Likewise, it was fun talking with you last night, definitely the most interesting conversation I've had at a poker table. I'm sure I lost a few bets while we were chatting. And thanks for your kind words about the trip report!

Unfortunate your weekend job takes you out of Colorado, I don't really play during the week so I don't have any specific information, but in general there are more games on the weekend and there must be more recreational players, there's little doubt that this contributes to my win rate. I thought you played well if a bit passive, I'll send you email with some specifics. The 2-5 game is very passive, just keep betting! The O8 game is juicy too, if you can get a seat.

Thanks for the bball tip but I don't have any place to get such a bet down

For the blog followers: I played with Milk last night, he knows some of the home game players/dealers, and somehow the conversation turned to O8 at the Venetian, WSOP, the Commerce 40/80, sports betting, and the next thing you know we were talking about GTO strategies for beating the heads-up limit poker machines. It might be the start of a great bromance I was in the 7 seat, he was in the 5 and we were talking so much that the 6 seat (she used to deal in my home game so I know her well) changed seats.

The Lagavulin would have been on the peaty non-sherry-casked side of things and is one of my favorites. If get another crack at it, you should definitely give it a shot. The selection in the picture was a nice spread. Also approve of the Ravenswood that managed to sneak in.

Congrats. Enjoy the good times, as they are deserved.

I've had the Lagavulin before, but the peat is just overwhelming to me, and I usually like strong flavors (dark-roast coffee, hoppy beers, etc), I think it has something to do with a bad sense of smell. I've had the Ardberg (not pictured but it was there) as well , similar reaction. Isn't the Bowmore very peaty as well?

Since you're a whisky fan, you've probably seen this map before: http://www.malts.com/index.php/en_us...ky-Flavour-Map. Oban used to be my single malt of choice but it just got stupid expensive a few years ago. These days my go-to is The Macallan 12 year old, don't know how that compares to the Fine Oak 10 but probably similar, in the central region of that map.

As for the Ravenswood, I like old vine Zins, somebody else brought that to this party. Gnarly Head is right in the "every day" price range (they serve this at the Southern Sun although i never drink wine there). But I'm thinking of upgrading to 7 Deadly Zins or Ravenswood since "every day" is more like once a month...

Thank you! Not sure what I did to deserve them but I'm certainly enjoying the extended poker run-good.

Or a good sense of smell. My wife loves Irish Whiskey, but can hardly stand me drinking Scotch in the same room. I haven't had the Bowmore.

In the long run, knowing what you like is money. I'm in the "it is 100% your taste that matters, and nobody else can say good/bad for you". I guess my tasting is off or the Caol Ila I've had wasn't just the 12. I remember it being more peaty and more flavorful than the Lagavulin. I sort of remember the one I tried being cask strength, but memory isn't always so good.

You might check out the small stakes wine thread, as leo doc is quite the wine guy. I like most anything from Ravenswood and the 7 Deadly Zins is great.

Keep it going while you can.

I'm with that_pope, especially in a 1/2 blind game. 87s vs 3 bet in the SB with an active good player still to act is something I'd pass on. Do you want to play it from the SB in a possibly 4 bet pot with 4 players? In a 2/3 blind game or from the BB it is a tougher question. Given you hit a full house, I'm sad they didn't give more action.

Prettu sure it was a limit game...

And one I play in on occasion.

Most 30/60 LHE games have a $20 big blind. That's the standard 2/3 structure. They're played with $10 chips. The game here is played with $5 chips and features a $15 small blind. You end up playing a bit loser in the standard game, even though $5 doesn't seem like much difference.

Gothcha. Sorry, i thought u were thinking it was 1/2nl or 2/3nl. I dont kno if its spewy as i dont play limit but ur right, it prob is

They say a picture is worth 10^3 words but a little text would’ve actually been nice here, Doug provided some good thoughts, and I’ll provide some simulations so we evaluate this situation quantitatively.

87s is definitely the bottom of my calling range, and it wouldn’t be there at all if I wasn’t fairly certain this pot was going to be 5-handed. So let’s evaluate preflop equity:

(Brief aside: trying to assign an appropriate range to the early position limper finally sent me over the edge with PokerStove, and I downloaded Equilab to see if it was any better. Wow! Way more versatile, supereasy to assign a range of something like 20-50% with the 2-way slider, as well as having some slick predefined ranges. If you’re still using Stove I highly recommend switching.)

For our early position limper: he was not a total noob, I think he mainly plays tournaments and wasn’t really prepared for this game, I’ll assign him a limping range of 15-50%.

DocSwag: semi-regular in this game, TAG, his raise of a limper is probably ~ 20%

Button 3-better: not much in the way of reads, I believe this is his first 3-bet, I assigned him 10.4% (3-betting vs MP3 open raise Equilab range, even though this isn’t quite the way it was played)

BB: plays too many hands, I’ll assign him the Big Blind Defense: Call vs BU Open Raise range

Other info we have: DocSwag did not cap preflop, highly unlikely he has a pair here (Doc-I would’ve capped here if I were you, you must have >20% equity preflop unless you had total crap and were making a move).

So with the ranges assigned, I have 18.9% equity, a bit shy of the 20% I need. And given my crappy position, I guess my equity is probably even a bit lower, closer to 18%.

[FONT=courier new][SIZE=12]
Equity Win Tie
MP3 14.60% 13.70% 0.90% { 66-33, A6s-A2s, K8s-K2s, Q9s-Q2s, J9s-J4s, T6s+, 96s+, 86s+, 76s, 65s, A9o-A2o, K9o-K4o, QTo-Q7o, J7o+, T7o+, 98o }
CO 23.14% 22.06% 1.08% { 66+, A4s+, K8s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s, A9o+, KTo+, QTo+, JTo }
BU 28.27% 27.33% 0.94% { 66+, A9s+, KQs, ATo+, KQo }
SB 18.86% 18.18% 0.68% { 87s }
BB 15.13% 14.20% 0.93% { 33-22, A5s-A2s, KTs-K2s, Q2s+, J3s+, T4s+, 95s+, 84s+, 74s+, 63s+, 53s+, 43s, A7o-A2o, KTo-K4o, Q8o+, J8o+, T8o+, 97o+, 87o, 76o }
[/SIZE][/FONT]

For ****s and grins, I thought I’d see where 98s and JTs stood equity-wise in this situation, 98s was 18.8% (surprisingly a tad lower than 87s?) and JTs was 20.3%, just enough to call.

And, for completeness, how does 87s measure up if BB finds a fold? Not so good…

[FONT=courier new][SIZE=12]
Equity Win Tie
MP3 17.04% 16.21% 0.84% { 66-33, A6s-A2s, K8s-K2s, Q9s-Q2s, J9s-J4s, T6s+, 96s+, 86s+, 76s, 65s, A9o-A2o, K9o-K4o, QTo-Q7o, J7o+, T7o+, 98o }
CO 27.13% 25.98% 1.14% { 66+, A4s+, K8s+, Q9s+, J9s+, T9s, A9o+, KTo+, QTo+, JTo }
BU 33.77% 32.69% 1.08% { 66+, A9s+, KQs, ATo+, KQo }
SB 22.06% 21.61% 0.44% { 87s }
[/SIZE][/FONT]

So, to summarize: definitely a mistake, but a relatively minor one when I'm sure this will be a 5-handed pot, not really in the “lighting money on fire” category. JTs barely playable in this situation. Switch to Equilab if you haven’t already done so.

I saw that thread when he started it and the first bottle he reviewed was $150 and I immediately lost interest. I see he's reviewed others that are more acceptably priced, I'll have to check it out some more.

I think your range for a button 3 bettor who you haven't seen 3bet yes is extremely optimistic. Especially if you've seen him cold call raises already. I highly doubt there are many players in any live game that aren't total maniacs that have a 10% 3 betting range.

Having the BB as certain to call two more certainly helps our speculative hands.

+1
It comes up that picking a hand that falls just below their range benefits from lack of domination. You could debate if this is an artifact of stove due to uncertainly in range assignment or evidence of the benefit of live cards.

Nice work on the equilab, regardless. A fun spot.

I just assumed that_pope was adding humor, rather than explicitly claiming "worst call known to man".

There might even be sub-$10 bottles on the list. leo doc has provided me and other poker friends with the opportunity to experience some amazing wines, and the opportunity to attend one of his dinners is a can't-miss.

Well, Blackhawk is its own place. Total maniacs used to be "standard fun player" in that game. quantph plays it a lot more than I do, so I don't immediately discount crazy ranges. Not arguing with your point that I'd like to have a bit more hand, but the standard live player argument might go out the window when that game is going great. The kill pot dynamics can also come into play, as plenty of villains love the kill, want the kill, and might go out of their way to win it and then go completely mad when having it.

The Ameristar 30/60 game has plenty of 3-betters with a > 10% range, although it is often selective, with a particular emphasis on pocket pairs. If I tighten up the 3-bet range to 5.3% on Equilab, then my equity goes down to 17.5% and probably closer to 16.5% given my position. At that point I'd agree that it's money lit on fire.


I'd argue for the latter, neither of the raisers has shown LAG tendencies so it's very unlikely either has me dominated.

I was at Hazel's earlier this evening and found the 7DZ on sale for $13, best price I've seen on that. Ravenswood on sale there as well for the same price. I also picked up a 6-pack of the Slope Style Winter IPA, it had an unusual piney finish that I really liked, would buy and drink again.



And one of my buddies came by to drop something off and stayed for some whisky, he choose The Balvenie Doublewood (matured in 2 different casks). I'd forgotten how much I like this, very rich flavor but not very peaty.

Another Vegas Trip-The Food Pron (Part I)

Haven’t had much chance to write as I’ve been very busy with work. But my buddy Iggy and me finally got to take the Vegas trip that we had planned in early December, the one that got cancelled by weather (fog) in Vegas. This one started out almost as dicey. While we were waiting for the bus from Boulder to DIA, the dreaded delay message from Southwest came in. No problem, only an hour (4:15 -> 5:15). By the time we got to the airport an hour later, it was 6:15. But, we were able to change our flight to the 5:45 one (our original one was now 8:15, due to weather in Chicago). Plenty of time before our flight, so we decided to check out one of the newer restaurants in Terminal C, Root Down. I wouldn’t normally post food pron from the airport, but this place was fantastic! For the locals, there are a couple of locations in Denver, check it out if you’re in the area (or at DIA). I had the Cubano, very nice sandwich, moist and juicy:



An uninteresting flight to McCarran, taxi driver didn’t even try to long haul us to Harrah’s. First time there, room was okay, a good value for the central Strip location and proximity to Bellagio and Venetian. Iggy wanted to play some O8 so we went to the V to grind a bit, I had a very soft 2/5 NLHE table and won ~$1500 in a few hours, had the Southwest salad from Grand Luxe. Although the V no longer has Fiji water, at least they have Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (a long-time favorite, I've been drinking this beer since the 1980s) in cans now:



Friday started with a little time in the decent gym at Harrahs, followed by the obligatory fried chicken (I got it with eggs, Iggy with the waffles) at the Hash House:


I played 40/80 LHE and mixed at the B on Friday and had the Double Happiness (BBQ pork and duck) at Noodles (see last summers TR in LVL for a pic), the duck was great but the pork was a little overcooked this time.

Saturday we went to B&B Burger and Beer, right next to the poker room at the V. It had decidedly mixed reviews on Yelp but we wanted to give it a chance, as much as I love the burgers at Holstein’s, I’ve not yet had a decent side there. Started off with a pint of the Green Flash Le Freak, yum (when I linked the Beer Advocate profile I noticed this is 9.2%, can't believe they're pouring pints of this)! I had this for the first time last summer at Holstein’s (see summer TR again), recommended by hottie bartender. Since we decided to pass on the Carnegie Deli this trip (reports are there is no longer table service or pickles!), we decided to split the Pastrami Hero (really a reuben, with swiss and kraut), the Royale with Cheese, and onion rings:



The burger was fantastic, onions perfectly caramelized and nice mix of cheeses, definitely would go back for that, as well as the onion rings, big, hot, and delicious. The pastrami was okay, nothing special. I later went over to the B and played the 40/80 mixed games with a bunch of regs and/or pros for several hours, later it went to 80/160, my biggest game ever. I will write up poker separately when I have some time, but I booked a small win ($800) at 40/80 that became a small loss (-$800) after an hour of 80/160.

Sunday was the buffet at Harrahs (ya get what ya pay for, decent food, decent price) followed by some more 2/5 NLHE at the V, couldn’t get anything going and lost a few hundred. Decided to play some 20/40 LHE at the B since I couldn’t get into the mixed game, and I recognize Jimmy Fricke (2+2’s own gobbo, mod in LVL), so I PM him to say hello. We end up chatting, and he invites my friend and me to join him for a late dinner at Chada, which I’ve been itching to try. Jimmy orders everything and kindly buys dinner (he was the beneficiary of the “chip redistributor” in the game, you know, the idiot that takes your chips and then disperses them to everyone else, but nonetheless, he'd never met me before, thanks again Jimmy!). Here’s a photo of the best dish, the Panang Duck, but many of you may know that Jimmy now has a food review website, he has this pic from reverse angle plus a few more, along with a full review:



I got a bunch more but I’m gonna go for a run before I get on another plane for another work trip, more soon.

Nice report
Does Chris T play in the mix in Denver?

Thanks!

Ya, Chris T (cock sandwich!) has been a reg in the Tuesday mixed game here, although not for the past several weeks as he's been traveling a bunch, I think. I expect he'll show up again once things settle down.

Great report. Sounds like a fun trip.

I think the best thing about the glass bottle ban on the strip is I am a lot less likely to spill my beer at Bellagio if they also serve it in cans there now.

Thanks, it was fun! I have more food porn from Black Belly, have you been yet? It's very good, Josea is a supernice guy who I know a bit from the 2-5/100 at Ameristar.

Uh, bad news Pope, the ban is only outside on the Strip. I only had the one beer at the V this trip so I can't say if other beers served at V or B now come in cans as well.

I know it is physically on the strip, but I just figured hotels would rather serve as many if not all beers in cans instead of having to provide plastic cups when requested.

I also saw someone have a Newcastle can, but that was also at Venetian.

AFAIK they still serve bottles, most places provide plastic cups for free if you ask though.

Thanks for the blog shoutout!

cool log. I'm just getting into LHE in the past year or so coming from a mid-high stakes NLHE background. I like the discussion going on here and definitely like the food pics!

question about the 87s hand from a couple months ago - why are you using 20% for your critical equity number? the .5bb you have invested is not insignificant.

for all the possible scenarios:
5 ways for 3 bets: investing 2.5bb to play a pot of 15bb -> 2.5/15 = .167
5 ways for 4 bets: 3.5/20 = .175
4 ways for 3 bets: 2.5/12 = .208
4 ways for 4 bets: 3.5/16 = .219

so you need on average about 17% 5 way and 21% 4 way. with so much money in the pot you'll never have to fold flop or turn with any sort of backdoor or gutshot, so you should realize close to 100% of your equity.

I pretty much agree with your original thought that 87s is right at the bottom of hands you should be calling.

Tyty! I have more of both and hope to complete the update I've been working on this weekend since I'm sorta snowed in, 8-16" predicted for Boulder ending on Sunday night, looks like 6-7" already.

I see your point, but it's not clear to me that it's correct (not clear that it's incorrect either, I'm just not sure). Your calculation is only considering the money that goes in preflop. So if there was no additional betting then it seems correct but of course that's not the case.

Do the simulations (Equilab or Stove) assume you (and villains) fold sometimes after the flop or turn or do all hands go to the river?

Now I'm really confused, more research required here, seems pretty basic though?

equity calculators (preflop) assume no postflop action. so if you're all in preflop with 87s vs. AA you win 22.5% of the time on average. if you call a raise from AA preflop with 87s and check down 100% of the time, you win 22.5% of the time on average.

all the simulations in those programs do is put your hand/range all in against their hand/range 100000 times and compute the average profit/loss.

hopefully some others weigh in on this. I'm pretty confident, but would still like to hear more opinions since some are saying calling 87s is burning money.

Elvis

I know, it's been more than a month since my last update, too much travel and work. But I had to share a couple of pictures of night's show, Elvis Costello at the Boulder Theater. 3rd row center! He was amazing, played the first 90 minutes by himself, just him and his acoustic guitar (his piano for one song). Then he had a couple of women from Larkin Poe join him for 20 minutes or so, before he cranked up his electric guitar for the encore. An incredible performance, he sounded just as good as when he comes through the speakers in my living room! Set list here





My buddy came from LA for the weekend so no poker this past weekend, but I've got a long weekend in Vegas coming up...