I'm All In

The Haunt of Roulette Dares

2005-10-02T17:46:00.000-05:00

If anyone has Comcast Digital, check out The Mars Volta under their music concerts On Demand section. They are one of the best live acts out there right now. There's also a music video from a band called The Cloud Room somewhere on there. Fuse, maybe? And M83's "Teen Angst". Those are all good listens.

Right now I'm in the first stage of a $10+1 SnG. I've folded my first 7 hands preflop. My best two cards were J-9 suited, but I had those UTG+1, so it was a clear fold. Actually, I rarely play J9. I'll complete a small blind, check it in the BB, but the only other time I'll play it is when there are multiple limpers and I'm on the button.

Which got me thinking ...

What is my favorite starting hand? Obviously AA should be the automatic reply, but I personally like 9-10 suited in late position when there are a lot of limpers. Call me crazy, but that always sounds like the possibility to be a huge monekmaker. Aside from AA, I mean. Heh.

End of level 3 and I've barely played. What'll probably happen is I'll push with decent cards in an effort to steal the blinds, and one of 'em will have a good pocket pair and bust me. Blah. Let's see.

It didn't go that way. I never got anything decent to work with, and ended up going all in with an open end straight draw, but lost to someone who called with Ace high.

Variance has been dogging me lately. I came out of the gate on fire when I got my internet back, but it's been up and down for the last week. I'm still +$100 since two Saturdays ago, so I won't complain much.

Agaetis Bjryun

2005-09-27T17:30:00.000-05:00

Sigur Ros is the perfect relaxation music for me. I wouldn't exactly call them the new Pink Floyd, but they have an epic, dreamy sound to them. On the down side, they don't sing in English, and I'm curious what the lyrics are.

Right now I'm playing in a $10+1 SnG after winning $40 in ring games. We're only on level two and I'm at 880 chips. This one isn't as aggressive as most of the others I've played in recently. I've been mostly folding. I picked up two small pots in level one by check raising and getting the other guy to fold. Can't really call it dropping the hammer since once I was only on a couple of draws, but I'll take it.

Heh. I just raised on the button with K-10 and turned a straight. The other guy didn't have much, but I managed to drag about 350 chips. Now I'm taking advantage of the conservative nature of the table, raising to 4X the BB with hands like A-10 off and scooping the blinds. Seems like all the players are waiting for a premium hand to fall into their lap, but I won't go too far with this aggressive play. Time to back off now before they start standing up to my raises. Besides, two stacks are getting small, and they might push any time now. I'm third in chips and not about to double someone up and lose my edge.

AK out of the big blind now. All folded to the SB. He completed. I raised. He folded. I tried knocking out the short stack with my 7's, but he ad A-9 and caught an Ace. Bastard. Level 3 in a couple hands.

Just folded AQ after UTG opened with a raise. He's the big stack and a decent player. No thanks. Flop came Q high. Continuation bet of 1/3 the pot was called by both preflop callers. He bet the pot on a blank turn, and then showed AQ when they mucked. Blah. I just stole his SB, though.

Down to 735 chips after I missed my open ended straight draw + flush draw to a short stack who went all in on the flop.

Just lost when I went all win with AJ suited after the button mini-raised. He was lucky enough to have AA.

Inertiatic ESP

2005-09-22T09:16:00.000-05:00

Last night I made a pretty big score for a $25 NL game, dragging a $62 pot.
I was on the button with 10-10. An EP player open raised for $1. I called, and so did the BB.
THe flop came 10 9 7 with two diamonds. BB led out with a $1 bet and our EP raiser made it $3 to go. At this point I was hoping and thinking that the EP raiser had an overpair so I could punish him. I re-raised to $6. The big blind called without hesitation, and so did EP.

At this point, I put EP on an overpair. The range of hands BB could have was pretty big, though. OPen ended straight draw, 4 to the flush, possibly two pair if he had the case 10 and decided to play 10-9. I wasn't sure. He was new to the table.

They both checked to me when a black King came on the turn, and I bet the pot. EP could have KK, but if he had AA or AK I could nail him here. Again, the BB just called, and so did EP. The river was a black 4. They both checked to me. I pushed for my last $6.50. BB folded (diamond draw, perhaps?) and EP called. My set was good, and he didn't show.

I mostly folded after that, never getting any action at that table, and the other three tables I was on were pretty weak-tight. I stole blinds and picked a few small pots, but called it a night and went to bed at 11. 6:30 comes faster than I'd like every morning.

Apocalypse Please

2005-09-21T13:37:00.000-05:00

Last night I made another $50 in $25 NL, playing for about an hour and a half. That two week break really did me some good. I realize now that I was just going through the motions before, waiting for the nuts and not really thinking through most hands. These past two nights, I've been giving more thought to what my opponent is holding than what I am holding, and I've been betting what I think he will call, or raise. I know it sounds like common sense stuff that we should all be doing at all times, but for me it's easy to fall into a rut of bad habits like loose preflop calls or not thinking through river bets. It could also be that I've been having a good run of cards, but I'm not so sure. I've been folding most hands, and playing very aggressive on the flop when something hits my hand.

It's also been a nice stress release from all the work I've been doing lately. It feels good to get home, look at the clock, and realize I have a few hours to enjoy myself rather than pass out, wake up, and get back to the daily grind.

Back to work for now. I plan on picking up some CD-Rs so I can add to my work playlist. Autolux, Nine Black Alps, the new Franz, and The Editors are all on my short list. Anyone else have suggestions?

A Decade Under the Influence

2005-09-20T07:26:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I cashed out for $1300. I had managed to make $1100 playing $25 NL and $10 SnG's in a little under two months, which I thought was decent. The money is gone now, deposited into our savings to be used for new house stuff.

I deposited $100 into a Party skin two days ago, and managed to make $50 in about 90 minutes. I placed 2nd in a $10 SnG for $30, and made $20 playing ring games during the SnG.

I think I played some of the best poker I've played in a long time. I played tight-aggressive preflop, make some nice moves on the flop, and caught good cards at the same time.

I missed one draw in a large pot, and that cost me about $20. I had an open-ended straight draw plus the second nut flush draw. I was fairly sure one guy had trips and the other had two pair because it was a nicely coordinated board of J 10 5 with two clubs. Turns out they both had a set. It was 10-10 vs. 5-5. vs my KQ of clubs. When they both went all-in, I thought my call was rather automatic given the odds. Damnable bricks.

So, maybe some playing tonight. I need my fix, and caffeine isn't cutting it.

I'm Alive

2005-09-18T09:15:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post in case anyone still checks this.

My internet was hooked up yesterday, and right now I'm playing two tables on Eurobet.

I had planned on writing poker theory posts while waiting to play again, but my new job has me working insane hours. Last week I worked 70 hours.

I work in finance, and my company just obtained a huge amount of business from Charles Schwab. My responsibility is to maintain the successful parallel running of 10 fixed income (bonds, etc.) mutual funds during the day, and then reconcile reports sent by the current custodian at night. So, I go into work around 8, and leave around 10 or 11 pm each night. At least I'm getting paid the overtime ...

Enough of that, though. I'll be playing and writing whenever I can. Hope you've all been running well.

High-Ate-Us

2005-09-06T13:10:00.000-05:00

September 17th. That's when I can play poker again. My fiancee and I moved into our new place over the weekend, but Comcast can't get out there any sooner. You'd think that if a company is going to strap it on and ram it in, they'd at least let you pick the time. That's partially the sellers' fault, though. They didn't cancel their services until the night before closing, so I missed out on earlier dates.

My bankroll wasn't very big (A little under $1500) but I need to keep most of that money out for house stuff now, so I'll probably do a $200 deposit and do some serious bonus whoring to work it higher. I'll also be signing up for PSO (bonus code: HighOnPoker) at that time. I think Bodog will be my first stop. After that, I might hit the Crypto skins for their little $50 bonuses. Every little thing counts.

I'll still do a post here and there to talk about potential strategies, or to dig up old hands, but it'll be light in content for the next two weeks. Take it easy.

The Small Print

2005-09-01T08:39:00.000-05:00

I ran pretty well last night, making about $100 on Tiger Gaming in an hour's work. The big hand came when I had AK in the small blind.

One guy in middle position limped, the button limped, and I chose to just complete the SB. The BB checked after that. I know this is a bad move, but I have a really good read on two of the people involved in this hand, and they will call down with anything. They'll raise with top pair and a bad kicker. I think I can get paid off big if an Ace or a King comes on the flop and it's hit them. The flop comes K J 5 with two clubs. I check, planning to check raise. BB and MP check. The button bets the pot and I mini-raise, hoping he reads me for a club draw. BB folds but MP smooth calls. Hm ...

Button calls. The next card is an apparent brick ... a 7 of diamonds. I have to bet now. I need to know where I stand exactly. I bet half the pot. MP calls, but the button goes all in for $10 more. If he has KJ, I'll pay him off, but I think he would have made a strong move on the flop if he did. I don't think MP has a set now because he just called the turn. A set would have popped back.

I push all in, and MP calls. I see the cards turn over. MP has an OESD no clubs, and button has KQ no clubs. A brick on the river, and I rake a big pot. I bullied the table after that, making large raises with mid-range pocket pairs and making everyone lay down pre-flop, and I scooped another pot when I hit my ace on the turn with AK, bet out, and had both villains fold.

*****

I also played a little $1/2 NL on Eurobet but got nothing to work with, so I lost like $12 there. A lot of players there are very aggressive and have a lot of gambooool in them, so I will definitely be sitting at those tables again.

I'll probably play some Sit N Go's tonight while 4 tabling at Tiger Gaming. Now that my house stuff has basically been finalized except for the signatures, I'm feeling more relaxed and making better decisions at the tables. It's definitely going to suck not having internet for a few days, but after that I'm signing up for PSO and depositing some more money to get my BR over $1500.

The Long Slow Goodbye

2005-08-31T08:35:00.000-05:00

If you can't tell, I always use songs as my post titles. Queens of the Stone Age this time. Amazing band.

Anyways, I might have to bail on my $300 Tiger reload bonus. I forgot just how much of a bitch it was to clear $200 through them. I worked out the average POP needed per day, and I'll have to play $1/2 NL or $2/4+ Limit to clear it. I don't have enough money on that site to play those limits. One bad session and I'd be screwed.

So I'll probably cash out there. No reason in leaving my money if there's no bonus to be had. The games aren't spread well and it takes away from me earning rakeback at Eurobet. Anyone have a good bonus recommendation? I heard that the UB one is tough to clear. I'm also not looking for little $50 bonues on tiny sites. I think my BR is finally above those.

Played some $1/2 NL on Party last night. There's definitely a ton of cash to be made in those games if you make good table selections. I sat down at two tables where the average pot was $35. This compared to an average pot of $19 and 31% o people seeing flops over at Tiger Gaming.

I also got my ass handed to me in PLO when I had two boats lose to bigger boats. Why do I even play that game? Oh, right ... because half the people think top pair is good.

Here's something I've been thinking about. It's a situation that came up a couple times recently.

Let's say everyone folds around to you in the CO or Button position, and you raise it up to about 5X the BB with a hand like 89 suited. Both blinds call and the flop gives you an open ended straight draw plus a flush draw. How do you play the flop if they both check to you?

Turn on the Bright Lights

2005-08-30T09:29:00.000-05:00

When I'm running cold, it feels like I don't know how to play poker.

Value bet middle pair? Why would I do that? Someone either has top pair or they have me beat. Jam the flop on the flush draw? Pointless. Those last two cards are bricks. I can see them through the deck. I have 14 outs? Yeah, well that just means there are 33 cards to screw me over. I fold.

When I'm running well, I feel like I'm on top of the world.

Yeah, I could crush $25/50 NL. I just don't keep that much online, you know? Mahatma has been ducking me for weeks. So has Ivey.

Last night I was running really well. I played 6 $10+1 Sit n Go's and cashed 4 times, taking first place twice, second place once, and third place once. I busted once on a bad decision (tried to buy a pot by jamming with A-10 suited from the BB and some guy in middle position called after he had limped with AJ offsuit. Yuck.) and the other bust was a bad beat (Got all my money in the middle on a ragged flop with AQ suited. Caller had K-10 offsuit and made a gutshot on the river. Double yuck.).

I played some 1/2 limit on Eurobet and made $10, but I bailed when my tables kept breaking up after a few hands. I played a little $25 nl on Tiger Gaming and scooped another $20 or so. All in all a good little session.

I'm a little pissed, though. I completely forgot to watch Entourage last night, and my friend told me it was the best episode of the season. Thanks, Jay. It's stuff like that which makes me realize TiVo might be a good investment. It would make watching the WPT stuff easier, too, since my fiancee refuses to sit through it. And she's 9 weeks away from delivering a boy, so I have no leverage here.

I'll probably take a break tonight. I think playing every night is -EV for me. I'm still learning how to be a successful player, so I need to recharge the brain more than most people.

The Modern Way of Letting Go

2005-08-29T15:10:00.000-05:00

It's back to LHE for me. At least for now. I need to stabalize my toll because I'm one NL bad beat away from climbing up the side of the Empire State Building and swatting at planes with one arm while holding a girl in the other. Watch your back, Sharapova. That's all I'm saying.

I've also fallen out of practice with Limit, and I always felt like I was a stronger player there.

I can get my NL fix through tournaments and Sit N Go's. The change might do me some good. It's not like everything else is in transition mode, anyway. Let's see ... new house on Friday. New job on Tuesday. Marriage next spring. Baby in 9 weeks. Long story made short ... I proposed on Valentine's and we found out she was expecting 2 weekends later. I think that's all, unless I decide to have a spontaneous sex change, but I doubt that'll ha -- on second thought, I remember hearing that cocktail waitresses make a ton of dough out in Vegas. Anyways, that's more information than anyone wants to hear.

Tiger kind of sucks for limit, so I might have to stabalize through SnG's, which is fine except that it doesn't count toward my bonus. And that's not fine. Daddy-to-be could use a free $300. I'll figure something out. It'll involve paper clips, gum, a rerun of McGuyver, and sealing up leaks.

Swollen Summer

2005-08-29T08:26:00.000-05:00

I close on my new house this week, and not a minute too soon. Between the sellers being clueless, and my parents bugging the bejesus out of me, I can't wait until everything is signed and the keys are handed over. On the plus side, the sellers failed their Title 9 inspection, so we got a brand new, $25,000 Septic installed at their expense. Instant home equity. Have to love it.

*****

Tiger Gaming was offering a 100% reload bonus if you deposited before Sunday at [insert hour here] so I tossed $300 into my account there. Now I have 45 days to clear it. Tiger's bonuses are hard to clear. It's not based on raked hands. Pot size and the number of players at showdown determine the POP points you get each hand, and you need 12 POP per $1 of bonus money. Or close to it. My actual POP needed is like 3545.

I quickly got up +$50, but I got greedy. I jumped to the $1/2 NL tables. They aren't very different from the $.10/.25 NL tables, but I didn't deposit enough to withstand a big hit at that table. Here was the hand.

I was dealt KJ of spades in MP. The BB was LAGgy, and he'd been stealing a lot of pots and showing down a lot of marginal hands.

EP limped into the pot, as did I, the button, and the SB. The BB made it $5 to go. EP called, I called, and the button called, but SB folded.

When the flop came K, 7, 2 with two spades, the big blind went all in for $150. EP didn't even have time to blink, he called so fast. EP had the BB covered, too. I had the K and the flush draw, and I was getting what I thought were very good odds, so I called. I was even seeing dollar signs in my head ...

After the button folded, I saw that the BB had Aces. EP had Ace-King, and neither of them had spades. The turn and river were bricks for me, and I was busted.

I went back to the $.10/25 tables and lost a buy-in there when I got all my money in pre-flop with KK and lost to QQ that hit a set on the flop.

Those happened on Saturday, so I took Sunday off to relax. I still can't tell when I'm tilting unless I'm really steaming from a bad beat, so I always take time off to play it safe. Besides, my fiancee and I still have packing to do, and we have materials to buy for projects.

Maybe I'll see if I can get in the money in a few SnG's, and I have $1000+ at Eurobet that I can transfer if my Tiger br gets too low. It shouldn't. I think I played pretty well and had the cards go the other guy's way, so I'm not too worried.

Having said that, I'll be scouting around for the perfect tree to hang myself from if this happens again tonight. Cheers!

Fearless

2005-08-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

I've never gotten along with my father. As far back as I can remember, he's had a controlling personality.

It was never, "I think you should do..."
It was, "you'd better..."
It was, "if you were smart, you'd..."
It was, "just shut up and..."

Things weren't done for me out of kindness. They were done so that they could later be held over me as a form of manipulation. I wasn't given pitching lessons to become a good pitcher. I was given lessons so I couldn't quit, and so I couldn't just play to have fun. I wasn't given Nintendo to enjoy. I was given Nintendo so I'd have to do what he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted, or else "I'll just break the Nintendo. I don't care."

Being an only child made it worse. I had a lot of kids on my street, but once I went inside, there was no way to deflect the focus. Well, my mother could take some of it, but I didn't want that, so I acted out to make sure it was always on me. And not in a bad way, either. I never stole, got brought home by the cops ... nothing. But if it looked like she was going to be on the receiving end of misguided anger, I'd make a stupid comment or do something else so the attention was on me during that time.

Things are a little better now that I'm an adult. It's easy to excuse myself on the phone, or to not pick it up at all. Still, he hasn't changed. My fiancee and I are in the middle of closing on a new home, and several times he has tried to take over. He's asked how much money we have. He even asked for power of attorney, which I laughed at on the phone before realizing he wasn't joking. As an adult, I've come to the brink of telling him off, but I never do. Because he's family? Because I can't do it? I'm not sure. And I don't hate him, but I don't love him either. That's not going to change because he's not going to change. Am I? Again, I'm not sure. I really don't want to tell him off, but someday it will come to that.

The reason I'm writing this is ... I wonder just how much effect it's had on my self-confidence. Not just poker, but with everything. Sometimes I convince myself I can't handle something before I start it, because that's what I was told when I was growing up. I wasn't guided. Decisions were made for me because I was told I needed "help"deciding. God forbid I was ever allowed to make a mistake a learn from it. I'm now realizing that the person who said I needed help from experienced people wasn't experienced himself ... just as unsure of himself as I am now, but we handled it in different ways. He wants to be all things to everyone. I just want to be someone I respect, and now I am.

Anyways, this is a poker blog, not a catharsis. It ties in to poker in that I'm unsure of myself at the table, even if I can see I have an edge on another player. I want to be mistake free, and don't we all? But I approach it the wrong way. I don't take chances. I'm gunshy when someone else displays any kind of strength, even if I have strength of my own. In poker, and in life, I'm always afraid to take risks because I'll find out that I'm drawing dead.

I'm turning the corner, though. Value bets, semi-bluff raises, stone cold bluffs. I used them all last night, winning two $10+1 SnG's and building a good chip lead in a $10+1 MTT only to lose it when my KK lost to someone who raises to 5X the bb with A-7 offsuit.

I won't always be up against the nuts. On most days, in fact, I'm getting the best of it.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

Take Them On, On Your Own

2005-08-25T12:32:00.000-05:00

I didn't play many hands last night, but the cards were falling my way and I made a decent chunk of change. What's scary is that I hand the exact same hand DoubleA's has been talking about. Since everyone reads that blog, I don't even have to give the set up.

I played it differently than he did, mostly because I was playing low limit nl and not $10/25 nl. EP had raised to 4X the bb and gotten 4 callers. Myself (MP), CO, button, and BB. One the flop, EP checked and I led out with a bet of 1/4th the pot, hoping it would merely look like a probe bet that deserved to be raised. CO mini-raised. Button and BB folded. EP now went all in for another $27 into what was only a $9.50 pot at this point. I had the nuts, and figured him for KK, AA, or a set. Either way, I was calling. The CO folded what might have been a flush draw, middle pair, who knows... and my flopped straight held up and cracked AA.

I cracked AA again a few hands later when EP raised to 4X the BB and I called from MP+1 with JJ. Had he not been UTG, I would have reraised, but I've seen him at the tables a lot and I have notes on him. This was most likely QQ-AA orr AK suited, and he would have pushed if I re-raised. So say my notes...

The flop came 7, 9, J and we were heads-up. Perfect. He bet the pot on the flop and only had $4.50 left after that so I put him all in and he called. The trip J's held up. He reloaded for just $10 and I busted him a few hands later when my Ace high flush beat his King high flush. It was one of those nights.

I didn't get any mid-range pocket pairs dealt to me, so I still need to practice with those. Until then, I'll be more than happy to keep flopping straights and filling flush draws.

Burn, Piano Island, Burn

2005-08-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

I didn't play any poker last night, but I did some thinking about it.

I need to decide how to play pocket pairs in cash games. I usually limp in early position with anything below 10's, limp with anything below 7's from middle position, and raise with any pocket pair if I'm in the CO or on the button and no one has entered the pot. The problem is when I don't hit a set and have no draws when it's a scary board (high cards, 3 to a flush, whatever). I'll throw out a continuation bet on the flop, but if I'm called and the turn brings no help, I'm usually done with this hand. I think I lose a lot of chips this way.

Should I even bet the flop? Should I not even bother raising with a lot of these pairs? If I limp with 88 and someone after me raises, do I call? Fold? Re-raises? Stuff like this makes me realize just how much I need to learn about the game.

My goal for now is to clear the Eurobet bonus, and then I can focus on playing $10 SnG's. I have about 280 hands to go. Probably won't clear it tonight, but definitely by tomorrow night.

You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire

2005-08-23T15:09:00.000-05:00

I need to remind myself that poker is one long session, not a bunch of small ones where you need to 'get even' on any given day. After breaking even for the night, I logged off and turned around to say something to my fiancee, but she was sound asleep. Seeing as how it was only 10, I decided to log back in to Eurobet.

I picked a random $25 nl table since they were mostly full, and posted my big blind 2 spots from the button. Yeah, I should probably watch some hands play out to see what kind of table it is, but c'mon ... aren't most of these filled with 6 or 7 bad players, and 1 or 2 half-decent players? That's what I tell myself, anyway. I just hope I'm not one of those 6 or 7.

So the first hand I get is AK of hearts in my two off the button position. I watch as UTG+2 (if someone could please tell me the right terms for these positions it would be great -- I always see EP, MP and have no idea what they mean) limps, and then 2 people behind him come along, but the next person makes it $1.25 to go. Seeing as how the blinds were posted, I posted a big blind, and we'd had a few limpers, this didn't seem like a premium hand raise, so I re-raised, making it $3. Everyone folded to the original raiser, who called and would be first to act. The flop came K 8 10 with two hearts. He bet half the pot ($3.50) and I mini-raised (good? bad?). The turn was a black J. He checked and I pushed. He had me covered and called, and the river was a heart. He had KJ of spades, so I lucked out.

Good night, variance! There will be no encore.

I had also made $10 on another table when I won a decent pot, so I took my $35 and signed right off again.

Hey, Mourn - I'm going to take your advice and stick to playing $10 sit n go's now. Thanks on your input on my 88 sng hand, too. I didn't think of it that way. After his bet, he only needed to call another 350 and he had a big stack, so it was nothing for him.

What I need to do is actually remember this stuff while I'm playing, not after I write my hand out and think... hm, maybe I shouldn't have taken that approach. Live and learn.

The Fake Sound of Progress

2005-08-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

Tonight was a break even night.

First up was a $5 ($6 really, when you add in the rake. I swear, these people rape you more than TicketMaster) Sit n Go. I was short stacked when the blinds reached 50/100, and busted on this hand ...

I have 88 in the big blind. All fold to CO who mini-raises. The small blind folds and I call.

Now, I could have pushed. That would have been 450 more chips, but this guy had been showing down all quality hands after a mini-raise, so I wanted to see a flop. Plus, I wasn't getting blinded off.

The flop came 2 4 5 rainbow. I checked, and he bet 200. I pushed.

I'll pay off an overpair better than mine in this instance. This is a favorable flop for me, and I'm putting him on face cards.

He called and turned over Ace 9 and hit a gutshot to knock me out.

Good read, good push ... bad outcome.

So then I played a $10 Sit n Go and accumulated a fair amount of chips. We were down to 5 when this hand came up.

I had 7 5 in the big blind when blinds were 50/100. I had 2500 in chips at this point. All folded to the button who made it 300 to go. I called, because I'm not giving my blinds away here.

I'm also calling because he's LAGgy.

The flop came 5 5 3 with two hearts. I check and the button bets 300. I go all-in.

I wanted him to have an overpair and call. Or to just have Ace high and think I was buying it.

He called and turned over Ace high with the ace of hearts. Two running hearts knocked me out because he had me covered by 85 chips.

Sometimes I think these online poker sites have people who are watching the hand and control these suckout cards just to induce heart attacks on players. I can even picture it...

Eurobet Employee: Good bet, sir. Good bet. Oh, he called! You must be thrilled. Well how about... thiiiiiiis! Ahahaha!

Eh, maybe not.

I made the entry money back in ring games, and then some, but lost it when my Aces got cracked twice. Guys, I played them aggressively... check this out.

I had them in the big blind. UTG+1 limped, as did two middle positions and the button. The small blind completed, so I put in a raise of $2.25 and watched the UTG+1 limper call it while the rest folded.

Flop was Q 10 3 rainbow. I bet the pot and he called. Turn was a 10. Nevertheless, I pushed all in for $15 and he called with QJ. Another Q hit on the river.

Eurobet Employee: And take some of thaaaaaat!

"These people are lucky I'm not armed."
-Michael Bolton

Time to listen to some Queens of the Stone Age and relax until the next ~~ass pounding~~ session.

SnG

2005-08-22T08:28:00.000-05:00

So last night I decided to take a break from cash games, and I four tabled $5 sit n go's on Eurobet.

I busted out in 8th place in one of them when the flop came K, 10, 2 and I held K 10 in the big blind. A guy who had mini-raised in mid-position made a potsized bet and I mini-raised that. He called. The turn was a Jack. He checked and I made a pot sized bet. He pushed and I called. He had Ace-Queen and I didn't boat up. Bad play on my part? Should I have done more than mini-raise on the flop?

I did have good luck in the other 3 SnG's, though. I placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 3rd place finish sucked because I was chip leader forever and got sucked out on twice when the blinds were high. Still, it's profit.

I have about 450 hands left to clear my $200 bonus. I'll grind that out, hoping for any kind of improvement on my cards, and then play some more SnG's. Watch out, ZeeJustin.

There was one interesting hand last night in a $25 nl ring game. I open raised to $2 UTG with red aces and had 3 callers -- button, small blind, big blind. The flop came 10 8 4 with two clubs. The small blind bet $2 into an $8 pot. The big blind folded, and I raised it to $6. The button smooth called and the small blind called. The turn was a red 3. Small blind checked and I bet $15 into a $26 pot. The button called and the small blind folded. The turn was a red King. I went all-in for $11 more. The button only had $5 left and he called with ... King-4 of clubs. Again, bad play by me? Do I raise more on the flop? Do I make a bigger turn bet? Both? Probably both ...

I get the feeling I've been playing gunshy after being sucked out on when I was making aggressive bets. This could have something to do with not running well lately.

I'm listening to The Bravery right now, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I have a limited playlist at work because I keep it stored on the PC. My other options are The Killers, System of a Down, Muse, The Arcade Fire, Finch, Bloc Party, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead (Source Tags and Codes ... not that debacle known as Worlds Apart), and Editors. Think of Editors as Interpol Lite!

I wish they let me listen to my MP3 player here.

2005-08-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

Today there will be no whining. I'm down again, and not through bad calls, but whatever. Karen O is consoling me.

Wait. They don't like you like I love you.

I know, baby. I know.

All work and no cards make The New something something. Write bad posts? Apparently. I take solace in the fact that despite running cold, I am seeing flops and then folding my way closer to the $200 Eurobet bonus. About 650 hands to go. At least I've been entertained. Today a guy at my table claimed to be a former New York Rangers player. Another table had two arguing table coaches telling me I should/shouldn't have gone all-in for my last $4 when I had TPTK and there were no draws on the board. What happened was, I raised to 8X BB with from middle position. The button and big blind called. When the flop came King 7 3 I pushed. The person who called me had 44. Turn 5, river 6. Online poker is riiiiiiiiiiiiiiged !!!

So one table coach is like "you want these callers. blah blah blah." And the other is like, "no, the other guy could have made a set. that was a stupid bet, blah blah blah." I think they seriously argued for like 10 minutes. I rebought, but after folding through all of that, I quit.

This cold streak was inevitable since I'd been running well for over a month. Joe Dimaggio I am not. I've been going hitless for a few days. What I might do is play mechanically like I described a few posts ago. I could be making very bad bets and decisions and not realizing it. If the mechanical play yields no positive results, and that's if I even try it, I will probably resort to my standard break of a few days while reading some Supersystem or whatever.

Wait. They don't love you like I love you.

My girl will get me through it. One more time, doll.

The Day After

2005-08-20T11:39:00.000-05:00

I wake up from a bad session the same way I wake up after a long night of drinking.

Head ache - check.
Faint taste of vomit in mouth - check.
Sensitive to light and loud noises - check.
Co-ed in bed next to me - ...

Ok, so it's not as good as a long night of drinking. In fact, it's worse. I've never spent $120 on beer. Yet. But when I do...

Anyways, I always feel a little gunshy after I've taken a hit. I tell myself to play the pot odds and implied odds. I remind myself that Aces will get cracked, that people will beat you with poor calls. If they didn't hit me by the dozen I could probably deal with it better. Actually, while I was writing this, I lost another $15 when I held K-7 suited in the sb and the flop came 779. BB made a pot sized bet. I mini-raised. He re-raised all-in and had 99. Ouch.

I'm picking off small pots here and there. It's definitely a game of patience. If it takes 1200 hands to make my money back, so be it. I'm still up $700 plus a $200 pending bonus from my initial deposit 7 weeks ago.

Maybe listening to some music will help. My song of choice right now is Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeah's. After that I'll listen to some Interpol, Muse, M83, and Sigur Ros. Can't go with stuff like Funeral for a Friend or Hell is for Heroes. I'm tilt prone at the moment. Blah.

A Stuck Pig

2005-08-19T20:30:00.000-05:00

I just lost $120 over 400 hands of $25 nl.

Holy shit. Is that even possible?

I'll admit I made a couple bad calls, but here's a quick summary of how I lost some of my buy-ins.

I lost $30 when I went all-in on the turn of a $15 pot when it made me the nut straight. My opponent called and boated up on the river.
Someone tried to steal my blinds with a $5 bet on the button, but I held AA in the big blind. I went all-in for another $20. Opponent called. His 22 made a set on the flop. There goes that buy-in.
I lost yet another buy-in when I got my money all-in with top set when 2 diamonds were on the board. My opponent called and filled his flush.
The last one I lost through my own fault. I made two pair on the flop but got married to it, and didn't realize my opponent made a better two pair on the turn. Ugh. I logged off after that hand.

I know everyone has bad beat stories and everyone hates hearing about them, which is why I made it a quick blurb to vent. Yadda, yadda, yadda ... variation. Variation gave me a good hard kick in the balls tonight, but I'll be back

Making a Fishy Play for Table Image Purposes

2005-08-19T12:57:00.000-05:00

I've been experimenting with this lately, and have had some success with it. Here's an example. I had just sat down at a table and noticed that 4 players had a good amount of chips for a $25 nl table -- 2 had over $70 and the other 2 were around $50. I posted my blind from the CO position so I could play right away. First hand that was dealt to me was my least favorite -- AK offsuit.

I decided to make a bad play and just check if no one had raised before the action got to me, and I'd call a small raise without reraising. Well, there a raise of 4X the BB by UTG+1. I called, and so did the BB, so we saw the flop three handed. The flop came Ace, 8, 9 with the 8 and 9 being clubs.

UTG+1 led out and bet $2.50 into the pot. I smooth called and so did the BB.

I put the BB on a hand like J-10 suited or offsuit. I don't think anyone would just flat call with 2 pair in that situation for fear that someone else was playing the draws. I put UTG+1 on an Ace with a weaker kicker. AQ would be perfect. AJ was possible. I doubt it was A-10 or lower unless he likes to open raise with A-10 suited.

The turn was a harmless 2 of hearts. UTG+1 bet $5. I smooth called again, and the BB folded.

This was a relatively small bet considering the pot sized had grown to almost $11. He went from nearly betting the pot down to betting half the pot. That made me think he really did have the Ace with a lower kicker and was afraid of being outkicked by one of us.

The river was a jack. Kind of scary card. He bet $5 again. I re-raised all-in. He called and showed Ace-Queen suited and I took it down.

I think if he hit A-J he would have come out betting strong. After all, I had been playing this hand like I was on a draw, and unless I was holding Q-10 of clubs there was no real reason to stick around for a gutshot straight with those bets.

He called me a fish for playing AK that way and said I must get busted a lot, etc. I'll admit, I like to comment during games, and trash talking is fun, but I just said "thanks for the call" and didn't say anything after that. I ended up getting a decent amount of action in my hands after that one, but I only managed to win one pot when I raised from the button with J-10 suited and made two pair on the flop. Two guys were chasing a draw and both folded to my river bet, but they did call pot sized bets on the flop and turn.

I need to learn how to shift gears better, though. When I multi-table, I have a habit of just going through the same betting patterns, and even if the players aren't picking it up, I don't want to be doing that.

Here are some bands to check out if you don't already know them ... (I realized I made the URL of my blog pokerandmusic but hadn't talked about music)

Interpol - Probably the best of all the Cure/Smiths influenced bands
The Mars Volta - Former members of At the Drive-In who make some very good music
Finch - They made one pop-punk cd and shifted gears, coming out with a darker, harder edge on their soph. cd.

AK no good

2005-08-19T08:03:00.000-05:00

Last night someone raised to 12X BB from UTG. Everyone folded around to me. With a raise like this, I figured it had to be a mid-ranged pocket pair. The open raise was too high to be AK, KK, or AA. QQ and JJ were highly doubtful with that kind of raise. I was guessing he had something between 5-5 and 10-10. I looked at my AK and then pushed all in. He called.

In hindsight, this was a bad move. He wasn't short-stacked, and actually had me covered since I had just bought in. I'm thinking I had two better options:

Raise him a good amount ... say $9 into his $3. Go all in on the flop if I catch an Ace or a King, or if it looks like a bad board for the range I put him on.
Just call, and then raise his bet on the flop if I catch my Ace or King.

I think option 1 would have been the way to go had I still decided to play my AK. However, I probably should have folded.

He had 8's, and they held up. I only played 100 hands, and barely got anything playable preflop, so I was stuck $30 last night after winning $70 in 100 hands the night before.

I only had one chance to recoup my loss, and that's when I hit my Ace high flush on the river, but my flush card paired the board and my opponent went all in. I said something like "I like your boat" and then folded. He showed the full house. Not that he had to, but it helped.

That's the frustrating thing about only being able to play 100 hands at a time during the week. I'll know I'm one of the best players at the table, but I don't have enough time to accumulate a lot of chips.

What I need is a trip to Foxwoods to play some 1-2 no limit. Or some 4/8 limit. 7 to a flop, calling down with bottom pair ... yeah. That's my kind of game.

Mechanical Play

2005-08-18T12:41:00.000-05:00

There's this poker forum I read. One of its posters laid out this winning strategy for low limit NL tables:

Go all in with AA and KK preflop. Doesn't matter what position you're in. Go all in. Limp with any pocket pairs. Go all in if you hit your set. No set, no bet. Limp with Ace-x suited. Go all in if you hit your flush on an unpaired board. Fold everything else.

Needless to say, that's all people have been talking about in that forum for the last few days. I decided to try it out for 100 hands on the PartyPoker $25 nl tables. How did I do? +$70 after 109 hands.

I pushed AA in late position after 2 limped before me. Everyone folded. I pushed again from UTG+2, and got one caller. I had pushed with $30 and change, and he had me covered. He had KK, and my American Airlines held up.

I did not get dealt KK.

I did hit an Ace high flush twice. I went all in and was called once by someone who had a straight.

I made 2 sets, but got no callers when I pushed.

I didn't follow his "rules" perfectly, though. I still played my suited connectors when the action made it a good call, and I still pushed people out of pots when I had nothing. Overall, though, I made about $50 of that $70 using this mechanical play strategy. One player noticed it, too.

I saw you go all in before and thought you had Aces. I didn't think you'd get them again so soon.

That was the guy who called with KK. I lied and said I'll push with several hands if it "feels right". I felt dirty after saying that, but he felt justified in making his call, and I hope he took notes on me.

Speaking of notes, I forgot to take some last night, but I was surrounded by fish. Unless someone makes a good play, or an amazingly terrible play, I doubt I'll fill a notebook on them.

I need to either stop playing PLO, or I need to get out my copy of SS2 and read that section a few times. I lost another $25 buy-in in that fucking game. I'm leaning toward learning to play it well since there is so much action in this game. Paired board and 3 clubs on the flop? Sure, I'll call your pot sized bet with my straight draw! I've been getting rivered like mad in PLO. Or that's what I'll keep telling myself. But seriously, I lost my buy-in when I made top two pair on the flop and my opponent hit a gutshot on the river. He only had bottom pair before hitting that.

That's about it for now. I'll play another 100-200 hands tonight before the Patriots game, and then try to play a lot this weekend. Starting... now, I'm keeping track of how I do each night. At the end of the month, I'll post it.

Pot Limit Omaha

2005-08-17T09:28:00.000-05:00

Last night I played PLO for the first time. There is a lot of money to be made in that game, but unfortunately, I was on the ass end of variance. I will never again value bet a straight of flush when the board is paired, because someone had the full house every single time. I was never ahead after the flop on one hand, but the other two boats were made on the river even though I was betting the pot all the way.

I scored a good sized pot after that when I filled up my open ended straight, and my opponent kept pushing with trips. That recouped some of my losses, and I knew it was time to quit that short session and come back another time.

I'll admit that I didn't know what the hell I was doing, but I caught on. I ended up losing $20 to those boats, though. No matter. I quickly played about 50 hands of $25 nl Hold Em and made my $20 back, plus another $30.

I'm beginning to take notes on players in those games. Why I never did this until now, I don't know. Some notes are simple, like "FISH". Others actually have some details, like... "twice tried to steal blinds by going all in with marginal hands" or "overbets with top pair". I never had to do that when I played on the other site, because you'd see the same players over and over, and I have a good memory. Party skins are so much different, though. I could probably play for two weeks straight without running into familiar players.

I'm putting together a fish list, and I plan on looking for these people and attacking them in pots. Mean? Yes. Unfair? No.

1850 raked hands to go, and then I'll have a $200 bonus. After that, rakeback begins. I've also signed up for rakeback on Empire, so I should be looking good this fall/winter if I can buy a second monitor and 4 table on each of those. That would be getting the best of it.

Limping Aces

2005-08-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

Why? Especially at the $25 nl tables where I play. These aren't aggressive tables. Even if you limp from UTG, what are the odds that you'll be raised? Not great. But let's say you're raised by someone. You reraise. You might as well type "I have kings or aces" in your chatbox at that point. Only a moron would push unless he has kings or aces. So he calls your reraise. The flop doesn't have an ace. You bet and he pushes all in. Surprise! He had a set or two pair and beat you. I don't like this limp-get raised-reraise play for these reasons. You tip your hand while not getting information from the other person unless they fold to your flop bet.

I make my standard raise of 3-5X the bb with Aces. I'm hoping someone raises here so I can come over the top with a sizable bet. At this point, that person must be putting you on KK, AA, or AK. I wouldn't make that move with any other hand, and I'd only make the move with AK suited half the time while just calling the other half.

Then again, I don't consider myself a good player.

2005-08-15T13:21:00.000-05:00

This is my second attempt at building an online bankroll. The first attempt ended when I brought it to Vegas and used it on buffets, drinks, restaurants, souvenirs, and funding my fiancee's losses at the Wheel of Fortune slots. She just wanted to spin, she said. Why can't she ever get a good spin, she'd ask. It always lands on 20 or 30, and that's not enough to cash out. That's how they get you, I said.

That was in June. I deposited $200 into an online site at the beginning of July and ran it up to $1100 just playing $25 nl four tables at a time, 10-12 hours each week. A lot of bloggers play a lot more hours than I do, and it makes me wonder how much money I'm losing by not logging in the hours they do. I could guess...

I turned $200 into $1100, but $300 of that is bonus money, so I've made $600 in ring games. That's in 6 weeks. If I played 10 hours per week, that would be 60 hours of playing, or $10/hr.

Could be better, but it could be a lot worse. I plan on moving up to $50 nl and eventually to $100 nl while mixing in some limit, and I want to learn triple draw and PLO. I hear that Pot Limit Omaha is very soft.

Still, between a full-time job, a fiancee, a new house, and a baby due at the end of October, I think I get a lot of playing time. It will increase when we move into the new place. The computer won't be in our bedroom like it is now, so I won't worry about waking up my fiancee if I want to play at night. Depending on what my bankroll looks like, I might take a chunk of it and buy a new Dell. I can then take $500 or $600 and deposit it at Ultimate Bet to earn their 100% first time deposit bonus.

I also think I've been playing better, more aggressive poker lately. I was playing passive out in Vegas and then when I first came home, but lately I've been using well-timed squeeze plays and semi-bluff raises to push people out of pots, and I've been making good value bets and some good laydowns. I've also not known when to quit and lost some big pots, but that's a story for another time. Damnable variation.