Not shockingly those two did not win money...

Borgata-Navy Adidas jacket, table by the cashier? Don't see too many SU hats around

Yeah... Where are you?

Knew you were the only thinking player at table and when I cbet JT6 and you bumped it 100 thought you thought I had jack ****. Knew you would keep firing. No way I thought you were as strong as you were sorry about the suck out.

Also why are you calling these stations so light? That old lady who left is never betting anything less than trips on the river.

BTW Jealous of the god seat you have.

I was getting 4.5 to 1 though... Although rare she can mix it up sometimes. Shes made some deep tourney runs and knows what shes doing. The other one I didn't think he was capable of value betting thin and didn't think he'd slow play trips on the turn so I figured a lot of his range was missed OESD. God seat seems to be malfunctioning though haha... Keep trying to limp wide behind him and getting blasted out or just getting dealt blackjack hands (83o 74s etc). Or I iso and he smashes the flop with 23o.

No worries. I figured you had a big J but I can never check fold that river so I had to bomb it.

You think you're getting c/r bluffed when you cbet a JTx board?

Dude the guy on my left in the shades is watching some REALLY weird **** on his iPad.

Every stack is in play, except the nit to my left but I can just not get any value hands ( of course unless some donk with a 2-300 stack raises 35)

Not looking forward to leveling war now that I have revealed myself lol

For some reason I think that kid is a 1/2 player taking a shot . Thought I saw him wave off a seat

Yeah same here. Every good situation I have two rags that can't make straights.

I don't foresee much leveling... One of us would actually have to get dealt a hand first. The only nit was on your right. With his insta muck after that river bluff I feel better about heroing him earlier.

How's that guy fold an A???

That fold did not compute. He must be leaving soon and in lock down mode with his win

Or its cause I haven't played a hand in like an hour... Ugh wanted him to fire that river.

Folds the A against me though. For those not sitting at the table the guy just got it in with A9 high no draw.

While this can't be said as a blanket statement, some sites do have rng's that are kinda funky. The goal isn't to help the fish win...it's more likely to keep the money flowing in circles rather than the pros strippin the fish too fast and removing too much from the site/drying up the games.


Before I get flamed for my opinion here, I will add a few supporting facts:


1. I initially said this about Planet Poker after having won over 20K from the site (playing only 5/10 and 10/20 limit). Rather than attribute it to my natural poker skills, I was the first to admit that it wasn't from good poker play as I was a nascent poker player at the time. I had learned that my hole cards seemed to be effected by what I was doing with my mouse right before the cards were dealt. People thought I was absolutely nuts. I thought I was going nuts. I appreciated the cash though. Years later it was exposed that they were using player mouse movements as a seed to randomize the rng.


2. I am up on every major poker since then (albeit much smaller amounts than my Planet Poker days due to a generalized distrust after my experience there). So I'm saying this without any greivance from 'losing to the fish.' Some sites seem okay...Pokerstars is by far the best. Other sites, not so much...Ultimate Bet and Absolute had completely screwy rngs (this aside from the whole superuser debacle).


3. I worked at an online site for close to 2 years before the UIGEA took effect. The consensus among the senior employees (and we had full access to all hand histories-showdown or not-as soon as the hand was complete) was that the rng was f***ed. There were clear patterns over time. On a support call once, I pulled up a guy's account, saw he was relatively young (22 or something) and up over 70K in a little over a year. I really wanted to confirm what we thought from someone who was clearly profiting on the site (one way or another). Of course, this was a very delicate situation since the call was being recorded, and I was an employee--knowing I had the legal obligation to act in the company's best interest. So it wasn't like I could just come out and say, "boy, our rng is completely f***ed, don't ya think?" The conversation went something to the effect of:


Him: [he has some issue which he needs help with, I can't remember what, and it's completely irrelevant...part way through while working on my end, I ask...]


Me: Hey man, I see you do really well. I've been working here for a while, and y'know, sometimes it seems things run really brutal, no matter what you do...and not like when playing live, you know what I mean?


Him: --slight hesitation-- Well yeah, you work there, you should know.


Me: Well, us little guys aren't privy to all the details...upper management keeps a lot to themselves.


Him: Yeah...I guess they would have to...people talk. *snicker*


Me: I see you're a good player, but I see quite a few good player who can't seem to do well consistently over time. Maybe they just tilt or something; maybe not. You've obviously got it down.


Him: --another slight hesitation-- Yeah, it took a while. It's all good, I like the site.


Me: *laughing*...I bet you do. Up over 70K in a year. How do you overcome the....y'know....bs?


Him: [I'd rather not post his response...it's specific to this particular site, so it wouldn't apply to others]


Me: Ahh, that makes sense...thanks. [then I continued with the issue he originally called about]


Now, I'm not saying these anecdotes are proof of jack ****, but I would say that there are SOME sites with rng's that are a little weird. And then, there are sites that are completely straight up. I don't think there is a blanket statement that covers all online sites as each is a separate entity with its own modus operande.
.

As I was putting the bet out it just seemed weak, like an auto cbet just asking to be raised by someone paying attention.Thought Cuse was capable of raising a straight draw, thought he would 3bet JJ/TT pre so didn't really think he had top or middle set. JT and bottom set was a fleeting thought. Maybe it's standard to get AJ in here but I only called because I suspected who he was( would have folded to to anyone else at the table).

Some of what you thought here about my tendencies is correct, some is wrong. I don't want to get into more detail since others could use it against me. Your basic thought process is ok here, though. I assume you were calling the river unimproved right?

Run good down there man. Once the guy on my right left I decided it'd been a long enough day but the 10 seat was definitely gambling and I still thought the game was very good.

Yeah once I called the 3bet I pretty much knew I had to buckle up and go for the ride because you were not going to check after making such a strong move no matter your holding

Thanks for the well wishes. I have been reading your thread for awhile , always interesting to read goal threads from players who play in the same casino/stakes as me.

I'm a couple session reports behind... but I'm looking for people's thoughts on what bankroll is appropriate to start buying in at 2/5 for 1K and what bankroll is appropriate to shot take 5/10. I'd move down to 1/2 at 7K so that's the basis for what the ground floor of the 2/5 roll is.

I think I would want about 15k to take 5 1k buyin shots and still have 6 500 buying shots before having to move down.

5/10 is a totally different animal. Depends a lot on how big the game plays, what the buyin structure is, etc.

Depends on how much risk your willing to take on. 15-20k is reasonable for 1k 2/5, 30k is reasonable for shots at 5/T. for a while you should buy into 2/5 for $500 (because making a big mistake 100bb deep is ludicrous) and top up to $1000 half an hour in or so once you have some general reads and a reason to do so. This is slightly annoying but worth it. Carry blacks in your pocket.

Thanks guys... I'm over 20K now so I think I'll start to mix in some 1K buyins. A lot of my play is at Borgata, where it's not an option anyway - unless the 2/5 Deep runs and usually that games not worth getting into anyway. But when I play at Parx I'll probably start doing 1K buyins. ECG good call with buying in for $500, getting some reads and making sure there's a point in being 1K deep. There's no point if the only deep stacks are good players in position on me. Position is definitely increasingly valuable the deeper you get.

September 12 - "Momma ain't raise no fool. / Put me anywhere on God's green earth, I'll triple my worth."

After an early morning of broadcasting Friday, I took a nap for a few hours, then hit up the poker room. Unfortunately, I got off to a similar start... I've been stuck in every 2/5 session this month.

Hand No. 1

About five hands into the session I pick up AA. An Indian guy I've played with before who's really fishy limps. An old guy playing tighter limps. I make it $30. The fish calls.

Flop ($71): 874

He checks, I bet $35. He calls.

Turn ($141): 5

He checks. He has $162 total so I tank because if I bet I'm certainly committed. I decide he's bad enough to pay me off with worse, and if I check and he bombs the river, I'm paying him off if he has it. I bet $70, he jams and I call. He shows A6o and takes it down.

Hand No. 2

The very next hand, there are three limps to my HJ and I look down at AA. I make it $35 and get three calls.

Flop ($141): KK4

It checks through.

Turn ($141): 8

The BB bets $55, it folds to me and I call.

River ($251): 9

He bets $80, I call and he shows AQ. He was drawing to running queens and came alive on the turn. Thank you, sir.

Hand No. 3

I limp 55 UTG. There's another limp and the aforementioned fish from Hand 1 makes it $25. I call and the limper calls.

Flop ($81): K53

I decide its dry enough to slow play and I check and the limper checks. The fish bets $60, I call and the limper folds.

Turn ($201): 4

He has about $600, and I decide the best line is check-call, check-raise. I check, he bets $135 and I call.

River ($471): 7

So much for the plan. I decide to salvage what I can and bet $225. He tanks and calls and my hand is good for a $920 pot.

GET OFF MY LAWN INTERNET KIDS!

So my game was pretty good with three or four fish, but four Internet "kids," got in the game. I'm pretty young (stfu Duke), so I don't think of them as kids, per se. Also one of them was like 40. However, I came up playing live as I was playing online, so I feel like I absorbed the best of both worlds. I know how to be talkative and friendly.

These guys start having conversations about live versus online, 6 max ranges, 3bet ranges, 4 and 5 bet ranges, etc. The fish are just sitting there listening. I'm not liking it. No, sir.

Hand No. 4

The CO is a really aggressive Internet kid, and he's opened four of the last six hands. He makes it $20. I'm in the BB with 98 and I've had enough of him and his wide opening ranges so I pop it up to $65. He calls.

Flop ($131): 67T

That'll do. He's an Internet kid, so I decide to revert to Internet grinder mode. When you 3bet, you always fire away, so I'll do that. He knows this is a good flop to move me off an overpair. I bet $75 and he calls.

Turn ($281): 8

That's no good. I decide at this point I can probably get more equity out of this by playing into his bluff range, which I think is pretty wide given the dynamic. I check. He checks.

River ($281): T

That sucks too, but I've got to try to get some value. I bet $150 and he thinks for a bit and makes it $300. I tank. I doubt he'd slow play 66 or 77, but 88 is possible. He's also good enough to bluff raise here. I tank some more and cut out $150.

"You have Kings?" he asks.

"Nope, but I know that's what you think I have," I respond.

He goes quiet. I call.

"Aces are good," he says.

I table my straight and he mucks, a little carelessly, and some paint flashes. QJ? KQ? AK/AQ? Turned JJ/QQ into a bluff?



Hand No. 5

I pick up 23 on the button and a really weak-tight player limps so I raise to $25. I've been tight for a while so I should get credit and I'm going to take this pot down on most flops. The BB, an aggro young player with $80K in live tournament cashes, calls. The limper calls.

Flop ($76): KJT

It checks to me and I bet $55. The BB calls the limper folds.

Turn ($186): 5

He checks, I bet $130. He calls.

River ($446): 5

He bets $200. I tank about a minute and raise to $600. He thinks five seconds and folds.

Hand No. 6

A guy who's been drinking and spewing straddles on my button. He's got $21 left and I'm 100% sure he's going to ship it in if it's limped. There are a few limps and I limp KQ with plans to backraise. The SB limps, the BB limps, the straddle ships it. There are three calls back to me and I make it $151.

The guy on my left tanks, says he was going to do that, and folds. Everyone else folds. The fish had gotten into an argument in the same spot previously over who had to show as last aggressor in the same action. So he and I joke about it and I say, "We're friendly right? We can both show now if you want."

Him: "Nah, you're good."

Me: "No pair."

Him: "You're good."

Flop ($150ish): 875

Him: "I've got a pair."

Me: "I've got clubs."

Turn ($150ish): 3

Him: "You've got clogs??"

Me: "Clubs."

River ($150ish): 9

I table.

Him: "Oh, clubs."

Me: "Did you say clogs?"

Him: "No, quads."

We all laugh. He's from Scotland, so i say, "My first thought when you said that was. Huh??? Clogs aren't Scottish, they're Dutch!"

I later flop a full house against him, and we get the money in and I take it down obviously. Once he leaves, the game gets bad pretty quickly. I rack up my biggest win to date...



Result: +$2,563 in 7 hours, 17 minutes ($26 in tips)

Dinner Time

After the session, I grab dinner with Sequel at Noodles of the World. I tried the pork, shrimp and chive dumplings.



Some guy comes up and starts talking to us, who happens to be a television producer. He may have been involved in the early days of televised poker, so I'm going to reach out to him later. We fill him in on some tournament rules that he's unfamiliar with, as he claims he hasn't played in years. I'm a little skeptical, though, since he couldn't stop telling us how good he was at poker (good players don't do that) and how much money he's made in entertainment (most rich people don't do that). He was name dropping like a fiend, too.

The funny part is me and Sequel probably checked our pockets and backpacks every like 45 seconds during the conversation to make sure nobody was sneaking up behind us to pick our pockets while he distracts us.

That Jay Z lyric reminds me of another ballet one from him and leads me to another quote request:

By the way, **** your math
You ain't got to count it my ***** I can add
1 million, 2 million, 3 million, 20 million,
Ooh I'm so good at math

I have always wanted to modify this quote at te poker table when someone asks me if I want a count or something. Just be like I can add, 10, 20, 30, 200 ooh I'm so good at math(with 200 being the rough count).



Sick session, purple chips 4 life.

I like the quote request - thanks! I'm always running out of them. I almost dropped my title line at the table. I was playing 1/2 waiting for a 2/5 seat and had 95o UTG+1 and Sequel was at the table. I wanted to just get super aggro and show and be like... "They say 9-to-5 is how you survive, but I aint tryin to survive, I'm tryin to live it to the limit and love it a lot!" Then insta-rack up for 2/5.

But I decided not to spew.

September 13 - "Ain't no way they can stop me now, Nelly, / cause I'm on my way, I can feel my reign coming."

Early on I get off to an all too familiar start and get stuck, but I pick up AA and KK against short stacks and felt them, so that gets me back in business. I have the God seat on a fish, but I can't get much else going... Then, things take a turn for the weird.

Eccentricity Run Amok

This eccentric older woman is on my left. She's weird, but she's being friendly, so I try to keep some conversation going. Then she starts spouting off about Ray Rice and how Janay had it coming, and she deserved it. She says she's glad he knocked her out. I'm basically in shock as she continues to drop nuggets of wisdom.

"I feel bad for white heterosexual men," she explains... She says that we get the worst of it because... I don't really know. I laugh, and she's like no I'm serious. Umm, ok.

"Men pay too much for pussy," she says. OK... She may have that one right. She says that women are crazy and men put up with it, and either pay in putting up with nonsense, or in the literal.

"That's the problem with penis, it's always yelling at you, 'come over here!'... Vagina is more reserved. It's easy for me to put up with. I feel sorry for you guys," she says.

Then, there's an Indian guy sitting at the table... She turns to him and says, "So, did you have an arranged marriage?" I start laughing but manage to play it off and turn away. He says he's been married for 19 years. Her response?

"You don't seem very happy though."

Turning a Profit

I didn't take notes on any of the hands, because none were particularly interesting, but I did stack the fish to my right for his last $150 or so, if I recall, and otherwise made a couple hands and got paid for a solid comeback.

Results: -$2 at 1/2 in 4 minutes (no tips), +$532 at 2/5 in 2 hours, 43 minutes ($7 in tips)

The Buffet Has Two Signature Items

For a little while I've been saying the Borgata buffet is good, but not great, because it doesn't have any signature items... Now it has two. Lobster and shrimp quesadillas and pecan tarts.



After the buffet, we walk around and relax a bit, and both get back to the poker room in the evening.

Hand No. 1

There's a limp and the button raises to $20 and I call in the BB with JT. The limper calls and the raiser calls.

Flop ($61): JT5

Two checks and the PFR bets $40. I raise to $140 and he calls.

Turn ($341): 7

Effective stacks are about 415. I bet $175. He calls.

River ($691): A

I move in for his last $236 and he snap calls with AJo to take the $1100+ pot. I later find out he's a 2p2er who reads this thread (Blackheart). He made himself known in the thread, as you probably saw. I'm glad my thread got me some action in a spot where I wasn't bluffing, but it makes me acutely aware that it's going to have an impact and maybe after this post I'll really cut back on the hand histories.

Stuck a G

I keep running bad and get into the game for $1,600. I'm calling down light getting laid big prices and running into the tops of ranges. One player bets for thin value on the river who I was pretty sure wasn't capable of it, so I'll make a note of that in the future against him.

Hand No. 2

There are five limps and I raise to $45 from the BB with AA. There are four calls.

Flop ($225): K93

There's a check and I bet $160. It folds to the SB who calls.

Turn ($545): J

He bets $270 and I tank and call. He's been overall pretty passive, but he really, really, overvalues pairs. This could be KJ but it could also be KQ, KX etc.

River ($1,085): T

He tanks and checks. I tank and check. "A nine," he says and my hand is good.

The Dealer Blows Up My Spot

A dealer sees my huge stack and the following conversation ensues.

Dealer: "I see you run as good at 2/5 as you do at 1/2."

Me: "I'm doing alright. I'm in for a lot tonight though."

Dealer: "You look like you're still doing fine though."

Me: "Yeah I'm doing fine."

Dealer: "Looks like you made the smooth jump to 2/5."

At this point I just nod and try to end the conversation. He's a nice guy, and I appreciate it to an extent - I'd just rather him do that when he's standing away from the table and we cross paths or something. Don't tell the whole table how good I am and that I just jumped to 2/5 recently.

Hand No. 3

There are a bunch of limps and the guy on my right makes it $15. He's a huge whale, so I'm calling him REALLY wide with the God seat. I call with J8. We go five ways to the flop.

Flop ($75): 872

There's one check and an EP player bets $50. It folds to the guy on my right who calls. I tank a bit. I obliterate the whale's range so I raise to $175. The guy up front folds and the whale calls.

Turn ($475): K

He checks, I bet $300 and he folds.

Hand No. 4

I limp 66 UTG, there are four limps and the whale makes it $115 from the BB. This is always JJ+ for him, skewed toward AA/KK. We're about $1,500 deep so I call.

Flop ($250): AT8

He checks, I check.

Turn ($250): Q

He checks, I bet $175 and he folds.

A little taste of the Commerce

A new player comes in and is playing pretty aggressively and running some big bluffs. He mentions he usually plays at Commerce.

Later he throws in his big blind, and there is only one blind out there and he's vehement that he threw it in and demands that they go to the cameras. We stop the game, wait for a floor, etc. They say continue playing and they'll figure it out.

About 10 minutes later the floor comes over and says he did throw in his blind. He turns to walk away.

Dealer: "Wait, who took it?"
Floor: "Well you didn't tell me to ask them that!"
Dealer: "Are you serious?"
Floor: "You asked if he threw it in, they didn't tell me anything else."

I convince the guy who won the prior pot, two seats to his left, that he probably scooped it up by accident and he gives the guy a redbird, saving us from another delay.

Later, Commerce guy is whining about getting sued. Apparently, he lost a huge pot and was angry and fired his cards in REALLY hard. They flew up and hit another player in the eye, doing some serious damage. That player then sued him for it.

Commerce guy is furious about this and says something's wrong with society, and how dare this guy sue him. He's like "He's claiming it was intentional, but he wasn't even in the hand. Why would I be mad at him? How could it be intentional? How can he sue me?"

I'm sitting there, sarcastically thinking, "Yeah, what an a**hole, how dare he block your cards with his eye."

Hand No. 5

There are a couple of limps and I limp A9. The BB (Commerce guy) raises to $20 and there are two calls and I call.

Flop ($80): A67

The PFR bets $20 and there are two calls. I raise to $150. The PFR calls.

Turn ($420): 8

He checks, I check.

River ($420): 5

He bets $200 with about $630 behind. I tank, debating between a raise to try to get AK-AJ to hero off, or a minraise to give him room to rebluff. I feel like his range has way more missed flush draws than big Ax hands based on his line and bet sizing. He's run some big bluffs already. Thus, I minraise. He tanks a bit and shoves.

Me: "Well, if you've got 9T this is the one runout that gets you paid. I call."

Him: "What do you have?"

Me: "I called you."

Him: "An Ace is good."

I table, and scoop a $2,080 pot. He does not fire his cards at my face, thankfully.

Hand No. 6

I pick up AA up front and make it $25 and get four calls.

Flop ($125): AT5

There are two checks to me and I bet $65. The guy on my right, from before, calls. He's a huge whale so his range is really really wide.

Turn ($255): 3

He checks, I bet $150 and he calls.

River ($555): 9

He checks, I bet $325 and he calls. My hand is good for the $1,205 pot.





That's $4,014 on the table - my biggest stack to date.

Result: +$2,414 in 9 hours, 44 minutes ($33 in tips)

That gives me a $2,944 day - my biggest win to date. Two huge days in a row, and there will be some big news coming soon, I think.