Sydney & some updates ...

I'm in Sydney at the moment, spending some time with the family over Christmas. I'm sure I'll catch up with many of my Sydney friends while in town as well.
I've also got a few things happening over the next month ... two chess tournaments - one in Melbourne (the Canterbury Summer Swiss) & one in Sydney (the Australian Open) ... a poker homegame (let me know if you're interested in attending) ... as well as the Aussie Millions!
As far as the chess stuff goes, I would like to do some sort of blogging/podcast type thing around it. I suspect this may involve setting up another blog, though it might also end up here, but either way I'll let you know.
As for the 'you' ... there's been 8 downloads of the latest episode, which only went up about a week ago, so I suppose that means there's at least 8 people who read the blog & listen to the podcast (or perhaps fewer readers/listeners who have trouble downloading & need to download multiple times ... but I'll go with the optimistic numbers!) ... one would almost call it a following, although I think such terms should be reserved for times when you run out of fingers when counting.
As for the Deuces Cracked 50,000 hand challenge, I'm currently around 11,500 hands in and down about $40. I've been going in the right direction lately playing micro-NLHE, which has seen something of a recovery from my earlier efforts with Rush poker & limit holdem, where I ran horribly. At the moment, I think the leaders in the challenge are up around $300, so I'm not entirely out of the running yet, although the graph needs to keep heading in the right direction.
I'm sure I'll also be playing some poker while in Sydney & I'll let you know how it goes.
If I don't get around to updating beforehand ... have a great festive season!

The watch is here!!

It looks like Full Tilt deliver a lot quicker than they say they will!
I returned home from a brief trip to the shops today to find a package underneath my door mat. Inside was the Full Tilt watch I had ordered a few weeks ago. 6-8 weeks shipping ... not with Full Tilt!






















Of course the watch will now be part of the things I wear pretty much where ever I go!
























Now to work on actually turning a profit in this Deuces Cracked 50,000 hands challenge ... and finish recording a podcast!

Another Deuces Cracked Challenge

I've decided to get involved in another Deuces Cracked challenge ... this time a bankroll-building challenge to see who can turn $100 into the most after 50,000 hands. The challenge starts on December 1 & runs for three months (or 50,000 hands, whatever comes first). Part of the reason for getting involved in this is not only for the potential win (two coaches have offered a free coaching session to the winner), but also to see how long it takes to actually get through 50,000 hands. At the moment, while I have been playing some micro-limits to gain Full Tilt Academy points through challenges, I have played just over 25,000 hands on Full Tilt since September ... which means I need to be playing more to fulfill the 50,000 hand requirement.
Also coming into consideration in this challenge are the issues of bankroll management & game selection. The main issues being how aggressively to use (or ignore) bankroll management ... and what games to play.
Issues to ponder:
What level & game should I be starting at?
* 2NL
* 5NL rush (there is no 2NL for rush)
* 5NL
* 10/20c L
* 25/50c L
How many tables should I be playing simultaneously?
* 1
* 2
* 4
* 6
* 8
* As many as possible
At what point should I move up in limits?
* 20 buy-ins (NL)
* 30 buy-ins (NL)
* 40 buy-ins (NL)
* ?? buy-ins (NL)
* 200 BB (L)
* 300 BB (L)
* 500 BB (L)
Will the progress of others (assuming others post their progress) affect how I play in terms of game choice & limits?
I'm sure there's a few rather obvious questions I'm missing at the moment ...
At present, the thought is to start at 2NL & move up when I have 30 buy-ins, although that might change ...

In other happenings, I've completed enough of the FTPA challenges to get over the 5000 point mark, have converted these points into Full Tilt points & have put in an order for the watch I have been mentioning on the blog ... apparently it takes 6-8 weeks for delivery, so I suspect it might become a late Christmas gift, but I'll see what happens.
I also plan to get a new (now long overdue) episode of the Donkcast out in the next few days ... but with so much to try to catch up on, it might almost become a news-only episode!

My Deuces Cracked Report Card!

Deuces Cracked are currently running a series on mixed games, called Report Card, where member-submitted videos are reviewed by a range of DC experts in the various games. My video is the latest to be reviewed by the DC team!
You can watch the start of the video (DC have 2 minute previews of all their videos for non-members) here, though I do recommend signing up to become a member as there is a heap of great poker content on the site.
If there is enough demand (ie: comments on this post) I'll see if I can arrange alternative means of viewing the video.

As for my overall results from the video, Dan 'DJSensei' Morris graded me as follows:
Triple Draw D
Limit Holdem B-
Limit Omaha hi-lo C+
Razz A-
Seven Card Stud C
Seven Card Stud hi-lo C

No Limit Holdem B+

Pot Limit Omaha C+

Overall GPA 2.41 (yes, they're Americans ... that's how they do things)

So far I've only watched the video through once, so I'm sure I'll pick up a lot more as I re-watch it. However, for the moment the main issues were as follows:

I need to work on my triple draw (which I am)

Don't get involved in limped stud hands when you are the bring-in unless you make a really big hand

Bet bigger in PLO (they seem to be a fan of the 'bet the maximum' approach, which has its advantages, particularly in a mixed game with both limit & big bet games)

Be more aware of position (and related to that, relative hand strength) when playing hands

Of course I submitted the video around two months ago, so I feel as if I have improved in some of the areas mentioned, as well as the fact that a one hour video is a really small sample size to get a full picture of how someone plays (its barely enough time to get through more than one rotation of all the games).

The people reviewing the various games (with links to their DC profile/coaching pages) are:
Joe Tall covering the three stud games (he also has an interesting blog)
Danzasmack covering the limit flop games (yes, the same danzasmack who was my first podcast guest)
Soepgroente covering the big bet games & triple draw
DJSensei doing the hosting & final grading.

Back in Melbourne ... back to the grind!

I'm back from the Sydney trip. Good to be home & sleeping in my own bed!

The Sydney trip was good for the most part. The Deuces Cracked meetup was great. It was good to catch up with my chess firends that I hadn't seen for a while. The poker, particularly at the casino, could have been better. I like the deeper stacks (you can now buy in to a $1/2 table up to $200), although deep stacks mean little when you continue to run bad ... such as an all-in pre-flop with KK v JJ for roughly $160 where my opponent did the usual & flopped a J & I couldn't catch up.

It was also good to catch up with the family ... my brother seems to be going OK with his studies & my parents are still doing fine.

Now that I'm back in Melbourne, its back to the grind. I'm hoping to do some casual teaching to give me something of a regular income ... and of course hoping to turn the current poker run bad around! The next step for me as far as online poker goes is to not only continue to build my bankroll (I've gone off the idea of the self-challenge from a few posts back) playing limit & no limit holdem & mixed games, with the occasional tourney ... but also to build up my Full Till points so that I can have a watch (as seen on the left) shipped to my home.

Will see how it goes ...

Sydney Deuces Cracked Meet

I ventured up to Sydney for a week (where I'm typing this post from) for, amongst other things, a Sydney meetup of Deuces Cracked members. There were a total of 6 of us who were on the felt at the Jade Tavern for an evening of 25/50c NLHE (which moved to Star City later on). Big thanks to Aus_dragon (Nathan) for organising it & good to meet Shuttle, Stanmore, Pink_dragon & PokerGnome Alicia (a semi-private joke for those that are wondering). The DC game ended in a small profit for myself, though the 'highlight' hand was one near the end of the night between Shuttle & PokerGnome. PokerGnome raised to $1.50 (or thereabouts - my memory is not precise with the following figures) UTG, Shuttle made it $4.25 on the button & PokerGnome shoved for his remaining $25. While Shuttle was thinking about what to do, PokerGnome offered to show one card & showed a queen ... which lead Shuttle to instanly say 'I call' & turn over K7o! Of course the king arrived on the flop, with a 7 on the river for the final kick in the nuts for PokerGnome.
Personally I found the game to be good, however I was more comfortable in it knowing that there were no spastic maniacs at the table, as seems to be so common elsewhere (although there were times when Shuttle & PokerGnome came close to such descriptions) ... and as a result I felt I played reasonably well for the most part.
Of course when I went to Star City, the crazy fish (and my poor timing) left me with a small loss for the evening. A sample of my poor timing included 4-betting a short stack with AK, picking up a caller with 88 & checking it down post-flop to see the short stack with JJ to triple up; a mate of mine who was short & open-shoved his last 10bbs where I had 99 & decided to call (yes, bad decision which only occured to me AFTER I had put the chips in the middle) where he had JJ & held ... and just a general lack of premium hands and spots to get chips easily (live players dislike folding, which makes bluffing somewhat difficult to do).

LOOOONG day in tournaments for nothing ... and some bowling with the DC guys!

A long, long day in the 8-game tournament at Aria ... ultimately finishing with nothing. This 8-game tournament featured Badugi (rather than the usual 2-7 triple draw), along with NLHE, PLO & H.O.R.S.E. with the logic being that no-one needed to sit out in badugi, unlike 2-7. The field was small at 38, but with a 15k starting stack & 50 minute levels, it would be a long event. It took over 8 hours (well past midnight) to get down to two tables & with stacks reasonably deep, the pace slowed even more, with very few eliminations. At one point I was chip leader with 13 players left, having about 88k in chips when the average was 43k. Of course it was then when I managed to run poorly & find myself with strong second-best hands on multiple occasions. Unfortunately for me there were three big hands that I lost & I was out in 10th. The first was a razz hand where I had a 87 made, with a draw to a 75 & lost to my opponent's 75 (if I made my 75 I would have won the pot). I then lost a huge hand in O8, with AsKc8s8c & raised in late position, only to be called by the big blind, who was the other big stack at the table. The flop was KsTs2h & it wentcheck-bet-call. The turn brought the 4s & again check-bet-call. The river was a repeat 2 & my opponent checked to me again. My thinking was that there were a lot of hands that would check-call both the flop & turn that would also check-call the river (something like a weak flush with a missed low draw or a straight draw with a 2), so I bet again. My opponent then check-raised me! I was surprised, but decided to call, only for my opponent to turn over KKJ8 for top full house! I had (obviously mistakenly) thought that a hand like that (which makes sense for the check-call, check-call line) would probably lead the river, hoping to make an extra bet rather than risk missing a bet on the end. Of course I was wrong & I dropped a big chunk of my stack. Of course shortly afterwards I found myself in another big hand with the same opponent, this time with AAKJ. The flop was Q75 & we got the rest of the chips in on the flop & I was up against AJ73, which meant I was in decent shape, though there was a decent chance that the pot would be chopped (odds are 22-34 to scoop, with high hand being 65-34 in my favour, with the low being 0-63). Of course a repeat 7 came on the turn & I couldn't find the last A in the deck & was out in 10th place. What made it more disappointing was that this was the first time in over 6 hours that I had been all-in. The previous (and only) time I had been all-in in the tournament was in PLO when I was accused of slowrolling (though my opponent later apologised) when we got the money in on a Qc4c3h flop with my AcAdJd9c beating my opponent's 7654 when I made a flush on the turn (I thought for about 5-10 seconds after betting the flop & my oppoent raising to put me all-in before I called, which lead to the slowroll accusation). Of course with the top 5 being paid & my elimination coming just before 4am (the event started at 5pm), it was disappointing to have played well for over 10 hours, only to walk away with nothing.
The previous evening was the Deuces Cracked bowling night at the Gold Coast Casino. I played one game (scoring 117, which was poor for the lane I was in, but seemed like a decent score compared to other lanes ... a bit below what I would have liked, but its been a while since I've been bowling) before sitting down with Chuck Danielsson for an interview for my podcast. All-in-all a very enjoyable evening & I picked up a DC cap & duck while I was there. If there was any doubt as to whether I was part of a great community poker training site, the events at the WSOP have really confirmed that I made the right choice. Now I just need to find more time to improve my online game & make the most of the fantastic training videos Deuces Cracked have to offer.
Next on the agenda: UFC 116! Great card at the MGM!

Being a tourist & a sick, sick hand

I started the day with some exhibits around Las Vegas. First stop was the MGM for CSI: The Experience. Not a bad exhibit overall, where you are presented with a crime scene (there are three to choose from), and then after going through a series of labs, need to come to a conclusion about what happened at the crime scene based on the evidence you have examined. The type of things you look at include text messages on a phone, DNA reports, drug testing and a range of other forensic tests that are recreated for you to examine in a hands-on environment. Worth a look, but not something that I would call a 'must see' if in Vegas. After leaving MGM I headed to the Luxor for the Bodies exhibit. This had a range of exhibits showing pretty much everything about the human body, from bones & muscles to organs & artiries and everything in between. If I had more of an interest in biology or medicine I might have found it more engaging, but as it was it kept me amused for the 40 or so minutes it took me to get through the exhibit. Of the three exhibits I saw (Titanic, CSI & Bodies), I would be happy to see the Titanic exhibition again, wouldn't mind the CSI exhibit, though could go without it, while the Bodies exhibit is something that I would probably skip.
After leaving the Luxor I headed to Planet Hollywood for dinner (yes more Earl of Sandwich for me) before heading to the Hard Rock to see if the Pokerati/PokerNews/Deuces Cracked $1/2 NLHE/PLO game was going, but it wasn't, which was a bit disappointing. Rather than stay & play in the $1/2 NLHE game I decided to head back to the Strip & found a seat in one of the biggest games going around on the Strip ... 50c/$1 at Bill's Gambling Hall! I took a seat with $100 & had all but one player at the table covered & proceeded to lose almost every hand I played ... raise with 99 & I get one caller and we see a AQ8 flop & they shove over my c-bet; raise with AJ & get 3 callers with and 8-high board & there is a bet & a raise before it is my turn on the flop ... until a HUGE hand came up! I look down at red kings UTG+1 & make my standard 3-times-the-blind raise to $3 (yes, $3 is a raise at Bills & quite a few people raised to $2 throughout the night!), only to see one caller before the cutoff re-raised to $11. It folded back to me & I made it $25 total, which got the caller to fold, but the re-raiser called. The flop was pretty good for my hand - KKJ & I lead out for $15. The other player asked the question that is often a bad one to hear ... 'How much do you have behind' & I showed my remaining stack & cut it down to show the $33 I had behind. After this enquiry I figured he had a big hand when he just called the bet. Of course given that I had all the kings, this means that he either had a hand like AA (unlikely given that he didn't 4-bet pre-flop), JJ or a royal flush draw like QTcc. The 6h on the turn changed nothing & I checked it to my opponent, who bet $12 (yes, as Bills we make our bets smaller on later streets ... because that's how you roll at Bill's), which I called. The turn was another jack & I put my remaining $21 in the middle & my opponent couldn't wait to put his chips in the middle as well! He wasn't so pleased when I turned my hand over however ... I had quad kings ... which beat his quad jacks!! The whole table, myself included, were stunned, as the dealer called out 'high hand ... and bad beat' to the floor. As a bonus (and something of a consolation to the loser), we both recieved an extra $50 for the high hand bonus (quads using a pair as your hole cards), though there was no bad beat bonus. The dealer reminded us of this, saying that if this was a Station casino, the players in the hand would recieve $40k & $20k each, with others at the table getting $5k ... and everyone in the casino getting something as well! Quite a jackpot by the sounds of it. I must admit that I have never played a hand like that before in my life & its the first time I've had quads over quads. Guess it was somewhat similar to the infamous Sammy Farha hand from the WSOP a few years ago, when Oliver Hudson flopped a full house & was drawing dead! Of course just to rub it in, I managed to crack the same guy's kings a few hands later with tens when I turned a set (with another player at the table saying they folded a ten) ... One of my own MBN monents ... and yes it was! The table died down shortly afterwards, with a few players leaving, so I left with a $130 or so profit ... not bad for a few hours at 50c/$1, even if I do say so myself!
Next on the agenda: A haircut, some more poker (might try to get to the other places on the Strip that I haven't played at) & an evening of tenpin bowling with the Deuces Cracked guys! Should be fun!

Quiet day, then hit by the deck!

Had a relatively quiet day today, watching some videos in my room after I woke up. The Pokerstars Big Game is looking like an interesting show, with the 'Loose Cannon' concept working fairly well with the first two Loose Cannons doing well for themselves.
I decided to head to Planet Hollywood for dinner, getting my usual order from Earl of Sandwich before what was intended to be a quick stop in the Poker Room before heading to O'Sheas for the Deuces Cracked drinks night. After a slow start I was down roughly $120 playing $1/2 No limit when I started to think about leaving. Of course as soon as this happened, I looked down at QQ after two limpers. I raised to $12 & was called by the button & one of the limpers. The flop came down J65 & the limper lead at the pot for $20. Having only $65 behind I decided that I needed to gamble to try and win a big pot, so just called the $20. The button also called the $20. The action happened on the turn, which was a repeat 6. The limper moved all-in for $80. I took a little bit of time before moving my remaining $45 into the middle as well. The button then went into deep thought & eventually called the $80. Quite a pot up for grabs! The river was another 6 & my QQ took the main pot, with the limper's JT chopping with the button's AJ for the side pot. Excellent ... now I am back in the black & ahead enough to cover my dinner! Time to head to O'Sheas obviously ... but not wanting to be *THAT GUY*, I decided to play another round at the table before leaving. Of course just as I was about to leave (I was UTG & planning to leave after the hand) I look down at AA! Guess I'm playing this hand ... so I raise to $8 & get called by the player to my left (who had been playing fairly tight) & the big blind. The flop came down 873 with a club draw (I had the Ac) & I lead at the pot for $17 & was called by the player to my left. The turn brought the Js & I bet $25, only to be raised to $50 by the player to my left. I thought it was unlikely that my opponent had two pair (like 87) as he had been playing fairly standard. I was a little worried about T9, but was more concerned about a set (33, 77 or 88). I also thought he could be doing this with a hand like AJ or a pair above 88, so decided to call, with the intention of check-calling on a safe river & throwing up before check-calling on a not-so-safe river. Part 1 of the plan went fine ... offsuit 2 on the river & I checked. My opponent then put out a $100 bet! Of course a smaller bet would have been an easy call & an all-in would have also been relatively easy (double-up or go home & it was part of the plan on the turn), but $100 was an awkward amount. It was about half of my opponent's remaining stack & if I lost the hand I would be left with about $50. Ultimately I decided that the river didn't change anything, so I had to go with my turn read. If my opponent had a set, so be it ... if not, my hand should be good. I eventually called, to be me with a 'good call, you've got it' & I turned over my aces & my opponent showed 55 for a bluff. Over $400! So now the plan from before came into effect ... play another round, then head to O'Sheas ... but plans rarely go as planned! On the next round there was a limp & a raise in front of me to $12 when I looked down to see AcKc. I decided that I didn't want to play a big pot pre-flop, so just called. Another player called & we saw a flop of 6c5c2d. Not a bad flop! The pre-flop raiser lead out for $25. I considered raising, but decided to just call & the other player got out of the way. The turn was a great card for me, 4c meaning I had the nut flush (though not the absolute nuts with the straight flush possibilities). My opponent bet again, this time $45 & I did a bit of fake thinking before calling. The river was another excellent card for my hand, an offsuit 3, putting a 6-high straight on the board. My opponent checked & after a short while I put out a $90 bet. Of course there are a number of hands that I would play in a similar manner that make the river bet logical - a hand that is big, like the flush that I have, or possibly a hand like 77 that rivered a straight after being an overpair on previous streets ... or a hand like an overpair that was now counterfeited by the straight on board, or a complete bluff. My opponent thought for quite a while before finally calling ... and I showed the nut flush to take a sizable pot! Ultimately what was intended to be a brief stop became a longer session, though definitely a profitable one.
I decided to drop into O'Sheas briefly (I was a few hour late for the intended 10pm start) & saw a few DC shirts around the place, including Chris 'DeathDonkey' Vitch at the Craps table, but ultimately decided to head back to the hotel.
Next on the agenda: possibly a tournament at the Venetian (if I wake up in time), otherwise I might go for the bookstore or Titanic options ... or maybe just some cash games somewhere.

New Logo! Oh ... and some poker

The Donkcast now has a logo! Many thanks go to a former student of mine, Diarmaid Murray, who decided to spend some time with photoshop ... and the results are at the top of the page! Hope you like it.
I should also give a plug for Diarmaid's blog while I'm singing his praises http://anydaytuesday.wordpress.com/

In other news I played the 1pm deepstack tournament at the Rio today, ran horribly and busted early (yes, I was out before the first break). Of course I ran TT into AA on a 7-high board; rivered trips into a rivered flush; AK into AK to chop; and finally lost a race when my TT could not hold up against the might that is AK.

With that over I decided to head to the WSOP shop & picked up some gear (a hoodie, t-shirt, cap & magnet) before heading to the cash tables. I began with some limit holdem. Of course I continued the trend from the tournament, with players finding ways to beat whatever hand I had. Of course it would feel much worse because they would raise & bet with their draws, which inevitably got there on the river ... yet when I tried the same I simply got called down & missed, tabling the 'queen-high, I missed' or similar on the end, only to see the pot being shipped elsewhere.

I thought it was a good thing to be called for my HORSE table, however a combination of having similar things happen there, combined with some poor play on my part meant that I left the Rio tired & with a lighter wallet than I had arrived with. Of course mentally I keep telling myself to avoid problem spots, yet somehow I still keep finding myself in them after not following my own advice. T865 with a suit in Omaha hi-lo ... yes its been raised in front of me, but there are two callers & I'm in the big blind ... so rather than making the simple play & folding the hand like I should, I find the evil voice putting thoughts like 'well I am getting 7-to-1'; 'what if I flop a straight & it holds'; 'a ten-high flush might scoop a big pot' and the like, so I play the hand, wind up with some kind of dodgy draw (or even worse a dodgy combo draw), which either misses, or worse still, gets there & is no good ... and the chips I work hard for at other times seem to disappear twice as fast! Such is the dilemma of the poker player ...

**Correction** In yesterday's blog I said that I went to the Gamblers Book Shop, when in fact I went to the Gamblers General Store ... yes the first place does exist (and I might make a trip there some day), but it wasn't the place I went to.

Next on the agenda: Something relaxing (considering the Titanic Artifacts exhibition at the Luxor) or another bookshop trip, with some poker mixed in before another Deuces Cracked meet-up, this time at O'Sheas

Books & Limit Holdem

Today was a relatively quiet day. Caught up with Theos Rippis, a mate from my chess days in Sydney who has also become something of a poker player (he cashed in a $1500 NLHE at the 2008 WSOP) & spent some time at the Gamblers Book Shop. I picked up two books, the new David Sklansky essay-based book 'DUCY?' & 'Tales of Old Las Vegas' by Sam O'Connor, which I'm hoping can compare to 'When the Mob Ran Vegas' by Steve Fischer, which I picked up on my last trip to Las Vegas. When the Mob Ran Las Vegas covered for the most part Las Vegas in the 1950s & 60s & explained the growth of Las Vegas, from a desert into a thriving tourist destination. It was surprising to learn about the mob connections (from multiple parts of America) to many of the casinos in Las Vegas (including places like Caesars Palace & the Riviera) & interesting to discover some of the people & personalities of Las Vegas in those days. Another interesting part of Las Vegas of the 50s & 60s was the mob-enforced principle that no murders were to happen in Las Vegas, because it was not good for tourists & tourism, so any hits that were arranged by the mob were conducted outside Las Vegas. Really makes you wonder why some people who were on the hit list ever left Vegas ... but they did ... and often never returned.
Turning to poker, I played a session of $10/20 limit Holdem at the Rio. Nothing too eventful, though I did manage to run into runner-runner quads, with my AJ being no match for QQ on a A22QQ board. Also managed to repeat my trick from the other night, binking a set on the river on a board of AT83Q after getting four callers on the flop, checking the turn (I was the button) & getting in a raise on the river against a guy who I assume held AT by his reaction. I also had my name down for a mixed game, but was already at the limit table by the time I was called & was feeling tired, so just left the Rio when I got up from the holdem table, rather than taking a (now open) seat in the 415/30 mixed game.
It was also good to see another familiar face at the Rio, with Peter Aristidou playing a $2/5 NLHE game. I had a talk with him at the table while waiting for my name to be called. Peter played the Razz event earlier in the day & said he got nothing going & was out early. He was impressed with the Venetian (where he is staying with 'Carwash' George Cotaidas) & staggered at the standard serving size of meals over here, though he is missing good coffee! Although I didn't mention it, Peter would be a great interview of the podcast ... might see what I can do on that front.
Next on the agenda: Probably looking to play the 1pm Deepstack event at the Rio, with the backups options being cash games at the Rio, or the Pokerati/Deuces Cracked night at the Hard Rock Casino, which features a $1/2 PLO/NLHE mix

Deuces Cracked Homegame & other goings on

To begin with I must apologise for the lack of updates ... this hotel wireless is frustrating me & I have been prioritising other things when I am able to use the internet.
Anyway, events of the last few days have included: The Deuces Cracked Homegame at Aria, a Stud8 tournament at the Golden Nugget, a HORSE tournament at the Orleans, a mixed game at the Imperial Palace & some brief cash sessions at the Luxor & Hooters.
The Deuces Cracked homegame was great fun. Was good to catch up with Chuck, Rob, Joe & the rest of the DC team I had met in Australia, as well as meeting some other coaches & members & being able to put faces & real names to DC names. As far as the poker was concerned, I sat in a $4/8 mixed game, which began as a mix of Holdem, Omaha hi-lo & Crazy Pineapple ... and soon became somewhat different! Of course being labelled a 'homegame' I started off playing like a homegame ... I have 3 outs for a gutshot ... I call; 2 outs for a bigger 2 pair ... I call. Of course from a purely financial perspective, such decisions are not wise ... and of course it was only after these decisions began to be more noticable (ie: I had far less chips in front of me than when I started) that it occurred to me that I should be doing something a little different with my game. So I changed up my game, and the nit that had been waiting to emerge had a chance to join the table. As a result of this transformation, the results turned around.
Of course as the night went on, the games got more unorthodox. At one point the game turned into what became known as 'Slomaha', which on the surface is run like a standard game of Omaha hi-lo. Of course this changed when some of the players decided to show random cards from their hand during play, and eventually turned into a strange cross between Omaha & Stud. The game was played where players were forced to turn over one card (of their choosing, though occasionally this was done at random by the dealer) from their hand after the completion of the round of betting before the flop, before the turn & before the river. There were some strategy considerations regarding the cards that people turned over - do you turn over a pair, a low card, the random 'dangler', etc. This meant that after the river was dealt, there were 5 community cards & each player had 3 of their 4 hole cards exposed in front of them. This of course changed hand reading, as it now became somewhat like a stud hand where you could see people's boards & determine their possible holdings from that. The third card made a lot of difference regarding low hands - given that it is Omaha, you need to use 2 cards from your hand with 3 cards from the board, so that when 3 hole cards are exposed, it became obvious who could qualify for a low. I did OK at this game, though when the game changed to Baduci I had far more success & managed to recoup most of my earlier losses. All in all a fun night. Definitely looking forward to the Bowling next Thursday.
After the recent tournaments, which turned into luckfests because of the typically horrible structures (5 big bet average stacks ... its a game of skill!), I had sworn off tournaments in Vegas for a while, yet still went to the Golden Nugget to play the Stud8 tournament, which as expected turned into a luckfest. I managed to get crippled by the table fish in two hands where he made monsters against my somewhat mediocre holdings, when it seemed like every other hand he had played he had had relative garbage (and had been playing it like the nuts!). Of course even with a short stack I managed to outlast him, however I was unable to regain my chips from the opponents he had so kindly donated them to.
I also decided to try out the Orleans Sunday night HORSE tournament, but that too turned into a luckfest after the first few levels & I busted relatively early from that one. Maybe I should try some NLHE tourneys to change things up a bit??
I also ventured to a few poker rooms that I had not played at previously - the Bruce Buffer Poker Lounge at the Luxor & Hooters. Not much to say about those rooms - played some $1/2NL at each & made a small profit at both ... and of course left with my 'souveneir' $1 chip.
The $3/6 mixed game at the Imperial Palace seemed almost like a homegame with some of the games on offer. I finally made it through an entire rotation of games (which took over 5 hours to get through all 10 games, playing 8 hands of each game) & discovered quite a few games I had no prior knowledge of!
Highlights from the night included:
Playing hi-lo 5 card draw (called A-5 hi-lo) I started with a pair of 7s, drew 3 on the first draw, did not improve, drew another 3, picked up another 7, so drew 2, picked up the last remaining 7 on the final draw, bet, was raised, so I three-bet, only to be called down by the guy who had three kings (from the initial deal) to scoop a pretty sizable pot ($100+).
Finding a wheel (23457) in 2-7 triple draw on the second draw & getting paid off in 2 spots.
Folding the same hand as the winning hand in 4-card Crazy Ocean Pineapple (89 on a board of KT7J35), when I assumed that my turned straight was no good. Of course the other player in the hand had the nut flush draw that missed (yes, even on the 'ocean')!
All-in-all a crazy game that is fun to play, and can at the right time be good for the bankroll, though it can also be very swingy, obviously. This was helped by one of the players who would almost always post a blind straddle when UTG & was later posting 'sleeper straddles' in various positions (for example a sleeper straddle on the button meant that if folded to him, it would act like a straddle where he has last option after people called his raise, otherwise it would act as a standard bet where he had the option to either call or raise).
Next on the agenda: more poker I guess ...

More tournament bustouts & some mixed games

Two tournaments, two non-cashes ... standard.
In the last few days (yes, the wonderful internet connection I have here is so bad that I can't get online consistently to update this blog!) I've played HORSE tournaments at the Golden Nugget & the Venetian. Finished out of the money in both, roughly 35th out of 108 at the Golden Nugget & 130th out of 172 at the Venetian. As seems to be standard with these events, the structure started great, but eventually turned into a complete crapshoot & that was the time when I ran & played badly, so left before the money. The highlight for me of both these events was a bluff I pulled off during the Razz at the Venetian, betting the river with three kings & winning the pot.
I've also managed to put together another episode of the Donkcast, and talk about the Razz hand in it, as well as news from both the Melbourne Champs & World Series and look at a hand from the $100k challenge at the Aussie Millions ... however it requires a decent internet connection to be uploaded ... hopefully one day ...
I also played some cash games after busting from both events. After the Golden Nugget event I decided to stop in at some casinos at the north end of the strip & play some poker. I played some $1/2 no limit at both the Stratosphere & Sahara, and some early morning $3/6 limit at Circus Circus before the game broke & I headed home. Although not overly profitable, I did make a little bit of money from the evening & added some chips for my collection. After the Venetian event I sat in a $4/8 HORSE game there, which eventually became ORSE after about half the table left during the holdem round, so the table agreed to drop holdem from the mix. Got off to a good start & was up over a full buy-in, managed to play some hands badly (plus the table became a lot tougher as the fish busted or left & players who had some idea began to take seats in the game) & at one point was back to my initial buy-in before rallying to leave with a decent profit, doubling my buy-in. Mixed games definitely look like a good place to make some money here & with some of the tournament structures being horrible, its looking like a much more attractive proposition, at least from a financial perspective.
Next on the agenda: Deuces Cracked home game at Aria & hopefully some interviews for the Donkcast

USA - Mixed games at the Rio

An evening at the Rio ...
Mixed games were the order for the evening at the Rio. Tonight it was a $10/20 mix, which rotated between Badugi, Baduci, Omaha hi-lo, Stud hi-lo & 2-7 Triple Draw. After a poor start I managed to play a bit better & run reasonably well, managing to finish the night with a reasonable profit. Also at the table was Lisa Parsons (one of the last women to be eliminated in the 2008 WSOP Main Event), who was obviously playing some of the draw games for the first time.
While there I said hi to Joe Tall & Rob Cole of Deuces Cracked & saw quite a few pros in the cash game room. Looks like Chinese Poker is popular with some of the bigger players, with Barry Greenstein being one of the players sitting at a Chinese table playing $100/point.
Next on the Agenda: HORSE at the Golden Nugget

USA - Golden Nugget Stud8

Another Tournament, another non-cash.
Played the Stud hi-lo at the Golden nugget today. A much better structure than Binions, so I'll probably return for some events later in 'The Grand' series there. Managed to finish in around 60th place out of the 119 starters, though did run rather badly late in the tourney, which didn't help my cause. Did the usual stud8 trick of having huge draws on 4th-6th streets that all missed by 7th street (or even worse, a draw completed & it was second best!), so it wasn't my day.
I'll be back to the Nugget tomorrow for the Omaha hi-lo. Think I'll go for the aggro maniac approach, if only because my usual tight aggressive approach seems to be rather ineffective when I simply don't run well! Will see how it goes, though I suspect I'll either have a huge stack or be playing cash games at the Rio by the time the dinner break rolls around. Hopefully the former, but I'll let you know.
Also trying to get another episode of the Donkcast up in the next few days. As mentioned previously, I'm hoping to have Danzasmack from Deuces Cracked on the Donkcast in an upcoming episode.
Next on the agenda: Omaha hi-lo at the Golden Nugget & cash games at the Rio

USA - Binions

Another tourney, another bustout!
Today I went to Binions, 'the home of poker', to play the HORSE event in the Binions Poker Classic. The tournament had 120 starters & I finished in 72nd place, but that's simply the facts.
The structure of the event was appalling. Although the starting stack was 20,000, starting with levels of 100/200 & increasing every 30 minutes meant that you really needed to build quickly or face elimination. This was compounded in a way by the format of playing one game per level, with the holdem getting many more hands than any of the other games. The brink of elimination started for me in level 6 (just 3 hours into the event) when I was all-in on the turn in holdem against one opponent. Of course by this time we were already playing 800/1600 & my top pair held to double up. I picked up some hands & ran well & amazingly by the end of the level I was back to my original 20,000 starting stack! Talk about a wild ride! Anyway I managed to slowly dwindle down to be 14000 at the dinner break (after 9 levels) & returned to be playing Stud8 at the 3000/6000 level! Of course I was the bring-in & rather than completing the bet, I simply brought it in for the minimum, meaning that my (45)3 was facing 4 opponents for 4th street. After 4th it was heads-up & I was all-in on 5th, with my 34549 being up against my opponents T7656. I picked up a 9 on 6th to take the lead, but his river T killed my hand & send me out of the tournament.
I have since made sure to check the structures before playing in events. I *may* be back for the $500 HORSE Championship later in the month (which has a similar structure but 40 minute levels, with games changing every 20 minutes), but doubt I will play any other events at Binions.
I'm still going to be downtown in the coming days, but across the street, playing at the Golden Nugget, which seems to have a similar structure, but with 40 minute levels I hope it won't be quite as brutal.
In other news, it looks like I have at least one guest lined up for the Donkcast ... Chuck 'Danzasmack' Danielsson who is an instructor at Deuces Cracked will be on sometime in the not-too-distant future. Caught up with him at the Rio the other night & mentioned the podcast & he's keen to be on, so I'll test my abilities an an interviewer!
Next on the agenda: Stud hi-lo at the Golden Nugget

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.