May Poker Update

I've pretty much been playing SNGs exclusively.  I've done a few MTT's but SNGs have been my prime focus.  I was doing well, but then I took a big hit recently.  I basically am back down to $100 in profit.

 

Why the loss?  The first is bad beats, but I can go on forever about that.  It happens.  I have a good number of times that I was knocked out on the bubble and most of the time I was going in with the best hand.  At the risk of sounding like Mike Matasow, I will state that you can do nothing about it.  In the long run you'll win.

 

The second reason for the loss was gambling.  I allowed myself to get into a position where I put it all in hoping to hit my 8 outer, instead of folding.  I allowed myself to chase, while at the same time calling off chips.

 

The third is not playing aggressive.  Attack at weakness and then back off if played against.

 

I dropped to a $50 profit for the year.  I'm now back to $100 profit and hopefully I will see it rise.  I've had a nice run of 7 out of 8 cashes this weekend.  The key to those victories was money management and knowing when to play your short stack.  I also have been better about watching my opponent and picking up on their playing style.

 

The 1 loss was interesting, because I was out in three hands. I start as the dealer.

 

Hand #1: AQ.  I come in for a raise and get called.  The flop is rags. I raise again and I'm reraised.  My instincts told me that board didn't hit my opponent, so I call the reraise.  The turn is a rag.  My opponent bets and he's obviously trying to get me off my hand.  I reraise and he folds.

 

Hand #2: AJ.  I limp in with several callers.  The flop comes A-Q-J.  I have two pair and I bet it pretty strong, hoping to stop anyone from drawing.  I'm called.  The turn comes a 10.  Any hand with a king bets me.  My opponent bets, and I have pot odds to hit a full house.  The river calls nothing and my opponent makes a min bet.  I call and he had the king.

 

Hand #3: AQ suited.  It comes to me, I raise.  The big blind reraises and I shove all in.  He has pocket 6's and I have two suited overs.  I was hoping for a coin toss and I lost.

 

Thats poker. 

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

March Progress

OK, so I haven’t written in a while.  March has been a frustrating month.  I’ve been mostly playing SNG’s and I was able to push my bankroll up to $300, but a long losing streak brought my balance back to $250.  Basically, I ended March with the same balance at I started.  It was a frustrating net $0 month.

 

I haven’t updated my chart because, I’m too lazy to keep the adding these small tournaments.

 

How would I describe my month?  It started great thus the $300 balance.  I won a $10 SNG at Full Tilt.  Since then I’m started losing more SNG’s than winning.  I’d say 33% of the time it was my fault by making some bad moves.  The other 66% of the time was losing with the best hand.  Pocket aces losing to pocket 6’s or small suited connectors.  But then that’s poker.

 

So for April.  I’m still doing SNG’s and a few MTT’s.

 

Hope to do better.

 

Alan

Poker Progress Update

The latest dip was not a loss in poker but a withdrawal to pay for some nice clothes for my wife.  It's my permission to play poker.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

Poker Progress Update; My longest SNG.

Things have been going quite well for me in January.  Not including a $100 reload, my overall poker bankroll has grown above $100 in pure poker winnings.  I’m feeling very confident.

 

I am currently on an SNG roll.  I’ve been doing quite well at that definitely cashing more than losing.

 

I want to talk about yesterday’s SNG.  It was probably the longest SNG I’ve played in for quite a while.  It saw me at one point being the chip leader on the bubble and then drop to a very low stack on the bubble as well.  Here’s the story:

 

Hand 2: It was a $5 SNG.  My plan was to play tight.  Second hand, I’m dealt AQo on the button.  I’m not a big fan of AQ so I decide to limp in with this hand and see a flop cheap. 

 

THE FLOP: Ks-Td-Js

OMG, I just flopped the nut straight and I’m in position.

 

Seat 5 comes in for a minimum bet of 30.  Seat 8 makes it a standard raise of 90 and I flat call and so does seat 5.  Seat 5 comes in for a minimum raise of 60. I feel like I can do a little trapping here, my only concern is the flush draw, but only mildly concerned.  What I like is that I have two players who are battling and I’m just in for the ride.

 

THE TURN: 7c

Great card because it helps no one and makes the flush draw more difficult to call.

 

Seat 5 bet 2/3 the pot to 360. Seat 5 folds (probably the flush draw).  I make a minimum raise to 720, just to say that I’m playing this hand.  Seat 5 calls.

 

THE RIVER: Ac

This card is a little frustrating because if he has a Queen we split the pot and a lot of hard work come for nothing.

 

Seat 5 immediately put me all in for my remaining 555.  I call of course, because I have the nuts.  Seat 5 shows JTo.  He flopped two pair and overvalued his hand.

 

He was very embarrassed.  I made a few comments to help him get over the trauma but I didn’t care.  He was left with 90 and out shortly after.

 

THE BUBBLE

By the 37^th hand we reach the bubble.  This games goes on for another 92 hands before it ends.  This is how frustrating things got.  Here’s the chip stacks:

Humble Guy (me): 4060

tripJJJ: 2675 – Passive player, easy to push around.

bh4500: 3525 – Passive player, easy to push around.

big ed k: 3140 – Often overplays hands, very aggressive (try not to give him your chips)

 

I have the chip lead, but not by much.  Everyone is playing relatively tight. My strategy is to use my chip lead to whittle down my opponents.  I will come in with standard raises whenever I can and fold to an all-in if caught.

 

This pretty much worked for the next 52 hands.  Over the 52 hand span, I won 19 hands, lost 2 hands, lost 2 hands because I gave up the small blind.

 

At hand 89 here are the chip stacks:

Humble Guy (me): 5950 (+1890)

tripJJJ: 2620 (-55)

bh4500: 1815 (-1710)

big ed k: 2665 (-475)

 

The blinds are now at 150/300, meaning everyone but me is short stacked and I’m going to have to call some all-ins.  My strategy is to call an all-in when I think I have the best hand going in.

 

Hand 90:  ATo (big blind)

This is a great hand to shove in.  tripJJJ is under the gun and makes a standard raise.  I’m going to reraise all in naturally.

tripJJJ calls with J9d.  I have the best hand.

 

FLOP: 9h-6d-2s

Not a good flop. tripJJJ now has a flush draw and top pair.

 

TURN & RIVER: Qh & 8s

That was a big hit, but no worries, I’m still in it.  I’m down to 3180 chips.  Still playable.

 

Hand 91: As-Ad (small blind)

Great hand for an all in.  Bh4500 goes all in for 2265.  I call.  He shows 8d-8h.  I’m a 5:1 favorite to win.

 

FLOP: 4s-2c-8c

No freakin’ way. And the trip hold up.  I’m now down to 1065 will only 3.5 big blinds.

 

Now, I’m looking for opportunities to steal blinds and double up.  The players to my left are very passive and I know I can push them around.  I’m expecting big ed K to call me, so I want to have a strong hand with him.

 

Hand 92: 9h-8h (dealer)

I fold this hand pre flop because don’t want to go all in with a mediocre draw hand.  Ironically, I would have flopped the nut straight.

 

Hand 95: KTd (small blind)

Big ed k goes all in and I’m calling.  He shows pocket queens.

 

BOARD: Ks-8s-Ad-4d-Kc

It was right for both of us to come all-in this hand.  My hand holds up and I double up.  Big ed k is out and we’re in the money.  I’m still not out of the water yet, but I have chips to play with.

 

The funny thing is that big ed k takes the next 10 minutes to grumble about my call.  He’s calls me a donkey and can’t believe I play the way I do.  He doesn’t understand basic short stack play.  I really love putting guys on tilt.

 

The SNG continues.  I wind up busting tripJJJ.  Just as that happens, I hear a crash in another room of my house. And my wife and I investigate.  So basically I’ve abandoned my keyboard and start getting blinded off.  Bh4500 does something stupid and realizes that I’m not at my keyboard, so he goes all in at every hand.  He’s putting himself in danger, because when I return I could have had pocket Aces and busted him. 

 

That didn’t happen and I wound up winning.

 

I hope this was insightful and entertaining for you.

 

 

The Classic Slowplay

If you're up against an overly aggressive player, I have the best slowplay story to tell you.  I'm "Humble Guy" the aggressive player is collette0725 and this is the second hand of the game.

 

Full Tilt Poker Game #1544170196: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (11179929), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:49:01 ET - 2007/01/06
Seat 2: Sheila Noya (3,090)
Seat 3: DarthSushi (1,500)
Seat 4: Ravenous (1,500)
Seat 5: Humble Guy (1,500)
Seat 6: SPOTLGHT (1,500)
Seat 7: softailman_2 (1,500)
Seat 8: LJ Postman (1,410)
Seat 9: collette0725 (1,500)
Sheila Noya posts the small blind of 15
DarthSushi posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Humble Guy [Kc Kh]
Ravenous folds
Humble Guy raises to 120
SPOTLGHT folds
softailman_2 folds
LJ Postman folds
collette0725 calls 120
Sheila Noya folds
DarthSushi folds

 

So I'm dealt Pocket Kings in early position and I come in for a standard raise.  Basically I'm feeling pretty good about this hand and I'm willing to fold cheap if an ace hits the board.  Collette calls my raise.

*** FLOP *** [Kd 7d 8h]
Humble Guy bets 120
collette0725 raises to 510
Humble Guy calls 390

 

I just hit trip Kings.  Now's my chance to slowplay and win big.  Because this is only the second hand, no one knows me or my playing style, so I'm going to portray myself as someone who's not very experienced.  I bet the standard raise of 120.  The reason is that that appears to be a continuation bet as opposed to someone who hit big.

 

Collette reraises me, which is great.  I pause a little and I call the bet.

*** TURN *** [Kd 7d 8h] [Ac]
Humble Guy checks
collette0725 bets 870, and is all in
Humble Guy calls 870, and is all in
collette0725 shows [Qd Jc]
Humble Guy shows [Kc Kh]

 

An ace hits the turn.  The ace can appear to be a scare card.  So I continue to show weakness by checking and Collette overplays her hand and goes all in hoping to scare me out of the pot.  Of course, I call. 

*** RIVER *** [Kd 7d 8h Ac] [8c]
collette0725 shows a pair of Eights
Humble Guy shows a full house, Kings full of Eights
Humble Guy wins the pot (3,045) with a full house, Kings full of Eights
collette0725 stands up

 

And as you can see Collette was bluffing with no hand, made a horrible read of my cards and I doubled up.  I wound up coming in 2nd in this tournament. This is why I love this game of poker.

 

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

Poker Progress Chart

I didn't want my entry be about a big loss.  I've played a couple of SNG's and have made the money a few times.  Here's your chance to see my progress so far.  My progress chart is at this page - http://www.mypalal.com/poker/ProgressChart.cfm.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

My first big loss

I could blame the fact that I'm sick, but I just got unlucky and I played badly.  I had recently won about $30 in $.50/$1 limit.  I played again.I began to lose and lose fast to the point that I almost lost what I had won previously.

 

Three factors to my losing.

 

1.  Draws that didn't pay off.  This happens a lot in limit, but I just couldn't convert a draw.

2.  Suck outs for my opponents.  I would have top pair with highest kicker and my opponent pairs his kicker on the river.

3.  Too aggressive with aggressive players.

 

Factors 1 and 2 I can live with.  That's the problem with limit and you'll win hopefully more than you'll lose.  Aggression is my problem at the moment.  I seem to take raises personally and I just need to muck when trying to be overly aggressive with my losing hands.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

My Second SNG

Game Summary:

Full Tilt Poker

$5 SNG

Finished 2 out of 9

Gain: $8.00

 

The best way to sum of this game was scratch and claw your way to second place.  I was basically short stacked and battling it out with my third place opponent to make it finally to second place.

 

DON'T GO BROKE WITH TOP PAIR. Early a player was dropped because he overplayed his pocket aces.  He raised under the gun raising 9x the BB.  He's called by a guy with pocket 6's.  I probably would have folded this hand so early in the tournament.  Anyways, pocket 6's flops trips and pocket Aces will not fold but to go all in.  I'm not sure that I could fold Aces, but maybe I should learn.

 

I took a hit on the third level.  I was dealt A7s in the small blind.  3 limpers. The flop comes 8-8-7.  I have two pair.  I get to see where I stand.  I'm reraised just a little by the button.  The turn comes and I check the dealer bets all-in.  He's short stacked, I call because of odds and lose when he shows his 8.  I should not have been so aggressive because I misread the guy and I priced myself into call his all-in.

 

I'm now left with only 750 in chips and I'm approaching the short stack.  I need to find a moment to double up, which means pocket pairs or overcards.

 

5 hands later that opportunity comes.  I'm dealt KQo and I go all in.  I'm actually hoping to pick up the blinds, but I have a caller with KJ and I double up and find myself back to where I started.

 

I was a little handcuffed for the rest of the came.  It was a game of who can find themselves in second place.  Not the best game I've played but second ain't bad at this point.

 

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

The First Game of the Year

Game Summary:

Full Tilt Poker

$2 SNG

Finished 1 out of 9

Gain: $6.75

 

It's January 1.  2007 is only 2 hours old.  I just got back from my improv show (www.nationalcomedy.com).

 

Let's dive into a game.  I log into Full Tilt and find a $2 SNG to play.  The other games were just not filling up at the time and I wanted to get into any game ASAP.

 

I decide to use my regular SNG strategy.  Play tight in the first few level and hope to get lucky.  Then look for double up opportunities and get the medium stacks to fold.  Then play aggressive when 4-5 handed play.

 

I think the key to my success here was patience.  I was running pretty card dead the first few levels.  I maybe won only two hands and not for much.  You don't want to give up a lot of chips on mediocre hands.  Let the aggressive players win these small pots because you can use it against them later on.

 

Mistake people made.  Very quickly we lost three players.

 

Two players decide to try and double up fast in the second level.  With two limpers, the button goes all-in with 1,120 with KQo.  The big blind calls with pocket 7's.  King on the turn give it to the button and 7's are knocked out.  The problem - we have gamblers and they overplayed their hands.  KQ  wanted to steal the pot, they could have done that with a small raise.  Pocket 7's is a low to medium pair, the likelihood was that they were up against two overs.  It's just too soon to put your tournament at risk.

 

Turning points.  Throughout this game, I'm basically just trying to stay alive and look for moments to earn some chips.  It wasn't until the 10th level that things turned around.  Blinds are at 120/240 and I have 1500 in chips.  I'm battling a passive player, slowly building a pot until I finally the river hits my hand and I win a 1040 pot.  Later I'm dealt AK against the chip leader.  I go all-in against his pocket Jacks and double up with a King on the flop.

 

You've got to win races in order to win tournaments.

 

When I'm head to head, my strategy is to figure out how the other person is playing.  My opponent was playing tight.  I basically stole whenever I could and fold under aggression.  We played for almost 30 minutes, because I didn't want to go all-in with him unless I felt I could beat him.  And I finally did.

 

Finally, I'm dealt KQo and I'm faced with a large raise.  I figure I'm against a low pocket pair so I call and I'm up against 6's.  Queen on the flop and I will 90% of the chips.

 

Last hand I have A8o and I'm raised all-in again.  I call against Q-10 and I win the tournament.

 

Good start to the year.

 

Alan Ng

 

www.mypalal.com

www.themeparkshopper.com

 

 

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.