I guess sometimes I have a love-hate relationship with poker. I’ve come to that conclusion because in many ways like the other love-hate relationships I have had throughout my life.
Spend too much time with her?
Check
Worried she’ll take over my life?
Check
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Talk About Getting Inside Your Oppenent's Head...
>This post has a target market of 4 people. And they don’t even play poker. Read on if you want, I don’t care.
Have you ever sat at the poker table and thought about how people’s brains work? I guess what I really mean is have you ever wonder thought about why they work so well?
Have you ever sat at the poker table and thought about how people’s brains work? I guess what I really mean is have you ever wonder thought about why they work so well?
Monday, February 05, 2007
Setback
This post isn’t fun. If you’re looking for humor try this one. It’s still my favorite. This post is for me; I wanted to get this down on paper while I was thinking it. I want to reread it during my next bad run.
I’ve had 60 days that I am forced to view as a setback. It reinforces the fact I realized 3 years ago that is more true than any other thing I know about poker:
When you’re running bad, you can’t imagine winning. When you’re running good, you can’t imagine losing.
It’s simple but dead-on correct. You’ll get immediate agreement from every poker player you say it to.
So what happens when you’re in the middle of this period? You drift from non-optimal play. You get fooled by the randomness of the event but it will try it’s best to get you to change what you know to be true.
You have to refuse to raise to $50 with Jacks so you don’t have to play them. Don’t go all in on the flop to stop the flush draw from calling. But that’s probably the easy part. The hard part is not accelerating the loss and donking off the rest of your money. Either way I think it’s safe to say that if the money is important, that this is the time where you can positively affect your results the most by sticking to what you know to be true and not giving early Christmas gifts to your neighbor. I guess what you have to do is keep the faith. But it’s discouraging.
I know guys that play poker that don’t have fun AND loose money. This group thinks they’re unlucky and it’s going to turn around. You feel like convincing them they don’t HAVE to play poker. But you don’t. I also know pros that don’t have fun. It actually looks pretty miserable. It appears to me that going pro and having fun playing poker are pretty close to being mutually exclusive. There’s a blend in there somewhere. (But they probably find 8:30 meetings pretty miserable; who can argue with that logic?)
It really comes down to what you really want out of playing poker. Is it fun? Is it money? Is it escape? Is it friends? It is entertainment? How does it fit into your life? You should know and you should make sure it fits. Or does the fact that I’m asking these questions just mean I play too much poker??
You have to decide for yourself, but I'll leave you with this:
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.
Which road do I take? she asked.
Where do you want to go? was his response.
I don't know, Alice answered.
Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.
Lewis Carroll - "Alice in Wonderland"
I’ve had 60 days that I am forced to view as a setback. It reinforces the fact I realized 3 years ago that is more true than any other thing I know about poker:
When you’re running bad, you can’t imagine winning. When you’re running good, you can’t imagine losing.
It’s simple but dead-on correct. You’ll get immediate agreement from every poker player you say it to.
So what happens when you’re in the middle of this period? You drift from non-optimal play. You get fooled by the randomness of the event but it will try it’s best to get you to change what you know to be true.
You have to refuse to raise to $50 with Jacks so you don’t have to play them. Don’t go all in on the flop to stop the flush draw from calling. But that’s probably the easy part. The hard part is not accelerating the loss and donking off the rest of your money. Either way I think it’s safe to say that if the money is important, that this is the time where you can positively affect your results the most by sticking to what you know to be true and not giving early Christmas gifts to your neighbor. I guess what you have to do is keep the faith. But it’s discouraging.
I know guys that play poker that don’t have fun AND loose money. This group thinks they’re unlucky and it’s going to turn around. You feel like convincing them they don’t HAVE to play poker. But you don’t. I also know pros that don’t have fun. It actually looks pretty miserable. It appears to me that going pro and having fun playing poker are pretty close to being mutually exclusive. There’s a blend in there somewhere. (But they probably find 8:30 meetings pretty miserable; who can argue with that logic?)
It really comes down to what you really want out of playing poker. Is it fun? Is it money? Is it escape? Is it friends? It is entertainment? How does it fit into your life? You should know and you should make sure it fits. Or does the fact that I’m asking these questions just mean I play too much poker??
You have to decide for yourself, but I'll leave you with this:
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree.
Which road do I take? she asked.
Where do you want to go? was his response.
I don't know, Alice answered.
Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.
Lewis Carroll - "Alice in Wonderland"
Monday, January 29, 2007
McDonald's
On my way home, I stop at McDonald's. I order a super-sized value meal; the total comes to $5.17.
I reach in my pocket and neatly stack $18.98 on the counter. She says "what's all this??"
I say: "I'm all in."
She folded.
I reach in my pocket and neatly stack $18.98 on the counter. She says "what's all this??"
I say: "I'm all in."
She folded.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
An Open Letter to all you Knuckleheads
I have determined the worst thing about playing poker.
The smoke-filled poker rooms? No.
Casino food? Nope.
Stumbling back into work Friday morning? You’re getting colder.
It’s listening to you rubes tell me bad beat stories. And it’s no contest.
“….so only two cards could beat me and guess what came on the river? No, guess!”
(Dammit. Not again.) “OK. One of those two cards?”
“Yes! Can you believe it!? Then I had pocket Jacks in middle position…..” You’ve started waving your hands around describing the post-flop betting and I’m wondering if I can render myself unconscious by hitting my head on the padded table edge since the wall is a solid 2 second run away.
Why can you people not sense VIOLENT DISINTEREST in the story that you’re telling?
Seriously; pay attention. This is important. Unless the story ends with a deer running through the poker room or a female member of the wait staff stripping on a 3-6 table while the dealer mistakenly mucks your cards, I have heard it before. In triplicate. These stories have all the interest of “I rolled the dice 6 times and guess what happened once?! A six! That’s right! What are the odds of that?!” Except the story that you tell me is three minutes long and I’m expected to pay attention the whole time and nod accordingly with a furrowed brow.
Without question the worst part is when you inevitably get halfway through the story and realize something doesn’t make sense. “No wait, I couldn’t have been in late position....” or “Wait a minute…oh yeah, I had queen-TEN. I’ll start over.”
BRUTAL. “Can I just give you the $250 instead?”
My favorite one from this weekend was a story about a guy's KJ "getting cracked" (YES, GETTING CRACKED) by AQ on a KQQ board. How is that getting cracked?!? Can KJ even GET cracked?!? I'm speechless.
When you guys are telling me these stories you want me to be thinking “THAT’S OUTRAGEOUS!” or “HOW COULD HE CALL THAT?!”
I’m actually thinking SUCKER PUNCH.
I’m wondering if I can sneak in a right cross the next time you blink and flee the scene. Or instead of fleeing I may try “DUDE; METEOR! ARE YOU OK?!” I'm still working out the details. I doubt my odds at getting away with this are very good. I’m estimating they are the about the same as hitting a gutshot on the turn. But I’VE HIT GUTSHOTS ON THE TURN BEFORE.
Maybe that’s how Spock came up with that neck-pinch thing. Anyone know if Kirk was a 20-40 player?
As a result of all this, I have stopped asking all of you how you’re doing that day or how your month is running. This is because when I do the question you provide an answer to is “Have any totally normal and statistically unavoidable events happened recently that have caused you to lose more than seventy-five dollars? If so, I would like to hear about as many of them as you have time for.”
I have however, developed a non-violent strategy that I will be using against you effective immediately. When you start up with “…like earlier, I had Ace-King,” I will stop you with “...I need a dollar to listen to your bad beat story.” Kind of like bad-beat story countermeasures. A preemptive strike if you will. And it’s four for four so far. No one had paid me but I reduced the number of stories I had to hear by four. I defy anyone to do better.
I think we’ve made progress here. In return, I promise not to tell my own bad beat stories, except for my own version of bad-beat stories which are actually stories about YOU telling ME bad-beat stories:
“So I'm in the restroom and guess who walks in? George! He starts to tell his Ace-Queen suited story to Bill while I’m trying to sneak back to the poker room and Bill’s cell phone rings. So George grabs me by the arm and tells the story to me instead!"
"What are the odds of that?! No really, what do you think the odds are of that?!”
Leave your scathing comments below; I plan on ignoring them.
The smoke-filled poker rooms? No.
Casino food? Nope.
Stumbling back into work Friday morning? You’re getting colder.
It’s listening to you rubes tell me bad beat stories. And it’s no contest.
“….so only two cards could beat me and guess what came on the river? No, guess!”
(Dammit. Not again.) “OK. One of those two cards?”
“Yes! Can you believe it!? Then I had pocket Jacks in middle position…..” You’ve started waving your hands around describing the post-flop betting and I’m wondering if I can render myself unconscious by hitting my head on the padded table edge since the wall is a solid 2 second run away.
Why can you people not sense VIOLENT DISINTEREST in the story that you’re telling?
Seriously; pay attention. This is important. Unless the story ends with a deer running through the poker room or a female member of the wait staff stripping on a 3-6 table while the dealer mistakenly mucks your cards, I have heard it before. In triplicate. These stories have all the interest of “I rolled the dice 6 times and guess what happened once?! A six! That’s right! What are the odds of that?!” Except the story that you tell me is three minutes long and I’m expected to pay attention the whole time and nod accordingly with a furrowed brow.
Without question the worst part is when you inevitably get halfway through the story and realize something doesn’t make sense. “No wait, I couldn’t have been in late position....” or “Wait a minute…oh yeah, I had queen-TEN. I’ll start over.”
BRUTAL. “Can I just give you the $250 instead?”
My favorite one from this weekend was a story about a guy's KJ "getting cracked" (YES, GETTING CRACKED) by AQ on a KQQ board. How is that getting cracked?!? Can KJ even GET cracked?!? I'm speechless.
When you guys are telling me these stories you want me to be thinking “THAT’S OUTRAGEOUS!” or “HOW COULD HE CALL THAT?!”
I’m actually thinking SUCKER PUNCH.
I’m wondering if I can sneak in a right cross the next time you blink and flee the scene. Or instead of fleeing I may try “DUDE; METEOR! ARE YOU OK?!” I'm still working out the details. I doubt my odds at getting away with this are very good. I’m estimating they are the about the same as hitting a gutshot on the turn. But I’VE HIT GUTSHOTS ON THE TURN BEFORE.
Maybe that’s how Spock came up with that neck-pinch thing. Anyone know if Kirk was a 20-40 player?
As a result of all this, I have stopped asking all of you how you’re doing that day or how your month is running. This is because when I do the question you provide an answer to is “Have any totally normal and statistically unavoidable events happened recently that have caused you to lose more than seventy-five dollars? If so, I would like to hear about as many of them as you have time for.”
I have however, developed a non-violent strategy that I will be using against you effective immediately. When you start up with “…like earlier, I had Ace-King,” I will stop you with “...I need a dollar to listen to your bad beat story.” Kind of like bad-beat story countermeasures. A preemptive strike if you will. And it’s four for four so far. No one had paid me but I reduced the number of stories I had to hear by four. I defy anyone to do better.
I think we’ve made progress here. In return, I promise not to tell my own bad beat stories, except for my own version of bad-beat stories which are actually stories about YOU telling ME bad-beat stories:
“So I'm in the restroom and guess who walks in? George! He starts to tell his Ace-Queen suited story to Bill while I’m trying to sneak back to the poker room and Bill’s cell phone rings. So George grabs me by the arm and tells the story to me instead!"
"What are the odds of that?! No really, what do you think the odds are of that?!”
Leave your scathing comments below; I plan on ignoring them.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Men Behaving Badly
December has been kicking my ass. Not in a “sneak up on me and whack me over the head with a shovel kind of way”, but in a very overt “hold still, this is going to hurt and if you move we’re just going to swing harder” kind of way. No apologies, just pain. 11 losing sessions in a row. Since I’m on a roll, I’ll drop this little stat. Chance of losing 11 consecutive sessions (based on my results this year): .0117%. For you fellow dorks out there, this is a 4 Sigma event but not outside predictable poker scenarios.
Anyway, that’s not the point, it’s context for the story. Another important note before reading on: this hand/post is not a bad beat story; I would not do that do you.
$2-5NL; $450 in front of me. Loose game, almost every pot is raised PF, lots of money on the table. Down $700 for the day from unholy beats; one in particular which I will not subject you to.
Back to the story. Hero has TT on the button. BB makes it $35, two calls, it’s on me. One of my favorite moves this year has been make it $135 in this situation with any two cards. It’s a break even proposition (75 attempts this year for net loss of $120, -$1 per) but it’s a great way to convince others you’re crazy. And I’ve already done it twice at this table and showed both times.
So, $105 in the pot and I make it $150. BB’s brow immediately furrows. Uh-oh. Now I’ll readily admit I’m not a “I’ve got your tell; you scratched your ear, I call” kind of dude, but I do know this is a pretty bad sign. Guys don’t give away this kind of information if they’re genuinely concerned. This is a relatively clear “weak means strong” type of tell in my book. In fact, the smart part of my brain is already sounding the alarm: Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Problem is, there are other parts of my brain. And on this particular day I'm using the term "brain" very, very loosely as a proxy for a mechanism that has the possibility of coming to intelligent conclusions.
Now he pushes all-in with a shrug, like “well, not really sure what to do, I guess I’ll bet a thousand dollars.” Come on. The other two guys have basically folded out of turn so I'm free to react to this move outloud and do because I’m running THAT BADLY this month and lost my composure a week ago. I make a very frustrated comment that sounds a lot like “Oh, yeah, you were confused for a minute but now you realize that two Kings is a pretty good hand.”
Let me repeat that. I say two Kings OUTLOUD. (And yes, this gentleman has two Kings.)
Then I go in the tank. I’ve got $300 left, pot is now $525 or so. The alarm is still sounding (Whoop! Whoop!) but I begin the process of desperately trying to justify a call:
Maybe we (the devil and angel portions of my brain have started a debate) have odds to call even if he has an overpair.
(Nope: spend $300 to win 20% of $500 in the LR)
Maybe he has AK!
(Come on.)
We’ve already got $150 in the pot!
(Try again, we’re better than that)
So I’m just sitting there trying to figure out how to rationalize walking out into traffic. Then disaster strikes.
Devil: He bluffed last week!!
Angel: Shit. I remember; you’re right.
Devil: We’re calling!
Angel: Shit.
Devil: Count out $300!
Angel: Shit.
That’s now it happened. My buddy next to me summed it up perfectly; “if you weren’t running so bad, you fold immediately.” It’s true.
Why is that? I don’t really know. I can fold in that situation. EASILY. I’ve done it many times. But I didn’t this time. I didn’t trust my own instincts even after I said he had kings OUTLOUD. Why? Please send comments to : yes_chuck_you're_an_idiot@gmail.com
Very frustrating.
Somewhat changing subjects and to end on a positive note, I’ve been tracking “calling all in” events this year. My first 16 times resulted in a loss of $4,340. I identified this leak and scolded myself. Have you seen the scene in DaVinci Code where Silas beats himself bloody? The last 17 have been a profit of $1,015. $5,000 leak plugged. Check.
Last week of course the tally was 16 for $1,465.
Sigh.
Anyway, that’s not the point, it’s context for the story. Another important note before reading on: this hand/post is not a bad beat story; I would not do that do you.
$2-5NL; $450 in front of me. Loose game, almost every pot is raised PF, lots of money on the table. Down $700 for the day from unholy beats; one in particular which I will not subject you to.
Back to the story. Hero has TT on the button. BB makes it $35, two calls, it’s on me. One of my favorite moves this year has been make it $135 in this situation with any two cards. It’s a break even proposition (75 attempts this year for net loss of $120, -$1 per) but it’s a great way to convince others you’re crazy. And I’ve already done it twice at this table and showed both times.
So, $105 in the pot and I make it $150. BB’s brow immediately furrows. Uh-oh. Now I’ll readily admit I’m not a “I’ve got your tell; you scratched your ear, I call” kind of dude, but I do know this is a pretty bad sign. Guys don’t give away this kind of information if they’re genuinely concerned. This is a relatively clear “weak means strong” type of tell in my book. In fact, the smart part of my brain is already sounding the alarm: Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Problem is, there are other parts of my brain. And on this particular day I'm using the term "brain" very, very loosely as a proxy for a mechanism that has the possibility of coming to intelligent conclusions.
Now he pushes all-in with a shrug, like “well, not really sure what to do, I guess I’ll bet a thousand dollars.” Come on. The other two guys have basically folded out of turn so I'm free to react to this move outloud and do because I’m running THAT BADLY this month and lost my composure a week ago. I make a very frustrated comment that sounds a lot like “Oh, yeah, you were confused for a minute but now you realize that two Kings is a pretty good hand.”
Let me repeat that. I say two Kings OUTLOUD. (And yes, this gentleman has two Kings.)
Then I go in the tank. I’ve got $300 left, pot is now $525 or so. The alarm is still sounding (Whoop! Whoop!) but I begin the process of desperately trying to justify a call:
Maybe we (the devil and angel portions of my brain have started a debate) have odds to call even if he has an overpair.
(Nope: spend $300 to win 20% of $500 in the LR)
Maybe he has AK!
(Come on.)
We’ve already got $150 in the pot!
(Try again, we’re better than that)
So I’m just sitting there trying to figure out how to rationalize walking out into traffic. Then disaster strikes.
Devil: He bluffed last week!!
Angel: Shit. I remember; you’re right.
Devil: We’re calling!
Angel: Shit.
Devil: Count out $300!
Angel: Shit.
That’s now it happened. My buddy next to me summed it up perfectly; “if you weren’t running so bad, you fold immediately.” It’s true.
Why is that? I don’t really know. I can fold in that situation. EASILY. I’ve done it many times. But I didn’t this time. I didn’t trust my own instincts even after I said he had kings OUTLOUD. Why? Please send comments to : yes_chuck_you're_an_idiot@gmail.com
Very frustrating.
Somewhat changing subjects and to end on a positive note, I’ve been tracking “calling all in” events this year. My first 16 times resulted in a loss of $4,340. I identified this leak and scolded myself. Have you seen the scene in DaVinci Code where Silas beats himself bloody? The last 17 have been a profit of $1,015. $5,000 leak plugged. Check.
Last week of course the tally was 16 for $1,465.
Sigh.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Could you have gotten away from this hand?
A very rough weekend. A number of suckouts, one for a $2,400 pot in which I had the best hand AND the redraw on the turn and lost to a straight. This is poker, but the victory lap and shouts of "SEND IT" did not help my disposition. Oh, and then there’s the brush letting a drunk college kid walk out the door with his chips after calling an $784 all-in. He just didn’t pay.
Brush: “Well, what could I do?”
Me: “HOW ABOUT CALLING SECURITY AND MAKING HIM PAY?!?”
But I digress.
Here’s the substance of today’s lesson. I broke two tried and true rules today.
1) Don’t go broke with top pair
2) Don’t call all-ins unless you’re hoping they go all in before they do
Those are the rules. They're called rules for a reason.
Here’s the hand.
$2-5NL. Hero has AK in early position and raises to $25. 4 callers. Pot: $125.
Flop: AT5, two hearts.
Hero checks, MP1 bets $40, fold, fold, button calls $40, Hero makes it $140. My $140 is the “find out early” bet. If MP1 raises me, I’m done with the hand.
MP1 just calls $140. Button goes all-in for another $170. I have him on a draw all the way; he's the "any draw" guy. (You know this guy; he never BETS them; just calls with them.) I CALL. Now MP1 goes all-in for another $105. I’m sure I’m beat now, but what can I do, fold? I call.
MP1: Set of 5s.
Button: KJ of hearts.
Turn and river are bricks, MP1 takes it down.
Could you have gotten away from this hand?
Brush: “Well, what could I do?”
Me: “HOW ABOUT CALLING SECURITY AND MAKING HIM PAY?!?”
But I digress.
Here’s the substance of today’s lesson. I broke two tried and true rules today.
1) Don’t go broke with top pair
2) Don’t call all-ins unless you’re hoping they go all in before they do
Those are the rules. They're called rules for a reason.
Here’s the hand.
$2-5NL. Hero has AK in early position and raises to $25. 4 callers. Pot: $125.
Flop: AT5, two hearts.
Hero checks, MP1 bets $40, fold, fold, button calls $40, Hero makes it $140. My $140 is the “find out early” bet. If MP1 raises me, I’m done with the hand.
MP1 just calls $140. Button goes all-in for another $170. I have him on a draw all the way; he's the "any draw" guy. (You know this guy; he never BETS them; just calls with them.) I CALL. Now MP1 goes all-in for another $105. I’m sure I’m beat now, but what can I do, fold? I call.
MP1: Set of 5s.
Button: KJ of hearts.
Turn and river are bricks, MP1 takes it down.
Could you have gotten away from this hand?
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Big Hand
Well, I’ve got to record the big hand for posterity. I won my biggest NL pot and had my biggest night ever (NL anyway) on Sunday. Here’s how it went down:
$2-5 NL; I’m sitting on about $2,000.
65 offsuit; middle position. (I know. It makes it that much sweeter.)
5 players see the flop: 532
SB bets $25, BB raises to $50, I call, button calls, SB calls. Pot: $225.
Turn (532): 5
I figure this a card that could easily get me in trouble. Anyone calling with top pair is now getting ready to turn me upside down and shake me like a money tree.
SB now checks, BB bets $75, I call anyway because I'm terrible :), button calls. SB folds. Pot: $550. I figure I need my straight to win.
River (5325): 6. Or a full house.
BB bets $175, I raise to $350. Button makes it $800. Woa. I did not see that coming. But Mikey like. BB folds immediately.
Dealer pulls in my $350, leaving $450 to call. I really don’t have him on a hand at this point, but I know I’m winning. Or at least I’ve concluded that if he has 66 I’ll have a good bad beat story to torture my friends with.
I finally decide to bet $1,000; I’m pretty sure he’s going to call whatever I bet. I might have gotten an all-in call ($1,500 or so) but I don’t want to push my luck. So I pick up my stack of blacks and start doling out $1,000 in stacks of $300.
$300, $600, (MAN this is fun) $900 ... then I don’t know if I wanted to round out the stacks or it was just that much fun betting black like I was back playing 3-6 raising to $12, but the next thing I knew I’m thinking “fuck it, bet all $1,200.” So I did. He thinks for a minute and calls.
I don’t know what he had; he said he flopped the nut straight. If he did, he slowplayed himself straight into oblivion. Not that we all haven’t done that about 1,000 times.
I had to get up and walk around to stop the impending stroke. You should have seen this pot. Debbie was there and said it was the biggest pot she'd ever seen.
It didn't suck at all.
P.S. You know what he said?
$2-5 NL; I’m sitting on about $2,000.
65 offsuit; middle position. (I know. It makes it that much sweeter.)
5 players see the flop: 532
SB bets $25, BB raises to $50, I call, button calls, SB calls. Pot: $225.
Turn (532): 5
I figure this a card that could easily get me in trouble. Anyone calling with top pair is now getting ready to turn me upside down and shake me like a money tree.
SB now checks, BB bets $75, I call anyway because I'm terrible :), button calls. SB folds. Pot: $550. I figure I need my straight to win.
River (5325): 6. Or a full house.
BB bets $175, I raise to $350. Button makes it $800. Woa. I did not see that coming. But Mikey like. BB folds immediately.
Dealer pulls in my $350, leaving $450 to call. I really don’t have him on a hand at this point, but I know I’m winning. Or at least I’ve concluded that if he has 66 I’ll have a good bad beat story to torture my friends with.
I finally decide to bet $1,000; I’m pretty sure he’s going to call whatever I bet. I might have gotten an all-in call ($1,500 or so) but I don’t want to push my luck. So I pick up my stack of blacks and start doling out $1,000 in stacks of $300.
$300, $600, (MAN this is fun) $900 ... then I don’t know if I wanted to round out the stacks or it was just that much fun betting black like I was back playing 3-6 raising to $12, but the next thing I knew I’m thinking “fuck it, bet all $1,200.” So I did. He thinks for a minute and calls.
I don’t know what he had; he said he flopped the nut straight. If he did, he slowplayed himself straight into oblivion. Not that we all haven’t done that about 1,000 times.
I had to get up and walk around to stop the impending stroke. You should have seen this pot. Debbie was there and said it was the biggest pot she'd ever seen.
It didn't suck at all.
P.S. You know what he said?
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
NEW RULE
I’m officially playing any pocket pair, for any amount, at any time.
Get a load of this:
$2-5 NL. Preflop raise to $55, I've got pocket 2s, one other caller (behind me).
Flop: AT2 ($300 goes into the pot. Total pot $450)
Turn: T ($1,000 more goes into the pot)
River: 2 (Everyone goes all in. Total pot $2,700)
One guy has AT (Tens full of aces)
The other guy has KT (Trip tens with top kicker)
I would have had QUAD DUECES
BUT I DIDN'T CALL THE $55.
Get a load of this:
$2-5 NL. Preflop raise to $55, I've got pocket 2s, one other caller (behind me).
Flop: AT2 ($300 goes into the pot. Total pot $450)
Turn: T ($1,000 more goes into the pot)
River: 2 (Everyone goes all in. Total pot $2,700)
One guy has AT (Tens full of aces)
The other guy has KT (Trip tens with top kicker)
I would have had QUAD DUECES
BUT I DIDN'T CALL THE $55.
Monday, March 20, 2006
The Two of Hearts – My New Secret Weapon
It’s been a while since I posted a hand but I’ve finally got one that’s blog-worthy. After you’ve been playing for a while they all seem like bad beat stories or the “my full house was bigger than his full house” type, neither of which are all that interesting.
Anyway, I’m sitting on about $750 at the $2-5NL table at 4AM and I pick up 72h on the button. 8 people are in for $5 before it gets to me and before I know what's happening, I raise to $30. My conscience wakes up from his snooze and starts berating me, but it’s too late; the money’s in the pot.
I’m now hoping for one caller so I can bluff after the flop. I get three. I’m pretty much chalking up my $30 loss to stupidity when I see 8h on top of the cards about to roll out. Before I could complete the thought “that’d be pretty cool if I flop something nasty,” there it is; 8h 6h 4h. I’m staring at the flop in disbelief and a seven-high flush is staring right back at me.
It checks around to me and I don’t know why, but I don’t bet it. I think my thought process was that I didn’t want to play for all my chips with a seven-high flush when the 4th heart hits on the river, but I did think my flush was good right then. I decide to see the turn first.
Turn (864): 3 (no heart). I’m betting this is a good card for me. UTG bets $100 thinking it’s up for grabs and the guy next to me calls. I make it $400. If you want a fifth heart, it’s gonna cost you three bills. UTG folds immediately but I can hear the gears grinding in the guy’s head next to me. I got caught bluffing a minute ago and he thinks I’m up to something.
He TURNS OVER pocket 5s with the five of hearts. So he’s folding. Too bad, too, because he’s drawing stone dead. Then he says, “I guess I’m folding, but you don’t have a flush, and I’m thinking this is good.” Now the little guy in my head that was berating me earlier is back in the game and starts rubbing his hands together. What can I do to get this guy to call??
I tell him, “Tell you what; I’ll show you one and you can even pick the one you want to see.” He turns and looks at me like my dog used to when I would say “wanna treat?” If he would have had floppy ears, they would have been sticking straight up. So I’ve got a chance. My thought process is that when he sees a heart, he’ll think I would never SHOW him a heart if I had a flush and it’ll induce a call.
He agrees immediately and chooses a card. It’s the two of hearts. Then he calls IMMEDIATELY. REALLY?! (he’s now all in). The river is irrelevant and I rake an $1,100 pot with 72 (but they were sooooted). Not too shabby.
I try not to laugh but a couple other guys do. I still have no idea what he was thinking and am surprised that it worked. I just figured he was folding and had to try SOMETHING.
Fun hand.
Anyway, I’m sitting on about $750 at the $2-5NL table at 4AM and I pick up 72h on the button. 8 people are in for $5 before it gets to me and before I know what's happening, I raise to $30. My conscience wakes up from his snooze and starts berating me, but it’s too late; the money’s in the pot.
I’m now hoping for one caller so I can bluff after the flop. I get three. I’m pretty much chalking up my $30 loss to stupidity when I see 8h on top of the cards about to roll out. Before I could complete the thought “that’d be pretty cool if I flop something nasty,” there it is; 8h 6h 4h. I’m staring at the flop in disbelief and a seven-high flush is staring right back at me.
It checks around to me and I don’t know why, but I don’t bet it. I think my thought process was that I didn’t want to play for all my chips with a seven-high flush when the 4th heart hits on the river, but I did think my flush was good right then. I decide to see the turn first.
Turn (864): 3 (no heart). I’m betting this is a good card for me. UTG bets $100 thinking it’s up for grabs and the guy next to me calls. I make it $400. If you want a fifth heart, it’s gonna cost you three bills. UTG folds immediately but I can hear the gears grinding in the guy’s head next to me. I got caught bluffing a minute ago and he thinks I’m up to something.
He TURNS OVER pocket 5s with the five of hearts. So he’s folding. Too bad, too, because he’s drawing stone dead. Then he says, “I guess I’m folding, but you don’t have a flush, and I’m thinking this is good.” Now the little guy in my head that was berating me earlier is back in the game and starts rubbing his hands together. What can I do to get this guy to call??
I tell him, “Tell you what; I’ll show you one and you can even pick the one you want to see.” He turns and looks at me like my dog used to when I would say “wanna treat?” If he would have had floppy ears, they would have been sticking straight up. So I’ve got a chance. My thought process is that when he sees a heart, he’ll think I would never SHOW him a heart if I had a flush and it’ll induce a call.
He agrees immediately and chooses a card. It’s the two of hearts. Then he calls IMMEDIATELY. REALLY?! (he’s now all in). The river is irrelevant and I rake an $1,100 pot with 72 (but they were sooooted). Not too shabby.
I try not to laugh but a couple other guys do. I still have no idea what he was thinking and am surprised that it worked. I just figured he was folding and had to try SOMETHING.
Fun hand.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
But who would have thought ... it figures
A month or so ago Hero flopped two pair.
The turn card arrived today. Third diamond; no waiting
"but who would have thought ... it figures.
"You know, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything's okay and everything's going right...
"And life has a funny way of helping you out when you think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face....
The turn card arrived today. Third diamond; no waiting
"but who would have thought ... it figures.
"You know, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything's okay and everything's going right...
"And life has a funny way of helping you out when you think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up in your face....
Monday, January 09, 2006
Poker Bob
We're thinking of heading to Tunica next month and I can't think about Tunica without reliving my favorite Poker Bob story of all time which happened last time we were there.
For those of you who don't know Poker Bob (aka USA Bob), you obviously don't live in St. Louis and play poker. He's the guy in the gray USA sweatshirt.
Half of you just went "Oh, THAT guy."
I've always suspected his closet at home looks a lot like Fred Flintone's; one USA sweatshirt after another in alternate blue and gray tones. One time he got too hot and took off his sweatshirt. I came in, saw him sitting there, and thought "damn, that guy looks just like Bob."
The book on Bob: he has a knack of flopping the nuts and having guys flying into him. When he gets bored, he just hits the bad beat jackpot instead. He's not as tight as we all say he his but I like to say when he flops a full house, he thinks he's on a quad draw.
Anyway, Bob and I are in Tunica playing $2-5NL at the Horseshoe. Terrific place to play. I'm sitting between Bob and terrible player 347.
Flop: TT9. There's already quite a pot.
TP347 bets $100 and Bob calls immediately. I'm fairly certain I smell a monster.
Turn (TT9): 3. TP347 is getting excited and obviously has a 10. He bets $280. Bob tries to make the minimum re-raise to get the guy to call and begins twitching. I immediately begin wondering if he has a magic "4 tens" card giving him six tens but end up just giving him credit for flopping the nut full.
Bob is so excited he fucks up the min-raise math and makes it $660 instead of $560 and I know EXACTLY what is going on. Sitting right between Bob and his latest victim, my poker face is being tested like never before as I'm trying not to laugh out loud at Bob's good fortune and him trying to contain himself.
Now Bob peels back his cards to show me the T9 to "let me in on it". The single greatest insult to my intelligence in 31 years of life. I know, Bob; I KNOW. I KNOW!!!
I don't remember what happened on the river, but of course Poker Bob took every bit of this kid's money.
He left and was replaced with a guy wearing a shirt that detailed the definition of "Rounder" on it. Oooooo...scary. You know what, we're going to stay and play anyway.
For those of you who don't know Poker Bob (aka USA Bob), you obviously don't live in St. Louis and play poker. He's the guy in the gray USA sweatshirt.
Half of you just went "Oh, THAT guy."
I've always suspected his closet at home looks a lot like Fred Flintone's; one USA sweatshirt after another in alternate blue and gray tones. One time he got too hot and took off his sweatshirt. I came in, saw him sitting there, and thought "damn, that guy looks just like Bob."
The book on Bob: he has a knack of flopping the nuts and having guys flying into him. When he gets bored, he just hits the bad beat jackpot instead. He's not as tight as we all say he his but I like to say when he flops a full house, he thinks he's on a quad draw.
Anyway, Bob and I are in Tunica playing $2-5NL at the Horseshoe. Terrific place to play. I'm sitting between Bob and terrible player 347.
Flop: TT9. There's already quite a pot.
TP347 bets $100 and Bob calls immediately. I'm fairly certain I smell a monster.
Turn (TT9): 3. TP347 is getting excited and obviously has a 10. He bets $280. Bob tries to make the minimum re-raise to get the guy to call and begins twitching. I immediately begin wondering if he has a magic "4 tens" card giving him six tens but end up just giving him credit for flopping the nut full.
Bob is so excited he fucks up the min-raise math and makes it $660 instead of $560 and I know EXACTLY what is going on. Sitting right between Bob and his latest victim, my poker face is being tested like never before as I'm trying not to laugh out loud at Bob's good fortune and him trying to contain himself.
Now Bob peels back his cards to show me the T9 to "let me in on it". The single greatest insult to my intelligence in 31 years of life. I know, Bob; I KNOW. I KNOW!!!
I don't remember what happened on the river, but of course Poker Bob took every bit of this kid's money.
He left and was replaced with a guy wearing a shirt that detailed the definition of "Rounder" on it. Oooooo...scary. You know what, we're going to stay and play anyway.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
I can dodge bullets?
What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.
Dodged a couple bullets last night at Harrah's. I'm playing really well, especially in the last month or so. But sometimes you need a few things to do your way; last night they did.
$2-5 NL. Loose table with four frat boys doing Jager bombs. Yeah; I know.
Only one guy, Kerry, knows what he's doing. He's extremely solid.
Our hero has AA in MP2. MP1 straddles for $10. I debate the situation but just call, hoping someone will help me out with a nice big raise. No luck.
8 players see the flop. That's trouble, and it gets worse. Flop: 987, two spades. Yuck.
Kerry (BB) bets $40 into a $80 pot and loose guy 1 (das straddler) calls. I decide to find out where I'm at and make it $120.
Frat guy 1 calls the $120 (well...OK) and frat guy 2 calls (what the...). It gets around to Kerry and he is not happy. He thinks for a while and shows the guy next to him the "monster" that he's laying down. I know that he just laid down the best hand.
Turn (987) 2. I'm hoping that both my new frat buddies are on a draw and go all in for $400. Frat guy 1 calls immediately (gulp) and frat guy 2 thinks for a while, tells me he flopped two pair. I tell him to get his money in the middle. He folds.
Frat guy 1 turns over QQ, I turn over AA, frat guy 2 yells "Fuck!", and Kerry loses it. He folded the bucket end of the straight.
River: K.
Pot: $1,300.
Ship it.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
If you play long enough, it all happens
OK, I’ve been good up until this point but I'm going to have to ask you to indulge me in bad beat of the extreme variety. Please fasten your safety belt.
$1-2 NL, table is a little loose.
I look down to see TT in the SB. I raise preflop to $15, get two callers. Flop: KT2 rainbow.
I check, MP checks, button bets $30. I call the $30, MP goes all in for $130. Button raises to $200, I go all in for $330, button calls. Pot: $900.
At this point I cannot believe my good fortune. Then things IMPROVE.
MP turns over KT, so I've got to avoid a K. I can handle that. Then I almost laugh as the button turns over KQ, so these knuckleheads have each other's King and KQ is basically drawing dead. He even says: "I can't win". I feel like knocking their heads together three-stooges style and mumbling “ship it”.
QQ.
I consulted the pokerstove oracle when I got home: 92% favorite.
$1-2 NL, table is a little loose.
I look down to see TT in the SB. I raise preflop to $15, get two callers. Flop: KT2 rainbow.
I check, MP checks, button bets $30. I call the $30, MP goes all in for $130. Button raises to $200, I go all in for $330, button calls. Pot: $900.
At this point I cannot believe my good fortune. Then things IMPROVE.
MP turns over KT, so I've got to avoid a K. I can handle that. Then I almost laugh as the button turns over KQ, so these knuckleheads have each other's King and KQ is basically drawing dead. He even says: "I can't win". I feel like knocking their heads together three-stooges style and mumbling “ship it”.
QQ.
I consulted the pokerstove oracle when I got home: 92% favorite.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Can you continue to deny that you're an addict if your New Year's resolutions are about poker?
I have made three poker-related resolutions for the new year. I want to keep track of whether my success and failure is dependent on how many hours I have logged at the table to that point. We all get tired, I want to make sure it's not wrecking my game. I am, however, giving up on meals and travel in my hourly rate; I've decided it's not meaningful.
I also want to mathematically evaluate 4-5 key hands after each session and I found a cool free download (pokerstove.com) to use. I’ve been playing NL for a year now and still don’t know what to do with a pair and a straight draw. (Seriously, it looks great when it flops and I get killed with it all the time.) I guess what I'm saying is I'd like to learn from key hands each session and make sure I understand all the mathematics involved for the next time I run into a similar situation.
Lastly, I want to have a better command of what I like to call “defensive odds.” An example: when the third heart comes out, there’s a 40% chance someone was dealt two more to make a flush. This will help me improve the math which is what I like most about my game lately. I’m getting much better at saying stuff like “25% of the time my opponent has AA, 25% of the time it’s QQ, and half the time it’s AK or AQ. Therefore my JJ is a (.2 * .5 + .5 * .5 = 35%) long term winner. Therefore I can or cannot call the all-in based on the pot.
In fact, I would love to get to a point where I can employ a few game-theory moves. This would be something like figuring out the optimal bluffing percentage when three hearts hit the board. There is certainly a lot more to poker than math, but I wonder if you can get to a point where you bluff every third time (or whatever) and you could even tell your opponent: "I go all-in everytime three suits hit the board and the second hand of my watch is in the last 20 seconds of the minute. Try and guess If I've really got it or not." Sometimes you've got the flush, sometimes you don't. If you can find what they call the Nash Equilibrium, it wouldn't matter if you told your opponents; they wouldn't be able to beat you (mathematically). We'll see if I can get there. Pot size and stack size obviously have a lot to do with the calculation.
I know, what a dork.
Stay tuned.
I also want to mathematically evaluate 4-5 key hands after each session and I found a cool free download (pokerstove.com) to use. I’ve been playing NL for a year now and still don’t know what to do with a pair and a straight draw. (Seriously, it looks great when it flops and I get killed with it all the time.) I guess what I'm saying is I'd like to learn from key hands each session and make sure I understand all the mathematics involved for the next time I run into a similar situation.
Lastly, I want to have a better command of what I like to call “defensive odds.” An example: when the third heart comes out, there’s a 40% chance someone was dealt two more to make a flush. This will help me improve the math which is what I like most about my game lately. I’m getting much better at saying stuff like “25% of the time my opponent has AA, 25% of the time it’s QQ, and half the time it’s AK or AQ. Therefore my JJ is a (.2 * .5 + .5 * .5 = 35%) long term winner. Therefore I can or cannot call the all-in based on the pot.
In fact, I would love to get to a point where I can employ a few game-theory moves. This would be something like figuring out the optimal bluffing percentage when three hearts hit the board. There is certainly a lot more to poker than math, but I wonder if you can get to a point where you bluff every third time (or whatever) and you could even tell your opponent: "I go all-in everytime three suits hit the board and the second hand of my watch is in the last 20 seconds of the minute. Try and guess If I've really got it or not." Sometimes you've got the flush, sometimes you don't. If you can find what they call the Nash Equilibrium, it wouldn't matter if you told your opponents; they wouldn't be able to beat you (mathematically). We'll see if I can get there. Pot size and stack size obviously have a lot to do with the calculation.
I know, what a dork.
Stay tuned.
Finally; a Reversal of Fortune.
Well, after a long NL drought I finally got loose at Harrah’s to the tune of $1,500. I played some very good $2-5 NL poker for about 15 hours waiting for my Christmas morning flight to the Ps house and am only upset about two plays that I made. I flopped three sets and got paid on all three.
Here’s the hand of the night. I’m dealt KK in early position with about $600 in chips ($2-5 NL). I make it $25 to go. I get a raise to $50 from Debbie on the button. This is both good and bad. She is extremely solid and reads people very, very well. In fact, I’m positive she’s gotten the best of me over the past year. The more I think about it, the more I think she's at the top of my list of folks to avoid going heads-up against. Unless I’ve got Kings :)
The nice part about her re-raise is I now know she has a pocket pair, 10s or higher, or AK. I’d bet my stack on it. I’m a huge favorite against a random mix of those hands and I know she’ll lay it down to a big re-raise if she’s beat, so I just call. If I do anything else she puts me on a hand immediately and the party’s over.
Flop: K82. Now that’s just not fair.
I check to her (she’s behind me). I think I can get another $75 out of her, but am not hoping for much more. I think she bet $60. I figure she’s still too smart to call a raise with anything but AK or AA, and since if she had AK, the flopped King would have been of the case variety, so I again pass on the raise.
Turn (K82): 8. Sheesh. Now I’m virtually unbeatable and am very willing to take my chances against AA. I check, she checks. I rule out AA as a possibility. Now I’ve got the nuts (I know, 88, blah, blah) and my perfect river card becomes 10, J, or Q.
River (K828): J. Sweet Maria. I think for a while and come out with $45. My thinking is that she’s not calling a big bet if she’s way behind, but if she has JJ, an 8, or is slow-playing AA, this gives her plenty of room to come over the top of me. She makes it $250 and the star-bangled banner begins playing in my head.
I’ve got $400 left and she’s got enough to call every bit of it. I’m still concerned she will lay her hand down so I take a minute and without any of the BS that guys try like “well I guess I have to go all-in” I silently move all my chips in the middle. She calls and says “I’ve gotta call, do you have KK?”
Jesus woman; are you staring directly into my soul?? She turns over JJ and I turn over KK and she looks mildly disappointed but not all that surprised.
All I can really say is getting all her chips was a dear diary moment for yours truly but it took some pretty ridiculous cards.
Here’s the hand of the night. I’m dealt KK in early position with about $600 in chips ($2-5 NL). I make it $25 to go. I get a raise to $50 from Debbie on the button. This is both good and bad. She is extremely solid and reads people very, very well. In fact, I’m positive she’s gotten the best of me over the past year. The more I think about it, the more I think she's at the top of my list of folks to avoid going heads-up against. Unless I’ve got Kings :)
The nice part about her re-raise is I now know she has a pocket pair, 10s or higher, or AK. I’d bet my stack on it. I’m a huge favorite against a random mix of those hands and I know she’ll lay it down to a big re-raise if she’s beat, so I just call. If I do anything else she puts me on a hand immediately and the party’s over.
Flop: K82. Now that’s just not fair.
I check to her (she’s behind me). I think I can get another $75 out of her, but am not hoping for much more. I think she bet $60. I figure she’s still too smart to call a raise with anything but AK or AA, and since if she had AK, the flopped King would have been of the case variety, so I again pass on the raise.
Turn (K82): 8. Sheesh. Now I’m virtually unbeatable and am very willing to take my chances against AA. I check, she checks. I rule out AA as a possibility. Now I’ve got the nuts (I know, 88, blah, blah) and my perfect river card becomes 10, J, or Q.
River (K828): J. Sweet Maria. I think for a while and come out with $45. My thinking is that she’s not calling a big bet if she’s way behind, but if she has JJ, an 8, or is slow-playing AA, this gives her plenty of room to come over the top of me. She makes it $250 and the star-bangled banner begins playing in my head.
I’ve got $400 left and she’s got enough to call every bit of it. I’m still concerned she will lay her hand down so I take a minute and without any of the BS that guys try like “well I guess I have to go all-in” I silently move all my chips in the middle. She calls and says “I’ve gotta call, do you have KK?”
Jesus woman; are you staring directly into my soul?? She turns over JJ and I turn over KK and she looks mildly disappointed but not all that surprised.
All I can really say is getting all her chips was a dear diary moment for yours truly but it took some pretty ridiculous cards.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Unholy
My recent experience at NL has can only be described as unholy; I’ve been losing $20 an hour for two months. Fortunately, my Pot Limit Omaha experiment (what a game; wow) has been going OK and has served to preserve my sanity but I just can’t figure how to snap the NL slump. It’s as if everyone has signed an agreement to raise me on the turn with the nuts anytime they are in my pot. And of course after the 3rd or 4th time in a row I talk myself into thinking “surely some of these must be bluffs.” So I look them up and they’re not. But I knew that; I'm just getting frustrated.
I just dropped $500 at Harrah’s and I honestly believe I played perfect. I’m not the type of guy that’s dropping a bunch of brilliant $300 bluffs, but I’ve got a solid style with what I think are very few leaks. It’s just not working. I vowed long ago to not tell bad beat stories but the stuff that’s happening just doesn’t add up. At least it’s not happening online so I’m not tempted to start expounding conspiracy theories with the rest of the nuts out there.
I just dropped $500 at Harrah’s and I honestly believe I played perfect. I’m not the type of guy that’s dropping a bunch of brilliant $300 bluffs, but I’ve got a solid style with what I think are very few leaks. It’s just not working. I vowed long ago to not tell bad beat stories but the stuff that’s happening just doesn’t add up. At least it’s not happening online so I’m not tempted to start expounding conspiracy theories with the rest of the nuts out there.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Medic
I'm learning that Pot Limit Omaha is one massive high wire act. Actually more like a big fun house mirror. It's a world in which top full houses get laid down to big raises and perfectly played hands can loose you $2,000. Naked nut straights are marginal hands and top pairs are meaningless. Bottom sets will break you and when you get the nuts, take a picure, 'cause it aint gonna last long. After a hold’em hand you can usually say "there's your mistake", or as a previous boss was wont to say, "there's your sign". PLO is much different.
And these guys are hilarious. Yesterday a guy gets SMOKED for about $3,200 with AAK7; he flops top set, turns the nut straight and loses to a flush on the river. He's sitting there in disbelief as an EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLAR POT IN WHICH FLOPPED THE NUTS AND THEN TURNED THE NUTS gets shipped to a guy with an ENORMOUS wrap/flush draw (129 outs or so). The table gets kind of quiet like someone just died or something; out of nowhere Al mutters "Medic".
I didn't stop laughing for 15 minutes.
(The winner flopped a wrap and the nut flush draw, turns the same nut straight, and rivers the nut flush. Medic indeed)
And these guys are hilarious. Yesterday a guy gets SMOKED for about $3,200 with AAK7; he flops top set, turns the nut straight and loses to a flush on the river. He's sitting there in disbelief as an EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLAR POT IN WHICH FLOPPED THE NUTS AND THEN TURNED THE NUTS gets shipped to a guy with an ENORMOUS wrap/flush draw (129 outs or so). The table gets kind of quiet like someone just died or something; out of nowhere Al mutters "Medic".
I didn't stop laughing for 15 minutes.
(The winner flopped a wrap and the nut flush draw, turns the same nut straight, and rivers the nut flush. Medic indeed)
Pushing my Luck at PLO
$5-$5 PLO: KQ54 double suited in the small blind. Call $15 PF. Pot: $60.
Flop: 632. Hello there, nut straight. Someone is not going to be happy (but it might be me...) I figure I can't just bet it, what fun would that be? Let's have a little fun instead (check). Bet from the end of $60, 1 other caller, I call.
Turn: (632) 9. This is a good card. I check again and the original better tries $200. I come over the top for $600 and he looks at me like "how could that have helped?!" He calls the $600.
River: (6329) Q Another beatiful "clean" card. Amazingly, my naked nut straight held up the whole way. I launch the rest of my chips into the pot, maybe $575 or so. He doesn't like it but calls and berates me for not betting the nut straight on the flop when he sees it.
He's basically right; it's amazing the kind of trouble you can get into flopping the nut straight. It's trouble. But it was a fun hand.
Flop: 632. Hello there, nut straight. Someone is not going to be happy (but it might be me...) I figure I can't just bet it, what fun would that be? Let's have a little fun instead (check). Bet from the end of $60, 1 other caller, I call.
Turn: (632) 9. This is a good card. I check again and the original better tries $200. I come over the top for $600 and he looks at me like "how could that have helped?!" He calls the $600.
River: (6329) Q Another beatiful "clean" card. Amazingly, my naked nut straight held up the whole way. I launch the rest of my chips into the pot, maybe $575 or so. He doesn't like it but calls and berates me for not betting the nut straight on the flop when he sees it.
He's basically right; it's amazing the kind of trouble you can get into flopping the nut straight. It's trouble. But it was a fun hand.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
WHEN CAN I CALL?!
First a little background. We've got the loosest, wildest player at the table (Nick). He's also very good however, which makes him very, very dangerous. $1,000 swings every hour or so is pretty normal. He bluffs constantly, but gets paid off on big hands because no one believes him. The seat to the right of him is always empty, because every time he plays, he plays for $50. (That poor soul tries to play for $5, then Nick makes it $50. Constantly. You get the picture). He's having a pretty good night and has a pretty good stack going (maybe $3,000 or so). I've got maybe $800.
Anyway, I make it $45 to go with 99. I get 3 callers. (Nick has very much loosened up the table as you can see.) I'm on the button.
The flop: 972 rainbow. Nick (seat 1) checks and the 2 seat bets $100. The Star Bangled Banner begins playing in my head. Seat 3 folds, I call, and Nick calls. Pot: $500.
Turn: (972) 5 (now there are two diamonds). Looks harmless enough. The 2 seat senses something's up but still bets $100 and I've got him on an overpair (10s?) or maybe just a 9. I figure enough is enough, let's get him all in. I come over the top for another $200 for a total of $300. This is enough to put him all in.
Nick then comes over the top of me for all my chips, another $300 or so (huh, who, what??) and I can't believe my good fortune. I've got top set and he's putting a move on me! Seat 2 looks pretty unhappy but calls, maybe hoping to hit his two outer, and I'm wondering only one thing, WHEN CAN I CALL?? After I think about it for about half a second, I figure Nick for an overpair or an underset, or simply a complete and total bluff, which was very possible. I say, as clearly as I can muster, "I CALL".
This is when my world collapses. Ever seen one of those Van Gough paintings where the walls are melting? Like that. He rolls over 86 for the nut straight (FOR $45 PREFLOP? SWEET JESUS), the only two cards that can beat me. It knocks the wind out of me. I think I actually coughed when I saw it. So I'm screwed. Oh wait, there's another card to come. Holy smokes; how about that? HOW MANY NINES ARE IN THIS DECK?!? There were four, and I now know where each and every one of them is.
Nick hasn't seen my cards yet, but he's looking at the river and while I'm reasonably sure I'm not psychic, when that 2nd 9 hits the board, I hear his brain clearly say "mother fuc%er". I say, "I've got all the nines," and he hits the table with his fist as hard as I've seen in a while. This guy's wound a little tight as you can tell, but it was pretty cool that his pounding the table had the effect of attracting 6 or 7 people from adjoining tables (and the poker room supervisor) to watch me stack his chips.
Anyway, I make it $45 to go with 99. I get 3 callers. (Nick has very much loosened up the table as you can see.) I'm on the button.
The flop: 972 rainbow. Nick (seat 1) checks and the 2 seat bets $100. The Star Bangled Banner begins playing in my head. Seat 3 folds, I call, and Nick calls. Pot: $500.
Turn: (972) 5 (now there are two diamonds). Looks harmless enough. The 2 seat senses something's up but still bets $100 and I've got him on an overpair (10s?) or maybe just a 9. I figure enough is enough, let's get him all in. I come over the top for another $200 for a total of $300. This is enough to put him all in.
Nick then comes over the top of me for all my chips, another $300 or so (huh, who, what??) and I can't believe my good fortune. I've got top set and he's putting a move on me! Seat 2 looks pretty unhappy but calls, maybe hoping to hit his two outer, and I'm wondering only one thing, WHEN CAN I CALL?? After I think about it for about half a second, I figure Nick for an overpair or an underset, or simply a complete and total bluff, which was very possible. I say, as clearly as I can muster, "I CALL".
This is when my world collapses. Ever seen one of those Van Gough paintings where the walls are melting? Like that. He rolls over 86 for the nut straight (FOR $45 PREFLOP? SWEET JESUS), the only two cards that can beat me. It knocks the wind out of me. I think I actually coughed when I saw it. So I'm screwed. Oh wait, there's another card to come. Holy smokes; how about that? HOW MANY NINES ARE IN THIS DECK?!? There were four, and I now know where each and every one of them is.
Nick hasn't seen my cards yet, but he's looking at the river and while I'm reasonably sure I'm not psychic, when that 2nd 9 hits the board, I hear his brain clearly say "mother fuc%er". I say, "I've got all the nines," and he hits the table with his fist as hard as I've seen in a while. This guy's wound a little tight as you can tell, but it was pretty cool that his pounding the table had the effect of attracting 6 or 7 people from adjoining tables (and the poker room supervisor) to watch me stack his chips.
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