This is a hand I was in earlier today:
FullTiltPoker Game #4024283060: Table Miragrande - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 13:26:28 ET - 2007/10/31
Seat 1: human eagle ($156.80)
Seat 2: Gilligan115 ($66)
Seat 3: Pardad ($50)
Seat 4: Coattails ($198)
Seat 5: BestCardInDeck ($51.15), is sitting out
Seat 6: premgolf ($222.90)
Seat 7: Rake Feeder ($219.75)
Seat 8: galaktiko ($100.60)
Seat 9: booboo7911 ($238.20)
Coattails posts the small blind of $1
premgolf posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Rake Feeder [8d 8s] <-- I am UTG, but I want to play my small pair.
Rake Feeder raises to $7 <-- Standard opening raise at the 1-2 tables.
galaktiko folds
booboo7911 calls $7
human eagle calls $7
Gilligan115 folds
Coattails folds
premgolf folds
*** FLOP *** [7h 8h 5c] <-- Top set on the flop, but there are flush and straight possibilities.
Rake Feeder has 15 seconds left to act
Rake Feeder bets $16 <-- Only a pussy would check here, I bet out 2/3 of the pot.
booboo7911 calls $16
human eagle calls $16
*** TURN *** [7h 8h 5c] [8c] <-- Now I have the nuts, unless someone rivers a straight flush.
Rake Feeder checks <-- I check to make it appear I had an overpair and was worried.
booboo7911 has 15 seconds left to act
booboo7911 bets $44 <-- This guy has made a booboo.
human eagle calls $44 <-- Wow, I did not expect 2 bettors, someone must have a boat.
Rake Feeder has 15 seconds left to act
Rake Feeder raises to $88 <-- I min raise here, thinking someone is going to jam their boat.
booboo7911 has 15 seconds left to act
booboo7911 has requested TIME <-- He tanked really hard.
BestCardInDeck has returned
booboo7911 folds
human eagle has 15 seconds left to act
human eagle folds <-- Bah, what did he flatcall with that he folds to a min raise?
Uncalled bet of $44 returned to Rake Feeder
Rake Feeder shows [8d 8s] four of a kind, Eights <-- I show screaming DQB!
Rake Feeder wins the pot ($201)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $204 | Rake $3
Board: [7h 8h 5c 8c]
Seat 1: human eagle folded on the Turn
Seat 2: Gilligan115 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: Pardad is sitting out
Seat 4: Coattails (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: BestCardInDeck is sitting out
Seat 6: premgolf (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Rake Feeder collected ($201)
Seat 8: galaktiko didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: booboo7911 folded on the Turn
On the flop I bet my top set because I always do, and I did not like the straight and flush potential. On the turn I just have to check the nuts. I can understand why one player took a stab at it, but why would the second player flatcall with me waiting to act?
I min raise thinking one of the players must have a smaller set, or maybe the straight. Why not bump it up here on the turn? What could they have bet with or called with that they were not going to look me up?
I could have bet out on the turn, it seems $44 was the right amount. Or I could have just flat called the $44 and then bet out the river. Maybe I was up against pocket 9s and pocket 6's? Overpair and a flush draw?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
HPT
Last night was first first HPT since June. I don't know why there was a 3 month break, something about kids and summer vacations. The fall season kicked off with a whopping 30 players committing resulting in 26 players actually showing up. That is a really nice turnout for a small town home game. Wwonka and Bdidde were in attendance, as were my friends Air Force Steve and Denise. 3 tables, T4000 chips, 20 minute blinds, and an 8 pm start time with hourly breaks made for a late night. It was nearly 2am when the action finally stopped.
I had the toughest starting table, and I know Wonka will agree with me. Around the table from my left were Phil who was wearing a "Players Tournament" jacket from some charity poker event, our host Mike, my boy ScottyDawg who took down one of the 11pm tourneys at Caesars in Vegas last spring, Air Force Steve, Joe the Vet, Ginger his Wife, and the eventual winner the other Mike who was wearing a "No Fold-em Hold-em" baseball cap.
ScottyDawg and Mike the Host were getting into it early on when the Dawg came over the top of Mikes preflop raises 3 times in a row. Mike was visibly annoyed to the point that he warned me about stealing his blind for the second time. I told him that it was his bad luck he was 2 seats to my left, and asked who else was I going to steal from? I was raising from every position anyway, I could have layed off his blind if I wanted to. They finally got it going when Mike raises 4x the BB, and Dawg min re-raises 2x his bet. Mike clearly has had enough and re-re-raises 6x Dawgs raise for a little less than half his stack. Dawg says he has to call, and everyone knows that someone is getting stacked or crippled here. The flop comes AKJ rainbow, Mike checks and Scott bets a minute 200 something like 5% of the pot. Mike check raises all in and is insta-called. Mike shows pocket kings for a set, and Dawg shows the Asian Jew for top and bottom pair. The thing about Dawg is he never thought that he might be behind in the hand. He had AJs, that is a monster right?
I played my normal home game style of alternating between stealing from the blinds and limpers preflop, and stealing orphan pots when nobody seemed interested. I would call weak flop bets then check raise on the turn when a scare card fell. I doubled up short stack Dawg a couple times before finally busting him. In the few times I did actually have a hand, I made sure to show it when people began to question my raises. In all it was a nice way to triple up.
When I moved over to the new table there was a monster stack sitting on 20K+ early on. He must have been responsible for all the busts at his table. I lose some ground and then double up with 99 vs 55 for virtually all his chips. I watch the chip leader bust his wife after he limped with QQ with 4 people to act and then call her all in from the BB. His QQ vs her KK was gold when he spiked a Q on the flop and sent her to get him a beer. I took a big pot from the BB when it was limped around and a board of TTA fell. Everyone checked the flop, so I bet the pot when an 8 comes on the turn. Weak-passive Phil min raises me and everyone else folds. I am holding T5o, and I know this guy is an Ace-rag player so I call. The river is a blank and I bet the pot, which nearly puts him all in. He goes into the tank and considers putting the rest in. At this point I am concerned that he might have a Ten, but I still have enough chips to make a pushdonkey-lucksack-comeback if I have to. He calls showing A8 for 3 pair, a hand that does not beat my trip tens. When we hit the final table I have about 18-19K.
Six of the Eight players from my starting table have made the final table. The other 4 are Wwonka, ultra-aggressor Big Joe O, Football Steve, and LuckSack Phil. When it was limped around to me with A7o in the small blind, I tried to steal Wonkas big blind putting 3000 on top. He re-raises all in for 4500 more and I let him have it. Score 1 for Wonka, I tell him that I am going to push blind anytime it is folded to me again.
My final hand was an all-in with 99 from the SB. The blinds were 800-1600, and action was limped and min-raised in front of me, which I took as a clear signal to come over the top with my pocket pair. I put 13,900 on top of the min raise from the button. Min raiser digs deep for a while, he has me covered by half a blind. He calls with 66. It looks good until he spikes a 6 on the river after calling out the card. I hit the rail in 6th place, 10 minutes too late to get in on the side game. I spend the rest of the night sweating Denise and Air Force Steve at the side game.
In all a disappointing end, but I was happy with my play. I did get to talk shop with Byron for a while, hopefully he can make it down to Foxwoods sometime soon. Go read about his Barry Greenstein Project.
I had the toughest starting table, and I know Wonka will agree with me. Around the table from my left were Phil who was wearing a "Players Tournament" jacket from some charity poker event, our host Mike, my boy ScottyDawg who took down one of the 11pm tourneys at Caesars in Vegas last spring, Air Force Steve, Joe the Vet, Ginger his Wife, and the eventual winner the other Mike who was wearing a "No Fold-em Hold-em" baseball cap.
ScottyDawg and Mike the Host were getting into it early on when the Dawg came over the top of Mikes preflop raises 3 times in a row. Mike was visibly annoyed to the point that he warned me about stealing his blind for the second time. I told him that it was his bad luck he was 2 seats to my left, and asked who else was I going to steal from? I was raising from every position anyway, I could have layed off his blind if I wanted to. They finally got it going when Mike raises 4x the BB, and Dawg min re-raises 2x his bet. Mike clearly has had enough and re-re-raises 6x Dawgs raise for a little less than half his stack. Dawg says he has to call, and everyone knows that someone is getting stacked or crippled here. The flop comes AKJ rainbow, Mike checks and Scott bets a minute 200 something like 5% of the pot. Mike check raises all in and is insta-called. Mike shows pocket kings for a set, and Dawg shows the Asian Jew for top and bottom pair. The thing about Dawg is he never thought that he might be behind in the hand. He had AJs, that is a monster right?
I played my normal home game style of alternating between stealing from the blinds and limpers preflop, and stealing orphan pots when nobody seemed interested. I would call weak flop bets then check raise on the turn when a scare card fell. I doubled up short stack Dawg a couple times before finally busting him. In the few times I did actually have a hand, I made sure to show it when people began to question my raises. In all it was a nice way to triple up.
When I moved over to the new table there was a monster stack sitting on 20K+ early on. He must have been responsible for all the busts at his table. I lose some ground and then double up with 99 vs 55 for virtually all his chips. I watch the chip leader bust his wife after he limped with QQ with 4 people to act and then call her all in from the BB. His QQ vs her KK was gold when he spiked a Q on the flop and sent her to get him a beer. I took a big pot from the BB when it was limped around and a board of TTA fell. Everyone checked the flop, so I bet the pot when an 8 comes on the turn. Weak-passive Phil min raises me and everyone else folds. I am holding T5o, and I know this guy is an Ace-rag player so I call. The river is a blank and I bet the pot, which nearly puts him all in. He goes into the tank and considers putting the rest in. At this point I am concerned that he might have a Ten, but I still have enough chips to make a pushdonkey-lucksack-comeback if I have to. He calls showing A8 for 3 pair, a hand that does not beat my trip tens. When we hit the final table I have about 18-19K.
Six of the Eight players from my starting table have made the final table. The other 4 are Wwonka, ultra-aggressor Big Joe O, Football Steve, and LuckSack Phil. When it was limped around to me with A7o in the small blind, I tried to steal Wonkas big blind putting 3000 on top. He re-raises all in for 4500 more and I let him have it. Score 1 for Wonka, I tell him that I am going to push blind anytime it is folded to me again.
My final hand was an all-in with 99 from the SB. The blinds were 800-1600, and action was limped and min-raised in front of me, which I took as a clear signal to come over the top with my pocket pair. I put 13,900 on top of the min raise from the button. Min raiser digs deep for a while, he has me covered by half a blind. He calls with 66. It looks good until he spikes a 6 on the river after calling out the card. I hit the rail in 6th place, 10 minutes too late to get in on the side game. I spend the rest of the night sweating Denise and Air Force Steve at the side game.
In all a disappointing end, but I was happy with my play. I did get to talk shop with Byron for a while, hopefully he can make it down to Foxwoods sometime soon. Go read about his Barry Greenstein Project.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Massachusetts Casino Bill
...read the fine print!
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has introduced a proposal to the state legislature that would allow three resort-style casinos in the state. Revenue filtered to the government from the establishments would be earmarked towards roads and bridges as well as property tax relief for the state’s residents. Of course, any gambling proposal is polarizing, with strong opinions on both sides of the issue.
Interestingly, and perhaps disturbingly, one section of the proposal that has been getting no mention in the local press seems to outlaw internet gambling. Below is the relevant text, taken directly from the proposal:
(i) Placing, sending, transmitting, relaying wagers to another person prohibited under certain circumstances; penalties.
Any person who knowingly transmits or receives a wager of any type by any telecommunication device, including telephone, cellular phone, Internet, local area network, including wireless local networks, or any other similar device or equipment or other medium of communication, or knowingly installs or maintains said device or equipment for the transmission or receipt of wagering information shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than 2 years, or a fine of not more than $25,000, or both.
This section shall apply to any person who, from within this commonwealth, transmits a wager to, or receives a wager from, another person or gaming establishment within or outside of this commonwealth and any person who, from outside this commonwealth, transmits a wager to, or receives a wager from, another person or gaming establishment within this commonwealth.
This section shall not apply to the use of a local area network as a means to place authorized wagers in a licensed gaming establishment, or use of said devices or equipment by the authority in it duties in regulating, enforcing, or auditing a licensed gaming operator.
Thus, internet gambling will be illegal if this proposal becomes law. What this is essentially saying is that unless the state can profit from your gambling, you may not do it. It remains to be seen how the government would ever know and if anyone would ever get sentenced to two years in prison, but it is sad that this provision is in the proposal, nonetheless.
-- Graciously ripped verbatim from PSO
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Saturday, October 13, 2007
A-Town Home Game
I was fortunate to be invited to a home game in Arlington through my friends in the HPT. The hosts were the parents of one of the HPT players, and the participants appeared to be mostly family friends and co-workers. 19 players in total, ranging in ages from 20 something to 80 something provided a wide range of experience and style.
One of the things I noticed is that the host actually had a subscription to Card Player Magazine, not a casino copy but a delivered in the mail copy. This was a home were someone took their play serious enough to read about the game.
2 tables, $50 buy in gets T5000 in chips with a rebuy option for the first hour if you were felted. I knew this game was not going to play like an online rebuy, we only had one person rebuy, and he still was the first able to give full attention to the Red Sox ALCS game in the other room.
I was at table 2 with my friend D sitting to my immediate left. Normally this would be good, but she has really increased her aggression and confidence since we last played. I limped into the first hand with junk K4d and a few others came along. The raggedy flop was checked to me so I bet half the pot and the 80 year old man called me. Check the rest of the streets, he called me with no pair, no draw, and a J4o. Hmm...
A few hands later I flop the nut straight, and bet it since there were 2 flush cards on the board. 2 players call, and we see the turn with brings another flush card. 80 year old leads out so I muck, and the soon to be rebuying player calls. More action on the river and the result was middle two pair vs bottom two pair, nobody had the flush. I am pissed that I gave at least one of them credit for the flush.
The player 2 seats to my left is bumping the action vs multiple limpers, something I like to do. Everyone seems to be calling him anyway, so I decide to limp with the plan of re popping him, and take down a nice pot.
Back to D on my immediate left, she is primarily a 4-8 limit player at Foxwoods. She re-popped my flop bets 3 times in a row, re-stealing from my continuation bets and marginal hands. I have to give her credit, she normally does not chase or show aggression unless she has a strong made hand.
Five handed at the final table the blinds are 600-1200, we are on the money bubble and everyone limps. The small blind is all-in for 1100. I have A7s in the BB, not a very good hand. I border on collusion when I say I should raise here, but I will check it down in order to knock the short stack out with 4 other players in. A raggedy flop and the super donk across the table min bets. I have the 7 paired but there were 2 overs on the board. Well everyone folds and the super donk shows a gut shot. The shorty quintupled up and was still playing after I went out in 4th place. I would have made Aces up on the river. Everyone yelled at the super donk, he said he had a draw and wanted to make money if he hit it.
I find out on the ride home that D had been coached by my friend Air Force Steve who told her to re-pop my continuation bets. Thanks buddy.
One of the things I noticed is that the host actually had a subscription to Card Player Magazine, not a casino copy but a delivered in the mail copy. This was a home were someone took their play serious enough to read about the game.
2 tables, $50 buy in gets T5000 in chips with a rebuy option for the first hour if you were felted. I knew this game was not going to play like an online rebuy, we only had one person rebuy, and he still was the first able to give full attention to the Red Sox ALCS game in the other room.
I was at table 2 with my friend D sitting to my immediate left. Normally this would be good, but she has really increased her aggression and confidence since we last played. I limped into the first hand with junk K4d and a few others came along. The raggedy flop was checked to me so I bet half the pot and the 80 year old man called me. Check the rest of the streets, he called me with no pair, no draw, and a J4o. Hmm...
A few hands later I flop the nut straight, and bet it since there were 2 flush cards on the board. 2 players call, and we see the turn with brings another flush card. 80 year old leads out so I muck, and the soon to be rebuying player calls. More action on the river and the result was middle two pair vs bottom two pair, nobody had the flush. I am pissed that I gave at least one of them credit for the flush.
The player 2 seats to my left is bumping the action vs multiple limpers, something I like to do. Everyone seems to be calling him anyway, so I decide to limp with the plan of re popping him, and take down a nice pot.
Back to D on my immediate left, she is primarily a 4-8 limit player at Foxwoods. She re-popped my flop bets 3 times in a row, re-stealing from my continuation bets and marginal hands. I have to give her credit, she normally does not chase or show aggression unless she has a strong made hand.
Five handed at the final table the blinds are 600-1200, we are on the money bubble and everyone limps. The small blind is all-in for 1100. I have A7s in the BB, not a very good hand. I border on collusion when I say I should raise here, but I will check it down in order to knock the short stack out with 4 other players in. A raggedy flop and the super donk across the table min bets. I have the 7 paired but there were 2 overs on the board. Well everyone folds and the super donk shows a gut shot. The shorty quintupled up and was still playing after I went out in 4th place. I would have made Aces up on the river. Everyone yelled at the super donk, he said he had a draw and wanted to make money if he hit it.
I find out on the ride home that D had been coached by my friend Air Force Steve who told her to re-pop my continuation bets. Thanks buddy.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Foxwoods Degenerates
I believe that I may have lapsed into the world of a poker degenerate. I just returned from a 20 hour session at Foxwoods. Several of the players at the late night tables said they had been there for 2-3 days straight.
I played 2 rounds of 1-2 NL sandwiched around a few hours of 4-8 Omaha H/L. My early session of 1-2 NL was marred early on by a flopped boat of 5's full of Aces with my A5s snapped by a donk pushing K8o on the turn to catch the running 8 for 8's full of 5's. What the fuck was that about? I took a break and came back to mix it up with some Omaha H/L. It was a strange game, we went nearly 2 hours without a single kill pot, then had 17 kill pots in a row including some 8 player pre flop caps. One old man miracle chaser would raise hands that should have been mucked, and limp call hands that should have been capped. The regulars all had little clouds above their heads with the letters "WTF ?!?!?!?..." Fast forward to late night and back to 1-2 NL, I managed to rebuild a small profit at the musical chair table that eventually placed 4 buddies at one end, and some nits like me at the other. I was glad to see them change seats to be together, one of them smelled like he had been sleeping in a bathroom stall. After 3 broken tables in less than an hour, I decided it was time to go. I couldn't see straight anyway.
My small victory, bad beats, and eventual turn around is not the story. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was reported to be in the house, upstairs signing autographs. Jonathan Papelbon showed up around midnight and took a seat at the 2-5 NL tables. He wanted to play a higher limit, but there were no seats open and he did not want to wait. I was going to try to move over, but the 2-5 list swelled to 15+ once word got out that the Red Sox star was in the room. The staff even played a joke calling out "lock it up for Mariano Rivera" at a fictitious open seat. Papelbon's table was surrounded by 4 ever watchful security guards to keep the railbirds at bay. Papelbon tried to sit down with $2000 in chips until the dealer informed him of the $500 max buy-in. On his first hand he gets it all in with pocket Aces and doubles up.
I played 2 rounds of 1-2 NL sandwiched around a few hours of 4-8 Omaha H/L. My early session of 1-2 NL was marred early on by a flopped boat of 5's full of Aces with my A5s snapped by a donk pushing K8o on the turn to catch the running 8 for 8's full of 5's. What the fuck was that about? I took a break and came back to mix it up with some Omaha H/L. It was a strange game, we went nearly 2 hours without a single kill pot, then had 17 kill pots in a row including some 8 player pre flop caps. One old man miracle chaser would raise hands that should have been mucked, and limp call hands that should have been capped. The regulars all had little clouds above their heads with the letters "WTF ?!?!?!?..." Fast forward to late night and back to 1-2 NL, I managed to rebuild a small profit at the musical chair table that eventually placed 4 buddies at one end, and some nits like me at the other. I was glad to see them change seats to be together, one of them smelled like he had been sleeping in a bathroom stall. After 3 broken tables in less than an hour, I decided it was time to go. I couldn't see straight anyway.
My small victory, bad beats, and eventual turn around is not the story. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was reported to be in the house, upstairs signing autographs. Jonathan Papelbon showed up around midnight and took a seat at the 2-5 NL tables. He wanted to play a higher limit, but there were no seats open and he did not want to wait. I was going to try to move over, but the 2-5 list swelled to 15+ once word got out that the Red Sox star was in the room. The staff even played a joke calling out "lock it up for Mariano Rivera" at a fictitious open seat. Papelbon's table was surrounded by 4 ever watchful security guards to keep the railbirds at bay. Papelbon tried to sit down with $2000 in chips until the dealer informed him of the $500 max buy-in. On his first hand he gets it all in with pocket Aces and doubles up.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
WBCOOP
I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!
This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.
Registration code: 5395649
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Foxwoods Redux
I made my first pilgrimage of the month to Foxwoods yesterday, arriving about noontime. Open seating at the 1-2 NL tables allowed me a choice of the 10 seat at one table or the 2 seat at another. Seats #2, #3, #8, and #9 are my favorite. You are on the end, so you get a little more room and you get a clear view of everything that happens. The seats next to the dealer offer limited legroom and a restricted view of half the table, when I get seated here it the first thing I do is ask for a seat change button. Seats #4 through #7 offer a clear view of the board, but not all the players.
Hmm I think I will save smashing my knees into the drop box for another day, and sit in the #2.
Most of the table had average stacks ranging from $100-300, with the exception of the #9 seat that was sitting on $1200-1400. I have seen this player before, he tends to be aggressive vs multiple limpers, chases any draw even if the price isn't quite right, and is capable of bluffing when a scare card hits the board. The biggest piece of information I knew about this player is that every time he loses a big pot, he will make a big pre flop raise on the next hand. He plays poker like it is one of the table games upstairs, increasing his bet size when he has lost in order to gain it back quickly.
Normally I keep this sort of information to myself, but I decide to quietly share with my corner of the table. I plan to keep the focus across the table and away from me. We weren't playing together, but we were certainly playing against him. His stack melted away over the next several hours. By the time he left, he had been felted, re loaded a few hundos at a time and been felted again. His chips were spread out across the table, mostly at my end. About 2 hours after he left the poker room he came back down, and showed me a stack of $8k in chips he had won playing black jack. Too bad there were no empty seats at my table.
Net result for the day: + 1497
Hmm I think I will save smashing my knees into the drop box for another day, and sit in the #2.
Most of the table had average stacks ranging from $100-300, with the exception of the #9 seat that was sitting on $1200-1400. I have seen this player before, he tends to be aggressive vs multiple limpers, chases any draw even if the price isn't quite right, and is capable of bluffing when a scare card hits the board. The biggest piece of information I knew about this player is that every time he loses a big pot, he will make a big pre flop raise on the next hand. He plays poker like it is one of the table games upstairs, increasing his bet size when he has lost in order to gain it back quickly.
Normally I keep this sort of information to myself, but I decide to quietly share with my corner of the table. I plan to keep the focus across the table and away from me. We weren't playing together, but we were certainly playing against him. His stack melted away over the next several hours. By the time he left, he had been felted, re loaded a few hundos at a time and been felted again. His chips were spread out across the table, mostly at my end. About 2 hours after he left the poker room he came back down, and showed me a stack of $8k in chips he had won playing black jack. Too bad there were no empty seats at my table.
Net result for the day: + 1497
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