We had a rollicking cash game after our recent June 1st tournaments. Not that the tournaments were uneventful. For the first time in Wall Street Poker history, we had an all women final 3. Mary, Liezl and Abbie duked it out, with Liezl taking a big lead over Abbie heads up. Abbie tried to negotiate a 50/50 chop (good try Abbie), but Liezl would have none of it. She didn't even make a counter offer! It was a blood feud from there on in and the final hand was a doozy. With an Ace on the flop, Abbie fired out a pot bet, which Liezl called. A blank fell on the turn. Abbie fired again. Liezl called one more time. The river was a King. Abbie moved all in and Liezl called. Abbie said, "It's yours", showing a Jack high bluff. Liezl turned over Queen high! Wow.
The cash game was insane, as Stephane kept getting stacked by various players. The most cringe-inducing play was by Liezl, who called a small pre-flop raise on the button with Qd6c with 4 other players calling. The flop was 3 clubs, K95. Stephane, who had flopped top two, bet the pot, and Liezl called with her 6 flush draw. The turn was a blank and Stephane went all in for $31. Liezl conferred with Vera, her partner in crime for the night, and concluded that they were pot committed! Wowsers. A club fell on the river and Liezl scooped the pot, sending Stephane into her Tilty McTiltster mode. She'll be talking about that hand for a while, I'm sure. ;-)
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Coming to you live...from the Dragon Room
Karol invited me to the Dragon room on Tuesday, and even though I got killed in AC, I went anyway. To make a long story short, I was up $300 in 15 minutes and then lost everything in the next two hours.
Two hands that stand out...
1. I have A7 after I straddled UTG to $6. I decline to take my option after 5 people limped and the flop was A94. I led out for $15 and got a raise to $30. I call. The turn is a 4. He bets out $30. I honestly put him on A-middle here and I was thinking that the two pair now on board would improve my hand with the 9 kicker on the board. SO I called. The river is a 7. Now, I believe I'm good, but I check in the hopes of re-raising a timid bet. But the river was not timid. He bet $60. I thought about it for a while and which hands he wouldn't have raised pre-flop that the board would have hit him with. I called to see him show A4. Bad judgement.
2. QJ in the SB. MP raises to $12 pre-flop and three players call. I call and the BB completes. Flop is QQ5. I bet out $25, hoping to represent the 5. Everyone folds to the button, who raises to $50. I decided to push all in since I only have $100 behind. He calls. Before we flip, I ask, "Do you want to do business?" He says, "Yeah, sure!". We flip and he has KQ. I ask to run it 3 times and he says "Nah, let's just run it once". The MP protests on my behalf but the dealer says the guy is new and didn't know what I was actually asking about. I get so incensed that I say 'Fuck it' and let it run. The turn was a 5, putting QQ55 on the board. Someone says, "Ok, no problem. It's a chopped pot anyway." Until the river hit a King. Ouch and double ouch.
So I went tonight to Karol's blogger party (Steph and Karol were there but it was a bit lame otherwise) and Darko, Vivian and Scott Levy showed up too. We went out for dinner afterwards and hit The Dragon Room afterwards. In fact, they are playing behind me as I type this. True to my word, I am taking a poker hiatus for the month of June, and though it is tempting to sit down in this fishing pond, I am dutifully watching Scott, Viv and John all rake in pot after pot.
Now I know what a smack addict feels like...
Two hands that stand out...
1. I have A7 after I straddled UTG to $6. I decline to take my option after 5 people limped and the flop was A94. I led out for $15 and got a raise to $30. I call. The turn is a 4. He bets out $30. I honestly put him on A-middle here and I was thinking that the two pair now on board would improve my hand with the 9 kicker on the board. SO I called. The river is a 7. Now, I believe I'm good, but I check in the hopes of re-raising a timid bet. But the river was not timid. He bet $60. I thought about it for a while and which hands he wouldn't have raised pre-flop that the board would have hit him with. I called to see him show A4. Bad judgement.
2. QJ in the SB. MP raises to $12 pre-flop and three players call. I call and the BB completes. Flop is QQ5. I bet out $25, hoping to represent the 5. Everyone folds to the button, who raises to $50. I decided to push all in since I only have $100 behind. He calls. Before we flip, I ask, "Do you want to do business?" He says, "Yeah, sure!". We flip and he has KQ. I ask to run it 3 times and he says "Nah, let's just run it once". The MP protests on my behalf but the dealer says the guy is new and didn't know what I was actually asking about. I get so incensed that I say 'Fuck it' and let it run. The turn was a 5, putting QQ55 on the board. Someone says, "Ok, no problem. It's a chopped pot anyway." Until the river hit a King. Ouch and double ouch.
So I went tonight to Karol's blogger party (Steph and Karol were there but it was a bit lame otherwise) and Darko, Vivian and Scott Levy showed up too. We went out for dinner afterwards and hit The Dragon Room afterwards. In fact, they are playing behind me as I type this. True to my word, I am taking a poker hiatus for the month of June, and though it is tempting to sit down in this fishing pond, I am dutifully watching Scott, Viv and John all rake in pot after pot.
Now I know what a smack addict feels like...
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Memorial Day in AC
This was going to be my last long weekend in AC in a while, so I wanted it to be good. I’ve been neglecting a lot of personal things to play poker. Friends, family, my own health, exercise, reading…uh, everything actually.
Darko and I took off Friday from work to make this happen so we left after work on Thursday to stay at the Tropicana. Traffic was virtually nil, which was pleasantly surprising. We hit the Trop, checked into the West tower and immediately headed off to the poker room. I decided to ease into the weekend with a ‘harmless’ 4/8 limit game. How bad could it be, right? Well, 5 hours later, into the wee hours of the night, I was 3 buyins in and getting my ass kicked. I went stone cold card dead for 3 hours straight and got so frustrated by seeing people take down huge pots with trash, that I started chasing trash myself. J5o looks like a good hand when the donkey to your left just won $110 with it! But, of course, that only works for other people. I’m not as blessed. So my frustrations mounted and my stack dwindled and I was down $330 when all was said and done.
I went to sleep angry, a recurring theme of the weekend, and shook it off. I had played badly, I know, but at least I recognized that. When we woke up, we went to the Mall next to Casesar’s for some breakfast/lunch. We went to a really nice place called Sonsie, where I feasted on really good Cream Cheese stuffed French Toast. I paid for Darko with my Amex card and we hit the Caesars poker room. The play there was weak, but I couldn’t string together enough hands for a winning session. I had been down a whole buyin but got most of it back and managed to leave near even. The worst was when I got 77 in the small blind and got a raise and a big re-raise in front of me. The book tells me that I’m facing an overpair (I was) and I wisely decided to fold. I flashed Darko the 7’s and complained that I hadn’t hit a set in ‘weeks’. Sure enough, a 7 flops. Oh wait, I’m sorry. It was two sevens! And the re-raiser, who had Kings, moved all in! I would have made a monster pot. I got up in obvious frustration, stalked over to the other side of the room and let out a mini-scream.
Darko was getting updates from Wendy, who was on her way down by bus, and we decided to head over to the Taj to wait for Dimples and Vivian, who were also separately on their way down. At the Taj, I sat down at an incredibly weak 5/10 game. It was so weak, they stacked me for two buyins within 3 hours! This time, I didn’t play badly. I was just cursed with bad players not folding bad cards. An example; I have AhQh UTG and I open the pot with a raise to 10. Two people call, including the button who is a confused middle aged woman who clearly doesn’t know what she’s doing, yet has a big stack in front of her (my favorite kind of player). The flop comes K-J-rag. I have nothing but two overs, but I come out firing anyway. The first two players fold, and the button calls. She’s been calling with middle pairs for a while so I naturally put her on a Jack. Even if she had the King, which I think she would have raised with, I still have some outs on the turn. Bright as a Sunday Morning, the Ace hits on the turn. I lead out again and she calls again. The river is a 7. One more time, I fire out. Now, she raises!!! WTF? Was she slow playing a monster this whole time? I call the bet to find out and she flips over her cards to show a Jack. I turn over my Ace and wait for the dealer to push me the pot. Uh uh. The button points to her second card, a 7! Offsuit! She called a preflop raise, a bet on the flop with an overcard and then another bet on the turn with 2 overcards!!! Well slit my throat and call me Sally. The entire session was like that. Donkeys hitting inside straight draws going heads up, etc… Very frustrating.
Wendy eventually joined us at the Taj and we stayed until 5AM. Paul was up big, but the rest of us were even or down with myself as the big big loser (Capital L). In the morning, we decided to go to Sonsie again for breakfast, not least because I had left my Amex card there! After more wonderful French Toast, which I shared with Vivian, we went to Bally’s to play. Bally’s used to be the ‘smoking’ poker room. The only one on the strip that still allowed it, it got all the guys who only went there for the smoking. So if you could stand the toxic fumes (It was like playing in Chernobyl), you could make a lot of money from the action. Well, due to the AC smoking laws passed a few months ago, smoking is no longer allowed in Bally’s. The poker room is much nicer to play in now but the action is still loose. In fact, this was my only winning session. It was still frustrating though to see a beautiful girl sit down with $60, have hardly an idea what she was doing, run her $60 to $350 and then leave with a smile on her face like she beat the table. Oh that smirk! That money was coming back to us, I swear it. We played at Bally’s for a few hours and then decided to head back to the hotel (Fairfield Resort for Friday and Saturday nights) for a well deserved nap. Wendy stayed behind, of course, but the rest of us retired to our quarters. A few hours later, we were raring to go and we picked up Wendy on our way to the Borgata.
The Borgata was magical. I sat a ridiculously soft table with only one good player at it and I even managed to scrape together a good winning session. Or at least it was good until I gave all my profit back. I had been up $240 but had to leave the session up only $60. I watched donkey after donkey rebuy and reload only to watch their chips go to other less deserving players. We stayed at the Borgata until 5:30AM, again, and then drove Dimples home to his parents place at the south end of the strip. We were at the North end and when we finally pulled into the Valet, it was 6:30AM. Bleary eyed, Darko left the car for the Valet while Wendy and I tried to convince the front desk to give us a late checkout. It worked. When we got up in the morning, ready and primed for the famous Hellman family Sunday brunch, we jumped in the shower and packed to check out. I was ready first so I called for an elevator (there were numerous elevator problems at the Fairfield) and went to go pick up Darko’s car. John, still very tired since we only slept about 3.5 hours, reached into his pocket absentmindedly and pulled out his car keys. “Here, you’re going to need these”. I stared at the keys. Something was off but I couldn’t place it. Finally, I pieced it together in my hazy, woozy state. “John, didn’t you Valet the car last night?”. Sure enough, John had pulled in, hadn’t seen any valets on duty and then left the car in the driveway, taking the keys with him. We rushed downstairs, but of course the car had been towed. We were barely running on time for the brunch and it wasn’t boding well. Knowing the Hellman family, they were politely waiting for us, not eating. Our guilt overwhelemed us. Wendy and John pleaded with the front desk to get us our car, and quick. It turns out, luckily, that the car had only been towed two blocks away into a hotel lot, not a police impound. Wendy, instead of waiting for the manager to come and open the lot, rushed outside, found the car and proceeded to convince John that he could jump the flower bed in his 4X4 and drive us to the church on time! But logic prevailed (oh, and there were two cars blocking their way) and the manager came over and dutifuly let us out. But we still had to get to brunch. Darko peeled out, went north to Atlantic Avenue, turned left…and hit a wall of traffic. Bypassing that, we passed by a flower shop and screeched to a halt. Wendy and Vivian jumped out, but the shop was closed. Our plans to buy a make-up bouquet would be foiled (cue dissapointment music). But the shop’s door was open since they were loading a van for a delivery (presumably a wedding). Wendy strode in and demanded they sell her a bouquet, regardless of the fact that they were closed! Was there any doubt whose will was stronger? Wendy and Viv left with a bouquet and we were only 20 minutes late to brunch.
On a side note, Paul’s father was very grumpy from not having eaten, but was polite nonetheless. We are very thankful and grateful to the Hellman family for being so kind and generous. Plus, brunch was delicious.
After brunch, we decided to meet up with Abbie and Michael at the Showboat. They had come down for the day and were going to play in the 2PM tourney. Stephane had also arrived and was playing at the Hilton. I left her messages but we couldn’t hook up for the weekend. The tourney turned out to be awful for everyone. Out of 80 players, of which Wall Street Poker represented nearly 10% of the field, we only got one final table entrant (Vivian) and she bubbled. My only good hand was doubling through Darko, of all people, with AA vs. his KK. I was short stacked and all the money went in pre-flop. A King flopped and my heart sank, but an Ace turned to save me. I didn’t mean it Darko!
We played 1-2 NL at the Showboat until about 7, had dinner and hit the road to go home. Other than a monster rain storm, which Paulie drove through admirably, it was a nice ride home. Good times…Good times.
Darko and I took off Friday from work to make this happen so we left after work on Thursday to stay at the Tropicana. Traffic was virtually nil, which was pleasantly surprising. We hit the Trop, checked into the West tower and immediately headed off to the poker room. I decided to ease into the weekend with a ‘harmless’ 4/8 limit game. How bad could it be, right? Well, 5 hours later, into the wee hours of the night, I was 3 buyins in and getting my ass kicked. I went stone cold card dead for 3 hours straight and got so frustrated by seeing people take down huge pots with trash, that I started chasing trash myself. J5o looks like a good hand when the donkey to your left just won $110 with it! But, of course, that only works for other people. I’m not as blessed. So my frustrations mounted and my stack dwindled and I was down $330 when all was said and done.
I went to sleep angry, a recurring theme of the weekend, and shook it off. I had played badly, I know, but at least I recognized that. When we woke up, we went to the Mall next to Casesar’s for some breakfast/lunch. We went to a really nice place called Sonsie, where I feasted on really good Cream Cheese stuffed French Toast. I paid for Darko with my Amex card and we hit the Caesars poker room. The play there was weak, but I couldn’t string together enough hands for a winning session. I had been down a whole buyin but got most of it back and managed to leave near even. The worst was when I got 77 in the small blind and got a raise and a big re-raise in front of me. The book tells me that I’m facing an overpair (I was) and I wisely decided to fold. I flashed Darko the 7’s and complained that I hadn’t hit a set in ‘weeks’. Sure enough, a 7 flops. Oh wait, I’m sorry. It was two sevens! And the re-raiser, who had Kings, moved all in! I would have made a monster pot. I got up in obvious frustration, stalked over to the other side of the room and let out a mini-scream.
Darko was getting updates from Wendy, who was on her way down by bus, and we decided to head over to the Taj to wait for Dimples and Vivian, who were also separately on their way down. At the Taj, I sat down at an incredibly weak 5/10 game. It was so weak, they stacked me for two buyins within 3 hours! This time, I didn’t play badly. I was just cursed with bad players not folding bad cards. An example; I have AhQh UTG and I open the pot with a raise to 10. Two people call, including the button who is a confused middle aged woman who clearly doesn’t know what she’s doing, yet has a big stack in front of her (my favorite kind of player). The flop comes K-J-rag. I have nothing but two overs, but I come out firing anyway. The first two players fold, and the button calls. She’s been calling with middle pairs for a while so I naturally put her on a Jack. Even if she had the King, which I think she would have raised with, I still have some outs on the turn. Bright as a Sunday Morning, the Ace hits on the turn. I lead out again and she calls again. The river is a 7. One more time, I fire out. Now, she raises!!! WTF? Was she slow playing a monster this whole time? I call the bet to find out and she flips over her cards to show a Jack. I turn over my Ace and wait for the dealer to push me the pot. Uh uh. The button points to her second card, a 7! Offsuit! She called a preflop raise, a bet on the flop with an overcard and then another bet on the turn with 2 overcards!!! Well slit my throat and call me Sally. The entire session was like that. Donkeys hitting inside straight draws going heads up, etc… Very frustrating.
Wendy eventually joined us at the Taj and we stayed until 5AM. Paul was up big, but the rest of us were even or down with myself as the big big loser (Capital L). In the morning, we decided to go to Sonsie again for breakfast, not least because I had left my Amex card there! After more wonderful French Toast, which I shared with Vivian, we went to Bally’s to play. Bally’s used to be the ‘smoking’ poker room. The only one on the strip that still allowed it, it got all the guys who only went there for the smoking. So if you could stand the toxic fumes (It was like playing in Chernobyl), you could make a lot of money from the action. Well, due to the AC smoking laws passed a few months ago, smoking is no longer allowed in Bally’s. The poker room is much nicer to play in now but the action is still loose. In fact, this was my only winning session. It was still frustrating though to see a beautiful girl sit down with $60, have hardly an idea what she was doing, run her $60 to $350 and then leave with a smile on her face like she beat the table. Oh that smirk! That money was coming back to us, I swear it. We played at Bally’s for a few hours and then decided to head back to the hotel (Fairfield Resort for Friday and Saturday nights) for a well deserved nap. Wendy stayed behind, of course, but the rest of us retired to our quarters. A few hours later, we were raring to go and we picked up Wendy on our way to the Borgata.
The Borgata was magical. I sat a ridiculously soft table with only one good player at it and I even managed to scrape together a good winning session. Or at least it was good until I gave all my profit back. I had been up $240 but had to leave the session up only $60. I watched donkey after donkey rebuy and reload only to watch their chips go to other less deserving players. We stayed at the Borgata until 5:30AM, again, and then drove Dimples home to his parents place at the south end of the strip. We were at the North end and when we finally pulled into the Valet, it was 6:30AM. Bleary eyed, Darko left the car for the Valet while Wendy and I tried to convince the front desk to give us a late checkout. It worked. When we got up in the morning, ready and primed for the famous Hellman family Sunday brunch, we jumped in the shower and packed to check out. I was ready first so I called for an elevator (there were numerous elevator problems at the Fairfield) and went to go pick up Darko’s car. John, still very tired since we only slept about 3.5 hours, reached into his pocket absentmindedly and pulled out his car keys. “Here, you’re going to need these”. I stared at the keys. Something was off but I couldn’t place it. Finally, I pieced it together in my hazy, woozy state. “John, didn’t you Valet the car last night?”. Sure enough, John had pulled in, hadn’t seen any valets on duty and then left the car in the driveway, taking the keys with him. We rushed downstairs, but of course the car had been towed. We were barely running on time for the brunch and it wasn’t boding well. Knowing the Hellman family, they were politely waiting for us, not eating. Our guilt overwhelemed us. Wendy and John pleaded with the front desk to get us our car, and quick. It turns out, luckily, that the car had only been towed two blocks away into a hotel lot, not a police impound. Wendy, instead of waiting for the manager to come and open the lot, rushed outside, found the car and proceeded to convince John that he could jump the flower bed in his 4X4 and drive us to the church on time! But logic prevailed (oh, and there were two cars blocking their way) and the manager came over and dutifuly let us out. But we still had to get to brunch. Darko peeled out, went north to Atlantic Avenue, turned left…and hit a wall of traffic. Bypassing that, we passed by a flower shop and screeched to a halt. Wendy and Vivian jumped out, but the shop was closed. Our plans to buy a make-up bouquet would be foiled (cue dissapointment music). But the shop’s door was open since they were loading a van for a delivery (presumably a wedding). Wendy strode in and demanded they sell her a bouquet, regardless of the fact that they were closed! Was there any doubt whose will was stronger? Wendy and Viv left with a bouquet and we were only 20 minutes late to brunch.
On a side note, Paul’s father was very grumpy from not having eaten, but was polite nonetheless. We are very thankful and grateful to the Hellman family for being so kind and generous. Plus, brunch was delicious.
After brunch, we decided to meet up with Abbie and Michael at the Showboat. They had come down for the day and were going to play in the 2PM tourney. Stephane had also arrived and was playing at the Hilton. I left her messages but we couldn’t hook up for the weekend. The tourney turned out to be awful for everyone. Out of 80 players, of which Wall Street Poker represented nearly 10% of the field, we only got one final table entrant (Vivian) and she bubbled. My only good hand was doubling through Darko, of all people, with AA vs. his KK. I was short stacked and all the money went in pre-flop. A King flopped and my heart sank, but an Ace turned to save me. I didn’t mean it Darko!
We played 1-2 NL at the Showboat until about 7, had dinner and hit the road to go home. Other than a monster rain storm, which Paulie drove through admirably, it was a nice ride home. Good times…Good times.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
New Florida cardroom rules!
From an article in Pokertimes.com -
"Mike Sexton is fond of saying "The price of poker is going up." Well in
Florida that may soon be true. A bill recently passed through Florida House
and Senate, raising the maximum betting limits in Florida. Unless Governor
Crist vetoes it, which is not anticipated, the new law will go into effect
on July 1, 2007.
While poker has been legal in Florida, the maximum betting limit had been
set at $2, with a maximum of three raises in any betting round. The pending
law has raised the betting limit to $5. The new law also allows no limit
Texas Hold'em, providing the required buy-in is no more than $100. A
provision for tournament poker is expressly defined, allowing buy-ins
(including rebuys) not Aussie Millions to exceed ten times what a
participant could potentially wager in one hand on non-tournament poker.
Legislators considered expanding cardroom hours to 24 a day, but the
operational hours were ultimately left at 12 hours per day. However, the
new law no longer specifies the hours of operation, originally set at noon
to midnight. It also allows pari-mutuel cardrooms to operate on any day;
previously pari-mutuel cardrooms could only operate when wagering was
opened for pari-mutuel events. Predictably, licensing fees for cardrooms
were also increased.
Whether intentional or not, the new law seems to have some wiggle room for
higher buy-in no limit games and tournaments. On the first reading of the
bill, one might assume that they'll be an explosion of $1/$2 no limit
Hold'em games being spread with a maximum buy-in of $100. But on subsequent
reads, the new law only specifies the limit of the "required" buy-in, or
the implied minimum buy-in amount, for a no limit game, not the maximum
limit. Since the tournament buy-in limit is expressly tied to the maximum
amount a player can wager on one hand in a no limit game, this too has some
wiggle room for substantially higher tournament buy-ins.
Florida cardrooms are currently assessing the new games they will spread
under the new legislation. On the limit side, it is expected there will be
a plethora of $2/$4 games, but $1-$5 spread games and $5/$5 limit games are
also likely. One cardroom is currently evaluating the introduction of a
$2.50 chip for a $2.50/$5 game, consistent with a limit offered at the
Tropicana in Atlantic City. On the no limit side, $1/$2 is expected to be
an immediate cardroom staple. How long will it be before cardrooms test the
wiggle room on no limit buy-ins? Time will tell. "
"Mike Sexton is fond of saying "The price of poker is going up." Well in
Florida that may soon be true. A bill recently passed through Florida House
and Senate, raising the maximum betting limits in Florida. Unless Governor
Crist vetoes it, which is not anticipated, the new law will go into effect
on July 1, 2007.
While poker has been legal in Florida, the maximum betting limit had been
set at $2, with a maximum of three raises in any betting round. The pending
law has raised the betting limit to $5. The new law also allows no limit
Texas Hold'em, providing the required buy-in is no more than $100. A
provision for tournament poker is expressly defined, allowing buy-ins
(including rebuys) not Aussie Millions to exceed ten times what a
participant could potentially wager in one hand on non-tournament poker.
Legislators considered expanding cardroom hours to 24 a day, but the
operational hours were ultimately left at 12 hours per day. However, the
new law no longer specifies the hours of operation, originally set at noon
to midnight. It also allows pari-mutuel cardrooms to operate on any day;
previously pari-mutuel cardrooms could only operate when wagering was
opened for pari-mutuel events. Predictably, licensing fees for cardrooms
were also increased.
Whether intentional or not, the new law seems to have some wiggle room for
higher buy-in no limit games and tournaments. On the first reading of the
bill, one might assume that they'll be an explosion of $1/$2 no limit
Hold'em games being spread with a maximum buy-in of $100. But on subsequent
reads, the new law only specifies the limit of the "required" buy-in, or
the implied minimum buy-in amount, for a no limit game, not the maximum
limit. Since the tournament buy-in limit is expressly tied to the maximum
amount a player can wager on one hand in a no limit game, this too has some
wiggle room for substantially higher tournament buy-ins.
Florida cardrooms are currently assessing the new games they will spread
under the new legislation. On the limit side, it is expected there will be
a plethora of $2/$4 games, but $1-$5 spread games and $5/$5 limit games are
also likely. One cardroom is currently evaluating the introduction of a
$2.50 chip for a $2.50/$5 game, consistent with a limit offered at the
Tropicana in Atlantic City. On the no limit side, $1/$2 is expected to be
an immediate cardroom staple. How long will it be before cardrooms test the
wiggle room on no limit buy-ins? Time will tell. "
Friday, May 18, 2007
How bored was I last night?
During the cash game, I played 7c4s! For a raise no less! The flop came 5c 8c 3c. David bet out $12 and I pushed all in for $30 more! David squirmed but made the right call and asked if I wanted to do business. It's more like I talked him into into it. He showed 8h2c! Unbelievable that he played crap too but he was way ahead with his pair of 8's. We ran the turn and river three times....and I won all three by spiking a club each time! Holy Toledo Batman!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Implied odds at the Crackhouse
Haven't written a blog entry in a while...
I played in a 2 person tourney Monday night at the Crackhouse in Brooklyn. Though I did well early on, a couple of suckouts from other people cut into my chip stack enough so that I had no ammunition left by the time I reached the final table. When I finally did my patented all-in UTG move with Kd8d, I was called by the big blind with AA. I’m sure he wasn’t happy that I killed his action either, but so it goes. I busted out 8th in the tourney, outlasting some very fine players in the process.
During the game, in the second blind level, I made a nice pot against Ron, Karol’s brother by hitting my open ended straight draw on the river. He was mightily pissed about it too and I started to wonder if I played it correctly or it I had just gotten lucky. After doing some analysis on the hand, I think I *did* play it correctly though it might not have seemed so to Ron. Here’s what went down:
Blinds are 50/100 and starting stacks at the table are 3000. I have about 3500 in front of me. Ron raises UTG to 300 and I call in 5th position with J9o. I normally wouldn’t call this in middle/early position, but I read Ron as having two high cards and I thought I could crack him nicely. It’s risky though, because I would optimally want 1-2 other people to call to give me pot odds here and if they re-raise Ron, I have to fold. The table is semi-weak, though, and only one other player calls. The pot now contains 1050.
The flop is T82, rainbow. I flop an OESD with an overcard (my Jack). Ron leads out with 300. I am now certain he has AK or AQ. He’s scared the board didn’t connect with him, and two players are behind him, but he’s willing to make a continuation bet anyway. I consider a re-raise semi-bluff, but wimp out and call instead. The 3rd players folds. There is not 1650 in the pot. Here’s where things get interesting.
The turn is a K. Ron immediately bets 600. This confirms in my mind that his AK has now paired up. He’s confident he has the best hand. I now have to call 600 into a pot of 2250 to see the river. I have a 16% chance (approx.) to make my straight which is about 6-1, but the pot is only offering slightly less than 4-1. This would normally be a clear fold EXCEPT for implied odds. If I hit my straight, it would make me the nuts, or second nuts, and if I can get him to call another bet, I’ll have the money needed to make the initial call. How much more would he have to bet? 2-1 more on my 600 = 1200. I call, hoping his machismo will drive him to call my river bet, if I hit.
The river is a Q, making me the second nuts (nuts is AJ). He checks to me, further proof in my eyes he has AK. I bet out the 1200 and he hesitates but calls, showing down AK (yay, reading skills). I flip over the J9 and he steams.
I did play pot odds the whole way, though it was risky. A lot of things could have gone wrong, especially if he didn’t call the 1200 river bet. But tourneys are like that sometimes. You have to take risks to accumulate chips. That’s how it is at the Crackhouse!
In other interesting sightings…7c4c at my table called a preflop raise to go heads up! Furthermore, she flopped a flush draw and called huge bets to see her cards and suck out a flush on the turn against AA.
I played in a 2 person tourney Monday night at the Crackhouse in Brooklyn. Though I did well early on, a couple of suckouts from other people cut into my chip stack enough so that I had no ammunition left by the time I reached the final table. When I finally did my patented all-in UTG move with Kd8d, I was called by the big blind with AA. I’m sure he wasn’t happy that I killed his action either, but so it goes. I busted out 8th in the tourney, outlasting some very fine players in the process.
During the game, in the second blind level, I made a nice pot against Ron, Karol’s brother by hitting my open ended straight draw on the river. He was mightily pissed about it too and I started to wonder if I played it correctly or it I had just gotten lucky. After doing some analysis on the hand, I think I *did* play it correctly though it might not have seemed so to Ron. Here’s what went down:
Blinds are 50/100 and starting stacks at the table are 3000. I have about 3500 in front of me. Ron raises UTG to 300 and I call in 5th position with J9o. I normally wouldn’t call this in middle/early position, but I read Ron as having two high cards and I thought I could crack him nicely. It’s risky though, because I would optimally want 1-2 other people to call to give me pot odds here and if they re-raise Ron, I have to fold. The table is semi-weak, though, and only one other player calls. The pot now contains 1050.
The flop is T82, rainbow. I flop an OESD with an overcard (my Jack). Ron leads out with 300. I am now certain he has AK or AQ. He’s scared the board didn’t connect with him, and two players are behind him, but he’s willing to make a continuation bet anyway. I consider a re-raise semi-bluff, but wimp out and call instead. The 3rd players folds. There is not 1650 in the pot. Here’s where things get interesting.
The turn is a K. Ron immediately bets 600. This confirms in my mind that his AK has now paired up. He’s confident he has the best hand. I now have to call 600 into a pot of 2250 to see the river. I have a 16% chance (approx.) to make my straight which is about 6-1, but the pot is only offering slightly less than 4-1. This would normally be a clear fold EXCEPT for implied odds. If I hit my straight, it would make me the nuts, or second nuts, and if I can get him to call another bet, I’ll have the money needed to make the initial call. How much more would he have to bet? 2-1 more on my 600 = 1200. I call, hoping his machismo will drive him to call my river bet, if I hit.
The river is a Q, making me the second nuts (nuts is AJ). He checks to me, further proof in my eyes he has AK. I bet out the 1200 and he hesitates but calls, showing down AK (yay, reading skills). I flip over the J9 and he steams.
I did play pot odds the whole way, though it was risky. A lot of things could have gone wrong, especially if he didn’t call the 1200 river bet. But tourneys are like that sometimes. You have to take risks to accumulate chips. That’s how it is at the Crackhouse!
In other interesting sightings…7c4c at my table called a preflop raise to go heads up! Furthermore, she flopped a flush draw and called huge bets to see her cards and suck out a flush on the turn against AA.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Passover in Atlantic City
It was me and Darko, heading out on a cold Thursday afternoon to hit Atlantic City for what could be the last good three day weekend in a while. After a pleasant ferry ride over the Hudson River to pick up John’s car in Hoboken, we were on the rode at 4:00pm sharp. We turned a corner and hit a wall of traffic coming out of the tunnel. The cars eased up, though, when we hit the Cheesequake rest stop and from there it was a straight bullet to poker Nirvana. John and I spent the time talking about strategy and hands an we were revved up to go when we pulled into the Tropicana garage at around 6:30.
We got the front desk, where there was no line, and checked in. Normally, we like to stay in the South Tower because the elevator bank leads directly to the poker room, but they were completely full. Instead, we opted for the Havana Tower, which is near the garage and is the newest tower in the complex. I assumed that would mean that the rooms are the nicest. It was certainly spacious enough, and we dropped off our bags and went directly to the tables.
John opted to play 1-2 while I indulged my hankering for 4-8 Limit. After about 20 minutes where I won three straight pots, a seat opened up at the infamous ‘Pink’ game, which is $7.50-$15 limit and is the highest limit game the Trop spreads. I sat down there and walked away a few hours later up about $200 total. John had dropped some money and we called it a night relatively early because we had been up early for work that day.
Friday morning, we woke up at a decent hour and hit the room again. John went back to his 1-2 battle and I opened up the Pink game with a bunch of locals. Friday was a dream for me. I couldn’t lose for anything. By the time the day was over, I had made quads 4 different times and gotten paid off each time.
I was up over $400 when I left the Pink game. Wendy made her way down to the Trop sometime in the afternoon and we went over to the Borgata to finish up the night. The wait for the 1-2 tables was over 80 people long (!), so we put our names on the list and went to get dinner (Fatburgers rock!). When we came back, the list was whittled down some, but there was an opening for 6-12 limit which I took. I ended up winning there too. Wendy and John were sitting two tables over from me, and I was jealous because they looked like they were having a blast! I walked over to see how they were doing and they each had about $350 in front of them. Then the waitress came over and John, playing table captain, gave out shots of Tequila to the whole table! They downed their shots and went back to taking each others rolls. I went back 15 minutes later because I heard a big ruckus from their table and John, who had had $350 15 minutes ago, now had $1600! WTF?!? Turns out he flopped Broadway against an antagonizer who had flopped top two pair, and all the money went in. Go Darko!
We went home at around 2AM and I went to sleep, ready to tackle Saturday morning. Darko and Wendy were still too wired to sleep so they did some more late night playing back at the Trop. It didn’t go well. Never play tired troops!
I woke up at 9:15a, intent on playing in the 10:15 tourney. I woke up John, groggily at 9:30 and he cursed at me, but eventually got up to play. Good for him, too. Wendy, who is used to waking up as the sun goes down, didn’t even budge. John and I started the tourney on time and by the 6th blind level I had a very large stack as I got paid off on my big hands. John had about half my size but the blinds. But blinds were going up rapidly and even my large stack needed improvement. I got a bit of bad luck when I moved to a new table right after I had been the big blind at my old table and my new spot was…the big blind! Grrrr…. I picked up TT in the big blind and made a large raise when it limped all around. A short stack moved all in with AK, I called, and two Kings flopped. Just like that, half my stack was gone. I got AK in the small blind and the same player made a medium raise. I pushed all in and he squirmed but eventually called with JJ. Needless to say, I got no help and I was gone in two hands. John, meanwhile, kept winning and before I knew it, he was at the final table in the money! By the time it was down to 6 players (out of 89), he was the big stack. The 6th place stack called for a six way chop and John finagled it to get the largest share, $1500, while the rest got $1200. Way to go Darko!
The rest of Saturday was uneventful except for three things. One, as much as I couldn’t lose on Friday, I couldn’t win today (‘nuff said). Two, I ate lunch with Wendy and Darko at the White House sub shop, where I ate a bit of the best meatball sub I’ve ever had. Three, I played in a 4-8 game with a bunch of locals at Harrah’s where I had a hell of a time and I never had so much fun being called a ‘cheap fucking Jew’ in my life. To be fair, these words were spoken by 84 year old Edith Goldberg, and it was in complete fun. The whole table had a good time. While I was playing, the table next to me, where I would have sat had the 4-8 table not opened up, erupted. They hit the bad beat jackpot to the tune of $106.000! So close…
The other highlight of Saturday was teaching table games to John. We played Pai Gow, Let It Ride and Carribean Stud. I hit a straight in Let It Ride and got paid out $150, which was nice. I enjoy the zen-like experience of Pai Gow, but John’s inner action junkie couldn’t take it for too long. Wendy, meanwhile, continued her very harsh losing streak.
We got to bed finally at 5:30am and woke up to check out. Wendy, who had been arguing with the front desk the entire weekend about the temperature of the shower water, called up one last time and somehow managed to get the whole weekend comped! It was a nice way to end a pleasant weekend. John and Wendy stayed on one more day but I took the bus home at 3:00 pm to catch the Sopranos season premiere. What a nice weekend, even though I only finished up $3.50!! Damned break even poker!
We got the front desk, where there was no line, and checked in. Normally, we like to stay in the South Tower because the elevator bank leads directly to the poker room, but they were completely full. Instead, we opted for the Havana Tower, which is near the garage and is the newest tower in the complex. I assumed that would mean that the rooms are the nicest. It was certainly spacious enough, and we dropped off our bags and went directly to the tables.
John opted to play 1-2 while I indulged my hankering for 4-8 Limit. After about 20 minutes where I won three straight pots, a seat opened up at the infamous ‘Pink’ game, which is $7.50-$15 limit and is the highest limit game the Trop spreads. I sat down there and walked away a few hours later up about $200 total. John had dropped some money and we called it a night relatively early because we had been up early for work that day.
Friday morning, we woke up at a decent hour and hit the room again. John went back to his 1-2 battle and I opened up the Pink game with a bunch of locals. Friday was a dream for me. I couldn’t lose for anything. By the time the day was over, I had made quads 4 different times and gotten paid off each time.
I was up over $400 when I left the Pink game. Wendy made her way down to the Trop sometime in the afternoon and we went over to the Borgata to finish up the night. The wait for the 1-2 tables was over 80 people long (!), so we put our names on the list and went to get dinner (Fatburgers rock!). When we came back, the list was whittled down some, but there was an opening for 6-12 limit which I took. I ended up winning there too. Wendy and John were sitting two tables over from me, and I was jealous because they looked like they were having a blast! I walked over to see how they were doing and they each had about $350 in front of them. Then the waitress came over and John, playing table captain, gave out shots of Tequila to the whole table! They downed their shots and went back to taking each others rolls. I went back 15 minutes later because I heard a big ruckus from their table and John, who had had $350 15 minutes ago, now had $1600! WTF?!? Turns out he flopped Broadway against an antagonizer who had flopped top two pair, and all the money went in. Go Darko!
We went home at around 2AM and I went to sleep, ready to tackle Saturday morning. Darko and Wendy were still too wired to sleep so they did some more late night playing back at the Trop. It didn’t go well. Never play tired troops!
I woke up at 9:15a, intent on playing in the 10:15 tourney. I woke up John, groggily at 9:30 and he cursed at me, but eventually got up to play. Good for him, too. Wendy, who is used to waking up as the sun goes down, didn’t even budge. John and I started the tourney on time and by the 6th blind level I had a very large stack as I got paid off on my big hands. John had about half my size but the blinds. But blinds were going up rapidly and even my large stack needed improvement. I got a bit of bad luck when I moved to a new table right after I had been the big blind at my old table and my new spot was…the big blind! Grrrr…. I picked up TT in the big blind and made a large raise when it limped all around. A short stack moved all in with AK, I called, and two Kings flopped. Just like that, half my stack was gone. I got AK in the small blind and the same player made a medium raise. I pushed all in and he squirmed but eventually called with JJ. Needless to say, I got no help and I was gone in two hands. John, meanwhile, kept winning and before I knew it, he was at the final table in the money! By the time it was down to 6 players (out of 89), he was the big stack. The 6th place stack called for a six way chop and John finagled it to get the largest share, $1500, while the rest got $1200. Way to go Darko!
The rest of Saturday was uneventful except for three things. One, as much as I couldn’t lose on Friday, I couldn’t win today (‘nuff said). Two, I ate lunch with Wendy and Darko at the White House sub shop, where I ate a bit of the best meatball sub I’ve ever had. Three, I played in a 4-8 game with a bunch of locals at Harrah’s where I had a hell of a time and I never had so much fun being called a ‘cheap fucking Jew’ in my life. To be fair, these words were spoken by 84 year old Edith Goldberg, and it was in complete fun. The whole table had a good time. While I was playing, the table next to me, where I would have sat had the 4-8 table not opened up, erupted. They hit the bad beat jackpot to the tune of $106.000! So close…
The other highlight of Saturday was teaching table games to John. We played Pai Gow, Let It Ride and Carribean Stud. I hit a straight in Let It Ride and got paid out $150, which was nice. I enjoy the zen-like experience of Pai Gow, but John’s inner action junkie couldn’t take it for too long. Wendy, meanwhile, continued her very harsh losing streak.
We got to bed finally at 5:30am and woke up to check out. Wendy, who had been arguing with the front desk the entire weekend about the temperature of the shower water, called up one last time and somehow managed to get the whole weekend comped! It was a nice way to end a pleasant weekend. John and Wendy stayed on one more day but I took the bus home at 3:00 pm to catch the Sopranos season premiere. What a nice weekend, even though I only finished up $3.50!! Damned break even poker!
Seen at Good Look last night…
After band practice last night, which was at Smash Studios at 36th street and 8th Avenue, I figured I’d go to the Good Look club to spend a few hours since I was close by anyway. I walked in, got acclimated and notice Darko and Vivian at the tables! We all joined up together at a ridiculously tight table and grinded it out for about 90 minutes. I lost about $100 chasing an open ender and a nut flush draw with proper pot odds when I got 25o in middle position. Ah! Just the hand I had been waiting for! The Darko!!! It limped one caller to me and I made it $25 to go, leaving me with $36 in my stack. Instead of taking down the pot on a tight table, to my horror I got 3 callers! A new guy, who was bragging how he made $25,000 the night before at a 10/20NL home game, said, “I know what *you* have”. Oh really? The flop was a dream for the Darko hand. 345 rainbow!!! I had flopped top pair with an open ended straight draw. I was going all in obviously and I got my short stack ready, visibly. The guy to my right checked out of turn and I put in my money but Mr. 25,000 reminded me that it was his turn to act. I apologized and took back my bet. He checked, the guy to my right checked and I pushed all in for $36 more. The button folded, Mr. 25,000 folded and the guy to my right was about to fold but calmly said, “I call”. No one turned anything over until the turn and river both came. They were blanks, but overcards. I sheepishly said, “I have a pair of 5’s”. The other guy turned over A6, for Ace high and I flipped over my 25o for the winner! SHIP IT!!!
The best part about this hand was I had killed all of this guys outs, pretty much. His Ace was dead because it made me the straight. His 6 was dead because it made me the straight. His 2 (for his own wheel) was crippled since I had one. His only good outs were 7’s. That’s a shame….Really….
John just shook his head and said, “You’re a sick man”.
The best part about this hand was I had killed all of this guys outs, pretty much. His Ace was dead because it made me the straight. His 6 was dead because it made me the straight. His 2 (for his own wheel) was crippled since I had one. His only good outs were 7’s. That’s a shame….Really….
John just shook his head and said, “You’re a sick man”.
Friday, March 30, 2007
I might be a degenerate, but I'm not a dick like Phil Ivey over here
I hosted a game last night where the drama was high. With approx. $330 at stake to go to the winner of this season’s League play, Michael B. was in great shape to knock off David R. as the season’s leader. David wasn’t even there and Michael had to place relatively high in both tourneys to win the whole shebang. He played fairly well in the first tourney although he went out in 4th only because he donked off a large chip stack towards the end. But in the second tourney, of which he only had to tighten up and place 4th to win the $330, he went out first because of impatience. He eventually risked his dwindling chip stack by calling by $400 raise with AK. I also had AK and Matt called with J5. The flop was AJ5. Everyone’s money went in and Matt took us both out, going on to win the tourney outright over Sean.
It was 11:30p at that point and John and I decided, since there weren’t enough people to play cash at my place, that a trip to Good Look wouldn’t be out of line. So we hopped a ride with Matt and after much confusion about whether it would be Good Look or Salami, we found ourselves going up the FDR. The only reason Good Look was the winner was that Vivian had told Darko she might be there. The Good Look club had 6 or 7 tables going but there were plenty of open seats for us. John and I sat at table number 1, with David R. also in surprise attendance. His wife had fallen asleep at home and he snuck out of the house to get his poker fix. Evidently, my name will figure prominently in the divorce proceedings!
The table was full of relatively tight people, and I played somewhat tight as well. I *did* end up raising to $22 later early on and taking down a few limpers with a flashed 2-5o (“the Darko”). I made a nice little stack for myself relatively early on with the strangest hand. I had 88 on the button and I called someone’s $12 raise. There was about $60 in the pot preflop. The flop was 456 rainbow. I had an overpair and the gutshot straight draw. Wanting to take the pot down, I bet $40 but got two callers! The turn was a 9 and we checked it around. The river was a Ten. The first caller, in early position, put his hand up and sort of facing the table and gave the hand up and down motion. His palm was open and his fingertips were somewhat up. The dealer, and everyone else at the table, thought he was checking. The second caller checked and I checked, opening my cards because I was last to act. Then, the first caller says, “I didn’t do anything yet”. Evidently his motion had meant, “give me time to act”. When he did the motion itself, it made sense but the dealer had seen it as a check and motioned for the second person to act. We didn’t have to call the floor because it was obvious he was wrong but it didn’t matter anyway. It was now his turn to expose and if could beat a lowly pair of 8’s, he would win the pot. The second caller could not beat my hand and the first caller said he had two pair, but wouldn’t expose! I took the pot but was a little wierded out. He claimed to have won but, “didn’t want the money”. So odd! I wasn’t about to be picky about it!
I was now up about $175 but the profit was lost in two hands when I lost to two pair twice, both times when I was ahead going into the turn. So I was back down to even. Vivian finally showed up at about 2:30am and things started to liven up a bit. I went card dead for about an hour and was going to leave at 3:30am when I picked up Q9 UTG. A guy at the end of the table, who was quickly making an ass of himself with his antics, had made a small preflop raise which a bunch of people called. The flop was 278 and it checked all around. A 9 came on the turn and I led out with $18, getting 4 callers. A Queen fell on the river and I made a weak $15 bet. Everyone folded to the ass at the end of the table who tried to make a move by raising to $45 but I quickly called. He announced, “I have a 2” but wouldn’t show and got all pissy when I made him expose his 26o. It was his turn to act and I had paid to see it so the “you’re slowrolling” accusation he threw out is null and void. Fuck you my friend! I dragged a nice pot from a moron and I was up again. He had singled himself out earlier by being loud and obnoxious for such a young kid. He had bet large on a flop a while back and dragged the pot saying, “That’s the way Phil Ivey plays. Take it down on the flop!”. John and I riffed back and forth with it. “Who’s Phil Ivey? Is he the one with the long hair and the beard?”. This guy was such a dick. Three hands after I won the top two pair pot, I pick up QQ on the button. The same guy raises to $12 and I reraise to $50 with the blood still bad between us. I’m trying to goad him into making a big steal attempt but a short stack beats him to it by moving all in for $65. Phil Ivey folds, unfortunately and I call. The short stack shows AT and a Queen flops, killing any hopes of his winning. I cashed out two hands later for a $172 profit. Not bad. Darko and Vivian were still going strong when I left, with David having cashed out 30 minutes prior.
It was 11:30p at that point and John and I decided, since there weren’t enough people to play cash at my place, that a trip to Good Look wouldn’t be out of line. So we hopped a ride with Matt and after much confusion about whether it would be Good Look or Salami, we found ourselves going up the FDR. The only reason Good Look was the winner was that Vivian had told Darko she might be there. The Good Look club had 6 or 7 tables going but there were plenty of open seats for us. John and I sat at table number 1, with David R. also in surprise attendance. His wife had fallen asleep at home and he snuck out of the house to get his poker fix. Evidently, my name will figure prominently in the divorce proceedings!
The table was full of relatively tight people, and I played somewhat tight as well. I *did* end up raising to $22 later early on and taking down a few limpers with a flashed 2-5o (“the Darko”). I made a nice little stack for myself relatively early on with the strangest hand. I had 88 on the button and I called someone’s $12 raise. There was about $60 in the pot preflop. The flop was 456 rainbow. I had an overpair and the gutshot straight draw. Wanting to take the pot down, I bet $40 but got two callers! The turn was a 9 and we checked it around. The river was a Ten. The first caller, in early position, put his hand up and sort of facing the table and gave the hand up and down motion. His palm was open and his fingertips were somewhat up. The dealer, and everyone else at the table, thought he was checking. The second caller checked and I checked, opening my cards because I was last to act. Then, the first caller says, “I didn’t do anything yet”. Evidently his motion had meant, “give me time to act”. When he did the motion itself, it made sense but the dealer had seen it as a check and motioned for the second person to act. We didn’t have to call the floor because it was obvious he was wrong but it didn’t matter anyway. It was now his turn to expose and if could beat a lowly pair of 8’s, he would win the pot. The second caller could not beat my hand and the first caller said he had two pair, but wouldn’t expose! I took the pot but was a little wierded out. He claimed to have won but, “didn’t want the money”. So odd! I wasn’t about to be picky about it!
I was now up about $175 but the profit was lost in two hands when I lost to two pair twice, both times when I was ahead going into the turn. So I was back down to even. Vivian finally showed up at about 2:30am and things started to liven up a bit. I went card dead for about an hour and was going to leave at 3:30am when I picked up Q9 UTG. A guy at the end of the table, who was quickly making an ass of himself with his antics, had made a small preflop raise which a bunch of people called. The flop was 278 and it checked all around. A 9 came on the turn and I led out with $18, getting 4 callers. A Queen fell on the river and I made a weak $15 bet. Everyone folded to the ass at the end of the table who tried to make a move by raising to $45 but I quickly called. He announced, “I have a 2” but wouldn’t show and got all pissy when I made him expose his 26o. It was his turn to act and I had paid to see it so the “you’re slowrolling” accusation he threw out is null and void. Fuck you my friend! I dragged a nice pot from a moron and I was up again. He had singled himself out earlier by being loud and obnoxious for such a young kid. He had bet large on a flop a while back and dragged the pot saying, “That’s the way Phil Ivey plays. Take it down on the flop!”. John and I riffed back and forth with it. “Who’s Phil Ivey? Is he the one with the long hair and the beard?”. This guy was such a dick. Three hands after I won the top two pair pot, I pick up QQ on the button. The same guy raises to $12 and I reraise to $50 with the blood still bad between us. I’m trying to goad him into making a big steal attempt but a short stack beats him to it by moving all in for $65. Phil Ivey folds, unfortunately and I call. The short stack shows AT and a Queen flops, killing any hopes of his winning. I cashed out two hands later for a $172 profit. Not bad. Darko and Vivian were still going strong when I left, with David having cashed out 30 minutes prior.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Of maniacs and heart attacks
Darko went to Toronto for a long weekend, but when he got back to New York, he was itching for some real poker. So he texted me last night and got me to come to the Good Look club. We showed up at 6:30 and sat down at a table next to each other with $160 each. My second hand, I lost $70 when my KhJh hit a Jack high flop and an AJ took me for a ride. 3 hands later, I get KK and play it great, getting a JJ to go all in after a junk flop. He sucks out on me, but not by hitting a J. He hits running clubs to make a flush! Grrr…. I reload for $200 and 6 hands later get QQ. I flop a set with 2 spades on board and min-raise a $30 flop bet. The raiser calls and I think he’s on a flush draw. I know I’m in the lead and he checks a blank turn. I bet another $60 and he hesitates for a while before calling. The river is the spade and he puts in his last $40. I have to call and he shows Js3s. He called a pre-flop raise with that crap and went all the way with it! Oh well. I’m down $360 in a matter of 10 minutes. I reload for another $200 and finally catch some luck when I more than double up after flopping a set of Jacks and they finally hold up to a flush draw. John, the very hand before, said to me that I’d probably fold a top set of Jacks if I get them and I got them the very next hand! Funny… I left down $150 and John left down about $200 when we went to go get dinner and hit the Salami Club. We sat down to Salami with the place in full swing and 3 full tables going. Two of the tables were 5/10 and a juicy 1/2 table. I bought in for $200 and played a few flops but couldn’t catch anything. John, meanwhile, got felted twice more and kept having to reload. It was brutal. Finally, John gets JcTc and calls a pre-flop raise with a few other callers. He flashes me the cards and says, “I wonder if these will stand up”. The flop is AA3 with two clubs. John bets out on the flush draw and gets one caller. The turn is a blank 6 and John checks. About a millisecond goes by between the time that John checks and the time the caller moves all in. John would be all in for $130 on this call and he thinks about it before saying, “Fuck It” and calling. Clearly a frustration call. John shows and the other guy shows QJ for a bluff! It happens to be leading at this point but it was a stone cold bluff and a good read from the guy who knew John didn’t have the Ace. Meanwhile, there’s still one card to come and it’s a club! John make his river flush and drags a $500 pot. Crazy… A little later, I have only $120 in front of me so I can’t afford to see any more expensive flops. And since they’ve all been raised pre-flop by Bryce, a maniac player on a ridiculous rush of cards (boat, boat, flush, straight was one sequence), I have to sit tight. My patience finally pays off when I look down at KK UTG. I limp for two, knowing *somebody* will raise and Marcello, a silver haired loud Italian gentlemen obliges by raising to $25. John calls, unfortunately, and I move all in, hoping to give John the signal that I’ve got the monster. Marcello calls and John, ignoring my non-verbal communication, calls too. The flop comes as a bunch of low blank cards. Marcello checks and John bets heavy. Marcello folds. I immediately offer John to run the cards twice and he accepts, showing 88. Neither run helps John and I win my hand, going up about $80 for this Salami session. I would be witness to one more hand from John before having to leave at midnight. John, with QQ, raises pre-flop to about $125 after some heavy betting by Bryce. Bryce, ever the maniac, calls and the flop is 334. John immediately moves all in for his remaining $219. Bryce thinks for a good long while, asks somebody for a coin and then flips it on the table. It comes up heads. “Call,” he declares. He flips up AhJh. Ace high with no flush draw! John’s QQ is good but Bryce wants to do business and John accepts. Bryce wants 3 runs but John wants 2. They run it and an Ace pops on the river on the first run! John wins the second run, chopping the pot. If John hadn’t offered to run the cards, he would have lost the entire pot! In hindsight, it would have been better to run 3 times because John would most likely have won 2/3 rather than ½ of the pot, but if he hadn’t run at all, it would have been a bleak moment with a $1000 pot.
A crazy night. The burgers at BURGR are killer.
A crazy night. The burgers at BURGR are killer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
