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South Sound Championship $340 No Limit Hold’em Main Event @ Little Creek Casino (Live Blog)

September 8, 2018

I woke up earlier than I was expecting today, so I shouldn’t be too late for the start of this tournament. Not too much to say right now. Buy in is $340 with starting stacks of 20,000. It’s a slow, decently structured tournament. I think the levels are at least 40 minutes long.

I have some decent history in this one, as I’ve mentioned before. I took 4th place in the South Sound Championship Main Event in spring 2014 for $4000 and this spring I got the second most money ($3420) in a 5-way chop. I’m hoping to avoid the big mistakes, run well, and make another deep run!

I should be in action somewhere around 11:15 AM.

11:24 AM: Sitting down now. It does look like rounds are 45 minutes. Re-entry is for three levels and I will fire all the necessary bullets.

Taking a look around the room I see: Joker, Solomon Grundy, Tormund, Bill W, Flexxx, and woah, a surprise appearance from my buddy and occasional travel partner Daniel. Daniel, Tormund and Flexxx are all at the same table. Joker said he wished he had a highlight cam for all the Tormund and Flexxx battles. Me too. That would be something.

I see a decent amount of other regulars I know also.

Current field size is 58. That’s insanely small. The spring Main Event had 92 players. I imagine more people will be trickling in, but at this point, I’d be surprised to see it top 75 entrants.

My table has Solomon Grundy, a Muck regular with an anger problem, and some dude going with the full Paul Volpe sunglasses, hoodie and Beats headphones look.

11:55 AM: First notable pot I open 65dd to 150 and get three callers.

I c-bet 250 on 8d33 flop and two players call, in position.

Turn is the 7d – a great card to continue firing at. I bet 750 this time and only one player calls.

River is a 3. I think this is a bad river to bet at. Granted, I’ve been repping an overpair, but after calling twice on this board texture I think he almost always has a full house and I don’t think he’s looking to fold very often. Maybe if I bomb it, but I’m not trying to torch off 33% of my stack just yet.

I check, he bets some amount and I fold.

12:02 PM: Sigh. Or maybe I am.

Open AsT to 250 and four of us to J65 all spade flop. Small blind donks 250 and I’m only caller.

Turn is a 4 and I raise his 600 to 2600. He calls.

Can I make a hand so I don’t have to bluff this off? No. No I cannot. However, the river is a 7, giving me even more incentive to think I might have some fold equity here. I bet 5k and he calls with 66.

Why call 600 and fold river when I can bluff off an extra 8k instead.

Solid. Very solid. I have less than half the starting stack already.

Jesus, I’m bad sometimes.

I should just jam the river and put max pressure on him. I know he can’t have the nuts. Not saying a jam would work here but I do think it’s a substantially play than betting 5k after he already called 2600 on the turn.

Plus, when he inevitably calls with his set even though a flush is out there and any 3 or 8 beats him, I can sit back down with 20k in chips!

12:21 PM: Two limpers and I make it 500 on button with TT. Both limpers call.

Flop is T86 rainbow and I bet 1500 (pot) when they both check to me. I’m looking to get my stack in here and there are lots of bad turns for me. I get called by the first limper.

Turn is a jack and opens up a club flush draw. I’m trying to determine a good bet size and I want it to be hefty. Problem is, pot has 4500ish in it and I only have 7500 or so in my stack. Any decent sized bet is going to be for around half my stack so I just go ahead and jam it in there and hope that his hand strength and my shitty image can combine forces to get me a call here. He folds though.

Back to 12k.

12:27 AM: Trying to find my place of Zen, I open-muck ATo UTG+1 and then AJo UTG the next hand.

💆🏻‍♂️

Assorted chips counts at first break:

TDK 12k

Joker 25k

Daniel 40k

Bill W 45k

Tormund 21k

Flexxx 35k

Solomon Grundy 18k

12:52 PM: And… I’m down to 33 bigs after whiffing a pair plus straight draw against what I felt was a top pair hand in a large-ish pot.

Not going to sit on this stack size. I will be gambling it up with only 34 minutes of re-entry left.

1:00 PM: I make it 700 after one limper with As9x and get two calls. Flop is QT9 with one spade. We all check.

Turn is the 4h and I call 1500 from the player to my right.

River is the jack of spades and she checks to me. I have about a pot-sized bet left. This is a super easy jam spot, especially with the re-entry dynamics. Once again, I have the nut flush blocker plus any king makes a straight and AK specifically is right in my range. I jam about 4600 and she tanks forever and finally calls with T8cc.

Sigh.

Second bullet. I’m back to 20k!

Alright, let’s calm this shit right down. I got the meditation playlist going now.

1:14 PM: I think the Seattle Mariners suffered the unofficial knockout blow to their 2018 season last night. The M’s had their ace James Paxton throwing and couldn’t beat the New York Yankees in a pretty must win game. Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics cruised to an easy victory over the Texas Rangers and increased their lead in the AL Wild Card race to 6.5 games with 21 games to go. At this point, the only remaining – and extremely small – slice of hope is the fact that we haven’t been mathematically eliminated yet.

It’s going to take a three game sweep of the A’s from the 24th through the 26th to even make it interesting – and that’s assuming it’s not officially over before then.

Amazingly, I have tickets purchased to three upcoming games already. Tomorrow vs the Yankees and games in Houston and Arlington vs the Astros and Rangers next week. I was hoping all these games would have significant meaning, but the season is basically over now. Still, I can’t wait to see the two Texas stadiums. It will still be a blast!

1:31 PM: Re-entry is closed. Joker is also on his second bullet and sitting at my table now. We decided to spice it up a little bit with a Last Longer bet.

1:41 PM: I c-bet a 3-bet pot with AA and didn’t get any additional action.

Just opened AJo to 650 and got multiple callers. I fired 1000 into over 2500 on the AJ6 flop and one player calls.

Turn pairs the 6 and this dude has been really active and I think he’s capable of trying to bet me off hands, so I decide to check and induce. I call 2600.

River is a total blank and I stay consistent with my line. He bets 4700 and it’s hard to imagine what hands he would be willing to call a check-raise with that I am beating so I call and let him showdown his AK before winning this pot.

I’m up over 28k and Joker just got smoked as I was typing this, so I’m a heavy favorite in our Last Longer now.

1:49 PM: Looks like final tally on entrants is 80, creating a prize pool of $26.8k and a first place worth $9.1k. 8 players are in line to make at least $939 – unless they bought in twice like some of us suckers.

Assorted chip counts with 20 minutes left in L4:

Dark Knight 29k

Joker 2k

Grundy 12.5k

Bill W 50k

Daniel O 30k

Tormund 38k

Flexxx 24k

1:56 PM: Joker is busted and I’m not going to lose $680. Bright sides.

2:03 PM: Little Creek Casino: where you can drop the loudest “F Bomb” ever and not even get a warning (that I saw).

2:08 PM: Just made a slightly bad call with A9o when UTG+2 jammed 8.5 bigs and showed up with AQ. I thought it might be close so I checked and ATo is the cutoff. I got a decent sweat with a J758 board on the turn, but I made a pair of aces on the river instead and doubled him up.

2:38 PM: I have to give Joker some credit. Last night I was saying I didn’t think he would finish in the top 80 of the tournament and he scrapped and clawed today and proved me wrong.

Kudos, Joker. I’m always underestimating you. 🍻

2:50 PM: Just called a 9 big jam with ATo on the button… and I guess I should have isolated because the big blind decided to come along with 74o and that hand obviously won the whole pot.

Very next hand I have AK vs A6cc on KJ5ccc flop and managed to get to showdown in a 3-way pot for a single 2100 bet on the flop.

Well done, buddy.

Down to 17.5k.

3:11 PM: 14.8k heading to 300/600/50. 24 bigs! We are getting dangerously close to a stack size where I might actually stop sucking.

Assorted Counts:

Dark Knight 10.5k

Grundy busted

Bill W 40k

Flexxx 26k

Tormund 14k

Daniel O 49k

3:54 PM: So frustrated. I’ve won three pots in almost five hours. It’s super hard to do well in poker tournaments if you never win a hand. The guy on my left is absolutely murdering me. He’s beat me in no less than six pots. Every time I open he has a hand and I’m yet to beat him in a hand. It’s so frequent and predictable at this point it makes me think he’s picking on me but the showdowns I’ve seen have been AK, AK suited, and AA. I think he’s just running good and my timing is amazingly atrocious.

I am down to about 7k which means I’m in pure push/fold mode when we come back from break. I imagine blinds will be 400/800 so I will have less than 10 bigs.

4:07 PM: Quick double! Jam AJo under the gun first hand back and get it through.

Next hand small blind jams folded to him for like 4k and I snap with 22 and flop a set vs his A9o.

4:28 PM: Woah. Some good things are happening. Flopped trip 3s with J3hh from the big blind in a multiway limped pot; jammed over four limpers with 99 on the button and got it through; and raised one limper with ATcc only to have a short stack jam on me with QJo and I busted him.

Back up to 27k.

Assorted counts 5 minutes before dinner:

TDK 27k

Tormund BUSTED

Flexxx 20k

Daniel O 65k

Bill W 38k

5:10 PM: Last hand before break I opened to 2000 with AJo and got two callers.

Flop was JT3 with two spades and I c-bet 4000 and the button made it 10k to go. I’ve already seen this guy get massively out of line in the short time he’s been at my table so I’m not considering any folds here. I jam and he goes in the tank and now I’m hoping he calls. He does. And it’s not good. He has AJ also but has a spade in his hand for a freeroll, but doesn’t bink it.

29k on dinner break coming back to 500/1000/100.

5:36 PM: Correction: blinds are 600/1200/100. Sheesh!

37 players left and average stack is 43k.

6:06 PM: Dwindled all the way down to 13.5k after a couple opens and c-bets failed. Jammed with AQ and doubled through 55 to get back near 30k.

6:42 PM: Forgot my charger at home so my phone is plugged into the wall. Peaking at 34k after getting a reshove through with KQdd.

7:05 PM: Lost a sizable pot with AJ and then a medium-sized pot when I limp behind on button with J4ss after a player I’m targeting limps in from hijack. I’ve tried isolating him before with zero success. Every time I’ve done it he’s donked into me on the flop and I’m sitting there with nothing. So I’m just looking to steal in position if it checks to me or maybe win a big pot if I connect hard. Honestly, it’s not a very good play.

Well, he check-calls 2000 on T42hh flop and then donks 8k when a king hits the turn. I’m boiling inside. This dude is just walking on water. Does he have a heart draw that made a pair? I doubt it. I think he’s just a total spewer and I’m trying to restrain myself from jamming on him in frustration but he’s had it every time I’ve seen so far. I reluctantly fold and he shows me the KdJc as a courtesy and I want to thank him by flipping him the bird.

God, why can’t he just hit a jack instead so I can double up.

So gross. So stupid.

8 bigs.

Dammit.

7:16 PM: First hand back from break I call off my last 8 bigs with KQhh and lose to AJ.

Flexxx has heaps with 24 left. Daniel O is healthy. Bill W is still in.

But I’m out. And I’m outta here. I’m sure Daniel will keep me posted if he goes deep and I’ll make some updates here.

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15/30 Live Blog: The Return of a Legend

September 7, 2018

It’s a huge day for poker in the Pacific Northwest. An absolute legend has returned to the Palace felt after a roughly six month hiatus doing whatever it is he does when he’s not crushing poker games for a living.

Radio Mike is back.

This is actually a big deal. Not just for my own self-amusement, but also for the livelihood of the 15/30 game at Palace. It is an extra player that will be there to play almost every day for the next half year. Between Radio Mike and me that’s 22% of a poker game! Not bad.

Seriously though. I’m stoked to see him back. There are few things I enjoy more than watching my good friends get smoked playing poker while pretending like I’m not rooting for them.

Welcome back, bud!

I played an epic session at Fortune last night, but I’ll get to that later. I’m currently sitting in my car waiting for my blood sugar to get to a point where I can drive a motor vehicle and then I’ll be headed to Palace where there are 9 people acting like they are ready to play with red chips tonight.

I should be in action in the next half hour or so.

5:14 PM: Boom. Walk in the door and they are immediately firing the 15/30 game. That’s what I call perfect timing. Well, perfect timing would be waking in with the game already started and one seat open.

Not sure how late I’m willing to play tonight. I slept less than five hours and I’m playing the Main Event at Little Creek tomorrow with an 11 AM start time.

5:19 PM: Alright. I’m going to try to talk about last night’s session before things get too crazy here. I didn’t get in the 20/40 until 8:30 PM and I had every intention of playing deep into the night, but I had no idea how degen I was going to get.

It was an epic session. Perfect for blogging. Lots of characters in attendance, including FanBoy, Snowflake, and an ultra surprise appearance from noted Bat-Villain Two Face.

For those of you that read my blog regularly, you know that Two Face actively avoids playing poker with me. He never plays 15/30 when I’m here. Never plays PLO. Yet spends all his time exuding hot shot bravado.

However, when I walked into Fortune last night and saw him with $4k in front of him in the 20/40, well, first I was stunned, but I also knew he wasn’t going to leave.

He sure didn’t. I played in his game most of the night and he was still there when I left at 7:15 AM.

I told you I got my degen on.

For the better part of the night I had a total maniac on my direct right and I was ice cold for hours, folding everything dealt to me and losing the few times I did get involved.

Some gems:

-Before I knew he was a total lunatic trying to win every single pot, I 3-bet him with AT of clubs and double barreled on K548 and folded when he check-raised me. Then he slammed the Q3o down face up right in front me.

-This one gets capped (by him) with 5 players preflop. I have AJcc and I call him on flop and turn on T93T with no flush draws present and I’m ecstatic that everyone else has exited the pot. River is a 4 and I call again and he shows 84ss!

-I 3-bet JJ and bet all streets on K87KQ and he has Q7o.

Those were the best ones I was involved in, but he had all sorts of epic hands against everyone else, especially Two Face. They were officially at war, to the point where the maniac purposefully tried to fold his cards onto Two Face’s live, unprotected hand. It was a near miss. No warnings from the dealer. I was loving it.

What I didn’t love was watching one of the dealer’s taking the drop when we were 5-handed to see how much they were taking before I inquired about a reduction. Granted, I was playing deeper into the morning than I ever do, so I thought my eyes might be deceiving me, but it sure as shit looked like they were taking two red chips out of the pot and dropping $3 and $2 and putting nothing back in the pot. So that’s $10 out of the pot, $5 down the hole, and $5… in their tray.

What.

I watched this happen about three times before discreetly informing the floor and he disappeared into surveillance for roughly a half hour before returning and telling the new dealer to stop taking a drop.

Wow.

I wasn’t seeing things. Now I don’t think this dealer was trying to steal necessarily but… they were definitely robbing us, whether intentionally or not. Good grief. I think the floor handled it well and I don’t know what happened to the dealer.

Anyway, I spent most of my night sitting next to the torcher on my right super ice cold and stuck about $800-$1200 most of the night and finally started to get hot around 6:45 AM playing 3-handed.

I went on a little heater and suddenly I was +$93 and very happy about it. I cashed out at 7:15 AM for my first win in the 20/40 at Fortune in 2018. Sheesh.

6:21 PM: Starting lineup for today’s 15/30 game: Radio Mike, unknown, Joker in here now, the new super loose regular (my goal is to have a name for him before day’s end), random semi-reg, Flea, and two nits.

I’ve been abusing Flea. I’ve already won like five sizable pots off him.

My favorite: I raise one weak limper on the button with 55 and Flea and the limper call.

Flop is T64 and it checks to me. I think it’s close between betting and checking here. A spot worth really investigating actually. I hate getting check-raised here and I’m always seeing the turn because there are good cards for me there. So maybe this is a good hand to include in my checking back range?

I bet though and Flea check-raises me and I call.

Turn is an ace and he leads out, which I think is a pretty huge mistake. Flea doesn’t have to have a strong hand to check-raise me on the flop and the ace is obviously way better for my range. I go ahead and exploit this dynamic by raising the turn and…

He folds!

I’m off to a fast start, up like $500 already, mostly courtesy of The Flea.

8:04 PM: Well I have a new nickname. Not the one I was aiming for, but one I’ve been needing to develop. This guy is a total maniac. He always sits down and wants to play the highest stakes possible but he rarely sits down with enough chips to do so. Like, he’ll sit down in 15/30 with $400 and ask for a 25/50 Overs button.

But he certainly plays like he has $2000 in front of him, raising and betting liberally with extremely wide ranges.

And sometimes he does have $2000 in front of him. On Wednesday, he was the maniac in the PLO game. He accomplished incredible feats that night.

First, he sat down with $500, ran it up to $1700, added on $200, and had $0 in front of him in less than a half hour.

Later, he turned $3400 into $0 in about 15 minutes.

It was an impressive display – both in running it up so quickly and also in making it disappear just as fast.

He plays like a total animal. And I’ve decided that’s what I should call him:

Animal

And Animal has joined us in the 15/30 and so has Part-Time and Mr. Plow. Four of us are now playing 25/50 Overs and I’m the first one to get punished when I open K7 suited and get raised by Joker and call him down on K99T4 when he has AK.

9:17 PM: I mean I was kind of in desperate need of some material but did it have to be like this?

I open QThh under the gun, someone 3-bets, and there are callers.

The flop is 643 with two hearts and I’m happy to put some money in on this flop but it checks around.

The turn is a beautiful ten of clubs and Mr. Plow leads out into three or four opponents from the big blind. I make it $60 to go and that clears the rest of the field. He starts tanking… actually sizes me up… and eventually puts the call out.

River is the ace of diamonds. He donks. I call. He tables…

AJ offsuit. What in the world?

At least he took the time to look me up and down before calling with ace high. 👍🏻

10:22 PM: Button straddles, Animal calls, Mr. Plow 3-bets and I 4-bet from hijack with K8hh. No respect for the ranges in this hand so far and I’m hoping to knock Joker out but the jerk comes in with a 5-bet cap and now five of us are seeing this flop for $75 each and I have K8 and two players have position on me.

Doesn’t… seem… great.

The flop isn’t bad though. 872 with two spades. I decide to donk into Joker. This gets a bet in on the flop and he will frequently raise and potentially limit the field and that’s a good thing, even if I don’t have the best hand. Joker just calls, so does button, Animal check-raises (with one small bet behind), Mr. Plow calls two cold, and I 3-bet to try to get the other two yahoos out but they aren’t going anywhere and this pot just keeps getting bigger.

Turn is an offsuit king. Oh my. I really couldn’t ask for a better card. I bet and they all call, with Animal all in on the flop.

River is an ace and Mr. Plow donks right out. I’m not super concerned about being beat here but I don’t think it’s a great spot to raise either, so I call. Other two guys fold, Plow tables AT and I’m good for this whole monster!

When gambling goes right, folks.

1:25 AM: Wow. I didn’t realize I’ve been this sidetracked. 3+ hours without an update?! My bad. I mean nothing too excited has happened. Joker 4-bet me with Q9hh when I had JJ and got a nice little Q83T4 runout to get paid off.

Actually Joker and Radio Mike played an epic hand where Joker rivered a full house after Radio Mike turned a straight flush. I wasn’t paying too much attention to it but I can still see Joker’s blood stains on the table.

We are down to 7-handed now. Flea has heaps of chips (well, $2k+) or else I’d probably be home resting up for tomorrow’s event already. He’s in lock down mode though but there are still two certified spewers in action.

I’ve really been battling with the nickname for this new, crazy regular and I’ve had a couple I’ve kind of liked. I was thinking The Terminator because he’s always after you and no matter what, you can’t ever kill him – he just keeps going to the ATM for more.

But it didn’t have that magic ring to it. I’m saving it. This dude is Iron Man. Same concepts apply sort of – he’s a machine that keeps going and seems to have Tony Stark’s bankroll – but really, the 250 hours this dude put in last month would make Cal Ripken Jr. proud.

I hope this ubiquitous presence isn’t a fleeting thing and I’m not wasting yet another nickname on someone that is just going to disappear in a month. For now, expect Iron Man to be in almost every hand I post from Palace.

2:22 AM: I always hate to do it when the game is really good, but I called it a night. I was having a pretty great session but lost some momentum at the end, mostly because my pocket jacks kept losing to Qx in bloated pots when a queen was the only overcard on board.

Final Score: +$1185

After a -$2k day on the 1st of the month, I am back in the green for September. No bad. This is later than I wanted to be out which means I almost certainly won’t be there for the start of the Little Creek Main Event tomorrow. My current hope is to leave my house around the time the tournament is starting and arrive early in level 2.

Stay tuned. I will blog it.

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Little Creek South Sound Championship $150 No Limit Hold’em Bounty Tournament (Live Blog)

September 5, 2018

Today I’m firing my first event in Little Creek’s South Sound Championship series – the $150 No Limit Hold’em bounty tournament. I can’t even remember the last time I played a bounty event, but I do have a better idea of how to approach them after watching Parker Talbot and Lex Velhuis play a bunch of them on their streams over the past year.

Little Creek tournaments probably have the softest fields you can find where people are willing to pay $100+ for a poker tournament. I always have to remind myself to really dumb it down when I play here. I expect to take a lot of ABC lines and value bet bigger with my strong hands.

Looks like starting stack will be 10k. I don’t know much else about the structure. Shoot, I don’t even know how much each bounty is worth.

I also don’t know if there are rebuys or re-entry. If I don’t make a deep run in this event, I will continue the blog later for a PLO session at Palace.

11:38 PM: Not sure how wise it was to drive 40 minutes to play this event. There are currently 37 entrants and we are now in level 2. That’s pretty puny. I was expecting a small field, but I was thinking more along the lines of 60-70 players. This is going to top out at 45ish. None of the typical mid-stakes rounders are here – not even the mighty Tormund and this is his home ballpark. I know one player personally and I only recognize a couple others. Pretty wacky to play in a semi-local tournament and not know 90% of the field.

Starting stacks are 10k with blinds starting at 25/50 and 30 minute levels.

There is re-entry for three levels, so with bounties in play I’m planning to play hyper-aggressive as long as I can re-enter.

First pot I play I raise one limper to 200 with 86 of clubs and the blinds at 25/50. Both blinds also call.

The flop is AQ2 with two clubs and the big blind leads out 300. The limper folds here and this seems like a spot I’d rather call to start than raise, for all the reasons I mentioned earlier. I call and so does the small blind.

The turn is a blank and the big blind bets 100 into a 1700 pot. Now I feel compelled to raise. That is just way too much weakness not to attack it. I make it 750 and they both fold.

11:57 PM: Button opens to 300 at 50/100 and I have AJo in the small. This is normally an easy 3-bet spot but looking at the button and stereotyping (older white guy), I assume he will only continue if he has really strong hands. But if I just call, he gets to continue with his entire opening range. I call and the big blind folds.

JT7 rainbow is the flop and I check-call 500. I think it’s perfectly justifiable to check-raise this flop. I’m at the top of my range now and my hand is certainly more vulnerable than if I flopped an ace. But I think the same concepts apply. If I check-raise and get 3-bet here I will have to fold. I decide to call and keep his range wide.

The turn is a 5 and I check-call 800. I actually like this development. His sizing isn’t indicative of someone that is trying to protect a hand they are fearful might get outdrawn. I would say that points to me having the best hand the majority of the time. I expect this player pool to typically bet way too big when they think they have the best hand.

The river is ugly: queen of diamonds. Not only is it an overcard, but it completes AK and a backdoor diamond flush. I check and he bets 1200. Obviously the run out is terrible but the bet size is highly favorable, so I call and he shows 99.

Hmm… I said I was going to play hyper-LAG but I guess this hand isn’t very indicative of that.

12:34 PM: Open AJhh under the gun to 450 and super active player on button jams for 2950. Easy call… but then the small blind, a middle aged lady, calls. She has around 5-6k back, so I decide to call as well.

Flop is ace high and we both check. The turn is a queen and I decide to put a little value/protection of 1000 out there and she snap-jams. I call. I don’t love it. I wouldn’t expect her to be punting here but… she is. She has A6o. Other dude is drawing dead. River bricks and I scoop two $25 bounties.

Very next hand, it’s the last hand of the level and a player in middle position jams for 30 bigs. It folds to me in the big blind and I have ATo.

It’s a massive shove but there are lots of reasons to call:

  • It’s the last hand before re-entry closes
  • My hand does fine against a wider range
  • I can call and lose and still have almost double the starting stack
  • There’s a $25 bounty on the line
  • I think that’s enough reason to call but after tanking for a minute or two, I ultimately decided to fold thinking I’d rather maintain my commanding chip position at the table than gamble for 30 bigs and $25.
  • The all in showed me KJ.
  • I have about 23k (76 bigs) now after calling a 10bb jam first hand back with A3dd and losing to QQ.
  • 1:08 PM: Brutal level. Super aggro dude opens to 800 with like 7000 behind,button calls and I have AJo in the small blind. I make it 2950, planning to get it in with the LAG. He folds and then the button jams for 17k. Wth. I fold.
  • Then that same guy that jammed the 17k opens for 900 and I flat with AJdd and so does another player. The small blind then squeezes for like 60% of his stack to 6100 and we all fold.
  • First hand of 200/400/25, that same guy limps, I make it 1250 with JJ and the limper calls.
  • Flop is K73 with two spades and he donks right out for 4500, which is well over a pot-sized pot. I think the exploitive play is probably to fold here even though I would almost always call a bet on this flop. But the sizing should give me an easy exit. I call though. 🤦🏻‍♂️
  • Then I fold when he jams the turn. Just stupid. Burning chips!
  • I’m getting abused. I am down to 7600. What a collapse.
  • I have legitimately gone from dominating my table to feeling like they are actually picking on me.
  • 1:25 PM: One limper and I call with K3dd from the SB. Big blind checks.
  • Flop is AQ2 with two diamonds, including the ace. I have the nut flush draw. I decide to check and see what happens. Big blind checks and the limper bets 1300. Seems like a perfect spot to jam. I expect them to be opening a lot of the aces they play, so I think I have decent fold equity here. Do I think he never open-limps an ace? No, of course not. These people are passive and soft. He can have an ace, but he can also have a queen or a pocket pair or nothing. I jam for like 7k and he tanks for about a minute before calling with AT, which is a super easy call here, giving even more credence to my shoving line. He turns two pair which gives me some extra outs, but he fades the diamonds and the jack and I’m taking my merry ass on home now.
  • There ended up being a total of 48 entrants for this one. I wasn’t planning to play tomorrow’s event but now I’m probably going to skip Friday as well and just play the $340 Main. The spring Main had 92 runners and I took the second most money in a chop and I have a 4th place finish in the same event in 2014, back when the $4000 I made was my largest tournament score ever.
  • Blog is done for now, but I will be back in action at 6 PM for the PLO cash game at Palace.
  • On the bright side, I shouldn’t have to suffer through any brutal I-5 traffic to get home.
  • 6 PM: Just got to Palace for some PLO. 9 names on the list to start the game, but one of them is not The Man. That’s not good for this game’s longevity. Having someone that will sit down with $1k, rebuy if they need to, and stay until the game breaks is pretty key.
  • Looks like the game is going to start near full.
  • 6:08 PM: Looks like seven of us to start. The lineup: The Crypt Keeper, John Stockton, Part-Time, the new Palace regular that plays super loose and walked with like $3000 in this game last week, a nit that loves baseball, and another dude that plays this game most weeks.
  • I feel like the new regular is begging for a nickname. I just don’t want to lose him to the nickname curse. I think he played more hours than anyone else at Palace last month. His volume is pretty serious. Anyways, I haven’t had a name really strike me yet, so I’ll hold off for now, but dude is present every day and is in almost every pot so it would be nice to have something to call him other than “the new regular that’s super loose.”
  • 6:17 PM: Dude that dealt to me in the Little Creek tournament is now sitting in this game. Haven’t seen him play in this yet, so I assume his presence is a good thing.
  • 6:21 PM: Ugh. John Stockton just got it all in on the flop with the naked Ad on a three diamond flop and had nothing else going for him… so I have to assume… he doesn’t know both cards need to play. I’m conflicted, I want to tell him because I like him but I also know the rest of the table will be pissed at me.
  • What’s the right thing to do? I think… I have to tell the poor kid.
  • 7:44 PM: I’ve been super card dead. I was thinking about making an update saying just that – with about +$25 in front of me – but then this happened:
  • Baseball dude opens for $15, Part-Time and action dude call. I decide to take a flop with QJT3 double suited.
  • Flop is Q52 with two hearts and one spade. I have top pair, a jack high flush draw, and a backdoor flush draw. I lead out $40 and only Part-Time calls.
  • Turn is the 3 of spades. Two flush draws and two pair. I feel like he can have straights here but I also think he loves to attack weakness so when he pots it, I have a decision. I have a little over $500 in front of me. I can’t fold here and there’s some chance I have the best hand, so I decide I’m just going to go for it. I pot it, he goes all in and I call.
  • He announces, “nuts” and I say I have a lot of draws. He only wants to run it once, so when the ace of spades hits the river I scoop the whole pot.
  • He flashed the 4 of spades and the 6 of clubs.
  • 8:00 PM: Eek. It cometh, it goeth. I open to $15 with 8766 double suited, baseball calls, next guy makes it $80 to go, and it folds back to me. We are all at least $600 deep so I speculate and baseball calls too.
  • Flop is K85 rainbow. We check to the PFR and he bets $135 into $240. I don’t love it. Maybe it’s a fold, but I put the $135 out there and bad things start to happen. The other player makes it $435 and the PFR folds. So now there’s like $975 in the pot and it’s $300 to call. He doesn’t have much behind, so we are playing for it all if I go with it. I’m getting 3.23-1 to call so I need to win about 24% of the time. I have 8 outs to the nuts which gives me roughly 32% – but I won’t win that often because he clearly has a set. Still, I think I have found my way into a profitable all in situation even if getting there was a mistake.
  • I jam and we agree to run it twice. With two chances to hit ~32%, I manage to whiff both times and lose ~$600 on the hand.
  • 8:17 PM: I raise one limper with QT97 double suited and John Stockton 3-bets me to $60 and it folds back to me. Easy call.
  • Flop is T73 rainbow and he bets $50. Kinda weird. I have top two and two backdoor flush draws and I’m happy to get it in against his less than $300 remaining, so I make it $170 and Stockton gets it in with me.
  • He only wants to run it once and the board runs out: T73J8 and my Q and 9 somehow end up making the nuts vs Stockton’s QQJ5.
  • 8:23 PM: Precarious spot here. I open to $15 with AAK4 and no suits. Stockton pops it to $45 and Part-Time calls from the big blind. I have an easy get it in vs Stockton’s stack size and make it $190 to go. They both call.
  • I’m not happy to get it in postflop with crappy aces against Part-Time, but the Q33 with two heart flop is pretty favorable for my hand, especially with the ace of hearts in my hand. I bet $160 when it checks to me, which is most of Stockton’s stack. I will probably have to fold if Part-Time check-pots it. Stockton folds and Part-Time calls.
  • Ew.
  • Turn is a black 5 and he checks to me. I have like $450 behind but I’m perplexed. He should never be calling the flop w/out at least the nut flush draw here and I have the ace of hearts, so I check back.
  • The river bricks also and he checks again. I’m happy to show down at this point and my AA is good vs whatever crummy flush draw he called with.
  • 8:40 PM: Just watched Villain get it in on J76 rainbow flop with 77AX vs J66X, they ran it twice and Villain lost both times.
  • That.
  • Is.
  • Amazing.
  • 9:20 PM: The Man is in the game. John Stockton is back. A maniac just sat down and immediately won $1200 and he’s drunk and super close to getting picked up, while everyone is sitting thinking, “please no.”
  • 9:33 PM: The Crypt Keeper just filleted two of the spewers, drastically decreasing the game quality.
  • 9:48 PM: The maniac sat down with $500 30 minutes ago. He ran it up to $1700, added on $200, and is already felted. Pretty impressive.
  • 10:06 PM: This is pretty special, in all regards. I open to $15 with 7655 double suited and two players call before John Stockton accidentally “calls” with three green chips and it is now $75 to go. I’m positive he didn’t do that on purpose and maybe I should repot here, but I call? So does the other player.
  • Flop is KT9 rainbow and it checks to John Stockton and he bets $40 into $225. Oh my. I call because I just can’t bring myself to fold to this bet sizing, but it would suck to make a big raise and get called by the other player. He also calls. Ugh.
  • Turn is a queen and we all check.
  • River is a blank and I didn’t call on the flop to check this river after the turn checked through. I bet $160. I think my line in this hand is terrible and I don’t think my river bet has much credibility but in this specific case, I don’t think it matters. I am right. They both fold.
  • Weird hand.
  • 10:25 PM: Open to $15 with AK97 with diamonds. I get some callers and the flop comes down T83 with two diamonds, giving me the nut flush draw and an open ender. I like it. I like it a lot. I bet $35 and only the loose regular calls.
  • Turn is a queen, giving me more outs and he check-raises me to $200 after I bet $90. That’s annoying. I call.
  • River bricks me and I snap fold when he announces a bet. 🤮
  • 10:45 PM: I picked a good time to run a multi-street bluff with QT86 double suited in diamonds and hearts on K93dKd5 only to get raised on the river and then watch two players pick up. Game is now down to nicknames only: John Stockton, Villain, The Crypt Keeper and The Man. Oh, and the loose new regular is MIA.
  • 10:50 PM: Free play with Q553 with spades. Flop is QT3 with one spade and I bet $15 into $20 and only The Man calls.
  • Turn is the 2 of spades and I bet $35 into $50 and he calls again.
  • River is a 3, giving me a full house. I don’t see much value in betting, so I check it over to let him bet all his missed draws. He fires $95 at it and I snap call and he shows me TT!
  • Wow. I am losing now.
  • And The Man said he almost always leaves at 11.
  • This game is going down.
  • 11:05 PM: Good God. I open to $15 with A765 with diamonds and John Stockton 3-bets me to $40. Someone else calls and I call also.
  • The flop is AQ7 rainbow and Stockton bets $40 when I check to him. The Man folds and I think he will react truthfully if I make a small raise, so I make it $100 to go and he tanks for a bit and calls.
  • Turn is an 8 and I’m pretty sure, but not certain, I have the best hand. I also have an open ender now. I bet $300 and he tanks forever and calls.
  • The river pairs the fucking queen. I check because I’m not going to torch my remaining $100ish when I’m basically never winning now. He thinks for a bit and checks back with AJJ6.
  • 11:17 PM: I open with AQ77 and clubs in my hand. Villain and the loose player call.
  • Flop is Q74 with two diamonds and I’m not fucking around anymore. I bet $40 into $45 and both players call.
  • Turn is an offsuit jack and I bet pot when it’s my action. This time only the loose player calls.
  • The river gives me quad sevens. I have a queen, I have four sevens. I think I would have heard from him if he had a set of fours. His range is loaded with busted draws. I check it over to him and he immediately bets $200. Cha ching! I eventually go all in for around $500 and he folds pretty quickly.
  • 11:55 PM: Suddenly we are 8-handed again and nothing but action players, including the manic from earlier, sat down.
  • I limp under the gun with T988 with one suit, someone raises to $15, next guy makes it $40, John Stockton calls, I call, and two others call.
  • So it’s five of us to the 764 rainbow flop. I lead out $125, happy to get it in with any of the new players’ stack sizes. The maniac is all in for less, the preflop 3-bettor calls and so does John Stockton.
  • The turn is an offsuit king. I don’t expect this group to fold to a bet so I check and it checks around.
  • River is an 8. I have the nuts. I bomb it for $300 and John Stockton calls my bet and I’m good for the whole thing.
  • 12:18 AM: It’s so crazy. This game was seconds away from breaking 80 minutes ago and now I’m sitting here in a full game with a dream lineup.
  • Where’s the coffee at?
  • 1:14 AM: This is brutal. So card dead. Just sitting here watching the circus fling stacks of chips around. I’ve literally played like two hands in the past hour.
  • 1:34 AM: So brutal. We are down to seven players and the maniac just punted $1800 to The Crypt Keeper.
  • 1:45 AM: Jesus. The maniac just turned $3200 into $70 in less than 20 minutes.
  • 1:54 AM: Well, I participated. And it was scary. Three limpers in front of me and I decided to pop it to $25 with AQQ6 double suited. The small blind calls and the maniac pops it from the big blind to $115, with like $50ish behind. That clears the rest of the field out and I repot to $415 so I can get it heads up… but the small blind calls!
  • Gulp.
  • Flop is A42 with two hearts. He checks and I bet small. $120. He just calls.
  • Turn is an 8 and we both check.
  • River is a 6 and I bet $200 after he checks and he folds quickly and my hand is good vs the all in.
  • 2:56 AM: The game fizzled out as The Crypt Keeper kept felting all the lunatics at the table. This game was insane, with at least five players constantly shoveling heaps of chips in the middle with very little equity and very little clue. During this 2+ hours of pure mania I won that one pot in the update above and that’s it. Meanwhile I think The Crypt Keeper won $5000 in the same stretch.
  • Final Score: +$1060

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    h1

    Muckleshoot $20/$40 Omaha 8 (Live Blog)

    September 1, 2018

    3:32 PM: Not sure if this is going to happen or not. Last time I was here Bill W told me they try to start this game at 3 PM every Saturday and he’s not even here right now.

    Big Daddy is going around trying to get the game off the ground short-handed, but one of the players is trying to block the game start.

    In all likelihood, if this doesn’t go, I’ll head to Fortune to play 20/40.

    3:42 PM: Today was Cold Shower Challenge Day #4. Yesterday felt a little cheap also because we went on a 7+ mile hike to the top of Tolmie Peak near Mt. Rainier and it was freezing at the top and I wanted to soak in a hot bath when I got home… and then I took a cold shower. It was easier than usual.

    Today I spent the most time under cold water yet. It’s a good way to be jolted awake but I’m still not finding any joy in the process and I still can’t stand under the stream for the whole duration… but I’m plugging along.

    So yes… yesterday’s hike:

    And some pics:

    3:55 PM: Still waiting for O8 to start and to get into the 1/3 spread game.

    After hiking last night, I tried to take a nap after showering but it wasn’t happening. I gave up and headed to the Palace and got in an 8/16 game at 9:30 PM.

    I had what felt like my first ever successful 4/8 O8 warmup at Palace and then spent most of the night running like garbage in 8/16 until it got 4-handed and all my opponents decided they wanted to play 20/40 Overs with me and I climbed all the way back to even and then some, finishing with a +$165 for the day.

    That closed out August of 2018, which ended up being my fourth best month of the year after a strong finish this past week. It was my fourth month of +$5000 or better this year but it was also the first month I played more 8/16 than 15/30. Ick. Speaking of which, the 15/30 didn’t go last night… on a Friday. Not good. But when you factor in PLO and 20/40, I still spent the majority of my live hours in bigger games.

    September marks tournament season again. Next week I’ll be playing in 2-3 events in the South Sound Championship at Little Creek. The Muckleshoot Fall Classic is the last two weekends of September. I’ll be missing the first few events because we will still be on our New Orleans-Houston-Dallas vacation but I’ll be playing all the rest. Then there’s the Fall Poker Classic at Chinook Winds in Lincoln City, Oregon the last week of October. I’ll be playing the last few events of that series but I haven’t even looked into booking a place to stay yet so there’s still some potential for flakiness there.

    4:17 PM: Just sat down in the 1/3 NL game with $300 and another $500 in my pocket.

    4:31 PM: 20/40 O8 has cards in the air finally. I played less than one orbit in the NL game and it was eventful. I won a decent pot with AJ in my big blind and then I really tried to take my lone opponent to value town with QQ on a 99793 board by betting $10, $25 and then $100 on the river but he folded.

    Then I raised one limper to $12 with the K7ss from the cutoff and the button, small blind, and limper call.

    The flop is 764 with one spade and two clubs. The small blind jams for $38, I call, and so does the button.

    The turn is the 8 of spades. I check and the button bets $100. That’s a bit less than 2/3 pot and I decide to call with over $200 behind.

    River bricks and I check-fold to multiple green chips.

    All in shows 53 of clubs and button has A5 of spades. Nice dodge.

    Finish that micro-session at -$39.

    4:55 PM: 20/40 O8 started 8-handed. There are two players I don’t know but recognize from last time, two players I don’t know at all, Bill W, a low limit player I know from Palace, and the higher stakes guy that plays PLO at Palace… time for a nickname!

    I gave my good friend the nickname The Crypt Keeper because he is into crypto currencies… but he basically never plays poker and this dude is way more deserving of being The Crypt Keeper because they have the same haircut:

    Not my first nickname transfer and it won’t be my last.

    5:05 PM: Bill W is on the button with the kill and checks when it folds to him. I have AJ33 with no suits in the small blind and decide to just call.

    Three of us see the K72 rainbow flop and I bet out. The low stakes Palace player calls from the big blind and Bill W folds.

    Turn pairs the king and I bet out, expecting the big blind to fold all of his naked low draws and a decent amount of his 7s and 2s with little low backup. He calls though.

    River is a queen and I think it’s close between checking and betting. I think he can fold a 7 here and maybe even pairs bigger than 7s and smaller than Qs, but I also might be “bluffing” with the best hand. I decide to bet and he rather reluctantly calls me which is hilarious because he turns over the AQ83… so he snap-calls $60 on the turn in this tiny pot hoping to win half with the nut low draw, but when he makes a big pair and the low bricks, he’s suddenly hesitant to put chips in. That’s a pretty solid understanding of Omaha 8 or better right there. 👍🏻

    Oh. If it wasn’t clear, I got scooped.

    5:26 PM: Limp UTG with A652 and bad spades. I think one other limps behind and it’s four of us to the 755 two club one heart flop. I bet and the small blind check-calls.

    Turn is the ten of hearts. I bet and he check-calls.

    River is the 9 of hearts. I consider checking back because this is one of those spots where my hand seems strong but there probably isn’t a lot of value in betting. However, I don’t know my opponent at all and I can only assume he’s terrible and since my hand is reasonably strong I bet it and he calls with… AQJJ with the AJ of hearts… for a flush.

    5:32 PM: Limp along in a kill pot on the button with AQ88 double suited. Not a good hand but I think good things can happen and it should be easy to navigate with.

    Flop is JT7 with two clubs and one spade. It checks to Bill W in the cutoff and he bets. I have three nut outs, three nines that might be good, and a backdoor flush draw. I’m not sure what my best play is here. It seems like I have a decent amount going for me, but I only have three nut cards and even that hand is vulnerable to flush redraws, my 9 might make KQ a straight and my backdoor flush draw is to the third nuts. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s best to fold here but I call.

    Four of us see the turn and it’s a red 9. Bill W stays in the lead and I debate raising here but I’m not sure how great that is. I settle on call and the other two players fold.

    River is a red low card and now Bill W checks. I bet and he folds QJJ4 with clubs face up.

    6:48 PM: This is going great. The last hour has been filled with multiple premium hands and basically zero pieces of a pot.

    A couple of the more comical ones:

    I opened the AQ52 with spades and got the Q83 with one spade flop… and got scooped.

    Just now I was able to limp from the small blind with AAQd9d and got the AdKd8 flop. I don’t expect to scoop very often after this flop, but it does seem like I should have the high pretty much locked up. I have top set and the nut flush draw and the premium low draws can’t make a straight to beat me.

    The turn is a seven. I bet and they both call.

    River is a jack and it feels safe to bet my high still, so I do, and I get called and then raised. We both call. The guy on my left has the low and the other dude… QTJ6. He doesn’t have any flush draws, not that it matters much. His hand is worthless after the turn. I honestly can’t even comprehend it. But here he is… helping scoop me.

    I am now sitting on a little over $1100 after starting with $1700+.

    The good news is… I’m still playing poker with that guy.

    7:12 PM: Bill W opens from the cut off and I 3-bet the button with AJT5 with A5 of diamonds. That’s an important distinction because…

    The flop is 632 with the 32 of diamonds. He check-calls me.

    Turn is a 4 and he check-calls.

    River is the 4 of diamonds and he check-calls and I have the pleasure of saying, “I have the nut high and the nut low.”

    Bill W raises the next three hands in a row also and I 3-bet him every time.

    First one he scoops me with TT64.

    The second one he says, “what you think I’m raising light?” And then we chop on AK866 when I have AJ63 and he has K975 badugi. 👀

    The next hand I 3-bet AAQ6 with nut diamonds and this time we get multiple hitchhikers.

    Flop is J62 with one diamond. It checks to the button and he bets. Everyone calls. I would fold here without the backdoor flush draw.

    Turn is the 8 of diamonds and the first player leads out. I’m only drawing to half but it’s to the nuts and this pot is huge. I call and so does everyone else.

    River is a queen and The Crypt Keeper leads again, Bill W calls and since it’s obvious The Crypt Keeper is low, I think calling here with Q6 is reasonable so I do but Bill W has QJ8x in his hand for bigger two pair.

    Very next hand I open under the gun with AAT4 and nut spades and get lots of action again because I’m sure my image is super splashy now.

    Flop is 844 with two hearts. I lead, someone raises, and I 3-bet. 70 players call. Maybe I shouldn’t be playing offense so aggressively. It’s not like I’m not vulnerable to lows and flushes here, plus I’m blocking my own full house draws by having two aces in my hand.

    Turn is the 7 of clubs, so I check and now the Palace reg bets and a few of us call.

    River king and same action. Seems like he has A2 and he does… but he also has 65 for a straight and I get scooped again.

    Pretty fun stretch. Taking a break now and checking out the new taco truck in the non-smoking section.

    7:47 PM: Just realized it might not be clear who I named The Crypt Keeper… it’s the higher stakes dude that plays PLO at Palace and the bigger games at Muck. I’ve also seen him play 15/30 at Palace a few times. He’s definitely distinct and frequent enough at this point that he’s deserving of a nickname.

    8:52 PM: I scooped the first hand I had when I came back from my break but I’ve been ice cold since then.

    I just had the pleasure of having it folded to me in the cutoff in a kill pot while holding the AA55 with one suit. I jack it up and both blinds call.

    Flop is T32 and I get quartered by AQ75 because… I’m running pretty good tonight.

    9:09 PM: I raise one limper with AQJ4 and nut hearts, both blinds, and the limper call.

    Flop is QQ8 rainbow. Small blind donks, big calls, limper folds and I call, planning to raise the turn.

    Turn is a 7 and now it checks to me. Well damn. I bet and they both call.

    River is a 3 and I bet and they both call again.

    I scoop! I didn’t maximize but I’m happy to scoop a damn pot.

    10:03 PM: Took another break and as I’m coming back they call a seat for…

    SANDMAN!

    I post behind the button, Bill W limps, Sandman raises, and I 3-bet with A532 double suited. Sandman caps and it’s the three of us to the flop.

    It’s very, very good for me: J99. Bill W donks and Sandman calls. I do have one of each of my suit and while Bill W can have full houses or 9s here, Sandman probably doesn’t. I decide to take a card off.

    Turn is the jack of spades, double pairing the board and giving me a micro flush draw. Bill W checks now and Sandman bets. That’s kind of weird. I’m not really sure what to do here. Pot is huge but it’s not hard for Sandman to have both a jack and a better flush draw. Not sure about it but I folded and so did Bill W.

    10:28 PM: Sigh. This is fun. Limpers in front of me in kill pot and I call with AKKT with nut diamonds. The kill raises his option and six of us go to the flop for two bets.

    Board comes QT9 rainbow and with two blockers to the nuts, a gut shot, and a backdoor nut flush draw, I go ahead and stab at this high card board with my high card hand and everybody folds except the small blind.

    Turn is the king of clubs, putting another flush draw on board, giving me top set, but making a lot of straights for any holding with a jack in it. He leads out and I call.

    River is the 2 of clubs, completing a running flush and giving me a free showdown vs his AJ62.

    To recap, I whittle the field down to one opponent on the flop and he has two total outs to beat me and if he hits it on the turn I have a 10-our redraw to scoop him.

    What. The. Hell.

    Currently down over $800 and sort of in disbelief.

    10:55 PM: Can’t even run good when I run good. I have 6332 with hearts and spades in a raised multiway kill pot on A74h-5h and have to split with Bill W’s AhThJ3 when the river is the 4h. Goddamn.

    11:24 PM: It’s all bad. After losing back-to-back big pots – one to the 8652 powerhouse cold-calling next to act after I raise – I open in a kill with A652 and get the 877 flop. Someone donks into me and I raise and then hopelessly barrel off when the board runs out 877KJ. I table my hand and he makes the whole table look at it for 30 seconds like “what’s he got?” before turning over A72x. I thought it was a good flop for me but he flopped a monster. I’m sure if he had the A652 and me the A72x the board would have run out 877K9.

    I started with $1800. I have less than $400 now.

    11:36 PM: Reloaded $1500. I’m in this game $3300 now. 👍🏻

    11:44 PM: In an ironic twist, my buddy I used to refer to as The Crypt Keeper just showed up at Muckleshoot to play some poker. I told him I stripped him of his nickname and gave it to someone else and he asked me what I was calling him now and I said, “I dunno… a non-playing housewife?”

    12:29 AM: Limpers, Sandman raises, I cold call with 5432 one suit, other callers.

    Checks to me on T43 rainbow and next player raises. Two players call and I 3-bet. They all call.

    Turn pairs the 3. I bet and only the flop raiser calls.

    Can the low ever brick here so I can scoop a damn pot? No. No it cannot. Not only does it not brick, but it comes with a 2, so I don’t even have a low. I check and he checks back.

    This dude raised me on the T43 rainbow flop in a 6-way raised pot with… AK95.

    But I’m getting crushed in this game. 🤷🏻‍♂️

    12:47 AM: Bill W cashing out heaps. One of the fishies just colored up and is probably leaving soon. I’m starting to get tired and the game is deteriorating. Probably will be calling to soon.

    1:25 AM: A bad player cashed out and the worst player was felted and MIA. I was bout to leave… and then that player sat back down with $2000. Ugh. Pretty close to being out of here but I’m curious to see how splashy these chips are going to be. We are 7-handed now and I’ve gone ice cold.

    1:30 AM: I don’t get it. I open button with A882 with diamonds. Both blinds call.

    Flop is JT2 rainbow with one diamond. I bet and only the big calls. Not a good flop for me at all, but that’s beside the point.

    The board runs out JT238. I checked the turn but I obviously bet the river. He calls me on the flop and river with K754.

    My brain can’t compute any of it.

    1:42 AM: Raise one dipshit limper with AQ83 double suited from the small blind and double barrel 965ssK board with both players calling. I have second nut low draw and nut flush draw, so of course I get popped on the turn and the river is a red ten.

    Totally over it. This will be my last orbit.

    1:57 AM: Great times.

    Final Score: -$1976

    The most I’ve EVER lost in a limit Omaha 8 game. Wonderful start to the new month.

    I won’t be action again until Wednesday.

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    h1

    8/16 @ Palace – 8/30/18 (Live Blog)

    August 30, 2018

    As promised, here we are again. I will blog today’s session even though it will probably be all 8/16. There are three 8/16 games going and only two of us up for 15/30. Pretty ridiculous. Maybe one will fire after the day jobbers get off.

    Ultimately made the decision to stay local because we are going hiking early tomorrow.

    Starting lineup: The Leak, Grumpy, someone I will call Villain since he wears a hat that says ‘Villain’ on it, and some other randoms.

    First notable hand, it folds to me in cut, I raise with 88 and the button and small blind call.

    Flop is 763 and they both check-call.

    Turn is a king and only the small blind calls.

    River is a queen and I go for thin value and he calls with a 7.

    Grumpy opens (one hand after taking a horrible bluffing line vs my wife), one other calls, and I decide to flat with A5hh on the button and the big comes along also.

    Four of us to 442 one heart flop and they all check to me. I bet and two players call, including Grumpy.

    Turn is the T of diamonds and it checks around.

    River is a 6 and now Grumpy leads. Other guy folds. He’s basically always bluffing here but… how often is he bluffing with a better ace high? AK, AQ, and AJ are all possible. He could have a ten, but I think he usually just donks a pair on the turn.

    I’m getting roughly 6 to 1 on the river so he needs to show up with worse as little as 14% of the time. I’m sure he does. I call. He tables QJdd and I win. My main concern is whether or not I should raise this river. I’m thinking not. He never folds a pair and I think he calls AJ+ a decent amount. Plus my line is not credible at all. He’s probably not thinking very deeply, but I basically never have a hand that can/should be raising the river, except maybe 66 and I’m betting that on the turn almost always.

    3:26 PM: Back-to-Back-to-Back hands, same opponent:

    Hand 1: limpers, I raise JJ from SB, BB folds, they call.

    Flop J93, I bet, dude looks like he wants to raise and calls, so does button.

    Turn is a queen and now he does raise me. Obviously I’m vulnerable to straights here but I thought he wanted to raise flop (because he was strong) and I feel very good 3-betting my hand. He just calls.

    River pairs the 9 and he calls me. Hard to imagine what strong hands he can have there, so maybe just the case jack?

    Hand 2: Same guy limps and I raise AKo on the button and four of us see the flop.

    A93 with two spades. My dude donks, I raise and we are heads up.

    Turn and river both run out aces and he check-calls both streets and I show him my quads… which also makes the top High Hand with under two minutes left.

    Ship $400!

    Hand 3: I open AJ, button calls, and my new pal three bets from one of the blinds. He’s probably fed up. We both call.

    Flop is QT6 all spades. I have the ace of spades. He bets and I raise. He calls.

    Turn is the King of diamonds and now he check-raises me. Well I have the ace of spades and the queen of spades is on board, so how many hands is he 3-betting pre that made flushes? Probably not many. Maybe none. I 3-bet it and he calls.

    River is a blank and he pays me off again and shows KK with a spade. Yikes. Pretty unlucky and a brutal stretch for this guy and that was all of his chips and the end of his session.

    3:50 PM: Open QQ, callers, The Leak 3s from the blinds and I cap it.

    Four of us to the J74 two spade flop. SB donks, Leak calls, I raise, and three players call.

    Turn is a blank but puts two hearts on board and the SB donks again. The Leak folds and I raise again and we are heads up.

    The river is the ten of hearts and he checks to me. I’m certain he had a jack and I thought he might have donked the turn because he added a flush draw with his pair. Plus he can have JT. I decide to check back and he shows JT with no hearts. Nice line, sir.

    4:09 PM: MLB NERD ALERT! Shohei Ohtani is pitching on Sunday! Yes!

    4:30 PM: If it wasn’t obvious already, I’ve been playing with 6 or less players the whole time and now we are 3-handed… and they are dropping $5 a hand.

    Honestly, that’s ridiculous. I really like playing short-handed but I don’t think I can justify playing 3-handed with a $5 drop… just out of principle… even if the other two guys are total punters.

    4:46 PM: I have been moved to old timer’s game. The Queen is here and a bunch of older guys with grey hair. There is one big spewer in the game but The Leak is definitely in the better of the two full games.

    It’s definitely not a great game I’m in, but I do find some joy in beating up on the nitty old guys.

    Pretty good chance I’m going to play even more aggro than usual, especially if it seems to be getting under their skin.

    5:01 PM: Adjusting well already! Open UTG with AJo and two call. I get popped by the button on the AQ32 board and call because he can have A2 and A3 and then the 3 pairs on the river and I call just in case he has A2 (which i still don’t beat) and he shows me QQ.

    🤦🏻‍♂️

    Defended blind with Q7dd and decide to lead into field on AT9 all diamond flop. I get called in four spots and the board pairs the 9 first and then the ten on the river. I check and it checks around and somehow I’m good.

    5:10: Here’s a gem. I limp along with 22 and six of us see the KT4 flop and we all check.

    Turn is a 2 (!) and The Queen leads out, next guy calls, and it’s up to me with two players behind me. I decide to call because a) the pot is small, b) If I raise and only The Queen calls, we don’t bet heads up, and c) whatever I lose by raising I think I can make up in an overcall. So I call and one calls behind.

    River is an 8. No flush possible. It checks to me, I bet and then the player behind me raises! Other two fold. If he has 88, he gets to win four bets from me. I 3-bet and he calls.

    I’m good but what is great about this hand is that he flashes me a king. A king! So… with six players in the pot and four checks in front of him, he checks top pair. Then he calls the turn and finally decides to spring his trap on the river.

    As I mentioned earlier, I enjoy torturing nits, so when under the gun raises, three people call, and a nit 3-bets from the cutoff, I get splashy on the button with 75 of clubs. It gets capped.

    Flop is 864. Yessir!

    One player has KK and the other has QQ. They are not happy. Actually the guy with KK is pissed. I’m sitting on his left and I turned my music off just so I could listen to him curse to himself and criticize my preflop play.

    6:32 PM: Open AKdd and a loose but passive player behind me 3-bet and a super loose player calls from a blind. I just call.

    Flop is K74 one diamond and we all check.

    Turn pairs the 4 and gives me the nut flush draw. I bet and they both call.River is an 8 and now I get check-raised by the blind and he does that thing where he’s talking to someone as I pay him off, so he doesn’t know it’s time to show this beauty yet. Someone prompts him and he does that sick move where he keeps talking and does the whole no look show where he gets to beat me in this big pot and act like it’s the easiest thing he’s ever done in his life.

    Lol. He has 43ss and I lose.

    7:08 PM: Palace currently has 1 of 14 active TVs on the most important series of the MLB season for the Mariners. Meanwhile 8 TVs are on this Seahawks preseason game that means jack shit. And some people wonder why I can’t stand Seattle fans, in general.To be fair, two more TVs are on the Mariners now as I typed this.

    But the sound of the Seahawks game is on. Preseason football = volume. You know what else gets volume? Nothing. Not the World Series. Not even the World Series of Poker.

    I hate football. So much.

    In other news, I completed Day 2 of my Cold Shower Challenge. It wasn’t too bad today. I got in and it was freezing so I tried to make it a tad warmer and it overcorrected. Then I turned it cold again and I was in and out in less than four minutes.There was a bit of a temperature shift while I was showering so it felt a little cheap today.

    My eventual goal with this is to be able to stand under very cold water and just be in peace.

    8:02 PM: More strategic soft collusion 🤦🏻‍♂️:

    I open AKcc, two cold callers and both blinds come along.

    Flop is 873 rainbow with one club and I check this flop. The button bets and everyone comes along.

    Turn is a King and now The Queen donks from the big. My first instinct is to raise, but that’s not my best way to maximize. I know I lose the pot more often by calling but that’s what I do and everyone comes along!

    River pairs the 8 and The Queen still leads and I’m the only caller. She has KJ.

    I don’t feel great about this dynamic and how I exploit it, but it is what it is and I’m here to make the most money possible and if I can avoid being heads up with the one person in the world I don’t bet against, I’m usually going to take that route.

    8:19 PM: Not sure what the appropriate response is here. I have TT on 543hh flop as the PFR. The first limper donks, I raise, the big blind calls, and the limper 3-bets, but when he does so he puts four bets out there. I call the 3-bet but the big blind is totally clueless as to what’s going on and sees four bets out there and puts his own four bets out to call… meanwhile the dealer is correcting the first guy and now the big blind is trying to take his last bet back but before he does that the dealer says, “now it’s capped.”

    And suddenly I’m putting an extra small bet in when nobody really capped it.

    Not a huge deal but I’m pretty sure I’m losing on the flop so it’s not a welcome miscue.

    I’m not sure whose fault this is or what can be done about it and I don’t care too much but it is annoying that the limper somehow got four bets to go in on the flop when he didn’t even have that option.

    EDIT: I just realized I never said what he had… because it wasn’t the point of the story… he limped in early position with the mighty 62 of hearts.

    9:14 PM: I’M IN TOTAL SHOCK RIGHT NOW. EMINEM JUST DROPPED A NEW ALBUM TONIGHT WITH ZERO ADVANCE PROMOTION. TOTALLY OUT OF NOWHERE.

    9:28 PM: Blog updates are cancelled for the rest of the night. I wasn’t expecting an event album to drop. I’m not going to be able to play poker, live blog, and listen to this new Em album intently all at the same time. Something has to give. I will post a final score when I’m done playing tonight.

    9:48 PM: Okay, Joker says I’ve reached a new peak by cancelling a live blog because of an Eminem album so… I’ll post the hands I feel like I have to talk about. Like this one:

    Limper or two, I raise AA, both blinds call and five of us see the 443 rainbow flop. I bet and three players call, including both blinds.

    The turn is an 8 and it checks to me and I decide… to check back. Not like my hand is vulnerable here.

    River is a king and they all check to me again. I bet, the small blind calls, and the big blind check-raises. I practically want to give him a standing ovation. This line is so unorthodox I can’t even consider folding but wow. I call and he has K4. Well done, dude.

    Final Score: +$1145

    Posted in poker | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

    h1

    Poker Live Blog

    August 29, 2018

    Someone asked me yesterday, “do you even blog anymore?”

    Yes. Yes I do. But I was losing every time I blogged lately so I was cutting back for a bit. I’ll be more active again, starting tonight.

    Because it’s not like not blogging worked out great for me. Here are last week’s results:

    • Sunday: +$18
    • Tuesday: -$74
    • Wednesday: -$1500
    • Thursday: -$249
    • Friday: -$132
    • Saturday: -$1024

    Pretty cool week that turned what was looking to be a pretty good month into a mediocre one. And with three days and three sessions left in the month – and one big bet game – things can still change quite a bit.

    At 6 PM, it is just me, The Man, and Part-Time sitting with chips in front of us and…

    …we are dealing.

    This is going to make blogging pretty difficult until we pick up some more players.

    6:19 PM: Preflop stickiness is working out for me so far. I’ve 3-bet three times and got zero folds until I barreled postflop.

    A good, higher stakes reg just sat down to my immediate left. That’s not cool. Hit&Run just walked in and doesn’t seem too interested in playing short-handed or with the current lineup.

    Defend AT75 with hearts for $15 and three of us see flop. It’s A86 rainbow and it checks around. The turn is a 3 and The Man leads out for $40. I have decent straight draws and top pair and with a rainbow on board I’m not vulnerable to flushes not be river. I decide to make it $140 and Part-Time folds. The Man calls and we both check on the river when it pairs the 8. My AT is good.

    6:33 PM: I open $15 with AAK8 with hearts, button calls, Part-Time calls, and The Man makes it $75 from the big. I pot to $255 and only The Man calls. He has like $600 behind, so there are some boards I don’t want to play for stacks on but the 963 rainbow is pretty safe vs his range. I bet $300 and he folds.

    That’s a max bet on the flop and maybe that’s bad, but it is a little less than 60% of the pot. But I wonder… my hand is a bit face up and when I max bet on flop, I pretty much limit his continuing range to hands that have me beat or very strong draws. It is kind of a weird spot since he has a bit more than a pot-sized bet left. It seems unlikely I can milk him here and I don’t want to walk him into a winner in a pot that’s already large.

    6:43 PM: Some new developments since my last post… we got a new puppy. His name is Albus… but he also goes by Big Al, Albie, Albert, The Wizard, Wiz, Dumbledore, Dumblydore, and Dumbo!

    And here is how Hammy feels about his new brother:

    On Sunday we went whitewater rafting on the Tieton River with a group of friends and family. We did this same river in late September of 2016 and it was amazing. I don’t know what made it different this time, but the river was much tamer. In 2016, it was basically all whitewater with many moments of excitement and this past trip had lots of floating time and only a few good rapids.

    Some pre-rafting pics:

    7:31 PM: A random walks in! Hit&Run takes a seat! Another player sits down! We are 7-handed now and I’m pretty sure one of them has ZERO clue.

    And John Kim makes us 8-handed! I’m going to play PLO for longer than two hours tonight. Yay!

    7:40 PM: And my read is correct… player I thought had no clue 3-bets with KQQ6 one suit, calls off a pot-sized 4-bet and gets stacked in his first orbit after flopping a bad flush draw vs AAxx. I’ve seen him get deep in 15/30 but he sat with $300 here and reloaded for another $300.

    7:55 PM: Game is now full. I have to admit I did not see that coming when we were still playing 4-handed thirty minutes ago.

    I would say three players in this game are absolutely dead money and it will be a race to get it because it will go fast.

    8:38 PM: Ever since the game filled up, I’ve had few playable hands and zero interesting spots.

    I brought back an oldie today: I took a cold shower. Once upon a time, I decided to take the 30-day Cold Shower Challenge. I thought I blogged the experience but I can’t find it while searching on my phone (maybe those of you on a PC will have better luck?). I didn’t complete it. I think I got about 30-40% of the way through and convinced myself it wasn’t worth it.

    Why do this, you ask? I can’t remember. Google it and there are all sorts of benefits that can happen.

    I’m doing this again purely for the challenge of it. I want to finish it. Because I’m a sicko. Because nothing wakes me up like a splash of cold water in my face.

    Day #1 complete. Before jumping in the water, I stood there for about two minutes like am I really going to do this? Am I doing this? Finally I mustered up the courage and hopped in. It wasn’t as bad as I remembered it. But really that first shower is spent mostly soaping and shampooing while the cold water hits your calves and rinsing off as quickly as possible.

    I’m looking forward to seeing this through and when I get a chance I’ll look up the benefits again myself.

    8:53 PM: I knew if I got sidetracked there would be action.

    First, two of the dead money players get it all in on the turn vs the higher stakes guy and they both felt to him. Yippee. On the bright side, they both reloaded (though Hit&Run felted again as I was typing this).

    Then, I open KK44 double suited and get lots of callers.

    Flop is KQ9 rainbow and I decide to check and see what happens. One of the dead players bets $100, which is close to pot-sized, and I’m the only caller.

    Turn pairs the queen and I go ahead check it because I don’t think this guy has any clue. He bets $100. That’s a bit disappointing and now I feel like I have to size down on my check-raise and only make it $250 to go. He snaps.

    River is another queen. Sigh. That’s not a bad card because I’m worried about quads; it’s a bad card because I think this dingbat was going to call $300 on the river with JT. I bet $100 and he calls.

    Very next hand I open with QJT9 with spades and get multiple callers again.

    Flop is T83 with two spades. We have a pair. We have a wrap. We have a flush draw. Yum yum. I bet $60 and it folds to The Man in the small blind and he check-raises to $215, leaving himself with just over $300 behind. With no one else in, this is a great spot to get it in and play for stacks so I make it $515 and…

    …he folds.

    What. I decide to show and he says he had a set of 8s.

    🤯

    9:14 PM: Open-limo AJT4 double suited, there’s another limp and the good player makes it $15, and seven of us see the flop.

    Flop brings the Q82 with two hearts. I have the nut flush draw and a gut shot and lead out for $60. Only the solid player calls me.

    Turn is a black king. I have no idea what to do here against this player. I have a massive draw now. I also have the ace and jack of hearts and the queen of hearts is on board. He probably doesn’t have a flush draw and there weren’t many good straight draws on the flop… maybe a hand like JT9x with the T9 of hearts? Also, we are both deep. I don’t want to pot it and face a $300 raise and totally telegraph my hand by calling. But then check-calling feels pretty face up also. I dunno. I guess it might be best to barrel and put more money in the pot with a hand that makes the nuts on the river a lot… plus he can fold if I bet. He can’t fold if I check.

    So I check. He checks back?

    Huh.

    River is a 2, pairing the board. I don’t have enough history with this dude for him think I will play a set this way, so if I bet river he’s going to think it’s a bluff. Always.

    I give up and he bets $60 and I fold.

    >Someone educate me here.

    9:44 PM: Pot of the night alert:

    I open with AKQ5 double suited and people call me.

    Flop is KQJ with one of both of my suits on board and it checks around.

    The turn is the ten of clubs. Now I have the nuts, top two pair, and the second nut flush draw. Part-Time leads out for $50, the next guy calls and I feel like I should want more money to go in this pot. I make it $250 to go. That clears the field. Part-Time makes it $550 to go and the other guy goes all in for just over $600. Okay, maybe I didn’t want more money to go in. It’s obvious that Part-Time has the nut flush draw with his straight… but I’m committed to seeing the river so I call and…

    …it’s a king! I have the nuts. What a luck box. Part-Time checks, I bet $300 (dumb) and he folds. I should just size down and make sure he puts more money in the pot. If I bet $100 it’s brutal to fold there.

    Bad raise? Great result! $1800+ pot my way.

    10:55 PM: Playing 5-handed now and I open to $15 with AJK one suit. Yeah. I didn’t look at my fourth card. I’ve seen enough. Two players call.

    Flop is T74 rainbow. Checks to me and since I have zilch with my three cards I look at the last one: AAKJ. Pretty solid. I decide to bet $20 and they both call.

    Turn seems great: it’s a queen. Now I have aces with a broadway wrap. I bet $80 and button pots it to $345. That’s unfortunate. Other guy folds and she has maybe $300 left. I call.

    River pairs the 4 which could be good and I feel optimistic when she bets $125 instead of her remaining chips. That gets her QQxx paid off.

    11:24 PM: Random dude I’ve never seen sits down with $500. This always makes me happy.

    11:43 PM: Button limps, SB makes it $10, I call with an ugly T993 one suit. Not sure what I’m doing here.

    3-ways to the KK2 two diamond flop. SB leads $25 and I decide to make it $65. This is a pure bluff. It is swiftly interrupted when the button calls. SB folds.

    Turn is the Ace of diamonds. I now have a flush and I’m pretty sure my opponent has a king. I check and he bets $90. I call, planning to re-evaluate on the river.

    The river is some card. I check and he checks back.

    We good!

    12:08 AM: Good lord. Raised pot 5-ways. I have 9876 on 865 with two spades. Someone leads $50, I make it $150, loose terrible player calls, so does flop bettor.

    Turn is 2d giving me a flush draw. I bet $300 and loose terrible player is my only action.

    River is ace of spades. I check and he bets $300. Pretty comical. Notice how if he has a flush he put in $450 drawing to a non-nut flush. Of course, he’s plenty capable of doing exactly that. I have the 6 of spades in my hand, which isn’t a huge blocker, but it does block some of his pair plus straight draw/flush draw type hands. This dude is a loose cannon. I should probably fold. He can have all the flushes, even the shitty ones.

    Would he bluff non-flushes here? I think he’s capable.

    I ended up calling and hating it. He shows me a ultra disgusting TT73 with spades.

    Lord have mercy.

    I’m kind of ready to go home but this super torcher has over $3k in front of him now. He’s one of the players I said was drawing dead earlier. He still is… if this game keeps going.

    1:31 AM: Well, the game broke and dude escaped with over $3000. Pretty sick.

    I was up around $2700 at one point but had to settle for a +$1650 and I can’t be mad about that.

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    h1

    Pot Limit Omaha @ Palace 8/22/18 Live Blog

    August 22, 2018

    1/3/5 PLO action starting in 13 minutes!

    5:49 PM: Currently 12 names on the list. I see four players here right now, but one of them is The Man and he’s still working. The Riddler is on the list and he’s confirmed not playing – at least to start the game. I recognize three of the other six names and none of them are present.

    Looks like a slow start.

    5:57 PM: I spent Sunday and Monday at Safeco watching the Mariners fight for their playoff lives against the Dodgers and Astros.

    The game against the Dodgers was dead on arrival, when the Mariners pitted Roenis Elias – fresh off four rehab starts in which he never made it through two innings – against Clayton Kershaw, the best starting pitcher of the past decade. The Dodgers clobbered Elias in the 1st and never recovered, losing 12-1 and putting position players on the mound. On the bright side, I got to watch an all-time great (Kershaw) do his thing and then Zac Rosscup came in for the 9th and pitched an immaculate inning.

    An immaculate inning is when a pitcher throws nine pitches, all strikes, and strikes out the side. They are less common than a no hitter and yet I saw Kenley Jansen throw one last May at Dodger Stadium. Less than 100 immaculate innings in MLB history and I’ve seen two of them. Pretty cool!

    Monday was a much better game. The M’s were playing catch up after a 3-run 3rd that saw them trailing 4-1, but it was tied after six innings and then Robinson Cano hit a super clutch 3-run bomb in the bottom of the 8th to break the tie and Edwin Diaz did his thing in the 9th to close out the win. Very exciting!

    I popped into Palace after the game on Monday but I was 4th up for 8/16 so I sat in a 4/8 game and there was a younger guy I’ve never seen before talking shit to everyone and acting like a hot shot. It’s one thing to be arrogant, but it’s something else to belittle every person at the table.

    I wasn’t having it. Do I want my 8/16 seat? No, no I do not. Recycle me. I have a mission to complete.

    When I decided I wanted to ruin this guy’s night he had about $400 in front of him. I eventually moved to his direct left and I had to reload another $300, but I was playing some serious target poker, 3-betting him with garbage and raising him on the flop with any piece of the board. One time I had bottom pair and he had a set and someone else did too. It was beautiful.

    He felted the $400 and bought another $200, but he left the game after I 3-bet him with 85hh and barreled off on the K4358 runout.

    I won another hand after that and cashed out +$18. I was pretty pleased with myself. I just hope he didn’t get in a car accident on his way home.

    6:36 PM: Key hands while I was typing that:

    One limper, I make it $20 on the button with a raggedy QQ63 one suit. The man calls from the small, Part-Time calls from the big and the limper calls.

    Flop is K54 rainbow and it checks to me. I have a bad straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. Seems like checking is okay.

    Turn is the queen of spades. The Man leads out for what looked like pot and the limper goes all in for $222. I have the second nuts and a bad straight draw. It’s definitely enough to get it in here. I max raise to $522, leaving myself with dollars behind. The Man folds and we agree to run it twice.

    He has 8763 and a flush draw.

    We both make a six high straight on the first board but I make a full house on the second one to get 3/4 of the pot.

    New player opens to $10, one caller, I make it $45 with AAKJ one suit and only the opener calls.

    Flop is KQ6 with two clubs and we get it all in for his stack. I have the nut flush draw.

    We run it twice and I make the nut flush on the first board and he makes a straight with JT99 on the second board. We split that one.

    I complete the big blind with 88xx in my hand.

    Flop is A84 rainbow and I bet $15 into $20 and get two calls.

    Turn is a 7 and completes the rainbow. I decide to check and see what they do. The first one bets $25 and the other player calls. They both have less than $200 behind and I’m not sensing strength. $25 is a pretty weak bet into a $75 pot. I make it $150 and they both go all in!

    We run it once and the river is a 4. I snap roll my hand and one of them says, “wow I got lucky” and rolls A44x and the other guy flashes 77.

    Wth.

    After that flurry of events, I am down about $120.

    6:55 PM: We have picked up three players and are now 7-handed.

    7:20 PM: Call a $15 raise with AQJ3 one suit and it’s five of us to the flop.

    Flop is AK8 and it checks around.

    Turn is a jack and the PFR leads a weak-ish $30. I decide to call.

    River is an ace, giving me the second nuts and he bets $100. He only has like $125 behind… I have the second best hand possible… it would seem silly not to raise… however, I was sort of leaning towards calling. But I kept coming back to the flop check and I just thought it would be too absurd to check the flop with AK against four opponents. It just made no sense. I put him all in and he snap rolls AK before calling. Lol.

    Running pretty good tonight. 👍🏻

    8:10 PM: We have a full game. Well, sort of. The Man is having a rough time, giving all his chips to Part-Time for some reason. That sucks because Part-Time could leave any minute… with the $2k+ that’s in front of him right now.

    There are now four Palace staff members in the game.

    8:44 PM: Another nice connection: call a raise multiway with AQT9 on the button.

    It’s like 5- or 6-ways to KQJ and the PFR bets $30, the next player calls, and I make it $125. The small blind jams for $149 and the other two players fold. We run it once. He makes a running flush with KKxx.

    I’ve folded 7655 on Q66x (vs QQ) and K876ss on KKJss4 (vs JJ) so I’m playing pretty well but the run bad is pretty real tonight.

    I’m about -$555.

    9:13 PM: Okay. Frustration is building. I just lost a pot when I should have folded the flop. That’s more annoying than losing the pots I’m supposed to win.

    I’m -$800 now.

    I just moved to the left of someone that came in drunk. He just felted $600+ in the five minutes I was clearing my head outside.

    9:21 PM: Eh. Part-Time left with all the chips. The drunk guy felted, rebought $500, and decided not to play.

    I reloaded and s1 has a lot of chips, but the other remaining players have an average stack of like $400.

    10:00 PM: Obviously. I open AKQJ with one suit. One caller.

    Flop J52 with two diamonds. I bet $15 and my opponent makes it $45. I have KQ of diamonds, so second nut flush draw. This is a pretty good flop for me but it’s also pretty easy to be dominated. Certainly the nut flush draw is a decent part of his raising range. But I’m stuck $1000 and looking to play a big pot and make it $175 to go. He tanks for a while and calls.

    Turn 4. I bet $300 and he puts me all in for $450-ish total. I call.

    We agree to run it twice.

    He shows me AJ33 with nut diamonds and I just fold my hand and walk out the door.

    GG.

    -$1500

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    h1

    $20/$40 Omaha 8 or Better @ Muckleshoot (Live Blog)

    August 18, 2018

    Doing something different today. I heard this game has been going, but laziness and forgetfulness has prevented me from making an appearance until today.

    After battling through some brutal traffic – for a Saturday – because of a Kid Rock concert at the White River Ampitheater nearby, I arrived at Muck about 30 after 5 and immediately got a seat in what was previously an 8-handed game.

    Current lineup: 5 players I don’t know, Bill W, a nitty player that has become a Palace regular, and the nittiest player I’ve ever seen, and whom already has a great nickname, Tree Bark.

    Slimer was playing in one of the spread games and saw me sit down… and made his way over pretty quickly. 🤔 I’m guessing the feeling of disgust must be mutual. I get the vibe that he wants to beat up on me and after multiple failed attempts in limit Hold’em games, maybe he thinks Omaha 8 is the one.

    Or maybe it has nothing to do with me? 🤷🏻‍♂️

    5:55 PM: I don’t think I’ve ever blogged an O8 session before so I don’t know how good or interesting this will be.

    After playing late Wednesday night and getting up early on Thursday, I started my session early in the day on very little sleep. I was just planning to get some low stress hours in and go home at a decent time because we were going hiking early on Friday.

    That meant I was signing up for an 8/16 session and when the floors starting asking about 15/30 I took my name off the list. I probably would have played with the people that were in the building but I wasn’t really trying to start the game a couple hours before I was planning to leave.

    As such, I ended up playing some B-game 8/16 for almost nine hours.

    I was threatening to have a big session after hitting a $400 High Hand and going on a serious rush, but the wheels feel off fast and furiously starting when I flopped a flush with 54 of spades in an 8-handed raised pot. There was a maniac in the game and he helped me get it capped on the flop multiway and he didn’t have the sense to stop betting when the turn bricked. I got in a raise there and only three of us saw the river. It was another spade.

    The player that cold called two bets on the turn checked the river and the maniac bet. I didn’t think the other player would check the ace of spades and the more I surveyed the situation the more I thought he was folding… so I made the call. The maniac can definitely have a big spade here but he’s also capable of not having one. The other player folded the ten of spades (flop was QJ9 all spades) and the maniac did have the ace of spades this time.

    He wasn’t done making me sick. On this next hand I opened with TT and my only callers were the psychopath from the small blind and the big blind.

    Flop was T52 rainbow and the maniac led out. The other player folded. The maniac and I were playing 16/32 Overs and since the big blind wasn’t in Overs the flop betting round was 8/16. Normally, I would just go ahead and fast play against someone that is capable of spewing off, but I didn’t want to take the lead until he had a chance to fire $32 into me on the turn. I called.

    Turn was a 9 and he continued for $32. I made it $64 and he called.

    River was an 8 and I can hardly believe my good fortune when he donks again. I raise. He 3-bets. What? Considering he bet the flop on a T52 rainbow board there’s not much to think about here. I should always have the best hand. I cap it, announce, “top set” when he calls, but he can hardly wait to turn over his QJo.

    So brutal.

    There were other bad connections but those were the two worst. Fortunately the High Hand bailed me out and I walked away for the night +$223.

    6:36 PM: Here’s some pics from our hike at Snow Lake Trail yesterday:

    6:41 PM: First interesting hand after winning a few small pots over the first hour plus:

    Kill pot, limper, Bill W raises and is raising more than anyone, I 3-bet with AKQ3 single suit and three of us see the flop.

    Flop is K92 with one of my suit. I bet and they both call.

    Turn is ten of hearts, which puts two hearts on board (I have diamonds). They both check to me and… I decide to check back. Not sure about that play, but I don’t think I should call a check-raise and if I’m going to put in $60 I’d rather be able to show down, or just fold river if it comes super ugly.

    River is the 7 of hearts and we all check. The first player announces, “two pair” and winds up tabling AT73. Not sure how I get scooped by that hand on that flop, but here we are.

    I complete in a kill pot with AJ72 with spades.

    It’s like five of us to the flop and it comes K76 with two spades. I have a pair with the nut flush and nut low draws. It’s pretty huge. I bet and get two callers.

    Turn is a red ten and I decide I have enough equity to keep firing. They both call.

    River pairs the 6 and gives me the nut flush. I bet and one of them calls. Seems like I should always have the best hand here but he turns over K6.

    Cool.

    7:16 PM: Free play with KQ43 and I peel the K54 flop.

    Three of us see the turn and it’s a 4. I think it’s a good spot to check-raise, so I execute that plan and both players wind up calling me.

    River is a queen, missing the low and giving me a likely scoop. I bet and one player calls after about two minutes in the tank. This time I do scoop!

    Back in the green!

    8:06 PM: Hiking took up a bigger portion of my day yesterday than I was expecting. We left around 6 AM and didn’t get home until about 7 PM, after spending a solid three hours in traffic on our way back.

    Needless to say, after getting home around midnight and waking up before 6 followed by hiking 7+ miles, I needed a bit of a nap before playing last night.

    I got a seat in 15/30 immediately when I walked in a quarter before 10 PM. My plan was to play until 4 AM and my energy level started fizzling out around 2:30 AM, but the game was insane and I was doing well, so I pushed it until 3:40 AM and booked a +$841.

    We are going to the Mariners-Dodgers game tomorrow and get to see Clayton Kershaw pitch (and hopefully lose), so I won’t be playing too late tonight. I’ll probably leave around 11-12.

    8:35 PM: I have the A843 on a T5256 run out. It’s raised pre multiway and on the turn and I get it all. Peaking!

    9:22 PM: Slimer has moved to my direct left… basically immediately after that seat opened. No surprise there. I’m curious how that changes things because he hasn’t been playing overly aggressive to this point but I’m expected to get raised a lot more often now.

    9:28 PM: Bill W, AA Founder, opined we should have a group therapy session and put Slimer on the spot, citing that Slimer has no compassion…. for anything or anyone. 😂

    9:56 PM: Open with AT32 with diamonds and it gets 3-bet behind me with three other players coming in. I call.

    Flop is 986 with two spades and one diamond. I check, the PFR bets, and the next player raises. It’s pretty gross, but I have all the nut low draws and backdoor diamonds. Seems like enough to peel with. I call and it gets 3-bet. We all call.

    Turn is the 9 of diamonds. The flop aggressor still leads and it gets raised again. Considering I opened and the other guy 3-bet, I’m not expecting to see a lot of full houses on this board texture so I think I might be drawing live to the high. I call and so does the other player.

    River is the 7 of diamonds. I have the nut low and an ace high flush. I go ahead and lead out and they both call.

    Suspicions confirmed. I’m good for high and split the low with AA2 in this monster pot. The third player flashed 75.

    10:52 PM: Welp. The Mariners won in balk off and suddenly no one wanted to play Omaha anymore. Game just fizzled out real fast. Oh well. Early day tomorrow for more laughing at the Dodgers ineptitude.

    Final Score: +$916

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    h1

    Pot Limit Omaha @ Palace (Live Blog)

    August 15, 2018

    Blog starting soon. 1/3/5 structure for this game. I’m starting with $600 on the table and the $1400 on top in my pocket for reserves.

    Slow start already. This could end up being an unexpected 8/16 session. There are currently only five stacks on the table at the moment.

    6:13 PM: Cards are in the air 5-handed. Part-Time and The Man have stacks on the table. Someone I’ve never seen in my life just sat down (with $200).

    Pot A! Open to 15 with AT87 all clubs (lol) and two players in position call.

    Flop 962 with two clubs. I bet 25 and they both fold.

    6:18 PM: I published my last post on Saturday afternoon and I was about to play a 15/30 session. It went quite pure. I cashed out +$2680. I started off thinking I might post some hands but decided against it.

    However, I did jot this one down. Someone opened and I flatted with AA from the big blind.

    I had already been caught bluffing in a big blind defending spot so I thought check-raising the 433 flop wouldn’t look too credible. I barreled off on the 5 turn and queen river and suddenly my opponent was raising me. I SNAP 3-bet it. Like the instant he crossed the line I threw $60 more in the pot. I’ve never been so confident about 3-betting one pair (technically two pair) on the river. He called and my hand was good.

    That’s all I have to report from that magical session. I ran pretty good. That’s all there is to say. It was my first win of $1k+ in the Palace 15/30 since May 11th, almost three months ago. That seems pretty bad, but I was in Vegas for about six weeks of that time and the 15/30 hasn’t been going very regularly. But still, in the three months before that $1k+ 15/30 win on May 11th, I had fourteen $1k or better wins in the Palace 15/30. 14!

    6:34 PM: Someone blind raises to $10, Part-Time calls, The Man makes it $15, and I cap the preflop betting by making it $50 with AKJ3 double suited. Part-Time and The Man both call.

    Flop is K42 with two spades (I have hearts and clubs) and Part-Time leads out full pot. Eh. Pretty easy fold I guess. I have top pair and a bad gutter, but not much else going on. Anything he’s potting the flop with probably has me in pretty rough shape.

    6:49 PM: We are 8-handed but it’s a very weak 8-handed game. Part-Time and Hit&Run, as their names indicate, are usually not long for the game. Hit&Run has already doubled up, so he’s one decent pot away from leaving. There are two other noob players. One of them has less than $400 and the other has played this game multiple times but never for even as long as an hour.

    We just filled the game with a ninth player but I’ve never seen him before and he has less than $200.

    It’s a full game that could easily be 5-handed in less than an hour. I’ll check in at 7:50 and see where we stand.

    6:57 PM: Oh snap. The Joker is on the list as a call in.

    7:16 PM: And we’re off! 7-way action for $5. I have KK86 one suit in middle position. It’s super marginal but if I can see the flop cheaply good things can happen against this crowd.

    Flop is AK9 with two hearts. One of the noobs leads $30 into $35 and he started with less than $200, so I’m happy to play for his stack. I make it $100 to go and Hit&Run calls it cold. The noob calls, leaving himself $65 behind lol. That’s actually poor planning on my part. If he 3-bet the flop all in I would not have the opportunity to 4-bet since I raised it $70 and his all in would only be a raise of $65 – not enough to reopen the betting for me. I need to be more aware of that stuff.

    Turn is a black 8 and the noob puts his last $65 in. I make it $365 to go and Hit&Run puts me all in for just a bit more. We agree to run it once and I don’t have to worry about what they have as the river pairs the 8.

    For show, Hit&Run shows QJT2 with hearts, for an inside wrap and a flush draw that missed.

    Nice $1k pot to start my night.

    8:00 PM: The Man opens $15, I call with T986 double suited, and five or six of us see the JT7 flop. I have the joint and it checks to me. I start with a bet of $50 and only one player calls, in position.

    Turn is the 4 of diamonds, giving me a flush draw to go with the current nuts. I make it $150 to go since it seems like he has a good drawing hand. If he was freerolling me, I think he’s raising the flop. He calls.

    River pairs the ten. I check and he bets $225. I snap call. He shows me JJ.

    I’m not sure how frequently he bluffs his AKQx type hands, so maybe my snap call isn’t that great. I have a ten though so I’m blocking full houses and I don’t think this guy is calling $150 on the turn with a naked two pair. I feel like I’m losing to JJ and 77 mostly and maybe some two pair combos that have other outs.

    This is probably bad, especially since his bluff frequency is probably way too low.

    8:43 PM: In a five minute span we went from a full game with two on the list to a 7-handed game and no list.

    8:50 PM: Possible punt alert. Multiple limps in front of me and I make it $30 with AQQ6 double suited and three of the limpers call.

    Flop is JT7 with a spade and a heart and Part-Time leads $125 with The Joker calling. They are both deep so I decide to take a card off with a gut shot to the nuts and two quality backdoor flush draws. Plus, I can possibly bluff on 9s or aces. I call.

    Turn is the 9 of hearts and they both check to me. I max bet for $300 and Part-Time snap calls. Gulp. I only have $150 behind so I’m suddenly hating my flop float. How good are my backdoor draws if I have to call a pot size bet for 75% of my remaining stack on the turn? Stupid. That’s not what happened but if the turn was a 2 of hearts or spades, I’m going to have to call $300 here.

    Anyways, Joker folds and I’m obviously not planning to fire my last $150 into a $700 pot after getting snapped on the turn. I whiff and check back. Part-Time wins with Q98x.

    Definite punt. Dumb dumb dumb.

    10:00 PM: The Riddler is making us 6-handed and The Man is absolutely murdering the game tonight:

    10:32 PM: I haven’t played very many notable pots since the game got short but The Riddler’s presence has sparked an all out needling war that no one is really in the mood for because The Man is winning all the pots.

    10:39 PM: The (other) players have all agreed to switch the game to Big O. I have almost no experience in this variant so this could get ugly.

    I finished the PLO portion of tonight’s session at -$119.

    Just looked up my stats and I have played 2.25 hours of Big O lifetime.

    10:56 PM: I just looked at the player on my left… and he was reading my blog.

    Then I looked on my right and that player was reading my blog.

    And the player on his right… was reading my blog!

    Wow. That’s a first.

    And… it took 15 minutes for a $2000 pot to break out and bust two players.

    11:11 PM: Joker wanted me to share this one:

    Final board is AKJ-4-4.

    Joker had KK326.

    The Man had A44T9.

    On the turn, Joker has set over set, the nut flush draw, and the nut low draw… and lost.

    I heard the flop checked around and I missed the turn action but on the river Joker led $100 and called a raise to $400, but that’s beside the point. What are the chances he gets scooped on the river?

    About 2%.

    11:42 PM: I played a hand. I had AKKQJ double suited in the small blind and got to see the flop for $5.

    Flop was 543 with two diamonds, giving me the nut flush draw. I have no intention of putting any money in this pot, but the flop checks around…

    …and the turn is the queen of diamonds. I have the nuts. I bet pot. Two players call.

    River is an offsuit ace. I bet pot for $100 and they both call again.

    I get half and they quarter each other with wheels.

    12:47 AM: Complete from the small blind with AQT54 double suited and The Riddler makes it $25 from the big blind. Four of us call.

    Flop is TT6 rainbow and I lead out for $80. Everyone folds except The Man.

    Turn is a queen and I’m pretty sure he has at least a ten, so I make it $200. He makes it $500. I have just over $800 left so I make another max raise and he calls.

    We both have QT. He has a king to scoop and I have an ace to scoop.

    River: Ace.

    $1600+ pot my way.

    1:02 AM: I limp early with JT432 double suited and five of us see the AJ5 with two diamonds flop. I have a pair, an inside wrap with all the nut low draws and a flush draw. I bet $25 when it checks to me and three players call.

    Wow. Wasn’t expecting that. Turn is a black six, giving me an uncounterfeitable nut low and adding some extra straight outs for high. I bet the pot when it checks to me, the next player makes it $300 to go, the guy after him is all in for less, The Man reluctantly folds and it’s back to me. I have a monster and the player making it $300 isn’t that bright so I have an easy max-raise to $600. He calls.

    The river pairs the jack, I max bet and he goes all in for a little bit more. I call.

    I split with the dolt in the side pot putting $600 in on the turn with a naked set and get quartered in the main pot when the other player shows up with a 32 low.

    Pretty amazing board to lose money on.

    2:34 AM: Another cool runout. I have AQJ53 on 642 with two diamonds. I have nut high and nut low with a flush draw. Turn is a 4 and my opponent has 44 in his hand.

    Meanwhile, The Man bets $300 on turn and river on a board of J858Q and gets called by my opponent from the last two hands. The Man tables J8 and his opponent tables a naked A2… with no low possible.

    🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

    🔥🔥$600🔥🔥

    🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

    2:56 AM: Down to four players: Joker, The Man, me, and the guy whose chips all three of us are trying to take. He has a little over $700. I’m ready to go home. I’m tired. I’m hungry. I have a car appointment at 10 AM… but this guy has no chance to cash out if we keep playing and it only takes one hand to get it all, so… here we are.

    3:49 AM: I wasn’t thrilled about the game switch to Big O but I’m happy we did that. I felt waaaaay more comfortable playing than I had in the past and it’s not just because I won this session. I just felt good about the decisions I was making. I wouldn’t mind playing a half PLO/half Big O game in the future.

    Big O Final Score: +$1114

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    h1

    Pot Limit Omaha @ Palace (Live Blog)

    August 15, 2018

    Blog starting soon. 1/3/5 structure for this game. I’m starting with $600 on the table and the $1400 on top in my pocket for reserves.

    Slow start already. This could end up being an unexpected 8/16 session. There are currently only five stacks on the table at the moment.

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