I suppose trips will do.
Back at the Venetian again. Surprise, surprise.
I didn't hit a set a single time when I had a pocket pair. That's an oddity for me, particularly at the Venetian.
Then again, J-J held up (opponent folded to c-bet), K-K didn't get cracked (I raised in the straddle, and everyone folded) and T-T scooped a big pot.
The T-T hand was the biggest winner out of all of my PPs. I had straddled again (the action was pretty tight at my table) and raised to $25 after a couple of people limped. I got two callers. The flop was 8-6-4 with two diamonds. I bet $70. A young kid shoved for $103. The other guy folded. I called. J on the turn. 4 on the river. I flipped over my T-T. The young kid was surprised and mucked without showing.
The real kicker was winning three nicely sized pots when I flopped trips. I hate trips about as much as I hate TPTK or two pair. And all three times, the hands that I was playing were normally hands that I would muck.
6-4 suited in late position. Why not?
J-6-6 flop. A guy at the other end of the table bet the size of the pot. I called. Turn was a 4. The guy bet about 1/2 of the pot. I called again. River was a 7. The guy bet the same as his turn bet. I raised him to 3x his bet. After thinking for a bit, he called. He never showed.
Then I won a hand with J-4o. Almost the same thing, except I never filled up.
Finally, I won a hand with 7-2o. Yes. THE HAMMER.
It was my SB. It had limped around. I thought about popping it big. But I decided against it. 7 players saw a flop of K-2-2. It checked around to an aggro guy who had just joined the table and already dusted off about $150 in the first hand that he played. If I can recall correctly, it was a bluff gone bad. Aggro guy bet a bit above the pot. I called. Turn was a T. I checked again, and he fired again. The river was a T. I checked one last time, but he didn't bite. "King-Queen," he announced. I flipped over the hand, and instead of saying "nice hand" or just keeping his mouth shut, he said, "What . . . were you just waiting for a flush to hit so you could lose?"
"No," I replied, "I didn't put you on a flush draw."
He was not amused by this. So his response was, "How do you not bet the whole way? I don't get it."
Not wanting to tap the glass, I just said, "I have no idea. I'm just a girl."
He shut up after that, but the guy two to my right gave me a knowing smile.
"I'm not falling for that," he said.
I hope he was referring to the fact that he was not falling for my "I'm just a girl" shtick, and not the fact that he didn't think that I was actually a girl.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack
Sort of.
I decided to stop being a wuss. $2/$5 NLHE at Venetian on Friday.
Why not?
I run pretty damn well there.
The first hand that I played, I had K-K in EP. I raised to $25. The guy to my left re-raised to $70. It folded around to me.
Here's the conundrum. I hadn't been sitting at the table all that long, so I wasn't sure what this guy's RR range was. I was the only chick at the table, so part of me was wondering if "bully the chick" was in play. It was also the first hand that I had raised, so nobody knew what my raising range was. I really hate getting involved in huge hands before I have a good sense of how the table is playing.
Should I re-raise here?
I elected not to. I hate committing too many chips pre-flop. Let me know what I'm working with first.
I elected to call. (Yeah, perhaps that was weak.)
It turned out to be a fortuitous decision.
The flop was K-Q-T rainbow.
I'm first to act.
My guess was that my opponent was somewhere around that board. A-A? Q-Q? A-K?
I decided to bet and see how he reacted.
He was not amused. He went into the tank for a while and finally folded A-A. Really?
Good fold sir.
Had I known that he had A-A, would I have checked the flop? Probably not. Because then a J would have hit on the turn, and I would have been ranting about losing to a gutterball straight draw against a guy who couldn't lay down an overpair. And because most people can't fold an overpair (especially A-A) or TPTK, I get paid in most situations.
But then again, this is $2/$5 NLHE. People can actually lay hands down.
He said that he put me on Q-Q. I laughed. When he left, I told him that I actually considered re-popping him pre-flop. His eyes lit up. "Really? You had K-K? You didn't re-pop with K-K? Because if you had, I would have shoved."
This is how good I run at the Venetian.
I picked up another big pot when I called a button raise to $25 with 8-8 in the BB. Three other players called as well. The flop was 8-7-3 with two diamonds. Because of the straight and flush draws out there, I bet $100. A young kid in Seat 5 asked if Kd-3d was any good. But then he folded.
I snapped off an aggrodonk with A-Q on a K-7-4-Q-6 board. One of the trickier players at the table raised in EP to $25. I had A-Q suited in the hijack. Aggrodonk called on the button. The K-high flop was checked around. EP guy bet $50 on the turn. I called, as did aggrodonk. When the river hit, the EP guy checked. I checked as well, hoping to induce a bluff from aggrodonk. (I had seen him aggrodonk before.) He quickly fired out $100. EP guy folded. I called. He mucked.
Then, Mr. Yappy sat down at the table in Seat 7. He liked to talk. A lot. I think he was trying to be friendly / funny, but nobody was buying it. I called a $15 raise in LP with A-Ko. 5 of us saw the flop. It was A-9-3 with two diamonds. It checked around to me, so I bet $60. Mr. Yappy called. The turn was a random low card. Mr. Yappy checked again. I bet $150. He started yapping. "You don't have a set. I'm pretty sure of it. What do you have? You only called the initial raise, so you can't have that. Maybe you have that. You don't have two-pair. Maybe that's what you have." Meanwhile, I just started laughing. I'm not sure why. Usually, it's just a steely glare from me. But this was comedy. He was trying to talk himself into a call. The river was a J. Hmmmmmmm. A-J could be in his range. I just checked and flipped over my A-K. It was good. I think I should have fired after he checked. My initial read was that he was on a flush draw, and I should have just stuck to my gut. Oh well. Lesson learned.
(Yes, Keith, I know. I used to be more fearless about firing on all streets. I'm trying to get that back.)
The one time I got A-A, it folded around to me in the SB. Remon.
It folded around to the blinds in a $2/$5 game?
Yes. The table was pretty manageable. Fairly tight, with a couple of random aggrodonk passers-by. They never lasted long.
I left the game with a nice profit and met up with some friends at Red Rock for some Pai Gow. (I broke even in chips, but I was up in beverages.)
On Saturday, I was feeling a bit sluggish, so I headed over to the Mirage to play in the $5/$10 O-8 w/full kill game. By the time I got there though, the game had broken. UGH. I put my name on the O-8 list and was immediately seated in a $1/$2 NLHE game.
There was a young aggro guy (YAG) who was playing a $1/$2 NLHE table like it was a tournament. If it limped around to his button or his blind, he raised it to $30 or $35. He liked to check raise. A lot. He liked to re-raise. A lot. He was all about the pressure.
I hadn't played any hands other than the blinds when this hand came up. I decided to limp in MP with 4-4. YAG (who was two seats to my left) just called. 7 players to the flop. K-9-4 with two hearts. The young kid to my right bet $15. I raised to $40. YAG shoved for about $275. It folded around to me. He doesn't have K-K. Is he shoving with 9-9? I doubt he would have shoved that much with middle set. I called rather quickly, and he looked surprised.
I wonder what caused the surprise. The fact that somebody decided to call his aggro ass for once? Who knows.
He looked at me and said, "You're ahead. I'm on a draw."
The board paired on the turn, and I said, "I'm full."
He mucked his hand and walked away from the table.
The O-8 game finally got started, and it was a pretty good session. It was a lot of wheel-card regulars, with a couple of loose cannons thrown in for good measure. I like that mix. For the longest time though, there was no kill pot. The kill is set at a $75 scoop, which I think is a bit high. At Wynn, the kill comes into play at a $100 scoop, and that's a $10/$20 game. I asked the woman next to me, who seemed like she was a regular, if it ever killed and she said that it depended on who was in the game.
I got the first kill pot. I think it was when I flopped a set of Ts and a guy raised me with A-T and another player came along for the ride.
The guy in Seat 1 played almost every single hand. At one point, he was up to $500. He was chasing a lot and hitting or just bullying people out of pots. I got into a hand with him when he had the kill button. He checked his option, and maybe two people called before it got to me in the BB. I raised it to $20 with A-A-2-3 no suits. Seat 1 called, as well as 2 or 3 other players. The flop was A-T-7 with two hearts. I bet. Seat 1 two-bet. Everyone else got out of the way. I three-bet. Seat 1 called. The turn was a 9. I bet again. Seat 1 just called. The river was a 5. I bet again. Seat 1 just called. Top set / lock low was good for the scoop. At that point, Seat 1 was down to about $125 or so.
I was getting tired, so I cashed out with my $1/$2 and O-8 profits intact. The funny thing is that I made about the same on Friday playing $2/$5 NLHE as I did on Saturday playing $1/$2 NLHE and $5/$10 O-8.
But it felt good to be back at $2/$5 again.
I decided to stop being a wuss. $2/$5 NLHE at Venetian on Friday.
Why not?
I run pretty damn well there.
The first hand that I played, I had K-K in EP. I raised to $25. The guy to my left re-raised to $70. It folded around to me.
Here's the conundrum. I hadn't been sitting at the table all that long, so I wasn't sure what this guy's RR range was. I was the only chick at the table, so part of me was wondering if "bully the chick" was in play. It was also the first hand that I had raised, so nobody knew what my raising range was. I really hate getting involved in huge hands before I have a good sense of how the table is playing.
Should I re-raise here?
I elected not to. I hate committing too many chips pre-flop. Let me know what I'm working with first.
I elected to call. (Yeah, perhaps that was weak.)
It turned out to be a fortuitous decision.
The flop was K-Q-T rainbow.
I'm first to act.
My guess was that my opponent was somewhere around that board. A-A? Q-Q? A-K?
I decided to bet and see how he reacted.
He was not amused. He went into the tank for a while and finally folded A-A. Really?
Good fold sir.
Had I known that he had A-A, would I have checked the flop? Probably not. Because then a J would have hit on the turn, and I would have been ranting about losing to a gutterball straight draw against a guy who couldn't lay down an overpair. And because most people can't fold an overpair (especially A-A) or TPTK, I get paid in most situations.
But then again, this is $2/$5 NLHE. People can actually lay hands down.
He said that he put me on Q-Q. I laughed. When he left, I told him that I actually considered re-popping him pre-flop. His eyes lit up. "Really? You had K-K? You didn't re-pop with K-K? Because if you had, I would have shoved."
This is how good I run at the Venetian.
I picked up another big pot when I called a button raise to $25 with 8-8 in the BB. Three other players called as well. The flop was 8-7-3 with two diamonds. Because of the straight and flush draws out there, I bet $100. A young kid in Seat 5 asked if Kd-3d was any good. But then he folded.
I snapped off an aggrodonk with A-Q on a K-7-4-Q-6 board. One of the trickier players at the table raised in EP to $25. I had A-Q suited in the hijack. Aggrodonk called on the button. The K-high flop was checked around. EP guy bet $50 on the turn. I called, as did aggrodonk. When the river hit, the EP guy checked. I checked as well, hoping to induce a bluff from aggrodonk. (I had seen him aggrodonk before.) He quickly fired out $100. EP guy folded. I called. He mucked.
Then, Mr. Yappy sat down at the table in Seat 7. He liked to talk. A lot. I think he was trying to be friendly / funny, but nobody was buying it. I called a $15 raise in LP with A-Ko. 5 of us saw the flop. It was A-9-3 with two diamonds. It checked around to me, so I bet $60. Mr. Yappy called. The turn was a random low card. Mr. Yappy checked again. I bet $150. He started yapping. "You don't have a set. I'm pretty sure of it. What do you have? You only called the initial raise, so you can't have that. Maybe you have that. You don't have two-pair. Maybe that's what you have." Meanwhile, I just started laughing. I'm not sure why. Usually, it's just a steely glare from me. But this was comedy. He was trying to talk himself into a call. The river was a J. Hmmmmmmm. A-J could be in his range. I just checked and flipped over my A-K. It was good. I think I should have fired after he checked. My initial read was that he was on a flush draw, and I should have just stuck to my gut. Oh well. Lesson learned.
(Yes, Keith, I know. I used to be more fearless about firing on all streets. I'm trying to get that back.)
The one time I got A-A, it folded around to me in the SB. Remon.
It folded around to the blinds in a $2/$5 game?
Yes. The table was pretty manageable. Fairly tight, with a couple of random aggrodonk passers-by. They never lasted long.
I left the game with a nice profit and met up with some friends at Red Rock for some Pai Gow. (I broke even in chips, but I was up in beverages.)
On Saturday, I was feeling a bit sluggish, so I headed over to the Mirage to play in the $5/$10 O-8 w/full kill game. By the time I got there though, the game had broken. UGH. I put my name on the O-8 list and was immediately seated in a $1/$2 NLHE game.
There was a young aggro guy (YAG) who was playing a $1/$2 NLHE table like it was a tournament. If it limped around to his button or his blind, he raised it to $30 or $35. He liked to check raise. A lot. He liked to re-raise. A lot. He was all about the pressure.
I hadn't played any hands other than the blinds when this hand came up. I decided to limp in MP with 4-4. YAG (who was two seats to my left) just called. 7 players to the flop. K-9-4 with two hearts. The young kid to my right bet $15. I raised to $40. YAG shoved for about $275. It folded around to me. He doesn't have K-K. Is he shoving with 9-9? I doubt he would have shoved that much with middle set. I called rather quickly, and he looked surprised.
I wonder what caused the surprise. The fact that somebody decided to call his aggro ass for once? Who knows.
He looked at me and said, "You're ahead. I'm on a draw."
The board paired on the turn, and I said, "I'm full."
He mucked his hand and walked away from the table.
The O-8 game finally got started, and it was a pretty good session. It was a lot of wheel-card regulars, with a couple of loose cannons thrown in for good measure. I like that mix. For the longest time though, there was no kill pot. The kill is set at a $75 scoop, which I think is a bit high. At Wynn, the kill comes into play at a $100 scoop, and that's a $10/$20 game. I asked the woman next to me, who seemed like she was a regular, if it ever killed and she said that it depended on who was in the game.
I got the first kill pot. I think it was when I flopped a set of Ts and a guy raised me with A-T and another player came along for the ride.
The guy in Seat 1 played almost every single hand. At one point, he was up to $500. He was chasing a lot and hitting or just bullying people out of pots. I got into a hand with him when he had the kill button. He checked his option, and maybe two people called before it got to me in the BB. I raised it to $20 with A-A-2-3 no suits. Seat 1 called, as well as 2 or 3 other players. The flop was A-T-7 with two hearts. I bet. Seat 1 two-bet. Everyone else got out of the way. I three-bet. Seat 1 called. The turn was a 9. I bet again. Seat 1 just called. The river was a 5. I bet again. Seat 1 just called. Top set / lock low was good for the scoop. At that point, Seat 1 was down to about $125 or so.
I was getting tired, so I cashed out with my $1/$2 and O-8 profits intact. The funny thing is that I made about the same on Friday playing $2/$5 NLHE as I did on Saturday playing $1/$2 NLHE and $5/$10 O-8.
But it felt good to be back at $2/$5 again.
Friday, July 18, 2008
I Just Can't Get Enough
So much for my plan to work on my NLHE game . . .
I went to the Wynn last night and played in the $10/$20 O-8 w/half kill game. There were already two tables going with a list about 9 deep, but I finally made my way to the must-move table after waiting for about 45 minutes.
Each time that I flopped a set last night, the board didn't pair (and I lost). Each time that I flopped a nut flush draw last night, I missed. I didn't have A-A-x-x a single time. I don't even think I had A-2-3-4.
On nights like that, it's hard to make money.
I did manage to make a modest profit due in large part to two hands.
I had A-2-8-8 (nut hearts) one off the button. It was a kill pot. The guy to my right was a crazy action player from North Carolina. He two-bet. The button three-bet. I knew what was coming next. After several callers, the NC guy to my right four-bet. FOUR CARD BINGO! (I think we were 5 or 6 handed for this hand.)
The flop was J-7-8 with two clubs. Middle set and the lock low draw. Not too shabby. The action checked around to me, so I bet. Everyone called.
The turn was a non-club T. Not the best card for me. This time, a woman two to my right led out. Everyone called.
(Pair the board. Pair the board.)
Well, you know from reading the first part of this post that the board didn't pair. But the river was a 5. Everyone checked again to the woman, who bet. I just called, hoping that I wasn't getting 1/4 or 1/6. I think there were three callers.
She, of course, had hit her gutterball straight draw on the turn. I had the only A-2. Half of the pot. Not so bad. But from what I could tell, I would have scooped if the board paired. Half remon.
The other hand involved the NC guy and another player in EP. EP guy limped, and NC guy raised (I think without looking at his cards - which was becoming common). I called on the button with A-5-5-8 (A-5-8 spades). The flop was a beautiful 9-7-6 spades. It's been a long while since I've hit a straight flush (even in Omaha). EP checked. NC guy bet. I called, as well as EP guy. The turn was Kc. This time both players checked. I wanted to make a low draw pay, so I bet. Both players called. At this point, I was thinking that I wanted the board to pair. That way, no low, and someone with a boat might give me lots of action. No such luck. The river was Ts. Both players checked, and I bet. EP guy called. NC guy was not amused and said, "Well if he calls, there's no way I can call."
I flipped over my straight flush and the other guy mucked. The interesting thing is that I also had As. Maybe he had the K-high flush?
I had a couple of chances to scoop big pots toward the end of my session, but I lost them both. K-J-T-A losing to K-2-x-x on a K-8-9-K-2 board and A-K-K-T (nut clubs) whiffing when the flop was Q-J-x (two clubs).
I suppose having a winning session is nothing to gripe about.
But what could have been . . .
Yeah, I'm addicted to Omaha.
Somebody send me that link for "When the Fun Stops."
I went to the Wynn last night and played in the $10/$20 O-8 w/half kill game. There were already two tables going with a list about 9 deep, but I finally made my way to the must-move table after waiting for about 45 minutes.
Each time that I flopped a set last night, the board didn't pair (and I lost). Each time that I flopped a nut flush draw last night, I missed. I didn't have A-A-x-x a single time. I don't even think I had A-2-3-4.
On nights like that, it's hard to make money.
I did manage to make a modest profit due in large part to two hands.
I had A-2-8-8 (nut hearts) one off the button. It was a kill pot. The guy to my right was a crazy action player from North Carolina. He two-bet. The button three-bet. I knew what was coming next. After several callers, the NC guy to my right four-bet. FOUR CARD BINGO! (I think we were 5 or 6 handed for this hand.)
The flop was J-7-8 with two clubs. Middle set and the lock low draw. Not too shabby. The action checked around to me, so I bet. Everyone called.
The turn was a non-club T. Not the best card for me. This time, a woman two to my right led out. Everyone called.
(Pair the board. Pair the board.)
Well, you know from reading the first part of this post that the board didn't pair. But the river was a 5. Everyone checked again to the woman, who bet. I just called, hoping that I wasn't getting 1/4 or 1/6. I think there were three callers.
She, of course, had hit her gutterball straight draw on the turn. I had the only A-2. Half of the pot. Not so bad. But from what I could tell, I would have scooped if the board paired. Half remon.
The other hand involved the NC guy and another player in EP. EP guy limped, and NC guy raised (I think without looking at his cards - which was becoming common). I called on the button with A-5-5-8 (A-5-8 spades). The flop was a beautiful 9-7-6 spades. It's been a long while since I've hit a straight flush (even in Omaha). EP checked. NC guy bet. I called, as well as EP guy. The turn was Kc. This time both players checked. I wanted to make a low draw pay, so I bet. Both players called. At this point, I was thinking that I wanted the board to pair. That way, no low, and someone with a boat might give me lots of action. No such luck. The river was Ts. Both players checked, and I bet. EP guy called. NC guy was not amused and said, "Well if he calls, there's no way I can call."
I flipped over my straight flush and the other guy mucked. The interesting thing is that I also had As. Maybe he had the K-high flush?
I had a couple of chances to scoop big pots toward the end of my session, but I lost them both. K-J-T-A losing to K-2-x-x on a K-8-9-K-2 board and A-K-K-T (nut clubs) whiffing when the flop was Q-J-x (two clubs).
I suppose having a winning session is nothing to gripe about.
But what could have been . . .
Yeah, I'm addicted to Omaha.
Somebody send me that link for "When the Fun Stops."
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
That's It?
The World Series of Poker is down to a table of 10. One more bust-out, and everything gets packed up until November 9. I haven't been to the Rio in days. Nor do I plan on going back there any time soon. (Well, at some point I need to cash in a $10 video poker ticket that is my last vestige of hanging at the Hooker Bar, but if it gets lost in the bottom of my black bag I'm sure it won't matter in the grand scheme of things.)
How do I feel now that it's all over?
That's a tough question.
I played four events this WSOP: O-8, PLO, PLO-8 and Stud-8.
If I had to do it all over again, would I have changed my tournament schedule? Definitely not. I think that I played the correct number of tournaments for my bankroll, and I played the events that made the most sense given my strengths.
Am I pleased with my results? Yes and no. From a purely monetary standpoint, I am disappointed that I had no cashes. The closest that I got was 14 spots out of the money in the PLO event. From a non-monetary standpoint, I can't criticize myself too much though. I finished at least in the top half of the field in all 4 events, which I suppose says something. I don't think that I made too many poor decisions, but I certainly could have made some more optimal decisions.
I had a blast playing in the events, particularly due to the cast of characters that found their way to my table. The best table by far was my O-8 starting table, but having Micon and Hellmuth at my Stud-8 table is certainly a close second.
In what endeavor other than poker can you play against world champions? I took pots off of Berry Johnston, Greg Raymer and Phil Hellmuth. I busted the guy who finished third in the Main Event in 2006. Will I ever be teeing off with Tiger Woods or Annika Sorrenstam? Yeah right. Well, at least not for an admission price of $1,500. Tens of thousands of people poured into the Amazon Ballroom for this and many other reasons.
Some people think that poker is gambling and that entering into the Main Event is akin to purchasing a lottery ticket. Sure, to navigate the field of players in any given event requires some modicum of luck. To be able to chip up enough to make a run for the top money spots requires some modicum of gambling. You can only wait for cards for so long until the structure catches up to you. But to sit in that room and believe that you could be the next owner of one of those fugly Corum bracelets . . . well, that's why the Rio will continue to be packed. And I'm pretty sure that I will be back in that room next year.
As far as non-WSOP pokering goes, I'm a bag of mixed emotions as well. I started playing a lot more Omaha toward the end of 2007, which I believe detracted from my progression in NLHE land. Last year, I played $2/$5 NLHE almost exclusively during the WSOP. One of my goals for 2008 was to be playing more comfortably at $5/$10 NLHE. These days? I haven't ventured into $2/$5 land all that much. Now that we are heading toward the end of the summer, there won't be as many bodies that are willing to sit at $10/$20 or $20/$40 O-8 or $1/$2 or $2/$5 PLO. Does that mean that it's time to get back into NLHE mode?
The answer is probably yes, but I loves me some Omaha. I guess the best remedy for that is to hit the IP on Sunday nights at 7pm for the AVP $3/$6 mixed game mania. It's a super mixed game of O-8, Stud-8, Razz, 2-7 TD, Badugi, Baduci, 4 Card Ocean Crazy Pineapple, Double Flop Omaha and 3-2-1 Omaha. I stumbled upon the game randomly when I was dropping Al and Riggs off at the IP when they were in town. Plenty of action and plenty of friendly faces.
Then again, there's always $4/$8 O-8 at Red Rock . . .
Despite my lack of exuberance over my summer pokering results thus far, I think that I am continuing to improve as a player. As long as I feel that I am making progress, I will continue to sit at the tables.
Now if I could just say the same thing about my golf game . . .
How do I feel now that it's all over?
That's a tough question.
I played four events this WSOP: O-8, PLO, PLO-8 and Stud-8.
If I had to do it all over again, would I have changed my tournament schedule? Definitely not. I think that I played the correct number of tournaments for my bankroll, and I played the events that made the most sense given my strengths.
Am I pleased with my results? Yes and no. From a purely monetary standpoint, I am disappointed that I had no cashes. The closest that I got was 14 spots out of the money in the PLO event. From a non-monetary standpoint, I can't criticize myself too much though. I finished at least in the top half of the field in all 4 events, which I suppose says something. I don't think that I made too many poor decisions, but I certainly could have made some more optimal decisions.
I had a blast playing in the events, particularly due to the cast of characters that found their way to my table. The best table by far was my O-8 starting table, but having Micon and Hellmuth at my Stud-8 table is certainly a close second.
In what endeavor other than poker can you play against world champions? I took pots off of Berry Johnston, Greg Raymer and Phil Hellmuth. I busted the guy who finished third in the Main Event in 2006. Will I ever be teeing off with Tiger Woods or Annika Sorrenstam? Yeah right. Well, at least not for an admission price of $1,500. Tens of thousands of people poured into the Amazon Ballroom for this and many other reasons.
Some people think that poker is gambling and that entering into the Main Event is akin to purchasing a lottery ticket. Sure, to navigate the field of players in any given event requires some modicum of luck. To be able to chip up enough to make a run for the top money spots requires some modicum of gambling. You can only wait for cards for so long until the structure catches up to you. But to sit in that room and believe that you could be the next owner of one of those fugly Corum bracelets . . . well, that's why the Rio will continue to be packed. And I'm pretty sure that I will be back in that room next year.
As far as non-WSOP pokering goes, I'm a bag of mixed emotions as well. I started playing a lot more Omaha toward the end of 2007, which I believe detracted from my progression in NLHE land. Last year, I played $2/$5 NLHE almost exclusively during the WSOP. One of my goals for 2008 was to be playing more comfortably at $5/$10 NLHE. These days? I haven't ventured into $2/$5 land all that much. Now that we are heading toward the end of the summer, there won't be as many bodies that are willing to sit at $10/$20 or $20/$40 O-8 or $1/$2 or $2/$5 PLO. Does that mean that it's time to get back into NLHE mode?
The answer is probably yes, but I loves me some Omaha. I guess the best remedy for that is to hit the IP on Sunday nights at 7pm for the AVP $3/$6 mixed game mania. It's a super mixed game of O-8, Stud-8, Razz, 2-7 TD, Badugi, Baduci, 4 Card Ocean Crazy Pineapple, Double Flop Omaha and 3-2-1 Omaha. I stumbled upon the game randomly when I was dropping Al and Riggs off at the IP when they were in town. Plenty of action and plenty of friendly faces.
Then again, there's always $4/$8 O-8 at Red Rock . . .
Despite my lack of exuberance over my summer pokering results thus far, I think that I am continuing to improve as a player. As long as I feel that I am making progress, I will continue to sit at the tables.
Now if I could just say the same thing about my golf game . . .
Friday, July 11, 2008
Hammer League Fantasy Poker
Chippy McStacks (commish of the Hammer League - the fantasy football league of which I am a participant) decided to throw together a fantasy poker draft last night.
Here's how the draft went down (Round 5 was the Vagina Round):
Chippy McStacks (who for some reason keeps getting the first overall pick):
brandon adams (BUSTED - 618th)
mike matusow (BUSTED - 30th)
gus hansen (BUSTED - 160th)
dustin holmes (BUSTED - 282nd)
carmel petresco (BUSTED - 319th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 472
Robert:
jeremiah smith (BUSTED - 146th)
victor ramdin (BUSTED - 64th)
sigurd eskeland (BUSTED - 241st)
hasan habib (BUSTED - 338th)
evelyn ng (BUSTED - 238th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 448
Wadzilla:
phil hellmuth (BUSTED - 45th)
chip jett (BUSTED - 161st)
jeff madsen (BUSTED - 112th)
magnus petersson (BUSTED - 337th)
kara scott (BUSTED - 104th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 261
BWoP:
matt matros (BUSTED - 78th)
alexander kostritsyn (BUSTED - 84th)
jeremy joseph (BUSTED - 57th)
brandon cantu (BUSTED - 20th)
van nguyen (BUSTED - 250th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 155
The structure:
UPDATE 5:19pm PT: Chippy lost Petresco, so he's down to his final 3. Robert lost Habib. Wadzilla lost Petersson. All if my picks are still alive. Three of them are in the top 10 in chip counts: Joseph (chipleader at 2.64mm), Cantu (4th in chips at 1.30mm) and Matros (8th in chips at 1.20mm). Robert's top pick has dropped to 12th in chips (Smith at 1.15mm).
UPDATE 7:00pm PT: Chippy lost another pick (Holmes) leaving him with Matusow and Hansen. My picks seem to be skidding a bit (Van Nguyen just busted), but Joseph is still the chipleader by a good margin. I'm heading out to play poker in a bit, so I guess we'll see who's left come morning.
Favorite line of the day from Chippy: Losing adams last night is like getting the first pick, taking ladanian and he blows out an acl in the opener.
UPDATE 9:45am PT (Saturday): Looks like all of my guys survived the night. Joseph still the chipleader with 2.187mm. Cantu is 4th with 1.981mm. Kostritsyn is 32nd with 1.137mm. Matros is 34th with 1.126mm. Only Chippy and Robert have players remaining with over 1mm (Chippy with Gus Hansen at 1.367mm and Robert with Victor Ramdin at 1.322mm), but each of them has already lost three picks. Wadzilla has the last female standing (Kara Scott at 247k). Things should be interesting, as Jeremy Joseph and Gus Hansen drew the same table for Day 5.
UPDATE 5:30pm PT (Saturday): All of my guys are still in. Cantu just took down a huge pot with 8-5o to climb to 3.200mm, which puts him in 3rd place. Joseph slipped to 1.820mm, which is still good enough for 20th place. Kostritsyn is sitting with 1.789mm (22nd place). Matros has slipped to 944k in chips. Chippy only has Matusow left, but he only has 580k left. Robert only has Ramdin left, and he's currently sitting in 6th with 2.700mm in chips. Wadzilla is my only competition for the top three finishers portion of the prop bet. He still has Hellmuth (1.150mm), Madsen (580k) and Scott (455k).
UPDATE 7:30pm PT (Saturday): Wadzilla lost Madsen and Scott. That means that everyone else only has one player left. I have 4. The lowest possible combined finishes (top three players) based on the bustouts so far are as follows:
Chippy: 443
Robert: 385
Wadzilla: 217
BWoP: 6
Looks like I am sitting pretty well.
UPDATE 11:00pm PT (Saturday): I just lost Kostritsyn in 84th. He lost a huge pot earlier when he flopped a set and his opponent flopped top pair and the nut flush draw and then turned two-pair. The flush hit. All three of my remaining picks have at least 2mm in chips though. Matusow (Chippy's last pick) and Hellmuth (Wadzilla's last pick) are sitting together at the feature table. Both have around 1.2mm. Robert's last pick (Ramdin) is starting to get short - 450k. Play will end for the night in about a half an hour.
UPDATE 2:00pm PT (Sunday): Matros out in 78th. Ramdin out in 64th, leaving Robert with no remaining picks. With only 62 players left, it is mathematically impossible for Wadzilla to catch me even if Hellmuth finishes 1st. Ship 60% of the pool to me! Still up for grabs though is 40% of the prize pool, awarded to the person with the highest finisher, as well as the bonus bets if a player makes the final table.
UPDATE 12:45pm PT (Monday): With Hellmuth and Matusow both busting last night, I have officially run the table. Still in question though, is whether Cantu can make the final table, which will net me some bonus bet money. He's currently sitting in 14th place with 4.74mm in chips.
UPDATE 9:15pm PT (Monday): Cantu out in 20th. No bonus money for me.
Here's how the draft went down (Round 5 was the Vagina Round):
Chippy McStacks (who for some reason keeps getting the first overall pick):
brandon adams (BUSTED - 618th)
mike matusow (BUSTED - 30th)
gus hansen (BUSTED - 160th)
dustin holmes (BUSTED - 282nd)
carmel petresco (BUSTED - 319th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 472
Robert:
jeremiah smith (BUSTED - 146th)
victor ramdin (BUSTED - 64th)
sigurd eskeland (BUSTED - 241st)
hasan habib (BUSTED - 338th)
evelyn ng (BUSTED - 238th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 448
Wadzilla:
phil hellmuth (BUSTED - 45th)
chip jett (BUSTED - 161st)
jeff madsen (BUSTED - 112th)
magnus petersson (BUSTED - 337th)
kara scott (BUSTED - 104th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 261
BWoP:
matt matros (BUSTED - 78th)
alexander kostritsyn (BUSTED - 84th)
jeremy joseph (BUSTED - 57th)
brandon cantu (BUSTED - 20th)
van nguyen (BUSTED - 250th)
TOP THREE COMBINED: 155
The structure:
- 60% to the best combined top 3 finish (add their finish places together, and the lowest number wins).
- 40% to the best finish of any one player.
- If one of your players makes the final table, everyone else pays $5. And for each place they move up at final table each other player owes an additional $5.
UPDATE 5:19pm PT: Chippy lost Petresco, so he's down to his final 3. Robert lost Habib. Wadzilla lost Petersson. All if my picks are still alive. Three of them are in the top 10 in chip counts: Joseph (chipleader at 2.64mm), Cantu (4th in chips at 1.30mm) and Matros (8th in chips at 1.20mm). Robert's top pick has dropped to 12th in chips (Smith at 1.15mm).
UPDATE 7:00pm PT: Chippy lost another pick (Holmes) leaving him with Matusow and Hansen. My picks seem to be skidding a bit (Van Nguyen just busted), but Joseph is still the chipleader by a good margin. I'm heading out to play poker in a bit, so I guess we'll see who's left come morning.
Favorite line of the day from Chippy: Losing adams last night is like getting the first pick, taking ladanian and he blows out an acl in the opener.
UPDATE 9:45am PT (Saturday): Looks like all of my guys survived the night. Joseph still the chipleader with 2.187mm. Cantu is 4th with 1.981mm. Kostritsyn is 32nd with 1.137mm. Matros is 34th with 1.126mm. Only Chippy and Robert have players remaining with over 1mm (Chippy with Gus Hansen at 1.367mm and Robert with Victor Ramdin at 1.322mm), but each of them has already lost three picks. Wadzilla has the last female standing (Kara Scott at 247k). Things should be interesting, as Jeremy Joseph and Gus Hansen drew the same table for Day 5.
UPDATE 5:30pm PT (Saturday): All of my guys are still in. Cantu just took down a huge pot with 8-5o to climb to 3.200mm, which puts him in 3rd place. Joseph slipped to 1.820mm, which is still good enough for 20th place. Kostritsyn is sitting with 1.789mm (22nd place). Matros has slipped to 944k in chips. Chippy only has Matusow left, but he only has 580k left. Robert only has Ramdin left, and he's currently sitting in 6th with 2.700mm in chips. Wadzilla is my only competition for the top three finishers portion of the prop bet. He still has Hellmuth (1.150mm), Madsen (580k) and Scott (455k).
UPDATE 7:30pm PT (Saturday): Wadzilla lost Madsen and Scott. That means that everyone else only has one player left. I have 4. The lowest possible combined finishes (top three players) based on the bustouts so far are as follows:
Chippy: 443
Robert: 385
Wadzilla: 217
BWoP: 6
Looks like I am sitting pretty well.
UPDATE 11:00pm PT (Saturday): I just lost Kostritsyn in 84th. He lost a huge pot earlier when he flopped a set and his opponent flopped top pair and the nut flush draw and then turned two-pair. The flush hit. All three of my remaining picks have at least 2mm in chips though. Matusow (Chippy's last pick) and Hellmuth (Wadzilla's last pick) are sitting together at the feature table. Both have around 1.2mm. Robert's last pick (Ramdin) is starting to get short - 450k. Play will end for the night in about a half an hour.
UPDATE 2:00pm PT (Sunday): Matros out in 78th. Ramdin out in 64th, leaving Robert with no remaining picks. With only 62 players left, it is mathematically impossible for Wadzilla to catch me even if Hellmuth finishes 1st. Ship 60% of the pool to me! Still up for grabs though is 40% of the prize pool, awarded to the person with the highest finisher, as well as the bonus bets if a player makes the final table.
UPDATE 12:45pm PT (Monday): With Hellmuth and Matusow both busting last night, I have officially run the table. Still in question though, is whether Cantu can make the final table, which will net me some bonus bet money. He's currently sitting in 14th place with 4.74mm in chips.
UPDATE 9:15pm PT (Monday): Cantu out in 20th. No bonus money for me.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
P.I.I.Y.M.: W.T.F.S.
Yesterday was a day off from pokering for me, so I decided to hit pub quiz night at McMullen's.
Our team, named W.T.F.S., started off pretty strong. We got tripped up on a patent question (with two lawyers on the team to boot) and a question about the International Date Line in Round 1, but then we started cruising. Yours truly knew who composed Carmen (Bizet) and who wrote Finnegan's Wake (Joyce), but it all started to go downhill in Round 6.
Round 6 is JB's domain. It's always the music round. We just handed him the paper and pencil and waited for the category to be announced.
"Tonight's music round is . . . COUNTRY!!"
Audible groans all around.
The sad thing is that it was all modern country. If it were some old stuff, I might have been of some use. My parents listen to it all the time.
We managed to get one correct answer for the entire round. And I nailed it. Carrie Underwood.
During the last round (double point round), T decided to change one of our answers.
The question? Which landmark building is at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. JB (born and raised in NYC) and I were sure it was the Empire State Building. T had other ideas. As he walked to the podium to hand in our answer sheet, he changed it and said that he would pay JB and me $1 if we were right.
What a cooler.
It was a fun night despite the fact that we didn't win / place / show and despite the back-tracking by JB when he described me as a "semi-hot Asian chick." Of course, he claimed that he didn't mean to say that out loud. Asshat.
And for those of you who are wondering, W.T.F.S. stands for "When the Fun Stops."
You can find the brochures in all of the casinos. The topic: gambling addiction.
Our team, named W.T.F.S., started off pretty strong. We got tripped up on a patent question (with two lawyers on the team to boot) and a question about the International Date Line in Round 1, but then we started cruising. Yours truly knew who composed Carmen (Bizet) and who wrote Finnegan's Wake (Joyce), but it all started to go downhill in Round 6.
Round 6 is JB's domain. It's always the music round. We just handed him the paper and pencil and waited for the category to be announced.
"Tonight's music round is . . . COUNTRY!!"
Audible groans all around.
The sad thing is that it was all modern country. If it were some old stuff, I might have been of some use. My parents listen to it all the time.
We managed to get one correct answer for the entire round. And I nailed it. Carrie Underwood.
During the last round (double point round), T decided to change one of our answers.
The question? Which landmark building is at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. JB (born and raised in NYC) and I were sure it was the Empire State Building. T had other ideas. As he walked to the podium to hand in our answer sheet, he changed it and said that he would pay JB and me $1 if we were right.
What a cooler.
It was a fun night despite the fact that we didn't win / place / show and despite the back-tracking by JB when he described me as a "semi-hot Asian chick." Of course, he claimed that he didn't mean to say that out loud. Asshat.
And for those of you who are wondering, W.T.F.S. stands for "When the Fun Stops."
You can find the brochures in all of the casinos. The topic: gambling addiction.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Tire Money! (The Sequel)
The tires have now been paid for by other peoples' money.
This time thanks to a well-timed gamble playing Mookie's favorite hand: T-8 sooted.
The Asian guy to my right was a relatively tight player. The guy in seat 4 was a maniac. Asian guy had around 350. I had around 325. Seat 4 had just reloaded for 100.
Asian guy raised to $16 in EP. I called as well as seat 4.
The flop was T-7-4 rainbow. Asian guy bet $35. I figured that seat 4 was going to call as well (he was one of those guys who stayed in with any pair or any draw). With the blinds and limpers, I was getting close to 3.5:1 assuming that seat 4 was going to make the call. Not the right odds when I knew that Asian guy had an over-pair, but I also figured that he couldn't lay down an over-pair, and I was going to take my shot at seat 4 who was just playing recklessly. The implied odds were huge on this one.
I made the call, as did seat 4.
The turn was another T. WEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Asian guy immediately fired out $85. He appeared to be acting unfazed by the T, but I don't think he was thrilled with that card. I paused for a bit and then shoved my last 280+ into the pot. Seat 4 insta-called for his last 60 or so.
Here's the fun part. Asian guy just looks at me and says, "I have to call. If you outplayed me, then you outplayed me."
He flipped over K-K. I showed my trip Ts. Seat 4 had 9-9. Nobody improved from there.
SHIP IT!
Asian guy went on tilt after that. And it didn't help that he almost got stacked just when his girlfriend came by to grab him for dinner. In fact, the guy just to the right of the Asian guy later said that I probably got that call because his woman was standing behind him. I laughed and just said, "You can't have that kind of an ego in this game. It will kill you." He nodded in agreement.
Sure, I gambled a bit with the pre-flop and flop calls, but at a table where people were stacking off with as little as bottom pair, I wanted to take my chances when I could. And if nothing transpired on the turn, I was surely out of that hand for a $41 investment. $41 to win $425? Sign me up.
I stayed around for a while longer, but I didn't have any other chances to take shots at the soft spots at the table. I lost the minimum with Q-Q against A-A (the board kept getting uglier and uglier for an over-pair, so the A-A guy shut down), so I decided to head home with my tire money intact.
**********
I'm heading off to the Rio in a bit to play some poker with Riggs while Al checks out the afternoon shift.
Oh, and Irongirl . . . there has been a Kirk Morrison sighting at the Main Event (tip from Pauly). I'll let you know if I see him.
This time thanks to a well-timed gamble playing Mookie's favorite hand: T-8 sooted.
The Asian guy to my right was a relatively tight player. The guy in seat 4 was a maniac. Asian guy had around 350. I had around 325. Seat 4 had just reloaded for 100.
Asian guy raised to $16 in EP. I called as well as seat 4.
The flop was T-7-4 rainbow. Asian guy bet $35. I figured that seat 4 was going to call as well (he was one of those guys who stayed in with any pair or any draw). With the blinds and limpers, I was getting close to 3.5:1 assuming that seat 4 was going to make the call. Not the right odds when I knew that Asian guy had an over-pair, but I also figured that he couldn't lay down an over-pair, and I was going to take my shot at seat 4 who was just playing recklessly. The implied odds were huge on this one.
I made the call, as did seat 4.
The turn was another T. WEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Asian guy immediately fired out $85. He appeared to be acting unfazed by the T, but I don't think he was thrilled with that card. I paused for a bit and then shoved my last 280+ into the pot. Seat 4 insta-called for his last 60 or so.
Here's the fun part. Asian guy just looks at me and says, "I have to call. If you outplayed me, then you outplayed me."
He flipped over K-K. I showed my trip Ts. Seat 4 had 9-9. Nobody improved from there.
SHIP IT!
Asian guy went on tilt after that. And it didn't help that he almost got stacked just when his girlfriend came by to grab him for dinner. In fact, the guy just to the right of the Asian guy later said that I probably got that call because his woman was standing behind him. I laughed and just said, "You can't have that kind of an ego in this game. It will kill you." He nodded in agreement.
Sure, I gambled a bit with the pre-flop and flop calls, but at a table where people were stacking off with as little as bottom pair, I wanted to take my chances when I could. And if nothing transpired on the turn, I was surely out of that hand for a $41 investment. $41 to win $425? Sign me up.
I stayed around for a while longer, but I didn't have any other chances to take shots at the soft spots at the table. I lost the minimum with Q-Q against A-A (the board kept getting uglier and uglier for an over-pair, so the A-A guy shut down), so I decided to head home with my tire money intact.
**********
I'm heading off to the Rio in a bit to play some poker with Riggs while Al checks out the afternoon shift.
Oh, and Irongirl . . . there has been a Kirk Morrison sighting at the Main Event (tip from Pauly). I'll let you know if I see him.
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