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.

Thoughts on the New WSOP champ and my bankroll

My wife was coming home from the hospital yesterday so I had a convenient excuse to leave work early and watch the WSOP final table. I ordered it through Cox and per usual, it did not work. It took them over 4 hours to get the broadcast up and running.

In the mean time, I went to the ESPN website and ordered it there for another $20. That worked great but the picture quality was not very good. The one bonus was that I discovered that I can plug my laptop into my TV and watch it on a bigger screen. Maybe I'll try playing poker on the big screen once my wireless mouse arrives.

Jerry Yang won the title coming back from a short stack with an incredible rush of cards in the first 2 hours of the final table. He went from approximately 8 MM at the start to over $70 MM before he calmed down and started playing patiently. The top two chip leaders at the start were the first players to bust. That had to hurt.

They showed an interview where Jerry said on day two he was getting short stacked. He was in the big blind and there was a raise and a reraise in front of him. He figured he better move now, so he moved all in with A-5 suited. I remember that one player turned over pocket Kings. Anyways he hit a miracle 4 on the river to give him a straight and almost triple up.

That hand was a great example of how bad Jerry's playing strategy was when it came to deciding whether to call big bets. Jerry could possibly be the worst poker player to ever win the Main Event.

Unlike last year where I was able to study how a great poker player like Allen Cunningham plays, I was unable to do any studying. The picture quality was not good enough to try and pick up any tells and the play was so slow that I was often losing interest while someone thought about a decision for 5 minutes.

The best part of the broadcasts were when Phil Gordon and Ali Nejad would have a guest poker player in the studio. Phil made it a point to ask the players what their strategy would be in different situations in the tournament. Phil tends to catch a lot of crap on the message boards, but I really like him and I think he does a great job on these broadcasts.

As for my bankroll, it is sucking even worse. After the burglary last week that made my stash of $80 disappear, my roll is around $200. I swear I am playing better than I was a few months ago. I even have a new desire to play more limit poker after reading Howard Lederer's chapter in the Full Tilt strategy book. I realize it was written more for tournaments but I think a lot of what he said in there will apply to cash games as well.

I am trying not to break down and add money to the accounts. I did make a promise to Michele a long time ago that if I ever lost that money, I would quit. That was an easy promise to make when I had $3,000-$5,000. I can definitely afford to add to the account without any crimp in my lifestyle. I keep thinking about Chris Ferguson's quest to turn $1 into $10,000. He did it once and he has been trying it again for the last few months. The big problem for me would be that I don't play enough to reach that goal within 5 years.

Long Time No Post

I guess it's been close to a month now since I posted last. There's been a lot going on, including some poker but I've been too busy to post.

I took a vacation to Wyoming with my wife and 8 month old son to visit her folks and attend a family reunion in South Dakota. I had a great time until the housekeeper called while we were in Yellowstone Park. In her broken english she explained that our house had been broken into on the one day when we did not have the alarm set. They took our stereo, 32" LCD TV, our computer monitors, some cash and jewelry. They also took the garage door opener and both sets of my BMW keys, but left the car. I guess if they were smart, they wouldn't be criminals.

While on vacation I was able to visit the imfamous Deadwood, South Dakota from the HBO series fame. It's claim to fame is that Wild Bill Hickock was killed there while holding Aces & Eights. I even got to play a little poker while I was there. Just a little 3-6 limit. The first hand I sat in had 9 callers so as you can see, it was loose. I lost $50 since I did not catch enough hands to call bets all the way to the river.

One of the books I was reading during my trip was "Read'em and Reap" by Joe Narvarro. It's a new book on tells and it was very enlightening. I was able to implement some of the tips while observing the other players while I was not involved in the hand. My weakness is that when I am in a hand, I don't stop and think about watching for these tells. I try to put my opponent on a hand, but sometimes I don't observe my surroundings and take in the big picture. I made one bad read where I had seen the player in the 1 seat pick up both his cards in one hand and move them forward a little when he had a good hand. I had a weak Ace preflop and an Ace hit on the flop. I was in early position so I checked to see what would happen. This player made the same move with his cards when he bet and I folded. I asked him how big his kicker was and he said he did not have an Ace. I guess I believe him.

I was a little frustrated because reading most of these players was really easy, but you still had to have cards because even if you knew they were weak, they would still call you to the end. I saw one player make a raise and he looked really confident. He leaned forward and was anxiously watching the flop. I immediately put him on Aces or Kings. The flop came with an Ace and he quickly leanded back from the table and made a sour face. Obviously the Ace did not help him. Now if I am in the hand (I folded preflop and was just observing), I would probably bet until he folded. That's what the guy with the weak Ace did. Even a King hit on the river and the man with Pocket Queens held on to the end. So even if you made a good read and read his hand exactly, it would be tough to fold these donkeys.

The real strategy would be if you called out his hand to him and freaked him out a little. Would he fold then, or would he be smart enough to figure out that you were trying to scare him out of calling?

I am also reading the new Full Tilt Tournament Strategy Guide by Michael Craig. So far I am really impressed. I plan on analyzing this book a little more in future posts.

I replaced my stolen monitor with a new 20" wide screen monitor so now I can fit 4 tables on one screen easily. Too bad I am never left alone long enough to really utilize it with a baby and all.

The Main Event of the World Series is in Day 4 and it looks like it will be pretty tough for a big name pro to make it to the final table this year. Gus Hansen has the best chance as he's in the top ten with about 400 left. I am ordering the Pay Per View again this year and I am hoping to have a TV to watch it on. I even invited some of my poker buddies to watch it with me, but I think I may be too much of a degenerate. Nobody wants to watch without the hole cards except for me.

Things You'll Never Hear Us Say

Chris forwarded an article by Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated talking about things you will never hear famous athletes say. I responded back with things our friends will never say. Here were some of the better ones.

Jon: Yes that's right Mr. lawyer, if something should happen to Meredith and me, I want Kate to raise our kids. She's doing such a great job with her own.

Chris: Fore! or "Don't hit the ball yet, you might hit into them"

Rob: "Dawn and I are looking at adopting a child from Africa like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt"

Rob: "Don't call me on my cell phone, I'm busy calling expired listings"

Bill: "I don't give a s*** what Alicia says, she's not the boss of me!"

Bill: "I'm having such a good time on this vacation, let's stay another day"

Larry: "I can't play golf on Sunday, my family is going to church"


Marty: "Duckhorn or Chateau Rothschild? No thanks, I'll stick with the
brew."

Curtis: "Oh yeah Larry? Well... well... well I bet you I can beat you
at quarters."

Rob: "No thanks I'm out, strip clubs are for fags who can't get any."

Adam: "I miss my mother-in-law."

Chris: "I miss Yuma. I should have gone to Kofa, married a class of 88
coed and worked at the Record Shop in the Southgate Mall."

Jon: "I wish I would have went to ASU, U of A really sucked. Jacking
off is so much better than the real thing."

Bill "I wish I was a minority."

Larry: "Yeah, when I was in high school I was such a stud, I banged more
poon than Charlie Sheen. And then I went to the U of A and, well lets just
say I took my A game to another level."

Munds Park part 1

For the second straight year a bunch of the guys headed up to Munds Park to play golf, drink, and play cards. There was an endless stream of emails back and forth for weeks before hand recounting stories of Yuma conquests. Since I was not a part of growing up in Yuma they were mostly annoying.

We played golf on Friday at Pinewood Country Club. I am still hot with the sticks and I was only two over par after 12 holes. Unfortunately it did not last as I went out of bounds on 13 and put three balls in the water on 17 for a handicap adjusted 7.

The big news was Marty who shot a career best 88.

Friday night was pizza and poker night. I finally convinced the guys to play a freezeout tournament instead of a cash game. They liked the idea of only losing $20. Since I play in a freeze out every week that lasts about 5 levels I thought I could shorten it up and make everyone happy. 2500 in starting chips. 30 minute levels starting at 25-50. I allowed rebuys for the first hour. I figured we would be done by 10:00 PM at the latest.

On the second hand of the night, Robert flopped a full house and doubled up. I think he won 4 or 5 of the first 7 hands. Later on his brother, Ryan started to make some hands and build a nice chip stack.

I had nothing for 45 minutes. Finally I was dealt pocket Aces in early position. I raised to 300. Everyone folded to Josh in the big blind. The last time I played poker with Josh was in Yuma at his brother’s wedding. He was horrible in the 3-6 game in the casino. He never raised, even when he had the nuts and just called everything down. Of course he won that night because everybody that plays horrible seems to win in that game. Naturally I was excited to have Josh call my preflop raise.

The flop was A-7-4 with two clubs. Yahtzee! Josh checked and I thought about checking and slow playing, but then I thought, “How would I play Ace-King?” since I would always bet it, I decided to bet the trip aces. Josh check raised me!

Normally this would scare the hell out of me, except that I had the current nuts. I reraised what I had left and I was all in. He turned over the K-9 of clubs for the flush draw. I definitely did not expect Josh to be that aggressive with a flush draw. Luckily for me I am a 2-1 favorite to double up and get in the game.

My luck has been horrible lately, so I was really hoping this hand would hold up. The turn was another club so Josh hit his the flush on the turn. Everyone goes crazy and it looks like they are going to stop dealing. I remind them that I have 10 outs to a full house or 4 of a kind. Of course that doesn’t come in for me either so I have to rebuy.

After the rebuy period ended, Jim, Marty, Adam, and Robert busted after about another 30 minutes. By this time it was getting really cold out on the patio and Curtis asked if we could move the game inside to the “Final Table”.

Curtis was gunning for me because I had talked some shit about him in that string of emails before the trip. Last year he got really drunk and won a bunch of money early in a cash game. His luck turned and he lost all of the winnings and then some by the end of the night. I brought this up in the emails and apparently he was stewing on it for days. Curtis mentioned it during dinner and reminded me that he won a bunch of money in Las Vegas during Brady’s bachelor party. I had totally forgot about that and I told him, he should have emailed that fact back to everyone. Lord knows I lost a ton of money that trip.

Our former chip leader, Ryan went extremely card dead. He wasn’t playing a lot of hands and he was constantly folding the flop if he stayed in that long. Somehow Josh was still left standing although I’m still not sure if he knew what he was doing.

Curtis finally busted Ryan and it was down to three. Josh kept hanging in there, but he was getting bored, tired, and impatient. He pushed all in with a crappy hand and won. The very next hand he went all in again and I took a chance at busting him when I called with KJ preflop. He turned over the exact same hand and we chopped. Curtis eventually busted him and we had the grudge match that Curtis wanted.

I had managed to build up a decent chip lead when we finally got it all in. I had a King for top pair, and Curtis had a flush draw. Once again my pair failed to hold up and the flush came in so now we were close to even in chips.

A few hands later, I have AK and the flop is A-Q-T. We get it all in again and this time Curtis has A9 for top pair with a worse kicker. I am a huge favorite and we are practically even in chips so whoever wins this hand will win the whole thing. The turn is a King so now I have two pair, but I realize this was a bad card because now it gives Marty 4 outs to a chop with the Jack. Sure enough the Jack comes on the river and we both chop with a straight.

By this time the blinds were huge and I moved all in with K-5. Curtis woke up with pocket Queens and crippled me. He finished me off soon after and had his revenge. I won $70 for a $30 profit after the rebuys. Curtis won $130.

The next morning was spent laying around and having drinks on the porch. Since Billy didn’t come on this trip there was not a lot of golf betting going on. I guess the guys missed it because eventually Ryan and Rob decided to play Josh and Adam for $10 a man in a best ball match play format. I was also jonesing for a bet so I told anyone that would listen that I would bet $20 on Josh and Adam. Nobody took my action right away, but eventually Marty stepped up with his $20.

My golf round was uneventful except for the fact that I was drunker than the day before and it showed in my game. Every couple of holes we would drive up to the tee box and get updates on the bet. Finally after 17 we were told that Adam and Josh had closed them out and I had won the bet.

Apparently they decided to go double or nothing on the last hole. Rob drilled his drive down the middle like he had done all day. Adam and Josh both sprayed their drives, so they had to play from the middle of the 9th fairway. Throughout the day the pattern was that Rob would kill his driver and then Rob and Ryan could not hit an iron close and Rob was a lousy putter. Adam and Josh would spray their drives, but hit nearly every green and made a few putts. That was the main difference in the first match.

On 18 the pattern was continuing as Adam and Josh put their approach to 15 feet and the best Rob and Ryan could do was 45 feet. Ryan putted first and amazingly it went in. Ryan and Rob celebrated like they had just won the Ryder Cup with high fives and chest bumps. Also like the Ryder Cup, Adam and Ryan still had a putt to tie even though Rob and Ryan were jumping around like children. This time Adam and Josh could not get the putt to drop so they finished even on the day. I was the only one to make money on the round and I was not even playing with them.

That night we had a great steak dinner on the patio along with numerous shots of tequila. In fact Robert was drinking so much that I placed the over/under on Rob passing out at 9:00 PM. Everyone was annoyed that the poker tournament took so long last night so we decided to play .50-$1 blinds pot limit hold-em.

I tried to intimidate everyone by buying in for $80 when everyone else was buying in for $20-$40. A few hands in, I raise to $2.50 with Ace-King suited. Marty raises to $5 behind me. Then Adam reraises to $20. Since there is so much money in the pot, I decide that even if it’s a coin flip, I have good odds. I move all in and Marty folds. Adam turns over pocket Queens. Sadly my Ace or King did not come.

My cards were absolutely horrible all night and to make things worse, Rob and Marty were just sloppy drunk and slowing up the game. Rob couldn’t deal the cards without flashing the bottom or the burn cards every hand. When he finally cashed out, he couldn’t even count his chips.

I think I lost about $80, but the problem was that when the last 3 of us went to cash out, the bank was short. I have no idea who shorted the bank or who got more money then they were supposed to, but we were short a good $25. To top it off, the next morning when I was cleaning up, I found an Ace and a King in one of the boxes for the deck of cards. So one of the decks we were playing with only had 50 cards! That would explain why I had Ace-king about 4 times and never hit it once. One of the worst nights of poker I can remember.

On Sunday we woke up and cleaned up and headed home. Everyone had fun and told some great stories. I think we even came up with a few new ones to tell on our future trips.

Poker Wins & Losses

One week ago, I finally made it back to the Wednesday game at Greg's. I had looked at my spreadsheet and noticed that I had not won in months. Somehow I was still ahead after all these months and after successive weeks of bad beats. This time I would show them who's boss.

As much as I think I want to experiment with my game at this weekly gathering, I usually fall into the same pattern. I want to try raising big preflop and playing lots of hands to see if I can get the table to stop limping into every pot. I never do it, because my cards are always so terrible. I usually fall into my standard Sit and Go strategy of tight early and aggressive late.

The tight strategy was working and it was down to 3 players. Two of us would get paid. I had pocket Aces and got cracked by Craig with 9-6 suited. He hit his two pair, but he could have got a lot more money out of me if he had not slowplayed his hand.

A few hands later, I am dealt Jc-9c on the button. I think about raising, but I limp. Scott folds and Craig checks his option in the big blind. The flop is 8c-Tc-5h. Craig checks and I bet the pot with my open end straight flush draw. The turn is no help. Craig checks again and I bet 3/4 of the pot and he calls. So now I am trying to figure out what he has and whether I need to bluff the river if it's a blank.

Luckily the Qc comes on the river and I hit the straight flush! Better yet, Craig announces he's all in! Hi-ya! I instacall and show everyone the straight flush and eliminate Craig from the tournament. In a nice twist of irony, Craig tables pocket aces.

Yesterday, I had the same idea of trying a real aggressive approach but I pussed out again. I changed my mind after I hit a set of 7's against Craig and took his stack when he called with his flush draw and did not get there.

The problem was that every draw I played last night never got there. I eventually made it to the final 3 again. It was me, Greg, and Scott. Scott had a big chip lead and Greg and I were about even with around 20x the big blind when we started 3 handed.

This is where I totally went card dead. I stole a few small pots here and there. Then I would get crippled when my draw would miss.

There were a couple of hands where I was out played. At least twice I was bluffed out on the river by a busted draw. In one hand I only had a medium pair and the other hand against Greg, I had a strong suspicion that he was bluffing, but I also had a nagging feeling that he might call with 10 high "because I know you have nothing". He made a weak bet on the river of about 1/4 of the pot after we had checked the flop and bet/called the turn. I really considered raising all in with my 6 high hoping he would fold. I should have handed over my testicles right there.

Greg also took a nice pot from me when I raised on the button with KQo. He reraised in the big blind and I called. The flop totally whiffed, but he bet out around half the pot. I had to fold. He showed me KQ for the same hand as me.

When the blinds went up to 300-600, I decided to go all in for 4000 with 56o on the button. I was called by Scott with Ace-Jack. I was happy that at least I had a 40% chance. The first card I peeled off on the flop was a Jack and I was sad. Then I peeled off a 6 and a 5 and I was very happy. My two pair held up and I was back in it for a while. I moved all in a couple more times, hoping for calls with hands like AQ and AK, but nobody bit.

I finally lost in third when Scott called my all in with J-T and I had A-9o. I flopped the nine but he turned the Jack and it was over.

I'm still not sure if it was more the bad cards or that I did not make the right reads that kept me from cashing. If either one was a little better I might have dominated.

Bill is the best golfer for 2007

Fuck I hate writing this post!

We played our final match on Saturday. I had a lesson with my old instructor at 8:00 AM and then our tee time was at 10:00. It was a little risky going for a lesson, right before playing an important match. But I thought about it and unlike lessons with Adam, I can't think of a time after a lesson with Doug where I was hitting the ball worse when we were done.

The main theme of the round was that Bill made every makeable putt inside 6 feet and I missed a bunch. Here's a run down of the holes.

1. I make par from the greenside bunker and Bill makes an easy par. This would be the only putt of significance I make all day.

2. It looks like Bill is going into the bunker on the right, but it holds on the fringe. He two putts for par. I barely clear the water and miss the 8 foot par putt. Down 1.

3. I hit a great approach to 15 feet and miss the birdie putt by inches. Bill is all over the place but makes bogey. Even.

4. I hit a great drive, lousy pitching wedge. I am 30 yards short with a front pin to an elevated green. I decide to use 8 iron to chip it up the slope. I hit it too hard and it goes 60 feet by the hole. Then I 3 putt for a double bogey. Bill makes bogey. I'm down 1. I suck.

5. I hit another lousy wedge out of deep rough. Bill is on in regulation and two putts for par. I miss the 8 footer for par and make bogey. Down 2.

6. Bill goes right on his approach and lands in the bunker. He fails to get up and down and makes bogey. I hit a great drive and great approach to 15 feet. I hit a good putt and it looks like it's going in. It's a little too firm and lips out and runs 4 feet by. I miss the comebacker and 3 putt for bogey.

7. I narrowly miss another birdie and tap in for par 5. Bill makes bogey from the middle of the fairway with a wedge in his hands and 100 yards away after 2 shots. I'm down 1.

8. I hit a great 6 iron just past the hole. Bill hits the first of many weak flares to the right. I two putt for par and Bill misses his par putt. I pick up one and now we are even again.

9. We both go way right. Bill hits his approach into the left bunker and it lands in a hole. I can't make a full swing due to a tree, so I try to hit a punch shot and run it up. It goes nowhere and I have to hit a wedge to the green. Bill hits his sand shot over the green, chips on, two putts for double. I three putt again for my double. We are both tied with a 43 on the front nine.

10. Bill hits another weak flare to the right and we almost do not find it. He hacks it out and scrapes out a bogey. I make bogey after short siding myself on the left.

11. I yank my drive into the 12th fairway. I hit a bad 5 iron into the trees. I hit a fantastic punched 8 iron chip to 5 feet with a chance for par. I miss the putt again and make bogey. Bill scraped out another bogey.

12. Bill finally hits driver and pulls it left over the fairway bunkers. I hit a great drive but it fades a little too far to the right and I have to hit my approach over the humongous pine tree. Bill gets a lucky break and his ball is sitting up in the rough and he has a clear shot at the pin. He hits the middle of the green and two putts for par. I flare the face of my 60 degree wedge open and hit one of my best shots of the day and have 20 feet for birdie. I barely miss and make my par. We're still tied.

13. This is where my wheels come off and Bill finally starts playing well. Not a good combination. I hit my 5 iron in the water right. Bill plays safely to the collection area left. He putts up the big hill and makes his 2nd putt for par. Great up and down. I hit a great wedge after I take my drop. It almost goes in as it rolls by. Bill is generous and gives me the 3 footer for bogey. I'm down 1.

14. Bill hits a 30 yard slice with his 2 iron. However he was smart about it and aimed 30 yards left before he hit it. I hit a pretty good 3 wood down the middle and we are both in the fairway. Bill hits a great approach shot to 10 feet. I pull my approach to the left side of the green. I have a 60 foot, impossible to get close to the hole, putt. I run it by 10 feet and again miss the comebacker and make bogey. Luckily Bill misses the birdie putt and makes par. I'm down 2.

15. Bill hits another fade. It looks like it might not make it over the water.......shit he cleared it and it's in the front bunker. I pull my 8 iron to the left and put it in the death zone over the green. I try the impossible flop shot and leave it short in the bunker. I hit a good bunker shot and expect the ball to release down the hill to the pin. It stops 15 feet short and I miss the putt. Bill makes bogey and I make double, so now I am down 3.

16. I hit a great drive down the middle and have 50 yards left to the green. Bill goes right again and hits a bad approach that looks like it is going in the impossibly deep bunker on the right. It stops short of the bunker and he's left with an easy pitch. I hit my wedge a little too far and I'm 30 feet from the hole for birdie. If I can make this putt and Bill bogeys, I am right back in this. I proceed to hit my putt way too hard and run it by 10 feet. Bill uses his putter out of the rough and leaves himself 8 feet. Bill makes and I miss, so I lose another stroke.

17 and 18 were uneventful.

The putts were not falling for me and I let myself get frustrated and tried to force the issue. Bill turned it on when he needed it and definitely gutted it out. Bill finished with an 83 and I had an 88. It was about the ugliest 83 I have seen in a long time, but that's Bill's specialty.

Overall the 10 round match was a lot of fun. All the staff in the clubhouse kept asking us who was winning and it was fun telling the story to our friends. I hope we remember to do it again next year. Maybe we won't puss out and actually play for the full $500?

Poker Blahs II and Final Golf Match Saturday

My poker game is horrible right now. My bankroll is approx $800 from a high a year and a half ago of $5500.

I have tried to learn to play No Limit Hold'em by reading books and playing online. I think I have a lot of the basic fundamentals down, but I have some major leaks in my game.

I have a bad habit of winning small pots and losing big ones. When I used to crush the small limit poker games I prided myself on my patience preflop. I was a total nit, because I knew that when I got a good hand, the other players were not paying attention and would pay me off anyways. In 2-4 I used to lose $15-$20 of my initial $100 buy in waiting for the right hand, and then win a monster $50 pot.

In No Limit I am always catching myself trying to "open up" my game by playing suited connectors in late position or defending my blind. It may be a good strategy for the long term, but the players turn over so fast on the 6 player tables that I wonder if I should ever even worry what my image is at the table.

I still have not rid myself of the limit mindset preflop. I still get excited when I draw AA, KK, or AK. After repeated punches in the face, I know in my mind that these hands usually win a small pot with top pair or overpair, or they lose a big one when someone slow plays a set or rivers a flush against me. I try to get excited by JTs or 78s on the button, but I do not seem to flop the monster enough times to keep me from losing money.

I have also been playing bad in the weekly single table tournament games at Greg's. I keep trying to push my opponents off of hands when I have a draw. They keep calling with hands much stronger than I put them on and my draws are not hitting.

Last week I got lucky when Kory, who had 40% of the chips in play with 5 players left, got a call from his wife to go home. We paid him $40 and took his chips out of play. Suddenly after a double up on Kory's last hand when I rivered a straight with my pocket 7's versus his Queens, I was even with the remaining 4 players. I lost some of my stack to Devin, with three players left when my 15 outer did not come in, but then I flopped a set of Jacks against Jason and got all my chips in the middle. Jason had a pair of Aces with a Ten kicker and managed to go runner - runner straight to knock me out on the bubble.

Jeff is running one of his big poker tournaments in a couple of weeks, so maybe I can get my game together and make a big score there.

The final golf match between Bill and I will be this Saturday. Bill owes me $50 from our Masters bet and the renegotiated bet amount on the match is $100. So my worst case is that I lose $50. However in order to add a little more spice, we have agreed that the winner can buy a stick on name plate for our shared locker in the country club. The plate will read "Best Golfer 2007 - Larry Van Quathem" if I win. Since I don't see myself ever winning the Club Championship and getting one of those plates, I'll have to shoot for this one.

I am going to take a chance this weekend by scheduling a golf lesson with my old instructor at Talking Stick at 8:00 AM before our match. My back has felt good so I don't think that will be a problem, I just hope that he makes a minor adjustment and I start hitting the ball really well before the match. In the mean time I plan on practicing my short game today and tomorrow.

Golf Match #9, I Give Up The Lead

Bill and I played our 9th of the 10 match series last Sunday at Phoenix Country Club. It was a gorgeous morning and the course was in great shape. I had been kidding around with Bill to make sure he brought his money with him in case I won. Bill had said that he was going to hit 2 iron off of every par 4 and par 5. He felt that he had given me a few wins due to his mistakes off of the tee. Mostly I believe he has made his mistakes with his approach shots and a bad bunker shot. Bill’s strategy was to let me beat myself.

We both parred the first hole and walked up to the second tee. The pin was in the front of the green on the short par 3. Since there is a lake in front of the green, I usually try to take enough club to reach the middle of the green or back. The pin was 133 yards and I took a choked up iron instead of a full 9 iron. I hit a dead pull hook and put the ball in the water. I haven’t hit the lake on this hole in at least 10 rounds. Bill hit a good shot and a good putt that almost went in for birdie. I scraped out a double bogey and Bill took a two shot lead.

I made two great up and downs for par on 3 and 4 and picked up one stroke. On #5 the short par 4, I decided to hit 5 iron off of the tee. Marty and his friend Jeff were giving me a little shit for the conservative club choice, but the pin was in the front of the green and if I hit driver a little left or right of the green, the short pitch shot would be very tough to stop on the elevated green. So I think laying back with a 5 iron was the right choice. Unfortunately I did not execute the shot and hit it fat about 120 yards. So now I have 7 iron out of the rough short of the fairway. I hit it solid, but it drew a little left and landed in the deepest bunker on the course left of the green. Bill hit his approach in the right bunker which is also very deep.

My lie was good but I have to clear a 6 foot lip and stop the ball on a 40 foot stretch of fast green or it will roll over the green into the bunker on the other side. I had practiced this shot a little bit last Friday but it did not help on Sunday. I left two shots in the bunker before I finally got out. Bill got out on his first try and two putted for bogey. Luckily I made my 10 footer for double bogey and only lost one shot to Bill.

I missed a short 5 foot putt for par on 6 and I could have picked up 2 shots as Bill was in trouble with his approach and hit his pitch into the front bunker. It was beginning to become apparent that this was going to be one of those days where my wedge game was on. I had now hit 3 successive wedges inside 6 feet. I had made the first two putts, but I missed this one.

We both parred the 7th and we both 3 putted the 8th for bogey. On 9, I hit my approach into another bunker. This time I hit a good shot and made another up and down for par. Bill made a bogey and we were tied with a 42 on the front 9.

I pulled my drive on #10 to the left and it hit a tree solidly. I did not have a direct shot at the green so I hit a low hybrid under the trees to about 140 yards from the pin in the back of the green. There was a little wind behind me and I considered clubbing down and hitting a 9 iron to make sure that I did not go over the back of the green. I decided to go with the 8 iron because the pin felt like a perfect distance and considering I had not hit my irons very solid, I thought the chances of going over the green were slim. Sure enough I hit it very solid and it landed on the back edge of the green and rolled down the hill into the rough. Bill’s second shot was short of the green and he pitched up to about 8 feet. My pitch shot should have been easy to stop since it looked like it was sitting up in the rough. Somehow my club got stuck in the grass and the ball came out very low and ran 30 feet past the hole. I two putted for a disappointing double bogey.

I missed another short par putt on 11 that could have pulled me even again. On #12 I hit my first good drive since the 3rd hole. Bill and I both had 50 yard wedge shots to a middle pin position. We both hit our shots a little long since short was in a bunker. I played first from the fringe. My ball was tracking towards the hole the whole way and just curved off to the right at the end. I tapped in for my par and Bill made par as well.

So I am down one shot coming into our “Amen Corner”. Bill hit a good shot on 13 and ran it over the green. I hit another fat 5 iron and left it 35 yards short of the pin. However the magic wedge struck again and I hit a low spinner to 2 feet and tapped in for another par. Bill was going to be hard pressed to make par from behind the green. He gave it a solid effort but just missed the par putt and we are tied going into 14.

Bill crushed his 2 iron down the middle and I popped up a 3 wood. It was a good pop up in that it still went 180 yards and was between the stakes. I hit a great hybrid under the big pine tree, past the bunker short of the green, and into the valley below the green. Bill hit a solid approach to the middle of the green. I made another great wedge shot to kick in range and Bill 2 putted for is par.

On 15 I hit another crappy iron shot and pulled it left into the bunker. Bill hit his shot over the green and into the worst rough I have ever seen on the Phoenix Country Club course. I had a lot of bunker to carry and not a lot of green to work with since it sloped away from me. For the third time today I left a bunker shot in the trap.

After Bill watched my horrible shot, he decided to wedge out away from the pin. If he went at the pin, he could have easily hit it in the bunker or over the green into the lake. It was probably the right shot to hit no matter what I did, but I made the decision easy for him. I got out of the bunker on my second try and two putted for double bogey. Now I was behind by one stroke again.

Both of us hit our tee shots to the left on 16 and both of us had trees to deal with. Bill had to wedge out sideways. I hit a low pitching wedge to the front of the green. It looked like a great shot, but the hill in front of the green repelled my ball to the right and it looked like it might have rolled into the bunker. Bill hit his third shot long over the left side of the green. This left him with an impossible pitch shot up a hill to the short side of the green with it sloping hard away from him. He hit his wedge fat to the top of the hill. He was lucky it stayed up there, but it did. He two putted for double bogey.

I was lucky to find out that my shot had not gone in the bunker, but had rolled down the hill. I was hoping for some more magic from my wedge, but it was not to be. I hit a mediocre pitch and two putted for bogey. We are all tied with 2 holes to go.

Since I had been hitting nearly every shot with my driver to the left, I lined up to the right and tried keep my front shoulder closed. I finally hit a drive to the right, but it was too far to the right. It bounced past the fairway bunker into the rough on the right. Bill surprised me by pulling out his driver. He hit a pull hook left into the trees. We decided to look for Bill’s ball first. It was not easy to find and I helped him look for a couple of minutes. I told him that I wanted to go look for my ball because I thought it might be tourhg to find and I didn’t want to hold up the group behind us. As I was searching for my ball, Bill finally found his and hit a punch shot to 50 yards short of the pin.

When I started to look for my ball, I knew right away that I was in trouble. The rough was not very long and it was very possible that my ball had run through the rough and into the lake. I looked up and down and could not find it. Marty confirmed that the line on my ball flight was right for the lake. I declared it lost and took my drop. Then I hit my best iron shot of the day. I pured a six iron and it landed 3 feet from the cup and ran 20 feet by the hole. I still had a chance for par.

Bill had been having all kinds of trouble on 17 over the last few matches. This time he really came through in the clutch. He hit a 50 yard wedge shot to 4 feet. I had a slick downhill putt that could easily race by the hole. I made a great putt that teased the cup and stopped two feet past the hole. I made bogey from the water, but Bill did me one better.

So I get to 18 and I am down one. I pulled my 2nd shot into the trees on the left and I was in trouble again. Bill had laid up to the right and was in good shape. I found my ball on the cart path 130 yards from the hole. I took a drop in the rough and had an opening over the trees. I hit a great shot that landed on the front of the green. Unfortunately I could not get any spin on the shot out of the rough so the ball hit firmly and rolled past the hole and all the way through the green and into the rough. If that shot had stopped close to the hole I could have put a lot of pressure on Bill. Instead Bill hit his 3rd shot safely away from the water and in the middle of the green. He two putted and it was all over. It’s all tied 4.5 to 4.5. Bill’s strategy had paid off and I had made too many mistakes to secure the victory.

A couple of hours after the round, Bill called to see if we could renegotiate the bet. Bill admitted that he was very nervous the whole round and he did not like the feeling. “It’s obvious that we are equal golfers since we are tied after 9 rounds, so let’s not risk $500 on one round of golf,” said Bill. Just to hear Bill say we are “equal” golfers was enough for my ego to make me reconsider the bet. After some discussion we decided to play the next round for just $100 and whoever wins still keeps the title of “Best Golfer”. I kind of feel like a pussy for agreeing to lower the bet, but I take solace in the fact that Bill feels the same way.

One More Try at Casino AZ

Our Nanny was late Monday morning so she was going to stay on for a couple of extra hours. Since I lost the will to work at 2:30 PM and did not have to be home until 5, I decided to skip over to the casino of a quick session of poker.

I originally thought I would jump into a limit game, but then I got the itch to play the 5-150 No Limit Hybrid game instead. I got into a game right away and had 2 hours to try and make some money.

I bought in for $200 which is only 40x the big blind. I decided to try and play a little short stack poker to start. My first hand I was dealt pocket 7's in early position and I mucked them without even thinking. After I threw them away, I had a tinge of regret, but someone else raised preflop and we never even saw the flop so I can't tell if I would have flopped a set or not.

My third hand was pocket Queens. There were two limpers in the pot and I raised to $20 in middle position. I had two more call behind me and the limpers called, so there was $105 in the pot and 5 players. The flop was Jc-7c-5s. I was very disappointed that I had 4 other players in the pot with me. I guess I can give myself a little slack since I had only seen about 6 hands at the table so I had not figured out what amount to raise preflop to limit the field. Obviously $20 wasn't enough! Even so, this flop looked good for my hand. A middle aged gentleman who had limp called under the gun decided to donk bet $30 into the pot.

This bet seemed odd. He's betting into 4 other players out of position. The player to his left folded and it was up to me. I wanted to protect my hand and also find out where I am at, so I raised it to $100. The other two players quickly folded. UTG thought for a little bit and then called.

I am not happy about the call. This pot is over $300 and I only have $80 left. UTG has me covered. Now that he's called I'm thinking he has a set or maybe Ace-Jack. The turn is a red Ace so now the board is Jc-7c-5s-Ad. UTG checks and I check behind him. The river is a blank that does not complete any draws and is lower than a Queen. UTG bets $100. I think about it for a long time and decide to muck it. I just don't have a good enough read on him to think I could beat him with it. I heard a couple of other players speculate that he had a set as well so I think I made the correct laydown. The problem was that I was only there for 15 minutes and I had already lost $120.

I reloaded with another $100 and started over. I won a small pot to get over $200 briefly but it was short lived. Later I called a raise to $15 in late position with pocket 6's. Unfortunately someone else decided to reraise to $65. After one other player called, I knew if I called that a couple more may come along as well. My stack was only $200 so I don't think I quite had the right odds even with 4 players in for $65.

I made the call anyway and the flop was 7-4-4. It was almost perfect. The reraiser led out for $100 and that was all she wrote. Give me 4-5-7 and I could easily push and try to get lucky.

Eventually I was whittled down to $75. I decided to try and play it like a tournament and see if I could find a good spot to double up. I played patient poker. I folded for a couple of rounds. Then I raised with A-9 in the cutoff and steal the blinds.

Later I finally see a flop on my Big Blind with K-10. The flop comes out Kd-7d-Jc. I lead out with a bet of $30 and get one caller. He was a loose player and prone to get a little crazy. Everyone else folded. The turn was a non-diamond and I put the rest of my stack in and he folded. Now I am above $100 again.

Later a young punk who was slightly tilting, raised in middle position to $25. I looked down at Ace-Queen offsuit. I decided to take a chance and moved all in for $125. Everyone folded like lightning to the initial raiser. He took a good 90 seconds to think about it. He muttered something about if he had a pair he might call. That was good news, because I don't think he would have thought twice about playing Ace-King for all his chips. He eventually laid it down and I was up to $165.

Unfortunately my time was up and I had to go. So it was a better session than the last time I was there during the FBR Open Golf Tournament. Still not profitable though.

Another Hard Fought Golf Victory

The $500 best golfer challenge between Bill and I is tied 3.5 to 3.5. Bill and I played match number 8 of the 10 match series today at Phoenix Country Club. This would be a vital match to win because there are only 3 left. If I win today then Bill would have to win outright the next two. He can't even tie or he will lose the $500 bet.

Just to be different, we decided to play from the back tees today instead of the normal white tees. The first eight holes were pretty uneventful. We both played pretty solid golf and Bill was one stroke ahead. On the ninth tee, Bill pulled his drive left and it ricocheted off of the 60 foot high driving range net and into the rough. I pounded a 260 yard drive down the right side of the fairway, racing by the big pine tree that usually gives me trouble.

Bill's recovery shot hit another tree and he was still 30 yards short of the green before his third shot. I had 122 yards to the back pin placement. I hit my pitching wedge a little fat and hit the front end of the green. I was going to have a difficult two putt since the first putt was about 50 feet away from the hole.

Bill's third shot was a horribly mishit and raced over the green and into the rough. He then wedged on to the green and two putted for a 6. I managed to hit a good putt to about 4 feet and made the second for par and a two stroke swing.

Heading into the back nine I was in control with a one stroke lead. We both bogeyed the next 2 holes. Then Bill picked up a stroke on 12 after I double bogeyed it.

The holes 13, 14, and 15 are the stretch of holes we like to call "Amen Corner" at Phoenix CC. Twelve is a 205 yard par 3 from the back tees with a lake on the right and a 5 foot deep collection area on the left. Bill stepped up and hit a dying flare right into the lake. I briefly considered hitting a 5 iron short of the green and the lake just to be safe, but my pride would not let me. I hit my 4 iron hybrid with the idea that if I can hit the green and 2 putt I might pick up 2 strokes on this hole and give myself a cushion going into the tough 14th. The shot did not come off quite as planned as I hit it a little chubby and ended up ten yards short of the green. Pretty much the same place I would have been with a 5 iron.

Bill took his drop and hit a great wedge to about 6 feet. I chipped up to 4 feet. Bill missed, then I missed. Still it was a one stroke pop to get me back to even. Bill's wife Alisha came out to join us after spending the afternoon shopping at the mall. Bill has this crazy idea that I have never beat him in golf when we have played with a family member of his. I don't think that's true, but I don't have any examples to prove otherwise. Just as Alisha showed up, I hit my drive. I hit it well, but it was pushed to the right. It started the death fade farther right out of bounds towards Osborn Road. Luckily by the time it was getting close to the fence, it was near the end of it's flight and it was low enough to actually hit the fence and bounce back into play. My first lucky break of the round.

Bill hit two iron dead right out of bounds on to road. I had to stifle a laugh over the irony of having Alisha there to see it. His third shot off the tee was not much better landing in the right rough 200 yards from the green. I had trouble of my own and had to punch a low runner under a big pine tree about 100 yards up the fairway. I then hit my lob wedge to 8 feet past the hole. My par putt just grazed the lip of the cup and I was in for bogey. Bill stumbled in with a 7 and now I am up 3 with 4 to go.

Fifteen is the last hole of Amen corner and it is another long par three over water. The pin was tucked right and there was no way I was aiming for it. I hit a six iron at the middle of the green and it drew to the left back edge of the green leaving me 60 feet to the hole for birdie. Bill finally got mad enough to hit a great shot to 15 feet.

I was facing a very difficult two putt for par. I was 60 feet away with a left to right break of about 5 feet. I started the ball with good pace and about half way there I was starting to get excited. It was heading straight for the cup. It rolled right over the front lip and bounced off the back and settled 5 feet from the cup. Almost a miracle birdie that would have ripped Bill's heart out.

After Bill recovered from almost seeing me drain a monster putt he gritted his teeth and managed to sink his putt for birdie. Now I had to make my par putt to make sure I did not have two stroke swing. My hands were shaking slightly as I brought the putter back. Somehow I put a good stroke on it and the ball disappeared in the hole for 3.

Bill had the honors on 16 and pulled his iron shot left into the trees. I hit a horrible 5 wood 200 feet high and 50 yards long just past the ladies tee. It was by far my worst swing of the day. I hit my second attempt at a 5 wood solid, but it was moving a little left and close to a small tree 30 yards short of the green. The tree was a minor hindrance, but that was not my biggest problem. I only had 20 feet of green to work with since anything short would run back down the hill and anything long would go into a very deep bunker. I hit a great shot that landed in the fringe and rolled past the pin 5 feet. I made the putt for a miracle par to tie Billy on the hole.

I stepped up to the par 4 17th with a 2 stroke lead. We both hit good drives, but mine was 30 yards past Bill's. Since Bill was farther away from the hole, he had to play first. Bill made one his worst swings of the day and hit the banana slice into the lake. Now all I need to do is keep my shot dry. I was 155 yards away from the middle of the green with a little wind at my back. Normally that is a choked up 7 iron but, I decided to use the 8 iron to make sure I could not reach the bunkers over the green. I hit my 8 iron solidly with a little draw and it hit the green and rolled to the edge of the bunker. I had to hit an awkward shot standing on my toes on the edge of the bunker for my chip, but I kept it within 7 feet. I made the putt for par and staggered home with a 7 giving me a five stroke lead going into 18. The match was over. The final score was 84 to 89.

Now I lead the series 4.5 to 3.5. All I need to do is eke out a tie in the next two matches to win the $500 bet. Our next round is scheduled for Sunday next week. We are playing with Bill's Dad. It would be unbelievably sweet if I can win the match in front of his Dad. I'll have Bill pay me Bob Barker style counting out all the money aloud right in the pro shop. It will be my greatest golf victory ever.

Golf Match #7 and some poker

Last Saturday I finally got to play a little poker online. I am still trying to make a $50 deposit through Epassporte on Full Tilt so I can turn around and take out a chunk of money. Until I actually receive any money from an online poker site, I'll have to believe it's all play money right now. The US government has really made a mess of this!

I started playing some cash games at .50-$1 NL. Here were a couple of the interesting hands:

I start with $98.50. For some reason, I decide to speculate and call a raise to $3.50 from Katzman55 under the gun in middle position with the 6d 8d. I get one caller behind me and the big blind comes along as well. $14 in the pot to the flop.

Flop: 4d Qd Jd.

The big blind checks, Katzman bets $14.50. Katzman had $94 at the start of this hand. I think about slow playing it, but there are still two other players in the hand. I want to fold out the higher flush draws and if someone wants to go broke with top pair, then let them do it. I raise to $58. I get the other players to fold, but Katzman goes all in and it's $32.50 more for me to call.

Of course I call and I expect to see at least one diamond in Katzman's hand or trips. Instead he has Ah Qs for top pair and no draw. Boo-yah! Poker_Bully1 rakes in a $195.50 pot.

The second interesting hand involved playing QQ out of position. I was in the small blind with $219.15 in my stack. There are two limpers to me and I raise with QhQs to $5. The big blind folds but Big_Cec and Katzman call the raise so there is $16 in the pot.

Flop: 5s 3d Js

I bet the pot of $16 and big_cec calls. Big_cec had been check raising me out of a lot of pots and playing a little crazy. I thought this would be an opportunity to win some money back. I thought he might have a medium pocket pair or a Jack with a medium kicker.

Turn: 5s 3d Js Ts

Now the flush draw just hit and a possible two pair also hit. I decide to check and try to keep the pot small. Big_cec does the nice thing and checks behind me.

River: 5s 3d Js Ts 9c

Another backdoor draw hits. I think about betting, but I don't want to get raised off of yet another hand. I decide I will call whatever Big_cec bets because there is a good chance he's bluffing or trying to value bet a Jack. Big_cec bets $35 and I call. He turned over 6c 4c for the busted low straight draw. My hand is good!

I even played in a $24 multi table tournament with 1,100 other maniacs. I got crappy cards and even got my Aces cracked. I still managed to make the money and busted out in 160th place for a big profit of $9. I had a medium sized stack near the bubble and was dead set on stealing a ton of blinds before the bubble burst. My problem was, every time the situation was right to steal, my hand was horribly bad. I just couldn't push with 2-7 off, 3-8, or Jack-4. When I did have an Ace, it was with a low kicker in early position just waiting for someone with Ace-Jack to call and bust me. After the bubble burst, all the shorties were pushing in trying to double up. I saw one guy quintuple his stack by getting a great run of cards in about 4 hands including pocket Kings against my Ace-King which busted me.

On to golf. Bill has some crazy idea that I have never beat him when a family member was with him. He doesn't count the match with his Dad where we was down one with one hole to play and lightning canceled the rest of the round. This time, his wife, Alisha was going to ride along in the cart.

I have just finished reading a golf book by Jim Hardy on the One and Two Plane golf swings. It definitely straightened out for me, which swing keys I should be concentrating on for my two plane swing. I was looking forward to playing, even though I had not played a round of golf in almost 3 weeks.

I started out very solid, while Bill had some real struggles. After 4 holes I was up 5 strokes. On the sixth hole, I missed a great opportunity to step on his throat. We both hit good drives and Bill went at the green first from 170 yards. The pin was tucked on the left side of the green behind a bunker. This hole can be tricky because there is not a lot of room over the green, before it goes out of bounds. Plus there is a slope away from you on the back side which can turn a shot that is 6 feet too long into a 2 stroke penalty. Bill's shot was fading right and took a crazy hop over the green and out of bounds. His 4th shot hit the middle of the green. If I can make par here, I may pick up another two strokes. I hit my shot crisply but it was fading a little right as well. It landed just over the bunker on the right and I never saw it bounce. I figured it landed softly and I was still in bounds. I came up to the green to discover the bad news that I had also hit it out. What a stupid mistake!

I drove back and re hit the shot and just missed the green on the left and got up and down for 6. I gave up two more shots over the next three holes and made the turn in 42 with a 3 stroke lead.

I gave up my lead on 10 after a horrible drive, pitch out, chunked 6 iron, wedge, 3 putts. Bill made a great sand save for par and it was all even.

On 11 I made a miraculous putt from off the green to save par. Bill took the lead on 14 with a par while I made bogey. I made par on 15 to Bill's bogey to tie up the match again.

On 16 we both hit good tee balls. I had 130 yards in and hit a good pitching wedge. Unfortunately I put a little draw on it and the wind pushed it a little further left into the deepest bunker on the course. Bill really hit a bad shot and hooked it left of the bunker for an impossible pitch shot over the bunker to a green sloping away from you. There is no way to hold the green from where Bill was.

I was happy to find that my ball had settled on the up slope of the bunker so I had a chance to make a decent shot. All I really needed to do was get the ball out, because Bill was going to make bogey for sure. Instead, I decelerated and took too much sand and left it in the bunker. My second attempt rolled to the fringe past the hole right where Bill's 3rd shot settled. We both two putted and I was down one again.

On 17, we were both in the fairway again. Bill hit first and put it in the bunkers on the left. Obviously trying to avoid the lake on the right of the green. I had 155 yards so I was between a 7 and an 8 iron. I decided to choke up on a 7. Usually when I choke up on a club I tend to hit a bit of a draw, so that was a perfect shot shape to avoid the water on the right. I hit the ball solidly but for some reason, the ball started to fade to the right. I thought I might catch the edge of the green, but it bounced over the green into some of thickest rough on the course. At least it wasn't wet. For about the third time that day, I hit a bad pitch shot and left myself 25 feet down hill. I hit the putt for par and it looked good the whole way. At the last second, it just veered off to the right. Bill had 20 feet for his par. He hit a good putt and it looked like it was going in as well. It stopped about 6 inches short and he made his 5.

So once again, our match was coming down to the last hole. I hit my drive left and was forced to lay up a good distance away from the green for my 3rd shot. Bill was right down the middle with consecutive 2 irons and 110 yards away from the green. I had 170 yards in and was hitting a 6 iron. I was relaxed over the shot, because I felt like I had nothing to lose. No one expects me to hit a good shot from this far away so let it fly. I hit it solidly again, but that stubborn draw found my ball again and I went into the bunker on the back left of the green about hole high. Somehow, I get a reprieve as Bill pulls his wedge again and goes into the front left bunker.

All Bill had to do was get the ball somewhere on the green. Instead, he skulled it out of the bunker, over the green and into the lake. Yes!!!!! So after the drop, he'll be chipping for bogey. I am back in this thing!

I was in the middle of the bunker, so I had to carry about 8 yards of sand and land the ball in front of the pin. This was also an easy shot to hit too hard and into the water. I made sure to accelerate the club head this time and hit a good shot. For a brief moment I thought it might go in as it scooted by the hole, one inch to the right. I was left with a 10 footer for par.

Bill hit his chip to 3 1/2 feet and had that left for double bogey. My putt was going to break a few inches to the left. I wanted to make sure I got it there, because I had been leaving putts short all day. I hit a good putt, but I gave it too much borrow and it curved around the high side of the hole settling in tap in range. I was in for 6. Bill tried to make me give him his putt, but that's not how I roll. He made the clutch putt and we finished tied.

Now our match is still tied at 3.5 to 3.5. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the match because on the one hand, I had a big lead and should have won. On the other hand, Bill had the match won and somehow I escaped with a tie. Now the match has come down to best of 3. Stay tuned.

Another Losing Trip To Vegas

I was in Las Vegas last weekend for a Deltasig conference. I was hoping this would be the big trip where I finally win some decent cash at the poker table.

The first night started out pretty well. After a good dinner at the Luxe in the Venetian, I went down to the poker room. I gotta say, I think the Venetian has the best room in Vegas. Plenty of game selection, satellites to their tournaments running all the time, and nice tables too. Plus there is plenty of room to walk around between the tables.

I was happy to find a 1-2 No Limit game and sat down right away. I played ABC poker and finished up at 2:00 AM with $117 profit. There really was not anything too memorable about the entire night.

After the opening session of the conference I decided to venture back to the Venetian from the Palace Station, where we were staying. I jumped into a very interesting game. There was an oriental man with mutton chop side burns who was really gambooling it up. On his left was another oriental player but he was more clean cut and very friendly. The rest of the players seemed weak and loose.

I played break even poker for about 2 hours. I even decided to add more money to my stack, in case I needed it against the crazy oriental. It was here that I made my one huge mistake of the day. I called a small raise in a multiway pot on the button with T9 off. The flop is J-8-4 rainbow. The crazy oriental bets about 3/4 of the pot and everyone folds to me. I have about $200 left in my stack and the pot is about $50 after his bet. For some stupid reason, I decide to raise all in thinking I have a good chance to get him to fold.

For future reference, when a player is wild and loose, don't ever think he will fold. You are supposed to trap him with a made hand. So naturally he insta-calls with Jack-7. Now most by the book players would probably fold that hand, but not this guy. If I hit my straight I probably could have value bet it for all of my chips. Now I am stuck all in with only a 33% chance of winning. I was not lucky enough to hit and I was felted. I stuck around for a while longer but eventually I had to leave to get back to the conference.

Later that evening before the banquet, I sat down in the Palace Station card room. I took a seat in the 1-2-4 hold'em game while I waited for a 2-4-8 seat to open up. I promptly lose about $40 in quick fashion before I move to the 4-8 game. My first hand in the 4-8 game and I am dealt pocket 7's. I quad up on the turn and manage to get a caller for every street, so I am quickly back to even. A few hands later I pair my King, with AK and bust a college student who is also there for the conference. This is the last piece of good luck I have.

I proceed to lose over $100 with pocket aces in two different hands. I keep waiting for the big pot to make it back but it never comes and I go to the dinner in a drunken state of frustration.

Dinner was good, but I was itching to get back to the Venetian. About 10 minutes after dessert and before the DJ started, I was out the door and in a cab. I found another good seat in a 1-2 No Limit table and prepared to win it all back.

There was a young player on my right who seemed pretty friendly. He had just busted out of their 10,000 chip tournament that had started at noon. He was pretty pissed because after 10 hours of good poker and outlasting over 250 players, he still lost his $540 buy in. We really only played one pot together. He took about $20 off of me with a nice bluff. He had raised first in preflop and I had smooth called on the button. He checked the flop, so I fired a half pot sized bet with my pair of jacks with a ten kicker. The turn paired the 3's on board. He checked and I made another 1/2 pot bet. He raised. I didn't think he had a 3, because the only hand I could see him raising with preflop would be A-3. It looked more like a slow played set or an over pair so I folded. He then showed me A-Q.

There was an older gentleman two seats to my left who was a pretty good player. He played position well and seemed to read others well. I didn't see anyone else at the table that played worth a damn. The problem was that I could not get any traction. My stack hovered around $250-$300 the entire night.

I reached a dangerous point in my patience about 1:00 AM. I was in serious double up or go home broke mode. Luckily my cards were so bad, that I didn't get myself in any trouble.

About 2:00 AM I began to get bored and I backed in to a brief period of zen where I truly played the players and not my cards. There was a tight, passive woman in the one seat and I was in the 7 seat. About three hands over an hour, I saw her limp in and then I raised to isolate. Everyone folds to her and she calls. The flop would come and she would check. I bet 3/4 of the pot and she folds. Once I even floated her lead out on the flop, let her check the turn, and took it away from her there. I also realized that the two players on my left were pretty tight preflop, so a couple of times, I open raised blind and took the pot on the flop. This would have been perfect if I had picked up an occasional hand to get paid off, but it never happened. I don't think I showed down a hand for the last 2 hours.

Eventually I left at 3:00 AM down $50. If it wasn't for the great conversations I had at the table, I might have gone broke from the frustration of waiting for a decent hand. I just feel I am so over due for a mad rush of cards in a No Limit Game in Vegas.

Who will stand up and fight?

A nice $450 upswing in the last three days is being ruined by yet another Online Poker site saying "no" to US customers. Doyle's Room is pulling out at the end of the month.

I originally joined so I could try and qualify for a nice copy of SuperSystem 2. It's been close to a year and I still have not cleared their impossible bonus hurdle. I started with $1,200 and I am down to around $1050. They were one of the last sites that actually accepted one of my credit cards, so my plan was to qualify for the book and then pay back the credit card. Technically none of the money is part of my "bankroll" since I bought in with credit. Only the loss of $150 is included in my win/loss calculations.

The silver lining in this is that they worked out a deal with Full Tilt to transfer over money and action points. I went in last night and requested that they transfer over everything for me. I checked this morning and it had not been done yet. It may be a while.

I was a little surprised that Doyle's Room lasted as long as they did. Especially since Doyle Brunson is such an icon in the poker world, you would think he would not want to go to jail over something as silly as Online Poker. After the rumors of his arrest last week, Doyle probably figured out that as a man in his 70's, it's just not worth the hassle.

I think Full Tilt and Poker Stars are our last hope. They have built up a sizable player base so they can make enough money to gamble on fighting the United States in court to keep letting us play here.

Plus I read that the Poker Players Alliance is hiring former senator D'Amato from New York to help with the lobbying. Finally the PPA is getting off of their ass and doing something.

I wonder if the news of Doyle's Room had leaked out to the players by 2/18. I was playing $.50-$1 NL on the site and it was one of the rare occasions where all the players at the table were exceptionally bad. In a six handed table, 3 of the players were seeing over 70% of the flops. Maybe they were playing with a double up or lose it all mentality figuring it was a long shot to get their money out of the site with them leaving.

After a half hour of value betting the calling stations I had run my $100 up to $160 when I had the following great hand. The player, Yio, had started to vastly over bet some flops. If the pot was $8, he would push all in with $100. I had seen him do it at least 4 times in the last 15 minutes. One of the times he did it with pocket 7's when the flop came all low cards. He was on my left so I felt like I could trap him if the right opportunity came along.

I had the button and Yio was in the Big Blind. I am dealt KcQs and the game is 4 handed. UTG folds and I raise to $4. The small blind folds and Yio calls the $3 raise. The flop is 3d 9c Qh. Sure enough, Yio pushes all in for $193.26 (really just $160 since that was my stack size). If I had any respect for his play at all, I might have considered folding, but I had seen this move too many times. I insta called and Yio turned over 9d Ts. I am a big favorite. The turn was a beautiful Qd and the river was a meaningless Ace and I double up with a $162 profit in one hand. I'm pretty sure that is the largest hand I have ever won in online poker.

Now I just have to hope I can eventually get my money out of the site.

How should I have played these?

Sunday during Superbowl on Doyle's Room. $0.50-$1 No Limit. I had run up my initial $50 to $97 and now have drifted down to $75. A new player who had bought in for $100 has raised the first two hands preflop and just raised again to $4. The first hand I saw him raise 5 handed under the gun with A7 offsuit. I am in the small blind with Ac-Qd.

I could just smooth call, but for some reason I felt the need to bring this guy back to reality. I reraise to $16, pretty much hoping to win without a showdown. He min reraises to $28. I briefly consider pushing all in, but I don't want to waste 30 minutes of effort to win $25 so I can flip a coin for $75. I just call. The pot is $57 going to the flop.

The flop is A-T-7 rainbow. What is the correct play here?

Here is the range of hands that I think he could have: AA,KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, AQ, AJ Most players will not put in the 3rd raise with anything less than AA or KK but I think this guy's range could be wider based on the previous plays. This seems like a situation where I am way ahead or way behind.

I only have about $50 left and I am first to act. If I bet I probably fold hands like KK, QQ, JJ. If I check and he checks through I still know nothing. Why? Because if he flopped a set on a ragged board, he would check it through hoping to trap someone with a high pocket pair into betting the turn.

It looks like the best way to play this hand was either push all in and hope to fold hands like JJ or TT or fold to the 3rd raise. Or just call the first one instead of reraising out of position.

I learned all of this because I pushed all in on the flop and got called with a flopped set of 7's. I don't think my opponent played this too well, but I played it worse.

On Friday night I tried out the 5-150 game at Casino Arizona. I was curious to try it after playing 2-5 No Limit in Vegas a month ago. I felt comfortable with the stakes so I felt I was ready. I played fairly tight, trying to figure out the best strategy with this capped limit. Basically your maximum bet or raise is $150. So if the initial bet is $150, you can raise $150 and make it $300 total. The maximum buy in is $350 which tends to limit your options for post flop play if the pot is big preflop.

I thought I was playing pretty well and was up about $60 with $410 in front of me when it all started to go bad. Here were the key hands:

I had 7s8s on the button. There were two limpers plus me and the blinds for 5 players total. $25 in the pot and the flop was 9s-2s-2c. Everyone checks to me. I decide to semi bluff my flush draw since I doubt anyone has a 2. Everyone folds except a player who thought an awful lot of himself. I had seen him tilt earlier when another player had put a bad beat on him. He proceeded to raise every hand for the next 20 minutes. Recently he had calmed down however. This player decided to check raise an additional $40. I thought about moving all in, since I was not convinced he had a 2. I put him on a 9 or another pocket pair. If it's a lower pocket pair, maybe I can move him off the hand if an over card hits the turn. I decide to just call.

The turn was a 7d. My opponent bets $100. I have to fold now. I still feel like he might have had nothing and knew I was on a draw. I needed to call $100 to win $245. Not good enough odds to chase.

Soon after this hand, I am dealt AcQd in the small blind. There are two limpers and then a raise to $25. I call, the big blind calls and one of the limpers calls. I believe the pot was $110.

The flop is Qc-4s-5s. I am first to act. I did not feel good about betting into 3 other players with just top pair, top kicker. I decide to check and get more information. The BB checks, limper checks, and the initial raiser bets $75. Thinking that this was more than enough to scare the other two players out, I decide to just call. Then the big blind raises $150 to $225. The initial bettor folds and I decide to fold.

I think the call of the raise in the small blind preflop was ok. Raising seems too risky. It may eliminate all the limpers but it builds a big pot out of position. Plus who knew so many would call?

On the flop, I think a check is ok, if I am planning on raising the initial raiser. This is a standard play in limit poker to charge the draws. It might be a little excessive in No Limit or Capped No Limit, but it's a strong play. I also could have put out a bet of $50 to see where I am at. I need to protect my hand from draws plus I need to find out if the initial raiser has AA, KK, or even the remote possibility of QQ.

The way it played out, I felt like the big blind had a set and I would be drawing close to dead. I had not seen him get out of line and the only hand I could be ahead of was a flush or straight draw. I did not think he had the balls to make that kind of raise. He did show the hand after we both folded and he had 6s-7s for a straight flush draw.

So technically I was in the lead but he had 15 outs twice so the odds were about 60% for him to make his hand by the river. I think my fold was ok, given the position I put myself in. The problem was that I should have never been in that position.

These lessons are way too expensive for me!