Poker Ramblings of cmitch

Contact Info:

cmitchpoker@gmail.com

Tues Night Home Game Recap

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

I am finally slowing down a little (relative) at work, so I was eager to head back to the home game that I went to a few weeks ago. Last night they ran a $2/$5 NL game and a $5/$10 NL game.

The action started at 7 PM. I made it over there around 8:30 after attending a local professional organization monthly meeting/dinner (and pounding a few beers at the meeting). The $5/$10 table was full and they were just starting up the 2/5 game. I sat down to play the 2/5 game and asked the guy that was running the game to put me first on the waiting list for the 5/10 game.

$2/$5 NL game

Most players bought in for $300. I bought in for $400 because there was one other guy that had bought in for $400 and I wanted to have him covered. We were playing 7 handed initally and I decided to play a little more aggressive than I normally do live until I met resistance.

The first time that the button got to me, I raised with KQo and got 2 callers. The flop was Q75 with two clubs. BB bet $25. Next guy folds. I raise to $70 and BB calls. Turn is another Queen. BB bets $50. I make it $150, he folds.

I got called to the 5/10 game and decided to play one last hand at $2/$5 and was glad I did.

Last hand at 2/5... I raised on the button to $25 with AJo and got 4 callers. The flop came KQ10. BINGO!! It checks to me and I bet $40. BB calls. MP min-raises. I immediately put him on 2 pair, KJ, or AK. I decided that the best option was to flat call. BB folds. Turn is a low card club (2 clubs on board). MP bets $50. I raise to $150 and he calls. I know this guy and have decided he definitely has 2 pair. I cross my fingers for the board not to pair. River is a low card. MP checks. I push all in and he insta-calls. He had K10.

$5/$10 NL game

I went over to the 5/10 game with $700. The max buy-in was $500, but I was allowed to bring my chips from the $2/$5 game.

The game was much different than the last time that I was there. A few people that I had played against in different games around town were there - some decent players, some not so good. The two horrible players from the last time that I played were not there. I am guessing that their luck or money or both ran out.

I had a roller coaster night bouncing between $400 and $800 - topping off to $500 every time I got down to $400. (I did that twice, so I was in for a total of $600)

Most hands were pretty straight forward for me and I limped a lot trying to hit (this probably cost me the most, but one good flop would have equaled huge profits in that game).

I had a couple of noteworthy hands towards the end of the night:

Hand 1
Later in the night. 6 handed (perfect for me) and two players announced that they were leaving shortly, so the game was definitely going to break soon.

Background (Player E)- I had played with player E quite a bit in the past. He used to be pretty bad and fairly predictable - mainly in SNGs (1 table/2 table). I was sitting next to him most of the night before I changed seat to get out of Seat 10. His game was a lot better than it had been in the past. He would play weak-tight at times and tight-aggressive at other times.

My Stack - $750+/-; Player E has me covered

I am dealt KK UTG+1. I raise to $35. I just raised to $45 the hand before and everyone folded. MP calls, SB Folds. Player E from BB calls. Pot - $105.

Flop - QdJd10c - I don't have the Kd.

Player E bets $75. His usual bet had been to bet out on flops when he had a draw and then check the turn when he missed. I decided to just flat call and see what he does on the turn. Pot - $255

Turn 8x

Player E bets $200. I had not seen him bet out on a board like this against someone he views as tight unless he had a hand that he was trying to protect from a draw. I thought for a while, not sure what I could beat. I could beat a flush draw, AQ, KQ (not likely holding considering I have KK). All other hands in his range have me beat. I really thought that he flopped two pair. I knew that if I called I was pretty much committing all my chips on the river. I decided to either push or fold. I showed him a King and asked if it scared him. Everything about his body language screamed that I was beat. I showed him the other King as I mucked the hand. I would probably have been all in against any other player at that table. He mucked without showing and then said that he had A8. I don't believe him. He is the type of guy that would have shown the hand if he had a worse hand than KK.

In retrospect, I am not sure if I should have called the $200 on the turn and then decided what to do on the river. (He was definitely pushing just about any river.)

I am curious as to how everyone else would have played this given the background on this player?

Hand 2 (very next hand)

6 handed. Two limpers. SB (has me covered) makes it $35. (He is fairly predictable and easy to read. Everything about him says that he has a big hand.)

I am dealt 6h8h and flat call knowing that the limpers aren't re-raising and if the flop hits me I am getting paid off by the SB.

Flop comes 57K (1 heart)

SB Checks. I bet $60. The SB immediately starts looking at my chips to see how much I have. He is so excited that he is pratically bouncin up and down in his seat. Everyone folds to him and he flat calls.

I know that there is no way that he is folding and he is most likely checking the turn to try to check-raise me. I am figuring that I am going to get to see two cards for a chance to catch my straight or back door flush.

Turn is the 9h. BINGO - I just made the nuts!!

SB checks to me. I am trying to figure out the best way to get all the money in right now. I bet $90. SB immediately pushes all-in. I insta-call obviously.

SB beams as he says that he has a "Trip Kings". I show him my hand and say that I have the straight. It took about 15 seconds (and the help of the dealer) before he realized that I had the (current) nuts. He was still confident and said that the board was going to pair - almost like he was the favorite. (I seriously think that he thought he was the favorite)

The river was the 7. SB jumped for joy and told me that he saw the 7 before it even came out. He yells over to the other table to tell them about the pot that he just won including how he perfectly slow played his set.

The funny thing - the beat stung less than it would have in the past. I think I am getting numb to the beats (unless we are talking about 25/50) - not sure if this is good or bad.

It was time for me to go. The game was about to break - there was no point in re-buying.

I smiled, said my good-byes and good lucks and left. ($600 lighter - total net at this game -$100)

$800k Locked up at Neteller

Monday, February 26, 2007

I just saw this video on Pokernews.com. Isaac Haxton, 2nd place finisher at the PCA, has $800k frozen in transit thanks to the government's case against Neteller. CRAZY!!! is all I can say.

Removed Video - link to video below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnJK7kvbUzw

Working for the man

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I have been buried at work for the past two weeks including working nights and both of the last two weekends. This has equaled very little time for poker. The little bit of poker that I have snuck in between spreadsheets at work has not been that much fun or profitable because I am stressed about work and feel rushed when I play.

I am not sure what I am trying to say with this post or why I am even posting. Maybe it is...

....Working for da man sucks. I need a break.

Anyway, I plan to finish up this project by midweek and head to the beach for the weekend with my wife and kids. I'll hit the tables hard next week and possibly start some sort of challenge on March 1st.

END RANT - Back to work.

Hehe

Sunday, February 18, 2007

I think this would classify as a cooler (from the FTP $30k Guarantee)

Full Tilt Poker Game #1819905928: $30,000 Guarantee (12867939), Table 30 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 0:16:54 ET - 2007/02/18
Seat 1: marcot (6,580)
Seat 2: m11m (4,245)
Seat 3: v12 (8,735)
Seat 4: FongMin (9,007)
Seat 5: wutwut00 (7,805)
Seat 6: cmitch (3,715)
wutwut00 posts the small blind of 40
cmitch posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [8c 8h]
marcot folds
m11m calls 80
v12 calls 80
FongMin folds
wutwut00 calls 40
cmitch checks
*** FLOP *** [8s 6c 6d]
wutwut00 checks
cmitch checks
m11m checks
v12 checks
*** TURN *** [8s 6c 6d] [Td]
wutwut00 bets 150
cmitch raises to 300
m11m folds
v12 calls 300
wutwut00 folds
*** RIVER *** [8s 6c 6d Td] [9h]
cmitch bets 960
v12 raises to 8,355, and is all in
cmitch calls 2,375, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 5,020 returned to v12
*** SHOW DOWN ***
v12 shows [6h 6s] (four of a kind, Sixes)
cmitch mucks
v12 wins the pot (7,740) with four of a kind, Sixes
cmitch stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7,740 Rake 0
Board: [8s 6c 6d Td 9h]
Seat 1: marcot didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: m11m folded on the Turn
Seat 3: v12 showed [6h 6s] and won (7,740) with four of a kind, Sixes
Seat 4: FongMin (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: wutwut00 (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 6: cmitch (big blind) mucked [8c 8h] - a full house, Eights full of Sixes

He's in the lead, no he is, no I am

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Crazy Hand

I was playing $2/$4 NL cash game with a few short stacks at the table when the following hand came up. I had the best hand preflop and was way behind on the flop, only to be saved on the river.


Full Tilt Poker Game #1815791131: Table Kim (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:24:40 ET - 2007/02/17
Seat 1: cp003 ($146)
Seat 2: RoyalKiller ($90.20)
Seat 3: cmitch ($390)
Seat 4: DirtyRascalNYC ($216.80)
Seat 5: wrestle1234 ($167.30)
Seat 6: Papokerfool ($94.10)
cmitch posts the small blind of $2
DirtyRascalNYC posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Tc Ts]
wrestle1234 folds
Papokerfool raises to $14
cp003 folds
RoyalKiller raises to $24
cmitch calls $22
DirtyRascalNYC folds
Papokerfool raises to $94.10, and is all in
RoyalKiller calls $66.20, and is all in
cmitch calls $70.10
Papokerfool shows [As Kc]
RoyalKiller shows [4d 4c]
cmitch shows [Tc Ts]
*** FLOP *** [2h 4s Kd]
*** TURN *** [2h 4s Kd] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [2h 4s Kd 9s] [Th]
Papokerfool shows a pair of Kings
cmitch shows three of a kind, Tens
cmitch wins the side pot ($7.80) with three of a kind, Tens
RoyalKiller shows three of a kind, Fours
cmitch wins the main pot ($271.60) with three of a kind, Tens
RoyalKiller is sitting out
Papokerfool is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $282.40 Main pot $274.60. Side pot $7.80. Rake $3
Board: [2h 4s Kd 9s Th]
Seat 1: cp003 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: RoyalKiller (button) showed [4d 4c] and lost with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 3: cmitch (small blind) showed [Tc Ts] and won ($279.40) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 4: DirtyRascalNYC (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: wrestle1234 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: Papokerfool showed [As Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings

Tuff Fish - Up Close and Personal

Thursday, February 15, 2007

I am busy, busy, busy at work right now. I haven't had time to play much poker lately - only during the occassional break from work. Hopefully, I will slow down a little mid-week next week.

So, here are a couple of links:

Tuff Fish PocketFives Podcast
Tuff Fish was interveiwed this week for the PocketFives.com podcast; I haven't listened to it yet, but it shoud be entertaining.
- Link to Podcast - should get you to the podcast; I have it linked on my Itunes
- Link to P5s Article about Tuff Fish

$200K in 60 Days Challenge

Fukkeneh on 2+2 has outlined a challenge to turn $1k into $200k in 60 days playing 6 max NL cash games part time. He plans to move up levels as he reaches approximately 10 buyins for the next level and drop down if he goes below a certain number of buy-ins (don't remember how many).
- Link to one of the 2+2 threads
- Link to his Blog with daily updates

Fun Home Game

Saturday, February 10, 2007

On Tuesday night, I headed out to a fun home game. A lot of the guys at the game play regularly/semi-regularly with each other on Tuesdays. It is composed of mostly guys in their 30s and 40s that have money to throw around. They decided to run a bigger game this Tuesday. There were three tables that had the following games running:

Table 1 - 5/10NL cash game running all night (starting around 5 pm)

Table 2 - $1k SNG followed by a $500 SNG (starting around 7 pm)

Table 3 - $300 SNG, $300 SNG, then $2/$5 cash game (starting around 7 pm)

They had an awesome set-up. The guy that owned the house had recently moved in and done some major renovations. The house was huge - the three tables were all set-up in the same room and there was still plenty of room to move around. They had a buffet catered by a steak house and waitresses to serve drinks.

I arrived at 6:30 pm. The 5/10NL game was just getting going. I sat down and stayed there all night. The max buy-in at the beginning of the night was $500. (They moved it up to $1k later in the night.)

I finished up a disappointing $500. It would have been more but I lost a big pot with 2 pair to a guy that was on a straight draw. We got all the money in on the turn and the river made his straight.

To say that there were some bad players at the game would be an understatement.

Some of the highlights:

A Fight - I was sitting in Seat 7. Seat 2, 4, and 9 were involved in a hand - don't remember preflop action. Flop comes 10JQr. Seat 9 bets. Seat 2 goes all in for about 1,300. Seat 5 calls (about 550). Seat 9 doesn't know what to do. Seat 2 and 9 were involved a hand earlier and Seat 9 showed Seat 2 one of his cards when he was all in heads up. So now it was back on Seat 9 in this hand. Seat 9 says he has AQ and asks Seat 2 to show him one of his cards. Seat 5 immediately gets pissed off as Seat 2 shows a King. 5 and 9 start aruging about how Seat 2 can't do that. It escalates into, "You wanna take this outside?" A few seconds later Seat 9 walked behind the dealer and then jumped across the table and swung on Seat 5 - knocking chips and drinks all over the place. They eventually calmed down and the game started back up after the chips were sorted out, the spills were cleaned up and new cards were brought over. It was later in the night and definitely woke me up.

A few examples of how poor the play was:

Example 1
Me - KK UTG.
I open for $80 and get two callers.
Flop comes AA5. I'm pretty much done here.
I check
Mid Position bets $120 (obv. doesn't have Ace IMO)
Late Position raises to $240.
I fold.
Mid position re-raises all-in. Late Pos calls.
Mid position had 77 - Late Pos had A2.
I so wished I had a hand.

Example 2
Everyone at the table limps.
I am in the SB (Seat 7) and decide to just call and see a flop with AQo because the game is so crazy and I'm OOP.
Flop comes AJ2 rainbow. I am confident I am best here and check to let a weaker ace bet for me.
Seat 1 bets $60, Seat 3 calls, I call, everyone else folds.
Turn is a 6.
I bet $150. Seat 1 folds. Seat 3 calls.
River is a 2.
I am confident that I am best here and know that Seat 3 will probably call an all-in with any Ace, so I push. He thinks and says what do you have like AJ or A6 and then finally calls with J6. He turned two pair and somehow thought it was still good even with a AJ622 board.

Example 3
I folded preflop.
Seat 10 is check-calling some small bets throughout the hand on a board with 2 spades - obv. a flush draw.
The third spade comes on the river and he bets like $300 into a $150 pot.
A guy insta-calls with top pair weak kicker and Seat 10 obv won with the flush.

Crazy Hand of the Night
Three guys got all in preflop. AA vs. AK vs. KK - Flop comes AKx. I don't think that I have seen that one ever - even with as many hands as I see online.

A few interesting comments made by some of the players:

The $1k SNG had a pretty fast structure. The blinds increased every 17 minutes and increased pretty drastically. A guy that had busted out of it early was sitting next to me in the cash game and kept saying that it is ridiculous that it takes so long for the blinds to increase. He said they should double the blinds every time the deal goes around once (no matter how many players are left). Three guys agreed with him, but said they probably didn't do it that way because 1 or 2 guys would get pissed. I think the 1 or 2 guys that he was referring to both cashed in the SNG. hmmm.

I was dealt AA on the button and after several limpers I made it $120 to go. The SB raised to $250. Everyone folded and I made it $450. The guy to my right started saying how I couldn't raise to $450 and that I had to double the SB's bet. Before I had a chance to say anything, the SB went all in with KK and my AA held up. I then tried to explain the guy sitting next to me that I only had to raise him additional $130 becuase he had raised my bet by $130 ($250-$120). He said, "I'm just telling you so you know - if you ever go to a casino they are going make you bet $500 there. You have to double his bet." I replied with, "OK - thanks. That is good to know."

I had a blast at the game and will definitely go again.

Fun Hand

Saturday, February 03, 2007

I don't post many hands (especially straight forward hands), but how often do you get to take a big pot off/own Allen Cunningham? :)

FullTiltPoker Game #1721813627: Table Butternut (6 max) - $10/$20 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:38:23 ET - 2007/02/02
Seat 1: gusmccrae ($2,000)
Seat 2: cmitch ($3,655.70)
Seat 3: stensture ($2,170)
Seat 4: buck99 ($2,090)
Seat 5: AllenCunningham ($1,907.50)
Seat 6: Neverhit81 ($615)
AllenCunningham posts the small blind of $10
Neverhit81 posts the big blind of $20
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Jc Jd]
cmitch raises to $70
stensture has 15 seconds left to act
stensture folds
buck99 folds
AllenCunningham raises to $230
Neverhit81 folds
cmitch calls $160
*** FLOP *** [9s Js 9d]
AllenCunningham bets $300
cmitch calls $300
*** TURN *** [9s Js 9d] [As]
AllenCunningham has 15 seconds left to act
AllenCunningham bets $680
cmitch raises to $3,120
AllenCunningham calls $697.50, and is all in
cmitch shows [Jc Jd]
AllenCunningham shows [Kd Ks]
Uncalled bet of $1,742.50 returned to cmitch
*** RIVER *** [9s Js 9d As] [5c]
cmitch shows a full house, Jacks full of Nines
AllenCunningham shows two pair, Kings and Nines
cmitch wins the pot ($3,832) with a full house, Jacks full of Nines
AllenCunningham adds $800
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3,835 Rake $3
Board: [9s Js 9d As 5c]
Seat 1: gusmccrae is sitting out
Seat 2: cmitch showed [Jc Jd] and won ($3,832) with a full house, Jacks full of Nines
Seat 3: stensture didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: buck99 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: AllenCunningham (small blind) showed [Kd Ks] and lost with two pair, Kings and Nines
Seat 6: Neverhit81 (big blind) folded before the Flop

I am posting this 7 hours before "Bluff is bringing you the coolest thing ever!" is announced.

While I am pretty certain that it won't be the coolest thing ever, I am hoping for at least something different or interesting. After all, we all need some positive distractions from all the mess that is going on in the world of online poker.

I really don't have any guessing on what this "cool thing" is going to be, so I won't attempt to guess - free balloons maybe. (If they were able to shape them into balloon animals that would be pretty cool.)

**EDIT: The clock said 7 hours this morning and now they have added another week (7 days) to the countdown. I guess I will check back next week. (Bait and Switch?) :)