tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71150952467244142232024-03-12T20:30:37.148-07:00Old Player ~ New GrinderA 40's guy quits his job in 2014, and moves to Las Vegas.
How hard could it be?GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.comBlogger421125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-4087904859515837482014-04-05T10:42:00.001-07:002014-04-08T08:31:20.327-07:00April Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://praxiom-rm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Money-on-Fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://praxiom-rm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Money-on-Fire.jpg" /></a></div>
I was planning making a post the goes over my number for the first full month, showing what's working and what's not.<br />
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Well, that's not gonna happen because nothing is working. I haven't added up my March numbers yet because they suck balls.<br />
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I got off to a decent start for the first two weeks in Vegas, but the last three weeks or so have been an epic failure. Tournaments, donkaments, NL cash, Omaha. Everything!<br />
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I don't mind the ups and downs, especially in tournaments. But when it's only down down down, then it's really hard to get motivated to leave the apartment and dust off another buy-in. It feels like I'm saving money by not playing, which is a terrible mindset to be in.<br />
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I've been in poker long enough to that I was gonna have some losing months, but I didn't think it would be the first month.<br />
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The only saving grace last month, and what kept me from filling out job applications, was the Golden Nugget $140 tournament that runs every Sunday 9am. I've played in five of them so far, and they've been in the 50-60 player range. I had three straight Final Tables, all finished with deals for a total of $3355.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>There have been some signs this week that things are starting to turn around. On Sunday, I played the 6p $110 at South Point which had 68 entrants. I finished in 2nd, no deal, for $1210. Yesterday, I played $1/$2 in a few rooms, and finished the day +$832.<br />
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<a href="http://jacobking.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/seo-punch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://jacobking.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/seo-punch.jpg" height="189" width="320" /></a>On a personal note, the house hunting is not going well. My price range is $80k - $100k in cash. Most of the homes in that range are not in the neighborhoods that I want to live in, especially if I'm coming home at 2am with a pocket full of cash. I may have to start looking at condos, even though I really don't want to. At my price range, I'll just be buying an apartment, which is not what I want.<br />
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As for the blog, I do have two Hands Of The Day; a tournament hand, and $1/$2 hand. Hopefully I will get around to typing them up in the next week or so.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-62807918815308371502014-03-06T15:05:00.000-08:002014-04-08T08:29:07.335-07:00Easy Like Sunday Morning<div>
<b><u>"Shuffle Up & Deal"</u> -</b> 9am Sunday $100 tournament at Golden Nugget. 10k chips w/ 30 min levels. 5 tables set up, and each table is about half full. My table has five bodies, and I'm the youngest by at least 5 yrs. </div>
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<b><u>Level 1 (25/50)</u> -</b> We're up to eight bodies at my table. The best way to describe the action is "still asleep", as it has been super passive. The only big pot at this table was the previous <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2014/03/hand-of-day-102.html">Hand Of The Day</a>, and it didn't go well for me. I have 8150 chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 2 (50/100)</u> -</b> Full table now, including a Kid who is seated on my Right+1. Action is still comatose. In the only big pot of the level, one of the players was making crying calls because he only had Bottom Set. Of course, it was good. I only raised a couple of times, and won them all on the Flop. I have 8600 chips.<br />
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<b><u>Level 3 (100/200/25)</u> -</b> Mid (50's guy) raised 400. I'm Button with <span style="color: orange;">Kc</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Js</span>. Considered making a 3-bet, but didn't since I was the only caller. Flop <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Kd</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Qh</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Td</span>. He bet 500, I raised to 1200 with Top Pair & Open-Ender, and he called. Turn [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Kd</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Qh</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Td</span>] <span style="color: #999999;">2s</span>. He checked, I bet 2000, and he thought for a bit before folding. </div>
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Very next hand, he raised 700 from Mid position. One player called before I called with <span style="color: #999999;">A3s</span>. We saw a Flop of <span style="color: #999999;">Ts 5s</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">3d</span>. They checked. I decided to play this draw passively, and checked. Turn [<span style="color: #999999;">Ts 5s</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">3d</span>] <span style="color: orange;">Ac</span>. Mid bet 1500, and the other player called. I raised to 4000. Mid asked the Dealer about the Rebuy. It's a $40 5k chips AddOn/Rebuy that can used any up to the first break. Mid shiped for around 8k, I guess. I really didn't care, since I had Two Pair + Nut Flush Draw. He had <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: orange;">Kc</span>, bricked the River, and didn't use his Rebuy.</div>
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I have 19125 chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 4 (150/300/25)</u> -</b> Still 9-handed, as we've only lost one player so far. Not much happened for me, as I only played a few small pots, but I win all of them. I have 25450 chips after I buy the $40 5k AddOn. </div>
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<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> The timer doesn't have entrants on it, but it looks like five full tables with only a few open seats. Also, there are 2 $1/$2 and 2 $2/$4 cash game running. </div>
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<b><u>Level 5 (200/400/50)</u> -</b> Lost the Kid, and we're down to eight players. It's a little surprising how few players have busted. I guess with an average age of 63, folding to the money seems like a viable strategy for this field. </div>
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I started to step on the gas a little, and it went very well. Best hand was raising with <span style="color: #e06666;">43h</span> from Button, and hitting the Wheel on the River. I have 31475 chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 6 (300/600/50)</u> -</b> They finally broke a table, and we're 9 handed. I tried to keep doing some raising, but the Shortstacks have started to shove, and I had to fold to their 3-bets. I have 24900 chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 7 (400/800/100)</u> -</b> The one player who came from the first broken table is a 40's guy with a hoodie, shades, and iPhone earbuds. Let's call him Phil. He's also on my Right, which is good. First hand we played was limped pot when we were the blinds. Phil played it really weird, including a gross overbet of 15k on the River. I folded, waiting for a better spot. The other hand was him raising preflop, and then folding to my 3-bet. I was the Button and has <span style="color: orange;">Tc</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Ts</span>. </div>
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Other than those Tens, I haven't had anything close to a playable hand for a few levels. I've done a decent job of bobing and weaving, picking up the pot when I can. I have 28400 chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 8 (600/1200/100)</u> -</b> More of the same for me. Best starting hands for me was <span style="color: #e06666;">Ah</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Ts</span>, <span style="color: orange;">A9c</span>, and no pocket pair. I have 31300 chips. </div>
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<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> Down to three tables, with 23 left. They still do not have the entrants on the timer, so I'll assume 50. Seven spots get paid, so no Bubble save for me. 1st $2145 - 7th $215</div>
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<b><u>Level 9 (800/1600/200)</u> -</b> First hand back from break, 60's Lady goes All-In for 6200. I look at <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Qh</span>, and 3-bet to 15k. BB (60's guy who we will call Sam) asks how much I got left (16k), and calls. Flop <span style="color: #e06666;">Kh</span> <span style="color: orange;">Tc</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">4d</span>. BB checked. It's not a terrible Flop, as I now have a gushot. But I don't have a clue if Sam missed this, or is just checking down One Pair. We ended up checking it down, and he scooped the pot with <span style="color: #e06666;">8h</span> <span style="color: orange;">8c</span>. If I would have shipped the Flop, he probably would have folded, and my AQ-high would have beat her A5-high. Sigh. </div>
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A few hand later, I knocked out a shortstack (my JJ vs his <span style="color: #3d85c6;">JTd</span>). Towards the end of the level, I knocked a 13k stack (my AQ vs his ATo). I have 37500 chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 10 (1k/2k/300)</u> -</b> I knocked out a shortie for 5900 (55 vs <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Q9d</span>). I 3-bet to isolate. Sam had limped in, and reluctantly folded. He was not happy when an Ace hit the Flop, but that's why I isolated. </div>
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Later on, I raised to 5k with <span style="color: #999999;">KTs</span>. It folded to BB, who was Phil from earlier. He asked how much I had behind (36k), and went All-In. I called very quickly. I've come close to looking him up a few times, but did pull the trigger. Plus, if he really strong, would he have asked how much?</div>
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Well, he had<span style="color: #999999;"> Js</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd</span>. Ooops! However, I got saved by a King on the Turn. Phil went ballistic, calling me everything but my name, and saying that I had no prayer of winning any tournament. I just quietly stacked the chips.<br />
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I have 80500 chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 11 (1500/3k/300)</u> </b>- When we got to the Final Table bubble, play really slowed down. I stayed very patient for a while, as Phil was now on my direct Left, although across the table. Once he calmed down, I noticed he was watching the other table, like he really wanted to make the Final Table. So I started to raise a bit more, and built up some more chips. </div>
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We reached the Final Table at the end of the level. I had 110k chips. The biggest stack (180k-ish) was on my direct Right, and we're going to call him Jim. There are two other stacks in my range around the table. </div>
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<b><u>Level 12 (2k/4k/300)</u> -</b> Play was calm, as I would expect at the start of a Final Table. I lost a flip in the BB vs shortie (<span style="color: #3d85c6;">QJd</span> vs 88) for 17k. Phil was the first out when his A5 ran into AQ. There's been a decent amount of limping for a Final Table, which isn't surprising given the average age of this table. I stayed out of the way, and raised when I could. Overall, it went well. </div>
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Last hand of the level, I raised to 9500 from Hyjack with <span style="color: #3d85c6;">A5d</span>. Both Cutoff and Hyjack call. Flop is <span style="color: orange;">Ac</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">9h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">3d</span>. I bet 20k, hoping they both fold. Instead, they both called. I don't improve, and <span style="color: #e06666;">ATh</span> won the pot. I have 85k chips. </div>
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<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> Eight players left, which means we're on the Bubble. There is a 60's Lady who's been talking about a Bubble Save since the start of the Final Table. She's also mentioned what an even chop would mean for each player. I said No to the Bubble Save immediately, but she just kept going.</div>
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<b><u>Level 13 (3k/6k/500)</u> -</b> It's getting harder to keep notes. Down to six players, and hands are coming fast. I knocked out 7th with AA on Button. Sam (the 88 guy from earlier) called my raise from the BB with 52o, and just couldn't fold anything as strong as Bottom Pair.</div>
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I have 173k, which is 1st or 2nd. </div>
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<b><u>Level 14 (4k/8k/1k)</u> -</b> It folded around to Jim in the SB. He raised to 29k, which is huge for this stage. I called in BB with <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Kd</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span>, as we are relatively deep. Flop is <span style="color: #999999;">Ts</span> <span style="color: orange;">8c</span> <span style="color: #999999;">3s</span>. He put out a stack of 10k chips, approx 100k. Vomit! This isn't the first Blind vs Blind hand for us, and he limped before. This is clearly a Push Or Fold situation, as just calling would be terrible. I'm the #2 stack at a super soft Final Table, and I don't see why I should ship with just Top Pair against the #1 stack. I folded face up, but he didn't show. (Later on, Jim told me he had QQ for this hand, and I have no reason not to believe him.) </div>
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An orbit later, it folded to Jim, and he made it 22k in the SB. I had AJo, and shipped for 99k more. He folded, showing his A, and I showed mine. </div>
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Next hand, he raised to 24k from Button. I'm SB with <span style="color: #e06666;">Ah</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span>, and I just called to trap. Flop <span style="color: #999999;">Ks 9s</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">4d</span>, and I bet my stack of black 5k chips, 40k. He quickly called. Turn [<span style="color: #999999;">Ks 9s</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">4d</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">Kh</span>. Crap. I kept up with the plan, and shipped for 70k+. Jim thought for a bit, and folded. Whew!</div>
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Later, I raised from the Button with K2o. SB called, who's an 80's Asian gentleman that's been riding his scooter around. He's only got 24k behind, so I'm committed if I hit. Flop was K-high, and he had K9o. Sigh. </div>
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I have 180k chips. </div>
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<b><u>Level 15 (6k/12k/1k)</u> -</b> This has become a tourney of Haves & HaveNots. Jim & I had all the chips, while the other three players were waiting for someone else to be knocked out. There is very little action from those three players, including a few walks. </div>
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We haven't any big hands between me & Jim lately. I'm playing a decent amount of pots, either raising to 26k or limping the Button and betting any Flop. Overall, it was going well. When I ran into a problem, I just folded and started building back up. I hovered between 140k and 225k. </div>
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The Bubble Talk Lady from earlier has become the Chop Talk Lady. She keeps bringing up a deal every 10 minute, usually an even chop. Jim completely ignored her, and I only said, "Maybe later."</div>
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However, she ended up winning a good sized pot against Jim by going Runner Runner for Broadway. This put her comfortably in 3rd place, closer to us than the shorter stacks. This got her chirping even louder about making a deal. She was really starting to annoy me, so I made a suggestion that I thought would shut her up. I said, "How about Jim and I split 1st & 2nd, and you guys can chop the rest."</div>
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Much to my surprise, they didn't say no. After about two minutes of clarification, a deal was struck. Jim and I did split 1st & 2nd, the Chop Lady got 3rd, and the other two split 4th & 5th. I gave Jim an extra $120 from the split, due to him having 40k more chips. </div>
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While Jim and I were cashing out, the Floor said he couldn't believe the other players accepted that deal, especially the Lady. I agreed with him, as I didn't expect her to agree to it. This is the closest I've come to the deal of <i>"I'll take 1st, and you guys split the rest"</i>, as I've always had to give up a little money when making a deal. She was so desperate to make any deal that she really didn't hesitate, even though we were already two spots into the money.<br />
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So, if players at your next Final Table are desperate to make a deal, offer them a bad one. They might just take it.<br />
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At about 5:15p, I left the Golden Nugget with $1530 after Dealers' Tip. It's my first four figure score in my new job. </div>
GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-83825407643288638212014-03-03T21:56:00.002-08:002014-03-06T15:11:52.848-08:00Hand Of The Day #102<br />
Golden Nugget $140: Level 1 (25/50) ~ 03.02.14<br />
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Since it's Level 1, we aren't at a full table, and the action has been ultra-passive. I min raised (100) from UTG+1 with <span style="color: #999999;">KJs</span>. Four players see the Flop <span style="color: #e06666;">Kh</span> <span style="color: #999999;">8s 5s</span>. Pretty good flop with Top Pair + Flush Draw. I bet 225. Button (60's Lady) raises to 500. SB (70's guy) cold calls.<br />
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So much for a passive table. I decide to 3-bet to 2000. I have a big hand, and I want to win a big pot. But I also want some more information. If the Button 4-Bets, then she's got a Set, and I can act accordingly. She ends up thinking for a bit before calling. SB calls quickly.<br />
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Turn [<span style="color: #e06666;">Kh</span> <span style="color: #999999;">8s 5s</span>] <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">3d</span>. SB checks. OK, now it's time for me to think, and put these two on hands. The SB is the easy one, as the line of Check Call Call screams the Nut Flush Draw. Of course, he could just be a calling station, but we'll assume the Nut Draw until something changes.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Remember, the Button is a 60's Lady, so a combo draw like <span style="color: #999999;">76s</span> is not possible. 60's Ladies do not play draws aggressively, even the monster ones. She has a made hand, so let's start at the top with Sets. She didn't 4-Bet, so KK and 88 are doubtful. 55 is possible, as she might be afraid of me having KK or 88.<br />
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Two Pair is the most likely hand in this spot. Recreational players love playing suited face cards very cheaply, and my min-raise to 100 would be considered cheap. They really don't care about the kicker, after all they might hit a Flush. So hands like <span style="color: orange;">K8c</span> or <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">K5d</span> are definitely in her range. AK is also a possibility, as she might raise because she's afraid of the Flush Draw. <br />
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So my Top Pair is behind the Button's range, and my K-high Flush Draw is behind the SB range. It looks like my very strong hand on the Flop has just three outs to win. I suppose I could start bombing the Turn and River, but that would mean turning Top Pair & Flush Draw into a bluff. That's just not part of my game, especially since I'm not 22 years old.<br />
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I check. The Button gets a surprised look on her face, and quickly taps the table.<br />
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River [<span style="color: #e06666;">Kh</span> <span style="color: #999999;">8s 5s</span> <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">3d</span>] <span style="color: orange;">9c</span>. We all check. Button has <span style="color: orange;">K5c</span> for a flopped Two Pair. I show my hand. SB said he had the Ace draw, but didn't show.<br />
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Sigh.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com0Downtown, Las Vegas, NV, USA36.170741363041991 -115.1451516151428236.169940363041988 -115.14641211514282 36.171542363041993 -115.14389111514282tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-51709552226702160122014-02-26T10:18:00.000-08:002014-02-26T10:18:27.232-08:00Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life II (The Sequel)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on-the-strip/welcome-las-vegas-sign/welcomesign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.vegas.com/attractions/on-the-strip/welcome-las-vegas-sign/welcomesign.jpg" /></a></div>
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I'm typing this from my new apartment
in Las Vegas. I drove the U-Haul down from Reno on Monday. This post
would have been up sooner, but I've had big issues with my internet
company's wonderful customer service, and I'm posting it from a McDonald's.</div>
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I know you're wondering if I
transferred down here like I did from Ohio to Reno. Well, the answer
is "No." I quit my job, although I prefer the term “Retired Early”.</div>
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So the next logical question for you to
ask is, “Why would you walk away from a job that pays $65k a year
with good benefits?” Well, that answer is a rather complicated, and
will require a few paragraphs.</div>
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First, I've been with the USPS for 10
years, and I've known for most of that time that I was not gonna be
there for the full 25 – 35 years like most of them. The plan for me
was to save as much money as possible, and move on to other things
when the time was right.</div>
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The post office has big problems, and
has been deteriorating every year I've been there. First, it's one of
the worst run organizations in the county. Although, in their
defense, I think it's just too humongous of a company to be run with
any efficiency. Second, they need to downsize drastically, but can't
because of postal regulations and numerous union contracts. Any major
changes, like elimination of Saturday delivery, can only happen with
an Act Of Congress. But as everyone knows, Congress
is not capable of doing any action these days.</div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />The final problem is that the post
office is losing money every year. For those that don't know, the USPS is an independent government agency, and has not received
any tax dollars since Nixon was in office. That's why stamps are
going up every year.
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At some point in the not-so distant
future, they will run out of money. (I'm not saying that to be a
trouble maker or spread rumors; it's just simple math.) Not sure if it will
be this year or next year or the year after, but it is going to
happen. And when they have a press conference saying they will not be
able to make payroll next month, Congress will then realize that
something needs to be done.</div>
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Anyways, this isn't “The Biggest
Little Postal Blog In The World”, so back to me. I said that I the
plan was to save a bunch of money, and move on to something else. I
didn't have any specific monetary goals, other than to buy a house
and have it paid for before I “retire early.” Well, the picture
below is from an inheritance check I recently received from my Dad's
last surviving aunt. Her estate was equally divided between my Dad,
his only brother, my only sister, and myself. With all the money I
had put away combined with that check, now is the time to “retire
early” and move on to the next chapter of my life.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsLPdkBL7RIlcJvXNQ1MF9MsrUCMfQxL3hy246E5rnQHSfEVoFHedCDBA9LuIrJgTCI4VMcbmPlIY5PNFT8MK7l4ptj2JFhWccvB7ETVVryvLebqP2WDx75B3iCigtk0FHCJPnMOXf4E/s1600/IMG_0623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsLPdkBL7RIlcJvXNQ1MF9MsrUCMfQxL3hy246E5rnQHSfEVoFHedCDBA9LuIrJgTCI4VMcbmPlIY5PNFT8MK7l4ptj2JFhWccvB7ETVVryvLebqP2WDx75B3iCigtk0FHCJPnMOXf4E/s1600/IMG_0623.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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So what am I gonna do next? Well...
duh! I'm “Going Pro” and play poker.
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Although, to be brutally honest, I
don't know how long I will play for a living. I feel like I'm much
more likely to get bored with it rather then going broke from it. I
will be grinding through the end of the WSOP, and then re-evaluate the plan. I may keep playing, or move on to something
else. I wouldn't mind getting into the industry, maybe as a traveling
dealer, or getting into management. I used to run a home game for
three years, making up tournament structures and stuff, and I think
it would be cool to run a poker room.
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Or maybe I'll do something else. I'm
single with no kids, no debt, and no responsibility to anyone but
myself. I have the freedom to do whatever I want, and that does not
suck.</div>
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In the opening of this post, I said
that I'm in my new apartment. I signed a 6 month lease while I look
for a house. I wanted to be as close to the Strip as possible (for
work, of course) while trying to keep it less than I was paying in
Reno. I found a place for $700/month near the intersection of
Flamingo & S Decatur. According to Google Maps, it's 1.4 miles
from my place to the Rio. Of course, it's another 1.5 miles down to
convention area for the WSOP.</div>
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So what's my plan of attack for “Going
Pro”? Well, I really don't need a lot of money to live on, so I
could just grind $1/$2 and Daily Donkaments. That will certainly be
part of my play, but that won't make me a better player.
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I really feel that I'm a worse poker
player today compared to when I arrived in Reno, especially when it
comes to tournaments. I've said in numerous posts that my tournament
numbers suck balls. Whether that is due to sample size/variance or my
bad play is certainly open to debate, but the simple fact is there
wasn't much I could do about living in Reno. Daily tournaments are
all of the $45 donkament variety. There are only a few tournament series that
come to Reno, and it was rare that I had more than 2-3 days off from
work to play some events.</div>
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However, Vegas is much different, as
there are 6-8 daily tournaments with buy-ins over $120 and decent
structures, plus a lot more tournament series. Since July 2013, I've
played 17 tournaments with buy-ins over $100. I can do that here in a
month, and still grind donkaments and cash games.</div>
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For cash games, I'm going to mix it up.
Of course I'll play $1/$2 at the beginning, but I will start to mix
in some of the bigger $1/$3 games like Wynn and Caesars, and later on
a little $2/$5. I will also play some Limit Hold'em, starting out at
$4/$8 w/half kill, and start dipping my toe in the $10/$20 game at
Bellagio. I will also play the $8/$16 Omaha-8 game at the Venetian,
with occasionally shots at their $15/$30 game. I hear that Venetian
has been spreading an $8/$16 Mix game, which is right in my
wheelhouse.</div>
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If you've made it this far then you'll
be glad to know that I've come to my final point, which is, “What
am I gonna do with this blog?” Well, the short answer is, “I
don't know.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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I basically quit blogging because
playing poker in Reno with all the Super Nit locals wasn't very
interesting to me. I don't know if grind out a living will be
interesting enough for me to get back to blogging, although I will
certainly have the time to sit down and type. If I do start blogging
more regularly, then I will give this blog a new name and look, as
the current name doesn't really work for Las Vegas. I do have an idea
for a new name, but I'm not in love with it, so any suggestion would
be welcome.</div>
GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-82614009356992846792014-01-01T08:54:00.001-08:002014-01-01T13:32:52.826-08:00$8/$16 Omaha-8 At Atlantis<div>
$8/$16 Omaha-8 at Atlantis is a 4/8 chip structure with the yellow $2 chips they normally use for the rake. There is a half kill to $12/$24 (6/12) when someone scoops a $100 pot, which is on the small side. The Kill acts like a sleeper straddle, as it acts last preflop unless there is a raise in front of it. </div>
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This is the 3rd week this game has run at Atlantis on Saturday afternoon. I played both times after work, and I'm up almost $300 so far. I had last weekend off, so I'm able to play from the start of the game. I thought I would try a Running Log for the session, as I haven't done a Running Log for a cash game in loooong time.</div>
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<b><u>2:00 $200</u> -</b> Full 10-handed table. I recognize most of the players, and it's a good mix of tight & loose. </div>
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Other games in the room today include (2) $1/$2 NL, $3/$6 L, $10/$25 NL, and $100/$100 NL. No clue why they have the big NL games today, as it's normally hard to get a $3/$5 game going here. I recognize only one players at the $100/$100, but most of the $10/$25 are locals. I guess there are a couple of special guests in town this weekend. </div>
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<b><u>2:30 $230</u> -</b> Normal action so far, as nobody's stuck yet. It was pretty quiet for me. The only significant pot was me limping the Button with <span style="color: #999999;">Ts 9s</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">8d</span> <span style="color: orange;">7c</span>. Flop was <span style="color: orange;">Jc</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">8h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">7s</span>. Checked to me, and I bet ($8). Three callers, and Turn [<span style="color: orange;">Jc</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">8h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">7s</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span>. I bet ($16), and they all folded. </div>
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<b><u>3:00 $146</u> -</b> Played a decent amount of hands, but airballed most of them. The closest was calling a Kill in the BB with <span style="color: orange;">9c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">8h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">5s</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">3d</span>. Flop was <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Qd</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">6h 4h</span>, giving me the Low Open-Ender. I bet ($12), and a Kid I haven't seen before raised ($24). One of the Calling Stations and myself called. Turn & River were [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Qd</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">6h 4h</span>] <span style="color: #999999;">Ks Js</span>, and his Set of Q held up for the Kid. He ended up winning 3 Kills in a row. Must be nice. </div>
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<b><u>3:30 $373</u> -</b> Limped the Button with <span style="color: #e06666;">Qh</span> <span style="color: orange;">9c</span> <span style="color: #999999;">5s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">4h</span>. Yes, it's not a good hand, but I'll limp most hands on the Button with so many players seeing the Flop. This time it was seven, and the Flop was <span style="color: #e06666;">Ah 9h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">4d</span>. Mid bet ($8). She's a 60's Lady who plays loose, but straight forward. I raised ($16) to isolate with Bottom Two and 2nd Nut Flush Draw. One player called, but Mid 3-bet ($24). She probably has AA, so my Bottom Two was no good. We both called, and Turn [<span style="color: #e06666;">Ah 9h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">4d</span>] <span style="color: orange;">4c</span>. Mid bet ($16), and we both fold. She showed AA as she scooped the pot. At least the 3-bet saved me some chips. </div>
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An orbit later, I added $200 when I got the Button. That very hand I limped with <span style="color: #999999;">Js</span> <span style="color: orange;">Tc</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">3d</span>. Flop was <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span> <span style="color: orange;">4c</span>. Checked to me, I bet, and four called. Turn [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span> <span style="color: orange;">4c</span>] <span style="color: orange;">Jc</span>. Checked to me, I bet, and only one called. River [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span> <span style="color: orange;">4c</span> <span style="color: orange;">Jc</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">8d</span>. Check, Bet, Fold. I win my 1st Kill pot of the day. </div>
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<b><u>4:00 $429</u> -</b> Picked off a bluff by the only person at the table who would try to steal a pot (besides me, of course). Flop was checked around. Turn was checked to him in Cutoff, and he fired. I was only caller. I check/called his River bet, and he said "Good call". I showed my naked QQ to scoop the pot. </div>
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Later, I had <span style="color: orange;">Kc</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span> <span style="color: #999999;">3s</span> <span style="color: orange;">2c</span> in BB. Flop 522. I bet, and got three callers. Turn [<span style="color: #999999;">5s 2s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span>. I bet again, and same three called, although one had less than the full bet. River [<span style="color: #999999;">5s 2s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span>] <span style="color: orange;">Ac</span>. I decided to check, as I only have Trips with crappy 73 Low. The others checked, and I scooped the small side pot. The All-In lady had a 64 Low to hang around. </div>
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I played a few smaller pots, but lost most of them. Worst was raising preflop with <span style="color: #999999;">As T</span>s <span style="color: orange;">6c 2c</span>. Flop was <span style="color: orange;">Kc</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Ks Qs</span>. I ended up heads-up with an Old Guy who had KQ, but I missed my Royal Draw. </div>
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<b><u>4:30 $560</u> -</b> On the Button, I raised with <span style="color: #e06666;">Ah 9h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">9s</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">2d</span>. Five saw the Flop <span style="color: orange;">Ac</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">9d</span> <span style="color: orange;">3c</span>. The same Mid Lady from before bet. I raised with Mid Set. Kid in BB, a Calling Station, and Mid called. Turn [<span style="color: orange;">Ac</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">9d</span> <span style="color: orange;">3c</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span>. Checked to me, I bet, and all called. River [<span style="color: orange;">Ac</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">9d</span> <span style="color: orange;">3c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span>] <span style="color: #999999;">Ks</span>. Once again, checked to me, I bet, and two of the three called. My Set of 9s held up for a sweet Kill pot. That made up for some of the annoying hands earlier today. </div>
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Next Button, I raised again with <span style="color: orange;">Ac Kc 5c</span> <span style="color: #999999;">2s</span>. Only four players saw the Flop of <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Qs 3s</span>. They checked, I bet my Pair & Wheel Draw, and they all called. Turn [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Qs 3s</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span>. They checked, and so did I. River [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Qs 3s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">9d</span>. Everyone checked. My Two Pair was good for the High, but <span style="color: #999999;">87s</span> won the Emergency Low. He then showed the other 77 in his hand, and I said "Really?" He limped & called the raise with 8777. That's what makes this a good game. </div>
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<b><u>4:30 $512</u> -</b> Relatively quiet time for me, as I only saw a few Flops and missed them all. The Host for this game, April, offered us free food from the $5 Poker Menu. I got the chicken tenders, and ate them during this time. The portion was on the small side, but I can't complain about the price. </div>
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Both of the big NL games are going strong. They seem to be full, and I've noticed very little turnover. </div>
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<b><u>5:00 $464</u> -</b> I limped <span style="color: #e06666;">Ah</span> <span style="color: orange;">6c</span> <span style="color: #999999;">3s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span> from UTG. I can't remember all the action or the Board, but I ended up with Two Pair (A3), and 62 Low that I thought was good. I bet the River, and got called by the SB. He doesn't like his hand, a worse Two Pair, but shows all his cards. Someone noticed that he had the Wheel, and scooped the pot. It's surprising that he did this, as he's a very experienced player. But it does happen to all of us from time to time in this game.</div>
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<b><u>5:30 $490</u> -</b> I raised from Cutoff with <span style="color: #e06666;">Ah 7h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">3s</span> <span style="color: orange;">2c</span>. Only BB and a limper called. Flop <span style="color: #e06666;">Jh</span> <span style="color: orange;">Jc</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span>. They checked, I bet, and just BB called. He's a Dealer here, and one of the better players at the table. Turn [<span style="color: #e06666;">Jh</span> <span style="color: orange;">Jc</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span>. Check, Bet, Call. River [<span style="color: #e06666;">Jh</span> <span style="color: orange;">Jc</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Kd</span>. He checked. I said, "You're gonna call me," and checked behind. He shook his head, and said "You got an Ace?" I showed my A7 for Two Pair, and he mucked. WTF?</div>
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<b><u>6:00 $414</u> -</b> A whole lot of nothing this time. Saw a few Flops and Turns, but missed everything. </div>
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This game has slowed down. Half of the original line-up has already gone home, and only two new players have joined us. I doubt this game will make it to 8pm. </div>
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<b><u>6:30 $352</u> -</b> I raised from UTG with <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad Td</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">4s</span>. Flop <span style="color: #999999;">Qs Ts</span> <span style="color: orange;">Tc</span>. Good Flop, as it's hard to put me on a Ten. I bet and three players called. Turn [<span style="color: #999999;">Qs Ts</span> <span style="color: orange;">Tc</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">Ah</span>. I bet again, but everyone folded, including the guy next to me with KK. Crap! Only in Omaha can I get pissed about hitting a Full House. </div>
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I limped UTG <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad Kd</span> <span style="color: orange;">7c 5c</span>. Kid raised from Mid. Few callers. Flop <span style="color: #e06666;">8h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span>. I lead out with my Bottom Two Pair, as I don't want a free card to come out. Kid and BB called. Turn [<span style="color: #e06666;">8h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Td</span>. BB and I checked. Kid bet, and we called. River [<span style="color: #e06666;">8h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Td</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">5d</span>. BB checked, I bet my Full House, Kid raised, and we both called. Kid had AT52 for Nut Low and larger Full House. Ouch!</div>
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Limp in SB with <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">4h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span> <span style="color: orange;">8s</span>. BB raised, and everyone called. Flop <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd 6d</span> <span style="color: orange;">6c</span>. All checked. Turn [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd 6d</span> <span style="color: orange;">6c</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">Jh</span>. All check, except the Button. I'm the only caller. It's hard to have a Full House here, so my Flush Draw should be good. Plus, I could bluff the River if a total brick hits. River [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd 6d</span> <span style="color: orange;">6c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Jh</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Qd</span>. No need to bluff, as I bet. He raised his last chips for the full raise. There is no way he would raise here without a Boat. I show my Flush, and mucked. He shows AQJ2 for the Full House. Boy, things have fallen apart quickly. </div>
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The $10/$25 NL has broken. It started around 10:30am, so eight hours is about right for a game with mostly locals. The $100/$100 NL seems to still be going strong, with only one or two open seats. </div>
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<b><u>7:00 $388</u> -</b> Game is dying, as we went to four players for a while. Won a couple of small pots, including a scoop with a Low Straight in a Blind vs Blind hand. </div>
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One of the $10/$25 players sat down at our little game. Someone asked how he did. He shook his head, and mumbled something about $6200. </div>
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<b><u>7:30 $532</u> -</b> Still five players. Big $$ player raised from Button. I was SB with <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad 9d</span> <span style="color: orange;">Tc 2c</span>. I considered a 3-bet, but decided to call out of position. Flop <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd</span> <span style="color: #999999;">5s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">3h</span>. I checked, Kid checked, Mr Big bet, and we both called. Turn [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd</span> <span style="color: #999999;">5s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">3h</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">4d</span>. Dead sexy card, as I hit the Wheel and picked up Nut Flush Draw. I checked. Kid bet. Mr Big thought and called. I check-raised, and both called. River [<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd</span> <span style="color: #999999;">5s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">3h</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">4d</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">7d</span>. I bet. Kid called, and Mr Big folded. I showed Nut/Nut. Kid shows 76, and storms away from the table. </div>
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We play four handed for a bit before more players trickle in. We hover around seven players for a while. I won a few other pots. Biggest was with KJT8. Flop was Td 8c 6d for Top Two. Turn was Q, giving me the Open-Ender. River was Ten for the Boat. I fired the whole way, and had a few callers on the Flop and Turn. </div>
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<b><u>8:00 $492</u> -</b> No monster pots that I can remember this time. Since the game has more cards than Hold'em, it's harder to remember all the action. Also, thing have started to blur together after six hours, so it's time to go. A new player arrived at the table right before I left, so it still had five players. <br />
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Overall, a pretty decent session. $92 profit is nothing spectacular, but it's not bad considering the hole I got into early in the session. I think I played well, and the cards ran about even. I had some hands of "How could I have missed everything?", as well as some hands of "How did that hold up?" </div>
GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-53918515020149919822013-11-17T22:58:00.001-08:002013-12-31T22:23:15.187-08:00WSOP Stats (Post-Boom)As a mailman, I listen to various podcasts to pass the time while I'm delivering my route, including some poker podcasts. They often mention how many WSOP Bracelets and Final Tables a players has. But for older players, many of those successes came before the poker boom, which started with Chris Moneymaker's win of the 2003 Main Event.<br />
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To me, since the poker world changed in 2003, there should be WSOP stats that start after the poker boom. I've had this thought for a few years now, but have never found those stats. <br />
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So over the summer, I started playing around with this idea in my spare time. I ended up making a huge spreadsheat with results over the last 10 years, all the way back to the 2003 Main Event. I included all bracelet events except for the WSOP Circuit National Championship and the Casino Employees event. The National Championship is relatively new, and really has nothing to do with the WSOP. And with apologies to <a href="http://www.pokernews.com/news/2013/05/2013-world-series-of-poker-day-2-pokernews-chad-holloway-win-15627.htm">Chad Holloway</a>, nobody of any significant has done anything in the Casino Employees event. <br />
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I decided to jot down all 1st and 2nd places, along with any 3rd places and Final Tables of player names that I recognize. Why 1st, 2nd, and 3rd? I don't know; Gold, Silver, and Bronze I guess. Here are what I determined to be a Final Table, which I believe is the same as the WSOP uses.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>9 Players: All regular Hold'em and Omaha games<br />
8 Players: All Stud games, HORSE, Heads-Up, and Mix-Max<br />
6 Players: All 6-Max games, 2-7 games, 8-Game Mix, and 10-Game Mix<br />
4 Players: All 4-Max games<br />
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One last thing before I give you the numbers. I didn't go back and triple check these results, so please forgive any errors.<br />
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<b><u>Bracelets</u>:</b><br />
5 Phil Ivey, Jeffery Lisandro<br />
4 Daniel Alaei, Phil Hellmuth,<br />
Daniel Negreanu, Tom Schneider<br />
3 6 Players<br />
2 58 Players<br />
1 401 Players<br />
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<u><b>2nds</b></u><b>:</b> No big surprise that Phil Hellmuth is the leader with four runner-ups (Remember, he had three 2nds in 2011). However, the big surprise is that 15 players have three 2nd places, but eight of them did not win a bracelet during this time.<br />
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<u><b>3rds</b></u><b>:</b><br />
3 Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri, Capt Tom Franklin,<br />
Barry Greenstein, David "Devilfish" Ulliot<br />
2 21 Players<br />
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<u><b>Final Tables</b></u><b>:</b><br />
20 Phil Hellmuth, John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu<br />
17 Phil Ivey<br />
16 Jeffery Lisandro<br />
15 Chris Bjorin, Barry Greenstein<br />
14 Eric Seidel <br />
13 Michael Mizrachi<br />
<br />
The rest of this post will focus on players' results, broken down by various groups. The stat of Final Table will include all 1st, 2nd and 3rds. After all, it wouldn't make much sense to say someone has 2 1st, 1 3rd, 2 FT.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Old Main Event Champs</u>:</b><br />
Phil Hullmuth 4 1st, 4 2nd, 2 3rd, 20 FT<br />
Scotty Nguyen 1 1st, 2 2nd, 1 3rd, 9 FT<br />
Johnny Chan 1 1st, 1 2nd, 5 FT<br />
Doyle Brunson 1 1st, 4 FT<br />
Chris Ferguson 3 2nd, 1 3rd, 10 FT<br />
Huck Seed 6 FT<br />
Carlos Mortensen 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 5 FT<br />
Dan Harrington 1 3rd, 2 FT<br />
<br />
<u><b>New Main Event Champs</b></u><b>:</b><br />
Greg Merson 2 1st, 2 FT<br />
Greg Raymer 1 1st, 1 3rd, 6 FT<br />
Joe Cada 1 1st, 1 2nd, 4 FT<br />
Joe Hachem 1 1st, 1 2nd, 3 FT<br />
Jonathan Duhamel 1 1st, 2 FT<br />
Peter Eastgate 1 1st, 2 FT<br />
Pius Heinz 1 1st, 2 FT<br />
<br />
<b><u>WSOP Players Of The Year</u>:</b><br />
Jeffery Lisandro 5 1st, 2 2nd, 2 3rd, 16 FT<br />
Daniel Negreanu 4 1st, 3 2nd, 2 3rd, 20 FT<br />
Tom Schneider 4 1st, 7 FT<br />
Allen Cunningham 3 1st, 1 2nd, 10 FT<br />
Jeff Madsen 3 1st, 2 3rd, 7 FT<br />
Eric Lindgren 2 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 10 FT<br />
Frank Kessela 2 1st, 1 3rd, 5 FT <br />
Ben Lamb 1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 5 FT<br />
<br />
<u><b>Ladies:</b></u><br />
Vanessa Selbst 2 1st, 7 FT<br />
Annie Duke 1 1st, 1 3rd, 5 FT<br />
Cindy Violette 1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 5 FT <br />
Kathy Liebert 1 1st, 1 3rd, 3 FT<br />
Loni Harwood 1 1st, 3 FT<br />
Jennifer Harmon 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 5 FT<br />
Karina Jett 1 2nd, 3 FT<br />
<br />
<u><b>Hall Of Famers</b></u><b>:</b><br />
Barry Greenstein 3 1st, 2 2nd, 3 3rd, 15 FT <br />
Eric Siedel 2 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 14 FT<br />
T J Cloutier 2 1st, 4 FT<br />
Mike Sexton 1 2nd, 3 FT<br />
Dewey Tomko 1 3rd, 3 FT<br />
Lyle Berman 3 FT<br />
Tom McEvoy 0 FT<br />
<br />
<u><b>0 Bracelets:</b></u> (Some of these players have bracelets, but none during this time frame.)<br />
Chris Bjorin 2 2nd, 2 3rd, 15 FT<br />
Mike Wattel 3 2nd, 1 3rd, 11 FT<br />
"Miami" John Cernuto 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 10 FT<br />
Chad Brown 3 2nd, 1 3rd, 8 FT<br />
Kirill Gerasimov 3 2nd, 1 3rd, 8 FT<br />
Howard Lederer 2 2nd, 2 3rd, 8 FT<br />
Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri 2 2nd, 3 3rd, 7 FT<br />
Shawn Buchanan 3 2nd, 7 FT<br />
Matt Glantz 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 7 FT<br />
<br />
<b><u>Poker Stars</u>:</b><br />
Jason Mercier 2 1st, 6 FT<br />
Eugene Katchalov 1 1st, 1 3rd, 8 FT<br />
Bertrand “Elky”Grospellier 1 1st, 1 3rd, 6 FT<br />
David Williams 1 1st, 2 2nd, 6 FT<br />
Theo Jorgensen 1 1st, 4 FT<br />
Jake Cody 1 1st, 3 FT<br />
Humberto Brenes 1 3rd, 6 FT<br />
Marcel Luske 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 5 FT<br />
<br />
<b><u>Full Tilt</u>:</b><br />
Phil Ivey 5 1st, 3 2nd, 2 3rd, 17 FT<br />
John Juanda 2 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 20 FT<br />
Greg "FBT" Mueller 2 1st, 3 2nd, 2 3rd, 12 FT<br />
Mike Matusow 2 1st, 7 FT<br />
Andy Bloch 1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 7 FT<br />
David Benyamine 1 1st, 1 3rd, 6 FT<br />
Layne Flack 1 1st, 1 2nd, 5 FT<br />
Gavin Smith 1 1st, 1 2nd, 3 FT <br />
<br />
<b><u>"What Ever Happened To?"</u>:</b> <br />
John Phan 2 1st, 2 2nd, 6 FT <br />
Ted Forrest 2 1st, 1 2nd, 6 FT<br />
Sammy Farha 2 1st, 1 2nd, 4 FT<br />
Mark Seif 2 1st, 2 FT<br />
Men "The Master" Nguyen 1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 7 FT<br />
Hoyt Corkins 1 1st, 6 FT<br />
Freddy Deeb 1 1st, 1 3rd, 6 FT <br />
David "Devilfish" Ulliott 3 3rd, 4 FT<br />
<br />
<b><u>Internet Kids:</u></b><br />
Brian Rast 2 1st, 5 FT<br />
Matt Hawrilenko 1 1st, 1 3rd, 7 FT<br />
Scott Seiver 1 1st, 1 2nd, 6 FT<br />
Jason Somerville 1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 5 FT<br />
Tristin Wade 1 1st, 1 3rd, 4 FT<br />
Phil Galfond 1 1st, 1 2nd, 2 FT<br />
Issac Haxton 1 2nd, 6 FT<br />
Shannon Shorr 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 6 FT<br />
Justin Bonomo 2 2nd, 5 FT<br />
Chris Morman 2 2nd, 1 3rd, 4 FT<br />
<br />
<b><u>"Who Are These Guys?"</u>:</b> (Players I've never heard of, but have had some success.)<br />
Michael Chow 1 1st, 1 2nd, 5 FT<br />
Sherkhan Farnood 1 1st, 1 2nd, 4 FT<br />
John Kabbai 1 1st, 1 2nd, 4 FT<br />
Mark Naalden 1 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 3 FT <br />
David Peters 1 2nd, 5 FT<br />
Maxwell Troy 2 2nd, 1 3rd, 4 FT <br />
<br />
<b><u>Best Of The Rest</u>:</b><br />
Daniel Alaei 4 1st, 6 FT<br />
Michael Mizrachi 3 1st, 1 2nd, 2 3rd, 13 FT<br />
Antonio Esfandiari 3 1st, 1 3rd, 8 FT<br />
Matt Matros 3 1st, 6 FT<br />
David Chiu 2 1st, 3 2nd, 1 3rd, 12 FT<br />
Scott Clements 2 1st, 2 2nd, 1 3rd, 10 FT<br />
David "Bakes" Baker 2 1st, 1 2nd, 1 3rd, 9 FT<br />
Nick Shulman 2 1st, 9 FT<br />
J C Tran 2 1st, 1 2nd, 9 FT<br />
John Monnette 2 1st, 2 2nd, 2 3rd, 8 FTGregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-8919535201292220092013-10-13T10:22:00.000-07:002013-11-22T22:19:06.806-08:00Rants & Raves: Reno Tournament SeriesHi! I'm still here.<br />
<br />
I haven't been writing because playing poker in Reno isn't very interesting to me these days. I'm keeping the blog open for the information in it, and just in case I have something to write about.<br />
<br />
Well, something happened last Sunday that got me to sit down and type.<br />
<br />
Grand Sierra started their Fall Pot Of Gold tournament series on Thursday, and it goes through today. However, it was announced on last Sunday that the series has been cancelled after four days. The reason was due to excessive overlays for the guaranteed events. <br />
<br />
The big $100k weekend event, which had five starting heats, had a $30k overlay. The tournaments that I played included a $10k Omaha-8, a $10k HORSE, and a $15k NLHE. They all missed their guarantees by a decent amount. I would estimate that GSR had to pay around $40k in overlays for all event over the first four days. Due to gaming regulations, management's only choices were to continue the series or cancel the whole thing. And with a $200k Main Event and various other smaller guarantees, it's not that surprising that they pulled the plug.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>This is very disappointing to the players and traveling dealers, but it's not that big of a surprise to me. The Pot of Gold is certainly the best run and most popular tournament series in Reno, but it had been common to be missing guarantees over the last few series, although certainly not as bad as this one.<br />
<br />
The next series, Winter Pot Of Gold (Dec 5 - 15), was in limbo on Sunday. Last night, there was a poster for the POG, but all guarantees were removed. It's good that they didn't canceled the whole series. However, the Winter POG is traditionally the smallest of the GSR series, and California player won't show up without the guarantees.<br />
<br />
Other tournament series around town are having issues. Atlantis held their WPT Regional series last month. They also missed many guarantees, but I'm not sure it was as bad as GSR. I played in a $10k HORSE and a $15k NLHE, and they both missed by a decent amount. I know the Main Event missed it's guarantee, but I'm not sure by how many players.<br />
<br />
Atlantis has some other issues besides the guarantees. I've heard many complaints about the team that is brought in to run the series, although I've never had any issues with them. What I do have an issue with is the tournaments are too damn long. I've heard that both the 12n and the 7p events have run until 5am, and that is ridiculous to me as a recreational player with a job. But to be fair, this may have been fixed as I haven't heard about the 5am finishes lately.<br />
<br />
Their Main Event has also had issues with length. GSR's Main Events usually end on Sunday evening, with is great for us working stiffs. Last month's Main Event at Atlantis ended around 5am on Monday morning. The previous Main Event went an extra day and ended with a heads-up chop on Monday afternoon.<br />
<br />
And then there's the Peppermill. It's clearly the #1 room in Reno, but they run the least popular tournament series. Both players and traveling dealers agree that it's the worst run series in Reno. It's also the only series that doesn't hire an outside Tournament Director. Coincidence?<br />
<br />
Things have deteriorated so badly for Peppermill tournaments that they haven't run a series since early April. That series didn't have a field over 20 players. Their "Main Event", which is just a slightly higher buy-in tourney on Saturday, had 9 players and 2 re-entries. They screwed up a HORSE tournament so badly that I ended up jumping in to help run it until they found an old structure sheet to work from. Overall, the whole series was such an "Epic Fail" that they canceled all series for the rest of the year.<br />
<br />
So with everything going downhill for Reno tournament series, what can these three rooms do to save tournament in Reno, or at least stop the bleeding?<br />
<br />
In one word... Scheduling.<br />
<br />
As I've said in the past, Reno is not a poker town like Vegas, AC, or LA. The local players can't support a tournament series. Hell, they can barely support $45 donkaments, let alone $245 tournaments.<br />
<br />
So in order to have a successful tournament series, you need to attract Northern California players from Sacramento and the Bay Area. You need to let them know when the series is being held through advertising and mailings. But most importantly, you need to find right weekends.<br />
<br />
The Poker Calendar is getting more crowded every year, and it's hard to find the weekends that players don't have an event somewhere to play. If California players have to choose between traveling to Reno, or staying in their own bed while playing at Bay 101 or Thunder Valley, then it's not much of a choice. <br />
<br />
It's gonna be interesting to what happens from here. The next series in Reno will be at the Peppermill. "<a href="http://www.pokernight.com/">Poker Night In America</a>" is hosting their next event just before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I think this will be another Epic Fail, especially the first weekend. Looking at <a href="https://www.peppermillreno.com//calendar/poker-night-in-america-">the schedule</a>, it's all Mega-Satellites with a $230 NLHE with a $15k guarantee on Sunday.<br />
<br />
The first problem is that Thunder Valley in Sacramento is hold a tournament series right be for this, and their Main Even is that weekend, This means that no California players will be coming to Reno, and some of the bigger Reno players will be going to Thunder Valley. The second problem is there are not enough Reno players to support all these satellites. Even with the guaranteed seats, they won't have enough player to cover the overlay.<br />
<br />
The last problem is the Sunday $15k guarantee. For whatever bizarre reason, the Peppermill always runs their Daily Donkaments during a tournament series. Their Sunday 1pm $55 is the most popular donkament in Reno, with fields regularly getting 60 - 75 players. The $230 tournament that starts an hour before needs 77 players to hit the guarantee. There are not 150 tournament players in Reno, and most of them would rather play the $55 donkament. I wouldn't be surprised if the $230 gets 30 players, even with re-entries. As a someone who will be one of those few players, the overlay is dead sexy. But it just means that this series will be a bigger disaster, and less likely the Peppermill will ever do one again.<br />
<br />
After the Peppermill series is the Winter Pot Of Gold, which is traditionally GSR's smallest series. And since they removed all guarantees, California players don't have much reason to drive over the mountains in December. These factors mean that I have very low expectations for this series.<br />
<br />
Overall, the future of Reno tournament series is looking bleak. It really does depend on the success of the last two series of the year. If they both fall flat on their face, then the number of series will be greatly reduced for next year, and Reno will be even less of a factor in the poker world.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-69965403783506972742013-05-30T07:42:00.000-07:002013-05-31T07:43:10.581-07:00Never Give Up, Never SurrenderGrand Sierra just finished up their Spring Pot Of Gold tournament series last week. I didn't get to play much due to my work schedule. So I thought I would try something different, and play the two Limit Omaha-8 tourneys that started on the two Saturdays at 4pm. I don't get to punch out from work until 4:30, but late registration is for two hours.<br />
For the first one, I got to the table about 5:30, and there was 39 entrants. Things didn't go well, as I couldn't scoop a pot to save my life. I busted out around 6:45, and finished in 29th place.<br />
<br />
For the second one, I got there just after 5pm. The Main Event was running, so I expected a smaller field for this Omaha-8 tourney. But I didn't expect to see just one table going. I registered as the 10th and final player, and got my 8000 chips in the 150/300 level. (Remember, this is a Limit tournament. The 150/300 is the Small Bet/Big Bet. The blinds are 75/150.)<br />
<br />
I was extremely card dead for this tournament, and basically blinded off for a while. It took me almost an hour and half to win my first pot. I hit a Full House with QQXX on a Q66 Flop. The SB bet out. I just called, and so did another player. Turn [Q66] J. SB checked, and I bet. Both players folded, and the SB showed a 6. Drat!<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The folding continued, and I wasn't the only one. On my right was a tight, local grinder named Tim. I commented to him that we both seem to be folding to the bubble.<br />
<br />
Eventually, someone busted out of the tourney. Being a limit split-pot game, it takes a long time for someone to finally bust. Tim and I were both on the shortstack, and hoping for any opportunity.<br />
<br />
An orbit or two later, it was the 600/1200 level. I was down to 1700 chips, and I glanced at Tim's stack, which was just 1200 chips. He posted his 600 Big Blind, and busted out. I commented that I'll be right behind him.<br />
<br />
I posted my 600 Big Blind, and there is no Small Blind, Only one player limped in. With 600 of my 1700 chips in the BB, I have to go with this hand, as long as it's not terrible like Trips or Q992. I had something like AJ85, which looked dead sexy at this point. I raised to 1200, the limper called, and bet my last 500 chip in the dark. The Flop was Q77, and the limper had a Q. But an Ace on the Turn gave me a double up to 3400.<br />
<br />
Next hand, I folded my SB, and folded around to the next Blinds. I folded my BB on the Flop, but flopped a Wheel Draw (2345) in the SB. I was able to get All-In on the Flop against two players. the Big Stack who's on my Right and another shortstack on my Left. The Turn was a beautiful Ace, and I tripled up to around 7500 with the Wheel with the Main Pot. The other shortstack was eliminated with the Side Pot.<br />
<br />
This got me off of Cockroach Mode, and back to Patient Mode. Seven handed play lasted for a while, as the shortstacks kept hanging around. The play was rather tight, as the shortstacks didn't want to play a pot. So I switched from Patient Mode to Tournament Mode, and started attacking the Blinds. It's amazing to me that most players who play Omaha-8 tourneys don't play like it's a tournament. They play the exact same way they play $4/$8, lots of limping and calling bets for just half the pot.<br />
<br />
Tournament mode went well for me, as I slowly building my stack. I don't think anyone noticed that I was playing more aggressive, and nobody did anything to fight back.<br />
<br />
When we got to the four handed bubble, I was second in chips. The Big Stack was still chip leader, and the other two players were just hanging around. There was some talk on making a deal, but nothing came from it.<br />
<br />
Things kept going well for me, but not so good for the Big Stack, as we got into a couple of big pots. First we me raising preflop with two callers in the 1600/3200 level. All I hit on the Flop was a mediocre Low Draw, so I made a continuation bet (1600), and they both called. The Turn didn't help me, so we all checked. The River was a brick. Since nobobdy seemed interested in this pot, I bet (3200). The first player folded quickly, but the Big Stack thought for a bit before folding. Naturally, I showed the bluff, and scooped the pot. It wasn't a huge pot, but the six Small Bets I picked up are a nice boost to my stack at this stage of the tourney.<br />
<br />
In the next hand with the Big Stack, he bet (1600) on a Flop of Th 8c 5c. I had Top Two with a Flush Draw, so I raised (3200). He called, and checked the Turn [Th 8c 5c] 8d. I bet again (3200), and he thought for a moment before folding T5. This wasn't a big pot either, but it did give me the chip lead.<br />
<br />
Things kept going bad for the former Big Stack, as he lost a few small pots to the shortstacks. The next pot I played involved me raising from the SB with something like AKT4. Two players called, and the Flop was Jh 7d 5d. I bet made my standard c-bet, and just the former Big Stack called on the Button. Turn was [Jh 7d 5d] Jd. We both checked, and the River was [Jh 7d 5d Jd] Ks. I bet out (3200), and the former Big Stack instantly and forcefully raised (6400). He then said that my Flush was good, as he thought I said Call. But the Dealer and myself said that I didn't say anything. I went into to thought, as this was a bizarre series of events.<br />
<br />
I don't think this comment was an angle by him, as he seemed embarassed by blurting out the my Flush was good. I can't see him having a Jack, and not betting the Turn. Plus, I did show that bluff a short while ago, so he may think I'm just stabbing at the pot.<br />
<br />
As it turned out, the former Big Stack only had 6000, and was All-In. At this point, the pot was too big to fold, so I called the 6000. He had nothing, mucked his hand, and walked away from the table as the Bubble Boy. He was mumbling about this being one of the stupidest mistakes he's ever made at the poker tables.<br />
<br />
Now that we're in the money, and I had the Tower Of Power, I restarted the deal making. I suggested that they could chop 2nd & 3rd while I get 1st, $970 of the $1940 prize pool. One of the players (let's call him Rick) said "Hell, No!" and countered with $850. I snickered a bit, and declined.<br />
<br />
Play continued, and so did the negotiations between Rick and myself. I crunched some numbers, and tossed a serious offer of $900. Rick didn't say Yes, but he didn't say No. The third player at the table was a Kid in his late 20's or early 30's. He seemed to be confused by all this discussion, and said he just wanted to play.<br />
<br />
Play continued, and kept up the preflop aggression. I didn't win any big pots, but I wasn't losing either. I think my stack was slowly growing, while they kept switching places between 2nd and 3rd. Naturally, the deal talk also continued between Rick and me. He seemed to be ok with the $900, but the Kid wasn't interested in all the talk.<br />
<br />
Eventually, the Kid asked me if I really had that many more chips than they did. I did a count, and I had 57500 of the 80000 chips in play, or 71%. This seemed to get his attention, and he started to join in the discussion with Rick.<br />
<br />
The play continued, and we finally agreed to a deal. I got my $900, with the Kid got 2nd for $550, and Rick in 3rd for $490.<br />
<br />
Typical me, winning the small ones. But it does give me some confidence that I actually do know what I'm doing at a Final Table. Now I just gotta figure out how to get there more often. GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-28976253476639476242013-05-17T07:26:00.002-07:002013-05-18T22:39:40.444-07:00Hand Of The Day #101$1/$2 NLHE ~ Eldorado ~ 04.11.13<br />
<br />
Full table on a Thursday evening. The play has been mostly limpy with the occasional preflop raise to $8 or $10. I'm UTG+1, and look down at <span style="color: #3d85c6;">A8d</span>. I bought in for $100, and I'm up to around $160. I've been trying to play position, so I should fold this. But I don't listen to myself, and limp in.<br />
<br />
Nobody raised, and six players see a Flop of <span style="color: #e06666;">Qh</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd Td</span>. Pretty sexy Flop for me, as I have an Omaha-esqe draw with the Nut Flush and Double Gutshot. I like to bet my big draws, so I bet $10. If the Turn hits my Flush, then I can check, and hope someone hit a smaller Flush. If I hit my Straight or miss everything, then I can keep betting.<br />
<br />
Three players called, and the Turn is [<span style="color: #e06666;">Qh</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd Td</span>] <span style="color: orange;">Kc</span>. A beautiful card, as I now have the Nut Straight, and the Nut Flush Draw. I bet $20, and I really hope somebody raises. Fortunately, a 70's gentleman cooperates, and raises to $70. The other two players fold, and I quickly shove my last $130. He calls, and asks if I have an Ace.<br />
<br />
I say, "I've got a freeroll, baby," as I show my cards.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The River was [<span style="color: #e06666;">Qh</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd Td</span> <span style="color: orange;">Kc</span>] <span style="color: #999999;">4s</span>, and we chop the pot.<br />
<br />
Drat!<br />
<br />
What was even worse was the Button, who's a 20's Lady who is a Dealer in this room. She said she had something like <span style="color: #3d85c6;">K3d</span>, which was the 2nd Nut Flush Draw and an Open-Ender. She would normally raise with this Flop, but just didn't this time. She plays fairly straight forward, but like an online player. I assume she would have raise to something like $40 or $50. I would have gone All-In against her, being a 73-27 favorite.<br />
<br />
Again... Drat!<br />
<br />
I posted this hand as a lesson for everyone. This is a rare situation, as I couldn't tell you the last time I ran into it. It's important to consider what to do if you find yourself in one of these situation.<br />
<br />
If you're in the Old Guy's spot, you need to be careful with a 1-Card Broadway Straight when there's a Flush Draw out there. You're better off just calling, and not opening yourself to the All-In shove. You can only get your money back if you call the $300+ All-In, or you can lose it all. While the Flush Draw only has a 20% chance of hitting, that's 1 out of 5 times you will lose all your chips.<br />
<br />
If you're in my spot, you have to shove All-In, even if it's $1000 into a $200 pot. You have to apply as much fold equity as possible, as the worst that can happen is to win half the pot. If you can get the other player to fold, then you win his half of the pot. If he calls, and he probably will, then you will win his stack 20% of the time.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-84016987423863132082013-05-01T22:55:00.000-07:002013-05-01T23:07:01.958-07:00Reports Of My Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated<b>~</b> Yes, I'm still here. I've been saying for the past six months or so that I'm losing interest in blogging, and that I'll probably be posting less. I've have over 400 posts on this blog, and I highly doubt I will get to #500. I have no plans to close the blog, but posts will only come along when I feel like it.<br />
<br />
<b>~</b> Now for an update on how my year has been. First of all, I'm trying to take my recreational play more seriously. I've set a goal this year of $10k profit. That is far ahead of anything I've made in the past. It may seem like a big number, but it's only $2500 every 3 months or roughly $835 each month. That doesn't seem too unreasonable.<br />
<br />
I'm also trying to follow stricter bankroll requirements, rather than just playing whatever I feel like. I started out just playing $1/$2 and small tournaments under $200. Right now, my "pile of cash" is up to the level where I can play bigger cash games ($2/$5 NL or $10/$20 Limit) once a week, and I'm occasionally taking a little out for gas and groceries.<br />
<br />
Here are the monthly numbers:
<br />
+$2144 January<br />
+$697 February<br />
-$1019 March<br />
+$842 April<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
So far, the +$2664 is on pace for an $8k year, which isn't too far from my goal.<br />
<br />
The main reason that I'm a little off pace is tournaments. My tournament year started off great. In the first series that Peppermill ran in January, I had two cashes in three events for a +$1085. After that, it all went to shit. I've only had one additional cash in a +$100 tournament, and I'm even doing terrible in the donkaments. Here are the numbers.<br />
<u><br /></u>
<u>Donkaments <$100</u>: 64 tourneys, 8 cashes, 4 win/chops, -$495, -11.97% ROI<br />
<u>Tournament >$100</u>: 21 tourneys, 3 cashes, 2 wins/chops, -$675, -22.06% ROI<br />
<br />
I think the main reason for the tourney hole is simple variance. No, I haven't played everything perfectly, and have had a couple of time when I got stubborn or over aggressive in a bad spot. But most of the losing has just been normal tournament silliness. I've had a few 0-12 and 0-16 streaks during this past few months. It's gotten to the point where I'm currently taking a few weeks away from tourneys. I'll get back on the tourney trail next weekend.<br />
<br />
Another reason the tourney break is that I'm running really well in cash games, especially $1/$2. It's really bizarre how bad things are going in tourneys, but great in cash games. It hasn't been uncommon for me to bust out of a tourney in a ridiculous fashion, and then sit in a $1/$2 game only to be up $100 or $200 within an hour. A couple of Sundays ago, I sat down in the $1/$2 game after a tourney, and bought in for just $50. I ran it up to around $250 before I payed a Big Blind.<br />
<br />
Shortstacking has been common for me in the $1/$2 games, especially when I play during the day or on a weeknight. I buy $100 in chips, and put $50 on the table while the other $50 goes in my pocket. If I go through those two buy-ins, the I'll put another $100 on the table. I'm doing this because Reno is full of passive Super-Nits. It's not uncommon for my initial $50 to not be the shortest stack at the table. They are buying in short because they are scared to lose any money. I'm buying in short so I can get my chips in the middle faster. And if I happen to find a table that actually has some action, I can always pull out a couple of $100 bills.<br />
<br />
Overall, this has worked well for me. My $1/$2 numbers are +$2775, 154.5 hrs, 70 sessions (38-22). My goal this year for $1/$2 is $15/hr. I know $20/hr is the magic number that everyone says, but I decided to lower it due to Reno being overrun with passive Super-Nits. So far, I'm at $17.96/hr, and I think that's pretty damn good for usually buying in $50 at a time.<br />
<br />
As for the bigger games, I haven't played many sessions, but the numbers are mixed.<br />
3 session of $2/$3 ($5 to go): +$430 7.75 hrs (Reno's version of $2/$5)<br />
1 session of $10/$20 Limit: -$199 3.0 hrs<br />
1 session of $10/$20 Omaha-8: -$392 3.75 hrs.<br />
<br />
<b>~</b> As most of you have probably heard by now, Nevada had its first hand of regulated online poker yesterday at Ultimate Poker. I was not one of the first players to sign up. I am planning on signing up at just one site, WSOPonline.com (or whatever they're gonna call it). I will go into more detail on this subject in a future post (maybe).<br />
<br />
<b>~</b> Since this is the beginning of May, that means the WSOP is just around the corner. I'll be planning on being in Las Vegas for the first two weeks in June. However, I don't plan on playing any WSOP events. Since <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-news-notes.html">I lost so much last year</a>, I'm not planning on playing a tournament over $250. It will be mostly donkaments and small cash games in the beginning. I'm should be playing a few $240 tournaments at the Golden Nugget. They have a great <a href="http://www.goldennugget.com/LasVegas/pdf/gps.pdf">schedule of Mixed Game tournaments</a>, so I'm gonna play a HORSE, an Omaha-8, and maybe an 8-Game if things are going well. I may also try some other tournament and maybe a WSOP satellite or two if I can win enough money to basically freeroll into them.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure how much blogging I will do in Vegas. It will strictly depend on if I feel like it or not.<br />
<br />
~ However, I do have two Hands Of The Day that are currently half done. One is from a $4/$8 Omaha-8 game, and the other is from a $1/$2 NL game. Hopefully, these will be posted between now and the WSOP.
GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-48906070289798775592013-02-24T09:17:00.001-08:002013-05-18T07:41:51.434-07:00Shootout At The PeppermillNo, this isn't a post about <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/feb/21/ap-us-vegas-gun-battle/">the shootout on the Las Vegas Strip</a> that happened on Thursday morning. Although, that is a bizarre coincidence.<br />
<br />
The Peppermill is having one of their little tournament series this weekend, One of their events is $145+$40 NLHE Shootout. It was a surprise to see this on the schedule, as it's rare to see a variety tournament in Reno. Fortunately, this happened to fall on my off day (Thursday), so I how could I miss it?<br />
<br />
For those who don't know, a Shootout plays like a normal tournament, except they don't balance the tables. You stay at your table, and it plays down to a winner. The winner of each table goes to the Final Table with their chips and plays to a winner. Everyone at the Final Table has made the money.<br />
<br />
Since a Shootout has never run in this town, I'm not sure how they are gonna handle this tourney. The one thing I can predict is they will probably screw it up<br />
<br />
<b><u>"Shuffle Up & Deal"</u> -</b> 10k chips and 30 min levels. Tables have nine chips stacks. But... There are currently only three tables, which is really sad. We have only three players at my table. Reno is so pathetic.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><u>End of Level 1 (25/50)</u> -</b> My table is up to six players with two dead stacks and one man down. They did open a fourth table, but it's doubtful they will get a fifth.
<br />
I played very tight, and nothing noteworthy happened. I have 9850 chips.<br />
<br />
They announced how the Final Table will work. Two players advance from each table. Those two players will start over with 10k chips, and blinds starting 100/200. There will be no antes, so they don't have to bother with Green 25 chips. I assume having two players advance is so they don't have to keep equal stacks at each table.<br />
<br />
Also, payouts will depend on the number of players, so not all Final Table players will be paid.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 2 (50/100)</u> -</b> Still six handed with two dead stacks. Although, the TD is currently removing all dead stacks from the tables.<br />
<br />
More quiet time for me, as I'm waiting for the antes to step on the gas. The only notable hand was me limping from Mid with 54d. I flopped Bottom Pair, and everyone checked. Turn was Ad, giving me a Flush Draw. I bet 325, and got two callers. River Ah. I bet 625, and got raised by the Button. I have 9325 chips.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 3 (75/150)</u> -</b> Absolutely nothing happened. No cards for me, and the few I happened to play airballed the board. I have 8725 chips.<br />
<br />
On the last hand, the BB raised to 1200, and UTG (70's guy) back raised to 6000. BB didn't believe him, as the Old Guy has backraised before, and the BB shoved with KQ. UTG had AA, and knocked him out.<br />
<br />
<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> Only four tables with just 30 players, and four players get paid. Did I mention that Reno is pathetic? I had a better turnout for the Shootout I ran in a home game a few years ago.<br />
<br />
At the other tables, the remain players are 7, 6, and 4.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 4 (100/200/25)</u> -</b> The play at this table is very annoying, as this is playing much more like a satellite than a tournament. There are very few preflop raises, small bets on the Flop, and most Rivers are checked down.<br />
<br />
And they're not wrong for playing like. Since the two players don't take their chips to the Final Table, they only need one chip to advance. Plus, the other four players at my table are over 60, so this is how they normally play.<br />
<br />
The other problem has been my hands are always 2nd or 3rd best. It's really hard to read the other players during the hand, as everyone was so @&$! passive even when they have a hand. I'm down to 3250 through a series of annoying hands.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 5 (150/300/50)</u> -</b> Down to five handed, and the blinds are coming quickly. It folded to me in the SB. The BB had raised me before when I limped, so I did again with AQo. The BB was nice enough to cooperate with my plan, and raised to 1200. I shoved for 2750, and he called with A8. The Q on the Flop gave me a much needed double up.<br />
<br />
Now that I had some chips, I played a few hands that didn't go well. It didn't take long to fall back under 4000. With the uber-passive play at this table, I decided it was time to switch strategies. I decided to join them in the passive play. I started limping more in position, and only min-raising preflop. I did start having some success as I scooped up a few small pots.<br />
<br />
The most noteworthy hand was me raising to 600 with KTc from UTG. Only the BB called, and he's the Old Guy who backraised with AA earlier. Flop was Kd 9s 7d, and he checked. I grabbed some Black 100 chips, and bet 600. He thought for a bit, and called. Turn [Kd 9s 7d] Ac. He checked, and I shoved for 2550. I was planning on shoving with any brick, but I'm not sure an A qualifies. He thought for a minute before called. I tolded him that his Ace was good, and he showed As 5h. I missed the River, and finished somewhere around 16th place.<br />
<br />
Overall, a very disappointing tourney for me. I certainly didn't play that last hand very well, as I didn't stick to the Small Pot Strategy. Plus, there was a little tilt involved on my end. But my cards were horrible, and most of my hands were usually second best. If my cards were only halfway decent, I would have had no problem making to the Final Table. <br />
<br />
The other disappointing thing was the tournament itself. Basically, every NLHE tourney in Reno is just a NLHE tourney. No variety or imagination is every used by the TDs in this town. So it was great to see a Shootout on this schedule. However, I seem to be one of the few players who think like this, as 30 players is a terrible turnout. It will be even worse when the Final Table plays for an hour or two, and then the last five or six players do a chop. (At least, that's what I assumed they did.)<br />
<br />
On the way out to my car, I walked through the poker room. The 2pm $45 donkament was running. It had 37 runners, which was more than the $185 Shootout.<br />
<br />
Have I mentioned how pathetic of a poker town Reno is?
GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-4931902800383091492013-01-10T22:46:00.000-08:002013-10-06T20:29:11.278-07:00The Big Poker Question (Or Luck vs Skill II)First of all, here are my stats from last month's Las Vegas trip. This is a good example of the topic of this post.<br />
<br />
<u>Donkaments < $100</u>: 8 tourneys, 3 chops/wins, +$1005, 173% ROI<br />
<br />
<u>Tournaments >=$100</u>: 5 tourneys, 0 cashes, -$860<br />
<br />
<u>Cash Games</u>: -$104, 18.5 hrs<br />
<br />
<u>Pit Play</u>: -$108<br />
<br />
2012 was my first losing year as a poker player. There were various factors, including running terrible in Omaha-8 games (-$1187, 66.5 hrs, 26 sessions). I also lost a decent chunk in Pit games (again), although it was a little less than 2011. <br />
<br />
But the biggest factor in my losing year was the tournaments, and that's what this post will focus on. Here are the numbers.<br />
<br />
<u>Donkaments <$100</u>: 183 tourneys, 49 cashes, 30 wins/chops, +$5438, 43.9% ROI<br />
<br />
<u>Tournaments >=$100</u>: 69 tourneys. 6 cashes, 4 wins/chops, -$7466, -46.1% ROI<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>It's a little staggering how vastly different these stats are, but <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/05/1-vs-100.html">they have always been different</a> for me. So I went through the numbers, and divided the +$100 tourneys into two groups.<br />
<br />
<u>$100 - $300</u>: 60 tourneys, 6 cashes, 4 wins/chops, -$1806, -17.2% ROI<br />
<br />
<u>Over $300</u>: 9 tourneys, 0 cashes, -$5660<br />
<br />
Certainly a big difference, and a $5660 hole is almost impossible to climb out of for a part-time recreational player like me.<br />
<br />
So the natural question to ask is "Why is there such a difference?" Could I be doing something wrong? I'm crushing donkaments, so I obviously have some clue what I'm doing at a tournament table. There may be some small adjustments that I can try, but any thinking poker player will keep trying small adjustments to their game.<br />
<br />
So is it variance? Well, I've said in the past that my larger buy-in tournament have a much smaller sample size compared to the donkaments. But every year the sample size gets a little bigger, but the results haven't improved.<br />
<br />
However, "Pros" keep telling us just what a huge factor variance is in Live Tournament Poker. Online grinder head to the WSOP, and might get two small cashes in 30 events. They don't worry about it because 30 tournaments is what they play on a normal online Sunday (at least, back in the good old days).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=25312">Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi</a> had a incredible run in 2005 & 2006 with just over $5m in tourney cashes. In the WPT, he had four TV Final Tables with two victories. In the WSOP, he had ten cashes over those two years. He was Card Player's Player Of The Year for 2006, and many Pros considered him one of the top players in the world. <br />
<br />
The following few years, Mizrachi did basically nothing. He played on the tournament circuit, and had some cashes, but nothing worth mentioning. That was until the 2010 WSOP, where he won the $50k Players Championship and made the November Nine. Was this long period of nothing due to him playing badly or was it variance?<br />
<br />
Another lesser known pro, <a href="http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=s&n=37858">William (Bill) Edler</a>, was Bluff Magazine's 2007 Player Of The Year. He won $2.75m in tournaments, including a WPT Championship and a WSOP Bracelet. The following year, he went 0/2008. He did not have a single cash on the tournament circuit. Was it due to playing badly or running bad in 2008? Maybe he ran like God in 2007? Or maybe it was some combination of all three, but how could anyone know?<br />
<br />
This brings us to the main point of this thread, and my Big Poker Question...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>If variance (luck) is such a huge factor in Live Tournament Poker, does that mean skill is a such a small factor? </b></span><br />
<br />
Yes, if you play in fields against players who don't understand tournaments, then you definitely have a skill advantage, and over "The Long Term" you will win more money more often then your opponents. That is a main reason that I crush donkaments.<br />
<br />
But as you play tournaments with larger buy-ins and bigger fields, you play against players who have some concept of tournaments. They may not be that advanced, but they will make less mistakes than a donkament player. It will take longer to win money over "The Long Term" because there are bigger fields to weave through, players make less mistakes, and you will run into the occasional player who will make some advanced plays.<br />
<br />
But the problem with "The Long Term" in Live Tournament Poker is that nobody can say just how long it is. How many hundreds or thousands of tournaments does one need to play to get to that theoretical "Long Term"? If we never really hit "The Long Term" in Live Tournament Poker, does it mean that we just have to run good at the right times (get lucky), and make less mistakes than our opponents?<br />
<br />
One of my poker sayings is, "<u>How to win a poker tournament... Catch a few cards, and don't screw-up.</u>" I say this somewhat in jest, but I'm starting to think this saying is way too true.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-37150302488069143702012-12-25T09:45:00.000-08:002012-12-25T10:10:23.131-08:00Interesting Spots In Las VegasSince the world didn't end last week, I better get back to blogging.<br />
<br />
I documented my entire Las Vegas trip through my Twitter account. But sometimes 140 characters just doesn't do a situation justice. So here's an extended version of some interesting spots.<br />
<br />
- Stratosphere 7pm $65 12/07/12<br />
<br />
74 runners for this one. We started with 9k chips. This tourney has a decent structure for a donkament, but any donkament with 74 players will become a shovefest long before the Final Table. I did a decent job of building a big stack before the Push-N-Pray started with a few tables left.<br />
<br />
When we got down to the last two tables, I was at Table #3, so I was moved to a new table. I had 42500 in the 2k/4k level, which was a little over average. The player on my right was a 50's gentleman whom we will call Larry, and is on the rather large size (over 350 lbs). He also had a near average stack somewhere around 35k.<br />
<br />
Larry was mumbling to me and himself about the great poker that he's been playing. Evidently this happened right before I got to the table, but Larry was quite proud of how he skillfully folded AK from UTG. He said there was too many players to act after him, and it would have been reckless to raise with all those players to still act.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I found this to be hilarious, but I didn't say anything. First of all, it would be rude to ridicule him for being a Super-Nit. But mostly I didn't want to "tap on the tank". This was valuable information that he was proudly sharing with anyone who would listen, and I was planning on using this information later in the tournament.<br />
<br />
Anyways, with the stacks this short, the players were busting out at a decent pace. Meanwhile, Larry was still mumbling about how great he was playing by folding AK. He also kept mentioning about wanting to do a chop, even with 15 players left. I was trying not to engage him in conversation, and focus on the other players who were actually playing. But I did mention that I thought that nine spots getting paid was perfectly fine. I had no intention of doing a Bubble Save, and wanted to start announcing it.<br />
<br />
As we got closer to the Final Table, Larry was very actively folding his way to the money. He was also actively keeping an eye on the other table. Not only counting the players, but also keeping track of how many stacks were shorter than his. He would even get up to look at the table next to us when it was his turn to act. He blatantly stalled before folding every time, and it was starting to piss me off. <br />
<br />
Eventually, we were down to 11 players in the 3k/6k level. Larry had let himself get blinded down to 15k. He had to shove All-In while saying, "I doubt I'll get a better hand than this." Meanwhile, someone else at the other table also shoved All-In. At my table, the BB was one of the big stacks, and quickly called with A9o. Larry had KJo (he waited all this time for KJo?). At the other table, the shortstack who shoved All-In had lost, and was eliminated in 11th. At my table, the Dealer dealt the board, and an Ace hit the Turn to eliminate Larry in 10th place, which was the Bubble. <br />
<br />
Larry got up, and went over to his scooter to leave the poker room. He was bitching and whining about how bad his luck was, and this was the 3rd or 4th time in a row that he got so close without cashing. Naturally, I didn't feel sorry for him. My only thought was, "Karma's a bitch."<br />
<br />
- South Point 6pm $110 12/09/12<br />
<br />
This tournament runs on Wednesday & Sunday, and I'm playing in the Sunday one. We get 10k chips and 30 minute levels starting at 50/100. You can rebuy for $100 if you go broke during the first two hours. We started with four tables that weren't full.<br />
<br />
In the first level, a 50's Lady limped from UTG+1. Mid raised to 300. I called from the Hyjack with 77. The BB 3-bet to 1000. The Lady called the extra 900. Mid also called, and so did I. Flop Th 9h 8c. BB bet 1000, and all of us call. Turn [Th 9h 8c] Js. BB bet 1k again, but Lady shoved for 7200. Mid player thought for a while before folding. While he was thinking, so was I. I know nothing about the Lady other than she knows all the Dealers. That's a very wet board, so she could have a very wide range, including Two Pairs, Sets, Combo Draws, or a Q or 7 for a Straight. Since I can beat most of that list, I called. BB folded his JJ for a Set. Lady showed Q2o for a bigger Straight.<br />
<br />
This left me with 700 chips. I had no intention of rebuying, so I went into shortstack mode. I managed to shove a couple of times to punish the limpers, but didn't get the big double up.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the Lady was playing almost every hand and hitting most of them, including hitting Trip-7 on the Turn with 73o. There was also a Kid with a shortstack who shoved from Mid, and was called by the Cutoff. The Lady went All-In from the BB with KK, and knocked out both players who had AT and KJ. I did a quick count of her chips, and she had over 45k in the 100/200 level, and we had only been playing for 35 minutes.<br />
<br />
Shortly after that, I went All-In for 1550 with A9o. The was one caller, and the Lady also called from the Button. Flop was KJ9. The Lady bet the Flop, and the other player folded. She had... Yep, Q2s. I didn't improve, and I couldn't get out of that place fast enough.<br />
<br />
#GameOfSkillGregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-92194215454791649382012-12-16T09:57:00.003-08:002012-12-16T09:58:28.498-08:00Venetian $150 NLHE<b><u>"Shuffle Up & Deal"</u> -</b> This is the 12n $150 daily at the Venetian. We get 12k chips with 30 min levels. The Bravo timer says 54 players. My table has six players with no dead stacks. I'm the youngest at this table by at least five years. <br />
<br />
<b><u>End of Level 1 (25/50)</u> -</b> Timer says 73 players. My table has seven players, and another already busted out. Good table so far, as I'm still the youngest. Table has been on the weak passive side. <br />
<br />
The one who knocked out a player is on my Left+2. He seems to be on the looser side, but he could just be catching cards.<br />
<br />
I have 12500 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 2 (50/100)</u> -</b> Timer shows 90 players. My table has nine players. A Krasian Kid sat down, and was gone ten minutes later. Another Kid sat down on my direct Left, and has been very calm so far. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The most notable hand was me raising to 500 with AJc from Hyjack. Only the Cutoff called, and Flop was Kc 9s 8c. I've been c-beting a lot, so I checked and so did he. Turn [Kc 9s 8c] 3s. I bet 725, and he raised to 2200. Didn't see that coming, but I called. River [Kc 9s 8c 3s] 9h. I check, and he shoved for just over 10k. I didn't snap-fold, as his bet didn't make any sense. If he had a Set, then why shove? But it's also hard to believe he missed a Draw, as he's played so passive up to this point. I finally decided to fight another day, and folded. He didn't show, so a bluff was less likely. <br />
<br />
I have 10025 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 3 (100/200)</u> -</b> Timer says 97 players. We are still nine handed, with one open seat. Not much to report, as I've been rather card dead. This seems to be a good structure, so I'm staying patient. I have 9325 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 4 (150/300/25)</u> -</b> Down to eight players at the table. Terrible level for me. I only raised preflop twice to 1025 with JTo & KJc. I airballed both times, and folded. Nothing really going right, and I don't think I'm playing my A-Game. Need to pull out of this nosedive, or this will be over soon. I have 4500 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> 109 players for this one, with 81 left. 13 get paid, with 1st being $4022. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 5 (200/400/25)</u> -</b> I got my chips All-In with a Pair & Flush Draw on the Turn against Straight with other players' money on the pot. I hit the Flush to almost triple up. <br />
<br />
I then started to raise more preflop, with hands like AJd and 64o. I raised preflop to 1025 with KQo. BB shipped for 5750. I made the crying call. He had A8o, and I hit the K on the Turn. <br />
<br />
I have 19k chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 6 (300/600/50)</u> -</b> The table broke shortly after the level started. I got moved to the next table to break. I was there for about an orbit, and only played one noteworthy hand at that table. The big stack raised to 1200 from Mid. This was really odd, as he raised to 2850 in the previous hand. The Cutoff just called, and seemed to be rather passive. I decide to 3-bet to 5100 from the Button with 43o. A 70's guy in the BB thought for a bit, and went All-In for over 15k. Everyone folded, including me. Sigh! I hate when I make a good read on the situation, but the BB wakes up with a hand.<br />
<br />
I didn't play ant hands at my new table, and I have 10800 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 7 (400/800/75)</u> -</b> The "Card Desert" has returned. I was able to occasionally raise to maintain my stack, but didn't make anything. <br />
<br />
I raised to 2025 with 33 from Mid. Old guy on my Left was the only called. Flop was A64, and I bet 3100. He called, and I gave up. <br />
<br />
I have 6200, and it's Push-N-Pray time for me. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 8 (600/1200/100)</u> -</b> Very first hand, it folded to me in SB, and I shove for 6100 with 76o. BB folded 64o. Next hand, it folded to me on the Button, and I shoved for 8k without looking. The BB woke up with AJd, but my 82c hit a Flush on the Turn. <br />
<br />
Nothing big after that. Just raised preflop a few times, and won a few of them. I have 19600 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> 37 players remain on four tables. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 9 (800/1600/200)</u> -</b> My table has become very passive, and we are the next to break. I decided to kick it into high gear, and start stealing. I was raising sometimes two or three hands in a row. Pretty sure nobody ever called, including the occasional limper. Players were commenting on me stealing, but nobody did anything about it. A BB almost shoved All-In but didn't. I had JJ that hand. So close. <br />
<br />
I went from 19600 to 42800 in one level just by stealing. If that doesn't show the power of aggression, then I don't know what does. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 10 (1k/2k/300)</u> -</b> UTG, who's been bitching about getting out of here, shoved All-In with his only 5k chip. It folded to me on the Button, and I make it 20k with A7o. SB folded, but BB quickly called. (Rut-Roh). Flop is T66. We both checked. Turn [T66] K. He went All-In, and I had to fold. BB has KQo, and wins the Side Pot. UTG had 65o, and triples up with Trip-6<br />
<br />
As this hand was ending, the TD came over to break our table. I sat patiently blinding out at the new table, until I shoved for 14600 with A7h, and won the Blinds. When the Button came around again, it folded to me and I shoved with J8o. The BB, who was the 65o guy from my last table called for just 10k with A4s. I hit an 8, and that got me to around 22k. <br />
<br />
Three hands later, someone limped, and I raised to 7k with 88. It folded around to him, so he though for a moment and went All-In. I snap-called, and he had KK. I airballed the Board, and finished in 22nd place. <br />
<br />
I'm sure he was quite proud of how he "trapped" me with his tricky play of the KK. But those of you who understand shortstack play know this was just a standard spot for me. I only had 11 BB, so 88 looked sexy. If he would have made a normal raise to 5k or 7k, then I would have gone All-In and the result would have been the same. GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-10805409720704138342012-12-13T07:41:00.002-08:002013-04-28T21:36:19.090-07:00Las Vegas News & NotesI arrived home Monday night after spending 6 days in Las Vegas. The official Trip Total was -$67 before expenses. That may seem like it wasn't too bad, but it was a very frustrating and disappointing trip. But more on that in a different post.<br />
<br />
I documented my trip via Twitter this time. If you're interested in the details, check out <a href="https://twitter.com/GregDudePoker">my Twitter page</a>. The whole trip was almost 100 tweets, so you'll need to scroll down a ways before you start reading.<br />
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I plan on doing 4 or 5 blog posts surrounding my trip. This one will be News & Notes concerning the poker scene around Las Vegas.<br />
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- Starting Monday, December 17, all Caesars' properties will be merging their promotions into one Mega Bad Beat Jackpot, similar to what <a href="http://www.harrahs.com/atlantic-city-poker.html">they do in Atlantic City</a>. It will start at $200,000. The qualifying hand is Quad Aces beaten. As the jackpot grows, the qualifying hand will slowly drop. The jackpot award 10% to the Winner, 20% to the Loser, and 70% to Share across all rooms playing that game. (Not 100% sure on all detail, so don't quote this as fact.)<br />
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And when I say all Caesars' properties, that also includes Harrah's Laughlin and Harvey's Lake Tahoe. Also, I assume all other promos (High Hands, Aces Cracked, Free Rolls, etc.) will be reduced or eliminated to fund the Mega Bad Beat. I wouldn't be surprised if Caesars eventually raises the Jackpot to $2 instead of the current $1. <br />
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So look for the Mega Bad Beat Jackpot to be near $500,000 during the WSOP. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
- <a href="http://pokerati.com/2012/12/fixin-to-close-bills-gamblin-hall-feb-4/">Bill's Gambling Hall will be closing on Feb 4</a>. Caesars is doing a major renovation on the property, and turning it into a boutique casino. I'm guessing they will try to copy the success that Cosmopolitan has had over the last two years.<br />
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I went over there to get a chip for my collection, and the topic of the closing naturally came up. One of the Floorpersons in the Pit said that all the employees received a letter stating their jobs are being eliminated, and they will not be transferred to other properties. However, they can apply online for any job openings, which there are only a handful in the Las Vegas area.<br />
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All Hail The Mighty Caesars!<br />
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- Speaking of changes to the Caesars' empire, the Imperial Palace is undergoing a renovation, and is changing their name to The Quad, or The Q. I'm not sure when the name change will be official, but there are already many signs with the Quad name on them, and Bravo Poker Live changed to "The Quad Resort and Casino" when I was out there.<br />
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The construction is nowhere near complete, and they haven't done much with the inside other than the sign changes. I was told there will be a new poker room in the new section. The current poker room is buried up on the 3rd floor, next to the sports book. It's basically dead, except for a small turnout for their Daily Donkaments and the Sunday night $3/$6 Mixed Game.<br />
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- Next door, Harrah's closed their poker room last week, and moved it the other corner of the casino, near the Party Pit and the buffet. The new location is horrible. It's smaller and the tables are crammed together. It's wide open, so there is smoke coming from the Pit. At night, the noise level is unbearable, as there always at least one Pit table going "WHOOOOOOOOO!" This new room will chase away the few loyal locals, as they can go somewhere less noisy. I have no clue what Harrah's is doing with the old location next to the sportsbook.<br />
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On a side note, I don't understand why every casino has to have a tiny poker room. <strike>Imperial Palace</strike> The Quad and Harrah's are next to each other, and are connected in a couple of spots. Since both are getting new smaller poker rooms, why not combine them into a better room? Poker is better with less rooms with more tables running. Caesars would save money on staffing with fewer periods of time with no games running.<br />
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Another example of this would be on the south end of the strip. Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay Bay are all MGM properties that are connected, and all have small poker room. Why not combine them into one much better room in Luxor (the middle one), or even two rooms in Mandalay Bay and Excalibur, as NY-NY has no poker room.<br />
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I asked the supervisor at Harrah's about this, and he said that we are actually competing with other Caesars properties, so combining would not make sense. Naturally, I asked him why are they combining promos for the Mega Bad Beat. He never really answered that question.<br />
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- Speaking of new rooms, The Orleans is renovating their poker room. I went up there, and the tournament half of the room was closed, and tables are set-up outside the room for tourneys. It looks like they are just doing a face-lift to the room, and they are doing it in two parts, so they don't cause too much of a disruption for the rest of the casino.<br />
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- Finally, Aria is thinking "outside the box" by introducing Multi-Action Poker. <a href="http://pokerati.com/2012/12/quirky-game-attempts-to-bring-online-multi-tabling-to-live-arena/">Pokerati did a write-up</a> on it, as well as <a href="http://pokerati.com/2012/12/video-of-multi-action-poker-at-aria/">posted a video </a>of the first day trial run. <br />
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Before I rip this idea apart, I want to give credit to the Aria for trying something different. Most poker rooms are afraid to try anything involving the terms "Variety" or "Experiment", so it's good to see a poker room with some kahonas.<br />
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Having said all that, this has no prayer of success. The main reason is because this idea is only for grinders who used to play online, and not the casual player (tourist). If a game doesn't draw on the casual player (tourist). then it won't last. That why Mixed Games are so rare in poker rooms. The casual players (tourists) have no interest in playing Stud-8 or Triple Draw. And they sure as hell don't want to stare at two different Flops, and have two different sets of chips to play with.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-85568735562502499282012-12-02T11:57:00.000-08:002012-12-02T11:57:33.971-08:00December News & Notes- The best phrase to describe my WSOP-C Tahoe trip is "Crash & Burn", as <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/11/wsop-circuit-365-nlhe.html">my bubbling the first event</a> was the highlight of my trip.<br />
<br />
I played in three Ring Events, an Omaha-8 tourney, and a nightly 7pm tourney. I airballed all five of them. The $1/$3NL game was just as fruitful. I only had one small winning session, and finished -$1167 in 16 hours.<br />
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But you need to remember that one trip does not make a career. Even though this year's Tahoe trip sucked, last year's was wonderful thanks to <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2011/11/wsop-c-5-day-2-end-of-level-25-8k16k3k.html">my 5th place finish</a>. Between both years, I've played in eight tournaments, and I'm still up $805.<br />
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The WSOP-C raised the rake on all of their tournament for this season, like $345 to $365. Most of the players have been complaining about this. However, Tahoe had record fields for many of their events, so it looks like the higher juice tournaments are here to stay.<br />
<br />
- I have one more trip for this year, and it starts on Wednesday. I'm driving down to Las Vegas, and coming back on Monday 12/10. I got a really cheap room at the Imperial Palace ($147 for 5 nights, which includes taxes & fees).<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Early December is one of the slowest time for Sin City, which is one of the reasons I'm going. The only Poker event is the WPT at the Bellagio, which is way out of my bankroll range.<br />
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As you may have heard in the news, the Post Office is going through some hard times. As someone on the inside, thing are getting a little crazy, and there is a very small chance that I could lose my job (under 10%). Even though it's very unlikely, I have started to prepare for the worst.<br />
<br />
Certainly, a Plan B for me is to move to Las Vegas and become a grinder. The only times I have been there over the last few years was during the WSOP, which is super busy for poker. I want to see what Sin City is like during the quiet times when only the other grinders are playing.<br />
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I will be doing the things that I would start with as a new grinder in Vegas. It will be many Daily Donkaments, a few of the daily $100+ tourneys, some $1/$2 & $1/$3 NL, and Omaha-8 or Mixed Games up to $10/$20.<br />
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Since I seem to be unable to sit down and type up some blog posts anymore, I will be documenting this trip via Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/GregDudePoker">GregDudePoker</a>). There will probably be a steady stream of tweets, so hopefully it won't be too much. I did have my twitter feed on this blog, but I removed it because it wasn't working.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-79918710012350575042012-11-13T09:02:00.004-08:002012-11-16T22:33:42.525-08:00WSOP Circuit $365 NLHE<b><u>"Shuffle Up & Deal"</u> -</b> WSOP Circuit at Harvey's Lake Tahoe, $365 NLHE starting at 3pm on Sunday. The Seniors event started at 10am. They had 177 players, and have 86 left.<br />
No clue how many tables, but this should be in the 125-175 range. We have ten seats, but only six bodies. Levels are 30 minutes long, and we get 10k chips.<br />
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<b><u>End of Level 1 (25/50)</u> -</b> We now have nine bodies, and the timer shows 195 players. That is impressive considering the Seniors tourney still has 80 players. This weekend's 2-starting field tournament had 651 entries, and just re-started with 81 players.<br />
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This level was a whole lot of nothing for me. The only "real" hand that I looked at was 99 UTG. The average age of this table is much younger than I'm used to playing in Reno, as there are a lot of California players here. There are two Kids on my Left who seem to know what they are doing, so I'm keeping my VPIP is very low. Hopefully, this will set up an image for later.<br />
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I have 9325 chips.<br />
<b><u></u></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b><u>Level 2 (50/75)</u> -</b>Seat #10 has been filled. Still lots of nothing so far. I did finally raise preflop to 400 with AJo in the Cutoff. Two players called, and I folded on a K-high Flop. <br />
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I have seen a decent amount of "splash around" hands, but have played very few of them. Normally, the early levels are when I want to play those hands, but I'm only playing them in the Blinds, Button or Cutoff. Unfortunately, I airballed the few that I played. <br />
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I have 8100 chips.<br />
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<b><u>Level 3 (50/100)</u> -</b> First hand of the level, a 50's Lady raised to 300. Two players called, and I decided to 3-Bet to 1100 on the Button with T9c. A Kid in the BB 4-Bet to 3k. It folded back to me, and I called the 1900. He jammed for almost 4k on the K44 Flop, and I'm down to 5100. <br />
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In another hand, there were a bunch of limpers, and I called the SB with 83s. Five players saw a Flop of 8c 5h 2c. Checked around to Button, who bet 300. I was the only caller, and the Turn was [8c 5h 2c] 4d. I checked and called the 700 bet. River [8c 5h 2c 4d] 8h. I checked and called the 1200 bet. He had Q5, and I won my first pot of the day. <br />
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I have 7500 chips. <br />
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<b><u>Level 4 (75/150)</u> -</b> More quiet time for me, as I really only played one hand. UTG limped. UTG+1 raised to 450. She's a 50's Lady who really doesn't seem to know what she's doing. I called on the Button with 87o, and so did the UTG. Flop 7h 5c 5s. She bet 600, I called, and UTG folded. Turn [7h 5c 5s] Qh, and she bet 1000. I just don't think she's strong here, so I call. River [7h 5c 5s Qh] 7s. She bet 1500. I raised to 3600, and I pray she doesn't shove with QQ. Instead, she called with 88.<br />
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I have 13600 chips. <br />
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<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> Our timer says 232 players, and climbing. The big 2-starting field tourney has popped their Bubble, and is down to 55. The Seniors event is already down to 14 players, so I guess it's a more of turbo structure. <br />
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Notable players in our field include <a href="http://www.wsop.com/players/playerProfile.asp?playerID=3270&pagecolor=FFFFFF">Ylon Schwartz</a> and <a href="http://www.wsop.com/players/playerProfile.asp?playerID=80170&pagecolor=FFFFFF">Sam Barnhart</a>. <br />
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<b><u>Level 5 (100/200)</u> -</b> It folded around to me in the SB, and I limped with AJo. I assumed the Kid would raise from the BB, and he did to 600. I called, and Flop was KT6. I checked and called his 800 bet. Turn [KT6] 3. I checked, and so did he after a moment of thought. River [KT6 3] 9. I fired 1125. My A-high might be good, but if he has a small Pair, he should fold it. He was kind enough to cooperate.<br />
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My one preflop raise was to 800 with 54d from the Hyjack after two players limped. Only the limpers called, and the Flop was KJ5. They both folded to my 1600 c-bet.<br />
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I have 17500 chips.<br />
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<b><u>Level 6 (100/200/25)</u> -</b> It folded to the Cutoff who raised 800. He's a 50's guy who's been a bit of a goofball so far. I'm next in the Hyjack, and 3-bet to 2100 with AQ. He's the only caller, and the Flop is 887. He checked, I c-bet 3100, and he called after some thought. Turn [887] A. He hesitates, and bets 2000. I thought for a moment, and called. River [887 A] 3. He paused, and bet 4000 with 3100 behind. To me, this screamed an 8. But he's played some hands strangely so far, an it's possible he thinks his AT is good. I made the crying call, and he showed 87c. Sigh.<br />
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I have 5325 chips.<br />
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<b><u>Level 7 (150/300/25)</u> -</b> Pretty sure I only played one hand. Goofball raised to 1000. I called with 22, and it got checked down. I had a little Club Flush, but his Overcards also had a Club.<br />
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They started breaking tables. We have three new players, including a Kid who arrived with over 60k chips. He has already doubled up the 50's Lady with a terrible River bluff when he had no fold equity. She had Top Top (AQ). So now the two big stacks at this table are the clueless 50's Lady and the 50's Goofball.<br />
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Isn't tournament poker fun?<br />
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I have 4500 chips.<br />
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<b><u>Level 8 (200/400/50)</u> -</b> Folded around to the Button, who raised to 1200. SB (Goofball) called. I shoved All-In for 4100 with 87c. We were 10 minutes from Dinner Break, and it's time to "Go Big Or Go Home". Both of them called, and checked it down. I hit a 7 on the Flop, and it held up against KQ & T8d.<br />
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The former Big Stack busted out about halfway through this level. Not surprisingly, he shoved with a Flush Draw and missed. He got the Big Stack by playing that way, and he lost it the same way. Oh, and of course he gave his chips to the Goofball, who now has a monster stack well over 70k. Good thing I have direct position on him.<br />
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I have 12150 chips.<br />
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<b><u>DINNER BREAK</u> -</b> 241 runners for this one, with around 140 left. 27 get payed with 1st being over $17k. The 2-flight tourney is down to 22 players. The Seniors tourney has ended, but the nightly 7pm $140 started.<br />
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<b><u>Level 9 (250/50/50)</u> -</b> First hand back from break. UTG raised 2500. I was Hyjack, and just called with AA, hoping someone behind me would shove. Nobody did, and the Flop was 8-high. He bet 5500, and I shoved for 4100 more. He called with KK, and I got a wonderful double up.<br />
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I have 22100 chips<br />
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<b><u>Level 10 (300/600/75)</u> -</b> UTG raised 1500. Goofball called from UTG+2. I 3-bet to 5500 with 55, as UTG has been raising often. SB shoves for just over 16k. UTG calls for a little less. Goofball thinks for awhile before folding A2o. (Did I mention he's a goofball?) As for me, Ooops! I know I'm way behind here, but I need to call 11k more to win all those chips. I make the crying call. UTG has QQ, and SB has KQo (not sure why he shoved 16k). The Board runs clean. UTG more than triples up, and I win the small Side Pot of 6150. This left me around 12k chips. <br />
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About an orbit after that hand, the guy with QQ had AA against Goofball's KK, and doubled up again to over 70k. Goofball is down under 20k. <br />
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Last hand of the level, I raised to 1525 with QJo from Mid. Only SB called, who is the 50's Lady. Flop was K-high. I bet 2200, and she called. Turn was a brick. I bet 3500, which was almost half my stack. She quickly folded. <br />
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I have 15800 chips. <br />
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<b><u>Level 11 (400/800/100)</u> -</b> I have 13400 chips, and I'm pretty sure I didn't play one hand. <br />
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We are the next table to break, which kinda sucks. I'm the shortstack at the table by a lot. New players to this table have been stunned at the amount of chips at this table. <br />
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<b><u>Level 12 (500/1000/100)</u> -</b> I finally got AKc, and raised to 2600. I got called by the BB, and totally airballed the Flop. He called my c-bet, so I gave up. <br />
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This left me shortstacked. A few hands later, the 50's Lady raised to 3000. I was the only caller with KTh in the SB, and I was doing a Stop-N-Go for 4500 more. Flop was 9d 8d 7c. She called with A7d. A Ten hit the Turn, and she missed the River. I got another survival double up, and our table broke after that hand. <br />
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My new table has significantly less chips, as there is only one stack over 40k. <br />
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My first hand at the table, I raised to 2600 from UTG+1 with AJs. Only the BB called, and the Flop was T98. BB bet 4100, and I jammed for 14200. He quickly called with Q8 for Pair + Gutshot. Turn & River were [T98] 9 7, and I get another double up. <br />
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At the end of the level, the 50s Lady got moved to my new table, and she's now a few seats on my Left. <br />
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I have 35300 chips, and hopefully I can hold on to them for more than one level. <br />
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<b>BREAK -</b> Timer says 80 players left. The big tourney is down to the final two tables. The 7pm had 90 runners, and is down to 20 players. It's almost 10:30, so that is a definitely a turbo structure. <br />
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The levels after this break will be 40 minutes long.<br />
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<b><u>Level 13 (600/1200/200)</u> -</b> This table is way tighter than my old table. I haven't had much to play, but I'm not stealing so I can hold on to my chips for a little bit. <br />
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I only played two hands. First hand was me raising to 3100 from UTG with AJs. Mid called, and he's a 70's gentleman who's shortstacked. The SB called, and the BB reluctantly called. Flop was 933. The BB bet 4500, and everyone folded. <br />
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In the other hand, UTG raised to 4200. He was the one big stack when I sat down, and I've seen him play one hand so far. It folded to me in the SB, and I 3-bet to 10k with As Ac. I tried to make it small enough for him to call, and I will shove my last 15900 on the Flop. He thought for a while before calling the 5800 more. (Did I mention he was tight?). Flop was 8d 5d 3d. He thought for over a minute before folding. Stupid Diamonds. <br />
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I have 38900 chips. <br />
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<b><u>Level 14 (700/1400/200)</u> -</b> Towards the start of the level, my table broke, and I got moved to the next table to break. The TD finally took us from ten to nine handed. <br />
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I stayed patient, and only played a couple of hands. I raised to 3500 with ATd and AKh, and nobody called. I 3-bet with JJ to 8500, and everyone folded. <br />
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I have 45200 chips. <br />
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<b><u>Level 15 (800/1600/200)</u> -</b> I did a very good job of slowly building my stack without seeing a Flop. I kept my VPIP low, and always raised or did the occasional 3-Bet. Nobody ever called. <br />
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When our table broke, I got moved to a table with some rather big stacks. Very first hand, UTG shoved for 5200. I was in Mid, and 3-bet to 25200 with QQ. Nobody called. UTG had A7o, and flopped an Ace. <br />
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I have 59500 chips<br />
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<b><u>BREAK</u> -</b> The timer shows 43 players left. We are playing three more levels, which should put us right around the Bubble. Hopefully, I'll still be around, but it will be close to 3am. <br />
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The 7pm is down to 8 players, which means they're in the money. The Big Tourney is down to 15 players. They're not gonna finish tonight, but I'm not sure when they will stop. <br />
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<b><u>Level 16 (1k/2k/300)</u> -</b> I did a hell of a lot of folding for most of the level. <br />
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Towards the end, Hyjack min-raised to 4000. It folded to me, and I called with 54o. I checked in the dark, and the Flop was 9 6 3. He also checked, and the Turn was [963] K. I bet 6500 with my Open-Ended Straight Draw. He min-raised to 11000, but the Dealer told him it was 13k. I called, and the River was [963 K] 4. I checked, and he quickly turned over KJc. <br />
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Very next hand, it folded to the Button, who raised to 5000. He's a Kid who's a local pro with a good resume, and he's been raising a lot with his big stack. I'm the SB, and shipped it for 22k with 86c. He quickly called with A7o. The Board was T44 T 4, and we chopped the pot. <br />
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I have 24300 chips, and am the clear shortstack at the table. There are 35 players left, with 27 getting paid. <br />
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<b><u>Level 17 (1200/2400/400)</u> -</b> About an orbit into the level, UTG+2 shipped All-In for around 26k. I was the Cutoff, and went All-In for 20300 with QQ. He had AJo. The Board ran out KJ4 J J, and I'm out in 32nd place, five spots away from the money. <br />
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I love bubbling at 2am.<br />
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And, to add insult to injury, I got up to my room, and realized that my room key was still in the room. So I had to go back down to the lobby to get a spare key. GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-64444509455167709642012-11-05T23:37:00.000-08:002012-11-05T23:37:44.849-08:00November News & Notes<b>- </b>As you loyal readers have noticed, I haven't been a loyal blogger lately. As I've mentioned before, things just aren't as blog-worthy after 400 entries, especially the day-to-day grind. Special events and road trips are still interesting, and I do have two more trips planned for this year.<br />
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Another reason for lack of blogging has been lack of playing. I started dating a young lady named Karen back in August, and that really cut down on my poker. However, that relationship has fizzled out, so I have more time for the tables.<br />
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Does that mean I'll be blogging more? Well, like most poker questions, the answer is "It depends." There will be times that I'll be motivated, and times that I won't. I may do three entries in a week, and then go three weeks without a word.<br />
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<b>- </b>Just like last year, I'm heading to Lake Tahoe for the <a href="http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=908">WSOP Circuit</a> that starts on Thursday. It's too far away to drive back and forth every night, so I got a hotel room from Sunday to Wednesday, and will be heading home on Thursday.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I'll be grinding tournaments and the $1/$3 cash games. Unfortunately, the WSOP decided to up the juice on the tournaments. Last year's $345s are now $365. and the $230s are now $250. It's really annoying, but if things go as well as <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2011/11/wsop-c-5-day-2-end-of-level-25-8k16k3k.html">they went last year</a>, I won't mind as much<br />
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<b>- </b>With my <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/10/chop-pot-classic-ii.html">good tournament score</a> in an Omaha-8 tourney last month, I decided to crack open the database and look at my numbers for these non-"TV Poker" tourneys. By far, I've played more Omaha-8 and HORSE tourneys than another games, so I just looked at those two.<br />
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Since I moved out here two years ago (yes, it's been two years), I have played in nine Omaha-8 and seven HORSE tournaments. In those 16 tourney, I have had five cashes, three wins/chops, +$1445, 26.3% ROI.<br />
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Overall, pretty solid numbers. Granted, 16 tourneys is a rather small sample size, but these numbers do include my <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/06/wsop-27-1500-horse-end-of-level-4.html">$1500 airball</a> back in June.<br />
<br />
<b>- </b>On a personal note, I'm currently looking to buy a house, something small and relatively cheap near where I work. With the recent "housing crisis", you would expect there to be plenty of homes to choose from. But you would be wrong.<br />
<br />
There is currently a shortage of "cheap" homes in Reno, mainly homes under $125k. This is due to investors gobbling them up just a couple of days after the homes go on the market. Most of those homes involves a Short Sale, which means they are selling for less than the owners owe the bank on their mortgage. The investors are usually paying cash, which speeds up the process.<br />
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If I wanted to by a larger home on the other side of town for around $200k or more, then there are plenty to choose from. But I don't need the bigger home just for myself, and I certainly don't want to drop that kind of money on a house. <br />
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The good news is the I want to buy a home, but I don't need to buy one. I'm in no hurry, so I can stay patient and wait for the right opportunity. Something could happen next week, or maybe sometime next year. <br />
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- The casinos around here often have drawings for money and prizes. Sometimes it's small drawing for $100, or as big as $20k. You earn entries by playing slots and table games. Poker earns you basically nothing, so I've never seen my name called for a drawing.<br />
<br />
However, I was playing at Grand Sierra on Friday night. The Floor told me that my name was on the screen. I knew they were doing a drawing, but I wasn't paying attention to it, so I have no clue what I had won. I hurried to the drawing area, and handed them my players card. I still had no clue what I won. Obviously, a big prize would have awesome, but even a $100 was still free money.<br />
<br />
But... that's not what I won. Instead, they handed me <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Baseballs-Greatest-Games-Francisco-Perfect/dp/B008ERNL3Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1352180436&sr=1-2&keywords=san+francisco+giants">a DVD of the San Frisco Giants</a>, and the perfect game they had this year. As a life-long Cleveland sports fan, I can best described my reaction as speechless. I politely thanked them, and headed back to the poker room with my bounty. The Floor was curious what I had won, and I showed him the crappy DVD. After he stopped laughing, I left it with him. Reno is a Giants town, and I assumed they could give it away to someone who actually gave a shit about it.<br />
<br />
Two hours later, I went up to counter to cash out, and the DVD was still sitting there. They had tried to give it away, but nobody wanted it. So I took it with me, and left in on a table somewhere in the casino. For all I know, it's still sitting there. GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-9914721403659526672012-10-28T23:10:00.000-07:002012-10-28T23:29:57.761-07:00Chop Pot Classic IIThis weekend (Wed 10/24 - Sun 10/28), the Peppermill held <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2011/09/chop-pot-classic.html">another Chop Pot Classic</a>, which is a small tournament series that features mixed games. <br />
<br />
As it turned out, I had this weekend off from work (Fri-Sun). I also took two vacation days on Wednesday & Thursday. So you probably assume I played in 7 - 9 of the tournaments with all that free time?<br />
<br />
Nope. I only played in three of them, and the main reason for this was the structures of the tournaments.<br />
<br />
There was a tournament everyday at 12n and 7pm. All but one of the events had a $130 buy-in ($97 + $33) with 6000 chips. The Saturday 12n had a $235 ($194 + $41) with 8000 chips, which I guess is what they consider a "Main Event".<br />
<br />
However, there is a huge difference between some of these tournaments. The 12n tourneys have 30 minute levels, but the 7pm tourneys have only 20 minute levels. I refuse to pay the same juice for a faster tournament, therefore I did not play in any of the 7pm tourneys.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I wasn't the only one who had a problem with this. Overall, this series was a dismal failure for the Peppermill. The largest 12n tournament was only 41 players on Wednesday ($130 Omaha-8). The "Main Event" on Saturday was another Omaha-8 event, and it only had 27 players. The 7pm tournaments drew much worse than the 12n tournaments, which is common for Reno. Two of the tourneys had under 20 players, with last night's HORSE not even having two full tables of 8 players.<br />
<br />
(Side note: Why was the "Main Event" for a mixed game series an Omaha-8 tourney, and not a HORSE tourney?)<br />
<br />
Another reason I only played three tournament was the schedule. For the 12n tourneys, they had three Omaha-8 and two Crazy Pinapple-8. I don't understand why they didn't have any HORSE or Stud-8 tourneys for the 12n, since they did for the 7p tourneys. I would have happily played in those games. I don't want to play Crazy Pinapple-8 because I think it's a silly game. I have no interest in playing it for a tournament, but I wouldn't object to playing it in a mixed cash game.<br />
<br />
As for the one that I played, I was in the Wednesday $130 Omaha-8 with 41 players. I got off to a great start, but the early levels mean absolutely nothing in these Limit tournaments. I went cold when the levels went up, and the pots got bigger. I ended up in 16th place.<br />
<br />
The next one was the $130 Omaha-8 on Friday, which had 40 runners. This one was the opposite of Wednesday. I was ice cold at the start, but things got better as the levels went up. It was going so well that I got the Final Table as the Chip Leader.<br />
<br />
When we got to seven players left, the super-shortstack was in the SB, and it was her turn preflop. Before she called with her last few chips, she asked if anyone wanted to make a deal because she really wanted to get her money back. Surprisingly, nobody said Yes, but I mentioned that any deals should be discussed between hands.<br />
<br />
She did call, and end up surviving for a few more hands. She brought up wanting her money back, but everyone ignored her. After she finally busted in 6th, then a different player was eliminated on each of the next three hands.<br />
<br />
That got us to three handed. I was co-chip leader, and the shortstack wasn't super short. His name is Tim, and he's a regular tournament grinder around town. He started the chop talk, and we eventually came to an agreement. I walked away with $1130 after the Dealer's Tip.<br />
<br />
The last tourney was the "Main Event". It went similarly to the Friday tourney. With the smaller field, I made it to the Final Table with a decent stack. I was the only one at the Final Table who was trying to win this tournament, meaning I was the only one who was consistently raising and 3-betting. It went well, and I managed to build up a dominate stack.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, things started to go badly. The shortstacks kept hanging around, by either scooping or getting half the pot. The worst part was that many of the double-ups were through me. I was getting hands like <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ad 2d 3d</span> <span style="color: #999999;">5s</span>, <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">4s</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">3h</span> <span style="color: orange;">2c</span>, and <span style="color: orange;">Ac 2c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">3h</span> <span style="color: #999999;">7s</span>, which I'm happy to run it out with a shortstack. The problem was that I was completely airballing the boards, or they would hit it harder. It was a slow bleed of my chips stack until I became the shortstack.<br />
<br />
When I finally got it All-In, I had a Pair, Open-Ender, and A5-Low on the Flop against a Flush Draw and A4-Low. The <span style="color: orange;">5c</span> on the Turn gave him the Flush, and I was eliminated in 7th place. Very frustrating.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-32596220976594795032012-10-03T21:52:00.000-07:002012-10-30T18:42:19.392-07:00Grinding At Grand SierraAt work, we have rotating off days, so one week it will be Monday, and the following week it will be Tuesday, etc. I'm starting to use up a few vacation days, mostly at strategic times, like having Monday as my off day and I'll take Tuesday as a vacation day to give me a three day weekend. The following week has Tuesday as my off day, so I'll take Monday as a vacation day.<br />
<br />
This past weekend was one of those three day weekends for me. Grand Sierra Resort is currently running their Fall Pot Of Gold tournament series, so this was a good time to grind away at the tournaments. Here's what happened:<br />
<br />
Sunday 09/30<br />
<br />
~ <u>12pm $240 NLHE ($15k Guarantee)</u> - They had no problem with the guarantee, as they got an impressive field of 115 players. However, it wasn't impressive for me. I did hang around for awhile, but I never got a real chip stack.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>When we got down to three tables in the 500/1k/100 level, I raised to 2600 from Mid with J9d. The next player called, and so did the BB. The Flop was KJ5. BB checked, and I shipped my last 8900 with Middle Pair. The next player folded what he later said was TT. The BB went into the tank for over a minute before calling with A5 for Bottom Pair. The Turn was [KJ5] A, giving him Two Pair. I missing my 2-outer, and finished in 26th place.<br />
<br />
~ <u>7pm $130 NLHE Turbo</u> - 69 players for this one. They call it a Turbo because we get less chips and they eliminated a couple of level compared to the 12pm tourney. However, it's actually a decent structure, and much better than a Daily Donkament.<br />
<br />
Things went much better in this one. We got to the Final Table in the 1k/2k/300 level. I was 2nd in chips with 45k, but the Chip Leader had over 100k more. She was 2nd in chips at the other table, and was gifted chips in two separate hands by the Chip Leader, who ended up in 11th place.<br />
<br />
It didn't start off well. I raised a few times preflop, and usually had to fold to either a 3-bet or because I airballed the Flop. Also, the Chip Leader lost a chunk of her stack by doubling up two different players.<br />
<br />
Last hand of the 1k/2k/300 level, I raised from the Hyjack to 4600 with <span style="color: orange;">6c</span> <span style="color: #999999;">6s</span>, and only the SB called. I've been playing with him for the whole tourney, and he's leaning towards the Super-Nitty side. Flop <span style="color: orange;">Tc 5c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span>. He bet 5k. He's probably got a Ten, or he could have a big draw like <span style="color: orange;">A3c</span>. It was a relatively small bet, so I called. Turn [<span style="color: orange;">Tc 5c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span>] <span style="color: orange;">Ac</span>. He checked, and I bet 8k. This is a great card to bluff because I can represent the Ace or the Flush. He called, and the River was [<span style="color: orange;">Tc 5c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">2h</span> <span style="color: orange;">Ac</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jd</span>. He checked. I bet 13k which was about 60% of my stack. He snap-called with <span style="color: orange;">Jc</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span> for Two Pair. If he didn't hit his 2nd Pair, he would certainly folded to my River bet. Sigh!<br />
<br />
Level went up to 1200/2400/300 after that hand. Three hands later, UTG+1 raised 9k. He's an old guy who's played just one hand at this Final Table. I'm next with AJo. I had 8600, or 3.5 BB. Yuck! I'm certain that the old guy had a bigger hand than AJ, but if I folded, then I only had a couple of hands before I lose half my stack to the Binds and Antes. I made the crying call, everyone else folded, and he had AK. I missed, and I finish in 9th for $184. Yippie!<br />
<br />
Mon 10/01<br />
<br />
~ <u>12pm $240 NLHE
($15k guarantee)</u> - No clue why they would have a guarantee on a Monday, but they did come close to hitting it by having 73 players. Unfortunately, I didn't come close to getting anything resembling a good stack. There was the normal tournament silliness, and I finished in 43rd place.<br />
<br />
~ <u>4pm $150 Omaha-8</u> - Only 31 players for this one, which was surprising for Reno. The
thing that wasn't surprising was my complete lack of cards. I never scooped
a pot for the first three hours, and went for a long stretch without a
playable starting hand. <br />
<br />
I finally got my first scoop
in the 600/1200 level. I was All-In preflop for 1200 with TT42, which was
one of the best hands I had seen in a while. I ended up with Tens Full Of
Kings. That was the last pot I won, and finished in 16th place. <br />
<br />
~ <u>7pm
$130 NLHE Turbo</u> - Immediately after I busted out of the Omaha, I signed up for
this one, and sat down at the end of the 25/50 level. There was one guy
at the table who was playing weird. He was overbetting, and shoving
All-In in odd spots. People would pay him off, and he showed a very
strong hand like an Overpair, a Set, or a Straight. I lost a
couple of pots to him before I realized what he was doing. <br />
<br />
After
that, I went hopelessly card dead for a few levels. In the 100/200/25
level, UTG+1 raised to 425. She's a regular dealer at GSR and has been
raising a lot lately. She also had lost a few pots lately, and only had a few more
chips than I did. Mid and SB called her raise. I was the BB with 76o, and
shipped it for 3150. This was a great spot to steal, as I have played so few
hands lately. Unfortunately, she quickly shoved her stack in, and the
others folded. She showed <span style="color: #999999;">Q3s</span> (not a typo). We both missed the Board,
and her Q-high was good. The stacks were counted, and she had me covered
by 225 chips. I finished 31th out of 55 players. <br />
<br />
As
I'm walking away from the table, she started saying some sort of excuse
about the <span style="color: #999999;">Q3s</span> shove. I interrupted her by saying that I really didn't care, and walked
away. It was true that I didn't care. To me, it was no different than if
she has <span style="color: #999999;">A3s</span>, and I lost the race. I just wanted to leave the room, and
end this miserable day.<br />
<br />
While I was walking out of the room at 9:15pm, I realized that all three tournament that I played today were still running. That's a really lousy feeling. <br />
<br />
Tue 10/02<br />
<br />
~ <u>12p $240 NLHE ($10 guarantee)</u> - With the smaller guarantee for this one, they had no problem hitting it with 67 players.<br />
<br />
For me, this was a "one step forward; two steps back" experience. I would start to build up some chips, and then lose a bunch by getting a 2nd best hand and have to fold on the River.<br />
<br />
For example, I raised to 425 in the 100/200 level with <span style="color: #999999;">Ts</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">Td</span>. The BB 3-Bet to 1100. He's on the very tight side, and has been quite proud of it so far. I just call, and the Flop was something like <span style="color: orange;">Jc 8c 4c</span>, and we both checked. Turn [<span style="color: orange;">Jc 8c 4c</span>] <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span>. He checked again, and I made a 1625 value bet. He called rather quickly, and the River was [<span style="color: orange;">Jc 8c 4c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">Th</span>] <span style="color: #999999;">Qs</span>. He checked again, and I went into deep thought, as I'm not sure what I can beat or what hand he would call a bet with. I finally said, "I hope I'm not being too nitty," and showed my Set. He showed <span style="color: orange;">Ac</span> <span style="color: #999999;">Ks</span> for Broadway. I was unhappy that I lost 2725 chips in this hand, but I was happy that I didn't lose another 2000 with a River value bet.<br />
<br />
This kept going for a few levels, but then my table got tougher, as a few Kids who knew what they were doing sat down at the table. I went into "Turtle" mode, and waited for hands. Unfortunately, they didn't come.<br />
<br />
Eventually, one of the Kids made a standard raise again. It folded to me, and I shipped my 11BB stack with T8d. He quickly called with K6h. (why are they calling me with these hands?) I hit an 8 on the River to get a double up.<br />
<br />
About 45 minutes later (I think it was the 300/600/75 level), the same Kid raised to 1300. It folded to me in the BB. I haven't had any opportunities lately, so my 77 looked great to ship for around 9k chips. He quickly called with KQo, and a King on the Flop sent me home in 27th place.<br />
<br />
Overall, this was another giant waste of time and money, as I only had one pathetic min-cash in six tournaments. If I included the Atlantis's tourneys two weeks ago and the Peppermill's Deep Stack Classic over Labor Day weekend, I had one min-cash in 14 tournaments with buy-ins between $130 and $350. <br />
<br />
Earlier this year, I did <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/05/1-vs-100.html">a statistical analysis</a> on my tournament numbers. The $100+ numbers weren't good, but weren't terrible either. I said that the small sample size was a factor in the numbers. Since then, the sample size has gotten larger, but the results have gotten worse, thanks to this month and my wonderful trips to <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-news-notes.html">Las Vegas in June</a>.<br />
<br />
At what point can I not use variance or sample size as an excuse? At what point does it becomes a simple fact that I'm doing something wrong? I don't know if I'm at that point yet, but I do know that I have no clue what I'm doing wrong or what to do about it.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-84728957304731803462012-09-26T07:26:00.001-07:002012-10-02T16:30:08.992-07:00Rants & Raves: The All-In Muck<b>(Updated 10/02)</b><br />
<br />
Last week, ESPN's WSOP coverage showed the most controversial hand of the Main Event. Here is the Poker News entry in their <a href="http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2012-world-series-of-poker/event-61-no-limit-hold-em-main-event/day5/post.208172.htm">Live Reporting of the Main Event</a>:<br />
<br />
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Gaelle Baumann opened for a min-raise to 60,000 from under the gun, and the action folded to Andras Koroknai, who moved all in for what looked like 2 million from the small blind. Gavin Smith folded from the big blind, and thinking that the action was completed, Koroknai mucked his hand. <br />
<br />
When he realized his mistake, he pulled back one of his cards, but the other was irretrievable. A floorperson was called to the table, and the dealer explained what had happened. Tournament Director Dennis Jones was called over to make the ruling, and upon hearing the story, he stood silently for half a minute. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Smith, who was standing next to him, began laughing at the difficulty of the decision. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
After a moment for thought, Jones informed the table that Koroknai would have to forfeit 60,000 chips to Baumann, but that he wouldn't be eliminated completely. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
"Really?" Smith blurted. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Baumann was also confused with the ruling, so Jones pulled out his iPhone and called Vice President of the World Series of Poker Jack Effel. After a two-minute conversation, Jones hung up, and announced to the table that the original ruling would stand. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
"You're not losing your tournament life," Jones told Koroknai. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
In Jones' explanation to the table, he cited the "integrity of the tournament" as the major factor in the decision. </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="color: black;">According to Smith, Baumann showed two kings.</span> </div>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Many players that I've overheard talking about this hand think it's bullshit that the Tournament Director let the SB stay alive in the tournament. He said "All-In", and then forfeited his hand, therefore he should forfeit his tournament life.<br />
<br />
As many of you know, I am a former Tournament Director for some home games back in Cleveland. I feel the WSOP got this call mostly right. There was clearly no angle-shot by the SB. He simply screwed up by not paying attention to the action of the UTG.<br />
<br />
<i>But Greg, he said All-In and everyone knows that "verbal is binding".</i> Yes, if you want to go with "the letter of the law" then verbal is binding. But <a href="http://www.pokertda.com/custom_posts/view-official-tda-rules/">TDA Rule #1</a> is <u>"Floor people are to consider the best interest of the game and fairness as top priorities in the decision-making process. Unusual circumstances can on occasion dictate that decisions in the interest of fairness take priority over the technical rules. The floorperson’s decision is final."</u><br />
<br />
That means you don't eliminate a player on a technicality, as it is not in the best interest of game or fairness. However, I will criticize the Dealer. It's his responsibility to follow the action, and stop the cards from being mucked. Then the action could have taken place as it should of done, which is UTG calling the All-In and running out the Board. Remember, just because she had KK, it doesn't mean that she would have won.<br />
<br />
<i>So, Greg, isn't this just encouraging other player to go All-In as a bluff, and muck their cards when they get called?</i> No, that would be a different situation: Player A makes a preflop raise; Player B goes All-In; Player A says "Call"; Player B says "@#$!" and mucks his cards. The key is when the Call is made. In this case, Player A clearly said Call before Player B ejects. This is a clear angle-shot, and his All-In would be binding, even if the Dealer couldn't save the cards.<br />
<br />
The one part of the decision that I do disagree with was the amount that the SB had to surrender. To me, the All-In was a raise, and he should have to make a raise. In cases where the amount of the raise is unclear, then a min-raise must be made. And that is what I would have ruled that he surrendered, which would be 90k.<br />
<br />
I would also like to give the SB a 1-orbit penalty for being a moron, and putting me in this situation. However I don't think the rules would allow me to do that.<br />
<br />
<b><u>EDIT (10/02)</u> -</b> As it turns out, the dealer for this hand is a dealer at the Peppermill named Steve who also does various tournament series around the area, and I've seen him on some of the TV coverage. He was our dealer yesterday at the Grand Sierra's Fall Pot Of Gold, and a discussion of this hand came up.<br />
<br />
He said that he stopped the action at the table once he realized that the SB had insta-mucked. He tried to grab the cards before they were gone into the muck, but was only able to grab one of them because the SB tossed them so hard. The girl didn't say that she wanted to call until 20 minutes later, after a few Floorpersons were called over. <br /><br />He also brought up chip dumping, and how easier it would be if a someone's horse would go All-In and muck all of their chip to their Master. <br /><br /> Many of the players at the table asked the dealer what his opinion was about this situation while they were waiting for a decision by the Floor. He said that he's just a dealer, and it not his job to make decisions, which is the right attitude for a dealer to have.GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-89911633230629749602012-09-21T06:30:00.002-07:002012-09-21T06:30:01.199-07:00Hand Of The Day #100(Not only is this Hand Of The Day #100, it is also Blog Post #400) <br />
<br />
Golden Nugget $240 HORSE ~ 06.11.12 ~ Level 13 (4k/8k) Razz<br />
<br />
Bring-In is 1500. Next player completes (4k) with A showing. Lady calls with 2 showing. I have (53)A, and raise (8k). Original raiser 3-bets (12k) and has 5k behind. Lady thinks for a bit and calls. I just call, because I want to see the next card before I completely commit to this hand.<br />
<br />
<u>4th Street</u><br />
Shorty: (XX) A A<br />
Lady: (XX) 2 2<br />
Me: (53) A K<br />
<br />
Well, I'm ahead with K-Low, so I bet (4k). Both players call.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><u>5th Street</u><br />
Shorty: (XX) A A 8<br />
Lady (XX) 2 2 2<br />
Me: (53) A K J<br />
<br />
I bet (8k). Shorty calls his last 1k chip. Lady goes in to deep thought, and makes the call with Trip-2 on her board. I can only imagine that she thought, "That pot is so huge, and he has a K and a J on his board." <br />
<br />
<u>6th Street</u><br />
Shorty: (XX) A A 8 Q<br />
Lady (XX) 2 2 2 K<br />
Me: (53) A K J J<br />
<br />
I am first to act, since I only have a pair of Jacks. (Remember, this is Razz.) I just check, because I have no clue what's going on at this point. Not surprisingly, Lady also check.<br />
<br />
<u>7th Street</u><br />
Shorty: (XX) A A 8 Q (X)<br />
Lady (XX) 2 2 2 K (X)<br />
Me: (53) A K J J (7)<br />
<br />
Once again, we both checked. My J753A was not only good for the Side Pot against Lady, but it also took the Main Pot against Shorty. I'm not sure what he had, but he obviously picked up a Pair or two, and ended up with a Q-Low.<br />
<br />
So I won a three way pot for around 70k chips with a J7-Low. That's why we all love Razz.<br />
<br />
Seriously, looking back at the hand, I actually missed a bet (8k) on 7th Street. Looking at Lady's board, the best possible hand she could have is K2XXX, or K432A. So the question is, would she call a bet with a K-Low, or even a Pair of 2?<br />
<br />
Well, she did call with Trip-2, so...GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-27746909275914577922012-09-15T10:34:00.001-07:002012-09-15T10:35:57.043-07:00Atlantis's $340 NLHE<b><u>"Shuffle Up & Deal"</u> -</b> Yesterday was the $340 2-Day tourney ($30k guarantee), which was the kick-off event for Atlantis's WPT Western Poker Challenge. This event has two separate flight, 12p & 5p. Each flight last 10 levels, or just over 7 hours. This is also a re-entry event. You can re-enter into the same flight before the first break, and then re-enter the other flight. <br />
<br />
This is the 12p flight. There are seven tables with nine seats. My table has seven players. I'm the second youngest, and one of the players is a Reno Regular. <br />
<br />
We get 10k chips, and 40 minute levels. <br />
<br />
<b><u>End of Level 1 (25/50)</u> -</b> Better turnout than I would have guessed. Our table filled up quickly, with one more Reno Regular sitting down. They also opened up an 8th table. <br />
<br />
Things went well for me. The 60's guy on my Right had been raising a lot, so I called him down with ATo on an A-high board. He had QJ-high. A few hands later, I called a 150 raise with 87h, and the Flop was 8c 7c 8s. It wasn't a huge pot, but it was nice for this early level. I also hit a small flush against Top Pair (AK) for a decent pot. <br />
<br />
I have 15050 chips. <br />
<b><u></u></b><br />
<a name='more'></a><b><u>Level 2 (50/100)</u> -</b> They opened up Table #9. I stayed quiet for this level. I only played one significant hand, but it was a good one. <br />
<br />
Bunch of limpers, including me in BB with A2o. Flop was AA2, and I stacked the QJ-high guy from the previous level. He had the last Ace, and only had about 4k left. He really had a bad hour. <br />
<br />
I have 20650 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 3 (75/150)</u> -</b> Once again, only one hand to mention. UTG raised 400. UTG+1 3-bet to 1000. I have QQ in Hyjack, and just called. UTG+1 is a Reno Regular, and is on the Super-Nitty side. Two of us see a J-high Flop. He bet 1500, and I call. Turn was a check-check. He checked on the River, so I bet 2500 and he mucked. <br />
<br />
I have 23000 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 4 (100/200)</u> -</b> Cutoff raised 500, and he's new to the table. I'm Button, and call with J9s. The BB also called. and Flop was Qc Ts 8s. Both players checked. I flopped the world, and want to build a pot. I bet 625, and everyone folded. That's really annoying, but sometimes nobody has anything. <br />
<br />
Later, UTG raised 525. He seems to be tight passive, but he's also been raising often preflop. Another player called, and I 3-bet to 2025 with 87d from Hyjack. Both players called, and Flop was 8c 6h 4h. They checked, and I bet 4100 with Top Pair & Gutshot. They both folded. <br />
<br />
I have 26075 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 5 (100/200/25)</u> -</b> Couple of limpers. Cutoff raised 625. I'm Button with QJc, and just called. Five players saw the Flop Qs 9h 8h. It checked around to me, and I bet 3100 with Top Pair & Gutshot. BB called All-In for 2450, and everyone else folded. He had Q3h for Top Pair and Flush Draw. The Board ran clean, and I won the pot. <br />
<br />
I also raised preflop a few times toward the end of the level, and won all of them either preflop or postflop. I have 34425 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 6 (150/300/25)</u> -</b> I raised to 825 with 66 from UTG+2. Next player made it 2500. BB went All-In for 2800. I was gonna fold, as this was the first aggressive action he has done lately. But I've now got some pot odds, and I want to see just how good I'm running today. <br />
<br />
Flop 6h 3s 2s. I check, assuming he's gonna shove his last 5000-ish, but he checked. Turn [6h 3s 2s] 2h. I checked my Full House, and he also checked. River [6h 3s 2s 2h] 7d. I quickly fire 4k. He's confused, and said, "I thought we were checking it down. I have a Big Pair." He was into deep thought, as he had just over 5k total. After what seems like 90 seconds of torture for him, he called and mucked. <br />
<br />
Towards the end of the level, they broke our table, which sucks for me because I can do anything at my old table. The bad news is my new table is much younger than the old table, and I don't recognize anyone. The good news is that it's Table #2, so I should be here for the rest of the session. <br />
<br />
I have 42900 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 7 (200/400/50)</u> -</b> UTG limps. I'm the SB, and called the 200 with A7. BB checked, and Flop was 987. I checked, and so did the BB. The limper looked like he wanted to bet, but checked. Turn [987] 7. I check, assuming the limper will bet, but he and the BB just checked. River [987 7] 7. I bet 600, hoping to get something for my Quads. BB folded, but limper raised to 2600. I don't want to scare him off, as I don't know if he has a hand or not, so I 3-bet 2500 more. He thinks for a bit before calling with 88 for Eights Full Of Sevens. If I knew he was that strong, I could have raised a lot more. Sometimes the 0.4% gets there. <br />
<br />
Other than that hand, I basically blinded out. With the makeup of this table, there has been a raise most hands, and some 3-betting. It's not that I'm afraid to mix it up, I just don't see the point. We are only playing three more levels today, so why would I want to risk my stack. I have enough chips that I don't mind coasting into Day 2. <br />
<br />
I have 44600 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 8 (300/600/50)</u> -</b> It folded to me on the Button, so I raised to 1500 with 76s. SB folded, but BB 3-Bet to 4600. That seemed big to me, and I think he's just re-stealing. I made the call, and the Flop was Qs 8s 8c. He bet 3700, which seemed small. I grabbed some Yellow chips, and raised to 12k. It didn't put the BB All-In, but I am pot committed with my Flush Draw if he shoves. He thought for a bit, and folded. Like I said, I'm not afraid to mix it up; I'm just waiting for the right spots. <br />
<br />
Later, I raised to 1500 with AQ in Hyjack. Cutoff 3-bet to 3350. He's a Kid who just got to the table, and I instantly put him on making a move. However, the SB 4-bet to 8500. He also just sat down from a broken table, and had over 20k behind. This is a bad spot for me. I don't know if he's making a move on the weak 3-Bet, or he has a real hand. I go into thought, and eventually remember "coasting to Day 2". I fold, and the Cutoff quickly ejects. BB shows AA, and I pat myself on the back for being patient. <br />
<br />
Last hand of the level, it folded to the Button, who raised to 1900. I'm the BB with KK. I decide to just call. The Button is probably stealing, but he has a lot of chips. He can call a 3-Bet with a wide range of hands, and be in position for the rest of the hand.<br />
<br />
Flop was Jh Tc 3h. I checked, and he bet 1900. I decided to check raise to 5500. He thinks for a moment. and raised to 12k. Yucky spot here, as this Flop is so wet. Even though I wanted to play Small Pot Poker, I think the best move is to shove. He snap-called with Th Td for almost 38k. The Turn [Jh Tc 3h] 9s gives me a Gutshot. The River [Jh Tc 3h 9s] 3c gives him the pot, and I have 5100 chips left. <br />
<br />
<i>Fuck!</i><br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 9 (400/800/100)</u> -</b> I finally get my 4400 chips in the middle with As Ad. The BB and UTG limper called. They checked down a Board of Td Tc 3c 6c 9c. Surprisingly, neither had a Ten or a Club, and I triple up to 14400. <br />
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I'm UTG with Ad Qs, and raised to 2100. Both Button and BB call. Flop was As Ks Jd. BB checked. I don't have enough chips to screw around, so I shipped it for 10800. Button thinks, and folds. BB ejects quickly. <br />
<br />
Later, I raised to 2100 with KK from UTG+1. Only the Cutoff called, and he's been very tight so far. Flop was A-high. I checked, he bet 4000, I sighed and folded. <br />
<br />
I have 15700 chips. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Level 10 (500/1000/100)</u> -</b> I raised a couple of times to 2600. I usually got one caller, and won it on the Flop with a 4100 bet, whether I hit or not. <br />
<br />
Later, there was a limper, and I raised to 3100 with QQ from Mid. Button shipped All-In for 15700. Limper folded, and I called. Button had ATo. Naturally, the Ace hit the Flop, and I had 3000 chips left. <br />
<br />
Three hands later, I'm the BB get a walk. I thanked the table for the courtesy double up. The SB said he didn't realize I was that short, but he only had 43o. By the way, I had Q8o.<br />
<br />
At this point, we were under ten minutes to go in the final level of the day. I only had 3 Big Blinds, and was looking for a reason to shove my chips. But there was a couple of big All-In pots that ate up the clock, and I was completely card dead. I would have loved to see a hand as weak as 86o, just to have some sort of prayer.<br />
<br />
After another huge All-In, AK>TT, there was only 20 seconds left on the clock. Some of the players didn't want to play another hand. I was sitting with 2600 chips, and praying that the Dealer started the next hand. I had no interest in coming back to Day 2 with just 2 Big Blinds for the 600/1200/100 level.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, the Dealer started the next hand. I was UTG+1, and shipped it in without looking. The next player snapped called. The player after him was the one who won the previous pot with AK, and was still stacking those chips. He said All-In rather forcefully. He's also the tight player whom I folded KK to on the A-high Flop last level. The other player quickly folded what he said was ATo, and I knew I was screwed. The tight player showed his AA, and I turned over J3o. I did manage to pick up a Gutshot on the Turn, but bricked the River.<br />
<br />
I finished 20th out of the 86 players for this flight, and the other 19 players started bagging their chips for Day 2.<br />
<br />
Obviously, the KK vs TT hand was the critical hand of this tournament. Looking back at it, I think it was just a stone-cold cooler, as there was nothing I could do about. If I make a standard 3-bet preflop, like 4500 or 5000, then he will call and the result will be the same. If I don't shove on Flop, then I would have an Overpair and a Gutshot on the Turn, and the money will still go All-In. I think the only thing I could have done was to make it 20k preflop, but that would just be silly.<br />
<br />
Even with that, I would still be in good shape if my QQ hold up against the AT. That pot would have put me around 35k with 15 minutes to go in the day. I wouldn't have played anymore hands, mostly because I didn't get any. I would have gone to Day 2 with around 25 BB, and that would have been very comfortable. But, once again, there was nothing I could do about it.<br />
<br />
<i>Fuck!</i><br />
<br />
This one's gonna hurt for a while. GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-74136996160604612412012-09-08T06:30:00.001-07:002012-09-08T06:30:00.260-07:00Hand Of The Day #99In case you haven't been paying attention, we are coming up on #100 of the Hand Of The Day series. For this milestone, I've been looking for something special over the last few months, whether it's a huge money pot, or something truly bizarre that happened. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately, there haven't been many hands to choose from. I've decided to present a hand from Las Vegas that I think is worthy of #100, so I'll use this post for my other option.<br />
<br />
Right now, we jump into the Way-Back machine, and present two separate hands from <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2009/01/poker-is-social-game.html">a .25/.50NL home game</a> that I use to play back in Ohio. These two hands are from a few years ago, so the details are a little fuzzy. <br />
<br />
The first hand is proof that Live Poker is rigged. It was the 2nd hand of the night, and we had eight or nine players at the table. We had an AA vs AA vs QQ vs QQ vs JJ trainwreck extraordinaire. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>I had QQ, and I had no problem getting my $20 buy-in All-In preflop. It's not because of the small buy-in, but because the two players who had AA were on the loose, aggressive side. The other player with QQ was also All-In. JJ was held by a tight lady, who correctly folded preflop because of the crazy action. And, as you have probably guessed by now, a Jack hit the Flop. <br />
<br />
The second hand was on a night that I was completely card dead. It was so bad that I was BB, and checked my option without looking at my cards. After all, what are the chances that I would actually pick up a hand?<br />
<br />
The Flop had a Pair on it, something like J 3 3. The SB bet out for around $2. He's a very tight, passive player, and I automatically put him on a 3. I finally look at my cards, and see AA. Wonderful! After I call myself a moron, and put $2 out there and will see what happens on the Turn. Another tight player (the JJ girl from the first hand) also called. The Turn was a brick. The SB bet something around $5. I quickly folded my Two Pair, and so did the girl.<br />
<br />
And now for the best part of the hand... UTG was a loose, action guy named Barry. After the hand, Barry leaned over to me, and mentioned that he limped in with AK. He was hoping that somebody would raise, so he could backraise All-In preflop. <br />
<br />
Sigh!GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7115095246724414223.post-61122656376594553012012-09-03T06:30:00.003-07:002012-10-03T22:40:02.062-07:00September News & Notes- My WSOP recovery has come to a grinding halt. August was a pretty bad month for me. Not only was it my first losing month at $1/$2 this year, but I also went 0-11 in tournaments.<br />
<br />
Actually, I'm currently on a 0-13 streak for tourneys. My <a href="http://gregdudepoker.blogspot.com/2012/07/it-was-good-24-hours.html">sweet score at GSR</a> was the last time I cashed, and I've been paying for it ever since. I'm busting out early and not even making it through half the field for all but one of the 13 tournaments. My best finish was 7th at a Peppermill donkament, which was the Bubble+1.<br />
<br />
As I've said before, I don't like to use the term "Running Bad" because I think that most players use it as an excuse. However, sometimes it is true, and I'm deep in the middle of it.<br />
<br />
I also hate Bad Beat Stories, but this hand is a good example of how things are going. I just played in the Peppermill's $180 NLHE tournament as part of their Deep Stack Classic series. I was rather card dead for most of the time I was there, and I lost the few hands I played.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>It was Level 4 (100/200/25). UTG limped. Mid raised to 400. He's a 50's gentleman who's been raising a wide range of hands, but I don't think he's much of a player. I'm the Hijack, and 3-bet to 1025 with <span style="color: orange;">A9c</span>. It folded around to the UTG who called, along with the Mid.<br />
<br />
Flop <span style="color: orange;">6c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span> <span style="color: orange;">3c</span>. UTG checked, but Mid bet 3100. I quickly shipped my remaining 3550 All-In with the Nut Flush Draw and Two Overcards. UTG then went All-In for almost 5000, and Mid called. UTG had <span style="color: orange;">54c</span> for the Open-Ended Straight Flush Draw and a Pair. Mid had <span style="color: #e06666;">K4h</span> for the Open-Ender and Overcard. Turn was [<span style="color: orange;">6c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span> <span style="color: orange;">3c</span>] <span style="color: #3d85c6;">2d</span>, giving both of them a Straight. The River was [<span style="color: orange;">6c</span> <span style="color: #e06666;">5h</span> <span style="color: orange;">3c</span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">2d</span>] <span style="color: orange;">7c</span>, giving me the Nut Flush, but giving UTG the Straight Flush and the pot. I finished somewhere around 45th out of 53 players.<br />
<br />
- September is Tournament Month in Reno. There are three different tournament series over then next six weeks. Peppermill's Deep Stack Classic just finished up. Atlantis' Western Poker Challenge starts in two weeks, and is a <a href="http://www.worldpokertour.com/Shared/Tournaments/Seasons/Regional_and_National.aspx">WPT Regional Event</a>. GSR's Fall Pot Of Gold starts at the end of the month, and is part of the <a href="http://deepstacks.com/the-tour/">DeepStacks Poker Tour</a>.<br />
<br />
My next weekend off from work is Sept 14-16. That's the first weekend of the Atlantis' tournament series. I'm planning on grinding for those three days. Hopefully, I can pull out of this nosedive I've been in for the last two weeks. If not, I'll end up going to the ATM, and I really hate doing that.<br />
<br />
- For those who haven't noticed, my profile picture at the top of the page is chip with Chief Wahoo, the mascot of the Cleveland Indians. I use that as my card protector when I play. I got it as a Christmas gift from Host Dave back in Ohio a few years ago.<br />
<br />
I decided it was time it get another card protector, especially since football season is starting up. I looked on Ebay, and was surprised on how many different designs were out there. I ended up buying three new ones, one for each Cleveland team. I'll be using them around town, probably when the team is playing. Here is what they look like:<br />
<br />
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<br />GregDudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06355531487039988071noreply@blogger.com0