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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Live Blog #1 - The Reno Marathon

(Before you start reading this, let the dog outside, take a quick visit to the bathroom, and grab a snack along with a cool, refreshing beverage. This is loooong post.)

9:00am $300 - The first table of the day (Sunday 10/17) is $2/$3 NL, and is starting with eight players. Most are buying in with $200 or $300. The Old Guy on my Left has $50. The $100 drawing for the 9am people will be given away as $50, $30, & $20 by vote of the Table.

9:30 $331 - Table is still 8-handed, and playing calm, as expected. I'm playing fairly tight, and observing. I won three small pots. Most notably, I had KK in the BB on a Straddle ($6), and raised to $16. Only the Straddle called, and I won it on the Flop.

10:00 $303 - Table is now full (9-handed). Cards kinda suck for me. I even missed out on the $100 promo. But half of this table is Super Nits, so I think it's time to "Step On The Gas" a bit (in late position, of course).

10:30 $222 - Well, so much for that idea. Super Nits are getting some cards, and mine still suck. Time to go back to waiting for opportunities.

10:40 $300 - I limp in Mid with Js Td. Button (an Old Lady) raises to $8. I call. The player on my Left back-raises to $23. He just recently sat down, but seems to be a bit of an Action Guy. Button calls, and so do I.
Flop Jh 8h 3c. I check. Action Guy bets $25. Button calls. This seems like a good spot to check-raise, so I instantly raise to $75. Action Guy thinks for a bit, and folds. Button calls quickly, which I don't like.
Turn [Jh 8h 3c] Qs. I hate that card, but I gotta follow through with it. I go All-In for $127. She says, "Well, I've come this far," and calls. The River is [Jh 8h 3c Qs] Th. I now have Two Pair, but she quickly shows AQh for the Nut Flush. REBUY!

11:00 $271 - I'm really getting frustrated. Every time I'm in a pot, someone is either leading into me, or check-raising me. Plus, trying to type this Live Blog isn't helping.

11:15 - This isn't working. The small screen of the iPhone, and the fact that I've already rebought for $300 isn't helping my mood, which is borderline Tilt right now.

I'll keep the Running Log going on the side, and posting it later. It's easier to jot down notes in shorthand, than to do full entries on the fly. If I had a laptop next to me, then maybe I could do it live.

11:30 $329 - Starting to turn the corner. I won a few small pots. Most notably, The UTG min-raised ($6). A few players called. I'm on the Button with KJo, and 3-Bet to $36. All folded.

12:00 $238 - Well, I guess my "rush" is over. I don't think I won a pot. My biggest loss was calling a shortshack's All In for $36 with 22. The shortstack had ATh, flopped a Ten, and rivered Trip Tens.

12:30 $375 - I raise ($11) in the Hyjack with A2o. Only the Button calls, and he's an Old Guy who's shortstacked. The Flop is A J 2. I check my Two Pair, and he bets $15. I just call. The Turn is [A J 2] 4. I check. He bets $15 again, and I check-raise to $40. He goes All-In for not much more, and I call. The River is [A J 2 4] 5. I show my Two Pair, and he shows J5.

I also won the last two pots with KJo and QJo. I raised to my standard $11 preflop, got one caller, and took it down on the Flop.

1:00 $402 - I limp UTG+2 with QJd. Five players see a Flop of A Q J. I lead out for $11. The J5 guy calls. As it turns out, he's a world class calling station, and he's still milking the shortstack while rebuying for $100 each time. The Turn is [A Q J] 6. I bet $20, and he calls. The River is [A Q J 6] 7. I bet $30. He goes to fold, then thinks for a while, and then folds. I guess I should have bet $25.

2:00 $449 - I took a break, and headed to the Buffet. On my return hand, I get dealt 43d in the Hyjack. Six players see a Flop of Ks Kd 2h. Everyone checks. Turn [Ks Kd 2h] 5h. The SB bet $15. He's a Super Nit, and obviously has a K. I'm the only caller with my Open-Ender. River [Ks Kd 2h 5h] As. He bets $15 again. I raise to $50 with the Wheel, and he calls. I say, "Straight," and he gets that "How do you have a Straight?" look on his face. He didn't show his hand.

2:30 $382 - Half of this table is still here from 9am. I played a few hands and chased a bit, but nothing good happened.

3:00 $600 - Back to even. I won two pots against someone trying to make something happen. I just Check & Called him down, and won both pots. In another pot, I raised UTG+1 with KJo. 14 players called (well, maybe 6). The Flop was A K x. I bet $30, and they all folded.

I spoke too soon about everyone sticking around. There have been some big changes. Most notably, a Regular has sit on my direct Left. He's an Action Guy who likes to play big pots, and is straddling my BB every time. I will need to adjust.

3:30 $610 - I played a few pots, but nothing newsworthy.

4:00 $412 - UTG+2 raised to $10. He's a 50's guy, and new to the table. 3-4 players called. I'm the SB with Jh Jd, and 3-Bet to $60. The new guy goes All-In for $154. It folds around to me. I'm not happy about this, but I gotta call. I'm getting pot odds of $94 to win around $250. Naturally, he has AA. The Good News is that I hit my first Set of the Day on the Flop. The Bad News is that he does too. A J x on the Flop. I hate wasting Sets.

4:30 $502 - I won a few small pots, although one should have been much larger. UTG raised to $10, and I called with 54o in the Cutoff. Four players see a Flop of Ah 3h 2c. It checked around to me. I didn't want to give a free card here and get a bad Turn card to kill my action (like a 5, a 4, or a Heart), so I bet $25 with my Straight. Everyone folded.

5:00 $317 - Wheels have come off the Bus. I limped UTG with KK, but nobody raised. I ended up folding on the Turn. I don't know why I just limped. That play is great for Tournaments, but rarely works in Cash games.
I called an $11 raise in Mid position with 54c. Five players see a Flop of A 6 2. The raiser checks. I decide to stab at my Gutshot for $35. Only the Cutoff calls. The Turn is [A 6 2] 2. I bet $50. He tanks for a bit, and reluctantly calls. I'm sure he's got a weak Ace. The Turn [A 6 2 2] 7. I bet $60 with my 5-high. He thinks for a bit, and says Call. I say, "5-high", and he shows AK. He said that he thought I had a 2. Why would I ever have a 2 here? I read him as weak. And to him, AK was weak here. Fuckin' Super Nit.

5:30 $211 - The Downward Spiral continues in various hands. Most notably, I limp in a straddle pot in the BB with A2c. Six players see a Flop of Qc 8c 2s. I lead out for $11, forgetting that it's a Straddle and the pot is much larger. The Straddler, who's the Action Guy on my Left that I mentioned earlier, raised to $30. It folds around to the SB, and he calls. He's a 70's Asian gentleman in a Rascal, and he's extremely loose and active. I just call the raise with my Pair + Nut Flush Draw.
Turn [Qc 8c 2s] 7h. The SB goes All-In for $57. I insta-call the All-In, hoping that the Action Guy will get scared off (He's got some "Game", and he thinks I'm on the Tight side of the spectrum.) He goes into deep thought mode for about a minute, and reluctantly folds his hand face-up, Q8o for Top Two Pair.
River [Qc 8c 2s 7h] As. I miss my Flush, but I did hit Two Pair. The Old Loose guy says "Two Pair." I show my cards, assuming that my hand is best. But he shows A8o for a higher Two Pair. (Yes, he shoved on the Turn with just Middle Pair. Did I mention that he was Loose?) The Action Guy is befuddled by this action, and is pissed that he folded the best hand on the Turn. (Although he would have lost on the River).

The very next hand, I get As Ac in the SB, and I just limp. I'm hoping that Action Guy will snap in the BB. And he does raise to $13. But only the UTG called the extra $10, so I don't squeeze. I'm willing to take the Flop 3-handed in order to trap someone. Flop is Q-high, and all three players check. I bet on the Turn, and they fold. Action Guy said he had AK. Guess I should have squeezed.

6:00 $435 - Today's roller coaster continues. I'm actually falling behind on my note taking, and missing hands. The big hand that started the comeback was me raising UTG+1 with AJh. Five players saw the Flop of A J 2. I bet $20, and only the Fuckin' Super Nit from before called. I bet $30 on the Turn, and $50 on the River. He just called the whole way with A2. I did win $100 on the hand, but still... Fuckin' Super Nit.

6:30 $458 - We're getting shorthanded, as is the other $2/$3 table. So they combine them at our table, and we're eight handed. I limp in EP with Qc Js. Five players see the Flop of Qh Tc 4c. The Old Loose Guy bets $15. I raise to $40 in order to isolate. The Fuckin' Super Nit cold calls, but the Old Loose Guy folds. The Flush hit the Turn, and we end up checking it down. He called my raise with Ac Th (Middle Pair), which surprised me. I mention that my "5-High" from earlier seems to be paying off, and he agrees. Maybe there is a lesson for me to learn here...

7:00 $509 - OK, I've been here way too long. But I'm almost back to even, so I'm gonna grind it out until I get to $601 or 9pm. I'm also getting hungry, and my iPhone battery is getting very low.

7:30 $415 - The Action Guy is having as good of a day as I am. He goes busto, rebuys for $300, and Straddles for $10 instead of his usual $6. There is the usual Limpage (I can't understand why nobody ever raises a Straddle pot.) Of course, I'm the BB and I look down at Js Jd. I decide to limp and try to trap the Action Guy who just rebought, especially since the AA hand earlier went so well. But he checks his option this time. Flop is 8c 6c 3h. Since this is such a wonderful Flop of Jacks, I bet $30. It folds around to the Old Loose Guy. He calls, and has only $41 left. Turn [8c 6c 3h] Kc. He checks, and so do I. River [8c 6c 3h Kc] Th. He goes All-In for the $41. I think about it for a while, remember back to the A8 hand from earlier. I make the crying call, hoping that he hit his Ten. Of course, he has 9h 7d for the Straight.

After this pathetic hand, my cards go very quiet. That seems to happen often to me after I donk off a bunch of chips.

8:00 $436 - I only played one hand. I made my standard raise to $11 in the Hyjack with A6o. Three players saw the Flop of K 6 3. I bet $20, and they both fold.

8:30 $401 - Still card dead. A different player straddles. Four players limp in. I'm the Button with T9o, and I 3-Bet to $25 because I love to punish Straddlers. Only the BB called. He's the Old Loose Guy who switch seats, and is now on the Left of Action Guy. Oh, and he's got $19 left in his stack. The Flop is A K x. He checks. I hate this situation, but I gotta bet the $19, and pray that he folds his little pocket pair. But, as you can guess, he called with ATo.

Later, a limp pot got checked on the Flop and Turn. My TT hit the 2-outer on the River. I bet $11, and got one caller.

9:00pm $509 - Old Loose Guy raises to $20 UTG, which is a big raise for him. It folds to me in the SB, and I call with QTd. Not the best call out of position, but I'm losing and leaving soon. The Flop is Qs Tc 6c. I check my Top Two Pair. He bets $60. This overbet means an Overpair. I don't see any reason to slowplay, so I check-raise to $125. He calls quickly. Turn [Qs Tc 6c] Js. I go All-In for my remaining $209. He goes to fold, and then looks at the pot, and then looks back at his hand. After close to two minutes, he finally folds. AGGGHHHH!!!

This hand is a great example of my unique ability to win the minimum with my Monster hands. It's not that I screw up in the hand; I just seem to choose the wrong action for what my opponent has. It doesn't matter if I play it aggressively like this hand, or passively like the AA hand when the Action Guy had AK. In hindsight, I can always see what I should have bet, but that doesn't mean squat while I'm in the moment. Here is another example of my wonderful ability.

So I finish this 12-hour session down almost $100. I go grab a burger, and head home.

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