Lydias, 9/10/07

Traffic was an absolute nightmare. It took me 27 minutes to get to work....1:40 to get to Lydias. I knew going in if I played I would be on tilt.

That in itself is a weakness in my game and something I need to work on. I need to develop a strategy for getting off tilt when I am dealing with outside distractions. Time is probably the strongest distraction as I hate, hate, hate being late to anything and especially to something I am running.

But that is life. Sometimes you are going to arrive late.

And have a short table. Including myself we had 7 tonight. It was, however, a good 7 for me to play against. To my left was Bill, a solid player who has a betting pattern where you should know when you are beat and when he has something but not much. To his left was Todd, a frequent bluffer who plays a lot of weird hands. To his left was Danny, a solid player but very easy to read. To his left was Randy who sometimes is a very, very solid player and other times is all over the page. To his left was Marykay, a wild player. Sometimes she is deceptive and other times she might as well play with her hand face up. To her left and my right was John, far and away the best player there for several weeks now whether he will admit it or not. And me, Captain Openly on Tilt.

To my credit I knew I was on tilt so made a point of being selective about my hands without going overboard. I considered position, players, and more or less played the Sklansky hand selections.

I won a few pots, lost a few, nothing super memorable. Then came my first idiot pot.

I had A/Q and raised it. Bill called. He does not call with nothing. Flop was all low. I raised "to see where he was at." He called. I figured him for high cards. Turn was an Ace. I checked. He checked. River was a King. It crossed my mind he might have an A/K. I dismissed it for 2 reasons; 1) I had not bothered to put anybody on a hand all night...which showed that I was allowing myself to tilt in ways other than playing stupid hands. and 2) He had not raised it.

Uh...there is no law whatsoever that he must raise A/K. Yes, he TYPICALLY does...but he is at times a deceptive player. So I decided my Ace was good, raised, he re-raised. Anybody who knows him lays down their hand right there. I called just to prove he had me beat...which he did. He had A/K which I had thought about and dismissed because I was not putting in an effort...and because it was not something I consciously put him on or tried to.

Hey, idiot...when your instincts tell you something, believe it. Trust your instincts.

I cost myself probably an extra 1500 on that hand.

Which was not a huge deal. I made a lot of it back with fishhooks, more with pocket 7s, a bit more with a straight.

Meanwhile, John and Todd were accumulating masses of chips, John with his usual solid play, Todd with more controlled play than usual but a lot of aggression.

After Bill, Danny, and Randy busted out came a hand I received a lot of undue credit for. I picked up something like a Q/9 and played it cheap from the small blind. Flop was ugly, A/Q/rag. I checked. Todd checked. Turn was a King. I checked. He raised. I reraised. He folded.
"You must have a really good read on me tonight," he said.
"Drew is the master at reading," said John.

Well, the truth is...I had no read whatsoever. Oh, I did not believe he had the king...but it was more a "Ah, he is bluffing here...but if he comes over the top of me I am folding because he might have the King I am not crediting him for" type raise. I was completely just seeing where I was at.

Anyhow, coming down to the end I made the final three...not such a big accomplishment when you consider we only had 7 to start with...


For the night, however, it was indeed valuable to play. I was able (I thought) to work through my tilt to play decently in stretched, tightening up when I got towards short stack but never playing maniacally.

However, I also figured out I was allowing another form of tilt. I was not reading people at all. A couple times I had a vague sense of being ahead or behind but it was just instinct, not actual intellectual play. That has to change.

So I have identified a problem with my game and that is always a good thing.

How You Doin' Fall Ball Season

After taking a couple seasons off for marriage and health reasons, this week brought a return to the softball field with the How You Doin' team.

Tuesdays practice was depressing. I was using the new glove which is getting comfortable, though still nowhere near where my beloved black Worth glove was. But my pinkie is still sore, I think it is broken, and my forefinger also hurt. But those are just facts of life as I grow old.

My fielding has suffered greatly. I love playing shortstop but the truth is that year off might have ended my shortstop career for good. I can still go get anything in the air no matter how hard it is hit but balls on the ground seem to elude me every time. Since shortstop has always been my dream position...that really bites. But I am still a good team player and I honestly believe I help the team a lot playing first.

For the game tonight we had exactly 10 players so everyone was going to play every inning. Traffic was HORRIBLE and instead of getting there at 7 I got there about 7:20. I warmed up my arm a bit but did no stretching. All the elements were in place for a classic melt-down of errors, poor hitting, etc. I am seldom a good player when I am rushed and not limbered up.

The plan was to alternate innings with Dan...he would play short and I first in the first inning, then I would play short and he would take first in the 2nd, then I would be first, etc. But first, we were the visitors so we would bat first.

Larianne led off. She drilled the ball but right at their shortstop who scooped it up and threw her out by a few steps. Eric laced the ball, their left center fielder got it on a hop and he was aboard. Becky singled him to second and I came to the plate. I was nervous because I really only got maybe 2 practice swings in and I need to really loosen up to swing the bat well. I planned to take the first pitch and then step out and take a couple more swings to loosen up. I don't fear 2 strikes in slow pitch because I can drive anything. Well, that plan went by the wayside as their pitcher, a woman, lofted an unbelievable lollipop in my wheelhouse...chest high and a bit outside. I stepped into it and crushed it to right center, over the head of their right center fielder. Had I stretched before and/or run hard I would have had an easy triple. As it was, Eric and Becky scored and I coasted into second with a double. I scored easily on a nice rip by Molly but that ended our scoring for the inning. Still, throwing up a four spot is a nice way to start the game.

6 is better. And that is what they threw back at us. They hit the ball hard, a lot of their hits found open space and a few was just too hot for our fielders to handle. Probably 3 plays could have been made but weren't and it was not looking good.

It looked worse when the top of our line-up went down in order in the second. But we held them, too, in the bottom half of the inning, though they did threaten with runners at 2nd & 3rd and one of their top hitters up. Paul made a fantastic running catch to atone for an earlier drop and I led off the top of the third.

She apparently had forgotten where I liked the ball because her first pitch was chest high and outside. This time I obliterated it. A few years ago that ball would have been in the middle of McGloughlin, but these days it landed a few feet short of the fence. I was home long before the ball returned to the dugout with an inside the park home run. I was feeling pretty good about myself.

And we scored again that inning, maybe even 2 runs I think.

In the bottom half of the inning I was perfectly positioned to scoop a grounder about half way to second. I looked to flip the ball to J J but he was a bit slow covering so I took off for the bag myself. To my amazement, I beat the runner to the bag. I was either really, really fast tonight or they were extremely slow.

My next time up they sort of had a shift on to take away the right center power alley. I licked my lips a bit because they had left my true power alley, left center, wide open. Give me something over the heart of the plate and even I might go yard.

And she did.

I started drooling as I saw the pitch coming, it was going to be belt high and dead center over the plate. I came out of my shoes (figuratively speaking) swinging at the grapefruit. And I got under it...popping out to short. I knew I had over swung and felt terrible. We were not having a particularly strong night at the plate and needed every run we could get, and instead I, in the run producing clean up spot, got greedy and instead of doing what I know I should do, a nice controlled swing to put a ground ball right up the middle, gave them a cheap out. It hurt the team and that stunk.

They plated another run before I could come up again and we were down 7 - 5. Once more Eric and Becky were aboard on first and second. We had one out. I elected to try without the glasses for two reasons; 1, the kept fogging up because of my sweat and I was struggling to keep them clean. 2, I figured I was close enough to the pitcher to see the ball. "Stay in your shoes, Barton" I muttered and stepped in. This time the outfield was playing their original spot again. And for a third time she tossed it chest high and outside. I crushed it and took off. By second base I was closing in on poor Becky. I tried to pick up the base coach at third, they were still chasing the ball. He was waving me home so I rounded third just a few steps behind Becky.

Then I paused...the base coach was standing in the field waving. And he was wearing white, not black.

I had followed the call of their third baseman to throw the ball home, not our base coach.

But this year there is a new rule and a "commit" line. I was too close to it to stop but I could not get my speed up again. The ball beat me by about a step and a half and I was out at home.

I made several errors on that play. I did not register the base coach was wearing the wrong colors and standing in the wrong place. I slowed up before I crossed home and did not put out 100% effort. And it meant instead of having a great chance to take the lead I had almost run us out of the inning. We did score a couple more runs but it could have...and should have...been a HUGE inning.

The next inning they were threatening again with 2 outs and runners on second and third. Their guy hit a slow roller to short. Dan picked it clean...and threw it in the dirt. I went to one knee and somehow picked it clean out of the dirt to make the save and kill the threat. It was a spectacular play and I knew it and I felt better about having hit poorly once and run into a stupid out a second time.

In the final inning I thought I had heard the score was 8 - 7 us. They got one runner on with 2 outs. Their guy laced it into short left center. Dan was going out on the ball but it was clearly going to fall when out of nowhere Eric arrived at full speed and made an outstanding shoestring catch to put the game away.

I was wrong about the score, though. Apparently the final was 10 -7.

Over all I feel pretty good. I drove in 5 of our 10 runs and scored 2...total run production of 6 runs (the home run doubles as run scored and RBI). I played flawless defense, turning at least 4 throws from throwing errors into outs. On the downside, I did pop out once and make a stupid base running error...but I feel like without me the team would have been in a lot more trouble than we got into for those things. I am going to call this one a successful return to the field. And more importantly...a fun one.

Thoughts on Hand Reading

Sometimes a dim bulb brightens. Like much else in my life, I am never satisfied with anything less than perfection. One of these areas is hand reading. For whatever reason, I got it in my head that to read them correctly, I had to have the exact 2 cards down. At times I have played past this self-defeating belief, such as when I have read instead what they DIDN'T have, or even if I just correctly read the situation...I.E., I am ahead, I am behind, he is on a draw, he has a made hand but my draw is better/worse...in truth, the exact cards only matter when I decide to try and run them down if I think I am behind, and even then the exact cards STILL don't matter...what matters is if they have a hand I can run down or one I am drawing dead to.



To be sure, there have been times I have nailed the exact cards. Probably the best exact card call I ever made was at Home Turf. The old guy was sitting directly across from me. He looked at his cards, then slowly looked at them again. To this day i don't know why I put him on A/4 but I instantly put him on that exact hand. But when the flop brought a red ace and black four, I put him on the ace/4 of the suit that did not fall...and at the showdown he had the A/4 of clubs or spades...it was a spectacular read and I had properly folded. At the same time, I have had BETTER reads...like the time I laid down my Tens full of 8s on the turn and Nathan had Tens full of 9s at the showdown. I properly read him for having me beat and laid down a full house, thus saving a TON of chips. And here is the important part; I did not know WHICH full house he had, only that he had a higher one. There was no 9 on the table...they were pockets for him. He had checked and called the 2 pair on the flop and when the board brought trip 10s he raised. Perhaps the best meaningful read I had came in a game at Mixers against a guy I had never played before. Early on I figured him for the straight and mentioned I laid down 2 pair. He was stunned I would lay down such a powerful hand, though he did confirm he had the straight. Late in the game I had a dominating chip position. I raised the Colts (pocket 4s) from late position and he called. Flop came rags, I raised, he called, turn was another low card giving me a gut shot, I raised, he came over the top all in. I almost folded, then went into the tank. Something about his bet was not right. I thought back to the earlier confrontation. I could not put him on a specific hand but I did put him on a bluff. I could not say what he DID have but I could say what he did not have...a pair or straight. I called. He disgustedly flipped up two big cards and I flipped up my lonely little pair. He could not believe I called with such a weak hand...but the correct read...that I was ahead...allowed me to do so. And I was not just ahead...I was crushing him. At that point we knew 8 cards. There was one to come. 6 of the remaining 44 cards in deck helped him, 38 did not so I was ahead 38-6 or by more than 6 to 1. I like my chances when I can get the chips in with that sort of advantage.

That lesson, that knowing the EXACT cards seldom matters got lost on me somewhere, however. Instead of putting someone on a RANGE of hands I decided I had to put them on the exact hand...and that is where reading gets frustrating and then stops happening.

When someone raises I need to, instead of asking "what two cards does he have", ask, "What types of hands will he bring it in for a raise?"

Examples:

If Jeff raises pre-flop he can have any two cards; I have seen him raise with any pocket pair, with both cards paint, with a dry Ace and with suited connectors. I have also seen him raise with 2/7. So when he raises it is just plain silly to put him on, say, Big Slick.

Conversely, when say...Tor raises, I am not going to put him on a 2/7. I am going to hesitate about 3 seconds, then put him on 10s or better or any Ace from dry on up to big slick. I will also credit him with paint.

Once the flop hits, if checked to Jeff, he will bet with any two cards. Unless someone has already bet you still can't put him on anything. You have to pay to find out. However, as often as not if someone check-raises him he will lay it down which leads one to believe he will bet a lot of sub-optimal hands so he continues to be very deceptive.

Tor will almost always check the flop. If he is raised then he will:

fold if he has a small pair.
call if he has over cards to the board.

So just because he calls does not mean he has a hand. Again, it is silly to put him on a specific hand. I have had him call to the river with straight and flush draws...but also with K/2 off suit that connected with the board in no way, shape, or form. In fact, he is MORE likely to call with a high card and rags than he is a legit draw.

Linda has a pocket pair if she raises. The larger the raise, the smaller the pocket pair.

I know these things and have similar information on a lot of players. In fact, the only ones I DON'T have that sort of information on are two types:

1) people so maniacal they don't even know what they have

Marykay, Dawg, there are a couple prime examples. Either one will stay to the river against flush draws, straight draws, even full houses when they have jack straw. Other times they will raise with nothing thinking they have something and still other times they actually have something...sometimes they know it, other times they don't. They are dangerous players, though I do not personally classify them as good players.

2) People I have only played with since I fell into the habit of "put them on a specific hand or don't bother putting them on a hand at all."

So I am putting a plan in place in the interests of improving my game yet again.

1) Put people on a range of hands every time.

2) Remember information is gathered even if it does not go to a showdown; what was the texture of the flop, betting patterns, any tells I might pick up...I need to remember I can use that information later.

3) Concentrate on just one player as much as possible.

4) Recreate what possibilities were on the board when bets/checks/raises are made and by whom.

5) Ask what they will raise with, what will they call with, and what they will check with.

6) Remind myself it is a RANGE of hands, not a specific hand.

By doing this I hope to have a better grasp on how people act when they have legit hands and how they act when they are speculating which, in turn, will lead to me knowing if I am ahead or behind. And once I have the lead...look out because I am putting the pressure on.

Lydias, 9/3 (Labor Day)

I have been doing a bit of thinking about my game. And I have decided I have truly been playing some awful poker. Oh, sure, as often as not I seem to end up with a decent chip stack. But that is as much a matter of luck as anything. I have been making some plays that might work against weaker competition but against better competition will quickly result in being on the felt.

Now, to be sure there has been some decent poker in there. While I was taking the game serious at Mixers I was doing really well. Once I started playing my "win quick or go home" game it wasn't too long before I was felted. And my reads have, at times, been very solid. It is not often you will see me lay down top pair on the flop to a bet by a frequent bluffer such as I did to Todd a week ago. Yet I was correct to do so. So I guess from that standpoint it has been okay.

However, I have been using the excuse that it doesn't matter how I do since I won't be at the final table to allow myself some lax and lazy play...limping in, not raising, never bluffing, playing ABC poker with marginal hands. Sure, a few times I have gotten lucky and hit some big, big hands...although even there I somewhat deliberately misplayed them and took down far less than I could have on the theory I really don't want to put anybody out. Bad theory.

I have come to the conclusion that this is a form of tilt. I am allowing myself to play less than my optimal game. By so doing I will do two things:

1) I will prevent myself from improving.

Practice, practice, practice goes the mantra. Well, it is true...practice does help. So does repetition. And so does experience. Knowing certain things will work...and when...makes a difference. Take a key hand from Monday for example.

Under the gun I picked up A/J of Hearts. I raised to 3 times the big blind. I have learned that at 3 times the big blind I get some callers but not so many that I cannot still win the hand. At 4 times the big blind I typically either just pick up the blinds or else only get called by rockets or cowboys. Also, 4 times seems to set people on tilt and cause them to play back maniacally. I can handle people playing back. When I raise I have a hand that can play well against someone else with a plan. But when people play maniacally, they might stay in with anything from a 3/4 (such as Randy did in the consolation game) to a legit hand. And maniacs playing back are likely to hit 2 pair on a ragged flop. Sure, they will miss it MOST of the time...but maniacal play is virtually impossible to read. Hence practice and experience have combined to set my typical raise...I say typical and not default because certain elements will adjust it. Anyhow, sure enough I got a couple callers...and the flop came down 3 low diamonds. Danny checked, I raised just as if I had hit. Everyone but Danny folded...he hesitated a long time and then called. Lately I have played with Danny a few times so I read him as having either over cards or a draw. With his calling of my initial raise from the big blind he could have a slightly weaker hand to call...but unless he was on a diamond draw he missed it completely. Turn was a 10 of clubs. I bet again and this time he did not even hesitate, he folded. He ended up showing K/J clubs...one of the possible hands I had put him on because of past experience.

Of course, part B of that was raising even after I missed it. Lately I have gotten sloppy and lazy and not done the continuation bet, telling myself, "They are just river rats who will chase and hit a 2 to beat me anyway."

Great! Please, keep chasing, because even if you DO hit that crap...you are, in the long run, paying me so you can chase with low odds of improving enough to beat me. But practicing playing correctly allows me to call on the experience of having succeeded at what I need to do. I then will bet at orphan pots when I get the correct feel...not a "hunch" but a read on the group collectively that an authoritative bet will get them to fold. I know you can't bluff out an entire table but there are times when a simple Ace high is the best hand, too. When I know I have the best hand, even without a pair, I do not think of it as a bluff so much as I do as it being a value bet.I can only read the table correctly when I have been doing it from time to time and when I call on the experience of the "feel" of the table when I did it before.

Which leads to point 2

2) My performance and abilities will degrade.
To play my best I need to be factoring in a lot of things:

A) Position. Where am I in relation to who raises, who calls, who check-raises, who bluffs, how many people are left to act.

B) Starting hands

c) Who is in the hand

D) What sort of reads do I have on the people most likely to be in the hand

E) What is my Table Image at any given moment

F) Odds, both pot and otherwise

There are more, but those are the most obvious.

When I don't play my best I fall into bad habits. I limp with virtually any 2 cards. I don't raise when I know I should, I price people into pots and let them run me down, I lose pot after pot that either I should not be in anyhow or else had a lead & lost because of poor play, occasionally on the part of my opponents...which can't be helped...and more often because of my own poor play, usually timid play. I cannot count the number of times I have had the best but vulnerable plan and, through my raising just the minimum instead of a real bet, let them stay in with a trash hand because it was cheap to stay in, then they hit a "miracle card" to swipe the pot. That is not their fault...it is mine for giving them staggeringly good odds to draw to ridiculous hands. That is bad play on my part.

Timid play is bad because I play as if I am afraid to lose the chips. That is a sure formula for losing them...sure, I slow the loss but never give myself the opportunity to win them. Timid, cowardly play is the same as handing my chips to whoever plays with courage and the willingness to take a chance.

A fine example would be middle pair. When I am playing poorly I fold them instantly. When I am playing well I will sometimes play middle...or, depending on who is in the hand, bottom...pairs. But I don't play them blindly. I consider my odds...am I just drawing to the trips or 2 pair? If I hit them, will it be enough to give me the lead? Or am I drawing to other outs as well...maybe a gut shot straight or backdoor flush draw? None of them, alone, provides enough outs. However, combined, sometimes they do.

In one hand I played a 6/8 spades when I was able to limp from late with about 4 others in the pot. That is where limping is good...if I hit it hard and someone else hits as well I can get paid, possibly by 2 or three people in a hand they will have a hard time reading. Conversely, if someone raises a few people out I will fold it. As luck would have it the flop brought a 10 of diamonds, 8...hearts maybe? and a 5 of spades. I had middle pair, weak kicker, backdoor straight and flush draws. I knew who was in the pot and the guy on the button will bet if nobody else does. I bet as if I had top pair, couple callers including him. Sure enough the turn was a 9 of spades giving me flush and gut shot straight draws. Normally after I bet he will give me the free card on the turn which is one reason I did so. So I checked. He raised. I revised my estimate of his hand from 8s to 10s. And here is where secondary draws come into play.

His raise was not particularly large. In fact, I was getting about 8-1 on my money to call (based on how many other people were in the pot) with the potential to bust him if the right card fell. So now it was time to figure out if calling was a good idea. After all, he could still have the 8 and a better kicker. He might have a pair of 9s or 10s. I would even believe he had 2 pair. Or he could be on the same straight draw I was or a similar one. He could even be on the flush draw and he is a player who will bet on draws. So my outs were as follows: 8 for trips, 6 for 2 pair, 5 for 2 pair, 9 for two pair, 10 for 2 pair, or 7 for a straight or any Spade for a flush...27 outs, though a few of them duplicate for a net of 22. Let's take a look at those outs.

I figured him for the 8 or 10...let's say we assign 40% to each likelihood with 5% each on the 9 or a bluff. If we both have trip 8s I am beat more than likely so I am not counting the 8 as an out. Same for pairing any of the others..if he has an 8 and better kicker or the pair of 10s then any time the board pairs for me it pairs for him and gives him trips if he has the 10 and it is the 10 the board pairs. So those outs are out. That leaves me with the 7 for a straight or any spade, 12 outs. That gives me about 24% chance to win the pot or 3-1 dog...and I am getting 8-1 on my money. Up front it COULD look like I am almost a favorite if I discount the outs that I believe help me and make him the winner. The only card that I discounted that maybe I shouldn't is pairing my 6.

So this is one time when, even believing I am beat, I am going to call because, even though I LOSE the pot more often than I win it, in the long run I come out ahead.

I should point out this is an example of a time when the outcome of a given hand does not necessarily reflect whether I played it well or not. Some people would argue the initial raise was a poor play. However, several times I had already raised with middle pairs and taken down the pots. I am actually pretty far ahead on that move. It is not something I will win the pot with every time and I know that. But by so doing I mix up my play (not just betting the nuts or the likely best hand) and taking down a lot of small pots. So when I make that raise and end up getting deeper into a pot, sometimes I will run into someone who checked the better hand. No big deal. And when it gives me the potential to get in cheap and possibly take down a huge pot then I am playing well even if I lose a specific pot. In this case, Don took it down but I felt fine with that. He had the better hand, I had the better draw. In some future game I will get involved in similar hands, lose a few times, win a couple times. The times I lose I will be down a few chips, the time(s) I hit it I will be up a boatload. When I lose I will not be hurt badly and will be in good shape in the tournament (I don't play those hands when I am low on chips) and when I win I will be in great shape to go deep. It is a case of losing when I play well.

By the same token, later I had pocket kings and raised from early position. Couple callers including Danny. I have a GREAT read on Danny. I have yet to stay in a hand with him where he has me beat at the river. (How is that for a guarantee the next hand I am in with him I will stay to the river and lose?) Once he bluffed me out of a hand where I thought he had trip Aces when in fact he had the exact hand I had...J/7. We would have split the pot with Aces up (we both paired our jacks), King kickers. Well, the hand I am discussing now, the flop was beautiful for me, no straights, flushes, or Aces. I raised it up, he called. I actually put him on a pair here but knew I was ahead. Turn was an Ace. I picked up his reaction. I checked, he bet, we were the only two in the hand, I pitched my cards in the muck saying, "Nah, you caught your ace, nice hand, Danny." He gave his Cheshire Cat grin and showed his A/7...and yep, he had 2 pair.

That was one time where the odds were wrong to chase. I had 2 outs to improve, the Kings. I believe he has the Ace as surely as if he was playing with his hand face up. That means if the board pairs, yes, I have 2 pair...but so does he. There is no straight. There is no flush. That means his 2 pair mean nothing. I am drawing against the Aces with 1 card to come. The second pair is just gravy for him. Even without it, I am drawing to 2 outs...about 4%. I am going to lose 25 times for every once I win that one, more or less. Let's be generous and call me a 24-1 dog. I am getting about 5-1 on my money in this particular pot. My cards almost beat his bet into the muck, though to be honest my analysis when playing live went about this deep: "He hit his Ace, I am too far behind."

I guess that goes back to experience, too. When someone has an over pair to mine I know the odds of beating them are staggeringly high unless I have other outs...straight or flush draws...and it is virtually never worth chasing unless I think I can bluff them out of the pot. Danny is not a guy you will bluff out of many pots.

Of course, I think those hands show that my attitude change led to playing better. I played strong hands and I played them aggressively. When I had nothing I folded, when I had a hand worth playing...I made them pay.

Other examples:
Pocket 9s. I raised, got a few callers. Right then I knew I was in trouble. 1 caller, maybe 2 and they might miss. With 4 callers...no way was this hand holding up unless I flopped trips. Sure enough, flop was all high cards. One raise, one call before it got to me, I folded.
Few hands later, pocket 2s. Raised from middle position after a couple of people limped in. BB called. Flop was ragged, mostly middle cards. I raised, he folded.
Pocket Jacks, raised, everyone folded.
10s, raised, had one caller, a re-raise, a caller to that, folded.

All of those, in those cases, I think I took strong hands, played them strongly, and played them correctly. When I am playing poorly I will limp with the 2s and lose the pot. I will probably limp with the 9s and lose less. I will limp with the jacks and lose. I will limp with the 10s and get raked over the coals to a hidden good hand.

By playing correctly and aggressively I get rid of the trash hands that flop 2 pair, I get rid of the people on long draws, and take down a lot more small pots which in turn allows me to absorb the hits when someone stays in and hits a gut shot or some such nonsense.

It also illustrates that playing well does not necessarily mean being dominant and playing poorly does not necessarily mean having no chips. I actually would have hit the final table in about every week for the last several Mondays even though I have not played particularly well. So we will see what happens if I actually keep playing correctly.

Mixer's, 8/28

Had not played at Mixers for a long, long time. Went there again, truth be told, mostly just cause it is fun hanging out with Roman. Emily actually decided to come along, so I was excited. i love it when she plays.

Lately I have been playing, truth be told, a pretty crappy game. Last weekend I played at Lydias not so much because I wanted to but because Bob is kind of hurt when I don't. So I told Em I was going to bust out just into the second blinds. So I went, I limped, I called off chips knowing I was beat...actually, three times I even said, "I know I am beat but I will pay you off", once correctly calling trips, twice calling 2 pair. So ironically my reads were dead on and my chips were melting.

I milked them until the first hand after the break and called the rest off on one hand. It was about a perfect day. I played for an hour and change, did not look like a donkey (even though I played like one) and got in some pretty good practice reading people.

Monday was more of the same with a slightly different strategy. Since I wanted to last longer I limped more, called less after the flop. Still, I was up maybe 1500 when someone busted out and I switched tables. A few hands in I limped with A/3 spades. Flop came A/Q/2. Todd raised, I figured he actually had some sort of a hand this time...maybe A/better kicker or at the least 2 pairs so I folded. John folded next to me so I did something I rarely, rarely do...I pulled my cards back out of the muck to show him I had folded top pair. He then showed me he had folded middle pair. And we both believed we were correct to do so...and we were right. Todd showed down a set of 2s.

Well, I kept limping which pretty quick puts you on short stack. By the time I got to about 1100 or so I was pretty bored and ready to go. Then came a hand that was a good one to double up or bust out. Jason, a very erratic player, and I were the only 2 in the hand. Flop gave me 4 to the Queen high flush. He checked his cards as people often do when 3 of a suit fall and they are not sure what they have. I figured he had maybe a medium, possibly a high card. When the turn was another club I went all in for my last 1000. He called and had the King. I wasn't going to play the consolation table but they needed a 4th to get started...then we ended up with 7. Well, they decided they wanted to allow rebuys which, in my opinion, makes for a terrible game because people will call anything with anything since they can just rechip. Sadly, still limping, I was hitting like a fiend and so 4 or 5 times I just gave them their "rebuy" out of my chip stack. I hit a lot of hands and had a huge stack...but the truth is I was playing terribly. Just because you hit a few q/7 or 2/4 type hands does not mean you are playing well...it just means when you play a lot of hands, you hit a lot of hands.

So going into the Mixers I knew I was actually playing poorly. I usually but not always put people on some sort of hand, I limp a lot, raise seldom, and play sub-par hands. I don't set out to build any particular table image. I just...float.

So last night I had Em to my left, then some guy I did not know, then Roman, then Jeff, then...Cody? Corey? I should know his name but don't, and then immediately to my right was Cole.

I started off correctly, fold or raise, no limp. And so did everyone else. This was not a limp table. As I was folding, Em was hitting hand after hand. She hit a boat. They thought she didn't know she hit it (she did, she just did not know if someone had a higher one), trips, top/top, trips, a straight...she was crushing the table. Meanwhile I got up to about 4500.

Then something happened. I lost with 2 pair three or four times, then everyone limped, I was in the small blind with pocket 2s. I should have raised or folded. People had showed weakness by limping, I could probably have picked up the pot with a strong bet. Instead I limped, KNOWING it was a mistake. Sure enough someone hit a middle pair.

A couple hands later I went ahead and raised the pocket deuces after a couple people had limped. All but one folded. Then I got nervous and checked the flop even though I thought he had missed it. He had, he hit the turn, and I was suddenly down to about 1800. I decided to pick my spot and try to get doubled up or, at the least, steal the blinds.

And it worked. I was either folding or going all-in. But it was not random all-ins. It was strong drawing hands in late position so the odds of getting called were small and of having the better hand if I was called were good. And I got LUCKY. I successfully stoled three or four times...and another three or four times I got it all in against Emily in "race" situations, never better than about 60-40 advantages...and hit every one. She could not lose against anyone else and could not win against me.

I finally went all-in against Leti at the final table with a J/10 suited...and she flipped up A/J suited. I was crushed, a 4-1 dog. But this proved to be the 1 and she was gone. Then I put poor Em all-in one more time, but this time I had more chips and she was gone. We got down to 3...Scotty, Roman, and I.

Earlier Roman had a HUGE chip lead but he had bled off a fair amount. Finally, at the last break we stood here: Scotty had 14K, Roman had 16K, and I had 16K. However, Em had been out for a while and the only reason I had that much was they were running scared. I would take the most marginal of hands and push all in...a/5, K/Q, J/9.

One hand from earlier hurt pretty bad. I raised pre-flop, Scotty came over the top all in. I had pocket 9s with three players. You know I was calling. He flipped up ....10s. Uh-oh. And the flop brought me a set..but he also got one. So I was drawing dead to the case 9. No quads, he took it down and instead of being gone was chip lead. But there is no way I could have gotten away from this hand. Even if we don't get it all in pre-flop, unless he totally jumps out of his seat there is no way I out him on a higher set when I trip up on the flop and there is only one over card. I don't feel bad about this call even though I was bhind from beginning to end. Sometimes you are simply going to be beat no matter how carefully you play. And I was not playing carefully...to be honest, after Em went out I was playing quite maniacally so I could take her home. But it was working...

We traded chip lead a bit but then, first hand after the break, with the totals mentioned above, I got crazy and limped in with 8/10 spades. Roman folded. Scotty checked. Flop gave me 4 to the straight, 4 to the flush. Scotty raised 4000. I was getting 3 to 1 to call, the correct price, though there is some question if it is a good call at this point anyway. However, I (correctly) read Scotty for having a weak hand he might lay down. And I really did not care if I hit it or not. So I came over the top all-in. And he almost folded. Then Nipa...who had been out for quite a while...talked him into calling. And he had bottom pair on the board. It was a great call. And I did not hit my spade or straight and was gone.

And that pretty much proves I was playing terribly because when I am playing well I will lay that draw down in the finals. But when I play poorly, I play like I don't care...which I did most of the night.

On the bright side...poker was fun again. So I might play one more time. We will see.

The art of patience

A few days ago I went back and read some of my early blogs. It was interesting seeing how I have adjusted my game with experience. Like most beginners, early on I played too many hands. Then I reached a point where I was probably playing about the correct number of hands. Then I got to where I probably did not play enough hands. Then too many again.



And the real irony is I have had success across the board. Early on most of my play was at Poker Stars. A lot of times you CAN limp there with a variety of hands. Since I never really bluffed, I always had strong hands at the showdowns and therefore had excellent results, folding my way out of a lot of bad hands. By the time I played my first live tournament I was pretty tight. Once more...when you have good hands at the showdown, you tend to pick up a lot of pots. I finished 4th out of 27...not bad according to most people's standards, but of course disappointing by mine. I'ma Wario...Ima gonna win. Later I got into a limp & outplay 'em after the flop, planning to limp into every hand until I lost about 1/3rd of my chips, then go into tight mode. This actually worked really, really well for a while, but then I started staying in hands too long when I would hit something like middle pair, weak kicker, and someone would donk around to the river and beat me there. Of course, since I was essentially donking by playing that hand in the first place...maybe the pot calling the kettle black?



Anyway, one common thread emerged. When I was playing well, I was patient. I did not force the action with sub-par holdings. No matter which way I played, I got into the big hands A) seldom and B) with the best hand or else a great draw with the right price. It is on nights where I get into the big pots with bad hands and bad draws that I do poorly. It is fine to play a 5d/8h as long as you get out when the flop comes 3/8/K rainbow and someone bets. You need something like a 4/6/7 rainbow or an 8/8/A to stay in with that. When I am playing patiently I fold the first and play the second. Then I make bank because who expects a 5/8 hand? Of course, every so often I run into an A/8 hand and then I get cracked pretty hard, though I have been known to lay down trips when I thought I was beat. Again...when I play patient, I wait until I am pretty sure I have the best of it.



And coming down to the end, regardless of stack size, I need to be patient. I am not a good chip bully. Just because I have the big stack does not mean I have the personality to raise with any two cards. I need to lay back, get super tight, let the others take each other out, and play better than average hands. As I often say, Hold 'Em is an easy game when you have good cards". So wait for them, stop getting mixed up with small stacks "just because they are small and I can afford it" or with big stacks that can hurt me badly.



Patience. I should tattoo it across my knuckles. Play fewer hands, then play them strongly. Wait for a good hand. Too many times when I get low I take the first A/rag I see and push with it. That is a poor move. Anyone who calls is likely to have a better Ace or a pair. Either way, I am likely drawing to 3 outs. It is perhaps egotistical, but I am going to say I know enough to be a good enough player to not be getting my chips in when I am a 4-1 dog or worse. I don't believe anyone is 4 times as good as me...better, yes, but not that much better. If I am patient I can usually find a better hand to go in on...either a pair or even a couple paint cards...or even 2 middle cards on the theory it will give me 2 live cards as long as they have no pair...then I will at least not be dominated. But I sometimes go in too early even though I have fold equity. Pick a spot from middle or late position since I am more likely to get 2 or 3 people fold and pick up the blinds than I am 6 or 7 people.

So there are a couple huge holes in my game; be more patient, pick my spots better when the cards have not fallen my way.

Lydias, 8/20/07

So fresh off my sub-par performance at the league edition, we were low on people so I played so there would be 2 tables of 5 each. Then 2 more people showed so we had 6 at each table.

My first hand I was small blind. It was a family so I completed the bet instead of raising my pocket 3s. That was a mistake. I was playing "friendly" instead of smart. It would come back to bite me. The flop was 8/9/8, a dangerous flop. No fear. John bet. I called. Barbara called...and she doesn't call unless she has something. Then we all checked it down to the river. I showed my 3s. Barbara showed the 8 she had caught. John laughed and flipped up...pocket 3s.

I said not raising them was a mistake. Well, had I raised, I would have taken both of them right out of the pot pre-flop. By letting Barb in particular in for cheap, I let her mediocre hand win a hand she should not have been playing. Poor play on my part. By not doing what I knew I should, no matter what my excuse, I priced in a hand that beat me.

Then it was fold, fold, fold. John, who is trying hard to figure out my game, said, "Playing kind of tight tonight, eh Drew?"

Next hand, under the gun, I raised to 3 times the blind. I used to raise 4 but I was experimenting a bit. Randy called. Flop brought low cards, I raised. He called. Turn paired the board...deuces. One guy, a quiet but solid player whose game I respect, commented, "There are your deuces, Randy." referring to Randy hitting them an inordinate amount of time...or at least seeming to. Sure enough, he re-raised me. I commented, "Well, if you have the threes, you have got me. I almost folded...then decided it looked like a bluff. I called. River was another 3. I had a boat, 3s full of aces. I raised. He called pretty quickly. One thing that drives me nuts is people slow-rolling, showing half a hand, and other non-sense. If you made the bet, show your cards and don't waste time. So I flipped mine up. Pocket Rockets. He looked at them, looked at his cards, and mucked. I took down a nice pot.

A lot more folding. Picked up A/K of diamonds. Flop was beautiful...K/r/r rainbow. Raised. Danny, a conservative guy who pretty much checks and calls, picked up something and called. Flop, turn, and river all saw me raise, him call. I had him on an Ace with a lower kicker. We will never know because I flipped mine up, he mucked.

Won with a straight. Had plenty of chips. Got down to where 3 people on the next table all went out at the same time which meant we were at final table. I put my chips away and moved over to the consolation table.

There I hit a couple hands where I bet top pair, mediocre kicker. It was good enough to give me a comfortable chip lead. Then I started goofing around, making sure I did not put anybody out. I thrice called with horrid hands when people were all-in "just to give them chips to play with." They got the chips.

I had done what I wanted to do. In a group like this I can wait for good cards, bet them, and get calls from good hands. Very few suck-outs...though one person playing a K/10 stayed in against my 2 pair and hit a straight on the river...but didn't bet it so I got out pretty cheap on that one. It was nice knowing I could build a chip stack almost at will. And it was a valuable, valuable lesson in one thing; PATIENCE. Wait for good cards. The game is pretty easy when you have good cards. Conversely, with mediocre cards you end up with tough decisions.

Case in point. John got into a hand with A/6 of diamonds. Flop came 6 high. One person went all-in, a second person came over the top, also all-in. He showed me his cards and folded. They flipped theirs up. Sure enough, he would have had the best hand...but how can you call 2 all-ins with either a pair of 6's...too easy to have overcards against you...or a pair of Aces with a 6 kicker? Sure enough, someone hit 2 pair, so his fold saved him a ton of chips. But it illustrated why weak hands should find the muck.

Starving Crazed Weasels, August edition

Numbers were weird...looked like we would have just 6....then 10...started with 10 so I split it into 2 tables since 9 is all you can REALLY fit around one of those tables. Well...then 1 took off without ever playing a hand (understandable under the circumstances...) so we had 2 short handed tables instead of 1 full table. Oh, well, short handed can be kind of fun since in short handed the values of hands go up so you can play a lot more hands.

Started out poorly. Raised one hand, bad flop, someone raised ahead of me, folded. Lots more folding. Meanwhile, Tracy had two hands with pocket Queens and another where she tripped queens. It was funny because in the random drawing, all 3 girls playing ended up at the same table and she was ruling with queens. Finally I hit a couple nice hands, took down a few pots and made some progress, actually at one point having 10 - 12K chips.

At one point I was on a rush and almost raised from the big blind with A/4 off (only Tracy called, Alan folded in the small blind) but didn't. Flop came A/4/A. Great flop...except I could see from Tracy's face she would fold if I bet so I decided to let her catch up. Turn was an Ace. We checked it down. I knew she would fold so there was no point to betting and I wanted "High Hand" points. So I won like...75 chips with quad Aces. The next hand people folded around to me in the small blind so I raised and Amanda folded. I won 25 fewer chips with a Jack Benny than I did with quads...how sad.

Then Roman went out first. Hey, happens to all of us sometimes. So we combined to 1 table. I had Amanda to my left, then Kenneth, while to my right I had Kevin, then Alan. Alan likes to raise, so does Kenneth. So I was between a couple action players. No problem, I was clear chip lead. The plan SHOULD be simple; tighten up a lot, play only premium hands, don't mix it up with the big stacks, bully the small stacks.

Well, about the third hand I picked up Q/J. I should re-read the previous paragraph and fold. Being very wise, I raised, Kenneth called. He will do that with a variety of hands, many of them not premium so it could mean a lot of things. I called. Flop came K/J/10. He raised. I put him on probably the kings, but did not bother working out a second card. At this point I was slightly on tilt from having a good night...which is a really bizarre thing to say...and I played this hand like an idiot. Not to say I should not have stayed in the hand...I will find that out in a few moments...but simply...I stayed in for the wrong reasons. Namely...I had a pair of jacks with a mediocre kicker and a straight draw and figured I was behind. But I did not stop to consider the mathematics of the situation, I just got greedy and thought if I hit again I could take him for a ride and if not then no harm done.

But let's look at the math. I think the blinds at this point were 50/100, though they may have been 100/200 at this point. So my raise would have been to 200. So there was close to 600 in the pot. He did one of his "I have a strong hand and want people in the pot" raises so it was maybe another 400 to go? So I needed to pay 400 to win 1000. I was getting about 2.5-1 on my money. I would theoretically improve on any 9 or Ace with my straight draw (8 outs), and on any Jack or Queen (5 outs) for a total of 13 outs. BUT...he could already have the Nut straight (A/Q could certainly be a hand he would raise with...he has looser starting requirements than I do so a Q/9 is not out of the question...He could have had 2 pair quite easily...in other words, his raises represented having a hand that hit the playing zone pretty hard. So it was likely some or most of my outs were counterfeited. It is even very possible that, if I hit my hand, I merely split the pot...say an Ace comes and gives up both the straight. So it is possible...probable even...that not only am I playing from behind (I instantly read that to be the case, though how far behind was hard to say since only twice all night did I bother putting people on specific hands) but EVEN IF I CATCH UP I ONLY TIE! So no...mathematically speaking, had I gone through the number crunching as I know I should, I just called.

That is a serious leak in my game, getting lazy. There was no point to being in this hand. He wanted the pot, let him have it, I have a weak hand.

Well, the turn was some blank that neither helped nor scared me...might even have been a deuce, I don't recall. He raised, I called. The river was the worst card I could catch...a Jack. It gave me trips. So, conceivably, it could have been a good card for me...if he had 2 pair or less. But as we already saw, it is MORE likely he had a straight or better. So by getting a strong hand myself...well...it gets worse.

When he has a strong hand he has a thing he does that lets anyone paying attention know he is going to bet. He did that thing. I knew he would bet. So instead of waiting to see how much I decided to bet. However, instead of a prudent bet, I bet a full 1000. This would have been a good bet if I thought I was ahead...but I thought he had me beat! It was like saying, "Okay, I know you are going to call me but I might be wrong so I will try to bluff you off even though I know you can't be bluffed off." Well, he did what any intelligent person would do and re-raised. And like an idiot, knowing there was no way I was ahead, I called. But not before I thought about re-raising him all in. Knowing a bluff would not work. At least I did not do that. Well, he had the boat...he had pocket kings. Again...I never bothered to put him on a hand other than "ahead" but had I done the math I would have been correct about some outs being counterfeited.

It cost me something like 2700 chips. Which hurt, though I was still close to the chip lead. Kenneth might have had a slight edge at that point and Alan was now nipping at my heels.

But I did not go on tilt. I knew I had played stupid and he way outplayed me on the hand, probably maximizing the number of chips he could extract from the hand. If anything, it brought me around to playing well again. For some reason I do not play well with the chip lead. I need to be down a little bit so I think about what I am doing. That is another HUGE leak.

A couple hands later I got involved in a hand with Tracy where she was raising. Well, when she raises, I KNOW she has something good. Problem is...I flopped an open ended straight. And the pot odds said call. Her raises were giving me 8 and 10 - 1 on my money with a 1.86-1 draw. If anything, I should have been betting it to A) semi-bluff and possibly win the pot that way and B) get more money in the pot if I did hit it. Unfortunately, I missed my draw. Missed another one later. Had someone beat my 2 pair with trips. Lost to a flush with a straight. Chips were bleeding like mad.

Then I picked up pocket 6s, my first pockets of the night. I was in the small blind and was going to raise but Phillip beat me to it, raising from middle position. I cold-called and the flop was beautiful. A/6/5. I did the math and bet 1200, enough that nobody on a draw had the right odds to call...but with Phillip's raise I thought he might since that Ace could have hit him. I had him out-chipped so even if he went all-in (which he would have to do with trip Aces) I would call on the long-shot even though I would be drawing dead. However, he did not have Aces...he had pocket Queens. Alan was agitating hard for him to call but Phillip read me as being ahead and wisely folded. In 2 other confrontations Alan thought I was bluffing (on neither one was I) and tried to get people to call.

A few hands later he and I were involved. By now the blinds were at 400. I raised 3 times the blind to 1200. He called. Flop came, I had overcards to the board (A/Q) and I raised another 1200. He came over the top raising to 3000. By now he had more than me and it would put me all in. It looked like a bluff. It smelled like a bluff. The board should not have hit anything he had. I figured to have had the best hand pre-flop and post-flop. I knew I should call. BUT....what if he had a pocket pair? Or even A/K? Then I could be way behind. I would still have about 1700 chips if I did not call...enough to have some fold equity. But I believed he was bluffing.

I folded.

I should not have. Looking back, he was testing me since other people had not been calling. Ironically, NOT showing my hands cost me here. He was testing me and he was afraid I would call. I should have know that when he did not react to my question. Classic "try not to be noticed" response.

He outplayed me because I did not trust my read. I should have doubled up on that hand.

Well, I did make a little bit back but then missed hand after hand after hand. The blinds were getting up there and finally I was all in blind in the big blind. Had about a 52-48 but ended up losing that one, too. All night I lost about every draw, including one where I had top pair, straight, flush, and straight flush draws...I was the favorite but never hit the hand despite being the favorite from the flop on....some nights, those hit and I look unstoppable. Other nights, they miss and I don't do some well.

This night I misplayed 2 hands that really were the difference between having a legit shot to win and going out in the middle of the pack. Then again, on a night where of the 8 people put out, 7 were put out by one person...I think he pretty much deserved to win anyway!

I mixed it up in I think 3 pots I would not have otherwised in attempts to take people out. Not one of them did I hit. I should learn from that...

Lydias, 8/13

15 people so I decided to play to make it an even 16, 2 tables of 8. I was determined to A) put people on some sort of hand and B) raise or fold pre-flop.

First hand, I was small blind, picked up a mediocre A/7. Everyone limped in. Every instinct I had was to raise to 200 and get rid of a bunch of them, figuring to raise on the flop (I would probably be first to act) and take down the pot right there. Instead I limped in.

Limping here is bad. People could have literally any 2 cards...A/2 or A/A, they are both playable when you can limp. So is a 2/4 or 5/7, something that can hit.

Well, an Ace came on the flop. I raised, couple callers. That pretty much should tell me I am beat. A 7 is nothing to be proud of. I raised again on the turn to see what would happen, putting him on a better Ace or 2 pair. We both checked the river and sure enough, he had A/J.

I folded a couple hands and then picked up the pocket rockets. I raised to 200. Got 1 caller. Flop was ragged and rainbow. Raised 200, he called. I figured he had something like A/10 or higher, maybe K/J, or possibly a small pocket pair. Raised the turn, he called, I got the idea he was fishing so I raised another time on the river, he folded. I showed the Aces anyway. I wanted to establish a tight image where I was hitting.

A couple of folds and then I picked up the cowboys in the big blind. A bunch of people had limped so I raised another 200, got rid of most of them, raised the flop and turn having him read for a worse pair at best, and he paid me off on the river.

A few folds later I picked up Cowboys again, this time in early position. My raise got rid of a few but Jason stayed with me. And the 8s came out. 2 on the flop. I raised 200, he called. Turn was a blank. I checked, he raised, I called. River was an 8. I raised 1000. He called. He had a boat, 8's over 10s...but mine was over Kings.

A couple hands after I had a King/2 of Spades. Ironically, when someone says, "I only played it because it was suited" I lick my chops. I like to hear that because suited is statistically almost a wash. Well...I played it because it was suited. I limped in with it in late position. Flop came King and 2 spades. Hmm. Top pair, 4 to the 2nd nut flush. I raised. Lots of callers. Turn was another spade and gave a possible straight draw. I raised, a couple callers. Turn could complete the straight draw, I raised, Norm to my left came over the top all in, everyone folded to me.

This is the first time I have played with this Norm...ironically, I was seated between 2 Norms...what are the odds...but he had seemed pretty solid. I had watched him for several hands and knew he would not be on a bluff here. That meant he either had a really nice flush...or the straight. And by when he chose to do that I instantly put him on the straight. So there was no question I was calling.

This was one of those instances where everything together. Without being able to specifically put a guy I had never played with before on 2 specific cards, I was definitely able to put him on a type of hand...in this case, a third nut straight draw. Even before he turned over his cards I KNEW he had a straight, though I could not say why I knew. Just something about his style of play led me to believe that is what he had. Straights don't beat King-high flushes, so he was gone.

Well, at this point I was the clear chip leader...and I leave once it gets down to the final table so I decided to switch up my play and start mixing it up a bit more, limping in and playing hands not quite as good. So I lost a few pots with middle pairs, etc., but won a few pots too. Still, I was clearly in decline, going from a high of maybe 10 - 12K down to about 6 or 7.

Did get involved with an interesting hand with Gary. Gary is a tight/passive player. He will occasionally take a flyer on top pair but for the most part he checks and calls along. He will call with made hands but also with good draws. I had a 4/6 of diamonds. Flop came black 4, 5 and 7 of diamonds, giving me a pair, up and down straight flush draw. I raised, drew a caller. Turn was a black 3, giving me the straight. I raised, Gary called. River gave me a flush, albeit only a 6 high (in my world). I raised, he called, I showed, he mucked. I know he had something good, probably 2 pair, but not good enough to take out a flush. I sure wanted my first straight flush, though.

A little later Jason was down to 400 chips with blinds of 1 & 2. I picked up J/9, a hand I love to raise with into multi-way pots. It is a great drawing hand. Sure, I will lose with it 6 times out of 7 or whatever the odds are...but I will make more on the one I hit than the ones where I lose because it is such a sneaky, deceptive hand. So if I risk, say, 400...I will lose 400 6 times. But the 7th time If I make just 3000 then I have made a profit. (7x4=28, I lost 2800 and won 3000, a gain of 200 chips). And how easy is it to make 3000? If I raise to 400 and get, say...3 callers, there is 1200. Raise the flop 400, say 1 folds and 2 hit something. There is 2000. Now I have to make just 1000 at the turn and the river to make my 1000 and if they stayed with me that long, they hit something and the money in the pot means they are priced in to calling.

Well, I flat out said, "Jason, if this weren't your big blind I would raise this hand." He grinned...and John went ahead and raised it to 400 from the small blind anyway. 3 of us called (Jason was not one of them). Flop came 9/9 rag. I raised. One guy briefly considered re-raising...and my table image worked against me. They others said, "If he raised, he will call you or put you all in." So he folded instead....as did everyone else. I still made 1400 on the hand...but would have made much more had I not had such a tight image. The real irony was I had shown a couple of bluffs not too long before that.

Got down to 10 players and a guy went out at the other table, so I called last hand before final table, then would step out. Naturally I picked up Q/J suited. I raised. It went around to John, a guy who really likes to talk poker with me and has great respect for my game. He debated between a fold, a much, and going all-in. Someone else, fooled by my early table image, said I would definitely call him if he did. He hesitated, then just re-raised me.

Now, at this point something did not smell right. I had seen him hesitate to call several times and usually it was a good hand, well worth playing, but he just did not have the will to see it through. I figured he had a couple nice high cards, maybe a medium pair. Flop came all rags. I raised to guage his reaction. He said, "Why you putting me at risk?"

Something about the way he said it, I revised my estimate of his hand. If he had two nice cards he would fold there. I know his game, I know what he would do. So that meant he had a pair. It also meant they were higher than the board and high enough he was not fearing any overpair I might have. I checked and he raised on the river. I called just to maintain my image, he showed the rockets, I mucked.

Then I was done as we were down to the final table. For the night I played very well. My reads were pretty spot on (in one hand I had I think A/J and Todd called my raise. He is prone to call with any two cards, almost preferring a 4/6 to an A/K). Flop came 4/8/J, I raised 600, he reraised another 1000. I instantly put him on a 4...and I would believe 4/8 or 8/J. If he had one pair I could run him down. If he had 2...I was all but drawing dead. I talked it out aloud, stuff like "I know you have the four...but if you have 2 pair you have me crushed." He said, "I guarantee I don't have A 4." Right then I folded. I had seen him do that once before and he had trips. Sure enough, he showed his cards...pocket 4s. It would have been easy to call that and lose a big chunk. Later I was watching the final table and on the end John did his face scrunching routine, then made a huge overbet trying to induce a call. Someone laid down 2 pair, kings and Jacks, and said, "I will probably regret it." "Nah, " I said, "John had the queen." which he then flashed. He hit his straight on the last card. I worked back through how I knew that. When the flop came A/K/J something in the way he check/called led me to believe he had a close card but had missed. Then when a 10 hit on the river he went all-in it looked like a crying call type of raise where he wanted people to think he had the 10 or worse...but I did not think he would have stayed in to a raise and 2 callers with 2 unders unless he had a draw. There was no flush draw at the time he made his first call. If he had no pair, as I believed, or at best a weak pair, maybe the Jack, another possibility, then he had to be on a straight draw so I put him on something like the q/j if he had a pair, q/something if not. As it turned out he had a q/2.), I raised and folded where appropriate, I bluffed a few times, even getting caught once or twice...but still made money on them. I built my desired table image and then used it to my advantage. Had I wished, I could have won that one, of that I have no doubt. So I felt pretty good about my game.

Lydias, 8/6

Did not play in the main game tonight as traffic once again meant I was late arriving. However, we did get 6 for a consolation table so I went ahead and played in that. With John, Randy and Janet there it was not a walk in the park and Marylou is wild enough to make her angerous. Jason, some nights he catches cards and is lethal, other nights he makes some calls that can lead to an arched eyebrow.

Early on everyone was limping. I hit a few hands, missed a few, and was yo-yoing between about 1200 and 700 (consolation starts with 900). I was having a good time. Then came a hand where I could have bankrupted a bunch of people.

I was the dealer and picked up Q/8 diamonds. This is not a hand I would play if people were raising pre-flop. Sure, it has straight and flush possibilities, but both of those are problematic. The flush would be Queen High and anyone hitting a diamond flush in that situation would likely have the Ace or King. The straight would have to hit perfect and goes down in flames to anyone playing a Q/K. Even if I pair I have good pair, weak kicker or mediocre pair, decent kicker...nothing to write home about. So if people are making you pay to play it is not a playable hand. I got in cheap.

The flop was absolutely perfect...3 queens. I had flopped quads. Since I don't play for points and was really just filling in so they would have enough to have a decent game I did not want anyone going broke on this hand. So I said, "You can all just check to me and I will bet it so you can fold. I have it."

Now, normally when a scare flop like this comes people go into their shell, check it down and call it a hand. This time Janet led out with 300 chips! Hmm...pocket pair? An Ace? They folded to me, I said, "If I were playing serious I would go over the top all-in right here. But I don't want you to go broke so I will just call." The turn was a 6. She reached for chips and before she did I said, "You might want to check that." and flashed the Queen. Then we checked it down. Obviously I could have put her out (I had her covered at that point) but I just wanted to play a few hands.

A little later I had given back most of the chips and was down to about 700 after paying my big blind. Flop came 8/7/5...not a bad flop for an 8/4 hand. I had top pair, gutshot straight and backdoor flush draws. I bet 200. John thought about it for a few seconds, then measured out my last 500 and raised it. I sat back to think about it, leaning towards a call but not sure yet. I did not like either draw enough to call that bet. He could have overs, he could have top pair, better kicker, or he could be bluffing. I instantly ruled out the bluff. He is a by the book guy who bets when he has it and not when he doesn't. He had already demonstrated he would go all-in with top pair, good kicker as he was somewhat on tilt from an earlier hand where he flopped top pair, decent kicker, and lost on the river when Janet paired her kicker with same top pair. A couple hands later as soon as he hit top pair he went all in. So I had him on top pair. That meant my top pair was matched and I was drawing to a 4 or a 6. Not good enough for me to risk my tournament life.

But before I could fold he flipped up his cards thinking I had called. I went ahead and folded anyway...because his 8/5 was 2 pair and I was too far behind.

Now I was low on chips and went into fold/all-in mode. When I got to 400 I picked up pokcet 5s and went all in. They folded. Pocket 6s all in. I doubled up. Now I am back over where I started. Pocket 2s. I raised to 3 times the blinds. Janet came over the top, more than doubling me. John called. I folded. An Ace high won the pot. Janet had K/10 suited and John had A/10.

And so it went. I hit a straight, did some damage...but all night I carefully avoided taking anybody out. I let them do that.


I actually felt I played pretty well. Had I wished I could easily have won the thing. My reads were pretty good. I put Marylou on three consecutive hands that I called out loud, she showed what I called, and they were a bit intimidated by it. Plus, when I needed to hit, I hit.

Meanwhile, Randy busted out when his Queens did not hold up to an Ace on the flop, Jason took a beating when he folded his queens to an Ace/K on the flop...only to have Janet show the Queens she had bet with...he was gone soon after, Marylou went out with a strange, strange hand, and John then took out Janet. I still had a slight chip lead but he wanted to go home (and so did I) and I had accomplished my purpose...see a few flops, try to read a few hands, so we called it a night.

Starving Crazed Weasels League July Edition

Early on looked like really, really good attendance. But then Pete & Robin decided to move, Alan had Elena this weekend, Brook & Jamie ended up getting called away, Tim elected to purchase cleats, Mark couldn't make it, Kenneth stayed home with Issac, Kevin & Cassie had the impending birth on their minds, and Rick & Jennifer were busy...suddenly we had but 8 people. Was all good, that is a pretty fun number and we had a fun group:

Roman: I know his play and fear it.
Amanda: Tight but becoming more aggressive
Me: Maniac
Tracy: getting better every time.
Phillip; tends to play differently depending on who is there.
Josh; surprisingly good, but can be impatient
Stanica; improving every time out. Still can make some...uh...strange calls, but her play is so much better than when she started it is scarcely believable
Emily; when she plays a lot she is better than me. When she only plays here and there as she has taken to doing she also can make some strange calls

I started out fairly tight, raising or folding. And since I was getting no cards and Roman was starting hot, raising regularly, lots of folding. He hit a couple pocket pairs back to back, he was hot, built a nice chip stack.

Then I got pocket 4s in the big blind. I thought about raising...but checked. Now, there is a mistake. First off, with people limping they are showing weakness. If I hit, I want to get paid off. Let's say I raise to 200, 4 times the big blind. 2 people would fold instantly, maybe all of them, so I either win it outright or at the least lessen the odds someone hits the flop. I also increase my potential winnings exponentially...let's say 4 people limped ahead of me, a not unreasonable assumption...I raise and chase out 2 of them, that adds 600 to the pot (my 200, plus 200 each from 2 callers) meaning the pot is now 1050 chips. I know I am coming out raising if I trip my 4s and with that size pot I can reasonably raise more without scaring people off. Instead I checked like a chump, flop had 3 nice high cards, we checked around. I bet the turn, they folded. Thus by going against my pre-flop instincts and checking I potentially cost myself 400 chips, maybe more. Small plays like that make a difference later in the game. I know better than to play passively but I did so anyway.

A few hands later I did some serious raising with Emily & Stanica involved, got them both all-in...and Stanica and I split the pot to put Emily out first. A bit later I had top/top and Amanda was priced in with second pair.

On the bright side, that started a rush. I raised with pocket 10s, raised, made a nice pile. The next hand Roman cracked my pocket 8s for a nice pot. I raised a couple A/J, A/10 type hands and won them. I was on a real rush. From the button I picked up pocket Kings which I almost prefer to pocket aces based on pure feeling, a dumb way to play. I just "feel" like I am going to hit the Alabama Knight Riders (3 kings, the K-K-K) more than trip Aces. Mathematically incorrect and something that will cost me in the long run since Aces are better. Well, I raised to 300, Phillip & Stanica called. Phillip had just lost a good size pot when he thought he had the best hand and called so he was leery, but Stanica had LOTS of chips. Flop came q/5/....6? I calculated how much Phillip had left and raised 1400, enough to put him all-in. He went into the tank for a long time. I started thinking about what he could have to call. A/q? K/q? Q/rag? I knew he would not stay with rags so no way did he hit the 5 or 6 and no way was he on a straight draw. It was a rainbow so there was no flush draw. I really, really wanted him to call. I figured he had paired the queens and was trying to figure out how I could have him beat.

A couple times he said, "I think I should call, but after that last hand I don't see how I can." That is actually a horrible sentence. His instincts said call. He went against them. Sure, some times our instincts are wrong, but TRUST YOUR READS! Go with them. And what happened the previous hand has no impact on the current hand. I might have raised based on something like A/J, maybe Big Slick, maybe a pair of jacks or 10s or even 8s...I had already showed I would raise with all those. I might have missed completely and been making a continuation bet. He obviously had something good, either queens or something that could beat queens. I don't disagree with his fold, but I do disagree with his reasons. The only reason to fold here is you believe you are A) behind and B) the pot odds do not justify a call. As it turns out, he had pocket Aces...so the ONLY hands I could reasonably have that beat him so bad he cannot justify a call are; pocket 5s, pocket 6s, pocket qs. If I have any of those he is on a 2 outer (Aces). He has seen 5 cards, there are 47 unseen. 45 help me, 2 help him, so 45-2, he would be a 22.5-1 dog and he was getting nowhere near that on his money. However, he did not think that far ahead and laid down Aces to my Kings. Had he made the (correct) call he would have more than doubled up and been a serious threat for some time to come. Instead he had 1400 to play with and a few hands later Josh put him out.


Finally he folded. Stanica thought about it for a while and folded as well. My Kings held up for a good-size pot and a huge psychological edge.

Now I was rolling, building a slim but important chip lead. This was a good time to lay low, play only premium hands and let people knock each other out. Instead I fell in love with K/9 for some inexplicable reason. Normally it is a hand I fold time after time after time. It is a HORRIBLE hand. If I hit my nine...okay, middle pair, good kicker. If I hit my King...okay, good pair, mediocre kicker. If I hit the straight I get crushed by anyone playing Big Slick...duh, someone is ALWAYS playing Big Slick. There are maybe three hands that can hit to make K/9 good...a flop of K/K/9 or 9/9/K or...well, okay, 2 hands. Staggeringly high odds.

And here came example A. I called Roman's raise with it. Rule #1 in tournament play; if you are big stack, don't mix it up with stacks that can hurt you, prey on the smaller stacks that you can scare. If you MUST mix it up, do it with premium hands. Flop came K/blank/blank, all hearts. I raised, he re-raised.

Red flag alert! True, I instantly read him for not having the flush draw, I also read him for having the king and even for having me beat. True, I was priced in...but might be so far behind I could not run him down. I had a pair of kings with a mediocre kicker. If I get out at this point I still have the chip lead and no problems. I needed to lay it down. Instead I decided to try to get lucky. 1000 chips later he showed a King Queen...I was way behind from the beginning. However, I had talked myself into believing he had made a completely out of character raise with K/8 or worse, not hit any small cards, and was somehow behind. I read he had me beat...and paid off a lot of chips anyway. I also read he would lay it down to an all-in...and did not do that. I played a weak hand passively and gave away to the chip lead when I got badly, badly outplayed. Reason 10, 149 not to play mediocre or weak hands.

Finally we got down to 3 players, Stanica, Roman and I. Stanica had me badly out chipped by this time. However, she started making some strange and weak calls and I started playing aggressively...I waited for strong hands, when I hit something I went all-in. This let me steal a few pots (if it is really stealing when you have the best hand) but I got no calls and never doubled up. Still, I built up over 4000 chips from a low of less than 1000 and then Roman took Stanica out.

Heads up I continued to call, then go all-in when I hit something or fold when I had nothing. I was playing well. Then I picked up Roman's favorite hand, K/10. I went all-in pre-flop. That, to me, was a dumb move. I had chips to play with, it is a nice hand, but as of yet it is still King high...it is losing to any pair, even lowly deuces, and is behind any Ace. Since I will pair once out of three hands it is not an all-in hand, even heads up. Well, he called with...K/J. I was dominated, a 3-1 dog. And the flop paired my 10...and his jack. The turn gave us both the King. I needed a queen or 10. I did not get it and was gone.

On the dark side, the pre-flop all-in was stupid. On the bright side...I would have been all-in on the flop anyway with my 10 and definitely on the turn with 2 pair.

I was clearly outplayed in the mid and late stages by both Roman and Stanica until I tightened down and Stanica loosened up. I goofed away a comfortable chip lead by overplaying weak hands and deserved to lose while Roman was playing as well as I have seen him play and deserved to win. It was good to see the improvement in Stanica's play and was a fun, fun night overall.

Lydias, 7/23

This would be my first time running a game. Sadly, due to personal issues encountered by the individual who used to run this particular game, player confidence is somewhere between low and non-existent that there would BE a game. So a lot of people transferred to another league and attendance, which once was between 16 and 23 people, now was all of 5 people. 6 if you count me. Ouch.

I gave them all the extra 300 chip and they wanted me to play so I did. So I started out 10% behind. On the bright side, I never think of that as a disadvantage. When I am on my game I don't think a 10% chip shortage is a problem, although the converse is not true; if I am on my game and start with a 10% advantage it is trouble for my opponents because I have a margin for error I don't need...not that there is ever a huge margin for error in No Limit. As numerous players and commentators have pointed out, you can play perfectly all day and make 1 mistake...and be out. I have had that happen. For example, early in one game I was playing well, reading people well, making the right moves to maximize value when I had the hand and getting out of the way when I was beat, even bluffing pretty well and taking down a few pots that did not belong to me. I got in a hand with Irish. He was staying right with me so I put him on a high flush, maybe a Jack or king high...which would not stand up to my Ace high nut flush. We got it all in...and he beat me with his straight flush. I went from chip lead to almost out on one error. Fortunately, that day I was A) on my game and B) had started with that slight advantage so I had chips left, came back and placed second that night. However, it goes to show that even my "A" game does not make me invincible.

Last night was not my A game...I was not bothering to read people, was not making moves, i was just floating. About the third hand I got involved in a hand I should not have. First off, I was in the big blind and got a free ride when nobody raised. So I had no clue what sort of holdings anyone might have since everyone limped and they are willing to limp with literally any two cards...3/8,2/7, k/j, Aces....

Flop gave me a pair. Randy bet it with small chips. When he bets small chips he hit something. I know that, I just did not pay attention. I called. Turn gave me two pair. He bet, I raised, he called. River was an 8. An eight had fallen on the flop. He bet big. He bet fast. Had I been paying attention I would have put him on trips simply because when he has a strong hand he bets to get a call, when he has a vulnerable hand...or nothing...he goes all in. I did not care, I called. My two pair were a nice hand. Not as nice as his trips, though...and I was down to about 1800.

No big deal, it was not a huge crowd, just go into super tight mode, hit a hand, chip up. Pretty quick I picked up cowboys. I raised it to 300, 6 times the blind. That should clear out any marginal hands. My plan was, if no Ace fell on the flop, to raise all in. Well...apparently they don't just LIMP with any 2 cards, they also CALL with any 2 cards because nobody folded. (One guy was already out) I got 4 callers to a raise of 6 times the blind from under the gun from a guy who had been folding hand after hand. Either they all read me for being on a move (good for me), they all had big hands (bad for me) or they just weren't paying attention (bad for me). It also had the effect of making me a prohibitive underdog. Against each individual hand I was a strong favorite...and I was the highest percentage to win. But each hand...say it only had a 15% of winning. 4x15=60%...I might be 40% to win, thus a full 25% better chance than any other INDIVIDUAL hand...but overall I was a 60-40 dog. This is the peril of multiple callers and why picking the correct amount to drive out the chaff is such a key skill.

Well, the flop was pretty good for me...5,7 of clubs and a 2, red. Checked to me, I went all in, fold, fold, fold, call. CALL? Uh-oh...he flipped them up saying, "When you see my draw you will see why I had to call." He flipped up...the 4/6 of clubs. He had the straight draw, the flush draw, and the straight flush draw.

So let's calculate where I am at here; I am still the favorite...but it could get ugly. We know what 7 of the cards are. That leaves 45 unseen cards. He has 9 flush cards and 8 straight cards, though 2 of those (the 3 of clubs and the 8 of clubs) are duplicates, so he has 15 cards that will help him, 30 that won't. I am a 3 to 1 favorite to nearly triple up.

Of course, that also means about 25% of the time he will hit his card. And there are a lot of cards that will hurt me. I could hit runner-runner for the King high flush, runner-runner for a full house, but nothing else really helps. And when the first card was the 3 of clubs I was drawing dead to his straight flush.

AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I have NEVER had a straight flush. I have lost to his, to Irish's, to Emily's, and dealt her two of them. I have just never had one. Oh, well.

The real problem is I never bothered to think about what people might have, even when I was not in the hand. I have developed a couple of theories...Norman raises inversely according to his holding and can be ego-goaded into stupid calls. If he makes large bets in relation to pot he is probably bluffing, but if his bet is about the size of the pot...he has a good hand. He will play crap starting hands but stay with them too long. If he senses weakness, even if he has nothing, he will go all in on the belief you can't call. Problem is...these are theories. I did not bother watching him to make sure they were right..

His wife, Janet tends to bet if nobody else did...but only if she is going well. If she loses a hand or two, she then goes into a shell and can be pushed off of hands, only bets if she has it. Also, if she has an extra strong hand, she will bet an extra chip. Again...theories.

Randy; if he uses several small chips...say, 4 whites...to make a bet it has a different meaning than if he uses 1 large chip...say, a red one. Or if he bets 600 using six reds it speaks to his hand strength different than if he uses 1 green and one red. I THINK it means he is confident when he uses the large chips and that he is trying to hold onto his chips as long as he can when he strings it out by betting the small chips. But I did not pay attention and garner hard data to back that up.

Car guy: loves to slow play, will stay in on draw, will bet draws on river if nobody else did.

So I have ideas...but nothing I would bet the farm in because I wasn't paying attention. The lesson? Even when i am not in a hand, pay attention; you never know what you can pick up.

West Killarney, 7/6

I had not golfed for a couple of years. For some random reason, Phillip, Bob (Tracy's Dad), Gabe and I randomly decided to go. Then it turned out Gabe was just wanting to walk along and take pictures. Okay, fair enough. Here we go, let's have some fun.



First hole Phillip launches his tee shot, beautiful, Bob puts his dead center in the fairway, and then it was my first time to hit a ball in a LONG time. I pulled out my trusty 7 wood. No tee for me. I checked my grip, slid my right foot forward slightly, nice easy backswing, smooth swing, and crushed it, blowing past the fairway by a good 40 yards. Too much club. Unbelievable. And it put me behind a pair of towering trees. I knew I was going to swing softly, had no way of judging distance so pulled my pitching wedge. Again, soft, smooth swing...and blasted over the trees, over the green, almost into the canyon. Wow, good power on my shots today! Well, now I was behind a fence. I grabbed my beloved 8 iron and punched it onto the green from whence I 2 putted for a bogey. Not bad...2 tough shots and I save a bogey. I was not displeased at all.



hole 2: this one is a sharp dogleg right that drops away. It is not wise to try to cut off the dogleg because your ball stays in the canyon so my plan was to hit a soft shot maybe 190 yards, chip and putt. I pulled out my 5 iron on the theory that I had lost 40 yards off each club. Apparently my 140 yard pitch taught me nothing...even worse, I sliced liked a madman. Of course, in this case the combination of too much club and poor directional control landed me in the fairway about 30 yards off the green. A modified 8 iron left me a reasonable birdie putt which I missed but still saved par. 2 holes in and I had a par!



Hole 3: real short par 3, nothing tricky except dropping off the cliff. I hit a real light 8 iron because I trust it more than my gap wedge, which would have been the correct club distance wise. Sadly, I faded my shot and was in the rough pin-high to the right of the green. Pitch, putt, putt, bogey.



Hole 4: Long, straight hole with trees on both sides. I concentrated on not over swinging...just a soft, smooth swing. Well, when you let the club do the work amazing things happen...such as a long, straight drive. 8 iron pin high, left of the pin, 2 putt, par.



Hole 5; Longer, this one is a par 5 that goes over water about 100 yards off the green. I decided since I was swinging so well to get some extra distance so I ramped up my swing. I am an idiot. I pulled it...long, high, and left which landed me in some trees. Fortunately, I had a clean shot to the green but the water made me nervous so I ramped up my swing again, still using my 7 wood. Somehow, this 23 degree club which often brings rain I could not get off the ground and hit a worm burner maybe 100 yards. Terrible stroke. I went back to a light, easy swing and over drove the green with my third shot. A pitch, a couple putts and I had another bogey.



Hole 6: Tight fairways, medium length par 4. Nice, smooth, light swing equals nice distance, nice location. 8 iron to the dance floor, regulation number of putts, par. I am not aware of it at the time but I am having a very strong round. I tend to remember stuff like the poor drive, bad 2nd shot, and off-line 3rd shot from the previous hole and forget I saved a bogey. So my bad shots dominate my mind when there are actually relatively few of them and are plenty of good ones.

Hole 7: Short par 3 with valley between tee and hole. Seriously, that valley should not come in play. A short pitching wedge puts you over it...so like a moron I went with a modified 8 iron because I really, really like the 8 iron. Sadly I shank like a smurf and am about half-way to the hole, off to the left on a slope. My pitch is not too good as I hit almost the back of the green and it is a huge green. A nasty 3 putt and I have a double bogey on an easy, easy hole. Oops.

Hole 8: This is a tough, tough hole. It is long, straight, and narrow. The woods are deep, the rough long. If you get off the fairway you are in trouble. Well, another smooth, light swing produced a BOOMING drive. Here is how good it was; after teeing off legitimately with my 7 wood I broke out my driver just for fun to see if I could hit it. Everything was awesome; my swing was maybe a bit too compact but it was still light and smooth, the ball came off cleanly and it was a beautiful drive, straight, long...and about 40 yards shorter than my 7 wood. My second shot over drove the green. My chip was short of the cup and I 2 putted...I was thinking bogey but no, the hole was a par 5. I had yet another par!

Hole 9: This has a relatively lengthy drive to a dogleg left. You need to make the corner or you have to shoot for the green blind. On the other hand, cut the corner too tight and you are in the trees and if you go long you hit the street. Well, I faded again and instead of laying tight to the corner I left myself a solid 220 yards to the hole or so. My second shot I scuffed the grass and left myself maybe 160 yards. I pulled the gap wedge and overshot the green. "Here is my melt-down hole" I announced. Then I proceeded to 2 putt to pull of a bogey and a 42, tied for the 2nd best score i have ever had.


This round showed all that is right about my game when I am playing well. My good shots leave me easy second shots, my putting was on, never worse than a 2 putt, and even my poor shots were overcomable with no outrageous scores (both Phillip and Bob had double digit scores on certain holes). I was relaxed, just enjoying the walk and the time with friends. It was a great deal of fun and makes me willing to play again. I just need to remember not to try too hard, overswing, and get out of my element.

Mixers, 7/17

Had not played against people in two weeks. Almost did not play tonight since I was running the game but Bob & Roman talked me into it.

I folded the first couple hands, then the third hand picked up Big Slick so I raised to 200, 4 times the big blind, 2 callers. Bert said, "You going to raise in first position EVERY time?" I thought it was pretty funny so filed it away for future reference. The flop came A/rag/rag. I raised, Eric called. Turn was a blank, I raised, he called. River was a blank, I had him on an Ace but not 2 pairs, I raised, he folded, I mucked. This was a good move as it led to a lot of speculation as to what I had held.

Won a couple other small pots and noticed a pattern. Bert was pretty close in his reads on me...but not close enough. He consistently undervalued my hands. Filed that away for future reference.

Under the Gun for the second time I pulled out chips as the cards were being shuffled and said, "Just getting ready for my first position move." Bert laughed, so did Bob, but a couple of people did not get it.

Picked up Big Slick suited, called a raise and re-raise from Bert and Eric. Flop was A/rag/rag. I raised. Bert re-raised all-in. Now that was interesting. Just a couple hands earlier he had commented after one of my raises, "He hit his card. He only raises when he has it."

First off, that means he thinks he has me beat. He also said he knew I had the Ace. I actually believed that he believed I had the Ace. So he thinks he has me beat knowing I have the Ace. What could he think I had? Well, obviously he did not believe 2 pairs. He consistently had been underguessing my hand by 2 - 3 cards so he probably put me on something like A/10, maybe A/9. He raised pre-flop so I put him on something like A/Q, maybe A/J. Everything fit. He probably had A/Q so thought he had me beat. I checked out my chip situation. If I called and was wrong I would be down to about 1200. If I was right I got rid of a dangerous player. If I was wrong I doubled up a dangerous player but then again, I had a good chance of sucking out. I called.

Oops.
I did the same thing he had been doing...I overestimated his hand. He actually raised with A/7. Some of the crap on the flop hit him and he had 2 pair. I did not hit my King and he doubled through.

Looking back, should I have called? He knows I have the Ace and still thinks he has me beat. I briefly considered the possibility of him having played something like a 5/7 and hit 2 pair or maybe even having had a pair pre-flop and tripped up. Factors to consider:

1) He had already proved when he had a pocket pair he was not afraid to bet it. A couple hands previously he had bet into pocket 8s when a Jack came on the flop, then discoursed on how he was not afraid to do so because if someone called his raise and hit something it was more likely to be one of the other 2 cards. I disagree with his take, but I also know how he thinks.

2) He had also shown pocket 4s he threw after limping in and talked about how he got away from them cheap. So he varies his play according to what the cards are. However, part of that variance was not raising up "low pairs" which is generally considered anything under an 8.

3) He is known to bluff at pots, particularly in 3 cases:
a) when it is checked to him in late position
b) when he thinks someone else is bluffing
c) when he thinks someone is making a continuation bet but actually hit nothing

4) He tends to overvalue his hands and undervalue mine. He often thinks on the second level
(level one is thinking about what I have, 2nd level is thinking about what the opponent has, and the third level is thinking about what the opponent thinks I think he has.

But does he know I think about what I think he thinks I have and what I think he thinks I think he has?

Just because somebody THINKS they have me beat does not mean they do. I have put many, many people out who were positive they had me beat but were, in fact, crushed. Of course, there have been times the reverse has been true...such as this one. I am not sure if I thought he was beat or if I let my ego get in the way and did not want him to bet me off a pot even though I was beat.

So in retrospect...I still think I should have called. Right or wrong, once Bert knows he CAN push you around (even if he has the cards), he will when he doesn't have the cards. Bad long-term investment to let him push me off hands...worse short-term investment to call him.

Well, about that time I went card dead. I went a couple complete circuits without having a playable hand and Bert had hit a few hands so he was in bully mode, raising my blinds for sure. Since I had nothing and less than 1000 chips I had already determined I was in All-in or fold mode. I got down to about 400 chips when I finally picked up A/5 clubs. Normally this is a folding hand. This time it was all-in time, and since I was so low I got several callers. And my Ace held up when nobody hit anything. I instantly picked up K/10 and went all in again. People folded, giving me the blinds and about 1500. I picked up big slick and went all-in saying "Sooner or later someone will call me." Bert did...with fishhooks. Uh-oh. Everyone else is like, "Race". I am thinking I would rather have the made hand of a pair than the good potential...but the flop gave me an Ace, it held up and I was above where I started with I think 3400. I built my way from there up to 5 or 6K and then it was time for the final table. I needed to get the consolation table going so I stepped out.

Overall I played pretty well for the most part, just a couple of interesting hands that I might have played differently...but am not sure I should have. I do know I need to bluff a bit more because the fact they think I only raise when I have it means I can steal a few pots with bald-faced bluffs...and if I make more on the ones I win than I lose on the ones I get caught on then it is a good investment and adds deception to the game.