Another Month Down

It's the end of November... one more month before 2006. Wow.

Nothing much going on… just some really bad luck at the tables. I could have sworn that I didn’t win a single dime all month, and then I saw I had a post about placing 4th in a WWdN tourney. Guess that’s why I have this here blog, to post the posts that remind me of the good times, to post the posts that remind me of the bad times… don’t… cry for me… next door neighboooor.

Yes, ever since then, I’ve been knocked down, but I haven’t gotten up again. I’ve blown through most of my ‘Stars bankroll playing twenty or so $5 and $10 SnGs and MTTs and cashed once for $13. How’s this for a depressing stat – Pocket Queens: 0 for 9. Only twice did an Ace or King flop. Twice I ran into a bigger pair. Twice I flopped the set against AK, who caught their pair as well, so I was guaranteed plenty of action. Runner-runner straight or flush guaranteed I was going to go bust.

I feel like jumping on the “ONLINE POKER IS RIGGED!” bandwagon, except a couple of those losses came at the casino as well. Don’t know how it all works - I just know I haven’t flipped over QQ and scooped a pot in a while.

In the live game, I’ve walked away a winner once all month…. A whopping $10 profit. A few times I’ve settled for breaking even, and the 4-1/2 total buyins I’ve lost have left me scratching my head wondering if my poker skillz have regressed or if I’m just a bad luck conduit. Some evidence supporting the latter – I happened to be downtown driving by the Seahawks Stadium (it is not Qwest Field) when Feely was lining up for his first OT field goal kick and missed. Coincidence? Maybe… but I finished my errands and was driving back past the Stadium again when he shanked his 2nd one! I should go on the road with the ‘Hawks as their official cooler…. 14-2 baby!

Hey, at least it would put my bad luck to good use.

This is not the way to save up for a Vegas trip, especially one with my Inter-web heroes in attendance. Actually, it wasn’t even like the weekend of the 9th was going to be open for me anyways… what with class finals, family visiting, and trying to squeeze in as much OT as possible. Lesson of the day: young kids + Christmas season = -EV.

Another month down, both chronologically and monetarily. See you in December.

Night of the Living Kicker

Went to play at the PJ's Midnight tourney - Doc Chako told me he was going to be there too, but we didn't trade phone numbers in time and I didn't know who to look for, so I missed the opp to hang out with another local fellow blogger. I don't think he was at my table because I don't remember seeing Aces cracked. Only Kings... gee, imagine that, Pocket Kings losing at PJ Pockets....

Anyways, I played a good game. I made bets at the right time and laydowns when necessary. One nice pot I took early on was with QJ in the BB and a few limpers, so I took the free flop. QQx (trips!). I bet out right away and only the button called, as well as my Turn bet. River was a flush/straight scare card and we checked it through... he had 99 and thought I was bluffing. Who, me? Bluffing? Never! ;)

I made a raise with KQs and the short-stacked BB pushed. It was only a few hundred more back to me so I called... 78s and he flopped an 8. That's okay, it was early... I still had enough chips to fire at and buy a few pots here and there to stay alive. A few rounds in, I isolate another short-stack with AQ versus 66. Turn an Ace, but he Rivers a 6. Yowza. As I slow down to sit back and watch, it turns out I'm not the only one losing every race/kicker battle - it seemed almost every All-in showdown had the dominating hand getting outdrawn.

I see AK versus A8 and the Flop comes AAx, and then a snowman on the turn. KJ verus KT - a Jack on the Flop only helps to complete a Straight for KT. Then it was my turn. I make a push with A2s and get called by A9 and AK. A Duece on the Turn and I triple up! This being the trend for the night, I should have mucked the next time I had AK, because I was up against AT... and of course I lost.

Then came the undeniable proof that it was a night for the underdog, although it should have been obvious from the get-go - the Cowboys did end up beating the Eagles earlier that evening!

I'm down to about T3000 at the final table and have to put in 800 for the BB. It gets folded to the chip-leader on the button who raises to T2000. He's a solid player who knows what he's doing, so I put him on a definite blind steal. I have A9 and re-raise All-in. He tells me, "Nice hand," but calls anyways and shows his A3. I don't even get a chance to enjoy a moment of self-satisfaction for making the right play when the dealer flops out 353. There's a 9 on the River just to signify my 9th place finish.

I don't fault the button for making that move (he ended up chopping first/second for $500)... it's a play I would have made in his position. And I really didn't have any major leaks in my game that night either... just kept getting outflopped. The turnout for these things have been nice... 3 full tables + 4-5 alternates, and first place has been over $700 the last few times I've been there.

Since I've been running decent in tourneys, I've been focusing on MTTs at PokerStars. Signed up for a $20+2 MTT, and played in a $5 3-table SnG while waiting for the other to start. I busted out by going in the best hand, AK of Spades, and losing to KJ of Clubs on a ridiculously uncooperative flop - J high with two clubs.

Luckily, the $20 started off great, with my first hand being Q8 spades in the BB and getting to see the Ace and King of Spades on the flop. I bet out and was called by someone who actually flopped two-pair. If he had pushed on the flop, I might have bucked out; but he waited until I got the Nut flush on the Turn to put me All-in. Ooops, did I just hit the Call button? I managed to stay right around the average stack size for the next 3 hours, and the Curse of the Kicker seemed to have worn off. I lost a race, AQ versus Tens, and finished in the top 20 out of ~650 for an $80 pay. The $3400 for first would have been nice, but I'll take what I can get.

Hoping Wil runs another West Coast Warm-Up tomorrow, otherwise I look forward to playing against familiar names on Saturday. See you all at the final table... just be careful not to call any All-ins with the better hand!

Saturday Sitout

After scoring some cash in the WWdN WCW-u#1, I figured I could put down $11 to hold my spot in Pauly's Saturday circuit. Ended up placing right in midfield again. I'm slightly amused, yet saddened for those that are placed below me.

I requested the HH for the tourney and scanned through it for fun. I found out that I most likely would have busted out early when I flopped the ass-end of a straight and someone Rivered the high end. But if I had managed to work up enough chips to survive that one, I might have been okay since I later had KK when two people got all-in with JJ and KTs. And one of my last hands before being unceremoniously blinded away was AA... the PFR blind-stealer showed his QQ.

Here's to hoping my next Saturday doesn't become another Sitting Out with Dr. Pauly event.

West Coast Represent'n

Look at that... I offer up a little Poker Lesson and all of a sudden I get mad skillz. :) Took 4th place in Wil's West Coast Warm-Up, and I was the last West Coaster standing.

I got seated just to left of ToddCommish and across the table from Wil. I busted someone out early when my AJ flopped two-pair against his AK. Got some chips from Todd when I rivered a Flush against his top pair; and then flopped a Set (not Trips) against Wil. He paired his Ace on the flop and I just smooth-called. We checked the Turn and he folded on the River when I bet. I don't know if he was influenced by the fact that I typed "fold..." into the chat box before confirming my bet amount. I woulda felt bad for busting out the host so early on... :)

I was in the top 5 at that point and pretty much sat out and enjoyed Survivor. The blinds started creeping up and I was slipping towards the bottom of the ladder with about 1/2 the field gone. Made some moves and my pocket pairs actually held up. Maudie eventually showed up to the left of me, and the last time I had seen her she was down to T500. Now she had over T5000 and was using them to call my PFR and then raise my continuation bet! A few hands later she called my AT raise and the flop bet. So like a little whipped school boy I checked it through the Turn and River and luckily my Ace high was good. :)

I ended up to the left of The Film Geek in time to see him get check-raised by Joanne and start lamenting about having to make "good laydowns" and folding made hands. I put him out of his misery a short while later with my first (and only) AA against his 77.

Sitting on the bubble was excruciatingly painful, but there was a bright moment during it all. When the short-stack went All-in and was called, someone in LP went over the top, forcing the original caller out.

From the rail, The Film Geek voiced my thoughts exactly: STUPIDEST RAISE EVER! The player teetering on the bubble caught his Ace on the River against the isolation-raiser's JJ. The initial caller said he had KT, so he wouldn't have busted the bubble anyways... but still, if you've got a good hand and someone has already called an All-in, just make the overcall so there's a greater chance of bursting that bubble and everyone else making the money.

After the Ace fell, someone said, "9 people just cursed their screens."

Film Geek: "10 including me!"

We finally get to the final table and I fold fold fold my way to the top four, where I had an amusing back and forth with Mourn. I was only ahead of him by a few thousand chips when he went All-in, and because I had sat at a table with him for quite awhile and knew he was playing very aggressively, I didn't hesitate to call with my TT. He showed A5 of Spades. The flop came 772, two spades. Oh, my bankroll for a Hammer! A 3rd Spade came, no Ten to fill me up and I was down to T5000. I get the Hammer the very next hand, but decide to let it go to when someone else raises. Good thing too, 'cause the next hand dealt to me was AJ and I pushed and I got called by Mourn's smaller Ace. I was back in it, and pushed again with A5 of Diamonds. Mourn insta-called with his 99. Ummm... didn't we just go through this? The board was all low, and the Turn gave me the Diamond draw, but no Flush on the River. Instead, my 5 was good for a 7 high straight.

Mourn: You deserved that!

So the 4 of us left were all about even again. I get KJo and face a raise from CW21. I'm about to click Fold, when my wife tells me to just go All-in. I asked her, "You feeling it?" and she said Yea, so I pushed. Up against a pocket pair and I was out in 4th. I ragged on her for a bit, telling her if I ever make it to a Final table of a major tourney, she won't be allowed to be in the audience. She apologized profusely, saying she thought it was a good hand to steal the blinds/antes, not realizing there was a raise before me. So much for women's intuition!

Thanks to Wil for hosting the tourney and thinking of us Pacific Standard Time'rs. It was definitely a great warm-up, and I'll be looking forward to seeing you all in the the main event (whatever that may be)!

My Poker Lesson

There's a slew of great strategy posts written up by some of the bloggers out there - HDouble, PokerNerd, DoubleAs, ScurvyDog, Joanne, Beck, and many others I'm sure I've missed. So I thought I'd offer up my own little poker lesson... but not about pot-odds or check-raising the turn, but rather, about a bit of proper grammar.

SET versus TRIPS

Both words refer to the same poker hand, a Three-of-a-Kind, which always ranks above Two-pair and can be beaten by a Straight or higher. So is this just another case of giving a hand multiple names, like Full House/Full Boat or Four-of-a-Kind/Dem Quads, Beetches? In a regular 5-card game, sure, you could say you've got Trips or a Set of Jacks to sound like a savvy player who knows what you're doing.

But really, what's the difference? It's the same hand right? Why squabble over semantics?

In the case of Hold'em, Omaha, and other games with a community board and hole cards, it is commonly agreed upon that having a Set refers to holding a pocket pair and catching the third on the board, whereas Trips refers to having the Three-of-a-Kind with only one in your hand and the other two on the board. This was a distinction I had learned early on, but it never dawned on me until recently that there was a solid, logical explanation for the difference.

Notice that a Set is always A Set, singular. When you have a Set, you have the only Set of that rank possible. If you've got KK and the board is AK8, then you have the only possible Three-of-a-Kind in Kings. If someone else says they've hit their Set of Kings, then it's time to call for a new setup. The poor sap holding K8 is drawing dead, and the only hand ahead of you at this point is a Set of Aces, which, if out there, could only be held by one other person.

On the other... hand, Trips are plural and two people can have the same Three-of-a-Kind, leading to a split pot or kicker battle. AT versus AJ on a AAKQ2 board would both have Trip Aces, KQ kicker and split. With a AAK82 board, the Jack would play and scoop the pot.

Simple as that. A sound, grammatically-based explanation of Set versus Trips. Now here's an example of the confusion that can occur when improperly used:

I watched a hand where an EP player raised preflop and was called all the way around the table (as is the case in 3/6 limit No-Fold'em). The flop came AAJ and he led out and got a few callers. He slowed down and checked the River when it put a Broadway straight and a flush possibility on the board. Sure enough, someone had hit their straight but the winner was a runner-runner Ten-high Flush. The original raiser mucked his hand in disgust and told his friend, "Geezus, I flopped a set..." So of course I'm thinking he had JJ and why the hell did he muck his Full House to a measly Flush??? "...Big Slick no good at this table!" Ah-ha! He didn't flop a Set, he flopped a much more vulnerable Trip Aces.

So there you have it... my all-important Poker lesson for you all. Now when you need to correct someone at the table, you'll have the reasoning to back it up and you can wow them with your extensive knowledge of Poker terminology. Or you can keep it to yourself and laugh at them internally when they show 92o and proclaim they have a Set of Dueces... take pride in the fact that you know it's actually TRIP Dueces that cracked your Aces.

Quiz on Friday!

Best Way To Play

Outlasted 50 other bloggers/readers in Dr. Pauly's first Saturday tourney... and I didn't even show up! I was absent from the last PokerBlue Freeroll as well, but my wife took the reins and her flopped Broadway straight lost to a Rivered Full House within the first hour. I didn't see the stats on that one, but I'm sure I would have placed a lot higher had she just left it alone!

Something has come up for next Saturday as well now. I'm torn between making a down-payment for next week's tourney to maintain my middle-of-the-road standings; or just giving up on the whole thing and playing if and when I can. Grrr...

My Donation

So I'm now registered for the first Saturday w/ Dr. Pauly tournament. Unfortunately, I'll be spending the day in town with my brothers who are visiting for the weekend. I guess I'll be sitting out and folding my way into the top... 30? 20? I'll be happy to take the points towards the Circuit Championship, as I'll be playing in the next three for sure.

If you do see me raising though, it means my wife decided not to come with me and is instead playing as my proxy. If that's the case, you all better watch out! :)

Soggy Halloween

Monday was pretty uneventful, as far as Halloweens go in our neighborhood. With the rain pouring down all weekend, most of the kids, including mine, were doing their trick-or-treating indoors at the mall. And after I had spent all of my Saturday hanging up ghosties in the trees and spreading the cobwebs around the bushes... I coulda been playing Poker instead!

I actually haven't played since taking my beating from The Rock last week, except for the required 4 hours on PokerBlue and then the one measly hour I lasted in the Sunday FreeRoll. At least Daylight Savings Time had ended, so I got that hour back. My wife's back home too, but she needs to get herself readjusted to West Coast time before trying to make it through the Midnight tourneys.

Kind of a weird time for me... it was right about now a year ago that I went ape-shit with some online gambling funds (non-poker related) and took the nastiest bad beat of my life to the tune of 5 figures. I'm too scared, embarrassed and ashamed to link it or even go back and read about it again right now, but it's there in the archives, ready to taunt me for the rest of my life. I may have gotten over it, but I don't think I ever really recovered. It haunts me all the time... kind of fitting for this team of year I guess. I think the only way I'm going to really get past it, really feel that I've made up for the loss, is to score some major tourney win, or hit the Lotto. With the way things go some days, I get the feeling I have pretty much the same chances at either of those options.