Gonna keep it here....have a few posts already. Keeping the blog keeps me motivated. Enjoy. Or dont.

Intro to my low limit o8 challenge

I am a great omaha hi low split pot eight or better to qualify player (that’s o8 henceforth). I’ve played big games…as high as $60/$120 IRL, and $30/$60 back in the heyday of internet poker. When poker came to my region (Washington, DC), I found a fantastic 25/50 limit o8 game for months….but as abruptly as it began, that game ended. I played 10/20 up in Delaware for a while, but the dealers who that game was built around stopped showing up, and that was that. Then, when Maryland legalized poker, I played in a great 15/30 o8 game….that became an 8/16 game….that has devolved into a constant 4/8 game (s). The Internet has gone much the same way. I can find a 2/4 or 3/6 six-max game on the merge network….but that’s about it.

I could play limit holdem…but I hate that game. I played entirely too much years ago…from just before Moneymaker until about the time the UIGEA was passed. PLO? Don’t mind it, but 9-max seems to be a nut-peddling contest…with lots of boredom in between. Don’t get me started on nlhe….I can only play it drunk.

I just love to play o8. I don’t know what it is about the game, but I love it. High stakes, small stakes….it doesn’t matter. It’s just a fun game to me.

So, between now and the wsop, I’m going to grind the 4/8 o8 down at MD Live, and document the results here. I’ll blog about the people, the pots, and maybe a bit of strategy. The rake is $5 here, so I am not totally sure how beatable the game is…but I guess I’ll found out. And we’re off!!!

Results from 23 Dec

First session of the challenge ended with a small profit of $98. I’m actually a bit disappointed, as I was up about $150 at one point in the session. I feel that I played well overall. Early in the session, I picked up a nice pot with river bluff. I held 2345 on the button. 5 guys took a flop of ad td 4x. I jammed up the flop, and four of us saw the turn for 3 bets. Qx. Checked around. River was Jd. Checked to me, and I fired a bet—all mucked. Nice. I missed a bunch of flops thereafter, and ultimately was ground down to about -$140. I still felt good, and the game was live as always. Things started to turn around when I hit turned a straight flush in a 3-way pot. I was in the BB with KxJx4c3c. On a board of 5c6cKx7c, I got 5 bets in vs the A-high flush and A4 low. The A4 hung around for 2 more bets on the end and I settled for a split pot. Later on, I limped in a pot with 8852hh. I mad a gambly call on an ahqx9h flop, with about 5 way actions. Turn was 8x. Ep raised (with one bet left in stack) and two guys called behind me. River was a beautiful case 8x!! EP bet and I raised again, snagging another caller. I won a few more after that, and called it a night. Most of the usual crazies weren’t in the game, so I’ll have to wait until next time to talk about some of them!

Nice. Keep up the good work, sir!

26 December: $6/12 Goes?!

Showed up at MD Live ready to play $4/8, and miraculously was called for a $6/12 game! Talk about running good. The table is populated which a bunch of new players, which is even better. Up a little bit early, after ackctx9c connected with qcjx6c in a big multiway pot. I put a raise in on the flop, and after the 8c turn, we somehow narrowed it to hu by the river, which was 4x…and my opponent had no low. Two guys from India are in the game, and as best I can tell, they had never played before. I’ll update when the session is over.

December 26 – Results

Just finished a very good session of $6/12 O8. Extremely surprising that the game went at all. It has probably been 2 months since I last saw this game running at Live. The game was fantastic, and I ran pretty well. Met this guy http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=4745 in the game tonight. Interesting guy. He was in town visiting relatives from Vegas, and he apparently ran house games back in North Carolina during the 80’s and 90’s. There was one other tight player in the game, and the rest of ‘em saw every single flop. Especially two Indian guys, who literally saw every hand down to the river. Ran into one goofy spot with tx4h3x2h in the BB. The flop was Ah Tx 7x, and I decided to just check call. Five guys saw the turn of 5h. One of the Indian guys had bet the flop, and they generally kept blasting away if they took an aggressive action, so I didn’t think that card would slow him down, so I checked, planning to check-raise the field. Unfortunately, it was checked around. I muttered, as I grabbed by chips for a dark river bet. As I bet, the river card of 3h peeled off! Bingo! One guy folded, another called, a call, then a button raise. I pondered what to do. I ultimately decided that the raiser must have the nut/near-nut flush. I figured I had the nut low all to myself, but that going for the overcalls would be best, so I just called. One guy folded, and the other guy called. The raised announced “wheel”. I rolled my eyes and said “that’s it?” I was sick, because I figured I’d let the other guy in with a weakish flush that he might have folded to a three-bet. As it turned out, the caller had KhQhXxXx. Interesting hand, and I think I probably could have played it better.

No other really good hands went down, and I cashed out a winner: +$475/session. +$573/Challenge

December 27 Session

Headed back to Live for some $4/8 fun. Got to sit with Tyrone. He’s a real treat. Slow as mollasses, and he does not EVER bet his hand. Ever. I think I saw him check quads before. To make matters worse, he is a notoriously bad slow roller. Not malicious, but slow rolling because he doesn’t know where he is. He drives me absolutely nuts. I’m sure he’ll beat me up bad tonight. We’ll see how things go!

December 27 Session Recap

Ground my way through about an 8 hour session of $4/8. Tried to get the $6/12 off the ground, but no dice. About 5 hours in, and I was stuck $100 and felt like packing it in…but after a quick break and some Diet Mountain Dew, I was back at it. I grinded some more, and just as the game was getting good, I was called for the main game. These dudes were ancient, and not exactly action players.

A turning point in the session came when I picked up AhJhJx6x in the SB of a kill pot. I decided to get my gamble on and limped in. The flop came off JxTx6x. I decided to go for a check raise, and an EP player obliged me. After the bet and two callers, I put in the raise, and was met with a 3-bet from the bettor. I decided to get fancy, and planned on check-raising the turn as well, but when the 9x peeled, I decided to just direct bet, and was raised again! Pair the board one time! A wonderful Jx jumped off the deck, and I happily fired into my two opponents, both of whom called. After that, I finally began hitting some hands, and I felt like I finally got out of neutral! Some new players sat down, and we had two guys who called literally every single hand preflop and on the flop. K422r on a JhTh8x flop? No problem. Cold calling with KQ55? Gamble!

My run good continues. +222/session +795/Challenge

December 30 – Pink Chip Game

Managed to escape from work at a reasonable hour, then took advantage of the low traffic day to sojourn up to Horseshoe Baltimore to partake in the so-called pink chip game. The pink chip game, which is a $7.50/15 game played with $2.50 chips, is a holdover from the old days in Atlantic City, when it used to be played at the Tropicana. At the Horseshoe, the mix is usually hold’em, O8 and stud/8.

This was my first trip to the Horseshoe, as I find it challenging to drive past Live, especially given all the traffic coming from the south. I must say, the ‘shoe is an impressive facility. Nice parking, spacious, decent food, nice chairs, good dealers. I was very pleased with what I saw.

I was even happier with the game! I didn’t arrive until about 730, and a second HOE game started shortly thereafter. It was a terrific mix of awful players. Aggro-awful. Passive-awful. Loose-awful. Even plain old awful-awful. I recognized a few dealers from Live, but they were actually some of the not-so awful guys in the game. I checked out the main game, and it didn’t look nearly as good.

There was some pretty good hands that went down. I pulled a nice scoop in stud/8 when my 7-low AQ high scooped vs an 8-low A9. A big hand for me was in O8, when I got home with Ad3d7x7x, in a 8-way pot with a flop of KdJd5x, raised, and a 7-way for another raise after the beautiful 2x fell. Nothing less that a 8d fell on the river, tilting two guys and letting me scoop a huge pot.

I also ran into str8 flush and a boat during a stud/8 hand, but fortunately, my 86 low (and flush) snagged half of a monster.

Late in the session, I saw the infamous dealer-player AP play an odd T7o. After defending an LP raise from the BB (along with the SB), the flop came qc9c8d. Raiser bet, blinds called. Turn 6d. AP check, raiser bet, SB call, AP raise, raiser 3-bet, all call. river 3x. Check and all call. Raiser shows JT. AP asked if he had lost 2 extra bets. I replied that I thought he saved about 5. My boy Skater Joe thought so too, when I sent the hand off to him. Oh well … love those limit games. Won $502. That doesn’t count for the challenge though.

January 1 2015

The that the $6/12 O8 was firing at Live, so I headed over. The parking garage was jammed! After burning 15 minutes trying to find a spot, I settled on using the valet. I hate having to spring the $5 for that! Next, I wasted about 2 hours waiting to get called for the game. Only one table of $4/8 O8 was running, so it was slow moving. Luckily, I passed the time by watching Oregon stomp FSU—that kept me off the slots!

When I had found my way up to the top of the list, I stumbled across a list-jumper. An Asian guy, “KTZ”, had decided to seat himself in the game. I brought this to the attention my favorite floorman, and he set everything right. The game itself was rather restrained. I bounced up and down about $50 each way, without much going on. I lost a gross one with a free play out of the BB with Ks5s5c4c, and the flop came down 7s 6s 3x. I bet and two guys called. Turn was the sort of gross 2s, but I bet again, and they both called. I figured I was good for the high, and maybe the low too. River card was Js, so I fired again, got a call, and then a raise from the button. Button was an older guy, super passive, so I knew I had run into the nut high, but I was hoping my low might prevail. We both called, and I get scooped by his nut high and the nut low from the other guy. Oh well!

The big turning point for me was in a hand with Ad2d5h7h, where I had raised in MP. We had about 6 to the flop, which came down Qs 7s 5x. Goofy guy bets into the field (I haven’t seen him bet a made hand yet), a couple calls, I raise, another call, he 3!, guy in the middle looks at me (I already have my 4! chips in hand) and mucks, another call, I 4!, fold, guy caps, and three of us see the turn of 5x! Checked to me, I bet all call. River Qx. Checked to me I bet all call, I win. Guy in the middle goes nuts, since he apparently folded Q5. Someone else goes crazy because they “never get there”. Another guy says I’m the luckiest player in the world. Guess so guys.

+$130 Session/+$925 Challenge

January 2 – Short but Sweet

Saw the $6/$12 o8 running, so I headed out around 5pm to Live. Mrs. O8, as always, has been phenomenal about letting me get out to play. Unfortunately, I was shutshutout of the game for several hours! I entertained myself with my new Surface by playing some holdem on Merge, which might have been okay, had the WiFi not been so spotty. Oh, and if I had been somewhere more comfortable. Without 10,000 of my smelliest, most degenerate friends friends lurking everywhere.

As I was working two tables, a younger guy came I over and asked me whether Live had its own online poke site. I told him know, and I saw the confusion, so I explained that you could still play online poker on some sites like merge, acr, and bodog. He was blown away and thanked me. Should have brought affiliate cards.

I finally got into the game, which looked good. Bunch of unfamiliar people, and everyone had a lot of chips. I split a big pot right off the bat with a2xx. Then gambled in a raised pot with 7 way pot from the BB with ksqsjx8x. Flop was a smooth kt9r. I bet every street, got a clean runout, and actally won without showdown.

As I was posting my kill, I got a message from Mrs O8, informing me that we had no heat. Bad news! We decided thatI should probably head home, and I better bring a space heater with me! Well, I couldn’t very well leave while I still had free hands, I played until my bb, splitting another nice pot with 2246, after a a396J runout, where a3 no low hung in for half.

Session +$209

January 3

I had a great session today. I was very happy to see the $6/$12 that I played yesterday went all night and never broke. There was even familiar face still playing in the game when I showed up today! Once again though, the lineup was not the usual O8 suspects found at Live. Things didn’t get off to a great start, I missed a couple low draws, and then missed a combo draw in a kill pot that I had jammed up, and I was quickly down about $120. The turning point came when I scooped, scooped the next hand with a junky kill hand, then scooped again in the next hand. There, I held A975 with the kill in the cutoff. 8 way limped pot. Flop came off 974r. Checked to me and I bet. 5 callers. Turn was Qx. Checked to me again. I kinda doubt I’m good, but I figured if I could fold out A3 or maybe some of the 1 pr queen hands out there that it was a good bet, so fired again. All call. River is the 3x. They all check again! Pretty sure I made a bad play here by just checking, but I did…and scooped again.

Picked up a few more pots here and there, until this doozy came up. I had QQ73ds on a kill pot in the BB. 6 callers, Btn raise, SB mucks, I decide to gamble and all call. 8-way action. Flop Qs9x8s. Pretty sharp! I prefer to direct bet here, since this flop will usually slow down the preflop raiser, who in the low-limit games is like 75-25 AAxx to A2xx. I bet, and 6 guys call. Turn is the wonderful 9x. I bet. 4 callers. River is Jx. I bet, call, raise!? Folds around to me I 3!, hoping I haven’t run into 99 (but assuming it is either J9xx or JJxx), he calls, I win. At this point, I had over 5 racks of blue chips on the table, and it was just about time to head home to watch the big UFC pay-per-view, so I hauled by chips to cage and left.

Session +549/Challenge +1,683

January 9

$6/$12 went off today. The players wanted to have a $10/$20 kill instead of the normal $8/$16, and the floor obliged us. I couldn’t really get anything going during this session, and I was probably down about $160 at one point. I eventually dug out, and I was stuck about $30 when I went to grab some dinner. When I came back, about 25 minutes later, the game had broken! So, I had my first losing session of O8 in a while.

The $6/$12 HORSE was running, so I put my name up for that, as well as the $4/$8 O8. I wound up getting called for the HORSE first. Fortunately, they had decided to drop hold’em from the mix, which was fine by me. Interesting hands included getting a scoop with 2245 on a 94237 runout, where I bet the river, was called, and was still good! In stud/8, I had an interesting river spot where I had made (JK)JQJ7(Q) vs a guy with (xx)Tc8c7cTx(x), and two guys going low, both with paired door cards, one with open aces, and another with open deuces. On the river, the action was aces check, deuces check, and then the open tens bet. I was 99% sure I was good, but I decided to call, hoping for the overcalls, but in retrospect, I think raising is best. My thought was then if either AA or 22 made trips, I could get the overcalls…maybe even with less than that. I felt nobody had a low, but I guess I should have blasted regardless.

+$392 in the HORSE

Challenge +$1,653

January 10

Decided to head over to Live for an evening session. Was able to sit down immediately in a $6/$12 must move game. Game was fairly mediocre. I met a nice guy who works for the GAO, so he was interesting to talk to, and at least made the time go by quickly. After a little while, I was moved into the main game. There was one terrible guy (and by that, I mean way too loose—the other folks in the game are just way too weak-tight), and once he went broke, the game just kind of sucked. I played a cute stud/8 hand where I ran out (Ax 7x)Ax 7x 6x 4x (5x), but that was no good vs the villian’s (44)xxxx(4). Fun times. In another nice one, a guy who I’ve been friendly with, and who I know respects my game, dials up a call with Qto after I raise utg with KK. He then finds a call on the AA9 flop, and again on the 8x turn. Good game, I guess.

I wound up playing way too lone, and the game finally broke around 430 am.

I was very disappointed that the $6/$12 never went. I need to steel myself for playing the $4/$8 o8 again. After all, challenging myself in that game was the whole point of this blog. And, I just hate that HORSE. OE is one thing, but that HORSE is just rotten. Another problem though, is that only one 4/8 game has being getting off. Usually there are two. That’s a problem for a waiting for a seat perspective.
It looks like I’ll be heading to AC for the weekend. Probably a stop at Delaware Park on Sat, and on to AC for Sunday. I’ll probably play either $10/$20 O8 at the Borgata, or $10/$20 OE at Wild West.

-$13/session

Delaware Park Tourney

DP was having a well structured $200 NLHE tourney, with 40k in chips, and 30 minute levels, so I decided to journey up north to play. Probably should have passed. Ran ice cold throughout…held TT twice, no other pairs, AS and AQo. That was it. I was just over starting stack 3.5 hrs in when this hand came up…400-800 blinds, i have 41k. A goofy-spastic player opens cut-off for 2200. I flat kqo. BB calls. Flop is the dangerous looking kx9h8h. Bb check, Co bets 7k!. I flat, bb folds. Turn is the kx. Before I can internally fist pump, the guy has pushed for 55k all-in!! I pause, just to make sure I am going to go with this, then call. The guy was deaf, and he kind of grunts and shakes his head, so I turn my hand up. He slowrolls…..88!. I miss, say good bye, and am out the door. Tournaments are so fun! Off to atlantic city!

January 17 Evening Cash at Borgata

After the tournament, I made the trip up to Atlantic City. Mrs. O8 wanted to play the BWPO Women's tournament on Sunday, so how could I refuse? I arrived around 8pm, and was immediately seated in a shorthanded $10/$20 O8 must move game. The game was pretty good, with some goofy hands being showed down, but unfortunately, we got down to 3-handed and nobody wanted to play. I was first up for the main game...but it ended up being a loooong time before I got seated.

There was a huge blow-up in the main game in what should be a pretty straightforward situation. In a kill pot, the river action goes like this: bet $30, call $30, raise to $60, raise to $90 guy (somehow oblivious to the 3-bet) calls $30. Now all hell breaks lose, because once he is informed that it is actually $90 total, he immediately takes back the second $30 he put in, and snap-mucks his hand. Floor is called. Floor's boss is called. All the while, the guy with $60 in the pot is refusing to act until he knows what will become of the second $30 that the guy with the mucked hand put into the pot. This goes on for seriously 15 minutes, until the guy finally puts his second $30 in the pot. Then, he goes and has words with the floor for another half hour, before finally leaving.

Borgata, and AC in general lets players just get so far out of line. It makes for a crummy environment and experience for recreational players. Take me---I have to deal with conflict--REAL conflict--all week long at my job. I don't want to deal with that crap in the cardroom. It makes me miss online poker so much.

Anyhow, once I finally got seated, things went downhill. Missed some draws. Got sucked out on. This one was my favorite. UTG limps, folds to me and I raise OTB with Ac2c5x9x. Blinds and limper call. Flop is 7c6c7x. Check to me I bet only limper calls. Turn is 4x. Check/bet/call. River is 9x. Same action. He rolls JJJ5. At first I was thinking, "geez, pretty light BB defense"...but then I realized that he had limped that.

-$230/Session (I'm tracking these results in my database, but I'm only going to count $4/$8 and $6/$12 for purposes of the low limit challenge, mainly because I don't have regular access to anything bigger).

January 18 at Borgata

Settled on playing the $230 Shootout, although the structure looked crummy, and I haven’t played many sngs lately. Figured it was a better bet than getting stuck in the pits! With quick 15 minute levels, I hoped that folKS would keep the Hollywood in to a minimum……yeah right! Thats just not possible nowadays. Anyway, three guys got a hold of chips early, and then dump them to the same guy! So 30 minutes in, one guy has half the chips in play! I couldn’t hit anything, and finally shoved kqs into big stacks AA. Gg me. Oh, I also had a fun hand where I limped utg for 400, on cue, aggro internet kid makes it 1500, I snap jam my ak, and he snap calls a9. Board runs out 33t44 and he fist pumps. I complimented the fist pump as the next hand started, and he turned a little red. That wound up being the highlight of the tourney for me.

Next, I hit up up a 2-5 nlhe game for the first time in about two years. I won $100, but the game just seemed awful. Slow. And very few 3 street pots. Someone is usually stuffing before that point. I was happy to get called for $20/$40 stud.

Got to play with this guy http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=85127 who is a talented and always entertaining stud player. I actually watch him closely, because I think I could learn something about stud from him. Played interesting hand with him. I open (A3)A and he defends (XX)Ks, while another guy defense the 4x bring-in. One dead spade, and nothing else of note was dead. Fourth St comes (A3)A7, (XX) KsQs, and (XX)4x8x, and I bet and the king raises, 4x8x folds and I just call. 5th St (A3)A72, (XX)KsQs3x, and I bet, he calls. 6th St (A3)A723, (XX)KsQs3x8x. I bet he calls. I catch a seven on the river, but I check, he bets and I instacall. He says Kings-up and I win. Discussed the hand later, and he said he made Kings and threes, and he didn’t have a spade draw. Interesting, because I never fold unimproved aces there against him anyway.

SIck to death of Atlantic City and ready to go home. Should be back on the grind at Live next week.

January 19 – Delaware Park or Bust

Decided to make a stop at DP on the way back home, as they were running a $100 tourney with a $12.5k guarantee. Okay structure, plus I actually like the room. The floor people are great, dealers….ehhh. Tourney was pretty lame for me. Made through half the field before busting out. Played a cool hand. At 200/400, a tightish guy limped, I opened OTB with Ts7s (19k stack)…I had a tight image, and felt like I could outplay the limper….but….both blinds call. Great! But it got great, once the flop came out 7x7x3x! And now the SB leads for 2200. Folds to me. I flat. Turn Jx. SB jams 12k. I snap. She has QQ. I win. Just a perplexing line. Of course, winning was not to be, and I left with $100 less than I arrived with, and headed home.

January 23 – Back to the Grinding Board

Headed off to Live for Friday night fun night. There was a big list for the $6/$12 O8 most of the afternoon, but by the time I arrived, it had been called, and the game didn’t get off. I settled for the $6/$12 HORSE, which actually had a better lineup than normal. Most of the Regs in that game were apparently at the Horseshoe in Baltimore, playing the pink chip game, which was also running as a HORSE. I’m just too lazy to head the extra ten minutes up the road to the ‘Shoe, plus Mrs. MJOMAHA would be subjected to 1/3 NLHE, and the ridiculous $6+1 rake, so I settled for Live.

The session was actually pretty fun. A couple cool players in the game. Of course, this reg http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=48063 was there to cause his usual problems. He scored well last week at Borgat, final tabling and OE and a HORSE tournament, but that didn’t seem to positively impact is disposition. We played a gross Stud/8 had where I opened with (Ah 6h) 4h and he defended his (XX)2c bring-in.

4th st: (Ah 6h) 4h 7h vs (XX) 2c As. He check calls.

5th st: (Ah 6h)4h 7h Kh vs (XX) 2c As Ac. He bets, I get tricky and just call.

6th st: (Ah 6h)4h 7h Kh Jx vs (XX) 2c As Ac 9x. He leads. I raise, he 3-bets. I sense trouble and call.

7th st: He dark bets. I miss my low and just call with the flush. He has made Aces-up, and I scoop. Then he goes crazy, stating that I’m awful, and he started 234ccc, and had the best hand the whole way. I tell him that if that was all he had, he was a huge dog the whole way. He tells me he was best on 3rd. I suggest we run a million times and see who wins. He tells me I’m a fool….on and on and on. I shouldn’t have engaged him, but I couldn’t help myself.

The razz was totally out of hand, for whatever reason. I won a $200 pot that went bet/fold/fold on 6th st! It was capped out 3-ways on 3rd and 4th!

Session = +$50

January 24th – $4/$8 O8

I was back at Live on Saturday, playing the game that was the impetus for this blog, $4/$8 LO8. The game was good, with a couple of certifiable maniacs in the game. My results were not good, but that will happen in jammed up pots when you don't make a hand. I felt like I ran pretty poorly overall, missing a few big two-way hands, not connected on hands with nut hands and draws in the other direction that couldn't connect, and misses on my high hands that were set to scoop, but were chased down.

So basically, I got stuck while the game was aggro, and then tried to dig out once it was passive, which can be a challenge. I am convinced that it is basically impossible for me to lose in these loose-passive type O8 games, because at the end of the day, I am getting multiple bets in multi-way when I have good hands, but I'm getting off cheaply when my opponents have good hands, because they are all afraid to put raises preflop, or even on the flop. No really interesting hands, mainly straightforward decisions.

I almost forgot---I played about 20 minutes of 1-2 NLHE before the O8 session. Several notable hands there.

Hand 1: Bought in for $200. MP raises $12. 1 call. I call As4s. BB calls. Flop: Js 7x 5s. BB check. Raiser bets $35. Next guy calls. I pop it to $95. BB fold, raiser folds, caller sets me all-in. I call. He has AxJx. Turn 3x. River 6x. I win.

Hand 2: LP limps. I make it $10 from cut-off. Btn call. BB call. Limper calls. Flop: Kd Jd Tc. Check to me. I bet $20. Btn folds, limper folds our of turn while the BB is getting a beer. BB calls. Turn Kc. BB moves-in for $85. I call. He was Tx8x.

Hand 3: EP limps. I limp 5s4s in MP. Another 2 limps. Guy from last hand makes it $10 from BB. All call. Flop Qs 6x 2x. BB bets $10. One call. I like the price and call. Turn 4x. Checked around. River 6x. BB bets $40! Limper folds. I shrug-call. He has KJo. So I was winner like $465 in about 20 minutes. Got called for O8 and left. Fun game.

Session -$140/Challenge +$1513

January 30 - Put the $6/$12 in Action

Had not planned on playing tonight, because I was beaten down from the work week, and the thought of going outside in the cold made me want to curl up in a blanked and play online in my bed. But, when I saw the $6/$12 game going and Live, I decided to tough it out and head on over. As a backup, I planned on going up to Horseshoe to play the pink chip mix, which actually had two tables going. But, since O8 is my favorite, I wound up at Live.

Game had several regulars, as well as some new faces. I was owned by one of the noobs who smashed my JT65 BB special after a JJ6 flop, when I found an ace on the river to complete his AJXX hand. I was off to a crummy start, didn't win a pot for over an hour, and was quickly stuck about $275.

The hand that turned things around for me was an EP limp with As3s4x6x , that hit its bingo flop of 7s5x2x. I ended up hitting running spades to scoop, and I was off to the raises. A few other scoops, and a couple splits in large pots, and I was ahead.

I was also called out for pulling the "Phil Hellmuth Insta-Shove" move (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_JuOu-D4Z4). I had raised out of the blind with AdKdTx2x, picked up like 5 callers, and flopped KxTx4h. I bet, and of course 4 guys call. Turn was the scary Qh, but I fired anyway, only to get raised by the nit on my immediate left. I mutter something nasty under my breath, and make an easy call (I know I'm better than 10-1 even if half my scoop outs are dead). Amazingly, a Tx jumps out on the river, and I Hellmuth bet. Good times!

So, the first month of the challenge is over, and I feel like I played pretty well. I have to go through my app on my phone to get an hourly for the challenge, but I'm sure it is pretty high. I'm still motivated to play, and I hope to keep my run-good going.

Session +$227/Challenge +1740

February 8 - Sunday Session

I've been feeling sick all week, so I didn't play at all on Friday or Saturday. Headed over to Live around noon on Sunday, and was quickly seated in the $4/$8 O8 must move game. Many of the usual suspects were there, and the game was pretty good. No really notable hands to speak of in the must move. I was up about $50 when I played a hand in the SB with 9432, flopped the nut low on a A86 flop, got 3 bets in 5 ways on the flop, 4 bets 4 ways on the 2x turn, then was double-counterfeited with a 3x on the end to get nothing. Gross. Off do the main game, where I had the good fortune of playing a capped pot with AsAx2s4x, and getting scooped by AxQx9x3x, when the guy hit trips on the river. I kept my cool, and after some fortunate splits in jammed up pots, I finally wound up ahead, and left at my pre-determined time. I wanted to get back with plenty of time to see my favorite AMC shows--especially Better Call Saul. I still have the itch to play, and I can't wait to get back at it next week.

Also, the WSOP schedule came out this week, and the $1.5k O8 takes place early in the Series, still in May in fact. So, it looks like I'll be out there during the front half. So, I'll probably be playing the gigantic $565 $10M tourney. That should be fun. The series is a real blast, so I can't wait for this year's event. Also, the WSOP-C in Baltimore is starting at the end of this month. I'm definitely playing the $365 HORSE, and I'll probably play the opening weekend $365 as well.

Session +$88/Challenge +$1818

February 14 – Valentine’s Day Session

Mrs O8 and I spent a fun afternoon playing tourists in the city and had a nice late afternoon sushi lunch. We were going to spend the evening staring into each other’s eyes… but we decided to go head to Live instead!

Snow started to fall about 10 minutes out from the casino, but I didn’t sweat it. Mistake #1!

I was immediately seated in the $4/$8 o8 must move, and things got off to a bad start. I played AcQc2x3x for a raise, and the flop came off JcTc4x. Two bets went in 3 ways. Turn card was the Ax, and there was a bet and a raise before it got to me. I just call, and watch the Jx jump out on the river. Niiice start. I missed a few kill pots, and before long, I was calling for more chips. Helluva first hour…

The snow continued to fall, and we started to hear that people couldn’t get out of the parking garage. Nobody was leaving the poker room, and that was fine with me, since the must move was pretty good, and the main game appeared to have an average player age of about 85. I slowly chipped away, playing solid a scooping an occasional pot, including a nice one with Ac3c4x4x, after the board ran out T648Jr, and my hand was called down in two spots.

By about 9pm, we were hearing reports of it taking 3+ hours to get out of the garage. Crazy! I was tired, but the grind had to go on! Another sweet pot came off when I had KhTh9x8x in the BB, and played for a raise with 7 way action. Flop came out Jd 8d7h. This is one of the tough spots to play, where you have the nuts, but you know it is only going to get more difficult to play out the hand. I decided to just lead her, but not to jam. I bet, a few calls, a raise in the back, I called, and 6 guys saw th3 turn. The turn was great for me–Ah. I fired again, in case the A2s had been counterfeited, and it was again raised in the back, I put on a 3-bet, driving out the guy on my immediate left (who later revealed he had AJ), it was 4-bet, and I capped. 4 ways to the river, which was Jx! Gross. I just bet out again, because the last thing I want is for the low to put a raise in, and leave me with a non-nut hi, facing 2 bets cold, and not knowing if I’m going to get jammed. This line allows to me to get to showdown for 2-bets (since the low is already afraid of getting quartered in this spot after it goes bet/raise. Luckily, all called, and I took half with the straight.

Around 130 am, we heard that things were straightened out in the garage, but I had to investigate for myself. Everything looked okay, so the Mrs and I headed to the car which……decided it didn’t want to start. I’ve had some issues with the battery when it is cold, and I hoped that a jump would get me back in business. I went to the valet and asked for security. They showed up pretty quickly with the charger, but alas… no dice! The second security guy made some adjustments to the connection, and thankfully the car started! I handed the guy a $20, and he seemed shocked—but that guy seriously saved the day. It was cold as hell, and I was so happy to escape.

+105 Session/Challenge +$1903

February 27 – Back in the Saddle

Took the afternoon from work off to head up to Horseshoe Baltimore. The WSOP Circuit is in town, so I figured the pink chip ($7.5/$15) mixed game would be rocking. It got going shortly after my arrival, but it was the usual suspects in the game. The mix we settled on was Razz, O8, Stud and Stud/8. I got off to a rotten start, getting rivered out of two razz hands. One hand was check/check, and the other I had a rough 8, and may have been able to get away, but I had no read on my opponent and had to pay off. I picked up a nice stud pot, then snatched rolled up kings in stud/8 and managed to scoop. Things went downhill from there, I made the nut flush twice, and but ran into rivered boats. I had a couple other weird pots, including a odd stud hand where I took split queens vs a guy who made aces on the river with now apparent straight or flush draws. -$200. During the razz, I had (A6)4647 vs (xx)T79Q, who just kept calling me. I decided to barrel the river no matter what, so I did the fake-look, then fired. Somehow I caught a deuce, but he announced jack high straight?! As I stacked the pot, I thought how fantastic it would have been to miss, and lose to a guy who was playing stud high. Missed a few draws in O8 and was back down. It was getting late, and I knew I had to drive back home, only to turn back around and play the tournament the next morning, so I wasn’t going to try and dig out. I decided to finish up the stud and stud/8 and then hit the road. Miraculously, I was +$53 winner at the end of those two games.

Session +$53

February 28 - WSOP-C Event #2, $365 NLHE

Mrs MJOmaha convinced me to play the big $365 NLHE tournament down in Baltimore. There was a $250k guarantee, but it blew through that with ease. There were over 1,000 players after the first 2 of four flights. I chipped up a little bit early, picking up aces twice in the first 3 levels. But on both occasions, there 4-5 limpers, so I had to put in a big raise, taking it down preflop once, and only garnering one caller the second time (where I flopped top set on a 3 diamond board!). Played one hand really badly. Picked up 99 UTG, and decided to just limp (I'd been fairly active recently). Btn limped and blinds came along. Flop was 6s6d4s, and the SB led out half pot. I just called (awful). Turn was Jd. He made the same bet and I called again. River was a 5x, and he half potted again. It was an older gent, and I tried to convince myself that he wouldn't have led the flop with trips, and that he somehow bluffs his missed draws on the end. It worked, and I called, and he showed me a six. So I was back to around starting stack, and 90 minutes of grinding was down the crapper.

Things were fairly slow until this game up. I had about 12k at 200/400, and a newer, young player opened for 900. I had a decision to make with 99, and decided to just call. Another woman called as well. Flop was 3x3h2h, so I knew how this was going to wind up. The raiser fired 2200, and I shipped the rest of my chips. The woman folded, and the raiser somehow found a call with KTo?! He somehow bricked, and I had my one and only showdown win of the tournament where someone was all-in...

The rest of the evening was basically a grind. No showdowns, and just picking up chips. I'd ground up to 45,000, when I got all-in vs a shorty with 20k, my TT vs his AQ, ace in the window. With the blinds at 800/1600, I had to push. I had to make some aggressive moves, and chipped all the way up to 55k without a showdown. On the last hand of the night, an active player opened the 2k bb for 4500, I 3-bet to 12,500 with 88, and I think I was going to fold to a ship...but after 5 minutes in the tank, the guy (who had 120k), found a fold with KQs, so I would head into day 2 with 65k in chips, and a shot at what I estimated would be a $100k+ top prize.

March 1 - Day 2, Event 2 at WSOP-C

I was a touch nervous heading into Day 2. We had 290 players left, and top 252 would get paid. I know I'm not supposed to worry about cashing, but it seriously sucks to grind a live tournament for two days, suffer through 4 hours of back and forth driving, and still go home empty handed. But whatever--I know what I'm supposed to do, so if I bust, so be it.

Table was extremely short stacked---nobody had over 100k, and the chip avg was like 88k! The day was really pretty terrible for me. I held AK and 55, and picked up pots. Had an interesting one at 1200/2400 when I had 73k. I opened ep with AQ to 5500, and a quiet older guy jammed mp to 30k. I tanked for a bit, but decided this was a good time to gamble. I called, and he showed AQs. The guy picked up a flush draw on the turn, and somehow missed, so we chopped. Shortly thereafter, the bubble broke, and the donks cheered. Later, A shorty jammed 25k, and I called quickly with AJ. He had A8, and he snapped off an 8 on the river. Great! Later, I played what can actually be described as a sick pot. With 40k at 1500/3000, a guy who barely covered me opens for 7k, I snap jam 77, another guy who barely covered me snap called, and the original raiser called. They showed AK and 44! Sweet. Until the board ran out...66996! 3-way chop! The blinds went through me at 2k/4k, and I ultimately jammed Q9s into ATs of the A8 guy from earlier. No help, and I was busted in 200-something place.

Very disappointing, but that's how tournaments usually go. I don't play many NLHE tourneys, and this really reminded me why...you almost always wind up disappointed.

With that in mind, I'll be back on Tuesday to fire the HORSE tournament. I've had some super results playing HORSE online, against some pretty tough fields...so I'm hoping for some good breaks then.