2011 New Year's Resolutions

I saw this topic over at Nik's Poker Palace, and thought it would a good post here. 2011 New Year's Resolutions:

1) Win a Dino's league final. It's usually not too hard to make the top 10 in points during any given season, but get to the final and I find a way to fukk up one or two hands and bust out.

BTW, new players always welcome to play, 8pm (or just after) Monday nights - 9 and Woodward area! Had to get my shill in for that game.

2) Play more live tournament poker at charity card rooms. Yeah, the rake can be a killer if you're not a winning player, but there is just sooooooo much dead money out there, too hard to pass up. With the Mrs working nights, should be easily attainable.

3) Try to lessen the boredom and actually make it through a 4-hour session of 4-6 tabling SnGs before calling it quits (no matter how I am doing) after 90 minutes because my ADD mind kicks in.

4) Satellite into a big tourney online again, only this time actually play in it. Satellited into the Sunday Million on Stars more than a few times back in the 2004-2007 era (when I actually had a legitimate bankroll before UIGEA fukked everything up), but always unregistered and kept the T$. Not this time.

That's all I got - Happy New Year!

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good...

Ran pretty bad in Nik's Poker Palace HU tourney - but since I don't play HU SnGs much, a good learning experience. Fukked around in a Micromania tourney on Stars, hung around for awhile, and then caught fire once HU. Down 10-1, donkey-shoved 4-2 and hit straight flush on river to stay alive, then won a couple of races to stay alive against an opponent who didn't use his big stack wisely to get the chip lead. Once that happened, full-speed ahead, and ended up taking it down:

PokerStars Tournament #345039329, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $0.50/$0.05 USD
36 players
Total Prize Pool: $18.00 USD
Tournament started 2010/12/23 23:42:11 ET

Dear BKrywko1,

You finished the tournament in 1st place. A USD 6.66 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

So I guess I can expect a small bonus once all the winners of this tourney are paid out.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Running bad...with a mini-comeback last night

So the last 2 weeks I've been running bad in just about any form you could think of...SnGs, cash games, MTTs (although not as bad in MTTs), which for a part-time hack like myself is qute frustrating. Smartest thing I did was take the weekend off from playing, spend a couple of hours looking at some hand histories (both good and bad), and start off with a more positive attitude.

Variance is a great thing when it is to your benefit, but when you are on the downswing it's a bitch. Every one of us goes through those runs of "Flop set, get all the chips in the middle, runner-runner straight or flush, good game!" periods, so you just have to deal with them.

Playing in Heads-Up tourney tonight for Nik's Poker Palace - a great group of guys who play a weekly game on Tuesday nights on PokerStars. Check them out sometime.

Took 3rd in Dino's tourney last, after bubbling final table and finishing 8th the last couple of weeks. Tourney took too long, and had too much stuff happening to fully recap. Went into the final table 3rd or 4th in chips, and managed to maintain position throughout. Couldn't get Slow Joe to play his big stack on many of my numerous blind shoves when 4 and 3-handed...until he busted my A-2 when his 9-10 turned and rivered 10s for a boat. Slow Joe wins...and I officially think Dino's is in bizarro world today.

A few days early, but Merry Christmas to everyone reading this!

DEATH STORM 2010 IS COMING!!!!

So I was watching the news yesterday and today, and the latest weather reports show that us Michiganders will be getting our first "real" snow tonight/tomorrow morning. In keeping with long-standing (ahem!) tradition, it's time once again for me to post this ditty that I first wrote 5 years ago...with the occasional edit or 2 here and there, it still applies to today, as well as anytime we have any snowfall forecast around here. Enjoy!

DEATH STORM 2010!!!!

Since yesterday, the Detroit media has been full of warning as a nice little snow shower is hitting our area tonight and tomorrow. In Metro Detroit I can expect to see a couple inches of snow by tomorrow morning (That oughta make rush-hour fun!), for example. That being said, by later on this evening, you'll swear that "The Event" is taking place or something, the way these asshats blow everything out of proportion.

What always amazes me about the news coverage is that you end up seeing the same shit on the TV stations with every storm. Each and every station could, and should, just run a tape of their broadcasts from the last time a snowstorm came through town, since the same shit is always reported. Keep this in mind when you are watching the news broadcasts the next day or 2:

Here's how it works in Detroit, at least:

1) First, you get the overweight reporter (and it's always a black guy, too....Jesse Jackson needs to forget about non-existant Diebold vote fraud in Ohio and Florida, and instead look into this obvious form of racial discrimination!) who stands outside in the falling torrent of snow, then proceeds to tell you that "Yep, it's snowing pretty good now!".

2) Next, you have the blond reporterette who's hanging out with the salt truck drivers. Always get the obligatory reference from one of the workers that "we'll be doing this all night!", somehow, as well. Imagine that, working until the job is actually done...what a concept!

3) Cut over to video of some senior citizens standing in line to buy shovels and snowblowers hours before the storm hits...because we know that Michigan never gets snow in the wintertime! There are plenty of unemployed kids teenagers who could use extra money shoveling your snow, grandpa.

4) Next, we get the weather guy, who's been "on alert" all day just for us, telling us just how bad the snow is going to make life for us. Yes, without the weatherman around, I wouldn't know that I should allow a few extra minutes to get to wherever I'm going, or that I should probably slow down when driving on 3 inches of unplowed snow. Thanks, dude!

5. Make sure that no matter what, this snowstorm is the STORM OF THE CENTURY (complete with ominous-sounding music at the beginning of the updates)! Either that, or regardless of what may have happened in earlier year, this snowstorm is definitively THE BLIZZARD OF '10!!

6. Break into everyone's favorite daytime and evening programming to remind them that it's snowing. Yes, because people, evidently, are either too stupid or too lazy to peek out of their windows and figure that out for themselves.

7. Special reports from the local supermarket, where senior citizens are falling over each other in the aisles to get to the last available gallon of water, the last available gallon of milk, or the last loaf of bread. As we all know, milk and bread are the two most important items to have when protecting one's self from inclement weather.

8. Cue the safety czar up, reminding everyone to keep a warm blanket and a shovel in your car should go off into a ditch and get stuck for a couple of days.

9. Don't forget the friendly county sheriff (Mark Hackel seems to be the go-to guy in Detroit - he's quite the handsome fellow, too!) who shows up, making his plea to people to stay off the roads "if you absolutely don't have to be on the roads". That's actually pretty good advice when it's also 80 and sunny outside, but somehow it's supposed to sound more impressive when it's said during wintertime.

Somehow, we'll manage to survive all of this, until DEATH STORM 2010 V2 hits us, at least.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...WTF???

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Here's an interesting hand from a private tournament

Interesting hand from Tuesday night's private tournament over at http://nikspokerpalace.blogspot.com/ This hand was one I kind of beat myself up afterwards about, because I'm not quite sure if it was played badly, even for a "small-ball" type player as myself. That being said, I know that there were a couple of different ways I could have played it.

Set it up, down to 7, pay 3 - first time playing in this league, but the "Villain" (since my opponent always has to be the evil one, right?) in this hand has been playing pretty aggressively.

PokerStars Game #52816861797: Tournament #330835685, $5.00+$0.50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2010/11/16 21:18:53 ET
Table '330835685 2' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: Eyekall (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: meatsword (7485 in chips)
Seat 4: BKrywko1 (5260 in chips)
Seat 6: Derf-63 (7095 in chips)
Seat 7: theedouble*d (365 in chips)
Seat 8: The Punk75 (3175 in chips)
Seat 9: absea98 (2120 in chips)
Eyekall: posts small blind 75
meatsword: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Jh Jd]
BKrywko1: raises 300 to 450 - pretty standard raise.
Derf-63: folds
theedouble*d: folds
The Punk75: folds
absea98: folds
Eyekall: folds
meatsword: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [4h 8s Qc]
theedouble*d said, "the sharks are circling"
meatsword: bets 600 -
BKrywko1: calls 600 - I took quite a bit time, almost to the point of using the time bank, on this one. I just didn't believe meat had a queen here, and I'm certain my jacks are good. A raise here might have been the better play - but having JJ requires playing with a bit of caution

*** TURN *** [4h 8s Qc] [8d]
meatsword: checks Took a while before he made this check, which gave me a line that he thought he was beat. I put him on a big ace, maybe even Ace-King. I ruled 8s out here pretty quickly, fwiw

BKrywko1: bets 1200 So because of that read, I bet it out about 2/3 the pot to see where I stand. Again, meat took a while to call - not sure if I just jammed here if he calls or not, but it would be interesting to see what he would say about it, if he remembers the hand

meatsword: calls 1200

*** RIVER *** [4h 8s Qc 8d] [Kd] - FUKK!!!! Didn't want to see an ace or a king

meatsword: checks
BKrywko1: checks - Do I jam it on the river, or trust my read and go with the "least worst move" here? I opted to check and save myself in case my read is right

*** SHOW DOWN ***
meatsword: shows [Kh As] (two pair, Kings and Eights) - BAM, just as expected - big pot to lose, but I'm still alive in the tourney, so I guess there's a small silver lining there
BKrywko1: mucks hand
Eyekall is disconnected
meatsword collected 4575 from pot

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4575 | Rake 0
Board [4h 8s Qc 8d Kd]
Seat 1: Eyekall (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: meatsword (big blind) showed [Kh As] and won (4575) with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 4: BKrywko1 mucked [Jh Jd]
Seat 6: Derf-63 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: theedouble*d folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: The Punk75 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: absea98 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Sometimes losing less chips feels like a win...or makes you feel like a puss-suit wearing Nancy (PSWN). Either one probably works here.

Thoughts?

11/15/10 Dino's Tourney - A Little Bit of Deja Vu

Last night was a night where it didn’t matter how I finished in the Dino’s tourney, since it already was a great day. Kelley started her new job that evening (working 8pm to 4:30am will be an adjustment for both of us), and before that I was the true gentleman by taking her out to dinner at Dino’s and letting her use up some of my gift certificate from the week before. I won’t be seeing her much with her new job, but it beats her not working. The last couple of years have been rough for her, but things are looking up for her (on many levels)…just hoping it stays that way.

Start out with 23 players last night, and my table (from my left) is Cheryl (host), Donald, Jay, and Heather. I am thinking that I should be able to accumulate chips here, while keeping an eye on Jay…that dude seems to have my number a lot, for some reason that neither of us can explain.

Even with last week’s win, I told myself that I was going to be more aggressive early on, and bluff a lot more than I may normally do. By the time we got to the end of the 100/200 level and our table break, I was up to 5,300 chips (including a knockout of Cheryl) while rarely having to show down, so I guess my plan was working.

Moved over with Donald to a table with Kid Dave, Pat, Bernie, and Trish – I like Trish on my right, since she will almost never raise me. I took the first 4 hands either pre- or post-flop, and then we were broken down into 2 tables. At this point, I had about 7,600 chips.

Continued to accumulate chips, then I’d start leaking them via doubling up other players. First, gave Ron 2,000 chips (300/600 blinds) when his A-J spiked a Jack on the flop to beat my A-K. After stealing the blinds 2 hands in a row, I doubled Donald up when his 9-9 outgunned my 7-7, and I was down to 4,600 or so chips, and in the big blind (400/800) next hand.

That hand, which was the last hand before we merged to final table of 10, was a turning point for me. 10-6 BB special occurred when I hit my ten on flop, and got called down all the way by Wendy-Donk before rivering trips – the 3,000 chips I got made my stack look good at the merge.

Didn’t get involved much, until I decided to double-up super-shortie Donald with 4-4 against his K-K – down to 5,500 chips when my 4s don’t catch up. I jam a couple of hands later with 10-10 to steal the blinds, and then 2 hands later the hand that set up the rest of the night took place.

Dan (now called “Mr. Vegas” based on his World Tavern Tournament win the week before) open raises all-in for his last 6,100, followed by an insta-shove by me upon waking up and finding K-K. Dan says, “Wow, nice hand”, and shows K-Q. I flop a set, and the hand is over. After the tournament Dan and I talk about his hand, and the various options he had – basically, if you don’t shove there, you make a small raise and get out when I 3-bet you. Then again, Dan was in the blinds the next hand, so the shove option (other than a limp-in call) was about the only option available to him if you’re playing that hand.

Right after this, I go on a mini-heater – stealing the blinds the next 2 hands, then eliminating Mike M when my 5-6 hits bottom part of a full house on a 8-8-5-Q-5 board, and then taking the blinds down 2 more hands in a row after that. At 500/1000 blinds, big time chips to be accumulating.

After Trish is gone in 5th, blinds are raised to 1000/2000 (final blind raise of the day), Donald puts last 1,900 in against my 2K BB, and shows K-K to my J-9. J-10-J flop is great for me (duh!), and my trips hold up to knock Donald out in 4th. The next hand, I knock out Jay when my Q-Q holds up against multiple draws held by his A-10, and it’s Bernie and I are now heads-up, which does not make Bernie happy.

Bernie takes the first 3 hands HU, then raises to 5K. I look at A-Q, and re-pop it to 15K – basically pot-committing both of us should Bernie call or raise. After electing to call and see a flop (leaving us less than 10K each in our stack, a Q-5-7 flop hits. Bernie insta-jams (even though I was first to act), so I insta-call with my pair, and no runner-runner or King is forthcoming…so it’s back-to-back wins in the Dino’s game, #15 for those counting at home!

Self-assessment: Hey, you can’t win a tournament without getting paid off on big hands, and those kings and queens didn’t hurt. But, never got below starting stack, made the right decisions when I had to…and felt in control of my game the entire night. Good stuff!

11/8/10 Dino's Toruney Results

Catching up with 3 weeks here, since I've been a bit lax on the blogging front.

Last week in October saw our final tourney for the season, and despite a strong start to the tournament, found myself on the bad end of all 4 races that I would eventually get involved in, and go on to finish 4th. May have been the most complete night of poker I had all season, but just got unlucky (you need a little luck to win a tournament, I always say)...that's poker.

November 1 - nothing of note, unless you consider busting out within 30 minutes to be noteworthy. Q-Q ran into A-Q, ace spiked on turn by Jovan-Donk, but at least I got an early night. Pat and Donald were 1-2 to start the new season.

November 8 - Much better result this week. Started off with 17 runners - won my first 3 hands I got involved in during level 1 to get to 50% over starting stack, all without a showdown. When down to 14 players, consolidated to 2 tables...I was holding over 4K in chips at this point.

Big hand of 100/200 level turned out to be the second hand in a row that I won, and this would get us to our final table of 10. First hand that I won was with K-Q of clubs after semi-bluffing the turn - got Bernie to fold pair of 3's. The next hand, 4 limpers into my big blind, where I raise to 800 with K-K....Bernie decided to tag along for the ride.

Flop of 3-3-9 hit, and Bernie bet 600...would be considered a donk bet if most players make it, but Bernie knows my style, and was just seeing where he stood. After calling the 600, another 9 hit the turn. Check by Bernie followed by my all-in for his last 2000 made him pause, and ultimately make the call with 4-4...and not surprised that his A-K read on me was wrong. Dodge his 4, and down to 10 we go, and I have over 10K in chips.

Stay pretty steady at the 10-11K mark until we get to 5-handed, where I decide to double Cheryl and Donald up, and 300-600 and less than 10BBs to go, forced to go into push or fold mold. Luckily for me, Slow Joe is on my immediate right, and almost never raises pre-flop, and will give lots of walks...which ultimately helps me stay in for a while here. Giving me more chances to pick my spots while not making me pay for it is bad strategy, tighties!

I get away from a 7-5-2 flop (2 clubs) with A-7 after Slow Joe does his "2x the pot" bet on me - after taking a couple of minutes and thinking it over, I tell Joe that his set is good. Dumb fukker flips over his 2-2 and says, "Trips, baby!" :-?

Down to 3 after Joe and Cheryl bust out to Pat at this point, and blinds just up to 500/1000. I double up through Donald after making a tough call with middle pair post-flop...and survive his A-Q when the board runs low. Donald gets knocked out by me on the next hand, when he shoves with a pair of jacks...too bad my Q-J was good for top two pair, and Pat and I move to heads up.

Pat goes card dead for most of HU...and gets a bit unlucky when his trapping with Q-Q to a board of unders gets sniffed out by me with top pair/shitty kicker. When the tourney was done, a bit of discussion about how I could fold my hand there ensued...couldn't explain exactly WHY I did it, but just had a feeling both after the flop and after the turn that something was up. Trust those guts once in a while.

Biggest hand of heads up involved my K-2 flopping trips on a 2-2-9 board, then turning quads...having Pat bet into me, and somehow buying my words as being gospel or something. Got paid off on the river when my 80%-pot bet was looked at as a bluff to his A-high. After this hand Pat was down to 3BBs

After surviving one all-in, Pat's run came to an end when 6-2 can't catch up to K-9...and win #14 is mine! Free eats for a month, gotta love it!

Limp into the money...smart, or shameful?

ESPN's WSOP covered this on their telecasts earlier this year, but it's a good debate topic. When you're severely short-stacked and the money bubble is close, what is your view on folding to get your min-cash?

Normally, you have to play to win the tournament, but here was the situation I faced last Saturday night in one of the Stars $2 1 rebuy/1 add-on tourney (fwiw, a great structure to play in): 14 players to go after the break, I have button position and just under 1 BB in my stack (lost 90% of stack 2 hands before).

Short of seeing something like J-J through A-A, I decided that playing a hand here and doubling/tripling up would not help me too much in the tourney, so I opted to try to limp into the money ($9 for 342nd place...$6 in buy-ins/add-ons invested). Kind of a chickenshit strategy, honestly, but the way I see it, a min-cash is much more preferable to a no-cash...even giving up potential equity in a deeper run by playing it out sooner.

As it turned out, the best of both worlds happened for me: I survived the money bubble (was 342nd out of 342nd when we hit the money, heh) with 1,700 chips, and quickly sextupled up after J-8 flopped a straight. Tripled up 2 hands later with A-A, and 15 minutes after the money bubble broke, I was at nearly 200K in chips....eventual finishing 14th out of almost 2800 players for a $69 payday - I'll take it, but oh, if not for being on the short end of a set over set situation, could have been even greater!

About time I update this...

So it's been about 6 weeks since I updated this little blog thing here...guess not much exciting to report the last few weeks, but let's do a recap of the last month, poker-wise:

- Made a whopping 1 final table in Dino's game (4th place), plus two bubbles. Hard to play your best when you are not terrribly motivated most weeks, however. There was this Saturday night poker game that kinda dominated conversations for a couple of nights....Oh, but hey, sometimes a social game is just that, a social game, right?

- Transitioning into cash games (esp. NLHE) a little bit more every month. Starting out at the micro levels, and grinding my way up. There will always be a good portion of any online time allocated to sit-n-gos, however.

- 2 cash game appearances in live venues - Netted a little more than 1 buy-in profit, in total.

So I had this strange thought last night while watching this hand play out about how beautiful it would have looked to tape this tourney and air it on some crappy public access channel...complete with commentator (probably me, when I'm not playing) and some comedian playing the analyst role. Maybe we can bring PJ Butland back to Dino's for this occasion...

Flop is A-K-Q, and Harry bets out after flopping the nut straight. 3 callers. Ace pairs board on turn, and after Harry bets out, Wendy and Mike call. After a King pairs board on river, Harry checks, Wendy makes a huge bet, Mike folds, Harry goes in the tank and folds, then a crowd goes bonkers when Wendy flips over 8-8, and legitimately thought her hand was the best hand. Oh, those crazy kids....but well-done getting the pot!

Anyways, Dino's last night was a solid run for about an hour, then went quickly downhill until I finally bluffed off my last 1200 chips post-flop to Kid Dave holding 2 pair....oops! Side game would soon start, with Bernie, Volcano Ron, Farmer Tim, and Fred joining me to start. Patrick, Merlot, and Andy would join us by the end of the night.

Was down half my buy-in until I hit a set of 9's, and got paid off on my post-flop all-in by both Bernie and Volcano Ron...and never looked back after this.

What was working last night was simple - being able to outbluff the bluffers. Didn't hurt, either, that I picked up a tell on Farmer...can't believe I never picked up on earlier, but need another night of play for confirmation. For example, soon after that triple-up, I pushed out both Farmer and Fred post-flop with a check-raise with 9-high. A few hands later, I pushed both Farmer and Bernie out with a Q-high check-raise post-turn, with what turned out to be the best hand out of the 3 of us - those 2 hands allowed to take down quite a few small pots all night without much opposition.

Hit a set of 7s to bust Bernie out of his second buy-in, and we were rolling at this point. Lost a couple of small pots, then Andy joined the madness, when this hand occured:

K-2 in the small blind, Andy and 3 others limp-in. Flop comes K-K-7 - checked around, Andy bets 5 or 6, everyone folds except me, who calls. Check-call 8 units the next round when a K hits turn to give me quads. Sucks to get a monster hand and know you're not getting paid on the river. Unfortunately for me, an ace hits on the river, and even my 1/2 pot-sized value bet warranted an insta-fold of 5-5 from Andy. I think at this point I was my hi-water mark for the night, up 5 buy-ins.

I stuck around for another hour or so, stayed out of big pots, and left at midnight cashing out for just under $50 (up 4 buy-ins), solid! Farmer was working on his 6th buy-in when I left, Bernie blew through 4, and Andy had made a great comeback after making his 3rd buy-in - whattanight!

Oh yeah, congrats to Rachel for knocking out Kid Dave to win the tournament - and to Dan for showing that the "chip and a chair" theory works once in a while...one chip, and fights way to 3rd.

#13 - A roller-coaster of a grind...

...or, alternatively, "Why You Should Never Give Up".

Got to Dino's much earlier than expected, and after talking to Kid Dave for a while over dinner, decided to try to get some more good karma by setting up the chip stacks for the night. Sat down with Sharon and Harry for a few, did my little weekly "I feel an early bustout tonight!" spiel (where more players are amused by it every week), and got my seating assignment....Jennifer, two fairly new guys (wild cards, as to what hands they'll play), Andy, and Eric. Only the last 2 are players I'll watch myself with.

Came out swinging early by having my rags hit straight on the turn and picking up 600 chips (starting stack 2400) after Jennifer paid me off with top pair. Promptly started bleeding chips for a few hands, then got involved in a hand that cost me most of my chips:

Limps in from the cutoff with 3-4 (love my low suited connectors when I can get it cheap), and with 4 to the flop we see K-4-4 come out. Steve (new guy - wild card) bet out pot-size of 200, and I smooth-call, putting him on a low king. Turn is a J, 7, and with a flush draw out there, I bet out 400 after Steve checks...then calls my bet. A deuce on the river makes no flush, and at this point Steve bets out 1000, which surprised me, and not in a good way. The sickening thought that I have been behind the whole way hits me, but after thinking it over, I make the crying call and find out Steve has 9-4, so his kicker plays, and I lose a monster pot. Get what you ask for, sometimes, I suppose.

The next hand, Jennifer busts out to be the first one out for the night, and at least I don't get to have that status on me for this week. Down to 700 chips, and still at 50/100 - yup, I smell an early bustout happening, and not happy that it's me.

Big hand of the night started a monster rush by me. Dan (or "SAG", from past writings) moves to our table and needles me about my short stack as he heads to take a smoke break. I look at 5-7 off in the BB, and after one guy min-raises to 100, with 2 callers in front of me I have to call. Flop of 5-7-(paint) is gin for me, and I shove my 500 in the middle...only to have 3 callers. This could be really, really good...or really, really bad. Ace hit on turn, and nominal betting occurs. 7 on river gives me a boat, and after hand is checked down, I flip over my 7-5 to quadruple up.

Take down the next hand with a standard pre-flop raise, then win another 1500 or so after value-bet bluffing the river with a pair of 2s...made Wild Card Steve (who calls almost everything) actually sit back and make the remark that "You must really want a call here" before folding the best hand. 2 hands later, my Q-10 hits on an A-Q-Q board. Opponent bets, I call. 10 on turn gives me boat. Opponent bets 500 - I briefly think about putting him all-in, but just smooth call here. Q on river gives me quads, and after opponents puts 1000 of his remaining 1150 in the pot, I raise him enough to put him in....and he calls with 9-6 for a busted flush draw.

Dan comes back from his smoke break, looks at my chip stacks, shakes his head, and says something along the lines of "Guess I missed some action here, eh?", as I stack my 6700 in chips at this point. Yup, nearly ten times more chips in 4 hands...nice heater.

After Eric and Andy bust out, at 3 players we move over to the other 2, and just need 4 players to bust out for final table. Nothing majorly exciting here, except for getting Wayne-O to make a horrible call when he was chasing a gutshot and hitting on the river. At least it didn't cost me too many chips.

Merge to the final table and I have about 4400 at this point. Not where I'd like to be at this point (6K is usually average stack at this point), but I can maneuver around here. Fireworks on the second as 3 limpers to me in the SB, and after seeing A-K I decide to shove. Wild Card Steve calls me with K-10 (really?), and after an A-2-4 flop, the hand is pretty much over. A 3 gives outs for a wheel and a split pot, but another Ace spikes on the river and I get to nearly 10K in chips, just like that.

On the very next hand, the biggest hand of the tourney (to date) takes place. After WC Steve and Volcano Ron limp in pre-flop, I decide to join the fun with J-10 of diamonds. After Wendy-Donk pumps in another 500, with 1 caller in front of me, I figure I have to see a flop. Flop of 9d-8d-5h hits, and after Wendy-Donk bets out 500, WC Steve min-raises to 1000...I figure that I have so many outs here, this is as easy a call as I can make. Wendy-Donk calls, and we see a turn....3 of diamonds, gin! Errrr, I hope. Checked around to me, and since my flush is not the nuts, I have to bet this out strong and see where I'm at, so I put 3000 in. Wendy-Donk deliberates for a few seconds, then reluctantly folds. WC Steve quickly calls. Blank on the river, and after WC Steve checks, I bet out 4500....or what I thought was enough to put WC Steve all-in. Steve quickly calls (leaving 200 behind), and after I flip over my flush, he flips over K-8 of clubs for a measely pair of 8s!

As I'm stacking the chips, Volcano Ron, Fred, Harry, and Sharon (I guess we need to include me in this group, as well) are talking about how strange that play was by Steve to just call all the way down with just that, and take yourself out of the tournament. The other thing that was pretty funny was that pretty much everyone at the table BUT Steve had put me on a flush or a straight...it was just a matter of how good it was.

Next hand, Steve goes down, and Wendy-Donk is out on the next hand. Wayne-O busts out soon after, and we go down to a very tough table of Me, Harry, Sharon, Dan, Volcano Ron, Nicole, and Fred (all very solid players)...the winner will have earned it this week.

Dan comes out of the basement to take a monster chipstack advantage, highlighted by calling Harry's all-in, flopping quad 4s, and then post-turn having Fred go all-in with a straight...Harry is out in 7th, Fred is crippled. Ron and I chop the next pot to take Fred out. I double Sharon up when her K-K hits a set against my A-Q, and my 22K stack is dwindling now. Dodge a bullet a few hands later when Sharon makes a raise with 3-3, and after hemming and hawing decide that I am not playing A-J out of position, see Dan reraise Sharon with A-A...and after Sharon calls and is eliminated we are down to 4 players.

After Nicole busts out in 4th, blinds are traded for a few hands, until we raise blinds to 1000/2000. With 9K in chips, I open-shove with J-10, only to have Dan call me with A-10. Luckily for me, I hit a Jack on the turn and double up, and now we have a ballgame. Ron doubles up through Dan, and soon afterwards this hand hits:

6-4 of diamonds in the BB, and after a flop of 7d-3d-4s, I bet out 4K. Dan calls, and a 3 hits turn. Check-check....5d hits the river giving me a straight flush, and after I bet out 4500 solely because I can't check a straight flush, Dan makes the crying call with the wheel.

2 hands later, make my best call of the tournament after making a PFR to 7K with A-8 of hearts. Dan comes over the top with his last 11.5K, and I have a decision to make here...I lose the hand, and I'm down to about 7K and nearly crippled. After doing the math here, and knowing that Dan is capable of pushing with any 2 face cards, I do what is customary after I call when I am positive that I am ahead: Flip over cards before opponent flips them over. Dan sees the A-8 and says, "Nice hand", and shows Q-J. K-10-6 flop is not good for me, and the 2 on the turn gives Dan a flush draw. 8 of spades on the river gives me a knockout, and it's now Volcano Ron and me heads-up.

Ron takes me to the woodshed for a few hands, and then after we trade stealing blinds from each other, the final hand takes place. PFR to 7K is followed by a reraise of 10K or so more by Ron. With 10-10 in my hand, easy call...and Ron flips up A-6. No help for Ron, and victory is mine! Win #13 in the Dino's Tourneys!

56 points for the season gives me a big 14-15 point lead over Volcano Ron for the year...only target now is seeing if I can get to 70 points for the season and put a monster season total up before the final.

Dino's Tourney - 8/23/10

Another Monday comes to Dino's, and just before starting I get into my recent bit of "I feel an early knockout coming"...it's good for a few laughs from a couple of people, but it's mainly my way of giving fair warning that I'm not coming playing tight early, and that I'm willing to try to bust others (or even myself) on coin-flips and draws in the first couple of levels.

Drop down from 2400 to 1800 chips pretty early, but then quickly get back up to over 3500 in the matter of one orbit thanks to turning trip 5's and flopping a straight on consecutive hands. Pick up pocket kings on the button on last hand of 2nd orbit, and after 3 players limp in (blinds at 50/100), I raise to 500 to chase players away. Sharon (generally plays only solid cards) and some new guy call...and see a great flop of Q-2-6 rainbow. I bet out 800, which gets Sharon to fold 10-10 after some deliberation, but called by some new guy for his last 200...and he flips over Q-7 - no fold'em hold'em was not working for him today. K-K holds up, and we get 2K in chips AND our early knockout we love getting.

A couple of orbits later, after chipping up another grand via blind steals, I see Doctor O (only player who found the game from reading this blog, go figure) shove 1600 UTG...and figure that my pocket 9's are good against his 2 overs. I call, and am proven correct when O flips over A-Q. O hits his ace on flop, but I also flop a set of 9s, fill up with 8s on turn, and dodge one of 2 aces on river to knock O out.

Next couple of orbits are mainly card-dead, with the odd blind steal here, but then I decide to donk off 1/2 my chips to Jennifer (new player who only pushes with big hands) after my PFR of 1000 (150/300 blinds) is reraised another 1800. Easy call when figuring the math out and considering the stack sizes, but then you feel a little stupid when opponent flips K-K over. K-K holds up, and it's back to grinding (3900 chips at this point).

Build stack back up to over 5K (200/400) then get a knockout of Sharon after she pushes after hitting something on the river, but will be unhappy to see that my K-J made its straight on the turn. Jovan comes along for the ride on the river...and then the interesting conondrum comes up: What to make for a value bet? I sort of figure that any raise I make will not get paid off, so I make the min-raise of 900 - I figure that I am giving him 6 or 7 to 1 to call here, but he folds middle pair face-up, and after flipping my straight over we are down to 12.

Fold 2 hands in a row at new table, and then we are merged into our final table. At this point I go out for a smoke, and pretty guarantee to the other palyers at the table that I'm getting no worse than 3rd (wine for prize) tonight...kinda putting a bullseye on me.

I am thinking here that my 7700 might be best in the room, but if it's not, I'm close. Brad and Poker Don are eliminated in the first 3 hands. Donald is crippled by me and 2 pair against his top pair, then taken out by Jennifer's A-K versus A-Q...and we're down to 7.

In the next 6-7 hands, I go from about 14K to 27K in chips doing nothing but bullying the table around...and this would be my high point of the night. Go card-dead for a while, and any steal attempts are met by some playing back at me (finally). Watch Chris (new guy), Jennifer, and Slow Joe go out, and we're down to 4.

Lose 9K of chips with A-8 after I get check-raised by Kid Dave flopping top pair with his Q-10...and then the bubble-play tightens up. Jovan is crippled by Kid Dave a few hands later, and then knocked out on the next hand to get us to 3. Eric wastes little time is pushing on the button with J-10, only to have Kid Dave call...and me with an interesting decision holding A-10 (500/1000 here). I come over the top of Dave, who goes into the tank and finally calls me with A-5...monster hand potential here! K-K-4 hits flop, then an 8 on turn...followed by a loud "GD it!" after another 4 hits on river, giving Kid Dave and me a split pot...and me a feeling that my best chance to double may have passed.

Blinds up to 1000/2000, and in 3rd hand of HU I push with A-5, only to be insta-called with A-J. No help anywhere, and for 3rd time in 6 weeks, a runner-up finish is my fate in this league. I'll take the gift cert, but I leave feeling pretty
disgusted with myself for (in my mind) not getting it done...but after reviewing my recap, it was a simple case of Kid Dave catching a great run of cards, and playing them well. Congrats!

Cheryl finally tallies points up for the season, and by 9 points I have the point lead with 45 - and am a lock for the season finale tourney....errr, whenever that is.

8/16/10 Dino's Poker results

Feeling pretty good about my game after quite a bit of playing last week, I head over to Dino's for the Monday night game. Share a few jokes/laughs with Kid Dave, Harry, Dr. O, and BBB (Big Bald Brad) beforehand, and boldly tell BBB that I am either going home really early, or busting someone out really early...I was just feelin' it. Errrrrrrr, or just clownin' around, I guess.

Get seated at a perfect table to start: From my left to right, I have Big Jeff and Slow Joe, then Andy, Black John (BJ), and Donald. There is only one person I have to be careful with (Andy) - and I have 2 people on my left that I can abuse their blinds liberally without much resistance.

Win 450 on the first hand with A-K against Andy, then bluff away and steal a couple of pots early on. At one of the last hands of the first level, BJ raises to 150, and with 2 other players in, J-8 looks beautiful given the price I was getting. After the flop I have a double-belly gutshot, and get paid off after I hit on the river by BJ's 2 pair.

The liberal bluffing continued, and this paid off handsomely when I bluffed 400 at a 4-5-6-8-Q board with A-9 (into a 600 chip pot), and get called by Big Jeff - I say, "Good call", and he flips over K-3!?! Andy and I are kinda speechless after that call...but thank you!

A couple of hands later I bust BJ out when my A-K survives his J-8 on a Q-Q-Q-3-Q board, and shortly after that Big Jeff is crippled by Slow Joe, which allows me to take him out next hand with the ever-popular Q-3 against his A-5 - Big Jeff had 1 BB left, and I was in BB that hand.

Volcano Ron and Nicole move to our table, a new guy joins them, Andy moves to other table, and we're 7-handed now, nearing our final table. I take Donald out when 6-6 beats Volcano Ron's 5-5 and Donald's A-Q, and after stealing a couple of blinds to get to 7600 chips, we merge to final 10.

I figure I am about 3rd or 4th in chips here, so I can be patient. Wait a few hands, then get a BB special of Q-3. Since it's a flush and straight potential board, bet out my made 2 pair and gladly take the pot down. The next hand, I see Joe is sitting with 850 chips in total (300/600 blinds), so I tell everyone that if it's folded to me that I will give Joe a chance to double-up without looking at my cards.

Of course, said plan goes slightly awry when Wayne-O limps in with who-knows-what. Q-9-6-8-9 board has been checked around, and finally I look at my cards to see a Q-9 for a full-house. Even a small value-bet of 1,000 gets no takers, and the table laughs when I turn over the full house.

We go to 7-handed, and I get to my high point of the day after Ron and I both bust Dr. O out with A-Q when O's J-10 fails to hit. Eric is out a couple of hands, and then the zaniness starts for the night...

Blinds 500/1000, Rachel shoves her last 2500 into the middle, and with 1,000 already in, a pretty easy (but crappy) call with 10-3 against her K-8. Rachel flops trip 8's, and doubles up, much to the consternation of Andy. Andy's K-K when short-stacked was cracked by Rachel's 10-3, so he was hoping revenge would happen...alas, it did not.

A couple of hands later I raise in MP to 3K with 4-4, only to have Nicole come over the top for 1000 more. Rachel calls, and I call, figuring that I am way behind here. Q-Q-9 flop is checked down, but I think I hit gin on the turn with a 4...bet enough to put Rachel all-in gets her to fold, and Nicole flips over Q-Q for the flopped quads - NICE!!!!

Slowly being blinded down by dead cards, but after Rachel busts out it's prize bubble time. Kid Dave sucks out a big hand against Volcano Ron on the river, and we get a classic outburst (at least his 2nd of the day) from Volcano Ron. Nicole, Cheryl, and I find the whole thing hilarious...better Kid Dave be the object of Volcano Ron's scorn than us!

I am cripple shortly after blinds go to 1K/2K when Nicole's A-Q crushes my Q-J...and Kid Dave takes me out the next hand when his A-something beats my 3-3 (all-in dark from SB) on the river - and I'm out in 4th place for 9 points. 36 or 37 points right now, and at this point I'm pretty much a lock to make it to the finale in a few week (40 is generally the number to get to top 10).

Nicole rivered a huge pot against Kid Dave to grab the chiplead, and never looked back to take out Volcano Ron for the title - congrats, lady!

8/9/10 Dino's Poker results

After busting out in the second hand last week, I figured improving on that finish wouldn't be too hard, and I was right. Matter of fact, I told Harry right before we started that I felt a quick bustout coming on tonight...and boy, was I right!

Seated at first table with (to my left) Eric (TAG player), vacant spot, Kid Dave (LAG), Mike M. (tight-passive), and Dan (solid player). Dan lost 1/3 of stack on first hand, then on hand #3 opens up UTG for 200, only to have me wake with A-A - reraise to 600 here. I know some people like to try to trap here, but I want this hand heads-up, not 3 or 4-way. Dan thinks about giving it up for a minute here, but decides to shove and says, "Are you serious?" when I insta-call. Little wonder, as Dan ran into a cooler here, and flips over K-K. No help for Dan, and he's out of here 3 hands into the game.

Take a few pots here and there with pre-flop raises with QQ, AQ, AA, QQ, JJ, and AK at various times, and build stack up to over 5K without having to show my cards once...until Jovan got moved to our table. Kid Dave, Rachel (moved to our table at same time), and I start pecking away at Jovan's 8K or so, and I'm able to build my stack up to over 8K before my big hand of the night happens.

5-way action to me in BB with A-8 of hearts, and I see a beauty for me of A with Queen and 6 of hearts. Jovan bets 1600, I bet 4K to put Jovan all-in (isolation play), and everyone folds....except Jovan insta-calls with K-10 (and no hearts). Gotta dodge 3 outs if my heart doesn't hit, and while I hit another ace on the turn, and black jack hits on the river for a sick suckout win for Jovan, and putting me on semi-tilt for the next few hands.

Shove the next 3 hands to steal 600 in blinds each hand, and get to final table with 5K or so. Near the end of the first orbit and blinds just up to 300/600, I shoved 4400 into the middle with 8-8, only to be called by Rachel and Dr. O - Rachel sucks out a runner-runner straight to knock me out in 8th. Perhaps I could have waited for a better spot, but unlike a few people at this game, I'm not trying to fold my way to extra points...play to win, I say! Either way, 27 or 28 points so far puts me comfortably in the mix for the season finale, whenever that is.

Always another week, I say!

Oh yeah, took 1st in a 90-man SnG on Stars on Saturday. Too bad I was only fooling around in a 25 cent tourney, meh!

Friday night charity poker, strikes again!

So Friday afternoon, Harry contacts me and asks if I'm playing poker tonight. While I had thought about it, wasn't sure if I was going to play or not. Headed back up to 4 Aces on the East side for their 9 pm deep-stack tourney. Go back a couple of weeks to see the structure...suffice to say, I am a big fan of it.

Didn't care one way or another about seating assignment, though I had a very solid (and aggressive player to my right), but 2 players on my left who I knew I could abuse their blinds if I needed to. 68 players this time, which made for a very nice prize pool, indeed!

Didn't get much to play with first hour, though I managed to run starting stack from 20K to 22K in this time. Only hand of note was losing a third of my chips on one hand with A-K, and it turned out I had the right read on my opponent, which saved me some chips. Won a couple of pots before the break to get back to the 16-17K area.

Chipped up right after the break back to original 20K or so, then was moved to a back table for a few hands. Luckily, while the blinds were at 2K/4K, I was able to fold 4 hands with no cost to me via the blinds - and THEN another table move, this time down to 3 tables, and blinds up to 3K/6K. My first orbit at the table, was able to triple up to 60K without having to show down cards...I was very fortunate to move to a table of tighties, and I was pushing marginal hands like Q-J as long as I had the important "first-in vigorish", as Dan Harrington said in his excellent series of books that you must purchase (or at least read) if you are a NLHE tournament player.

At this time is our second break, and the solid player from my first table and I are holding court in the smoking area outside, saying how amazing it is that people have no about Ms, avg stack needed to get to final table, and how people are so easy to create their own landmines by their own play.

After break is over, we go down to 2 tables after one hand, then the action gets interesting. With blinds at 5K/10K, I knockout one player who jammed his last 45K with K-Q, only to have me call with A-5 and have my pair of 5's hold up. Drop down to 70K, then lose 10K in the BB on a sick hand (with 13 or 14 left) that at the time thought might cost me a lot of money:

UTG - 90K - all-in
Cutoff - Insta-calls
BB (me) - 8-8....errrrrrrrrrrrr, goes into the tank.

Since no action is dependent on me here, I think about my opponent's possible holdings out loud, saying that I guarantee I have at least one of them beat, and may even have the best hand, but after a couple of minutes, of talking, I decide that I am not going to put my tourney on the line just yet, and fold face-up. A loud F-bomb comes out of my mouth after I see UTG flip over 7-7 and cutoff A-K...then a small sigh of relief after seeing a 7 hit the flop, only to be followed by a sick feeling when an 8 hits on the turn, grrrrr. Hey, trust your read and go with it, even if it's the wrong read. Really could have used a triple up here, however.

The next hand, I wake up in the SB and see J-J, and on this hand I triple up after doubling up through bigger stack, and knocking out A-K player from previous hand. 2nd table loses a player and we're down to a final table!

7th was paying $35 (buy-in fee), and it was agreed to take $70 off of first, and $35 off of second, and pay $35 to 8th through 10th place. Sitting at 170K in chips, and with 1.36 million chips in play, I am above the chip average, at least. 2 biggers stacks directly to my left, older lady is a couple spots to my right, and shorties all around....OK, I don't mind this.

Open-folded 6-6 UTG on first hand, and watch 2 shorties go out to big stack's K-K, down to 8. After another shortie busts out, I bust the last shortie (who had only 40K in chips) with A-J against his A-2, and we're down to 6 players - it's all profit at this time.

I only get involved in one or 2 hands here, except to steal the blinds, but at 4-handed I double up again after shoving K-Q into A-7. Ace on flop hits opponent, but I have flush draw...and hit it on the turn. We lose one more player, and down to 3 players. Both players to my left have over 500K in chips, and I'm the shorty at about 250K.

I lose a couple of pots, basically get by blinds abused, and go card dead, and get down to 100K or so in chips. Finally, on the button with 4-3, and it's just hit 1 am, so I think "F-this", and shove my chips in the middle (15K/30K blinds). 1st big stack shoves all-in, insta-call by other big stack (WTF?), and the cards reveal:

Me - 3-4
SB - K-K
BB - A-A (chipleader)

Flop is a beautiful 3-4-8, followed by a 3 on the turn, and a blank on the river, and not only do I get a miracle triple-up here, but we get down to HU.

Older guy who I had played with before has a million more chips than I, but we battle it out for the next 25-30 minutes. Finally, after we get back to about where we started (and blinds about to go to 50K/100K), he offers me a chop deal that is worth about $20-25 more than I should have gotten. I wasn't about to refuse it, and we happily end the tourney there. $425 was my take, and after tipping my dealer $23, a cool $367 profit was mine.

I am thinking a visit back to Four Aces on the 20th or 21st is a given.

Dino's 8/2/10 Tourney report

This will probably qualify as my shortest report to date, with good reason. Anyways, before while eating dinner, I make the comment that since I had two strong finishes in a row, I was due to go out early this week.

Here was my tournament:

Hand #1 - Folded 7-3o
Hand #2 - Raised to 175 UTG with A-K. Flop of Q-J-10 hits. BB checks, I bet out 200, BB calls. Turn is a 10. Check-check. Turn is a 4, missing 2 potential flush draws. BB bets 150, I raise to 400...BB raises to 800. At this point the alarms should be going off that something is awry here, but I jam all-in for remaining of 2400 stack. BB calls with J-10 for the boat, gg me.

In reality, while most players go broke there, there were 2 spots after the river that I could have stayed alive...and saved some chips. The first bet of 150 after the river is giving someone 6-1 to call - really should have just flat-called here and cheaply paid the BB off. After the 2nd raise, however, is when I really needed to slow down and either fold or just call and pay him off...while still holding half your stack. Misread by me...thought maybe he had trips or K-high straight, while the boat was never under consideration.

Cash, errrrrrrrrrrr, Side game went better. Tripled up by initial $10 buy-in, left $5 (give or take a quarter or 2) up...making a little coin better than not at all.

Why you limp with pocket Aces

So a couple of weeks ago, I made mention of a hand where I doubled up after limping in from the small blind while heads-up. This hand sparked a little discussion between me, Dan (the other player in the hand), Farmer Tim, and Kid Dave (the last two were observers and wondering why I did that) - Dan was the only one who understood my line of thinking, and agreed with it after he heard it.

It all goes back to what I say a lot in my postings, that you can't play the same hand the same way all the time...and pocket aces certainly qualifies here. Down nearly 3-1 HU at the time and sitting with about 16K in chips (blinds 1K/2K), and I'm trying to find a way to double up against a solid player. So what are the options when first to act pre-flop?

1) Shove all-in, and hope opponent has something reasonable to call. Up 3-1 HU, unless he has a pair or Ace-something, you get the blinds - congrats, you're now down 18K to 46K (or close to that). If I'm down by a greater amount (say, 5-1 or more), I just shove, as opponent is getting correct price to call with nearly anything. The upside is that your opponent may do an Antonio Esfandiari impersonation and ask you "Why so much?", and call. The maximum value (double up) is unlikely, so let's pass here on this move.

2) You could just raise 3-4x the BB, though if you're willing to put about half your stack in pre-flop, you might as well just go all the way since you're pot-committed at this point...and a smart opponent might figure this out. I like this about as much as #1.

3) Min-raise him to 4K. This option is better, especially if you've shown the ability to make this raise before. If your normal raise is 3-4x the BB, however, this should look suspicious to a solid player (or at the least, one who is paying attention). Good players use this to induce action...most donks do it to raise without committing many chips with 2 face cards or a weak-ace.

4) Limp in. I like this move the best. It disguises your hand by showing weakness ("Just wanna see a flop"), and may induce your opponent to try to raise pre-flop...once this happens, any reraise all-in is going to be called (too good a price not to call), and you've got your money in the middle as you hoped for.

Of course, there are perils with this move post-flop, as your opponent's rags might strike gold against you, but that's a chance you have to be willing to take here at heads-up.

Another big finish at Dino's Poker

Looking to improve my 2nd place finish from last week, I get assigned to a table with (from my left) Andy, Nicole, Wendy, Dan, and Fred. Well, at least we had 4 out of 6 strong players at the table...go big or go home.

Start out winning a nice pot early when I hit my flush on the river - Dan reluctantly pays me off on the river with his 2 pair, then curses himself for not pushing me off my draws. Chipped down back to 2000, but then won 1200 when I jammed post-flop with QQ on a 7-9-4 board again some lady who I had never played with (Nicole was moved to another table early).

Lost a big pot back to Dan, then doubled up through Andy when I hit a set of 10s on the flop, and his 9-9 paid me off on the river when he assumed I missed a draw. Not sure why he felt like giving me 3000 chips here, but whatever.

Knocked out Wendy when my A-K made the nut boat on the river versus her A-4. Fred called pre-flop with 9-9, and wished he had put me all-in pre-flop. I told him that it was a good thing he didn't, because I was willing to race with him...I had put him on 8s through 10s based on how long he took to call my UTG raise.

Moved to another table (3 tables left), and played very aggressive pre-flop, and keeping myself out of trouble for a couple of levels until we hit the final table. Had about 10K at this point, much more than I usually have.

Nothing playable for the first few hands, then picked up 4 pots in a row (including a knockout of Nicole), and we get down to the final 6, with me having about half the chips.

At this point, I'm pretty much open-raising every hand I'm entering, and while I double a couple of shorties up with questionable calls (including 9-6 off against AA one hand), I figured I was stealing enough pots pre-and post-flop to make it pay for itself. Knocked both Cheryl and Slow Joe out in 4th and 5th (respectively) when my 10s made quads, while dodging a straight flush draw, in the process.

Doubled up a new lady first hand while 3-handed with A-Q versus her 8-8 - not winning a race seemed to be my thing here. Dan eventually knocked new girl out to get us to HU, and at this point it's about 3-1, Dan's advantage.

In a hand that I'll discuss in next post, double up on a 3-spade with AA (called pre-flop...hoping Dan would raise to induce action) when Dan hit middle pair post-flop. A few minutes of discussion outside with Dan and a couple of other players on why that play was made the way it was (Dan understood the logic and agreed...the other 3, ahhhh, not so much).

Critical hand of the tourney was a couple of hands later, when Dan comes over the top of my initial raise to go all-in, only to find my A-J dominating his A-7. Horrible flop for me gives Dan a flush draw...and while the Jack on the turn gave him less outs, his flush hits for him on river, and I'm down to 1 BB here.

Double up next hand, but my J-10 is no match for his K-J the very next hand, and Dan gets a win that was a long time coming. Another gift cert to the bar doesn't suck too bad, however.

Playing at a real high level right now in this game, and it's nice to hear other players tell you the same thing, as well.

2 poker tourneys

Played again on Sunday in chartiy in a $40 semi-deep stack tourney. Pretty much a "bleh" kind of tournament, as far as action goes, but I did at least get my $40 back thanks to small chop when we got down from 30 to 8 people (effectively allowing 3 players to make more than buy-in). Whatever...did the best I could to finish 6th in this thing, but the donkeys couldn't be dodged this night, so I'll take my 3 hours of play for no profit or loss and chalk one up for experience.

Monday night at Dino's I had a good week, finally. Last 3 weeks, I've been watching my chip stack get into short-stack territory fairly early. At least I was getting money in with a dominating position, but couldn't dodge 3-outers on turn or river...but what can ya do? Can't fault the guys for calling 40% or more of their stack with marginal (at best) hand, since that's what we want to have happen...sometimes the poker gods do not work out.

I guess I elaborated on the first point for a reason...got off to a fast start by winning 800 or so on the first 2 hands after solid post-flop and turn bets, then by the end of the second level (50/100) I got my first bustout of the night. K-J in the big blind, and we see a 5-way pot to the flop. K-J-3 hits, but with 2 spades...and I will be happy to take a pot here, or possibly bust someone if the opportunity occurs. Jovan (SB) bets out 400, and I decide to come over the top with a bet to 1300 - with 2 draws out there, need to price people out here. Trish snap-calls the bet, and with her being a tight player, I immediately wonder if I've run into trips here. Jovan eventually pushes his last 800 in, and 2 of us go to turn. Admittedly a misread and misplay by me after turn and river for 1) checking turn, and 2) too small a value bet on river...Trish flips over AA, and KJ cracks it, but rues not getting a 2nd bustout for it. Stack is at 8500 at this point.

Next level I river a 4th heart on the board to knock Andy out, and we're over 10K 3 levels in...big stack poker, potential here.

Sadly for me, my attempts at bullying mean nothing, as I quickly double up 2 short-to-medium stacks in flips where I was ahead...no biggie, at the time. After that, steal a few blinds, play things a little tighter (being fairly card dead for an hour will do that, too), and cruise to the final table with about 7K in chips.

Watch a few shorties bust themselves out, and we get a final table that seemingly drags on forever. Eventually, John (infrequent player who was on my left entire night) goes on a knockout run to get us down to 3, then wins a flip versus Harry to get us to HU. Down about 7-1 at HU, I get one double-up to get to about 3-1. The next hand, shove K-J into his 7-8...7 on river gives the victory to John. Shortstack to winner, well done - and certainly some luck on his side.

13 pts for the season - looking for the magic 40 or so for the finale.

Hitting it big at charity poker, once again!

With the wife and kids occupied outside of the house for the evening, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to play some charity poker. Four Aces Poker Room inside of Continental Lanes in Roseville (13 & Gratiot intersection) was a great choice for me, on this particular evening. I played in the 9pm $35 NLHE freezeout tourney, and a great deep-stack structure made this tourney a must-play again for me. 20K chips (12K for $25, 8K more for $10) to start, and blind levels are such that you can get a lot of play in the first 1.5 - 2 hours. Dealers are quick, friendly, and the room has a great feel to it.

Anyways, enough of the free testimonials...so how'd I do? First level I was initial raiser in only one hand, which saw A-J losing on a 8-9-10-A-10 board to the SB holding 10-9. Saw a few cheap flops, whiffed badly, and folded. During this time, while people were complaining about being "card dead", I was making mental notes of the players at the table. Based on what I saw, few tight players, 4 bluffers...a couple of loose-passive players (yes!)...yup, I liked this table.

First big pot of the night for me was off some younger, chunky kid (CK) who I had played before a couple of times at other poker rooms. CK raised in MP a standard raise, and on the button I saw 9-9...decided to just call, and see what happens. 8-7-6 flop hit, and I check-called his c-bet...rather than check-raise him here. If the turn is a good one, a bet will be forthcoming. 2 on the turn seemed innocent enough, and this time I bet out 2/3 of the pot. CK thought for a minute, and just called. 7 on river paired board, but I was sure that he was holding A-10 or KQ-type hand here, so I bet out what I thought was a value bet of about half the pot (1500). CK then bumped up to 6K, and gave me pause for thought...but then I remembered him doing this twice to me in the past with snow (and getting caught), and confidently re-raised him up to 12K, which got a quick fold from CK.

Flopped a Q-high straight the very next hand, and got paid off by 2 players on the river(!), and now stack was about 35K...feeling very good about things at this point. Big hand occured at start of 3rd level, and I got a very important lesson in Michigan Charity Game Law, at the same time. Blinds at 100/200, and UTG raised to 800. UTG was a bluffer post-flop, but had raised with solid hands before. As UTG+1, I look down see the beautiful pocket aces - this will be an interesting pot. I raised to 2500, solely to keep the loose riff-raff (the ones that will call any raise with any two cards) out of the hand. Cutoff raises to 6500, and I am thinking that someone got unlucky to have QQ or KK here...UTG folds after thinking for a minute, and after pausing for a couple of seconds announce all-in, which is followed by a quick call...with the dealer yelling "WHOA WHOA...!" as both of us flip our cards over (AA vs KK).

Apparantly, in cash and tournament games only 3 raises are allowed per round in a no-limit game....so the last action I could do was call his last bet, and we see a flop. Rag flop hits, I shove all-in, and guy with KK folds. KK guy is pretty happy, all things considered...while I am kinda pissed at the State. Government fukkin' up things again!

Give away some chips (about 15K) when I'm forced to fold on river after missing a couple of monster draws, but gain 25K soon after when bust a player with A-J on a 10-10-8-A-9 board, with player trying to semi-bluff with 8-3 here. Guy is mystified that I had an ace, but after he left the player on left said, "Why was he surprised? You've shown nothing but solid hands the entire night.", which was correct.

Right before the break I bust the same guy on my left, who jammed UTG with K-Q, but ran into my A-K in BB. A couple of hands later I SPFR with 10-10, but was re-raised by female player who had played few hands...I put her on a bigger pair, and was proven right when she showed A-A after I folded 10-10 faceup. I think this read helps me pick up a few blinds later on in the evening.

After first break, blinds are 500/1000, and we get a period of card-deadedness for a while, although I manage to pick up a few of the blinds in this period. At 2K/4K level, I get JJ UTG, and raise to 12K, and am called by UTG+1. The next player, who's only shown solid cards since he was moved to our table, pushes all-in, and while he doesn't have me covered, he would have me covered...makes this a tougher call with 18 players to go. I go in the tank for a couple of minutes, try to decide if he has A-K or big pair, and ultimately I much my Jacks. I was not happy to see A-K and A-J flipped over - a chance to bust 2 players gone. Only real bad read I would have all night, as it turned out.

Last hand before 2nd break, and I bust out KK-guy to get us to our final table. 3K/6K blinds, and I'm in BB with 6-5. KK min-raises to 12K, and SB goes in for his last 6K. I figure I am getting 4-1 here, so I'll see a flop with a measely 6-5. 6-6-5 is a dream flop, and after I check flop KK goes all-in for last 15K (more on this at end of paragraph) with A-Q or A-J, which is followed by my insta-call...off we go to break! I get in a nice discussion with the guy who pushed my off of J-J, and he was wondering if that was really the right play with that hand. A discussion of "squeeze plays", odds, position, and other matters took place while burning one outside - clearly, dude was one of the more solid players in the room. KK guy asked us if he misplayed his hand, and 2 of us said he should have just jammed preflop, since I wasn't calling off chips with 6-5 in that spot.

I go to final table with about 100K in chips, which is just above chip average (about 90K). I chip up to 160K with a big blind special and couple of blind steals, then at 7-handed my hand of the night takes place. At 10K/20K On the button, I watch the solid player from earlier go all-in for last 70K, with player on my right (who will make a loose-call with A-rag) calling. I look down and see A-K, and I am certain I am not folding here...and after pausing a few seconds, push all my chips in the middle. Folds to homeboy on my right, who thinks that I have small pair, and calls off all by 40K of his chips with A-6. Board hits nobody, but A-K beats K-Q and A-6, and we get down to 6, and me with almost half the chips in play. 2 players bust out shortly after (but not by me, unfortunately), and we're down to 4.

Lady on left gets busted by BB, and we're 3 handed. A series of blind steals take place for the next level, and 2 minutes before blinds are 20K/40K, 3 of us agree to chop up and take $290 each. 4.5 hours of play, and we're going home happy tonight!

Dino's Poker post - 6/7/10

After a week off for Memorial Day, we went back to the 2nd to last week of the season on a sad note. Bridgette, one our regulars, died last Wednesday - so sad to see this happen to a very nice young lady (25). Nick, all of us will support you while you grieve for your loss!

Started out at the "heavy-hitter" table of the night, as we had Dave E., Wayne, Bernie, Jay, and Harry at my table to start. Bernie was out 6 hands into the game, after Harry hits his straight on the turn...don't know why Bernie thought TPTK was good here, especially after he knew what Harry was probably holding.

Donked off 40% or so of my chips to Jay when my TPTK was crushed by his set of kings - somehow I didn't lose more, if that makes sense. Was forced to play (especially once we hit 100/200 level) a lot of "push or fold" to try to hang around...since I need a few points to get into our season finale.

Actually, that's not bad considering I've missed 3 weeks of the season, and going into last night was only a couple of points off the bubble for the year, so one big finish should get me in.

When we got down to 3 tables (and 15 players), first goal was to try to accumulate a few chips and make the final table. Did that by busting out Wayne after he flopped a set of 4s, but caught my straight on the river...and soon after we got down to 9 (2 players went out before we merged).

Sitting on 3800 chips (starting with 2400) wasn't great - but couldn't get my double-up at any time prior to this point. Watched Slow Joe and Brother Bob go out on the first 2 hands...each spot I move only helps me out, so I am not minding this!

Rachel and Dan are the next 2 players out, and I'm still the shorty with 5 to go. Get a couple of double-ups (won a couple of races) to get up to 7300 chips, but this is my high point of the night. We go on 5-handed for about 45 minutes, until Nicole busts out to "Kid".

Soon after, we watch Kid and John get severely short-stacked and survive a couple of all-ins when behind...then we see me go for last 4000 or so (blinds just up to 1K/2K) with A-9 (didn't matter...in SB was going all-in without looking, anyways), Harry's 9-6 hits a 6 on turn, and I hit the prize bubble. 8 points for 37 for the year, however, should be enough to get it done for the year, but another final table appearance will make it a lock that I'm in the finale. Bring it on!

Monday 5/18/10 Dino's game

Another glorious Monday night (re: "Cold and rainy") for poker at Dino's in Ferndale...need a big push to get to the Top 10 in the point race for the final in a couple of weeks.

Start out with Eric, Volcano Ron, "Kid", and Jay on my table. Win a few hands early, go card dead for a little bit, but still have 2200 (just under original stack of 2400) when our table breaks. Get seated with Pat and Dan on my left, and Brother Bob on my right - oh boy, not my best arraingment.

Have to jam all-in a few times at 150/300 and steal the blinds and A-rag or small pair, but no bites in action. Finally, Table 3 breaks up, and Nicole, Bunnie, and Rachel come to the table. I win a hand out of big blind from Rachel after bluffing her out with merely a 4-3 flush draw in my hand after the turn. Next hand I get a much needed double up from Nicole when my A-J holds up against her K-J.

Nicole is knocked out soon after by Rachel, then Bob cripples Rachel when he flops top 2 pair and watches Rachel overbet the pot on a badly-timed semi-bluff (A-J vs. Ks and Qs). After this hand, Bob knocks out Rachel to set up our final table.

With 3600 chips to start the final table, I go into action quickly, as I re-pop over Pat's initial raise to 1200 with all of my remaining 3600 with A-10...whoops, Pat has A-J, and I'm way behind. Hit my 10 on the flop, and dodge the J to double up. Nothing remarkable for a few hands except for losing a couple grand in chips, until we go to 7-handed.

The hand (or at least, quote of the night) happens later on in 200/400 level action. I raise in MP to 1200 with 6-6....folded around to Farmer Tim, who limped UTG, and he calls (thinking 2 overs here...I never give him credit for much of a hand). Dream flop of 6-J-6 gives me quads, and I check the flop trying to figure out how to get all the chips in the middle. Farmers bets out 3000, and since I only have 3500 left at this point, I give the "Well, shucks, if I call I might as well go all-in here", and put them in the middle. Farmer calls, and the understatement of the year comes out of my mouth:

"Tim, hate to tell you this, but you're a little bit behind here", and flip over my 6-6 to show him quads. A couple players give out the loud "WHOOOOA!!!", and a few of the cash, errrr, "side game" players come for a peek and a chuckle. Good thing Tim doesn't get offended by much, and he takes it well.

I bust Tim a couple hands later, then Brother Bob proceeds to take out Eric and Slow Joe to get down to final 4 of Brother Bob, Me, Bunnie, and Sharon. Looking at Brother Bob's monster stack compared to the rest of us, I mentally give him first place...and try to play my way into second, and get max points, in the process.

After a couple of double-ups, Brother Bob finally busts Sharon, and we're down to 3. Steal a few blinds to keep alive, but run A-Q into BB's 10-10, and when 10 hits the flop, I'm pretty much dead...but I get a bottle of wine.

So far, because of 3 missed weeks on the season, I'm on the outside looking in - but only by a couple of points. Another top 5 finish, and I should be good.

Friday Night Charity Poker report - 5/14/10

After being out of the game, both live and online, for a couple of weeks because of work, I took advantage of a night out last night to hit the Charity poker room at Pampa lanes here in Warren. $30 buy-in for "deep stack" tourney, except it was only 75 BBs (15K chips)...and felt more like a Turbo.

Played at Pampa a few weeks prior and bubbled (although chop from earlier allowed me to get my buy-in back, at least), and liked the room, so hit it again last night. If you get the chance to play there, do it - a few solid players, but the kids are more than willing to bluff off their chips, and the older players are loose-passive...the easiest to win off of.

Only 19 runners, but paid 3. First few levels were pretty uneventful...stole a few blinds, lost one hand on a 2-2-Q flop with JJ when one kid called my UTG raise with Q-3....idiot. Went to the first break with 14K in chips, and was looking to make a move. Too bad it didn't get to happen before we got down to 10 players, and I'm at about 12K at this point (blinds 1K/2K).

Folded around to me in MP, and jam it all in with 9-9. Shortie to left of me calls with A-6, button pushes with A-Q. Luckily, 9s hold up and not only do I get a double-up, but knock out another player. Down to 8 at this point. Couple of hands later, I see A-A under the gun, and jam my last 26K into the pot (2K/4K blinds). BB thinks about it for a minute, and folds A-2 face-up...errr, not that great of a laydown.

Take out another player when my J-3 in the big blind hits on a J-3-2 board, and BB jams with J-2. Proceed to watch a couple of shorties bust out, including the guy with the big stack to start the final table. Guy was rather unluckly, as his K-K and A-A were cracked early in the final table.

Get down to 4-handed to this point, and at this point 2 players suggest that we take $10 off every payout, and 4th gets money back. As shortie at this point, I'm cool with it. Blinds now at 4K/8K, and after seeing garbage for a bit decide to jam A-8 from the small blind after button and other player have already limped in for 8K each...both limpers call for 22K more or so. Not what I want to see, really.

Until the flop hits 8-8-A, at least! Both players check down, and my hand holds up to triple up at a great time! Take out 4th place player with 2-2 against 6-6 when I spike a 2 on the turn, and we're down to 3...and I have the big stack now.

Double up a player a few hands later, and at this point the other 2 players suggest a 3-way chop - $130 for 2 of us, $110 for the other. I don't want to be the dick who turns it down, since in 2 minutes the blinds double to 5K/10K(!)...and going to be pretty much an all-in fest. On top of that, the remaining players were decent enough people that it made for an easy decision.

$100 profit for 3 hours or less of work - not bad at all!

I love when crappy pot odds calls work out....

Game Type: Limit Holdem
Table: JORDAN DR (Real Money) Seat #5 is the dealer
Seat 5 - OVERCARDS1 ($4.63 in chips)
Seat 6 - EPHIE ($8.35 in chips)
Seat 7 - BKRYWKO1 ($5.32 in chips)
Seat 8 - DBECK52 ($1.91 in chips)
Seat 1 - RREDGIRL22 ($0.15 in chips)
Seat 3 - ACESWILD331 ($5.14 in chips)
Seat 4 - BOLONDOS ($5.02 in chips)
EPHIE - Posts small blind $0.05
BKRYWKO1 - Posts big blind $0.10
BOLONDOS - Posts $0.05
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to BKRYWKO1 [2h 8d]
RREDGIRL22 - All-In(Raise) $0.15 to $0.15
ACESWILD331 - Calls $0.15
BOLONDOS - Calls $0.10
OVERCARDS1 - Folds
EPHIE - Folds
BKRYWKO1 - Calls $0.05 - getting 12 to 1 on my money, why not?
*** FLOP *** [Jh Ad 5d]
BKRYWKO1 - Checks
ACESWILD331 - Checks
BOLONDOS - Checks
*** TURN *** [Jh Ad 5d] [Jd]
BKRYWKO1 - Checks
ACESWILD331 - Checks
BOLONDOS - Checks
*** RIVER *** [Jh Ad 5d Jd] [Qd] - I may have to bet this one out BKRYWKO1 - Bets $0.20
ACESWILD331 - Folds
BOLONDOS - Folds
BKRYWKO1 - returned ($0.20) : not called
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BKRYWKO1 - Shows [2h 8d] (Flush, ace high)
RREDGIRL22 - Mucks
BKRYWKO1 Collects $0.65 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($0.65)
Board [Jh Ad 5d Jd Qd]
Seat 1: RREDGIRL22 HI: [Mucked] [3c Kc]
Seat 3: ACESWILD331 Folded on the RIVER
Seat 4: BOLONDOS Folded on the RIVER
Seat 5: OVERCARDS1 (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: EPHIE (small blind) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: BKRYWKO1 (big blind) won Total ($0.65) HI:($0.65) with Flush, ace high [2h 8d - B:Ad,B:Qd,B:Jd,P:8d,B:5d]

There is card dead....

...and then there is "card dead" - basically the summary of my Monday night tourney. 2 hours of 9-2 off, Q-4 type hands that must be folded when early position raises and reraises come at you - with an occasional successful steal or river bluff with rags paying.

Final tourneys, in this league, are rather messed up in quite a few respects:

1) Normally tourney starts out 5 to 6-handed, merge to final table of 10...at this time, you can accumulate chips, see lots of hands due to position, and more hands are raisable/playable here. Not the case here, since it's 10-handed.

2) Everyone starts out with same amount of chips - in normal tourney, short-stack and big-stack strategy used.

3) No advantage for finish (position, or points) during "regular season"

4) 50% more chips for a 10-player tourney with same blind levels as 30+ man tourneys run every week really don't come close to making it the "Deep stack tourney" that the organizer wants.

Enough whining, but it was a frustrating night, since my reads were spot-on (for most part), but just didn't have the ammunition...or ran into monsters in the blinds when stealing. Hey, that's poker, and it happens sometimes that you play well and still don't finish well - but at least I got a free t-shirt and hat for my troubles.

Went out 7th with, oddly enough, the best hand I saw for 2 hours - pocket 8's. Brother Bob donk min-raised with 3-3 from UTG, I looked at 8-8 and shoved for last 2100 (200/400 blind level just reached), and called by Volcano Ron (with 75 more chips) holding Q-Q...Brother Bob folds face-up, and Q-Q holds.

Doesn't look like charity poker is in my future for a couple of weeks, due to wife's medical issues and tax work (plus main job, to be honest) taking up most of my time.

3rd place in live tourney - hot live run continues

Went Saturday night over to Benny's (charity poker room) again, and got in their Saturday Rebuy/add-on tourney. Structure is as such - $10 gets you 3K in chips, $20 gets you 8K. Same values on the rebuys. At end of first hour (4 15-minute blinds), for $15 you can add-on for 15K in chips (up to 3 add-ons) - I don't think there were too many people who did more than one add-on, from what I could see.

40 of us started out, paid 5 due to chop agreement at final table. Just kind of plodded along the first hour, won a couple of small pots, stole a couple of blinds, and had about 10K at end of first hour. Bought my 15K in chips at add-on, and finally decided to 'go to work'. Took down the next 2 hands (500/1000) with blind steals, then knocked out a short-stack with a nice BB special when 10-7 flopped trip 10s, then see short-stack bluff off all her chips with A-2.

Shortly after this, I have a Hellmuthian blowup at some punk kid sitting across from me...all because the moron would not listen to either the dealer or me (or anyone else at the table) asking him to not speculate on hands while he is not in them. After asking him 3 times prior to this not to do that, idiot was again talking in the middle of a hand I was in...when hand was folded and I raking in chips, I pointed at the idiot and told him, "Will you shut the fukk up already?", and then got into a verbal spat with him that lasted over a minute. Moron Boy then has the nerve to call the tournament director and complain about my profantiy (lol) - until the entire table brings up his speculating and stalling...no penalties were forthcoming.

Lost about 40% of chips next couple of hands - gotta know when to laydown top pair, after all - then Moron Boy donates his chips to me after I flop a set of 7's and he bluffs off his chips with 3-3 and no draw. I didn't go nuts afterwards, but I also refused to do what I always do when I bust someone out - offer to shake hands and say "good game". A couple of older gentlemen asked me if it felt extra special to be the one who busted him, and I told that I couldn't lie, because it did feel pretty good to do that.

Down to 15, and player who was commanding chip-leader at time he was moved to our table gets taken out in a series of 3 consecutive hands:

1) His A-K (hitting pair on flop) vs Set of 8s - Loses about 60K here
2) My A-J beating his 2-2 on a 8-6-8-6-4 board when I called his post-river bet - loses about 35K here
3) My K-6 calling his all-in post-flop on a K-4-9-7-7 board - remaining 40K to me.

3 players are out at other table, and we move down to 10. I bust a short-stack early with A-high when it holds...then watch as we get to 7. Shortly after we get to 7, an amazing hand happens.

Got QQ UTG (blinds 5K/10K now), and raised to 30K (about 25% of stack at this point) - BB (Mike, who I had sat down to for the entire tourney prior to table re-draw) immediately shoves all-in - damn, what to do, what to do. So let's review some facts here before making a decision:

- BB has sat next to you for nearly entire tourney, and knows that you are playing (or at least, only showing) solid starting hands.
- BB has had KK 4 times prior, and has played them with big raises every time.
- BB has played smaller pairs and A-K/A-Q much more conservatively
- 7 players left, 4 paid (at this time) - and you have the 3rd highest stack in the room. If I'm a short-stack here (or a much bigger stack than his), I have to call...I don't feel like I *have* to call here.

That last piece of information isn't an overriding factor, but something to just consider when making decisions like this. I go into the tank for about a minute, ask Mike if he's got Kings again (but never mention aces), tell the dealer to put the clock on myself for 30 seconds, then soon after say that "I can't believe I'm doing this...but these are no good", and fold my Queens face up on the table. Mike says, "WOW! How the fukk do you lay that down?", and turns over Kings - big rumblings from the other players for that move.

What was kinda cool was afterwards, 5 of us were outside smoking (because that hand was last hand before break), and I explained exactly why I was folded that hand - not something I normally would have done...was nice to have conversation that wasn't centered about bad beats, donkey plays, etc, let's just say that.

Grind our way down to 5 players, and at this I ask if everyone wants to agree to give up 10 bucks so 5th at least makes their money back, and everyone quickly agrees - and not an a-hole in this bunch, which made it easy to do. And now we are all in the money.

We bust out a shortie not too long here, then I grind my way back up to over 200K in chips by stealing blinds (10K/20K now), and then over 270K when a crippled stack runs J-9 into my A-A and it holds....down to 3.

Mike calls my button K-Q PFR to 90K, and then quickly shoves all-in when K-Q-7 (2 spades hits)...and I call even quicker to see that his K-3 (?) were both spades. Hoping to pair my board and/or dodge a spade, I see a brick hit the river, but then an 8 of spades hits on the river for a flush, and I'm out in 3rd (outchipped by 30K) for $175 bucks...damn it all.

Mike ended up taking it down a couple of hands later for about $400, and I left with a "what could have been" - but still pretty happy with my play and the results for the night.

On to the Dino's final tonight - let's take this one down!

Regular season done - bring on the final

Went into the last week of Dino's season until next week's Final (new season starts up the next week) with a strong point lead, with only 2 people able to catch me. Since Dan (formerly SAG, in prior posts) and Harry busted out before we reached our final table, I once again claimed the points title in this league. My 6 points for finishing 6th put me at 66 points for the season, an all-time high. Two people tied for 10th with 32, but since we have our 5th place finisher out of the country next week, no complex formula was required to be made up to determine who got in.

If my memory is right, my table is me, Harry, Sharon, Bernie, Pat, Dan, Brother Bob, Volcano Ron, Mike M., and Rachel - interesting mix of players, but should be a long final, since the aggression factor (overall) just isn't there. Would be nice if Cheryl decided to actually give extra chips based on regular season ranking, but not counting on it. We're working on her...she'll crack soon, because it only makes sense to reward to best players for a whole season.

Taxes will be keeping me busy next few days - good luck at the tables!

Some MTT epiphanies I've had lately...still in play after last night

A couple of weeks ago at the spaghetti dinner Dino threw for us degenerates, errrrrr, poker players who donated toys to the Toys for Tots program, I shared some thoughts with Stevo, and a couple of weeks later with Cheryl (tournament director for Dino's game), and both of them thought there was a lot of wisdom there to use in both our bar game and regular tournaments. We're assuming non-turbo conditions here, as well.

Basically, I made the point that in our bar game it is pretty easy to make the final table of 10 (out of a field of 25-30), and now that I've been 8 of last 9 weeks, I can share the way to do it:

1) Obviously, dodging the landmines that happen early in tourneys are important. Occasionally, some idiot will not only call a 4x BB raise with 7-2, but then will also shove all his chips in with the same hand into a J-4-2 rainbow flop where you've got 9-9, and then will hit a 2 on the turn to double up. Thankfully, however, #2 was in play before this occured.

2) First couple of levels, be active - but no need to be maniacal, either. If the blood is in the water to take someone out early, by all means go for the kill! First few hands of any tournament I like to see cheap flops, and if I can hit a small straight or something, I can get a lot of chips in a hurry - especially if an ace hits somewhere on the board. Most players in bar games aren't getting away from a pair of aces early on in a tournament. And then when this happens, players may shove with 2-2 into an 8-5-5 board (and announcing that they're trying to buy the pot) while you're holding 10-10, just adding to your stack (at 5500 10 hands into a tourney where we start with 2300 chips).

3) Know your players, and play accordingly.

4) Position, position, position...did I mention position? If you don't understand this, stop right here and read about it on the Internet or in any poker book.

5) Have a great deal of patience...but don't overdo it, either. You can't wait until AA, KK, QQ, and AK, or get down to 2 BBs if you want to make deep runs here.

6) Keep your emotions on an even-keel. People whine about losing hands like happened in #1, but that's poker - drop your F-bomb or your G-D once, and move on.

7) Have an idea how many chips players at your table have at all times - this will affect certain decisions you make during the middle and late stages of a tournament.

8) Get the most value out of your big hands. Raising to 2000 with K-K when blinds are 100/200 is not getting any value, whatsoever. Flopping quad 9s and getting some guy to give you all his chips after the river, however, IS getting great value!

9) Most importantly, bar and charity poker games feature alcohol - people tend to have loose lips and multiple tells in these settings. Take your time, listen to what they say and how they say it, and use that information to make the right play.

That's about it - took 3rd this week for my bottle of wine when uber-loose player called my all-in of K-Q for 12K chips (1K-2K blinds) with Q-5, and she hit straight on the turn...I win that hand, I like my chances of making it 3 firsts in 4 weeks, but with the final coming up in 2 or 3 weeks, I'm just trying to not only clinch my spot as top point-getter for this season, but put up a ridiculous point total, as well.

Hot run in live poker continues, Part 2

Friday night I was itchin' to play some live poker, so I headed over to Benny's over on 22 and Van Dyke for their $30 freezeout tourney. Seeing it starts at 7, I race to get there on time, only to find out that I'm the first person on the list....sonofabitch! They delay the start til 7:30, and by the time the tourney starts, we have 19 players. 3rd gets $30 back, 2nd gets about $150, 1st gets about $275. Cheryl, the lady who runs our Monday game at Dino's, is playing, as well.

What's nice about this structure is you get 8000 chips to start, and 20 minute blinds...gives you time to survey the field, play patient, and actually play some poker. Yup, I'd say I'd be back, and already glad I did.

2nd hand of the night I look down to see 9-9 on the button, and raise to 225. The blinds (older gentlemen) both call me. Flop of 9-5-2 rainboy hits, and I bet out 500 after the blinds check. Now, people will ask at Dino's game why I usually bet out sets, and the answer is simple: Because you get more value out of those hands betting this way. Both blinds called, but check-folded on turn when a 10 came out. I'm guessing "weak-ace" for both of them...but I'll take a nice pot early.

Sick hand of the day for me occurred when I was in the BB. 3 limpers (50/100 level), and I looked down at Q-Q in the BB - raise to 350. All 3 limpers calls, hoorah! :-\ Flop of J-6-5 rainbow hits, which I like - SB checks, I c-bet out 800, and UTG + 1 takes a couple of seconds before min-raising me, which causes me some pause when it's my turn to act. Blinds who are chasing straights or have top pair stay in, but the min-raise gave me the sick feeling that I was waaaaaaaaaaaay behind here. After going in the tank for over a minute, I hold my Q-Q up so the punk kid who directly on my left can see, and throw them into the muck.

I get up for a second, punk kid (Romeo was his name) sidles over to me where I'm standing and calls me an idiot for making that fold...and I look at him and tell him "Dude has pocket 6's, check it out" - Romeo looks at me with bug eyes a short time later when hand is over and min-raiser flips over 6-6...an absolutely ridiculous laydown at this point in the tournament (and yes, I actually give a quick pat on the back to myself at this point, heh), no matter how you look at it.

I get Romeo to short-stack status in quick order after my 10-10 wins on a 9-4-6-7-7 board...Romeo asks, "Are 9s good?", to which I snorted, "Hardly!" as I flipped them over rake the pot. This put Romeo on tilt, to which another youngster was happy to take advantage of the next hand...and youngster was smart enough to give me a little credit for good fortune soon afterwards.

Get to the break with over 21K in chips - kinda nice when I don't have to put them all at risk to get there, either. When we get down to 7-handed, I give away 75% of my chips on an all-in call when I was looking for nut-flush against a made straight and didn't hit...time to play short-stack poker for a while!

Cheryl tried to pump me up to these guys, warning about short-stack abilities here - first hand after blinds go up to 1000/2000, I get AA in middle position and put my last 2500 in the middle. SB folds, BB calls in the dark for 500, and my AA holds up against his AQ to get me to 6000 or so. Get another double-up soon after when 8-8 hits set against A-J on flop - to 13K or so now.

Pretty much stayed on this status for another round or 2 - I'd get raised on my blinds, get them back the next hand with open-shoves (including UTG 5-handed with 3-2), just trying to figure out how to get to the money. Gotta get there before you get 1st, anyways. Cheryl is fighting as a shortstack, herself, and holding her own.

Cheryl and I get our break we were looking for when the top 3 stacks butt heads for a hand. Button open-shoves for 26K, SB yelled all-in for who knows how much, and BB insta-calls...putting him at risk. Button has 8-6, SB has A-Q, BB has K-K - and I look at Cheryl and say, "Root for the ace, baby!", since we'd be in the money. Ace on flop hits, turn gives button a pair of 8's, blank on river, and we've cracked the bubble in stunning fashion!

First hand of 3-handed play (2000/4000 chips - 8K left), I get J-J in BB, and when button raises, I get my chips in the middle. Hit boat on flop to win hand (err, become a 99.9% favorite), and get to hang around a couple more hands...maybe Cheryl will bluff her chips away here for me.

Wishes come true, and Cheryl gets knocked out 2 hands later, and I'm HU with about 10-1 chip disadvantage...oy! Oh well, see what happens here - 2nd is more than gravy at this point. HU lasts 3 hands - we fold SBs the first 2 hands, then opponent calls out of SB and I check my 9-5 rags. 9 on flop and I open-shove the pot to put me at risk, and opponent calls and flips over J-J - no help for me, and I happily take 2nd place here.

Good run, time to continue this tonight at Dino's game.