When Geoff sent an email that he was having an Omaha 8/b tournament this Friday, I was all over it. I love Geoff's tournaments. Usually some sort of limit game, and usually mixed. I love mixed games, because I play all of the games to a degree. Maybe stud a little less than the others, but I play the crap out of Razz and Omaha 8/b online (as well as Hold 'Em), so I feel pretty confidnet playing it.
What I love about Omaha 8/b tournaments is that the format usually allows for a lot of play at the beginning. You can play pretty loose and portray an image of a wild and crazy player, and then when the tournament gets into the later stages, if you pick your times right, you can win huge pots from those who portray you as loose. In all actuality, you should play even tighter in O8OB than you do in Hold 'Em. It is so easy to get in bad trouble playing mediocre hands in any Omaha game, but especially in O8OB. You always seem to be drawing to something, and it is easy to get caught up in the drawing game. But the one rule I have read and heard from everyone I think knows what they are doing is that if you are drawing to either a high, low, or both, you better be drawing to the nuts. Betting and calling with anything less than the nuts on the river is usually a recipe for disaster. And usually, even if you end up winning a hand with something mediocre, it only seems to warp your perception, making you think that what just happened was some sort of correct play, when in all liklihood it would cost you a lot of chips 9 out of 10 times.
While I am far from perfect, I think I usually have a pretty good grip on the game. I'll never say never, but I rarely raise on the end with just a lo hand. I have seen so many times when someone holding a nut lo with no high hand at all keeps raising the pot. I saw it several times last night. And almost every single time that happened, the winner was the high hand winner, because there was usually 2 identical lo hands out there. You see two lo hands quartering the pot quite frequently - it is much more rare to see someone quartering the high pot while you are collecting your lo. It is a dangerous gamble to make. You really should have no worse than 2 pair with no flush potential on the board to be justifying raising on the river with a nut lo. Unless you know for certain that all of your other opponents are going for a high, the only time you should be raising with a nut lo on the river is when you are thinking you have a chance to scoop.
Anyway - back to last night. I started off slow - made a little headway in the middle, exploded towards the end, and then fizzled at the very end to finish 3rd out of 11. When we got 3 handed and played for a bit - we all ended up fairly close in chips. So we split $180 of the $220 prize pool by 3 and each took $60 (Third paid $30 and 2nd paid $70, so this pretty much a good deal). Then we finished the tournament out with the winner taking the last $40. Worked out pretty good, and I went out on the next hand.
I then went to the cash game and made another $50 or so. All in all, it was a good night for me. I have aspirations of playing the O8OB tournament at the WSOP Circuit Event in Tunica in January. I am looking forward to playing that quite a bit, and last night just whet my appetite even more.
Steak
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
I am a Donk
Plain and simple, the last two days have been a complete clusterfuck.
I am down $299 with only a $26 token to show for it. I have played bad, then tried to play bigger to make up. I play good but get sucked out on, and that ends up with the same result as if I played bad, except for more money. I play in the $17,500 Guarantee this afternoon and actually cash, but it was completely disappointing. I was Top 5 in chips right before we hit the money (933 players and it paid 90 players), but I donk off chips, and then end up all-in with KT suited when someone behind me yet to act had AK. Game over - out in 53rd. I know now that if I had been more patient I could have moved much further up the money ladder, and that my aggressiveness was poorly timed and gave me no real chance to steal/win chips, but every chance to piss them away. So I kind of made some progress, but not nearly what I should have made.
So then I decided to play the Razz tourney tonight, paying full price. I was making great reads - but you know what happens when you have a great draw and know your opponent has a weak hand? You still need a hit a hand to win, because by the time you reach 7th there is so much money in the pot that the player is going nowhere. It was a just gnarly tourney.
Then I played in a $11 Knockout 90-person SNG. What can I say? I have been absolutely destroyed before in tournaments, but I have never felt more deflated after a tournament than I did after this tournament.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836265
Six hands later:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836272
Very next hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836278
End of tourney. I had doubled up early on in the tourney when one player donk went all in with Top Pair on the turn when I turned a flush. But he had 100 more chips than me, so someone else ended up with that bounty. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!
I end the night by losing a $26 buy-in $75 token tourney, and then winning a $26 token.
So I am so screwed on my goals right now. Just like Shaun mentions in his blog, I am thinking I need to take a break. At least online. Play some live games over the next couple of weeks, and get my mind straight before I head to Tunica the second week of January. When I get back, then I will start thinking about June and the WSOP. But I can tell you, unless I get myself straight, and do so soon, I have no business being out in Vegas for anything at all. Period. Anyway - my Road to Event 26 is taking a detour after this disastrous past couple of days, and we shall see if I hop back on that road soon or not. I am on vacation for work the next week and a half, so I am sure that I will probably end up playing some online simply because I will not be able to control myself not to. But I need to reflect on my game a little bit and see where it takes me. Maybe the best thing to do is just stop playing completely and focus on other things in my life. I just don't know. What I do know is that I need to win my Fantasy Football league bad now. Go Brady!!! Go Pats Defense. Shut those Dolphins out!!!!!!!!!!!
Steak
I am down $299 with only a $26 token to show for it. I have played bad, then tried to play bigger to make up. I play good but get sucked out on, and that ends up with the same result as if I played bad, except for more money. I play in the $17,500 Guarantee this afternoon and actually cash, but it was completely disappointing. I was Top 5 in chips right before we hit the money (933 players and it paid 90 players), but I donk off chips, and then end up all-in with KT suited when someone behind me yet to act had AK. Game over - out in 53rd. I know now that if I had been more patient I could have moved much further up the money ladder, and that my aggressiveness was poorly timed and gave me no real chance to steal/win chips, but every chance to piss them away. So I kind of made some progress, but not nearly what I should have made.
So then I decided to play the Razz tourney tonight, paying full price. I was making great reads - but you know what happens when you have a great draw and know your opponent has a weak hand? You still need a hit a hand to win, because by the time you reach 7th there is so much money in the pot that the player is going nowhere. It was a just gnarly tourney.
Then I played in a $11 Knockout 90-person SNG. What can I say? I have been absolutely destroyed before in tournaments, but I have never felt more deflated after a tournament than I did after this tournament.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836265
Six hands later:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836272
Very next hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1836278
End of tourney. I had doubled up early on in the tourney when one player donk went all in with Top Pair on the turn when I turned a flush. But he had 100 more chips than me, so someone else ended up with that bounty. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!
I end the night by losing a $26 buy-in $75 token tourney, and then winning a $26 token.
So I am so screwed on my goals right now. Just like Shaun mentions in his blog, I am thinking I need to take a break. At least online. Play some live games over the next couple of weeks, and get my mind straight before I head to Tunica the second week of January. When I get back, then I will start thinking about June and the WSOP. But I can tell you, unless I get myself straight, and do so soon, I have no business being out in Vegas for anything at all. Period. Anyway - my Road to Event 26 is taking a detour after this disastrous past couple of days, and we shall see if I hop back on that road soon or not. I am on vacation for work the next week and a half, so I am sure that I will probably end up playing some online simply because I will not be able to control myself not to. But I need to reflect on my game a little bit and see where it takes me. Maybe the best thing to do is just stop playing completely and focus on other things in my life. I just don't know. What I do know is that I need to win my Fantasy Football league bad now. Go Brady!!! Go Pats Defense. Shut those Dolphins out!!!!!!!!!!!
Steak
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Final League Tournament and some SICK Cash Game Action
So last night was the final tournament of our league. The tournament for me was inconsequential. I played good at first, and sucked ass at the end. Actually, pretty much a reversal of the way I usually play. I was making good moves and reads early on, and chasing way too much when the blinds were high. I paid a severe price, and ended up getting busted somewhere right in the middle of the pack. So $500 not in my pocket for Tunica in a couple of weeks. That sucked.
Then I played in the cash game that popped up. So sick. It was just a $0.50 / $1.00 cash game at first. All NLHE. When the tourney wrapped up, we moved to the main table at The Shadow's Poker Pit - sweet table and sweet environment to play. We switched the game up to playing dealer's choice. And when we say dealer's choice, it really morphed into dealer's choice of ANYTHING that even remotely resembled poker. And we all got hooked on a game called 52. This is the sickest game ever. It has nothing to do with skill at all - purely a luck game. Pure gamble, and could be very expensive.
For those who don't know what this is, everyone at the table has to ante. Then everyone is dealt 5 cards. You look at your cards, and you have to decide right then if you are in or out (going around the table declaring one way or the other, with the dealer declaring last). You declare by throwing another ante into the pot. Those who stayed in get dealt two more cards. If two or more players stayed in, the winner takes the pot in the middle, and the loser(s) have to match whatever was in the pot and put it into the pot for the next hand. Then everyone antes again, and you start all over again. So if only two people stayed in, then the pot only grows by the amount of the antes. If three or more people stayed in, then you have two or more people matching the pot. The first hand usually has about 4 people in it, so you are looking the pot growing several times the initial pot for the second hand. As you can see, this can get big quick. The way the game ends is if only one person stays in. When that happens, they get their 2 additional cards, and then a ghost hand is dealt in the middle of the table. The player left must beat this ghost hand, and if they do they take the pot. If they do not, then they must match the pot.
The first few times we played this, the pot never got ridiculous. I think we had one $100+ pot the first dozen times we played it. But the last game was a classic.
The initial ante was $1.50 each, and we had 5 players in the pot. After that, each additional ante was $1.00 each. It starts off a little slow, with the pot never getting too big, and usually only one person calling. But at some point, it got ridiculous. I think what happened is we actually had 3 players in the pot when it was up to about $46. So after that hand was over, it was almost $100. Then the craziness ensues. Runner Runner Ricky lost his nickname, as luck was not on his side tonight. He faced off against the ghost hand and lost, and was stuck almost $100. So now the pot was almost $200. Then Robert held 2 pair against the ghost hand - and lost on the river. He was stuck $200 in the game now. So the pot is a sick amount of over $400. So Ricky gets two pair again, and tries to take down the massive pot. Now, please remember that it is after 4:00AM (we had been playing this cash game for quite some time). We had been playing this particular game for awhile, as once the pot got this big most of us were folding and re-anteing to see another hand. So Ricky is feeling pretty good about his hand. I will never forget this. The ghost is dealt:
K-K-K
Now Ricky had a K in his hand. The case Kings are dealt as the first 3 cards to the ghost hand. Ricky is now stuck another $400. By the time this was finalized, the pot was well over $800. Robert takes it down with a high two pair, and we (except Ricky) sigh a huge breath of relief. One crazy hand, and that pot could have easily topped $1700. I think going forward we will call for the pot to be capped, as it is really insane to think that a few hands not going your way could lead to you losing a mortgage payment in a game where skill is next to non-existent. Considering the stakes we were playing for, the end of the night was intense. It was fun, but a stressful fun. I actually had a chance to take down the $800 pot when I was dealt AAKQT, but I had pretty much made up my mind that unless I was dealt a straight, I was not even considering making that call. Then again I would have won and pretty much had my Tunica trip paid for in one psychotic hand of 52. Oh well, as Ricky once taunted John before losing his ass "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda". Ricky probably is probably thinking today he "Shoulda" not made a couple of those calls. Oh well. Live and learn.
I guess this is why I try to steer clear of dealer's choice games. While I like variety, I need to be playing skill games and not chance games. Money much better invested that way. For me, it was a live and learn scenario as well.
Steak
Then I played in the cash game that popped up. So sick. It was just a $0.50 / $1.00 cash game at first. All NLHE. When the tourney wrapped up, we moved to the main table at The Shadow's Poker Pit - sweet table and sweet environment to play. We switched the game up to playing dealer's choice. And when we say dealer's choice, it really morphed into dealer's choice of ANYTHING that even remotely resembled poker. And we all got hooked on a game called 52. This is the sickest game ever. It has nothing to do with skill at all - purely a luck game. Pure gamble, and could be very expensive.
For those who don't know what this is, everyone at the table has to ante. Then everyone is dealt 5 cards. You look at your cards, and you have to decide right then if you are in or out (going around the table declaring one way or the other, with the dealer declaring last). You declare by throwing another ante into the pot. Those who stayed in get dealt two more cards. If two or more players stayed in, the winner takes the pot in the middle, and the loser(s) have to match whatever was in the pot and put it into the pot for the next hand. Then everyone antes again, and you start all over again. So if only two people stayed in, then the pot only grows by the amount of the antes. If three or more people stayed in, then you have two or more people matching the pot. The first hand usually has about 4 people in it, so you are looking the pot growing several times the initial pot for the second hand. As you can see, this can get big quick. The way the game ends is if only one person stays in. When that happens, they get their 2 additional cards, and then a ghost hand is dealt in the middle of the table. The player left must beat this ghost hand, and if they do they take the pot. If they do not, then they must match the pot.
The first few times we played this, the pot never got ridiculous. I think we had one $100+ pot the first dozen times we played it. But the last game was a classic.
The initial ante was $1.50 each, and we had 5 players in the pot. After that, each additional ante was $1.00 each. It starts off a little slow, with the pot never getting too big, and usually only one person calling. But at some point, it got ridiculous. I think what happened is we actually had 3 players in the pot when it was up to about $46. So after that hand was over, it was almost $100. Then the craziness ensues. Runner Runner Ricky lost his nickname, as luck was not on his side tonight. He faced off against the ghost hand and lost, and was stuck almost $100. So now the pot was almost $200. Then Robert held 2 pair against the ghost hand - and lost on the river. He was stuck $200 in the game now. So the pot is a sick amount of over $400. So Ricky gets two pair again, and tries to take down the massive pot. Now, please remember that it is after 4:00AM (we had been playing this cash game for quite some time). We had been playing this particular game for awhile, as once the pot got this big most of us were folding and re-anteing to see another hand. So Ricky is feeling pretty good about his hand. I will never forget this. The ghost is dealt:
K-K-K
Now Ricky had a K in his hand. The case Kings are dealt as the first 3 cards to the ghost hand. Ricky is now stuck another $400. By the time this was finalized, the pot was well over $800. Robert takes it down with a high two pair, and we (except Ricky) sigh a huge breath of relief. One crazy hand, and that pot could have easily topped $1700. I think going forward we will call for the pot to be capped, as it is really insane to think that a few hands not going your way could lead to you losing a mortgage payment in a game where skill is next to non-existent. Considering the stakes we were playing for, the end of the night was intense. It was fun, but a stressful fun. I actually had a chance to take down the $800 pot when I was dealt AAKQT, but I had pretty much made up my mind that unless I was dealt a straight, I was not even considering making that call. Then again I would have won and pretty much had my Tunica trip paid for in one psychotic hand of 52. Oh well, as Ricky once taunted John before losing his ass "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda". Ricky probably is probably thinking today he "Shoulda" not made a couple of those calls. Oh well. Live and learn.
I guess this is why I try to steer clear of dealer's choice games. While I like variety, I need to be playing skill games and not chance games. Money much better invested that way. For me, it was a live and learn scenario as well.
Steak
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Road to Event 26, Day 5 (with a slight detour to Day 4)
Sometimes I just cannot help myself. Last night, I am up late doing a little laundry with not much else to do. Monday Night Football is on, but I could care less. My fantasy football action was done by the end of the afternoon games on Sunday (which I won --> I have at least $218 coming to me from this year's competition thanks to at least clinching 2nd, and also winning half of this year's transaction pool for scoring the most points during the regular season. If I win next week, tack on another $150 for a $368 score).
So I could not help myself - I jumped in and played some $3/$6 Razz. Mistake. I played for just a little while, and slowly ground my $60 buy-in down in half. I retreated - it was one of those feelings you have. So technically, I ended yesterday down. But since I had concluded my play for yesterday, I decided that I would have to just work harder on Day 5, and count this loss towards Day 5.
This is why you don't go off the plan. I felt I needed to push the edges harder than I normally would when I got online this morning. I headed right back to the $3/$6 game. I have beat this game consistently in the past, so I had no worries about playing again. The very first hand I hit an 8-5, only to be rivered by someone who ended up with a 7-6. $30 down the very first hand. I made a slight comeback, then I became a mason. I start off 4 to a 6, with people showing face cards, including a guy who was showing 2 jacks, who called me down the whole way when I proceed to go Q-K-Q on 5th through 7th. Actually, I think I checked the river, as I knew he was calling no matter what (and he would have, as made a 9 on the river). Just gross. A few hands later, I get busted out of the game When I started A-5-6, only to have someone else start A-2-5 and A-4-5. I brick all over the place, and the other two guys both hit decent hands, breaking me. Down another $60. This is not looking good at all.
So what better way to end a slump than by playing Omaha 8OB, right? Well, those who read my last post know I blew through $40 yesterday playing this very game. But I figured I was in the twilight zone, and if I was having this much trouble with Razz today then I should have good luck with O8OB. So I sat down at a $2/$4 6-handed table for what I hoped would be a long, grinding session where I could at least get my $60 back (or most of it) and start fresh later today on my journey. And at first, that was sort of true. I had some good luck with high hands holding up with no low draws out there, and I got up to double my $40 quickly. Then I started getting some of the classics. I have a nut lo, and the other idiot with the same nut lo keeps re-raising the high hand to get the pot capped on the river. With all of the other money in the pot, it was just good enough to call these guys so that I would not be any worse off than I would be by folding. What a moron. This same guy was re-raising the high hand heads-up with a nut lo earlier. The high hand was a mornin too and kept re-raising the lo. The winner here: Full Tilt Poker, who got extra rake from the additional bets thrown out there when it was obvious they each had half the pot only. Back to my game - I ended up back down to about $60, which was disheartening. But then I went on a roll. I scooped about 4 pots in a 15 minutes stretch, and before I knew it, I was up over $100. I had reached my goal. I recouped the debacle of a buy-in I had earlier in the Razz game. I wanted to end this now, but something told me to stay. This table was soft. So I did. And I ended up scooping another big pot, putting me over the $130 mark. By this time, I felt I had really done about all I could do at this table. If they had not caught onto me by now, they surely were about to. And I did the best I could at the time - got my money back from BOTH losing Razz sessions. I am officially back to even for my Day 5.
So I then head to the $3/$6 Razz tables one more time. I have a much better session this time. I do have a quick up-then-down cycle over the first 6 hands I play, and I develop a foil relationship with another player. I knew we would be locking horns. We get involved with a hand where we both have good boards, and we swap taking the lead on 5th and 6th street, but finally on the river I boardlock him with a nut 7, and he has two 8's and a 7 showing. Worst case scenario, we are chopping, and I am willing to bet the moon we are not chopping. This guy would have called me down with an 8-7 the way he had been playing me the entire session, but I also think he probably would have checked the river as well. I bet, he calls, and I end up $32 after the hand is over. After the craziness I have had today, hitting my goal directly on the mark is perfect!!!!! So I get up, leave the table, and go from $90 down to $32 up in a matter of an hour and a half. Sweet. Here is my progress as of now:
Daily Profit: +$32.00
Daily WSOP Profit: +$11.50
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $57.50
WSOP Money earned to this point: $76.00
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.50
Steak
So I could not help myself - I jumped in and played some $3/$6 Razz. Mistake. I played for just a little while, and slowly ground my $60 buy-in down in half. I retreated - it was one of those feelings you have. So technically, I ended yesterday down. But since I had concluded my play for yesterday, I decided that I would have to just work harder on Day 5, and count this loss towards Day 5.
This is why you don't go off the plan. I felt I needed to push the edges harder than I normally would when I got online this morning. I headed right back to the $3/$6 game. I have beat this game consistently in the past, so I had no worries about playing again. The very first hand I hit an 8-5, only to be rivered by someone who ended up with a 7-6. $30 down the very first hand. I made a slight comeback, then I became a mason. I start off 4 to a 6, with people showing face cards, including a guy who was showing 2 jacks, who called me down the whole way when I proceed to go Q-K-Q on 5th through 7th. Actually, I think I checked the river, as I knew he was calling no matter what (and he would have, as made a 9 on the river). Just gross. A few hands later, I get busted out of the game When I started A-5-6, only to have someone else start A-2-5 and A-4-5. I brick all over the place, and the other two guys both hit decent hands, breaking me. Down another $60. This is not looking good at all.
So what better way to end a slump than by playing Omaha 8OB, right? Well, those who read my last post know I blew through $40 yesterday playing this very game. But I figured I was in the twilight zone, and if I was having this much trouble with Razz today then I should have good luck with O8OB. So I sat down at a $2/$4 6-handed table for what I hoped would be a long, grinding session where I could at least get my $60 back (or most of it) and start fresh later today on my journey. And at first, that was sort of true. I had some good luck with high hands holding up with no low draws out there, and I got up to double my $40 quickly. Then I started getting some of the classics. I have a nut lo, and the other idiot with the same nut lo keeps re-raising the high hand to get the pot capped on the river. With all of the other money in the pot, it was just good enough to call these guys so that I would not be any worse off than I would be by folding. What a moron. This same guy was re-raising the high hand heads-up with a nut lo earlier. The high hand was a mornin too and kept re-raising the lo. The winner here: Full Tilt Poker, who got extra rake from the additional bets thrown out there when it was obvious they each had half the pot only. Back to my game - I ended up back down to about $60, which was disheartening. But then I went on a roll. I scooped about 4 pots in a 15 minutes stretch, and before I knew it, I was up over $100. I had reached my goal. I recouped the debacle of a buy-in I had earlier in the Razz game. I wanted to end this now, but something told me to stay. This table was soft. So I did. And I ended up scooping another big pot, putting me over the $130 mark. By this time, I felt I had really done about all I could do at this table. If they had not caught onto me by now, they surely were about to. And I did the best I could at the time - got my money back from BOTH losing Razz sessions. I am officially back to even for my Day 5.
So I then head to the $3/$6 Razz tables one more time. I have a much better session this time. I do have a quick up-then-down cycle over the first 6 hands I play, and I develop a foil relationship with another player. I knew we would be locking horns. We get involved with a hand where we both have good boards, and we swap taking the lead on 5th and 6th street, but finally on the river I boardlock him with a nut 7, and he has two 8's and a 7 showing. Worst case scenario, we are chopping, and I am willing to bet the moon we are not chopping. This guy would have called me down with an 8-7 the way he had been playing me the entire session, but I also think he probably would have checked the river as well. I bet, he calls, and I end up $32 after the hand is over. After the craziness I have had today, hitting my goal directly on the mark is perfect!!!!! So I get up, leave the table, and go from $90 down to $32 up in a matter of an hour and a half. Sweet. Here is my progress as of now:
Daily Profit: +$32.00
Daily WSOP Profit: +$11.50
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $57.50
WSOP Money earned to this point: $76.00
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.50
Steak
Monday, December 17, 2007
Road to Event 26, Day 4
A little rougher road today. I had a feeling today was going to be one of those days. It was a little bit of a roller coaster to say the least. So to start with, I sat down at a $2/$4 Heads-Up Razz table. Someone was already sitting there. The guy who was sitting there did not automatically ante, and 2 seconds later he sits out. He sits there for awhile. It was not an issue of him timing out and not being at his computer. He just did not want to play me. I did not recognize the name. So either this guy decided he did not want to play, or he did not want to play me. I don't know why - it is not like I have made a name for myself as an unplayable guy. Far from it. Anyway - he sat there for awhile, and I was not leaving. If by the off chance he was trying to avoid me, I was going to make him wait forever at that table. So while I was sitting there I went over to a 6-handed $2/$4 LHE table. I played there for all of 6 minutes, and got up $13.00. The reason I left was that while I was playing, the first guy left the heads-up Razz table, and someone else sat down to play. I wanted to concentrate on the Razz table (it is much harder to play multiple Razz tables - or any Stud table - than it is for any flop game due to all of the exposed cards you need to be paying attention to before they are folded). So I quit the LHE game and move over. I start rolling over this guy, and I almost hit my goal right away. Then I go cold - the dude calls me down with 9-8 lo hands, and gets ahead of me. We play for a total of 7 minutes, and the second he pulls back ahead of me he bolts. It is a little annoying, but at the same time I understand the move. I am sure he is not on the same kind of path I am on, but when you are outmatched and you get lucky to get back to even or ahead, why press your luck? :)
Anyway, so I lose $7.90 in that session, and now I am only up $5.10. So, what better way to get ahead than to play yet a whole another game. So I went to a $2/$4 6-handed Omaha 8OB table. I start off good. Then I went downhill fast. I played horribly. I had nut lo hands counterfeited on the river. I end up with 2 best hands both ways in many hands and lose. I am such a donk. Oh well. I donk off my entire $40 buy-in after playing for 35 minutes). But then the light at the end of the tunnel.
Dejected I leave the table. As I close the window for the table, I see the little pop-up: "We have released $20 of your Bonus." I know it is not exactly the same thing, but I will take it nevertheless. So thanks to that bonus money, I am now down only $14.90 for the day (instead of down $34.90).
So I head back over to the Razz tables. I think the earlier bad run at Razz was a fluke, and I decide to sit down at an almost full 8-handed $3/$6 Razz table. Good choice. Here is my first hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1820461
Granted, I was going out on a limb on 4th street for this one. I started with a Q buried. And then I pair up top on 4th. But I paired a deuce. He hit a T. If my undercards were as strong as I represented them to be, a pair of deuces is still a slight favorite versus someone who is drawing to a T lo. When he catches the A on 5th, but I catch another wheel card, I feel justified in seeing one more card. Now when he catches the J on 6th, giving him two broadway cards up top, my board all of the sudden looks good with A223. When he checks, I attempt to bluff him off the hand and take it down right there. Of course, he was having none of it and called along, with the pot too big to fold with his draw. I was hoping that the A had actually paired him and that he was in bad shape. Luckily, I nail a 6 lo on the river, bet it, and get raised. I am thinking - this is pretty horrible luck if I catch what I perceive to be a miracle card on the end, only for him to hit a wheel or nut 6 on the river, so I just call. Turns out he has a nut 7, and I nail a relatively huge pot (he was the one who caught the bad "miracle" card). I play for a total of 4 minutes, profit $49 from it, and exceed my goal for the day by a whopping $2.10. I play and lose the $8.70 token tourney, and I am now done. All of this roller coaster ride lasts exactly 59 minutes, and I am done for the day.
***UPDATE*** I decided to play with my extra $2 winnings in a $0.05/$0.10 table, and was doing good until I lost my buy-in when I flopped a flush, only to be outkicked by another flopped flush. Oh well. So the totals down below have been updated accordingly.***
I have decided that I am going to wait and play my token tournaments later in the day, if possible, instead of right after I hit my daily goal. First, it spreads my poker time out a little bit. Secondly, I am usually pretty happy about meeting my goal that I am not as focused when playing the token tournaments as I should be. So from now, I will try and wait at least an hour or more before playing. I think that will be the best idea for me at this time. I got lucky today, as I dodged a bullet playing so badly in O8OB. Tomorrow I will need to play better from the beginning to be able to make my goal. I only have so much luck that I can cash in during my journey these next 6 months. There are still 176 more days of playing to go.
Daily Profit: +$32.10
Daily WSOP Profit: +$12.60
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $46.00
WSOP Money earned to this point: $64.50
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.50
Steak
Anyway, so I lose $7.90 in that session, and now I am only up $5.10. So, what better way to get ahead than to play yet a whole another game. So I went to a $2/$4 6-handed Omaha 8OB table. I start off good. Then I went downhill fast. I played horribly. I had nut lo hands counterfeited on the river. I end up with 2 best hands both ways in many hands and lose. I am such a donk. Oh well. I donk off my entire $40 buy-in after playing for 35 minutes). But then the light at the end of the tunnel.
Dejected I leave the table. As I close the window for the table, I see the little pop-up: "We have released $20 of your Bonus." I know it is not exactly the same thing, but I will take it nevertheless. So thanks to that bonus money, I am now down only $14.90 for the day (instead of down $34.90).
So I head back over to the Razz tables. I think the earlier bad run at Razz was a fluke, and I decide to sit down at an almost full 8-handed $3/$6 Razz table. Good choice. Here is my first hand:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1820461
Granted, I was going out on a limb on 4th street for this one. I started with a Q buried. And then I pair up top on 4th. But I paired a deuce. He hit a T. If my undercards were as strong as I represented them to be, a pair of deuces is still a slight favorite versus someone who is drawing to a T lo. When he catches the A on 5th, but I catch another wheel card, I feel justified in seeing one more card. Now when he catches the J on 6th, giving him two broadway cards up top, my board all of the sudden looks good with A223. When he checks, I attempt to bluff him off the hand and take it down right there. Of course, he was having none of it and called along, with the pot too big to fold with his draw. I was hoping that the A had actually paired him and that he was in bad shape. Luckily, I nail a 6 lo on the river, bet it, and get raised. I am thinking - this is pretty horrible luck if I catch what I perceive to be a miracle card on the end, only for him to hit a wheel or nut 6 on the river, so I just call. Turns out he has a nut 7, and I nail a relatively huge pot (he was the one who caught the bad "miracle" card). I play for a total of 4 minutes, profit $49 from it, and exceed my goal for the day by a whopping $2.10. I play and lose the $8.70 token tourney, and I am now done. All of this roller coaster ride lasts exactly 59 minutes, and I am done for the day.
***UPDATE*** I decided to play with my extra $2 winnings in a $0.05/$0.10 table, and was doing good until I lost my buy-in when I flopped a flush, only to be outkicked by another flopped flush. Oh well. So the totals down below have been updated accordingly.***
I have decided that I am going to wait and play my token tournaments later in the day, if possible, instead of right after I hit my daily goal. First, it spreads my poker time out a little bit. Secondly, I am usually pretty happy about meeting my goal that I am not as focused when playing the token tournaments as I should be. So from now, I will try and wait at least an hour or more before playing. I think that will be the best idea for me at this time. I got lucky today, as I dodged a bullet playing so badly in O8OB. Tomorrow I will need to play better from the beginning to be able to make my goal. I only have so much luck that I can cash in during my journey these next 6 months. There are still 176 more days of playing to go.
Daily Profit: +$32.10
Daily WSOP Profit: +$12.60
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $46.00
WSOP Money earned to this point: $64.50
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.50
Steak
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Road to Event 26, Day 3 (sort of)
OK. Technically, it is still Day 2. But tomorrow is a big day for me from a fantasy football perspective. Win, and I play for my league's title next week. Lose, and I do not make the money. So I will be a little distracted tomorrow, and I thought why not go ahead and do my Day 3 session tonight while I had some time. Good move on my part.
I had planned on playing some $1/$2 or $2/$4 Razz cash. Amazingly, there was not one single $2/$4 game going, and there was not an open $1/$2 game. I start looking around - no H.O.R.S.E. games going. No Omaha 8/b games going I wanted to play. So I go back to the Razz tables. Then I see there was someone waiting in a $3/$6 heads-up table. I never heard of the kid, so unless I know you are good, I have no problem sitting heads-up against you in Razz. In fact, even if you are good I am not scared, but I am a little more careful with my game selection right now trying to make my goal. So I figured "what the hell" and sat down.
Wow. What a good choice. This kid basically gave me his money. He played scared, which is what I wanted. Anytime I hit low cards, he assumed I was good. Anytime he hit any bad card he went to check-fold mode. It was so easy. Five minutes and 23 hands later I was up $39.50. If I was not on my self-imposed journey, I would have loved to have kept playing. But once I hit my goal, I stop. It is just how I am going to roll with this one. If you can remember, I lost $150 a few days ago after I was up $50. So I am more than happy to play this way. I normally would not play $3/$6 to try and win $32. Risk/reward is probably not really there, but heads-up Razz is a whole other conversation. So anyway, probably won't here much out of me tomorrow. Go Brady-to-Welker (no passes to Moss or Watson). And may Tony Romo throw 6 picks. Peace out.
Daily Profit: +$39.50
Daily WSOP Profit: +$19.00
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $34.50
WSOP Money earned to this point: $52.90
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.40
Steak
I had planned on playing some $1/$2 or $2/$4 Razz cash. Amazingly, there was not one single $2/$4 game going, and there was not an open $1/$2 game. I start looking around - no H.O.R.S.E. games going. No Omaha 8/b games going I wanted to play. So I go back to the Razz tables. Then I see there was someone waiting in a $3/$6 heads-up table. I never heard of the kid, so unless I know you are good, I have no problem sitting heads-up against you in Razz. In fact, even if you are good I am not scared, but I am a little more careful with my game selection right now trying to make my goal. So I figured "what the hell" and sat down.
Wow. What a good choice. This kid basically gave me his money. He played scared, which is what I wanted. Anytime I hit low cards, he assumed I was good. Anytime he hit any bad card he went to check-fold mode. It was so easy. Five minutes and 23 hands later I was up $39.50. If I was not on my self-imposed journey, I would have loved to have kept playing. But once I hit my goal, I stop. It is just how I am going to roll with this one. If you can remember, I lost $150 a few days ago after I was up $50. So I am more than happy to play this way. I normally would not play $3/$6 to try and win $32. Risk/reward is probably not really there, but heads-up Razz is a whole other conversation. So anyway, probably won't here much out of me tomorrow. Go Brady-to-Welker (no passes to Moss or Watson). And may Tony Romo throw 6 picks. Peace out.
Daily Profit: +$39.50
Daily WSOP Profit: +$19.00
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $34.50
WSOP Money earned to this point: $52.90
Relative to Goal at this point: +$18.40
Steak
Road to Event 26, Day 2
Day 2 was once again a good day. A real good day. Not so much in that I got way ahead today - because I didn't. But I had to work all of 7 minutes to get my goal. This time it was $2/$4 Limit Hold 'Em. No special hands - just had some really loose players who would call raises pre-flop with anything, but would drop off at the turn when they didn't hit. So unless they lucked out on the river - it was an easy session. So I am playing my $26 Token satellite, have a huge lead going to the final table, and am ready to coast to the Razz tourney tonight to try and add to my fundage.
Daily Profit: +$33.00
Daily WSOP Profit: +$12.50
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $23.00
WSOP Money earned to this point: $33.90
Relative to Goal at this point: +$10.90
Daily Profit: +$33.00
Daily WSOP Profit: +$12.50
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $23.00
WSOP Money earned to this point: $33.90
Relative to Goal at this point: +$10.90
Friday, December 14, 2007
You Think That Was a Bad Beat...
I thought I would end my Friday on the computer by linking some of my favorite bad beat (or just plain rough beat) videos on here for your perusal for reminiscing.
Video #1
This one is just sick, although not really a "bad beat". I want you to just think for a second about this one. Yes, two aces flop. But can you really, honestly ever think that your opponent has AT there? You almost praying he has AK or AQ there (which AQ would have been disasterous, too, but what else would you put him on to make you think he would call an all-in bet? Sammy made it 1300, and the raise is 8250 more. Part of that is Oliver not being a very good poker player - about the only way he calls that is if he has exactly what he has. Even with AK or AQ he probably folds that early. I guess - but no matter how you stack it, you know that after the turn and the river the money would have gotten all-in either way. Just brutal.
Video #2
This is just fun to watch. Cold Deck Hell right here.
Video #3
The classic Hansen vs. Negreanu High Stakes Poker hand. Unreal considering how much money was on the line.
Video #4
The best part about this is the meltdown D'Agostino had after the hand was over. Then, the very next hand, he gets dealt pocket K's when he is all-in for the ante, and loses then too. Classic Dags!!!!
Video #5
Nothing like having someone hit a 2-outer on the river to get eliminated from a WPT Final table? It would not have mattered if the turn had not paired the board, either, since he would have then hit a one-outer on the river. Sick.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Steak
Video #1
This one is just sick, although not really a "bad beat". I want you to just think for a second about this one. Yes, two aces flop. But can you really, honestly ever think that your opponent has AT there? You almost praying he has AK or AQ there (which AQ would have been disasterous, too, but what else would you put him on to make you think he would call an all-in bet? Sammy made it 1300, and the raise is 8250 more. Part of that is Oliver not being a very good poker player - about the only way he calls that is if he has exactly what he has. Even with AK or AQ he probably folds that early. I guess - but no matter how you stack it, you know that after the turn and the river the money would have gotten all-in either way. Just brutal.
Video #2
This is just fun to watch. Cold Deck Hell right here.
Video #3
The classic Hansen vs. Negreanu High Stakes Poker hand. Unreal considering how much money was on the line.
Video #4
The best part about this is the meltdown D'Agostino had after the hand was over. Then, the very next hand, he gets dealt pocket K's when he is all-in for the ante, and loses then too. Classic Dags!!!!
Video #5
Nothing like having someone hit a 2-outer on the river to get eliminated from a WPT Final table? It would not have mattered if the turn had not paired the board, either, since he would have then hit a one-outer on the river. Sick.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Steak
The Road to Event 26, Part 1
OK - after the debacle that was yesterday morning with poker, I am straightening myself out and getting focused. I have slightly less than 6 months to prepare for Event 26, and by prepare I mean win enough money to play in Event 26. And not just the buy-in for the tournament, but all of the travel expenses that go along with it.
So here is the goal - In order to pay for my way to tournament, I merely have to win $11.50 per day. That only accounts for taking 3 days off between now and then. Since I play poker pretty much at some point every single day of the year online, I don't see this as a problem. To also justify playing with money won instead of using the money to pay for other stuff around the house, I am also factoring in needing to win another $11.50 a day for personal use. That way when I say I am spending over $2K to play in a tournament and spending 3 nights in Vegas away from the family, before anything can be said I will also plop $2K down and say here is some extra for the family. And who am I kidding - if I need to dip into that fund because I come up a little short, I will. So that sets my goal at $23 profit a day, right? Wrong. I am also throwing in what I call the "X-Factor" - and additional $9 a day to pay for one $8.70 satellite for a $26 token each day. This is gravy. If I am playing and I have been teetering all day with being down for the day, or just breaking even, and I get up to being $24 up, I may just call it quits and forego that token tourney. But if I am having a good day and have won at least $32, then I am going to use $8.70 to play a token tourney and see if I can paraly that into a $26 token to use in the nightly Razz tournament. All of this helps focus me. If I play good in that token tourney, then I get to really focus in on the Razz tournament that night. And that, of course, then focuses me on preparing for the WSOP even more. Plus, any cashing I do in that Razz tournament is bonus money I will use to help towards my goal.
So basically what I am going to do is plot my progress here on the blog. Not that anyone cares, but it is just another way of making me focus.
Anyway, I started my goal this morning. And I am happy to say that I am already at my goal for the day. I decided today to really short-buy into a $2/$4 Razz cash game. I bought into the game for $20, and I had a table full of loose players. I pretty much sat back and waited for hands. I got up early, but then had a few runner-runner bricks to nut draws that never panned out. Luckily, I never fell below my buy-in, and a good run of about 4 hands propelled me to my goal, and then some. I played for about 50 minutes, and was up $41.90. I know this is not a lot of money, but remember I really plan on taking baby steps all the way with this one and try not to get too greedy nor too down at any one point. This is about as close to bankroll management as you will see me do. I know for a fact that I am one of the worst in terms of playing higher than I should, so I am trying to quell that urge as much as I can in order to achieve my goal of playing at the WSOP on won money. And I know I can do it. I really hope that I can play the Razz tournament quite a bit over this time frame as well on tokens, and cash frquently during that tournament too. With all of this going on, I feel confident that I will be playing at the table come June at the Rio, and I can honestly say that I am not afraid to play anyone in Razz. Usually the person that hurts me the most playing that game is myself. Over the next six months I think I can learn to limit my mistakes and become a much better player. I have no illusions on making the final table or even cashing. I just want to get the experience and move forward. I think eventually I will be good enough to cash, and eventually I may even make a Razz final table. Time will tell, but I have to start sometime. And that time is now.
Daily Profit: +$41.90
Daily WSOP Profit: +$21.40
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $11.50
Relative to Goal at this point: +$9.90
I still have to play the Token Satellite, although due to other commitments tonight I may not be able to play the Razz tournament even if I win the token. Which means it gets saved until another night (the next night I don't win a token). It is a long journey, but one I plan on taking to the end.
So here is the goal - In order to pay for my way to tournament, I merely have to win $11.50 per day. That only accounts for taking 3 days off between now and then. Since I play poker pretty much at some point every single day of the year online, I don't see this as a problem. To also justify playing with money won instead of using the money to pay for other stuff around the house, I am also factoring in needing to win another $11.50 a day for personal use. That way when I say I am spending over $2K to play in a tournament and spending 3 nights in Vegas away from the family, before anything can be said I will also plop $2K down and say here is some extra for the family. And who am I kidding - if I need to dip into that fund because I come up a little short, I will. So that sets my goal at $23 profit a day, right? Wrong. I am also throwing in what I call the "X-Factor" - and additional $9 a day to pay for one $8.70 satellite for a $26 token each day. This is gravy. If I am playing and I have been teetering all day with being down for the day, or just breaking even, and I get up to being $24 up, I may just call it quits and forego that token tourney. But if I am having a good day and have won at least $32, then I am going to use $8.70 to play a token tourney and see if I can paraly that into a $26 token to use in the nightly Razz tournament. All of this helps focus me. If I play good in that token tourney, then I get to really focus in on the Razz tournament that night. And that, of course, then focuses me on preparing for the WSOP even more. Plus, any cashing I do in that Razz tournament is bonus money I will use to help towards my goal.
So basically what I am going to do is plot my progress here on the blog. Not that anyone cares, but it is just another way of making me focus.
Anyway, I started my goal this morning. And I am happy to say that I am already at my goal for the day. I decided today to really short-buy into a $2/$4 Razz cash game. I bought into the game for $20, and I had a table full of loose players. I pretty much sat back and waited for hands. I got up early, but then had a few runner-runner bricks to nut draws that never panned out. Luckily, I never fell below my buy-in, and a good run of about 4 hands propelled me to my goal, and then some. I played for about 50 minutes, and was up $41.90. I know this is not a lot of money, but remember I really plan on taking baby steps all the way with this one and try not to get too greedy nor too down at any one point. This is about as close to bankroll management as you will see me do. I know for a fact that I am one of the worst in terms of playing higher than I should, so I am trying to quell that urge as much as I can in order to achieve my goal of playing at the WSOP on won money. And I know I can do it. I really hope that I can play the Razz tournament quite a bit over this time frame as well on tokens, and cash frquently during that tournament too. With all of this going on, I feel confident that I will be playing at the table come June at the Rio, and I can honestly say that I am not afraid to play anyone in Razz. Usually the person that hurts me the most playing that game is myself. Over the next six months I think I can learn to limit my mistakes and become a much better player. I have no illusions on making the final table or even cashing. I just want to get the experience and move forward. I think eventually I will be good enough to cash, and eventually I may even make a Razz final table. Time will tell, but I have to start sometime. And that time is now.
Daily Profit: +$41.90
Daily WSOP Profit: +$21.40
Daily Personal Profit: +$11.50
Daily Token Sat Profit: +$9.00
WSOP Goal at this point: $11.50
Relative to Goal at this point: +$9.90
I still have to play the Token Satellite, although due to other commitments tonight I may not be able to play the Razz tournament even if I win the token. Which means it gets saved until another night (the next night I don't win a token). It is a long journey, but one I plan on taking to the end.
Classic Tony G
For some odd reason I like Tony G. I guess it is like admiring someone who acts the complete opposite of what you do. Those that know me know that for the most part I keep my mouth shut at the poker table, at least when it comes to trash talk. There are plenty of others who like to do it and do it well. Not something I am very good at, so I don't really try it at all.
Tony G is the complete opposite. The admiration he flows upon himself at the poker table would make Phil Hellmuth blush with embarrassment. So why do I like Tony G more than Hellmuth? Mainly because I think Tony G is an actor at the table, and Phil Hellmuth really believes eveything he is saying. I am sure Tony G does to an extent as well, but after reading this months article on Tony G in Bluff, I really believe he is probably a fun guy to be around... away from the table. As a matter of fact, he pulled a Greenstein recently and donated a $205K win at the Moscow Millions to be given to the orphanages there in Russia. I don't care how rich you are - $205K is a lot of money to donate.
Nevertheless, the one thing you remember about Tony G is what he does on the table. One of the items they discuss in detail in the article is his tirade against Ralph Perry at the Intercontinental Poker Championship that was aired on CBS earlier this year. I have put the YouTube clip on here for your enjoyment.
And speaking of Hellmuth, I could not believe I got this footage of him playing online poker. Amazing.
Steak
Tony G is the complete opposite. The admiration he flows upon himself at the poker table would make Phil Hellmuth blush with embarrassment. So why do I like Tony G more than Hellmuth? Mainly because I think Tony G is an actor at the table, and Phil Hellmuth really believes eveything he is saying. I am sure Tony G does to an extent as well, but after reading this months article on Tony G in Bluff, I really believe he is probably a fun guy to be around... away from the table. As a matter of fact, he pulled a Greenstein recently and donated a $205K win at the Moscow Millions to be given to the orphanages there in Russia. I don't care how rich you are - $205K is a lot of money to donate.
Nevertheless, the one thing you remember about Tony G is what he does on the table. One of the items they discuss in detail in the article is his tirade against Ralph Perry at the Intercontinental Poker Championship that was aired on CBS earlier this year. I have put the YouTube clip on here for your enjoyment.
And speaking of Hellmuth, I could not believe I got this footage of him playing online poker. Amazing.
Steak
Thursday, December 13, 2007
World Series of Poker 2008 Schedule Announced
As much as I am pissed about my earlier NLHE cash game debacle (see last post), I am re-energized again, as Harrah's has announced the 2008 Schedule for the World Series of Poker.
Some notes about the schedule:
(1) Event 8 is one of the coolest concepts I have seen for the WSOP in quite some time. I know the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event is considered the premiere skill event, but this may be recognized as the #2 event after this year. If you go to the link and see, it is a mixed game that has 8 formats of poker in it. It has all five limit games of H.O.R.S.E., follwed by a level of No-Limit Hold 'Em, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi, and then a limit level of 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. Oh yeah - it is a $10K buy-in event. It probably will not get a time slot for ESPN coverage this year, simply because there is just way too much to cram in a 1 or 2 hour TV schedule. I am thinking ESPN wants to see how the event plays out and what the players think of it before devoting airtime to it. But if it is run well and the players enjoy it, it may get the same type of multi-night attention the H.O.R.S.E. tourney gets. It will need it. I am guessing the Triple-Draw portion of the game will get very little airtime whenever it gets shown, unless there are some critical hands that occur that force its coverage. For me, this is an excellent addition to the WSOP.
(2) I am planning on being in Vegas on June 13th to play in Event 26 - Seven Card Razz. $1,500 Event, and I am going to have to buckle down to justify me going. But I plan on using my SkyMiles to book a ticket now to force me to concentrate on what I am doing and earn the money to play during the next 6 months. I think if I win the money separately from othe income sources, it will feel even better. I think this is the kick in the pants I need to buckle down and play better and analyze my play.
(3) 31 of the 55 bracelet events are Hold 'Em events. I have not researched this, but I think that is down a couple from last year. I think they may have replaced a hold 'em event with the new ultra-mized game I talked about above, and possibly added an Omaha event, which seems to be a game gaining some serious steam in the poker world. There are 8 total Omaha only events, 5 Stud only events (including Razz), 6 Mixed game events, 2 Draw games (both 2-7 Lowball, one being NL Single Draw and one being Limit Triple Draw), and 3 Limited Field events (the Ladies, Seniors and Casino Employee event). All in all, it seems to be a pretty good mix.
(4) One of the most interesting things about the schedule is the addition of many higher buy-in "World Championship" events. Last year, besides the Main Event the only other two buy-in's that rivaled the Main Event were the $10K PLO World Championship event and the $50K World Championship H.O.R.S.E. event (which I heard may be renamed the Chip Reese Memorial, which I think would be an extremely classy move on Harrah's part). Many of the other "World Championship" events were $5K or lower buy-ins.
Well, this year is different. There are 9 "World Championship" Events, and they all have $10K buy-ins, except for the H.O.R.S.E., which remains a $50K buy-in. I have a feeling that these will be the games broadcast on TV. Which is fine, because this covers the gamut of poker games. You have all HE variations displayed, with Pot-Limit, Limit, Heads-Up and the Main Event No-Limit. It will also cover Seven Card Stud Hi (unfortunately, they do not have a $10K event for Hi/Lo Stud). There is events for Omaha Hi/Lo and Pot-Limit Omaha Hi. And finally the ultra mixed game mentioned above and the $50K H.O.R.S.E. round out the list. If this is what they show on ESPN, I will still be happy to watch. You will get more elite players playing in most of these events (except the Main Event, where they are saturated so much with the donks), and it should make for good TV. I hope this is what they do, but they may snub some of these for more Hold 'Em tournaments instead. We shall see.
I am definitely looking forward to this year's coverage, especially since this will be my first year I play in an event (cross my fingers I am able to do it). Check out the schedule and let me know what you think.
Steak
Some notes about the schedule:
(1) Event 8 is one of the coolest concepts I have seen for the WSOP in quite some time. I know the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event is considered the premiere skill event, but this may be recognized as the #2 event after this year. If you go to the link and see, it is a mixed game that has 8 formats of poker in it. It has all five limit games of H.O.R.S.E., follwed by a level of No-Limit Hold 'Em, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi, and then a limit level of 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. Oh yeah - it is a $10K buy-in event. It probably will not get a time slot for ESPN coverage this year, simply because there is just way too much to cram in a 1 or 2 hour TV schedule. I am thinking ESPN wants to see how the event plays out and what the players think of it before devoting airtime to it. But if it is run well and the players enjoy it, it may get the same type of multi-night attention the H.O.R.S.E. tourney gets. It will need it. I am guessing the Triple-Draw portion of the game will get very little airtime whenever it gets shown, unless there are some critical hands that occur that force its coverage. For me, this is an excellent addition to the WSOP.
(2) I am planning on being in Vegas on June 13th to play in Event 26 - Seven Card Razz. $1,500 Event, and I am going to have to buckle down to justify me going. But I plan on using my SkyMiles to book a ticket now to force me to concentrate on what I am doing and earn the money to play during the next 6 months. I think if I win the money separately from othe income sources, it will feel even better. I think this is the kick in the pants I need to buckle down and play better and analyze my play.
(3) 31 of the 55 bracelet events are Hold 'Em events. I have not researched this, but I think that is down a couple from last year. I think they may have replaced a hold 'em event with the new ultra-mized game I talked about above, and possibly added an Omaha event, which seems to be a game gaining some serious steam in the poker world. There are 8 total Omaha only events, 5 Stud only events (including Razz), 6 Mixed game events, 2 Draw games (both 2-7 Lowball, one being NL Single Draw and one being Limit Triple Draw), and 3 Limited Field events (the Ladies, Seniors and Casino Employee event). All in all, it seems to be a pretty good mix.
(4) One of the most interesting things about the schedule is the addition of many higher buy-in "World Championship" events. Last year, besides the Main Event the only other two buy-in's that rivaled the Main Event were the $10K PLO World Championship event and the $50K World Championship H.O.R.S.E. event (which I heard may be renamed the Chip Reese Memorial, which I think would be an extremely classy move on Harrah's part). Many of the other "World Championship" events were $5K or lower buy-ins.
Well, this year is different. There are 9 "World Championship" Events, and they all have $10K buy-ins, except for the H.O.R.S.E., which remains a $50K buy-in. I have a feeling that these will be the games broadcast on TV. Which is fine, because this covers the gamut of poker games. You have all HE variations displayed, with Pot-Limit, Limit, Heads-Up and the Main Event No-Limit. It will also cover Seven Card Stud Hi (unfortunately, they do not have a $10K event for Hi/Lo Stud). There is events for Omaha Hi/Lo and Pot-Limit Omaha Hi. And finally the ultra mixed game mentioned above and the $50K H.O.R.S.E. round out the list. If this is what they show on ESPN, I will still be happy to watch. You will get more elite players playing in most of these events (except the Main Event, where they are saturated so much with the donks), and it should make for good TV. I hope this is what they do, but they may snub some of these for more Hold 'Em tournaments instead. We shall see.
I am definitely looking forward to this year's coverage, especially since this will be my first year I play in an event (cross my fingers I am able to do it). Check out the schedule and let me know what you think.
Steak
$0.50 / $1.00 Early Morning Fun (Or Lack Thereof)
12/13/2007
I am working right now, and at the same time decided to play a little $0.50 / $1.00 NLHE on FTP at the same time. It is not even 8:30 A.M., and I already have some good hands to post. I am going to be writing this at the same time I am playing, so this post may stretch out over many hours of play, as work has been slow as the doctor's offices and University hospitals I work with are already winding down for the holidays. Doesn't seem too many people want to negotiate contracts during the holiday season. Go figure.
Hand #1
I have been sitting at this table for about 3 orbits, not playing many pots, and stealing just enough to not fall below what I bought in for as I judge the table. This one player, Paxan-63, is not a very good player. He checks way too often when he has a good hand trying to trap, and he calls people down with less than great hands thinking that he is always getting bluffed. And he never stops to think about what he is doing - never considers you may have hit that flush draw, or already have two pair, etc. So this hand came up:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805201
Needless to say, I was a little upset. I nailed him perfectly for 2nd or 3rd pair, and like a moron he calls me. Only to hit a 5 outer on the end. Beautiful.
Hand #2
The very next hand I played (after I rebought in for the max) was this:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805207
How beautiful was that. Flop the nut flush, and he checks the turn when he hits his straight to allow me to see a free card on the end to give me the nuts. I did not even have to slow play it to get him to make a move on me. What you cannot see on the hand history is that he took almost no time at all to raise me, nor to call my All-In. He thought I was on tilt, and did not for one second think I could have actually have the nuts, which is exactly what I had.
Hand #3
Well, this luckbox bad player gets tangled with me again. This time I take the beating.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805211
I don't know how I could have played this any differently. I flop an open-ended Royal Flush draw against a guy who could be betting with as little as middle pair. The fact I was able to just call and not lose more money on this hand actually makes me happy. I still had many outs on the river to nail him, and if I had hit any spade it would have been goodnight nurse for him. As it turns out, as I type this the luckbox is now sitting on almost $400. He nailed a Q on the flop against a guy who overplayed his AK after the flop, and he held AQ. Another $80 uptick for his account on that hit. I just want to be the one he donks his money off to when he doesn't nail his hand and he still bets like he has the nuts. Should happen soon.
Hand #4
Great. I just play my last hand with this fool.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805217
Not only is this gross that the case J hit the turn, and he outkicked me by one freakin' card, but the worst part is that he leaves the table after this hand. Bye-bye $400 of trying to recoup. The highest stack at the table now is $180, and he seems to be a pretty decent player. This sucks ass.
Hand #5
I am such a donk.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805226
Enough said. Not breaking news here - someone with Ax flops trip X's when I have a small pocket pair. And I can't let it go. Good for me. Why do I do this to myself?
Hand #6
I cannot believe this.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805229
I cannot believe this fool called me down with a set with all of the ways he could lose on the end, if not already losing (which he was). So what happens? Miracle fucking card on the end. Such bullshit. I am felted. Again. Down $150 in about 2.5 hours. Bullshit. How the fuck do you call a $24, pot-sized re-raise there with straights and two potential flush draws out there. The last $10 I lost was irrelevant - it was all of the money leading up to the point that was what drives me nuts. Dude min raises pre-flop. He pretty much min bets the flop.
What drives me nuts about this type of hand is that play like this absolutely justifies playing like this going forward. The skills to play Hold 'Em then continues to erode. Now, you would think that is a good thing, right? You want people to play like idiots.
BUT, what happens. They always seem to suck out. At least they seem to do so online. I just don't get it. I don't see how this happens over and over and over again.
As you can tell, I am EXTREMELY frustrated right now. I planned on playing for the entire day. I am so sick right now I might not play again today at all. Fuck this.
Steak
I am working right now, and at the same time decided to play a little $0.50 / $1.00 NLHE on FTP at the same time. It is not even 8:30 A.M., and I already have some good hands to post. I am going to be writing this at the same time I am playing, so this post may stretch out over many hours of play, as work has been slow as the doctor's offices and University hospitals I work with are already winding down for the holidays. Doesn't seem too many people want to negotiate contracts during the holiday season. Go figure.
Hand #1
I have been sitting at this table for about 3 orbits, not playing many pots, and stealing just enough to not fall below what I bought in for as I judge the table. This one player, Paxan-63, is not a very good player. He checks way too often when he has a good hand trying to trap, and he calls people down with less than great hands thinking that he is always getting bluffed. And he never stops to think about what he is doing - never considers you may have hit that flush draw, or already have two pair, etc. So this hand came up:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805201
Needless to say, I was a little upset. I nailed him perfectly for 2nd or 3rd pair, and like a moron he calls me. Only to hit a 5 outer on the end. Beautiful.
Hand #2
The very next hand I played (after I rebought in for the max) was this:
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805207
How beautiful was that. Flop the nut flush, and he checks the turn when he hits his straight to allow me to see a free card on the end to give me the nuts. I did not even have to slow play it to get him to make a move on me. What you cannot see on the hand history is that he took almost no time at all to raise me, nor to call my All-In. He thought I was on tilt, and did not for one second think I could have actually have the nuts, which is exactly what I had.
Hand #3
Well, this luckbox bad player gets tangled with me again. This time I take the beating.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805211
I don't know how I could have played this any differently. I flop an open-ended Royal Flush draw against a guy who could be betting with as little as middle pair. The fact I was able to just call and not lose more money on this hand actually makes me happy. I still had many outs on the river to nail him, and if I had hit any spade it would have been goodnight nurse for him. As it turns out, as I type this the luckbox is now sitting on almost $400. He nailed a Q on the flop against a guy who overplayed his AK after the flop, and he held AQ. Another $80 uptick for his account on that hit. I just want to be the one he donks his money off to when he doesn't nail his hand and he still bets like he has the nuts. Should happen soon.
Hand #4
Great. I just play my last hand with this fool.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805217
Not only is this gross that the case J hit the turn, and he outkicked me by one freakin' card, but the worst part is that he leaves the table after this hand. Bye-bye $400 of trying to recoup. The highest stack at the table now is $180, and he seems to be a pretty decent player. This sucks ass.
Hand #5
I am such a donk.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805226
Enough said. Not breaking news here - someone with Ax flops trip X's when I have a small pocket pair. And I can't let it go. Good for me. Why do I do this to myself?
Hand #6
I cannot believe this.
http://www.pokerhand.org/?1805229
I cannot believe this fool called me down with a set with all of the ways he could lose on the end, if not already losing (which he was). So what happens? Miracle fucking card on the end. Such bullshit. I am felted. Again. Down $150 in about 2.5 hours. Bullshit. How the fuck do you call a $24, pot-sized re-raise there with straights and two potential flush draws out there. The last $10 I lost was irrelevant - it was all of the money leading up to the point that was what drives me nuts. Dude min raises pre-flop. He pretty much min bets the flop.
What drives me nuts about this type of hand is that play like this absolutely justifies playing like this going forward. The skills to play Hold 'Em then continues to erode. Now, you would think that is a good thing, right? You want people to play like idiots.
BUT, what happens. They always seem to suck out. At least they seem to do so online. I just don't get it. I don't see how this happens over and over and over again.
As you can tell, I am EXTREMELY frustrated right now. I planned on playing for the entire day. I am so sick right now I might not play again today at all. Fuck this.
Steak
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Circle of Poker
Well, last night was one of those nights for me when past transgressions came back to bite me squarely in the ass.
Last night was the last night of the "regular season" of the league I am in. Basically you are playing to earn points throughout the season, and the number of points you earn is based on where you finished in each of the 11 regular season games. The points you earn correspond with what place you finish, with some bonus points awarded for making the final table, winning the tournament, and collecting bounties for knocking out players. I was only able to play 4 of the tournaments, meeting my minimum level to be able to play in the final tournament next Tuesday (the 6 weeks of Shaun's Cash Game League and other traveling for work precluded me from being able to play more). I got knocked out early in my first league game, but was able to make the final table in the other 3 tournaments I played in, with my best finish being a 3rd.
But last night was not about the league. Last night suddenly became about November 10th. Why that day, you may ask? Well, that was the night I ended up chopping with Ken at the H.O.R.S.E. tournament at Geoff's place. How I made it to be able to chop was nothing short of a small miracle. And that miracle came back to bite me directly in the ass last night.
Back at the H.O.R.S.E. tourney, we were down to 6-handed (I think, but am not 100% sure). Top 3 paid. I am holding 8-9 suited in the BB. Kelly raises pre-flop on the button. I call. Flop comes Q-J-T. I bet, he raised, I just had enough to go all-in, and he calls. He, of course, had K-9. But as luck would have it, I went runner-runner diamonds to hit a flush. He was all but out, and I vaulted into decent shape, which I used to springboard to much better shape and survive to heads-up with Ken, where we decided to chop since it was already so late. Good luck for me.
Which brings me back to last night. I start off good. I am making good moves. I have people making moves against me that I want them to make. I have people folding to my raises when they shouldn't. I have people looking me up with very little thinking I am full of it based on previous moves I had made. Very rarely am I not getting my money in with the best of it, and if I am a dog it is not by much (or the person is short stacked and it did not adversely affect my stack to make the call). I make the final table, watch a couple of people get knocked out, and then I end up busting out "Walmart Steve" in 8th place to get my chip stack up to around $20K with the blinds at $500/$1K. I am liking my chances. One more person gets knocked out, and then comes the hand with Kelly.
I am in MP, with Kelly sitting directly to my right. He calls the BB. I look down at AA and raise to $3,500. I probably should have raised to $4,000 or $4,500, but I am thinking I want action, and this bet was good enough to thin the field to just me and one other player, most likley Kelly. I doubt the extra $500 to $1K would have made a difference. Everyone folds to Kelly, and the famous words were uttered by Kelly. "One time". Damn it.
Flop comes out TTx (I don't even remember what the third card was - doesn't even matter as you will see). For the first time all night I make a HUGE mistake. Kelly checks. For some STUPID reason I utter the next famous words "All-In". In which Kelly non-chalantly replies "I call". Over flips his T9 suited, and I get no help on the turn (in fact, it got worse as a 9 spiked the turn) or river. I go from $20K to $5K in one hand. I honestly do not know what I was thinking when I did this. It was stupid on so many levels. What did I think was going to happen? If he did not have anything, then he would fold. If he had a T, I was dead. Just insanely poor play on my part all the way around on the flop. And just to stick the dagger in a little deeper, he busts me very next hand when I go all in with KTs while he gets 44. Not only does a 4 spike the flop, but so does a K. So sick.
Just goes to show you a couple of things.
(1) You have to keep your head at all times during a tournament. One mistake and you are finished. I know, I know... people lose when they make good decisions a lot in poker as well. But how often do you hear of people losing concentration and still winning pots? Not nearly as often. Luckboxes usually get that reputation for making bad plays because they have no clue what they are doing but somehow end up getting lucky. Decent players who make bad mistakes usually get punished by the other decent and good players who know how to take advantage of those mistakes.
(2) There is karma, and it exists in poker for sure. Kelly, you and I are even, buddy! LOL.
Steak
Last night was the last night of the "regular season" of the league I am in. Basically you are playing to earn points throughout the season, and the number of points you earn is based on where you finished in each of the 11 regular season games. The points you earn correspond with what place you finish, with some bonus points awarded for making the final table, winning the tournament, and collecting bounties for knocking out players. I was only able to play 4 of the tournaments, meeting my minimum level to be able to play in the final tournament next Tuesday (the 6 weeks of Shaun's Cash Game League and other traveling for work precluded me from being able to play more). I got knocked out early in my first league game, but was able to make the final table in the other 3 tournaments I played in, with my best finish being a 3rd.
But last night was not about the league. Last night suddenly became about November 10th. Why that day, you may ask? Well, that was the night I ended up chopping with Ken at the H.O.R.S.E. tournament at Geoff's place. How I made it to be able to chop was nothing short of a small miracle. And that miracle came back to bite me directly in the ass last night.
Back at the H.O.R.S.E. tourney, we were down to 6-handed (I think, but am not 100% sure). Top 3 paid. I am holding 8-9 suited in the BB. Kelly raises pre-flop on the button. I call. Flop comes Q-J-T. I bet, he raised, I just had enough to go all-in, and he calls. He, of course, had K-9. But as luck would have it, I went runner-runner diamonds to hit a flush. He was all but out, and I vaulted into decent shape, which I used to springboard to much better shape and survive to heads-up with Ken, where we decided to chop since it was already so late. Good luck for me.
Which brings me back to last night. I start off good. I am making good moves. I have people making moves against me that I want them to make. I have people folding to my raises when they shouldn't. I have people looking me up with very little thinking I am full of it based on previous moves I had made. Very rarely am I not getting my money in with the best of it, and if I am a dog it is not by much (or the person is short stacked and it did not adversely affect my stack to make the call). I make the final table, watch a couple of people get knocked out, and then I end up busting out "Walmart Steve" in 8th place to get my chip stack up to around $20K with the blinds at $500/$1K. I am liking my chances. One more person gets knocked out, and then comes the hand with Kelly.
I am in MP, with Kelly sitting directly to my right. He calls the BB. I look down at AA and raise to $3,500. I probably should have raised to $4,000 or $4,500, but I am thinking I want action, and this bet was good enough to thin the field to just me and one other player, most likley Kelly. I doubt the extra $500 to $1K would have made a difference. Everyone folds to Kelly, and the famous words were uttered by Kelly. "One time". Damn it.
Flop comes out TTx (I don't even remember what the third card was - doesn't even matter as you will see). For the first time all night I make a HUGE mistake. Kelly checks. For some STUPID reason I utter the next famous words "All-In". In which Kelly non-chalantly replies "I call". Over flips his T9 suited, and I get no help on the turn (in fact, it got worse as a 9 spiked the turn) or river. I go from $20K to $5K in one hand. I honestly do not know what I was thinking when I did this. It was stupid on so many levels. What did I think was going to happen? If he did not have anything, then he would fold. If he had a T, I was dead. Just insanely poor play on my part all the way around on the flop. And just to stick the dagger in a little deeper, he busts me very next hand when I go all in with KTs while he gets 44. Not only does a 4 spike the flop, but so does a K. So sick.
Just goes to show you a couple of things.
(1) You have to keep your head at all times during a tournament. One mistake and you are finished. I know, I know... people lose when they make good decisions a lot in poker as well. But how often do you hear of people losing concentration and still winning pots? Not nearly as often. Luckboxes usually get that reputation for making bad plays because they have no clue what they are doing but somehow end up getting lucky. Decent players who make bad mistakes usually get punished by the other decent and good players who know how to take advantage of those mistakes.
(2) There is karma, and it exists in poker for sure. Kelly, you and I are even, buddy! LOL.
Steak
Omazing Grace (somebody pray for me for posting this)
I have to give props to THE SHADOW (friend who shall remain nameless on this site, although most of the people reading this know exactly who he is). If you want to talk about guily pleasures, this video from YouTube is probably about the guiltiest of them all. I feel dirty every time I laugh at it, but I can't stop laughing. For those who have not seen this all the way through, do not stop in the middle when it gets a little slow. The payoff is so worth the wait.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Chip Reese (1951-2007)
I almost fell out of my chair when I logged onto Full Tilt this evening and saw "In Memorium: Chip Reese (1951-2007)". I looked online and found this link on PokerNews.com that confirmed it. Very sad indeed. He was only 56. Just one of those things you don't expect to see. He was one of the best ever in every single format of poker. He was a throwback despite his young age, and just based on what I have heard on telecasts, the poker world lost a great ambassador of the game.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Giving Him the Business
I know this has nothing to do with poker, but I friend of mine sent the following to me:
Funny shit to say the least.
Then I found this:
I find it even funnier. Same topic - just a little more animated. Classic stuff.
Steak
Funny shit to say the least.
Then I found this:
I find it even funnier. Same topic - just a little more animated. Classic stuff.
Steak
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