Poker This Week
05/18/07 00:36 Filed in: Poker
Ever get
the feeling that little goes your way? Having
terrible runs at poker only creates more mistakes
on the felt. And so, it goes. I recently had the
opportunity to visit Harrah’s in St. Louis. They
run a decent, if not overly service oriented, poker
room.
I stopped in on Monday. I sat down to a bunch of local that play each other often. It wasn’t hard to pick out the players. The easiest tell was a guy who threw his cards after being re-raised. It turns out, he hates to have his pocket 2s re-raised preflop. The guy was easy to tilt and left a short time after. But, before then he did get a nice little talking to from the poker room manager about his behavior. Go figure.
So, I sat there for a couple hours. It was a pretty crazy table at times. At other times, it was just completely tight. I had a guy next to me, Ryan, who was an action junkie. I saw him there with a big stack that he had built after catching a slew of cards.
We are playing 1-2 NL. I pick up KK. I am in late action, so after a lot of callers, I raise to $25. Ryan calls. The flop comes all low cards with two hearts. There’s roughly 70 in the pot, so I bet $70. He insta-calls after showing me his AQ hearts. I put all my chips in, about $40 left, before the turn card shows up. He calls. I double up.
He went on to a run of cards that decimated his stack. When you aren’t hitting cards and playing loose, that stack just has wild wings.
I joined the Monday night tournament. Out of 75 players, I placed 8th. During every tournament I have won, I have made a single hand that I shouldn’t have. In this tournament, I found myself outgunned a few times. Most notably was my QQ vs AA. The flop came low, I ended up getting her all in. I figured her for AK, AQ, JJ. Instead, the dreaded Aces were turned over. I never caught up.
I then had a moment, where I was nearly all in. I put the guy on overcards. I didn’t realize they were paired overcards. I had pocket 10s. I bet into him and he raised. I went all in. And he called. I then look over and see his pocket Queens. Damn. As the cards turned over, I looked onward. Then, out of habit, I call out the card I need on the river. And the 10 appeared, giving me a nice full house. I then proceeded to tear up the field and knocked out 10 players.
I did have a favorite hand in the tournament. I was the small blind and picked up KK. It was late in the tournament with 2 tables left. There were 7 players at my table. Everyone fold to me. I raise the minimum. The BB decides I am trying to bully him. He proceeds to move all in. I think about it for about a second. Then call. He flips over K6. He has one live card, three outs. The flop shows him no love. The turn comes up and he is drawing dead. I knock him out. Had I overplayed my hand, I might have had no action. Had I called, he might have just checked. By acting like I am playing position, he makes the wrong judgement.
I ended up placing 8th and making the money. On that final hand, I picked up A9d. I caught a flush draw on the flop and couldn’t get the guy to fold. I went all in and he finally called. He made a pair of queens on the flop. I had 12 outs (9 diamonds and 3 aces) and couldn’t catch up.
The next day, I decided to return. And while I played just about every hand well, I couldn’t get ahead. In the first half hour, I lost $100. I made two pair to have a guy call down his flush draw and catch runner, runner two pair. I pick up trips on the flop with pocket 2s, only to have the turn give my opponent trips.
It didn’t ever improve. I walked out after losing my table stakes. Perhaps next time.
I stopped in on Monday. I sat down to a bunch of local that play each other often. It wasn’t hard to pick out the players. The easiest tell was a guy who threw his cards after being re-raised. It turns out, he hates to have his pocket 2s re-raised preflop. The guy was easy to tilt and left a short time after. But, before then he did get a nice little talking to from the poker room manager about his behavior. Go figure.
So, I sat there for a couple hours. It was a pretty crazy table at times. At other times, it was just completely tight. I had a guy next to me, Ryan, who was an action junkie. I saw him there with a big stack that he had built after catching a slew of cards.
We are playing 1-2 NL. I pick up KK. I am in late action, so after a lot of callers, I raise to $25. Ryan calls. The flop comes all low cards with two hearts. There’s roughly 70 in the pot, so I bet $70. He insta-calls after showing me his AQ hearts. I put all my chips in, about $40 left, before the turn card shows up. He calls. I double up.
He went on to a run of cards that decimated his stack. When you aren’t hitting cards and playing loose, that stack just has wild wings.
I joined the Monday night tournament. Out of 75 players, I placed 8th. During every tournament I have won, I have made a single hand that I shouldn’t have. In this tournament, I found myself outgunned a few times. Most notably was my QQ vs AA. The flop came low, I ended up getting her all in. I figured her for AK, AQ, JJ. Instead, the dreaded Aces were turned over. I never caught up.
I then had a moment, where I was nearly all in. I put the guy on overcards. I didn’t realize they were paired overcards. I had pocket 10s. I bet into him and he raised. I went all in. And he called. I then look over and see his pocket Queens. Damn. As the cards turned over, I looked onward. Then, out of habit, I call out the card I need on the river. And the 10 appeared, giving me a nice full house. I then proceeded to tear up the field and knocked out 10 players.
I did have a favorite hand in the tournament. I was the small blind and picked up KK. It was late in the tournament with 2 tables left. There were 7 players at my table. Everyone fold to me. I raise the minimum. The BB decides I am trying to bully him. He proceeds to move all in. I think about it for about a second. Then call. He flips over K6. He has one live card, three outs. The flop shows him no love. The turn comes up and he is drawing dead. I knock him out. Had I overplayed my hand, I might have had no action. Had I called, he might have just checked. By acting like I am playing position, he makes the wrong judgement.
I ended up placing 8th and making the money. On that final hand, I picked up A9d. I caught a flush draw on the flop and couldn’t get the guy to fold. I went all in and he finally called. He made a pair of queens on the flop. I had 12 outs (9 diamonds and 3 aces) and couldn’t catch up.
The next day, I decided to return. And while I played just about every hand well, I couldn’t get ahead. In the first half hour, I lost $100. I made two pair to have a guy call down his flush draw and catch runner, runner two pair. I pick up trips on the flop with pocket 2s, only to have the turn give my opponent trips.
It didn’t ever improve. I walked out after losing my table stakes. Perhaps next time.