Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wow Two Long Session in 3 days

Well I finally played a coupla long stretches of poker. I went to the Love Shack Saturday night about 11pm and left about 4am. Lost my first stack with QQ against a flopped set. I bet my over pair on the flop and got 2 callers. Well I guess I shoulda realized there werent many draws out there but hell these guys stack of with top/top all the time. In fact when I shoved allin on the turn which was about a pot sized bet it wasnt the tight one who called it was the other guy. So I rebuy and lose that down some and put another hundred on that. I was playing too many pots but I was picking up quite a few and probably breaking even on marginal hands. Then I hit 2 sets against the same dude and got back even. The one I remember was when I smooth called behind a raise and a few callers with QQ and hit it. I didnt feel like pushing my QQ there like I normally would. It worked out. He bet the flop and I smooth called. Then he insta checked the turn and I said "so I guess you're done" and bet $40 and he pushed in behind me and said "good read". I call and dont say nothing because he was just being funny not an asshole. So I got even and then eventually the game broke and I was down $65. I would return on Monday night.

I show up at the Monday night game about 11pm. They were running 2 tables. I sat at the must move and it was prety nitty. I dont remeber what happened but I lost. I do remember re-raising preflop with JJ against the only loose guy and getting called. The flop came 8 high but he checked to me in a way I didnt like. Seemed to animated like he wanted me to think he missed. I checked. He checked again and I bet the turn and he moved in for like 100 more. I mucked my pair which was still higher than the board. He showed me QQ. Phew. Coulda went bad quick. After I moved to the main table I tightened up a little. I remember going broke when I called $7 with a Ace 2 suited and the flop was Ace,2,3 all spades. UTG bets $6 into this $30 pot and the crazy guy who gets lucky goes all in for $60. I think crazy guy has a spade and Im worried about the UTG but I call. UTG goes all in. Im beat I guess but I call another $100. UTG has the flopped flush. Crazy has King of spades. I dont hit and crazy guy wins when the spade hits the river. UTG got my extra which probably mad him $30 net. It was a fun game. A guy who won an ESPN televised circuit main event showed up to play. I had never knowing played with him but he looked familiar. Of course I had seen the televised tournament though. All of a sudden every pot was big and he was usually in it somehow and he didnt wn any of them. I think he was stuck like 1200 in a half hour. But he wasnt the only one losing. People were calling $200 river shoves with a pair. Also I think we saw about 6 four of a kinds that nite. I had KK once and woulda lost a lot to a guy who flopped a set and river quads but the Ace hit the window and the turn and I didnt bet any street or call his value river bet. I gave him credit for a nine. Just one though. Most of my pots were me winning preflop with a raise or reraise or me winning with a continuation bet. I won a decent pot when I hit a set once. Actually I called with 4,2 after limping to a straddle and hit two deuces on the flop. I check called the flop and check raised the turn. There were 2 flush draws so I figured I better push the turn. He didnt have either draw or he woulda called. I had a lucky hand where I raised with 87 and hit a 7 on the flop and my bet got called but I hit a 7 on the turn too and got called. Unfortunately another Jack hit the river and I decided to check call but he never bet his top pair of Kings. My last hand I limped with Aces and a guy raised it to $12 and 3 callers and I made it $45. He called plus two more. I hated it. I bet $85 on the flop and they all surrendered after putting me through some stalling torture. That put me up about $15 and the way these pots were going that was one hand. I decided to leave since I had no profit on the table and way more than I wanted to risk. Plus it was 4am and I had to work in 3 hours. I had fun. I gambled a little and made some tricky plays. Feels good to be playing again.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Bad Combos

Well crap. I basically bubbled out of the Monday night tournament. I got short stacked and went into all in mode and of course Im pushin all-in with 5 big blinds on the button with no limpers and holding Q2 suited. Of course I get called by Q10. Q10 was my demise earlier to when I raised from the small blind with KQ and Johnny Chan pushed all-in from the big blind. I folded and he shows me Q10. FML. Then I played cash. I have nothing to say about that. Basically folded or limped or called a bet and never hit a flop. Was brutally boring. Thank God the Saints game was on. Had 10s once and took down the limps. I was in the middle of my only shennanigans raise with 10,8 suited when my used to be wife started texting me and like an idiot I read them and forgot how to play poker. I went broke flopping top pair against a set. I shoulda only lost $40 and not $120 but when a very solid player reraised me as I was texting I just through my remaining $75 in. I blame the texting. Whatever. I was also starving because the fucking cook was still in the tournament and I was about to pass out from hunger. So then i start the drive home and I dont even care about the poker Im just all fucked about the girl. Death, broken marriages and poker is a bad combo. And sucking at poker in general aint all that profitable either.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Distractions Needed

I played in a tournament last Monday. The only hand I remember that was sick was I got QQ in late position and there was a tight UTG limper so I was a little worried about getting reraised but I raised it up pretty good and he just called along with a couple more. The flop was jack high and uncoordinated. Everyone checked to me and I made a healthy bet. I got called by the UTG limper. What would he just call with? A set? A draw? 10s? The turn was a K. He goes all in. This guy is usually the bet it when you have it type but apparently he is trying some new shit because after I folded he showed an outside straight draw that didnt hit. I was thinking that had I had either of the other two hands I couldve had I probably would have called him. He gives me the "I thought you had AJ and could call after the King hit". Right. I wouldnt have played it so strong preflop had I had AJ knowing I was going to get 3 or 4 callers anyway and with a tight UTG limper in there. Any way I was steamed up after that but I didnt get jiggy with any pots. I did pull a lot of preflop All-in steals to stay alive. I went out because I raised from the small blind with K8 suited into a big blind whose chips are always there for the stealing. But he pushed back at me and i had to lay it down. He had AA. I thought it was Queens or better for sure. I went out the next hand going all in with 44 and running into a big blind with 99. I wish I would have just sat on my chips and waited for the chop. Got fifth place and as soon as I went out they chopped it even. I got my entry fee back. It was nice to play for a long time though. The Sofa King needs some distractions. My Dad had passed the Friday before that and it was good to go get away from it. No one knew. I was going to skip tonight but damn I need another distraction so bad. Wife shit going on. Looking forward to the Saints game tonight too. Been playing some online. I won an 18 person $10 SnG and I have been doing well at $20 head up. Im back up close to $400. Im sure I will run like a pinto before long and lose my mind and drop back down to $100. I made a comeback from a 2800 to 200 chip deficit yesterday. To get that low I ran a bluff early in the game on the flop with a check raise and I bet the river big and the guy called me with 66 when 3 big cards were on the board. I was floored. We were still in the first level of blinds so I was able to give up the trash hands and managed to double up a couple times. Once I had chips I was able to play his tendencies. He had some really bad bet sizing tells and as you can tell he was a calling station too. So I just kept the pots small so I could hit hands and get him to call me down. So anyway I hope to have good news about tonight. Maybe I will even play some cash game even though I am about a month away from actually having any cash on hand. Sometimes you just gotta gamble for your sanity's sake.