"I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob."
I am so not interested in working today (Tuesday and every day following...and preceeding). I spent the weekend playing poker with Kid and, in spite of an overall loss, I find no comfort in the security of a steady job this morning. As I walked to my desk, I saw and heard all the office dwellers and was quickly reminded that I really don't belong here. There is not a single person in this place that shares any of my ideals...or at least I share none of theirs. While they all take breaks and lunches together, I consider any time away from the PC as an opportunity to separate from the herd and do a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g...because anything is better than this. In other words, I have changed nothing in my life.
I'll focus on the positive for a moment.
Last weekend was all about poker. It was the last Saturday of the month which meant poker at Paul's. This time around, Paul called folks in an attempt to garner a decent showing. It wasn't as great a turnout as we have had in the past, but its a start. 14 in the first tourney and 12 in the second. With a $50 buy-in, the payouts were still nice.
I think Kid and I have, for a long time, been the best players in Paul's game. I've been pretty consistent with several wins and cashes and Kid has broken through this year. The one thing we've been trying to do is get heads up in one of these tourneys. We figured a key component to this would be starting at separate tables. Well we finally pulled it off. In the first tourney, we got heads up and I pulled out the win. But that's not all. In the second tourney, it looked like we were on our way to another 1-on-1 battle but I fell short, finishing 3rd. Kid took second for his second second of the night...a significant feat if you ask me.
The great thing about this is that we started at the same table in each tourney. We simply played really well and managed to avoid any confrontations with each other. As far as my win over Kid...how else could it have gone down? I mean, how in the hell. I'm obviously better...
OK. I'm just kidding. Truth be told, I think it comes down to timing and luck when it gets down to us. The Kid has great poker ability and I like to think I am on par. We can both change up our games as needed or on command. Whatever different skills we have, we are very similar overall. Each one of us is equally likely to bluff or trap at any moment depending on the situation or read. He doesn't give anything away. I hope I don't either. Basically, luck was my only edge.
While we were playing out our heads-up match in the first tourney, the rest of the guys got impatient. They were playing dealer's choice on the side but were eager to get the second tourney going. Every few minutes, a different person yelled out "Chop!" or "Are you guys chopping it?" Kid had already stated that he doesn't chop. I had no intention of cutting it short since we had been looking forward to this match up for so long. So we were not keen to oblige. My response to them (mostly in jest) was, "Its not our fault you're not good enough to last longer." Everyone knows I'm always joking so no one took that badly...but they may have taken it to heart as they piped down for a while.
Kid and I were planning to drive out to Morongo Casino following poker at Paul's. After finishing the first tourney, Kid asked me if I wanted to just take off right then. He was serious. I pointed out how badly that would go over seeing as everyone had been waiting at least 30 minutes for us to finish. They could have started without us if they had known. We both found the thought of it quote funny. As we sat and laughed, it was obvious we were both thinking about really doing it for the comedic value alone. In the end, we opted to stay because we wanted to be invited back.
It was a good decision since the poker weekend started with a 1st and 2nd for me and two 2nds for Kid. We finished up at Paul's after midnight and hit the road. Next stop: Morongo. Suddenly, retardation set in. On the way to the casino, I took a wrong turn. I cruised for 30 miles until I realized at 2:45 a.m. we were not headed toward Cabazon. I also was not sure where I went wrong and needed some help. But in the middle of the night, where do you go for help? I was lucky. Fred was on vacation in Hawaii! He knows his way around So Cal and would certainly still be awake. And, fortunately, he had his cell phone on. Problem solved and we were back on track. We made it to Morongo just before 4 a.m. Oh, nothing...just an hour later than expected. But we were winging it so no big deal.
Being a holiday weekend, Kid and I were sure the poker room would still be buzzing when we arrived. It was. There were three 2-5 NLH tables running with one or two open seats at each. We decided to sit in on one that had vacancies in the 2 and 3 seats. But it wasn't long before the table broke. We moved to another table where I got the 3s again and Kid filled the 6s (I think). There was a woman in the 9s who knew very little about poker and gave plenty of action (I'll call her Sally since she was fishy). I liked having her there. But Kid was in a bad mood that was only worsened by her presence. When the 4s opened up, he moved to it to get some distance from her.
We played for about 2.5 hours during which time I turned the nut flush holding Ac-4c and rivered the bottom end of a straight-flush. I only got a small payoff from it. I also called a preflop raise and flop bet against Sally with Q-Jo on the button. I flopped a gut shot on a board of 7-8-T. My intention going in was to play looser than normal...so that's what I was doing in case you are wondering. A nine came on the turn giving me the nuts. I was rather pleased when Sally moved all-in ahead of me. Of course, I called and everyone else folded. When we turned up our cards, she still thought she was good with A-J for a jack-high straight. I raked in the chips as she stared at me in disgust. She proceed to tilt off her remaining $120 by pushing all-in UTG on the very next hand. She was called by one player with a big pair. Sally had 8-7. Time to rebuy, Sal.
I picked up a great tell on Sally and shared it Kid. He didn't get an opportunity to exploit it but I did. I took another nice pot off of her holding just A-high by coming over the top of her when she had nothing. Good times.
After a while, Kid had moved to a limit game and my table got down to four-handed. We played short-handed for a while until I lost most of my profit by betting into big pairs preflop only to lay down on the flop. Those hands did enough damage.
Kid was still in a bad mood. I know that he plays his best when he is enjoying himself. So I went over and asked if he wanted to go get something to eat. I figured any reason to get away from the poker table and change things up was a good idea. And the room had died down big time. There were only three or four tables running, all small stakes.
We hit the casino's coffee shop and ate and talked over what had gone down. Its always good to hash out poker stuff with Kid. We share insights and help eachother learn a thing or two. That seemed to work for Kid since he turned things around when we got back into action. I think we played for about five more hours. He played a little differently but it wasn't all that noticable. Whatever the change, it worked. Kid turned an early loss into an overall win. I, on the other hand, played well all night and day but came out loser for a smallish amount. Still, we both had a good time.
Currently listening to: Blind Melon -- Soup
SEEYa
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Friday, May 26, 2006
Players! Play.
“Shoot pool, Fast Eddie.”
“I’m shootin’ pool, Fats. When I miss, you can shoot.”
I love that quote. Its from The Hustler. And it says a lot…not just about pool but about competition. It can be applied to any challenge where skill and ego come in to play. In the movie, Eddie is shooting pool while expounding what he has learned about ‘character’ to his former backer. All the while, Minnesota Fats sits in a chair, waiting for his turn at the table (the “hot seat” or “electric chair” in pool terminology). After patiently waiting for Eddie to vent, Fats speaks up. It is met with the stern, confident reply.
A similar situation can be witnessed in poker rooms every day and night. (I’m talking about public card rooms and casinos, not friendly home games.) Very often, players that aren’t even involved in a particular hand will chime in on a situation. This rarely helps smooth anything over or straighten out a confused matter. The result is usually three or more people yelling at each other and the dealer in three different accents while the confusion mounts. It seems there are not very many participants in card rooms with the tact to navigate player-dealer or player-player confrontations. But I rarely hear this come up as the root of the problem.
Go to any poker room, check out any poker blog, or search any poker forum and you will find players ranting about bad dealers. True, there are a great many unskilled dealers these days. But I think people are missing the mark. Dealers are there to facilitate an interaction between players. That may sound like a tall order but not if players understand that their actions tend to stretch the dealers’ job description. The basic responsibilities of a dealer include understanding the rules of the game, distributing the cards, verifying chip counts before they are dragged into the pot, identifying the winning hand(s), and transferring the chips from the pot to winner. This exists so any of us can sit at a poker table and just play.
The first extension of a dealer’s responsibilities is in maintaining the order of action in a game when it is impeded for an unusual reason. The most common reason is a lack of understanding from a player. This can be related to a “new” player who does not know all the rules to the game. The new age of poker allows for this as all dealers are enabled to explain the rules, including the basics. This situation can also arise when a player is unaware of prior action. In this case, it is the dealer’s sole responsibility to explain.
Experienced poker players should not expect dealers to monitor every participant’s conduct. Those that know their way around a particular game should act within the rules and be ready to go when action is on them. When a player is distracted or confused, it is not the dealer’s fault. But many turn their frustrations toward the dealer in such situations. Even if they were correct, it simply doesn’t help.
Here is an example that doesn’t even involve the play of a hand: I was in a game at Commerce Casino recently. I was racking up and ready to leave as it had already been a long night for me. As I was waiting to take my last free hand, the table began to thin out. We were already 7-handed when two other players got up and moved to another game. Players are not allowed to leave a short-handed table to go to any other table running the same game. However, it is up to the floor managers to control who fills empty seats. They didn’t do that in this case…floor managers screw things up on a regular basis. Suddenly, our table was 4-handed as I had already stating that I was done. The remaining players were not happy. But one, in particular, got really upset. He is a regular at Commerce (I think he is French which I only point out to describe that he has a heavy accent) who has a short fuse. He immediately went off on our dealer, demanding that he should have called a floor man. It just so happens that while it is not the dealer’s responsibility to stop players from leaving the game, he had called out for the floor. But the Frenchman, in his rage, had not noticed. He proceeded to yell at the dealer calling him a “fucking asshole” several times.
Nobody came to the dealer’s defense because no one ever does. In this case, everyone else was distracted, yelling at each other and the floor person who did show up. I had not yet left the original table so I could have stepped in between La France and Le Dealer but I knew that would only make matters worse. He would likely just turn his barrage on me. Instead, I silently showed my support and sympathy for the dealer. I stared down the Frenchman to express, “Cool it. You’re out of line.” Things could only get uglier if I were to utter such a phrase. But he paid slight notice to me, gave up, and moved on. I don’t know if the dealer understood what I was trying to do because I decided not to exchange pleasantries and just move on myself.
My point with that story is to show how aggression can be not only invalid but misplaced. One needs social skills to properly handle it. Few do.
Another instance of misplaced anger was directed at me. Again at Commerce, I was at a table with a few very aggressive players, one of whom loved action (as long as it went his way) and hated when the pace of play slowed (I’ll call him Ho…just because). I always try to act without unnecessary delay because I understand the desire to keep the game moving. But sometimes I do have to put some thought into situation before acting. In this case, I had raised a pot to $35 (5-10NLH game) with A-Q from middle position and got four callers including both blinds, an early limper, and Ho (acting behind me).
The flop came A-7-3 rainbow. Perfect. If I had missed and it was checked to me, I probably would have made a continuation bet. Since it hit me big, I would definitely bet if it was checked to me. However, the blinds checked and the limper led out for $75. The pot was $175 so this was not a particularly large bet. Nor was it so small. I would have to think about this. First of all, I didn’t know enough about this player to have any idea what he was likely to be holding. All I knew was that he played a lot of hands. I couldn’t just call the bet. I would have to raise to find out where I was and take control of the hand. Now I had to consider how much it would cost me to play it out. A good raise would have to be $150 more to $200. With about 600 in front of me, that was a large portion of my stack. If he were to call and we got heads up and he checked the turn, I still wouldn’t really know where I was but would have to bet the rest of my stack (~400). If he actually had me beat, I’m betting right into him. So it was also important to note that he had enough chips to put me all-in.
I had only been thinking for about 20 seconds and had yet to determine a range of hands for the bettor. Then Ho piped up saying, “Its on you!” I calmly glanced up and said, “I know.” “Then say ‘time’ or something!” he whined. This came as a surprise to me since I don’t have a tendency to take time on decisions. I would understand if I consistently slowed the game down but that wasn’t the case. He also had no reason to think that I might not know it was on me. I don’t wear glasses or a hat. Everyone could clearly see that I was looking at the better and the chips he had put out in front of him. He was on my immediate right so there was no room for confusion.
My reaction was to look up at him and shrug. With a wave of one hand in the air to indicate that his statement was senseless, I went back into the tank. It took only 15 seconds more (about 35 total) for me to decide to get away from the hand. I folded because I thought the bettor might have a set and it could cost my entire stack to find out.
After the hand, I thought about Ho’s brusque statement. Why did he say that? My first impression was that he just wanted the game to move along. But it was moving. In fact, everyone folded to the bettor, including Ho. We were quickly on to the next hand. The only other reason I could think of was that he wanted to tilt me. I had seem him try this with other players in the past but I always figured it wasn’t intentional. Players just seemed to tilt easily at his stupid remarks. Now I thought this may be an angle of his. No matter. It had no effect on me except to make me even more aware of him (if that was possible).
In this example of misplaced (or intentionally placed) aggression, I believe my minimal action defused a potentially heated situation. If he had said it to any other player at that table, I am sure the response would have been vocal and loud. That would certainly lead to at least a brief argument as egos clashed.
I guess that is what it all comes down to…Egos. There is so much of it around a poker table that people lose their heads. If they acted that way at work, they wouldn’t last very long. For some of them, this is their place of work…I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t last long either.
Here’s the bottom line, folks. Help out when you can. Stay out of the way when you only have emotional content to contribute. And give the dealers a break. Think about the worst dealer you’ve had and imagine that guy running a cash register at a fast food joint. If he can’t find the button for Double-Horse-Patty-with-cheese inside of a few seconds, do you really think yelling at him is going to get that grease into your veins any sooner? It will just help the line get longer behind you and lead you to a coronary on an empty stomach.
“Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool.”
”So do you, Fast Eddie.”
SEEYa
“I’m shootin’ pool, Fats. When I miss, you can shoot.”
I love that quote. Its from The Hustler. And it says a lot…not just about pool but about competition. It can be applied to any challenge where skill and ego come in to play. In the movie, Eddie is shooting pool while expounding what he has learned about ‘character’ to his former backer. All the while, Minnesota Fats sits in a chair, waiting for his turn at the table (the “hot seat” or “electric chair” in pool terminology). After patiently waiting for Eddie to vent, Fats speaks up. It is met with the stern, confident reply.
A similar situation can be witnessed in poker rooms every day and night. (I’m talking about public card rooms and casinos, not friendly home games.) Very often, players that aren’t even involved in a particular hand will chime in on a situation. This rarely helps smooth anything over or straighten out a confused matter. The result is usually three or more people yelling at each other and the dealer in three different accents while the confusion mounts. It seems there are not very many participants in card rooms with the tact to navigate player-dealer or player-player confrontations. But I rarely hear this come up as the root of the problem.
Go to any poker room, check out any poker blog, or search any poker forum and you will find players ranting about bad dealers. True, there are a great many unskilled dealers these days. But I think people are missing the mark. Dealers are there to facilitate an interaction between players. That may sound like a tall order but not if players understand that their actions tend to stretch the dealers’ job description. The basic responsibilities of a dealer include understanding the rules of the game, distributing the cards, verifying chip counts before they are dragged into the pot, identifying the winning hand(s), and transferring the chips from the pot to winner. This exists so any of us can sit at a poker table and just play.
The first extension of a dealer’s responsibilities is in maintaining the order of action in a game when it is impeded for an unusual reason. The most common reason is a lack of understanding from a player. This can be related to a “new” player who does not know all the rules to the game. The new age of poker allows for this as all dealers are enabled to explain the rules, including the basics. This situation can also arise when a player is unaware of prior action. In this case, it is the dealer’s sole responsibility to explain.
Experienced poker players should not expect dealers to monitor every participant’s conduct. Those that know their way around a particular game should act within the rules and be ready to go when action is on them. When a player is distracted or confused, it is not the dealer’s fault. But many turn their frustrations toward the dealer in such situations. Even if they were correct, it simply doesn’t help.
Here is an example that doesn’t even involve the play of a hand: I was in a game at Commerce Casino recently. I was racking up and ready to leave as it had already been a long night for me. As I was waiting to take my last free hand, the table began to thin out. We were already 7-handed when two other players got up and moved to another game. Players are not allowed to leave a short-handed table to go to any other table running the same game. However, it is up to the floor managers to control who fills empty seats. They didn’t do that in this case…floor managers screw things up on a regular basis. Suddenly, our table was 4-handed as I had already stating that I was done. The remaining players were not happy. But one, in particular, got really upset. He is a regular at Commerce (I think he is French which I only point out to describe that he has a heavy accent) who has a short fuse. He immediately went off on our dealer, demanding that he should have called a floor man. It just so happens that while it is not the dealer’s responsibility to stop players from leaving the game, he had called out for the floor. But the Frenchman, in his rage, had not noticed. He proceeded to yell at the dealer calling him a “fucking asshole” several times.
Nobody came to the dealer’s defense because no one ever does. In this case, everyone else was distracted, yelling at each other and the floor person who did show up. I had not yet left the original table so I could have stepped in between La France and Le Dealer but I knew that would only make matters worse. He would likely just turn his barrage on me. Instead, I silently showed my support and sympathy for the dealer. I stared down the Frenchman to express, “Cool it. You’re out of line.” Things could only get uglier if I were to utter such a phrase. But he paid slight notice to me, gave up, and moved on. I don’t know if the dealer understood what I was trying to do because I decided not to exchange pleasantries and just move on myself.
My point with that story is to show how aggression can be not only invalid but misplaced. One needs social skills to properly handle it. Few do.
Another instance of misplaced anger was directed at me. Again at Commerce, I was at a table with a few very aggressive players, one of whom loved action (as long as it went his way) and hated when the pace of play slowed (I’ll call him Ho…just because). I always try to act without unnecessary delay because I understand the desire to keep the game moving. But sometimes I do have to put some thought into situation before acting. In this case, I had raised a pot to $35 (5-10NLH game) with A-Q from middle position and got four callers including both blinds, an early limper, and Ho (acting behind me).
The flop came A-7-3 rainbow. Perfect. If I had missed and it was checked to me, I probably would have made a continuation bet. Since it hit me big, I would definitely bet if it was checked to me. However, the blinds checked and the limper led out for $75. The pot was $175 so this was not a particularly large bet. Nor was it so small. I would have to think about this. First of all, I didn’t know enough about this player to have any idea what he was likely to be holding. All I knew was that he played a lot of hands. I couldn’t just call the bet. I would have to raise to find out where I was and take control of the hand. Now I had to consider how much it would cost me to play it out. A good raise would have to be $150 more to $200. With about 600 in front of me, that was a large portion of my stack. If he were to call and we got heads up and he checked the turn, I still wouldn’t really know where I was but would have to bet the rest of my stack (~400). If he actually had me beat, I’m betting right into him. So it was also important to note that he had enough chips to put me all-in.
I had only been thinking for about 20 seconds and had yet to determine a range of hands for the bettor. Then Ho piped up saying, “Its on you!” I calmly glanced up and said, “I know.” “Then say ‘time’ or something!” he whined. This came as a surprise to me since I don’t have a tendency to take time on decisions. I would understand if I consistently slowed the game down but that wasn’t the case. He also had no reason to think that I might not know it was on me. I don’t wear glasses or a hat. Everyone could clearly see that I was looking at the better and the chips he had put out in front of him. He was on my immediate right so there was no room for confusion.
My reaction was to look up at him and shrug. With a wave of one hand in the air to indicate that his statement was senseless, I went back into the tank. It took only 15 seconds more (about 35 total) for me to decide to get away from the hand. I folded because I thought the bettor might have a set and it could cost my entire stack to find out.
After the hand, I thought about Ho’s brusque statement. Why did he say that? My first impression was that he just wanted the game to move along. But it was moving. In fact, everyone folded to the bettor, including Ho. We were quickly on to the next hand. The only other reason I could think of was that he wanted to tilt me. I had seem him try this with other players in the past but I always figured it wasn’t intentional. Players just seemed to tilt easily at his stupid remarks. Now I thought this may be an angle of his. No matter. It had no effect on me except to make me even more aware of him (if that was possible).
In this example of misplaced (or intentionally placed) aggression, I believe my minimal action defused a potentially heated situation. If he had said it to any other player at that table, I am sure the response would have been vocal and loud. That would certainly lead to at least a brief argument as egos clashed.
I guess that is what it all comes down to…Egos. There is so much of it around a poker table that people lose their heads. If they acted that way at work, they wouldn’t last very long. For some of them, this is their place of work…I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t last long either.
Here’s the bottom line, folks. Help out when you can. Stay out of the way when you only have emotional content to contribute. And give the dealers a break. Think about the worst dealer you’ve had and imagine that guy running a cash register at a fast food joint. If he can’t find the button for Double-Horse-Patty-with-cheese inside of a few seconds, do you really think yelling at him is going to get that grease into your veins any sooner? It will just help the line get longer behind you and lead you to a coronary on an empty stomach.
“Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool.”
”So do you, Fast Eddie.”
SEEYa
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Are you Russian?
I’ve got some more recent poker play to write about but, first, I’m going to finish up my last post about the tournament…
My apparent rush had begun with a suck out holding A-J against pockets 8’s followed by pocket Q’s in the BB. It continued on the very next hand in my SB. There were several limpers when I woke up with J-J. This could be a damaging hand out of position against several limpers but I was feeling the rush. I raised and thought myself quite fortunate to only get one caller who was short-stacked. He ended up drawing to a chop with a dominated hand (I forget exactly what is was). But it was still a bit profitable for both of us thanks to the limpers.
In the next hand, there was an early limper in front of another short-stacked player who moved all-in for just over 900. This player, who had recently moved to our table, was confident and crafty. Being new to our group, I had not yet picked up any reads on him. But I had already been thinking about wanting to bust him. There was just something about him. It folded to me on the button and I, once again, woke up with J-J. This was the opportunity I had hoped for. I would raise to isolate and, hopefully, knock him out. I didn’t think he had a bad hand. I just had a strong hand in position that I felt I had to play and hoped I was the best. At any rate, I did not hesitate except to evaluate how much of a raise I should make. I decided to make it 1K more. The blinds and limper quickly folded.
The cards were revealed and he showed A-A. I wasn’t surprised. I did what I had to do. Now we would just watch the cards come out and move on. But remember…I was on a rush. A jack landed on the river and, still, I wasn’t surprised. My opponent walked over to offer his hand and said, “Nice hand.” Hmmm…a little insincere, I think. Still, a sporting gesture. Now I was close to 10K in chips. Unfortunately, the rush would ebb. But with a healthy stack, I was able to drag a few more pots during the level and found my high water mark near 12K.
After the second break, level 9 brought steeper blinds that would only become more imposing. I had been moved to a new table filled with much more aggressive and skilled players, many of whom had far more chips than I. As was the case earlier in the tourney, I found myself with unplayable hands and no spot to even consider entering a pot. With the exception of two smallish wins that only kept me afloat, I wasn’t going anywhere. An oddity at this table was the two positions on my right seemed to be musical chairs. On three consecutive rounds, a player busted when I was UTG so I ended up posting a single-BB (no SB posted). By the third time, it was just funny.
I finally found a good hand on the button after another player had come in for a raise. The blinds were 400-800/50 (That’s right, Paul) and I was sitting with 5200. The raiser had made it 2400 to go. I had 9-9 and had to consider my options. This was certainly a spot to get my chips all-in (I was definitely not folding) but had to think about what my re-raise would mean to the raiser. For only 2800 more, he would not fold unless he was on a bluff…I had no reason think he was. I wanted to try a stop-n-go but he was first to act. So I opted to push. I started liking my chances when he went into the tank. Was he actually on a bluff? Or did he have a small pair? Or maybe even something like Q-J that he could lay down? After counting his chips to evaluate his potential, he called and showed K-J. It turned out I had caught him with a mediocre hand that he almost got away from. The flop didn’t hit him but the turn and river did, giving him two pair.
I was done, left to wonder if a stop-n-go would have worked. That play would have been dependent on him checking after missing the flop, allowing me to move in. He was the kind of player that would make to continuation bet to put the decision on me. So I don’t think it would have ended any differently.
769 players had started the tourney. I went out in about 85th place. However, that was nowhere near the bubble as they were only paying the top 35. The payout was quite top-heavy.
I was happy with my play and the way things had gone. It was my first real tournament in a long time but I didn’t show any rust. It was somewhere around 11:30pm when I got knocked out so I would not get into any cash action. Time to call it a night. I planned to take a shot at the 10-20NLH games on my next trip to Commerce. This time, it wasn’t just an idle thought. I would make it happen…and I did.
SEEYa
My apparent rush had begun with a suck out holding A-J against pockets 8’s followed by pocket Q’s in the BB. It continued on the very next hand in my SB. There were several limpers when I woke up with J-J. This could be a damaging hand out of position against several limpers but I was feeling the rush. I raised and thought myself quite fortunate to only get one caller who was short-stacked. He ended up drawing to a chop with a dominated hand (I forget exactly what is was). But it was still a bit profitable for both of us thanks to the limpers.
In the next hand, there was an early limper in front of another short-stacked player who moved all-in for just over 900. This player, who had recently moved to our table, was confident and crafty. Being new to our group, I had not yet picked up any reads on him. But I had already been thinking about wanting to bust him. There was just something about him. It folded to me on the button and I, once again, woke up with J-J. This was the opportunity I had hoped for. I would raise to isolate and, hopefully, knock him out. I didn’t think he had a bad hand. I just had a strong hand in position that I felt I had to play and hoped I was the best. At any rate, I did not hesitate except to evaluate how much of a raise I should make. I decided to make it 1K more. The blinds and limper quickly folded.
The cards were revealed and he showed A-A. I wasn’t surprised. I did what I had to do. Now we would just watch the cards come out and move on. But remember…I was on a rush. A jack landed on the river and, still, I wasn’t surprised. My opponent walked over to offer his hand and said, “Nice hand.” Hmmm…a little insincere, I think. Still, a sporting gesture. Now I was close to 10K in chips. Unfortunately, the rush would ebb. But with a healthy stack, I was able to drag a few more pots during the level and found my high water mark near 12K.
After the second break, level 9 brought steeper blinds that would only become more imposing. I had been moved to a new table filled with much more aggressive and skilled players, many of whom had far more chips than I. As was the case earlier in the tourney, I found myself with unplayable hands and no spot to even consider entering a pot. With the exception of two smallish wins that only kept me afloat, I wasn’t going anywhere. An oddity at this table was the two positions on my right seemed to be musical chairs. On three consecutive rounds, a player busted when I was UTG so I ended up posting a single-BB (no SB posted). By the third time, it was just funny.
I finally found a good hand on the button after another player had come in for a raise. The blinds were 400-800/50 (That’s right, Paul) and I was sitting with 5200. The raiser had made it 2400 to go. I had 9-9 and had to consider my options. This was certainly a spot to get my chips all-in (I was definitely not folding) but had to think about what my re-raise would mean to the raiser. For only 2800 more, he would not fold unless he was on a bluff…I had no reason think he was. I wanted to try a stop-n-go but he was first to act. So I opted to push. I started liking my chances when he went into the tank. Was he actually on a bluff? Or did he have a small pair? Or maybe even something like Q-J that he could lay down? After counting his chips to evaluate his potential, he called and showed K-J. It turned out I had caught him with a mediocre hand that he almost got away from. The flop didn’t hit him but the turn and river did, giving him two pair.
I was done, left to wonder if a stop-n-go would have worked. That play would have been dependent on him checking after missing the flop, allowing me to move in. He was the kind of player that would make to continuation bet to put the decision on me. So I don’t think it would have ended any differently.
769 players had started the tourney. I went out in about 85th place. However, that was nowhere near the bubble as they were only paying the top 35. The payout was quite top-heavy.
I was happy with my play and the way things had gone. It was my first real tournament in a long time but I didn’t show any rust. It was somewhere around 11:30pm when I got knocked out so I would not get into any cash action. Time to call it a night. I planned to take a shot at the 10-20NLH games on my next trip to Commerce. This time, it wasn’t just an idle thought. I would make it happen…and I did.
SEEYa
Friday, May 19, 2006
Slipping Away and a Return to Action
The last month and change has brought birthdays, weddings, and other parties that were, in effect, major distractions for me. That is to say, they kept me away from poker…far away. Within that span, the only gambling I got in was at Paul’s for an impromptu home game, a rare gathering of my old Santa Monica home game, and the end-of-the-month game at Paul’s. Unfortunately, we maxed out at 9 players for Paul’s monthly game so we played dealer’s choice instead of the planned tourneys. And the other home games were also low-stakes dealer’s choice. So I hadn’t played any serious poker for quite some time.
More importantly, it had been about a month between trips to Commerce Casino. That’s where I really work on my game with significant money in play. Sadly, it seemed the longer I stayed away, the further it got from my mind. But then Kid started playing (and blogging) more. That inspired me. I began thinking about poker constantly. The need for action grew over several days but I wasn’t able to make the trek to Commerce as soon as I had hoped.
Commerce started their Heavenly Hold’Em tournament series in the beginning of May. This would be a great time to take part in the action…I HAD TO GO. No more wasting time thinking about it. I decided the new journey would start on a Sunday when they were running a $225 buy-in NLH tourney. My plan was to play in that since I had not been in a real tournament in so long. If I busted out early, I would finally take a shot at the 10-20 NLH game in the top section. Sunday came and, with 2K in my pocket, I hit the road.
Traffic was normal for a Sunday and I made it to the casino 45 minutes before the tourney start time. There was a fairly long line for registration which only got longer by the second. After several minutes in line, I heard some other registrants talking about needing a “Player’s Card” to sign up for the tourney. I used to play tournaments there frequently but it had been about a year and this policy was new to me. Fortunately, the TD told us to get in “the other” line for Player’s Club sign-up and just cut in to the front of the registration line when we were through with that. Problem solved.
I started at table 32, seat 2. I normally don’t like the 2 seat in big tournaments but this table was spread in my favor, giving me a good view of everyone except the 10s. As it turned out, he was ultra tight so I didn’t need to see him…If he raised, get away unless you have a monster.
The format of the tourney was also to my liking. 1500 chips; blinds start at 25-25; 30 minute levels. Antes kicked in around the 5th level which seems early, but it meant the blinds didn’t move up so fast. Card-dead for the first three levels, I managed to drag the blinds a few times and take a couple other small pots with continuation bets on the flop. That all kept me slightly above the starting amount. I entered the first break with just over 1600 in chips.
After the break, it was pretty much more of the same. I continued to find rags through the 4th and 5th levels. It also became more difficult to get involved with raises in front of me on most hands when I had position. And I didn’t have enough chips to make those calls. My best play was to continue waiting for good cards and looking for opportunities to steal. My patience was rewarded in level 6.
My stack had slowly shrunk to 1225 when I finally found A-J in middle position. I don’t love that hand in that spot but I was in dire need to make a move. This was the perfect time, too, because no one raised or even came in ahead of me. The blinds were 100-200 with a 25 ante. I made it 600 to go, leaving me with 625 behind. Most people would just move all-in with that amount. I, on the other hand, figured I had enough for a normal raise and I would let others know that I would not fold to a re-raise. So I put in the bet and overtly restacked my remaining chips so everyone behind me would know.
It folded to the button (a guy I had played with in cash games and knew him to over-value moderate hands and tilt easily and often…so I’ll call him Red). He looked over to see how much I had left so I moved my hands. He asked for a count so I told him, “625.” I continued, sharing a smirk with the player on my left, exclaiming, “That’s what we like to call ‘Pot-Committed.’” Red looked up at me and said, “What?” So I repeated myself. He thought it over for about a minute. Then it got fun.
Red stacked up a raise and pushed it in…1200 total. While we waited for the blinds to act, I leaned over to my pal on the left and clued him in to the fact that Red had not put me all-in. I had just told him the exact amount I had left and he fucked it up. The blinds folded and I just called. Red made a move toward his cards and I cautioned him to wait. He looked confused as I told him I was not all-in. He continued looking confused. The dealer finished raking in the chips and asked us to “toon up you cods.” I showed her my lone $25 chip to which she looked confused. I cleared it all up with a quick play-by-play.
The flop came 10-high but that didn’t matter. My chip was obviously going in. I told everyone I was trying “the old stop-n-go.” (That didn’t get much of reaction.) I picked up my chip but paused to look over at Red before throwing it in. He actually waited for me to bet it before putting his in. This was getting more entertaining (to me) by the moment. So I was finally all-in and we revealed our cards. I was worried that he might have A-K or A-Q. To my delight, he turned up 8-8. I had two live cards. I couldn’t ask for much better. Red was excited to see that he was still in the lead…A little too excited, if you ask me. The turn was a blank but an A gently landed on the end. Then Red turned…well…red. He actually contained himself, not saying anything offensive or mumbling as he tends to do. I was now up to 3000 in chips.
It seemed like I would go back into my normal rag state as the next few hands presented nothing playable. Fortunately, it was just the calm before the storm. The two players on my immediate left had started going at each other in a good spirited way, giving action whenever the other bet or raised. I wasn’t too happy about it when they continued to spar on my BB. UTG raised to 600 and his nemesis quickly called. It folded all the way around to me. My thought here, as always, is that I’m going to need to wake up with a big pair or my blind is dead. That’s just what happened…Q-Q. I had already put the raiser on a big A and the caller on paint or a medium pair. So I figured my Q’s were the best to start. My instinct was to raise. However, I knew I would get action from at least one of them if not both and I didn’t really want to put 1800 into the pot as I would be committed and first to act. That would be quite painful if a K or A flopped. I instead decided to call, hoping for a favorable flop or a read on one or both of them.
I got the best flop I could hope for: x-Q-A rainbow. If one of them did have an A, I could check and let him bet for me. Unfortunately, they both checked behind me. The turn brought a scary J so my check on the flop might have come back to haunt me. I quickly decided that I needed to find out where I was and bet out 1000. They fold kind of quick. I didn’t get paid off but at least they didn’t make me sweat it. Now I had almost 4500 in chips. Things were looking up.
That’s all I have time for right now. I really want to get a poker post up so this will have to do. But I will continue with the tournament details in my next one.
SEEYa
More importantly, it had been about a month between trips to Commerce Casino. That’s where I really work on my game with significant money in play. Sadly, it seemed the longer I stayed away, the further it got from my mind. But then Kid started playing (and blogging) more. That inspired me. I began thinking about poker constantly. The need for action grew over several days but I wasn’t able to make the trek to Commerce as soon as I had hoped.
Commerce started their Heavenly Hold’Em tournament series in the beginning of May. This would be a great time to take part in the action…I HAD TO GO. No more wasting time thinking about it. I decided the new journey would start on a Sunday when they were running a $225 buy-in NLH tourney. My plan was to play in that since I had not been in a real tournament in so long. If I busted out early, I would finally take a shot at the 10-20 NLH game in the top section. Sunday came and, with 2K in my pocket, I hit the road.
Traffic was normal for a Sunday and I made it to the casino 45 minutes before the tourney start time. There was a fairly long line for registration which only got longer by the second. After several minutes in line, I heard some other registrants talking about needing a “Player’s Card” to sign up for the tourney. I used to play tournaments there frequently but it had been about a year and this policy was new to me. Fortunately, the TD told us to get in “the other” line for Player’s Club sign-up and just cut in to the front of the registration line when we were through with that. Problem solved.
I started at table 32, seat 2. I normally don’t like the 2 seat in big tournaments but this table was spread in my favor, giving me a good view of everyone except the 10s. As it turned out, he was ultra tight so I didn’t need to see him…If he raised, get away unless you have a monster.
The format of the tourney was also to my liking. 1500 chips; blinds start at 25-25; 30 minute levels. Antes kicked in around the 5th level which seems early, but it meant the blinds didn’t move up so fast. Card-dead for the first three levels, I managed to drag the blinds a few times and take a couple other small pots with continuation bets on the flop. That all kept me slightly above the starting amount. I entered the first break with just over 1600 in chips.
After the break, it was pretty much more of the same. I continued to find rags through the 4th and 5th levels. It also became more difficult to get involved with raises in front of me on most hands when I had position. And I didn’t have enough chips to make those calls. My best play was to continue waiting for good cards and looking for opportunities to steal. My patience was rewarded in level 6.
My stack had slowly shrunk to 1225 when I finally found A-J in middle position. I don’t love that hand in that spot but I was in dire need to make a move. This was the perfect time, too, because no one raised or even came in ahead of me. The blinds were 100-200 with a 25 ante. I made it 600 to go, leaving me with 625 behind. Most people would just move all-in with that amount. I, on the other hand, figured I had enough for a normal raise and I would let others know that I would not fold to a re-raise. So I put in the bet and overtly restacked my remaining chips so everyone behind me would know.
It folded to the button (a guy I had played with in cash games and knew him to over-value moderate hands and tilt easily and often…so I’ll call him Red). He looked over to see how much I had left so I moved my hands. He asked for a count so I told him, “625.” I continued, sharing a smirk with the player on my left, exclaiming, “That’s what we like to call ‘Pot-Committed.’” Red looked up at me and said, “What?” So I repeated myself. He thought it over for about a minute. Then it got fun.
Red stacked up a raise and pushed it in…1200 total. While we waited for the blinds to act, I leaned over to my pal on the left and clued him in to the fact that Red had not put me all-in. I had just told him the exact amount I had left and he fucked it up. The blinds folded and I just called. Red made a move toward his cards and I cautioned him to wait. He looked confused as I told him I was not all-in. He continued looking confused. The dealer finished raking in the chips and asked us to “toon up you cods.” I showed her my lone $25 chip to which she looked confused. I cleared it all up with a quick play-by-play.
The flop came 10-high but that didn’t matter. My chip was obviously going in. I told everyone I was trying “the old stop-n-go.” (That didn’t get much of reaction.) I picked up my chip but paused to look over at Red before throwing it in. He actually waited for me to bet it before putting his in. This was getting more entertaining (to me) by the moment. So I was finally all-in and we revealed our cards. I was worried that he might have A-K or A-Q. To my delight, he turned up 8-8. I had two live cards. I couldn’t ask for much better. Red was excited to see that he was still in the lead…A little too excited, if you ask me. The turn was a blank but an A gently landed on the end. Then Red turned…well…red. He actually contained himself, not saying anything offensive or mumbling as he tends to do. I was now up to 3000 in chips.
It seemed like I would go back into my normal rag state as the next few hands presented nothing playable. Fortunately, it was just the calm before the storm. The two players on my immediate left had started going at each other in a good spirited way, giving action whenever the other bet or raised. I wasn’t too happy about it when they continued to spar on my BB. UTG raised to 600 and his nemesis quickly called. It folded all the way around to me. My thought here, as always, is that I’m going to need to wake up with a big pair or my blind is dead. That’s just what happened…Q-Q. I had already put the raiser on a big A and the caller on paint or a medium pair. So I figured my Q’s were the best to start. My instinct was to raise. However, I knew I would get action from at least one of them if not both and I didn’t really want to put 1800 into the pot as I would be committed and first to act. That would be quite painful if a K or A flopped. I instead decided to call, hoping for a favorable flop or a read on one or both of them.
I got the best flop I could hope for: x-Q-A rainbow. If one of them did have an A, I could check and let him bet for me. Unfortunately, they both checked behind me. The turn brought a scary J so my check on the flop might have come back to haunt me. I quickly decided that I needed to find out where I was and bet out 1000. They fold kind of quick. I didn’t get paid off but at least they didn’t make me sweat it. Now I had almost 4500 in chips. Things were looking up.
That’s all I have time for right now. I really want to get a poker post up so this will have to do. But I will continue with the tournament details in my next one.
SEEYa
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Oh! And remember…Next Friday is NOT Hawaiian shirt day
It has been quite a while since I’ve written here. Don’t worry, Loyal Three. I’m still here. And I promise to get back in the swing very soon. For now, here is a quickie from work. Upper management sent out the following yesterday…
That's what some people get paid six figures to think about. The sad thing is that they actually think it has any effect on work or business either way. I, for one, don’t consider allowing flexibility in the dress code once a week an incentive. I’m a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy but don’t feel better on Friday just because I get to dress like that…even in jeans, I’m still at work.
As for incentive, I’ll be personally instituting “Casual Tuesday” and “Down-right Lazy Wednesday.” I know from experience that nobody really gives a shit.
SEEYa
In the past, I have been pleased to provide employees with the opportunity to have "Casual Jean Fridays" as part of an incentive to reward your hard work and dedication. In doing so, we now find ourselves out of compliance with the current Countrywide 'Dress Code.' In order to keep consistency with all Business Divisions we must discontinue our "Casual Jean Fridays" effective immediately for all campuses. Other Business Divisions and IT groups, including PT, have already taken steps to get back in compliance.
I share in the disappointment and recognize this as being something everyone truly enjoyed and appreciated. Please know that myself and Senior Management will actively explore alternative ways to continue to express our sincere appreciation for your outstanding efforts. In addition, I ask that you continue to submit your creative and practical ideas to your manager, as they are always welcomed and appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your understanding our need to stay in compliance with company policy in this area.
That's what some people get paid six figures to think about. The sad thing is that they actually think it has any effect on work or business either way. I, for one, don’t consider allowing flexibility in the dress code once a week an incentive. I’m a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy but don’t feel better on Friday just because I get to dress like that…even in jeans, I’m still at work.
As for incentive, I’ll be personally instituting “Casual Tuesday” and “Down-right Lazy Wednesday.” I know from experience that nobody really gives a shit.
SEEYa
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