Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Back from Vegas

I'm back from Vegas with lots to tell. Hopefully I can pick a part a few sessions here and there, as I will only spend a lot of time on the games I took seriously.

Games played this trip:

Bellagio 10/20 LHE
Venetian 8/16 LHE
Venetian 4/8 LHE
Venetian 4/8 Omaha8 w/half-kill

The game I played the most was V's 8/16 and it's not close. I would have liked to have played more of Bellagio's 10/20 and maybe even have tried the 20/40 game, but it just didn't happen.

Anyway, I'll be back later in the week hopefully, be on the lookout for some trip reports.

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Monday, January 10, 2011

The New Year

Bringing in the new year so far has been a bit meh. Running kind of bad over the last couple of sessions and just haven't been able to find much of a groove. I had a fantastic table a few days ago, but I simply couldn't make a hand hold all night. When you're at a table where everyone is spewing preflop and post, it's going to be hard to win if you can't make a hand.

I'm not too worried about it, swings come and go, and I'm sure as long as I keep playing fundamentally sound the results will tilt back in my favor. Ever since I started playing consistently again back in Octovber I've really tried to seperate myself from the results, and I have to say it does help dull the negativity that comes along with running bad. Looking back at my session there might have been a couple hands where I would have played them differently, but overall I decided I made a good chunk of correct decisions and that's all I can ask of myself.

Starting tomorrow I will be in Vegas for about a week with a bunch of my poker playing friends. I look forward to these trips (they occur a few times a year) and they are definitely a few of the best weeks of my life. I plan on playing a lot of mixed limit games (LHE, Omaha8, Stud8, Pineapple, etc) and maybe some of the NL/PL games as well. Some other degen events will also be involved I'm sure, but I'm pretty tame so I'm sure my "degen" might be different from some readers.

Anyway, wish me luck, I'll try and take detailed notes and come back with some stories, pictures, and most importantly some interesting poker discussion! Until then, thanks for reading and enjoy the next week, I'm sure I will.

Friday, December 31, 2010

Three Tickets

So I don't know if I've mentioned this, but Capitol started a promotion with player's cards that give you $1 for every hour you play. It can be used towards food or even just cashed out (supposedly, I haven't tried yet nor has anyone else I've talked to). Oh, and there's also a drawing in February for a Ford Mustang, a handful of cash prizes, and a few different cruises. Not bad really, except for the fact that the way to get a ticket is to make a hand in the ring games of a fullhouse or better.

Any fullhouse? Seems easy enough right? Well I had played for something like 12 hours and had gotten one ticket. One. Quad sevens from a couple sessions ago and that was all (both cards have to play from your hand, so that might make it a little tougher). I even brought this up at lunch (Pho FTW) with Tony and Tommy, and they remarked "yeah but somehow you win giant pots with one pair." I guess it all evens out.

After lunch the three of us ventured over to Cap. There was an open seat at 6/12 so I jumped in. Unfortunately the table didn't look too appealing, as it had a few tighter players including one prop. Mehhhhh, let's see how bad the other players were. My first hand dealt in I get black tens in a killpot. I raised over a limper and we were heads up to a flop Q87 all clubs. Uh oh? The limper checked his cards again, then checked. I bet, he called. Club draw?

The turn brought out a red six, giving me a gutshot straight draw to go with my flush draw and pair of tens. Again the limper checked to me, I bet, and he called. The river was a red ten. This time the limper bet into me. Ughhh, a nine? Ace of clubs, nine whatever? I've never played with the man before and I'm not laying down a set heads up here so I called and he flipped over ace ten, no clubs. Okay...thanks?

A few orbits later I decided to cash out because the game was just awful. A few props and solid regs meant it was time for splitsville, I have no idea how the non-prop players could actually just sit there and chop the blinds/play heads up pots the entire time. The game is normally very good, but that would be two sessions in a row I felt that 6/12's game was not worth playing.

So I took about $140 in profit and moved on over to 4/8 and proceeded to get killed for awhile. This one particular guy in a light blue V-neck sweater had my number for a good while, but I ended up getting him back later on in the evening. Remember the tickets I told you about? Well my fist one of the night came when I flopped a set of twos against V-necks' KT on a T52 all heart board (he had the king of hearts in his hand). I led the flop and somehow V-neck didn't raise until the turn brought out another ten, giving me a fullhouse. I led the turn, he raised, I three bet and he only called me down. Ship the pot and one ticket.

Ticket two came when I had 44 in the BB against a couple of limpers and a small blind. The flop came out KK3, I led the flop and was called by one loose player in position. The turn brought out another king so again I bet, but this time he folded. I showed my fullhouse and collected yet another ticket.

A couple hands later I had 97 suited in LP and limped behind a few limpers, the flop came out A97 rainbow. Hoorah? V-neck led into the field from UTG (seat eight), called in one spot, I raised from the four seat, all folded except V-neck and the one caller in between us.

The turn was a six, and both players check/called my bet. The river brought out a nine. Boom. Checked to me, I bet, and then seat eight angrily started saying "ugh my hand is killed." Hmmm, did I suck out against A7? But he didn't re-raise me on the flop...Turned out he had aces up on the turn when the six came, and I needed to hit my nine or seven on the river. Weeee three tickets in a matter of a few orbits, when it took me FOR-EV-ER to get one. Thanks for reading, and hopefully at least a couple people will get that reference.

Game Selection

Pretty simply, game selection is a process wherein players choose the right poker games that will best suit their skills and styles of play to win as much money as possible. But we'll get to that later...

Yesterday I woke up around 3am, ahhh the effects of working graveyard too many days in a row. After screwing around on the internet for too long, watching Inception for the first time since theatres, getting a haircut, and then grabbing a nap (well, super power nap), I awoke at 10pm and wondered where the hell the day went.

Yikes, I wanted to play cards today! Oh well, off to Capitol. I arrived at about 11pm and was third up on the 4/8 list and like 8th on the 6/12. Wow, and I thought the place might be dead! I got my 4/8 seat relatively quickly, and was ready to camp out for awhile as it didn't seem like 6/12's list was moving at all.

My first impression of the 4/8 table was that it was amazing. Just amazing. I counted a couple maniacs, one tightish player, and the rest were LPPs. Six way flops were definitely the norm for this table, even after I would raise from early position.

I raised a few times pre-flop with five callers and couldn't hit a good flop. 77 met a flop of with broadway cards and a donk bet into me, QQ had a flop of AKx with another donk bet into me, and a black AK met a flop of 987 two diamonds multiway. I was check/folding the flops sure, but I was getting a ton of information at showdown for these hands. Hands showing down that had cold called my raises pre-flop were holdings such as A2os, K4os, T3 suited, etc. I mean there was definitely money to be made at this table, the key was going to be hitting a flop and then holding.

The first pot I won came somewhere around my third orbit when I looked down at JT of spades in the BB in a killpot. Limped in four spots, the small blind completed, and I completed. We saw a flop of J43 with one spade. I bet, the button called and then the small blind called. I had been watching these players play, and in reality they could literally have anything. A jack with a higher kicker was definitely possible, but it wasn't probable.

The turn paired the three and put a rainbow out there, no flush draws present. Someone could definitely be holding a three, but the small blind checked and I fired $16 into the pot of about $68 (72 minus the $4 rake) and was called again in two spots.

The river paired the four, making the board J4343. Small blind checked again, and hey, whaddya know, I fired $16 more into the pot. The button folded, and small blind looked me up with J6os. My ten kicker played and I scooped in a sizeable pot. Very next hand I was dealt 87 of clubs in the small blind. Limped in four spots or so, I completed, and the flop came out AQT all clubs. I bet and was called by a few players. The turn was a non club jack, I bet and only got one caller this time. The river was a red seven, I bet and was called by a man who showed the king of clubs and nothing else. My flush was good. Just like that, I flipped around from down a couple stacks to a comfortable profit.

Things went dead again for awhile, so I just hung back and watched the table. Eventually my name was called for 6/12, but I had been scoping out the game in between the 4/8 hands. I noticed a couple regs who were somewhat tight and a prop named Sing who plays pretty well. There were definitely a few players over there that I could exploit, but my 4/8 table was definitely way too awesome to leave. Everyone had healthy chipstacks, everyone was gambling, leaving the table definitely would have been a mistake. Sure, $2 chips are sexy, but I felt like there was more money to be made at 4/8. Had the 6/12 game been a 9/18 game...well then maybe we'd have a coinflip.

After asking to be rolled (put to the back of the list) for 6/12, I was dealt AK UTG+1. UTG called, I raised, called by seat one, seat two three bet, folded around to the blinds who both called, UTG called, I capped, everyone else called. Six ways to a flop of A23 with two clubs. I had the king of clubs in my hand and the ace on the board was also a club. Checked to me and I bet, called by seat one, seat two raised, called by a couple of players, I three bet, called by seat one, called by seat two, called by the other players.

Wow, such sick action, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure how good my hand is. I mean, a lot of 4/8 players are passive calling stations, so A2 or A3 definitely isn't out of the question. The turn was actually a bad card, as it brought out a ten of spades. Checked to me, I bet, and luckily only got three callers...no raising.

The river was a seven, making the board A23T7. Well, I'm sure if someone had 54 I would have known by now, same for most players with a set. My only real worry at the time was maybe someone had two pair of some sort. Checked to me, I still bet, and only got called by seat two. I showed AK and took down a huge pot with just one pair. Weeeee, who says one pair is no good at 4/8.

Won a couple other decent sized pots later on, but none with as much as action as that last hand. Most were just me betting and getting called down, somewhat typical of a 4/8 game. Bet, call, bet, call. Doesn't bother me one bit. After double mushroom beef with rice and a couple diet cokes, I cashed out $280 more than I came with. Thanks for reading, have a happy new year!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

A Quickie before Xmas

First off, Happy Holidays everyone. Religious views and all that aside, I enjoy this time of year for the food and family stuff. My brother picked up an awesome "Bachelor tree" for us the other day and I just had to post it somewhere.



It kinda looks like that. The camera on my phone is terrible so I won't bother posting the actual pic. Anyway, I rolled into Capitol after work Thursday just in time to watch Tony rake in a nice pot over at 4/8. I was third up on both lists and was ready to grind some holiday pokers. The room was pretty busy, I guess people had already gotten their shopping done.

I sat at 4/8 for a couple orbits, won $9, then made my way over to 6/12 with a rack and a half of chips and a smile. CL, Wayne, Wilson, and a couple other regs were already there, and the action seemed loose. My second hand in I woke up with Queens in LP and raised a couple limpers. We saw the flop five handed and it was something like 633. I bet and got a couple callers, wondering if someone was slowplaying a hand. The turn was a five, so an ugly straight got there, but not much else. I bet, another couple of callers. The river was a ten, a perfect card really. I bet and only Claudia called me. My hand was good and we were off.

After that hand seat four ended up opening up, and Wayne asked me if I'd like to move to his seat (seat three) and he'd slide over for me. Wayne and I have been playing rather consistently together for the last month or so, and he knows I like the corner seats (I was stuck in seat six at that moment) so that was nice of him. I also know that he likes being on the left of me when he can, so part of it was him being nice and the other part I'm sure was that he'd like position. I don't mind him having position, as I know he won't three bet me wide and he's actually a nice guy to sit next to.

So I slid over, played through my blinds, then raised over CL's limp (she limps a wide range, and that's an understatement) with pocket sevens, Wilson defended his SB, BB called, and we saw a flop four ways of 732 with two diamonds. Is it going to be one of those nights? Checked to me and I bet, Wilson raised, called in both places, I three bet, Wilson called along with everyone else. The turn was a five, kinda scary since the wheel draw got there as did 64, but both of those would be gutshot straight draws on the flop, and I don't see Wilson Check raising that nor do I see the limpers cold calling two bets back to them with those hands unless they had diamonds mixed in.

I bet the turn, and everyone called. The river paired the seven, giving me quads. Hah, I had been saying in my head to pair the board, but I didn't expect to pair the seven. I bet and only Wilson called. Later on I wondered what Wilson had in this hand and I think it's a midpair like 99-66 (not sevens obviously). I really like his line in the hand for what it's worth if he did indeed have one of those holdings, unfortunately for him I woke up with a hand.

A few hands later I raised Queens from the BB against an LPP limper in seat nine, CL in seat one, and the SB. The flop came out AK5 though with two hearts. Ugh. I bet out anyway because the two LPPs behind me definitely did not have just aces or kings in their range, but unfortunately both of them called. The turn was ten, and at this point I was fairly content with shutting down for the hand. I had picked up a gutshot straight draw, but I was fairly confident seat nine liked her hand on the flop call. Seat one didn't have to have me beat, but I hadn't seen seat nine do anything super crazy postflop. Both players checked through the turn however, and we saw a six on the river.

The hearts missed, and both players checked the turn...hmm, might I be good? I checked, seat nine bet, and then CL folded in seat one. Didn't bet the turn, but now is betting the river? Probably not an ace, but could still be Kx. Maybe a goofy two pair? I called and she turned over J2 of hearts for the missed flush draw. Hmmm, maybe I should have kept barrelling, I could have gotten bet off my hand on the turn.

I can't remember many other hands that vividly, so I'll stop there. Tony ended up coming over from his 4/8 game, replacing the LPP in seat nine. A couple other LPPs went bust and eventually we had a table full of decent players i.e. no bueno. I was up about $300 for the day and was content with breaking the game, even if it was only 7:30pm. Oh well, the games will be there later. I went home, played some Rockband 3 with the bro, ate dinner and crashed out early.

Happy Holidays everyone, enjoy your families and friends.