O-Poker

Actually, saying Scotty Nguyen is a bad drunk is probably an understatement. It is more realistic to say, "Scotty is a belligerent jackass when he is drunk." If you don't know what I'm talking about then you need to watch the ESPN WSOP HORSE coverage from last night. (It is prob already on pokertube or you can watch ESPN 2's re-broadcast some time this week.)

WTF? How did he not get a penalty. I thought the rule this year was that you wouldn't get a penalty for cussing unless you were using it in a derogatory manner towards another player. (DeMichele was getting abused by him and was able to roll with the punches.) DeMichele was out of line with some of his antics/celebration but that didn't give Scotty the go ahead to be a 10 times bigger douchebag.

I couldn't believe that he said something along the lines of, "Can I get a F*&king cocktail already?!?! What the F&$k to we have to do to get Fu*$king cocktails at this table??!?!? Let's get some F*$king cocktails here." Ummm, Scotty do you realize that you are on TV and there is an audience watching or has the beer clouded things that much. It's one thing to go after another player at the table, but a completely different thing to be a douche to a waiter/waitress that probably has to wait for a break in the TV action to bring your drink over. I can only imagine how much shit he gave the waiter/waitress that wasn't shown.

You know things are bad when Erick Lindgren starts getting pissed at your antics. WTF, was with Scotty yelling at Erick for not team playing with him to get DeMichele out? Erick response was an instant classic, "I'm not on Team Scotty. I've never been on Team Scotty. There's no way in hell I would ever be on Team Scotty in the future." I think this quote should replace the old tired, "I can dodge bullets." in the intro of all the future WSOP episodes.

I could go on and on about all the ridiculous drunken things that spewed out of his mouth during the broadcast, which was probably only a small portion of what was said during the entire final table, but it just disgusts me thinking about it. I have been a fan of his since I met him in Aruba in 2003. He always seemed easy going and likable - Baby this and Baby that. He probably couldn't remember anyone's name, but that was part of his charm. He must have been good at hiding the obnoxious drunken side or possibly the TV coverage purposely hid that side of him. Maybe, he just had an off night, but he is a public figure that seemed clueless to the implications of his actions. It is going to take a lot to repair his public image and it will probably never be back at the previous level.

Another classic Erick quote after he busted in 3rd, "I can't even beat a drunk!! I hope the kid wins!! Jeez, I can't even beat a drunk!!!"

EDIT: I had some of the quotes wrong - was going by memory. Below is a YouTube clip someone put together of all the drunkeness.



EDIT 2: MeanGene was covering the FT live and posted his thoughts on the craziness from the perspective of someone that was there.

Sorry about the last rant post, but you know how you get that feeling where you just have to vent. It doesn't matter if anyone is listening (or reading), but you just have to get the frustration off your chest. Well, the last post was my cleansing. I'll try to be a little less whiny - no matter how bad I'm running.

Things started to look up on Saturday. I even made it back up above even after the first run of brutal beats. The poker gods seemed to be shining on me. Sunday rolled around. Between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, I must have done something to really piss off those poker gods. All hell broke loose. Not only was I not winning the races, but I wasn't winning the 85/15s. (I'm not going bitch, just stating facts now.)

So, after being back above even, Sunday brought me into the negative to the tune of -7 buy-ins over the first 9,500 hands of the 25k hands. The good news is that I was up in expected value on Sunday, so it wasn't bad play - just bad luck. Oh well, I plan to keep plugging through and hope the next 15.5k hands is a lot better than the first 9.5k hands.

Below is my all-in EV graph for Sunday


The dark line is the losses for the day. The top line is my All-in EV. Poker is fun!! :)

And below is the graph for the 1st 9.5k hands.

I've put in about 6k hands this week and the swings have been brutal to say the least. I was up about 4.5 buy-ins after 3k hand, but am currently down 4.5 buy-ins thanks to some coolers, bad beats and a couple of bad calls by me. One was not folding TPTK for 200BB when I knew better. I was tilting for a couple of suckouts on other tables and should have just stopped playing.

Here are some of the hands (first the beats/coolers, followed by some winning hands)

Bad Beats/Coolers/etc. (scroll down if you don't want to click any of the bad beat hands)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049228 - Poker is fun! Flop a set against a flush draw.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049231 - AKs is no match for AKo

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049236 - I definitely should have folded this preflop, but the guy was a payoff wizard. Worst possible turn in the world.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049242 - Planned to c/r the turn - prob should have led out on the turn, but result would have been the same.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049245 - My moronic hand of the day. Was tilting and didn't fold freaking top pair for 200 BBs. So gross on my part.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049252 - I 3 bet from the BB because the guy had a huge steal percentage. I have no idea why he called the flop - trying to float I guess? Any way not to lose the last $100 on the river against an aggressive opponent?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049256 - Maybe I should just start folding AQ.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049258 - KK vs AA - standard

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049262 - This is pretty standard to get it in here, right?

The Good

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049282 - Rivered a straight flush against the nut flush

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049268 - Flopped set wins vs. flush draw this time

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049273 - This hand gives you an idea of how loose the 3/4/5 betting can be in the 6 max games in button vs. the blind situations.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049276 - Slow playing AA paid off - even though this guy would probably get ai pf.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049286 - I can win with set over set also

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3049289 - Another button vs. bb hand - ai pf.

I'll elaborate more on some of these hands next week and post some of the hands that I had trouble deciding what to do.

I’ve been working way too much behind the computer and haven’t really been motivated to sit down at the desk and grind out cash games. What little time that I have had a chance to play has usually consisted of watching TV in the recliner while playing a few sng sats or playing 1 or 2 tables. (I only played 7k cash game hands in July – LOL.)

I need some motivation!! I need to focus and play my “A” game all the time.

Setting a goal is probably the best way to get some hands in while holding myself accountable on the blog, so here goes:

Goal: Play 25,000 hands of 1/2 nl 6 max by September 15^th (1 month+) - not a huge goal, just one to keep me playing (Edited out target winrate based on gnome's comment about not having control over your winrate, only having control over how you play - good call.)

(We are at the beach this week, so I probably won’t play a ton between now and Friday.)

Some rules for myself:

No more than 2 tables in recliner – maybe this will force me to get up off the couch or realize that I’m too tired to be playing if I can’t walk across the living room to hook my laptop up to the 24” monitor.

No more than 4 tables if TV is on (In response to gnome's comment about leaving the TV off: My desk is in the living room, so it is on if I am playing and my wife is watching TV. If she isn't watching TV or is sleeping and I am playing then the TV is off.)

Don’t Tilt/Don’t let the beats effect me

Review previous session before starting new session

Watch at least 3 vids/week (maybe join DeucesCracked or Lego – anyone recommend one over the other)

Post tough decisions on CR forums, 2+2, or on the blog

Maintain a positive attitude/quit playing for the day if I feel like bad beats are effecting me

Quit if I’m tired

Try to always put myself in the most +EV situations

Don’t be results oriented – if the play was +EV and I lost, so be it

Another added bonus of putting in the hands is upping those FTP points. If I get a decent amount of hands in this month I might be close enough to purchase the 42” plasma with my FTPs around the 1^st of September

......because we're at the beach for a week!!!! Much needed and well deserved after a stressful couple of months at work.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

The FTOPS #3 Triple Shootout filled up pretty early, but FTP had a sense of humor about it and put up a new tourney for those that missed out (see pic below). I LOLed and registered.



Won my first table. 2nd Table played super duper batman style fast. HU guy was a calling station. Just biding my time, set him up huge, then out for $208..........

(WARNING!!! WARNING!!! BAD BEAT!!! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!! DANGER!!)

Full Tilt Poker Game #7556392744: Not FTOPS Event #3 (57456881), Table 5 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:43:44 ET - 2008/08/07
Seat 2: cmitch (19,875)
Seat 6: sohowdoiplay (28,125)
cmitch antes 25
sohowdoiplay antes 25
cmitch posts the small blind of 120
sohowdoiplay posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Kh Ac]
cmitch calls 120
sohowdoiplay raises to 720
cmitch raises to 2,210
sohowdoiplay raises to 28,100, and is all in
cmitch calls 17,640, and is all in
sohowdoiplay shows [4c 6d]
cmitch shows [Kh Ac]
Uncalled bet of 8,250 returned to sohowdoiplay
*** FLOP *** [5s 7d 4h]
*** TURN *** [5s 7d 4h] [Ad]
*** RIVER *** [5s 7d 4h Ad] [8c]
sohowdoiplay shows a straight, Eight high
cmitch shows a pair of Aces
sohowdoiplay wins the pot (39,750) with a straight, Eight high
cmitch: lol
cmitch stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 39,750 | Rake 0
Board: [5s 7d 4h Ad 8c]
Seat 2: cmitch (small blind) showed [Kh Ac] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: sohowdoiplay (big blind) showed [4c 6d] and won (39,750) with a straight, Eight high


SoHowDoesHePlay???

Wow!! Is it really Thursday already? I've kind of lost track of time this week. Working until 3 AM a couple of nights this week will mess with your mind more than just losing track of what day it is.

Enough about work, on to the follow up of the hand that I posted on, ummm, Sunday, I guess.

Here is the hand again:

I have no history with the player. I have only been at the table for about 10 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


Hero (SB): $226.10
BB: $530.20
UTG: $38
MP: $622.40
CO: $218.80
BTN: $210.10

Pre-Flop: A Q dealt to Hero (SB)

4 folds
Hero raises to $6
BB raises to $18
Hero calls $12 - 1. Anyone play this different? Flat Call? Re-raise? Fold?

Flop: ($36) Q T 4 (2 Players)

Hero checks
BB bets $20
Hero ???? -

2. What do you do here?

3. If you raise and he shoves what do you do? (edited)

4. If you flat call, do you lead a non-club, non-King turn? What if you do and he shoves?

5. If you flat call, do you check-raise a non-scare card turn?


I'm not sure which play has the best risk/reward associated with it against an unknown. Basically, are you ever getting away from this hand? If no, what is the best way to maximize your profits? If yes, when and why?


I got some great comments and some correction of my wording since I didn't proof read before posting.

Anonymous - corrected my wording and then decided to check-raise to not sure how much and fold to a jam.

Smokkee - Call the flop and c/r the turn if none of the draws hit.

Pokerpeaker - Fold or maybe raise and fold to a shove.

aposec72 - Call, then push if the turn isn't too scary.

LJ - maybe re-raise preflop

Fuel - "Don't do what LJ says"; Check/call flop for pot control

loretta8 - C/R small on flop and call a shove.; "Anon poster that says c/r and fold to jam hates money and likes to light it on fire."

Lucko - willing to play for stacks here almost 100% of the time. "With the Qc in your hand, I don't mind calling and checking any turn to him. If I didn't have a club, I would be checkraising to about $70 and calling a shove or shoving any non-Ace turn." plus Anon commenter is a douche.

RaisingCayne - great long reponse go read the comments on the last post for all his thoughts. Probably getting the money all-in.


What I did:

LJ - I would need some solid history with a lot of all-in situations vs. my opponent to get into a BvB battle where I am committing 100BBs preflop with AQo. Making a 4 bet would almost get me committed against an unknown.

Hero checks
BB bets $20
Hero calls $20

Turn: 6h

Hero checks
BB bets $42
Hero raises to $188.10, and is all in - could have made this less, but I am committing myself and if he is calling a raise to $100-$120, then he is probably even more likely to call the shove since it has the feel of a drawish type bet.
BB calls

Hero shows [Ad Qc]
BB shows [Kd Kc]

*** RIVER *** [Qh Tc 4c 6h] [5h]

BB wins the pot ($449.20) with a pair of Kings
Hero adds $200 - :(

Since this was blind vs. blind in a 6 max game, I pretty much decided on the flop that I was going to get it all-in on a non-King, non-club turn. It seems like most people that commented had similar thoughts. If it wasn't bvb, I would don't think I would be playing for stacks oop with TPTK, but the BB is showing up with a lot worse hands and air so often that I really don't think I would get away from the hand on that board.

I don't think I could get away from the hand and c/c the turn and river would be way too weak, so I'm not sure if I could have lost less.

Any additional thoughts on playing this differently? Also, let me know if I messed any grammmer or wordingg up?

I have no history with the player. I have only been at the table for about 10 hands.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


Hero (SB): $226.10
BB: $530.20
UTG: $38
MP: $622.40
CO: $218.80
BTN: $210.10

Pre-Flop: A Q dealt to Hero (SB)

4 folds
Hero raises to $6
BB raises to $18
Hero calls $12 - 1. Anyone play this different? Flat Call? Re-raise? Fold?

Flop: ($36) Q T 4 (2 Players)

Hero checks
BB bets $20
Hero ???? -

2. What do you do here?

3. If you raise and he shoves what do you do? (edited)

4. If you flat call, do you lead a non-club, non-King turn? What if you do and he shoves?

5. If you flat call, do you check-raise a non-scare card turn?


I'm not sure which play has the best risk/reward associated with it against an unknown. Basically, are you ever getting away from this hand? If no, what is the best way to maximize your profits? If yes, when and why?