Second Thoughts

So I'm going to publically track my poker career online.  Am I stupid or what?

 

There's such a level of accountability and honesty that I have to maintain to make these entries even remotely interesting.  Sure I could lie about my losses and I know there will be losses, but the important thing to remember is that I have to be able to see why I lost.

 

I am stupid.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

New Year's Resolution

OK folks, I'm going to do something scary.  I'm going to track my poker behavior and make it public on the internet.  I'm cleaning my Poker Tracker stats and starting fresh.

 

Come take this journey with me.  This will be a true low limit adventure.  I'm now starting with a bankroll of $300 and I'll be using my improv salary to add to the pot every month.  If I run out for the month, I'm done.  I'm also going to use the bankroll for tournaments.

 

My goal this year is to make it into the money in a live tournament.  I'm so scared.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

Two bad beat for the loser

I was just in a Sit-N-Go on Full Tilt.  I was playing pretty deceptive.  Getting people to go all-in on me when I have the best hand.  The I experience two of the baddest beats.

 

I'm currently head to head and I have the dominent chip lead.  I'm dealt A-J suited. I do a standard raise.  In fact the last 5 hands I have been making standard raises.  I'm actually hoping to induce an all-in and I get one.  My opponent flips over A-2 off-suit.  I've got this one.  I'm dominating this dude.

 

Flop: T-2-6.  Just my luck. Turn is an Ace and the river is a 5.  Great now I'm behind.

 

We bascially go back and forth and I'm still losing by a 2-to-1 chip ratio.

 

I'm now dealt: Q-T suited.  I go all-in because the blinds are really high at this point.  I get called and my opponent flips over Q-4 off.  I'm back in the game.  I have him dominated again.

 

Flop: 4-4-3 Crap

Turn: 3

River: 2

 

I'm dominating this guy and I get the worst breaks.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

Back to the Casino for a Little No Limit

It's been about a month since I've been back to a casino.  I was a little disappointed with my play in Vegas and I decided to take a break from the action.

 

Last Saturday I was at Ocean's Eleven in Oceanside.  Generally I find a lot of good players here.  I had a improv remote in Carlsbad, so here I am.

 

I'm struck with the fact that there is no interest in a $2/$4 limit game.  No takers all day.  I take a seat at the $1/$1 no limit table.  Normally I don't like to play no-limit because you're basically playing your entire bankroll in each hand.  After about 3 hours of play, I was right.

 

The minimum buy-in is $40.  When I approach a no limit table, I like to play super tight and try to figure out the playing style of everyone else.  Once I know everyone's playing style, I then play tight.

 

I sit down and after about a few hand (fortunately I was being dealt junk, so I didn't play until my blinds hit), I had a good idea where I stood.  We're playing 9 handed and I'm in seat 7.

 

Seat 1 - Tight player.

Seat 2 - Gambler on a winning streak.  When he has a hand, he goes all in to prevent any bad beats.

Seat 3 - Gambler, likes races.

Seat 4 - ATM.  This guy was a walking money machine.  If he had a hand or thought you were bluffing, he was in until the end.  Which usually meant his buy-in was in someone else's stack.  I saw him constantly pulling in $40 and then go to the ATM twice.  I feel sorry for these guys.

Seat 5 - Super agressive. Goes all-in whenever he senses weakness. Even he doesn't have the best hand.

Seat 6 - Tight player

Seat 7 - Me

Seat 8 - Tight player

Seat 9 - Semi-loose agressive player.

 

The tight players were basically guys who were sometimes in a pot but usually got chased out and they just saw their stack dwindle over time.

 

The rest of the players, especially the all-in guys, were loose players who always overplayed their hands.

 

My strategy was to play tight and not get involved in drawing hands that may cost me my stack.  I'm basically looking for premium hands.  I'm also looking to see a cheap flop with drawing hands.  Finally, don't lose everything on a draw.

 

Although the blinds were $1/$1 the big blind might as well have been $5-$7. These aggressive players liked action. They are easy to trap.

 

Here are a few highlights.

 

The first hand I play, I have pocket Aces and I'm against the tight player to my right in seat 6.  I play this hand aggressively and bet preflop to $8.  Everyone folds except seat 6 and he calls.  A king flops and seat 6 bets and I call.  The turn is a rag and he bets again, I reraise all-in and he calls.  He has a pair of Kings and I double up.

 

Later...

 

I have $57.

 

I'm dealt pocket Aces and I'm next to Under the Gun (UTG).  I raise to $5.  Everyone folds and the big blind (Seat 5) calls.  I sort of expected this.  I figure he's looking for a opportunity to trap me.  So I play this cautiously.  The flop come Jack-Jack-3.  Seat 5 checks and I bet $9 just to see what he does and he smooth calls me.  I'm worried right now.  I raise preflop and he calls my raise.  He has to have a Jack or he's bluffing.  The turn comes an 8, but now I notice that there are 3 hearts on the board.  I don't want to look at my cards to see if one of my aces is a heart.  Seat 5 checks.  I think a little and I check.  He's giving me a free card to the flush.  Low and behold the river is a heart and the big blind immediately goes all in for about 75% of my remaining stack.

 

I immediately look at my hand to see if I have the ace of heart and I do.  I wish it wasn't a heart so I can fold it. I know 100% he has a Jack.  I just don't know if he has a full house.  He's been playing super agressive so I think he's capable of overplaying his trips.   "Damn it" I yell.  I think for another 10 second and say "I have to call you."  He says "You have the flush don't you."  "I have the nut flush."  He flips over his trips.  Everyone at the table said I made a gutsy call.  I was probably 60% sure he didn't hit is boat. 

 

I'm now at around $90.

 

Last hand.  I just won 3 pots in the last 7 hands with Kings, Ace-King Suited and Pocket Aces.

 

I'm in middle position and I'm dealt pocket Aces again.  Crap, I want to be tricky but I can't. Seat 4 (the ATM) raises Under the Gun.  It folds to me and I quickly reraise.  Everyone else at the table say, "you better fold, He has a great hand."  It finally gets to the ATM and he says, "You can get a great hand all the time" and he calls me.  I flop a Ace-rag-rag rainbow for trip aces.  I raise to half the pot.  I'm not being tricky here.  Everyone knows I have this one.  The ATM says, "You can't be this lucky." He thinks and calls.

 

The turn comes another rag.  Look the board has all four suits out, no flush possibility.  The cards are spread out so there's no straight possibility.  I have the nuts.  I have to make a decision, do I chip away at his stack or put him all-in.  I honestly believe he'll call my all-in.  So I go all-in.  He thinks for almost a minue, muttering, I can't have a great hand all of the time.  He calls my all-in and I flip over trip Aces.  Everyone is stunned.

 

It's pretty tense, I just won some pretty huge hands.  I immediately scream "I'M ON A ROLL" and the entire table busts out laughing.  The ATM says what reaction was just worth it.  I wait a few hands and then I'm gone.

 

What's the key?  Patience and play the players.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

Bad Beat of Sorts

So today, I'm back playing $2/$4 at the Palms Casino.  Laurie likes to watch movies while I play.

 

After about 90 minutes of playing with only 5-6 people.  I'm back to even and I'm at a full table.  Here's what happened that ruined the rest of my game.

 

I'm dealt As-Js in middle position.  The flop comes Ts-9c-Tc.  There's a bet and I call and about 4 other players call too.

 

The turn comes Ks.  OMG.  I'm one card away from a Royal Flush.  I comes to me and I check.  There is a raise and then a reraise.  It's going to cost me $8 (2 bets) to draw to the Qs.  Normally this is a bad call because I'm not getting pot odds.  But with the Palm high hand jackpot there is more money coming to me if I hit my hand.

 

At the Palm, the highest jackpot you can earn is the Spade Royal Flush.  This pays off $1045.  So I have a 1-in-52 chance of winning $1045, which is giving me 125-to-1 pots odds.  So calling with $8 is the right call.

 

The river comes 5d.  Damn, I missed my monster hand.  I fold.

 

Now here's the worst part.  The guy who one, flips over pocket 10s for a four of a kind.  If I had his my royal flush, that guy would have lost and won the bad beat jackpot.  The jackpot was at $6000.  He would have won 50% for $3000.  I, on the other hand, would have won 25% for about $1500.  The rest of the table would have split the remaining $1500 for about $200 each.

 

If that one card, the Queen of Spades, hit the board, I would have walked away with $2500 and would have go on to our vacation styling.

 

Piece of advice, when you come this close to winning $2500 and can't pull it off.  Stop playing poker.  I lost an additional $30 because of steaming.  Now I'm blogging and steaming and I have a conference tomorrow and I can't sleep.

 

This is the story I'll be telling over and over from now on.

 

Cheers.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

Poker at the Orleans - 10/21/06

Laurie and I went to the Orleans last night.  Show would see the Grudge 2 and I would play poker.  We bought her ticket and then we went downstairs to watch me play.

 

As we approached the room, there was a tournament going on.  The room is quite large for casino standards.  They had a $2/$4, $4/$8, $6/$12, $4/$8 Omaha Hi/Lo and $1/$2 no limit games going.

 

I signed up for $2/$4 and waited about 8 minutes for a table.  The Orleans is off-the-strip and attracts many locals, which means that the players are a little bit better than the tourist on the strip.

 

When I started, I played a little aggressive. I lost a big hand when the turn gave me top pair, but my opponent had a full house on the river. The table was playing a little tight.  Lots of checking on the flop.  I got back to even by being agressive with second pair and just reading the tables strength.

 

Again, the winning strategy worked, play tight and they always pay you off.

 

Here's an interesting run of hands:

 

The dealing deals me a King but flips it up by accident.  My king is now dead.  My hole cards is a King-3.  I would have had pocket kings. I decide that my odds of winning are pretty slime, so I muck the hand in early position.  The flop comes King-8-9 rainbow.  I'm steaming right now.  Turn comes a Jack.  The river is a 7.  I would have lost to a straight, but the dealer saved me.

 

The very next hand I'm dealt pocket Kings again.  I play this super aggressive by raising preflop and I win it on the turn.

 

Final hand, I'm dealt pocket kings once again. Here is an example of the addage, "They always pay you off." I have Kings and I'm playing it aggressive.  I raise preflop and I have have 4 callers, including this woman under the gun.  This woman always raises when she has a hand.  the flop comes 6-9-King.  I have trips.  That woman raises and I call and the rest of the table folds.  She bets again and I reraise.  I have to think she knows I have kings and the best hand, but she has to make sure calls me to the end.  I win a lot of money on this hand.

 

Other weird hands.  I'm dealt pocket fives.  The flop is K-K-7.  On the flop everyone checks and on the turn everyone checks.  The river and early position bets.  I sit and think for a while and I call.  I win with two pair.

 

How do you tick people off?  Hit your draw on the river.  One hand I hit my straight on the river.  And the guy who lost couldn't stop talking about it almost ten minutes.  Here's a few of my decisions.  I entered the hand with a 9-6 off in the small blind. I was getting 9-to-1 to call.  The flop came A-9-8.  Player bets and I call.  I have the odds to make trips or backdoor straight.  Turn comes 5. River comes a 7.  I was getting the odds for this call and it paid off.

 

Thats it for now.  I hope to have another day of poker while I'm in Vegas.

 

Your Pal,

Al

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

Viva Las Vegas

Laurie and I will be in Las Vegas soon. I have one day for poker. The catch is that my wife wants to watch. I will be showing her my whole cards.

I think it will be fun, but there is a little pressure to not lose. I'm going to take her to the Excalibur. It's my favorite tourist spot and the fish aer definitely biting.

I'll play tight but aggressive. I'll keep you posted. Anyone know a good place for Vegas fishing?

President Signs Illegal Gambling Bill

Well President Bush signed the Port Security Bill which not makes it illegal for US Banks to transfer money to online gaming sites.  I've followed a lot of the debate and I have a few comments:

 

1.  Do not blame Republicans for this?  This is the work of a few congressmen and Senator Bill Frist (R).  Let's just say that even though I'm a die-hard Republican, I will work to ensure that Bill Frist is not our presidential candidate.  Lord help us.

 

2.  President Bush is not at fault.  The gaming portion of this bill was added one at the last minute and without debate.  The President had the choice of either appeasing poker players or protect us from terrorism.  The choice is clear, our security is more important than my ability to play poker online.

 

3.  There are a few open questions.  Is a poker site considered a gambling site?  I've discussed this before - http://www.mypalal.com/poker/christianPoker.cfm  But my position is that in its true form Poker is a game of skill not of luck.  You can make a living playing the game, but it requires hard work.  Many people will great poker as a quick way to make it big.  In this case the individual is treating poker as gambling.  With that exception it's a game of skill, like playing $100 to enter a softball league in hopes of winning a trophy.  It's not illegal.  In this case, can poker sites be considered gambling sites.

 

4.  Third Party Payment sites.  Sites like Neteller and Firepay are offshore companies that allows you to purchase overseas by upload funds to the account and then disbursing it to a foreign company such as retail locations for toys, clothing, and other merchandise.  It also includes online sites not based in the states (which is all of them).  Can the US Government restrict a company that does not even reside in the US from making specific transactions?  Because these sites are not strictly for gambling, can the US government prevent banks for transferring funds to these accounts?  My feeling is no.

 

More to come as things develop.

Patience and Internet Poker

Winning at internet poker requires a great deal of patience.  It also requires the ability to lay down the losing hand.

 

I'm so impatient when it comes to Internet Poker.  I think this is why people play multiple tables.  My problem is that I'm in too many hands and calling with any ace.  Amazingly I am will to sit back at a live table and not play a hand for 30 minutes.  On the internet I want play every blind and late position.

 

It all just chips away at your stack.

 

If you want to look like a donkey, start calling down hands, especially when you're beat.  This is the point that I follow my instincts and fold or challenge with a reraise.

 

Skills to learn - 1) wait for good starting hands.  Consider position your position and try to have two cards that work together.  2) fold when your instincts tells you that you're beat.  You're going to lose alot if you keep calling down to the river with the worst hand.

Is Internet Poker in Danger?

The legislation is finally here and it appears that President Bush is ready to sign it.

 

It makes me wish the President has a line item veto.  A new law to curb online gaming was backdoor attached to a defense bill.  This happens all the time.  A president should not have to sign a bill wholesale, but he should have the right to veto part of it.  Not that the President would necessarily veto this part of the bill.

 

Anyways, for those of you not aware, the bill calls for banks to stop transactions between US customers and offshore gaming companies.  It imposes fines on banks and jail time for gaming companies.

 

Full Tilt Poker believes that poker is a game of skill not gaming and has pledged to run business as usual.

 

The Poker Players Alliance is trying to convince lawmakers that Poker is a game of skill as well.

 

All I can tell you is stop investing in online poker.  According to Full Tilt, it will take banks 270 days to comply with these laws.

 

What does that mean to us?  Not sure yet, but I'm probably not going to keep a lot of money in my online account.  I was just at the Neteller site, where I do some of my money transactions.  They do not know how they will be affected by this law.  Technically they allow you to move money to their company in order to make international purchases.  They just stated that they are going to be monitoring progress of this law.

 

It's an unfortunate law.  The Libertarian in me says that the government should stay out of this.  The conservative in me says, that unless this is a way for terrorist to transfer money, no ban should exist.  The Christian in me tells me to just stop credit card transaction.  I say, let us play poker. 

They Always Pay You Off

I'm still thinking about my current live casino streak.  I've recently written an article on my website about why I link live casinos vs. playing on the internet.  Check it out - http://www.mypalal.com/poker/liveVSnet.cfm

 

The big reason I like low limit hold'em at casino is that you will get paid off with every winning hand.  You just have to be patient to have a winning hand.

 

Every time I have the best hand going I will have at least 1 or 2 caller to the river just to make sure I actually have a hand.  It never fails.  They'll say, "I just have to see that you have it."

 

It's even better while slow playing.  You will get maximum value for your premium hand.

 

It happened to me recently.  I had the Jack of Hearts and a rag.  The flop came King of Hearts, Queen of Heart and the three of Hearts.  There was three of us in the hand.  One player was betting out, I assume he had a King.  The player to my right was calling and I was calling.  Mind you that I'm getting pot odds at this point to stay in the hand and fish for the last heart.

 

The turn comes a rag and one more round of betting.  The river comes the Ace of Hearts.  I have the NUTS.  The original bettor bets.  The player to my right raises (she has the flush) and I reraise her with the NUTS.  Surprisingly, the two bettor call my raise.  The player to my right says as she's calling, "You must have the Jack of Hearts."  I flip my Jack over to take the pot.

 

This happens all of the time.  My feeling is that in Low Limit Hold'em, you see a lot of beginning players.  These players like to play and they do.  They hate giving up a hand and they are there to have fun.

Poker Log: Vegas 9/27/06

My wife and I had to take care of some buiness in Vegas today.  I got a chance to play a little poker and here are the results:

 

Excalibur - Won $36.

Luxor - Lost $1

Buffalo Bill's - Won $8

 

Not too bad.  In the case of the Luxor and Buffalo Bill's, I didn't play that long.  I was lucky to won what I did.

 

The keys to these wins...Patience and playing the right starting hands.  Folding when you're beat. Milk as much money out of your opponents when you have the best hand.

Bluffing in Low Limit Poker

I was taught early on that bluffing was very difficult Limit Poker.  This is true, but it's not impossible.

 

I was at a Freeroll Tournament at the Commerce Casino.  I'll write about that one later.  Before the Tournament, I decided to play a little Hold 'em.  I went down to the $3/$6 table to kill some time.  Let's just say for the first 30 minutes I was card dead.  I couldn't get a hand that was worth playing.  Until I mucked a 7-2 offsuit and saw a flop of 2-2-5 only to have the 7 come on the turn.

 

Anyways, I was complaining about bad cards until I was about 15 minutes from my tournament.  Because of my tight play was able pull two bluffs.

 

Hand 1 - My hand was 10-9 off.  5 callers. Flop comes A-8-4.  I decide to represent the Ace and I bet, which knocks out 4 players.  The turn comes a 2 and the last player folds.  I'm now almost at even money.  My tight playing helped me win this hand.

 

Hand 2 - Js-9c.  I call in early position and I have two callers. Flop comes Ah-Th-7h. I check, late position bets and I call.  The turn is Qs.  I check and late position bets, I raise and late position folds.  This is my favorite bluff because I am telling the story that I'm slow playing this person.  I didn't think he had the Ace, but he instead had the ten.  He wasn't going to spend alot of money to hopefully in with middle pair and a flush draw.

 

What made these bluffs work?

 

1. Tight image.  I was playing so tight that I had to be playing with premium cards, even though I wasn't.

2. Board texture.  I was representing the hand that made sense with the board.

 

Limit Hold'em is a game of patience.  Mind you, these two hands were the only hands that I won their entire time.

The Streak Ends

I mentioned in the past the poker blogger have a tendancy to blog, when they are winning.  I'm not winning at the moment, so I'm taking a break.

 

I like playing on Full Tilt and I usually play the $.50/$1 table.  I do quite will there.  Now there is hardly anyone playing that table and I am force to move up to $1/$2.

 

Losing!!!!

 

I'm taking a break in order to get my head back together.  Here's the problem to far:

• Playing too many hands
• Not folding when beat
• Not being patience and waiting for cards that are good.

Come back next week and let's see where I'm at.

The Streak Continues...

It's a well known fact that poker bloggers like to blog when they are on a winning streak.  No one like to broadcast that they are losing.

 

So in that tradition, I'm on the best winning streak of my life.  I'm basically playing Limit Hold 'em.

 

I've heard a lot of people complain about limit because you're relying on luck a lot and have to wait for premium hands.  To some degree that is true, but you can't win waiting for premium hands.  This is true of my last excursion to Pechanga.

 

I was there last Friday night and I was $80 playing $2/$4.  Two week before, I won $100 at the same game.  But I want to talk about this last trip.  It basically showed that you can win at Limit without getting cards.

 

For the 4 hours that I was there, I was never dealt pocket Aces, Kings or Queens.  In fact, my highest pocket pair was 6's. I was dealt Ace-Queen twice.

 

It helped having a maniac at my table.  I love maniacs, because he scares other players and he pays you off when you have a hand.

 

The other keys to my winning streak is a level of tightness, isolation, and an understanding of pot odds.

 

I'm pretty jazzed and motivated at the moment.  So let's see how things go in the future.  I'm going to write soon about how a bad player ruined my run.

 

Alan

Stupid Overly Aggressive Losers

I'm in a SNG at Full Tilt Poker again.  First hand, I'm dealt A-J of hearts and I have the dealer button.

 

Three limpers and it comes to the player on my right.  He makes the standard raise of 90.  I reraise to 150 in order to isolate.

 

Everyone folds to the raiser and he goes all-in.

 

I hate these guys.  They overplay their hands with the all-in. The question is "do I call him?"

 

Does he have a premium hand?  No, because you don't need to go all-in. Play the dominate hand after the flop.

 

Does he have a pocket pair?  Maybe, but why go all-in, but I just didn't feel it.

 

I'm feel like I'm ahead.  So I gamble and I call.  The other player flips over Q-9 of hearts. And my Ace stands up.

 

Was I stupid to call?  Yes and no.  I had a great read on the guy.  But the other guy overplayed his hand.  By going all in, he was telling me that he wants me to fold.  I decided to play the odds and call the bet.  I probably would have folded if he raised me on the flop.

Getting Lucky and Putting a Guy on Tilt

I was playing a SNG on Full Tilt Poker last night.  It was head-to-head with me and f0nec0rd.  He went off on me, it was so funny.

Just a little background into my personality.  I lean toward the Passive Aggressive personality.  If I can press someone's buttons, I will.

The table that I was playing at was pretty tight, especially when we got down to four player (payoff is at three).  I was playing pretty solid in the middle. But I tend to get pretty impatient at a tight table near the bubble.

At one point, I had A-T offsuit, I made a strong raise.  The small blind re-raised me.  I knew he probably had a pair and I pushed all-in thinking I might scare him off and it didn't.  He calls with Queens and I hit an Ace on the River.  Lucky me.

I'm the chip leader and then I am dealt Jacks.  I raise again and I have one caller.  The board hits my Jack.  I check and my opponent raises strong and I reraise him all-in.  As I suspected, my opponent has an overpair with Queens to my Trip Jacks.  The turn comes a Queen give him trips and I'm short stacked.

Because the table was playing to tight, no one wanted to double me up, so any time that I had an Ace, pair or two paint cards, I was all-in and I never had a caller.  Just picking up the blinds and taking money from the limpers I was quickly back to second place with four opponents.

GETTING LUCKY AND PUTTING A GUY ON TILT

Mind you, at this point, I've played some solid poker and I'm head to head against a very very tight player.

Second to last hand - I'm in the big blind with 8h-5d. F0nec0rd completes the bet and I check.

Flop - 4d-6d-2d.  This gives me a flush draw and a double belly gut shot straight (3 or 7 gives me a straight). 

I check and f0nec0rd bets half the pot.  I'm thinking that he has big paint cards, maybe an over pair.

I call.

Turn - 3c.  I just made my straight. F0nec0rd bets the pot for 1,200. And I go all in. f0nec0rd turns over Pocket Queens, worse yet, he has the Queen of Diamond which beats my 5 of diamonds for a better flush.  F0nec0rd calls because of the Queens and flush draw.

River - 3d.  F0nec0rd just made the higher flush, but fortunately it gives me the straight flush to win the pot and take the chip lead.

Chat goes like this…

F0nec0rd: YOU LUCKY #$% DONK.
Humble Guy: ty.

Analysis - f0nec0rd would have one had he raised with his Queens.  He decides to slowplay and limp in.  I don't necessarily fault him for that, but then I wouldn't have doubled up.  Also if a King or Ace comes out, he might be beat.  I probably would have raised with Queens.

After the flop I have a straight and flush draw and he only bets half the pot.  He's allowing me to draw that better hand, although he does have a strong flush draw.  But what if I had the Ace of Hearts or King of Hearts.  He should have gone all-in and taken the pot right their.  Instead he allows me to hit the nut straight.  I had to go all-in at this point.  I got lucky on the last card.

Last hand - I'm the dealer with 5s-4h.  I limp in. 

F0nec0rd raises to 600, which is the minimum raise.  I'm getting 3 to 1 to make something.  I have to call.

Flop - 6s-As-Tc.  This is not a good flop for me. I have nothing with three overcards on the board.

F0nec0rd checks and I check.

Turn - 7d.  Now I have an open ended straight draw. F0nec0rd bets the pot and I of course call.

River - 8d.  I have now completed a straight.  F0nec0rd goes all-in.  The only card I'm worried about is a nine, but I just can't see a nine in his hand.  I call and show my straight.

F0nec0rd has A-8 for two pair. I win.

Chat:

F0nec0rd: nh, you f$%n Donkey.
Humble Guy: ty.

Analysis.  He had a pair of Aces on the Flop.  I had a backdoor straight draw.  If he had bet on the flop.  I'm out.  But instead, he tried to play it fancy and allowed me to catch up and win.

He's really pissed and I'm really happy.  Was I a donkey?  No, f0nec0rd allowed me to make my hands by giving me the best odds to call.  Yes, the miracle river saved me and I was lucky, but he never should have allowed me to make my straight.  I had the best hand when I went all-in and it held up.

I Love Putting People On Tilt

Here are some the basic laws of low-limit hold'em.

1. You have no right to complain about someone playing with questionable hands or making questionable calls.  When you're risking $3.00 in a hand or have entered a tournament for $5, you can't complain about suckouts and getting lucky.  Why???  Because you're only risking $3, $5, $10 dollars on the entire hand.

The complaints are common, "No pro would ever play a hand like that."  That's true, but then again no pro would ever play $.50/$1 limit hold'em either. 

Also, I'm not risking my life savings, I'm risking chump change, so why not play a little loose at times.

2.  Just because you go all-in with the best hand, that does not automatically make you the winner of the hand.  Pocket Aces will lose 15% of the time to two random cards. So don't cry when you're Aces are broken, because you're the moron who risked everything on it without getting the proper odds to justify the bet.

It's just amazing how upset people get when someone sucks out on them.

The key to winning low limit poker is to exploit the weaknesses of bad players.  If you get a guy all-in with bad cards, you are going to win in the long run, but he will get lucky on you.  If you risk half your chips with Pocket Aces on a race, you have to understand that you will lose some of the time, but it was you're fault for going all in, instead of seeing a flop and seeing how strong your aces are at that point.

Example, if you have black pocket Aces and you see the flop and the board hits 3 diamonds.  You're Aces are not looking good at the moment.  Worse yet, if the board hits 7-8-9 of diamonds and your opponent has the 10 of diamonds, you're actually an underdog at this point because of his flush and straight draw.

You are gambling on races, so stop whining!!!!

My Pechanga Bad Beat

I was actually prepped for this bad beat a week before.

I'm in the first event of the Pechanga Open and we're at the second big break.  I have 6000 in chips and the blinds are 200/400.  My M is at 10 so I'm looking to double up.

My table is broken up and I move to a brand new table of somewhat friendly people.  I sit down and immediately toss in a junk hand.

The second hand puts me eight places from the button and I am dealt pocket Kings.  I come with for a standard raise of 1200.  I would normally go all in, but I need action.

Two seat down, the short stack goes all in with his 5500 in chips.  It all folds to me and I call.

My opponent flips over A-Qo. The flop comes K-8-4.  Great I have trips.  The problem is that all three cards are hearts and my opponent has the Ah.  The turn comes another heart. No I need the board to pair for the boat, but alas another heart.  I have a flush, but my opponent has the nut flush.

I almost wished an ace come on board.

I now have 500 in chips and I can barely cover the big blind.  I have to find a spot to go all-in.

Three hands later, I'm dealt K-Q suited.  I made a huge motion and I push my 5 chips into the middle.  Everyone folds to the big blind, who decides that for only 100 in chips he can gamble.  He flips over 10-4 offsuit.  The flop comes a 10 and I'm done.

It's tough when the blinds are doubling every half hour.  Just when you feel like you're making progress the blinds go up and your immediately shortstacked again.

Next time…The lady at the table.

Pechanga Open

I competed in my first big tournament of the year.  It was the Pechanga Open.  It was probably the best tournament I've competed in the sense that I made the right decisions.  Unfortunately I was short stacked most the of the second half of the tournament and I had my worst beat ever.

I'm breaking this report up a little.  Here's a summary though.

Date: April 12, 2006
Start Time: 6:30 pm.
Total Players: 570

I ended in 189th place after 4 hours of play.

Off to Vegas This Week

Sorry that I haven't written in a while.  I'm heading to Vegas this week and I finally grinded a nice bankroll together before the trip.  I'll have enough to play some good low limit games.

My plan is to enter 1 tournament and play tourists at the Excalibur and possibly Bally's.

I'll post my progress.

Cheers.

No-Limit Bonanza

Sorry, that I haven't written in a while.  I went on a losing streak in December and then I caught the flu.  The flu was so bad, I couldn't even play poker in bed.

Since the losing streak, I decided that I needed to do a little rethinking.  I made the decision to play mostly Sit-N-Go's and tournaments.  I'm doing pretty good.  I'd say I'm cashing at 75% right now.  More on that later.

I was heading down to San Diego early because of a business meeting and I had a show in San Diego that night.  I picked up a copy of Daniel Negreneau's DVD and became motivated to play no-limit hold-em.

The only casino on the way to SD was Ocean's 11.  They are a tough club, but I figured if I lost $80 at $1-$1 No-Limit, I would have paid for a good lesson is no-limit.

My strategy going in, is to play tight and just start reading players, if I can.  As a result of my strategy, my 2 and 1/2 hour session made me a $160 winner with my $40 buy-in.  I won 4 hands and voluntarily entered 8 pots.

My wife is going to have a great Valentine's day.  Here's some specific of the day:

Maniacs Galore
$1-$1 No-Limit means the blinds were $1 each.  The maximum buy-in was $40.  This was my second time at a no-limit table.  The low blinds and the low buy-in meant that the table would be full of maniacs. In fact there were 6 maniacs at the table.

Maniac Strategy
The strategy of the players at the table was simple.  If you have a premium hand, you bet a little bit to invite action.  If you have a strong hand but beatable hand, you bet strong to take the pot instantly.

For example, if you're dealt a pocket Jacks.  You bet 10-20 times the blinds or you go all-in.  Although Jacks is a good hand it can be beat by a higher pair on the flop.  So it's best just to take the pot now.

If you flop the nuts, you bet small because you want people to call or make a dumb move.

Problem with the Maniac Strategy
The problem with this strategy is that you may win a lot of hands, but you'll lose a lot of hands and you'll lose a lot of money in those hands.  The losing principle here is that you're overplaying your hands.  If you go all-in with your pocket Jacks, a maniac will call it with Ace-King.  You're not in a coin-flip situation with your entire stack.

Capitalizing on the Maniac
The key to winning big is letting the maniac dig their own hole and play super tight.  Don't chase.  Don't play marginal hands.  Oh yeah, get lucky too.

Here's what happened to me.  I'll admit I got lucky, but then again, in a normal game I wouldn't have won so much.

After about 10 minutes of observing maniac play, I realized, I need to play premium hands.

Hand #1 - I'm dealt Pocket Aces in the small blind.  The table limps to me with 5 callers.  I move in with a raise of $7.  All 5 callers call the raise.

The flop comes 9-5-3 rainbow.  That's a great flop for me.  I'm first to act, I throw in $20 because I want this pot right now.  I don't want to mess around with just a pair.  Everyone folds except seat 7.  He goes all-in and has me cover.  Crap, I'm thinking he has two pair or trips.  I look at my stack and I realize I'm pot committed, so I push in the rest of my money and I reach into my wallet for another $40 to re-buy.

Seat 7 flips over two pair 9-5 against my aces.

The turn comes a King.  The river comes another King.  I just made two pair on runner-runner to basically double up.  I'm now at $85.  I got lucky on this one.  But I did have outs.  The 3 could have paired or the remaining aces could have come out too.

Hands #2 and #3 - A couple of hands later I flop two pair and I bluffed a pot to get my stack to $90.

It's close to my time to leave because I need to get a hair cut before the show.

Hand #4 - I'm in the small blind and I have not seen my cards yet.  Seat 3 comes in with a $10 raise.  Seat 4 calls.  Seat 5 calls.  Seat 8 calls and I look at my cards and I'm looking at pocket Aces.  I'm looking at a $40 pot.  4-to-1 odds with aces.  I'm calling.  The big blind decides to call as well.  Now I'm getting 5-to-1.

The Flop - Q-Q-J.  This is a scary flop.  I'm first to act and I check.  I want to see what happens.

The big blind checks.  Seat 3 goes all-in for about $15. Seat 4 folds.  Seat 5 calls. Seat 8 folds.  Now it's my turn.

I'm thinking that the pot is huge.  Do I believe that either of the two players has a Queen?  The All-In may have a Queen. Seat 5 definitely doesn't.  He's been so aggressive that he would have gone all-in instead of call.  This is part gamble, but there's enough money in the pot that I can chase an ace for a full house.  Also, I can put Seat 5 all-in to win a sizeable side pot in case I lose to trip Queens.

I call because I want to see the turn.  Seat 5 makes a comment wondering why I'm still in the hand.

The turn comes a 2.  I immediately put Seat 5 all-in and he calls.

I flip over my aces and he flips over his Jack.  I knew it.

I win the side pot and Seat 3 mucks his hand.  I'm thinking that he either had a Jack or King.

I win about $90 on the hand and I gave the dealer a sizeable tip.

I'm also screwed, because I have to get my haircut and I can't get up and leave right now.  I decide to be nice and play through the next blinds.  The game is so slow at this point that I can only make it through 4 more hands and I have to leave.  The table was not happy, but then again, it's their style of play that causes them to lose money.

While observing play, I noticed that everyone at my table either had low stacks or rebought 2-3 times.  I also noticed the better players ended the day with shortened stacks.

Cheers for now.  I'll blog next about my first attempt at the All-in style in an S-N-G.