big pots

The Friday night game went on for longer than usual last night, from eight or 8:30 until just after five in the morning. It was a game with unusually large swings for me, as I won and lost several large pots.

I actually got stacked for my 1st $50 buy-in in a pot against Marc (of all people. argh!). However, I rebought and began to rework myself toward even. I won a couple of medium to large sized pots from Dale, which was primarily what helped me. At about two in the morning when a big hand played out. We knew it was going to be Lee's last hand because he had said earlier he was done at 2 A.M. He folded, and I looked down on the button at the ten-eight of spades. I elected to raise it up to $2, and Dale was my only caller. The flop came down giving me a gutshot, and I led out when Dale checked it to me. He called, and I filled in when the nine came down on fourth street. Dale led out this time, for a big bet, and I flat-called. When a blank came on the river, he checked, I bet, he raised, and I went all-in, and doubled through him for a huge pot.

Unfortunately, I lost about $100 in a pot against Jesse when I was dealt KK on the button vs. his AA in the small blind, and the flop came three small cards. This is a classic cooler, and I'm not too beat-up about the way I played it . I perhaps could have folded the flop, but it would have been tough. At any rate, I still came out about $100 ahead for the session, and with the possible exception of that pocket kings hand I'm fairly satisfied. I picked up a lot more small pots than I usually do, which is nice, as it helped me to gain chips while we were shorthanded, padding the blow a bit on the end when I doubled Jesse up.

monday night game leaderboard

Me (117 pts.)










Chip (102 pts.)








Chris (93 pts.)









Marc (84 pts.)








Lee (80 pts.)
Dale (60 pts.)
Jake (58 pts.)
Andrew (49 pts.)
Lori (45 pts.)
Eric (43 pts.)
Daniel & Brent (11 pts. each)

Mark (9 pts.)

Randy (8 pts.)

turning a sixty dollar straight

At this week's Friday night game, I hovered around my initial $40 buy-in (within $10 up or down) for several hours before winning a big pot. I was one off the button and, after two limpers, I decided to enter the pot with the 98 offsuit. Eric, on the button, raised to $1.50, and the blinds folded. The limpers called, and I called. Since there was $5.75 out there and it cost me only a dollar, this was an easy call for me.

The flop came down 6Q7, rainbow. This was just the sort of flop I'd wanted, but there was no reason to bet into the field here. I had plenty of outs, and so when it checked to me, I checked, as well. Eric then decided to bet $2.50. One limper folded, and one called, and I made the call, hoping that if I hit I'd be able to double through Eric, who was playing really aggressively, and has trouble backing away from the big pots with me.

Lo and behold, the ten of diamonds slid off. The first limper checked, and I decided it was time to bet. The pot was about fourteen bucks at this point, and I elected to make a pot-sized bet, mostly because the pot was getting large, and I felt Eric had a strong hand from the way the action came down on the first two rounds.

I bet $12. Eric thought for about 30 seconds, then tossed a $25 bundle of rubber-banded one dollar bills into the pot. Our remaining opponent folded, and it was to me. This was a dream-come-true scenario for me. I had the best possible hand at the time, and my opponent had shown aggression on all three streets, so far, indicating what was probably a big hand (maybe QT? QA? a set?). Not only that, but my bet didn't slow him down. I had bet, and he had raised me back. Still, before I just announced "all in," I wanted to do some calculating. Would I get called for the rest of my chips if I shoved here? was it better to just call and then shove on the river?

well, I had $48.50 in my stack, meaning that if I called, I'd have $35.50 left (or, that would be the amount of my raise). I added up the size of the pot. 75 cents dead money from the blinds. a $1.50 bet and three calls preflop makes $6.75. A $2.50 bet and two calls on the flop makes $14.25. My twelve and Eric's $25 makes $51.25. If I call, the pot's $64.25 and I have $35 left. Can I fold on the river? probably not. Will I get called by a worse hand if I shove now? chances point to yes. I announce "$35.50 more" and put my chips in. Eric made the call, and I said "I have the nuts" as I turned up my nine-eight. Eric doesn't like to give anything away, so since it's a cash game and he's not obliged to show his cards unless he can beat me, he kept his hand concealed. The ace of spades came on the river, and he mucked.

no money, but an extended lead

Tonight in the Monday night game, I placed fourth (of nine) without rebuying. I made no money, but since Chip went out in seventh place, I advanced on him in points. Going into the tournament, I had 103 to his 102 pts., and have added six more to that lead, which will make it tough for him to catch up unless I get a zero.

I survived a couple of brutal beats along the way, including losing a pot in which I flopped top set of queens and my opponent caught running straight cards. Fortunately, the only player I'm mildly concerned with gaining points on me was Lee, who placed third. Andrew and Jake played heads-up, but at this point I don't think they'll be much of a threat to take down the end-of-the-year jackpot.

Which, by the way, is getting good. I know that a lot of the Monday night regulars have contributed quite a bit to it thus far, myself included. The great thing about it being such a gradual build is that the dead money doesn't know it until the end, and by then, they have to put in or they get no action since they agreed to the (completely fair) rules at the beginning of the year. I bet there's at least $200 in there by now, and we're only halfway through, which means over $100 for both first and second at the end of the year, most likely. As long as I can continue doing what I've been doing, I should be pretty much a lock to take down one of those two prizes.

Plus, let's assume that the total jackpot is $400 at the end of the year - a dollar per week of that was mine to begin with, and at the end of the year that'll be around $50. I can't give that up, can I?

a limit hold 'em hand

Here's a hand of $0.50-$1 limit hold'em I played online tonight.

incidentally, what could my opponent have been thinking getting four bets in on the river? I mean, the best flush he could have is 10-high, or the third nuts. There's no reason to put that much money in with all of the cards out when you're so likely beaten.

Runners!

I played in a four-handed $0.25/0.50 game last night and suffered several devastating beats, but the last one was the toughest (though I had already lost to a runner-flush earlier in the night). Eric opened on the button for $1.50, and Dale called in the small blind. I looked down at QJ of diamonds and made the call. When the flop came, Dale checked. I knew Eric was going to bet if he had any piece (he had a lot of chips and was playing aggressively. Plus, he was the preflop raiser), and odds were he didn't have a bigger piece than me, since it came J95, giving me top pair. I decided to try for a check-raise. When Eric bet $4.50, I came over the top of him for $15 total. He asked me how much I had left ($17.75), and then moved all-in. Still believing I had the best hand (but pot-committed now anyway), I made the call. This is how it came down:



Although this was only one of the losses I sustained tonight, I still feel okay about it, for two reasons. One, I am still up pretty big from Friday night's cash game, in which I was the biggest overall winner this week. Two (most importantly), I got cold-decked in a lot of spots, and I think that most of my opponents would have lost more than I did if they had been playing the cards I held tonight. In this particular pot, I was not a huge favorite on the flop, but I did bet in a way that should have forced the pair of nines to fold on the flop. Plus, when all the money went in, I had the best hand and was a three to one favorite to win the hand (65% preflop, 75% on the flop, 68% on the turn).

Back in first place

Monday night went pretty well. It was a small game, but there were lots of rebuys in there (fortunately, none of them came from me). I stacked Eric more than four times, in fact (twice with pocket eights).

However, though I came in first place in the tournament, I had to survive a few tough hands to get there. In one pot, I held the and made a tough call when Eric check-raised all in on a flop of . He showed the ! I had him out-kicked! When the ace of diamonds fell on fourth street, I was going to win the pot with any card other than a five, and split with a four or trey. However, though the turn was an irrelevant , the river came , and after cursing my bad luck, I had some focusing to do to avoid tilt after taking the three-outer beat on the river.

Later, I was able to stack Chip and force him out in third place. This was good for me since I came into Monday night one point behind him in the overall jackpot standings. I think a big leak in Chip's game is the way that he plays the short stack. He sacrifices way too much of his stack, and doesn't go all-in enough to steal the blinds. At the $0.75 / 1.50 level of blinds, he had only $4.50 left after posting his big blind. I had about $50 in chips, and so when Chris folded his button to me, I raised chip all-in with the 84 offsuit. Chip called with a jack high, and we both hit a pair on the flop, but the 8 came off on 4th street giving me two pair and knocking him out.

what you should be looking for as soon as you sit down

There's a lot of information you can get about the game you're playing in right away, before you sit through several rounds of the button and watch a lot of hands play out. This information can give you an edge right away to help you make correct decisions against your opponents, and increase your potential opportunity for profit.

First, as Mike Caro would say, look for the general demeanor of the game. If it looks like the players are laughing and having a good time, that's way better than if the table is playing quiet lockdown poker - people are gambling. Also, take notice of where the chips are - who has what amounts, where they are seated, etc. Pay special attention to the way in which players have their chips stacked, and if any chip stacks are exceptionally neat or messy, that probably indicates tight and loose play, respectively (of course this doesn't apply to messy stacks of players who have just won a big pot and haven't had a chance to add it to their stack yet).

One thing though, that you always want to notice in the first few hands is the rate of calling versus raising preflop, and how many players are entering each pot and staying in for the flop. If there's a lot of calling by a lot of players, and not very much raising, you are in good territory. You are most likely facing a lot of calling stations.

In Doyle Brunson's Super/System, he has the following to say about playing against this type of player:

"The perfect opponent to face is the Calling Station. He's similar to a loose-drunk player, but he rarely bets. Most of the time, he just checks and calls. And if you can't beat a man who always checks to you. . .you can't beat anyone.

Timid players don't win in high-stakes poker."

You have to notice your opponent's tendencies. This is a must because it's correct to play each opponent differently, and in general you want to tighten up at loose tables and loosen up at tighter ones. There are concrete reasons.

Consider this: What, by definition, does an exceptionally tight player do wrong? He/She calls too much. Similarly, a too-loose player calls too much. If your opponents are making habitual mistakes, encourage it. The tight player folds all the time, so you may as well agress against the tight player. Let him/her keep folding. They'll be doing it when they have you beat. Let the loose player pay you off. And if you're up against a player who bets and raises all the time, you'll have to call more, because on average he/she has a weaker hand. Also, against this type of player, it is enormous to have a monster hand, since in many cases they will do the betting for you, and if you have the nuts you can stick in a huge raise on the river, hopefully after they've pot-committed themselves by betting all the way down.

Sometimes, if your loose-aggressive opponent is in position against you, you are presented with more opportunities for check-raise rebluffs. This is a risky move, as it essentially risks two bets rather than one. However, with knowledge of your opponents and careful timing, it can be done. In order to try, however, I'd have to be extremely sure my opponent was capable of folding.

Of course, you can still be check-raising with the good hands that warrant it as well. In fact, I suppose more hands require a check-raise when facing a super-aggressive player out of position vs. a normal one, since they'll bet when checked to much more often.

However, you still would much prefer to have the loose players to your right so that you can avoid being out of position against them. Particularly if they have a lot of chips.

the worst beat I've taken in a long time

last night's Monday tournament went pretty well for me, as I was able to make back some ground after a few weeks of mediocre showings out there. Though I've been doing well in the cash games, I had lost some ground in the tournament and was behind Chip by eleven points. However, Chip was eliminated with no points last night, and I was able to score 8 points, narrowing his lead to a mere three.

However, a chunk of my profit for taking second place in the tournament was liquidated in the following brutal hand:

ME
99

ANDREW:
Q6

FLOP:
696

TURN:
6

RIVER:
not a 9

Of course, I checked on the flop. I was on the button, and against three opponents. Also, I had the deck crippled with the nines full, and there was a need to let someone hit a flush or some other hand that might be able to pay off some bets on 4th or 5th street. When the 6 hit on fourth street, it made it very mathematically unlikely for an opponent to hold the last 6 in the deck for quads. If they didn't, I still had the immutable nuts in this hand. Unfortunately, when the raising war went down on the turn and the smoke cleared, I got shown the six.