2014: I Ain’t Trying to Survive, I’m Trying to Live it to The (No) Limit
05-17-2014
, 03:49 PM
05-17-2014
, 04:12 PM
05-17-2014
, 04:32 PM
05-17-2014
, 05:09 PM
05-17-2014
, 05:12 PM
05-17-2014
, 05:25 PM
05-17-2014
, 06:30 PM
05-17-2014
, 06:36 PM
05-17-2014
, 06:37 PM
May 17 - "I ain't play the hand I was dealt, I changed my cards."
Last night I got plenty of study in, skimming most of the new Harrington book and reading the more important parts in depth.
So this was the Deepest Stacks tourney for $350+50. The starting stacks were 40K at 25/50, so the plan was to mix it up a lot early and try to make some big disguised hands and get paid off with the huge potential for implied odds. I basically called raises with almost any two that could make a straight, down to like 53o. I fluctuated between 36K and 44K but didn't hit much. As the blinds went up, I adjusted my ranges to tighten up a bit.
Meanwhile, the player on my left is one of the most annoying people I've ever played poker with. He's an old guy handicapping the Preakness and he won't shut up about it.
Him: "Do you bet horses?"
Me: "No."
Him: "Oh, ok..." He proceeds to launch into a like 4 minute long discertation on his strategy in the Preakness, which means absolutely nothing to me, while I'm playing a hand.
Later, he finds a video of a screaming contest in New Orleans on his cell phone. I kid you not, they apparently have these. He keeps playing it over and over until we ask him to stop. He thinks it's cool, he says. I think his whole game plan is to be a super nit and piss people off so much that they spite call him too wide. I put my left headphone in and ignore him. At one point he taps me to talk to me about horse racing and I nod once and then just face the table straight ahead and ignore him.
In one hand, I raise and he calls along with someone else. I cbet an 8 high flop with air and he says "You must have Ace-King," before he folds. I reprimanded him and he apologized, then called the other player in the hand fat.
Hand No. 1
At 100/200, an EP player raised to 400 and I called on his direct left with A8o. I was hoping he had like AK/AQ and I could flop two pair and win a big pot. Two others call, one from the blinds.
Flop (T1800): A
86
He bet T675 and I raised to 2675. He called pretty quickly.
Turn (T7150): 7
He checked, I bet 4,500 and he called.
River (T16,150): 3
He checked, I bet 12,000 and he called. My hand was good. I think I played it find, but I like a little bigger raise on the flop - to like 4K. He might think it's clubs and re-raise. Even if he calls, that puts 9800 in the pot and I can bet like 7.5K on the turn, which gets almost 26 in on the river and I can make a big value bet or maybe even shove.
Regardless, that got me up a little over 60K. From there I grinded my way up to 80K, without seeing any big hands really. I had AQo once and played it deceptively against a really good, aggressive player and almost got him to make a big call on the river with presumably a weaker hand but he folded.
Hand No. 2
The blinds are 600/1200/200 and there are two limps. There's a raise to 4,000 from late position and it folds to me in the small blind with AJ. I should probably 3bet this, but I'm leery of the early position limps. The raiser was opening wide earlier but he's tightened up. I call, both limpers call.
Flop (19,200): QJx7x
I decide to lead out for 8,000. It's sort of a blocking donk bet. I don't want to check-call like 10-12K out of position, and I don't want to check-raise. The pre-flop raiser looks confused and calls.
Turn (35,200): 5x
Now I don't really want to build this pot too much, because I don't think he's calling with worse than like TT. His range is like TT+, QJ+, KQ+, T9, KT. I check, he again looks confused and checks.
River (35,200): 9x
KT got there, but other than that nothing's changed. I check, and he bets 12,500. I call because I think he could be betting a missed draw or a weaker jack. He has KQ.
I think I played this alright, and probably got to showdown cheaper than if I had checked the flop.
Never the less, it takes me down to like 50K.
Hand No. 3
The blinds are 1K/2K/300 and I have 42,000 in the HJ. It folds to me and I have A2o. Normally I'd fold this, but the player on my left is a nit so I'm effectively in the CO. The button is bad, the SB is new and the BB is awful and calling too wide especially out of the blinds. Thus, I raise to 4,500. The button and BB call.
Flop (17,500): AJ2
It checks to me and the player to act behind me has like 20-25K. The other guy has me covered. I bet 10,000. The button jams for about 12K more. The blind folds, I snap call and he shows A7.
Turn (61,500): J
You've GOT to be kidding me. What do I have to do to turn this around?
River (61,500): 8
Well, it beats losing. Still, I got it in 70% to win, 15% to lose and 15% to chop and end up with the chop. Not a great feeling.
Card Dead
I continued to be really card dead for a while. From that previous hand up to 3K/6K/500, I didn't pick up a pair or anything above A9. I had KJs once and someone had opened for half my stack in front of me so I had no fold equity and folded it. I had KQo once, but someone jammed and then another player re-jammed in front of me, so I had to fold that too.
That was basically five levels of nothing playable. To top it off, every time a good squeeze or re-steal situation popped up, I'd have like 83o, 94o, etc. I'm willing to make moves light in a tourney, but I'd like at least SOME showdown value.
Hand No. 4
I was down to about 60K and jammed from the button when it folded to me - I don't even remember what I had, like K7o or something. I picked up the blinds and antes and a limp. That got me up to 77.7K. The blinds were still 2.5K/5K/500, so I had about 5.5M. It folded to my CO with JT. Well within the shove range, I think. I shove and the SB snap calls with AKx.
Flop (164.4K): 863x
C'mon, it's my time. I deserve one of these.
Turn (164.4K): Q
No more hearts, now.
River (164.4K): Brick
That got me up to 164.4K, enough to actually play a little bit.
Hand No. 5
One orbit later and the blinds and antes have knocked me down to 152K. They are now 3K/6K/500, so I have 10.8M, or 25 BB. It folds to the CO and he opens to 21K. He's an older gentleman who has been more active than most old guys. Two levels ago he snap called 140K after his open was shoved on with 99... So I give him an opening range of like 55+, suited aces, A8+, and a bunch of broadways. He seems to understand position and stealing in LP.
I look down at A:heartT. I have 152K and he covers. I contemplate jamming, but I don't know how much respect I'm going to get after the JT for that play. I decide to raise to 55K and shove most flops or call a shove. He jams. I think for a couple seconds but I know I have to call, and I do. He shows AJ.
The board bricks out, and he takes down a 318K pot and I hit the rail. GG me, I think is what those tourney guys say, right?
I think the call was right, but I'm open to any insight. Given that he snapped for 140K at smaller blind levels with 99, he should be jamming over my 3bet with a wider range. If I give him like 55+, A5s+, A8+, KQ, KJ... That should be easily a profitable call.
The real issue is, I should have just jammed. If I'm going to call his shove I should maximize my fold equity. There were like 60 players left, and if I took the pot down I had 187K. That gave me like 2% of the chips in play, so my ICM should be like $1,500. If I get it in and have a 318K pot and I'm 70% to win, my chip EV is 222K, and my $EV is around $1,900. So I'm risking $1,500 of $EV to win $400 of $EV in a best case scenario. That's laying almost 4-to-1 in $EV, and we'd rather just take the pot down.
I might be a little off on all that and I'm just doing it roughly sitting in the cafeteria here, but I need to do a better job of maximizing fold equity in these spots when my tournament life could be on the line. I think this is something that live pros used to get intuitively until we came along with our math and our computer programs and ICM came along.
All in all, I played well, though.
Considering that I never got a pair over 77, and had AT twice (lost both), AJ once (lost), AQ once (won) and never had AK, and that the biggest hand I flopped in the whole tournament was two pair twice and one I got it in with a 70% chance to win and chopped, I did all I could and outlasting more than two-thirds of the field while playing a proper style that meant I'd be shoving earlier and wider than some of these live nits is pretty impressive.
Still, I need to start running good again. My downswing is now over 4,400 and I've lost 9/12 sessions counting the tournament. My bankroll is $4,025, so I'm only going to fire one bullet at 1/2 right now, counting the $400 tourney entry against my stop loss.
This thing has to turn around sooner or later, and I've got the bankroll to sustain it. If I lose this buyin, though, I'll have to seriously consider starting to buy in for $200 at 1/2 instead of $300. So hopefully the running good starts right now.
Last night I got plenty of study in, skimming most of the new Harrington book and reading the more important parts in depth.
So this was the Deepest Stacks tourney for $350+50. The starting stacks were 40K at 25/50, so the plan was to mix it up a lot early and try to make some big disguised hands and get paid off with the huge potential for implied odds. I basically called raises with almost any two that could make a straight, down to like 53o. I fluctuated between 36K and 44K but didn't hit much. As the blinds went up, I adjusted my ranges to tighten up a bit.
Meanwhile, the player on my left is one of the most annoying people I've ever played poker with. He's an old guy handicapping the Preakness and he won't shut up about it.
Him: "Do you bet horses?"
Me: "No."
Him: "Oh, ok..." He proceeds to launch into a like 4 minute long discertation on his strategy in the Preakness, which means absolutely nothing to me, while I'm playing a hand.
Later, he finds a video of a screaming contest in New Orleans on his cell phone. I kid you not, they apparently have these. He keeps playing it over and over until we ask him to stop. He thinks it's cool, he says. I think his whole game plan is to be a super nit and piss people off so much that they spite call him too wide. I put my left headphone in and ignore him. At one point he taps me to talk to me about horse racing and I nod once and then just face the table straight ahead and ignore him.
In one hand, I raise and he calls along with someone else. I cbet an 8 high flop with air and he says "You must have Ace-King," before he folds. I reprimanded him and he apologized, then called the other player in the hand fat.
Hand No. 1
At 100/200, an EP player raised to 400 and I called on his direct left with A8o. I was hoping he had like AK/AQ and I could flop two pair and win a big pot. Two others call, one from the blinds.
Flop (T1800): A
86He bet T675 and I raised to 2675. He called pretty quickly.
Turn (T7150): 7
He checked, I bet 4,500 and he called.
River (T16,150): 3
He checked, I bet 12,000 and he called. My hand was good. I think I played it find, but I like a little bigger raise on the flop - to like 4K. He might think it's clubs and re-raise. Even if he calls, that puts 9800 in the pot and I can bet like 7.5K on the turn, which gets almost 26 in on the river and I can make a big value bet or maybe even shove.
Regardless, that got me up a little over 60K. From there I grinded my way up to 80K, without seeing any big hands really. I had AQo once and played it deceptively against a really good, aggressive player and almost got him to make a big call on the river with presumably a weaker hand but he folded.
Hand No. 2
The blinds are 600/1200/200 and there are two limps. There's a raise to 4,000 from late position and it folds to me in the small blind with A
J. I should probably 3bet this, but I'm leery of the early position limps. The raiser was opening wide earlier but he's tightened up. I call, both limpers call.Flop (19,200): Q
Jx7xI decide to lead out for 8,000. It's sort of a blocking donk bet. I don't want to check-call like 10-12K out of position, and I don't want to check-raise. The pre-flop raiser looks confused and calls.
Turn (35,200): 5x
Now I don't really want to build this pot too much, because I don't think he's calling with worse than like TT. His range is like TT+, QJ+, KQ+, T9, KT. I check, he again looks confused and checks.
River (35,200): 9x
KT got there, but other than that nothing's changed. I check, and he bets 12,500. I call because I think he could be betting a missed draw or a weaker jack. He has KQ.
I think I played this alright, and probably got to showdown cheaper than if I had checked the flop.
Never the less, it takes me down to like 50K.
Hand No. 3
The blinds are 1K/2K/300 and I have 42,000 in the HJ. It folds to me and I have A2o. Normally I'd fold this, but the player on my left is a nit so I'm effectively in the CO. The button is bad, the SB is new and the BB is awful and calling too wide especially out of the blinds. Thus, I raise to 4,500. The button and BB call.
Flop (17,500): A
J2It checks to me and the player to act behind me has like 20-25K. The other guy has me covered. I bet 10,000. The button jams for about 12K more. The blind folds, I snap call and he shows A7.
Turn (61,500): J
You've GOT to be kidding me. What do I have to do to turn this around?
River (61,500): 8
Well, it beats losing. Still, I got it in 70% to win, 15% to lose and 15% to chop and end up with the chop. Not a great feeling.
Card Dead
I continued to be really card dead for a while. From that previous hand up to 3K/6K/500, I didn't pick up a pair or anything above A9. I had KJs once and someone had opened for half my stack in front of me so I had no fold equity and folded it. I had KQo once, but someone jammed and then another player re-jammed in front of me, so I had to fold that too.
That was basically five levels of nothing playable. To top it off, every time a good squeeze or re-steal situation popped up, I'd have like 83o, 94o, etc. I'm willing to make moves light in a tourney, but I'd like at least SOME showdown value.
Hand No. 4
I was down to about 60K and jammed from the button when it folded to me - I don't even remember what I had, like K7o or something. I picked up the blinds and antes and a limp. That got me up to 77.7K. The blinds were still 2.5K/5K/500, so I had about 5.5M. It folded to my CO with J
T. Well within the shove range, I think. I shove and the SB snap calls with AKx.Flop (164.4K): 8
63xC'mon, it's my time. I deserve one of these.
Turn (164.4K): Q
No more hearts, now.
River (164.4K): Brick
That got me up to 164.4K, enough to actually play a little bit.
Hand No. 5
One orbit later and the blinds and antes have knocked me down to 152K. They are now 3K/6K/500, so I have 10.8M, or 25 BB. It folds to the CO and he opens to 21K. He's an older gentleman who has been more active than most old guys. Two levels ago he snap called 140K after his open was shoved on with 99... So I give him an opening range of like 55+, suited aces, A8+, and a bunch of broadways. He seems to understand position and stealing in LP.
I look down at A:heartT
. I have 152K and he covers. I contemplate jamming, but I don't know how much respect I'm going to get after the JT for that play. I decide to raise to 55K and shove most flops or call a shove. He jams. I think for a couple seconds but I know I have to call, and I do. He shows AJ.The board bricks out, and he takes down a 318K pot and I hit the rail. GG me, I think is what those tourney guys say, right?
I think the call was right, but I'm open to any insight. Given that he snapped for 140K at smaller blind levels with 99, he should be jamming over my 3bet with a wider range. If I give him like 55+, A5s+, A8+, KQ, KJ... That should be easily a profitable call.
The real issue is, I should have just jammed. If I'm going to call his shove I should maximize my fold equity. There were like 60 players left, and if I took the pot down I had 187K. That gave me like 2% of the chips in play, so my ICM should be like $1,500. If I get it in and have a 318K pot and I'm 70% to win, my chip EV is 222K, and my $EV is around $1,900. So I'm risking $1,500 of $EV to win $400 of $EV in a best case scenario. That's laying almost 4-to-1 in $EV, and we'd rather just take the pot down.
I might be a little off on all that and I'm just doing it roughly sitting in the cafeteria here, but I need to do a better job of maximizing fold equity in these spots when my tournament life could be on the line. I think this is something that live pros used to get intuitively until we came along with our math and our computer programs and ICM came along.
All in all, I played well, though.
Considering that I never got a pair over 77, and had AT twice (lost both), AJ once (lost), AQ once (won) and never had AK, and that the biggest hand I flopped in the whole tournament was two pair twice and one I got it in with a 70% chance to win and chopped, I did all I could and outlasting more than two-thirds of the field while playing a proper style that meant I'd be shoving earlier and wider than some of these live nits is pretty impressive.
Still, I need to start running good again. My downswing is now over 4,400 and I've lost 9/12 sessions counting the tournament. My bankroll is $4,025, so I'm only going to fire one bullet at 1/2 right now, counting the $400 tourney entry against my stop loss.
This thing has to turn around sooner or later, and I've got the bankroll to sustain it. If I lose this buyin, though, I'll have to seriously consider starting to buy in for $200 at 1/2 instead of $300. So hopefully the running good starts right now.
05-17-2014
, 09:30 PM
05-18-2014
, 03:04 PM
05-18-2014
, 03:07 PM
05-18-2014
, 04:33 PM
May 17 - "The question is would you bounce back or bounce backwards? / You wouldn't know how to act or would you take action? That's just a part of life. / And if your vision's impaired, you'll probably lose it all tonight." - Kendrick Lamar
After busting out of the tournament, I didn't feel tilted, but I tend to think it's a bad idea to jump straight from tournaments to cash just in case. Instead, I ate, posted in here and then hit the 1/2 games. The plan was to keep it simple, not make big mistakes, stay positive and play tight.
I instantly got seated in the type of game that I wish I had in the tournament. This was a table begging to be run over repeatedly. I wouldn't know it initially, though I'd find out fast.
Hand No. 1
The HJ raises to $7. It's a young-ish Asian man in a hat. I call with 77 in the CO and the button and BB come along.
Flop ($26): Q33
BB checks and the HJ bets $7. I think he's basically never doing that with a queen, so I raise to $30. Everyone folds.
Running It Over Til It's Broken
Basically the following happened too many times to count.
1. 3-5 people limp.
2. I raise in position.
3. They all fold. OR
4. Someone calls me and check-folds the flop.
One old man in particular, who I've played with before and is a total rock, is limp-folding like a machine. This guy is limping like 30% of his hands and only calling my raises with like 5%. He gets disgusted and leaves. A couple other players are clearly upset they can't see $2 flops and they leave. After 30 minutes or so we end up three handed and the game breaks. I'm up to like $470.
Hand No. 2
I move to a new game, and I'm down to about $400 from whiffing some flops when the following hand develops. A new player sits down and loses his first hand when he gets it all-in on the turn with QQ vs. Jd7d on a J high board with two diamonds. The river is a J and he never saw the diamond draw so he thinks he got two outed. He's muttering and shaking his head and steaming. He's about to leave, then he rebuys for $100. He raises to $12, cbets and takes one down. The next hand he raises to $12 and I have AT in the SB and 3bet to $40. He shoves for $67 more, I of course call. He shows 99 and holds.
Hand No. 3
There's a straddle. A woman who is primarily a stud player who is playing NLHE cause she's running bad and wants to relax limps. I'm UTG+1 and raise to $20 with AK. The BB calls and the woman calls. She's one orbit in so no big reads. She's not awful, but she doesn't play hold em much and she's playing too many hands. The guy is one of the weak players at the table. He had sucked out a couple times to build a stack but he's since lost a lot of it.
Flop ($60): KQ7
It checks to me, I bet $45 and they both call.
Turn ($195): 5
It checks to the lady who bets $115, leaving $2 behind. I ask the guy to lift his hands and if he has any blacks or greens, just to make sure, and he has $57 left and isn't thrilled that I asked.
I don't know what her limp-calling range is like UTG vs. a straddle, or whether she'd play QQ that way, but it seems pretty unlikely. Thus she's way more likely to have a range of like KQ, KJ, KT, AsJs, AsTs, etc. I shove because I'm greedy and I want her $2. The guy looks disgusted and says he basically has to call and does. She throws her $2 in.
River ($366 main $120 side): 3
"That's probably not a good card for me," I say, as I turn over my hand.
He shows JTo and she shows KJ and I scoop it.
Old Guys Don't Like Me
I go to the bathroom and when I come back, the old guy from the previous table is at my table. He immediately asks the dealer if I am new to the game, even though I have a big blind button. She says no, I've been here since before she got to the game. He looks disgusted. Apparently this guy thinks I'm table changing to follow him around the room so I can make him miserable by raising him all night?
I find than incredibly funny, because he's not great but he's not someone I'd choose to play with. If I have a table full of people getting run over, I'll take it. I'm not going to follow one around.
He later calls a raise and raises me on the flop, and I get the feeling he's sick of me.
Hand No. 4
I pick up AA UTG and raise to $12. The old guy calls.
Flop ($24): 642
I bet $15 and he calls pretty quickly. I figure his range is like 77+
Turn ($52): 9
I bet $35 and he calls.
River ($122): K
Beautiful. I check, he bets $100. I fold in like 3 seconds. As he's mucking, he accidentally flashes a card by mucking too high. It's a black A and I have the A, so it's the A.
I get the feeling he either had A6 or a backdoor flush draw, and managed to run me down. Oh well.
Don't Shoot Angles At My Table
So I'm sitting on about $600 and there are two bad players at least $400 deep and one good player potentially tilting who's $400 deep. A new player comes in to sit down who I recognize from playing with at WWW. His name is Troy and he's a solid player, prone to tilt, and he often tries to agitate people or stir the pot.
He has $405 in his rack and tries to sit down with it. The dealer tells him it's $300 max, and he says he'll take a stack off. Normally I'm one to let it go if people try to buy in for more, because I want to play deeper. However, I think I'm better than him but he's better than these fish and I don't want him getting their money. I've never tried to put someone on tilt before, but if he's angle shooting I think it's fair game, so that's part of it too.
He's holding the stack in his hand and I suggest that he buy a black chip, and he says no he wants to hold it. He bets $25 on a hand and I notice that after winning a three-way pot of about $40 (so +30), he has $355 on the table. He bet it out of his hand, which wasn't in play.
He's now holding like $75 in his hand. I let this go and wait for him to try it again. He proceeds to hold $75 in reds in his hand while texting on his phone, sort of palming it out of the view of the dealer but in view of players if they're paying attention.
He's in a hand and someone bets $35 and he calls out of the left hand. As he's counting it out, I go,
Me: "Hey Troy, how many of those chips are you going to try to sneak onto the table?"
Him: "All of them."
Me: "Cause I saw the first $25 but I let that go, but c'mon man."
He then starts arguing that he wasn't trying to sneak them he was trying to bet them in plain site and starts trying to argue semantics. I'm like dude, you got caught, own up to it. We're going back and forth while he's in the hand.
He starts arguing that maybe he should only have $300 on the table, and I'm like just take the $40 in your hand and that $35 off, and play your hand. He's still arguing the semantics and the dealer won't back me up, or get involved. He's kind of known in AC, but c'mon dealer, you know me too, I play here all the time and that stuff shouldn't matter. Rules are rules.
Meanwhile he raises to $75, then check-folds the turn. Looks like I got him to spew, but not to me. That's fine, it was to a bad player. He then starts giving me a hard time and asking if he can put the money on now to top off to $300. I'm like, "Dude, the max is $300 of course you can. You know what you were doing, I know what you were doing, you got caught, let it go already."
He keeps arguing. What a jackass. I'm trying to drop it and not ruin the mood at the table but he refuses to let it go, and I say, "Troy, I've played with you before. I know you're deal. I know you like to try to piss people off and get under their skin, just let it go man." He won't, until the woman stud player chastises him and he calls her by name and apologizes and stops.
He proceeds to fall into a pattern of playing three hands, walking for 20 minutes, posting and playing 3 hands, walking for 20 minutes, etc. Apparently he's waiting for a seat in a 20/40 stud game.
Hand No. 5
Troy returns to the table and says it's his last hand, he got called for 20/40 stud.
I pick up JJ UTG and raise to $12. He calls on the button.
Flop ($24): AT7
I bet $15. He makes the slightest motion like he's going to muck his hand (not enough to be a false tell), then looks back at it and calls.
Turn ($52): 5
I check and he bets $35. The little mucking twitch makes me think he has air or some sort of draw. I know how badly he'd love to bluff me on the last hand and show it. I figure that's what he's doing, so I call.
River ($122): T
I check, not loving that card because he could have been calling me down light with a T. He checks behind and doesn't want to show. I say Jacks and flip them and he says they're good, he had a smaller pair.
Hand No. 6
Our table breaks and I go to a new table, and four hands in, UTG limps and UTG+1 raises to $10. He's old, but four hands in obviously I have no reads. The button calls - he's a young guy in shades I've played with before. He's not awful. I pick up AQ and flat call in the BB. UTG folds.
Flop ($29): AT8
It checks around.
Turn ($29): K
I bet $20, the old guy calls and the button raises to $50. I tank. The old guy has $65 left and the button has $150 behind. I have to imagine I have the old guy beat, but what is this guy raising so small with here. He's laying 4-to-1 on a draw heavy board. I figure he could have a draw and be trying to take it away, but he's more likely to have a made hand like QJ or KT. Plus, even if he has a draw, I don't know which one and the only safe rivers are offsuit jacks. Thus, my reverse implied odds are terrible. I fold, the old guy folds, and the button shows KT.
Are you down for whatever happens next?
Our table breaks and I go to a new table, and after a few minutes someone mentions the bad beat and a guy at the other end of the table says "If we win the bad beat, I hope you guys are up for it, because we're going to be partying all night."
I tell him it's like that Bud Light commercial, "Are you down for whatever happens next?" People laugh and I tell the dealer she should say that every time she gets to a new table, "If I deal you the bad beat, are you down for whatever happens next?"
She gives me a look like I'm an ******* and I'm like, "You must not have seen the commercial," and she says no, so I explain it and she laughs and gets it. Oops, that was close.
None the less, that gets the table in a talking/joking mood, discussing their favorite parts of the commercial and segueing into other random conversations.
Then a player mentions that he's had QQ five times tonight. I ask him if he's heard that George Carlin routine. He says no. I tell him the punch line... "I've never f***ed a 10, but one night I f***ed five 2s and I think that ought to count for something."
Home Game Improvement
The kid in the hat has his friend sitting behind him sweating him. He keeps playing with the button and the dealer asks him not to because she can't see it. He and his friend joke that they are going to steal it for their home game. I tell them what they really need is the table, and I tell them i'll give them $25 right then to go try to pick up a table and carry it out. We laugh. I tell them it'd be worth $25 to see them get tackled. The table starts talking about that scene in Oceans 11 about the failed robbery attempts. I tell them they might actually have a chance if they just went for the felt with a pocket knife.
Just an absurd, random conversation, but it got the table laughing and joking and kept the game loose for a few minutes, which was key because it wasn't a great table. I was only playing like another hour so I didn't want to change tables again, and instead loosened it up. We also did a round of straddles to that end.
Hand No. 7
I have JT in MP in a limped pot.
Flop ($10): JJ9
It checks to me and I bet $10. The SB calls.
Turn ($26): T
He checks and I think for a bit. I feel like if his range is Jx that was a bad card for him to raise me at some point, because the board got scarier from a straight perspective. On the other hand, if he has a draw, I don't want him to fold, so I bet $15. He looks a bit confused and calls.
River ($55): 6
He checks. A couple times tonight he's stared at me at random times in a hand, as if he's going to soul read me. I decide to stare at him for a bit, just to try to throw him off while I'm thinking. Meanwhile I'm thinking what is his range that calls me here? Any draw that wasn't there on the turn missed. 78 and KQ are not folding no matter what I bet, and Jx is probably never folding. Meanwhile if he has the 9 only, the only way he can call is if he puts me on a busted draw.
Thus, I go on the bigger side and bet $40. He tanks for a bit and calls, and obviously the nuts are good.
Hand No. 8
I limp with A4 and call a $12 button raise from the big stack. We're like $600 deep, with him covering. A blind comes along.
Flop ($33): J84
It checks to the button and he bets $20. I decide this is a great spot for a check-raise. His most likely holdings are AJ-QJ, and I block an A. He really can't call me with those hands because I've played solid and he's a very good player. I raise to $75 and he pretty much snap folds KJ face up as he and another player tell me how I made my set waayyyy too obvious there.
Around 2 am, I rack up with $605, so +$305 on the session in a little under 7 hours of play. It was an important session for me, and I felt like I played my B game, but avoided tough spots and didn't make costly errors, so I was happy with it. It was key to avoid having to consider dropping down to $200 buyins, and I am going to crush souls next weekend for Memorial Day weekend.
After busting out of the tournament, I didn't feel tilted, but I tend to think it's a bad idea to jump straight from tournaments to cash just in case. Instead, I ate, posted in here and then hit the 1/2 games. The plan was to keep it simple, not make big mistakes, stay positive and play tight.
I instantly got seated in the type of game that I wish I had in the tournament. This was a table begging to be run over repeatedly. I wouldn't know it initially, though I'd find out fast.
Hand No. 1
The HJ raises to $7. It's a young-ish Asian man in a hat. I call with 7
7 in the CO and the button and BB come along.Flop ($26): Q
33BB checks and the HJ bets $7. I think he's basically never doing that with a queen, so I raise to $30. Everyone folds.
Running It Over Til It's Broken
Basically the following happened too many times to count.
1. 3-5 people limp.
2. I raise in position.
3. They all fold. OR
4. Someone calls me and check-folds the flop.
One old man in particular, who I've played with before and is a total rock, is limp-folding like a machine. This guy is limping like 30% of his hands and only calling my raises with like 5%. He gets disgusted and leaves. A couple other players are clearly upset they can't see $2 flops and they leave. After 30 minutes or so we end up three handed and the game breaks. I'm up to like $470.
Hand No. 2
I move to a new game, and I'm down to about $400 from whiffing some flops when the following hand develops. A new player sits down and loses his first hand when he gets it all-in on the turn with QQ vs. Jd7d on a J high board with two diamonds. The river is a J and he never saw the diamond draw so he thinks he got two outed. He's muttering and shaking his head and steaming. He's about to leave, then he rebuys for $100. He raises to $12, cbets and takes one down. The next hand he raises to $12 and I have A
T in the SB and 3bet to $40. He shoves for $67 more, I of course call. He shows 99 and holds.Hand No. 3
There's a straddle. A woman who is primarily a stud player who is playing NLHE cause she's running bad and wants to relax limps. I'm UTG+1 and raise to $20 with A
K. The BB calls and the woman calls. She's one orbit in so no big reads. She's not awful, but she doesn't play hold em much and she's playing too many hands. The guy is one of the weak players at the table. He had sucked out a couple times to build a stack but he's since lost a lot of it.Flop ($60): K
Q7It checks to me, I bet $45 and they both call.
Turn ($195): 5
It checks to the lady who bets $115, leaving $2 behind. I ask the guy to lift his hands and if he has any blacks or greens, just to make sure, and he has $57 left and isn't thrilled that I asked.
I don't know what her limp-calling range is like UTG vs. a straddle, or whether she'd play QQ that way, but it seems pretty unlikely. Thus she's way more likely to have a range of like KQ, KJ, KT, AsJs, AsTs, etc. I shove because I'm greedy and I want her $2. The guy looks disgusted and says he basically has to call and does. She throws her $2 in.
River ($366 main $120 side): 3
"That's probably not a good card for me," I say, as I turn over my hand.
He shows JTo and she shows K
J and I scoop it.Old Guys Don't Like Me
I go to the bathroom and when I come back, the old guy from the previous table is at my table. He immediately asks the dealer if I am new to the game, even though I have a big blind button. She says no, I've been here since before she got to the game. He looks disgusted. Apparently this guy thinks I'm table changing to follow him around the room so I can make him miserable by raising him all night?
I find than incredibly funny, because he's not great but he's not someone I'd choose to play with. If I have a table full of people getting run over, I'll take it. I'm not going to follow one around.
He later calls a raise and raises me on the flop, and I get the feeling he's sick of me.
Hand No. 4
I pick up A
A UTG and raise to $12. The old guy calls. Flop ($24): 6
42I bet $15 and he calls pretty quickly. I figure his range is like 77+
Turn ($52): 9
I bet $35 and he calls.
River ($122): K
Beautiful. I check, he bets $100. I fold in like 3 seconds. As he's mucking, he accidentally flashes a card by mucking too high. It's a black A and I have the A
, so it's the A.I get the feeling he either had A6 or a backdoor flush draw, and managed to run me down. Oh well.
Don't Shoot Angles At My Table
So I'm sitting on about $600 and there are two bad players at least $400 deep and one good player potentially tilting who's $400 deep. A new player comes in to sit down who I recognize from playing with at WWW. His name is Troy and he's a solid player, prone to tilt, and he often tries to agitate people or stir the pot.
He has $405 in his rack and tries to sit down with it. The dealer tells him it's $300 max, and he says he'll take a stack off. Normally I'm one to let it go if people try to buy in for more, because I want to play deeper. However, I think I'm better than him but he's better than these fish and I don't want him getting their money. I've never tried to put someone on tilt before, but if he's angle shooting I think it's fair game, so that's part of it too.
He's holding the stack in his hand and I suggest that he buy a black chip, and he says no he wants to hold it. He bets $25 on a hand and I notice that after winning a three-way pot of about $40 (so +30), he has $355 on the table. He bet it out of his hand, which wasn't in play.
He's now holding like $75 in his hand. I let this go and wait for him to try it again. He proceeds to hold $75 in reds in his hand while texting on his phone, sort of palming it out of the view of the dealer but in view of players if they're paying attention.
He's in a hand and someone bets $35 and he calls out of the left hand. As he's counting it out, I go,
Me: "Hey Troy, how many of those chips are you going to try to sneak onto the table?"
Him: "All of them."
Me: "Cause I saw the first $25 but I let that go, but c'mon man."
He then starts arguing that he wasn't trying to sneak them he was trying to bet them in plain site and starts trying to argue semantics. I'm like dude, you got caught, own up to it. We're going back and forth while he's in the hand.
He starts arguing that maybe he should only have $300 on the table, and I'm like just take the $40 in your hand and that $35 off, and play your hand. He's still arguing the semantics and the dealer won't back me up, or get involved. He's kind of known in AC, but c'mon dealer, you know me too, I play here all the time and that stuff shouldn't matter. Rules are rules.
Meanwhile he raises to $75, then check-folds the turn. Looks like I got him to spew, but not to me. That's fine, it was to a bad player. He then starts giving me a hard time and asking if he can put the money on now to top off to $300. I'm like, "Dude, the max is $300 of course you can. You know what you were doing, I know what you were doing, you got caught, let it go already."
He keeps arguing. What a jackass. I'm trying to drop it and not ruin the mood at the table but he refuses to let it go, and I say, "Troy, I've played with you before. I know you're deal. I know you like to try to piss people off and get under their skin, just let it go man." He won't, until the woman stud player chastises him and he calls her by name and apologizes and stops.
He proceeds to fall into a pattern of playing three hands, walking for 20 minutes, posting and playing 3 hands, walking for 20 minutes, etc. Apparently he's waiting for a seat in a 20/40 stud game.
Hand No. 5
Troy returns to the table and says it's his last hand, he got called for 20/40 stud.
I pick up J
J UTG and raise to $12. He calls on the button.Flop ($24): A
T7I bet $15. He makes the slightest motion like he's going to muck his hand (not enough to be a false tell), then looks back at it and calls.
Turn ($52): 5
I check and he bets $35. The little mucking twitch makes me think he has air or some sort of draw. I know how badly he'd love to bluff me on the last hand and show it. I figure that's what he's doing, so I call.
River ($122): T
I check, not loving that card because he could have been calling me down light with a T. He checks behind and doesn't want to show. I say Jacks and flip them and he says they're good, he had a smaller pair.
Hand No. 6
Our table breaks and I go to a new table, and four hands in, UTG limps and UTG+1 raises to $10. He's old, but four hands in obviously I have no reads. The button calls - he's a young guy in shades I've played with before. He's not awful. I pick up A
Q and flat call in the BB. UTG folds.Flop ($29): A
T8It checks around.
Turn ($29): K
I bet $20, the old guy calls and the button raises to $50. I tank. The old guy has $65 left and the button has $150 behind. I have to imagine I have the old guy beat, but what is this guy raising so small with here. He's laying 4-to-1 on a draw heavy board. I figure he could have a draw and be trying to take it away, but he's more likely to have a made hand like QJ or KT. Plus, even if he has a draw, I don't know which one and the only safe rivers are offsuit jacks. Thus, my reverse implied odds are terrible. I fold, the old guy folds, and the button shows K
T.Are you down for whatever happens next?
Our table breaks and I go to a new table, and after a few minutes someone mentions the bad beat and a guy at the other end of the table says "If we win the bad beat, I hope you guys are up for it, because we're going to be partying all night."
I tell him it's like that Bud Light commercial, "Are you down for whatever happens next?" People laugh and I tell the dealer she should say that every time she gets to a new table, "If I deal you the bad beat, are you down for whatever happens next?"
She gives me a look like I'm an ******* and I'm like, "You must not have seen the commercial," and she says no, so I explain it and she laughs and gets it. Oops, that was close.
None the less, that gets the table in a talking/joking mood, discussing their favorite parts of the commercial and segueing into other random conversations.
Then a player mentions that he's had QQ five times tonight. I ask him if he's heard that George Carlin routine. He says no. I tell him the punch line... "I've never f***ed a 10, but one night I f***ed five 2s and I think that ought to count for something."
Home Game Improvement
The kid in the hat has his friend sitting behind him sweating him. He keeps playing with the button and the dealer asks him not to because she can't see it. He and his friend joke that they are going to steal it for their home game. I tell them what they really need is the table, and I tell them i'll give them $25 right then to go try to pick up a table and carry it out. We laugh. I tell them it'd be worth $25 to see them get tackled. The table starts talking about that scene in Oceans 11 about the failed robbery attempts. I tell them they might actually have a chance if they just went for the felt with a pocket knife.
Just an absurd, random conversation, but it got the table laughing and joking and kept the game loose for a few minutes, which was key because it wasn't a great table. I was only playing like another hour so I didn't want to change tables again, and instead loosened it up. We also did a round of straddles to that end.
Hand No. 7
I have J
T in MP in a limped pot.Flop ($10): J
J9It checks to me and I bet $10. The SB calls.
Turn ($26): T
He checks and I think for a bit. I feel like if his range is Jx that was a bad card for him to raise me at some point, because the board got scarier from a straight perspective. On the other hand, if he has a draw, I don't want him to fold, so I bet $15. He looks a bit confused and calls.
River ($55): 6
He checks. A couple times tonight he's stared at me at random times in a hand, as if he's going to soul read me. I decide to stare at him for a bit, just to try to throw him off while I'm thinking. Meanwhile I'm thinking what is his range that calls me here? Any draw that wasn't there on the turn missed. 78 and KQ are not folding no matter what I bet, and Jx is probably never folding. Meanwhile if he has the 9 only, the only way he can call is if he puts me on a busted draw.
Thus, I go on the bigger side and bet $40. He tanks for a bit and calls, and obviously the nuts are good.
Hand No. 8
I limp with A
4 and call a $12 button raise from the big stack. We're like $600 deep, with him covering. A blind comes along.Flop ($33): J
84It checks to the button and he bets $20. I decide this is a great spot for a check-raise. His most likely holdings are AJ-QJ, and I block an A. He really can't call me with those hands because I've played solid and he's a very good player. I raise to $75 and he pretty much snap folds KJ face up as he and another player tell me how I made my set waayyyy too obvious there.
Around 2 am, I rack up with $605, so +$305 on the session in a little under 7 hours of play. It was an important session for me, and I felt like I played my B game, but avoided tough spots and didn't make costly errors, so I was happy with it. It was key to avoid having to consider dropping down to $200 buyins, and I am going to crush souls next weekend for Memorial Day weekend.
05-19-2014
, 05:51 PM
Quote:
Just finished the entire thread. Great writing style...your ability to capture all of the hand details are impressive.
Regarding your downswing/struggles moving up, it seems you don't have a fold button at times. Random passive fish aren't raising you with draws. They have the nuts. Convincing yourself to call using pot odds hoping to hit a disguised draw is -EV. 99% of your profits at 1/2 are going to come from value betting. Quit trying to make hero calls against passive donks showing aggression.
Best of luck on the grind.
Regarding your downswing/struggles moving up, it seems you don't have a fold button at times. Random passive fish aren't raising you with draws. They have the nuts. Convincing yourself to call using pot odds hoping to hit a disguised draw is -EV. 99% of your profits at 1/2 are going to come from value betting. Quit trying to make hero calls against passive donks showing aggression.
Best of luck on the grind.
05-20-2014
, 01:47 PM
Quote:
Just finished the entire thread. Great writing style...your ability to capture all of the hand details are impressive.
Regarding your downswing/struggles moving up, it seems you don't have a fold button at times. Random passive fish aren't raising you with draws. They have the nuts. Convincing yourself to call using pot odds hoping to hit a disguised draw is -EV. 99% of your profits at 1/2 are going to come from value betting. Quit trying to make hero calls against passive donks showing aggression.
Best of luck on the grind.
Regarding your downswing/struggles moving up, it seems you don't have a fold button at times. Random passive fish aren't raising you with draws. They have the nuts. Convincing yourself to call using pot odds hoping to hit a disguised draw is -EV. 99% of your profits at 1/2 are going to come from value betting. Quit trying to make hero calls against passive donks showing aggression.
Best of luck on the grind.
Haha I still 100% disagree on the two hands we've been discussing.
05-20-2014
, 01:51 PM