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Hand Of The Day #92

2012-02-19T09:48:00.002-08:00

$10/$20 Omaha-8 ~ Peppermill ~ 02.12.12

I'm UTG+1 with As Qs Qh 2d, and raised ($20). Four players saw a Flop of 8c 5c 3c. Not exactly what I had in mind, as I have the Nut Low but just an Overpair for the High. I bet ($10). A Mid player and the Button called, but the BB folded. The Mid is a 60's lady who's playing 9-Card Bingo. She's playing almost every hand, and the first hand I saw her raise preflop was QQ33. The Button is a dealer in this room, and she is a Super-Nit.

Turn [8c 5c 3c] Jd. Once again, all I have is the Nut Low. Since I'm out of position, and have no real hope of a High hand, I checked. The Mid bet ($20), and the Button raised ($40).

For those who like "How Would You Play It?" type hands, this is good spot to ask, what would you do here?

I thought for about 30 seconds, and folded. Mid called, and the River was [8c 5c 3c Jd] Kh. Mid checked, Button bet ($20), and Mid called. Button showed Ac 2c for Nut Nut, and Mid mucked. I didn't see any of the other cards, but I did quietly do a small fist pump as I was glad I folded.

Here's what I was thinking... Mid's bet on the Turn could have been many things, since she's a 9-Card Bingo player. I'm guessing that she probably had a good Flush. However, the Button's raise was the giant, flashing, neon sign that scared me. She's a Super-Nit, and I doubt she would have raised with just the Nut Flush or just the Nut Low. She would need a lock on either the High or the Low, and be really strong on the other one. Yes, she could have had A4c, but I just didn't think she would have raised with that.

Of course, if I had called, then I would have ended up with half of the Low, or a Quarter of the whole pot. But since it was a three player pot, then getting 1/4th of the pot means I would have lost money. By folding, I only lost $30 ($20 with preflop raise, and $10 on Flop).

If I would have cold-called the raise on the Turn, I would have checked and called on the River. That means I would have invested $90 ($20+$10+$40+$20). The pot would have been (Preflop 4x$20+$5) + (Flop 3x$10) + (Turn 3x$40) + (River 3x$20), or $295. (This game isn't raked, as there is a time charge of $6 per half hour.) I would have gotten $75 from half of the Low, or -$15 for the hand.

Occasionally. when do the math for a blog post or crunch some numbers from my database, I get a result I wasn't expecting. This Hand Of The Day was supposed to show that getting quartered means you will lose money, and you should fold if you can see it coming. Instead, folding actually cost me $15. Granted, both numbers are negative, so that does show that "Quartered = Bad".

So why did this anomaly happen? I think it's from the preflop raise. By raising early, it gets extra dead money in the pot, so if I get only half the pot, or even quartered, then I can still make some money in the hand.

Hand Of The Day #91

2012-02-14T22:43:00.000-08:00

Atlantis ~ 01.16.11 ~ 11am $45 Tourney Level 5 (300/600/100).

Full table of 10. There was a bunch of limpers, including me in BB. The Flop was Tc Ts 6d. SB and I checked. UTG bet 1000. He a 70's gentleman I've never seen. It folded around to the Hyjack, who min-raised to 2000. He an 80's gentleman who is a Super-Nit, and he probably has at minimum a Ten with a good kicker. Everyone including me folded back to the UTG, who called.

Turn [Tc Ts 6d] 3c. UTG checked. Hyjack bet 2k again. UTG called again.

River [Tc Ts 6d 3c] 2s. UTG turned over his hand, Ad 5h. The Dealer tried to explain to UTG that it's still his action, and eventually called over the Floor. The Floor said the same thing; UTG has the option to Check or Bet. The Floor also told UTG that he shouldn't show his hand, and that he could get a penalty for it next time.

So, UTG finally checked, with his A5 still turned face up. Hyjack bet 2k, and UTG said, "OK, I'll give it to ya." Hyjack showed Qh Th, and scooped a damn fine pot.

Hands like this are why I'm grinding these Daily Donkaments. The structures and rake are terrible, but the players are much, much worse.

Hand Of The Day #90

2012-02-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

$4/$8 Omaha-8 ~ Peppermill ~ 02.09.12

I recently sat down after I busted out of the $45 donkament. I've only played one big pot, and I lost with my Set when someone hit the Wheel on the River.

There were a couple of limpers. I was in Mid with Ac Ks 5c 2s. I raised ($8), and a bunch of players called. Five or six players saw a Flop of Qc Js 4c. Pretty good Flop for my hand, as I have the Nut Flush Draw, a Broadway Draw, and some backdoor draws. It checked to me, and I bet ($4). One player called, and the next player went All-In for $6. A couple more players called. Since I have so many great draws, I decided to 3-Bet to $10. Naturally, the other three players called.

Turn [Qc Js 4c] 3d. Another great card for me, as I now have a Wheel wrap. If the River is a 6, 5, 2, or A, then I have a Straight. This also gives me the Nut Low Draw, in addition to all the draws from the Flop. It checked to me, and I bet ($8). All three remaining players called.

River [Qc Js 4c] Jd. Wonderful. There was around ten cards that couldn't help me, and that was one of them. It checked to me, and I bet ($8). Yes, I know I have just AK high, but all the draws missed. I'm really hoping that everyone folds, as I have seen it happen before.

But not this time. as one of the three players called. I turned over my hand, and said, "I missed this nuclear draw, and I have Ace high." The player said he just had a Queen. I didn't see his whole hand, as I really didn't care. The All-In player (remember him?) showed J3 for Full House. Once again, I really didn't care what his other cards were.

The very next hand was a Kill Pot ($6/$12). as the Main Pot that the J3 guy won was big enough because I raised preflop. In this hand, I look at Ah Ac 8c 6s. I considered raising, as I like being aggressive in Kill Pots. But I'm getting low on chips, since I lost a lot of chips in the previous hand. Plus, I don't have much Low potential with A86. So I just limp in ($6), as well as a few other players.

Four or five players saw a Flop of Ad Td 7c. Once again, pretty good Flop for me with Top Set and a Gutshot. But I'm not thrilled with the Flush and Low Draws out there. It checked to me, and I bet ($6). Three players called.

Turn [Ad Td 7c] Tc. Good card for me, as I don't have to worry about the Flush or Straight Draws, plus it puts another Flush Draw out there for someone to chase. It checked to me again, and I bet ($12). One player folded, but another raised ($24). (He's the guy who called me with just a Queen in the previous hand.) The other players folded. I only have $11 left, so I called and said, "If you have Quads, then nice hand." He did, as he showed QTT6.

The River was [Ad Td 7c Tc] Qh, and I walked away from the table 24 minutes after I sat down, and that's a new personal record for dusting off a $100 buy-in. My old record was 45 minutes.

Yes, this is a bad beat story. It's my blog, and I'll vent when I want to.

Buy A Piece Of The WSOP

2012-02-08T07:16:00.000-08:00

If you think this post is about me selling off pieces for my trip to this year's WSOP, then guess again.

On Wednesday, Caesars Entertainment will have a stock IPO of $9 per share. They have been a privately owned company since 2008. They had planned on doing an IPO back in November 2010, but cancelled due to "unfavorable market conditions".

Being the largest gaming company in the world, with 52 properties in the US, Canada, and Europe, you would think that this IPO would be favorable with the stock market people. However, this is being regarded as a joke and a farce, with one site calling it "The Worst IPO of 2012".

There are a few reasons for this. First, Caesars has a ton of debt, even more than MGM which recently opened the money pit known as City Center. Second, they have no properties in Asia, specifically Macau which is the largest gaming market in the world. Finally, Caesars is only releasing 1.4% of their company in this IPO, which will raise $18 million. What's the point of such a tiny offering, especially with the mountain of debt they own?

I have recently gotten into the stock market, and I agree that this IPO doesn't look good on the surface. But the poker player in me has been looking forward to this for a while. As I've already wrote, I think there is a 60% chance of online poker being up and running in Nevada by the end of 2012. When that happens, WSOPonline.com (or whatever Caesars will use) will be the biggest brand on Web. Once Nevada starts the online poker ball rolling, other states will follow, and Caesars continue to be the dominant site in the US.

I expect the Caesars stock (CZR) to drop, due to lack of interest on Wall Street. I will happily start to buy at $8/share, and treat this a speculation stock. Hopefully I am correct about Nevada online poker, and will reap the rewards both on the felt and in the market.

UPDATE (10pm):

Well, I certainly nailed that one. There was plenty of interest in the IPO, as the stock quickly shot up the charts. It reached a high point of $17.90 in the morning, but leveled off in the afternoon finishing at $15.39.

So does this mean I'm gonna buy at this price?

Nope. I believe in the "Buy Low, Sell High" philosophy, and not "Buy High, Sell Slightly Higher." I'm gonna wait a couple of days to see what happens with the stock before I set my Buy price, just like I have done with all the stocks on my list. I expect it will slowly drop, as the coolness of the IPO calms down, and people realize just how bad Caesars' debt problem is.

February News & Notes

2012-02-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

- Sunday is the Super Bowl. I know you've been anxiously waiting for my picks, so here is my official opinion... To me, as a life-long Cleveland fan, this is just another New York vs Boston match-up. Who cares?

I have no interest in the game, and will put no money on it. But, out of respect for my loyal readers, I do like the Giants +3 (or the Money Line) and the Under of 55. The Giants already beat the Patriots at Foxborough back in early November. The Giants are also the Hot Team right now, and we saw what that meant for the Green Bay Packers last year.

- If you're into poker podcasts, my boys at the Cleveland Poker Meetup Group have started doing a strategy podcast. They have done three podcasts so far, two on NL Cash Games, and one on Tournaments. The episodes are in the 1.5 hour range, and they do a pretty good job. The two hosts interview another CPMG member about a topic. Since they are Home Game players, there are some references to players and events that an outsider might not get. But overall, I definitely recommend checking them out, as the podcasts just become available on iTunes.

I've imbedded a player on the left, so you can try them out. I'm still tweeking with the player, so it may change slightly over the next few days.

- Last month, I mentioned that the biggest success I had last year was the Daily Donkaments. So in January, I decided to just grind the tournaments. My goal was to play 25 tournaments in January, along with the occasional $4/$8 Omaha-8 game. I was gonna play two every Sunday, and I had two Holidays from work when I could play up to three tourneys. Here are the raw numbers:

Daily Donkaments <$100
Count: 23
Avg Buy-In: $56.74
Total Profit: $1350
ROI: 103.45%
Wins/Chops: 7 (30%)
Cashes: 9 (39%)
Bubbles: 1
Best Scores: 01/25 $95 Peppermill Cash Me Out, 23 players, $700
01/16 $45 Atlantis 11am. 44 players, $485

Tournaments $100+
Count: 7
Avg Buy-In: $182.14
Total Profit: $255
ROI: 20%
Wins/Chops: 1 (14%)
Cashes: 1 (14%)
Bubbles: 2 (28%)
Best Scores: 01/14 $130 Omaha-8, 50 players, $1530.

Totals
Count: 30
Total Profit: $1605
ROI: 62.21%
Best Streak: 5/6
Worst Streak: 0/5

Overall, these are pretty good numbers, as this was my third best month since I moved to Reno. Although they could have been a lot better. I had back-to-back bubbles in the $115 Saturday night tourney at the Peppermill. In the first one, we had 19 players and I bubbled in 4th place. The following night at the Peppermill, I played a $55 tourney with 20 players, and did a two-man chop for $335. If I had chopped the Saturday tourney instead of the Sunday tourney, I would have made another $300+. That's the nature of grinding tourneys.

This month, I'm still gonna grind donkaments, but I'm lowering my goal to 20 tourneys. I only have one holiday off this month, and I doubt I will have any other off days from work. Also, since I had such a good month, I want start to playing a little $15/$30 Limit. It won't be much, as I want to limit my risk, and just stick my toe in the water. I'm planning on trying it about once a week. If it goes well, then I'll stop focusing on the $45 donkaments that are on the weeknights.

Passive Aggressive Poker

2012-01-31T07:37:00.000-08:00

Passive Aggressive - "An adjective used to describe hiding aggressive intentions and actions with seemingly non aggressive intentions and actions."

In my previous post, there was a comment posted by TK, who's one of my home game buddies from Cleveland. "I'm sure I don't understand why you limped in. Raise or fold. Why put yourself in that position? Why unnecessarily risk chip in with a hero call?"

Normally, I would just make a small comment with an explanation. But this time, I decided to make an entire post about the subject.

This is more about style than anything else. Certainly, shoving with 98o is perfectly fine, and would probably be considered the A-B-C play.

One of the gears I occasionally use could be called Passive Aggressive Poker. (I think I've used the term Stealthy Aggression before.) It's when I act passive preflop by limping or checking my option in the BB, with the intention of stealing the pot on the Flop or Turn when it seems the other player(s) doesn't have anything.

I'll use this gear in late stages of the tournaments when everyone is shortstacked, and we're in Push-N-Pray mode. It's best against players who are very passive, and waiting for a big hand. It's also good against someone who has a very wide calling range, but their shoving range is very small. It allows me to risk less chips by limping, rather than shoving and hoping they don't wake up with AJ or better. I can then use my post-Flop skills to steal the pot later in the hand, or squeeze out a little value when I have something.

Here's a good example of Passive Aggressive Poker from a previous post (LOL Donkament #1):

There was an old guy who was to my Left+1, which meant he's the BB when I'm the Button. He was a terrible calling station. This would be wonderful if it was a Cash game, but it can be very annoying at a Final Table. He also had the toughness of a cockroach, as he just would not die. I raise with KK on the Button. He went All-In with A6c, and flopped an Ace. He kept calling bets, almost never raised, and just would not die.

By the time we got to the next break, we had just popped the Bubble, and had five players left. The stacks had evened up considerably, and I was no longer chip leader. The leader had around 28k, I had 25k, and the short stack was around 12k - 15k. Since I couldn't raise to steal blinds because of the old geezer, I shifted gears down in to Small Pot Poker. I limped on the Button three consecutive times. The SB and BB (old geezer) called. I would make a small bet on the Flop or Turn with Middle Pair, the Geezer would call with Bottom Pair, and I would be good at showdown. With the Blinds at 1000/2000 and 1500/3000, these were good sized pots, and I was successful at rebuilding my chip lead through stealthy aggression.

Now this isn't something that you can use for every Final Table. It's best used against recreational players who are thinking on Level 1. Against experienced players, this would be a terrible idea. If I had used this at the WSOP-C Final Table, then it would have been disastrous. Everyone was raising and 3-Betting, and I would have lost a lot of chips by limping.

Remember, Poker is about the Why, and not the What. The reasons you do an action are more important than the actual actions. Normally, I think limping in mid to late stages of a tournament is a terrible mistake, and the most common mistake I see at the Daily Donkaments that I play. But doing so in the proper spots, and with the proper reasons, can be profitable. Try out this gear sometimes when the situation comes up.

Hand Of The Day #89

2012-01-24T22:19:00.000-08:00

Atlantis ~ 01.11.12 ~ 7:00 $45 Tournament Level 9 (2k/4k/400)

19 players for this one, and four are left, which is the Bubble. The play is rather calm, as everyone is waiting for AA to get their money in. It folds to me, and I have 9c 8h in the SB. I just limp in. I could raise, and just take it down, but I'm choosing to play small ball with this pot. I'm not super shortstacked compared to everyone else, but I'm in the middle of the pack.

The other reason for limping is the BB, who's a 60's Asian gentleman. He and his wife are tourney regulars around Reno. He's not the typical 60's Super Nit. My perception of him is that he's on the loose, passive side. He likes to call, but he will also make the occasionally move on a pot. If I shove All-In to steal the blinds and antes, then his calling range is wider than average.

Anyways, he checks his option, and the Flop is Tc Td 6s. We both check.

The Turn is [Tc Td 6s] Kh. Once again, we both check.

The River is [Tc Td 6s Kh] Qh. Once again, I check, but he bet 7000. However, I don't fold right away. To me, this bet smells like, "I don't have anything. Please fold." And as I already mentioned, he is capable of making that bet.

The problem is that I have 9-high. Granted, I do have the Nut 9-high, but my kicker doesn't play. Normally, this would be a spot that I could make a small check-raise from 7k to 17k. However, this is a shortstacked tournament. If my read is wrong, I'll end up as Bubble Boy again.

So what can I beat? I think if he had King, then he would have bet the Turn. If he had a 6, then he probably wouldn't have bet. A Ten is definitely possible, as he could have been slowplaying the whole time. I'm not sure if he would bet a Queen, as it seems like I don't have anything. My gut says he would have made a smaller min-bet, hoping I would call.

If he had A-high, he would have shoved preflop. J-high is the other hand that I'm worried about besides a Ten. A 9-high would be a chop pot, and everything else I'm beating.

So after thinking for about 30 seconds, I follow my read, by tossing out a 5k and two 1k chips. The BB gets that "Oh crap" look on his face. He says, "Good call," but doesn't show his cards. I just sit there, patiently waiting for him. The Poker Player in me wants to turn over the 9-high, and stroke my ego by having everyone go "Wow!". But the Tourney Player knows that I need those 23600 chips that are currently in the pot.

Eventually, he just mucks his cards, and the Dealer starts to ship me the pot. Now, I show my hand, but I'm not sure if the BB or anyone else realized what I have. No words were said about the hand.

I still think my 9-high was good.

Local Poker News Flash

2012-01-19T07:44:00.000-08:00

(Updated 01/28)

As I'm sitting here eating breakfast, I checked out the websites for the local poker rooms. I'll do this occasionally to see if anything changed on the site, or any new promotions. There usually isn't anything new.

I say "usually" because something happened this morning. The page for the Harrah's poker room couldn't be found. This could be something simple like Caesars making some changes to their websites.

But it wasn't. I clicked on the "Reno/Tahoe" link, which usually takes me to a page listing all three casinos: Harvey's, Harrah's Tahoe, and Harrah's Reno. However, it only listed the two in Tahoe, and not in Reno.

After digging through the Caesars site, I finally got to the Harrah's Reno site. Now for the news... All mention of the poker room has been removed from their site.

In my Harrah's Review page, I mentioned that the poker room was closed on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and that I wouldn't be surprised if they closed up by the end of 2012. It may have happened much sooner than I thought.

I'll have to investigate after work tonight.

UPDATE: (10pm)

Yep, the Harrah's Reno Poker Room is no more. There are no signs up, nor any info to be discovered. One of the Dealers who used to work here is now a Floor at the Atlantis, so I will ask him about it when I see him next.

Most of the stuff is still in the room, except the tables, so I'm assuming that this just happened. I would guess that this past weekend was the last hurrah for Harrah's.

Part of me is happy about this news. There are too many small casinos in this town, and many of them have even smaller poker rooms with two or three poker tables. When it comes to poker rooms, more is not better. A few larger rooms would be better, so the few good players could play with all the recreational players.

But part of me is sad about this news. Being part of Caesers, this room had a lot of potential if they would have tried and put a little effort in to it. They could have had some tournament series and maybe even the WSOP Circuit. It would make more sense to have in Reno rather than in Tahoe, especially since it's just a few minutes from the airport. Besides, it's not like Harvey's at Lake Tahoe is a good poker room.

But the key phrase is "tried and put a little effort in to it". The problem with most casinos is they opened up a poker room due to the poker boom, and just assumed that everyone would show up. But the poker boom is long behind us, and those room are still opening their doors, and hoping somebody shows up.

Here's a simple rule for all the small casinos with even smaller poker rooms: "Just because you have a casino, it doesn't mean that you need to have a poker room."

Update (Sun 01/28): I saw one of the Harrah's Dealers, who was just hired at the Peppermill. She said the poker room closed on Jan 2. I also found out that Circus Circus also closed their poker room this month. That means the next candidates to close their poker rooms are Sands Regency, Club Cal-Neva, and the electronic tables at Silver Legacy. When or if that happens is anyone's guess.

The Good Thing About A Tournament Series Is...

2012-01-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

there's always another tourney to sign-up for.

Since I busted out early from the $450 Main Event, I signed up the 4pm $130 Limit Omaha-8 tourney. And I already did one Running Log today, so why not do another one?

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - It looks like five tables for this one, but we are next to the $450 Main Event, so it's hard to say. The tables have ten stacks, and mine has nine players. I'm the youngest by 20+ years, and I recognize the two ladies on my direct Left from the $4/$8 games. I'm really glad they are at this table, because they love to call.

The levels are 20 minutes long, and we start with 6000 chips.

Level 1 (50/100) - The table is playing as you would expect, which is loose and passive. I'm playing tight because the early pots mean nothing in a Limit tournament. The only hand I played was raising (100) from the Cutoff with Ad Ks 9d 3h. A few players called, and the Flop was Jd Js 4c. There was a bet and a raise before it got to me, and I couldn't fold fast enough. I have 5800 chips.

Level 2 (100/200) - The pace of play is insanely slow, as we saw just seven hands in 20 minutes. Reasons for this included no shuffler, dealing four cards, a Dealer change, and lots of players to the Flop. In the last hand of the level, I was the BB and eight players saw the Flop. Surprisingly, I didn't win.
I have 5700 chips.

Level 3 (150/300) - First hand of the level, I limped in SB with Kd 6s 6c 4d. I flopped the K-high Flush and Bottom Set (Qd Td 6d). In a Cash game, I may go for the check-raise. But chips are more valuable in a tournament, especially one that seems to have a quick structure like this one. I lead out, and everyone folded.

Later, I raised (300) with Ah Jc 4c 3h in the Hyjack. Five players saw a Flop of Tc 5s 2c. It checked to me, and I happily bet (150) with a J-high Flush Draw and Wheel Wrap. Three players called. Turn [Tc 5s 2c] Ks. I missed everything, but did pick up a Broadway Draw. I bet (300), and all three called. River [Tc 5s 2c Ks] 3c. Great card, as I hit the Wheel and Flush. Once again, I bet (300), and all three called. I got the Low, but someone else hit the K-high Flush.

I have 7650 chips.

Level 4 (200/400) - Once again in the SB, I limp with Th 4d 3c 2c. Flop Jc 6d 3h. All ck. Turn [Jc 6d 3h] As. I bet with the Nut Low and Gutshot, and three call. Rvr [Jc 6d 3h As] 4c. Terrible card as my Low is counterfeited but I do have Two Pair. I checked, and then make a crying call against the BB who had 9542 for the scoop.

I have 6450 chips.

Level 5 (300/600) - I raised in Mid with Ad As Ks Ts. Two players called and the Flop was 9c 8c 5h. Terrible Flop, but I still bet. They both called, and shut down. One of them hit a Wheel on the River to scoop.

In the BB, I lead out with an Open-Ended Straight Draw on a Flop of Js Tc 4h. Four players called. Turn [Js Tc 4h] Ts. Everyone checked. River [Js Tc 4h Ts] 4d. I led out as a pure bluff since everything misses, but I got called by KK.

I have 4000 chips.

BREAK - There are still five tables with only a few open seats. They haven't announced the player total, but it should be in the low 50's

Level 6 (400/800) - In the very first hand back from Break, I'm in the SB with Ac Kh 4h 3c . Various players limped, and so did I. Flop Kc 8c 6h. This is a great Flop for me with Top Top, Nut Flush Draw, and 2nd Nut Low Draw. But I checked, with the intention of check-raising. I only have 5 Big Bets left, and I'm willing to get all of them in this pot. Well, there's a bet (400) and two callers. I check-raised (800), and the BB cold called. Two players called around to the Button, who tried to go All-In. He had too much, and just raised (1200). I quickly 4-Bet (1600), hoping to scare someone off. Naturally, everyone called, and the Button called his last 200.

Before the Turn was dealt, I bet (800) in the dark. It was [Kc 8c 6h] 5d, hitting my Low. Two players called. Once again, I bet (800) in the dark, and have 400 behind. The River [Kc 8c 6h 5d] Qc. They both called, and I simply turned over the A3c for Nut / 2nd Nut. All three players muck their hands, and I scoop a monster pot of 14200 which gets me back in this tourney.

That was the only pot I played, and I still have the 14200 chips.

Level 7 (600/1200) - A Stortstack raised, I called in the BB with a crappy hand, and airballed the Flop. My first limp of the day was in the Cutoff with Kd 9d 4s 2c. (Not sure why I limped.) Five players saw the Flop of 433, and everyone checked the Flop & Turn. River 4d. I bet, and everyone folded.

In the BB, I was dealt the power hand of Kd 2d 2s 2h. Five players saw the Flop Qc Jd 2c. I lead out (600) with my ~~Quads~~ Set, and a few players called. Turn [Qc Jd 2c] 9c. Yuck! It checked to the Button, who bet (1200). I reluctantly called, as did one other. River was [Qc Jd 2c 9c] 3s. Once again, we checked around to the Button, who said, "I missed." (Not sure what he missed). I won the High Pot with my ~~Quads~~ Set.

I have 16900 chips.

Level 8 (800/1600) - Good level for me as I started raising more preflop. I raised twice with A2XX with some suits and stuff. First one, I flopped Two Pair (AQ2), but a Q on the Turn ruined my fun. In the other one, I flopped a Pair + Nut Flush Draw. I hit the Nut Flush to eliminate a player. I think I won another small pot, but I can't remember it. I have 22500 chips.

BREAK - 50 players total for this one. We are down to three tables, and have eight players at mine. I believe we are the next table to break.

Level 9 (1k/2k) - It's getting harder to do this Running Log. I'm playing more hands, trying to be aggressive because the Levels are so high. The problem is the 9-Card Bingo players are still playing 9-Card Bingo with just a couple of Big Bets left. I'm winning some of the pots, but I did lose half my stack when one of them called with nothing on the Flop, and hit a Backdoor Straight against my Two Pair and Broadway Draw.

At the end of the level, our table broke, and we have 18 played left. I have 14500.

Level 10 (1500/3000) - A quieter level for me due to crappy starting hands, and two Shortstacks looking to get their chips in the middle. Also, one of the 9-Card Bingo players scooped a big pot with A3c for Nut / Nut. He's now playing most of the pots.

Biggest pot was me raising preflop, and flopping Top Pair, Nut Flush Draw, and a Gutshot. It ended up get capped (5-Bet) against someone with Top Two Pair and Nut Low. All my chips got in on the Turn, and I rivered a better Two Pair to chop the pot, and survive.

I have 16000 chips.

Level 11 (2k/4k) - Halfway through the level, we got to the Final Table. I still have 16k, or 4 Big bets. It looks like I'm around 7th place out of the ten players.

I raised (4k) with Ad 7d 5d 3s, and three player saw the Flop 5s 3d 2d. I bet (2k), and got a Shortstack All-In for 5k who had the Wheel. Turn [5s 3d 2d] 4c, which gave me the Wheel. I missed all my re-draws on the River. We chopped for a small profit.

I have 17500 chips.

Level 12 (3k/6k) - Here's an example of the quality of play at the Final Table. An 80's guy in Mid was the first limper with Jd 7d 6h 6s. He ended up winning the Hi Pot with a Flush. Fortunately, I was not involved.

It was a good level for me, as I won various small pots. The best hand was me raising preflop, and flopping the Nut Low Draw and a Pair of 6. I bet (3k), and got called by one of the 9-Card Bingo players. A 5 on the Turn gave me the Nut Low. I was All-In for 2500 on the River, and he called with A2 for Nut Low and he hit the 5 for a Pair. I got 3/4 of the pot with my Pair of 6.

I have 46000 chips

BREAK - 9 players left. The 7pm $130 NLHE started with three tables. I guess I'm not gonna make it to that one.

Level 13 (4k/8k) - Another wonderful level, as I continue to work my Final Table magic. I wish I could document all the hands, but it's too much work. I even knocked out that 9-Card Bingo player from the previous level.

This is the best example of how things are going. I raised twice in a row, and won both pots. In the next hand, I was dealt As 6d 6h 3h. I considered raising for the third hand in a row, but decided to be cautious and fold. The Flop was 6 2 2, which would have been Top Boat and Nut Low Draw.

I have 99k chips.

Level 14 (6k/12k) - This isn't Final Table magic. I'm in full-blown "God Mode" right now.

Two limpers, as well as the SB. I'm the BB with Qh Qs 4h 2s. I decided to raise (12k), and all three called. Flop Ah 9s 3s. SB went All-In for 5k. I made an isolation raise to 11k with my Q-Flush Draw and Nut Low Draw. The others folded, and the SB had A9 for Two Pair. The Turn was [Ah 9s 3s] 5h, which gave me the Low, and another Flush Draw. River was [Ah 9s 3s 5h] Jh to knock out the SB with my Backdoor Flush.

I have 141k of the 300k in play.

Level 15 (8k/16k) - Peppermill was paying six spots. Naturally, when we got down to seven players, the Bubble Save talk started. As I've mentioned, I don't do Bubble Saves anymore. But everyone else voted Yes, and I didn't stop them. I didn't want to start an argument, as I had my eyes on the big prize.

"God Mode" continued as I kept winning pots, and knocking out players. The best was the final hand of the level. We had five players left, and four of them were in it. I raised (16k) preflop with AK3X. The next player 3-Bet (24k), leaving 1k behind. The Button cold called. The BB went All-In for less. I put the 4th Bet (32k) out there to get the other player All-In, as well as start building another Side Pot with the Button. Flop was K 6 4, which was decent for me with Top Pair and 2nd Low Draw. I bet (8k), and Button called. I don't remember what the Turn was, but we both checked. The River was a 3s, and we both checked. The Button had the Nut Low (A2), and my Two Pair (K3) was good for the High as we knocked out both players.

I have 195k of the 300k chips in play.

Level 16 (10k/20k) - After the color up of the 1k chips, here are the chips counts. I have 195k. The Button from the previous hand (let's call him George) has 100k. The 3rd player, a lady named Barbara, has one Blue 5k chip. She lost 2k on the Color Up Race.

She was All-In in the SB. We just checked it down. Barbara "doubled up" to 10k by winning the High, and George won the Low. Next hand, Barbara called all of her 10k on the Button, so George and I checked it down again. This time he scooped with Trip Queens in his hand, as neither Barbara nor I could be a Pair of Queens.

At the start of Heads-Up, I had the chip advantage of 180k - 120k. I immediately started the chop talk. Even though I have the advantage, and am in "God Mode" tonight, there are only 30 Big Bets between us. We will probably be chopping most pots, but a bad River card or two will really screw me over. I want to lock up this win.

We talked for a bit, and he seemed like he wanted to play it out. I tried to explain to him that will be chopping most pots, and then threw out an offer that was more than fair. He finally accepted.

I walked out of the Peppermill about 10pm with $1530 after the Dealer's tip. However, I didn't walk out with one of these because they didn't make one for the Omaha tournament.

Cheap bastards.

Peppermill's $450 NLHE Tourney

2012-01-16T06:30:00.000-08:00

The Peppermill is having a small tournament series this weekend. Due to some strange anomalies at work, I was able to get a Saturday off so I could play in the $450 Main Event. Here is a Running Log of the tournament.

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - There are six tables with nine stacks each. My table has seven players. I recognize a few other them. The most notable was one I played with at the WSOP-C Event. I'm really glad he's on my Right+1, because he's very active and loose. We're gonna call him Billy.

The levels are 30 minutes long, and we start with 12k chips. This is also a Re-Entry event through Level 6, which is the first time the 'Mill has tried this out.

Level 1 (25/50) - The cards were quiet for me at the table. Towards the end of the level, they opened up a 7th table, and I got moved to it. This sucked for me, because I really liked my table draw. Besides one of favorite players from Tahoe, there was a gentleman from Northern California who declared that he had about $10k on various NFL Playoff bets. I'm sure he would not play tight in a $450 tourney. I have 10825 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) - There are still seven tables, and we have nine players. The play has been relative calm, and so have my cards. I played a couple of small pots, but nothing worth typing up. I have 10650 chips.

Level 3 (75/150) - UTG raised to 500. I was the only caller in Mid with 86d. He checked in the dark, which seemed retarded to me. Since I don't have much equity with 8-high, I also checked in the dark to see a free Turn card. The Turn [Ac As 9h] 6c. He checked in the light this time. This seemed like a "Way Ahead, Way Behind" spot with just a Pair of 6, so I also checked. River [Ac As 9h 6c] Js. He bet 700. I hate that card, as I really can't beat anything, but I made the call just to see his cards. He said Straight, and showed KTs.

This level was more of the same dry cards for me. My best hand was 3-Betting with AQo after UTG+1 raised to 400, and two players called. My 3000 bet got everyone to fold. I have 10200 chips.

BREAK - Still seven tables, but there are some empty seats. Seven of our original players are still here. There is one open seat, and a stack for someone who just re-entered.

Level 4 (100/200/25) - In an interesting twist of fate, the player who re-entered is Billy from my first table. However, he is sitting on my direct Left now. In his very first hand at the table, he raised to 450 from UTG. It folded to me in the BB, and I called with 7s 7c. I checked & called all three of his 500 chip bets. He had flopped Two Pair with T9o.

My cards still suck. I called two preflop raises with pocket pairs, and missed both Set draws. I then realized that I was down near 7k chips, so I stopped calling other players' raises. I have 6750 chips.

Level 5 (150/300/25) - Shortly after the level started, they broke our table. Billy kept following me, and is sitting on the other end of the table. Another player from my original table is also sitting at this table. He a regular tourney grinder named Alan. He has re-entered, and is sitting on my direct Right.

This table has be more of the same for me... Nothing!

The best example was me raising to 825 from UTG+1 with Ks Qh. Only the BB called, and he's a regular cash game player named Bo. While he was debating the call, he was playing with his cards. His bottom cards flashed, and I saw 6 spots on the card. The Flop was Th 6s 5s. He checked, and so did I. I know he has a Pair, and will call a bet. The Turn didn't help me, and we both checked. I airballed the Turn, he lead out for 1000, and I folded.

I have 4525 chips, and am patiently waiting to bust out.

Level 6 (200/400/50) - Billy busted out again, but I don't think he re-entered for a second time.

It was more of the same for me, and I only played one hand. Bo raised to 1200. Alan called. I'm the Button with Qc Ts, and that looked like AA to me today. I shipped it for 3575, fully expecting to get at least one caller. They both called, and the Flop is Qs 9h 3d. At least I finally hit a Flop. They both checked the Flop. One of them bet 4k on the Turn, and the other called. Alan went All-In on the River, and Bo folded. Alan won the Side Pot, and the Main Pot with 33 for a flopped Set. I walked away from the table finishing somewhere around 50th out of 74 entries.

Not a lot I could do differently in this tournament, as it seemed like one of those where I never really had a chance. My best hands were AQo twice and 77. I never hit a Set or higher.

I'm sure my cards will be much better for the next $45 tourney I play.

Rants & Raves: The Future Of Online Poker

2012-01-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

With all of the drama-bombs in the online poker world this year, nobody knows what will the future of online poker will be. Here's my opinion on various aspects of the I-Poker topic.

On the Federal level, there are various "experts", including the PPA, who think there is a better than 50% chance of an online poker bill being passed in 2012. Well, I think that number is much closer to 0% for this year due to two reasons. First, the big 2012 Election is looking like it will be rather bloody for many incumbents, so they will want to stay away from anything controversial. Also, Congress is bogged down in the worst gridlock I've ever seen, and aren't capable of passing anything.

So 2013 looks to be the most promising year for federal legislation, but a lot of that depends on what happens in the election. If we get a super conservative President, then you can kiss goodbye any chance of I-Poker passing. It will also depend on which party controls which House of Congress, and who is a leadership position.

The main reason that I-Poker has so little chance of passing Congress is that both parties are against the idea. Yes, there are individuals who are in favor of online poker. Some are in favor of personal freedom (Rep Barney Frank), while others have their own political interests in mind (Sen "Harrah's" Reid). However, I-Poker is against the philosophy of both parties. Republicans believe gambling is a sin, and Democrats want to protect people from themselves.

I know there are many of poker players who keep saying, "But what about the tax revenue that Congress desperately needs?" However, if Congress only cared about generating tax revenue, then marijuana and prostitution would legalized, regulated, and taxed across the country. Remember, we're not talking about logic and reason; we're talking about Congress.

And for those who were upset about the UIGEA being stuck to another bill in order to be passed, that will be the only way that I-Poker legislation will pass Congress. It's not because it has to be hidden and snuck through. That's just how Congress does business. They don't pass hundreds of small bills each year. Instead, they pass 10 - 15 mega-bills that have all the small stuff attached to them.

So what about I-Poker on the state level? Well, given the recent news from the DOJ and the State of Nevada, it's looking much better. Officially, the Nevada Gaming Control Board is getting ready to be the regulatory body when Congress passes I-Poker. But since that doesn't look likely anytime in the next few years, many suspect that Nevada will just go ahead with intrastate online poker. However, that would require the Nevada Legislators to authorize intrastate poker. I would estimate that there is a 60% chance there will be online poker open for business in the state of Nevada by the end of 2012.

Other states are starting to express some interest in I-Poker for their state. But only Nevada, and maybe New Jersey, are likely to be the first one for one simple reason. The other states are scared of being the guinea pig of I-Poker. They are afraid that there could be some problems with it, and they don't want to be the ones who fail. If Nevada tries it, and it works, then other states will slowly start to stick their toes in the water.

(This next paragraph is pure speculation by me. I have not heard this mentioned by anyone, and I could be completely wrong about it.) One of those potiental problems of I-Poker could be with the banks. If a state like Nevada allows intrastate I-Poker, it doesn't mean that the citizens of Nevada will be allowed to use their bank accounts to move money to and from their I-Poker account. Remember, banks are controlled by the Feds, and the UIGEA prohibited banks from allowing transactions involving "illegal gambling". Just because Nevada says that your WSOPonline.com account is legal, that doesn't mean the Feds will bless it. Or maybe the Feds will not say anything, and the banks won't want to risk allowing the transactions. Remember there are state laws that the Feds don't recognize. Medical marijuana is legal in states like California, but the DEA says it is still illegal, and will enforce Federal laws in those states.

So, in theory, it will be at least a year or two after Nevada starts online poker before other states start launching their own I-Poker. And then it will be another year or two after that before smaller states realize they don't have enough population to support the numerous I-Poker sites that want a piece of the pie. So will the states limit the number of potential sites, or will they just let the free market sort it out?

Most poker players are hoping for the 3rd option, which is linking states together to make a larger player base. Naturally, this will need the blessing of various Federal agencies, including possibly Congress, and who knows if that will happen. Although, another possibility could be to have a network-based I-Poker site, and have each state have their own skin on that site. For example, WPTonline.com could have a Nevada skin, an Iowa skin, and New Jersey skin, and a Florida skin. In theory, this is a way the states could have all the fees and taxes they want on their players and the site, and the players could play in a larger base.

So when this hopefully launches later this year in Nevada, will I be playing online? Well, I've mentioned numerous times in the past that I was never a big fan of I-Poker, but I might give it a try. It will greatly depend on various factors, mostly taxes and rake. Will the players have to pay taxes after each session, or each tournament cash? Will the rake be the same for I-Poker as it will be in the casinos, which will most likely be $4+$1? Is it possible to win at .25/.50 NL with $5 removed from each pot?

Another thing to remember about the future of I-Poker is that the new online poker will not be the same as "the good, olde days". For example, there will not be any rakeback offered by Caesers or any other corporation. You will be able to earn Total Reward Points for your next casino visit, but how much can you earn by grinding .10/.20 PLO or $5 SNGs?

Also, will software like Poker Tracker be allowed? You can't use stuff like that for Live Poker, so will they let you use in your home? And what about multi-tabling? Personally, I would be stunned if they allowed more than four tables at a time, and that's a good thing. Too many tables just means the same competent players are spread out across all the tables, while the recreational players will only play on a table or two at a time. This is the main reason that online cash games have gotten so tough over the last few years. Just imagine that you go to your local casino, and see the same competent players spread out at five different tables.

Anyways, this is all just rampant speculation by me. There could be another big drama bomb next week that will make this post meaningless. But that's the nature of I-Poker right now. Nobody really knows what's gonna happen next.

January News & Notes

2012-01-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

- It's January, and that means the start of a new year. It's a time when people look back at the old year, and look ahead to the new year.

I keep track of my results in a database, and have been doing so for years. But with things going so badly this year, I decided to add a spreadsheet with detailed results on a monthly basis. I figured maybe I could see what things I'm winning at, and where I need to make some changes for this year. It was helpful, as I did notice some things. But the most import thing I noticed was that I'm up for the year, and that includes cash games, tournaments, pit action, and promo / freeplay money. And the amount I finished up for the year is ...

(Insert drum roll here)

$520

So since I moved to a casino town, I'm now averaging a staggering profit of $10/week. Yeah, I think it's pathetic, too.

The one bright spot in my spreadsheet was tournaments, specifically the tournaments under $100 (or the daily donkaments). I played in 94 of them, and had an ROI of 64%. I think that's a damn fine number, especially when you consider the turbo structures with 15-20 minute levels and a rake in the 20% - 35% range.

As for tournament with buy-ins of $100 or larger, I played in 45 of them with a ROI of -11%, and the total ROI for the 139 tourneys is 16.6%. But I did take two shots in larger buy-in tournaments that didn't work out, the Atlantis $1080 Main Event and a $1500 WSOP Event. If I remove those two tourneys, I have an ROI of 17.8% in the $100+ tourneys, and 38% overall, which is respectable.

- Being the start of a new year, it's also time for me to request vacation time at work because everyone wants some time off during the summer. I managed to get two weeks off in June for the WSOP.

The problem is they haven't announced the dates for the WSOP yet, which is a little weird. The dates are normally announced before the end of the year, and the actually schedule is announce later. I don't know why they are waiting so long this year, but I think it has something to do with the November Nine. Since ESPN seems to be switching to "Near Live" broadcasts, there is no reason to have the Final Table delayed until November. I have a hunch there will still be a delay, but it will be much shorter, probably in early August. All of this depends on when ESPN has a soft spot in their overall broadcast schedule. For example, the early November spot is right before college basketball starts up. So it's possible that the dates for the WSOP could be moved up to April or May, or be pushed back to July or August. The only thing that has been announced is the One Drop $1million tourney, which starts on July 1, but that could always be changed.

So my tentative plans are assuming the WSOP will still be in June. If it moves to a different month, then I'm probably out this year.

Last year, I mentioned that my 10 day trip was too long. So this year, I'm going to make two smaller trips. I will drive down on two different Sundays, June 10th and June 24th. I will stay in Las Vegas for most of that week, and drive back maybe on Friday to not pay for the weekend hotel rates, or stay until the next Sunday. I'll finalize the extact dates as the WSOP gets closer.

The other difference this year is that I will stay at a regular hotel instead of a casino. I know it's sacrilegious to not stay at a casino when in Sin City, but I don't care. I don't want or need the "Vegas Experience", as I'm going down to grind out money in tournaments. This is a business trip, and I should treat it as such. Saying in casinos means having to eat at the overpriced casino restaurants, and I have no interest in giving the Caesars Corp anymore money than I have to.

I have found various smaller hotels around the airport that are not too far from the strip, and they have kitchenettes in the rooms. If I can make just one meal per day in the room, that would save some money. Plus it will keep me away from the casino pits, and that's always a good thing.

Coal In The Stocking

2011-12-25T17:54:00.000-08:00

2:20 $300 - I walk into the Peppermill Poker Room on Christmas Day, and got seated at one of the two $1/$2 NL tables.

In my first orbit, I was dealt Ah As in the Hyjack. There was a couple of limpers, so I raised to $10. Only UTG (80's guy) and Mid (lady I've never seen) called. The three of us saw a Flop of Ac 8h 6s. They both checked. That's a relatively dry Flop, so I checked. Turn [Ac 8h 6s] 9h. Once again, they both checked. I bet $21, UTG folded, and Mid called. River [Ac 8h 6s 9h] 7h. Wonderful. The Dealer just put up the Joker, as there is now a 4-Card Straight and 3-Card Flush out there. She checked. I thought for a moment, and made a $21 value bet. She could easily have Two Pair on this board, and I'd make an easy fold if she raised. But she just called, said "Straight," and showed 9h 5c. I mucked my hand without showing it or making any comments.

Next hand, it folded to me. I raised to $7 with Ac Th, and the Button and BB call. I completely airballed the Flop, so I checked the Flop and folded on the Turn.

Next hand, both UTG and UTG+1 limped in. I'm next with As Qd, so raise to $9. The Button, and both limpers called. Flop 6c 5d 3s. It checked to me, and I decide to make a $20 C-Bet. Only UTG+1 called, and she's the 95 lady from before. Turn [6c 5d 3s] 7c. She checked, and so did I. River [6c 5d 3s 7c] 6s. She quickly grabs some chips to bet, and I muck even faster.

A few hands later, I limped in the SB with Q4o, and six players saw a Flop of Q 6 4. I lead out for $6, and only the BB called. The Turn was [Q64] 2. I bet $10, and the BB folded.

A few hands later, a couple of players limped in. I'm the Hyjack with Ad Ah, and raised again to $10. Only one of the limpers called. Flop Ks 8d 5d. He looked back at his cards, and bet $10. I decided to raise to $25 for value, and to get some more info. He looked back at his cards a few times, and finally called after about 30 seconds. Turn [Ks 8d 5d] 4c. He checked, and I bet $35. He looked back at his cards a couple of more times, and check-raised All-In for about $40 more. I'm not happy about it, but I called. River [Ks 8d 5d 4c] Kh, and he won the pot with KJd.

After 14 hands (about 20 minutes), I grabbed my remaining chips, cashed them out for $111, and left the Peppermill.

I have no idea how to win at this game anymore, and I have no clue what to do about it. I'm a broken man.

I Need To Vent

2011-12-19T23:44:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in my previous post that I did good last weekend, and I was hoping that this meant things had finally started to turn around for me. Well, that didn't happen. In fact, I had lost all that I won last weekend, and some more on top of that.

It started on Saturday, when I played in the Peppermill's 6:30pm $120 tournament. It had 21 players, and I made a deep run. The problem was when we got down to six players, the play dragged to a halt as nobody would get knocked out. This caused everyone to become rather shortstacked, so everyone was just waiting for big hands to get their chips in the middle.

When we got down to five players, I decided to "step on the gas", and started shoving my shortstack in whenever it seemed appropriate. After all, nobody was trying to win this, so I might as well. Overall, things went well, as I was able to build my stack steadily. But I did have to make some annoying laydowns, which kept me from getting the big stack.

Eventually, I was knocked out in 4th place when I lost a race with my KTo losing to the BB's 44. He had me covered by a little bit, and I was the Bubble Boy again. Before I even got out of my seat, they started discussing a deal. I'm sure they didn't play another hand.

And when I said "Bubble Boy again", I meant it. In the last six tournaments, I have finished as the Bubble Boy or Bubble+1 in five of them. And those include a $240 tourney, a $230 one, and this $120 tourney.

On Sunday, I went back to the Peppermill to grind some $1/$2 NL. I ended up grinding for 4.25 hours, and lost the $300 buy-in and $200 add-on. It was a lot of terrible cards, and losing annoying small and medium pots. The biggest loss was me making a $120 call with a Set of 8, and ran into a Flush. It was just one of those session that I wasn't gonna win, no matter what I did.

But the cherry on top of the sundae was tonight. Surprisingly, I got off work earlier than I expected, especially for Christmas week. So I decided to go grind some $1/$2 NL, and went to the Grand Sierra. I'm not sure why I went there, because I can't win there. Since I've moved here last year, here are my numbers before tonight (-$1425, 29 sessions, 82 hours), and these are the worst numbers by far for $1/$2 in any of the Reno rooms. I honestly have no clue why I can't win at the Grand Sierra. The only difference between this room and the other room is that it's a rock garden. This room has more Super-Nits per table than any other room in Reno. But it should be easier to play against them, because they usually play their cards face up.

I sat down with the full $300, and things started off like they normally do at Grand Sierra. The biggest loss was when I hit Two Pair on the River, and someone else hit a bigger Two Pair (JT vs KT). There was also various other hands involving annoying situations, and frustrating laydowns.

My stack had bled down to around $120, when I was dealt 9s 9c in the UTG+1. I raised to $5, which is what I've been raising all night. Five players saw a Flop of 9d 6d 4h. The BB lead out for $16. I've played with him before, and he's the only Action Guy at the table. I considered just calling to keep the Action Guy in the pot. But I quickly realized that the Flop was too draw-heavy, and slowplaying would be suicidal. I raised to $40.

It folded around to the SB, who's one of the Super-Nits at the table. He grabbed some chips, put them back in his stack, and then said "All-In" for over $250. The BB couldn't fold fast enough, and I couldn't call fast enough. I knew the SB had either Set with 66 or 44, as he would never go All-In with hands like 96 or even 87d. Even the Dealer quietly said "Set over Set" right after I insta-called.

I turned my hand over, and the SB said, "Crap, you got me," but didn't show his hand. The Dealer dealt the Turn [9d 6d 4h] 6s. "Oh!" said the SB, as he quickly showed his 66 for Quads. I have no idea what the River card was, as I grabbed my bottle of Mountain Dew and stormed away from the table. I guess it could have been the last 9 in the deck.

Yeah, like that would ever happen to me.

#WhenWillItEnd

Sunshine And Rainbows ?

2011-12-17T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here's a recap of my poker from last weekend.

On Saturday, Grand Sierra had the Main Event for their Winter Pot of Gold tourney series. So I headed up there after work, and got seated at a new $1/$2 table a little after 7pm.

I got off to a lousy start as I lost a couple of decent sized pots to a tournament Super-Nit. It took me almost an hour to win my first pot. I did manage to double up when I had 98s on the Button. I flopped Two Pair and turned a Boat against the one Action Guy at the table. But I was so low on chips, it didn't even get me back to my buy-in of $300.

Things kept going lousy. A little after 9pm, I was debating whether to add-on an extra $200, or just cut my losses. The Poker Room brought in some food, so I decided to stick around, and bought the extra $200.

As it turned out, I made the right decision. About 11pm, I left the Poker Room up $415. The biggest reason was that I flopped a Straight Flush with 54s for a High Hand Bonus of $267, plus the pot. I won a few other nice pots from either the Action Guy or another player who was running worse than I was.

On Sunday morning, I played in the Atlantis 11am $80 Bounty donkament, which had 18 players. Once again, I got off to a lousy start, which I've already mentioned. It looked like I wasn't even going to make it to the Final Table when I shoved with A9o, and got quickly called by TT. But I flopped an Ace to double up, and survive to the Final Table.

Things weren't going well at the Final Table, as I didn't have many opportunities to get chips or Bounties. With six players left, I finally 3-Bet All-In with ATo, and the initial raiser called with AJc. I hit my Ten on the Turn, and doubled up.

This started a good run for me, as I quickly became one of the chip leaders when we got to the four-handed Bubble. Naturally, all the players wanted to do a Bubble Save, but I quickly said No. I am no longer saying Yes to the Bubble Saves, even though I finished on the Bubble or Bubble+1 in my last three tournaments. This caused the other players to get pissed at me, as they are all local tourney regulars, but I didn't care.

Play continued, and I eventually popped the Bubble by knocking out a player who had almost as many chips as I did. This gave me the Tower Of Power with the dominate chips stack. The other two players started talking about making a deal. While I don't do Bubble Saves, I am willing to make a deal to lock up my equity as the Chip Leader. I got a little less than 1st Place money, the other two chopped the rest, and we kept our Bounties. I walked out of the Atlantis up $300.

I went home to chill for a while, and then headed over to the Peppermill. They had two tables of $1/$2 with an open seat. The first one had a Kid that I've never seen before on the Left of the open seat, and the second one had some older regulars around the open seat. Naturally, I choose the second table.

We don't have to post at the Peppermill, so my first hand was UTG. I got 99, so I limped in. I flopped a Set, and turned Quads for a $75 High Hand Bonus. Things continued to well at this table, but I wasn't at it for long as I got called to another game. I left the table up $102 plus the High Hand Bonus.

The game that I was called to was the $5/$10 Limit Crazy Pineapple H/L game that was starting. (Yes, I know what you're thinking.) I'm not going into to much detail here about the game, as I will make a separate post about it after I've played a few sessions.

This was only the second time I've played the game, and it didn't go well. My first time was the previous week, and I had a good session as there were a few players giving away money. This line-up was less generous, and I just could get any good scooped pots. After 4.25 hours, I walked away from the table down $94.

Overall, I was up $778 for the weekend, which included a $20 football parley that I lost. So is it sunshine and rainbows now? Are happy days here again?

I wouldn't say so yet, but it was certainly a good start. My pile of cash was getting low enough that a trip to the ATM was an option. This weekend certainly gave me some room on that. Now if I can string together some winning weekends, even if they aren't as large as this one, then I can say I'm on the road to recovery.

Hand Of The Day #88

2011-12-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

Atlantis $80 Bounty Tournament ~ Level 4 (200/400/50) ~ 12.11.11

We are eight handed. UTG+1 limps. I'm the Cutoff, and also limp with 7d 7s. Both blinds climb on board, and the Flop is 7c 4c 2h. It checks around to me, and I also checked. It's a bit of a gamble by me, as this board is very draw heavy, especially for a limped pot. But things have not gone well in this donkament so far, so I want the chance to win a big pot. The players at this table are very basic, so I won't lose much if a draw hits the Turn.

Turn [7c 4c 2h] 4d - Well, I don't have to worry about the draws, as the I now have a Full House. The SB leads out for 600. He's a 70's gentleman who's a semi-regular in the donkaments around Reno, and he seems to be playing like a 70's gentleman. I instantly put him on 4. The other two players fold. If they would have called, then I would have raised. But since it's just me and the SB now, I just call so I don't scare him off. I am planning on raising his River bet. Hopefully, he will hit his kicker, or another 2 will come.

River [7c 4c 2h 4d] 4h - Or another 4 could come. The SB quickly tosses out two Yellow 1k chips for a bet of 2000. I get visibly annoyed, and say, "I don't believe this. I have the 2nd Nuts, and I'm considering folding."

I still think he has the last 4 in his hand, but what other hands could he have. Remember, it's a 70's gentleman who limped in the SB preflop, checked the Flop, made a small bet on the Turn, and made a near pot-sized bet on the River.

If he had an Overpair, like 88 or 99, then I'm assuming that he would have bet the Flop, and I doubt he would bet as big on the River. If he had the last 7, then why bet so big on the Flop? If he had 22, then why bomb the River when is had got counterfeited? If he missed a draw, even a big monster like 65c, then he wouldn't bet the Turn or River because old geezers don't bet their draws, nor bluff when they missed.

It only took me about 20 seconds to make the easy decision, and I folded my 77 face up. Tight players love to show their big hands, so the SB showed his hand, 43s. Sometimes the 3% gets there. (Yes, Live Poker is rigged.)

Naturally. the table was shocked to see this. I look at it the same way I look at folding KK preflop. I've done it four or five times in my poker life, and they've all been this easy.

Welcome to my last few months.

December News & Notes

2011-12-01T06:50:00.001-08:00

- I'm sure you loyal readers have noticed that the blog entries are becoming fewer and fewer. I've been losing my motivation for this blog for awhile now. Part of it is because of my mixed results over the last few months, and part of it is because I just don't feel like sitting in front of the computer grind out a post. It took me almost a week to get this one typed up.

No, I'm not going to shut down this blog, as I have too much good information in these pages. There will be stretches of time when the posts will be few and far between, and there will be some spurts where I'll be more motivated to do some blogging.

- I forgot to mention this before, but if you're a tournament player, then you need to check out a WSOP Circuit Event. The tournament structures are among the best I've ever played. The levels start at 30 minutes long, but extend to 40 minutes after the Dinner Break, and 45 minutes on Day 2.

As for the actually levels, have you ever played a 50/75 level, or a 700/1400/200? The 1k/2k/300 level, which every tournament has, is on Level 17. How many tournament structures even have 17 levels?

- Last month, I mentioned the Heads Up machines that arrived at the Peppermill, and I was playing them and learning how to play against the machine. That little experiment is now over.

I was learning how the machine played, and I was about even when I went to Lake Tahoe for the WSOP-C. When I got back, I noticed that something was different about the machine.

I lost six straight session of $100, and I never had a chance in any of those sessions. I noticed that the pots the machine was winning were consistently larger than the pots that I was winning. It seemed that it had been switched to "God" mode, as it hit the one card it needed to hit, or it bluffed in a strange spot when I didn't have anything, or folded in a spot where you think it would normally call.

I have no delusions that I'm a great Heads-Up Limit player, or that I was planning on quitting my job so I could make a living off of this machine. I just wanted to grind out a little profit, and earn some comps.

I also understand that variance means that the machine will have some good days, but I will also have the occasional good day. As a player, all I wanted was a fair fight. But that wasn't happening, and that's why I'm no longer playing those machines.

Remember When I Was A Winning Player...

2011-11-30T07:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, I want to say that I have never considered myself a "Good" player. I don't mean that in the way that most people say, "He's a good player" or "That dude sucks." I use the terms "Good", "Above Average", and "Average" as an official, objective ranking. While I would consider myself a "Good" tournament player, I'm only an "Average" Limit Holdem player.

However, this post is about NL Cash, specifically $1/$2 and $2/$3. While I've consider myself an "Above Average, aproaching Good" player, I have always been a winning player. I have kept records in a database for the past five years, along with over 300 blog entries, that show I have been a winning player over the long run.

However, I can no longer say that. Here are the numbers since I moved out to Reno back in October '10.

$1/$2 NL: -$1207 ~ 87 Sessions (-$13.87/Session) ~ 233.50 hrs (-$5.17/hr)
$2/$3 NL: -$490 ~ 40 Sessions (-$12.25/Session) ~ 120.25 hrs (-$4.07/hr)
Last 20 Sessions (combined): -$1586 ~ 7-13 ~ 54.25 hrs

These numbers aren't catastrophic, and aren't telling me to quit poker and take up pottery. However, the sample size is large enough to tell me that something is very wrong. Here are three things that I believe are affecting my winrate.

1) Fancy Play Syndrome - A while back, one of the things that I wanted to improve in order to become a "Good" NL player was to win without cards. You know, running without the ball, making something from nothing, reading situations and taking advantage of them, getting maximum value from 6-high...

Overall, I have gotten better at this, as documented through various Hands Of The Day and Running Logs. It's a good tool to use once or twice a session to help increase my winrate.

The problem is that there are sessions which I'm doing it once or twice an hour, or even per orbit. I ended up burning through chips by calling to Float on the Flop and/or Turn, and then having to fold on the River. Other times, I put out a big raise, and run into a monster.

There's no doubt that I'm often the best player at the table. But I'm not good enough to play so reckless, just to prove that I'm smarter than the other players.

2) Patience - Before I moved to Reno, I was known as patient player, in both cash games and tournaments. However, those days are long gone.

Why?

Well, as for cash games, if you look closely at the numbers above, you'll see that I'm averaging only 2.75 hours per session. With my work schedule of six long days per week, it's rare that I play a session of six hours or longer, with many sessions being two hours or less. In shorter sessions, you need to catch some cards in order to win. If I'm not catching the cards, sometimes I try to make things happen, which is what I just talked about.

In tournaments, I played mostly home tournaments back in Cleveland, and those tourneys had pretty good structures. In Reno, it's been mostly Daily Donkaments, and you need a different mindset for those. When I have played in the occasional bigger tourney, I have still gone in with the donkament mindset, and have gotten into some trouble with it.

3) Luck/Variance - As I've mentioned before, I don't like the term "Running Bad", mostly because I think that most player use it as an excuse. But maybe ignoring the "Luck Factor" of poker is just as bad.

Last winter. I went on a heater, and was piling up the money. But since the spring, it's been going downhill. There has been a few spikes up, but things haven't been going good for a while now.

Last weekend, I was gonna play every day from Wednesday through Sunday, due to the holiday weekend. I had Thursday off from work, and my Friday night bowling league was off due to the holiday. I set a goal of making $1000 in the $1/$2 games, to see if I could focus on playing good, and making money. Here are the results.

Wed 11.23 (Atlantis) -$81 ~ 5.25 hrs
Thur 11.24 (Grand Sierra) +$209 ~ 3.25 hrs
Thur 11.24 (Peppermill) -$300 ~ 1.50 hrs
Fri 11.25 (Atlantis) -$289 ~ 1.75 hrs

I quit after this, as it looked like I was more likely to lose $1000 instead of winning it. I didn't even play on Saturday night. On Sunday, I did the Double Daily Donkament thing, and airballed both of them.

I'm taking this entire week off to clear my head, and I won't be stepping foot in a casino until Sunday. Hopefully, I can improve on #1 and #2, but #3 is something that I just have to deal with.

And Now The Rest Of The Story (WSOP-C Edition)

2011-11-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday 11/15, I played in the $345 6-Max Event, which had 199 players. I played much faster and looser than I did in the previous tournament. After all, it was a 6-max. Some of it went wonderfully, and some of it was a dismal failure. I tried two big bluffs. The first was me 3-betting on the Button with QJs. The other player called my 3-bet, and lead out on a 9-high Flop. I again raised, and he folded. The other bluff was making a large value bet on the River with a 4-Flush board that was also paired. The other player thought for almost two minutes before calling with the 2nd Nut Flush.

Just like the previous tournament, 21 players got paid, and I busted out in 28th. So close.

On Wednesday 11/16, I played in the $345 NL Event, which had 202 players. However, I wasn't feeling good on that day. I had a mild headache, along with a touch of being dizzy and lightheaded. I have no clue why it happened. I tried to ignore it at the start of the tourney, but it just wouldn't go away. The first break was at 2:00, and was 20 minutes long. It was only the 50/100 level, so I left the table 10 minutes before the break, went to the Gift Shop to get some drugs, and went back to my room to lay down. I woke up just after 3:00, but didn't feel much better. I went back down to the tourney, and grinded away. I tried to play A-B-C poker, and keep my decisions simple. Eventually, I ran out of chips, and finished around 95th place.

After I grabbed a quick dinner, I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I went up to my hotel room to chill. Eventually, I realized that if I'm gonna stay in the room all night, then I should just go home. So I headed down to the poker room, and sat down in the $3/$6 game, so I could play some poker that didn't require much thought.

And that was certainly what I encountered. It had the usual mix of Super Nits and 7-Card Bingo players. There was also a couple of players who liked to raise preflop. One of them called all 5-Bets preflop with K9o, and of course he won the pot with a Straight. I saw numerous other mistakes, whether it's by making calls that could never be any good, or checking on the River when they obviously had the best hand. All this meant that I never had a chance at this table. It took 3.5 hours, but I finally dusted off my $100 buy-in.

On Thursday 11/17, it was time to go home. I checked out of my hotel room, grabbed some breakfast, and went to the poker room to play some $1/$3 NL. The only table was the overnight table, so I was allowed to buy-in for more than the $300 max. I sat down with $600, which was less than half of the largest stack. Even though I was the oldest player at the table, the play was rather calm. It was obvious that everyone was tired, and many were debating whether to get a quick nap before the noon tourney, or just stay up and go for it.

Things got off to a good start, as I got good cards, and even pulled off a nice semi-bluff. But the table dynamics started to change, as the Kids slowly went to bed, and the older players who were starting their day filled their seat. Normally, this would have been good for me, except Lady Luck decided to have some fun with me. I kept hitting hands, and running into bigger hands on the Flop. First was a Set of Jacks vs Q-high Flush that cost me about $100. Next was KJ vs 88 on a KK8 Flop. I called his Flop and Turn bets, but folded to his $100 River bet.

Later, against the 88 player, he raised preflop from UTG, and I 3-bet from the Button with QQ. He just called, and then shoved All-In for about $200 on a Flop of Tc 7h 4h. This really confused me, as I was concerned that he had KK and waited to not see an Ace on the Flop. I made the call, and he had KTh for Top Pair and Flush Draw. He hit his Flush on the Turn, and then hit a King on the River to also get Two Pair. It's good to know that I never had a chance in this hand.

The Final Straw for me was my K9o vs 93o (BB) on a 993 T Board. He check-raised his shortstack on the Turn, and I missed my Boat Draw. I was planning on playing at least six hours, but I got up after this hand. I played just 4.5 hours, and lost $445. I walked back to my car, and made the journey home.

Since I left Tahoe earlier than I planned, I headed to the Peppermill in the evening for the $95 Cash Me Out tourney. (They have the CMO on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings). However, there was only 12 players at Shuffle Up & Deal. Why was there such a low turnout? Because all the tourney grinders were in Tahoe for the WSOP-C. The TD decided to convert this to a standard $65 tourney, and we ended up with 20 players after the late stragglers finally showed up.

Things went well for me, as I got to Heads-Up against a 70's guy in a wheelchair. He wanted to chop, but I said, "Let's play for a bit. I never get to play Heads-Up." Yeah, that's a lie, but I certainly have an advantage over him. We played for about 15 minutes, with some ups and downs.

Finally, he shoved All-In from the SB, and I looked down at 77. I thought we were close in chips, so I asked for an exact count. As it turned out, we were less than a BB apart. I'm sure he's not shoving light, so this is a tough decision. I asked the TD how much was in the prizepool, and it was $770. So I offered a deal: $350 each, and the winner of this hand gets the rest. The other player agreed, and turned over 88.

Doh!

I did Flop a Gutshot (6 4 3), but I missed everything. I left the Peppermill in 2nd place with $340 after the Dealer Tip.

Hand Of The Day #87

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Harvey's Lake Tahoe - 11.13.11 - $355 WSOP-C #5 Level 4 (50/100)

UTG raised to 400. He's a 30's guy who's been one of the tightest players (or least active so far) at this table. It folded around to me in the BB, and I make the call with J9d.

Flop Js Th 9s. Interesting as I hit Two Pair on a very wet Flop. I check to the preflop raiser, and he bet 1000. I decided to check-raise to 2500. He quickly ships his stack All-In. I have 5800 behind, and he has me covered.

Since this is such a wet board, and he's been fairly tight so far, I didn't insta-call. Instead, I went into deep thought, and try to put him on a hand.

He raised big preflop, bet 'pot' on the Flop, and insta-shipped after I check-raised.

Would he do this with an Overpair? Maybe, but since he's been quiet at this table, I don't know how good he is. Some players with an Overpair would be scared of this Flop. Others would think, "I have AA and I ship." Either way, I'm roughly 70/30 against AA, but only 51/49 against QQ because of the Straight Draw.

How about AK or AQ? With out Spades, it's highly doubtful that he would have even called my check-raise, let alone shoving it in. But AKs or AQs is definitely a possibility. I'm 55/45 against AKs, but 48/52 against AQs because of the extra four Straight outs.

Two Pair is doubtful, as I don't see him raising from UTG with JT or T9.

A Set is certainly a possibility. I doubt he would raise UTG with 99. I don't know if he would have raised with TT, but I only have two outs (11/89) against TT. A Set of Jacks would mean a one-outer hit the Flop, but that does happen. I'm essentially drawing dead against JJ (3/97)

As for a Straight, 87 or Q8 are not hands he would raise preflop with. But KQ is high on the list, and I only have four outs (18/82) against a Straight. But if he had KQs, wouldn't he slowplay it a little?

I thought for almost two minutes. I realized that I'm crushing some hands, flipping against some hands, and drawing very thin against other hands. If I fold, I still have 58BB in a tournament that seems to have a very slow structure.

I ended up folding my hand face up, hoping that he would show his hand. He didn't, and I never did find out what he had.

Since I didn't call the All-In, then should I have check-raised? Probably not. But there are so many cards that could come on the Turn (K, Q, T, 8, or any Spade) that would either kill my action or kill my hand.

Either way, yuck!

I did go on to 5th place in this tourney, so you could say that I made a good fold. But that's looking at results, and that's a bad way to evaluate poker decisions.

WSOP-C #5 (Day 2) - End of Level 26 (8k/16k/3k)

2011-11-14T19:27:00.002-08:00

Lv 26 (8k/16k/3k). Well, here's the only hand that matters. UTG raised to 36k. Folded to me in the BB. I look at KTo. Folding just seems to nitty, so I called. Flop 986. I checked, and so did he. Turn [986] 7. Wow, I just hit my Gutshot. I checked again, assuming he would stab at it. He bet around 45k, and I just called. River [986 7] 4. I lead out for 75k. He tanks for a while, and asks me if I have a Pair yet. He thought some more, and said All-In. I called, and he showed JTh for the J-high Straight. And I'm out in 5th place, $3355 after the $40 Dealer Tip.

I'm not surprised that he had that hand, especially after that little question he asked me about having a Pair. But we are 5-handed, and the Blinds are getting up there, so what else could I do? That was the first bad luck I had had in a long time at this tourney.

It's hard to call 5th place a big accomplishment, but this was my biggest casino ever. Plus, this was the most patient tournament I've played since I moved to Reno, so that has to mean something.

At least I picked the right tourney to Live Blog.

WSOP-C #5 (Day 2) - End Of Level 25 (6k/12k/2k)

2011-11-14T18:54:00.001-08:00

Lv 24 (5k/10k/2k) The play has been fairly straight forward. A raise preflop usually wins it. Some times there is a 3-bet or a Flop, but nothing huge. I was hovering between 125k and 210k.

Until this hand. UTG raised to 26k. Button called. I was the BB with AKs, and 3-bet to 85k. UTG gets that annoyed look, and folded. Button thinks for a bit, and says, " I call the All-In.". The Floor was called over, and ruled it a call. As the Dealer gathers the pot, I said All-In in the dark for 142k. Flop was Kc 9h 7h. The Button called with TT. He missed his two outer, and I'm the Chip Leader with well over 400k.

Lv 25 (6k/12k/2k) This tourney has ground to a halt. Players seem to be waiting for Big Hands. I want to steal more, but the player in Seat 2 has good chips, and likes to see Flops.

The only significant pots were not good ones for me. It folded to the Button, who raised to 32k. I was the SB, and 3-bet to 90k. He insta-shipped it, and I had to fold.

The other hand was the same guy raising to 32k in the Cutoff. He's been raising from that spot a few times, so I just called with 22. Flop 9 5 3. He bet 50k, and I called as somewhat of a float. Turn was 8, and he pushed All-In. I had to fold.

We are 5-handed, and I have 337k. I'm either 2nd or 3rd right now. I guess I'm not gonna make it to the 5pm $235 O-8 tourney.

WSOP-C #5 (Day 2) - End Of Level 23 (4k/8k/1k)

2011-11-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

They play is a more aggressive today, which I expected. Last night, players were just waiting to go home once it became apparent that we were not gonna make it to the Final Table yesterday.

It only took just over an orbit to knock out both Shortstacks at each table.

The very next hand after #13 busted, it folded to the Button, who raised to 16k. I was the SB, and shoved for 82k with Q7c. The Button tanks for a while, but eventually folded.

It only took another orbit or two to knock out #12 & #11. When they announces that we have reached the Final Table, my table had just started a hand. It folded to me in the SB, and I looked at AQo. I decided to just raise to 16k, instead of shipping. The BB was started out as the Big Stack, and he likes to play. I'm hoping he will ship it. Instead, he just called. Flop Q T 6. I lead out for 21k, hoping it will look like a c-bet. He thinks for a bit, and said All-In. I can't call fast enough, and he has K7o. He missed his 3-outer, and I got my double up I was hoping to get before the Final Table.

At the 10-handed Final Table, I have 208k. There are two other players from my original table are at this table, including the guy who I won my first survival race against (TT v AK). He was sitting on my direct Right, and now he's on my direct Right is the Chip Leader (over 400k). The Average is 180k, and most players are in the 150k - 225k range.

Lv 23 (4k/8k/1k). We get down to eight players, as QQ lost to KK.

I only played two significant hands. First was me raising to 21k with 99. Both the Button and BB called. Flop was 554. I bet 51k, and they both folded. The other hand was me raising to 21k with AQo. The BB called. I missed the Flop, but bet 3100. He called, and I shut down.

They have a Live Streaming feed of all Circuit Final Tables on WSOP.com. I don't know the specifics, but check it out if you're interested. I'm in Seat 8. DDark green shirt.

We are 7 handed, and I have 150k.

WSOP-C #5 (Day 2) - "Shuffle Up & Deal"

2011-11-14T15:03:00.000-08:00

Welcome back.

For a quick recap, I have 107k, and the Blinds will be 3k/6k/1k. There are 14 players left.

My strategy for today is to stay in Super Nit mode until we lose two players. At 12 spots, there is an almost $200 pay jump which gets us over $1k.

At that, I need to start stepping on the gas. I need to get chips in order to make a serious run at the Final Table. Moving up the pay scale is a consideration, but the tourney player in me want to win.

WSOP-C #5 - End Of Level 21 (2500/5000/500)

2011-11-14T02:29:00.000-08:00

The play has been a little silly, as a few players are shipping it preflop with 20 BBs or more. I stayed in patient mode for the whole time.

Surprisingly, the bustouts happened much slower than I expected. I realized why when we got the Final Two Tables. We did another redraw for seats, and I noticed the Average Stack was 26 BB, which is damn impressive for a $355 tournament.

My patience got paid off in Lv20 (2k/4k/500). In the span of five or six hands, I stole the Blinds with something like Q9h, and then looked down at JJ, AK, and KK. All the hands held up, but none were monster pots or knocking out a shortstack. I won the pots either preflop or on the Flop. However, at this stage of the tourney, even the small pots have a lot of chips.

Lv21 (2500/5k/500) - It folded around to the Button, who pushed All-In for 28500. I'm fairly sure he's shoving just because he can. I'm the BB, and insta-called with KTo. He had 93h. He flopped a Pair & Flush Draw, hit the Flush on the Turn, and rivered the 4th Heart just for fun. Nice Hand, Sir!

The rest of the period was somewhat uneventful. I made a few preflop raises, and won a Blind v Blind hand when I raised the Flop with Top Pair.

I have a really terrible seat draw again, as the Big Stack of the table is on my direct Left, and he's rather active. I'm also really tired, as it's well past midnight. I woke up early this morning, and couldn't fall back asleep. By staying patient, it keeps my decisions easier, which makes is less likely that I will have a blow-up.

I made to the End of Day with 107k chips, which is ok, but not great. With the next level being 3k/6k/1k, I have 18 BB. Staying patient will only get me so far. I need to get some chips if I want to make it to the Final Table, let alone make some noise at it.

There are 14 players remaining. We have made $833, with the next pay jump at 12th ($1012). Everyone who makes the Final Table gets $1249, and 1st is $13,874.

We start up at 3pm PST tomorrow, so check in to see I can make a really deep run.

WSOP-C #5 - End of Level 18 (1200/2400/400)

2011-11-13T23:55:00.001-08:00

21 players left.

Lv16 (800/1600/100) - I did raise a few times preflop. I won some, and I lost some. Nothing went past the Flop.

The only interesting hand was me on the Button with A5h. It folded to me, and I limped because the Limper was the BB. Three of us saw a Flop of Ad 5s 4s. Both Blinds checked, and I also checked to trap the Limper. Turn [Ad 5s 4s] 8s. Another wonderful Turn card. They both checked, and I bet 4100. SB folded, and Limper went into deep thought before going All-In for 20k-ish. I have to make the call, and he has Jc Ts for a Flush Draw. He missed the River, and finally knocked himself out.

Lv17 (1k/2k/300) - I won a race for over 20k, JJ v AQ.

At 27 players, they did a complete redraw for seats. I had 137k, which was 2nd at my new table.

Lv18 (1200/2400/400) - We got to the Bubble half way through the level. Instead of Hand For Hand, they do Round For Round. Each table plays one full round, and waits for the other tables to finish their rounds. Any players who bust out in the round will Bubble, and split any appropriate monies. They said this prevents stalling, but I don't see how.

Either way, it didn't matter. The Bubble popped on the first round at a different table with just a few minutes to go before the Break.

I have 113k chips.

WSOP-C #5 - End Of Level 15 (700/1400/200)

2011-11-13T21:36:00.000-08:00

34 players left.

After the Dinner Break, they extended the levels to 40 minutes. They also made the tables 9-handed when we got to 54 players.

At my table, I'm no longer the Big Stack. One player got moved to this one with over 90k. A player at my table went in a nice rush, and knocked out a few players. A third guy was moved to this table. Even though I have him covered, I'm not happy he's here because he's very active. He's often limping, and calling preflop raises. He fires at many Flops, and even bluffs at Rivers.

Because of these factors, I went into Super Nit mode, and was keeping my VPIP very low. I still did play a few hands, though.

Lv13 (500/1k/100) - I raised to 2300 with AKs. Only the BB called. The Flop was K-high. He lead out for 2300, and I just called so I didn't scare him off. He checked the Turn, so I bet 3000. He called, and checked the River. I bet 5000, and he called with K3o

Lv14 (600/1200/200) - The Limper limped in. This encourages a few other to follow. I'm the Cutoff with QQ, and raised to 5000. Everyone folded.

Lv15 (700/1400/200) - The Limper limped in. I'm the Button with AKo, and raise to 4100. Naturally, he was the only caller. Flop was J-high. He checked, and I decided to also check. We both checked the Turn. On the River, he tossed out one Yellow 1k chip. He had to make it 1400, and I called. He had A6c, no pair, and I won the pot. That had to be the worst attempt of a River bet I've seen in a long time. He doesn't beat anything, and a 5k bet probably would have won it.

I have 79000 chips, and my strategy seems to be working so far. 21 players get paid, and we should be close to the Bubble by next break.

WSOP-C #5 - End Of Level 12 (400/800/100)

2011-11-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

63 players left.

Lv9 (200/400/50) - A Mid player raised to 875. He's a player who was at my first table. I'm next in the Hyjack, and called with 4c 4h. Three player saw a Flop of Ks Qd 4s. Mid bet 1700. I just call, hoping the next player will raise. But he folded. Turn [Ks Qd 4s] Js. What a horrible card. This is what I get for slow playing. He bet 2800, and I just call. River [Ks Qd 4s Js] 9h. This just gets better and better. He thinks for a bit, and checks. I bet 3800, hoping he will call. Instead, he ejected and started to mumble to himself.

I also doubled up a short stack who had AA. I hit Top Pair on the Flop (Ten). The whole hand cost me over 9k chips.

Lv10 (250/500/50) Picked up KK again, and won a decent pot.

I took a little break away from the table. When I got back, it was my SB. UTG+1 went All-In. The Cutoff went All-In. Both were in the 4k-8k range. I look down at AA, and made it 20k. The two players had JJ & TT. I flop an Ace to eliminate any doubt, as well as both players.

Lv11 (300/600/75). Folded to me in the Hyjack, and I raised to 1625 with AJo. The Cutoff, Button, SB, and BB called. (What could possibly go wrong?) Flop J 8 6. The Blinds checked. I bet 6k. Cutoff folded. Button thought for a bit before folding J9. The Blinds quickly folded. I showed my hand, and said, "Life is good."

I went card dead after this, which I didn't mind since I was the Big Stack at my table. In Lv 12 (400/800/100), the Floor had me start buying up the Green 25 chips. I got most of them, and then they broke our table. The Floor gave me a Blue 5k chip for the Greens. At my new table, I didn't play any hands, but I did by up all the Green chips again. I got another Blue chip when we went to Break.

I have 57700 chips. I finally made it to a Dinner Break, and I've got serious chip. Next level is 500/1k/100, or 57 BB.

WSOP-C #5 - End Of Level 8 (150/300/25)

2011-11-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

188 players for this one. 109 are left.

Lv5 (75/150). After losing a couple of small pots, I doubled up to 8800 with TT vs AK. I 3-bet preflop, and called his All-In.

Towards the end of the level, UTG+1 limps. Kid in Mid raised to 750. I was the Cutoff with Js Jc, and 3-bet to 2100. Both UTG+1 and Kid called. Flop 9h 7h 6d. UTG+1 checked. Kid looked at my stack, and bet around 5k. I push All-In for 6450. UTG+1 folded his AKc (he said later). Kid called with TT. The Board held up, and I got a monster double up to around 19k.

Lv6 (100/200). Two players limped. I was the Cutoff, and min-raised to 400 with 9s 9c. Button called. BB 3-bet to 1700. He's a 50's guy named John. He's a regular around the Reno poker rooms. He quite a bit on the laggy side, but in a good way. I've seen him play more Cash than Tournaments, and I respect his game. He's a very active player who can pounce on weakness, or slowplay to trap someone. He'd already 3-bet me when I had 22 out of position. I called that 3-bet, and folded when I missed my Set Draw.

But 99 is much different than 22, and I have position for this hand. I snap-called, and the Button also called. Flop Jd 6c 4s. John bet 4900. I snap-called and the Button folded. Turn [Jd 6c 4s] 6h. He though for a moment, and checked. I'm confident that I have the best hand, but I checked for some pot control. River [Jd 6c 4s 6h] 6s. He thinks for a moment, and asked how much I've got left (about 11k). He thinks a bit longer, and bet 7500. Once again, I snap-call. He said, "Good call," and mucked.

Things went very card dead after that. (Not a complaint.) The only time I saw any playable hands was in early position. And they were hands like 55, QJo, 86s...

They are breaking our table at the end of this break. This break is 10 minutes, as they're not serving any food.

I have 30850 chips.

WSOP-C #5 - End Of Level 4 (50/100)

2011-11-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

The table's been playing as you would expect for the beginning of a tournament with the exception of almost no limp pots. Everyone seems to be playing relatively normal, just some are tighter than others.

Lv2 (25/50) UTG (Kid) limps. I'm Mid with ATd, and min-raise to 100. A few players called, but the Kid back-raised to 575. I call, and so does the Cutoff (30's Guy). Flop Qc 6h 4s. Kid bet 1675. I quickly call, as this looks like a standard c-bet. However, Cutoff ships his stack All-In for 9k-ish. Kid quickly ships it, and I can't fold fast enough. Kid had KK, and Cutoff had 64o for Two Pair. The Turn was a King, and the Kid eliminated the Cutoff.

If I keep playing hands this badly, then this will be a very painful trip. Calling a Flop with just AT-high to float in a three way pot is moronic. I need to pull my head out of my ass, and start playing patient, small-pot poker. Fortunately, I did start playing better, and won a few small pots.

Lv4 (50/100). I lost almost 3k chips in a hand that I will save for a Hand Of The Day so I can go in depth on the analysis.
Three hands later, I was one of the limpers in the Cutoff with 44. The SB shipped All-In for 1475. The three limpers folded, but I called. He had AQ, and won the race by hitting an Ace on the Flop.

I have 4175 chips. This break is 20 minutes long, as they're serving free pizza. At least I'll get something for my $355.

WSOP-C #5 - "Shuffle Up & Deal"

2011-11-13T12:26:00.001-08:00

I am a moron.

For no good reason, I didn't leave Reno until 10:50am. I went as fast as my little Prius would go up a mountain, I pull into Harvey's at 11:58, and got to the poker room at 12:02. Surprisingly, there was no line for the buy-ins. When I got to my table, I had only missed six minutes of the level.

We get 10k chips, which included 3k for a $10 Add-On. The first level is 25/25, which seems silly for a 10k stack. The levels are 30 minutes long. The Timer says 149 Entrants.

My table has eight players, and two open seats without dead stacks. It is all guys, and a mix of ages.

Hand Of The Day #86

2011-11-09T20:51:00.004-08:00

Atlantis $240 Super Stack - Level (800/1600/200) - 11.06.11

This tournament had 26 players, and we are at the Final Table. I got there with just over 40k chips, which was in the middle of the pack. I blinded off for a couple of obits. In the hand just before this one, I called a raise with 55 in the BB. The Flop was KQ5, and I doubled up against AK, which got me up to around 65k chips. We are currently eight handed.

UTG limped for 1600. He's a Kid who started the Final Table as one of the Chip Leaders, and has been playing very few hands. This limp was surprising to me, as there has been very little limping by anyone up to this point. Also surprisingly, it folded around to the Button, who also limped. She's a 60's lady who has been quiet at this table. I'm the SB with A9h, and am happy to see a cheap Flop. The BB checked his option.

Flop 8h 7c 2h. This is a good Flop for me, as I have the Nut Flush Draw, two Overcards, and a backdoor Straight Draw. I like to bet these hands on the Flop, and then check if I hit my Flush on the Turn. I can also hit my Overcards or pick up a Straight Draw on the Turn, and still fire a bet on the Turn. I toss a 5000 chip on to the table.

The BB folded, but the UTG raised to 12000. Since he limped, it's hard to say what hand he may be raising with. However, I don't have much time to think about it, as the Button shipped it All-In for 28300.

I didn't know what the Button had, and I didn't care. I insta-shoved All-In for around 58k, hoping to isolate against the Button. UTG went into deep thought for almost a minute before making the call.

UTG had 2d 2c for Bottom Set. Button had Ad 8s for Top Pair. The Board ran out [8h 7c 2h] As 8d. The Button tripled up with the Main Pot with Eights Full of Aces, and UTG won the Side Pot with Deuces Full of Aces. I'm eliminated in 8th place.

They say, "Never go broke in a limped pot." Generally, that is good advice. But I'm happy with how I played this hand, and I wouldn't change anything I did. It just didn't work out. It was really bizarre to see a 3-way trainwreck in a limped pot at a Final Table.

I love tournaments.

Peppermill's $130 6-Max

2011-11-06T09:19:00.002-08:00

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - The $130 6-max at started at 4pm last Sunday, and is the Peppermill's final event for their Deep Stack Classic. It looks like they've got around 10 tables, although none of them seem to have a full six players. My table has four players. Two of them are older, and one around my age. The levels are 20 minutes long, and we get 6000 chips

Level 1 (25/50) - Table filled up with a 40's guy and a 30's lady. The tables are more full, but they've already broke a table. I think we have 7 tables.

The play at my table has been normal, expect for more preflop raising. Nobody getting out of hand by playing every pot, or acting hyper aggressive.

My level was quiet. I'm playing tight to observe others and set up an image. I raised with AK, and took it down on Flop. I have 5825 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) - More quiet time for me. I won a pot on the Flop with QQ. I have 5875 chips.

Level 3 (75/150) - Still very card dead. Only pot I played was a Blind vs Blind hand that I won on the Flop. I want to step on the gas a little, but there's a shortstack under 1500 on my Left. (I'm in Seat 1. He's in Seat 3). I have 5725 chips.

BREAK - It's easier to count tables now that everyone is away. We only have five tables for this tourney. The noon tourney is down to three tables.

Level 4 (100/200/25) - I finally played a hand. The Cutoff raised to 400. The Button called. I called in the BB with 76o. Flop K76. I checked, and the Cutoff bet 700. Button thought for a bit, and folded. I decided to just call. If the Button called, then I would have raised. Turn [K76] 4. I checked, he bet 1200, and I called. River [K76 4] 3. That's a bad card for as it might kill my action. That's what I get for slowplaying. I lead out for 2000. He thought for a bit, and folded a King face up.

Preflop raising is much less than the beginning of the tourney, and limping is more rampant. The shortstack is still hanging around. At the end or the level, I get moved to another table, that now has 5 players. The TD has finally posted the numbers, and we had 31 entrants. I have 8900 chips.

Level 5 (150/300/50) - They broke a table. My new table has two guys who are raising often, and for a lot of chips (between 1000 and 1400). Fortunately, they are both on my Right.

In a rare limped pot. I had K8h in the SB. Four players saw a Flop of Qh Th 6d. I lead out for 725 with my Flush Draw. Only the Button called. Turn [Qh Th 6d] Kc. That's an interesting card, as I now have Top Pair to go with my draw. I think for a moment and checked because I'm not sure what to do. The Button bet 1200. I decided to check-raise to 3100. He quickly folded a Pair & Straight Draw. In the very next hand, I steal the Blinds with K7o. I have 12150 chips.

Level 6 (200/400/50) - In the last hand of the level, the most active and aggressive player at the table raised to 1600 from Mid position. The Cutoff called. He a 60's guy who a little low on chips, but not a shortstack. I'm the Button with A4d. I decided to do my first squeeze of the day, and go All-In for 8200. It folded back to the Mid who asks how much, and goes into thought. Meanwhile, the Cutoff calls my All-In out of turn. Now the Mid asks for his chip count, and eventually calls. I'm not happy about any of this, as I'm assuming that the Mid called because of the pot odds. However, the Mid shows QQ, and the Cutoff has AK. Flop ran out A88 J 4. The Cutoff tripled up, and I won the small side pot of 3400.

Level 7 (300/600/75) - Three hands later, I shove for 3175 with A8. The Cutoff calls quickly with ATo. Board was T22 8 4, and I'm out around 16th place.

In a 6-max game, the guy who's been raising 30% of hands, and 75% of Buttons wakes up with QQ. And the old guy between us just calls with AK, instead of shipping All-In like he should have.

I love tournaments.

November News & Notes

2011-11-03T22:25:00.002-07:00

I didn't do a News & Notes in October, mostly because I didn't have much to report. However, this one should make up for it, as it's a little long.

- The November Nine is Sunday, and ESPN2 is broadcasting it "Near-Live" starting at 12:30 PST. I'm planning on watching, but I'll also be playing poker. I'll be at the 11am $230 Super Stack at the Atlantis, and the 6:30 $95 Cash Me Out at the Peppermill. I'm hoping that the TVs in the rooms will have the NFL on them, and not the WSOP. I'll be recording the coverage, and watching it from my couch after I win each tourney. (At least, that's the plan).

Last year, I did a Rants & Raves about the November Nine. I made a bold prediction that the November Nine will be over in a year or two, and it looks like I was right. With ESPN shifting to the near-live broadcasts, there is no reason to wait four months. For next year, I would guess they will only wait a few weeks for the Final Table. This would give a little time to get the hype machine working. A lot of this would depend on ESPN, and their broadcast schedule for other sports. I don't think there is much going on in late July other than baseball.

- In case you haven't heard yet, Nevada has approved November Nine betting. You can bet on who will win, along with other prop bets like who will bust out first, what the winning hand will be, what's the color of the first Flop, will the chip leader win, and the total number of hands at the Final Table.

Obviously, I made some bets. I bet $100 on two different winners; Eoghan O'Dea (4/1) and Phil Collins (5.5/1). I also made two $20 prop bets. 1st eliminate - Pius Heinz (3/1) as he seems to be the one most likely to go kamikaze against one of the shorter stacks. As for the winning hand, I went with High Card (15/1). On the prop sheet, it was listed at 35/1, which seemed too good to be true. But it had dropped since then at Grand Sierra, and I didn't feel like driving all over town to find better odds for a $20 bet. Just for reference, a Pair is listed at 1/3 and a Straight is 12/1.

- The Peppermill has recently gotten those Heads-Up machines that have popped up in Vegas and other locations. It's you against the computer playing Heads-Up Limit Hold'em. There is no rake, but there is a Bonus Bet that has terrible odds. (No, I don't play the Bonus.) You can play $2/$4 Limit, or $4/$8 Limit.

Naturally, I've played a few times, and I'm down a little. Limit Hold'em is not my best game, and the first time I ever played Limit Heads-Up is against this machine. But it's still Poker, and I'm figuring things out. I may do a full blog entry about this in the future.

If anyone out there has any advice on Heads-Up Limit, either from personal experience or just a link, then please let me know. I could really use some tips, especially about playing from the Big Blind. Always going into Check/Call mode can get expensive with just King High.

- I know I just said I won't be going back to Tahoe anytime soon, but that's not completely accurate. The WSOP Circuit is heading to Harvey's Nov 10 - 21. I took a few vacation days at work, and I will be up there from Sunday 11/13 - Thur 11/17. I'll be playing in various tournaments up to $345, including PLO and Limit O8, and cash games.

Even though I only live an hour away, I got a room at Harvey's for four nights. I don't want keep making the trip up and down the mountain, especially if it's late at night after I go deep in a tourney. If things go badly, I can always head home for a break.

I'm gonna do some Live Blogging while I'm down there. Probably either the Sunday or Monday 12p $345 NL tourney. I'll post which one when the time gets closer. If it ends up being another quickie, and may do a second one. I'm gonna make to a dinner break one of these times.

Sunday At Tahoe

2011-10-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a little road trip last Sunday (10/23), and headed up to Harvey's at South Lake Tahoe. There was no special event going on Sunday. I just figured I would check out the place. However, I won't be going back anytime soon, because it was a giant waste of time.

There was a $40 donkament at 10am. It took me a little longer to get up to Tahoe than I thought it would, and walked into the poker room at 10:10. The tournament had just one table with two alternates waiting, so I was shut out of it. The Floor said the $3/$6 game should start around 10:30 or 11am. I wandered around for a while, dumping a $100 bill in a Video Poker machine and then sitting down at a Texas Hold'em Bonus table. I was down $45 when they started the $3/$6 game.

The $3/$6 game started shorthanded with five players, and was playing rather tight. Eventually, the game filled up, and started playing like a normal $3/$6 table. There was some good, some bad, and a lot of frustrating.

Here's some info about the Harvey's Poker Room:

- I gave them my players' card, and found out they don't give comps to poker players.

- I bought into the $3/$6 game for $100. The dealer gave me 60 White $1 chips and 8 $5 chips. I thought this was bizarre, as most $3/$6 games frown upon Red chips at the table. I asked him about it, and he said they don't have enough White chips in the room. During a busy Friday or Saturday night, they run out of White chips, and have to use the Silver $1 Slugs that the Pit games use. How can the almighty Caesars Corporation, the largest gaming company in the world, let one of their larger poker rooms not have enough chips?

- They do have the High Hand Bonuses that most rooms have around here, but they do them in a very different way. There is a sign posted that says, "Poker Rewards," along with a dollar amount. I'm assuming that it's the total of the Promo account. On Sunday, it was $8798. For Quads, you win 1% of the Player Rewards. A Straight Flush pays 3%, and a Royal pays 5%. The other bizarre thing is that you only need one card to collect the Bonus, but they only pay if you get Quads 9 or higher.

They also have a second tourney on Sundays. It's a $120 NL tourney at 2pm. Obviously, I'm planning on playing in it, as well as one or two people at our $3/$6 table. At around 12:30, I heard the Floor talking to a customer about this tourney. He said that it probably won't run today, since it didn't go last week.

This really pissed me off, and I snapped at the Floor. I told him there are a few of sitting here waiting for that tournament, and if you tell others the tourney probably won't happen, then they won't come back. If you don't want to be here, than close the room. He babbled about some lame excuses, including staff issues.

At 2pm, the tourney did start, so I cashed out of the $3/$6 game down $3. The tourney was capped at one table with 11 players squeezed around it because they were too cheap to pay another dealer. They gave us 6k chips with 20 minute levels, and a quick structure.

Since we were 11 handed, I played tight for two levels, and then start to go after the Blinds. I raised with 96o from the Cutoff, and got called by one of the Blinds. I hit Two Pair on the Turn, and got All-In. The other player had a better Two Pair with A9o. Next hand, I 3-Bet All-In with JJ. The original raiser had AK, and flopped a King. I was the first one eliminated.

I then sat down at the $2/$3NL table that had recently opened up. I was there less than an hour before I dusted off my $300 buy-in. It was a combination of bad luck and bad play. The only thing I'd eaten all day was some McDonald's on the way to Tahoe. I was hungry, grumpy, and had very little patience. That's a bad recipe for a session of poker.

I then left the casino, and headed into town to get a sandwich and fill up the gas tank. On the way home, I stopped by two casinos in Carson City just to do some recon. The first one, Casino Fandango, only had a Dealer and a Floor in the poker room. They were sitting there chatting since there were no players. As it turns out, the poker room is only open four days a week, and it's mostly for daily donkaments. The second one, Gold Dust West, didn't even have a poker room.

I'm really glad got transferred to Reno rather than Carson City.

LOL Donkaments #8

2011-10-24T07:43:00.003-07:00

Harrah's Reno 10am $35 NLHE - 10.21.11

I had a rare day off from work on Friday. And by "rare", I mean my last one was back in late June. So I got some work done on my car, went to the bank, and of course, played some poker.

My first poker stop was at Harrah's for their 10am tourney. Their structures are horrible: 15 min levels, 25/50. 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, 400/800. 500/1000, 1k/2k, 2k/4k, etc. For this one, they gave us 2500 chips, and that includes a $5 add-on for 1k chips.

In spite of all that, I actually like their tourneys, and that's because of the quality of the players. Most of the local grinders stay away from Harrah's because they don't want to waste their time. So the players are those who are staying at the hotel, or live downtown. They are all Level 1 players, or even Level 0. It's not uncommon for someone to be playing in their first casino tournament.And this one was no exception.

We had 15 players, and the staff seemed to be surprised it was that large.

If you've played in a previous tournament, followed by their cash game, you get a coupon for an extra 1000 chips. Starting with 3500 chips is way better than starting with 2500 chips.

I was one of the few player with the extra chips, and it really helped. I hit a couple of hands, and I stole a few pots as the table was playing rather timid. By the break at end of the 100/200 level, I was up to 7300 chips and we had 11 players left.

In the next level (200/400), we had five players at our table, and we're still on the Final Table Bubble. UTG went All-In for 600. The Button called. The SB went All-In for 1100. I was the BB, and looked down at 87o. I was getting great pot odds (call 700 to win 3200), assuming that the Button didn't go All-In. He's an 70's guy who had been playing passive. I called the extra 700, and the Button called the extra 500. Flop was A 8 4, and we both checked. Turn was [A84] 8. I bet 1000, and the Button quickly folded. UTG and the SB didn't even have a Pair yet, and were drawing dead. This sent us to the Final Table with just nine players, and I was the healthy chip leader.

I stayed patient, as there were many short stacks. My next big pot was in the next level (400/800). We were down to five handed, and it folded around the SB. He limped in, and I raise to 2000 with TT from the BB. He called, and the Flop was 9 6 3. He checked, I bet 2600, and he called. Turn was [963] 4. He checked, and I went All-In for 5800. He thought for a moment, and called with Q9o. He missed the River, and I doubled up. He was still in, but had less than 1500 chips left.

I knocked out the 4th place player in a race, AK vs his TT, as I flopped an Ace.

The three handed play lasted in to the next level (500/1000). The Button folded, and the SB limped (the Q9o guy from before), even though he only had 2500 total. I'm the BB with ATd, and put him All-in. He shrugged his shoulders, and called with 32o (Why even limp in, let alone call off your chips?) Surprisingly, he didn't double up.

The Heads-Up match started with me having a 2-1 chip lead. My opponent was an 60's gentleman who had been playing rather tight. However, it was rather obvious from the start that he just wanted to get this over with. He had gotten a phone call, and then started overbetting. It seemed he wanted get his chips in the middle, although there was no mention of a deal by him. I would have done so if he mentioned it, but there was no way I was gonna bring it up.

Unfortunately, I wasn't getting any cards, and he was quickly catching up to me. I did get QQ in the SB, and limped. He didn't raise, and the Flop was K-high. We both checked, and the Turn was an Ace. He checked again, so I bet to end this hand. He quickly folded.

Finally, I limped with A3o. He raised to 4k, and I 3-Bet to 14k. He quickly called, and assumed I was All-In, but I still had 5k - 7k behind. The Flop was 7c 4c 3c. He went All-In. I hate this Flop, as I don't have a Club. But I do have a Pair, so I had to call. He turned over QTh, and missed. We counted the stacks, and I had him covered by one 500 chip.

First place was $240 after the Dealer Tip.

If It Wasn't For Luck...

2011-10-20T07:21:00.001-07:00

6:55 $300 - I walk into GSR on Saturday night and immediately get seated at $1/$2 table. It has just 6 players, with the biggest stack around $400. I recognize a couple of old locals.

7:30 $299 - Table is now full with 9 players. Half are over 50, and the play is as you would expect it to be.

I limped in the Cutoff with A7d. Five players saw the Flop Ac Qh 4d. It checked to me, and I bet $7. Only the SB called, a 50's Lady. Turn [Ac Qh 4d] Ah. We both check. River [Ac Qh 4d Ah] Jc. She bet $20. I called, expecting to chop. She showed KTo for Broadway.

Two hands later, it folded to me, and I raised to $7 with 75c. Hyjack & BB called. Flop Kc 8s 4c. I bet $15 with my Flush and Gutshot Draws, and they both called. Turn [Kc 8s 4c] Th. BB (60's Guy) led out $25. I call, and Hyjack folds. River [Kc 8s 4c Th] 2c. BB checked, so I bet $40. He called, and mucked what I'm assuming was Two Pair.

Later, I limped in Mid with A3c. Button (30's guy) raised to $7. Three of us saw the Flop, Ad Kc 6h, and everyone checked. Turn [Ad Kc 6h] 4c. I bet $15 with Top Pair and Nut Flush Draw. The Button, who was the preflop raiser, min-raised to $30. I call, hoping for a Club. River [Ad Kc 6h 4c] 7h. I checked, and the Button counted out $80, which was more than 60% of his stack. I asked if he had AK or KK before I folded. He showed AKs.

8:00 $389 - I've been very active, so I've fallen behind on my notes. Best hand was me raising to $5 from UTG with T8s. (I only raised to $5 because the table was getting shorthanded when some players stepped away from the table.) Only the BB called. I hit a Backdoor Flush vs what I'm assuming was Trip Ks, and got $40 on the River.

8:30 $397 - Quiet time for me. I really think I got a good table draw. Loose preflop and tight/passive post flop is a great table for me. It doubt there will be many monster pots, but it's a good table to grind out a solid win. I just need to stay a little patient, play position, and stay away from the Bingo hands that can happen at $1/$2.

9:00 $263 - Lost the Hand Of The Day with JJ. So much for not having any monster pots. At least it was mostly profit. Currently, there are 4 $1/$2, 1 $3/$5, and 1 $5/$10 games running.

9:30 $267 - More card dead. I hope this isn't gonna be another night of total card dead after a bad beat.

The Fall Pot Of Gold $1600 Main Event and Deepstacks Live were this weekend. The Main Event had 187 entrants, which is rather good for a Reno Main Event. I did a quick look at the tourney area, and noticed Mike Matusow was still in tourney. (Steve Brecher defeated David 'ODB' Baker for the title on Monday night.)

10:00 $349 - $5 Straddle pot, and I limp with J9h in the BB. Four players see the Flop, 9 3 3. All check. Turn [933] 4. SB bet $15. I call, as does the Straddle. River [933 4] J. SB checked. I bet $20 with my 3-Pair. Straddle folds. SB thinks, talks about paying me off again, but finally folds 77 face up.

Next hand, I have 97o in the SB. Four of us see the Flop of A77. I fire out a Red $5 Chip, and the BB is only caller. She's the 50's lady from earlier, and she's terrible. She buys in short, and calls with any Ace. She's on her third or fourth small buy-in. I bet $10 on Turn, and she called. I bet $15 on River, and she called her last $14 with A9o.

They opened up another $5/$10 table, which is a must-move for the Main Game. Two $5/$10 tables in Reno is impressive, even during tournament time.

10:30 $385 - In a limp pot, I have 9h 9c in the BB. Five of us see the Flop, 7d 3d 2h. I bet $7. Cutoff & Button called, and they are both 60's nits. Turn [7d 3d 2h] 8h. I bet $20 to try to scare them off. Surprisingly, they both called. River [7d 3d 2h 8h] 2d. All players checked, and I'm good.

11:00 $312 - $5 Straddle pot, and I'm the BB with ATo. Four players see the Flop, Td 7h 4d. For whatever reason, I checked. Straddle bet $7. I decided that I'm gonna check raise him. But... the Button raised $20. He's an old Nit I've played with before at the Peppermill. I just called, and Straddle folded. Turn [Td 7h 4d] Ac. I checked my Top Two Pair. He quickly went All-In for $85. I say "I hope we have the same hand," and called. We didn't, as he had TT. I missed my 2-outer.

11:30 $254 - I'm getting a little impatient, and starting to play more Bingo than I should. I limped UTG+2 with JTo, and I was the only caller of a $12 raise. Flop completely missed me. I checked, he bet $15, and I called to Float out of position (who wouldn't). Turn was a King. I lead out $25, and he raised to $75. I'm a moron.

12:00 $245 - A whole lot of nothing happened. Just a steady flow of Q3 and J5 type hands. I really hate leaving just a little down, but it's time to leave. Its past my bedtime, and I'm tired. Even my big bottle of Mountain Dew isn't helping.

Overall, I'm happy with my play. I said this was a good table for me, and I was right. If it wasn't for three hands (a bad beat, a cooler-ish hand, and a minor donk-off), I would have had a nice win.

Hand Of The Day #85

2011-10-16T16:49:00.002-07:00

$1/$2 NL ~ Grand Sierra ~10.15.11

I'm UTG+1 with Js Jc, and I do my standard raise to $7. Five players see a Flop of Qd Qh Jd. It's checks to me, and I bet out $15. I want to bet small enough for the draws to come along. Plus, with this many players calling the preflop raise, I fairly sure that someone has a Q. If it was J 3 3, then it might be a different story.

The player next to me raises to $45, and has a little over $100 behind. It folds around the Button, who thinks for about half a minute before calling.

It's back to me. Well, there's no reason to slowplay here. At least one of them has a Q, if not both of them. I 3-Bet to $145. The first player goes into deep thought, starts whining, and eventually folds K9d for the Gutshot Straight Flush Draw. The Button thinks even longer. Eventually, he calls for his last $88 with QTc

The Turn and River is [Qd Qh Jd] Ad Ah. The Button wins the pot with Queens Full of Aces.

This is example #94 of, "There is no good way to play JJ." Seriously, this isn't a bad beat story. I'm happy with this hand, and I got what I wanted. It just didn't work out. Sometimes the 23% hits.

Nice Hand, Sir.

After the hand, the K9d guy said that I should have slowplayed this, so I could have gotten his money after the Flush hit the Turn. The idea of slowplaying to trap is very overrated. It will usually result in winning a much smaller pot, or letting the other player catch up. In this hand, if I just call the $30 raise, I would have to assume that both players have a Q. The Turn would have been [Qd Qh Jd] Ad. That could have easily scared off the Button with QTc, since their kicker wouldn't even play.

Granted, if the Button folded on the Turn, then I would have won the pot. But that is results-oriented thinking, and shouldn't be part of how you look back at hands.

GSR $400 Bounty - End of Level 6 (200/400/50)

2011-10-09T16:24:00.003-07:00

76 players for this one, which right about where I said it would be. That means they missed another guarantee by 24 players, so we have an overlay of $7200

Things were rather quiet for me, due to lack of chips and cards. I never got over 10k chips, but didn't fall below the 5k mark. I played a few hands. I won some small ones, and stabbed at some others at the wrong time.

Towards the start of Lv6 (200/400/50), they broke our table. After about two orbits of folding at my new table, I shoved for 4500 with AJc after one player limped. The Button thought for a moment, and called. He's collect two bounties since I sat down, and says he is playing his rush as he shows KTo. I tell him that I don't mind the call, as I will either get chips or be put out of my misery. Naturally, a Ten hit the Flop. The Turn was a Q, giving me a Broadway draw. But, as you've probably guessed by now, the River was a brick, and I walk out of the GSR somewhere around 40th place.

GSR $400 Bounty - End of Level 3 (100/200)

2011-10-09T14:09:00.002-07:00

Lv1 (50/100) 7-handed. UTG+1 raised to 300. A couple of players called. I'm the SB with As Ad, and 3-Bet to 1600. UTG+1 folded, but one of the other players called. Flop Kc 7c 3s. I bet 2600. She thought for a moment, and went All-In for 6300 more. I don't think she has a monster by how long she took, so I call. She has Kd Jh, and missed her 5-outer. Bounty #1.

Two notable players at my table. First is a lady who is a regular in the Reno tournaments. I'm glad she's at my table because she's a world-class calling station.

The second player is an older gentleman named Woody who I thought was at a WPT Final Table. As it turns out, he was at the LAPC with Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth.

Lv2 (75/150) 8-handed. Folded around to the Button, who raised to 400. I'm the SB with As Ah (again). I decided to just call, as the Button seems to be a tight player. The two of us saw a Flop of Js Tc 5c. I checked, he bet 750, and I called. Turn 6d. I check, and he bet 1500. I think he's got a real hand, so I check raise to 4000. He called. I tried to bet 6500, which would put the Button All-In, before the Dealer put out the River card. But the Dealer was too quick, and it was 3d. The Button thought for a good minute, but folded. Almost Bounty #2

A Kid sat down on my direct Left. He a college kid who also a Pro. He's talking about California and Nevada poker stuff with others at the table. I hate that he's on my Left, but I have enough chips to be patient. Unfortunately, he's off to a good start, and has already collected a bounty.

Lv3 (100/200) 8-handed. I raise to 525 in Mid with QQ. The Kid 3-Bet to 1600. It folded around to me. It's close whether to 4-Bet or call, but I decide to 4-Bet to 4000. He asks how much I've got, which is more than he's got. He just calls, and the Flop is Th 7h 3s. I bet 6500. He thinks for a moment, and ships it All-In. I call, and he's got AA. I miss my 2-outer, and send him 21575 chips.

So much for being patient and playing small pot poker. Maybe I didn't need to 4-Bet. But with the 10-high Board, I was still gonna lose a chunk of chips.

I have 7875 chips.

GSR $400 Bounty - "Shuffle Up & Deal"

2011-10-09T12:09:00.002-07:00

This tournament has 12k chips, with 40 minute levels. The bounty is $50. There is a break every three levels, and that's when I will make the next post.

For this tournament series, Grand Sierra Resort has been doing guarantees for various tournament. According to the thread on 2+2, they have been badly missing their guarantees, as they are around 1 for 8 up to today. One of them had an overlay over $16k. This one has a $30k guarantee, which means they need 100 player in order to hit it. I would be stunned if that happens, as I expect the total entrants to be in the 60-80 range. I'm not sure if this one has re-entries, but that would help.

Right now, they have 11 tables set up. The tables are 10-handed, but only have eight stacks. My table has five players, and I'm the youngest.

Very first hand, I hit a Straight, and won a decent pot.

Chip Leader!

Happy Anniversary

2011-10-06T07:22:00.001-07:00

One year ago today, I turned off of I-80 with the U-Haul, and arrived in Reno to start my new life. So, was it worth it? Am I happy that I did it?

In a word, abso-fucking-lutely.

The best thing about living in Reno has been the weather. It's always sunny in Reno, as the Sierra Mountains block most of the storm fronts that come off the Pacific Ocean. Even during the winter, it's sunny most days. That is a big difference from the Cleveland area, where the sun might shine 5-7 days from November to March.

As a mailman, I love the lack of rain. During the summer, there was a three month period of no measurable rainfall. Yesterday, we had our first storm system in months. The amount of rain falling from the sky was not that much, and it was gone in a few hours, followed by more sunshine. It's a big difference from the all-day soakers that we would get in NE Ohio.

Since there no rain, there is also no humidity. The summer temperatures are in the mid to upper 90's, but it doesn't feel like it. Yes, there were a couple of days when it was damn hot out there, and that sun can be very intense with the higher elevations. But overall, it's much better to be outside all day in Reno rather than Cleveland.

Even the winters are milder. The coldest that the daily high temperature got was around 25 degrees. Back east, it was not uncommon to have a full week with daytime temperatures hitting the 10's or even single digits.

Up in the mountains, they got buried in snow last winter. It was so much, that the ski resorts were still open on Memorial Day weekend. But down in Reno, we only had a few snowfalls that added up to around 12 inches for the entire winter. Cleveland had at least five different blizzards that dropped more than 12 inches of snow each.

Anyways, this isn't "The Biggest Little Weather Blog In The World", so it's time to talk about the main reason I moved across the country. Living five minutes away from the two best poker rooms in Reno has been glorious, especially after being used to drive 2+ hours to either Detroit or Mountaineer / Pittsburgh.

However, I'm now playing less hours per week than I did back in Cleveland, and that is because of work. Back in Ohio, I was Regular Carrier. I had a route, no mandatory overtime, and a set schedule for off days. Since I transferred to a new office, I had to start over on the seniority list as a sub, I am working six days a week, 55+ hrs each week. I haven't had a day off since June.

I was playing cards on my off day, and maybe the night before when I headed up for an overnighter. I also had my Saturday nights home game, and sometimes on Sundays. Now, I'm trying to play on Thursday and Saturday nights for a couple of hours, and on Sundays. But some weeks, that doesn't even happen. These days, a four hour session at a $1/$2 table is a long session for me.

Unfortunately, I don't see my work schedule improving much in the next year or two. At least I'm getting a huge paychecks every two weeks. "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned, but money earned is guaranteed."

One thing I do miss about living back east is having buddies to talk poker with. I don't have anyone out here to discuss poker, and that's probably why I'm still doing this blog.

As far as my results for the past year, they've been good and bad, as you loyal readers have noticed. How much of that was variance and how much was me is anyone's guess.

Because of my lack of free time, I really haven't been trying to get better or focus on bigger games. I guess you could say I'm now a "Recreational Bumhunter". I play for fun when I have a chance. When my work schedule improves, then maybe I can take poker more seriously, by focusing on bigger games and trying to become a better player.

On a side note, the Grand Sierra is having their Fall Pot Of Gold tournament series now. On Sunday, they're having a $400 Bounty tournament at noon ($50 Bounty). I haven't done a Live Blog since the WSOP, so I'm gonna do one for this tournament. Tune in at 12n (3pm EST) for the first entry. Hopefully, I can actually make it to the dinner break this time.

What About Bob?

2011-10-02T13:57:00.003-07:00

I sat down at the $1/$2 table, and it looked like a typical $1/$2 table. The gentleman on my left is an older nit who is also named Greg D. He's a regular at the Peppermill, and we joke about our names whenever we see each other.

The table played fairly normal for a $1/$2 game. You know, tight and passive. I was a little card dead. I did play a few hands with mixed results. After an hour, I was down a little when this hand happened:

I limped in the SB with JTo. Around five players saw a Flop of A Q 8. I lead out for $7 with my well-hidden Double Gutshot (K or 9). One or two players called. Turn [AQ8] K. Sweet! I bet $15. A Mid player raised to $55, and it folded back to me. So far, the Mid player seemed to be a no-nonsense player. I don't see any reason to slowplay, so I 3-Bet to $115. He thought for a bit, and called the extra $60. Before the River card was dealt, I started to go All-In for $122. The River was [AQ8 K] T. That's a terrible card for me, as it would scare some players. He thought for over a minute. Eventually, he called because the pot was so big. I show my hand, and he mucked his hand in disgust. One of his cards flipped over, 8s.

Later on, the table was playing rather calm, so I tried the Button straddle to $5. A couple of players limped. I looked down at AKo, and raised to $20. The BB and Cutoff called. Flop J T T. They both checked, I decided not to c-bet. Turn [JTT] 5. Again, they both check. I could probably bet, and take it down. But if I check, one of them could stab at it, or I could get some value if an A, K or Q hits the River. The River [JTT 5] 6. BB checks. Cutoff bet $20. I seriously doubt he's betting a 6 in this spot. It's probably a T that he slowplayed, or he has nothing. I can beat nothing, and it's only $20 to win $80. I quickly called, and he had KQo for a missed Straight draw. We talked about the hand afterwards. I told him the River bet was too small, and betting the Turn would have been better to either take the pot down, or build the pot for your draw.

There is a 60's gentleman who's been losing, and we'll call him Bob. We have played various pots together, and he recently sucked out by calling with nothing on the Flop and hitting an Overcard. In another pot, I stabbed at a Flop of Q J 5 with just K8o. Only Bob reluctantly called. I bet the Turn, and Bob reluctantly called. I bet around $60 on the River, which would put Bob All-In. He thought for a moment, and said, "Well, I guess I'm going home." (I love to hear that when I'm bluffing.) He pushed his chips forward, and I said "King High". He showed A2o, no pair and no draw.

Less than an orbit later, I limped UTG with AQo. The Flop came Q-high. I bet $11, and got one caller (guess who?). I bet $25 on the Turn, and $45 on the River. It took him almost a minute to call the River bet, but I got back a big chunk of the money I bluffed off earlier.

A bit later, the table got a little shorthand due to open seats and other players stepping away. It folded around to the Button who limped. I was the SB with KQc. I raised it up to $5 to juice up the pot. The BB, Bob, 3-bet to $10. Both the Button and I called. Flop Ac Jd Tc. A decent Flop for me with Broadway and the Royal Flush Draw. I debated whether or not to bet, but I decided to check to the raiser. Both Bob and the Button checked. Turn [Ac Jd Tc] Jc. I think check was the right choice as I just hit my Royal. I check again, and so does everyone else. River is whatever. I bet $30, and only Bob called (of course). He had KK. The Peppermill has a Progressive Royal Flush Bonus that was at $550 for a Club Royal.

It didn't take very long to get into another pot with Bob. I limped in the Cutoff with 97o. Bob was the BB and raised to $10. I called, along with another player. Flop 9 8 6. Bob bet $15, the other player folded, and I raised to $40 with Top Pair and an Open-Ender. Bob mumbled something about "Again?" and called. Turn [986] J. Bob checked. I decided to check for some pot control. I really don't know where I'm at in this hand, and Bob will ~~probably~~ call if I bet. River [986 J] T. Bob goes All-In for $77. Well, I hit my Straight, but I lose to any Q. I make the call. Bob shows JJ for a Set, and Bob walks away from the table.

I left shortly after Bob did. Not because Bob left, but because it was 10pm. I was planning on this being a quick session, even though I am catching some great cards. Even my last two hands were good. UTG+1, I limped with KJo, folded to a raise, but the Flop was K-high. I don't know if I would have been good or not. UTG, I had AK, limped in, and took it down on the Flop.

I cashed out +$349 for 2.25 hours of play. I also got the $550 for the Royal, and $100 for the High Hand Bonus that the Peppermill gives away every four hours. So when I added up everything for this day (including the 3-Card Poker, Slots, Video Poker, a $10 Football parley, the $95 Cash Me Out, and this $1/$2 session), I went home for the evening up $654.

LOL Donkaments #7

2011-09-29T05:30:00.020-07:00

Peppermill 6:30 $95 Cash Me Out - 09.25.11

It was a small crowd for this one, as we eventually had 26 runners when the late buy-in period ended.

There was a player at my table who we will call Fred. He is a 60's gentleman with an Indian accent. He said he had never played this game before. As it turned out, Fred had no idea what this game was, or anything about the game. He didn't understand things like blinds, betting, how hands were determined, or what beat what. He seemed to think this was a table game, as he held his cards like he was at a Blackjack table, and asked the Dealer a couple of times what he should do with his cards. You can do this at various table games, like Pia-Gow. The Dealer said that he could not give Fred any advice, and he could only tell Fred what his options were. I've played a lot of home games with some very new players, but I have never played with someone who was a complete blank slate.

Once I realized what was going on with Fred, I tried to play in every pot that he was in. For example, I limped from early position with 76o because it was Fred's Big Blind. It folded around to the SB, who called. Fred min-raised to 100. Naturally, I called, but the SB folded. Flop was 4 3 2. Fred bet 50, and I called with Two Overs and a Gutshot. Turn [4 3 2] 6. Once again, he bet 50, and I called. River [4 3 2 6] 6. Now Fred goes All-In, and I quickly call. He proudly turned over AQo, and I showed my Trip 6s. The Dealer gathered up the pot, and shipped it to me. Fred didn't understand why he lost, because an Ace and a Queen are bigger than a Seven and a Six. (No, I'm not making this up. He actually said that.) The Dealer did his best to explain how the game worked, but I'm not sure that Fred got it.

However, Fred did pull out $30 to use his first rebuy, in spite of various players at the table saying that he should save his money. I was not one of those players, as I mentioned that tournaments are a good way to learn the game. One of my poker sayings is, "Tournaments are for teaching, and Cash Games are to get schooled."

On a side note, I have often been critical of the Peppermill on this blog. This is mostly because of how disorganized they are about various things. But this time, I have to give some major props to the dealers for how they handled a complete newbie at the table. The first one was a full-time dealer named Francis. He was very patient, courteous, and professional with Fred. It's a very frustrating situation for a dealer to constantly answer the same basic questions over and over, and he did a wonderful job of it. The other dealers after him also did very professional job.

Anyways, back to the action. Shortly after I got Fred's first buy-in, I limped for 100 in the Cutoff with 44 . The BB raised to 250, and I was the only caller. Flop was Kd Qh 4c. The BB bet 250 or 300. He's a 50's gentleman whom I know nothing about. I just called, as I thought the bet was weak, and I didn't want to scare him off. Turn was [Kd Qh 4c] 2d. Now the BB checked. I grabbed a 500 chip, and tossed it forward. The BB thought for a moment, and called. River was [Kd Qh 4c 2d] 7d. The BB checked again. For some reason, my Spider-Sense was tingling, as I thought that he could be slowplaying a big hand. But I had a Set, so I bet another 500 chip. The BB went All-In for around 1300 more. I thought for a little bit, and made the crying call. After all, I was up from the hand with Fred. The BB showed A8d for a backdoor Nut Flush. Nice Hand, Sir.

Play continued, but a rather slow pace due to Fred. He had tightened up, and was playing considerably less hands. But when he played, he either limped or was All-In. He hadn't figured out that you could raise something between a min-raise and everything. He was still asking a lot of questions, and slowing the game down. Eventually some of the old nits started snapping at Fred for being so slow. I was getting annoyed at the old nits for "taping on the 'tank", and almost spoke up. I didn't want to cause any problems, so I simply bit my tongue.

There was a group of guys who showed up late, and were able to buy-in. One of them was seated on my direct Right, and he bought in using all his rebuys. He's a large 40's guy, and we'll call him Larry. (By the way, I'm completely making up these names.) I remember seeing Larry earlier in the day when I was playing 3-Card Poker. He was with his buddies at a roulette table, and was very loud and rude with everyone around him. A supervisor came to that table, and warned Larry about his unfriendly language concerning the lady dealer. I could tell before he even played a hand that he was going to be a bullshit artist. And I seemed to be right, as he raised his very first hand, and took it down on the Flop. A few hands later, Larry raised again, and got one caller. Larry bet on the Flop, got called, and then put the other player All-In on the Turn. The other player called with AK, no pair. It was good as Larry had AJ, no pair.

A little later (maybe in the 100/200/25 level), Larry raised again. I had AJo, and considered a 3-Bet. But I thought that Larry might 4-Bet All-In, and I didn't want to call everything with AJ, so I just called the initial raise. The Flop was Js 9s 5s. Surprisingly, Larry checked, so I bet 800 with Top Top. Larry looked over at my stack, and pushed his big chips forward. Even though I didn't have a Spade, I insta-called. Larry had KQo (no spade) for a Gutshot, and proceeded to hit it on the River. Nice Hand, Sir.

I used my last rebuy for 4000 chips, and was rather card dead. Larry kept hitting hands, and stayed very active. Since I had position on him, I was able to stay out of his way. But the blind of 100/200/25 and 150/300/50 started eating away at my stack, and I got short-stacked.

Once again, it folded around to Larry on the Button in the 150/300/50 level. He simply grabbed some big chips, and bet them. I looked down in the SB at 76c. Not exactly premium holdings, but Larry's range is more than half the deck. I don't remember exactly how many chips I had, but I figured this was a good spot to gamble. Larry had a better hand than I expected, AJo, but I still had two live cards and a live suit. The Board ran out, and the lowest card was a 9.

I finished in 21st place, and this was the first time in quite a while that I didn't even make the first break. Fred was still at the table. He had some ups and downs, including using his last rebuy. I don't remember the specifics.

I walked out of the tourney room, and into the main poker room. It was kinda slow for a Sunday, with around five tables open. I considered just heading home, and putting an end to this losing day. But it was only 7:45pm, and I did have money in my pocket.

I walked over to the desk to see if they had any open seats. The only one was at the $1/$2 table. So I bought $300 in chips, and walked over to the table.

(To be continued...)

Family Day

2011-09-27T20:22:00.001-07:00

This weekend should have been a great poker weekend for me. It was the $2500 Main Event of the Atlantis's WPT Regional Event. I wasn't planning on playing in the tourney, but the cash games are always better during a tournament series. It was also "Street Vibrations" this weekend. It's a city-wide festival for bikers. Various casinos had different events for the festival, with most of them centered in Downtown Reno and Sparks. Perhaps you heard about some of the special events on the news?

However, I did say "should" because I didn't play any poker at the Atlantis. Instead, I had some family come into town for the weekend. My uncle from Cleveland (the one who helped me move across the country) and his long-time girlfriend came into town on Saturday. They stayed here until Monday morning, and then drove down to San Frisco for a few days. They will be back here on Friday, and head home on Saturday.

We had dinner after I got off work on Saturday night. On Sunday, we had some breakfast, and then went for a long drive around Lake Tahoe, as they wanted to see Nevada. We went down the California side as we made our way to South Lake Tahoe. We took a quick break at Harvey's . They ended up playing a little Video Poker, and I watched the end of the Browns game (we won 17-16). We then headed to Carson City, the state capital, and then up to Virginia City, which is an Old West town.

After we got back to civilization, my uncle and I went up to the Peppermill, as he wanted to get his gamble on. I hung out with him, as it would have been rude of me to run off to the poker room. First, he wanted to play some slots that he did good with on his last visit. I played two different machines. I won $50 on the first, and lost $40 on the second.

Next, he wanted to play some 3-Card Poker. I haven't been playing 3-Card Poker in this town because the pay tables for the bonus hands suck. But, as a gracious host, I bought in for $200. Naturally, I showed off my uncanny ability to sit at any pit game with a hot dealer. Not "hot" as in attractive, but "hot" as in she couldn't miss. She hit three Flushes, a Straight, a bunch of Pairs, and some A-highs. I did get some cards, but nothing that could compete with what she was getting. It didn't take me too long to dust off my buy-in.

In fact, she wiped out the entire table, except my uncle. He wasn't winning a lot, but he wasn't losing either. He kept playing, so I just stood back and watched. They switched dealers, and the new one wasn't hitting as many hands, and actually didn't qualify a few times. My uncle didn't seem to want to quit yet, so I pulled another $100 bill out of my pocket and bought in. I wasn't getting great cards, but I was doing ok. Ultimately, I never got anything higher than a Pair. You can't win in this game without cards, and I eventually went busto. My uncle walked away from the table +$25.

We then went back to their hotel to pick-up his girlfriend, and went out to dinner. Afterwards, they dropped me back at my apartment, and went back to the hotel to rest. They were tired, as they were still on East Coast Time.

I walked through my apartment door at 6:10pm. I then remembered the Peppermill's $95 Cash Me Out tournament starts at 6:30. Since I haven't played any poker since last Sunday, I refilled my pockets with cash, and headed back to the Peppermill.

(To Be Continued...)

Hand Of The Day #84

2011-09-21T23:00:00.004-07:00

Harrah's Reno ~ $1/$2 NLHE ~ 09.18.11

I don't remember the exact details of the Preflop or Flop action. I apologize for this, as it does have some effect on the important part of the hand. But here is my best recollection...

There was a normal raise preflop ($7-$10) from a player in early position. I called in the Hyjack with 8s 7h. Four or five players saw a Flop of Qd 6h 5s. The raiser checked. I think I bet something like $20 with my Open-Ender. The Button called, and the raiser check-raised All-In for around $30-$35. Only the Button and I called.

Turn [Qd 6h 5s] 9c. Bingo! I make a value bet of $50 with my Nut Straight. The Button doesn't take too long to call. He's an Old Man, and he's been playing like an Old Man. A little on the loose side, but very on the passive side. I'm glad he called the $50, but I was a little surprised, as a $50 bet is huge for this table. I'm wondering if he just has a good Top Pair, or something stronger.

River [Qd 6h 5s 9c] 6c. Well, that's not a card I wanted to see. I was gonna bet $75, but I decided to just bet $50. He called the first $50, so hopefully he will call this one.

Well, he didn't call. Instead he said "Raise" rather forcefully. He started to play with his chips, and I went into deep thought. I hate it when Old Geezers say "Raise" on the River, because they are never, ever bluffing. Before he says his raise amount, I tell him not to bother, and show my cards, hoping that he would show his hand. He did, as he had Ac 6d for Trip 6s with an Ace kicker.

Doh!

Over the years, I've learned one of the most important thing that you need to be a winning $1/$2 player is the $20 Value Bet on the River. Most $1/$2 players just want to check it down, get to showdown as cheaply as possible, and hope they have the best hand. So if you can squeeze out that extra $20 (or $10 or $50) on the River every time you have the best hand, then your win-rate will be much higher.

In order to make these thin Value Bets, you need to be able to read hands. Now I will admit that I'm not the best hand reader, but the average $1/$2 player plays their hand almost face up. So being able to follow the action, and determine when I'm 70% likely to have the best hand isn't that difficult at a typical $1/$2 table.

The other thing you need to be able to do is to Bet/Fold. Even though you willingly put money into the pot, you need to be able to fold when your opponent says "Raise". As I said, the average $1/$2 player wants to get to showdown cheaply, especially the older players. So if one of them raises on the River after you bet, then they have a monster hand.

And that goes for this guy, who raised with a hand that he thought was a monster. Now I have no clue why he was still in this hand with just A6, but I'm not gonna blame him. After all, I was the one who folded to what was probably going to be a min-raise of $50.

I have to admit that it never occurred to me that he could just have Trip 6s. If it had been the Queen that paired on the River, then Trips would seem more likely. It's certainly in his range, but at the very bottom of it.

I'm so used to having the mentality of Bet/Fold on my River Value Bets that I just assumed I was beat. And if you go back through this blog and look at the many times that I've folded on the River, I'm almost always right.

One difference in this hand compared to some of the other hands was the Board (Qd 6h 5s 9c 6c). There was no Flushes or Four Card Straights out there. It's a rather non-dramatic Board, and my Straight was somewhat hidden. That's why he thought he had the best hand. Of course, if I had Two Pair or a Set on the Turn, then his raise would be suicidal. But, again, I'm not here to criticize him.

This hand was a valuable lesson for me to not always assume that the opponent is raising with the Nuts. I need to take the texture of the Board into consideration, and figure out what hand he thinks that he has beat.

And when I say "valuable", I mean the preflop action (roughly $25-$40), plus around $100 ($30-$35 x 3) on the Flop, plus $100 ($50 x 2) on the Turn, plus $100 ($50 x 2) on the River, plus whatever he was gonna raise (probably $50-$70).

Ouch!

Rants & Raves: Why I Will Never Play At Eldorado Again

2011-09-14T22:08:00.006-07:00

I've never played much at Eldorado for a couple of reasons. Going downtown is a bit of a pain for me, as well as their parking garage being so far away from the poker room. I've also had trouble getting a seat, and it was not uncommon for me to simply leave and go to other room.

I have blogged about some previous issues with the Eldorado. In How Much Tolerance Do You Give A Drunk?, the Dealers allowed some drunk kids to do whatever they wanted because one of the kids was a regular in the room. In Honoring Washington, Lincoln, and Jackson, they gave an open seat at their only $1/$2 table to one of their Dealers rather than a paying customer like me.

But the Final Straw for me was last week (Wednesday, Sept 7). I had a rare day at work when I got off at 5pm. I decided to head over to the Eldorado and play in their 6pm $55 tourney because I haven't play in that tourney for a long time.

The tourney had 15 players. It was the 4th level, 200/400, and our table had seven players. I was the BB in this hand. UTG folded. For whatever reason, UTG+1 paused, and went into thought. During the delay, the SB said Call, and tossed out a 500 chip, in addition to the 200 that was already in the pot. The Dealer told everyone to hold on, and the action was still on the UTG+1 player, who eventually raised to 1600. It folded around to the SB, and the Floor was called over by the Dealer. The situation about the SB acting out of turn was explained to the Floor, and the Floor gave his ruling.

In most poker rooms, there would be one of two rulings. Either the SB can pull his 200 call back because "action out of turn is not binding", or he has to leave the full 400 in the pot because "any money put into the pot must stay in the pot".

I said "most poker rooms" because the Floor of the Eldorado came up with a 3rd option. He said that the SB must call the full 1600 because the SB said "Call". At the start of the tourney, one of the rules that the Floor mentioned was, "Any action, physical or verbal, is binding whether it is in order or out of turn."

To me, this was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. This goes against any logical set of poker rules, including the TDA and Robert's Rules of Poker. It's also a terrible rule because it punishes new/bad players, as they are the ones most likely to act out of turn. It also seems like a great way to angleshoot because you can act out of turn. Any rule that creates more angleshots than the rule eliminates is a terrible rule.

I wasn't the only one who was dumbfounded by this as the entire table reacted quite loudly to this ruling. We all said that it was bullshit, and asked various questions. Most of the Floor's answers were, "He shouldn't have acted out of turn." "He did say Call." "I said the rules at the start of the tournament."

This conversation between us and the Floor lasted for quite a few hands, and I ended up asking, "So if another player had moved All-In after the UTG+1 raised, then the SB would have had to call the All-In?"

"Yes, he said Call. Verbal is binding."

Now, this silliness is enough for me to never play a tournament there again, but unfortunately, it wasn't the end of sideshow by the Floor.

At the Final Table with about five players left, I was sitting in the 6 Seat. There was a Kid in the 8 Seat who pushed All-In. The noteworthy part of this hand was the Floor, who was sitting right behind the Kid. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Floor react surprisingly when the Kid pushed All-In. The Kid was called by another player, turned over K8s, and was eliminated.

This reaction by the Floor surprised me for two reasons. First, I'm not the most observant poker player, and I really don't see things like tells. So for me to have noticed the Floor's reaction, it means that the reaction was rather dramatic.

Second, what the fuck is the Floor doing looking at players' cards, let alone reacting to them? As it turns out, this wasn't the only time he did it. For the rest of the Final Table, he kept hovering around the table, peeking at players' cards, and making comments like "Give me some chips, and I'll show you guys how to play a Big Stack."

I kept my mouth shut during this pathetic display of professionalism, which wasn't easy for me. Fortunately, I was sitting against a wall, and he wasn't able to hover around me. If had tried to look at my cards, I would have gone postal on him, saying something like, "If you try that again, I will call the Nevada Gaming Commission on you." (I would do it, too).

As it turned out, I ended up finishing 2nd place for $202. (I had the chip lead heads-up, but lost a flip, A9 v QJ.) For the first time ever in Reno, I grabbed the $202 chips, and walked out of the poker room without leaving a tip.

The complete lack of professionalism of this place doesn't deserve a tip, and they will never get my business again until I hear about some major changes in how this room is run.

The manager of the poker room is Margie Heintz. I'm not sure I've ever seen her at the Eldorado, and I doubt I could pick her out of a crowd. She has been in the poker industry for a long time, and is very well respected. She was even inducted into The Women in Poker Hall of Fame earlier this month.

Unfortunately, I have to say something rather mean about her now.

Either she is unaware that her poker room is being run with a complete lack of professionalism, and therefore has no business running a poker room. Or she believes this is the proper way to run a poker room, and therefore has no business running a poker room in 2011.

Chop Pot Classic

2011-09-09T07:38:00.003-07:00

I mentioned earlier that I was planning on playing in five events at the Peppermill's Chop Pot Classic. Well, I only played three of them. You've already heard about the first one, so here are the other two.
Since the HORSE tourney went so late, I skipped the 12p $240 Crazy Pineapple-8 on Sunday. This was a good thing for two reasons. First, I really don't care for the game. Second, they only had two tables for that one.

I did play in the 7pm $130 Stud-8 tourney, which had 31 runners. I ended up making the Final Table again. I wish I could bring you some hands, but it's really hard to remember all those cards while I'm trying to focus on the hand. Hold'em is much easier to blog about because there are only your two cards, the Board, and maybe the cards from one or two players.

When I got the Final Table, I had an average stack. I admit that the Stud games are among my weakest, due to lack of experience and I don't know the math. But the level of play in this tournament was pathetic. There was a guy, let's call him Mike, who was terrible, even though he arrived at the Final Table with one of the top stacks. He was playing 80% of the hands, and seem to be completely ignoring the Low part of the game. He would also have the chips in his hand ready to call or raise, even when the action was at the other end of the table. This was great for me because Mike was on my direct Left. When I saw he was gonna complete, I would usually fold.

Unfortunately, Mike was also having a very good day. Hence the large pile of chips he brought to the Final Table. While at the Final Table, he had three Full Houses. So there was no reason for him to slow down. It did manage to keep me from getting out of hand, and playing tight.

Eventually, I got really short-stacked. I had to wait for a quality hand to commit my chips, and it finally came (5h 4h) 7h. Even though the 6h was showing with another player, I had to go with it. Mike had the Bring-In but completed. One player called, and I raised. Mike 3-Bet, the other player folded, I raised All-In. Mike had KK. 4th Street was (5h 4h) 7h Ad, which gave me a ton of outs for both the High and Low. However, the last three cards were all bricks for my hand. I left the poker room in 4th place for $320.

On Labor Day, they had a $130 Omaha-8 at noon, and a $130 HORSE at 4pm. As expected, the Omaha had a bigger field then my other two tournament, with 49 players. Also, since this was a noon tournament, the levels were 30 minutes long instead of the 20 minutes for the evening tourneys.

I had started doing a Running Log of this tournament, but quit doing it after two levels. I just didn't feel like jotting down all those extra cards. As it turns out, I really should have done it, as I made another deep run. That's the reason I didn't play the 4pm HORSE.

Once it looked like I was probably going to make the Final Table, I did start writing down some notes and hands:

- 2k/4k level, 15 players left. I'm the Button, and raised (4k) with Ah Kh Ks Td. Four players called. I flopped Top Set, hit Top Boat on the Turn, and got two callers on the River with no Low on the Board. I have 47k chips.

- We got the Final Table of 10 players at the end of the 2k/4k level. I had 33k, which was an average stack. For whatever bizarre reason, the Peppermill decided to pay out nine spots in a tournament with 49 players, which is almost 20% of the players. Of course, since this is Reno, two of the players suggested that we pay the 10th person something. After all, they did make it to the Final Table. I normally stay quiet during these discussions because my opinions won't be popular, but I just couldn't stand it. I said that this tourney only had 49 players, and I vote we only pay six places, which would be more reasonable. That quickly killed the conversation.

- Towards the end of the 3k/6k level, eight players left. A very active player raised (6k) from UTG+1. I called from the Cutoff with Ac 3c 7h 4d, and so did the BB. Flop Qc 8c 4c. The BB and UTG+1 checked. I bet (3k) my Nut Flush and 2nd Nut Low Draw, and they both called. Turn [Qc 8c 4c] 2s. Nut Nut, Baby! They checked, I bet (6k), BB folded, and UTG+1 called. River [Qc 8c 4c 2s] 9c. UTG+1 checked, I bet (6k), he thought for a bit, and called. I just show the A3c at first. He got that "Are you serious?" look on his face. I don't know what he had, but I heard him mumble something like he only called because of the 4th Club on the River. I now have 67k chips, and am 1st or 2nd in chips.

- I knocked out the 6th and 5th place finishers, which put me around 125k chips. The 4-handed battle lasted for a while. I ended up doubling up a shortstack when they were in the BB, and check-raised me on the Flop with just Top Pair. I had another Pair, and some backdoor draws. Later, I raise from UTG with JTd 34c. He called in the BB. I flopped Middle Pair and a Club Flush Draw. Once again, he check-raised me with just Top Pair. We got it in, and I hit my Flush to knock him out. He was not happy with my play, but I know that hand ranges need to be widened when we are 4-handed.

- The 3-handed battle lasted even longer. There was a short-stack, and another player with a stack close to mine. The bigger stack is named Jason. He's a long time grinder from Northern California. I've seen him at various Reno tournament series, and have played with him a few times. Being 3-handed, there were a lot of Blind vs Blind hands. When Jason and I were Blind vs Blind, I was the SB and he was the BB. We kept getting into big hands that we would both hit hard on the Flop. I would have a J-high Heart Flush on a Low Draw on the Turn (Kh on the Board). He had a Set with the Q-High Heart Flush, but I hit my Low on the River for a chop. In another hand, I raised preflop from the SB with QQ43. The Flop was Ad Qd 5d. We got all All-In, and he had the K2d for the Nut Flush. I hit my Low on the River for a chop.

- Eventually, Jason knocked out the short-stack. He had a large chip lead over me. As I've said before, I try not to start the conversation about making a deal. However, the Blinds are very high now. I have never played Heads-Up Omaha-8, and have to admit that Jason probably has a small edge over me.

So I asked him, "Do you really want to chop pots for the next hour?" He looked at the tournament clock, then at the chips stacks, and then at the payouts. He asked me for a chip count. I had 96k, and he had 198k. He threw out some dollar amounts, and I agreed to it.

I walked out of the Peppermill just before 10pm with $1180 and a 2nd place finish.

As I've mentioned before, it has been a lousy summer for my poker. July and August were terrible, including -$1216 for cash games in August. It's really starting to affect me, and I was planning on taking a couple of weeks off to clear my head after I airballed these tournaments.

Instead, I got a 1st, a 4th, and a 2nd in three tournaments for a profit of $2210.

Sometimes poker is a funny game.

$130 HORSE

2011-09-06T05:30:00.038-07:00

(A reminder for NL players: this was a Limit tournament. When I say a level, it refers to the Small Bet and Big Bet, and not the blinds. For example, the 400/800 level has blinds of 200/400.)

As I already posted, I got off to a rough start on Saturday night at the Peppermill's $130 HORSE tourney, which had 38 players. I won almost no pots for the first few level. Fortunately, that had more to do with being completely card dead, rather than bad luck.

As the levels got bigger, my stack slowly got smaller. Somewhere around the 300/600 or 400/800 level, I hit a low point of 2200 chips. It was looking like it was gonna be a quick night, but then I started to win some pots. Nothing big, like a split pot in Omaha, or winning on 4th Street in Razz, but at these levels, it started to add up.

I got to around 8k in the 600/1200 or 800/1600 level, when I finally got into a big pot. I don't remember the specifics, but by 5th Street in Razz, it was looking like I had a better draw than my opponent. I decided to raise, so we can get all of our chips in the middle. I was right, as I hit an 8-Low and she hit a 9-Low. This gave me big double-up in needed to get back into this tournament.

Our table broke shortly after that hand, and we were down to two tables. I was not at that table very long, as the short stacks were quickly busting out. I did manage to pull off a nice bluff in Stud. I was the Bring-In, and one other player limped in. He checked both 4th and 5th Street, so I fired a Big Bet on 5th. He called both of my bets on 5th and 6th Street. I fired the 7th Street bet without looking at my 7th card. He looked over his cards and my cards for a bit, and then folded. Naturally, I had to show the K-high.

When we got the 9-handed Final Table, I had about 36k chips, which was a Top 3 stack, and it was the 1200/2400 level. Since we all got new seats, we started over with Hold'em. I got into a big hand in the last hand of the level with AJd in the BB, and lost about a third of my chips to AQ. In the very next hand, when the bets went up to 1500/3000, I had AKc in the SB. I got a chunk of those chips back when the Button tried to steal the blinds.

After that, I played the occasional pots trying to play tight. In the Razz round, we were down to eight players, and I played a big Razz pot. By 5th Street, I had (A3)4 6 2, and two other players were in the pot. I bet, and the first player folded. The second player, let's call him Bob, thought for a bit and called. I don't remember all of Bob's cards, but I know he had an 9 8 showing. 6th Street was (A3)4 6 2 3, which was a terrible card for me. It made my board look scarier, and will probably kill my action. I would have much rather had a face card, but I still bet. Bob thought for a while, and called. The Dealer gave us 7th Street face down, and I bet without looking at it. This bet put me All-In, and he called with an 8-Low. The Dealer shipped me the pot of just over 75k chips.

Six player got paid in this one. However, we had no bubble, as there was a double elimination in a hand. Play continued slowly, and nobody mentioned anything about a deal. I've learned not to start the conversation because I don't mind the idea of playing it out. But I also wouldn't mind making a deal. I worked all day delivering mail in the 90 degree sun, and it's well past midnight. I'm tired.

The conversation started when we got down to four players. I was the big stack at the table, so I stayed out of it. The two ladies were interested in a deal, but Bob wanted to play it out. I think this was because he had the #2 stack at the table.

It took quiet a while to knock out the 4th place player, an old lady, in the 12k/24k level. She was All-In the BB of the Hold'em rotation. I was UTG, and limped with T9d. The Button folded, and the SB (Bob) called. Flop Jc Ts 6s. Bob bet into the dry sidepot, I called, as I've noticed that he likes to stab at pots. Turn [Jc Ts 6s] Kd. He checked. I really like that card, as it gave me a Flush Draw and Gutshot, but I just checked. River [Jc Ts 6s Kd] Th. Bob checked, I bet, and he folded. The BB showed 73o for an airball, and collected her 4th place money.

We played for a while 3-handed. It looked like Bob was falling asleep in front of his chips, so I asked him if he still wanted to play it out. He said Yes.

In the Omaha round, the 3rd player gets All-In on the Flop, and both Bob and I call. I only have a Gutshot and 34-Low Draw. I hit the Low on the Turn, but we both check. On the River, Bob bets into a dry sidepot for the 23rd time at this Final Table. I've only got a Pair of 5s and a 43-Low. I'm fairly sure he doesn't have the Nut Low (A3, as there is a 2 on the Board), since he didn't bet the Turn. This pot is huge, as there was a raise preflop. We are only 3-handed, so hand ranges need to be wider. I make the crying call, just in case he's betting a High, and she would stay alive with an emergency Low. As it turned out, he had a Pair of 9s and an A4-Low. She had Two Pair for the High, and I got nothing. This left me with about 40k chips.

Bob knocked out the 3rd player shortly after this hand. He had a roughly 4-1 chip lead over me, as there was 228k chips in play. We were in the Razz rotation, and it was the 16k/32k level. The antes were 2k, the Bring-In was 5k, and it was 16k to complete.

We started Head-Up in the Razz round. The Large card had the Bring-In, the Small completed every single hand, and the Large card folded. We never played a hand for the whole round. For whatever bizarre reason, the Peppermill decided not to give us any 5k chips, so we had 228 Yellow 1k chips on the table. In order to speed things up, I stacked my chips in stacks of 16, so I could just bet one or two stacks. Unfortunately, I fluctuated between 2-4 full stacks.

Early in the Stud round, I had the Bring-In (5k) with a Tc. Bob had completed (16k) with Ks. I then raised (32K), and had about 8k left. My hand was (Qc 2d) Tc. It's certainly nothing great, but I'm really tired. It's time to shove my chips in the middle, and either get lucky or go get some sleep. Well, I got lucky, but not how I thought it would be. Bob folded, much to my surprise. This was very good for two reasons. First, I got more chips for my puny stack. But most importantly, it slowed down Bob. In the next two hand, he had the Bring-In. I completed both times, and he folded.

Next hand, I had the Bring-In with 2h. Bob had a Kc, but just called the 5k. This was surprising, and I was really happy about it. But what made me even happier was looking at my two down cards, QQ. On 4th Street, I had (QQ)2 3. Bob bet (16k), I raised (32k), and he called. 5th Street was (QQ)2 3 4. I bet (32k), and had 5k behind. He just called. We got it in on 6th Street, and all I had was QQ. But that was good enough, as Bob just had K-high and an Open-Ender (like 8765). He miss his outs on 7th, and I was now the chip leader.

We finished up the Stud round with just Bring-Ins, Completes, and Folds. As we're about to start the Stud-8 round, the level goes up to 20k/40k. I think I can outplay Bob in a normal situation, but there are 5.7 Big Bets total between us. Any pots played were gonna be Raise & Fold or All-In. Since this was a split-pot game, most of the All-Ins would probably be split.

For that reason, and the fact that I had worked all day, I decided to try a chop offer. We were relatively close in chips, so I suggested an even money chop and whomever had more chips gets the trophy that the Peppermill gives for their tournament series events. Now that Bob didn't have a big stack any more, he quickly agreed.

At 2am, I walked out of the poker room with $1100 after the Dealer's tip, and this:

Hand Of The Day #83

2011-09-04T09:05:00.003-07:00

Peppermill ~ 09.03.11 ~ $130 HORSE Tournament Lv 1 (50/100 H)

I arrived at the table a few minutes late, and they are in the Hold'em rotation. It's my very first hand, and it folds around to me. I'm the Button with 9c 8d, and decide to just limp (50). The SB folds, and BB checks their option. Flop 9s 7h 4d. BB bet (50), and I decide to raise (100) with my Top Pair. He calls.

Turn [9s 7h 4d] 5h. Once again, he bets (100). I'm thinking that he's got better than One Pair, so I just call.

River [9s 7h 4d 5h] 8c. He bets (100). That's an interesting card. I now have Top Two Pair, but any 6 is a Straight. I already think he has better then One Pair, so I'm beating Two Pair, but I'm losing to a Set or Straight.

I decide to raise (200), and he 3-Bets (300). Ok, now he's probably got a Straight, and I should fold as I got the info I wanted. But this is my first hand, and I guess it's possible that he could be getting stuborn with 75o or some other Two Pair. Plus, it's Level 1 of a tournament. We started with 6k chips, so another 100 doesn't mean much.

I call, and he shows 86h for a Straight. He bet his Open-Ender on the Flop, and hit it on the Turn. Naturally, I had to hit my Top Two Pair on the River.

Yeah, it's been that kind of a summer for me.

September News & Notes

2011-09-01T07:32:00.002-07:00

- I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I haven't been playing tournaments lately. They haven't been going according to plan in the past month or two, so I took a few weeks off from tourneys.

On Sunday, I got back into tourney mode by playing in two daily tourneys, but things haven't improved. I finish 6/23 in the Atlantis $80 Bounty, and 16/36 in the Peppermill $95 Cash Me Out. I was gonna do a LOL Donkament write-up for the Atlantis tourney, but it's hard to get motivated after another frustrating session. I guess that makes me a lousy blogger.

- This weekend is the Chop Pot Poker Classic at the Peppermill. It's a tournament series of mixed limit games, including Omaha-8, Stud-8, HORSE, and Crazy Pineapple-8.

This may come as a surprise, based upon my recent tourney success, but I'm planning on playing the last five events: Saturdays night's $120 HORSE, Sunday's $225 CP-8 and $120 Stud-8, Monday's $120 Omaha-8 and $120 HORSE.

I've never cashed in a non-TV Poker tournament at a casino, and this gives me five chances to remove that black mark from my poker resume.

I'm not sure if I will do a Running Log, but I will hopefully get a few hands for the Mixed Games fans out there.

- Since I've been working so much, I'm gonna finally open a savings account for a poker bankroll. I will start it from my paycheck tomorrow, and I'll be adding some from every paycheck. It will be used most for shot-taking, as my little pile of cash should be enough for my normal poker action.

I am planning on taking one more shot later this year. I'll go into more detail when it gets closer.

300

2011-08-27T07:41:00.002-07:00

This is my 300th blog post.

I realized that #300 was approaching a few weeks ago. I've been trying to decide what to do for this milestone, but I haven't come up with much. So here are a few different things.

- According Blogger's Stats section, the most popular post is the Mountaineer Review, and its in the lead by a 4-1 margin. Others in the Top 10 include my Greektown Review, and other Google-friendly posts like Double Or Nothing, MTT Grinder, and Cash Me Out.

However, the #3 post in the list is a mystery to me. Me & Mrs B is a Running Log from a Saturday night tournament back in July '10. There are no buzz words, or other things that would make it Google-friendly. The only thing unusual about it was that I won the tournament. It's hard to win a tournament, and it's rare that I happen to be doing a Running Log when I end up taking one down.

- So has doing a blog made me a better player? Well, the short answer is No.

I went back a read some old posts, hoping to see some hands that I could point out as a mistake. But every hand that I screwed up back then, I acknowledged in the original post. I really think I have reached a plateau as a poker player. I haven't been improving in the last few years. I don't know if it's because I'm just a recreational player who plays when I have some free time, or because this is good as I am capable of becoming.

Certainly, a small part of me would love to go Pro. And if I ever lost my job, then I think I could survive on Poker for a while. But I don't have any control over my hectic work schedule right now, and that's not gonna change for a long time. Also, my last paycheck was $2500 after taxes and stuff were taken out. I'm on pace to make $80k - $85k this year, and there's no way I could voluntarily leave that.

- What would a milestone post be without a Best Of? Here are two hands from way back when that may have been missed by newer readers.

Hand #1 - $.50/$1 Four Winds (Dec '08)
Lady UTG raises to $6. Five players call. I'm the SB with two red Kings, and makes it $25. Lady shoves All-In for about $120. Everyone folds to me. It is vividly clear that she's got AA, so I fold my KK face up.

Laying down KK vs AA is not why I posted this hand. I've done it two other time in the last 18 months, and they were all this easy.

The reason for this hand is the $283,000 Bad Beat Jackpot, Aces Full of Kings beaten by Quads. When I showed the KK, about half of the players at the table were pissed off at me. "How can you lay that down? Don't you know about the BBJ?" "I had a suited connector. I could have seen the Flop." "This is .50/1. I didn't know we were playing real poker."

This is one of many reasons that I HATE any Bad Beat Jackpot. Yes, if any of the five cards on the board ended up being A K K, then I'm a very happy person today. But the pot odds of hitting a 1/million board just don't add up to chase a two outer when I know I'm beat.

"I didn't know we were playing real poker." Geez.

Hand #2 - Borgata $1/$2 (Oct '09)
A solid player in Mid position raises to $15. I'm the BB with JTd, and about $250 in my stack. I call, and four players see a Flop of Jc Ts 5s. Yahtzee! I check, and so does another player. Raiser counts out some Reds and bets $60. We've been playing at the table for a few hours, and he's a fairly no-nonsense player who been on a good run of cards. I'm fairly sure that this bet means an overpair, and not just a c-bet. The fourth player folds, and I check-raise to $150. The player between us thinks for about a minute. I'm assuming that he's deciding whether to gamble on a draw or not. He eventually chooses NOT, and folds. The Raiser insta-calls me. As the Dealer grabs all the chips into the pot, I move the rest of my stack forward (around $100-ish). The Raiser pushes another stack of Reds in as the Dealer flips over the Turn card, 2h. And then, of course, the River card: [Jc Ts 5s 2h] 5d.

"NO!" I say in disgust, as I assume that my Two Pair just got counterfeited. I show my J T. The Raiser shakes his head, and says, "No, you got it." (wtf?) He looks at the board for another moment, mucks his hand towards the Dealer, and says, "You got it." The Dealer puts his two cards in to the Muck, and starts counting the stacks.

Since this is the biggest pot of the night, everyone at the table starts talking. A couple of them were wondering why I reacted to the River card. I just sat there, dead quiet, waiting for the Dealer to gather up the Board, and ship me the pot. I'm not saying a word, because at this point, I'm still 97.3% sure that he's got an Overpair, and I got fucked on the River.

And then, all of a sudden, the Raiser's eyes get very wide. He points to the Muck, and says to the Dealer, "I need my cards. Can I get my hand back?" The Dealer says, "No. The hand was mucked." He ships me the pot of $548, and I tip the Dealer a Red $5 chip.

I have to give a lot of credit (and thanks) to the Raiser. He handed this very professionally. He mumbled something about QQ, and simply walked away. When he came back 15 minutes later, he grabbed his remaining stack of $40-ish, and left without saying a word.

Bringing My C+ Game To The Table

2011-08-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

1:40 - Sunday afternoon, I walk into the Eldorado Poker Room. They have a $1/$2 table and a $1-$5 Stud table running. I put my name on the $1/$2 List, and I'm the 5th name. Maybe they will be opening a new table soon.

2:00 - They are opening up a $3/$6 game. I would sit in the game while waiting, but I'm now first on the $1/$2 List.

2:30 - After starting to get impatient, two different players leave the $1/$2 table. I get my $300 in chips, and sit down on the left of the biggest stack at the table (about $400). I'm the youngest player at the table, which isn't unusual for a Sunday afternoon.

3:00 $250 - I definitely sat next to the right guy, as he seems to be the Action Guy of the table. First orbit, he's UTG+1 and raised to $18. I'm next with QJd and call. Four players saw a Flop of Ah Jh 6c. Action Guy (AG) bet $20. That seems small to me, so I called, and am the only one. Turn [Ah Jh 6c] 4d. He bet $30, and I called. River [Ah Jh 6c 4d] 8c. He bet $40. Hard to see someone not having an Ace after betting all three streets, so I fold. He doesn't show, but says he had AK. Maybe he's just a small bettor.

An orbit later, he limps in the same position. I have Jh Jd, and raise to $8. Only SB and AG called. Flop 6c 5d 4c. Yuck! SB checked. AG bet $12. I think about just calling for Pot Control, but I see the SB already has $12 in hand. So I raised to $30 in order to isolate. It worked as the SB folded, and AG called. Turn [6c 5d 4c] 9h. AG checked, and I decided to bet $30 again. He thought for a moment, and called. River [6c 5d 4c 9h] Jc. Interesting card. He checked. I think for a moment, and bet $30 again. Before I put chips in pot, he mucks and says he has T7o for an Open-Ender.

3:30 $206 - Bad news as AG left the table, and started his three hour drive home. I didn't get to play anymore hands with him. I did play a few small pots, but most of them didn't go well. The best was chopping a pot with a one-card Straight.

4:00 $286 - I am playing terrible poker right now. I checked my option in the BB with AQh. Six players saw a Flop of Ad 6s 4s. I lead out for $11. Only Mid called, and he's a Dealer in the room who's here in case they need an extra Dealer. Turn [Ad 6s 4s] 9s. I checked, he bet $20, and I decided to call. River [Ad 6s 4s 9s] 5d. I checked. He counted out some chips, put some back, counted out some more, and bet $56. After watching his little chip show, I think for a bit. I'm pretty sure he has As, but does he have another one to go with it? I called, and of course he has A3s. I reload for $200, and hopefully I can take my head out of my ass.

4:30 $230 - Things are going rather crappy. I don't know if it's from playing bad, or just running bad by constantly missing the Flop. I'm also in a grumpy mood right now, which isn't helping. For example, I raised to $7 on Button with J9o. The BB & CO called. Flop was Q22. They checked. I bet $15. SB folded, but the Cutoff checked-raised to $35. He an Old Guy who is wearing headphones, so I quickly fold.

5:00 $270 - I finally won a decent pot. I bluffed $50 on the River when the other guy showed weakness. My cards have been lousy, and I've been airballing all Flops. I haven't seen a Pocket Pair since the JJ in the first half hour.

5:30 $526 - I finally got a pocket pair. UTG+1 raised to $6. A couple of callers. I'm the Cutoff with Jh Jd (again), and 3-Bet to $15. A couple of callers. The Hyjack, who bought in for the minimum, went All-In for $24. It's $9 more to me, which is what I raised it. That allowed me to raise it up to $70, and try to isolate with all that dead money. Only the Button called the extra $55, and has around $80 left. Before the Flop was dealt, I grabbed a Red stack to put the Button All-In, and he called. I show my JJ. The Board ran out 882 2 J. Button had AK, and I don't know what the Hyjack had.

This hand flipped the Boom Switch for me, as I won a few more smaller pot. My mood has gotten a little better, but I now have a small headache.

6:00 $497 - Well so much for the Boom Switch. I played a few hands. Some were good, and some were annoying, but none were newsworthy. There is an Older Gentleman who recently bought in for $100. He is horrible, and has already rebought twice. He plays every hand, bets or raises at odd times, and doesn't understand relative hand values. He lost his first buy-in by shoving on a J-high Flop with JTo, and ran into AA. Fortunately, I have position on him, as he is on my Right+1.

6:30 $397 - A few limpers. I raised $10 with KQc from the Hyjack. Most of the table called, as six players see a Flop of Jd Td 4c. It checked to me, and I bet $40 with an Open-Ender, two Overs, and a Backdoor Club draw. Two players called, but the Old Goofball check-raised to $140. I insta-called. He probably had a Two Pair or Better hand, but it's hard to say with him. With all the money in the pot, I'm hoping my snap-call will scare them off. I was wrong, as a Lady who just sat down went All-In for less. I assume she has a Flush Draw. Turn [Jd Td 4c] 3s. Goofball went All-In for his last $20, and I called. Rvr 3c, and he won a big pot with JTs. Oh, well. At least he has a pile of money to lose now.

I did get some money back later by hitting a BBS by flopping Top Two Pair (T8o).

7:00 $545 - A few limpers as I had Kh Kc in the BB, and raised $10 on top. Fortunately, only the Button and SB called. Flop Qs Tc 9s. SB checked, and I bet $25. The Button folded, and SB called. Turn [Qs Tc 9s] Ks. Interesting card as many draws just hit, including my Set Draw. SB bet $20. I called knowing I was behind. River [Qs Tc 9s Ks] Kd. So much for being behind. SB bet $40. I grabbed a Red stack and raise to $100. The SB can't fold fast enough. I showed my cards to collect the pot along with a $50 Quads bonus.

I had a some other good hands, including a well executed Float on the Button with 85o. Bad news as the Goofball left the table with profit from our big pot. Good news as an Action Junkie Crazy Asian kid (or Crasian) just sat down. He already straddled, raised to $35, and showed J7o without looking at his cards. He will definitely juice up this table. However, my headache isn't getting any better, and I'm getting hungry. I decide to cash out with a small $45 profit.

Rants & Raves: Who's The Best Player?

2011-08-18T22:38:00.002-07:00

It's common to ask the question, "Who's the best poker player?" People love to talk about it, and ask other players their opinions. Pros generally say that Phil Ivey is the best poker player. It's certainly hard to argue with that answer, given is results for tournaments and cash games over the last few years.

Others have given their opinions. ESPN has a feature called "The Nuts". Every month or two, they ask various members of the poker media who they feel are the best players, and then tallies the results into a Top 10. This is usually a list of whomever is doing the best in recent tournaments, and the current #1 player is Jason Mercier.

The newly formed Epic Poker League has created the Global Poker Index, which uses some NASA-size mathematical formulas to determine who's the best player. Right now, it's Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier.

Poker magazines like Bluff and Card Player have various Player Of The Year rankings. Each POY ranking has a different player as #1, depending on what criteria they use.

This question isn't just for the Pros. My former Home Game group has the question "Who's the best player in the group?" pop up occasionally, and there was never a consensus as to who it was. Naturally, I was never in the discussion. (Oh, no. I'm not bitter.)

Personally, I find this whole conversation pointless. I think it's a stupid question for two reasons.

The first reason is one I've already written about. The term "Poker" covers many different games. Can anyone be the best player at every possible version of Poker? Can anyone be the very best player at Heads-Up Limit Hold'em, 6-max PLO, and tournament 7-Card Stud-8?

Of course not.

Certainly, a player can be very good at many different versions of Poker. Hell, I'm actually decent at many poker games, but I'm better at some of them simply because I play them more often. Well, it's the same thing with the Pros. No matter how good they are at all the games, they will run into trouble when they play against a specialists at a particular game. Larger cash games are usually a mix of many different games, so that a specialist can't have an advantage when playing his game.

The other reason that "Who's the Best Player?" is a stupid question is Variance. As many players know, Luck is Short-Term and Skill is Long-Term. Naturally, the obvious question is, how long is the Long-Term? Is it measured in months, years, or number of hands? Truthfully, nobody really knows because it's all a mathematical concept.

But what we do know is that Poker is a streaky game. I've been in Reno for ten months, and I've already had a few Hot Streaks and Cold Spells. It's a normal part of the game, especially if you're a tournament player. It's not uncommon for those streaks to last weeks, months, or even years.

A great example of this concept is Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. In 2005, he had an insane tournament year, winning two WPT events and the WPT Player of The Year. And then he vanished. Well, not really vanished. He continued to play tournaments, but didn't have any news-worthy results. And then in 2010, he made four Final Tables in the WSOP, including 5th in the Main Event and 1st in the $50k Players' Championship.

Did he become a bad player, and then got better? Of course not; it's just the nature of Poker. Granted, it's more noticeable in tournament, but it still happens to all of us in cash games.

Hand Of The Day #82

2011-08-11T21:00:00.003-07:00

Peppermill ~ $1/$2 NLHE ~ 08.09.11

This hand happens almost two hours after the previous hand.

This hand is a limp-o-rama, including me in the BB with K7h. Six or seven players see a Flop of Kc Qc 5h. SB checks, and I check my Top Pair. I could bet, but my hand isn't that strong in a 6-way pot, and I would have to fold to a 3-Bet or even a big raise. Since I'm out of position, I would rather just see what develops.

UTG bets $10. He's the Drunk from the previous hand. He finished his half-filled bottle of Corona, but he hasn't had anything else to drink. He has sobered up a little bit, but not much. His play has calmed down a little bit, but not much. He's also lost a chunk of chips, but none of them went to me. A few players called the $10. I just call, hoping to hit hit a 7 or pick-up a Flush Draw on the Turn.

Turn [Kc Qc 5h] 5d. Ok, that was not what I had in mind. I check. UTG (Drunk) bets $25. Mid player thinks for a bit, and calls. SB calls. I grab five Red chips, along with a $100 bill, and raise to $125.

Why would I raise in this spot? Do I think I have the best hand? Well, my hand is currently KK55Q, which means my kicker (7) doesn't even play. So, no, I don't think I have the best hand, as it's likely that one or both of the remaining Kings are in the other three hands. The reason I raised is because nobody else has a better hand.

Because of the Q on that board, there aren't a lot of hands that could be better. AK, AA, KQ, Q5, K5, QQ, KK, 55. Since everyone limped preflop, that takes away half of those hands. I'm assuming that anyone with KQ, Q5, K5, or 55 would have raised on the Flop or Turn. There is a tiny chance that the Drunk (UTG) has Quad 5, but I think that he would have checked the Turn in order to trap, given his skill level.

Since I've been at this table for over two hours, I've gotten a feel for the players. We've already talked about the Drunk. The Mid player is the definition of TAG. If he had a better hand, he certainly would have raised the Flop with such a big draw out there. The SB was the 42h guy from the previous hand, and has moved seats a few times. He plays a lot of pots, and likes to call. But we saw him check-raise in the previous hand, and I've seen him do it in a couple of other hands. So if he had a random 5 in the SB, then he would have raised right before I did.

Plus, the way I played my hand screams of a 5. So, as the Internet Kids say, did I take a hand with showdown value and turn it into a bluff? Well, since I don't want anyone to call, then I guess I did.

But it's not that simple. This is more of a Split Pot strategy. Since I'm likely chopping this pot, then I've got half the pot locked up (unless a terrible River card comes like Tc). As any decent Omaha-8 player knows, when you're freerolling for half the pot, then raise and try to win the whole thing. Well, that's what I'm doing here.

Anyways, back to the action. UTG starts thinking for a bit, as usual, but finally folds. Mid player thinks for much longer, close to a minute. I'm not sure if he has a hand like KTd, or a sweet draw like AXc or T9c. But any decent player knows that a Combo Draw is not as tempting on the Turn as it was on the Flop, especially when the board is paired. He finally folds, and the SB quickly ejects. I push my cards towards the Dealer face down with a $1 chip on top, and win a rather nice pot with a rather mediocre hand.

Maybe I actually do know how to play this game.

Eventually, I finished the session up $89 in three hours. Certainly, it's nothing sexy, but $30/hr is solid for a weeknight session. But I'm sure you loyal readers have noticed that I've been dumping money lately. So hopefully I can stop the bleeding by putting together a few wins.

Hand Of The Day #81

2011-08-09T23:29:00.002-07:00

Peppermill ~ $1/$2 NLHE ~ 08.09.11

UTG raises to $12. He a 30's guy who has $800+ in front of him, a half bottle of Corona, and it's very obvious that's not his first one. He's slurring a bit, and having trouble following the action. He's also playing 80% of hands, hitting some, and bluffing others. Mid and Cutoff call the $12. The Button 3-Bets to $30. He a loud regular in this room, and he's not good. He always overbets with just a Pair, and he's not a fan of folding. I'm the BB with 62s. I was gonna call the $12, and try to hit a BBS against the drunk and other callers, but I can't call $30. UTG thinks for a bit (not unusual), and calls. Both the Mid and Cutoff call.

Flop 6c 5s 3s. Crap! That was the kind of Flop I was hoping for. UTG checks. Mid checks. Cutoff goes All-In for $5. She tried to go All-In preflop, but the Dealer misunderstood her intention. Button raises to $50. UTG thinks for a while (again), and folds. Mid check-raises to $130. Button thinks for a moment and just calls. To me, that means the Button has an Overpair, but not AA.

Turn [6c 5s 3s] As. Mid goes All-In for $246. Button start doing his usual talking, and flashes his cards, Qs Qc. He mentions that he does have a Flush Draw, and finally calls.

River [6c 5s 3s As] 4s. Button happily slams his QQ on the table. Mid shows 42h for the Flopped Straight. The Cutoff (remember her?) mucks her hand without showing.

If you remember, I had 62s, which I was gonna play. I would now have a 6-Card Straight Flush. Not only would all those Red Chips and $100 bills be mine, but I would have also won the Progressive Jackpot, which is $300 for the 6-high Straight Flush.

Once again, Right Fold...Wrong Time. Good to see things are going just as well in Cash Games as they are in Tournaments.

Atlantis's Sunday Super Stack

2011-08-07T23:24:00.001-07:00

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - The Atlantis has started running a monthly $230 tournament, and today is the first one. In order to promote this, they ended up giving away 10 seats. They were gonna run satellites during the week, but they didn't. So far they have three tables, but they're not full. Levels are 30 minutes long, and we start with 20k chips. My table has 7 out of 10 seats filled. I recognize one tourney regular, and one floorperson from this room.

End of Lv1 (25/50) - Even though they had three tables set up, only two of them have players. We are now eight handed. One player already busted (QQ v KK), and he re-entered. Personally, it's been a quiet level. I only raised one hand (AJs) to 125. Four callers Td 3s 2c. We all ck. Turn [Td 3s 2c]5s. I bet 325 with the Flush and Straight Draw. Two players call, and the River [Td 3s 2c 5s] 4d. The BB (an old guy) bet 700. I think for a bit. I doubt he's betting anything less than an Ace. I would just be calling to win half the pot, and there is someone else still to act. I fold, and the last guy raised to 2500. BB calls, and the last guy shows 65o, and BB mucks. I have 18525 chips.

Lv2 (50/100) - Still not much for me. I did win a few small pots, but I lost others. There is one guy at the table who is having a very good day. He playing half the hands, hitting most of them, and getting paid off. Nut Flushes, Broadways, Sets, etc. Oh, and he's sitting on my direct Left. I have 18125chips.

Lv 3 (100/200) - I'm UTG+2 with AA, and raise to 525. One caller is the guy who re-entered. He's on the loose side. The SB 3-Bet to 2650. He an Old Guy who's playing very basic. He's had a couple of big hands, and raised big with them. No reason to slowplay in this spot, and let the 3rd player in with pot odds. I 4-Bet to 5000. Loose guy mumbles and folds. SB just calls, and Flop is 543. He checks, I bet 6000, and he calls. Turn [543] J. I'm not thrilled with that card, as I put him squarely on QQ or JJ. He checks, I go All-In for 6600, and he calls with QQ.

In a different pot, there was a very wet Flop in a limped pot. Someone bet 400, and there was one caller. I raised to 1400, and they both called. The Turn put out more draws. I bet 2500, and one called. The River missed everything. I bet 2500 again, and she mucked. I have 39100 chips.

Lv4 (150/300/25) - Only one hand of interest. I limped on the Button with J2s. Five player see a Flop 5s 4d 3s. The SB bet 300. A couple of callers, including me. Turn [5s 4d 3s] As. Perfect card for me. It checks around to me, and I tossed out a Yellow 1000 chip. Only the SB called. River [5s 4d 3s As] Kd. He checked, and I bet 1500. He thinks for a bit, and starts talking aloud about me flopping the Nuts. He finally folds, and I show the Js. I have 37300 chips.

BREAK - 18 players total, and 14 are left. I'm in the Top 3 or 4 of chip stacks, but there's a long way to go. Our table has three big stacks, and the other has just one. They are paying three spots: $1800, $1080, $720.

Lv5 (200/400/50) - UTG raised to 1200. I'm next with AQc. I think about 3-Betting, but decide to just call. She has over 10k, and I don't want to call if she ships it on me. Four player see a Flop of Tc 9c 8s. UTG checks. I love this Flop, and bet 2500. Mid player calls. The loose guy from before goes All-In for his last 1950. UTG folds. Turn [Tc 9c 8s] 2s. I still have good equity against whatever the loose guy has, so I bet 5k hoping the Mid player will go away. Instead, he quickly called. River [Tc 9c 8s 2s] Jd. I bet 10k with my Straight and he quickly folded. The Loose Guy had K7c. We are down to six players at our table, and I have 49225 chips.

Lv8 (600/1200/150) - The reason for a skip in the Log is my phone wouldn't turn on. I kept trying to reset it, but to no avail. But at the end of this level, the display flashed back on, and I have no clue why. Ain't technology grand.

Anyways, I won a few more nice pots against the guy on my Left, including a Set of 4 against his TT. When we got to the Final Table in the 400/800/100 level I had over 77k chips, and was one of two chip leaders.

Unfortunately, I blinded off for the next 45 minutes. I mean that literally. I didn't win a pot, or really play a hand. I was obscenely card dead, and my seat draw isn't very good for stealing. On my Left is a Tight Old Guy (TOG), the other Chip Leader, and a Cash Game player who always plays in the biggest NL game in the room. I've learned from previous experience that Cash Game players like to see Flops, so they are more likely to call preflop. We are on Break now, and have nine players left. I have 68800 chips.

Lv9 (800/1600/200) - I actually played a hand. One limper, and I raised to 4000 with QQ. Everyone folded. Very next hand, I raise with KQo and take down the blinds and antes. The only other hand I played was it folding around to me in the SB. I raised the TOG, and he folded.

The play at this table has been very patient. Nobody is under 20k, so everyone is just waiting. My seat still sucks for stealing. However, the good news is I am the clear chip leader. There has been some chip movement, and the next closest player is around 50k. I just need to stay patient, and use my experience. I have 77800 chips.

Lv10 (1k/2k/300) - I raise to 5100 with 44 in Mid position. The TOG calls, as he had just gotten a hold of a bunch of chips. The BB goes All-In for over 30k. He's the Cash Game player, and this really looks like a Squeeze Play. It's tempting to call with just 44, but it's a good chunk of chips, and the TOG still needs to act. I reluctantly fold, and the TOG calls with AKo. The BB has AJh, and I would really like my pocket pair back. The Board runs out 822 7 7, and they chop up my 5100. If I would have called, then I would have knocked out two players, and had almost half of the chips in play. Oh, well. Right Fold... Wrong Time.

Two hands later, UTG raised to 6500. I'm next, and look down at AKo. I grab some Butterscotch 5k chips and raise to 25000. It folds around to the Button, who goes All-In. It's the Lady at the table, and she's the one who's second in chips with about 55k. UTG thinks for a while, and goes All-In for almost 20k. With the size of the pot, I gotta call the extra 30k. She has JJ, and UTG has TT. I'm very happy with this, as it looks like the situation that just happened. However, the J on the Flop give the monster pot to the Lady, and I loose 2/3rds of my chips. Once again, Right Call... Wrong Time.

I blind out for a little bit, but eventually it folds to me on the Button. I ship All-In for around 24k with Q9o. The BB calls with AJo. The Flop was JTX, but I miss my 11 outer. I finish in 6th place.

I really hate Tournament Poker these days.

August News & Notes

2011-08-02T20:52:00.002-07:00

Not much to report this month. I've been working a ton of hours, including a few days past 7pm, so I haven't been playing much poker. And if you've been paying attention to my last few posts, then you've noticed that things haven't been going smoothly.

When I have been playing, it's been mostly the daily donkaments with a little $4/$8 O-8 or $1/$2 PLO-8 mixed in. I haven't played NL cash since the July 4th weekend. No particular reason for it, and I haven't given up on NL. I'll probably go back to NL cash soon for one simple reason...

I'm getting pummeled in donkaments lately.

In July, I played in 14 of the daily tournaments, along with one freeroll and a larger tournament. I had a total of three small cashes ($260, $185, $140), along with a single Bounty cash of $20. That's a ROI of -58.8%

And it's not just the fact that I'm losing money. I'm also out early in most of these events, sometimes even before the first break. 35/36, 60/105, 7/8, 16/34, 25/37, 50/60, 20/25, 15/38, 23/33, 16/21, 75/80, & 19/34.

I understand variance, The Law Of Large Numbers, and all that shit, but this is really starting to get annoying.

Hand Of The Day #80

2011-07-31T15:05:00.005-07:00

Grand Sierra - 07.31.11 - $180 Tournament Level 1 (25/50)

The table's been playing rather calm so far. I haven't played many hands, so I limp UTG with 9c 8h. A Mid player raises to 250. It's a 60's lady who arrived late at the table. The only hand I've seen her raise was a min-raise in the BB with 66. It folded around to me. Even though I'm out of position, I decide to make the call. We started with 8000 chips, and I'm up a little, so the implied odds are there. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?

Flop: Jh Td 8c. A good Flop for with with a Pair and Open-Ender. I check, and she bets 250. The bet smells weak to me, so I check-raise to 600. She thinks for a bit, and calls.

Turn: [Jh Td 8c] 7s. Sweet! I grab a Yellow 1000 chip and bet it. She goes into deep thought. A couple of times, it looked like she was gonna fold. At this point, I put her squarely on AK. She's thinking about calling with her Two Overcards and a Gutshot. I think if she had a Pair, then she would have called by now. If she does call, then I will make a value bet of 1000 again on the River, unless a Queen pops up.

It took over a minute before she finally acted. She didn't fold, and she didn't call. Instead, she raised to 3000. W T F !?! Well, that certainly got my attention, as I sat up in my chair and started going through possible hands. JJ or TT are a possibility, I guess. The only way she could have a 9 in her hand is with 99 or A9s. I ship the rest of my chips All-In. She calls, and shows Q9d for a Flopped Nut Straight. How in the world does a 60's Lady ever show up in this spot with Q9? I could see an Internet Kid raising to 250 with Q9, but a 60's Lady? Really?

Anyways, I missed my three chop outs on the River, and was left with about 1000 chips. After the hand, I said, "That was the the best Hollywooding I've ever seen." I don't think she understood what I was talking about, but it was a sincere compliment. I've been known to do some 1st Class Hollywooding, but that was very convincing.

I had started doing a Running Log of this tournament, but this hand killed that idea. I did manage to double up with my AK vs ATc in Level 2. But before the level ended, there was one limper, and I raised to 300 with Ah Tc on the Button. Only the limper called, and the Flop was Ac Js 8c. He checked, and so did I. That's a very wet Flop, and he's likely to call with a lot. I only have 1650 left, and can't afford to fold to a check-raise. The Turn was [Ac Js 8c] Ts. He bet 800, and I quickly ship it with my Two Pair. He calls and shows As Jd. Once again, I brick the River, and I'm out.

So twice in one hour, I hit my hand on the Turn, got the money into the pot, and was basically drawing dead both times.

Yeah, it's been that kind of a month.

LOL Donkaments #6

2011-07-26T22:33:00.004-07:00

Atlantis 11am $80 Bounty - 07.24.11

They had 38 players for this one, which is the most players I've seen for this tourney. This was rather surprising to me, because the Grand Sierra has a their quarterly tournament series going on now. I had assumed that most of the tourney players would be over there. Instead, I recognized a few of the Grand Sierra regulars playing at Atlantis today. I guess they would rather play in the smaller tournaments. I'm not at Grand Sierra today becasue they are having a two day event, so I can't play in it.

Things started slowly for me. I didn't get any cards, so I just stayed patient and observed the other players. We start with 13000 chips, 20 minute levels, and the blinds at 25/50, so I was in no hurry. The play at the table was rather typical for a daily tournament. Lots of limping, some small raises, and generally small pots.

In the 100/200 level, I picked up a few hands, and won pots without much resistance. So I kept raising, and it went well. My stack broke the 20k mark without any problems.

In the 300/600 level. there was a couple of limpers. I had A3d on the Button. I was gonna raise, but decided to just limp, as a suited Ace plays good in a multi-player hand. However, the SB (an older gentleman) decided to raise to 1800. I was the only caller. The Flop was Q 8 3, and he bet 2000.

Meanwhile, the next Dealer had arrived. The current Dealer hands off the Downs Sheet to the new Dealer so they can keep track of who's dealing in the tournament to split the AddOns and Tips. The new Dealer drops the pen. It hits me in the shoulder (I'm in the 10 Seat next to the Dealer), and the pen rolls under the table.

It's my turn, and I decide to call the 2000 bet with just Bottom Pair, and see what happens on the Turn. Being the awesome guy that I am, I toss out two Yellow 1000 chips, and reach under the table to grab the pen. The Dealer then asks me, "Is that a Raise?" I'm confused by this, so I look up and see a Yellow 1000 chip and Brown 5000 chip. Since I didn't say anything, that meant it was a raise. The SB called the extra 4000. The Turn card didn't help me, and the SB went All-In. I folded in disgust that a stupid pen cost me most of my profit up to this point.

I got to the first Break (before 400/800) with 17800, and there was 26 players left. Shortly after the break, there was one limper. I was the Cutoff with QTo, and raised to 2000. The SB called, but the BB and limper folded. Flop was Qs Qh Th. The SB bet out for 2000. Well, there's no reason to scare off my action, so I just called. Turn [Qs Qh Th] 9d. He checked. I made a value bet of 3000, hoping it's small enough for him to call. He did , and the River [Qs Qh Th 9d] Ad. Once again, he led out, but this time it's for 5000. I really hope I didn't run into a cooler here, but I go All-In for 5800 more. He calls rather quickly with AKo, and I get the monster double up.

The next level was 500/1000/100. Our table was down to seven players as we are the next table to break. UTG (a Lady) raised to 2500. Mid player 3-Bets to 6500, which is half his stack. He's young Cash game player who actually has a clue about Poker. I'm the Button, and look down at Ad Ah. If I shove now, I know that Mid will have to call. But UTG has way more chips, and I want to win a huge pot. I just call the 6500, and hopefully UTG will go All-In. She doesn't, as she calls the extra 4000. Flop Ac 9d 6d. UTG goes All-In. Mid gets that pained look on his face, and goes into deep thought. It's rather obvious that he's got a Big Pair, and hates the Ace. I just sit there watching the ballgame on TV, trying to look as uninterested as possible. He finally folds QQ, and I insta-call with my Top Set. UTG shows KJo, and she's drawing dead. I collect Bounty #1.

This hand broke our table, as we're down to two tables. I'm at my new table for less than an orbit before I got moved to the other table. The shortstack player who had the QQ before now has well over 30k chips, and two more Bounty chips. He thanked me for not shoving preflop with my AA. This didn't bother me because I wanted to knock out the bigger stack, and I did.

Less than an orbit later, it was the 1k/2k/200 level. UTG+1 min-raised to 4000. I'm the Hyjack with AKo. I think for a moment about all my options, and decide to 3-Bet to 10000. I know nothing about this player, other than he's it looks like he's got a lot of chips. He was the only caller, and the Flop was As 5c 2c. He bet 10k. I decided to slow play this, and just called. Turn [As 5c 2c] 5h. He asked how much I got left, and I show him. He thinks for a moment, and bets 10k again. I now go All-In for 15600 more. He called, and turned over A8o. River [As 5c 2c 5h] 8h, and I finished in 15th place.

I also played in the 6:30 $95 Cash Me Out at the Peppermill. I didn't take any notes for this one, but I did min-cash for $145.

The only hand I will mention from this tourney was one of the worst beats I've ever seen, and fortunately I wasn't involved. The Flop was Ac Js 4c. Player A was the biggest stack with 4d 4h for Bottom Set. Player B was the next stack with J6c for Middle Pair and a Flush Draw. Player C is the shortest stack with AJd for Top Two Pair. This hand was in the middle of the tourney, so all the money got in on the Flop. The Board ran out [Ac Js 4c] Jh 6h. Player C more than tripled up with a Jacks Full of Aces. Player B won the decent Side Pot with Jacks Full of Sixes. Player A was left shortstacked, and was out within two orbits.

Hand Of The Day #79

2011-07-22T07:36:00.002-07:00

Peppermill ~ $4/$8 Omaha-8 ~ 07.21.11

It's a Kill Pot (now $6/$12). I'm in Mid position with As 2s 4d 6d. I start to say something like Raise, but I decide to just limp ($6). I normally don't raise with just Low cards unless there are a lot of players already in the pot. I'm probably only gonna win half the pot, so I might as well win a much bigger half pot. The lady on my Right notices this, and comments on me not raising. She's a Dealer in this room who just got off work, and she's the Kill in this pot. However, the Cutoff does raise ($12). UTG+1, the Lady, and myself call.

Four players see a Flop of Jh Td 2h. UTG+1 and the Lady checks. This is a terrible Flop for me, and I check my Bottom Pair. The Cutoff also checks. To me, this means he has the same type of hand that I have, all Low cards. If he had AAXX, then he probably would have bet.

Turn: [Jh Td 2h] Js. UTG+1 and the Lady check. I bet ($12) as a pure bluff. If UTG+1 and the Lady had a High hand, then they would have bet by now, and the Cutoff has already shown that he has Low cards. The Cutoff and the Lady folded, but UTG+1 called. I'm assuming that he has either a Flush or Straight draw.

River: [Jh Td 2h Js] 7c. Sweet! UTG+1 checks, I bet ($12), and he folds. I show the bluff.

I know I recently posted a similar hand to this one, but hands like this give me a chance to go into some hand analysis. Plus, it's really hard to bluff in Limit Omaha-8 because players are playing so many hands, and there are two pots for them to chase. So when I'm able to pull off a bluff, it's a great feeling and I want to brag about it.

Isn't that the point of having a Blog?

LOL Donkaments #5

2011-07-18T08:42:00.003-07:00

Peppermill 6:30 $95 Cash Me Out - 07.14.11

I had a rare 8hr work day, so I decided to do something that I haven't been doing lately. I went to the Peppermill to play a weeknight tournament.

They had 42 players for this one, which was above average from what I normally see. I got off to a good start by winning two nice pots with AK in Level 1. After that, I went a little card dead, but I didn't mind. The Dealer was one of the few from Reno that I saw down at the WSOP, and this was his first day back. We were swapping stories, and a couple of other players joined in. A social table is so much more entertaining than a bunch of players who are just sitting there.

Things kept going well, and I got to the first break with 25100 after I bought my last 4k Rebuy. Shortly after the break, our table broke. In the first two hands at my new table, I was dealt 99 and ATs, and raised preflop. I had to fold both of them to raises, one preflop and one post-flop, so I lost a chunk of chips right away.

One of the players I lost to is someone I've played with before in a cash game at Atlantis. He's a Asian kid who's far on the active, loose, psycho side. He's the definition of Action Guy. He normally plays $2/$3 or $3/$5, so I'm surprised that he's playing a tournament. He's also got around 60k - 70k chips, which is a ridiculously large stack for this stage of the tournament. The only good thing is that he's on the other end of the table, so I can try to avoid him.

Overall, I was able to avoid him. Because he was very active and I had just an average stack, I had to stay patient. It helped my table image, but it didn't help my chip stack. I hovered between 8 - 15 BBs for quiet a while. I had to shove All-In a few times, but nobody called. I guess my table image was helping me out.

When we got to the Final Table, I had almost 30k, and Action Guy had around 45k. I had noticed that he tighten up recently. I assume this was because our stack had caught up to his, so he no longer had the Monster Stack. However, in my typical luck, he got seated on my direct Left. I was in Seat 7, and he was in Seat 8.

Being a Cash Me Out, we were gonna convert to Cash at nine players, so we were on the Bubble when the Final Table started with ten players. Not surprisingly, Action Guy was involved in the Bubble bursting hand. He got All-In with KK against an older gentleman's AQ along with another shortstack. An Ace on the Flop gave the older gentleman the monster stack at the Final Table, and left Action Guy with just 1400 chips.

I had 40100 chips, which were converted to $200. Action Guy's 1400 chips were converted to $10. Only one of the nine players cashed out, so play resumed with eight players and the blinds at $5/$10.

As you would expect, Action Guy was All-In in the first hand, and got a couple of callers. He won the $40 pot when his J8o hit a Jack on the River. Next hand, I limped with AK because I knew he would shove his $40 with any hand. He did, and I was the only caller. However, his T9o hit the Flop, and he double up to $95. Crap!

This caused a big problem for me as play continued. The rest of the table played rather passively, as they waited for a few players to get knocked out so they could chop up the remaining prize pool of almost $700. Normally, this means I could be a little aggressive, and slowly build my stack without much resistance. But I know that Action Guy could shove in at any moment, so I had to wait for hands. Both of our stacks stayed in the same range for awhile; his in the $50 - $100 range and mine in the $100-$160 range.

When we got to the next level of $10/$20, we were down to seven players, but nobody wanted to Cash Out because they were all waiting to get down to five players so we could chop. Both Action Guy and myself had roughly the same chip stack as before, so play continued.

Finally, Action Guy shoved All-In from UTG for $70. Two players called rather quickly. It folded to me in the BB, and I looked down at 66. I have $125 total with $20 in the Big Blind. I go into deep thought as I consider shoving All-In. I know I'm probably ahead of Action Guy, but the other two players are playing solid, no-nonsense poker. It's only $55 more, and I'm probably gonna get at least one caller, if not two. There's a decent chance that one of them has a bigger pair than 66, so I make the safe move and fold. The Flop was K-high with two Hearts. First player bet $100, and the other called to make a side pot. The Turn was a brick. The first player went All-In for about $120, and the other player reluctantly called for a little less. The first player had ATh for a Flush Draw, the other player had QJh for a Flush Draw, and Action Guy had whatever random two cards he shoved with. The River missed everyone, and the first player wins a $500+ pot with AT-high. Fuck!

The only good thing about that hand was that it eliminated both the Action Guy and the other player. We were down to five players, and everyone wanted to make a deal. I'm the clear shortstack at this point, so I'm not in a position to argue. The deal was the two Big Stacks got $200 plus their cash chips, and the other three got $90 plus their cash chips. I left the poker room with $185 after the Dealer's Tip.

Freeroll

2011-07-13T22:08:00.002-07:00

Peppermill runs a Quarterly Freeroll for their tournament players, and they held it last week. They gave us 1500 chips. There was $10 Dealer AddOn for 1000 chips, and two Rebuys $50 for 2500 chips each. I got none of those because I don't pay in a freeroll. I don't know how much money they are putting up. If it's a lot, that may persuade me to pop open the wallet next time.

They seemed to be using the standard Peppermill tourney structure. The surprising part was they had 20 minutes levels for a freeroll. Most of their tournaments have 15 minute levels.

The freeroll is for 100 players, but they allowed five Alternates (not a clue why). Players get into the freeroll by earning points when they cash in a tourney. I had 10 points, which put me in. 4 points was the lowest they allowed this time. The Top 10 Point Earners got $100, which they were encouraged to use for their Rebuys. They had between 85 - 48 points.

Because I had just 1500 chips, I started off with a tight preflop strategy. It worked wonderfully. I hit a Set of Tens and Two Flushes. I was over 5000 chips in Level 2.

But... I then went completely card dead, and essentially blinded off. I never had any good spots to steal, and one players a few seats down was on the loose side. When we got to the break (before 200/400/75), I had 3500.

In my first BB after the break, I won the pot by betting on the Flop with Top Pair (Q). Next hand, the Button raised to 1200. I'm the SB with AQo, and go All-In for 4500. She called rather quickly with ATc (her Lucky Suit). However, it wasn't lucky for her this time, as I doubled up to 10k.

In the next level (300/600/100), a Kid razed from Hyjack, and been doing it a lot lately. I had KQd in SB, and seriously considered calling. But he had about the same as me, so I reluctantly folded. I never found out what he had.

In the very next hand, it folded to the Cutoff, the ATc Lady from before, and she went All-In. I'm the Button with 7d 7h, and insta-ship All-In over the top to isolate against her. She had KJd, and the board was 8d 6d 6h Kc 2d. We counted the stacks, and I had 1600 left.

Next hand, it folded to me in Cutoff. I shipped the 1500 with 75o while I still had a little Fold Equity left. The SB also goes All-In for just 900 with J8o. The BB reluctantly had to call the extra 900 with 94o. Board was 965 K K, and the mighty 94o knocks out two players. I finish somewhere around 60th.

Oh, well. At least I got two hours of entertainment.

Later on, I got more information about the freeroll. First, it's a Cash Me Out. When they get to two tables, the tourney chips get converted to cash chips. The 18 players then can either Cash Me Out, or continue to battle for the remaining prize pool.

I also found out the amount of money that Peppermill puts up for the freeroll is $20,000. My initial reaction to this was, "Holy Shit!!" That's a huge amount of money for a casino to just give away. (It's $80k for the four freerolls they have each year.)

Even though I said I don't pay for freerolls, I may change my mind next time. If all 100 players got both Rebuys for $100, that would add $10k to the prizepool, which is only half of the $20k that Peppermill is donating to the prizepool. Now that's what I call an overlay.

EDIT (07.14.11) - I got some more info about their freerolls. I'm not positive about this, but it seems that the prizepool is $20k, and not that they add $20k to the prizepool. This would make more sense, as they "strongly encourage" players to use their Rebuys. The more Rebuys in the prizepool, the less that the Peppermill needs to add to the prizepool.

A Little Omaha-8 Action

2011-07-10T11:23:00.004-07:00

12:55 $200 - I'm at the Peppermill on July 4th to play $4/$8 Omaha-8. While I'm waiting for the game to start, I sit down at a $4/$8 Hold'Em table that's just opening. We are starting with a full 9 players.

1:30 $166 - I didn't even play a full orbit before they opened the O-8 table. All I did at the Hold'Em table was pay my Blinds.

The $4/$8 Omaha-8 game uses $2/$2 Blinds, and it's $4 to enter. There is a Half Kill ($6/$12) when there is a Scoop over $60. The Kill plays like a Straddle, as in they act last unless there is a raise, but how often does that ever happen at a $4/$8 Omaha table?

So far, it's a typical Low Limit O-8 table, with a couple of tight players and the rest playing 9-Card Bingo. I'm playing tight, and observing. I played two hands, but missed everything.

2:00 $185 - Very active time for me, but I didn't scoop any good pots. I raised with A5hQJ but airballed the Flop, except for a Low Draw. I called on the Flop hoping to pick up a Backdoor Draw, but I didn't.

In SB, I limped AJcK3 in SB. Flop Kd Jh 3d. I bet, but everyone folded. I guess I should have raised preflop. Very next hand, I get A2hA3s (the best starting hand in O-8), and raised. I flopped Nut Low (8 6 2), but got quartered by Nut Flush with A3c.

I also had KJh32. The Board was Js 5h 6h 4d 8h. I only got the Low thanks to another player hitting the Nut Flush on the River.

2:30 $259 - A quiet time, but I did scoop a huge pot with the Nut Straight.

3:00 $256 - Not much happened this time. A saw a few Flops, but airballed most of them. I did raise from Mid with AKhK2. Four players saw the Flop Jh 7d 6h. I bet ($4) with my Flush & Low Draws. Only a Lady calls. Turn [Jh 7d 6h] 7h. I bet ($8), and she called. River [Jh 7d 6h 7h] 6c. I bet ($8). She thinks for a bit, and folded.

3:30 $286 - Won a couple of half pots, and missed many others. Very last hand, I scooped a decent pot with just Two Pair (K9).

4:00 $264 - Once again, not much of anything for me. I seem to be in a rut of Half Pots. I know that O-8 is all about Scooping, but collecting many Half pots seem to be the nature of 9-Card Bingo.

4:30 $273 - I'm the Button with A9sT2. The Flop was checked around. The Turn puts a 2nd Flush Draw (Hearts & Diamonds) and a Low Draw. Everyone was still checking, so I bet ($8), and three players called. The River was Qd. One of the Flushes and Broadway got there, but the Low missed. They are still checking, so I take a stab ($8) at it. One player thought for a bit with 2-Pair, but folded. Naturally, I showed my nothing. Who says you can't bluff in this game?

In a different hand, I folded the 2nd Low (A5) on Turn. I was wrong.

5:00 $243 - In a Kill pot, I raised from UTG+2 with ATs45. I flopped a Broadway Draw, so I checked and called a bet. I missed the Turn, so I folded. I also folded a couple of other hands that would have won.

5:30 $209 - I had a really annoying hand when I flopped Trips, and the other player hit a Backdoor Full House. After that, I went completely card dead. Even the hands that I folded preflop were missing the Board.

There's a new player on my Right who's really getting on my last nerve. He complaining the table is too slow, acting out of turn, and he's God's Gift to Omaha. I'm leaving at 6:00 because I'm getting hungry and annoyed.

6:00 $227 - I hit a Full House with A2 on the Turn (A2X A). Another player had the last Ace, but had an emergency Low of 73, so I just got half the pot.

This was the first time that I've played $4/$8 O-8 since December, even though the game has been running on most days since the Peppermill opened their new room. This is mostly because I thought this game is a waste of my time. But after looking at the numbers in my database, I may be wrong.

In Reno, I've played eight sessions of $4/$8 Omaha-8 (+$345, 5-3, 28 hrs), and five sessions of $1/$2 PLO-8 (+$592, 3-2, 19.25 hrs). These numbers aren't bad, although the sample size is small. Considering how bad the $1/$2 NL and $2/$3 NL games are in Reno, I probably should play Omaha more often.

Hand Of The Day #78

2011-07-07T07:14:00.003-07:00

Peppermill ~ $4/$8 Omaha-8 ~ 07.04.11

I limp ($4) on the Button with Ks Js 3d 3c. Six players see a Flop of Ts 5d 3s. UTG+1 bet ($4), and a couple of players called. I raised ($8) with my Bottom Set and K-high Flush Draw. Plus, I want all of the Low Chasers to pay more, because they won't fold. Three players called, including UTG+1.

Turn [Ts 5d 3s] Qh. UTG+1 bets ($8), and comments that he's betting into me. A Mid player calls. I picked up an Open-Ender, so I raise ($16). They both call.

River [Ts 5d 3s Qh] 9c. They both check. I bet ($8), UTG+1 calls, and Mid folds. I show my Straight, and UTG+1 gets all pissy about how lucky I was because his Set of Tens didn't hold up in a Limit Omaha-8 game. The Dealer ships me the $130+ pot, and UTG+1 keeps on whining.

It's amazing just how cranky Omaha-8 players are. And yet, they still come back and play this game day after day. I hope that I never get that bitter about life.

Happy Birthday To Me

2011-07-04T11:43:00.002-07:00

11am $600 - Every Sunday morning at the Atlantis, they have a $3/$5 NL game. This one started out with four players. Unfortunately, the Action Guy that this game is built around is on my direct Left.

11:30 $1246 - Table is up to nine players. I played three big hands. First, I flopped Top Two Pair from the SB in a limped pot (KTo - Kc Jc 8h). I led out for $15. A tight Mid player raised to $80. The Hyjack cold called, which set off a little warning light in my head. I don't want to see a Turn card being out of position with three players, so I 3-Bet to $220. The Mid player folded, but the Hyjack called. Turn [Kc Jc 8h] Qd. What a terrible card for me. I checked, and the Hyjack moved All-In for $450, which was a little more than I have left. I go into deep thought. With such a wet board, there are so many types of Combo Draws that he could have. Some of them hit a Straight, and some of the hit a Pair. Plus, there are Sets and Two Pair possibilities. Eventually, I called, and the River was a brick. He had 88 for a Set. I pulled out another $500.

A few hands later, I called a $15 raise with 66 in the Hyjack. Three players saw a Flop of 8h 6s 4s. They checked, and I bet $25 with my Middle Set. The initial raiser folded, but the other player check-raised to $75. I just called. I don't know much about this player, and I think I'm a little gun-shy from the previous hand. It could be a Straight, another Set, Two Pair, or a Combo Draw. Turn [8h 6s 4s] Kc. He bet $150, and I just call. River [8h 6s 4s Kc] 4d. He goes All-In for $200-ish. I snap call with my Full House, and he simply mucks his hand. I guess he missed his Combo Draw.

A few hands later, I limped UTG+2 with AKo. Five players saw a Flop of As Kd 7s. The BB led out for $10. He's a Dealer at another room, and is on the Nitty side. I raised to $25 in order isolate with the BB. It worked as he was the only caller. Turn [As Kd 7s] 4h. He checked, I bet $40, and he called. River [As Kd 7s 4h] Ks. There an Action Card. The BB led out for $40, and had about $200 total. I'm not sure if he hit his Flush, or his Two Pair hit a Boat. But I really don't care because I can beat all of them. I go All-In, and he called with QTs for the Nut Flush.

Without question, this was the most active first 30 minutes I've ever had.

12:00 $1296 - A quiet time for me, as I was doing more typing than playing poker. The only hand I remember winning was my AQ vs AJ on a A K T Flop. It wasn't a huge pot.

The Action Guy has been relatively calm so far, but loud as usual. He's already asked for a Seat Change Button, so hopefully he'll use it soon.

12:30 $1765 - The table is now full with 10 players, but it's a little dead. Most of the Reno Regulars are on the Nitty side, and we've been seeing more Walks than we should be.

I'm UTG+2 with AQd, and raise to $15. Four players saw a Flop of Ks Jd Td. I think that qualifies as a good Flop for my hand, so I made a standard C-Bet of $30. Only a Mid player called. Turn [Ks Jd Td] Kd. Yahtzee! I check my Royal Flush, and Mid bet $60. Do I raise, or just call? I think he has a King, and I choose Call. River [Ks Jd Td Kd] 8d. A terrible card for me, as the 4-Card Flush might kill my action. I bet $100, and pray he has a Full House. He didn't, as he folded. I showed my hand, and received the $500 Royal Flush Bonus. That has to stay on the table.

1:00 $1953 - Action at the table is still kinda Meh! I did win a couple of decent pots. I hit the small end of a Full House (J8s - 998 8 Q) and it was good. I also bluffed on the Button in a raised pot with a Gutshot (86o - 9h 7h 7d). I fired at all three streets, and he folded on the River when all the Draws missed.

2:00 $1922 - I have no clue why I don't have a 1:30 entry in my notes, but I obviously screwed up something. It was a quiet period for me. The Action Guy is still rather calm. As it turns out, he's having a really bad weekend, and is down a ton of money. Somebody left the table, and various players played Musical Chairs. I'll never understand the mentality of players chasing the Lucky Seat.

2:30 $2154 - I won a couple of pots. Most notably, I raised $15 from UTG+2 with KQh. Hyjack raise to $35. He's a Kid who's a regular in the room. I'm the only caller. The Flop was Ad Th 6d. I checked, he bet $50, and I called with my Broadway Draw. Turn [Ad Th 6d] 3c. I checked, and so did he. River [Ad Th 6d 3c] 8d. I fired out a bluff of $70, hoping that he was just making a C-Bet on the Flop. I was right, as he couldn't fold fast enough. I do love my tight table image.

I'm not really comfortable with this much money in front of me. Nobody at this table worries me from a Skill aspect, but this is almost half my bankroll on this table. I know that it shouldn't matter to me as a Recreational Player, but it does. I leave the table up $554 from the game, plus $500 for the High Hand Bonus.

----

Since I didn't play very long at the Atlantis, I headed to the Peppermill in the evening for the $95 Cash Me Out tournament. It had 32 runners, and things went well for me. I even had a big suck-out to survive when we were down to two tables. My J9 vs QQ, and I hit Two Pair on the River.

When we got the Final Table, it didn't take long to get down to eight players when we converted to Cash chips. I had 22400 chips, and that was converted to $130. The Big Stack had $465, and left the table. A couple of other shorter stacks also decided to cash out. This left us with four players, two bigger stacks and a smaller stack. We decided to chop up the remaining prizepool without playing a single hand. I left the Poker Room with $260.

July News & Notes

2011-07-02T07:18:00.002-07:00

- Summertime at the Post Office means one thing: Vacations. It's called Primetime, and more people are allowed to take vacations. Naturally, that means less workers, and more overtime.

However, this year is different. We had two carriers retire yesterday, and they were both overtime workhorses. There was someone else who went out for back surgery, and won't be back until sometime in September. Between the three of them, that 140 - 150 hours per week that need to be covered.

What that means for me is a hell of lot of overtime. I've been getting off work most days this week between 6:30 - 7pm, and I really don't feel like playing poker after I walk in my front door after 7pm. I've only played one day since I got back from Vegas, and I will probably only play once or twice a week for the rest or the summer.

Of course, less poker means less blogging. I've been trying to do an entry every 2 - 3 days, but it will probably slow down to one or two a week.

- As I've mentioned a few times, various home game players made the journey to the WSOP last month. A total of six players played in seven events, and we went 0-7. Nobody won a Bracelet, or made it to a Final Table. Nobody cashed in an Event, or even made it to Day 2 of an Event. Hell, nobody even made it to the Dinner Break of Day 1. One or two of them didn't even make it out of Level 1. Overall, a very pathetic showing for us at the Rio.

Certainly, there was some bad luck involved. Besides my AA vs KK hand, another player (Colin) had his AK run into AA on a A K x Flop, and lost most of his chips. He did make a bit of a comeback, but it's hard to recover in these smaller chip tournaments.

- Some of the casinos out here (Atlantis, Peppermill, and Grand Sierra) like to offer Free Play to their customers. Most of them do it on various day during the month, and the amount depends on your Players Card's level. I'm haven't been dumping large amounts of money in the Pit, so most of my offers are in the $5 - $10 range, with the occasional $15 or $20. They also have a couple of days each month when you can exchange Comps for Free Play, usually at a rate of $2 Comp equals $1 Free Play (or $100 Comps = $50 Free Play).

At first, I was ignoring these little offers. But in April, I started to take them more seriously. It's free money, and it takes very little effort by me to get it. Since many of the offers are on Mondays or Tuesdays, I drive around to the various casinos to collect the Free Play, and I may or may not play any Poker. However, I wouldn't bother if it was only the $5 offer, becasue I didn't think it was worth the gas or my time. I also did the Comp for Free Play exchange at the Peppermill and Atlantis. I used the Free Play on Video Poker, either Jacks Or Better or Deuces Wild.

Since April 1, I'm up $430 with this Free Play. That's certainly not retirement money, but it's not chump change either. I look at it as Rakeback from the casinos, just the Online sites used to do back in the good olde days.

LOL Donkaments #4

2011-06-29T19:26:00.003-07:00

Harrah's 8pm $80 - 06.17.11

This tournament has a much better structure than the other Harrah's tourney I played. They gave us 8000 chips, added a couple of levels, and started the antes later. They also had a $20 Bounty for this one.

Being a Friday night in Las Vegas during the WSOP, this one had 102 players, which is kinda silly for a daily tournament. All the tables were in use, and that included a couple of $1/$2 NL games.

Things went well in the beginning, and my table draw was good. I was able to slowly build my stack, although I didn't get the monster stack that I had gotten in other tourneys. It took them awhile to break our table, which was good for me. I even got two Bounties before the table finally broke.

I got a really good seat at the new table, as the Big Stack was on my direct Right. Things were going along OK, but the structure started to become a problem. Even though it's a better structure than before, any daily tournament structure will be a problem with 102 players. With only three tables left, all of us were getting shortstack. That's when this hand happened in the 1500/3000/300 level:

It folded around to a Mid player, who min-raised to 6000. Only the SB called, and he was the Big Stack at the table. I'm the BB with 55, and I go All-In for 26500.

I played with the Mid player at the previous table, and he's a passive Super-Nit. He could easily have a bigger pair than me, but I have him covered. I don't think he'll risk his tournament with out a premium hand. However, I haven't been at the new table that long, and I don't know much about the Big Stack. He's got a lot of chips, but my stack would take a serious chunk out of his stack.

Ultimately, I do have a pocket pair, and I'm under 10 Big Blinds. If the Big Stack folds, then picking up the 12k plus antes will be good for my stack. If he calls, then hopefully we are in a coin flip, which wouldn't be a bad thing at this stage of the tournament.

The Mid player thinks for a bit, and folds. The Big Stack thinks for a much longer time. Meanwhile, his Buddy had already busted from the tournament and is watching the action. He comments about how big the pot is. The Dealer quickly chewed out the Buddy for opening his mouth when he's not involved in the hand.

I think the Big Stack listened to his Buddy, because he called right after the comment with KJo. He hit a J on the Flop, but I picked up a Gutshot on the Turn. The River didn't help me, and I was out in 26th place.

Even thought the Buddy should have kept his mouth shut, I really didn't mind the call. With three tables left, winning this coin flip would have given me the monster double-up, and that would have hopefully propelled me to the Final Table. In the Bally's tourney I played just before this one, I got that monster double-up (AQd vs 55) with about 15 players left. That gave me the Big Stack, and I rode it to victory. This time it didn't work out.

Oh, well. That's (tournament) Poker. At least I got two bounties to cover half of my buy-in.

All-In Or Fold

2011-06-27T20:38:00.004-07:00

Last week in Las Vegas, I found out about a unusual tournament at the Aria. On Monday night, they had a $160 "All-In Or Fold" Tournament with a $25 Bounty.

Why is it called "All-In Or Fold"?

Because those are your only options preflop, All-In or Fold. No limping, no min-raising, and no just calling a shorter stack's All-In. It's only All-In or Fold. If everyone chooses Fold, then the BB gets a walk and we move on to the next hand. Seems simple, right?

Well, I get bored with just regular "TV Poker" tournaments. So I will happily jump at any opportunity to play something different, as long as it doesn't cost me too much money. The $160 is well within my buy-in range.

This was put on by LIPS, although I don't know why since guys were allowed to play. There was 97 players for this tournament, which was a bit surprising to me. Although there were a few players that signed up for the evening tournament, and immediately un-registered after they realized what was happening.

The other surprising thing about this night was the play. We got 6000 chips, and the Blinds started at 100/100. To me, it seemed the "proper" strategy was to play tight, because why risk 6000 chips to win 200? However, it appeared that I was one of the few players who had this thought. On the very first hand at my table, UTG went All-In for the 6000, and he had AKo. A Mid player called the All-In with ATo, and was out of the tournament.

Other players were treating this like a rebuy tournament, even though they couldn't rebuy. There was a Kid at my table who still had a chip stack in a Cash game. He declared that he was here to gamble in order to get a monster stack, or he would go just back to his $2/$5 table. Overall, I was very surprised on how few walks were given to the Big Blind.

As for my tournament, I got a decent seat at the table. The two players on my Left were playing tight, and waiting for premium hands. This meant I was able to steal the occasional Blinds. However, right after those two players was the Kid who wanted to gamble.

I was able to double up in Level 1 with my AQ vs TT. In a later hand, the UTG shoved. I was UTG+1 with 33, and had to fold. Two other players shoved All-In. I would have flopped a Set and collected three bounties and got a monster stack. Oh well, right fold - wrong time.

In the next level, I lost my double up with my AJ vs JJ. After that, I went very card dead. With so many players willing to gamble, I had to pop the clutch, and drop into Super Nit gear for a while. Eventually, a very active Lady shoved. I had 7h 7d, and was the only caller. She had KQc. The Flop was 7c 5c 4c, giving her the Flush and me Top Set. I missed my Full House Draw, and was out in 45th place.

Now I'm gonna take off my Player hat, and put on my Tournament Director hat. This was their first attempt at this type of tournament, and nobody was happy with the structure. It had 6000 chips and 20 min levels: 100/100, 100/200, 200/300, 200/400, 300/600, 300/600/100 (I'm not sure what the rest of the levels were, since I left.)

Some of the players though the structure was way too slow. It should have 10 min levels, start with less chips, have the levels go up much steeper, and have antes much sooner. Not surprisingly, these were the players who were here to get their gamble on.

As a former TD, I do agree that the structure needs some work. If I were to run this for one of my home games, I would start with less chips. I think something in the 30BB - 40BB range would be good, but I would have the Blinds go up slowly. I would have antes starting in Level 1 or 2. There needs to be something in the pot that's worth risking your whole stack. I would also probably have 15 minute levels.

While this seems like a turbo, it's not necessarily the case. What happened in this tournament was tables started breaking rather quickly after the late buy-ins ended. But once we went from nine tables down to five or six, things started slowing down. Stacks got bigger, and players were less willing to risk all their chips against another big stack. So once the initial stacks doubled up, and maybe doubled up again, there was some fold equity against other players, and the bust-outs went much slower.

Of course, building a tourney structure is always a bit of theory before it's actually tested. Once it's played a couple of times, then more adjustments can be made. Maybe some of my CPMGers will give this one a try.

LOL Donkaments #3

2011-06-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Bally's 4pm $75 - 06.17.11

I played in this tourney because it was the only one on my list for 4pm. Although if I knew how bad the structure was, I probably wouldn't have played it. They give us 5000 chips, which is ok. But the Blinds start at 100/200, and double double double after that (100/200, 200/400, 400/800, 500/1000, 1000/2000, 2000/4000, 4000/8000).

Since this was such a terrible structure starting out with 25 Big Blinds, I decided to go with an all Preflop strategy. No limping or calling, just raise or 3-Bet. Overall, I did a decent job of sticking to it, and it worked beautifully. I won the first few pots I played, and I was steadily building my stack, while I rarely had to show my cards. By the time we got to the break, I had around 13k - 15k. The field of 47 players was down to three tables.

Things kept going well as I stuck to the plan. When we got down around 15 players, I made a standard raise from UTG with AQd. The SB moved All-In, and had me covered as we were the two Big Stacks at the table. He was at my first table, and he didn't mind getting his chips in the middle. That means his range of hand for 3-Betting is rather wide, so I quickly called. He had 55, and I won the race. This left him very shortstack, and I knocked him out on the next hand.

When we got to the Final Table, I had the dominate stack of 58k, which was 25% of the chips. I stuck to the plan, and was able to avoid any bad luck. The weirdest thing about the Final Table was there was no mention of a chop, bubble save, or any other type of deal. I would have had no problem discussing some sort of deal due to the retarded blind structure, just as long as I got the big chunk of money.

Even when the Bubble popped with five players getting paid, there was not a word uttered. This was bizarre to me because there is almost always something mentioned in Reno tournaments. I guess I got lucky in getting a Final Table full of tourists.

When it got to three handed, I had the Tower of Power with over 160k chips, and the other two players were close together around 35k each. Even with the Big Stack, I brought up making a deal. I wanted to protect my equity because the blinds were 4k/8k, and my chip dominance could be in trouble with a bad River card followed by a lost coin flip.

At first, I suggested that I get 1st place, and they chop 2nd and 3rd for $517. One of them said he would rather just play it out, as he doesn't get to play short handed very often. I was certainly not afraid to play it out with these two, but I kinda wanted to get some dinner. I made one more offer. I suggested they both get $550, and I'll take the rest. They looked at each other, and agreed to it.

So by giving up $70, I walked out of the poker room with $955 after the Dealer Tip.

WSOP '11: Putting A Bow On It

2011-06-22T07:12:00.005-07:00

I walked through the front door of my apartment about 6:15pm last night. Once again, it was a very uneventful trip through the mountains and deserts of Nevada. Here are my final thoughts.

~ If you have never been to Las Vegas during the WSOP, you have to visit at least once in your lifetime. It is Poker-Palozza in Sin City, and not just at the Rio. With all the extra tournament series around town, all the Poker Room are busier than normal. Some Dealers were complaining that they had to work 8-10 hours straight without breaks.

With so many poker players at the Rio, it's amazing how many Bad Beat Stories are floating through the air. In the elevator, in the bathroom, or in line for a restaurant, it's common to overhear little sound bites of conversation. "I had AK on the Button." "That stupid Spade on the River." "I can't win a Race." "I hate Jacks."

~ As for my "goals" for this trip, one of my most successful was my morning Strip Walk. I did it on most days, only missing my early morning Cash session, and yesterday. I started at Bill's Gambling Hall because the parking garage is right by Las Vegas Blvd. I headed South to Tropicana, across the pedestrian bridge to Excalibur, all the way North to the Fashion Show Mall, across the pedestrian bridge to Wynn, and back to Bill's. Some times I would walk the opposite way. It was about five miles round trip. Some days, I only did half or three quarters, depending on how I felt or if I was in a hurry. I would definitely recommend this if it is something that you would be in to.

~ I said I wanted to play $2/$5 in all the Big Rooms. Well, I only played two session of $2/$5, one at the Rio and one at Aria. I did play $1/$3 at Caesars after the Heads-Up tournament, but I never set foot in any of the other Big Rooms. I also played some more $1/$2 and $1/$3, and a $1/$2 HA session at the Palms. Overall, I played seven Cash sessions, and was down $195.

~ I did a good job of staying away from the Pit. I did do a little social gambling with my poker buddies from Cleveland. On Saturday night, we headed to Downtown to hang out, and I ended up dropping $100 on Roulette.

When I was at the Palms, they had a new table game called 7-14-21. It's sort of a hybrid of Blackjack and Pia Gow. I tried it out for about an hour, and left up $35.

~ As far as tournaments, I played in five larger tournaments, and I went 0-5. Some of it was do to bad luck, and some of it was due to questionable play. It was really disappointing that I couldn't even make to a dinner break in any of these tournaments.

~ The only thing that kept this trip from being a disaster was the smaller daily tournaments. I played in eight daily tournaments under $100, and had three cashes: a 2-way chop, a 3-way chop, and another 3-way chop where I got a big chunk of the prizepool.

It does seem that I have become a specialist in these little tournaments. That's good for maintaining my bankroll, and it's also good for my ego. But it doesn't seem to translate into the bigger buy-in, larger field tournaments that has better players.

~ Overall, I would rate the trip as Meh! (not great, didn't suck). The Grand Total was -$672, but it's +$828 if I take out the $1500 Event. Like I said, not great, didn't suck.

The other problem with this trip was it was just too damn long. I "hit the wall" on Saturday, and spent half the day in my hotel room. I was looking forward to heading home for the last three days.

Maybe spending nine nights in Las Vegas would have been more enjoyable if I was still living in Cleveland. However, I now live five minutes away from the top two poker rooms in Reno. I can play poker any day I want to, but I can also not play any day I don't want to. I doubt I will play any poker until at least Friday, or maybe even Sunday.

Don't get me wrong, the Poker in Las Vegas is waaaayyyy better then the Poker in Reno. I will certainly go back, but just for a few days at a time. I have no clue when that will be, or if I will be back for WSOP '12.

LOL Donkaments #2

2011-06-20T06:29:00.003-07:00

Harrah's 3pm $60 - 06.15.11

They give you 6000 chips for this one and 20 minute levels, but the structure is not even close to the Caesars' structure. 48 players signed up for this one.

I was extremely card dead for this start. I guess it was making up the the Caesars' tourney. I basically blinded off down to 2600 at the break.

The next level was 300/600/75. The player in front of me raised to 1500. I looked down at QJo, and shipped in my 2525. I'm in the mode of "Get Me Chips Or Get Me Out Of Here", as I will just run to the next tournament on my list. But then the SB goes All-In. He seemed like he was a goofball who was catching cards. The original raiser thought for a bit, and folded. SB had AK, but I flopped a Queen to almost triple up.

Right after this hand, they broke our table. In one of my first hands at the new table, I get 88, and win a decent pot to knock out a player. Shortly after that, I 3-Bet with AK in the SB, and win a good pot from the chip leader of the table. By the end of the 300/600/75 level, I have over 18k chips. Sometimes this is a funny game.

After that, I really didn't get many hands to play. But I was able to maintain my chipstack in the 15k - 25k range through naked aggression. Nobody at my table was doing anything but playing their own cards, so I took advantage of it when I could. But the structure was on the fast side, so there wasn't much room to maneuver.

When we got to the Final Table, I had 24k and was one of the shortstacks. The blinds were 1500/3000/400, so I was in Push-N-Pray mode. It went ok, as I was able to maintain my stack. But I never got the big double up you need at a Final Table. Also, the structure got retarded. It went from 1500/3k/400 to 3k/6k/800 to 5k/10k/1k.

I did have a chance to get some chips when I shoved with A5o, and a shorter stacked called with A4d. But a 4 on the Flop took a nice chunk of my stack that I had manage to build through stealing.

Shortly after that hand, the level went up to 5k/10k/1k, and I was the BB. I only had 25k, which meant I was almost pot committed. But I just couldn't commit the last of my stack with 93s. It was a good thing I folded, because I got A8h in the SB. However, the BB woke up with AA. I did pick up a Flush Draw on the Turn, but it wasn't meant to be. I finished in 7th, which was the Bubble. Officially, five players got paid, but the Bubble Save talk started before the next hand was even dealt. I don't blame them, as they are just flipping coins at this point.

I did manage to place a $50 moneyline bet (+115) on the Boston Bruins to win Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I won $57.50, so that basically covered this buy-in.

LOL Donkaments #1

2011-06-19T07:00:00.002-07:00

Caesars Palace 9am $70 - 06/15/11

You get 4000 chips, and 20 minute levels with a decent structure for a daily tournament. They got 44 players on three tables. They have Re-Entry, and a lot of players used it.

Very first hand, I limped in Mid with J9d. Four players saw the Flop of Js 9c 8c. UTG+1 bet 150. I raised to 400 to either isolate, or just win the pot. It folded to him, and he called. Turn was [Js 9c 8c] 7s. Yuck! We both checked. River was [Js 9c 8c 7s] Jh. He led out for 600. It's rather obvious that he had a J, so I raised to 1500. He called with KJ.

Things kept going well for me. I knocked out a few more players, including my AKs vs an AKo when I hit a Flush. I had 11200 at the first break.

The carnage continued at our table, which became the Table Of Death. I wish this was a Bounty tournament, as I was the main head hunter. When we got to the Final Table, I had 48100, almost triple the average of 17600. Nobody else even had 20000. I had only one thought going through my head... Don't screw this up!

Well, the good news is that I didn't screw it up, but Lady Luck definitely put up a fight. I had numerous situations and suckouts to deal with. It started in the first orbit when I raised to 2000 with QQ. Next player went All-In for 9800. I made the call, and he had AA. I also had other hands that I raised with, but had to fold after another player went All-In, including AJ when the other guy had KK.

There was an old guy who was to my Left+1, which meant he's the BB when I'm the Button. He was a terrible calling station. This would be wonderful if it was a Cash game, but it can be very annoying at a Final Table. He also had the toughness of a cockroach, as he just would not die. I raise with KK on the Button. He went All-In with A6c, and flopped an Ace. He kept calling bets, almost never raised, and just would not die.

By the time we got to the next break, we had just popped the Bubble, and had five players left. The stacks had evened up considerably, and I was no longer chip leader. The leader had around 28k, I had 25k, and the short stack was around 12k - 15k. Since I couldn't raise to steal blinds because of the old geezer, I shifted gears down in to Small Pot Poker. I limped on the Button three consecutive times. The SB and BB (old geezer) called. I would make a small bet on the Flop or Turn with Middle Pair, the Geezer would call with Bottom Pair, and I would be good at showdown. With the Blinds at 1000/2000 and 1500/3000, these were good sized pots, and I was successful at rebuilding my chip lead through stealthy aggression.

After I got my stack over 40k, I started to raise a little more. I had bled the Old Geezer down to the point that he was hanging on for dear life, and he actually started to fold. By the time he finally got knocked out in 5th place, I had almost 70k.

During three handed play, I raised the Button with AQo. The SB moved All-In with a decent stack, and I called. He had AJh, and flopped the Flush. That took over half of my stack, and I had to go into survival mode. I carefully maneuvered with small pots, some All-Ins, and a few good folds. Once again, I was able to slowly get my chips lead back thanks to a rather good blind structure.

Eventually, the AJh guy knocked out the 3rd place player. We did a quick chip count, and I was ahead by only 4000 or 5000 chips. We decided to do an even chop. I left the Poker Room at 1:40pm with $705 after the Dealer's Tip.

Satellite Man

2011-06-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

I played some single table satellites to try to earn some money for the $1500 Event. Here's what happened:

#1 $125. 1000 chips. 15 min levels. Blinds start at 25/25. I played very tight at the start. Picked up AA in the SB, and 3-Bet from 125 to 325. Original raiser called. I shoved the Flop, and he folded. I won another small pot or two, which got me to 1600 when this hand happened.

I limped for 25 in Mid with 66. Five players saw a Flop of A 6 3. The player before me bet 100. I just call. This is a great board to slowplay because there are no obvious draws. Two other player called the 100. Turn [A 6 3] J. Same player bet 200. I call. Next player calls. Last player goes All-In for 700. First guy thinks for a bit, and folds. The moment his cards hit the muck, I say "All-In". The third play thinks for a bit, and goes All-In. One player had AJ for Two Pair, and the other one had 54 for the Open-Ender. River [A 6 3 J] 4, and I had everyone covered. I now had 4600 chips, which is almost half the chips in play.

With such a monster stack, I went into lockdown mode. I did ended up knocking out a few more players, including another double elimination when I woke up with AKh in the BB. By the time I got to heads-up, the last remaining stack was about even with me. So we chopped up the money for $60 and a $500 tournament chip each.

#2 $125. I got a lot more limping hands in the first level, and I played most of them. I also won most of them, including this one:

I limped in Mid with 66. Cutoff raised to 150. Three players called, and so did I. Flop T 9 4. It checked around to the Cutoff, and he bet 225. The SB called, and it folded back to me. The 225 bet seemed weak to me, and the call wasn't strong either. I decided to follow my gut, and shove All In for 650 more. This is definitely a bluff as I do not want a call. The Cutoff thought for a while before finally folding. The SB also folded, and I didn't show my hand.

With that hand, I had 2600 chips at the end of Level 1. However, unlike the first satellite, I ran into some hands, and my stack went up and down, but never below the starting 1000. Another difference from the first one was players were not getting eliminated. When we hit the 150/300 level, there was still six players left. That meant it was time for Push-N-Pray. In the Hyjack, I looked at the first card and saw a King. I shoved All-In for 1350. The BB quickly called with ATo. My other card turned out to be a 5, and I missed everything. I finished in 5th place.

#3 $125. I was rather card dead for this one. I did hit a Straight against someone to knock them out. Fortunately, the table was rather passive, so I was able to do some stealing. But I never got the big double up that you need in these quickies.

The knockouts happened at a good pace, and we had three players left at the 100/200 level. The other two players were talking about doing an equity chop. I was the shortstack with 2200. I said No because at the 100/200 level, we can still play a little poker. Also, I like my skill advantage against these two, and I'm not afraid to bubble. Well, I did bubble when my A4d ran into A7o, and I missed everything. They did some sort of chop as I was walking away from the table

#4 $345 8-Game. I didn't want to play a satellite this big, but there were trying to sell the last seat, and there were no seats for a $125 or $175 NL.

The game started with 2000 chips. The levels were 20 minutes, and each game round was only four hands. We had eight players.

I'll skip all the stuff in the middle, and get to the important stuff. I got to Heads-Up, but the other guy had a monster chip lead. He started talking about some kind of deal. There was 5 $500 chips, and some cash (maybe $120). He offered to give me a $500 Chip. At first, I wanted 2 Chips, but even I knew that was silly. I then made the offer of $100 and a Chip. He said No, so we played. We started in the O8 round, and got to the Razz round. We both got dealt good starting hands, and got it All-In. He got an 86 Low by 5th Street. I hit a K on 4th, but was drawing to a 6-Low in 5th. However, 6th and 7th Street were a 9 K, and I walked away in 2nd with nothing.

In hindsight, I really screwed up this one by not taking his offer, and I'm not being results-oriented because I lost. Being that I didn't want to play a satellite this big, taking any profit would have a good thing, especially since the profit would have covered satellite #3 that I played just before this one. Also, I'm not an expert at some of the eight games. I'm decent at O8 and Razz, but Stud and Stud8 are my weakest games.

I Love The Smell Of Paulsons In The Morning

2011-06-17T12:44:00.005-07:00

7:30 - I head down to the Rio Pavilion to play an early morning Cash session. They have two tables each of $1/$3, $2/$5, and $5/$10 in the Lower section. I put my name on the $2/$5 list, but if they open a $1/$3 table, I will jump on it.

8:00 $439 - They opened up the $1/$3 game, so I sat down for one orbit. I lost a pot with Top Pair to Nut Flush before I got called to the $2/$5 table. The table is 9-handed, and nobody has a stack over $1000. I buy-in for the max of $500 minus what I lost at the $1/$3 table.

8:30 $513 - Action is decent, but not crazy. I played a couple of pots with the biggest being my Two Pair vs Straight. It was an ugly board, with a Flush and 4-Card Straight on it, so it wasn't a big hit. I pulled $200 more out if my pocket.

My seat draw kinda sucks. A few Old Guy just sat down on my Right. The Kids are on my Left, and one of them seems to be Action Guy. If I get a chance to switch seats, I will do so.

9:00 $500 - I was able to move two seat over. It's not ideal, but it's better. A played a couple of pots, but nothing big. The best was a Big Blind Special with 92o. Flop was 992. The Button bet, and I was the only caller. The Turn was the last 9, and it killed my action.

9:30 $777 - I got my second BBS in a row. Cutoff raised $20. I called in the BB with 66. Three players saw a Flop of 8 8 6. It checked to Cutoff who bet $35. I was only caller. Turn [8 8 6] 9. I checked, and she bet $55. I fired out five Green chips for a check-raise to $125. She thought for about 15 seconds before saying All-In with QQ for about $300.

10:00 $812 - A quiet level for me. I won a couple of small pots, but nothing noteworthy. There are some new players here. The Action is still good, but not crazy. The Seniors Event is today, so there are a ton of walkers and scooters around.

10:30 $866 - A Kid raised $20 UTG. Mid guy called. I was the next player with KQc, and 3-Bet to $60. Only the Kid called. The Flop was T 9 4. He checked, and I bet four Green chips with my Gutshot and Two Overs. He though for a bit, folded his hand, and asked if it was JJ or QQ. I told him QQ, which was half right since I had one Queen in my hand.

11:00 $1090 - UTG raised to $15. Almost everyone called. I'm the SB with AQo, and 3-Bet to $80. It folded all the way to the Button, who called. He's an older gentleman who's playing like one. Flop was Jh 9h 6c. I bet $110. He snap called, and only had about $100 behind. No doubt that he has a J. Turn [Jh 9h 6c] As. I give a quiet thanks to the Poker Gods, and bet enough to put him All-In. Before I finish putting the chips in the pot, he quickly threw his cards into the muck.

11:40 $1164 - It folded around to the Hyjack who limped. The Cutoff also limped. I'm the Button with QQ, and made my standard raise of $15. The Hyjack thought for a moment, and check-raised to $80. The Cutoff folded, and it didn't take me long grab eight Green chips to 4-Bet to $215. The Hyjack is a Kid who has been at the table for the whole session. He's very no-nonsense, and would not have limped in the Hyjack with a premium hand. He goes into deep thought for almost a minute before folding.

Two other hands were me raising with QTo, and I got one caller. I fired a C-Bet on the A-Flop, but he called. It got checked down, and I ended up hitting a backdoor 4-Card Flush.

In the very last hand or the session, there was a Button Straddle, and I limped UTG with AKo. Mid player raised to $40, and I was one of two players who called. I flopped a Broadway Draw and checked. Mid bet $85, and I decided this just wasn't a fight worth fighting.

I cashed out with $464 profit, and went back to my room to finish this entry. Next is lunch, and then I will play in the Rio's $235 Deepstack at 2pm. Hopefully, I will make it to the Dinner Break in that one.

EDIT: 2pm - The Seniors Event today has almost 3800 entrants, and sign-ups are still open. The WSOP had shut down all satellites and some Cash games just to try and get enough tables. My 2pm tourney has been moved to 4pm, but I think it will be later than that. They still have previous Events to restart, plus Seniors would rather fold down to 2 Big Blinds than going All-In with a "junk hand".

I'm gonna try to cancel my entry. There are a few Poker Buddies here from Cleveland, so I may see what they're doing.

WSOP $1500 - End Of Level 6 (100/200/25)

2011-06-16T19:00:00.002-07:00

The Timer says 2500 players. Well, my new table has plenty of Internet Kids, but the cards have improved. I knocked out a shortstack with my A6c vs 33 for 1250. I also won a decent pot with KK, and got above 9000 chips when this hand happened in the 100/200 level.

Kid raised to 450 from UTG. Kid in Mid called. Kid on the Button called. I'm the SB, look down at Ah Ac, and 3-Bet to 1550. UTG thinks for a bit, and moved All-In for 7600. Mid and Button fold. UTG has Kh Kd. Flop was Td 7d 3d, giving him the Flush Draw. The Turn was 5c, but the River was 9d giving him the 4-Card Flush.

Very next hand, only one player limped in. I'm the Button with 22, and ship it in for 1375. The Blinds folded. The only limper was a 50's gentleman who has a little over 3000. It doesn't take him long to call with 77. (Of course, why did he limp with 77 in the first place?) As you can probably assume, I didn't get lucky, and I finished somewhere around 1800th place.

Maybe one of these days, I can make it to the Dinner Break.

WSOP $1500 - End Of Level 4 (75/150)

2011-06-16T16:41:00.001-07:00

First, a couple of side notes. Break time at the Rio reminds me of High School. The halls are quiet until the bell rings, and then it's wall to wall people with long lines in the bathrooms.

Secondly, I'm really not a fan of the Bracelet Ceremony. I think it ok to introduce who won, but to play each national anthem just seems silly to me and a waste of time. Today, we had one from France, and one from the US. Is it really necessary to have everyone stand twice for each anthem?

Back to the Poker... The Timer says 2472 players. The Preflop Raising is up to 98.3%, and is a very consistent amount. 250 for the 50/100 level, and 350 for the 75/150. This is definitely an Internet table.

Unfortunately, I really haven't had anything to play. I tried the occasional move, but they all failed. I didn't lose any big chips in a single hand, but they did start to add up.

Finally, a Kid in UTG+1 raised to 250. I had Ah Jc in Mid. I just called because I had already 3-Bet a couple of times and it didn't go well. Surprisingly, more players called, and six players saw a Flop of Qd 6s 3s. It checked around to me, and I decided to bluff for 1100. I only had two players that haven't acted, and I still think I have a tight table image. It almost worked, as only the SB called. He's now the Action Kid at the table.

Turn [Qd 6s 3s] As. Action Kid bet 1500. Now, that's an interesting card. I've seen him bet some bluff cards, and fold to All-Ins for not much more. I was already gonna shove any Turn card, so I might as well do it with Top Pair. It was for less than 3000 total. He didn't like this and went into deep thought. He mumbled stuff about he might be drawing dead, and he knew I was betting a Flush Draw. Eventually, he tossed his cards into the muck. This probably wasn't the best hand I ever played, and I got a little lucky. But I was certainly due for some.

Just before we went on Break, our table broke, and I got moved to Table 27 Seat 3. Hopefully, there will better cards and less Internet Wonder Kids at this table.

I have 6225 chips.

WSOP $1500 - End of Level 2 (25/50)

2011-06-16T14:18:00.002-07:00

The Timer says we have 2378 players, but registration will be open for awhile. Our table filled up, lost a couple of players, and had their seats filled quickly.

As you would expect, our table is mostly kids. There are two guy older than me. Unlike the Golden Nugget tourney, this table is dead quiet because most of the Kids are listening to their iPods. Fortunately, the old guy next to me wants to chat. He's from West Virginia, and we've been talking about Mountaineer.

As for the Poker, I've been trying to play A-B-C poker. With all the Kids here, over 90% of the pots are raised preflop, so I've been trying to keep my VPIP low. Of course, a lack of quality hands has helped.

Things were going along nicely, until I raised to 125 UTG+1 with 88. The SB (a Kid) 3-Bet to 400, and I called. Flop was Q-high. He bet 450, and I called. Turn was J. He bet 700, and I called. Rvr was a brick. He ships it All-In, and it's for most of my stack. To me, this was what the Kids call a Polarized Range. He's either got QQ or an AK type of hand. So, I let it go, and waited for a better battle. He didn't show. That's what I get for raising 88 in Early Position.

Fortunately, a better battle came a few hands later. A Kid made a standard 150 raise from Early Position. Another Kid called. A third Kid 3-Bet to 500, and he seems to be the Action Kid at the table. I'm the SB, and look down at As Ad. I decide to just call. They are doing all the betting and raising, so why not let them. I'm planning on check-raising All-In on the Flop. Three players saw a Ten-high Flop. It checked around to Action Kid, who went All-In. I quickly called, and the other Kid folded. Action Kid had AK, and was drawing dead on the Turn.

I have 6375 chips.

WSOP $1500 - "Shuffle Up & Deal"

2011-06-16T12:03:00.002-07:00

I decided to take the plunge, and play in Event #28 at the Rio. I am here now, and I don't know if I'll be here next year. I will be working a ton of overtime this summer, so if losing the $1500 won't hurt too much.

My main goal is "Don't Screw Up". If Lady Luck wants to have some fun with me, then there isn't much I can do about it.

The first thing I need to look for is what type of players are at my table. The first kind will be just happy to be here. They're excited to play in there first big tournament. They will want to get through Day 1, and really hope their AA don't get cracked.

The other type to watch out for is the Pro or Kid who wants to Go Big or Go Home. They are only starting with 4500 chips, so their approach is "Let's Gamble". I'll probably have one or two of each at my table.

I'm seated at Table 117 Seat 3. Tables are 10-handed. Blinds start at 25/25, and the levels are one hour long.

I'm planning on doing one entry at each break, which I believe is every two hours.

Our table has six players, but nobody I recognize.

Golden Nugget's $235 Tournament

2011-06-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - This is being held in a ballroom that has about 60 tables set up. There is also the daily 11am tourney being run, as well as a $235 HORSE tourney that starts at noon. It looks like there are 10-12 tables for this one, and they are 10-handed. We start with 12000 chips, and the levels are 40 minutes. We start with five players, and five dead stacks. I'm sitting between two Vegas Old Timers who know each other, and are on a first name basis. They already swapping stories.

End of Level 1 (25/50) - We are 9 handed with a dead stack. Play has been relatively normal for a first level. Hand of the Level: UTG+1 raised to 250. I call in Mid with Td 9c. Old Timer next to me also calls. The three of us see a Flop of Jd 8d 7c. Yahtzee! UTG+1 said, "Raise 500" and tossed in a 500 chip. To me, the word Raise meant he had an Overpair. No reason to slowplay here, so I raised to 1200. Old Timer folded, and UTG called. Turn [Jd 8d 7c] 5s. He checked, I bet 2000, and he called. River [Jd 8d 7c 5s] 9d. That's worst card in the deck for me. It's essentially a Joker as it completed the Flush and put a four card Straight out there. He checked. I decided to just bet 3000, and hope he calls. He went in to deep thought, mumbled about hating that card, but made the crying call. He didn't show his hand. I have 19825 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) - Still nine handed with a dead stack. It was a good level for me. I got AA, raised preflop, and got three streets of value. At the end of the level. I raised to 325 on the Button with 87s. UTG was the only caller. The Flop was Jh 5s 4s. He checked, I bet 525 with my Gutshot Straight Flush Draw, and he called. Turn [Jh 5s 4s] 9c. He checked, I bet 800, and he check-raised to 1600. I picked up another Gutshot, and I considered 3-Betting with the Big Draw. But we are too deep to risk getting my whole stack in with just one card to come, so I called. River [Jh 5s 4s 9c] 3s. He checked, and I put out a small value bet of 2100. He made the call with J9o for Top Two Pair. I have 24875 chips.

Level 3 (75/150) - Still 9 handed with a dead stack. No big hands this level. I raised a few times, won some & lost some. This has been an enjoyable table, as the table talk has been good. Live poker can be really boring when the table is dead silent. I have 26650 chips.

BREAK - Not sure how many total players yet. It looks like there are nine tables, but most have a dead stack or two. I really love the 40 minute levels, as I'm used to the 15 or 20 min levels that we see in the Reno dailies. It's also much easier to do the Running Log, as I have time to pay attention to the Poker.

Level 4 (100/200/25) - A dead level for me. I did raise preflop a couple of times, but not much came out of it. We finally started to lose players, and tables started breaking. It looks like there are 7 tables left. I heard there are 81 entrants, but that's not official. I have 24200 chips

Level 5 (150/300/25) - Basically blinded off. I did an occasional preflop raise, or called one. I really need to stay patient. This is a great structure, and I've still got 20650 chips.

Level 6 (200/400/25) - The Downward Spiral has begun. I lost chips in a couple of hands, including a 2500 River Bluff when I missed my Backdoor Flush, but the other Flush hit. He made the crying call with a small Two Pair.

Finally, I got TT UTG and raised to 1000. The Button, a Kid who knows what he's doing, raised to 3500. I considered going All-In with my extra 9500, but I think he's calling. I decide to just call and do a Stop-N-Go by shoving on any Flop. It's a play that I never use, but this seems like a good spot for it. The Flop was Tc 9c 4d. OK, change of plan. I check my Top Set, and he goes All-In with JJ. He picks up a Flush Draw on the Turn, but missed it. I have 25350 chips.

BREAK - We had 84 entrants, and we're down to 5 tables. If the pattern of breaking tables stays like it is, then our table will be part of the last two, which is sweet. They're paying 9 spots. I didn't look at the amounts, as I will worry about that when I have to.

Level 7 (300/600/50) - Down to four tables. I tried to step on the gas, but I didn't get many opportunities. I did lose 4400 chips when I called an All-In. Another caller had JJ and won. I have 21600 chips.

Level 8 (400/800/100) - Still very card dead. I want to steal some blinds, but I had very few chances. One of the few hand I did pick up was 77 on the Button. UTG raised to 2200, and one players called. I decided to squeeze, and went All-In for 15800. Before the Blinds even folded, UTG asked if he could go All-In yet. At that point, I knew I was a dead man. Naturally, he had AA. I did flop a Gutshot, but it didn't get there. I'm out in 35th place.

I guess it was a mistake to squeeze a UTG raise, but I really had nothing to work with since the first Break. I know patience is important in these longer tournaments, and I guess that's something I need to work on.

Caesars Palace's $240 Heads-Up Tournament

2011-06-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Caesers was a bit of a madhouse today, as they got 573 players for their 12pm $120 tournament. They were short on tables and dealers, so they didn't start all the matches at once. Fortunately, my table was good to go. They're doing two matches per table.

We start with 20k chips, and blinds start at 50/100. The payouts for this are extremely top-heavy. Only 8 get paid: 5-8 $559, 3-4 get $1490, 2nd $2731, and 1st 4469. In order to get in the money, we need three wins, which is half of the matches.

#1 - Not surprisingly, my first opponent was a Kid, as most of the field seems to be. At first, he seemed to play ABC poker. When he raised preflop, it was usually for the minimum. There was a big pot that was 4-Bet preflop, and I had JJ. The Flop was A-high, and he had AK. He checked Flop and Turn, and I called his River bet.

After that, he never seemed to bluff, mostly because he kept getting better hands than me. Since we were both playing Small Pot Poker, I was able to keep the damage under control. But as the levels went up, the pots got bigger. I won most of the small pots, and he won most of the big ones. This was because my bluff timing was terrible, as he always seemed to have the hand I was trying to represent, including Trips at least five times.

When we got to the 300/600 level, it was time for me to start shipping it in. I managed to double up twice, including my 22 against his 66. But I always lost chips after I doubled up. Finally, I limped in the SB with KJ with the plan of calling any All-In. He was kind enough to raise All-In with AA. I missed everything, and was put out of my misery.

"Experts" say that some players have an advantage over other players in a Heads-Up match. That is probably true if they played ten matches against each other. But in a single match, wether it's at the end of a tournament or a Heads-Up match like this one, whoever gets the best cards is usually gonna win.

And that's what happened in this one.

WSOP '11: First Impressions

2011-06-12T18:42:00.001-07:00

First, some good news...

I played at the Atlantis on Friday night. They spread their first ever $2/$3 NLHE / PLO game. I won $491 in 3.25 hours. The deck was very kind to me, and I could have won more except players started to avoid me. My only bad hand was his Straight vs my Flush Draw & Open-Ender to a better Straight. The Atlantis won't let us run it twice, and I missed my big Combo Draw. I only lost about $120 on the hand, so it was just a flesh wound. It feels good to leave Reno on a winning note.

The ride to Las Vegas was rather uneventful, which was a good thing. The most interesting part was I went over two hours without seeing a gas station, or much of any civilization. It's a good thing I drive a Prius. I also went through various dead zones for my cell phone reception. The longest was over 45 minutes.

I pulled on to the Strip, and headed straight to Caesars to sign up for tomorrow's $240 4pm Heads-Up tournament. It's a good thing that I went there first because I got the last spot in the 64 player tourney. Although, my receipt says I'm Entry Number 75. I'm not sure what that's about.

After checking in at the Rio and grabbing a quick bit to eat, I headed down the WSOP to check things out. Through listening to various poker podcasts over the last few years, I already had an idea of just how big this place was. But in reality, it's even bigger than you can imagine. The main room is the Pavilion. It's divided into four sections, with around 275 tables. This is used for Cash games, single table satellites, and WSOP events. Today, it was used for this weekend's $1000 event.

The other main room is the Amazon room, which has over 100 table in it. It is used for the three daily deepstacks, the Main TV stage, and other WSOP events. Today's events included a $1500 6-max, and a $1500 HORSE which was down to ten players, including Victor Ramdin, David 'ODB' Baker, and a couple of other players that looked familiar. I have also seen at least a dozen of other pros either walking around or sitting at a table.

Since the Caesars Corporation is so cheap, they are charging $13.95/day for Internet. I will get it for a day or two while I'm here, but most of the posts will be from my iPhone. That means no pictures, links, or other fancy stuff. I'll fill that stuff when I splurge for the Internet.

Anyways, enough typing. It's time to play some poker.

Going To Summer Camp

2011-06-10T07:01:00.003-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I'm heading to Las Vegas on Sunday. It will be my first time in Sin City for the World Series of Poker, which has been described by some as "summer camp for poker players".

Each year, some of my old Home Game buddies head out to the WSOP. This year, there are at least a dozen making the trip sometime during the WSOP, with a majority of them making the trip in late June. I would have preferred to go at that time, but next week is the only week I was able to get, and I was lucky to even get that off work. There will be one or two buddies down there during part of my visit. I've offered to be an airport taxi for them, since I will be driving my car.

You might be surprised to learn the drive from Reno to Las Vegas will take eight hours. Not only is there no Interstate Highway, there are no direct roads between the two largest cities in Nevada. This is mostly because of the mountains, and Uncle Sam owning large chunks of Nevada.

I should be arriving on the Strip around 1:30 - 2:30 in the afternoon. I'm staying at the Rio, so I'll probably just play there on Sunday. I want to spend some time in the Satellite Room, because everyone says that the single table satellites are very soft.

On Monday, my main activity will hopefully be the 4pm $240 Heads-Up tournament at Caesars Palace. They already ran one of these, and it sold out quickly from what I've read on 2+2. So I will sign-up for this when I arrive on Sunday. I really want to play this tourney because I've never played in a live Heads-Up tourney, although I have ran one for our Home Games.

On Tuesday, I will head Downtown to play in the $235 Noon event at the Golden Nugget. On Wednesday, I'm planning on doing the Daily Tournament Run. I'll either be starting at the 9am $70 at Caesars, or there are a couple of 10am tournament that are possibilities. I did a little research, and made a list of the best daily tournaments that start each hour from 9am to 10pm. As soon as I win the first one (or maybe bust-out), I will run to the next one. I'm hoping to play in five to seven tournaments.

On Thursday, hopefully I will be playing in WSOP Event #28, $1500 NLHE at 12pm. I say hopefully because right now, I'm only 40%. I really want to play. After all, isn't that the point of going to Vegas in June? But as you know, thing haven't been going as planned lately. As it turns out, I haven't hit bottom yet, as I'm down $594 since Monday. So if things don't improve in Las Vegas, I just can't risk $1500 for a tournament. If I don't play in the $1500, I will play in the 12pm $350 at the Venetian. Either way, I will do a Live Blog on this day, just like I did for the Atlantis Main Event in March. Both events start at noon, so tune in to follow me.

The rest of the trip will involve Cash games and other tournaments. The WSOP has side tournaments that I will try out, either the 2pm $235 or the 6pm $185. Golden Nugget, Binion's, Caesers Palace, and Venetian have tournament series running that I may try out.

As for the Cash games, one of my goals was to play $2/$5 in each of the big poker rooms (Aria, Bellagio, Caesars, MGM, Rio, Venetian, Wynn). But since I've been dumping money lately, I might not be able to hit all the rooms.

As for a non-poker goal, I'm planning on walking the Strip every morning. Unlike most poker players, I'm a morning person. I wake up each morning before my alarm, which is set for 6:30am. I also do a lot of walking every day as a mailman, up to 5-6 miles. So walking the Strip in the morning before the Vegas heat kicks in is a good way to get some exercise and burn off some of that buffet food.

I'm planning on staying down there until Monday 6/20 or early Tuesday 6/21. Of course, if thing keep going as they have been, I can always check out of the hotel and start the drive home.

Naturally, I'll be doing a lot of blogging. Hopefully, it will be more smaller entries from my iPhone, rather than a few larger entries. But I'm not sure if I'm physically capable of doing a small blog post.

Hitting Bottom

2011-06-06T18:59:00.003-07:00

I played two tournaments yesterday. Here's what happened.

Atlantis 11am $80 Bounty - We had 25 players, which is the most I've seen for this tournament. Our table had a player who was a First Class Calling Station. He was playing 95% of hands, and seeing 75% of Turns. For example, in the 100/200 level, he limped in the Cutoff and the SB called. I was the BB with AKc. I raised to 700, and they both called. Flop was 8 6 2. I bet 1500, AT&T called, and the SB folded. Turn [8 6 2] 6. I bet 2100, and he called. River [8 6 2] 6 5. I bet 2600, and he casually called with 44. As much as I want to complain about how bad he is, I was the one who "emptied the clip" into a Calling Station. So how good does that make me?

We started with 13k chips, so that was about half my stack. Naturally, I went very card dead after that hand. Plus, it's hard to steal when there is a player in every pot. Finally in the 200/400 level, three players limp in. I'm in the Cutoff with KJo, and I've only got 4100 chips. Limping is a bad idea, as I don't want to waste the chips. If I make a standard raise, I'll get a couple of callers. So I push All-In. The Blinds fold, but UTG called. He's a 70's guy who's played very few hand. I know at this point that I'm very behind. Of course, AT&T also called. Flop was Q 3 3. UTG bet 5k, and AT&T folded. UTG showed KK, and I miss my 3% chance to win this pot. I finish in 21st place.

Peppermill 6:30pm $95 Cash Me Out - This one had ended up with 23 players on two tables. Normally, the tables are nine handed, but the TD decided to squeeze ten players on the tables, and have alternates. I guess they were short on Dealers.

Very first hand, I have KJd UTG. Normally I would limp here in the first level, but I decided to do something different and put a small raise to 125. It folded around to the Button, who raised to 400. I know nothing about this player, so I have to assume he's got a real hand. I make the reluctant call, and I know that this will be a fun hand.

The Flop was K J 5. Oh, this will be a fun hand. I check, he bets 600, I check-raise to 1600, and he called. Turn was [K J 5] 2. I bet 2500, and he called. River [K J 5 2] 9. I go All-In for 2000. He thinks for a moment, and folds AK face up. Unlike most of the other players in Reno, I don't show my hand, and scoop a sweet pot.

Things were rather quiet with me for a while. I wasn't getting any cards, but I also wasn't getting into any trouble. This was fine with me, since I got so many chips in the first hand. I stayed patient until around 300/600/100 level when I started to step on the gas. This was partially because I started to get a few hands, and partially because the steady parade of limpers had finally stopped and I was able to steal a little.

When we got to the Final Table, I had around 36k chips, and was in second or third place. As you would expect, the Final Table rollercoaster had begun. Shortstack were going All-In, and they kept doubling up. Since I had chips, I tried to stay out of the way, but sometimes you just can't help it. I lost a chuck of chips when my KQ lost to A9, and 55 lost to AT. I then won with AJ against two players. I actually lost the small Main Pot, but won the much larger Side Pot.

We finally got down to seven players, and the conversion to Cash chips. I had 21k, and got $100. Three of the seven players cashed out, including two of the Big Stack. We could have chopped the remaining $340 at this point, but the extreme short stack stayed with $40. I started catching some cards, and it didn't take long to get rid of him. The three of us played for a bit longer, and decided to chop the remaining prize pool. I left the Poker Room with $290 after the Dealer tip.

As I have mentioned before, it's been a bad two weeks, and this was the first time in a while I finished the day with some profit. On Friday, I airballed the $120 Atlantis tournament, and on Saturday I lost $195 in a $1/$2 game at the Peppermill. Hopefully, this is sign that thing are starting to turn around. This time next week, I'll be in Las Vegas, and it's not a good idea to arrive there when I'm losing.

Hand Of The Day #77

2011-06-03T07:00:00.019-07:00

Peppermill - $1/$2 NLHE - 05.22.11

It's a limp pot, including me in the SB with 87c. Six players see a Flop of Jh Th 9d. The Good News is that I have a Straight. The Bad News is that it's the back end of the Straight, it's a very draw-heavy Flop, and I'm out of position. I lead out with a standard bet of $11, and three players call.

Turn [Jh Th 9d] 6s. Well, that's a brick, so I bet $25. Mid player raises to $50. He's a 70's guy in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda hat. So far, he's been playing like a 70's guy, which means tight and passive. It folds back to me, and I decide to call. He's not raising on a draw, and there are many hands that he might raise with that I can beat, and only two that I can't (KQ or Q8).

River [Jh Th 9d 6s] 3d. I check, and the old guy grabs a stack of Red chips to bet $100. My initial reaction to this bet is "Fuck Me!" I start going into deep thought, and even started thinking out loud.

Ultimately, when you get into a situation like this, you only need to ask yourself one question, "Would he make this bet with a hand that you can beat, or even the same hand?" If he has JT or TT or 87, would he bet $100 on the River? My experience with old geezers is that they only put big money into a pot with the Nuts. I have often seen old guys just call or even check behind with a K-high flush. After all, you can't be too careful.

If he bet $50, I would have snap-called. But I just can't see him betting $100 with anything other then KQ. So even though I'm getting pot odds of $100 to win $251 after the rake, I fold my hand face up. He shows AKh for the missed Royal Flush draw.

Just kidding. He had Ks Qd.

Nice Hand, Sir.

June News & Notes

2011-06-01T07:19:00.001-07:00

- Next Sunday, I make the 460 mile drive down to Las Vegas. I'll be arriving in the early afternoon, and I'll be heading home sometime on the following Monday (June 20th). I'll be playing Cash games, daily tournaments, some larger tournaments, and maybe a WSOP event. I'll go into more detail as the day approaches.

- The Internet Kids won't understand this one, so just bear with me. Since there are so many Nits in this town, it's not uncommon for everyone to fold around to the Blinds in a Cash game. Both of the Blinds then have the option to Chop the Blinds, which means they pull back their Blinds and move on the the next hand. It's up to the individual player whether they do it or not. The proper etiquette is to always chop or never chop. It's rude to want to chop with 92o, and not want to chop with AKs. The one exception to this etiquette is with a Bonus hand that could hit a High Hand Bonus or a Bad Beat Jackpot.

My personal feelings on Chopping is that I'm not a big fan of it. I go to a Poker Room to play Poker, and not sit there for six hours waiting to hit a Bonus hand. But I have always chopped in the past, mostly to keep it peaceful with the old geezers who are trying to fund their retirement funds with the BBJ. However, since I've moved out here, I have stopped chopping when the table is shorthanded (five players or less). I figured that if we start chopping with only four players, then we might as well just go home.

About two weeks ago, I stopped chopping completely. So far, there hasn't been any problems with the old geezers, but there will be. And when it happens, I will give you all the details.

- I've noticed that bigger NL games are running more often in recent weeks, mostly at the Atlantis and the Peppermill on weekends. I'm not sure if this is normal because summertime brings more tourists to Reno, or if it's because of the events of Black Friday. It's mostly been $3/$5, but Atlantis has had some $5/$10.

There was also a private Big Game at the Peppermill this weekend. It runs about once a month, and it's been $25/$50 or $50/$100 NL with a $10k buy-in. I'm not sure what this game was, but there was a lot of bundles of $100 bills, just like on High Stakes Poker.

- I want to start playing in the bigger games, especially with the Vegas trip coming up. But last week was a very bad week for me. Three times I walked away from the Cash table with no money: -$400 Atlantis on Thursday, -$500 Harrah's on Friday, and -$400 Peppermill on Sunday. I have also not cashed in my last three daily tournaments for -$280.

Lately, I have been in a rut when it comes to my bankroll. I haven't been winning much, but I haven't been losing much either. Hopefully, this past week was just an anomaly, and not a sign of things to come. Even though I really don't want to, I am willing to pull some money out of my checking account to boost the bankroll. It's just sitting in the bank collecting dust, so I might as well take it out and invest it on the poker tables.

Hand Of The Day #76

2011-05-29T08:45:00.010-07:00

Peppermill - 05.15.11 - $180 Tournament: Level 4 (100/200/50)

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I made a mistake in two separate hands. Well, here are the hands.

- I limp in Mid with QTc, and I call the 800 raise from the Button, who's an old nit. Four players see a Flop of Kd Jc 4h. I decide to take the lead, and bet 2100 with my Open-Ender. The Button quickly raises to 5000, and has 7k - 8k behind. Everyone else folds, and I give it some thought before calling the extra 2900. I'm getting some pot odds (2900 to win roughly 10500), and I'm sure he will pay me off if I hit. The Turn was [Kd Jc 4h] 9s. I check my Straight, expecting him to go All-In. Instead, he just checks. River [Kd Jc 4h 9s] Qh. Great, now I have a one-card Straight. I grab all of my 500 chips, and bet enough to put him All-In. He thinks for a little bit, and folds in disgust.

My mistake in this hand was my River bet. As I mentioned before, he's an old nit. There was very little chance he would call off all of his chips with a four card Straight on the Board. The proper bet would have been 4000 or 5000, since that's what he just put into the pot. I'm not positive that he would have called the 4000, but it's much more likely than the calling the All-In. Leaving chips on the table is just as big of a mistake as making a bad call or lousy bluff for 4000 chips. They are chips that should be in my stack, but aren't.

I could have also bet on the Turn, but I thought the 9 was much less of a scare card than the Ace would have been. Of course, if I knew the Q was coming on the River...

- A short time later, I limp in the Cutoff with 6s 5h, and call the Button raise of 600. Four players see a Flop of 6d 5s 4d. It checks around to me, and I decide to slowplay, assuming that the Button will bet. Fortunately, he obliged by betting 850. Two player called. Now I check-raised to 2850. It folds around to the Hyjack, who thinks for a bit before calling. The Turn is [6d 5s 4d] Td. Hyjack checks, and so do I. River is [6d 5s 4d Td] 7d. The Hyjack starts reaching for chips, and I fold my hand face up. He shows A8d for the Nut Flush.

My mistake in this hand was the check-raise. While the Hyjack was thinking about my check-raise, the Dealer had brought all the 850 bets into the pot. I looked at the large pile of 100's and 500's chips, and I realized that I did not raise enough. It's a common mistake for me. When I decide my raise, I just look at the bet. Raising from 850 to 2850 seems right. But if I factor the preflop action, and the two other players calling the 850, then the 2850 is just not enough.

The proper raise would have been at least 4000. But considering the Hyjack had the Nut Flush Draw and a Gutshot and an Overcard, he still may have called. He had a nice chip stack, and had me covered. So by not raising enough, I may have saved some chips, but that's result-oriented and the wrong way to look at Poker.

Hand Of The Day #75

2011-05-25T06:55:00.004-07:00

Atlantis ~ $1/$2 PLO-8 ~ 05.21.11

We've been playing for a little over three hours, and were down to four players. One of them is leaving after this hand, so this is the final hand of the night.

UTG folds, but the Button bets POT to $7. He's an older Asian gentleman who's been playing like an old man. The SB calls. I'm the BB with 9h 8h 8d 5d. A really lousy hand for PLO-8, but it's the last hand, I already have $2 in the pot, and I have had a good night. What's the worst could happen?

Flop: 9d 5s 3s. Not bad for me. I have Top Two Pair but no Low Draw on a very draw heavy board. SB checks. I check. Button bets POT $20. SB folds, and I just call.

Turn : [9d 5s 3s] Qh. I check. He bets POT again for $60, and has $100 - $125 behind. Now I think for a bit. As I already said, he plays like an Old Man, which means he's been Tight & Passive. In the few hands that I've seen him put big money into the pot, he was trying to overbet the pot by around 1.5x (Pot is $50ish and he tried to bet $75, for example.) To me, this means that he thinks he has a good hand, and that he's inexperienced with PLO.

So what did he raise with that would have hit this Board? As an Old Man, he's probably not adjusting his preflop raising range even though we are four handed. So any hands that he would raise with just four players would be the same hands that he would raise at a full table. He also doesn't seem very experienced at this game, so I'm putting him on a hand like AA2X or AA4X. That was a decent Flop for his hand with an Overpair and a Wheel Draw. But the Turn was a complete whiff for him, which means my Two Pair is now comfortably ahead. I say, "All-In"

Not only does he not snap-call, he also gets that "What!?" look on his face. He thinks for a bit, looks at his cards a few times, and mumbles, "I should have checked."

He's right. He should have checked. This is a good lesson for noobies to Pot Limit games. "Pot Limit doesn't mean Pot Only." You don't have to always bet POT, because you can get into a situation like this by letting the size of the pot get out of control.

I'm not sure why, but I started talking to him. "Your Aces are behind," I said. "But if you have a Low Draw, it's good."

I don't know if that influenced him, but after about a minute, he pushed his stack forward. The River was [9d 5s 3s Qh] Kc. He just shook his head, and showed his hand. I'm not exactly sure what the four cards were because he was on the other side of the table. But I was right about what he had, something like AA2X. I showed my hand to collect the pot. He was not happy to see my cards, and walked away from the table. I gathered up my chips, took them up to the desk, and walked out of the poker room up $568 for the night.

As I'm typing this up, I decided to look up the percentages, since I'm not that fluent in Omaha-8 odds. I was 70% - 30% favorite for the High on the Turn, and he had a 35% chance of hitting the Low.

Sunday At The Peppermill

2011-05-23T23:00:00.005-07:00

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

9:55 - I walk into the poker room, and they have four tables running. $2/$4 Limit, $3/$6 Limit, $1/$2 NL, $2/$3 NL ($5 to go). I put my name on the $6/$12 Interest List and the $1/$2 Wait List as the 4th name. There seems to be two open seats at the $1/$2 table.

10:10 $300 - I finally got a seat after I got annoyed with the Desk. An older gentleman walked right into the room, and got seated immediately because there were open seats, even though I was still fourth on the List. I mentioned on Opening Day that they need to get some bugs worked out of the system. Well, it's been open for almost two weeks, and things haven't improved. They really need to get their shit together, because as a Local, I don't need to stand around and wait 30-60 minutes for a table that has empty seats the whole time. I can just hop in my car and get seated at another table in town within 10 minutes. On Friday, I waited an hour (from 5-6pm) before I went somewhere else, and I didn't even waste my time on Saturday night. That's why I'm here so early. Today will be a madhouse because the HPT Main Event will start at noon.

Anyway, the $1/$2 table is mostly older players and still has an open seat along with a couple of players wandering around.

10:30 $328 - We are down to three players, even though there are four names on the List. We call the Floor to get some players for our game, and we find out they just opened another $1/$2 table even though our table was never full. There are three open seats at the new table, so the Floor breaks our table. (Did I mention they need to get their shit together?) The new table is a mix of players with stacks between $50 - $300.

11:00 $319 - A whole lot of nothing happened for me. The action has been normal for a Sunday morning game. They opened up the $15/$30 Limit table.

11:30 $268 - Started getting some hands, but I had fold most of them including KK and Two Pair twice. I was right each time, which kept the damage low. I also 3-Bet with AQ, and took it down preflop.

They opened up a $4/$8 Omaha-8 and another $1/$2 table.

12:00 $285 - I won a few small pots, but nothing noteworthy. The table has an open seat, and there two names on the List.

I notice that the names on the $6/$12 List are flashing, and the table next to us has a Dealer with chips ready to sell. But nobody has made an announcement about opening a new table. I go grab a rack to move over, and I ask the Desk about the new table. They said they made an announcement, which is not true since I'm sitting next to the new table. I rack up my chips, and take a seat at the new table. The Floor now makes an announcement about the $6/$12 and start gathering up players.

12:30 $301 - I waited at the $6/$12 table for 15 minutes, and only one other player showed up. It's really sad that this game rarely runs at the Peppermill. It's a good game that fits between the $3/$6 and $15/$30 games. I end up back in a different seat at my old table. I won two small pots.

There is still a Dealer and chips at the $6/$12 table, along with one player. They are also trying to opening a $3/$5 NL table.

1:00 $253 - I played various small pots. Some were good, and some were bad. I'm not really sure how I lost the $50.

They opened up another $1/$2 game.

1:30 $495 - Finally, some nice pots. In the BB of a limp pot, I have Td 9h. Six players see a Flop of 9c 7c 4s. The SB bet $10. She's an 60's lady who's been playing like a 60's lady. I call, and so does the Button.
Turn [9c 7c 4s] Th. SB bets $10 again. I now have Top Two Pair, but that's a scary board and she's still betting. The Small Pot player in me says just Call, so I do. The Button also calls.
River [9c 7c 4s Th] Ks. The SB bets $10 again. I just call for the same reasons as before. The Button goes All-In for $69 more. He's a regular in the room, and has been whining all day. He recently mentioned that he was considering leaving because he cards have sucked. After thinking for a bit, I decided that his story doesn't fit, so I call. He says, "Nice call," and turns over Q9d. I scoop the pot, and he leaves the table. (Sort of a Win / Win for me).

More tables are opening up, including a $5/$10 NL with Jamie Gold. I assume that he played in the HPT tournament, did his usual things, and busted out already. The HPT crew is also down here filming some interviews with staff and players using the new poker room as the background.

2:00 $542 - Some good, and some bad. Mid player raised to $12. It folded to me in the BB, and I have AA. I just call, and the Flop is Ad Jd 5c. I check, and he bet $17. Even though there are some draws out there, I just call with Top Set. The Turn [Ad Jd 5c] 7h. I decide to lead out for $30. I don't want to give him the option to check. I figure that if he actually has a hand, then let's build a pot. If he doesn't, then let's move on. He folded quickly.

Two hands later, the same guy raised to $12 again. A Mid player called. I'm on the Button with TT, and I decide to 3-Bet to $30. The Blinds fold, and the two players call. The Flop was 8-high. They check, I bet $50, and they fold.

The "Bad" will be a future Hand Of The Day, where I got coolered and made a great laydown.

2:30 $575 - More good and bad, as I seem to be the Action Guy at this table. (For those who know me personally, if I'm the Action Guy at the table, then you can imagine how the rest of the table is playing.) The biggest pot was me flopping a Flush with A2c on the Button. I bet it the whole way, hit it on the River, and got a $25 bet paid.

The room is getting more crowed, which is what I expected today. More tables are opening as players start busting out of the HPT tournament. One of the HPT announcers is playing on the table behind me. The Interest Lists are growing, including the $6/$12 again and a $10/$25 NL.

3:00 $484 - There is a 70's guy wearing a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda hat, and he's having a very good day. For example, I limp on the Button with 5d 5h. Five players see a Flop of Jd Tc 5s. A 50's Lady in Mid position bet $20, which is larger than the pot. I just call with my Bottom Set becasue I know she has a good hand, and I know she will keep betting. A Mid guy also calls.
Turn [Jd Tc 5s] 9d. Mid Guy checks. Mid Lady bet $20. I hate that card, so I just call. Mid Guy check-raises to $60. The Lady thinks for a bit, and folds. I'm positive that he has KQ for the Nut Straight. This would be the 3rd time today that he would have the Nut Straight with KQ. (Did I mention that he's having a good day?) I call the $40, and will hopefully hit my Boat Draw.
River [Jd Tc 5s 9s] 2d. He starts to grab a stack of Red chips, but I quickly fold my hand face up. He shows KQ.

3:30 $642 - UTG limps in. I'm in the Cutoff with KJc, and raise to $8. The Blinds and UTG call. Four players see a Flop of Jd Jh Td. They all check, and I bet $15. Only the SB calls, and he's a Kid. The Turn is [Jd Jh Td] Js. SB checks. Naturally, I check my Quads, hoping he's on a Draw. The River [Jd Jh Td Js] 3d. The Kid bet $30. I raised to $80, and he called with K6d for a Flush.

17 out of the 19 tables in the room are in use. All 13 Cash tables are full, as well as four tables in the tournament room. Due to popular demand, they ran the usual Sunday 1pm $65 tournament, and had 66 players. I don't know if they will start running Cash games in the tournament room, but I would guess the $10/$25 NL game might start in there.

4:00 $580 - I'm UTG, and raise to $7 with 9h 9d. I would normally just limp here, but as I said, I'm Action Guy at this table. Five players saw the Flop. The Good News is that I Flopped a Set. The Bad News is the Flop is Js Ts 9s. I still bet $20 because I do not want to risk giving a Free Card. An out-of-town Lady in Mid position tries to raise to $30. Naturally the Dealer says, $40. It folds around to me, and I just call the extra $20.
Turn: [Js Ts 9s] Qc. Wonderful. I check, and she bet $20. She's been at the table for an hour, and has played very few hands. She doesn't seem to be concerned with the 4-card Straight on the Board, so I'm putting her on a decent sized Flush. I'm certainly getting odds to hit my Full House, so I call.
River: [Js Ts 9s Qc] 2d. She grabs some more chips, and I quickly fold. I'm getting tired of folding Sets.

I was right about the tournament room. Jamie Gold & Company have moved to the tourney room, and started a $10/$25 game. A few players stayed at the $5/$10, and other players from the List filled the open seats.

4:30 $502 - I'm still Action Guy at the table. That means I'm starting to lose track of hands, and I'm falling behind on the Running Log. I know I lost a decent pot to the Lady from the Js Ts 9s hand. I folded Top Pair on the River because I couldn't beat anything that she would be betting.

5:00 $378 - Things have gone sour a bit. I chased a flush that missed. I made a bad call against a Shortstack on the Flop for $54, and he had an Overpair. I tried to bluff someone who couldn't fold KK on an A-high Board. Oh, and I folded another Set to the Old Guy who's still having a very good day as he hit his 6th or 7th Straight of the day. The River is supposed give me a Full House a certain percentage of the time, right?

5:30 $369 - A quiet time for me. I played some small pots with mixed results. I'm getting hungry, so I'm leaving in two orbits. They opened up another table in the tourney room, but I don't know what it was. Due to the large crowd, it's ridiculously loud in here.

6:00 $511 - UTG+1, the Kid from earlier, raised to $6. A bunch of players call. I'm in the BB with 88, and decide to 3-Bet to $35. The Kid calls, but everyone else folds. The Flop was 7s 7d 2d. I bet $60, and the Kid goes All-In for $55 more. I call, and the Turn and River were [7s 7d 2d] 5s Tc. The Kid shows AQ, and leaves the table.

Soon after that hand, I also left the table. The room is still over-packed and very loud. I head over to the ballroom where the HPT Main Event is being played. They had 220 runners for the tourney, and are down to 81 players on nine tables. I didn't notice anyone noteworthy, but I didn't stick around long enough to examine each player.

While I was typing this post, they filmed the Final Table for TV. Here are the results.