Min cash time!
The HORSE tourney went south fairly quickly, with my demise coming in 48th place out of the 125 starters. Of course I simply ran horribly in the stud games & that was the end of my tournament. Of course the positive of this bustout was that I finished in time for the Omaha hi-lo to begin. I began very well & spent most of the tournament in the top few chips positions. Of course the structure for the Omaha was horrible (and was in fact the same as the HORSE, which started the previous day, when the Omaha was down to two tables!), so it became a game of flips when down to two tables, with each pot potentially creating a new chip leader. Of course I managed to run horribly when down to two tables & went from chip leader (or second) at the table to out in 13th place.
Decided to play a little limit Holdem after busting from the tournament (might as well play some cash at the Orleans, not just tournaments) & in typical limit fashion I managed to have AA cracked by A4cc after flopping top set when the board came running clubs & unless I managed to flop a set, any other pocket pair was also a loser.
Next on the agenda: a dilemma. I have a ticket to Russell Peters at 9pm, but am seriously considering playing the Omaha hi-lo at the WSOP, which starts at 5pm. Might play the WSOP, and skip a few hands to go to the Russell Peters show (which conveniently is around the time of the dinner break) & hope it doesn't effect my stack too much.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
USA Day 23 & 24
Day 2 again ...
Made it through to day 2 of the $330 HORSE at the Orleans today. 125 started, with 62 making it through to day 2. A sick, sick structure with plenty of play & deep stacks meant that there weren't that many bustouts during the day & some of the players complained about the structure being too slow, lamenting that there were too many players left at the end of the day! Yes, poker players will complain about anything!
The day before I headed to the Rio to check out the WSOP. Things were still getting set up, but the tournament area is just huge! Saw quite a few pros playing in the $50k 8-game satellite, including Gavin Smith, Jason Mercier, Sorel Mizzi, Allen 'Chainsaw' Kessler, 'Chino' Rheem & others. I decided to play a satellite & managed to dust off my 2k stack in a $330 mega satellite when my JJ ran into 22 on a 432 flop. Of course I then decided to play a $125 Sit'n'go & managed to donk off my 1k stack when I ran AK into QQ. After these brief disappointments I left the Rio & ended up at Aria & played $1/3NL for a few hours until I managed to run into monster after monster after a good start.
Next on the agenda: Day 2 of the HORSE, Russell Peters & probably some events downtown.
Made it through to day 2 of the $330 HORSE at the Orleans today. 125 started, with 62 making it through to day 2. A sick, sick structure with plenty of play & deep stacks meant that there weren't that many bustouts during the day & some of the players complained about the structure being too slow, lamenting that there were too many players left at the end of the day! Yes, poker players will complain about anything!
The day before I headed to the Rio to check out the WSOP. Things were still getting set up, but the tournament area is just huge! Saw quite a few pros playing in the $50k 8-game satellite, including Gavin Smith, Jason Mercier, Sorel Mizzi, Allen 'Chainsaw' Kessler, 'Chino' Rheem & others. I decided to play a satellite & managed to dust off my 2k stack in a $330 mega satellite when my JJ ran into 22 on a 432 flop. Of course I then decided to play a $125 Sit'n'go & managed to donk off my 1k stack when I ran AK into QQ. After these brief disappointments I left the Rio & ended up at Aria & played $1/3NL for a few hours until I managed to run into monster after monster after a good start.
Next on the agenda: Day 2 of the HORSE, Russell Peters & probably some events downtown.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
USA Day 22
In the money!
Officially 4th in the Omaha hi-lo at the Orleans, though the final 5 players made a deal, which saw me take home just over $4k. Not a bad start to my summer in Vegas! There were a few crazy moments, but I stayed out of the way of the action for the most part, though I did get bluffed out of a big hand when we were still at 2 tables. I picked up QQ52 (with two diamonds) in the SB & raised when it was folded to me. The BB (who had been playing fairly loose) called. The flop was JTT with two diamonds. I bet & the BB raised! I decided to call with my overpair & diamond draw, figuring that I might be in front, but even if I wasn't that I still had outs to improve (unless of course I had walked into a flopped full house). Of course the turn didn't help matter, bringing an offsuit ace, with the BB betting again & I called again. The river was another jack, for a final board of JTTAJ with no flush. I checked & my opponent bet (which put him all-in). The hands I could beat were bluffs & bluffs only. Any A, J or T has me crushed, KQ beats me (though unlikely when I have QQ myself) & the fact that he raised the flop & continued to bet when the ace came on the turn (a card I could conceivably hold when raising pre-flop) made me think I was beaten & I folded before too much damage could be done to my stack (it left me with about 130k with blinds at 10k/20k & levels of 20k/40k). Once the deal was made, he mentioned that that was the key hand for his tournament, and that he thought I knew I made a bad fold as soon as the hand was over.
After the tourney I headed over to the Hard Rock to get a ticket for Russell Peters' show later in the week, as well as to chek out the poker room over there. Got a decent seat for the Russell Peters show, but the poker room was dead, with only one $1/2NL table running. I picked up a cap & a magnet from the gift shop & headed back to the strip. Decided to hop on a ridiculously overcrowded Deuce to Downtown to check out Binions & the Golden Nugget, where I'll be playing some tourneys in the coming days & weeks. Both poker rooms were quiet & I was getting tired, so didn't hang around for too long before heading back to my hotel, where I seem to have now finally resolved the booking issues of the first few days.
Next on the agenda: Cash games tomorrow (Aria the likely location) & HORSE at the Orleans on Friday
Officially 4th in the Omaha hi-lo at the Orleans, though the final 5 players made a deal, which saw me take home just over $4k. Not a bad start to my summer in Vegas! There were a few crazy moments, but I stayed out of the way of the action for the most part, though I did get bluffed out of a big hand when we were still at 2 tables. I picked up QQ52 (with two diamonds) in the SB & raised when it was folded to me. The BB (who had been playing fairly loose) called. The flop was JTT with two diamonds. I bet & the BB raised! I decided to call with my overpair & diamond draw, figuring that I might be in front, but even if I wasn't that I still had outs to improve (unless of course I had walked into a flopped full house). Of course the turn didn't help matter, bringing an offsuit ace, with the BB betting again & I called again. The river was another jack, for a final board of JTTAJ with no flush. I checked & my opponent bet (which put him all-in). The hands I could beat were bluffs & bluffs only. Any A, J or T has me crushed, KQ beats me (though unlikely when I have QQ myself) & the fact that he raised the flop & continued to bet when the ace came on the turn (a card I could conceivably hold when raising pre-flop) made me think I was beaten & I folded before too much damage could be done to my stack (it left me with about 130k with blinds at 10k/20k & levels of 20k/40k). Once the deal was made, he mentioned that that was the key hand for his tournament, and that he thought I knew I made a bad fold as soon as the hand was over.
After the tourney I headed over to the Hard Rock to get a ticket for Russell Peters' show later in the week, as well as to chek out the poker room over there. Got a decent seat for the Russell Peters show, but the poker room was dead, with only one $1/2NL table running. I picked up a cap & a magnet from the gift shop & headed back to the strip. Decided to hop on a ridiculously overcrowded Deuce to Downtown to check out Binions & the Golden Nugget, where I'll be playing some tourneys in the coming days & weeks. Both poker rooms were quiet & I was getting tired, so didn't hang around for too long before heading back to my hotel, where I seem to have now finally resolved the booking issues of the first few days.
Next on the agenda: Cash games tomorrow (Aria the likely location) & HORSE at the Orleans on Friday
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
USA Day 21
One tourney, one cash!
Today was the Omaha hi-lo at the Orleans. 168 players & I managed to make it to the final 15 who will return tomorrow to play the tourney out.
I'll keep it brief as I need to get some sleep, but the summary is horrible structure (chip leader at the moment has lass than 10 big bets!), horrible dealers (with a few exceptions), some strange rules (one guy arrived late & had to wait for 25 minutes to be big blind before he was dealt in!) & a bunch of nitty, grumpy old men ... oh, and some run good for me! Highlight of the run good was shipping a 70k+ pot when all-in with levels of 4k/8k with ace high! Also managed to follow that effort up a few hands later by making quad kings for a large scoop!
Lets hope the run good continues for the final two tables!
Today was the Omaha hi-lo at the Orleans. 168 players & I managed to make it to the final 15 who will return tomorrow to play the tourney out.
I'll keep it brief as I need to get some sleep, but the summary is horrible structure (chip leader at the moment has lass than 10 big bets!), horrible dealers (with a few exceptions), some strange rules (one guy arrived late & had to wait for 25 minutes to be big blind before he was dealt in!) & a bunch of nitty, grumpy old men ... oh, and some run good for me! Highlight of the run good was shipping a 70k+ pot when all-in with levels of 4k/8k with ace high! Also managed to follow that effort up a few hands later by making quad kings for a large scoop!
Lets hope the run good continues for the final two tables!
USA Day 20
VEGAS BABY!!!
Yes, I'm now in Las Vegas. Managed to get the perfect seat for the plane to Vegas - a small plane where I had the row being first/business class, where I could actually stretch my legs out straight & only barely touch the seat in front of me. Legroom on a plane ... who'd have thought?
Eventually sorted out my room, after discovering that my booking was cancelled! Always a good start ... but then it was off to do the essentials before hitting the poker tables.
The essentials: a meal at Earl of Sandwich & getting myself a ticket for UFC 116, which is in just over a month.
Poker started with $1/2NLHE at Mandalay Bay, where I managed to find myself on the wrong end of cooler hands on multiple occasions.
Top pair & nut flush draw v small flush = I miss; TT runs into JJ; TT runs into the old UTG limp-re-raise, so I fold & my opponent shows KK; 88 runs into AJo on a board that is 7-high until the river ... jack; and finally manage to run KK into AA for the bustout in style! Of course I knew the lady in the hand had a monster, just wasn't good enough to pick WHICH monster & after flatting pre-flop & on the T-high flop, I reluctantly got it in on the turn before finding out the bad news (yes, I knew from the start that is was QQ+, I just hoped it was the QQ end, not the AA end!).
After leaving Mandalay Bay I found myself ar Aria, which is one of the nicest looking poker rooms on the strip, and sat down in a $4/8 limit holdem game. The play was suitably horrible (plus I found some run-good) & I picked up a tidy profit before the mixed game I had put my name on the list for got started. Of course I was expecting some sort of standard HORSE-like mix (I had played HORSE once before at Aria on my previous visit to Las Vegas), though the floor staff had said it would be up to the players to decide the mix when I registered. By the time I had made it to the table, the mix had been decided & I was up for some learning on the job.
The mix was a five-game mix, rotating ever 8 hands & included Razz, Omaha hi-lo & stud hi-lo, which seems pretty standard. The final two games were 2-7 triple draw (so I would be playing my first live cash session of 2-7, though I had played it in tourneys & a little online previously) & Badeuci (which may or may not be spelt correctly). Badeuci is a split-pot game, with half the pot going to the best 2-7 low hand & the other half going to the best badugi hand (with Aces playing high for both games). Badugi hands are low, unpaired, rainbow cards (with the standard nuts being A234 rainbow). In Badeuci this changes, so the nutss are 23457, with the 2345 being of different suits. This gives you nut-nut, with the 2-7 wheel & the best badugi hand. Of course my knowledge of 2-7 comes almost entirely from the 'Triple the Gold' series on Deuces Cracked, as well as the short playing time in 8-game tourneys, while my badugi knowledge comes from a brief Full Tilt interview with Huck Seed & my badeuci knowledge comes from an interview with Deathdonkey, I think from Deuce Plays, with the key point I remembered being 'aim for a decent badugi & hope to back into a good 2-7 hand' as the way to play to try and scoop. Turned out to be an interesting game, with a number of the players being dealers from Vegas (or dealers in town for the various tourney series over summer), ranging from players who seemed pretty decent TAG-ish ones through to total maniacs. I left the game just after 4am after playing for about 5 hours, and only finished slightly down for the session (though still ahead overall from the Aria visit). Interesting game & one I would definitely go back for. Definitely puts the Aria much higher on my list of best poker rooms in Vegas.
Next: Omaha hi-lo at Orleans.
Yes, I'm now in Las Vegas. Managed to get the perfect seat for the plane to Vegas - a small plane where I had the row being first/business class, where I could actually stretch my legs out straight & only barely touch the seat in front of me. Legroom on a plane ... who'd have thought?
Eventually sorted out my room, after discovering that my booking was cancelled! Always a good start ... but then it was off to do the essentials before hitting the poker tables.
The essentials: a meal at Earl of Sandwich & getting myself a ticket for UFC 116, which is in just over a month.
Poker started with $1/2NLHE at Mandalay Bay, where I managed to find myself on the wrong end of cooler hands on multiple occasions.
Top pair & nut flush draw v small flush = I miss; TT runs into JJ; TT runs into the old UTG limp-re-raise, so I fold & my opponent shows KK; 88 runs into AJo on a board that is 7-high until the river ... jack; and finally manage to run KK into AA for the bustout in style! Of course I knew the lady in the hand had a monster, just wasn't good enough to pick WHICH monster & after flatting pre-flop & on the T-high flop, I reluctantly got it in on the turn before finding out the bad news (yes, I knew from the start that is was QQ+, I just hoped it was the QQ end, not the AA end!).
After leaving Mandalay Bay I found myself ar Aria, which is one of the nicest looking poker rooms on the strip, and sat down in a $4/8 limit holdem game. The play was suitably horrible (plus I found some run-good) & I picked up a tidy profit before the mixed game I had put my name on the list for got started. Of course I was expecting some sort of standard HORSE-like mix (I had played HORSE once before at Aria on my previous visit to Las Vegas), though the floor staff had said it would be up to the players to decide the mix when I registered. By the time I had made it to the table, the mix had been decided & I was up for some learning on the job.
The mix was a five-game mix, rotating ever 8 hands & included Razz, Omaha hi-lo & stud hi-lo, which seems pretty standard. The final two games were 2-7 triple draw (so I would be playing my first live cash session of 2-7, though I had played it in tourneys & a little online previously) & Badeuci (which may or may not be spelt correctly). Badeuci is a split-pot game, with half the pot going to the best 2-7 low hand & the other half going to the best badugi hand (with Aces playing high for both games). Badugi hands are low, unpaired, rainbow cards (with the standard nuts being A234 rainbow). In Badeuci this changes, so the nutss are 23457, with the 2345 being of different suits. This gives you nut-nut, with the 2-7 wheel & the best badugi hand. Of course my knowledge of 2-7 comes almost entirely from the 'Triple the Gold' series on Deuces Cracked, as well as the short playing time in 8-game tourneys, while my badugi knowledge comes from a brief Full Tilt interview with Huck Seed & my badeuci knowledge comes from an interview with Deathdonkey, I think from Deuce Plays, with the key point I remembered being 'aim for a decent badugi & hope to back into a good 2-7 hand' as the way to play to try and scoop. Turned out to be an interesting game, with a number of the players being dealers from Vegas (or dealers in town for the various tourney series over summer), ranging from players who seemed pretty decent TAG-ish ones through to total maniacs. I left the game just after 4am after playing for about 5 hours, and only finished slightly down for the session (though still ahead overall from the Aria visit). Interesting game & one I would definitely go back for. Definitely puts the Aria much higher on my list of best poker rooms in Vegas.
Next: Omaha hi-lo at Orleans.
Monday, May 24, 2010
USA Day 19
A relatively quiet day. Put the latest episode of the Donkcast together in the afternoon before heading to the Bike for what was supposed to be a short session at the Bike.
Four hours later I left the table with exactly my initial buy-in from a very interesting $2/3NL table. It started with the guy who raised every hand, often showing his bluffs, which got some other players at the table involved in the bluffing (the 'I'll show him how to bluff' mentality). After a number of players left, there was something of a quiet patch, before a player arrived who every now & then decided to tell you exactly what his hand was and what he was doing ... 'I have six-deuce' and when the flop came JT2 all spades, he would bet, saying 'I hit my deuce ... $15'. Of course this didn't happen every hand, and he would sometimes find other ways to announce his hand 'I have a flush and straight draw, I'm not folding this hand' on a board of KQ9 with two diamonds. Sure enough, a ten would hit the turn & he would be big & show his J5 of diamonds for a chop with the poor guy who flopped the straight with JT.
Of course I didn't pick up many hands, with my biggest being pocket jacks ... which ran into pocket jacks to chop the pot. Managed to get even for the night in a hand with the guy who announced his hand. I limped in early position with QJ & he announced 'I have ace ten, I raise to $15'. Of course with 3 others in the hand I called & saw a jack-high flop, which was checked around. On the turn 9 I bet, and was called by the guy with AT. When the ten came on the river I confidently bet again, and was called, showed my QJ & my opponent kindly showed me his AT.
Fun times.
Also this is my last night in Los Angeles. I have an early morning flight to Las Vegas, with lots more poker on the agenda when in town. Vegas also has the best late-night snack option around - The Earl of Sandwich at Planet Hollywood. Its like Subway, but with Foccacia-like bread. They also do a mean tomato soup!
Next on the agenda: Vegas baby!!
Four hours later I left the table with exactly my initial buy-in from a very interesting $2/3NL table. It started with the guy who raised every hand, often showing his bluffs, which got some other players at the table involved in the bluffing (the 'I'll show him how to bluff' mentality). After a number of players left, there was something of a quiet patch, before a player arrived who every now & then decided to tell you exactly what his hand was and what he was doing ... 'I have six-deuce' and when the flop came JT2 all spades, he would bet, saying 'I hit my deuce ... $15'. Of course this didn't happen every hand, and he would sometimes find other ways to announce his hand 'I have a flush and straight draw, I'm not folding this hand' on a board of KQ9 with two diamonds. Sure enough, a ten would hit the turn & he would be big & show his J5 of diamonds for a chop with the poor guy who flopped the straight with JT.
Of course I didn't pick up many hands, with my biggest being pocket jacks ... which ran into pocket jacks to chop the pot. Managed to get even for the night in a hand with the guy who announced his hand. I limped in early position with QJ & he announced 'I have ace ten, I raise to $15'. Of course with 3 others in the hand I called & saw a jack-high flop, which was checked around. On the turn 9 I bet, and was called by the guy with AT. When the ten came on the river I confidently bet again, and was called, showed my QJ & my opponent kindly showed me his AT.
Fun times.
Also this is my last night in Los Angeles. I have an early morning flight to Las Vegas, with lots more poker on the agenda when in town. Vegas also has the best late-night snack option around - The Earl of Sandwich at Planet Hollywood. Its like Subway, but with Foccacia-like bread. They also do a mean tomato soup!
Next on the agenda: Vegas baby!!
Episode 3 now online!
Episode 3, from Los Angeles, is now online and can be downloaded here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3FI1G2QY
This episode comes it at just over the 42 minute mark, with the file being just under 40Mb in size.
The episode covers early Melbourne Champs events, World Team Poker, upcoming ANZPT events, the differences between poker rooms in Australia & Los Angeles, an examination of a hand between Lex Veldhuis & Doyle Brunson from High Stakes Poker, as well as a bit of humour.
Remember, feedback is appreciated. thedonkcast@hotmail.com Also if there is anyone in particular that you would like to hear as a guest, please let me know.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3FI1G2QY
This episode comes it at just over the 42 minute mark, with the file being just under 40Mb in size.
The episode covers early Melbourne Champs events, World Team Poker, upcoming ANZPT events, the differences between poker rooms in Australia & Los Angeles, an examination of a hand between Lex Veldhuis & Doyle Brunson from High Stakes Poker, as well as a bit of humour.
Remember, feedback is appreciated. thedonkcast@hotmail.com Also if there is anyone in particular that you would like to hear as a guest, please let me know.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
USA Day 17 & 18
Yes, I'm missing days in my update! The first sign of slacking off perhaps??
Played the California State Championships Main Event & finished in 99th place out of 175 starters. Quite a rollercoaster of a day, with a poor start having me down to under 5k early (started with 10k), only to double up a few times when my AA beat AK, JJ beat 88, then I got lucky with JJ against KK & I managed to get my stack up to around 17k at the high point of the event. Eventually lost a big hand when my AK suited could not beat 99, in spite of flopping huge with the nut flush draw & overcards. Eventually my demise was a combination of blatant stupidity & dumb luck. I was down to 6k with the blinds at 150/300/25 when a player was moved to my table. As he was unracking his chips, he was dealt into a hand & was under-the-gun. He takes a look at his cards & casually throwns in a blue chip (500) & three red chips (1000). He apologises (obviously meaning to raise to 800, not 3500) & there is no problem until I look at my cards ... AK suited! Obviously I'm going to play the hand with such a short stack, so I ship my few remaining chips into the pot. It folds back around to the UTG player who now pretty much HAS to call with any two cards as it is only another 2500 for him to call, with over 10k already in the pot to be won. Yes I would have made the same play (moving all-in for 6k) with an initial bet of 800, however my opponent would be far less likely to call with the substantially worse odds to call. Anyway he called & showed 89hh ... not the best hand to be up against (live suited connectors), but still not an entirely unpleasant situation (62-38 or thereabouts pre-flop). Of course the flop didn't help my cause: QhTh6c giving my opponent a gutshot straight-flush draw, as well as the double belly-buster straight draw, to go with the fact that any pair would put his hand in front of mine! 21 outs to dodge!! FML, I'm now an underdog to survive (57-43 to be more precise!). Of course there was no waiting around ... BOOM ... Ah on the turn & making a pair has sealed my fate ...
After grabbing a bite to eat I headed to the hustler Casino & played some $2/5NL, which went well for the most part (helped by the fact that I had two retads sitting to my immediate right. I stacked the same guy three times before another player stacked him for the fourth & final time. Of course the other retard started my slide ... I was up over $250 when we got it all-in on a J66 board (he only had $60 or so left) with my QQ against his JT. Of course I only have to dodge a jack or running tens ... and what turns up on the river but one of the two remaining jacks! I managed to find a few similar (though not quite so unlikely) beats to drain most of the profit for the evening before the table broke & I decided to pick up my chips & head home with a small win.
Today I was hopeful of going to the planned 'Deepstacks Live' WSOP Preparation seminar/lecture at the Bicycle Casino, however it was cancelled due to a conflict with the Bike's own Deepstack series (hooray for forward planning, both from Deepstacks University & the Bicycle Casino!), so I headed to the COmmerce for the $220 donkament that was the Player Appreciation event (with $10k added to the prize pool, with the qualification that you had to have played at least 2 events in the series to enter). Of course I managed to find a seat at the table with the three maniacs to my direct left. Just the seat I was looking for! Of course one maniac started playing every hand & winning most of the pots, until one of the other maniacs decided to take over 'control' of the table, managing to go from the 3k starting stack to around 10k by the end of the second level (20 minutes per level, so it was a pretty fast tourney). Anyway I was short & after seeing another player do it, pulled the old limp-re-raise trick with AK suited UTG. Of course the maniac raised, a few called, then another (shorter than me) stack shoved. I shoved as well, which got everyone else out of the way & I was up against QQ & lost the flip. Not even shorter, I resorted to the limp-re-raise again ... this time from the small blind! The button limped, I limped (25/50 level) & the maniac in the big blind made it 200 to go. The button called & I shoved my remaining 1075 into the middle, which the maniac called & my 66 managed to double up against his KQo. Of course the maniac then donked off most of his remaining stack calling an all-in with A6 suited & not improving against QQ. I finished off this maniac when my 33 held against his 49 & another player's J8. Of course this meant that the third maniac now took over, managing to double-up through, and then bust the woman on the table, both times by hitting a king on the turn (first with T9 v QJ on a QJ5 flop & later with KT v 86 on a flop of K66). I managed to get it all-in against him with JJ against his TT ... and of course he hit his ten on the turn to send me packing in around 90th place from 142 starters.
To finsh off the evening I went for a drive over to Santa Monica Beach before heading back to the hotel, with a stopoff at the laundromat.
I'm hoping to put together another episode of the Donkcast tonight (or tomorrow) ... and then it off to Las Vegas on Monday morning (yes, I will need to speak to the agent who booked my flight at such a ridiculous hour!!).
Next on the agenda: Donkcast episode 3 ... then Vegas baby!
Played the California State Championships Main Event & finished in 99th place out of 175 starters. Quite a rollercoaster of a day, with a poor start having me down to under 5k early (started with 10k), only to double up a few times when my AA beat AK, JJ beat 88, then I got lucky with JJ against KK & I managed to get my stack up to around 17k at the high point of the event. Eventually lost a big hand when my AK suited could not beat 99, in spite of flopping huge with the nut flush draw & overcards. Eventually my demise was a combination of blatant stupidity & dumb luck. I was down to 6k with the blinds at 150/300/25 when a player was moved to my table. As he was unracking his chips, he was dealt into a hand & was under-the-gun. He takes a look at his cards & casually throwns in a blue chip (500) & three red chips (1000). He apologises (obviously meaning to raise to 800, not 3500) & there is no problem until I look at my cards ... AK suited! Obviously I'm going to play the hand with such a short stack, so I ship my few remaining chips into the pot. It folds back around to the UTG player who now pretty much HAS to call with any two cards as it is only another 2500 for him to call, with over 10k already in the pot to be won. Yes I would have made the same play (moving all-in for 6k) with an initial bet of 800, however my opponent would be far less likely to call with the substantially worse odds to call. Anyway he called & showed 89hh ... not the best hand to be up against (live suited connectors), but still not an entirely unpleasant situation (62-38 or thereabouts pre-flop). Of course the flop didn't help my cause: QhTh6c giving my opponent a gutshot straight-flush draw, as well as the double belly-buster straight draw, to go with the fact that any pair would put his hand in front of mine! 21 outs to dodge!! FML, I'm now an underdog to survive (57-43 to be more precise!). Of course there was no waiting around ... BOOM ... Ah on the turn & making a pair has sealed my fate ...
After grabbing a bite to eat I headed to the hustler Casino & played some $2/5NL, which went well for the most part (helped by the fact that I had two retads sitting to my immediate right. I stacked the same guy three times before another player stacked him for the fourth & final time. Of course the other retard started my slide ... I was up over $250 when we got it all-in on a J66 board (he only had $60 or so left) with my QQ against his JT. Of course I only have to dodge a jack or running tens ... and what turns up on the river but one of the two remaining jacks! I managed to find a few similar (though not quite so unlikely) beats to drain most of the profit for the evening before the table broke & I decided to pick up my chips & head home with a small win.
Today I was hopeful of going to the planned 'Deepstacks Live' WSOP Preparation seminar/lecture at the Bicycle Casino, however it was cancelled due to a conflict with the Bike's own Deepstack series (hooray for forward planning, both from Deepstacks University & the Bicycle Casino!), so I headed to the COmmerce for the $220 donkament that was the Player Appreciation event (with $10k added to the prize pool, with the qualification that you had to have played at least 2 events in the series to enter). Of course I managed to find a seat at the table with the three maniacs to my direct left. Just the seat I was looking for! Of course one maniac started playing every hand & winning most of the pots, until one of the other maniacs decided to take over 'control' of the table, managing to go from the 3k starting stack to around 10k by the end of the second level (20 minutes per level, so it was a pretty fast tourney). Anyway I was short & after seeing another player do it, pulled the old limp-re-raise trick with AK suited UTG. Of course the maniac raised, a few called, then another (shorter than me) stack shoved. I shoved as well, which got everyone else out of the way & I was up against QQ & lost the flip. Not even shorter, I resorted to the limp-re-raise again ... this time from the small blind! The button limped, I limped (25/50 level) & the maniac in the big blind made it 200 to go. The button called & I shoved my remaining 1075 into the middle, which the maniac called & my 66 managed to double up against his KQo. Of course the maniac then donked off most of his remaining stack calling an all-in with A6 suited & not improving against QQ. I finished off this maniac when my 33 held against his 49 & another player's J8. Of course this meant that the third maniac now took over, managing to double-up through, and then bust the woman on the table, both times by hitting a king on the turn (first with T9 v QJ on a QJ5 flop & later with KT v 86 on a flop of K66). I managed to get it all-in against him with JJ against his TT ... and of course he hit his ten on the turn to send me packing in around 90th place from 142 starters.
To finsh off the evening I went for a drive over to Santa Monica Beach before heading back to the hotel, with a stopoff at the laundromat.
I'm hoping to put together another episode of the Donkcast tonight (or tomorrow) ... and then it off to Las Vegas on Monday morning (yes, I will need to speak to the agent who booked my flight at such a ridiculous hour!!).
Next on the agenda: Donkcast episode 3 ... then Vegas baby!
Friday, May 21, 2010
USA Day 16
Now with iPod Touch!
Decided to go shopping this afternoon & picked up an iPod Touch. I like the larger screen size, but am particularly interested in the various apps that are available for it. Yes I already have an iPod classic, but that is limited in its uses - it plays music & video, but does little else. I briefly flirted with the idea of buying an iPad, but it just doesn't seem to be anything in particular. Its not portable enough to be an iPod style MP3 player plus, yet its also not sustantial enough to be a laptop substitute. Anyway, iPod Touch it is. I've already put a few useful poker apps on it (as well as some non-poker ones), but any suggestions for other apps that are worth adding would be greatly appreciated.
As for poker, I played a few hours of $2/3 NLHE at the Bike tonight & picked up a tidy little profit of $200, in spite of a few beats & major sweats.
The big beat of the night was with good old Big Slick (suited mind you!). I raised on the button after a few limpers & 4 of us saw a flop of KT8. I bet about 2/3rds pot & got one caller. The turn was the innocent-looking 2d (though it did bring a diamond draw) & I bet a bit over half pot & was again called. The river was the 4d & my opponent lead out for about 1/3rd pot ($45 on the end). The only hands that made sense for him in this spot (check-calling to the river & then leading at the river) were either a rivered flush or a set, with the flush being much more likely. I figured there wouldn't be much else that he could play that way (if he had 2 pair he most lilely would have raised the flop with a hand like KT) & was expecting him to turn over the flush or a worse king after I made the call. Of course he turned over K4 for a rivered 2 pair! FML indeed!
The sweat of the evening was relatively brief, but definitely concerning while it was a sweat. I picked up AA under-the-gun & made it $10 to go. The cutoff raised to $35. I thought for a while & re-raised to $75 & the cutoff snap-shoved his remaining stack into the middle (roughly $140 total). I called (obviously), but was about ready to throw up in my mouth when I saw the flop: KQ9! In my mind the snap-shove would most likely be either the other AA, KK or QQ ... so I'm probably now either crushed or chopping. When the board ran out with two low cards I turned over my aces, expecting to see a set, however the delay from my opponent was something I wanted to see. he reluctantly showed his hand ... pocket jacks! I scooped the pot worth a little under $300. All in all a reasonable evening.
Next on the agenda: California State Champs Main Event at the Commerce!
Decided to go shopping this afternoon & picked up an iPod Touch. I like the larger screen size, but am particularly interested in the various apps that are available for it. Yes I already have an iPod classic, but that is limited in its uses - it plays music & video, but does little else. I briefly flirted with the idea of buying an iPad, but it just doesn't seem to be anything in particular. Its not portable enough to be an iPod style MP3 player plus, yet its also not sustantial enough to be a laptop substitute. Anyway, iPod Touch it is. I've already put a few useful poker apps on it (as well as some non-poker ones), but any suggestions for other apps that are worth adding would be greatly appreciated.
As for poker, I played a few hours of $2/3 NLHE at the Bike tonight & picked up a tidy little profit of $200, in spite of a few beats & major sweats.
The big beat of the night was with good old Big Slick (suited mind you!). I raised on the button after a few limpers & 4 of us saw a flop of KT8. I bet about 2/3rds pot & got one caller. The turn was the innocent-looking 2d (though it did bring a diamond draw) & I bet a bit over half pot & was again called. The river was the 4d & my opponent lead out for about 1/3rd pot ($45 on the end). The only hands that made sense for him in this spot (check-calling to the river & then leading at the river) were either a rivered flush or a set, with the flush being much more likely. I figured there wouldn't be much else that he could play that way (if he had 2 pair he most lilely would have raised the flop with a hand like KT) & was expecting him to turn over the flush or a worse king after I made the call. Of course he turned over K4 for a rivered 2 pair! FML indeed!
The sweat of the evening was relatively brief, but definitely concerning while it was a sweat. I picked up AA under-the-gun & made it $10 to go. The cutoff raised to $35. I thought for a while & re-raised to $75 & the cutoff snap-shoved his remaining stack into the middle (roughly $140 total). I called (obviously), but was about ready to throw up in my mouth when I saw the flop: KQ9! In my mind the snap-shove would most likely be either the other AA, KK or QQ ... so I'm probably now either crushed or chopping. When the board ran out with two low cards I turned over my aces, expecting to see a set, however the delay from my opponent was something I wanted to see. he reluctantly showed his hand ... pocket jacks! I scooped the pot worth a little under $300. All in all a reasonable evening.
Next on the agenda: California State Champs Main Event at the Commerce!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
USA Day 14 & 15
Yes, I skipped a day. Not much different to other days ... it was more poker!
Played in a 7pm tourney at the Bike & took the now standard bad beat with myself and another player all-in pre-flop 3-ways. I have KK, the short stack has TT & the guy who has us both covered has JJ. Of course the J hits on the flop & I'm out just after the first break.
Also played the $335 at the Commerce (event 19 of the Cal State Champs) & had Jerry Yang (2007 WSOP Main Event winner) sitting directly to my right. After folding for the first level or so I went on a rollercoaster for the whole tournament, which didn't end until I busted (yes, I lasted longer than Jerry Yang!). To give you an idea, here are some of the highlights:
doubled up with J8cc v KQo on a flop of Qc9h6c when I rivered a flush; doubled an opponent up the very next hand with AQ v 33 on a Q43 flop; doubled up another short stack All-in pre-flop with AQ v KT on a QJ9Q6 board; tripled up with AJ v AQ (after a slowroll when all-in pre-flop) when I flopped top 2 pair; finally eliminated when I ran AK into 77 on a board of A747T.
Ah, love this game. Hopefully the main event will be somewhat smoother sailing.
Also played some cash as well, with mixed results. It seems like I run horribly in many of the bigger pots in the hi-lo mix game at Hollywood Park, whether it is Omaha or Stud & somehow my opponent(s) always seem to find the card(s) they need to scoop or quarter me.
Also getting psyched up for Vegas ... LOTS of poker awaits & plenty of mixed game tourneys to try and take down!
Oh, and I'm hoping to do another podcast episode in the next day or two.
Next: more poker ... hopefully with some run good!
Played in a 7pm tourney at the Bike & took the now standard bad beat with myself and another player all-in pre-flop 3-ways. I have KK, the short stack has TT & the guy who has us both covered has JJ. Of course the J hits on the flop & I'm out just after the first break.
Also played the $335 at the Commerce (event 19 of the Cal State Champs) & had Jerry Yang (2007 WSOP Main Event winner) sitting directly to my right. After folding for the first level or so I went on a rollercoaster for the whole tournament, which didn't end until I busted (yes, I lasted longer than Jerry Yang!). To give you an idea, here are some of the highlights:
doubled up with J8cc v KQo on a flop of Qc9h6c when I rivered a flush; doubled an opponent up the very next hand with AQ v 33 on a Q43 flop; doubled up another short stack All-in pre-flop with AQ v KT on a QJ9Q6 board; tripled up with AJ v AQ (after a slowroll when all-in pre-flop) when I flopped top 2 pair; finally eliminated when I ran AK into 77 on a board of A747T.
Ah, love this game. Hopefully the main event will be somewhat smoother sailing.
Also played some cash as well, with mixed results. It seems like I run horribly in many of the bigger pots in the hi-lo mix game at Hollywood Park, whether it is Omaha or Stud & somehow my opponent(s) always seem to find the card(s) they need to scoop or quarter me.
Also getting psyched up for Vegas ... LOTS of poker awaits & plenty of mixed game tourneys to try and take down!
Oh, and I'm hoping to do another podcast episode in the next day or two.
Next: more poker ... hopefully with some run good!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
USA Day 13
Another cash in an 8 game tournament!
Decided to fork out for the $1k 8 game tourney at Commerce today. The event ended up having 19 starters, including 'Miami' John Cernuto & David 'Chino' Rheem to name just two. I thought I played pretty well, doing my usual thing of trying to pick my spots, as well as finding some run good when needed. Also managed to stay out of the way of trouble hands & spots for the most part, even if it meant I may not have accumulated as quickly as I did. Maybe its just my risk-adverse nature that makes me want to avoid the 'gambling' spots.
Anyway I managed to make the final table & when we got down to 4-handed after eliminating the short stacks we started talking about deals. Personally I preferred the option of reducing the prize money for 1st & 2nd to crate a 4th place prize (the original payout was 1st-3rd with 4th being the money bubble), though one of the players was strongly against that. That player was talking about a chop based on chip count that ended the tournament (rather than playing it out). Of course this was all put on hold as one of the players got shorter & shorter ... but talks were resumed when the short stack managed to survive 2 or 3 all-ins & clawed his way back to close to average.
In the end I officlally took 2nd place, which saw me collect the main event seat & around $2700 in cash (yes, after the silly 7% 'out of state' tax withholding).
I guess that means I'll be playing the main event in a few days. Might also consider another tourney or two in between, but it definitely lifts my mood from the horrible run at Hollywood Park the previous day.
Next on the agenda: more poker ... and a main event later in the week!
Decided to fork out for the $1k 8 game tourney at Commerce today. The event ended up having 19 starters, including 'Miami' John Cernuto & David 'Chino' Rheem to name just two. I thought I played pretty well, doing my usual thing of trying to pick my spots, as well as finding some run good when needed. Also managed to stay out of the way of trouble hands & spots for the most part, even if it meant I may not have accumulated as quickly as I did. Maybe its just my risk-adverse nature that makes me want to avoid the 'gambling' spots.
Anyway I managed to make the final table & when we got down to 4-handed after eliminating the short stacks we started talking about deals. Personally I preferred the option of reducing the prize money for 1st & 2nd to crate a 4th place prize (the original payout was 1st-3rd with 4th being the money bubble), though one of the players was strongly against that. That player was talking about a chop based on chip count that ended the tournament (rather than playing it out). Of course this was all put on hold as one of the players got shorter & shorter ... but talks were resumed when the short stack managed to survive 2 or 3 all-ins & clawed his way back to close to average.
In the end I officlally took 2nd place, which saw me collect the main event seat & around $2700 in cash (yes, after the silly 7% 'out of state' tax withholding).
I guess that means I'll be playing the main event in a few days. Might also consider another tourney or two in between, but it definitely lifts my mood from the horrible run at Hollywood Park the previous day.
Next on the agenda: more poker ... and a main event later in the week!
Monday, May 17, 2010
USA Day 12
Run bad has hit!
After an afternoon shopping (where I picked up some CDs & DVDs) I returned once again to the Hollywood Park $20/40 Omaha/stud hi-lo mixed game. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but it seemed everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
Not only did I find myself in what turned out to be the worst seat at the table (directly in front of the two crazy aggressive Asians), but it seemed like almost every worst river card hit ... repeatedly. Highlights included running into a low straight flush (and of course making two pair myself, so I paid off on the end); having people raise & re-raise with the bare nut low (A2 with no redraw) in multiway pots, so that they simply end up losing more money when I join the calling party with another nut low; getting counterfeited a number of times on the river - its generally never good to see an A or 2 on the river in )8 when you have the nut low without a redraw; opponents catching miracle (often running) cards to scoop pots;
Of course what made it even more frustrating was so often these pots went to players who were horrible. Cold call 2 bets with 369J ... of course! 3 bets with 459T single suited ... a surefire winner! I had intended the evening to be something of a practice session for the 8 game at Commerce tomorrow, but I'm now reconsidering whether I should play or not. I suspect I will, but I'll see how I feel tomorrow.
Next on the agenda: Possibly the 8-game & some tourist time
Sunday, May 16, 2010
USA Day 11
Happy Birthday to me!
Yes, today was my birthday. After responding to many messages on Facebook, I made a brief stop at Walmart on the way to the evening's poker. Picked up some groceries & a DVD about Jam Master Jay (Run DMCs DJ who was killed in 2002) which looked interesting - full report to come when I get around to watching it. After the brief shopping trip, I headed off to Hollywood Park for some more of the usual cash game grind. This time I sat briefly in a $2/3 No limit Holden game while waiting for a seat in the mixed game. Here the buy-in is $100, which makes for a pretty short-stacked game. In the brief period I was at the table I didn't pick up anything of note & basically folded most hands, leaving with a slight deficit when I was called to the mixed game.
Of course I started off playing like an idiot & was quickly down a bit. 'Evil brain' was at work, with thoughts of 'of well, its only one more bet to see the flop'; 'I've got a gutshot, so I can take a card off on the flop' and the like. By the time my senses had returned & I started getting back some of these earlier losses, the game broke. Just what I wanted to happen! Of course I could go on the list for the main game (I was at the must move table, which was part of the reason for the game breaking - 2 players moved to the main game), but being third on the list would most likely mean a wait of at least an hour ... so I left.
Seeing as it was still early, I decided to head to Commerce to see if they had any middle-limit mixed games running (being Saturday night & all I figured this might be the most likely time). Of course there was nothing going that interested me as far as mixed games were concerned (the only games going were much bigger than I was comfortable playing), so I headed to the low-limit area to play some Omaha hi-lo. After playing for about half an hour, picking up very few playable hands (think I managed to split one or two pots in the time I was there), the game broke! This was getting ridiculous! I finished out the evening playing some limit holdem & again found a string of unplayable hands, with the occasional playable hand (say a suited ace) which invariably missed the flop by a mile, which saw my stack slowly dwindle. Of course the final insult was my final hand for the evening, when I only had 2 big blinds remaining. Of course I picked up my first premium hand for the night in QQ, so in went my remaining stack. Of course I was called by 4 others & we saw a flop of 246 with two spades. Checked around, so things were looking good. The turn brings the ugly offsuit king & there is a bet, which sees the others in the hand fold. This isn't a good sign & I announce that I might have 2 outs to win. Of course there is no queen on the river & my opponent in the hand turns over KQo for top pair & its time to head home for the night.
Next on the agenda: A visit to Fat Beats in Hollywood is in order & I'll probably stop off at Best Buy (the US equivalent of JB Hi-Fi) while I'm there. I'm thinking the 8 game tourney at Commerce on Monday is looking like a possibility ...
Saturday, May 15, 2010
USA Day 10
Back on the HORSE ... or at least the OE
Spent some time this afternoon at Commerce. Played some Omaha hi-lo (and didn't win a hand or see a river in the hour + I was there) before playing a satellite for the California State Champs main event. They got just over 20 runner, so 2 seats up for grabs. I was sitting just below average when a move I made didn't work. I had opened from the button & was called by both blinds. I bet the JT4 rainbow flop (called by the BB) & shoved the offsuit K turn. Thought it seemed like a very good board & spot to bluff - the J & T hit a large part of my range & even if I missed the flop, the K turn is also a scare card which could very well be in my range of hands. My opponent agonised for over a minute before calling with AT & my A9o had 4 outs to chop, but without the required Q on the river, I left the tournament & Commerce for the evening.
After leaving Commerce I headed over to Hollywood Park, hoping to play some more of the hi-lo mixed game that I played the other night. Of course with there being horse racing on at Hollywood Park Racetrack (right next to the casino) the carpark was packed. Once inside the casino itself, there was actually two OE games running & a list, so I put my name on the list. Of course rather than doing the simple thing & just waiting for my seat, I heard the call of 15 Holdem, seats available. I decided to sit in at the $15/30 game while waiting for a seat in the OE game. Of course this game soon became shorthanded & its been a while since I've played much middle-limit holdem, and longer still since I've played shorthanded, so I went to my default tight-passive approach, which works well in low-limit no-foldem-holdem games, but not so much in this game. As a result I finished down more than I was hoping to be before my OE seat was available.
After getting some more chips, I took my seat at the $20/40 must-move OE table & tried to avoid making some of the mistakes I had made previously with 'evil brain' taking over periodically. Unfortunately for me, I still made some mistakes, however I still managed to make a tidy profit, more than covering the earlier holdem losses & making it a decent night out.
I think there will be more visits to Hollywood Park in the future ...
Next on the agenda: More cash games
Friday, May 14, 2010
USA Day 9
Crushing Hollywood!
After a relaxing start to the day that included some episodes of Cold Case & a trip to the laundromat, I decided to head to Hollywood Park Casino for the evening to have a crack at the higher-limit mixed game they have there.
The game of choice for the evening was $20/40 limit Omaha hi-lo/Stud hi-lo, with a half kill, with the game changing every 10 hands. In the case of a kill (scooping a pot in Stud8 or Omaha8 over $200) the game became a $30/60 game. Would have been nice to know in advance, but I only discovered this when the dealer pulled a kill button from his tray & the player posted $30 blind after scooping an Omaha hand about 10 minutes after I had sat down. There were actually two tables going, so I started at the must-move second table (and left before I would have been forced to move to the 'main game') & began with Omaha hi-lo. ABC poker seemed to be good enough in this game, with most players (myself included) being fairly passive, though there was one player who seemed to be raising every second or third pot, often with rather junky holdings. I felt that I played well for the most part, though there were probably about 4 or 5 hands that I misplayed (anywhere from missing a value bet or two, through to complete butchery) & this is definitely one area I still need to improve in my game. This is because limit poker (of whatever kind, be it holdem, Omaha, stud, or something else) is as much about saving bets as it is about winning bets. To give you an idea of how this is a problem, I'll run through one Omaha hand I managed to butcher completely. I have just scooped a pot, so have posted the $30 blind (on the button mind you, so I have position!) & there is a limper, a raise from the loose guy & 3 calls before it gets back to me. I have 3479 double-suited, which is pretty much a piece of cheese in Omaha hi-lo. The flush draw is nowhere near the nut flush, the low will rarely be best & if I make a straight, it will either be for half the pot (because there will be a low possible) or will not be the nut straight. In short, I should simply be happy to have scooped a sizable pot on the previous hand & let the $30 go without a fight ... next hand. Sounds simple, right? Yes, but of course my logical brain disappears for that few seconds of thought between the action being on me & folding my hand & 'evil brain' decides to call the raise, obviously because there is so much money out there already ... and of course if the flop is A25 rainbow I'll scoop the pot ... so why not see a flop?? Anyway, rather than flopping me the nuts, the dealer puts out the flop of 764 rainbow, which seems at first glance to be one of the more reasonable flops for my hand. The big blind (a lady who had been playing fairly conservatively) lead out at the flop & everyone called, so why not join the fun & see a turn ... evil brain at work again ... I have 2 pair, a gutshot, a live 3 (yes, it is a low draw, though not a great one!) & a backdoor flush draw ... SOOOOO much potential ... of course the turn further entrenches the thinking of evil brain ... the Ten of diamonds, so I now have a flush draw with my powerhouse 93 of diamonds! The big blind leads again & this time everyone gets out of the way ... except me! I've picked up a flush draw now! I HAVE to call ... and the river makes my downfall complete, with an offsuit 5. I've improved again! I have a 7-high straight, which doubles as a low & the big blind bets again. Of course it is about this moment when logical brain returns & I ponder my river decision. I'm fairly certain that the big blind has one half of the pot locked up, most likely the low with A2 given that she was betting into the entire table on the flop & turn. Of course logical brain considers the possibility that she has a better high hand ... its definitely possible, though she would need an 8 & another card near it to make a straight higher than my monstrous 7-high one, which is a somewhat less likely holding because middle cards are usually bad in Omaha hi-lo (for the reasons mentioned above). Of course logical brain considers other possibilities, that she could be betting a hand like A2 with a flopped set (say A266) into the field, so with so much in the pot already, even logical brain finds a crying call, only to see my opponent turn over A248 for the 8-high straight & the nut low ... so I get scooped & my soul is crushed briefly (until the next hand is dealt) while I try to remove evil brain from my head for future hands.
In spite of these occasional setback, I managed to chalk up a reasonable win (roughly 15 big bets in a 3 hour session), which made for a good night out.
Next on the agenda: I'm thinking in the next few days that I'll play some more cash games, probably go on one of those hop-on-hop-off guided bus tours of the city & maybe play a tournament or two ... but in no particular order.
USA Day 8
Relaxing mostly ...
A relatively quiet day today after the third place finish yesterday. Turns out Rusty beat Jeff heads-up to take down the 8 game in spite of Jeff's chip lead when beginning heads up.
Had a quiet day catching up with things online & played a bit of limit holdem & Omaha ;ate at night, first at Normandie Casino & later at the Bike. Obviously I'd used up my run good in tournaments & it proved to be a frustrating night ... a seemingly never-ending run of 2s & 3s in holdem, followed by 8s & 9s in Omaha hi-lo make for a very uninteresting night.
Next on the agenda: Hit the laundromat & maybe have a crack at 7 card stud tourney, so I can work on my worst game in the HORSE mix.
A relatively quiet day today after the third place finish yesterday. Turns out Rusty beat Jeff heads-up to take down the 8 game in spite of Jeff's chip lead when beginning heads up.
Had a quiet day catching up with things online & played a bit of limit holdem & Omaha ;ate at night, first at Normandie Casino & later at the Bike. Obviously I'd used up my run good in tournaments & it proved to be a frustrating night ... a seemingly never-ending run of 2s & 3s in holdem, followed by 8s & 9s in Omaha hi-lo make for a very uninteresting night.
Next on the agenda: Hit the laundromat & maybe have a crack at 7 card stud tourney, so I can work on my worst game in the HORSE mix.
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
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
USA Day 6
H.O.R.S.E. at the Commerce.
Played the HORSE tournament in the California State Poker Championships today. There was a total of 89 runners & I managed to finish 20th, which was a reasonable result, but still 2 tables short of the money (top 8 got paid), so somewhat disappointing. Very much a rollercoaster day. Got off to a reasonable start, then fell into a bit of a slump before the second break, but hit a purple patch shortly afterwards, going from a stack of around 4k to about 13k (4k starting stack).
Two big hands turned my tournament in the opposite direction - the first was a Razz hand where it was 3-ways to the river & I had 6542A to my opponents 6532A (the third player mucked their 7 on the river without calling) for a pot of about 10k! This was compounded shortly afterwards by a slowroll in Stud hi-lo. With my opponent's board showing A4A6 I had a pair of aces and 4 to a flush on 6th street (no low). I paired up on the river to have Aces & 9s. After I turned over my hand, my opponent turned over a 6, then a 4 ... and then paused for about 3-4 seconds ... before turning over his river card ... which was a 6 to give him the winning hand (sixes full of aces), which dropped my down to around 4k again. After making the final three tables (where everyone redrew for seats) with just 3.6k (and playing 800-1600) I managed to hit some hands & dodge some bullets to build it up to almost 10k by the time Omaha hi-lo had finished. Stud however was not kind to me & I dropped a large pot to another player which left my with only 600 in chips! I would survive another 3 all-ins before finally getting my money in badly in Razz with Q42 v 43A ... eventually drawing a pair of kings & another queen (yes, I did make a queen-low), only to be crushed by my opponent's 7-low.
The play varied greatly, with some decent players in the field, however there were still a large number of total fish playing, many of whom luckboxed their way to the final few tables. Either way I think it puts me in a good frame of mind for tomorrow's 8-game tournament (the first held at Commerce) as I suspect the 2-7 triple draw will be one of the worst played games in the mox by a long way & could be a great time to pick up some chips if things go my way.
Next on the agenda: crushing 8-game
Played the HORSE tournament in the California State Poker Championships today. There was a total of 89 runners & I managed to finish 20th, which was a reasonable result, but still 2 tables short of the money (top 8 got paid), so somewhat disappointing. Very much a rollercoaster day. Got off to a reasonable start, then fell into a bit of a slump before the second break, but hit a purple patch shortly afterwards, going from a stack of around 4k to about 13k (4k starting stack).
Two big hands turned my tournament in the opposite direction - the first was a Razz hand where it was 3-ways to the river & I had 6542A to my opponents 6532A (the third player mucked their 7 on the river without calling) for a pot of about 10k! This was compounded shortly afterwards by a slowroll in Stud hi-lo. With my opponent's board showing A4A6 I had a pair of aces and 4 to a flush on 6th street (no low). I paired up on the river to have Aces & 9s. After I turned over my hand, my opponent turned over a 6, then a 4 ... and then paused for about 3-4 seconds ... before turning over his river card ... which was a 6 to give him the winning hand (sixes full of aces), which dropped my down to around 4k again. After making the final three tables (where everyone redrew for seats) with just 3.6k (and playing 800-1600) I managed to hit some hands & dodge some bullets to build it up to almost 10k by the time Omaha hi-lo had finished. Stud however was not kind to me & I dropped a large pot to another player which left my with only 600 in chips! I would survive another 3 all-ins before finally getting my money in badly in Razz with Q42 v 43A ... eventually drawing a pair of kings & another queen (yes, I did make a queen-low), only to be crushed by my opponent's 7-low.
The play varied greatly, with some decent players in the field, however there were still a large number of total fish playing, many of whom luckboxed their way to the final few tables. Either way I think it puts me in a good frame of mind for tomorrow's 8-game tournament (the first held at Commerce) as I suspect the 2-7 triple draw will be one of the worst played games in the mox by a long way & could be a great time to pick up some chips if things go my way.
Next on the agenda: crushing 8-game
Monday, May 10, 2010
USA Trip Day 5
Bustouts & disliking shallow no limit holdem ...
Played 2 tournaments ... first the Omaha hi-lo at the California State Championships at the Commerce Casino. There were 146 players & I finished in around 100th place. Interesting table talk with Jerry Buss at the table, so quite a lot of talk about the NBA (Buss is one of the owners of the Los Angeles Lakers). Of course this meant that the TV nearest to Jerry was changed to the Suns v Spurs game (Suns won to win the series 4-0 & likely play the Lakers in the Western Conference finals), and Jerry was consulted whenever someone wanted to do anything to the TV.
I played too weak-tight early & didn't adjust to the structure until it was too late. The small starting stacks (4k) mean that you need to pick up chips early so that you can survive & have a stack to play with through the middle stages. I tended to call much more in multi-way pots in order to minimise any damage caused by bad river or turn cards (which can be particularly brutal in Omaha hi-lo), meaning that the pots I won (or split, being hi-lo & all) were relatively small. This would not be so bad in a cash game, but with the blinds continuing to go up in a tournament this is much more of an issue. Of course when I did adjust & play more aggressively, I managed to find the brutal turns & rivers that you hate to see in O8 & my stack went south ... In particular I am starting to develop a dislike for Barry Greenstein's book, not because of the content, but because of the number of times the dealer managed to find an ace on the river, which inevitably conterfeited what would have been a winning low hand, which at the same time often gave me a decent high hand (the old 'I have top pair/two pair now ... I have to call'). Of course the beneficiaries of these 3-outers were invariably horrible players who would most likely find a way to donk off these chips well before the money (for example one player on the button called my raise from early position, with another tight player calling in between with the O8 monster 5678 with one suit. Of course the flop is Q95 & he calls my bet & the other player's raise (I have a bunch of low cards & a short stack, so get out of the way while the damage can be minimised) to bink the magical 7 on the turn, get in a raise & take down the pot on the river against the opponent's AAxx hand. Love them tournaments ...
Decided to play some No Limit at the Commerce after busting, and sat down at a $100NL table (blinds $2 & $3), thinking it would play similarly to the $2/3 game at the Bike (which has a $100-300 buy-in) or Crown (which has a $50-200 buy-in), however because people call with all sorts of hands & you don't have a deep enough stack to get them to fold, you simply can't play post-flop. This means that if you want to get chips you either have to play very LAGgy & try to hit flops & stack people (but obviously take the risk of being stacked yourself) or be a total nit, wait for a huge hand & hope you get paid off & dodge whatever outs your opponent might have. Either way I find this frustrating & think in future I will stick to limit games at Commerce (unless I can somehow find a big enough bankroll to play in bigger games where you can buy-in for around 100BBs). Needless to say, in spite of a promising start (picked up KK early & won a decent pot), the session was not a good one for the bankroll.
Decided to have a crack at the midnight Bike tournament & had a rollercoaster night, dropping from the 4k starting stack to just over 1.5k before doubling up, then busted some players & was up to almost 10k by the time my initial table broke. My new table proved to be horrible, which wasn't helped by an ill-timed bluff early (flopped a flush draw, played it fast & was called down by QQ on a 7-high paired board). Eventually finished in 15th place from 45 starters.
Next on the agenda: HORSE at Commerce ... and a much more aggressive approach! Methinks it will either be a short night or a very long one. Lets hope for the long night!
Played 2 tournaments ... first the Omaha hi-lo at the California State Championships at the Commerce Casino. There were 146 players & I finished in around 100th place. Interesting table talk with Jerry Buss at the table, so quite a lot of talk about the NBA (Buss is one of the owners of the Los Angeles Lakers). Of course this meant that the TV nearest to Jerry was changed to the Suns v Spurs game (Suns won to win the series 4-0 & likely play the Lakers in the Western Conference finals), and Jerry was consulted whenever someone wanted to do anything to the TV.
I played too weak-tight early & didn't adjust to the structure until it was too late. The small starting stacks (4k) mean that you need to pick up chips early so that you can survive & have a stack to play with through the middle stages. I tended to call much more in multi-way pots in order to minimise any damage caused by bad river or turn cards (which can be particularly brutal in Omaha hi-lo), meaning that the pots I won (or split, being hi-lo & all) were relatively small. This would not be so bad in a cash game, but with the blinds continuing to go up in a tournament this is much more of an issue. Of course when I did adjust & play more aggressively, I managed to find the brutal turns & rivers that you hate to see in O8 & my stack went south ... In particular I am starting to develop a dislike for Barry Greenstein's book, not because of the content, but because of the number of times the dealer managed to find an ace on the river, which inevitably conterfeited what would have been a winning low hand, which at the same time often gave me a decent high hand (the old 'I have top pair/two pair now ... I have to call'). Of course the beneficiaries of these 3-outers were invariably horrible players who would most likely find a way to donk off these chips well before the money (for example one player on the button called my raise from early position, with another tight player calling in between with the O8 monster 5678 with one suit. Of course the flop is Q95 & he calls my bet & the other player's raise (I have a bunch of low cards & a short stack, so get out of the way while the damage can be minimised) to bink the magical 7 on the turn, get in a raise & take down the pot on the river against the opponent's AAxx hand. Love them tournaments ...
Decided to play some No Limit at the Commerce after busting, and sat down at a $100NL table (blinds $2 & $3), thinking it would play similarly to the $2/3 game at the Bike (which has a $100-300 buy-in) or Crown (which has a $50-200 buy-in), however because people call with all sorts of hands & you don't have a deep enough stack to get them to fold, you simply can't play post-flop. This means that if you want to get chips you either have to play very LAGgy & try to hit flops & stack people (but obviously take the risk of being stacked yourself) or be a total nit, wait for a huge hand & hope you get paid off & dodge whatever outs your opponent might have. Either way I find this frustrating & think in future I will stick to limit games at Commerce (unless I can somehow find a big enough bankroll to play in bigger games where you can buy-in for around 100BBs). Needless to say, in spite of a promising start (picked up KK early & won a decent pot), the session was not a good one for the bankroll.
Decided to have a crack at the midnight Bike tournament & had a rollercoaster night, dropping from the 4k starting stack to just over 1.5k before doubling up, then busted some players & was up to almost 10k by the time my initial table broke. My new table proved to be horrible, which wasn't helped by an ill-timed bluff early (flopped a flush draw, played it fast & was called down by QQ on a 7-high paired board). Eventually finished in 15th place from 45 starters.
Next on the agenda: HORSE at Commerce ... and a much more aggressive approach! Methinks it will either be a short night or a very long one. Lets hope for the long night!
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!
USA Day 3
Coolers at the Bike, grinding at Commerce ...
Started late after a long sleep & decided to head to the Bicycle Casino for some poker. Sat at a $2/3 NLHE game & it was one of those nights ... The first hand I played saw an UTG limper, a mid position raise to $20, a caller, and I look down at KK in the BB, so raise to $75. The UTG limper shoves for $90, the initial raiser folds & the caller & I see a flop of J52 with two spades. I shove the flop, which leads the other player to fold & the player who is all in says 'I think I have 2 outs' and asks me what my hand is. I tell him I have kings, just as the dealer turns the Queen of spades. Of course my opponent has QQ & even though a fourth spade comes on the river, my black king is a club, so I'm off to a great start!
I tread water for a while, until the next big cooler lands in my lap. This time there is a pre-flop limp, a raise to $15, a call on the button & I look down at 77 in the SB. I really hate playing small-mid pairs when out of position, so just call, hoping to flop a set or get away cheaply. The BB comes along for the ride as well. The flop comes down Q72 with two spades. I lead at the pot for $26, the BB calls & the pre-flop raiser makes it $75 to go. Perfect spot for me, right? ... Ordinarily the answer would be yes, but this is coolers at the Bike ... so I shove for about $170 total, the BB folds & the raiser insta-calls ... because he has QQ! FML indeed! The dealer then announces 'chips to table 7', in case the rest of the casino was unaware of my plight ...
Of course the rebuy starts off fantastically when a short stack raises pre-flop, I re-raise with AK & move him in on the flop for a little extra. Of course he has JJ & in case I thought of finding an ace or king, he turns a jack to seal the hand & my torture continues. I then run into another short stack who has a straight flush with JTs on a board of 9s8s6c7s3s & of course I pay off with AK with the king of clubs, thinking my hand was good after the turn went check-check. To complete my wonderful evening at the Bike I pick up 99 in the BB when short & raise to $20 with only $40 behind. Of course 4 of the 5 pre-flop limpers decide to call & I decide to shove pretty much any flop. Its A55 & I get one caller ... and I fear the worst, only to have my suspicions confirmed by the dealer pairing the ace on the turn & the caller turning over AJ for the winning full house ...
I decide its time to go find some food & jump in the car to see what I can find that isn't a McDonalds drive thru & before I find anything that fits my criteria I'm driving past the Commerce Casino & decide to go in ... of course a great way to overcome a tilt-inspiring session is to sit down in a limit Omaha hi-lo game ... but sometimes I break the rules!
Anyway, I decide to sit down in a $4/8 limit Omaha hi-lo (with a kill) game & proceed to play an 8 hour session & leave with a tidy $275 profit, simply by playing a tight ABC game & waiting for the many donkeys in the game to give me their money. Thankfully they mostly obliged. Of course the Omaha game with a kill occurs when a player scoops a pot that is over 5 big bets. After a long session, I leave at 9am with the sun already beating down ...
Next on the agenda ... sleep ... and a sense of de ja vu
Started late after a long sleep & decided to head to the Bicycle Casino for some poker. Sat at a $2/3 NLHE game & it was one of those nights ... The first hand I played saw an UTG limper, a mid position raise to $20, a caller, and I look down at KK in the BB, so raise to $75. The UTG limper shoves for $90, the initial raiser folds & the caller & I see a flop of J52 with two spades. I shove the flop, which leads the other player to fold & the player who is all in says 'I think I have 2 outs' and asks me what my hand is. I tell him I have kings, just as the dealer turns the Queen of spades. Of course my opponent has QQ & even though a fourth spade comes on the river, my black king is a club, so I'm off to a great start!
I tread water for a while, until the next big cooler lands in my lap. This time there is a pre-flop limp, a raise to $15, a call on the button & I look down at 77 in the SB. I really hate playing small-mid pairs when out of position, so just call, hoping to flop a set or get away cheaply. The BB comes along for the ride as well. The flop comes down Q72 with two spades. I lead at the pot for $26, the BB calls & the pre-flop raiser makes it $75 to go. Perfect spot for me, right? ... Ordinarily the answer would be yes, but this is coolers at the Bike ... so I shove for about $170 total, the BB folds & the raiser insta-calls ... because he has QQ! FML indeed! The dealer then announces 'chips to table 7', in case the rest of the casino was unaware of my plight ...
Of course the rebuy starts off fantastically when a short stack raises pre-flop, I re-raise with AK & move him in on the flop for a little extra. Of course he has JJ & in case I thought of finding an ace or king, he turns a jack to seal the hand & my torture continues. I then run into another short stack who has a straight flush with JTs on a board of 9s8s6c7s3s & of course I pay off with AK with the king of clubs, thinking my hand was good after the turn went check-check. To complete my wonderful evening at the Bike I pick up 99 in the BB when short & raise to $20 with only $40 behind. Of course 4 of the 5 pre-flop limpers decide to call & I decide to shove pretty much any flop. Its A55 & I get one caller ... and I fear the worst, only to have my suspicions confirmed by the dealer pairing the ace on the turn & the caller turning over AJ for the winning full house ...
I decide its time to go find some food & jump in the car to see what I can find that isn't a McDonalds drive thru & before I find anything that fits my criteria I'm driving past the Commerce Casino & decide to go in ... of course a great way to overcome a tilt-inspiring session is to sit down in a limit Omaha hi-lo game ... but sometimes I break the rules!
Anyway, I decide to sit down in a $4/8 limit Omaha hi-lo (with a kill) game & proceed to play an 8 hour session & leave with a tidy $275 profit, simply by playing a tight ABC game & waiting for the many donkeys in the game to give me their money. Thankfully they mostly obliged. Of course the Omaha game with a kill occurs when a player scoops a pot that is over 5 big bets. After a long session, I leave at 9am with the sun already beating down ...
Next on the agenda ... sleep ... and a sense of de ja vu
Friday, May 7, 2010
USA Day 2
Today was a big day of poker.
Started at the Commerce with the $220 NLHE Event 1 (Day 1B) of the California State Champs. Today had 670 entrants & eliminations were fast & furious with a 3k starting stack (though with 40 minute levels & starting at 25-25 its not a complete shove-fest). I started well & was up to around 4500 when I ran into a set with QQ on a J74 flop, with one of my two opponents in the hand having 44. I struggled on with a short stack for a while, but eventually shoved with K8 suited just before the break & had a player wake up with JJ, which held to eliminate me.
I then headed downstairs for some $4/8 Limit Holdem (with a Kill) action. After a reasonable start I found my mind wandering after a few beats & my play suffered as a result. After a few hours, my buy-in had gone, so I left the Commerce to get some dinner & consider what to do for the evening.
After grabbing some food I found myself heading to Gardena & the Hustler Casino. I found a seat in a $2/5 NLHE game, and after a promising start I found some cooler hands (QQ v 99 on a 944 flop & JT v 77 on a AT7T board after it was checked on the flop) & my initial buy-in of $300 had dropped to just over $60. Thankfully I picked up some hands & picked up some chips, eventually finishing a little over $200 ahead after a marathon 8 hour session.
I think I'll avoid re-entering event 1 of the California Champs & save my tourney time for my preferred events, HORSE, Omaha hi-lo, 8-game & the like.
Agenda for tomorrow: sleep ... and maybe some other stuff later!
Started at the Commerce with the $220 NLHE Event 1 (Day 1B) of the California State Champs. Today had 670 entrants & eliminations were fast & furious with a 3k starting stack (though with 40 minute levels & starting at 25-25 its not a complete shove-fest). I started well & was up to around 4500 when I ran into a set with QQ on a J74 flop, with one of my two opponents in the hand having 44. I struggled on with a short stack for a while, but eventually shoved with K8 suited just before the break & had a player wake up with JJ, which held to eliminate me.
I then headed downstairs for some $4/8 Limit Holdem (with a Kill) action. After a reasonable start I found my mind wandering after a few beats & my play suffered as a result. After a few hours, my buy-in had gone, so I left the Commerce to get some dinner & consider what to do for the evening.
After grabbing some food I found myself heading to Gardena & the Hustler Casino. I found a seat in a $2/5 NLHE game, and after a promising start I found some cooler hands (QQ v 99 on a 944 flop & JT v 77 on a AT7T board after it was checked on the flop) & my initial buy-in of $300 had dropped to just over $60. Thankfully I picked up some hands & picked up some chips, eventually finishing a little over $200 ahead after a marathon 8 hour session.
I think I'll avoid re-entering event 1 of the California Champs & save my tourney time for my preferred events, HORSE, Omaha hi-lo, 8-game & the like.
Agenda for tomorrow: sleep ... and maybe some other stuff later!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
USA Day 1
Arrived in the early evening & picked up my car (Toyota Yaris), then after picking up some supplies & checking into the hotel it was off to the Bicycle Casino!
Arrived around 10.30pm & after a short wait, found a seat at a $4/8 Kill Limit Holdem table. The Kill part involved the stakes being doubled if a player wins two consecutive pots (they are then forced to post an $8 blind & the hand is played as an $8/16 game). Played fairly tight & managed to win a big pot when I decided to join the limping train when I had K3 suited on the button. Flop came down K73, and after a bet from the SB & almost all the table calling, I raised from the button, and was then re-raised by the UTG played. I called hiim down to the river & he had successfully botched playing AA, much to my benefit & I scooped a healthy pot. After a little over an hour, and just before the Midnight Madness tourney began, I racked up my chips & left with a tidy $65 profit.
The Midnight Madness tournament had 40 runners (which seemed to be a little down from the last time I was here when they usually had around 50-50 runners). This time they played the tourney in the Events area at the bike, which is a large room with 54 poker tables ready for tournament play. I picked up a few chips early by playing position & doubled up when my AA held against the QQ of the table big stack. Didn't really pick up many hands & continued to try to use position to pick up pots to stay afloat. Made the final table with about average chips, though there were 2 players who had very big stacks at the final table, and without opportunities to pick up blinds & antes I found myself as one of the short stacks fairly early on. Of course a tourney would not be complete without a bit of drama, and this was provided when two players got into a verbal slanging match, which resulted in the TD having stern words to both players, before having one of the offenders removed from the premises when they were eliminated. Although initially paying only 5 places, the TD suggested taking some money off 1st place to add a 6th place prize. As one of the two short stacks I was not going to object to this, and when I found my A9 & shoved, I figured that the $75 would be mine when I was called in 2 spots ... one with 88 & the other with AA. Of course the one reminaing ace hit the flop, and my unlikely chance to triple up was killed by a J pairing on the turn, locking up the hand for the AA.
End result: 6th place for $75 ($25 profit).
Given my lack of tournament cashes on my previous trip to the USA, this cash, even if it was a min-cash, certainly puts me in a positive mood for the remainder of the trip.
Tomorrow: Commerce & Event 1 of the California State Championships!
Arrived around 10.30pm & after a short wait, found a seat at a $4/8 Kill Limit Holdem table. The Kill part involved the stakes being doubled if a player wins two consecutive pots (they are then forced to post an $8 blind & the hand is played as an $8/16 game). Played fairly tight & managed to win a big pot when I decided to join the limping train when I had K3 suited on the button. Flop came down K73, and after a bet from the SB & almost all the table calling, I raised from the button, and was then re-raised by the UTG played. I called hiim down to the river & he had successfully botched playing AA, much to my benefit & I scooped a healthy pot. After a little over an hour, and just before the Midnight Madness tourney began, I racked up my chips & left with a tidy $65 profit.
The Midnight Madness tournament had 40 runners (which seemed to be a little down from the last time I was here when they usually had around 50-50 runners). This time they played the tourney in the Events area at the bike, which is a large room with 54 poker tables ready for tournament play. I picked up a few chips early by playing position & doubled up when my AA held against the QQ of the table big stack. Didn't really pick up many hands & continued to try to use position to pick up pots to stay afloat. Made the final table with about average chips, though there were 2 players who had very big stacks at the final table, and without opportunities to pick up blinds & antes I found myself as one of the short stacks fairly early on. Of course a tourney would not be complete without a bit of drama, and this was provided when two players got into a verbal slanging match, which resulted in the TD having stern words to both players, before having one of the offenders removed from the premises when they were eliminated. Although initially paying only 5 places, the TD suggested taking some money off 1st place to add a 6th place prize. As one of the two short stacks I was not going to object to this, and when I found my A9 & shoved, I figured that the $75 would be mine when I was called in 2 spots ... one with 88 & the other with AA. Of course the one reminaing ace hit the flop, and my unlikely chance to triple up was killed by a J pairing on the turn, locking up the hand for the AA.
End result: 6th place for $75 ($25 profit).
Given my lack of tournament cashes on my previous trip to the USA, this cash, even if it was a min-cash, certainly puts me in a positive mood for the remainder of the trip.
Tomorrow: Commerce & Event 1 of the California State Championships!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Episode 2 now online!
I've just finished a new episode of the Donkcast, and its available to download and listen here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q9LXEPFG
Its a bit longer than the previous episode, with this one coming in at around an hour in length (file is an mp3 file around 55Mb in size).
The main thing I want from people that listen to the podcast is some feedback. Hopefully I've fixed up some of the audio issues from episode one, but mostly I would like feedback about the content itself and the presentation. Do you like the format? Do you find the show interesting and/or informative? What would you keep and what would you change or add to future episodes?
Remember to direct all feedback to thedonkcast@hotmail.com
Also keep checking this blog - I'll be using it as an online diary while I am in America, which is where I'll be for the next few months!
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q9LXEPFG
Its a bit longer than the previous episode, with this one coming in at around an hour in length (file is an mp3 file around 55Mb in size).
The main thing I want from people that listen to the podcast is some feedback. Hopefully I've fixed up some of the audio issues from episode one, but mostly I would like feedback about the content itself and the presentation. Do you like the format? Do you find the show interesting and/or informative? What would you keep and what would you change or add to future episodes?
Remember to direct all feedback to thedonkcast@hotmail.com
Also keep checking this blog - I'll be using it as an online diary while I am in America, which is where I'll be for the next few months!
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