26.5.05
$10,000 and Mohegan Sun
My grandmother won $10,000 at Mohegan Sun today. She hit a big payout playing slots. Wow!!! She should enter the WSoP main event!! lol.
12.5.05
WPBT WSoP Satellite # 3
Congrats to Wes for winning the 3rd WSoP satellite event!! He came from behind to win the seat. He pulled it out against The Fat Guy. I was rooting hard for TFG. It was his birthday and he had a good shot to win. Otis made a great run at the end and made the final table after being shortstacked. It was great to see Otis play. Spaceman and Bad Blood played well too.
I finished in 53rd place. I won a few small hands early but made a bad mistake midway through the tourney when I bet out on the flop in early position. I lost half my stack when my opponent reraised all in. I folded. It was a bad move on my part. I never recovered. I got horrible cards after that and was the shortstack. I got 44 and moved all in but ran into GameCock's KK. Wow, we're sending 3 people to the WSoP event. Nice! Thanks again to Iggy for setting it up.
I finished in 53rd place. I won a few small hands early but made a bad mistake midway through the tourney when I bet out on the flop in early position. I lost half my stack when my opponent reraised all in. I folded. It was a bad move on my part. I never recovered. I got horrible cards after that and was the shortstack. I got 44 and moved all in but ran into GameCock's KK. Wow, we're sending 3 people to the WSoP event. Nice! Thanks again to Iggy for setting it up.
8.5.05
mission impossible
Mission: Be a Loose Agressive (LAG) player for a couple of days to walk in their shoes.
The Rules: must raise pre-flop at least once for every 5 hands. must reraise a bet with any of the following: At-Ak, pocket pair, or suited connector 87 and up. in the blinds, call with the raise with the premium holding, but bet POT after the flpo regardless.
Sunday : Tried this in a SnG. (not a good idea?)first hand, raised from early 3xBB and get called by 2 players, Q22 flop, bet pot and MP called, resigned the hand at this point. check and all-in from mid pos. my hand was J7o so I fold. lost about a 1/3 of my stack.
BB with Q2o now. 4 limpers and I just check my way in. flop is 774 and I bet POT. Get a caller and now I am in trouble? Check on the turn and so does he. the river is an over card and a third diamond so I bet $250 into the pot and he calls with A4 for bottom two pair. (This just is not working at all. based on the check on the turn and the river of an overcard and diamond, this is a loose call by him, isnt it?) I made a note about his play on this hand in my notes tab.
I have about a third of my chips left. limp from the button with T9o. flop is KcQc4d and the BB bets almost pot and 3 call. I have a belly buster but fold. The Jc comes ont he turn and I would have gotten the straight. I am horrible at this!
Raise 3xBB from the cutoff with KJo vs limpers. 3 callers. post flop (2c2d3c) they all start betting so I fold. MP ends up all-in on the turn of 9h.
25% of my stack remains. I figure to get action on any hand I play now. Fold T2s, T5o, 23o. During this time, I am seeing the others play non-premium cards (like Axo). Not LAG, but more amateurish hands. I have to assume at this point, that LAGs do better in big field tournaments where players are tighter and trying to play decently.
well, now its time based on the rules and I all-in from late pos with K9s. I get no callers. Fold 95o, 23o from UTG. Get 8To in the BB but UTG and left of him call, plus a raise from MID (from the A4o guy). Fold BB. Am I doing this right?
SB T4o (is there an end to this?! K9s was my best hand so far!) with only 450 chips left, I do not call the blinds for $75 more. A4o guy is playing the LAG with $3000 in chips now. Fold T6o on the button to a big raise. Fold K6s. Looking for an all-in hand again. A5s, but hardly premium. I go all in anyways since its been 5 hands. 2 callers! AK8 flop and I think trouble but I split with A7o. These guys are not good enough to do this against? They are very foolish?
Fold 39o (lord help me). Fold 73s. Note that despite this silly play table, no one is knocked out yet?! I am the ss and seemingly the only one who understands the GAP concept. Pheh. fold 97o from early pos. (I have yet to have a raise qualifying hand.)
fold K5s from early. 5th hand coming and its UtG. I get 63o. I decide to fold it one more rather than all-in on that. The SB goes all-in when its foldede to him and BB calls with T5o. SB had J5o and wins?!
BB with Q5s. Rules state I must be all-in if there are no raises.2 limpers so I do it. Call from AKo that hits the Ace on the flop. finished 9/10. This sucks. Still, not a single elligable hand for raising. Maybe I should try it again...
I got to a bigger SnG in the hopes of better play.Raise 3xBB with AQs UtG. Get a caller from MP and BB. I am to bet POT on any flop, so I do after BB checks from of 235 rainbow. They fold.
T8o in the BB. some early guy raises but only a min raise, so I call. with 3 others I might add. flop is 9J6 (2 hearts) so I bet pot on the straight draw and get re-raised all-in. I call the obvious top pair and hit the straight on the river. He made the obligatory sarcatic "nice catch" comment, but I really dont see that he can be that upset. It was an easy call to justify at that point. I was a 2-1 dog and getting 2.5 to 1 on my call.
I get 99 in the SB and Late raises just the min. The button and SB call. I bet pot. 3 players see the flop of Q67 rainbow and I bet pot. The SB had a Queen (Qto) and takes the pot.
Fold, Fold, Fold, fold, raise 2xBB with J3o. No callers. still not a single pocket pair, AT-AKs or even a suited connector!FOLD, fold, BB with J7o. get to limp with MP and SB. Flop is K92 and the SB bets! so I fold.
KQo in the SB and I should raise if I get the chance. But MP does it 4xBB, so I call. flpo is T45 rainbow and I think I am stuck. I check, but so do the others. SO I must bet on the turn? the turn is a 9, and I bet big. I get reraised all-in and fold with Nothing.
Fold 92o on the button, and watch Axo split with another Axo. Me, I fold A6o to a raise from my right. Fold 72o. someone else goes all in to win a pot with 30 chips in it (the blinds)? what is that? Fold A2o. everyone folds to the BB. time to bet? I am Utg but get J3o again. fold. I'll have to play my blind. Its 69o! bet pot on flop of AA9 and get called. I end up folding to the player on my left when he puts in the big river bet. Again. He is trying to trap me based on my image everytime.
I get 55 against 3 limpers and bet pot raise. I get 2 callers and the flop is 238. I go all in and get TWO callers with JUST OVERCARDS. Against 2 of them I am probably a big dog, but two more little cards come. The guy with ATs is now out. He called with no draw, just 2 overs (they both did). My image must be looser than I thought!
KK knocks out AJo and we are down to 5. I have folded the last 3 hands. I am also the chip leader. 9T now knocks out KQ and there are 4 left. I reraise a better with and open straight draw on an all diamond board, but he calls and goes all in when the 4th diamond falls. I fold.
Once again, someone waits to trap me with an all-in bet when I make a move at a pot. This is getting pretty consistent now. I have to fold to the all-in since I have nothing.
There are 4 left and I am the short stack now. blinds are still 25/25 though. limp with 98o in the BB. 245. Call min bet from SB. 8 and call min bet from SB. Ten and lose to T6o also calling min bets. I blew this one, right?
Down to tiny chip stack and need to go all-in for my BB. What do I get? K2o. The button puts me all in and I have to call. The SB calls too. I am out.
This was an interesting exercise, but did not seem to accomplish what I set out to. I will try this next in a tournament.
The Rules: must raise pre-flop at least once for every 5 hands. must reraise a bet with any of the following: At-Ak, pocket pair, or suited connector 87 and up. in the blinds, call with the raise with the premium holding, but bet POT after the flpo regardless.
Sunday : Tried this in a SnG. (not a good idea?)first hand, raised from early 3xBB and get called by 2 players, Q22 flop, bet pot and MP called, resigned the hand at this point. check and all-in from mid pos. my hand was J7o so I fold. lost about a 1/3 of my stack.
BB with Q2o now. 4 limpers and I just check my way in. flop is 774 and I bet POT. Get a caller and now I am in trouble? Check on the turn and so does he. the river is an over card and a third diamond so I bet $250 into the pot and he calls with A4 for bottom two pair. (This just is not working at all. based on the check on the turn and the river of an overcard and diamond, this is a loose call by him, isnt it?) I made a note about his play on this hand in my notes tab.
I have about a third of my chips left. limp from the button with T9o. flop is KcQc4d and the BB bets almost pot and 3 call. I have a belly buster but fold. The Jc comes ont he turn and I would have gotten the straight. I am horrible at this!
Raise 3xBB from the cutoff with KJo vs limpers. 3 callers. post flop (2c2d3c) they all start betting so I fold. MP ends up all-in on the turn of 9h.
25% of my stack remains. I figure to get action on any hand I play now. Fold T2s, T5o, 23o. During this time, I am seeing the others play non-premium cards (like Axo). Not LAG, but more amateurish hands. I have to assume at this point, that LAGs do better in big field tournaments where players are tighter and trying to play decently.
well, now its time based on the rules and I all-in from late pos with K9s. I get no callers. Fold 95o, 23o from UTG. Get 8To in the BB but UTG and left of him call, plus a raise from MID (from the A4o guy). Fold BB. Am I doing this right?
SB T4o (is there an end to this?! K9s was my best hand so far!) with only 450 chips left, I do not call the blinds for $75 more. A4o guy is playing the LAG with $3000 in chips now. Fold T6o on the button to a big raise. Fold K6s. Looking for an all-in hand again. A5s, but hardly premium. I go all in anyways since its been 5 hands. 2 callers! AK8 flop and I think trouble but I split with A7o. These guys are not good enough to do this against? They are very foolish?
Fold 39o (lord help me). Fold 73s. Note that despite this silly play table, no one is knocked out yet?! I am the ss and seemingly the only one who understands the GAP concept. Pheh. fold 97o from early pos. (I have yet to have a raise qualifying hand.)
fold K5s from early. 5th hand coming and its UtG. I get 63o. I decide to fold it one more rather than all-in on that. The SB goes all-in when its foldede to him and BB calls with T5o. SB had J5o and wins?!
BB with Q5s. Rules state I must be all-in if there are no raises.2 limpers so I do it. Call from AKo that hits the Ace on the flop. finished 9/10. This sucks. Still, not a single elligable hand for raising. Maybe I should try it again...
I got to a bigger SnG in the hopes of better play.Raise 3xBB with AQs UtG. Get a caller from MP and BB. I am to bet POT on any flop, so I do after BB checks from of 235 rainbow. They fold.
T8o in the BB. some early guy raises but only a min raise, so I call. with 3 others I might add. flop is 9J6 (2 hearts) so I bet pot on the straight draw and get re-raised all-in. I call the obvious top pair and hit the straight on the river. He made the obligatory sarcatic "nice catch" comment, but I really dont see that he can be that upset. It was an easy call to justify at that point. I was a 2-1 dog and getting 2.5 to 1 on my call.
I get 99 in the SB and Late raises just the min. The button and SB call. I bet pot. 3 players see the flop of Q67 rainbow and I bet pot. The SB had a Queen (Qto) and takes the pot.
Fold, Fold, Fold, fold, raise 2xBB with J3o. No callers. still not a single pocket pair, AT-AKs or even a suited connector!FOLD, fold, BB with J7o. get to limp with MP and SB. Flop is K92 and the SB bets! so I fold.
KQo in the SB and I should raise if I get the chance. But MP does it 4xBB, so I call. flpo is T45 rainbow and I think I am stuck. I check, but so do the others. SO I must bet on the turn? the turn is a 9, and I bet big. I get reraised all-in and fold with Nothing.
Fold 92o on the button, and watch Axo split with another Axo. Me, I fold A6o to a raise from my right. Fold 72o. someone else goes all in to win a pot with 30 chips in it (the blinds)? what is that? Fold A2o. everyone folds to the BB. time to bet? I am Utg but get J3o again. fold. I'll have to play my blind. Its 69o! bet pot on flop of AA9 and get called. I end up folding to the player on my left when he puts in the big river bet. Again. He is trying to trap me based on my image everytime.
I get 55 against 3 limpers and bet pot raise. I get 2 callers and the flop is 238. I go all in and get TWO callers with JUST OVERCARDS. Against 2 of them I am probably a big dog, but two more little cards come. The guy with ATs is now out. He called with no draw, just 2 overs (they both did). My image must be looser than I thought!
KK knocks out AJo and we are down to 5. I have folded the last 3 hands. I am also the chip leader. 9T now knocks out KQ and there are 4 left. I reraise a better with and open straight draw on an all diamond board, but he calls and goes all in when the 4th diamond falls. I fold.
Once again, someone waits to trap me with an all-in bet when I make a move at a pot. This is getting pretty consistent now. I have to fold to the all-in since I have nothing.
There are 4 left and I am the short stack now. blinds are still 25/25 though. limp with 98o in the BB. 245. Call min bet from SB. 8 and call min bet from SB. Ten and lose to T6o also calling min bets. I blew this one, right?
Down to tiny chip stack and need to go all-in for my BB. What do I get? K2o. The button puts me all in and I have to call. The SB calls too. I am out.
This was an interesting exercise, but did not seem to accomplish what I set out to. I will try this next in a tournament.
2.5.05
The Ultra Mega Mega Vegas blog extravaganza!
or How to double your money in Vegas without really trying
I’ve been planning a trip to Vegas for a year now. My wife bought us a weekend package for our 10th wedding anniversary to use on our 11th. So with our 11th coming up this weekend, what happens? I get sick. Good and sick. I came home from work at 3pm just to take a nap. I went to bed early Thursday evening hoping to feel better for the trip. My daughter coughing into my mouth earlier in the week had trouble written all over it.
We flew into Vegas Friday morning. I woke up with the bad cold and knew it was going to get worse. Still, we went to the airport with a spring in our steps. Flew funjet, which was ok, but had to fly out of the Berry terminal. For those of you not from Detroit, McNamara is the new, swanky terminal, Then there is the old terminal, then there is the condemned terminal, then there is the Berry terminal hut. 8 gates of mid sized jet non-luxury. Quite possible the worst $3 cup of joe every brewed. Assuming there was any brewing involved.
Even though it was a morning flight, and we gain 3 hours, by the time we checked into the hotel (Paris) it was already the early afternoon. So we went out exploring… the Pool! Just laid around the pool until another couple from the wedding party arrived. Then we headed off to find a meal. (I had not eaten all day.) By the by, The Paris was not really that impressive. First of all, do any Americans have any fascination with the French anymore? Nope. There were a lot of Japanese couples getting married there though. Second, the wife says that carpeting in a swanky hotel is the kiss of death, because it always smells like a hotel. And that comment did not come up because she was reminded of another trip at that very moment. Third, and this is the most annoying gambling thing in the history of gambling annoyances, were the slots. They would not take coins, only bills. And when you won, they printed out your winnings on a slip to take to the cashier. It was like being at Chucky Cheeses. I could not find the $5 no-limit skee-ball, although I did find the $9 cappuccino.
And when did the slot makers just give up on the themes? MASH is not a theme for a slot machine!
After much discussion about dinner that turned into a “Who’s on First” routine, and me vetoing the idea of going to the Rio for Surf and Turf, we went to the Harley Davidson place for BBQ. I don’t recommend the Harley place (wow, that’s saying it nicely). It was like a cheap mall store with second rate food. (Remember Hammond Organs? Ok, scratch out Hammond and write in Harley. Leave the word organ, it helps get a laugh.) Oh, and here is a brilliant Marketing thought. How do you make a name for yourself with BBQ? Answer: Have a sauce that doesn’t taste biker ass. I mean, it has to go on EVERYTHING, so make sure it tastes decent. There are fake 50’s diners with more atmosphere than this tourist trap. And while I am ranting, can you walk anywhere in Vegas without encountering “card slappers”? (Those annoying people that slap the stripper cards on the deck before they hand them out.) I bet they knew better than to eat at the biker’s ass.
I had a couple of beers and after dinner went back to the hotel (l’hotel) room before going to play cards. It would be my last awake moment for 12 hours. At 4am local time, I was burning up. Aspirin (the wonder pill) got my fever under control and I woke up sat morning feeling well enough to venture out. Since someone in our wedding party said that Mandalay Bay had a breakfast buffet, we went there. Note: Every hotel in Vegas has a breakfast buffet and they are all the same. I filled up on croissants (ironically) and was finally ready to play some cards. I felt about 70% healthy.
I had 6 hours before I had to get remarried by Elvis, and I had my poker bankroll ready to go. I must admit that I was a bit weary. I mean, who was I? Some punk (old punk) that never played in Vegas before. Would I get pushed around? Would everyone recognize me as the dead money? Was the Detroit Lions hat a dead give-away? Still, I had to try. After all, I was in Vegas. The Lions hat never failed to gathered comments wherever I went. The funniest by far was running into a Lions fan working at the Harley BBQ. “Keep the faith brother”, I told him.
I was looking for a NL $100 max buy in, but Mandalay was spreading $2/$4 NL $200 max buy in. I thought it might be out of my league. I convinced myself I just would not go all-in on any hand anytime soon… The hostess told us we were going to be the “must move” table (i.e. the second table and the first one must stay filled). With the table at 5 players, they all wanted to start with just 5.
I decide that instead of sitting down right away, I would take a restroom break. Why? I love to do this. Leave when the table sets, then when you return wait for the BB. You can watch the players for a few hands for free and rarely do they even notice that you’re accumulating information on them. This time was no exception. I watched three or four hands and the table added players. There was a lot of pre-flop limping.
First hand in big blind and I get dealt AKo and I raise to12. I get 3 callers! The flop came Q high and I checked to watch action start fast. I folded to a bet and callers. Qs won the hand. I make a mental page of notes. But the next hand I have 85o in the SB and decide to see a flop for ½ price. I flopped a Str8 (467 rainbow) and players started betting! I let a player two to my left in position think I was chasing (by calling). On the flop, he bet 30 and I called. On the turn (which was a 9), he bet another 30 so I re-raised him 30 back and he called. –His bet on the turn when the board now had a 9 worried me because no one should be playing at this point with a single pair. I figure the 9 could only hurt me. The river is a Ten and now I figure I am going to split the pot w/ his freaky A8 play. Still, I no longer had to worry about 8T, just 8J and I can’t believe anyone would call a re-raise looking for a second runner. So when he bets 100, I call and he shows ATo. Ace Ten? Ace Ten? Are you kiddy me? He hit TPTK on the river and thought he was the luckiest guy in the world. Two hands and I am up over $100 bucks. Still, I did not raise on the river. I rarely do that, but really should learn to. I mean, what could beat me here? Only J8. (I’ll do this again later, but with better reason.)
Here is a good time to tell you about my table. To my left, a Vegas local who only played solid starting hands and folded any missed flop (more on him later). To his left, an older guy from the U.P. who just gave me $100 bucks. He would later show people (who were paying attention, namely only me) he would play any mid pair or top pair he stayed with after the flop, to the bitter end. And always believing he had the best hand if he started the betting. Just like in the hand he had minutes ago. I will make him pay for this habit again later on. Left of him was Cowboy guy. Older and a strange gambler. His signature play (every time) was to bluff all-in on any flop with a paired board. To what end? This is a classic prisoner’s dilemma. Win little or lose big. (More on that later.) Next was a simple rock. By the book rock. If he bet the flop and you gave him action, you had better have the nuts. After him was a guy who really thought he was good… At first. The third hand he raised to 5x BB preflop and bet out big post flop, He was gutted (he missed the flop and thought he could push the others out from out of position.) and never really recovered mentally from that hand. The guy on his left was an obvious beginner. The only pots he won were hands where everyone checked to him after a flop and then he bet out. Everyone folds and he takes it. This happened a few times, they were his only winning hands.
Now the guy on his left had a pokerstars.com hat on. (More on him later too.) The guy on his left was “kid lucky” who was dealt AA his first hand at the table. (More on his second AA in an hour later on.) Finally, there was the piano player from one of the clubs. He was tight-bad.
For a good amount of time, I am playing pretty tight. I am amazed at how predictable the players were. The one funny thing is that there were a few funny tells. The guy from the UP would always prepare his bet way in advance. Everyone knew if he was going to fold, call or raise. Cowboy guy just looked for places to bluff. “Kid lucky” would overplay his hands…
So I am in the SB and the UTG kid from Vegas is the BB. The table folds to “kid lucky”. Remember his first hand (AA)? Well, let’s interrupt this hand briefly to explain his nickname. His third hand of the night he is dealt TT. Not only does he flop a set, a player on his right (remember the pokerstars hat?) flopped a set of 7s at the same time. I don’t need to tell you how it ends for the hat. Now, back to our hand. Kid lucky has $500 in front of him already on the strength of 2 hands. He raises it to $20. The button and I fold.
The BB now re-raises to $40. The Vegas mouse (as Hellmuth would say) obviously had a hand. And played here a lot. He knew all the dealers by name and the piano player on my right.
“Kid lucky” says quickly, “I’m all in”. The Vegas rock then folds KK. We were amazed. “Kid Lucky” then felt obligated to show. AA. Again. Now that’s tight. He was going to play for 4 hours and win $5. And get a free deli sandwich.
I get another AK hand in late position. There are like 4 limpers. Instead of raising big, I just limp along. Why? Because I have a drawing hand against 4 hands where someone seems to call every reasonable raise. The proper play here was to raise to $20 or the size of the pot and wait for 3 of them to go away. I improperly shyed away from this play and went along for the ride. Guess what I did after the flop? Fold. But who was the wiser? No one. I was looking for trap opportunities. Why? Because a good number of players at this table would not see them.
Yet another paired flop. Cowboy guy raises and everyone folds. He shows a pocket underpair. Cowboy guy busts out on like bottom pair sometime after this and rebuys for $200. I think he busted out to pokerstars.com hat who had TP.
10 minutes later another paired flop and Coyboy guy is all-in. Everyone folds. I am sure he had nothing.
10 minutes later I limp in late position with T9. The flop is QQT and Cowboy guy is first to act. What does he do? All-in. with his full stack of $200. Well, I am looking for call here with a Ten. But on my left is UP guy and he is waiting to act. I don’t know if I picked up this obvious tell, or I was just not willing to take the chance, but I folded the T knowing Cowboy did not have the Queen. But UP did and he took down Cowboy (who had zip).
Now players are discussing things like comps for sandwiches and things like that. I am in shock. They are not even paying attention to the hands.
I fold for about 30 minutes straight, and limp in late position with 45s. The flop is 44T. UP guy, remember him?, bets out about $20 bucks and everyone folds to me. What do I do? Call, of course. The look on his face. He was sure he was ahead. And I was sure he had a Ten. Did he think I was the cowboy? Did he think at all?
I did not even look at the turn card except to make sure it wasn’t a ten. This time UP guy bets out $40. I stare at him, thinking about raising. But he looks so sure he is ahead and after cleaning out Cowboy guy on this same play, how could anyone be so stupid? So I call. The river is a paint card and UP guy bets out 100. I just look up and say, “ok. Call”. He looks at me and says “Well, if you got a 4, I’m beat”. Well, guess what dufus. What the hell else would I have? Still, he looked shocked that he was beat. Why? Because I never raised him. He was so sure. I make the argument that I was right calling it down and letting him be the aggressor. I also defend my call at the end. I found it easy to believe he played A4s. But I know it could look bad for me, calling there and on the turn. Anyway, I have $525 in front of me. I am way up, but as I look at my play, I need to stop calling when I am ahead and press. There especially.
I’ll lose about $20 of it getting away from AKo. Then after limping in with KQs, I flop top pair. PokerStars.com, who already re-bought once, had not won a hand in a while. I could tell he hit the K like I did and he bet out $30. He only had $100 left, so I put him all in. Without any thought, he called with TPTK. Sure, I lost this hand and $100 bucks, but I knew right then that he would give it all back before he left the table. He was going to leave broke. He just did not think about his decisions. In every other case at the table, the all-in had a set. He just didn’t notice… anything. He busted out 30 minutes later, on TP. He lost a few of these hands and never learned. I just did not see it soon enough and it cost me.
I have about $380 in front of me and I am wondering about trying another card room. In retrospect, Mandalay was great. Soft table, good service, tables had shufflers in them, and no cell phones allowed. I did not know how good I had it though. Well, its getting later in the day and we are no longer a “must move” table. They added a third table so we were good. But then, someone from the first table asks permission to move to table two. My spidey sense starts tingling. I watch as his sits down with about $600 chips. I fold hands, waiting to see if he does what I expect. Sure enough, anytime he comes in a hand, he is coming in big. His typically move was to wait for a raise, then re-raise to $100 (pre-flop). I knew this was going to go badly for the others, and maybe me. I saw this at Greektown in Detroit also. Someone gets to the casino when it opens, builds up a stack, and bullies the others who come in later with a dominant stack. I decided it was time to go. Still, I won $182 bucks. And I did it without flopping a single set (with a pocket pair) or having AA even once. As a matter of fact, my best hand of the night was 99 or AKo. I lost with both.
Let’s recap the Mandalay game: Soft game, winning hands 85o and 54s.
I now had to try the Tropicana. They had a $1/$2, $100 max buy in and that was more what I had been looking for. But it just was not the same. First of all, the table was full of younger guys who knew how to play, but not the bankroll for a bigger game. They were tighter, more by the book, and avoided chasing. They would try to trap also. The dealer shuffled the cards by hand, and shuffled less than the 7 recommended for randomness (a pet peeve of mine). I found that I had to be tricky to pick up pots. I would raise from the button K7s instead of waiting for a hand. If the other players checked to me and I bet out a pot sized bet, they would usually fold. I won two nice hands this way (and ran into a hand on another, but I escaped). I ended up about $20 bucks. Now that is a return of 20%, so don’t knock it. It was a harder game to make money at also. I did it without having a decent hand and making some good lay downs after reading the player and knowing I was beat.
Here is where a recent lesson learned saved me $40 bucks. I lectured my wife on this recently. If you are playing suited connectors and flop two pair, YOU MAY BE IN TROUBLE. There are now 16 scare cards and one of them might even be the 3rd card of the flop. If you flop two pair, someone is going to hit a straight. Be warned. I played 45 and the flop was 458. When I saw the raise come in, I just knew the only old guy at the table finally had made a hand. I saw the disappointment when I folded. But since I was the only other non-kid at the table, he showed me the made straight and we laughed about it. I laughed a bit harder than he did.
The one thing I can say about the younger players though, they are open books. I always thought Mike Cairo stuff was over-rated, but these young guys had tells-a-poppin. My favorite was the kid who talked like he was the table captain, but would get a serious look on his face whenever the flop hit him. And the attempts to look like you know you’re your doing. Man. There was a hand I was bluffing on where after trying to decide what to do, a kid looks up and stares at me, like I am going to have a tell 5 full minutes after I bet. And what a tell by him! I knew if he called (with just a mid or bottom pair) I would push him out on the turn. Still, he did fold and since I had nothing, I can’t complain.
My wife showed up and was cheering me on in her wedding dress. She decided to wear it all afternoon. “Dude, you getting married today and you’re playing cards? That is so cool”. Indeed.
So I doubled my bankroll in Vegas. And I had fun doing it. And I played decent. Maybe I won’t be so weary of the casino in the future. And now… the wedding!
I highly recommend the A Elvis Chapel (sic). It was so much fun. We sang Burning Love and Viva Las Vegas (of course). Afterwards, we headed over to Hofbrauhaus house. The only one outside of Munich. (And I’ve been to that one too!) It was so fun, we stayed for four hours. Highly recommended. We then headed off to Venus club, where I expect to see the tiki décor. Venus was no more, replaced by vivid. The tiki décor was long gone..
Sunday sucked as I was not feeling well, all the restaurants had lines and the House of Blues Gospel show was $80 / couple. Did not see that coming, so we skipped it this time around. I could have played at Mandalay again, but the smell. I did not mention that earlier did I? Mandalay Bay smelled like there was a spice spillage at the yankee candle factory. You could tell they were pumping it into the air because it faded as you walked down the tram walkway and the vents ended. Nasty.
The airline also convinced me to get to the airport very early. It took 5 freaking minutes to check in on Sunday afternoon and we sat in the airport, staring at the strip for another 2 hours before heading home. Next time, I’ll be smarter about that too.
Summary:
All in all, one of the best weekends for the money I ever had.
Tropicana : Fun poker room for playing with technically adept amateurs.
Mandalay Bay : More upscale digs, softer players.
Elvis : Has left the building.
Paris Hotel: Ok. Hmm, next time a hotel with a marble floor and a pool. Narrows the choices down, doesn’t it. Until you see the price.
Gambling: Since I was in Vegas, I had to gamble at least once. I wanted the biggest longshot I could find. I bet $5 on the Lions to win the 2005 Superbowl. They are 40-1.
I’ve been planning a trip to Vegas for a year now. My wife bought us a weekend package for our 10th wedding anniversary to use on our 11th. So with our 11th coming up this weekend, what happens? I get sick. Good and sick. I came home from work at 3pm just to take a nap. I went to bed early Thursday evening hoping to feel better for the trip. My daughter coughing into my mouth earlier in the week had trouble written all over it.
We flew into Vegas Friday morning. I woke up with the bad cold and knew it was going to get worse. Still, we went to the airport with a spring in our steps. Flew funjet, which was ok, but had to fly out of the Berry terminal. For those of you not from Detroit, McNamara is the new, swanky terminal, Then there is the old terminal, then there is the condemned terminal, then there is the Berry terminal hut. 8 gates of mid sized jet non-luxury. Quite possible the worst $3 cup of joe every brewed. Assuming there was any brewing involved.
Even though it was a morning flight, and we gain 3 hours, by the time we checked into the hotel (Paris) it was already the early afternoon. So we went out exploring… the Pool! Just laid around the pool until another couple from the wedding party arrived. Then we headed off to find a meal. (I had not eaten all day.) By the by, The Paris was not really that impressive. First of all, do any Americans have any fascination with the French anymore? Nope. There were a lot of Japanese couples getting married there though. Second, the wife says that carpeting in a swanky hotel is the kiss of death, because it always smells like a hotel. And that comment did not come up because she was reminded of another trip at that very moment. Third, and this is the most annoying gambling thing in the history of gambling annoyances, were the slots. They would not take coins, only bills. And when you won, they printed out your winnings on a slip to take to the cashier. It was like being at Chucky Cheeses. I could not find the $5 no-limit skee-ball, although I did find the $9 cappuccino.
And when did the slot makers just give up on the themes? MASH is not a theme for a slot machine!
After much discussion about dinner that turned into a “Who’s on First” routine, and me vetoing the idea of going to the Rio for Surf and Turf, we went to the Harley Davidson place for BBQ. I don’t recommend the Harley place (wow, that’s saying it nicely). It was like a cheap mall store with second rate food. (Remember Hammond Organs? Ok, scratch out Hammond and write in Harley. Leave the word organ, it helps get a laugh.) Oh, and here is a brilliant Marketing thought. How do you make a name for yourself with BBQ? Answer: Have a sauce that doesn’t taste biker ass. I mean, it has to go on EVERYTHING, so make sure it tastes decent. There are fake 50’s diners with more atmosphere than this tourist trap. And while I am ranting, can you walk anywhere in Vegas without encountering “card slappers”? (Those annoying people that slap the stripper cards on the deck before they hand them out.) I bet they knew better than to eat at the biker’s ass.
I had a couple of beers and after dinner went back to the hotel (l’hotel) room before going to play cards. It would be my last awake moment for 12 hours. At 4am local time, I was burning up. Aspirin (the wonder pill) got my fever under control and I woke up sat morning feeling well enough to venture out. Since someone in our wedding party said that Mandalay Bay had a breakfast buffet, we went there. Note: Every hotel in Vegas has a breakfast buffet and they are all the same. I filled up on croissants (ironically) and was finally ready to play some cards. I felt about 70% healthy.
I had 6 hours before I had to get remarried by Elvis, and I had my poker bankroll ready to go. I must admit that I was a bit weary. I mean, who was I? Some punk (old punk) that never played in Vegas before. Would I get pushed around? Would everyone recognize me as the dead money? Was the Detroit Lions hat a dead give-away? Still, I had to try. After all, I was in Vegas. The Lions hat never failed to gathered comments wherever I went. The funniest by far was running into a Lions fan working at the Harley BBQ. “Keep the faith brother”, I told him.
I was looking for a NL $100 max buy in, but Mandalay was spreading $2/$4 NL $200 max buy in. I thought it might be out of my league. I convinced myself I just would not go all-in on any hand anytime soon… The hostess told us we were going to be the “must move” table (i.e. the second table and the first one must stay filled). With the table at 5 players, they all wanted to start with just 5.
I decide that instead of sitting down right away, I would take a restroom break. Why? I love to do this. Leave when the table sets, then when you return wait for the BB. You can watch the players for a few hands for free and rarely do they even notice that you’re accumulating information on them. This time was no exception. I watched three or four hands and the table added players. There was a lot of pre-flop limping.
First hand in big blind and I get dealt AKo and I raise to12. I get 3 callers! The flop came Q high and I checked to watch action start fast. I folded to a bet and callers. Qs won the hand. I make a mental page of notes. But the next hand I have 85o in the SB and decide to see a flop for ½ price. I flopped a Str8 (467 rainbow) and players started betting! I let a player two to my left in position think I was chasing (by calling). On the flop, he bet 30 and I called. On the turn (which was a 9), he bet another 30 so I re-raised him 30 back and he called. –His bet on the turn when the board now had a 9 worried me because no one should be playing at this point with a single pair. I figure the 9 could only hurt me. The river is a Ten and now I figure I am going to split the pot w/ his freaky A8 play. Still, I no longer had to worry about 8T, just 8J and I can’t believe anyone would call a re-raise looking for a second runner. So when he bets 100, I call and he shows ATo. Ace Ten? Ace Ten? Are you kiddy me? He hit TPTK on the river and thought he was the luckiest guy in the world. Two hands and I am up over $100 bucks. Still, I did not raise on the river. I rarely do that, but really should learn to. I mean, what could beat me here? Only J8. (I’ll do this again later, but with better reason.)
Here is a good time to tell you about my table. To my left, a Vegas local who only played solid starting hands and folded any missed flop (more on him later). To his left, an older guy from the U.P. who just gave me $100 bucks. He would later show people (who were paying attention, namely only me) he would play any mid pair or top pair he stayed with after the flop, to the bitter end. And always believing he had the best hand if he started the betting. Just like in the hand he had minutes ago. I will make him pay for this habit again later on. Left of him was Cowboy guy. Older and a strange gambler. His signature play (every time) was to bluff all-in on any flop with a paired board. To what end? This is a classic prisoner’s dilemma. Win little or lose big. (More on that later.) Next was a simple rock. By the book rock. If he bet the flop and you gave him action, you had better have the nuts. After him was a guy who really thought he was good… At first. The third hand he raised to 5x BB preflop and bet out big post flop, He was gutted (he missed the flop and thought he could push the others out from out of position.) and never really recovered mentally from that hand. The guy on his left was an obvious beginner. The only pots he won were hands where everyone checked to him after a flop and then he bet out. Everyone folds and he takes it. This happened a few times, they were his only winning hands.
Now the guy on his left had a pokerstars.com hat on. (More on him later too.) The guy on his left was “kid lucky” who was dealt AA his first hand at the table. (More on his second AA in an hour later on.) Finally, there was the piano player from one of the clubs. He was tight-bad.
For a good amount of time, I am playing pretty tight. I am amazed at how predictable the players were. The one funny thing is that there were a few funny tells. The guy from the UP would always prepare his bet way in advance. Everyone knew if he was going to fold, call or raise. Cowboy guy just looked for places to bluff. “Kid lucky” would overplay his hands…
So I am in the SB and the UTG kid from Vegas is the BB. The table folds to “kid lucky”. Remember his first hand (AA)? Well, let’s interrupt this hand briefly to explain his nickname. His third hand of the night he is dealt TT. Not only does he flop a set, a player on his right (remember the pokerstars hat?) flopped a set of 7s at the same time. I don’t need to tell you how it ends for the hat. Now, back to our hand. Kid lucky has $500 in front of him already on the strength of 2 hands. He raises it to $20. The button and I fold.
The BB now re-raises to $40. The Vegas mouse (as Hellmuth would say) obviously had a hand. And played here a lot. He knew all the dealers by name and the piano player on my right.
“Kid lucky” says quickly, “I’m all in”. The Vegas rock then folds KK. We were amazed. “Kid Lucky” then felt obligated to show. AA. Again. Now that’s tight. He was going to play for 4 hours and win $5. And get a free deli sandwich.
I get another AK hand in late position. There are like 4 limpers. Instead of raising big, I just limp along. Why? Because I have a drawing hand against 4 hands where someone seems to call every reasonable raise. The proper play here was to raise to $20 or the size of the pot and wait for 3 of them to go away. I improperly shyed away from this play and went along for the ride. Guess what I did after the flop? Fold. But who was the wiser? No one. I was looking for trap opportunities. Why? Because a good number of players at this table would not see them.
Yet another paired flop. Cowboy guy raises and everyone folds. He shows a pocket underpair. Cowboy guy busts out on like bottom pair sometime after this and rebuys for $200. I think he busted out to pokerstars.com hat who had TP.
10 minutes later another paired flop and Coyboy guy is all-in. Everyone folds. I am sure he had nothing.
10 minutes later I limp in late position with T9. The flop is QQT and Cowboy guy is first to act. What does he do? All-in. with his full stack of $200. Well, I am looking for call here with a Ten. But on my left is UP guy and he is waiting to act. I don’t know if I picked up this obvious tell, or I was just not willing to take the chance, but I folded the T knowing Cowboy did not have the Queen. But UP did and he took down Cowboy (who had zip).
Now players are discussing things like comps for sandwiches and things like that. I am in shock. They are not even paying attention to the hands.
I fold for about 30 minutes straight, and limp in late position with 45s. The flop is 44T. UP guy, remember him?, bets out about $20 bucks and everyone folds to me. What do I do? Call, of course. The look on his face. He was sure he was ahead. And I was sure he had a Ten. Did he think I was the cowboy? Did he think at all?
I did not even look at the turn card except to make sure it wasn’t a ten. This time UP guy bets out $40. I stare at him, thinking about raising. But he looks so sure he is ahead and after cleaning out Cowboy guy on this same play, how could anyone be so stupid? So I call. The river is a paint card and UP guy bets out 100. I just look up and say, “ok. Call”. He looks at me and says “Well, if you got a 4, I’m beat”. Well, guess what dufus. What the hell else would I have? Still, he looked shocked that he was beat. Why? Because I never raised him. He was so sure. I make the argument that I was right calling it down and letting him be the aggressor. I also defend my call at the end. I found it easy to believe he played A4s. But I know it could look bad for me, calling there and on the turn. Anyway, I have $525 in front of me. I am way up, but as I look at my play, I need to stop calling when I am ahead and press. There especially.
I’ll lose about $20 of it getting away from AKo. Then after limping in with KQs, I flop top pair. PokerStars.com, who already re-bought once, had not won a hand in a while. I could tell he hit the K like I did and he bet out $30. He only had $100 left, so I put him all in. Without any thought, he called with TPTK. Sure, I lost this hand and $100 bucks, but I knew right then that he would give it all back before he left the table. He was going to leave broke. He just did not think about his decisions. In every other case at the table, the all-in had a set. He just didn’t notice… anything. He busted out 30 minutes later, on TP. He lost a few of these hands and never learned. I just did not see it soon enough and it cost me.
I have about $380 in front of me and I am wondering about trying another card room. In retrospect, Mandalay was great. Soft table, good service, tables had shufflers in them, and no cell phones allowed. I did not know how good I had it though. Well, its getting later in the day and we are no longer a “must move” table. They added a third table so we were good. But then, someone from the first table asks permission to move to table two. My spidey sense starts tingling. I watch as his sits down with about $600 chips. I fold hands, waiting to see if he does what I expect. Sure enough, anytime he comes in a hand, he is coming in big. His typically move was to wait for a raise, then re-raise to $100 (pre-flop). I knew this was going to go badly for the others, and maybe me. I saw this at Greektown in Detroit also. Someone gets to the casino when it opens, builds up a stack, and bullies the others who come in later with a dominant stack. I decided it was time to go. Still, I won $182 bucks. And I did it without flopping a single set (with a pocket pair) or having AA even once. As a matter of fact, my best hand of the night was 99 or AKo. I lost with both.
Let’s recap the Mandalay game: Soft game, winning hands 85o and 54s.
I now had to try the Tropicana. They had a $1/$2, $100 max buy in and that was more what I had been looking for. But it just was not the same. First of all, the table was full of younger guys who knew how to play, but not the bankroll for a bigger game. They were tighter, more by the book, and avoided chasing. They would try to trap also. The dealer shuffled the cards by hand, and shuffled less than the 7 recommended for randomness (a pet peeve of mine). I found that I had to be tricky to pick up pots. I would raise from the button K7s instead of waiting for a hand. If the other players checked to me and I bet out a pot sized bet, they would usually fold. I won two nice hands this way (and ran into a hand on another, but I escaped). I ended up about $20 bucks. Now that is a return of 20%, so don’t knock it. It was a harder game to make money at also. I did it without having a decent hand and making some good lay downs after reading the player and knowing I was beat.
Here is where a recent lesson learned saved me $40 bucks. I lectured my wife on this recently. If you are playing suited connectors and flop two pair, YOU MAY BE IN TROUBLE. There are now 16 scare cards and one of them might even be the 3rd card of the flop. If you flop two pair, someone is going to hit a straight. Be warned. I played 45 and the flop was 458. When I saw the raise come in, I just knew the only old guy at the table finally had made a hand. I saw the disappointment when I folded. But since I was the only other non-kid at the table, he showed me the made straight and we laughed about it. I laughed a bit harder than he did.
The one thing I can say about the younger players though, they are open books. I always thought Mike Cairo stuff was over-rated, but these young guys had tells-a-poppin. My favorite was the kid who talked like he was the table captain, but would get a serious look on his face whenever the flop hit him. And the attempts to look like you know you’re your doing. Man. There was a hand I was bluffing on where after trying to decide what to do, a kid looks up and stares at me, like I am going to have a tell 5 full minutes after I bet. And what a tell by him! I knew if he called (with just a mid or bottom pair) I would push him out on the turn. Still, he did fold and since I had nothing, I can’t complain.
My wife showed up and was cheering me on in her wedding dress. She decided to wear it all afternoon. “Dude, you getting married today and you’re playing cards? That is so cool”. Indeed.
So I doubled my bankroll in Vegas. And I had fun doing it. And I played decent. Maybe I won’t be so weary of the casino in the future. And now… the wedding!
I highly recommend the A Elvis Chapel (sic). It was so much fun. We sang Burning Love and Viva Las Vegas (of course). Afterwards, we headed over to Hofbrauhaus house. The only one outside of Munich. (And I’ve been to that one too!) It was so fun, we stayed for four hours. Highly recommended. We then headed off to Venus club, where I expect to see the tiki décor. Venus was no more, replaced by vivid. The tiki décor was long gone.
Sunday sucked as I was not feeling well, all the restaurants had lines and the House of Blues Gospel show was $80 / couple. Did not see that coming, so we skipped it this time around. I could have played at Mandalay again, but the smell. I did not mention that earlier did I? Mandalay Bay smelled like there was a spice spillage at the yankee candle factory. You could tell they were pumping it into the air because it faded as you walked down the tram walkway and the vents ended. Nasty.
The airline also convinced me to get to the airport very early. It took 5 freaking minutes to check in on Sunday afternoon and we sat in the airport, staring at the strip for another 2 hours before heading home. Next time, I’ll be smarter about that too.
Summary:
All in all, one of the best weekends for the money I ever had.
Tropicana : Fun poker room for playing with technically adept amateurs.
Mandalay Bay : More upscale digs, softer players.
Elvis : Has left the building.
Paris Hotel: Ok. Hmm, next time a hotel with a marble floor and a pool. Narrows the choices down, doesn’t it. Until you see the price.
Gambling: Since I was in Vegas, I had to gamble at least once. I wanted the biggest longshot I could find. I bet $5 on the Lions to win the 2005 Superbowl. They are 40-1.
23.4.05
So you wanna race?
I vowed to not limp into any hands in my monthly Friday night game. The field was 23 people, some of them are what I call PFA. They have learned that if you are in a pot, then you must be Post Flop Aggressive if you have the opportunity to bet at the pot first. This takes some finesse, and its something I struggle playing against. But last night, I think I devised a move that would prove to be an interesting foil. Racing. I left my comfort zone and became a move in specialist.
After losing some early hands, I practically folded my way to the final table. I had to be willing to take chances now, so I was pushing all my chips in on any unraised pot when I looked down at a pocket pair. This got me up to 5th with 4 money places. Even though there was a player with less chips than me, I still moved all in with another baby pocket pair and it held up. After making it to third, my luck ran out when I moved all-in against a button raise with A4s, hoping he had 33 or 22 or Kx. He called and flipped over 33. Could not have asked for better since he did not fold, but the flop and cards were all rags and I was out.
Randy was a 3 to 1 chip dog at this point, but came back to take first. His relentless betting after the flop was his key to chip accumulation all night.
My wife lost all her chips on the first hand of the night. She flopped TPTK and got stacked off against a flopped set of 2s.
I wondered all night why I will race when it looks hopeless (and come back on more than one occasion), but not early in the tournament when you could accumulate chips? The answer is, “its how I learned to play”. Early rounds are for survival, late rounds are for either dominating or moving in and doubling up.
The next morning I played in 2 big fields. The first was 450 and I was out 350 when my 88 lost a race to AK. It was over an hour into the tournament and I had slightly LESS than my starting stack. I put a guy all-in with AKo and he calls?! Did not really expect that reaction, especially early, but you need to win races in a big field, so I was glad to not see a higher pair. Still, the K came right away and I lost a race. Still, had I seen his cards, I would have made the same play. In a large field, take some races early. That’s what I was trying this day.
In the giant 6000 person free-roll, I just would not go out. I was on the ropes numerous times, but with 715 players left, I had an avg. stack size (slightly larger). Not great, but defiantly in it. I slow played a lot of hands for value. As expected though, one player had 100k in chips at this point, so you are still looking situations to get chips in the pot with an advantage of any size. Suddenly, there are 480 left and I am behind again. I look for another race… I found a situation that looked like a blind steal from the button. It wasn’t and I was out 416.
I think you need these chips earlier in order to avoid these situations later. Duh.
After losing some early hands, I practically folded my way to the final table. I had to be willing to take chances now, so I was pushing all my chips in on any unraised pot when I looked down at a pocket pair. This got me up to 5th with 4 money places. Even though there was a player with less chips than me, I still moved all in with another baby pocket pair and it held up. After making it to third, my luck ran out when I moved all-in against a button raise with A4s, hoping he had 33 or 22 or Kx. He called and flipped over 33. Could not have asked for better since he did not fold, but the flop and cards were all rags and I was out.
Randy was a 3 to 1 chip dog at this point, but came back to take first. His relentless betting after the flop was his key to chip accumulation all night.
My wife lost all her chips on the first hand of the night. She flopped TPTK and got stacked off against a flopped set of 2s.
I wondered all night why I will race when it looks hopeless (and come back on more than one occasion), but not early in the tournament when you could accumulate chips? The answer is, “its how I learned to play”. Early rounds are for survival, late rounds are for either dominating or moving in and doubling up.
The next morning I played in 2 big fields. The first was 450 and I was out 350 when my 88 lost a race to AK. It was over an hour into the tournament and I had slightly LESS than my starting stack. I put a guy all-in with AKo and he calls?! Did not really expect that reaction, especially early, but you need to win races in a big field, so I was glad to not see a higher pair. Still, the K came right away and I lost a race. Still, had I seen his cards, I would have made the same play. In a large field, take some races early. That’s what I was trying this day.
In the giant 6000 person free-roll, I just would not go out. I was on the ropes numerous times, but with 715 players left, I had an avg. stack size (slightly larger). Not great, but defiantly in it. I slow played a lot of hands for value. As expected though, one player had 100k in chips at this point, so you are still looking situations to get chips in the pot with an advantage of any size. Suddenly, there are 480 left and I am behind again. I look for another race… I found a situation that looked like a blind steal from the button. It wasn’t and I was out 416.
I think you need these chips earlier in order to avoid these situations later. Duh.
14.4.05
Cold Decks
Ok, here is the most depresssing thing about poker. I sit down in a tournament of 45 players. I am one of the better players, but still have to work. You start with 100 chips and the blinds are agressive after the first hour. So, I get 99 early and someone calls my big bets to the river and shows a missed st8 draw. So now I have 150 chips. Is it even POSSIBLE that I will never see a playable hand again? You tell me. I folded endless T4o, T4s, 82o, 62c,etc. I even tried to play the hammer on a bluff and even before the flop was raised and reraised. I folded. I had AT (my best hand ALL NIGHT) 3 times (each time in the SB) and by the time it got around to me a player was all-in. Can't call all-in with AT! (At least 1 of the times they saw a flop and I was the THIRD best hand). Everytime I tried to make a move to steal, there was someone with a big raise. I watched to see what WOULD have happened with each hand had I staying in and only ONE all night would have even HIT the flop (62c would have hit a st8 on a flop of 345, but a 2 came on the turn so its possible the raiser on the river had 67s).
I folded my way down to 53 chips and finally with my BB being next, decided to make my final stand with the second best hand I had all night KTo. Got broken by pocket ducks when the flip tripped him. Am I just making excuses? Don't we "have to make our own luck"? Are there times where that just is NOT going to happen? And the next day, do I have to be so depressed about it?
I folded my way down to 53 chips and finally with my BB being next, decided to make my final stand with the second best hand I had all night KTo. Got broken by pocket ducks when the flip tripped him. Am I just making excuses? Don't we "have to make our own luck"? Are there times where that just is NOT going to happen? And the next day, do I have to be so depressed about it?
9.4.05
viper poker
I am working on selected aggression, or what I call viper poker. Coiled and ready to strike, you wait for opportunities. Sometimes its cards, sometimes it is weakness. I use it at a SnG where only 1st pays. I tried it today and won a table! This is encouraging. But at the same time, I am out of my comfort zone. I'll have to see how this develops going forward, but being aggressive almost always betting a flop with at least a continuation bet and making a move on a pot when the turn is checked and you against 1 or at the most 2 opponents. It also involves a fairly daring river bet if you think a single caller missed a draw.
I think this is going to be more effective in larger tournaments where people want to play tight and wait for made hands. It also means seeing more flops without the Big Boys (big poket pairs) or AK.
I think this is going to be more effective in larger tournaments where people want to play tight and wait for made hands. It also means seeing more flops without the Big Boys (big poket pairs) or AK.
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