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$600 Limit Omaha 8 @ Venetian – Day Two: A Deep Run! (LIVE BLOG)

June 19, 2018

My latest update was Friday after busting the Golden Nugget 8-Game Mix much earlier than I wished. I ended up going back to our house and resting up. It seems weak, but I was harboring a secret.

Saturday I flew back to Seattle and headed to Anacortes for my niece’s graduation/18th birthday party and surprised my whole family by showing up when I had told everyone I wouldn’t be able to make it.

The Leak and I want to have a baby and with potential parenthood somewhere (hopefully) in our near future, I thought this could be the last (and first) time I could stay for the whole WSOP for maybe several years.

I was going to be selfish and not come home for this monumental event in my niece’s life. I justified it by thinking back to when I was her age and how much I cared if my aunts and uncles showed up for any of that stuff. I didn’t and they didn’t.

But I sure felt bad about it and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I had to be there, so I booked a round trip flight and got to spend this special day with my niece and the rest of my family and see my wife for the first time in 2+ weeks!

Congrats to Lexie! You have grown into a wonderful and absurdly mature young woman and I’m sure you will continue to do amazing things in your next phase of life at Portland University!

I was back in Vegas by midnight and Sunday morning I fired in the $1000 No Limit Hold’em Double Stack tournament.

I doubled up early when I opened with AJ of spades and c-bet the 882 two spade flop in a heads up pot. My opponent called. I turned the nut flush with the ten of spades and my opponent raised my 750 bet to 2000. I’m only losing to 88, 22, TT, and maybe T8 suited here so I expect to be winning most of the time here. I called and I was planning to check-call the river, but when he sized at 2500 and I studied him I decided that not only did I probably have the best hand but I was pretty sure he would call a jam also. He did and I was good.

What a great start!

Unfortunately that was my peak and I basically lost every pot I played after that.

Some of the key ones:

Under the gun opens to 350 at 75/150, there’s a flat and I look down at JJ. Kind of hate 3-betting JJ here, but with two players in and the opener only having about 20 bigs to start the hand I am quite happy to get it in against him, so I make it 1500 to go, planning to call a jam.

I did call a jam. But it came from a cold 4-bet all in of 40 big blinds from the small blind. The other two players folded and I was up against KK and failed to catch up.

I had already decided to call a jam when I 3-bet the JJ, but the plan was to call a 20bb jam, not a 40bb jam – that’s quite a difference and the range of hands that cold four from the blinds is much narrower than the ones the 20bb player might stack off with. I am definitely not enough of a NL tourney wizard to know the the definitive response but I suspect it’s closer to a fold than I initially thought. The problem at the time was I could lose 40bb and still have over 100bb and I was willing to flip at that point, if it indeed was a flip.

Alas, that started a pretty steady decline that culminated in a blind vs blind confrontation that saw it fold to me in the small blind and I looked down at AT against a very aggressive player in the big blind. He was super active and 3-betting a lot of hands, so when I raised it up I knew I was stuffing it on him if he 3-bet me. Sure enough he did, so I jammed it. I knew he had less chips than I did and he could easily eyeball my stack and see that that was the case and this prick still asked the dealer to count down my stack and made me wait a good twenty seconds before calling with… POCKET ACES.

What a douche.

I flopped a Broadway gutshot and I was pretty sure karma was going to bring it in but I bricked out and losing these 30 bigs left me with about 6-7 big blinds and I got my last 5.5 bigs in with AK vs 55 and lost the flip.

Just like that I was out in level 5 of a tournament I had doubled up early in. So goes my summer.

That was enough poker for me on Sunday but Tormund ended up making a deep run in the Double Stack, eventually busting in 542nd place for a min-cash.

Yesterday the $600 Limit Omaha 8 tournament at 4 PM at Venetian was my play.

I had nearly double starting stack in level 2 and by level 8 I was messaging The Joker wondering why my momentum seems to fall off a cliff after level 5 in every tournament I play this summer. Pretty much right after I did that things started to turn around for me and I ended up bagging 45.5k and coming back to blinds of 2000/4000 about 30 spots off the money.

I’m sure I have plenty of hands to talk about but this is the only one I’ll mention because it cracked me up.

Someone opens and I 3-bet with A236 all hearts on the button and he just calls. Not too sure about this play but I’m playing and I think playing heads up in position makes more sense than letting the blinds call cheaply, but I really don’t know.

Flop is 532 with two spades. Pretty bad for me, but I do have two pair and the second nut low. I’m getting scooped by A4 but that’s about it. He ends up betting all the way down on 532ssKs8s and I hate it… I hate it a lot… but he turns over AA87 with no spades. What.

I scoop.

Then he proceeds to stare daggers at me for the next several hours and eventually I just start busting out laughing. Like wtf. Is he bluffing on that hand? Using his two aces as blockers to A4… or does he have zero clue? Probably the latter.

Anyways, I bagged 45.5k and started today off extremely active. I’ve been involved in a lot of big pots. My stack peaked at 97.5k and fell all the way down to 25k after I opened AJ83 with hearts and the small blind 3-bet me. I decided to barrel off when I raised the KJ9hh flop and the board bricked me off with a 7 and a 9 and my opponent did not let his AA go. Holy hell. What a torch. Like 20 spots off the money when I was healthy. I mean, I think my line is fine but I need to save the 10k on the river bet. Once he calls the turn and the board pairs, he’s never folding, especially since I’m the one with the nut flush draw.

The next hand I opened AKK6 and a short stack raised me and I put him all in. He had AT53 and the board ran out Q5342. Pretty unreal.

That left me with 25k and I got that all in when the button opened my blind and I 3-bet A732 and bet dark and eventually got it all in on the turn and my aces and deuces with a 73 low was good for a double.

I flopped a full house a few hands later in a multiway pot and that brought me back up to 81.5k and I’m reminding myself not to get fancy and especially not to bluff calling stations.

I have 72k now and there are 35 players left. I am waiting to publish this until we are either in the money or I’m out. It would hurt too much to put the sweat on and then immediately bubble this thing.

Update: I still have 73k and there are 27 players left. We are redrawing for the final three tables and I just eyeballed all the stacks and I see about 5-6 that have 40k or less. It’s gonna be a race to the finish!

I really want to cash this thing just to stop the bleeding but my eyes are on first place. A min-cash in this thing doesn’t help my bottom line out too much. I need to ship it!

Playing in front of the stands (with not one person in them) and we aren’t even in the money yet!

6:22 PM: What a gift. One player limps, a short stack goes all in for 7k, the small blind is also short and calls the 7k and I call 1k more with J843. The four of us see the QT2 flop and everybody checks.

The turn is a 9, giving me the second nuts, while opening up a club flush draw (I have a jack high one). Eliminating players is obviously important but this pot is super critical to my stack so I bet to protect my hand and the limper calls and the small blind calls all in for less.

We do not want to see a club! River: 7 of diamonds! I bet, the limper folds, and my straight is good for everything, busting two players.

I now have 120k and there are 23 left.

6:59 PM: Please, please, PLEASE don’t. We are still at 23 and the collapse is on.

Folds to me in small blind, I raise AQ82 with spades. I double barrel J64ssK4 and check-fold river and he flashes me two jacks. Could have been worse, I guess.

Very next hand, someone opens and I 3-bet AAK5 with a suit on the button. I bet flop and then check down when the board runs out Q5267 and get scooped by A962.

Down to 72k.

7:10 PM: Without actually standing up and checking out all the stacks, I can see three people shorter than me, so I definitely have life here.

Sigh. And one of them just doubled as I typed this. Ugh.

7:19 PM: Whew. What a relief. We are in the money! I’m still in bad shape, so super happy to sneak in. Now I’m publishing and hopefully can start some run pure.

Let’s. Go.

7:28 PM: First hand after bubble bursts I post my big blind at 5k/10k with 60k to start. One player and SB limp, I check QT98 double suited.

Flop is A85 all hearts. I bet my queen high flush and only the limper calls.

Turn pairs the 5, I bet and he calls.

4 on river. I’m all in for less than a big bet, he calls and shows 5433 and his rivered boat sends me to the rail.

21st for $1200ish.

Wonderful. Published for five minutes and the sweat is over.

A bubble may have crushed my soul, so I guess I’m somewhat happy to cash something but this could have gone so much different. I could have saved 15k on that AJhh vs AA hand – or, God forbid, binked a heart or a straight for a huge scoop. Getting scooped back-to-back when I has AQ82 heads up vs the blind and AA5x heads up on the button absolutely derailed me.

FUCK!

My wife will be landing at midnight tonight and both of us will be playing the $1500 Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP tomorrow at 11 AM. It’s my best game and a tournament I have cashed two years in a row and plan on winning a bracelet in some day. Friday?

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, omaha, poker, poker strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 1 Comment »

Golden Nugget $250 8-Game Mix Tournament – A Tournament I Can WIN (LIVE BLOG)

June 15, 2018

How do I know this? Because I’ve won it before:

That’s me… in happier times… shipping my third huge score in less than three weeks in Vegas in 2016.

Here I am winning the Rio Daily Deep Stack for $36k a few weeks before that:

And here I am at a WSOP final table a week before that:

And here’s one of my dogs with a cone head:

Someone said my blog has been depressing lately and I can’t disagree. But sometimes depressing is the reality. Poker is a game with lots of variance and sometimes things go really good – like that stretch above that I’m trying to remind myself of – and sometimes they go really bad – like the career worst slide I’ve been on so far this trip.

The thing about playing bigger buy in tournaments is that when you get cold the losses add up really quick. It’s the reason I don’t mind selling action when I play bigger series. I’ve certainly been on worse tournament streaks, but never in this short amount of time for buy in sizes this big. It makes it seem so much worse than it really is but that’s why good bankroll management is absolutely key in maintaining longevity in this game.

Anyways, it’s kind of sad when you’re playing tournaments you can win outright and still not be even for the trip, but shipping this one would go a long ways towards turning things around.

I’ll be posting stack updates and some hands as the day progresses. Tormund is joining me today for this event.

Cards were in the air at 11 AM and it looks like we will be arriving about ten minutes late.

Let’s get one.

11:29 PM: You know you’re running bad when you lose one pot and your first instinct is to check and see if they allow re-entry.

(unlimited re-entry for eight levels)

11:37 PM: Bravo to Golden Nugget for putting limit Omaha 8 immediately after PLO. 🤦🏻‍♂️👏🏻

First hand of O8, the small blind calls my open raise with K875 and scoops me.

Poker is alive and well, folks.

12:00 PM: 2-7 Triple Draw, it folds to me in the small blind and I decide to just call with three deuces in my hand and two big cards. My opponent raises and I call, planning to snow at some point depending on how things play out since I’ve seen 75% of the best card. I draw four which gets laughs and he draws one.

I improve to 432xx and check-call a bet. I draw two and he stands pat.

I check dark, he bets, and I look down at 75432, also known as the mortal nuts.

Yikes. He’s not going to be pleased with this one. I raise and he ends up staying pat and calling me down.

Then I start with 843xx on the button, raise one limper, the small blind calls two bets cold and the big blind also defends.

The small blind draws four! Gotta love it. Totally similar spot as the last hand, buddy. The limper draws one, so even when I improve to a one card draw, I go ahead and check it back with four active players in the pot.

I make a perfect 8 after the second draw and I think that’s good enough to raise even when the big blind leads and the limper calls. They both call my raise and I’m happy to see the big blind draw one and the limper stand pat. It would be super weird for him to play his hand this way and have me beat.

I bet after the last draw when they both check and only the limper calls and my hand is good.

More great game sequencing: they follow up no limit hold’em with limit hold’em.

12:15 PM: And… all three stud variants are back-to-back-to-back also. Everything perfectly set up to maximize game change mistakes from everyone.

12:35 PM: Complete in Razz with AJ-5 trying to steal and get called by an ace.

On 4th I catch a queen but he catches a king so now I actually have the best hand (although it’s insanely rough). I bet and he calls. No surprise there.

I catch a wheel card on 5th and he catches an 8. I bet and he tank-calls. Sigh. Just fold, dude.

On 6th I catch another wheel card and he catches a nine. I bet and he tanks… and calls! Wtf.

I bet dark on 7th and he calls. Oh oh. I flip over my last card and it’s a 3, my missing wheel card, giving me the nuts.

12:44 PM: Fanboy said the structure in this is garbage. Maybe he’s right. I just rivered kings and queens in Stud high against someone that obviously had jacks and tens. Unfortunately he filled up on 7th and I had to pay off three big bets.

It seems like I’ve been running pretty good but I actually have slightly less than starting stack after that big stud pot. Wtf.

12:50 PM: Stud 8, I complete with an ace up. I get called by a queen up and a king up.

On 4th I catch an offsuit 8, the queen catches a baby, and the king catches a ten. I bet and they both fold.

What?

1:10 PM: PLO, I make it 750 at 150/300 with A875 double suited and the big blind defends.

I bet 1200 on the AJ8 board when I flop two pair with the nut flush draw. He calls.

The turn is a ten and I’m planning to check this card back, but he bets 4000. It’s hefty, but I have a lot of outs so I call.

River… 8! We fill up and I should always be good here based on the action. He checks and I decide to size smallish at 5k to make sure I get called. It’s a small bet relative to the pot size but it’s huge in the grand scheme of things. 5k is more than eight big bets in the limit games! Huge.

Don’t get greedy, get smart.

27.4k on first break.

1:34 PM: Horrible round of limit O8.

22.5k

1:54 PM: Start with two card draw to a wheel in deuce in a 3-bet pot and get run down by a three card draw when I get raised after the second draw and don’t improve.

18.1k

2:06 PM: No limit hold’em, someone opens to 1100 at 250/500 and 75 antes. I make a standard defend with Q5 suited.

Flop is T75 and he bets 1600 when I check. My hand is too good to fold here but I also think it’s too weak to check-call. He whiffs this flop a lot and I don’t expect him to get stubborn or try to float me, so I think I have a lot of fold equity here. I make it 4500 and he folds.

2:13 PM: Limit hold’em, my under the gun raise with AK gets called by the big blind and I check back after getting called twice on T65QQ and lose to… J6 off.

I mean you just have to defend with that hand. Especially when someone is trying to steal from under the gun.

Caught nothing but bricks after opening three hands in Razz.

16.6k

Totally allergic to momentum this month. It would be cool to be able to say I’m peaking 3+ hours into a tournament.

2:27 PM: Sheesh. Stud High, I complete with K6-A and the bring in defends.

On 4th, I catch a jack that’s suited with my ace and king and he catches an offsuit king. He calls again.

He’s all in on 5th for 525 and has somehow made it to this point with 25-3K4 and I have the best hand with ace high.

We both brick 6th but he catches a 6 on 7th to double.

Geez. Losing in Stud high to a Stud 8 hand is pretty cool. Especially when he catches a total brick on 4th.

12.2k

We are on Stud 8 now and PLO is next and there’s a pretty decent chance I’ll get it in there.

3:11 PM: 12.6k on second break. Registration is closed.

3:24 PM: And crippled. Open button in deuce with four to a wheel and the big blind defends, draws two and immediately makes an 8 perfect and I whiff.

3k, which is less than three big blinds.

I just ordered food and there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be out before I get it.

3:33 PM: Open with 3322T under the gun in deuce thinking there’s a decent chance it gets through. Instead I get raised and I’m all in drawing three against a one card draw.

I improve to 532 but catch two bricks on the second draw and he stands pat.

I draw two more and roll my 532. He turns over a T7. I turn over my first card and it’s an 8. Super live. I sweat my last card and immediately see a border – it’s paint. GG.

Tormund is still in with a below average stack. Not sure what I’m going to do with the rest of the day.

4:51 PM: Tormund is busto.

I am going to spend this Friday night in Vegas watching the Mariners and washing my clothes. 👍🏻

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, Mix piker games, no limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | Leave a Comment »

It’s Been A Long Time

June 14, 2018

I shouldn’t have left you…

…without a sick blog to sweat to…

Opener coming soon.

Currently playing $20/$40 Stud 8 and Omaha 8 mix cash game at the Rio with Jesus and he was badgering me about not blogging anything lately, so here I am.

I mean… it’s been pretty brutal. I haven’t had anything but pain to write about so far.

So when I last left you I was busting out of the WSOP $1500 8-Game Mix in sad fashion. I ended up playing $20/$40 o8 at the Rio that night because Tormund was making yet another deep run in the Daily Deep Stack.

He took third. For nearly $13k. So that’s four entires into the Daily Deep Stack with fields of 750+ each time and Tormund has finishes of 8th, 17th, and 3rd.

Unreal.

I took that pic of him above with the shiny fedora on and dubbed him a Daily Deep Stack legend on Facebook.

My cash game session was ho-hum. I played 4.25 hours and lost $119.

On the 10th I played the $470 HORSE tournament at Aria and once again never had any momentum in a great structure. I was so short bearing the end of registration that I was playing super loose trying to bust or luckbox my way back into contention.

Alas, I won the pots I got all in on and had over 11k when registration closed, a perfectly awkward stack to continue with.

It didn’t get me far. I busted shortly after registration closed and went to sulk for the rest of the night.

Actually I moved all my stuff from the time share I’d been staying in for two weeks to the Airbnb house we are going to be staying in the rest of the summer.

On the 11th, I had decided to not play the WSOP $1500 Stud 8 tournament but when I arrived at the Rio I decided to man up, sold an extra 30% of my action and took a seat.

After four levels, I had nearly doubled my stack. It was weird having things going well for once, but then my table broke and it was like my doom switch was immediately activated.

I was posting updates on Facebook since I wasn’t blogging and he’s a screenshot of the downfall:

Double my stack at second break and out before the third break. Truly amazing.

Then I sat down in PLO and ran second set into top set 45 minutes into my session and felted $500.

Geez-Us.

Yesterday I ended up late regging the $250 no limit hold’em Low Roller at Planet Hollywood. Totally unplanned.

I lost my first bullet pretty quick but I managed to survive all the way to the money! A cash!

The event was multiple flights and my flight had 253 entrants with 31 cashing and 16 players advancing to day 2.

I had a pretty small stack the whole day and then won a flip with 55 vs AJ and busted the same player when my KK held against his A6. Suddenly I had 30 bigs.

Nothing exciting happened for a while, but I did sneak into the money. I had about 15 bigs when it folded to me on the button and I looked down at an ace and jammed without looking at my second card – a correct play as I should be jamming any ace on the button here – and the small blind called and his 77 held, leaving me with less than two bigs.

I ended up getting them in a few hands later with J8hh and lost to 62o, even though I had twenty outs on the turn.

Good for a $625 cash, but I was in for $500, so…

I played some cash games last night and had a decent session, winning $820. Combined with my tiny cash it was my best day of the trip and I didn’t even make $1000!

7:49 PM: Really stupid Stud 8 hand: I open with AcK-Kc with an ace up behind me. He just calls and so does the bring in.

On 4th street, the ace immediately pairs and I catch the 4 of clubs. I’m quite certain he does not have two pair and it’s probably bad but I continue because I have a three flush and the bring in bricked.

On 5th, I catch a king! Everybody checks to me and I bet. I think they both call.

The both check and call on 6th also.

The aces check in the dark on 7th and the other guy checks also, but I don’t fill up, so I check back myself and show my three kings.

The guy with aces actually bitches about my hand before looking at his last card and slow rolling me with fives full of aces.

Fuck. You. Buddy.

I got moved to the main game and have already whiffed a couple big draws in Stud 8 and find myself ready to leave. This game is trash compared to the one I came from the Golden Nugget’s 8-Game tourney starts at 11 AM.

8:09 PM: So fucking over it.

Start with Ad3d-Qd in Stud 8. King limps with a king dead and I complete. The bring in defends with a 6 up.

I catch an ace but the bring in pairs open sixes. The other player bricks, I bet, the bring in says “so fucking brutal. I put you on two aces in the hole” and then calls. I’m a little concerned.

But on 5th street I make open aces and he catches a five and I am no longer concerned. I bet, he calls.

On 6th, I brick and he pairs his five. Are you fucking kidding me? I’m concerned again. He checks to me and I decide to check back.

On 7th the dealer “accidentally” deals both of our cards face up and we both catch jacks. There’s some commotion but we can still play the hand out and he checks to me and I don’t see how I can check back now, so I bet and he snap calls me with sixes full of fives.

To recap, in less than thirty minutes, my opponent caught extremely good on 4th only for me to catch my miracle card on 5th and I still found a way to lose both pots.

Amazing.

I started off pretty good so I only lost $386 total but I have some pretty serious accumulated tilt going on and an early start tomorrow so I’m fine calling it yet another early night.

It’s no secret that this has been an incredibly disappointing and frustrating trip for me so far and I’m having some difficulty powering through right now.

I have two cashes in thirteen tournament bullets – in the two smallest events I’ve played – and both of them were min-cashes.

It all adds up to a sexy -90% ROI.

Cash games haven’t been spectacular either. I’ve played more hours than I did all last WSOP but it hasn’t amounted to much and I’m yet to really play a full session (my longest is < 6 hours). I’m running at $14.65/hour but I haven’t played much and that’s a paltry win rate for the stakes I’m playing.

Well, that’s my update for the week.

$250 8-Game Mix tourney at Golden Nugget at 11 AM tomorrow after a good night’s rest. I actually won this tournament in 2016 and a repeat would be pretty good timing this year!

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, no limit hold em, omaha, poker, poker strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | Leave a Comment »

WSOP $1500 8-Game & My First Cash of the Summer!

June 9, 2018

No, not in a WSOP event. After my super disappointing finish in the $1500 HORSE, I just went back to my condo and stayed there the rest of the day taking it easy and relaxing.

I was planning to play cash games all day yesterday but I heard The Orleans had a $150 8-Game tournament in their series and it sounded like the perfect warm-up for my next WSOP event.

The Atom and myself showed up for the start of the tournament and The Joker and Tormund made appearances a few hours later. With 80 players (of 133 entrants) remaining, I was the only one left standing – far away from the money at 18. Nice showing, fellas!

I don’t have much to say about this tournament until the very late stages, specifically with four tables left, roughly six spots off the money.

I had a pretty healthy stack at this point, but even so, chips can disappear quickly, especially if you have big confrontations. We are playing limit hold’em six-handed and I open with 44 under the gun. Honestly, it’s a bit loose. I don’t know that I would consider it standard and I think folding here is pretty defensible, possibly even recommended. For instance, if I was in a loose, six-handed cash game, I would always fold 44 under the gun. But in a tournament, with most of my opponents playing on the tighter side, I think it’s okay. So I open the 44 and the lady on my direct left does a little bit of a stutter step like she is considering raising me but winds up cold-calling instead. We go heads up to the flop.

It is very, very sexy. KJ4. I bet. She raises. Oh sweet baby Jesus, it is my lucky day. No need to get coy here. I can eyeball her stack and see that she will be very close to all in if we play this hand out, so I go ahead and re-raise, knowing she’s going to have to call me down basically all the time if she has a hand. She calls my 3-bet.

The turn is a 6. I bet and she calls.

The river is a ten. I bet and she says “I’m all in.” I thought she had less than my bet, so I just snap-roll my hand without saying anything. And she snap-rolls her hand.

She has AQ for a rivered straight.

How? We put in three bets each on the flop! How does she have a straight? What in the world? I mean, I sort of get it. It’s a reasonable hand to bluff with on the flop. I might fold smaller pairs and some other hands, plus she usually has decent equity when called. Maybe she takes a free card when I just flat. But when I raise flop and bet turn it is just max pain for me on the river. There are 5.5 small bets after the preflop betting, so after the flop action there are 11.5 small bets. On the turn, she is getting 6.75 to 1 to call with what looks like four outs. My hand looks a lot like AK, KJ, and sets – and my combos of KQ are reduced by her holding, plus I might not play that hand so fast in such a critical spot. Seems like a pretty standard fold on the turn for her.

But she didn’t fold and instead I’m losing this insanely important monster pot nearing the bubble to a rivered gutshot.

Then the dealer counts out her last bet and realizes it is a few thousand more for me to call. He looks at me, expectantly and I’m like “what?” He says it’s “xxx more,” and I say, “Okay, I never said ‘call.'”

Is this my classiest moment at the poker tables? No. No it is not. I’m not proud of it. But I have to say I was pretty devastated at the moment and having already lost a huge pot in horrible fashion, I wasn’t eager to put chips in the pot I never committed to.

A floor gets called over (the actual TD is on break) and the situation is explained and I am still refusing to pay the last partial bet and some dick at the table pipes in saying I should get a penalty for exposing my hand out of turn and the floor actually listens to him and issues me a one round penalty.

I was so thrown by this decision that I was rendered speechless and didn’t even bother fighting it because I was so mad I wasn’t sure what I would say in the moment. It didn’t even occur to me until later that my opponent also exposed her hand with action still pending. There is no logical way to give me that penalty without also giving her one.

Well, I had about 11k in chips and the big blind was 4k and I had to sit out a full orbit. When I was able to play again, my 11k had turned into less than 4k, which was less than one big blind.

Somehow I managed to spin that up and eventually had as many as 160k in chips.

I played a stud hand extremely poorly and a razz hand quite questionably and those two hands essentially cost me a very deep run.

Instead I busted in 11th for $380. Crumbs. But it is my first cash of the summer.

My friends and I went to The Saw Escape Room last night and it was a blast, but a little overpriced since I requested a private tour. We sucked though, getting through less than half of the rooms in time, although two rooms were basically buzzer beaters we were on the wrong side of. Lots of fun though! Check it out if you are in Vegas and a fan of the films.

Joker and I are about to head to the Rio to play the $1500 8-Game and I feel really good about it. It’s nice to iron the kinks out in a $150 event so I don’t make the same mistakes when the stakes are 10 times bigger.

Leggo.

3:05 PM: Walking towards registration on our way in, I spot Rep Porter a few strides ahead of us and ask if we can borrow his diamond card real quick (to skip the line). He actually stopped and started looking for it! What a guy. I told him I was kidding though.

A little bit of a late start here. Only three players at my table at the moment and one of them is Miami John Cernuto. I’ve actually played with him a decent amount. He’s not really someone I expect to put me in many tough spots.

We are 4-handed now and this tournament plays 6-handed. I’ve scooped a couple smallish o8 pots already.

3:34 PM: New player at my table: Sandeep Vasudevan. I recognized that name from the HORSE tournament and, sure enough, he went deep in that, finishing 6th for a career high score of $33k.

He also has two WSOP Circuit rings, including one last month in pot limit Omaha (the other was a no limit hold’em ring in 2013). So he’s fresh off two of the biggest scores of his life and I imagine his confidence is riding high.

3:48 PM: Scott Blumstein, the latest Main Event champ is seated directly behind me.

3:59 PM: Dang. Guy was getting a back/shoulder massage with his ass crack totally exposed and the masseuse with a direct view the whole time. I wanted to snap a pic but I couldn’t do it discreetly.

4:14 PM: Just got absolutely abused in no limit hold’em. I started with over 8k and I now have a touch over 4k. I think I opened four pots and for 3-bet every single time. I flopped two pair with KJ suited when my opponent flopped the nut flush. He slow played it and check-called flop and turn so I was able to check back on river.

I also defended my blind once and I started to think: I’ve folded some hands and I can think of five I played. We did the math: we played nine hands of no limit hold’em – you’re supposed to play six. Pretty cool, especially since it was such a profitable variant for me.

First hand of Stud high I start with a four flush and brick it. I did pick some chips back up with AA-K and rolled up jacks, but I didn’t get past 5th street either time.

I have a sad 4225.

4:52 PM: Sigh. PLO. Sandeep bluffs off his whole stack the hand previous, so he’s pretty short to start this next one. He opens to 200 at 50/75 blinds. I make it 675 with AKKJ one nut suit and he calls.

Flop 642. I bet pot (1425) and he’s all in for 1625 total. He rolls QQ75.

Board runs out 642A3 and he wins.

Down to 2550. Pretty stoked.

5:08 PM: 2850 on first break.

5:31 PM: Joker had 1000 in chips on break and we set the over/under on number of us surviving to the next break at 0.5.

We both liked the under side.

A few hands of 2-7 left and I will definitely be looking to get all in and double up in no limit hold’em.

5:50 PM: Joker has tripled up. I played zero hands of NL. I am down to 1550.

6:11 PM:

6:16 PM: Busted.

Posted in poker | Tagged 2018 wsop, 8-game, gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, mixed games, no limit hold em, poker, poker mixed games, poker strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em, world series of poker, wsop | 2 Comments »

WSOP $565 No Limit Hold’em COLOSSUS & Kate Hoang Heads Up For A Bracelet

June 4, 2018

So after busting the Aria O8 event on Saturday, I went to the Rio to quasi-sweat Kate Hoang’s deep run in the $1500 WSOP Omaha 8 tournament and play some $20/$40 O8 cash myself.

My O8 game was actually very good but there was no love for me and I ended up finishing -$643 over about four hours and multiple extensive breaks away from the table watching Kate’s final table.

I ended up cashing out around 2 AM and the WSOP staff called it a night around the same time and added a fourth day to Kate’s event and she was due back at 2 PM Sunday with four players, left sitting second in chips.

I am very much rooting for Kate – and anyone from the Pacific Northwest really – so Tormund and I got to the Rio a little after 2 PM hoping to see her close out a win before our HORSE tournament started at Venetian at 4 PM. There was early good news as we passed one of the remaining players at the entrance indicating that they were now down to three players.

The short stack was pesky and hung around for a while, but they eventually eliminated him and Kate was heads up for a bracelet for the second time in three years. In fact, she took an insanely brutal beat against Josh Arieh at the $10k PLO8 final table last year that cost her a huge chip lead and eventually the tournament. So three straight years with a final table and at least two second place finishes locked up. Needless to say, Kate is on everyone’s radar now.

Tormund and I hung around to watch this heads up battle until about 4:15 and it looked like Kate might close it out before we left, but the other guy fought back and eventually took a commanding lead. The players went on break and that was our cue to try to go make our own money and root her on from afar.

They ended up battling heads up for nearly four hours, constantly changing chip leads and forcing the staff to add at least three levels of play that previously did not exist. Alas, Kate ended up finishing in second place for a hefty cash of $148,150. Amazing.

And yet I really feel her pain. Kate has been nothing but humble when I’ve heard people talk about her success but I know she had to really, really, REALLY want that bracelet. Hell, I would.

Still, it was another amazing performance from one of our area’s top players and I’m personally quite confident that Kate has bracelets in her future.

In other local player news, The Sandman is making waves in the $2500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball tournament. He bagged a top two stack after Day 1 and was still alive with 12 players left after Day 2. I slept in super late today and wanted to catch up on some things otherwise I would have shown up to the Rio early today to sweat his sick run. I’ve been keeping an eye on it via PokerNews and he currently sits 7th in chips with ten players left and a guaranteed payout of nearly $12k.

Yesterday I played the $600 HORSE tourney at Venetian and while I did manage to accumulate some chips for the first time this trip, it was another incredibly disappointing finish. I made it to dinner break with about 30k, which was well above average, but came back from break and immediately lost three pots in a row and was back to nearly starting stack.

Some brutal run outs in the stud variants crippled me. First I had four to an ace high flush and a gut shot in a three way pot in stud high only to finish with an ace high hand. Then in Stud 8 I was facing an opponent clearly trying to punt by betting an obvious pair of 2s with no low draw and I had four to a low working plus all my cards as likely winners if they pair. I missed my low and made a pair of kings on 7th, but he rivered fours and deuces to scoop me. Why not raise my hand at some point, you say? Because punters don’t fold. This guy was going to 7th street no matter what our boards looked like or what I did.

I was down to 6000 in chips with blinds at 1000-1500 when we arrived at limit hold’em and I had 1500 in the big blind holding AJ. Matt Grapenthien, a notable mixed games player, opened in early position, the button called, and I 3-bet to get my stack in. They both called and I bet my last 1500 in the dark before the dealer brought the flop. It was a pretty favorable AT3 rainbow board and I was quite happy to see Grapes make it 3000 to go. The button tanked for quite some time and called two bets cold. The turn paired the ten and Matt bet again. I don’t love that card because tens are definitely hands Matt would raise on the flop to try to isolate with a player all in, but I still thought I had very good winning chances. The button called again. The river was a 5, Grapes bet, and the button called. Grapes rolled over A6 and I was pretty happy to see that I had tripled up.

And then the button rolled his hand. Why is he rolling his hand? How can he ever have the best hand here? Maybe he has an ace with a slightly better kicker? Surely, he would call the flop much faster if he had AK or AQ. Nope. He doesn’t have either of those hands. He doesn’t have an ace at all actually. Nor does he have trip tens.

He has pocket fives. A rivered full house. A hand that 98% of poker players would snap fold on the flop for two bets cold without giving it a second thought.

This is one of those poker stories that sound almost too unbelievable to be true. I mean I don’t really believe it and it happened to me. I think I actually sat in my seat for a full two minutes after I busted out in disbelief. It was such a sick parlay for it to happen. In a no limit tournament, my four big blinds would never get a fold from 55, but in a limit event, with a third player in the pot, THAT RAISED THE FLOP TO ISOLATE, there is no way I should have ever lost here. I had Grapes drawing dead to a chop on the turn and he gave me another chance at protection by betting his A6 again.

Ugh. I wouldn’t have had a great stack after that, but it would have been a full triple up and would have given me some hope of getting back into the fight. Alas, it was my fourth consecutive bust out in Vegas so far to go along with two small losses in cash games. It has not been a good first week.

I’m about to hop in the shower and head to the Rio to play the 5 PM (and last) flight of the Colossus. The structure in this event is one of the worst at the WSOP and no limit tournaments are not my preference, but I have cashed the Colossus in back-to-back years. Hopefully I can run deep again and maybe make my first Day 2 of the trip? That would be pretty cool.

I will post updates here – and keep an eye on what Sandman has going on – but probably won’t get too in depth with it as I’m playing.

5:10 PM: Great planning on my part. I’m currently four rows deep in line to register the Colossus. The Atom was walking out of registration as I walked up and said it took him a solid 30 minutes to get through.

Sandman update: 5th of 8 left. I’ll see if I can snipe a pic on my way to my seat.

One more interesting piece of info: Phil Ivey played the Colossus yesterday. Let that sink in.

He’s baaaaaaaaack.

5:31 PM: And I’m in. Starting with 5k and blinds at 25/50. I recognize zero players at my table, but superficial judgement is it looks promising.

5:35 PM: Just lost half my stack on the third hand.

Not really. Blinds are 50/100 now.

5:58 PM: Sandman is at the Triple Draw Mix final table, sitting 5th of 6 left, and guaranteed at least $22.3k.

I’m down to 3375 already after whiffing a 3-bet pot with KJdd and giving up with 77 in a raised pot on Q43A.

6:29 PM: I stole the blinds.

And this is officially the coolest thing to happen to me so far this trip:

6:36 PM: Tormund finally making his way through the Colossus registration line.

Stole the blinds again… with KK.

Tormund just walked by my table, looked at my stack, and shook his head.

7:06 PM: I made it to the break. I have 2200 coming back to 100/200/25. That’s 11 bigs. Wonderful.

Sandman down to final five. He looks like the short stack. Scott Seiver and Chris “DeathDonkey” Vitch are still in there. $31.8k guaranteed.

Just watched Sandman double.

8:12 PM: Got a 3-bet jam through with AQ but dwindled back down to 10.5 bigs and got it in at 100/200/50 with AJ vs 55 and 99 and found no help.

Standing in line to re-enter and sit down with 25 bigs.

🏉🏃🏻‍♂️

8:25 PM: First hand at my new table finds five players all in: A5ss vs JJ vs QQ vs AQ vs JJ.

Flop: Q22.

GG, fellas.

8:28 PM: This may have been my worst use of $565 ever. I’m basically sitting down with 12 big blinds: 4850 @ 200/400/50 now.

8:43 PM: Jammed 3600 with 55 right into KK.

GG.

Having a great time so far.

9:11 PM: The Atom and Tormund are still in the Colossus. Just got texts from Tormund saying he busted JC Tran and crippled Ishmael Bojang. He must have a decent stack going and just dispatched his toughest opponents.

11:00 PM: Sandman busts the $2500 Triple Draw Mixed Lowball event in 3rd place for almost $72k. Another sick run from a PNW player. Congrats man!

11:10 PM: Tormund and The Atom are both still in the Colossus. Tormund has 67k and The Atom is sitting on 18k @ 500-1000 blinds. They have three hours of play left tonight and I’m debating whether I want to play cash until Tormund is done or go to sleep at a decent time. I’m tentatively planning to play the Triple Draw Mix tourney at Binions at 11 AM tomorrow.

11:33 PM: Tormund just lost most of his stack so I’m gonna sit down in 20/40 O8 and hope something good happens in the time I’m here.

3:35 AM: I guess I should post a wrap up of sorts. The Atom min-cashed the Colossus and Tormund is actually putting something together and is currently 15 minutes away from bagging.

I’m actually having a good o8 session. I am up well over $1k and leaving soon.

Yet another local is doing big things. I’ve been crossing paths with Adam Coats for years now and he’s no stranger to deep WSOP runs, having finished 131st in the Main Event in 2014 and 8th in the $1500 O8 the same year. Well, Adam is at it again, bagging up the second best stack after Day 2 in the $10k O8. There’s $418k up top in this one and of course I’ll be keeping an eye on that and rooting Adam on.

Tormund just bagged up 116k and is headed to Day 2 of the Colossus and I cashed out a +$1440 winner while I was waiting for him. A nice change of pace for our household.

I will be taking it easy tomorrow, catching a movie with The Atom and playing O8 cash at The Orleans so I’m fresh and rested for the $1500 HORSE on Wednesday.

Posted in poker | Tagged colossus, gambling, gambling for a living, Kate Hoang, no limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | Leave a Comment »

Aria $470 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8/Better (Live Blog)

June 2, 2018

So yesterday I didn’t have much of a plan and around 3-4 PM The Leak and I decided we were going to play cash games at Bellagio, but I dropped her off at the B and then parked our car at Planet Hollywood to skim on parking costs.

She informed me that the $20/$40 Limit Hold’em list was almost 25 deep and since I was walking through Planet Hollywood I decided to check out the $300 Triple Draw Mix (Badugi, 2-7, A-5) tournament I thought about playing. Well, it was 4.5 hours deep, but registration was still open and I could sit down with 15 bigs. Plus, I spotted Kevin Gerhart, a Run It Up warrior, in the field and asked him if he had less than the starting stack. He said “yes” and I thought, Hell, if this guy still thinks he has a shot, I might as well take one.

I actually managed to win some pots to start off on the right track, getting my 15k up over 30k but I lost a critical 2-7 hand that I never recovered from.

In the hand in question, I opened drawing one to a smooth 8 and a player I thought was capable called my raise and then patted after the first draw. I picked up on something that made me think he was snowing and when I made a pair of 8s after the last draw and he still bet, I gave serious thought to check-raising, but didn’t pull the trigger. He tabled a pair of 6s after I folded.

Sigh. That’s what I call having really good poker sense but not enough experience to know how to capitalize on it in a variant I’m not super familiar with.

I ended up busting in 17th or 18th place which was about ten spots off the money in what was a pretty small field of less than 70 runners.

Then I headed to Bellagio and immediately got a seat in a $40/$80 Limit Hold’em game. For those that follow my blog closely, you will know that I’ve only played a game this big once in my life and it was an utter disaster at Commerce back in January this year.

I suppose this session went better, but the game I was in wasn’t great most of the time. I played a little less than six hours and started off poorly down over a rack immediately and then around even for the rest of the time.

I did briefly play with Humberto “the shark is hungry” Brenes and Chau Giang, a former nose bleed stakes regular and likely future Hall of Famer, for an extended period of time, although he spent a lot of time out of his seat.

I would have booked a small win but I made a time game mistake. With the dealer push coming up in a few minutes, I posted my big blind knowing I wasn’t going to pay for the next half hour. Since I wasn’t going to finish the orbit I was about to pay the blinds for without paying more time, I should have just left right then.

Instead, I posted my big blind and my good friend The Crypt Keeper (whom hasn’t made a blog appearance in forever) raised under the gun and I defended with JTo.

I check-called the T9x flop, knowing his UTG opening range is weighted towards extremely strong hands and then I check-raised the turn when I made top two pair. He thought for a bit and then called.

The river was a king, which is an amazing card for his continuing range. I’m basically only beating AA and an optimistic line with AK at this point. Maybe AJ. No value in betting here and I can actually probably even check-fold against The Crypt Keeper because his bluff frequency is close to zero. I call though because that’s what you’re supposed to do and he shows me QQ for a straight.

I posted my small blind and played my button before the dealer change and then couldn’t take any more hands because I wasn’t paying time.

So I donated $360 to my buddy on a hand I shouldn’t have even let myself be dealt in on and that was the difference between a win and a loss yesterday.

-$230 in 5.5 hours which drastically increases my lifetime $40/$80 win rate to -$328/hour.

My plan was to play this Aria tournament today but we got in pretty late last night so I had to force myself out of bed and I did take my sweet time getting here.

I sat down about an hour after it started, but the structure is super deep and good, so still massive amounts of play.

Starting stacks are 20k and blinds were 100/200 when I sat down.

Blinds are now 150/300 and I have a little less than 22k with no super interesting hands of note yet. I recognize three players at my table, including a bald guy rocking a mullet – a look I would strongly recommend to Radio Mike if he’s reading this – but nobody I know by name.

Finally, some shoutouts before I publish:

-Snowflake got a nice cash (48th) in the $1500 O8 and The Sandman min-cashed it.

-Tormund hit and ran the shit out of Johnny Chan and Robert Mizrachi last night, sitting down in a big mix game during the Big O portion and won a roughly $5k pot and then immediately left when the game switched. LOL. I bet they were PISSED.

-Trey (or Goatluv), a dealer from Fortune made a deep run (46th) in the WSOP Casino Employee event.

-Hal, a floorman from Palace is deep in the $600 Venetian No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack Event. He reported that there are about 230 runners left out of a starting field of about 1600 and 154 spots pay. Looks like he’s starting Day 2 with about 30 bigs, which isn’t a big stack, but definitely workable. Good luck, Hal!

-Pacific Northwest Omaha superstar Kate Hoang is doing what Kate does: crush Omaha tournaments at the World Series of Poker. She is still alive with 36 left in the $1500 O8 and her stack looks to be about middle of the pack to start Day 3. Good luck, Kate!

Also – and I’m sure Kate will appreciate this 😳 – I spotted this gem of a thread on Facebook with 400+ comments of guys drooling over her.

1:21 PM: Today is a sad day. The Leak is leaving me for Washington and we won’t be seeing each other for the longest period of time since we first started seeing each other over six years ago.

I am going to miss her terribly and I can’t say enough what an amazing support system she is for me and my poker career. It takes a special person to let their husband disappear to Vegas for six weeks and grind poker tournaments while she’s at home and working. I try not to lose sight of the fact that I play a game for a living and I really do appreciate my wife letting me pursue this dream of mine.

I love you so much honey. I will try my hardest to make this time apart worth it!

1:31 PM: So I thought Bellagio had some pretty ridiculous MLB World Series futures, but when I was registering for this tournament in the Aria sports book I saw something that blew my mind.

They have the Mets at 10-1 to win the World Series and the Braves at 40-1.

Holy shit.

The Mets are a game below .500 with their ace on the disabled list and the Braves are in first place in the NL East and look like a much stronger team with a very good farm system that can help the big league club via promotions or as trade chips for someone like, I dunno, Manny Machado.

This line is stupid. I can’t comprehend what they are thinking.

I fired $100 on the Braves and $50 on the Mariners at 50-1.

🔥🔥💵🔥🔥

1:58 PM: Aria has the stream of the $3k Shootout on a TV and former Main Event champs Joe Cada and Joe McKeehan are at a final table full of sunglasses. Uhm. I like their chances.

2:08 PM: Just got word from Hal that he busted the Venetian tourney in 151st for a nice little cash to start his trip out. Congrats! Seat open at Aria, buddy!

2:17 PM: Wonderful. One opener at 300/500 blinds and I defend KKQ3 one suit and check-call on the K52 rainbow flop. Turn pairs the 5 and I get a check-raise in. River is an ace.

Sigh. What a horrible card. The low gets there and AA improves. I think for a while and maybe I make a mistake: I bet. I was thinking it’s pretty easy for him to have a hand he can call with that has a counterfeit low and my bet really only stings when he shows up with exactly AA. Of course that’s what he has though.

Actually it’s worse. He has AAT9. He doesn’t even have a low draw and the only way he can get any piece of this pot is with an ace. Ugh.

Momentum still evades me on this trip so far. Back to starting stack.

2:58 PM: Last hand before break I open from the cutoff with Q532 one suit. Big blind defends and donks on 986 two spade flop. I have good draws heads up in both directions but I elect to go with a call on this board texture. Turn is 7 of spades, giving me the third best low and a queen high flush. He bets, I raise, and he calls. River is my nut card: an offsuit ace. I now have a big flush and the nut low and he check-calls and I scoop a nice pot.

27.7k heading to 400/800 blinds.

3:22 PM: Unfortunate connection against the big blind. I have AT83 on QJ9 vs KTxx. On the bright side, I raised flop and checked back turn before calling on river. Back to starting stack.

3:29 PM: Registration is closed. 144 entrants. 126 left. $17.5k for 1st!

4:02 PM: Had a big connection with AK93 from the small blind. Limped pot and I lead out on 652 two diamond flop and two players call me. I have the nut low with a king high flush draw, so… loving this situation.

Turn is an offsuit 8 and things get funky. I bet and both players raise. I’m not really sure how to react to this, but I’m definitely not folding. I do feel like I can be getting quartered a lot of the time, even when I make my flush, but I still have a pretty robust hand.

Here’s a surprise: the river is the ace of diamonds. Okay, so I guess I had the nut flush draw. I also have a live three but that’s probably not a scoop card. Still, I should lead here because I’m guaranteed half and check-raising is dumb. I bet and only the button calls. He has 6432 for the nut low and the other guy claims to have had 74 in his hand.

This was a decent half pot but I chipped back down right away when I decided to give up my AJ54 when I paired my 5 on A925 rainbow board against a player that bet/3-bet the flop. She showed AA when I folded.

20.4k

Side note: the tournament area is not in the poker room, but out near the slots and cigarette smoke keeps wafting up my nostrils. So fucking disgusting. Can we please make this garbage illegal already? Yes, wishful thinking in a casino environment but breathing second hand smoke has to be my number one pet peeve.

4:20 PM: Sometimes you have to go gangster on them. One player limps, the button raises, and I make a very borderline defend with 7763 one suit.

Flop is KKJ two clubs and the button bets when it’s checked to him. I decide to raise as a bluff with my club draw as the remotest of backups if I get action. I think this is a good board to attack on and my hand is pretty worthless, so I can happily let it go if I get raised at any point. He calls.

Turn is the queen of clubs and he calls again when I bet my flush.

River is a blank and while I’m happy I haven’t been raised, my hand is not good enough to bet for value. I check and I’m probably going to call if he bets, but he checks back and my flush is good.

He is not happy.

Just switched to a new table and I only know one player. They call him Taxi. I chopped the Golden Nugget 8-Game Mix with him in 2016.

Peaking at 31.2k and coming back to 1000/1500 blinds after a break in a few minutes.

4:30 PM: Dealer in the box at my new table just interrupted a conversation about the outrageous rake (15%) in these tournaments and claimed that very few casinos in Las Vegas actually make money and a direct quote about Aria specifically: “this casino is so far in the hole it’s not even funny.”

Wouldn’t that be something?

5:14 PM: Kate Hoang update: she just took the chip lead with 21 left. Holy shit!

Meanwhile I’m peaking at 38.5k.

6:08 PM: Pretty unfortunate run out here: I have AK63 on 642TJ vs AK3J with a third player calling down with A852. Had a pretty good handle on 3/4 of that one and it slipped away on the river.

Just opened A754 from hi-jack and had to give up on QJ33K when I missed my flush draw and checked back the turn.

24k coming back to 2000/3000 blinds.

Blah.

6:54 PM: With the blinds at 2000/3000 I open with AJT2 with a suit and someone 3-bets me. I start the hand with 21k so I consider capping it, but I supposed there are flops I can give up on and preserve chips. I call.

Flop is KT3 and I check-call with my pair, gut shot and back door nut low draw.

Turn is a 6 and with only 9k left and multiple decent draws, I go ahead and get it all in there. He calls and tables AAK7.

River 9. Good game.

That bust out was with about 50 players left and makes three straight events where I never had much momentum.

On to the next one.

Headed to the Rio after that to sweat Kate a little and possibly play some cash games. Kate is currently third in chips with 15 players left.

8:28 PM: Sitting down in a $20/$40 Omaha Hi-Lo cash game with Tormund.

I believe Kate just final tabled the $1500 O8 event. I just got a notification that it will be streaming on Twitch. I will be tuning in.

False alarm: they are streaming the $100k High Roller on Twitch.

Posted in poker | Tagged Aria, Bellagio, gambling, gambling for a living, Kate Hoang, limit hold em, omaha, poker, poker strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 1 Comment »

Friday Frenzy! $15/$30 LHE Live Blog

May 25, 2018

First off, congrats to Art D for shipping the new monthly Palace tournament last Saturday. This is definitely a case of the cream rising to the top. Art is certainly one of the better tournament regulars in the Puget Sound area right now and it’s no surprise to see him take that thing down.

Also, Joker took third but I doubt anyone cares about that.

Sunday was the Main Events of Global Poker’sRattlesnake Open series and… it was a total collapse.

Not on my part, but on the site’s software. I’m actually surprised I haven’t seen any bad publicity about the end of the series because Global had three Main Events planned for last Sunday with huge guaranteed prize pools and then it ended up being a total shit show.

Sometime around noon (pacific time) just as the $22 Low Main Event was about to start, the tournament lobbies on Global stopped loading… I was registered for the Low and the $110 Medium already but I couldn’t register for the $218 High.

This was bad.

No one else could register either, so the Low was running far below the Guaranteed prize pool and no one else could join.

And then the Medium started waaaaaay below the Guarantee.

And then the Low went on break and never started again.

And then the High was completely cancelled and eventually the Medium stopped running and the site went offline altogether.

I eventually got a refund and a little profit for the tournaments that froze, but I have to say Global’s handling of this situation has been amazingly bad. I never got an email from the site explaining the refund or an explanation of what happened or an apology. If you didn’t play the events or read about the mess up on social media, you’d probably never know about it. Global has posted zero acknowledgment of the situation that I’ve seen.

I don’t really care that much about the incident. I was disappointed that I planned my whole day around these tournaments and didn’t get to play them, but as far as feeling ripped off or cheated, I’m not on board with that.

Obviously the site was experiencing technical difficulties at the most inopportune time. I don’t think they should be held accountable for the massive overlays. No one could register!

With that said, they could be more involved with the aftermath instead of pretending like nothing happened.

Oh well.

I lost half my stack in the Medium right before the disconnect… hence my comment in chat.

Almost forgot about the wedding we went to on Saturday. Let me preface by saying I’ve met these people once in my life before and if I were quizzed beforehand on what their names were I could maybe come up with one of them.

And then my phone went off when they were exchanging vows like a true asshole.

Fortunately I was sitting on a bale of hay and the whole thing was actually pretty informal and no one looked at me like I just assaulted the bride.

It was actually pretty cool and quite a bit different from any wedding I’ve ever been to. Certainly the first one with a rain delay.

And cows.

Monday I took the day off and Tuesday I popped into Palace to play their $5000 weekly freeroll for the first time.

It was a great performance. First I bluffed off 67% of my stack on T6342 by check-raising the turn against a weak bet and then making hefty bet on the river… and got called by a pair of 4s… with a 5 kicker. I got picked off by someone that didn’t even know they had a straight.

Then I opened to 50 at 10/20 blinds with T9 of clubs, got the QT9 flop, the small blind led 75, the big blind called, and I jammed my remaining 710 in the middle. The small blind snap-called with QJ and immediately spiked a straight on the turn and I hit the rail as one of the first players out.

I played 8/16 for a few hours but went home early a $300 winner.

I took Wednesday off and played 8+ hours last night and had my worst 8/16 session since August of last year – a solid -$814. I won two meaningful pots the whole day and never had any upward momentum that lasted longer than a single pot.

Here I am again at Palace and there is no 15/30 game at 6:30 PM on a Friday. These are depressing times. I have zero desire to play 8/16 regularly again and I also have little desire to drive to Fortune multiple times a week. I am ecstatic to be leaving the Puget Sound poker scene for the next six weeks.

Today started off just like yesterday. I open KQ and get the K77 flop against 77 on the very first hand dealt.

Then I get a free play from the Big with JT and bet all three streets on J423J and get called down by one player that has… AJ.

What.

Already down a rack.

6:36 PM: Some good news though… I made these guys…

…look like this:

6:41 PM: Whoops. Thought I published this an hour ago.

7:00 PM: Another free play from the big blind with K8 and I get the KJ88J run out vs QJ.

I guess it’s just my time to get tortured for a while. Let’s get it out of the system before June!

7:14 PM: Some run good! Hit&Run opens, I 3-bet A9ss and the button cold calls.

Flop is K64 with two spades, I bet and the button raises. H&R folds and I call since jamming my draw here out of position makes zero sense against this player.

Turn is an ace, which is nice but isn’t a card I’m looking to check-raise as KQ, KJ, KT, etc. check back way too often. I bet and they call,

River is a spade and now it’s time for my opponent to execute the expert slow play by raising me with AK after I get there and I’m able to collect three big bets on the river.

8:05 PM: I’ve had some hands hold up and find myself with the tiniest bit of sugar as I switch tables. But one last hand before I go!

Limpers, I raise AA, all call. Flop is JT6 with two hearts. Checks to player on my direct right, he donks, I raise, and three players cold call.

Turn is jack of hearts, which seems like it should be the worst card in the deck for me. They check to me though and I can’t see how I can bet here.

River is an 8 and one of the flop cold callers bets, but he’s a crazy person and then the original flop bettor just calls. Well, I can’t fold in this spot and I actually think I might have the best hand.

I don’t. The crazy guy turns over T5 of clubs, which isn’t a pair or a draw, but the other player turns over Q9o. Yawn.

8:26 PM: 15/30 starting but first a leveling war with Flea.

I defend a small blind raise with T9 of clubs and flop goes off multiway. Small blind checks on 742 with two clubs and I go ahead and bet my flush draw. Flea raises and two players cold call so I three bet my draw with two overcards and everyone calls.

Turn pairs the 7 and I decide to check and so does everyone else. I should probably bet this card since I’m the only one that’s shown any real strength.

River pairs the 3 and now I do go ahead and bet. Flea raises me and he never has a hand here so when the other players fold, I go ahead and reraise, but unfortunately he goes into the tank as ultimately calls with ace high.

Finish 8/16 -$149.

15/30 starting lineup: Rocksteady, Flea, and some new recent regulars.

8:46 PM: Solid start to 15/30. Defend A3 from the big and run into small blind’s A9 on A93. Blah.

8:57 PM: Limper, a raise and a reraise in front of me and the player next to me calls three bets cold and then says “would you call?” after I fold and shows me JTo and I say, “yup.”

This guy is driving me nuts. He’s a bit drunk and being super friendly and talkative and of course I’m sitting right next to him, trying to mind my business, listening to the Mariners game and typing on my blog.

But then he starts saying how lucky we all are to be here and not in a jail cell, or at war, etc. and that he’s just super happy to be able to play in this game right now.

And goddammit.

He’s right.

And then I just ruined his day by raising him on the river with quads. Which apparently is a no no and something he’ll remember.

No friends at the poker table, PAL.

10:30 PM: This game is kind of juiced right now. Guy to my right has been drinking and is now opening J5 suited from hi jack when I’m in the cut off (not advisable).

Then I just saw Hit&Run raise under the gun and a player from middle position that has the disguise of a tight-solid player turned over Q4o at show down. What.

Weird spot with KK. Hit&Run opens under the gun, there’s like three cold callers, and I have KK in the big blind. We all see the flop for three bets.

It comes down 743, I lead, Hit raises, and the whole field cold calls. I decide to just call him and reevaluate all my options on the turn.

The turn pairs the 7 and I’m fine with that. Shouldn’t change much really. My current plan is to check-raise when Hit&Run leads but then an actual tight solid player raises and I reluctantly fold my hand. Hit calls and then donks when the river is a 6. He wins with 55 and the other player flashes 87 of clubs.

10:43 PM: I’d like to take a moment of silence to remember all our fallen 15/30 comrades, may you all Rest In Peace: Humpty Dumpty, Curious George, Game Genie, Tick, Taz, Dansby Swanson, Radio Mike, Mister Magoo, Elmer, Action Bronson, and probably a number of others I might be forgetting… because you all stopped playing!

I thought you were all nickname worthy and then you disappeared from my life with no warning.

And a special RIP to The Human Torch. You started this whole thing, man, and we miss you terribly.

🤐☠️👻⚰️🤐

11:03 PM: The Flea is wearing sunglasses.

That is all.

11:29 PM: Drunk player limps, I limp 44, another limp, a raise, and six of us see the flop for two bets. It comes down 874 rainbow and the drunk on my right leads out, so I raise, Flea and Rocksteady cold call, the drunk torches a 3-bet, I cap, they all call.

Turn is a 2 of hearts and how lucky can one man be? The drunk kid leads right into me and I get to raise the other guys out or make them pay $60. Flea folds but Rocksteady calls. Strange. I guess I’m trying to fade T9 or backdoor hearts?

I’m watching Rocksteady as the river falls and I’m pretty unhappy to see him reach for chips and bet. It’s the 9 of hearts. Drunk calls and I overcall. He shows K5 of hearts and the drunk guy turns over the J7o. Lol. How does he not help me win this pot?

12:30 AM: I somehow just got $75 in on the A65 two clubs flop with AK vs QQ heads up and couldn’t win the hand.

Even worse, I actually check-call the queen river because the club draw (and AJ and AQ) got there and this clown is putting three Overs bets in on the flop without the queen of clubs in his hand.

Also worth noting, he just called preflop. With QQ. Waited for the ace to flop and then went crazy.

These are the people I’m losing to tonight.

Everyone is playing exceptionally bad and I am not benefiting. I’m close to being stuck despite hitting two High Hands today. I could be up $1500 real easy right now.

12:53 AM: Just lost with KJcc on AK5ssd flop to J6dd.

Pretty cool stuff happening.

12:59 AM: A few notes before we get into this hand; a) this player has been running exceptional against me since he started playing here a few weeks ago and b) I’ve been running miserably the last few hours.

One limp, I raise KK, both blinds defend. Flop is 432 with two clubs, drunk guy donks, I raise, and the small blind calls it cold. Sigh. Turn pairs the 3 and I’m not even remotely surprised when this guy that has been walking on water vs me check-raises. I call down, wearing my emotions on my sleeve like an idiot and this guy shows A9 of spades for the super punt (no spades even on board).

This is a prime reason to contain your emotions when you’re playing poker because it’s never a good look when you act like a cry baby before winning the pot.

I’m ashamed.

2:15 PM: Called it a night.

Final Score: +$479

But it felt more like -$1500.

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

Final 2018 WSOP Schedule

May 21, 2018

Here’s a link to my final 2018 World Series of Poker schedule. I’ll be targeting non-NL events all around Vegas. Events highlighted in green are the ones I’m 100% to play unless a deep run in something else prevents me from doing so.

Vegas Tourney Schedule

I am not selling action for anything except possibly the Main Event. I will know in the next week or so if that’s something I’ll need to do or not.

I can’t wait!

Posted in poker | Tagged 2018 world series of poker, 2018 wsop schedule, gambling, gambling for a living, limit hold em, no limit hold em, poker, poker strategy, Poker Tournaments, professional gambling, professional poker, texas hold em | 1 Comment »

Friday Frenzy! $15/$30 Live Blog

May 18, 2018

It’s a BLOG DAY.

4:04 PM: Happy to see 15/30 going bright and early today (well, at least since 3 PM)! Just missed the last open seat by seconds, but appears I might be getting in very shortly.

Current lineup: Chief Wiggum, Fleabag, Bill W, Part-Time… a new nickname Snack Pack… and an unknown.

Also, I’m pulling the trigger on this. The Gnat will be called TWO FACE from now on. It’s not a perfect fit but he qualifies in a lot of ways.

He’s probably been Bat enemy #1 for the last several weeks, so there’s that. However, unlikely attorney Harvey Dent, he’s never been a friend of Bruce Wayne. That ship had sailed long before he ever tried to say a nice word to me.

On the other hand, after playing the villain for the first several sessions with him, he did try to briefly extend an olive branch and while I was cordial, I was mostly standoffish because I already know – he’s not a nice dude; he’s a dick.

I’ve seen him berate dealers and cuss at players, but he’ll sing and whistle when he’s winning.

Congrats Gnat – you have been upgraded to a true Bat-villain. You are Big Bad Harv.

You are TWO FACE.

4:31 PM: So I sit down and post in cutoff, Flea opens, I 3-bet 66, the button calls and Bill W caps it from the small blind. Welp, I guess I’m gonna have to flop…

663

Checks to me, I bet (we are all in 25/50 Overs), button raises, Bill folds, Fleabag takes $50 to the dome, and I 3-bet. They both call. I lose Flea on the turn, but the other guy calls me down and I start my session off with not only a huge pot, but a $225 High Hand as well.

4:36 PM: Of course on the day I ordain Two Face a certified Bat-villain he’s slumming in 8/16 while we have an open 15/30 seat.

I guess his days of printing money at the Palace are in the rear view.

5:47 PM: I open under the gun with AA, Fleabag calls, Part-Time defends. Maybe one other player is in there. Flop is Q64 with two spades. Part-Time leads, I raise, Flea calls, PT 3-bets, and I cap.

Turn is ace of spades and PT still leads out. Hmmm. I don’t LOVE it, but I do think my hand is way too good to not raise here and if I wind up having to pay three big bets to see the river, it’s not the end of the world.

So I raise and Flea goes into the tank for… way too long. He finally calls, Part-Time 3-bets… sigh… I call, and Flea goes into the tank again. Are you kidding me? This dude is the biggest waste of everyone’s time I’ve ever seen in a limit game. Hilariously, he folds.

River is a blank and I pay off Part-Time’s Q3ss.

Naturally, Flea chimes in with “I knew you had it” and says something about me overplaying my hand. Oh my God. Please never change.

6:47 PM: Yaaaaaaaawn. There’s a call and raise in front of me, I 3-bet AK of clubs, Snack Pack caps it from the blinds. Everybody checks to me on K64 one club flop and two of them call. Turn is 9 of clubs and now Snack Pack check-raises me. So… I’m losing to like 99 only, yeah? Seems like a good time to take myself to value town, so I 3-bet and he goes ahead and caps it. I whiff river and pay off the 99.

Come.

On.

So much for the nice head start. I am now stuck.

6:53 PM: My friend Kung Fu Panda is in the game, but he’s getting a name change now also. I heard Snowflake call him Fan Boy last week and I guess it’s because he used to wear one of those tiny fans around his neck when he played poker. I like that name. Not exactly because of the reference but because it’s funny…. and there’s something derogatory about calling someone a Fan Boy.

Sigh. I limp along with A7 on the button and get two bets in four ways on A97 and in my head I’m thinking JT is the number one hand I’m looking to fade and BANG! There’s the 8 on the turn and they all check to me. How can I take a free card here? I can’t. I just CAN’T. So I bet and get check-raised by Snack Pack and then the original flop bettor leads out when the river is a 6, Snack calls, and I can’t even show my hand down.

Flop bettor has T9 and Snack Pack has 65.

Running hot all the sudden.

7:07 PM: I just flopped the nut flush in a raised pot.

The big blind defended pre and check-folded the flop.

SO I GUESS THINGS ARE TURNING AROUND.

7:37 PM: Snack Pack is straight murdering me. I have 99 vs his K8 on T96Q7. That is two 4-outers (granted he turned an 8-outer in this latest one) and one 2-outer he’s hit against me in less than an hour now – and every time I’ve been at the top of my range.

It has been quite painful.

7:49 PM: I open KJ suited under the gun, Bill W calls, big defends.

Flop is J74 with two diamonds. I bet, Bill W raises, the big cold calls, I 3-bet and they both call.

Turn is… 6 of diamonds. Of course it is. I check-fold and Bill W shows down KTdd.

And now I’m taking a patented steam walk around the building because things are starting to get absolutely silly.

8:10 PM: Here’s a picture of Snack Pack’s stack:

He bought in for zero green chips.

Actually, only one person bought green chips.

Spoiler alert.

It was me.

8:49 PM: Massacred Hit&Run when he opened and I 3-bet AA. Flop is AQQ with two hearts and he checks to me. It may seem like I have the deck crippled here, but it’s always worth betting the flop just in case he has a queen, plus most players are going to peel at least once with their gut shots and small pocket pairs here and he’s never folding a heart draw. So I go ahead and c-bet the flop and he does call.

Turn is the 3 of hearts and I expect to get check-raised here a lot. It’s why I bet the flop. People just don’t expect you to fast play AA here and they may give you unwarranted action. Whereas checking back the flop and raising a turn lead looks super strong.

I do get check-raised and he pays me $200 on the turn and river.

And then 20 minutes I get another $225 for the High Hand. That’s two top High Hands today already and FIVE High Hands in the last two days in 13 hours of play.

Okay, maybe I’m running decent.

9:18 PM: This place is cracking now. Second game looks on the verge. Snowflake, Jesus, Sandman, and The Leak all on the list and it looks about 9 deep from where I’m sitting.

Lots of Washington state LEGENDS up in here right now.

10:22 PM: Well that was crazy.

First, the Mariners staged an epic comeback in a game that they looked like they had already lost in the first inning.

Second, the homie Trevor253 was making multiple deep runs in the Rattlesnake Open PLO Low and Medium and I was trying to rail him. He ended up taking 2nd in the Medium for what was definitely a career high Global Poker score. Congrats bud! The pain of finishing runner-up will fade out by tomorrow.

Lastly, fools were just brawling in Palace. First time I’ve ever seen multiple blows connect and bodies moving so aggressively at each other. Kinda scary in this day and age. You really never know what people are capable of but you see it all the time on the news. Really not trying to catch a stray bullet because somebody rivered a gut shot against a set of aces.

10:29 PM: In other news, I got all those green chips back from Snack Pack.

10:30 PM: Because I bought them back from him before he left.

💪🏻

11:07PM: Here’s how you trap yourself for the max in a straddle pot. Button straddles, I defend A4 of spades, there’s a call, a 3-bet, button 4-bets, I call, someone 5-bets and suddenly there are twenty bets in the middle.

Flop is T53 with two hearts and one spade. Not the kind of flop I’m ever folding on in a pot of this size… even with Overs in play. I call two bets cold. We are all still fighting for this monster.

Turn is the king of spades and now we have some serious life. Fortunately, I only have to call one bet here and it’s from a new player…

…so when the board pairs with the five of spades on the river, I estimate my winning chances at 100%. I go the check-raise route and we have another new bettor, on my immediate left. There’s a call, I raise, and the river bettor pays me off with trip 5s.

11:25 PM: Hi baby.

11:34 PM: Two Face is playing 4/8 now. There are still two 8/16 games going and he has all his chips from 8/16 in front of him. Like $1000 worth. I think this is better for his ego. Lording over white chip players. Because his ego is definitely getting bruised in this game.

Good for him.

12:08 AM: The whole table is ROASTING Fleabag right now. I’m not participating but I am definitely enjoying.

Pretty epic hand that I wasn’t involved in. Flop is T96 with two clubs and there is a flurry of action. Turn is a blank and Flea bets, button calls and the third player check-raises. Flea says “I’ll get him out for you” referring to the third player and makes it three bets. The button is not phased and calls it all off. It gets capped.

River is a CLUB. I’m watching the button as the turn capper still leads and then Flea RAISES. Like wtf do you think the button has, fellas?

OH MY GOD. The button just 3-bet the river. I did not see that coming. First guy folds and Flea turns over his 87 of clubs to try to save some face before calling and losing to AK of clubs.

Then Flea starts berating the first player for leading the river… like that player somehow forced him to raise his inferior flush into someone that was quite obviously on a big flush draw.

So of course the rest of the table jumps all over him for trying to blame someone else for his stupid river raise… and it was quite hilarious.

12:56 AM: Here’s an odd one. I open cut off with A9 and Flea calls small blind and big blind defend. Flea donks out on my dreamy 942 two spade flop and the big blind raises. Well, I like my hand on this board so I 3-bet and the big caps it. Turn card is a blank and they both check to me. A little concerned but definitely have to bet here. They both call. River is another blank and they both check again. I bet, Flea folds, big says “I promise you’re good” and I know that’s true because how could I not be? I flip my hand and then he flips QQ. Haha. What?

1:21 AM: Sandman, Jesus, FanBoy, and Snowflake all in my game now.

And Tormund Swordsbane and Joker making special non-poker playing cameos. Joker is here with his fiancé… Harley Quinn. She’s a real person, folks. I’m guessing a lot of people lost money on the under on that one.

2:25 AM: A nice go home pot: Snowflake raises, Jesus and Flea cold call, I defend QTo. Flop is QT4 with two spades. Sno bets, Jesus calls, Flea raises, I check 3-bet and Jesus ends up back capping it.

No spade please.

Turn is a 3. I bet, Jesus is all in, Flea raises, I 3-bet, Flea calls.

River king of spades. Sigh. Just a nightmare card. I might even be losing to whatever Fleabag was overplaying now. I check-call him. He tables 43 of spades for the side and Jesus turns over A8 of spades for the main pot.

And it looks like I’ll be leaving stuck now.

3:07 PM: I ran JJ into Snowflake’s AA on a 8 high board on my last hand of the night.

Final Score: -$350

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

Friday Frenzy: 15/30 LHE & Rattlesnake Trophy Hunting! (LIVE BLOG)

May 11, 2018

Since I last posted on Tuesday, something big happened: I finally won an event in a Global Poker series. If you’ve been following along here, you probably know I’ve had two runner-up finishes in the Rattlesnake Open already and I also took second in an event during January’s Grizzly Games as well. Needless to say, even though the money is nice, finishing in second is super frustrating – especially when things like oversized trophies and Global swag is on the line!

My final opponent in this tournament is super accomplished (based on his Sharkscope stats) on Global, but it didn’t take me long to see that I had a massive advantage over him in heads up play. He was playing very straight forward and letting me get away with murder, like getting folds in spots where it’s blatantly obvious that my range is weak and he seemed to almost never bluff. It’s pretty hard to win heads up if you are relying on having the best hand every pot. With a decent chip lead, I thought I was going to have to get very unlucky to let this one slip away… and then I did. I think I had about a 2 to 1 chiplead when we got all the chips in preflop with my AT vs his A2 and he spiked a deuce that held up and suddenly I had a 2 to 1 disadvantage. My wife was already asleep and my brother-in-law that lives with us was also asleep and I have to admit I was struggling to contain my volume after losing that hand.

Still, I recognized that I was a favorite and I wasn’t too worried about things, but I also knew that another unlucky all in confrontation would result in yet another second place finish. I could really feel the pressure I was putting on myself. I have to admit that shipping one of these events was pretty damn important to me. I ended up regaining the chip lead through pure exploitative poker and eventually got him all in with another dominated ace and managed to hold on this time for the win! Much like when I lost the chip lead, I was struggling to contain my volume and excitement as I was quietly celebrating my win all by myself. I did it. Finally!

My first Global Poker trophy! I’ll post a pic when I get this thing.

Not only did I finally ship a trophy event, but I finally had success in one of their bigger buy ins and the actual win was almost triple my previous high on Global. This also put my online bankroll north of $6k and gets me out of the $3-$3.5k range I seem to get stuck in before falling back down. I didn’t set out to do a bankroll challenge or anything, but it’s worth noting that I have only deposited $300 on Global. I feel totally comfortable putting money on there now, but initially I was pretty skeptical about depositing any serious money online and now I’m hoping I’ll never have to.

This win also boosted me back into the Player of the Series race. After playing only one of the three events on Tuesday, I had dropped all the way down to 41st. Apparently you get 10 points for every tournament that you play, so the 11 events I’ve missed so far was having a dramatic affect on my place in the standings. Prior to Wednesday’s win, the 110 points I would have from playing those 11 tournaments was the difference between 41st place in the PotS race and being in the top 8. Pretty sick. After managing one measly min-cash on the day of the series I’ve been looking forward to the most (Limit Hold’em Day), I now sit in 10th place on the leaderboard. Now missing 11 tournaments is the difference between 10th and… 1st. Assuming I cashed zero times in the 11 additional tournaments (unlikely), I would currently have a 20 point lead over second place. Ugh. Who needs an extra $5000 I guess?

My wife still doesn’t seem to embracing the opportunity here. We are heading to her parents house for Mother’s Day tomorrow and then my parents house for Mother’s Day on Tuesday and then next Saturday we are apparently attending a wedding. As has been noted, missing tournaments has been detrimental and Saturdays and Sundays are especially important as there are six events each day. I basically have the green light to play tomorrow – either by visiting for an hour in between the day and night events or by playing on the iPad while I’m there – but I’m not sure how I’ll manage Tuesday and there’s no way I can play next Saturday unless she shows mercy on my soul and doesn’t make me go to a wedding for two people I don’t even know. I suppose if I fall out of contention by then it won’t matter, but if I’m in the thick of it, those last two days are going to be super critical. I can’t really blame her though, especially since I’m going to be gone for six weeks for the World Series of Poker, but I’m right there! I can ship this thing!

Something else interesting has happened because of my recent win. I’ve been contacted by both a Global Poker representative for inclusion in their upcoming press release and by PokerNews. I’m still waiting for questions from PokerNews, so not exactly sure what that will entail, but seems like I’m going to be getting some publicity in the near future. The PokerNews editor mentioned reading my blog, so hopefully they will include a link in their write up and if I happen to get any new readers please feel free to subscribe and follow along!

I am definitely NOT a fan of multi-tabling on my iPad while playing live poker, but I kind of have to do it. My live play volume has been waaaaay down this month – mostly because I’ve been staying home to play online. Even with the iPad multi-tabling, I’m still only on pace for just over 80 hours of live play for the month of May. That’s roughly half my normal volume. Kind of inexcusable. The $3500 cash was really nice and the chance at a $5k package is appealing, but the kind of money I can make in these online tournaments pales to what I make playing live poker.

So I will be heading to Palace shortly and hoping that the 15/30 game gets off the ground if it hasn’t already (I haven’t checked for a bit). Unfortunately tonight’s Rattlensnake events are all 4-max tournaments, so it is going to be really challenging to play live while playing 4-max on my iPad, but I did manage a 2nd place finish doing exactly that last week.

Expect this blog to be live for a little over an hour or so before I get involved in the tournaments, then I will probably go mostly quiet for a few hours, and then back to regular updates when I’m back to playing live only.

See you in an hour!

4:25 PM: Sitting down in 8/16 and should get an hour worth of updates in before online poker takes over.

I was hoping to play 15/30 all night but the game looks a ways off. There are 8 names on the list but one of them (the Gnat) is MIA and there are multiple potential flakers. Looks like I’ll be playing 8/16 for a while, which is probably for the best considering the distraction level I’m about to experience.

8/16 lineup: The Queen, FBI Guy, Grumpy (yay!) and some other random I’m not overly familiar with.

4:53 PM: Wonderful start. Admittedly playing a little sloppy so far and then I get to add this gem to torment: two limpers, I limp T8ss, someone raises, some blinds call, FBI Guy comes through with the limp-raise and six of us see the flop for three bets. It’s pretty nice! J93 with two spades and one heart. FBI Guy checks and I start the fireworks as the original PFR helps me get it capped with five of us still in. Turn is gin: 7 of hearts! We have the nuts. I go ahead and lead because the PFR screams of draws that check the turn and three players call me. River is a 2 of hearts and now the PFR raises me. Jx of hearts is my primary candidate to be losing to but instead this guy was capping the J9x two spade flop with four opponents holding the KThh. AS YOU SHOULD.

I have spotted them a rack of blue already.

👏🏻👏🏻

5:10 PM: The Man is trying to start 15/30 super short-handed and as appealing as it is to play 3-handed with The Gnat, it’s going to be tough enough 3-tabling 4-max while playing in a full live game. That’s a pass from me for now.

5:15 PM: Here’s something that annoys me:

What the hell am I supposed to do with that chicken? Cut it up myself? Eat it like a Neanderthal? Seems like I shouldn’t have to ask the kitchen to cut my chicken in a way that makes sense for a salad.

5:25 PM: Sigh. They are starting 15/30 right as my tournaments are about to start and there are only four players that have bought chips so far. Spectacular.

This should be… interesting.

Finish 8/16 -$191.

5:29 PM: Part-Time, The Gnat and some random are in the game… and now The Man is sitting down to make it 5-handed while he’s working… because beating up on the floor man at 15/30 is what I want to do. 🤦🏻‍♂️

5:57 PM: The Global tourneys all have two rebuys and one add on. I have been playing splashy in the Low, running my stack all the way down to 270 from 3k starting before building it back up 1800 and getting stacked when my AA ran into the mighty 74 blind defend.

On the bright side, I’m back up to 3k stack.

6:20 PM: On bullet #2 of the $22 Medium. I open 66 and guy with 30 bigs left jams on me. It’s a rebuy so I’m willing to gamble here. I somehow hold against his T2o.

He reloads and then stuffs 100 bigs on the button. I have 77 in the small blind and even though I’m flipping most of the time I can’t resist the gamble. It’s not a flop – I have his Q7 crushed. But he spikes a Queen on the turn and now I have 30 bigs.

A few hands later, he opens on button and I try to induce by making a small raise. He jams, I snap call, and his 44 holds to bust me.

And then they move that player that player the next hand… only to replace him two hands later!

No justice!

6:38 PM: Final bullet of Medium, as my 30 big blind reshove with AQ can’t shake AJdd and he makes a flush to bust me.

6:51 PM: And QQ < KT to bust the Medium. Sometimes you just run awesome.

I have about 30 bigs in the Low and same in the High.

7:03 PM: And out of the Low. 12 big button jam with A2ss loses to 55.

Then I get 16 bigs in pre with JTdd vs TT, flop a jack and lose to the one-outer on the river in the High.

Second bullet there.

And now my live game waits for me to bust two tournaments before going on pause. We are 5-handed… one player is felted… and two others are on break.

😴😴😴

7:08 PM: Weird hand against The Gnat. Some limps in front of me, I raise KJo on the button, and then The Gnat check-raises and caps on J95. He checks to me on a blank turn and I’m wary, so I check back. River is another blank and he checks again so obviously I have to to bet now and he check-calls mewith… AJ!

Unknown opens, I 3-bet 66 on button and he caps out of position. I call down on Q7752 and he shows me 22.

What.

7:35 PM: On break in the High and I added on 3000 chips for $50 to my 7000 stack. Meh. Not great value but whatever.

I just flopped sets in back-to-back huge pots in the live game. I’m crushing it but the game is on fumes.

7:51 PM: The Gnat just went runner-runner flush on me, so he’s obviously singing now.

Gosh dang, he’s so good!

7:57 PM: And I’m out of the High. Solid 0-3 showing tonight. 3-tabling 4-max NL while playing 5-max live poker is haaaard.

I basically never input my own bet. Just bet half pot, pot, or whatever preset sizings there are.

Plus I do cool things like this:

Yes, that’s me timed out and folded with the nuts.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

My wife is here now and we are about to have dinner and then time to focus up on this live game.

8:38 PM: Well I was up $1500 in the 15/30 game but it’s come crumbling down quickly.

First I lost with AK on QTxK9. Then I folded JJ on A77xK. Then I had TT vs QcJc on T98cc and never improved. And just now I bet the K65 flop, Gnat raises all in to $20, big blind calls, and I call because that’s the only thing I can do. The 6 pairs on the turn and the big blind fires the first $60 Overs bet of the evening. I’m perplexed but call. River 9, same action, and he rolls K9.

Solid -$700 swing in one orbit.

10:13 PM: We have gone card dead, folks. I did pick up the QQ once and got out flopped by KT and then I missed the nut flush draw in a 3-bet pot, but those have been my only hands of note. After turning the faucet on for an orbit, my downswing has becomemore of a slow drip.

10:17 PM: And immediately after posting that last update, I 3-bet KK and it goes cap and cold call behind me. Four of us see the T33 two hearts flop and I get it capped with the preflop capper. One player calls two bets but winds up folding so we are in Overs for the turn action. I’m running kind of bad at the moment so leading out for $60 feels almost spewy but I’m only losing to TT and AA, so bombs away! I’m quite relieved to see him just call. The river is the queen of hearts and now we are only beating JJ. So I check and he checks behind with the one hand we still beat.

10:57 PM: The Tick, Gnat, and Flea are all in the building and I left my insect repellent at home.

11:14 PM: Kung Fu Panda in the game! Threatening to buy in for less than $400…

👀👀

12:22 PM: Kung Fu Panda and Snowflake are sitting next to me totally distracting me. I am crushing though. These guys keep commenting on how I win every pot I play, I always have it, they give me too much action, etc.

One big connection I have KJdd in a 3-bet pot and then get the QT3dd flop with Overs in play. Bink the flush on the turn and get six bigbets from my opponent.

Here’s Kung Fu Panda’s stack:

So you can see why he’s jealous.

1:57 AM: Snowflake is now in the game and he’s possibly wasted and telling everyone he’s going to 3-bet me every hand. I have a feeling my variance is about to get tumultuous.

The Leak is also playing in this game for some reason.

The Gnat felted. The Flea is in.

2:06 PM: This just happened: Snowflake is being so annoying that The Flea just asked for a seat change to move away from him.

The fucking FLEA wants to move because someone is annoying HIM!

3:15 AM: Session is over. Sorry for the lack of content tonight. Snowflake was sitting behind me and Kung Fu Panda and talking to us for hours before he got in the game and writing about hands became very hard to do.

It was a good, smooth session though. Very minor hiccups for the last several hours as I cruised to a +$2209 finish.

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