Three Tickets

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game Selection

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Case of the Mondays (Part I: 4/8 Hell)

After a great night's sleep and a morning of forum games, I decided to catch the Monday night NFL games while playing some cards at Capitol. Ahhh it feels good to be off for a full day, I don't get too many of these.

So I arrived around 330pm or so and was first up on the 6/12 list, so I decided to jump into an open 4/8 seat. My table was AMAZING. I mean I saw some dude call two cold on the flop with J3 of diamonds on a black A87 board only to hit runner runner gutshot. How does that happen? I had at least three people at the table playing this horribly, and everyone else wasn't much better.

You know the trick to winning at these types of tables though, right? Right. Your cards have to actually hit and hold while dodging landmine after landmine. It's a task easier said than done.

The first big hand I played at this table I raised a live straddle ($8) on my direct right to $12 from the six seat with AQ of hearts. The girl had been playing crazy and was definitely a maniac. Seat one flatted my raise (he was the guy that showed down J3 of diamonds earlier), and it folded around to the small blind who called. The girl in seat five whose straddle I raised made it $16 to go. I capped and we saw a flop four handed with $80 already in the middle. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

The flop came out 355 with one heart. Not a great flop for my hand, but it wasn't terrible either. SB and the straddler checked, I bet, seat one called, small blind folded, and the girl in the straddle called. No surprises here...I could be ahead, I could be behind, these two could have anything. I decided I was betting until something told me to stop.

The turn was actually a great card: the seven of hearts. Now I had a couple overs as well as the nut heart draw. The girl checked, I bet, and again both called. The river was a non-heart four, making the board 35574 i.e. freaking ugly. I was now definitely worried that one of these two could have a six, and I definitely did not want to bet/fold this hand at this point with all the money in the pot. I guess a good play would be bet/fold here, but I opted to check behind the straddler and watch seat one bet $8 into the pot of about $128. The girl folded and flashed K8 of hearts (ugh put a heart out one time), leaving me alone to call $8 with the possibility of winning $136 if the seat one was bluffing or betting a weaker ace-high. I'm not good enough to fold getting 17 to 1 against a guy who I already described as being awful, so I called and he showed A6 for a rivered straight. Of course A6 had to get there, oh well, I got my money in really well in this hand, and I didn't even make a pair.

After that hand I lost with K9 of spades, missing a combo flush/straight draw from the BB and that caused me to buy another rack of chips. Yikes. The only big pot I ended up winning at this table was with a pair of jacks that managed to hold, I think I might have picked up a smaller pot somewhere else along the line, but maybe not. After this hour of hell and a couple of 4/8 players leaving and endangering the table of a possible break, I decided to take my 6/12 seat. I had asked to be rolled once already because of how good this 4/8 table was, but alas, it was not to be. Maybe next time I can capitalize on them. I ended up cashing out a little over $200 in orange chips, unfortunately I paid for 300 of them.

Look for part two sometime tomorrow, I'll break down a wild ride at 6/12 that saw me swing down, then up, then down, and then...well, you get the idea.

Friday Night with Fender (Part I: 4/8 and Fat Tire)

My buddy Tony, or fender403 as some of you may know him, had invited me earlier in the week to play cards with him on Friday night, but I told him I probably wouldn't be able to go. I had been playing a ton of cards lately and Friday was usually one of my busier days working with the kids. I had planned on working from 8a-630p that day and probably wouldn't feel up to playing. That being said, in typical Friday fashion, one of my kids' parents phoned it in and I was heading to Capitol by 230pm. Weeeee.

I arrived and saw that 6/12 was not yet running, but Tony couldn't stop bragging about how great his table was. I got a 4/8 seat in about 10 minutes, but not at Tony's table. I asked him if he minded that I sit with him for a bit and play along with him and he said that'd be cool. He's pretty courteous to me and asks if it's cool to table change over to my tables, so I thought I'd return the favor. The only time I'll tell him no is if the game is not good i.e. no one's gambling...the last thing I need is another solid player at that point.

When a seat opened up at his table it just happened to be directly to his right, so seat three. We hung out and shot the shit for a bit while getting $1 Fat tires from the bar (awesome). He had initially offered a round of diet cokes since we're both little girls trying to watch our figures at the moment, but we couldn't pass up the $1 Fat Tire drafts. In typical Santi fashion, I was tipsy after about half of it lol.



Needless to say I was involved in the action almost immediately. I recognized a guy in seat nine named John, he's a usual 6/12 player (and I'd end up facing off with him later in the night at 6/12), and knew he had a tendency to play loose/fast. My second hand at the table he opened from EP and I flatted from LP with KQos and one of the blinds came along. In retrospect I'd like myself to three-bet John here because of my previous history with him, but at this point in the day I had no idea what mood he was in and what cards he was opening so I just flatted in position.

The flop came AK6 with no flush. The BB checked and John pet out per usual, I decided to raise my midpair good kicker, the BB folded and John called. I've seen John open connectors as weak and low as 76, so I really thought my King was well ahead of his range. The turn was another low card, John checked, I bet, and John check raised me to $16. Hmmm, we have some history together, but a lot of that was a long time ago. I definitely don't remember him ever bluff checkraising a turn, in this spot in the past he has at the very least an ace, most likely two pair or even a set. I released my hand and he took down the pot.

A few hands later I limped behind an UTG limper with QT of clubs. In loose 4/8 games I like limping behind with cards like this because it's very likely that after a couple limpers everyone else will come along with absolute trash. To my delight we saw a flop somewhere around six or seven handed of A87 with the ace and eight being clubs. Awesome flop for my hand. John led out from the SB, called in one spot, I raised, got a few callers behind me, John called and UTG called.

A ton of money in the pot and I have the second nutflush draw, obviously I'm loving my equity in this pot against five other players. The turn brought out a nine of clubs, giving me the second nutflush and putting out a wonderful action board of A987. You think with seven people seeing the flop in a 4/8 game that a few people might have a piece of this board? It gets checked to me, I bet, then a guy in seat five raises. Hmmmm, King high flush? Or a straight? Or two pair? Or a set? An older gentleman in seat seven calls $16 cold, then it folded around to UTG on my right who also called $16. Wow, do one of these guys have the King of clubs? I'm thinking it's a possibility, and I had better charge him the max to try and get that fourth club. Three! I put $16 more dollars in the pot making it $24 to see the river card for my remaining opponents. Seat five only called at this point (why hello straight/two-pair/set), seat seven actually folded (baby straight like 65? One pair of aces?) and then UTG called and said "pair the board!"

Ugh. No, do not pair the board. That's the last thing I want. In fact, I'd rather you put out another club than for you to pair the board. The river was a nine of spades I believe and UTg bet out on the A8798 board. Aye yahhhhh I called and seat five called behind me. UTG showed 98os for runner runner full house and swept in a huge pot. Why couldn't you pair the seven dealer? Or Pair the ace maybe (that might not have been good to be honest, seat five may have had aces up). Regardless, I built a sick pot that would have been mine a good majority of the time and for that I was satisfied.

No other 4/8 pots really came close to that one while I was there, at least hands that I was involved in anyway. I watched Tony go on an absolute tear for awhile and it was cool watching him play well and get to run well. By the time our table lost players and was forced to break I was about $25 below what I started with, which wasn't too bad considering the pots I lost early. 6/12 had actually started a half hour before my 4/8 game broke, but I decided to hang out with Tony rather than jump into a new 6/12 game right away. There was a seat open after the table break though, so I saw that as my opportunity to transition over. Part two should be out tomorrow sometime, thanks for reading.

Blatant Lies

I rolled into Capitol at around 3pm Tuesday and noticed 6/12 only had an interest list. Interesting, must be a slow day. I threw my name along up there with a handful of others, then wandered over to an open 4/8 seat. First hand I was dealt in I opened pocket nines from EP, maybe UTG+2. Folded around to the button who called, small blind called and the big blind defended. The flop came out Queen high with two spades. Both of the blinds checked, I bet, the button folded, small blind check-raised, big blind folded and I called.

This was my first hand at the table, first hand of the day, so reads are nonexistent. 30 year oldish white dude wearing a UCLA cap and had about $240 worth of orange chips in front of him. It was a Q42 flop, two spades, what's he checkraising here? AQ/KQ are possibilities, baby sets, flush draws. The turn card was a queen of hearts.

Hmmmm...interesting. I decided that the queen was either an awesomely good or awesomely bad card for me and it was time to find out which. The small blind led out for eight chips and I took my stack of 16 and cut them neatly into four stacks of four. Now, I'm staring right at the guy from the nine seat, he's sitting in the six seat. All of a sudden I see him sit straight up, look at the dealer and say "I only called."

The dealer had been chatting a little to a player in seat two and this kind of took him by surprise. "You bet" the dealer said. This time seat six said "I checked." At this point I absolutely know he has a flush draw, and I'm proud of myself for charging him the max for trying to draw out on me. But I'm also getting annoyed at his attempt at an angle to see a river card for one bet. "You led out, I raised" I finally said.

Then the guy had the nerve to say "He didn't bring all his chips out at once," implying that I had performed a string bet. Now I'm pissed. The dealer just looked at me confused and said "you didn't do that, right?" I looked at the dealer, back at the player and said "no, in fact, I know I didn't do that." Seat seven came to my aid and said "the young man put all his chips out at once, there was nothing wrong with his raise." Defeated, seat six reached for eight more chips and made the call.

The river was a ten of spades. Seat six checked and I checked behind and said "go ahead, you're good now" and he threw down his hand triumphantly while leaning back into his chair. A9 of spades, whaddya know, the nutflush draw that got there. He looked so smug, I couldn't help but needle. "Hey I didn't mean to raise the turn, can I have eight chips back? No? Okay." My neighbors seat seven and eight just smirked a little and shook their heads while seat six kept his head down and stacked the chips.

It's amazing to me what some people do in the face of adversity. I've seen angles here and there, some sleazier than others, but I've never seen someone stoop so slow to save eight bucks.

A Slow Day at 6/12, a Monster at 4/8 (Part1)

I rolled into Capitol at about 10pm Monday night after a nice pho dinner with a friend.



Does it get any better than that? Throw in some limes, Sriracha, pepper and a diet coke...then some poker after?! What a Monday night. Anyway, like I said, poker. I put my name on the 6/12 and 4/8 lists, waited for 10 minutes and found myself on a 6/12 table with a few regs I've been playing with for the last few weeks.

The table was okay, one of the regs was stuck so she was playing tighter and was much less action than normal. An older guy by the name of Tim was on an absolute heater all night, just crushing the table. He eventually cashed out 5 racks or so, no idea what he bought in for though. He kinda looks like Doc Brown from Back to the Future, and received some needles from Feliz who showed up about 20 mins after me and another player who goes by "D." "GREAT SCOTT" they would yell on scary turns/rivers where he was in a hand. All in all it was a pretty entertaining table.



Unfortunately aside from taking advantage of a drunk guy who crushed his NL table for about 1k, I ran kinda slow. Feliz was getting a good roll of cards and was able to get some three bets in against the drunk NL player, Doc Brown was crushing with anything and everything, and my stack stayed pretty even keel.

Oh one thing I did run good at was a side game dubbed "5 Chip Chop" with D and Feliz. Basically when the hand gets folded to the blinds, SB and BB set aside five $2 chips and play best hand wins (while paying no rake obv). Feliz and D were in the two and three seat playing, D asked me if I wanted to play as well and I snap said of course. Basic rules - high card wins, but a pair > a-high. First time it's folded around D starts cursing and practically throws his chips at me. I squeeze out a seven of hearts and show it to him. He mucks his cards immediately. LOL. We only chopped one other time, my T7 > his 76. So I came up 20 bucks there and the dude bought me a Guiness. I tried to return the favor but he was leaving soon and told me to get him next time.

A couple of hands vs the drunk guy:

AK diamonds in the BB. DG opens from CO after an EP call, I 3-bet, gets capped. Three ways to a JT3 flop with two diamonds. I lead, EP folds, DG raises, I 3-bet, he calls. Turn is a King I bet, he calls. River is a blank I bet he calls, AK good.

I have 55 in EP and open, folds around to DG who defends his blind then tells me "if I get a piece I'm betting." He has less than 20 chips in his hand at this point. Flop comes T5x and he leads. I call. Turn is a 3, he bets I raise enough to put him all in, he calls and shows T3os. River blanks out.

6/12 totals (including 5 chip chop or 5CC) = +40 for about three hours

I'll post more later today or tomorrow about my three hour 4/8-Kill session immediately following this, where I ran much, much better