...because all dead money is at the charity rooms these days, anyways.
So I was telling one of my co-workers about this annoying fat guy I had to sit next to last Saturday at the poker room, and it got me to thinking about the most annoying things and/or people you see at the poker tables. Your pet peeves may differ!
In no particular order:
- Stinky people at the table. Seriously, you're paying $30-$50 to play in some of these live tournaments...don't tell me you can't spend a couple of bucks on a bar of soap and some deodorant, ok?
- Ginormously (is that a word?) fat people at the table. Look, no shame is having a few extra pounds on you, but when you're winded merely from walking over 2 tables to your new seat, it's time to reassess yourself.
- People who complain all night about "not getting any cards". Yeah, it sucks to go an hour with nothing but rags during a tournament, but sometimes you have to loosen up and make chicken salad out of chicken shit. And guess what? The more you complain, the less you'll get paid off when you finally do enter a hand or 2.
- Reminding people that they're in the blinds...more than once in a couple of levels.
- People not in the hand who do a "oooh!" and make comments when they're not in the hand. I'm sure the 2 of us in the hand saw that board throw a 3rd ace out there, or put a full house on the board - we don't need you to draw our attention to it.
- People who will justify any bad call with "I had pot odds!", even though they really didn't. You can tell easy when you ask them what their percentages were...the replies are usually priceless.
- My biggest one: People who wear headphones at the tables, and have the music so loud that every action they do besides an insta-fold requires them to stop their music, take their headphones out, and ask questions like, "Who bet?" and "How much is the bet?". It is no coincidence that these people almost never make a final table, and are usually out early. Once you hit the rail, jam that rap music all you want in your car on your way home, but don't do it at the tables!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Good weekend of charity poker
Actually found myself with a couple of nights off (well, if you consider "out by 8pm" to be a night off) this weekend, and took advantage of that to catch up on some charity poker over at Four Aces this weekend. Made two final tables (4th and 8th) out of 82 and 78 players, respectively, and making a $300 profit for the weekend didn't suck. A couple of hands from early on in the tournament took place that I think merit discussion, only this time I'm going to go from what I believe to be the perspective of my opponent in each hand...with me being the "villain" in each hand. Why do it from this perspective? Because I think ultimately both players had no business busting out at this stage of the tournament, because they made the mistake of not controlling the pot size, in each instance. That, and not even considering the possible holdings of their opponent.
Most players I've seen at the charity events will try to play long-ball early on, going for the quick double-up or knockout, when the structure of the tourneys (400 BBs to start) that I'm playing in allow you to actually play for a good 2+ hours before it becomes "shove or fold" time. I generally like to play a more "small-ball" approach - avoiding big pots with coin-flips until absolutely necessary. I won't argue that this is always the proper approach, but I've found that I can usually accumulate chips in the first few levels with relative ease to leave me pretty healthy after a couple of hours.
First hand in question takes place on Hand #5 on Friday night. Let's say that you're UTG, with blinds at 25/50, and you look down and see J-J...a tough hand to play from early position this early in the tournament, and you're content to keep pot small for now, so you decide to limp in and play the hand post-flop. 3 limpers until you get to the button, who decides to raise to 350. Folds around to you, where you decide to reraise to 1,000....folded around to the button, who thinks about things for a few seconds, then makes the call. Flop of 9-6-9 rainbow hits, and you like your Jacks, so you quickly lead out for 1,200 to see if you can chase a hand with 2 big cards out. Button pauses for a few seconds, re-pops you back up to 3,500, and you make the quick call with no hesitation.
4 on the turn doesn't seem to help anyone, and no apparant draws out there...sure seems like your Jacks are good, so it's time to bet out 5K, which you do without much hesitation. Button thinks about things while riffling his chips for a few seconds, but just smooth calls you. River is another 4, and once again you're sure the 4 didn't help out or fill a boat for him...you take a couple of seconds to look at the player staring you down, and shove your remaining 11K or so chips into the middle. You think you're good when the player takes his time to make a decision, but then the player starts talking the hand out, which worries you. "No way you have 9-9...and you've been betting too much to have had A-A the whole way...and that you probably have J-J or Q-Q....", followed by the words, "I call!" while simultaneously flipping over his K-K, and you're out of the tournament early.
Biggest mistake this player, IMO, made was the quick betting and decisions, and never really considered what the opponent could be holding at really any time during the hand. I'm not saying that she wasn't losing a lot of her chips here on that board, but there's no reason to blow through 400 BBs so early in the tournament, either.
Second hand takes place on Hand #6 Saturday night. UTG+1 makes what is his standard opening raise of 2.5x BB, and sitting in MP you look down at K-K and merely smooth call, hoping to trap if an ace doesn't hit the board, but willing to get out for minimal if no ace hits the board. A player who you've played with a few times, who generally plays pretty solid cards and uses position well, raises you from the button (again) to 550 to thin the field. Original raiser flat calls, and you quick call.
Flop of J-4-7 rainbow is great for you, and after the original raiser checks, you bet out 1K - the button smooth calls, and UTG+1 thinks for a minute, chuckles, and folds. Turn of a 2 hits, putting no apparant draws out for you, and lead out a big bet of 4K to see if you can trap here, which you think you've set when your opponent in the hand min-raises you to 8K. Ahhhh, A-J, you think, so you shove your remaining chips into the middle with visions of a double-up in your head, only to hear a snap-call from your opponent, who says if you have a set, that's the only way he's beat.
You flip over your K-K, but have that sick feeling about your when you do it, and are shocked to see your opponent flip over A-A for the cooler. River is a blank, and you're sent to the rail in quick fashion...but not before bitching about being slow-rolled. Your opponent dismissing your complaint with "Whatever...I called you, so you show your cards first" doesn't make you any less pissed off, however.
Original raiser in hand (who eventually went on to get a 2-way chop for first) says he knew he was beat, but wanted to try to hit a set of 10s after the flop, but he didn't realize that 2 people had him beat. This may be one of those hands that just play itself out no matter how it's played (though I'd argue at this stage of the tournament, it doesn't necessarly do so), but I thought the way K-K was played was odd. It's ok to limp in with big pairs at times (even if you intend to reraise if someone raises the pot), but to merely call a raise and then smooth-call a reraise was a little too passive, but that's just me.
Couple of weeks off from charity poker, then hopefully back on that train when the craziness at works ends.
Most players I've seen at the charity events will try to play long-ball early on, going for the quick double-up or knockout, when the structure of the tourneys (400 BBs to start) that I'm playing in allow you to actually play for a good 2+ hours before it becomes "shove or fold" time. I generally like to play a more "small-ball" approach - avoiding big pots with coin-flips until absolutely necessary. I won't argue that this is always the proper approach, but I've found that I can usually accumulate chips in the first few levels with relative ease to leave me pretty healthy after a couple of hours.
First hand in question takes place on Hand #5 on Friday night. Let's say that you're UTG, with blinds at 25/50, and you look down and see J-J...a tough hand to play from early position this early in the tournament, and you're content to keep pot small for now, so you decide to limp in and play the hand post-flop. 3 limpers until you get to the button, who decides to raise to 350. Folds around to you, where you decide to reraise to 1,000....folded around to the button, who thinks about things for a few seconds, then makes the call. Flop of 9-6-9 rainbow hits, and you like your Jacks, so you quickly lead out for 1,200 to see if you can chase a hand with 2 big cards out. Button pauses for a few seconds, re-pops you back up to 3,500, and you make the quick call with no hesitation.
4 on the turn doesn't seem to help anyone, and no apparant draws out there...sure seems like your Jacks are good, so it's time to bet out 5K, which you do without much hesitation. Button thinks about things while riffling his chips for a few seconds, but just smooth calls you. River is another 4, and once again you're sure the 4 didn't help out or fill a boat for him...you take a couple of seconds to look at the player staring you down, and shove your remaining 11K or so chips into the middle. You think you're good when the player takes his time to make a decision, but then the player starts talking the hand out, which worries you. "No way you have 9-9...and you've been betting too much to have had A-A the whole way...and that you probably have J-J or Q-Q....", followed by the words, "I call!" while simultaneously flipping over his K-K, and you're out of the tournament early.
Biggest mistake this player, IMO, made was the quick betting and decisions, and never really considered what the opponent could be holding at really any time during the hand. I'm not saying that she wasn't losing a lot of her chips here on that board, but there's no reason to blow through 400 BBs so early in the tournament, either.
Second hand takes place on Hand #6 Saturday night. UTG+1 makes what is his standard opening raise of 2.5x BB, and sitting in MP you look down at K-K and merely smooth call, hoping to trap if an ace doesn't hit the board, but willing to get out for minimal if no ace hits the board. A player who you've played with a few times, who generally plays pretty solid cards and uses position well, raises you from the button (again) to 550 to thin the field. Original raiser flat calls, and you quick call.
Flop of J-4-7 rainbow is great for you, and after the original raiser checks, you bet out 1K - the button smooth calls, and UTG+1 thinks for a minute, chuckles, and folds. Turn of a 2 hits, putting no apparant draws out for you, and lead out a big bet of 4K to see if you can trap here, which you think you've set when your opponent in the hand min-raises you to 8K. Ahhhh, A-J, you think, so you shove your remaining chips into the middle with visions of a double-up in your head, only to hear a snap-call from your opponent, who says if you have a set, that's the only way he's beat.
You flip over your K-K, but have that sick feeling about your when you do it, and are shocked to see your opponent flip over A-A for the cooler. River is a blank, and you're sent to the rail in quick fashion...but not before bitching about being slow-rolled. Your opponent dismissing your complaint with "Whatever...I called you, so you show your cards first" doesn't make you any less pissed off, however.
Original raiser in hand (who eventually went on to get a 2-way chop for first) says he knew he was beat, but wanted to try to hit a set of 10s after the flop, but he didn't realize that 2 people had him beat. This may be one of those hands that just play itself out no matter how it's played (though I'd argue at this stage of the tournament, it doesn't necessarly do so), but I thought the way K-K was played was odd. It's ok to limp in with big pairs at times (even if you intend to reraise if someone raises the pot), but to merely call a raise and then smooth-call a reraise was a little too passive, but that's just me.
Couple of weeks off from charity poker, then hopefully back on that train when the craziness at works ends.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Tourney results update - 4 weeks worth
Main job and home business have been kicking my ass the last month, so not a lot of poker action to report on...but there is some good words to pass on:
4 games at World Tavern Poker over at Hatchey's in Utica netted a 1st, 2nd, 3rd (yup, in that order) to start out (5th in other game). Not quite the replacement for the Monday Dino's game that I am really looking for, but this will suffice for the time being. Dan (or "SAG - Some Asian Guy" from old posts) plays in this game - your National champion represents this bar, so good company to play against, indeed.
Did a home game of sorts with some of the folks from Dino's a couple of Mondays ago - good to get back together with a few of the guys (and gals), and enjoy some cheap hijinks and hilarity. If WTP wasn't around, easy weekly game to go to.
Charity Poker at 4 Aces last night was worth $216 for a $35 buy-in after taking 4th place out of 83 players. Was one of short-stacks at final table when it started, but grinded out until I shoved A-2 out of SB into big stack holding A-Q...won't complain about the night, other than I needed sleep at that point!
Thinking that Faldo's group (from Nik's Poker Palace) over in Howell is a possibility over the next couple of months - we'll see if we can make it happen. All I know is that I am definitely going to play more charity poker tourneys, now that online poker is in hiatus for me at this point.
4 games at World Tavern Poker over at Hatchey's in Utica netted a 1st, 2nd, 3rd (yup, in that order) to start out (5th in other game). Not quite the replacement for the Monday Dino's game that I am really looking for, but this will suffice for the time being. Dan (or "SAG - Some Asian Guy" from old posts) plays in this game - your National champion represents this bar, so good company to play against, indeed.
Did a home game of sorts with some of the folks from Dino's a couple of Mondays ago - good to get back together with a few of the guys (and gals), and enjoy some cheap hijinks and hilarity. If WTP wasn't around, easy weekly game to go to.
Charity Poker at 4 Aces last night was worth $216 for a $35 buy-in after taking 4th place out of 83 players. Was one of short-stacks at final table when it started, but grinded out until I shoved A-2 out of SB into big stack holding A-Q...won't complain about the night, other than I needed sleep at that point!
Thinking that Faldo's group (from Nik's Poker Palace) over in Howell is a possibility over the next couple of months - we'll see if we can make it happen. All I know is that I am definitely going to play more charity poker tourneys, now that online poker is in hiatus for me at this point.
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