Twenty-One Outs Twice

Before and After

2010-06-06T21:20:00.006-04:00

I decided that I don't want to write up any hands from the triple draw event. None of them are particularly invigorating. The most interesting ones involve somebody getting there on the last draw. For the first 90% of the tournament, it was me. During the 4000-8000 level, it was them.

Following up on the LA Times piece, some online articles have recently been written about me. These inevitably include a picture of me playing poker circa 2004-2007 (aka 25 pounds ago). Listen, I'm not asking anyone to write anything about me, but if you do, could you please use this nice Pokernews picture from last week?

Look, I'm even representing Brooklyn.

In order that you might see the amazing changes that happen when you quit poker, here are some carbohydrate-rich, frowny-face "before" pictures:

Anyway, thanks, my ego appreciates it.

Triple Draw Recap

2010-06-03T06:13:00.002-04:00

I finished 14th in the triple draw event. I was the chip leader with 24 left. Oh well. I'll try to write a longer recap later.

WSOP Triple Draw 2010

2010-06-02T14:19:00.003-04:00

As promised, I'm back for my annual blog update coinciding with the WSOP triple draw event.

Having been away from the day-to-day grind of the poker life for a couple of years now, I've been surprised by how brutal and miserable it seems to me now. The players are rude, the house is incompetent, the chairs have caused a recurrence of my back woes, and they still charge you twenty bucks for some rubbery beef with broccoli and a bottle of water. None of this is news, I suppose, but being away from this world has made me acutely aware of its shortcomings. About a half dozen old poker friends have told me that I seem happier, more relaxed, and skinnier. It's all true!

The tournament started yesterday evening. We got 291 runners, of which 96 made it to day two. I ran my 7500 starting stack up to 30,100 over the course of day one. The winner will get $181k tomorrow night.

My starting table was tougher than average, with Ted Forrest, Hansu Chu, and three other young guys who knew what they were doing. Luckily I made a lot of hands early and had $16k by the first break. Michael Binger filled Hansu's seat to my left about halfway through the day and Scott Seiver came and sat to his left a little later. I managed to only lose three bets to Scott with 76432 vs. his wheel late in the day after we both drew one on the last draw. Overall, a pretty uneventful day. If you're only going to play one tournament a year, it's nice to run good. We'll see if I can keep it up today. There are a lot of very good triple draw players left, so table draw will be crucial. We start at 3 PM local time.

LA Times Article

2010-06-02T14:02:00.003-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Nathaniel Popper of the LA Times wrote an article about poker and trading in which I am mentioned. Other than mis-stating my borough of residence (Brooklyn 4 lyf), I really thought the piece was well done. It got picked up by a number of different print and online sources, though the Gawker headline has to be my favorite ("Wall Street Ignores Irony, Literally Hires Gamblers").

363

2009-07-11T11:47:00.002-04:00

My last post here was 363 days ago. In my defense, I haven't played a lot of poker in those 363 days. I finally stopped whining about how sick of poker I was and got a job on Wall St. in February. And it's great.

I did make it out to Vegas last week to play the triple draw event and catch up with some friends who I don't see anymore. Learning baduci* conjured up memories of liking poker, but after a few days I was ready to come home and resume my normal life.

I have a bunch of friends with chips in the main event, but it's too early to start posting sweats. If somebody makes the last few tables, maybe I'll chime in.

Otherwise, I guess I'll see you guys in about 363 days.

* Baduci is a split-pot five-card triple draw game in which half the pot goes to the best 2-7 lowball hand and half the pot goes to the best badugi hand. Ace is high, so the nut badugi hand is 2345 unsuited.

2008-07-13T13:08:00.003-04:00

In an effort to avoid turning this blog into the Matt Matros Fanboy Assocation (MMFA) (tm), I haven't talked about this yet. But Matt's still alive in the main event with 79 people left. Gooooogogogo. Other roots: friends Chino Rheem and Victor Ramdin.

The triple draw games have been fast and furious on Stars this week. Last night there was a full 200/400 with a waiting list and a 4-handed 500/1k! A certain Team Pokerstars member dropped by to spice up the action.

...But I'm getting out of this business, remember?

Hmm...

2008-07-10T00:38:00.002-04:00

I have played enough hands of triple draw that you would think I would not see anything new at this point. And then:

PokerStars Game #18710560330: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($30/$60) - 2008/07/10 - 00:37:21 (ET)
Table 'Edasich II' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: mogli64 ($1596 in chips)
Seat 2: SaveMySkin ($2172 in chips)
Seat 3: bobbybagpipe ($704 in chips)
Seat 4: maroni ($1062 in chips)
Seat 6: sandman651 ($2186 in chips)
SaveMySkin: posts small blind $15
bobbybagpipe: posts big blind $30
capt g: sits out
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [9c Kh 8s 5d 3s]
maroni: folds
sandman651: folds
mogli64: raises $30 to $60
SaveMySkin: calls $45
bobbybagpipe: folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
SaveMySkin: discards 2 cards [9c Kh]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [8s 5d 3s] [Ad 7d]
mogli64: discards 1 card
SaveMySkin: checks
mogli64: bets $30
SaveMySkin: calls $30
*** SECOND DRAW ***
SaveMySkin: discards 1 card [Ad]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [8s 5d 3s 7d] [6s]
mogli64: stands pat
SaveMySkin: checks
mogli64: bets $60
SaveMySkin: calls $60
*** THIRD DRAW ***
SaveMySkin: stands pat on [8s 5d 3s 7d 6s]
mogli64: discards 5 cards

Also, someone anonymously posted a comment to this blog this afternoon that Matt Matros was out of the main event after flopping an underset. But apparently Matt is still in. There are two possibilities here:

1) This person who posted was mistaken/confused Matt with someone else/got bad information from a third party.
2) Someone tried to use the comments of my poker blog to spread a rumor that Matt busted out and/or trick me personally into thinking this.

What. The. Fuck. People.

As Joe Pelton said in a recent blog (I am paraphrasing): "Phil Hellmuth showed up in a tank and there are more than 100 people in line to meet Joe Hachem. This is not a world in which I belong."

That's how I feel about poker these days.

Main Event Plea

2008-07-03T22:00:00.002-04:00

Over the next two weeks (or four months and two weeks, as the case may be), I'm sure I will get into the main event sweating. I know enough of you poker players that somebody will make a run in the thing, more likely a bunch of somebodies. But it's early enough that I'm not paying attention to any hands or chip counts yet, as I continue to extricate myself from the 24-hour-poker-culture. So please, if you could refrain from giving me any updates on how Ray Romano is doing in the main event, I would appreciate it.

(Thanks Jesse)

gl sir

2008-07-02T13:09:00.002-04:00

Best of luck to my good friend Matt Matros at the final table of the $1500 NLH event today. Matt's so good he should give lessons on how to maneuver through these enormous tournament fields. Oh yeah, he does.

Random Musings

2008-06-30T02:49:00.003-04:00

- Mike DeMichele and Matt Glantz finished top four in both the $50k HORSE and the WSOP mixed game event. That's fuckin' strong.
- My good friend Joe Pelton is still in the $1500 NLH with 12 left. Goooo Joe.
- I'm going to play a bunch of WCOOP events and am especially excited for the "variety tourney."
- If I didn't make it obvious in my last post, I think that if you're sitting at a 6-player public poker table and you expect people not to join the game because you prefer to play heads up, that's crazy.

HU

2008-06-28T18:23:00.002-04:00

Two people are playing at a six-handed table online. A third player sits down, and the first two request that they be allowed to play heads up. Should the third player accommodate this request? Why or why not? Assume that a heads up (2-max) table is not available.

(I am not interested in a discussion of what is generally done now in this situation.)

Triple Draw Recap

2008-06-23T14:07:00.002-04:00

I didn't do anything in the triple draw tournament. I had a pretty bad starting table, including John Juanda for the second year in a row. I won a few small pots during the first level and had my 5k starting stack up to 7k but then went pretty cold. I got all-in and won a big pot right before the second break but the tight old dude who had all the chips finished me off about an hour later. My gameplan was to play pretty straightforward and not mess around but there were a few spots where I wish I had tried some tricky plays. I don't think I played all that well. Live poker is really brutal. To echo the sentiment of my last post, this just isn't my life anymore. I say that to people out here and they get a concerned, sad look on their face. But it's really a good thing.

Back to Brooklyn tonight.

WSOP

2008-06-21T16:04:00.002-04:00

About six months after I graduated from college, I went back to campus for the first time. The people were familiar, the place was familiar, but I got this strange feeling that I just didn't belong there anymore. I'm having that same feeling now as I spend some time in Vegas at the WSOP. It's nice to see all of my friends, and there are some things I enjoy about the atmosphere, but I'm really not all that excited to be here and am mostly kind of walking around with nothing to do. Tomorrow is the triple draw event, which is the one thing I am excited about. After that I'll probably just come home. My life just doesn't revolve around poker anymore, and I am so happy to be able to write that.

I played a HORSE satellite last night, which was pitched to me as a soft field and ended up being me and a bunch of HORSE experts. One funny anecdote:

Mike Sexton (to Dewey Tomko): "I'm proud of you Dewey. You've got $100 million and you're playing a satellite."
Everyone Else: *Silently wondering if Sexton sees the irony*

One hand from the satellite...

Playing razz, three of us put in five bets on third street. I have 2(A3), and the other door cards are a 4 and a 7. On fourth, I catch an 8, the 7 catches a 5, and the 4 catches a K. They check to me, I bet, the 75 raises, and the K4 calls two cold. Would you reraise here? I decided to. When I ran the numbers, I have very close to 33% equity.

WSOP Schedule

2008-06-17T18:35:00.002-04:00

Harrah's website says the triple draw event is on the 22nd. People are telling me they have printed schedules from the Rio that says it's on the 25th. I just called them and the woman told me her schedule says it's the 22nd and she hasn't heard about any schedule changes. Does anyone have any info on this? Maybe they printed up some schedules with a misprint?

Old WPT

2008-06-09T23:44:00.002-04:00

I just watched the Shaniac/Kevin Saul WPT episode. I don't really want to talk about any hands from the show or anything. I'm sure this has been covered in the blogosphere, but there is something that really bothers me about the WPT broadcasts:

Can someone teach Mike Sexton that "raise" and "reraise" are not synonyms? If it folds to the button and that player opens the pot, betting more than the big blind, it's not appropriate to say, "So-and-so looks like he's going to reraise on the button here." You are just using the wrong term. You don't have baseball announcers who see a home run and say, "Wow, he hit a deep ground ball there!"

...Although there is the curious case of Joe Morgan, so what do I know?

Stoxpoker

2008-06-02T03:18:00.002-04:00

Hi guys. I just wanted to let you all know that I'm now coaching and doing triple draw strategy videos for stoxpoker.com. If you've never checked out the site, I encourage you to do so. My friend Nick runs it and has turned it into the best poker coaching site out there. So, click this banner to check it out and tell them I sent you:

I'm still finalizing my Series plans. I'll definitely be out around the triple draw event and I may try to get out there for a few days this week or next. If anyone is out there already, what mixed games are they running at Rio/Bellagio?

I'm Not Dead

2008-04-30T03:48:00.002-04:00

Hi guys. Sorry I never post anymore. I took a long break from playing any serious poker. Then I played about 700 sit-n-gos this month because some friends of mine told me they were easy and low variance. I broke about even and didn't enjoy one minute of it. Then yesterday I played some triple draw and booked a nice win. The same happened today. So, back to this for a while, I guess.

I recently had a realization about my poker "career," and it went something like this. When I started playing for a living, I was doing just that: playing to make money, to pay the rent, to put food on the table. Then I worked hard/played a lot/ran good for a while and got to a place where I was comfortable financially. I didn't need to make money playing poker on a day-to-day basis to support myself. This had some bad consequences. I got really lazy with my play and my game selection. For a while I just played whatever game I felt like playing at whatever stakes they were spreading it. I played against some of the best players in the world at games I was not very experienced or very good at. Not surprisingly, I lost.

I feel kind of silly about it in hindsight, but there's no use in dwelling on the mistakes I've made. Let them be a lesson to you. Or something. Anyway, onward and upward. I'm going to play smaller for a while and probably only play triple draw. A little grinding will be good for me.

I'm planning to play the WSOP triple draw event on June 22nd. I probably won't be in town for more than a few days, but I want to see all you idiots who I've missed while I haven't been traveling this year. Let's play some golf.

Stars VIP

2008-01-25T16:49:00.001-05:00

Well, well, well, I'm actually playing some poker this month. I've been working on my O8 game on Stars and have had some good short-term results.

I've also gotten myself up to "PlatinumStar" for the first time and have a bunch of FPPs I should do something with. You guys are more up on this than I am these days: what's the best thing to do with these points? I could take the cash awards, but I think the tournaments/other services may be a better value. The problem is, I don't really want to play any tournaments on Stars and I don't really want to play any televised WSOP events. Their support told me they won't buy me into the triple draw event (non-televised). I could also try to make it to Supernova this year and then use their "concierge" service, but I'm not sure I will keep up the pace required to get to Supernova. Any thoughts appreciated.

I'm also thinking about going out to LA in the next few weeks.

Who am I and what happened to the guy who hated playing poker?

Wow, I Am The Worst Poker Blogger Ever

2008-01-15T02:32:00.001-05:00

Wow, I never post anymore. Sorry guys. I played this hand tonight and it is awesome and post-worthy. If every hand was like this, I would like poker a lot more.

I'm thinking about going out to LA next month. The Commerce tournament is always fun and I haven't seen my poker friends in six months. The trip sort of depends on some other things in my life though. So we'll see.

Hope you're all doing well.

WCOOP Razz

2007-09-21T21:59:00.000-04:00

If for some reason you feel like railing a razz tournament, I'm doing pretty well in the WCOOP with about 1/4 of the field left.

Don't forget to check out my new fantasy sports site.

My New Business Venture - Instant Fantasy Sports

2007-09-14T14:10:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. As some of you know, I have been working on a new business venture for a number of months. The project is a fantasy sports website called Instant Fantasy Sports. We launched the site last night and I'm very excited about how it turned out. You can find it at www.instantfantasysports.com.

The basic idea behind the site is that we take the time frame of season-long fantasy sports leagues and shrink it. Our football games, which we launched last night, only last a week. On our site, there are no long-term commitments and you don't have to worry about injuries or poor performance ruining your whole fantasy season. The site will look familiar to many of you who are reading this blog because it's set up a lot like an online poker site. The way I have described my project to poker people is, "It's like sit n gos for fantasy sports." If you take a look at the site, you'll get a better idea what I mean.

Given the current state of online gaming, the next logical question is, "Is this site legal?" Happily, I'm able to tell you that fantasy sports games are explicitly protected by the UIGEA (the same law that has given online poker so much trouble in the USA). Instant Fantasy Sports is 100% legal in the USA and Canada.

Okay, this is the part where I ask you for help! If you're interested in fantasy sports, I hope you will check out the site, sign up for an account, and play in some leagues if you like the idea. If you know other fantasy sports lovers, please let them know about the site. I feel that we have put together something special here. One of the initial challenges is getting people signed up for the site so that we can run drafts regularly. I hope you'll help me meet this challenge by signing up and spreading the word to your friends who like fantasy sports.

If you have any questions or comments about the site, please leave a comment here or send an email to support@instantfantasysports.com

Bobby FTW

2007-08-21T18:50:00.000-04:00

Frankly this is the best thing I have seen all week.

Poker

2007-07-17T05:24:00.000-04:00

I played some poker tonight. Here are some hands:

KK vs QQ vs 43o, capped preflop, board K526J
K9 vs AK, board QJxTx
AQ vs Q2o, capped preflop, board KQT22

And my favorite, from O8, A34Q vs 57JJ, board K335J

I'm glad I don't do this every day anymore.

Bellagio Cup

2007-07-15T10:33:00.001-04:00

I want to also wish good luck to Shane Schleger and Kevin Saul at the Bellagio Cup final table today. Should be an interesting one to watch when they broadcast it. Ray Henson is third in chips with 27 left in the Main Event. Gooooo you three.

Seriously Harrah's?

2007-07-14T11:03:00.000-04:00

There are a lot of stupid things that people running big poker tournaments seem to keep getting wrong, no matter how often these mistakes have been made before or how much press said mistakes have gotten. But I think the one that baffles me most is having different denomination chips that can easily be mistaken for each other because of similar coloring. How hard can it be to come up with a chipset that's not confusing to the players?

Seriously Harrah's? You run the World Series of Poker? You're making $3 million or so in juice just from the main event? The 5k chips are orange and the 25k chips are.......a slightly lighter shade of orange? Are you people fucking kidding me?

I'm pretty sure none of my close friends are left in the main event. This sucks. I wish I had someone to sweat. I know Danny Alaei a little bit from playing mixed games with him and he's a great guy and a great poker mind, so he's who I'm rooting for now. Goooo Danny.

*EDIT* Various people have pointed out that Ray Henson, a friend of mine, is also still in. I never knew Ray's last name and nobody told me he was alive until today. Goooooo Ray.

Main Event

2007-07-06T22:09:00.000-04:00

If you had told me two years ago that I would have been where I was one year ago (so pumped up, playing so big, etc.), I would not have believed you. If you had told me last year that I would be skipping the main event this year, I would not have believed you. I wonder what I'll be doing next year at this time.

Good luck to everyone playing. I thought I would at least have a twinge of wanting to be out there when this thing started without me, but not so much. Playing no limit hold em for days in that room with those people in that atmosphere is very low on my list of things to do, eV and 12 million and all that be damned.

2-7 Day 2

2007-07-01T14:37:00.000-04:00

I ran my 12k up to 35k by making three seven lows in the first five hands of the day. From there, I lost every hand that I played and busted in short order. I had not experienced the "the day you bust out of the main event is the worst day of the year" feeling, but I had it after yesterday. Luckily I ran into my boy Brandon Schaefer a few minutes after I busted and we got Mexican food and he cheered me up.

I'm heading home tomorrow and don't know when my next poker will be, other than the one game in New York I've been playing.

Congrats and good luck to:

- Joe Pelton at the 2k NL final table today
- Eugene, Rafi, Lenny, and Anthony at the 2-7 final table (are we surprised that I know everyone at this particular final table? no)
- Tom Schneider for bracelet #2 this year

WSOP 2-7

2007-06-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

I made the second day of the 2-7 tournament with a below average stack of 12,200. We will be playing 600-1200 when we start up today. While my friends all had people at their tables who didn't know whether an ace was high or low, my table draw was absolutely brutal for this tournament. It looked like:

1 - John Juanda
2 - Hoyt Corkins
3 - Chris Gentile
4 - Mel Judah
5 - Me
6 - Joe Cassidy

Before 2-7 was being played in every mixed game, Juanda was the best in the world at triple draw. As he said when he drew out on me early in the day, "Don't you know this is my best game?" Hoyt is from Alabama and they play a loooot of lowball in the south. Chris Gentile, aka superfish is in my opinion one of the best mixed game players around and was probably the biggest winner in the big triple draw game we used to play on UB. If there is one guy I didn't want to see at my table for this event, it was definitely Chris. Mel hadn't played a lot of triple draw, he admitted, but has been around poker for a long time and played well. And of course Joe Cassidy is a superstar at any game you put him in.

I rebought immediately and had to rebuy three more times in addition to the double add-on, so I'm in for $7k and have to come in the top 12 to win money. We got 209 runners, which was more than I expected, and first place pays $227k.

With about 20 minutes left in the day I got moved to a table with Greg Raymer, Rafi Amit, John Murphy, and Chris Bjorn. I mean come on. Can I get a guy who doesn't know what he's doing, one time? Chris busted right before the end of the night, so we have two open seats which will probably be filled by some other good lowball players. I sort of hope the table breaks because Rafi and Greg are very strong at this game and have more chips than I do.

These limit tournaments are sort of a crapshoot when the blinds get so big, so I hope I make some hands early on. You should be able to check in on me at pokernews.com if you so desire. Cards get in the air at 4 PM Vegas time.

Bank

2007-06-27T14:09:00.000-04:00

I just went to the bank to get money for my trip to Vegas later today. So I filled out the slip, went to the teller, went through the usual steps for a large cash withdrawal (photo ID, etc.), and then something weird happened. The teller got the money out and then said "My manager wants to know what you're going to do with the cash." Aaaahahaha. Obviously I said something like, "That's sort of a strange question" or "That's none of the bank's business" or "Tell your manager to go fuck himself," and the guy gave me the money and I left. I sort of felt bad for the teller because he looked sort of nervous asking a customer a question like that and agreed with me when I said it was strange. What I want to know though is what happens if I say the money is for hookers and blow or something? Are they going to refuse to give it to me?

Anyway I'm off to Vegas tonight and the triple draw tournament is Friday. This is like the main event for me so I'm pretty excited.

Main Event

2007-06-25T23:17:00.001-04:00

I'm thinking about selling pieces of myself in the WSOP Main Event. If you're interested, email me.

Chinese Hands

2007-06-16T00:33:00.000-04:00

It turns out that if you're on a wacky reverse schedule at the WSOP, a good way to see all your friends who play the daytime tournaments is to quit your Chinese Poker game at noon when they're all walking down the hall to their tournament. I must have bumped into 5 people I hadn't otherwise seen between the cage and the taxi stand. Viva la Chinese Poker til noon.

I ran great at the end of my Chinese session after booking a win in a badugi game earlier in the night. I had these two hands, neither of which I had seen before:

2779999JJJKAA
222888TTTJKKK

Unfortunately we were playing low in the middle so there weren't any royalties or scoops involved in these. Heading back for more right now...

8:30 AM Pre-sleep Post-game Thought

2007-06-13T11:25:00.000-04:00

Triple draw is like a carnival game. Step right up and try to accomplish some wacky goal. You get three tries! This is what I think about while I'm playing.

I made a sick play in badugi that worked today. If I forget to write about it, remind me.

And Then...

2007-06-12T09:50:00.000-04:00

And then sometimes you go to sleep, wake up, play a round of golf, go back to the casino, and the game is still going from the night before. You know it's still going because two of the guys who were there 16 hours ago when you quit are still in the same seats. And of course you play and of course you win every hand and run like god and win back everything you lost the night before and more, as if you really did know how to play this game all along. It's really hard to explain, this poker. But I'll tell you one thing, it's true what I said in that post a few weeks ago: I don't feel as good now as I felt bad last night at this time.

Gifafi '07

2007-06-11T09:34:00.001-04:00

I hope that some day I will stop playing in games that are only okay because I am stuck. And that I won't play until 6 am every day when I travel. And that I'll stop three-betting three card eights in triple draw. And that I'll quit games when I know I should and not just tell myself I should quit but keep playing. And that I'll listen to my smart friends who have my best interest in mind when they tell me to quit games. But I don't do any of these things yet. I am not a very disciplined player lately. But I'm still a young guy, so I can hope to do these things in the future.

Oh, and I hope some day I will stop drinking the hot chocolate when it's too hot and burning my tongue.

On the bright side I played great on the back side on the golf course today.

HORSE Report

2007-06-10T17:53:00.000-04:00

I played the HORSE tournament for five or six hours yesterday. I won a hand in the first Omaha round. I had (A3)6K and the board came K62K4. I stole the antes once in the razz round and then bluffed Mike Mizrachi out of a pot in razz on 6th street. Other than that I can't think of any hands I won. I'm sure there were some small ones but it wasn't pretty. I don't think I played very well, but I really held no cards all day. I'm off to play golf now. Hope everyone is doing well.

WSOP

2007-06-09T16:24:00.000-04:00

I'm in Vegas. Today is the $2500 HORSE tournament and I'm playing. I've played some cash games since I got here. Trying to enjoy playing poker. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. JetBlue left my golf clubs in New York, but they're here now so I'm definitely going to play some golf in the coming days. Golf > poker. This post sucks, sorry. Maybe I'll post some hands from HORSE tonight.

Why I Hate Poker

2007-05-27T20:03:00.000-04:00

I hate poker.

I say so a lot. If you've ever spent time around me at the poker table, especially in the last year, you've heard me say it. Sometimes when I say so, people respond with something like, "Fuck you Fargis. You make a living playing cards. You haven't had a real job in four years. You travel around the world, you wake up whenever you want to, you don't report to anyone, who are you to say you hate poker?"

I should clarify. I would rather play poker for a living than do almost anything else for work. There are a lot of great things about it. I don't mean to underestimate how good poker is as a job. But I hate it. It makes me miserable.

I'm reading an awesome book called "Fooled by Randomness" which has given me some insight into my hatred of poker. The book is basically about how a lot of successful people, especially within the markets (but with broad, general applications), are lucky idiots. The book has a ton of relevance to the poker world and is a great read if you're into markets/investing, math, probability, logic, philosophy, or identifying which successful people are lucky idiots.

Anyway there's a section in this book (at the end of Chapter 3) that's about how people react to positive and negative events in their lives. The main idea of the piece is that negative "pangs," as the author Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls them, are felt more strongly by people than positive ones. An estimate in the text states that negative events are thought to be as high as 2.5 times stronger than positive ones. Taleb says that traders who examine their positions too frequently burn out because of the emotional defecit brought on by the imbalance in the way we feel positive and negative events. Even an excellent trader has less than a 50.2% chance of success in any given minute. The rate only increases to 54% if results are examined daily, but goes all the way to 93% if we look yearly.

Okay, how does any of this translate to poker, before I go on too long about the book (but seriously, read it, it's great)? Professional poker players are forced to look at their results very often. Your results are the number on your screen next to your username, the figure that comes up when you click on the cashier button, the digits at the bottom of your spreadsheet in boldface, or the number of chips in your stack. If you've found a way to detach poker from these numbers, you'll have to let me know about it. Frankly I don't think it can be done.

A winning poker player will have more winning sessions than losing ones in the long run. But as Taleb describes, our brain does not feel the impact of a win and a loss with the same force. Losses make us feel bad with more strength than wins make us feel good. If you play a lot of poker, just like if you trade stocks and monitor your positions every second, you will build up a negative emotional deficit. And there's nothing you can do about it.

This is why I hate poker. It makes me feel shitty, even though I am a successful, winning player, able to make a living at the game. I have noticed this fact in the past, and have probably even written about it here, but I haven't had a scientific basis for it until I read this book.

As an aside, I realize that some other things I do a lot of in my life, like playing fantasy sports, following real sports, playing sports (especially golf), trying to lose weight (and weighing myself every day), etc. are similar to trading and poker in the positive/negative "pang" department. Man, the stuff in this book really does apply globally.

I don't really know what the solution to all of this is. It's easy to say "don't focus so much on your day-to-day results," but I don't know how to do that. The way my mind works, I like to be on top of things like this, especially when they deal with numbers. Maybe I have to try to train my brain to work differently. It also has something to do with boredom. When I don't have anything in particular to do, I'm always checking my fantasy teams, checking sports scores, seeing how I'm doing at poker lately, etc. A lot of cliches seem strangely appropriate here. Stop and smell the roses. Carpe Diem. Get a life. Well, I'm working on it.

I'll be in Vegas from June 7th until whenever I can't take the emotional deficit that poker produces anymore. I hope to play more golf than poker but I'll play the $2500 HORSE event for sure.

EDIT:

See also: Post from Nat

Smaz points out the obligatory Rounders quote: "In "Confessions of a Winning Poker Player," Jack King said, "Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career." It seems true to me, cause walking in here, I can hardly remember how I built my bankroll, but I can't stop thinking about the way I lost it."

Poker's Not Good Anymore?

2007-05-13T19:29:00.000-04:00

Some people will tell you that poker, specifically online poker, isn't good anymore. I offer the following as a rebuttal:

Me: 2h 9c 5d 4c 9h

First Round:
Button raises to $60. Me calls. BB calls.

Me takes 2 cards. BB takes 2 cards. Button takes 2 cards.

Me: 2h 5d 4c 4d 7h

Second Round:

Me bets $30. BB raises to $60.
Button calls. Me re-raises to $90.
BB folds. Button folds.

Anyway I'm back to playing when I feel like it. I'm playing well and running good. It's nice.

I'm thinking about my World Series plans. I'm definitely going to for the triple draw event and the main event at the end. I'll probably make another trip in the middle somewhere. I don't know where I'm going to stay so if you rented some obscene mansion somewhere and have a spare coat closet for me to sleep in, let me know. But you know, only if you know me in real life. Otherwise that's sort of weird.

Now I'm off to do one of the many things I enjoy more than poker, hit some golf balls.

Back In The Saddle

2007-05-07T03:17:00.000-04:00

Well, I took some time off and now I'm back playing almost every day. I've been playing smaller, playing shorter sessions, and trying to only play when I feel like it. I'm mixing up games so I don't get bored. I even found a live game that I think is going to go once a week. I have some other things going on in my life now, which wasn't really the case a few months ago. Poker's not the only thing I do anymore, so that's good. I'll try to post here every once in a while, but I don't expect to feel like saying a great deal about poker. When it comes down to it, however I'm feeling about the game at any given time, it's a pretty good way to make a living.

Shocking

2007-04-10T13:32:00.000-04:00

I played triple draw last night for about 20 minutes and won 21 bets. I didn't "have the itch" to play or anything. I just had a little time to kill and wanted to see what it felt like to play again. I predict that I will play short sessions like this when I feel like it and the games look good. Whatever you want to say about poker these days, medium stakes games are still a good money making opportunity.

Update

2007-03-22T05:03:00.000-04:00

Some people have asked me to write an update on my poker life, so here it is:

I haven't played a hand of poker in over a month and I feel great!

I was just IMing with a friend and he said, "...it beats drawing at 2-3-4-8 i'm sure." That this was a poker reference did not register with me for 30 seconds or so. I thought he was talking about the lottery or something. This is how far removed from poker I am right now.

Content!

2007-02-21T03:48:00.000-05:00

No, that's not "content" as in the positive feeling. That's "content" as in "I'm writing something in this space." I've been playing 30/60 HORSE on Stars this week. Here's an O8 hand I played tonight. It was pretty fun:

Dealt to SaveMySkin [6s 3c Qh Ah]
Villain: raises $30 to $60
SaveMySkin: raises $30 to $90
Villain: raises $30 to $120
Betting is capped
SaveMySkin: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [7c 6d 2h]
SaveMySkin: checks
Villain: bets $30
SaveMySkin: raises $30 to $60
Villain: raises $30 to $90
SaveMySkin: raises $30 to $120
Betting is capped
Villain: calls $30
*** TURN *** [7c 6d 2h] [3d]
SaveMySkin: checks
Villain: bets $60
SaveMySkin: calls $60
*** RIVER *** [7c 6d 2h 3d] [2s]
SaveMySkin: checks
Villain: bets $60
SaveMySkin: calls $60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Villain: shows [2c 4d Ac 8h] (HI: three of a kind, Deuces; LO: 6,4,3,2,A)

Go nuts on the flop with your 3% chance to scoop and your 28% equity, buddy.

Tonight was one of those nights where I could not win a chip no matter what I did. These are the nights that drove me away from poker. I could not, and still cannot, figure out how to deal with them.

Tournament Thoughts

2007-01-31T00:12:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about the Borgata tournament today. I can't get over some of the plays that some of the people who have success in these things make. Here are some examples from the grumpy guy who can never do anything in these blasted tournaments:

- Joe Simmons came third in the Borgata tournament. Joe is a great guy and an acquaintance of mine. I was rooting for him to win. He plays a lot of poker and thinks about the game. But here is a hand he really screwed up against me on day two. I opened two off the button with a red AKo, Victor Ramdin called on the button, and Joe thought for a long time in the BB before calling. I'm going to spoil it for you, he had QQ. The flop came 875 with two clubs and everyone checked. The turn was the Kh, Joe checked, I bet about half the pot, Victor folded, and Joe called. The river was the Qc and Joe made a pot-sized bet. I thought for a long time and ended up folding, and Joe showed the queens. In my opinion he played the hand clearly wrong on all four streets. But hey, what do I know.

- David Matthew came second in the Bellagio 25k that Joe Bartholdi won. He often amasses large chip stacks in these big tournaments. He came tenth in the Borgata tournament and was the chipleader soon before he was knocked out. I played with him for a lot of day one. He is a nice guy. He has an infectious smile. I like his personality. He is also a lunatic at the poker table. Here is a hand I saw him play in this last tournament. Someone in EP limped, David limped behind with 66, now a tight, good player raised in LP, everyone else folded, and David called. They were both quite deep. The flop was 975 with two clubs, David lead, the guy raised him, and David called. The turn was an offsuit big card, I think a queen or king. David check-called a big bet, maybe 3/4 pot. At this point it was clear to me that the tight player had a set, aces, or had hit the turn card. The river was the 2c, completing the flush, and now David overbet the pot and jammed. I was pretty sure he was bluffing at the time. Anyway the guy thought for a really long time. I think he had a set. And of course he mucked. Maybe that was the plan all along. But what's the thought process here? He knows he can't have the best hand when he calls the turn. There are a few cards that make his hand and a few cards that make the flush that he can bluff at, but what's he going to do if one of those cards doesn't roll off? Just check/fold? It doesn't make sense to me. Check-calling a big bet on the turn to set up a kamikaze bluff on the river is not in my arsenal. Maybe it should be.

- Also at my day one table was Brad Booth. I like Brad a lot. He is a funny, witty guy and a great poker player. Here is a play he made that I do not understand. It was a limped pot in one of the early levels, call it the 150-300 level. The flop came three small suited cards. Everyone checked to David Singer on the button and he bet 1500, which was about 2/3 of the pot. Then Brad moved in for 22k. David called with the KQ flush and Brad had the naked A. Of course Brad won the hand and I busted David a few hands later. I just don't see the value in this play. You will never get called by a weaker hand. Obviously it is a semi-bluff. But I think most flushes will call you here. The play screams out that he has exactly the hand he does. Would he ever move 22k into a 2500 pot with the nuts? I don't think so. It just seems like some of the time you win a small pot and some of the time you have 30% equity in an enormous one.

I wrote down some hands that I played and maybe I'll get to those at a later date. My favorite was raising limpers with 73o and then jamming when one of them called and lead into me on the A96 flop. That's a play I'm glad to have added to my weaponry.

Borgata: Out

2007-01-28T05:34:00.000-05:00

I had a very tough table for day two of the main event and never made any hands. I busted a few hours into the day. I took a break and then played a long session of 150-300 Omaha hi/lo with a kill to 2-4. It was a wild game with a ton of action. I think I played well. Unfortunately I lost every pot. Tonight I just ran really bad. What can you do? Truly time to quit poker.

Borgata Main Event Day One

2007-01-27T01:55:00.000-05:00

I finished the day with 47,400. This should be a little under an average stack. I think about 300 of the 550 entrants are coming back tomorrow and we started with 30k. There's a redraw tonight so I don't know who will be at my table. I had it up to 82k in the last level and then lost two large pots. Overall I think I played well today. The structure is fantastic. My boys Joe Pelton and Feming Chan have huge stacks. This is not surprising. I think Feming is going to win one of these things soon. Maybe this one.

I played some interesting hands today but I have to go to sleep now so I'll save them for another post.

Borgata Report

2007-01-26T00:56:00.000-05:00

I'm down here at the Borgata. I got in last night and played a little 200-400 HOSE. Today I played two supers and didn't do anything notable. Here is my favorite hand from today:

- 400-800-100 blinds, everyone folds to the button who jams for 4500, SB folds, BB has about 9000 total after posting the blind and calls the 3700 instantly. His hand? Q6o. He is against the 97o and wins the race. Are you supposed to call with Q6o there if you know your opponent will jam with any two?

I also had a favorite comment of the day. Sometimes people say the darnedest things in the context of super satellites. I busted a guy after cold-calling a raise from another player and then calling this guy's reraise jam after the initial raiser folded. I had QTs and beat 77. This guy was incredulous that I could call with my hand, though I was getting better than 2-1. After I won the hand, he said, "How could you call with that hand?! How do you expect to win the tournament playing like that?" I didn't know how to gently tell him that winning the tournament is not the goal of a super satellite, so I decided to say nothing.

Tomorrow is the main event so I'm going to get some sleep.

Non-Poker Update

2007-01-22T00:14:00.000-05:00

First of all thanks to everyone who commented on the last post. My plan right now is to try to get a job with this finance company with which I have some connections. Some specific replies from last post's comments:

- For everyone who suggested investing or trading, I'm going that route!
- My degree is in philosophy.
- I have played some NLH in the past six months. I find myself losing a lot of money with one pair. I'm sure I could learn to beat the game pretty quickly but it didn't seem like much fun to me. I liked PLO more.
- Pauly, I love your bar idea, especially if we call it Triple Draw, but I am not a bar guy. I don't drink and I don't like drunk people.
- I could certainly invest in a restaurant/bar/franchise but I am not excited by this idea and it's very time intensive, which is not something I'm looking for.
- A few people suggested I move down in limits, switch games, take an extended break, or otherwise stay in poker. I hate poker right now. I don't want to play at all. I have not been running bad over my bad streak, I have been playing bad. If I had to, I could turn it around and make a living playing poker. But I have no desire to do so right now. Poker will always be here for me to come back to if I change my mind.

No Poker Content

2007-01-11T16:17:00.000-05:00

I usually don't make posts like this, but if Paul Phillips can decide on a new home for his family with help from his blog readers, this kind of groupthink is good enough for me. I would really like to hear what everyone has to say about this...

I'm seriously considering playing much less poker going forward. My results have been terrible for about six months now and poker is not fun at all for me right now. So, what the hell should I do with myself? I have enough money that I don't need to find an income right away, though I will have to find one at some point. I would love to start or invest in a business but I don't have a creative idea for one and opening a dry cleaner or a deli doesn't interest me.

Many people have suggested that I go back to school but I'm wary. Everyone I know who has gone back to school hates it. I'm lazy, never worked very hard in school, and grad school requires more and harder work than the school I'm used to. Grad school is expensive. I also feel like a lot of my peers have gone back to school simply because they don't know what to do with themselves. This does not seem a good reason to me. If I ever go back, it will be with a specific post-school career in mind, and I don't have one of those right now.

So what's out there for a smart 27 year-old with a college degree and not much work experience? I like numbers and games and competition and problem solving (...and puppies and rainbows, when did this turn into a personal ad?).

Or maybe I'll start playing PLO or NLH and realize I can beat those games....

Catafo

2007-01-04T01:23:00.000-05:00

Last night I played a heads up triple draw session against a guy who is possibly the worst player in the world. He is not new to me; we have played a lot. On one hand, we both drew one on the last draw, he checked, I bet, and he called me with 76543. I saw him draw to 6543 three times, including once in which I was pat from the beginning of the hand. And this guy destroyed me. Cleaned me out.

At various times over the last six months, I have thought to myself, "Well, this is the bottom. It can't get worse than this." Please note that I am only talking about poker here. As a friend said to me today, I have my health, all my limbs are intact, etc. But I'm at a loss about poker. I just don't know what to do. Anyone have any great business ideas? I'm about ready to quit.

Happy Holidays

2006-12-29T02:49:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you and yours are happy and healthy.

I think I've given up on razz, at least for a while. I ran well when I started playing but I don't think I'm really any good. I make undisciplned calls on early streets when the pot is small and I know I have the worst hand. I open too loose and don't fold when I get reraised. All of this means that I end up in a lot of hands where I'm drawing dead or slim and a lot of hands where I have the best hand but am only a 60/40 or so favorite. This is not good.

I also don't fully understand some principles about the game. I played this one hand where we were four handed on fourth street. I had four to a 98, David Grey had four to a 7, and two guys who started with three low cards had caught paint. I jammed the pot because I thought the presence of the two guys who caught bad made me less than a 3-1 dog. After David made a 7 on fifth street and I paid him with a 9, he made a comment in the chat about how bad the play in the game was. I made some retort and he said, "I probably should't tell you this, but you had the worst hand of the four of us." I ran the numbers and he was right. Boy did I feel like an idiot. So no more razz for now.

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So I've been playing triple draw again. What a rollercoaster this game is. I've written about it before, but my lord. One hour you're the king of the world and you win every hand and the next thing you know you can only make pairs and you've lost multiple buy-ins in the blink of an eye. This game will drive me insane.

Derb

2006-12-19T23:42:00.000-05:00

I am retiring gifafi as my favorite word that no one understands. There is a new title-holder, and that is "derb." Derb, like gifafi, is an acronym. It stands for "don't ever run bad." So whenever someone gets lucky or sucks out and you want to give them some gentle ribbing, use derb.

For example, today I saw a razz hand. On the end, one guy had a wheel and the other guy had a #2. The guy with the wheel checked and called on the river. So you could say to the guy with the #2, "derb."

No, that really happened. The guy made a wheel and he checked and called. In a 200-400 game. No joke.

My trip to Vegas was good. Played some golf, saw some people, played some poker, came back with more money than I arrived with. I've been doing well online since I got back.

And that's all for now.

Oh, also, congrats go out to my boy Justin Bonomo who came 7th in the 15k yesterday. He also made like every final table in the preliminary events. This guy is going to tear up the tournament scene now that he's 21. You watch.

UB Tourney Recap

2006-12-12T01:31:00.000-05:00

I ended up 30th in the UB Million Guaranteed and took $5400. A good result but disappointing considering the chips I had. Most of the tournament was not very exciting. I got some chips early and then raised a lot of hands for the next five hours and almost never got called or reraised. If you are taking notes out there, this is a very good way to be successful in a poker tournament. There were really only three interesting hands that I can think of:

- Pretty early on, maybe second or third level of the tournament, I open with QTs in MP and get 3 or 4 callers. Flop J98 rainbow, nothing serious. I get all-in on the flop against AJ and 98 and triple up.

- Maybe two hours in. I have been raising a lot of pots. It folds to me in the SB, I open with AA, BB jams with KK, I win. Other than one time when I ran KQ through AJ and one time when I opened with A9s and had to fold to a jam, this is the only time I can think of that someone played back at me preflop.

- Then with 30 people left this hand happened. Blinds, 2500-5000 with some smallish ante. Bet and stack sizes are approximate but close to correct. I have 160k, which is around 5th in chips out of 30. I open for 13k UTG with QQ, only the BB calls. BB has 130k or so to start the hand. Flop AxAd8d, he checks, I bet 18k, he makes it 38k. I really think the flop is where the interesting decision on this hand happens. A number of good players I have talked to say they will check behind on the flop here and in hindsight I like that line a lot. I have also talked to good players who make a continuation bet here 100% of the time and I see the value in that line as well. In any case I decide to call the raise. Turn Tx, check check. River A, he jams for 80k or so. I can't find a fold here with the third nuts having checked behind on the turn, I call, he has ATo, I go broke soon after. I don't mind the way I played this at all. The river is sort of unfortunate and I think checking behind on the flop may be better, but I didn't make any major errors.

Phil Hellmuth and some dude I don't know did live audio commentary at the end of the tournament. The dude I don't know made some crack about my screenname and then Phil said, "I think I recognize that David_Hume name from somewhere." Phil, you may remember me as the guy you beat every time when we play triple draw. You luckbox.

I had a lot of possibilites to win fantasy football bets this week. I only won one of them and it was small compared to the ones I lost. Man, fantasy football was not good to my wallet this year. I am looking forward to my revenge on these clowns when baseball season comes around.

I'm off to Vegas tomorrow to play some cash games and some golf this week. Congrats to Joe Tehan who came second in today's Bellagio 5k. The guy wins every tournament he plays. It's so sick.

Deep in UB Tourney

2006-12-10T20:23:00.000-05:00

Well, this has never gone well in the past but I don't believe in jinxes or anything of the sort. I'm deep in the UB Million Guaranteed. I'm second in chips with 90 players left. Come sweat me under the name David_Hume.

Pokernews Article Number 2

2006-12-06T02:13:00.000-05:00

My second collaboration with pokernews.com is here.

Other than that I am back to losing every day that I play.

Pokernews Article

2006-11-29T16:04:00.000-05:00

I recently worked on an article for pokernews.com which you can read here.

Since my last post I've been playing more razz and picking what I think are good spots in the triple draw games. I took some shots at big razz games this week and lost. Obv. I have to work my way back into triple draw slowly after getting absolutely obliterated for so long the last time I played. Here's an interesting hand from one of those sessions last week:

- Three-handed, I open on the button with 23xxx, both blinds call. SB draws 2, BB draws 3, I draw 3. I catch 86x, SB bets, BB raises, I three-bet, SB caps, we call. Both blinds stay pat, I draw one. I catch a 5 for 86532 (#7). SB checks, BB bets, I call, now SB raises, BB calls. This is a tough spot for me, I think. I decide to fold. They both stay pat and it goes check-check on the end. SB has 87432 and BB wins with 86543. I think the SB played his hand quite strangely. There's no way he's going to get the BB to break a better hand than 87432 but he may get him to break a worse hand! There are a lot of times when I am in third place the way the action went and few times that I have the best hand, I think.

Razz Concept

2006-11-19T01:51:00.000-05:00

I ran into a friend of mine who is a reader of this here blog today. He described himself as an "every other day reader." I remarked that it was too bad I wasn't an every other day poster anymore. On that note, a post!

Here's something I've been thinking about as I play razz this week. Let's say on fifth street you have (63)987 and your opponent has (xx)AK2. On third you brought it in, he raised, and you called. On fourth you bet and he called.

You know you have the best hand right now, but if your opponent has any unpaired cards under 8 in the hole, you're an underdog. Worse than that, you don't know which cards he has, so you won't know what pairs him if he catches a baby on sixth. It's possible that the deuce paired him, or that he didn't start with three low cards. This latter possibility is especially true if the game is shorthanded. I've been playing mostly three-handed and heads up, so people often start with a bad one in the hole. But it would be a bad play to call fourth street if you had started with a bad one and then a king and a 98 bet into you, so let's assume that possibility is small for this example. If the order of his cards was A2K, he would be much more likely to have a bad one in the hole. The order of an opponent's cards, not just what cards he has, is super important in razz.

So we're pretty sure this guy has four low cards although the deuce may have paired him. How do we proceed? Well, betting out is an option, but if this guy is smart he's going to raise if he has four to an 8 or better. If the deuce paired him and we bet, he will fold unless he is a truly terrible player. If he did pair on fifth, we have about 85% equity. How bad is giving a free card when we have 85% equity and the alternative is betting and getting raised as an underdog? Giving a free card can't be that bad, right? I think checking is the play here.

Another advantage of checking with a made 9 here is that you protect the times you've paired on fourth or fifth. You want to be able to check with a pair here and sometimes get a free card yourself (if the deuce paired him or he started with a bad one, for example).

So you check. And he probably bets. And you call. What now?

If he catches a bad one on sixth you should definitely bet. You are a favorite and there's only one to come. If he catches a good one, you're in a tough spot. Keep in mind that the pot is relatively small compared to the size of the bets on sixth and seventh street. On one hand, you don't want to put in two more big bets drawing stone wallace dead. On the other hand, maybe he paired on fifth or maybe he paired on sixth or maybe he started with a bad one or maybe he thinks you're playing stud high and he started rolled up. There are a lot of situations in which he catches a small card on sixth and you still have the best hand. The problem is that it's very hard to tell when you're drawing dead and when you're a favorite.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that if you have the best hand on sixth street and he has four babies, you're not even a 2-1 favorite. Even if he catches a small card that pairs him on sixth, you're not out of the woods yet! The worst part about this (at least for me) is that you never know whether you were drawing dead on sixth or whether you were a favorite and your opponent sucked out. This is, of course, because the online sites shuffle a player's hole cards in the hand histories.

I honestly don't know what the right answer to this one is. As with everything else in poker, it's bad to make a hard and fast rule and good to treat every situation independently. If you check fifth street, he bets, and then he catches a small card on sixth, folding might be best. But that's no fun! I hate folding.

Any thoughts are appreciated. I enjoy solving problems like these with you guys instead of just saying what I think the answers are.

Foxwoods Main Event

2006-11-13T00:28:00.000-05:00

The key hand that I played today went like this:

- 50-100, UTG limps, I limp with A3s, another player limps, a somewhat weak east coast player who I know makes it 450 on the button, the blinds fold and the limpers all call. Flop A73 with two spades, we check to the button, he bets 2k, UTG folds, I make it 5k, the other limper folds, the button calls. The turn is an offsuit T, I move him in for 13.5k, he calls with AK after some thought and after saying ridiculous things like, "HOW can I get away from THIS hand?" River K. nh.

I had JC Tran and Gene Todd at my table. Those guys are a riot. I played a semi-interesting hand with Gene:

- Gene limps for 50, I limp with 77, MP makes it 250, we both call. Flop 876 rainbow, we check to the raiser, he bets 300, Gene makes it 800. I think I have an interesting decision between raising and calling here but calling won out so I do that and the preflop raiser folds. Turn T, check check. River A, Gene checks, I bet 1500, he calls with 66.

I was down to 3k after the A3/AK hand but built it back up to 12k before whittling down to 5500 and then going broke with 99 vs KK on a 554 flop.

I was pretty sick of Foxwoods and came back to Brooklyn right after I busted in time to catch the end of the late football games and the Sunday night game. Kind of wish I had missed that one. Also Jacksonville, my pick in the two survivor leagues I was deep in, lost today, and the WCOFF team didn't do anything so we will move down in the standings this week. Overall, a shitty day.

Foxwoods Update

2006-11-11T03:14:00.000-05:00

We've been up at Foxwoods since Wednesday night. I played a super satellite Wednesday night and won a seat into the main event. Yesterday I played for 14 hours in the 3k event and finished 32nd out of 340 with 30 making the money. Today I slept in, went to see Borat with ActionBob, played the super and went deep but not deep enough, and then played a little 150-300 OE. Side games on the east coast are so boring without triple draw and badugi.

JC Tran won the 3k event. I played with him for a while and he's really, really good. He's also on fire, having finished in the top four in three out of the four prelim events he played at Bellagio recently, and of course having won the Stars WCOOP main event. Go JC.

The main event is Sunday. Not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. I may play another super if I feel like it. I may play cash games if there's anything interesting going on. Unfortunately there isn't anything else to do here in lovely CT. Hopefully I can have a relaxing day and be ready for Sunday. I started to take these 10ks for granted during the middle of this year and I've really played poorly in some of them. Hopefully we'll have none of that on Sunday. I'm pissed that I have to miss the football though, specifically the big Giants-Bears game.

There were some interesting hands from the tournaments I've played that I want to retell. Let's see how many of them I can remember. First, a razz hand that I just played against a 'red' pro on Full Tilt:

- 200-400, a king brings it in, the other upcards are K and Q and my opponent and I both have a 4 in the door. My opponent opens, I reraise with (A5)4, everyone else folds, and he calls. On 4th he catches a J and bets, I catch a K and raise, he calls. At this point, I really don't give him much of a hand. If he had three to a 7 or 8, I think he would reraise here. On 5th I pair 4s and he catches a 6. Normally in razz if you have a 3 card hand and your opponent has what appears to be a 4 card hand on 5th street, you should fold. But he didn't reraise on 4th street so he may very well have a bad one in the hole, in which case I'm not that far behind. Also, the pot is relatively large, with a raise on the first two streets. So I call his bet. On 6th I catch a 9 for (A5)4K49 and he pairs sixes for (xx)4J66. I'm low and I check-call his bet. I'm pretty sure I have the best draw, but he has the best hand for now and there's only one card to come. On the end I catch an 8 and make a 98 low. I decide to bet out. The pot is large so he will pay me off if he has any reasonable hand. It's also possible that he was drawing at a T or J and can't beat my hand. After I bet the river, he raises. Well, I'm probably beat but there's no way I'm folding for one more bet. I call and he shows (KJ7) in the hole for a K low. His river raise was a bluff, for those not familiar with the game.

I assume he started with (J7)4, though (K7)4 is not a much worse starting hand. It is correct to open with either hand given the upcards, in my opinion. It is probably correct to call the reraise on 3rd street, though I'm not sure about this one. Sklansky says you should fold if you're reraised on 3rd when you were stealing. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to check-fold on 4th if he believes I have three babies. His hand is more than a 2-1 dog. He's getting a big price to take another one off but there are implied odds considerations. Once he makes it to 5th, he's sort of stuck in there until the end because my hand is so bad. On 6th his equity is about 30% so there's no way he should be betting but it would be well worth a call if I bet. And, you know, I guess the river bluff raise is fine as long as he's only doing it once in a while (this is the first time I've seen him do it). If I had paired and had a K, I couldn't call a raise, but I don't think I bluff much here when I pair and can't win.

Wow I didn't mean for that to be such a lengthy analysis. I like razz.

- Here's the hand where I lost all of my chips in the 3k. 1500-3000 blinds, I have 90k and have just won a huge pot. Allen Cunningham is in the SB with 72k. It folds to me on the button and I make it 10k with JJ, Allen moves in with AJs, the BB thinks for a while and folds what he says was an ace, I call, and Allen flops an ace and wins. I can't really be mad about this hand because I'm supposed to open and Allen's supposed to move in. Also Allen is a great guy and I like him a lot. But I wish I had won.

- Then a little later I went broke when a tight player moved in UTG for 9 or 10 blinds and I called with 88 in MP with 6 or 7 blinds in my stack. It's a borderline decision, I think, because the guy was tight. With 10 blinds I would fold, and with 5 or less I think it's an automatic call. He had JJ and won.

- JC played a funny hand against a tight old guy blind vs. blind. The blinds were 600-1200, it folded to the old guy in the SB and he opened for 4k. JC made it 15k and the old guy called. The dealer put out the K96 flop, the guy looked back at his hand, and JC said, "Wait, you just put in 15k and you don't know what you have?" The guy replied, "It's so good I wanted to see it again," and bet 10k with 42k behind. JC had him covered and moved all-in fairly quickly. The guy called instantly with the K6o with which he had called off a little less than a quarter of his chips preflop out of position against JC Tran (although to be fair, he may not have known JC Tran from KC and the Sunshine Band). At this point JC goes, "I'm gonna need some help here," and rolls over the old 52o. There's no miracle and the old guy wins a huge pot. I have to say, I don't have this play in my arsenal. JC is a great player, so maybe I should think about adding it.

- Later during the same blind level, JC plays a hand against a kid who I had never seen before but played great other than this hand. It's a limped pot, JC limps second and the kid limps third. The flop is 942 rainbow, the kid bets, and only JC calls. The turn is an 8, JC checks, the kid bets 8k, JC makes it 24k, and the kid moves in for 60k with J9. JC has a set of deuces and everyone is pretty stunned when the kid turns over his meager hand. I'm pretty sure the 52o hand from above was on this guy's mind when he went nuts with top pair no kicker into a huge show of strength from JC.

- There was a funny hand early on in which a huge pot developed on a Kx4h2h flop between 44, AK, and 5h3h. The guy with 44 got all-in on the flop, the turn and river were blanks, and on the end, AK made some absurdly small bet like 1500 into an 18k pot. The guy with 5h3h folds and says what he had, the guy shows his set of fours, and they ship him the main pot. A player who wasn't involved in the hand then says, "Man, I can't believe that third guy didn't call the river. The bet was so small!"

- There was another funny hand early in which UTG limped, a guy with QQ limped in the next seat, some more people limped, AK made raised in the cutoff, JJ reraised on the button, it folded back to the guy with queens who folded, and AK folded face up, at which point the jacks proudly showed. The guy with QQ got quite mad but had only himself to blame.

- Then a few hands later three guys got 8k each in at the 100-200 level with 44, 77, and AQo. I don't remember it being a button-blind-blind thing either.

That's it for tonight. Maybe I'll post some hands from the supers later but it's mostly just people being morons and not knowing super satellite strategy, which is sort of forgivable.

Exhale

2006-11-06T15:27:00.000-05:00

I've been playing razz exclusively for a week or so and have finally strung a few nice wins together. I've run hot but I also think I'm playing better than most of the regulars in the game. I haven't saved any hands but I'll try to remember to do that when I play this week.

ActionBob is giving Matt and me a ride up to Foxwoods on Wednesday. I honestly didn't know if I was going to make it to this event or not. I've been pretty beaten down by poker the last few months and haven't felt like playing at all. This last week has gotten me back in the mood so I'm making the trip. I'm going to play the 3k tournament on Thursday. The structure is excellent (10k chips, 1 hour levels, normal level jumps) and the field should be good - small enough for many amateurs to buy in or satellite in and early enough in the week that many top west coast players won't be there yet. I'm thinking I will skip the 5k on Friday as that field tends to be much tougher. The main event is up in the air. I probably shouldn't be buying into too many of these things after the hit my bankroll has taken, though as my now-famous friend Joe Pelton said to me last night, "If you want to play, you'll find a way." We'll see how I feel on Saturday. If I feel like playing, I'll find a way. If I feel like coming home and watching football, I'll do that. I'm probably about a 5-2 favorite to play.

The WCOFF team had another solid week. We're still in second place overall and are still undefeated in the highest scoring league. Our last two league matchups are against teams in the top half of the standings, so an undefeated season isn't a lock, but I think we're looking pretty good. We gained a little ground in the overall standings and distanced ourselves from the rest of the pack a little bit. The Monday night game may change things but there aren't any really high-profile fantasy players going tonight and I don't see anyone having a huge fantasy game. Other than the Seattle WRs, the other skill position players (Walter, Jordan, Moss, Wallace, Morris) are not likely to be found starting on the teams at the top of the overall standings this year. Hmm, I bet some people have the Seattle defense though. If they put up a couple TDs, someone might emerge from the pack.

Football Update

2006-10-31T04:58:00.000-05:00

Poker has been going a little better this week. I've been playing razz and triple draw and a little hold em. Today's highlight: someone folded a #2 (76432) face up against me heads up in a triple draw hand. I happened to have a wheel but I still think it's a pretty bad play. Similarly to the last triple draw hand I talked about (in which I folded a #4 heads up), I have played a lot with this guy and he knows my game well.

The WCOFF team had another good week. Larry Johnson went crazy, and Housh, Andre, and Heap all scored. McNabb and Chester had off weeks but both had tough matchups and LJ made up for it. Unfortunately we fell to second place overall. The team that's now in first has some of the same players we do (McNabb, Kevin Jones, A Johnson, Giants D). The rest of his starters: Tomlinson, Addai, Wayne, Bruce/Bryant, Crumpler, Longwell. It's a very strong team. We'll see what happens.

In another league I'm in, I had a big bet this week against a well known high stakes poker player. Going into the Monday night game he had a three point lead on me and he had Chester Taylor against my Ben Watson. Needless to say Chester choked and Watson shined. Very lucky to win that one.

WCOFF And Some Poker Too

2006-10-24T04:42:00.000-04:00

A while ago, some readers said they wouldn't mind some fantasy football content. So I'll put some in here after the poker update.

I had a nice win in the 100-200 razz game tonight. I like razz. It's subtle. You can mix up your play a lot. And people play quite poorly. I still can't win at triple draw though. I folded a #4 (76542) tonight. It wasn't even some wacky situation where it was 4 bets cold to me on the end or anything. My heads up opponent was a guy I have played with a lot. We capped it before the draw and both drew 1. We capped after the first draw and both stood pat. I bet into him and he raised me after the second draw, I called and we both stood pat, and I check-folded face up on the end. Folding face up is almost never right but I knew 100% my hand was no good and figured it was a good image play. My opponent told me he had a wheel and I believe him.

Hopefully I can get unstuck for October. It doesn't sound like much of a goal but the way I've been going it would be great to book a winning month.

*End Poker Content*

Every year I go to Vegas in September with a buddy of mine to participate in the WCOFF, the biggest fantasy football league in the world (that I'm aware of). You can read about how the competition is organized and the rules on the website. This year the WCOFF has 840 teams and after seven weeks our team is in first place. First prize is 200k, which we would split. I'm pretty excited about it. I think we have a great shot to win if we can avoid injuries. Our roster (We start 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 K, and 1 D every week):

QB McNabb, Kitna, B Johnson
RB L Johnson, K Jones, C Taylor, M Moore
WR Houshmandzadeh, A Johnson, Williamson, E Parker, S Parker, Wilford
TE Heap, Baker
K Wilkins
DEF Denver, Giants, Chiefs

Our 3rd WR slot is a little weak as Williamson has not been performing the past few weeks but everything else is rock solid. McNabb, LJ, Jones, Taylor, Housh, Andre, Heap, and Wilkins have all put up huge numbers. In addition I'm pretty sure I have a great matchup with at least one of my defenses every week.

Kevin Jones is on bye this week so we actually have to start 4 WRs (or Moore). If we don't pick up any free agents this week I'll probably slide Eric Parker into the lineup but I'll be scouring the waiver wire for someone with a good matchup to put in there instead.

This is one of 8 football leagues I'm in this year. I'm doing much worse in most of the others but maybe I'll tell you about them anyway another time. If this is interesting to you, leave a comment. Suffice it to say that while I stand to lose money in the other leagues, winning the WCOFF would certainly make up for it.

Limit Hold Em

2006-10-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

I've been playing some limit hold em lately. Just trying to get on track and remember what it's like to string a few wins together. Here are some hands from a heads up session two nights ago:

Dealt to savemyskin [Qs Qc]
savemyskin raises to $100
MoonRays raises to $150
savemyskin calls $50
*** FLOP *** [Qd Jd 2c]
MoonRays bets $50
savemyskin calls $50
*** TURN *** [Qd Jd 2c] [As]
MoonRays checks
savemyskin bets $100
MoonRays raises to $200
savemyskin raises to $300
MoonRays calls $100
*** RIVER *** [Qd Jd 2c As] [Td]
MoonRays bets $100
savemyskin calls $100
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MoonRays shows [Kc 3h] (a straight, Ace high)

Dealt to savemyskin [6s 7s]
savemyskin raises to $100
MoonRays raises to $150
savemyskin calls $50
*** FLOP *** [Kd As 2s]
MoonRays bets $50
savemyskin calls $50
*** TURN *** [Kd As 2s] [Jh]
MoonRays bets $100
savemyskin raises to $200
MoonRays calls $100
*** RIVER *** [Kd As 2s Jh] [5c]
MoonRays checks
savemyskin checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
savemyskin shows [6s 7s] (Ace King high)
MoonRays shows [3h 4d] (a straight, Five high)

Fuck that, I'm going back to triple draw.

I really do apologize for the lack of posts but I've hardly been playing at all. I just don't feel like doing anything poker-related lately.

WCOOP

2006-10-05T03:14:00.000-04:00

Man, sorry guys. I just don't feel like blogging when I'm losing. And boy am I losing, still. It feels like I lose every day no matter what game I play and looking at the results, that analysis is not far off. This run combined with the legislation stuff has really got me down.

Anyway here are some hands from some WCOOP events I played:

STUD HI-LO

I cashed in this one and had a lot of chips deep into it but then fizzled out when the blinds got high and I lost some hands.

- Seat 1: yoda777 (3798 in chips)
Seat 2: TSAI168 (4557 in chips)
Seat 3: catluver (3536 in chips)
Seat 4: Striker 10 (1589 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: tmoneydog78 (1991 in chips)
Seat 6: SaveMySkin (1874 in chips)
Seat 7: RatPack (1466 in chips)
Seat 8: kj3232 (2417 in chips)
yoda777: posts the ante 16
TSAI168: posts the ante 16
catluver: posts the ante 16
Striker 10: posts the ante 16
tmoneydog78: posts the ante 16
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 16
RatPack: posts the ante 16
kj3232: posts the ante 16
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to yoda777 [Qd]
Dealt to TSAI168 [4d]
Dealt to catluver [4c]
Dealt to Striker 10 [Td]
Dealt to tmoneydog78 [9d]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad 8h 6s]
Dealt to RatPack [Qs]
Dealt to kj3232 [2h]
Wayno [observer] said, "some pretty wonderful cards so far huh?"
kj3232: brings-in low 24
yoda777: folds
TSAI168: calls 24
catluver: folds
Striker 10: folds
tmoneydog78: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 56 to 80
kj3232 said, "ya u playing?"
RatPack: raises 80 to 160
kj3232: folds
TSAI168: raises 80 to 240
SaveMySkin: calls 160
kj3232 said, "or not until tonight"
RatPack: calls 80
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to TSAI168 [4d] [9h]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad 8h 6s] [Ah]
Dealt to RatPack [Qs] [Kd]
SaveMySkin: bets 80
RatPack: calls 80
Wayno [observer] said, "starting a $36 HORSE satellite in 10 minutes"
TSAI168: calls 80
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to TSAI168 [4d 9h] [Ks]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad 8h 6s Ah] [7s]
Dealt to RatPack [Qs Kd] [Jd]
SaveMySkin: bets 160
RatPack: raises 160 to 320
TSAI168: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 160 to 480
RatPack: raises 160 to 640
Betting is capped
SaveMySkin: calls 160
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad 8h 6s Ah 7s] [3c]
Dealt to RatPack [Qs Kd Jd] [3d]
SaveMySkin: bets 160
RatPack: raises 160 to 320
SaveMySkin: raises 160 to 480
RatPack: raises 10 to 490 and is all-in
Betting is capped
SaveMySkin: calls 10
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad 8h 6s Ah 7s 3c] [Ac]
kj3232 said, "hey wayno we got 3 SODs at the table here"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SaveMySkin: shows [Ad 8h 6s Ah 7s 3c Ac] (HI: three of a kind, Aces; LO: 8,7,6,3,A)
RatPack: shows [Jh Js Qs Kd Jd 3d 6d] (HI: three of a kind, Jacks)

There's just no reason for this guy to go nuts here. I either already have him beat or I have a low. There's no chance I'm going nuts without a made low or a better high than three jacks.

- Seat 1: Cap'nJackpot (13055 in chips)
Seat 2: jerrod (9477 in chips)
Seat 3: catluver (2945 in chips)
Seat 4: phinster (14128 in chips)
Seat 5: tmoneydog78 (11892 in chips)
Seat 6: SaveMySkin (5995 in chips)
Seat 7: foucault82 (6970 in chips)
Cap'nJackpot: posts the ante 60
jerrod: posts the ante 60
catluver: posts the ante 60
phinster: posts the ante 60
tmoneydog78: posts the ante 60
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 60
foucault82: posts the ante 60
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Cap'nJackpot [9c]
Dealt to jerrod [9d]
Dealt to catluver [Jd]
Dealt to phinster [6h]
Dealt to tmoneydog78 [4h]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [5h Qc 5s]
Dealt to foucault82 [8c]
tmoneydog78: brings-in low 90
SaveMySkin: raises 210 to 300
foucault82: raises 300 to 600
102976 is connected
Cap'nJackpot said, "dammit"
Cap'nJackpot: folds
jerrod: folds
catluver: folds
phinster: folds
tmoneydog78: folds
SaveMySkin: calls 300
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [5h Qc 5s] [5c]
Dealt to foucault82 [8c] [2d]
SaveMySkin: checks
foucault82: checks
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [5h Qc 5s 5c] [Qd]
Dealt to foucault82 [8c 2d] [6s]
SaveMySkin: bets 600
foucault82: raises 600 to 1200
SaveMySkin: raises 600 to 1800
foucault82: calls 600
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [5h Qc 5s 5c Qd] [Tc]
Dealt to foucault82 [8c 2d 6s] [3h]
SaveMySkin: bets 600
foucault82: raises 600 to 1200
SaveMySkin: calls 600
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [5h Qc 5s 5c Qd Tc] [8d]
SaveMySkin: bets 600
foucault82: raises 600 to 1200
SaveMySkin: calls 600
*** SHOW DOWN ***
foucault82: shows [3d 8h 8c 2d 6s 3h Jh] (HI: two pair, Eights and Threes)
SaveMySkin: shows [5h Qc 5s 5c Qd Tc 8d] (HI: a full house, Fives full of Queens)

If anyone can tell me what this guy is doing I would appreciate it.

- Seat 1: Riverloser (6088 in chips)
Seat 2: barryg1 (25613 in chips)
Seat 4: SaveMySkin (24998 in chips)
Seat 5: luetch1 (28691 in chips)
Seat 6: ILuvKittens (57454 in chips)
Seat 7: YouGotIt (11675 in chips)
Riverloser: posts the ante 300
barryg1: posts the ante 300
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 300
luetch1: posts the ante 300
ILuvKittens: posts the ante 300
YouGotIt: posts the ante 300
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Riverloser [5h]
Dealt to barryg1 [Qh]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ac 5d 3s]
Dealt to luetch1 [Qd]
Dealt to ILuvKittens [8h]
Dealt to YouGotIt [6c]
ROCKZILLA [observer] said, "gl barry"
SaveMySkin: brings-in low 450
luetch1: folds
barryg1 said, "thx"
ILuvKittens: raises 1050 to 1500
YouGotIt: raises 1500 to 3000
barnsey is connected
Riverloser: folds
barryg1: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 1500 to 4500
ILuvKittens: folds
YouGotIt: raises 1500 to 6000
Betting is capped
SaveMySkin: calls 1500
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ac 5d 3s] [4c]
Dealt to YouGotIt [6c] [8c]
YouGotIt: checks
SaveMySkin: bets 1500
YouGotIt: calls 1500
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ac 5d 3s 4c] [Jc]
Dealt to YouGotIt [6c 8c] [Th]
SaveMySkin: bets 3000
YouGotIt: calls 3000
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ac 5d 3s 4c Jc] [Jh]
Dealt to YouGotIt [6c 8c Th] [Kc]
SaveMySkin: bets 3000
YouGotIt: calls 875 and is all-in
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ac 5d 3s 4c Jc Jh] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SaveMySkin: shows [Ac 5d 3s 4c Jc Jh 9s] (HI: a pair of Jacks)
YouGotIt: shows [5c 2s 6c 8c Th Kc 9c] (HI: a flush, King high)
YouGotIt collected 26050 from pot

I just got very unlucky to lose this pot. I had the best hand the whole way and I'VE GOT THREE OF HIS FUCKING CLUBS HOW DOES HE HIT A CLUB? This guy won two big pots from me after this hand. Sigh.

- Seat 1: Riverloser (5788 in chips)
Seat 2: barryg1 (6280 in chips)
Seat 3: barnsey (20817 in chips)
Seat 4: SaveMySkin (5056 in chips)
Seat 5: luetch1 (45191 in chips)
Seat 6: ILuvKittens (65254 in chips)
Seat 7: YouGotIt (64750 in chips)
Riverloser: posts the ante 300
barryg1: posts the ante 300
barnsey: posts the ante 300
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 300
luetch1: posts the ante 300
ILuvKittens: posts the ante 300
YouGotIt: posts the ante 300
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Riverloser [4d]
Dealt to barryg1 [8h]
Dealt to barnsey [5c]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Kc As Ac]
Dealt to luetch1 [2s]
Dealt to ILuvKittens [4s]
Dealt to YouGotIt [Ad]
luetch1: brings-in low 450
ILuvKittens: folds
YouGotIt: folds
Riverloser: folds
barryg1: folds
barnsey: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 1050 to 1500
luetch1: raises 1500 to 3000
SaveMySkin: raises 1500 to 4500
luetch1: raises 1500 to 6000
Betting is capped
SaveMySkin: calls 256 and is all-in
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Kc As Ac] [9s]
Dealt to luetch1 [2s] [Jd]
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Kc As Ac 9s] [5d]
Dealt to luetch1 [2s Jd] [Js]
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Kc As Ac 9s 5d] [7h]
Dealt to luetch1 [2s Jd Js] [Tc]
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Kc As Ac 9s 5d 7h] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SaveMySkin: shows [Kc As Ac 9s 5d 7h Qs] (HI: a pair of Aces)
luetch1: shows [Qc Qd 2s Jd Js Tc 2h] (HI: two pair, Queens and Jacks)

I guess this is like 60-40 or something on third street but it doesn't feel like I should lose this pot. I am not used to stud.

HORSE

I was top 5 in chips for a long time in this one and then didn't make the money. Super disappointing. I played some hands badly when the blinds got big.

- Stud Hi
Seat 1: MadCaddy (74455 in chips)
Seat 2: Riemann (66938 in chips)
Seat 3: mig.com (10773 in chips)
Seat 4: jakz101 (38163 in chips)
Seat 5: nitbuster (43700 in chips)
Seat 6: mrpokejoke (62942 in chips)
Seat 7: barryg1 (46249 in chips)
Seat 8: SaveMySkin (60140 in chips)
nitbuster: posts the ante 300
mrpokejoke: posts the ante 300
barryg1: posts the ante 300
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 300
MadCaddy: posts the ante 300
Riemann: posts the ante 300
mig.com: posts the ante 300
jakz101: posts the ante 300
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to MadCaddy [2h]
Dealt to Riemann [6d]
Dealt to mig.com [3s]
Dealt to jakz101 [As]
Dealt to nitbuster [6s]
Dealt to mrpokejoke [Ts]
Dealt to barryg1 [3c]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad Jh Qs]
MadCaddy: brings-in low 450
Riemann: folds
mig.com: folds
jakz101: folds
nitbuster: folds
mrpokejoke: raises 1050 to 1500
barryg1: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 1500 to 3000
MadCaddy: folds
mrpokejoke: calls 1500
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to mrpokejoke [Ts] [Kh]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad Jh Qs] [6c]
mrpokejoke: bets 1500
SaveMySkin: calls 1500
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to mrpokejoke [Ts Kh] [5h]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad Jh Qs 6c] [Qc]
SaveMySkin: bets 3000
mrpokejoke: raises 3000 to 6000
SaveMySkin: calls 3000
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to mrpokejoke [Ts Kh 5h] [9d]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad Jh Qs 6c Qc] [4s]
SaveMySkin: checks
mrpokejoke: bets 3000
SaveMySkin: calls 3000
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ad Jh Qs 6c Qc 4s] [8h]
SaveMySkin: checks
mrpokejoke: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
mrpokejoke: shows [Kc Qd Ts Kh 5h 9d 8c] (a pair of Kings)

Mrpokejoke is Mike Matusow. He really took me to school this hand. I don't know how to play stud and it hurts me in these HORSE events. I'm pretty good at the other four games but am pretty clueless at stud.

- Hi-Lo Stud
Seat 1: MadCaddy (57555 in chips)
Seat 2: Riemann (60388 in chips)
Seat 3: ElkY (14896 in chips)
Seat 4: jakz101 (81013 in chips)
Seat 5: nitbuster (36000 in chips)
Seat 6: mrpokejoke (74542 in chips)
Seat 7: barryg1 (54022 in chips)
Seat 8: SaveMySkin (42040 in chips)
nitbuster: posts the ante 400
mrpokejoke: posts the ante 400
barryg1: posts the ante 400
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 400
MadCaddy: posts the ante 400
Riemann: posts the ante 400
ElkY: posts the ante 400
jakz101: posts the ante 400
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to MadCaddy [7s]
Dealt to Riemann [2h]
Dealt to ElkY [3h]
Dealt to jakz101 [3s]
Dealt to nitbuster [3c]
Dealt to mrpokejoke [5s]
Dealt to barryg1 [5h]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [7d As Ah]
Riemann: brings-in low 600
ElkY: folds
jakz101: folds
nitbuster: folds
mrpokejoke: folds
barryg1: raises 1400 to 2000
SaveMySkin: raises 2000 to 4000
MadCaddy: folds
Riemann: calls 3400
barryg1: calls 2000
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Riemann [2h] [2d]
Dealt to barryg1 [5h] [Qd]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [7d As Ah] [9h]
Riemann: bets 2000
barryg1: folds
SaveMySkin: calls 2000
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to Riemann [2h 2d] [9d]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [7d As Ah 9h] [Kd]
Riemann: bets 4000
SaveMySkin: calls 4000
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to Riemann [2h 2d 9d] [2s]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [7d As Ah 9h Kd] [Kc]
Riemann: bets 4000
SaveMySkin: folds

This is a good model of every hand I have played in the last four months. I mean what the fuck. Poker is dumb.

- Hi-Lo Stud
Seat 1: MadCaddy (44355 in chips)
Seat 2: Riemann (91588 in chips)
Seat 3: ElkY (13696 in chips)
Seat 4: jakz101 (83613 in chips)
Seat 5: nitbuster (34800 in chips)
Seat 6: mrpokejoke (72742 in chips)
Seat 7: barryg1 (48822 in chips)
Seat 8: SaveMySkin (30840 in chips)
nitbuster: posts the ante 400
mrpokejoke: posts the ante 400
barryg1: posts the ante 400
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 400
MadCaddy: posts the ante 400
Riemann: posts the ante 400
ElkY: posts the ante 400
jakz101: posts the ante 400
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to MadCaddy [Ad]
Dealt to Riemann [9h]
Dealt to ElkY [Kc]
Dealt to jakz101 [6h]
Dealt to nitbuster [4s]
Dealt to mrpokejoke [Th]
Dealt to barryg1 [Qd]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ah 5d 2h]
Riemann said, "lol"
SaveMySkin: brings-in low 600
MadCaddy: raises 1400 to 2000
Riemann: folds
ElkY: folds
jakz101: folds
nitbuster: folds
mrpokejoke: folds
barryg1: folds
SaveMySkin: calls 1400
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to MadCaddy [Ad] [As]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ah 5d 2h] [7d]
MadCaddy: bets 2000
SaveMySkin: calls 2000
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to MadCaddy [Ad As] [6s]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ah 5d 2h 7d] [Jc]
MadCaddy: bets 4000
SaveMySkin: calls 4000
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to MadCaddy [Ad As 6s] [2s]
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ah 5d 2h 7d Jc] [Qh]
MadCaddy: bets 4000
SaveMySkin: calls 4000
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ah 5d 2h 7d Jc Qh] [4c]
MadCaddy: bets 4000
SaveMySkin: calls 4000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MadCaddy: shows [4h 8c Ad As 6s 2s 5h] (HI: a pair of Aces; LO: 6,5,4,2,A)

I played this hand super extra bad. Calling with A257 against open aces heads up in stud8 is a rookie mistake, I know better, and I got punished. This is the sort of mistake you can't make if you expect to contend in a $5k buy-in HORSE event against some of the best in the world.

Triple Draw Concept

2006-09-30T13:49:00.000-04:00

You guys will never guess what I did yesterday. I got sick of losing at triple draw so I played some $600 NLH on Party. I've been thinking about learning NL cash game strategy for a while and now seems like a good time since I've been doing so poorly at my normal games. I booked a win yesterday. I think I might play these games for a while and see how it goes. One thing that appeals to me about no limit is that it offers smaller variance than limit games. Variance has been terrible to me lately. SO I've got some NL hands saved that I want to post and discuss as well as some hands from the WCOOP Stud 8 tourney that I cashed in. But for now, this triple draw concept I mentioned earlier:

Let's say you are in position against one opponent playing 2-7 triple draw. On the second draw you both draw 1, your opponent checks to you, you make a jack and bet, and your opponent calls and draws 1 on the final draw. Now you stand pat because you know a jack is a favorite over a one card draw. (Let's set aside whether standing pat here is the right play. It certainly might not be, depending on how good your draw is, what dead cards you have seen, who your opponent is, or other factors.) On the final betting street your opponent checks to you. The standard play here is to check behind because your opponent can presumably only call you if he beats your jack (you will very rarely see someone call with worse than a jack here to try to catch a bluff but it is so rare that we can disregard it). But isn't it also true that if you bet your jack here your opponent will sometimes fold a better hand? Let's say you have bet after the second draw, stood pat, and now bet again on the end. If your opponent has made a ten or a good jack, it's very hard for him to call. He may even fold a bad nine.

So here's the strange situation that this example sets up. After the second draw you're value-betting your jack because you know it's a favorite over any draw. Now after the last draw, you're bluffing (trying to get a better hand to fold) with the same hand! I don't know why, but this has been on my mind for the last week or so. I'm interested to hear what you guys think.

A related question: if it's correct to play a jack this way (bet after the second draw if you think your opponent is still drawing and then bluff on the end if your opponent checks to you), might it also be correct to play worse hands this way, especially if you think your opponent is drawing better than you? I suspect that some people in the big triple draw games have been using this concept and having success with it.

Poker Is Fun...For Everyone...

2006-09-27T00:21:00.000-04:00

Well the hits keep on coming in this losing streak of mine. Had two nice wins a few days ago and then went in reverse since then. Tonight I played a session of triple draw. I folded ten or twelve hands in a row at one point. Just got dealt rags every hand. The hand where I broke the streak I got dealt #6 (86432) in the SB. Everyone folded around to the blinds and of course the BB was dealt a pat #2 (76432). The guy is sort of a crazy player so you know I lost the maximum under those circumstances. Sigh. I'm playing again right now and I just had a hand where a guy raised from the button, the SB folded, I reraised from the BB with a pat 9, he called and obviously drew 4. He called and drew 3 after the first draw, called and drew 2 on the last draw, and obviously made an 87 to beat me. This is 300/600.

I really feel like I'm playing well now and running bad. This is in contrast to a few weeks ago when I was not playing my best. I guess all I can do is wait for variance to catch up with me.

I want to write a post about this triple draw principle I've been thinking a lot about. Look for that in the next few days. Someone posted a comment requesting that I blog every few hours. I've really been trying to cut down the poker content in my life lately so that's been a factor in my cutting down on posting. Unless you want to hear about other aspects of my life like golf, fantasy football, or taking my nephew around to see colleges, I'm only going to be blogging a few times a week at most.

Actually that's a good question. Do you enjoy it when poker bloggers blog about stuff like golf outings and fantasy football? My opinion is that I like poker blogs to stick to poker and I have a personal journal for my personal life. Maybe you guys feel differently though. Let me know.

I've collected a few hands from the past week or so to share because I know you guys like the hands...

- This hand is from a 100/200 razz game on Full Tilt. It's not long and you only need to know the action on one street. On sixth street my board was 489T and I was heads up with a guy whose board was 34JT. This means the best hand I can have is a 9 with a draw to an 8 and the best hand he can have is a T with a draw to a wheel. I was low so I acted first. I bet, my opponent raised, I three-bet, and he folded. This is an example of what I call "hold em player playing a stud game." The guy knows I'm weak because he can see my board. I don't have a big hand. So he knows when his heads up opponent is weak he's supposed to raise. The problem for him is that I CAN SEE HIS BOARD TOO. That's how these stud games work. I happened to have the 9 made, starting with 73 in the hole, but I would reraise here whether I had the hand or not.

The next few hands are from the big triple draw games on UB:

- On the second draw, an EP player draws 2, I draw 2, and the button draws 1. We check to him and he checks behind. On the last draw I draw 2 and they each draw 1. We check it down and I win with a king low. The point of this hand is that if you're in a pot and it's the second draw and you're drawing fewer cards than your opponent or opponents, you MUST bet. I don't care how bad your draw is. If you have a piece of cheese and you get check-raised, you're probably drawing dead and you should fold. It turns out the guy who checked behind in this hand had 8763 which is far from the worst he could have. If he bet, the EP guy would have called and there's no way I can call and draw 2 again. This way he lets me into the pot and I steal it on the end.

- UTG raises, I three-bet on the button with 832xx, the SB caps it, the BB calls, and the four of us see the first draw. SB stays pat, BB draws 1, EP draws 3, I draw 2. SB bets out, BB raises, we all call, now the SB breaks and draws 1 and we all draw 1. This is a brilliant play by the BB if he can make the guy break his hand with one small-bet-street raise. On the flipside it's a really bonehead play by the SB. The way I look at it is that if you're in a multiway pot and know you're going to break your hand if someone raises at any point, you should just break your hand before the first draw. I assume the guy had something like 87642.

I saved two other hands but they're just another incarnation of the first deuce hand I posted and then an enormous pot that I won by getting there on the river. I don't feel like typing them out. They were awesome though.

If I don't post about that triple draw concept before the weekend, remind me about it.

WCOOP NLH

2006-09-18T04:43:00.000-04:00

As some astute readers noticed, I made it deep into the WCOOP event today. With 100 people left I was top 10 or 12 in chips and I finished 95th. Sigh. I lost all my chips on this hand:

okerStars Game #6327028630: Tournament #40000002, $500+$30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XV
(2000/4000) - 2006/09/18 - 00:38:29 (ET)
Table '40000002 209' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: kurosh (69521 in chips)
Seat 2: Feb19 (171659 in chips)
Seat 3: SaveMySkin (187978 in chips)
Seat 4: bcg1562 (164690 in chips)
Seat 5: CardXFactor (35910 in chips)
Seat 6: SuperFlyHard (88441 in chips)
Seat 7: Red5996 (49336 in chips)
Seat 8: johnmac1 (90776 in chips)
Seat 9: THE__D__RY (116109 in chips)
kurosh: posts the ante 400
Feb19: posts the ante 400
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 400
bcg1562: posts the ante 400
CardXFactor: posts the ante 400
SuperFlyHard: posts the ante 400
Red5996: posts the ante 400
johnmac1: posts the ante 400
THE__D__RY: posts the ante 400
CardXFactor: posts small blind 2000
SuperFlyHard: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [8d Th]
THE__D__RY said, "me?"
Red5996: folds
johnmac1: folds
THE__D__RY: folds
kurosh: folds
Feb19: folds
HoldemHD [observer] said, "no ME"
HoldemHD [observer] said, "lol"
SaveMySkin: raises 9000 to 13000
HoldemHD [observer] said, "get me on AOL"
bcg1562: calls 13000
CardXFactor: folds
HoldemHD [observer] said, "troy"
SuperFlyHard: folds
*** FLOP *** [2c 7d 9h]
SaveMySkin: bets 20000
bcg1562: raises 20000 to 40000
THE__D__RY said, "k"
SaveMySkin: raises 134578 to 174578 and is all-in
bcg1562: calls 111290 and is all-in
HoldemHD [observer] said, "I M me, i will answer"
*** TURN *** [2c 7d 9h] [Ts]
HoldemHD [observer] said, "you got me in your list"
THE__D__RY said, "k"
THE__D__RY said, "what's your name?"
*** RIVER *** [2c 7d 9h Ts] [2s]
THE__D__RY said, "on aol?"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SaveMySkin: shows [8d Th] (two pair, Tens and Deuces)
bcg1562: shows [As Ad] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)
bcg1562 collected 338180 from pot
HoldemHD [observer] said, "wtroyw"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 338180 | Rake 0
Board [2c 7d 9h Ts 2s]
Seat 1: kurosh folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Feb19 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: SaveMySkin showed [8d Th] and lost with two pair, Tens and Deuces
Seat 4: bcg1562 (button) showed [As Ad] and won (338180) with two pair, Aces and Deuces

I mean obviously I can open fold T8o in the cutoff but I had been playing quite tight and wanted to pick up some blinds. After that I'm not sure how I play the hand differently. I guess just calling the flop raise is an option but I'm not getting off of it once the T comes on the turn. Calling the flop raise and check/folding the turn is an option I suppose? Man I hate that line so much.

Anyway the next hand I jammed QJo into KK and that was it. Pretty disappointing. It's good to win $3k but I had my eyes set on six figures tonight.

Also in the middle of a frustrating cash game session in which I was up a lot and am now stuck. No end in sight! More of the same! Film at eleven! I think I am losing my mind from all this losing.

Borgata Main Event: Someone Teach Me How To Play Poker

2006-09-15T17:11:00.000-04:00

I played the 10k at Borgata today for four or five hours and really just played badly the whole time. I don't know what my problem is. It was pretty embarrassing. I'm not going to go into too many details. I busted with KQ vs AQ on an AKQ flop against Casey Kastle. If I had more chips I probably could have gotten away from it but given how I played today I may have just called them all off. Here's another hand I played quite poorly against Casey:

- A bunch of people limp for 100 including Casey, I limp with 5d4d. Flop Ad7h3d, early limper bets 300, Casey makes it 1k, I make it 3200, all fold to Casey who calls. Turn 8s, Casey check-calls 5k. River 4 he checks, I give up, he has 8d7d. I don't see how I could have played this hand any worse other than folding on the flop. If I'm going to bet the turn I have to follow through on the river if I miss. If I'm not prepared to follow through on the river I need to check the turn. He can't have a set because he's a good player and there's no chance a good player check-calls a big bet with a set on that board. He could have aces up and he could call me on the river with aces up I guess but he could also fold. The way I played the hand screams that I have a set. I just didn't have a plan of action after the flop on this hand and it killed me.

I feel really lost at the poker table these days. Yikes.

More Borgata

2006-09-15T01:26:00.000-04:00

The Borgata main event is tomorrow. I have table 43, seat 3 which is completely irrelevant except that the guy sitting next to me talking to his girlfriend on the phone in our hotel room, Mr. Matt Matros, has 43-4. Running good, running good.

Speaking of running good here are some hands from a live session I played last night. The game was 300-600 HO.

- Hold em, I open with 55, two people call in the field, Bobby Belande calls in the blind. Flop 842 rainbow, I bet, one guy calls, one guy folds, Bobby calls. Turn 3, Bobby leads, I raise, other guy folds, Bobby three-bets, I call. River A, Bobby bets, I raise, Bobby three-bets, I call, Bobby has 65o. I mean what the fuck.

- Hold em, UTG raises, UTG+1 three bets, I four-bet UTG+2 with AA, MP calls 4 cold, the other two call. MP is a high limit east coast hold em pro who I know and have played with a number of times before. Flop Tc7c7s, checked to me, I bet, all call. Turn 4h, checked to me, I bet, MP raises, the others fold, I three-bet, MP four-bets, I call. I check-call the 2c river and he has AcJc. I mean what the fuck. For some reason if the guy raises the turn and just calls my three-bet and then get there I don't care but WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS GENIUS DOING FOUR-BETTING THE TURN? Oh and after the hand I sort of gave him a weird look and he said, "Have to get even somehow." Sigh.

So after that I just quit.

Tonight I had dinner with Matt, Peter Feldman, Joe Tehan, Rob Hwang, and Russell Rosenblum. At some point I realized all of these guys have won huge money in tournaments and I haven't. This got me thinking about something that was on my mind during the $2500, so I asked everyone if they thought they would make a big score like that before it happened. Everyone said yes. See I just don't feel like that. Like when I made it to the money in that tournament a few days ago, I was just thinking, "Oh it's nice to play with Barry and Mike Gracz and EFro and all these guys and I'll bust out soon and play some golf tomorrow." I don't know, maybe I should stop playing them if this is my attitude. I'm never surprised when I bust from a tournament or lose a hand I'm supposed to win. People often compliment me on how well I take bad beats in big pots. Maybe it's because I'm expecting them!

Yesterday Rob and I played golf and I played well. Today we played with Matt and Peter and I played like shit. We gambled today but not yesterday obviously. Running good, running good.

Borgata $2500

2006-09-13T02:36:00.000-04:00

We came down to Borgata last night and I played the $2500 NLH event today. The structure and field were amazing as these tournaments here always are. I finished 36th and they paid...36. I guess it's better than 37th. I busted with 99 vs AK when I reraised all in preflop. I considered a stop n go but my stack was a little big for it and I certainly had fold equity preflop. It turns out a stop n go would have worked (king on the turn) but that's neither here nor there. There was a super interesting hand earlier that went like this:

- Older guy new to the table limps for 200, I limp on the button with J9o, blinds call. Flop 9h8h5s, check to me, I bet 500, SB and limper call. Turn 9s, check to me, I bet 1700, SB folds, limper makes it 4200 with 9000 behind, I have 13000 left. What's the preferred line here? What is his range? I ended up calling the turn raise and folding when the Ad came on the river and he jammed. In the past I think I would have been more inclined to call the river and I still don't think that's a terrible play but I prefer folding. Curious to see what people think here. I didn't think this guy was likely to be on a semi-bluff with a flush or straight draw but I could be wrong. I asked him about the hand hours later and he didn't seem to remember it very well but said he "had me for sure" whatever that means.

Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok had all the chips when I busted. Barry played one hand against the guy from the above hand that I still can't believe:

- Guy opens for 7k (1k/2k/300) in the cutoff, Barry calls in the SB. Flop AsTs4x, Barry checks, guy bets 7k, Barry makes it 28k, guy jams for like 90k, Barry calls with AT, guy has 66. As Mike Gracz said, this was a Mike McDermott moment ("I'm just going to outplay this guy...this hand.") The average stack at the time was about 40k and this guy has 90k and goes nuts with two sixes against Barry Fucking Greenstein. Yikes.

I'm going to skip the 5k tomorrow. I don't think the field will be any good and I played a long tournament session today. I think we're going to play some golf if the weather is nice. Thursday is a day off. Maybe more golf? I will probably play some cash games at some point. The main event is Friday.

I'm playing online right now and actually winning for a change. Speaking of that, sorry I am so grouchy lately. I've really been getting my ass kicked lately so if I'm whining too much about losing just tell me to shut up. I know no one wants to hear and it doesn't make me feel any better dwelling on it.

I met a nice reader of my blog tonight pretty deep in the tournament. He told me I wrote a good blog but haven't been updating enough lately. Of course I have forgotten this fellow's name because I'm terrible with names but thanks to him for saying hi. I like it when strangers tell me they read my blog in person. So if you've been thinking about doing that but haven't (seriously people email me saying just that), do it! It really made me feel like blogging was worth it.

Another nice thing happened to me today. A super well known player who plays in the biggest games in the world (no I won't tell you who it is) told me that I beat him out of a good chunk of change playing heads up razz recently. Obviously he was playing under a name no one knows and I didn't know it was him at the time. And heads up razz is sort of a crapshoot but it still made me feel good. The way I've been running I need things to cheer me up and give me confidence. Ok no more talk about running bad and losing!

Seriously when it comes down to it, what do I have to complain about? Nothing. Poker is a great job compared to anything else I could be doing. I have my health. I have great family and friends. I have plenty of money. I can't complain.

Break

2006-09-11T09:03:00.000-04:00

Wow, 8 days without a post! Sorry guys, but there's a good reason. I haven't played a hand of poker in seven days. It doesn't sound all that impressive but it's the longest I've gone in quite some time, certainly the longest since I started playing for a living three years ago.

My results the past few months have been bad so it was time I took a break and cleared my head. I think I'm in a better mindset now and hopefully I will stop losing every time I play. We're heading down to Borgata tonight and I'll play some of the tournaments, see what cash games are going on, and finally get to see what southern Jersey has to offer in terms of golf courses.

Sklansky

2006-09-03T01:23:00.000-04:00

I bought a used copy of 'Sklansky on Poker' on Amazon recently because I wanted to read the section on razz. I started reading it yesterday and came across a famous Sklansky-ism that I need to pay more attention to. It's a really simple thing but I was neglecting it playing triple draw. The idea I'm talking about is this, from the book: "A hand that can call a raise must be even better than one that can raise itself." In other words if the pot has been opened in front of you, you need a better hand to play than if you're opening the pot yourself. Like I said it's a pretty obvious thing if you play a lot of poker but somehow I had started to overlook it in triple draw. Normally if it folds to me on the button I will open with hands like 863, 872, 873, etc. Also I will always three-bet if I'm going to play a pot in position against someone who has opened. I think these plays are 100% correct and am happy to debate them with you if you don't. Unfortunately combining them (three-betting with the hands I mentioned) is pretty bad, even in position. Position is super super important in the game but it's not important enough to overcome these hands if the opener has normal opening requirements.

I have a friend and fellow poker player with whom I instant message all the time. He is constantly complaining on IM about how bad he's running, how bad the players who are beating him are, etc. It's sort of annoying and I've told him so on numerous occasions. Anyway it got to the point a few days ago where I got the urge to send out a mass IM about how bad I was running and include some hand histories. But Jesus Christ no one wants to read that. I mean funny hands are one thing but if you're running bad just run bad and shut up. So I quit the game and went to the driving range. I hit 'em very poorly but it was well worth the money I saved by not playing while I was steaming.

So it's been a pretty bad three months pokerwise. Fortunately my roll is big enough that I have money in reserve. You never expect to lose two months out of three though and it sucks. Took it easy the past few days and then had a nice win tonight. Hopefully things have turned around. Razz is treating me well so far even though I'm very new to the game and I'm hoping I can add that to the games I can play online all the time.

Joe Wins

2006-08-31T02:18:00.000-04:00

If you're a friend of mine named Joe, you better enter some WPT events this year, because all the Joes are winning. Congrats to Joe Pelton who won the Bike tournament tonight. I've known Joe longer than almost all of my other poker friends. His game has come so far since he started. Obv. Good job man.

Joe

2006-08-30T06:25:00.000-04:00

My boy Joe Pelton just made the Bike final table. My friends are good at poker. Good luck tomorrow Joe.

Bike Day 2

2006-08-28T20:45:00.000-04:00

- I open in EP with 76s, two people call, I bet the ace high flop and win. Normally I wouldn't put this in here but it's the only pot I won and I would hate to have a post with all losing hands.

- Clonie Gowen and Liz Lieu play a big pot on a king high board and Liz's AA holds up against Clonie's AK. The next hand Clonie jams for 6300 (300/600/75) UTG+1 and I have AQo and 47k UTG+3. I think about raising to 15k and decide I don't want to put in a third of my chips and fold to a reraise. I think about calling and decide I don't want to call and then get blown off the hand. I decide to muck. Everyone folds so I don't know what she had.

- I open in SB with Jh7d, BB calls. Flop Kh8h2h, I bet, he calls. Turn blank, I jam, he calls with Th9h, I miss. Tim Phan tells me this was a good bet. Down to 27k.

- I open with KK, only Tony Ma calls me. Flop AQx, I bet, he raises, I fold. Down to 22k.

- Two limpers, I call from SB with 7c4c, BB checks. Flop Ax8c6c, I lead, only button calls. Turn 8 check check. River A I bet he raises I fold. Down to 13k.

- Tim Phan opens, I jam with AK, he calls with JJ, IGHN.

These day twos of 10ks never seem to go well for me.

Bike Tournament

2006-08-27T21:34:00.000-04:00

Going into the second day of the Bike tournament I have 49,300 (starting stack 20k) which puts me 33rd out of the 127 remaining from day one. They're playing day two today and then there's a complete redraw so I won't know anything about my table until late tonight. I'll try to post something depending on how late they release the information.

I was pretty happy with my play yesterday especially once I got ahold of some chips. There are only a few hands of note that I remember:

- I don't remember the exact preflop action but I raised with QQ somewhere in the field, two or three people called including the BB. I had played a few pots with this guy and kept raising him and taking it down without a showdown. In any case the flop came Td9d2h, everyone checked to me, I bet 2k, the BB made it 6k, everyone else folded, I thought for a while and decided to jam for about 20k total and he folded, saying "It sounds like a draw to me."

- A little while later the same guy from above raised in the cutoff, I called in the BB with TT, the flop came 975 with two spades, I check-raised him all-in, he called with J9 and a jack came on the turn. At this point, while the guy is raking in my chips after sucking out, he decides to give me a speech about how I've just been coming over the top of him every hand and he got sick of it. Mission accomplished I guess. I hate when people suck out and then give speeches.

- I raised UTG with AA and a guy who was one of the tightest players I've ever seen in a tournament reraised me. This guy had shown down AA twice, JJ once, and AKs once and this was six or eight hours into the tournament. This guy was TIGHT. He was also a pretty obvious satellite qualifier and looked nervous all day. I thought his range was about AA-QQ and maybe AKs. I decided to call preflop to make sure he didn't muck QQ or AKs. Flop T92, I check-call. Turn 8 check check. River J check check and MHIG. Flame away. I guess he had kings? I think I left some money out there on this one.

I played a too long Chinese session last night so hopefully I can get back on a reasnable schedule for tomorrow. I would say to check Pokerwire for updates, but Pokerwire doesn't include me in their updates.

LA

2006-08-26T00:08:00.000-04:00

I am out in LA. I just bought into the Bike tournament and I play tomorrow. Played some cash games the first few days I was in town and then got some golf in today. Golf is so frustrating. But at least I'm getting better. Good luck to everyone else playing the Bike tourney.

Wow I Am Like Nostradamus

2006-08-20T21:04:00.000-04:00

And of course I busted right away:

PokerStars Game #5992478853: Tournament #29396594, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVII (1500/3000) - 2006/08/20 - 20:57:34 (ET)
Table '29396594 551' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: Neocullen (38388 in chips)
Seat 2: HARDY22 (35670 in chips)
Seat 3: spoofingjam (28256 in chips)
Seat 4: DoubleKetel (79223 in chips)
Seat 5: centres (49150 in chips)
Seat 6: Rambo5 (95223 in chips)
Seat 7: SaveMySkin (50745 in chips)
Seat 8: cherson.27 (87235 in chips)
Seat 9: Riptuck (77090 in chips)
Neocullen: posts the ante 150
HARDY22: posts the ante 150
spoofingjam: posts the ante 150
DoubleKetel: posts the ante 150
centres: posts the ante 150
Rambo5: posts the ante 150
SaveMySkin: posts the ante 150
cherson.27: posts the ante 150
Riptuck: posts the ante 150
cherson.27: posts small blind 1500
Riptuck: posts big blind 3000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [6d Td]
Neocullen: folds
HARDY22: folds
spoofingjam: folds
DoubleKetel: folds
centres: folds
Rambo5: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 6000 to 9000
cherson.27: calls 7500
Riptuck: folds
*** FLOP *** [5s Ts Qh]
cherson.27: checks
SaveMySkin: bets 41595 and is all-in
cherson.27: calls 41595
*** TURN *** [5s Ts Qh] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [5s Ts Qh Qc] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
cherson.27: shows [Ks Jd] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
SaveMySkin: shows [6d Td] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
cherson.27 collected 105540 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 105540 | Rake 0
Board [5s Ts Qh Qc As]
Seat 1: Neocullen folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: HARDY22 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: spoofingjam folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: DoubleKetel folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: centres folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Rambo5 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: SaveMySkin (button) showed [6d Td] and lost with two pair, Queens and Tens
Seat 8: cherson.27 (small blind) showed [Ks Jd] and won (105540) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 9: Riptuck (big blind) folded before Flop

Stars

2006-08-20T20:56:00.000-04:00

In case anyone wants to sweat me, I have an above average stack at Stars with 300 players left. I will now bust out, because that's what happens every time I make a post like this.

Yuck

2006-08-17T04:20:00.000-04:00

Well it's been an awful week after a great start to the month. I was up a lot and gave almost all of it back. Luckily the month is only half over. Actually I never know why I care about monthly stats. It's all one long session after all. Some things I am trying to focus on while losing:

- I am still winning for the month
- I am winning $x this year, which is a lot of money
- I am playing shorthanded, high-variance games so losses like this are impossible to avoid
- I have had large losses like this before, it sucked, and then I rebounded

So that's where my head is at. Sorry I'm not posting a lot of hands these days. I know you guys like those. I think I've seen everything there is to see in triple draw (which is not to say I don't have more to learn, by any means) and I generally post things I've never seen before.

Hope you're all doing well.

Peeves

2006-08-15T04:09:00.000-04:00

You know what I hate? I hate lending and borrowing money. Ugh, it's the worst. Unfortunately it's sort of a necessity in high stakes poker circles as some people are going to lose and it's very hard to carry around a few buy-ins to big games if you're traveling. I wish I could borrow when I need to but not lend but obviously that's not an option. Blech.

I also hate how much money I lost tonight but it's okay because I'm still having a great month. Had maybe my worst day ever at UB triple draw and played a 500/1000 O8 game on FullTilt that looked good. I don't think it was as good as it looked though and I stayed too long. Plus as I have written here ring Omaha is not really my game. Why did I sit in that game? I also opened up a 500/1000 razz game and considered it before passing. Being stuck will do strange, bad things to you.

Sunday

2006-08-14T01:23:00.000-04:00

Full Tilt started their weeklong tournament today. Howard Lederer came third and Roland De Wolfe (another Full Tilt pro) won. Rigged. Obv. But the funniest moment from the final table came from an observer in the chat:

Nsight7 (Observer): Can we shut observer chat off?

Come on, that's funny.

I played that Full Tilt event and Stars and Party as usual today and didn't cash in any. I had two semi-interesting AA vs KK hands on Stars:

PokerStars Game #5904769985: Tournament #28904275, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) -
2006/08/13 - 16:46:57 (ET)
Table '28904275 322' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: patrikskjold (1980 in chips)
Seat 2: Spencer77 (2495 in chips)
Seat 3: kmballer1111 (2455 in chips)
Seat 4: gatsz (3630 in chips)
Seat 5: TEXRIVERRAT (2175 in chips)
Seat 6: thatfellow (1510 in chips)
Seat 7: Big_Dogg001 (2430 in chips)
Seat 8: SaveMySkin (5535 in chips)
Seat 9: KRISTEN03 (5630 in chips)
TEXRIVERRAT: posts small blind 15
thatfellow: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Ah Ad]
Big_Dogg001: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 45 to 75
KRISTEN03: folds
patrikskjold: folds
Spencer77: calls 75
kmballer1111: folds
gatsz: calls 75
TEXRIVERRAT: folds
thatfellow: folds
*** FLOP *** [7c Jc Td]
SaveMySkin: bets 175
Spencer77: calls 175
gatsz: calls 175
*** TURN *** [7c Jc Td] [2c]
SaveMySkin: checks
Spencer77: bets 510
gatsz: folds
SaveMySkin: calls 510
*** RIVER *** [7c Jc Td 2c] [4d]
SaveMySkin: checks
Spencer77: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SaveMySkin: shows [Ah Ad] (a pair of Aces)
Spencer77: shows [Kh Kd] (a pair of Kings)
SaveMySkin collected 1815 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1815 | Rake 0
Board [7c Jc Td 2c 4d]
Seat 1: patrikskjold folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Spencer77 showed [Kh Kd] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 3: kmballer1111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: gatsz (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 5: TEXRIVERRAT (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: thatfellow (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Big_Dogg001 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: SaveMySkin showed [Ah Ad] and won (1815) with a pair of Aces
Seat 9: KRISTEN03 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I guess I forgot to bust this guy but I think it's hard for me to bet the turn when they both call the flop and the flush card hits. If it had gone bet/call I think I was going to fold? Weak.

PokerStars Game #5904889940: Tournament #28904275, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) -
2006/08/13 - 16:56:56 (ET)
Table '28904275 322' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: tazzyusa (1615 in chips)
Seat 2: incardco (3790 in chips)
Seat 3: kmballer1111 (2530 in chips)
Seat 4: gatsz (5085 in chips)
Seat 5: TEXRIVERRAT (3990 in chips)
Seat 6: thatfellow (1255 in chips)
Seat 7: Big_Dogg001 (2550 in chips)
Seat 8: SaveMySkin (6515 in chips)
Seat 9: KRISTEN03 (6065 in chips)
thatfellow: posts small blind 15
Big_Dogg001: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SaveMySkin [Kd Kc]
SaveMySkin: raises 30 to 60
KRISTEN03: folds
tazzyusa: folds
incardco: folds
kmballer1111: folds
gatsz: folds
TEXRIVERRAT: calls 60
thatfellow: calls 45
Big_Dogg001: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ts 2h 9h]
thatfellow: checks
SaveMySkin: bets 150
TEXRIVERRAT: raises 150 to 300
thatfellow: folds
SaveMySkin: raises 475 to 775
TEXRIVERRAT: calls 475
*** TURN *** [Ts 2h 9h] [7c]
SaveMySkin: bets 3155
TEXRIVERRAT: calls 3155 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Ts 2h 9h 7c] [6s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SaveMySkin: shows [Kd Kc] (a pair of Kings)
TEXRIVERRAT: shows [Ac As] (a pair of Aces)
TEXRIVERRAT collected 8070 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8070 | Rake 0
Board [Ts 2h 9h 7c 6s]
Seat 1: tazzyusa folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: incardco folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: kmballer1111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: gatsz folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: TEXRIVERRAT (button) showed [Ac As] and won (8070) with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: thatfellow (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Big_Dogg001 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: SaveMySkin showed [Kd Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 9: KRISTEN03 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This guy trapped me! There was no way I was doubling him up with KK vs AA unless he played it like this. Good job sir, you got me.

HU O8

2006-08-12T14:16:00.000-04:00

It's good to be home and back to playing online and back to winning. I've been playing triple draw of course but have also been experimenting with some big heads up o8 games. I don't think ring game omaha is a strength of mine but my style seems to work heads up. Plus some of my opponents have been very bad. There are also some very good players at these limits though, of course, so game selection is even more important. Sometimes I just get in a mindset to play whatever game I'm used to playing no matter the lineup. I think this has really hurt me when I've been traveling lately. It's something I'm concentrating on going forward.

Here are a few funny hands from heads up 300/600 o8 this week:

- I raise on the button and my opponent calls. He check-calls all three streets. The board is AA87K rainbow and I scoop with......JT43. You might say the bet on the river here is poor but look at the results! My opponent had 9652 with a flush draw on the turn.

- I raise on the button with AK73, opp calls. Flop AxAc3c, he check-raises, I three-bet, he calls. He check-calls the Qs and 9h turn and river and I scoop. His hand: K432. This one isn't that funny now that I look at it again. I might check-raise the flop with his hand, the turn call is automatic, and I could have had a similar hand with a low wrap and/or flush draw.

- I don't have the hand history on this one but I remember it well. I called a raise from the BB with JJxx, check-raised the KJ2 rainbow flop, and my opponent peeled with the old T765. Wow buddy! Of course he made a low and we split the pot.

A buddy of mine often says that bad hold em players play as if the flop is a practice round and the hand really starts with the turn card. As bad a strategy as this is in hold em, it's much worse in o8. Yet some of my opponents have played this way in these big o8 games. I will continue to experiment with them and look for good spots.

WSOP Rooting

2006-08-06T05:00:00.000-04:00

Nothing too exciting is going on for me pokerwise. I've just been playing online since I got home from the Series and doing well. Here's who I'm rooting for of the hundred or so people left in the main event:

- Vipul Kothari: Vipul is a friend of mine and an east coaster. He's a brilliant guy and a great player. I think the fame and schedule associated with winning the tournament might annoy him but the money make it okay.
- Alex Balandin: New Yorker and friend. Triple draw enthusiast. Another great mind.
- Casey Kastle: Casey has been around poker for a long time and has done a lot for poker players. If he won, a lot of things would change for the better within the poker establishment. He's a also a super nice guy.
- Allen Cunningham: I have a ton of respect for Allen's poker game, both tournament and cash. I sort of feel like he gets the least press of the Negreanu/Lindgren/Juanda crowd but it's only because he's quiet, not because his game doesn't match up. Another nice guy.
- Sabyl Cohen: I don't know Sabyl but she's an ARGer and we have some mutual friends. Plus she's a woman and we all know that it would be great for poker if a woman won the main event. But I would be pulling for her if she were a man too.
- Eric "Rizen" Lynch/Prahlad Friedman: I don't know either of these gentlemen but I think it would be great for poker if a young online pro won the main event.

This list is not to say that I'm rooting against the other people remaining or anything like that. In fact there's only one guy left I can think of who I really don't want to win and he has a short stack. I just hope the winner is someone smart and engaging who is willing to work for the betterment of poker. Is betterment a word? I need to sleep.

GG WSOP

2006-08-03T19:01:00.000-04:00

Flew back to New York yesterday. Three bad cash game trips in a row have me thinking. Time to go back to the online games that have treated me so well this year. Best of luck to Maroon, Nordberg, Mike May, Feming Chan, Jesse Martin, and anyone else I know who's still in the big one.

WSOP Main Event: Short and Sweet

2006-07-31T20:35:00.000-04:00

I chipped up to 12k today and then this hand happened:

- 50/100 blinds, I open for 300 in MP with KhJh, only BB calls. Flop Qh9h4s, he checks, I bet 450, he makes it 2550, I jam, he calls with AhAd, and I miss.

I only have 42% equity against the hand he actually had. If he has black aces it's 47%, if he has AQ it's 54%. I don't think he makes that big a raise with a set. Plus I have to have a ton of fold equity, right? The guy thought for a long time with aces.

The bottom line is I'm going to play this hand this way every time and I'm not upset about how I got my money in. You have to win pots like this to win big tournaments these days and I just lost this one.

Main Event Tomorrow

2006-07-30T07:13:00.000-04:00

I haven't played any live poker since my last post and it's been nice. I've been relaxing, playing golf, shopping a little, and playing a few losing hours online.
The golf was a match pitting Stoxtrader and myself against two of Stox's friends. His friends are both scratch golfers and we're much worse so we came up with the following format, which I found quite interesting:

- We play a scramble. For those of you who don't know what a scramble is, it means we both hit tee shots, we pick the best one, and we both hit balls from that spot. Then we repeat that process for each shot. Our opponents played the holes normally but their team took the worst individual score on each hole.

It ended up being a very even match and I sunk a 12-footer on 18 in the waning light to win it for us.

I'm getting a massage tomorrow afternoon to help me prepare for the tournament and then hoping to find some friends for dinner. A lot of people I know seem to be playing tomorrow. I hope I don't get seated with any of them.

Wow this has almost been a poker free post. I never write about anything but poker on here. Your poker content will be a list of some friends I'm rooting for who have survived from days 1A and 1B:

Matt Maroon 80k (Cardplayer has it wrong)
Jesse Martin 51k
Pat Poels 50k
Luke Neely 49k
Joe Tehan 49k
Ernie Scherer 43k
Shane Schleger 42k
Nick Schulman 10k

This is by no means a complete list so don't feel bad if I left you out. It's 5 am and I skimmed.

Another Bad One

2006-07-28T00:54:00.000-04:00

Another long session today in which I was pretty nice winner for a time and then spiraled downwards. Really a bad run in these big live mixed games lately. This means one of two things, I think. Either I'm running bad and it's a small sample size and I can beat these games or these are the results I should expect, in which case I need to stop playing these games. I'm certainly open to the latter as a possibility.

I play the main event on Monday so between now and then I'm going to relax and probably not play too much poker. I've been playing a ton of poker this year and I think it's sort of taken over my life. So after the Series I'm going to see what I can do about that.

I want to respond to what people have written about that razz hand from a few entries back. There's some good stuff in there. It may be after the Series though.

Redux

2006-07-26T14:40:00.000-04:00

I played another long session tonight and again got stuck, tired, and a little tilted but again quit sooner than I might have. I'm working on it. I lost with two sevens and a six in badugi tonight but I'm starting to think it's not all that uncommon to lose with big hands like that. I need to sleep.

Meh

2006-07-25T10:36:00.000-04:00

One of the things I'm going to work on this year is quitting a game when I get a little stuck and a little tired and a little steamed. A second thing I'm trying to focus on is quitting a game when I get a lot tired and a lot stuck and the steam is rising off of my head. I was in the former situation tonight and quit after staying for a little while. So tonight, good for me.

I played the Stud8 tourney today and ran my 1500 up to 6k before crashing. The play was much better than in the razz event and I don't think I was a favorite against the field today.

There's always more I want to write about but I don't spend much time on the computer when I'm out here. Time for sleep.

Razz

2006-07-24T06:11:00.000-04:00

I really had a good time playing the razz tournament. I was sort of pissed off when I went from a big stack with 13 left to finishing 11th but c'est la vie in a limit tournament without deep stacks. The hands I care to comment about from today:

- Miami John and I get involved in a big pot with a third guy. We'll call this guy "Don't bet sixth street you extreme donkey." On sixth the boards are
Me:(A3)2K5Q
Miami John:(xx)4K8T
DBSSYED: (xx)57QJ

Now this guy is low with his queen and fires a bet. This is a pretty ridiculous play. John thinks for a second and then says, "Well I guess I have to raise it now," and raises. I call and this donkey calls, we both brick out and John scoops this enormous pot that had six extra bets in it for no reason (we were playing 2k-4k at this point). Losing this 8k definitely changed how I played some pots the rest of the way. Yes, it's 8k because there's no way in hell John is betting if ths guy checks but he has to try to force me out with a raise once the guy fires. Gifafi, sir.

- I may have hosed this one, you guys tell me. I bring it in with a king, the rest of the upcards are like 9 or higher except for this guy with a 5 who raises, I decide he's supposed to raise here with any two hole cards and call with (42)K. By sixth the boards are:

Me: (42)K69A
Him: (xx)5J73

So I have a made 9 with a draw to a 6 and he has a made 7 if he has two unpaired babies in the hole otherwise who knows what he has. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to call his bet here and call the end and I don't think it's close. The decision that I may have messed up here was to call the initial raise. It depends on the limit we were playing which happened to be 400/1000/2500/5000 so there was 5900 in the pot and I had to call 1500 more to see 4th street. Flame away.

- Then I busted on this awesome hand. Carlos Mortenson, who has like 4.8 million chips out of 200,000 in play, raises coming in with a 5. I have (92)3 and am short enough that I decide to take a stand. Long story short Carlos has (K8)5 but I'm drawing dead by sixth and he busts me. That's how razz is.

I really did have fun though, my post-bustout frustration aside. The play was super super bad. I'm playing the eight or better stud tomorrow so that should be equally enjoyable. We were supposed to play golf today but didn't because of my pwning the razz. I really want to play golf. Maybe Tuesday.

I bought into the main event tonight. I was cashing out and the woman at the window told me they weren't letting people pick day 2 or day 3 and that there were 6 more seats available for day 4 so I figured it was a good time to sign up since I really didn't want to play day 1. So I play day 4 which is a week from today. I'll just play some cash games and some golf and relax the next week.

WSOP Cashes: 1

2006-07-23T08:31:00.000-04:00

I made the money and the second day in the razz tournament. We got 410 or so runners and there are 39 or 40 people left. I have 19k chips with average around 15k. We start at 4 pm tomorrow.

At one point I looked over at my friend Cliff Josephy and he had about 800 chips. A while later I found him again and he was up to like 20k. I asked him what happened and he said, in typical Cliff fashion, "Dude, it's not a hard game." And it's true. I had played about 20 hands of razz in my life before this tournament. But I've played a lot of poker and a lot of tournaments and I can pretty much piece the rest together. Plus people play the game very poorly. One hand today the Qs brought it in and the Qh raised in the next seat at an eight-handed table. I mean that just can't be right.

There's only one hand I can remember that I played worth relating.

- Someone brings it in, a 9 raises, I reraise with 4(3A), it folds back to the 9 and he reraises(?!), I raise again and he calls. 4th St: Him (xx)93, Me (A3)45, I bet, he calls. 5th: (xx)935, (A3)457, I bet, he raises, I reraise, he calls. 6th: (xx)9354, (A3)4572, I bet, he calls. 7th I bet, he raises, I reraise, he reraises all-in, I say, "Okay, I have a wheel," he says, "Oh, that's good" and goes home. I don't know man. The guy played the whole hand as if he didn't have a 9 up or as if he had a 9 up but I somehow couldn't see it. This doubled me up from 6k to 12k. Thanks buddy, whoever you are.

Carl Olson (aka the best who ever lived) made the final table of the 2k NLH so I guess we'll both have to win bracelets tomorrow.

WSOP 2k: Out

2006-07-22T16:25:00.000-04:00

I didn't end up doing anything in the 2k. After the dinner break I raised 2 or 3 pots and had to fold to jams. Then I blinded down for a while and got the rest of my chips in on a stop n go with A8s on a J64 flop and my opponent had AJ. I'm pretty sure it would have worked if he hadn't flopped a pair. Oh well. Today is the razz tournament and I'm excited! Razz is not hold em!

WSOP 2K NL Dinner Break

2006-07-21T23:20:00.000-04:00

I've got 12k at the dinner break. We had 2050 runners and are down to about 500 so I think par is around 8k. I should have between 25k and 30k but lost with A8 vs J7, with A4 vs 76, and with A3 vs QJs all-in preflop. Then I lost the last hand before the break with 55 vs AQ when the guy jammed the 776 flop, I called, and a 6 came on the turn. Bah.

There was a funny hand I won blind vs blind that I want to write about but I don't have time right now so remind me later if I forget.

One More Borgata Hand

2006-07-19T15:09:00.000-04:00

One more hand I remembered that I found noteworthy:

- I open on the button with J5s, SB calls quickly, BB folds. Flop Q94 rainbow, check check. Turn 9, he bets 15k (3/4 pot or so), I make it 35k, he makes it 65k, I fold, he shows JTo. Everyone at the table throws a party for him about what a brilliant play he made, as if I had two kings or something. He then gets up, walks away from the table, pulls out his cell phone and misses the next hand to call his poker buddy from home to tell him about the play he just made (a la Steve Dannenman vs Howard Lederer at the Series main event last year). I say nothing, as usual. Like half an hour later, I turn to look at the clock which is over this guy's shoulder and he thinks I'm looking at him and says, "Are you still mad at me about that JT hand?"

These people are seriously delusional. There are no cameras running, sir. There are no hole card cams to record your brilliance. You had the best hand, by the way.

I do think the hand is sort of interesting though and I've been thinking a lot about the proper ratio of:

continuation betting
vs.
checking behind and then betting/raising the turn
vs.
checking with the intention of giving up unless you improve

...after raising preflop and getting called by the blinds. Thoughts?

I have a golf lesson in an hour. Golf > Hold Em.

See, I Don't Lie On This Thing

2006-07-19T02:47:00.000-04:00

From Cardplayer:

Tue Jul 18 23:30:00 PDT 2006
Chau Giang Gets Intense
As we've reached 6 players in the event, Chau Giang continues to express his excitement by saying, "The game is on! The game is on!".

See? I told you.

I remembered another hand from today that I just have to relate:

- 600/1200/200, one guy limps, only the blinds call. Flop Jc8c8s, they check to this guy who now jams for 27k, SB thinks for not very long and calls off about half his chips, BB folds. Limper turns over TT, SB shows 44 saying "I thought he was flushing." Keep going with those reads, sir.

I'm watching Nordberg's WSOP Circuit win on Tivo in which they have shown no hands involving Peter in the first hour and 20 minutes.

Most posts in a day ever.

Borgata Hands

2006-07-18T22:35:00.000-04:00

Here are some hands I played today:

- I open in EP with AdKd, only Irv Gotti in the SB calls. Flop Ah5c2c, he checks, I bet 2/3 pot, he calls. Turn Qc, he leads out for a pot sized bet. This bet has been dubbed the "donk bet" by some because the bettor never has what he's representing here. I know he doesn't have a flush but am worried about AQ. I should raise but decide to call. The river is the Tc and I'm ready to fold but he checks, I check behind, and he has Ah4h. At this point he utters the quote I put in my last post ("The one thing I hate more than anything in poker is when I play like a pussy."). He correctly deduced that I couldn't call a reasonable sized bet on the river. Irv plays pretty well and was still in when I busted.

- I open on the button with AcQc, Nick Frangos calls in the SB and the BB folds. Flop Kh6c4c, check check. Turn 7c, he checks, I bet, he makes a fairly large raise. This is one of the best feelings in poker. I think for a while and decide to just call. The board pairs sixes on the river, he bets out, I'm about 92% sure I have the best hand but just call because it's hard for him to call a raise with anything I'm beating, he has A7. This pot gets me to 260k and it's all downhill from there.

- I open for 8k in LP with AQs, Nick makes it 20k on the button, the blinds fold. Nick has 59k behind. I decide to jam, he has KK and I lose. Flame Away.

- A tight guy opens in MP for 15k and has 45k behind. It folds to me in the BB with AQs and I decide to jam, he calls with AQs, the flop has one of each of our suits, then his flush comes. This was really unfortunate because it took me from an above average stack to one of the smaller stacks at the table and I wasn't really able to be ceative after this. Flame away here as well although I thought he would only call with AA-QQ, maybe AK, and even less maybe JJ but clearly this was a bad read.

- I called a button raise from the BB with 55. The QJ2 flop went check check, I check called when a 6 came on the turn, the J river went check check and I won.

- I made a raise with some random hand (I think it was Q4) blind on blind against a tight player, the guy moved in on me, I folded, and he showed me JJ.

- I raised in EP with 77, only the BB called me. This guy was playing a ton of hands and was sort of a donkey but not a total idiot. He check-called the A96 flop, a 4 came on the turn, he checked, I made a small bet, he made a small raise, and I folded. After the hand, he kept telling me that if I had bet more on the turn he would have folded. On the next break he told me he had K6 but didn't think I had an ace and then reiterated that he would have folded if I had bet more. Shut up, dude. I bet, you raise, I fold, nice hand, take it down, I don't want to talk about it anymore. This guy was one of those nice poker players who thinks he's offending you if he raises you and wants to make sure you know he's not "making a move" on you. In fact there was another guy like this at the table and they played a huge pot that was ridiculous. They both have huge stacks, one guy raises on the button and the other guy calls in the blind. The blind check-calls the KJx flop then check-raises all-in on the blank turn. It's a huge raise. The guy on the button thinks for a long time during which they have a dialogue and the guy in the blind all but tells him he has a huge hand. The button finally folds AK face up and the blind shows him JJ and says "I didn't want you to call." WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE DOING? Before you ask, these guys did not appear to know each other from outside the tournament although I could be wrong.

- Then I was down to 75k after blinding off for a while, it folded to me in the SB, I made it 12k (4k BB) with A6s and the BB called. The flop came 532 with two suited (not my suit) and I decided to check-raise all-in. He bet 15k, I jammed, he called with A2o and I missed. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have folded if I lead or even jammed given that he called preflop and called my check-raise.

Borgata: Out

2006-07-18T20:08:00.000-04:00

I busted out shortly after the dinner break. I'll try to write up some hands later tonight.

Borgata Day Two Dinner Break

2006-07-18T19:06:00.000-04:00

Ran it up to 260k today before crashing back down to 100k which is where I am at the dinner break. Lost 80k with AQs vs KK all-in preflop and then lost another 60k with AQs vs AQs all-in preflop.

There was a guy at my first table who looked super familiar but I couldn't place him. Then I realized it was Irv Gotti.

"The one thing I hate more than anything in poker is when I play like a pussy."
- Irv Gotti, after a pot he played with me today

You said it, Irv.

25 people left now and we stop for the day at 18 which is the money cutoff. Good luck to me.

Borgata End of Day One

2006-07-18T00:58:00.000-04:00

**EDIT** My boy Ian Johns just won a bracelet in the 3k limit hold em event. Good work Ian.

Well, things went much better after my last post. I got down to about 15k but then ran it up over 100k in about 20 minutes. The two big hands were these:

- I raise UTG with 77, UTG+1 calls, button calls, BB calls. Flop AJ7 rainbow, BB checks, I check, UTG+1 overbets the pot, button calls, BB folds, I call. Turn 2, I check, UTG+1 checks, button jams, I call, BB folds what he says was KQ, button has AJ, river T. Many things had to go right for me to win this big a pot here but they all worked for me this time.

- Then I raised with QQ and the BB called me with JJ and check-raised me all-in on the 665 flop. I called and won.

After that I stole some blinds and hung around between 110k and 120k. Oh there was one more interesting hand:

- UTG who is new to the table raises, I call in the cutoff with JJ and we're heads up. Flop Axx, he makes a small bet, I decide to call. Turn K, he checks, I decide I'm either winning or he'll call if I bet so I check. River A, now he makes a large bet. I thought for a while and folded. I think he might have had like KQ for some reason. I can't think of a reason to check an ace on the turn other than to indice a bluff. I guess he might have had AA/KK/AK. I sort of wish I had made a small bet on the turn and then checked it down if he called but I'm pretty sure I was beat here.

I have 115k which is almost 2x average. There are about 65 players left from a starting field of 165 or so. We redraw and then start at 600-1200-200 tomorrow. We'll play down to 18 which is the money bubble.

Borgata Dinner Break

2006-07-17T19:17:00.000-04:00

I've got 23k (25k starting stack) at the dinner break of the Borgata tournament. I had it up to 40k but haven't been playing too well the last few levels. One of my problems in these NLH tournaments, especially the deep stack ones, is that I'm a wimp. When I'm faced with situations where I think a bet or raise could win me the pot but I'm not sure, I often don't go for it. The obvious solution is "stop being a wimp, you wimp." Alright, I'll try.

I love how the phrase "mix deal" has become a part of the poker vernacular. As in, "The dealer only gave me one card: mix deal." You will often hear this phrase when you might expect someone to use the word "misdeal." I'm sort of a stickler for grammar and usage and whanot but does this bother anyone else?

Alright, back at it. More hold em. Woo hoo.