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Key Pots From Last Week

January 4, 2018

Here’s some of the more interesting pots I played over the last week in various sessions. I was going to list some PLO hands from last night, but this was getting long enough already, so maybe I’ll post those hands tomorrow.

$8/$16 LHE @ Palace

I limp along in a multiway pot from the cutoff with 64dd. The flop comes down 852 all diamonds, giving me a flush with a double gut shot straight flush draw. The small blind leads out, I raise, and the small blind 3-bets. At least three of us see the turn, which is a blank. The small blind bets, there’s a call, I raise, and they both call. The river is the 9d and we all check. Small blind has Q7dd and the middle player has KdTx and I just quietly fold my hand face down into the muck.

Session Result: -$118 in 9+ hours (ended up deciding not to keep notes)

$1/$3 NL @ Fortune

Three players limp in, I make it $16 with AK and wind up getting called in five spots. Fortunately, the flop is relatively favorable, coming down AKJ rainbow. One of the limpers donks $50 into me, one player folds, and it’s up to me. I don’t know any of these players. I have no clue what a donk bet from this guy means. My default assumption is that I have the best hand and I don’t want anyone else to see the turn for $50 and this guy has $300 in front of him that I don’t mind getting in the middle. So I make a commitment raise to $140 and it folds back to him. He winds up taking his sweet time thinking it over but it looks like he’s acting and I’m sitting there like prepare yourself to react calmly if this asshole is putting on this show holding the nuts when it’s obvious that I’m never folding. He actually mutters “if you got me you got me” before putting his whole stack in and I snap call. The turn pairs the Jack and the river bricks and he’s looking at me trying to get me to table first and I’m looking at him like just turn your straight over already. He tables QT and I forgive him in my head for his flop antics.

In retrospect, I wonder if I can fold on the flop to his jam. Not that I think I made a mistake or that I’m looking for ways I could have lost less money on the hand – when I was thinking about my reaction to his $50 bet I knew that I would be calling an all in before I made it $140. I’m happy with that decision, but I did get some new, extremely reliable information before I had to execute on that plan. First of all, his body language was strong and when he was thinking about what to do after I made it $140 it didn’t look like he was thinking at all. After seeing this, I knew I was getting jammed on. But then he added on an “if you got me you got me,” which is basically always the nuts. He’s exuding strength and he really can’t have a set. All those hands would either open-raise or limp-reraise pre – especially after my $16 was called in multiple spots. AJ is a possible holding, but I don’t think he would look nearly as comfortable in this situation. He ended up having $280 on the flop, so from a math standpoint, there’s $96 ($16×6) + his $280 + my $140 in the pot for $516 total and it costs me $140 to call. If I knew he had a straight, this is an easy fold. I’m not getting anywhere close to the odds I need to draw to a four outer. I’m perfectly fine with my call, especially since I don’t know the player at all, but I think if I had history with him folding even after making it $140 could be justifiable here.

Session Result: -$165 in 35 minutes

$20/$40 LHE @ Fortune

This session produced a number of interesting hands – some that I’m actually quite ashamed of and wondered if I should even post, but in the interest of authenticity, I will include them. I feel like my mental game is a huge strength and while I might slip into my B-game at times, my C-game almost never makes an appearance. It might here though.

My friend is playing at the table with me and he’s a dealer at Fortune. He wants to switch tables because he doesn’t bet the river with three of the players in the game. I really don’t understand how or why that happens. We are playing $20/$40 – these are not recreational stakes. No one in this game cares if someone that deals in the room makes a bet against them and they aren’t going to tip him less because he plays poker against them. I propped games while I was flooring for years and played cutthroat poker against the customers and while some of them exuded a lot of frustration, they still tipped me and at the end of the day they respected the fact that when I played poker… I played poker. In a room like Fortune, you don’t need to play in the biggest game in the room if you want or feel like you need to give anyone air. It’s not about respect. Respect is playing the game.

And that’s when this hand comes up: a player opens from the lo-jack and it folds to me in the small blind. I have KJ of clubs. The player in question usually plays $8/$16 and from what I’ve garnered he doesn’t play particularly well. I feel like I can play my hand profitably against him, even from out of position. I would fold against a tight player that I also think plays well after the flop. But I three bet this guy. He calls. Flop is T94 with two diamonds and one club. I bet and he raises me. Welp. I’m not going to try and power my way through this one. I call. Turn is the 8 of diamonds and he bets again when I check. Continuing here is pretty debatable. Folding is probably the best play, but if you do call, I think you have to be prepared to do this: the river is the 2 of diamonds, putting a four flush on board; I lead out and he folds.

This is a player that my friend does not bet against. So he will never have this opportunity. I just bluffed my way to victory in a $300 pot that he would have to check the river in. Which means he should fold the turn in my spot because he can’t play poker on the river. And how is that fun for anyone? Also, when you have these kinds of unspoken agreements, you have no implied odds when drawing on the turn. Plus your opponents can call you with weak made hands on the turn because they know it’s a $40 decision and not an $80 one. Figure it out!

An early position player limps in, a middle position player raises, and I defend my big blind with 87. The flop comes 654 with two diamonds and I check-raise the flop and they both call. The turn is a jack and now the flop cold caller raises me. The PRF clears out and I three bet. The river is an ace, it goes bet and call, and she shows AJdd after I table my straight.

I open from middle position with QJ and the cutoff three bets me. We go heads up to the T98 flop and I check-raise. She calls. The turn is a 4 and she raises me, I three bet, and she caps. The river pairs the 4. Great. I didn’t really think she had a straight on the turn, so it’s pretty clear I can’t bet for value here. I check-call and she shows me 99. It’s always fun when someone overplays their hand on the big bet streets and then gets there.

Speaking of which! A few hands later it folds to me in the small blind and now I have 99. The big blind is a non-chopper, so I raise it and he calls The flop is 984 all hearts, giving me top set. I bet the flop and he calls. The turn is a king and I decide to check-raise, he three bets me, and now I cap… out of position. Yes, this is one of those C-game spots I was talking about earlier. I don’t think it’s a total spew – it might even have merit – but my standard line would be to call his three bet. I’m veering off course because of the previous hand. 100%. The river pairs the board, I bet and he calls. He didn’t seem too thrilled about it, so I assume he probably flopped a flush, but I really don’t know.

Folds to me in the hi-jack and I open with K4dd, which seems like it might too light when the cutoff, button, and both blinds all call me. Fortunately the flop comes K84 with two spades. I bet, the button raises, the small blind three bets it, and I cap. Oddly enough, the button folds and we are heads up now. The turn is an ace and he check-calls. The river is a 9 and he check-calls again and shows A9ss after I table. Ouch! I get his line because my range looks like AK or better, but I definitely did not expect to lose that pot to a check-call on the river.

A loose and bad player limps, a solid player in the cutoff raises, and I three bet with QQ from the small blind. They both call. The flop is AQx. I bet, the bad player calls, the good player snap-raises, and I make a judgement error by deciding to just call to keep the bad player in and check-raise the turn. The turn is a jack, I check, the bad player donks, the good player thinks for a bit looking confused and decides to raise, I three bet it, the bad player calls, and the good player caps. Huh. The river is a blank and I tank long enough that they are looking at me like what’s going on? and decide to check. The bad player checks and the good player bets, looking confident. I say “wow, snap-raise the flop with KT. Wow.” I call and he does show KT.

And if I’m being honest, I was steaming after that hand. I could feel the anger inside me. I wanted to direct it at the player with the KT, but I don’t think that’s who I was really mad at. I was mad at myself. Obviously this hand had a terrible result and I’m not happy about that. I think his flop line with KT is mega spew. Not because it doesn’t have merit in certain spots, but because it doesn’t have merit in this spot. Trying to get me to eventually fold a hand like TT, JJ, or KK doesn’t make much sense when there’s a third player in the pot that is rarely folding. And raising the flop to get a free card if he misses the turn? He’s picking the wrong target. Except he didn’t. By calling on the flop, I would have allowed him to execute on this plan if he had missed and the other player didn’t lead out. What a catastrophe it would be for me to let the turn check through holding a set. And that’s really the reason I was mad. I knew I took a poor line and if he had missed the turn, I would have let his ridiculous free card play work.

But before I emotionally recovered from that previous pot, I would play this extremely C-game hand. A couple players limp in and I raise with 99 on the button. One or both of the blinds call and now the bad player from the previous hand limp-reraises. I have history with him and I’ve seen this move with some pretty marginal holdings, so I go ahead and cap it. The flop comes down AKx, he leads out and I raise. The rest of the field has cleared and we are now heads up. He three bets and I call. The turn is a ten; he bets and I call? I mean I know this guy has a pretty wide range, but I’m not sure 99 is a hand to call down with on this board. Fortunately, the river is a 9 and I’m not even bothering to hide my amusement – I know I’m playing this hand bad and BAM! Here’s my reward. He doesn’t pick up on extremely visible tells – which is why I didn’t hide them – and I’m able to get two big bets from his AQ. Brilliant hand, Mac.

Session Results: +$280 in 10.5 hours

$8/$16 @ Palace

Here’s a hand where big blind defense against a button straddle goes wrong and why I think I should be folding most hands in this spot, even though I usually defend with a wide range in non-straddle pots. I’m about call with 97o and the under the gun player is already in motion to reraise. I haven’t put money in the pot yet and she didn’t cut out a three bet before realizing I hadn’t acted, but the speed in which she brought her chips into the pot felt like a pretty strong 3-betting tell. So I should just fold it. Instead, I call, and she does raise it. Ugh. Two players call, the straddler raises, and everybody calls. It’s worth noting that I don’t think the under the gun player knows that you can five bet a straddle pot. So her range is uncapped in my view. The flop comes 652 rainbow. It checks to a middle position player who bets, the button calls, and I raise it. This seems like a poor choice. I’m out of position and it’s unlikely I will thin the field very often. My thought process is that raising might buy outs for my overcards, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I’m almost certainly better off just taking my very favorable pot odds to try and draw to my gutshot. Immediate punishment: the under the gun player 3-bets and whoever is still in the pot all call. The turn is an Ace and I check-call, once again getting favorable odds to draw to the straight. The river pairs me, but I check-fold because it’s clear that my pair outs were no good on the flop and UTG wins with a set of aces.

Defense against a button straddle is definitely in need of further examination. More often than not, the pot will get three bet and quite frequently it will be five bets to go. So I think the correct strategy is to only defend a range of hands that play really well in big, multiway pots. 97 offsuit, out of position, certainly does not qualify.

I come back from a back and post in the cutoff with K5dd and it winds up getting capped with seven players in. The flop is a beautiful K73 with two diamonds and it gets capped again with me putting in the first raise and the cap. Five of us see the turn and I get three callers when I turn a flush. The river is the 4 of diamonds. Two players check in front of me and the opponent behind me is telegraphing weakness so I feel confident I still have the best hand. I get check-raised by a wild opponent. He’s a Palace legend, well known for his propensity for playing his hands blind all the way to showdown, making hopeless bluffs, and playing a generally crazy game. Obviously this player is deserving of a nickname. I will call him Daredevil, after the blind superhero, because he’s bold and frequently doesn’t look at his cards. Well, Daredevil check-raises me on the river when I’m holding the second nut flush and he’s a player that I’m never considering folding to, so I call. He shows Ad3x. Nice hand.

Daredevil limps in EP, I try to isolate with A8 of clubs near the button and three of us see the flop. It’s AK3 with two hearts. Daredevil is my only caller. The turn is an 8, giving me two pair and he check-calls again. The river is a 4 of hearts and he check-calls again. I table and he shows Q7 of hearts for a flush. He says something about giving me air and that I should remember that and I say “that’s not air! That’s making me think I won a pot that I’m not winning! That’s mean. I’d rather you raise me!”

Under the gun limps, a new player raises, a bad action player 3-bets on the button and I’m simply never folding the JT of spades from the blinds here, so I call. We see a flop of T92 with two diamonds and one spade. I check-raise the flop and the middle position player raises me back. I call and so does the button. I’m getting a fishy vibe from MP so my plan is to donk turns that are good for me. The 2 of spades definitely qualifies, as it keeps my top pair hand in good condition and adds a flush draw. So I bet and the MP raises again. The button takes two big bets to the dome and I call also. The river is a 3 and I check-call and lose to MP’s 92o. Nine. Deuce. Offsuit. This guy raised from MP after someone had already limped. Poker is dead?

Three or four people limp in and I check 77 from the big blind. The flop is Q53 with a flush draw possible. I lead out, my good friend from Kitsap who had the nickname Aquaman long before I started blogging poker regularly calls, and so does someone else. The turn is a 9 and it checks around. The river pairs the queen and I’m pretty sure I have the best hand. The question is, can I reasonably bet for value and expect to get called by worse? The answer is yes. I have a ton of history with Aquaman and a very strong read on his overall strategy. He has a pair, it’s worse than mine, and he will definitely call. I have no reason to believe the other player has anything at all. So I bet, Aquaman calls, the other guy folds, and I roll over 77 like it’s the nuts because it is.

Session Result: +$461

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First MARATHON MONDAY of 2018! (live blog)

January 1, 2018

9:20 AM: When my alarm went off at 7 AM this morning I was presented with an opportunity: I could start my 2018 off by turning my alarm off and sleeping an extra 2.5 hours and being as fresh as possible for the $15/$30 game at Palace today or I could start my 2018 off by pushing myself out of bed after roughly five hours of sleep to do my daily meditation routine and head to the gym for yoga class. I chose the latter. However, when I called Crunch Fitness a few days ago to ask about their New Year’s Day hours, they didn’t inform me that all classes today would be cancelled and I didn’t think to ask, so that was a fun surprise when I showed up this morning. Rather than sulk in the fact that I could have slept in and still been productive before poker, I took the opportunity to do some lifting, which is something I don’t make enough of a priority. I think I’ve had my gym membership for over two months now and I’ve lifted maybe three times.

I gave myself a pretty good, albeit kind of short, workout. I did 4 sets of 8-10 reps on bench press, 4 sets of 8-10 reps on back squats, 3 sets of 5 reps dead lifting, and some bicep and shoulder work with some dumbbells. I was going to do some jogging/running, but I saw my blood sugar plummeting with two down arrows and decided heading home was my safest play. And now I’m hurting. Especially my legs. But it’s a good hurt and even though I could have slept in and I might hit a wall earlier tonight than I want to, I’m still pretty happy about my dedication to self-improvement. It’s a good start to 2018!

Time is a funny thing. It zooms by. Especially after high school. And there really doesn’t seem like there’s enough of it in a day. I play a card game for a living and I still don’t feel like I have enough free time. I get backed up on things I want or need to do all the time. For instance, I’d like to make more than one poker update on my blog each week, but finding the time to sit down and write about my various sessions throughout the week is difficult if I don’t blog while I’m playing, which I have to admit is fun but isn’t quite optimal for paying attention. At this moment, I have a number of hands from last week that I want to write about, plus movies and TV shows I have opinions on, and various other ideas – particularly my 2017 wrap up and goals for 2018.

Speaking of movies and TV shows, I feel like I don’t watch nearly enough of what I want to. Not because I can’t, but because I don’t make it a priority. Clearly family and poker are better priorities, but sometimes I look at my Netflix queue and I realize there are movies that will never make it to the top. The fact that I still haven’t seen the last two Best Picture winners, Spotlight and Moonlight, kind of boggles my mind. I don’t necessarily think watching great movies or TV shows is the most productive use of time, but it is one of my favorite things to do, so I’d like to try to find more time for it this year.

But enough about my intentions for 2018. I will have a whole post about that soon. I do want to address something about this blog. Obviously I want people to read it and hearing it referenced in poker rooms is pretty cool because it means I’m gaining an audience and when you write you want more and more people to read your material. But it’s worth keeping something in mind: people play poker for different reasons. Some people play for fun, some play just to get in there and gamble it up, some people are actually trying to make money. Not everyone is trying to play good poker and that is okay. I think giving people nicknames that sort of reflect their personality or their playing style is fun and gives the blog a humor factor, and while I may be poking some fun, I’m not trying to be mean or hurt anyone’s feelings. So can we exercise a little discreetness? If you want to know who The Human Torch is, there’s no need to ask me out loud, at the poker table, when they might be sitting there with me. And using these nicknames in public will make me feel like I have stop writing them and I don’t see how that’s fun for anyone.

Lastly, before I start getting ready for my session, I’d like to announce that after this Tuesday the $30/$60 LHE game at Palace will be moving to Sundays. If you want on the list for tomorrow you can call (253) 581-5851 to reserve your seat for a 4 PM start or you can call Wednesday to put your name up for the Sunday game. I’m not sure what time they plan to start Sunday, but I should find out today. I have no idea if the game will go tomorrow, but I’m confident that the switch to Sundays will give it some real viability. I heard from numerous people at Fortune that they would be willing to come play on Sundays when they don’t have to work or fight through peak traffic times to get to Palace.

See you on the felts and Happy New Year!

11:14 AM: Welp. 14 names were on the list for today and only four showed up. Currently playing 4-handed with a starting lineup that includes BVR, Muffin (my wife’s nickname for him, not mine), and one other. Muffin has played some short sessions in this game even when it was full so we definitely need some walk in traffic soon to prevent this game from breaking early.

11:27 AM: Boom. Two new players. The game will live! We are joined by an incredible loyal 49ers fan – decked out in starter jacket, hoody, and hat – and Trader Magee, former local pawn shop owner and WSOP backer of yours truly.

11:39 AM: Literally just got up from the table to walk over to the waitress to get two bottles of water. I sit back down. Trader Magee asks me if I have any Advil; I give him some. I go sit back down. A minute goes by. He asks me if he can have one of my waters.

This is a real thing, people.

11:57 AM: We are 7-handed now and have our first crazy.

12:15 PM: The crazy is felted but hopefully coming back and Joe Montana abandoned us for an $8/$16 starting.

My only hands of note so far:

Open JTcc, Trader Magee calls, maybe one other. Flop is J98 with one club and Trader Magee pops my flop bet. I think this is a good hand to put in my check-call down range unless I make my straight, so that’s my plan.

The turn bricks, but the river is a Ten, which induces a check around and I outdraw his 98.

Cutoff limps, BVR raises button, SB defends, I defend 53o.

Flop is AK3 with two hearts and the SB donks. My preflop defend is really bottom of the range stuff, so folding to this flop bet is probably advisable, especially since BVR is going to raise a high percentage of the time. But we’re playing short and I has pair so I call. Both others call.

Turn is a 4 and SB is all in for $13. With extra outs now and no threat of a full raise, I have an easy call. One fold and BVR just calls.

River 5 and I donk because it’s clear that I’m at least winning a side pot. BVR calls and I beat his AJ and win the Main against whatever SB had.

The crazy reloaded $500 and we picked up a Palace maniac. We will call him Super Dave, in honor of notable stuntman Dave Osborne. Super Dave is capable of playing any two cards from any position, either calling or raising, and has basically no rhyme or reason to his betting patterns. I have both lunatics on my right so I’m in a very favorable spot for the next hour or two.

12:34 PM: I open JJ under the gun, BVR calls on the button, Super Dave three bets from the SB and I cap.

Flop is KTx rainbow, SD bets, I raise, BVR cold calls, SD three bets, and we both call.

Turn pairs the T and I feel really good about the situation when it checks around.

River is a total brick and SD leads. I call and BVR somewhat reluctantly overcalls and says “KQ.” Well that’s obviously a monster. SD tables AQ and I briefly daydream about the 4+ big bets I would have won with a Jack on the river.

12:41 PM: Super Dave opens hi jack, crazy #2 cold calls, and I call with 86ss on the button because I want to try and get the easy money while it’s here. I think there’s a good argument for three betting here to get the blinds out and make sure I have the two yahoos all to myself.

One or both of the blinds call and we see a flop of 744, two diamonds and one spade, SD bets, #2 calls, and now I clear the blinds out with a raise. SD folds and #2 calls with all sorts of weakness showing.

Turn is a 9, a good card for me, and he check-calls.

River double pairs the board with a 4 and I bluff at it even though I think this run out decreases my chances of getting it through. Still, I can’t just let him show down weak busted draws that have me beat. He calls with A9 and wins the pot.

12:52 PM: Super Dave has felted and reloaded for $1k.

Real quote from SD just now: “I have to tell myself I don’t have to raise.”

12:57 PM: Trader Magee just coolered Super Dave by making a one card flush vs SD’s flopped top set, a situation no one else at the table is happy to see unfold.

1:02 PM: Welp. Trader Magee for him again. He turned the nut flush vs. Super Dave’s seven high flush and SD didn’t miss a single raise. Cap flop cap turn cap river, with a third player along for the ride until the river.

Very next hand, two limps, I raise QJhh from SB, three calls.

Flop KQx with one heart. I bet and Super Dave raises. I call and we are heads up.

The turn is a 9h and I decide to check-raise my monster draw that could also easily be the best hand. I get three bet, brick the river and pay off his K3o. Lovely. It’s always nice when things work out perfectly for everyone.

The next hand I lose a big pot on the button and the hand after that I limp with the maniacs in the cutoff with J8s and get stair-stepped into a cap before flopping zero equity.

That puts me at roughly -$650 and out the door for my first break of the day.

1:21 PM: Return to my seat in time to see Super Dave felting to Trader Magee. Nope. I’m not jealous.

1:27 PM: Some good news. I pick up QQ and KK on back-to-back hands and not only do they both win, but I get paid through showdown.

And then Super Dave sits back down with $500.

1:31 PM: One limp, Super Dave raises button, I three bet A9ss. They both call.

Flop 875, with two spades. I bet and only SD calls.

Turn is a King and same action.

River pairs the 7 and he’s never folding a pair, so I plan to check-call and pick off bluffs, but he checks back with A3 and I win.

Back in business!

1:48 PM: In case it isn’t already apparent what a special character this is, how about this hand? Heads up pot between Trader Magee and Super Dave. Board is K42 or something and Magee bets and Super Dave shows Q6o and calls all the way down unimproved.

Then I have AcK in a 5-way pot. Flop is J75, all clubs. I bet-call flop when Trader Magee raises and Super Dave cold calls. The turn and river are inconsequential to my hand and Super Dave check-raises Trader Magee before calling three bets with… 52o. One pair. Trader Magee flopped a flush.

No. They are not related.

Meanwhile, I coolered Magee by defending AT and flopping top two vs his AK and find myself down less than $300 after bottoming out around -$850.

And the action is so insane that The Legend can’t even maintain his composure in the box.

2:08 PM: Full game now and five of us have $25/$50 Overs buttons.

2:16 PM: Super Dave has left us. With a $2500 overlay. At least. Maybe $3000. I’m not sure. In less than two hours.

2:21 PM: SB raises in a multiway pot, I defend A6cc, Trader Magee limp-raises, and it gets capped multiway.

Flop is 986 with one club and everybody calls Trader Magee’s flop bet.

Turn is a Q and checks around.

River gives me trip sixes and the SB leads out. I should definitely have the best hand here but I have four players behind me and calling almost certainly makes me more than raising. I do pick up an overcall (from JJ) and SB shows AK high.

I believe I have sugar now. I also added on $500 in green after Overs started.

2:46 PM: Blog legend Radio Mike has joined the table!

3:13 PM: I’m about even on my second break of the day. I’ve actually had a decent number of interesting hands I didn’t write about because there were coming at such a rapid pace. I’ve called river bets with ace high twice and lost showdowns to people that were bluffing. It’s always amusing watching my image get tarnished while people look at me like WTF and I just sit there calmly.

3:27 PM: I heard Rain Man lose a pot to someone the other day and mutter something about “FBI agent” and I thought it was kind of hilarious, especially when I saw his opponent kind of perk up when he heard.

Well, that guy is sitting in s4 now and I’ve come to learn he is a retired FBI agent – and also Michael Keaton’s former neighbor in Montana! – and his conversation is threatening to break my concentration because he’s friendly, open and incredibly fascinating.

It’s also kind of funny that he used to do that for a living because he seems to have no spatial awareness – he’s the player weeks ago that had his phone practically sitting in front of me for hours – keeps his chips in a rack and so far to the side that he has nothing immediately in front of him, constantly acts out of turn, and thinks anyone that says something in his vicinity is talking to him.

4:03 PM: Special Agent Jack Crawford just picked up KK back-to-back in his blinds and won both pots. The very next hand he open-limps on the button while laughing and flashing a King to the two of us on his right. The small blind called, the big blind raised, and Jack… folds.

Yes, the ol’ open-limp on the button and fold for one more bet move. Something I’ve never seen in 13+ years of playing poker.

4:18 PM: Radio Mike, probably itching for a blog reference (a ploy that clearly worked), walked over to my side table, asked if that is my extra water, opened it up and took a long drink.

A solid troll but he did throw me a $1 chip a few minutes later.

4:39 PM: Radio Mike raises a limper from MP, BVR cold calls, SB calls, and I defend Ks8x.

Flop is AK8 with two spades. I get a check-raise in and three of them call me.

The turn is a Ten which isn’t great but I fire anyway and all three call.

River pairs the Ten and I check-fold my cards into Radio Mike’s face.

I swear I will blog a hand I beat him in again someday.

4:45 PM: We are 6-handed now which kind of sucks for the game’s long term success today, but of course, I prefer…

…and one of the floors is now propping the game, sitting down with $1500.

5:00 PM: Radio Mike opens under the gun, I three bet 88 on the button, the BB sticks around and Mike calls.

Flop is K97 and I decide to check back.

Turn card is a Queen and it checks around again.

River is a blank and now Radio Mike bets. He basically never has a King, I think he rarely has a Queen, and I’m discounting straights and better also, which makes this a pretty trivial call for me.

He tables 98hh. Of course he does.

5:33 PM: I may not be able to beat Radio Mike in a showdown, but I am up around $500 on my fourth break of the day.

I was also informed by Radio Mike, via text message, that my friend (BVR) is “running like Kershaw in the playoffs.”

6:00 PM: BVR gets a reprieve when I open 99 and call him down when he donks the turn on 763K4.

But then I open KTo, get a couple callers preflop and triple barrel the Q8xJA runout with BVR calling me down.

6:13 PM: I open AsTx and fire all the bullets on T93ssXs3 and Radio Mike called me down! 🙇🏻

Streak over?

6:42 PM: There hasn’t been any traffic for this game. We are still 7-handed, including a floor prop that has been MIA for the last hour or so.

I love playing short but I don’t necessarily want to head home by 8 PM.

6:50 PM: I open the button with 22 and both blinds defend.

Flop is QQ3 with two clubs. Only Radio Mike calls my flop bet.

Turn is an 8 and I check back, planning to showdown or call a bet on basically all rivers.

Fortunately the river is a deuce and I get two big bets from Mike.

7:34 PM: Another blog legend in the building: Pay Off Pete! He sits down and two more players rush to the table to fill the game!

Peter posts in the big blind immediately and runs his T4 into KK in a limped pot on a T94K4 board and lost all the bets you’d expect him to. Solid hello.

8:15 PM: In honor of Peter’s arrival and a newly full game I am now enjoying an 8:15 cup of coffee.

I certainly haven’t enjoyed any momentum today. I’m currently up about $125 and I’ve been in that realm for what seems like hours now and my notable hands have been few and far between.

8:53 PM: Stuck now. Peter has basically raised me every time I’ve put money in the pot. It’s funny how that works sometimes. He’s not picking on me – not that he wouldn’t – he just had a better hand every time I play. Like this:

I open button with A8. Peter three bets big blind. Flop is A53 with two hearts; he bets and I call. Then this crafty bastard check-raises me on the Th turn. I call even though I have no heart and then I spike an 8 on the river and I think about raising for a brief moment before deciding calling is best and he tables AT.

9:16: I’m making it sound like Peter is running good. He’s not. I just can’t beat the guy.

This just happened: UTG opens, maybe some other people call, Peter defends his big.

I missed the flop action but on the turn the board is 5422 and Peter has three bet and the UTG player caps it.

River is a King and Peter leads out and gets raised again. Says something about “55 under the gun” and calls. It’s not 55. It’s KK. Peter rolls 42. Yowza.

10:11 PM: Button straddles and i three bet AhKs from the big blind (small blind acts first), rest of the field clears out and button calls.

Flop is QT6 with two clubs. I lead, he raises, I decide to three bet because I think he’s spazzing, and he caps it.

Turn is another club. Maybe a 7. I check. He looks at his cards and actually says “dang it” before checking behind.

The river is the 4 of clubs and I bet my air and he snap folds. I have no clue what just happened but I like the result!

10:29 PM: I open AA under the gun and it gets capped with four players committed before it gets back to me. Always nice to have the nuts preflop and no one has any clue.

With that said, I’m out of position against three players so I’m already mentally preparing myself to lose this already massive pot.

The flop comes down 552, which ranks very high as far as boards that are easy to navigate are concerned. I check, someone bets, someone raises, and I cold call because my hand strength need not be revealed yet. At least four of us see the turn.

It is a Jack. I check. There’s a bet and a call and now I check-raise. The turn bettor calls, Peter folds, and I get paid off on the river and win a huge pot.

11:04 PM: I open QQ under the gun and get three customers.

Flop is J94 with two hearts. I bet and the cutoff and big blind call.

Turn is the 4h. I bet, cutoff calls, and the big blind, a very straight forward player, check-raises. Seems like we have two outs. I fold and so does the cutoff.

11:19 PM: Cutoff open-limps, I raise AKss, big blind defends.

Three of us to 853 with two spades. Cutoff check-calls.

Turn is Js, giving me the nuts and now he donks into me. I raise, he calls.

River pairs the 8 and he donks again. Such a weird line with a full house that I just have to raise again. He three bets and shows me 33. 🤦🏻‍♂️

11:24 PM: New player just sat down. He’s one of my biggest nemesis (nemesi?) at Palace. Constantly trying to outplay me and over playing his hands against me and then has a uncanny success rate of finding a way to get there. He plays with a lot of ego and seems to be pretty full of himself. He’s definitely nickname worthy. I will marinate on it for a bit.

I’m pretty sure I’m up again thanks to that AA hand but my chips are stacked oddly enough that I really don’t know and I kind of like it that way.

12:45 AM: Well he’s out of the game now so the pressure is off. I have some ideas but nothing seems magical or obvious. Until next time!

I did play a strange hand with JJ. Three players limp in front of me and I raise on the button. Six of us see the flop.

It comes Q66 with two diamonds. The first limper donks, Peter calls, the cutoff calls, I call, and so does the small blind.

I think the turn is a 5 and everybody checks to me. It’s so tempting to bet here but I really don’t think I have the best hand. I check.

The river bricks and the flop bettor bets again, Peter calls, and so does the cutoff. I’m perplexed and I usually call when that’s the case but it just seems so unlikely one of these guys doesn’t have at least a Queen. I fold. First guy tables 22, Peter has Q5 suited and the cutoff shows 88 for some reason.

*fistpump*

1:51 AM: Game has broken and I’m heading home now. I’ll have some post-game notes in a bit.

2:41 AM: Finished strong tonight with several late tangles with Peter, basically all of which I won, and one of which I asked if he cared if I mentioned it or not. He gave me the okay and said it would be good for his image.

In this hand, I believe the button or cutoff opened, Peter called the small blind and I three bet AA from the big blind. They both called.

The flop came down J87 and they both called my bet.

The turn paired the 7 and they both called again.

The river was a 6, I bet, the other player folded, and Peter check-raised. I paused for a few seconds about to try to piece together the puzzle, but then I quickly realized I’m never folding and I don’t need to waste anyone’s time and called immediately. He tables A9. Pretty creative.

Thanks to the solid upswing at the end of the night, I finished the day +$962.

I really want to take tomorrow off and I suspect the $30/$60 has 0% chance to take off again on a Tuesday, so I will not be planning my day around it. I’m going to relax and possibly see a movie and if it has a chance without me in the building, then I will show up and play.

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 7 Comments »

Marathon Monday: 12/18/17 (LIVE BLOG)

December 18, 2017

10:02 AM: I did 13 minutes of meditation this morning and I believe that I have a solid daily practice now which means I feel comfortable practicing on a daily basis now. I also received three books on meditation and mindfulness in the mail last week. So yeah, I’m committed to this thing and I will constantly be weaving new practices and mindfulness tricks into my daily routines – and into my poker sessions. The whole reason I started doing this in the first place is to prevent myself from going on the kind of raging tilt I experienced last week in what ended up being my second worst session of all-time. There is no doubt the results of my session were affecting me emotionally and physically. I felt defeated basically the entire day. So the whole goal of meditation, and mindfulness, and yoga, is pain reduction; to be at peace with all the variance poker has to offer.

Someone has recently been trolling me in the comments section of my last post and they asked the question: “what qualifies you to be a professional poker player?” Here’s the answer -not just for me, but for anyone that wants to play poker professionally: all you have to do is quit your job and have money to play with. That is the only qualification you need. What happens from there is what will determine if you can remain a professional poker player. But some of the biggest perks of playing poker for a living are a) you don’t need to answer questions in a job interview or prove yourself to anyone and b) you don’t have a boss.

So I don’t know who this person is or why they feel like they need to try and rain on my parade, so I’ll just say this: I’m just sharing my journey and right now I happen to be playing poker for a living. This is not an instructional blog. You can read or not read – I don’t really care.

10:18 AM: Checking Bravo before I hop in the shower and start getting ready. Currently 16 names on the $15/$30 list and 16 names on the $30/$60 list. Last week, I asked the poker room manager what game we are playing today and he said “whatever everyone wants to play.” I’m not really sure what to expect but I do know most of the names that were on that $30/$60 list last time I was at Palace were either game start flakes or part-time players, so even though a bigger game would be cool, I don’t think it’s realistic with the names on the list. With that in mind, I fully expect them to spread $15/$30 today.

11:07 AM: Welp. 16 names on the list and we are starting $15/$30 6-handed. Definitely need some foot traffic because half this lineup play short sessions.

11:22 AM: There was a horrible train accident a few exits south of where I live off I-5. It is possible it is preventing people from getting here although I didn’t see any traffic in either direction from my exit.

Radio Mike started the game and beat me in a heads up pot and couldn’t help himself from smirking after the hand. I see you, buddy!

Opened with KQhh a few hands later and only the big blind defended.

He led out on the KJ9 flop, I raised and he called.

Turn was a T giving me a straight. He check-called.

River Q, putting a King high straight on the board. He check-called again and then… folded when I tabled my hand!

He’s a blog reader so I’ll say “thanks” and “sorry” and I hope you don’t read about this hand until you get home tonight!

11:50 AM: Finally picked up our 7th player! A $200 buy in! 😳

11:52 AM: And The Human Torch makes us 8-handed… on my direct left… with a $200 buy in.

11:54 AM: Full game!

Radio Mike comes back after missing his blinds and declines to post in the cutoff. I’m embarrassed for him.

12:20 PM: On my first break I am currently up about $100 which is the first time I’ve made it through the first 90 minutes of this game without being stuck at least $500. Progress!

12:55 PM: Radio Mike flopped the nut flush against me when I had top pair and he check-called me on the flop and turn… them check-raised me on the river when I went for some thin value.

And then he text me and said “I see that we are mortal enemies today.”

He’s not wrong.

1:34 PM: Just finished my breakfast and moved my table with my empty plate and dirty napkins right next to Radio Mike – one of his biggest pet peeves. It’s on bruh.

Someone immediately told him to ask if I had an extra water.

Not a very exciting first couple of hours. I have done more bluffing than usual, getting caught once check-raising a flush draw after the flop checked through.

Probably the all-time greatest maniac in Palace history just sat down in the $15/$30 game for the first time. He’s starting with $1k and is capable of getting in much deeper.

In honor of Michael Jordan and this player’s tendency to play aggressively with nothing, I will refer to him from now on as His Airness.

1:50 PM: His Airness has requested Overs buttons and now four of us are playing $25/$50 Overs. Radio Mike did not take a button because… who knows why.

2:11 PM: There hasn’t been a ton of action so far today but there was on this hand:

UTG limps, next player raises, both players to my right cold call, I 3-bet KK, one of the blinds calls and we go three bets six ways to the flop.

It comes down T63 rainbow. Someone donks into me, someone calls, I raise and four of us go to the turn.

4 on the turn and now the small blind leads out. One player and myself call.

River pairs the 6 and two of us call again. Small blind shoes… 52o.

Yup.

-$500 now.

I couldn’t help but notice Radio Mike chuckling out loud as he was watching the showdown.

2:59 PM: Guy that bought in $200 and cracked my KK with 52o – because those are the kinds of hands you play when you short buy – just cashed out $2000.

3:09 PM: I defend my BB with KQ. Flop is QT8 and I check-call Radio Mike on all three streets in what started as a 4-way pot. He has KK. He is definitely winning the battle today.

3:39PM: After watching Peter pick off bluff after bluff from His Airness, Peter limps early, His Airness raises, I 3b TT, Peter calls and it gets capped.

Flop is 986. Peter donks, His Airness calls, I raise and they both call.

Turn is a K and they both check. This is a must bet. Peter calls and now His Airness raises. We both call.

River 2. His Airness bets, I call, Peter tanks and folds and I say to him “he has it this time” and he tables 75.

Another big pot between the three of us. His Airness limps, I raise QTcc , Peter 3b button, Airness caps it.

Q32 all diamonds. His Airness bets, I raise, Peter 3b and we both call.

Turn is Th. I donk into Peter and they both call.

River Jd. His Airness bets and I reluctantly fold. Peter calls and His Airness wins with AcKd.

Marathon Monday: where Mac runs Miserably against Maniacs.

-$700

4:40 PM: The rivalry with Radio Mike has dissipated because he’s up a couple racks and no longer playing any hands.

Peter: He’s just running the clock out now.

Me: He took a knee two hours ago. The only reason he’s still here is so I don’t make fun of him for playing a three hour session.

Radio Mike raises the next hand.

Me: Oh wow, he remembered he was here.

The game has slowed down considerably now that His Airness has busted and left, with Peter and Radio Mike getting the bulk of what must have been $1800.

The Torch is next up the list, looking to make his second cameo of the day. No one is after him. We definitely need the night shift to start showing up because half these players will probably be gone in the next couple hours.

5:24 PM: I raise a couple of limpers with QJhh and we end up going 5 ways to the 974 flop, with one heart. I check here a lot, but I decide to bet since there are a lot good turns for me to continue to barrel on. I get raised though and one of the limpers cold calls. I call.

Turn 2h. I’m definitely happy to check-call here but the limper raises. I cold call the two bets and the other player stays in also.

River 3 of hearts and my running flush beats the limper’s flopped set of fours.

That suck out puts me down about $150 and sends the player on my right into raging tilt.

6:29 PM: The game survived the lull! 5 people on the list now with The Torch in already.

I haven’t won very many notable pots but I do have more chips than I started with now. Ever so slightly.

6:48 PM: Well that was fun while it lasted. I raise one limper with KK, one cold caller, and we go 4-ways to J64dd flop. I bet and two players call.

Turn is 3 of diamonds. I bet, the next player raises, the third player cold calls, and I call with the Kd.

Brick river and I lose to 87 of diamonds.

I also tried to bluff Radio Mike unsuccessfully after defending my big blind with KxTd on 653dd6d4 and he picked me off with 88 after tanking for about 12 minutes and then told me “you wanted to table that bluff so bad you were twitching and frothing at the mouth.”

Bastard. I’m happy for him. In three years of playing together he’s never beaten me this badly!

7:06 PM: I still haven’t flopped a set today but just I just turned deuces full after it checked around on the 997 flop.

7:34 PM: Radio Mike is ordering food. Why is this a big deal? Because I’ve never seen this guy play longer than 6 hours and we are now on hour 9 and he’s so settled in he has a meal coming! Must be nice!

The composure of this game has changed for the worse. The Torch is felted again and replaced by one of the best regulars at Palace. Another friend of the blog is in the game and up like $1000 in his first 30 minutes of play. More than half the table are solid regs now.

I just realized I’ve tipped $1 in the last 90 minutes.

7:44 PM: Action player in the game! Sitting down with $330. 🙄 I was going to take a break but this guy could be felted before I come back.

8:10: Ryan O. proposed a round of button straddles to liven the game up, something it is definitely in need of. This would be an ideal time to run good!

8:19 PM: Momentum shift!

My straddle. A couple callers. A new player raises. I defend K4dd.

Flop KJ6 one diamond. The PFR bets and I raise but both blinds cold call and the PFR reraises. Sigh. We all call.

Turn is an Ace; the PFR bets and I fold. I know my pot odds are favorable here but the Ace is such a bad card to continue on. The cold callers look like QT a lot and the PFR looks like he has Aces up, at worst. Radio Mike check-raises and the PFR reaches for a three bet and as soon as he puts it in I shake my head because Radio Mike basically always has the nuts here. He caps it. PFR calls and I request the dealer to put an Ace on the river.

He pairs the King instead and Mike check-calls and loses to AA – the first tough pot I’ve seen him lose all day.

8:41 PM: But I can’t beat the guy. I just flopped top pair against what I thought was an overpair so I turned my hand into a bluff when an Ace hit the turn and he just flatted, so when I rivered two pair I thought might hand might actually be good. Two straights and a flush were on board now though which explains why he just check-calls with AA.

I am now down $850 and I think Radio Mike has all of it.

I am now taking an extended break after playing multiple hands in the same orbit quite questionably. I’m sure the troll in the comments will be happy to see me struggling again. Maybe I’ll apply for a real job tomorrow.

I am now down the most I’ve been stuck all day and the game is at its worst. Not a good combo. It actually wouldn’t be terrible to pick up and leave right now but I’m still interested in playing.

9:55 PM: Real progress. First, I make it to the river with AQ top pair against Radio Mike and he fold, which is the first time we’ve made it to 5th street together and I won since the first hour of the game.

Then I raise with QQ on the button, Radio Mike 3b his big blind and one of the limpers back-caps it.

Flop is KQx; Mike leads, I raise, he reraises and I flat. Heads up now.

Turn is a Ten and I’m MUBSing about KK because this guy has been walking on water all day, especially against me, and he can really only have AA, AK, and KK here. We are obviously beating more combos than we lose to so I still have an easy raise. He immediately stacks his initial bet and reaches back for chips – a move that is almost always followed by a raise. And if he does raise here he basically always has KK. I know him that well. He just calls though and I comfortably bet the river and win against his AK!

I was down $1200 at my bottom, but I am now down about $600 after this mini-rush.

10:19 PM: KK capped on the button in a 5-way pot? This situation hasn’t worked out yet for me today.

Ace in the door… sigh… followed by a King! 🤗🎉🎊🎇

The 3-bettor donks into me, I raise, and two others cold call and the original bettor flats.

Turn is a wheel card and only two players check-call.

River is another blank and my Kings finally win a big pot!

Approaching even now.

10:47 PM: It’s Radio Mike’s button straddle and it folds to me in the hi jack. I raise with JTo, the cutoff folds, and Mike says “this is an automatic fold” and then calls?

I say “what’d you say?” and bet Dark. Flop is 985. Pretty decent. He calls.

Turn is a K. I bet and he almost goes to fold and then calls again.

River pairs the King and this time he snap calls and wins with 83o.

This guy.

In roughly 10-20 minutes this game will have been going for 12 hours. Radio Mike’s average session length is probably less than 5 hours. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play more than 8. He’s up like $2k. It’s amazing how energizing running good can feel.

Variance in the game is increasing as everyone is seeming to realize that the game is much better with a mandatory straddle.

11:27 PM: Button straddle KK and get the 765 flop vs 43o – a hand that is not in one of the three blinds.

KK has been my death hand today. I did win my biggest pot of the day with it but I’ve lost big pots the other four times I’ve had it.

Trending back down again… about -$900 now.

11:42 PM: Well this was really weird. I forget to straddle my button because I’m playing OFC hands and one player limps, the cutoff tank-raises (huh?) and I look down at AK and 3b. The limper and cutoff both call.

I double check my cards, like I always do, and this time I look down at two Kings. What? I mean wow. I really saw AK the first time I looked and I was honestly shocked to see KK.

Flop is T9x and the cutoff check-raises me and I get Peter out with a 3b. The cutoff calls. He seems a little inexperienced and I think he’s playing big right now. I don’t expect much trickery so when an Ace turns I am planning to bet both big streets because I really think he has QQ, JJ, or Tx. He surprises me by leading out though. I’m definitely not convinced but I don’t really think I should raise here. I call.River is a blank and now he ranks again and then checks. I snap bet and he calls and KK is good. 2 for 6!

11:56 PM: Radio Mike is leaving us.

12:54 AM: It seems like my Monday blogs lose a little steam after about 11 PM. I know one of the reasons: my WordPress app gets really buggy at the end of the day and I don’t know why. It’s like the more words I type or the longer I have the app open, the tougher it is for things to process. It has crashed/frozen on me three times in the past couple hours and each key I press lags behind. It’s all very annoying.

1:03 AM: Uhm so this just happened:

That’s my hand. $2500+ jackpot. Second Royal Flush of my life* and I’ve played a lot of hours. Like a lot a lot.

*of my life means live games (I have like 12 Royals online) and non-Omaha.

2:08 AM: I am definitely hitting a wall. I actually have sugar now – jackpot aside – and I’m ready to go home but the game is getting shorter and shorter and I would really enjoy playing 6- or 5-handed with this crowd.

Actually, one of these guys is taking a ridiculous amount of time with each decision. Not sure I can stomach that in a super short game.

2:29 AM: My luck with KK has turned around. I’ve had it at least 10 times today and I’ve won five times in a row now.

2:56 AM: Here’s an interesting one: cutoff open limps, I raise 87ss on the button.

Flop A87 won two clubs. Cutoff check-raises me. We are heads up now so I just call to raise the turn.

Jack on turn. He checks. Okay. I bet and he raises me again. Lol. I’m pretty tempted to 3b here but there really aren’t any value hands in his range that I’m beating, so I call.

River pairs the Ace and he checks again. I check back and he’s shows J4 of clubs and his Jack beats me now.

So I got check-raised twice by the worst hand and then it checked around when he pulled ahead. Fun!

3:46 AM: Just got home. Pretty sure the game broke when I left, but that was another solid 16.5 hour $15/$30 session. I actually ended up making $188 for the session which is a decent result considering I was stuck most of the day and down as much as $1200 at one point. With the jackpot (minus tip), I ended up making $2540 for the day. What a day saver!

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 3 Comments »

2018 Poker Schedule (LAPC, WSOP)

December 14, 2017

Here’s a look at the series and tournaments I’ll be targeting in the first half of 2018. Any event in bold is a tournament that I will 100% be playing, barring unforeseen circumstances. Any event that has an asterisk (*) in front of it means that it has multiple starting days and I’m not really committed to any particular one. I’m not exactly planning to play the WSOP Main Event this year, but I’m not ruling it out as a possibility either. A lot depends on how things go in the first six months of the year, but I almost certainly will NOT be playing it unless I have up to 80% of my action sold.

As of now, the only trip I have booked is the first of three to Commerce, so there is still plenty up in the air. My wife said I could stay for the whole WSOP this year, but that’s kind of hard to believe. We’ll see how she feels come June – especially since her birthday is smack dab in the middle of the series. I haven’t looked for any side events during the WSOP, but I’m sure Venetian, Aria, and Golden Nugget will have some things I’m interested in adding to my schedule.

LAPC @ Commerce

January 15th – $350 Omaha 8/Better
January 16th – $350 Triple Stud
January 17th – $350 Stud 8/Better
January 18th – $350 Omaha/Stud 8/Better

January 24th – $350 Limit Hold Em
January 25th – $350 HORSE
January 26th – $350 No Limit Hold Em
January 26th – $350 TOE (O8, Stud 8, 2-7 Triple Draw)
January 27th – $350 No Limit Hold Em
January 27th – $350 No Limit Hold Em/Pot Limit Omaha
January 29th – $570 Omaha 8/Better
January 30th – $570 Stud
February 1st – $570 HORSE

February 11th – $1100 Limit Hold Em
February 12th – $1100 Omaha 8/Better
February 13th – $1100 HORSE

PacWest Classic @ Chinook Winds

February 21st – $150 Omaha 8/Better
February 21st – $80 No Limit Hold Em Bounty
February 22nd – $150 Big Omaha 8/Better
February 23rd – $200 No Limit Hold Em
February 24th – $550 No Limit Hold Em Main Event

Summer Poker Classic @ Muckleshoot

March 14th – March 18th
or
March 21st – March 25th

WSOPc @ Planet Hollywood (Vegas)

March 22nd – April 2nd

WSOPc @ Harrahs (New Orleans)

May 10th – May 21st

World Series of Poker @ The Rio

May 31st – $1500 Omaha 8/Better
June 1st – *$365 No Limit Hold Em GIANT
June 2nd – *$565 No Limit Hold Em Colossus
June 3rd – $365 No Limit Hold Em Online
June 3rd – *$365 Pot Limit Omaha GIANT
June 6th – $1500 HORSE
June 8th – $565 Pot Limit Omaha
June 9th – $1500 8-Game
June 11th – $1500 Stud 8/Better
June 14th – $1500 Stud
June 16th – *$1000 No Limit Hold Em Double Stack
June 20th – $1500 Limit Hold Em
June 22nd – $2500 Omaha/Stud 8/Better
June 23rd – *$1500 No Limit Hold Em Monster Stack
June 24th – $1500 Razz
June 30th – *$888 No Limit Hold Em Crazy 8
July 2nd – *$10,000 No Limit Hold Em Main Event
July 9th – $3000 6-Max Limit Hold Em
July 12th – $3000 HORSE

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, no limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, poker tournament strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 5 Comments »

Marathon Monday: R.I.P. $15/$30 @ The Palace (LIVE BLOG)

December 11, 2017

10:20 AM: Just got back from yoga. I missed my first class in almost two months last Wednesday and I haven’t meditated since last Monday, but I did do a 10 minute session this morning. The reason I haven’t incorporated it into my routine yet is because I still haven’t done the reading required to create my baseline, but again, I figured some meditation this morning was better than none. I will try to get all my reading done tomorrow since I will likely be taking the day off.

So today is the last day that Palace will be spreading this $15/$30 Limit Hold Em game and it’s honestly a crushing blow for me. I love the Palace. It’s like my Century Link – I have a very distinct home field advantage and when I play elsewhere it takes me a while to assimilate to my new surroundings and a bunch of unknown players. But at Palace, I know everyone and I know their tendencies and it’s no wonder that I post my best results (as in Big Bets/Hour) there.

Unfortunately, the biggest game that Palace offers is $8/$16 and I grew out of that game the day that I got back home from the World Series Of Poker last year. I feel like I had the talent to move up long before that, but now I was grossly overrolled for it as well.

I feel like one of the biggest mistakes I made earlier in my poker career was not pushing myself to move out of the $4/$8 limit – because it was so much easier to drive 10 minutes to the local casino rather than 40+ to play a bigger game – and now I’m having the same problem with $8/$16. Palace is 5 minutes from my house while $20/$40 at Fortune is a good 40 minutes away if there’s no traffic and the average player in that game is substantially better. So I typically make it out to Fortune once a week.

So a local $15/$30 was such a huge thing for me. Even if it only happened on Mondays, there was potential for it to grow and start spreading on weekends also.

And now today is the last day. The alleged reason is because it is hurting the $8/$16 game and I can’t say I agree with that at all.

When this game rolled out Palace was an 8 table room and on Mondays – with the $499 jackpot promo going all day long – all those tables filled up, with massive lists, and multiple $8/$16 games and the $15/$30 went strong into the night.

But then Palace added two tables and those huge lists disappeared. People got in games faster and got their poker fix or busted faster. And the $8/$16 games started breaking earlier and I think the powers that be incorrectly blamed it on the $15/$30 game.

Palace also added $499 jackpots all day on Sundays as well, so players could pick one day or the other to play power sessions – thus decreasing the need to come on Mondays – or they wore out earlier after playing long sessions on both days.

I’m not saying that is exactly what happened, but it’s my theory and I think it’s a better one than what they have.

Finally, the $15/$30 game has gone until at least midnight every time so far, which means it was running at least 13 hours each time – a clear success.

Alas, this is the last day and next week they will be trying to spread a $30/$60 LHE game, which would excite me if I thought it had any real shot at sustainability. There are currently 8 names on the list for next week, which seems promising, but putting your name up on a list and showing up when the game is supposed to start doesn’t always coincide. I will be here to support it though and I hope it gets off the ground.

11:28 AM: Game started full for the first time today and there are multiple names on the waiting list. Perfect time to kill something! Just as it starts growing. 🙄🤔

Meanwhile $8/$16 is going strong with a second game on the verge of starting.

Today’s starting lineup includes Radio Mike, BVR (a friend from Kitsap County that would be a good Joker if he played regularly), and two certified maniacs!

11:39 AM: Running good against one of the maniacs.

Open QQ UTG, he defends SB and leads JT5 flop. I flat to raise turn. 5 on turn, he bets, I raise, he three bets… ends up showing Q5o.

He limps EP, I raise AQ, three ways to A82 flop. They both check-call. Turn is a King; I bet, the blind folds, maniac check-raises me; it’s close to a 3-bet here but I flat.

River pairs the 2 and now I think my hand is too strong not to raise, so I do, and he three bets and shows 82o.

I didn’t really think this river raise through though, as I overlooked the fact that I was chopping with all Ax hands.

I’ve also lost big pots to his J2o and J4s when I wasn’t at the top of my range.

I am down $700 already. My typical $15/$30 start! And the maniac has over $2k and an alleged 40 minute time limit. 🙏🏻🤞🏻

12:39 PM: The maniac just lost a monster pot with KK to BVR’s AA on a 774T9 board where both players were playing like they flopped full houses – with a player trapped between them.

I’m not joking. Cap flop. Cap turn. Cap river. KK vs AA on 774T9. I was asking for “quad sevens one time!” but instead I get to see BVR scoop a massive pot of chips that used to be mine.

And the maniac didn’t take another hand and left with less than $1000 after peaking at $2500. I haven’t won a pot in 90+ minutes and everyone at the table has more chips than they started with except me and one other player.

A total disaster. A hurricane that I was the only victim of and all my surrounding neighbors were able to collect the treasures from my wrecked home.

I’m down about $1100 and about to reload and reset now that the game has completely changed.

12:54 PM: There are now two $8/$16 games going with 5 on the list and $15/$30 is full with 8 on the list. But yeah… these games can’t thrive together.

First hand back from a break I post with KJo in the cutoff. It folds to me, so I raise and a player in the small blind that is capable of having any two cards (at least at $8/$16 – like Q4o against my UTG raise from MP) is my only caller.

Flop is QT7 with two spades. He leads out, I raise (with the J of spades as backup) and he three bets me. I call.

Turn pairs the 7 and he checks to me. I’m pretty happy to take a free card.

River is a King and he leads out. I’m beating QT, or any Q except KQ. Flush draws missed. J9 did get there. I feel like I’m only losing to KQ and J9, so it feels like I should be raising, especially against this player, but I’m running brutal so I just call and he shows A7 of spades which flopped a flush draw and turned trips.

1:38 PM: I just bluffed the turn successfully after it checked through on the flop. It was the first “pot” I’ve won in over 2.5 hours – and there were less than two small bets of profit in it.

I have my chips stacked in a way that I don’t know how much I have so I can focus on something besides how bad I’m running.

1:58 PM: I won my first showdown since the second orbit of the game! But I went right back to whiffing flops and missing my combo draws when I did flop something.

I couldn’t resist. I reorganized my stack: I am down $1840. 😮

It’s pretty hard to lose 3.5 racks in less than three hours but I’ve made it look really, really easy today.

This might be a good time to mention this: the most I’ve ever lost in a live cash game is $2300 – which isn’t that bad at the levels I’ve played and will certainly be topped – and today is looking like a strong candidate to challenge that.

2:40 PM: Finally got a great flop with a hand I opened: J94 with AJ in a 3-handed pot… but I don’t beat KT at showdown.

3 PM: I am down almost $2000.

Radio Mike is crushing it.

BVR is crushing it.

I’ve won one non-micro pot since 11:15, almost four hours ago – one of my all-time coldest stretches.

It’s kind of taken me out of the game so I’m going to really force myself to start paying attention and not succumb to the immense weight of this run bad. Starting…. NOW.

3:09 PM: A breakthrough! I defend my big blind with A8s in a multiway pot. Flop is A75 with two hearts. I check, the PFR bets, two cold callers call, and I call.

Turn pairs the Ace and I check, the PFR bets, one call, one fold, and I check-raise. I would maybe check-call against a solid player here, but this guy is way too loose and reckless, plus I thought I picked up a weakness tell. He 3-bets me though, the other player folds, I throw up in my mouth a little and then call.

River is the 4 of hearts and it checks around. I like that. I table. He shows A3o! I looooove that.

4:06 PM: It’s just all torture today.

I raise AA under the gun. One player cold calls and the big blind defends.

Flop QJ5 with two clubs. I bet and the cold caller raises, big folds, and I flat.

Turn is a 4. I check-raise and get three bet. More vomit. I call.

River 8c. I check-call and he shows KQ of clubs for a flush. Oh, I had the best hand? More vomit.

It is just sickening at this point.

4:12 PM: The player to my right just felted $1500 in a rather short amount of time and I’m stuck $2000 still. Do you know how hard it is to get crushed when the player you have immediate position on is hemorrhaging chips like he’s allergic to them? Very, very hard.

4:30 PM: On another break. I guess my last 1.5 hours have been a bit better than the first four hours. It’s not a straight down arrow… I’ve won some pots. I just got four bets in pre with JJ and lost to AQ. I am now 0-4 with JJ+ – and I think I’m yet to win with AK or AQ. I finally made a straight but I’m still 0% on flush draws.

In other news, $15/$30 is going strong with two on the list and there are two full $8/$16 games with 10 players on the list.

But $15/$30 is killing that game. 🤷🏻‍♂️

4:50 PM: I have asked for a seat change button in honor of The Human Torch being next on the list.

4:57 PM: I raise a couple of limpers with AKcc, button cold calls, small blind calls, and we go six ways to 532 with two clubs. I bet and get three calls.

Turn is an 8 and I bet my draw because I fucking hate money and it seems unlikely I would get raised on this board, but the button does raise and one of the limper three bets. Good read, Mac. Awesome. I can’t wait to put $90 in and whiff the river. I call. Button calls.

River 6h and it checks around because a running heart flush got there. Limper has A4o for a flopped wheel and button shows me 98 of clubs.

Just pure torture.

5:07 PM: I stole the fucking blinds! 💪🏻

5:17 PM: The Torch just sat down with $200. Well that’s not gonna get me even.

6:00 PM: So tilted. Open AQ and only the BB defends.

Flop AT8. He check-raises, I 3-bet.

Turn 8, he check-calls.

River K. FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Chop with A9.

Open 99. Flop JJ9. I get two callers pre, The Torch calls my flop bet, and no action on the turn.

Folds to my small blind and I get to chop with KK.

What a bunch of bullshit.

6:14 PM: Holy shit. Momentum? I’ve won a series of pots in a short amount of time and I hit my first flush of the day! I would guess I’m still stuck over $2000, but I’m not sure.

6:25 PM: The Torch is in $600, $200 at a time. Another player just felted and rebought $200. Maybe the poker room manager is right: these people shouldn’t be playing this game. These would be smallish (though a misguided standard) buy-ins at $8/$16, let alone a game twice as big.

6:41 PM: I really wish dealers would stop moving the button before the hand is over. Without a doubt, moving the button twice is the number one mistake I see happen and it’s almost always because of this absolutely stupid practice. Save a few seconds so you can make the same mistake hundreds of times over your career.

7:17 PM: More comedy. I open KQo, two cold callers, Torch 3-bets the big blind. I resist the urge to cap it even though I probably have him smashed.

Flop AQ5 two diamonds. I snap raise him. Button cold calls. Torch three bets. We both call.

Turn pairs the A, which I like. Torch bets, we both call. I feel like I have the button beat – he’s definitely not a solid player – and The Torch could literally have anything. He bets dark.

River is the 2 of diamonds. I call. He has 87dd.

Unreal.

Then a new player I don’t know sits down and asks if that’s my extra water. I say yes and he grabs it and opens it.

YEAH MAN. THAT’S WHAT IT’S FUCKING THERE FOR.

7:39 PM: Here is something that definitely has not happened today: three or four bets went in before the flop and I won the pot.

7:41 PM: Player to my left just called two bets with 98 suited and then showed it to me before folding when it was capped back to him. How is that a real thing?

The Torch is felted again. He snapped me off with that 87 less than 30 minutes ago and, of course, I got none of that back.

A player that limped in earlier and called when it was capped back to him with KQo (and ended up beating my 99) just limped in and folded when a bad player raised and everyone folded back to him.

I seriously hate them all today.

7:48 PM: Another capped pot lost. QQ on the button outflopped by AK, which loses to TT on the river.

7:56 PM: Praise Jesus! I 3-bet QQ, flopped top set, rivered quads, and got paid off, plus won a $499 jackpot!

It’s a miracle!

In other news, they are spreading their third $8/$16 game right now cause, you know, this game is killing that one.

To recap: $15/$30 has been running for 9 hours and they have had two $8/$16 running for at least 8 hours, with a third one going down now.

Now there is no list. So I guess now that all those $8/$16 players are in games gambling… if they wind up going bust in the next few hours it will be because we are playing $15/$30 on a different table?

8:33 PM: I limp after two limpers with A6 of clubs. Couple more limps. BVR raises SB. We all call.

Flop K63. A few of us call.

Turn 6. I raise. Two callers.

River Q. BVR check-raises. Has KK.

I mean… it’s honestly insane.

8:38 PM: Watching the masseuse use an elbow to massage someone while she looks at her phone with her free hand. This has been going on for a while. Totally inexcusable. It’s feeding my tilt monster.

8:53 PM: Under the gun raises. Three people cold call. I call 66 on the button.

Flop 976 with two diamonds. I get it capped with the PFR, one other player tagging along.

Turn Q. He still leads, other player folds, I raise. He calls.

River is a blank. He check-calls.

And shows me 77. FUCKING SEVENS.

This can’t be real. It really can’t be. I’m almost back to where I was before that $500 jackpot.

Unbelievable.

9:06 PM: I’m not even trying to be nice at this point. A new player sat down and asked for an Overs button (I’ve been the only person with one all day) and a couple other players asked for them and threw them back when I said it was $25/$50.

Then they threw a little fuss about it and voted to make it $20/$40 and I said “Yeah, maybe we can get $5/$10 Overs going in the $4/$8 game too.”

9:46 PM: I feel like I should mention that I won my first pot with AQ – especially since it was my most significant pot of the day (minus the jackpot addition in that QQ hand).

I three bet a bad player’s open and went at least 5-ways to QJx. Checks to the player on my right and he donks. I raise, two cold call, and he calls.

I’m already envisioning losing this pot when I make top two vs KT.

The turn comes a 5 and they all check-call me again.

River is a 6! I basically have the nuts unless the bad player has something funky like Q6 suited or J6 suited. I bet, two of them call, and the player to my right folds KT face up. What a dodge! And my hand is good vs the two callers.

But then I went right back to losing massive pots with good hands. Including AK twice, which I’m like 0-12 with today.

No progress.

9:59 PM: I feel like I’m up $1000 now! I actually have good news.

The poker manager just came over and said the affect of this game on $8/$16 has been “grossly exaggerated” to him and he will no longer be cancelling it!

I think he’s done an amazing job with this room and getting rid of the $15/$30 was the first move he made that really puzzled me and I was really going to question his reasoning after he watched $8/$16 flourish all day while this game was full.

But he is reasonable! I’m glad he can see what’s going on and adapt. A lot of people would be stubborn after making a decision like that and stick to it just so they wouldn’t have to admit that they/their staff were wrong.

This guy continues to impress me and he really has done wonders with this room. I feel bad about some of the trolling I was doing on this blog earlier, but I’m going to keep it up for authenticity’s sake and fluidity!

10:21 PM: You know you have the M.U.B.S. (Monsters Under the Bed Syndrome) when you have 99 on the 763 flop in a 3-handed pot and know that you’re never gonna win.

Take it KJ.

11:02 PM: Two streaks broken! I just won with 88 on 96595 after getting check-raised on the turn and calling a river bet – the first time I’ve won with a pocket pair less than AA that didn’t make quads today…. in 12 hours!

And I only won with AA once… heads up against the big blind… when I flopped the nut flush draw with my overpair… and he folded on the turn.

I also broke my AK streak. I opened with it, a player I haven’t beat all day cold called, a blind tagged along, and we saw the AJJ flop. I bet (in Overs), and they both called.

Turn 2. I bet and don’t get raised. Heads up now.

River 2. I bet and don’t get raised. Can it be?! I’m good!

I am now down $2000, which is the best shape I’ve been in since that jackpot.

12:02 AM: Open AQ of clubs under the gun, one cold call, big blind defends.

Q42 two club flop. I try for some deception by checking because I’ve been raising and checking the flop a lot today, but it checks through.

Turn 8 of clubs. I bet, they both fold.

Yawn.

Defend K5 suited in a 3-way pot. Check-raise K65 flop and they both fold.

Fucking YAWN.

12:21 AM: Multiple limpers. I raise AKo and everyone calls.

Flop is 743 with two diamonds. I check, BB bets, cutoff calls, and I call with A of diamonds in my hand.

Turn is Q of diamonds. I check, BB bets, cutoff folds, and this seems like a good time to semi-bluff and check-raise since I suspect this player (new to the game) won’t realize that I rarely have a made hand here, plus I think I should have some fold equity against his flop betting range.

He calls though and the river is a non-diamond 8. I go to reach for chips and he’s already trying to call, so I decide not to torch the bet. He checks back? With a jack high flush?

Yeah, that’s more like it.

12:34 AM: Taking my first break in hours. Just raised with QQ and everyone folded. Next hand I open with A9o a littler earlier than I should just because I want to feel the pain when I get multiple callers because I’m holding a piece of shit. All four players left in the pot call. I whiff. YES. MORE OF THAT.

I’m pretty close to quitting. I’m gonna sit back down and if I’m still feeling steamy I’m gonna call it a session.

1:32 AM: Welp, I’m home now. What a nightmare of a day. These last two pots I played did it in for me.

Two people limp and I raise T9 of spades on the button, both blinds defend and the limpers call.

Flop is 883 with two spades. I bet and two players call.

Turn is an Ace and only the small blind check-calls me.

River is a 6 and he checks. I bet thinking he might be on a spade draw that could be bigger than mine or maybe he will fold a 3 or a medium pocket pair. He calls with A7 of spades… and then does that whole get halfway out of his chair and say “what does he have?” spectacle some people do when they catch you bluffing.

I missed the same draw you did, asshole.

Then I raise the button with AK and get the AK6 with two spades flop in a 5-way pot. The big blind donks, one player calls, I raise, and they both call.

The turn is a 9. They both check to me and I bet. The big blind check-raises, the other player calls two bets cold, I three bet it, the big blind caps, and the other player calls again. I call.

The river is a T of spades and they both check to me. I look at them like “yeah fucking right” and check it back. Somehow the in between player doesn’t have spades. He has A9. Somehow the big blind doesn’t have a set of 6s. He has AK also. I take no solace in splitting this pot. Zero happiness that I didn’t lose the whole thing on the river. I flopped top two on the AK6 board and I can’t scoop a pot.

Done with it.

I finished -$2265 for the day which is my second biggest loss in any game EVER. And the only reason I didn’t set a new all-time worse loss today was because I hit a $449 (after $50 tip) jackpot.

I’ve made an effort to keep my blog pretty PG and refrain from any cursing, but today I decided to paint an honest picture of how I was feeling as I was feeling it. I think it’s more authentic. I think it might be funny. I know it’s therapeutic.

I basically played with the physical sensation of tilt for the entire session. Like, I could feel it coursing through my body. Was on my A-game? No way. But I do think I played pretty well under so much distress. I wasn’t spewing chips by playing hands I should be folding or raising with garbage (that A9o hand I mentioned being a possible exception) and I think the bluffs I did execute made a lot of sense, even when they didn’t work. I just ran nightmarishly bad the entire day and there wasn’t much I could do about it.

I have to say I’m very happy about where my C-game is. No one wants to play their C-game, but everyone should work on improving it. I’ve mentioned this before, but I believe one of my biggest edges is how good I am at losing. A lot of players have a Titanic gap between their A-game and their C-game – even players I think are way better than average – and I truly believe that my gap is rather small. Small enough that I think my C-game is better than most of my opponents’ (in the Tacoma area) A-games. There is no doubt I was on visible tilt most of the day and even though I was physically distraught, there wasn’t much deterioration in how I was actually playing. There is a difference. I won’t pretend like there isn’t, but I would guess that most people I play with wouldn’t be able to notice it.

Anyways, I will be happy to put this day behind me and hopefully I won’t be pressing this all-time low threshold again any time soon.

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 5 Comments »

Marathon Monday: 12/4/2017 (LIVE BLOG)

December 4, 2017

7:15 AM: Alarm goes off.

7:45 AM: Added a new element to my pregame routine: meditation. This weekend I got a meditation bench and a zabuton and this morning I did my first session. I have to admit… my preparation was poor. I basically skimmed through Tommy Angelo‘s Painless Poker and tried to find where he was talking about his routine and tried to hastily apply it. Eventually I want to have it dialed in so well that it becomes habit, but even if I’m not really ready, I figure something is better than nothing.

So far, I feel the same as I did yesterday.

On the other hand, I got a better night’s sleep than usual and I’m hoping I can parlay that rest into my first good $15/$30 session because right now it looks like this:

11/20/2017: +$25 in 16.25 hours
11/27/2017: -$695 in 13 hours

It’s stupid to set financial goals, but I’m going to make one anyway: +$2000.

Let’s get to it.

10:18 AM: Waiting at Starbucks for some coffee.

I did yoga for an hour this morning and can it be possible that I’m actually getting weaker? We did some stuff with legs and my body was like “NO.”

I do enjoy yoga though. I’ve gone to nine consecutive classes without missing one – consistency I’m surprised by.

What I need to do is work in some strength training. Mondays and Wednesdays are yoga days but I don’t have time after class to workout because those are the only two days I participate in a poker game with a scheduled start time.

11:02 AM: 17 names on the list today. They haven’t even tried to start the game yet. It actually looks like it might start full today though.

A player that berated me last week is on the list. I really hope he plays.

Here’s the hand:

Four players limp, he raises from SB, I defend A2o.

Flop is A high, disconnected but with three clubs. SB checks, I check, EP bets, SB calls, I call. I have 2 of clubs. It’s all very marginal.

Turn is T of clubs and it checks around.

River is a blank. We both check and EP bets. SB calls. I don’t love it, but I overcall.

EP has AJ no club, SB has AT no club. I win.

Dude in small blind is like “how can you call that? Did you see my hand? You think I have nothing?”

Let’s review. He raises from the small blind in a multiway pot and then checks three times when the board runs out four clubs. Yeah, really marking you for a flush, bud.

Then he starts berating the other player in the hand for how he’s holding his cards, saying I can see them. I mean… maybe I could? If I was looking. But I’m not. And I never do.

The other player checked the turn when the four card flush got there. He probably doesn’t have a good flush and if he has a weak one betting the river doesn’t make much sense.

So my call is super easy.

A few hands go by and the guy from the small blind picks up his chips but stops by me, leans over, and says “what did you have again? A2 offsuit? And I raised? You’re no different than me.”

I never said I was! My only interaction with this guy that day was:

“Did you use to work here?”

“Yes.”

So I don’t know where all this anger and craziness came from… but…

He just sat down in $15/$30 and I’ll be looking forward to giving him more hands to cry about today.

11:16 AM: Cards still not in the air. Looks like we are starting 8-handed.

I was hoping to start $25/$50 Overs today but only one other player bought in more than $600.

12:24 PM: I refuse to get off to a good start in this game. I’ve been battling a mega-maniac – trying to isolate him (unsuccessfully) and missing flops with ace highs and calling him down – and when I did make top pair he had two pair.

Plus this stupid hand: one limper, maniac raises HJ, I 3-bet A5o and the SB cold caps it. Limper doesn’t fold and four of us go to the flop. Sigh.

Flop is 743 with two clubs, giving me a double gutter and a backdoor flush draw – a pretty great flop for me in this situation. They all check to me. SB seems to be on a good ace high. I bet, they all call.

Turn pairs the 7 and they all check again and since I can still have all the good hands in my range, I bet again. SB and maniac call.

River is a Q and they both check. My hand is never good here, so I don’t have showdown value. I also feel like the small blind is rarely folding, but I can’t check. I’m getting 14-1 on a bluff so if he folds as little as 7% of the time betting is profitable, even though it feels like I’m lighting $30 on fire most of the time. Another thing working for me here is he has a maniac to act behind him that is folding no pair and capable of bluff-raising the river.

The small blind does call though and he wins with AK high and I’m already down $600.

12:48 PM: An old school All Star Lanes regular, that I’ve never seen at the Palace or in a game bigger than $4/$8, just sat down in $15/$30.

1:05 PM: False alarm! Just had my first real heater in this game, thanks to AA holding w/out a showdown, and these two hands:

I have 3-bet the maniac three of the last four hands, this time with T8dd and the player in the small blind comments: “don’t let him push you around, Mike.”

I get two cold callers and then the small blind caps it. We are five ways to the Q96, one diamond flop. The SB and maniac make sure the flop gets capped and four of us go to the turn.

A beauty! 7 of diamonds. SB leads, maniac raises all in, I 3-bet and the other two call.

K on river and no one has JT and I win a monster.

Then I flop a set of 7s in a multiway pot with multiple bets going in four ways on flop and a raise on the river when I fill up.

Currently up $800, which is the most I’ve been up in this game so far.

1:14 PM: We have seat open and no list. Oh oh. Should be fine, but we have some potential part-timers and at least one person that doesn’t like playing “short.”

1:24: Staff is unprepared for this game today, I guess. They were seating players with green ($25) chips which is whatever, but now people are sitting down with black ($100) chips. No way is that optimal. And it’s not even 1:30 yet.

2:21 PM: We are now 7-handed. Reinforcements please!

I prefer playing short-handed but most people don’t and this game breaking early would be a personal nightmare.

2:29 PM: Pretty uneventful 90 minutes, except these two hands:

Two limpers, I complete Q8o, BB checks.

Flop is Q44, two hearts. I check, BB bets, limpers fold, I raise, he calls.

Turn is a blank. I bet, he calls.

River is an Ace and we both check. I table and he confidently rolls J9o.

Solid misread in my favor.

Next notable hand: there are multiple limpers and a late position player raises. I defend with the 6 of clubs and a black 5.

Flop comes A43 with two clubs. I look at my second card and it’s the 5 of clubs. I have a monster and since the raise came from LP and I want to get as much money in the pot as possible, I lead out. There’s a flat, a raise, a cold call, I 3-bet, call, cap, call.

Turn is a Jc and I lead my flush. The flop aggressor is my only customer.

River Q. I bet and win the showdown.

Currently +$1100.

2:38 PM: Dude that lit me up for that A2o hand I described earlier just asked me if it was hard to shave my beard.

Never fails to amaze me how people think they can oscillate between being a total asshole and friendly to you at the poker table. It seems that if they win a pot or it’s a new day, all past behavior is forgiven.

I don’t really care, but I don’t really like people like this either.

When they do stuff like this, I put up a friendly facade, but what I’m really thinking is “get bent.”

2:46 PM: Sometimes the price is wrong.

I just defended 65 again from the big blind in a multiway pot.

The flop was A98 with two clubs and when the action got back to me I was getting 15 to 1, more than enough to call profitably with a gutshot.

But not all gutshots are created equal.

First off, there’s a flush draw available so maybe I only have three outs.

Secondly, JT is such a common hand for people to play and a 7 gives that hand a better straight.

I think if one decided to fold this flop with my hand it wouldn’t be that bad.

I call though and, of course, I turn my straight and, of course, someone has JT and I wind up losing multiple big bets.

3:29 PM: If you read my post last Monday, I mentioned that I was getting wrecked by a nit.

I guess he’s really comfortable in this game now cause he just showed 65o UTG+1 and 54o UTG the last two hands. Yum yum!

4:01 PM: Not a good 90 minutes. Lost that 65 v JT on A987x board plus some other unfavorable run outs.

I just seat changed because one of the players on my left is playing absurdly loose and I wish to punish him.

+$400 now.

5:19 PM: AQ is a pretty good hand.

First I raise a bunch of limpers with AQcc from the cutoff. Flop is 852 with two clubs. I bet and get two callers.

The turn is the T of clubs and I bet, one call, and the other player check-raises; I double-check my hand and 3-bet, the player in between mucks, and the other guy caps. Yay!

Unfortunately, the river is a J of clubs and I don’t get the two big bets I think I would if it bricked. But I do get called and win a big pot.

Next orbit, I’m on the button with AQo and raise another series of limpers.

Flop is pretty solid: QQ4 rainbow. They check to me and I get three callers, which is amazing because it almost always means I’m getting raised on the turn.

It doesn’t quite go down like that. The turn is a 6 and the big blind leads out. I raise him and he 3-bets me. I consider calling because any reasonable player would realize I have a strong Queen here a lot of the time – but I’m not sure he qualifies, plus he’s in the big blind. So I cap it.

The river is a blank and I’m very happy to see him check-call. My hand is good.

+$900 now.

5:35 PM: Radio Mike is in the game! In his first 20 minutes he has already raised about six hands, got off to a hot start, and just pantomimed a gun to his head and pulled the trigger after his AJ ran into J9 on J9998.

5:49 PM: Is it getting hot in here? I feel like I’m getting sweaty… is my blood sugar low?

No.

THE HUMAN TORCH IS IN THE BUILDING.

6:11 PM: The Torch just sat down with less than $300…

…and Radio Mike just sucked out on him on the river first hand he’s dealt in.

None of these things are good news.

But The Torch is in the game.

6:14 PM: The Torch is all in and felted on his second hand dealt in.

He just reloaded for $200.

Hopefully he has about 10 more of those short buys.

6:41 PM: The Torch has felted three times already, for a total of about $700, and just reloaded for another $140, which I don’t even know is legal – I can’t remember if it was here or Fortune that recently changed their short buy policy.

6:46 PM: The Torch just left Radio Mike in ashes after he ran Mike’s 22 down on 882×3 with pocket threes – despite the fact an 8 was in the hand helping Mike put max pressure on.

But The Torch didn’t come here to make easy folds!

The game is in a precarious situation. We are 7-handed with no list (there are two call ins) and two players (mentioned above) are probably on mega steam and might be itching to snap quit at the next bad beat.

7:20 PM: I’ve been pretty hot which is always nice, but it’s particularly fortunate because this game is on FUMES.

The Torch is felted for the fourth time and done for the night.

Five players have either passed on the game or sat down for an orbit and moved to $8/$16.

And a player has been sitting out for multiple orbits.

There are currently six active players. One has a very short stack and another is so tilted I’m surprised he hasn’t left already.

Hopefully these guys are willing to play short because I sure am!

I normally don’t chop 6-handed but the guy to my right is definitely an always chop no matter how short the game is kind of dude and he’s also the player that’s on super steam… so I’ll bring it up later. Lol

Currently up about $1700!

7:53 PM: Just picked up two new players.

First hand one of them limps in middle position and I raise AK on the button and bet all three streets when it runs out K9258 and he’s in total check-call mode so I’m kind of stunned when he rolls over 95dd.

Welcome to the game, champ.

8:36 PM: Just raised a limper with AThh on the button and both blinds tagged along.

Flop is T42 with one club and one heart. I bet and the small blind check-raises. The other two players fold and I flat to raise the turn, which will be Overs – the first time this game has seen a $50 bet.

He leads out on the 8 of clubs, I raise him, and… he 3-bets me. Gulp.

I don’t have a ton of history with him yet, but he’s played tight in this game and hasn’t been overly aggressive so I expect to be losing this pot. I call though.

River is a 9 and he checks. I still don’t think I can be good but I’m happy about the free showdown.

He shows JT of clubs, which turned a flush draw, and I’m good!

8:44 PM: Open AQss UTG and get multiway action.

Flop is K95. All spades. I don’t win this pot. I put in four bets on the turn when the 9 pairs against a player that can have a hand as bad as trips here and wind up losing to 55. Blech.

A minor hiccup in what has been a flurry of run good for me. Currently up a little over $1800.

8:55 PM: Speaking of Overs… I’ve had a button all day long by myself and someone finally asked about it after sitting down with $300 in a $15/$30 game… and then asked for one… and didn’t add chips.

And now he’s busto.

9:01 PM: And he just reloaded for $200… which is four big bets in Overs.

My blog needs emoticons. 🤦🏻‍♂️

10:04 PM: Nothing much new to report. They beat Radio Mike into submission. The short stack with Overs is unsurprisingly busted. We are currently 7-handed and have a feeling we won’t be picking up many players from now on.

10:22 PM: Shocking development: a $4/$8 regular, that may or may not read my blog, just sat in $15/$30 with $1700. In the 3+ years I’ve been playing here regularly I’ve seen him play $8/$16 once or twice so… kind of a big deal. Good luck!

11:23 PM: I’ve gone stagnant. Except for this hand:

One player limps, I raise 88 from cutoff. Four players to Q86, two heart flop. The limper donks into me, I raise, the BB calls, limper calls.

Turn 5 and they both check-call.

River is a sexy 9 of hearts. So like I’m never winning now. Limper bets, I call, and lose to his 52 of hearts.

I won a couple decent pots while I was typing this. Back to +$1700.

Two players just left though and we are 6-handed now and no longer chopping in the blinds – or what I like to call My Happy Place.

12:17 AM: Updates are going to be hard to come by. We are playing 4-handed now so I can’t really take any breaks and I’m playing basically every hand dealt to me.

12:47 AM: 3-handed now… because a player busted on this hand:

First to act opens, button 3-bets, small blind caps, and I have AQo in the big blind. And I want to fold it. Ludicrous. That’s ludicrous, right?

I just think the button is 3-betting tighter than he should be and I know the small blind is capping a narrow range.

But we’re 4-handed. Folding is ludicrous. It has to be. So I call.

Flop is AJ8 rainbow. SB leads, I raise, UTG folds, the button calls, BB 3-bets, I call, button caps. Goddammit.

The turn is a blank and the BB has one big bet left so he puts it in. Sigh. Can I possibly fold now? Knowing the button will raise here a lot? Ugh. I call, button raises, I CALL.

River is not a Queen. This is swell. Just swell. Now I’m heads up against the only player with an Overs button. And I have the best hand like never. He bets and I still want to fold. For the third time. But then I start looking at the pot size and, I mean, how can I?

I call. Button has A8. Small blind has AK.

Total disaster.

And to illustrate how hard it is to update playing 3-handed, I started this post at 12:47 am and it’s now 1:24.

So… don’t expect anymore updates until these guys give up.

2:55 AM: Just got home. Wrap up coming soon.

3:22 AM: I’m going to be honest. I just put on a 3-handed clinic. I also ran better than both of my opponents, which didn’t hurt. And I got one hell of a compliment. After absolutely torturing them and sending one of them to the felt, he turned to me and said “you’re a great player, man.” He was sincere, which was surprising because I could see how visibly frustrated he was. That was about the last thing I was expecting.

I was obviously in a pretty good position before we got super short, so it should be no surprise that after running good in that situation I finished in a very good spot… at +$2725.

It’s always nice when you set a goal and exceed it!

My friend BVR is threatening to make an appearance next week in the comments. That should definitely be entertaining if he follows through!

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 9 Comments »

Marathon Monday: 12+ Hours of $15/$30 LHE – A Live Blog!

November 27, 2017

7:15 AM: Alarm goes off. Time to get to it!

7:23 AM: Welcome to Marathon Monday! Bookmark this post and check back throughout the day as I will be updating all day long when something interesting happens or at least every 90 minute break.

I slept like absolute crap last night. I took a nap in the middle of the day yesterday and decided it would be a good idea to drink some coffee to give myself a boost for my second shift on Global Poker, so I was drinking caffeine as late as 6 PM. Not sure if it was the caffeine or if I’m just anxious to play poker today – Mondays at the Palace have quickly become my favorite work day. Either way, it felt like I was never able to fully rest last night. Could make for a tough day, but I still feel pretty good right now.

8:05 AM: Arriving at Crunch Fitness for some pre-session yoga and light lifting. I could sleep an extra two hours by cutting this out but I’m determined to commit to yoga, so here I am.

9:57 AM: Back home with Starbucks coffee and sausage sandwich. 19 people signed up to start $15/$30 today… let’s see how many of them actually show up at 11 AM. I predict we start without a full game again.

10:58 AM: 6 seated players with chips so far! Lol! If you build it they will come though. Took a couple hours to fill up last week but I bet it’s full before noon today.

11:03 AM: Cards in the air. Started 6-handed… 13 no shows and 1 flake. Maybe they don’t know the game starts at 11?

11:08 AM: AT > AK on KQ97J and we have sugar 16 hours earlier than we did last week!

11:22 AM: A player joins the game and he’s one of the all-time biggest maniacs I’ve ever seen. Yum yum! He’s also the player that sat down and busted last week when I was on a 5 minute break. He did buy an extra $200 this week.

11:26 AM: We have a full game! This likely won’t be a super marathon. I have an appointment in Bellevue at 8 AM so no 16 hour craziness today but I’ll be here til at least 11 PM.

11:51 AM: Just found a way to lose to 44 with 77 on a 762 two heart flop. Three bets pre, three bets flop. Yawn.

12:43 PM: So much for early sugar. Another brilliant $15/$30 start. I think I’m down about $700 already thanks to that 77 hand, KQ < K9 on a K9x flop, a couple nut draws that missed, and my one premium pocket pair that went down in flames like this:

I raise JJ under the gun, next player calls, and maniac defends big blind. Flop is 642 with two hearts – I have J of hearts and lead, next guy raises, maniac calls, I 3-bet, cap, call, call.

Turn is 2h and I check and overcall. Last time UTG+1 played like this he had top two so I assume he’s strong again.

River is an Ace. It checks around and the maniac wins with A3o.

Also, when the player to my left sat down this morning – after asking me if I used to work here when we played together two weeks ago, like he didn’t remember me – he asked me why he hasn’t seen me on T.V. yet. Okay, buddy.

1:08 PM: The maniac has felted after buying in for $500 and peaking at $1300. I almost got none of it but this was his last hand:

Multiple limpers, he raises cutoff, I 3-bet ATdd from the button, some fold, some call, he caps, and at least five of us see the flop.

It is pretty nice: K83 with two diamonds. The small blind leads out, a call, maniac raises, I 3-bet, call, call, maniac all in.

Turn Qd! I can see the light! I bet and small blind calls.

I don’t hit the $4766 Diamond Royal Flush on the river but I do get paid off and the maniac somehow doesn’t fill up with KQ.

A very nice pot on the brink of a reload.

2:40 PM: It’s not all bad! Thanks to the pot above, a couple small ones, and a set of 9s before taking this break, I am now down only ~$275.

2:54 PM: The Riddler is badgering me for updates. I just ordered two bottles of water so someone can take my extra one later without asking. Also just made my first ace high call down of the day – it wasn’t good.

3:30 PM: Not really sure about this one. One limper, I raise KTss, couple cold calls, and 4-ways to KJ9 one spade flop. I decide to check because a free card can’t hurt me too much and this is a flop I don’t really want to get heavy action on. It checks around.

The turn is a 7s, so now I have all sorts of good things going on: top pair, double gutter, flush draw. The preflop limper bets out and I raise it, planning to take a free showdown and bet when I improve.

I don’t know about this play though. The pot is big enough that I don’t really mind driving players out, but my draw is also so big I don’t really mind letting them see the river either.

I think it’s pretty close, but it feels less close when they all fold and I get 3-bet. Ugh.

I miss and he wins with KJ.

4:10 PM: I’m getting wrecked by a nit today. It’s pretty embarrassing… but I didn’t know yet!

Game climate has definitely taken a turn for the worse. My favorite player lately ended up passing and leaving and now we are getting Radio Mike instead.

4:18 PM: Yikes. I just cold called a raise thinking I was opening AJo from MP. This is a hand I would actually fold to an EP raise against a reasonable player.

Instead I wind up losing lots of bets to the big blind’s A9 after seeing an A98T4 run out.

And now I’m reloading. In for $2800.

Maybe it’s time to refocus.

4:54 PM: Was on the verge of disaster before winning the last two hands before this break, which included a rather spicy open with K8cc from a position that wasn’t the button, or the cutoff, or the hi-jack…. and got to show Radio Mike trips when he defended and called me down.

I already received a text about that one.

The session hasn’t been going well. Here’s a hand that I wasn’t very happy about:

Two limpers, small blind calls, I check ATo. I raise sometimes here but I check this time.

Flop is 542 and the first limper bets, button calls, SB calls, I call. You could debate folding this, but I’m not really convinced anyone has anything. I admit a 3 or an A might not be great cards, so maybe I should fold actually.

The turn is my nut card: a T. I check, planning to raise the field since I expect the flop bettor to bet most of the time – he has a very itchy trigger finger. But it checks through.

K on the river and now I’m bluff-catching. I check, first limper bets, button – a new player to me that seems to lack experience – calls, and I overcall and lose to button’s K7o. Just beautiful.

I think I’m down around $800-$1000 at the moment.

5:04 PM: I sit down and try to buy the button for $30 (it’s only $20) and the dealer is confused. He gives me back $10. I put it back in. I’m confused.

I say, “I don’t know what game I’m playing.”

Radio Mike says, “that would explain a lot.”

5:28 PM: I pick up AA, which is only the second time all day I’ve had JJ+, and open with a raise. One player and a blind calls.

Flop is 772 rainbow and I bet and only the cold caller stays.

Turn is a 9 and I’m considering check-raise but decide to lead and he raises me! Goodness. This isn’t a player I expect to raise light here so I’m already mentally preparing for the bad news. I call.

River is a blank and I check-call and he shows… 98ss, for one pair. The heck? I’ll take it!

5:46 PM: How do you put a stop to some solid momentum? Like this:

MP opens, I 3-bet KJhh and we go four ways to a J43 with two hearts flop. Three of us end up capping the flop, with the other PFR and myself putting in the bets and raises.

Turn pairs the 3 and they both check-call me.

River is a 2h and now the small blind leads out. Okay, I’m still raising here. But then the PFR makes it $60. How is this real? Now I can’t beat much. Maybe QThh or some other overplay. This player doesn’t have to have the nuts here, so I’m never folding. I call, SB calls, and the other player wins with AThh. So sick!

7:26 PM: If you’re wondering why I haven’t updated it’s because I’m completely and utterly card dead. They did just let me win with KQ though. I have about $1900 in front of me, so I’m down $900. ~3.5-4 hours to right this ship!

8:08 PM: One of my favorite players is in the game for multiple buy ins. He’s the guy that capped pre with 82cc, then capped the 532 flop, in an epic hand against me when I flopped a wheel.

I will refer to him as The Human Torch going forward.

8:19 PM: Momentum! Thanks to some battles with my friend Ryan O.

He opens, player B calls, I 3-bet AKo from the big blind (I would flat here like 10%) and Ryan caps it.

Flop is King high, two middle cards. I check, Ryan bets, B raises… B has like one big bet left, so I think the best way to maximize is to cold call this bet and lead the turn. So that’s what I do. Ryan calls flop and then calls the turn when a blank hits and the flop raiser folds. What???

River is another K. I bet and my hand wins.

On my button, the hi jack limps in and I raise with J9dd. Both blinds defend and the limper calls.

Flop is J53 with one diamond. Everybody calls me.

Turn is a 6 of spades, opening up a flush draw. Everyone checks to me and honestly, I think this is close to a check. Very close. The turn is pretty good for the two blinds check-calling ranges. I can check and fold to bad river cards, or call one bet with a decent pair, or bet if they all check again.

I bet though and Ryan check-raises me from the big. Ew. The limper tanks for a very long time and then folds. I call.

River is a Q and Ryan checks. I’m very happy about this because it means I might win. I check back. He shows J8 of spades and I do win. Limper that folded on the turn claims QJ. Wow. Thanks Ryan!

Thanks to these pots and another huge hand where it was capped multiway preflop and I flopped a flush with AKcc, I am now down about $500.

8:44 PM: The Riddler is on the $15/$30 list and now I’m thinking maybe I’ll never go home tonight.

8:52 PM: I have acquired the Jesus Seat. I went from having The Torch, Peter, and Ryan on my immediate left to having all three of them on my immediate right. Radio Mike moves into my old seat and I chuckle inside.

9:15 PM: We have sugar!!

I open 66 from maybe too early of a position. I get 3-bet, Radio Mike caps it, The Torch is in. We are five ways capped to a pretty decent 655 flop.

I check. Radio Mike bets, The Torch torches – and has two small bets behind – so I make it look like I’m thinking about isolating him and 3-bet it. One player takes all three bets to the face but Mike just calls. Whoops.

Maybe I should have flatted. I could sell a hand like 88 or 99 by calling but now Mike is on defense. The Torch puts in his last small bet and I get four bets four ways after flopping a full house.

The board comes running deuces and everyone pays me off and The Torch helps me get the flop capped holding… 98.

I am up like $20 now.

9:27 PM: The Riddler is in the game. I don’t know what happened, but Peter is showing him the A6 on the J22K6 run out and The Riddler is looking at 55 like wtf just happened.

10:21 PM: Peter’s doom switch has been activated.

First, he has J9 on a 95597 board in a very large pot and he waits until the river to raise it. He’s heads up and his opponent calls with… 97.

The runout is bad enough but when he just gets called he knows he’s never losing this massive pot – and then he does.

Shortly afterwards I pick up the QJdd UTG and it winds up getting three bet and four or five us see the ATx flop, with one diamond. I check-call a bet from Peter and another player tags along.

Turn is 8d and I check-call again. Radio Mike also sticks around.

River is 6d and I lead out? Eh. Pretty safe river. I can probably check-raise and it’s even more apparent when Peter flats and shows a set of Aces. Whoops!

11:13 PM: The Riddler wanted an update so bad he decided to do something crazy:

He opens from EP and I 3-bet AK and we go heads up to the K64 flop. I bet, he calls.

Turn is a T and now he check-raises. I call.

River 9. Bet call.

I say, “I really don’t see how you can have me beat here”

“Like that,” he says – and snap rolls QJ.

I mean… I just… I can’t even…

12:30 AM I am home now. Sometimes you rack up and leave. Sometimes you rack up and play another orbit.

I posted another big blind. Someone limped in, Radio Mike raised it, I 3-bet TT and they both call.

The flop is 8 high and I bet, limper calls, Mike raises, I 3-bet, the limper folds and Mike calls.

Turn and river are blanks and Mike calls me down with… JJ.

I post the small blind. It folds to Ryan O in the cutoff and he opens. Folds to me in the small blind and I 3-bet because Ryan’s cutoff opening range is disgustingly wide. The big blind calls and Ryan calls.

Flop is AKQ and I check. Let’s be honest. This is not a good flop for me. If I can show my hand down cheaply I’m okay with that. If the big blind shows aggression I might end up folding. He checks though and Ryan bets. I call. Big blind folds.

Turn is a blank and I check-call.

River is a K and I check. This is a card I expect Ryan to check a lot, but he bets and I can’t help but ask “does that mean I was winning the whole time?”

Yes… Yes it does. I call and he shows K3o.

I did pick up KK this last orbit, but I got minimal action and a board that ran out poorly for me.

I’m really loving the $15/$30 game and the action has been really good, but it was another subpar session for me. I was stuck almost all day and finally got back to even, only to have a bunch of bad run outs push me back down right before I left.

I ended up finishing the day -$695. Not sure how I’m going to sleep tonight knowing that The Riddler is out there somewhere playing poker with red chips.

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 4 Comments »

Marathon Monday: $15/$30 Debuts @ Palace! (A Live Blog)

November 20, 2017

10:50 AM: Arriving at Palace and ecstatic to see 17 names on the list for this game. Last time I was here – late on Wednesday night – there were only 5 names on the list and I was legitimately concerned that this might not happen.

I like to buy in for at least 37.5 big bets for LHE games, but I typically buy bigger for red chip games. I will be sitting down with $1500.

11 AM: Okay, make that 20 names on the list. Not sure how many of them are actually here.

11:06 AM: Cards in the air starting 6-handed with the 20th name on the list getting a seat. Oh oh.

11:19 AM: Still 6-handed. I can see three people on the list that are in other games right now. If you scared, say you scared!

12:07 PM: This is fun. We are still 6-handed and the only reason this game is going is because the right players are losing (me!) and right players are winning.

Currently -$500 as the only pots I’ve won are preflop steals and small continuation bluffs.

I just had this awesome hand: open 66; cutoff and button cold call and big blind defends. Flop 742 two diamonds, I bet and get two callers. Turn 7h, opening up backdoor flush draw. I bet and both call again. River is a black ten and I check-call, losing to T8 of hearts.

12:13 PM: We gain our first player! And he’s a certifiable maniac. Game on!

12:37 PM: Taking my first break. I’m down $500 and still haven’t won a showdown. I was pretty close to reloading – which is at about 1.5 racks for me – but I just made a flush in a decent pot and didn’t get called on the river.

Had our first hit and run. No surprise there. Picked up two players though – we are now 8-handed.

12:46 PM: A new player sat down with $300 as I was getting up to take my break and was busto before I sat back down 8 minutes later.

1:16 PM: Game fills up for the first time!

People buying in for $500 and taking $20/$40 overs buttons. Uhm. Okay.

1:23 PM: The maniac is batting 1.000 against me. Seems like KJ will turn the tides on KJx two club flop but he check-raises me on 9c turn, and I decide to call down unimproved. He shows JJ and his expert slow play costs him multiple bets. Bright side?

Still haven’t won a showdown. Down ~$800 and working on my Zen deep breathing exercises!

1:35 PM: Reloaded! In for $2500.

1:46 PM: Early break. I’m officially steaming.

Maniac raises three limpers, I cold call KT of clubs, and we go six ways to T84 with two spades. Everybody checks to me and I bet. Folds to the maniac and he check-raises me. Unbelievable. I call him down and he shows me 44. Dude risks a free card in a huge pot with 5 opponents just so he can raise me? Oh, it hurts! This dude is SMASHING me.

2:06 PM: I’m down over $1100. I still haven’t won a showdown. The maniac has over $1600 in front of him on my direct right. If the Poker Gods really hate me today, he will rack up and leave in the next hour.

2:33 PM: I three bet a LAG with 66 and flop middle set. The flush gets there on the river and I’m actually ever so slightly disappointed when I don’t get check-raised. I won my first showdown! 3.5 hours into my session – and I was playing 6-handed for over an hour. Pretty impressive.

2:40 PM: I sit down and buy the button and the maniac button straddles. I defend Q9dd and two others come along. The pot doesn’t go off for five bets each so I might actually have a shot here.

Flop is QJ8 one diamond and only the maniac calls my flop lead. Check around on 9 turn and he calls when I bet the 9 river. He shows J8. We are breaking some serious ice here! Maniac is no longer 100% against me and I sucked out on him.

Finally picking up a little momentum with four showdowns won in the last hour.

3:30 PM: The Legend is in the box. The mother#%$*ing Legend!

3:47 PM: Someone asks for a setup. There’s no escaping that nonsense.

A short while ago, there were 11 names on the list, but when someone got up, half of them passed and now there are 6.

4:00 PM: Five hours into my session and I’m stuck $1200 or $1300. I have not been running good when I play pots but I’ve also been crazy card dead. I’ve had TT once. I’ve had JJ+ zero times.

This game is good right now but if the wrong people get up it could turn in a hurry. Three of the next four players on the list are either solid or nitty.

4:37 PM: Finally picked up QQ! In a 3-bet multiway pot no less. Didn’t show it down but I’ll take it.

Also added on for another $1000, so I’m in this game for $3500 now. I can hardly wait for people to stop by and comment on how well I’m doing.

5:24 PM: The maniac just cashed out. For like $200. He peaked around $1700, mostly winning pots against me. I got basically none of that back as he sprayed it around to everyone else. I’m still -$1500. His departure and replacement by a nit makes this game significantly worse.

6:09 PM: My buddy Peter sits down an hour ago and just immediately goes to crushing and already has a $499 jackpot under his belt. Dealer didn’t see the straight flush and I was trying to back him up, but they are paying Peter anyway.

6:22 PM: Peter raises a series of limpers and I 3-bet AK from the small blind. Limpers fold! Well that certainly doesn’t happen in a Palace $8/$16 game. 3-handed and I bet A98 and they both call (Overs). Turn is a 7. I bet, one snap folds, and Peter tank-folds and asks “Ace no good, right?” Claims A2. Peter, always a thorn in my side.

6:30 PM: Cha Mang in the game. Getting close to house game status.

7:07 PM: Just a brutal session so far. Currently stuck about $1800. Still super card dead and any step forward is followed by three steps back. Absolutely no momentum in 8+ hours of play. The game is far worse than it was a few hours ago. There’s a chance I might not try to stretch this into Marathon territory tonight.

7:19 PM: Now I’m really on tilt. Cha just took my extra water because he “didn’t want to wait for the server to come back around.” Oh, really?

8:04 PM: Captain America is in the box. I told him he probably won’t be saying “thank you” to me tonight and he promptly deals me QQ which flops top set and holds up somehow.

Before that, I picked up AJdd in the small blind. Peter raises the whole table on the button and since the limpers have been folding to 3-bets I just call and play a multiway pot.

The flop is all medium cards with two diamonds and I act without thinking – I check. With the PFR on the button I actually like leading out here better as it gives the field a chance to call one bet before Peter likely raises. I want to get as many bets in on the flop as I can and betting is the best way to do this. Especially since Peter isn’t a reckless c-bettor. If he flopped no immediate equity, he’s not torching a bet here.

He does check and I get zero bets in on the flop. Ugh.

Turn is another small or medium card and I don’t think I will win by betting so I check. There’s a bet, a raise, and a cold call back to me and this pot is large enough for me to continue.

It stays at two bets and, by God, I make my flush. Two players call and I scoop my only substantial pot of the day. Currently at -$1300.

9:12 PM: I’m finally on a little heater. Sets and overpairs winning showdowns and my buddy Radio Mike sits down and immediately tries to triple barrel bluff me with AK high in a four bet four-way pot. I call down with 99 on T High run out. Only stuck $1100 now. I actually thought I was in better shape than that, but I’ll take the forward momentum!

10:29 PM: Heater over. Back to card dead and flop whiffs. Back to -$1500. Radio Mike’s been playing for 90 minutes and has had QQ+ three more times than I’ve had them in 11.5 hours.

11:42 PM: Peter is no longer running good. He is running really, really bad. Like so bad, I can see that he’s in actual physical pain.

And then this hand happens:

Two players limp in, Peter calls, I check with AJo from the BB, which is something I basically never do in this situation so maybe I’m on tilt myself. But really I’ve been whiffing so many flops that I’ve been doing a lot of raising pre and checking on the flop. So I decide to check in bad position with a strong hand.

Flop is A62 rainbow and Peter leads from the small blind. Very tempting to raise here but the pot is micro and I have a monster for this situation. I flat and so do the other two players.

Turn is a 5 and now Peter checks. I bet, one caller, and Peter check-raises! What?! I can’t fold here so I call and so does our straggler.

River is another 5 and now Peter checks! I think about for quite some time before saying “I want the pain” and betting. The other player folds and Peter shows immediate vocal and physical exasperation which is basically like turning A2 face up. He doesn’t though. He folds it instead.

I’ve had some better luck recently and am currently stuck less than $1000 for the first time in HOURS!

12:45 AM: The Riddler distracting me for the last half hour.

1:15 AM: After going my first 14 hours of this session without getting AA, I get them twice in three hands, the first time flopping A99 in a 4-bet pot. I have come all the way back to -$500. I can still salvage this thing!

1:27 AM: AA again! Crazy how these streaks happen. All three hands good too.

1:32 AM: Variance is INSANE. AA again! Four times in less than 20 minutes. That’s just crazy.

1:50 AM: I took a short break as a player was cashing out and there were 6 people still on the list. I somehow came back to a 7-handed game with no list 5 minutes later.

3:35 AM: I just got home. I was severely distracted my last few hours, but a flurry of KK and QQ followed those Aces and somehow managed to book a +$25 win for the day. Perhaps the best $25 I’ve ever made. I’ve been stuck more chips in a poker game and booked a win, but I’ve never been stuck $1800 and booked one. I would say it feels amazing but I’m too drained and tired to feel anything. Looking forward to a real day off tomorrow!

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | Leave a Comment »

$20/$40 Mega Heater & Incoming Jinx

November 18, 2017

The coolest thing about tracking your poker results with a phone app is the ability to filter all sorts of information. For instance, my data goes back to August of 2014 and I can tell you that I’ve lost more money playing $8/$16 Omaha 8/Better @ The Orleans in Las Vegas than I have in any other specific game during that time span. Or that I’ve lost more money at Muckleshoot than any other location… by far.

The reason I bring this up is because it felt like I’ve been running way above average in the $20/$40 LHE game at Fortune lately. So I did a little filtering and discovered that my hunch wasn’t wrong.

While it hasn’t felt like I’ve been absolutely murdering the game per say, it has felt like I haven’t had to face much negative variance in a long time. I regularly post wins of 5+ racks in the Palace $8/$16 game, but those 5+ rack wins have been much harder to come by at the $20/$40 level and I only have one such win in this 15-session sample size I’m about to mention. Still, I’m on a run so good I thought it might be unprecedented in my statistical history (it’s not – but I’ll get to that later).

This is what it looks like:

-Since May 1st, I’ve played 15 sessions of $20/$40 at Fortune and I’ve only lost twice.
-My worst loss is -$199 during that span.
-It’s not like I’m hit and running: I average 7.5 hours/session during this stretch.
-I’ve won nine sessions in a row.
-My best win is +$2907 and that’s my only win of 4+ racks during this stretch.
-The overall damage is +317 Big Bets at 2.84 BB/HR.

This is not normal. Since I’ve been tracking on this app, I’ve played 824 sessions of LHE in casinos and I’ve won in 54% of them. Over those 824 sessions, I’ve won at a 1.12 Big Bet/hour rate overall across all limits, so I’m a solid winner, but I still lose almost half the time I sit down to play LHE poker. There’s a lot of losing that goes on in poker and heaters like this are pretty rare, so you really have to enjoy them when they do happen.

Out of curiosity I filtered those 824 sessions down to sessions of 6+ hours to see if it makes a difference. It does. My winning percentage jumps up to 61% over 431 sessions.

As I discovered, this is not the best heater I’ve been on in a specific game at a specific casino. Unsurprisingly, I’ve had better runs in the $8/$16 LHE game at Palace in Lakewood.

I have multiple impressive streaks at Palace but this is by far my best one:

-From June 23rd to August 10th of last year I had 14 straight winning $8/$16 sessions at the Palace.

-My best win was +$2377 which happened to be on my birthday and still ranks as my best $8/$16 win of all-time.

-Overall, I won 493 big bets for a win rate of 5.5 BB/HR during this crazy stretch.

What a sick run! But the timing of it makes it even crazier. I had just got back from a massive run at the 2016 WSOP and in early August I was on a road trip and played a $30/$60 with a $50/$100 kill at Ameristar in Colorado where I had my best cash game session ever: +$4245.

All in all, quite a life-changing nine weeks.

But the thing about streaks is that they all end eventually. I don’t expect to win every time I play $20/$40 and I keep expecting to book that inevitable brutal loss. It will happen. So will a bad downswing.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if I jinxed this run good just by mentioning it!

Now on to some fun hands from this past week.

How Not To Play Kings

Hand #1

$20/40, I open from a later position with AJo and the button three bets me. The flop comes down AJx and I check-call the flop, check-raise the turn, and get paid off on the river by… KK. I feel like there may have been an opportunity to save a bet in there somewhere… I dunno.

Hand #2

$20/$40, same opponent, next day. They open UTG, an exceptionally loose player calls from MP, and I defend AJ from the BB. I check and overcall on A75 with two hearts flop. Same action on blank turn. River is the 9h, completing the flush draw and the 86 straight draw and I check and overcall again. And UTG tables… KK! Lol. My hand is good. I feel like maybe a bet could be saved somewhere but I dunno.

Hand #3

$20/$40, someone I’m unfamiliar with opens from MP as I 3-bet AQ, they flat, and then check-raise me on J73 with two diamonds. I call with my two overcards and backdoor nut flush draw. The turn is a pretty Q and now they check? Easy bet. River blank and I bet the obvious best hand and they call with… KK! This hand plays out the same way if they bet the turn and river but in that scenario I don’t think I have the nuts!

How I Play Kings… Sometimes

$20/$40, a very wide and aggressive – and reckless – player opens from EP, everyone else folds, and I defend KK from the BB. I like to have some strong hands in my defending range and I think it helps me collect extra big bets later in the hand.

The flop is 873 and I check-raise. Even though I’d ultimately like to check-raise the turn, I mix in some flop check-raising a portion of the time as I will occasionally be able to get three bets in on the flop and still check-raise the turn. My opponent just calls though.

The turn is a T and now they raise my bet. I think it’s still far too likely that my hand is good here – especially since it’s disguised, so I three bet and they snap-cap it. Gulp.

River pairs the board and I check-call while wishfully saying, “I hope you have Queens!” And they table… QQ. Yay! Now that’s a 4-betting the turn hand if I’ve ever seen one!

It’s Hard To Play A Full House Bad

But watch me do it!

$20/$40, another player I’m unfamiliar with opens from MP and I 3-bet 77 on the button. The small blind, a tight and solid player, calls which indicates a pretty strong holding and the original raiser now caps it.

The flop is J87 rainbow and the small blind leads out, the preflop capper calls, I raise, SB three bets, and I cap.

Turn is a J and the SB leads out again. The other player calls and I raise it. They both call.

I think this is some pretty optimistic thinking on my part. I have history with the small blind in O8, but not in LHE. I know she is a nitty player. I’m honestly not sure if she would call three bets with suited Broadway hands, so one has to wonder how many Jacks she has in her range. Even if she does call those hands, I highly doubt she goes crazy with them on this flop against an obviously nutted holding.

So what can she have? T9 suited? I really doubt it. It really feels like she has to have 88 here and this is running through my head as early as the flop action.

So what the hell am I doing on the turn?

But wait, it gets worse!

The river is a Queen and as that card hits the board I am watching the other player in the hand and he has a reaction to it.

But how can I check back a full house? Especially when it seems like only both of my opponents could very well have me beat now.

I bet, the small blind calls, and now the other player springs to life with a raise.

WOW, I SUCK.

I can basically throw my hand in a garbage can now – it’s that worthless. But I call. So does the small blind, now looking at me like “how big of an idiot are you?”

But my live read was a bad one. He reacted to the Q for some reason but he doesn’t have QQ. He has JJ. Quads. And she has 88.

A mega-cooler for sure, but goodness it’s hard to play a hand as bad as I played this one.

This Time I Have The Damn Nuts

$20/$40, I try to isolate a super loose player by raising 66 from the hi-jack but both the cutoff and the button come along for the ride.

Flop is TT9 with two clubs. Terrible board for me to c-bet since so many hands are calling even if they don’t have pairs yet. Everybody checks though.

The turn is a K and I have given up. Everybody checks though.

River is a J. Everybody checks and my hand is good.

TT9KJ. Take it 66.

This is a $20/$40 game. I think the fact that my hand was good is amusing enough but three different players at this level actually let me show it down… is, well, hilarious to me.

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, no limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 2 Comments »

Marathon Monday: An Ugly Losing Session

November 14, 2017

Since I’ve started making regular blog posts I haven’t been doing much losing which has been pretty nice. I know it’s been overdue. And even though the end of this session doesn’t look horrible, it was actually quite brutal.

I got off to a pretty good start. After 3-4 hours, I was up around $500 total and I was getting really strong preflop holdings. I already had AA, KK, QQ, and JJ multiple times each and I did pretty good with them except the one time my KK ran into AA.

I had another hand where I raised in LP with AT with the T of diamonds and decided to peel one when I got donked into on the J32 two diamond flop with one caller in between. The turn was the 7 of diamonds and I overcalled another bet. The river was the K of diamonds and now the caller in between leads out? I call, the other player folds, and I beat his set of threes. Eh. I wonder. Peeling this flop with the A of diamonds might make sense, but the T of diamonds might be too optimistic. Or maybe folding getting 10-1 is too weak? I don’t know. A spot worth examining more. That line with a set though? LOLOLOL.

An All-Time Classic – Super Torch

This is another hand that occurred during the first few hours of the day and, oh boy, was it a true gem. The action folds around to the button – a player that has become a recent regular and has a rather insane and unorthodox style that frequently includes absurd aggression as you’ll see. In this hand, he open-limps the button, I look down at A4 of diamonds in the small blind and raise it. The big blind – a player I would describe as overly aggressive and borderline maniacal – three bets it, and now the button turns his open-limp on the button monster into a 4-betting hand. Okay.

Andrew Neeme would probably describe the flop as “favorable:” 532 rainbow. The flop is capped and I put in zero of the bets or raises. I just knew these guys were going to go off and I wouldn’t have to reveal my hand strength until the turn.

The turn completes the rainbow with a Ten, the big blind bets and the button comes forward with two stacks of 8 chips lined up about to raise and then decides at the last second, right before the betting line, to just call. Technically, with a forward motion rule at this casino, one could enforce a raise here, but that’s definitely not my style. I enforce it the old fashioned way – by making it two bets myself. They both call.

The river is an 8. I bet, the big blind calls, and now the button raises! I am not afraid of the nuts here, so I have an easy raise, except the button only has three chips left after making it two bets. Obviously it is better for me to just call and let the big blind put in eight more chips than it is for me to raise him out of the pot, so I just call. And since I’m sitting in seat 9 and the button is in seat 8 and the big blind probably can’t hear me from seat 1, I quietly tell the button I still have him beat, so that my sudden passivity doesn’t make him think he’s won the pot. The big blind calls and I fast roll my straight. It’s good.

For whatever reason, the button decides to table his hand and shows… 82 of clubs.

Now go back and read that hand again. Enjoy!

$499 Jackpot! Club Straight Flush

As I’ve noted before, the reason Mondays are so popular now is because every jackpot that is not a Royal Flush is worth $499. On this hand, the cutoff open-limps and I look down at 54 of clubs on the button. I call? I raise?

Three players to the 732 flop with the 7 and 3 of clubs. There’s some action and we see the 6 of clubs on the turn – straight flush! Jackpot!

All of this is true… except one thing:

I folded before the flop.

I think one could argue that I could play this hand in this spot, but it’s really an unattractive situation. If I do play, I’m going to be raising to isolate the limper and use my position to try and win the pot, regardless of whether I hit the board or not. There are a lot of hands I’d do this with – 5 high is typically not one of them. The jackpot overlay isn’t enough to sway my decision. I wouldn’t even think about playing hands like 52s or 84s here and I don’t think 54s is doing much better.

Interestingly enough, the limper ended up winning this pot with 52 suited and that makes her an absolute prime candidate to isolate on the button with any reasonable holding. If I had seen this showdown before this situation arose, I may have won an extra $500 yesterday.

AK Is The Nuts, Right?

A player opens, I three bet with AK and we head to a flop with 4 or 5 players. It’s a pretty one: AK3! I bet and one or two players call.

The turn is a Q and now the original preflop raiser check-raises me. Interesting. I feel like he rarely has JT here. He strikes me as the kind of player that would typically limp JT suited. So he’s repping AQ, KQ, or QQ – and maaaaaaybe AK. I feel like he would bet or raise the flop with AQ or AK, so I’m somewhat discounting those hands. So this is an exercise in hand-reading and recognizing available combos. There are only three combos of QQ. There are four combos of AK, six combos of AQ, and six combos of KQ. Out of his most likely hands (and there could be some spazzy AJ or QT type stuff too, though unlikely) only three out of 19 possible combos beat me. Even if we add in four combos of JT suited, that’s 7 combos out of 23 possible and we are still doing very well against his range. Using hand-reading, I’d say his most likely hands are QQ and KQ and going off his preflop flat call of my 3-bet and check-call on the flop, I’d lean towards KQ – and there are twice as many combos of that hand as there are of QQ anyway. So I think this is a pretty easy 3-bet all things considered.

I raise and he calls and now I feel better about my hand.

The river is a blank, I bet again, he calls, and I lose to QQ.

A Painful Fold

In this hand, there’s a button straddle, the small blind calls, and I just call with A8 suited in the big blind. I think in this situation, I prefer to encourage other people to enter the pot rather than try (usually unsuccessfully) and isolate from one of the worst positions with the whole field left to act behind me and the button basically never folding. I think the small blind calling with help create a multiway pot as well. The under the gun player three bets, another player calls, a maniac calls, and the button, small blind and myself all call.

The flop is K86 with two diamonds. This pot is large and I have enough of this board that I want to create the best chance for me to win the pot. I think that’s by donking into the preflop raiser and hoping he will force the rest of the field to call two bets cold. So I bet, but he just calls, so do two other players and the button raises. If I can get heads up here, I think it drastically improves my winning chances, so I three bet in the hopes of narrowing the field. It doesn’t go well: the PFR and maniac stay in and the button caps it. We all call.

The turn is a 4 and everybody checks. My hand seems better now.

The river is a 7 and it checks to the maniac. He bets and the button calls. Hmmmm. I had the button on a draw when he checked back the turn after capping the flop, but this call is perplexing. This is one of those spots where it’s okay to take some extra time and really think it through. The maniac can literally have anything and if the button didn’t call, this would be a snap for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about it long enough and I made a hasty fold. The maniac shows A6o and the button shows J6 of diamonds before tossing his hand in the muck. In retrospect, the button’s hand made perfect sense and if I really thought about it, I think I can recognize that he flopped a diamond draw that paired at some point. It’s possible he could have 64dd, 76dd, or 74dd – all of which made two pair – but the rest of his flush draw hands end up with one pair only – and he would certainly bet the turn with 64dd. UGH.

The rest of my session was a rollercoaster of variance that ended with a plummet. I went from +$500 early in the day, to close to even, back to +$250, close to even, back to +$500 and then at 10.5 hours into the session, I was stuck for the first time all day after my AQ ran into AA on an A high flop in a capped preflop pot. It never got better for me after that hand as I was whiffing flops and draws pretty much every time I got involved.

And suddenly I felt really exhausted. I had been up since 7:15 AM, it was midnight, and I had been playing for around 12 hours. This was no different from last week except that I was now running absolutely terrible and it my alertness and focus was rapidly disappearing. I had been taking breaks every 90 minutes all day long and for the last 3 or 4 hours I hadn’t gotten up to clear my head and it occurred to me that my A-game was gone, the variance was taking a toll on me, and it was time to go home. I picked up at my lowest point of the day and booked a $303 loss. All in all, an incredibly disappointing session that could have been much better if I had played a 54 of clubs or called with that A8 and a reminder to keep taking those breaks and not get complacent deep into my sessions.

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, poker, poker sessions, poker strategy, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 2 Comments »

The Bat Cave