I have decided that my first New Year's Resolution for 2013 should be to take the entire month of January off and play absolutely no poker whatsoever. Why, you may ask?
I have found that when I take some time off it really seems to help my game. Lately, I don't feel like I've been playing all that well, with many "flawed decisions" at untimely moments. Also, I'm not having as much fun as I used to have. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm bound and determined to figure it out.
Taking the month of January off will give me 31 days to redirect my energies elsewhere. I have still done very little with my new house, such as putting up pictures and decorating it a bit, and maybe moving furniture around. It could use a super cleaning too. Ick. I am going to make a concerted effort to resist poker all month - no playing, no watching on TV and no reading about it - except on Dr. Phil's blog.
Plus, all of the money I'm going to save will go into my "off to Las Vegas someday" super secret bank account - LOL. I will play on New Year's Eve and will probably play into January 1, but I'm not really counting that as January, even though I know it is. So, come play some live poker with me on December 31 if you are available and, if not . . . see you in February!!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
My Very Own Flawed Decision
Thanks to Dr. Phil for his post about flawed decisions. It makes me feel a little better about my own stupid move last Sunday in the Crazy Moose deepstack.
I was rolling along with no trouble at all. I even bluffed a pot or two and did not detect any bad decisions on my part. I made it to the final table (again). When we were down to I believe 7 players, this hand came up.
I was on the button with 18,000 chips with blinds of 1,000-2,000 (or 9 big blinds). There were only 2 callers before play got to me, both of whom limped. On the button with 7-7 I naturally raised to 3,500. One limper folded and the other guy reraised to 12,000. Gak. Now this guy had been reraising me all day and even though I would have still had 7.5 big blinds left if I folded I picked the wrong time to get stubborn. Has this ever happened to you? I was just sick and tired of the reraising.
He had J-J and my 7-7 went down in a blaze of non-glory and I was out 2 or 3 away from a payday. Blast my terrible timing. Drat. Phooey. Etc.
I was rolling along with no trouble at all. I even bluffed a pot or two and did not detect any bad decisions on my part. I made it to the final table (again). When we were down to I believe 7 players, this hand came up.
I was on the button with 18,000 chips with blinds of 1,000-2,000 (or 9 big blinds). There were only 2 callers before play got to me, both of whom limped. On the button with 7-7 I naturally raised to 3,500. One limper folded and the other guy reraised to 12,000. Gak. Now this guy had been reraising me all day and even though I would have still had 7.5 big blinds left if I folded I picked the wrong time to get stubborn. Has this ever happened to you? I was just sick and tired of the reraising.
He had J-J and my 7-7 went down in a blaze of non-glory and I was out 2 or 3 away from a payday. Blast my terrible timing. Drat. Phooey. Etc.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Bad Luck With La Thief!
The last time I played 2-20 I had about $80 left when this hand came up.
I was on the button. One player limped UTG and Latif (a/k/a La Thief) raised to $7. Two players after him called the raise so I did as well with my A5 suited in clubs. The small blind and big blind both called so now it's a fairly good sized pot of $49.
The flop is pretty good for me: 5-7-3 with 2 clubs so I have a pair and 4 clubs. First player checks. Latif makes it $20 to go. Ouch. Did he flop a straight? I don't think so. One of the 2 players after him calls. I decide that I have no chips left and, hoping to isolate Latif I raise to $40. First player folds, Latif calls and other player folds. Good. Head's up. The pot is now $109.
The turn is an 8 and it's a club which makes me very happy because if Latif is playing those small cards like 4-6 and has a straight, he will definitely call me on the river. He bets out $20 again and I raise to put my last $33 into the pot and he calls so now the pot is $155.
He turns over 7-7. He flopped a frickin' set and called my first raise with a possible straight already on the board and called my all-in (I admit it wasn't much) with a possible flush already on the board as well. Great googly moogly. Yes, you guessed it. The 5 on the river pairs the board and I am screwed and out of chips. I said absolutely nothing and just left. Why do I even bother?
I was on the button. One player limped UTG and Latif (a/k/a La Thief) raised to $7. Two players after him called the raise so I did as well with my A5 suited in clubs. The small blind and big blind both called so now it's a fairly good sized pot of $49.
The flop is pretty good for me: 5-7-3 with 2 clubs so I have a pair and 4 clubs. First player checks. Latif makes it $20 to go. Ouch. Did he flop a straight? I don't think so. One of the 2 players after him calls. I decide that I have no chips left and, hoping to isolate Latif I raise to $40. First player folds, Latif calls and other player folds. Good. Head's up. The pot is now $109.
The turn is an 8 and it's a club which makes me very happy because if Latif is playing those small cards like 4-6 and has a straight, he will definitely call me on the river. He bets out $20 again and I raise to put my last $33 into the pot and he calls so now the pot is $155.
He turns over 7-7. He flopped a frickin' set and called my first raise with a possible straight already on the board and called my all-in (I admit it wasn't much) with a possible flush already on the board as well. Great googly moogly. Yes, you guessed it. The 5 on the river pairs the board and I am screwed and out of chips. I said absolutely nothing and just left. Why do I even bother?
Monday, December 3, 2012
To Shove or Not to Shove - That is the Question
OMG it is hard to make decisions in this game sometimes. I finally made it to the final table of the Sunday Crazy Moose deep stack tournament without being the final table bubble girl as per usual. There were also 2 people knocked out after I got to the final table so I was doing OK. I only had about 16 big blinds however. Then this hand came up.
In the big blind (500-1,000) I had 7-8 spades in an unraised pot. I almost shoved then because I love suited connectors against almost any other hand. I decided to check my option.
The flop was terrific - 6-9-10 with the 9 and 10 both being spades!! Not only did I flop a straight, but I had an open-ended straight flush draw. Did I shove? Oh hell no. I had the huge chip leader on the button and I decided to get greedy and get some of his chips. Stupid woman. It was checked to the chip leader. He bet 3,000 and I flat called.
The turn was J clubs. Not a bad card for me. Just gives me a bigger straight. I still have the nut flush draw if I hit a 6 or jack of spades and I have the regular flush draw. I am unconcerned. Stupid woman. Everyone checks this time.
The river is K clubs. Oh boy. Check. Chip leader puts me all in. Gak. Groan. Crap. Stupid woman calls and sees that chip leader has 10-Q diamonds. OMG. So, maybe shoving would never have worked anyway. If I shove on the flop, he probably calls me with top pair and semi-decent kicker. It won't hurt his stack much if he loses. If I shove on the turn, he has top pair and an open-ended straight draw, so again he's probably callling me (although I asked him later and he said he would have folded on the turn if I shoved, which I find hard to believe).
So, what are your thoughts my loyal reader(s)? How can I get so unlucky as to be beaten by runner runner bigger straight? When should I have gone all-in (if at all)? This game is starting to make me more "disturbed".
In the big blind (500-1,000) I had 7-8 spades in an unraised pot. I almost shoved then because I love suited connectors against almost any other hand. I decided to check my option.
The flop was terrific - 6-9-10 with the 9 and 10 both being spades!! Not only did I flop a straight, but I had an open-ended straight flush draw. Did I shove? Oh hell no. I had the huge chip leader on the button and I decided to get greedy and get some of his chips. Stupid woman. It was checked to the chip leader. He bet 3,000 and I flat called.
The turn was J clubs. Not a bad card for me. Just gives me a bigger straight. I still have the nut flush draw if I hit a 6 or jack of spades and I have the regular flush draw. I am unconcerned. Stupid woman. Everyone checks this time.
The river is K clubs. Oh boy. Check. Chip leader puts me all in. Gak. Groan. Crap. Stupid woman calls and sees that chip leader has 10-Q diamonds. OMG. So, maybe shoving would never have worked anyway. If I shove on the flop, he probably calls me with top pair and semi-decent kicker. It won't hurt his stack much if he loses. If I shove on the turn, he has top pair and an open-ended straight draw, so again he's probably callling me (although I asked him later and he said he would have folded on the turn if I shoved, which I find hard to believe).
So, what are your thoughts my loyal reader(s)? How can I get so unlucky as to be beaten by runner runner bigger straight? When should I have gone all-in (if at all)? This game is starting to make me more "disturbed".
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