End of the Year Stuff

I'll post a graph and shit, as well as a shit-load of stats no one will care about, but the grand total was $7500 for the year. Not bad, I started off hot and definitely sputtered in the middle there, but I finished the year off fairly strong with a good December. I was disappointed with the total, but considering I didn't start playing consistently this year until Mid-April, I decided I'm being too hard on myself. I should be satisfied with making $1k/month for something I consider my hobby...

Of course I hope to do even better this coming year, stay tuned for more updates.
_____

Here's the graph...I'm usually pretty bad at computer stuff, so please forgive me if the graph either comes up gargantuan or extremely small...




So I'll break it down a little bit...

Total Profit: +$7522 Total Time: 350Hrs 30 Min Avg/Hr: $21.46
4/8-Kill: TP = +$4875 TT: 230 Hrs Avg/Hr: $21.40 BB/Hr: 2.7
9/18: TP = +720 TT: 50 Hrs Avg/Hr: $14.34 BB/Hr: .8
Vegas: TP = $2276 TT: 60Hrs Avg/Hr: 37.93

The rest of the stuff must be some Cache NL and 3/6, Capitol 4/8, and maybe some other random stuff I don't remember. Those games must have amounted to overall losers because after adding up the 4/8-Kill, 9-18, and Vegas stats I came to $7870, so those other games must have cost me some money :(

Anyway, Cardplayer's poker analyst has been a huge asset to me. Chris (Cbal/Cas) from CP/+1 recommended it to me and I'm glad he did. It makes keeping track of live sessions extremely easy.

That's all for now, any questions or comments would be appreciated so I don't feel like I'm talking to myself here ;)

Take care guys

Session No. 68 Cache Friday (12/28)

4/8-Kill: TP = -$240 TSP = 5 Hrs
NL: TP = -$60 TSP = 1 Hr

Ran bad (understatement)

Was down about $70 when my first table broke, lost a high card draw to four people ( 4 of 5 went to the other table), lost $60 playing NL, came back to 4/8 and couldn't win a hand.

Meh...whatever. I'll have my year end summary up in the next couple of days. Think I made maybe $7500-ish playing live this year? We'll see.

Session No. 67 Cache Thurs Night (12/27)

4/8-Kill: TP = +$375 TSP = 5 Hrs

Ran pretty good (understatement).

Biggest hand of the night

Kill-pot (Stakes are 8/16)

Limped in 2 spots, Hero raises AQ hearts OTB, Kill-blind calls, limper calls, 2nd limper asks if he can just go all-in and makes it 3-bets with 2 chips behind. I cap with the intention of trying to get HU with the 2nd limper and getting a dead $32 in the middle. Both of the other players call instead and now we have a $120+ pot pre-flop.

Tony looks at me and I say "gambooool" :)

Flop: K74 rainbow (~$120)

Kill-blind checks, limper checks, Hero bets, call, call

Turn: Q completes the rainbow (~$144)

Check, Check, Hero bets, call, fold

River: 7 (~$176)

Check, check

I guess I coulda bet, but whatever. I show AQ and rake in a pretty sick pot.

More updates tomorrow...maybe...I'm so tired. Going to bed now...night.

Session No. 66 Cache Thurs Night (12/20)

4/8-Kill: TP = $15 TSP = 4 hours

Ran awesome
Played well
Ran terrible
Played bad

In that order. Made some bad plays tonight I'm not proud of...need to remember I can have fun whilst not playing like an idiot. Good news is I ran good enough early on to outweigh my stupidity. Hey Nik, play better.

K that's all, I'll talk about some hands tomorrow.

lol donkaments

Played the CP Forum Tournament tonight. It was a $10 NL Tourney and I got 3rd out of 22. I thought I played pretty well, got my money in good I think just about everytime...

Big key hands

- Against Champ, AJ vs A8. All-in on the turn, he flopped two-pair and I turned Top-two

- A9 of diamonds OTB folded to me I raise, Loretta shoves from the BB, I call because I think he thinks I'm making a play and he shows A6os. I hold.

- QQ in the BB three-handed...I'm short-stack. Pped raise OTB, I 3-bet out of the BB, he calls. Flop comes...

Flop:

T93 Rainbow

Pot is 9K, I have a little over 9K+, so I shove. He tanks and calls with QJ. Turn and river blank out and I'm CL.

- Still 3-handed, and it's pretty much been a war between me, Cbal and Pped. I feel like I'm losing the battle...I'm kinda lost in the plays going on, but I think I masked that pretty well. Anyway, Pped raises OTB, I 3-bet like I have been with 55, he shoves...I tank and finally call. I figured we were flipping and I didn't want to throw away the chips I invested. He tables AQ

Flop comes K-high...turn Q. Blah. Tourney over. At least Cbal won it haha...go limit players! ;) GG thought to both of them, they played really well.

Session No. 65 Cache Thurs Night (12/13)

4/8-Kill: TP = +$540 TSP = 5 Hours

Hmmm...I ran good tonight? Let's see, I won the aces cracked promotion a couple times (aces cracked wins a rack), and then ran like a God the rest of the time. I'll be back later. Thanks again Tony for driving...

When I post again tomorrow I'll be back to talk about these hands:

KK vs AQ against Dominic in a kill pot
QT of hearts kill pot
99 in a kill pot
_____

Alright well Tony and I got to Cache around 5:30pm or so and barely made it into a 4/8-Kill game, saving it before it broke. We played four handed for about five orbits just to keep the game going, then finally some players came back. Oh, and they had a quad threes promotion running until 6pm...

Anyway, this guy named Chili (hopefully that's how he spells it) sits down and posts the BB after being gone for the entire time we had been there (so maybe five orbits). Anyway, the flop comes A23. This guy in seat six named Dominic talks about how this guy has flopped a set of threes twice already and was wondering if he had done it again. Chili just nods and laughs. The turn is a blank. Chili checks, seat five bets, Chili calls. Right before the river card comes out I yell for a three..."three!" The three hits and it goes check, check. I'm all stoked because I called for a three and it hit...then Chili flips over pocket threes for a $2500 jackpot. So sick. Had we been five minutes later, this guy would have come back to an empty table, instead now he's getting $2500. Oh and he checked it down because the hand must go to showdown to get paid...kinda lame I know...but whatever.

Alright well after this happens I end up tangling with Dominic alot for the next hour. We were across the table from each other (I'm in seat 2, he's in seat 6), and we always seemed to be in each other's pots. Today I was getting the best of Dominic, as I had been outflopping him with my AK vs his QQ and JJ, and Tony was also winning which did not help matters. He called us both "tight" and he even called Tony "Scrooge" because Tony wouldn't complete his SB with 26os LOL...still, he was steaming cause he was getting destroyed. Anyway, this hand comes up where I flop top two pair with AT, and Dominic goes runner-runner diamonds with his A:d:6:d: for a flush.

Very next hand is Dominic's kill pot (because he won two hands in a row), so now he's posting $8 in the SB. I'm somewhere in MP, and I look down at KK. I playfully say "steam raise" and put out 16 yellow chips. Dominic is my only caller and we see a flop of...

Flop: K55

Ha...whoops. Now like I said before, me and Dominic have way too much history at this point for him to just check/fold this flop, so he checks and I fire out an $8 bet. I know I'm unbeatable at this point, but I want him to play back at me. He calls. Hmm...good start.

Turn: A

Now before the turn card hit, Dominic says "you bet again, I raise you." "You promise?" I asked him...he checks, I bet, and he announces a raise and shoves out 32 chips. "Really? Okay call."

River: 9

He bets out $16 and I raise him double-fisted this time. "Ace-king? I guess that's the only cards that beat me...okay I call." I showed Kings-full and he begrudgingly showed AQ. "This guy is too lucky! *ten second pause* But he plays good too, very good."

Awww, can't hate the guy after that. Sheer the sheep, but don't skin them. This guy had been digging into his pocketbook repeatedly, and the stupidest thing I see kids do nowadays is needle guys like this. Dominic likes to talk, so let him talk. I just put on the smile and let my play do the talking. Just be nice to the guy, he's there to play like a fish and drop money, so why needle him into playing better?

After that I ran pretty awesome. I got my aces cracked twice and won a rack of yellow each time, hell I even got one pair of aces to hold. After a couple huge kill pots (the 99 and Q:h:T:h: hands I might talk about tomorrow), I found myself up over $550 in profit. Tony had work in the morning so we played a couple more orbits and called it a night...after a stop by In 'n Out of course.

Session No. 64 Capitol Tues Night (12/11)

TP = +$70 TSP = 4 hours???

Alright well this really was a fun night. After eating some Vietnamese food (Pho!) with Tony and the Superdonk, we decided to check out Capitol and play some 4/8 kill together.

First I sat in a regular 4/8 game waiting for the kill table. I played one hand in three orbits. I ran a turned straight with a re-draw to an open-ended straight-flush draw into a rivered fullhouse...yeah that sucked.

So I finally move over to Tony's 4/8-kill table and am dealt QJ of clubs somewhere in late position. It was probably my second hand at the table, there were a ton of limpers, and I guess I probably should of raised but I didn't. Anyway, we're five or six handed to a flop of...

7:c:9:s:T:c:

Holy God I have an open-ended straight draw, Q-high flush draw, and two overs. Tony who's in the small blinds leads out, gets a few callers, I raise, Tony 3-bets, callers call again, I cap...people call.

Turn: Q:s:

Yay...now I have top-pair. Tony checked, checks to me, I bet, Tony calls, and we get a couple of callers behind him...

River: A:s:

:puke: So lame...checked to me and I check behind expecting to see some A-rag crap take it down. Instead I see Tony with 97os for a flopped two pair (nh) and muck my cards. Boooooo terrible start. Tony said I was about 55/45 against him...I thought it was more like 50/50...I just looked it up and it was 52/48 in favor of me. Oh well, those other players must have had some of my outs considering half of the deck was probably good for me haha...

So I can't really remember much about the rest of the night other than the fact that we were all sitting in a row having fun and the other two were winning while I was about even or stuck most of the night. Eventually people accused us of playing too tight, but that didn't really keep us from getting our hands called down with crap and making more money. So yeah, it was all cool until I looked down at the dreaded 72os UTG.

So Tony likes watching High Stakes Poker (and I pretty much assume anyone who likes poker watches this show because it's awesome). So he had this brilliant idea last time for us to play the 72os game amongst each other for $5 a piece. I was dealt 72 once last session and won with it, so this time we played again, with an extra player so that the big prize was $10 at the end of a hand you win with 72.

Anyway, I get dealt 72os UTG and decide to raise. I had been card dead/quiet for the last few orbits, and the hands had just folded around a couple times, so it seemed as though everyone was getting into passive mode. I could steal the blinds and then get $10...until it got called by two people, 3-bet, and then capped behind me. Oh shit wtf...call?

So I call and am hating life at this point because I'm throwing away $16 to play some stupid game that will only win me $10 added onto the pot when suddenly I see a 2:c: in the window. "Sweet...now maybe I can draw to one mor--" All of a sudden I see a two of diamonds next to the two of clubs, and then a nine of clubs. So so sick. The BB is all-in at this point so I bet out...no way in hell the donk who 3-bet me puts me on a deuce here. Older asian lady calling station calls, donk raises, I 3-bet, lady calls, donk caps as I mutter "what did I get myself into???"

Turn is a Queen of spades. I was already afraid of this guy having 99, and now QQ is def another possibility for his hand. I bet out, lady folds, and the donk calls for his last $7. Everyone is all-in so I show them a deuce. The river is a blank and the players look angry...so that has to be a good sign. They say "that's good but what's your kicker?" and I hurriedly oblige and show my 7-kicker. Tony and the Superdonk are going nuts and I tell them to hurry up and give me my $5!!! :) Ahhh 2 for 2 with the 72...

Of course, after the hand was over I basically said this game was uber-retarded for at least a few reasons...

1. We're playing a limit game.
2. It's a 4/8 limit game and...
3. We're playing at Capitol :)

Whatever, I run goooooooooot. After this my table image was complete garbage and I got paid off nicely when I flopped top two with Ak and won a few other pots with some premium hands. Tony and the Superdonk came up even more than I did and I think we ended up combining for 5 racks of profit against the table...not bad for a few 4/8 TAGs.

Anyway, sorry again for the lack of updates and hopefully I can make some more fun posts like this in the future. Thanks for reading.

Santi is not Bustooooooo!

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone. To put it simply, I just haven't been playing enough to warrant posting here. I've played a few times out at Cache since my last entry, but besides that, it's been all about working and getting sick unfortunately. No worries though, the guys who were out injured or on leave are back and my hours are going back down thankfully.

On another note, I redeposited a little bit of money back online to play in some Cardplayer forum tournaments, and maybe dabble a little bit in some side games. I started off running horrendously, but then I made 100bb in a little over 250 hands at one of my .5/1 6max limit tables and then 20bb at the other two I was multi-tabling and I found myself up a bit and then some. It's good to be back I guess.

Oh and here's a disgusting Stud hand that happened in Event #3 of the Cardplayer Forum POY race...

Sorry Ray :)

*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Tony Eusebio [7d]
Dealt to Ray_agoulti [Th]
Dealt to shiel [2c]
Dealt to Loretta8 [Qh]
Dealt to Nik Santi [5s As Ac]
shiel: brings in for 100
Loretta8: folds
Nik Santi: raises 200 to 300
Tony Eusebio: raises 300 to 600
Ray_agoulti: calls 600
shiel: folds
Nik Santi: raises 300 to 900
Tony Eusebio: calls 300
Ray_agoulti: raises 300 to 1200
Betting is capped
Nik Santi: calls 300
Tony Eusebio: calls 300
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Tony Eusebio [7d] [Qc]
Dealt to Ray_agoulti [Th] [8s]
Dealt to Nik Santi [5s As Ac] [Ah]
Pair on board - a double bet is allowed
Tony Eusebio said, "lol"
Nik Santi: bets 300
Tony Eusebio said, "WTF"
Tony Eusebio: calls 55 and is all-in
Ray_agoulti: raises 300 to 600
Nik Santi: raises 600 to 1200
Ray_agoulti: raises 600 to 1800
Betting is capped
Nik Santi: calls 80 and is all-in
Tony Eusebio said, "**** im ****ed"
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to Tony Eusebio [7d Qc] [6h]
Dealt to Ray_agoulti [Th 8s] [Ts] (Ray had quads at this point)
Dealt to Nik Santi [5s As Ac Ah] [8d]
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to Tony Eusebio [7d Qc 6h] [2d]
Dealt to Ray_agoulti [Th 8s Ts] [Qd]
Dealt to Nik Santi [5s As Ac Ah 8d] [Ad] (I didn't even see my quad aces cause I was pissed at seeing Ray's)
Nik Santi said, "***lcdkl;f klvg'"
Nik Santi said, " dfvmtrmgrw"
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to Nik Santi [5s As Ac Ah 8d Ad] [4s]
Tony Eusebio said, "looool"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Ray_agoulti: shows [Td Tc Th 8s Ts Qd Jd] (four of a kind, Tens)
Nik Santi: shows [5s As Ac Ah 8d Ad 4s] (four of a kind, Aces)
Ray_agoulti said, "gfpgoeqygf"
Nik Santi said, "omg"
Nik Santi collected 2450 from side pot
Tony Eusebio: shows [4h 7c 7d Qc 6h 2d 6s] (two pair, Sevens and Sixes)
Nik Santi collected 4115 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6565 Main pot 4115. Side pot 2450. | Rake 0
Seat 1: Tony Eusebio showed [4h 7c 7d Qc 6h 2d 6s] and lost with two pair, Sevens and Sixes
Seat 3: Ray_agoulti showed [Td Tc Th 8s Ts Qd Jd] and lost with four of a kind, Tens
Seat 4: shiel folded on the 3rd Street
Seat 5: Loretta8 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Nik Santi showed [5s As Ac Ah 8d Ad 4s] and won (6565) with four of a kind, Aces

Session No. 59 Capitol Tues Night (11/6)

4/8: TP = -$60 TSP = 1 Hr
9/18: TP = +$240 TSP = 6 Hrs

I ran pretty bad most of the night....I know alot you are thinking, "well hey, didn't you make some money?" The answer is yes, but I basically won two monster pots (one a little more monster than the other) and that was it. I ran abysmal...and I don't know why. I missed a ton of multi-way draws (two of these were OE straight-flush draws with at least five players) and could have easily been up three or four racks of $3 chips had things gone better. The players playing tonight were pretty awful...like 3/6 Cache Creek players awful.

Here's a post I made on CP about this KK hand that flopped a set, boated up on the turn, and I got a ton of action. Good stuff.

http://forums.cardplayer.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=53988


This is a brag post...but tell me what you'd do on the turn.

Hero is in the Hijack with K :h: K :d:

Pre-flop:
3 Limpers?, Hero raises, Button calls, SB folds, BB calls, Limpers call

Flop: K :s: T :d: 3 :c: (6 Players)

Checks to hero, Hero bets, 4 callers, 1 fold :afro:

Turn: T :s: (5 Players)

Checks to Hero, Hero bets, Button calls, BB calls, UTG calls, UTG+1 raises, Hero calls (This okay?) Button folds, BB folds, UTG 3-Bets, UTG+1 calls, Hero caps, UTG and UTG+1 call

Basically I didn't want to three bet this hand on the turn and drive away anyone drawing to the straight or the flush. I figured if I 3-Bet and get everyone else to fold except UTG+1, that would be kinda stupid since I already have a made hand...is this wrong? Unfortunately everyone behind me folded, but then UTG 3-Bet. Both of them obv have the ten now (or a smaller boat), so I just cap it and give away my hand now that there is so much money in the pot.

River: Blank.

Checks to Hero, Hero bets, both villains call.

:h: Live LHE


Guys over at +1 seemed to like my play a little more than the guys over at CP. Will on CP said it best when he said, "no matter what, you're going to get paid off nicely." Still, I think going for the overcalls was the best play for that table at that time.

Session No. 58 Cache Fri Night (10/26)

TP = $20 TSP = ~4 Hrs

I suck...my results for the last three months have been break-even/winning very little...I'm now looking to turn it up in November.

Session No. 57 Capitol Thurs Night (10/25) Part II

Ahh...so yeah, I've neglected my blog yet again, and forgot to talk about the "7-2 game" I played with Tony. Being avid fans of the poker TV show, High Stakes Poker, Tony asked me if I wanted to play the 7-2 game. Basically if you win a hand against the table with the cards "7-2," you win an additional $5 from every player at the table. Unfortunately, everyone else at the table hated us, so we just played the game amongst ourselves.

Anyway, a few hours go by and I don't remember seeing a seven-deuce hand at all. I had been averaging one huge pot every hour or so...and not much else...so I was a bit antsy at this point. I looked down at 72 of hearts, and decided what the hell, if it gets limped in, I might limp behind. Unfortunately, Tony open-raises from UTG...

I decide, "fuck it" and call his raise. In retrospect, I guess I should have 3-Bet it (lol), but in reality I wanted to represent a small pair and maybe raise him off a hand if all unders come (and he hopeuflly has AK). One player behind me calls and then the sick asian gambler (old Asian lady) in seat 1 defends her BB.

Flop: K:c:T:s:7:d:

I remember hating the King on the flop...and I decided I'd only call one more bet and pray for a seven. Checks to Tony who bets, I call, one fold, and the SAG calls.

Turn: 2:s:

Booooom!!! Hopefully I'm good...checks to Tony, he bets, I raise, SAG calls (crap), and then Tony looks like he's getting ready to 3-Bet, but only just calls. I pretty much decide I'm going to check behind the river if the board gets any uglier...

River: 8:d:

Meh...ugly enough. Checks to me, and I check behind and tell Tony to get my $5 ready. My hand holds and I win the pot and the sweet sweet $5 yellow chip from Tony. He gives me some lip and we have fun badgering each other back and forth for a bit, but hey, it was his idea. :)

The next night I played Cache for four hours and lost $20. I started off running pretty well, but found myself netting another losing session there. Oh well...life goes on.

Session No. 57 Capitol Thurs Night (10/25)

4/8-Kill: TP = +$110 TSP = 4 Hrs 30 Min

I don't get to play with my friend Tony too often, so tonight I decided to sit at the 4/8-Kill game with him at Capitol. I didn't start off too hot, but I after I switched tables, I ended up winning a really nice pot with JT of clubs that I think I played a little weak.

So one player limped, this older Asian woman who was obviously steaming raised, I called (probably could have 3-Bet I guess), guy behind me (30 year old East Indian guy who gambles alot on sports/horseracing, named Hasham IIRC) 3-Bets behind me. Gets called by 3 other people, old Asian lady (we'll call her Sick Asian Gambler or SAG) caps. Everyone calls.

Flop: 7:c:6:s:3:c:

Three checks, SAG bets, I call, Hasham raises, four players call, SAG calls, I just call. Meh...I guess I should have 3-Bet because of the six players in...

Turn: 8:c:

Boom! (I Hope) Checks to me, I check, Hasham bets, called by everyone again, I raise, Hasham 3-bets, all fold except SAG who calls, I cap, both call.

River: Q:d:

SAG checks, I bet, Hasham and SAG call.

I win about a $250 pot with the J-high flush, Hasham ended up having AA with the ace of clubs, and SAG had Q7 with the Queen of clubs I think? Good pot...and I think it was the first hand I won after being there for an hour.

Fast forward another hour or so and I'm only up about $80. I had been folding a lot and only playing my blinds, mostly because of terrible cards. I look down at KQ of clubs after SAG limps in, I raise, get about three other callers.

Flop: 6:c:5:d:3:c:

Checks to me, I bet, two calls, one fold, SAG raises, I 3-Bet, two calls, SAG caps, we all call.

Turn: 8:c:

Checks to me, I bet, only SAG calls.

River: blank

Check, bet, call.

Turns out she flopped the straight...oh well, I run good I guess :) After this hand she was cussing like a storm and tilting like an old pinball machine...pretty funny to watch...too bad Tony got stuck sitting next to her.

Anyway, I'll be back later...I have to talk about a hand involving a 7-2 prop bet me and Tony made at the beginning of the night and some beats I took in a few kill-pots (completely killed my profit for the session).

Session No. 56 Capitol Weds Night (10/17)

4/8-Kill: TP = +$80 TSP = 1 Hr
9/18: TP = -$160 TSP = 5 Hrs

A lot to talk about today...lots. Unfortunately I gotta get to sleep here pretty soon because I have to go into work early (6pm) tonight. Basically I played pretty well at 4/8 and a lot of things went right.

9/18 again started off horrendously slow. I ran into a couple big hands, misplayed a couple hands of my own, folded a ton, and overall things just never went well. I was down from the get-go and never got back up.

The first hand after my "must-move" to the main game absolutely killed me. I was already down about four stacks ($240) and this lost me two more. I get two black tens in the CO with 8 players...oh and it's a kill pot. One player limps in, I raise, then the SB 3-Bets. The limper folds and I just call...hoping for a low flop or a ten obv. There's already 18 $3 chips a piece in there, not to mention the six chips from the limper and the $8 left over from the blinds.

Flop: 8:s:6:s:4:c:

Shit. If he's got an overpair, I'm really fucked...because now I'm probably seeing this hand to the end. The villain leads out, and I pause for a second before raising. He only calls and I start feeling better. Spades maybe? Just overs?

Turn: 4:d:

Good card. He checks, I bet, and he calls rather quickly.

River: 2:h:

He checks, and I opt to check behind. He shows JJ and takes the pot. Talk about a punch in the stomach.

Anyway, things actually got better after that. I flopped a couple of big sets, but an ace on the turn in a kill-pot killed the action on one of them. Oh well...as is life. The game felt really close-nit tonight for some reason, as a lot of pots were being checked down and everyone seemed to know each other. They treated me pretty well too, but still, I don't like games where everyone seems to know one another. Maybe it's because it was pretty late (3am or so), and all that was left playing were the regulars.

Anyway, some feedback would be nice. Leave some love.

Session No. 55 Capitol Tues Night (10/16)

4/8-Kill: TP = +$50 TSP = 1 Hr
9/18: TP = +120 TSP = 3 Hrs 30 Min

I got out to Cap around 9pm or so. To my suprise, the waiting list was virtually non-existent for both 4/8 and 9/18, and I was quickly seated at the 4/8-Kill table. I folded my entire first orbit before winning a hand on my first big blind. Then folded another orbit before winning my second hand on my big blind. Pretty fun. After that I lost a couple pots I limped behind and found myself around +$50. After playing through my blinds and dealer button, I was called over the intercom to head to the 9/18 table.

I headed over to seat two and saw a couple of familiar faces. In seat one was Ahsan (I misspelled his name last blog entry), seat three was this guy named Danny Williams who I used to go to high school with, and seat seven was this middle-aged lady (I think her name is Debbie) who I have played with maybe five times or so. These three were probably the most solid players at the table.

Anyway, I had some really cold cards to start my 9/18 run. I don't think I won a pot for the first hour or so...give or take 10 minutes. I finally got down to 25 $3 chips before finally re-buying and hoping for a turn around. Two big hands later (AJos in a kill pot and QQ), I found myself close to even.

The AJ hand was kind of interesting. First off, I was UTG with seven players at the table. I put six chips out in order to raise, then I hear the dealer say, "alright six chips to call." Huh? Oooops...someone killed it last hand I only just called called UTG with my AJ. Whoops. A guy in seat five who just sat down calls, and it gets folded around to the Ahsan in the BB who decides to fold as well. So we're HU to a flop of...

J:c:3:s:2:s:

I led out, then seat five decided to raise. Interesting...I was scared of a baby set at first, but then I decided there's a ton of other hands out there that this guy might think are good since I didn't actually raise pre-flop. I three-bet and he only called. Looks good so far...if he capped I probably would have wet my pants...

The turn was an eight of hearts. I bet out again and the villain quickly called. At this point I was thinking he either had a weaker jack (KJ-JT) or a flush draw. I didn't want to see anymore paint or anymore spades...

River: K:d:

Hmm...I opted to check and the villain quickly threw 12 chips out there. At this point I have to call, as the only hand that can really beat me is a set or KJ. Hopefully he's bluffing with some whiffed spades or trying to value bet a worse hand. "You got me" the villain said as he flipped over A9 of spades with a scowl. Nice...my check drew out a bluff from a couple of spades.

Anyway, some time goes by and I take a couple beats with 99 and AK, and slowly but surely my stack is going back down. Ahsan felt so bad about cracking my 99 with a gutty, he offered to buy me a beer...nice guy haha. I took a coke instead and all was well. At this point I'm starving and my friend the 4/8 Superdonk texts me and asks me if I want to grab a bite to eat. I tell him to come down to Cap and I'll buy us some food.

Right as he gets there (20 minutes later), I get dealt 76 of spades in the cutoff. It's a full table now and people are limping in with an assortment of crap. Three limpers to me, so I limp behind. I think about six of us see a flop of...

K:d:8:s:4:s:

That's about as good of a flop as I can get. It gets checked around to seat nine who bets. Since there's no one in between me and seat nine, I just call in hopes of building a nice pot. I get three callers behind me and all is well.

Turn: T:h:

Yikes. Missed everything there. It checks around again to seat nine who bets, I call, and everyone else folds. Oh well. Five or a spade please...actually...give me a five of spades so I can win the High hand for the night...

River: 3:s:

Close. Seat nine checked to me and I bet out. He quickly called and was disgusted when I showed my 7-high flush. I think a five of clubs would have got me another big bet, but who am I to complain? That pot brought me up to about even. A couple hands later I flopped trips with QT of clubs in a kill pot and walked away from the table up a couple of stacks.

After eating, I just decided to call it a night. Depending on a couple of different people (girls obv), I may or may not play cards tomorrow night. Stay tuned.

Session No. 54 Capitol Wednesday Night (10/10)

9/18: TP = +100 TSP = 5 Hrs

So after a couple friends of mine took me out to Bucca de Beppo (nice Italian restaraunt) for my B-day, I decided to head on over to Capitol and see if they had any games going. Much to my suprise, I saw it was only three or four deep for the 4/8 games, and the 9/18 game had an open-seat!

I take my seat over at 9/18 where it is short-handed (stayed around 6-7 players for 30 mins or so). I start off the session pretty much card dead, and got down to two stacks ($120) in no time. I buy in for a rack, which is $300 in $3 chips. Anyway, here's a big hand which takes me down to those two stacks.

Hero is in the CO wth AK of hearts; 7-handed. It gets limped in a couple spots, hero raises, Button cold-calls, Blinds call, limpers call.

Flop: A:c:T:h:8:h:

Such a huge flop. It gets checked to me, I bet, Button raises, SB (uber-donk old asian lady) calls, folds to me, I 3-Bet of course, Button calls, SB calls.

Obviously I'm feeling pretty good at this point. The SB could have any assortment of hands, but she usually goes nuts when she has at least two-pair, so I know I have her beat. The button is relatively new to the table at this point. He seems kinda tight, but I still think I'm ahead when he calls my 3-Bet. I remember thinking he either had AQ or some kind of flush/straight combo draw.

The turn is a four of spades. I'm guessing this card helped absolutely no one. SB checks to me, I bet again, both players just call.

The river is a nine of diamonds. SB checks, and I opt to check. At this point I only have top-pair, and while it's probably good...I don't want to get raised. Button ends up betting, SB debates forever and calls, and I overcall.

Button shows a set of tens (WTF???!!!) and takes the pot. SB showed A6 (donk) and I muck my hand whilst saying "wow man nh, I can't beat a set of tens unfortunately." Wow did he play that hand bad...and why the hell do I keep running into monsters?!

Anyway, I get a lot of chips back in the next orbit after I turn the nut straight with KQ and a ton of players in the pot. After that hand, I went card dead again abnd hovered around -$60 for most of the session. About three hours into my session, I get called over to the main game.

The main game was much different from the side 9/18 game. Capitol has this "must-move" system in place where they keep the main game ~full at all times. When you sit down at the second 9/18 table, your name is put on a list, and when it's your turn to go, you must move to the main game. It's a good idea I think.

So I get to the table and one East-Indian guy named Essan recognizes me from Cache. He asked me if I play the 4/8-Kill game alot, and I say "yeah, I thought I recognized you from somewhere." It was a bit of a lie...as I remember the guy a little from seeing him at Cap, but I really don't remember ever seeing him at Cache. Whatever, it doesn't matter.

So things don't change too much at the main game, as I found myself folding a ton. I wasn't being a nit, my cards were just terrible. I finally get a playable hand sometime in my third orbit.

Essan is UTG+1 and open raises. I look down at AA (club/diamond) and three-bet out of seat four. Seat five quickly folds, but seat 6 takes a long time...obviously debating between capping or folding. He finally folds and after that it is folded around to Essan. The BB in the hand (seat 1, cute 35 year old Asian woman) comments that she'd call, but she hasn't seen me play a hand yet. Essan only calls my 3-Bet and we see a flop of...

Flop: T:d:8:h:3:h:

Essan checks to me, I bet, and he Check-raises. I'm about 95% sure I'm ahead here, but I opt to just call in order to raise his turn bet.

Turn: Q:s:

Essan bets and I raise. He think for awhile, and finally just calls.

River: 3:c:

Gooood card. He checks, I bet, and he thinks for what seems like ages before finally calling. I show aces and he mucks. Seat six then tells the table he folded 88 and said he knew we must have had pocket pairs and we'd probably flop set over set against him. Whatever...but good fold on his part I think. I folded for close to three orbits in a row, so if I was in his spot, I'm folding those eights pretty easily. Good thing I didn't get cute and just call Essan's raise (I saw it happen twice when people had Aces).

After that I had AK win a small pot, made a nice little button play with T8s that I might post tomorrow, won with Aces one more time, and then lost a capped pre-flop pot with AKos. All in all I'd say I played pretty well considering the hands I was dealt, but so did the other players. There was maybe a couple weaker players (donks) at the table, but then everyone else was pretty decent. Not spectacular, not necessarily "winning" players, but they were definitely better competition than the 4/8 players out at Cache.

So after my bad run in September, I had been debating on taking an extended break from poker. In all honesty, it'd be good for me to take a month off and spend the time I would spend playing poker on getting into better shape. Aside from the annual Thanksgiving "Turkey Bowl" my grocery store gets together for every year, I really do need to lose some pounds. Unfortunately I'm much too lazy to do both...but then again, I like playing poker...so we'll just see I guess.

Sorry for the rambling, spelling mistakes I'm too lazy to go find, and boringness of a couple paragraphs up there. Thanks for reading, check back in the next couple of days for more hands. Peace.

Frigid Waters and Lack of Updates

Hey guys, sorry I've been gone for so long. I've played a few sessions since my last update, and it's still been pretty bad. A few sessions ago I had a slew of beats/coolers that just about made me cry. Anyway, I've been pretty busy, so the updates have been scarce. I'll post my September stats within the next couple of days, and might even give a couple detailed entries about my sessions.

First though, here's a pretty nasty hand.

Hero open-limps with 44 UTG. The Superdonk raises from UTG+1, called in a few spots, both blinds call.

Flop: 643 two hearts

SB donk bets, Hero raises, SuperDonk folds, called in a couple spots.

Turn: 6

SB bets, Hero raises, 1 fold, SB calls

River: 6

:puke:

SB had 65. Good thing she bet out and I flipped my hand over without calling, so I accidentally tricked her into just showing her quads.

Session No. 50 Capitol Thursday Night (9/27)

4/8 Kill: TP = +$160 TSP = 4 Hrs

I'll be back to update...but I started out horribly, and almost left down $200. Good thing I hung in there and grinded out a win...

Quick note: Live players still suck...really suck. There were a couple players who were noticeably trying to play well...but everyone else there just liked to gambooooool.

I tried to get in the 9/18 game...but by the time my name was called, I was close to calling it quits for the night and didn't want to get stuck playing tired at a game I wasn't entirely comfortable with yet.

Also, I ended up playing with a dealer from Cache who recognized me (obv...I'm the 4/8 Superstar for fuck's sake), and she actually asked, "Hey where's your partner?" You hear that Superdonk? Someone does care about you...For the record, it was the dealer Tria (I think that's her name), you know, the one that looks like J-Dubb (Jaclyn).

Anyway, I'll update tomorrow...time to crash. Tony and SD, make sure I wake up in time for lunch tomorrow.

Session No. 49 Cache Friday Night (9/21)

TP = -$300 TSP = 5 Hrs

I dunno what's going on. Variance hell perhaps? I went with my partner (4/8 SD) again, and things just started off terrible and went terrible from there.

I've said this before and I'll say it again, I don't post about beats. Maybe it's superstition, maybe it's having to read/hear about every bad beat story known to man when people want to talk about poker...whatever it is, I hate telling those stories. Maybe a quick exerpt here about how it was a big pot and it would have been nice to hold...but that's about it.

I asked my friend if he could see me doing anything particularly bad as of late, and he had no answers for me. "You're playing fine...you're just not running good." I guess I have to take his word for it. I mean, can I seriously trick myself into thinking I'm playing well when I'm actually not? I don't think I can...

One thing about my game that I really like is my ability to be honest with myself. I know when I'm playing less than optimal, and I can usually straighten it out from there. I read, study, critique, and discuss poker ideas everyday...I should be able to beat a 4/8 game! But there are days when a guy is going to call your 3-Bet cold with T6os and river a gutterball on you...those days happen...it's why the game is profitable. It just seems so unfair when it happens to me.

Anyway, I'll stop moping around now and try to pull something positive from it all. I've been killing Cache's 4/8 game for almost five months now. It may not seem like a lot to some people, but I think I'm still up close to 3-4K from that game averaging somewhere between 2-3BBs/Hr (I honestly don't know the numbers now because I've been on such a terrible skid...but it was 3BBs/Hr). Even after dropping about $800 this month, I've only felt like I was tilting in a couple bursts of hands. Overplaying, calling down when it's painfully obvious I'm beat...but that's maybe a hanful of mistakes. Considering the bad run, I think that's understandable...

Not sure where to go from here. I haven't had a losing month in probably over a year, but that's alright, I need to face some adversity. Will the 4/8 Superstar fight his way back to the top of the 4/8 Poker World? Or will the donk-masses send him into an early retirement and force him to take up competitive scrabble? Find out on the next exciting blog entry of the 4/8 Superstar!

Session No. 48 Cache Thurs Night (9/20)

4/8 Kill: TP = +$145 (3BBs/Hr) TSP = 6 Hrs

So the 4/8 Superdonk (in case no one has noticed, this is my friend that I regularly go with that needs his name to be hidden haha) and I rolled into Cache around 6:30pm and joined a 4/8 table that was down to six players. My initial reaction to the table was that it was filled with a bunch of calling stations and maybe one ~solid lag.

I started out really hot, winning maybe four or five pots in the first couple of orbits, and I quickly found myself up $160 or so. The hands were pretty standard, so I won't go into them, but they included K9 of spades making a flush out of the SB, QT of clubs flopping TP with the flush draw, AK flopping a K, and TT on an all unders board. I basically won the same amount of hands in 30 minutes as I had won the previous session. As you can tell from reading my results at the top of the page, I basically had a break-even session the rest of the day though, which is a bit disappointing, but not without some fireworks and odd plays from me.

The first weird hand is Q9 of hearts in the Hijack. It gets limped in a few spots in front of me, and this had been a pretty passive table, so I decided to limp behind and try to flop a good draw. In all honesty, this is pretty close to the bottom of my limping range. The Superdonk calls behind me, the button folded, and then the small-blind in seat 6 raised.

The SB was a bit of a wannabee hotshot. He was a younger Asian kid (22-25) wearing sunglasses (hahahaha) with his white nike hat tilted to the left a little bit. He was trying to criticize player's for their play as of late, but he wasn't exactly playing great. He was open-limping a ton from EP and fired out with mid-pair waaaaay too much against multiple opponents.

Anyway, he raises, and all of the limpers call. He hadn't raised much all day, just a lot of limping, so I'm thinking AK+, JJ+...he's probably not raising much else from the SB. As the dealer is putting out the flop, the Jack of clubs is the window card. I figure I need a ten or a couple of running hearts to even continue in the hand...

Flop: J:c:T:h:3:h:

How about both? SB leads out, two folds, one call, Hero raises, 1 fold, SB 3-Bets, one call, Hero caps, 2 calls

Turn: 8:s:

Boom. One of my 15 outs is there. SB checks (lame), one check, Hero bets, two calls

I was a bit disappointed the kid didn't lead out here. I'm pretty sure he had QQ+, but then again, if I whiffed the turn, I could have taken a free card.

River: 7:c:

Meh...might kill my action. 2 checks, Hero bets, 2 calls. I show them the nuts and take down a nice pot. The SB looked pretty pissed, but he told me "nice hand" and said I had a huge flop. I thanked him and stacked the chips without saying much.


The next hand I want to talk about is one that I'll probably post in the forums. Lately, when talking about these loose-passive lower-staked games, posters whose games I respect advocated raising suited-aces when you were in position with a lot of limpers in front of you. I had always done this with ATs+, but usually not much lower.

Anyway, I have A4 of hearts and there's three limpers in front of me, I raise, thinking I'll control this hand like I normally do, and play the flop pretty straight forward. I had shown down a lot of good hands, and basically when I raised, people were letting me control the action. It was very rare for someone to try and take the lead away from me.

Unfortunately, the 4/8 Superdonk 3-Bets me and drives away the blinds and all but one of the limpers. Crap...bad timing. The limper called the 3-Bet and I also just called.

Flop: 6:h:5:c:3:s:

Nice flop. I'm open-ended and have a backdoor heart draw. I went from check/folding this flop to maybe being able to take control of the hand again. I had a couple different plans in mind for this flop, but the limper led out. Odd...now I have a new strategy. I figure if the Superdonk (SD) has AK, I can raise him off of it here and pick up a couple ace-outs...so I raise. The SD 3-Bets, the limper calls and I just call. I know SD has an over-pair now, probably TT+, but more than likely it's QQ+.

Turn: 2:c:

I'm such a luckbox :) The limper checks, I check (fully intending to CR), and then the SD checks. Dammit. I guess I could have donk bet here, but I was hoping the SD would bet/fold here. The board is ugly, and I guess the original limper could have 44 or something like that, but I'm pretty sure he had me on a hand like 88 or 99 here. He must have been afraid of the limper.

River: J:s:

This time the limper leads out. Now I was pretty sure the limper didn't have a straight, as she was the type to just donk bet when she had a hand, and so I figure she has two-pair or a horribly played set. I could have just called and hoped for an overcall from the SD, but I opted to raise. The SD debated for awhile, and actually called my raise. He told me later on that my play had him really confused and he just couldn't lay the hand down. The limper also called. I show my 4 for a straight and take down a nice pot. The limper had 65 for a flopped two-pair and the SD had KK. I got some crap from seat 1 (some donk on a good run) for raising with A4-suited, but I try to not care what a 4/8 donk thinks of my play ;)

____


Okay back again...I wanted to talk about a hand that I thought my buddy played pretty well and got him a pot that he wouldn't have won had he played it passively.

It gets limped in one spot in EP, Hero raises with KQ of spades in LP, SB (the superstar I talked about earlier) called and BB also called.

Flop: A:s:Kc:9:s:

This is a huge flop for the hero. Mid-pair good kicker/Nut-flush draw, but knowing most 4/8 tables, a weak-ace is probably out there. It gets checked to a MP limper who donk bets. Hero raised, SB called, BB folded, and then the MP limper 3-bet. Hero capped and the SB went into the tank. At first I thought he had the spade draw, but now I knew he had a weak-ace (maybe a strong ace (AJ, AT maybe?) and decided to lay it down.

It gets checked down from there after blanks hit both the turn and river and the hero wins the pot after the MP limper showed K7os. Wow...just wow. The Superstar in the small-blind was heated and even got into an argument with the guy over how he played the hand. Good stuff.

Session No. 47 Cache Friday Night (9/14)

4/8 Kill: TP = -$300 TSP = 4 Hrs?
2/4 NL: TP = -$200 TSP = 1Hr 30 Mins

So yeah...about owning Cache on Friday nights...

Like I've mentioned before, I absolutely hate talking about bad beats as an excuse for a losing session, but I am going through variance hell right now.

I got to Cache around 130am, and noticed they only had one 4/8 table going. Extremely odd for a Friday night...so I sat down at NL for a good hour or so instead of playing 3/6. Around my 2nd orbit or so I ~doubled up with 44 vs some guy's overpair (supposedly, he never showed).

Action went something like

Pre-flop: Limper calls 4, Hero limps behind, folds to villain who raises to 14, folds to original limper who folds, I call.

Flop: J73 rainbow

Hero checks, Villain checks

Turn: 4 (bingo!)

Hero bets $20, Villain raises to $50, Hero shoves and gets called. River is a blank hero wins...

Soemtime after that I lose a sizeable pot to a guy who has Kings vs my Jacks on an all unders flop. I'm lucky I didn't lose more.

Now, onto the beats.

Hero has 99 in UTG+1. Hero raises to 15, called by the cutoff, button, small blind, and the big blind.

Flop: J:s:9:h:7:h:

Yuck...coordinated board for sure. Small blind leads out for $20, one fold, Hero raises to $75, folds to small-blind who shoves for like $150 total, Hero snap calls.

Showdown: Small blind has J7os for two pair, Hero is ahead with a set of nines.

Turn: J:h:

GG 2-outer :(


After that I'm left with something like $50 in front of me after getting sucked out on for a $400+ pot...I rebuy, lose a little more, and finally get called over to 4/8. Aside from the horrendous suckout, the game was beatable, it was just too slow to my liking. Plus it was only a 50BB max-buy, so there wasn't much room for creativity and no one was really ever that deep.
__________________

So I get to the limit table and proceeded to lose my first couple of hands where I get rivered after flopping TPTK

Hero has K:d:Q:d: UTG

Pre-flop:
Hero raises, called in four spots, Sb folds, BB calls

Flop: K:s:T:d:8:h:
BB checks, Hero bets, called in four spots, BB folds

Turn: 4:h:
Hero bets, Called in four spots

This is where it gets fun. The table was loud and having a good time, so I was talking a little bit and actually say to Frank the dealer. "Alright Frank, I think I'm gonna need some help here...give me the four of spades." Frank owes me one at this point, as we had been talking about the NL hand where the dude hit a 2-outer on me to take in a $400+ pot (he's the one that dealt it). Ftr, I know dealers don't control the cards, and everything I'm saying at this point is all in good fun.

River: 4:s:

"Boom! Hey do I get anything for calling out the card?"

Hero bets

Frank: "Yeah, you get the pot it looks like..."

One caller, one fold, then seat three raised. Ohhhhh wtf??!! Folds to me, I call, other caller calls.

Villain shows 94os for runner-runner trips. jocernjfn3eklrnfosjkncjerjcf bek khcwb wc~!QW#$W#w#$w#E z`knsqonx!!@!@!$%#$%#$#

"Huh? Seriously? So you had a running two pair draw, running trips draw, and a backdoor straight draw of sorts? Nice hand...what are you doing to me Frank?!"

Yeah that was bad. I haven't had one of those kind of beats in awhile...and I'm sure I was dodging a ton of other outs, but why did I have to lose to the idiot staying in with 9-high? Why couldn't I lose to the guy with a gutterball or something?

So we go to the next TPTK hand where I have AQos UTG.

Pre-flop:
I raise, a couple callers, folds to BB who calls

Flop: A:c:T:c:7:s:
BB checks, Hero bets, one caller, one fold, BB raises, Hero 3-Bets, Caller calls two more, BB only calls

Turn: 8:s:

BB checks, Hero bets, one call, BB calls

River: 8:h:

Sweet...that eight shouldn't have helped anyone...

BB bets out. wttgdgvfgvddwbhjbwerhjdb3bvd3zq21!@#$#$e$%er%^!!@!@!@&&^!

WTF is going on??!!^RG&

Hero calls, one fold

BB shows J:c:8:c: for trip eights. Ack! Another running trips hand...but at least the villain in this hand (the 4/8 Superdonk) had a gutterball and J-high flush draw...still dirty though.


Final beat of the night was A:c:A:d: in a kill pot OTB 7-Handed

A couple limpers, I raise, four callers

Flop: J:c:T:c:3:h:

Checks to me, I fire, I get two callers (one is the BB and one guy is now all-in)

Turn: 6:c:

Kinda ugly...but BB checks to me. Now I've seen BB play his flush draws and top-pair aggro, so I think I'm still pretty far ahead...plus I have the nut-flush draw now if I get Check-raised.

I bet, BB calls

River: Q:h:

Meh...ugly. BB checks, I check behind and tell him I have an over-pair. He says "I have two pair" and shows Q:c:T:d: "I had the club draw..."

Yeah, on the turn. I had the guy down to five outs (two tens, three queens), and if a club hits, he's probably dumb enough to lead/call. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttyyy...


So yeah...hating life right now. At least my parents met up with me at the truck stop this morning and bought me and the 4/8 Superdonk breakfast at 7am...ahh, gotta love the parents...and chicken-fried steak and eggs.

Don't worry, I'm down...but I'm not out. Probably taking the next few days off because of work, but I should be back at it sometime around Tuesday. If I think of anymore hands to post...I'll post them.

Leave some love.

Late.

Session No. 46 Cache Thursday Night (9/13)

TP = -$280 TSP: 4 Hrs

So yesterday I had this blog entry I was working on that was going to talk about how I had yet to run truly bad at 4/8, and that maybe I was just better off playing 4/8 just as often as I played 9/18. Maybe I jynxed myself?

So I sat at NL for about an hour, won one hand, but was lucky enough to stack some poor donk who limped his AK. After that I raised a couple hands pf, whiffed, and left the table up about $30.

I strolled over to 4/8, saw a couple familiar faces (weak players), and won my very first hand with QT of spades. Awesome...maybe tonight was going to get better. Two hours later, I had yet to win another hand and I was stuck close to $300. I had lost with AK, Kings once, Queens twice, and Jacks twice. Safe to say this just wasn't my day...

It's okay though, tonight is Friday night, and I own Cache on Friday nights in my career. Hopefully I'll win more than three hands.

All Better

Ahhh...much better. I can't remember the last time I was sick like that. I mean, I ditched countless days of school, called in sick to work a few times, but I was never really "sick."

I went back to work Thursday night (still sick, just not contagious) and grinded out five days of nights because our crew is short-handed this week, finally got off sometime around 8am yesterday, and proceeded to sleep from 11am-1am...woke up for a little while, then slept from 4am-9am. Needless to say, now I feel great and as refreshed as ever. I'm off until Saturday night (11pm), so I plan on playing as much poker as possible, probably starting either late tonight or tomorrow during the day. It's probably going to be a couple of 4/8-Kill sessions and at least one 9/18 session. Wish me luck, and as always, stay tuned for updates.

Sick

This sucks, I was set on playing cards once I got some days off but of course I had to go and get sick. I had a sore throat this morning with a fever after I got home from work, so I decided to attempt to sleep it off. I woke up around 9:30pm and felt better, besides the sore throat. I ate a little bit, then proceeded to throw it all up...lame. I guess Cache is going to have to wait until next weekend...maybe Cap tomorrow?

August Stats and YTD

9/18: TP = +$665 TSP = 28 Hrs BB/Hr: 1.3BB/Hr
4/8 Kill: TP = +$545 TSP = 7 Hrs BB/Hr: 9.7BB/Hr :)
4/8: TP = +$65 TSP = 4 Hrs BB/Hr: 2BB/Hr

August Overall: TP = +$1275 TSP = 39 Hrs $/Hr: $32.69/Hr
Year to Date (as of 4/17/07): TP = +$6757 TSP = 249 Hrs $/Hr: $27.14/Hr

This was a pretty good month overall for me in terms of $/Hr. Overall though, I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I was such a slug this past month when it came to getting up and going out and playing. The waiting lists at Capitol frustrate me beyond belief and car trouble kept me from going out to Cache more than once this month. I wonder if anyone noticed out there...

Anyway, my goals for September are pretty simple: Play more, keep playing well. I figure if I play my game and play when I'm feeling good, I should do just fine. I'm going to talk to my boss at work and try and get a Friday or Saturday night open in order to go out to Cache. Saturday nights are the most profitable nights for me when it comes to Cache...I'm guessing the drunk weekend gamblers (duh)? The play is so terrible out there...

That's all for now...I vow to play more, win more, and update more. Wish me luck.

Oh, and don't be afraid to comment once in awhile ;-)

- Nik <----Likes feeling loved

Session No. 45 Capitol Thursday (8/30)

9/18: TP = +$185 TSP = 4 Hrs 30 Min
4/8: TP = +$25 TSP = 1 Hr

So it had been about a week since I had been back to Cap...and I think I've only played at Cache once or twice this month :(

Honestly, I've been having a bit more of a social life as of late, coupled with work and overall laziness = less time to play cards. I took a week off at the beginning of this month, planning to play a bunch in the last three weeks. But car trouble, girls, and a hot weather can be blamed for me basically turning into a slug. I could play today and grind...but I'm working on little sleep and I just don't see it happening.

So, the daytime Cap players aren't much better than the night-timers. I folded a lot at 4/8 and I folded even more at 9/18. I won a couple big pots after losing a couple stacks, and then proceeded to be card dead for the rest of the day. The highest I was up was maybe $230 or so, and the lowest I was down was probably about $120.

The biggest hand of the day was KQ of clubs in the Cutoff. Two limpers, I raise, SB and BB come along for the ride with the two limpers.

Flop: J:c:9:s:3:c:

I flopped a gutty with a flush draw. Checked to me, I bet, one fold, the rest called.

Turn: 6:c:

Beautiful card...knowing Cap players, I'm pretty sure the Ace-high flush raises that flop or bets into me. It gets checked to me, I bet, BB calls, and then one of the limpers raises me, I 3-Bet, BB folds, and then the limper just calls.

River: T:d:

Limper leads out again, I raise, He calls and I win the pot. He didn't show, but I'm guessing he had a lower flush...

After that hand I won a few small pots, lost a few small pots, and played until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I went home, slept for a few hours, went to work, and now I'm here...

Not the best day, but it's better than losing $600 I guess :)

Sunday Morning Ramblings

Good morning. It's currently 9:35am on Sunday morning and all of my friends are alseep...meanwhile I'm wide awake after an eight hour graveyard shift and am currently bored out of my mind. So I figured, what's more exciting than posting a poker blog update?! Okay anyway, last night at work I was thinking about a situation which happened a few weeks ago at Capitol (local card-room), which made me think deeper about the opponents I'm playing against.

When I first started off playing poker, one question that always bothered me was: "Where does the money come from?" They say that pros like Phil Ivey and Barry Greenstein make millions upon millions of dollars a year playing this game..."but who are the players losing those millions?" After awhile, I was able to go into the cardroom and pick out who the donators were...funny thing is, nowadays, it's harder for me to find the winners.

The last thing I want to do is sound cocky...but I think I play Limit Hold 'Em pretty well. I have good days, I have bad days, but at the end of the month I'm usually up somewhere between 1.5-3BBs/Hr...not bad for something that I consider my hobby. I've put in my share of work though...from reading Sklansky and Malmuth books to getting/receiving criticism in the forums; poker strategy makes up a big part of my day. You can't just wake up one day, decide you're going to play poker everyday, and then expect to win 2BBs/Hr. I think it's amusing when people come to the forums and ask what a good expected winrate is..."well, it depends...can you play?"

The point I'm trying to get at is: my opponents aren't very good...and the ones that are good have entirely too much gamble/tilt issues in them. In the past few weeks playing at Cap's 9/18 game, I have seen some atrocious play. I used to think 10/20 would be this epic game where everyone was a TAG and the players were just sickly awesome...whoops. The truth is, some players have more money to lose than others...so they play higher. I heard the exact same stories during my last couple of trips to the Bellagio while I was in Vegas. I was told by a handful of different people at different points in my trip that "the 15/30 game is juicy...and the 30/60 game is even juicier...you just need a roll behind you." And you know what, I tried the 15/30 game...and they were right. It was like playing at Cache, except there were a couple more good players and a couple more maniacs. If you're good enough, determined enough, patient enough, and honest enough with yourself...it might not matter what stakes you play for (just don't forget the BR).

So that was a ridiculously long prelude to this story I thought of. It was a few weeks ago and some guy had just sat down on my 9/18 table. He had folded KK on the turn on an AA62 board when it was bet and raised before him. Easy fold right? Not according to my table...oh, did I mention he would have hit the Bad Beat Jackpot?

Random Sick Asian Gambler (RSAG): How can you not call there?
Poor Bastard (PB): It was bet and raised before it got to me!
RSAG2: Yeah, but you gotta think about the jackpot!!!
RSAG: Yeah the Jackpot...it was only $16. If it was this game (9/18), then maybe I fold.
PB: But I thought they both had an Ace...
RSAG: It doesn't matter, it's just 4/8, two aces on the board, you have to play for the jackpot!

WTF right? That's such a sickly easy fold it's not even funny. Anyway, here's the HH for anyone who cares

PB: KK
Villain1: QQ
Villain2: AJ

PF: Capped
Flop: AA6: Capped by both villains (wtf is QQ thinking?
Turn: 2 QQ bets, AJ raises, KK folds
River: A

QQ gets rewarded for his moronic play by getting the big percentage of the Bad Beat Jackpot.


Anyway, my point is...sometimes the players who aren't completely retarded just don't care about playing well. Maybe this is why 4/8 was so profitable for me. Some people just don't give a fuck whether they play like shit or not..."it's just 4/8." While that can spell out absolute nightmares on somedays for good players...it's also what makes killing the game for 3+BBs/Hr over the long haul absolutely possible.

Session No. 44 Capitol Wednesday Night (8/22)

TP = -$600 TSP = 4 Hrs 30 Mins

Fucking fuck life...I ran so terrible it's ridiculous. I'm not the type to cry about beats and coolers...so I won't...but I got cold-decked pretty bad tonight. I can remember specifically four hands where it's like I was just destined to get destroyed.

Luckily I'm still up $400 this week just thanks to my good sessions Saturday and Monday, but boy did this session put a damper on things. I was feeling really well after running terrible in July, and now this happens. I'm going to sleep it off and think about how I played tonight and look deep within myself to see if it was running bad, playing bad, or a combo of both.

Session No. 43 Capitol Monday Night (8/20)

4/8 Kill: TP = +$40 TSP = 1 Hr BB/Hr: 5BB/Hr
9/18 Kill: TP = +$440 TSP = 5 Hrs BB/Hr: 4.89BB/Hr

Alright well after having a great run at Cache Saturday night, I was pretty eager to get back to the tables. I got to Cap around 7pm and found myself eighth on the 9/18 waiting list. The one thing I can't stand about Cap is the time I spend on the waiting lists there...it's ridiculous. Cache almost never has a wait...

Anyway, the 4/8 Kill game was pretty boring...I won two solid pots, and folded the rest of the time...pretty standard for that game. I don't like this game as much as Cache Creek's...mainly because there is no kill-blind after the player kills the pot. So the stakes double, but there's no real incentive to steal...

So after an hour of waiting I get called over to the 9/18 game and proceeded to raise my first three of five hands. I had AK twice and AQ once. I took the pots down with c-bets all three times...and only hit the flop once (AQ on a board of KQ7).

So I got three premiums right away...with almost nothing to show for it. Oh well. The next couple of orbits I folded mostly, but then the fourth orbit saw more raising from me. I raised AK from the cutoff, and again I won with a c-bet...ugh, tight table.

A couple hands later I looked down at 66 in MP. It folds to me, so I raise. I get cold-called twice behind me (both weak players) and then the BB also called (another weak player). I thought I was screwed for sure, but the flop came...

Flop: K96 with two clubs

Boom. BB checks to me, I bet, and get called by all three players. Nice.

Turn: 3 of spades

Check, Bet, called twice.

River: 4 of clubs

Weak. Oh well...I fire anyway. Called in both spots and still take down a nice pot.

After that hand I was up close to $170 and feeling good. Unfortunately, I went card dead for about an hour and a half and could not get anything going. I basically blinded/whiffed myself down to -$40 or so before I went on a ridiculous run.

The first hand of this run was a lucky flop out of my BB. I had 52 of clubs and it was limped around...I check and see a flop of..

Flop: 322 rainbow.

Haha nice. SB leads, I call, UTG raised, folded around, SB only calls, I 3-Bet, both call

Turn: Q

SB checked, I bet, UTG called, SB folds

River: 7

I bet, UTG called and I win the pot.

Two hands later I was dealt 44 OTB. It gets limped in three spots before me, I call, SB completes BB checks

Flop: 433 with two diamonds

BOOM! Gets checked to the Cutoff who bets, I call, two other callers

Turn: 7 of diamonds

Checks to Cutoff who bets, I call, one fold, EP Check-Raises, Cutoff 3-Bets, I Cap, EP folds, Cutoff calls all-in and shows 73

River blanks out and I hold up for a nice pot.

Very next hand I win with a c-bet, so that makes the next hand a kill pot. I get dealt JTs hearts behind two limpers and we see a flop five-handed.

Flop: Q:h:8:h:7:c:

Checks to me, I bet, get called in two spots.

Turn: K:h:

Oh wow, I now have an open-ended straight-flush/Royal-flush draw. Checks to me, I bet, button calls

River: 8:d:

Hmm...I bet, button calls. I show a Jack-high flush and win another good pot.

After that I won a couple more big hands and the highest I found myself up was about $700 ($1K total in chips in front of me), but I lost a couple big hands toward the end of my night and ended up "only" coming up $440. I cashed out, grabbed a bite to eat with my friend, then called it a night.

Not bad...Up close to 1K in a little over 48 hours...this game really is amazing.

Session No. 42 Sat Night Cache Creek (8/18)

TP = +$505 TSP = 6 Hrs BB/Hr: 10.5BB/Hr

Had a great session obviously. Couldn't do much wrong...one guy commented that all my pairs were holding up (most were), and my AK was hitting (it was). Had I not gotten run down by a fairly sick two outer and another disgusting beat...I may have ended this session up even more! Of course, I can't complain whatsoever...I'm just glad I had a good session at Cache again. It's been awhile since I ran well there.

Anyway, here's a good hand. Six or so players to the flop...

Hero has 66 in Hijack
Villain1 has AJ in the Cutoff
Villain2 has AJ OTB

Flop: AJ6 Rainbow (BOOM!)

Don't remember the action much, but I led out and was only called.

Turn: 3 Completes Rainbow

I bet, CO raises, Button 3-bets, I cap, both call

River: 2

I bet, both call

:)


Might be back later...I need to crash....soooooooooooo tired

Three Capitol Sessions (8/9, 8/11, 8/14)

So basically I've been terrible about updates lately. I played last Thurs and won a little over $100...played Saturday and came up $300, then tonight came up $300 again.

I'll be back tomorrow morning (late-afternoon more likely) to update and post some HHs. Tonight I was close to being down $500...but I won a ridiculous pot (close to $700) with a set of tens, which propelled me back upwards.

Anyway...I'll update later...make sure you check back.
______

Here's the hand that got me back. BOOM!

9-Handed; 9/18

Hero has T :s: T :d: in the Hijack


Pre-flop:
2 limpers, 2 folds, Hero raises, 1 fold, Button calls, SB calls, BB 3-bets, 2 calls, Hero caps, all call

Flop: T :h: 9 :h: 3 :c: (6 players; $216)

SB checks, BB bets, 2 calls, Hero raises, Button folds, SB folds, BB 3-Bets, 2 calls, Hero caps, All call

Turn: 5 :s: (4 players; $360)

BB bets, 1 call, 1 fold, Hero raises, BB 3-Bets, 1 call, Hero caps, two callers

River: K :s: (3 players; $576)

BB bets, 1 call, Hero raises, BB calls, 1 call


Hero shows TT and wins ~$684
BB had AA and I dunno what the other guys had...but that was almost a $700+ pot and put me up after being down almost $500!

On Break

Sorry for the lack of updates lately guys, but I needed a break from both live poker and updating this blog. I never realized how much I hate talking about losing sessions :)

In all seriousness, I feel like when I talk about a bad session, it goes something like this: "I made a mistake here and there, but I think I mostly ran bad. I ran ridiculously well two months ago, so I can see how variance might be kicking in a little." I don't like saying that everytime, but I honestly can't see myself doing anything wrong. Maybe I'm right, or maybe I'm delusional, either way, I'm not going to post about coolers or suckouts over and over...it's just not my thing.

So I'm jumping back on the horse tomorrow. My goal for the month is to play the 9/18 game at a minimum of 40 hrs this month and hopefully churn out 2BB/Hr. I think this goal is both challenging yet attainable.

I did play poker this past Sunday for what it's wortth. It was Capitol's $60 Donkament, and the only reason I went is because one of my co-workers wanted me to go with him. This was my first live tournament in over two years...and I was out by the second level.

Hero has 850 in chips, Villain 1 has 2K, Villain 2 had 550

Hero is dealt KK UTG

Pre-flop:
Hero limps, 3 folds, Villain1 calls, 2 folds, Villain2 shoves, everyone folds to me, I over-shove, Villain1 doesn't see me overshove and calls Villain1's shove...debates for awhile, then puts in the extra 300 for my shove.

Cards are flipped

Hero has KK
Villain 1 has 88
Villain 2 has A4 of diamonds

Flop: J93 no diamonds
Turn: 8 Fuck
River: Blank

Terrible...this is why I hate tournaments. So I go to put my name on the 9/18 list and find myself 21st on the list. No thanks...I fork up the $5 to my buddy Rick for the last longer bet I just lost between him and his uncle and I bounce.

Anyway, like I said, I'm playing tomorrow and can't wait. Should be fun.

Screwing Around Online Before Work

Haven't played online poker in like two months...welcome back? :)


PokerStars Game #11264671107: Hold'em Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2007/08/02 - 01:38:50 (ET)
Table 'Predappia' 6-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Nik Santi ($21.85 in chips)
Seat 2: hallasgallas ($8.45 in chips)
Seat 3: laf_06 ($15.75 in chips)
Seat 4: dillio123 ($20.45 in chips)
Seat 5: AA$_4ALaydee ($13.25 in chips)
Seat 6: afroworm ($23.75 in chips)
AA$_4ALaydee: posts small blind $0.25
afroworm: posts big blind $0.50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Nik Santi [Th Ts]
Nik Santi: raises $0.50 to $1
hallasgallas: calls $1
laf_06: calls $1
dillio123: folds
AA$_4ALaydee: calls $0.75
afroworm: calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [Qh 8c Td]
AA$_4ALaydee: checks
afroworm: bets $0.50
Nik Santi: raises $0.50 to $1
hallasgallas: calls $1
laf_06: calls $1
AA$_4ALaydee: raises $0.50 to $1.50
afroworm: folds
Nik Santi: raises $0.50 to $2
Betting is capped
hallasgallas: folds
laf_06: calls $1
AA$_4ALaydee: calls $0.50
*** TURN *** [Qh 8c Td] [Qs]
AA$_4ALaydee: bets $1
Nik Santi: raises $1 to $2
laf_06: raises $1 to $3
AA$_4ALaydee: raises $1 to $4
Betting is capped
Nik Santi: calls $2
laf_06: calls $1
*** RIVER *** [Qh 8c Td Qs] [2d]
AA$_4ALaydee: bets $1
Nik Santi: raises $1 to $2
laf_06: calls $2
AA$_4ALaydee: calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Nik Santi: shows [Th Ts] (a full house, Tens full of Queens)
laf_06: mucks hand
AA$_4ALaydee: mucks hand
Nik Santi collected $30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $30.50 | Rake $0.50
Board [Qh 8c Td Qs 2d]
Seat 1: Nik Santi showed [Th Ts] and won ($30) with a full house, Tens full of Queens
Seat 2: hallasgallas folded on the Flop
Seat 3: laf_06 mucked [Qd 6d]
Seat 4: dillio123 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: AA$_4ALaydee (small blind) mucked [8d 8s]
Seat 6: afroworm (big blind) folded on the Flop

July Stats

Definitely not a good month for me...but when making 1K at your "hobby" is a bad month...I guess I'll take it. I'm taking close to a week off now and will use this to recharge both poker body and mind :)

4/8 (Cap): TP = -$160 TSP = 2 Hrs 30 Min
4/8Kill: TP = $490 TSP = 45 Hrs BB/Hr: 1.36BB/Hr
9/18: TP = -$248 TSP = 4 Hrs 30 Min
8/16: TP = -$110 TSP = 5 Hrs
1/2 NL: TP = $375 TSP = 12 Hrs $/Hr: $31.25/Hr
10/20: TP = $330 TSP = 4 Hrs BB/Hr: 4.1BB/Hr
15/30: TP = $425 TSP = 4 Hrs BB/Hr: 3.54BB/Hr
O8 5/10: TP -$70 TSP = 1 Hr

July Overall: TP = $1032 TSP = 78 Hrs $/Hr: $13.23/Hr

I'm Running Terrible; Sessions 37 and 38

Two sessions at Cache's 4/8 Game

-115 in 5 hours or so night one
-20 in 4 hours or so night two


Night one featured a slew of coolers...one set over set, one two pair vs a set, and aces cracked in a Kill pot

Night two I didn't win a pot until I was almost two hours into the night. Luckily I got my aces cracked during the promotion and went on a bit of a tear to swing from down $240 or so to only losing $20 at the end of the night. I'm glad July is over...because aside from Vegas...I didn't do so hot.

Maybe not the best idea...but I plan on playing alot more at the 9/18 level. Hopefully I start running/playing better than I have been.

Vegas Summary (July)

Well I went to Vegas again and here are my overall stats for the trip. I played considerably less and did a lot more "normal stuff" around Vegas this time around (aside from drinking...cause I'm a square ;). Anyway, I'm going to do what I did last time and blog about each session as though they happened in real time...so scroll down and read each one.

Sunday
Bellagio 8/16: TP = -$110 TSP = 5 Hrs
Planet H 1/2NL: TP = +$510 TSP = 5 Hrs

Monday
Mirage O8 5/10: TP = -$70 TSP = 1 Hr
Mirage 10/20: TP = $330 TSP = 4 Hrs

Tuesday
Venetian 1/2NL: TP = -$155 TSP = 4 Hrs
Planet H 1/2NL: TP = +20 TSP = 3 Hrs

Wednesday
Bellagio 15/30: TP = +$425 TSP = 4 Hrs

Session No. 36 Bellagio 15/30 (7/25)

15/30: TP = +$425 TSP = 4 Hrs

I woke up Wednesday a bit disappointed with my trip. I was only up $500 or so, which was considerably less than my last trip. Granted I hadn't played very much so far...but that in itself was disappointing.

So I ventured over to the Bellagio and decided it was time to test myself at 15/30. The trip was almost over, my flight was leaving in roughly seven hours, so why not just play for a few hours, just to test the waters? I put my name on the waiting list and then paid close attention watching the table.

Finally my name was called after 20 minutes or so, and I took my place in the number four seat. I only bought in for one rack ($500), but had plenty of sufficient funds to reload a couple times if need be. I was going to go for it in this session: no playing scared, no holding back. If I dropped $1K, so be it, the learning expeience would be worth it.

I remember posting my BB, having it get raised and then three-bet, folding it, and then thinking, "Oh wow...this is poker." My SB was also three-bet so I folded, and already I was down $25 just in blinds lol. I wasn't really thinking of the blinds as $25 though for the record...I remember thinking "if this was 3/6, I'd only be down $5."

I don't remember in what order the following hands were, as I am just now blogging about this session here on Saturday night (7/28), but here it goes.

The first hand I really remember is A9 from the small-blind. An early position player open-limps, somewhat weird for him, as he has been raising quite a bit, but this was probably the third time I saw him open limp...must be a small PP or a couple face cards? It folds to the cutoff, who only calls. I look down at A9 and complete my option (the BB is $15 and the SB is $10 in this game), and the BB checks.

The flop came: AK7 rainbow

I checked, BB checked, EP bet, LP folded, I raised, BB folded, and EP only called. I was almost positive he didn't have an Ace, and if he did, my kicker was probably better (I'm almost positive he'd raise AK-AT here everytime). The turn was a nine. Bet, call. The river was a four. Bet, call. I show and win the hand. I thought before this hand started that EP was a bit of a weak player, and this confirmed my suspicions.

This next hand is probably the most interesting. UTG+1 open raised, he was very aggressive, good player, but probably too aggro. A couple cold callers, I look down at 88 OTB and call. Both blinds also call, so we're 6-way to a flop of 334 with two spades.

Good flop for me I think. UTG+1 bets out, two folds, I raise, two folds (so now we're HU), and he three-bets. Hmm...big PP or a flush draw? At this point I'm a tad confused and almost give him credit for a big PP. I only call.

The turn is an Ace. Eek...I'm about ready to give up on the hand, but then villain checked to me. I check behind and now have the guy on a PP bigger than mine. The river is a ten. Again the villain checked...so I think for a second, decide that if he does indeed have a PP he's going to look me up, so I check. He says "well I think you have me" and I reply with "I have a pair" and he mucks his cards saying it was good. Cool...I wait for the pot to get pushed and then throw my cards face down to the dealer. UTG+1 says "Meh..I got what I wanted with that flop three-bet. I wanted a free river...I had spades" so I guess he had something like KQ of spades. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done had he led out on the turn, but I might have folded.

That's all for now...I had a good run and built my way up to +600 at one point. Unfortunately I went on a bit of a cold streak and hit +350 on one point, and then decided to bounce once I was up over $400 again. I walked away content and ready to fly back to Sacramento with another good showing in Vegas under my belt.

Session No. 35 Venetian and PH 1/2NL (7/24)

1/2NL: TP = -$155 TSP = 4 Hrs
1/2NL: TP = +$20 TSP = 3 Hrs

I'll just pretend this day didn't happen...card dead for both sessions...luckily I made money my last session at Planet Hollywood before the game broke.

In other news, I saw the Blue Man Group, and they were awesome. My first and only Vegas show...very cool...check them out if you have the chance.

Session No. 34 Mirage O8 and 10/20 LHE (7/23)

O8: TP = -$70 TSP = 1 Hr
10/20: TP = +$330 TSP = 4 Hrs

So I slept in a little bit Monday morning, screwed around with Nick and Em for awhile Monday afternoon, and found myself playing at the Mirage Monday evening. When I got there I put my name on three lists: 6/12, 10/20, and 5/10 Kill Omaha 8. Their O8 table was the first table to open up, so I played that one for about an hour. I didn't win one hand...

I had a deathlock on one hand where the flop was A29 and I had A245 double-suited. The turn was a Queen and the river was a Queen and some lady with AKxx took the pot. So weak.

After that my name was called for 10/20 so I rebought for $400 more and sat down with about $530 total. My first hand of the 10/20 game I was dealt A9 in the BB, flopped a pair and held. Good start. A couple hands later I lost with TT, but one my BB came back around, I flopped a boat and won another decent pot.

I had J6 in the BB and it was limped in four spots to the SB, she completed, and I checked my option. The flop was J66 and I think I wet myself a little...

The SB led out, I called, UTG called, and one more LP player called. The flop had two spades, so I figured someone had a flush draw...too bad they didn't hit. The turn was a four. SB fired again, I called, UTG called and LP folded. The river was a non-spade deuce. SB bet out, I raised, UTG folded (she looked like she was going to do so before I raised, and the SB folded as well. Weird...oh well, no need to show the flopped boat.

My next big hand was AQ of hearts from the button. A couple limpers in front of me, I raise, BB calls, as do the limpers. The flop comes Ace-high with two hearts. All players check to me, I bet, two folds, and then I get Check-raised by an old-man in seat eight. He was a good player, and we had tangled a few hands earlier in a blind versus blind situation. He "doesn't chop" so he raised my BB from the SB and I called with A8. The flop was 983 and he bet out, I called. The turn was another three. He checked this time, I bet, and he folded. I was intending to raise his turn bet...had he bet. Oh well.

Anyway, he check-raised me, and I three-bet. He called. The turn paired the lowest card (A944-two hearts); he checked, I bet, he called. The river was a ten of hearts. Check, bet, call. I showed my hand and took down the pot.

This was a great early run, but unfortunately I would cool off and only float around +$300 for the rest of the session.

The game was pretty soft for what I expected of a 10/20 game. There were three very soft players, and they were "regulars" apparently. Besides those three, there were a few players who were decent, but made noticeable mistakes, and then there were a couple solid guys (the old man and a younger guy). Toward the end of the session though a couple of the regulars were replaced by some noticeable Tags. The game quickly became a foldfest where there was a lot of chops and late-position raises stealing the blinds. Basically what I'm trying to say is that the game was no longer as profitable as it once was...time to eat :)

Session No. 33 Planet Hollywood 1/2NL (7/22)

1/2NL: TP = +510 TSP = 5 Hrs

Whoa...the Santi plays NL? Since when?

Haha, anyway, after the Bellagio I took a break with my friends Nick and Emily (the whole reason I went to Vegas in the first place was for Em's 21st Bday). We were staying at Planet Hollywood, so I decided to play in their poker room until I got ridiculously tired, then I could wander back up to my room and crash without much chance of falling asleep on Las Vegas Blvd somewhere...

So the session started out innocently enough, one drunk English ~kid (26 or so) pointed out to the table that I had yet to limp into a pot after an orbit of play, so I was afraid I'd get the nit label. Soon enough I got dealt T8 of diamonds and limped in behind some players from the Hijack. The drunk English guy limped behind me, and then the SB raised it up to $15 total. It was called in a couple spots, I called, and the English guy called. $75 total in the pot.

The flop came: J93 with one diamond. Hey, nice looking flop huh? If this was limit I'd probably jam it up, but since this was NL, I wasn't entirely sure what the best line would be. The SB bet out $20...oh yeah, I forgot stack sizes. I had $200 or so when I started the hand, and everyone else has me covered except for the guy about to fold acting in front of me. So Sb bet out, one caller, one fold, I call, and the english guy called. $155 in the pot.

The turn was the A:d:. Uh oh. OESD and now a flush draw? What the hell do I do now? The SB checked, the next player checked, I checked (wrong play?) and the english guy checked behind. I really felt like I should have bet my hand here...but oh well.

The river was the K:d:. Boom. I had the second highest flush possible (only a Q-rag suited diamonds would be higher). It gets checked to me, I bet $50 or $60, and everyone folded. Lame...couldn't get paid off. Still, nice pot.

After that I floated around $300 in chips for awhile, the table almost broke after the two drunk English guys left, but instead we combined tables with another 1/2 game and we were almost full again. The guy who decided to sit next to me was a young Middle-Eastern cat (obviously Americanized) and he proceeded to crush the table and add to his big stack. He was a donk...but a donk who could catch cards. He went from $600 to almost $1100 in about an hour. I wanted a hand for this guy to double me up with...because he was very capable of doing so.

An hour or so passed by and soon we found ourselves 6-handed at around 4am. I was running pretty well, as my stack was about $450 or so. I had flopped one straight and turned another, and the middle eastern dude was paying me off one red stack at a time. I was feeling good.

At about hour number four, I was dealt two Aces in the SB. The middle-eastern guy had just lost a pot, so he jokingly said "I'm steam-raising" and made it $12 to go from the button. I opted to just call, as the BB was a new player who had proved to be somewhat aggressive already. I thought perhaps he would try a squeeze play and re-raise (His stack was about $150). The middle-eastern guy would call because he was on life tilt (I failed to mention his stack had free-fallen to below $300 at this point), and then I would probably shove and might get a call from the aggressive asian kid because he too was nearing life tilt.

Instead, the asian kid just called and we saw a flop of QTT. Whoops, perhaps this is why don't just call pre-flop with Aces. We both checked to the middle-eastern guy (we'll call him Fred), and Fred bet $10. I called, as did the Asian kid (we'll call him Chuck). The turn was a 6. Again me and Chuck checked, and Fred fired out a $15 bet at this time. Ugh...I still don't know where I am, and what could Chuck be calling here with the whole time? We both know Fred is a shitty player, but he knows I'm a good player, so yeah...I called, Chuck called. Shitty plays I'm sure...don't give me shit, I'm a limit player lol...

Anyway, the river was an Ace. Boom. "Okay, enough fucking around" I told myself. I made a sizeable bet ($50) and prayed one of them would come over the top of me...or hell, I'd be happy with just a call. Chuck folds (shit), but Fred grabs two stacks of reds and shoves them in the middle. I snap call him and show him AA. To his credit, he laughs it off and says sincerely "Wow man, that's a great hand. Very good hand" as he pats me on the back and shows his T3os. Oh wow...I felt sorta bad for the guy, especially since he had been nothing but nice/funny/polite at the table while donating his $1100 to us, and here I am sucking out a two-outer and stacking the poor guy. I soon realized that in my attempt to not slow-roll the guy, I had left him with $30 behind (the least I could do for being a luckbox I guess). He shoved and was ko'd a couple hands later...and I made my exit soon after. With the biggest fish at the table gone and my NL skills definitely in question, there was no reason for me to sit at that table any longer :)

Session No. 32 Bellagio 8/16 (7/22)

8/16: TP = -$110 TSP = 5 Hrs

This session was just brutal. It was my first session back into Vegas and I was hoping that my bad run wouldn't follow me there from Cali. Unfortunately, I found myself starting off the session ice cold. My first big hand was KK in LP. It was raised pf by someone in MP, I three-bet from the Cutoff, the BB called, and the original raiser only called. The flop came ace high and I probably lost the minimum when I got to see villain's AQ at the showdown. All I had to do was raise the flop when he bet into me and it was checked down from there.

The next hand I'll talk about was a huge pot and was entertaining for pretty much the whole table.

Before we get to any pre-flop action, two players are posting behind the button for $8 each, so I jokingly thought to myself "great, I'll probably get AQ and have to raise in front of these morons (these two were like the typical 4/8 player). Sure enough, I look down at AK of spades and open from MP. Both players that posted called, The SB three-bet, The BB called, I four-bet, and one of the blinds capped it! There's already $200 in the pot ($40 x 5 players) and we haven't even seen the flop yet. At this point I'm really hoping for some spades...

I get my wish as the flop comes out Q:s:9:s:3h:

Boom. SB leads out, BB calls, Hero raised, Two LP players call, SB three-bets, BB folds, Hero 4-bets, Two LP players call again, SB caps, All call.

Wtf is going on here? How can we all have a piece of that flop? At first I thought SB might have been going nuts here with AA or KK, as he was a bit on the aggressive side, but now I'm really starting to fear QQ. No matter, I'm drawing live and just need to avoid the board pairing. Any spade is good and maybe an Ace might be good for me at this point.

The turn is a 5:d:. Yuck. Blank. SB bets, all three of us call.

The river is a black five...the five of clubs. Blech. I already hated the fact that it was a five...and because it was a club...well, that just sucks more obviously (or so I thought). The Sb led out again, I showed the guy next to me my cards and folded, and one of the late-position players goes into an absolute tirade (she's an older asian woment btw, who has been frustrated the entire time I was playing with her). "What are you doing? You cap every street and now you can't call? How you play like that?" I just laughed and said, "well hey, that's how I do it I guess" as she and the other LP player called. Sure enough, the SB showed QQ and took down a huge...huge pot.

See, if The Santi was running well, no way The Santi misses that flush draw...no way ever. Oh well.

After that I swung all the way down to -$350 or so, but hit a nice rush to finish the day only down $110 or so. Gotta run for now, I'll finish this up later.

Vegas Again

Well I'm off to Vegas in a couple hours, going for Emily's 21st B-day. I'll probably play some cards, but definitely not as much as my last trip. Won't have a computer to update from, so sorry bout that. Take care guys, wish me luck, and good luck at the tables.

Session No. 31 Capitol Wednesday (7/18)

9/18: TP = -$290 TSP = 3 Hrs 30 Min

This is not good. Really not good. My first hand I was dealt JJ. I flopped a set and rivered quads...would it be a sign of things to come? Fuck no.

Here's a running list of most of the hands I played:

- JJ quads
- QQ in the BB cracked by rivered OESD (Big pot, 5 player pre, two called bets on the turn)
- TT flopped a set rivered by a Royal Flush draw (KJ of clubs with AT of clubs on the flop) that hit his flush. Lost a ton of chips in this hand.
- 99 EP raise wins a small pot
- JJ in the BB wins a small pot
- AQ OTB raise pf misses everything and folds to aggression
- T6 BB special win
- TT UTG raise wins decent sized pot
- 88 spewed a little, definitely overplayed this hand
- 89 hearts called from LP missed flop
- QQ wins a small HU pot
- AJ of diamonds raise pre, flop the nut-flush draw (T92 board) and 67os catches a 6 on the river to pair up and beat my whiffed nut-flush draw + overs.
- AA holds in 3-way pot
- 89 hearts misses again in a multi-player limped pot
- A7 suited hearts raise 6-Handed in LP wins 3-Way hand
- J9 suited in a KP multi-players limp in the CO I limp also and miss my OESD
- AK loses when I flop TP vs bottom two (K87 board with two diamonds) Villain had 87, but he had been playing his flush draws fast so I had him on the flush draw. Flop capped, I called down turn and checked behind on the river

That's all I had written down (logged in my phone...most of the players must have thought I was a text-msg fiend haha)...and I can't really remember more. Out of all those hands I just listed off, I think the only hand I misplayed was the 88 hand. I tried to iso-raise a flop against this opponent who had been a bit loose but then I got 3-Bet. In retrospect the board was a little too coordinated for me to be able to raise out all three of the other players.

I dunno what else to say really...I guess this is just one of those swings that have to be weathered. Sitting at the table last night, I saw many opportunities other players were getting to maximize their winnings, and I really wish they could have happened to me. One lady was fortunate enough to get 3 bets in on the turn in a kill pot with a set of Aces vs Two pair and a flush draw ($36 x 3 bets x 2 opponents)...and here I was winning small pots and losing big ones. I guess no one can turn a winning session when that's happening to them.

Wish me better luck next time or pray for me or something...cause I don't like running bad.

Oh, and a final note, apparently I got fucked out of $400 last night by some moron who doesn't know anything about Bad Beat Jackpots. The "4/8 Superdonk" went and played at Cache Creek last night, and long story short, he should have gotten $1700 from the Bad Beat Jackpot for having the winning hand in a BBJ hand.

Quick rundown:

Superdonk has A8 with the Kill button
Villain has QQ

Final Board: AA26A

Superdonk shows A8, villain flashes Queens to everyone around him, then mucks his cards. After a long ruling, security has to declare the hand dead and no jackpot is rewarded. Why do I care so much? Well, besides Superdonk being my usual partner in crime and I'd be happy for him to win some money, we own 25% of each other if either of us hits any kind of jackpot. For smaller ones (High Hands, Royal Flushes), the other person must be present to receive percentages...but for the Bad Beat Jackpot, no attendance is required. I would have collected roughly $400 (after tip it would have been a little less), so my whole terrible session from a couple nights ago could have been monetarily erased had it not been for some moron. Check out the Superdonk's blog in a couple days for full details...I'd like to hear the story in full as well.

It sucks...I still manage to run bad, even when I'm not at a fucking table :)

Wish me luck, hopefully this shit turns around fast.

Session No . 30 Cache Monday (7/16)

4/8 Kill: TP = -$175 TSP = 7 Hrs

What's going on here? Ugh. So since I'm off three days this week from "real work," I decided I might as well get some more playing time in. Me and the Superdonk headed up to Cache during the day to play some cards for a good 7-8 hour session.

The session started off baaaaad, and only got worse. I was quickly down $140 and didn't even sniff "even" for the rest of the night. I ran terrible. My big pairs were cracked a bunch of times, I missed a couple Nut flush draws in kill pots (I play aggressively, so of course those are going to cost me when I miss), and some woman actually called my UTG/EP raises with 72os (not making this up...72os) and cracked my AK/AQ/TT, in that order. Not to mention she cracked my UTG raise (AA) with her 86os by flopping a damn straight. Wtf right?

I was seriously questioning whether I was stuck in this horrible nightmare for the entire session. The final hand that seriously sent me overboard and forced me to lose my composure was this hand sometime around hour number six.

Hero is in LP with AJ of clubs. The flop gets limped in a couple spots, I raise, BB and the two limpers call.

The flop comes J:d:5:d:3:s:

The BB leads at the pot and I immediately put him on a diamond draw. He had been extremely aggressive the hand before, in fact, it was downright ridiculous. The board basically had a straight showing and I knew the lady who had been busting me up with 72os had the straight. BB capped the turn with his QT of clubs just because there was two clubs showing, no other draws imaginable, and proceeded to river his flush. Oh, he had just moved from a broken NL table, so you know he has to be terrible...because well, all NL players are terrible ;)

Anyway, he leads at this with junk I'm sure, some black dude in early position raises (he had been grossly out of line so far as well), so I three-ball. The BB caps it, me and the black dude call, and now I'm kinda worried. I'm not exactly running stellar here (down $280 or so at this point) and I am very concerned about a possible set or goofy straight. The turn is a non-diamond deuce.

The Bb fires again, EP calls, and I just call. I'm seriously lost at this point and I figure just calling is probably best at this point. The river is a non-diamond 6.

BB leads out again, and now EP raises. Fuck. There is a lot of money in there, but I don't think I can call off 2 BBs here when any four makes a straight and these maniacs playing any two cards could have some weird two pair. I show my neighbor the AJ and lay it down...BB calls. EP shows 66 and takes down the pot with a rivered set of 6s. I lost complete composure at this point and let out a "What the fuck? You have got to be shitting me..." as I pushed my remaining $80 worth of chips into a pile in front of me. I was livid. I could have gotten up and punched out the entire table at this point. Here I was running absolutely terribly, watching the 72os lady river gutterballs, two-outers, outflopping me with the fucking hammer, and now this donk wants to do the same thing to me.

To my credit I actually buckled down and played well after all of this. I raised ATs in MP, flopped two pair, and managed to get paid off by the 72os lady. Finally she called me down when I had a hand. Not much else happened after that until a big hand where it was capped with five players and I ended up turning a set. After that hand I cashed out a couple orbits later and let my homey the Superdonk play another orbit or two because he was winning. I was only down $175 at this point but I seriously felt terrible and knew there was a good chance I was steaming and could make some mistakes because of it. I feel like leaving the table was a good move.

Besides, after I cashed out, I went and got a coke with the cute Filipino brush who just happened to be going on break at the time. See, even when I run bad, I run good. Unfortunately she has a boyfriend, but hey, it's always good to have cute girls willing to go hang out with you, and she called her friend from the operator room to come down with us...so I got to hang out with a couple beautiful girls for 30 mins or so as I thought about my terrible July-run thus far. Seriously...I need to run well in Vegas, or this month's results are gonna be shit.

Sorry for running so bad everyone, it's very un-Santi-like. I'll try and do better :(