Followers

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Hand Of The Day #80

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.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

LOL Donkaments #6

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.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Hand Of The Day #79

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?

Monday, July 18, 2011

LOL Donkaments #5

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.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Freeroll

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.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

A Little Omaha-8 Action

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.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Hand Of The Day #78

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.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Birthday To Me

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.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

July News & Notes

- 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.