Wynn last night, new blog promotion idea

Last night I went up to the Wynn to play.  I didn't know if I would play 1/3 or 2/5.  I figure 2/5 is probably tougher than average at Wynn so I might just wait and play elsewhere.  Also, maybe I should just focus on weekend play for 2/5.  So I ended up playing 1/3.

The game was fucking tough.  I lost.  It was frustrating.  And yet, at the end of the session I had an awesome time and it was one of the more enjoyable sessions that I've had in a while. 

There was one guy there that was FUCKING GOOD.  Like the best I've seen at 1/3 basically ever.  Or maybe he was just a maniac with no talent, but it looked like he was playing awesome.  3 betting constantly, and 4 betting preflop multiple times as well.  Just really owning the table.  I was in awe for sure.  I just never see anyone crushing like that.

Some other guys were good too.  There were a couple just old rocks that were playing super tight.  There was one younger guy, talking about how they have a team of people they are backing in WSOP events, and he seemed to be positionally-aware and was playing pretty TAG basically.  The rest of the table just seemed relatively tight.  Not a good table, and if I was really smart I should have just changed tables.  But, I didn't.  :-)

I was in a ton of interesting hands.  Here are some of them.

Few people limp to the button, the TAG guy I described earlier.  He raised to 18.  Pretty big raise, but there were some limpers.  This guy seemed to be playing more hands around the button and cutoff.  I had Q-Q in the blind.  I figured the guy on the button could be stealing so my hand was most likely the best hand (for SURE), so I'd just reraise and probably take it down.  Plus it would help me avoid having to play this tough hand out of position.  I raised to 48.  Folds back to him, he makes it 125.  This hand was crazy.  You NEVER see 3-bets at 1/3 without a huge hand, and 4 bets, thats just insane.  That guy ended up playing pretty snug overall so I think I made a good fold and he probably had aces or kings. 

Really good LAG guy raises to 13.  I have A-Q suited in position.  I reraise to 33.  Now this guy 4-bets me up to 75!  To other people I'd definitely fold, but I've seen this guy be super aggressive and I thought this could even be a bluff.  Just like F you, get out of my pot, I own this table.  I thought about reraising, but I didn't want to commit my whole stack and obviously I didn't have a great hand to reraise with.  It would have basically been a bluff if I did reraise.  However, I still thought my hand might be ahead of his range (maybe this is me being an idiot though) so I called.  I was definitely thinking about making a big move on the flop.  Flop came out K-x-x with 2 diamonds.  I have spades.  He bets out 69.  I definitely thought about just pushing over the top here and took a while to think.  I just didn't think this guy had a good hand every time and thought he could still easily be bluffing here.  Although, again, maybe that's just me being a dumbass.  I thought about it, and obviously this board is terrible for me.  I have no redraws, one overcard, just nothing going on.  No backdoor flush, nothing.  Plus, maybe this guy really does have A-A or K-K or whatever.  Who knows.  So I folded.  I'll pick a better spot.  I guarantee I would have shoved if I flopped a spade draw, and maybe if the board was just all babies I could have shoved too.  For better or worse.  :P  Overall it's probably better the board came the way it did, I don't really need to shove 300 in with A-Q no pair.

LAG guy raises to 15 in the cutoff.  TAG guy calls him on the button.  I'm in the blind with A-J.  I figure I can easily be ahead of both of their ranges.  The LAG guy raises in position a LOT (and just raises a lot period).  The TAG guy has been pretty quiet but he has been calling the LAG guy in position sometimes.  My guess is because he knows the LAG guy has a wide range and he is probably ahead of a lot of it.  So my A-J looks pretty good to me right now.  I reraise to 50.  Probably could have made it 60.  The LAG guy thinks about it for a while, grabs a huge stack of chips (which had me mentally freaking out) and eventually he just calls.  The other guy just shakes his head like, this pot is pretty crazy right now but how can I fold, and he calls too.  So now I'm in a super bloated pot with A-J out of position against the two best people at the table.  lol.  I still think my hand is probably ahead of a lot of their range.  Flop comes K-9-x with 2 clubs (I have no clubs).  At this point, I showed a lot of strength preflop and I'm not just giving up.  So I bet out 110 and cross my fingers.  They both fold.  Whew.  I'm not usually getting myself in spots like that.  But it was pretty exciting. 

Another fun hand.  I had 9-9 and again, the LAG guy raises, this time to 13.  I call.  Everyone else folds.  Now this guy bets 25 dark and says "I have a good feeling about this one".  So the dealer is about to put the flop out and I do something I have literally never done before in my life... I call dark!  LOL!  So the flop action is already done before the flop even shows up.  My reasoning was, I think my range is well ahead of his preflop.  I don't want to be scared off of the flop, so I'm just going to completely ignore the flop and call dark.  The flop was A-Q-4, so I was pretty happy I called dark (or maybe sad) because I certainly would have had a hard time calling if I considered the flop.  In fact if he hadn't bet dark I would have folded the flop.  Turn was another 4.  He checks, I check.  River, 7.  He says, I bet you have 7s and checks.  I check too and flip up the 9s.  He had pocket 8s.  :-)  So I won that one.

I was down as much as 300 at one point, but eventually only ended up losing 130.  I was pretty happy with that because I didn't flop a ton of big hands or anything, and I really thought through some tough situations and played some real poker.  It was a ton of fun.

As far as my blog goes, I don't think anyone's reading it (although comment on it if you are!).  What I'm thinking about doing is just printing up some pieces of paper with my blog address, Twitter account info, and email (the.best.ever.poker@gmail.com).  Then if someone is like "what did you have?" I can say I'm not going to tell you, but I'll blog about it and you can see the blog here.  That might get people viewing my blog and talking about it, and getting me more interested in it.  In fact I think I'll do that today!

Excalibur on Monday

Not the most appealing ad IMO

It's Monday night, I had a successful weekend of poker, and I was all pumped up to kick some serious ass.  I didn't know where to play, so I just rode up the strip to see what looked like a good idea.  I saw the Luxor and Excalibur, and thought where would the shittiest players in the world play?  Those places.  So I pulled into Excalibur.


They had 1 table of 1/2 NL going and 1 table of 2-6 spread limit.  :-)  I got on both lists and after about 40 minutes got in the 1/2 game.  Right away people were just fucking hammering me!  It sucked.  Plus people were pretty short stacked, which handcuffs you into playing tighter than I really want to play.

I played a ton of hands that didn't go very well.  First, I raise with A-J in late position to 11.  Get 3 callers.  Flop J-9-8 with 2 diamonds.  Checks to me, I bet 23.  Guy raises all-in for like 100 total.  Argh.  I thought about calling for sure but eventually just folded.  He didn't look like he was bluffing, and I figure even if he did just have a draw, my cards don't play very well against a draw.  So he either has a 2 pair / set hand which kills me, a draw which isn't good for me either.  The only hands I really do beat are QJ / KJ.  So I think that was a good fold.

Little bit later I raise in late position with 7-6 suited (probably not a great idea given everyone's short stacks).  Flop comes 7-5-4 with 2 clubs.  Looked pretty damn good to me.  We're heads up, guy checks to me, I bet 10.  He raises me to 25.  I'm just like fuck you, all in (other guy had like 90 total when we saw the flop).  He calls.  He has 4-5.  Coin flip, I lose. 

Later on, I have Q-10 suited and raise in late position to 8.  Flop Q-x-x with 2 of my suit.  Like 6 people saw the flop.  Guy leads out for an all-in bet of 16.  2 guys call, and I raise to 80.  Probably more than I should have raised, but whatever.  I figure worst case I get all-in and I can't be in THAT bad of shape.  The guy with the bigger stack folds, the other guy calls for 60, I brick the turn and river, he has A-Q. 

Excalibur

 

I tried not to get too tilted.  It was definitely frustrating.  I was now down $300 playing against basically the shittiest players around in the shittiest casino around.  Also, I couldn't play all night, so I wanted to make my money back but it seemed questionable.  Especially since everyone was short stacked, so I'd have to bust multiple people to get back in it.  But whatever, I was hanging tough and kept a good attitude. 

Few other hands:

Raise with A-A under the gun to 10, everyone folds.  Sigh.  I also learn later that they have an "aces cracked" promotion where you get to spin the wheel, which would have given me a better reason to limp with aces if I wanted to.  Totally could have chosen that path especially based on the promotion.

In the big blind, straddle to 4.  Few people call.  I raise to 20 with AK.  Guy in the straddle calls me.  Flop 9-6-4.  I bet 25, he raises all-in for about 125, I fold.

Raise with Q-Q to 8.  One caller in the blind. Flop Q-J-10 with 2 clubs.  Checks to me, I bet 10, he calls.  Turn 8.  Check, check.  River, king.  He bets out 45, I fold in disgust, he shows the ace.

I did win a couple hands really late in the session, with K-Q and K-J, nothing big though.  Also, I had this hand with 4-4 that I think I played really shitty.  I limp with 4-4 (for 4, there is a straddle).  Comes around to the straddle guy, he raises to 21.  He only has like 125 or so, maybe 140.  The two guys before me fold.  I call, hoping the next two people are going to call (although I have no information telling me they will).  They both fold.  Flop is 9-5-4.  He bets 25, I call.  Turn jack, he checks, I bet 45, he folds.  Limp was fine, calling the 21 was really stupid I think just because the guy has nowhere near enough money to make it worth it, plus I didn't think he would necessarily just spew all of the chips he did have if I hit.  So I won, but it was not good.

Overall I ended up losing $240.  Not really that bad considering I lost a couple flips (essentially) and didn't have much else going on.  Going to play some more tonight for sure, perhaps at Wynn.  Maybe even 2/5!  :-)

Another long weekend of poker

The World Series of Poker

 Another big weekend playing poker!  It was a ton of fun and I also won some good money.

On Friday night after work I went up to the Rio.  I hadn't been up to the Rio since the WSOP started, so I wanted to get up there and give it a shot. 

The game didn't appear to be all that great at first.  I found that a little annoying.  I got there and the game seemed pretty tight.  I wondered if I would have been better off playing somewhere else, like the Wynn where I have had some good recent success.  The guy to my left looked like he might have been decent, and the first pot I raised I had to fold to him on the flop and I felt like he would be trying to take pots away from me all the time.  Although even as I write this, there's really no good reason to think that.  He just had a lot of chips in front of him, and he liked to talk a lot, but there was no reason to think that he was not only going to be playing loose, but also really good.  He probably was just playing super tight, doubled up with AA or a set or whatever, and there you go.

I turned the nut straight in one hand with AK, got all-in, and had to chop it with another guy who also had AK.  :P  Pretty annoying.  Later I did win some decent pots.

Friday night at Rio

For example, I had Q-Q in early position.  Guy under the gun (and to my immediate right) raised to 10 and I just called.  I thought about raising, and I probably should have, because with an under the gun raise and a call you are probably getting a ton of callers.  With QQ that's going to be hard to play.  Anyway, I did just call and the flop came 10-x-x.  The raiser bet out 25 into about 50.  I raised to 65.  I figured if he came over the top I'd fold.  Now the next guy takes forever and just calls.  This guy was playing pretty lousy and he took a really long time and seriously looked like he was making a tough decision, so I didn't feel like he necessarily flopped a set or anything.  The original raiser folded.  The turn was a total blank.  I had about 200 left, and I didn't really see how I was getting away from this hand if he did flop a set.  So I just bet 125, with the intention of calling a shove.  I could have just shoved but I figured this would not look as strong if I did have him beat.  He goes all-in over the top, I call.  River was a jack, which was a particularly bad card because I thought J-J was one hand he totally could have here.  But he instead had Q-10, so I doubled up. 

I ended up winning over $400 on Friday.  Definitely a good win.  As my bankroll continues to grow, I thought that it felt like it was time to take a shot at 2/5 NL.  It has been a long time since I tried it, and it's always been my goal to get back there.  Now that I've been doing well and building up a bankroll, I wanted to finally take that step.  And I did on Saturday night.

On Saturday night I went back up to the Rio and got right into a 2/5 NL game.  I was definitely nervous.  I wanted my first time back to be a good one.  If I was successful, I could potentially play there and stay there, leaving 1/2 behind.  If I lost, I'd probably be at 1/2 for a while still.  So this was a big night for me.

I sat down and instantly started winning.  I got AK, raised to 20, 3 callers.  Flop K-J-5.  Bet 55, 1 caller.  Turn 2.  I bet 135, he folds.

Next hand I raise with AQ to 20, get 1 caller.  Flop 6-6-2.  I bet 20, he calls.  Turn 10.  We both check.  River, 2.  Now the guy leads out for 40.  I thought it felt weak, I called.  He was bluffing, and my ace high won the pot.

I raise with 9-9 to 20, get 1 caller.  Flop 10-6-5.  Checks to me, I bet 20, get called.  Turn, 2.  He checks, I check.  River 5.  He checks, I bet 45, he calls, I win.

Later on in the session, I am in the big blind.  It folds around to the small blind and I tell him I don't chop.  He raises to 15.  I look down at J-J.  I reraise to 40.  He calls.  Flop was sick, J-10-5.  He checks, I bet 35, he calls.  Turn was an ace.  A little scary because K-Q would totally make sense here.  I thought about checking, but there was also a flush draw on the flop and I didn't want to give him a free card.  He checked, I bet 75, he folded.  He said he didn't like the ace and probably had me on the flop.  Damn... why wasn't that turn card less scary?  :-)

Eventually I was up about $550 and decided to leave the table.  A guy sat down with $1k and he appeared to be a foreign kid that was pretty good.  He immediately busted this other guy at the table and he just looked pretty scary to play against.  I figured I'd lock up a win, go sit at 1/3 for a while, and come back later.

Bad decision.  :-|

So I go to 1/3.  I played a couple hands super bad, just really terrible.  I tried to go with my gut on the first and it was a total fail.  The on the second, I just don't know what I was thinking.  But I ended up losing $400 at 1/3 in about an hour.

The first hand : I raise to 10 under the gun with 10-10.  Get a few callers.  Flop J-J-8 with 2 spades.  I had the 10 of spades.  I bet out 25.  One caller, and the button min-raises me.  I basically didn't think I had a good reason to fold just yet, so I called.  The other guy folded.  The turn was a blank.  I check.  Now he bets 100.

He had about another 100 behind.  For whatever reason, I had it in my head that he was bluffing.  Why, I don't really know.  Maybe he looked like he was bluffing.  I thought the turn bet size was really big and looked kind of like a bluff, but at the same time there were a ton of draws out there.  Long story short, I push all-in after a long debate, he calls with K-J, I do not hit a 10, I lose $300 on that hand.  Looking back on it now, it feels SO stupid.  It was stupid because I didn't really have a good reason to think this guy was bluffing.  I hadn't seen him bluff before.  Calling on the flop, fine.  On the turn, I now have this information : he raised me after I raised under the gun preflop and bet the flop, and I called, so I'm definitely representing that I have a strong hand that I'm not easily going to fold.  Now he's betting out into me again on the turn for a large bet.  Obviously that shows a ton of strength.  Whether I think he's bluffing or not, I basically need to give him credit there and just fold.  So that one was really bad.

The next one was stupid too and I think it was mostly carry-over from the TT hand.  I raised with A-K, missed, bet the flop (J-x-x), got called.  Checked the turn, this guy bet.  I basically just hated this guy and wanted to beat him so I called, then I check-called the river (again with no pair) and of course he had a pocket pair and beat me.  So I threw away another 100 there.

Later I got into another 2/5 game, and that game was considerably worse than the one I was in earlier.  I played fine though, and ended up losing about $150.  Just basically got blinded off, raised some hands that didn't work out, etc.  Not bad.

Finally, today I went to Red Rock and played some limit Omaha high-low!  :-)  4/8 with a half kill.  I brought my iPad so I could sit there and do some work while I was playing.

Crushing Omaha 8/B

The iPad worked out AWESOME!  It was so enjoyable.  I totally got some things done, completely ignored the game except when it was my turn to act, it was heaven.  Especially for a game where I'm not even trying to do anything but play tight and play my cards.

Of course, I started out losing about $150 and thought maybe I was making a big mistake by playing it.  I haven't played it in a really long time.  I used to play a lot, at Palace Station I made that my primary game for a long time way back in the day.  I played there every day for at least a month and did alright, when I first moved to Vegas.

The game was fine, I just wasn't hitting any hands today.  So I got down about $150.  Then I won some pots and creeped up a bit... down $60, up $50, up $150.  Then I went on a SICK heater, OMG, it was insane.  I don't remember the pots really but all I know is I was instantly up about $450.  There was a period of time where I must have won 7 out of 8 pots in a row.  At my peak I was up about $550.  The game eventually got shorthanded and I left winning $440.  An excellent day at the Omaha table.

Can't wait for the next session!  2/5 NL is definitely in my future, and my bankroll is now over $5000.  So awesome.

Boulder Station

I went up to Boulder Station last night to play some poker.  I was planning on playing the Omaha game (4/8 limit with a half kill, high only).  However they had been getting a 1/2 game going also so I figured maybe I could check that out. 

I got there and got on all of the lists (2/4, 4/8, Omaha, 1/2 NL).  Got on the 1/2 game first.  The game looked alright as far as people, but there wasn't much money on the table.  A lot of people with 100 bucks or less.  So I was definitely ready to get over to the Omaha game as soon as possible.

Luckily enough though, I was able to do pretty well at the 1/2 game.  I played a bunch of hands, some were pretty fun.  I made a flush with 10-7 suited against pocket kings and got a $60 bet out of him on the river when he made a set (but with a 1 card straight out there... just needed a 10).  I raised with J-J and flopped a set on a J-5-6 board with 2 diamonds, and got 40 on the turn when I got min check-raised from 20 to 40.  I reraised to 120 total and he folded.

Couple fun bluff-related hands though.  I had 9-8s and called a raise from early position from an older black guy that was playing pretty tight.  Maybe 5 people saw the flop.  The flop was K-10-x with one of my suit.  He bet $5.  I just called, figuring whatever... maybe I can take this later or turn a flush or straight draw, etc.  So a few people call.  The turn is a total blank and everyone checks.  On the river, he bets out $5 again.  I grab some chips and he's like "Don't raise if you don't mean it!", LMAO, and I made it $25.  Folds to him, he sits there and thinks and thinks, says he knows I'm bluffing, etc.  I mean, it did look pretty obvious that I was bluffing, but whatever.  So eventually he folds and I immediately show the bluff.  Haha.

Then later I raise in early position with A-Ks.  I get one caller, this guy that I was just crushing all day.  Literally every big pot I won was off of this guy.  Flop comes J-6-7.  I check, he checks.  Turn, 8.  I check, he bets 10.  I didn't feel that he was super confident or anything, and it seemed like a good spot to bluff, so I figured I'd peel one more.  River, 10.  So now there is a 1 card straight on board.  I check, he bets 20.  Again I wasn't sensing confidence from him.  Also, the board was super scary.  In the past that would make me lean towards folding.  However, after listening to some recent podcasts I was able to think about it in a different way.  Would this guy bet middle pair or even a jack here?  Probably not, because he's scared of the 4 card straight.  So it's pretty likely that he either has the straight or nothing.  And if he has nothing, A-K could definitely be good.  He probably wouldn't bet with something like bottom pair either because it has some showdown value so these people wouldn't be smart enough to turn that into a bluff.  So I call.  He just sits there.  He says, I have queen high.  I say, REALLY?!?!?!  And joyfully flip up the AK.  :-)  He had Q-5.  That felt awesome. 

Some other pretty funny hands too.  I had Q-9 suited and called a raise with it in position.  Flop came A-10-x with 1 of my suit.  The raiser bets 5 (less than the preflop raise).  I call, thinking maybe I can turn a flush draw or take it away from this guy later.  3 people see the turn.  I turn a flush draw.  He bets out 15.  I call.  Guy behind min-raises to 30.  He calls, I call.  Haha.  River, the sweet 5 of hearts giving me the flush.  The one guy only had like 22 bucks and he goes all-in.  The preflop raiser was thinking about it for a while and folded, and I of course call with the flush and win. 

The funny part about that one was that the black guy across the table could NOT believe what just happened.  He was just like, you called a bet on the flop with that?  You had no pair, if he had the ace you were beat, what were you thinking?!?!?!  It just shocked him to the core.  Haha.  Granted, maybe it wasn't the best play and I did it thinking I might be able to steal the pot later.  But it's pretty funny to see the guy go crazy seeing that.  He was like, if you keep playing that way this game is going to turn!  Haha.  Awesome.

So I wound up winning $211 at the NL game.  It started to slow down some and I put my name back on the Omaha list.  I went and played there for about an hour and a half, and literally didn't win one hand.   It was frustrating.

Omaha definitely wasn't as fun as I remember it.  It was an exercise in patience.  There were a ton of people on each flop.  Each pot was like 7 people to the flop, 9 people... it was insane.  And people were winning with garbage hands.  I played pretty damn tight.  I did some stupid things in the pots I was involved in though, like raising to isolate people when I really didn't have that great of a hand.  Like top two pair with no draws.  Probably could just fold and play a different hand. 

I literally didn't win one pot outright.  I had Q-10-10-9 and turned a straight, that held up but I had to chop it.  The only other hand I flopped was when I flopped top set on a K-6-4 board with 2 clubs.  My hand was pretty sick in that one, I had A-K-K-5 double suited.  But of course the flush came on the turn and I didn't improve to a boat on the river. 

I think I used to enjoy Omaha more because I played SO tight at NL holdem.  I would play super super tight and since I was obviously playing tight, I wouldn't get the action I wanted all the time when I did get a big hand.  Playing Omaha that way was fun because even if you play super tight, the hands you do play are like 7 way action to the flop and you're getting paid no matter what.  Now that I'm playing way looser in NL holdem, that game is a lot more fun to me overall. 

I think it's still a good idea to try out that Omaha game from time to time.  Especially when I can put in some long hours and just grind it out hardcore.  Actually if they allow iPads at the table, that would be a perfect spot to bring my iPad and do other stuff while I sit there and nut peddle.  I should check on that.  :-)  Since I'm playing so much looser at NL holdem, it would do me some good to play in a game where I have to play super super tight, just to give me some practice at the discipline needed to fold for hours on end.  It really is brutal and it's SO tempting to play more hands, especially when you see the shit hands that are raking in $100+ pots every other hand.  I mean it doesn't matter, K-Q-7-5 single suited, J-7-3-3, people just don't give a fuck.  X-X-X-X is absolutely a playable hand to pretty much all of these guys.  It's torture playing tight while people are racking up $300+ profits in the matter of one or two orbits.  Of course, maybe I'm not playing right either and I'm playing way too tight, but so many hands are garbage.  I don't think I was playing too tight overall, and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable calling with 10 high flush draws and whatnot like these idiots were doing all night.

I ended up losing $98 playing Omaha, so overall I won $113.  Not a bad night.  I'm not playing tonight, but definitely Friday and on the weekend.  :-)

Poker tonight!

It's been a few days so I'm itching to play some poker!  :-) 

The WSOP is rolling so I'm considering going down to the Rio to play in the big room with 100 cash game tables or whatever.  On the Bravo Poker app it looks like they consistently have 8+ 1/2 NL games going so there is plenty of action to be had.

Then again, it might be a better idea to just play somewhere else local.  Especially during the week.  On the weekend I think the Rio would be a good idea.  Tonight thought I might hit up Boulder Station.  They have a 4/8 (w/ half kill) Omaha high-only game that runs all the time.  They get 2 or 3 tables of it, and at least when I used to play the action was super good.  Also, it looks like they are getting 1 table of 1/2 NL there nightly as well.  That game potentially could be really good.  If you are a super good 1/2 player, I doubt you are going to Boulder Station because the game isn't even running very often.  So maybe when it does run, the people TOTALLY suck.  Who knows.  I think it's worth a gamble going over there, playing the Omaha game, and getting on the list for 1/2 so when it runs I can scoop up the really terrible players' money.  Then go back to Omaha if it doesn't work out.

I'm considering playing some PLO too.  Maybe once my bankroll gets a little bigger.  I just feel like if I can get into that, maybe playing SUPER tight preflop, the action should be really good and maybe I can start really kicking ass.  Plus people on average aren't going to know how to play it that well.  Granted, I personally don't know how to play it that well either.  :P  But if I just play super tight, and everyone is playing bad, I figure on average I'll be doing pretty good. 

Finally, I'm considering jumping into some 2/5 games.  I think what I want to do is play somewhere that has both 1/2 and 2/5, maybe only with one 2/5 game, and just constantly monitor that game.  If it looks good, I jump on the list and get in.  When the game turns bad (or maybe it was already bad and I didn't notice), I get out.  Red Rock seems like a good opportunity for this because they generally only have one or two 2/5 games and they are located right next to the 1/2 games.  So I could play 1/2 but also watch those games and jump in when I feel comfortable.

The thing is that right now I have $4200 in my bankroll.  That is a great time to jump into 2/5... and win.  :P  If I jump in and lose $700, it's not a big deal at all.  But at the same time, I'll want to wait a bit before I jump back in.  Maybe until I get back over $4k.  But if I win, I can essentially stay there, which would be so sick.  So for that first session I really want to find the best game I can, kill it, and not have to look back. 

But whatever.  Tonight, Omaha and 1/2.  Let's crush.  :-)

Mesquite - where the players win

We were up in Mesquite this past weekend to visit my mom, who was in town for a golf tournament.  We played some poker while we were there.  It turned out to be a pretty good game.  They had 2-8 spread limit hold 'em, and they also got a 1/3 NL game going.  I was really excited about that.  It didn't work out all that well, but it taught me some lessons about adjusting I guess.

The spread limit game was insane and I got hit with the deck right when I sat down.  I seriously had a good hand every hand for the first round or two, which is all we played until we got moved to 1/2.  I flopped a set of 2s, then got TT, AQ, and this hand came up.  I got pocket aces and raised to 5 (you can raise to anywhere from 4 to 10).  Guy raises me the max, to 13.  I reraise to 21.  He reraises to 28.  I think that was the cap preflop.  This was insane action for the game and everyone was already blown away.  Flop came J-T-x with 2 clubs.  I bet 8.  He raised.  I reraise.  He reraised.  It went on and on like this and we got all-in.  I figured there was no way he could have J-J or T-T based on the preflop action, just because I know when people in these games 3-bet or more preflop they basically always have A-A or K-K.  Anyway, we get all-in and I flip up my aces.  He flips up A-K with the flush draw.  He missed and I won a ridiculously large pot.  That took me by surprise.  I mean after I reraise him, he reraises me, and I reraise him again, at some point you just have to call with your flush draw (in my opinion).  I mean why keep jamming it up in a limit game when you know you are beat.  Made no sense.

The NL game did not treat me as favorably.  I played some hands badly though and I did not adjust when I needed to.  I got into a hand right away where I had A-K and raised to probably 11.  One caller.  Flop came Q-10-x with 2 clubs (I had the ace of clubs).  Checked to me, I bet 13.  He raises me 25 more.  I called, thinking if I hit a jack I could be good, maybe he's just messing around, who knows.  So I turn a club.  He bets 35, I call.  River, brick, he bets, I fold.  I probably should have just folded on the flop or better yet, checked the flop.  I'm in position, the flop hits a range of calling hands pretty good (K-J, K-Q, J-10, Q-10, and so on).  Basically any 2 broadway card combination hits that flop in some way.  Might as well take my free card.  On the turn I don't know that I had odds to call especially considering that when I hit, 4 clubs are on the board so I'm not getting much action at all.  And this guy is an old man, I know he's not bluffing on the flop so it's stupid to ever factor that in at all.

Then I basically fell into this routine : raise with whatever, bet the flop, get called, bet the turn, get called, give up.  That routine had been working well for me at other places lately.  It failed more this weekend because I didn't end up making anything like, ever, but also people were NOT folding.  It was crazy.  Like nobody ever folded to a c-bet or even the 2nd barrel, ever.  It got really frustrating and I was going on tilt.

Luckily I pulled it back and calmed down.  I used some techniques I picked up on the Tommy Angelo episodes of Deuce Plays.  Like sitting up straight in my chair and taking deep breaths, focusing on the action, etc.  I also came up with a pretty reasonable compromise, I just decided to play tighter and only value bet, no bluffs or even c-bets.  I figure if nobody is folding to a flop or turn bet, I wouldn't c-bet at all unless I hit.  It worked out and in the second session I was down about 150 and ended up winning 100 (as opposed to the first 1/2 session where I lost 300).  Overall I lost a little over a hundred this weekend but it turned out pretty well considering how bad I started out.

A bit of a frustrating poker weekend but it was still fun.  We also played 2 freerolls - the Wynn freeroll and a weekly freeroll in Mesquite.  The Mesquite one let you qualify after 10 hours of live play, so we played 10 hours on Saturday.  :-)  In both I busted out really early, but it's all good.  Was still cool getting to play in them.

Hopefully more poker this week!  My bankroll is at $4200 and I'm ready to start crushing.

Last night at Aria

Went to Aria last night.  The game seemed to not be that great.  My wife and I sat down at 1/3 NL and the table was shorthanded, and everyone looked to be decent players (based on appearance only).  As it turns out a bunch of the people were retarded.

I played a big pot with 9-9.  Raised under the gun to 10, got 1 caller.  Flop 9-6-3.  I bet 10.  Guy raised to 20.  I figured that it didn't make sense to slowplay here especially since I'm out of position, so I made it 65 (although maybe I should have made it more).  He called.  Turn, 5.  Not a good card because the straight came in, but I always have outs on the river to fill up if needed.  I bet 75.  He called.  At this point I only had 72 left, so I pushed it in dark.  That might have been somewhat stupid, as I think it looks pretty strong.  But whatever.  I knew I was 100% committed on the river.  This guy is getting like 5 to 1 to call at that point.  The river was basically the grossest card possibly, a 7.  So now either an 8 or a 4 makes a straight.  He called though and mucked when I showed top set, so I doubled through.

Another interesting pot I played was with 6-4 offsuit.  I limped with it in late position.  Flop was sick, 2-3-5.  Flopped the nuts.  There was a flush draw on board.  Checked to me, I bet 5.  There were only like 3 people in the pot.  Guy calls.  Turn, I don't remember (and I wish I did because I think it was very important).  I believe it was a 9, but I'm not 100% sure.  Checks to me, I bet 15, guy calls.  River, 4.  Shitty card because it counterfeits my straight somewhat, but might actually be good if the guy had an ace high flush draw or something.  Checks to me, I bet 40.  Now the guy raises me 70 more.

At that point, I'm thinking how could he have 6-7 here?  Seemed really unlikely.  I figured he had one of a few things : ace high flush draw turned into a straight, A-6 flush draw turned into a straight, bluff.  I should have factored in the 6-7 suited flush draw.  Anyway, I couldn't figure out how he had me beat, so I called.  He flips over 6-7 offsuit.  My tragic mistake was not noticing the 9 if the turn was indeed a 9.  If so, he would have peeled on the flop with 2 overs and a gutshot, picked up a double gutter on the turn and called, and got there.  I couldn't figure out how he could have 6-7 which is why I called, but once I realized that he might have had the double gut on the turn, I was really mad at myself for calling. 

I ended up winning 27 bucks.  Not a big deal but I'll take it.  Better than losing.  :-) 

The stereotypical poker players were there in full swing yesterday.  Giant headphones, sunglasses.  It was hilarious.  Everyone looks like a moron and they play like morons.  People were making terrible plays against my wife and getting super lucky, which sucked for her.  Then this guy next to her is some old man with giant headphones and sunglasses (flip-up sunglasses, lol).  And a shirt with a poker patch on it.  Of course, my wife points out that every time he looks at his hand, she can see the cards.  LOL.  So this idiot is sitting here with sunglasses on and he can't even protect his hand.  So stupid. 

Looking to play some more this weekend.  Definitely tonight, and then the Wynn $50k freeroll tomorrow.  Wish me luck!