Lost Weekend? (Part 2)

Fri 18:30 ~ Grand Sierra $80 Bounty tourney - 18 players

Got off to an OK start with this one. Once again, I won some pots, and lost some pots. But then my cards went quiet, so I did a lot of folding. Plus, I was feeling rather blah, so that kept me from doing something stupid aggressive.

In Level 4 (500/1000/200), a couple of players limped. including me in the BB with QJo. Flop was AQQ, SB checked. I bet 2000. Another player called, but the SB check-raised to 7000. He's a regular around town, and is rather far on the tight side. I knew he has a Queen, so I shipped All-In. The other player folded, and the SB called with KQ. You gotta love it. I didn't catch up, and I'm out of the tourney in 16th place, which is odd that only one other player was eliminated in the first 75 minutes of the tourney.

I did bring $500 for the $1/$2 game. But as I already said, I didn't feel good. I'm not sure if it's from something I ate, or I just need a nap. Even though it was only 7:45pm, I decided to head home, and crash on the couch.

(-$80)

Sat 06:30 ~ Peppermill $1/$2

Lost Weekend? (Part 1)

This weekend is my first weekend off as a regular mail carrier. This means that I punched out at 4:30 on Thursday afternoon, and I won't punch in until Monday morning. What will I do with all that free time?

This will be sort of a Running Log of my weekend, and will be published in a couple of parts. I will be playing numerous daily donkament, along with a few cash sessions, both NLHE and O-8.

Thurs 18:30 ~ Peppermill $65 Bounty - 17 players
Got off a great start by hitting a couple of hands, and pulling off a nice bluff with 87o. I started with 9k chips, and had over 20k by the start of Level 5 (300/600/75). During that level, I picked up my first $10 Bounty with 33. A shortstack called my preflop raise, and shoved his few remaining chips on the Flop. I was gonna call his shove preflop, so I called now. He had QTc, and the Flop was Jc 9h 2c, which meant he was the favorite with his monster draw. The Turn was [Jc 9h 2c] 9d, giving him more outs. But the 3 on the River gave me my first bounty.

After that level was the Break, and there were 15 players left. I had 28900 chips, and was the clear chip leader of the tourney.

One guy at my table came back late from the ten minute break, but he had a good reason. He won $4k by hitting a Royal Flush on a video poker machine, and was filling out the paperwork.

Nothing To See Here, Just Move Along

I'm sure many of you have notice that my posts are coming fewer and farther apart. The reason for this is simple. I'm just not motivated to sit down and type, although I'm not sure why.

This is post #363, which means I've outlasted 98% of the poker blogs out there, and that is damn impressive. But part of the problem is that with so many posts, things just aren't as interesting and blog-worthy anymore.

Plus, my work schedule has not improved like I thought it would, and it doesn't look like it's gonna anytime soon. I am getting one day off per week, but I'm working past 6pm the other five days. We just don't have enough bodies, and it will get much worse when the summer vacation season starts in June. I'm expecting to lose my off day, which means that Poker will remain just a spare-time hobby for the foreseeable future.

Or it could be I'm just in a funk these days, and it will eventually pass.

Either way, this isn't a post about me closing down the blog. I've got too much quality material to do that. I'm just letting y'all know that new posts may be coming less and less. It all depends on when I get motivated to sit down and type something. Hell, it took me a few days to finally get this small post typed up.

It could be a couple of weeks with nothing, and then maybe two or three posts within a week. It all depends on whether something interesting happens at the table that I feel like writing about. I could also do some opinion pieces, although I have nothing in mind right now. I've also considered doing some strategy posts, but who knows if I'll get around to it.

Also, the WSOP is only two months away, so I'm sure I'll be doing more entries while down in Sin City.

Hand Of The Day #95

Grand Sierra 6:30 $60 Tournament Level 4 (300/600/100) ~ 04.10.12

This was a one table tournament, and there are six players left. UTG+1 limps in for 600, even though he has just 1400 total. I'm on the Button with Ah Kc, and make a standard raise to 1500. The SB folds. The BB called, which he had been doing alot. The UTG+1 calls for his last 1400.

The Flop is As 5c 3d. BB checks. I also check, hoping he'll hit something on the Turn so I can get some value later in the hand.

The Turn is [As 5c 3d] 4s. BB checks again. I bet 2000, hoping he has something. But he doesn't, and quickly folds. The Dealer ships me the huge Side Pot of 200, and I show my hand. But for whatever reason, UTG+1 didn't show his hand, and the Dealer dealt the River card.

April News & Notes

- I mentioned earlier that I've started playing some NL Cash games again. Last month, I played six sessions of $1/$2, (4-2, +$242, 9.5 hrs). It's certainly nothing to get excited about, but it's not bad either.

Overall, it was an OK month. I did good with the Daily Donkaments (10 tourneys, 5 cashes, 3 wins/chops), but I airballed the four larger buy-in tournaments that I played on Sundays. I only played two sessions of Omaha-8, one $4/$8 and one $10/$20, and those were a wash. The $4/$8 session went well. However, the $10/$20 got off to a good start, but I lost a few annoying pots, and then the table broke when I was down a little. The best part of last month was that I didn't play in the Pit.

- By moving out to Reno, I had to start over at work as a sub. The Post Office is a union shop, so everything is based on seniority. Even though I have been employed since 2004, I had to start at the bottom of the seniority list at my new office.

Hand Of The Day #94

Peppermill 6:30 $55 Level 3 (100/200/25) ~ 03.25.12

Limp pot, including me with Q9o in the BB. Four players see a Flop of Ad Qs 4d. SB bet 400. He's a 40's guy I've never seen before, and has played very few hands so far. I call with 2nd Pair. The Cutoff also calls. He a 60's guy who looks like he was in ZZ Top, or he just climbed down from the mountain.

Turn [Ad Qs 4d] 9d. SB bet 400 again. Even though the Flush got there, I still called with Two Pair. The Cutoff also calls.

River [Ad Qs 4d 9d] 6d. SB bet 400 again. I don't call this time, as I raise to 1500. This is what they call a Bluff. I have no clue what the SB has, as his little bets could be anything. But if I just call the 400 again, then the Cutoff will probably call, and someone could win this with the 8d or 5d in their hand. By raising, those small Flush cards are much more likely to fold. And if someone pushes All-In, then I can make the easy fold.

Hand Of The Day #93

$4/$8 Omaha-8 ~ Peppermill ~ 03.19.12

Full table of nine players. Naturally, it's a limp-fest, including me on the Hyjack with Ac Jh 9h 4c. Seven players see the Flop As Jd 2s. The SB bets ($4), and two players call in front of me. I just call, since I have Top Two but no other draws. The Button also calls.

Turn [As Jd 2s] 8h. SB bet ($8). UTG+1 raised ($16). He's an 70's guy who just sat down, and his raise screams 43 for Nut Low. The Mid player cold-calls. He's another 70's guy who is a regular in this game, and is a Super-Nit. He's either got a very strong High hand, or a good Low with some other draws.

My turn now, and I hate this spot.

Chip & A Chair (Sort Of)

This is a mini "LOL Donkaments", as I played in the Wednesday night $55 at the Peppermill. It had 22 players, and things went well for me.

We pick up the action with four players left, and it's the 2k/4k/400 level. We are all relatively close in chips, as nobody is super shortstacked or has a Tower Of Power. This tourney is paying three spots. Naturally, someone brought up saving some money for the bubble, and I immediately shot it down by saying, "Paying three spots is fine for this tourney."

Now to the action...

It folded to me in the SB. I raised to 9100 with A9o. The BB shipped All-In for 36700. It's a 30's Lady who seems kinda of new to the game. She played almost no hands before the Final Table. She has been much more active at the Final Table, but I haven't seen her turn over any bad hands.

This is a really close decision. I have her covered, but barely. A9o is a pretty good at a four-handed table, especially Blind vs Blind. But she doesn't seem like someone would just shove to steal. It finally came down to this being a turbo structure, and me having under 10 Big Blinds.

LOL Donkaments #9

Grand Sierra 6:30 $80 Bounty ~ 03.17.12

I haven't played a Daily Donkament at GSR in a long time. But since this is now the biggest buy-in donkament in Reno, I will playing this one most Saturday nights. They give us 20k chips, but the levels start at 100/200. At least the levels are 20 minutes long. There is a $20 bounty, and we have 15 players.

Only two Reno Regulars that I recognize in this field. One at my table is an old Super-Nit with a cowboy hat. At the other table is a very loose, active player named Allen. There are a couple of others who seem to have a poker brain, but the rest of the field seems rather clueless. There is also a charity tourney outside the poker room. Not sure what it's for, or why it's on St Patty's Day, but they are very loud.

Things started very slowly for me, as I was in Observer mode. In Level 2 (200/400), I got moved to the other table. I won two sweet pots in consecutive hands. Both pots were limped preflop by a few players. I was the BB and then SB with a baby Ace, and just limped. I flopped Top Pair with the Ace, and then hit my kicker on the Turn for Two Pair.

Practicing Patience

"Shuffle Up & Deal" - It's Sunday, March 4, and this is the $240 tournament from the Grand Sierra's World Poker Challenge. Instead of having the tables on the casino floor, they have taken over the Xtreme Sports Bar across from the poker room. We have 10 tables crammed in the bar. The tables are 10-handed, but we are starting with 8 stacks and 6 players. This tourney has a $15k guarantee, which means they need 75 players. I'm assuming that means there are re-entries. Levels are 30 minutes long, and we start with 10k chips.

End of Level 1 (25/50) - 9 handed now. Table has been rather aggressive so far. There has been a raise almost every hand, mostly by three different players. I have played almost no pots. I would rather not get involved in trying to be the Alpha Male at the table, and it helps establish a good table image I can use later. I have 9400 chips.

Level 2 (50/100) -  Full table now. I finally raised preflop to 225 with KQo from the Cutoff. Three players saw a Flop Kd Qh 9d. It checked to me, so I bet 525. BB check-raised to 1500. I just called, as that was a very wet board. Turn [Kd Qh 9d] Ts. He bet just 1000, and I called. River [Kd Qh 9d Ts] 2h. He bet 1500 again. I can't see him betting anything that my Top Two Pair can beat, so I fold face up. He said I didn't want to hit the Qd, so I assume that he had JTd. I have 7525 chips