Dead Money Poker Tour
08/26/07 23:43 Filed in: Poker
Wow.
What a rush.
I have played a number of these tournaments. I have now made or 4 final tables. And tonight was magic.
Early on, there were three tables. I and getting good cards and hitting on some nice hands. But, instead of playing overly conservative, as I usually do, I started playing crazy hands. The first point I realized I might be able to get some pots was a K8 of Spades call. A lot of players called and I hit the K-high flush. Brandon, who has won twice and had been bullying the table early, was bashing people left and right. He would raise, re-raise and bluff his way into wins.
Now, it was my turn. I flop the flush and I bet 2000 chips into a pot with about 3000. He calls. I bet 4000 chips and he calls. I bet 8000 chips on the river, he calls. Turns out, he had pocket 5s, making trips on the flop. He chased, chased and chased. And lost a chunk of chips.
I then knocked him out later when he thought his hand was good.
Our table knocked out the majority of the players. We had a lot of chasers on our table. And sometimes they were making hands. I was also playing hands I would never otherwise play, such as 23 offsuit in a raised pot. I would catch and the board would be a rainbow. The player, with say AK, would bet and bet. I would call and re-raise. And knock one or more out.
My favorite hands were big hands. I would have AK vs AQ. Or, when I picked up AA with 11 players. I was on the button. A player two behind me raises to 4000. I look at his stack, look at mine, and tell him I will put him all in. He insta-calls. He had AQ of diamonds. He never caught up and I busted him giving me another final table appearance.
At the final table, I was the big stack. There were two other sizable stacks. I doubled up two small stacks on bad calls, but it was close to pot odds to call.
But, invariably, I would get good hands. Like 6 handed, I catch JJ. I am on the button. The player in front of me would raise to 15,000. I offered to put her all in. I had her covered, but she had enough chips for a good second place. She couldn’t call without risking a moneyless finish. Turns out, she had AJ. We ran the flop for grins and I would have crushed her.
Or the KQos. I was getting a good chance to call, but Daniel had been really quiet for a long time. Suddenly, he goes all in. I am thinking I am in trouble, so I decide to fold just sacrificing my blind. We run the cards and he would have hit a Jack, giving him Trips to my K high. A very good fold indeed.
I knocked out the final two players. I picked up A8, calling my small blind. I catch an 8 on the flop with 10, 8, and 7 on the flop. I bet big, the smaller stack goes all in. I call for just a bit more. Turns out he had 55. I knocked him out after knocking out his wife earlier.
Now, heads up, I have significant lead. I catch Q10 diamonds. I bet 30,000. She goes all in. I look and call. The flop comes up A 10 8. Two diamonds. Her Ace-Five has caught. Then the turn, 5 of diamonds. I hit my flush. If an Ace or 5 comes, I lose. A helpless 8 falls and I win.
It’s nice to have an aggressive, semi-bluff game pay off. I had a blast.
I have played a number of these tournaments. I have now made or 4 final tables. And tonight was magic.
Early on, there were three tables. I and getting good cards and hitting on some nice hands. But, instead of playing overly conservative, as I usually do, I started playing crazy hands. The first point I realized I might be able to get some pots was a K8 of Spades call. A lot of players called and I hit the K-high flush. Brandon, who has won twice and had been bullying the table early, was bashing people left and right. He would raise, re-raise and bluff his way into wins.
Now, it was my turn. I flop the flush and I bet 2000 chips into a pot with about 3000. He calls. I bet 4000 chips and he calls. I bet 8000 chips on the river, he calls. Turns out, he had pocket 5s, making trips on the flop. He chased, chased and chased. And lost a chunk of chips.
I then knocked him out later when he thought his hand was good.
Our table knocked out the majority of the players. We had a lot of chasers on our table. And sometimes they were making hands. I was also playing hands I would never otherwise play, such as 23 offsuit in a raised pot. I would catch and the board would be a rainbow. The player, with say AK, would bet and bet. I would call and re-raise. And knock one or more out.
My favorite hands were big hands. I would have AK vs AQ. Or, when I picked up AA with 11 players. I was on the button. A player two behind me raises to 4000. I look at his stack, look at mine, and tell him I will put him all in. He insta-calls. He had AQ of diamonds. He never caught up and I busted him giving me another final table appearance.
At the final table, I was the big stack. There were two other sizable stacks. I doubled up two small stacks on bad calls, but it was close to pot odds to call.
But, invariably, I would get good hands. Like 6 handed, I catch JJ. I am on the button. The player in front of me would raise to 15,000. I offered to put her all in. I had her covered, but she had enough chips for a good second place. She couldn’t call without risking a moneyless finish. Turns out, she had AJ. We ran the flop for grins and I would have crushed her.
Or the KQos. I was getting a good chance to call, but Daniel had been really quiet for a long time. Suddenly, he goes all in. I am thinking I am in trouble, so I decide to fold just sacrificing my blind. We run the cards and he would have hit a Jack, giving him Trips to my K high. A very good fold indeed.
I knocked out the final two players. I picked up A8, calling my small blind. I catch an 8 on the flop with 10, 8, and 7 on the flop. I bet big, the smaller stack goes all in. I call for just a bit more. Turns out he had 55. I knocked him out after knocking out his wife earlier.
Now, heads up, I have significant lead. I catch Q10 diamonds. I bet 30,000. She goes all in. I look and call. The flop comes up A 10 8. Two diamonds. Her Ace-Five has caught. Then the turn, 5 of diamonds. I hit my flush. If an Ace or 5 comes, I lose. A helpless 8 falls and I win.
It’s nice to have an aggressive, semi-bluff game pay off. I had a blast.
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Not your tilt
08/13/07 00:40 Filed in: Poker
I had
the pleasure of joining a table and catching some
nice cards. Even better, I had the ultimate
pleasure of playing someone whom believed they were
better then they were. And to top it off, I was
able to put him on tilt.
It started off innocent enough. I had just joined the table. Tilt Boy was immediately to my right. In the first hand, I picked up AQc. I was in middle position and he called the big blind. I raised it to 3 1/2 times the BB. I had two callers. The small blind called, the big blind folded and Tilt Boy called.
The flop couldn’t have been better. 2c 8c Jc. I flopped the nut flush. Simple enough, now just to figure out how to extract the most. Well, these two players made it very easy. The first player makes a pot size bet. Tilt Boy calls. I follow with a call.
The next card come, a spade. There’s no pair on the board, so I feel very confident. The first player goes all in. The second player calls. I only have a small handful of chips left, so I go all in. Tilt Boy calls my remaining bet. He barely has me covered, so it might have well been an all in call for him as well.
The cards are turned over, revealing that I do have the nuts. Both of them are drawing dead. The fist player had KJ-spades. Tilt Boy had a pair of 10s, one was a club.
My position allowed me to deceive the strength of my hand, simply by calling. By having an aggressive player in the lead, Tilt Boy felt more confident than he should have been.
Two hands later, I pick up AK. I bet and have exactly one caller. Tilt Boy. Damn this is nice. The flop comes K 10 3. I feel pretty good and put in a pot sized raise. He calls. He checks on the turn, I put in another raise, putting him all in. He calls. He turns over his A10. The only card that helps him is another 10. It never falls and I have busted him for a second time.
During the next few rounds, he starts explaining how I am lucky and that my play isn’t very good. He tells me I was lucky on my flush. He thinks he raised me, but I raised and he called. After the flop, he was toast, so it didn’t matter. His battle cry, “I had 10s” falls on my ears. I simply reiterate his poor play. This argument goes on for a little while.
In the mean time, any time he has cards worth playing, he simply goes all in. He wins a couple hands for small pots and then runs into me. He is the small blind, I am the big. I pick up AA. He picks up QJ off-suit. I know that being heads up, he really wants to beat me. I decide that this is the moment to do it.
I wait for a couple moments. Then I bet out the specific amount he has on the table. He has 45x the big blind. So, I am trying the make an attempt at his entire stack. In most situations, I might either check or make a 2-3x BB bet. I want to encourage the action. In this case, I know that emotion is his driving factor. Against most other players, he might fold. To me, he will call. And to me, he will lose.
The flop comes up a little scary. He had a straight draw. It never came. And he tried to gloat over his straight draw even after he lost.
Due to him, I picked up another guy’s table stakes. The guy with KJ decided to make a move against me. I limped in on the button. 5 players were in the pot. I snagged two pair with my 78. I bet and had a single caller. He called when I put him all in. His paired Ace quickly allowed me to gobble up his chips.
He continued to profess his complete poker prowess over me, even when I had made 6x my table stakes. And he reloaded 4 times. Funny how that works.
It started off innocent enough. I had just joined the table. Tilt Boy was immediately to my right. In the first hand, I picked up AQc. I was in middle position and he called the big blind. I raised it to 3 1/2 times the BB. I had two callers. The small blind called, the big blind folded and Tilt Boy called.
The flop couldn’t have been better. 2c 8c Jc. I flopped the nut flush. Simple enough, now just to figure out how to extract the most. Well, these two players made it very easy. The first player makes a pot size bet. Tilt Boy calls. I follow with a call.
The next card come, a spade. There’s no pair on the board, so I feel very confident. The first player goes all in. The second player calls. I only have a small handful of chips left, so I go all in. Tilt Boy calls my remaining bet. He barely has me covered, so it might have well been an all in call for him as well.
The cards are turned over, revealing that I do have the nuts. Both of them are drawing dead. The fist player had KJ-spades. Tilt Boy had a pair of 10s, one was a club.
My position allowed me to deceive the strength of my hand, simply by calling. By having an aggressive player in the lead, Tilt Boy felt more confident than he should have been.
Two hands later, I pick up AK. I bet and have exactly one caller. Tilt Boy. Damn this is nice. The flop comes K 10 3. I feel pretty good and put in a pot sized raise. He calls. He checks on the turn, I put in another raise, putting him all in. He calls. He turns over his A10. The only card that helps him is another 10. It never falls and I have busted him for a second time.
During the next few rounds, he starts explaining how I am lucky and that my play isn’t very good. He tells me I was lucky on my flush. He thinks he raised me, but I raised and he called. After the flop, he was toast, so it didn’t matter. His battle cry, “I had 10s” falls on my ears. I simply reiterate his poor play. This argument goes on for a little while.
In the mean time, any time he has cards worth playing, he simply goes all in. He wins a couple hands for small pots and then runs into me. He is the small blind, I am the big. I pick up AA. He picks up QJ off-suit. I know that being heads up, he really wants to beat me. I decide that this is the moment to do it.
I wait for a couple moments. Then I bet out the specific amount he has on the table. He has 45x the big blind. So, I am trying the make an attempt at his entire stack. In most situations, I might either check or make a 2-3x BB bet. I want to encourage the action. In this case, I know that emotion is his driving factor. Against most other players, he might fold. To me, he will call. And to me, he will lose.
The flop comes up a little scary. He had a straight draw. It never came. And he tried to gloat over his straight draw even after he lost.
Due to him, I picked up another guy’s table stakes. The guy with KJ decided to make a move against me. I limped in on the button. 5 players were in the pot. I snagged two pair with my 78. I bet and had a single caller. He called when I put him all in. His paired Ace quickly allowed me to gobble up his chips.
He continued to profess his complete poker prowess over me, even when I had made 6x my table stakes. And he reloaded 4 times. Funny how that works.
Poker online and off
08/12/07 00:39 Filed in: Poker
Poker
has a way of showing you at your best and your
worst. I have recently begun playing online and
off. My last couple trips to casinos have been
mixed. I will have a good showing and then bad.
Online, the same thing has been happening. Strangely, sometimes it is like there’s someone you just can’t beat. No matter how good your cards are, you can’t win. I recently played a game where my opponent ran runner, runner cards against me. I would flop the nut flush and she would get runner runner full house. Another hand, I flop the full house, she gets runner runner straight flush. What can you do in those situations?
For me, I took the time to take a little break and went to my monthly poker tournament. In the tournament, I was able to last through the first break. I found that I was folding eventual winners and a losing the good hands I did keep. It makes for frustrating play.
When I returned to online play, I decided to play a different style of my game. Usually, I make quick decisions and live and die by the game. My decisions have been make long before the action ever gets to me. I know what I am trying to do, crush my opposition. However, my decisions may have seemed too quick. I was finding that opponents were drawing out on me far too often.
So, I changed. Instead of making quick decisions, I am making my decisions look like they are taking longer. In fact, I am having them all take the same amount of time. I wait until the reminder for me to play comes up, then I click the button.
This does a number of things. One, it slows down the game. The game will take longer, making for less hands for each set of blinds. As the blinds are set on a timer and not on the number of hands, the blinds increase in far fewer hands. This makes my higher card selection criteria more important.
Also, taking more time, I can think about the situation more clearly. But, perhaps more importantly, it makes my opponent think too much. The longer I wait, the more they may doubt themselves. And as I take roughly the same amount of time each action, regardless of being preflop, flop, raise, call or fold, I can take a lot of time for people to think.
I am also disguising my hands by using a new betting pattern. I bet 2x BB early and 3-4x late position. I may vary this, depending on the number of callers.
I have found I have far fewer callers willing to invest the time for playing a hand with me. And while I get trapped occasionally, I am pulling off bluffs and semi-bluffs more often. By simply putting in a probe bet, I am pulling down the pot.
Since testing the approach, I am finding myself in the money more often than before. I have since recouped my losses and I am back in positive territory.
I will continue this in my renewed interest in online poker. Hopefully, my trend continues.
Online, the same thing has been happening. Strangely, sometimes it is like there’s someone you just can’t beat. No matter how good your cards are, you can’t win. I recently played a game where my opponent ran runner, runner cards against me. I would flop the nut flush and she would get runner runner full house. Another hand, I flop the full house, she gets runner runner straight flush. What can you do in those situations?
For me, I took the time to take a little break and went to my monthly poker tournament. In the tournament, I was able to last through the first break. I found that I was folding eventual winners and a losing the good hands I did keep. It makes for frustrating play.
When I returned to online play, I decided to play a different style of my game. Usually, I make quick decisions and live and die by the game. My decisions have been make long before the action ever gets to me. I know what I am trying to do, crush my opposition. However, my decisions may have seemed too quick. I was finding that opponents were drawing out on me far too often.
So, I changed. Instead of making quick decisions, I am making my decisions look like they are taking longer. In fact, I am having them all take the same amount of time. I wait until the reminder for me to play comes up, then I click the button.
This does a number of things. One, it slows down the game. The game will take longer, making for less hands for each set of blinds. As the blinds are set on a timer and not on the number of hands, the blinds increase in far fewer hands. This makes my higher card selection criteria more important.
Also, taking more time, I can think about the situation more clearly. But, perhaps more importantly, it makes my opponent think too much. The longer I wait, the more they may doubt themselves. And as I take roughly the same amount of time each action, regardless of being preflop, flop, raise, call or fold, I can take a lot of time for people to think.
I am also disguising my hands by using a new betting pattern. I bet 2x BB early and 3-4x late position. I may vary this, depending on the number of callers.
I have found I have far fewer callers willing to invest the time for playing a hand with me. And while I get trapped occasionally, I am pulling off bluffs and semi-bluffs more often. By simply putting in a probe bet, I am pulling down the pot.
Since testing the approach, I am finding myself in the money more often than before. I have since recouped my losses and I am back in positive territory.
I will continue this in my renewed interest in online poker. Hopefully, my trend continues.