I'm torn between wanting to whine about the bad beat that sent me to the rails in last night's MATH and wanting to rise above it and just take it in stride. I see no middle ground between the two. Eh, we'll see how I feel when I get to that point in the story.
I got a nice bump early when my very speculative play of 45s came in with a well hidden straight on the turn and DDionysus couldn't get away from his top two pair. Still in level one and I was up 1000. Nice.
Sadly, I hovered at roughly that same spot for a very long time. Then I made a move in the wrong direction and hovered in that same spot for a long time too.
Apparently people have been getting more serious about the whole BBT thing. Even in deep stack events like the MATH, you frequently see a good portion of the field eliminated by the first break. Such was not the case last night.
Somewhere along in here while I was moving sideways, smokkee moved to our table and dropped about half his already too small stack. But he doubled when his KQs bested NewinNov's AQs when the flop brought a K. A short while later he doubled again when his AK filled to a full house against cemfredmd's QQ.
After a very long period of nothing worth reporting, I caught AA and managed to turn a small profit. This moved me far enough up that all I needed to do was survive to make the points. I'd been in serious danger of not doing so before this.
Finally, the points bubble burst and there were several quick eliminations.
Well, now we're to the bad beat. I guess it hurt more than usual because I set a trap, I got somebody to willingly walk into it, and they rivered their 6-outer to send me home rather than moving well into the top ten. Sometimes poker sucks. I guess I'll just leave it at that.
I finished something like 25th, which apparently gave me enough points to move up to 57th on the BBT leaderboard. Top 50 is my current goal. I missed too many events during my hiatus to have any reasonable hope of a much higher finish. I'll settle for making the freeroll at the end of the season. And if 13% shots stop sending me to the rails, I just might make it.
Earlier in the evening I played another of the Tier One tourneys trying to replace the ticket I used to play the MATH. This was THE tightest of these events I have ever played. Usually there are three or four eliminations in the first couple levels. A small hand full of chips had barely passed from one stack to another by that time in this one.
I was doing okay, having stolen a number of pots, when I get AQ in the BB. Somebody on the other side of the table raises it to 2BB. The alarm bells went off but I didn't listen. With some players this is an almost sure sign of AA. With others it's a sign of weakness. It's hard to know which until you've seen them do it and observed the results.
Instead of doing the smart thing and carefully observing the coiled snake in the middle of the trail, I decided to poke it with a stick. I re-raise to three times his bet. This was dumb from at least two perspectives. Aside from the AA alarms, if he called it left him pretty much pot committed and me forced to call his all-in due to the pot odds. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
He pushes. Getting 3-to-1 from the pot, I'm forced to call. Of course, he's got the rockets and the board doesn't fill the straight it gave me a shot at on the flop.
Later, down to about M=5, I push with some crap cards, hoping everybody will lay down and I'll buy another round to catch something decent. The same guy calls me and turns over, you guessed it, pocket rockets. What are the odds of getting into big hands twice with the same guy and both times he's got a monster like that? Sometimes poker sucks.
19 June 2007
15 June 2007
My Most Memorable Hand
BuddyDank offered as his question for the winner of next week's Mookie -- what is the most memorable hand of poker you've ever played? Because I've never really come close to winning a Mookie and have a very high probability of continuing that particular record far beyond next week, and because I think it's a great question, I'm going to jump the gun a bit and provide my answer here. Remember, Buddy, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
A few hands come to mind here. I don't know that any of them demonstrate any special skill or cunning on my part, but they definitely were memorable.
Early in my online poker playing I spent most of my time at Pacific Poker. Pacific Poker, particularly back then, was an aquarium. They have a very large online casino operation through the associated 888.com. Lots of regular casino gamblers, who hadn't clue one of how to play proper poker, would wander into the poker room which was shared with Pacific Poker. Some of the worst play in the world occurred at Pacific Poker. If you could get past the bad beats, it was a great place to play.
I was playing 1/2 limit one night when the following happened. I'm in the BB with KTs. There are several limpers and I just check. The flop is 66Q, with two of them in my suit. It checks around to me. Having four cards to the second nut flush, I bet. Several people call. The turn brings a 9 in my suit, filling my flush. I was very happy to get the flush, but given the way my luck typically ran I was fully expecting the river to bring another of that suit and fill the flush for somebody who held just the A. It's been quite a while so I don't recall all the details, but there was some betting and three of us see the river.
The river is turned up and, just as I figured, it was another of my suit. No sooner did I say to myself, "Damn, I knew that was going to happen," than I noticed it was the J of that suit. I just filled a straight flush. Bells are going off in my head and it's all I can do to ponder the best approach to getting as much as I can into the pot. I was so happy that the guy on the button was cooperating by betting and re-raising that I never really stopped to think about what he might be holding. We hit the 3-raise limit and the cards were turned over, revealing his pocket 6's. He'd flopped four sixes. I was both laughing my ass off and feeling sorry for him at the same time.
The poor guy left the table almost immediately. A couple nights later I spot him at a table and take the seat right next to him. He left before the next hand was dealt. I guess he remembered me.
I'd have to call that my second most memorable hand. My most memorable happened in a tournament at Full Tilt. I didn't have all that much tournament experience at the time and entered this one spur of the moment. It must have been one of the regularly scheduled ones because there was a decent sized field.
We were a ways in -- past the first break -- when I get pocket rockets. I put in a small raise and am just hoping somebody will want to play. My dream, of course, is to get all my chips in the pot. Some guy on the other side of the table pushes all-in. I'm thinking, "Yee-hah! I got a fish on the line!" Then some guy after him also pushes all-in. Even better, though I'm starting to get a little concerned about two people having shots at out-drawing me. Of course I call.
The cards come up and both of the other guys are showing KK. KK vs KK vs AA. I've played hundreds of thousands of hands. I've seen tons of cooler hands dealt. But that is the only time I've ever seen KK vs KK vs AA. The flop is rainbow and I've got a lock on a triple up. That was sweet.
That tournament also ended up being one of my biggest cashes.
If you've got a memorable hand story and don't plan on winning the Mookie this week, leave a comment and tell us about it.
A few hands come to mind here. I don't know that any of them demonstrate any special skill or cunning on my part, but they definitely were memorable.
Early in my online poker playing I spent most of my time at Pacific Poker. Pacific Poker, particularly back then, was an aquarium. They have a very large online casino operation through the associated 888.com. Lots of regular casino gamblers, who hadn't clue one of how to play proper poker, would wander into the poker room which was shared with Pacific Poker. Some of the worst play in the world occurred at Pacific Poker. If you could get past the bad beats, it was a great place to play.
I was playing 1/2 limit one night when the following happened. I'm in the BB with KTs. There are several limpers and I just check. The flop is 66Q, with two of them in my suit. It checks around to me. Having four cards to the second nut flush, I bet. Several people call. The turn brings a 9 in my suit, filling my flush. I was very happy to get the flush, but given the way my luck typically ran I was fully expecting the river to bring another of that suit and fill the flush for somebody who held just the A. It's been quite a while so I don't recall all the details, but there was some betting and three of us see the river.
The river is turned up and, just as I figured, it was another of my suit. No sooner did I say to myself, "Damn, I knew that was going to happen," than I noticed it was the J of that suit. I just filled a straight flush. Bells are going off in my head and it's all I can do to ponder the best approach to getting as much as I can into the pot. I was so happy that the guy on the button was cooperating by betting and re-raising that I never really stopped to think about what he might be holding. We hit the 3-raise limit and the cards were turned over, revealing his pocket 6's. He'd flopped four sixes. I was both laughing my ass off and feeling sorry for him at the same time.
The poor guy left the table almost immediately. A couple nights later I spot him at a table and take the seat right next to him. He left before the next hand was dealt. I guess he remembered me.
I'd have to call that my second most memorable hand. My most memorable happened in a tournament at Full Tilt. I didn't have all that much tournament experience at the time and entered this one spur of the moment. It must have been one of the regularly scheduled ones because there was a decent sized field.
We were a ways in -- past the first break -- when I get pocket rockets. I put in a small raise and am just hoping somebody will want to play. My dream, of course, is to get all my chips in the pot. Some guy on the other side of the table pushes all-in. I'm thinking, "Yee-hah! I got a fish on the line!" Then some guy after him also pushes all-in. Even better, though I'm starting to get a little concerned about two people having shots at out-drawing me. Of course I call.
The cards come up and both of the other guys are showing KK. KK vs KK vs AA. I've played hundreds of thousands of hands. I've seen tons of cooler hands dealt. But that is the only time I've ever seen KK vs KK vs AA. The flop is rainbow and I've got a lock on a triple up. That was sweet.
That tournament also ended up being one of my biggest cashes.
If you've got a memorable hand story and don't plan on winning the Mookie this week, leave a comment and tell us about it.
River who?
Played the Riverchasers last night, though I might just as well have kept my $11. I lasted all of about 12 minutes. It's small consolation, I suppose, but at least I did get it all in with the better of it, JJ vs AKo, and I was the one who made the move, forcing the other guy to call my all-in with just a coin flip. He flopped an A and I went home very early.
At least I only dropped one spot on the BBT leaderboard.
I think I may take this weekend off from poker and catch up on some of the TV shows I've been stockpiling. Maybe even get out of the house and go somewhere.
Completely unrelated to poker, a news show I watched yesterday showed a YouTube clip from the show "Britain's Got Talent". I am about as far from a fan of this form of music as you can get, but this was amazing. The performance, the guy's backstory and the judges' reactions all make it well worth watching. Check it out.
At least I only dropped one spot on the BBT leaderboard.
I think I may take this weekend off from poker and catch up on some of the TV shows I've been stockpiling. Maybe even get out of the house and go somewhere.
Completely unrelated to poker, a news show I watched yesterday showed a YouTube clip from the show "Britain's Got Talent". I am about as far from a fan of this form of music as you can get, but this was amazing. The performance, the guy's backstory and the judges' reactions all make it well worth watching. Check it out.
14 June 2007
Mookie, Dookie, and things just kookie
I played the Mookie, the Dookie, and another FTP Tier One ticket tournament. Dinner, which was great, by the way -- Capital Grill, dry aged beef, yummmmmmmmm -- ended a bit earlier than I expected so I played the Tier One tournament while waiting for the Mookie to start. Oh, one more thing about dinner, they had the best calamari I've ever had. Very tender and served with sauteed chilis. There were what looked like sliced jalapenos and some of those round red chilis that are a bit spicy. The chilis and the calamari went together fabulously. Highly recommended.
I'm going to go in reverse order to get the less exciting items out of the way first. The Dookie was turbo razz last night. I have a love-hate relationship with razz. It can be the easiest game in the world if you're getting cards. Or it can be frustration cubed if you're not. I was actually doing okay toward the beginning. Stole a few pots, won a few the proper way. Then the cards dried up. I'd make a run at a pot, clearly in the lead, and cards would fall exactly wrong for me. The blinds had escalated so by the time this happened it was very expensive. I went from being in good shape to being in trouble very quickly. I can't find the hand history for my final hand, so I guess you're spared the gory details.
I was doing okay in the Mookie -- not great, but on track to make the points and possibly more -- until IslandBum1 hit his 7-outer at the river to beat my flopped two pair. I was happy with the way I played it, just not the outcome. I successfully enticed him to put it all in the middle when I was better than 2:1 to win. Hard to not like that situation.
I had IslandBum1 covered so I wasn't out of it, but I was hurting now. So when the flop comes 77T with me holding T6, I pushed it all in the middle. Unfortunately, NumbBono had TQ and the board did not provide me with a better kicker. I went out just before the break and missing the points by just a couple positions.
There's one hand from the Tier One tournament I'd like to mention. We were on the ticket bubble and I was in very good shape. I quite likely could have sat out and still got a ticket. The short stack, who was down to something like 1000 with blinds at 300/600, was to my immediate left. I get QQ. Ordinarily, in this situation, I'd fold.
Yes, you heard me right. I'm not looking to "win" this, I'm just looking not to lose. QQ is a hand that at this point is likely to win you a little or lose you a lot. I don't need the chips and I certainly don't want to lose a lot. But the shortie is clearly in push or fold territory and QQ is a hand I'd be willing to take up against his desperation all-in. So I just call. I'm only calling because the shortie acts after I do and I want to still be in the pot if he decides to push. Turns out he folds.
So it's NewinNov in the BB and me to the flop. It always strikes me as kind of odd accidentally bumping into someone I know from other tournaments -- the blogger events in this case -- in some other random tournament. And I'm never sure if I should say hello or if we should pretend we don't know each other just so the other players don't suspect some kind of collusion. I know, I'm being paranoid. Anyway, the flop brings a K. It actually didn't matter what the flop brought. Short of the other two Q's or maybe a straight flush, I'm not investing anything more in this pot anyway. I probably could have gotten some more chips on the river since NewinNov caught a pair of J's, but it seemed to better meet our mutual goal of eliminating the shortie to just check it all the way down.
Some might not agree with the way I played this, but I think I played it right given the situation and the goal of simply surviving one more elimination. Comments, of course, are welcome.
The next BBT event is Riverchasers, tonight, 9pm EDT, at Full Tilt. See you there.
I'm going to go in reverse order to get the less exciting items out of the way first. The Dookie was turbo razz last night. I have a love-hate relationship with razz. It can be the easiest game in the world if you're getting cards. Or it can be frustration cubed if you're not. I was actually doing okay toward the beginning. Stole a few pots, won a few the proper way. Then the cards dried up. I'd make a run at a pot, clearly in the lead, and cards would fall exactly wrong for me. The blinds had escalated so by the time this happened it was very expensive. I went from being in good shape to being in trouble very quickly. I can't find the hand history for my final hand, so I guess you're spared the gory details.
I was doing okay in the Mookie -- not great, but on track to make the points and possibly more -- until IslandBum1 hit his 7-outer at the river to beat my flopped two pair. I was happy with the way I played it, just not the outcome. I successfully enticed him to put it all in the middle when I was better than 2:1 to win. Hard to not like that situation.
I had IslandBum1 covered so I wasn't out of it, but I was hurting now. So when the flop comes 77T with me holding T6, I pushed it all in the middle. Unfortunately, NumbBono had TQ and the board did not provide me with a better kicker. I went out just before the break and missing the points by just a couple positions.
There's one hand from the Tier One tournament I'd like to mention. We were on the ticket bubble and I was in very good shape. I quite likely could have sat out and still got a ticket. The short stack, who was down to something like 1000 with blinds at 300/600, was to my immediate left. I get QQ. Ordinarily, in this situation, I'd fold.
Yes, you heard me right. I'm not looking to "win" this, I'm just looking not to lose. QQ is a hand that at this point is likely to win you a little or lose you a lot. I don't need the chips and I certainly don't want to lose a lot. But the shortie is clearly in push or fold territory and QQ is a hand I'd be willing to take up against his desperation all-in. So I just call. I'm only calling because the shortie acts after I do and I want to still be in the pot if he decides to push. Turns out he folds.
So it's NewinNov in the BB and me to the flop. It always strikes me as kind of odd accidentally bumping into someone I know from other tournaments -- the blogger events in this case -- in some other random tournament. And I'm never sure if I should say hello or if we should pretend we don't know each other just so the other players don't suspect some kind of collusion. I know, I'm being paranoid. Anyway, the flop brings a K. It actually didn't matter what the flop brought. Short of the other two Q's or maybe a straight flush, I'm not investing anything more in this pot anyway. I probably could have gotten some more chips on the river since NewinNov caught a pair of J's, but it seemed to better meet our mutual goal of eliminating the shortie to just check it all the way down.
Some might not agree with the way I played this, but I think I played it right given the situation and the goal of simply surviving one more elimination. Comments, of course, are welcome.
The next BBT event is Riverchasers, tonight, 9pm EDT, at Full Tilt. See you there.
12 June 2007
MATH and milestones
Played the MATH last night at Full Tilt. I and several others had the distinct misfortune of being at a table with a big stack commanded by someone who knew how to use it. Then I got transferred to a table where there were two big stacks to my immediate left. I couldn't do anything without one of them coming over the top. Sadly, I was not getting the cards generally required in such a situation. I never really got started, so I spent most of the time watching my stack shrink. I did make the BBT points, but just barely.
I did get to witness what has to be one of the biggest comebacks in history. Zeem at one point was down to just 87 chips -- about 1/30 the stack size of the next smallest stack at the table. He pushes all-in and quintuples up when his K6o caught a 6 on the flop and everyone else completely whiffed. Blinded down just a bit, a few hands later he doubles up to ~700. A few hands after that he doubles up again when he rivers an 8 to beat garthmeister's A high. A while later he doubles again when he rivers a 9 for two pair against Iggy's TPTK. A few hands later he doubles yet again when his AQo flops an A to defeat RecessRampage's KK. From 87 to 7300 in what turned out to be twelve minutes of table time.
The milestone mentioned in the title was actually achieved with my last post, the 100th in this blog. Thank you, thank you. You're really too kind. Monetary recognition of this milestone may be sent to my Party Poker account. Just kidding. I'd never add more money to my Part Poker account. Use my Full Tilt account.
No WWdN tonight. I've heard rumors of a replacement donkament if you're so inclined. The next BBT event is The Mookie on Wednesday. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make this one. Real life may get in the way.
I did get to witness what has to be one of the biggest comebacks in history. Zeem at one point was down to just 87 chips -- about 1/30 the stack size of the next smallest stack at the table. He pushes all-in and quintuples up when his K6o caught a 6 on the flop and everyone else completely whiffed. Blinded down just a bit, a few hands later he doubles up to ~700. A few hands after that he doubles up again when he rivers an 8 to beat garthmeister's A high. A while later he doubles again when he rivers a 9 for two pair against Iggy's TPTK. A few hands later he doubles yet again when his AQo flops an A to defeat RecessRampage's KK. From 87 to 7300 in what turned out to be twelve minutes of table time.
The milestone mentioned in the title was actually achieved with my last post, the 100th in this blog. Thank you, thank you. You're really too kind. Monetary recognition of this milestone may be sent to my Party Poker account. Just kidding. I'd never add more money to my Part Poker account. Use my Full Tilt account.
No WWdN tonight. I've heard rumors of a replacement donkament if you're so inclined. The next BBT event is The Mookie on Wednesday. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make this one. Real life may get in the way.
11 June 2007
Weekend poker
I played the blogger donkament at Full Tilt on Friday. Apparently it's been going on for a while but I just read of it this week. A $1+$1 rebuy with a $1500 add-on. I'm not a huge fan of rebuys, but this one had a few things going for it. It was cheap. It was clearly just for fun. It was cheap.
I set my options for maximum auto-rebuy and headed off to see how stupidly I could play. The answer, apparently, was very, very, very stupid. I recall briefly holding the chip lead, but donking it all away. Seven rebuys and an add-on, and I still couldn't get anywhere.
BuddyDank again provided tunes and commentary during the tournament. He even noticed my subtle request for some classic Thorogood. Thanks, Buddy. I look forward to your future 'casts.
Full Tilt has finally stopped spending money on cute new avatars and has made a few worthy program upgrades. They now offer a time bank like PokerStars and have a full two minutes of disconnect protection. The latter may or may not be a good thing, largely depending on your perspective. If you have a flakey connection like I did when living in the hotel, it should be a great feature, particularly if they also did something with the part of the software that detects the disconnect. That was always my issue. It took their software forever to recognize there had been a disconnection and to then reconnect. Fortunately, I now have a very reliable connection, especially since dumping that POS D-Link wireless router.
While waiting for the blogger donkament I played another of the turbo tier one ticket tournaments. If you have patience and don't get greedy, these things tend to be fairly easy. Playing for fourth or fifth is a lot simpler than playing for first. Highlights included a beautifully slow-played AA and me catching a set of fives against a slow-played TP aces, Q kicker.
I just don't get some people. I'm pretty sure my understanding of the game has not progressed to the point where I've completely lost touch with the beginning levels, but some play still mystifies me. One limp and it's to you in the SB with AQo. You call. Eh? I don't get it. AQo isn't strong enough to slow-play, but it's certainly strong enough to put in a decent raise here. I'm making it 4-5BB and hoping I can grab the BB and the limp. But he just calls.
The flop comes A72 with two spades. No spades in your hand. Top pair, strong kicker in a hand with all limpers. You're probably ahead here (you do have the mighty hammer to be concerned about, but there were no pre-flop raises so you're probably safe there), but there is a spade draw looming. So, what do you do? Bet the pot or a bit more and take it down right now, right? Nope, you slow-play your TP by just checking. Oh, yeah, this is always a good move.
The pre-flop limper bets 2/3 the pot. Okay, so your slow-play has paid off and it's time to make your move, right? Nope, you continue your slow-play, just calling. Huh? How do you not move in here? You're almost certainly ahead, but you're vulnerable. There's a flush draw and a straight draw staring you right in the face and you decide to continue the slow-play? This is a rather Hoy-esque move, but I don't think even the master would have just called at this point.
The turn brings a 5. It doesn't look like a scare card, though it does fill the straight for the 34 and it also brought a second flush draw. You continue the slow-play and check. Okay, I can't disagree with this one. The other guy bet the flop so there's no reason to think he won't bet the turn. If the plan is to move in now, the check makes sense. Might as well give him a chance to throw some more chips our way.
But, whoa, the other guy moves all-in. And he has us covered. If he had a 34 the five made his straight. Do we really want to risk the rest of our chips calling an all-in with just TP? Of course we do! What? Wait! We're calling an all-in with two flush draws and a potential made straight, and a possible OESD on the board? And all we've got is TP?
This guy had three bites at the apple before the turn and he passed up all three. Then, looking at a board with a ton of draw potential (none of it his) and an all-in from a player who's shown some strength already, he calls with TP for all the rest of his chips. I don't usually like to critique other people's play -- at least not publicly -- but this struck me as someone determined to make mistakes until he gave away all his chips. I don't think it would have been possible to play this particular hand worse than this. Folding the AQo rather than completing the SB would have been a lesser mistake.
So I almost double up and take a fairly commanding chip lead. If this was a normal tournament I would have pressured the hell out of my table, but in this one the top five all get the same prize. I should have just phoned it in from this point. Hell, I should have sat out. Unless it dragged out for a long time, there's no way I would have blinded out before we were down to the last five.
Instead I got aggressive/greedy with QQ and ran it into an AK that flopped an A. (We got it in pre-flop.) I had him covered by a wide margin so I was far from out of it, but I couldn't coast to victory. We had three serious shortstacks at the final table. After they were gone it was just a matter of not being the next eliminated. I succeeded in that at least. So I'm all set for the MATH tonight.
I continued my quest to clear my PokerStars bonus. $1/$2 limit hold'em was kind to me on Saturday, though I gave it all back on Sunday. I think it was about a wash. And I did clear the bonus. This may be the first bonus in ages I've cleared without losing two to three times the bonus amount in the process. Things are looking up!
I'm looking forward to besting my effort last week in the MATH tonight. Hope to see you there.
I set my options for maximum auto-rebuy and headed off to see how stupidly I could play. The answer, apparently, was very, very, very stupid. I recall briefly holding the chip lead, but donking it all away. Seven rebuys and an add-on, and I still couldn't get anywhere.
BuddyDank again provided tunes and commentary during the tournament. He even noticed my subtle request for some classic Thorogood. Thanks, Buddy. I look forward to your future 'casts.
Full Tilt has finally stopped spending money on cute new avatars and has made a few worthy program upgrades. They now offer a time bank like PokerStars and have a full two minutes of disconnect protection. The latter may or may not be a good thing, largely depending on your perspective. If you have a flakey connection like I did when living in the hotel, it should be a great feature, particularly if they also did something with the part of the software that detects the disconnect. That was always my issue. It took their software forever to recognize there had been a disconnection and to then reconnect. Fortunately, I now have a very reliable connection, especially since dumping that POS D-Link wireless router.
While waiting for the blogger donkament I played another of the turbo tier one ticket tournaments. If you have patience and don't get greedy, these things tend to be fairly easy. Playing for fourth or fifth is a lot simpler than playing for first. Highlights included a beautifully slow-played AA and me catching a set of fives against a slow-played TP aces, Q kicker.
I just don't get some people. I'm pretty sure my understanding of the game has not progressed to the point where I've completely lost touch with the beginning levels, but some play still mystifies me. One limp and it's to you in the SB with AQo. You call. Eh? I don't get it. AQo isn't strong enough to slow-play, but it's certainly strong enough to put in a decent raise here. I'm making it 4-5BB and hoping I can grab the BB and the limp. But he just calls.
The flop comes A72 with two spades. No spades in your hand. Top pair, strong kicker in a hand with all limpers. You're probably ahead here (you do have the mighty hammer to be concerned about, but there were no pre-flop raises so you're probably safe there), but there is a spade draw looming. So, what do you do? Bet the pot or a bit more and take it down right now, right? Nope, you slow-play your TP by just checking. Oh, yeah, this is always a good move.
The pre-flop limper bets 2/3 the pot. Okay, so your slow-play has paid off and it's time to make your move, right? Nope, you continue your slow-play, just calling. Huh? How do you not move in here? You're almost certainly ahead, but you're vulnerable. There's a flush draw and a straight draw staring you right in the face and you decide to continue the slow-play? This is a rather Hoy-esque move, but I don't think even the master would have just called at this point.
The turn brings a 5. It doesn't look like a scare card, though it does fill the straight for the 34 and it also brought a second flush draw. You continue the slow-play and check. Okay, I can't disagree with this one. The other guy bet the flop so there's no reason to think he won't bet the turn. If the plan is to move in now, the check makes sense. Might as well give him a chance to throw some more chips our way.
But, whoa, the other guy moves all-in. And he has us covered. If he had a 34 the five made his straight. Do we really want to risk the rest of our chips calling an all-in with just TP? Of course we do! What? Wait! We're calling an all-in with two flush draws and a potential made straight, and a possible OESD on the board? And all we've got is TP?
This guy had three bites at the apple before the turn and he passed up all three. Then, looking at a board with a ton of draw potential (none of it his) and an all-in from a player who's shown some strength already, he calls with TP for all the rest of his chips. I don't usually like to critique other people's play -- at least not publicly -- but this struck me as someone determined to make mistakes until he gave away all his chips. I don't think it would have been possible to play this particular hand worse than this. Folding the AQo rather than completing the SB would have been a lesser mistake.
So I almost double up and take a fairly commanding chip lead. If this was a normal tournament I would have pressured the hell out of my table, but in this one the top five all get the same prize. I should have just phoned it in from this point. Hell, I should have sat out. Unless it dragged out for a long time, there's no way I would have blinded out before we were down to the last five.
Instead I got aggressive/greedy with QQ and ran it into an AK that flopped an A. (We got it in pre-flop.) I had him covered by a wide margin so I was far from out of it, but I couldn't coast to victory. We had three serious shortstacks at the final table. After they were gone it was just a matter of not being the next eliminated. I succeeded in that at least. So I'm all set for the MATH tonight.
I continued my quest to clear my PokerStars bonus. $1/$2 limit hold'em was kind to me on Saturday, though I gave it all back on Sunday. I think it was about a wash. And I did clear the bonus. This may be the first bonus in ages I've cleared without losing two to three times the bonus amount in the process. Things are looking up!
I'm looking forward to besting my effort last week in the MATH tonight. Hope to see you there.
07 June 2007
The Mookie or my night of endless suckouts
I had a pretty good night at The Mookie, though it was far more through dumb luck than great poker skill. I finished 5th of 51. For those keeping score, that's a 4th and a 5th for me in blogger events this week. Apparently my time away from poker did me some good.
I'm going to try to be a bit more concise with the discussion of the hands this time. My first big hand came with the blinds at 25/50 and me in the BB with a very impressive 85o. Three of us see a flop of 898, two suited. I bet 100, BrLKoSTa420 raised to 200, SB folds, I make it 600, he pushes, I call. BrLKoSTa420 obviously didn't take me for having an 8 and I either made a fantastic read or was a fool. He shows A9, gets no help on the turn or river, and I double up to 2630.
The next big one was my first major suckout of the night. With the blinds at 50/100, boneyardxxx makes it 350 to go. I'm feeling frisky on the back of several smaller wins and decide my AQo is enough to put him to the test. He started the hand with 1110 so I put him almost all the way in. He thought a few seconds and then pushed in the rest. He shows AKo and I'm going, "Oooopppsss". But the flop brings a Q and I send him back to the boneyard. Sorry, dude.
The next big suckout was against smokkee. This needs a bit of back story. Smokkee had been nearing the danger zone for a while and had pushed all-in several times in the preceding hands. His chat also showed he was getting anxious. So when he pushed again from UTG+1, I figured there was a chance my 88 was ahead. It also cost me less than a third of my stack. Losing would have hurt, but I'd still have been in fairly decent shape. I was a bit surprised when he turned over JJ. The surprise continued when I rivered a third 8 and sent smokkee packing.
The next in my long line of suckouts came against katiemother. Blinds/antes at 120/240/25, she calls from the button, I complete from the SB with 86s, GCox25 checks. Flop is A66, two suited. Check, check, 920 from katiemother. The two suited thing bothered me just a bit so I decided to make my move here. I push. I had both of them covered by quite a lot so I was risking about half my stack. GCox25 folds, katiemother calls and shows Q6. I'm in trouble. I need the case 6, an A, a K, or an 8. Eight outs to a tie, three to a win. The river brings my 8. Apparently I've been saving up luck all this time I've been away from the tables.
I'm up to 15,660 now and am somewhere near the top of the leaderboard.
Finally comes a big pot that I won without a suckout. I wake up to AA in the cutoff. Since I'm by far the big stack at the table, I need to be a bit cagey to get some action. I just call. Real cagey, eh? SB completes, BB checks. Flop is Q53. (This brings back bad memories of the SnG I played earlier in the evening where I'd put in a big raise with AQ from the SB and got one caller from EP who'd limped. Same flop. I'm short so I push. He calls and shows 53s. The idiot called my 5BB raise with 53s. How do you defend against brilliant play like that? That's probably what my opponents have been saying about me up to this point.) I get lucky and NomeyMyHomey bets 600 into the 920 pot. I make it 1920 to go (must have been a slider special). Meanhappyguy folds, NomeyMyHomey calls. Turn brings an 8. Nomey, for some reason, pushes all-in for 3820. There's already about 4800 in the pot, so I'm not going away. He's got just an OESD, which the river does not fill.
The beginning of my demise came due to, you guessed it, a suckout. My 99 vs NumbersGame's 77. Flop brings a 7, eventually filling to a full house, and I drop over a third of my stack, leaving me 9k with blinds/antes at 250/500/50 and the final table down to the last six.
Willwonka was next to go when his AKo fell to drmindbendr's A7s when the river brought a 7.
I made my exit a few hands later when the flop paired my weak A and meanhappyguy had me outkicked. No suckout to the rescue this time. I finish 5th of 51.
Seems "concise" just isn't in my nature. Oh well...
Kudos to BuddyDank for streamcasting music and commentary during the whole tournament. Some of the commentary was very funny. Responding to the request for Hanson was funny and more than a bit scary. I hope that was a quick internet download and not a catalog selection. Can't say I was thrilled with the turn toward rap at the end. Also made me feel really old when I'm cringing having to listen to that crap and everyone else is obviously digging it.
The next BBT event is the MATH next Monday. Given my performances in the last two events I just may have to play.
I'm going to try to be a bit more concise with the discussion of the hands this time. My first big hand came with the blinds at 25/50 and me in the BB with a very impressive 85o. Three of us see a flop of 898, two suited. I bet 100, BrLKoSTa420 raised to 200, SB folds, I make it 600, he pushes, I call. BrLKoSTa420 obviously didn't take me for having an 8 and I either made a fantastic read or was a fool. He shows A9, gets no help on the turn or river, and I double up to 2630.
The next big one was my first major suckout of the night. With the blinds at 50/100, boneyardxxx makes it 350 to go. I'm feeling frisky on the back of several smaller wins and decide my AQo is enough to put him to the test. He started the hand with 1110 so I put him almost all the way in. He thought a few seconds and then pushed in the rest. He shows AKo and I'm going, "Oooopppsss". But the flop brings a Q and I send him back to the boneyard. Sorry, dude.
The next big suckout was against smokkee. This needs a bit of back story. Smokkee had been nearing the danger zone for a while and had pushed all-in several times in the preceding hands. His chat also showed he was getting anxious. So when he pushed again from UTG+1, I figured there was a chance my 88 was ahead. It also cost me less than a third of my stack. Losing would have hurt, but I'd still have been in fairly decent shape. I was a bit surprised when he turned over JJ. The surprise continued when I rivered a third 8 and sent smokkee packing.
The next in my long line of suckouts came against katiemother. Blinds/antes at 120/240/25, she calls from the button, I complete from the SB with 86s, GCox25 checks. Flop is A66, two suited. Check, check, 920 from katiemother. The two suited thing bothered me just a bit so I decided to make my move here. I push. I had both of them covered by quite a lot so I was risking about half my stack. GCox25 folds, katiemother calls and shows Q6. I'm in trouble. I need the case 6, an A, a K, or an 8. Eight outs to a tie, three to a win. The river brings my 8. Apparently I've been saving up luck all this time I've been away from the tables.
I'm up to 15,660 now and am somewhere near the top of the leaderboard.
Finally comes a big pot that I won without a suckout. I wake up to AA in the cutoff. Since I'm by far the big stack at the table, I need to be a bit cagey to get some action. I just call. Real cagey, eh? SB completes, BB checks. Flop is Q53. (This brings back bad memories of the SnG I played earlier in the evening where I'd put in a big raise with AQ from the SB and got one caller from EP who'd limped. Same flop. I'm short so I push. He calls and shows 53s. The idiot called my 5BB raise with 53s. How do you defend against brilliant play like that? That's probably what my opponents have been saying about me up to this point.) I get lucky and NomeyMyHomey bets 600 into the 920 pot. I make it 1920 to go (must have been a slider special). Meanhappyguy folds, NomeyMyHomey calls. Turn brings an 8. Nomey, for some reason, pushes all-in for 3820. There's already about 4800 in the pot, so I'm not going away. He's got just an OESD, which the river does not fill.
The beginning of my demise came due to, you guessed it, a suckout. My 99 vs NumbersGame's 77. Flop brings a 7, eventually filling to a full house, and I drop over a third of my stack, leaving me 9k with blinds/antes at 250/500/50 and the final table down to the last six.
Willwonka was next to go when his AKo fell to drmindbendr's A7s when the river brought a 7.
I made my exit a few hands later when the flop paired my weak A and meanhappyguy had me outkicked. No suckout to the rescue this time. I finish 5th of 51.
Seems "concise" just isn't in my nature. Oh well...
Kudos to BuddyDank for streamcasting music and commentary during the whole tournament. Some of the commentary was very funny. Responding to the request for Hanson was funny and more than a bit scary. I hope that was a quick internet download and not a catalog selection. Can't say I was thrilled with the turn toward rap at the end. Also made me feel really old when I'm cringing having to listen to that crap and everyone else is obviously digging it.
The next BBT event is the MATH next Monday. Given my performances in the last two events I just may have to play.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
