...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.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, August 16, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, August 9, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
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