Stewman and I made a quick run to Lucky Chances after work last night. Had a quick bite to eat at the cafe, then hit the 1-1-2 NL cash game for 2 hours. I worked my $200 up to about $390 at one point before donking off a bunch of chips with stupid plays, like taking AK up against KK.
I left up $10. Stewman made over $100. Yay.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Weirdness at Lucky Chances
Fun little session last night. Played for a lil over 2 hours, and dropped $30, so no big bankroll affects. But I learned some things about my poker playing development.
1) I can sometimes pick off a bluff. My first two big pots came when I caught big bluffs on the river. On the first hand, I held a pair (10s) with a 7 kicker and called a $40 bet into a $30 pot. The guy turned over a 10 and a 4. On another hand, I held A9 and flopped top pair, bet out on the flop and the turn, where I got check-raised. Called that, and the guy river bet $40 into the $40 pot with the board threatening both a flush and a straight. I studied, then called, and the guy showed his low pair before mucking.
2) I'm starting to effectively exploit my own bluff opportunities. As I was gettin' ready to pack up, I was down $100 and felt I needed to grab a coupla pots before leaving. I did, through well-timed bluffs. Both times, I smooth called an aggressive bettor pre and postflop, then made a move on the turn. I always thought the turn was the best bluffing round, as it doesn't feel as desperate as the river bet. And it's a good way to sell a hand like two pair. The smooth call on the flop indicates that you caught a piece of the flop, then the big bet or raise on the turn suggests that you either hit another card, or have been slowplaying the whole way. These two bluffs got me almost back to my initial $200 stack.
3) I'm a complete idiot. It's embarrassing to admit, but I made the rookiest of all rookie mistakes early in this session. It's how I got lowstacked to begin with. I held the Ace and 8 of hearts. Flop comes J-6-6 with two hearts. One player bets aggressively into it, and I call, hoping for another heart. I'm kinda hoping he has a 6 in his hand so I can extract some real money out of him when I hit my flush. Instead, another 6 hits on the turn. Now the guy checks, and I check behind him. A 3 of hearts hits on the river, he checks, and I bet into it! For some reason I think my ace-high flush is good. Stupid. Obviously, he has some kind of full house at least. He pushes all-in and I realize how much of a moron I am. I muck, and he shows the fourth 6. It's horrifying to think I'm still capable of making such a dumb-ass move after playing so much poker. I was playing my cards, completely blind to the situation, the board, my opponent. Just dumb dumb dumb.
1) I can sometimes pick off a bluff. My first two big pots came when I caught big bluffs on the river. On the first hand, I held a pair (10s) with a 7 kicker and called a $40 bet into a $30 pot. The guy turned over a 10 and a 4. On another hand, I held A9 and flopped top pair, bet out on the flop and the turn, where I got check-raised. Called that, and the guy river bet $40 into the $40 pot with the board threatening both a flush and a straight. I studied, then called, and the guy showed his low pair before mucking.
2) I'm starting to effectively exploit my own bluff opportunities. As I was gettin' ready to pack up, I was down $100 and felt I needed to grab a coupla pots before leaving. I did, through well-timed bluffs. Both times, I smooth called an aggressive bettor pre and postflop, then made a move on the turn. I always thought the turn was the best bluffing round, as it doesn't feel as desperate as the river bet. And it's a good way to sell a hand like two pair. The smooth call on the flop indicates that you caught a piece of the flop, then the big bet or raise on the turn suggests that you either hit another card, or have been slowplaying the whole way. These two bluffs got me almost back to my initial $200 stack.
3) I'm a complete idiot. It's embarrassing to admit, but I made the rookiest of all rookie mistakes early in this session. It's how I got lowstacked to begin with. I held the Ace and 8 of hearts. Flop comes J-6-6 with two hearts. One player bets aggressively into it, and I call, hoping for another heart. I'm kinda hoping he has a 6 in his hand so I can extract some real money out of him when I hit my flush. Instead, another 6 hits on the turn. Now the guy checks, and I check behind him. A 3 of hearts hits on the river, he checks, and I bet into it! For some reason I think my ace-high flush is good. Stupid. Obviously, he has some kind of full house at least. He pushes all-in and I realize how much of a moron I am. I muck, and he shows the fourth 6. It's horrifying to think I'm still capable of making such a dumb-ass move after playing so much poker. I was playing my cards, completely blind to the situation, the board, my opponent. Just dumb dumb dumb.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Gold Rushed 2007
So I took a day off work just play the Gold Rush $300 buy in NL tourney at Lucky Chances. Winner's guaranteed at least $20,000.
Thought I had a pretty good start. After a few bad plays that cost me $500 of my initial $3,000 stack, I managed to double up with AA, making me chip leader at my table. Unfortunately, not long after that I put A9suited all-in with my KK and an Ace hits the flop. After the first break, I manage to work my stack back up to well above average ($7,000) with some blind steals and a coupla nice pots. But right after the 2nd break, I get busted out when the big stack at my table takes his 2-2 all-in against my 9-9 and flops a set.
Oh well, maybe next year.
Thought I had a pretty good start. After a few bad plays that cost me $500 of my initial $3,000 stack, I managed to double up with AA, making me chip leader at my table. Unfortunately, not long after that I put A9suited all-in with my KK and an Ace hits the flop. After the first break, I manage to work my stack back up to well above average ($7,000) with some blind steals and a coupla nice pots. But right after the 2nd break, I get busted out when the big stack at my table takes his 2-2 all-in against my 9-9 and flops a set.
Oh well, maybe next year.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Three Poker Sessions
OK, just to catch up here, I had three sessions of poker this week.
- Sunday, Oct 28 - The first session was the $125+$100rebuy event at the Oaks. Let's just say I didn't do so well there and busted out in 63rd place out of 140 or so players.
- Tuesday, Oct 30 - Lucky Chances 1-1-2 No Limit table. OK, this was a lot of fun. There were some crazy ass young Asians at there, and they were maniacs. Gotta love 'em. Anyway, I was able to turn $200 into $500 in under 3 hours of play. Very profitable little session.
- Thursday, Nov 1 - Interesting way to kick off the month. Sat down to the NL table again and couldn't get anything going. Then, with my initial stack cut nearly in half, two big hands come up:
HAND #1: A Big Call for a Big Pot
A young, slightly erratic college kid puts out a "Live 8". That's when a player in first position decides to gamble and puts in a raise before the cards are even dealt. Not usually a wise bet, but it sometimes stirs up action and pays off if you the board hits you. Anyway, everyone folds to me in late position and I raise to $28 with KQ. Only the kid calls the extra $20. So we see a flop: 6-7-10 rainbow. The kid checks, and I check behind him, thinking he somehow hit either the 6 or 7. Then the turn comes: A big, ugly Ace. The kid immediately pushes all-in, about $64. Damn. Pretty much the worst card I can imagine. Now I have to think. About the math. About the kid's tendencies. About how he checked the flop. About how how he led out on the turn when the Ace came. It's time to go into the tank and suss it all out.
It slowly becomes clear to me that had the kid hit the flop in any way, he'd likely bet out immediately, probably all-in. There was already about $60 in the middle, and it would make sense to just make the move there, hoping I was holding overcards (which I was). It also seemed to me that if he was holding an Ace, he wouldn't push all-in when it came on the turn. I put him on a weak King or Queen. Specifically K2, K3, K4, K5, Q2, Q3, Q4 or Q5. Any other King or Queen hand and he'd have his chips in postflop with a pair, overcards, or straight draw.
Then there's the math. I'm holding KQ. The board is 6-7-10-A. And not only do I think that my hand may already be good. If I hit a King or Queen, I'm probably taking the pot. If the Jack comes, then I've got the nuts. On top of that, I'm paying $64 for a chance at a $115 pot. So I cowboy up, convince myself he's not holding an Ace or a pair, and call the $64.
The river card comes, and it's a lovely Queen. In the NL cash game, you don't have to show down your cards when a player's all-in. Without thinking, I showdown my hand, expecting it to be the winner. He disgustedly mucks his hand facedown, and doesn't tell. Whew! But what I'd give to know what he was holding.
HAND #2: Dan Sucks Out Big Time
Oh man. Bad poker alert here. At this point, I'm gettin' ready to leave. I sat down with $200, lost about half of it, and now I'm back up to about $190. In late position, I look down to find pocket Jacks. Always a trouble hand, but I have to play it hard, even if it means taking down a small pot. A couple of people limp in for $4, then a player in middle position bets out $12. A bit scary, as this would typically indicate either AK or a medium to big pair. Anyway, it's folded around to me and I decide to go big. I bump the bet to $42. Everyone folds to the initial raiser, and he reraises to $100 even. OK, it's now obvious that he has either Aces or Kings, most likely Aces. Like an idiot, I call. The flop is ridiculous, 2-2-3, with two spades. I think for awhile, look at my opponent, and push all in for my last $90, praying that maybe, just maybe he's got AK or pocket tens. Of course, he's got Aces. One a club, one a diamond. The turn brings a Queen of spades. I now have a glimmer of hope, as I'm holding a Jack of spades. The river brings a fateful 6 of spades, and this pot is mine. After profusely apologizing for my actions, I drag my 2nd big pot of the night.
Shortly thereafter, I leave the table, up to $380 from my initial $200 buyin. A $180 profit in two hours. Nothing wrong with that, except for the way I played.
- Sunday, Oct 28 - The first session was the $125+$100rebuy event at the Oaks. Let's just say I didn't do so well there and busted out in 63rd place out of 140 or so players.
- Tuesday, Oct 30 - Lucky Chances 1-1-2 No Limit table. OK, this was a lot of fun. There were some crazy ass young Asians at there, and they were maniacs. Gotta love 'em. Anyway, I was able to turn $200 into $500 in under 3 hours of play. Very profitable little session.
- Thursday, Nov 1 - Interesting way to kick off the month. Sat down to the NL table again and couldn't get anything going. Then, with my initial stack cut nearly in half, two big hands come up:
HAND #1: A Big Call for a Big Pot
A young, slightly erratic college kid puts out a "Live 8". That's when a player in first position decides to gamble and puts in a raise before the cards are even dealt. Not usually a wise bet, but it sometimes stirs up action and pays off if you the board hits you. Anyway, everyone folds to me in late position and I raise to $28 with KQ. Only the kid calls the extra $20. So we see a flop: 6-7-10 rainbow. The kid checks, and I check behind him, thinking he somehow hit either the 6 or 7. Then the turn comes: A big, ugly Ace. The kid immediately pushes all-in, about $64. Damn. Pretty much the worst card I can imagine. Now I have to think. About the math. About the kid's tendencies. About how he checked the flop. About how how he led out on the turn when the Ace came. It's time to go into the tank and suss it all out.
It slowly becomes clear to me that had the kid hit the flop in any way, he'd likely bet out immediately, probably all-in. There was already about $60 in the middle, and it would make sense to just make the move there, hoping I was holding overcards (which I was). It also seemed to me that if he was holding an Ace, he wouldn't push all-in when it came on the turn. I put him on a weak King or Queen. Specifically K2, K3, K4, K5, Q2, Q3, Q4 or Q5. Any other King or Queen hand and he'd have his chips in postflop with a pair, overcards, or straight draw.
Then there's the math. I'm holding KQ. The board is 6-7-10-A. And not only do I think that my hand may already be good. If I hit a King or Queen, I'm probably taking the pot. If the Jack comes, then I've got the nuts. On top of that, I'm paying $64 for a chance at a $115 pot. So I cowboy up, convince myself he's not holding an Ace or a pair, and call the $64.
The river card comes, and it's a lovely Queen. In the NL cash game, you don't have to show down your cards when a player's all-in. Without thinking, I showdown my hand, expecting it to be the winner. He disgustedly mucks his hand facedown, and doesn't tell. Whew! But what I'd give to know what he was holding.
HAND #2: Dan Sucks Out Big Time
Oh man. Bad poker alert here. At this point, I'm gettin' ready to leave. I sat down with $200, lost about half of it, and now I'm back up to about $190. In late position, I look down to find pocket Jacks. Always a trouble hand, but I have to play it hard, even if it means taking down a small pot. A couple of people limp in for $4, then a player in middle position bets out $12. A bit scary, as this would typically indicate either AK or a medium to big pair. Anyway, it's folded around to me and I decide to go big. I bump the bet to $42. Everyone folds to the initial raiser, and he reraises to $100 even. OK, it's now obvious that he has either Aces or Kings, most likely Aces. Like an idiot, I call. The flop is ridiculous, 2-2-3, with two spades. I think for awhile, look at my opponent, and push all in for my last $90, praying that maybe, just maybe he's got AK or pocket tens. Of course, he's got Aces. One a club, one a diamond. The turn brings a Queen of spades. I now have a glimmer of hope, as I'm holding a Jack of spades. The river brings a fateful 6 of spades, and this pot is mine. After profusely apologizing for my actions, I drag my 2nd big pot of the night.
Shortly thereafter, I leave the table, up to $380 from my initial $200 buyin. A $180 profit in two hours. Nothing wrong with that, except for the way I played.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Two Nights in Colma
OK, I just put in back-to-back 8-hour sessions of no-limit hold'em at Lucky Chances. Gross. Long story short, Saturday night was an uneventful session, and I ended up losing my initial $200 buyin. Not a huge deal, but it felt like a long waste of time.
Sunday night, things went well. I bought in for $100 and ended up with $600. Lots of crazy poker played at that table. Insane bluffs. Wild moves. And strange hands. But it was a blast.
At one point I had my stack up to $600, and as I was gettin' ready to pack up for the night, I flop top 2 pair. Anyway, I end up putting two opponents all in and it turns out one of them flopped a set of 3s. Bam, suddenly, my stack is back to $200. But with a couple of aggressive plays at huge pots against an insane tournament player, I was back up to $600 within 45 minutes or so. I decided I'd been on the rollercoaster long enough, and called it a night.
Sunday night, things went well. I bought in for $100 and ended up with $600. Lots of crazy poker played at that table. Insane bluffs. Wild moves. And strange hands. But it was a blast.
At one point I had my stack up to $600, and as I was gettin' ready to pack up for the night, I flop top 2 pair. Anyway, I end up putting two opponents all in and it turns out one of them flopped a set of 3s. Bam, suddenly, my stack is back to $200. But with a couple of aggressive plays at huge pots against an insane tournament player, I was back up to $600 within 45 minutes or so. I decided I'd been on the rollercoaster long enough, and called it a night.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Another Little Win - Colma
Starting to get back into the habit of actually winning every once in awhile. After our little agency casino ferry outing today, I jumped in the car and headed off to Lucky Chances. Figured I had a good 4 hours to kill before pickin' up the girl. Anyway, I only stayed for 3 hours, but they were good ones.
Got to the 6-12 table and immediately sniffed out the fish (thank god it wasn't me this time). It was obvious to everyone that this guy was just not a card player. Big, beer-buzzed dude who played like a crazy person. I got a coupla chances to isolate him one-on-one, and took three decent-sized pots off him. He would constantly jam the pot with hands like 2nd pair, small kicker. And when he held a solid hand, he tended to get timid. Weird.
Anyway, throughout the night I was able to pick up nice little pots with my solid hands, and a coupla HUGE multi-way pots with sneaky suited connectors. A good coupla hours turned $200 into $620. Winning is fun. I hope to do more.
Got to the 6-12 table and immediately sniffed out the fish (thank god it wasn't me this time). It was obvious to everyone that this guy was just not a card player. Big, beer-buzzed dude who played like a crazy person. I got a coupla chances to isolate him one-on-one, and took three decent-sized pots off him. He would constantly jam the pot with hands like 2nd pair, small kicker. And when he held a solid hand, he tended to get timid. Weird.
Anyway, throughout the night I was able to pick up nice little pots with my solid hands, and a coupla HUGE multi-way pots with sneaky suited connectors. A good coupla hours turned $200 into $620. Winning is fun. I hope to do more.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Lose Some, Win Some
Played a li'l poker on Sunday. Just got over a small cold, and wanted to get back into the swing of things, so I decided to hit the $125 + 100RB at the Oaks. That's a $125 buy-in with an optional $100 rebuy within the first three rounds of play. I played mediocre poker and came in 63rd out of 120. Then I played the 6-12 cash game and won $300. But there's one tournament hand I want to discuss here.
My first playable hand was a beauty. After 20 minutes of mucking ugly cards, I look down at AK unsuited. Now I - like many hold 'em players - have a love-hate relationship with this hand. Typically, it can win you a tiny pot or lose you a big one. This is how it went down:
With my AK, I raise in late position. The blinds are at 25-50 and there is one caller so far. I bump it to $250, a very aggressive raise, considering there's only $125 in the pot. Anyway, the small blind folds, the big blind calls, and the limper calls as well. My plan at this point is to bet the farm if an Ace or King falls on the flop and hope I get one caller with a weaker kicker.
Of course, the flop comes K-10-5 rainbow. No flush possibilities, no serious straight threats yet, and I'm sittin' pretty, holding Kings with an Ace kicker. This is gonna be good.
But then the Big Blind bets $300 and the limper calls! Lordy. Seems I could be in trouble, but the $300 bet into a $775 pot in early position seems fishy to me. If he's got pocket Aces with this flop, you'd think he'd let me lead the betting. As for the limper, I'm not worried about him yet. I just don't want to give him a free card. Anyway, I raise to $700, sending a clear message to anyone listening that I am not letting this pot go without a fight.
Then the unthinkable happens - Big Blind goes all-in.
At this point, I go into the tank. Deep. OK, I must be beat, right? You know I'm beat. The dealer knows I'm beat. The girl bringing my Red Bull and water knows I'm beat. And I'm sitting there wondering how I can fold this hand. Before the flop, I put Big Blind on one of five hands - AA, KK, AK, KQ suited and AQ suited. At this point I can rule out AQ. I'm also ruling out KK (he definitely wouldn't lead out holding top set). I figure KQ isn't a strong possibility at this point, as it wouldn't hold up to a raise. So that leaves us with AA and AK.
Here's where math comes in: First, there's AA - everything about this hand would suggest, maybe even scream, Aces. Trouble is, I'm holding an Ace, leaving him with only 3 possible combinations of AA. Situationally probable, but mathematically improbable. Then there's AK. Even though I'm holding an Ace and a King, that still leaves 9 possible combinations of AK left in the deck. I'm hoping this is what our guy is holding. As far as I'm concerned, he's 3 times more likely to hold AK than AA.
The math, on top of the fact that I can always rebuy, leads me to call. Believe me, I went into the tank for a while before calling. He flips over AA of course, and I lose the hand. Oh well, there's only one thing left to say after something like that: "Rebuy!"
My first playable hand was a beauty. After 20 minutes of mucking ugly cards, I look down at AK unsuited. Now I - like many hold 'em players - have a love-hate relationship with this hand. Typically, it can win you a tiny pot or lose you a big one. This is how it went down:
With my AK, I raise in late position. The blinds are at 25-50 and there is one caller so far. I bump it to $250, a very aggressive raise, considering there's only $125 in the pot. Anyway, the small blind folds, the big blind calls, and the limper calls as well. My plan at this point is to bet the farm if an Ace or King falls on the flop and hope I get one caller with a weaker kicker.
Of course, the flop comes K-10-5 rainbow. No flush possibilities, no serious straight threats yet, and I'm sittin' pretty, holding Kings with an Ace kicker. This is gonna be good.
But then the Big Blind bets $300 and the limper calls! Lordy. Seems I could be in trouble, but the $300 bet into a $775 pot in early position seems fishy to me. If he's got pocket Aces with this flop, you'd think he'd let me lead the betting. As for the limper, I'm not worried about him yet. I just don't want to give him a free card. Anyway, I raise to $700, sending a clear message to anyone listening that I am not letting this pot go without a fight.
Then the unthinkable happens - Big Blind goes all-in.
At this point, I go into the tank. Deep. OK, I must be beat, right? You know I'm beat. The dealer knows I'm beat. The girl bringing my Red Bull and water knows I'm beat. And I'm sitting there wondering how I can fold this hand. Before the flop, I put Big Blind on one of five hands - AA, KK, AK, KQ suited and AQ suited. At this point I can rule out AQ. I'm also ruling out KK (he definitely wouldn't lead out holding top set). I figure KQ isn't a strong possibility at this point, as it wouldn't hold up to a raise. So that leaves us with AA and AK.
Here's where math comes in: First, there's AA - everything about this hand would suggest, maybe even scream, Aces. Trouble is, I'm holding an Ace, leaving him with only 3 possible combinations of AA. Situationally probable, but mathematically improbable. Then there's AK. Even though I'm holding an Ace and a King, that still leaves 9 possible combinations of AK left in the deck. I'm hoping this is what our guy is holding. As far as I'm concerned, he's 3 times more likely to hold AK than AA.
The math, on top of the fact that I can always rebuy, leads me to call. Believe me, I went into the tank for a while before calling. He flips over AA of course, and I lose the hand. Oh well, there's only one thing left to say after something like that: "Rebuy!"
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Turning the Ship Around?
So I stepped into the Casino San Pablo with $100, hoping to kill a coupla hours and maybe double up. Or at least not go bust and head to the ATM for seconds. Things worked out a bit better than expected, and I walked away with $400. It was one of those sessions where you turn 2 pair and river a full boat. And everytime you fill a boat, your opponent is jamming the pot with an ace-high flush. Maybe I should play $3-6 more often.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Goin' Broke at the Oaks
On Sunday, I played for the first time in nearly a month (?!?). Hit the Oaks Club in Emeryville for the $125 + $100 rebuy No Limit Holdem tourney. Got off to a rough start when I bluffed a few chips away. Ended up going broke and rebuying in the 3rd round, then managed to turn things around.
Within an hour I took my stack from $1,500 to about $7,000 with a few aggro bluffs, which put me at 2nd place at my table. I found myself playing way out of character, and bluffing a lot more than I usually do. This 3-week break really gave me fresh eyes for the game.
But then things went horribly wrong. Holding J-2 in the big blind against 2 opponents, one solid and one ultra-aggro, I flop two pair on a Jack-9-2 board and check in early position. The rock checks and Mr. Aggro bets out $600 as planned. I bump it to $1500 at which point Mr. Rock starts thinking. This actually makes me happy. I want one caller with this hand. And who better than Mr. Rock, who would have bet out already if he had a great hand on the flop. Amazingly, he decides to put his life at risk and moves all-in for his last $1,200. Mr. Aggro folds, and so we flip our cards over. I show my two pair and Mr. Rock turns over KQ unsuited! He's got no hand, and basically needs to hit a 10 to fill his inside straight. Mr. Rock is a maniac. The turn is a blank, but cruelly and predictably, a 10 of clubs arrives on the river, leaving me with just enough to cover the small blind and ante on the next hand.
On that hand, I get one of the best starting hands I've seen - AQ. Unfortunately, I go down to 7-10 unsuited there. Bah. Poker.
Within an hour I took my stack from $1,500 to about $7,000 with a few aggro bluffs, which put me at 2nd place at my table. I found myself playing way out of character, and bluffing a lot more than I usually do. This 3-week break really gave me fresh eyes for the game.
But then things went horribly wrong. Holding J-2 in the big blind against 2 opponents, one solid and one ultra-aggro, I flop two pair on a Jack-9-2 board and check in early position. The rock checks and Mr. Aggro bets out $600 as planned. I bump it to $1500 at which point Mr. Rock starts thinking. This actually makes me happy. I want one caller with this hand. And who better than Mr. Rock, who would have bet out already if he had a great hand on the flop. Amazingly, he decides to put his life at risk and moves all-in for his last $1,200. Mr. Aggro folds, and so we flip our cards over. I show my two pair and Mr. Rock turns over KQ unsuited! He's got no hand, and basically needs to hit a 10 to fill his inside straight. Mr. Rock is a maniac. The turn is a blank, but cruelly and predictably, a 10 of clubs arrives on the river, leaving me with just enough to cover the small blind and ante on the next hand.
On that hand, I get one of the best starting hands I've seen - AQ. Unfortunately, I go down to 7-10 unsuited there. Bah. Poker.
Friday, August 31, 2007
I'm pretty sure I suck.
Yet another night at Lucky Chances ends in ugliness. Sat down to the $6-12 cash game and quickly got my chips in good shape. Turned $200 into $300 right off the bat. Then things went sour. A hour-long run of bad cards coupled with 2 bad beats, and I'm on full tilt. Steamin' like a clambake. Anyway, I donk off all my chips and leave in a huff after about 2.5 hours. I'm really, really playing badly.
Friday, August 24, 2007
The Slide Continues
Still not able to end this slump o' mine. Hit Lucky Chances a coupla nights ago for a NL cash game. Bought in for the max $200, and in 3 hours was down to $120. Not horrible, but man. Just want to end a session on the plus side for a change. Even ten bucks! Whatever. Anyway, I was card dead the entire night. Picked up QQ once, but got no action. I did miss a couple of key opportunities to make a move, but I would have had to put lots of chips at risk. I didn't do it. And I paid. Still learning.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Bankroll - July 25, 2007
This blog is about full disclosure. I had a rough weekend at the poker table. Here's the ugly truth about my bankroll - It's back to where it was before the WSOP. About $1,500. Still up for the year, but lordy. Time to grind out a few wins.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Bellagio Bust
Unlike June's wsop weekend, this month's poker experiment went horribly wrong. First off, our flight into Vegas was delayed, so I wasn't able to play the Friday Bellagio tourney. No sweat, that just meant more time to get to know my new friends Drew and Suzie. Of course I'd enter the Saturday tourney. Still a $1,000 buyin, still filled with strong players.
After 2 hours of light sleep, I got into the Bellagio around 11:30 on Saturday. Just in time to sign up for a sit-and-go single table satellite tourney. All for the low low price of $240, I could win one of two entries into the $1,000 event, awarded to the 2 finalists. If I can outlast nearly 2,800 World Series of Poker players, I could certainly beat 8 or 9 guys, right? Nope. I sucked, and busted out in 7th place. Pfffffft. I'd be paying full price for the big tournament.
So 2pm comes around and I sit down for the main event. About 50 entrants total. Once again I didn't stick to my "tight is right" strategy for the first 2 rounds, and things went badly. Within the first 10 hands, I picked up AQ in early position and raised it up. One callers, an overly-aggressive postflop player. Flop comes Queen high and I get excited. Here's the plan: I check, he bets and I come over the top just enough to squeeze a reluctant call out of him. Then of course I bring down the hammer on the turn, unless it's a King.
I check, and as planned, Mr. Aggro bets about half the pot. There's now about $700 in the middle of the table, and instead of sticking a callable raise into the pot (a $400 bet for instance), my hand inexplicably throws in $600 in chips. It's now obvious that I'm holding AA, KK, AQ or QQ. Mr. Aggro thinks for 10 seconds and mucks. I shoulda made more with this hand, but maybe panicked at the last second. Uncool.
Anyway, that was the only notable hand of the tourney, except for my final hand. After mucking 1/2 hour's worth of crap hands preflop, I found QQ from early position. I raise 4 times the big blind and a big stack reraises from the button. Bad news. He knows I'm playing tight and raising out of position. He can only have AA, KK, QQ (highly unlikely) or maybe AK suited (also unlikely). But I'm feeling unloved by the poker gods and convince myself that I need this pot to be a contender. Besides, this guy has played about 12 hands in a row. He can't always have good cards, right? Anyway, I push all-in, he insta-calls, and flips over KK. Bam. My first Bellagio event and I'm out within an hour. Someday I'll be good enough to fold the QQ preflop. But not on this day.
More on the big weekend to come...
After 2 hours of light sleep, I got into the Bellagio around 11:30 on Saturday. Just in time to sign up for a sit-and-go single table satellite tourney. All for the low low price of $240, I could win one of two entries into the $1,000 event, awarded to the 2 finalists. If I can outlast nearly 2,800 World Series of Poker players, I could certainly beat 8 or 9 guys, right? Nope. I sucked, and busted out in 7th place. Pfffffft. I'd be paying full price for the big tournament.
So 2pm comes around and I sit down for the main event. About 50 entrants total. Once again I didn't stick to my "tight is right" strategy for the first 2 rounds, and things went badly. Within the first 10 hands, I picked up AQ in early position and raised it up. One callers, an overly-aggressive postflop player. Flop comes Queen high and I get excited. Here's the plan: I check, he bets and I come over the top just enough to squeeze a reluctant call out of him. Then of course I bring down the hammer on the turn, unless it's a King.
I check, and as planned, Mr. Aggro bets about half the pot. There's now about $700 in the middle of the table, and instead of sticking a callable raise into the pot (a $400 bet for instance), my hand inexplicably throws in $600 in chips. It's now obvious that I'm holding AA, KK, AQ or QQ. Mr. Aggro thinks for 10 seconds and mucks. I shoulda made more with this hand, but maybe panicked at the last second. Uncool.
Anyway, that was the only notable hand of the tourney, except for my final hand. After mucking 1/2 hour's worth of crap hands preflop, I found QQ from early position. I raise 4 times the big blind and a big stack reraises from the button. Bad news. He knows I'm playing tight and raising out of position. He can only have AA, KK, QQ (highly unlikely) or maybe AK suited (also unlikely). But I'm feeling unloved by the poker gods and convince myself that I need this pot to be a contender. Besides, this guy has played about 12 hands in a row. He can't always have good cards, right? Anyway, I push all-in, he insta-calls, and flips over KK. Bam. My first Bellagio event and I'm out within an hour. Someday I'll be good enough to fold the QQ preflop. But not on this day.
More on the big weekend to come...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Bellagio, Here I Come
Just booked my flight back to Vegas. Leaving on the morning of Friday, July 20. Might catch the 2pm tourney at the Bellagio. It's a weekly $1,000 buyin event. They also have one on Saturday, so who knows. Anyway, hoping to have good news to report from Sin City in a coupla weeks.
Monday Night Hit and Run in Colma
Went to Lucky Chances after work on Monday. Actually signed up for the 1-1-2 No Limit game, but there was a waiting list and I ended up at a 3-6 table. So I sit down and there are two fun-loving knuckleheads there who are just learning how to play, probably from watching tourneys on TV. They're pretty much dead in the water, 'cuz the other players at the table are leatherfaced phillipino, russian and chinese men with little compassion for beer-buzzed 23-year-olds. You can almost see them lickin' their chops. I end up with a little over $100 in profit, most of it from knucklehead #1, and blow outta colma within 2 hours.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Omaha, somewhere in middle America...
Didn't play any poker this weekend, except for a few sit-and-go Omaha tourneys online. For play money. See, I'm tryin' to learn Omaha Eights Or Better. It's a split pot game, kinda like hold 'em but played with four hole cards. Didn't think I'd like it, but it's a lot of fun. O8B is also a relatively new game on the poker scene, which means even a serious beginner can probably make a few bucks armed with just a little knowledge. I'll let you know how things go.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
July 2 in Colma
OK, I returned to Lucky Chances after work. Played 3 hours of Spread Limit Hold 'Em for a total profit of... $15 dollars. OK, I didn't quite make up for the $300 hit I took on my last visit to Colma, but I did reverse the trend. And boy, was that a trend that needed reversing.
On top of that, I learned a lot. About hand selection. About blind management. About position play. And about pulling off an occasional bluff when the situation warrants it. It's all about building confidence in my cash game play.
LESSONS LEARNED:
- There's no need to protect a $2 blind, yo. It's just the price of admission.
- Poker 101 principle. Don't play the 4-5 suited without multiple customers with big stacks. You're not gonna win often, and when you do, you won't win enough to justify the play.
- Another basic law of poker - Position is everything.
On top of that, I learned a lot. About hand selection. About blind management. About position play. And about pulling off an occasional bluff when the situation warrants it. It's all about building confidence in my cash game play.
LESSONS LEARNED:
- There's no need to protect a $2 blind, yo. It's just the price of admission.
- Poker 101 principle. Don't play the 4-5 suited without multiple customers with big stacks. You're not gonna win often, and when you do, you won't win enough to justify the play.
- Another basic law of poker - Position is everything.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Spanked in Colma - Lost $300
So today was not a great day. I blew $300 at Lucky Chances playing 1-1-2 spread limit hold 'em. Basically, it's almost like a no limit game. I played for 8 hours and just sucked the whole time. I'm a complete donkey when it comes to ring games. Found myself using tournament strategies in a cash game - like checking the river with a good hand to avoid the possibility of an opponent putting me all-in. That's a tournament survival tactic, not a cash game play, where the goal is to maximize the size of each pot won.
Anway, I learned some things. Chalkin' this up as another learning experience in my poker education.
:::POKER GLOSSARY:::
"SPREAD LIMIT" - game where the betting amount is flexible, but capped at a maximum. In this case, the max bet was $200.
"DONKEY" (or "DONK" for short) - a bad poker player who practically gives chips away. "Donk" can also be used as a verb: "I donked off all my chips on a ridiculous bluff."
"RING GAME" or "CASH GAME" - a non-tournament game where blinds/antes are fixed, and players are allowed to rebuy chips between hands.
Anway, I learned some things. Chalkin' this up as another learning experience in my poker education.
:::POKER GLOSSARY:::
"SPREAD LIMIT" - game where the betting amount is flexible, but capped at a maximum. In this case, the max bet was $200.
"DONKEY" (or "DONK" for short) - a bad poker player who practically gives chips away. "Donk" can also be used as a verb: "I donked off all my chips on a ridiculous bluff."
"RING GAME" or "CASH GAME" - a non-tournament game where blinds/antes are fixed, and players are allowed to rebuy chips between hands.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Welcome to Dan's Poker Log
I'm kinda sorta maybe considering a career as a professional poker player. Maybe semi-pro. I feel silly even writing this now, but I think if I keep studying and playing, I can make it happen. Starting small, of course. Mostly low buy-in tournaments in the $200-$300 range. I'll also pepper in a bigger event here and there.
Here's where I am: I started 2007 with a $225 tournament at Lucky Chances. Made the final table and came in 7th for a $1,280 payout. In early June I played a $1,500 WSOP event in Vegas, got lucky and cashed for $3,888 (the highlight of my young poker career). So far this year, I've played 13 tournaments for a total of $4,390 in buy-ins. I've cashed in 5 of the tourneys (3 final tables), for a total of $7,283 in wins.
As far as card room cash games go, not much to report. Six winning sessions, six losing sessions. I'm ahead $320 there.
Not counting friendly home and office games, I've played about 80 hours of poker, and I'm up $3,213 total for the year. My hourly poker rate's about $40. Not earth-shattering, but not bad either, considering my newbie status. I've got a long way to go, and a lot more to learn about this game. Let's see how it goes.
Here's where I am: I started 2007 with a $225 tournament at Lucky Chances. Made the final table and came in 7th for a $1,280 payout. In early June I played a $1,500 WSOP event in Vegas, got lucky and cashed for $3,888 (the highlight of my young poker career). So far this year, I've played 13 tournaments for a total of $4,390 in buy-ins. I've cashed in 5 of the tourneys (3 final tables), for a total of $7,283 in wins.
As far as card room cash games go, not much to report. Six winning sessions, six losing sessions. I'm ahead $320 there.
Not counting friendly home and office games, I've played about 80 hours of poker, and I'm up $3,213 total for the year. My hourly poker rate's about $40. Not earth-shattering, but not bad either, considering my newbie status. I've got a long way to go, and a lot more to learn about this game. Let's see how it goes.
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