The December Tournament of Champions was rolling along quite nicely when I ran into the person I refer to as "the crazy woman on my left". OMG. Nuts, I'm telling you. She was limping into any pot if she had any face card. It didn't matter what her other card was. She was so lucky it was sickening. She won with K-5 offsuit twice in a row. I knew she was getting lucky. I knew she had me out-chipped. Nonetheless, I decided to play a pot with her. Oops.
I had A-K suited (diamonds) with blinds of 50-100. I raised to 250 UNDER THE GUN and the crazy woman called. I was not happy that she called, but oh well. There were a total of six players in the pot before the flop. Apparently, no one believes me when I raise under the gun.
The flop was K-3-8 with 2 diamonds. Excellent flop for me with top pair (top kicker) and 4 to the nut flush. The pot had approximately 1500 in it so I bet 1200 right away deciding not to slow play. The crazy woman called and everyone else folded, which was nice, but I still had crazy woman to contend with.
The turn brought the 4 of clubs. No harm no foul - at least that's what I thought. I decided to check and see what crazy woman would do. She pushes out a HUGE stack of chips that put me all-in. Good grief. Even though I said out loud, "You probably called my pre-flop raise with K-3 offsuit," I decided I was pot committed and went all-in. OMG. I almost called her hand perfectly. She had K-4 offsuit and had hit 2 pair on the turn. I was just amazed. However, I could still hit another K or ace or any diamond and it was still possible for me to get a bigger 2 pair. No such luck. Another stupid 4 hit the river and she knocked me out of the TOC with a full house.
God save me from mad dogs, Englishmen and crazy women on my left. I had to vent.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Trouble With Traps
My downfall in two recent tournaments was not being able to see a trap. Both times, the players limped into a multi-way pot with pocket aces and trapped me good when I flopped top pair with top kicker. I think these traps were difficult for me to see because I personally would not limp with aces in that situation and I do not understand how other players can do so. In both of these instances, it worked out for them, but in the long run, why would you want to pit your aces against more than one or two opponents?
I guess I should be happy that they play that way because eventually it will come back to bite them in the you-know-what. I cannot say that I have never limped with aces, but the situation has to be perfect. Just the other night I had them on the button and it was just me and the two blinds, so that wasn't so bad. Even then there was a flop of 10-10-4 and it scared me that one of the blinds might have a 10, which luckily they didn't and I did win the pot, but it wasn't very big. Oh, well. As Stu Unger used to say, with aces it's always better to win a small pot than lose a big one.
I guess I should be happy that they play that way because eventually it will come back to bite them in the you-know-what. I cannot say that I have never limped with aces, but the situation has to be perfect. Just the other night I had them on the button and it was just me and the two blinds, so that wasn't so bad. Even then there was a flop of 10-10-4 and it scared me that one of the blinds might have a 10, which luckily they didn't and I did win the pot, but it wasn't very big. Oh, well. As Stu Unger used to say, with aces it's always better to win a small pot than lose a big one.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wasting a Vacation Day
I played (if you want to call it that) in the senior's tournament at the Fall Poker Round-Up in Pendleton on Tuesday. I used a vacation day for this and truly wish I hadn't wasted my time. I played a grand total of four hands. I won with A-K (did not see a flop after my raise) and won with pocket 3s (flopped a set; I bet on the turn and everyone folded).
I had KK in the big blind with SIX pre-flop limpers so I raised to 300 with blinds being 25-50. I thought this was a pretty good raise and I was right because I got everybody out except one guy who reraised to 1125. I just shoved it all in. The guy had the only hand I didn't want to see (AA) and was just waiting around for me to do exactly what I did. It wouldn't have made any difference if the raise was before or after the flop because with a queen high flop, all the money was getting in anyway. Naturally, I lost and was down to 950 in chips. This was only because I won the two previously mentioned hands.
My last fiasco (and totally my fault) was calling in the small blind with Q8 offsuit (nobody raised). The flop was 2-2-3. Nobody bet. The turn was an 8 so I had two pair with a queen kicker. I went all in again. The same guy that had limped/trapped me with AA now called me with 10-10, which he also didn't bother to raise with before the flop. If he had raised I never would have called with Q8. I was gone. I didn't even have any luck with my $20 slot machine investment. Phooey!!
The only good thing about my vacation time was that I took a total of two days off and got back on the horse to take 4th place in the Wednesday morning tournament at the Moose for a small win. It made me feel better though!
I had KK in the big blind with SIX pre-flop limpers so I raised to 300 with blinds being 25-50. I thought this was a pretty good raise and I was right because I got everybody out except one guy who reraised to 1125. I just shoved it all in. The guy had the only hand I didn't want to see (AA) and was just waiting around for me to do exactly what I did. It wouldn't have made any difference if the raise was before or after the flop because with a queen high flop, all the money was getting in anyway. Naturally, I lost and was down to 950 in chips. This was only because I won the two previously mentioned hands.
My last fiasco (and totally my fault) was calling in the small blind with Q8 offsuit (nobody raised). The flop was 2-2-3. Nobody bet. The turn was an 8 so I had two pair with a queen kicker. I went all in again. The same guy that had limped/trapped me with AA now called me with 10-10, which he also didn't bother to raise with before the flop. If he had raised I never would have called with Q8. I was gone. I didn't even have any luck with my $20 slot machine investment. Phooey!!
The only good thing about my vacation time was that I took a total of two days off and got back on the horse to take 4th place in the Wednesday morning tournament at the Moose for a small win. It made me feel better though!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Good and Bad
I played in the Tournament of Champions on Sunday at the Cable Bridge. I was going along smoothly with 6100 in chips after the first break and blinds of 200-400. My first mistake was to raise to 1400 in early/middle position with AJ offsuit, which I could have easily folded or limped in with. A guy on the button went all in for a total of 3400. I thought he might be making a "button raise" because he was pretty active on the button. My second mistake was calling him. He had pocket kings and they held up. Just like that, I was down to 2700 in chips and after the blinds I only had 2100.
My next (and fatal) mistake was not having enough patience to wait for a better hand that A3 offsuit to go all-in with about 2 hands later. I got called by - you guessed it - pocket kings. They held up again and I was toast. I was so irritated with myself that I went home and ate a big bowl of ice cream with tons of chocolate sauce to make myself feel better.
However, it is hard to keep me down for very long and I decided to pick myself up, dust myself off and get back on the horse right away. I went back and played the little $15 tournament at 7:00 and I won it! I must pat myself on the back for this because it was seriously tough to win this tournament. At one point, with the blinds at 3,000-6,000 I was all-in with KQ hearts and it held up. There were still 6 players left at that point and I had no chips to speak of. When there were 3 players left I had only 21,000 chips and the other 2 guys had the other 83,000 chips. Yours truly took them down - yippee!!
I feel much better now - and I get to play in another Tournament of Champions in December! :)
My next (and fatal) mistake was not having enough patience to wait for a better hand that A3 offsuit to go all-in with about 2 hands later. I got called by - you guessed it - pocket kings. They held up again and I was toast. I was so irritated with myself that I went home and ate a big bowl of ice cream with tons of chocolate sauce to make myself feel better.
However, it is hard to keep me down for very long and I decided to pick myself up, dust myself off and get back on the horse right away. I went back and played the little $15 tournament at 7:00 and I won it! I must pat myself on the back for this because it was seriously tough to win this tournament. At one point, with the blinds at 3,000-6,000 I was all-in with KQ hearts and it held up. There were still 6 players left at that point and I had no chips to speak of. When there were 3 players left I had only 21,000 chips and the other 2 guys had the other 83,000 chips. Yours truly took them down - yippee!!
I feel much better now - and I get to play in another Tournament of Champions in December! :)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thoughts on Local Limit Poker
It appears that the days of the 3-6 or 4-8 game have gone the way of the dodo in the Tri-Cities. The Crazy Moose and Cable Bridge both have Wildhorse Casino Fall Poker Round-Up promotions going that require playing in 2-8, 2-20 or 2-40 spread limit games.
In the beginning I felt that this was a terrible thing. There are many poker players (including myself) who mainly play for fun and do not have a large bank roll. I know of at least one player that I used to see at the Crazy Moose all the time who just doesn't play there any more and the cheapest game he can find now is the 2-8 spread limit game at the Cable Bridge (if they ever get one going at that low limit) or the 2-10 spread limit game at Jokers in Richland. I feel for him.
On the other hand, I personally feel that playing in a 2-20 or 2-40 game makes me a better player. I become more patient. I make better hand selections. I am definitely loath to chase crap. I just barely qualified for the Crazy Moose promotion because I simply do not play cash games any more unless I win enough in tournaments to justify it. While qualifying and playing only 2-20 spread limit, I made a profit of over $200 during those 30 hours. So for me it will truly be a free roll. Wish me luck!
Maybe after these promotions the 3-6 or 4-8 games will return. I hope so simply because I miss seeing a lot of people that used to play those limits.
In the beginning I felt that this was a terrible thing. There are many poker players (including myself) who mainly play for fun and do not have a large bank roll. I know of at least one player that I used to see at the Crazy Moose all the time who just doesn't play there any more and the cheapest game he can find now is the 2-8 spread limit game at the Cable Bridge (if they ever get one going at that low limit) or the 2-10 spread limit game at Jokers in Richland. I feel for him.
On the other hand, I personally feel that playing in a 2-20 or 2-40 game makes me a better player. I become more patient. I make better hand selections. I am definitely loath to chase crap. I just barely qualified for the Crazy Moose promotion because I simply do not play cash games any more unless I win enough in tournaments to justify it. While qualifying and playing only 2-20 spread limit, I made a profit of over $200 during those 30 hours. So for me it will truly be a free roll. Wish me luck!
Maybe after these promotions the 3-6 or 4-8 games will return. I hope so simply because I miss seeing a lot of people that used to play those limits.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Rockets and Weirdness
Sunday morning at the Crazy Moose I was playing in the $60 tournament and was having continuous bad luck. I was pretty short stacked with about 2400 left and the blinds at 300-600. Scott (seat 6) raised to 1800 from middle position. I was in seat 8. Our seat numbers are important in my story of the 2nd tournament (below). Anyway, I looked down to find the black aces. Ta da! Yippee!! I reraised all-in, everyone else folded, and Scott called. He was pretty short stacked too and only had me covered by about 500 chips. He had A-10 diamonds. Ta da! Yippee!! He got runner-runner straight cards and knocked me out. Boo hoo. Cry. Sob. Damned A-10 diamonds.
That same night at the Cable Bridge I was playing the little $15 tournment. On the very first hand Bob (seat 6) raised the 25-25 blinds to 100. Me (yes, seat 8) found black aces. I was still upset about the morning fiasco and could have almost folded them, but being a prudent player (ha) I raised to 500. Everyone folded, Bob only called. The flop was 8-A-3 with 2 diamonds. Bob immediately pushed all-in and I immediately called. He had - you get one guess - the A-10 diamonds. Gak!! Even though I had flopped a set of aces I was not happy at all because he was four flushed and I just knew he would hit it. I tried mightily to suppress my apprehension and got very lucky. He hit nothing and I doubled up on the very first hand!! Ta da! Yippee!!
This double-up and some other lucky hands (and good play if I do say so myself) got me to the final table and I will get to play in another tournament of champions. I just can't get over all the similarities of these two hands . . . it's like being in the Twilight Zone. Then I read the post by my buddy Dr. Phil about his fun with A-10 and I'm beginning to think that this will be the hand of the month or something. Too strange.
That same night at the Cable Bridge I was playing the little $15 tournment. On the very first hand Bob (seat 6) raised the 25-25 blinds to 100. Me (yes, seat 8) found black aces. I was still upset about the morning fiasco and could have almost folded them, but being a prudent player (ha) I raised to 500. Everyone folded, Bob only called. The flop was 8-A-3 with 2 diamonds. Bob immediately pushed all-in and I immediately called. He had - you get one guess - the A-10 diamonds. Gak!! Even though I had flopped a set of aces I was not happy at all because he was four flushed and I just knew he would hit it. I tried mightily to suppress my apprehension and got very lucky. He hit nothing and I doubled up on the very first hand!! Ta da! Yippee!!
This double-up and some other lucky hands (and good play if I do say so myself) got me to the final table and I will get to play in another tournament of champions. I just can't get over all the similarities of these two hands . . . it's like being in the Twilight Zone. Then I read the post by my buddy Dr. Phil about his fun with A-10 and I'm beginning to think that this will be the hand of the month or something. Too strange.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
FRUSTRATION!!
I am really getting tired of it. The last three tournaments I played in I got knocked out holding pocket kings, pocket queens and pocket aces, respectively. Good grief. Naturally I had the best hand all three times.
I just do not understand it. As an example of how all these hands were played, I will describe last night. I had just won a hand with pocket kings (miracle of miracles) and was immediately dealt pocket aces right afterward. I was still short on chips and decided I was going all in with it.
A young guy I had never played with before raised to 150 UNDER THE GUN. I figured he must have a pretty darned good hand to raise in that position. Nonetheless, I was unafraid. I reraised to 600. Everyone folded and he insta-called. The flop was 9-10-10. I knew he could have a ten in his hand (especially after he checked) but I just couldn't believe it. I made the mistake of putting the way I would have played on him. I would have folded everything with a ten except pocket 10s to a 450 reraise. I pushed. He called. He had (believe it or not) the Q-10 of diamonds.
How oh how do I win against idiots like this? Under the gun with a Q-10 . . . insta-calling with a Q-10 and beating my aces with it. Yuck!!! This is sick.
I just do not understand it. As an example of how all these hands were played, I will describe last night. I had just won a hand with pocket kings (miracle of miracles) and was immediately dealt pocket aces right afterward. I was still short on chips and decided I was going all in with it.
A young guy I had never played with before raised to 150 UNDER THE GUN. I figured he must have a pretty darned good hand to raise in that position. Nonetheless, I was unafraid. I reraised to 600. Everyone folded and he insta-called. The flop was 9-10-10. I knew he could have a ten in his hand (especially after he checked) but I just couldn't believe it. I made the mistake of putting the way I would have played on him. I would have folded everything with a ten except pocket 10s to a 450 reraise. I pushed. He called. He had (believe it or not) the Q-10 of diamonds.
How oh how do I win against idiots like this? Under the gun with a Q-10 . . . insta-calling with a Q-10 and beating my aces with it. Yuck!!! This is sick.
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