So after a fun 4/8 session with Tony I made my way back to the Pai Gow room where they had opened a 6/12 game. I saw a couple familiar faces in the game, including a cute asian girl (KV), John (guy from my earlier 4/8 table) and another reg I'll call CS.
The action was pretty bad early on, maybe the first half hour or so and I debated moving to a 4/8 game with more action. As the table filled up though, our buddy John from earlier started opening up some. I got involved in some hands against him and the mamy callers his raises got. You see, if John was opening with a ton of raises he'd be getting three bet mercilessly in online games, but in low stakes live games? Call, call, call. I was guilty of it early on at 4/8 too, so I can't talk too much, but I was well aware of it during my time with him at 6/12.
I did well early on, flopping top pair and holding a couple times as well as flopping a straight and getting some action, but my big pairs (KK and QQ) both got cracked in some big pots, then I went card dead for awhile. John meanwhile went on a pretty good heater, hitting a lot with his junk and eventually cashed out a rack winner. He said he was going to pick up a Chicago fire pizza and head home to the wife, whom he told he'd be home by 5:30 (it was 5:45 when he said this). The dude is funny and I like him a lot, I wish he'd play more/longer.
Eventually Tony had to go home for the night so I wished him well, then our table got moved from the Pai Gow room back into the main card room. That seemed to be just what I needed, as I engaged the boomswitch soon after we table changed into the main room. Eventually a guy who had been playing NL for a majority of the night came over to the table and sat on my direct right, let's call him CY. He was playing pretty loose and opening a wide range, so I looked to exploit that in spots where I could.
I got a couple AK type hands against him and three bet a few of his opens. One hand I faced some resistance from a different player in the hand, and I failed to even flop a pair, so I had to fold. But the other two I flopped TPTK after a cap pre-flop of at least four players seeing the flop and then a flop lead from CY followed by a raise from me. He looked me up both times after turn and river bets, and he said he only had a small pocket pair both times (more likely he flopped or turned a pair and decided to look me up).
One of my biggest multiway pots I won that night came with CY as one of the main aggressors. Limped in quite a few spots, I limped from the CO with 75 of hearts, WI (older tight reg, plays somewhat passive at times) limped the button, and Feliz complete his SB from seat six. The flop was a jackpot 643 rainbow. Early Merry Xmas for me.
Feliz led out from the SB, called in one spot, CY raised, I flatted (may be a weird line, but I didn't want to three bet and shut anyone out. I figured if I three bet it may give Feliz a chance to fold a pair of sevens or other similar holdings since he knows how I play. WI folded, Feliz three bet, the earlier caller still called, CY capped, I called, as did the other two players.
Four ways to the turn which brought out a ten of clubs. Feliz led out again, the earlier caller still called, CY only called this time, and I put in a raise. Feliz folded, the caller called and CY again called. The river was a queen, still giving me the nuts. Checked to me, I bet, the caller in between me and CY finally folded, and then CY tank called me. I was good obviously and raked in a sweet pot with a flopped straight.
I eventually got called away from the game by some friends hanging out at the Old Tavern (dive bar down the street). The table wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the best table I've had lately by a long shot. Feliz is a good player, WI isn't bad either, and everyone else that was there really wasn't playing overly crazy. CY had even attempted to calm down after I had been exploiting his opens for most of the night. I decided making a rack and a half ($300) was good enough, time to go hang out with friends and enjoy a Friday night off from work and poker.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Persevere
per·se·vere
1. a. To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.
So two days removed from taking an absolute pummeling at 6/12, I was left with no one and nowhere to watch the Colts/Titans game after work...how about some cards? Lovely idea.
There was a new 6/12 game running and they had an open seat. Awesome. Or so I thought. I bought in for $300...and then added $200 more...and then about an hour later $200 more. Aye. Yah. In for three and a half racks ($700) and there didn't seem to be any inclination that the beats would stop.
I'd say I won three pots in the first few hours I played, two of them were flop continuation bets that didn't get called...so yeah, the chips were most definitely not flowing in. It's hard not to think negatively when your big cards are missing and you're getting beaten by "set-up hands."
Most players have a stoploss, that is, a certain amount of money they will designate to lose in a session and then when they reach that point they will take a break or quit for the day. For LHE, the standard stoploss is about 30BBs (at 6/12, this would be $360). I was well above 40BBs, but I have never really bought into the idea of a stoploss. If I'm not flustered, I'm still playing correctly and I have a good table...well I won't be leaving anytime soon. My plan was to weather the storm and wait for a decent run of cards. Technically you can lose forever, there are never any guarantees that a run of cards is coming your way, but luckily for me things turned around.
I won a couple big pots with AK, and I could feel the momentum start to swing back in my favor. I lulled around -$300 for awhile, then made a quick run and found myself down between -$120 and -$180 for a few orbits, then I made another run back close to even. Obviously these jumps are spaced out across a few hours of play, as I'm just giving you an idea of how hard it can be to climb out of a hole once you get stuck.
I know I've said before that it's a good idea to seperate yourself from the results, but after climbing out of a $500 hole and getting close to even, I'd say around my 6th hour of play that night I had a fantastic mix of feeling relief, happiness, and pride. Things continued to get better at that point as I started scratching into the black; I was actually in the positive! A couple killpots later I had a tower of red chips, about 450 of them ($900). Nevermind the fact that I had bought 350 of them five hours earlier.
Slowly but surely the fishier players left the table and left me with some decent players and a couple of guys who actually play for a living, so I saw that as my cue to exist. I called my friend Aaron to talk to him about the session, and we agreed that sometimes after a day of getting crushed, crawling back and churning a small profit after going through hell can feel more rewarding than just sitting down and crushing without resistance.
Stay tuned for an update from Friday night where I played with my pal Tony for a bit. He got to witness me turning the second nutflush, putting in three bets with it on the turn against three people, then get crushed by a four outer on the end. Good times!
1. a. To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.
So two days removed from taking an absolute pummeling at 6/12, I was left with no one and nowhere to watch the Colts/Titans game after work...how about some cards? Lovely idea.
There was a new 6/12 game running and they had an open seat. Awesome. Or so I thought. I bought in for $300...and then added $200 more...and then about an hour later $200 more. Aye. Yah. In for three and a half racks ($700) and there didn't seem to be any inclination that the beats would stop.
I'd say I won three pots in the first few hours I played, two of them were flop continuation bets that didn't get called...so yeah, the chips were most definitely not flowing in. It's hard not to think negatively when your big cards are missing and you're getting beaten by "set-up hands."
Most players have a stoploss, that is, a certain amount of money they will designate to lose in a session and then when they reach that point they will take a break or quit for the day. For LHE, the standard stoploss is about 30BBs (at 6/12, this would be $360). I was well above 40BBs, but I have never really bought into the idea of a stoploss. If I'm not flustered, I'm still playing correctly and I have a good table...well I won't be leaving anytime soon. My plan was to weather the storm and wait for a decent run of cards. Technically you can lose forever, there are never any guarantees that a run of cards is coming your way, but luckily for me things turned around.
I won a couple big pots with AK, and I could feel the momentum start to swing back in my favor. I lulled around -$300 for awhile, then made a quick run and found myself down between -$120 and -$180 for a few orbits, then I made another run back close to even. Obviously these jumps are spaced out across a few hours of play, as I'm just giving you an idea of how hard it can be to climb out of a hole once you get stuck.
I know I've said before that it's a good idea to seperate yourself from the results, but after climbing out of a $500 hole and getting close to even, I'd say around my 6th hour of play that night I had a fantastic mix of feeling relief, happiness, and pride. Things continued to get better at that point as I started scratching into the black; I was actually in the positive! A couple killpots later I had a tower of red chips, about 450 of them ($900). Nevermind the fact that I had bought 350 of them five hours earlier.
Slowly but surely the fishier players left the table and left me with some decent players and a couple of guys who actually play for a living, so I saw that as my cue to exist. I called my friend Aaron to talk to him about the session, and we agreed that sometimes after a day of getting crushed, crawling back and churning a small profit after going through hell can feel more rewarding than just sitting down and crushing without resistance.
Stay tuned for an update from Friday night where I played with my pal Tony for a bit. He got to witness me turning the second nutflush, putting in three bets with it on the turn against three people, then get crushed by a four outer on the end. Good times!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Define Frustration
frus·tra·tion:
1. a. The act of frustrating or an instance of being frustrated.
b. The state of being frustrated.
frus·trate
1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart.
b. To cause feelings of discouragement or bafflement in.
2. To make ineffectual or invalid; nullify.
Ohhh limit poker, how I love you. I always tell people that I prefer live low stakes LHE because of the big pots, the multiway action, and the atmosphere. I'll hear things like "you can't bet a person off their hand," "my aces always get cracked," and "there's no skill in that game" and I almost never try and correct that person. You're right, getting people to put in four bets pre-flop with utter trash for a hand does not take skill, you definitely can't run a bluff in limit, and my aces have never won a huge pot in a limit game. Right.
Monday night I grabbed some free pizza with my brother and we talked a little about the game of poker and what I hoped to accomplish through playing. In short, I told him it wasn't as much about the money as it was the competition and the desire to play solid fundamental poker. I've been doing my best to seperate myself from the results and realize that as long as I make the best possible decisions, nothing else really matters. I work two jobs, I don't have any real kind of debt, the money doesn't matter.
I won't lie though, last night was the first time in a long time I had felt frustrated at a poker table. Seven hours of bad cards mixed in with terrible beats, a few awesome wins, and then terrible beats again. Perhaps it's because I've been fighting a cold the last week or so, maybe it's because I just like winning and the competitor in me just couldn't handle losing anymore that day...whatever it was the emotional highs and lows last night just kind of culminated into a moment of sheer frustration. I didn't yell at anyone or even appear to lose my temper I don't think...my biggest outbursts were a long quiet exhale (which felt really good at the time) and a quick standup to stretch my legs, put my hands above of my head, breathe a little then sit back down. I hate drawing attention to myself, so even these minute things seemed like I was being an idiot at the time.
Overall for the day I dropped close to a rack at 4/8 and then close to a rack at 6/12, the math says I'm still up money this week somehow, so not all is lost. I'm probably going to take the rest of the week off from poker and look to play again Sunday night or next Monday. Look for updates later this week that will break down a few hands I played last night and also an incident where a guy blatantly lied to a dealer's face and tried to cheat his way out of calling an $8 turn raise from me at 4/8. It was pretty pathetic, and I look forward to telling that story.
1. a. The act of frustrating or an instance of being frustrated.
b. The state of being frustrated.
frus·trate
1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart.
b. To cause feelings of discouragement or bafflement in.
2. To make ineffectual or invalid; nullify.
Ohhh limit poker, how I love you. I always tell people that I prefer live low stakes LHE because of the big pots, the multiway action, and the atmosphere. I'll hear things like "you can't bet a person off their hand," "my aces always get cracked," and "there's no skill in that game" and I almost never try and correct that person. You're right, getting people to put in four bets pre-flop with utter trash for a hand does not take skill, you definitely can't run a bluff in limit, and my aces have never won a huge pot in a limit game. Right.
Monday night I grabbed some free pizza with my brother and we talked a little about the game of poker and what I hoped to accomplish through playing. In short, I told him it wasn't as much about the money as it was the competition and the desire to play solid fundamental poker. I've been doing my best to seperate myself from the results and realize that as long as I make the best possible decisions, nothing else really matters. I work two jobs, I don't have any real kind of debt, the money doesn't matter.
I won't lie though, last night was the first time in a long time I had felt frustrated at a poker table. Seven hours of bad cards mixed in with terrible beats, a few awesome wins, and then terrible beats again. Perhaps it's because I've been fighting a cold the last week or so, maybe it's because I just like winning and the competitor in me just couldn't handle losing anymore that day...whatever it was the emotional highs and lows last night just kind of culminated into a moment of sheer frustration. I didn't yell at anyone or even appear to lose my temper I don't think...my biggest outbursts were a long quiet exhale (which felt really good at the time) and a quick standup to stretch my legs, put my hands above of my head, breathe a little then sit back down. I hate drawing attention to myself, so even these minute things seemed like I was being an idiot at the time.
Overall for the day I dropped close to a rack at 4/8 and then close to a rack at 6/12, the math says I'm still up money this week somehow, so not all is lost. I'm probably going to take the rest of the week off from poker and look to play again Sunday night or next Monday. Look for updates later this week that will break down a few hands I played last night and also an incident where a guy blatantly lied to a dealer's face and tried to cheat his way out of calling an $8 turn raise from me at 4/8. It was pretty pathetic, and I look forward to telling that story.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
My Ideal Table
After sleeping through the afternoon and night football games because of my graveyard shift, I was wide awake at 1am Monday hacking up my lungs. I've been a bit under the weather this past week, but it seems like I get better as the day goes on. I ran some errands which included requesting time off of for my Vegas trip in January and getting some laundry done, then hit up Capitol at around 2pm.
As soon as I walked in the door and put my name on the lists Oscar started asking for interest in opening up a new 6/12 table. Wouldn't you know it, I run goooot and had a new 6/12 game opened 30 seconds after arrived. I walked over to the new table and locked up the three seat. I don't have a lucky seat or anything like that, but I do love the corners (like the two/three, seven/eight) because you usually get the most room and you can see everyone on the table. The seats that I didn't mention usually have a couple blind spots or seats where you'd have to strain/make an obvious attempt to look at the person.
As the seats filled in I liked my table more and more. There were quite a few LPPs (loose-passive preflop, passive postflop players) and a couple LAGs (loose aggressive). That dynamic usually makes for a fun table: lots of callers preflop and tons of chips in the middle. A lot of pots were at least five handed on the flop, even with an opening raise. Coldcalling raises in position was definitely the norm, and I almost never saw someone three bet a hand. I saw people coldcall a raise with Kings or Queens at least four times this session, and one pot I was involved in UTG limped in with Kings and the SB merely completed with Jacks. Both flopped sets, and fireworks didn't go off until the turn.
So anyway, now that you are familiar with my table, I'll get into my session. I started off a tad meh, missed my first few opens with cards like KQ suited and AQ, and soon found myself down a couple $40 stacks of red #2 chips. If you can't make a pair in this game you're probably not going to win. These types of players generally do not fold. No need to fear though, I got lucky in a big pot somewhere around my second hour at the table.
I'm in the BB with A5 of diamonds. UTG+1 (a cute asian girl, we'll call her NC) raised, cold called by about four people, small blind called, and I defended my BB with a suited ace. Seven way to a flop of K54 with one diamond. Small blind and I both check, UTG+1 bets, called in two spots behind her, small blind called, and getting roughly 18:1 on my $6, I called. NC is a bit of an LP preflop at times (so her raise was probably a big hand), but can get LAG after the flop. I'm putting her on a big hand at this point, probably AK, but maybe KQ. Obviously I'm looking for a five, maybe my ace is good if I hit it, and a diamond would give me an excuse to call a turn bet. The pot is much too big to fold for one more bet and I'm completing the action. Also, my position to the aggressor in the hand is fantastic; read the next sentence and you'll see why.
The turn brings out a five of clubs, actually putting a club flush draw on the board now. Small blind checks, I check, UTG+1 still bets and at this point in time I'm really hoping she has AK/KQ and not a full house (Kings full being the most likely option). Everyone folds behind except the small blind. He had been fairly tight in comparison to the rest of the table, so his turn call might be an OESD (67), he could have picked up a flush draw now, or he has a weak King. I raise to 12 chips ($24 total), NC quickly calls and the small blind calls.
The river brings a two of clubs out. Small blind checks, I value bet my trips top kicker, NC calls, and small blind folds. I showed my hand, NC flashed AK and a bit of frustration with the turn card (yay three outer), and I raked in a sea of red chips. Three outers (if you're not counting my backdoor draws) come and go, we all dish them out and we all take them.
Aside from this hand and a couple smaller pots, I was somewhat card dead and hovered around +$40-$+100 for a long stretch of time. I don't mind folding a lot of bad cards, it beats running into monsters or getting medium strength hands that finish second. I just enjoyed watching the action at the table and trying my best to read the hands I wasn't in.
The second half of my session I caught fire for awhile, picked up aces a few times and won all three. Also won with Kings once, but balanced some of that out by losing a couple big killpots with AK and another one after flopping two pair and getting gutterballed on the turn. Fun hands and big pots, I really enjoyed my time at the table. I was up a couple racks at about 8pm when my brother texted me and said his friend Billie (a cute/short brunette fwiw, too bad she prefers women) was going to hook it up with some free pizza and asked if I was interested. Well I hadn't eaten since about noon, I had been up since 1am, my cough had started to come back...hmmm, well, I do love pizza (combo no onions FTW). I raised AJ UTG, flopped TP but lost to JT turning broadway, cashed out about +$320 and called it a night.
As soon as I walked in the door and put my name on the lists Oscar started asking for interest in opening up a new 6/12 table. Wouldn't you know it, I run goooot and had a new 6/12 game opened 30 seconds after arrived. I walked over to the new table and locked up the three seat. I don't have a lucky seat or anything like that, but I do love the corners (like the two/three, seven/eight) because you usually get the most room and you can see everyone on the table. The seats that I didn't mention usually have a couple blind spots or seats where you'd have to strain/make an obvious attempt to look at the person.
As the seats filled in I liked my table more and more. There were quite a few LPPs (loose-passive preflop, passive postflop players) and a couple LAGs (loose aggressive). That dynamic usually makes for a fun table: lots of callers preflop and tons of chips in the middle. A lot of pots were at least five handed on the flop, even with an opening raise. Coldcalling raises in position was definitely the norm, and I almost never saw someone three bet a hand. I saw people coldcall a raise with Kings or Queens at least four times this session, and one pot I was involved in UTG limped in with Kings and the SB merely completed with Jacks. Both flopped sets, and fireworks didn't go off until the turn.
So anyway, now that you are familiar with my table, I'll get into my session. I started off a tad meh, missed my first few opens with cards like KQ suited and AQ, and soon found myself down a couple $40 stacks of red #2 chips. If you can't make a pair in this game you're probably not going to win. These types of players generally do not fold. No need to fear though, I got lucky in a big pot somewhere around my second hour at the table.
I'm in the BB with A5 of diamonds. UTG+1 (a cute asian girl, we'll call her NC) raised, cold called by about four people, small blind called, and I defended my BB with a suited ace. Seven way to a flop of K54 with one diamond. Small blind and I both check, UTG+1 bets, called in two spots behind her, small blind called, and getting roughly 18:1 on my $6, I called. NC is a bit of an LP preflop at times (so her raise was probably a big hand), but can get LAG after the flop. I'm putting her on a big hand at this point, probably AK, but maybe KQ. Obviously I'm looking for a five, maybe my ace is good if I hit it, and a diamond would give me an excuse to call a turn bet. The pot is much too big to fold for one more bet and I'm completing the action. Also, my position to the aggressor in the hand is fantastic; read the next sentence and you'll see why.
The turn brings out a five of clubs, actually putting a club flush draw on the board now. Small blind checks, I check, UTG+1 still bets and at this point in time I'm really hoping she has AK/KQ and not a full house (Kings full being the most likely option). Everyone folds behind except the small blind. He had been fairly tight in comparison to the rest of the table, so his turn call might be an OESD (67), he could have picked up a flush draw now, or he has a weak King. I raise to 12 chips ($24 total), NC quickly calls and the small blind calls.
The river brings a two of clubs out. Small blind checks, I value bet my trips top kicker, NC calls, and small blind folds. I showed my hand, NC flashed AK and a bit of frustration with the turn card (yay three outer), and I raked in a sea of red chips. Three outers (if you're not counting my backdoor draws) come and go, we all dish them out and we all take them.
Aside from this hand and a couple smaller pots, I was somewhat card dead and hovered around +$40-$+100 for a long stretch of time. I don't mind folding a lot of bad cards, it beats running into monsters or getting medium strength hands that finish second. I just enjoyed watching the action at the table and trying my best to read the hands I wasn't in.
The second half of my session I caught fire for awhile, picked up aces a few times and won all three. Also won with Kings once, but balanced some of that out by losing a couple big killpots with AK and another one after flopping two pair and getting gutterballed on the turn. Fun hands and big pots, I really enjoyed my time at the table. I was up a couple racks at about 8pm when my brother texted me and said his friend Billie (a cute/short brunette fwiw, too bad she prefers women) was going to hook it up with some free pizza and asked if I was interested. Well I hadn't eaten since about noon, I had been up since 1am, my cough had started to come back...hmmm, well, I do love pizza (combo no onions FTW). I raised AJ UTG, flopped TP but lost to JT turning broadway, cashed out about +$320 and called it a night.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
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