On the drive up to WinStar this weekend I decided I would try something new. Normally I wait to look at my hole cards until the action is on me. This gives me a good idea of what hands I have to hold to either call or raise the bet, depending on the action prior to getting to me. I wanted to switch things up a bit so I could know what I hold as the action went around the table and I could formulate a plan as things progressed before it ever gets to my turn. This plan lasted all of about three hands.
I stuck it out for a few rounds, but I just didn’t like this way of doing things. There were one or two hands that I couldn’t remember which suit went with which number. When the action started two or one person to my right and I was looking at my hand that wasn’t worth calling, I didn’t like being in the position of having to put my card protector down for a split second before folding after the guy on my right, simply to not give away what I was going to do and give the player on my right any sort of edge. Comparing the two methods of when to look at my cards, I simply prefer to wait until it is my turn before ever knowing what I hold, and that is the way I will do things from now on.
In regard to my play, after five-and-a-half hours of play I lost $200. I got decent cards throughout the night, hitting quads twice, but the hands I won weren’t enough to cancel out the hands I lost. I would get up, lose a hand that put me back at even, lose a few more hands to put me down, win and be even again, win some more and be in the black, lose a few that put me down for the night, and eventually I couldn’t ever get back to even or better.
Two hands that really hurt me included flopping two pair against a guy who flopped a better two pair. Where I went wrong with the second hand was calling a guy down who held ace-king and not raising him on the turn when I was pretty confident he didn’t have anything better than my medium pocket pair. Sure enough he hit a king on the river and won the hand. Had I trusted my judgment and made my bet on the turn he would have folded and I would have taken down the pot.
My final hand was also a soul crusher. I held pocket sevens and flopped a full house. By the river I raised all in and was called by a guy holding pocket queens. The only problem was he hit a queen on the river for a higher full house. I doubt I could have ever gotten the guy out since his pocket pair was higher than any card on the board, but, honestly, why would I have wanted him to fold. I had a dominating hand and don’t regret slow-playing it. It was just bad luck.
For the year I have won $395 after 16.75 hours of playing, equating to $23.58 an hour.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
To Max Buy-in Or Not To Max Buy-in
While this blog has steadily been a place to post my poker exploits at different cash games during the past year, I would like to step out of my comfort zone a little bit and discuss buy-in strategy.
I stumbled upon a forum discussion a few weeks back about the perspective of buying into a game with less than the maximum allowable amount. For the most part everyone was against such a thing and shunned those who thought otherwise. The two most common viewpoints were that not buying in with the full amount meant you were either too scared to lose the money and therefore shouldn’t be playing at the dollar level you have chosen or having less than the maximum would cost you money when you came to an all-in moment during the game. There is certainly some validity to these arguments, but I just don’t think that it can apply to every person in every game that chooses to gamble for an amount less than the maximum allowed.
Take for example the Weatherford game I participate in once a month. Among those who manage the $1-2 Hold’em game, they have never stated that a maximum or minimum amount is required to get in the game, however, 95 percent of the players put up $100 each time chips are needed. There is one guy who buys-in for $200 at the beginning of the night, but he is the only one who prefers that option. To start with $100 at a $1-2 game in most casinos you are getting into the game for the minimum amount allowed and most everyone who does so is marked among the others at the table as a potential ATM. Yet, in Weatherford this is the norm.
Players who adhere to the principle of maximum buy-ins would frown upon not putting down more than everyone else at the table because it limits the amount of bullying you could do toward the other players. I disagree with this notion because an all-in from your $100 is the same as $200 or even $500 when your opponent has only $100. With everyone holding the same amount of money there is no strategic advantage or disadvantage with having more money.
One could argue that should you lose the all-in hand with a $100 buy-in you are now broke whereas having $200 is going to keep you afloat with $100. My line of reasoning against that mentality is if you are someone who wants to have more than everyone at the table anyway, you are going to put in another $100 when you have $100 in order to get back to the $200 mark. Either way you are spending the $100 again.
Let’s take a look at normal circumstances, such as a casino, where $200 is the maximum and $100 is the minimum. Regarding the “too scared to play at this level” mentality, in most cases the $1-2 no-limit game is the lowest stakes available. If a college kid comes to play at the casino and only wants to spend two or three hundred for the night, such was the case many times in my collegiate poker career, in my opinion it is perfectly acceptable to have multiple buy-ins of the minimum to make his or her experience last longer should the worst happen. If the casino offered $0.50-1 stakes and the max buy-in was $100, then maybe the college kids and similar types of players would be content to expose more of their bankroll at that level, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are scared to lose the money. It simply could be they want the experience to last longer.
Looking at the other dominant belief about minimum buy-ins is missing out on lost money in an all-in situation. Some people’s style of play, like my own, is not necessarily to rush into an all-in situation. They way many folks talk about poker is they are constantly hoping for all-in moments, ignoring the strategy of winning numerous small- and medium-sized pots to build a bankroll. It is as if in these players’ minds, the only way to win money at Texas Hold’em is to push all-in and get lucky. Is television to blame for this line of thinking when the majority of tournaments seen for poker are final tables that have become an all-in free-for-all extravaganza? Thanks World Poker Tour.
By starting with an amount of money less than the maximum, who is to say that when an all-in moment comes around you have not already been playing for several hours and have taken down multiple pots that helped put your chip stack at more than a majority of your table opponents.
I personally do not buy-in for the minimum amount, excluding the Weatherford game, because I do feel hampered by being effectively short-stacked with only $100 at a $1-2 game, but I don’t necessarily buy in for the full $200 every time either. Sometimes I get in for $150 and other times I put down $180. But I certainly wouldn’t berate someone for believing that a minimum buy-in wasn’t the way to go in certain situations. It is your money. Do what you desire with it.
I stumbled upon a forum discussion a few weeks back about the perspective of buying into a game with less than the maximum allowable amount. For the most part everyone was against such a thing and shunned those who thought otherwise. The two most common viewpoints were that not buying in with the full amount meant you were either too scared to lose the money and therefore shouldn’t be playing at the dollar level you have chosen or having less than the maximum would cost you money when you came to an all-in moment during the game. There is certainly some validity to these arguments, but I just don’t think that it can apply to every person in every game that chooses to gamble for an amount less than the maximum allowed.
Take for example the Weatherford game I participate in once a month. Among those who manage the $1-2 Hold’em game, they have never stated that a maximum or minimum amount is required to get in the game, however, 95 percent of the players put up $100 each time chips are needed. There is one guy who buys-in for $200 at the beginning of the night, but he is the only one who prefers that option. To start with $100 at a $1-2 game in most casinos you are getting into the game for the minimum amount allowed and most everyone who does so is marked among the others at the table as a potential ATM. Yet, in Weatherford this is the norm.
Players who adhere to the principle of maximum buy-ins would frown upon not putting down more than everyone else at the table because it limits the amount of bullying you could do toward the other players. I disagree with this notion because an all-in from your $100 is the same as $200 or even $500 when your opponent has only $100. With everyone holding the same amount of money there is no strategic advantage or disadvantage with having more money.
One could argue that should you lose the all-in hand with a $100 buy-in you are now broke whereas having $200 is going to keep you afloat with $100. My line of reasoning against that mentality is if you are someone who wants to have more than everyone at the table anyway, you are going to put in another $100 when you have $100 in order to get back to the $200 mark. Either way you are spending the $100 again.
Let’s take a look at normal circumstances, such as a casino, where $200 is the maximum and $100 is the minimum. Regarding the “too scared to play at this level” mentality, in most cases the $1-2 no-limit game is the lowest stakes available. If a college kid comes to play at the casino and only wants to spend two or three hundred for the night, such was the case many times in my collegiate poker career, in my opinion it is perfectly acceptable to have multiple buy-ins of the minimum to make his or her experience last longer should the worst happen. If the casino offered $0.50-1 stakes and the max buy-in was $100, then maybe the college kids and similar types of players would be content to expose more of their bankroll at that level, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are scared to lose the money. It simply could be they want the experience to last longer.
Looking at the other dominant belief about minimum buy-ins is missing out on lost money in an all-in situation. Some people’s style of play, like my own, is not necessarily to rush into an all-in situation. They way many folks talk about poker is they are constantly hoping for all-in moments, ignoring the strategy of winning numerous small- and medium-sized pots to build a bankroll. It is as if in these players’ minds, the only way to win money at Texas Hold’em is to push all-in and get lucky. Is television to blame for this line of thinking when the majority of tournaments seen for poker are final tables that have become an all-in free-for-all extravaganza? Thanks World Poker Tour.
By starting with an amount of money less than the maximum, who is to say that when an all-in moment comes around you have not already been playing for several hours and have taken down multiple pots that helped put your chip stack at more than a majority of your table opponents.
I personally do not buy-in for the minimum amount, excluding the Weatherford game, because I do feel hampered by being effectively short-stacked with only $100 at a $1-2 game, but I don’t necessarily buy in for the full $200 every time either. Sometimes I get in for $150 and other times I put down $180. But I certainly wouldn’t berate someone for believing that a minimum buy-in wasn’t the way to go in certain situations. It is your money. Do what you desire with it.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
WinStar (January 10)
A last-minute trip to WinStar was made yesterday evening that netted me an additional $265 for my poker bankroll. Although I am not the biggest fan of special promotions that casinos offer like Aces Cracked, it was because of the 10 p.m. Splash Pot that was the key reason for my financial gain.
At the time of the promo where $100 was placed in the pot prior to the players receiving their cards, I had lost $200, re-bought for $150 more, and currently had $290 in front of me. Fully expecting to fold the hand as splash pots become a game of pre-flop chicken in order to see who is willing to risk the most money to win the $100 offered by the casino, I was surprised to find pocket eights as my hole cards. Knowing a raise would do absolutely nothing to thin the field and with $100 already at stake, I simply called from early position and decided to see what happened after me. I was astounded even more when no one raised it, but what did not surprise me at all was no one folded either. We went to a flop with nine players in the hand and $115 at stake.
The flop was 8-6-4 rainbow and I was third to act. It checked to me and I led out with a $7 bet. Immediately after making the bet I played it off as that I forgot the extra $100 was in the pot, since it a plaque that says “Splash Pot” on it and not actual chips. The bet was simply to disguise the strength of my hand as nobody is going to expect a player who is holding top set to bet such a little amount. If a person is holding a set they are either going to check it or bet a large amount in order to not let someone draw out on them. I elected to fly in the face of danger and make a tiny bet that only built up the pot a little more. I got four callers and we went to a turn with $150 in the pot.
The turn was a four, giving me a full house and the second nuts. Since I am not worried about being drawn out on and only fearing pocket fours, which is unlikely, I checked it as did everyone else.
The river was a nine, now giving me the third best hand, but I am still confident it is the best hand among the five of us. I elect to bet another small amount hoping they think I am just trying to buy the pot without risking too much of my money but large enough to be scary. I lead out with a $40 bet. After two folds a pleasant fellow calls my bet and it gets to the player on the button. He makes a minimum raise and it is now $80 to play. A small fraction of shock goes through me that I am looking at the guy who is holding four fours, but I push that aside and decide to re-raise him another $40. A minimum raise was made in the hope I could get the middle guy to call both bets instead of bumping it up another $60-100 and isolating it to the guy on the button only. Alas, the middle guy didn’t call the $80 and it was back to the button man, who called my raise and showed 10-7 for a straight.
So in hindsight I probably should have bumped it up another $60 or $80 and I would have made a little more than raising the minimum, but I ended up going from down $65 at the start of the hand to up $235.
The hand that crippled me with my first buy-in of $200 was when I held A-10 and went up against A-Q. My opponent, who was the pleasant fellow I tried to get a call from with the minimum re-raise on my splash pot hand later in the evening, flopped two pair and I rivered a smaller two pair. He got about $80 off me from that hand.
Overall I was happy with my play for the night, minus the previously mentioned two pair vs. two pair hand and the way I went out with my first buy-in when I made a disgusted “I don’t care at this point; let’s start over” move. I have three hands worth discussing, two of which are for strategy purposes and dissection.
We will begin with a hand I was happy with what took place as a read I made early in the night prevented me from losing a great deal of money. I had not been at the table for more than 20 minutes and was still feeling everyone out. I was dealt A-Q offsuit in early-to-middle position and decided to not raise with it. Under normal circumstances I might, but I wanted to see how things were progressing at this table before I dove in completely. About three calls after me brought it back around to the big blind, who raised it to $15 total. It was back on me. Although I hadn’t been there for long and didn’t have much of a read on anyone quite yet I didn’t have a good feeling about this particular hand. I opted to fold as I had an odd hunch I was way behind against the big blind. I can’t put my finger on exactly what he did or said or any special way he was acting, but it just wasn’t a good spot to call.
It turns out I was right in my feeling and the big blind had pocket aces. To make matters worse, I would have flopped a queen for top pair and likely lost some good money on that hand.
The first hand we will break down bit by bit was when I was in the big blind. Following a single caller from middle position the small blind raised it to $18 total. I looked down and saw a pair of queens. Usually I would be overjoyed to be in this situation with a pair of queens and I would normally put in a re-raise. I had the chips in my hand to do so and was merely deciding on an amount, but something was nagging at me about the player who was on my right and had made the raise. He was a nice guy, but didn’t play a ton of hands and I couldn’t recall him making a raise at all prior to this hand, which we had been playing for about three hours together by this point.
To call the small blind a tight player wasn’t entirely accurate, but he certainly did play it safe when it came to hand selection. Deciding it might be safer to only call the bet, see if it gets heads-up between us, and gauge where I would be after the flop came out I put out my $18 and was a little let down when the other gentleman also called. We went to the flop with $54 in the pot.
The flop was 10-10-9, all black. The small blind didn’t take much time to put out a bet of $20. I determined that I could find out how strong his hand was or whether somebody was holding a ten by making a raise now. I put out $40, only raising the minimum of $20. Mr. Pleasant again let me down by calling the $40 and the small blind called the extra $20. What this all meant for me was that unless a jack or queen came on the turn I was shutting things down. I am obviously beat and would not be putting any more money in the middle without a better hand than what I currently was holding.
The turn was a black ace, creating two clubs and two spades on a board of 10-10-9-A. The small blind, with $174 in the pot, bet $20. The pot odds were not there to make a profitable call since I now needed a queen and a queen alone to win, so I folded.
The guy behind me ended up calling and when the queen did not come on the river and the small blind showed pocket kings after the hand was over I was proud of myself that I made the best decisions to lose as little as possible. Had I re-raised pre-flop I would have most likely faced a raise myself from the small blind and it could have gotten really bad after that flop of all unders. By simply calling pre-flop and raising the minimum on the flop I kept the pot small and was able to get away from it once I knew where I stood.
The final hand to chat about was a pretty straight-forward hand, but it got several of us talking about it afterward. I limped in for $2 from middle position with pocket fours. A player two to my left went all in for $28 total. It folded around to me. I eventually made the call, but made it clear I was not happy doing so. It ended up the guy had A-10 of hearts and made a flush, while I did not improve.
Following the hand two players at the table said how with pocket fours that was an automatic call. I disagreed with them and explained that you are risking nearly $30 to be a slight favorite. While that isn’t a lot of money at risk, it isn’t a lot to win either. Unless you get extremely lucky to be up against pocket twos or threes, you aren’t going to be more than a 51% favorite to win the hand. I stated how with nothing behind the guy to win should you hit a set the risk did not outweigh the reward.
Now understand me, if this were a tournament then things would be different. I had about $250 in front of me at the time of this hand and if it were $28 to call in a tournament and knock the player out, getting us one step closer to the money or higher up in the money, then I would be willing to call with my fours more quickly. Yet, since it is a cash game and the only thing I am gaining from a call that has me as a slight favorite or a huge underdog is $28, I don’t think it is an automatic call. I’m curious to know what you think.
I played for four hours last night and won $265, netting me $66.25 an hour. For the year thus far I have profited $595, am making $52.89 an hour after a little more than 11 hours of play, and have nearly $900 in my poker bankroll. Poker in 2011 is going pretty well as of now. Hopefully it continues to do so.
At the time of the promo where $100 was placed in the pot prior to the players receiving their cards, I had lost $200, re-bought for $150 more, and currently had $290 in front of me. Fully expecting to fold the hand as splash pots become a game of pre-flop chicken in order to see who is willing to risk the most money to win the $100 offered by the casino, I was surprised to find pocket eights as my hole cards. Knowing a raise would do absolutely nothing to thin the field and with $100 already at stake, I simply called from early position and decided to see what happened after me. I was astounded even more when no one raised it, but what did not surprise me at all was no one folded either. We went to a flop with nine players in the hand and $115 at stake.
The flop was 8-6-4 rainbow and I was third to act. It checked to me and I led out with a $7 bet. Immediately after making the bet I played it off as that I forgot the extra $100 was in the pot, since it a plaque that says “Splash Pot” on it and not actual chips. The bet was simply to disguise the strength of my hand as nobody is going to expect a player who is holding top set to bet such a little amount. If a person is holding a set they are either going to check it or bet a large amount in order to not let someone draw out on them. I elected to fly in the face of danger and make a tiny bet that only built up the pot a little more. I got four callers and we went to a turn with $150 in the pot.
The turn was a four, giving me a full house and the second nuts. Since I am not worried about being drawn out on and only fearing pocket fours, which is unlikely, I checked it as did everyone else.
The river was a nine, now giving me the third best hand, but I am still confident it is the best hand among the five of us. I elect to bet another small amount hoping they think I am just trying to buy the pot without risking too much of my money but large enough to be scary. I lead out with a $40 bet. After two folds a pleasant fellow calls my bet and it gets to the player on the button. He makes a minimum raise and it is now $80 to play. A small fraction of shock goes through me that I am looking at the guy who is holding four fours, but I push that aside and decide to re-raise him another $40. A minimum raise was made in the hope I could get the middle guy to call both bets instead of bumping it up another $60-100 and isolating it to the guy on the button only. Alas, the middle guy didn’t call the $80 and it was back to the button man, who called my raise and showed 10-7 for a straight.
So in hindsight I probably should have bumped it up another $60 or $80 and I would have made a little more than raising the minimum, but I ended up going from down $65 at the start of the hand to up $235.
The hand that crippled me with my first buy-in of $200 was when I held A-10 and went up against A-Q. My opponent, who was the pleasant fellow I tried to get a call from with the minimum re-raise on my splash pot hand later in the evening, flopped two pair and I rivered a smaller two pair. He got about $80 off me from that hand.
Overall I was happy with my play for the night, minus the previously mentioned two pair vs. two pair hand and the way I went out with my first buy-in when I made a disgusted “I don’t care at this point; let’s start over” move. I have three hands worth discussing, two of which are for strategy purposes and dissection.
We will begin with a hand I was happy with what took place as a read I made early in the night prevented me from losing a great deal of money. I had not been at the table for more than 20 minutes and was still feeling everyone out. I was dealt A-Q offsuit in early-to-middle position and decided to not raise with it. Under normal circumstances I might, but I wanted to see how things were progressing at this table before I dove in completely. About three calls after me brought it back around to the big blind, who raised it to $15 total. It was back on me. Although I hadn’t been there for long and didn’t have much of a read on anyone quite yet I didn’t have a good feeling about this particular hand. I opted to fold as I had an odd hunch I was way behind against the big blind. I can’t put my finger on exactly what he did or said or any special way he was acting, but it just wasn’t a good spot to call.
It turns out I was right in my feeling and the big blind had pocket aces. To make matters worse, I would have flopped a queen for top pair and likely lost some good money on that hand.
The first hand we will break down bit by bit was when I was in the big blind. Following a single caller from middle position the small blind raised it to $18 total. I looked down and saw a pair of queens. Usually I would be overjoyed to be in this situation with a pair of queens and I would normally put in a re-raise. I had the chips in my hand to do so and was merely deciding on an amount, but something was nagging at me about the player who was on my right and had made the raise. He was a nice guy, but didn’t play a ton of hands and I couldn’t recall him making a raise at all prior to this hand, which we had been playing for about three hours together by this point.
To call the small blind a tight player wasn’t entirely accurate, but he certainly did play it safe when it came to hand selection. Deciding it might be safer to only call the bet, see if it gets heads-up between us, and gauge where I would be after the flop came out I put out my $18 and was a little let down when the other gentleman also called. We went to the flop with $54 in the pot.
The flop was 10-10-9, all black. The small blind didn’t take much time to put out a bet of $20. I determined that I could find out how strong his hand was or whether somebody was holding a ten by making a raise now. I put out $40, only raising the minimum of $20. Mr. Pleasant again let me down by calling the $40 and the small blind called the extra $20. What this all meant for me was that unless a jack or queen came on the turn I was shutting things down. I am obviously beat and would not be putting any more money in the middle without a better hand than what I currently was holding.
The turn was a black ace, creating two clubs and two spades on a board of 10-10-9-A. The small blind, with $174 in the pot, bet $20. The pot odds were not there to make a profitable call since I now needed a queen and a queen alone to win, so I folded.
The guy behind me ended up calling and when the queen did not come on the river and the small blind showed pocket kings after the hand was over I was proud of myself that I made the best decisions to lose as little as possible. Had I re-raised pre-flop I would have most likely faced a raise myself from the small blind and it could have gotten really bad after that flop of all unders. By simply calling pre-flop and raising the minimum on the flop I kept the pot small and was able to get away from it once I knew where I stood.
The final hand to chat about was a pretty straight-forward hand, but it got several of us talking about it afterward. I limped in for $2 from middle position with pocket fours. A player two to my left went all in for $28 total. It folded around to me. I eventually made the call, but made it clear I was not happy doing so. It ended up the guy had A-10 of hearts and made a flush, while I did not improve.
Following the hand two players at the table said how with pocket fours that was an automatic call. I disagreed with them and explained that you are risking nearly $30 to be a slight favorite. While that isn’t a lot of money at risk, it isn’t a lot to win either. Unless you get extremely lucky to be up against pocket twos or threes, you aren’t going to be more than a 51% favorite to win the hand. I stated how with nothing behind the guy to win should you hit a set the risk did not outweigh the reward.
Now understand me, if this were a tournament then things would be different. I had about $250 in front of me at the time of this hand and if it were $28 to call in a tournament and knock the player out, getting us one step closer to the money or higher up in the money, then I would be willing to call with my fours more quickly. Yet, since it is a cash game and the only thing I am gaining from a call that has me as a slight favorite or a huge underdog is $28, I don’t think it is an automatic call. I’m curious to know what you think.
I played for four hours last night and won $265, netting me $66.25 an hour. For the year thus far I have profited $595, am making $52.89 an hour after a little more than 11 hours of play, and have nearly $900 in my poker bankroll. Poker in 2011 is going pretty well as of now. Hopefully it continues to do so.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Choctaw (January 2-3)
My wife and I brought in the New Year this past weekend with a trip to Choctaw Casino. We had a really good time, ate some good food, and hope to do it again a few times throughout the year, but that could be difficult with Baby Jackson on the way. Along with the fun we had, I played three games of Texas Hold’em and among those sessions I couldn’t have seen more varied results. Although I profited $330 for the trip, I logged one large winning session, a losing session and a session that nearly broke even.
My first game was the winning one, and with the cards I received you could have put a 7-year-old who had never played Texas Hold’em in my seat and he would have won money. I was hitting straights over two pairs, flushes over straights, full houses over flushes, and even a straight flush over the nut flush. It seemed that every hand I voluntarily played I won and won big. Since I knew it was mostly the cards and not my ability that was winning money, what made this game so great for me was I got every dime possible out of my opponents. I bet just the right amount every time to get the most value from my dominant hands. There were numerous times I heard, “I know you have it, but I want to see it,” or “For $25 I’ll see your winning hand, but any more and I would have folded.” It wasn’t that I was winning the hand that made me proud of my ability, but that I was betting the perfect amount in each scenario.
When I turned a full house against a woman’s flopped straight is a good example of betting just the right amount to get a call. On the river she led out with a $20 bet. I raised her with a guy behind both of us still to act. Now, I didn’t have the best hand possible, but it was close enough that I wasn’t scared of being beat by either the man still waiting to act or the woman who had bet. I raised her $30, making it $50 to go. I felt a call wasn’t going to entice the last-to-act player to call against two people, so I had to choose an amount the woman felt comfortable with calling. I settled on a little more than the minimum. It turns out that was pretty close to the right amount because she kept saying, “I know you have it. I know you do. I just have to see it though. Show me your full house.” Had I made it $60 to go or even maybe $55 she might not have called. It was just the right amount of a raise and the most I could have gotten out of her.
After 3 hours of play and wanting to eat a steak dinner with my wife I got up with a profit of $510. This gave me an hourly rate of $170. What a great start to 2011.
My second session was a profitable one, but not nearly as nice as the earlier game. I played for 3 hours and 45 minutes and made $20. I was never up except for the final minutes of the session, which came on a hand when I held A-7 and rivered three-of-a-kind against a woman’s pocket queens. I actually felt kind of bad for her as she seemed like a really nice lady and I decided to not take everything she had in front of her when I raised her on the river. I raised her $30, leaving her with $20 after the call. I just couldn’t find the brutality to finish her as she came off as too nice of a person. That may make me the sucker, but oh well. If she had been holding another $100 I would have raised more, but I just didn’t want to be the reason she went broke.
The hourly rate for my second session of the trip was $5.33 and I had profited a total of $530 after two games. My year-to-date hourly rate had dropped from the stellar $170 from session one to $78.52 after 6 hours and 45 minutes of play.
My final session of the holiday weekend was the losing one and I gave away $200 in 30 minutes time. The main reason for the quick exit was my flopped set with pocket queens that lost to a flush on the river, however, had I won that hand I don’t think I would have stuck around too long because I did not like the table dynamics at all.
On Sunday night the poker room was full of life and the people at the table were from all walks of life. Yet, on Monday morning there was only one table going and it was full of locals who have nothing better to do with their day than trade money to one another. Of the nine players at the table, there was me, another guy about my age who played similar to me, six old men who were known by every employee in the poker room, and one younger guy wearing a matching Puma hat and windbreaker jacket who was also a regular among the group.
The group of regulars was calling raises with hands like 2-4 offsuit and 10-5 suited. One of the older guys made $12 raises with absolutely any two cards and he did so every two out of five hands, which led the others to call with the crappy cards I have mentioned. It was not a fun atmosphere to be associated with.
After playing a few hands and not winning anything except a $10 pot, I received my queens in the small blind and made it $8 to go after two callers limped in. The big blind and both limpers completed the bet and we saw a flop with $32 in the pot.
The flop was Q-8-4 with two clubs, giving me top set. I led out with a bet of $12, wanting to show that I was making a continuation bet with nothing but two high cards that missed or a medium pocket pair that I felt was no good any longer. I was raised by the big blind, who made it $25. The other two players folded and I called the $13 raise. I figured at this point the big blind had Q-x and thought he was ahead with his top pair. The small raise was probably to see how serious I was with this hand. The pot now had $82.
The turn was a red 7. I checked, fully expecting the big blind to bet and I would check-raise him. He let me down though and checked behind me. This gave me pause on him holding a queen and now I thought he might have two clubs. The type of play he made on the flop by raising me nearly the minimum is a maneuver to get a free card on the turn, which is exactly what happened.
The river was the ace of clubs, making a board that consisted of Q-8-4-7-A with three clubs. I made a bet of $25 to keep the pot small in case my read about the flush-draw maneuver was correct. I was then raised the minimum from my opponent. While the evidence I had collected up to this point said he had either A-Q or the flush, I was leaning toward the flush. There was this weird feeling in my gut that he had pulled off the small flop raise to get a free card and it had paid off.
Although my read was he had a flush I got greedy and wanted to get a little more money out of him should he be holding the A-Q for top two pair. I re-raised another $25 and was called by J-2 of clubs. It was a stupid play on my part and I only did it because I had planned on leaving very shortly after that since I didn’t like who I was playing with.
Soon after the failed queens hand I had $33 left and when the old man who was constantly raising it made it $35 to go pre-flop I called with pocket fives. He had pocket eights and I lost. It only took 30 minutes to go through my buy-in and I had no intention of sticking around for another $200 of irritation.
For the weekend I ended up winning $330 and earned $45.52 an hour after 7 hours and 15 minutes of play.
I recommend playing at Choctaw as there are less college-aged students at the table, but only do so on the weekends. If you go on a weekday you will find only one or two tables going and the action is too outrageous to be any fun.
2011 has started well and with $630 in my poker account I am more than 10 percent toward my goal of a $5,000 bankroll.
My first game was the winning one, and with the cards I received you could have put a 7-year-old who had never played Texas Hold’em in my seat and he would have won money. I was hitting straights over two pairs, flushes over straights, full houses over flushes, and even a straight flush over the nut flush. It seemed that every hand I voluntarily played I won and won big. Since I knew it was mostly the cards and not my ability that was winning money, what made this game so great for me was I got every dime possible out of my opponents. I bet just the right amount every time to get the most value from my dominant hands. There were numerous times I heard, “I know you have it, but I want to see it,” or “For $25 I’ll see your winning hand, but any more and I would have folded.” It wasn’t that I was winning the hand that made me proud of my ability, but that I was betting the perfect amount in each scenario.
When I turned a full house against a woman’s flopped straight is a good example of betting just the right amount to get a call. On the river she led out with a $20 bet. I raised her with a guy behind both of us still to act. Now, I didn’t have the best hand possible, but it was close enough that I wasn’t scared of being beat by either the man still waiting to act or the woman who had bet. I raised her $30, making it $50 to go. I felt a call wasn’t going to entice the last-to-act player to call against two people, so I had to choose an amount the woman felt comfortable with calling. I settled on a little more than the minimum. It turns out that was pretty close to the right amount because she kept saying, “I know you have it. I know you do. I just have to see it though. Show me your full house.” Had I made it $60 to go or even maybe $55 she might not have called. It was just the right amount of a raise and the most I could have gotten out of her.
After 3 hours of play and wanting to eat a steak dinner with my wife I got up with a profit of $510. This gave me an hourly rate of $170. What a great start to 2011.
My second session was a profitable one, but not nearly as nice as the earlier game. I played for 3 hours and 45 minutes and made $20. I was never up except for the final minutes of the session, which came on a hand when I held A-7 and rivered three-of-a-kind against a woman’s pocket queens. I actually felt kind of bad for her as she seemed like a really nice lady and I decided to not take everything she had in front of her when I raised her on the river. I raised her $30, leaving her with $20 after the call. I just couldn’t find the brutality to finish her as she came off as too nice of a person. That may make me the sucker, but oh well. If she had been holding another $100 I would have raised more, but I just didn’t want to be the reason she went broke.
The hourly rate for my second session of the trip was $5.33 and I had profited a total of $530 after two games. My year-to-date hourly rate had dropped from the stellar $170 from session one to $78.52 after 6 hours and 45 minutes of play.
My final session of the holiday weekend was the losing one and I gave away $200 in 30 minutes time. The main reason for the quick exit was my flopped set with pocket queens that lost to a flush on the river, however, had I won that hand I don’t think I would have stuck around too long because I did not like the table dynamics at all.
On Sunday night the poker room was full of life and the people at the table were from all walks of life. Yet, on Monday morning there was only one table going and it was full of locals who have nothing better to do with their day than trade money to one another. Of the nine players at the table, there was me, another guy about my age who played similar to me, six old men who were known by every employee in the poker room, and one younger guy wearing a matching Puma hat and windbreaker jacket who was also a regular among the group.
The group of regulars was calling raises with hands like 2-4 offsuit and 10-5 suited. One of the older guys made $12 raises with absolutely any two cards and he did so every two out of five hands, which led the others to call with the crappy cards I have mentioned. It was not a fun atmosphere to be associated with.
After playing a few hands and not winning anything except a $10 pot, I received my queens in the small blind and made it $8 to go after two callers limped in. The big blind and both limpers completed the bet and we saw a flop with $32 in the pot.
The flop was Q-8-4 with two clubs, giving me top set. I led out with a bet of $12, wanting to show that I was making a continuation bet with nothing but two high cards that missed or a medium pocket pair that I felt was no good any longer. I was raised by the big blind, who made it $25. The other two players folded and I called the $13 raise. I figured at this point the big blind had Q-x and thought he was ahead with his top pair. The small raise was probably to see how serious I was with this hand. The pot now had $82.
The turn was a red 7. I checked, fully expecting the big blind to bet and I would check-raise him. He let me down though and checked behind me. This gave me pause on him holding a queen and now I thought he might have two clubs. The type of play he made on the flop by raising me nearly the minimum is a maneuver to get a free card on the turn, which is exactly what happened.
The river was the ace of clubs, making a board that consisted of Q-8-4-7-A with three clubs. I made a bet of $25 to keep the pot small in case my read about the flush-draw maneuver was correct. I was then raised the minimum from my opponent. While the evidence I had collected up to this point said he had either A-Q or the flush, I was leaning toward the flush. There was this weird feeling in my gut that he had pulled off the small flop raise to get a free card and it had paid off.
Although my read was he had a flush I got greedy and wanted to get a little more money out of him should he be holding the A-Q for top two pair. I re-raised another $25 and was called by J-2 of clubs. It was a stupid play on my part and I only did it because I had planned on leaving very shortly after that since I didn’t like who I was playing with.
Soon after the failed queens hand I had $33 left and when the old man who was constantly raising it made it $35 to go pre-flop I called with pocket fives. He had pocket eights and I lost. It only took 30 minutes to go through my buy-in and I had no intention of sticking around for another $200 of irritation.
For the weekend I ended up winning $330 and earned $45.52 an hour after 7 hours and 15 minutes of play.
I recommend playing at Choctaw as there are less college-aged students at the table, but only do so on the weekends. If you go on a weekday you will find only one or two tables going and the action is too outrageous to be any fun.
2011 has started well and with $630 in my poker account I am more than 10 percent toward my goal of a $5,000 bankroll.
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