Monday, January 30, 2006

500


I lasted two levels in the 500 today. It had a solid structure for the buyin - 5000 chips, hour levels. I got down to 4100 within the first couple of orbits calling raises and seeing flops with drawing hands that didn't hit (45s, 67s, 99, 22). Shortly thereafter, I was down to 1000. I picked up 66 in MP, raised it up and got called. The flop came KK4 with two spades. I bet the flop, and only the player in the 10 seat called, after some indecision (he was a good player, but I don't know if he was as good as he thought he was). The turn was the 3 of spades, I bet again, and the other guy seemed torn between raising and calling. I thought this meant it was likely he had the flush. The river was the 3c, putting KK433 on board. I fired the last shot, representing the boat. He had AK. So... I was never betting him off the hand. I still liked my line. I just represented what my opponent had, so that was never going to work.

I doubled up with KK on the big, then picked up a few blinds with steals (52 and 97) when I raised to 300 from the CO with KT (50/100 now). The BB (10 seat) called. We checked the J99 flop, checked K turn (three clubs on board now, and I was fairly certain I had the Tc), The river paired my king, and he led out for 300. I made it 750, figuring that this was the most I would get called. He hemmed and hawed and called mostly just to see. He had QT and checked when he made his hand. This was something I took into consideration later.

For the rest of the level, I was bouncing between 3000 and 3400. On the last hand of the level and therefore last hand before break, the 10 seat announces it's the last hand, and raises to 300 UTG. I put his range on, roughly, two cards. MP called, I call with 77 on the button, and the BB calls. The flop was all fives. BB checks, UTG fires out 900. This was a rather large bet, I thought. He had tiny bet draws, strong bet hands that he didn't want to get called with and made bets for value with his strong hands. After some indecision I called, and it was just us. The turn was the K, he put most of my remainign stack in, I put the rest in, and he called and showed tens. The river, just for an extra fuck you, was another ten to give him tens full. I was correct in my read that he didn't want a call, but he just had one of the few hands that he would not want a call with that beat me.

In retrospect, I can fold the flop and come back from break with 3000. On the other, I wanted some chips to bully this table. I went with my read that he wasn't as strong as he was letting on, I was right. Unfortunately, he still was stronger than I was. It was a massive tournament, about 450 players, and it only paid 45. I took a chance to get a stack I could begin to use to get more chips. If I lost, there's a lot I can do around here.

I lost. There's a lot I can do around here.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

borgata main event

Well, unfortunately I did not get to play in the Borgata Main Event. I paid for my entry fee online. I thought I was paying for the entire entry but they only charged my account $300 (the tournament was 9700+300). When I called to ask why that was, I was told that only the preentry was charged, and I would pay the rest when I got to the casino. I apparently did not ask the right question because I was left to believe that I would merely have to present my credit card, when I actually had to supply cash. At no point was the word "cash" stated. Obviously, I did not bring $9700 since I was under the impression I did not need it. I found out Saturday evening after going to the Full Tilt dinner with my brother. I found out and considered my options over night.

I woke up at 8 on Sunday and called my bank (Key Bank - not for long). I would call them several times. No one on their hotline woudl transfer me to a supervisor. I was told that the limit for cash advances on my card was enough to cover the buy in, yet it would not permit the transaction. The best they could come up with was that I attempted to withdraw the money in the casino, despite the fact that it was a third party transaction. Apparently Key Bank doesn't approve of such activities. They're cool with me putting my money in however I want, but when it comes to taking it out - oooh, they're gonna only let me do it for particular things. Key Bank has lost a customer.

I'll be playing in the $500 tomorrow so that we get the room rate (and so that I get at least some action). I sweat my brother for a while today - he was up to T40k at the dinner break (25k start) after doubling up on a LAG donator. Unfortunately, since I had trouble sleeping last night (the people across the hall were not permitted to stay in the hotel overnight), was up quite early, and stressed for most of the morning, I'm freaking EXHAUSTED. In many ways, I think it's just as well that I didn't get in the tournament. I can't imagine I'd be on top of my game. I told Kevin I'd either be at 100k by dinner or out. I'd have a strong, strong right arm. Hopefully I'll get an excellent night's rest and be able to be on top of my game tomorrow. Winning it will certainly be good for a strong five digit payday. It would be a nice reward for a stressful couple of days.

Update on my brother - he busted not long after dinner. He doubled up a player for half his stack on the KQT flop - Matt had KK, other guy had AJ. That's gonna happen. Then he made a rash play in a 3 way pot with red jacks. He had about 19.5k to start the hand at 100/400/800, and raised to 2500, getting two calls, one from the player he doubled, one from the big. The flop came QT4, with two spades. Matt, with about 17000 left in his stack, tries to figure out what to do. He wanted to bet to take the pot, but was worried about getting called and outplayed by a variety of hands. Ultimately, he decided to move in. The player in position thought for a long time and called. The big blind instantly pushed, and the caller HAD to put in the few more chips that were needed. The caller had KQ, the instapush had 44. Matt was drawing to two outs and couldn't hit.

He played well from the sounds of it. He had two hands in about 10 hours of poker that he feels he misplayed, which isn't bad - but both hands cost him. That's the nature of these big tournaments. If you misplay a hand you have to get lucky - either someone has to fold or you've got to hit a card. Matt didn't have that happen for him today.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Getting ready by not getting results!

It's been a rough week. I don't think I've come from behind once all week. Seriously. I cannot remember once this week when I've said "well, that was lucky. I'll make the best of that!" I've gotten drawn out on plenty, sure...


Anyway, today was just a rough day. I donked up the Super Thursday massively and went out of that quickly. I managed to get myself shortstacked because I wasn't playing very well early on, and someone called my push on a flush draw and hit.

Stars 45k was standard operating procedure. 15k after the rebuy period, then dropped half of it on the first hand back. I puked and called getting 2-1 odds on two all ins while holding AK. I didn't think I actually had 2-1 odds to win the hand, but I have a rule that I don't fold AK getting 2-1 odds. Well, I was against aces, so it didn't. From that point on, I took one pot the rest of the tournament. One. And that was when I flopped a set and got no action. Every other time, people were fighting back. I went out on... (if you can't figure out how I went out of the 45k, you haven't paid enough attention to every other 45k post)

Poker Room Ace of Diamonds. I've really taken to this structure. It's slow, and it lets those of us who can play poker (me) succeed. I worked my 5k starting stack up to over 9k when I lost it all with set under set. Oh well.

So, I'm telling myself I'm due. I don't think I've been playing very well, but I'm certainly playing well enough to have better results than I've gotten this week. I've just not gotten lucky enough to come from behind and I've had more than a few winners die. I've also had cold deck situations like the set under set in the Ace of Diamonds tournament.


I was hoping for a good result tonight to give me a boost going into this weekend, but no such luck. I'll be all right though.

Shout out to Andrew Rosskamm, who certainly doesn't read this, but he's my friend's brother, and he finished 2nd at the 1500 buyin of the Borgata Winter Poker Open. Maybe he'll stick around for the Main Event...

Monday, January 23, 2006

itinerary/super monday

My bad run in Party tournaments continues. Got one hand all tournament, didn't get paid on it, and couldn't hit when I saw a flop cheaply. I want to see a lot of flops with these early because I will get paid, I just couldn't make a hand. Finally I went out with 88 and 800 chips left at 50/100, losing a flip to AK. I don't win flips.

It just gets frustrating. There were three donators at the table, I just couldn't make a hand to get the chips from them. I've been saying this a bit lately, but.. oh well.


Anyway, the itinerary for those interested.

Friday, after work, the three of us (me, wife, dog) will head to Cleveland, where we will spend the night at my in-laws. Saturday morning, we will depart Cleveland Hopkins Airport for Newark Liberty Airport, where the three of us (now me, wife, brother - dog stays at in-laws) will be arriving at 11:30 or so. We will then rent a car and drive down to the Borgata. Shortly thereafter, I hope to book an early ticket to the WSOP Main Event.

Matt won through Full Tilt, and they've got a nice dinner planned for Mixx at 8. If I am done winning (or not winning) by that point, I hope to join him. If not, Debbie probably will, even though she hates even smelling seafood. The Ribeye looks real good.

Anyway, the tournament begins Sunday morning at 11AM, so Saturday night I'm going to try to get to sleep at a decent hour. Shouldn't be a problem, considering I'll be up absurdly early, driven for two hours in places I have never been before, (hopefully) win a seat to the WSOP, and will probably visit the hot tub to relax. I'm ready. I'm able.

Those of you that will be down there (I know a few of my readers will be at the casino), I certainly hope to meet you sometime on Saturday (yeah, busy day), if not, maybe before the tournament Sunday. Obviously during the tournament I'm going to be a bit busy. For many, many days, ideally.

how to win 162k.

Seriously, catch the replay of this whenever it goes down. This is to final tables what Andy Kaufman reading the Great Gatsby was to comedy.


PokerStars Game #3727617440: Tournament #17675390, Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIV (30000/60000) - 2006/01/23 - 00:55:34 (ET)
Table '17675390 249' Seat #9 is the button
Seat 8: jkdanmark (4937776 in chips)
Seat 9: steamer (5247224 in chips)
jkdanmark: posts the ante 3000
steamer: posts the ante 3000
steamer: posts small blind 30000
jkdanmark: posts big blind 60000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
steamer: calls 30000
jkdanmark: checks
*** FLOP *** [Tc 2c As]
jkdanmark: checks
steamer: bets 1260000
jkdanmark: calls 1260000
*** TURN *** [Tc 2c As] [3s]
jkdanmark: checks
steamer: bets 3924224 and is all-in
jkdanmark: calls 3614776 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Tc 2c As 3s] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jkdanmark: shows [5h 4d] (a straight, Ace to Five)
steamer: shows [Ah 2h] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
steamer said, "lol"
jkdanmark collected 9875552 from pot
steamer said, "v good"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9875552 Rake 0
Board [Tc 2c As 3s 4s]
Seat 8: jkdanmark (big blind) showed [5h 4d] and won (9875552) with a straight, Ace to Five
Seat 9: steamer (button) (small blind) showed [Ah 2h] and lost with two pair, Aces and Deuces

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Three Sunday Majors

200/15 at Party, 500k gtd. Lasted six hands, got it in with 22 on the 872 flop. I was against 77 and KK and was drawing to one out.

200/15 on stars, 500k gtd. I lasted into the second hour. I just got no hands this tournament. Grinded my way up to 4500 by taking small pots. There was one player that was especially helping my cause at my first table. He was on the CO on my BB and raised every time it was folded to him. Every time. Without fail. It really wasn't working out too well, because he only won one pot we saw a flop with, and we saw a lot of flops. But, other than that, it was really tough. Lots of 84, 73, 72 and the like.

In hour 2, the CO guy busted, and my table broke. I moved a total of 4 times in the second hour, which was really awful. Couldn't get an image, couldn't size up my table, nothing. I did double with KK v. JJ getting over 9k. Finally, after stealing a few pots to keep my stack around 9k, got involved in a pot with A8s from the CO, ultimately folding down at 5k. Then I raised to 1600 with my now slightly below 5k stack behind a limper with 79 of clubs. I was just hoping to steal the limper/blind. The limper called, which was interesting. Flop came Q85 with two spades, and the limper checked. I could represent a number of hands, and pushed with at least an inside straight draw to back me up. The player called with 9T of spades, and I was drawing to a non-spade 6 or a 7. A J hit the turn, meaning I had 3 outs to chop, which didn't come. I don't mind him playing this way, it's awful play that got rewarded.

200/15 on FT, 60k GTD. Still in this as I type this up. Couldn't rake a pot early, got down below 800 from the original 2000 starting stack, got back over 2100, and am at 2200 as I type this up, which is still below half average. If nothing further is written, it's a safe assumption that I did not money...

two tournaments

Party sucks. Played their marquee Million Dollar Gtd tournament today. From 14 minutes left in level 2 to 11 minutes left in level four, my table played 3 hands. A few other tables were stuck as well, but most were playing as usual. 3 hands in 43 minutes of play! Fun! Ultimately Party canceled the tournament, and I got paid to a $140 profit.

100/9 deepstax on Stars. 343 entrants, I believe. I played quite well, buoyed by four pocket aces in hour 2 to build a nice stack. I really languished from that point on, though, losing a big pot to a flush draw that moved in on my set and hit. Really, for the better part of two hours every pot I won I earned. Finally, I got a big stack when I raised in EMP with KTs and was called by LP. I'd started raising a lot at this table because there were a lot of weak players. Anyway, the flop came KKT with two spades. So I threw a nice continuation bet out there and got called. We got it in on the Js turn, he had AQo (with the Qs, so he had two outs) and I doubled up. Again, from that point on, anything I won I earned. I lost a big pot with my first big move of the tournament in a button v. blind battle. I had run small moves all tournament - picking up unclaimed pots, attacking weakness and the like, but this was my first big move and... he flopped two pair. Oops. I was doing some work to stay afloat, when I raised in MP with T7o. The button reraised to force me in, and my finger wavered over the call button on its way to the fold button and it called. He had AQ and made two pair. Five hours of work to go out 6 from the money on a misclick. Lovely.

It was still good practice for the Borgata. None of these players were the caliber of those I'll see there (well, I assume some of them are, and those are the players I will want chips from).

And I was ahead by like 30 bucks. So yay.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

no glory story from the 45k

Got up to 29k at the end of the 2nd hour after the awful first hour. This was really odd, since the 2nd hour for me is when I usually get massively unlucky and bust. I figured this meant I would either go on to great heights in this tournament or... the hex would wait for another hour. It waited for another hour.

Had a player call a healthy bet with no pair no draw and hit an over on the river. I kept missing what rare playable hands I got, and blinded down because I kept seeing 83o and the like. Finally I pushed for 15k from the button (600/1200 blinds) with A9o behind the healthy stack's raise in the CO. He didn't fold aces.

Just one of those nights.

Friday, January 20, 2006

when the cards aren't going your way...

Ace of Hearts on Pokerroom. I'm also in the 45k on pokerstars, which started swimmingly (for someone who can't swim), but I'm not in this one any longer. I could not connect with a hand, and people seemed to pick up on this, because going against me, people seemed to not know where the fold button was.

Anyway, I finally hit a hand:

UTG raise, called by UTG+1, I have AK in the BB. I decide to call and see what happens. Flop comes AKJ, could be good, could be bad. Check to UTG who leads . UTG+1 raises, and I suck it up and hope no one has a set and push. I was down to 3200 of my original 5k by this point - but at 50/100 I still had play. Long story short, UTG had AA, UTG +1 had QT. I was dead to running kings. Good times.

I hope to have much happier report on the 45k at 5am, but I'm sure I'll be reporting on how I lost a flip at some point.

quick summary

Broke even at the 3/6 tonight, had no service in the Party Super Thursday (I say this despite picking up AA and KK, which just stole the blinds) going out with QJ pushing the KKx flop, AQ instacalled. I finished in 31st in the $3R on stars. I played pretty well, but I got awfully unlucky in this tournament, if it's possible to finish 31st of 1762 people and get unlucky. I had an overpair die (dude made quads), lost all but one of my flips, lost with QQ to AJ in a really key pot at the end (would have made me 2nd in the tourney with 45 left). I did get lucky with AA meeting AK in a major pot that put me in a danger position, one I stayed in for the majority of the tournament.

I went out with 99 in the SB. MP raised, I pushed my 11 BB stack, and the BB attempted to protect, but MP had aces and wasn't going anywhere. BB had kings. That was bad timing/placement. If I am not sandwiched between the two, I don't go broke. More bad luck.

Oh well. I ran pretty good last night at UB, so I was due this. In all, just slightly down this evening. Not too bad.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

another quick hitter

7th of 350 or so at the UB 75k gtd this evening for about $3100.

Got really lucky 3 times, all 3 for most or all of my chips. Q3s > AKo, QQ > AA, and 89s > AA. Got quite unlucky on many, many occasions, but all of those were for all of somebody else's chips. AA < 48s, and dominating hands either losing or chopping repeatedly. It just wasn't a good evening for the best hand.

I made a terrible error at the final table. I was counting on a total maniac to bet, and gave him a free card. It made him a straight, and I paid it with my queens. That really cost me a shot at winning.

I played pretty well, probably not as well as on Sunday, but still did well. The key to this tournament was that my luckboxing came when I was all in, and the luckboxing against me came when i had the chips to afford it.

Also played the 45k on stars (this needs macroed) and I went out on a coinflip. I played the Super Wednesday on Party, which I did not realize was a limit event. Even though I am by no means a limit expert, the game was still tremendous. An example of this was that a player four bet from the SB with 33. Yeah. Good stuff. I just couldn't make a hand. The one hand I made ended up getting drawn out on. In limit games like that, you are at the mercy of the deck. It's great when the deck smiles on you, awful when not.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

more frustr... never mind

Hah.

So I went on quasi tilt this evening. I admit it. The really awful play at 3/6 was taking it's toll on me. You know, I normally like it when players can't get rid of marginal hands, but this was one of those evenings when players could not fold overpairs (when I didn't have enough), couldn't fold marginal hands (when I had them beat, but they'd hit their hand more often than not on the river), and when I had the goods... they had nothing. We've all been there. Frustration.

So, as is the hallmark of any sensible bankroll management technique... I looked for a bigger game. Hey, I never said I was entirely intelligent with how I went about these things. Even smarter is I knew I wasn't playing my A-Game. My reads were off, and as a result, I was gunshy about following them when I thought a strong play could take a hand. So, yeah, moving to a 5/10 table was huge +EV.

And then a funny thing happened. I hit one of those miracle cards. I made a raise preflop with T9 of hearts. The button smooth called (6 handed). The flop came 673 with two spades. I checked, and the player bet. I called, figuring two things: one, he would bet with anything there and two, there were many cards that I could hit that would either enable me to take the pot. The turn came an offsuit nine, which was nice. I checked again, the player bet again, and I check/raised an amount that appeared as though it wanted a call (it wasn't much over a minraise). I thought this line appeared monstrously strong. Well, the player called. With the call, I figured I was most likely against a pair of queens or jacks that couldn't fold. The river was my yahtzee - the eight. I went ahead and put the rest in and was paid by precisely queens.

That was nice for a change. Whenever you've been taking tough beats on the river all night, and have made strong plays attempting to get overpairs to fold (which is probably my mistake, but to my credit, it seemed whenever I had a nice pair/draw combo I was against a shorty with an overpair that was willing to die with it, not a shorty with overcards that could get away. They had the overcards when I flopped straights and two pair) it's REAL nice to be able to hit that miracle on the river and stack the overpair. I didn't feel the least bit bad.

Anyway, the night turned winner when I stacked that same player, who rebought, taking the same line with aces. Even figuring in the party super tuesday I played in (and hit nothing, thank you for asking) and that massive $15 investment in the stars $3 rebuy (lost a coinflip to go out, surprisingly), I was a healthy winner for the evening.

I'm now in the home stretch of getting ready for AC. In two weeks time, I hope to be trying to fall asleep figuring out a game plan for the final table of the event. I've taken some very big steps in my game lately. I think I learned a very important lesson in the UB SCNII, one that will hopefully be paid with interest at the Borgata. The excitement is very slowly beginning to build. I think I'll play one more deep stack tournament Saturday, and undoubtedly the Sunday tourneys. Hopefully I'll get a nice payday to give me a boost in confidence going to AC.

Damn, it's 2 o'clock already? Time flies when you're hitting miracle rivers.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

frustration

terrible night at the cash games.

I was playing very well, and then a couple of awful plays by my opponents got rewarded miraculously. And then I lost concentration and gave away a lot. And then I got up, because I knew I was playing like shit. I got up too late, though.

Monday, January 16, 2006

more thorough report on Million Gtd

I'd rather write up this one than the stars for a couple reasons: one, it's more interesting; and two, the thoughts contained within are stimulating.


The tournament structure was phenomenal. 2500 starting chips, 20 minute rounds (except for the 50/100 round, which bizarrely went about 45 minutes. I liked that level, though.

Anyway, the tournament started nicely enough. There were two players across from me who I quickly marked as donators. One of them doubled the other up within the first level, and a new donator took that seat. It worked out pretty well. I got up to 2850 or so rather early, as KJs flopped a flush and got action (from one of the donators) and a big blind special J2o flopped trip deuces. The rest of the first hour was spent seeing flops with suited connectors, suited one gaps and small pairs to no avail. At the end of the hour, I put a move on one of the donators, which was unsuccessful, and I ended the hour at about 1850 in chips.

The second hour was much better. I was put down to 1445 when I made probably the boldest play of the tournament for me. I raised a limper (I think the blinds were 25/50) with T2s from late position, i was just trying to get some chips) and the BB was the only caller. On the AQ2 flop, the BB led out for slightly over the pot - something COMPLETELY out of character for this player. I thought it over and decided that this was likely to be an attempt to push me off the pot with a weak hand - and pushed. He folded, and I was suddenly back up over 2000. I don't really remember how I built my stack from there, honestly. I know I got up to 8k, though. In the midst of this, I lost with KJ to QJ on the KT8 board, K7 to JT on the K9x board, while flopping a flush and holding off a set.

I dropped back from 8k though when trying to bet a player off JJ (I figured him for that exact hand) with 33 on a 99T flop. I knew what he had, I just couldn't get him to fold it. Again, I forget quite how I did it, but I know over the course of an hour or so I got to 25k. I then got real lucky.

I raised in late position with AQo. The play was folded to the big blind, who raised. This player had called my raises on the big blind quite a bit in the time we'd been at the table together, and I believe I ultimately had won all but one of those battles. I figured his raise meant one of two things: 1) I'm sick of this or 2) I've got a reasonably stronger hand than those past times. Knowing that I had held serve over this player and knowing that his hand range has to have widened considerably, I pushed. It was for all of his stack (and for all but like 5k of mine), but I certainly felt it extremely likely I'd get a fold from all but the top 3 pairs, and maybe JJ or AK. Well, he thought long and hard, and ultimately called with AK. I rivered a queen. Finally, after all the beats I've taken lately, I issued one on the river. I know from there I bluffed off a chunk with Q6 on the river in a blind v blind matchup.. the board read A33J7, the small blind had A7. I got most of it back with 77 v. 66.

Really, that's all the big hands I remember from the first six hours. The bubble arrived about six hours in, and I took advantage of it along with neverwin, who was seated at my table. Both of us chipped up significantly during this time. I finally moved over 100k in chips when my 22 busted a short stack's AA on the river, but lost a bunch of it back to BDoyle's AA with my JJ. I then hit another AQ vs an AK, but this one was straight off the flop. This put me back over 100k. I slowly built it up from there to around 150k with steals, resteals and a big pot won by kings. I got to nearly 200k when 33 stacked AT on the T53 flop. At this point I was 3rd in the tournament with around 90 left. And at this point I went cold.

I was able to slowly get my stack up to around 225k. BDoyle had won several nice pots (one big one with nothing more than KJ on a J high board) and had moved up to around 270k. I slid down to around 170k when I called a raise on the button with 8Ts, then raised the continuation bet on the K53 flop. The player thought for a while and moved in, giving me no choice but to fold. I played tight from there, moving down to 150k, moving back up to 175k or so, when the hand that busted me came.

I raised in MP with AT of diamonds, and BDoyle called on the button as he had done from time to time. Each time he called on the button, he had taken the pot, as I'd not only avoided hitting the flop, I'd run like hell from it. The flop came KTx, with two clubs and one diamond. I checked to him, and he bet 25k (I forget what the blinds were, they were either 3k/6k or 4k/8k). I pushed the rest of my 150-160k in, and he instacalled with KK. The turn came a jack, giving me four outs on the river, but no miracle hit, and I was out.

I've gone over and over this hand. I was going cold, and was against a player who had had the best of me. So I was right into the middle of my two biggest weaknesses. I struggle to fold marginal hands when I'm cold, and I hate feeling as though I'm being taken advantage of.

I find when I do best in tournaments with reasonably deep structures I don't get overly aggro with marginal hands. For instance, when I won the rd 3 to get my seat to the Borgata, I played exceptionally patient when cold. When I don't play patiently enough, I do things like pushing in bad spots.

I've gone over and over this. I don't think pushing the AT in that spot was actively bad by any means. He needed a hand as good as AA, KK, TT, xx (where x = the other card on the flop), Axc (where x= whatever card was a diamond on the flop. I don't remember which it was), AK, KT, and maybe KQ or KJ (Like I said, he did win a very big pot with KJ on a J high flop). Of the range of hands he calls with and the range of hands he bets (roughly every hand he calls with), I have that demolished. Furthermore, I mentioned that I doubled him up when he had AA just inside the bubble. He reraised that hand. Granting, he could play hands differently, with how often he'd called me, I felt it very unlikely that he had AA, KK or AK. That reduced the number of hands that he could call me with significantly.

Having said that, a better play would have been the check raise to 75-85k. If I get action on that, I know I'm really beat, and I lay down the AT if he reraises or just calls. I'd be down to around 75k, give or take, but 75k > 0. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I think I've taken this one well.

I was asked if it was a matter of fatigue that I pushed. It may have been, slightly. I played somewhere around 550 hands. That's more hands than I'll see in the 8 levels I'll play at the Borgata. However, I don't think the fatigue factor was significant - I think I simply chose the wrong line.

Oh well. It was a fun tournament with a great blind structure. I got very lucky in one key spot, and I got punished severely when I chose the clearly incorrect line. I think I have learned a great lesson from the tournament, and I believe I'll be able to use this knowledge to my advantage at the Borgata.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

real quick

busted in the 500k on stars as a top 10 stack with about 500 left. got agitated when the 2nd stack in the tourney on my left kept reraising me. check/pushed 44 into him when the board had 367 on the turn. He did not fold aces.

51st of some 2700 people in the UB million gtd. I was 3rd in the tourney for a while, then I went cold carded. I had a move not work which dropped me down to about 15th. I was still cold carded, getting by with just an occasional steal. Finally, with AT in MP I raised, the CO called as he had from time to time, particularly since getting a big stack. Flop came KTx with two clubs. I checked to him, and he bet as I expected. I pushed, he didn't fold KK.

There are a couple things I need to work on here. I'll go into more detail about it tomorrow.

not all bad

Over the course of three hours I turned a $600 loss into a $300 win at the 3/6 tables. I actually had a 3 outer hold, for once. Although a player did hit a hand when he only had 3 outs to chop during the session.

I was pleased with how it went. I am rapidly fixing the holes in my cash game, although the biggest leak (not getting drawn out on ridiculously) is still there.

I sure hope I win the UB million gtd tomorrow. That would officially Not Suck.

variation is still a bitch

Played in three tournaments this evening. The "Ace of Aces" tournament on Poker Room, a 36/3 satellite to the 500k tomorrow on stars, and the now customary 45k on stars.

Let's begin with the satellite. No hands, pushed with AK behind a raise, a guy cold called with 66. A on flop, 6 on turn.

The 45k was sick as hell, as is becoming customary. When AA lost to AJ on hand 3, I knew it was going to be fun. To the same player I lost with the A high flush to his straight flush, the 2nd nut flush to the nut flush. I managed to get a reasonable stack by the end of the rebuy period when I stopped getting the 2nd nuts. I then blew through it all in hour two. A lot of it went away with AT on an AAK flop when J2 made a flush. Most of the rest went when trying to get a guy off a hand that he telegraphed as being mediocre. It was. He didn't fold it. The rest of it went when I semibluffed right into a set. Surprisingly, I didn't hit. Shocking, I know.

The Ace of Aces was a fun tournament. It had a nice strucutre, not as slow as the Stars deep stacks, but still quite enjoyable. I got a very nice stack through aggressive play. I was picking up a number of hands, but struggled to get action on them. I made a couple nice calls when I reasoned through things properly. In short, I was playing very well. I was at 13k and in the bubble spot (15 paid, I was somewhere around 15th - 18th with 23 left) with a massive stack on my left. He'd overraised when I'd completed FTA several times before. I did so again with A8, and he bet me in. I thought it through, and decided that it was likely my hand was best. It wasn't, he had 55, but I was in a race. Surprisingly, I lost that one too. I would have been in the top 5. Maybe it was a bad call, but in the long run, it's +EV, I think.

Oh well. I think I played quite well this evening, it just didn't work out.

I'm playing quite well, at least. I'm not getting lucky in key spots, which is something you need in order to win these things. I've got confidence that it will turn for me, that for a while I will run good and get lucky. I'm just hoping it's soon.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

It's going to turn around eventually, right?

44 lost to A4 on the 234 flop, all in for a $950 pot. 5 on turn.

69 tied with A9 on the 69T9 board, all in for a $900 pot. 6 on river.

T9 tied with 99 on the 7T58 board, all in for a $900 pot. J on river.

That's 1850 that should by all rights be mine. When the hell are my massive favorites going to freaking hold?


What's stunning is this: during this marathon session, when I lost $1850 to incredible miracle cards... I ended down all of 35 bucks.

Unfortunately, for the day I'm down quite a bit more, due to losing an expensive flip at the tables earlier (that's a surprise! His 15 outer hits, mine don't!) and not cashing in any of my tournaments.

If it's possible to be happy with a day like this, I am.

Friday, January 13, 2006

Not quite successful

I played three tourneys this evening. A $3 rebuy on stars, the $11 rebuy (45k) on stars, and the now standard 16k on FT. It's not a stretch to say that I was cold carded all evening.

In the 16k, which it appears I'll get my entry fee back in, I had a set under set, no big hands to speak of, and lost a flip to go out. In the $3R, I had players flop trips on me EIGHT times. EIGHT. Not surprisingly, I went out in such a manner, when a player did the old limp UTG/call the raise to 7BB with J7s. And in the 45k I was 3 of 15 in showdowns. Of the three showdowns, two of them I chopped with another player. That means I went 1 of 13 in showdowns in which there was a single winner. I'm not going to win a whole lot of tournaments that way.

All was not lost, however. I learned that it's really comfortable to play a poker tournament from my recliner in front of the TV. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

musings and my day

So I have been thinking quite a bit about when I play best in tournaments. As I said yesterday I love that mix - just enough cards, but not too many. Then I can play situations very well. And then it got me to thinking - I've done pretty damn well in tournaments lately when I've had trouble finding cards. In a lot of ways, in these (relatively) shallow online tournaments, that's the key - finding ways to make chips when you're not getting the hands. Hopefully, eventually you'll get the hands to make a run. I've been doing a good job of that lately. I can point to the Party 40k yesterday and Sunday's 200k as great examples of this. Even though I never even got to 1600 on Party (start: 1000), I was in position to be able to make a run if I had gotten even a small rush of cards. Sunday in the 200k, I managed to almost triple my chips without ever really getting a hand. I flopped a set and got paid, but other than that it was mostly situational poker.

Which brings me to today. I played 3 tournaments today: the 75k on UB (200/15), the 16k on FT and a 20 table SnG on stars. I really got very few hands in any of these tournaments. I'll start with the 16k because I remember very little from this tournament. I can't remember how I busted, I don't really remember any hands.

The other two tournaments I had trouble playing the situations well. In the 20 table SnG I made two plays when I thought my opponent was weak that I should not have. In the first hand, UTG raised, and I called from the BB with 45s. The action went check/check on the JTx, two spade flop. The turn brought an offsuit 9, and I checked again. My opponent made a small bet at the pot, which I found very weird. I put everything together and I thought he was on a hand like AK or AQ that hadn't hit yet, so I tried to blow him off the hand with a strong raise. He called. I spiked a spade on the river and bet him in. He called his chips off with KQ - I misread him completely, but I was fortunate to hit my draw. The second situation I was dead on that my opponent was weak, but I was dead WRONG that my opponent would fold. I was being very rocky due to a lack of cards and a table gone nuts. The table had calmed down, so I finally took a flop behind a raise holding JT of clubs, a flop that ended up being 3 ways. The flop came down 977 with two diamonds and one club. It was checked to the PFR who made a bet that I just found weird (again). Again I perceived that the player didn't have the hand, so I moved in. I was STUNNED when the player called most of his chips with AJ of hearts - no pair, no draw. I didn't hit my 8, my T or my running clubs and that was that.

My big tournament was the 75k on UB. I said I needed to play a few tournaments to get used to the structure, but I probably shouldn't have started out with such a big one. The tournament was very deep, which I liked. Unfortunately, I again had trouble finding good cards. I did make quads to eliminate a shorty, but that was really it. Unlike usual, my efforts to make cards were rebuffed. When you don't have cards and you can't make chips - it's not going to be a good tourney. I went out pushing KQ on the KJx flop - another player had KJ. Oh well.

It wasn't a bad day though. For the first time in quite a while I had a very very good day at the cash tables. As you, loyal reader, have been able to read over the past few weeks - I've taken a few beats at the cash tables lately. Well, on this day, when they tried to give me their money, they succeeded. I stacked one guy drawing dead, and another drawing to two outs on the flop. I won a big coinflip at 5/10 (Yeah. One good session at 3/6 and suddenly I'm stepping up to 5/10. I had a reason though - the game was real good. We shall speak no more of this) when I overplayed AK and he overplayed JJ and it ended up well for me. It's nice to actually win a coinflip for a change. But I think my best play of the evening was a pot that cost me $120.


Seat 1: shawn ($1,235.75)
Seat 2: poker_dude25 ($388.75)
Seat 3: eman181 ($415.25)
Seat 5: Carlouch33 ($375.75)
Seat 6: kennyfel ($677.25)
Seat 7: KINGSNAKE007 ($642)
Seat 8: THEOSU ($655)
Seat 9: SAM SHADY ($755.75)
SAM SHADY posts the small blind of $5
shawn posts the big blind of $10
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to THEOSU [Qh Qc]
poker_dude25 calls $10
eman181 folds
Carlouch33 folds
kennyfel folds
KINGSNAKE007 folds
THEOSU raises to $40
SAM SHADY calls $35
shawn folds
poker_dude25 calls $30
*** FLOP *** [4s 9s Jh]
SAM SHADY checks
poker_dude25 checks
THEOSU checks
*** TURN *** [4s 9s Jh] [8d]
SAM SHADY checks
poker_dude25 checks
THEOSU bets $80
SAM SHADY raises to $160
poker_dude25 calls $160
THEOSU folds
*** RIVER *** [4s 9s Jh 8d] [6c]
SAM SHADY checks
poker_dude25 bets $188.75, and is all in
SAM SHADY calls $188.75
*** SHOW DOWN ***
poker_dude25 shows [7d Td] (a straight, Jack high)
SAM SHADY mucks
poker_dude25 wins the pot ($904.50) with a straight, Jack high
Seat 2: poker_dude25 showed [7d Td] and won ($904.50) with a straight, Jack high
Seat 8: THEOSU (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 9: SAM SHADY (small blind) mucked [4c 4d] - three of a kind, Fours


As an aside - if Sam Shady bets this flop, pokerdude probably folds, I probably raise, and shady either stacks me or wins a very good pot. His minraise told me he set up somewhere, and if I had any inclination to think the minraise was a bluff, the cold call told me it was a bad idea. It was a pretty easy laydown, but I'm still proud of it, particularly considering how I've been running at the cash tables of late.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

one for four and other miscellanea

Four tourneys today. 45k on stars, a 20table SnG on stars, 16k on FT and 40k on party (first time I've partaken in that one). It was, in fact, so surprising that I played in the party tournament that Matt reacted with ITALICS in surprise. So, yeah. A stunning upset.

Anyway, I flamed out early after the rebuy period ended in the 45k. I could not get anything going during the rebuy period, nor anything shortly thereafter. Ultimately AK died to AT as the guy tried to get something going for me.

40k was pretty uneventful. I had no cards, and had no business lasting as long as I did. It just didn't work out.

16k same deal. I actually flopped a set (which, combined with the QUADS I flopped in the 45k has induced me to stop counting how many I've gotten recently), and really played well. Again, I had no business lasting as long as I did, but I got myself into good position (about 75%) to get to the top 15 when the river changed all that. It would always be an uphill climb from there, one I just couldn't make. It ended when I sensed weakness in a preflop raise and I shoved what little fold equity I thought I had in there with Q8s. He wasn't weak. He had AA.

But, I did money in the 20 table SnG on stars. I had a real nice run of cards for a while, but was getting no action on them. It was one of those where the cards are so good and you're so active that you know someone's eventually gonna fight back - so you can't bluff for like 20 minutes. Well, finally at the end of the run I did get action, so that was nice. I would do my usual thing in these tournaments. Chop out pots, win a few of them, lose a few, while looking for a chance to win a real big one. I was able to do that enough to be in the middle of the pack on the bubble, but I used it (the bubble) to my advantage as I was able to make myself quite comfortable in relation to the blinds when it finally burst. I just kind of lingered through that second to last table, making the final table in 6th or 7th chip position. Finally the cards came back a bit, and after being 6th of 7, I moved to the top 3, where I would stay the remainder of the tournament. I was getting that great mix I love - just enough cards to back up my moves, but not too many where I could no longer attack situations with the confidence that I would not be looked up.

It got down to 3 players, and I was the short stack. The big stack doubled me up when he did not bet me off my OESD - and then paid me when I hit. Ironically, despite three errors in the hand (the third was a minraise preflop that would never get me to fold a hand like 57s) he called ME the dumbass. Go figure. He became the shortstack, and the third player and I were about even after I doubled his aces up with my tens. I then took a commanding lead when I flopped two pair (97) on aces guy after he minireraised me. I slowed to the turn when he hit his AJ, and doubled through, earning the comment: "you sure raise with shit". Still, I just couldn't put these guys away. I doubled them up when 40% hands just wouldn't win. Eventually, shitraiser knocked out the guy who called me a dumbass, and then I doubled him up again, giving him the chiplead briefly as his A6 made a straight to defeat my A4. I was able to get a slight lead back chopping out pots. It ended when I issued my only beat of the tournament, when my KJ and his KQ got it in on the KTTx board - I spiked the jack on the river. What a time to deliver something like that. I felt kinda guilty, and then I remembered how many sick beats I've taken at key times in the past couple of months, so fuck that. I'll take it.

As per usual, I have the greatest success in the smallest tournament, but... again. I'll take it. Defeating 179 other players, even if they aren't very good is always an accomplishment. And the payout of four digits is always nice.

On to the weekend. I deposited some money in UB, as their million dollar guaranteed tourney is Sunday at 3:30. I think it's at 3:30, anyway. I'll have to play a few tournaments there to get used to the software - probably some satellites to the event. As a nice kicker, (I'm led to believe that) they're giving away WSOP packages to the top 10 finishers in the event. Winning would not suck. At all.

I'm starting to really get excited for the AC trip. I've now got the hotel booked, and as soon as Matt figures out exactly what he's doing, the flight and car are next. Winning wouldn't suck there, either.

Well, this has been my longest post in quite some time. And it was written on my fancy schmancy new notebook because I'm too lazy to go upstairs right now. I'd have to climb FOURTEEN steps when I could just sit right here and type away. Which do you think I'm going to do, honestly?

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Live... from my new notebook

Fun. I hate the keyboard and mouse on this thing, though. Eventually I'll have to get the work station that allows you to have a normal sized keyboard and a real mouse...

Monday, January 09, 2006

one more because i can

Full Tilt Poker Game #376119746: Table Pomerado (6 max) - $3/$6 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:58:03 ET - 2006/01/09
Seat 1: hillpill ($665.60)
Seat 3: riverknight ($200)
Seat 4: wasabi funyuns ($253.65)
Seat 5: THEOSU ($458.70)
hillpill posts the small blind of $3
riverknight posts the big blind of $6
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to THEOSU [Kc Ks]
wasabi funyuns folds
THEOSU raises to $18
hillpill raises to $48
riverknight raises to $200, and is all in
THEOSU raises to $458.70, and is all in
hillpill calls $410.70
THEOSU shows [Kc Ks]
hillpill shows [Ad Qd]
riverknight shows [Td Ts]
*** FLOP *** [9h 5c Qs]
*** TURN *** [9h 5c Qs] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [9h 5c Qs Qh] [2d]
THEOSU shows two pair, Kings and Queens
hillpill shows three of a kind, Queens
hillpill wins the side pot ($517.40) with three of a kind, Queens
riverknight shows two pair, Queens and Tens
hillpill wins the main pot ($598) with three of a kind, Queens
THEOSU: you have got to be kiddingme
riverknight is sitting out
THEOSU is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,117.40 Main pot $600. Side pot $517.40. Rake $2
Board: [9h 5c Qs Qh 2d]
Seat 1: hillpill (small blind) showed [Ad Qd] and won ($1,115.40) with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 3: riverknight (big blind) showed [Td Ts] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 4: wasabi funyuns didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: THEOSU (button) showed [Kc Ks] and lost with two pair, Kings and Queens

Hell of a cooler

Fourth hand at the 3/6 table:


Full Tilt Poker Game #376063600: Table Pomerado (6 max) - $3/$6 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:24:07 ET - 2006/01/09
Seat 1: ob_unc ($605.10)
Seat 2: rattbag ($564)
Seat 3: Clown ($429.50)
Seat 4: Will Holdem ($227.40)
Seat 5: THEOSU ($406)
Seat 6: riverknight ($225)
ob_unc posts the small blind of $3
rattbag posts the big blind of $6
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to THEOSU [Kh Ad]
Clown folds
Will Holdem raises to $18
THEOSU calls $18
riverknight folds
ob_unc folds
rattbag calls $12
*** FLOP *** [Td 4d 5d]
rattbag checks
Will Holdem bets $54
THEOSU raises to $388, and is all in
rattbag folds
Will Holdem calls $155.40, and is all in
THEOSU shows [Kh Ad]
Will Holdem shows [Ac Ah]
Uncalled bet of $178.60 returned to THEOSU
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*** TURN *** [Td 4d 5d] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [Td 4d 5d 7c] [5s]
THEOSU shows a pair of Fives
Will Holdem shows two pair, Aces and Fives
Will Holdem wins the pot ($472.80) with two pair, Aces and Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $475.80 Rake $3
Board: [Td 4d 5d 7c 5s]
Seat 1: ob_unc (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: rattbag (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Clown didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Will Holdem showed [Ac Ah] and won ($472.80) with two pair, Aces and Fives
Seat 5: THEOSU showed [Kh Ad] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 6: riverknight (button) didn't bet (folded)


Twentieth hand at the 3/6 table, now heads up:


Full Tilt Poker Game #376082101: Table Pomerado (6 max) - $3/$6 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:35:10 ET - 2006/01/09
Seat 3: boolad ($332.50)
Seat 5: THEOSU ($501.60)
Seat 6: riverknight ($200)
THEOSU posts the small blind of $3
riverknight posts the big blind of $6
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to THEOSU [8h 9s]
THEOSU raises to $18
riverknight calls $12
*** FLOP *** [9h 3h 6d]
riverknight checks
THEOSU bets $20
riverknight raises to $40
THEOSU raises to $483.60, and is all in
riverknight calls $142, and is all in
THEOSU shows [8h 9s]
riverknight shows [9c 6c]
Uncalled bet of $301.60 returned to THEOSU
*** TURN *** [9h 3h 6d] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [9h 3h 6d 6s] [7c]
ob_unc sits down
THEOSU shows two pair, Nines and Sixes
riverknight shows a full house, Sixes full of Nines
ob_unc adds $623.85
riverknight wins the pot ($399.50) with a full house, Sixes full of Nines
Diego sits down
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $400 Rake $0.50
Board: [9h 3h 6d 6s 7c]
Seat 3: boolad is sitting out
Seat 5: THEOSU (small blind) showed [8h 9s] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sixes
Seat 6: riverknight (big blind) showed [9c 6c] and won ($399.50) with a full house, Sixes full of Nines


I've flopped and folded two pair as well.

Twenty eight hands, including four heads up. I've won one. Apparently the tremendous rush of cards from this weekend is continuing.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Poker Impotence.

I said some time ago that there was no worse feeling than poker impotence. Where you just can't do anything because of the situation.

In the stars 500k and FT 200k today I was stone cold card deaded. 75 minutes at stars, 5 tables of play. No pairs above 99. Had big slick once and no other twenty ones. I lasted those 75 minutes by folding folding folding, then winning a coinflip. I pushed top pair inside straight draw against top two. It didn't work out.

The FT 200k was a bit better. I managed to get up to 5700 despite having QQ once and nothing else above 99 for two hours. I was at 5 tables there, too. AK once, AJ and AT once each, and a whole lot of J8 (six of them!). I was making chips but eventually I was going to need some service. That never came. The end came when I was on the SB with K8o with 8BB and pushed the slightly smaller BB in. Despite the fact that I'd played two hands in the 4 orbits at the table, he called all his chips off with A3o. And made treys full. Then I called all in with 77 against AJ and AK - A on flop, J on river. Worst hand takes it. Best hand ends up dead last.

Also, it's been at least 42 pocket pairs that have gone setless on the flop. I haven't gone back in pokertracker to find excatly when my last one was.

Oh well. I played very well to get chips, to get myself into positions where I just needed a little bit of service to have a chance - and I couldn't get that service. Poker impotence, there.

Double props

First, to my brother, Matt... He took down the Winner's Choice tournament last night on Full Tilt and will most likely be joining me at the Borgata at the end of the month.

Enough about him. Now about me!

Played the $100 deepstax tourney on stars last night. I fell shy of the money as I made a couple of unsuccessful moves, stopped getting service, and then did not win a coinflip. However, I made one of my best calls ever, which I will share with you now, including step by step analysis.

Why am I doing this? Since I pepper this thing with so many frustrating stories, bad beats and whining, it's high time I proved how AWESOME I am.



POKERSTARS GAME #3565882008: TOURNAMENT #17356879, HOLD'EM NO LIMIT - LEVEL V
(75/150) - 2006/01/07 - 21:44:44 (ET)
Table '17356879 26' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Octavian_C (11170 in chips)
Seat 2: pjabone (10435 in chips)
Seat 3: leemur1 (3165 in chips)
Seat 4: DeOhGee (9775 in chips)
Seat 5: jmikekennedy (22695 in chips)
Seat 6: shakeybubba (13820 in chips)
Seat 7: zqxjk (9645 in chips)
Seat 8: THEOSU (10800 in chips)
jmikekennedy: posts small blind 75
shakeybubba: posts big blind 150


I have started to run this table over. I switched gears dramatically in the past few orbits, taking down maybe 6 pots in the past 2+ orbits, and calling raises in two other pots. Therefore, my image is extremely loose. I am aware of this.



*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to THEOSU [6s Qs]
zqxjk: folds
THEOSU: raises 300 to 450
Octavian_C: folds
pjabone: folds
leemur1: folds
DeOhGee: folds
jmikekennedy: folds
shakeybubba: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [Kd 3s Qc]
shakeybubba: checks
THEOSU: checks


Pretty standard. I checked because I'd been very aggressive postflop, and I didn't really need to create a big pot when I was not sure where I stood. It's about to get interesting.



*** TURN *** [Kd 3s Qc] [Ks]
shakeybubba: bets 600
THEOSU: raises 1200 to 1800
shakeybubba: calls 1200



I could see him leading the turn with a king if a blank came off, but I simply could not see him leading the turn with a king once he made trips. It made no sense to me. I raised because I felt it likely that I had the best hand, I had a good draw. It was a raise for value at this point.



*** RIVER *** [Kd 3s Qc Ks] [Jh]
shakeybubba: checks
THEOSU: bets 2400
shakeybubba: raises 9170 to 11570 and is all-in



What's not reflected in this hand history is that shakeybubba used a signifcant amount of his time bank to make this decision. Not down to 2 or anything, but maybe 20 seconds. So he used all of his normal time, plus twenty time bank seconds. I was talking to sandtiger from PSO who was sweating me. When the river hit I said "I don't think I'm any worse than chopping this." My bet on the end was for value. I had him on a hand that was along the lines of JT, a medium pair or a queen. When he check/pushed I had to suddenly reassess things. So I went back over the hand, step by step. Was this player's play consistent with my read on every step? Could I be mistaken and could he have a king? The answer to that was yes, clearly he could, but I had a strong read that he did not have it in this instance. Therefore, the only hand I was afraid of was AQ. While there was clearly plenty of places to find a fold, I went with my instincts and my read that I was good.



THEOSU: calls 6150 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shakeybubba: shows [Td Tc] (two pair, Kings and Tens)
THEOSU: shows [6s Qs] (two pair, Kings and Queens)
THEOSU collected 21675 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21675 Rake 0
Board [Kd 3s Qc Ks Jh]


The call earned some mad props from the table. Of course, I had to tighten up for a while afterwards, because they saw I had raised with Q6s in EP. But, it earned some tremendous respect from the table, which is a good thing. Oh, and it made me feel like a champ.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Agitated at self.

So I was up quite a bit this evening on the 3/6 table, but then I just gave most of it away. I lost a sizable pot with KK to AJ, but I was fine for a while after that. I just lost concentration for a couple of hands, and gave about $150 on consecutive hands because I was spacing out. There's really no other description I can give. It's the first time that had happened to me in a while. On the bright side, I stopped it by getting up (unfortunately, I couldn't stop it before it happened or after the first hand), and kept a profit for the evening.

In a questionable decision, I sat back down not long ago. The purpose was not to make back all that I had given away. Rather, the purpose was to just not go to bed on such a sour note. Kinda like when you have a fight with your significant other - you don't want to go to bed mad. I didn't want to go to bed frustrated. I played solidly, and had someone donk their medium sized stack to me, which was nice.

While I'm upset that I made the errors I did, I think I can sense the warning signs of them, so hopefully I'll be able to nip the donkeyness in the bud next time. If not, I at least showed that I have the discipline to stand up instead of dropping more on the table.

Failure is not the making of the mistake. Failure is making the mistake and not learning from it. Obviously I made the mistake, but I have taken the steps to learn from it and ensure it does not occur again.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Playing With Experts

I very rarely get involved with talking at the table, but this guy was really ticking me off. So I talked. It was fun.


*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to THEOSU [6h 4c]
wrestle1234: you'll never get much of a BR
wrestle1234: and be done soon
wrestle1234: won't have to worry what you think
lennis raises to $12
wrestle1234 raises to $30
THEOSU folds
fat lizard folds
hugebigtime calls $27
SLIPPERY E folds
lennis calls $18
*** FLOP *** [3c Ah 6s]
hugebigtime checks
lennis checks
wrestle1234 bets $70
hugebigtime folds
lennis raises to $204, and is all in
wrestle1234 calls $134
lennis shows [6d 6c]
wrestle1234 shows [Qd Ac]
wrestle1234: wow
*** TURN *** [3c Ah 6s] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [3c Ah 6s Qc] [9d]
lennis shows three of a kind, Sixes
wrestle1234 shows two pair, Aces and Queens
wrestle1234: too much bs going on
lennis wins the pot ($501) with three of a kind, Sixes


This shortly after SLIPPERY E won a coinflip (prompting the talk at the start of the hand)...



wrestle1234: wow
wrestle1234: too much bs going on
SLIPPERY E: to bad
wrestle1234: hititng two outers
lennis: i was ahead of you teh whole way
SLIPPERY E: all you do is cry
SLIPPERY E: We should start calling you Phil
wrestle1234: 1% preflop maybe?
wrestle1234: site setting up some big hands
wrestle1234: so all ins go down
THEOSU: loooooooool
wrestle1234: OSU you have lost consistently since
your lucky draw earlier
wrestle1234: sssshhhh....
THEOSU: you haven't exactly been making a ton of
cash either
wrestle1234: nope
wrestle1234: i've been unlucky
THEOSU: yeah, getting it in drawing to runner runner
is damn unlucky
SLIPPERY E: lol
wrestle1234: i haven't drawn to runner runner
THEOSU: erm. ok
wrestle1234: name the hand?
THEOSU: what, four hands ago?
SLIPPERY E: didn't you just lose to a set
wrestle1234: yeah i lost to a set
lennis: that is not runner tunner
wrestle1234: i haven't caught a runner runner yet
THEOSU: no no, you didn't catch it. you were
drawing to it thoguh
wrestle1234: no
wrestle1234: name the hand
THEOSU: when you have AQ against 66 and the flop
is A6x, you are drawing to running cards to win the
hand
THEOSU: i don't see how this is so tough to explain
wrestle1234: lol
wrestle1234: yep, i knew he had 66 too
wrestle1234: he caught a two outer to be in that hand
THEOSU: he was ahead of you!
SLIPPERY E: we thought you new everything
THEOSU: holy jeebus
wrestle1234: 1%
lennis: no you caught a 6 outer to call
wrestle1234: he doesn't catch he has to leave
THEOSU: you act like he caught a two outer on the
river!
wrestle1234: no
wrestle1234: didn't say that
THEOSU: wrestle1234: he caught a two outer to be
in that hand
lennis: if no a or q on teh flop you fold to my bet
lennis: hence you caugth a 6 outer
wrestle1234: i recover
wrestle1234: no biggy
THEOSU: oh, this is making my head hurt
wrestle1234: 6 is better than 2
wrestle1234: i just don't see the logic in calling a
reraise with a small pair
wrestle1234: you have to hit a 6 or you leave
THEOSU: i dunno, because you're a donkey and will
pay him off?
wrestle1234: yep
lennis: i put you on ak, none of those on the flop and
i play you
wrestle1234: donkey's playing top pair for only 150
more

Come Down

Ran into aces six times tonight. SIX TIMES!

So, in other words... it wasn't a very profitable evening.

Oh, and that Texas-USC game was very very good. I'm pleased Texas won, if for no other reason than 1) we played them tough and 2) everyone had already anointed USC the 2nd best college football team in history.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Being sick is -EV

I can only hope that it's not the bird flu.

This is just nasty nasty nasty stuff. I was exhausted walking to my car from class last night. It was pretty unnerving.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Another reason to glow

http://www.bceaglesfootball.com/images/nd1.gif

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=260020194

Monday, January 02, 2006

No more qualifiers!

Finally! Well, ok, maybe just a little bit of an ish. I didn't win.

But, I did come in 2nd place at the Full Tilt 60k this evening. It's finally that score I've been getting so close to for so long. I was fortunate in many cases, but not so much in others.

I broke the bubble 4th in chips. I then went on my standard cold dead stretch, being forced to play tight due to having zero cards. A key hand came up when we were down to 30 or so. On the SB with A8, I pushed following a button raise. The BB called the rest of her final 2 BB, and the button folded. The BB had JT. The flop came 884. Turn J. River J. Online poker is rigged.

I am incredibly proud of holding it together after this. Unfortunately, I was no longer able to play poker, but I made the proper adjustment in my game - I was now That All In Guy. My table was beginning to get pissed off about it, but it worked. I slowly crawled back from 4 big blinds to having over average. I was forced to play this way until just before the final table when I took a big pot with QQ against TT and A2. Poker!

Alas, I went cold carded again. That was fine, I had enough chips to be patient and wait. I picked my spots for raising, mostly with a hand, occasionally without. It went that way until we were 4 handed. I lost a coinflip (33 to AK as the board double paired the river) to put me down under one big blind. If I wasn't able to come back to 2nd, I'd be lamenting this coinflip loss right here right now. Anyway, I picked up AJ the next hand, called all in and it held over 8T. QJ the next hand, called by 99, J on flop. Shortly thereafter, I won with K3 v. A3 as a king flopped. I moved into 2nd when my QJs busted the shortstacks K8. I felt really good, as my opposition wasn't strong. Unfortunately, I picked a bad time shortly thereafter - the 3rd stack had worked his way almost even, and I tried to come over top of him with KJ, as he called all in with KQ and the queen played. He'd raise/folded before, so I thought I had significant fold equity - enough that I eschewed the stop and go (which had worked so well all tourney).

I was back to 3 big blinds. I was back to being That Guy. It worked. Ridiculously often. The other two tangled in an all in pot (with 2nd and bottom pair!), but the 2nd stack held, giving them both very sizable stacks. So much for limping into second. Time to go back to work. So I did. All in. All in. All in. And then the other two got into it again, with A9 crippling KJ. Suddenly the score was 650k to 98k (me) to 33k at 2k/8k/16k. I folded the button the next hand and hoped the big stack could eliminate the 2nd stack. He didn't, as he doubled up. However, with both of us pretty short, it would not be long before one of us went out, and fortunately, it was the other guy.

I was heads up at a 692 to 97 disadvantage. 7-1 disadvantages are not great. I stop/went successfully for the nth time on hand one, then pushed hand 2 from the small. Q6 ran into KQ, I did not improve, and that was that.

Still. Finally! A breakthrough!

The plan: get something nice for the wife for dealing with me for all this time. Buy a laptop to take to AC with me to play in the WSOP Main Event freeroll I'm in. And jam the rest right back into winning more money.

It feels damn good to get this monkey off my back.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Online Poker is Rigged

Full Tilt Poker Game #362702833: $10,000 Guarantee (2283878), Table 12 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:17:17 ET - 2006/01/01
Seat 1: Any_Wilds (3,070)
Seat 2: THEOSU (1,090)
Seat 3: NastyBeet (1,094)
Seat 4: Pfunk1273 (3,881)
Seat 6: Iron Head Champ (2,672)
Seat 7: vettefreak64 (7,124)
Seat 8: poker extrod (7,796)
Seat 9: texasmaster (2,895)
NastyBeet posts the small blind of 60
Pfunk1273 posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to THEOSU [4s 6c]
Iron Head Champ folds
vettefreak64 folds
poker extrod calls 120
texasmaster calls 120
Any_Wilds folds
THEOSU raises to 1,090, and is all in
NastyBeet folds
Pfunk1273 folds
poker extrod calls 970
texasmaster folds
THEOSU shows [4s 6c]
poker extrod shows [5c 4c]
*** FLOP *** [5s Ad 5d]
*** TURN *** [5s Ad 5d] [Tc]
THEOSU: looooooool
*** RIVER *** [5s Ad 5d Tc] [Ks]
THEOSU shows a pair of Fives
poker extrod shows three of a kind, Fives
poker extrod wins the pot (2,480) with three of a kind, Fives
THEOSU stands up
The blinds are now 80/160
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,480 Rake 0
Board: [5s Ad 5d Tc Ks]
Seat 1: Any_Wilds didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: THEOSU (button) showed [4s 6c] and lost with a pair of Fives
Seat 3: NastyBeet (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Pfunk1273 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Iron Head Champ didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: vettefreak64 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: poker extrod showed [5c 4c] and won (2,480) with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 9: texasmaster folded before the Flop

Happy New Year, Foos.

Fo real.

Hopefully I'll win my first million this year. Ha!

Btw, 0-2 my goals from a month ago. It'll be forgiven if I do it at the Borgata.