel like getting into them, but just trust me runner-runner cards were caught...) I decided that I was going to relax a bit and not play a whole lot online for the next few weeks. Just to clear my mind a little bit, let the karma fly away and come back fresh. It just got too frustrating constantly getting my money in the pot with the best hand, and constantly seeing it get slide over the other side, heck half the time I knew what was happening and it even had me considering folding the best hand simply because there was 2 hearts on the board and I knew the third was going to hit.. Anyway, that lasted 1 night. Today I get an email from party poker (this is the 3rd email of this sort I have recieved in 2 years from them..) that they want me back and are putting $20 in my account...

Well, I can not possibly let $20 free go to waste. So I will probably hit up party a little tomorrow night and see what I can do there. Maybe my luck will change on party (actually hoff suggested I switch up sites to see if my luck changes)

So wish me the best at Party and join me if you see me out there..

NickChristy1

By the way, anyone who has GMAIL be careful and check your spam folder. GMAIL picked this email up as SPAM, I am assuming because the title was "Money in your account", but had I not periodically checked this folder I would have no idea party was being nice again...

2006-04-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

And the hits just keep on coming

Now, I am going crazy. Two more lovely hands from last night...

First blinds are 20/40, two callers to me...
I look down to AQ suited, raise to 200
one person calls (one big big big fish smelling donkey) for almost 1/2 his stack
flop comes 53J rainbow
He is first to act and pushes all in (post sized bet)
I call because I know he has junk
He turns over 2k suited
Turn brings a K
River doesn't give me my 10 or A and I loose 1/2 my stack

couple hands later with 30/60 blinds I have AK suited, I have a stack of 880
3 callers to me in the BB (pot is 240) knowing my luck I shoulda checked, but I will not succumb to back luck so I push all in.
3 CALLERS.
What do they turn over?
A7 suited
Q10 off
what comes next???
3J9
then the lovely 8 hits on the turn
river brings junk and I am done

really, can it get any worse?

2006-04-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Am I really this bad

I have no idea what has been going on with me lately, but I can not win to save my life. Every golden hand I get turns to sand. I get big chip leads early on by making good calls, then I make better calls and get sucked out on...

Here are some hands that I have crapped out on lately

8h9d
flop
7h10hJc

I raise, get pushed all in and call. He turns over 2h6h and guess what the next card is??? Ace of freaking hearts... lovely...

Jh10c
flop
7c8d9h

I raise, get re-raised, push all in and get called.
He turns over JQ
Guess what??
10 on the freaking river

10c8h in BB late in a tournament

flop
1082

1 person raised preflop (which I thought was trying to steal my blinds)
I push all in, he thinks for a while (like his set of freaking 2s isnt going to win here) and then calls
22

AHHHHHH

oh yea here is a fun one...
JdQd early on 6 handed.
I raise and get min re-raised.
I figure oh well I will call its early
flop comes
2s5sQd
he checks, I bet he calls
turn 9c
he checks, I bet, he moves all in
I should fold, but thinking about how he has been playing I know I have him beat so I call.

What does he turn over?
JsQs
What does the river bring??
9 of freakin spades

Ok I think I am done my rant now...

2006-04-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

Beings that it is Tax season, I figured I would post about some other -EV things in life...

Rent - yea you get a place to live, but could you throw your money away any easier?
Slot machines - if you hit the bonus or the grand prize you wont agree with me, but how many out there have won more then 5k in slots? They are still hella fun...
Middle pocket pairs in multi way pots - so tempting, but usually so dominated
beer before liquor - enless your al
online casinos - hmmm i have a whole post to write about this... Ever get sucked into one of the table games on an online poker site? DONT DO IT. They may seem like fun, but all those conspiracy theorist out there who like to think that online poker is rigged should be concentrating more on these
car insurance - again, I could write a whole post about this, but to keep it short I think that this is the biggest scam out there
last but not least... the aforementioned taxes - even when you get a refun your still getting scammed because the government has held your money for free this long, and lets not talk about those who get a nice $2k tax bill

feel free to join in and post your -EV contributions...

2006-04-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

So tempted to take a short night trip to AC tonight..... Figure its a 2 hour drive, leave by 7 be there by 9 play poker until 1 be home by 3.... so tempted....

2006-04-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

That just sucks...

Got home last night expecting to watch the ballgame and relax a bit, only to find out that the game wasn't on TV. Huh?!?!? Well, that just sucks... Time for plan B, a little poker. By a little poker, I mean a $50+5 MTT with 60 entries and 10 minute blind levels.

Tripled up early on with a couple big hands, and one dynamite call with KQ on a K102 board. After getting up to about $6k, I had to fold away a good chunk of chips because the cards got dry. Got to the final 20 with blinds of $200/400 and a chip stack of $4200. Not great position, but I was still in the top 10 (ITM). Side stepped a couple of land mines, stole a few blinds and before I knew it I was at the final table ITM. Although I was short stacked at this point $3200 chips with $400/$800 blinds, I still wasn't out of it. Fold, fold, fold, fold, steal blinds with all in, fold, fold. That is pretty much how it went until we got to 8. There are now 3 people at my level and 5 who have decent stacks $10k+. Blinds are $500/$100 and I have $3600 chips. Folded around to me with AdKd in late position. I raise all in, folds to BB (who has about $3200 chips) calls. NICE, if I double up here I am golden for a top 6 finish. She flips over KK. CRAP, looks like 8th is where I will endup. My AK didn't improve and I was left with $400 chips. I was able to triple up two hands later with AdJd to 1200. Then I stole the blinds with the hamma. After I got through the blinds, I sat with $1200 chips and $500/$1000 blinds. I am in middle position. Pretty much destined to going all in with the next Ace I get, maybe even the next suited or connectors I get.

Here is how the board looks

UTG - $15k
2nd seat - $5600
3rd seat - $12k
4th seat - $1200 (me)
5th seat - $6600
6th seat (SB) - $24k
7th seat (BB) - $18k

UTG calls for $1k
It folds around to me and I am looking at 7h7d
Here is the situation...

Do I go all in here or fold?

I know you have to go all in here, but I like to think that I might be able to fold this hand (even though I never would...) here is why...

There is already 1 person in the hand, If I go all in I wont be chasing them out with a $200 raise. The BB has $18k, it will cost him $200 to get into a pot of $3400, so he is going to call with anything here.

So the question of the day is, can you (not me but you) possibly justify folding 77 in that situation??

Of course the reason I ask is because I lost with my 77, despite being a big favorite...

Here is how it worked out...

I went all in
Folded to the BB
BB called for $200
UTG called for $200

Flop came
568
(sidenote: I am loving this flop btw)
BB checks
UTG checks
Turn comes
K
(sidenote: I am preparing to go eat dinner now)
BB bets $1k
UTG folds
(sidenote: I am asking the poker gods for one of my 10 outs on the river)
River comes
2
BB turns over 38 and takes the pot with a pair of 8's

Talk about a kick in the junk... To work all the way down to the final 7 and get beat with 38... but that is what happens when you have an M of less then 1..

+$160, not to bad but kinda disappointing when I think about how I got knocked out...

2006-04-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

Last time I updated my results on the 55 SnG challenge my bankroll was at $378.4. Thanks to a series of bad beats (
sidenote: and me cheating and entering a $40+4 $4k guaranteed tournament
side, sidenote: and finishing 8 due to pushing with TPTK when my M was 4 and getting called by middle-pair-horrible-kicker-going-to-catch-two-pair-on-the-river, too bad for me they only paid top 5 would have been a nice payout... $300,$700,$950,$1250,$1800
)

my bankroll is now at $250, and I have moved back to the $20+2 level, despite never really loosing my money at the $30+3 level..

Oh well, time to grind out a bit more and get back up.. $310 to get to my goal of $560...

2006-04-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Leaks in Your game

Whether you like to believe it or not, we all have money leaks in our game. Some are more recognizable then others, but they are there. I have plugged up a couple in the last month (in doing so, I found a few more). Here are some very common leaks, and ones that I think we all need to plug up to some extent:

1) Betting into a calling station.
If a player has shown tendency to call down on draws, ace high you need to be careful against him. Don't bet into him with nothing. Say you raise with AQ and the flop shows 38J rainbow. You make a continuation bet and he calls. Was this the right move? You may be ahead right now, but you know that he is calling your bet. Isn't the purpose of a continuation bet to take the pot down right there? If you are ahead push harder. If you are behind check, let me say that again, check.

2) Making incorrect calls
You have seen a player being very aggressive. You notice that he bets a lot with TPTK. You have two overcards and he is pot betting into you. FOLD. You may think that you can call because if you hit you will make him pay. Will you? How has he reacted before when scare cards come down? Has he paid them off? If so, maybe you do have the implied odds. If he hasn't you are only loosing by making these calls. Bottom line is, you can't guarantee implied odds. You must adjust them according to the % chance that they will come to. If you have a straight flush draw, and know he has a boat and will be glade to get all his chips in the pot, maybe it is worth a call. On the other hand, if you have trips and you put him on a straight, chasing your boat may not be the greatest idea. Will he fold his straight to an obvious boat? Sometimes he will...

hero 9s10s
villain JcKd

Flop 10c10dQs
Turn Ad

If the 9 flops will he put all his chips in the middle? Probably..
If the 10 flops will he put all his chips in the middle? Probably not..
What about the Ace, or Queen... Would you put all your chips in the pot with 10,10,Q,Q on the board and all you had was a straight?

These are not very good implied odds...

3) Over-valuing suited cards. K4 suited is not a good hand. Why are you playing it? If you tell me because it is suited, you have a leak in your game, end of story.

4) Over-valuing connected cards. 34o is not a good hand. Why are you playing it? If you tell me because it is connected, you have a leak in your game, end of story.

5) Not playing the aformentioned hands in correct situations. I did not say that you have a leak in your game if you are playing these did I? No, go re-read what I wrote. You have a leak in your game if you are playing theses hands only because they are suited or connected. What if you are on the button and 5 people have called, and you look down at 34o? Jesus, call call call call call call call. You are getting 6.5-1, maybe 7-1 on this call. What are you chances of flopping a straight or two pair with this hand and getting paid off? Better then 7-1.

6) Calling a 4 flush bet without an A or K. These are some tough situations. Do you call a pot bet with a board of

4h2h10hJh9d

holding 9h10c?

Well, do you bet into that pot with that hand? Probably not... So, would your opponent bet into that pot? Probably not... So, are you behind, probably. Maybe you should call maybe you shouldn't call, it all depends on your read on your opponent. My point is that this is not an automatic call, and you can fold here... BTW if you just call here with the Ah you have a leak in your game also. What in earth do you have to loose with a raise? If he folds you win the pot, oh you were going to do that anyway.. He can not beat you here so don't you think about not raising with the Ah here. Maybe he has KhQh, and he knows that only 1 card in the deck can beat him so he might just make that call...

7) Not watching the table
If you are not paying attention to your table, and their habits you are loosing money. It is as simple as that. Watch the tendencies of other players. Do they bet at uncontested pots a lot? Do they check off good hands that are not the nuts? Do they fold to raises? Are they a calling station? Do they open raise with bad cards? There is a lot of information you can get just by watching the betting habits of the rest of the table, and you can win a lot of small pots, and maybe a large one or two this way. Remember, poker is a game of incomplete information, the more you have the bigger advantage you have.

8) Calling
This was addressed a little bit in #6, but I can not repeat it enough. If you have the best hand raise. It is as simple as that.

9) Min-Raising
This does nothing, end of discussion. If a player folded to your min raise and he would have called without it he needs to be shot. Min raising effectively builds up a pot and causes more people to stay in. It attracts people to the pot. Let me back up a little bit, there are a small few times where min-raising is effective, but if you stop min-raising 100% you will plug up more holes then you introduce.

10) Calling on a bluff
A bluff is not made by calling a bet. A bluff is made when betting or raising. By calling you are telling absolutely nothing to your opponent, therefore you are not deceiving him. Enough said..

These are just the top 10, I will try to round up some more later :)

See, I told you I was actually going to write about poker!

2006-04-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for some poker talk feel free to stop by ozbluff its a poker forum setup by huma

2006-04-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Late Post

Life has been busy lately, so I havent had time to post results from my 55 sng challenge, and havent had time to post any poker concepts that I have been thinking about. Trust me, they will come, I have them stored up!! First thing is first, it is baseball season. As expected, my fantasy team has taken the early lead in the blogger league, and I dont plan on giving it back. Here are my predictions for this season

AL East - Yankees - I wont be a homer this year...
AL Central - Indians - Dont think the sox can repeat, and the indians are damn good
AL West - Angels
AL WC - Red Sox - This one was tough because I think they decline this year

NL East - Braves - You wont see much else here
NL Central - Cards - not much thought needed here
NL West - Bonds.. I mean Giants... something tells me Bonds will have a magical year
NL WC - Cubs - I still cant vote against their pitching, even if it is always hurt

AL Divisional Series -
Yankees over Red Sox
Indians over Angles

NL Divisional Series
Cubs over Braves
Cards over Giants

ALCS
Yankees over Indians
NLCS
Cubs over Cards

World Series ...
Cubs over Yankees

yes I am predicting the cubs to win the world series, you can now ignore all predictions that I ever make... awards predictions coming soon

2006-03-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

March Stats..

increased from 54% returning visitors to 61%.

Month of Feb

Top Referrer: ccexplore 15
Visitor Breakdown: 61% returning 39% new
Total Visits: 287

top 5 keywords
1. Nick Christie (actually spelled Christy, but glade you got here!)
2. singerly poker - That tournament is tomorrow, hit me up if your interested.
3. taoofpoker - I think you are looking for the good dr... or maybe the book.
4. chances two people get dealt pocker - Im assuming you mean pocket pairs?.. dont remember... but you have a 5% chance of being dealt a pocket pair..
5. Billirikas, Steve - he is Steve MrSmokey1 on PokerStars

2006-03-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

I am a little late pimping this, but then again if you are reading my blog you probably have read this elsewhere... Fantasy Baseball league, draft is tonight, we have 9 still looking for more... here is who is in now...

Donkeypuncher
Scurvy
ToddCommish
Johnny Flopboot
Garthmeister
Daddy
Iggy
Me
ZeRat11

Best of luck to all who have signed up, if you havent contact Donkeypuncher or someone else in the league ASAP.

2006-03-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

Just cleared the $20+2 level, stack is at $378.4 right now, onto Level 3. I am $182 away from my goal of $560, almost there...

not much to post about in these tournaments, I ran the table in two tournaments in a row. The first one I laid low for a little while catching nothing but junk cards. Notices two things, 1) Person to seats to my left would make a 1/2 pot bet on any type of draw; 2) person two seats to my right was very very very tight, hardly called with anything but premium hands. Finally caught some cards, won a few decent pots and realized my third observation, person directly to my right would call down with anything, I am talking calling pot sized bets to the river with Ace high, then sometimes even calling them after the river. After the two other people at the table who I didn't have much of a read on got knocked out I used what I learned about the rest of the players are dominated the table. I made fishy to my right pay every pot we were in together, I bluffed mr tight pants, and I check raised 1/2 better. I got to the final two with a 3-1 chip advantage and easily won the hu match. The next tournament, I caught an unbelievable run of good cards, AK,AK,KK,AQ,JJ,99 within about 15 hands. I used these cards (and the fact that I was raising almost every 1/3rd hand) to build a huge chip stack. Had a great fold of a flush/straight draw in a 3 way pot when I put someone on a set, then a full house after the board paired. Turned out they had quads, but my read was right.

Tonight I played in 8 SnGs total and finished:
1st - 3
2nd - 1
3rd - 0
4th - 1
5th - 2
6th - 1

Moving on up to the $30+3 level, hopefully I can continue to play with my A game.

2006-03-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

40 SnGs down, who knows how many left to go. Current challenge bankroll is $285. Here is a recap of how I have done in thus far:

40 SnG

1st - 12
2nd - 10
3rd - 5
4th - 5
5th - 4
6th - 4

I am at the $20+2 level now, and have done this at that level:
1st - 2
2nd - 3
3rd - 2
4th - 0
5th - 1
6th - 0

Only $375 to go to get to my goal of $560, and $45 to get to level 3.

2006-03-27T12:28:00.000-08:00

Bankroll is up to about $275 now.. Almost to level 3. Had a couple bad tournaments in a row, and found that it is much more difficult to play $20 tournaments 2 at a time then it is to play $5 tournaments 2 at a time. Do not have my notes on me now, but tonight I will post a more updated post about how I went from $120-$275. Needless to say, I am way ahead of my schedule for getting to $560, so maybe just maybe I will be able to raise my goal a bit and try to get to the $1000+100 tournament, we shall see. I am really excited about this because I think I am ready to step up to the main stage and start playing with the big boys. Who knows this could just be a temporary flash of light and next week I could start being a donkey again!

Regardless, I will enjoy it while it lasts.

2006-03-25T15:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it just doesnt matter

No matter how good you are playing there are bound to be times where you are just plain old unlucky. I have ran into a handfull of them in my last 10 tournaments. Won two out of the first three at the $10+1 level, then I ran into a series of unfortiniate events.

event 1/
dealt 22 in BB
4 callers to me, I check
Flop comes 10-2-10
Checks to me, I pot-bet
Guy in first position raises, folds to me.
I think a bit, then push my chips in the pot.
He calls and shows 10-j
Turn is a 5
River is a 5
Ouch, I guess that is what I get for putting my chips in the middle with an easy to suckout on hand.

event 2/
3 players left im dealt JJ on button
Raise 3BB, Big blind calls
flop comes J-Q-2 rainbow
I bet pot, he raises.
I push my chips in the middle, he calls with AK
turn is a 10
and river doesnt bring me a boat or quads.
Ouch again

event 3/
Early in tournament, dealt AK
person to my left min raises, I re-raise, he calls
After his min-raise I knew he had suited connectors, because that was his min-raising hand
Flop comes
2h4cKh
He bets, I raise he calls
turn comes Ac
He bets, I raise all in
He calls 3h4h
river comes 8h
Ouch again

So after these my tournament bankroll is $121, time to relax a bit and recoup my losses tomorrow.

2006-03-25T08:52:00.000-08:00

Level One Complete

Played in 21 SnGs since starting the challenge, here are the results...

1st - 6
2nd - 7
3rd - 1
4th - 4
5th - 1
6th - 2

Time to move to the $10+1 tabels. I am moving faster then expected, since I planned on being on level 1 for 5-6 weeks and here I am done in the first week. Not really on a hot streak either, so hopefully that is a good sign, I know I wont be able to clear the future levels as quick as I cleared level 1 but now I have +5 weeks for variance!! The SnG bankroll stands at $133.50, $140 to go to finish level 2, and $426.50 to go to get to my goal for this challenge.

More reports later.

2006-03-24T22:07:00.000-08:00

Three more SnG down today.
1st - 2
4th - 1

Nothing big happening in those tourny's really to talk about, except I think I am taking my game to the next level. I am starting to be able to read players a bit better. I started keeping notes on actions they take, and within a hand or two I have been able to capitalize on them. One example, I noticed a guy folded after making a min bet on a big pot, I think it was like 10 into a 140, he then got raised and folded. A few hands later, same thing, this time I was on the button and in the hand. It got folded/called around to me. I made a pot size raise the chips got pushed into my stack. I think I did this two or three times to him in this tournament alone. I noticed another guy making 2/3rds pot bets anytime it was checked around on the first pass. Raised him and gathered the chips again. Also noticed a guy who would always call if he raised the pot preflop and didnt hit it, however he would raise if he hit it. Then another guy who would never call/bet/raise enless he had at least top pair. These guy's were easy to spot and it was easy to take their money. Usually I can spot these types of actions and take advantage of them without notes, but this time I wrote their name down so next time I see them I do not have to wait to spot their mistakes.

Up to $87.50, 22.50 more to move up to the $10+1 SnG's, and $462.50 to hit my goal...

wish me luck :)

2006-03-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

Got in 10 SnG's tonight, here is the recap

1st - 1
2nd - 4
3rd - 1
4th - 1
5th - 1
6th - 2

Overall, +$7 for the night, only $488 to go to get to my goal of $550!!

Out of this round of 10 SnG's I hit my target of 4 2nd place finishes, but missed my 1st place target by 1. I know that my estimates where a little on the "wishfull" side, but I think I can come close. If I can go 20 weeks at this pace, I should be able to make my goal because I only estimated 10 SnG's a week and I think I will surpase that. Twenty weeks of poker at this pace is a lot, so wish me luck!

2006-03-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

I am going to take tripjax $55 6 Max SnG challenge..

In all reality, I really think (know) I am a lot stronger in tournament play then I am in ring games. I would like to be playing MTT more often, just do not have the time. I think I could probably swing 5-10 SnG's during the week, and a few more during the weekend, so it seems like a logical choice. I know the big score isnt here, but if I grind this out for a while I can use the proceeds to enter into a nice tournament in AC.

So I am going to modify the challenge a little bit. I want to turn the the 55 into $560+ by September. My goal (for now) is to playing n the 2006 borgata open in September 2006 with the proceeds from this challenge. The minimum event is a $500+$60 NL, so thats what I need to take aim at. I can use my SnG to get into a big tournament. Chances of this happening? It depends. If stick to this goal, and work at it, I can do it. If I do what I typically do, see good gains then donk it off at the NL tables it wont.

So good luck to me :=)

If I play 5 Sng a week and finish like:
1st - 1
2nd - 2
3-6th - 2
then I would be following this schedule

week1 - $55
week2 - $66.50
week3 - $78
week4 - $89.5
week5 - $101
week6 - $112.50

BUMP TO LEVEL $10+1
week7 - $135.50
week8 - $158.50
week9 - $181.50
week10 - $204.50
week11 - $227.50

BUMP TO LEVEL $20+2
week12 - $273.50
week13 - $319.50
week14 - $319.50
week15 - $365.50
week16 - $411.50
week17 - $457.50
week18 - $549.50
week19 - $595.50
AT MY GOAL

So it would take almost 20 weeks of consistently good poker (not going to happen). I know there will be loosing streaks, and winning streaks and I need to account for them. There is about 25 weeks left until the Borgata poker open. So lets bump that up to 10 Sng a week... Giving me ample time to complete this challenge, and time to have weeks where I got 0-5, or 1-4 (hopefully not too many).

2006-03-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

I am a huge fan of reading poker books. Even if you don't agree with all the concepts that a particular book presents, I feel you still gain knowledge just reading about the concepts. The main problem I have with poker books is it is tough not to repeat a lot of the same concepts because when writing a book you can not assume domain knowledge. I have read Harrington on Holdem v1/v2, Theory of Poker by Skalansky, Holdem Poker by Skalansky, Caro's Book of Tells, and Phil Gordons Little Green Book. All in all, my favorite have been Harrington's books. Absolute must for beginners and more experienced players. Now I am looking to expand my collection by 1 or 2 books. I am looking for specific subject books this time, not general holdem or poker books. I want to get 1) online poker book, 2) game management book. The reason I choose these is that I am looking to hone my practical skills, and feel that I can get enough "concepts" through blogging, practice, and re-reading my existing books. Any suggestions, specific to these two categories?

And yes, I know I should own Super System...

2006-03-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

Time for some pimpage...

Looking for free money to prove that you are the best poker player around? Click on the above image and follow the directions, you will be on your way..

2006-03-20T07:28:00.000-08:00

All In Preflop

Most people who have been playing poker for a while would strongly suggest against going all in before the flop. Even if you hold AA and get called off by AK, there are times when QJ10 flops and you are done. Do you really want to risk your entire tournament in this situation? I've been thinking about this move and have made up my mind on how I feel about moving all in preflop. Moving all in preflop takes the skill out of your game. If you push all in and get called, you are now leaving the result of the hand to 100% luck. THIS IS BAD. If you the best player at your table, why give someone else a chance to beat you without having to outplay you? Even if you are not the best player at the table, why let someone take your money away from you without outplaying you? Also, when you loose money you always want to learn something. You know that sick feeling you get when you make a bad move, know its a bad move, but make it anyway, and loose. Yes you do. That sick feeling occurs so that you do not make that mistake again. That sick feeling occurs to remind you, "hey idiot don't chase here, you will loose money." What can you possibly learn from moving all in with AA, getting called by KK and seeing a board of k442J hit? Absolutely nothing. You will learn, I was ahead preflop. I was behind and didnt catch up. Now I am sitting on the rail. Why did I do that? Ok, I lied you can learn something from this move... don't repeat it...

Ok, now that I am done ranting about how bad a move All In preflop is, what do you do when you are put in a situation where someone else does it, and you KNOW that you have them beat?

Example one/
Someone moves all in, You hold AA.
They have you covered. Of course you need to call here...

Example two/
Someone moves all in, another person calls their all in, a third person moves all in over top? It costs all your chips to call here, and you hold AA.
Of course you have to call, but doesnt this situation suck?? Would you consider folding here? What if you were on the bubble? I can not fold in this situation, but I would be curious to get feedback as to what everyone else would do here? My feelings are, I have the best hand, I really really don't like this situation, but I have the best hand. I don't like putting my entire tournament up to luck, and I don't like going all in against 3 other people, the odds just say that I will loose. Maybe it is the right choice to fold the best hand here?

It has been my expierence that when three people are all in preflop you usually have AK/AQ, AA/KK/QQ/JJ, 66/77/88/99/1010

So assuming you are the forth guy sitting with AA, you are probably facing
1st guy - AK/AQ
2nd guy - KK/QQ/JJ
3rd guy - 66/77/88/99/1010

If this is the case, I would have the say the 3rd guy has the highest chance of sucking out... and things only get worse if the AK/AQ are suited...

So my basic question is, what do you do in this situation? Can you fold AA preflop here?

2006-03-13T18:47:00.000-08:00

What no bonus?!?

Got an email from PartPoker asking me to come back and play with them, and to entice me they deposited $20 in my account. Bingo, free money! Not going to bite and deposit more so I am sufficiently funded, just going to SnG the $20 until I either have a decent bankroll to play with or I am busted. So far I have played 5 6$ SnG with 2 second place finishes, current bankroll is $27.39... Played in a very nice one tonight where the top 3 players pushed chips around for 30 minutes before I busted the lone fish left. This guy was catching flushes to bust people all night, and had a 3-1 chip advantage on me going to the final 3... Needless to say, the best catch of the night cost him all his chips. I don't usually post hand histories, but this one is too good to not post...

***** Hand History for Game 3735784787 *****

0/0 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL)
(Tournament 20996797) - Mon Mar 13 20:53:44 EST 2006

Table Table 96863 (Real Money) -- Seat 6 is the button

Total number of players : 3

Seat 1: Maverick670 (2050)

Seat 2: NickChristy1 (4420)

Seat 6: SingleTree23 (5530)

Maverick670 posts small blind (100)

NickChristy1 posts big blind (200)

** Dealing down cards **

Dealt to NickChristy1 [ Ah, Qh ]

SingleTree23 calls (200)

Maverick670 calls (100)

NickChristy1 raises (600) to 800

SingleTree23 calls (600)

Maverick670 folds.

** Dealing Flop ** : [ Td, Kh, Jh ]

NickChristy1 checks.

SingleTree23 bets (1278)

NickChristy1 calls (1278)

** Dealing Turn ** : [ Tc ]

NickChristy1 bets (2342)

NickChristy1 is all-In.

SingleTree23 calls (2342)

** Dealing River ** : [ Th ]

Creating Main Pot with $9040 with NickChristy1

** Summary **

Main Pot: 9040 |

Board: [ Td Kh Jh Tc Th ]

Maverick670 balance 1850, lost 200 (folded)

NickChristy1 balance 9040, bet 4420, collected 9040, net +4620 [ Ah Qh ] [ Royal Flush -- Ah,Kh,Qh,Jh,Th ]

SingleTree23 balance 1110, lost 4420 [ Qd Qc ] [ a full house, Tens full of queens -- Qd,Qc,Td,Tc,Th ]

Mr fishy actually had me going into the hand,with QdQc.... I guess he thought his two pair was good when he put his money in,

I mean he did have a straight draw and a full house draw... too bad that when he hit

his full house I hit my first ever royal flush. I didn't even realize I hit it,

I thought I was knocked out on a horrible beat, when the chips came sliding to me,

even then it took me a second to realize I just hit the royal.. I guess it is something

that happens so infrequently that you do not actually count it as an out.

Despite that I still finished second, lost a lot of my chips to runner-runner two pair, then doubled him up again to a caught flush... I will take the +$6 overall considering how little of a margin I am actually working with here. Wish me luck in building this bankroll. Ideally, I would like to get it to around $150+ so I can play some three-five table tournaments at $6, and build it from there. Too bad I wasn't playing in a cash game at the time, or I might have gotten a nice little bonus for my royal flush... oh well, you really can't complain when you take out a boat with a royal flush... Have I mentioned yet that I had a royal flush?

2006-03-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

Making Reads

The more and more I played the more I become convinced that the difference between an intermediate poker player and a good poker player is their ability to consistently make good reads. In poker there are some rules that you can follow. You can make a play based only on odds. You can fold because your hand does not qualify as a good starting hand. You can raise because you hands falls into a category where it is generally accepted to raise. These are pretty robotic plays that we can program a bot to do. We could sit here for days and list hard rules that we should follow. We could then go play poker making no decisions on our own, only using those rules that we outlined. This would make us a winning poker player. This would not make us a good poker player. How can we say we are a good poker player when all we are doing is following rules that we read in someone's book, or from someone's blog? We are simply following semantics.

Now lets add another level to this game. Let's start making decisions on our own. Let's use these rules as a guideline, but drift from these rules when we feel necessary. Directly off the bat, we will make less money then we had in the past. The reason for this is that we will be making the wrong decision sometimes when before we had made the right decision. Over time, our winnings will begin to increase. They will increase because we will have gained experience at the tables and we will begin to make the correct decisions based more on our experience and less on the "guidelines" that we set forward. We will start to develop an instinct for the game. It's that gut feeling that you get when the bottom card from the flop pairs on the river. It's that call you made with top pair weak kicker because you couldn't figure out what your opponent had and ended up busting his bluff.

This instinct develops, but you can't describe it. As we get more experience and better we start to develop ways to think through these decisions. We know longer rely on an instinct, but our ability to actually read what our opponent has. We start to develop our own rules from various situations, and end up throwing our original list away. We may still raise 5xBB UTG with AhAc, but not because it was on our list, because we have found that when we raise 3x we are likely to get too many callers, when we raise 10x we are likely to get no callers. We may still fold when we are getting 3-1 odds on a hand we are only 5-1 to make, but not because the math tells us it is not profitable in the long run to make this call, because we have found out that it is not profitable to make this call. Usually these situations don't change much. We still make a lot of the plays that we would have made in the past, because when we developed these rules we piggybacked off of others experience. They developed these rules the same way we will. We just cut the chase and used their knowledge to improve our game.

There are situations that change. We start to make calls where we would usually fold. We start to win hands with Middle Pair when we would have folded before. We start to win hands when we re-bluff someone, when before we would have folded. The cumulative effect of these hands is the delta between a mediocre poker player and a good poker player. What made Stu Unger so good? It wasn't that he knew how to calculate pot odds, it was that he could look into his opponents soul and find the correct move.

2006-03-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

Freerolls are always fun

I have to admit, I like freerolls. You have some of the craziest hands you will ever see happening there. The players are horrible, but its not just 1 or 2 or 10 horrible players, you have to go against a whole army. Usually you can get into the money with a little bit of patients and a couple lucky hands (by lucky I mean you were ahead when you got your money in, behind after he sucked out on the turn and ahead again after the river or similiar...). I played in Noble's $100 freeroll finishing 40th paid out 30, which sucked but it was a good experience. Things I learned...

1) A bad player will call of his chip stack instead of raising all in.
2) A bad player will put all his chips at risk randomly for no reason
3) A bad player will talk trash to you after they get put out on a hand where they made a bad move which enabled you to make a questionable move to win the pot

there is more, but too much to post.

Here were some interesting hands I was involved in early..

The Dreaded Aces (by dreaded I mean when you get delt them early on in a freeroll and know you will have to put all your money in the pot preflop to defend them)...

I am the NPR.... in the hand, the one with aces...

Really not much to discuss here,
Some raised to 200 preflop with 25 suited
the guy to my right reraised all in with 88
and I called

Flop was paired with two clubs and an 8
Turn was junk
and an Ace on the river to save me...

Afterwards the guy with the 8s went on just got knocked out tilt in the chat window, and preceded to tell me how lucky i was...

A few hands later, with a large chipstack I get into this situation... this is the more interesting hand...

UTG calls
Second to act calls
I call (Js9s)
person to my right calls
person two seats to my right calls
person to the right of him moves all in for $690
person to his right calls
SB folds
BB calls
fold,fold,fold to me
pot is 2270 to me, 650 to call
3.5-1 preflop odds to call suited connectors, and I have about 3600 chips so the call cost 1/6 of my chips...
ok, so normally I will fold this hand, but how can I get away from this hand in a freeroll in this situation?
I call

FLOP
6h8h10s
Only guy not all in besides me moves all in for 1025 chips
Before he did this I thought this had to be his move regardless of what he had..
I also now have a pot of 3945 needing a call of 1025
my odds have gotten better, at 3.8...-1
my odds in the hand are... (not knowing the other hands).... about 5-1...
the odds say fold, but if i call I will have a huge chip stack and I am really not risking a whole lot if I loose (about 1/2 of my chips at this point very early on so I have time to make them up)
This is a very very questionable call, but I make it anyway, because again this is a freeroll and the players are horrible so they really could be holding anything..
Turn brings a 7d
River 3s

and I am one lucky sob

This causes the guy with 99 to go on mega just got knocked out tilt, calling me everything under the sun in the chat room (lucky SOB, horrible poker player, ask any pro they fold there, etc etc etc)

I just smile and play table bully for a while, ignoring the fact that his all in with 99 was probably worse of a move then my call.. It would be interesting to see what the odds of winning where after the flop in that hand....

(pause while I google an online calculator)

.....

Preflop
99- 38.26
J9 - 28.02
33 - 15.21
88 - 16.96

Flop of
6h8h10s

99- 7.68
J9 - 25.12 (i was actually right in my call based on the pot odds and my odds of winning)
33 - 0.12
88 - 62.39

Turn
99- 7.5 tie
J9 - 67.50
33 - 0
88 - 25

very interesting hand

That helped support my upcomming streak of 39s,48s,K2s,104s that I got following that.. guess I upset the poker gods...

Got down to final 5 tables, had 2800 chips with blinds of 150/300 in BB
Had K6off
2 callers
flop of
Kh5c7h
I moved all in, one person called with
Qh9h
and the turn produced Ace of hearts to end my tourny...

2006-03-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

Ok Klopzi, you have waited long enough, time for your reward for being the first person to ask about the lack of continuation bet...

This entire post is dedicated to you...

Here are some sorta-random posts that everyone should drop what they are doing and read...

Homework
Stages of a Poker Blogger
Car Dealerships Computer
Blonkey
Big Score

Also I am sure he would greatly appreciate it if you check out his affiliate links...
Interpoker
eurobet
PokerStars
PartyPoker
ActionGold
Full Tilt Poker
Pacific Poker
ParadisePoker
Titan Poker

And last but not least, lets read his blog everyday so we can track his vitals...
Klopzi's Vitals 2006

* Winnings: $135.13
* Bankroll (curr.): $1469.74
* Bankroll (goal): $5000.00
* Days Played: 52
* Winning Days: 31
* Lbs. to lose: 54 lbs.

If we all continue to click here and encourage him we can hopefully push him +3530.26!

Good luck Klopzi

2006-03-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

It's shocking when someone passes away unexpectedly. It is even more shocking when that person is 44 years old and a former athlete. I think I can speak for all people who grew up watching baseball in the 80's and 90's, Kirby Puckett will be missed.

2006-03-03T16:23:00.000-08:00

As soon as I hit publish on the last post I get this hand...

4 callers to me
I have KK and raise 250
2 of the original callers call
Flop comes Jc10c7s
First to act bets 50, second raised to 150
pot is 950 to me..and I have 1900 chips..
I need to re-raise here just tricky on how much
First bet was probably a feeler bet, second guy could have a straight/flush draw or top pair.. anything more I am behind but I doubt he stayed in with J10 or J7, maybe he has a set but if that is the case oh well...
If I pot-raise for 900 I am now commited to this pot, this is the exact turning point I talked about earlier... I raise all in...
First better folds, second guy calls and turns over QcKc
Turn is a 5h
River is a ... You guessed it... 5c

Im out, two tournies on FTP and two bad beats early....

btw... he did have 17 outs twice... 37% chance to win with a 2800 pot needing to put 1900 in... so he was behind...

2006-03-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

level three starting...
25/50
2100 chips
m of 28
didnt play a hand all last level

2006-03-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

seventh hand... hammer time.. rivered a 2 on an all in after a 7 hit the flop... plus 900
ninth hand... gave 400 back when my AK lost to trip 8s, I had the guy all in preflop with K8...

2006-03-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

finally gave in and deposited some $$ over at full tilt tonight. If you see me around come play username nchristy. I played in a sat. and was busted at the end of the first round when my set of 10s lost to a 4 flush on the river, ehh not a good start at full tilt. I'm in a 10+1 multi in about 5 minutes, so far about 350+ so I will keep everyone informed... wont be live blogging as much as semi-live updates maybe every couple rounds...

2006-03-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

Being Pot committed

Learning how to act when being pot committed is a huge step for a newbie. I can not count how many times I have seen a person call a big bet, leaving themselves with a very minute amount of chips only to fold to a small bet in the next betting round. This is a huge mistake. Repeat, this is a huge mistake. The first thing to understand is when are you pot committed? Like most things in poker, there is no exact answer to this question. Rule of thumb, if by calling a bet you are giving yourself odds to call off the rest of your chips on the next betting round, you are pot committed. Sounds simple, here is an example...

You hold AhKh with 2,000 chips.
Blinds are 25/50.
You open with a raise to 200 chips, and get one caller.

Flop comes
4h7dQh
Pot contains $475.

You open with a continuation bet of $200 chips
villain raises you to $750.
The pot now contains $1425 and it cost you $550 to call you have 1600 chips.
You are getting almost 3-1 odds to call here.
You put him on a set/two pair or maybe a straight + flush draw.
You figure in this situation he will have a set/two pair 60% of the time, which gives you 8 outs (9 outs, but don't forget to account for the full house that gives you a flush).
He will have a straight/flush draw 25% of the time, which makes you a 87% favorite.
He will have AA/KK 5% of the time, giving you 9 outs.
He is bluffing 10% of the time making you a 90% favorite.
Based on those assumptions you will be a 90% favorite 35% of the time, and be a 20% underdog 65% of the time...
This means you will win about 41.5% of the time, or 2.5-1 odds of winning.
Based on your assumptions you have the odds to call a $550 raise here, but should you just call? If you call the raise you will have 1050 chips left with a pot of $2175. Ask yourself, if you call and he puts you all in, is there a way you can fold? Go through worst case scenario's...
Assume you call here and the turn brings a 3c
The board reads 4h7dQh3c and he puts you all in.
The pot contains $3225, it will cost you $1050 to call. That is 3-1 odds to call. Assuming he just hit his straight or has two pair or a set (something that you can not beat with an Ace or King on the river). This gives you 9 outs (~4.2-1). So yes, you can fold to that bet so you are not pot committed.

Now, lets tweak that same situation...
Assume on the turn brings an As. You have top pair/top kicker. Now you might have more then 9 outs.
You think there was a 60% chance he hit his straight (leaving you with 9 outs)
You think there was a 10% chance he has two pair (leaving you with 14 outs)
You think there was a 10% chance he has a set (leaving you with 11 outs)
You think there was a 10% chance he is bluffing or you are a favorite (giving you about 30 outs)
Overall you have 4.5+ 1.4 + 1.1 + 3 = 10 outs and you are 3.7-1, again you can still fold.

Now, lets tweak that same situation one more time...
Assume before the flop there was 3 callers, not one. After the flop there was one other caller along with you.. The pot contains $4325, and assume he only bets $500 after the turn (when it is 3 handed) and you have a caller in front of you...

The pot is $5325 and you have $1050. It cost you $500 to call, with a worse case scenario of 9 outs. You are getting over 10-1 on your call and you are about 5-1 to win. You have to at least call in this situation. If you call can you fold to an all in bet on the river if you miss? Assume the pot is $6825 and you missed your flush, can you fold here, can you call off the rest of your chips here? The odds say that you have to call, but there is a 90% that you are out of the tournament if you call. You are pot committed. How did you get in this situation? You have put yourself in a bad situation by making an incorrect move somewhere along the line. Somewhere in this sequence you should have raised all in or folded. That point is a very very very critical point in a poker hand. I call in the point of no return. It is a point in the hand where you must make up your decision for the rest of the hand. You must decide if I call this bet I am in this hand until the end. If you know that is the situation and you still want to call, why just call? Why not just push your chips in the middle of the pot and put the pressure on your opponent to make a decision? Suppose he was bluffing, or suppose he had a weaker hand? He will probably fold, if he does you just eliminated the chance that he sucks out on you and you take down a decent pot.

Ok, I know that was a lot of information for one post, but the bottom line is:
In most significant pots there is a key decision you will have to make that will determine if you stay in the hand the rest of the way. If you decide that you are in the hand for the long run, it is often better to push all your chips in the center and put the pressure on your opponent.

Feel free to discuss...

2006-02-28T13:31:00.000-08:00

PokerRoom has a cool WSOP satellite going on... ~~Check it out~~ forget I mentioned it and wait to here from me at the WSOP!

2006-02-28T10:34:00.000-08:00

Febuary Stats..

Last Month Stats
Switched from 48% returning to 54% returning visitors.

Month of Feb

Top Referrer: Poker4peace 13
Visitor Breakdown: 54% returning 46% new
Total Visits: 230

top 5 keywords
1. ny giants vs. indy colts 2006 top keyword 2 months in a row???
2. what are the chances of flopping a flush futurewsopchamp .84% (1 out of 121)
3. nick christy thats me!!
4. wsop+trip+reports - don't have any of these yet, but Dr Pauly can sure help..
5. maryland+north+east+maryland+poker+fire - someone looking for me?

2006-02-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

Fishy hand

This one seems logical to most of us who have been playing for a while, but not too logical for beginners. Often we become so wrapped up in what we are holding we forget we actually have to have the best hand, not just a good hand. Some common examples, you are holding suited AK and hit your flush. This is a good hand. This hand can be beat. Watch out for a paired board. If the board pairs you could be in trouble. I know it is tough to lay down the nut flush, but it can be done, and should be down in certain situations... Lets look at this hand in more detail

You: AdKd
Vilian: XX

You raise 3x big blind in mid position. Vilian is directly to your left and calls the bet. The pot is now $375.

Flop
2d8d10c

You check, villain pot bets. You being a fish decide to call. This isn't a horrible call however because you have as many as 15 outs (32%) if you opponent only has top pair. Top two pair or a set drops you to 9 outs (20%), so you are probably about 25% or better to win the hand. You are getting 2-1 on your money and if you hit your flush your implied odds will probably give you enough value to win. I wouldn't make this call, but you did so lets move on...

River
10h

You check, villain bets 1/2 pot. This is where your eyes need to open wide and examine the situation. A couple things happened here
1) Your opponents hand value probably just changed..
Top pair just became top trips
Top two pair just became a full house
A set just became a full hour, or unlikely but possible, quads
2) Your opponent bet less then he did last round.

You have to decide what his change in betting meant. Did he just improve drastically to where he doesn't care if you chase your flush? Was he betting a flush/straight draw on the first round and was scared by your call? Basically is he bluffing? You should examine what your opponent has done in the past. Does he value bet? A value bet is when he gives you great odds to call when he has the winning hand, inducing your calls and winning more of your money. Does he often bet out straight/flush draws?

You have a tough decision to make now. You incorrectly called on the flop, putting yourself in a bad spot. The pot is now 1738, and it cost you 562 to call. You are getting about 3.125-1 odds to call here. If you opponent has two pair, these are enough odds to call. If your opponent has trips, these are enough odds to call. If your opponent has a full house you should run. What does he have? Well, it is impossible to tell for sure based on the information you have, this is where a raise on the flop would have come in handy. Let's assume that you are still a fish, so you call. There is another key ingredient missing here which we will look at later..

River comes
5d

You just hit your flush. Since you called to this point you must call/raise any bet here, because you have already put him on two pair, set, flush draw, straight draw. But don't go moaning when he rolls over 10-8 and grabs your chips.

Now lets examine the hand played a tiny bit differently

Preflop your actions are the same. You correctly raised the pot, getting heads up with a good starting hand. After the flop we need to make some corrections. I do not have a problem with the check, although you can gain some information with a bet here. If you bet and get raised it is safe to assume your opponent is holding more then a flush/straight draw, and probably has more then top pair. However, if you check and he checks back at you, you are getting a free card to chase your flush. Here is the real adjustment, if you check and he pot bets. You now have a tough decision to make. As I said earlier, I would fold, but you wont learn anything from folding so let's decide we are in this hand. Do not call here. Raise him. Put the pressure on him. He could pot bet with top pair, he could pot bet with a flush/straight draw, or he could pot bet with top two pair or a set. If he has top two pair or a set he will probably raise right back at you and you can fold. If he doesn't raise back at you and simply calls, watch his next action. Assume he simply calls. After the board pairs you must make a decision. You must decide how strong his hand is. If you think its beatable you can not check. Again, if you think he does not have a full house, do not check. Bet 1/3-1/4 of the pot here. This is begging for him to raise with a full house. If he only calls you are not loosing a ton by your bet and you have all kinds of flags going up. In fact, if he does not fold you can put the brakes on because he is either slow playing his full house or he is stupid and calling with a very very very beatable hand. If he raises you, you must seriously think about getting away now. Assume he just calls. Now your flush card hits. You are in a real pickle though. Everything he has done to this point screams full house or trips. Which is it? If it is trips you should be able to get his chips at this point. If it is a full house you must not give him your chips. This is a tough decision. If you have the chips to play with, I would value bet again to see how he reacts. If you bet 1/4-1/3 of the pot and he has a full house he is likely to put you all in. Hopefully you can fold in this situation. If he calls 99.99999% of the time he has called down with trips or two pair or a smaller flush.

Ok that is a lot to take in for a newbie... but there is also more information in this situation
1) This is a great situational example of how position can effect how you play in a hand (I will examine this in another post)
2) I never once mentioned how many chips you held. I did this for a reason. Consider that a test. While reading this did you think to yourself, how many chips do I have? If you didn't, you are possibly hitting information overload in this situation, and you should study it over and over again tweaking a variable here and there. If you are short stacked, or your opponent is short stacked this whole situation changes. If you have a ton of chips, this changes. If you are about average, this situation changes. There are a lot of variables in this situation to play around with. This will lead into my next post about a very very common mistake that I see newbies make, and that is reaction/recognition of either you or your opponent being pot committed.

2006-02-27T14:16:00.000-08:00

I promise I am working on a poker related post, maybe tonight... Things have been crazy the last week or two so I have not been playing much poker. When I don't play poker, I typically don't come up with things to post. This week has been different, I have thought up a few topics to write some stuff on, just have not had to time to finish them yet. The moral of the story is that I will be posting something of value soon. In the mean time, go read these guys.

2006-02-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

Inspired by DuggleBogey's you might be a donkey if.. I have created, you might be a new poker blogger if.l..

You dont know who these guys are

You have less then 25 20 other blogs linked from yours

You've never come across a picture on another persons blog that you didnt consider work appropriate

You think you will make some decent money off of AdSense/Affiliate ads

You don't make money off of AdSense/Affiliate ads

You have yet to recieve your first comment

You have no idea who/what/where G-Vegas is

You have never heard of Bash at the Boathouse.

Ok so that was kind of lame, let me know what you think, if it goes over well I will try to come up with something better and do it again.. if it doesnt, then it will be a one time thing that no-one else will ever know about...

2006-02-21T08:49:00.000-08:00

Want free money for poker? Sign up for TextPay and they will give you $5. Yup, $5 for free, don't have to do anything but sign up. Plus when you sign up you will help me get closer to winning an xbox 360.

2006-02-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Ashley for winning Miss Howard County last night. She has worked hard and really deserves it. June 28th-July 1st in Hagerstown, MD she will take her final shot at winning Miss MD.

2006-02-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Ace on the River

My apologizes to Barry Greenstein for using his title. When an ace hits on the river bad things happen. If you hold a strong ace and have taken it to the river with nothing else and your ace hits you are likely in trouble. My thoughts are that a lot of people (myself included) get over-confident when that ace spikes. You have either been checking down, or calling (hopefully with odds) so you have been in a position where you were probably behind the entire hand. Then your fortunes change, that pretty ace hits the felt. Inside you are joyful, you feel like you just hit your miracle out. This causes you to become confident in your hand. Beware, do not get blinded by your confidence. What could your opponent hold right now? Is he even more happy then you when the ace hit, knowing that he probably is going to get your money now. Beware for two pairs, slow played straights, slow played flushes, slow played sets. There are only two situations where you win here, 1) he had a pair, 2) he had nothing. Was he betting the whole way down? Did you make incorrect plays to put yourself in a position to hit that ace? If he had top pair before the ace hit he should have been betting enough down to the river for you to fold here. If he was on a draw maybe he missed it and you are in good position now. You really need to be careful in this situation and really take your time to examine what type of situation you are in. All to often, top pair top kicker (ace kicker) will get all your chips here. What about a hammer that hit two pair and slow played (the reason I just got knocked out of a MTT)? I am not saying that you need to fold in this position, but I am cautioning you to look at why you are in this position and ask yourself if that ace helped as much as you think it did. You will be staring at the board in shock if you don't.

2006-02-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

Since everyone else is doing it I guess I will be a follower:

2006-02-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

It didnt take long, ESPN and Bluff Mag have combined to create Fantasy Poker. Win and you get a trip to All In camp. I guess I will have to sign up just to test out the waters, but it smells bad...

Shuffle Up and Deal!
Following your favorite poker pros has just gotten a little more interesting.
Welcome to the NEW ESPN/Bluff Magazine Fantasy Poker Challenge--your chance to sit down with your favorite players and not go broke! Choose the players that will do the best over the course of 13 tournaments (spread throughout six months) and you could be heading to Australia for Howard Lederer and Annie Duke's Fantasy Poker Camp! Don't miss out on this FREE opportunity to group your friends, relatives, co-workers, or even enemies amongst each other to see who knows the most about the poker circuit and it's unbelievably talented players. Need to learn more about the poker world? Check out Bluff magazine for all the poker insight you will need.

How to Play
Fantasy Poker Challenge is easy to play. Create your entry and then select a team of seven poker players to lead you to the final table. Remeber that you must keep your team under the salary cap in order to earn points. Each tournament you will have one "All-In" player. This player will earn your team two times the points during that tournament, so make sure you choose wisely. In addition to that, there are also double point tournaments where your team will earn double the points towards your final total. The entry with the highest number of points will be our grand prize winner! For a more detailed breakdown, visit our How to Play section.

2006-02-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

Caution this post contains no poker content, and contains a blatten plea for pity

I do not usually ask much of my readers. But I am reaching out for support here. Anyone who knows me knows that I am huge Baltimore Raven fan. Living outside of Baltimore, I get my news from the Baltimore sun. They employee a sports reporter by the name of Mike Preston. He is full of crap. He constantly publishes false reports, and stirs stories up to get his name in the press. He makes up stories. He continually quotes "un-named" sources to back his stories. I usually ignore it. I can ignore it and go on with life. What I can not ignore is the fact that he is the face of the ravens in the press. NFL network, ESPN, Sporting news all contact him for inside information on the Ravens. This is bad for Baltimore because he feeds them BS and it gets reported as fact. I usually sit quietly and don't make a fuss about it because that is not who I am. He finally went to far. His latest report (horribly written by the way) brings Ray Lewis and his faith to the Baltimore Ravens in question. You may have heard that Ray wants a trade, this is directly from Mike Prestons article. I do not know for fact that this is not true, but I find it very hard to believe (at least the way Preston is reporting it). Preston hasn't addresses it anywhere but burred inside of his article. Heck, it took two days for the national media to pick up on it. Now he is being quoted on ESPN and MSNBC. I have had enough. I do not want the guy fired, but I do want something written on this. I want an explanation from the Sun. I want Preston to address it. I want another Reporter to address it. I want something other than an "un-named" source". When Miguel Tejada demanded a trade the sun had 2-3 stories a day on it. Dozens of reporters nation wide were covering the story. When TO wouldn't come to Baltimore, the sun had 2-3 stories a day on it. Dozens of reporters nation wide were covering the story.... But now Ray Lewis... Ray Lewis is bigger then Miguel Tejada... Ray Lewis is bigger then TO... Ray Lewis is possibly one of the best football players ever... Ray Lewis is a Super Bowl MVP... Ray Lewis is a Trillion Time Defensive MVP... Ray Lewis is huge, but no stories except from Mike Preston??? I find that hard to believe... The point of this post is to ask for help. I would like everyone who wants to help me to write a short email to the sun. Just ask for answers. You can quote me if you like. I do not know exactly who to contact regarding this, but here is a list of email addresses. If you don't want to write a letter link this rant to your blog. I know we can get something done, and I am asking for help

Thanks In advance

Nick

2006-02-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

I think we all should stand in line to wash Phil's car for him. How do you forget about a check for $47,000? I guess when you have millions it is just chump change..

2006-02-10T16:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks duggle bogey for the awesome banner!!!

2006-02-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

I've been a link dropper recently, but I keep reading things that I need to put up here...

From StudioGlyphic (via AlCantHang)....

Seeking potential bone marrow donors (Filipino, 18-61)

2006-02-10T04:58:00.000-08:00

Go check out CJs cool variation of Hold'em over at Up For Poker

2006-02-09T06:54:00.000-08:00

I know I am a little late joining the craze on this one, but has anyone else been watching the high-stakes poker on GSN? This is really cool. Usually a table full of pro's and maybe 1 or 2 millionaire armatures. The amount of money exchanging hands is obscene. One hand in particular, Daniel Negreanu pulled out 2 $500k stacks of cash and raised Phil Gordon $1mil. Phil was on a flush draw, ended up calling and winning the hand. I am sure this show will loose its sex appeal after the initial series and everyone becomes numb to seeing a cash game with over $5mill at the table, but for now it is exciting.

2006-02-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

A little bit late, but here are my January stats...

Month of Jan

Top Referrer: alcanthang with 17
Visitor Breakdown: 52% new 48% returning
Total Visits: 285

top 5 keywords
ny giants vs indy colts 2006 ---> dont ask how this is my top keyword
http://futurewsopchamp.blogspot.com ---> this one makes sense
what are the chances of flopping a flush ---> .84% (1 out of 121)
future wsop champ ---> thats right
wsop ---> one day...

2006-02-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to write a quick note and send my condolences out to Falstaff and his family for their loss.

2006-02-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mean Gene for the link to the bad beat story on espn.

I really can not believe this. I do not care how much you piss me off, or how much money I have, I would never muck $15k. Read the story and generate your own opinion. I guess the moral of the story is don't tick off the old lady at the table...

2006-02-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Close but no cigar

Finished 25th in the live tourny last night. There was about 100 ppl there, with the top prize of just under 5k. Here's how it all ended:

I was in BB with 24k
Blinds were 1k/2k with antes of 200

Two limpers in front of me, one being a short stacked small blind and the other being the guy directly to my left who had about 30k in chips.

dealt 73off so i check my blind

flop comes
10s7s4h

checked to the guy to my left who bets 2k

I had played with him at another table earlier for about 2hours and knew he was going to bet because he always bet when it was checked around to him, so i figured my 7s were probably good. I called like a donkey, although it wouldnt have done any good if i had raised.

turn comes
3h

Bingo!

I bet 8k commiting myself to the pot if anyone calls (probably should have check-raised here, but again would not have done any good)

guy to my left calls, small blind moves all in for about 5k more, I move all in.

The guy to my left goes into the tank for a little while, at this point I am thinking I must be ahead.

He finally says, "I have to call" and does so

He flips over 74 and I know I am dead, small blind had A10 completely misplaying her hand which cost me a lot (oh well I misplayed my hand from the beginning)

River brings a 7 just so it can kick me while I am down

I guess If I am going to go out I would have wanted it to be to him because despite being not a great player I enjoyed playing with him.

Earlier in the tournament I had the chance to knock him out, but doubled him up instead

Had AQ to his right (funny how I always ended up 1 seat to his right)

Flop was junk,junk,Q rainbow, he was short stacked and moved all in after I made a moderate bet at the flop, I was caught off gaurd by his move not really knowing what he had but I couldnt lay down my hand. He turned over KK and I never improved.

Also got really lucky a few hands later when I got caught with my hands in the cookie jar.

J9 suited on the button, made a rather large raise, when someone else moved all in over the top for another 1200. I knew I was dead, but I had to call because I already had 5k in the pot. The only thing that bothered me was that if I called I was going to loose about 2/3rds of my chips on a misplayed bluff. I called, he showed A10 which is the best I could have hoped for, giving me two live cards... Boy was he mad when two 9s hit the flop. Such is poker.

Thats all for now, catch up more later!

Enjoy the game,

Oh BTW, although I really think this is the steelers year, I am going to stick with my ravens and pick the seahawks for an upset today, 29-20... no I dont think that will be the final score but I have 9-0 in my football pool so I have to be optimistic

2006-02-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

Live poker has increased a lot around here within the last year. There use to be 1 tournament a month held at the Chesapeake City firehouse (they have even started a point system for a freeroll,even though I've only been to two I am right outside the bubble for that freeroll) and that was it. It would draw 100+ every week, with decent payouts. Other firehouses caught on. Singerly FD started having one. That made it two a month. Now North East FD is having one. All on different dates. So there is a fire house tournament on the first, second, and third Saturday of every month. Nice. Only problem is, until I get settled into my new house (late April) the bankroll can't afford it. Each is about $100, and I have not cashed in one yet. I am on the verge of taking one down, I really am, I just can't break that bubble. In fact, two tournaments ago I finished 4th when they paid the top 3. There is a big one this weekend that I am really tempted to get into. It promises to have 100+ people, with $75 buy in and $50 rebuy at the door. I know the guy who runs it and he runs it well. Here is the question I pose to you my readers:

Should I
a) take the chance, cash out $75 from my online account, move back down to .02/.04 levels online, spot the $55 from my personal account, and play my best.
b) ignore the itch. Keep grinding out my online account, and once I am settled in the house and don't feel bad about putting some money to the side for my live play bankroll, then start playing in these tournaments again.

2006-02-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

I don't usually give into people who ask to be pimped, but reading humanaut's blog I figured he deserved it.

2006-01-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

out in 3rd, lost 2/3rds of my chip stack calling an all in bet with Ks10s, the pusher had AJ and neither of us improved. Ended up going out when my Ah9h lost to KsQc when a king hit on the flop.

Overall, +$111 to the bankroll

2006-01-29T15:25:00.000-08:00

down to 3
blinds stay at: 2000/4000
Chips: 75,000
M: 12.5
players: 3/247 (currently 2nd)
table: loose/aggressive
my image: tight/aggressive
my best hand this level: N/A
flops seen %: 22%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 0/3
mistake of level: calling a short stack instead of putting him all in, calling two all ins with ace high

2006-01-29T15:12:00.000-08:00

down to 4
blinds stay at: 2000/4000
Chips: 129,105.16
M: 15
players: 4/247 (currently 1st)
table: loose/aggressive
my image: tight/aggressive
my best hand this level: 10hkc, flopped quad 10s, result + 24,000
flops seen %: 22%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 3/3, starting to bull people
mistake of level: n/a

2006-01-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

End of level 15 (in the money, final table)
next level blinds: 2000/4000
Chips: 96,663
M: 16
players: 6/247 (currently 1st)
table: loose/aggressive
my image: tight/aggressive
my best hand this level: 97 off in big blind, flopped straight draw, checked, hit straight on turn, value bet, he moved allin on river when a king hit, insta called, + 50,000
flops seen %: 22%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 0/0
mistake of level: not playing chip bully

2006-01-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

End of level 14 (in the money, 1 table)
next level blinds: 1500/3000
Chips: 40,990
M: 9
players: 7/247 (currently 4th)
table: final table, 5 new players
my image: loose/aggressive got caught in two bluffs last level, raising a lot
my best hand this level: AK, called an all in raise, chip leader also called, moved all in after I floped a K, chip leader called also had AK, split pot, +52,900
flops seen %: 23%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 1/1, bet 8000 at a pot with 98 off suite when an ace hit the board, +16000
mistake of level: called an all in bet with JdQd, another person went all in after me for less then the original bet, original all in player had AA, -14,000

2006-01-29T14:40:00.000-08:00

End of level 13 (in the money, 1 table)
next level blinds: 1000/2000
Chips: 44,585
M: 14
players: 9/247 (currently 2nd)
table: tight/aggressive
my image: loose/aggressive got caught in two bluffs, raising a lot
my best hand this level: 7s7c, called a all in raise with 1 other caller, checked to the river when didnt improve, result + 21,000
flops seen %: 23%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 1/3 KcQc raised 6000 preflop 1 caller, flop came 2d3d4d, bet 6000 caller folded, +19,000
raised to 6000 with A2 off, 2nd in chips pushed all in, i folded, -6000
mistake of level: only calling with QJ, letting opponent push me off flop when nothing hit because I did not have information on them

2006-01-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

End of level 12, 2nd break (in the money, two tables)
next level blinds: 750/1500
Chips: 37,745
M: 16
players: 16/247 (currently 2nd)
table: new table at begginning of level
my image: loose/aggressive
my best hand this level: 8sAd raised 3500 1 caller, all in after 8 hit the flop, caller folded, +9600
10sKd, hit broadway on the flop, took out someone with pair queens and 9500 chips, +19000
AdKd, raised 5k, folded to me, +6500
7h7s
flops seen %: 22%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 1/1 - a6 off suite, nothing hit the flop bet pot size, no callers
mistake of level: not pushing with 7s7c after chip leader bet 10k on flop full of spades A103, would have made flush and taken him out

2006-01-29T14:16:00.000-08:00

End of level 11 (in the money)
next level blinds: 500/1000
Chips: 20,690
M: 13
players: 20/247 (currently 4th)
table: new table at begginning of level
my image: N/A
my best hand this level: 4Joff, raised to 2400, 1 caller, continued on a king high flop
to put him all in, he folded, result +6000
JJ, lost to AdKd, put him all in after his raise, result -4000
A3, caught runner runner 3 to put A6 all in, result + 9000
flops seen %: 24%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 1/1
mistake of level: N/A

2006-01-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

End of level 10 (in the money)
next level blinds: 400/800
Chips: 17,315
M: 14
players: 26/247
table: loose/aggressive
my image: tight/aggressive
my best hand this level: Q9off, flop 9k2, called 1800 bet, turn 10 checked, river 4 checked, beat A8off, result +8000
AA, raised 1800 no callers, +3000
flops seen %: 25%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 1/1
mistake of level: not betting out my Q9 off suite, both of us where commited to the pot but we were only 3 from money

2006-01-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

End of level 9
next level blinds: 300/600
Chips: 9815
M: 10
players: 34/247
table: new table (twice)
my image: n/a
my best hand this level: 4s4d, busted pocket aces when 4 spades hit, result +4400
flops seen %: 25%
successfull bluffs/attempted bluffs: 1/1
mistake of level: not continuing to bet with AQoff when I missed the flop and my contiuation bet was called by a big stack, he had 44 we checked to river