I thought I had found a good room when it showed 86% participation and a seat open. Anomaly. Maybe one soft player. The rest were sharks or rocks. I stayed maybe two rounds, however long it took me to find another room that looked promising. I found one.
Before I go any further, I have a small confession to make: I went back to 25NL. Yes, it is a small confession, maybe one not even worth mentioning, along the lines of “I ate the last bite-size Snickers bar.” (I still have two left; it’s just the first thing that popped into my head in that the bag is sitting in front of me.) I looked at the 10NL rooms and, as Mr. Gumpo has noted, there just weren’t enough rooms to go around for those who wanted to play at that level. Plus, I had just come away from tripling up in 200NL at Poker Academy, bringing the nick “bastin” up to an all-time personal best. I was feeling feisty.
One knows a good table when the same 3 or 4 players seem to be in every hand, no matter the lead out bet or position they have at the table. Maniacs and calling stations. The remainder of the players are there to take advantage of this situation, all the while hoping to keep their apple cart upright.
I didn’t have the most auspicious start. I slow-played trip tens from the BB and got nailed by a halfway decent player who caught a straight on the river. He was an otherwise fairly aggressive player, yet there was something about him that I knew I could use to my advantage should the time come. (But he wasn’t my primary target.) I reloaded. When a flop was flushy and I min-raised him, he called to see a three flush on the turn. I let him have the pot. A few hands later he led out with 4 x BB and I called with 45s from the BB. The flop gave me a gutshot and backdoor flush, a rather weak situation but I min-check-raised him again anyway. It gave me a free turn card. The river gave me a five and came three to a flush in a suit I didn’t have, so I jammed with crap. He folded and I got all of my money back. I figured he knew I was looking for payback, and I figured he would figure that I got lucky on the river. Go figure.
Yet, as I said, he wasn’t who I was after. The hand displayed below kinda sets it up.
PokerStars Game #21074172866: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/10/10 4:18:17 ET
Table 'Theotes' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: bastinptc ($24.25 in chips)
Seat 2: kuszo ($24.30 in chips)
Seat 4: jmsamson ($16.45 in chips)
Seat 5: lupus213 ($28.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Ranok ($15.40 in chips)
Seat 8: pvnuts ($19.90 in chips)
Seat 9: TheCrazyBull ($25.15 in chips)
jmsamson: posts small blind $0.10
lupus213: posts big blind $0.25
alheocmo: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bastinptc [8d 8h]
Ranok: calls $0.25
pvnuts: folds
pvnuts leaves the table
TheCrazyBull: folds
bastinptc: calls $0.25
hoffito leaves the table
kuszo: folds
jmsamson: calls $0.15
lupus213: checks
*** FLOP *** [4d 4s 8s]
jmsamson: checks
lupus213: checks
Ranok: bets $0.50
bastinptc: calls $0.50
jmsamson: calls $0.50
lupus213: folds
*** TURN *** [4d 4s 8s] [4c]
jmsamson: bets $1
Ranok: calls $1
bastinptc: calls $1
*** RIVER *** [4d 4s 8s 4c] [2d]
jmsamson: checks
Ranok: bets $1
bastinptc: raises $1 to $2
jmsamson: calls $2
Ranok: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bastinptc: shows [8d 8h] (a full house, Eights full of Fours)
jmsamson: mucks hand
bastinptc collected $10 from pot
jmsamson said, "8"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $10.50 | Rake $0.50
Board [4d 4s 8s 4c 2d]
Seat 1: bastinptc showed [8d 8h] and won ($10) with a full house, Eights full of Fours
Seat 2: kuszo (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: jmsamson (small blind) mucked [9c 8c]
Seat 5: lupus213 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Ranok folded on the River
Seat 8: pvnuts folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: TheCrazyBull folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Who am I after: jmsamson or Ranok? First let me say that this was a hand that I thought could backfire with the case 4. It could happen, especially to me. Now, I wonder if I could have gotten more from jmsamson. In that he smooth called my raise, probably not.
PokerStars Game #21074382756: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/10/10 4:41:38 ET
Table 'Theotes' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: bastinptc ($32 in chips)
Seat 3: vbanm ($14.80 in chips)
Seat 4: jmsamson ($11.40 in chips)
Seat 5: lupus213 ($26.10 in chips)
Seat 6: Ranok ($21.60 in chips)
Seat 7: alheocmo ($3.95 in chips)
Seat 8: Asta92 ($24.75 in chips)
Seat 9: TheCrazyBull ($25 in chips)
nAAziKK will be allowed to play after the button
vbanm: posts small blind $0.10
jmsamson: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bastinptc [As 4s]
lupus213: folds
Ranok: calls $0.25
alheocmo: folds
Asta92: folds
TheCrazyBull: folds
bastinptc: calls $0.25
vbanm: folds
jmsamson: checks
*** FLOP *** [4c 2s Ad]
jmsamson: checks
Ranok: bets $0.25
bastinptc: raises $1.25 to $1.50
jmsamson: folds
Ranok: calls $1.25
*** TURN *** [4c 2s Ad] [Ts]
Ranok: checks
bastinptc: bets $4
Ranok: folds
Uncalled bet ($4) returned to bastinptc
bastinptc collected $3.70 from pot
There’s your answer: Ranok. Well, he was the primary target. There were a couple others with smaller targets on their foreheads, for at least they played paint. I bet so much because, even though I had two pair, it is just two pair, and with his guy’s willingness to call, call, call, if he was going to hit, he would have to pay to do so. If you think I priced him out too quickly, consider this hand:
PokerStars Game #21074465211: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/10/10 4:50:42 ET
Table 'Theotes' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: bastinptc ($33.45 in chips)
Seat 2: nAAziKK ($10 in chips)
Seat 3: vbanm ($17.90 in chips)
Seat 4: Kamu1337 ($5 in chips)
Seat 5: lupus213 ($27 in chips)
Seat 6: Ranok ($20.05 in chips)
Seat 7: alheocmo ($5 in chips)
Seat 8: Asta92 ($24.40 in chips)
Seat 9: TheCrazyBull ($25 in chips)
vbanm: posts small blind $0.10
Kamu1337: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bastinptc [Ad Qc]
lupus213: folds
Ranok: calls $0.25
alheocmo: folds
Asta92: folds
TheCrazyBull: folds
bastinptc: raises $0.50 to $0.75
nAAziKK: folds
vbanm: folds
Kamu1337: folds
Ranok: calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [3h 4s As]
Ranok: bets $0.50
bastinptc: raises $1.50 to $2
Ranok: calls $1.50
*** TURN *** [3h 4s As] [3c]
Ranok: bets $1
bastinptc: raises $2.25 to $3.25
Ranok: calls $2.25
*** RIVER *** [3h 4s As 3c] [7d]
Ranok: bets $1
bastinptc: raises $2.75 to $3.75
Ranok: calls $2.75
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bastinptc: shows [Ad Qc] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
Ranok: mucks hand
bastinptc collected $18.90 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $19.85 | Rake $0.95
Board [3h 4s As 3c 7d]
Seat 1: bastinptc showed [Ad Qc] and won ($18.90) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Seat 2: nAAziKK (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: vbanm (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: Kamu1337 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: lupus213 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Ranok mucked [4d 5h]
Seat 7: alheocmo folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Asta92 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: TheCrazyBull folded before Flop (didn't bet)
No, I’m not going to go crazy with top pair.
Calling Stations are an odd breed. First of all, they seem to have money to burn. Second, they are either action junkies or completely clueless to the finer points of the game. Yes, they will nail you with a 2 outer and then you have to sit back and watch someone else take your money from the CS in a later hand. Not fun. Yet, the great thing about them is that they rarely know when they are beat, which allows one to get maximum value from a hand. In an attempt to improve my ability to find a soft table, I have started a list of calling stations on my “Find a player” feature.
After this hand, Ranok had enough and left. There were a couple more players at the table who seemed to think K 10 off was a strong enough hand preflop to call an all-in from a KJs (as if KJs is an all-in hand). I would have loved to stay and mix it up with these two, yet it was late and the room was starting to fill with those who had been patiently circling to get in the game. Cue music.
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5 comments:
Nice one B.
Some thoughts on those hands:
88: Curious what you were thinking this hand. Seemed maybe a little passive - were you trapping or concerned about a higher boat?
A4: I think you're right to play those two pair hands fast. I wouldn't be concerned about pricing him out early.
AQ: Really nicely played, you extracted a lot of value while keeping the pot manageable.
FG
I left further discussion of this hand out for a reason:
When that third 4 hit I was all ready to continue building the pot and pulled up short because of the possibility of a higher boat cmae to mind. That and the case 4. I read samson as possibly have 9s or 10s and the Dupe possibly with the 4. Who knows in these things?
So, yeah, I put on the brakes. That was while I was in the moment. Now that I don't have a timer on me, I would have played it a bit more differently. The likelihood of either scenario is minimal, and of course, my fear was just flat out-and-out wrong.
See? I made the same mistake in the hand that you just did in reading it. I would have had 8s full of 4s. Another player would have 4s full of xx. Or, did you see this already and just setting a trap?
As the hand stands, I wonder how much more I could have gotten out of samson. In that he didn't re-re-raise, I doubt very much.
Still, I wonder what I would have done if a face card or Ace came on the river...
So, two out of three played well?
Oh dear B, don't tell me you're feeling a little snakebit and looking for quads under the bed? ;)
Under the bed? Not since I started sleeping with the hall light on.
As I read your poker-related writing, I can't help but notice how differently we approach the game. I don't see individual players so much as one, ugly lump of not-so-good players, at least at the 25NL tables.
The better games on PAO are a different matter, but it seems to me almost all the micro-limit cash players play the same... Some understanding of the game, a lot of ego and aggression, but holes in their play big enough to drive a truck through.
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