The cash games over the past few days have been pretty intense, with eleven players total playing in last night's Friday game. Fortunately for me, that just makes the tight/aggressive style that much more profitable in that game.
I had not done well two days before Friday's game, probably because I built big pots in situations where I really shouldn't have, and by the time my opponents stuck the chips in I was forced to call because of pot odds, knowing my hand was probably second-best. However, I came back and then some last night. About two hours into the game, I hit a pretty incredible rush. At this point, we weren't eleven-handed yet, more like seven or eight at the most. People were doing a lot of limping and many pots were multi-way, so after Andrew limped in under the gun, I limped my king-jack (a questionable move - I probably should fold here. Again, though, I thought there was a good chance of me seeing a flop for $0.50, with many many times that in the pot. Also I trusted my ability to fold here.). It folded over to Eric, who made it $2.50 straight. Two players called, Andrew called, and getting five to one pot odds, I called the extra $2.
Miracle flop: King, Deuce, Jack. Andrew led out for $10, and I raised him to $25. Eric then went into the tank for a little bit, and shipped his stack in the middle - he had everyone covered. As the other players were thinking, then folding around to me, I thought: "Can he have trips here?" I figured that with the KJ on board and the KJ I had in the hole, it was next to impossible for him to have KK or JJ, so if he had trips, deuces were the most (mathematically) likely hand he could hold. But would he raise the deuces like that preflop with so many players yet to act? I didn't think so.
I looked at him, and asked him, "Do you have three kings?" but of course I got no answer. Deciding my hand had to be best, I shrugged, and said "I call."
Eric looked at me and said "I don't have three kings."
"Three deuces?" I asked him,
"No," he replied. "I don't have trips."
This relieved me, since it meant that either we had the same hand (unlikely) or that I had him beat. He flipped over two red aces.
"Hold'em, dealer!" I shouted.
Jesse, the dealer and also a player in the game, burned and turned the last two and my kings and jacks held up as I scooped in a large pot.
Initially, I had bought in for fifty dollars: twenty in $1 blue chips, $5 in 25-cent white chips, and twenty-five in one dollar bills, all bundled together, folded in half and rubber banded. Unfortunately I had lost about $25 of it to Marc in a pot where he called a bet and raise with second pair, no kicker and got there on the turn (I misplayed the hand somewhat, and can't blame him totally for my loss of it. Still, it did depend on him getting lucky on fourth street.). I added $40 in chips, so by the time that big pot with Eric came down I was in for almost $100, about the amount I had lost Wednesday playing a cash game out there. Therefore, I was really glad to win that pot, which put my chip total near $200. That hand was only the beginning of a three-hand rush for me. A few hands later, I held pocket treys one off the button. There was a live one dollar straddle in play, and several players had limped. I called with my 33 and the straddler checked his option. In all, there were seven players taking the flop.
Miracle flop #2: trey of diamonds, deuce of hearts, deuce of diamonds.
With all of the limping and my opponents' reckless hand selection, I felt this flop should have given at least someone a draw (to a second-best hand, of course). Therefore, when it checked around to me, I decided to bet my full house. I went for a near half pot-sized bet of four dollars. Lee, the small blind in the hand, called, and the other players went out. There was now $15 in the pot.
The turn was the king of spades. Lee checked, and I quickly checked behind him. I knew that the king couldn't have completed any of the possible draws he might be on, and I wanted to get more money in the pot. I felt like a bet here would make him fold, so we went to the river. It was the ace of diamonds. Bingo for Lee, apparently, as he led out for $15 (the full size of the pot). If I just called the pot would've been $45, but since there's no way I thought I was beat I raised it up thirty more.
Lee said, "if you have a full house, I'm paying you off," and threw it in there, after some internal debate.
I turned over my two treys, showing him my full house. He showed five-four, for a rivered straight.
On the third big hand, I limped in late position with AJ of hearts, and the flop came A8J (miracle flop #3). Andrew shipped $16.25 in there (an all-in bet) and I called. He showed J6, which, of course, was no good.
These hands pretty much defined the evening for me. It's interesting how long you can sit at a poker table during a session, and you never know when a big decision is coming up. Last night, I played very few hands, but these key pots happened all inside of a 30 minute time frame. The rest of the time I was mostly folding, taking an occasional stab at a small pot. A couple of times I tried to mix it up, raising in position with hands like 97 suited, etc. but I mostly got shut down my reraises or by not catching any sort of draw on the flop, etc.
The point is, it's important to pay attention despite the fact that you might've been folding for an hour and a half, because any hand could be a good one, and any hand is a potential mine of information on your opponents.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
a serious comeback
Monday night, I was almost out of the game when I decided to make a risky rebuy right as the rebuy period was ending. Blinds were $0.25/0.50 and I had a stack of only $10 (twenty big blinds!), but Chip, second in points, was rebuying also, and I had to try to outlast him and squeeze my way into the points, or at least hope for a scenario in which neither of us placed.
I was already $21 deep into the tournament in buy-ins, a limit I try never to exceed in that tournament (it is a small-stakes tournament. $21 is a buy in and two rebuys. The actual dollar amount doesn't go into consideration in this self-imposed buy-in limit.), but I knew that first place was awarded 11 points that night, and the difference between sixth and fifth place was seven points. I was only about 14 points ahead of Chip, so I didn't want him to gain seven points on me if I busted out and he crept into fifth place. I decided that thwarting him was worth the additional five bucks. To my left was Lee, then Eric, Lori, Dale, Chip, and Jake on my right. I managed to double my chips up and was doing well at shoving in and picking up small pots (small to the bigger-stacked players, yet consequential to me). This allowed me to stay afloat, even increase my chips, while Dale and Chip's short stacks eroded. After a while, Chip busted out (yes! now to try to beat Dale into the points and increase my lead on Chip by another seven plus points. . .).
A key hand occurred soon thereafter: I found myself on the big blind, and Lee raised it under the gun to $4.50. Blinds were $0.50/$1 at this point, and I would have $22 left if I called. I looked down at two sixes, and shoved my stack into the middle. Lee thought for a while, and called with the ace-jack of clubs. On the flop, he caught his ace, but I sucked out on the river, hitting trips. At this point, I now had a reasonable chip stack and was in position to attack the weaker players and try to actually win the thing.
I had about fifty bucks in my stack, and Lee had about thirty or forty. Eric had about half that. Lori and Jake were about even with me, with about forty or fifty each. Dale was in the red zone with about ten bucks. He eventually shoved in, and I called with king-ten, while Eric called with the ace-king. We checked it down and Dale showed the ace-jack, meaning that Eric's high cards were good and five players remained. I was guaranteed now to extend my lead on Chip, which made me feel pretty confident. Also, I had a lot of Chips, and I felt that Lee, who would ordinarily be somewhat of a threat in this situation, was on tilt because of the two-outer beat I put on him earlier with my pocket sixes.
I went into aggressive raising mode, trying to attack the blinds and isolate Jake and Lori in pots. After taking down several small pots during five-handed play, it was clear I had momentum, having gone from $8 or $9 to around $50 or $60 now. In one pot, Lee raised it under the gun, to $4.50. Eric folded, Lori called, Jake called, and I called with the jack-ten of diamonds. The flop was a great one for me: Nine, eight, trey, with two diamonds. I isolated Jake in the pot and ended up hitting the flush on the river, only to have him lead out by going all-in against me! I called, Jake went out, and I collected another $30 or $40.
Just three or four hands later during four-handed play, I raised it under the gun with the jack-nine of clubs, exploiting my large chip stack, my position should Lee fold, and the deceptive suited/connected value of the hand. Lee and Eric folded, and Lori called in the big blind. The flop came down queen of clubs, ten of clubs, seven of spades. I had flopped an up-and-down straight flush draw. I was ready to get the money in if I had to at this point.
Lori led out for $3, and I raised her to $10.50, which she called. The turn card, the six of clubs, made my hand. I had a jack-high flush, which I was fairly confident was the best hand at this point. She checked it over to me. I had her well covered, and it looked like she had about forty dollars or so in her stack. I bet a little over half of that, twenty-two bucks. She thought for a second, then went all-in for eighteen more dollars. I called, and she showed queen-ten offsuit for top two pair. The river bricked and I eliminated my second opponent with a jack-high flush inside of one round of the button. At this point, I held a massive chip lead over my two remaining opponents, and was able to take it down, extending my first place points lead by eleven.
I was already $21 deep into the tournament in buy-ins, a limit I try never to exceed in that tournament (it is a small-stakes tournament. $21 is a buy in and two rebuys. The actual dollar amount doesn't go into consideration in this self-imposed buy-in limit.), but I knew that first place was awarded 11 points that night, and the difference between sixth and fifth place was seven points. I was only about 14 points ahead of Chip, so I didn't want him to gain seven points on me if I busted out and he crept into fifth place. I decided that thwarting him was worth the additional five bucks. To my left was Lee, then Eric, Lori, Dale, Chip, and Jake on my right. I managed to double my chips up and was doing well at shoving in and picking up small pots (small to the bigger-stacked players, yet consequential to me). This allowed me to stay afloat, even increase my chips, while Dale and Chip's short stacks eroded. After a while, Chip busted out (yes! now to try to beat Dale into the points and increase my lead on Chip by another seven plus points. . .).
A key hand occurred soon thereafter: I found myself on the big blind, and Lee raised it under the gun to $4.50. Blinds were $0.50/$1 at this point, and I would have $22 left if I called. I looked down at two sixes, and shoved my stack into the middle. Lee thought for a while, and called with the ace-jack of clubs. On the flop, he caught his ace, but I sucked out on the river, hitting trips. At this point, I now had a reasonable chip stack and was in position to attack the weaker players and try to actually win the thing.
I had about fifty bucks in my stack, and Lee had about thirty or forty. Eric had about half that. Lori and Jake were about even with me, with about forty or fifty each. Dale was in the red zone with about ten bucks. He eventually shoved in, and I called with king-ten, while Eric called with the ace-king. We checked it down and Dale showed the ace-jack, meaning that Eric's high cards were good and five players remained. I was guaranteed now to extend my lead on Chip, which made me feel pretty confident. Also, I had a lot of Chips, and I felt that Lee, who would ordinarily be somewhat of a threat in this situation, was on tilt because of the two-outer beat I put on him earlier with my pocket sixes.
I went into aggressive raising mode, trying to attack the blinds and isolate Jake and Lori in pots. After taking down several small pots during five-handed play, it was clear I had momentum, having gone from $8 or $9 to around $50 or $60 now. In one pot, Lee raised it under the gun, to $4.50. Eric folded, Lori called, Jake called, and I called with the jack-ten of diamonds. The flop was a great one for me: Nine, eight, trey, with two diamonds. I isolated Jake in the pot and ended up hitting the flush on the river, only to have him lead out by going all-in against me! I called, Jake went out, and I collected another $30 or $40.
Just three or four hands later during four-handed play, I raised it under the gun with the jack-nine of clubs, exploiting my large chip stack, my position should Lee fold, and the deceptive suited/connected value of the hand. Lee and Eric folded, and Lori called in the big blind. The flop came down queen of clubs, ten of clubs, seven of spades. I had flopped an up-and-down straight flush draw. I was ready to get the money in if I had to at this point.
Lori led out for $3, and I raised her to $10.50, which she called. The turn card, the six of clubs, made my hand. I had a jack-high flush, which I was fairly confident was the best hand at this point. She checked it over to me. I had her well covered, and it looked like she had about forty dollars or so in her stack. I bet a little over half of that, twenty-two bucks. She thought for a second, then went all-in for eighteen more dollars. I called, and she showed queen-ten offsuit for top two pair. The river bricked and I eliminated my second opponent with a jack-high flush inside of one round of the button. At this point, I held a massive chip lead over my two remaining opponents, and was able to take it down, extending my first place points lead by eleven.
simplified points update
1 -Me- 133
2 -Chip- 108
3 -Chris- 100
4 -Lee- 92
5 -Marc- 84
6 -Dale- 70
7 -Jake- 65
8 -Eric- 62
9 -Lori- 60
10 -Andrew- 57
A win this week! Also, Chip ended up busting out outside of the points, which allowed me to extend my lead over him by another eleven points. I almost went out prior to the points as well when I was called all-in by Lee who held AJ of clubs against my 66. He flopped an ace and turned a flush draw, but I hit my miracle two-outer on the river to double through him. I think he could have folded the hand preflop, but that isn't the point. After this unbelievable reversal, I was now no longer that short on chips. I proceeded to get my chips in good in a few places, and before long I was in solid contention, about third in chips.
In two key pots, I stacked Jake, then Lori when I made flushes against them. In one pot, the flop came down with a QT of clubs and an eight of spades. I held the J9 of clubs for the open-ended straight flush draw. Lori bet out $3 and I raised her to $10.50. She called, and the turn card came 6 of clubs (bingo.). She checked to me, and I bet $22. She raised all-in for about $18 more, and I made the call. She showed QT for two pair and my flush held up, giving me a massive chip lead.
2 -Chip- 108
3 -Chris- 100
4 -Lee- 92
5 -Marc- 84
6 -Dale- 70
7 -Jake- 65
8 -Eric- 62
9 -Lori- 60
10 -Andrew- 57
A win this week! Also, Chip ended up busting out outside of the points, which allowed me to extend my lead over him by another eleven points. I almost went out prior to the points as well when I was called all-in by Lee who held AJ of clubs against my 66. He flopped an ace and turned a flush draw, but I hit my miracle two-outer on the river to double through him. I think he could have folded the hand preflop, but that isn't the point. After this unbelievable reversal, I was now no longer that short on chips. I proceeded to get my chips in good in a few places, and before long I was in solid contention, about third in chips.
In two key pots, I stacked Jake, then Lori when I made flushes against them. In one pot, the flop came down with a QT of clubs and an eight of spades. I held the J9 of clubs for the open-ended straight flush draw. Lori bet out $3 and I raised her to $10.50. She called, and the turn card came 6 of clubs (bingo.). She checked to me, and I bet $22. She raised all-in for about $18 more, and I made the call. She showed QT for two pair and my flush held up, giving me a massive chip lead.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
points update
Not much has changed in the overall points standings since last week:
Me (122 pts.)
Chip (108 pts.)
Chris (100 pts.)
Marc (84 pts.)
Lee (83 pts.)
that one crucial hand
In tournaments, it's often true that a single mistake or even a single unlucky board card can send you to the rail. This is the reason that in order to win tournaments in the long run, you not only have to play a little better than the competition, you have to have your hands hold up, and you have to get a little lucky.
I think I played it pretty well last night, but I took three tough beats in significant spots, which made it tough for me to finish better than I did (third). In two of the pots, I got all-in in domination situations against my opponents but they got there on the flop. In fact, in one of the hands, I held A9 of spades versus the T9 of diamonds, and the flop came 83 of diamonds, T of spades, which is a total nightmare board. This was a critical hand, in fact, because if I won it, I would have placed second, eliminating Chip.
The blinds at the time were $1/$2, and we were three-handed. I raised to $6 from the button with the A9 of spades, with about a $30 stack to begin the hand. Chris, who had me covered, folded the small blind. Chip, on the big blind, went all-in, for only $4 more. I was pot-committed here, and in fact was a huge favorite, but it wasn't in the cards.
Still, Chip gained only a point on me and that means I'm in the lead by fourteen points.
I think I played it pretty well last night, but I took three tough beats in significant spots, which made it tough for me to finish better than I did (third). In two of the pots, I got all-in in domination situations against my opponents but they got there on the flop. In fact, in one of the hands, I held A9 of spades versus the T9 of diamonds, and the flop came 83 of diamonds, T of spades, which is a total nightmare board. This was a critical hand, in fact, because if I won it, I would have placed second, eliminating Chip.
The blinds at the time were $1/$2, and we were three-handed. I raised to $6 from the button with the A9 of spades, with about a $30 stack to begin the hand. Chris, who had me covered, folded the small blind. Chip, on the big blind, went all-in, for only $4 more. I was pot-committed here, and in fact was a huge favorite, but it wasn't in the cards.
Still, Chip gained only a point on me and that means I'm in the lead by fourteen points.
Monday, July 7, 2008
the history of the world series of poker
The main event of the World Series of Poker is going on as we speak, and there are some 6500 entrants, each of whom put up $10,000 to play. This is a huge amount, and first place will be over $9.1 million. However, though the stakes at the WSOP have always been high, it began as a much smaller tournament of Texas road gamblers.
Since the World Series events began this year, CardPlayer.com has had articles on the history of the WSOP, one concerning each year of the event. If anyone is interested in checking these articles out, they can be found at:
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/article/4607/wsop-history-1997-recap
They're on 1997 right now, but at the bottom of the page you can find all the previous articles, back to 1970 (and a "preludes" article as well). They're pretty informative for those interested in that sort of thing.
Since the World Series events began this year, CardPlayer.com has had articles on the history of the WSOP, one concerning each year of the event. If anyone is interested in checking these articles out, they can be found at:
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/article/4607/wsop-history-1997-recap
They're on 1997 right now, but at the bottom of the page you can find all the previous articles, back to 1970 (and a "preludes" article as well). They're pretty informative for those interested in that sort of thing.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
getting better all the time
After some cold cards, and a couple of small losses in the ledger, things are turning around. Not only as far as the hands I've been receiving, but also with reference to my play.
I think every poker player who is really interested in actually learning the game can feel when they've reached turning points. It takes a lot to actually learn the concepts you need to win, but it takes the experience of playing the game while considering the concepts to actually see them work. I've been reading some literature about cash games recently, and there's a universal principle that it's super important to understand: Don't go broke with top pair.
This is a tough thing to do, since top pair is often the best hand, especially against weaker opposition. However, the fact is that if the stacks are even remotely deep, top pair's probably not going to end up being good if you're forced to go all-in with it. A couple of authors have different ways of stating this.
Here's how Dan Harrington, 1995 World Champion put it in vol. II of Harrington on Cash Games:
If you have shown consistent strength throughout the hand, and on the turn your opponent either bets into you or raises your bet, top pair is very unlikely to be good. Let the hand go.
Put more mathematically, you need to be shorter on chips or the pot needs to be unusually large for you to be pot-committed with top pair or an overpair. The book Professional No-Limit Hold'em advises that ideal stack/preflop pot size for hands that are likely to make top pair hands ideal is 4:1. In other words, if you have $100 in your stack, the pot needs to be $25 or more when the flop is dealt before you can think about pot-committing with top pair top kicker, etc.
Otherwise, you're probably going to get shown trips and have to ship your stack across the table.
I think every poker player who is really interested in actually learning the game can feel when they've reached turning points. It takes a lot to actually learn the concepts you need to win, but it takes the experience of playing the game while considering the concepts to actually see them work. I've been reading some literature about cash games recently, and there's a universal principle that it's super important to understand: Don't go broke with top pair.
This is a tough thing to do, since top pair is often the best hand, especially against weaker opposition. However, the fact is that if the stacks are even remotely deep, top pair's probably not going to end up being good if you're forced to go all-in with it. A couple of authors have different ways of stating this.
Here's how Dan Harrington, 1995 World Champion put it in vol. II of Harrington on Cash Games:
If you have shown consistent strength throughout the hand, and on the turn your opponent either bets into you or raises your bet, top pair is very unlikely to be good. Let the hand go.
Put more mathematically, you need to be shorter on chips or the pot needs to be unusually large for you to be pot-committed with top pair or an overpair. The book Professional No-Limit Hold'em advises that ideal stack/preflop pot size for hands that are likely to make top pair hands ideal is 4:1. In other words, if you have $100 in your stack, the pot needs to be $25 or more when the flop is dealt before you can think about pot-committing with top pair top kicker, etc.
Otherwise, you're probably going to get shown trips and have to ship your stack across the table.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
points standings
Another tough tournament, ending with a quick exit for me. Still, Chip scored no points and the overall landscape of the leaderboard hasn't changed much. Jesse played in the tournament for the first time, finishing in fifth place. However, he made enough in the cash games afterwards to compensate for the lost buy-ins.
Here's the current top five:
Here's the current top five:
Me (117 pts.)
Chip (102 pts.)
Marc (84 pts.)
Lee (80 pts.)
. . . and the remaining rundown is:
Dale - 70
Jake - 58
Andrew - 57
Lori & Eric - 52
Daniel & Brent - 11
Randy - 8
Jesse - 6
Saturday, June 28, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
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.)
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