Yes, I've finally managed a cash in a live tournament ... my first for over three months!
By the same token, it was also very disappointing. The event in question was the 8 game at the latest joe Hachem Deep Stack Series at Crown. The disappointing part of it was that I was the chip leader going into the final table & stayed at or near the top of the chip count throughout the final table ... until it got down to three handed. Early in three handed play I continued to chip up & at one point I had over 300k in chips, compared with the 140k & 45k of my oppoents ... yes, I had a massive chip lead! I felt I was the best player remaining at the table & I felt I was playing well ... and yet I still managed to finish 3rd!
It all came apart in the triple draw & limit holdem rounds ... two big triple draw hands saw me make second-best hands & lose sizable pots ... and then another two limit holdem hands saw me go from big stack to short stack in about 15 hands! I eventually went out in the Omaha hi-lo round, after chopping a pot when I flopped a full house, only to have my oppoent catch running low cards to take the low ... and finally went out with a high-only hand QJJ8 against my opponent's A874 which made two pair with the A8 to scoop the pot & send me home.
In summary, it is good to finally get a live tournament cash after months of non-cashes ... but at the same time, its very disappointing to once again miss out on the trophy, particularly given the situation I was in when three-handed.
In other news, I've recorded a few segments for the next episode of the Donkcast, so expect to hear it soon!!
Showing posts with label hand analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hand analysis. Show all posts
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Turning the wheel ...
The online challenge got the better of me. I managed to clear another $10 of the bonus after my blog post, but that was it. Obviously an extra $10 is always a help, but more would have been nicer.
Cash games at Crown have also turned around for me ... and turned in the wrong direction. The highlight of last night saw a hand where I raised to $11 UTG, was called by UTG+1 & the hijack. Flop was 245 all diamonds. I bet $20 with AdAc & was called by UTG+1. Turn saw the Qc & I bet $35 & my opponent moved all-in for an additional $90 or thereabouts. Of course there are a lot of hands that I have crushed that he might make the same move with, but there are also a lot of hands I am in trouble against. However with the Ad in my hand I have outs against anything but the straight flush (3d6d) ... so I made the call. The river was a repeat (non-diamond) queen, which helped my hand as I would now beat a flopped two pair (45 or similar) ... but of course my opponent had 63 of hearts for the flopped straight ... because calling a raise with 63 SOOOOTED is such a profitable play ...
Of course the same player made a wonderful claim in a later hand. With a board of J9257 (two diamonds on the flop, but no flush possible by the river) he decided to call my bets on every street ... and when I showed JJ for top set on the river he said 'well that beats three nines'. Really? I quized him about this and he said 'I thought you had three jacks' ... its amazing what some people will do, or what they think you will believe. So with a flush draw out there & only one possible hand that could beat it (until the river when T8 & 86 get there), he decides that just flat calling with the second nuts is the best way to play the hand ... not even raising on the flop or turn when I might stack off with top pair or an overpair. Obviously good to put the guy who cracked my aces in his place, but it was one of the few highlights in an otherwise ordinary session.
When will variance be my friend??
Cash games at Crown have also turned around for me ... and turned in the wrong direction. The highlight of last night saw a hand where I raised to $11 UTG, was called by UTG+1 & the hijack. Flop was 245 all diamonds. I bet $20 with AdAc & was called by UTG+1. Turn saw the Qc & I bet $35 & my opponent moved all-in for an additional $90 or thereabouts. Of course there are a lot of hands that I have crushed that he might make the same move with, but there are also a lot of hands I am in trouble against. However with the Ad in my hand I have outs against anything but the straight flush (3d6d) ... so I made the call. The river was a repeat (non-diamond) queen, which helped my hand as I would now beat a flopped two pair (45 or similar) ... but of course my opponent had 63 of hearts for the flopped straight ... because calling a raise with 63 SOOOOTED is such a profitable play ...
Of course the same player made a wonderful claim in a later hand. With a board of J9257 (two diamonds on the flop, but no flush possible by the river) he decided to call my bets on every street ... and when I showed JJ for top set on the river he said 'well that beats three nines'. Really? I quized him about this and he said 'I thought you had three jacks' ... its amazing what some people will do, or what they think you will believe. So with a flush draw out there & only one possible hand that could beat it (until the river when T8 & 86 get there), he decides that just flat calling with the second nuts is the best way to play the hand ... not even raising on the flop or turn when I might stack off with top pair or an overpair. Obviously good to put the guy who cracked my aces in his place, but it was one of the few highlights in an otherwise ordinary session.
When will variance be my friend??
Sunday, July 25, 2010
A weekend of highs & lows ... and an online self-challenge
Spent some time at Crown this weekend, playing cash games & a tournament ... and it was chalk & cheese ... swings & roundabouts ... or whatever your favourite cliche is for such a situation.
Saturday turned into a horrible session of $2/3 NL. After getting off to a reasonable start, I managed to find a number of second-best hands (which is never good for the chip stack) & was treading water slightly down when a novice player sat down at the table. As seems to happen so often, he managed to run like God & in no time had his $150 buy-in up to around $700! Given the number of 4 (or less) outers he hit, myself & the others at the opposite end of the table could not wait to get our hands on some of this, when the inevitable end to the run good happened. Of course the other problem that the beginner's presence created was that everyone else wanted to get in on the action. I managed to find myself on the wrong end of this in a big hand where I had TT in the big blind. After most of the table (including the beginner) limped, I made it $20 to go, which was called by 6 players! The flop came down J43 & I lead into the field for $40. The only callers were the beginner & the player to his immediate right. Although not the ideal situation, it was still not such a bad result, though obviously the jack was a little concerning. The turn brought a 5 & I bet $60 this time, which was called by the beginner & the other player moved all-in for just over $90. Obviously this was not ideal, but I called the extra amount (as did the beginner) & checked the repeat jack on the river. I showed my TT, the beginner showed 87 (yes, he called the flop with 87 & the turn with a gutshot!) & the all-in player showed his A2o for the wheel to take the $400+ pot! FML! I played poorly for the remainder of the session, getting more frustrated by the horrible play of the beginner, as well as his chipping up, then redistributing these chips around the table. My final hand for the evening saw my horribly misplay AK. It was folded to middle position (this was about an hour after the beginner had left ... with no chips & a lighter wallet) & a tight player raised to $15. This was the first time he had raised pre-flop & only a few hands earlier he had called a pre-flop raise & called flop & river bets in position with QQ to take down a pot worth around $100 on a K-high board, so I thought he had to have something pretty reasonable to be doing this. The button, who had been playing solidly & was the major beneficiary of the recently-departed novice player, called & I decided to just call from the small blind. I generally do this for a few reasons - it disguises the strength of my hand; AK can be a difficult hand to play out-of-position with the betting lead if you miss the flop; it keeps the pot size manageable - technically my hand is just a big drawing hand at present, so I don't feel the need to make the pot overly big (yes, I tend to go for the 'big hand, big pot; small hand, small pot' type of mentality). Three to the flop & it was KT7 with two diamonds. Expecting a c-bet from the pre-flop raiser, I decided to check, only to see it check around. The turn brought an offsuit 4 & I bet $30, which was called by the PFR, only to be min-raised by the button! Of course because I had played the hand so strangely/badly to this point I had no idea what kind of a hand he might have (although I knew it was decent), though it could be anything from a combo straight/flush draw (QJdd, 89dd) to top pair, two pair or a set. I decided to call, as did the PFR. The turn was a horrible card for me (in hindsight), an offsuit ace, giving me top two pair. I only had about $90 left, so shipped it, to see the PFR insta-muck & the button insta-call ... and I knew he had a set & I was heading home. Of course when he showed his 44, it simply made me more frustrated with myself for playing the hand so badly, as he most likely would have folded the hand on the flop to a bet. Oh well ...
Today I turned up late for the $125 Sunday tournament ... and it made no difference! I didn't even survive a round! After folding my first few hands, I looked at 66 in the BB & checked my option after 5 limpers. I check-folded the J75 flop & was just about settling into my table, which had quite a few familiar faces at it (yes, the Sunday tournament definitely brings out the regulars!). Of course on the very next hand there were again 5 limpers to the big blind (a regular who tends to overplay marginal hands) who made it 1300 to go (blinds were 100/200). I looked down at AK in the SB & re-raised to 3200 (we started with 10,000 & I'd only lost 350 in blinds prior to this hand, so pretty much had a full starting stack, with the button having me covered). It folded back around to the button, who moved all-in fairly quickly. I called & he showed his QQ. The dealer dealt the flop ... ACE! ... queen, four ... groan, FML, etc ... Of course I was drawing dead by the turn, but picked up a consolation ace on the river (what a lovely book title Mr Greenstein) before heading to the cash games.
The cash game proved to be great. In my first 2 orbits at the table I picked up AA twice! The first time I doubled-up (with change) on an AJ9 flop when I got it all-in against 99. I then stacked an opponent on a king-high flop when he got it all-in with K6 & did not improve. Obviously this was a great start to have my $200 buy-in up to over $600 within 30 minutes! I kept my stack around the $600 mark for the next few hours, with a few minor fluctuations, until another big hand came my way. This time I picked up AK in the big blind after 7 people had limped in, so made it $20 to go. Two players called to see a flop of A75 with two hearts. I bet $35 & they both called. The turn was an 8 & I bet $55 & was again called by both opponents. The river was a T (flush did not complete) & I checked, intending to check-call (I had the ace of hearts, but was concerned about one of my opponents having two pair). It checked to the player in the cutoff who bet $75 (about half of his remaining stack). With the pot being so big, I could not possibly fold, so I called his bet. After the other player mucked, the bettor insta-mucked & I took down the $450+ pot uncontested! I left about an hour later with a healthy profit that well and truly made up for the previous night's forgetable performance.
I've also decided that this week I will play a minimum of 25 hours of online low-limit holdem, playing at least 4 tables at a time. I was hoping to do this by Wednesday (roughly 8 hours per day on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday), though this may not be possible, as I am actually going to be playing chess (for Elwood) on Tuesday night. Will see how things go (both the poker and the chess) & I will update my progress here. Lets hope it turns out well!
Saturday turned into a horrible session of $2/3 NL. After getting off to a reasonable start, I managed to find a number of second-best hands (which is never good for the chip stack) & was treading water slightly down when a novice player sat down at the table. As seems to happen so often, he managed to run like God & in no time had his $150 buy-in up to around $700! Given the number of 4 (or less) outers he hit, myself & the others at the opposite end of the table could not wait to get our hands on some of this, when the inevitable end to the run good happened. Of course the other problem that the beginner's presence created was that everyone else wanted to get in on the action. I managed to find myself on the wrong end of this in a big hand where I had TT in the big blind. After most of the table (including the beginner) limped, I made it $20 to go, which was called by 6 players! The flop came down J43 & I lead into the field for $40. The only callers were the beginner & the player to his immediate right. Although not the ideal situation, it was still not such a bad result, though obviously the jack was a little concerning. The turn brought a 5 & I bet $60 this time, which was called by the beginner & the other player moved all-in for just over $90. Obviously this was not ideal, but I called the extra amount (as did the beginner) & checked the repeat jack on the river. I showed my TT, the beginner showed 87 (yes, he called the flop with 87 & the turn with a gutshot!) & the all-in player showed his A2o for the wheel to take the $400+ pot! FML! I played poorly for the remainder of the session, getting more frustrated by the horrible play of the beginner, as well as his chipping up, then redistributing these chips around the table. My final hand for the evening saw my horribly misplay AK. It was folded to middle position (this was about an hour after the beginner had left ... with no chips & a lighter wallet) & a tight player raised to $15. This was the first time he had raised pre-flop & only a few hands earlier he had called a pre-flop raise & called flop & river bets in position with QQ to take down a pot worth around $100 on a K-high board, so I thought he had to have something pretty reasonable to be doing this. The button, who had been playing solidly & was the major beneficiary of the recently-departed novice player, called & I decided to just call from the small blind. I generally do this for a few reasons - it disguises the strength of my hand; AK can be a difficult hand to play out-of-position with the betting lead if you miss the flop; it keeps the pot size manageable - technically my hand is just a big drawing hand at present, so I don't feel the need to make the pot overly big (yes, I tend to go for the 'big hand, big pot; small hand, small pot' type of mentality). Three to the flop & it was KT7 with two diamonds. Expecting a c-bet from the pre-flop raiser, I decided to check, only to see it check around. The turn brought an offsuit 4 & I bet $30, which was called by the PFR, only to be min-raised by the button! Of course because I had played the hand so strangely/badly to this point I had no idea what kind of a hand he might have (although I knew it was decent), though it could be anything from a combo straight/flush draw (QJdd, 89dd) to top pair, two pair or a set. I decided to call, as did the PFR. The turn was a horrible card for me (in hindsight), an offsuit ace, giving me top two pair. I only had about $90 left, so shipped it, to see the PFR insta-muck & the button insta-call ... and I knew he had a set & I was heading home. Of course when he showed his 44, it simply made me more frustrated with myself for playing the hand so badly, as he most likely would have folded the hand on the flop to a bet. Oh well ...
Today I turned up late for the $125 Sunday tournament ... and it made no difference! I didn't even survive a round! After folding my first few hands, I looked at 66 in the BB & checked my option after 5 limpers. I check-folded the J75 flop & was just about settling into my table, which had quite a few familiar faces at it (yes, the Sunday tournament definitely brings out the regulars!). Of course on the very next hand there were again 5 limpers to the big blind (a regular who tends to overplay marginal hands) who made it 1300 to go (blinds were 100/200). I looked down at AK in the SB & re-raised to 3200 (we started with 10,000 & I'd only lost 350 in blinds prior to this hand, so pretty much had a full starting stack, with the button having me covered). It folded back around to the button, who moved all-in fairly quickly. I called & he showed his QQ. The dealer dealt the flop ... ACE! ... queen, four ... groan, FML, etc ... Of course I was drawing dead by the turn, but picked up a consolation ace on the river (what a lovely book title Mr Greenstein) before heading to the cash games.
The cash game proved to be great. In my first 2 orbits at the table I picked up AA twice! The first time I doubled-up (with change) on an AJ9 flop when I got it all-in against 99. I then stacked an opponent on a king-high flop when he got it all-in with K6 & did not improve. Obviously this was a great start to have my $200 buy-in up to over $600 within 30 minutes! I kept my stack around the $600 mark for the next few hours, with a few minor fluctuations, until another big hand came my way. This time I picked up AK in the big blind after 7 people had limped in, so made it $20 to go. Two players called to see a flop of A75 with two hearts. I bet $35 & they both called. The turn was an 8 & I bet $55 & was again called by both opponents. The river was a T (flush did not complete) & I checked, intending to check-call (I had the ace of hearts, but was concerned about one of my opponents having two pair). It checked to the player in the cutoff who bet $75 (about half of his remaining stack). With the pot being so big, I could not possibly fold, so I called his bet. After the other player mucked, the bettor insta-mucked & I took down the $450+ pot uncontested! I left about an hour later with a healthy profit that well and truly made up for the previous night's forgetable performance.
I've also decided that this week I will play a minimum of 25 hours of online low-limit holdem, playing at least 4 tables at a time. I was hoping to do this by Wednesday (roughly 8 hours per day on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday), though this may not be possible, as I am actually going to be playing chess (for Elwood) on Tuesday night. Will see how things go (both the poker and the chess) & I will update my progress here. Lets hope it turns out well!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Final Table at Crown
Decided to play the Thursday night tournament at Crown tonight & managed to finish 4th out of a field of 119. Its not the greatest structure in the world, with a 3k starting stack & 25 minute levels, but there are plenty of tournaments that are worse.
If there was one thing that my experiences in America taught me, it was that you need to go about accumulating chips right from the start of the tournament. This was my excuse for a key hand early in the tournament. I was in the BB (100/200) & there was a raise to 500 from UTG+1. The cutoff called & I defended with K3hh. The flop was 763 rainbow & I checked to the pre-flop raiser who bet 700. The cutoff folded & I considered my options. I had already committed 500 to the pot & had just over 1500 behind. There was a decent chance that my opponent had overcards to the board (in which case my pair of 3s would be in front) and even if he had an overpair (it seemed unlikely that he would have a set or straight here) I still had 5 outs to improve. Of course the opposing view had me with 1500 still in my stack after folding, which although short, was definitely not at the 'any two cards' stage, so all would not be lost. Eventually I decided to shove, hoping my opponent either folded (unlikely) or called & turned over AK, KQ or some other hand with a king & no pair. Of course neither of these eventualities happened & my opponent snap-called & turned over QQ to have me drawing thin. However given that the heading is not 'Early exit from tourney' I managed to bink a king on the turn to double-up, and this, combined with some run good & well-timed stealing allowed me to get to the final table as one of the chip leaders (of course I managed to crack KK with QT just before the final table when the money went in on a Q98 flop & I binked a T on the river ... but that's the punishment for my opponent not re-raising pre-flop with such a big hand). The final table was going reasonably smoothly & I managed to keep my stack at a healthy level, in spite of the most aggressive player at the table sitting to my direct left. This player would take the chip lead early on the final table & it was a big confrontation with him that would lead to my demise. We had got down to four handed, with the aggressive player to my left having just under half the chips in play in his stack. The hand in question saw me raise to 14k (blinds 3000/6000) with 55 on the button. My opponent in the SB re-raised to 32k after some thought & I decided to move all-in for an extra 51.5k on top of the re-raise. Ultimately my opponent decided to call, with the classic 'you're in front, but I have to call' line & turned over A7o. Of course there was an ace on the flop, as well as one on the turn for good measure & the 160k+ pot was shipped to the aggro guy as I collected my prizemoney and left.
I suppose its a good sign that I final tabled my first tournament back at Crown. Lets hope the run continues on Sunday & into the Victorian Championships!
If there was one thing that my experiences in America taught me, it was that you need to go about accumulating chips right from the start of the tournament. This was my excuse for a key hand early in the tournament. I was in the BB (100/200) & there was a raise to 500 from UTG+1. The cutoff called & I defended with K3hh. The flop was 763 rainbow & I checked to the pre-flop raiser who bet 700. The cutoff folded & I considered my options. I had already committed 500 to the pot & had just over 1500 behind. There was a decent chance that my opponent had overcards to the board (in which case my pair of 3s would be in front) and even if he had an overpair (it seemed unlikely that he would have a set or straight here) I still had 5 outs to improve. Of course the opposing view had me with 1500 still in my stack after folding, which although short, was definitely not at the 'any two cards' stage, so all would not be lost. Eventually I decided to shove, hoping my opponent either folded (unlikely) or called & turned over AK, KQ or some other hand with a king & no pair. Of course neither of these eventualities happened & my opponent snap-called & turned over QQ to have me drawing thin. However given that the heading is not 'Early exit from tourney' I managed to bink a king on the turn to double-up, and this, combined with some run good & well-timed stealing allowed me to get to the final table as one of the chip leaders (of course I managed to crack KK with QT just before the final table when the money went in on a Q98 flop & I binked a T on the river ... but that's the punishment for my opponent not re-raising pre-flop with such a big hand). The final table was going reasonably smoothly & I managed to keep my stack at a healthy level, in spite of the most aggressive player at the table sitting to my direct left. This player would take the chip lead early on the final table & it was a big confrontation with him that would lead to my demise. We had got down to four handed, with the aggressive player to my left having just under half the chips in play in his stack. The hand in question saw me raise to 14k (blinds 3000/6000) with 55 on the button. My opponent in the SB re-raised to 32k after some thought & I decided to move all-in for an extra 51.5k on top of the re-raise. Ultimately my opponent decided to call, with the classic 'you're in front, but I have to call' line & turned over A7o. Of course there was an ace on the flop, as well as one on the turn for good measure & the 160k+ pot was shipped to the aggro guy as I collected my prizemoney and left.
I suppose its a good sign that I final tabled my first tournament back at Crown. Lets hope the run continues on Sunday & into the Victorian Championships!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
More books, WSOP rail, poker & slowrolled by a bus!
To start the day I thought I'd make a return to the Gamblers Book Shop, primarily to get John Fox's book 'Play Poker, Quit Work & Sleep till noon' as I'd recently heard some good things about it, along with the fact that it seemed to be a rare book not available in many places. Of course to get there I had to catch two buses - the 202 down Flamingo, then the 110 on Eastern. Sounds fairly straightforward & it should have been. The issue was the transfer between buses - to get from the stop on Flamingo to the stop on Eastern, you need to walk 50 metres to the intersection, cross the road & then walk another 50 metres to the bus stop on Eastern. The first part was easy enough - got off the 202 & as I got to the intersection, I noticed the 110 at the opposite intersection waiting at a red light. Anyway, this means that I, along with the three or four others from the 202 who want to get on the 110, have to wait for the lights to change (and the bus to make it through the intersection to the bus stop) before we can cross the road. All seems to be going to plan - the bus stops & lets people off, the lights change & a group of us walk across the road ... and the bus waits at the stop. Fantastic! The driver has obviously seen that the other bus had just arrived & is waiting for those passengers to get to the 110. Anyway, as I am about 5 metres from the back of the bus (I've gone for the powerwalk option & lead the group fomr the 202) the engine is taken out of neutral ... no problem, I'm almost there. As I get to the middle of the bus it pulls out from the kerb & takes off! Talk about a slowroll! Not only do I get within literally 10 metres of the door, but I now have to wait another 20+ minutes for the next bus! So sick ....
Once I got to the bookshop I found the Fox book I was after & picked up a few other books while I was there, including the Doyle Brunson biography, which should be a good read if I ever get around to it. The return trip was relatively smooth, though I got withing 100 metres of the bus stop before the bus passed me, meaning I again had a 20 minute wait for the 110.
Rather than heading back to the strip, I took the 202 to the Rio, as I had a few mates who had made it through to day three who I wanted to check up on, as well as seeing what day 3 of the main event was like. Of course the two people I was looking for, Theos Rippis & Peter Aristidou, had both busted by the time I arrived, but it was good to see quite a few Aussies still in the hunt. Another disappointment of the day was the fact that the cash game area, which had been buzzing a week or so ago, was now almost dead, with barely 20 tables running ... and those tables were all no-limit holdem. So much for that idea!
After leaving the Rio, I dropped my shopping off in my room & headed to Caesars Palace for some poker (yes, I thought I'd try to fit some in). I found a seat in a $1/3 no-limit holdem game & won a few small pots before (as seems to be a habit) I had my huge pot for the evening. There were two limpers in front of me & I had AhQs on the button & raised to $15. Of course not only did the two limpers come along, but both blinds joined in making it five to the flop. The flop was Qh8h6d & it was checked to the cutoff who bet $40. I wasn't sure quite where I was in the hand, so decided to just call the $40. The blinds folded & the limper who was UTG+1 then made it $140 to go! The cutoff thought for a while before eventually folding. I had $37 left after the $100 raise & the guy who had put in the raise had made some strange plays earlier (including a call down with queen-high that beat his opponent's 8-high missed straight draw). I decided to put the rest of my stack in, hoping he just has a draw or a worse top pair rather than two pair or a set. The fact that he took more than half a second to call made me think I had a decent chance & when the board ran out Kh3s & I showed my hand & he mucked, so I took down a pot worth over $450 with one pair! I stayed for another 30 minutes or so, but was feeling tired, so left with a decent profit for the evening.
Next on the agenda: stuff ... will probably try to get another episode of the podcast done before I leave, though no guarentees. Maybe a tourist stop as well.
Once I got to the bookshop I found the Fox book I was after & picked up a few other books while I was there, including the Doyle Brunson biography, which should be a good read if I ever get around to it. The return trip was relatively smooth, though I got withing 100 metres of the bus stop before the bus passed me, meaning I again had a 20 minute wait for the 110.
Rather than heading back to the strip, I took the 202 to the Rio, as I had a few mates who had made it through to day three who I wanted to check up on, as well as seeing what day 3 of the main event was like. Of course the two people I was looking for, Theos Rippis & Peter Aristidou, had both busted by the time I arrived, but it was good to see quite a few Aussies still in the hunt. Another disappointment of the day was the fact that the cash game area, which had been buzzing a week or so ago, was now almost dead, with barely 20 tables running ... and those tables were all no-limit holdem. So much for that idea!
After leaving the Rio, I dropped my shopping off in my room & headed to Caesars Palace for some poker (yes, I thought I'd try to fit some in). I found a seat in a $1/3 no-limit holdem game & won a few small pots before (as seems to be a habit) I had my huge pot for the evening. There were two limpers in front of me & I had AhQs on the button & raised to $15. Of course not only did the two limpers come along, but both blinds joined in making it five to the flop. The flop was Qh8h6d & it was checked to the cutoff who bet $40. I wasn't sure quite where I was in the hand, so decided to just call the $40. The blinds folded & the limper who was UTG+1 then made it $140 to go! The cutoff thought for a while before eventually folding. I had $37 left after the $100 raise & the guy who had put in the raise had made some strange plays earlier (including a call down with queen-high that beat his opponent's 8-high missed straight draw). I decided to put the rest of my stack in, hoping he just has a draw or a worse top pair rather than two pair or a set. The fact that he took more than half a second to call made me think I had a decent chance & when the board ran out Kh3s & I showed my hand & he mucked, so I took down a pot worth over $450 with one pair! I stayed for another 30 minutes or so, but was feeling tired, so left with a decent profit for the evening.
Next on the agenda: stuff ... will probably try to get another episode of the podcast done before I leave, though no guarentees. Maybe a tourist stop as well.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Some cash games & shopping
The last few days have given me an opportunity to play some cash games, with the main sessions being at Caesars Palace & (finally) a session at the Riviera. Ultimately the Caesars session was profitable, the Riviera not so much. There was a key hand at each venue which became the deciding factor as to whether the evening was profitable or not.
Caesars hand:
Caesars is a $1/3NL game, with quite a few big stacks at the table (largest was around the $900 mark). I sat with $200 and was up to around $250 when the following hand happened.
A lady who has recently sat down at the table with about $150 limps UTG, another lady to my immediate left (who had around $200) also called & I looked down at AsQd & raised to $12. It folded back around & both ladies called my raise. The flop came down AdQs3d & the first lady checked & the lady to my immediate right lead for $25. As I had top two pair, combined with the lady limp-calling pre-flop, I thought it was likely that I had the best hand, though I was not really sure what sort of a hand she could have to be leading into me on the flop. I also had the queen of diamonds, making it impossible for her to have a pair and a flush draw, so I decided to call her bet, hoping she could continue to bet her hand so that I could build a big pot in position with the best hand. Of course the plan changed when the first lady who checked decided to min-check-raise to $50! The lady that bet then called & I decided to have something of a think about the situation. A check-raise normally means one of two things in this type of situation (raising two players who have both already put money in the pot), either she has a big draw or a strong made hand. The logical options for this are 2 pair, a set (most likely 3s because of my hand & card elimination) or a flush/straight combo draw. I'm in decent shape against those hands & even if she has a set of 3s I still have 4 outs to win (though if this is the case I probably have less outs given the other lady in the hand). I decided to re-raise another $75 on top, hoping to get the pot heads-up when I hopefully have the best hand. Of course, the theme continued & the check-raiser called & the other lady moved in for an extra $14, which both I and the other lady in the hand called. She had about $25 left, so I decided to put her all-in on the turn (I was hardly going to fold with the pot so big), even though a less-than-ideal 6d was dealt. She called & the river was an offsuit 8 & I showed my AQ & scooped the $500+ pot! Of course this meant that the session at Caesars was a good one.
Today I went to the Riviera again & actually found a $1/2NL game going, albeit three handed. I decided to sit down anyway & after not too long the game became three handed when the other three players all managed to get their stacks in pre-flop with AKo v AKs v JJ, with the JJ scooping to bust the AKo & take most of the AKs' chips. He rebought, but not long afterwards lost that, so it was just myself & the other guy (who seemed to have an idea of what he was doing & had been the most aggressive at the table). I was about to leave & asked if he wanted to play heads-up (given that 95% or more of games that I have played in break when they get to 4-handed or less). He said yes, so we played heads-up ... which is one of the first times I had played live heads-up cash ... and its something I need to work on! I was getting crushed until I ended up on the right side of a cooler hand, where I had AA v his JJ on a ten high flop, with all the money going in on the turn. My aces held to take down a pot with just over $300 in it. He slowly chipped away at my stack until the following hand came up. I had about $250 to start the hand & he had me covered. He raised pre-flop to $6 (which he had been doing regularly) & I 3-bet to $15 (which I had done occasionally, but it was always to $15) with AKo. He called & we saw a flop of AdTs5d & I lead for $22, which he called. The turn was the Td & I bet $33 & was again called. The river was the Jc & I checked, planning to check-call the river. He then grebbed a stack of red & added a few red & blue ($1) chips to it & slid it forward. What hands could he have in this spot? What could he put me on in this spot? A few things went through my head. he could put me on a hand like QQ & have an ace & think he is value betting. He could have a ten & have me crushed. He could have diamonds & have me crushed. He could have air & be bluffing. He could have an ace that I have crushed. I thought it was pretty close & decided to call. Obviously given the earlier comments he had me crushed & showed 6d9d for a turned flush. In hindsight I guess I could have folded, but its the kind of situation that I have trouble with in no-limit holdem games, which was further made more difficult by my lack of heads-up experience. Anyway, live & learn I suppose.
As for shopping I made a few purchases at Barnes & Noble - a philosophy book 'The Terminator & Philosophy: I'll be back, Therefore I am' which looks at the philosophy in Terminator. I'd done some stuff on this in uni & found it interesting, so if I ever get around to reading it, I might rekindle my interest in philosophy. I also picked up a teaching book & a wrestling magazine because I am such a well-rounded individual that I think on so many levels! :-P
Only a few more days in the USA before I head back to Melbourne ... and the joy of the LV-->LA-->Syd-->Mel return journey ahead of me.
Next on the agenda: More cash games ... and maybe a tourney at the Rio if I can wake up that early!
Caesars hand:
Caesars is a $1/3NL game, with quite a few big stacks at the table (largest was around the $900 mark). I sat with $200 and was up to around $250 when the following hand happened.
A lady who has recently sat down at the table with about $150 limps UTG, another lady to my immediate left (who had around $200) also called & I looked down at AsQd & raised to $12. It folded back around & both ladies called my raise. The flop came down AdQs3d & the first lady checked & the lady to my immediate right lead for $25. As I had top two pair, combined with the lady limp-calling pre-flop, I thought it was likely that I had the best hand, though I was not really sure what sort of a hand she could have to be leading into me on the flop. I also had the queen of diamonds, making it impossible for her to have a pair and a flush draw, so I decided to call her bet, hoping she could continue to bet her hand so that I could build a big pot in position with the best hand. Of course the plan changed when the first lady who checked decided to min-check-raise to $50! The lady that bet then called & I decided to have something of a think about the situation. A check-raise normally means one of two things in this type of situation (raising two players who have both already put money in the pot), either she has a big draw or a strong made hand. The logical options for this are 2 pair, a set (most likely 3s because of my hand & card elimination) or a flush/straight combo draw. I'm in decent shape against those hands & even if she has a set of 3s I still have 4 outs to win (though if this is the case I probably have less outs given the other lady in the hand). I decided to re-raise another $75 on top, hoping to get the pot heads-up when I hopefully have the best hand. Of course, the theme continued & the check-raiser called & the other lady moved in for an extra $14, which both I and the other lady in the hand called. She had about $25 left, so I decided to put her all-in on the turn (I was hardly going to fold with the pot so big), even though a less-than-ideal 6d was dealt. She called & the river was an offsuit 8 & I showed my AQ & scooped the $500+ pot! Of course this meant that the session at Caesars was a good one.
Today I went to the Riviera again & actually found a $1/2NL game going, albeit three handed. I decided to sit down anyway & after not too long the game became three handed when the other three players all managed to get their stacks in pre-flop with AKo v AKs v JJ, with the JJ scooping to bust the AKo & take most of the AKs' chips. He rebought, but not long afterwards lost that, so it was just myself & the other guy (who seemed to have an idea of what he was doing & had been the most aggressive at the table). I was about to leave & asked if he wanted to play heads-up (given that 95% or more of games that I have played in break when they get to 4-handed or less). He said yes, so we played heads-up ... which is one of the first times I had played live heads-up cash ... and its something I need to work on! I was getting crushed until I ended up on the right side of a cooler hand, where I had AA v his JJ on a ten high flop, with all the money going in on the turn. My aces held to take down a pot with just over $300 in it. He slowly chipped away at my stack until the following hand came up. I had about $250 to start the hand & he had me covered. He raised pre-flop to $6 (which he had been doing regularly) & I 3-bet to $15 (which I had done occasionally, but it was always to $15) with AKo. He called & we saw a flop of AdTs5d & I lead for $22, which he called. The turn was the Td & I bet $33 & was again called. The river was the Jc & I checked, planning to check-call the river. He then grebbed a stack of red & added a few red & blue ($1) chips to it & slid it forward. What hands could he have in this spot? What could he put me on in this spot? A few things went through my head. he could put me on a hand like QQ & have an ace & think he is value betting. He could have a ten & have me crushed. He could have diamonds & have me crushed. He could have air & be bluffing. He could have an ace that I have crushed. I thought it was pretty close & decided to call. Obviously given the earlier comments he had me crushed & showed 6d9d for a turned flush. In hindsight I guess I could have folded, but its the kind of situation that I have trouble with in no-limit holdem games, which was further made more difficult by my lack of heads-up experience. Anyway, live & learn I suppose.
As for shopping I made a few purchases at Barnes & Noble - a philosophy book 'The Terminator & Philosophy: I'll be back, Therefore I am' which looks at the philosophy in Terminator. I'd done some stuff on this in uni & found it interesting, so if I ever get around to reading it, I might rekindle my interest in philosophy. I also picked up a teaching book & a wrestling magazine because I am such a well-rounded individual that I think on so many levels! :-P
Only a few more days in the USA before I head back to Melbourne ... and the joy of the LV-->LA-->Syd-->Mel return journey ahead of me.
Next on the agenda: More cash games ... and maybe a tourney at the Rio if I can wake up that early!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
USA Day 7
3rd in the 8 game!!
FINALLY a cash in the USA! Played the 8 game event today (which rotated between Pot limit Omaha, No limit Holdem, 2-7 triple draw, limit holdem, limit Omaha hi-lo, Razz, Seven card stud & Seven card stud hi-lo every 6 hands) & finished 3rd in a field of 39 for just over $1500.
I felt I played well, picking good spots & making good value bets where needed. My starting table was good & I accumulated chips well, apart from a period of about 30 minutes where I played about 4 hands horribly & went from an above average stack to just below average. Managed to recover from this hiccup & stayed around average stack until the final table.
The final table saw a lot of action early, with Eskimo Clarke being very active early with another player on the table & these two traded a lot of pots. They both found themselves on the wrong end of Jeff (who I think ended up winning the event) & some miracle rivers, eventually being knocked out in the same hand (Eskimo Clarke had a shorter stack at the start of the hand, so finished 7th & missed out on the money altogether - something he was VERY unhappy about!). I managed to stay afloat & made a big call in stud hi-lo with (K9)KJQ8(K) against an opponent showing a board of 2345 when we were both short. Thankfully he had only had 2 pair & my trip kings scooped a sizable pot. Managed to knock out both the short stacks on back-to back no limit holdem hands when KT beat A9 & JT beat K9. This left both myself & Rusty (who finished in second I think) with fairly similar stacks (35k or thereabouts) against Jeff's 80k+.
Much of the three handed (for me at least) came down to two critical hands where I found myself on the wrong side of the nuts. The first was a 2-7 triple draw hand against Rusty. He had played fairly aggressively in 2-7 previously & often stood pat with a relatively weak hand (87, 97 or worse), so when I picked up 86532 on the first draw (after drawing 2) I bet out with confidence, only to have Rusty raise me (after he had also drawn 2). Knowing how he had played previously I called & we both stood pat on the remaining streets & I called bets from Rusty on each street to see him turn over 75432!!! This seriously dented my stack & made me the short stack by quite a margin. The final blow for me was a hand with Jeff when I was short & saw a flop in the BB with T852 with 2 clubs. The flop was 337 with 2 clubs which was checked around & when the Th hit on the turn I bet out, thinking my top pair might be good for high, with the low draw & club draw as re-draws if needed. Jeff then raised me & with less than 2 big bets remaining I committed my stack, only to see Jeff turn over TT73 for the uber-nuts! This still left me with the low draw, so any A2456 or 8 would see me take half the pot, but with the Q appearing on the river I was done. $1500 is a decent payday for a tourney with only 39 players, however once again its a case of close but no cigar for me in a major tournament series. Lets hope I can break through sometime later on this trip!
Next on the agenda: Cash game grinding & maybe some sightseeing
FINALLY a cash in the USA! Played the 8 game event today (which rotated between Pot limit Omaha, No limit Holdem, 2-7 triple draw, limit holdem, limit Omaha hi-lo, Razz, Seven card stud & Seven card stud hi-lo every 6 hands) & finished 3rd in a field of 39 for just over $1500.
I felt I played well, picking good spots & making good value bets where needed. My starting table was good & I accumulated chips well, apart from a period of about 30 minutes where I played about 4 hands horribly & went from an above average stack to just below average. Managed to recover from this hiccup & stayed around average stack until the final table.
The final table saw a lot of action early, with Eskimo Clarke being very active early with another player on the table & these two traded a lot of pots. They both found themselves on the wrong end of Jeff (who I think ended up winning the event) & some miracle rivers, eventually being knocked out in the same hand (Eskimo Clarke had a shorter stack at the start of the hand, so finished 7th & missed out on the money altogether - something he was VERY unhappy about!). I managed to stay afloat & made a big call in stud hi-lo with (K9)KJQ8(K) against an opponent showing a board of 2345 when we were both short. Thankfully he had only had 2 pair & my trip kings scooped a sizable pot. Managed to knock out both the short stacks on back-to back no limit holdem hands when KT beat A9 & JT beat K9. This left both myself & Rusty (who finished in second I think) with fairly similar stacks (35k or thereabouts) against Jeff's 80k+.
Much of the three handed (for me at least) came down to two critical hands where I found myself on the wrong side of the nuts. The first was a 2-7 triple draw hand against Rusty. He had played fairly aggressively in 2-7 previously & often stood pat with a relatively weak hand (87, 97 or worse), so when I picked up 86532 on the first draw (after drawing 2) I bet out with confidence, only to have Rusty raise me (after he had also drawn 2). Knowing how he had played previously I called & we both stood pat on the remaining streets & I called bets from Rusty on each street to see him turn over 75432!!! This seriously dented my stack & made me the short stack by quite a margin. The final blow for me was a hand with Jeff when I was short & saw a flop in the BB with T852 with 2 clubs. The flop was 337 with 2 clubs which was checked around & when the Th hit on the turn I bet out, thinking my top pair might be good for high, with the low draw & club draw as re-draws if needed. Jeff then raised me & with less than 2 big bets remaining I committed my stack, only to see Jeff turn over TT73 for the uber-nuts! This still left me with the low draw, so any A2456 or 8 would see me take half the pot, but with the Q appearing on the river I was done. $1500 is a decent payday for a tourney with only 39 players, however once again its a case of close but no cigar for me in a major tournament series. Lets hope I can break through sometime later on this trip!
Next on the agenda: Cash game grinding & maybe some sightseeing
Sunday, May 9, 2010
USA Day 4
Hollywood!!
Yes, I spent the evening in Hollywood ... Hollywood Park Casino that is, in Inglewood, quite a distance from the ACTUAL Hollywood ... but I digress!
I went to Hollywood Park in the hope of playing in the $4/8 mix game that I played one evening last time I was in LA (earlier in the year). The mix is H.O.E., with games rotating between limit Holdem, Omaha hi-lo & 7-card stud hi-lo. I found the game to be very soft (and profitable) last time & was hoping for a repeat performance.
Alas, as I arrived & went to the board, there was only an interest list up for the $4/8 mix, with only one set of initials on it. Hopefully I added my initials to the board and joined a $4/8 Limit Holdem (with kill) game in the meantime. The game was pretty much what I was expecting - players who either overvalue their hand, or can't fold when they are beaten, and as a result I left some $120 to the good.
Two fun hands I'll quickly mention:
There's a raise & about 4 callers to me in the BB & I look down at AA, so make it 3-bets. Of course everyone who was already in the hand calls, and then the initial raiser caps the betting, so its 5 or 6 players to a capped flop, and I have AA in the BB ... good in some ways, not so good in others. Flop is 245 with two hearts. I bet (yes, I have the ace of hearts) and all but one player calls until it gets around to the woman on the button (who has mostly been a horrible calling station), who raises. Obviously this isn't a good sign for my hand & I figure if she's going to raise the field in a capped pot that she must have a real hand (for once!), with any two pair + hand being possible. I decide to call (heck I have a gutshot & backdoor hearts), as does everyone else! The turn brings the 7 of clubs. Not the best card in the world for my hand, but its limit holdem & there's one more card to come ... so its checked to the raiser who bets, and everyone in the hand puts in some chips & hopes for a miracle. The river is the 8 of spades ... which is a miracle for one player, who bets the river ... cue the violins & the crying calls ... of course I'm coming third by the river, with the flopped set of 2s from the woman on the button being overtaken by the rivered straight of Mr Miracle, who called down with 66, and the pre-flop capper lamenting his bad fortune as he asked for sympathy when turning over his QQ ... ah, limit holdem ... LOVE THIS GAME!
Of course I'm on the recieving end again towards the end of the session, this time with 77 on the button. I decide to limp and see a flop, as raising simply bloats the pot when I am generally without any idea of where I stand in the hand post-flop, which is something I prefer to avoid if at all possible. Anyway, the flop comes down 78T with two hearts ... good & not-so-good at the same time. Its quite likely that I have the best hand now, but with such a board there's not too many turn cards that I can really love (yes I was calling for running deuces, with the order being non-heart deuce, followed by the deuce of hearts on the river!). I decide that the only way I'm going to get anyone to fold in this hand is to raise it right away, and after the much-expected bet from the fairly active player in middle position & a call from the hijack, I make it 2-bets to go ... which EVERYONE who was in the hand called ... and the player who was next to me (he had folded) commented 'well that scared them into calling!'. At this stage the inner monologue was getting louder ... black deuce, BLACK DEUCE! ... but alas, the turn brought the jack of spades, so I was now behind any 9. Of course the BB now leads out, the flop bettor calls & the hijack raises! Once again its FML time & I call 'time' (explanation to follow). Eventually I decide to fold, figuring that I probably don't have 10 clean outs to improve (ie: the board pairing) as someone with a 9 in their hand might also have a 8, T or J with it, as well as the fact that I might face further raises on the turn from the BB who lead out at the pot. Anyway, the other two players both call, the river brings an offsuit 3 (one card too late for me!) & all three players check the river & turn over their 9s to chop the pot.
Thankfully there were other hands in the session that were far less painful (and far more profitable), so all-in-all a decent night out.
A quick explanation of 'time' ... over here it is something that you call on yourself when you have a decision to make & want more than the 'standard' few seconds to make it. Generally its used when someone has a tough decision (such as my folding of a set), or if someone has been ordering drinks, food, etc & hasn't had a chance to look at their cards & make a decision before the action is on them. It is also used by dealers if a player acts out of turn to prevent others from acting out of turn. For example, lets say seat 3 is still thinking & seat 4 folds their cards. The dealer will often call out 'time' to let seat 5 know that even though seat 4 has just acted, it is not actually his turn yet.
What we Australians usually refer to when calling time (apart from that horrible 'the casino is going to take their free money this hour after the next hand') is known as calling a clock on someone (ie: when they have already been thinking about a decision for a substantial amount of time & a player at the table would like them to make their decision immediately - or at least in the next minute).
Next on the agenda: Omaha hi-lo at the Commerce. One of the many non-holdem donkaments I plan to play while in LA!
Yes, I spent the evening in Hollywood ... Hollywood Park Casino that is, in Inglewood, quite a distance from the ACTUAL Hollywood ... but I digress!
I went to Hollywood Park in the hope of playing in the $4/8 mix game that I played one evening last time I was in LA (earlier in the year). The mix is H.O.E., with games rotating between limit Holdem, Omaha hi-lo & 7-card stud hi-lo. I found the game to be very soft (and profitable) last time & was hoping for a repeat performance.
Alas, as I arrived & went to the board, there was only an interest list up for the $4/8 mix, with only one set of initials on it. Hopefully I added my initials to the board and joined a $4/8 Limit Holdem (with kill) game in the meantime. The game was pretty much what I was expecting - players who either overvalue their hand, or can't fold when they are beaten, and as a result I left some $120 to the good.
Two fun hands I'll quickly mention:
There's a raise & about 4 callers to me in the BB & I look down at AA, so make it 3-bets. Of course everyone who was already in the hand calls, and then the initial raiser caps the betting, so its 5 or 6 players to a capped flop, and I have AA in the BB ... good in some ways, not so good in others. Flop is 245 with two hearts. I bet (yes, I have the ace of hearts) and all but one player calls until it gets around to the woman on the button (who has mostly been a horrible calling station), who raises. Obviously this isn't a good sign for my hand & I figure if she's going to raise the field in a capped pot that she must have a real hand (for once!), with any two pair + hand being possible. I decide to call (heck I have a gutshot & backdoor hearts), as does everyone else! The turn brings the 7 of clubs. Not the best card in the world for my hand, but its limit holdem & there's one more card to come ... so its checked to the raiser who bets, and everyone in the hand puts in some chips & hopes for a miracle. The river is the 8 of spades ... which is a miracle for one player, who bets the river ... cue the violins & the crying calls ... of course I'm coming third by the river, with the flopped set of 2s from the woman on the button being overtaken by the rivered straight of Mr Miracle, who called down with 66, and the pre-flop capper lamenting his bad fortune as he asked for sympathy when turning over his QQ ... ah, limit holdem ... LOVE THIS GAME!
Of course I'm on the recieving end again towards the end of the session, this time with 77 on the button. I decide to limp and see a flop, as raising simply bloats the pot when I am generally without any idea of where I stand in the hand post-flop, which is something I prefer to avoid if at all possible. Anyway, the flop comes down 78T with two hearts ... good & not-so-good at the same time. Its quite likely that I have the best hand now, but with such a board there's not too many turn cards that I can really love (yes I was calling for running deuces, with the order being non-heart deuce, followed by the deuce of hearts on the river!). I decide that the only way I'm going to get anyone to fold in this hand is to raise it right away, and after the much-expected bet from the fairly active player in middle position & a call from the hijack, I make it 2-bets to go ... which EVERYONE who was in the hand called ... and the player who was next to me (he had folded) commented 'well that scared them into calling!'. At this stage the inner monologue was getting louder ... black deuce, BLACK DEUCE! ... but alas, the turn brought the jack of spades, so I was now behind any 9. Of course the BB now leads out, the flop bettor calls & the hijack raises! Once again its FML time & I call 'time' (explanation to follow). Eventually I decide to fold, figuring that I probably don't have 10 clean outs to improve (ie: the board pairing) as someone with a 9 in their hand might also have a 8, T or J with it, as well as the fact that I might face further raises on the turn from the BB who lead out at the pot. Anyway, the other two players both call, the river brings an offsuit 3 (one card too late for me!) & all three players check the river & turn over their 9s to chop the pot.
Thankfully there were other hands in the session that were far less painful (and far more profitable), so all-in-all a decent night out.
A quick explanation of 'time' ... over here it is something that you call on yourself when you have a decision to make & want more than the 'standard' few seconds to make it. Generally its used when someone has a tough decision (such as my folding of a set), or if someone has been ordering drinks, food, etc & hasn't had a chance to look at their cards & make a decision before the action is on them. It is also used by dealers if a player acts out of turn to prevent others from acting out of turn. For example, lets say seat 3 is still thinking & seat 4 folds their cards. The dealer will often call out 'time' to let seat 5 know that even though seat 4 has just acted, it is not actually his turn yet.
What we Australians usually refer to when calling time (apart from that horrible 'the casino is going to take their free money this hour after the next hand') is known as calling a clock on someone (ie: when they have already been thinking about a decision for a substantial amount of time & a player at the table would like them to make their decision immediately - or at least in the next minute).
Next on the agenda: Omaha hi-lo at the Commerce. One of the many non-holdem donkaments I plan to play while in LA!
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