After being forced to take last week off, I go to Dino's ready for another week of tournament action. While the last 2 weeks after my last win were mediocre finishes (12th and 14th), I felt like I was playing well, so I was pretty confident going into last night's action.
Changed my normal non-drinking routine, and did a "just because" celebratory shot of Dikkel with Bernie - damn him for turning me on to that, but it's damn smooth stuff. Sat at my first table with (my left to right) Some New Guy, Gal Pal of Fred, Scott, and Ronnie. Lost 25% of my stack on the first couple of hands, then on last hand of first blind level (25/50) got J-J - raised to 5x BB out of the BB when everyone tried to limp in, won a nice $1000 after flopping a set...might have tried to get more out of it, but not slow-playing hands with flush and straight draws out there.
At start of 75/150 level, moved to another table, and was officially card-dead for a couple of orbits...at 100/200, jammed 1650 into the pot with A-10, and was called by Pat and Some Other Gal - they were holding 9-9 and 7-7. 10 on flop gave me the lead, and it held up, and we're in business, knocking out SOG and crippling Pat. Took the last hand of the table before we got down to final table of 10 on a total bluff, and off to the final table with 5500 I went.
Nothing playable for the first 7-8 hands of action (nothing even worth stealing at 200/400 level), then picked up K-K while UTG - raise to 2000 chased out all but Big Bald Brad, who promptly insta-folded when a 7-6-2 flop hit and I pushed all-in after he checked.
Down to 7, and a couple of orbits later I knocked out Big Bald Brad after my 8-8 hit a set to pwn his Q-J...down to 6. Doubled up Don (not Baker) when my A-J couldn't beat his A-Q, and back to being card-dead for a little while.
After Don and another guy were eliminated by Texas Tim, Tim continued to run over the table for a few hands, then my hand of the tournament came up. Tim open raised to 3200 (400/800 blinds now) UTG, I look and see 2-2, and decided to make my stand here. Tim insta-calls with 10-10, and I'm in bad shape...until a deuce hits on the flop, and my set holds up. At this point I am thinking that if I play it smart, Tim and I should be able to get to HU - hyper aggressive player vs. TAG, could be interesting.
Tim doubles up Glen a couple of hands later on a real goofy hand where Glen played calling station and just happened to have the better kicker...and which I think put Tim on tilt. I get the chance to knock Tim out the next hand when I come over the top of him with 7-7 - no help to his A-Q, and I've got a huge chip lead at this moment.
My A-K knocks out another opponent soon after, and it's Glen and me HU for the title this week. I have a more than 2-1 chip lead here, and I'm thinking that I'm either going to grind him down, or get it over quickly. Next few hands I take more chips from him than he gets from me, when the final hand hits us.
I look at A-A (500/1000 blinds) min-raise to 2000...hoping to induce action. Glen re-raises 3K, and after Hollywooding for a few seconds, push to put him all-in - he calls with K-10 off. No help on flop, and if I can avoid runner-runner, it's over...black 8 on turn misses him, and river doesn't matter - Win #9 at Dino's for me this week!!!
Frankly, not my best-played tournament, but one where patience was rewarded...and luck was on my side. Lookin' REAL good to clinch my spot for the final tournament in a few weeks - next few weeks may be good time to experiment with some more LAG play and see where this goes.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Quickie post about yesterday
Greg Raymer, I think, said it best after he won the 2004 WSOP Main Event. Paraphrasing here, he said that he wasn't the best player that tournament, merely the luckiest...and that you need to win almost all of your coin flips if you want to win a tournament. That was certainly the case last night - 2nd win at Dino's this month, hoorah! Details to follow.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Dino's again tonight...
...looks like, mainly because I missed so many weeks early on, that I am at the "kiddie table" tourney. Could have gotten in, but a couple of mediocre 12-14th place finishes were no help.
No big reports warranted from the last couple of weeks, although my reads and decision-making process have been spot on in this game, but just having some bad luck when I least need it...hopefully tonight I can put a beatdown (metaphorically) on some people.
No big reports warranted from the last couple of weeks, although my reads and decision-making process have been spot on in this game, but just having some bad luck when I least need it...hopefully tonight I can put a beatdown (metaphorically) on some people.
A nice little Blackjack hand from the other night
Blackjack on Absolute Poker has been just getting beat up by me this week - another $250 weekend betting $1 & $2 as base amounts...here's a great hand from Thursday night when I had a huge run going on one spot (hence, the reason why one spot has $2 and one has $10 on it):
Here is monster hand I last night...one of those great "make or break" hands when you get it when your multipliers are up. My simple betting progression goes like this: Keep at one unit until I win 3 hands in a row (split where both hands win or double down win is counted as 2 hands in my count), then go to 2 units until I lose, then back down to one unit. Win 3 hands in a row at 2 units, go to 3 units. For every 2 hands in a row that I win, increase another unit. With hand one, I'm at 5 units already...this one was pretty nice!
Stage # B611691426 - Blackjack 2009-06-18 23:55:29 (ET)
BKRYWKO1 ( $80.00 in chips )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 1-1: Bet $10.00 + Side Bet $0.00
Hand 2-1: Bet $2.00 + Side Bet $0.00
Hand 3-1: Bet $0.00 + Side Bet $0.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealt to Hand 1-1: [ 8h 8c ]
Dealt to Hand 2-1: [ Ks 4s ]
Dealt to Dealer: [ 2d H ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 1-3: Bet $10.00 ( SPLIT )
Hand 1-3: Bet $10.00 ( SPLIT )
Hand 1-2: Bet $10.00 ( DOUBLE DOWN )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 1-1: SPLIT
Dealt to Hand 1-1: [ 8d ]
Hand 1-1: SPLIT
Dealt to Hand 1-1: [ Qs ]
Hand 1-1: STAND (at 18)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealt to Hand 1-2: [ 2s ]
Hand 1-2: DOUBLE
Dealt to Hand 1-2: [ Jc ] (at 20)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealt to Hand 1-3: [ 5s ]
Hand 1-3: STAND (at 13)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 2-1: STAND
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealer: Hit
Dealt to Dealer: [ 2h ]
Dealer: Hit
Dealt to Dealer: [ 9s ]
Dealer: Hit
Dealt to Dealer: [ 9c ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** RESULT ***
Dealer [ 2d 2h 9s 9c ] (22)
Total Bet( $42.00 ), Win/Loss( $42.00 )
Hand 1-1 [ 8h Qs ] (18) - Collects $10.00
Hand 1-2 [ 8d 2s Jc ] (20) - Collects $20.00
Hand 1-3 [ 8c 5s ] (13) - Collects $10.00
Hand 2-1 [ Ks 4s ] (14) - Collects $2.00
Here is monster hand I last night...one of those great "make or break" hands when you get it when your multipliers are up. My simple betting progression goes like this: Keep at one unit until I win 3 hands in a row (split where both hands win or double down win is counted as 2 hands in my count), then go to 2 units until I lose, then back down to one unit. Win 3 hands in a row at 2 units, go to 3 units. For every 2 hands in a row that I win, increase another unit. With hand one, I'm at 5 units already...this one was pretty nice!
Stage # B611691426 - Blackjack 2009-06-18 23:55:29 (ET)
BKRYWKO1 ( $80.00 in chips )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 1-1: Bet $10.00 + Side Bet $0.00
Hand 2-1: Bet $2.00 + Side Bet $0.00
Hand 3-1: Bet $0.00 + Side Bet $0.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealt to Hand 1-1: [ 8h 8c ]
Dealt to Hand 2-1: [ Ks 4s ]
Dealt to Dealer: [ 2d H ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 1-3: Bet $10.00 ( SPLIT )
Hand 1-3: Bet $10.00 ( SPLIT )
Hand 1-2: Bet $10.00 ( DOUBLE DOWN )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 1-1: SPLIT
Dealt to Hand 1-1: [ 8d ]
Hand 1-1: SPLIT
Dealt to Hand 1-1: [ Qs ]
Hand 1-1: STAND (at 18)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealt to Hand 1-2: [ 2s ]
Hand 1-2: DOUBLE
Dealt to Hand 1-2: [ Jc ] (at 20)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealt to Hand 1-3: [ 5s ]
Hand 1-3: STAND (at 13)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hand 2-1: STAND
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealer: Hit
Dealt to Dealer: [ 2h ]
Dealer: Hit
Dealt to Dealer: [ 9s ]
Dealer: Hit
Dealt to Dealer: [ 9c ]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** RESULT ***
Dealer [ 2d 2h 9s 9c ] (22)
Total Bet( $42.00 ), Win/Loss( $42.00 )
Hand 1-1 [ 8h Qs ] (18) - Collects $10.00
Hand 1-2 [ 8d 2s Jc ] (20) - Collects $20.00
Hand 1-3 [ 8c 5s ] (13) - Collects $10.00
Hand 2-1 [ Ks 4s ] (14) - Collects $2.00
I love when I crack a big hand!
I love cracking pocket aces, especially when they're played as badly as this clown plays them - early position with AA limps in, and gets burnt, yet again. If he was trying to do a limp-reraise move, then I might argue that he was just unlucky that I hit a set against him - and unfortunately for him a 3xBB preflop raise wasn't getting me out of the pot, but it would have kept a couple of the other idiots from coming into the pot. Raise them rockets up!!!
Stage #1730627790 Tourney ID 4113635 Holdem Single Tournament No Limit 60 - 2009-06-21 22:57:50 (ET)
Table: 29707992 (Real Money) Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 1 - MXXIESTORC (1,865 in chips)
Seat 2 - BKRYWKO1 (2,725 in chips)
Seat 3 - NOWGOVIA (1,005 in chips)
Seat 4 - BWAGG66 (1,335 in chips)
Seat 6 - SNIPEE8 (865 in chips)
Seat 7 - DMK113 (2,050 in chips)
Seat 8 - ELVIS12309 (2,710 in chips)
Seat 9 - 74MONSTER (945 in chips)
MXXIESTORC - Posts small blind 30
BKRYWKO1 - Posts big blind 60
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to BKRYWKO1 [6d 6s]
NOWGOVIA - Calls 60
BWAGG66 - Calls 60 - Limps in here
SNIPEE8 - Folds
DMK113 - Folds
ELVIS12309 - Folds
74MONSTER - Calls 60
MXXIESTORC - Calls 30
BKRYWKO1 - Checks - Argue with me all you want that I should raise here, because you're not wrong to do so. I was at a hyperaggressive table (save for 2 TAGs, one of which is me), so that dictates I tighten the game up and wait for my hands to come to me. Here, if I decide to go setmining and am successful, my hand is disguised well. No reason at this stage of the tournament to give away chips if I raise and 3 overs hit - have to get to final 3 in SnGs first before you can win the darn thing.
*** FLOP *** [6h 9c 10d]
MXXIESTORC - Checks
BKRYWKO1 - Bets 150
NOWGOVIA - Raises 300 to 300 -
BWAGG66 - All-In(Raise) 1,275 to 1,275
74MONSTER - All-In 885
MXXIESTORC - Folds
BKRYWKO1 - Calls 1,125
NOWGOVIA - Folds
*** TURN *** [6h 9c 10d] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [6h 9c 10d 4s] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BKRYWKO1 - Shows [6d 6s] (Three of a kind, sixes)
BWAGG66 - Shows [Ah As] (One pair, aces)
74MONSTER - Shows [8c 10h] (Two Pair, tens and eights)
BKRYWKO1 Collects 780 from side pot-1
BKRYWKO1 Collects 3,255 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(4,035:3,255,780)
Board [6h 9c 10d 4s 8h]
Seat 1: MXXIESTORC (small blind) Folded on the FLOP
Seat 2: BKRYWKO1 (big blind) won Total (4,035) HI:(4,035) with Three of a kind, sixes [6d 6s - P:6s,B:6h,P:6d,B:10d,B:9c]
Seat 3: NOWGOVIA Folded on the FLOP
Seat 4: BWAGG66 HI:lost with One pair, aces [Ah As - P:As,P:Ah,B:10d,B:9c,B:8h]
Seat 6: SNIPEE8 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: DMK113 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: ELVIS12309 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: 74MONSTER (dealer) HI:lost with Two Pair, tens and eights [8c 10h - P:10h,B:10d,B:8h,P:8c,B:9c]
Stage #1730627790 Tourney ID 4113635 Holdem Single Tournament No Limit 60 - 2009-06-21 22:57:50 (ET)
Table: 29707992 (Real Money) Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 1 - MXXIESTORC (1,865 in chips)
Seat 2 - BKRYWKO1 (2,725 in chips)
Seat 3 - NOWGOVIA (1,005 in chips)
Seat 4 - BWAGG66 (1,335 in chips)
Seat 6 - SNIPEE8 (865 in chips)
Seat 7 - DMK113 (2,050 in chips)
Seat 8 - ELVIS12309 (2,710 in chips)
Seat 9 - 74MONSTER (945 in chips)
MXXIESTORC - Posts small blind 30
BKRYWKO1 - Posts big blind 60
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to BKRYWKO1 [6d 6s]
NOWGOVIA - Calls 60
BWAGG66 - Calls 60 - Limps in here
SNIPEE8 - Folds
DMK113 - Folds
ELVIS12309 - Folds
74MONSTER - Calls 60
MXXIESTORC - Calls 30
BKRYWKO1 - Checks - Argue with me all you want that I should raise here, because you're not wrong to do so. I was at a hyperaggressive table (save for 2 TAGs, one of which is me), so that dictates I tighten the game up and wait for my hands to come to me. Here, if I decide to go setmining and am successful, my hand is disguised well. No reason at this stage of the tournament to give away chips if I raise and 3 overs hit - have to get to final 3 in SnGs first before you can win the darn thing.
*** FLOP *** [6h 9c 10d]
MXXIESTORC - Checks
BKRYWKO1 - Bets 150
NOWGOVIA - Raises 300 to 300 -
BWAGG66 - All-In(Raise) 1,275 to 1,275
74MONSTER - All-In 885
MXXIESTORC - Folds
BKRYWKO1 - Calls 1,125
NOWGOVIA - Folds
*** TURN *** [6h 9c 10d] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [6h 9c 10d 4s] [8h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BKRYWKO1 - Shows [6d 6s] (Three of a kind, sixes)
BWAGG66 - Shows [Ah As] (One pair, aces)
74MONSTER - Shows [8c 10h] (Two Pair, tens and eights)
BKRYWKO1 Collects 780 from side pot-1
BKRYWKO1 Collects 3,255 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot(4,035:3,255,780)
Board [6h 9c 10d 4s 8h]
Seat 1: MXXIESTORC (small blind) Folded on the FLOP
Seat 2: BKRYWKO1 (big blind) won Total (4,035) HI:(4,035) with Three of a kind, sixes [6d 6s - P:6s,B:6h,P:6d,B:10d,B:9c]
Seat 3: NOWGOVIA Folded on the FLOP
Seat 4: BWAGG66 HI:lost with One pair, aces [Ah As - P:As,P:Ah,B:10d,B:9c,B:8h]
Seat 6: SNIPEE8 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: DMK113 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: ELVIS12309 Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 9: 74MONSTER (dealer) HI:lost with Two Pair, tens and eights [8c 10h - P:10h,B:10d,B:8h,P:8c,B:9c]
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
...but then the poker gods gave me some love back!
Laughing while I was driving to Dino's thinking about that Hazel Park tourney I just busted out it, I figured at the very worst that the cash game would be juicy enough for me make some coin back in. I order my fresh, steaming order of fries, pay the bartender, whine like a little bitch to my brother and Harry about the HP tourney, then sit down and decide that I won't be too talkative to start out - time to concentrate on my game today.
Table draw for me isn't bad at all - me, Jen, Glen, some new guy, and Richard were at my table...not a lot of raising pre-flop will be done, and it will be easy to figure out what most of them have on any given hand.
First couple of levels are uneventful - Glen picks off one of my numerous bluff plays to get me down to 1500 chips at 100/200 level, but a couple of hands later I got back up to over 3000 with a mini-heater. Tables started to break, and when we were down to 14, I was sitting at 6000 chips or so. Important to note at this time that at no time were all my chips at risk, nor did I get these by knocking out a player.
Scott, Tony, and Bernie joined our table, and I knew some chips would fly around at this point. Scott and I trade blows with each other, with Scott getting the better end of the exchange after semi-bluffing my A-J out with an A-10 on 3-heart board with an ace. As with all my 50-50 calls, I seem to call the side of the coin that is facing down on the ground...oh well, shake it off.
Get down to 10, and after I win the deal, our table order is Me, Harry, Bernie, Scott, Tony, Nick, Glen, Mike, Texas Tim, and Dr. O. First hand in, Mike pushes everything into the middle, and is called by Dr. O, Nick, and Glen. Flop of K-5-4 hits the board, and Nick bets out 1000, called by Glen, then Dr. O comes over the top with a raise of 2K more - based on his body language and that of Nick and Glen, I will guess that O is way ahead...and I'm right when both players call. Nick with K-8 (i believe that was the kicker), Glen with 8-7 drawing to a 4-outer (dude should play at Hazel Park), Mike with I have no clue, and O with 5-5 for a set. K on turn gives O a boat, but more outs for Nick...but no help on the river, and O takes out 3 players!!! Players mock-rejoice, since we all get bonus points for getting in top 7 this week.
Texas Tim goes out next hand when A-10 is dominated by A-J, and we're down to 6. I'm sitting at 3800 chips, with blinds at 200/400 - some time to maneuver, however...playing very well and patiently at this point, with only one bad decision made all night so far. Go small-ball for a couple of pots and get up 5400, but another orbit later I go back down to 3900.
Bernie busts out to finish in 6th, and shortly afterwards I get my big double-up when my 2-2 holds against Tony's Q-8 - blinds at 300/600, I think. Tony is playing almost maniacal pre-flop...raising 10 times the BB in an effort to either bust us out or bust himself out. O likes to raise 5xBB a lot, as well - any more than that, and we're looking at a A-10, A-9 type hand...maybe I'll get to exploit this later.
Tony doubles up versus Scott when 8-8 hits a set against A-A - Harry doubles up twice when his A-K beats Tony'a A-J with a king on river (Tony hit J on flop), and then when another dominated hand sucksout against Scott. Harry hasn't won a ton of races in the time I've played with him at Dino's, so it looks like the poker gods were repaying him back some tonight.
O takes out Tony, then a few hands later I double up against O when my A-J pwns his 5-5 - now my stack is getting close to 18K. A few hands later, O open raises for 5K, and I look down and see A-Q...4-handed, this is a big hand, but remember what I said about O's raises here...I'm almost convinced instantly that it's the best hand going in, but I think about my next play for a minute, while counting his chips and mine to see where I stood, then reraise enough to put him all-in...and pretty much ignoring the fact that Harry and Scott as the blinds were still in the hand. Harry folds something that appears to be K-J or something, Scott folds, and O calls. I say, but not too loudly, "Ace-jack", and O flips over...Ace-jack. Good call, B! No help for O, Queen hits on river, and the big stack when the final table started is eliminated.
Big stack gets whittled down from 34K to 18K as Harry and Scott abuse my blinds. Pretty simple, really - I'd complete my SB with marginal hand like...5-7 sooooooted, Harry would jam all-in for 16K or so, and I'd fold. We do the little song and dance routine for a few orbits, then I get KK in the SB, min-raise to 4K (1000/2000 blinds at this point), Harry looks down, jams the chips in the middle, and the trap play is complete! A-2 versus K-K - King on flop pretty much seals it, turn card is no help, and I've got 38K now.
Big hand here between Scott and me - Scott calls an 8K raise (meant to be a move to put Harry all-in) I make with K-J off...K-Q-8 flop. Scott check, and I bet out 10K right away...Scott takes a couple of minutes, then eventually shows me a queen. I wait til later to tell him it was K-J I played. I've bluffed him out of a couple of pots since we got to 5 and 6-handed...so he had to decide if I was playing him again or not, and guessed correctly. Thinking player, and one reason why I like playing with him on the tables.
Mr. Big Stack decides to push his chips around, and traps himself with Q-J against Harry's K-J - Q on river gives me the suckout win...I call it "dirty" when it happens, but good show by Harry this week...wine will taste good, me thinks.
3 or 4 hands into HU, Scott open jams his last 6500 or so...I say I'll give him the "courtesy double-up", but my J-6 pwns his 9-6. No help for Scott, and I take it down - Victory #8 in the last 2 years since I've been going, but first one is 11 months (really, it's been that long!).
Well played final table, must say.
Table draw for me isn't bad at all - me, Jen, Glen, some new guy, and Richard were at my table...not a lot of raising pre-flop will be done, and it will be easy to figure out what most of them have on any given hand.
First couple of levels are uneventful - Glen picks off one of my numerous bluff plays to get me down to 1500 chips at 100/200 level, but a couple of hands later I got back up to over 3000 with a mini-heater. Tables started to break, and when we were down to 14, I was sitting at 6000 chips or so. Important to note at this time that at no time were all my chips at risk, nor did I get these by knocking out a player.
Scott, Tony, and Bernie joined our table, and I knew some chips would fly around at this point. Scott and I trade blows with each other, with Scott getting the better end of the exchange after semi-bluffing my A-J out with an A-10 on 3-heart board with an ace. As with all my 50-50 calls, I seem to call the side of the coin that is facing down on the ground...oh well, shake it off.
Get down to 10, and after I win the deal, our table order is Me, Harry, Bernie, Scott, Tony, Nick, Glen, Mike, Texas Tim, and Dr. O. First hand in, Mike pushes everything into the middle, and is called by Dr. O, Nick, and Glen. Flop of K-5-4 hits the board, and Nick bets out 1000, called by Glen, then Dr. O comes over the top with a raise of 2K more - based on his body language and that of Nick and Glen, I will guess that O is way ahead...and I'm right when both players call. Nick with K-8 (i believe that was the kicker), Glen with 8-7 drawing to a 4-outer (dude should play at Hazel Park), Mike with I have no clue, and O with 5-5 for a set. K on turn gives O a boat, but more outs for Nick...but no help on the river, and O takes out 3 players!!! Players mock-rejoice, since we all get bonus points for getting in top 7 this week.
Texas Tim goes out next hand when A-10 is dominated by A-J, and we're down to 6. I'm sitting at 3800 chips, with blinds at 200/400 - some time to maneuver, however...playing very well and patiently at this point, with only one bad decision made all night so far. Go small-ball for a couple of pots and get up 5400, but another orbit later I go back down to 3900.
Bernie busts out to finish in 6th, and shortly afterwards I get my big double-up when my 2-2 holds against Tony's Q-8 - blinds at 300/600, I think. Tony is playing almost maniacal pre-flop...raising 10 times the BB in an effort to either bust us out or bust himself out. O likes to raise 5xBB a lot, as well - any more than that, and we're looking at a A-10, A-9 type hand...maybe I'll get to exploit this later.
Tony doubles up versus Scott when 8-8 hits a set against A-A - Harry doubles up twice when his A-K beats Tony'a A-J with a king on river (Tony hit J on flop), and then when another dominated hand sucksout against Scott. Harry hasn't won a ton of races in the time I've played with him at Dino's, so it looks like the poker gods were repaying him back some tonight.
O takes out Tony, then a few hands later I double up against O when my A-J pwns his 5-5 - now my stack is getting close to 18K. A few hands later, O open raises for 5K, and I look down and see A-Q...4-handed, this is a big hand, but remember what I said about O's raises here...I'm almost convinced instantly that it's the best hand going in, but I think about my next play for a minute, while counting his chips and mine to see where I stood, then reraise enough to put him all-in...and pretty much ignoring the fact that Harry and Scott as the blinds were still in the hand. Harry folds something that appears to be K-J or something, Scott folds, and O calls. I say, but not too loudly, "Ace-jack", and O flips over...Ace-jack. Good call, B! No help for O, Queen hits on river, and the big stack when the final table started is eliminated.
Big stack gets whittled down from 34K to 18K as Harry and Scott abuse my blinds. Pretty simple, really - I'd complete my SB with marginal hand like...5-7 sooooooted, Harry would jam all-in for 16K or so, and I'd fold. We do the little song and dance routine for a few orbits, then I get KK in the SB, min-raise to 4K (1000/2000 blinds at this point), Harry looks down, jams the chips in the middle, and the trap play is complete! A-2 versus K-K - King on flop pretty much seals it, turn card is no help, and I've got 38K now.
Big hand here between Scott and me - Scott calls an 8K raise (meant to be a move to put Harry all-in) I make with K-J off...K-Q-8 flop. Scott check, and I bet out 10K right away...Scott takes a couple of minutes, then eventually shows me a queen. I wait til later to tell him it was K-J I played. I've bluffed him out of a couple of pots since we got to 5 and 6-handed...so he had to decide if I was playing him again or not, and guessed correctly. Thinking player, and one reason why I like playing with him on the tables.
Mr. Big Stack decides to push his chips around, and traps himself with Q-J against Harry's K-J - Q on river gives me the suckout win...I call it "dirty" when it happens, but good show by Harry this week...wine will taste good, me thinks.
3 or 4 hands into HU, Scott open jams his last 6500 or so...I say I'll give him the "courtesy double-up", but my J-6 pwns his 9-6. No help for Scott, and I take it down - Victory #8 in the last 2 years since I've been going, but first one is 11 months (really, it's been that long!).
Well played final table, must say.
The poker gods kicked my ass this week....
So I headed up to Hazel Park Raceway for their Monday freeroll w/rebuys & Add-ons, and was hoping for a deep run this week. Sat down at my first table, and chuckled at the sight of half the players wearing sunglasses. Errrrr, okay...this is friggin' freeroll, people!
Nothing happening first few hands, but then I gain 1200 chips by flopping a straight, then letting a horse bettor jam all-in with top pair/weak kicker. Unfortunately, this will be my high water mark for the night, as nuttiness sets in soon afterwards.
2 hands later (blinds still at 25/50) we see 3 limpers, but with 10-10 in my hand, I have to raise. Goofball on my left calls, and older gentleman who won't rebuy calls off all his chips. 3-way flop of 10-6-2 rainbow looks like gold, and after I check goofball on left bets out 400 - I smooth-call. Turn of a jack of nothing doesn't help him, but since he looks pot-committed, I put him all-in, which gets an insta-call with.....5-3 off? Seeing what the title of this post was, this will come as no surprise that to anyone that a 4 hits on the river to give goofball a straight. Oy - the landmines to dodge here.
Next hand I get A-10 clubs in the BB - 3 way flop sees me flop the nut flush, SB open-jams for all his chips 800, and it's a pretty easy call to make here. Oops, pair of kings...maybe not such a good idea. K on turn gives him trips, and J on the river gives him the boat...yeehaw! Down to 300 chips :-\ Dude celebrates afterwards like he just won the WSOP or something...lol.
2 hands later, get 8-8 - shove and get called by 2-2, 7-7, and 5-3. Flop of 5-5-5 is just wrong on so many levels, but then to throw an 8 out there on the river just adds insult to injury. I think about throwing another 10 into the kitty and rebuying, and just determine that tonight wasn't my night there.
In the meantime, it's just after 7:30 - plenty of time to hop down 9 Mile and make it to Dino's. It's got to be a little better over at Dino's, right?
Nothing happening first few hands, but then I gain 1200 chips by flopping a straight, then letting a horse bettor jam all-in with top pair/weak kicker. Unfortunately, this will be my high water mark for the night, as nuttiness sets in soon afterwards.
2 hands later (blinds still at 25/50) we see 3 limpers, but with 10-10 in my hand, I have to raise. Goofball on my left calls, and older gentleman who won't rebuy calls off all his chips. 3-way flop of 10-6-2 rainbow looks like gold, and after I check goofball on left bets out 400 - I smooth-call. Turn of a jack of nothing doesn't help him, but since he looks pot-committed, I put him all-in, which gets an insta-call with.....5-3 off? Seeing what the title of this post was, this will come as no surprise that to anyone that a 4 hits on the river to give goofball a straight. Oy - the landmines to dodge here.
Next hand I get A-10 clubs in the BB - 3 way flop sees me flop the nut flush, SB open-jams for all his chips 800, and it's a pretty easy call to make here. Oops, pair of kings...maybe not such a good idea. K on turn gives him trips, and J on the river gives him the boat...yeehaw! Down to 300 chips :-\ Dude celebrates afterwards like he just won the WSOP or something...lol.
2 hands later, get 8-8 - shove and get called by 2-2, 7-7, and 5-3. Flop of 5-5-5 is just wrong on so many levels, but then to throw an 8 out there on the river just adds insult to injury. I think about throwing another 10 into the kitty and rebuying, and just determine that tonight wasn't my night there.
In the meantime, it's just after 7:30 - plenty of time to hop down 9 Mile and make it to Dino's. It's got to be a little better over at Dino's, right?
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