Golf Match #6 Bill is in Trouble

Friday, February 1 2008

I was supposed to play a match against my friend Mike for a tournament I entered at Phoenix Country Club. Mike called in the morning to cancel because he had friends flying in to town at the last minute for the Super Bowl and he wanted to hang out with them.

I was all geared up to play so I called Bill to see if he could squeeze it in today. To my surprise, Bill had packed his golf gear in his car and was planning on surprising us at the course and playing with us anyway.

So we start match 6 with the score 3.5 to 1.5. I am coming off once of my worst matches, but I had a good feeling about this match. I had picked up a tip on the Golf Channel and had worked on it with my Leadbetter Swing setter the day before. At the top of my backswing I wanted to concentrate on opening my hips first to start the downswing, while keeping my shoulders closed. This would build up tension that I could unleash at the bottom of my swing. Plus it would keep me from coming over the top and hitting a weak slice. I hit some balls on the range before the round and the move felt good and I was making very solid contact.

I started off the first hole by making a 10 footer for par. Bill missed and I had a one stroke lead. On the second hole, I pushed my 8 iron into the right bunker. I had a horrible downhill lie with a green running away from me and water on the other side. Somehow I hit a perfect shot and left myself about 15 feet for par. I made that one too and Bill made an easy par. Already Bill was a little on tilt as he could see it might be one of those days where I make everything I look at on the greens.

I continued to play well and finished the front 9 with a score of 39 to Bill’s 43. Bill made a comment about how I never shoot two consecutive 9’s in the 30’s so I was motivated to prove him wrong.

I guess I was a little too motivated as I started off #10 with a bogey and I made a bad double bogey on #11 to quickly give him 3 shots back.

On the short par 4 12th, I hit a great drive and wedge to the middle of the green. Bill hit two iron off the tee, but airmailed his approach shot over the green and it settled on the cart path behind the hole. Now the rule is that you take the nearest point of relief, no nearer the hole. In this case that would have been in a flower bed behind the cart path. I felt like if Bill wanted to take a drop then that’s where he would have to do it. Bill did not think that was right and I encouraged him to call the pro shop for a ruling. He did and they said drop the ball behind the flower bed, not in it. So he got a bit of break and made a great pitch shot that eased 12 feet by the hole. Bill’s putt looked good the whole way but lipped out at the very end. So I got one stroke back but Bill was glad that he did not fare worse.

We both made par on 13 and we both played the 14th horribly and made double bogey. On the par 3 15th, I pulled my iron shot into the left back bunker. I hit a terrible sand shot that stayed in the trap. My next one was much better and it rolled to 6 feet. Bill had an easy two putt par. I needed this putt to make sure I only give up one stroke. Once again, my putter saved me as I jammed it in the back of the cup.

So now I still have a one stroke lead. We both hit the fairway with our tee shots on 16. I pulled my approach again into the deep bunker on the left of the green. Bill was in better shape short and right of the green. I hit an ok bunker shot and left myself a big left to right breaking 15 footer for par. While I was raking the trap, Bill somehow managed to 3 putt from 15 feet and made double bogey. I did not see what he did, but I could see the steam coming out of his ears. That is what made it so great when I managed to coax in my par putt and increase my lead to 3.

I absolutely killed my drive on 17 and only had 105 yards to pin for my second shot. Bill was 40 yards behind me and sent his approach over the green. I hit my worst shot of the day and totally laid the sod over my wedge shot. I left it 10 yards short of the green and then hit a bad pitch 15 feet by the hole leaving an extremely fast downhill putt for par. Just to totally jam the knife in Bill, I made this putt too for another unlikely par save. Bill dropped another shot and I had a safe 4 shot lead to cruise on home with.

The final score was 81 to 85 and I now lead the contest 4.5 to 1.5. If I win the next match it will be all over. The only thing left to decide will be if we should put the plaque on the locker or create a trophy. The locker room will be remodeled this summer and I’m sure they will not want us putting our crap on the nice new oak lockers. I will only get 2-3 months of enjoyment out of it that way. I think I should find a nice small trophy that we can engrave the results on every year and let the winner keep it.

Revisiting Predictions from 2006

On October 3, 2006 I made some predictions about poker after the US Government passed the UIEGA and made transferring money to online poker sites illegal. I happened to stumble across my predictions while I was reviewing some of my tournament posts and I thought it would be fun to revisit my predictions and see how they turned out.

Here we go:
1. The World Series of Poker will have its participation cut by at least 60%.
a. The vast majority of the players in the Main Event satellite in online
b. Since no US citizens can satellite in via online poker rooms, the field will be less than 4000

The Main event went down to about 6000 players from over 8000 in 06. It seemed like the rest of the events had more players than 2006. I heard that something like 80% of the players that won online satellites into the Main Event, took the cash put it in their bankroll instead of signing up for the tournament.

2. A Foreign citizen will win since they will outnumber the US citizens

I was close. A Canadien came in second and Jerry Yang came in first. He is American but was born in Vietnam I think. Half of the final table was foreign.

3. Online poker will still be alive in the US, but just barely

I was totally wrong on this one. It seems like it’s as healthy as ever. Party Poker went away and Full Tilt and Poker Stars picked up all their players and continued business as usual. Now Poker Stars has over 150,000 players on their site in the peak hours.

4. The largest online companies like Pokerstars, Partygaming, and 888 will survive and make money in the burgeoning international markets and possibly China.

I got this one right. Their stocks have not recovered but they are still cash flow positive and making huge money in Europe and even Russia.

5. The stock of these companies will not recover to their previous highs.

I’m still right on this one.

6. I will only be playing poker in a weekly home game or in Las Vegas
a. My son is being born soon, taking up a lot of my poker playing time
b. I won’t be able to play online and feel my money is safe.
c. The rake in low limit casino poker is so bad, that it is near impossible to make money in the long term.

Thankfully I was wrong on this one. Since Poker Stars and Full Tilt stuck around, I felt my money was safe. Even though I did have a scare when Neteller went under. I play 6-10 hours a week online and lately we have gone to a once a month home game.
I hardly play any tournaments online anymore because I can’t get the uninterrupted time with Jake running around the house. It’s 90% cash games now.

I once saw the disintegration of the Internet industry in the stock market in 2000 and 2001. There were a lot of people with rosy predictions that their company would never go away. I often heard the quote of, "The internet is not going away". That took 2 -3 years to unwind.
This past weekend is the same thing, except it is all happening overnight. I would not be surprised to hear of a suicide of a top player who loses his sponsorship, players moving out of the country, or small poker sites taking off with their client's money.

Nobody has committed suicide. Some players have moved out of the US. The only name player I had heard of is Liz Lieu. Absolute Poker had a major cheating scandal, but they gave all the players their money back with interest.

Interesting hands

I noticed that I have not been using my blog to analyze hands and try and make myself a better player recently so I thought I would correct that and try and review some things in my game.

First of all I dumped all my No Limit hands into Poker Tracker for the last few months and surprisingly I am positive since 9/1/07. I am up a whole $126 over 3,719 hands. I think the really shocking thing is that I have only played 3719 hands. Maybe Poker Tracker didn’t pick up all the hands. My bankroll was $564 on 9/1/07 and now its approximately $1000. That includes a big $600 win in Las Vegas and an extra $200 I added from the sale of some furniture. I’m sure I have lost at least $600 in Casino Arizona and Gila River over the last 4 months so maybe it’s accurate.

Regardless of my bankroll, here were some interesting hands from my recent play:

FullTiltPoker Game #5010396510: Table Phi (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:27:03 ET - 2008/01/26
Seat 1: Thor3gs ($45.15)
Seat 2: Poker_Bully1 ($32.35)
Seat 3: saymond ($62.95)
Seat 4: jpritz88 ($91.10)
Seat 6: Latz69 ($74.25)
Thor3gs posts the small blind of $0.25
Poker_Bully1 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [Jc Qc] on the Big Blind
saymond folds
jpritz88 folds
Latz69 raises to $1.75
Thor3gs calls $1.50
Poker_Bully1 calls $1.25

I think the call is standard after the small blind calls to make this a 3 way pot.

*** FLOP *** [9c Th 8c]

Great Flop for me! I have the nuts and a redraw to a Queen high flush or even a straight flush.
My first instinct was to bet and try and build the pot. However, I thought I could get more money in by checking. The cutoff (Latz69) was the initial raiser. If he fires a continuation bet, then I can get the small blind (Thor3gs) to follow along and trap the both of them. I decide to risk giving a free card and check call.

Thor3gs checks
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 checks
Latz69 bets $0.50
Thor3gs calls $0.50
Poker_Bully1 calls $0.50
*** TURN *** [9c Th 8c] [8h]

The turn no longer gives me the nuts. Not a great card. I don’t like my check here. It’s time to build the pot and the $.50 bet on the flop tells me they are probably weak.

Thor3gs checks
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 checks
Latz69 bets $4.50
Thor3gs calls $4.50

Suddenly Latz69 wakes up and bets and there is a call! I assume that maybe one of them has an 8. The other could have the flush draw or a lower straight. I guess I should raise. Of course if someone has a full house and repops it, I have a decision to make.

Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 raises to $15
Latz69 has 15 seconds left to act
Latz69 calls $10.50
Thor3gs folds

I read Latz69’s call as I still have the best hand.

*** RIVER *** [9c Th 8c 8h] [8d]

What a horrible card! I am forced to give up on the hand. In the chat Latz69 says he had a straight. I don’t know if I believe that. If I was in the button, I think I would be dying to get a free showdown if I had a straight.

Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 checks
Latz69 has 15 seconds left to act
Latz69 bets $57, and is all in
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 has requested TIME
Poker_Bully1 folds
Uncalled bet of $57 returned to Latz69
Latz69 mucks
Latz69 wins the pot ($39.20)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $41.25 Rake $2.05
Board: [9c Th 8c 8h 8d]
Seat 1: Thor3gs (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 2: Poker_Bully1 (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 3: saymond didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: jpritz88 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Latz69 (button) collected ($39.20), mucked

So I was playing two tables at once and the Queen Jack hand put me on tilt. Very shortly after, this hand came up on the other table.

FullTiltPoker Game #5010492656: Table Lindell (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:35:35 ET - 2008/01/26
Seat 1: ShimShady411 ($58.90)
Seat 2: Poker_Bully1 ($23.90)
Seat 3: Egotrip55 ($52.25), is sitting out
Seat 4: fold-u-loss ($22.90)
Seat 5: tarzan49 ($50.70)
Seat 6: MickeyBuster ($19.20)
Poker_Bully1 posts the small blind of $0.25
fold-u-loss posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Poker_Bully1 [Jd Td]
tarzan49 folds
MickeyBuster folds
ShimShady411 folds
Poker_Bully1 calls $0.25
fold-u-loss checks

I call out the small blind with only the big blind in the hand. I don’t think there is much to be gained by trying to steal the blinds when I have a drawing hand that could turn into something good. I’d rather try and play it cheap and turn it into something good.

*** FLOP *** [Jc 7d 3h]

Top pair so I should bet and see where I am at.

Poker_Bully1 bets $1
fold-u-loss calls $1
*** TURN *** [Jc 7d 3h] [9s]

So I guess he got a piece of the flop. He could have Jacks, 7’s, or 3’s. Not really any draws out there worth calling with. I beat a lot of the hands he could have called with. I guess I should bet? The other school of thought is to check and try to keep the pot small. Maybe I should bet $2 to keep control of the hand, but not letting the pot size get out of hand?
Poker_Bully1 has 15 seconds left to act
Poker_Bully1 bets $3
fold-u-loss raises to $6

I don’t recall fold-u-loss doing anything stupid. He must be raising for a reason. Instead I lose my mind and figure he must have a Jack with a worse kicker and I reraise all in. Wrong move butt-head!
Poker_Bully1 raises to $22.40, and is all in
fold-u-loss calls $15.40, and is all in
Poker_Bully1 shows [Jd Td]
fold-u-loss shows [Jh 7c]
Uncalled bet of $1 returned to Poker_Bully1
*** RIVER *** [Jc 7d 3h 9s] [Ks]
Poker_Bully1 shows a pair of Jacks
fold-u-loss shows two pair, Jacks and Sevens
fold-u-loss wins the pot ($43.55) with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $45.80 Rake $2.25
Board: [Jc 7d 3h 9s Ks]
Seat 1: ShimShady411 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: Poker_Bully1 (small blind) showed [Jd Td] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: Egotrip55 is sitting out
Seat 4: fold-u-loss (big blind) showed [Jh 7c] and won ($43.55) with two pair, Jacks and Sevens
Seat 5: tarzan49 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: MickeyBuster didn't bet (folded)

The First High Stakes Tourney in the Man Cave

Since the Wednesday night game had lost momentum, most of the remaining players had suggested that we scale back to once a month and increase the buy in.

Today was the first attempt at the new structure. $60 buy in and rebuys. $200 in starting chips with 1-2 blinds and 30 minute levels.

We had 9 players for today, which put $540 in the initial pot. With a suggestion from Robert I decided to pay 3 places instead of 2 and I decided to take the cost of food and drink from the winners cut.

The first thing I noticed is that just because the buy in was $60, nobody was really playing any tighter than their usual loose passive self.

I was playing my standard game trying not to get distracted by the U of A basketball game on the TV behind me.

Early on I called a raise with 5-6 suited on the button after Jon had open raised under the gun. I flopped an open end straight draw with the board reading 7-4-10. Jon led out with a continuation bet and I raised my draw. He just called but he did not look happy about it. The turn was a King and Jon checked. He did not look happy about that as well. I knew he either had a small pocket pair or had missed with big cards. Instead of betting, I decided the safer play was to check and take the free card. The river was a Jack and he checked again. I bet half my stack and he folded. I decided to show him the bluff and he was not very happy that his Ace-Queen had missed.

Later Jon took a bad beat on a two outer and he was down to $20 or $30 from his starting stack. He wanted to rebuy right then but I had to explain that we can only rebuy when you're broke. He hung around for a while and eventually went broke on another bad beat. Jon was our only rebuy. Now the prize pool is $600.

Right about this time, Craig finally showed up to play. He had slept in until 11:00 and we had started at 12:15. Craig did not make it until 1:00 PM.

I had started to accumulate some chips and was feeling comfortable. Jon had raised under the gun again and got a couple of callers. I looked down at Ace-King on the button. My first instinct was to move all in, but I decided to just call in position and see what happens.

The flop was J-10-X. Jon bet again and the others folded. I decided to make a loose call and hope for the Queen since I figured I could get all of Jon's chips if I hit it. The turn was the perfect Queen. It did however put 3 hearts on the board but I had the Ace of hearts. This time Jon checked and I bet. Jon raised me all in and I called. Jon turned over pocket Queens for a set and he was heartbroken to see my straight. Unfortunately, I knew that Jon had 10 outs and was not that big of an underdog. Sure enough, the board paired on the river and Jon won a big pot.

That pot would have put me in a great position with over $500 chips. Instead I was down under 100.

On the first hand of the third blind level ($5-$10 blinds which is the last hand for rebuys)I picked up Ace-Jack of diamonds in second position. Mike raised all in from under the gun because he was down to $30. He could have darn near anything. I raised all in and everyone else folded. Mike turned over Ace-Queen and I was screwed. Mike's hand held up and I was down to $40. This is the worst possible scenario because you figure if you lose the all in that you will rebuy and have $200 in chips. Instead nobody with a bigger stack than mine calls and I lose to the shorter stack. Now I can't rebuy and I'm down to 4 big blinds.

Luckily two hands later in the big blind, I picked up pocket Aces and nearly tripled up. One rotation later, I had pocket Jacks and limped, expecting Craig on my left to raise all in, because he was getting short. I was hoping to get a couple of other callers so I could make more money after I pull off the limp reraise. I only got one caller between me and Craig before I raised. Devin folded after my reraise and my Jacks held up agains Craig's pocket 4's. Now I had around 9 big blinds which was enough to scare a few people if I move all in.

For the next two levels, my only move was all in and I was not called once.

Eventually I out lasted 5 other players and it was bubble time with 4 players left. It was Jon in the chip lead, Devin, Mike, and me. I had stolen the blind from Jon on my left a couple of times so I was going to have to be careful. On the other hand, everyone that was left was folding too much and it was smart to put maximum pressure on them to fold before the flop since the blinds were pretty big. In fact a couple of times on the button or small blind I raised without even looking at my cards just make sure I did not chicken out.

We played 4 handed for 3-4 rotations and I was feeling good because I had moved up to second place in chips. The end came when I picked up Ace-10 under the gun. I raised all in for $400 and Jon declared, "I have had enough of you Larry, I call". The others fold and Jon turns over Ace-Queen. Rob was watching and could not believe Jon called. I tried to explain to Rob that Ace-Queen was easily a call 4 handed against me who had raised all in probably 10 times in the last 90 minutes. I'm not sure it sunk in.

Anyways Jon spiked his Queen on the turn and eliminated me in 4th place for no money.

After Devin eliminated Mike in 3rd place, Devin and Jon were heads up with about $1,000 a piece and the blinds were 50-100. It would all be over soon.

Here is where I saw Jon make a big mistake. Now I could not see his hole cards, but I thought he played way too conservatively. He folded his button a couple of times, and hardly ever raised. If I am heads up with those blind levels, I think I am pushing all in with anything better than a 50% hand. With Devin known as a conservative player, he is going to fold way too much preflop and who knows if he calls with a good hand, you may just get lucky. With only 20 big blinds left in play, it's pretty much a crap shoot anyway.

Jon was blinded down and eventually went all in with Ace-8 against Devin's Ace-Queen. Devin's hand held up and he won $300 after paying for the beer and pizza.

I was shocked Devin won. He got lucky at the right times and he kept his patience. The good news is, now that he won, he'll probably want to come back again for the next few months.

More Golf Success

Match Number 4 of the Bill vs Larry challenge.

I went into this match with a 2.5 to .5 lead and I'm coming off of a flare up of the herniated disk in my low back.

I made sure to work on my short game while on vacation and it was easier on my back while I was in rehab. It was a good thing I did, because the greens were running really fast at Phoenix Country Club on this day.

I started out fast by making birdie on the first hole. I also birdied the fifth hole to give myself a two stroke lead.

Starting on the 7th hole I had a stretch of 6 holes where I played them in 10 over par. I was still afraid to go full speed because of my back, but I didn't feel like I hit the ball that bad. I just made some small mistakes and because the course was playing so difficult, I was punished every time.

After that stretch of golf I went from being up two strokes to down two strokes. That is when I started to get more comfortable and realized that my back was probably going to hold up and I could swing with a little more freedom. I did not make any more birdies, but I did make more pars and stopped making double bogey.

I picked up strokes on 11 and 12 to get back to even. I missed a short birdie putt on 15 but still picked up a stroke to lead by one with 3 holes to go. We both bogeyed 16 and the lead was still one going into 17. I had to lay up on my approach shot to the par 4 green and hit my wedge to 15 feet but it was a scary down hill putt. Bill had put his approach into the left greenside bunker.

Bill had a tough bunker shot. The pin was tucked close to the lip of the bunker and the green was running away from him. He tried to baby it and play the perfect shot, but he left it short in the bunker. Bill hit again and this time he hit it 15 feet by the hole. He just missed the putt for bogey and made double. I managed to coax my ball in two putts for bogey and once again I had a two stroke lead going into 18.

Normally I would hit 3 wood off the tee to stay short of the fairway bunkers. However I had been hitting the 3 wood like shit all day and I had hit the driver pretty well. I decided to be aggressive and hit the driver. I found the fairway and then laid up with a solid 5 iron. Bill's second shot went left into the trees.

We were both 111 yards away. I asked who was away, because I wanted to see what Bill did before I hit my shot. Bill tried to get me to hit first. Then one of our playing partners mentioned that Bill had tree trouble and not much of a shot. He was trying to keep his situation quiet and keep the pressure on me.

I reminded myself that pressure is self imposed, pulled my pitching wedge out and went through my preshot routine. I hit a great shot to 8 feet for birdie.

After I hit my shot, Bill then turned his club around and had to hit his ball left handed. Needless to say the ball did not go very far and Bill had no chance to catch me.

I finshed with an 85 and Bill shot 89. Now I lead 3.5-.5. My quest to complete this bet without giving Bill a single win, is almost complete.

Bill's swing is so bad right now, it's a miracle if he breaks 85. As long as my back holds up, I should have a really good chance.

The funny thing is, that Bill could solve all his problems by going to range a couple of times with the "Inside Approach" swing aid I have hanging in our locker at PCC. I hope he doesn't figure it out until after the bet is over.

Why I Suck At Limit Hold'em

I snuck out of work early yesterday to play 3-6 hold'em at Casino Arizona. I finished down $127. This is probably my 6th or 7th losing session in a row playing 3-6.

Part of it is just bad luck. My second hand of the day, I turned the nut straight and got 4 bets in only to see the 6 of spades fall on the river which made the spade flush for one all in player and the full house for the player I went four bets with on the turn. I was smart enough to recognize the situation and check call the river.

After that hand, I went on a kind of tilt where you lose your patience to wait for good hands and feel compelled to bluff in spots that are impossible to win.

In no particular order here are the things I have been doing wrong.

1. Playing medium strength hands in early position. I have been limping with JTs or suited Aces in early position. I am usually hoping that everyone limps behind me to build a multiway pot. However, there are enough occasions where I am getting raised and end up putting 2 bets in preflop and having to fold on the flop when I miss. Or worse, I call 2 bets preflop and then flop a long shot draw that I have the odds to chase after checking and getting 10-1 to call. Although the flop calls are probably slightly positive EV, I am leaking too much from the preflop action.

2. Bluffing way too much. I am consistently playing high cards for a raise preflop and getting 2+ callers. I miss the flop and it's checked to me in position. I am betting too much of the time. I keep hoping for some folds but I am not getting any. I just ran a quick poker odds calculation with me holding AKo and the flop coming random undercards. Let's assume I raised preflop so there are 5.5 bets after the rake in the pot. I gave one opponent middle pair and the other top pair. So on the flop top pair is 58% to win. My overcards are 21% to win. One bet divided by 6.5 = 15.3%. From an EV point of view, my bet is still positive. Barely. This does not take into account the times I get check raised. Now it's two bets divided by 10 (assuming another .5 in rake).

I believe I have read in some books that it is better to pass up some slightly positive EV situations early in the hand to bet on the bigger ones on the turn. If I hit the Ace on the turn I go to a 76% favorite on the big bet streets.

Another common example is 4 players in the pot. I have AK and one player hits bottom pair, one has a straight draw, and the other has a flush draw. I also gave one of the players an Ace. Now I am only 12% to win on the flop. Now if I give myself a King on the turn which gives two players two different flush draws, I become a 42% favorite.

I will no longer be betting on the flop in this game unless I have something.

3. Playing too many hands. This I am not entirely sure about. The conventional wisdom says that if the game is very loose, that you should play very tight. If you hit top pair with a good kicker you may get paid off by middle pair and top pair with a lousy kicker. It seems like these premium hands come around so rarely and get cracked so often in multiplayer pots that it may make sense to play some weaker Aces and Kings and out play your opponents on the flop and turn. I have yet to find the happy medium.

The Tide Finally Turns

Remember all the bad beats I was taking when I played in the live casinos? I said that variance was going to swing the other way eventually and I would hate to be at my table when it does.

I just got home for a quick trip to Vegas with my wife and I doubled my poker bankroll. I booked a win of $640 in 2.5 hours of poker!

My wife and I decided to celebrate our two year anniversary by going back to Las Vegas, the site of our wedding. Now that we have a baby, we enjoy the very simple things on vacation. The ability to sleep in or take a nap whenever we want. We can go to a movie or a nice dinner. We did all of that and Michele sent me down to the Venetian poker room at 8:00 PM.

I immediately sat down at a 1-2 No Limit table and bought in short for $100. I wanted to see a couple of rotations before I put another $100 on the table. My second hand of the night, I am in the big blind with 4c 6c. An early position player raises to $7 and three other people call behind him and I call in the big blind.

The flop is 4s-4h-As. I lead out for $20 to try and build a pot, figuring that someone probably has an Ace and I want to protect my hand from the flush draw. The original raiser calls, a couple of guys fold, and the button after some deliberation, folds and accidently shows his hand which was A-7. Ok I guess my opponent is on a flush draw.

The turn is the 6 of spades which is perfect. It gives me the full house and gives him a possible flush. I try to look a little disappointed as I check. He bets $30 and I ponder for a moment and then call.

The river was nothing and I have to figure out whether to bet or go for the check raise. I decide to get greedy and go for the check and he cooperates and bets $40. I raise the rest of my chips which is only like $11 more for him to call and he shows Js-8s. What a crappy raising hand! So I more than double up after 2 hands.

A couple of hands later, I raise in late position with pocket 10's. The same guy calls after limping under the gun. The flop is K-8-4 rainbow. He checks and I fire a continuation bet. He looks me up and down and calls. The turn is another ten, giving me three of a kind. He checks again and I make another 1/2 pot sized bet which he calls. The river is nothing and he check folds.

I won a couple more small pots off the same guy with underpairs or even Ace high. I had position on him in every hand and it really paid off. I left for a bathroom break and when I got back, a new player was cleaning out my "favorite". He got up and left and I thought my night might be a little tougher.

I maintained a steady stack for about an hour when I won the biggest pot of my poker career. The black man on my left limped in which started a rash of other limpers. The button raised to $7. I'll never understand why he would do that when he knows everyone is going to call. I had seen him raise that same amount with Queens earlier. The small blind folded and I looked down at two black Kings.

I definitely need to thin the herd so I raise to $30. Now the black guy on my left thinks for a little bit and calls, another limper calls, and the button calls. Already this pot is out of control. I have $310 behind and the pot is over $120 and I am out of position.

The flop is 8 high with two spades. I am not in the mood to fuck around and I bet $100. Now the black guy on my left goes in the tank for a little while and decides to make it $200 to go. Fuck! I would have been happy taking it down right there. One of the prefolp callers takes a long time to fold and the button makes a show of his fold and it's back to me.

Earlier I had seen this guy raise on a flush draw. If he has that, then I need to push all in. If he has a set, I am screwed although I do have the King of spades so that could come back to save me. I decide to push in my remaining $211 and he hesitates a little and then calls.

I turn over my Kings, but he exercises his option not to turn over his cards. Since he's not in a hurry to show me his hand I figure I must have him beat. But I want to know what cards I need to sweat! Turn it over dammit!

The turn is a beautiful red King and the river is a Queen. It turns out he shows me pocket Queens for the slap in the face river card for him. My three Kings are good and I rake a HUUUUUGE pot. Just over $700.

My heart was leaping out of my chest. That rush is why so many people love this game.

Now the issue was, "Should I leave this game?". I did not outplay him in this hand, I just got lucky that my Kings were higher than his pocket pair. The table was relatively soft, but I was stuck between two decent players. Also I knew that I had just doubled my bankroll and it was very tempting to just quit and say I won $600.

I played a few more hands and then got up to think about what I should do. I had literally won all this money in 90 minutes. I drove for 5 hours to Vegas mainly so I could play some poker and I felt like I was cheating myself if I didn't at least keep playing for a while.

I told myself that I would protect $500 and play with the $200. If I lost that, I would quit. I lasted about another hour, mainly folding. I even folded Ac Qd to a $20 raise preflop by the guy on my right. I knew he had 10's or Jacks because he had over raised preflop with that hand two times already. I just did not want to play my hand with so many players behind me. Turns out I would have missed the flop anyway.

After an hour of this bankroll strategy, I could not get the fear of losing my big profit out of my head and I decided to rack up and go to bed. I had maintained my stack and cashed out for $711. Subtract my initial $100 buy in and that is $611 in profit.

Just as a throw away the next day I cashed in my $15 free slot play voucher and won an additional $30. My wife did even better by hitting a $200 jackpot on the nickel slots. The VQ team could not lose!

Now I have close to $1,300 in the bankroll. It will be interesting to see if I can continue to build it by moving up to .50-$1 NL.

Winning at Golf, Losing at Poker

Last night I was out at a Christmas Party for my friend, Jason. I was alone because my wife and I did not want to pay for a babysitter for 2 nights in a row. After the party I decided to make the most of my hall pass and go play 3-6 hold'em at the Gila River.

I have been running extremely bad in live limit poker over the last few sessions. I hate to be the guy complaining about how bad everyone else plays so I won't do it here. All I can say is I have a big swing of good luck coming my way and I would not want to be my opponent at the table when it finally hits.

I thought last night might be the night as I quickly made $60 in profit when I flopped trip Queens with AQ and hit the nut flush with KQ suited. Unfortunately I did not win another hand the rest of the night.

The coup de grace was playing 8-4 in the big blind. The flop comes down perfect with 5-6-7 and two diamonds. The ancient old man on my right in the small blind leads out. He only bets when he has something and a lot of the time he won't bet a great hand because he's afraid of an even better one.

I raise trying to protect my hand because there was still a couple of other players behind me. One of them calls and the old man reraises me. I had not seen him reraise anyone in 2 hours! I don't think he was pushing a flush draw, so he either has a higher straight, a lower straight, or 3 of a kind. Since I have one of the cards needed for the higher straight, I think I am still ahead, so I raise again. Now the loose caller folds and the old man calls.

The turn is a meaningless diamond. He checks. Since I don't put him on a flush draw, I figure it's safe to bet. He just calls. The river is another diamond, putting four on the board. He checks again and I check my cards to make sure I don't have a diamond. I don't so I check behind. He turns over a pair of 7's giving him a set and I am ready to stack the chips. Wait! One of his 7's is a diamond and he wins the pot.

I finished the night down $100 and left in a really sour mood.

Today was match #3 of the golf challenge with Bill. Since PCC was hosting a tournament, we decided to check out Arizona Country Club. We also wanted to see their new clubhouse since that's all we seem to talk about at Phoenix CC. The clubhouse was as nice as expected and the golf course was very pretty as well. It's not quite in as good as shape as our course and it's not nearly as difficult. It was a pleasant change of pace, however.

I felt pretty good about my game today, but my putter was letting me down. Bill was playing awful again, but this time his putter was working and he was getting up and down from everywhere. We both shot 41 on the front nine.

This was a good example of how things were going. On the par 5 10th hole, I hit my drive into the right rough. Bill went further right with his 2 iron. Bill's next shot hit a tree solidly and went further right into a greenside bunker for a different hole. He then hit out of the bunker and it hit the roof of the snack bar and ricochets back into the right rough.

I hit 5 iron to lay up and hit a 7 iron to the middle of the green. Bill hitting his 5th shot from 180 yards goes over the flag and just off the green about 15 feet away. I miss my birdie putt and tap in for par. Bill sinks his putt from off the green for 6 and I only pick up one stroke.

I manage to build a one stroke lead going to 17. Bill was a long way from the green and hit a banana ball that went right into the front bunker. Because of the trajectory of the shot, his ball plugged into the side of the bunker. I had hit a good drive, but my swing path was a little steep on my 9 iron approach and leave it a yard short of the green. Bill leaves his first sand save attempt in the bunker. His next shot was a good one, but it trickled 8 feet by the hole.

I hit my birdie putt from off the green and left it just an inch short. I tapped in for par and waited for Bill to make another miracle putt. He did not let me down and he managed to make the putt with a 2 foot break for bogey. Now he is only two down going into 18.

I stand up on the Par 5 18th hole tee box and hit my best drive of the day. 250 yards with a slight fade. Bill hits 2 iron and it is flaring to the right again. It looks like it went out of bounds. I even said, "It's over" out loud. Bill hit a provisional which was over corrected to the left. We drive up to where Bill's first ball would have landed and once again, he lucks out and we find the ball one foot from a brick fence that kept his ball in bounds. His second lucky break is that he would have to stand on a huge drainage grate to hit the ball, so he gets a free drop away from the wall. He smacks his second shot up the fairway and now he's in good position for his approach.

I only have 240 yards left to reach the green in two. I had told Bill earlier that I was going to try and reach every par 5 in two if given the opportunity. I took the head cover off the 3 metal, but as I looked at my options with that club, none of them looked any good. If I aim at the pin, I have to clear two sets of bunkers and make the shot stop on what looks like a short amount of green. If I aim to the fat part of the green on the left, there is a large eucalyptus tree hanging over the fairway that could catch my ball.

I put the head cover back on, and take 5 iron, trying to lay up short of all the trouble. I hit a crappy shot that starts to slice low and to the right. I end up stymied behind a small pine tree. Meanwhile, Bill hit his approach to 8 feet for birdie. If he makes his putt and I make bogey he will pull out another miraculous tie.

I punch out from behind the tree to the grass just left of the green. I have kind of a tough lie for my 4th shot with the ball below my feet and I am pitching to an elevated green. I hit an ok shot and leave myself 25 feet for par.

Standing over the putt, I really wanted to make it. I did not want to try and baby something up there. I over accelerated through the ball and ran the ball 9 feet by the pin. Another horrible putt and this one may cost me the match! I said a few choice curse words and tried to compose myself. Luckily my come back putt was straight and a little up hill. I made a good stroke and somehow I willed it into the hole for bogey.

Bill still had a chance for the tie. He lined up and pulled it to the left. Bill's well of miracles had finally run dry. I had to shoot a 39 on the back to beat him in spite of how bad he played. Now the match stands 2.5 to .5 with me in the lead.

Breaking In The Man Cave

The first poker night was held at my new house last Wednesday night in the man cave. The line up was Rob, Carlo, Greg, Mike, and Devin.

The man cave is set up with my old octagon poker table and a new 32” LCD Sony TV to watch the Suns game. I ordered a couple of pizzas from Papa Johns and we were off.

I was impressed with Carlo early on. He had control of the table and was pushing players off their hands. Of course I knew that eventually it would come back and bite him in the ass which it did. However I could see how he could do well in a real tournament. He was aggressively going after pots that no one wanted. If he could learn to slow down at the right time and be a little more selective, he would be tough to beat.

I knew that I would not be playing my best poker since I was busy trying to be a good host and the game was on, which kept distracting me.

I lost my first buy in when I raised with AdQd on the button. Devin and Greg called the raise and the flop was Jc-9d-6d. They checked to me. I could have checked and I thought about it. However the pot seemed big enough that I felt like taking it down now was ok too. I bet 25 into a 45 pot. Devin folded, but Greg moved all in on me. Since I was a favorite over everything but a set, I called. Surprisingly Greg had the 7d-8d for a straight flush draw. I was not as big a favorite as I thought, but it was still 58% in my favor. I had his diamond outs covered except for two of them and currently the best hand. He hit his straight card on the turn and I did not hit a diamond so I forked out another $20.

On my second stack, I won a big pot with pocket 8’s. Robert limped in and I called with 8’s on the button. Mike folded his small blind and Carlo raised. Since Carlo had been raising a lot and I figured Robert would not call a big bet from me, I reraised all in. Carlo was a little short do I did not think smooth calling would give me the right odds to flop a set. I was willing to race and I was hoping he might call me with something like A-5. I think he had K-10 and my 8’s held up.

Carlo rebought and then crippled me later. I limped in after a couple of others with QJ suited. The flop was Q-7-3 rainbow. Carlo led out from the big blind and everyone folded to me. I thought about raising, but I figured I had the best hand and I would let Carlo bluff at it on the turn and then drop the hammer. The turn was a 10. Carlo went all in and I called. Carlo had turned two pair holding 10-3. Ugh!

That crippled me and I later went out when my A-K did not win the race.

Golf Match #2 I choke away an easy point

A week ago, Bill and I played our 2nd match in the golf bet. Once again after 9 holes I had a 3 stroke lead with a 40 on the front 9. It seemed like I played even better than I scored.

On the back nine, my golf game started to leave me. I hate that feeling of knowing that you have played great golf for 2-3 rounds and you just know the bad one is coming. I did everything I could to fight it off, but bad shots at really bad times kept happening.

The funny thing was that Bill could not get his game going either. Every time I gave him an opening he tripped over himself. On 13 I hit it in the water with my tee shot. Then Bill stepped up and did the same thing. I did him one better by then putting my pitch shot in the lake again! I took an 8 and he took a 5.

His next screw up was on 14. Since he had the honors he went first and inexplicably hit his 2 iron out onto Osborn Road and out of bounds. I was in the middle of the fairway. After Bill hit his 3rd shot from the tee, his 4th shot was also heading out of bounds towards Osborn again. I thought it was out for sure. He even hit another provisional because Bill thought it was probably OB. But he walked up to the tall pine tree on the right and there it was. I made bogey and he only made double bogey.

By 18 I had built my lead back up to 3 strokes. I hit 3 wood off the tee on the par 5 to keep it in play and to keep the fairway bunker out of play, since I can't reach it with that club. I hit a weak slice to the right that I briefly thought might bounce out of bounds. Luckily the grass was long and sticky so it did not go far. Bill was in the middle of the fairway. My second shot required me to punch out back into the fairway keeping it under a big tree. I hit a great shot and managed to advance the ball about 150 yards. Bill was still in good shape with his second and then played his 3rd onto the green.

I had 185 yards to the middle of the green. I thought about my choices. I could lay up with a 140 yard shot and take the lake out of play on the right. I still might leave myself a tough shot if I pull it left into the fairway bunker or push it too far right and get stuck behind the big pine tree. I could also hit 5 iron and just aim way left. If I hit it straight it's in the greenside bunker and all I have to do is get out and two putt for the win. I decide to play the 5 iron shot and aim left. Apparently I did not aim far enough left as I rinsed it in the lake. Fuck!

I'm still ok if I can make double bogey, Bill still has to make his long birdie putt to tie. I take my drop and the ball bounces a little forward into the longer rough. I hit my pitch shot over the lake trying to put the image of my botched pitch over the lake on 13 out of my head. The ball lands 6 feet from the pin. I am hoping to have a little bite on the shot, but because of the rough I can't get enough spin on it and it rolls past the pin and up a swail in the middle of the green.

Bill proceeds to hit his birdie putt from just outside where my ball is. His putt screams down the hill and runs 6 feet by the hole. Now all I have to do is two putt. It's not easy because it will tough to stop the ball near the hole after seeing what Bill's ball did. I hit a great putt that almost goes in. Unfortunately it still creeps 4 feet by the hole so it's not a gimme.

Bill makes his first clutch shot of the day and drains the putt for par. I hit a good putt but somehow it does not go in and I take an 8 on the last hole and Bill salvages a 1/2 point. I shot 48 on the back nine. Absolutely horrible!

Golf Match #1

We played our first golf match of the now Second Annual W**/Van*** Cup. Not much to report as I totally kicked his ass. The final score was 77 to 90. I made putts from everywhere and Bill never got going.

There has been virtually no poker in the last week as we get ready to move into our new home. However, I did get to meet Tom Schneider, the reigning World Series of Poker Player of the Year. Tom was playing in the golf tournament we played in today at Phoenix Country Club and he was in the foursome behind us. He seems like a nice guy and he has a pod cast that I could try to listen to. The problem with his show is that one of his friend's mikes is turned up way too loud and he has the most raskpy, annoying voice I have ever heard on a radio show.

House Closing and Another Wednesday Win

Lots going on.

We close on our new house today. There is master bedroom upstairs and one downstairs. Michele said I can have the one downstairs to make into my “Man Cave”. So I forsee my poker table, a flat screen TV, and possibly a kegerator in the future for that room.

I nearly doubled my poker bankroll in September and lost it all back in October. The main issue was the lack of a Wednesday game which made me want to go to the casino on Wednesdays or on the weekends. All of those trips were big losers.

We finally started up the Wed game again last night and once again I took first place out of 5 for a $64 profit. I feel like I played my best game ever last night. I won numerous pots with bluffs in the beginning and just hit all kinds of cards at the end to take the last two players out, including pocket Aces on the very last hand.

The golf bet with Bill will be starting up again this Sunday. This year it will be 10 rounds straight up for $300. Hopefully I will be adding my name to the locker this year as the winner.

Absolute Poker Cheating Scandal

The morons at Absolute Poker have given online poker another black eye. See article at msnbc here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21381022

I hope they can figure out a way to get all these players their money back

Hot on Wednesdays, cold everywhere else

I am still incredibly hot in the Wednesday night game.

I am finally implementing some of the tells that I learned from “Read’em and Reap” by Joe Navarro.

Two weeks ago I called on the button with K5 suited with Mike in the hand. I flopped absolutely nothing. Mike made the minimum bet on the flop and then started stroking his throat. I remembered that Navarro says that is a soothing behavior when you are uncomfortable. The physical tell plus the minimum bet led me to believe that Mike could be made to fold this hand. I raised with absolutely nothing. Mike thought about it for around a minute then folded. I decided to show the bluff, hoping to keep him from trying to bluff me in the future. Mike said he had middle pair.

Last week, I raised a couple of limpers on the button and Devin called the raise from early position. I think I had KQ or something like that. The flop was A-T-X and I flopped an inside straight draw. Devin checked and I made a continuation bet. I figure it would not be hard for me to represent an Ace here. Devin called but he started touching his face and covering his mouth. Again these are soothing measures so I put him on middle pair and I figure I can get him off the hand with another bet. The turn was no help and I made a ¾ pot sized bet. He hemmed and hawed for a little while and said, “I’ll show you some respect and laid down A-7 for top pair and bad kicker. I decided to show him no respect and turned over my bluff.

I came in 2nd last week to Kory. Kory built up another monster stack but by the time it was heads up, I was in the chip lead. Unfortunately I think I ran into some cold decks, because it seemed like every time I raised preflop, he was able to reraise me off the hand. Then I went on a streak of 7-8 hands in a row where my highest card was an 8. When the blinds are high, that is a killer. I could not luck my way back into it and Kory finished me off. Still I have cashed in 6 of the last 7 weeks.

Since the golf courses are overseeding, I was bored and got the kitchen pass to go to the casino. Last week I snuck out and lost a quick $150 at 3-6 hold'em to a bunch of middle pair flush chasers. This time I wanted to take a shot at the 5-150 game again.

I was dealt a few hands including pocket Kings and pocket Queens and won some small pots. The problem was I lost two really big ones and they cost me my $300 stack. The first one was AhQh on the small blind. I raised a bunch of limpers and got one caller. The flop had an Ace so I bet and he just called. The turn brought a blank, except that put two spades and two diamonds on board. I thought about checking and keeping the pot small, but I did not want to give him a free draw. I bet and he raised all in which was just $25 more. He turned over the AsQs. Same hand except now he has the spade draw which of course hits on the river. He runner-runner flushes me for $200.

My last hand I had A9o in late position. There were a bunch of limpers so I decided to come along. The small blind raises to $20. I had seen him earlier limp with AQ so I am figuring him for a high pocket pair or AK. The flop has an Ace and he checks. It checks to me and I bet $30 into a $80 pot, just to see where I am. Everyone folds except the initial raiser who calls. Since he just called, I am feeling like he has KK or QQ and can't lay it down yet. The turn puts the third heart on the board. He checks and I figure a big bet will get him to lay it down or maybe even lay down A-10 or A-J. Instead he instacalls with QhJh for the flush. Bad read on my part. I still don't know how he raises that hand preflop with all those callers but it paid off.

I am still waiting for my good run at Casino Arizona. It's been 10 years over due.

My Celebrity Look Alikes

This was an older picture. It did pick up Jeff Daniels who everyone says I look like.

A Win In Vegas!

For the first time in I don't know how many trips to Las Vegas I finally left a winner!

I met up with Bill and Chris in the airport in Phoneix on Friday morning and made it to the 4 Seasons before 9:00 AM. Our room wasn't ready so we had a little breakfast and caught up on each other's lives for a while.

Our gambling did not start until around lunch time when we took a cab down the strip to Bill's Gambling Hall (the old Barbary Coast). They did not have any BJ tables that looked good so we moseyed next door to the Flamingo. They were just shuffling brand new decks for the $5 minimum tables and had open tables so we sat down.

The one first for me and the boys on this Vegas trip was that the waitress at the Flamingo actually brought us our drinks for the second round before we even had to ask for them. We were shocked at the level of service. It was also nice to have a dealer openly root for us players in the hands instead of being a stone faced robot. We all started cold, but I went on a streak and ended up $143.

I decided to take my winnings to the Flamingo poker room and see what I could do. The boys were heading back to the Mandalay Pool since the sun had finally come out.

Luckily, I found the softest 1-2 No Limit table in all of Las Vegas. Nobody liked to raise preflop, but everyone was willing to come in for $2. Pots were routinely 7-8 handed. I was short stacking it with only $100, so I figured I would raise my really strong hands preflop and push hard on the flop and hope they hold up. I would also look for opportunities to get in really cheap and flop a monster.

I really won all my money with 2 hands back to back. The first one I picked up pocket Kings in the big blind. I raise a bunch of limpers to $15 and two callers behind me. The flop is Q-Q-9. I bet $30 and get one call. An Ace hits the turn and it goes check-check. Another Queen falls on the river pretty much assuring me that my opponent was not slow playing 3 Queens. I am all in for $45 and he calls with J-9. There's my quick double up.

The very next hand, I pick up A-K in the small blind. I raise a bunch of limpers to $15 and get 3 callers. Flop is A-J-T. I bet $60 and everyone folds. There's a quick $135 in two hands. I finish the session up $125. I am off to a great start!

After a few hours of poker, I check in with the guys to see how the pool scene looks. They call back from the "Adult" pool and tell me I must come right away and bring $50 for the conver charge. I lathered on the sunscreen and headed out to the beach. It was definitely worth the cover charge. I laid around and drank Coronas while watching drunk and topless girls prance around the pool. Life is Good!

We made dinner reservations at Rao's in Caeser's that night and I had made plans to meet up with my friend, Jason who lives in Vegas. We had a good dinner with some really over priced wine. Jason is doing well with his new job working for the casino owner of the joints in Mesquite and playing quite a bit of golf.

Chris and Bill were ready to go downtown and I figured I would tag along. Our first stop was the Golden Nugget. Again we could not find a good cheap table so we walked next door to the Horseshoe. Now it's just called Binion's and they have done some minor remodeling. New carpets and floors and they have made the place a little less cluttered.

My morning luck was not carrying over and I lost a quick $79. Bill and Chris wanted to try their luck at the 4 Queens, but I decided to jump ship and go to the poker room.

Binion's poker room is one of my least favorite places because it is so dark and dirty and nobody from their staff is very friendly. I was immediately placed at a 1-2 No Limit table. It was only 6 handed and it took them moving a couple of players before I realized that I was sitting at a must move table. The floor person had not even mentioned it to me when I sat down and what was worse is that she had not written my name down to move to the main game. I said something to the floor after they had moved two people that had sat down after me and I finally moved to the permanent game.

This game was much tougher than the one at the Flamingo. I bought in for $100 and I was fluctuating right around that amount for the first 90 minutes. During the game I made my classic Las Vegas blunders again. I had Ace-Jack of spades in the blinds and limped preflop. The flop was 8 high with two spades. I checked, an early position player bet and the middle guy called. They both had a lot of chips and seemed like decent players. Since the board was so low, I thought a big raise might also represent 9s or Tens as well as a flush draw. I raised all in for a pretty good amount. The first guy folded, but the last guy called with his pocket 10's. Once again, my draw did not come in. Although I was favorite on the flop, I am really starting to reconsider these types of moves when it comes to cash games. I just don't know if I can get the players to fold often enough to make it worth it.

Here is another hand that I may have misplayed. I have 9c-Tc on the button. I raise 4 limpers to $15. That may have been the first mistake. I was not playing many hands so I thought my raise might narrow the field. It did and I got 2 callers. The flop was Q-J-5 and I think there were two hearts on the flop. They both check to me and I bet $30 with my open end straight draw. I then get check raised to $100. So there's $175 in the pot and it's $70 to call. Now I cannot remember if I had enough money to make this call or not.

If $70 was all I had left then I guess it would have been right to call with two cards to come. Instead I folded. Basically I did not do a thing right that entire hand.

I ended the night down $49, so just a minor loss.

The next day most of my poker was back at the Venetian. This was another soft table, but not as easy as the Flamingo. Unfortunately I was not getting any traction and I was hovering around my $200 buy in the for the first 3 hours.

One hand I was not sure about: I have QJ in the small blind. Two limpers and I complete and the Big Blind checks. The flop is K-Q-J. I bet $10, the BB folds, one limper raises to $30, and the button calls. I call as well. The turn is an Ace. I check and the other players end up all in. I fold.

The raise on the flop worried me, because someone easily could have a better two pair. If it's just one player raising I think I may have reraised. The smooth call from the button may mean he's slowplaying a straight. It turned out that I saved a lot of money since they both made the straight on the turn. I still don't know if that was the right move though.

My time at the Venetian was pretty boring until the last 30 minutes. I was getting a little irritated that I was not really flopping any monsters. I was only winning or losing $20 at a time and still had just under $200 in front of me.

Finally a big hand comes up. I have A-5 in the small blind. The flop is X-X-5 and there are at least 4 players in the pot. I check and everyone checks behind me. The turn is another 5. Now I lead out for $10. I get the BB to fold and UTG raises me to $30. Everyone folds back to me. I reraise to $100. Now he goes into the tank for a couple of minutes. The longer he thinks about it, the more I think he has the other 5 with a weaker kicker. He finally just raises me all in and I call right away. We both turn over the same hand. I curse my rotten luck and he is happy because he was afraid I might have a higher set for a full house. All that excitement for nothing.

A little while later I pick up AJ of hearts in middle position. I raise a couple of limpers and everyone folds behind me. The BB calls along with one of the limpers. The flop is all hearts and I finally flop the monster. The BB who was one of the better players at the table, bets into me for 1/2 the pot. The limper in the middle folds and I smooth call. The turn is a blank. This time he goes all in. I double check my cards and call. He had the K-5 of hearts for the 2nd nut flush. I doubled my stack right there, up to $400. What a great feeling when you can call with the nuts!

I left soon after to catch a movie with Chris. After watching Brave with Jodie Foster we headed back to Mandalay Bay to see if we could find a $10 black jack table. After wandering around for 30 minutes without any luck, I decided to head for the poker room. In my previous trips to this poker room they did not spread No Limit poker. Now that's almost all they do. I found immediate seating at a 1-2 table and bought in for $100.

My very first hand I pick up KQ and raise. A young hispanic guy with a cocky attitude calls from the blinds. The flop is misses me completely. He checks and I bet $15. He check raises me to $30. I fold and he shows pocket 2's. He was bluffing with the best hand, but for some reason it pissed me off. This is a weakness in my game. I should not care who beats me or who I beat. Just look for the best opportunity to win money.

Eventually I was whittled down to $50 and bought another $100. Then my luck began to turn. I picked up pocket Queens and raised from early position. The button called me. She was a decent player so I figured she had a decent hand and that also she may lay down to a continuation bet. The flop had an Ace. I decide to see if I can get her to fold and bet $15. She calls. Now I'm done with the hand. The turn is a Queen. Ok maybe I'm not done. I check and she pushes in her last $50. I call and she shows Ace-Ten. My three of a kind holds up and she goes home. Nothing like hitting a two outer to get someone's stack.

Later in a limped pot with 6 players I am playing Ace-6 in the small blind. The flop is A-8-8. Since there are so many players in the pot, I just check to see what happens. Everyone checks around. The turn is a 7. Now I decide to see if I can win this thing. I bet $10 and I get two calls. I am still not putting a lot of money in this pot because someone could be slow playing an 8. The river is a beautiful Ace. I bet $30 hoping for calls. The BB next to me curses and throws his hand away. The big breasted brunette at the end calls out of curiousity I guess because she mucks after seeing my hand. The big blind claims he had 7-8.

I believe that's what he had, however I can't believe he threw it away so fast. Did he even consider that I might have pocket 9's, tens, or jacks? However I was happy that I hit another two outer to win a pot.

I finished the Mandalay session up $46 and I finished the trip up $305. Finally a winning poker session in Las Vegas!

I Run Goot!

Wow this is post number 200. I wish I could say I was a better writer now than when I started. I know I am a better poker player even if my bankroll doesn't quite reflect it. I read some of my old posts sometimes and chuckle at what I thought were the right plays back then.

Now on to the new poker content.

I am on quite the heater in the Wednesday Game at Greg’s. I have been playing in this weekly game for 14 months and have played 31 tournaments. After updating my stats with my second place finish last night, I have a Return On Investment of 35% on Wednesdays. I have also been running pretty good online as well.

Two nights ago in a quick 20 minute session I busted my opponent’s pocket Aces twice. My total poker bankroll is $825 which is up from the $564 at the beginning of the month. Just in time to really pump it up in Vegas this weekend right?

Last night’s game was a lot of fun. Medical Kory made a triumphant return and he brought his friend Vince with him as well. That gave us 7 players. With Craig and Kory both showing up they caused everyone else to gambool and helped generate 6 additional rebuys. The total pot available was $260.

Early on Craig was catching a huge rush of cards. Not only was he catching good cards, but his opponents were also catching good cards, just not quite as good. That is the perfect storm to build a huge chip stack.

My situation was the exact opposite. I had absolute crap for the first 45 minutes. I won one hand when I raised KQ in early position. Vince called and everyone else folded, because they knew I was playing tight. The flop was 10-9-X and I followed up with a continuation bet. Vince was going to fold, but then started thinking about the clock and how long he would have until the rebuy period was over. I made sure to mention that he had plenty of time left and he eventually folded. So it was 45 minutes in and the only hand I had won with was a bluff.

Of course the next hand I had 9-10 suited under the gun and decided to get frisky and try again. This time I only raised 2x the blind to make it look like I had a really good hand. I had 4 callers. I flopped an open ended straight draw but there were two hearts on board and I had clubs. I checked and hoped to get there cheap. Somebody only bet 200 and I had the odds to call so I did along with everyone else. The turn brought a possible flush on the board. I check folded and gave back some of my winnings.

My stack had whittled down to about 2500 and I picked up 10’s in early position. There was about 3 minutes left in the rebuy period. If I rebuy, I get 3000 in chips, so at this level I am not afraid to go broke. Craig and Kory had been raising every pot so I limped in expecting Craig or Kory to hold form and then I would come over the top. Sure enough Craig, raised and I got to move in against his pocket Kings. Nice timing there Poker Bully. I could not trip up and I was busted. I rebought in for another $20 and stacked my 3 peach colored $1,000 chips.

Greg had acquired a pretty large stack by this time and proceeded to bust two players at once with his pocket Jacks against KQ and QT. It definitely looked like it was going to be Greg or Craig’s night.

I still was not getting any cards, but I just kept hanging around while everyone else took turns busting to Craig or Greg. Finally I survived until it was 4 handed with Devin, Craig, and Greg. Devin and I each had a decent amount of chips, but we were still dwarfed by Greg and Craig. Then something beautiful happened.

When watching the final table of the biggest poker tournaments, I often wonder how an uninvolved player keeps from cheering when somebody else goes out and he moves up the money ladder a substantial amount. Everyone on TV celebrates like a jack ass when they win a hand that does nothing immediately for their bankroll, but you never see the celebration when someone else is eliminated. I don’t get it. Both celebrations are rude, but being rude does not seem to stop anyone.

The two chip leaders, Greg and Craig, got involved in a big hand. Greg turned a well disguised straight and was letting Craig bet into him. On the river, Craig hit two pair and went all in. Greg called and took a huge chunk of Craig’s chips. Greg celebrated quite loudly while I happily shared with Devin that we were both now back in the tournament hunt for 2nd place.

Craig still had as many chips as I did, but it gave Devin and I hope. Now the blinds were 200-400 and I started to play more aggressively pre-flop. Devin had a sizable lead on me, but I still had a little room to maneuver before it was all in or fold time. I think I had around 5,000 left.

On the button I picked up pocket 8’s and raised to 1000. Devin then went all in. Even though he had me covered, by a decent amount, I had the feeling that Devin was getting impatient and that this may be one of his shove it all in and double up or go home moments. The question for me was did I want to take a coin flip now or wait until I am the one putting the pressure on someone else? Thinking about it now, since Devin had me covered and was in decent shape, he should have a pretty good hand. I called and he turned over AK. Amazingly my hand held up and now I had a decent stack to work with of about 9,000.

After a few more hands, Craig raised all in from under the gun for about 5000. I picked up AQ in the big blind and called. Craig tabled K-5 suited. I had ribbed Craig earlier in the night about how he always builds a huge stack early and then goes a little crazy and loses it back. Sometimes he catches himself before he goes all the way to broke, but tonight there was no stopping him.

In a cruel twist of fate, he flopped a 5 and I thought I was going to give the monster new life. Luckily an Ace came on the turn and the river was a blank so I added a nice chunk to my stack and then there were only 3 left.

With 3 left and 2nd place paying at least $72 we all tightened up. The blinds had gone up to 400-800. Devin only had about 4-5x the blind left and was managing to survive for a few rounds. A lot of hands were won preflop or on the flop with small bets.

There was one interesting hand when I picked up A-8 on the button. Normally that’s a raise, but I decided to just call and keep the pot small. There was a good chance that Devin would fold in the small blind for a half a bet anyway and Greg was not raising very often. I flopped an Ace against Greg, but the board was all spades and I did not have one. Greg checked and I bet 1000. Greg called and I figure he’s trying for the flush. Greg has me covered by a lot, but he also knows that if he doubles me up, I will take the chip lead. The turn was another spade putting 4 spades on the board. Greg checked again. What should I do?

The pot is now 3800 and I want it. I could check it through, but then I figure I am facing a big bet on the river from Greg. If I bet a normal amount of ½ the pot about 2000 and Greg raises me, then I can’t call and I lose another 2000. I decide to bet small. It looks like I want a call and if Greg calls or raises, I am done with the hand. My plan works perfectly and Greg folds his Ace, because he does not have any spades as well.

Finally Devin gets desperate and pushes all in. I call with pocket 5’s and Devin tables pocket 4’s. My hand holds up and I am in 2nd Place!.

Greg and I count up our chips and I have just under 20k and he has just over 26k. Since the blinds were still 400-800 and it looked like it would last a long time, we decided to make a deal. I took $110 and Greg took $150.

Tomorrow it's back to Las Vegas with Bill and my friend Christian from New York. I am going to try and bring my digital recorder with me to help me remember some hands. I will make sure this trip to take my time with my decisions and make sure I remember to watch for tells.

Wednesday Night Hi Jinks

I started out well picking up pocket Jacks two times and winning some small pots. I folded the best hand with JJ once against Devin when the card that completed a flush and straight draws hit on the river. The pot was 1200 and I folded for another 200. I just didn’t see what I could beat except a bluff. Since Devin doesn’t bluff much or when he does, he makes it a big bluff so he can bust and go home, I folded.

The later part of the game began to get really crazy. Craig was back and was pulling off some really risky bluffs.

In another hand with Craig, Scott, and Greg. Craig bet, Scott raised all in, and Greg called all in. Now unless you have a really strong hand, this is an easy fold if you are Craig. However Craig announced, “I think they both are full of shit.” Craig eventually folded a high pair. Scott turned over a straight draw and Greg turned over a flush draw. Unbelievable!

Craig was crippled when he tried to go all in on the last hand before the rebuy period was over. He lost the hand but still had 325 left. It was all in the next hand. I picked up pocket 6’s and was ready to protect my hand. Instead Greg raised to 600 on my right. I chastised him by asking him if he was sure he was ahead of Greg. He said, “I think I am ahead.” I said, “You better know if you’re going to raise me out of this pot.”

I folded my 6’s. Then Mike went all in and then Greg called all in. Now I am happy to have folded. Mike turned up AK and Greg had pocket Queens. Mike hit a King on the turn and raked a big pot.

Later with the blinds at 100-200 and 5 handed I picked up pocket 5’s in the cut off. Scott was the big blind and Greg limped in. I raised to 600 and everyone folded back to Scott. He called and Greg called. The flop was K-2-3 rainbow. They both checked to me and I bet 500. Kind of a small bet but enough to find out where I was at. They both called.

The turn was another King. They both checked again. Figuring I could easily represent a King, I bet 1000 this time. Apparently they weren’t thinking about me having a King because they both called again.

The river was a 9 and they checked to me. By now I figure that I must be beat. Someone is trying to slow play a King or has a larger pocket pair than me. Greg turns over A-3 for Kings and 3’s. Scott turns over 9-3 for Kings and 9’s. I muck in disgust. They usually have enough respect for me to fold a crappy pair like that. Especially when the blinds are this high. Instead I get rivered by the guy holding a pair of 3’s with 9 kicker who lucks into pairing his kicker on the river.

The blinds went up to 200-400 and now I was in the 9-10 BB level. I picked up Ace King in the cutoff. I thought about pushing all in, but I wanted to make some money on this hand. I raised to 1200. Mike folded and Greg folded. Devin called which I was happy about, because he probably had crappy cards.

The flop was Q-3-4. I had decided when he called that I was going to push all in no matter what the flop was. I pushed in my last 2000. Devin announced, “This is the worst call ever” and turned over 2-5. He had an open ended straight draw. He pretty much had the odds to call on the flop, but the preflop call was atrocious. I fade the turn, but the river brings a 6 and he makes his straight.

I am almost finished with the latest book on poker tells I have been reading. I picked up a few last night:

I saw Craig do a tongue thrust when he bluffed a pot. I saw Devin pacifying himself many times with hands on his face when he was weak. I saw Greg do the same thing a couple of times as well.

When Will I Ever Learn My Lesson?

On Sunday I finally had some time to sit down uninterrupted and play online poker. For some reason I felt like playing No Limit so I sat down at the .25-.50 blinds at Full Tilt. Thankfully it was one of those beautiful sessions where not only did I get good hands and they held up, but I even picked off a big bluff when a donkey vastly over bet the pot on the river. I ended the session up $90 and was feeling really good about my game.

Last night I wanted to see if I could extend my streak of good play. The problem with this session was the same one I have been having with most of my online play the last 9 months. Inability to concentrate. Since I now have a baby, there is very little quiet time in the house. I had just finished dinner with my wife and I had spent the two hours before dinner with the baby, so I felt had fulfilled the family time requirements.

Because our house is too small, my desk/work area is in the living room. This means that we have the big TV, Jake’s play area, and 4 dogs all running around. I turned on ITunes and fired up a No Limit game on the computer. Immediately Michele starts talking to me about what needs to be done to get the house ready to sell, Jake is playing and babbling, and the four dogs are barking.

Obviously this environment is not conducive to concentration and good poker playing. Instead of being a smart player and shutting off the computer, I think I can play if I just shut off the music. Bad move.

Here are the hand histories of my biggest losing hands over the session:


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.25/$0.50 Blinds - 6 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

bor_venin: $91.85
Hero: $21.95
munkybrain: $33.80
justinwhit23: $28.75
michaela321: $18.90
Light80: $53.50

Preflop: Hero is dealt Qd Kh (6 Players)
2 folds, michaela321 calls $0.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $2.00, michaela321 calls $1.50

Flop: ($4.25) Th Ks 6h (2 Players)
Hero bets $3.00, michaela321 calls $3.00

Analysis: michaela321 had limped preflop and then calls my bet on the flop. What could he have? A king, a ten, heart draw, or QJ

Turn: ($10.25) 9h (2 Players)
Hero checks, michaela321 bets $5.50, Hero calls $5.50

Analysis: The straight and flush draws hit. The weak/conservative play is to check and if michaela321 bets, fold. I only have top pair, with 2nd best kicker out of position. Not a great place to be. The more aggressive play is to make a probing bet of half the pot. If he does not fold, then I am done putting money in the pot. Instead I become a weak calling station.

River: ($21.25) 7c (2 Players)
Hero bets all-in for $11.45, michaela321 calls all-in for $8.40
Uncalled bet of $3.05 returned to Hero
Uncalled bet of $0.00 returned to michaela321

What the hell can I possibly get out of betting here?

Pot Size: $38.05 ($1.90 Rake)

michaela321 had Js Qh (a straight, King high) and WON (+$17.25)
Hero had Qd Kh ([Qd Kh] a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$18.90)


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.25/$0.50 Blinds - 5 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

ALEXCLAIM: $62.65
Hero: $19.40
munkybrain: $147.30
Yateball: $15.60
Action Bet: $59.95

Preflop: Hero is dealt 9h 5d (5 Players)
munkybrain folds, Yateball calls $0.50, Action Bet calls $0.50, ALEXCLAIM folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($1.75) 8h Jc Td (3 Players)
Hero checks, Yateball bets $1.50, Action Bet calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.50

Analysis: I check my BB and flop and open end straight draw against 2 opponents. Against one opponent I usually semi bluff. Against 2, my chances of getting them both to fold go way down, so I try to get there cheaply.

Turn: ($6.25) Ac (3 Players)
Hero checks, Yateball checks, Action Bet checks

River: ($6.25) 7d (3 Players)
Hero bets $4.00, Yateball folds, Action Bet raises to $11.00, Hero raises all-in to $17.40, Action Bet calls $6.40

Analysis: I make my straight but it’s not the nuts. It’s the third nuts. However, everyone checked the turn through when the Ace hit, so I don’t believe anyone has KQ for the nuts. K-9 seems unlikely because if I had flopped the straight, I would like the Ace hitting because hopefully someone paired up and I can win some money. I would bet. Since everyone checked, I think my hand is good.

I bet $4 and Action Bet raises. This does not make a lot of sense to me along my lines of logic. If I wasn’t distracted I could have taken more time to reevaluate. Instead I get stubborn and reraise all in.

Pot Size: $41.05 ($41.05 Rake)

Action Bet had Ks Qd ([Ks Qd] a straight, Ace high) and LOST (-$19.40)
Hero had 9h 5d ([9h 5d] a straight, Jack high) and LOST (-$19.40)


Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.25/$0.50 Blinds - 5 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

Yateball: $15.85
Action Bet: $60.00
ALEXCLAIM: $63.15
Hero: $37.40
munkybrain: $130.35

Preflop: Hero is dealt 8s 8d (5 Players)
ALEXCLAIM folds, Hero raises to $2.00, munkybrain raises to $6.00, 2 folds, Hero calls $4.00

Analysis: munkybrain had been reraising me preflop a lot. One time I lost patience and reraised him with 6-2 suited. He called and the flop was A-A-T. I c-bet and he folded luckily. Unfortunately my one display of aggression did not slow him down.

Flop: ($12.75) 5s 7c Qc (2 Players)

Analysis: munkeybrain had not shown that he was raising light but he was raising so often that he could not have Aces or Kings that often. I figured if he had a pocket pair under Queens or AK, he would lay down to a strong bet.

Hero bets $12.00, munkybrain raises to $48.75, Hero folds
Uncalled bet of $36.75 returned to munkybrain
.
Analysis: Since he reraised, I’m pretty sure he had something pretty good. I could have increased my chances for a fold, if I put in the last raise preflop and then lead the flop. It looks more like Aces or Kings that way. If I raise to $12 preflop and he comes over the top again I can easily lay it down. If he calls, then I can bet $12 again and see what he does.

Pot Size: $36.75 ($1.80 Rake)

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.25/$0.50 Blinds - 5 Players - (http://www.legopoker.com http://www.legopoker.com/hh)

Hero: $53.90
munkybrain: $118.50
Yateball: $16.70
Action Bet: $48.25
Light80: $31.60

Preflop: Hero is dealt Ah 5c (5 Players)
3 folds, Hero calls $0.25, munkybrain checks

Analysis: munkybrain is in my head. Because I was tired of getting reraised, I just call hoping to see the flop cheap. There is a difference between adapting your play to take advantage of your opponent and changing your play because someone else is forcing you to do it. I was being pushed around.

Flop: ($1) 4s As 9c (2 Players)
Hero checks, munkybrain bets $0.50, Hero calls $0.50

Turn: ($2) Kh (2 Players)
Hero checks, munkybrain bets $2.00, Hero raises to $6.00, munkybrain calls $4.00

Analysis: I think the better play here is keeping the pot small. The check raise on the turn is a strong move. With munkybrain calling, I should be done putting any more money in this pot.

River: ($14) 7s (2 Players)
Hero bets $7.00, munkybrain calls $7.00

Analysis: What the fuck am I doing?

Pot Size: $28.00 ($1.40 Rake)

munkybrain had 4c 9h (two pair, Nines and Fours) and WON (+$12.60)
Hero had Ah 5c ([Ah 5c] a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$14.00)

Brokeback Pinetop part 2

Last weekend was the 2nd annual Pinetop golf trip. There were only 5 of us this year as Rob could not make it and he usually brings a few of the Yuma crew along. Bill already owed me $50 from the PGA championship bet so that was to be the first amount we would bet on the first round of golf at White Mountain Country Club.

Unfortunately, I had a mishap on the first par 5. I was 80 yards short of the green in 3 shots and I skulled my approach over the green, into the woods, and into a muddy drainage ditch. Now if I had been a little more patient and a little less pissed off I would have done the smart thing after seeing my lie and declared it unplayable and replayed my shot from in front of the green. Instead I chose to drop in the woods and hoped to hit it out of the woods off of a hardpan lie to a green that slopes away from me. Needless to say I did not pull off the shot and it hit a tree and went right back into the muddy ditch. I ended up with a 12 which is the highest score I can ever remember taking or writing down on my card.

After I triple bogeyed the next par 5, I asked Bill for a press on the $50 bet. I made sure to tell him it was a press and I wanted to make sure that the first bet was still on even though I was almost hopelessly behind. Then I started to play better. My score was 50 on the front nine and 40 on the back.

Bill started to play horribly and pressed again after he was down a few strokes on the 2nd bet. On 15, a long par 5 I hit a great drive and had a blind 230 yard shot to the green. Bill decided to mouth off and tell Jon, "This is where the tide will turn." Implying that I was going to choke. I stepped up and pured my 5 wood and my shot ended up 15 feet from the pin with a putt for eagle. I hit a bad putt that was 4 feet short, but I made the second one for birdie. Bill missed his birdie putt and I was now only 2 shots behind on my original bet even after taking a 12 and a triple bogey 8 on the two par 5's on the front nine.

We tied the next 2 holes and we came to the last hole which is a par 3. Since Bill was behind on the two additional press bets and stood to lose $100, he made another press for $50. Even though I had played the course a few times before I forgot that the green slopes severely from front to back. Bill remembered this and hit a low punch shot that stopped 25 feet away. I hit a high wedge shot that looked absolutely beautiful in the air. It landed 8 feet from the pin in the middle of the green and proceeded to spin right off the green and settled 3 feet off the edge. So instead of an 8 foot birdie putt, I had a just hope I can two putt, 50 footer. I hit another good putt with good speed except I misread the break and I was left with 5 feet for par. Bill made his easy par. I hit my putt exactly where I wanted and it looked good. Suddenly it stopped breaking into the cup, caught the lip, and spun half way around and out. I hit three good shots in a row on that hole and still ended up with bogey.

So after all the drama, Bill was right back where he started the day, down $50. Saturday morning we had a tee time at Pine Top Lakes, the par 3 course. I did not hit the ball well on the range but I was making every putt I looked at on the putting green. Bill wanted to play for $100 and I quickly agreed. On the very first hole, I sank a 30 footer for birdie and Bill missed a 4 footer for par and I had a 2 stroke lead. Bill never got closer the rest of the round and I shot a 69 which was 6 over par for the day. So now I am up $150.

After his morning thrashing, I half expceted Bill to beg me to drive back to Phoenix with the other 3 guys who were leaving early. We had a tee time at Pine Top Country Club for 1:09. We went back to the cabin and Bill showered off his bad round and was ready to go at it again in the afternoon. This time he hit a lot of chips around the green expecting to up and down me to death in the actual match. Bill was not feeling too confident in his swing so we did not bet the full amount. We capped it at $100.

From the start, we both played the front nine very well. We both scored a 42 and it seemed it should have been lower. Bill continued to play solid, but I took my game up another notch. Bill did make one killer mistake on the 11th hole when he hit his tee shot on the par 3 over the green and across the road which was out of bounds. I made par and he made a 6 for a 3 stroke swing.

Now the only thing that could save him was a lightning delay or my back going out. My back felt pretty good, but the clouds were rolling in. Sure enough on 12, we heard a clap of thunder and the lightning warning siren went off, calling us in to the clubhouse. Luckily it was only a 15 minute delay and I went right back to kicking his ass. I fired a one over par, 36 on the back nine for a 78. Bill shot a respectable 84 but he never had a chance. The final total for the weekend was a record $250 win in golf bets. Money won is at least twice as sweet as money earned!

How to win without cards

In my last post I talked about how interesting the Wednesday night game has become. Once again I decided to try and see if I could push some people around. Especially since the most aggressive player, Craig, was not there. I quickly went from 4000 chips at the start to 2000 in the first level.

So I changed gears and tried to play patient poker. That wasn't working very well either as every other hand I was dealt had a 2 in it. K-2, 7-2, J-2 it was exasperating.

After the blinds went up to 100-200, everyone tightened up way too much. Since I had under 2000 in chips, my only move as all in. Every time I moved all in, they folded. Even when I crept over 2000 and would just raise to 500-600 preflop they folded. Mind you I did not have very good hands. Most of the time they were 8-9 suited, Ace-Jack, or King-Queen type hands.

Finally on the big blind I checked my option. The flop gave me an open end straight draw. Devin underbet the pot and I just called. The turn gave me the straight. Devin bet a little bigger and I smooth called because there was another player in the pot and I wanted his money too. There were not any flush draws out there so I felt pretty confident in slow playing. The river was a brick and Devin checked. I value bet hoping to get both callers, but only Devin called. Devin had two pair, so I may have been able to extract a little more out of him, but I basically doubled up on that pot and climbed above 4000 again.

Now that I had chips, I could bully. I raised preflop occasionally to pick up the blinds. If a pot was abandoned, I bet at it. I was virtually never called.

Eventually the blinds were so big that Greg had to go all in and I busted him when I flopped top pair. It was down to me and Devin and I had a huge chip lead. I basically gave him 2nd place money and I took first place money. Devin also agreed to buy the beer so I definitely got the better of that deal.

It was really one of the rare occasions where I won the tournament without having an abundance of good hands. I won 90% of my pots by the other players folding.

How to play the Wed Game and my new goal

In spite of my horrible run online and in the casinos I have still managed to make money at the weekly home game at Greg's. My spreadsheet shows a net profit of $123 for a 17% return on my money.

When I initially started playing in the game a year ago, it was mostly a loose passive game. My strategy evolved into playing in position, waiting to hit my hands, and punish their calling station tendencies when I had a good hand. It has worked for the most part, but one of the nice things about this game is that we play against the same people every week. This leads to adjustments.

For the last month, the game has become much more aggressive. There are raises preflop almost half the time and there is a lot more crazy bluffing. A year ago I would never semi bluff a draw, because the guys would always bet so small that I was better off calling and waiting to hit my hand. Now the pots are getting so big, that it makes more sense to raise and hope they fold so you can win the big pot right away.

The trick in this game is knowing who will fold a hand. This is a tough trick to master because a few of the players will change their spots depending on how they feel that night. For instance, Devin used to be someone I could push out of a pot. Last night I raised A-5 offsuit in the cut off and Craig and Devin called. The flop was 4-5-6 rainbow. They checked to me and I bet about 1/2 the pot. Craig folded and Devin called. The turn was an Ace giving me two pair. Devin checked again and I bet 1/2 the pot again. Now Devin check raises me all in and I have him covered by about 500 chips. I call and Devin turns over 3-4. The river bricks and I bust him. 6 months ago Devin would have probably folded preflop and he definitely would not have check raised the turn. But now he's feeling bad about himself and feels the only way he will win is if he gets lucky. For the last month he has subconsciously made bad plays hoping to double up or bust early so he can go home. The problem is that it's impossible for me to know which Devin is showing up until I see him flip up his bust out hand.

Some books would say that you should be the table captain and if players are raising light, then you should reraise them and push them out of the pot. I happen to think that only works if the players are willing to fold. The last couple of games I played, I had the intention of being a bully but I never felt comfortable doing it. Plus in spite of reading the new book on tells, I am still having trouble reading some of the players in this game. Instead I played tight and waited to trap with my good hands. This can work well ,but it often depends on getting the cards. I'd rather find a way to win sometimes without the cards.

As for my online escapades, I have returned to low limit full ring games. I have been playing two tables at a time in the .50-1 limit games on Poker Stars and Full Tilt. I have also been utilizing the Poker Tracker software to track the fish in the game and it seems to be working out well. The problem is finding enough time to play so I can win some real money.

I have a trip planned in September to Vegas. I want to build up my bankroll online so I can take a decent chunk of cash to the tables. I have not figured out my specific goal yet, because I need to estimate the amount of hours and hands I can play and a realistic win rate.

Is It Possible To Make Money at a Casino 3-6 Hold'em Game?

The vast majority of poker blogs start out when a relatively new player decides to track his progress from a couple hundred dollar bankroll up to the thousands. He may get lucky at the start and go on a nice run, but invariably the blog devolves into a rant about how "rigged" online poker is or how he needs to play in higher games where the donkeys won't call his raises with 7-4 offsuit. Eventually he goes broke and the blog is never heard from again.



So far I have resisted this urge as my bankroll has careened down out of control from a high of $5,500 to $100. I do not believe online poker is rigged even though I feel the main problem I have had is negative variance. Yes I play bad from time to time, but I don't think it was -$5,400 bad.

Last Wednesday night, my normal poker tournament was canceled and I decided to meet Rob and Carlo out at the Gila River. They mentioned that they were running an "Aces cracked wins a rack" promotion and that we might be able to get in on it. The promotion was not running until 10 and I was there at 6:30 PM so I figured I would just play a solid game of 3-6.

I won a couple of hands early at my first table and then I noticed Carlo had sat down at another game. Even though my table was pretty juicy, my main concern that night was to have a good time, so I racked up my chips and took a seat at Carlo's table. Besides, Carlo can be easy money sometimes too.

Carlo did not last long with his initial $40 and went outside to call Rob who was MIA. Carlo never returned and I was by myself for the remainder of the night.

It was at this time when I went on a horrendous run of bad luck. I played at least 10 hands where I was ahead before the flop and after the flop, but someone hit their draw on the turn or the river. The converse was true as well that on the few hands I went in as a dog with a draw, the card I needed never came. I proceeded to lose $190 in 5 hours of play.

I might have over called the river in a couple of spots out of frustration, but for the most part I felt like I played pretty well. What struck me as strange was at 11:00 PM I looked around the table to figure out who was winning all the money at the table. Every stack at the table looked smaller than $100! Some of the real fish like to buy in short for $30-$50, but nobody looked like they were winning. Most of these players had been there for at least 2 hours if not more.

While driving home I started to do the math in my head. Let's say we play 40 hands in an hour. There is $1 taken from every pot for the bad beat jackpot. The rake is capped at $3 so they probably average about $2 in a 3-6 game. Plus the dealer usually receives at least $1 for every pot as a tip. That means that $4 x 40 hands = $160 disappearing from the table every hour. So if I played 5 hours the other night, then the casino took $800 off of the table during the course of my session.

One argument against this theory is that the rake is only paid by the winners, so you are not necessarily losing money. If you are a good player, you play less hands than everyone else and bigger pots, so as a percentage, you would pay less to the casino than the others.

I have a proven track record of winning at 9 handed limit games online. Usually I was winning 1.5-2.5 big bets per 100 hands. The rake schedule for Full Tilt at 3-6 for 9 players is $1 for every $20 in the pot, with a max of $3. The live game schedule at Gila River is $1 for every $10 with a max of $3. So obviously the rake is much less at the Online Poker sites plus you do not feel compelled to tip the faceless computer.

The easy answer is to play higher limits live, because the rake is still capped at $3 even if the pots are in the hundreds instead of the teens. You would assume that the players are better at that level. I have played as high as 10-20 and the players were slightly better. I did not find anyone who I felt really outclassed playing against, but I have not played enough hands to give it a fair chance.

I think one of these days I will go to the casino and track how many hands are dealt in one hour, how much they collect in rake, bad beat, and tips and how much did I pay out of my own pots. I think it may be enlightening.