I'm taking a chance tonight in my Weatherford game and am going to try to scratch together a little money to start building the bankroll again. We'll see how it goes. I'll have details from the night later tomorrow or Monday.
My plan for the night is to play pretty tight until I build something of a stack, but I might change that plan when I get there depending on who is at the table. Playing loose, aggressive can pay off in this game if you catch a few breaks.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Final Entry For A While
This entry is about a week late.
After two buy-ins for $200 and being as low as $40 I worked my way back to $370, which would have only been a $30 loss for the day. However, my aces went up against queens that tripped up and I lost it all on that hand.
It sucked. I was sad. I'm broke for my poker account. So until a job is found and I get some extra money the poker journey will be done for short period.
After two buy-ins for $200 and being as low as $40 I worked my way back to $370, which would have only been a $30 loss for the day. However, my aces went up against queens that tripped up and I lost it all on that hand.
It sucked. I was sad. I'm broke for my poker account. So until a job is found and I get some extra money the poker journey will be done for short period.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Another, Final Visit To Choctaw
Due to the annoying promotion they call Aces Cracked at Winstar, I opted for a trip to Choctaw Casino today. I won $220, but it was mostly uneventful in my four hours at the table.
The only hand of consequence was when I held pocket sevens. The flop was 7-8-10 with two spades. Three players checked to me and I bet $5 into an $8 pot. Two players called.
The turn was the three of hearts. The first guy checked. The second guy bet $20. I just called because I was a little surprised by the bet all of a sudden. Surely the three didn't help, so he had to have had something on the flop that he was slow playing. The first player who had checked folded.
The river was the three of clubs. My single opponent thought for about a minute and then bet $60. I instantly moved all in for another $121. The guy then said, "If you've got the boat then you've got me." He called and I said, "Yep, full house," showing by pocket pair.
That was three-and-a-half hours into the session, so I killed another 30 minutes, lost one hand, won another two or three small ones and called a day. For the amount of time I have played in 2010, I am up $90, but since mid-November I've profited $1,710. Not bad.
I will be going back to Winstar tomorrow, so until then.
The only hand of consequence was when I held pocket sevens. The flop was 7-8-10 with two spades. Three players checked to me and I bet $5 into an $8 pot. Two players called.
The turn was the three of hearts. The first guy checked. The second guy bet $20. I just called because I was a little surprised by the bet all of a sudden. Surely the three didn't help, so he had to have had something on the flop that he was slow playing. The first player who had checked folded.
The river was the three of clubs. My single opponent thought for about a minute and then bet $60. I instantly moved all in for another $121. The guy then said, "If you've got the boat then you've got me." He called and I said, "Yep, full house," showing by pocket pair.
That was three-and-a-half hours into the session, so I killed another 30 minutes, lost one hand, won another two or three small ones and called a day. For the amount of time I have played in 2010, I am up $90, but since mid-November I've profited $1,710. Not bad.
I will be going back to Winstar tomorrow, so until then.
Monday, January 18, 2010
A Crazy Rush With A Sad Ending
Sorry for the long wait, but I haven't really had time to post this.
My Friday session, while only taking five hours, was one of the longest of my life. I was running very cold in the card department, getting very few hands good enough to play and even less that won. I ended up losing my initial buy-in of $150, but the way I went out was worth the loss.
Like I said, I started with $150 and won a little pot very early, but then lost about $50 on a hand with K-Q not long after that. The flop came out K-9-5. I had limped in late position and a player ahead of me bet $5. A woman called and I raised it to $20. It folded around to the woman, who called.
The turn was a black two. The woman checked to me and I bet $25. She called quickly and we went to a river, which was a ten. The woman again checked. I really had no reason to think she had me beat, but since I hadn't been playing with her long I decided to err on the side of caution. So I checked and showed my pair of kings. She flipped over a pair of tens in her hand to make trips.
Between that hand and my fourth from the last hand nothing of importance took place. I hung out between $75-110 all day long. My low point for the day was $40, which I was able to double up with A-K.
The beginning of my winning streak began with 6-3 of spades. I decided to get a little aggressive with this hand and raised it to $8. I got three calls and when the flop came with neither spades or sixes or threes, I was a little let down. However, it was checked to me and I led out with a $15 bet. Everybody folded and I felt some relief at finally winning a hand.
The next hand I was dealt A-Q and ended up winning a medium-sized pot against K-Q when we both hit the queen on the flop. The very next hand was pocket kings. I raised pre-flop, got four callers and when the flop came with two nines and a four, I led out with a bet and everybody folded. I was feeling great about my luck and my stack was up to $130 at this point.
The next hand, and my last, was pocket fives. Everyone at the table was discussing the way my luck had turned around and I was claiming that it wasn't anything I was doing, but rather the dealer helping me out. So the pot is raised to $10 pre-flop and when I look down at my fives it has already been called by two people. I say something like, "I feel like I have to play this hand because of the way the dealer is helping me out." I do this in hopes that if I hit a five on the flop then nobody will believe that I have a big hand. So I call.
The flop comes 5-3-2 with two diamonds. This is huge and I am salivating at how much I can make with this hand. The original raiser bets $20 into a pot that has $40 in it. The guy on my right then raised the minimum, making it $40. So by this point I am pretty sure I can get a caller if I go all in, which is what I do. I push all in for $120. The original raiser folds and the guy on my right asks how much it is and then calls. He flips over A-4 of diamonds. Oops! He has the straight and the nut flush draw.
Really, if the guy hits the flush it doesn't matter. I just need to pair the board for a full house to win. That never happened and I walked away broke. But those last four hands were so full of enjoyment that I didn't mind so much. Let's just hope it doesn't become a habit of losing.
Until tomorrow when I plan to go back to Choctaw in order to avoid the Aces Cracked promo at Winstar.
My Friday session, while only taking five hours, was one of the longest of my life. I was running very cold in the card department, getting very few hands good enough to play and even less that won. I ended up losing my initial buy-in of $150, but the way I went out was worth the loss.
Like I said, I started with $150 and won a little pot very early, but then lost about $50 on a hand with K-Q not long after that. The flop came out K-9-5. I had limped in late position and a player ahead of me bet $5. A woman called and I raised it to $20. It folded around to the woman, who called.
The turn was a black two. The woman checked to me and I bet $25. She called quickly and we went to a river, which was a ten. The woman again checked. I really had no reason to think she had me beat, but since I hadn't been playing with her long I decided to err on the side of caution. So I checked and showed my pair of kings. She flipped over a pair of tens in her hand to make trips.
Between that hand and my fourth from the last hand nothing of importance took place. I hung out between $75-110 all day long. My low point for the day was $40, which I was able to double up with A-K.
The beginning of my winning streak began with 6-3 of spades. I decided to get a little aggressive with this hand and raised it to $8. I got three calls and when the flop came with neither spades or sixes or threes, I was a little let down. However, it was checked to me and I led out with a $15 bet. Everybody folded and I felt some relief at finally winning a hand.
The next hand I was dealt A-Q and ended up winning a medium-sized pot against K-Q when we both hit the queen on the flop. The very next hand was pocket kings. I raised pre-flop, got four callers and when the flop came with two nines and a four, I led out with a bet and everybody folded. I was feeling great about my luck and my stack was up to $130 at this point.
The next hand, and my last, was pocket fives. Everyone at the table was discussing the way my luck had turned around and I was claiming that it wasn't anything I was doing, but rather the dealer helping me out. So the pot is raised to $10 pre-flop and when I look down at my fives it has already been called by two people. I say something like, "I feel like I have to play this hand because of the way the dealer is helping me out." I do this in hopes that if I hit a five on the flop then nobody will believe that I have a big hand. So I call.
The flop comes 5-3-2 with two diamonds. This is huge and I am salivating at how much I can make with this hand. The original raiser bets $20 into a pot that has $40 in it. The guy on my right then raised the minimum, making it $40. So by this point I am pretty sure I can get a caller if I go all in, which is what I do. I push all in for $120. The original raiser folds and the guy on my right asks how much it is and then calls. He flips over A-4 of diamonds. Oops! He has the straight and the nut flush draw.
Really, if the guy hits the flush it doesn't matter. I just need to pair the board for a full house to win. That never happened and I walked away broke. But those last four hands were so full of enjoyment that I didn't mind so much. Let's just hope it doesn't become a habit of losing.
Until tomorrow when I plan to go back to Choctaw in order to avoid the Aces Cracked promo at Winstar.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Getting Back On Track
Yesterday was the first time since starting to play poker frequently again that I made a trip to a casino two days in a row. On Tuesday I went to Choctaw, and on Wednesday I went to Winstar.
I ended up profiting $150 for the day after playing for eight hours. That equates to $18.75 an hour. Not bad. For the year I am only up $25, but since starting my records back on Nov. 18, I have profited $1,640.
Hopefully I can remember all the hands of significance from yesterday. I should have typed this up last night, but once I got home I was so tired from the day of play and driving I just went straight to bed.
In about an hour I was down $70 after misplaying three of a kind on the flop. I had K-10 and the flop came out 10-10-8 with two hearts. I was first to act and checked into four players. The guy on my left bet $10 and I simply called with no others playing along.
The turn was the seven of hearts. I checked again and the guy bet $15. I called again.
The river was the three of spades. This time, thinking I had the best hand and he hadn't bet on hitting his flush on the flop, I was going to check-raise him. He bet $20 and I raised him the minimum. He insta-called and said flush. Dang it.
I usually don't slow-play trips when there is a flush draw on the flop, but this one time I decided to play sneaky since it was going to be heads-up play. Learned my lesson there.
I quickly got that $70 back though, and then some, when I flopped a set of eights and rivered a full house against a guy who had turned a straight. The only thing that stopped me from making more money off the guy was the turn card that made his straight also made a flush and he thought I had that hand. Had a flush not been possible, I don't think he would have even seen the possibility for a full house and I could have made lots more.
The big hand of the day for me was actually a split pot, but since another player (the old man who beat my three tens with his flush) came along with me and the other winner, we made some good money.
I was at about even (maybe a little above), when I received K-Q of clubs. Seven of the nine players at the table limped in to see a flop that came out K-10-9 with two clubs. The fourth player to act led out with a $10 bet. A tattooed lady, a young guy, myself, and the old man (who was the small blind) called the bet. The other two players then folded.
The turn was the two of hearts. It checked around to me. With top pair and the second nut flush draw, I can play this a couple of ways. I can take the free card and see if my flush comes, which if it doesn't then hopefully a showdown is done and I get to see if my pair of kings with a queen kicker is good. My other option is to bet. But then there are more choices to make regarding the size of the bet. I can make a bet relative in size to the pot and trim down my competition in case I don't hit my flush and need a showdown for free, or I can bet a small amount to bring people in for less in the hopes I hit my flush and there are enough people in the hand that having a good hand will get paid off.
Against four players I doubted I would get the luxury of another check down to hope for the best. For that reason I ruled out taking the free card. So it was down to betting. I opted to make a pot-size bet and hope to either win it there, get called by only one player who will check it to me on the river if I miss, or get called by everyone and hit my flush so I get paid big.
I bet $50 (pot was at $60). The old man called my bet, the guy who bet $10 on the flop folded (he said he had 10-9 which was bottom two pair on the flop), and the tattooed lady folded. This is where it got interesting. The young guy then moved all in for another $66. It was now to me for $66 with a player behind me.
Now if I were this kid and was playing the way he had played this hand, my cards would either make a straight or a set. To play it this way I would have to be crazy to have nothing since I'm going to likely be called by at least one of the two players still in the pot. However, I was not the one playing his hand. After paying close attention to this kid for about a minute, I was pretty confident he didn't have a huge hand. So, now I had to decide how big his hand was. Did he have two pair, was he overvaluing top pair, top kicker, or did he have a big draw that he was semi-bluffing like I had done with my $50 bet.
I finally decided I was playing this hand. So with $140 in front of me, I pushed it all in. I wanted to get the old man out so I could have a better chance at winning the pot against the young guy. But to my surprise the old man called for all his chips, leaving me with about $30 left over should I lose.
The young guy said, "Well I'm beat." To which I replied, "Eh, I wouldn't be so sure just yet, but I have outs to get better." I flipped up my K-Q of clubs. He was genuinely happy to see me have that hand and flipped over another K-Q, but he realized I had my flush draw and again became concerned. After saying I had outs to get better, the old man realized it was the flush I was talking about, to which he said, "Oh no you don't." He flipped over A-4 of clubs. So now I am begging for no club or ace to come (unless it was the jack of clubs to give me a straight flush; but I was later informed that the tattooed lady had folded that).
The river was a blank and the young guy and myself split the main pot, while I got all of the side pot.
This put me up somewhere between $150-190. At my high point I was at profit of $194. But then the old man cracked my aces with K-10 when he rivered a 10. He had flopped top pair with the king and I bet the flop and the turn, which he then raised all in and I immediately called. The horrible river came and I lost $100 on the hand. That started a horrible trend of losing for about two hours and my low point came at down $130. I even had to go into the pocket for another $100 to keep me afloat.
For the life of me I don't remember the hand that put me back to even. I know something happened to get me back to the $250-300 range and I hovered there for about three hours. For probably an hour-and-a-half of that three hours our table was short with only six or seven of us at the table at any given point. During this porition of the day nobody was winning or losing money. We simply were putting out our blinds and folding to any aggression. Once we finally filled up again the money started flowing. I broke out of my $250-300 spot when I won a decent pot with a set of fours that I hit on the turn. That put me up about $50 and I was close to calling it quits. However, then my last big hand came.
The hand that got me up the $150 was when I turned a straight with 10-8. It was the second nuts by the end of the hand (only K-10 beat me for a higher straight) and when the guy check-raised me on the turn and led out for $50 on the flop, I made the mistake of playing it too cautious and simply calling the final bet. I could have easily made another $50 by raising the minimum since he had two pair that he thought was good, but my wary play cost me. That is one of the pitfalls of playing for money I really need is that I will occassionaly (maybe once every four or five sessions) make a bet that is abnormal to how I would usually play because I don't want to risk losing the money I have in front of me.
Until next week.
I ended up profiting $150 for the day after playing for eight hours. That equates to $18.75 an hour. Not bad. For the year I am only up $25, but since starting my records back on Nov. 18, I have profited $1,640.
Hopefully I can remember all the hands of significance from yesterday. I should have typed this up last night, but once I got home I was so tired from the day of play and driving I just went straight to bed.
In about an hour I was down $70 after misplaying three of a kind on the flop. I had K-10 and the flop came out 10-10-8 with two hearts. I was first to act and checked into four players. The guy on my left bet $10 and I simply called with no others playing along.
The turn was the seven of hearts. I checked again and the guy bet $15. I called again.
The river was the three of spades. This time, thinking I had the best hand and he hadn't bet on hitting his flush on the flop, I was going to check-raise him. He bet $20 and I raised him the minimum. He insta-called and said flush. Dang it.
I usually don't slow-play trips when there is a flush draw on the flop, but this one time I decided to play sneaky since it was going to be heads-up play. Learned my lesson there.
I quickly got that $70 back though, and then some, when I flopped a set of eights and rivered a full house against a guy who had turned a straight. The only thing that stopped me from making more money off the guy was the turn card that made his straight also made a flush and he thought I had that hand. Had a flush not been possible, I don't think he would have even seen the possibility for a full house and I could have made lots more.
The big hand of the day for me was actually a split pot, but since another player (the old man who beat my three tens with his flush) came along with me and the other winner, we made some good money.
I was at about even (maybe a little above), when I received K-Q of clubs. Seven of the nine players at the table limped in to see a flop that came out K-10-9 with two clubs. The fourth player to act led out with a $10 bet. A tattooed lady, a young guy, myself, and the old man (who was the small blind) called the bet. The other two players then folded.
The turn was the two of hearts. It checked around to me. With top pair and the second nut flush draw, I can play this a couple of ways. I can take the free card and see if my flush comes, which if it doesn't then hopefully a showdown is done and I get to see if my pair of kings with a queen kicker is good. My other option is to bet. But then there are more choices to make regarding the size of the bet. I can make a bet relative in size to the pot and trim down my competition in case I don't hit my flush and need a showdown for free, or I can bet a small amount to bring people in for less in the hopes I hit my flush and there are enough people in the hand that having a good hand will get paid off.
Against four players I doubted I would get the luxury of another check down to hope for the best. For that reason I ruled out taking the free card. So it was down to betting. I opted to make a pot-size bet and hope to either win it there, get called by only one player who will check it to me on the river if I miss, or get called by everyone and hit my flush so I get paid big.
I bet $50 (pot was at $60). The old man called my bet, the guy who bet $10 on the flop folded (he said he had 10-9 which was bottom two pair on the flop), and the tattooed lady folded. This is where it got interesting. The young guy then moved all in for another $66. It was now to me for $66 with a player behind me.
Now if I were this kid and was playing the way he had played this hand, my cards would either make a straight or a set. To play it this way I would have to be crazy to have nothing since I'm going to likely be called by at least one of the two players still in the pot. However, I was not the one playing his hand. After paying close attention to this kid for about a minute, I was pretty confident he didn't have a huge hand. So, now I had to decide how big his hand was. Did he have two pair, was he overvaluing top pair, top kicker, or did he have a big draw that he was semi-bluffing like I had done with my $50 bet.
I finally decided I was playing this hand. So with $140 in front of me, I pushed it all in. I wanted to get the old man out so I could have a better chance at winning the pot against the young guy. But to my surprise the old man called for all his chips, leaving me with about $30 left over should I lose.
The young guy said, "Well I'm beat." To which I replied, "Eh, I wouldn't be so sure just yet, but I have outs to get better." I flipped up my K-Q of clubs. He was genuinely happy to see me have that hand and flipped over another K-Q, but he realized I had my flush draw and again became concerned. After saying I had outs to get better, the old man realized it was the flush I was talking about, to which he said, "Oh no you don't." He flipped over A-4 of clubs. So now I am begging for no club or ace to come (unless it was the jack of clubs to give me a straight flush; but I was later informed that the tattooed lady had folded that).
The river was a blank and the young guy and myself split the main pot, while I got all of the side pot.
This put me up somewhere between $150-190. At my high point I was at profit of $194. But then the old man cracked my aces with K-10 when he rivered a 10. He had flopped top pair with the king and I bet the flop and the turn, which he then raised all in and I immediately called. The horrible river came and I lost $100 on the hand. That started a horrible trend of losing for about two hours and my low point came at down $130. I even had to go into the pocket for another $100 to keep me afloat.
For the life of me I don't remember the hand that put me back to even. I know something happened to get me back to the $250-300 range and I hovered there for about three hours. For probably an hour-and-a-half of that three hours our table was short with only six or seven of us at the table at any given point. During this porition of the day nobody was winning or losing money. We simply were putting out our blinds and folding to any aggression. Once we finally filled up again the money started flowing. I broke out of my $250-300 spot when I won a decent pot with a set of fours that I hit on the turn. That put me up about $50 and I was close to calling it quits. However, then my last big hand came.
The hand that got me up the $150 was when I turned a straight with 10-8. It was the second nuts by the end of the hand (only K-10 beat me for a higher straight) and when the guy check-raised me on the turn and led out for $50 on the flop, I made the mistake of playing it too cautious and simply calling the final bet. I could have easily made another $50 by raising the minimum since he had two pair that he thought was good, but my wary play cost me. That is one of the pitfalls of playing for money I really need is that I will occassionaly (maybe once every four or five sessions) make a bet that is abnormal to how I would usually play because I don't want to risk losing the money I have in front of me.
Until next week.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
New Life Extended
Although this Web site is sort of dedicated to my trips to Winstar World Casino where I play poker and relay those stories to you, I changed things up today by going to Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK.
I was at the casino for five hours, but only played for four because the list to sit down took a while despite being third on the list when I got there. It was eventually decided to start a new table with the players on the waiting list, which was made up of six people. So I started out against five opponents, but we were eventually full after about 45 minutes.
One interesting note about this table was it had all local residents and regulars who are stable, conservative players, except for one young guy. This guy was hands down the biggest D-bag I have ever seen at a poker table. Of course he had the sunglasses and ipod headphones, but he also wore a blazer with his jeans and told us he would beat us all because he could read his opponents flawlessly. Real quote from him: "I don't want to say I'm arrogant, but I am from Dallas." This kid would make erratic raises ranging from $7 to $25 pre-flop and played a few of his hands blind. He always checked the flop in the dark when in the small blind. Everything about him oozed doucheyness.
He went broke in about an hour.
I hardly played a hand when the Cincinnati Kid was at the table, but once he was gone I opened up a bit. It helped though that I started hitting some hands.
I busted one guy for about $60 by flopping top set with nines when he held pocket tens. The very next hand I had pocket jacks, which I raised pre-flop, and they held up against three players despite two aces on the flop.
My final big hand was when I turned the nut flush with A-K of clubs. With six players putting in $7 in pre-flop and it checking around on the flop, I was able to hit my flush and nearly busted a guy. The opponent bet $20 on the turn, which I called hoping another person would call. They didn't and we went to the river heads up. My opponent checked the river and I bet $30. He called and didn't show the losing hand.
The only significant hand I lost was with Q-6 of hearts. I raised it to $8 pre-flop in late position and had three callers come along. The flop was A-9-6 with two hearts. It was checked to me and I bet $15 into a $32 pot. The player on the button called and the other two folded. This put $60 in the pot.
The turn was a black two. I led out with a $25 bet. My opponent called. We both checked the river that did not give me my flush and he showed 9-6.
After four hours of play I ended up with $250 of profit. A good day.
I was at the casino for five hours, but only played for four because the list to sit down took a while despite being third on the list when I got there. It was eventually decided to start a new table with the players on the waiting list, which was made up of six people. So I started out against five opponents, but we were eventually full after about 45 minutes.
One interesting note about this table was it had all local residents and regulars who are stable, conservative players, except for one young guy. This guy was hands down the biggest D-bag I have ever seen at a poker table. Of course he had the sunglasses and ipod headphones, but he also wore a blazer with his jeans and told us he would beat us all because he could read his opponents flawlessly. Real quote from him: "I don't want to say I'm arrogant, but I am from Dallas." This kid would make erratic raises ranging from $7 to $25 pre-flop and played a few of his hands blind. He always checked the flop in the dark when in the small blind. Everything about him oozed doucheyness.
He went broke in about an hour.
I hardly played a hand when the Cincinnati Kid was at the table, but once he was gone I opened up a bit. It helped though that I started hitting some hands.
I busted one guy for about $60 by flopping top set with nines when he held pocket tens. The very next hand I had pocket jacks, which I raised pre-flop, and they held up against three players despite two aces on the flop.
My final big hand was when I turned the nut flush with A-K of clubs. With six players putting in $7 in pre-flop and it checking around on the flop, I was able to hit my flush and nearly busted a guy. The opponent bet $20 on the turn, which I called hoping another person would call. They didn't and we went to the river heads up. My opponent checked the river and I bet $30. He called and didn't show the losing hand.
The only significant hand I lost was with Q-6 of hearts. I raised it to $8 pre-flop in late position and had three callers come along. The flop was A-9-6 with two hearts. It was checked to me and I bet $15 into a $32 pot. The player on the button called and the other two folded. This put $60 in the pot.
The turn was a black two. I led out with a $25 bet. My opponent called. We both checked the river that did not give me my flush and he showed 9-6.
After four hours of play I ended up with $250 of profit. A good day.
Monday, January 11, 2010
A New Day
I've been given the breath of poker life with $400. It isn't much, but certainly enough to give this another shot. I will make a trip to Oklahoma tomorrow. So let's hope everything goes well and this can continue for a little while longer.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Final Post For A While
It was a good run while it lasted, but like the money this blog will be coming to an end for an unspecified amount of time.
I played at Winstar again today and lost the final $350 of my bankroll. I started off well, doubling up with pocket queens. However, I then proceeded to lose with pocket jacks to A-K, pocket tens to 9-3 offsuit, two full houses to higher full houses and finally J-10 when I hit a jack on the flop and turned a straight draw. I took a chance and went all in hoping to hit my straight, but the guy who ultimately won already had the straight and I essentially was drawing to tie.
Once I have a real job and can scrape together extra cash to build a bankroll again I will pick this up again and keep posting. Until then.
I played at Winstar again today and lost the final $350 of my bankroll. I started off well, doubling up with pocket queens. However, I then proceeded to lose with pocket jacks to A-K, pocket tens to 9-3 offsuit, two full houses to higher full houses and finally J-10 when I hit a jack on the flop and turned a straight draw. I took a chance and went all in hoping to hit my straight, but the guy who ultimately won already had the straight and I essentially was drawing to tie.
Once I have a real job and can scrape together extra cash to build a bankroll again I will pick this up again and keep posting. Until then.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A Bad Night, A Good Day: Part 2
Following up on yesterday's post, which was recapping my first two playing sessions of 2010, my bad night that left me with a loss of $300 was followed up by a good day Monday at Winstar where I made $275.
After sitting down at my table I folded only three hands and then found myself with pocket threes. The player on my right, who was Asian and are stereotypically aggressive cardplayers, raised it up to $10. I, along with another two players and the raiser, saw a flop. The flop was jack-high with a three. The raiser bet $50 quickly and I called pretty quickly. This left me with $130. We were the only two to make it to the turn, which was nothing scary. The raiser put out another $50. I immediately went all in for another $80. My opponent said he called rather quickly, which at first scared me, but when I flipped over my set of threes he showed his disappointment in not being able to win the hand. I never saw what he had, but it doubled me up immediately and that made me happy.
I took a bit of a dip about an hour later when I turned a set of sixes that lost to a set of kings. I did spend as little money as possible though, so I was pleased about that. The guy with kings raised pre-flop, and three of us called the bet. The flop was K-Q-5. The three of us checked it around and saw a turn, which was my third six. The first player, who was not the raiser, bet $25 into a pot of $40. The original raiser smooth called the bet. The third player folded and it was on me.
Now usually I would be ecstatic to have a set and would likely raise in this situation. But something wasn't quite right with the original raiser checking the flop and just calling the turn bet. This could mean one of two things: he either flopped a very big hand and wants to try to disguise it or he has nothing yet and is on some sort of draw. I felt like he had flopped the big hand and was trying to be sneaky, so I simply called the $25. The river was a two, resulting in a board that was K-Q-5-6-2 and didn't do much in putting anything out there that could reasonably beat me. Sure, a 3-4 would beat me, but that was extremely unlikely.
So now it was down to a higher set beating me. The first player checked and the original raiser bet $35. Again, I really felt like this guy was beating me, which has to mean he has kings or queens in his hand. So I did call the bet. I couldn't reasonably fold with $115 in the pot and his $35 bet out there, but I wasn't going to go crazy by raising. The third guy folded and the original raiser showed me his set of kings. My line of thinking was sound sure enough.
The only other hand worth mentioning was when a guy kept hounding me for beating him by hitting runner-runner, but it wasn't completely my fault. I limped in for $2 with K-9 of clubs. The angry gentleman raised behind me to $7 and four players called. So once it got back to me I was getting 7-1 to see if the flop helped me any. I called the raise. The flop was A-Q-3 rainbow with one heart. I was all ready to fold to a bet, but everyone checked.
The turn came out with the nine of hearts, which gives me third high pair (or second lowest pair; however you want to look at it). The original raiser bet $30 into the pot that had $40. Everyone folded to me and I begrudgingly called. I wasn't thrilled with my hand, but since the bettor had checked the flop I thought I might be okay with my nines.
Now this may contradict my earlier explanation of the guy who had flopped the set of kings and checked the flop. Well that is where poker is a crazy game, because the player this time seemed like someone who knew checking a set into five players after raising pre-flop would seem suspicious, which means he wouldn't have done that. No, instead I put him on a marginal hand, maybe a pair with a poor kicker or the nine, which meant it would come down to our kickers, and mine was better.
So I called the $30. The river was the king of hearts. This put three hearts on the board, which was made up of A-Q-3-9-K. My opponent bet $35, which was all in for him. I called with my two pair and he said he only had an ace. It really was his fault for not betting the flop. If he had done that then I wouldn't have had the chance to beat him.
Since picking up the game again on a regular basis, after the past two sessions I have profited $1,590 and for 2010 I am down $25. I'll probably go back to Winstar tomorrow. Until then.
After sitting down at my table I folded only three hands and then found myself with pocket threes. The player on my right, who was Asian and are stereotypically aggressive cardplayers, raised it up to $10. I, along with another two players and the raiser, saw a flop. The flop was jack-high with a three. The raiser bet $50 quickly and I called pretty quickly. This left me with $130. We were the only two to make it to the turn, which was nothing scary. The raiser put out another $50. I immediately went all in for another $80. My opponent said he called rather quickly, which at first scared me, but when I flipped over my set of threes he showed his disappointment in not being able to win the hand. I never saw what he had, but it doubled me up immediately and that made me happy.
I took a bit of a dip about an hour later when I turned a set of sixes that lost to a set of kings. I did spend as little money as possible though, so I was pleased about that. The guy with kings raised pre-flop, and three of us called the bet. The flop was K-Q-5. The three of us checked it around and saw a turn, which was my third six. The first player, who was not the raiser, bet $25 into a pot of $40. The original raiser smooth called the bet. The third player folded and it was on me.
Now usually I would be ecstatic to have a set and would likely raise in this situation. But something wasn't quite right with the original raiser checking the flop and just calling the turn bet. This could mean one of two things: he either flopped a very big hand and wants to try to disguise it or he has nothing yet and is on some sort of draw. I felt like he had flopped the big hand and was trying to be sneaky, so I simply called the $25. The river was a two, resulting in a board that was K-Q-5-6-2 and didn't do much in putting anything out there that could reasonably beat me. Sure, a 3-4 would beat me, but that was extremely unlikely.
So now it was down to a higher set beating me. The first player checked and the original raiser bet $35. Again, I really felt like this guy was beating me, which has to mean he has kings or queens in his hand. So I did call the bet. I couldn't reasonably fold with $115 in the pot and his $35 bet out there, but I wasn't going to go crazy by raising. The third guy folded and the original raiser showed me his set of kings. My line of thinking was sound sure enough.
The only other hand worth mentioning was when a guy kept hounding me for beating him by hitting runner-runner, but it wasn't completely my fault. I limped in for $2 with K-9 of clubs. The angry gentleman raised behind me to $7 and four players called. So once it got back to me I was getting 7-1 to see if the flop helped me any. I called the raise. The flop was A-Q-3 rainbow with one heart. I was all ready to fold to a bet, but everyone checked.
The turn came out with the nine of hearts, which gives me third high pair (or second lowest pair; however you want to look at it). The original raiser bet $30 into the pot that had $40. Everyone folded to me and I begrudgingly called. I wasn't thrilled with my hand, but since the bettor had checked the flop I thought I might be okay with my nines.
Now this may contradict my earlier explanation of the guy who had flopped the set of kings and checked the flop. Well that is where poker is a crazy game, because the player this time seemed like someone who knew checking a set into five players after raising pre-flop would seem suspicious, which means he wouldn't have done that. No, instead I put him on a marginal hand, maybe a pair with a poor kicker or the nine, which meant it would come down to our kickers, and mine was better.
So I called the $30. The river was the king of hearts. This put three hearts on the board, which was made up of A-Q-3-9-K. My opponent bet $35, which was all in for him. I called with my two pair and he said he only had an ace. It really was his fault for not betting the flop. If he had done that then I wouldn't have had the chance to beat him.
Since picking up the game again on a regular basis, after the past two sessions I have profited $1,590 and for 2010 I am down $25. I'll probably go back to Winstar tomorrow. Until then.
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Bad Night, A Good Day
After playing cards twice in the new year, I have come away from those games down $25.
The first session was at a friend's house in Weatherford. I ended up losing $300 in about six hours. Not so great of an evening, which the worst part is that this game is a place where lots of money can be made. In the last two times I've played this game I have made $750 and $350. So losing $300 was very disappointing, especially since the game only comes together once a month.
A surprising development for this month's game was that the table I was sitting at was extremely normal. By normal I mean the money in front of everyone didn't change hands at surprisingly fast and high rates. Most of the players at the table were above average and good, making it difficult to win a large pot from anyone. Since I wasn't getting the best hands or very many decent ones to make moves with, I didn't win much or often.
I started off pretty well, making my way to a $50 profit quickly, but from there on out it was downhill. I don't really remember a lot of the hands I played well, since there weren't too many. However, I can recall the hands I played poorly (whether I won them or not).
My first rebuy came after making a move with A-4 when an ace hit the flop. Sadly I did not just give my money to the better ace, whose kicker matched another card on the board, but I came in third to another hand with an ace, whose kicker was also better than my own.
I don't remember how I lost my second $100. I do remember though that when I was down to my third and final buy-in, I made back my second buy-in and some when my pocket sevens won me a large pot. I limped in for $2, along with about four or five others at the table. My buddy James raised from the small blind, leveling the playing field to three or four of us total. The flop came 10-high with no seven and two hearts. James bet $60 and I went all in for my final $44. The player on the button, whose name was Chris, called the $60. The turn and river were blanks with no other heart coming. I fully expected my hand to lose, but when both James and Chris checked it down to a showdown I had hope. James said ace-high and Chris missed his flush draw. I was an unlikely winner.
Sadly that money didn't stay with me very long. A few hands later I played J-10 against kings and couldn't get better than a pair of jacks. I also had a straight draw and with an ace coming on the river, that might have scared my opponent off his kings had I made a bet, but it would have most likely taken an all in bet. This was one incident where I played like a wuss. I felt confident I could have won the hand if only I would have made the bet, but I wouldn't pull the trigger.
Another time that I would have won a pot if I had made the bet I wanted to do was with A-9 offsuit. I was on the button with my hand and it was called by about six or seven players to me. I called the $2 and was ready to see a cheap flop when the small blind on my left raised it to $15. The big blind, who is a very tight player, called. Another two players called and it was back to me. So there was about $50 in the hand and to call it was another $13. I had $85 in front of me. I thought for about 30 seconds of making a raise that surely would win the hand. However, I was afraid of the tight big blind player who called the $15. He surely would have a solid hand, but would he call an additional $70?
Taking into account that I had already made this move once in the evening and shown A-J, I didn't know whether I could get away with it again. Every ounce of me wanted to move all in, but I ended up folding. After everything was said and done I found out that the small blind had A-10 and the big blind had A-K. Everyone said they would have folded if I went all in, so I was upset with myself that I didn't make the move.
My final hand of the night was with pocket eights. Four people paid to see a flop and the cards came 6-5-3. It checked to Chris, who bet $6. I raised it to $20, hoping to either win the pot right then or win the pot by doubling up. Neither happened.
The small blind then raised it another $35, making it $55 to go. Chris folded and I thought everything out. The small blind wouldn't make this type of move with the made straight. He also would have raised it pre-flop with a pocket pair, so I could rule out a better pair or a set. So the only thing left was either two pair or, at worst, top pair with an ace kicker. After betting the $20 I had another $65 left. If I was going to play the hand I had decided I was going to raise all in for the additional $30.
I chose to take the chance and try to catch up to his two pair. I went all in and he called. Sure enough he had 3-5, giving him bottom two pair. The turn and river didn't help and I was out.
I'll finish this post tomorrow. Until then.
The first session was at a friend's house in Weatherford. I ended up losing $300 in about six hours. Not so great of an evening, which the worst part is that this game is a place where lots of money can be made. In the last two times I've played this game I have made $750 and $350. So losing $300 was very disappointing, especially since the game only comes together once a month.
A surprising development for this month's game was that the table I was sitting at was extremely normal. By normal I mean the money in front of everyone didn't change hands at surprisingly fast and high rates. Most of the players at the table were above average and good, making it difficult to win a large pot from anyone. Since I wasn't getting the best hands or very many decent ones to make moves with, I didn't win much or often.
I started off pretty well, making my way to a $50 profit quickly, but from there on out it was downhill. I don't really remember a lot of the hands I played well, since there weren't too many. However, I can recall the hands I played poorly (whether I won them or not).
My first rebuy came after making a move with A-4 when an ace hit the flop. Sadly I did not just give my money to the better ace, whose kicker matched another card on the board, but I came in third to another hand with an ace, whose kicker was also better than my own.
I don't remember how I lost my second $100. I do remember though that when I was down to my third and final buy-in, I made back my second buy-in and some when my pocket sevens won me a large pot. I limped in for $2, along with about four or five others at the table. My buddy James raised from the small blind, leveling the playing field to three or four of us total. The flop came 10-high with no seven and two hearts. James bet $60 and I went all in for my final $44. The player on the button, whose name was Chris, called the $60. The turn and river were blanks with no other heart coming. I fully expected my hand to lose, but when both James and Chris checked it down to a showdown I had hope. James said ace-high and Chris missed his flush draw. I was an unlikely winner.
Sadly that money didn't stay with me very long. A few hands later I played J-10 against kings and couldn't get better than a pair of jacks. I also had a straight draw and with an ace coming on the river, that might have scared my opponent off his kings had I made a bet, but it would have most likely taken an all in bet. This was one incident where I played like a wuss. I felt confident I could have won the hand if only I would have made the bet, but I wouldn't pull the trigger.
Another time that I would have won a pot if I had made the bet I wanted to do was with A-9 offsuit. I was on the button with my hand and it was called by about six or seven players to me. I called the $2 and was ready to see a cheap flop when the small blind on my left raised it to $15. The big blind, who is a very tight player, called. Another two players called and it was back to me. So there was about $50 in the hand and to call it was another $13. I had $85 in front of me. I thought for about 30 seconds of making a raise that surely would win the hand. However, I was afraid of the tight big blind player who called the $15. He surely would have a solid hand, but would he call an additional $70?
Taking into account that I had already made this move once in the evening and shown A-J, I didn't know whether I could get away with it again. Every ounce of me wanted to move all in, but I ended up folding. After everything was said and done I found out that the small blind had A-10 and the big blind had A-K. Everyone said they would have folded if I went all in, so I was upset with myself that I didn't make the move.
My final hand of the night was with pocket eights. Four people paid to see a flop and the cards came 6-5-3. It checked to Chris, who bet $6. I raised it to $20, hoping to either win the pot right then or win the pot by doubling up. Neither happened.
The small blind then raised it another $35, making it $55 to go. Chris folded and I thought everything out. The small blind wouldn't make this type of move with the made straight. He also would have raised it pre-flop with a pocket pair, so I could rule out a better pair or a set. So the only thing left was either two pair or, at worst, top pair with an ace kicker. After betting the $20 I had another $65 left. If I was going to play the hand I had decided I was going to raise all in for the additional $30.
I chose to take the chance and try to catch up to his two pair. I went all in and he called. Sure enough he had 3-5, giving him bottom two pair. The turn and river didn't help and I was out.
I'll finish this post tomorrow. Until then.
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