Skipped Vegas. Apparently Have Zero Interest in Playing Poker These Days.

I had my bags packed ready to go to Vegas last Friday to catch some main event atmosphere. I was gonna try one satellite to get in. But on my way I had friends wanting to go and telling me we could stay here n there for free and bla bla bla. So I wait. Then I agree to wait till the next morning. Then they bail. Then I play in a friendly home game and get reminded why I havent played poker in a month. I have been sitting at a coffee shop making other plans for how to not work in a cubicle and still make bank. But I do want to play some tournaments. So anyway I didnt go. And I wanted to buy a piece of the Monkey a while back. Lucky for him I guess. Im a cooler. I guess my next thing will be the AZ state tournament in August. So anyway I am rooting for the Poker Monkey. His blog is in my list and on gcp and its the one of the most entertaining poker blogs out there.

Down Swing. Vegas Soon.

Craptastic. I just got back from Baton Rouge and started off the week with a $700 loss. Dude the $1/$2 pot limit omaha game at the Tiger Den is ridiculous. You better come with $2000 minimum and be ready to sling some chips. I went and said hello and got a massage but I told them if I sat I would run $400 up to $1000 and quit and they really wouldnt like the hit n run. Plus Im just not an omaha player. I dont even think Im much of a no limit player really. Too conservative for the current landscape. Anyway I heard there was $17k on the table last week for the PLO game. Sickness. I only played once in Baton Rouge. I dumped $200 at the Belle inthe 4/8/12 half n half game. What a great game though. All old drunk brothas who love to chase and call light. I heard there's a $1/$2 no limit at Hollywood but I didnt get to check it out. I guess they are trying to lick the jar until Pinnacle opens soon. I hear it going to be really nice and suck up all the players. I have run 3 sessions in a row without catching many hands. But the good news is Im taking my losses like a champ and not tilting into the pit. I have been off the pit for over a month. Even though Im way up for 2011 and well up for 2012 I just hate the feeling of losing at slots. I wanna be a pro grinder and thats just bad business long term. I had good run and wanna quit while I'm ahead. The World Series is coming up in Vegas and I'm definitely going to catch that action. I will try to satelite into something with a bracelete and play some nightlies.

Listen to the Voice

Doh. Longtime no post. My bad. So I went on the worst run. I went to Vegas to hang with a ton of friends there for an event. Not poker players. Have a blast on Friday night the Sat I decide to play the 20/40 at the Bellagio. The game was so good and the rake was $4 less an hour than my regular place. I'm playin a couple hours and up almost a buyin. I get the thought: I should cash out and go have fun. If I listened to that voice all the time I would be rich. Well I dont leave and shortly after get Aces. I get them cracked on the river in a heads up pot. It pisses me off. 15 hours later Im down 2.5 buyins. All my friends had a blast and I fuckin hate life. I get rest at my room and go back. 15 hrs later Im down another buyin. Two days of coolers, riversn and being pissed off and playing overly aggressive. One pot I lost I raised and bet and raised all the way to the river with KK. The river comes a 4 of clubs putting 4 clubs out. Do I lose to a flush? No. This guy hung in with pocket 4s and no club. I went bullistic. I surprised I didnt get a warning for the way I slammed my chair as I stormed off cussing. Another pot I raise with a suited King in middle position. Get like 4 callers. I flop a flush. There is a ton of action and the hand is 2 and 3 bet on all streets except the river when the board puts the 3rd 7 out. Any air has a house now and Im pissed. The funny thing is the guy who flatted my raise with 9,5 of my suit flopped the straight flush when I flopped the freaking 2nd nut flush. So whatever. I go back to AZ and nothing changes. By the end of the week Im down like 7 buyins. So I took a break. I think the whole deal was caused by karma. I decided to go to Vegas instead of helping my friend drive to San Diego to see his daughter like I knew I was suppossed to do. There's that voice I ignore again. So for the last month I have only played maybe 4 times and only when all the stars align and Im in a super great freaking mood. Not pressuring myself to get in hours. Hopefully the stars will start aligning more often so I can get some more wins going. The last time I played was sweet. I won a half kill pot by calling a river bet with Queen high after the bluffer ran out the only guy with a hand. Nothing feels better than dragging a $400 pot calling pretty confidently with Queen high.

Blogging is a Cooler

GDammit. I should never post happy. I go play today and totally suck. I constantly went against my better judgement. Of course I did flop a boat in a capped pot and got 2 outtered and flopped top two with AK with a diamomd flush draw out there and lose to hearts. I was steamed but really it was just a bad decision day. My last hand I raised and got one call from a total assclown who I have played plenty with. This dude is a beauty. About 50 years old, half a head of longish hair, slicked straight back (a poor man's Pat Riley look), sporting the last members only jacket, always raising and going all the way with no pair.  Classic picture of a degenerate loser. Of course Im raising with J10 but thats not usual for me. He called with Q6 which is very normal for him. The flop is Q82. I bet, he raises, I call. The turn is another 8. I check raise him. He calls. I miss the gutshot and bet anyway. He calls. Im actually not upset for two reasons: I got up and left instead of continueing to play bad, and I played it so bad that I doubt this dude will ever lay down against me again. If wouldve had anything other than a pure bluff there, I wouldve had him crushed with a better Q or over pair or an 8. What else can chkrz the turn there? So I think it was very good but expensive advertising. I shoulda known not to go play after I got a suicidal/drunk/save me/fuck you for not saving me call from someone I care about but cant do anything for last night. Plus me n my gf broke up 2 days ago. Hey at least my kid didnt cooler me today!

2012 is Lookin Swell

F'n Tigers. Way to not show up for a game that if you win you could be considered one of the greatest teams of all time. I guess I should exclude the defense from my dissapointment but the offense and the coaching staff should all be flogged. I hope Lee told Les to go f himself after the game. I honestly wonder if the fix was in. I remember one play where Jefferson was sacked where the two offensive line men were staring at one defender and they both turned inside as he b-lined for Jefferson. Same guy who already had 2 false starts. Just sayin.

Poker is going well. It's limit so it never goes overly well but Im happy. Most hands go to show down and the trick is not putting yourself in a call down situation where you are likely dominated. Im definitely happy with my play in the no showdown hands. Thats really a big advantage when you can steal some. I think my advantage is patience preflop and knowing when and who to barrell bluff. There are enough tards limping in with weak aces that you can probably beat the time rake just by only playing good aces and pairs. There are also enough players who are too fucking creative for their own good. Like raising on the turn with middle pair to "see where they are at". Do it on the half priced flop if you must. I think you lose more over time popping the turn and getting repopped or called by a normal strength hand than the times you run out people who are over playing big over cards or are totally bluffing. The flop is where to figure out the hand or to 3 and 4 bet to keep the lead and represent big over pairs n such. Most of these players over use the flop raises though. Some of then do this and basically turn their big hands face up and lose value on the big bet streaks. Others over use it to see if they are up against a missed AK. I just see a lot of obvious tendencies in this game that are very exploitable. Funny thing is a lot of the worst offenders play in the higher stakes games. Maybe its like trying to apply middle stakes moves in the low limit games. I just hope this game doesnt turn to shit when the snowbirds go back north. Ooooo spring training is starting soon a I bet its gonna be nice action. People come here in droves to watch their teams practice and scrimege other teams. As if baseball isnt boring enough. I hope its like the year long bowling thing that fueled the best games at the Belle of Baton Rouge.

The monthly bounty tournament is Saturday. $235 entry and $100 per knockout. I like it. I can break even or make a couple hundo way before the money bubble. People call some seriously thin draws if they have a bounty shot too. It will probably work against me Saturday just because Im talking about it. Whatever. I havent played a tournament since November and I miss it. I miss no limit. Hell I enjoy the spread limit games when I sit in them waiting for my table assuming I get some hands. One thing about limit is you get to see a lot more flops. People can never put 6 times the big blind in to run you out. Of course thats why many people hate it too. Ok goodnight. Im gonna watch Anchorman for the 1027th time.

2000 Hands Down. I Think Im Gonna Be OK :P

Dude I was just doing some tourney results checking and holy shit. Congrats to Wild Bill and GeneD for the great showing at the IP in Biloxi!!!! And Shack reg Frank who keeps pop'n out big finishes all year.

Well I've played a good bit of $20/$40 Fixed Limit now but not as much as I wanted to. I would say I have played about 2000 hands so far and broke even. I had my nice starting streak and then ran into a wall and then went on another streak. When I filter my results for $20/$40 its funny because I have 5 wins in a row then 5 losses in a row and then 7 wins in a row. My losses are bigger than my wins unfortunately. I havent really had a typically big win yet. I really feel like I am just getting comfortable with the game and the stakes. I have also been reading whatever material I can find like Johnnie Chan's Limit Cash game book and the Limit sections of Super System. There seem to be more calling stations and tricky bluffers in these games than balanced players so its definitely a good game. I left a game today because it was more tricky players and it was short handed and since I had somewhere to go in a couple hours I decided not to risk such a swing prone couple hours. I would hate to lose a few pots and then be late to my thing or not even go because Im determined to win back to even. That kind o f thinking sometimes gets you even or up but being in the chase your loss mode also drops my level of play often into full steam tilt. I look around at the terrible players who are getting lucky with 9,7 offsuit and think that it should be me this time. That's the kind of thinking I have avoided these last 7 sessions.

Some peoples in my circle are puzzled by this desire to play limit. They dont like not being able to protect their hands. I actually prefer it. Im so sick of trying to protect my big hands and get out flopped by J,7 suited or getting gutshot. NL is so much about traps and bluffs and to tell you the truth thats really not my strong suit. I have trouble with really aggressive players. They are usually better at reading me than I am them which is why they play such aggressive styles. My strong suit is patience. When I was playing online my VPIP/PFR was always good but I was always struggling to get my aggression factor up. In Limit I actually like the players who would rather bluff than check out. Usually I am playing passive against these guys which only encourages them to attempt moves. Often I have to pay off real hands but I feel like its a good strategy against them. By me looking like I dont want to play a big pot I make more than if I take the lead back from them. They are fairly used to these grumpy old men playing back at them and then getting to decide what to do. Maybe I will change my tune one day. I am pretty new to the game. It may take them sometime to exploit me back. But at this point I like having the ability to control the pot size. Strangely enough I dont seem to have the same attitude in tournaments. I think I have done well in tournaments overall. Now by tournaments I mean the 200 dollar nightlies. I dont play the bigger buyins. I have played in two $500 buyins and done nothing special but its really not enough to mention. Of course NL tournaments are totally different than cash games. The blinds going up really hurts the call to trap play since less people see the flop plus the no reload factor. They dont run many $200 tournaments here. They have a daily $60 which is full of landmines. Whatever. I have way enough on plate trying to grind out a win rate at this new Limit stake.

Moved Up. Yikes.

Ahhhhh. My first losing session in a week. How I have missed the sweet stinch of defeat. I moved up to the 20/40 Limit game last week and won 5 in a row. No big wins but solid grinder wins. I didnt want to say anything to anyone until the streak was over. I didnt even call my poker advisor who I talked to right before moving up. Superstitous. I played shitty today. I caught nothing and chased with marginal hands and I paid people off on the river. It was bound to happen I guess. I need to take a break tomorrow and evaluate my play. I know Im not playing optimally but I had been playing well above average for the table. Not today though. I can see about 10 bad moves today. Mostly calling raises in the big blind. Its so damn tempting to get in for a discount and hope to flop big but I spew when I flop a piece. I missed a bet on the river in a half kill pot too by playing to timid with pair of aces with a good kicker. I have also cost myself by playing too tricky on 4th street a couple times. I think about once every session I have had to take a break and refocus after I loosened up preflop because I lost a pot. Overtime these leaks are going to kill me if I dont do something about them. I feel comfortable in the game though and see great potential for my regular game. And when ready there' a 40/80 game to move up to. It was getting so ridiculous in the 2/3 spread game and the 8/16 Limit game. I was losing my shit racking up and quitting and slamming my chair in because yet another pot was taken by a gutshot. That isnt happening in the 20/40. I think most of the money to be made is the old men who got sick of the same thing. I think they dont mind losing to hands that make sense. Maybe I will have a different perspective in a couple weeks though. Maybe Im running good and will eventually run average and bad and run my bankroll into oblivion. I heard them spreading a 10/20 spread limit game today. Maybe that will soften up the 3/5 game because right now it just looks tough. I can say without doubt that I can look at the age, race, gender, and clothing style of a table and have a good idea if its tough or not. See stereotypes make life easier! 

Down Month

Well hell. I dont want to go into all the poker I have played in the last month. I have felt very good about my game and very bad about poker in general. I have been very comfortable at the table and always feel like Im in the top 2 best players at the table but I havent had a card rush since July and have pretty much just been shit out on constantly. I always feel so lame saying it though. Nobody wants to hear it. They always think its a losers excuse. Sometimes I feel that way too. The last time I played I flopped broadway with Q,10 and got allin against 2 players and lost. The thing that sucks is I raised with Q,10 of clubs and AK smooth called which brought in A7 of hearts who ended up winning the hand. If AK reraises I either fold or play and either win a big pot or give up my $10. But instead he wants to see the flop with a couple more people apparently and we both get screwed. I rebought after going to lunch and calming down and when I came back I played a hand where I bluffed off like $200. I raised and called a 3 bet with pocket 2s against a pretty predictable player. The flop came K high and he only bet out like 40% of the pot after I checked to him. I read it as weak but didnt raise. He made the same bet on the turn and I knew he was scared then. I raised him from $25 to $70. He called. I put him in on the river for his last $80 and he called. He showed Queens. He said he didnt think I had a King because I didnt bet the flop. I guess I polarized my hand to either a set or a bluff by waiting until the turn to raise. I really think he thought he was beat and called anyway. He said screw it cause he was rebuying anyway. I guess I shouldve shoved the turn rather than trying to look like I wanted value. I couldve raised the flop big. I dont know. This hand is bothering me. I dont bluff like that alot and I have played a lot with this guy and he usually lays down to shit like that. Oh well.

Im hoping to make it to Baton Rouge soon and look forward to playing at the Tiger Den.

I Remember It Like It Was Interesting.....

Went for a 3 hour session during the day today. I had my head screwed on straight. I wasnt worried about being down or up but rather trying to make good decisions. Good thing because I didnt drag a pot till I was down like $350. I picked up AQ of clubs my second hand and cbet a missed flop and then got bet into on the turn. I gave up. I played a lot of hands that were interesting to me. I made a few mistakes too. I raised a $6 straddle to $17 and the small blind, big blind and straddle all called. The flop was 9,8,2. I bet out $50 after 3 checks. I get called by the small blind and the other two fold. Then on the turn a six comes and the small blind open shoves. I only had $112 left and I was extremely confused by this guys smooth call with two players still to act and the flush and straight draws being out there. I figured if he had a made hand on the flop he would want to shut out the draws and then I figured if he hit his draw on the turn he wouldnt open shove even though it wouldve been the right play but this guy seemed like the type to check the nuts. I called. He had pocket Aces. I along with everyone else were simply baffled by how he played them. Oh well. I bought more chips. In fact I had to see the chip runner like 4 times in the first hour. After an hour and a half Im in the game for $600 with only $170 left on the table. I had one hand where I limped UTG with KK and the small made it $15 and big blind called and I made it $50 to go. He called. Big blind folded. Both my Kings are red. The flop comes all spades with an Ace. The guy bets out like $100. I just fold in disgust. I got pissy and called a raise with J5 of hearts from a tight old fuck who raised in early position. I flop a 5 on a low board. He bets out smallish so I call thinking he will check his AK on the turn. Well he bets smallish again on the turn. I just call now because fuck it. I river a J. He checks to me and I make him pay $40 more for his pocket Queens. Nice read self. I just see so many old dudes bet weak when they are weak. Any way that was the first pot I won with any meat in it. I coulda won a nice pot on the button but the flush hits the river and with 3 players to act behind the small blind bets out $60 into this $150 pot. I bet top pair on the button on the flop and got 3 calls. I checked behind on the turn. The guys shows us his bluff. Wow. He Showed another bluff a short while later. And I know he was betting anytime he couldnt win. He was a young too smart to fold kid. He came from another table with about $600. A while later Im in the BB with 77. This aggro bluffer kid limps UTG and about 4 more people come in. The flop is 9,3,2. I bet out like $15. He calls. the turn is a 6. I bet out $25. He pops it to $75. I just know he is floating me to bluff. I has raised me off two pots already. I took a good look at him. I got no feeling about his comfort level. But I know he doesnt have an over pair. He could have a 9 but I dont think he would raise there. There are 2 clubs out so he could have a flush draw but I didnt think so because I think he wouldve raised the flop with any flush or open str8 draw. Im just sure he is floating. I call and when another 3 hits the river I check and insta call his $90 river bet. He had Ace,4. Ship it you play happy fuck. Then I needled him a bit about having air and he explained his thinking and I explained that I knew what he was thinking and then he said in a pissy way "congratulations" and I said really happily "thanks". Its fun to go with your read even when its the torture chamber as long as you are right. My day was getting better now. This poor guy next to me got rivered 3 times in allin pots. Poker is hell. I end up winning a nice pot on my second to last hand before I had to go get my kid from school. Another bet happy kid ran his trip queens into my Queens full of Jacks. He folded the river to a $150 bet. The pot was about $300 and there was a one card straight I was hoping he had hit. Oh well. He thought a loooong time about calling me with just a Q and two Qs on the board. I shoulda bet $100. So I come close to losing $600 in my return and only lose $6. I walked feeling like I won ya know. Back tomorrow. The day game seems pretty sweet. A good mix of old retired dudes and young student maniacs. Basically the unemployed by choice.

Old Dude Hell. (Old People Love the Desert)

Not much to report. I havent played in over a week. The last time I played I told this old man in my most serious angry voice that he was a fucking idiot. Not because of his play but his fucking drunk old mouth. His play was horrible too but he kept shitting out on people and then rubbing it in. He didnt shit out on me though. He was ahead when the money went in. In the 2/3 game he pops it from the button to $40. Ridiculous over raise. He had been doing it for the last hour. The last time he did it he ended up all in preflop with the small blind who had picked up KK. He had A8 and made a straight. And then got drunker and talked nonstop to the guy he just felted spitting all the while. The kid eventually moved to a new seat and gave up the great postion in favor of not getting spit in his eye. When he popped it to $40 on me, I woke up with KK. We were both deep stacked and I was very sure I would get it in on a non-Ace flop. I just called knowing he would cbet the flop. Well he did but only for $40. I had a small oh shit alarm go off in my head because I would think if he missed he wouldve made it $100. I dismissed my alarm and raised him and he raised me allin and I called. He flopped a set with his pocket 8s. Good for him. I rebuy and pray for another shot at him. It was way later when he decided to start talking about how he had all the money and how all we play are Aces and Kings and then bragged about how I had to rebuy with my KK or something like that and then I called him a fucking idiot in the most serious voice with a dead eyed fuck you stare. Later when he busted a girl who had QQ with his J6 after all the money went in preflop and then he sorta taunted her the kid next to him just told him he was being rude to her. Well he got all offended and then had the floor called and then the floor came and he asked for the floor manager. I found it really amusing since basically the drunk old man with all the money is gonna cry to the floor about how we called him rude after he was clearly rude to nearly everyone. The floor manager knew him by name and Im sure he has to talk him down from being upset every time he plays there. He was on the 20/40 limit list and i really thought about switching games once he got called over. I really hoped this old dude would punch me at the table when I told him what I thought about him. I would've hit a sweet lawsuit jackpot there. I ended up leaving later after this different fuckin old ass clown mucked a bad beat jackpot. I, another guy and the old dude had limped in and the big blind pushes in for $25. I call with like Jack high, the other guy calls, and the old dude mucks A,10. BB had QQ and the board comes 3 Aces and no card higher than ten. It was so fucking depressing I just left. I decided to take a poker vacation and do some book studying. I said I was going to read this Ed Miller book I have twice before i go back but I havent even got through it once and Im dying to go play. I think I will go play after I finish it and just try to read it again in the mean time. Ive got a lot of good mp3 poker stuff to listen to also that my buddy in Panama dropboxed me. I wish I knew a good coach for live low stakes here in Phoenix. I really want to improve my game and I think books and coaches are great tools. Even if it just reminds me to pay attention and not play friendly fit or fold poker.

Back from Vegas and Getting the Typical AZ Treatment

Check out my pic above of the crazy people who repell from the top of the Stratosphere.

Well after my big 4th I went out 100th out of 860 in the $350 Deepstack at the Venetian. 20 out of the money. After that I learned how to play Pai Gow and had some fun for a couple days. I was driving back to Phoenix when the 2 mile high dust storm plowed the city (so I missed it). The day after I got back I played my tournament rush in the CAZ $140 nightly and never got a single hand. I pushed A10 hard cause it looked like the nutz. Actually I raised UTG and this chick didnt see my raise and limped in so she couldnt pull back the bet so she called the raise. How lucky am I. I flopped top pair and she flopped open ended. We got me all in and she turned the flush. Wake up bitch!!!!! I played a $50 tournament the other night and the blinds went up so damn fast that I was having to play all in steals within 4 rounds. My last hand I pushed in with 9,6 and lucky me the big blind called with K9. My cash games have been typical. Slowly losing while never ever having a high pair to play. I keep waiting for the curse of CAZ to be over but it just keeps coming. The Wild Horse Pass curse isnt much better because over there I get constantly 2 and 3 outtered on the river but at least Im in hands. Ive had a couple winning sessions and my loses have been around one buyin even when I played a 16 hour session in which I was very active. In fact I was 3 for three with 10,2 and each time I played them a different way. Once I over raised preflop and took it. Another time I limped and took it. And the third time I 3 bet the UTG internet star to take it. Of course I showed every one. I snapped off the same kid when he raised preflop from the button and triple barrelled an Ace high borad with his K,10 while I had pocket nines. I went with my read but by the river I felt the heat. He bet $45 into the river and the pot was over $100. I wouldve felt like $55 wouldve been a better amount. The $45 seemed pretty valueish. But I thought his body language was uncomfortable or maybe I just wanted to think that. I love crushing the kids who think they are so fucking smart. I actually tried a lot of stuff that session I dont normally mess with and I think it worked well. If I would have had average luck card wise that night I think I wouldve had a decent win. I was in a nice zone. Im watching the 7th season of HSP and watching Phil Galfond destroy the table with his crazy bluffs only to donk it off to Jonny Chan with a terrible hero call. The internet God may be one of those too smart to flod kids.

Day 1 in Vegas Get a 4th Place in the Nightly

Drove out to Vegas last week for the WSOP. Not that I was hyped up to play any events. I just wanted to play some small tournaments and see all the WSOP hub bub. I did have a little inclination to play the last $1000 event until I ran into one of my Baton Rouge friends who is a dealer in the WSOP and he told me how bad the structure was and encouraged me to play the Deep Stacks at the Venetian. So any way I drive out there with the plan of parking in the Flamingo. Thats the plan. No other. Play a lot and take car baths. I did have a small hope that my friends Elvis and Lindsey would let me crash on their floor some. Elvis had offered some floor space back in Baton Rouge a month ago. I dont know why I didnt just Priceline a cheap room somewhere. The second to last time I came to Vegas I had no place to stay either. I was there 4 days and got 7 hours sleep in the middle of the trip after renting a bed from a friend who was there for a wedding. For some reaon I just like being alone in Vegas with nothing but a backpack. I think its funny that I look like a street person who isnt worth robbing but really Im walking around with a nice wad of cash.

I show up and immediately buy into a $125 satellite for the $1k. Super turbo SnG but I really felt shitty when I busted out just because the players some how managed to make all the wrong moves. Really the worst poker I've have ever been privy to. People with 6 big blinds limping in with KK in late position with limpers already in the pot. I never got any cards and went out like 6th.

Then I buy into the $185 6pm WSOP nightly. I have cashed in like 6 out of the last 7 nightlies Ive played but that really never makes me feel great about my chances going into the tournaments. I start with 10k in chips. The field is only 270ish. By the time we get to 125 players I have swung between 5k and 12k. Im sitting on 5k when Elvis comes over to see my stack. I pick up AA. Finally a monster. I double up. Then I get moved to another table. I catch a big pair or AK or something and win a pot with a big reraise preflop. So sitting on 15k now and I pick up KK in the small blind as Elvis comes to sweat me again. I really wanted him to stay if that was the luck he was bringing me. A couple people limp for like $800 and this really cute girl raises to like 3k. I reraise all in for like 12k more. All fold to her and she tanks. She is really taking forever and looking me all like she needs to get a read. I really want her to fold AQ so Im very much looking comfy as hell. She calls. Ok here we go. She turns over 98 of hearts. Huh? Thanks for the free chips honey. She went on monkey tilt after that and was out in a few hands. I go on a good preflop run catching big pairs and big cards in late position in unopened pots. I get my stack up to 70k. Then we break the table. I get to my new table and its has a good many wanna be stars. There are two types of players outside of ABC players these days. The old guys who are too dumb to fold and the young kids who are too smart to fold. The old guys litter my cash games and river me often but I love them. They tell you exactly what they have by their bet sizes. The young guys litter the tournaments and make move after move. I just trap them and hope their shenanigans dont get lucky on me. There was this star child (ipod, hoodie, hat, shades, scruffy little side burns and a face that doesnt do well in prison)who early in the tournament was raising constantly and calling reraises with anything and he had run his stack up huge. He liked to talk about his play and the reasons he was doing things. Where was he now? No where. As the blinds got bigger his moves worked less and eventually he torpedoed himself. Well this new table has some hyper aggro players that will always be pushing the margins way too much. Unfortunately I dont catch cards and I lose about 40% of my stack over the next few hours. Unfortunately trapping only works if you get cards so its not a very good strategy all the time. But patience usually pays off. I do make a few blind steals and get respect because I never play a hand. Eventually I make the money bubble with like 20 bb. I basically played super tight folding a ton of AJ and KQ to raises. I play sort of a Kill Phill strategy with some position steals mixed in. We got down to two table and I made some progress mostly from raising with AA and getting reraised by this supper loose aggressive chubby kid with a backwards hat and a New York accent who apparently thinks 77 is a three bet kinda hand against the tightest player at the table. After that I really dont remember what happened but I chipped up to like 270k. Then I get AJ in early position and raise to 30k. Blinds are like 5k/10k at this point. I have been folding these in early position all day. Most of these players havent seen that and chubby guy gives me a call and maybe one other. The flop comes like JJ10. I check. Mr NY bets about the pot. Other guy folds. I move in. He insta calls with pocket 8s. Really? Thanks again dude. Now Im one of the big stacks with like 8 players left. The rest of the tournament is lame. Blinds eat me up as I catch no playable hands. We get down to 4 handed and one of the two constant raisers in the SB open shoves into me in the BB. I have 88. This guy has been doing this with a super wide range. I call myself allin. I was hoping for a naked Ace or an under pair but he has K,10. Yes El Diablo as Monkey would say. That's really the bottom of his range there but unfortunately it plays well against my hand. I lose my first coin flip of the day and go out in 4th. The payout is $3300. I tip the dealers $100 and clear about $3k. Looking back Im super dissapointed about the coin flip and Im pretty upset that my cards were so dead that I didnt get a chance to use my stack. Maybe I shouldve bluffed a few more times but the big stacks were so active that I think I played it right.

So my Nightly Tournament success at these WSOP events continues. I like my strategy. I play super tight and super aggressive preflop. I play pretty aggressive in late position against the right blinds and antes. I usually dont have a big stack until after the money bubble when the chips start flying. Sometimes Im one of the people who barely make the bubble with chips and I go out pretty quick. And sometimes I move up or even make the chop. Maybe one day I will win one of these damn things.

Special thanks to Elvis for letting me come in at 8:30am an crash for a couple hours until the $350 Deep Stack at the Venetian. Oh and fyi if anyone is playing with Elvis just push in. He flopped like 5 sets in the cash game and never won a hand. Sick.

Bye Bye BR for a While

My last poker night in Baton Rouge was at the Love Shack game thats no longer at the Love Shack. Its called the Tiger Den due to the LSU decor overkill which is really cool. I was kinda bummed that a lot of the people I wanted to see were in Vegas for the WSOP. So not only didnt I get to see them but the game was small. Well I guess thats not true. They were playing PLO when I got there and the maniacs were ridiculously deep stacked. Bob was sittin with like $1500 and GP was up a few buyins (for the moment). I sit with a measley $200. I fold for like 45 minutes. I never see a hand i want to raise or call a raise with. I finally see AA and one suited four. I limp. GP makes it $15 and gets 4 calls before it gets to me. I pot it for like $80 more. I get 4 calls. FML. I get out flopped by Bob who probably made $800 on the hand. So I fold along and see some flops and eventually put $200 in my stack. Well eventually I get Aces with one suited. This time I play it different. I limp to GP and he makes it 15 and gets callers and I just call. Flop is A,4,5. I get it all in against 2,3 and a flush drawing GP. I run it twice with GP but it doesnt matter cause the one timer won the top and scooped it. So that was it. I played about 3 hands and dumped it all. I shoulda rebought but I didnt feel like it. I went and played 4/8 limit and had a little fun. Pretty uneventful. Of course while write this Im sitting in the $350 tourney at the Venetian. Woot woot. Stay tuned.

Pissin People Off and Getting Pissed Myself in Baton Rouge

I've been playing a shit ton at the Belle and the Shop. Im way up in the 2/5 game at the Belle but moderately down in the 4/8 limit game. I play limit when I dont feel like thinking too much. Maybe there's a corelation? Im down at the Shop too. Ive lost a couple hundy in the PLO and half n half. Ive busted out of all tournaments and I dropped $200 in the only strictly NLH game i played over there. That was a depressing game. I would flop the nut flush, play it shitty and never get there. My last hand I went All in with QJ against my buddy in the BB who raised it to $25 without looking at his cards. I only had like $40 total. He flips over A9 and then flops an Ace. I decided to leave since I couldn't beat a blind hand.

I had an interesting scenario come up when playing a big pot with a close friend. This is a friend who I had outside of poker but we do play small games all the time. Any Im the one who got him to start coming to the bigger game in Denham. Anyway the situation is that I raised big preflop and we both flopped big hands. I bet, he raised, I reraised, he called, then I shoved the turn. He called eventually and I felted him and he left. He texted me after upset that I didnt check it out after the flop. He claims he would have soft played me. I dont remember us ever soft playing and frankly I never soft play anyone. I see other people do it and I dont mind but then again I think I would rather people not do that. I think some people feel like its unfair to the other players who had put money in and then folded. I had actually played a pot the night before with a mutual friend who we play in the same small game with and I popped him for a big bet on the river after my air bluff turned into the nut straight on the river. He folded after thinking long. He asked me at the crawfish boil the next morning what I had and never seemed to suggest I shoulda soft played him and my buddy who I felted was there and he didnt seem to think I shouldnt have put the screws to him. Maybe he was just mad because the pot was so big and it sent him home when I busted him. I did feel bad it was him but I still dont think I shoulda played different. I didnt have the nuts and I played the hand super standard so he really could have assumed I wouldnt be bluffing him and he coulda laid his hand down. If he woulda hit his kicker on the river (which btw I agreed to run twice) I would have probably bitched at him a little for thinking I was trying bluff him big and for then sucking out on me. Oh well. I guess when we all play above our financial well being we tend to get a bit emotional when we lose.

I had an interesting had I'd like to throw out here too. Im at the 2/5 NL game at the Belle. Its the wee hours and the game is on the verge of dying. We are 5 or 6 handed. I make it $15 to go in the cutoff with AK. The button calls and then the big blind who is a crafty local reg makes it $40 total. I hollywood a little like Im trying decide if I wanna see a flop. Im really just deciding if I wanna raise. I think raising is probably the play if I had a read that this guy 3 bets a wide range in a short game. I didnt. He hadnt really been raising too much. He seem to over raise every now and then to pick up the limps. But I did know him to be a thinking player so I could just assume queens or better. So I decide to call. If I spike then I play it. I only had like 60 big blinds so if he crushes me then oh well. The flop is K,10, both are spades and random 4. He leads out for $60. I raise $100 on top leaving my self $125. He calls. This is the interesting part of the hand. He just calls. Why? The turn is a blank. He checks, I ship the rest, he calls. He has Q,J of spades. Open ended Royal flush draw. The river blanks. He asks me if I woulda called an open all in. I think yes because why would he open shove a better hand than mine? Anyway how didnt we get it in on the flop is the question. I woulda shipped it if I were him. But I think he played it better than I woulda. He knows he has to hit. He assumes I cant fold for $125 more. So why not just call. That way if he misses then maybe his smooth call will spook me and maybe I dont ship the turn and he gets a chance to save it if he can see the river for free. Im sure there are plenty of people who would figure out some hand to be scared of and would check behind on the turn. Never under estimate the bad play capability of thee other palyers. Plus Im not a reg so he could count on me to make mistakes kinda like when I didnt 4 bet him preflop with AK. :)

Ok well Im off to the Monday night tournament tonight. Im $150 down for this trip. Hope I can come up a lot tonight.

Frikin Belle of BR is a Circus of Idiots

Holy f!#%ing shit. I sit down at the shit hole Belle of Baton Rouge to the 4/8 limit game. I see one flop and fold on my second hand. On my 3rd hand im utg with 99. I raise. Its the one position I like to raise with any strong hand other than AA or KK. I gets raised and then the little old asian lady in the sb reraises. I call. Flop is 984 rainbow. I bet 4 an it gets raised twice and I cap it. The turn is a 7. Now J,10 is the nuts. Little asian lady bets out. I raise. Other player folds. She calls. The river is a 10 making any J or 6 good. She bets out. I call. She flips A,J. WTF. FML. I ask her what fucking game she is playing and she she just smiles like she isnt sure if I ordered noodles or rice. The waitress asks me if I want a drink as Im getting up and I tell her get these mother fuckers a drink. I take my remaining $36 to the cage. In all honesty she probably saved me $36 by pissing me off enough to leave. Then I get in my car to leave and this car is behind me and wont move and another car is waiting the other way for my spot and I basically have to back out as if Im going to hit her car since laying on my horn didnt do the trick. That is the worst parking garage ever built. Some fucking 4/8 player must have designed it for a meal comp. Probably the same idiot who designed the elevators. Or maybe it was the idiot driving the golf cart full of people who just dumped their social security or welfare checks who almost ran over me because she doesnt think driving to side where people arent walking is a good idea. What a collection of fucking tards. Hurry up Pinnacle and dont hire anyone from the Belle except Dana, Terry, and Jack (the poker dealers).

Be Careful What You Wish For

Im looking through the results for the New Orleans WSOP Circuit event and seeing a lot of Love Shackers. Most impressive is Lindsey's 1st place in the Ladies NLH event. Congrats!!! Looks like the Capt chopped one 2 ways also. I will see you guys in a couple weeks.

I had a couple of good sessions and then wiped out all my profit in one hand after a long 3rd session. I was trying to get in a big pot with this guy all night. He had done some really erratic shit all night. All in river bluff/show. 3 barreling pots but only betting like $10 into the $100 pot each time. He had played so bad I actually semi-scolded a lady who was giving him advice on how to play flush draws in the future. He had doubled me up earlier by calling my all in on the turn with his flush draw. He felted me later with some river suck out. I dont remember it now but it was pretty nasty. I think I had two pair and he rivered 2 pair. He actually was doing that a lot. He dumped at first but was on a rush and was probably up $800. So I rebought for $300 (the max). I made some progress. I was sitting with $450 in play which was even for the session. I had moved right behind him to get position on him. But this hand im in the SB so out of position with pocket 4s. I flop bottom set of 4s on a A,8,4 board. The only players are me and the guy Im gunning for. I bet. He calls. The turn is a 2 and it makes a flush possible. I bet. He calls. The river pairs Aces on the board. I bet $60 into about about an $90 pot. He min raises me. I debate on just calling to play it real safe but I think this guy is gonna dump here with a flush or even just trip Aces. I reraise $100 more. He pushes in. Fuck. I have $200 left. Fuck it. Call. He shows the nuts. A8. FML.

I played the $60 tournament again a couple weeks ago. I went out 24th. They were paying 15 spots. I never had a good stack. Played most of the time with 15 big blinds on average. This old man get chastising me and this other guy for shoving preflop even though we only had 10 to 15 big blinds. I guess we are supposed to raise 3 big blinds and then fold to the reraise. I snapped back at him once and the other guy chimed in. Probably dumb to engage him but whatever. My last hand I was moved to a new table (I had been moved about 5 times and it sucked). I shoved on the button with K4 and was called by the BB who had pocket 3s. I was ok with that until I missed and was sent packing. Oh well.

I played a few hours of 8/16 Limit today. Swung wildly and eventually cashed out for $210 profit. I got river fucked plenty and only river fucked someone maybe twice. It was a really soft game especially since the majority of players were Asians. Asians tend to be a lot wilder in my experience than this crew was. Playing aggressive was actually profitable for me in this game but like most limit games really to make good money you have to make good hands and dont be a pay off wizard.

Even Steven

I played Thursday and Friday. Thursday morning I played 2/3 spread. I doubled up some old guy after I flopped top pair of Jacks with a big 9 kicker. I bet the flop and he called. When the turn gave me a flush draw I bet it again and he moved in. It wasnt much more. I missed and he had AJ. A lot of these old dudes dont raise preflop with their big aces. Shortly after I called a $10 raise on accident on the button. I thought the guy in the cut off raised as he had done often so I called. Then I see the raise came from an earlier position. I may have called anyway with my Q10 but still I have to admit I called because I had position on who I thought was the raiser and assumed I had a good hand vs his cut off raising range. Anywhoo I flopped top 2 pair and every one checked to me. I checked. Dangerous I realize but I didnt think I could get any action if I made a reasonable bet. The turn was a blank and the first guy bets out $15 into the $45 pot. The original raiser calls, the guy in the cut off folds and I raise it $40 more. The guy who was in the blinds calls and the original raiser folds. A king hits the river and he leads out all in. I call assuming I could be crushed but I played a half buyin so I could avoid big river mistakes so my stack to pot ratio was way low. Probably was a $50 call. The guy had a whopping Q8. What a dipshit. As it turns out the original raiser had K10 and would have rivered me. That hand put me up $60 and I decided to buy into the $65 11am tournament. I didnt last long. I raised with AK of hearts and got 4 calls and the flop was 2,3,5 with two hearts. I cbet and a guy I had covered went all-in. It was 2000ish more. I had 1000 already in the pot. The total pot was about 2700 so I was getting the right odds with just the flush draw plus I had a guy shot and two overs. Unfortunately he had a set so the King on the river didnt help me. I played my short stack for a while making about 3 successful all-in moves until the last one which was the only one I got any action on. Oh well. I didnt hate the way I played. I left. Later that day I went to the Wild Horse Pass casino and played the 1/2 $100 spread limit. Nothing interesting happened and I broke even again.

Friday I played 2/3 $300 spread limit for only a few hours. I bought in half stack for $150. Most of the other players were under $200. It was a passive table full of limpers. Mostly old dudes. I never caught any hands. I double up though when I flopped top pair with one of my blind hands and the turned two pair. I assume he had two pair also the way he reacted to my hand. Then I proceeded to bleed of chips through the blinds and occasionally a late position limp with a mediocre hand. When people did raise they were getting two callers so I didnt want to try to pop it with nothing to steal. I eventually put a short stack allin preflop with my AK vs his AQ. I lost on the river. I raised AK two more times and didnt even see a flop because these geniuses limp shove with their AA and then always show it. I had gone from $285 to about $60. I had somewhere to go so I was looking get it in. I wouldve rebought if I didnt have somewhere to be. I straddled on what I thought was my last hand and picked up the pot by shoving with my A4. I showed the 4. So I played another round. I played all the way back around to UTG and pulled AK of hearts. I decided to pull a limp shove. I limped and someone made a small raise to $8 and about 3 callers behind him so I shove and act like Im saying fuck it. Everyone folds to the big blind who calls. I think he called because I had showed that 4 the round before. He had KQ and I held up. It broke me dead even and i cashed out. So two days, two casinos, two cash games and a tournament and Im dead even. Considering the cards I had Im ok with that.

Read More Poker

I havent played in a while. Im taking time to do some poker studying while my life is in major transition. I dont think its good to play when your life is upside down. I sold my house and finally got to Phoenix with my stuff. My place looked like a storage unit last week and still does to some degree. I also asked my sons mom to switch times with me so I could have him on school days and she could get him on weekends. Thats a big change from 2 nights to 5 nights. Puts a little cramp in my playing time but its going to be a better situation for him I think since she has a new baby and he is still hyper pissed at her for moving him out here in general. Im thinking when I go back I will play during the school hours. Most people think thats not the optimum time but I think its pretty good. No rounders get up at 7am to play but plenty of passive old men get up to play then. Rich old dudes from Scottsdale. They are horrible. Im guessing my most profitable hours so far have been after the morning crew starts filtering in. Maybe my only profitable hours so far. They do still piss me off though. I have left CAZ wanting to choke some white haired bastards out for making some terrible calls and hitting.

I have been reading Ed Millers Small Stakes Holdem. Its a very solid book. It really helps you understand the many things one needs to take into consideration when making poker decisions. For us recreational nits, its a tall order ask us to push the thinner advantages. But if Im gonna make the jump to playing fulltime I realize Im going to have to push a lot harder and smarter. Plus probably see a lot of online pros trying to play live and they are gonna be bringin aggression. I assumed at some point online play would get some kind of action taken against it. Why else would Party Poker have pulled out way back when. Those guys specialize in not going to jail while riding the edge of legal. I hope everyone gets there bankrolls back but I imagine the solution is going to have to be pretty creative on the poker sites part since the money transfer is the illegal part.

I got me a 42" LCD and some cable but damn if I dont get GSN. Im gonna have to special order it just to get HSP. What a bitch. I have been making up for my not watching NBA this season by watching all the playoff games on my new sweet widescreen.

Well thats it for now. I plan on playing Thursday during the day. I will let ya know how it goes. Also Friday night and Sat. Probably play a tournament too. Weeee.

Poker Soul Crushed

My poker soul is dead. I cant take the suck outs anymore. Not for my whole stack. I honestly dont think Im cut out for NL. Actually I think God has put the hoodoo on my game. One can not run as bad as me without divine intervention. Constant 2 and 3 outters after Im committed to the pot lets me know that Im being told something. But in all sincerity I admit I am not a great NL player. My game is waiting for people to make big mistakes. I grind and until I cam to AZ made a decent but small profit. But the next level of play Im not at. My use of fold equity is so bad. Thats another way of saying that I play scared. Im going to play the 8/16 Limit game with a kill button and Im going to play some tournaments. I have always done well in tournaments so maybe this will be the way and also anyone with a half a brain has an edge in limit. There's so many people willing to put in bad money with little hope to improve their hands. Also I dont tilt in limit and I dont go home agonizing about this play or that play or this card or that card. Its gradual and way less stressful. I can loose a few hundred in a limit game and I dont beat myself up on the way home and replay the hands as I try to fall asleep but I cant because the hands have me restless. Im coming back to BR in a couple days so when I come back here in a couple weeks I will have to make some decisions on what I want to do with my time. I have some ideas other than poker but I will still play. I know there's a winning formula for meeven if I drift back into a hobby player.

Trying a New Casino

Well apparently the Love Shack is moving its game to the Shop. Sucks I didnt get to play a last session there. At least now we can cuss more. I said I was going to try a different casino but I had to give the lovely CAZ one more shot. I played about 5 premium hands for raises and reraises (all made by me) and cbet 4 out of those five. I lost every pot and basically doubled up 3 short stacks with nothing but the cbet. In two dealers I was down $430. Then my baby's momma called me and I had to go give my boy a stern talkin to and do homework with him. Then I went to find the other casino. Theytold me Gila Lakes and I punched the address into the GPS but ended up in the middle of an industrial zone in the desert. Apparently Gila Lakes is 3 casinos and none of them are at the address listed. I got some vague directions from the casino operator and then I asked a nice old couple at the light how to get to I-10 to Tuscon. They werent too sure either but told me which direction they thought it was. I would run into them again in 10 minutes at the casino parking garage. We had a good laugh. Buncha lost tourists we are, looking for the money hole in the desert.

So I made to Wild Horse Pass Casino. I signed up for a players card and they gave me $10 in free slot money. I quit slots but if it aint my money it dont count. I ran their $10 up to a $50 profitand cashed out. I took that as a sign of changing luck. After getting on a list for a 1/2 game with a $2 min bet and $100 max bet I called my girlfriend. As I was talking to her I realized I wasnt on a list but rather an Interest list. I went up to the counter and they actually had immediate seating for the game I came there to play. Its confusing how they present these spread limit games to you but it was still a 1/2 game but the min bet was $5 and the max was $250. So there was no limping in. It plays really nice. I really like that structure. Keeps some of the trash out and also seemed to get people open raising for higher. So $15 seemed to be a standard raise which got action. So my plan would be to play premium hands for big pots given the opening mistake of a 7.5 big blind raise with a wide range of hands. Honestly I dont remember much about the play. I came out $470 up which covered my earlier loss at CAZ. The game was pretty loose passive. So tight agressive should clean up in that game over time assuming that was a typical table.