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

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 ...

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

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 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!