Got home earlier than expected from work, rushed to get the trash to the curb before the rains came in, then headed out early to Dino's so as to not get any last-minute honey-do requests from the Mrs - only had about an hour and 15 minutes to spare. Detroit fireworks and summer nights meant this week was a small crowd - 16 or 17, I believe.
Limped into a family pot with A-4 on the first hand, and Annoying Guy (more on him later) raised it up to 50 from the BB. After everyone folds, I see a flop, and hit A-3-4. A.G bets out 75, then pretty much gives up after my call. 8 hits the turn, and after he checks and I bet, he insta-folds, giving me a decent pot to start.
Win a few small pots, lose a few small pots here and there...Fred goes out rather quickly, and Cheryl is running wild on the table with some big hands (then hitting, as well) - this is alright, if I can stick around long enough to benefit from her loose calls and crazy action.
I donk off half my chips after re-raising Cheryl all-in with 6-6, but an Ace and 3 diamonds hit on the flop...insta-fold after Cheryl goes all-in. I maybe should have just jammed everything into the middle, or just called the raise - this hand affected my strategy for a couple of levels.
Luckily, I got a break or 2 when we merged to one table, since Cheryl was now sitting on my left (take advantage of her table position by acting before here), and I got to be dealer on first hand. Stevo got fucked by the draw here - sorry, bro. Dick was first out after I jammed in MP with A-Q...Dick and Cheryl called my all-in, then Dick went all-in after an ace flopped. Cheryl calls with 9-7 (?), then hit runner-runner clubs to make a flush, but my queen was also a club...so I still tripled up (plus, including the blinds).
Donked a few chips away to Scott (calling station and draw chaser), then took Stevo out with A-7 to his K-J - scary that I was sure my A-7 was the best hand (or at worst, in a coin flip), based on him taking longer than normal to make this move UTG. Stevo was kinda shaking his head at my call - just call me Action Brian, bro!
After doubling Scott up, the next hand Scott and I chopped a pot (but both doubled up against Cheryl) in a 3-way all-in. Cheryl's loose play (forced me all-in with her holding Q-9 to my Q-J to Scott's J-10) helped us both here. Scott was gone soon afterwards, however.
Cheryl once again doubled me up once my chip stack was at 3300 when my JJ flopped a set against her K-Q - dodged a straight draw on turn and river to get me in good position. Hung around for a bit, then Ron, Cheryl, and Pat busted out. Donald limps in at 500/1000, and after A.G. folds in SB, I see Donald has about 200 back (WTF?). Holding only 9-7, I bump that extra 200 in, and am not upset to see Donald with A-J. 7 flops for me, no help to Donald, and we're down to 3.
A.G. had this annoying habit of bending the cards (and these were new ones), then acting all indignant when Nicole and I (and soon Cheryl joined in) called him out on it. A.G. was getting a little stupid trying to belittle me as an "Internet player", but shut up when Pat told him that Nicole and I were easily 2 of the better players at this game. Was rather enjoyable to listen to A.G. whine that (when I have 6K in chips) my only move was "click, all-in" - yet dude didn't grasp that with 5K in chips you just can't limp-in at 500-1000 and then fold when you raised with...uh, anything.
Anyhow, I needed to knock this fukker out to get in good position against Nicole, chip-wise, and when A.G. jammed on the button, I called with A-J...and it held against his A-9 - down to 2!
HU was pretty much a series of SPFRs from me and Nicole, alternating with limp-ins by either of us, and me winning after better post-flop. Quickly went from 3-2 down to ahead in no time. I respect Nicole's game from playing enough with her, and her game is similar to mine (most of time plays with good starting hands, know when to jam and not jam based on stack-sizes, etc) - but if I stay aggressive without getting stupid, I should be able to grind my way to a win.
Look down in BB and see AA - Nicole raises me to 4K pre-flop, and after thinking for a minute, I re-raised all-in - Nicole folds K-Q, and now I'm smelling it. Take down another pot after check-raising the turn on her, and then a sick final hand shows up.
Nicole limps in, and I look down and see AA again - twice in 3 hands, after not seeing it this entire season, yikes! I decide to try and trap here, so I check into the flop. A-6-5 rainbow, Nicole immediately jams all-in, I actually said, "I guess I have to call you here", and turn over my trips, Nicole flips over 6-5, and I'm a 900-1 or so favorite here...no miracle, and we have win #7 at Dino's in the last year plus 3 weeks or so.
Let's see, missed 6 of first 7 weeks, and I think I have 24 points - I would like to think I'm safe for the final table already, but might as well rack up them points!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday fun at Dino's
Picked Harry up and headed to Dino's, hoping to do better than last week, which shouldn't have been too hard. Harry, Ronnie, Tim and his wife were at the table with me, then Nicole joined us after one table broke up. Donked away down to under 1400 early, then picked up a good-sized pot against Tim after hitting a straight on the turn.
Picked up a couple of good pots at the 50/100 and 100/200 levels pre-flop after reraising Tim first with A-K, then the second time with Q-Q. Tim plays odd for this game - limps in with big pairs, raises with junk. Not all the time, but enough to be able to exploit as long as he doesn't pick that time to get creative.
Big hand for me came when I limped in from MP with 7-4 hearts, then flopped a set of 7s - Tim's "bingo card" of a 9 on the turn paired one of his rags, but no improvement for him, and and I was up over 5K at this point.
A couple of hands later Harry picked the wrong time to jam a pocket pair, as Ronnie took him out when his A-A held up against Harry's 7-7. An orbit later or so at the 200/400 level, I busted out Ronnie when I raised on the button with K-J, Ronnie jams with 9-8, and after I call Ronnie hits a 9 on flop (but I get a flush draw), I rightfully get a Jack on the turn and take classless fukker out - dude huffed and puffed and left table without shaking hand...next time I bust him I'll punk him out, or at the worst, do something awfully obnoxious so the whole bar can hear it.
Cruised to final ten after that, and after doubling up players about 6 times (and doubling up a couple of times later), get down to 4 players. Pissed myself off at 2 hands I misplayed (or, in one case, made wrong decision on...been a problem for me lately on 50/50 plays, for some reason not able to pull the trigger on it, even when my instincts are correct), but wouldn't have mattered if shortstacks could have busted out. Just amazing how many times the dog would river his card to stay alive.
I busted out 3rd with 9-7 against Pat's pocket 10s, but at this point it was 12:30, and I was getting tired and ready for bed. Better luck next week.
Picked up a couple of good pots at the 50/100 and 100/200 levels pre-flop after reraising Tim first with A-K, then the second time with Q-Q. Tim plays odd for this game - limps in with big pairs, raises with junk. Not all the time, but enough to be able to exploit as long as he doesn't pick that time to get creative.
Big hand for me came when I limped in from MP with 7-4 hearts, then flopped a set of 7s - Tim's "bingo card" of a 9 on the turn paired one of his rags, but no improvement for him, and and I was up over 5K at this point.
A couple of hands later Harry picked the wrong time to jam a pocket pair, as Ronnie took him out when his A-A held up against Harry's 7-7. An orbit later or so at the 200/400 level, I busted out Ronnie when I raised on the button with K-J, Ronnie jams with 9-8, and after I call Ronnie hits a 9 on flop (but I get a flush draw), I rightfully get a Jack on the turn and take classless fukker out - dude huffed and puffed and left table without shaking hand...next time I bust him I'll punk him out, or at the worst, do something awfully obnoxious so the whole bar can hear it.
Cruised to final ten after that, and after doubling up players about 6 times (and doubling up a couple of times later), get down to 4 players. Pissed myself off at 2 hands I misplayed (or, in one case, made wrong decision on...been a problem for me lately on 50/50 plays, for some reason not able to pull the trigger on it, even when my instincts are correct), but wouldn't have mattered if shortstacks could have busted out. Just amazing how many times the dog would river his card to stay alive.
I busted out 3rd with 9-7 against Pat's pocket 10s, but at this point it was 12:30, and I was getting tired and ready for bed. Better luck next week.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday fun at Dino's
Much like Stevo, Jay busted my ass out at 100-200 level pretty early. Didn't have my best game today, as too many calling stations who look at a hand after the river and say "Oooooh, I have a pair, that'll play!" were topping my hands. Hey, it happens - few people know how to fold hands these days, it seems.
Moved on to the cash game, and pocketed a tidy little $20 in a little over an hour. Perfect table for me to play with: Andy, Gary, Ron, and Mike - any big hand is getting paid off, any bet they make is pretty much giving me odds to chase hands with, and bluffs can be actually made and gotten away with. Near the end of the night I drove Andy nuts when I check-raised him on the river holding Q-6 on a 6-9-K-A-7 board and took down a nice $5+ pot when he folded pocket jacks face up. Was pretty sad to leave this game.
Not sure how many more Mondays this summer I will be going - the motivation isn't there now to play with the weather getting nicer, and I'll have some business interests to worry about soon enough. Then again, I may be there every week, too...we'll see.
Moved on to the cash game, and pocketed a tidy little $20 in a little over an hour. Perfect table for me to play with: Andy, Gary, Ron, and Mike - any big hand is getting paid off, any bet they make is pretty much giving me odds to chase hands with, and bluffs can be actually made and gotten away with. Near the end of the night I drove Andy nuts when I check-raised him on the river holding Q-6 on a 6-9-K-A-7 board and took down a nice $5+ pot when he folded pocket jacks face up. Was pretty sad to leave this game.
Not sure how many more Mondays this summer I will be going - the motivation isn't there now to play with the weather getting nicer, and I'll have some business interests to worry about soon enough. Then again, I may be there every week, too...we'll see.
Friday, June 6, 2008
4 days late, a Dino's post
So I head back to Dino's after taking a week off to play in my Monday game. Not really caring how well I did (since the Wings were poised to win the Stanley Cup that night), I didn't bring my A-game...although I made a few reads/plays that were very strong.
Took a couple of early pots, then just kind of folded and waited patiently for a couple of hands. 2 hands in a row I won big HU pots against Harry, and that should have jump-started my night.
The first hand, Harry raises UTG to 150 (blinds 25/50), after everyone folds to me in the BB, I call with A-5 suited. The flop comes 6-2-2, with one spade, and Harry checks the flop, which I find odd - I can't imagine that helped him a whole lot (I have him on either a medium pair or an AJ/AQ/AK hand on this point). Another spade comes out on turn (a 9, I believe), and Harry puts out a bet of 100, which is begging for a call...yet it's a weak bet. At this point, he hasn't hit his hand yet, but neither have I, but I call figuring on stealing after the river even if a spade doesn't hit.
A 5 (no spade) hits on the river, and at this point I'm damn sure I've won the hand, and am not surprised when Harry checks - if he had bet this strong after the flop or turn, he might have gotten rid of me...this hand was misplayed all around on his end. I bet out 250, which I figure is representing more of a bluff attempt (I've been caught a couple of times already - never keep trying, though!) than a true value bet. Harry knows my game and I love to bluff with snow at times (especially against him - I get a kick out of watching him agonize over tough decisions lol), and he calls with his Ace-high, then bemoans his bad luck when I turn over the 5.
Very next hand, I pick up 6-6 in the small blind, and with 2 limps I am not upset to just complete here and play no set-no bet here. Harry once again raises, this time to 175, and after Andy and Gary get out of the way, I quickly call here. I think for a second about re-raising here, but I know Harry doesn't like to raise unless he has a solid hand (A-10 or better), so I play it a little slow here.
Flop of 8-4-6 comes, giving me a set - I check my set, waiting for Harry to bet, and get a bet of 100, and since I figure that he has another AJ-AK type hand, I smooth-call. After a Q on the turn, I bet out 125, which Harry raises to 275 - there was part of me that wanted to reraise him all-in here, but with no draw out there, I wanted to try to get more value out of the hand, and I just called after thinking about it for a minute.
River brings a 9, and now I'm trying to figure out what amount to bet here - I probably make my value bets too small, but I suppose I should err on that side and get more calls than to overbet and get zilch out of it. I bet out 300, and Harry goes into his "tough decision" mode (face slumps, hands go behind the head, then head buried in head, etc) - but he also has figured out that something is up here, because he says "That bet just reeks", and after a minute he says "Nice hand", and flips over A-Q after announcing he folds. I show my set of 6's, say "Good laydown" (enough players in our game won't get away from that hand), and move on. I bust out Harry a few minutes when my A-9 in SB puts him all-in with pocket 10's - hit ace on flop, survive flush draw on turn and river.
Shortly before final table, I lose a race to Andy's JJ with my A-K, even though I had a flush draw after the flop, and was down to 105 chips. 2 hands later UTG (5-handed here) I get A-8 - easy shove and pray here. Hit 2 pair on flop, nobody does better, and I move up to 405 chips, with BB coming out.
BB comes, and after announcing that I'm going-all-in for my last 5 (plus BB of 400) in the dark, I get 5 callers (including Vic, who doesn't have enough for BB). Oh yeah, I look at my cards, see pocket Aces, and laugh and say that "These rags might be able to play" - checked all around for flop, turn, river, and my Aces hold up AND knock out Vic - back up to 1900+ in chips.
Final table was uneventful - 6 hands in I decide to do an easly-position blind-steal with A-2 suited (plus, overtime was coming up soon in the hockey game, and I wanted to watch that a lot more than I wanted to play poker at that time), Fred takes me and some new cutie out of the game (not as cute as Bridget, but still easy on the eyes, nonetheless), and I finish 8, I believe. Oh well.
Fukkin A, Wings lose in triple OT, but come back on Wednesday to take it down - 4 in 11 years, not too shabby, I might say!
Took a couple of early pots, then just kind of folded and waited patiently for a couple of hands. 2 hands in a row I won big HU pots against Harry, and that should have jump-started my night.
The first hand, Harry raises UTG to 150 (blinds 25/50), after everyone folds to me in the BB, I call with A-5 suited. The flop comes 6-2-2, with one spade, and Harry checks the flop, which I find odd - I can't imagine that helped him a whole lot (I have him on either a medium pair or an AJ/AQ/AK hand on this point). Another spade comes out on turn (a 9, I believe), and Harry puts out a bet of 100, which is begging for a call...yet it's a weak bet. At this point, he hasn't hit his hand yet, but neither have I, but I call figuring on stealing after the river even if a spade doesn't hit.
A 5 (no spade) hits on the river, and at this point I'm damn sure I've won the hand, and am not surprised when Harry checks - if he had bet this strong after the flop or turn, he might have gotten rid of me...this hand was misplayed all around on his end. I bet out 250, which I figure is representing more of a bluff attempt (I've been caught a couple of times already - never keep trying, though!) than a true value bet. Harry knows my game and I love to bluff with snow at times (especially against him - I get a kick out of watching him agonize over tough decisions lol), and he calls with his Ace-high, then bemoans his bad luck when I turn over the 5.
Very next hand, I pick up 6-6 in the small blind, and with 2 limps I am not upset to just complete here and play no set-no bet here. Harry once again raises, this time to 175, and after Andy and Gary get out of the way, I quickly call here. I think for a second about re-raising here, but I know Harry doesn't like to raise unless he has a solid hand (A-10 or better), so I play it a little slow here.
Flop of 8-4-6 comes, giving me a set - I check my set, waiting for Harry to bet, and get a bet of 100, and since I figure that he has another AJ-AK type hand, I smooth-call. After a Q on the turn, I bet out 125, which Harry raises to 275 - there was part of me that wanted to reraise him all-in here, but with no draw out there, I wanted to try to get more value out of the hand, and I just called after thinking about it for a minute.
River brings a 9, and now I'm trying to figure out what amount to bet here - I probably make my value bets too small, but I suppose I should err on that side and get more calls than to overbet and get zilch out of it. I bet out 300, and Harry goes into his "tough decision" mode (face slumps, hands go behind the head, then head buried in head, etc) - but he also has figured out that something is up here, because he says "That bet just reeks", and after a minute he says "Nice hand", and flips over A-Q after announcing he folds. I show my set of 6's, say "Good laydown" (enough players in our game won't get away from that hand), and move on. I bust out Harry a few minutes when my A-9 in SB puts him all-in with pocket 10's - hit ace on flop, survive flush draw on turn and river.
Shortly before final table, I lose a race to Andy's JJ with my A-K, even though I had a flush draw after the flop, and was down to 105 chips. 2 hands later UTG (5-handed here) I get A-8 - easy shove and pray here. Hit 2 pair on flop, nobody does better, and I move up to 405 chips, with BB coming out.
BB comes, and after announcing that I'm going-all-in for my last 5 (plus BB of 400) in the dark, I get 5 callers (including Vic, who doesn't have enough for BB). Oh yeah, I look at my cards, see pocket Aces, and laugh and say that "These rags might be able to play" - checked all around for flop, turn, river, and my Aces hold up AND knock out Vic - back up to 1900+ in chips.
Final table was uneventful - 6 hands in I decide to do an easly-position blind-steal with A-2 suited (plus, overtime was coming up soon in the hockey game, and I wanted to watch that a lot more than I wanted to play poker at that time), Fred takes me and some new cutie out of the game (not as cute as Bridget, but still easy on the eyes, nonetheless), and I finish 8, I believe. Oh well.
Fukkin A, Wings lose in triple OT, but come back on Wednesday to take it down - 4 in 11 years, not too shabby, I might say!
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