O-Poker

Live Poker - Hard Rock Tampa

I started off my weekend early by heading over to the Hard Rock in Tampa (about 1 1/2 hrs away) for a 4 PM super satellite to a $1k buy mtt they are running next Friday-Sunday.

The mtt is going to be the biggest tourney that the Hard Rock in Tampa has ever put on - a $1k mtt with a cap of 600 players, 10k starting chips, 1 hour levels, and spread over the course of 3 days. May not sound great compared to some tourneys, but this is pretty huge considering most of their mtts have 15-20 min levels and are geared towards finishing in a couple of hours. They have two starting days (Friday and Saturday) with 300 players each day playing down to 30 players. The final 60 players (all itm) will continue on Sunday and play until there is a winner. I am playing next Friday so that I have a day off if I make it into the money and can make it to my daughter's basketball game on Saturday.

I walked into the Hard Rock around 3:30 PM and purchased by $100 super satellite ticket. I was completely unaware that it was a rebuy until about 15 minutes later. I had looked at the mtt schedule on the Hard Rock website, saw $100 Super Satellite listed and assumed that the sat was $100 freezeout since the other rebuy tourneys on the schedule were listed as rebuys. No big deal. I figured that is just meant we could play a little deeper. It had a crazy rebuy structure. You started with 2,500 chips and could rebuy 1,000 chips for $25 if you had 2,500 or less chips. So if you went broke, you could rebuy back up to 3,000 chips for $75. There was also a $100 add-on after 1 1/2 hours (six 15 minute levels - lol) that gave you an additional 5,000 chips.

I was up and down during the rebuy period but never had to rebuy. Most of the players were clueless as to how to play a rebuy. There were several players that rebought 1,000 chips for $25 instead of 3,000 chips for $75 when they went broke. I think 3 players at my table never rebought and just left after they lost all of their chips. I am pretty sure one of them had no clue that you could rebuy even though there had been several players at our table that had already rebought.

I won't go into a ton of details, but I will say there was a lot of horrendous play. A guy directly to my right (even after the rebuy period) was over shoving all-in any time that it checked to him when he was last to act - betting 10k chips into a 1k pot. He got knocked out when he shoved with 66 on a J73 flop and was called by J2.

I got short late thanks to some untimely steals, but managed to win a few key races both with 55 against over cards. Then late I had a hand that locked up my seat. I had 15k chips and the blinds were 2k/4k no ante, I was the BB with a dead SB. I told the table that there was no reason to go after my blind since there was no SB. It folded to the button (about 40k chips) who said that we would fold to me unless he had a big hand - gotta like that. He looked at his cards and shoved telling me that he had to. The poker gods were smiling on me as I looked down and saw AA. Insta-Call!!! The button turned over A2 saying that he had to do it because he had an Ace in his hand. About 20 minutes later, we all locked up our seats and I registered for Friday.

The structure looks pretty good. I am wondering what the starting level will be on Sunday though since they are playing down to 30 players each day instead of playing the 2nd day to the same level that the first day stops.

I got my table assignment and am pretty sure that it is the last table to break which means that I should be at the same table the entire first day. I think this is going to be a huge advantage since I will be able to use any reads that I pick up without having to worry about the table breaking before I take advantage of them.

The structure (10k starting chips)

Level 1 25/50
level 2 50/100 15 minute break after this level
level 3 75/150
level 4 100/200 25ante 15 minute break after this level
level 5 200/400 50ante
level 6 300/600 75ante 15 minute break after this level (race off chips)
level 7 400/800 100ante
level 8 500/100 100ante 1 hour dinner break after this level
level 9 600/1200 200ante
level 10 800/1600 300ante 15 minute break
level 11 1000/2000 400ante
level 12 1500/3000 500ante
level 13 2k/4k 500ante
level 14 3k/6k 1k ante 15 minute break (race off chips)
level 15 4k/8k 1k ante
level 16 5k/10k 2k ante 15 minute break
level 17 8k/16k 2k ante
level 18 10k/20k 3k ante 15 minute break
level 19 15k/30k 4k ante (race off chips)
level 20 20k/40k 5k ante 1 hour dinner break
level 21 30k/60k 5k ante
level 22 40k/80k 10k ante 15 minute break
level 23 60k/120k 15k ante
level 24 75k/150k 25k ante


----------------------------------
MTTs are torture

I decided to play a few mtts on Saturday night for a little practice. It didn't take long before I remembered why I don't play a ton of mtts. The beats can be brutal, especially late. I made a deep run in the 50/50 and was sitting in the top 10 in chips for most of the tourney. I wound up busting out in 32nd when my QQ was no match for 66 aipf. Man, mtts can be frustrating.

----------------------------------
Crazy Cash Game Weekend

Nothing went right on Friday night. I had flopped straights losing to flopped sets when they filled up on the turn. I lost 3 or 4 pots to half stacks when I either had a dominating hand (KK vs. 77) or was racing (AK vs. 55). I read a guy completely wrong and shoved into the nuts once. I lost a 150 BB+ deep stack with KK vs. AA, etc, complaint, etc, complaint, etc, etc. Overall I lost 6 buy-ins Friday night.

Saturday was the complete opposite. I wound up winning 3+ buy-ins (in 200 hands) on Saturday night after busting out of the 50/50 and another 2 buy-ins on Sunday even though I spewed quite a few $$ to a fish at a table that Alan I were playing.

All in all I wound up down a little over 1 buy-in for the weekend after being down 6 buy-ins on Friday night, so I'm happy with how things turned out.

The guy at Alan and my table was playing 86/13/1.0 and rarely folded. His stack went from $100 to $650 to $0 to $100 to $500 to $0 to $100 to $300 to $0 to $75 to $0. I paid the guy off twice - once with the ass end of a straight vs. his higher straight. The other time with a 10 high heart flush vs. his J high heart flush on a board with all hearts. He over shoved the river and I called thinking that there was about a 33% he had nothing, 33% chance he had a worse heart, and about 33% chance that he had a better heart. I still think that it was the right call because I think that there was at worst of 50% chance that I had the best hand and I had to call $211 into a $326 pot.

He finally lost all of his chips and left and I could leave and go to sleep about 2 hours after I originally planned.

Alan wound up the beneficiary of the guys spewage thanks in part to the following hands:

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players

The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Octopus8 (MP): $67.40
OhYesTGPFA (CO): $780.20
MrT999 (BTN): $221.90
RecessRampage (SB): $1000.50
HereFisheyFishey (BB): $543.30
Hero (UTG): $400.00

Pre Flop: Hero is UTG with 4 T
1 fold, Octopus8 raises to $14, 2 folds, RecessRampage raises to $46, HereFisheyFishey calls $42, Octopus8 raises to $67.40 all in, RecessRampage calls $21.40, HereFisheyFishey calls $21.40

Flop: ($202.20) J Q T (3 players - 1 is all in)

RecessRampage bets $100, HereFisheyFishey calls $100

Turn: ($402.20) 6 (3 players - 1 is all in)
RecessRampage bets $833.10 all in, HereFisheyFishey calls $375.90 all in

River: ($1154.00) 8
Final Pot: $1154.00
Octopus8 shows As Kc (a straight, Ace high) and won ($199.20) with a straight, Ace high
RecessRampage shows Qd Qs (three of a kind, Queens) and won ($951.80) with three of a kind, Queens
HereFisheyFishey shows 7c 8h (a pair of Eights) - LOLOLOLOL


Alan got lucky that they guy with the Kings was the short stack:

Full Tilt Poker $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

JotJot (UTG): $216.50
OhYesTGPFA (MP): $629.90
MrT999 (CO): $92.70
RecessRampage (BTN): $1234.50
HereFisheyFishey (SB): $587.50
Hero (BB): $646.80

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with 4 A

JotJot raises to $12, 2 folds, RecessRampage raises to $42, HereFisheyFishey calls $40, 1 fold, JotJot raises to $216.50 all in, RecessRampage raises to $1234.50 all in, HereFisheyFishey calls $545.50 all in

Flop: ($1395.50) 6 8 K

Turn: ($1395.50) K

River: ($1395.50) 3

Final Pot: $1395.50
JotJot shows Ks Kd (four of a kind, Kings) and won ($650.50) with four of a kind, Kings - Guess this is one time that you can love short stackers.
RecessRampage shows Qs Qc (two pair, Kings and Queens) and won ($742) with two pair, Kings and Queens
HereFisheyFishey shows 8d Ac (two pair, Kings and Eights) - LOLOL - Guess he thought it was pokerstars and the ace would be a given!!!

Sometimes, you just can't leave a juicy table no matter how tired you are. I was ready to hit the sack after the guy left. Unfortunately, i wasn't able to get all my $$ back from the guy, but at least some of them went to Alan. :)

Wow again!!! Thanks for all the great comments. All the different answers that I got really show how difficult it can be to play unimproved over pairs oop.

The hand from yesterday:

Full Tilt Poker No Limit Hold'em - 4 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BB: $238.00
Hero (CO): $602.40
BTN: $1415.75
SB: $423.90

Pre Flop: Hero is CO with J J
Hero raises to $14, BTN calls $14, 2 folds

Flop: ($34.00) 9 T 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $24, BTN raises to $72,

I'll try to address all the comments.

1. KGBlovesOreos asked "What is your table image? Reason I ask is, if you have a very tight image, you won't often be raised here unless you're beat. If your image is on the other end of the spectrum, your opponent is probably raising you here with a much wider range of hands. He may even be doing this with nothing, so you should be comfortable getting your stack in OTF if it gets to that point."

My table image was probably somewhere in the middle maybe a little to the looser end since we were 4 handed. I did think that the villain was capable of bluff raising the flop with atc, but would also raise any straight draw, flush draw, sets, 2 pair, A10, and potentially a hand like J10s, K10s, etc.

2. Pokerpeaker advocated folding and then asked a good question, " If you're holding A-A, do we still fold? And if not why not, since we're probably not worried about Q-Q or above here?"

I think that I might be more apt to make a big re-raise with AA, KK on the flop b/c you have better equity against flush draws that could include 1 or 2 over cards against JJ.

Below is a list of what everyone said they would do:

KGBlovesOreos - Raise to $200 and fold to a shove; shove any blank turn if he flat calls
Shrike - Raise to $200 and call a shove; shove any blank turn if he flat calls
Alan - Not sure what to do but leans towards just calling and firing out on a non-heart turn that isn't a K,Q,6
Fuel - Fold x 5
WillWonka - Call; C/R a non-scare card turn
Pokerpeaker - Fold with the reason that "When I have no idea what to do, I fold"
Gnome - Sounds like not sure but leaning towards raising; didn't comment on turn or what you do if he shoves after you raise (I'm assuming he would advocated calling an all-in re-raise after you raise b/c of the odds you will be getting and the potential that he has a draw.)

So the response fall out as follows:
Fold - 2
Raise and fold to a shove - 1
Raise (and probably have to call a shove at this point) - 2 (get all-in on non scare card turn)
Call and shove or c/r a non-scare card turn - 1
Call and lead turn - 1

I played this almost the exact same way that I played the QQ hand the other day (and got lucky):


Hero calls $48

Turn: ($178.00) 7 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $136, Hero raises to $516.40 all in, BTN calls $380.40

River: ($1210.80) 4

Final Pot: $1210.80

Hero shows Jc Jd (two pair, Jacks and Fours)
BTN shows 9d Td (two pair, Tens and Nines)
Hero wins $1208.80
(Rake: $2.00)

I opted for the flat call and cr ai on a non-scare card turn and got very very lucky. My reasoning was that if I re-raised on the flop then I pretty much have to call a shove because of all the draws. My plan was to c/r any non scare card turn and potentially (not likely) c/r a heart if the heart seemed to scare him.

Thanks again for all the great comments.

This hand is very similar to the QQ hand that I posted the other day. The main difference is that I don't have a read on the opponent other than he was 20/17/7.o (very high aggression factor) over only around 250 hands.


Full Tilt Poker No Limit Hold'em - 4 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BB: $238.00
Hero (CO): $602.40
BTN: $1415.75
SB: $423.90

Pre Flop: Hero is CO with J J
Hero raises to $14, BTN calls $14, 2 folds

Flop: ($34.00) 9 T 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $24, BTN raises to $72,


Same questions as the QQ hand. Does your responses change based on it being JJ and an unknown opponent with a high aggression level over a small sample? (NOTE: We are playing 4 handed b/c a couple of players are sitting out. This may change your decision.)

1. What is your play here? If you say raise, how much? What do you do if he shoves?

2. If you flat call or raise the flop (and he flat calls), what do you do on the turn if it is a blank? if it is a heart? if it is a non-heart A, K, Q, or 8?

Wow, thanks for all the great comments yesterday.

Let me clear few things up real quick first. I probably should have been a little more specific about how the villain plays. Yes, this wasn't really him floating, but I think the fact that he does float a lot should definitely factor into the hand. From what I had seen of the villain's play, he seemed to re-raise a lot of cont. bets on the flop and 2nd barrels on turn and bet 100% of the time it was checked to him on the turn. He was mixing it up, but the important thing is that he rarely folded to c-bets and usually was re-raising a lot, but usually waited until the turn. Another important thing that I forgot to mention (and a few people asked) was how he plays his draws. He definitely would go out of his way to get all-in on the flop with flush draws.

Here is the hand again:

Full Tilt Poker, $2/$4 NL , 6 Max

BTN: $883.80
SB: $469.30 - posts $2
BB: $282.20 - posts $4
Hero (UTG): $667.20
Villain: $1,554.30 - Had been floating a lot. I also had a note that said, "Floats a ton in pos"
CO: $510

Pre-Flop:
Hero (UTG) - QsQd
Hero raises to $14
Villain calls $14
all folds

Flop: Pot ($34) - 5d 8h 3h

Hero bets $24
Villain raises to $80

cmitch ???

So what did I do?

cmitch calls $56
*** TURN *** [5d 8h 3h] [Th] - Pot ($191)

cmitch checks
Villain bets $133 - smelled very fishy
cmitch has 15 seconds left to act
cmitch has requested TIME
cmitch folds


I opted for just calling the flop with the intention of c/r all-in on any non heart or Ace even if it was a 4 or 9 . I felt like the play was kind of weak after the hand, but the more I think about it I don't mind the flat call. The interesting thing is that the opinions ran the spectrum. I am starting to hate QQ more and more. :)

Below is similar hand against a very loose preflop caller in a SB vs. BB situation. I played it completely different based on my history with the opponent and since only 100 BB deep. I guess it goes to show that so much of how you play a hand depends on the opponent.

Full Tilt Poker No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

BTN: $1927.40
SB: $732.30
Hero (BB): $404.00
UTG: $400.00
CO: $386.00

Pre Flop: Hero is BB with QcQh
2 folds
BTN raises to $14,
SB calls $12
Hero raises to $52, - Looks like an obvious squeeze attempt
1 fold
SB calls $38 - Great call?!? Seriously though if he thinks that I am squeezing with air why doesn't he just throw in a 4 bet?

Flop: ($118.00) 5s 9s 9c (2 players)
SB checks
Hero bets $90 - Going to commit myself right here; if he hit then oh well
SB raises to $680.30 all in
Hero calls $262 all in

Turn: ($822.00) 2h

River: ($822.00) 6d

SB shows [As 3s] - NO SPADE or ACE!!!
cmitch shows [Qc Qh]

*** TURN *** [5s 9s 9c] [2h]
*** RIVER *** [5s 9s 9c 2h] [6d]

cmitch wins the pot ($819) with two pair, Queens and Nines

I think this is a great example of why it is so hard to play out of position against someone that floats a ton. I had a really tough decision (in my mind) on what to do on the flop and what that would mean for later streets. I would be interested to see what others would do? The villain was flat calling a ton pf and re-raising a lot of flops and turns.

Full Tilt Poker, $2/$4 NL , 6 Max

BTN: $883.80
SB: $469.30 - posts $2
BB: $282.20 - posts $4
Hero (UTG): $667.20
Villain: $1,554.30 - Had been floating a lot. I also had a note that said, "Floats a ton in pos"
CO: $510

Pre-Flop:
Hero (UTG) - QsQd
Hero raises to $14
Villain calls $14
all folds

Flop: Pot ($34) - 5d 8h 3h

Hero bets $24
Villain raises to $80

Hero ????

1. What is your play here? (Remember the Villain seems to float a lot.) If you say raise, how much? What do you do if he shoves?

2. If you flat call or raise the flop (and he flat calls), what do you do on the turn if it is a blank? if it is a heart? if it is a non-heart 4 or 9?

I am out of town on business all day tomorrow, so I'll post the results tomorrow night or Wed morning.

Full Tilt Poker Game #xxx: Table xxx (6 max) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em
Seat 1: ($203)
Seat 2: ($406)
Seat 3: ($349.60)
Seat 4: ($414) - BUTTON
Seat 5: SB ($751.50)
Seat 6: cmitch ($406) - BB
SB posts the small blind of $2
cmitch posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #4

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [7s 6s]
all folds
Button raises to $14
SB folds
cmitch calls $10

*** FLOP *** [5s Qs 8h]

cmitch checks
Button bets $20
cmitch raises to $56 - I want to get the money in here - flush and straight draw
Button has 15 seconds left to act
Button has requested TIME
Button raises to $156
cmitch raises to $392, and is all in
Button calls $236
cmitch shows [7s 6s]
Button shows [7c 6h]- Weee!! Freerolling to 9 outs!!

*** TURN *** [5s Qs 8h] [As] - GIN!!!

*** RIVER *** [5s Qs 8h As] [2c]

cmitch shows a flush, Ace high
Button shows Ace Queen high
cmitch wins the pot ($811) with a flush, Ace high
Button: what
Button adds $392
Button: like u had any fe - I think that I actually LOL when I read that!!

I'm a favorite against his range even if you don't include bluffs in his range, but I had seen this player bluffing/semi-bluffing a bit. Why did he think that I was looking for fold equity? I'll get it all in in that spot against that player all day long.

First, I got this email (but have never made a deposit on Cake, so wasn't sure about the email):

April 11, 2008

To all Cake Poker Customers:

We have received notice from ePassporte today that they are unable to continue to provide CakePoker with merchant e-wallet services. We have since confirmed that this situation is not unique to CakePoker and is, in fact, industry wide.

While we are disappointed with this decision, we want to reassure all players that there will be no impact to either your account balances or your account status at Cake. We are pleased to have launched earlier this week with a new payment processor and have already secured alternative processors/eWallets that we will be launching in the weeks to come. We are also in discussions with other providers that will be making their services available in the CakePoker cashier soon. Players are welcome to inquire with Customer Support for more details.

As always, we value your business and will continue to make every effort possible to make your poker experience a great one.

Regards,

The CakePoker Team


Then I checked the forums and it appears to be true.


It looks like Epassporte is shutting down to US customers. CRAP!!! WTF!!! This sucks!! Not only will we have to resort to other methods to withdraw money (no more ATM withdrawals), but it just became a lot more difficult for new/casual players (read as the main source of new/dead money in poker) to deposit cash to blow. Sad day mixed with a bit of deja vu.

I've been so busy that I just finally got around to listening to the 3/31 podcast of Cash Plays with Bart Hanson. It has become my favorite podcast, especially after the 3/31 episode. You can't beat 1 1/2 hours of Bart Hanson picking the brain of one of the best long term online cash game winners, Samoleus. Samoleus rambles a lot and goes off on a lot of tangents, but there some good stuff in the interview. He doesn't pull any punches, including his dislike for the "cardrunners" style.

If you play cash games (live or online), you should definitely listen to the interview.

Where do you hope to be in......?

I just read a really good blog post by Leatherass (one of the lead instructors at Stoxpoker who has probably played more cash game hands online that just about anyone). It is definitely worth taking the time to read. It really got me to thinking about what I am trying to accomplish in poker.

I am not talking about the lofty one in a million, one in a hundred thousand, one in a thousand, or one in 500 shot (depending on how you see your game) of winning the WSOP Main Event or a WPT Main Event. I am thinking about what are my long term goals with poker realistically - aside from winning a major tourney which would obviously drastically change all the other goals. Where do I hope to be in my poker career in 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years?

I haven't played much poker or done much of anything since I got sick Sunday night and it has given me a little time to think about a lot of different things (poker being one of them). I set a goal at the beginning of the year of playing 275k cash game hands this year (about 23k hands/month) which seemed reasonable considering my work schedule and home life. From January to March, I only played about 35k hands (12k hands/month) which is about 1/2 of my monthly target.

I have gotten sidetracked with MTTs, WSOP steps and the BBT3. This weekend I decided to get back on track with the cash game hands and really step the number of hand that I play this month and next month. I am going to target 30k hands this month (little behind due to the sickness of the last few days) and 35k hands next month. It is my short term goal to build up a decent size roll to take to LV with me in June (probably the 10th-15th).

As for where I hope to be in 6 months? 1 year? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years? I think leatherass sums it up best, "Anyway, I was just doing some thinking about that and I guess the bottom line is I should just keep grinding and don’t even think about getting to the very top."

With that in mind, I'm going to keep grinding, use good (maybe overly nitty) bankroll management, and let the rest take care of itself. If I play enough hands this year, the money will follow and hopefully one day I can be at the point where I don't have to worry about money.

I'm going to keep playing the BBT3 events and still have the WSOP Step 6 ticket, but probably won't be playing much besides cash games with a few breaks for mtts here and there.

-----------------------
QQ in the SB - Follow Up

I posted this hand because it felt like I played it so weak - I folded PF. There was just something about it that screamed I was way behind. I guess you could call it one of those feelings that you get sometimes when playing and I went with that feeling. There are times when I would raise with the same hand against the same players, but this one just felt fishy so I folded.

I'm not sure what either of them had, but Seat 6 flat called pf. The flop came all low cards, Seat 6 checked and Seat 2 (who had a relatively low agg factor) bet about 3/4 pot. Seat 6 folded.

Full Tilt Poker Game #5928688441: Table St Ives (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:36:24 ET - 2008/04/06
Seat 1: god_ofgamblers2 ($209.95)
Seat 2: CommanderData ($253.25)
Seat 3: cmitch ($269.40)
Seat 4: Bluffsalot83 ($200)
Seat 5: marlon1410 ($134.80)
Seat 6: youenjoymystack ($208.40)
cmitch posts the small blind of $1
Bluffsalot83 posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Qh Qd]
marlon1410 calls $2
youenjoymystack raises to $9
god_ofgamblers2 folds
CommanderData has 15 seconds left to act
CommanderData raises to $32
cmitch has 15 seconds left to act

I played a decent amount of cash game hands Friday night and planned to grind out a ton more on Saturday night. FTP had some major issues and crashed for several hours Saturday night, but that wasn't the reason that I couldn't play. The entire family (except me at the time) being sick with the flu is what kept me away from poker. My wife started getting sick around mid-day Saturday and my son started throwing up again around dinner time. I probably changed my 2 yr old son's clothes and bedspread about 5 times Sat night. It was to the point where I couldn't wash his sheets and clothes fast enough.

The only people in the house that weren't sick were me and my 6 yr old daughter. Shortly before she went to bed, she started complaining that her stomach was bothering her. She is somewhat of a drama queen, so there was about a 50/50 chance she was either getting the same sickness or wanted some attention. I loaded her up with a trash can on her bed before she went to sleep. About an 1 1/2 hour later, she started screaming. I went in her room to find that she had thrown up all over the place - her bed, her hair, her clothes, etc, etc. I quickly carried her into her bathroom to get her out of her clothes. The whole time she was screaming at the top of her lungs, "This is so gross!! Get it off of me!!! This is so disgusting!!" There was such a mess in her bathroom that I decided to take her into our bathroom for a shower. I put her on the bath mat in her room and she looked in the mirror and screamed, "I look horrible!!!" Gotta love the drama queens - worrying about how she looked while we were in the process of trying to get here cleaned up.

The cycle of each kid getting sick finally ended around 1-2 AM. I headed off to bed - still the only one in the house that wasn't sick. Finally, Sunday night it hit me hard. I don't think I have gotten that sick since I was a kid. It wasn't fun and still isn't. Hopefully, I'll be back up to speed in another day or so.

QQ in the SB

I wasn't sure what to do with QQ in this spot. The button seemed like a solid player. I hadn't seem him 3 bet with anything but premium hands. The original raiser didn't seem to get to out of line either.

1. Given that they both seemed to be playing straight forward, what is your play here? Raise? Flat Call? Fold?

2. What do you do if the originial raiser re-raises and the button flat calls?

3. What is your plan for a low card rainbow uncoordinated flop if you flat call pf? if you raise pf?


Full Tilt Poker Game #5928688441: Table St Ives (6 max) - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:36:24 ET - 2008/04/06
Seat 1: god_ofgamblers2 ($209.95)
Seat 2: CommanderData ($253.25)
Seat 3: cmitch ($269.40)
Seat 4: Bluffsalot83 ($200)
Seat 5: marlon1410 ($134.80)
Seat 6: youenjoymystack ($208.40)
cmitch posts the small blind of $1
Bluffsalot83 posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to cmitch [Qh Qd]
marlon1410 calls $2
youenjoymystack raises to $9
god_ofgamblers2 folds
CommanderData has 15 seconds left to act
CommanderData raises to $32
cmitch has 15 seconds left to act

I've been incredibly busy the last two weeks and that unfortunately has left very little time for poker or posting on the blog. I'm going to try to catch up and get back in the swing of things with some regular posts next week.

WSOP Steps

I did manage to squeeze in a Step 5 match one night this week and wound up finishing in the top 2 to advance to Step 6. I only have one other step ticket left (Step 2) and I'm not sure if I am going to try to work that one up to Step 6 before playing a Step 6 sng or not. Most likely, I'll play the Step 2 ticket and keep my eye on the Step 6s. If I see a relatively soft Step 6, I'll probably jump into it.



Riverchasers - Better Late than Never?

Last night I was ready to unwind and play a little poker after being in long stressful meetings all day, every day. We put the kids to bed, I went to blockbuster and rented a few movies. My plan was to watch a movie, have a couple of beers and play Riverchasers - pretty low key, low stress.

My plans changed pretty quickly. About 8:30, my 2 year old son started crying. This usually means that he just hasn't fallen asleep yet and wants a drink. I went in his room, got him a drink, and left hoping that he would calm down. He continued to cry and then seemed to calm down a little.

About five minutes after starting to watch a movie, he started to cry again. My wife finally went into his room about 8:55 PM. He started spewing chunks all over th place. It was everywhere - his crib, his hair, his clothes, the floor, my wife. I took him to the bathroom to clean him up and give him a bath while my wife cleaned up his bed and then herself. We got him cleaned up and put on a short show to help him calm down a little.

He was ready to head back to bed around 9:30. My wife picked him up and started walking to his room. About halfway there he started spewing chunks all over the place again - the floor, himself, and my wife. This time my wife got in the tub with him. I tried to finish cleaning up all the throw and realized we were out of paper towels (and laundry detergent).

To make a long story short, I finally logged in to play the Riverchasers mtt around 10:20 (1:20 after it started) after cleaning up throw up twice, giving our son two baths, and a trip to CVS for paper towels, Gatorade, and laundry detergent.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some poker playing in this weekend. We'll see if life cooperates.....

I just discovered a new podcast and immediately listened to every episode of the podcast. It is the latest from PokerRoad - Cash Plays with Bart Hanson. You can listen to it on the PokerRoad website or on Itunes.

I listen to as many poker podcasts as I can (Ante Up, P5s Podcast, 2+2 Podcast, a few of the PokerRoad ones) and was excited when I heard an advertisement for a cash only podcast. I wasn't sure what to expect. So far, there haven't been any guests on the show and only one host, but Hanson does a good job of filling the show with cash poker content. He is mainly a live grinder, so a lot of the hands that he discusses are related to deep stack full ring live NL cash games and might not completely apply to online 6 max cash games. Listeners also email in tough hands and he comments on them.

So far, he has brought up a lot of great situations and concepts. Below are a few things that he discussed on the show. (I am probably going to expand on a couple of his topics for some future blog posts)

Thin Value Betting on the River - How often do you need your opponent to fold for it to be a profitable play? Don't let the times where you get called and lose discourage you from making the same play again if you feel that long term it is a profitable bet.

Preflop raises in live games - I forgot how big of bets people will call preflop in live cash games.

Negative Slow-Play - or why you need to play your big hands fast. He makes some really good points.

Deceptive play to represent big hands - along with the power of back door flush draws.

What sort of implied odds you need to call for your call to be profitable long term

Taking Small Edges (Is there ever a time not to take them?) - I disagree with his stance on this one. He says that sometimes you might not want to take a small edge (55/5) in a cash game. A couple of times mentioned are:

1. Early in a session if it will effect your play for the rest of the session. - I disagree pretty strongly with this one. If you getting stacked early in a session is going to make you play like crap for the rest of the session then you shouldn't be playing or should just make it a habit of quitting in any session that you get stacked early. This might be easier said than done, but you really need to think about your play if you are playing a lot different when you are stuck. (I'm sure we are all guilty of this at sometimes.)

2. If you are playing in a good game (where you are one of the better players) that is over your bankroll. - I can almost see his point here. If you feel like you have a big edge in a game that is over your bankroll then it might be better to get your money in in a spot with a bigger edge against a weak player. I am of the mindset that you should get your money in whenever you are a favorite, because that is how you win money long term. If you are playing with way too short of a bankroll (even in a really juicy game) then you probably shouldn't be playing that game or should sell some of your action in that game.

I'll try to expand more on some of the topics that he discussed on the show. So far, this is the only cash game podcast that I have found. I'm looking forward to Cardrunners starting up their podcast, but I'm not sure when they will ever get it off the ground.

I'm torn on what to do about the WSOP. At the beginning of the year, I posted the following as one of my goals:

Play 3-5 Medium to Large ($1,500+) Live Tourneys (Prelim/Main Events) – As I mentioned above, I may shoot for playing some smaller buy-in live tourneys instead of just the WSOP Main Event. I’m considering heading to Foxwoods for the Foxwoods Poker Classic for some of the mid-size events at the end of March/beginning of April. I’ll also probably plan a trip to the Las Vegas during the early WSOP events and maybe head back for the Main Event if I win my way in or do well in the early events.

I was unable to go to Foxwoods for the FPC because work is pretty crazy right now.

I'm debating between two options.

1. Head out to LV from 6/10-6/15 and play 1-2 prelim events and a lot of cash games.

Events taking place during this time frame:
6/11/2008 21 No-Limit Hold'em (3 day event) $5,000
6/11/2008 22 H.O.R.S.E. (3 day event) $3,000
6/12/2008 23 No-Limit Hold'em (3 day event) $2,000
6/12/2008 24 Pot-Limit Holdem/Omaha (3 day event) $2,500
6/13/2008 25 World Championship Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em $10,000
6/13/2008 26 Seven Card Razz (3 day event) $1,500
6/14/2008 27 No-Limit Hold'em (3 day event) $1,500
6/14/2008 28 Pot-Limit Omaha W/Rebuys (3 day event) $5,000
6/15/2008 29 No-Limit Hold'em (3 day event) $3,000
6/15/2008 30 World Championship Limit Hold'em (3 day event) $10,000

Would probably play some combination of Events 21, 23, & 27.

Pros

• I have a good excuse to head out during that time - My birthday and Father's Day. It could count as my wife's gift to me for both . :)
• I could play more than 1 WSOP event.
  
• I could stay at the Rio for very cheap thanks to a Harrah's Total Rewards flyer that I recently received in the mail.
• The $5k event has a pretty decent structure with 10k starting chips and 60 minute levels.
• There may be a blogger gathering during the same time. I've never made it to one of these. It would be awesome to meet a lot of other bloggers and put some faces to screen names.
  

Cons

• Probably wouldn't be able to go back and play in the Main Event even if I won a seat. (Not sure I could swing taking a week off and then another week 2 weeks later.)
• The structure for the smaller buy-in events isn't that great - $4k & $3k starting chips in the $2k and $1,500 events
  

2. Plan a trip during the Main Event and hope to win a seat before heading there.

Pros

• Get to play in the Main Event of the WSOP!!!
• Get to play in the Main Event of the WSOP!!!
• I had a blast when I played a couple of years ago (other than when Phil Ivey sat at my table)
• The field in the ME is weaker than any other large buy-in event. Some of the players are so horrible, you wonder how they are playing in a $10k Event.
• Potential for a lot larger win even if you just barely cash (lowest tier cash at the ME is probably equivalent to like 9-20th in a $1,500 event; 18th-27th in the $5k event)
• It is like 1,000 times more exciting to the play in the WSOP ME than any other tourney.
• If I win on a site like Pokerstars then I can get a free hotel on top of the WSOP package.
  

Cons

• All egss in 1 basket
• I may not qualify and be left standing on the sidelines watching like last year.
• May spend too much time, energy and bankroll trying to qualify and come up short.
• A long time to take off work.
• A lot of cash to put up for 1 tourney even if I win my way in.

Right now I am leaning more towards Option 1. I'll probably give myself another month to try and qualify for the WSOP ME. If I don't, I'll probably book the earlier trip.

Pokerstars WSOP Steps Follow Up

My original $100 investment in the steps is now down to one Step 5 Ticket and one Step 2 Ticket. I had been waiting around to find a weak Step 5 and stumbled across one last night. I wound up finishing a disappointing 3rd (replay Step 5). I'll probably play it one night this week. I have been amazed how many more beats you see in sngs vs. cash games due to the nature of the beast.

Sometimes, it is OK to......

...fold an overpair.

...fold top pair, top kicker.

...fold a set when you are sure you are beat.

...fold a draw when you aren't getting the correct odds against a nit's bet/shove.

...skip playing for the night because you are too tired or too sick or just sick and tired.

...only play very strong hands against calling stations.

...make big calls against over aggressive donkeys.

...overshove for value if there is a chance that your opponent might call.

...overshove bluff if you are pretty certain your opponent will fold.

...value bet 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th pair against calling stations.

...play 14/10. (vp$p/pfr)

...play 32/26. (vp$p/pfr)

...check behind on the river if you are fairly certain your opponent hit and is planning to c/r on the river.

...bet the river with air the next time you are in a hand against the same opponent.

...smooth call preflop with AA.

...shove preflop with AA.

...fold QQ preflop.

...shove with QQ preflop.

Just some quick random cash game thoughts. I haven't had time to post lately because I've been really busy