The Kid:
Life and Death
Hope and Dread
Love and Hate
There is always a struggle to reconcile, and inasmuch as it is a struggle, the balance tilts: less Joy and more Sorrow.
Alfonzo:
Rather, the choice is to accept or attempt to understand.
The Kid:
OK, then you are a book and I am thoughts.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Rain is a homonym
The rains are here. Not full-blown yet, but they’ve arrived. The Great Northwet (sic). The rain gauge shows that we received about an inch and a half in the last two days.
Ah, just like a farmer to talk about the weather. Except, and I have to keep reminding myself of this, I am not farming. All hat, no cattle.
So, what should I talk about? Politics? Religion? Poker? The default button is poker.
Last night was fun. I warmed up at PA, lost a buy-in almost right away to a player who will call anything if he has a draw. I had 2 pair of the flop, he had his straight, no turn or river required, even though the turn gave him a flush draw as well. After that hand, it didn’t take long to get back to even, and then double up. I can’t complain.
On to Stars. I hunted around for a room, and each time I found one that looked yummy, nothing. Card dead. And if I woke up with a hand, no action. OK, fine. Move on to another table. Bammo, two pair on the flop! Oops, he had a set. Could have lost more. Half my stack is not so bad, eh? Rivering a flush on a player with a set brought me back up to even, and there I remained.
I was chatting with a friend. “Rana” looks good. I jump on the table and sit there forever. It’s getting late, the witching hour. The table is starting to get “that way.” I didn’t even bother to look to see what the guy was drawing to when my AK paired kings and doubled me up. Time for bed.
Except I don’t go to bed. I watch the news while knocking back a nightcap. All politics all of the time. Sheesh. Thanks to blogger Change100 for pointing me to this Op-Ed: www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/opinion/21dowd-sorkin.html It’s pretty hilarious in a pithy sort of way, yet pretty much sums it up for me. Of course, feel free to disagree.
Cocktail had, I hit the hay, say my prayers and before I know it, the alarm. My routine begins.
While putting the ducks out, I notice that the annual rye that I cut and lightly tilled is sprouting. I will never grow tired of seeing that which I have planted begin to come through the soil. I see more thistles and tansy that need to be eradicated before they go to seed. It never seems to end. And worse, I recall a misadventure from last week.
I had some mowing to do. There was a thistle I hadn’t seen before, in full flower. I got off of the tractor, cut the weed off at the base of the stem and threw the pernicious thing into the front end loader to dispose of later. Several days later I needed the tractor again. It was a windy day. As I backed out of the barn, hundreds of thistle seeds took wing.
There’s a parable or two in there somewhere.
It’s still raining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwh3FmpZ7kg
Ah, just like a farmer to talk about the weather. Except, and I have to keep reminding myself of this, I am not farming. All hat, no cattle.
So, what should I talk about? Politics? Religion? Poker? The default button is poker.
Last night was fun. I warmed up at PA, lost a buy-in almost right away to a player who will call anything if he has a draw. I had 2 pair of the flop, he had his straight, no turn or river required, even though the turn gave him a flush draw as well. After that hand, it didn’t take long to get back to even, and then double up. I can’t complain.
On to Stars. I hunted around for a room, and each time I found one that looked yummy, nothing. Card dead. And if I woke up with a hand, no action. OK, fine. Move on to another table. Bammo, two pair on the flop! Oops, he had a set. Could have lost more. Half my stack is not so bad, eh? Rivering a flush on a player with a set brought me back up to even, and there I remained.
I was chatting with a friend. “Rana” looks good. I jump on the table and sit there forever. It’s getting late, the witching hour. The table is starting to get “that way.” I didn’t even bother to look to see what the guy was drawing to when my AK paired kings and doubled me up. Time for bed.
Except I don’t go to bed. I watch the news while knocking back a nightcap. All politics all of the time. Sheesh. Thanks to blogger Change100 for pointing me to this Op-Ed: www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/opinion/21dowd-sorkin.html It’s pretty hilarious in a pithy sort of way, yet pretty much sums it up for me. Of course, feel free to disagree.
Cocktail had, I hit the hay, say my prayers and before I know it, the alarm. My routine begins.
While putting the ducks out, I notice that the annual rye that I cut and lightly tilled is sprouting. I will never grow tired of seeing that which I have planted begin to come through the soil. I see more thistles and tansy that need to be eradicated before they go to seed. It never seems to end. And worse, I recall a misadventure from last week.
I had some mowing to do. There was a thistle I hadn’t seen before, in full flower. I got off of the tractor, cut the weed off at the base of the stem and threw the pernicious thing into the front end loader to dispose of later. Several days later I needed the tractor again. It was a windy day. As I backed out of the barn, hundreds of thistle seeds took wing.
There’s a parable or two in there somewhere.
It’s still raining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwh3FmpZ7kg
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Balance
Since I am pre-Intel Mac-abled, I am without important tools, such as Poker Tracker and Prospector. I therefore have to rely on a website that purports to give a profile of a player’s tendencies. All one does is type in the opponents name and the poker site of play, and up pops a tag for the player: Calling Station, Greenfish (weak)’ Redfish (strong preflop, weak post)’ Rock, Shark, Bomb, Mouse, Maniac, and short descriptions of what one might expect as general tendencies from these types of players. The information, however, is out-dated, or at the very least defaults in such a way that makes the information gathered and provided limited. For instance, it only rates me from play at Full Tilt, the site I first started playing for cash online, yet one that I now rarely visit. Therefore, I take the information that is provided with a grain of salt, and use it only to get a basic note started for each of my opponents.
As the session progresses, I refine the notes, commenting on the way a particular hand plays out, questionable calls, etc.
>PokerStars Game #20650714292: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) -
>2008/09/24 2:41:23 ET
>Table 'Sylvia' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
>Seat 1: bastinptc ($33 in chips)
>Seat 2: tkfromvan ($50.30 in chips)
>Seat 3: CriticalAA ($25.35 in chips)
>Seat 4: timboaus ($24.30 in chips)
>Seat 5: kosyrev ($8.55 in chips)
>Seat 6: Tupac_Soulja ($23.20 in chips)
>Seat 7: RoyaleGamble ($9.65 in chips)
>Seat 9: Ximinez ($15.95 in chips)
>bastinptc: posts small blind $0.10
>tkfromvan: posts big blind $0.25
>*** HOLE CARDS ***
>Dealt to bastinptc [Kh Kd]
I’m having a pretty good session up to this point, taking down a few small pots. Yet I have had nothing as strong as this preflop.
>CriticalAA: folds
>timboaus: raises $1.25 to $1.50
This player has been at the table for about two orbits. He has been aggressive, and my crib sheet says that he is a “Bomb.” I don’t take his early position raise lightly.
>gotcha75 has returned
>kosyrev: folds
>Tupac_Soulja: folds
>RoyaleGamble: folds
>Ximinez: calls $1.50
I don’t need any crib sheet for Ximinez. I know him well, and have written about him in the past. I have taken to looking for rooms in which he is playing. I want to get involved in a hand with him when I am strong. He is a calling station, sometimes a luckbox, but more often than not, a losing player. Still, I don’t want to make this hand easy for him.
>bastinptc: raises $3.25 to $4.75
>tkfromvan: folds
timboaus goes into the tank.
>timboaus: raises $19.55 to $24.30 and is all-in
>Ximinez: folds…immediately
>bastinptc: folds with some doubt, yet I think that if timboaus is willing to play for stacks, he must be holding Aces. He may have thought that he would need it to be heads up and made the shove to get Ximinez out. Yet, I don’t think my re-raise left much doubt to my holdings. I think I am happy with putting him on Aces, or AK at worse. Not QQ.
>Uncalled bet ($19.55) returned to timboaus
>timboaus collected $11.25 from pot
Of course, when one is holding the Aces, the play is much easier. This next table was quickly losing players and I was ready to call it a night. In that I was playing two tables at once, and I don’t multi-task well, I had not gotten around to profiling all of the players at this table. Yet, I was comfortable at the table, had a good read on several players, and was playing accordingly. I started with $15 and nearly doubled up early, a situation I rarely experience. I had set a somewhat arbitrary goal for myself to make $15 here and leave, yet my chip stack had started to dwindle on some missed draws, etc. This was going to be my last hand before I even saw my cards.
PokerStars Game #20652500901: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/09/24 5:56:58 ET
Table 'Isberga' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: kuli139 ($5 in chips)
Seat 3: bastinptc ($23.75 in chips)
Seat 8: alex_cern ($7.10 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr.Dittsche ($3.75 in chips)
sbiriguda will be allowed to play after the button
alex_cern: posts small blind $0.10
Dr.Dittsche: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bastinptc [As Ad]
kuli139: folds
bastinptc: raises $1 to $1.25
alex_cern: raises $3.75 to $5
Dr.Dittsche: folds
bastinptc: raises $3.75 to $8.75
alex_cern: calls $2.10 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1.65) returned to bastinptc
*** FLOP *** [4d Kd Ac]
*** TURN *** [4d Kd Ac] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [4d Kd Ac 7d] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
alex_cern: shows [Jd Js] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
bastinptc: shows [As Ad] (a full house, Aces full of Sevens)
bastinptc collected $13.75 from pot
alex_cern leaves the table
Mission accomplished. Good night.
A couple side notes:
It seems like it took forever, yet I received my deposit bonus last night, putting me in a slightly more comfortable position for a bankroll. Just slightly (7 buy-ins), but welcome nonetheless. The timing is good, as I feel like I’m starting to get a better feel for playing online cash.
I have tried playing at various times during the evening, or rather, while it is dark outside, and, while not wholly convinced, I think I have found the best time to play in terms of soft tables. Unfortunately, it is long after I should be in bed and I cannot abide such late nights on a consistent basis. More on this later…
As the session progresses, I refine the notes, commenting on the way a particular hand plays out, questionable calls, etc.
>PokerStars Game #20650714292: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) -
>2008/09/24 2:41:23 ET
>Table 'Sylvia' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
>Seat 1: bastinptc ($33 in chips)
>Seat 2: tkfromvan ($50.30 in chips)
>Seat 3: CriticalAA ($25.35 in chips)
>Seat 4: timboaus ($24.30 in chips)
>Seat 5: kosyrev ($8.55 in chips)
>Seat 6: Tupac_Soulja ($23.20 in chips)
>Seat 7: RoyaleGamble ($9.65 in chips)
>Seat 9: Ximinez ($15.95 in chips)
>bastinptc: posts small blind $0.10
>tkfromvan: posts big blind $0.25
>*** HOLE CARDS ***
>Dealt to bastinptc [Kh Kd]
I’m having a pretty good session up to this point, taking down a few small pots. Yet I have had nothing as strong as this preflop.
>CriticalAA: folds
>timboaus: raises $1.25 to $1.50
This player has been at the table for about two orbits. He has been aggressive, and my crib sheet says that he is a “Bomb.” I don’t take his early position raise lightly.
>gotcha75 has returned
>kosyrev: folds
>Tupac_Soulja: folds
>RoyaleGamble: folds
>Ximinez: calls $1.50
I don’t need any crib sheet for Ximinez. I know him well, and have written about him in the past. I have taken to looking for rooms in which he is playing. I want to get involved in a hand with him when I am strong. He is a calling station, sometimes a luckbox, but more often than not, a losing player. Still, I don’t want to make this hand easy for him.
>bastinptc: raises $3.25 to $4.75
>tkfromvan: folds
timboaus goes into the tank.
>timboaus: raises $19.55 to $24.30 and is all-in
>Ximinez: folds…immediately
>bastinptc: folds with some doubt, yet I think that if timboaus is willing to play for stacks, he must be holding Aces. He may have thought that he would need it to be heads up and made the shove to get Ximinez out. Yet, I don’t think my re-raise left much doubt to my holdings. I think I am happy with putting him on Aces, or AK at worse. Not QQ.
>Uncalled bet ($19.55) returned to timboaus
>timboaus collected $11.25 from pot
Of course, when one is holding the Aces, the play is much easier. This next table was quickly losing players and I was ready to call it a night. In that I was playing two tables at once, and I don’t multi-task well, I had not gotten around to profiling all of the players at this table. Yet, I was comfortable at the table, had a good read on several players, and was playing accordingly. I started with $15 and nearly doubled up early, a situation I rarely experience. I had set a somewhat arbitrary goal for myself to make $15 here and leave, yet my chip stack had started to dwindle on some missed draws, etc. This was going to be my last hand before I even saw my cards.
PokerStars Game #20652500901: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25) - 2008/09/24 5:56:58 ET
Table 'Isberga' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: kuli139 ($5 in chips)
Seat 3: bastinptc ($23.75 in chips)
Seat 8: alex_cern ($7.10 in chips)
Seat 9: Dr.Dittsche ($3.75 in chips)
sbiriguda will be allowed to play after the button
alex_cern: posts small blind $0.10
Dr.Dittsche: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bastinptc [As Ad]
kuli139: folds
bastinptc: raises $1 to $1.25
alex_cern: raises $3.75 to $5
Dr.Dittsche: folds
bastinptc: raises $3.75 to $8.75
alex_cern: calls $2.10 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($1.65) returned to bastinptc
*** FLOP *** [4d Kd Ac]
*** TURN *** [4d Kd Ac] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [4d Kd Ac 7d] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
alex_cern: shows [Jd Js] (two pair, Jacks and Sevens)
bastinptc: shows [As Ad] (a full house, Aces full of Sevens)
bastinptc collected $13.75 from pot
alex_cern leaves the table
Mission accomplished. Good night.
A couple side notes:
It seems like it took forever, yet I received my deposit bonus last night, putting me in a slightly more comfortable position for a bankroll. Just slightly (7 buy-ins), but welcome nonetheless. The timing is good, as I feel like I’m starting to get a better feel for playing online cash.
I have tried playing at various times during the evening, or rather, while it is dark outside, and, while not wholly convinced, I think I have found the best time to play in terms of soft tables. Unfortunately, it is long after I should be in bed and I cannot abide such late nights on a consistent basis. More on this later…
Sunday, September 21, 2008
That’s What Friends Are For
In a previous post I wrote about a home game buddy, M, who had a cardiac incident on a Tuesday and was back to the poker game by Friday. I was somewhat amazed by his resiliency, or rather his need to be out playing so soon after having a close call with the final showdown. I think I got it wrong.
In that post I went on to describe how the other players that night cut M no slack whatsoever, and said things like, “Let M win this hand. We don’t want him dying on us here at the table.” They were ribbing him, seeming to have a laugh at his expense, which is standard behavior at this game, and no one is exempt. Yet, I knew in my heart that M was still feeling a bit traumatized from his brush with Death. I could see it in his eyes.
One might wonder why M would endure what some might consider an insensitive group of louts. The answer is simple: despite evidence to the contrary, these people were his friends, and he wanted to be among them in his time of need.
Looking to get a little background on the home game crowd, a couple weeks ago I asked the group how long they had known each other. Most of them had known each other for just two years or so. They met in pub tourneys, R decided to have a home game, and the rest is history. The way they interacted, I had assumed many of them had know each other for twenty years or more, such was the level of familiarity.
Poker buddies. I have a lot of them, some closer to being friends than others: Pub tourney players that hug when we meet; the home game crowd and their grab-ass hilarity; and many more — some whom I’ve never met— in the virtual world of Poker Academy. The latter group is by and large those with whom I feel closest, perhaps because I have been playing with them the longest, and because we share a software for a game about which we are passionate. Yet, it has developed beyond that.
For the first six months after Poker Academy came out, there were probably less than 100 people who owned the software and played the online component. I was a latecomer to this group (Christmas 2005), and although cautious (I had never engaged in the world of interactive software), I was immediately taken by the conviviality of the group, largely folks from the U.S., but with a smattering of Swiss, German, British, French and Australian players. This group of poker players soon became my primary social network.
How pathetic is that? My dear wife teased me endlessly: “How do you know that this person is who he says he is?” And then when the first Poker Academy Rendezvous in Las Vegas was being organized: “These complete strangers are getting together to play poker? What if one of them is a serial killer?” My only comeback was to point out that I have a degree in deconstructive philosophy and I am therefore able to discern a lot from the way one writes (chats). While not everyone at PA was someone I would care to hang with (and indeed there were some complete lunatics, assholes, hot heads and crybabies), we shared a camaraderie that I found worthwhile.
While I didn’t get to attend the first rendezvous, over the course of my first year I did get to meet several PA players. Uncle Trick and eptigs took me to Caesars when my dear wife’s family got together in LV; I went sailing with Captn Ben in Chicago; and IdahoAs came to my house for the day while vacationing in the area. Having survived those meetings, I was allowed (joking) to go to PA Rendezvous #2 and #3. Deeper bonds were formed.
Still, the group at the Rendezvous is miniscule in comparison to the larger group of poker pals I share the felt with on an almost daily basis. And over the years, online chat has moved to Skype and AIM. At times we have had almost an entire table on Skype, shooting the shit, discussing hands (not to be read as colluding) and getting to know each other better, beyond the limitations of the written word, and, in some cases, becoming closer because of it.
“There’s an email from Stan. His father has died.”
Stan has been a Poker Academy regular for the past two years. Well, he used to be, having dominated the PA community, so, for the most part, he has moved on to Stars. Stan is responsible for me being on Skype. He is also very competitive, friendship be damned. I tell him that he is a sociopath, and he takes it as a compliment. Yet, in the true spirit of an Academy, he has taken many newbies under his wing and made them proficient poker players. I was saddened by the news, emailed him to tell him so, and since he had left contact numbers, wrote that I would call him when he got to the States. (Stan is an ex-pat who has lived in Australia for quite some time. The area code for his contact numbers were very familiar to me as we are both from the same part of the country and even attended the same university.)
I wrote the email right after setting down to a PA table where I shared Stan’s sad news with a couple other old-timers. No sooner than I had clicked on “send” Stan showed up in the room. Condolences were expressed and I typed, “Have time for sk?” We talked for a couple hours, and because of the time difference it was into my wee hours, all-the-while playing poker. It was good conversation.
“What did you do last night?” my dear wife asked this morning after I lamented sleeping in so late.
“I spoke with Stan. He came onto PA and we Skyped.”
“He was playing poker?”
“He didn’t come to play poker. He came to be amongst friends.”
Poker Academy is no longer this little sleepy community of poker players who have a hard time putting together a game late at night. There are now thousands of players from all over the world, and now that Hold ‘em has taken Europe by storm, the numbers continue to grow. And with such a sizable community, there are bound to be events in some members’ lives that shake up their world. Some members have shared these times with the community at large and collective tears were shed, some have had closely-guarded conversations about losses of relatives or loves, and other troubled members have just disappeared into the ether from which they virtually emerged. I wonder about the player who was battling lung cancer, the player who was having terrible domestic problems, or the innumerable likeable sorts who just up and vanished.
I have left instructions.
In that post I went on to describe how the other players that night cut M no slack whatsoever, and said things like, “Let M win this hand. We don’t want him dying on us here at the table.” They were ribbing him, seeming to have a laugh at his expense, which is standard behavior at this game, and no one is exempt. Yet, I knew in my heart that M was still feeling a bit traumatized from his brush with Death. I could see it in his eyes.
One might wonder why M would endure what some might consider an insensitive group of louts. The answer is simple: despite evidence to the contrary, these people were his friends, and he wanted to be among them in his time of need.
Looking to get a little background on the home game crowd, a couple weeks ago I asked the group how long they had known each other. Most of them had known each other for just two years or so. They met in pub tourneys, R decided to have a home game, and the rest is history. The way they interacted, I had assumed many of them had know each other for twenty years or more, such was the level of familiarity.
Poker buddies. I have a lot of them, some closer to being friends than others: Pub tourney players that hug when we meet; the home game crowd and their grab-ass hilarity; and many more — some whom I’ve never met— in the virtual world of Poker Academy. The latter group is by and large those with whom I feel closest, perhaps because I have been playing with them the longest, and because we share a software for a game about which we are passionate. Yet, it has developed beyond that.
For the first six months after Poker Academy came out, there were probably less than 100 people who owned the software and played the online component. I was a latecomer to this group (Christmas 2005), and although cautious (I had never engaged in the world of interactive software), I was immediately taken by the conviviality of the group, largely folks from the U.S., but with a smattering of Swiss, German, British, French and Australian players. This group of poker players soon became my primary social network.
How pathetic is that? My dear wife teased me endlessly: “How do you know that this person is who he says he is?” And then when the first Poker Academy Rendezvous in Las Vegas was being organized: “These complete strangers are getting together to play poker? What if one of them is a serial killer?” My only comeback was to point out that I have a degree in deconstructive philosophy and I am therefore able to discern a lot from the way one writes (chats). While not everyone at PA was someone I would care to hang with (and indeed there were some complete lunatics, assholes, hot heads and crybabies), we shared a camaraderie that I found worthwhile.
While I didn’t get to attend the first rendezvous, over the course of my first year I did get to meet several PA players. Uncle Trick and eptigs took me to Caesars when my dear wife’s family got together in LV; I went sailing with Captn Ben in Chicago; and IdahoAs came to my house for the day while vacationing in the area. Having survived those meetings, I was allowed (joking) to go to PA Rendezvous #2 and #3. Deeper bonds were formed.
Still, the group at the Rendezvous is miniscule in comparison to the larger group of poker pals I share the felt with on an almost daily basis. And over the years, online chat has moved to Skype and AIM. At times we have had almost an entire table on Skype, shooting the shit, discussing hands (not to be read as colluding) and getting to know each other better, beyond the limitations of the written word, and, in some cases, becoming closer because of it.
“There’s an email from Stan. His father has died.”
Stan has been a Poker Academy regular for the past two years. Well, he used to be, having dominated the PA community, so, for the most part, he has moved on to Stars. Stan is responsible for me being on Skype. He is also very competitive, friendship be damned. I tell him that he is a sociopath, and he takes it as a compliment. Yet, in the true spirit of an Academy, he has taken many newbies under his wing and made them proficient poker players. I was saddened by the news, emailed him to tell him so, and since he had left contact numbers, wrote that I would call him when he got to the States. (Stan is an ex-pat who has lived in Australia for quite some time. The area code for his contact numbers were very familiar to me as we are both from the same part of the country and even attended the same university.)
I wrote the email right after setting down to a PA table where I shared Stan’s sad news with a couple other old-timers. No sooner than I had clicked on “send” Stan showed up in the room. Condolences were expressed and I typed, “Have time for sk?” We talked for a couple hours, and because of the time difference it was into my wee hours, all-the-while playing poker. It was good conversation.
“What did you do last night?” my dear wife asked this morning after I lamented sleeping in so late.
“I spoke with Stan. He came onto PA and we Skyped.”
“He was playing poker?”
“He didn’t come to play poker. He came to be amongst friends.”
Poker Academy is no longer this little sleepy community of poker players who have a hard time putting together a game late at night. There are now thousands of players from all over the world, and now that Hold ‘em has taken Europe by storm, the numbers continue to grow. And with such a sizable community, there are bound to be events in some members’ lives that shake up their world. Some members have shared these times with the community at large and collective tears were shed, some have had closely-guarded conversations about losses of relatives or loves, and other troubled members have just disappeared into the ether from which they virtually emerged. I wonder about the player who was battling lung cancer, the player who was having terrible domestic problems, or the innumerable likeable sorts who just up and vanished.
I have left instructions.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Home Game Again. Jiggety-Jig
I talked to R earlier in the day and he said there was going to be a good crowd for the Friday night game. His driveway was full and there were two full tables for the tourney. Only two players had been knocked out when I arrived, so there was a bit of a wait for the cash game to start. Oh, we could have played 3-handed, but no thanks. I was planning on sticking to a budget, buy in for $50, and work with that all evening. With .50/1.00 blinds, my $50 wouldn’t last long 3-handed.
4-handed, it didn’t fare much better, yet we moved into a 7-person game fairly quickly, and I still had $40. Still, a new batch of players was buying in for $50 and $60, so I bought another $10.
Like a lot of other home games, this one can be pretty loose. An opening 3-bet means nothing. This can work to one’s advantage, or drain one’s stack in short order. I limped several times from early position with PP, someone 3-bets, and five people have called before it gets back to me. Of course I call, but no set. This happened at least three times. I had Qs UTG, 3-bet, five callers. The flop is 7, 9, 2 with 2 hearts. I bet 3/4 of the pot and everyone folds except the Button, who triples my bet. By now we have a full table, so, I buy another $20. I’m down $40 inside of an hour and a half.
After some big pots get taken down by questionable calls (had I played as loose as the rest of the table and seen a turn or river a couple times, I would have cleaned up on some gutshots), things start to settle down and the table becomes a limpfest. I follow suit with 69o in the SB and flop a boat. I check it, and as I hoped, someone bet a draw, then four callers, including me. The turn helps a str8 and I open with $2 and everyone calls. The river makes 3 to a flush and I check. The earlier bettor bets half the pot, everyone else folds and I double his bet. He says, “OK, I’ll pay off your boat.” I had regained more than half of my losses.
All of this time I’m just not feeling it. I’m looking at the clock. I told my dear wife that I’d wrap it up by 2 o’clock, and that’s an hour and a half from now. I take down a small pot with pocket nines, fold, fold, fold until 1 o’clock and say “night folks.” I just didn’t feel it. I wanted to be home.
I like playing with these folks. When I come in the door, I am greeted warmly and roundly. The mix of players is good: a couple players are very solid; more than a couple are extremely loose; and a couple more are almost certain to leave all of the money they came with. My ROI must be at least 50%. But something’s not right.
Once again this week, F took out our host in mere minutes of when he first sat down. And R had, once again, failed to make it into the money in the tournament (extremely unusual). And R’s girlfriend must have moved in, for once again, she had retired to the bedroom for the evening (pleasant woman who has stated that she wants to learn the game), so R is calling it an early night. That leaves 10 people sitting in his living room, whooping it up.
My dear Mother wouldn’t approve.
4-handed, it didn’t fare much better, yet we moved into a 7-person game fairly quickly, and I still had $40. Still, a new batch of players was buying in for $50 and $60, so I bought another $10.
Like a lot of other home games, this one can be pretty loose. An opening 3-bet means nothing. This can work to one’s advantage, or drain one’s stack in short order. I limped several times from early position with PP, someone 3-bets, and five people have called before it gets back to me. Of course I call, but no set. This happened at least three times. I had Qs UTG, 3-bet, five callers. The flop is 7, 9, 2 with 2 hearts. I bet 3/4 of the pot and everyone folds except the Button, who triples my bet. By now we have a full table, so, I buy another $20. I’m down $40 inside of an hour and a half.
After some big pots get taken down by questionable calls (had I played as loose as the rest of the table and seen a turn or river a couple times, I would have cleaned up on some gutshots), things start to settle down and the table becomes a limpfest. I follow suit with 69o in the SB and flop a boat. I check it, and as I hoped, someone bet a draw, then four callers, including me. The turn helps a str8 and I open with $2 and everyone calls. The river makes 3 to a flush and I check. The earlier bettor bets half the pot, everyone else folds and I double his bet. He says, “OK, I’ll pay off your boat.” I had regained more than half of my losses.
All of this time I’m just not feeling it. I’m looking at the clock. I told my dear wife that I’d wrap it up by 2 o’clock, and that’s an hour and a half from now. I take down a small pot with pocket nines, fold, fold, fold until 1 o’clock and say “night folks.” I just didn’t feel it. I wanted to be home.
I like playing with these folks. When I come in the door, I am greeted warmly and roundly. The mix of players is good: a couple players are very solid; more than a couple are extremely loose; and a couple more are almost certain to leave all of the money they came with. My ROI must be at least 50%. But something’s not right.
Once again this week, F took out our host in mere minutes of when he first sat down. And R had, once again, failed to make it into the money in the tournament (extremely unusual). And R’s girlfriend must have moved in, for once again, she had retired to the bedroom for the evening (pleasant woman who has stated that she wants to learn the game), so R is calling it an early night. That leaves 10 people sitting in his living room, whooping it up.
My dear Mother wouldn’t approve.
Best-Laid Responses
The two hands I posted the other day received a few responses over at the Poker Academy Forums. I was intrigued by the comments, mostly, perhaps, because while some aligned with my strategy at least to some degrees, others didn’t, and, despite having seen this sort of play, in fact took a tact I wouldn’t expect to be +EV.
Loki9, a very thoughtful, strategic and aggressive player wrote:
It seems to me that if I led out on the turn, and was called, I would be giving up some of my advantage. It would also mean that I would have to then reevaluate my position in the hand. In that my flop check-raise didn’t slow him down much, I would venture to say that he would indeed call a bet equal to the size that he made. By keeping the equal amount of pressure on the turn betting sequence, it forces him to consider a wide range that I may have. Again, with his preflop limp, I am betting on AJ as his best holding, but not ruling out a set. I need to demonstrate that I can beat these holdings.
"Second hand I don't understand the question. On the turn you hit your OESD and got all in. Villain had a flush draw + gutshot and decided to call off his stack with one card to come. Good work, on to the next hand.
What does the first hand have to do with the second? I don't see the set up. In the second hand, Villain can't even beat a bluff with his Q high. He's on a pure draw and doesn't care what you have. This hand would have been better if you had something like Ad2d and the river was the 4h, letting you own him with A high. "
Hypotheticals aside, the value of the first hand in relation to the second is that it sets the player up to think that my aggression is unwarranted, that I am working a stone cold bluff again. He may think that his Q high is good against my air.
"You've found a weakness in villain's game, by the way. While appearing fairly solid, he'll call off his stack on a draw way too often. "
And yes, he is looking at his draws as providing some sort of insurance. Very often we see a player over-commit to a draw, making the all-in an almost necessary conclusive bet. This is especially true in the case of short stack newbies and maniacs.
Pokergirl takes a slightly different approach:
"Seems like the point is he wanted to do to B what B did to him with Q9. Except he actually made his draw too. "
He may have wanted to do the same to me, get me to fold to his re-raise. His “mistake” was to call my all-in. This is the value the earlier bluff has. The hands are nowhere similar, yet his response is similar when a different strategy is called for. His pot-sized continuation bet on the flop may be representing a set, but when the same betting strategy is employed on the turn, and he gets re-raised, this betting clearly reads as a stereotypical made draw. A set may call, hoping against hope to pair the board, to re-raise again makes no sense whatsoever for a +EV result. I have no option but to go all-in at this point as there is no hand on the board that can beat me.
Biggus_Poppa, a player who I have yet to play against wrote:
"I think the mistake was showing your bluff if you want to take a psychological standpoint."
I left out an item in the previous post. When 986 folded the first hand, he flashed his cards. I did the same as I wanted to show the bluff and make it look like I was reciprocating. We were playing short-handed, usually a very aggressive game, and one which I do well at, usually by biding my time while everyone else goes nuts. An observant player would see that I am playing 18% while everyone else is playing 35%+. I want to leave a false impression.
"You said 986 was a solid player. A solid player is going to remember that, and induce action against you with a monster draw and get paid.
...and he did."
I guess the question I would have is this a monster draw? He has 11 outs. My experience has shown that a flush and gutshot draw, while nice, is still very much a long shot, not even 4 to 1; and running the hand at the turn, I am a 70% favorite to win. Yet some may think it’s stellar draw and this points to the possible flaw in my play of this hand. I should have jammed the turn. It would have signaled my actual hand strength and eliminated any odds to call.
In fact, in a conversation with 986 a couple days later, he said that had I jammed the turn, he would have indeed folded.
Oh well. As Loki9 says, “On to the next hand.”
Loki9, a very thoughtful, strategic and aggressive player wrote:
"First hand looks pretty good. It's gotta suck getting check-raised twice in one hand. But I wonder if the risk in checking the turn is worth the reward. The turn card made both the straight and flush draws, I would lead here most of the time."
It seems to me that if I led out on the turn, and was called, I would be giving up some of my advantage. It would also mean that I would have to then reevaluate my position in the hand. In that my flop check-raise didn’t slow him down much, I would venture to say that he would indeed call a bet equal to the size that he made. By keeping the equal amount of pressure on the turn betting sequence, it forces him to consider a wide range that I may have. Again, with his preflop limp, I am betting on AJ as his best holding, but not ruling out a set. I need to demonstrate that I can beat these holdings.
"Second hand I don't understand the question. On the turn you hit your OESD and got all in. Villain had a flush draw + gutshot and decided to call off his stack with one card to come. Good work, on to the next hand.
What does the first hand have to do with the second? I don't see the set up. In the second hand, Villain can't even beat a bluff with his Q high. He's on a pure draw and doesn't care what you have. This hand would have been better if you had something like Ad2d and the river was the 4h, letting you own him with A high. "
Hypotheticals aside, the value of the first hand in relation to the second is that it sets the player up to think that my aggression is unwarranted, that I am working a stone cold bluff again. He may think that his Q high is good against my air.
"You've found a weakness in villain's game, by the way. While appearing fairly solid, he'll call off his stack on a draw way too often. "
And yes, he is looking at his draws as providing some sort of insurance. Very often we see a player over-commit to a draw, making the all-in an almost necessary conclusive bet. This is especially true in the case of short stack newbies and maniacs.
Pokergirl takes a slightly different approach:
"Seems like the point is he wanted to do to B what B did to him with Q9. Except he actually made his draw too. "
He may have wanted to do the same to me, get me to fold to his re-raise. His “mistake” was to call my all-in. This is the value the earlier bluff has. The hands are nowhere similar, yet his response is similar when a different strategy is called for. His pot-sized continuation bet on the flop may be representing a set, but when the same betting strategy is employed on the turn, and he gets re-raised, this betting clearly reads as a stereotypical made draw. A set may call, hoping against hope to pair the board, to re-raise again makes no sense whatsoever for a +EV result. I have no option but to go all-in at this point as there is no hand on the board that can beat me.
Biggus_Poppa, a player who I have yet to play against wrote:
"I think the mistake was showing your bluff if you want to take a psychological standpoint."
I left out an item in the previous post. When 986 folded the first hand, he flashed his cards. I did the same as I wanted to show the bluff and make it look like I was reciprocating. We were playing short-handed, usually a very aggressive game, and one which I do well at, usually by biding my time while everyone else goes nuts. An observant player would see that I am playing 18% while everyone else is playing 35%+. I want to leave a false impression.
"You said 986 was a solid player. A solid player is going to remember that, and induce action against you with a monster draw and get paid.
...and he did."
I guess the question I would have is this a monster draw? He has 11 outs. My experience has shown that a flush and gutshot draw, while nice, is still very much a long shot, not even 4 to 1; and running the hand at the turn, I am a 70% favorite to win. Yet some may think it’s stellar draw and this points to the possible flaw in my play of this hand. I should have jammed the turn. It would have signaled my actual hand strength and eliminated any odds to call.
In fact, in a conversation with 986 a couple days later, he said that had I jammed the turn, he would have indeed folded.
Oh well. As Loki9 says, “On to the next hand.”
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