Title says it all. I went to play in the $250 buy-in at Sandia and I finished 17th and top 10 get paid. I bluffed off almost 2k in a pot early, so I was down to 3k early, but I grinded up to 10k in that first level. After that I took some bad beats and never got any traction and nursed a short stack for 3 hours and finally busted A7 vs AQ.
I was disappointed, but then I hung out and played some 13. Went to play some craps and I had a fuckin blast. I'm lucky to have my friends and family that are awesome. Look for me at the 4/8 tables the next couple weeks, I'll be in the Sandia Classic again in 2 weeks again.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Purple Chip.
I went to Vegas last week, but didn't play any poker! How sick. I went with Maryann to celebrate one year, also because I got the rooms comped. We stayed at the Rio and that place is nice, the rooms are huge. I like the Rio better than the other places I've stayed. I've wanted to play a WSOP event this year but the 1500 tourney structures are so terrible, i'd rather go play some Deepstack Tournies at Venetian.
I've been obsessed with getting a purple chip at Sandia in one session, I finally made that dream come true with some sick degeneracy. I sat down at 4/8 holdem and grinded 60 into 160. Our table was dying and we were playing 3 handed. So I signed up for 4/8 Omaha hi/lo. I dropped 20 there real fast, the game played sooo slow because everyone but me was in every pot, if I knew how to play O8 better I would play that game every day because it is so ridiculous, 8 ways to the flop every hand. Downside is that is plays so slow because all 9 people have to act each hand, 4 people always chopping the low with Ace deuce and no hi draw, lol.
Well anyway the true degenerate came out in me and I left and saw 0/00 hadn't hit on roulette in a while, so I was betting $5 on 0/00 and after like 4 times it hit, i hit maybe 6 numbers in a row with nickel splits. I left with $400. I lost $100 playing low stakes blackjack, and I was tired of idiot players messing up my shit, so I took my $300 into the high stakes room. ($25 a hand! ballin!) I ran it into 550 in one shoe, decided I didn't want to wait for the shuffle so I went home and I kept the purple chip. :)
Purple Chip = run bad.
I played in one of the last WSOP satellites at Isleta last night, and I ran so bad. I played this first hand bad, I shouldn't have lost it, but oh well. I show up with KK UTG, and I open limp for 200. Everyone starts to fold, then finally the button raises to 700, SB calls, BB folds and I think about it for a second. I have 4k total, should I pop to 2k and shove the flop? Or should I just shove here. I felt like if I raised to 2k and shoved the flop I might miss out on some value from hands like 77,88,99,1010,jj that would miss the flop, so I just ship all 4k in. Button folds and SB calls after an hour, he shows AJ. Course the Ace comes in on the turn. You can rebuy one time in this tourney, so I rebuy and am very patient.
This guy who was playing a lot of pots says "if anyone raises I will defend my big blind." I look dow at AA, so I'm like sweet. Blinds are 200/400, so I pop to 1600. Lady to my left over-shoves 4.5k. It folds around and I call. She flips over AK of diamonds. Flop has two diamonds. Turn is a King. River makes her flush. I could not believe it. I felt like Phil Helmuth! "They just give their chips away!"
I'm more focused right now and I am limiting my table games and I plan on grinding 4/8 until my bankroll is up too $2000 and then taking shots at 1/2NL and 10/20LHE. I don't think I'll be playing many tournies here, except the tourney this saturday at Sandia, its aka "THE SANDIA CLASSIC" hahaha. its a $250 buyin. I'd much prefer the $150 noon at the Venetian for max value for a small buyin, but I work with what I got.
I've been obsessed with getting a purple chip at Sandia in one session, I finally made that dream come true with some sick degeneracy. I sat down at 4/8 holdem and grinded 60 into 160. Our table was dying and we were playing 3 handed. So I signed up for 4/8 Omaha hi/lo. I dropped 20 there real fast, the game played sooo slow because everyone but me was in every pot, if I knew how to play O8 better I would play that game every day because it is so ridiculous, 8 ways to the flop every hand. Downside is that is plays so slow because all 9 people have to act each hand, 4 people always chopping the low with Ace deuce and no hi draw, lol.
Well anyway the true degenerate came out in me and I left and saw 0/00 hadn't hit on roulette in a while, so I was betting $5 on 0/00 and after like 4 times it hit, i hit maybe 6 numbers in a row with nickel splits. I left with $400. I lost $100 playing low stakes blackjack, and I was tired of idiot players messing up my shit, so I took my $300 into the high stakes room. ($25 a hand! ballin!) I ran it into 550 in one shoe, decided I didn't want to wait for the shuffle so I went home and I kept the purple chip. :)
Purple Chip = run bad.
I played in one of the last WSOP satellites at Isleta last night, and I ran so bad. I played this first hand bad, I shouldn't have lost it, but oh well. I show up with KK UTG, and I open limp for 200. Everyone starts to fold, then finally the button raises to 700, SB calls, BB folds and I think about it for a second. I have 4k total, should I pop to 2k and shove the flop? Or should I just shove here. I felt like if I raised to 2k and shoved the flop I might miss out on some value from hands like 77,88,99,1010,jj that would miss the flop, so I just ship all 4k in. Button folds and SB calls after an hour, he shows AJ. Course the Ace comes in on the turn. You can rebuy one time in this tourney, so I rebuy and am very patient.
This guy who was playing a lot of pots says "if anyone raises I will defend my big blind." I look dow at AA, so I'm like sweet. Blinds are 200/400, so I pop to 1600. Lady to my left over-shoves 4.5k. It folds around and I call. She flips over AK of diamonds. Flop has two diamonds. Turn is a King. River makes her flush. I could not believe it. I felt like Phil Helmuth! "They just give their chips away!"
I'm more focused right now and I am limiting my table games and I plan on grinding 4/8 until my bankroll is up too $2000 and then taking shots at 1/2NL and 10/20LHE. I don't think I'll be playing many tournies here, except the tourney this saturday at Sandia, its aka "THE SANDIA CLASSIC" hahaha. its a $250 buyin. I'd much prefer the $150 noon at the Venetian for max value for a small buyin, but I work with what I got.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Run bad, run good.
I've been running so bad at cards for the last 2 months or so. It's tough to write about how you are playing when you are always losing. Recently I have been running pretty average, but I'm playing awesome.
I haven't cashed in the Sandia tourney since Super Bowl sunday. I always make it down to the final 2-3 tables but can't get anything going. I recently cashed in 2 Isleta tournies. I ran bad at the end of both of them though, should've been 1st for both. In the first tourney the top 5 get paid, so we were down to 5 and I built my way up from a short stack to medium stack. The shortest stack went all in for like 3 big blinds. This old guy calls and I look down at QQ. I over shove all-in. Old guy makes sure that if I knock out both players he gets 4th place money. So he calls and I am up against AK spades and AJ off-suit. Flop comes down A J x. Worst flop ever, at least the short stack will get knocked out and I move up in the money. Guy gets running spades to make a flush, I was sick ended up busting 5th.
The other tourney we were down to 4 people so we were all in the money, I was a big stack along with this other guy and two short stacks. I was in the big blind with 44 and a short stack pushes all-in. I call and he has QJ, your typical coin flip. Guy fucking flops a straight. The the other shortstack makes some retarded all-in with 82 suited against the other bug stack and sucks out on him. We are sitting there almost dead even in chips, so we end up chopping the money 4 ways.
The next day I go play 1/2NL at Sandia and buy-in for 120. Very first hand I get 22. 5 people call and the big blind raises to 10. I call and about 3 others do. Flop comes down A 2 3. I bet out $18 and this other guy raises to $30. (which isn't legal so that shows you how dumb he is.) I shove all-in right away and he calls. Guy has A3 off-suit(LOL). He's sittin' there screaming, "ACE OR THREE ACE OR THREE." Of course a three comes on the river. Re-bought for 100, and ended up having Aces cracked by 33. Three was my unlucky number that night.
Finally running decent though. I decided that instead of playing in tournies on full tilt all the time I'm going to sign up with a poker room and get some rakeback. I signed up for cake poker, which seems to be a deal going for US players right now. You get 33% rakeback, plus a first time deposit bonus up to $500. So I deposited $500 last friday and ran it up to $650 that night. A couple nights later I was up to $800, but I took a few bad beats and was back down to 6. Then this past Tuesday, I think it was, I was running hot and playing higher than I was before. Instead of 50c/$1 NL, I was playing 1/2NL four tables at a time and I even opened one table of 2/4NL. I ran my cake acct up to 1,000. (plus I've accumulated $20 in rakebake LOL)
My rebate came in from the gov't. (Here's comes some degenerate behavior.) So I take out $100 and go to Sandia with all intentions of playing some poker. This is this past thursday night by the way. Well somehow I end up at the blackjack table. I was running decent but these assholes kept coming in and messing up the cards for me, because they play so bad. So I'm only down maybe $25. I drop like $30 at roulette for some reason. Drop $17 at craps real fast. I have like $28 left and go back to black jack, I run reqal hot for a while and I'm up to $175. I put down a $25 bet and barely win. So I parlay that into a $50 bet and win that, that was enough gamble for me, so I cash out and head home.
Insert more degenerate behavior. Last night I get off work and am ready to dominate at Sandia. Who woulda known that I end up at blackjack AGAIN. I have $250 in my pocket to start the day, that is from the night before's fiasco. I was break even at blackjack for like 20 mins then I went on a sick run of cards, it doesn't help that people are so fucking afraid to hit a 15 vs a dealer 10. If you knew basic addition you can see that of 13 cards in the deck you can get 6 of them and not bust, thats almost 50/50 you will not bust when you hit a 15!! LOL they would rather hope the dealer busts. (which only happens 25% of the time!) Anyway I drop 100 and I'm about to make my way to the poker room, but get distracted and end up in the High Limit room playing blackjack $25 a hand.
I bought in for $125, leaving myself $25 for gas or something incase I bust. I had a sick run of cards andwas up to $575 or so. I made the dealer $50 in tokes because I was betting for him too. A new dealer came and after he shuffled the decks I ran cold, so i cashed out $450. I played 1/2NL for the rest of the night. At one point I had $400 in front of me (max buyin is $200) but I ended up leaving even on poker for the night. It was so sick too because I played about 5-6 hours of poker and only saw 5 pocket pairs. I saw 22, 22, 22, KK, AA. I won a small pot with 22 when I flopped a set. And I won a decent pot with AA.
A guy was steaming real hard because he just ran into Aces the hand before so I knew he was going to raise, so I limped with Aces. of course he raises to $12 (he has about 25 more) and this other lady has about 35 in front of her and she calls the $12. I make it $60 and they both go all-in. The lady turns over A10 (LOL!) but the other guy never reveals his cards. I ran KK into AA but I played it good and lost the minimum. I'm playing so good right now, my confidence has always been high, just helps to run decent for a change.
I haven't cashed in the Sandia tourney since Super Bowl sunday. I always make it down to the final 2-3 tables but can't get anything going. I recently cashed in 2 Isleta tournies. I ran bad at the end of both of them though, should've been 1st for both. In the first tourney the top 5 get paid, so we were down to 5 and I built my way up from a short stack to medium stack. The shortest stack went all in for like 3 big blinds. This old guy calls and I look down at QQ. I over shove all-in. Old guy makes sure that if I knock out both players he gets 4th place money. So he calls and I am up against AK spades and AJ off-suit. Flop comes down A J x. Worst flop ever, at least the short stack will get knocked out and I move up in the money. Guy gets running spades to make a flush, I was sick ended up busting 5th.
The other tourney we were down to 4 people so we were all in the money, I was a big stack along with this other guy and two short stacks. I was in the big blind with 44 and a short stack pushes all-in. I call and he has QJ, your typical coin flip. Guy fucking flops a straight. The the other shortstack makes some retarded all-in with 82 suited against the other bug stack and sucks out on him. We are sitting there almost dead even in chips, so we end up chopping the money 4 ways.
The next day I go play 1/2NL at Sandia and buy-in for 120. Very first hand I get 22. 5 people call and the big blind raises to 10. I call and about 3 others do. Flop comes down A 2 3. I bet out $18 and this other guy raises to $30. (which isn't legal so that shows you how dumb he is.) I shove all-in right away and he calls. Guy has A3 off-suit(LOL). He's sittin' there screaming, "ACE OR THREE ACE OR THREE." Of course a three comes on the river. Re-bought for 100, and ended up having Aces cracked by 33. Three was my unlucky number that night.
Finally running decent though. I decided that instead of playing in tournies on full tilt all the time I'm going to sign up with a poker room and get some rakeback. I signed up for cake poker, which seems to be a deal going for US players right now. You get 33% rakeback, plus a first time deposit bonus up to $500. So I deposited $500 last friday and ran it up to $650 that night. A couple nights later I was up to $800, but I took a few bad beats and was back down to 6. Then this past Tuesday, I think it was, I was running hot and playing higher than I was before. Instead of 50c/$1 NL, I was playing 1/2NL four tables at a time and I even opened one table of 2/4NL. I ran my cake acct up to 1,000. (plus I've accumulated $20 in rakebake LOL)
My rebate came in from the gov't. (Here's comes some degenerate behavior.) So I take out $100 and go to Sandia with all intentions of playing some poker. This is this past thursday night by the way. Well somehow I end up at the blackjack table. I was running decent but these assholes kept coming in and messing up the cards for me, because they play so bad. So I'm only down maybe $25. I drop like $30 at roulette for some reason. Drop $17 at craps real fast. I have like $28 left and go back to black jack, I run reqal hot for a while and I'm up to $175. I put down a $25 bet and barely win. So I parlay that into a $50 bet and win that, that was enough gamble for me, so I cash out and head home.
Insert more degenerate behavior. Last night I get off work and am ready to dominate at Sandia. Who woulda known that I end up at blackjack AGAIN. I have $250 in my pocket to start the day, that is from the night before's fiasco. I was break even at blackjack for like 20 mins then I went on a sick run of cards, it doesn't help that people are so fucking afraid to hit a 15 vs a dealer 10. If you knew basic addition you can see that of 13 cards in the deck you can get 6 of them and not bust, thats almost 50/50 you will not bust when you hit a 15!! LOL they would rather hope the dealer busts. (which only happens 25% of the time!) Anyway I drop 100 and I'm about to make my way to the poker room, but get distracted and end up in the High Limit room playing blackjack $25 a hand.
I bought in for $125, leaving myself $25 for gas or something incase I bust. I had a sick run of cards andwas up to $575 or so. I made the dealer $50 in tokes because I was betting for him too. A new dealer came and after he shuffled the decks I ran cold, so i cashed out $450. I played 1/2NL for the rest of the night. At one point I had $400 in front of me (max buyin is $200) but I ended up leaving even on poker for the night. It was so sick too because I played about 5-6 hours of poker and only saw 5 pocket pairs. I saw 22, 22, 22, KK, AA. I won a small pot with 22 when I flopped a set. And I won a decent pot with AA.
A guy was steaming real hard because he just ran into Aces the hand before so I knew he was going to raise, so I limped with Aces. of course he raises to $12 (he has about 25 more) and this other lady has about 35 in front of her and she calls the $12. I make it $60 and they both go all-in. The lady turns over A10 (LOL!) but the other guy never reveals his cards. I ran KK into AA but I played it good and lost the minimum. I'm playing so good right now, my confidence has always been high, just helps to run decent for a change.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Whats variance?
Seems like a LONG time since I've updated. I never really got to update what happened at the $300 buy-in tourney. I basically folded for an hour, didn't even complete from the small blind. I was getting the worst cards ever, but because of the buy-in I was playing with a clear head. It was almost the end of the second round and I was dealt KK from first position. I was so shocked to see a good hand that I limped in. The guy to my left made it 600 to go. Blinds were 50/100. Guy next to him calls, it folds to me and I call. Flop is 5 7 8 with two spades. I check and guy to my left makes it 2k. Other guy folds and action is on me. I have exactly 4,025. I'm thinking he can make this play with AK, AQ, AJ, A10 of spades, AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 10 10, 9 9. If he went crazy with a low pair then it was my fault for playing bad.
I push all-in and he insta-calls. Turns out he has Aces. I didn't improve and was out. I thought about it quite a bit since then and determined that I probably couldn't get away from Kings in that spot ever. Maybe if we were deeper stacked, but I chalked it up to a cold deck.
Since I busted out of that tourney I have had the worst run of cards. I was never really disappointed or down on my luck because I am at the point in my game where I know the risks and rewards or playing poker. I am willing to accept the consequences of taking a bad beat or two. I know it will come back and hit me in the nuts.
An example of running bad in a tourney: I decided to play in the Limit Hold Em tourney at Sandia with Bob this tuesday. I had to pick up Maryann from school and drop her off. So I got to the tourney 10 mins late. The second hand I get dealt KK. Freakin A. Limits were 100/200. Easiest raise I've made in a while. Like 2 people call. This guy to my left who has a Humberto shark card protector keeps calling my bets. This guy goes runner-runner diamonds to hit a flush on me. I was steaming on the 2nd hand! I fold for 30 mins and I get QQ and raise to 200. A million people call. Flop comes 8 8 8. I bet and only half a million call. turn is a 5 and I bet again. The same asshole with the shark says "son of a bitch" and calls. An Ace hits the river and he bets. I muck in disgust. He shows the Ace in his hand like he is some kind of hero.
I played 4 pots in this tourney and only won one of them.
May the best hand win: Blinds just went up to 200/500 and the guy to my left has all of my chips. I have 800, 500 of that was currently in the big blind. Nice! Lady directly to my left raises to 1k. Everyone folds to me. I consider not even looking at my cards, but I couldn't resist. J 5o, wahoo! I wish I wouldn't have looked but there is no way I can fold. This is the ideal situation for me, heads up in the pot and I'm getting amazing pot odds. I finally call and the lady has A Q. "At least you're live" she tells me. I think she just jinxed herself there because thats when my Jack hit the flop and she never improved. SHIP IT!
My fourth and final hand in this tourney was only a few hands after i doubled up with J5. I was dealt AA in middle position. Raised to 1k easily. Only had 600 left after the raise, so I'm looking to double up again. Only the big blind calls. Flop is Q J x. He bets 500, I natually go all-in. Wonder if he has QJ? He slams down JJ. LOL you play awesome buddy!! Guy goes nuts when I don't get an Ace. It kinda bums me out when, out of AA, KK, QQ, and J5 - the only hand to win was J5.
I push all-in and he insta-calls. Turns out he has Aces. I didn't improve and was out. I thought about it quite a bit since then and determined that I probably couldn't get away from Kings in that spot ever. Maybe if we were deeper stacked, but I chalked it up to a cold deck.
Since I busted out of that tourney I have had the worst run of cards. I was never really disappointed or down on my luck because I am at the point in my game where I know the risks and rewards or playing poker. I am willing to accept the consequences of taking a bad beat or two. I know it will come back and hit me in the nuts.
An example of running bad in a tourney: I decided to play in the Limit Hold Em tourney at Sandia with Bob this tuesday. I had to pick up Maryann from school and drop her off. So I got to the tourney 10 mins late. The second hand I get dealt KK. Freakin A. Limits were 100/200. Easiest raise I've made in a while. Like 2 people call. This guy to my left who has a Humberto shark card protector keeps calling my bets. This guy goes runner-runner diamonds to hit a flush on me. I was steaming on the 2nd hand! I fold for 30 mins and I get QQ and raise to 200. A million people call. Flop comes 8 8 8. I bet and only half a million call. turn is a 5 and I bet again. The same asshole with the shark says "son of a bitch" and calls. An Ace hits the river and he bets. I muck in disgust. He shows the Ace in his hand like he is some kind of hero.
I played 4 pots in this tourney and only won one of them.
May the best hand win: Blinds just went up to 200/500 and the guy to my left has all of my chips. I have 800, 500 of that was currently in the big blind. Nice! Lady directly to my left raises to 1k. Everyone folds to me. I consider not even looking at my cards, but I couldn't resist. J 5o, wahoo! I wish I wouldn't have looked but there is no way I can fold. This is the ideal situation for me, heads up in the pot and I'm getting amazing pot odds. I finally call and the lady has A Q. "At least you're live" she tells me. I think she just jinxed herself there because thats when my Jack hit the flop and she never improved. SHIP IT!
My fourth and final hand in this tourney was only a few hands after i doubled up with J5. I was dealt AA in middle position. Raised to 1k easily. Only had 600 left after the raise, so I'm looking to double up again. Only the big blind calls. Flop is Q J x. He bets 500, I natually go all-in. Wonder if he has QJ? He slams down JJ. LOL you play awesome buddy!! Guy goes nuts when I don't get an Ace. It kinda bums me out when, out of AA, KK, QQ, and J5 - the only hand to win was J5.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
So..
It's been a while since I've posted on here. I have so much to talk about. How I got really deep in an online tourney, but was felted 81st when I ran KK into AA preflop against another big stack. How I got kings cracked twice within 10 minutes of each other playing 1/2NL live. Overall I think I'm down about 100 playing live and 50 online.
Last week I was hanging out with my girlfriend and saw that Isleta was holding an 11PM $50 no rebuy tourney. So I called up Mez and Bob and told them about it. Mez was down so I met him there. We barely get there in time and lucky for us there are seats left. Looks like there are three tables. As I sit down I am shocked to see 5k stacks. Usually Isleta plays this ridiculous structure of 2k starting stacks and 15min levels starting at 50/100 that double every level. I call it a super super turbo. This was really only a super turbo in my book with the 5k starting stacks.
I get pocket 8s right away and raise it 3x. The flop is nasty AA2 or something, so I fire out 300 into 2 players. Both call... Oops. The turn blanks and I fire 300 again. They call again! So I'm done with the hand and check/fold the river. I'm down 1k to start, nice. I forgot I'm playing at isleta! I pick up pocket 10s a few hands later and nothing is there for me. The deck is so cold.
By the 100/200 level I'm so low as the blinds hit me. I'm on the button and its folded around to me and i have 74o. I push allin with 1k. The big blind thinks about it for a minute then calls. This asshat calls with 10 4 offsuit. Great! I'm out of the tourney in like 30mins. So I get on the list for 2/4 holdem. It's either that or 2/5NL. I play in that game til it breaks. I actually had AA hold up in a 2/4 game, I was surprised. The next hand I get dealt 9 2 of clubs and I flop a flush. Some guy bets and i raise on the flop. He calls me down with a pair of Kings, LOL. I get the kill button and win the very next hand as well. I guess that kill button is good for something.
As I'm winning my money back from the tourney in the 2/4 game Mez is putting on a great showing in the tourney. Pretty soon he is at the final table with a nice stack. I played the 2/4 game until my table broke. By that time it was 4 handed at the tourney. I rail for a while and the see the same douche bag that knocked me out playing like an idiot. He was allin with A4o vs JJ preflop. Of course this asshole hits his Ace and stays alive. Next thing I know Mez raises 3x the BB, this guy goes allin and has Mez covered. He turns over KQo and Mez has AQo, I LOL a little bit inside. That is until a K hits the river. I was upset that this idiot did Mez so dirty. He has the nerve to apologize. So Mez gets 3rd for like 270. I walk out ahead 10bucks, woohoo!
Since I pretty much freerolled that tourney I decided to play in the $40 pineapple NL tourney at sandia the next day. I somehow convinced my girlfriend to come with me, as she is my good luck charm. Since it was superbowl I didn't expect it to sell out. For those that don't know, pineapple is a variation of Hold Em when you get three cards and discard one of them preflop. Unlike 96% of the people playing I realize that there are a lot more pocket pairs going around and AK, for example, loses a ton of value. Even AA isn't as high and mighty, as a bunch of sets are flopped.
Someone should have told this to this old man on my table. He pretty much stacked off to me when I flopped trip 5s. I almost tripled up that hand because this other guy was in the pot until the river bet. I'm sitting pretty with my decent sized stack and am looking to play some suited connectors so I can bust some high pocket pairs. The chance comes sooner than I expected when I get QJ of diamonds in the BB. The button raised 3x so I obv call. The flop is Jack high with 2 diamonds. I check and some guy bets, the button goes all-in as expected. I call and this other idiot folds. I was getting sick odds to bust up Aces or Kings, which was what I put him on. Unfortunately for me he had pocket Queens. So I lost a couple outs that I thought I had, so any diamond or Jack and I knock him out. The turn bricks and the case Queen hits the river. Dear Lord why couldn't he have had Kings or something.
I win a few small pots, but the blinds are getting bigger so they are actually decent sized pots compared to the stacks. Our table soon busts and I have a pretty decent stack. I am slowly chipping up when I get moved to my third table. I am like 3rd in chips at this table, and of course the big stack is sitting on my left. Soon I get 998 in the big blind of 1k. Like 4 people have limped in. I throw away the 8 and check. Flop comes 7 9 10 rainbow. I fire out 1.5k and two call including the big stack on my right. I'm a little scared of a straight slow playing for some reason. Another 10 hits the turn. So I think I'm golden. I bet 2k this time, pretty much as a sick value bet because anyone with a pocket pair Jacks and above will call as well as any 10, and since we are at Sandia a straight draw will call. The river seems to be a harmless 8. So whoever was chasing a straight got there and I try to value bet 3.5k, the big stack to my right goes all-in right away. The other guy in the pot call so fast it makes my head spin. Could any of these guy have played 10 9 this way? I really only see that as only valid hand that beats me. I say "This is so sick. So sick" and think about it for a bit. I say "Well I have a full house, I call." The guy I had covered stayed in with pocket 8's and made a smaller full house on the river. The big stack made a straight on the river, LOL! So I practically triple up that hand. I'm now the overbearing chip leader at the table but I'm careful with my chips because there are about to be 2 tables left and blinds go up pretty fast.
I bob and weave my way (read: fold) to the final table. I find my self very short stacked but people are dropping like flies. Everyone at the final table makes the money so I am pretty happy about cashing in a Sandia tourney. I haven't cashed in one since I won it about 6 tourneys and 8 months ago. I'm so low at one point I have half my stack in as the BB and go all in with QJ and only one person calls with KJ. I look to my good luck charm and she has no idea whats going on. (LOL she's so cute) I tell her that I'm in trouble. She nods. A Queen came straight from the ass crack of Zeus or something because it hit the river and I was still alive. Whew, would been out in 5th. The very next hand this crazy old lady gets knocked out. 4 left in the tourney and I have less than 4 big blinds.
I'm in the big bling again with about half my stack and see 78o. The chip leader pushes all in. This crazy asian dude who hasn't played much calls. I like my 78 against one player but not two, plus if the asain guy loses I move up a spot in the money, a gamble I was willing to take with such low chips. Chip leader has JJ and crazy asian has A10o, LOL! BTW he is crazy because he calls with A10 there vs an obvious big pair. Of course he spikes his Ace and leaves the other guy crippled. A few hands later the crazy asian guy call this other guy's all in and gets lucky on him too!!
We are down to three and the blinds are so high. Its the crazy asian guy in first with a million chips. The other guy with almost 9k in chips and then me with 8k and I have the button (blinds are 1k/2k). I look down at my cards as they are dealt to me. First card is a promising Jack. The second card was a nasty Four. I need something good dealer! Another Jack hits me in the face, I gotta go with it so I push with my 8k. SB folds and he has like 7k left. I'm actually hoping the crazy asian folds because he was on a sick heater. Of course he calls with KQo and spikes a King on me. It was so dirty. Oh well, I cashed out my $240 and left to go watch the super bowl.
I have a special story about the NL hold em tourney me and Mez played in the sunday before super bowl, but that has to wait until next time. Basically I feel like I am playing the best poker I have ever played. Live and online. Which is why I have bought my seat into the BIG DOGS tourney at Sandia. This is going to be the biggest tourney I have ever entered. Buy in is $300 and first place is guaranteed $25k. They have only held this tourney once before and of course they chopped it, but the blind structure is almost normal. 30 min levels starting at 25/50 and you start with 5k, with antes in the later levels. Tourney is on saturday at 11AM, wish me luck.
Last week I was hanging out with my girlfriend and saw that Isleta was holding an 11PM $50 no rebuy tourney. So I called up Mez and Bob and told them about it. Mez was down so I met him there. We barely get there in time and lucky for us there are seats left. Looks like there are three tables. As I sit down I am shocked to see 5k stacks. Usually Isleta plays this ridiculous structure of 2k starting stacks and 15min levels starting at 50/100 that double every level. I call it a super super turbo. This was really only a super turbo in my book with the 5k starting stacks.
I get pocket 8s right away and raise it 3x. The flop is nasty AA2 or something, so I fire out 300 into 2 players. Both call... Oops. The turn blanks and I fire 300 again. They call again! So I'm done with the hand and check/fold the river. I'm down 1k to start, nice. I forgot I'm playing at isleta! I pick up pocket 10s a few hands later and nothing is there for me. The deck is so cold.
By the 100/200 level I'm so low as the blinds hit me. I'm on the button and its folded around to me and i have 74o. I push allin with 1k. The big blind thinks about it for a minute then calls. This asshat calls with 10 4 offsuit. Great! I'm out of the tourney in like 30mins. So I get on the list for 2/4 holdem. It's either that or 2/5NL. I play in that game til it breaks. I actually had AA hold up in a 2/4 game, I was surprised. The next hand I get dealt 9 2 of clubs and I flop a flush. Some guy bets and i raise on the flop. He calls me down with a pair of Kings, LOL. I get the kill button and win the very next hand as well. I guess that kill button is good for something.
As I'm winning my money back from the tourney in the 2/4 game Mez is putting on a great showing in the tourney. Pretty soon he is at the final table with a nice stack. I played the 2/4 game until my table broke. By that time it was 4 handed at the tourney. I rail for a while and the see the same douche bag that knocked me out playing like an idiot. He was allin with A4o vs JJ preflop. Of course this asshole hits his Ace and stays alive. Next thing I know Mez raises 3x the BB, this guy goes allin and has Mez covered. He turns over KQo and Mez has AQo, I LOL a little bit inside. That is until a K hits the river. I was upset that this idiot did Mez so dirty. He has the nerve to apologize. So Mez gets 3rd for like 270. I walk out ahead 10bucks, woohoo!
Since I pretty much freerolled that tourney I decided to play in the $40 pineapple NL tourney at sandia the next day. I somehow convinced my girlfriend to come with me, as she is my good luck charm. Since it was superbowl I didn't expect it to sell out. For those that don't know, pineapple is a variation of Hold Em when you get three cards and discard one of them preflop. Unlike 96% of the people playing I realize that there are a lot more pocket pairs going around and AK, for example, loses a ton of value. Even AA isn't as high and mighty, as a bunch of sets are flopped.
Someone should have told this to this old man on my table. He pretty much stacked off to me when I flopped trip 5s. I almost tripled up that hand because this other guy was in the pot until the river bet. I'm sitting pretty with my decent sized stack and am looking to play some suited connectors so I can bust some high pocket pairs. The chance comes sooner than I expected when I get QJ of diamonds in the BB. The button raised 3x so I obv call. The flop is Jack high with 2 diamonds. I check and some guy bets, the button goes all-in as expected. I call and this other idiot folds. I was getting sick odds to bust up Aces or Kings, which was what I put him on. Unfortunately for me he had pocket Queens. So I lost a couple outs that I thought I had, so any diamond or Jack and I knock him out. The turn bricks and the case Queen hits the river. Dear Lord why couldn't he have had Kings or something.
I win a few small pots, but the blinds are getting bigger so they are actually decent sized pots compared to the stacks. Our table soon busts and I have a pretty decent stack. I am slowly chipping up when I get moved to my third table. I am like 3rd in chips at this table, and of course the big stack is sitting on my left. Soon I get 998 in the big blind of 1k. Like 4 people have limped in. I throw away the 8 and check. Flop comes 7 9 10 rainbow. I fire out 1.5k and two call including the big stack on my right. I'm a little scared of a straight slow playing for some reason. Another 10 hits the turn. So I think I'm golden. I bet 2k this time, pretty much as a sick value bet because anyone with a pocket pair Jacks and above will call as well as any 10, and since we are at Sandia a straight draw will call. The river seems to be a harmless 8. So whoever was chasing a straight got there and I try to value bet 3.5k, the big stack to my right goes all-in right away. The other guy in the pot call so fast it makes my head spin. Could any of these guy have played 10 9 this way? I really only see that as only valid hand that beats me. I say "This is so sick. So sick" and think about it for a bit. I say "Well I have a full house, I call." The guy I had covered stayed in with pocket 8's and made a smaller full house on the river. The big stack made a straight on the river, LOL! So I practically triple up that hand. I'm now the overbearing chip leader at the table but I'm careful with my chips because there are about to be 2 tables left and blinds go up pretty fast.
I bob and weave my way (read: fold) to the final table. I find my self very short stacked but people are dropping like flies. Everyone at the final table makes the money so I am pretty happy about cashing in a Sandia tourney. I haven't cashed in one since I won it about 6 tourneys and 8 months ago. I'm so low at one point I have half my stack in as the BB and go all in with QJ and only one person calls with KJ. I look to my good luck charm and she has no idea whats going on. (LOL she's so cute) I tell her that I'm in trouble. She nods. A Queen came straight from the ass crack of Zeus or something because it hit the river and I was still alive. Whew, would been out in 5th. The very next hand this crazy old lady gets knocked out. 4 left in the tourney and I have less than 4 big blinds.
I'm in the big bling again with about half my stack and see 78o. The chip leader pushes all in. This crazy asian dude who hasn't played much calls. I like my 78 against one player but not two, plus if the asain guy loses I move up a spot in the money, a gamble I was willing to take with such low chips. Chip leader has JJ and crazy asian has A10o, LOL! BTW he is crazy because he calls with A10 there vs an obvious big pair. Of course he spikes his Ace and leaves the other guy crippled. A few hands later the crazy asian guy call this other guy's all in and gets lucky on him too!!
We are down to three and the blinds are so high. Its the crazy asian guy in first with a million chips. The other guy with almost 9k in chips and then me with 8k and I have the button (blinds are 1k/2k). I look down at my cards as they are dealt to me. First card is a promising Jack. The second card was a nasty Four. I need something good dealer! Another Jack hits me in the face, I gotta go with it so I push with my 8k. SB folds and he has like 7k left. I'm actually hoping the crazy asian folds because he was on a sick heater. Of course he calls with KQo and spikes a King on me. It was so dirty. Oh well, I cashed out my $240 and left to go watch the super bowl.
I have a special story about the NL hold em tourney me and Mez played in the sunday before super bowl, but that has to wait until next time. Basically I feel like I am playing the best poker I have ever played. Live and online. Which is why I have bought my seat into the BIG DOGS tourney at Sandia. This is going to be the biggest tourney I have ever entered. Buy in is $300 and first place is guaranteed $25k. They have only held this tourney once before and of course they chopped it, but the blind structure is almost normal. 30 min levels starting at 25/50 and you start with 5k, with antes in the later levels. Tourney is on saturday at 11AM, wish me luck.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
First Tourney of New Year.
I woke up feeling pretty good this morning. I didn't get too drunk last night, only a little buzzed. I brought in the new year drinking some rum and coke. About a week ago I bought a bottle of Bacardi Gold and a 2 liter of Coca-Cola, planning on drinking that night. Instead I watched a movie and fell asleep with it on. At least I didn't have to spring for alcohol for new years.
After posting the other blog I decided I wanted to play some poker. Since I don't have internet at my place yet I was at my parents house. I have these coupons for Sandia that give me $10 to play with, since I gamble there so much. I looked everywhere for them. I only found the ones that start for Jan 7th :(. The good news is that I've played so much at Sandia recently that in Jan I get $25 per week. That adds up to a good buy in of 4/8 or a couple tournaments.
While looking for the coupons I got distracted with a show on TV my dad was watching. It was about Barbecue in the USA. While watching it we realized how hungry we were. My dad rounded up everyone there and we decided to go to Rudy's. On the way there I text messaged Google and got the number for Sandia. (BTW if you don't know how to text Google, you need to learn it will probably make 411 obsolete.) I called Sandia and they didn't have a tourney since it was New Years. I then called Isleta, for some reason I have their poker room phone number saved in my address book. "Yes we do have a tourney at 7, it's $25 and one rebuy." Cool. I texted Mez and asked if he wanted to go. He called back in a few minutes saying he would let me know. I tried to eat fast and get out of there so I could get a seat.
I got to Isleta around 6:30 and signed up for the tourney. "How many on the list?" I asked. "You are number eight." I forgot this is Iselta and we'll be lucky to get two tables. I told Mez they are having the tourney for sure, he responded and told me to buy his seat for him. So I went and got his seat. Good thing I brought $50 with me. I brought exactly enough for one rebuy if I need it. Mez came and told me he didn't have a rebuy, he'd have to go to the ATM, but the tourney was starting so he had no time. This time there were two full tables and there were a few alternates, not bad.
The second hand I was dealt KQo in middle position and I limped in behind UTG+1. The button makes it 300 to go. It would be good to mention that the blinds are 50/100. I of course called for some reason. The flop was garbage and the button made a continuation bet, the small blind went all in. AK vs AJ on a Jack high board, and of course the King hits on the river, lol. The guy didn't even rebuy, oh well. A few hands later I wake up with KQo again in the CO and there are 3 limpers in the pot so I limp as well. Flop is Q J x. The small blind bets 100, some guy in middle position makes it 700. There are two hearts on board and for some reason I put him on a flush draw. He seemed like an internet play because he was making 3.5x big blind raises, and making continuation bets and being pretty aggressive. I go all in with my 1700 chips and it folds back to him and he says "don't got much." and turns over J 7o. Okay so maybe he isn't an internet guy. I have him drawing real slim, so I'm thinking. Turn card is another Jack and I blank the river. Sigh. "Rebuy please."
Very next hand I get AKo. Raised it to 300 when it was folded to me. Button and big blind call. Flop is so nasty, like Q 5 7 rainbow. BB bets out 200, I call as does the button. Turn is a 6, BB checks, I check and button bets out 300. BB calls and of course I fold. River is a King, and I knew I would have won the pot. Guy turns over 7 7 and the other guy mucks. WTF you betting the fop for, a pair of fives? So now I'm steaming.
You don't get much time to maneuver in these tourney, they are uberturbo. Blinds raise every 15 mins, you start with 2000 chips and the blinds start at 50/100. So after 15 mins, which is like 4 hands everyone is pretty much shortstacked. I don't mind being shortstacked, but if it means you need to double up every 5 hands its pretty ridiculous. This is pretty much the reason I have sworn off Isleta, along with the fact they usually only spread one table of 2/4 and 2-6 at any given time. Only other game that runs there is a 2/5NL game. None of which I'm personally interested in. So anyways, I'm in shortstack mode.
I pick up 55 in middle position and push with them. No one calls. The blinds raise right after that hand so they switch the deck and hand shuffle. They hand shuffle every hand for tourneys, probably the only thing I like about Isleta. The very next hand I get the same exact hand, a pair of red fives. "Strange," I thought. If it worked last time, I might as well. Pushed with them. Guy next to me calls with KQo. I lol a little inside until the flop comes out with a Queen in it. I lol inside again when a 5 hits the turn.
From that point I'm still pretty short with the ever increasing blinds. At this point Mez busted out of the tourney, he flopped three 7's and this other guy flopped three King's, ouch. He was at the other table, but he told me about it on the break. From that point on Mez pretty much railed me, except when he lost $20 at blackjack (the devil's game!). I push all-in three hands in a row, AJ, AJ, and AK. No one called anyone of them and I picked up some nice blinds. I showed the AK to let them know I wasn't messing around, lol. At this point I think we have like 4-5 people on our table and the other table busts and ours becomes the final table.
I'm really short at this point. The blinds are up to 300/600 and I'm sitting on like 3,600. No one has played a pot since we started the final table, everyone is scared. I was big blind the second hand and some guy from the button stole for 1,200. The next hand it folds around to me in the small blind. The big blind is Mez's arch-nemesis and has like 2,500 chips, so I push allin. He thinks for a second and folds. (The reason he is Mez's arch-nemesis is because the very first tourney we entered was at Isleta and Mez went heads up with that guy and ended up beating him for first. Since there he always goes for Mez since he plays every Isleta tourney, LOL). The very next hand its folded to him and the big blind, he limps in. Flop is K Q 4. Mez's nemesis goes all-in and the guy who seems to be a regular as well is like "Damn man, I got to call.." and looks at his cards like six times. He finally calls and flips Q4, Mez's nemesis has Q3. LOL again. The same guy knocks someone else out and we are 7 handed.
The floor gave us a 5min break before the blinds went up to 500/1,000. I only have 4,500 at this point. I think I stole the blinds a couple times by going all in with any two face cards when it was folded to me in late position. The blinds go up to 1,000/2,000 and I'm at like 9k since I've been stealing. The next time I was in a hand, the button makes it 7k to go after one person limped. The small blind went all-in for 2k. I had 2k in the pot for my big blind and push the last 7k in when I see that I have AQo. Limper folds and button calls. He has A4 (lol) and small blind has 10 7(lol again). I flop a Queen and I'm sitting good with about six people to go. Four people make the money, especially since I'm easily the best shortstack player at the table.
I went all-in like 4 more times (that doesn't include stealing, thats when I was all-in and someone had me covered and called.) At one point I had 4k when the blinds were 2k/4k and was all in with A10. We were 4 handed at this point so I was already in the money, but I ended up winning the pot with Ace high, haha. Blinds were vicious at that point, so I soon found myself all in with K9s vs AKo. He turned an Ace, so I was out. Made a profit of about $16 after my buy ins and dealer tips. Not much of a score, but it was a nice boost of confidence and a nice way of starting off the new year with a cash.
Until next time,
Nick
After posting the other blog I decided I wanted to play some poker. Since I don't have internet at my place yet I was at my parents house. I have these coupons for Sandia that give me $10 to play with, since I gamble there so much. I looked everywhere for them. I only found the ones that start for Jan 7th :(. The good news is that I've played so much at Sandia recently that in Jan I get $25 per week. That adds up to a good buy in of 4/8 or a couple tournaments.
While looking for the coupons I got distracted with a show on TV my dad was watching. It was about Barbecue in the USA. While watching it we realized how hungry we were. My dad rounded up everyone there and we decided to go to Rudy's. On the way there I text messaged Google and got the number for Sandia. (BTW if you don't know how to text Google, you need to learn it will probably make 411 obsolete.) I called Sandia and they didn't have a tourney since it was New Years. I then called Isleta, for some reason I have their poker room phone number saved in my address book. "Yes we do have a tourney at 7, it's $25 and one rebuy." Cool. I texted Mez and asked if he wanted to go. He called back in a few minutes saying he would let me know. I tried to eat fast and get out of there so I could get a seat.
I got to Isleta around 6:30 and signed up for the tourney. "How many on the list?" I asked. "You are number eight." I forgot this is Iselta and we'll be lucky to get two tables. I told Mez they are having the tourney for sure, he responded and told me to buy his seat for him. So I went and got his seat. Good thing I brought $50 with me. I brought exactly enough for one rebuy if I need it. Mez came and told me he didn't have a rebuy, he'd have to go to the ATM, but the tourney was starting so he had no time. This time there were two full tables and there were a few alternates, not bad.
The second hand I was dealt KQo in middle position and I limped in behind UTG+1. The button makes it 300 to go. It would be good to mention that the blinds are 50/100. I of course called for some reason. The flop was garbage and the button made a continuation bet, the small blind went all in. AK vs AJ on a Jack high board, and of course the King hits on the river, lol. The guy didn't even rebuy, oh well. A few hands later I wake up with KQo again in the CO and there are 3 limpers in the pot so I limp as well. Flop is Q J x. The small blind bets 100, some guy in middle position makes it 700. There are two hearts on board and for some reason I put him on a flush draw. He seemed like an internet play because he was making 3.5x big blind raises, and making continuation bets and being pretty aggressive. I go all in with my 1700 chips and it folds back to him and he says "don't got much." and turns over J 7o. Okay so maybe he isn't an internet guy. I have him drawing real slim, so I'm thinking. Turn card is another Jack and I blank the river. Sigh. "Rebuy please."
Very next hand I get AKo. Raised it to 300 when it was folded to me. Button and big blind call. Flop is so nasty, like Q 5 7 rainbow. BB bets out 200, I call as does the button. Turn is a 6, BB checks, I check and button bets out 300. BB calls and of course I fold. River is a King, and I knew I would have won the pot. Guy turns over 7 7 and the other guy mucks. WTF you betting the fop for, a pair of fives? So now I'm steaming.
You don't get much time to maneuver in these tourney, they are uberturbo. Blinds raise every 15 mins, you start with 2000 chips and the blinds start at 50/100. So after 15 mins, which is like 4 hands everyone is pretty much shortstacked. I don't mind being shortstacked, but if it means you need to double up every 5 hands its pretty ridiculous. This is pretty much the reason I have sworn off Isleta, along with the fact they usually only spread one table of 2/4 and 2-6 at any given time. Only other game that runs there is a 2/5NL game. None of which I'm personally interested in. So anyways, I'm in shortstack mode.
I pick up 55 in middle position and push with them. No one calls. The blinds raise right after that hand so they switch the deck and hand shuffle. They hand shuffle every hand for tourneys, probably the only thing I like about Isleta. The very next hand I get the same exact hand, a pair of red fives. "Strange," I thought. If it worked last time, I might as well. Pushed with them. Guy next to me calls with KQo. I lol a little inside until the flop comes out with a Queen in it. I lol inside again when a 5 hits the turn.
From that point I'm still pretty short with the ever increasing blinds. At this point Mez busted out of the tourney, he flopped three 7's and this other guy flopped three King's, ouch. He was at the other table, but he told me about it on the break. From that point on Mez pretty much railed me, except when he lost $20 at blackjack (the devil's game!). I push all-in three hands in a row, AJ, AJ, and AK. No one called anyone of them and I picked up some nice blinds. I showed the AK to let them know I wasn't messing around, lol. At this point I think we have like 4-5 people on our table and the other table busts and ours becomes the final table.
I'm really short at this point. The blinds are up to 300/600 and I'm sitting on like 3,600. No one has played a pot since we started the final table, everyone is scared. I was big blind the second hand and some guy from the button stole for 1,200. The next hand it folds around to me in the small blind. The big blind is Mez's arch-nemesis and has like 2,500 chips, so I push allin. He thinks for a second and folds. (The reason he is Mez's arch-nemesis is because the very first tourney we entered was at Isleta and Mez went heads up with that guy and ended up beating him for first. Since there he always goes for Mez since he plays every Isleta tourney, LOL). The very next hand its folded to him and the big blind, he limps in. Flop is K Q 4. Mez's nemesis goes all-in and the guy who seems to be a regular as well is like "Damn man, I got to call.." and looks at his cards like six times. He finally calls and flips Q4, Mez's nemesis has Q3. LOL again. The same guy knocks someone else out and we are 7 handed.
The floor gave us a 5min break before the blinds went up to 500/1,000. I only have 4,500 at this point. I think I stole the blinds a couple times by going all in with any two face cards when it was folded to me in late position. The blinds go up to 1,000/2,000 and I'm at like 9k since I've been stealing. The next time I was in a hand, the button makes it 7k to go after one person limped. The small blind went all-in for 2k. I had 2k in the pot for my big blind and push the last 7k in when I see that I have AQo. Limper folds and button calls. He has A4 (lol) and small blind has 10 7(lol again). I flop a Queen and I'm sitting good with about six people to go. Four people make the money, especially since I'm easily the best shortstack player at the table.
I went all-in like 4 more times (that doesn't include stealing, thats when I was all-in and someone had me covered and called.) At one point I had 4k when the blinds were 2k/4k and was all in with A10. We were 4 handed at this point so I was already in the money, but I ended up winning the pot with Ace high, haha. Blinds were vicious at that point, so I soon found myself all in with K9s vs AKo. He turned an Ace, so I was out. Made a profit of about $16 after my buy ins and dealer tips. Not much of a score, but it was a nice boost of confidence and a nice way of starting off the new year with a cash.
Until next time,
Nick
X-mas eve continued, and a New Years res.
So I finally get to play some poker. Or not, I look up and see the big blind is only a few hands away from my seat. Since I'm buying in as a short stack I want to see as many free hands as I can. I leave my rack on the table and go get a drink. It takes like 20 mins to finish 3 hands, damnit.
I'm pretty card dead for about an hour, so I'm down almost half my stack. The first real hand I get dealt is AKoffsuit. Its a kill pot (well 1/2 kill so we play 6/12 instead of 4/8) and I'm the big blind, so only 2 more to call since no one raised. Flop comes as J J 10. Probably one of the worst flops ever for a short stacked AK. Everyone checks, the turn card comes a Q. I just hit an Ace-high straight. I bet out $12, and this asian guy rasies to $24. Everyone folds to me and I only have $6 left. The river is a third club and I fear he can have a flush or even full house. I say "straight" and flip my cards, he's like "Thats bigger than my straight" and mucks. I think that was an $80 pot. I've doubled my buy-in.
Later on I get AJo in the big blind. I flop a pair of aces, so I bet out $4. Like 4 people call. (I'l tell you what this 4/8 game is pretty sweet, they will call you down with any pocket pair even dueces lol), I'm sure that I have the best hand, unless someone with Ace-rag has two pair. That was until my Jack paired up on the turn. Only 2 people call my $8 bet this time. The river was a blank and this red haired guy was the only one that called me. I'm pretty sure he had an ace, maybe A10 or something. Anyways, I've played with this guy before and I know he see me as being ubertight and only betting if I have something. This is really important for later because I have to be careful who I try to bluff against. The older people at the table are so much harder to bluff because they will call you down with top pair no kicker, whereas I know some of the thinking players there would never call ME down with that. Its just the table image I get when I buy in shortstacked because I only showdown really good hands.
The next hand in question is a kill pot again. The red haired guy from earlier is the one that has the $6 blind. I look down at pocket 4s. I raise it up to $12. Some guy near the button calls, as does the red haired guy. The flop is K J x. Redhaired guy checks and I bet out $6 pretty quickly. Button guy calls and the redhead guy calls too. I'm a little scared that one of them has a king, but I know that my tight image along with the larger turn bet is going to scare them. The older people especially play different in a kill pot. They play more scared since the bets are bigger. This impacts my play as well because I know that I can steal the pot away if they have a marginal hand. So the turn comes and its a 6 or something. Redhead checks and I bet out $12. Button calls and redhead calls again! Fuck, one of them has a king, and I suspect its redhead. River is another blank. Redhead checks again, he is playing so scared too. If he bets there I was going to raise him, but he just checks. I bet $12, button thinks for a second and folds. One down! Redhead says, "I can't call you... (He flashes a Jack) .. I can't call you." My kill pot bluffs are racking up :).
I cash out about $120 eventually. Won some small pots, folded a bunch etc. I don't really remember what happened next because I tend to block out the blackjack fiascoes out
of my brain. Blackjack is like the demise of my poker profits. All I know is I sat down with $35 and walked with $50. Once I realized what was happening I left blackjack. I've lost more on blackjack than I've made on poker I think. My goals for the new years is to completely stop playing blackjack. I'm also going to take a couple shots at 1/2NL. Last few times I played No Limit was pretty gross. However I did have a $500 day followed by a $300 1/2NL day. Both of those time I bought in short. I need to get in there with a full buyin and I know I can do some damage.
Lastly, I played this Saturday. Didn't go too well and I ended up down $100. I think I won maybe one pot. Had Aces cracked in a kill pot playing 3/6, he hit is third King on the river and was like "I knew you had aces." No kidding? Wonder why I 4-bet you preflop. >:( I then got Kings cracked by AJ in another kill pot, this time paying 4/8. I raised preflop to $12 and 3 people call. Flop is Jack high so I bet out and this asian dude raises. I was all-in and ahead. Turn is an Ace. Fantastic! The River is ANOTHER Ace. Nice hand sir.
I think I'm even since I started this blog for my x-mas eve session. Actually I may be up because I took $80 cash only on x-mas eve. And bought some presents and food for a week at work and I still have cash in my wallet. Another New Years resolution I have is to keep my poker bankroll separate from my living expenses. Thats it for now.
Nick
I'm pretty card dead for about an hour, so I'm down almost half my stack. The first real hand I get dealt is AKoffsuit. Its a kill pot (well 1/2 kill so we play 6/12 instead of 4/8) and I'm the big blind, so only 2 more to call since no one raised. Flop comes as J J 10. Probably one of the worst flops ever for a short stacked AK. Everyone checks, the turn card comes a Q. I just hit an Ace-high straight. I bet out $12, and this asian guy rasies to $24. Everyone folds to me and I only have $6 left. The river is a third club and I fear he can have a flush or even full house. I say "straight" and flip my cards, he's like "Thats bigger than my straight" and mucks. I think that was an $80 pot. I've doubled my buy-in.
Later on I get AJo in the big blind. I flop a pair of aces, so I bet out $4. Like 4 people call. (I'l tell you what this 4/8 game is pretty sweet, they will call you down with any pocket pair even dueces lol), I'm sure that I have the best hand, unless someone with Ace-rag has two pair. That was until my Jack paired up on the turn. Only 2 people call my $8 bet this time. The river was a blank and this red haired guy was the only one that called me. I'm pretty sure he had an ace, maybe A10 or something. Anyways, I've played with this guy before and I know he see me as being ubertight and only betting if I have something. This is really important for later because I have to be careful who I try to bluff against. The older people at the table are so much harder to bluff because they will call you down with top pair no kicker, whereas I know some of the thinking players there would never call ME down with that. Its just the table image I get when I buy in shortstacked because I only showdown really good hands.
The next hand in question is a kill pot again. The red haired guy from earlier is the one that has the $6 blind. I look down at pocket 4s. I raise it up to $12. Some guy near the button calls, as does the red haired guy. The flop is K J x. Redhaired guy checks and I bet out $6 pretty quickly. Button guy calls and the redhead guy calls too. I'm a little scared that one of them has a king, but I know that my tight image along with the larger turn bet is going to scare them. The older people especially play different in a kill pot. They play more scared since the bets are bigger. This impacts my play as well because I know that I can steal the pot away if they have a marginal hand. So the turn comes and its a 6 or something. Redhead checks and I bet out $12. Button calls and redhead calls again! Fuck, one of them has a king, and I suspect its redhead. River is another blank. Redhead checks again, he is playing so scared too. If he bets there I was going to raise him, but he just checks. I bet $12, button thinks for a second and folds. One down! Redhead says, "I can't call you... (He flashes a Jack) .. I can't call you." My kill pot bluffs are racking up :).
I cash out about $120 eventually. Won some small pots, folded a bunch etc. I don't really remember what happened next because I tend to block out the blackjack fiascoes out
of my brain. Blackjack is like the demise of my poker profits. All I know is I sat down with $35 and walked with $50. Once I realized what was happening I left blackjack. I've lost more on blackjack than I've made on poker I think. My goals for the new years is to completely stop playing blackjack. I'm also going to take a couple shots at 1/2NL. Last few times I played No Limit was pretty gross. However I did have a $500 day followed by a $300 1/2NL day. Both of those time I bought in short. I need to get in there with a full buyin and I know I can do some damage.
Lastly, I played this Saturday. Didn't go too well and I ended up down $100. I think I won maybe one pot. Had Aces cracked in a kill pot playing 3/6, he hit is third King on the river and was like "I knew you had aces." No kidding? Wonder why I 4-bet you preflop. >:( I then got Kings cracked by AJ in another kill pot, this time paying 4/8. I raised preflop to $12 and 3 people call. Flop is Jack high so I bet out and this asian dude raises. I was all-in and ahead. Turn is an Ace. Fantastic! The River is ANOTHER Ace. Nice hand sir.
I think I'm even since I started this blog for my x-mas eve session. Actually I may be up because I took $80 cash only on x-mas eve. And bought some presents and food for a week at work and I still have cash in my wallet. Another New Years resolution I have is to keep my poker bankroll separate from my living expenses. Thats it for now.
Nick
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