tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297928932024-03-13T11:17:54.025-07:00Dave's Poker BlogAlmost 1,000 posts since 2006 about poker including, tournaments, cash games, anecdotes, the overuse of exclamation points, and run on sentences from a retired poker pro who lives and plays in the Bay Area and is currently preparing for the 2023 WSOP.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.comBlogger859125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-38078450547578731482023-05-27T12:10:00.000-07:002023-05-27T12:10:08.328-07:00My WSOP 2023 Plans and Missions<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDtja4BIAhyUVT3m8rr5Tbilc0by9Z9uhl_CAZu_AfgDopAh4gTZHOACzdURl1OrJq5-5zDvSnUASl5Kr5GvFKupPU5GTsgYWPyMlOmIhFzIO3vtfmxQkSjWDMU-09aK5dwwRasMLnDCEOFDX0K_TEQOml53cswTroY_uGi0apxxXb3XeTBhE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="310" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDtja4BIAhyUVT3m8rr5Tbilc0by9Z9uhl_CAZu_AfgDopAh4gTZHOACzdURl1OrJq5-5zDvSnUASl5Kr5GvFKupPU5GTsgYWPyMlOmIhFzIO3vtfmxQkSjWDMU-09aK5dwwRasMLnDCEOFDX0K_TEQOml53cswTroY_uGi0apxxXb3XeTBhE=w381-h324" width="381" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">After four and a half years working for StubHub I wrapped up my time there in March. I've been at the poker tables 3-4 days a week since and am going to take this unique opportunity of being between jobs at WSOP time to go huge (for me). I have plans to fire more bullets at the WSOP this summer than ever before. In 2006 I played 10 events. In those days it was pretty much one event per day every day at noon with no re-entries. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">Here is what I plan to play this year:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white;">$1K Mystery Bounty (Flights A, B, and C with 2 bullets per flight)</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$1,500 Monster Stack (Flight A and B)</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$800 Deepstack (2 bullets)</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$3K No Limit Hold'em (Maybe)</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$500 No Limit Hold'em</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$1,500 HORSE</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$1,500 Turbo Bounty</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$1,000 Tag Team</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">$1,500 Millionaire Maker (Flight A and B with 2 bullets each)</span></li></ul><div><br /></div><div>With this fat schedule in front of me I've been thinking about some missions that are outside of just win a bunch of money or make a final table (which I've decided to never give up on until I do it). Here are some that come to mind:</div><div><br /></div><div>1) Draw a mystery bounty envelope</div><div>2) Have a 100K chip in my stack (I've had 25K chips)</div><div>3) 3+ cashes in the same year (I had 2 cashes in 2010 and 1 each in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2018)</div><div>4) Finish in the top 1% in a WSOP event</div><div>5) Cash for a $10K profit in a single event (my record is riddled with just better than min cashes so $6,449 for 28th place in the 2009 $3K HORSE is my best result)</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll be making 2 trips with the first being squarely centered around the Mystery Bounty where I plan to knock out 4 of 5 of the above.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the Mystery Bounty, we start with 40,000 chips, blinds 100/200/200 and re-entry is possible through 12 levels although level 12 is the 3,000 big blind level so I might hesitate to re-enter that late. It will be 30 minute levels and each Day 1 is 22 levels long. By the end of Day 1 the big blind will be 30,000 so 3/4 of a starting stack. </div><p></p><div><div>Of each $1K entry $77 goes to fees, $33 goes to dealer tips, $300 to the bounties and $590 to the prize pool. Last year the top 14% made the money with the min cash being just over $1,000. Payouts related to the $590 will start on Day 1. Eliminations on Day 1 aren't worth anything, but every elimination on Day 2 is worth a bounty.</div><div><br /></div><div>At first glance at the structure I was thinking maybe 3% of the field would make day 2, but I've seen some indications that the smallest bounty will be $10,000. Meaning eliminating any player on Day 2 is worth at least $10K. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I'm now thinking it's probably more like 1% of the field makes day 2 which would be $30K in bounty value for each player. Last year with 14,000+ entrants they had 50 bounties of $25K+ with a $1M, a $500K, a $250K and 3 of $100K along with an unclear number of other bounties.</div><div><br /></div><div>In theory I could make the money, but not make day 2 and re-enter the next day 1 flight.</div><div><br /></div><div><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wsop/2022-wsop/event-68-1000-million-dollar-bounty/&source=gmail&ust=1685299258659000&usg=AOvVaw2yHepBEFxdwozUlxCI5Pen" href="https://www.pokernews.com/tours/wsop/2022-wsop/event-68-1000-million-dollar-bounty/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">This article</a> has a detailed recap of last year.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will probably be terrible about updating the blog with my progress, unless I do really well. :)</div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-11901560990848590482023-05-16T12:33:00.001-07:002023-05-16T12:34:09.713-07:00A 1000 big blind win at Lucky Chances?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcPa1g10_eohpM3-ghCz2q_0bjZEWljtPpqyugzmCmCfhEbGZ-khCPCcHdqmMeIWDBBGFZ_99i9BK-7uVqVvyJMvci-3NTAWLFyK4DqFOBU8FzjYQjJ8UjYfYXUlbXrtGW7R1TFP0BMxZvPEdinvLIwsSwXqugOz4ciEY4UdhJ4y6YTi3GLg/s1368/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-16%20at%2011.37.33%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1368" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDcPa1g10_eohpM3-ghCz2q_0bjZEWljtPpqyugzmCmCfhEbGZ-khCPCcHdqmMeIWDBBGFZ_99i9BK-7uVqVvyJMvci-3NTAWLFyK4DqFOBU8FzjYQjJ8UjYfYXUlbXrtGW7R1TFP0BMxZvPEdinvLIwsSwXqugOz4ciEY4UdhJ4y6YTi3GLg/w374-h312/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-16%20at%2011.37.33%20AM.png" width="374" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I know for a fact that the right thing to do when I'm winning in a given session is to play longer and press harder to capitalize on the intimidating nature of having a big stack. But part of me always <i>feels</i> like I want to hit and run to lock up a win. I have to remind myself that winning $500 or $1000 in a $5 big blind game might feel like a good win, but it's possible to book a 1,000 big blind win and I'll never do that if I leave early.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yesterday I sat down at Lucky Chances in the $3/$5 game determined to stay no matter how well things went and only leave early if I got stacked at least 3 times. I bought in for $1,000 which is the max.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the first hand I got dealt pocket aces! I didn't get a ton of action but picked up $200. Great start! Over the course of the next 6 hours I'd get deals AA 2 more times along with KK once, QQ twice, JJ once and TT once. I won with all of them!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I took the picture above at that 6 hour into the session mark and was ahead about $2,500, sitting on a $3,500 stack. Amazingly the guy to my right had me covered with about $4,700. And he was a really weak player! I was drooling over the notion of a massive pot, but sadly he left before we could stack off.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did have a few other big hands after that though. With the $10 straddle on I raised one $10 limper to $45 in the cutoff with 98 of spades and got called by the button, both blinds and the limper. The flop came down KJT with one spade and with 4 opponents of course I gave up on the hand. It checked around. At this point I thought "7 of spades would be a nice card." And the turn came out the 7 of spades! To my delight the small blind bet $100, the limper called and I made it $425 to go. "Nice trap" said the limper. Now the small blind shoved for about $900 total! Of course I called, he showed KK for top set, the river was a 4 and I took down another nice pot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A little later I got AA for a 4th time. The under the gun player limped for $10, I made it $45 and he called. He seemed like kind of a newb who was uncomfortable when the straddle was on. The flop came down J 8 4, he checked, I bet $60 and he called. I thought he might stack off all the way with a J based on how he'd called down with some top pair holdings earlier and that felt like a plausible thing for him to have. The turn was an 8 which I didn't love, but he checked and I bet $200. Now the villain threw out $325! Huh?! $200 is a call, $400 or more is a raise. I have no idea what $325 is. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I asked the dealer. "What is that?" with an implied, is that a raise or a call. And he said "It's whatever you want it to be." Ha ha! There is no way that's right. In most places more than half of a min raise constitutes a raise. But whatever the rule, it can't possibly be up to me to decide. Anyway, getting check raised on the turn usually means your pocked aces are toast so I made the ruling that it was a call. :) And my opponent took back the extra. The river was a Q and my opponent quickly moved all in. I asked for a count and he had $493. I did not like this at all. I felt like I'd probably run into an 8 that tripped up. But sometimes when you have a huge stack people think you must be trying to push them around and they over play their hands as a result. Getting better than 2 to 1 pot odds I made the call, he showed QJ and my aces up prevailed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The last big hand of the night was totally diabolical. I raised 88 and got a few callers. The flop came down J 8 3 and I thought "Damn! This is getting ridiculous how good I am running." I bet $100 and got raised to $210. My opponent only had about $600 in his stack and I thought about just shoving, but felt like I'd have the best chance of getting it all from a J if I just called. The turn was a brick, I checked, my opponent shoved instantly and I called even faster. All at the same time, within about a second or two, I showed my hand, my opponent showed JJ (!!) for top set and the river came out an 8!!! I thought "HOT DAMN! THIS IS RIDICULOUS HOW GOOD I'M RUNNING!" I even picked up an extra $100 from a high hand promotion Lucky Chances was running where any quads earned a $100 bonus. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRkn5qe5QkZePqRNZ9qAbo8CZUXJOWLjUMRPTnoC2FnsNMDzSyBVCgbRxX3H2B6ujMkjulUoNLbeuv4BAe9jqSthM8qjoJnPqTQzlEdXELsHkzfODDWIVKm8epMNxLM110gGvEIc63cBHq09l3FuAaPdhuq8nWGySSL-tQevaTOIQy4cH1cA/s4032/IMG_1406.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRkn5qe5QkZePqRNZ9qAbo8CZUXJOWLjUMRPTnoC2FnsNMDzSyBVCgbRxX3H2B6ujMkjulUoNLbeuv4BAe9jqSthM8qjoJnPqTQzlEdXELsHkzfODDWIVKm8epMNxLM110gGvEIc63cBHq09l3FuAaPdhuq8nWGySSL-tQevaTOIQy4cH1cA/s320/IMG_1406.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX4P8LOoztz9zZENgxfMXQEPXOTzjNklyy7dvfecufcsdJUMPyu1-jLJZsQlUzI_M9trsqvYW2yzrO7aj6bKaiUzIOXAmmXwI0ceIRvXIDw8RZfJ44NXxbRulFVMpH3U8YWGrEKQbbfw78pm5vY0WfHda7vMGyF_HBzxTwxle3OSdik9xsrw/s4032/IMG_1407.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYX4P8LOoztz9zZENgxfMXQEPXOTzjNklyy7dvfecufcsdJUMPyu1-jLJZsQlUzI_M9trsqvYW2yzrO7aj6bKaiUzIOXAmmXwI0ceIRvXIDw8RZfJ44NXxbRulFVMpH3U8YWGrEKQbbfw78pm5vY0WfHda7vMGyF_HBzxTwxle3OSdik9xsrw/s320/IMG_1407.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div></div></div><br /><br /></div>In the end I won $4,772! Of course I took a couple of pictures of my stack in different orientations, because why not. <p></p><p>After 8 hours I thought about trying to push through for the 1,000 big blind win, but 954 big blinds is pretty good.</p><p>Also, I have to come clean about something. This game lately plays with the $10 straddle on 95% of the time so it's really a $3/$5/$10 game meaning this is only 477 big blinds. But still my biggest win in a long time.</p><p>I'm now on a quest for a $10,000 stack in one of the bay area $1,000 max buy-in games! </p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-32417408890947803372022-09-25T15:16:00.003-07:002022-09-25T15:16:45.679-07:00$800 Cap $2/$3/$5 at The M8trix<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAYgKov2JeS5n7wz8860dqdefJeGLgda4hj9l9kV5n3xnXcvqkr7yGCTSMWLJ0f8nY5ze3xF6mqdJ6h5SnOwhecLujpt_5nW3XU4HnCd7-oj9xFFb9GO45eGxKMsWomnD-qCNODumMFUztNXEUfyHYy1MWLrV2kfDw-YE1vTFEHiRds1oP_jk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAYgKov2JeS5n7wz8860dqdefJeGLgda4hj9l9kV5n3xnXcvqkr7yGCTSMWLJ0f8nY5ze3xF6mqdJ6h5SnOwhecLujpt_5nW3XU4HnCd7-oj9xFFb9GO45eGxKMsWomnD-qCNODumMFUztNXEUfyHYy1MWLrV2kfDw-YE1vTFEHiRds1oP_jk=w388-h291" width="388" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This week we took the blue pill and entered THE MATRIX! Wait it's actually THE M8TRIX! A spelling I truly H8! The whole building is powered by the body heat of the the humans trapped in the ghostly pods.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDZLJi03wNaF33o0_OQ9hGwWHEC7MGfLKpIUUf1ZXEAe2vDq8ag-x66FFXN86WM36vSaXqtX7D7GB8gX9Ua731NOCAEWuUYHtjByyb-ttytUotLB5XP4iCYYiFD93BAOLIAumJAh1CjQF0s6k7faqvuGIYEDBcBHE4zLwMWQJShFmobeeofMQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDZLJi03wNaF33o0_OQ9hGwWHEC7MGfLKpIUUf1ZXEAe2vDq8ag-x66FFXN86WM36vSaXqtX7D7GB8gX9Ua731NOCAEWuUYHtjByyb-ttytUotLB5XP4iCYYiFD93BAOLIAumJAh1CjQF0s6k7faqvuGIYEDBcBHE4zLwMWQJShFmobeeofMQ=w247-h329" width="247" /></a></div>Seriously what are these things?!<br /><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhW9gYfypwL2C8myI2MaV8TRX51DCY07mvuiKfvNDtN1H9Fsmlqm8WrNaH2X1yOiHuVneR3uBtkTin3aNDMDSzZ9646Bf895N0sm90JhAdFJGYQo_BoiRiTeBL4KaQ75mQwvTFF_ybb-vQqTzd2eqjn14cKT-P7koEoNWWAqKNzhdMp1RjAcp8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhW9gYfypwL2C8myI2MaV8TRX51DCY07mvuiKfvNDtN1H9Fsmlqm8WrNaH2X1yOiHuVneR3uBtkTin3aNDMDSzZ9646Bf895N0sm90JhAdFJGYQo_BoiRiTeBL4KaQ75mQwvTFF_ybb-vQqTzd2eqjn14cKT-P7koEoNWWAqKNzhdMp1RjAcp8=w243-h323" width="243" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The casino is on level 1 and there is not a hotel. WHAT IS THE REST?!</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSxk3CK-IBrKRSnqsc_b3ekI8PmNSq2pCKHCgcmHZb4GU4c4OcXu5PiKRt-gRHf_8mmAboLTuhEgjjd-OFOJNDMzVh9DFVNIx2Ml35TJOQ1vciiryEFQLaFQgxaMpvz9ctVzGTLbkT2jj1bn-277ar5UpQwRWvbJfdsXxANmT7sASIAzq1pb8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSxk3CK-IBrKRSnqsc_b3ekI8PmNSq2pCKHCgcmHZb4GU4c4OcXu5PiKRt-gRHf_8mmAboLTuhEgjjd-OFOJNDMzVh9DFVNIx2Ml35TJOQ1vciiryEFQLaFQgxaMpvz9ctVzGTLbkT2jj1bn-277ar5UpQwRWvbJfdsXxANmT7sASIAzq1pb8" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Spacious!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The M8trix opened in 2012 after buying the license to operate from a smaller poker room called Garden City that had 12 poker tables. Now after this huge expansion, they have 12 poker tables and a ton of extra space.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I first went to the M8trix my impression was that it was really nice. The lists were always a mile long and they had the biggest games in town running what I think was $10/$25 no limit and sometimes uncapped buy in $25/$50. Having not been there for 4-5 years, it felt like it was a little bit on the downswing compared to its neighbor Bay 101. The felt was kind of dirty. The shuffling machine lost power a couple of times. The dealers were openly watching and discussing football and not completely paying attention to the game. The dirty chips are warn enough that if you really try with just the right stack you can get 21 into one slot on a rack.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I arrived there were four $1/$2/$3 games and three $2/$3/$5 games with no bigger games going. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibVqk5l5qMO_jk6wDArcbdRAlN4tymcuKRAeRdqFz_n1ir7N23jzfMKGF2tjZ8c5PfOmFrx_PYC4JvM20m03Fs8ZdA_YfLO2Z-3sPSmEdvF7niIXYodmXQ3d2krL5I61keScknSVUECY5r1KUK1ldt2C2nuohGPJd55FVyajS2XDEXcgAeAMU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibVqk5l5qMO_jk6wDArcbdRAlN4tymcuKRAeRdqFz_n1ir7N23jzfMKGF2tjZ8c5PfOmFrx_PYC4JvM20m03Fs8ZdA_YfLO2Z-3sPSmEdvF7niIXYodmXQ3d2krL5I61keScknSVUECY5r1KUK1ldt2C2nuohGPJd55FVyajS2XDEXcgAeAMU=w225-h300" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In for $800 as per usual</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I got off to a not great start in a very innocuous way. I raised 33 to $25 over one caller, got 3 bet to $100, made the call, missed and folded on the flop. Then I raised to $20, got 3 bet to $90, made the call, missed and folded on the flop. Both of these hands should probably be folded to sizable 3 bets with $800 effective stacks, but in the moment I didn't want to look too weak. When you see a new face in a poker room that primarily serves locals, that person will usually be prey not predator. Also just the fact that I got 3 bet twice and to a larger sizing was not a great sign for this being a soft game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Stuck $200 before my seat was warm I was faced with a big decision against a totally unknown opponent. I raised to $30 with AQ over two limpers who along with the big blind made the call. The flop came down AT5 giving me a solid top pair, they checked it to me and I made it $60. After two folds my one remaining opponent check raised to $140. Gross! Small check raises are usually big hands, but I think it's too weak to fold here. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The turn came a 4 and my opponent asked for time. He goofed around with his chips for maybe 20 seconds and then announced a bet of $400. I looked down at my stack and I had $630 left. "FUCK!" I thought to myself. My opponent was a late 40's or early 50's Korean dude who was chatting it up with a few different players at the table. My instinct was telling me that he's a reg and was taking a shot at me because the early 40's guy you've never seen before should be bluffable. Then I looked back at the board and there were no draws. Is this guy actually check raising small to set up a big turn bluff with total air or is this just two pair or better like it should be? "FUUUUCK!" I thought again but slightly more drawn out. And why did he ask for time and take so long? Is this acting or actual uncertainty? In the end I decided, I think correctly, that the small flop check raise is almost always a strong hand looking for value and it's very rare for a pot size turn bet to be a total bluff at these stakes. I folded. Ugh.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another hand I played cracked open the deep recesses of my brain and I remembered something I discovered in 2008 when I was playing 6 max online limit games. I was playing around 3,000 hands of $10/$20 6 handed limit hold'em 6 days a week at the time. Imagine there is a raise to $20, a caller in position, and then I call from the big blind. The flop comes out, I check, the preflop raiser checks and the caller checks. In this spot the preflop raiser is almost never slow playing in a multiway pot, and after we both check the other player is going to bet if they have anything. On the turn here I would instantly reflexively bet 100% of the time without even thinking about it. Risking $20 to win $60 when both of my opponents have told me they don't like it was just always a good idea. I didn't have hard data on this play, but it felt like I would just win 70% of the time and I was getting 3 to 1!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Back to the M8trix! The cutoff raised to $35, the button called and I called in the big blind with 76 of diamonds. The flop came down A 6 2 and we all checked. The turn was a T and I thought to myself "aren't I supposed to bet here?" not yet having explicitly recalling what I just described. I checked, the preflop raiser bet $55, the button folded, and I was able to sort out that he should never have an A unless it's AA. I check raised to $220 and he instantly mucked. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzpF3HEFJaZVz4mvfxZR9b0Gh3MOVYxBzOzY-6KPvWXU1r1Jn3trqW-ybWoLaVVqi19w6WBSAkYH7u53tpQ9_WqvlMNmpOob1RBpf0sbQwp39nxIeFuLY9_DAqQxxI0QDXM_QeZ8ZUUkcK-IXxRTCnSkMfidPLO3P-mWxGq8HjkyYJVN6WH7A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzpF3HEFJaZVz4mvfxZR9b0Gh3MOVYxBzOzY-6KPvWXU1r1Jn3trqW-ybWoLaVVqi19w6WBSAkYH7u53tpQ9_WqvlMNmpOob1RBpf0sbQwp39nxIeFuLY9_DAqQxxI0QDXM_QeZ8ZUUkcK-IXxRTCnSkMfidPLO3P-mWxGq8HjkyYJVN6WH7A=w263-h350" width="263" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The illusion of winning!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was briefly about even in for $1,200 with $1,200 in front of me before a fairly steady and rapid decline.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On one hand I called $20 and then called a raise to $90 with T9 suited. The flop came down A65 rainbow and I check raised the 3 bettor from $100 to $260. This guy was tight and passive and I thought a lot of his three betting range was pairs JJ-KK and I could easily have 55, 66, A5 or A6 suited or 65. He thought for about a minute and then went to $650! Whoops!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On another hand this kid who looked 19 raised preflop to $25 and then bet $30 into 4 players with a pot of $100 on an 855 flop. He had no idea what he was doing any I thought he could have anything. One terrible player called and I decided to got to $200 with KQ. The kid instantly went all in for $300 total and the other guy folded. Getting more than 5 to 1 I called another $100 and lost to QQ. More whoops!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYMiD_fAyy0Vyz_I4HXy7wd103KblFrxv4lxjQ3IH5pZv-W2Qal_buKpCWhMl5w3CyVYDHl4y8CEQqf9eaXAJ103Z1_cWdY30-p9mYKtUd7by24fwusSmr7wT2_fLgsO3XazscaIkRVOCUql9kPa8FTJ2iXDbt-IhYR7BZLgIVeN0fH9fF_8w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYMiD_fAyy0Vyz_I4HXy7wd103KblFrxv4lxjQ3IH5pZv-W2Qal_buKpCWhMl5w3CyVYDHl4y8CEQqf9eaXAJ103Z1_cWdY30-p9mYKtUd7by24fwusSmr7wT2_fLgsO3XazscaIkRVOCUql9kPa8FTJ2iXDbt-IhYR7BZLgIVeN0fH9fF_8w=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Buying more chips towards the end of a session is not cool</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't really have any stories of me winning hands with good cards which I guess is not good considering I played for 5 hours. I did flop a set and a two pair, but got no callers on the flop on both. <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdCNs3d5kJhS_5iMKbIaa5fkZKbntrJHGNdaImXB7QZ-B3LgJXIs-gM1CwaysxctbGLMYhf3qsX1Yj3em2SrdW0LMB2sadJVBmulbDFGeCQi0yHR7lsQCInzDcZ9PYtSKYQinSGXpXZHvh1_opod6aPyZeWUBPj18mGa3uNtOdaofp1izuInc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdCNs3d5kJhS_5iMKbIaa5fkZKbntrJHGNdaImXB7QZ-B3LgJXIs-gM1CwaysxctbGLMYhf3qsX1Yj3em2SrdW0LMB2sadJVBmulbDFGeCQi0yHR7lsQCInzDcZ9PYtSKYQinSGXpXZHvh1_opod6aPyZeWUBPj18mGa3uNtOdaofp1izuInc=w231-h308" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I prefer when I need two hands to carry my racks to the cage</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the end I lost $1,303 which is my biggest loss of the year. This is amazing considering I have 23 sessions of $5 big blind no limit averaging close to 5 hours per. I would expect to have been stuffed harder at least once.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In my post WSOP project that I really should have named, I'm +$3,616 over 83.5 hours. One more weekday evening cash session this week and then off to Thunder Valley Friday for WSOPC tournaments.</div><br /></div><p></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-78215467239071074222022-09-20T14:46:00.000-07:002022-09-20T14:46:03.831-07:005 Straight Cash Game Winning Sessions! ($800 Cap $2/$3/$5 at Bay 101)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDCPv3iN9Tu6wwnbEwuWpQTvrr8EQgHjDrhNKgBr60R7sjq_amKtgPfDxUts-sWSi6ihYVgK7Lp4CObnuYv8Ivf98weah3PXRgwc5XkQEZvTPo6YGgQwjw3gO2FbsuHrU5in8qZgLSiB_pvlRRJEoL8D1xTxafmUqz7tEnDpHZ11zGWmYU6xw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDCPv3iN9Tu6wwnbEwuWpQTvrr8EQgHjDrhNKgBr60R7sjq_amKtgPfDxUts-sWSi6ihYVgK7Lp4CObnuYv8Ivf98weah3PXRgwc5XkQEZvTPo6YGgQwjw3gO2FbsuHrU5in8qZgLSiB_pvlRRJEoL8D1xTxafmUqz7tEnDpHZ11zGWmYU6xw=w261-h348" width="261" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Do not check raise this man!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With my tournament play and the fact that I've been playing a lot more recently, I'm behind on going over my cash game sessions so going to mush the story of 5 sessions into one post!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Tuesday (about 2 weeks ago now) it was one of the hottest days of all time in the bay area and seeking some much needed AC I abandoned my family to suffer in the heat and headed to Bay 101. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the hand of the night I got dealt red KK in the small blind. The hijack opened to $20, the cutoff and button both called and I made it $105 to go. The raiser and the button called and the flop came down Q63 with two spades. Not a bad flop at all. I bet $150 and only the preflop raiser called with what I assumed a Q, flush draw or pair 77-JJ. The turn was a T and after eyeing my opponent's stack and seeing he only had about $550 left, I pushed all of my chips into the pot! When I didn't get snap called I knew I must be good. After about 2 minutes my opponent asked if I wanted to run it once or twice. I immediately said "once" holding up one finger and the dealer told us that we couldn't make arrangements until the action was closed. I guess however I said "once" looked weak, because at that point I got called with no further hesitation. The river was a J which I didn't love, but I rolled over my hand and it was good. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was such a sweet hand! This pot was about $1725 which is one of the bigger one's I've won in my 2022 resurgence. After the hand another guy that has been a Bay 101 reg for quite a while said "Wow. You played those kings perfectly." </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In an extremely smooth 4 hour session I booked a $1,382 win!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyWgmMG1VT63go6M3FlEF3eSTQ8k2HM3lZ8TsA2QUYPlRTAPIAKdTJFggry-CLrIEhTOa748VA9nHZfPcGD6vWTJDTBIVJmGqTfHpUi_d124hII92KUOpGfZRron-o4IxhMZUfumicapF4MBROVaqKt0St_y9BAptEoD5FAWQ-bRONN0ESG8/s4032/IMG_0494.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyWgmMG1VT63go6M3FlEF3eSTQ8k2HM3lZ8TsA2QUYPlRTAPIAKdTJFggry-CLrIEhTOa748VA9nHZfPcGD6vWTJDTBIVJmGqTfHpUi_d124hII92KUOpGfZRron-o4IxhMZUfumicapF4MBROVaqKt0St_y9BAptEoD5FAWQ-bRONN0ESG8/s320/IMG_0494.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> +$1,382!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My next session was much longer lasting 8 hours. On the most memorable hand of the session I called a raise to $25 with KQ of clubs and called a bet of $40 on a J98 two diamond flop heads up. The turn was the A of diamonds, bringing in the flush draw. When my opponent bet again I got suspicious and raised him from $100 to $300. He looked back at his cards and called. I figured he probably had a hand with a pair and a big diamond. The river brought another A and this time I bet $500 with total air! After about a minute he called with QQ with the Q of diamonds! Gross! He said he knew I was a "good bluffer" and would have folded to anyone else. Certainly this is my largest bluff gone wrong in 2022. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Despite the $800+ spew with total air, I still booked a $492 win.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtSLgvnPjjEdI26iaByTviCn1cKvYK4-KawXbMiHPkv_meszRnJv9Sf-HvPgrhU98TbXVopflWgsXVfTNqJt9SeZl6zjstoOJDLR2Bbtbyuzhcu_oQKijdECjcqrt_YlyCyGi5kjuK19df1Dsj2l2RpNPugScstSuPPWBPC_n-ctroJInZ7k/s4032/IMG_0502.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtSLgvnPjjEdI26iaByTviCn1cKvYK4-KawXbMiHPkv_meszRnJv9Sf-HvPgrhU98TbXVopflWgsXVfTNqJt9SeZl6zjstoOJDLR2Bbtbyuzhcu_oQKijdECjcqrt_YlyCyGi5kjuK19df1Dsj2l2RpNPugScstSuPPWBPC_n-ctroJInZ7k/s320/IMG_0502.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">+$492!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">In the big hand of the next session I raised to $20 with AK of hearts, the dude to my left went to $60, one player called in between, I went to $220 and the guy who made it $60 ripped it for $850! I wasn't thrilled about this, but against this opponent I was never folding AK suited preflop. I called, showed my hand and he said "Wow. I need a five." Huh!? The board ran out J8722 and I was good. It's a common recommendation to play A5 suited aggressively so your opponent's can't always put you on a huge hand when you're pushing hard, but this guy took it too far. I won $692 on the night.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYrM1DiTuKD0bz5cItDAdwtZGBu8c9DyYMsCzmpVOPTvJlb54uMllnf8t9MkWciQx7CcKqXcxLFl76rwYEZXfotav7D6M4gGH-723t0BIs1XVNB-cF9MSGAoXGCznlFTb4LjqpjFJ7V8MN-wI0MroCdYwL-Rw0VyyVgtLhrqCRg2X_wHaLGfs/s4032/IMG_0503.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYrM1DiTuKD0bz5cItDAdwtZGBu8c9DyYMsCzmpVOPTvJlb54uMllnf8t9MkWciQx7CcKqXcxLFl76rwYEZXfotav7D6M4gGH-723t0BIs1XVNB-cF9MSGAoXGCznlFTb4LjqpjFJ7V8MN-wI0MroCdYwL-Rw0VyyVgtLhrqCRg2X_wHaLGfs/s320/IMG_0503.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">+$692 and an intimidating chip shadow ;)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next time I walked into Bay 101 I felt like I was due for a loss and I got off to a terrible start. I lost $400 to QT with KK all in on the flop on a QT572 board and then I got involved in the biggest pot of my 2022 campaign.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I raised A2 of clubs and got 5 callers with $790 in my stack. The flop came down T 7 3 with the T and 3 of clubs giving me the nut flush draw. I bet $60, got one call from a guy with a $200 stack, and then a raise to $500 from a big stack who covered and a cold call from the big blind who only had about $700. My decision was to either fold or have all of us get it all in on the flop. I had $710 left with a shot to win a little over $1,700. I knew I was bout 1 in 3 to make my flush, but that if the board paired I'd likely make the flush and lose the pot. This was close. In the end I called and was up against TT and T7, a 7 came on the turn and I lost. :(</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was stuck about $1,300 after that pot, but came all the way back plus some and booked a $565 win!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpL3ouvVdbQWqKaLB_Wdc3PbJ2zj61VICLgVYdhBbDqRYpcjA7aHywFAUvzfJQMD-FtQl5B8tnZIFdcLZwNrCBH6FqVotqjVgnMtTzI9QtgbtlIiPjYAznTbzc77iEpczy5GKnq8kYGtPMnuV4udXeieh54qQtR3Y5lG38CTwFRE8CUn3dTS8/s4032/IMG_0561.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpL3ouvVdbQWqKaLB_Wdc3PbJ2zj61VICLgVYdhBbDqRYpcjA7aHywFAUvzfJQMD-FtQl5B8tnZIFdcLZwNrCBH6FqVotqjVgnMtTzI9QtgbtlIiPjYAznTbzc77iEpczy5GKnq8kYGtPMnuV4udXeieh54qQtR3Y5lG38CTwFRE8CUn3dTS8/s320/IMG_0561.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">+$565 that looks like +$1,800!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On Sunday I made my way back to Graton with 2 friends. One of the two has played a fair amount of small stakes limit hold'em, but almost zero no limit. I gave him one starting hand chart, a dozen rules to follow (e.g. Always raise if you're first in, raise 4X-5X the big blind, treat all turn and river raises or large bets as 2 pair plus hands etc.) a 45 minute lesson on the drive over and offered to sit with him at $1/$1/$3. We played for 5 hours each had 4 drinks, my friend won $170 and I booked an $826 win! My other friend sadly lost $1,600 in the $2/$3/$5. Boo! The games at Graton are certainly not as good as Bay 101.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMnH8IkFg-UGnhK8YOeWcPAozHK1eIdAX-hnogFRTYjdSzqyGgPNeJcdQOLtJHgyDl8NQeKMDyCH30Lw6rxrkUynUiPBsDRRdc-tAaxya-1kSLtp0Dw6oPGM6AxS3heR1IqG81ErR8MEm1xVTpvKjsRu6YfeQWqxKagyHIoAWUxBT9V7-Hbk/s4032/IMG_0564.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMnH8IkFg-UGnhK8YOeWcPAozHK1eIdAX-hnogFRTYjdSzqyGgPNeJcdQOLtJHgyDl8NQeKMDyCH30Lw6rxrkUynUiPBsDRRdc-tAaxya-1kSLtp0Dw6oPGM6AxS3heR1IqG81ErR8MEm1xVTpvKjsRu6YfeQWqxKagyHIoAWUxBT9V7-Hbk/s320/IMG_0564.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div>+$826!</div></div><br /></div>My $10,000 starting bankroll is now at $14,919 after 78.5 hours! While this is not a huge sample size, it's not nothing. <div><br /></div><div>While my original plan was to play 250 hours between mid July and mid May to fund my 2023 WSOP plans, I'm doing so well and feeling so good (and really having fun playing!) about it that I'm now thinking to try to run my profits up to $10K+ and then head to LA or Vegas for a few days to play bigger games in October or November. I know games in those areas that are nominally $5/$10, but actually $5/$10/$20 much of the time are always running. This would require maybe a $2,500 buy in which sounds equally terrifying and exciting!<br /> <p></p></div>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-16481065158803893922022-09-17T15:13:00.003-07:002022-09-17T15:13:45.405-07:00$300 HORSE Run Good Poker Series at Graton<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqMFp697-CfIt1HXNwfUPLeEt9N5J5hWqJ3vQr2gA1cHk1pOo5Es7aZrJuW4PvQbeBw20W8yNDV2Ww585vf6yapl1gqpckTAiuyTOTVfJYrHdpxUbrGP6UwYytTOijdsYrJ5Qj0jMXiSm7gcIlqinm-onOtj5OBYgRoTvldOzFtRR1ISKPRe0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqMFp697-CfIt1HXNwfUPLeEt9N5J5hWqJ3vQr2gA1cHk1pOo5Es7aZrJuW4PvQbeBw20W8yNDV2Ww585vf6yapl1gqpckTAiuyTOTVfJYrHdpxUbrGP6UwYytTOijdsYrJ5Qj0jMXiSm7gcIlqinm-onOtj5OBYgRoTvldOzFtRR1ISKPRe0=w245-h326" width="245" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I love HORSE tournaments. What I observe is that just about every player will be weak in at least one of the 5 games and I'm at least competent in all of them. I have two WSOP cashes in HORSE (You can read about my <a href="http://www.davehuffpoker.com/2009/06/2009-wsop-event-21-3000-horse-recap.html">28th place cash in the 2008 WSOP $3,000 HORSE</a> if you are interested) and have won a bunch of smaller HORSE events online. Pokerstars used to have a $109 buy in HORSE tournament every day with a $5,000 guarantee where we'd often have either 48 or sometimes 40 players creating an overlay. I had one run where I won it two days in a row and then finished 3rd the next day.</p><p>I mention the above not just to walk down memory lane and not just to FLEX but to contrast it with the guy at my table who announced that this was the first time he had ever played HORSE. 5 of my 7 table mates didn't got as far as to announce this, but it was obvious that they had pretty much never played any of the stud games and were just flying by the seat of their pants.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZtfUIOmqadDzps-_W7twEaPAantl4v18_Gl-joe2y1GEfZhcHF-WChm93ljORd5dCDuz6sqJdAEqlUpPy-X8T2ssU269xTaS73Goh8JMvrVNSUn-aM3No9yfGheSIAAukKavULZLWgIdKcfpX6Md7wST6-iCLMK_l9WKV_py7YpK1YFlk64o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjZtfUIOmqadDzps-_W7twEaPAantl4v18_Gl-joe2y1GEfZhcHF-WChm93ljORd5dCDuz6sqJdAEqlUpPy-X8T2ssU269xTaS73Goh8JMvrVNSUn-aM3No9yfGheSIAAukKavULZLWgIdKcfpX6Md7wST6-iCLMK_l9WKV_py7YpK1YFlk64o=w236-h315" width="236" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My starting stack</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We started with with 20,000 in chips playing 200/400 stakes. They randomized the first game and we started with the R in HORSE - Razz - which is 7 card stud trying to make the lowest possible hand. On the second hand the guy who had never played before raised showing a 6 and got called by a guy showing a 9. On 4th street the guy with a 6 caught a 7 and bet. The guy with a 9 got another 9 and called the bet! It is hard to put into words how bad this is.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtdiU5smZfXD3pIQciIIyc0O9kvxH-nVK191j0a_h2HUdIjnxUU5z21NKJ8SflQjIVHIPQvPeDEjYTpzl_16h1hHgvOpgcrcWmogRyLYl2hhJsUXmvxePFJl44TaqbWD2xxu6kh_vheMZ65xpcKvbrsoTXNvzOSbOPskvRlPLAgECpBehYd5w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtdiU5smZfXD3pIQciIIyc0O9kvxH-nVK191j0a_h2HUdIjnxUU5z21NKJ8SflQjIVHIPQvPeDEjYTpzl_16h1hHgvOpgcrcWmogRyLYl2hhJsUXmvxePFJl44TaqbWD2xxu6kh_vheMZ65xpcKvbrsoTXNvzOSbOPskvRlPLAgECpBehYd5w=w376-h502" width="376" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>We got 70 entrants and first place was $5,530 which I think is a pretty good turnout for an event of this nature. I did take a bunch of pictures of my chips...<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3ae4oFNJY3jkAMaA6xUbWpJt1DeUrWmHd3IC0HfwsucSrMSFC-Lw46lWhY6WvtFAfFA1U17v4I_LpW7DETzCqy8B5QkSAfq86s1fqjdmkO-5MIwIsb7v1wjozBpYUvgRYSMwu9RvAZbM1Ue3A7Vlclafc0TQOT-JYmCkCecvDPJTfu7imm3o" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3ae4oFNJY3jkAMaA6xUbWpJt1DeUrWmHd3IC0HfwsucSrMSFC-Lw46lWhY6WvtFAfFA1U17v4I_LpW7DETzCqy8B5QkSAfq86s1fqjdmkO-5MIwIsb7v1wjozBpYUvgRYSMwu9RvAZbM1Ue3A7Vlclafc0TQOT-JYmCkCecvDPJTfu7imm3o" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We're winning!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9OEnqySH58Mr4pONXuCp0Gt9SBBUvXvITaQ23Y1o0gxOB-AEHZDRUde73WHRisGCy8GVpBZ2qMQalHm1kp7UIHrK3628mIG9O-vM3oIDg7I20Rf-i1NCDyUGwkaKMb6lCAVEIl7yjpdb9WghdbXyTMP6b7Iy7wdwd8SJBAmHUIEeo7WhFFgo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj9OEnqySH58Mr4pONXuCp0Gt9SBBUvXvITaQ23Y1o0gxOB-AEHZDRUde73WHRisGCy8GVpBZ2qMQalHm1kp7UIHrK3628mIG9O-vM3oIDg7I20Rf-i1NCDyUGwkaKMb6lCAVEIl7yjpdb9WghdbXyTMP6b7Iy7wdwd8SJBAmHUIEeo7WhFFgo" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We're losing!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1EjPz8KuwOjPrYfVFqn51LAaX4A3UZI1_k6901WR1chSvpa_OY8g0QRdrJLHeIRat8zulmayOvbsT5VV4wrFLMp15bc3mb_7aOEaC_MIw1TaF8n0suA4xaE7g34vTM4DEkM8iMhxvipw6laskE9A4Ue0yMg7kalLN6P79pAEBbb51aPxmMi0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1EjPz8KuwOjPrYfVFqn51LAaX4A3UZI1_k6901WR1chSvpa_OY8g0QRdrJLHeIRat8zulmayOvbsT5VV4wrFLMp15bc3mb_7aOEaC_MIw1TaF8n0suA4xaE7g34vTM4DEkM8iMhxvipw6laskE9A4Ue0yMg7kalLN6P79pAEBbb51aPxmMi0" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We're winning again!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjCnwRAceWAb0zhcphpGVe-aDvUC0KAD6-2i7LqIWYL7yfDcL_VMWUSphJQezoRdSCIdS9EDiFrX9MG9Ici0HAhHto4uycouARWHCYJTQ1JVci4hmD3i-GMVY03zbEmOnJR7X2z9wjSmlOHb4tPyImPukC3COwsbY3XlbjYx56Jmt7nc--CXg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjCnwRAceWAb0zhcphpGVe-aDvUC0KAD6-2i7LqIWYL7yfDcL_VMWUSphJQezoRdSCIdS9EDiFrX9MG9Ici0HAhHto4uycouARWHCYJTQ1JVci4hmD3i-GMVY03zbEmOnJR7X2z9wjSmlOHb4tPyImPukC3COwsbY3XlbjYx56Jmt7nc--CXg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We're winning even more!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had about 50K in chips playing 2500/5000 stakes when a big hand came up in the Stud Hi-Lo split (where the best hand and worst hand split the pot). On third street it looked like this (I'm in seat 1):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 7 showing</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 4: 7</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 6: Q</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 7: J</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 8: T</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Q was forced to bet 1,000 (the bring in), the J made it 2,500 and the rest of us called.</div></div><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 78</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 4: 78</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 6: Q8</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 7: JJ</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 8: T5</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The JJ bet 2,500 and we all called.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 784</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 4: 78Q</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 6: Q8K</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 7: JJ6</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 8: T56</div></div></div></div><p>In order to win the low half of the pot you need 5 unpaired cards 8 and below (the E in HORSE is Eight or Better referring to this qualifier). I had a shitty low, but with the cards showing I was thre only one who can have a made low. The guy with T56 in theory could be drawing to a better low, but he started with a T up and probably has a pair of Ts or maybe started with 3 suited cards. My chances of getting half the pot here are excellent so when the JJ6 guy bet, I raised from 5,000 to 10,000 and everyone except seat 6 came along.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Seat 1: 23 in the hole, 784K</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 4: 78Q3</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 7: JJ64</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seat 8: T569</div></div><p>On 6th street it checked to me and I bet again. Everyone called. At this point we have 69,000 in the pot. </p><p>Everyone was dealt their last card (I paired my 4), it checked to me, I checked it and seat 4 squeezed his last card last to act. Finally he bet 5,000, the face up JJ in seat 7 called, the other guy folded and I called. "You've got the low" he said pointing to me. "I have a pair of aces" he continued. A pair of aces? In what world is that going to be the best high hand here?! The guy in seat 7 showed that he has just one pair of jacks with no low. The guy with the aces showed his hand and he had AA2 in the hole meaning he has 8732A for low and I have 87432! Gross! This guy didn't even realize he had a low!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh88xvxHIAnfm90V-FJe1jCWeOJqqu7_02R79F-8NbtLsGFbBdfsBTfAelfAwhezYWClJn1nJtCDVsp8rKdZF5lrqUMhew7fgNCzPJmWdCadfXJukM8ohPPfvJysORA3Ma_U6mauMKjWgzY93LcNqxxS1hjO37BfkHxhnL8DKbCuhYFSfKA4EQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="244" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh88xvxHIAnfm90V-FJe1jCWeOJqqu7_02R79F-8NbtLsGFbBdfsBTfAelfAwhezYWClJn1nJtCDVsp8rKdZF5lrqUMhew7fgNCzPJmWdCadfXJukM8ohPPfvJysORA3Ma_U6mauMKjWgzY93LcNqxxS1hjO37BfkHxhnL8DKbCuhYFSfKA4EQ" width="284" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The player in Seat 4 pictured here</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At this point the guy is seat 7 said something to the effect of an incredulous "What were you doing betting there?" to me. This made my blood boil! I have a lot to learn when it comes to poker in general and I'm far from a Stud Hi-Lo expert but this guy did not know his ass from a hole in the ground (that's a phrase right? I'm not making that up?) and it's a special pet peeve of mine to get my play criticized right after losing a big pot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLYeHJ0JaDD_lnIsNp87l0OPbo_UxRXyXtNlOsE7qsGeYTXwSkPFYZRx09zcJd-GxRVRyXdO59hNFy4GgdmtJxqvljEhPVjiIvi_j3gul9S3m4Z66kqEXo3jo3qFSosVACSrSQ_mjzEn7wS_12DyAY11Pb4nvl5g0X69A8hTqOeKyzgim3EZ0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLYeHJ0JaDD_lnIsNp87l0OPbo_UxRXyXtNlOsE7qsGeYTXwSkPFYZRx09zcJd-GxRVRyXdO59hNFy4GgdmtJxqvljEhPVjiIvi_j3gul9S3m4Z66kqEXo3jo3qFSosVACSrSQ_mjzEn7wS_12DyAY11Pb4nvl5g0X69A8hTqOeKyzgim3EZ0=w230-h307" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This can't be good</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I lost a couple of other pots right away and my stack was down to a very sad 7,000 or so. I ended up finishing in a disappointing 26th. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On a happier note this robot that works at "The Boathouse" brought me some kung pow chicken after the tournament. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-jCbUvmW68lZlQM5qftJHe73x_NvROYdGG_SmD0vZcrNS3H3MoMhHOzxSYABpU8IyYtK3-OvPANkCNDxnk3YRB_c1c8lPTw_C7B9wC3I__x9oZxR1I2dRqT-4OldIGvV7twHLt8bCy9RxwaByZUeHttUJOZrZGcIloca5JD2ZoPfoCH-1XOc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-jCbUvmW68lZlQM5qftJHe73x_NvROYdGG_SmD0vZcrNS3H3MoMhHOzxSYABpU8IyYtK3-OvPANkCNDxnk3YRB_c1c8lPTw_C7B9wC3I__x9oZxR1I2dRqT-4OldIGvV7twHLt8bCy9RxwaByZUeHttUJOZrZGcIloca5JD2ZoPfoCH-1XOc=w213-h284" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Despite resembling, a trash can you're not trash robot!</div><br /></div>After 2 tournaments firing a total of 3 bullets with one cash my $6,000 tournament bankroll is at $5665. I'll be back at the tournament tables on September 30th playing WSOP Circuit events at Thunder Valley.<p></p><p>We'll see if I can get through one post without over the top disparaging of my opponents who I'm sure are actually fine people and are just there to have fun...but don't bet on it!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-60236599089729368432022-09-15T15:42:00.000-07:002022-09-15T15:42:14.841-07:00$200 Run Good Poker Series No Limit Tournament at Graton<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvTh9orhrMVDt8pOmoovXrn7mR5Y7Wq4OBNAkFWbSvFGAUibPvankllK1PdL4FP5KSY9ACLhrhFIni3UVbFjK6oO4Hy5guAjbXZXJc335Ea0x0xuVlhfOmGseEECk1oVEnpb8QfUWm8IStK1kiSMee6VtZI2emYuZiTNA66Qhs8pQAL7Ai5O4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvTh9orhrMVDt8pOmoovXrn7mR5Y7Wq4OBNAkFWbSvFGAUibPvankllK1PdL4FP5KSY9ACLhrhFIni3UVbFjK6oO4Hy5guAjbXZXJc335Ea0x0xuVlhfOmGseEECk1oVEnpb8QfUWm8IStK1kiSMee6VtZI2emYuZiTNA66Qhs8pQAL7Ai5O4=w245-h327" width="245" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Straight cash homey</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I recently put together a package of about $6,000 in tournaments that I'll be playing over the next few weeks at Graton and Thunder Valley and sold off about 25% of my action to friends and family for their own entertainment value. I've been continuing to win in cash games and happened to have $6,000 in cash so I took a picture of it. Don't get too excited backers! These are not tournament proceeds pictured!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first event was a $200 NLH event at Graton that is part of the Run Good Poker Series.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxdfveZGhuQ4O2ZzeU6bAbaNPVK6qfn5tVtelW5i_OQK4olRZ4bGxj62u7nnI9wDn7VwGAcwRJOt2CvQpY06HHOFxdMNyPQ8iiieQCJBLiUm7CHSREz6Ef-d5b__l4qXM9JAkMcz_XKv2NerP2dTqWGW8EM-G4O5YwbzZ5YyUDnzr34zR3HC8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxdfveZGhuQ4O2ZzeU6bAbaNPVK6qfn5tVtelW5i_OQK4olRZ4bGxj62u7nnI9wDn7VwGAcwRJOt2CvQpY06HHOFxdMNyPQ8iiieQCJBLiUm7CHSREz6Ef-d5b__l4qXM9JAkMcz_XKv2NerP2dTqWGW8EM-G4O5YwbzZ5YyUDnzr34zR3HC8" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our hero looking optimistic outside the casino</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibVRi-YOVxVt9SubtkKinKleBJZwgqFQhFs1bY86qAo3kZsLJeY0UFBclNegMwolSZu5ECXeKLrZXILMELBXs-nMyJMF-XByye5Z6IMSlxianPhmXKvBGdcq9io-sGwr3DTBbrFAyeg0kLIEDRKL3lP4bZJmNVIYUilfAnQadAnbxMAGt0hUg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEibVRi-YOVxVt9SubtkKinKleBJZwgqFQhFs1bY86qAo3kZsLJeY0UFBclNegMwolSZu5ECXeKLrZXILMELBXs-nMyJMF-XByye5Z6IMSlxianPhmXKvBGdcq9io-sGwr3DTBbrFAyeg0kLIEDRKL3lP4bZJmNVIYUilfAnQadAnbxMAGt0hUg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our hero in the tournament area looking determined</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhF51iIBJIU5EdTdbk5qbJLp1jVIe8_zBEoqItfrDYULR2gEbCRZwoPly2teBmaxzsXN1Fk36wDrAUk0L9cPuhLxbsSNXu4oidOqE7wzvs8acC241eCy56Mn8HcHh3SPD3hgD1GFvANFl9Swps5CP1xzGOsu0Hw1_VyngGPiuucVHHKqQmVDvI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhF51iIBJIU5EdTdbk5qbJLp1jVIe8_zBEoqItfrDYULR2gEbCRZwoPly2teBmaxzsXN1Fk36wDrAUk0L9cPuhLxbsSNXu4oidOqE7wzvs8acC241eCy56Mn8HcHh3SPD3hgD1GFvANFl9Swps5CP1xzGOsu0Hw1_VyngGPiuucVHHKqQmVDvI=w248-h331" width="248" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our hero's receipt</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwL3iy_5wZyCCa1WSzGt-bGMmnKq8w-V7raR6t76ysA-EibXwmubOCYWmmL9ca0bWhUJouEFEsQapvYgLcI3sqflQsCqjbVUdE3uEIwhcDYyk01kc9HBe2Un2FBd8grKZfkNTCU3mbwfhGqaki4zw9Mx1JN0FNpbvJPQWVamZUuOWXY5EctzQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwL3iy_5wZyCCa1WSzGt-bGMmnKq8w-V7raR6t76ysA-EibXwmubOCYWmmL9ca0bWhUJouEFEsQapvYgLcI3sqflQsCqjbVUdE3uEIwhcDYyk01kc9HBe2Un2FBd8grKZfkNTCU3mbwfhGqaki4zw9Mx1JN0FNpbvJPQWVamZUuOWXY5EctzQ=w243-h324" width="243" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our hero's phone reflection behind the ring case</div></div></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg490UivLr7NBYL8EdEZmCHKERwsCU5qOg3T1BiN21GapUzWmhM4Iomo8kbUY61avJdTF1SVSlelNI7PP8IIQIzCz_g0dx7COXovd1YIlcIprt-pLGK831uvAMLASd0heydjK-oBXwV-12tgL-WAv17LMsbKnUaOWtbxkkfOh1NvEWEfUiK3OI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg490UivLr7NBYL8EdEZmCHKERwsCU5qOg3T1BiN21GapUzWmhM4Iomo8kbUY61avJdTF1SVSlelNI7PP8IIQIzCz_g0dx7COXovd1YIlcIprt-pLGK831uvAMLASd0heydjK-oBXwV-12tgL-WAv17LMsbKnUaOWtbxkkfOh1NvEWEfUiK3OI=w236-h315" width="236" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Time to run it up!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We started with 10,000 in chips with blinds at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante (I will from now on denote the blinds and big blind ante in the format of 100/100/100 so I don't have to write out "with a big blind ante) playing 20 minute levels. One cool added element was we had 10 players who were "mystery bounties." These were F list celebrities like Tyson from Survivor or some blogger I'd never heard of along with a few of Graton's most noted or regular poker players. Each had an envelope like the one shown below. If you busted the player with the bounty you won a prize ranging from $50 in Run Good gear to $1,000 in cash. The average value seemed to be about $250.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzqSJi-A3c4aVG5CQE-xt6ZJXMbjOLaCgNeGIJFN5iGXnHXLSdAtReuByxwvBuA7IhlNDvBpP54e4WY5vVoHKcZuMysazvxK7Qd5oDgyz5WHUT6b11Ek36u7uxdOtzDiQSByIs5IOblcpjWwHC6zXDQGqGSTiHdgi_qTmZexmyNHJG95ZBC8Y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzqSJi-A3c4aVG5CQE-xt6ZJXMbjOLaCgNeGIJFN5iGXnHXLSdAtReuByxwvBuA7IhlNDvBpP54e4WY5vVoHKcZuMysazvxK7Qd5oDgyz5WHUT6b11Ek36u7uxdOtzDiQSByIs5IOblcpjWwHC6zXDQGqGSTiHdgi_qTmZexmyNHJG95ZBC8Y=w216-h288" width="216" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">TELL ME YOUR SECRETS ENVELOPE!</div></div><br />After 40 minutes of playing there was an earthquake! Not a big one, but we were almost directly on top of the epicenter and there was shaking for about 25 seconds. We actually stopped play for a few minutes before resuming.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimJ29dtYaYz4NrSgp3fQaAr_krGrdO2YNzj_bFTLjAYJrS4kw8V-El4Yob_3mlhLqg76U7SHJWZxwktFK_SyHQJ8Oc1e9AhXJwjuo5YCtx20Iwv0P7OUMLFqhfHcMzRB1Na5OH9c0WGkwweln2xPbVl2D7_JEj-_SpQvqDSkERGvk0St53IiU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2532" data-original-width="1170" height="477" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimJ29dtYaYz4NrSgp3fQaAr_krGrdO2YNzj_bFTLjAYJrS4kw8V-El4Yob_3mlhLqg76U7SHJWZxwktFK_SyHQJ8Oc1e9AhXJwjuo5YCtx20Iwv0P7OUMLFqhfHcMzRB1Na5OH9c0WGkwweln2xPbVl2D7_JEj-_SpQvqDSkERGvk0St53IiU=w221-h477" width="221" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Shake what your mama gave ya!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unfortunately everyone knows that earthquakes are bad luck. After about 2 hours my stack looked like this.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAljjdd7GiSuNPI_JbVnUkCpT2hXdJLo4yPSgtiCXXm1-eerBWvCzZ5O_V_byBV5980vyQaLjToxZ8OcPYsa7JEOcgPPhOaGTqdxLmBUp7Kl-jbWgvdyjzH5ZPfxmSoqqYOURCMh83yt5LJk1Szc6QpKw0b7ycF4oTarCJPio-3sIHPs__FRs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAljjdd7GiSuNPI_JbVnUkCpT2hXdJLo4yPSgtiCXXm1-eerBWvCzZ5O_V_byBV5980vyQaLjToxZ8OcPYsa7JEOcgPPhOaGTqdxLmBUp7Kl-jbWgvdyjzH5ZPfxmSoqqYOURCMh83yt5LJk1Szc6QpKw0b7ycF4oTarCJPio-3sIHPs__FRs=w230-h306" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gross</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then with a short stack I got a cheap look at a flop in the big blind with JT, the flop came down J high and I lost to KJ. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiV-S3i7AMJ_uQOX_tAOn0O4W56MSCtEJmoeKMa3RV3s81ZKAMJ0WSOxwDVu_IexDTr8u7J4aKdD3lPiZCzckpjS-3EGv8Bg6FiDwfTNvloKX-fqVYbqueIy3zmibn4450xg5d9LsYZ3T8lAmw5HQDHAS5r5Z1E3PBl-oCqSZt8pc4XStJFaKg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiV-S3i7AMJ_uQOX_tAOn0O4W56MSCtEJmoeKMa3RV3s81ZKAMJ0WSOxwDVu_IexDTr8u7J4aKdD3lPiZCzckpjS-3EGv8Bg6FiDwfTNvloKX-fqVYbqueIy3zmibn4450xg5d9LsYZ3T8lAmw5HQDHAS5r5Z1E3PBl-oCqSZt8pc4XStJFaKg=w245-h327" width="245" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Boo!</div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Luckily we got one reentry and decided to fire one more bullet! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhB04h8l2NN2YlGoR0sV3SOq0Xzt9_8sWuC7exHjxdSCSWByc7ZsEjhGColGlR_TAGxsEtwez2EJP6piG2p8LGi2Lz6TtZ0ovKkSkVTlxn_B7qO16RHUZW9_i4iX7mzzxQzujyzJ8uAzZfEFxjzNVpzWYGxu8t7IkRba1UjUA0ERO-iKm6Y4Y4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhB04h8l2NN2YlGoR0sV3SOq0Xzt9_8sWuC7exHjxdSCSWByc7ZsEjhGColGlR_TAGxsEtwez2EJP6piG2p8LGi2Lz6TtZ0ovKkSkVTlxn_B7qO16RHUZW9_i4iX7mzzxQzujyzJ8uAzZfEFxjzNVpzWYGxu8t7IkRba1UjUA0ERO-iKm6Y4Y4=w247-h329" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hope springs eternal with each additional bullet fired</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJRt1IS1xODDtWUWen6dRg_3P3q_f11yqDNZvZkkWig6r4HWbWN0NdLyO7bGt4-0sqfEq9qbCL5pLh6AjqUqgZ2XIfa2TIdh1gM40HyQJfroBuLQhJHoan6fIy-u2hCzVXo51hwWmnDWX3katA2lid1YeevPpDQalrD815VxgD6AoVPhAr1YU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJRt1IS1xODDtWUWen6dRg_3P3q_f11yqDNZvZkkWig6r4HWbWN0NdLyO7bGt4-0sqfEq9qbCL5pLh6AjqUqgZ2XIfa2TIdh1gM40HyQJfroBuLQhJHoan6fIy-u2hCzVXo51hwWmnDWX3katA2lid1YeevPpDQalrD815VxgD6AoVPhAr1YU=w239-h318" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Two chips and a chair</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With the stakes at 500/1000/1000 I was in the big blind with 9,000 and SIX people called for 1000 in front of me. Did I mention the field was trash? None of them looked like they really liked it so I shoved with K9 off. This might be questionable, but I thought if I could get past the under the gun limper I might be able to get rid of everyone. To my surprise I got called by both the under the gun player who was all in for 7,000 and another in the field who had me covered. When the cards got flipped over I was up against 88 and 44 which was pretty great. Even better I flopped a K and won the pot. Hooray!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggmiGtlPyPwMlt1ReNqYSgABcHgVWtKpuyUfp1xW5CQImcnK_FUqddsJRAZjtIKhkk28Jf3fvTqquZf7o302i7kvOKpFnzgk9CWRQZ5at2qlskOBprgbxoq3mnZZzxvIXmiCkM2lTVrzxK8yH5QyLb6BxxJUSGKOpm37IQQHvtNGMSlVfssv4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggmiGtlPyPwMlt1ReNqYSgABcHgVWtKpuyUfp1xW5CQImcnK_FUqddsJRAZjtIKhkk28Jf3fvTqquZf7o302i7kvOKpFnzgk9CWRQZ5at2qlskOBprgbxoq3mnZZzxvIXmiCkM2lTVrzxK8yH5QyLb6BxxJUSGKOpm37IQQHvtNGMSlVfssv4=w224-h299" width="224" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Behold! An actual stack!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next big hand came up a few levels later when with the stakes at 2000/4000/4000 I shoved in middle position with AJ off for 31,000 and got cold called by a player in the field who had about 100K in chips. I was hoping to see TT or 99, but to my delight my opponent rolled over AT! And we held! Huzzah!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioXLpEmUdmjwI_EHUK9Fi8KFM0ZaF4GFTUqhQNJXEvZBv5oQdkmMnyyOk8hHu9EJM4Wx05lgmTLNC80YjY6Ykkv0jQdEcIE_KW_mElXbINbPoAMdP3LgCRj1HDW0WLujFIAWUMYs7T6wdzLlkkS2_xQwtVKEpF_IWNVV_R1aSGZ7a2fNXCVqw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioXLpEmUdmjwI_EHUK9Fi8KFM0ZaF4GFTUqhQNJXEvZBv5oQdkmMnyyOk8hHu9EJM4Wx05lgmTLNC80YjY6Ykkv0jQdEcIE_KW_mElXbINbPoAMdP3LgCRj1HDW0WLujFIAWUMYs7T6wdzLlkkS2_xQwtVKEpF_IWNVV_R1aSGZ7a2fNXCVqw=w291-h388" width="291" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">$9,255 up top!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuhZO6oOYumux-mi0JdWTgeklrnkxSwx31qfTRhwW83zauZBOF8noGMZheqiD-ry1PbJOGIZ3pC2zN3erbtp_XYGV9qG2Q7YGFw809D_mBSyIwT19dmv-eiPL3QvVL8LXerGzxv2Dryk5Dr8C2MaQOIWUzHckwpZlH2nOmSqk0gDvQMfo7KOQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjuhZO6oOYumux-mi0JdWTgeklrnkxSwx31qfTRhwW83zauZBOF8noGMZheqiD-ry1PbJOGIZ3pC2zN3erbtp_XYGV9qG2Q7YGFw809D_mBSyIwT19dmv-eiPL3QvVL8LXerGzxv2Dryk5Dr8C2MaQOIWUzHckwpZlH2nOmSqk0gDvQMfo7KOQ=w227-h302" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A little less than the 70K I had after AJ holding</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After 5 hours WE MADE THE MONEY with a stack of about 50,000. 32 spots out of 256 paid with a min cash of $280.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I got dealt A9 in the small blind and shoved against the big blind who had...TT. Bullshit! I had him covered by 2,500 which is what I had in my stack after that hand.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIvyxGSCR_M8VKBDtJdwbAfU13Qta7P66jYf9egMrGUweKpKYLXLFvzZiwPBjpLes62HoyrNxxHE6h4Sf7S0Cz6adOb5gHSksMIvo3xTQjs8FM2yYDyorHM8njVgkOBcASUGxaKAV7mc-aR0MpcI9YnbGKblpbRxAmTZSxwPQuOwIPR_gnLPs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIvyxGSCR_M8VKBDtJdwbAfU13Qta7P66jYf9egMrGUweKpKYLXLFvzZiwPBjpLes62HoyrNxxHE6h4Sf7S0Cz6adOb5gHSksMIvo3xTQjs8FM2yYDyorHM8njVgkOBcASUGxaKAV7mc-aR0MpcI9YnbGKblpbRxAmTZSxwPQuOwIPR_gnLPs" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">You disgust me $500 chips!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But then we got it all in for half a big blind and won!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWBEgNMwgWVTn4GWIB6Swcd5ygYcAHmJ3SdipiPELA0di9l-xzkEUI0IXYHtASezdcci0s3CoPyEUvgNWMxFUX8d1yBR7SKiH_F6hB3UHgaoFf_m6ZXQLe5NOjeVAgY3ReNaWl53nGn8yKFr96yjlcJDf72fNT2rRVlyIRCdAwBM2RUU-QnoI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWBEgNMwgWVTn4GWIB6Swcd5ygYcAHmJ3SdipiPELA0di9l-xzkEUI0IXYHtASezdcci0s3CoPyEUvgNWMxFUX8d1yBR7SKiH_F6hB3UHgaoFf_m6ZXQLe5NOjeVAgY3ReNaWl53nGn8yKFr96yjlcJDf72fNT2rRVlyIRCdAwBM2RUU-QnoI" width="180" /></span><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And then raised all in with JT suited and stole the blinds! Could it be a half big blind story?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWBEgNMwgWVTn4GWIB6Swcd5ygYcAHmJ3SdipiPELA0di9l-xzkEUI0IXYHtASezdcci0s3CoPyEUvgNWMxFUX8d1yBR7SKiH_F6hB3UHgaoFf_m6ZXQLe5NOjeVAgY3ReNaWl53nGn8yKFr96yjlcJDf72fNT2rRVlyIRCdAwBM2RUU-QnoI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb5TlDwae5JZApZDp2RjE2oCuzMaf_9kNHQakSCB5Ese1mK4vm-Wn_rWuuSoR4_V8KGoZrnVLvR37W6QYLaqw3IgLP17Tl9C3QE0UE3F-7IpAY-85FwjvrIlf88Dzdf2Jr4vLfKFwXmeQRzKCvtZ2hGG1k_oT5nsl0x-JxEAvggfmiq5RHca0" width="180" /></div><span style="color: black; text-align: left;">Back to 30K!</span><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then...well...we got it all in with A8 vs 99 and did not win. In the end I finished in 24th, captured 2 pay jumps after I was down to 2,500 and got paid out $375. After a $10 tip to the staff it was a -$35 day, but felt like a victory.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Looking back I never got dealt a pair higher than 66 or any ace better than AJ off in 5.5 hours of play. Medium and big pairs and big aces are gold in a tournament with 20 minute levels and to get none and still make the money makes me feel like I played well and got the most I could have out of really weak cards.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My next event is $300 HORSE and I've already played but will recap it soon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><p></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-74526406808080938792022-09-10T12:59:00.000-07:002022-09-10T12:59:06.000-07:00$1,000 Cap $2/$3/$5 No Limit at The California Grand Casino<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmdN_LEBhMWP6sJS7OmNYm1Q7lcIaXq7tX6kvPrJzTeKf5oFVHMC8CnvlwgDVujwhI8jKgrsCjLz0ZRhEo7FK80TulzMk11zfi7T_-1tpi9Ps63486Ob0yNGzU90UGr5gFQ9mDNQtkpjQWAtpX1bshw7C7fKYWLzzUZitJ8a7BTQjvimiwIEA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmdN_LEBhMWP6sJS7OmNYm1Q7lcIaXq7tX6kvPrJzTeKf5oFVHMC8CnvlwgDVujwhI8jKgrsCjLz0ZRhEo7FK80TulzMk11zfi7T_-1tpi9Ps63486Ob0yNGzU90UGr5gFQ9mDNQtkpjQWAtpX1bshw7C7fKYWLzzUZitJ8a7BTQjvimiwIEA=w263-h351" width="263" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Black Chips are sadly not $100s in California</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I made my way to The California Grand in Pacheco last week for the 3rd time in my life and the first time in 7 or 8 years. Once again I was too lazy to take a picture, but not too lazy to find some on the internet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYdXUUakIvrRfHSMs_DjvX_4YzRWKote7_ynl9L4r6skf5E03U2oTCBuPlrsRTHQvVAnjr7wx5gy7tz4IN7IM9gg6tB-FJvBdJigXc6nQzxyHjZYkuILixeg9JKUMCbf9m84I7Tuj9gf1CRi9snMEmuafqU1dYSS2uY3G4TUOk7-BfKH0z9m8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="288" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYdXUUakIvrRfHSMs_DjvX_4YzRWKote7_ynl9L4r6skf5E03U2oTCBuPlrsRTHQvVAnjr7wx5gy7tz4IN7IM9gg6tB-FJvBdJigXc6nQzxyHjZYkuILixeg9JKUMCbf9m84I7Tuj9gf1CRi9snMEmuafqU1dYSS2uY3G4TUOk7-BfKH0z9m8" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The outside</div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmQswg_gOlgZEVCz74mS1vPNt1yNT402sRb-tVK9Z8pHo4C9Rv_Tu-2dgkTHNJgB6ySWgW5a8qAGbaW1gTXLW8CfRsNuuibBGK1_dNYat19_vTVhQ3VEruipopT63gkaCwB3bmV-We99KkWPO-fiAhst4ALjtcvW5u6zd9m0lNSc-nZ8PKYMk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="260" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmQswg_gOlgZEVCz74mS1vPNt1yNT402sRb-tVK9Z8pHo4C9Rv_Tu-2dgkTHNJgB6ySWgW5a8qAGbaW1gTXLW8CfRsNuuibBGK1_dNYat19_vTVhQ3VEruipopT63gkaCwB3bmV-We99KkWPO-fiAhst4ALjtcvW5u6zd9m0lNSc-nZ8PKYMk" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The inside</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieC_4fwb7ig_-0k-y60snpdtzwfB9_M4ft-YHdrI9n5fSlKgiMdj3sIYFHq1W-C6xH8DpVfAo7G387r5zYmXp4vtIaPbAzq6qQHzCJspEVVO9ucRHYDyxi-63OY1liiGKDnZq3KzpZ55iRmnIRBdvcmztr-Dn0z_EyF0-dWPnjFiU-JCsujuE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="250" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieC_4fwb7ig_-0k-y60snpdtzwfB9_M4ft-YHdrI9n5fSlKgiMdj3sIYFHq1W-C6xH8DpVfAo7G387r5zYmXp4vtIaPbAzq6qQHzCJspEVVO9ucRHYDyxi-63OY1liiGKDnZq3KzpZ55iRmnIRBdvcmztr-Dn0z_EyF0-dWPnjFiU-JCsujuE" width="297" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have never seen anyone APPLAUD their opponents</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZLB3uRmshspFp0gcFWJiOF0iDfSAYndJReRRgLBAzmq0SxfWxEnQ_ExLeuTHe7Vlu1Sw_UOih8r0etRYis5H_LAKYfHrVHXBRey-6CDpE0O8qzqJmOIe5ni32c9jfXixSHXMWoLm46pvRsd3UmKOcKTjFwWDiOnlUbcwxNK2XdHCL-YHci4A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="250" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZLB3uRmshspFp0gcFWJiOF0iDfSAYndJReRRgLBAzmq0SxfWxEnQ_ExLeuTHe7Vlu1Sw_UOih8r0etRYis5H_LAKYfHrVHXBRey-6CDpE0O8qzqJmOIe5ni32c9jfXixSHXMWoLm46pvRsd3UmKOcKTjFwWDiOnlUbcwxNK2XdHCL-YHci4A" width="297" /></a></div>Over or under 2.5 of those drinks getting knocked over<br /><br /></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While it was not as lively as the promo photos, all ~15 tables were full with six or seven $2/$2/$3 NL games, two $2/$3/$5 NL games and some limit hold'em games as big as $15/$30.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The games were 10 handed which is a material change from the 8 handed Bay 101 games and more materially I had a few players that were somewhere between competent and solid at my table. A huge benefit of Bay 101 (and Matrix also) is the fact that there are always 6 or 7 or sometimes 8 $2/$3/$5 games going and I pretty much always change tables if I'm up against more than 1 decent player. At the Grand one game was a must move and the other was the main game so I was stuck with a tougher than normal lineup. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">With that said, looking back at my notes from 5 hours of play I think there was only one hand worth noting. About 20 minutes before the hand in question I observed a hand where 5 people limped in for $5, the big blind made it $50 and not surprisingly everyone folded. It got me thinking that in that spot you could almost certainly show a profit making it $50 with any two. If you go to $25 you're sure to get called by everyone and if you make it $100 your risk reward might be off, but going to $50 you're risking $45 to pick up $30 neglecting any post flop equity.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Inspired by this hand and this thinking, I made it $40 over two limps with A9 off on the button. Both blinds called and the under the gun limper went all in for $206! So much for everyone folding! If it wasn't for the two bozos behind me I'd be getting a great price only needing to call $166 to win $325 (factoring in the $5 limp folder and the $6 rake). I figured Mr. $206 probably had a big pair, but getting about 2 to 1 if there was any chance he had a hand like 77 or 88 or spazzed out with JT suited I was getting the right odds. I didn't think these particular bozos were trapping with AA or KK so I shoved for about $900 and blew them out. My opponent turned over KK. Gross! But I flopped two aces and won the pot! Hooray!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Looking back after the fact if his range is any pair, I'm 37% which is more than the ~34% equity I need to make this a profitable move (assuming the bozos never call).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjK8FJJQ3zWZ6qPxhzIlKHo1hbL1ltLQVv6nOfmtbjrGO62tFQ4EBzGhhUKNPJErmYJD12ZYwMicOA4Ws_F3nkgNUjRVa7Uqpyq79tBwsq_Xn7MXjZNerB07o-jxcWQjIj__VJSGVpNCsDSzgD867HZHiOmj4noMakH-1eQqqBCi5gr1y5u6rA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="2396" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjK8FJJQ3zWZ6qPxhzIlKHo1hbL1ltLQVv6nOfmtbjrGO62tFQ4EBzGhhUKNPJErmYJD12ZYwMicOA4Ws_F3nkgNUjRVa7Uqpyq79tBwsq_Xn7MXjZNerB07o-jxcWQjIj__VJSGVpNCsDSzgD867HZHiOmj4noMakH-1eQqqBCi5gr1y5u6rA=w610-h366" width="610" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Behold! Poker Cruncher!</div><br /></div></div>In the end I lost $110 which is not a bad result for having weak cards in a slightly tougher than average game in a session where I was losing the entire time. I'm $1087 ahead after 50 hours which is kind of OK, but after a slow start I'm feeling good about it.</div><br /> <p></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-16151868673207743172022-09-07T07:41:00.000-07:002022-09-07T07:41:24.601-07:00$3/$5/$10 at Lucky Chances<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrkE1yfjU7STUdtzkmzGuCy5DC-ttcYMjY9RIyMRssbY3MCcTJpQle7sqC7nYFjWD0ymgEKcoul2Le--pespnRbfjAoJZwGfl4zquxJ189VMNoidZF6G5Uh3kcLt6CvzjlGvHObmTZuI0a5ihkmK84BGnY_Pv2XTLTx_m9_gDLs5MYfGfmnQo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrkE1yfjU7STUdtzkmzGuCy5DC-ttcYMjY9RIyMRssbY3MCcTJpQle7sqC7nYFjWD0ymgEKcoul2Le--pespnRbfjAoJZwGfl4zquxJ189VMNoidZF6G5Uh3kcLt6CvzjlGvHObmTZuI0a5ihkmK84BGnY_Pv2XTLTx_m9_gDLs5MYfGfmnQo=w244-h325" width="244" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The $1 chips are very sad</div><br /><p></p><p>My tour of the bay area card rooms continued recently at Lucky Chances in Colma which is a little south of San Francisco proper. I was too lazy to take a picture, but not too lazy to find this stock photo on the internet of what it looks like inside.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR2tZBQ21bz1Q5-Ibt2whSMn66l4uvp0YNGu-N6RAOBnJMzNOZTSI48lU04Oy30KE74xRzK87_wetVQhnb_P-gf2-pQtgzPRkvBbUQQaGOWxNItbnJHaRkbNDqRIzPHSZaelFm6cR18XKgZI9I761FkOzLvtpwRrZLsWhla0ePEJ4eoD-s0xg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="740" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR2tZBQ21bz1Q5-Ibt2whSMn66l4uvp0YNGu-N6RAOBnJMzNOZTSI48lU04Oy30KE74xRzK87_wetVQhnb_P-gf2-pQtgzPRkvBbUQQaGOWxNItbnJHaRkbNDqRIzPHSZaelFm6cR18XKgZI9I761FkOzLvtpwRrZLsWhla0ePEJ4eoD-s0xg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Stocked with fish!</div><p></p><p>Before I get to that, for the record I have to breeze through another session. I was at Bay 101 for 5.5 hours. I lost a couple of all ins vs short stacks including AT < QQ and KJ < Q9, spewed off $350 on one hand with AK in a straddled 3 bet pot and generally had nothing good happen to me. I lost $565. Sad face.</p><p>The Lucky Chances sessions was much more interesting. My best memories of Lucky Chances are 20+ years old when I was still in college playing $9/$18 limit hold'em in the hours between midnight and 8 am. Poker was always so exciting in those days!</p><p>Anyway, I bought in for $1,000 in the $3/$5 game (There is no $2 blind on the button) which is the max. I saw a "kill" button on the table and quickly discovered that the game was playing "winner kill" which is similar to a rock straddle in the sense that the winner of the pot puts out a $10 blind. But I think in general with a rock straddle it's 100% mandatory and the action starts to the left of the straddle. In this game I believe you could object and not straddle (this did not happen a single time) and the straddle acted last preflop. Unlike other games I've played recently where it's straddled some of the time this was a straight up $10 big blind game.</p><p>And my opponents were TRASH! For the first 2 hours this was the best game I've been in in 2022. These dudes were so passive and in a totally linear way scaled their bet sizing based on the strength of their hand. When they made something a small bet meant a hand that was just barely good enough to bet, a half pot sized bet meant a solid, but non nut hand and when they had a monster they'd go huge. </p><p>After 6 or 7 pots where I raised preflop, bet the flop, and won with no resistance I got dealt KQ of hearts made it $50 over two $10 limpers and took the flop 3 ways with the button and one of the limpers. The flop came down K63 rainbow and after the limper checked I decided to check for deception. The button quickly fired out $90. I took my time like I was thinking about what to do and called. The turn was an 8, I checked again and he instantly ripped it in for $400! Despite the fact that big bets almost always meant big hands, this was the driest board in the universe with no draws other than 54 and no two pair combos that call a raise to $50 preflop. I thought with a set I'd see a bet of $150 on the turn followed by $250 on the river, not just a ship and also that AK would have 3 bet preflop. I called feeling 90% sure I was up against a worse king. Sure enough after a blank river my opponent showed KT practically reaching for the pot because he was so sure it was good. Sorry bro! My pot!</p><p>A little later I had two hands against a younger guy who seemed like a regular player and was talking non stop. On the first hand Mr. Talky raised to $35 on the button vs one limper, I called in the big blind with 65 of spades and we took the flop 4 ways along with the straddle and the limper. The flop came down 865 with two diamonds giving me bottom 2. We all checked over to Mr. Talky who bet out $75. I grabbed three $100 chips off my stack and slid them into the pot. The others folded and Mr. Talky AGONIZED over what I might have. He had about $1,000 when the hand started and I was ready to stack off hoping he had an over pair. Eventually he folded, but for at least the next 30 minutes he would not shut up about this hand! It was clear that he was suspicious that I might have had a flush draw or a combo draw and regretted folding. I told him nothing!</p><p>At that point I got dealt AJ of spades on the button and raised to $40 after Mr. Talky limped. Along with the big blind we went 3 ways to a flop of Q93 with one spade. They checked over to me and I checked it back. The turn was the K of spades and Mr. Talky bet out $35. Picking up a gut shot and a flush draw on a card that should favor me as the preflop raiser is probably a time to raise, but I just called (I'm not sure what I was thinking exactly). The river came out the 6 of spades making me the nuts! Mr Talky checked and a very quick the thought of "over bet" passed through my brain. I grabbed $220 and Mr. Talky called so fast that I literally did not see him put chips in the pot! I was kind of aiming for 1.5X the pot and didn't quite get there as there was $190 in there already. If I'd gone a little slower with my thinking I might have bet $300, but I'm happy I got more than a pot sized bet on the river. I need to work on keeping track of exactly how much is in the pot.</p><p>I had a couple of hands go the wrong way, but all in all it was a great session.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8t7RqYaUsbF2TAfBula7JkXFXAKl2heu6myFzpQzzqsAd-HQ2kfLr1TajGkLPHxQ1R-D9RIXYww1YddNH3HTPoGCou65RGvP4vtkNPycn9EUhWAMlXatO-Lv0moxBJHcbLL6Fe-mZUmbXsyU_39rmYz_IZZ552rAxaYKZjPU9DSDL-bH9oLo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8t7RqYaUsbF2TAfBula7JkXFXAKl2heu6myFzpQzzqsAd-HQ2kfLr1TajGkLPHxQ1R-D9RIXYww1YddNH3HTPoGCou65RGvP4vtkNPycn9EUhWAMlXatO-Lv0moxBJHcbLL6Fe-mZUmbXsyU_39rmYz_IZZ552rAxaYKZjPU9DSDL-bH9oLo=w246-h328" width="246" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The kill button is hiding in the background</div><br />In the end after about 4.5 hours I booked a $1,306 win! Hooray! After 46 hours my $10K starting bankroll is at $11,197. We're on a ~$3,000 upswing over the past 5 sessions and I definitely feel like I've shaken off some of the rust of 4 years of not playing very often.<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-50347795657792241722022-08-29T18:06:00.000-07:002022-08-29T18:06:15.639-07:00Buying in for $1,000 at Graton<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEify9xBcQrYiZUbIujqpG-9cBv05hc6odrxUwdm1VkNluoLUi2WswhZSXJMcGM27wVTuIbGcWW_W01v0oDn58NHRJUrRx8a4eVDSWpBc6yHawbWKSW9wppf8RuYJEhI5kigSFxxCrCxiSbHaLiDprY_T0gTqaLqyeJ3bp5ZMAcWaGcc52oehms" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEify9xBcQrYiZUbIujqpG-9cBv05hc6odrxUwdm1VkNluoLUi2WswhZSXJMcGM27wVTuIbGcWW_W01v0oDn58NHRJUrRx8a4eVDSWpBc6yHawbWKSW9wppf8RuYJEhI5kigSFxxCrCxiSbHaLiDprY_T0gTqaLqyeJ3bp5ZMAcWaGcc52oehms=w438-h219" width="438" /></a></div>They should call this place The Palace!</div><br /><p></p><p>I made my first trip ever to Graton Casino on a recent Sunday afternoon and I was impressed. It had the scale and feel of an on the strip Vegas casino, but it looked like a Saturday night in there on a Sunday at 1 pm with 2/3 of the 3,000 (!!) slot machines in use. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCzocXkI5sWyVidMZNukHUCm2ZF1huL7p1YEojnEqDmrQNmqcV3tjHgmzMS2kyzvJAaOpdO3Djm9NxHcB86Q_TfJtWvLz7nsUPZvfirUi1ZdfqKFU-v7VZ7ZCU14cANwlKoCSCiwDtLGZruzQUimn14vKlkpnDRGsERtzJ4by3uu6kmdZ9LWI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCzocXkI5sWyVidMZNukHUCm2ZF1huL7p1YEojnEqDmrQNmqcV3tjHgmzMS2kyzvJAaOpdO3Djm9NxHcB86Q_TfJtWvLz7nsUPZvfirUi1ZdfqKFU-v7VZ7ZCU14cANwlKoCSCiwDtLGZruzQUimn14vKlkpnDRGsERtzJ4by3uu6kmdZ9LWI" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Poker Room (not pictured: a decent view of the poker tables)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I heard from the friends I was with who were Graton regs that you get $25 in free slot play if you sign up for a players card so I did. When I got to the poker room I discovered that you give them your card when you want to be added to the list for a game, your phone number is tied to your card and they text you when your seat is ready. The only options were $4/$8 limit, and $1/3 or $3/5 no limit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOQyjOD2G2yMRYxjv8_YU3JOXWKfinHnkOAn3E6A9aIYN2VlMOaYEiW_Rwy_V2dUIUYnBN3nHJsyIg5ekXwxLTQ4m7Ebq3RHJQ8wKK0DnhnGkH4iwBwKsOV-cuPbYJ73ycc9BirJ7NLxYPwTIVqvHA9v_F8pbq8Nvn9MF-WvhPN8hD5dqCDBs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOQyjOD2G2yMRYxjv8_YU3JOXWKfinHnkOAn3E6A9aIYN2VlMOaYEiW_Rwy_V2dUIUYnBN3nHJsyIg5ekXwxLTQ4m7Ebq3RHJQ8wKK0DnhnGkH4iwBwKsOV-cuPbYJ73ycc9BirJ7NLxYPwTIVqvHA9v_F8pbq8Nvn9MF-WvhPN8hD5dqCDBs=w264-h352" width="264" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">WHY WITH THE $1 CHIP GAMES AGAIN!?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>I got called for the $4/$8 first. Looking at these chips triggered a memory from the distant past. My first casino poker experience was at Cache Creek which like Graton is a tribal casino. Seeing these worn out dirty chips brought me back to some of the most exciting sessions of my life, playing like absolute trash against toothless degenerates and filipino grandmothers on weekday afternoons in a smoke filled, poorly lit corner of the casino sweating $100 wins and losses like my life was at stake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2BTnMtjlqNtzSr0MGRLMB5m_fbURiyfuqMAIv_B-xXT1q8RNTf_so9jySPkVSdwboO0P3_sYiI3CUB9qzyhgoldWbpRQDi7iMbvJBTp250eA4N9o9giRen66xud26A9vXmzkZGI0s5D9m3tWhB39E_-un50xKEDgOfzQMeN36YKRoI4zntxY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj2BTnMtjlqNtzSr0MGRLMB5m_fbURiyfuqMAIv_B-xXT1q8RNTf_so9jySPkVSdwboO0P3_sYiI3CUB9qzyhgoldWbpRQDi7iMbvJBTp250eA4N9o9giRen66xud26A9vXmzkZGI0s5D9m3tWhB39E_-un50xKEDgOfzQMeN36YKRoI4zntxY=w247-h329" width="247" /></a></div></div>A dirty chip comparison (viking added for scale)<br /><br /></div>I'm really glad I hung on to one of those Cache Creek chips. Anyway, between the trip down memory lane and the PTSD of them raking $7 (!!!) out of every pot at a $4/$8 limit game I've blocked out what happened. Thankfully I was called for the $3/$5 game fairly quickly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I bought in for $1,000. The max was $1,500, but I rationalized buying in for less by telling myself that I'd never played with any of these players before and $1,000 was enough to cover everyone but one player who had $1,300. I had about $3,000 on me and it felt more comfortable to have three $1,000 buys ins than two $1,500 buys ins. In reality this is hogwash. HOGWASH! My best approach has always been to buy in for the max, try to build up a towering stack and use it for complete and total psychological domination of my mentally weak opposition. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happily I got off to a hot start. I three bet TT to $90 in the big blind over a raise to $15 and two calls. Only the small blind called. The flop came down T96! Huzzah! I looked over at the small blind's stack and he only had about $160 left. Usually when someone has less than a pot sized bet and is short stacked, it's time to just get it in, but my read on this specific dude was that he would be more apt to call a series of smaller bets than one all in. He checked, I bet $75 and he called. The turn was an 8 putting a one liner to a straight out there and my opponent quickly mashed his remaining chips in the pot with the dexterity and finesse of a 6 month old baby slapping at a serving of puréed carrots. I of course snap called, he rolled over J8 and after another 8 on the river I took down a nice pot.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next one was a favorite of mine, not just because of the result, but because of my thought process. I called a raise to $15 with 54 of clubs in middle position and we took the flop 5 ways. The flop came down AK8 with two clubs, the preflop raiser checked, I checked and it got around to the button who bet $55. What could this guy have and what does he not have? He never has AA or KK or AK just calling after a raise and multiple calls. With a small raise size preflop he absolutely has every Ax in his range and many Kx hands too. After we all check he's going to bet any piece of that flop, but unless he has exactly 88 or A8 it's really tough for him to call a check raise. Also these other goons between us already checked after the preflop raiser checked so they can't have anything. Of course I had a flush draw as backup, but I think I could make this move with nothing in this exact spot. Going through this is not exactly hard sitting here looking back with all the time in the world, but the fact that all of that hit me in an instant in the moment is very encouraging. I made it $150, the goons folded and the button mucked with frustration. I own your soul you button goon! Let it be a lesson to the rest of you goons!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On top of thinking about "configuration" like in the last hand, one thing I've been working on is playing big hands fast. Most players if they flop huge they are inclined to slowplay to in theory disguise the strength of their hand. So when you do the opposite and just blast away it gets misinterpreted and builds a pot.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I got a chance to executed on this with A4 of clubs in the big blind. The 6 month old baby I stuffed with the TT vs J8 hand raised to $15 in the small blind after 2 people limped for $5. I can not begin to tell you how TRASH this raise sizing is. IT MAKES NO SENSE! IT IS THE MOST RECREATIONAL SIZING OF ALL TIME! Anyway, I flopped the nuts on the Q86 all club flop! The trash baby checked, and I went into fast play mode betting $35. Only the player to my left called. The turn was the A of spades which could be an action killer, but checking made no sense. Part of my brain was saying "GO BIG! GO BIG" and the other part was like "What? Quit shouting at me. You're screaming too much about how these players are trash and babies." I bet $100 thinking that was about full pot, but $125 or even $150 might have been better. The river was the 9 of hearts and I got this feeling that my opponent was just never folding. "GO BIG! GO HUGE!" "What? Are you sure? I'm not sure I want to go huge." I settled on $250, got called right away and regretted not going bigger.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Despite my regrets I think my bet sizing was OK. Certainly I've seen my opposition go something like $30, $60, $100 in similar sports and make half what I did. But if I'm against a 2 pair plus hand like it's clear I was I might have been able to go $125 on the turn and $500 on the river. I'm working on this. I keep telling myself to GO HUGE and then betting 80%-90% of pot which is big but not huge.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0ikevLR8Z_htJQqnx5kmjvimC7CyOCzFvkOtxP922p1niwizQmecOFVsHctMOHMQJxv2uOcllyzMT6E60Z8utS7e1P89pUCK8W_3scwlw9vOMRpQETBYK4wVevs4scv9qtIz18IYdFI6aqN0FjkyiApP50sNQ67pL_4qPsk6ljA_DUPiCQUQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0ikevLR8Z_htJQqnx5kmjvimC7CyOCzFvkOtxP922p1niwizQmecOFVsHctMOHMQJxv2uOcllyzMT6E60Z8utS7e1P89pUCK8W_3scwlw9vOMRpQETBYK4wVevs4scv9qtIz18IYdFI6aqN0FjkyiApP50sNQ67pL_4qPsk6ljA_DUPiCQUQ=w261-h348" width="261" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The exact colors of Heinz ketchup and relish bottles?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They gave us all "all in" buttons to throw in as needed. I was not in fact all in in the picture and did not get to use my button.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After this picture where I was sitting on about $1,650 I had a slow and steady decline for 3 hours eventually booking a win of $2. The smallest live cash game win of all time for me? Probably.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Teaser: I'll be back a Graton for some tournaments in mid September.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After 36 hours my $10K bankroll is at $10,456.</div><br /><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-62698570191777907852022-08-24T17:15:00.001-07:002022-08-24T17:15:47.943-07:00Crushing Skulls on Back to Back Friday's at Bay 101!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnbeP_1CUXki7SVcB6I5S0s71mUsLumXtSj3dFCr0BRbK1lT45oyQDb7BQdxHiZs2jzz7voiAle_5twj2jsfSqAzPO2oU9Oa2s-Uuu9s8viK_9xjdSS0mlO40O_R0eHHR5ftz6z3E5xRw_xRDUErvWdcnEmPoscfqM3cTFUijPvfZOiwjWXmA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1112" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnbeP_1CUXki7SVcB6I5S0s71mUsLumXtSj3dFCr0BRbK1lT45oyQDb7BQdxHiZs2jzz7voiAle_5twj2jsfSqAzPO2oU9Oa2s-Uuu9s8viK_9xjdSS0mlO40O_R0eHHR5ftz6z3E5xRw_xRDUErvWdcnEmPoscfqM3cTFUijPvfZOiwjWXmA=w341-h272" width="341" /></a></div><br />An important question I try to answer in this session</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I rolled into Bay 101 a couple Friday's ago coming off my stupid $1K loss at the dumb Palace in moronic Hayward happy to be back in familiar territory.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While waiting for no limit I jumped into the $8/$16 limit game and got dealt JJ in the first orbit. It came to me raised with one caller, I three bet it, the guy behind me four bet it and we took the flop 6 ways. I'd played with the 4 bettor before and I was 95% sure this was AA or KK. To my delight the flop came JJ3 and someone else check raised the 4 bettor! Fun! 5 of us went to the turn for 2 bets, I ended up betting the turn and the river and beat AA and KK. Quads son! How does your skull feel bruh!? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaAA0L9lh5XgWc_zEdpa3rlb6CZOZ7KTLI59dWsh02tDjnpEQYuNJRnawrHBurGziTn9u6N4D3k1PwIfJmEqSUiBv-kmNp2VdBDO03Sa8tqehl1dWCXZ8-foOeEQLStUnm0HPsppg2u_31fMirdoloLt2WYl2HY7wZ0ooOxv0WIJtU7vNx2iw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaAA0L9lh5XgWc_zEdpa3rlb6CZOZ7KTLI59dWsh02tDjnpEQYuNJRnawrHBurGziTn9u6N4D3k1PwIfJmEqSUiBv-kmNp2VdBDO03Sa8tqehl1dWCXZ8-foOeEQLStUnm0HPsppg2u_31fMirdoloLt2WYl2HY7wZ0ooOxv0WIJtU7vNx2iw=w277-h369" width="277" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Racks on Racks</div><br /><br /></div>I made my way over to $2/$3/$5 up $400 on the day and had more hands hit hard. In a weird move the cutoff just called $5 and I made it $25 from the button with K7 of hearts. The big blind and limper both called and the flop came down A54 with 2 hearts. The action checked to me and in a must bet spot I fired out $45. Only the big blind called and the turn came out the 2 of hearts. Flush time! Skull damage incoming! <div><br /></div><div>The A was a heart and barring 53 of hearts which would be soul crushing (also skull crushing) I had the nuts. I was certain I had K7 of hearts, but took a second to look back at my cards. Many players lose track of their suits and have to check if they have a mix of suits, but tend to remember if they're suited. Normally I don't act at all, but in this one situation I do and a look back here should makes it appear like I don't have a flush. </div><div><br /></div><div>After a check, I bet $125 and my opponent called. The river was the K of clubs and in the moment I thought "I don't think this guy is folding, I should go huge." There was about $415 in the pot, but I'd lost track of the exact count. I could see two $100 chips in the pot and then a bunch of $5 chips, but my snap assessment was a little lite. I bet $300, my opponent quickly called and I regretted not going for more like $500. I think a straight, a flush or even a set is finding a reason to call here.<div><br /></div><div>Later in the session I picked up KK and raised to $30 vs two limpers. The small bind and one limper called and the flop came down 863 rainbow. I bet $55 and both called. The turn was a 9, I bet $130 and got one call. Then the river came out a K! Huzzah! Actually that K may have killed my chances of getting called one more time by an 8 or a 9, but it always feels good to improve. Sadly I bet $200 and my opponent folded with only a glancing blow to his skull. </div><div><br /></div><div>I won $910 for the session bringing my $10K bankroll to $9128 after 25 hours.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fast forward a week to the following Friday and more skulls needed to be crushed.</div><div><br /></div><div>I sat down in a new game and took the big blind. The under the gun player raised to $15 and I called along with the small blind. The flop came down 223 and I thought "No way does this lady have a deuce in her hand and no way is she going to stack off for $500 on the first hand." I didn't even note what I had but I check raised from $15 to $45 and won the pot. Because of this pot I was ahead literally the entire session. </div><div><br /></div><div>A couple of hands later I raised T9 of clubs to $20 from the lojack and after one call on the button a solid player 3 bet to $90 out of the big blind. Gross. He had about $800 and while I would prefer to be deeper stacked calling here I knew this guy liked to squeeze and decided to make the call. The button folded and the flop came down 995 with two diamonds. Zing! My opponent bet $80 and in the moment I was thinking "GLORIOUS! He'll never put me on a 9 if I raise. Someone with a 9 would never raise here. This will look like a flush draw! MWAH HA HA!" I went to $220 and he snap mucked. Sad face. Later I realized I could easily play an over pair this way and I guess if my opponent is squeezing wide he usually won't have anything here. But it still felt good to smash the flop.</div><div><br /></div><div>But this was how the whole session ran for me. I 3 bet AK in a straddled pot from $50 to $150, flopped a K and won. I had AQ of clubs, flopped Q54 with two clubs and made the flush on the turn. I had JJ on a Q93 flop, turned a J and got check raised from $120 to $300! Hot damn! I didn't get paid off huge on any of them, but I just kept connecting.</div><div><br /></div><div>Later in the big blind, I called $15 with J7 in a 6 way pot. The flop came down J82 with two hearts and it checked around. The turn was the 2 of spades, I bet $45 and got 2 callers. Not only was the river a J it was the J of hearts bringing in the front door flush draw, someone had the flush and I made another $100. Hitting the perfect card I started to think this was getting out of control!</div><div><br /></div><div>Towards the end of the session I had 77 and raised to $20. I got one caller and then a total goof ball made it $60. We took the flop 3 ways and it came down A97 with two heats. YES! COME ON YOU GOOF BALL! WE CRUSHIN' SKULLS AND YOU NEXT! I just called a bet of $80 and the third guy in the pot shipped it all in for $375! Oh baby! The goofball folded I snap called and the board ran out T, A. With no structure at all left to his skull my opponent couldn't muster the strength to show his cards so after a couple of seconds I showed my hand and took down the pot.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course over close to 6 hours I had some hands go against me, but fuck those hands. Today we're only interested in the good stuff.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcZjhphA1_u6nfCul5r5oxZPxWeKINJFqwAXsuZPkEFOAOhbuo5SFD8iJu26F9hz5Uf7NwaBbostQjEsJSXUiz7Mn8qWjElLIsR-jkOV_-C4ZFAi1VxflGGEqXXt21BJcL-nF2pLsPnEfn-6zmr4goTZBkxtFcztNX8yeXUxDokLOG3hxVwNs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcZjhphA1_u6nfCul5r5oxZPxWeKINJFqwAXsuZPkEFOAOhbuo5SFD8iJu26F9hz5Uf7NwaBbostQjEsJSXUiz7Mn8qWjElLIsR-jkOV_-C4ZFAi1VxflGGEqXXt21BJcL-nF2pLsPnEfn-6zmr4goTZBkxtFcztNX8yeXUxDokLOG3hxVwNs=w261-h348" width="261" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The white chips are made from the skulls of the vanquished<br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>In the end I won $1,326. HUZZAH! I'm also back in the black for this project with my $10K bankroll at $10,454 after 31 hours. DOUBLE HUZZAH! In celebration I had a happy hour old fashioned and relished the defeat of my enemies.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcSNuvzJjEODMsU7gAPweUvm4LE5MrB4mKdyuNIFuFMSM4iT3SoTOMqSQmRWeQIjnRRBgjeuRTxpPOW6OkjDXKP_1jf1DKJvGi4yDN4PzPwoa1ILUu5yXRS7ApGKP7ChC6mMF8ZXLr0db-HCoZV3jZnf-M4SFtXr1MsEjDrltwlF8Uk1leRQU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcSNuvzJjEODMsU7gAPweUvm4LE5MrB4mKdyuNIFuFMSM4iT3SoTOMqSQmRWeQIjnRRBgjeuRTxpPOW6OkjDXKP_1jf1DKJvGi4yDN4PzPwoa1ILUu5yXRS7ApGKP7ChC6mMF8ZXLr0db-HCoZV3jZnf-M4SFtXr1MsEjDrltwlF8Uk1leRQU=w255-h340" width="255" /></a></div> <p></p></div></div>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-56446376868124850392022-08-20T10:41:00.003-07:002022-08-20T10:41:40.129-07:00Uncapped Buy In No Limit at the Palace in Hayward<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhR4v-zSPGc0YqbMYt88cXbtXYqgWmdxhLEiSo_Obh5IjcYoxKz3rBt2RoOaXGoNSoFD0Nust43wfGvkSy75IeDIe6G4RHpwryGjVbEYDBkHAt8BwtLrHA7XtyScqLbBuN5x7Har2sZuKHoFf0Gc10r8oql0wmrbIu-c3T_12Fpeda8ZdaQt24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhR4v-zSPGc0YqbMYt88cXbtXYqgWmdxhLEiSo_Obh5IjcYoxKz3rBt2RoOaXGoNSoFD0Nust43wfGvkSy75IeDIe6G4RHpwryGjVbEYDBkHAt8BwtLrHA7XtyScqLbBuN5x7Har2sZuKHoFf0Gc10r8oql0wmrbIu-c3T_12Fpeda8ZdaQt24=w420-h315" width="420" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Palatial!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You would think after playing poker in the bay area for 22 years I would have been to every poker room in town. But you'd be wrong! You're so recreational at thinking! I made my first trip to "The Palace" in Hayward last Wednesday. What I new about it going in was they had 4 poker tables, offered $4/$8 limit hold'em and a $1/$2/$2 blind no limit game with an uncapped buy in. Given the state of their website it's surprising I was able to gather this much. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxnBX5Fk0H8xEd0ho_OV63JykpbZi6F9o93kkHcjEZ3uao8VTsql8uCdjZrpq7lZPLQnU2rOZ6oVqeKudf_jlsxWTDbU-PKLABmq1sHJeRq6qSrJyaWQyzxQRG_oBuFYKWl6ry1d3ouVFDwVmefbERpCURxD6fGGdU3tInruharePq03sbEB8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1726" data-original-width="2600" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxnBX5Fk0H8xEd0ho_OV63JykpbZi6F9o93kkHcjEZ3uao8VTsql8uCdjZrpq7lZPLQnU2rOZ6oVqeKudf_jlsxWTDbU-PKLABmq1sHJeRq6qSrJyaWQyzxQRG_oBuFYKWl6ry1d3ouVFDwVmefbERpCURxD6fGGdU3tInruharePq03sbEB8=w425-h282" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Such a sad website</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>I'm not sure what I was expecting exactly, but my first reaction was that it had all the charm of an off track horse race betting establishment in a Fresno strip mall. I put my name up for EVERY GAME IN THE HOUSE (literally every game in the house is pictured above). I got called for the $4/$8 limit game which played with a half kill first and bought in for $200.<p></p><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCJ1hSeOcwbqMLpRWE6Okk0rFWVgTnGfuIMjNJHuvq6fw_CPtVe2yQVSHaM6iHDbaujA3HSWeFRRE3igUQ8WMrIaEzxtyU0kgYj1sfYyZ45u5bO0H7a7ENl-m7DU6c_6vdKvn61ia3EHm7yKHXedWeqhlkXnsWJryn86e-3Q-VtPJCGpwyBqE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCJ1hSeOcwbqMLpRWE6Okk0rFWVgTnGfuIMjNJHuvq6fw_CPtVe2yQVSHaM6iHDbaujA3HSWeFRRE3igUQ8WMrIaEzxtyU0kgYj1sfYyZ45u5bO0H7a7ENl-m7DU6c_6vdKvn61ia3EHm7yKHXedWeqhlkXnsWJryn86e-3Q-VtPJCGpwyBqE=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2 stacks of the lowest society</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It has been a loooong time since I played a game with $1 chips. Surely I must be a massive favorite in the game right? RIGHT? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgg01OJOGfyPQnIYM6n4nAejEjGrhAZdJt6iLJnqSubEL417TvUy6nLG7y8BsAR4dmS16Q7S3Kqzj-4VtrdxCgfubM0y-_MLUlLydlnLm18YIcHZTaoBaO5RxnXN6ayu7BVHYrFHhGEDoBukmhclehbquxza28zn7JO7jmbAes5-X8cwboqRlY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgg01OJOGfyPQnIYM6n4nAejEjGrhAZdJt6iLJnqSubEL417TvUy6nLG7y8BsAR4dmS16Q7S3Kqzj-4VtrdxCgfubM0y-_MLUlLydlnLm18YIcHZTaoBaO5RxnXN6ayu7BVHYrFHhGEDoBukmhclehbquxza28zn7JO7jmbAes5-X8cwboqRlY=w226-h301" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The saddest stack of all time</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>I played for about an hour, lost $140 and began to question what I was doing at the Palace, why I was playing with red $1 chips ($1 chips are never red) and all the decisions in my life that had lead up to this moment. Finally I got called for the no limit game. Actually they called the name right before mine and right after mine and when I inquired I was informed that there was a regular with the same name, they didn't see him in the room and since he's deaf they never actually call him.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6XjRSc1ckVa__5tcL9rGCY4mOZ2sOWfCicNkjysZmZg5NU-BsYRSHesDUwykNBKTbY4auyz1jatoKBWkbgRsKLm_GsZwl1jOOwZPmdzlq59R5RdIMoSvzuLrgH51o4Gr1_niXEhqlTvi9VAy_gqW4DKgC6cT3gYXIPRvpwzJKRDyRLO_zEvM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6XjRSc1ckVa__5tcL9rGCY4mOZ2sOWfCicNkjysZmZg5NU-BsYRSHesDUwykNBKTbY4auyz1jatoKBWkbgRsKLm_GsZwl1jOOwZPmdzlq59R5RdIMoSvzuLrgH51o4Gr1_niXEhqlTvi9VAy_gqW4DKgC6cT3gYXIPRvpwzJKRDyRLO_zEvM=w229-h305" width="229" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The $5 chips are blue and the $100s are orange!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I bought in for $1,060 including my sad stack from $4/$8 which may be the first time I've ever bought in for 500+ big blinds. I played uncapped buy-in $10/$20 at Bellagio once in my hay day, but certainly didn't buy in for $10,000 and can't remember too many other uncapped games. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This game had some goofy straddle rules I've never seen before. On the first hand I played the cutoff put out a $5 straddle and the lojack two to his right put out $10. I was in the big blind and rather than asking WTF was going on, I decided to wait and see. The action started with the under the gun player, bypassed both straddles over to the small blind who made it $20, then the cutoff called and then the lojack called. Surely someone had acted out of turn here right? Nope! A straddle will act last after all of the other action and I guess a double straddle will act after the regular straddler. Furthermore in a normal hand you can't just call the $2 big blind. It's $5 to open. In a single straddled pot it's $10 to open and in a double straddled pot you have to put in $20 to just call. The effect of all of this is the game plays more like a $5 big blind game than a $2 big blind game. The stacks were all between $400 and $1200 with the exception of one guy who had ~$3,000 and no idea what he was doing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The actual hands I played were not all that interesting with one exception. With the $5 straddle on I was in the big blind with T6 suited and 5 people came in for $10. This is a folding spot, but thinking I was closing the action I made a loose call for another $8. Then Mr. 3000 in the straddle made it $40 to go. Gross. I reluctantly put in another $30 in a spot where again I should have just mucked. The flop was amazing - J98 with two clubs giving me an open ender and a flush draw. I'd make a flush or a straight a little more than 50% of the time and was ready to stack off on the flop. I checked over to Mr. 3000 who bet $145 into the pot of $240. Then the next player to act went all in for what turned out to be $180 and it was back to me with a little over $1,000 in my stack. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was a tricky situation. I didn't think that if I called Mr. 3000 would be able to raise again as usually the all in raise needs to be more than half of the original bet (at least a raise of $73 more in this case) in order to reopen the action for the original bettor. But who knows in this goofy place! I thought about asking, but didn't want to ask as it may have given away information about me and my hand. There was also a guy behind me who only had $25 left (who knows why he didn't just get it in preflop for the extra $25). It's not all that often that you have a 15 out draw against effectively two all ins and another guy who is totally bananas and could have anything with fairly deep stacks behind. Between trying to figure out how much was in the pot, whether I should ask about the re-raising possibilities for Mr. 3000, and just the general internal juices flowing from being in this big pot I was feeling the fog of war and not really thinking clearly. While it was certainly possible for me to up against a better flush draw and another straight draw or made straight and be drawing dead to a chop, I decided to just get it in and shoved in my whole stack! The guy with $25 called and Mr. 3000 proudly folded JT face up. The turn was a red 5 and the river was...a 7! The $25 guy flashed AT meaning I was chopping, and then the other guy rolled over QT for the nuts. Bullshit! What a stupid hand! Why did I even write so many words about this dumb hand!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also lost $350 with AA vs T9 on a 984 flop, turn T runout, $100 with AJ vs 33 in an all in preflop spot, and $250 on a raise preflop then big double barrel bluff that didn't work out. The rest of the time I generally just had nothing good happen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In total I lost $1,020 on the session over 4 hours. My $10,000 starting bankroll is at $8,218 after 19 hours.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Despite the loss, this was a great game and I'll probably be back. I'm also been feeling inspired to visit EVERY POKER ROOM IN CALIFORNIA over the next couple of years. I probably won't make it to all of the tiny ones, but expect to see more posts about different places....<span style="font-size: xx-small;">stupid T6 suited</span>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-30195385440995233302022-08-13T10:59:00.000-07:002022-08-13T10:59:39.190-07:00The Devil on My Shoulder at Bay 101<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgT0wIJWkXmGUxPG3EJUWCBz7LCiumSIChnvh_LQij2jX8mh78h24vOLjKw44El0DbFob-1_w5IyGl44TB0ZEuvEWNY81DDbpCE-GKvPpMGwwGQA84QCTpTMyVn9O_k1np5F5-q4s9lcji8ZcsA4vrd838wvnd6R-0Tm-pk1Fw58ODPsuzVVOw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="453" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgT0wIJWkXmGUxPG3EJUWCBz7LCiumSIChnvh_LQij2jX8mh78h24vOLjKw44El0DbFob-1_w5IyGl44TB0ZEuvEWNY81DDbpCE-GKvPpMGwwGQA84QCTpTMyVn9O_k1np5F5-q4s9lcji8ZcsA4vrd838wvnd6R-0Tm-pk1Fw58ODPsuzVVOw=w340-h453" width="340" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Poker is booming in the bay area and going in on Friday often means having to wait as all of the poker tables are full. While waiting for my normal $2/$3/$5 last Friday I managed to get a seat at the limit $8/$16 with a half kill (the stakes go up to $12/$24 for one hand if someone wins two pots in a row). Every player in this game was absolute trash...I'm sorry...every player in this game was HIGHLY recreational trash.</p><p>I couldn't help but think back to my early days when $1/$2 limit hold'em was the smallest game in the house at The Oaks Club, the $3/$6 limit game had a couple of regulars who had read some poker books and played fairly well and the $6/$12 had 2-3 regular players in every game who were solid if not quite good. In my early 20's I would have stayed in this $8/$16 game until my clothes slowly decayed and my beard grew down to the top of my stack. I may have needed to be hospitalized after not sleeping and eating only Mongolian Beef for weeks. It was truly incredible how not a single player had any idea what they were doing at all. After 2 hours of waiting I had 3 stacks of low society (as pictured above) and finally got called for the no limit game.</p><p>Lately I'm needing to remind myself : "BEING PASSIVE DOESN'T WORK IN POKER! BE AGGRESSIVE YOU RECREATIONAL DOOFUS!" There is always the devil on your shoulder telling you to just call or give up and wait for the nuts, but that doesn't work in the long run. </p><p>On my first hand at the $2/$3/$5 game after buying in for $800 I got put to the test. I posted in the cutoff, got dealt KJ off and called after the player to my right raised one limper to $30. The button and limper called and the flop came down QT2 giving me an open ended straight draw. The action checked to me and I bet $75. I could make the argument that betting into 3 opponents as a semibluff is not always smart, but see my all caps reminder above. The button folded, the preflop limper called and the preflop raiser folded as well. Going to the turn heads up we had about $270 in the pot. The turn paired the 2 and my opponent bet out $25! I felt the devil's presence as he whispered "<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hey bro. That's a real nice price for a river card. Why don't you just call and see what happens. Feels real safe to me.</span>" But I went with the angel's recommendation of "CRUSH SKULLS!" and put this dude all in for $400. He folded and I felt good about being aggressive. It works!</p><p>A little later I had changed tables and was back down to a stack of $720 when I got dealt KK under the gun. I made it $20 to go, the small blind called and the big blind made it $120. This is a big raise and felt like a squeeze play to me, but no matter what it was a clear 4 bet spot and I went to $320. The small blind quickly folded, the villain called and the flop came down A55. Gross! With $400 behind and $660 in the pot I would have said I was pot committed as we went to the flop, but then the flop was what it was and my opponent shoved all in. GAH! SO FRUSTRATING! I folded, but later realized this was a big mistake. If my opponent had an ace I don't think he'd play it this way. He seemed like a decent player and I really look like a passive middle aged white guy who is only 4 betting QQ, KK or AA. If he thinks I'm not 4 betting AK (I am) or AQ (I would in this spot) then with an A on the board 80% of my range is under pairs. This is one I wish I had back. </p><p>On the next notable hand I raised Q9 of diamonds to $20 and got one caller. The flop came down QJ2 with one diamond, I bet $20 and got called. The turn was the 8 of diamonds giving me top pair, a gut shot, and a flush draw. I decided to check and my opponent bet out $50. At which point the devil appeared again whispering... "<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bro. Just call. See if you make it. Dude over there looks like he's got KQ to me or even T9. Don't want to mess with T9 do you? Slide in that $50.</span>" Surprisingly the angel made a similar read "LOOKS LIKE KQ AND I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! CRUUUUUUUUSH SKULLLLLLLLLS!" I moved all in for $400 and after thinking for about 10 seconds he mucked. </p><p>I ended up winning $597 on the night over 7 hours. My $10,000 starting bankroll sits at $9,238 after 15 hours.</p><p>My next session which is already in the books was at the very inappropriately named "Palace" in Hayward. It was super weird. More on that soon.</p><p><br /></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-51002569185932846542022-08-07T11:40:00.001-07:002022-08-07T11:40:11.754-07:00Big Pocket Pairs and AK are Garbage!<p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivTtuf1dS5abdy5OlvKSIJ6qeOf3a1ape2799xtYfqAORhoTTDagnTLb73aVuMFpfEdsTEZLuIHlwwhmgpAhitpUW3N8l2G5AOnx3bLSNh4ckKbinQpIxbqSyd2ZzvqgbkY2vYZAvUCXM6x52kmcSy4gAUB-C80Jp96S8XgDF1S8ZJJp9wTwo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivTtuf1dS5abdy5OlvKSIJ6qeOf3a1ape2799xtYfqAORhoTTDagnTLb73aVuMFpfEdsTEZLuIHlwwhmgpAhitpUW3N8l2G5AOnx3bLSNh4ckKbinQpIxbqSyd2ZzvqgbkY2vYZAvUCXM6x52kmcSy4gAUB-C80Jp96S8XgDF1S8ZJJp9wTwo=w278-h371" width="278" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We're even on the session!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After coming back from 9 days away from home with tons of activity I bailed on my plan to plan most Friday's instead opting for a rare Sunday session. I walked into Bay 101 around 11 am and by 11:30 they filled the last empty table in the room with a new $2/$3/$5 game. I bought in for $800 ready to accumulate a huge stack, stay all day and CRUSH SKULLS!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">About 10 minutes in, in a straddled pot, one player called $10 and the next player to act made it $40 to go after starting the hand with $260 in his stack. In the small blind, I looked down at KK (hooray!) and 3 bet to $120. Only the raiser called. Seeing he only had $140 left with ~$250 already in the pot my mind went to "SHOVE ALL FLOPS!" When the flop came out AJ5 I decided to SHOVE ALL FLOPS! My opponent instantly called with A8 and won the pot. Shit! Even though it wouldn't make any difference in this hand, looking back I think a check is better here. If my opponent has an A, I'm just screwed and there's not getting around it. But if he missed he might take a shot at it after I check. The point is KK is garbage and should be folded preflop.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A little later I raised QT of hearts to $35 in another straddled pot. A guy in his 60's or 70's three bet me to $85 out of the big blind and I opted to call. This guy was the classic weak tight older guy and I was pretty sure his entire 3 betting range was pairs JJ+ and AK, but I had position and was getting a good price to call. The flop came down KQ7 with two diamonds and to my surprise he checked. He only had about $225 behind and my first instinct was to just get it all in. But it seemed more likely that he'd flopped a set than missed given my read on his range. I checked back, the turn came down the T of diamonds bringing in the flush draw and making me two pair. Now he checked again. At this point I figured I had the best hand and wanting to protect against another diamond coming I tossed three $100 chips into the pot putting him all in. After some hemming and hawing he mucked black pocket aces face up! The point is AA is garbage and should be folded preflop.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Towards the end of the session I got dealt AK in the cutoff and raised two limpers to $30. The button behind me and the UTG limper called. The flop came down AJ2 with two diamonds and one spade. I bet $45 and only the limper called. My opponent had about $1,500 in front of him and seemed like a solid competent player. The turn was a J which is clearly a bad card for me. After he checked, I checked it back hoping to avoid getting check raise bluffed, lose less vs a J, induce a bluff on the river or otherwise appear weaker than I actually was. Given the turn action, my mind went to "CALL ALL RIVER BETS!" before the last card was dealt. Unfortunately the river was the very shitty 2 of diamonds and my opponent bet $215 into the $190 pot. Gross! This bet should be polarized meaning it's either a flush or better or absolute air. In the moment I was thinking that a full house or a flush would bet $100 trying to get action from an ace, but $215 made no sense. Thinking back later, I couldn't come up with any hands limp preflop, call my flop bet and are total bluffs on the end. Maybe QT or KT of spades? After about 10 seconds I made the call and lost to 54 of diamonds. I think I'm lucky I didn't get check raised on the flop, because we may have gotten it all in if that happens. Anyway, the point is AK is garbage and should be folded preflop.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I put in 4 hours and lost $478. My $10K starting bankroll now sits at $8,641 after 8 hours. WEAK! I did play another session on Friday (the above was from a week ago) and had a better result. I'll post about that session when I get a chance.</div><p></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-90646732648237653522022-07-16T11:45:00.002-07:002022-07-16T11:45:55.248-07:00Hero Calls, Semibluffs and Caveman Brain at Bay 101<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5glfsOmip5AEwV_vtvM3eEd2uBHoeLb95j5Hw4AdsxpVG8P0vfPu_zjphC-gAhObJ7XJPD12zjvVCa6hTWZEydl6TpR7eSW0bYSE3CzFup81xls5dO86grMqgdW0QqR0QN6oHNXethZNDZyaMqsb1pU6fEcpniFBMoo9h3LSkzo-_Qn5vuZE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5glfsOmip5AEwV_vtvM3eEd2uBHoeLb95j5Hw4AdsxpVG8P0vfPu_zjphC-gAhObJ7XJPD12zjvVCa6hTWZEydl6TpR7eSW0bYSE3CzFup81xls5dO86grMqgdW0QqR0QN6oHNXethZNDZyaMqsb1pU6fEcpniFBMoo9h3LSkzo-_Qn5vuZE=w397-h298" width="397" /><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Worst Photo Ever Taken of the Outside of Bay 101</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I walked in to Bay 101 (which you might think is a community college based on the photo above) yesterday with $2,500 in my pocket ready for the first session in my quest to play 250 hours of no limit to fund my 2023 WSOP plans. <p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjD9w1IYBxYuVQ0qtSvB-nQW9Q1GZuBtk685iG61wgtO2DX4TOe_e1vCdDRT-_z6FMrlk0tjz4S99JJauuGThZRNfAFdA9BXOetS-Zb0Sly6MakVJMyRDkRGEcsridRNngd6xNSOkDTnEHX-yziIL6qnyWQPDsRoGU83sZTr4ULst-FlUTviho" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjD9w1IYBxYuVQ0qtSvB-nQW9Q1GZuBtk685iG61wgtO2DX4TOe_e1vCdDRT-_z6FMrlk0tjz4S99JJauuGThZRNfAFdA9BXOetS-Zb0Sly6MakVJMyRDkRGEcsridRNngd6xNSOkDTnEHX-yziIL6qnyWQPDsRoGU83sZTr4ULst-FlUTviho=w260-h347" width="260" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">An Average Photo of the Inside of Bay 101</div><p></p><p>After an hour of waiting to get into a game I bought $500 in $5 chips and ten $100 chips. I sat down with $800 on the table and another $700 in chips in my pocket ready to top off my stack so as to always have the max. I got dealt pocket queens on the first hand! After my raise to $25, we took the flop 4 ways with $100 in the pot. On an A high flop there was a bet and a raise before it got to me, I mucked and my hopes of a massive win on hand #1 were squished.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitlMA-j8cgEL7PDhnEd-Hulxab54RUtFLMeK-xLbNzELL4sFjxyQxgqo2ocseIbAWtoOTD5taYCuvTvM-bn8yE3bFgKfJSoYxNPhmLw15Ki5PESZxcCYP5X487IzrmGz9fqdpITHGRECynigpAzbHpIFakfj0lLFhsDkEg05gKZUoilHVIQ8Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitlMA-j8cgEL7PDhnEd-Hulxab54RUtFLMeK-xLbNzELL4sFjxyQxgqo2ocseIbAWtoOTD5taYCuvTvM-bn8yE3bFgKfJSoYxNPhmLw15Ki5PESZxcCYP5X487IzrmGz9fqdpITHGRECynigpAzbHpIFakfj0lLFhsDkEg05gKZUoilHVIQ8Q=w238-h317" width="238" /></a></div><br />After an hour I was in for a little less than $900 sitting on $875 when my first noteworthy hand came up. I opened black 66 under the gun to $20 and only the big blind called. The flop came down A23 with two hearts and one diamond. My opponent check, called my bet of $25. The turn brought the 5 of diamonds putting another flush draw and a one liner to a straight out there. Now my opponent bet 60.<p></p><p>My opponent has what they call a range advantage here in that he as the big blind has many 4's in his preflop calling range and I as the under the gun preflop raiser should almost never have a 4 here. With this being a great card for my opponent to bluff I decided to make the call. </p><p>The river was the J of clubs and after a slight delay where he looked about to check, my opponent fired out $130. This looked just a little bit big bet size wise for someone trying to get called by an A. With both flush draws bricking out I decided I was getting the right price to bluff catch and made the hero call. My opponent rolled over K2 and I was good! I got an audible "whoa" from another player at the table and feeling great about making the right read here. </p><p>Shortly after I raised J8 of spades to $20 in the cutoff and got called by the button and the big blind. The flop came down KJ9 with two spades and I had the first of a few moments in the session where afterwards I realized my top level conscious brain kind of shut down and caveman brain took over. </p><p>PAIR WITH FLUSH DRAW? GET ALL MONEY IN POT! DON'T CARE WHAT DUMB JERKS HAVE! MONEY IN POT NOW! OOGA BOOGA!</p><p>I bet $45 and only the button called. The turn was the 4 of spades bringing in my flush. Zing! I grabbed a $100 chip off my stack and flipped it into the pot. My opponent instantly snapped three $100 chips in to the pot! </p><p>Normal brain for one second thought, "that looks like a flush, you might be beat here" and was immediately shouted down by caveman brain "NEVER FOLD FLUSH! GRAB CHIPS! PUT IN POT!" My opponent had about $225 left in his stack and what I should have done is slowed down and considered the hands I beat (QT, 99, Ax with the A of spades, KJ) that could be played this way and the hands I lose to (Ax of spades and QT of spades) that could be played this way. Looking back now just getting it in is certainly the right move, but I didn't think it through in the moment. </p><p>I pushed my chips in the pot and my opponent turned over red QT! I thought he was folding and almost showed my hand, but then realized he was still thinking. After about 20 seconds he called drawing dead, the river was the irrelevant 2 of spades, I took down the pot and he took a trip out the front door. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEje3riw5PSi0C3rjp4fO2RCq8zFHs2qBfJkGGNxvkW2cJgEs-bujB9xNde3bmZxxHYQ0WEuySyG7YYwXzJru6uXl3aYvQoU3pwqCUwIfTBRn8Nf35e4YTFFNo3CPPdvhU07ZBq4ZlXCD9VIHYiO3TKg05exzEB-v7Qwu4xsiTQwy-flZkjo3mE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEje3riw5PSi0C3rjp4fO2RCq8zFHs2qBfJkGGNxvkW2cJgEs-bujB9xNde3bmZxxHYQ0WEuySyG7YYwXzJru6uXl3aYvQoU3pwqCUwIfTBRn8Nf35e4YTFFNo3CPPdvhU07ZBq4ZlXCD9VIHYiO3TKg05exzEB-v7Qwu4xsiTQwy-flZkjo3mE=w326-h435" width="326" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sitting on ~$1400 up $500 for the session</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fast forward a little bit and I had been playing for about 4 hours. With the $10 straddle on I called $10 with A9 of spades after 2 calls in front of me. The big blind raised to $50 and we took the flop 4 ways. The flop came down T 8 7 with two diamonds giving me an open ended straight draw. The action checked to me and I thought about betting, but decided that I both don't have enough fold equity and am just a cowardly wuss. The turn brought the A of clubs and the preflop raiser bet out $75. I briefly considered making a big raise, but again went with cowardly wuss move and just called. The river was the J of hearts and I made my straight. Zing! To my surprise the villain fired out $200! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Caveman brain here knows what to do. NO RAISE! EITHER BLUFF OR CHOP OR LOSE! DUMB JERK NEVER CALL MORE WITH BAD HAND! Without thinking about it at all I called $200, my opponent turned over Q9, I showed A9, quickly realized that I'd lost and with great annoyance flipped my cards back over. Boo!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Two hands later again with the $10 straddle on I called with 86 of diamonds after one other call. This hand and the one before were I think the only two times I called preflop and didn't either raise or fold which I'm sure is a better way to play in these spots. Weak! Anyway, the guy who had the Q9 on the last hand made it $50 to go and we took the flop 4 ways again. The flop came down 843 with one diamond, the player to my right checked, I checked, guy to my left checked and the original raiser checked it through. The turn brought the 7 of diamonds which gave me a gut shot straight draw and a flush draw to go with my top pair.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The guy to my right checked again so I was all but sure I had him and the preflop raiser beat with my 8. I bet out $125 into the $200 pot, the guy to my direct left raised to $290, and both other players folded. I started the hand with about $725 and my opponent had me covered by about $50. Normal brain did recall that this guy had folded two pair face up to a big raise earlier so he was capable of folding good hands, but did not take the time to think through the hands that would play this way that I want to raise against. If he also has a flush draw or somehow has 99 or a better 8 a raise is great. Looking back I think all of those hands just call and his raising range is 33, 44, 77, 88, 87 or 65 all of which have me crushed and are never folding. I guess sometimes he is just going apeshit here with a bluff, but probably not for a big bet in a big pot. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Up to this point caveman brain had been totally correct and doing its job of stopping me from overthinking things. In this case normal brain would have been better, but caveman brain took over. PAIR AND FLUSH DRAW AND STRAIGHT DRAW! MONEY IN POT! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I raised all in for about another $400 and my opponent took maybe 10 seconds to make what looked like a somewhat pained call. I showed my hand before the last card was dealt. The river rolled off another 8 which I didn't think really changed things. But then my opponent said "oh damn it! Man that sucks" and some other similar comments. At that point I figured he must have 43 or 74 or 73 and had two pair counter fitted! This was a tremendous development. After about 10 seconds of going on and on (which is a really long time actually) he showed 44 and someone said "you won, you have a full house" and then he said something like "Oh, I thought he had a full house too!"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jesus Christ! I'm losing to this fucking guy who doesn't even know what he has! Serenity now! Serenity now! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can't rule out that someone is totally trolling you with an awful slow roll in a spot like this, but I'm 98% sure this guy did not know he'd won. I told you these games were good right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think if I'd lost that pot without all of the theatrics I might have stayed, but the emotional roller coaster of making a big all in hoping for a fold, getting called, missing all of the draws then thinking I'd won and then not winning was enough to not have me in an ideal mental state. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrniAjpjuZHEXPhAu9wCsfcXqFfnzJ4I3uPh3h_5Kd1s311z9OozyzU0cHJifqxmfUX8gDL6fqmD8_eweNevo-kZ7wnHuMK_cS2eO2n7Q51rrLAiefJ8UxyMGyxNwc2-OE5NP-meL1SgOTgn_Q5u451ZLJFj-iqXOh0akAxbJKkakvHewmxJw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrniAjpjuZHEXPhAu9wCsfcXqFfnzJ4I3uPh3h_5Kd1s311z9OozyzU0cHJifqxmfUX8gDL6fqmD8_eweNevo-kZ7wnHuMK_cS2eO2n7Q51rrLAiefJ8UxyMGyxNwc2-OE5NP-meL1SgOTgn_Q5u451ZLJFj-iqXOh0akAxbJKkakvHewmxJw=w255-h340" width="255" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The remains of my $1,500</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After 4 hours of 250 in the books my $10,000 bankroll is at $9,119. I'm traveling next weekend so my next session won't be for a couple of weeks. </div><br /></div><br /><p></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-46818099227751453362022-07-15T10:14:00.000-07:002022-07-15T10:14:12.232-07:00Funding My 2023 WSOP Plans with No Limit Cash Game Profits<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgy6IBPFNyQbrdZPsF_JvGc4Tv6XZ6HkE52g5u1_4XIPRbeH5shtLNHwVVgCxfGzvdJ5qG0WSas7cTqcW7t0kK15731v8s4-vUp7KT-meFWDiv9b-V-nkpUANn3nMANMNpveA47ZPqMIkk_bpp9xRiJBJnOFvyv9pNjSBLaxyLtJhmXUG8T5NM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgy6IBPFNyQbrdZPsF_JvGc4Tv6XZ6HkE52g5u1_4XIPRbeH5shtLNHwVVgCxfGzvdJ5qG0WSas7cTqcW7t0kK15731v8s4-vUp7KT-meFWDiv9b-V-nkpUANn3nMANMNpveA47ZPqMIkk_bpp9xRiJBJnOFvyv9pNjSBLaxyLtJhmXUG8T5NM=w284-h378" width="284" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anything but hundreds = loser!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> One of my big weaknesses in poker is sweating exactly how much I'm up or down in a given session. Especially if I'm getting close to the end of a session. If I'm ahead $1,050 for example and it's 30 minutes or an hour or even two hours before my preplanned departure time I might rack up my chips to lock up the $1,000+ win. This is stupid bullshit! I know for a fact that the mission is to get in as many hands as possible while in a good state of mind but I'm often mentally weak!<p></p><p>Also problematic when playing sporadically is the losses feeling semi permanent. In my pro poker days if I lost, I knew I'd be back at it the next day and the day after that. In my normal human working days losing $1,500 feels like spending $1,500 on something that sucked. </p><p>A tactic that has always helped me with both of these mindset problems is to set up medium term plan and goals. This helps me to look at each session as a piece of a larger project and not sweat individual session results.</p><p>With that in mind, here is my plan:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>$10,000 starting bankroll</li><li>Play 250 hours of $2/$3/$5 no limit between now and 2023 WSOP</li><li>Set a max loss per session of $2,000</li><li>No max win per session, just play the hours</li><li>Goal of $50 per hour win rate</li><li>Play 2-3 Friday nights and maybe one Sunday per month</li></ul><p></p><p>If you look closely at my photo you'll see it's not $10,000. In fact it's only $2,500 and the 50's and even more so the 20's (gross!) are a sure sign that I'm rolling like a newb. While I do prefer to actually have my bankroll sitting in cash, at 42 years old I'm telling myself to use banks and not be an idiot. </p><p>If I pull this off I'll have $12,500 which should be good for rolling into Vegas for a 9 day Friday to the following Sunday trip with $10,000 in bankroll and $2,500 for expenses (At 42 I'm also too old and too well off to stay at the Flamingo and eat the $6.99 breakfast special). </p><p>I'm expecting to do most of my playing at Bay 101 which may have the best $5 big blind games that have ever consistently existed anywhere. Let me tell you why they're so good.</p><p>1) <b>No small games in the house. </b>Bay 101 has done away with the $3 big blind no limit game meaning the $2/$3/$5 is the smallest game in the house and it has a minimum buy-in of $500 (maximum of $800). Tons of players who would love to play smaller are forced to play larger.</p><p>2)<b> Ton's of money in the area.</b> The San Jose area is loaded with a mix of twenty something software engineers who work at Google or Facebook and retired (but not that old) people who have made money is various startup boom cycles over the last 25 years.</p><p>3) <b>The game often plays with a $10 straddle. </b>Unlike other places I've played where players will agree to an orbit of straddles where everyone puts out the extra $10 for one round, it's common for 2-3 players to put out the $10 straddle and not expect the remaining players to do so. Putting in $10 of total blinds per orbit while some others are putting in $20 is a tremendous advantage to us nits. </p><p>4) <b>The game plays very fast.</b> This is a combination of strong dealers and a player pool with a lot of regulars who don't think too hard about anything but the biggest decisions. We might be getting 25% more hands per hour than you'd get in Vegas.</p><p>5) <b>I see very few pros. </b>A pro level rate of return in a $5 big blind game is generally around $50 an hour. That's a ton of money in most parts of the country, but in the bay area it's not as much and the alternative career opportunities are much stronger than almost anywhere.</p><p>6) <b>There are bigger games in town.</b> Bay 101 runs a $2,000 max buy-in "deep stack" $2/$3/$5 game that always plays with a $10 straddle from every player as well as $5/$5/$10 that is really $5/$5/$10/$20. This draws off the top level players.</p><p>7) <b>Great game selection.</b> It's typical to find 6 or 7 $2/$3/$5 games going at any one time meaning you can table change of any particular game is too tough.</p><p>Anyway, these are great games! My hope is to blog about my Friday night sessions on Sunday mornings. Wish me luck!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /><p></p>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-41171826607178107882022-07-13T14:34:00.001-07:002022-07-13T14:34:50.938-07:002022 WSOP and What's Next for My Poker Life<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjI_ZQYsu_jvPyNap_oYKpol_dIIbWMoM2GrRSPLJx6vKLQ3x7loEGulUWGudaWOKdOH350YjPdjs5tiWhJ7SREsVaQ0kgROKy4IpL0A4IGmAJAdilq0XF8X2-GUQnoRjy3278nE8b6syvipznqlhHRERa142-07ztKoGGhNqdiB_1sCUAf_-0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjI_ZQYsu_jvPyNap_oYKpol_dIIbWMoM2GrRSPLJx6vKLQ3x7loEGulUWGudaWOKdOH350YjPdjs5tiWhJ7SREsVaQ0kgROKy4IpL0A4IGmAJAdilq0XF8X2-GUQnoRjy3278nE8b6syvipznqlhHRERa142-07ztKoGGhNqdiB_1sCUAf_-0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjI_ZQYsu_jvPyNap_oYKpol_dIIbWMoM2GrRSPLJx6vKLQ3x7loEGulUWGudaWOKdOH350YjPdjs5tiWhJ7SREsVaQ0kgROKy4IpL0A4IGmAJAdilq0XF8X2-GUQnoRjy3278nE8b6syvipznqlhHRERa142-07ztKoGGhNqdiB_1sCUAf_-0=w313-h417" width="313" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Look at me winning with AA at the WSOP! Fun!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">From late 2018 to mid 2022 I only played poker a half dozen times at most. But recently I got fired up to play again. Over the past 18 months I've been playing a ton of chess. It's hard and I am not good, but it makes me appreciate how much I know about poker. I still have a lot to learn in poker and I'm not good enough to compete with the top echelon pro players these days, but I can still stomp the faces of recreational players.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I also got the urge to blog again so here we are!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In June I played 3 sessions of $2/$3/$5 with an $800 max buy in at Bay 101 in San Jose. I had a $270 loss, a $340 win and a $2,050 win in 3 roughly 5 hour sessions on Friday nights (my chip stack from the last pictured below). </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiza3EQ_LXNGdBqMO0y-qQiR0Iz1Ct8JYCuovz7Ujhxu4yDnsU5mT7097xmsE8ioFu2i7pPNwQLJ7AFTza6VAP5wDZ4gVg6kTT7GcPaqmzhaJv_uPBbjhJeNYQkfBtua7OpZXI_phmlVVYRmugmppiHFuZ08ofuXlIDWU6vf7WY9txC9P5mCss" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiza3EQ_LXNGdBqMO0y-qQiR0Iz1Ct8JYCuovz7Ujhxu4yDnsU5mT7097xmsE8ioFu2i7pPNwQLJ7AFTza6VAP5wDZ4gVg6kTT7GcPaqmzhaJv_uPBbjhJeNYQkfBtua7OpZXI_phmlVVYRmugmppiHFuZ08ofuXlIDWU6vf7WY9txC9P5mCss=w315-h420" width="315" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div></div><br /></div>With a couple thousand in profit I sold my wife on somewhat short notice trip to Vegas for a long weekend. I fired 3 bullets in the $400 buy-in Colossus and played some cash at the Bellagio as well.<div><br /></div><div>The one highlight hand was getting AA vs AK against the worst, loosest player at my table as shown above. Nothing crazy happened and doubling up early felt great.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPd11vS028fjY5Vd9gL4EkiStRCvEOUObY_8pDUW5v_rXXJZmGehwWdTcmDFRTWBpo3WNjtD5nAiWMTu-LX_V4A7uLHhZecZlTtaxNAhuHcp_lWQA3QFd9OVdze2Ff06E2hJ-TfTLtFX44w2Md0e6D47q1jMmLGTiH49G-mYYPyZmD9uO8S54" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPd11vS028fjY5Vd9gL4EkiStRCvEOUObY_8pDUW5v_rXXJZmGehwWdTcmDFRTWBpo3WNjtD5nAiWMTu-LX_V4A7uLHhZecZlTtaxNAhuHcp_lWQA3QFd9OVdze2Ff06E2hJ-TfTLtFX44w2Md0e6D47q1jMmLGTiH49G-mYYPyZmD9uO8S54=w311-h415" width="311" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The lowlight is shown here. The guy on the right with the words on his shirt who was rationalizing his sus play when this picture was taken, joined our table a few hours in. Before he came the table was a filled exclusively with passive, highly recreational players. </div><div><br /></div><div>Side note: those of us with some class try not to disparage the weaker players these days. While I could say I was playing with fish, donkeys, suckers, pigeons, whales, marks, clowns, and shit for brains low roller ass hats, and be completely accurate, I like the word recreational. As in you "bro, you would not believe how recreational this shit for brains low roller ass hat was."</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, the rationalizing villain seemed decent and was certainly active and aggressive. Factually he was friendly and charming, but I instantly disliked him for no good reason. Maybe it was because he was running crazy good, had his 40K starting stack up to 200K in a couple of hours and I was seething with envy. Who knows?!</div><div><br /></div><div>In the pictured hand, the blinds were 1K/2K with a 2K big blind ante, he raised to 4,500, and I called in the big blind after one other call with T6 of spades. The flop came down A 7 5 all spades! Zing! I checked, the villain bet 6K, the other player folded and I shipped it for 55K. This is a somewhat big over bet, but I thought it made my hand look like a flush draw as opposed to a made flush. My opponent thought for about a minute and called with K of spades, 8 of clubs.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjV8jGtaOZtQsE0o1OrXTrsuQIOUXOK3tfW-OnFpj_qO_apPt9-Bd5-jbdp5M53eVyJJJlg7XTp1rxPZgJzH1-8jHl6e-YKYXLSKxsGI2-WVqH_eldAujclDy_XziTxP-O3RME1S1RsBNYoLtqcKITGNhHZiuRh4Mlm6nn718n1koXjxmSOdvg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="752" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjV8jGtaOZtQsE0o1OrXTrsuQIOUXOK3tfW-OnFpj_qO_apPt9-Bd5-jbdp5M53eVyJJJlg7XTp1rxPZgJzH1-8jHl6e-YKYXLSKxsGI2-WVqH_eldAujclDy_XziTxP-O3RME1S1RsBNYoLtqcKITGNhHZiuRh4Mlm6nn718n1koXjxmSOdvg" width="320" /></a></div><br />The turn was the 4 of hearts, but sadly the river was the Q of spades and that was it. My opponent said he thought I had and ace in which case this is still probably a fold, but I guess not that bad.</div><div><br /></div><div>In my other two bullets I got ground down to under 10 big blinds without ever getting my starting stack more than a few thousand above where it started, both times shoved with Ax and both times ran into pocket aces! Gross! </div><div><br /></div><div>In the lead up to this trip and since I returned I've been following along with some poker vloggers on YouTube and maybe 2 dozen players on twitter. Their excitement is contagious. While my 2022 WSOP is over, I'm already thinking ahead to the 2023 WSOP.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll share my plans for the time between now and then in my next post. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-40961194677927133282018-06-14T15:13:00.001-07:002018-06-14T15:13:28.330-07:002018 WSOP $565 PLO RecapPot Limit Omaha (PLO) is not my best game. Against a good PLO player or in a tough PLO game I'd normally be at a big disadvantage. But I liked my chances just fine in the $565 PLO event at this years WSOP for a few reasons.<br />
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First off, the dynamics of managing a tournament and sensing strength or weakness cross over from game to game. Secondly, I had the mindset that this was a minor part of my schedule so I was feeling zero fear of going for it when needed. Thirdly the players I faced generally fell into three categories that were a function of the fact that this was an official WSOP event that allowed for unlimited reentries - 1) Not good PLO players who were just playing because it was the only event starting that day 2) Good PLO players taking big risks early planning to reenter as many times as needed to build a healthy stack 3) Decent PLO players for whom this event was a big deal who were only willing to enter once. Almost everyone fell into one of these buckets.<br />
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My challenge was to sort out who was who and then exploit the weakness in each of these types of players. The first two types will end up calling to raising too much with middling strength hands and the last group will fold too much and play too passively.<br />
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As we were first sitting down there were only 3 people at the table and one guy asked what would happen if he waited a while for more people to arrive before playing (answer - your stack gets blinded off). I put him in category #3. Other guys when they came to our table mentioned how many times they'd bought in already (i.e. "This is bullet number 3 for me") I usually put them in category 2.<br />
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Another big clue was - "Is this guy from Europe?" PLO is much more common in Europe, they can play online which means they probably have more experience and if you're traveling to Vegas from Europe it's much more likely that you're a serious player than if you drove out for the weekend from L.A.<br />
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Eventually there were 2,419 entries with a first place prize of $181,790 and the top 363 finishing in the money. We started with 5,000 chips, blinds of 25/50 and the levels increasing every 30 minutes planning to play 18 levels on Day 1.<br />
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I ended up re-entering one time after going nowhere this my first bullet. After getting a run of garbage hands for the first couple of hours I was down to about 3,000 chips when I got dealt AK99 with K9 of spades which was the best hands I'd seen all day. The cutoff raised to 500, the button called and I was in the perfect spot for a squeeze in the big blind. I raised pot, the cutoff went all in with KJT3 with two hears and the other guy folded. I was a 55/45 favorite preflop, after a flop of Q76 with one spade I was 72% to win and after a turn of the 3 of spades I was 80% to win, but the river was a red jack and that was it.<br />
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I re-entered and I was sent to a new table with a fresh stack of 5,000 chips. At my new table the person who stood out was 2010 Main Event winner and 3 time bracelet winner Jonathan Duhamel. He was the 9th different world champion that I've played against which I think is pretty cool and he ended up finishing 6th in this event. A little later Barry Greenstein who has at least one PLO bracelet joined our table as well.<br />
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My first big hand came up with blinds of 200/400. I got dealt AQT2 with the AT of spades, raised to 1,400, someone went all in for 2,250, another player cold called and I called the extra 850. I only had 1,500 left and my plan was to shove almost all flops as I was basically pot committed. To my delight the flop came down Q92 all spades meaning I had the nuts. I didn't see much point it checking so I just shipped it, the other player folded and I help up against the all in. Now I had 8,300 chips.<br />
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A couple hands later I raised QQJ7 double suited with spades and hearts to 1,400 from the cutoff and got called by the button and the big blind. The flop came down JT2 with one spade and two diamonds. This is where a good PLO player would know if this was and obvious time to bet, a good time to check or in between. I wasn't sure, but my thinking in the moment was I'd be ahead of a flush draw or straight draw unless it was a big wrap like KQ87, I'd have some backdoor flush and straight equity against TT or JT and since I had a J in my hand JJ was much less likely. I ended up going for it and bet the pot which was 4,200. I got called by the button and the turn came out the 4 of diamonds. This was a dreadful card and I was now drawing dead to a flush and that was a highly likely hand for him to have. But with 12,600 in the pot and only 1,900 left in my stack I fired it all in. My opponent called and flipped over AQ95 which was a bare straight draw. The river was a 7 and I was up to about 17K.<br />
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In the next big hand I made a read, trusted it and was right. I was in the big blind with AKJ7 with KJ of diamonds, two early position players just called and the small blind came along as well. This hand might warrant a raise here, but I'm not sure. Anyway the flop came down A74, rainbow with one diamond. I bet out 2,000 with top two pair and the first limper raised me to 6,000 with about 1,900 left. I stopped to think about what my opponent could have. If he had AA in his hand he'd likely have raised preflop. There aren't too many hands with 44 or 77 in them that are playable from early position. There was not a possible flush draw. What I was left with was he must have some kind of straight draw. I thought it was probably something like 4567 or AK65. After about 45 seconds I put him all in and he turned over 5678. With his wrap straight draw vs my two pair we were almost exactly 50/50. The turn was a 3! No! The river was an A! Hooray! Now I was up to 26,000 and feeling like no matter what re-entering was a good idea.<br />
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In the next hand there was only one way to go. I had AAKT with the KT of hearts (which is a premium hand) and 23K in my stack. I raised in the cutoff to 2,100 and the button raised to 7,200. In PLO a hand with AA will be favored against any hand that does not have AA in it, and not only that but I had a good hand with AA in it. When it got back to me I paused for 10 seconds, said "Pot" meaning I wanted to raise the max and we both put all of our chips in. My opponent who had me covered by a couple thousand chips turned over AA75 with the A5 of hearts. I assumed that I would be ahead here as we both have AA and I had KT compared to his 75, but it turns out that we're 55.3% to chop, I'm 17.9% to win and he's 26.8% to win. I guess the ability of 75 to make straights and him having me dominated in hearts is a big deal. Anyway the flop came out 644 with two hearts which made me want to puke. I was now less than 1% to win and 48% to chop. The turn was the 8 of hearts meaning I needed a 4 on the river to chop, but instead it was a brick and I was out.<br />
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It's never fun to get busted with a strong hand, but I'm glad I was 100% sure what to do on this one and not left with any regrets or doubts.<br />
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<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-64133734838023171782018-06-08T09:46:00.001-07:002018-06-08T09:46:21.504-07:00HORSE Day 2 RecapIt was a short torturous Day 2 for me ending 45 minutes in after a couple of diabolical Razz hands. As expected I was pissed and not in the best mindset to late register for a $1500 short handed event. On to $565 PLO which is a reentry event. I may fire 2 bullets at this one if needed.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-14362209296322344282018-06-07T10:15:00.001-07:002018-06-07T10:15:56.572-07:002018 WSOP $1,500 HORSE - Ups, Downs and Playing With Phil IveyWhen I play back these tournaments in my head it's all about the hands, but I don't think I have any Stud or Razz enthusiasts reading so I'll keep the hand recaps to a minimum and focus on the broader picture. <div>
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We started with 7,500 chips, 60 minute levels with a 20 minute break after ever other level and a 75 minute dinner break after level 6 with Day 1 ending after level 10. Also worth noting is we switched from one game to the next in the HORSE mix every 8 hands.</div>
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I got off to a shitty start and was down under 5,000 chips in the final minutes of the second level. I won the last hand of the level which got me even, but at the start of level 3 took a dip down to about 4,000 chips. At this point I started thinking about what I might do with the rest of my day after an early bust out. </div>
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The table I was on was in the middle of a group of 15 tables and every now and then I'd stretch my legs and look around. Looking at the other players it was like I was playing a game of "Is this person someone from the bay area, a poker celebrity or just a random dude." There was Phil Helmuth who was unmistakeable, a guy who looked like someone I know from the Oaks, but upon closer inspection was not anyway I knew and a guy I knew from somewhere who I finally realized was multiple bracelet winner Barry Greenstein. I saw Chuck from Bay 101 and I saw 2005 Main Event Champ Greg Raymer. I saw online legend Jon Turner and some dude who was no one. I realized in that 15 table group there were (at least) 3 guys who had written poker books that I had read.</div>
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But the field was pretty soft. HORSE is not a game for the new school crushers and there were loads of passive old dudes in the mix as well. </div>
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My luck turned around in level 3 and 4 and my 4,000 chips stack quickly ballooned to 16,900 by the second break. I made some hands, but also I did a great job of running over the weaker players. Some guys bail in the stud games if they catch one bad card or when I catch one good one. If you lean on them at all they fold way more than they should. </div>
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After coming back from that break they stopped all of the tournament action in the room to award a WSOP Bracelet to a recent winner. He was from France so they played the French national anthem and his wife and friends joined him up on stage and he gave a little speech! I thought that was cool. Here is a terrible picture of that:</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OtAe0E5UHV0/WxleL1b180I/AAAAAAAAAdc/foatWglf-lQdT8eKZVYmTCmbSN8gPTOjACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OtAe0E5UHV0/WxleL1b180I/AAAAAAAAAdc/foatWglf-lQdT8eKZVYmTCmbSN8gPTOjACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4221.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I continued to play well and run well and by the dinner break I was up to about 24,000 coming back to stakes of 400/800. This was a comfortable stack and in my mind I thought about it like playing a $20/$40 cash game with $1,200 which is something I can relate to and I know is plenty to work with. I had a Smash Burger for dinner which hit the spot and then went and sat by the pool for 10 minutes. That felt amazing and is going to be a dinner break habit.</div>
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Levels 7 and 8 felt like they did not go well, but when I counted down my chips I still had 22,800.</div>
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After another break we came back at about 9:30 pm, to start level 9. Registration was open for 8 levels or technically to the start of level 9 and a few people took advantage of that. One of those people was Phil Ivey and he got seated at my table! Phil has been almost without argument considered one of the top 4 or 5 poker players in the world for the 15-20 years. He's crushed at the biggest tournaments, the biggest online games and the biggest cash games year after year winning tens of millions of dollars.</div>
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Anyway, he still got the same 7,500 chip stack that we all started with which was pretty short at this point. He had his headphones on and didn't say a word other than to ask how much longer we'd be playing that day and one hoarse whisper of "raise." Some guy came over to talk to him that seemed like a friend and he responded with a look. Another sentence from the guy got a different look. A third sentence and a third look, but no words and the guy was off. </div>
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I won a nice pot right after he arrived and was up to 30,000 chips and feeling great. But then things turned south for us both. Phil only won one small pot in Hold'em and half an Omaha pot in the 67 minutes he was at our table before busting. Poker News reporters were camped around out table to cover all of the totally unexciting action.</div>
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Briefly worth noting is that 2012 Main Event runner up (who won $5.2M for the effort) Jesse Silvia was at our table for a couple of hours, also short stacked, and who also went busto fairly quickly. </div>
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Anyway, I went down the toilet big time in the last level. The stretch that sticks with me is when I had a couple of hands in the stud hi-lo where I had a low draw and a flush draw and bricked out on both and on one of those I also had a straight draw and even pairing two of my cards would have been good for the high half of the pot. It was frustrating to have my worst run outs in the biggest level of the day.</div>
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But I did survive to Day 2. I only have 9,100 chips left, but I'm still in it with a chance. 256 players of the 731 entrants made it through Day 1. The chip leader has 98,600 and I'm in 173rd which is better than I might have expected. If i make it to 110th that will pay $2,253 and if I turn things around first place is $202,787. Level 11 is 1000/2000 so I've got enough for about one big hand and will need help early. We redrew tables for the next day so I'll have new slate of opponents.</div>
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Also of note, it's very unlikely that I will the play the No Limit 6 Max event today. I could register late if I bust in the HORSE, but after busting in any tournament you're not in a great mindset and I played a long ass day yesterday so I think my next event will be Friday's PLO.</div>
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Also of note, if you've never see what they do with our chips overnight, it's kind of interesting. You put your name, table number and seat number on this taper evident bag.</div>
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The give you this little carbon copy form that has your day 2 table and seat and creates 3 copies - one to go in the bag, one to go to the dealer and one that you keep.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-APzOB0MevxE/WxleMgsnDdI/AAAAAAAAAdg/A4vkTV748m49O-nYKdqmaJjaWQfMWUQzACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-APzOB0MevxE/WxleMgsnDdI/AAAAAAAAAdg/A4vkTV748m49O-nYKdqmaJjaWQfMWUQzACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4229.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-icqd2Uisjbc/WxleMwLOboI/AAAAAAAAAdk/BGyXMb9F7LIqclTD7Hhh3ksq8kSpIJHYACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-icqd2Uisjbc/WxleMwLOboI/AAAAAAAAAdk/BGyXMb9F7LIqclTD7Hhh3ksq8kSpIJHYACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4230.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Then the dealer collects all the bags.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2_o-zcxIpyw/WxleNIH4P1I/AAAAAAAAAdo/OlL-ezv4uKAa92AyRoqrCLlr8G8nNG1zgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2_o-zcxIpyw/WxleNIH4P1I/AAAAAAAAAdo/OlL-ezv4uKAa92AyRoqrCLlr8G8nNG1zgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4231.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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And each one of these orange bags is for Day 2 table. </div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UIZa5i70bUs/WxleNZ7-LcI/AAAAAAAAAds/60Q2Yvr7tkYU8oZxwWF6zgaVNkweHC5BgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UIZa5i70bUs/WxleNZ7-LcI/AAAAAAAAAds/60Q2Yvr7tkYU8oZxwWF6zgaVNkweHC5BgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4232.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Lastly the proper way to celebrate making day 2 without actually making they money is not with Champagne, but with a tall boy of The Champagne of Beers. On to Day 2!</div>
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Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-37368410100031969252018-06-06T09:55:00.000-07:002018-06-06T09:55:03.681-07:002018 WSOP Photos and Getting Juiced Up to Play PokerI landed in Vegas at 7:30 Tuesday and by about 8:45 I was checked in to the Rio, registered for the HORSE and eating some fajitas at "Guy Fieri's El Burro Borracho." This restaurant used to be Buzzios which was a fine dining seafood restaurant with great lobster and my favorite place to eat at the Rio. The entire Rio seems to have taken similar step down. When I first stayed here 16 years ago it was 10 years old and if not in the top echelon it was in the next tier. Now it feels like the Guy Fieri of Vegas hotels.<br />
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The poker and the WSOP in general have gone in the other direction. The logistics of this operation are mind boggling. Today there two bracelet events starting, but also two Day 2's, a Day 3 and a Day 4 of previous events along with four one day tournaments (that have no prestige and $200-$300 buy ins) and two mega satellites. That's 12 tournaments with hundreds or thousands of entrants where people need to show ID and their players club card to register and get paid out and get served drinks and if anything doesn't run smoothly there will be loud bitching.<br />
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I managed to keep the discipline in place and was sober and in my room by 9:30 without having bet on anything. I got 9 hours of sleep and woke up feeling about as good as I ever have after a night in Vegas. I'm sure the discipline will crack at some point, but for now I'm in tip top shape.<br />
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Now, pictures!<br />
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The first thing you see as you walk toward the WSOP area. Get juiced up!<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0dyWnPiFim0/WxgNG6zVpmI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/0gSW8rirwNcAG7Pu8HPeoHe-feLTz9CowCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0dyWnPiFim0/WxgNG6zVpmI/AAAAAAAAAcQ/0gSW8rirwNcAG7Pu8HPeoHe-feLTz9CowCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4204.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking through that door the tables look like they go off to infinity. If you can look at this in person and not get even more juiced up about playing poker, you do not have a pulse.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VwI8Iwr5G6Y/WxgNG8QoTTI/AAAAAAAAAcM/XYvNACwk6v0CxKksr6ZhugbzWynHCbPegCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VwI8Iwr5G6Y/WxgNG8QoTTI/AAAAAAAAAcM/XYvNACwk6v0CxKksr6ZhugbzWynHCbPegCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4205.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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They are clearly promoting certain tournaments and those will be the ones with the biggest and softest fields.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j7uuTIMEMek/WxgNHs8K3zI/AAAAAAAAAcU/jeV4KtAMb6IhJ3jVn121y9somfR873M_wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j7uuTIMEMek/WxgNHs8K3zI/AAAAAAAAAcU/jeV4KtAMb6IhJ3jVn121y9somfR873M_wCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4206.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This is 'The Kings Room" where they are playing the bigger cash games. They had some $50/$100 and $75/$150 HORSE and Omaha games going in there, but no super big no limit games or real nose bleed games. Not too busy on a Tuesday night, but pretty plush looking.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KaAlD0-IYvo/WxgNH6_hr3I/AAAAAAAAAcY/dPqkw6x1ojwhI8AE_aGMREdz3tpnhSaTgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KaAlD0-IYvo/WxgNH6_hr3I/AAAAAAAAAcY/dPqkw6x1ojwhI8AE_aGMREdz3tpnhSaTgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4207.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is part of the Brasilia room where I will be playing in a hour or two.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k3Eil3XWNAI/WxgNHygktfI/AAAAAAAAAcc/WziGmR088pEfhyP9yZFBDhlGU5dqyyf4gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k3Eil3XWNAI/WxgNHygktfI/AAAAAAAAAcc/WziGmR088pEfhyP9yZFBDhlGU5dqyyf4gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4208.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is half of the Amazon Room. The entire WSOP - the bracelet events, satellites, daily tournaments, cash games, and the cashier were all in this one room the first year I was here in 2005.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7KxIaqxKmw/WxgNH_gHrkI/AAAAAAAAAcg/kT4jzi8OKT0HTnw-xEc1_CwDW0mN6WBSACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7KxIaqxKmw/WxgNH_gHrkI/AAAAAAAAAcg/kT4jzi8OKT0HTnw-xEc1_CwDW0mN6WBSACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4209.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is the other half of the Amazon Room with the featured table set in the middle.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cFFS0vJSzrU/WxgNILgUOII/AAAAAAAAAck/DPhTS4ST7RsE9qv5dzj5ItT6xTwModp1ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cFFS0vJSzrU/WxgNILgUOII/AAAAAAAAAck/DPhTS4ST7RsE9qv5dzj5ItT6xTwModp1ACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4210.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a closer look at the featured table set. If you watch any live streams on twitch or eventually on ESPN this is where that all takes place. If you look closely you can see the stands for fans in the back which are only big enough to hold maybe 100 people. How cool would it be to play on that table! JUICED UP!</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kIscTg9_T7M/WxgNIl1XGLI/AAAAAAAAAco/_UpoOIyS-wE_vHyZlMLcyy0vvC6EnVusgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kIscTg9_T7M/WxgNIl1XGLI/AAAAAAAAAco/_UpoOIyS-wE_vHyZlMLcyy0vvC6EnVusgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4211.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another picture of me looking like a chump taking photos with the WSOP backgrounds.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IwPxxEI15rI/WxgNIwYX3sI/AAAAAAAAAcs/VMthfuHUjO4ZZaeFgXMxOX805sAC4vyOACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="481" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IwPxxEI15rI/WxgNIwYX3sI/AAAAAAAAAcs/VMthfuHUjO4ZZaeFgXMxOX805sAC4vyOACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4213.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This is the biggest room of tables. There are hundreds of tables in here. This picture does not do it justice.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XfV9ZbY06Vg/WxgNJCDWQUI/AAAAAAAAAcw/_EZo2B8FudAt4YrhRhwHoRSO7jWJozA3gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XfV9ZbY06Vg/WxgNJCDWQUI/AAAAAAAAAcw/_EZo2B8FudAt4YrhRhwHoRSO7jWJozA3gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4214.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is another stage with a poker table on it. Not sure what they use this for exactly. Maybe when two final tables are going off concurrently?</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LkRV17bYe4w/WxgNJGc6P4I/AAAAAAAAAc0/26pgwMLqPC4BLmM-AWZrxV6rhR1ZWJP_gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LkRV17bYe4w/WxgNJGc6P4I/AAAAAAAAAc0/26pgwMLqPC4BLmM-AWZrxV6rhR1ZWJP_gCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_4215.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And now, it's go time!</div>
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<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-40441269443150233952018-06-05T14:48:00.000-07:002018-06-05T14:48:25.850-07:00My 2018 WSOP ScheduleI'm off to Vegas today for the 8th lifetime visit to the World Series of Poker! I played 1 event in 2015, but this is my first real shot at it since 2010. The 2018 WSOP consists of 78 events with buy ins ranging from $365 to $1,000,000 going off at the Rio over the course of 7 weeks. I'll be rolling in to town with a five figure bankroll in my pocket planning to play 4 or 5 official WSOP events over the course of about a week and possibly one or two of the hundreds of other side tournaments taking place all over town.<br />
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I'll be posting pictures, recaps, results and stories on this blog daily.<br />
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Here are the events I'm playing and how they shaped up last year.<br />
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Wednesday June 5th - $1,500 HORSE<br />
2017 Entrants: 736<br />
2017 Prize Pool: $993,600<br />
2017 First Place: $203,709<br />
2017 Place needed to cash for $10,000: 12th place paid $11,193<br />
2017 Money Bubble: 111th place paid $2,247, 112th or worse paid $0<br />
Additional info: HORSE is a mix of 5 different games: (H)old'em, (O)maha Hi-Lo split, (R)azz, 7 Card (S)tud and 7 Card Stud (E)ight or Better. I made the money in the $3,000 HORSE event at the WSOP in 2009 finishing 27th of 489 which is my best WSOP finish and my second biggest cash ever was in a $1,000 HORSE tournament when I finished 4th of 445.<br />
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Thursday June 6th - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em 6 handed<br />
2017 Entrants: 1,748<br />
2017 Prize Pool: $2,359,800<br />
2017 First Place: $393,273<br />
2017 Place needed to cash for $10,000: 36th place paid $10,074<br />
2017 Money Bubble: 263rd place paid $2,247, 264th or worse paid $0<br />
Additional info: Playing 6 handed games was my specialty when I was an online poker pro so I'm hoping to have a nice edge. Getting a good table draw will be huge in this event as it's easier to crush weaker players short handed and harder to stay out of the way of the strong players.<br />
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Friday June 7th - $565 Pot Limit Omaha<br />
2017 Entrants: 3,186<br />
2017 Prize Pool: $1,593,000<br />
2017 First Place: $224,344<br />
2017 Place needed to cash for $10,000: 15th place paid $11,754<br />
2017 Money Bubble: 479rd place paid $831, 480th or worse paid $0<br />
Additional info: I've never played a PLO tournament at the WSOP and never played PLO in person, but I played maybe 100 PLO tournaments online between 2006-2010 and the low buy in is likely to attract a soft field. This one will be a crapshoot!<br />
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Saturday June 8th - $1,500 "Millionaire Maker" No Limit Hold'em<br />
2017 Entrants: 7,761<br />
2017 Prize Pool: $10,477,350<br />
2017 First Place: $1,221,407<br />
2017 Place needed to cash for $10,000: 90th place paid $11,079<br />
2017 Money Bubble: 1,165th place paid $2,249, 1,166th or worse paid $0<br />
Additional info: This is my main event! 1st place is guaranteed to be over $1,000,000 and that attracts a ton of amateurs and total novices from all over the country.<br />
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Sunday June 9th - $1,500 "Millionaire Maker" No Limit Hold'em Take 2!<br />
Additional info: This event has two day #1's with the remaining players combining on Monday June 10th, but if you don't clear Day 1 on Saturday you can try again on Sunday.<br />
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The first 3 are 3 days tournaments where on the first day we'll play about to the money bubble (i.e. about 15% of players will clear the first day), on the second day we'll plan down to the final table (i.e. the top 8 or 9), and on the third day we'll play down to a winner. The last one is a 4 day tournament (5 days if you count each day 1 as it's own day).<br />
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I have 3 goals for this year: Strike First! Strike Hard! No Mercy!<br />
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<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-60051952690323528182018-05-21T21:17:00.002-07:002018-05-21T21:21:20.724-07:00Project Phaser: Phase 3.5 ($550 No Limit Turbo) The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale ImprovesOn Friday we started with 20,000 in chips, but a turbo structure of 15 minute limits that projected to have the tournament completed in 5 or 6 hours. 121 people put up the $550 buy in, the top 16 spots paid with 16th being $1,180 and 1st place being $17,000.<br />
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My table was filled with talkers. The guy to my left referred to the tournament buy in as "The Ante" and seemed highly confused, while the guy to my right mentioned that he was going to be in Vegas for the first 3 weeks of the World Series of Poker. Two other guys were talking about the World Series of Poker and their past experience there, but from the specific stories they told it made it clear that they were recreational players.<br />
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In normal life I'd LOVE to share WSOP stories. I have a lot of them and enjoy hearing other people stories. I'm also proud of my poker accomplishments. But I didn't want to give these guys any clues about me and I had the discipline to keep my mouth shut about myself and my history.<br />
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I got into a pot with Mr. Confused in the first level that could have been a big deal. With blinds of 100/100 we were both in the blinds and checked our options. I had J6 in the small blind, flopped two pair on a J 6 8 flop. I bet out 200 and got called. The turn was a 3 and I bet 500 into the 600 chip pot. Again my opponent called. The river was a 4 and I checked hoping to induce a bluff. Like clockwork my opponent bet out 1,200, I called and took it down against J3 which was also two pair. The villain probably should have raised the turn and I probably should have raised the river, but it was a fine pot for that level.<br />
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And that was the only hand that was worth noting in the first 5 levels. Coming back from break I had 15K with the blinds at 300/500 with a 500 big blind ante.<br />
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About 25 minutes later without much of story to it, I got ground down to 10,300 and with blinds of 300/600 I looked down at 55 in the cutoff. If I had 10 big blinds or less this is a clear shove, but with 17 big blinds going all in here is a little excessive. Although I told myself I'd rather go out guns blazing and take a chance when a double up would put me back to decent shape than to wait too long, get blinded off and need multiple breaks to get back in it. With that said, I ripped it!<br />
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Sadly the small blind quickly moved all in as well and had QQ. Luckily I had her covered by 2,600 so I was still alive when I didn't find a 5.<br />
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A few hands later I went all in for 2,600 with T9 and took down the blinds uncontested. I folded everything until I was in the small blind where I got dealt K5 of diamonds. One player had called in middle position, I called and the big blind checked his option. The flop came down 993 with one diamond and it checked around. The tun was an interesting card, the 3 of diamonds. There was 2400 in the pot and I had 2,300 left. With some chance I actually had the best hand and drawing pretty live if I got called by a hand like A high or 77, I moved all in. The middle position player quickly called me and to my delight he turned over JT of diamonds. The river was the Q of diamonds and now I was up to 7K.<br />
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On the next hand the same guy just called preflop and I looked down at A8 on the button. Since I'd just seen him limp with JT of diamonds I assumed he probably had something similar. With 11 or 12 big blinds this was a good time to go for it, so I shipped it, and the big blind moved all in with QQ over the top. ACK! Why do these damn blinds keep waking up with QQ?<br />
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I didn't hit an ace and that was it.<br />
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Going out with Ax vs a big pair has been a common theme in Project Phaser. Based on my results you'd think that A8 had like a 5% chance to beat QQ, but it's 29%! And 55 is in deep shit against QQ, but it's still 19% to win.<br />
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My next big thing is the mother fuckin' World Series of Poker! Whoop whoop! My first day of play will be on June 6th, but I do have 7 days of cash games planned between now and then and am hoping to find a day to crank out about 15 small online poker tournaments so I expect to post a couple of times between now and then.<br />
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My $10,000 starting bankroll is now at $9,630.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-54310322445129912522018-05-20T12:37:00.001-07:002018-05-20T12:37:08.396-07:00Project Phaser: Phase 3.4 ($350 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo) The Torture ChamberBefore I get into today's post and word on Omaha Hi-Lo. Skip it if you know how to play Omaha.<br />
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In Omaha each player is dealt 4 cards instead of 2 and you must use EXACTLY 2 cards from your hand and EXACTLY 3 cards from the board to make your hand (in hold'em you can use 0, 1 or 2 cards from your hand and 5, 4 or 3 from the board). In Omaha Hi-Lo the highest hand and the lowest hand split the pot, but in order to make a low you have to be able to make a 5 card hand with 5 cards of different rank 8 and below. If there is no low hand the high hand gets the entire pot. Aces are both the highest card and the lowest card making them very powerful and you can use the same cards or different cards for the high hand and low hand. The best starting hand is AA23 with A2 of the same suit and A3 of the same suit, but generally any hand with A2 or A3 in it is good as you can make a really strong low hand and hope to back into some kind of high hand. Aces are great, low cards are good, high cards are OK and middling cards like 6,7,8,9 are total garbage. Also this game is usually played fixed limit meaning you can't just bet all of your chips, there are set amounts that you can bet or raise (equal to the one big blind before the flop and on the flop, and 2 big blinds on the turn or river). Boom! That's Omaha Hi-Lo.<br />
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Now on to the actual tournament!<br />
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We started with 85 players each getting 10,000 in chips and blinds of 25/50 and I found myself at a great table.<br />
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But before I get to the tournament a word on word choice. There are a ton of common phrases for bad player such as: fish, donkeys (or just donks if you prefer!), suckers, chumps, clowns, rubes and so on. The classy thing to do is to call them recreational players, because after all no one is born knowing how to play poker and losing players are there to have fun. I think this is the right thing to do and I try to use this most respectful term whenever I can.<br />
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With that said, these chumps were HIGHLY recreational. Donks don't get more recreational than these clowns!<br />
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The guy two to my right did not fold a single hand preflop. Not one! On the second or third hand he got to showdown and I saw him turn over 9864 and I was like "Recreational Player Alert!" Then another guy raised what turned out to be J844 under the gun. The other players were not much better!<br />
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I wanted to play this tournament because tournament players don't get to play much Omaha and Omaha players don't get to play many tournaments. I've played some number in the hundreds of hours of Omaha, thousands and thousands of tournaments and some poker stuff translates across all games. But I was worried that I might run into some Omaha specialists. Nope! Every singe player at the table did something that was categorically unjustifiable.<br />
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I got garbage for 45 minutes and then I finally found a good hand. I came in raising with A25T with the A5 of spades, two players called and Mr. Never Fold 3 bet it with KQJ8, I 4 bet it and we took the flop 4 ways. The flop came down K43 with the 43 of spades. This meant I had the nut low draw, the nut flush draw, and an A, 2 or 5 would make me a straight. Mr. Never fold had a pair of kings, no low draw, no spade draw and no clue. I bet, he raised, I reraised and he 4 bet it (4 bets is a cap meaning I couldn't raise again). I should point out that no one who has played Omaha for more than a couple of hours would even call the flop here let alone go balls to the wall in a multiway pot.<br />
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We took the turn 3 way and it came out a red Q. Now I needed an 8,7,6,5,2 or A to make the nut low plus 7 of the spades and 3 other jacks to make the nut high. Mr. Never Fold bet, I made a questionable raise, the other guy called and it came back to me at 3 bets. I just called and the river came out an 8. I made the nut low, but I had no high so when Mr. Never Fold bet, I just called, the other guy called and I got half the pot.<br />
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In the second hour of play the torture really started. Keep in mind that every hand has been going down like the above where Mr. Never Fold and many others are WAY over playing their hands. In the course of 5 hands at 100/200 blinds I got dealt a hand with an A2, and two with A3 suited and I just totally bricked out. This is kind of the equivalent of getting an AK and pocket jacks twice and losing them all, but it's worse because it's a split pot game. Missing out on high and low 3 times with really strong hands was rough.<br />
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In the first two hours I won two half pots and that's it.<br />
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A little later at the 200/400 blinds level I get dealt AQJ8 with the QJ of diamonds in the big blind and call a raise to 800 5 ways. The flop comes down K99 with one diamond and it checks around. The turn brings out the A of diamonds giving me a gut shot, top pair and a Q high flush draw. It checks around to Mr. Never Fold who bets and I call. Under normal conditions you'd never call with the #2 flush draw on a paired board in a 5 way pot, but I knew none of these clowns was checking a 9 or KK on that flop or AA on that turn and Mr. Never Fold could have anything. The preflop raiser also called.<br />
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It turns out I was up against QQJ6 that had raised preflop (THIS IS SO TERRIBLE!), and AJ85 from Mr. Never Fold. If you look at the board of K99A what do they need to hit to win? This is an astoundingly rare spot where I have two players drawing almost totally dead with a really marginal hand. The raiser needs the last queen or two 9's to scoop and a non diamond T to chop. Mr. Never Fold has no outs.<br />
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The river came out a T which I thought was a good card and I got half the pot, but when the cards got turned over I was like "WHAT THE FUCK! HOW IS QQJ6 OVER CALLING THE TURN! CAN I GET A CLEAN RIVER ONE TIME! THIS IS TORTURE!"<br />
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And that was one of my good hands.<br />
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On my final hand I got a free look in the 600 chip big blind with KQ73 with the Q3 of spades. The flop came down Q72 with two spades giving me top two pair and a flush draw. I bet out and stack off for 4 bets on the flop and one bet on the turn with AQ84. On the flop I'm 79% to win the high, 25% to scoop and 5% to win the low, but the turn was an A and the river was a 9 and that was it.<br />
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Torture!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">My $10,000 starting bankroll is now at $10,180.</span><br />
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<br />Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-28178070187456390872018-05-16T20:03:00.001-07:002018-05-16T20:03:30.621-07:00Project Phaser: Phase 3.3 (Another Bay 101 $350) Good ReadsI was back at it today at Bay 101 with 10,000 chips and back to the same structure from Monday. As you may recall yesterday's event was billed as the Monster Stack with 25,000 chips! I would call this Monster Bull Shit!<br />
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The Monster Stack actually had less play in it than the regular stack. For example, in level 3 today the blinds were 50/100 with a 100 big blind ante, while yesterday level 3 was 200/300 with a 300 ante. A cost of 250 chips a round vs 800 a round (more than 3X as big) and starting stacks of 10K and 25K (2.5X as big). They could start us with a billion chips, but if the blinds are 50,000,000/100,000,000 it's still 100 big blinds. This is actually fake outrage! I'm not upset about it, just thought it was worth noting.<br />
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On to today! I had my first hand of note at the 50/100 blinds with a 100 ante level, getting dealt 88 and raising one caller to 400. The caller called my raise to 400 because as they say, haters gonna hate, players gonna play and callers gonna call. The flop came down K 7 2, the villain checked, I bet 700 and he called pretty quickly.<br />
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The villain in this hand was a guy I'd played with once or twice before and he's a recreational player who is not very good, but he's absolutely loose and aggressive. He was an early position caller and I didn't think there was much of a chance that he'd just call preflop with a K and if he did I thought he'd check raise it here. I also thought there was a good chance he'd bet out or check raise a flush draw. Discounting those, I put him on something like 76 suited or 97 suited. The turn was a black J, he checked and I checked it back. The river was a really interesting card - the A of hearts - and my opponent fired out 1,500!<br />
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You'd think with the front door flush draw getting there and three over cards 88 would be an easy muck, but I stopped to think this through. What's interesting about the A is that when most players raise preflop, bet flop and check turn they have a ton of Ax type of hands in their range of possible hands. Even people who aren't good at hand reading know this. It looks like I should have AQ or AT here. So if this guy did have a K or a J in his hand he's not going to bet that for value when the ace shows up. If he did have a flush draw there is a good chance he'd go for a check raise here. Combine that with the fact that I thought he'd push a draw on the flop if he had one and that puts me back at my original read of him having one small pair. After a short delay I made the call and he turned over 44! Huzzah!<br />
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I won a couple of other small pots and got my stack up to about 15K when the next hand came along. A new guy sat down at our table and on his first hand he opened to 375 under the gun at 75/150 blinds.<br />
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I didn't recognize him, but my snap judgement was that he knew what he was doing. He was a 40ish Asian guy with a shitload of tattoos (he had two different sets of 4 letter words on his knuckles with one letter on each finger) and he hand a backpack with him (usually a giveaway for good players - casual players don't bring a backpack, but if you're planning to be there all day and want to be comfortable you bring a lot of shit with you). I looked down at QQ which 97% of the time I'm going to 3 bet, but I just called. Something not totally at my top level of thinking was telling me not to 3 bet it.<br />
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I did think, this guy just sat down and usually people want to get settled for a few minutes before they play a hand so this one is not on the fence and since he's under the gun it must be a really strong hand. Even still QQ is the 3rd best possible hand so it's still probably a 3 bet.<br />
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Looking back I could make the argument that normally a tight UTG range would be TT+ and AQ+ or AJ suited, but most of those hands make it 450+ in that spot and really it's only KK or AA that would go for the small sizing from up front. Also I could add that early stages are about survival and I should minimize my chance of going broke. But I honestly wasn't thinking any of that at the time.<br />
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So I called with my black QQ and the button and big blind also called. The flop came out 866 with two spades and the main villain bet 900 into the 1,800 chip pot. I just called and everyone else folded. The turn was the J of spades and now he checked. I didn't really see a reason to bet here. If he had AA or KK or a big spade he wasn't folding and if he had something like AK, AQ or AJ I think it was worth giving him a free card for the potential to give him a chance to bluff at the river. I checked it back, the river was the 5 of spades and he checked again. Now I came out betting 1,500 which was a small bet hoping to get a crying call from AA or KK or even TT with the T of spades. He looked back at this cards, paused for a moment and made the call. I showed my hand and he turned over KK with the K of spades! Ack! This was not great, but should have been so much worse. If I play it fast I'm going to have a hard time getting away from it on that run out.<br />
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On the next hand of note I made it 600 with red 99 at the 100/200 level and only the big blind called me. The flop came down T 8 5 with two diamonds and one spade and to my surprise my opponent led into me for 900. I was thinking this could be a T or a flush draw, but whatever it was betting into the preflop raiser from the big blind on a board like this is odd. I made the call and the turn came out the J of spades making me an open ended straight draw. My opponent bet again, this time for 1,200 and I decided to put the heat on. The only hand that made any sense that was value betting here was JT and everything else was getting a little out of line. I made it 3,500 to go fully expecting to take it down (it's not just the 3,500 here, but knowing that if I really have the goods I'm putting in at least another 5,000 on the river so there is no cheap way to get to showdown), but my opponent quickly called. The river was a disaster, the ace of spades and my opponent fired for 2,000. Now I did not think he was out of line. This sizing looked like a value bet for sure and I figured I'd run into AT or some kind of Tx hand that had two spades in it. I folded and my opponent showed Q4 of spades! Ack! What a goof ball play this guy made. I lost the hand, but felt good about sniffing out the oddness of his line.<br />
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So those were my good reads, but in the end I just didn't get anywhere today. I had another hand where I flopped open ended, played it aggressively and missed. That took me down from 6,200 to about 2,900. Then with blinds of 200/300 and a 300 ante I shoved with A8 from the cutoff, the button called me with KK and the board ran out Q J T 7 2.<br />
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I didn't hang around to see what the prizes were and don't know exactly where I finished. My $10,000 starting bankroll is now at $10,530. Tomorrow Omaha!Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29792893.post-15909571979064808872018-05-15T21:47:00.002-07:002018-05-15T21:47:33.608-07:00Project Phaser: Phase 3.2 (Bay 101 $400) Don't Call It a ComebackWe started with 25K chips and 227 players putting up the $400 buy in today at Bay 101. 27 spots were in the money with 27th paying $720, 9th paying $1,430 with steady pay jump all the way up to $22,220 for 1st.<br />
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I ordered breakfast as soon as I got there during the early levels and it was goooooooooood!<br />
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And here is what it looks like in there. This is a terrible picture and I will try to do better next time.</div>
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I got into my first big hand of the day 2 hours in with blinds of 300/600 with a 600 big blind ante. The cutoff raised to 1,500 and I made a speculative call in the big blind with 65 of spades. The flop came down K 3 2 with two clubs, I checked and my opponent bet 2,200 and I made a loose call. My plan here was to either A) hit a 4 B) have him check back the turn and then fire the river no matter what C) bluff any club on the turn D) hit a 5 or a 6 and somehow make it to showdown and win against a hand like AJ.<br />
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The turn was a great card for plan C, the 3 of clubs. I bet out 4,500 and after thinking for a bit he called. I was considering if I should bet again when plan A came into play - I hit a red 4 making me a straight! I bet 7,500 and my opponent quickly folded. This put me up to 37K chips.<br />
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A little later with blinds of 600/1200 there was a raise to 2,600 and a call. I looked down at pocket aces! Oh baby! I made it 8,500 hoping that someone would think I was squeezing and come back at me. The raiser called, the other guy folded and the flop came down Q 5 3 with two clubs. After some hesitation the villain shoved for about 15K and I snap called him. He turned over 99, the board bricked out and I was up to 60K.<br />
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At the 1000/1500 blinds level I made a pretty ballsy play. I was in the small blind and just called with K5 off. I'd had 4 hands where everyone had folded to me in the small blind and I'd raised the big blind every time. Once he'd called, twice he'd folded and once he three bet shoved on me. I figured for 500 with 4,000 already in the pot it was worth it to go for a limp. He checked his option and the flop came down A T 3 rainbow.<br />
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This is a spot where neither of us should have an ace and there are no draws so I fired out 3,500 thinking it would probably get through. Even if this looks suspicion most players don't have the stones to make a move. To my surprise my opponent made it 8,000 to go. I had absolutely nothing, but I took a closer look at the board and thought about what he could have. Setting aside preflop considerations there is no way he'd flop a set here and then raise me when on the flop so I threw out AA, TT and 33. If I really can rule out him having an A, then I'm left with T3 as the only hand I really have to worry about. No other hands can stand a raise and there is a ton of other shit he could have. So I jacked it up to 25K to go and he quickly folded. You think you playing with kids man?! Get that shit outta here!<br />
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That one put me up to 90K but I quickly blew off 2/3 of my stack. I lost 13K when I raised to 4K with A3 suited on the button and called the big blinds all in. He had K6 and hit a K. Next, I raised 44 to 5,500, got called, fired 9K at the flop and my opponent shoved on me. Finally, I just called with AJ out of the big blind, called the flop on a Q T 5 board, bluffed at the turn when a T came, gave up on the river and lost to QJ.<br />
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I lost a little more to blinds and antes and was down to 33K. Yuck!<br />
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Then I had a total reverse. With blinds of 1K/2K (don't forget the 2K ante) two players just called the 2K and I ripped it with 77! Rip! The first caller immediately called off his 25K stack and I thought I'd been duped by someone limping in with AA. To my amazement he had 55 and my hand held. Two hands later I raised AQ to 6K and the small blind shoved for 50K! This would normally be a tight spot, but this guy was a super aggro young guy who was blasting all in with random shit on a regular basis so I did not hesitate in calling. He had J8 of diamonds and the board ran out garbage. Get THAT shit out of here too!<br />
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All of a sudden I was up to 110K with 81 players left when the average stack was 70K. I got accolades from my table mates on my turnaround. Speaking of my table mates, they were a Bay 101 murderers row with 4 guys who I suspect are pros.<br />
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A little later it was down the toilet again. I called a 22K all in with AK and lost to AJ when the board ran out QT829. Then I made a highly questionable play. The button raised to 6,500 at the 1500/2500 blind level and I made it 20,000 to go with Q7 off from the small blind. I thought he was a little deeper but after he called me I saw he only had about 15K left. The flop came down 985 which game me a gut shot and one over and not sure what to do I just put him all in. He quickly called me with QT (queen ten! Ugh!) and his queen high held up. Both of these hands were against the same opponent and he was not quiet about winning these pots.<br />
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I was down to 60K at the 2K/4K level in the big blind when 3 people just called. The first guy who called was regularly raising on the larger side when he entered the pot and did not seem at all the type to limp with a big hand. The other guys were in no way just calling 4K with a big hand. So with 18K sitting out there I shoved for another 56K with Q2 off suit. The first guy hemmed and hawed but they all folded.<br />
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There is a big difference between these two hands despite the fact that I'm getting aggressive with shitty off suit queens. In the second hand I had a very strong indication that no one could call an all in. In the first one I was kind of hoping he wouldn't call. It was too aggressive. If I'm being honest I was still feeling a little emotion about losing the AK vs AJ hand and did something I wouldn't normally do. In the Q2 hand I wish I'd trust myself more often in spots like this and go for it.<br />
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On the very next hand after the Q2 hand I was in the small blind. The big blind had about 45K and since I had him covered I wanted to put the pressure on him. I looked down at my first card and it was an ace. The was enough so I just shipped it without looking at the other one. He instantly called me and I thought "Oh shit!" but then he rolled over A4! And I had AJ! And I flopped a J! Huzzah!<br />
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No I had 125K, we were down to 45 players with 27 spots paying and it was 3:45 or 6 hours and 15 minutes since hand #1.<br />
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When we got down to 40 I had 110K chips and got moved to a new table. I looked at the table and it was all chumps! I mean there were a couple of unknowns, but it took me 7 seconds to see that half the table looked like deer in the headlights and there were certainly no pros in the bunch.<br />
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A few minutes passed and then I got involved in a big hand in a questionable spot. With blinds of 2500/5000 a guy in middle position opened to 11,000. This is a really small raise and while this is kind of standard in bigger tournaments, the standard in this one seemed to be 2.5X-3X the big blind. Anyway, the small blind called and I made a speculative call with Q9 with the Q of clubs. The flop came down A96 all clubs giving me middle pair and the 2nd nut flush draw. I checked it over to the raiser who bet out 30K with about 60K behind. The small blind folded and I decided to go for it. If he had something like AK or AJ I'd be about 50/50, I'd be about a 2 to 1 underdog against a set or a 2 to 1 favorite against Kx with the K of clubs and everything else would just be folding. It's that last part that makes moving in in spots like this often times the right move. Plan A is to have him fold and pick up 68K chips, and plan B is to have a fighting chance if he calls. 68k chips is worth more than $1,000 in equity!<br />
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But there were 2 problems - 1) 30K is a big bet and I should have looked at that as strong hand that was looking to protect against a flush draw, but not likely to fold and 2) my opponent had A9. Shit! The turn was an ace and just to rub it in the river was the J of clubs making my flush, but not enough to beat my opponent full house.<br />
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Luckily I had him covered...by 4,000. On the next hand I had 2,500 of my 4K stack in the pot in the form of the small blind and after someone raised to 15K I called without looking. Amazingly I had A2, beat QJ and was up to 17K. A couple of hands later I picked up 76 suited, shipped it and everyone folded. Now I had 27K and was starting to dream. Not really, but I did have 27K. On the next hand I got A6 and let it fly once more, but this time I got called by 99 and didn't get any help.<br />
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I finished in 34th place after 7 hours of play and then drove home 90 minutes in the peak of rush hour traffic. This sucked.<br />
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With that said, I felt fine by the time I got home. I had a nice dinner with my family and watched some basketball and I am drinking a solid bottle of Chianti. I also used this as an opportunity to have a conversation with my kids about losing with grace which is something they need to work on.<br />
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But seriously, fuck that guy who had the AJ and the QT. :)<br />
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I'm back at it tomorrow with another $350 No Limit Hold'em. My $10,000 bankroll for the project is now at $10,880.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14931052821091342192noreply@blogger.com0