I played in the Islands deep stack tournament last night. I was roaring along during the first hour. I made a couple of good plays and a really good call when I put a player on a missed flush draw. We start with 20,000 and I had 36,000 right before the dinner break when my K-K ran into 8-8. 8-8 raised to 700 (blinds of 100-200). With 3 callers between him and me I had to raise. I made it 2700 to go and he called. All others folded. The flop was 8-3-2 with 2 spades. He checked and I bet 6000. He thought for a minute and called. The flop was a jack I think. He checked again & completely not thinking at all about why he had called my flop bet, I went all-in. Having flopped his set of 8s he called immediately and I was down to less than 10,000 just like that. ICK!! I am a terrible player!!
After the dinner break, I played no hands until the same guy raised to 800 and I went all-in with 7-7. He had a huge stack full of my chips so naturally he called with his J-10 suited in hearts. It wasn't a bad call, but good golly, the board was 8-9-9. I flopped 2 pair and he flopped an open-ender, so it wouldn't have made any difference in the long run. The ending would have been the same. The turn was a 3rd nine, giving me a full house. Did the dealer really have to put a 10 on the river? I don't think so. I need a 2-week break now. Help!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Taking a Break (Again)
I've decided to take a two or three week poker break. I probably won't last that long, but I need to give it a try. My game is just "off" lately and I'm not sure why.
I talked about this with a friend and co-worker who had an interesting analogy. She likens our brain neuro pathways to a nice straight road. When we start to think about something too much or try too hard to do something right, our nice straight road ends up with a hole in it. Over time, this hole grows to become a rather large ditch, thus making it quite difficult to just keep moseying down the road. We have to climb down into the ditch and struggle up the other side and it's just a lot of work. We get worn out. We get irritable. We are "off".
As we stop trying too hard or thinking too much about something, the ditch suddenly starts to begin filling up again and the road becomes a lot easier to travel. I really like thinking about it this way. So, I am going to stop struggling in and out of that ditch for a little while and let my road flatten out a little. I think I'll watch a bunch of baseball!
I talked about this with a friend and co-worker who had an interesting analogy. She likens our brain neuro pathways to a nice straight road. When we start to think about something too much or try too hard to do something right, our nice straight road ends up with a hole in it. Over time, this hole grows to become a rather large ditch, thus making it quite difficult to just keep moseying down the road. We have to climb down into the ditch and struggle up the other side and it's just a lot of work. We get worn out. We get irritable. We are "off".
As we stop trying too hard or thinking too much about something, the ditch suddenly starts to begin filling up again and the road becomes a lot easier to travel. I really like thinking about it this way. So, I am going to stop struggling in and out of that ditch for a little while and let my road flatten out a little. I think I'll watch a bunch of baseball!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Dazed and Confused (not the Led Zeppelin song)
I got knocked out of the $60 Moose Sunday tournament in 6th place and they only paid 3 places at that point as no deals had yet been made. Was it my own fault? You decide. Blinds were 1,000-2,000. I only had 11 big blinds or 22,000. The chip leader was Tall Jeff with over 50,000. Unknown Guy went all-in for 8,500. Everyone folded to Tall Jeff on my immediate right. He called. My thought process was that if he had a great hand or even a medium pocket pair he would raise to isolate. He didn't do that so when I looked down at pocket queens I moved all-in over the top, hoping to isolate also. Tall Jeff insta-called with A-J. His called confused me for 3 main reasons. First, I would think that he would know that I had to have a super good hand if I was going to move all-in. Second, he called off half his remaining chips without even thinking about it and he was chip leader and didn't need to do that. Third, it was a crappy hand to insta-call with. He was beat pre-flop if I had AQ, AK or any pocket pair. Naturally, there was an ace right in the door on the flop and yours truly was history. Was I wrong to move all-in? Hindsight tells me that I could have simply called and still had 6 big blinds left, but I think I did the right thing. Was Jeff wrong? I think so. What do you think?
Monday, April 11, 2011
Tooting My Own Horn
This is my pat on the back for the past month. The Island had a ladies only tournmant last year, but they stopped it in December. After many requests, they restarted on Thursday nights 4 weeks ago with a couple of changes. The cost went from $20 to $25 and antes have been added starting at the 200-400 level. We still start with 3,000 in chips and blind rounds are 15 minutes. The first week I placed 2nd. The second week I busted out of the money holding aces when I moved all-in on a jack high board. My opponent had a set of 10s. Phooey. The third week I placed second again. Last week I won! So, in 4 weeks, I have cashed 1st or 2nd 3 times. I may just play ladies only tournaments from now on! Wish me luck on the 14th - week 5. This is not a lot of money after buy-ins and tips, but I still have a $415 profit. I am not complaining. :)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
What Was I Thinking?
Sometimes, I think I will never learn anything. I was playing in the deep stack tournament at the Islands last night and doing pretty well. I had been reading hands and people OK and had a decent (but not great) chip stack of just over 100,000 with blinds of 3000-6000 (17 big blinds). There were 2 tables left. I was in the big blind for 6000. The player to my immediate left limped under the gun. I think everyone folded to Bobby Petty on my immediate right. Bobby had gone on a recent tear and had at least 175,000. He raised all-in. I found K-K in my hand and WITHOUT THINKING AT ALL pushed all in as well. BIG MISTAKE. In hindsight, I honestly believe that I could have folded my kings pre-flop if I had given one second's thought to who had raised. This guy is the tightest rock on the planet, I kid you not. As soon as I pushed all in, I did not feel right about it. The limper folded, Bobby insta-called and had the dreaded aces and I was gone. To make matters worse he got an ace on the turn and I was drawing dead. It was so stupid. I don't think I'm ready for Pendleton. Gak!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Remedial Poker Playing School Needed
I played (if you can call it that) in the 8 a.m. Sunday morning tournament at the Moose. I misplayed pocket kings so badly that I should be demoted to newbie and sent to remedial poker playing school immediately. OMG.
We start with 2000 chips and I had about 1600 left, so I was far from desperate. When I saw pocket kings in my hand, I decided I should try to trap and chip up a bit. Mistake 1: I did not raise before the flop, thus letting the big blind in for free. But, hey, I was trapping, right?
The flop was 8-7-3 with 2 spades. Mistake 2: I checked the flop, although if I had check-raised later this would have been OK. My lone opponent bet 200. Mistake 3: I called. I did not check raise or move all-in.
Mistake 4: I checked the turn, which was a blank and not a spade. In my defense, I was hoping my opponent would bet again and then I could push. He checked behind and got a free card. That card was another 3, pairing the board.
I checked the river. He put out enough chips to put me all in. In my defense, I did think about it for a little bit. He could have had A8 or A7 and have 8s and 3s or 7s and 3s, but in my heart I knew he had a three. Mistake 5: I put all my chips in the pot and was knocked out by A3. I never should have called. I still had chips and when you still have chips you can still win.
Mistake 6: I showed the 2 kings and took a ribbing from all my poker buddies for about an hour. I admit it. I deserved it. I played them horrendously and deserved what I got. Never again. Lesson learned.
We start with 2000 chips and I had about 1600 left, so I was far from desperate. When I saw pocket kings in my hand, I decided I should try to trap and chip up a bit. Mistake 1: I did not raise before the flop, thus letting the big blind in for free. But, hey, I was trapping, right?
The flop was 8-7-3 with 2 spades. Mistake 2: I checked the flop, although if I had check-raised later this would have been OK. My lone opponent bet 200. Mistake 3: I called. I did not check raise or move all-in.
Mistake 4: I checked the turn, which was a blank and not a spade. In my defense, I was hoping my opponent would bet again and then I could push. He checked behind and got a free card. That card was another 3, pairing the board.
I checked the river. He put out enough chips to put me all in. In my defense, I did think about it for a little bit. He could have had A8 or A7 and have 8s and 3s or 7s and 3s, but in my heart I knew he had a three. Mistake 5: I put all my chips in the pot and was knocked out by A3. I never should have called. I still had chips and when you still have chips you can still win.
Mistake 6: I showed the 2 kings and took a ribbing from all my poker buddies for about an hour. I admit it. I deserved it. I played them horrendously and deserved what I got. Never again. Lesson learned.
I Win With 7-2 While Holding Q-J
In the Sunday morning 10:00 tournament at the Moose, I was holding QJ clubs. The blinds were 25-25. There were about 3 limpers and no raises before me so I made it 100 to go. The big blind raised to 350. One of the limpers called, two folded and I called because I felt I had a reasonable hand to play. It was early in the tournament. I could get away from it fairly cheaply if I didn't hit. I also had position being last to act.
Right between the time I called and the time the flop hit the board, my opponent in the big blind says, "I sure hope there are no sevens or deuces on the board." This is because everyone knows that 7-2 is my favorite hand and I win with it frequently. He should have kept his mouth shut.
The flop was 7-2-something (don't remember). He rolls his eyes and checks. The other player checks. I smile and bet 625. He looks at me and thinks for about 30 seconds. He folds A-K face up and says "I knew you were playing that garbage." The other player folds and I win. I did not show my cards. I absolutely wanted him to think I had 7-2. It was super fun to win with it when I didn't even have it. LOL.
Lesson to be applied - pretty easy to figure out - keep your mouth shut during the play of a hand. You really do give your opponents way too much information. I'm sure glad he did!
Right between the time I called and the time the flop hit the board, my opponent in the big blind says, "I sure hope there are no sevens or deuces on the board." This is because everyone knows that 7-2 is my favorite hand and I win with it frequently. He should have kept his mouth shut.
The flop was 7-2-something (don't remember). He rolls his eyes and checks. The other player checks. I smile and bet 625. He looks at me and thinks for about 30 seconds. He folds A-K face up and says "I knew you were playing that garbage." The other player folds and I win. I did not show my cards. I absolutely wanted him to think I had 7-2. It was super fun to win with it when I didn't even have it. LOL.
Lesson to be applied - pretty easy to figure out - keep your mouth shut during the play of a hand. You really do give your opponents way too much information. I'm sure glad he did!
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