On business in Tulsa.  It turns out there are two very nice casinos within 15 minutes of the city.  When I arrive…errrr…very late I bee line for Cherokee casino.  It turns out that in three days it will be Hard Rock Casino Tulsa.  I almost drive past the huge building because the signage has already been changed.

Apparently the Cherokee used to host Scotty Nguyen’s tourney.  Ever since his 50k final table it has just been a poker tourney.  The poker room is big, with around 35 tables though there were three 1/2 NLHE games going on what the regulars hailed as a big thursday.

The play was very familiar 1/2 play, with the regular mix of players, except they might have had a few extra seniors at Cherokee.  I’m pleased to say that I think I played excellently.  After a while I did whittle my original $300 stack down to 100, by taking a few bad beats and making a few marginal calls (like getting it in on a 9 high flop against a good LAG with JJ).  The big turning point came near what had to be the end of my session– daybreak was coming and I had to get to the customer site.  I had grinder a big stack at the table of about 750, my opponent in this hand and I had been playing pots all night and he had me barely outchipped. In late position, I called 2 straddle-limpers with KK because I know this player behind me is virually certain to raise.  He did, to 35.  The limpets fold.  I go ahead and repop to 120.  He flat calls.  Flop comes KQ6 rainbow.  I work hard to calmly count out 150 (which I suspect could look like a cbet since I probably cbet 90% of all heads up pots).  He thought for a bit, based on his action I put him on TJ or AQ.  Eventually he shoved and of course I called with the current nuts.  He tables AT for the gutshot.  My set holds and I scoop my largest pot to date at around $1,550!

I put 500 on that table and left with 1600 and some change.  Not only that, but the table was full of some other music lovers and we had a blast making top 5 lists of artists by time period and genre (top 5 all time rock/pop acts: beatles, who, stones, zeppelin, rush with shout outs to the kinks, u2, aerosmith and pink Floyd.). One dealer, Paco, directs me to the Port City Diner (just on the other side of the highway) and I have an excellent country fried steak breakfast.  My day is going awesome.

My customer engagement ends a bit early.  I’m still riding super high from my big take at the Cherokee and I have an hour and a half to kill before I have to get to the airport.  I decide to make my way to River Spirit Casino, a sparkling new casino.  The whole casino is beautiful, including the poker room.  I get right into a game and chip up immediately thanks to the dealer giving me AA and JJ in the first two hands.  Though here’s where things change.  My $200 buy in is already $300.  There are 5 player who called the $5 straddle.  I have As 3s on the button.  Flop comes 334 rainbow.  Loose player opens for $10.  Tight player re-pops to  $35.  I don’t have a lot of respect for this player based on what I’ve seen from him so far.  I go ahead and repop to $110 and he thinks hard talking himself into shoving for about 180.  I said “you know I call and what I have”. He says “not a 3″.  I said “well then what?” and he says “two overs or a pocket pair” and then he flips 77.  What an idiot.  He’s only beating me if I re-popped him with a bare 4, two high cards (which I’ve shown I will raise with preflop) or a pocket pair worse than 7s.  Nice cars reading.  Of course, I’m only upset because he spiked a 7 on the river.  I didn’t have much time left and could only manage to chip up to a $75 loss for the session.  I shouldn’t play short sessions like that if I can help it.  Either way I got it in good.  I’m Sklansky-buck rich.  

Not how I wanted to end what was a great trip, but oh well.  I took over 1500 out of the Tulsa poker economy.  I’m glad to be playing well because I’ll be in Vegas for work next week (one of the largest casino companies is a customer, so I need to go out and help their technical team and stay on the strip for 3 days next week).  The week after i’ll be in montana again.  So I have a lot of hours of live poker coming up.  

Dear Short Stacker,

You suck!  Nobody likes you and you are a poor excuse for a person.  In all your forms you should be ashamed of yourself.  However, the latest mutation of your already disgusting species is the worst yet: the hit n’ run short stacker.  If you are going to risk almost nothing and then re-suck out on me when I flop a set against your premium pocket pair, the least you can do is stay around and mix it up a little.

I think we’re all clear about the relation to stack size and the size of some of your other parts.  According to late night television, there’s something you can do about that these days.  At the poker table, all you have to do is buy in for a real amount of money.

In summary, all us poker players hope you fall victim to some kind of bizzare escaped zoo monkey attack.

XOXO,

bad beats

I played poker for 5 nights in a row in Montana.  It was great fun.  I won some and lost some.  I’m definitely a semi-loose player.  I had some serious swings.  I lost some big hands and won some big hands.  All in all, it was crazy fun.

Unfortunately, the last night was demoralizing.

Everything was going fine.  I had picked up a bunch of pots and was generally running the table.  Then a new player, some skinny kid with a giant forehead, sat down.  You never know what to believe at the poker table, but this player claimed to “never play poker”.  He plopped down $40 on a $1/2 NLHE table and began to play.  He played semi-loose and passive.  He picked up a pot or two in his first 10 hands and built his stack up to about $70.  People were mostly giving his raises credit.

In middle position I got AA and bet out $6 and the new player raised me to $12.  I re-raised all-in for $140-ish and he called.  He turned over AK off suit…DOMINATION.  I love my hand.  The flop comes Q83 rainbow and I’m feeling even better.  The turn comes J and he begins to call for a ten…which he gets.

I feel tilty…I work hard to let it go and I think I’m doing well.  I avoid playing anything marginal for at least a couple of revolutions to settle down.  I reload another $60.

I get dealt JQ suited in late position and call Forehead Guy’s pre-flop $6 raise.  The flop comes jack-high double suited (not my suit) and Forehead Guy checks to me.  I bet out $10 into the $15 pot.  He calls.  The turn comes A.  Forehead checks and I bet out $20 into the $35 pot, Forehead calls.  The river comes Q giving me two pair and Forehead bets $40 putting me all-in for $40 more.  I am committed and call, even though I’m feeling pretty confident that he must have caught something.  He rolls over KT suited.  He flopped a four flush and chased it the whole way, backdooring a straight instead.

I reload again for another $80.  We have two more hands together, Forehead and me.  One I win for a small pot when pocket nines hold up against another drawing hand.  Then I get dealt pocket queens, the flop is jack-high and I bet the pot, the turn is an underpair to my queens and I bet and the river is an ace.  I bet out and Forehead raises me for the last $12 bucks or so I have left.  I know he’s got an ace, but I’ve got to call just in case he thinks his paired jack is good.  He does indeed have an ace rag.

I had slapped over $300 on the table throughout the night.  Luckily I had some wins against the other players at the table.  Unfortunately I gave Forehead Guy a lot of money.  I end the night down just over $100.  I feel like I played pretty well throughout the night.  I can’t think of a lot of hands that I think I played wrong.  Sometimes the deck just kicks your butt.  This was one of those nights.

Before you read this, I predict that you won’t believe it.  I swear that the contents of this post are true.  This actually happened in a live poker game.  This was not Full Tilt.  This is absolutely real.

I’m back in Montana for work.  I gathered a number of co-workers and we descended on the Cat’s Paw.  They were dealing $1/2 NL dealer’s choice (only high games).  I didn’t get very good cards and I missed a few draws and so I was down about $75-80 when this hand came up.  I had about $120 in front of me and the dealer had called 7-stud high.  Three players had limped around to me in the CO and I had Kd Td (6d).  Not a single diamond had come out on the board yet.  I just called because a very, very loose aggressive player was on the button.  He raised to $12 and everyone called.  The next card was a 8d and this time a player between us who had kings showing went all in for another $24.  LAGgy Joe called with two hearts showing 8h 6h and I went all in for about $112.  In Montana there’s a pot cap of $300 so I got a little rebate back from the pot.  LAGgy Joe called.  The next 2 cards were blanks for me, but the final down card was a 4d.  He turns it over and says he has the nut flush.  Only he didn’t.  He had a king-high flush.  I said so did I.  He had a flush KT.  So did I.  He had a flush KT8.  So did I.  He had KT86.  So did I.  He had KT865.  I had KT864.  He wins the pot.  I’m crippled.

I went all in pre-flop for about $25 on the next hand (Omaha) with Ah Qc Jc 9d.  The flop came Kc Td 8s.  But it never panned out for me and I lost to a set of kings.  I decided that it would be foolish to plop more money down on the table.  I’m glad I stood up because I was definitely tilting.

So yesterday I commented on another blog about how I don’t think FullTilt is rigged (it might still be waiting for moderation).  There I go defending it and saying that anything can happen and that we can profit from people who chase outside draws.  How does FullTilt reward me?

Last night I played a lot of hands, hundreds.  But even still, what are the odds that I would lose to quads three times in one night.  Pretty $%&@%* low!

In the $.10/.25 cash game I lost about $15 when I ran into quad 5s when I had a queen-high flush (all the money was in on the turn when I had the flush and he had a set of 5s, he rivered his fourth 5).

The next time in the same cash game I had turned Js full of 3s.  The same player as last time had the other 2 3s.  I called his all in bet assuming he had A3s or something similar.  There goes $12 or so.

The last time, in a $5 90-player SNG, I’ve made it about half way through the field and I’ve got a very big stack.  I call a pre-flop raise with AJ and the flop comes AJ8.  He bets out the pot.  I re-raise him all-in.  I have him barely covered.  He flips A8.  He hits runner-runner 8s to hit quad 8s.  His set of 8s beats me, but FullTilt wanted me to know it hates my guts so it put the fourth 8 out there.

I lost a lot last night thanks mostly to these hands and despite the fact that I won a $5 9-player SNG and multiple $2 heads up games.  That’s not enough when you lose two $25 buy-ins to the $.10/.25 cash game.

Last night my biggest weakness (besides terrible luck) was calling the river bet when I was pretty sure I was beat.  I don’t know why I need to see the flush when I was pretty sure he was chasing it the whole time.  I guess it is because I’ve been betting my hands hard and so I’ve taken away my opponents pot odds to chase on the flop and the turn already, so I feel like they shouldn’t have caught.  But I know they have.  I must remember to stop.

My second biggest weakness is bluffing loose-aggressive maniacs.  I read them right, that all they have is middle or top pair and the river put a straight or flush on the board so I bet the river to try and take the pot.  But these guys will call with middle pair.  I need to wait them out and get a good hand so I can take everything when they have top pair and I have the nuts or second nuts.

I was doing great. I was doubled up. The villain in this hand and I had tangled a few times. He kept putting in monster raises like $2.50 over the top of my $.75 pre-flop raise. I’d fold my suited ace or connectors. When this hand came up, I felt like I had a pretty good read on him. I felt like he was chasing and in the end I was pretty confident he had missed. I felt like my turn bet should have smoked out the drawing hands. Anything I could have done (besides folding on the river)?

Stacks:
UTG+1 with $61.25
MP1 with $5.00
MP2 with $11.60
MP3 with $25.50
CO with $19.35
BTN with $25.40
SB with $5.60
BB with $41.10
UTG with $13.55

Blinds: $0.00/$0.00
Site: Full Tilt Poker
Dealt to BB:4♥ K♣
Preflop:
5 players fold.
CO raises to $0.50
2 players fold.
Hero calls [$0.25]
Total folds this street: 7
Potsize: $1.1
Flop:
6♦ 5♦ 3♠
Hero checks
CO bets [$1.10]
Hero calls [$1.10]
Potsize: $3.3
Turn:
K♠
Hero checks
CO bets [$3.30]
Hero raises to $6.60
CO calls [$3.30]
Potsize: $16.5
River:
9♠
Hero checks
CO bets [$11.15, and is all in]
Hero calls [$11.15]
Results:
CO shows :
8♥ 7♥
CO wins the pot ($36.90) with a straight, Nine high

I won a $26 token on FullTilt and decided to play this KO tournament.  I was doing well enough, not too far into the tournament when this hand came up and knocked me out.  I can’t believe my luck.  I should win this 77 times out of 100.  That is, normal people would win this 77 times out of 100.  For me, since I had all my money in the pot with the best hand, this is practically a guaranteed loser.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG+1): 3,615

MP: 2,305

CO: 6,175

BTN: 4,490

SB: 2,935

BB: 2,825

UTG: 4,655

Pre-Flop: (120) A J dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG raises to 160, Hero calls 160, 2 folds, BTN calls 160, SB folds, BB calls 80

Flop: (680) 4 9 7 (4 Players)

BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets 350, BTN calls 350, 2 folds

Turn: (1,380) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets 400, BTN raises to 2,580, Hero raises to 3,105 and is All-In, BTN calls 525

River: (7,590) 4 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: 7,590 Pot
Hero showed A J (a flush, Ace high) and LOST (-3,615 NET)
BTN showed 7 7 (a full house, Sevens full of Fours) and WON 7,590 (+3,975 NET)

This one goes into my “wins with small pots, loses with big ones” file. Did I do the right thing here? I think I did. He had 4 outs. So what’s that? A 16% chance? I was running well. I was up a significant amount. Now all of that progress is gone. Notice that he called with a straight draw and two overs for a whole buy-in. How much do I have to bet to chase away a draw?

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

UTG: $24.35

UTG+1: $20.10

Hero (UTG+2): $24.35

MP1: $31.95

MP2: $23.30

CO: $21.10

BTN: $27.30

SB: $20.65

BB: $13.20

Pre-Flop: J J dealt to Hero (UTG+2)

2 folds, Hero raises to $1, 2 folds, CO raises to $3, 3 folds, Hero calls $2

Flop: ($6.35) T J 9 (2 Players)

Hero checks, CO bets $5.50, Hero raises to $21.35 and is All-In, CO calls $12.60 and is All-In

Turn: ($42.55) 5 (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

River: ($42.55) K (2 Players – 1 is All-In)

Results: $42.55 Pot ($2.10 Rake)
Hero showed J J (three of a kind, Jacks) and LOST (-$21.10 NET)
CO showed Q A (a straight, Ten to Ace) and WON $40.45 (+$19.35 NET)

I have a fear.  Maybe even a phobia.  It keeps me up at night and I have a hard time breathing sometimes.  I fear the suckout.  I fear it so much that I’ve taken severe measures to try to avoid it, but alas it is no use.

Severe measures like my betting in the following hand.  I’m so afraid that someone will suckout against my set that I push everyone away.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.05/$0.10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

CO: $11.20

BTN: $11.10

SB: $10.10

BB: $9

UTG: $12.85

Hero (UTG+1): $8.70

MP: $15.25

Pre-Flop: 3 A dealt to Hero (UTG+1)

UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.30, MP folds, CO calls $0.30, BTN folds, SB calls $0.25, BB folds

Flop: ($1) 9 3 3 (3 Players)

SB checks, Hero bets $0.50, CO raises to $1, SB folds, Hero raises to $2, CO calls $1

Turn: ($5) 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $5, CO folds

Results: $5 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
Hero mucked 3 A and WON $4.50 (+$2.20 NET)

But then again, why shouldn’t I fear the suckout, when I see hands like this one (against a player I saw push top pair to the river multiple times.)  Please note my pot sized bet on the turn that said “don’t draw out on me, please, I have a very good hand, a made hand.  You can’t beat my hand unless you draw out on me and I bet you have 4 outs, so you should let that hand go.”  Also note that my call on the river was a crying call and I hated to make it, but I had to see it.

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com – Hand History Converter

SB: $35.55

BB: $52.40

UTG: $14.15

MP: $31.50

Hero (CO): $24.65

BTN: $21

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (CO)

UTG calls $0.25, MP folds, Hero raises to $1, 3 folds, UTG calls $0.75

Flop: ($2.35) 7 3 6 (2 Players)

UTG checks, Hero bets $1.50, UTG calls $1.50

Turn: ($5.35) 8 (2 Players)

UTG checks, Hero bets $5, UTG calls $5

River: ($15.35) 5 (2 Players)
UTG bets $6.65 and is All-In, Hero calls $6.65

Results: $28.65 Pot ($1.40 Rake)
UTG showed 6 4 (a straight, Eight high) and WON $27.25 (+$13.10 NET)
Hero mucked A A (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$14.15 NET)

I played pocket aces several times this weekend.  Almost every time I played it the same way, putting in a good raise or re-raise.   I got all my money in the middle after each of the following flops (these are just of few of the 10 or so times aces lost for me this weekend):

2s 6h 9d

My opponent had 9 9 (I put him on JJ or QQ)

Ad Ks 4d

My opponent had Kd 9d

2d Jd Ks

My opponent had 2 2.  (I had him on a king or jack.)

7h 5h 3d

My opponent had 5 5.  I had re-raised him pre-flop and he called.

Tc 9c Td

This time he bet on the flop and I raised and he re-raised.  I folded and he showed Kc 9d.

I don’t know how to put someone on a set.  I feel like they would mostly bet the same with top pair or an over pair to the board.  I don’t expect the low stakes players to sniff out my pocket aces, so they might bet aggressively with much weaker hands.  What can I do?  I try to remind myself not to overplay top pair or overpairs to the board, but then I sit and watch people go all in with top or middle pair and win big pots.  When I have the rockets, I think it’s my turn.

Even with these hands, I had a winning weekend.  Wish these could have won too.