A nice bad beat story for the holidays

I realize I haven’t updated this blog in over 5 years and that nobody really likes to hear bad beat stories but I’m still fuming the day after this one, so let me vent for a moment, okay?

I’m playing in a medium stakes (for around here) tourney in one of the local cardrooms. There were around 80 entries and we’re down to the last 11 or 12. I’ve got an average sized chip stack and have been playing pretty conservative, solid poker the whole time. My original table had just been broken and I moved to one of the remaining 2 with a couple other people who’d been at my original table the whole time (i.e., they should have had at least some sense that I don’t showdown total garbage or bluff much, if at all).

Blinds are 1200/2400 with a 400 ante. I’m in the SB with 4♠4♡. The cutoff (an aggressive, but solid young player) raises to 5000 for maybe the 4th time in 6 hands. Button folds and both myself and the BB call. Flop comes 4-2-7, two diamonds. The BB bets 10k and the CO calls. I push all in for a little over 40k more and the BB tanks for maybe 5 or more minutes before flat calling (leaving like maybe 10k behind). The CO insta-folds and he exposes this:

That’s right! I’m a little better that 93% favorite to win the hand. Hooray! This is how it’s supposed to work. Except:

Yep. I got runner-runnered and bubbled the final table. Worse, the donkey who called off more than 80% of his stack, with a weak-ass top pair getting maybe a little better than 1.5 to 1 on this money shakes his head, stands up and says, “nice hand man” and starts to walk away before the dealer says, “Wait, you have a flush, sir.” Dude comes back and says, “Garsh, I dudn’t even see that!” Gah.

Poker is fun.

Poker is fun

I’ve been slacking on this blog… Sorry about that. I’ve been playing mostly online these days, but am about to start sitting at the cardroom more regularly, I think. I’ll post more soon.

-nlhe

Another long overdue update

I’m going to try and be better about posting now that I’ve been playing on a more regular basis again. Since my last post, I played in around 10 tourneys at the old card room with buy-ins between $30 and $100. For the most part, I went out in the middle rounds, usually after having been short-stacked for a while. I did win a $20 satellite into the Friday night $100 game in the middle of April and I won a few of the semi-drunken $5 friendly tourneys at the bar below the card room, but showed no real profit. There were no notable results in April, I didn’t play much in May due to an impending move.

In June, I moved to a town that has gone poker-crazy since I last lived here almost 5 years ago. There are two proper, nearly casino-quality card rooms and several passable rooms in bars. I reloaded my bankroll on June 16th and, with a couple good $1/2 sessions off the bat, had more than doubled it. I followed up with a couple losing sessions that knocked down my profit to a mere $20.

On Monday, I cashed in a $20+5 tourney at one of the local rooms. They run a nice, big tourney with probably around 90 players–8 full tables and plenty of alternates. I played tight and got bluffed off a big hand early by a LAG donkey. I had K2s on the SB and completed to see a flop. Flop comes 332-rainbow and UTG LAG-donkey bets about 1/3 the pot. I call with two pair and a backdoor flush draw. Turn comes another deuce and UTG leads out for a pot-sized bet. I couldn’t just call off almost half my stack so it was between pushing and folding. In the end I decided it was too likely that our villain had limped with a J3o or other raggedy hand so I folded. While I was in the tank, he said he had the trey, which I should have known was a strong = weak tell. In the end, I decided I just didn’t want to risk my tourney life on whether he got lucky or not. He showed 56o and won a decent pot with a gutshot on a paired board. A few hands later I got him back, though, when I flopped a pair of Aces with ATo. He check/flat called all the way to the river and then moved in with rags UTG and I doubled through and he was out a few hands later. I doubled up again near the end of the 2nd hour with Jc3c from the BB when the flop came J-high with 2 clubs and I pushed my smallish stack. I got lucky and hit the flush vs. a bigger J. After that I played a pretty textbook TAG short-stack game that got me to the final table, finally finishing in 6th for $70.

I made a mistake on my last hand and it’s a situation I’ll try and remember in the future. I started in the BB with T10k. The blinds had just gone up to T3000/6000, so had 2/3rds of my stack in on the blind. UTG raised to T18k and it folded around to the aggressive chip leader and table captain who re-raised all-in from the button. I put my remaining T4k in without even looking at my cards and the original raiser says, “Well, I guess I have to call.” I’ve got my money in bad with 59s vs AK and the captain’s AA. The chip leader knocks us both out and I finish 6th instead of 5th, since I had less chips going into the hand. I should have realized that the UTG was pot committed having raised nearly half his stack UTG and that the button stood a fair chance of knocking him out. I basically cost myself $30 by playing the pot-odds instead of playing the tourney situation. Had I folded, even being pot committed, I would have had a good chance at squeaking into at least 5th or even higher payout position, since the blinds were so large and even the big-stacks only had Ms of <20.

3 month update.

I’ve been a bit frustrated with poker lately, having exhausted my bankroll and reloading (twice now) for the first time since I started playing for money regularly more than 5 years ago. Since I last posted, I’ve played in 20+ tourneys and probably around the same amount of $1/2 cash game sessions. Aside from a couple of bright spots (namely a 9th-of-57 bubble finish at a $50+10 at the Planet Hollywood in Vegas and a +$450 $1/2NL session), I’ve been on another long bad streak. Mostly it’s been a long string of bad beats, especially in tourneys. I’m starting to wonder if I have a major tell or something, though; some crazy, pretty poor players have made some incredible calls against me (mostly calling large bets with bottom or small pairs on flush- or straight-heavy–or both!) boards.

I’ll reload my bankroll sometime soon, but in the meantime, I’ve been trying my hand at some online satellites for the WSOP. Full Tilt is running these three-stage qualifiers with a $10k grand prize toward the WSOP main event. I’m reading poker books and practicing online again until I can get my groove back, I guess.

Card dead in the new year

In yesterday’s $20 + $5 + $5 tourney I made it about 20 minutes into the 2nd hour. I wasn’t seeing much in the way of playable hands for the first hour. I raked in a ~T500 pot early on, chasing a flush draw that my opponent under-bet to the river, when I made my flush. About a half hour in, I pulled in T800 with J6s OTB. I flopped top pair, called a bet and made two pair and a flush draw on the river. Checked to me I bet the pot and everybody folded. Around an hour into the tourney I changed tables with a stack of T4300. I bled off T800 with a couple of speculation hands (something like 56s and A9s, respectively) and then dropped another T800 with 67h. I flopped a gut shot and a flush draw and called T600 on the flop and laid it down to a T1000 bet on a turn that didn’t improve my hand. I decided to make a stand a short time later with AQo in late position when an UTG player popped it to T800 and got two callers. I pushed for about T2200 and got two callers. The flop gave me a gut shot with JTx, but lost to the original raiser who flopped a set of Jacks. Busto just before the 2nd break.

In case you’re keeping track, M. made it to 13th or so out of around 60 entrants. Not quite in the money, but a good showing nonetheless.

I sat down at the $1/$2 table around 9:30 p.m. with $100 and was as card dead as I’ve ever been. Nothing but hands like 72o or K2, Q4, J6, etc. I got bored and played a few hands I shouldn’t have like A-rags and suited-connectors that started to look real promising after a couple hours of nothing playable. I bled my $100 to around $45 when I doubled up with TT and got a caller when I pushed my flopped set that held up. The cards returned to their zombie-like state, with a couple of glimmers like AJo and 77 that got nowhere when somebody re-raised like 10 times the pot or the flop was AKQ, respectively. I decided to rebuy for another $100 and wait patiently for the hand I thought would never come. Finally it came, though. Just before the end of the night, around 1 a.m., I straddled $4 UTG and was dealt 25o. There were 6 pre-flop callers, for a $24 pot. The flop was 346-rainbow. Normally, I’d check here, but for some reason I led out for $20 and got 1 caller. I pushed for a $150 more blind and got an insta-call from a fairly weak player with pocket 8s. I doubled up to a little over $300 and stood up a few minutes later with that $300 intact, up a full $100 (actually only +$70 after the tourney loss).

So the moral of this story is that patience pays off. Hourly earnings of around $30 at a $1/2 table isn’t too bad, I guess.

Happy New Year update

After X-mas, M and I played in the Thursday night $20 + $5 + $5 and M made the final table (and the money) for the third time in a row! Good work, babe. My results weren’t as good, but I felt like a played a good game and was knocked out early, which seems better than playing for four hours only to finish on the bubble.

About 20 minutes of playing extremely tight, I got involved in a big hand that spelled the end of my tourney. I was dealt AcTs on the button. I hadn’t played many hands and came in for a 4xBB raise, which got all but 2 limpers out. One of these is a crazy player whom I’ve played with before; I know his card selection is very loose and he likes to come over the top with very small holdings. The flop came 10-high with two low diamonds. The action is checked to me and I lead out for about a 3/4-pot-sized bet. The first limper folds and the LAG calls. The turn is a 3rd diamond and the LAG check-min-raises me and I min-raise him back hoping he’ll fold, since I’m putting him on either Ax or a small pocket pair. At this point, I’m pretty much pot committed but I don’t think the LAG thought this through or he wouldn’t have re-raised me all-in. I have him covered by a few hundred, know my TPTK is good, so I pretty much insta-call. He flips over T8-off suit (no diamond) and I have him drawing with less than 10 to 1 odds. He catches an 8 on the river, though and 3-outs me for most of my chips.

I played patiently with my remaining T375 and got it all in with almost T1500 in the pot with 9Tc and hit my flush on the river, but was drawing dead to a flopped-set-turned-boat. Busto!

I had a decent night at the cash game, doubling my $100 buy-in and playing well. The only hand that stands out was a flopped boat with 56o. I made like I was un-happy and kept smooth calling the player to my left’s entire stack into the pot.

Happy new year! Here’s to a successful poker year in 2008! Thanks for reading.

Friends aren’t friends at the poker table.

First off, I’ve had some decent tournament finishes in the last couple of weeks. I made two final tables last week, cashed (in 8th, the lowest pay-out position) in the first and bubbled (in 9th–no pay-out) in the second. The best part was that M finished one place better of me in each of them! Good Job, M! She’s a great card player and I think these fast tourney structures suit her.

I played in the Monday tourney tonight and made it past the first break, but not long into the 2nd hour. I was pretty card dead and ended up making a stand with pocket 3s and lost a race against AK.

I moseyed on over to the cash game table and sat down with $100. I was running good and had a great tight image at a table full of relatively tight players and showed down a couple of monsters, reinforcing that image. After about an hour, a friend of mine from way back sat down with $80 and built it up in to a decent sized stack pretty quickly. He’s got a pretty loose aggressive game, but it seems to work pretty well for him. He kept getting involved in hands with me, for some reason. When I tried to soft-play him (“why would I want to take money from a friend?,” I thought) he kept firing and I knew he was just pushing me around. It pissed me off to the point where I was kind of on tilt, gave back a good chunk of my stack (to my so-called friend) and decided to get up while I was still on the plus side.

The moral of the story is that I should not have friends at the poker table. Not that I shoudn’t play with friends, but when friends are at my table, they’re no longer friends. Play them as hard as you would anyone else. Harder even.

Finally Cashed

I played in the Monday $25+5 tourney last night and finally made the money. It was pretty slow as Monday nights go; only 3 tables, with 2 or 3 alternates (players who are allowed in until the first break after others are knocked out) for a total around 30 players. I was completely card dead through the first break, only playing AJo and JJ for a raise and a few limped prospecting hands. I ended the first break with T1500. The 2nd hour was a bit better where I picked up a few pots uncontested pre-flop with hands like AQ, 99 and 66 and made a couple of good calls where top- or 2nd-pair was good. I was on table 3, the first to get broken up when we were down to 18, so I moved to table 1 with about 6500 and the blinds at T200/T400. With an M of under 11, I was still pretty much in AIOF mode at the 2nd break where I had T7500. They color up the T100 chips at the break, so I come back to blinds at T500/T1000, which are killer and people are dropping like flies. I play KJs all-in; my tight image works and I pick up the blinds. Very next hand I push all-in with AA. Perfect scenario. Unfortunately the blinds aren’t convinced that I’ve gone loosey-goosey and fold their blinds. Still, I picked up T3000 in two hands and am up to T10500 when player 10 goes out and make the final table!

I get redrawn to and fold from the small blind which has just gone up to T1000 and fold a full orbit’s worth of hands until I pick up QQ in the BB. There are 3 limpers (for T2000 each) and the small blind completes making T10000 in the pot. I go in for T7500 more, get one fold, a call, and the lady in seat 9 (who was a huge card rack back on table 3–she flopped 2 nut straights, Aces-full-of-kings, and no less than 3 nut-flush draws early in the tourney) goes all-in for maybe 15k total. She gets a call for the side-pot and they flip AK and AQ. I’m a favorite and only have to fade 2 Aces and 3 Kings (and some crazy straight/flush action). My Queens hold up and I triple up to T32500 and am right near the chip lead.

I immediately take the big stack role and start raising almost every hand. With the blinds this high and several short stacks around, I figure it’s my duty to start knocking them out. I knock out one, double up another, and the other big stack knocks out another and we’re down to 6 and the payout! After a couple hands, I mention a chop, and since I’m the chip leader, everybody jumps at the chance and we split 6 ways for a little over $100 each. I know I could have probably done a little better, but 1st didn’t really pay that much and with the blinds so high, it’s really just a coin toss. I was happy to make a profit in a tourney that I really just look at as good practice…. Although the hundo doesn’t hurt the old bankroll either!

November update.

I’ve had a decent month, as far as cards go. A couple of decent tournament finishes (9th and 11th out of between 50-60 entrants) just shy of the money where I played great. I played great in last week’s tournament but was dealt back-to-back bad beats late in the game (KJ vs QJ who runner-runnered a baby straight; and pocket tens vs. AJ where a jack came on the river for the rest of my paltry stack) and finished on the bubble. I made a middling profit on the cash games until last Friday when I was running great and finally made a decent sized hit (+$540).

I played again last night and played terribly. I went out early in the tourney when my A9 flopped two pair against a friend of mine, playing directly to my left, who flopped top-two with AT. I bet heavy and he just smooth called me to the river where I finally check-called the rest of my stack away, knowing full well he had me beat. I was hoping he had AK but, looking back, knew he had AT or a set and should have layed it down.

I sat right down at the cash game and played tight for about an hour, picking up a couple of small pots when I checked the big blind with Texas-Dolly. The flop comes 10-6-2 and I lead out for $15 into a pot of $12 or $14. Everybody folds except another friend of mine from the Monday Night Game who pops it up to $40. I stupidly insta-push for around $100 and he says, “Sorry, man, but I gotta call ya,” and flips over a set of ducks. I rebuy for another $100 and a few hands later get KT-suited (diamonds) in middle position and put in a standard raise of $8 and get 3 callers. The flop comes QcJc8h giving me an awfully pretty double gut-shot draw. I lead out for $20 and get one call from strange player whom I’ve read to be tight but inexperienced. The turn comes 9c filling my nut straight. I lead out for $40, stupidly pot committing myself with a flush on the board and get re-raised. I know he has the flush, but can’t lay it down. He flips over A8c for the nut flush. Adding insult to injury, the Tc comes on the river giving him the straight-flush to the Queen and I’m left with $15.

A couple hands later I get busto in another weird hand. I raise to $8 with AT-suited in early position. The lady to my left (whom I know from the Monday Night Game) raises all in for $14 and another MNG player–a crazy gambler of a player who is also very good–two seats to her left decides to “protect her” by re-raising to $40. Another MNG player calls (wtf) and I’m forced to put it all in and hope to quadruple up. Turns out I had the best pre-flop hand, AT vs. her KT. The other players flip up rags like J7 and Q4. A four comes on the turn giving player wtf the best hand with a pair of 4s.

I had a headache the whole night and probably should have left after my bad play in the tourney. I definitely need to stop pot committing myself with pretty looking hands that aren’t the nuts.

Viva Las Vegas

Hooray for Vegas, but not for the reasons you might imagine.  I didn’t play a lot of cards in Vegas this time around–only two sessions for a total of maybe 12 hours.  Normally, I’ll pull several sessions at least that length by themselves, but this trip was to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday, so the first two days were non-poker.  The third day I tried to sleep late in hopes of a marathon session, but ended up blowing through two buy-ins in under 3 hours (all-in for $280 on a nut-flush draw when I knew my single opponent only had a weak kicker on his paired ace… I was right, but he still called and my club-flush never game; and then I was smooth called all the way, $40-flop, $80-turn, and all-in on the river with TPTK by a donkey with TPWK who hit two-pair on the river).  I was mad at poker and mad at Vegas, so I went back to the room and looked into going home a day early.  Fortunately, flights were too expensive.

Day 4 in Vegas was fun. We went downtown and toured through some of the old rooms like Binyon’s and The Golden Nugget and walked all the way down Las Vegas Blvd. back to the strip, with stops at the Stratosphere for a Video Poker financed comp beer or two and at the Circus Circus for some $1 Blackjack.  After a respite in our room, complete with awesome take-out Chinese, we decided to play some cards.  I have played the crazy $1/1/3 game at the Luxor before and liked it. It’s a strange structure, with a min/max buy-in of $50 that encourages drunk tourists to get their feet wet but also brings out the LAG in more veteran NLHE players.  The last time I had played in that game, a little more than a year ago, I made a decent profit and felt like it was ripe for the picking.  So we headed out for that game around 9:30 p.m.  We walked down to the New York New York Casino and were going to take the tram across the street from the Excalibur to the Luxor. I had seen a list on the Internet ranking the general competition level of the various Vegas cardrooms and the Excalibur was supposedly one of the softest, so we decided to drop in and take a look.

We got on the list for $1/3NL and 20 minutes later were seated.   My session was fairly unremarkable.  I played pretty tight and won a big double-up pot when I raised six or eight limpers from the button with 69o and got one caller directly to my right. The flop was 99K and I led out with a $20 bet just hoping he’d called with AK. Sure enough, he insta-pushes over the top and I insta-call, showing down a terrible hand that connected with the board nicely.

The nice guy from Utah to my left said, “How do you do that?”

“What?” I asked.

“I know you haven’t been playing cards like that all night. How do you know when to go crazy and win?!”

M had a good and bad night and another table working her buy-in all the way up to over $400 and then losing it all by miss-reading an annoying LAG as a simple bully instead of a LAG who caught top-two on the flop and going all-in against her Aces.  Oh well. Remember not to go broke with one pair, babe… even if they are Aces.

Ended up closing out the Vegas trip with a couple of big hits on slot machines (I know, I know, but M likes ’em and I like her) and flew back home with a modest profit.  Viva Vegas.