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!

The Micros - Holiday Special

A Quickie before Xmas

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Holidays everyone, enjoy your families and friends.

A Couple Messy Sessions (Part II: Saturday)

Told you not to hold your breath, man I'm updating this almost a week late. Sorry about that, but like I mentioned, shit was going to be hectic this week. So 6/12 with Tony, Wayne, and Davin went alright. Early on in the session I had a rough patch, mostly against a spewy guy in seat nine who I just couldn't hold against. I was in the game for $700 (three and a half racks) by the time all was said and done.

A few fun hands occurred when I got back from a quick bite to eat with Tommy and sat down on Davin's left. I think this was the first I had seen of Davin, so I posted my missed blinds in the cutoff and Davin raised directly to my right. I looked down on a couple red Queens and three bet. Folded around to seat nine who called and Davin who also called.

The flop came out ace high unfortunately, something like AT3. Seat nine donked the flop, Davin called, and I raised. Both called and we saw a deuce turn. Checked to me, and I opted to check it back. The river was a four and seat nine looked like he was going to bet out, then decided to check. Davin said something to the extent of "man don't call me, I don't want to turn my cards up" and bet $12 into the pot. I had planned on calling a river bet from seat nine, but Davin's hand sounded like a set or a straight. I folded and seat nine looked up Davin who had pocket fives for the rivered straight. Seat nine flashed an ace for what it's worth.

The very next hand I picked up Kings and three bet Davin again. "Will you be doing this the entire time?" he asked me. I jokingly snapped back "hey it hasn't worked yet, don't be mad, you won a pot last time." This time there was maybe four or five other people in the hand, and we saw a flop five or six ways for three bets a piece. The flop was something like Jack high with a couple clubs. Checked to me in the hijack, I bet, I got like three or four callers, and Davin said something like "wow I wish I had AT of clubs here" then folded.

The turn was a blank, I bet and was called by a couple more people. The river was an ace...not the prettiest card in the deck, but it wasn't a club and the action ended up getting checked to me. I was in position and figured if someone made aces up they would have bet into me, and while there's a chance the nutflush draw just made top pair, I had to value bet my hand. I opted to bet and only seat nine called me. I showed kings and he mucked his hand, likely a jack that couldn't make two pair.

Sometime a bit later I won another big pot, this time with AJ of hearts against QQ. I raised UTG, a LPP player three bet me, Davin defended his BB and I called. The flop was KQx, I check called a flop bet three ways, then spiked broadway on the turn. Davin checked, I checked, and the lady bet out. Davin tank/folded (I really wanted a call obviously), then I raised. The lady must have known for a fact I had a straight and not two pair, because she only called with her middle set The river blanked out and I had a decent comeback after being close to down $400 for the session at one point. In the end I think I lost a little over $100, not bad considering things had started off very bleak.

Stay tuned, I had a quick session tonight (Thursday) with Tony playing 6/12, and I even had a brief flirtation with the high hand board. First I have to thank him for a couple awesome Xmas presents, as he was my Secret Santa this year (awwww <3 bff). He got me the newest add-on to Red Dead Redemption for when I feel like mindlessly killing Zombies and a 12-pack of my favorite beer. Thanks pal! Oh, I'll also include the gift I gave, a Jets throwback Darrelle Revis jersey for my friend Kenny. I know it's a mirror at work, but maybe I should have shipped some windex along with the jersey haha.

A Couple Messy Sessions (Part I: Thursday)

I've been busy busy busy the last few days or so, and it doesn't seem to show any signs of slowing down until this Thursday. Last Thursday I headed over to Capitol for a session after work. Things were rocky at 4/8 yet again for me, as I had a great table with a lot of psychos, but I simply couldn't win a hand.

Things would change up a bit though as my fourth hand at 6/12 I picked up aces in the big blind against UTG's Queens. We capped pre-flop with six players seeing the flop (aye caramba!) The flop came out ten high, something like T73 rainbow. I kinda figured UTG had a hand, though he did seem like an action player. I bet into him and he raised, folded all the way around to an attractive asian girl (NC, I've mentioned her before in the blog) who called two bets cold, I 3-bet, UTG finally just called and NC called.

The turn was a four, somewhat scary if NC has something like 65, but I didn't think she'd call two bets cold with a gutshot on the flop so I wasn't too worried. She checked, I bet, both called. The river was a nine, making the board T7349. Again, not all that pretty, but I figured UTG had something like a pair Kings or Queens and I really didn't want to see a face card on the river. NC checked, I bet, UTG said something to the extent of "oh you have a big pair, let's see how big" and raised me. Wtf? NC folded and it came back around to me.

I paused a little bit and looked at the board. I'm not throwing my hand away in this spot probably ever, but why the river raise on that card? "You can't have jack eight right? That doesn't make sense" I said to him. "Pocket kings huh? You have pocket kings?" UTG asked me as I was debating. Is this guy not afraid of kings? Does he have the other two aces? A set of nines? "Man, I was kind of hoping that's what you had" I blurted out, in response to his question about whether or not I had kings.

"Oh yeah?" he asked in an almost hushed tone. I made the call, pretty much expecting to see a set of nines or tens when he flipped over pocket queens. Phew, I tabled my aces and he told me "nice hand, I was hoping you had jacks." Poor kid, sucks to get queens or kings when somebody else has aces, but you don't have to scare the shit out of me with that river raise. I appreciated the extra $12 I guess haha.

After that hand I won a few more nice pots and found myself close to +$300 for the session...unfortunately I cooled off considerably and didn't win another hand for over two hours. I watched my chipstack dwindle from about three racks down to under one; I even had to reload another rack. I came back a little bit after that, but wow what a terrible second half of a session. I spent the majority of my time folding trash hands then the rest taking beats. I'm pretty stoic when I take beats, if anything I think I look dazed or in a trance, not once did I react poorly but NC even commented on how unlucky I was getting and seemed to legitimately feel sorry for me. Too bad she's taken, I would have loved a sympathy hug.

To be honest, at the end of the day I felt like I should have been down three racks based on how poorly I ran, so that cheered me up some. It really sucks swinging that far down though after crushing the table initially. I'll be back to blog about my Saturday session spent with my pal Tony/fender403 where we played 6/12 along with WI, Suzanne, and Davin Anderson. I've mentioned him before in some old 9/18 and 15/30 entries, so we'll talk about a couple fun hands against him. No promises on how soon, I have to work both jobs the next couple of days/nights so it's going to be hectic.

Case of the Mondays (Part II: 6/12 Rollercoaster)

I was trying to think of another pic or video related to Mondays, and I remembered my favorite Orgy song, a cover of New Order's "Blue Monday."

Anyway, like I mentioned last time, 6/12 was a roller coaster ride of awesome, and some not-so-awesome. My table had a couple familiar faces, one being an older woman I'll call PM in seat two, a younger guy in seat five who wore sunglasses (I'll call him "Shades") and then a middle aged man wearing eyeglasses in seat eight who was sometimes vocally hostile to dealers and other players. Apparently he was stuck pretty bad, and in the end I'd estimate I saw him dump at least four racks into the game. The rest of the players were pretty LPPish, with one or two LAGs thrown in. Good table, with just one catch...you gotta hold!

So the first big pot I was in I raised AQos UTG and saw a six way flop of Q63 with two diamonds. I had lost a couple smaller pots early on and didn't show my cards, so perhaps people thought my raises didn't mean much. The SB in seat nine donk bet into me, PM called, I raised, called in two spots behind me, SB called and PM called. The turn was a ten of spades, a bit scary because QT is a fairly common pre-flop call, but I bet and wasn't raised by anyone, only called in three spots. Haha, only three spots. When the river was being dealt, all I could think about was...



The river was a non-diamond three, pairing the board. Q63T3, no flushes, no straights. Checked to me and I value bet my AQ and was looked up by only Mr. Hostility in seat eight, who showed KQ. Poor guy, one notch too low. That was a sick pot, and got me close to even for the day.

About an orbit later I was dealt AQ again, this time though I was in Middle position. Folded to me and I opened for $12, Shades called me from the cutoff, a younger white kid in seat seven called me from the SB, the BB defended and we saw a flop of QJ4 with two hearts. I bet, called by shades and seat seven, the BB folded.

The turn was a two of hearts, putting three hearts on the board. Checked to me, I bet, Shades raised, seat seven tanked a little/checked his cards again and then called, and then the action was back to me. I was pretty sure I could beat seat seven's hand, but what about Shades? He had been getting a touch out of line, and something told me he didn't have a flush. I thought he might have been getting out of line with a hand like Jx with a heart draw, so I decided to make the call. If he had something like a weak two pair I still had some outs, and like I mentioned I still thought I was ahead.

The river was a non-heart three. SB checked, I checked, and then Shades checked behind. Hmmm, was I good? Seat seven shook his head and showed a missed K-high flush draw. I can beat that...I showed my AQ. Then Shades showed 42os for a turned two pair, and took down the pot. I couldn't help but smirk a little bit, but I kept my cool and didn't say anything negative. If the dude wants to call my pre-flop raises with four high, he is more than welcome.

After that hand I spiraled down a little bit, losing with pocket tens a few different times, Kings lost again, but then came back a little with Queens, flopping a set in a four way pot and then turning the boat. Then I picked up aces against the laggy seat six's queens which brought me back even more. The last hand I'll talk about brought me back closer to even for the day and was the last big pot I was in before my table broke.

It was a killpot and limped in a couple spots, and I looked down at a red KQos. I raised over the limpers, which included a LPPish asian guy in seat one and PM in seat two. Six people saw the flop of Q73 rainbow. Remember, this was a killpot so and I raised so 6 people times 12 chips times $2/chip = roughly $144 in the pot preflop. I flopped TPGK, now it's time to hold.

The action was pretty tame, as it was checked to me, I bet and got a few callers. The turn paired the seven and I'll admit I was tad bit scared of someone floating the flop with midpair. I mean, with $144 in the pot on the flop, I'm probably peeling for one more bet. The pot's about $192 after the flop, and on the turn I bet and only got called by seat 1 and by PM, so now it's about $264. The river was a deuce, checked to me, again I value bet my TPGK with a pair on the board, and this time only PM called while saying "good hand." Those are some of the sweetest words you can hear, because you know it's a crying call on the end. A decent one if I just barreled with AK in this spot, but unfortunately for her I had the queen and she only had "a pocket pair." Sick sick pot, and it made it so I was about a $60 winner at 6/12, so only a $40 loser for the day.

The table ended up breaking shortly after so I sat and watched the ending to the Texans/Ravens game (poor Texans' fans, Schaub threw a pick six to end the game), then made my way home.

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.