Results from Wednesday, December 20

Went to HP after work and played the 100 NL, lost two buy-ins fairly quickly. Lost on a nut flush draw and was drawn out on another hand. Unsuccessful session.

Also placed 6th out of 40 in a small $23 buy-in tournament in Seattle. Congrats to Matt who chopped the final four for like $350 or so. He probably would have taken at least 2nd if they played it out.

I've also been playing a bit online on Bodog. Bought in for $200 and now I'm at like $350 or so. Was up to about $600 last night when I tilted a little bit and bluffed a few hands badly.

Summary: 2 hours (6:45p - 8:45p), -200 (one table)

Last Wednesday Night:
100NL: -200
Overall: -200
Hourly: -100/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -119
100 NL: -314
200 NL: +7503
December: +70
Overall: +7441

Day 23: Bad Approach to Poker

Not very happy with myself about my Friday night session at Hustler. First of all, I really didn't have time to get a good session in. I went to Hustler with the mindset of winning a few big hands and leaving. This caused me to try and chase big pots and play too many hands, hoping to get lucky on a flop (which creates more draws).

Basically I got off work at 6 pm and had to be at a dinner at 8 pm in Orange County. Hustler is about 45 minutes away from work and 30 minutes from OC. So I was planning to go and play for an hour max, as Hustler is on the way. I ended up staying at Hustler from 6:45 pm to 8:15 pm and losing $600 (two buy-ins at the $100-$300 table).

I lost a big hand when I had K-9 in the big blind. The button raised a four-way limped pot to $25. I called (didn't belive him) and then another tight player with a huge stack called. The flop came 7-8-9 with two diamonds and I came out betting $35 to see if I would get raised by an overpair. The tight big stack called quickly and so did the button. The turn was another 9 (no diamond). This is where I really misplayed the hand. I was worried about the tight big stack. I hadn't seen him play many hands and he called me really quickly on the flop. I should have went all-in but I only bet $100. He called me quickly again and the button folded. The river was a diamond. I checked and he put me all-in for another hundred. This is where I should have folded. There were so many hands that could beat me: any flush, any full house, any straight. I called and he showed Jd6d for the rivered flush.

I bought back in and was crippled down to $100 when I got KK under the gun. I called the blind hoping for a re-raise and only two people called the blind so the pot was at about $20. The flop came K-9-5 rainbow. I checked, other player checked, button bet $25. Other player called, I called. Turn was a four and I checked again. Both of the other players checked. The river was an ace, which I loved to see. The first player bet out $30 and I went all-in for like $70. The button called and then the other player called the $70 also. The first player showed 4-5 for two pair and the button showed A-9 for two pair. In retrospect I played this hand pretty well and was lucky to triple up when one player caught two pair on the turn and the other player caught two pair on the river. They were both actually drawing dead after the turn.

After the KK I started catching a lot of strong hands. I had AQ and raised to 15. The cutoff on my left called with KJ (I saw his cards, lol) and the button called. Then the small blind, who sucked and just came from a $50 table for the first time ever playing a bigger game went all-in for $90. Then the big blind (the "drunk") called the $90 with only $100 left. I went all-in for $400 and the two players on my left folded. Then the drunk thought for a while and went all-in for his remaining $100. The floop came 5-5-K, turn 5 river x. The drunk shows K-2 for the winner and I lose. The button also said he folded K-Q so the drunk caught a one-outer, but I think the all-in small blind must've had at least an ace for a chop with me and probably a pair.

From there the drunk started getting so lucky and busted me on my final hand. Drunk raises to $10 pre-flop, two callers and I'm in the blind with K-10. Flop comes Q-J-J. Drunk bets $15 (weak) button raises to $45. I thought the button had a Q at best and felt weakness from the drunk. I called and so did the drunk. Now the button is worried. Turn is an 8 and everyone checks. The river is a blank and I checked, then the drunk bets another weak $25. The button is worried and calls the $25. I then push for $200, knowing no one has the jack. Unfortunately the drunk calls me with KQ and takes the pot.

It was a night where people hit their draws on me and I couldn't hit a draw, but I honestly don't even feel those anymore. I used to feel bad beats like "daaaamn that lucky SOB" but now I just feel like he paid for it, he got it, I'll get it back. The only time I feel bad at the table is when I miss my draw and feel stupid for chasing it.

I'm really disappointed in myself for (1) showing up to Hustler with such a limited time frame and (2) losing $600 when I actually had some strong hands to win some money. It's just hard to player poker for an hour or two because you feel forced to not only create action but chase action as well. Then when I missed, I made a bad play at the pot with a bluff. My final hand wasn't necessarily a bad play (it could have been a good play) but considering the player I was bluffing, it was suicide. I know more than anyone that drunks call down with anything, so it was ridiculous of me to think I could bluff him off the pot. The other thing that sucks is that my table was pretty sorry and predictable and I had to leave.

Now I'm tight with money again and even though I'm up a little this month, it feels like I'm down.

On another note, I was able to go to a studio this weekend and knocked out five tracks, which felt really good. I'm pretty rusty in the studio and I surprised myself and my producer with the efficiency that we were able to finish the songs. I'm looking forward to getting in the studio a lot more and making some quality music.

Summary: 1.5 hours (6:45p - 8:15p), -600 (one table)

Friday Night:
200NL: -600
Overall: -600
Hourly: -400/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -119
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +7503
December: +270
Overall: +7641

Odds on getting my aces cracked by AK

My Basic Live Strategy

I didn't play yesterday and I'm not playing today, maybe not tomorrow nor Thursday but I do enjoy blogging and writing about poker.

I've been thinking about what makes the difference between winning and losing at poker and while the game is extremely complex to every single hand and situation being different, I feel like their are some very simple strategies that can make a huge difference between a winning player and a losing player. These strategies may seem pretty obvious but if they are not applied while playing, the simplicity of these strategies becomes completely lost. I myself have many times drifted away from these basic strategies that turned me from a losing player to a winning player. Some nights I am tired and play carelessly, sometimes I am at a table where I can't use these same strategies because of the skill level. But when I can use these strategies, they are very profitable.

I have a friend (Tomo) that really wants to start playing poker for money. The problem is he really has no idea what he's doing and he sucks ass at poker. We played a home game tournament at my house last week and he never raised once with KK yet he was willing to call all the way down with ace high at any time. Pretty much he is starting from scratch and I have been trying to figure out what to teach him first. I don't think the basic strategies that I apply to my game will help him much as he still needs to learn hand strength, betting position, etc.

Basically here are the main strategies that I have tried to adopt to my game recently. I'm still very young in my poker career so I'm not saying that these strategies are proven and that they work perfectly, but they are things that (somewhat obviously) work for me:

1. Pick out the worst players and consistenly get into pots with them. I hate to say it but when there is a really bad player at my table, I secretly root for him to give others bad beats so that he gains a considerable stack size. I've found that a lot of the older, tighter players actually fear the loose/aggressive/bad players and wait three hours to get KK or AA just to enter a pot with these players. I'm willing to enter a pot with a bad aggressive player with K-6 suited and if I hit the king I will call it all the way down. I'll play 8-6 off suit for a 5x raise with a bad player because if I hit it it will pay off. Even if the flop comes 10-9-6, I might call him all the way down because I know he will bet it all the way down with a hand like K-J or something. Obviously weak players are the easiest to beat. It's very hard to put them on a hand but if you can get a good read on them, it's the easiest way to make a profit in poker. They continually refuse to slow down their betting and usually think you're trying to bully them when you raise them. The first time I made 1k+ in a session it was against an extremely drunk player in Vegas. He never believed me and called me every single time I had something. Not too long ago I had my most profitable night ever against a player who was terrible but was getting lucky against everyone else. I was entering nearly every pot with him and giving him a beatdown that I almost felt bad about.
   
2. Play a wider variety of hands in strong position. The keys to this are to try and get in big pots with a lot of callers when you have position. Say I have 7-5 suited on the button and someone raises 3x the blind and four people call. I'm definitely going to call hoping that I can get a good flop with this many people in front. I also raise with decent but not premium hands one or two spots in front of the button in order to steal position. This is why it is great to have a super tight player on your left, because it is easy to steal their position from them. It's great to play a hand like 5-3 on the button with six callers in front and get a flop like K-3-5 or 2-4-6. It's almost guaranteed someone will bet out and if no one does, it just looks like I'm trying to steal when I bet the button.
   
3. Pick my battles. I think it's extremely valuable to observe the table for the first hour. On an average, I would say there are usually three really tight players, two loose players and three average players. There are usually players that are better than the rest, I try to stay out of the pots with these players. Increasingly I think I am considered one of these players as I've noticed that other good players will tend to fold when I make a raise but bad players will call. The important thing is to know who is raising with a great hand and who is raising in hopes of building a pot and hitting a flop.
   
4. Keep my wins bigger than my losses. This is really obvious but hard to manage (easier said than done). It means getting up and knowing when to leave after I've lost two or three buy-ins. There was a point in time when I wouldn't leave until I didn't have any money left. But now I know that if the cards aren't going my way, it's better to just go home and come back another day, starting fresh with a new table image. Good poker players know when another player is tilting and even though I won't admit it, I'm sure I tilt when I get aces cracked or called all the way on a big bluff. When that stuff happens, it's better to just leave and come back another day. Similarly, if I'm on a huge heater...I don't mind staying for a long time if I'm hitting my flops and have a great feel for the table.
   
5. Fold winners. Even though they seem like such great hands, top pair isn't always the best hand. Folding a winning hand sucks because you're losing money, but at the same time you're still living to see another flop. For example the hand where I had AA on a board of J-8-9 and one player went all-in and a really tight player called. I thought there was a good chance I had the winner but I didn't want to get into a huge pot against the tight player who had my big stack covered. I wasn't certain I had the best hand so I didn't want to risk calling her all the way down when I thought there was a 50/50 chance she had my top pair beat. I've folded winners lots of times and even though it stings, you are still putting yourself in a position to get into another battle with a better hand. This is something that new poker players really don't accept...letting go of top pair or a high pocket pair, even when there are overcards on the board. This is something that takes discipline but eventually leads to bigger stacks.
   

Well that's it for today. I just wanted to write about poker because I know I won't be playing tonight or maybe even until the weekend. I also like to remind myself what it takes to win and why I've been winning recently.

Day 22: A Win is a Win

Damn what a night. What a weekend. Friday after work I went to the ADP Payroll company Christmas party. I had a good time and met some cool girls but my phone fell out of my pocket and some drunk 21-year-old found it, took it home and made calls to people in my phone. I finally got the phone back on Sunday night.

Saturday I was lazy as hell and finally mustered up the energy to go to 3rd St. Promenade with my roommate, who is now having fun in Hawaii. After 3rd Street, I headed straight to Hollywood Park. Matt, Miles and Jouji also wanted to go play at HP following their company dinner.

I arrived at HP and was immediately seated at a 200 NL table that was short-handed. I was the seventh player at the table and the table was extremely tight when I arrived (what a surprise for HP). I started off slowly, going down to about 150 in a short time. The first big hand that I recall was the woman to my left, who had about $1600 in front and only entered pots with a raise, raised to $20 from the cutoff. I was on the button and I called with 44, obviously hoping to hit a set. Two other players called and I hit my 4 on the flop, which was all rags. The two other players checked, she bet $60 and I called before the other two folded. The turn was a blank and she came out with a $75 bet. I raised to $200 and she thought for a long time and said "I must be in trouble if YOU'RE raising." So she finally laid down, probably JJ or QQ, possibly KK or AA.

I won some more pots and worked my way to about $800 when the following hand came up:

Early position (not a tight nor loose player) raised to $15
Two callers, including the tight lady on my right, who is on the button
In the small blind, I have AA. I raise to $40 (not a big enough raise)
Everyone calls, which worries me that someone will hit a set or two pair
Flop comes J-8-9 rainbow.
I bet $60
Initial raiser goes all-in for $125 total
First guy thinks for a long time before folding his flush draw, he didn't want to have to go all-in against me or the woman.
The woman asks how much and hollywoods for a while then calls.
Now I'm stuck in a bad position because this woman is very tight and she is the only one that has me covered. She sees me thinking for a long time and tells me "I have it." I put her on JJ or maybe even Q-10 suited and I fold because I think I have the all-in player beat but not her.
I also kind of trust her when she says she has it because of the way we have played against each other so far. So I show the AA and fold.
The all-in player wins the pot with 99 for a set and the woman shows AJ. UGH!!! That was a big chance to double up with $800!! Or at least win a side pot. The guy who folded the flush also would have made his flush.

So that hand sucked becuase it would've paid big. But I was happy leaving up $662 because I was at a pretty decent table and I was able to beat it. We headed to the "Standard" where it was very frustrating because they didn't want to let us in when they clearly should have.

I ended up staying up all night and went back to HP at 7:30 am. This was kind of a mistake because as soon as I got there I realized the only people left were ridiculously tight and I lost $400 pretty quickly playing badly.

My friends Matt and Miles also got involved in a hand at the $40 NL table against each other. I believe that Miles raised to $13 or something with 1010 (blinds at 1/2). Matt went over the top and all-in for about $27 with KK. Miles said he believed that Matt had AA but called anyways and spiked the 10 for a set. The question is, did Miles have the odds to call the $14 all-in even if he knew he was behind. My theory is no. Obviously Miles only has a two-outer to win this pot, so essentially he is giving away $14. I also believe (and so does Sklansky) that to get involved in a pot like this, you need to see the odds to win it if you spike the set. The problem with this hand is that if Miles does get lucky and hit hit set, he doesn't even get paid off on it because all the money was put in when he was behind. The only reason to call an underpair when you think you're behind is to hope for the set so you can get paid off by the big pair (like my 44 that night). Basically you hit a set 1/9 times on the flop. So if the odds are right for you to get paid off 9-1 or better when you hit your set, you should call. Say you're in the hand with a big stack. For example you raise to $5 with 1010 and he re-raises to $15 with KK. The big stack has $100 behind and so do you. So you have the opportunity to win 10-1 odds on your $10 call. Then you should call. But because there was no money in the pot between Miles and Matt, there really was no reason to call assuming Matt had the overpair to Miles' 1010. If Miles put Matt on AK or something, that is a different story.

Also, just for my own information and curiosity I added up my daily numbers to see which days are more successful for me. It's very clear that the weekends are my most profitable days. For some reason my numbers are off by $41 but I'm too lazy to find where the discrepancy is.

Monday (five sessions: [-,+,-,+,-] +209) -130, +219, -500, +820, -200
Tuesday (three sessions: [-,-,-] -1495) -200, -715, -580
Wednesday (three sessions: [+,+,-] +2662) +2462, +700, -540
Thursday (two sessions: [-,+] +606) -400, +1006
Friday (three sessions: [-,+,+] +3328) -360, +3020, +668
Saturday (three sessions: [+,+,+] +2581) +1159, +1160, +262
Sunday (three sessions: [-,+,-] +309) -350, +873, -214

Weekdays: 1982
Weekend (including Friday): 6218

And here are the updated numbers following this weekend...
Summary: 9.5 hours (6:15p - 11:45p; 7:30a - 11:30p), +262 (two sessions)

Saturday Night:
200NL: +262
Overall: +262
Hourly: 27.58/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -119
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +8103
December: +870
Overall: +8241

Day 21: Getting Cracked

The good news is I'm finally getting back into some exercise and played basketball the last two days. Monday I felt pretty good and was getting my jumper back, yesterday I was playing better and feeling better but now my knee feels like something's wrong. Hopefully it's just a stretching issue.

After I played and had dinner with my godparents, I went to HP. The 200 NL list was long as hell and my boy Matt was playing the 40 NL so I sat in the empty seat next to him and lost -$40 in about five hands calling with ace rag suited three times.

Finally made it to the 200 NL table and won about an $80 hand with A-9 two pair but no one had the ace anyways. I was pretty patient at this table because I recognized some of the good players as well as some of the bad ones. One of the good players raised my small blind to $40 from early position. He got one caller and I peeked down at AA. I knew the player was good so he must have a good hand and I had a feeling he'd call my all-in. So I pushed for about $250 or so and he thought for a minute before calling. The other player folded. Flop comes 10-10-3, turn Queen, River Jack. He shows AK for a straight. Ugh.

I rebuy and shortly after get AK. I raise to $35, get two callers and the button raises $80 more. I know the button over values any pocket pair so I'm pretty sure he doesn't have aces or kings and I push all-in. ANOTHER guy calls and he calls. He shows 77 and the flop comes KQ7. I actually thought I was good when the king hit but I didn't realize he caught his 7 as well. I left after that, was only there for about two hours and I played well but just lose a 98%er on my aces flop.

There are two ironic things about this hand:

(1) The only two hands the AK guy really could have beaten were KK and AA, the two hands that would have had him dominated. If I have QQ or JJ I'm full boating, 1010 and I'm quadded up.

(2) I just put a picture of pocket aces on my myspace page yesterday with a stack of cash behind it, lol. I definitely jinxed myself.

It's pretty frustrating to get the aces cracked head's up like that but I had him completely dominated when it went all-in. I also noticed that the guy I lent $200 to wasn't at the casino the last two nights but I'm not worried about it at all. I'm sure he went broke and will be back when he gets some money. I've been there before so I know how it is.

I'm not sure when I plan to go back. I need to go back soon but I want to figure out what I'm going to play. I'm thinking about the $100 game or 6/12 Limit just to build a stack back up. I paid a ton of money in bills on Monday so my funds are limited right now and I don't want to keep playing the $200 NL if I'm not beating it right now.

Summary: 2 hours (11:00p - 1:00a), -440 (two tables)

Wednesday Night:
40 NL: -40
200NL: -400
Overall: -440
Hourly: -146.67/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -119
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +7841
December: +608
Overall: +7979

Day 20: All Bad

Last night I lost three buy-ins and never caught cards, sucks. I can't even remember how I lost my chips because I was just losing them $20 at a time and missing flops left and right. Then I finally made a flush and someone else had a full house. Then I made top pair on a board of K-2-2-6-x and the guy has 6-2 suited.

Another hand I had top pair (K-10) on a 10-9-9 board and the guy that has cracked me for over 1k on river catches is calling me all the way with a flush draw. The pot was about $200 and he bet $50 when the club hit the river so I had to call and he had 2-5 of clubs. The guy is amazing against me, everytime I am in front of him and every time he catches me. His name is "Bobby" and he's not a bad player but it's frustrating because I've lost two huge pots to him on the river (one with AA me against his A-10 and the A hit the flop. He caught runner-runner straight with the 10). So he cracked me on his first hand on the table. It just sucked, I caught no cards last night and was playing shit like K-4 suited because it looked so good. I learned that I need to be patient because I was so card-dead last night that I should have left even, I didn't get any hands that were even playable.

My last hand I had JJ vs. KK pre flop. I made a bad call. I was BB. Everyone limps, SB raises to $15, which I thought was either a pot-builder or a monster. I raised him to $60 and everyone folded. Then he goes all-in and I called, I'm not sure why the fuck I called. Probably because I had been there for three hours and that was the first decent hand I had. Terrible play.

The interesting thing is, after the loss last night my December total is +$1048 after five days, which is almost exactly $200/day (my goal for December).

Summary: 4 hours (8:00p - 12:00a), -580 (two tables)

Tuesday Night:
200NL: -580
Overall: -580
Hourly: -145/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +8241
December: +1048
Overall: +8419

Day 19: F#$* ME!!

The night started well for me. Immediately after work two co-workers and I took the company Lakers tickets and went to the game against the Pacers, sitting in the 10th row. By far the best Lakers tickets I've had. The game was good, a lot of nice dunks by the forgotten Michigan man Maceo Baston and Kobe faked a nice injury when he missed a lay-up and the refs didn't call foul.

Kwame also had a nasty dunk...


The game was over around 10:30 pm and after the game I headed to HP to make my daily quota.

I didn't get to HP until midnight and I sat down and won about $100 pretty quickly with AQ on a Q high flop. I got up to $500 when I raised with KQ and caught a King on the flop and another on the river to beat some guy's pocket jacks. Once I got up to +$300, I should have left immediately. I thought about leaving because it was already about 2:00 AM but I stayed. Retarded.

After that it was downhill. The first hand I lost I called a $25 raise pre-flop with 7-9 suited. The flop came J-8-x and I bet $30 to try and slow any players with the jack down. However some guy went all-in with AA and I folded. I was chopped down to about $250 at a certain point when the same guy raised to $25 and everyone called. I had J-10 so I called as well. The flop came 9-J-Q. I bet $40 at a big pot and the guy went all-in again. I stupidly called and he showed KK, taking away two of my outs. I missed and he won the pot. After that I was down to about $55. I went all-in with 88 when the blind raised. He called and told me he was behind and I doubled up when he missed with whatever he had.

Not too long after that I called a small raise with As3s. The flop came AJ3 rainbow and the raiser bet out $40. I went all-in for about $100 more. The other caller asked if I was all-in and when he found out I was, he called. The raiser folded. I told the guy I had two pair and he said he was way behind. Then the 10 came on the turn and he says "now I have two pair too." Then the 10 on the river and he says "Now I have full house" and he had A-10. Good game me. It was already 3 am so I didn't want to buy back in, plus I lent $200 to the Ethiopian player that I referred to a while back.

I know to the rookies this looks like a dumb thing to do, lend money to some random guy at the casino. But this is a player who (1) I respect his poker game and (2) He basically lives at HP. In the poker world, a lot of loans are given on any night if a player is out of cash or has maxed their limit or whatever--you just have to be careful who you loan to. For example there was a guy walking around the tables last night bugging all the big stacks for $5. This guy I would not loan $200 to, lol. But this other character (I think his name is Heptu or something) should be good for it and maybe in the future this will come back to help me. I've never done this before but I know it goes on every day. There is even a player "Bill" who lends to everyone and keeps tight records of who owes him what. I'm assuming he charges interested or I don't know why he'd do it.

So (Heptu) owes me $200.

Overall I was really unhappy with myself. I easily reached my target of $200/night and surpassed it to +$350. Then I tricked it off on draws. The last hand was unlucky but that is bound to happen when I start chasing draws and other BS. It was one of those drives homes where I'm kicking myself in the ass for not leaving. But to keep it in perspective, it was a very limited loss of one buy-in and hopefully I will make it back soon. I've noticed somewhat of a pattern in my wins/losses where I have two winning sessions and one loser and this held true last night.


Summary: 3 hours (12:00a - 3:00), -200 (one table)

Monday Night:
200NL: -200
Overall: -200
Hourly: -66.67/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +8821
December: +1628
Overall: +8999

Day 18: Phil Ivey Made Me Money

Damn I just wrote out the longest blog and that shit was erased when I clicked on the wrong link, tried to go back and the whole blog was gone. This flaw definitely needs to be fixed by Blogger, but now I know why they have the "Save As Draft" option.

Saturday night I was supposed to go to dinner with my boys but I went to HP when I thought Matt was asleep for the night. I was hungry and thought it'd be good to eat some shrimp and steak and win a few bucks at Hollywood Park. Honestly when I went to Hustler on Friday night I missed the gambling action of HP. I got to HP and the list was a mile long, so I stood around waiting for a while. Matt called and we determined we wouldn't go to dinner but would trying to go out with the homies. I finally sat down and first hand got KQ, limped, bet a flop of K-9-7 two spades. Turn was an 8d, I bet, got one caller and I put him all-in when the river was another King. He called the additional $50 and I won about $120 or so first hand.

Not too long after I got AA in middle position. The guy to my immediate right called the big blind but looked like he wanted to raise and decided to just call. I raised to $20, got one caller (who was the loosest player at the table) and then the guy on my right went into the tank for a couple minutes before raising to $60. Because of what I originally noticed when he limped, I thought he was pretty strong. We were about even in money and the other caller had about $100. I only wanted head's up so I went all-in. The other caller surprisingly called the all-in, as did the raiser (reluctantly). First caller had Qd10d and raiser had 99. I won the pot and left not too long after up $510.

The reason I left was because Matt's co-worker/buddy Miles (Rookie #2) was at Hustler and told Matt that Phil Ivey was there with Greenstein, Flynt and Forrest. Out of all the poker players I know about, I hold Phil Ivey in probably the highest regards. Mostly because I can relate to him a lot more than I can the other pros and we actually have a few mutual friends that are from Jersey. I've never seen him play live though so I wanted to go check it out.

I got to Hustler and the waiting list was kind of long, Matt was still waiting for his $50 NL game and Miles was playing on the table directly behind Larry Flynt's table. Ivey and the table were playing what looked like Omaha with $500 chips, probably $2k bets (hard to tell because of security guards). I witnessed a nice hand on Miles' table where some guy went all-in, Miles called him with AK and the guy hit trips with J-6 suited. Ugly.

I sat down at my table and immediately determined that it was super tight. I stole about $40 worth of blinds by raising to only $30/$35 a few times. Then I caught AA and raised to $30. Got one caller who called me all the way on a somewhat scary board of three spades and a straight but I won the hand and about $100. I then caught KK and hit a set on the flop, taking down about another $200.

At midnight Matt and I decided we'd go meet some of our friends at a bar. I was happily up $650 and Matt wasn't feeling his table. It was cool to see the pros playing but it really wasn't possible to observe the play. So we left and I was up $650. So thanks to Phil Ivey being at Hustler, I won $650 in a couple of hours.

It was a really good weekend overall with a big downer that SC lost.

The weekend was good though for the following reasons:

1. I hit my goal of 1k for the weekend.
2. Three days into December and I'm well over my goal of $200/day.
3. Matt hit the jackpot.
4. Seahawks won.
5. Got my dirty ass apartment cleaned.

The weekend sucked because:
1. USC lost
2. USC lost
3. I missed my basketball game and we lost.
4. USC lost
5. I missed my baseball banquet

But again I'm really content with starting December on a heater, especially after the way I got in the hole on Friday, really made a somewhat impossible comeback.

Summary: 3.5 hours (8:00p - 10:00p; 10:30p - 12:00a), +1160 (first table [HP] +510, second table [Hustler] +650)

Saturday Night:
200NL: +1160
Overall: +1160
Hourly: 331.43/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +9021
December: +1828
Overall: +9199

Day 17: Night to Remember

Last night I headed to Hustler Casino to meet up with my boy Matt and my co-worker/homie Viet. They wanted to play at Hustler and I haven't played much there so I was willing to go see what the action was like.

Once I got there I sat down and first hand I got AQ and hit the Q with one player all-in for about $100. Then about two hands later I got KK and raised to $30. One loose player called me and the player after him went in for about $200. I went all-in as well and the loose player thought about it then called. The flop came 10-9-3 turn rag, river rag. The all-in player showed AQ and the loose player showed 10-10 for a set. Basically this was how my first two hours went. Last night I went deeper into my pocket then I had ever gone. Before I knew it I had bought in three times at the $100-$300 NL table, all three times for the maximum $300. This was around 11 pm and I decided that was enough for this table. There really were no weak players at the table and who knows, maybe I was the weakest player. So I got up and went to check on Matt. Matt was winning and feeling satisfied with his play. I watched him for a few hands, he had 77 and the flop came 7-6-6. Matt played it perfectly and got the maximum out of the hand that he probably could have when two people caught the jack on the turn. After contemplating if I should go to Hollywood Park to try and recoup my losses, I decided to just sit down at a different table.

The new table started off just the same, as I lost with QQ, AQ twice, etc. My play right now was probably questionable, I think I was tilting somewhat but this new table was much more promising based on the players. I bought in originally at this table for $200 and lost that. I was now down $1100!! WOW. This is a lot of money for a beginning player like myself. I decided I would buy in one more time for $200 and if I lost that, I would go home and plan the rest of my life. Just kidding. But it was my last buy-in.

Somehow I managed to get back to the $400 I had put into the table. Then a donk showed up and I made it over $500 (or a rack of $5 chips) playing hands with the donk. Then somehow I inched my way over two racks ($1k) and then I started my third rack. I was actually getting close to even, grinding and winning $100-$300 pots at a time. The donk tried to bluff me several times and was unsuccessful. Another player tried to bluff me with pocket 77 when I flopped a 10. My table broke around 430 am (yeah long ass time!) and I moved to the original table I had started out at, but this time with $1400.

I caught some great hands at this table. Pocket aces and I raised to $30. Three people called then the big blind says "I'm on all-in...I'm tilting." He went all-in for over $300, which was a good enough pot for me so I went all-in to get the other players out. I flopped an ace and the rest was history. I caught aces again, again raised to $20 and got four callers. Then the big blind, who was the only player who had me outstacked (2k) raised to $100. I told him there was only one hand I could go all-in on him with and then I went all-in. He folded and showed me jacks and I showed him the aces.

Then around 5:30 am Matt's table erupted in cheers and I looked over to see Matt giving everyone the "white guy" high fives. It was obviously a jackpot as several players were doing there versions of touchdown dances, etc. I was happy for Matt, assuming he won the table share for around $200-$500. About ten minutes later when the action settled down at my table I went to see how much Matt won and found out that he hit the bad beat hand! He had AK and made a full house AAAKK against a diamond royal flush. Damn!! This guy won 40% of the 13k jack pot. Sweet.

We left not too long after that, I was extremely happy not only getting back to even after being in the hole $1150, but I was actually up $600+ .. that really hasn't set in yet. Matt was obviously happy too. It felt good to be at the cashier's window cashing out for 2k and 5k next to each other. Hopefully that won't be the last time that happens.

The day started off right when we went to the Nike outlet at 9 a.m. and bought some cheap discounted stuff. But unfortunately the day took a turn for the worst when USC lost to UCLA (WTF?) in the season final. Really disappointing for the simple fact that (1) I hate UCLA and (2) we would have been in the national championship game if we won. Based on today's performance, I think that Florida and Michigan are both much more deserving of a shot at OSU then USC is. We made a good run but today really showed we have a lot of improving to do against a good defensive team.

The good news is that I started off December in the profit and met my goal of at least $200 a day. I'm about to go back tonight (right now) and eat dinner at HP and try to stack my $200 for the day. If I have the energy (I haven't slept since Thursday night...it's Saturday night right now) I'm going to go out with my boys. We'll see what happens....hopefully it'll be a great night, the weekend started off really well.

Summary: 11 hours (7:30 pm - 6:30 am), +668 (first table -900, second two tables +1568)

Friday Night:
200NL: +668
Overall: +668
Hourly: 60.73/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +7861
December: +668
Overall: +8039

December Goals

Well it's that time of year. Every December I try to start my new year's resolutions early...you know...get ahead of the game.

Basically I need to get in shape asap before I'm the cover boy for athletes gone bad.

Here are the fitness goals:

1. Play basketball three times a week.
2. Run three times a week.
3. Work out three times a week.
4. Batting cage once a week.

Here are the music goals:

1. Three songs a month (starting in December)
2. Mixtape CD done by May
3. Record in San Diego once a month

Here are the poker goals:

1. Win an average of $200/day in DECEMBER.
2. Increase profit goals every month
3. Win a tournament by the end of May

And a goal for the weekend again is to win 1k.

I'll be back.

New Rap Albums

Here are some links to rap albums that have been recently released. I haven't listened so any of these yet so I can't really say if they're good or not:

1. Ghostface Killa: More Fish
http://rapidshare.com/files/5596914/Ghostface_Killah-More_Fish-_RapGodFathers.com_.rar
Download Password: www.rapgodfathers.com

2. Nas: The Ressurection of Hip Hop (Advance)
http://download.yousendit.com/ADFFB3D84F50183A

3. Mos Def: True Magic
http://rapidshare.com/files/5635459/True_Magic-2006-H3X.rar.html

4. Young Jeezy: The Inspiration
http://www.sendspace.com/file/lkgy9i

5. Hell Rell: The New Gun in Town
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ql0jsd

6. Project Pat: Crook by da Book
http://www.sendspace.com/file/8wdmxv

Day 16: Shat on a Stick

I suck, suck, suck.

Went to HP last night, sat at a brand new $100 NL table. Tried to steal a pot against some sorry ass chick and she re-raised me on the turn when we both checked the flop. Bottom line is that I lost $65 on the $100 NL table before I moved to the $200 NL table.

Got to the $200 NL table and first hand was great.

I got A-3 offsuit in late position and called the $5. Then the button raised to $25 and two people called so I called. Flop came A-3-Q with two spades. Checked to me, I checked and button bet $50. I went all-in and he says "I have to call" with a sigh. He showed KsJs for a flush draw and straight draw. He missed and I doubled on my first hand.

After that I think it was all downhill. I wasn't playing that bad untilt his hand came up:

Some yahoo in early position raises to $20. Three people call and I'm on the button so I call with Kh8h. Flop comes Qh3h4d. Yahoo that raised bets $30. Tight Indian dude raises him to $130. Now I'm thinking that Yahoo is going to fold because he has nothing but if I go all-in, Indian dude will call, which will give me about a $530 profit, not giving me the odds. However, if Yahoo really does have a hand and he calls, then I will have the odds to chase the flush draw. Bad thinking. Part of my winning has been staying away from draws. But I went all-in and Yahoo called with Q-8 and Tight Indian called with Q-K. So my king was dead and I missed the heart draw.

I rebought for $250 and immediately got back to $450 when I called a $30 raise with QdJd. The flop comes KdKh3d. I know the bettor doesn't have the king and he bets $75. I called immediately (trying to make it look like I was calling really quickly) and the turn was a 9h. He checked and I went all-in. He thought for a long time and then folded JJ (showing me). I didn't show him but I told him I had KQ. I was pretty nervous when he was thinking about the hand but I made a mental note of how I was sitting and acting during the bluff.

However not too much later I had QQ in the small blind. A loose/aggressive player raised to $15 UTG and everyone called him. I re-raised to $115. UTG thought for a minute and went all-in. Everyone folded to me and without even thinking (big mistake because he had me covered) I went all-in. He had KK and hit a set on the turn (not that he needed it) to crush me.

So I rebought again for $200. At this point I wasn't tilting but I wasn't too happy with my results. Next time around in the blind I had KdJd. There were four limpers and I thought about raising pre-flop but I just checked. The flop came out three Qd5d2d. I bet $10 from the blind and only got one caller (I though everyone would call). I put the caller on the ace of diamonds. The turn was the ace of hearts and I checked, hoping he would bet his Ad and I could raise him. But he checked. The river was the 4h and I bet $80. This was the same guy that folded the JJ to my bluff, so I made the same exact pose/body actions that I did when I bluffed and he called me. He actually flopped two pair with Q5 so he was a lot stronger than I thought he was and he may have called an all-in.

Anyways I donk'd off about $100 or so calling pre-flop raises, etc. Then I had AQ in the small blind. Someone raised to $30 and three people called. I seriously thought about re-raising all-in to isolate myself with the original loose raiser but I just called. The flop came Qd-3d-3h and I felt I had the best hand, but in my position I wanted to check-raise so I checked. Unfortunately everyone else checked so we saw the turn for free and it was the 9h. I bet $100 and got two insta-calls. I didn't know if they had full houses or flush draws (diamond or heart) or what. The river was the 5h and I checked. One person bet $100 and the button called. At this point I had to call for the pot size and the bettor showed Jh10h and the button had Ah7h.

After that I went all-in on a flush draw and missed.

Overall it was just a bad day for me. I think my play was too loose with the flush draw all-in and the QQ all-in. I also should have let go of the AQ when the heart hit. My table was pretty decent but definitely beatable and I had some good hands so it wasn't like I was card dead. It was very discouraging beause I lost $650 in the 200 NL and $65 in the 100 NL. Even though I made more the previous night, I hate to lose like that with bad calls and draws.

I don't feel like I need to go back to the drawing board but I do need to tighten my screws a lot. The game that I'm playing is a very beatable game and it kills me to lose. I was never in a situation that I couldn't get away from and that's why I'm unhappy with my play. Sometimes the fullhouse vs. quads comes up and you can't get away, but last night I could have gotten away from a lot and it cost me a lot. I'm going to take today off for sure and see how I feel about playing tomorrow.

Summary: 3 hours (9:30 pm - 12:30 pm), -715 (first table -65, second table -650)

Tuesday:
100NL: -65
200NL: -650
Overall: -715
Hourly: -283.33/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: -114
200 NL: +7193
Overall: +7371

Day 15: Hour of Power

Last night I planned on working overtime at my job but that plan went to shit when I realized the Seahawks were on Monday Night Football. I was out of the office at 6 p.m. sharp and met the homies at my house to watch the Hawks shit on the Packers. In the snow.

After they left (following 20 minutes of raccoon observing in front of my apartment) I headed to HP. Lately I've been thinking about setting goals for myself so that I can start taking care of business. For example, if I want to get a Treo, I should try and win $400 one night to buy it, etc. Because I've had a few losing sessions lately, I thought about setting my goal at $300 for the night. But I didn't and maybe it was a good thing that I didn't. I just wanted to go to HP for a couple hours and get my feel back after that 2-8 spread bullshit. Plus my boy Matt has been telling me about his sessions with his co-worker Miles and how they've been winning so I know I need to keep my game sharper than the rookies.

I won a monster pot with Ac7c against KK and QQ when the ace flopped. I lost a HUGE pot with AA when the flop came A-Q-3 rainbow. I checked, button went all in for $70, someone called and I pushed all in over the top. The caller folded. The turn was a J and the river was a K and the button had A-10 for a straight. Sick.

I took some people out with A-10 (called a river bluff when the board came A105-Q-Q), KK (me) vs. 77 all-in pre flop and AJ flopping two pair on the flop with a guy all-in pre-flop and one other player in the hand.

It was a great night for the following reasons: (a) I made $820 in 1.25 hours (b) I took one of the worst beats of my life with the AA vs. A10 and an Ace on the flop and (c) I made a good profit, making way more than I've lost, keeping the consistency in winning more in a session than I lost in a past session. That is a simple formula that will equal nothing but profit.

The reason I'm glad I didn't set a goal was becaue I undoubtedly would have set it at either $300 or $500, which means I would have left before winning $820.

That being said, in the back of my mind I had hoped to cover the money I spent in Seattle (which was a lot), so I'm going to add that up and see if I cleared it, which I think I did.

Seattle:

-69 (2-8 Spread)
-234 (Nordstrom's shoes for mom)
-53 (Lids, two hats)
-86 (Sonics team shop, shorts, two shirts, headband)
-55 (Macy's, gloves for sister)
-64 (Mariner's store, two hats)
-28 (JC Penney's, boxers and shirts)
-12 (Parking)
-30 (Seahawks hat)
-40 (Presents for aunts)
-60 (Arliss DVD for dad)
-10 (Office Space DVD for dad)
-60 (Miscellaneous, food, etc.)
-------------------------------
Total: -$801

Damn, I didn't realize I spent that much and I'm glad I won it back!!

And I didn't have the $800 planned out, it just worked out like that.

Summary: 1.25 hours (10:30 pm - 11:45 pm), +820 (first table +820)

Monday:
200NL: +820
Overall: +820
Hourly: 656/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: -49
200 NL: +7843
Overall: +8105

Seattle: 2-8 Spread and Head's Up against my mom

Went to Seattle for Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with my family. I had a great time with my family eating and hanging out. We went shopping and I spent a lot of cheese, which will be illustrated in a later blog.

I flew in Wednesday night and found out that my friends had been sending phantom text messages to some chick and saying they were me. Luckily, this is not a girl that I'm too worried about impressing so to this point in time I still have no idea if she thinks it was me. I crashed Wednesday, woke up Thursday morning and played in a neighborhood "Turkey Bowl." It was pouring down rain in Seattle and the field was muddy as hell, but I proceeded to score five touchdowns on offense and one on defense to lead my team to a 7-6 victory. After that I hung out with my mom and her best friend and took a nap before dinner. Thursday night I ended up playing a game of "2-8 Spread" Texas Hold Em.

I've never played a "Spread" game before, but players are allowed to bet between $2 and $8. Game contained pretty good players except for one really bad player who was catching rivers left and right. I actually went down about $200 and then hit a monster pot with 99 when my 9 flopped. The betting was capped at $26 pre-flop and then someone bet the A-9-5 flop, someone called and I raised on the button. I actually told the other player that two pair was no good and he believed me, but called me all the way down and the pot was at least $200. After that I lost to a rivered straight and some other crap and left out of frustration down $69. I could tell I wasn't going to win anything at this table and I was extremely on tilt based on this following hand:

I raise the maximum to $10 UTG, blind
I get one caller.
I bet blind on a flop of K-6-5 rainbow
The other player raises me
I know that he knows I haven't seen my cards, so I think he's raising with BS. I look at my hand and surprisingly I have A-Q. I call him, thinking my AQ may be good.
Turn is a J, he bets, I call.
River is a 9. He bets, I call.
He shows 9-3 suited.
Someone at the table tells him he's lucky and he says "It's not all luck."
I was pissed because he thought he made some great play, when in fact he got lucky as hell no the river.

I also made a solid call with A-10 high on a big pot. I raised pre-flop, flop came 3-4-5 and the button bet. Two players (including me) called. Turn was an 8, button bet, I called. River was a Q (I think) and the guy bet again. I called and he showed A-9 so I took it down. I pretty much put him on tilt and he left about ten minutes and two big pot losses later. I went with my boys Trev and Matt. I think Matt broke even but Trev got AA cracked by the idiot.

I got home at 4:30 a.m. and told my mom that I had been playing poker. This got her interested in playing so that night after dinner my mom, my dad, my sister, my mom's good friend and myself played hold em. I pretty much was teaching them how to play. We finished early because "House" was on and they wanted to watch it. I went out to a club my friend's throw and it was the best club I've been to in Seattle. Good mixed crowd with a lot of brizzzzzzzzzzzels.

Saturday night I played Scrabble with my family and lost. After that my mom said she wanted to play me head's up in poker for the $35 my dad gave me to pay me back for groceries. I told her she doesn't want to play for money and she said she can beat me. So we sat down to play but determined we weren't playing for money. Let's just say she is no match for me! I figured her game out pretty quickly, she was willing to call me down with Q high at any time...shows how much she trusts me lol. We played for a while because the blinds were 1-2 and we never raised them but eventually all of the chips were on my side of the table. It was a lot of fun and I think we'll play some more for fun when I get home for Christmas.

Overall on the trip, I left down $69 .

Not adding it to the numbers because it was pretty much just for fun.

Taking down the work tournament

Tonight I played in a tournament with some co-workers in the conference room when we got off. Was relatively easy.. a lot easier to pick people off, pick my spots when to move in and when to not.. had a few hands where I knew I had the winner and induced calls from other players.

Basically 16 people played for $20 each. Payout was 1st=$200, 2nd=$100, 3rd=$20.

When we got down to final three, I think I had roughly 85% of the chips. Second place was my boy Tony and third place was a guy named Adam who's a good guy and I honestly felt I would win no matter what so I just offered them a $120/$100/$100 chop. They were happy to take it and then we each put in $20 to play out the tournament. It took me exactly two hands to win it after that.

It was fun and I made $140.

So I guess now my total home game winnings equal 112 + 140 = 252...I'll take it!

Day 14: Ehhhhhhhhhhh time for my brakes

Went Monday night after work to HP. Played the 200 and played solid for four hours staying in the $400-$600 range (after my second buy-in) and then lost $400.

Lost A-10 to A-7 on a flop of A-7-2. Another hand I lost was a straight on the turn and the enemy boated up on me on the river. Those were just a couple hands. Then I shoved AcJc for $73 on the button and got one caller with a middle pair.

Lost 100 in the 100 NL after that.

Too lazy to type in details.

Kind of felt myself getting careless last night so I'm going to take a few days off until I get back from Seattle at the very least. Hopefully I'll get my Christmas shopping out of the way there.

Summary: 8.5 hours (7:00 pm - 2:30 am), -500 (first table -400, second table -100)

Monday:
100 No Limit: -100
200NL: -400
Overall: -500
Hourly: -58.82/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: -49
200 NL: +7023
Overall: +7285

Day 13: Small Hit

A friend of mine who is into Real Estate donated 10k to a charity so he received ten seats into their tournament. I played really tight and had Qd10d on a QK10 board. I checked, button bet and I went all-in. He called with K-7 and hit the 7 on the river.

I went down and played the $100. Lost KK all-in on a flop of 2-4-5, other player had A-3. I worked my stack back up to $300 (+50) but then left the table when I was back down to $55. I went to the $40 NL to play with my boy Matt. I lost $19 on the $40 NL. I made a bad call on a board of 4-5-6-7 and that was probably why I left the table in the red.

I was extremely hung over (borderline still drunk) and was not feeling on top of my game so I was not too upset with leaving after only a couple hours playing and a small loss (compared to my win, but I never like to lose $).

I didn't even want to think about playing the $200 NL because I was feeling so queezy and hung over. I went down to San Diego on Saturday night, went out and unbeknownst to me got wasted off of AMF's. I had about four in 30 minutes and when I started, I was already drunk. Gotta thank my boys Tomo, Tweez and B Steppe for taking care of me. I haven't been babysat since I was like 10.

Summary: 3 hours (4:30 pm - 7:30 am), -214 (first table -195, second table -19)

Sunday:
40 No Limit: -19
100NL: -195
Overall: -214
Hourly: -71.33/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -79
100 NL: +51
200 NL: +7423
Overall: +7785

Day 12: Weekend goal hit and tripled

Friday night was great for me at HP.

I went straight after work and signed up on the 100 NL and 200 NL games. I sat down at the 100 NL that was available first and booked an incredible $4 win in about 7 minutes. Basically when I was in the small blind, five people called and I raised it to $20 and everyone folded.

Right after that I noticed there was no longer a list for the 200 NL game. I talked to the floorman and he gave me the option of two different tables. At one table, I didn't recognize any of the players. At the other table, I recognized almost half the players and I know they are good players, so I took my chances at the table where I didn't know anyone.

Things started off somewhat slow and I grinded my way to about $600 after dropping to about $150. Then a guy showed up who was apparently ridiculously drunk. He asked "Is this No Limit?" and "what are the blinds?" etc. I honestly thought it was an act because he was so blatant about not knowing anything. He was also betting the horses and won four straight horse raises for I think over 3k (not sure). Anyways, this guy started to raise EVERY single hand pre-flop. I hit a couple big pots against him right away. One time I was in the big blind with Ks8s and he raised to $40 per his standard raise. Everyone else folded and I called. The flop came King high and he continued to bet huge. I called him down all the way to the river and he had middle pair. I tried to play almost every pot with him that I could, which meant calling his $60 raise with Ah2h, hitting the ace and calling him all the way down. The best part about it was my table really had no idea how to play against him. He was raising huge raises every hand and they wouldn't call him if they didn't have AK, JJ or better. I was making it a point to get him head's up so I could get a read on him after the flop and then make my decisions. There was also one guy, we'll call him "rasta" that was trying to play a lot of pots with the drunk. Everyone else on the table was playing pretty tight.

One big pot that put me over the 1.5k mark went as follows:

I'm on the button with 5s3s.
Drunk raises to $35 from middle position.
Rasta calls drunk for $35.
I call for $35.
Big blind calls for $35.
USC baseball guy raises to $100.
Drunk insta-calls $100.
"Rasta" calls $100.
I call $100.
Big blind reluctantly calls $100 now that the pot is so big.
Flop: KQT
Everyone checks to me. I think someone may be slow-playing a straight or a set so I check. There is only one spade on the flop so I've pretty much given up on this pot unless a spade hits the turn.
Turn: Kh
Big blind acts like he's counting his chips out and I say "Just push them all in there" and he checks.
Everyone else quickly checks.
At this point I feel that there isn't anyone who has anything except for USC baseball player that raised. I have him on JJ because he was checking so quickly. Either JJ, 99 or KK possibly for quads. He only has $100 left so I go all-in, knowing that he is the only threat to call me. Big blind folds, USC baseball player thinks for a couple minutes and mucks his hand. Drunk and Rasta both fold also.

I showed the 5-3, in retrospect I wish I didn't show but I guess I was just pumped to get away with it. I also think it made it so people called me down later.

I took a quick show after that hand, just to illustrate the blog.



After that things just got better. I thought about leaving up $1500 and going out but at this point the drunk guy had busted three people and had about $1500 in front of him as well. He called an all-in with 9-6 and beat A-Q when his 9 hit. He also caught AA on someone else who went all-in on him with K-10. He made two pairs with K-7 when the K hit the river and another player had aces. I knew that money was going to someone so I wanted to stay.

I ended up taking him out repeatedly and got into a huge pot with him when I had KK.

I raised to $100. Flop comes Q-10-4, he checks. I check, hoping he'll catch something. Turn is a rag. He checks and I bet $50. He raises to $195 and I re-raise to $400 and he folds.

I had KK on him twice and made good money on both pots.

It was a good night and I left around 2:30 a.m. after he left. The table basically broke 10 minutes after the drunk left.

Summary: 7.5 hours (7:00 pm - 2:30 am), +$3020 (first table +$4, second table +$3016)

Friday:
100 No Limit: +4
200NL: +3016
Overall: +3020
Hourly: +402.67/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -60
100 NL: +265
200 NL: +7423
Overall: +7999

Friday Night Goal

This might sound greedy, but I'm going to try to win at least 1k tonight. Hopefully it'll work out. It may be a grind or it may be a quick session, I'm not sure but I hope to win 1k tonight.

Day 11: Eight hour grind

Yesterday I had the plan to go play in the $75 buy-in tournament at HP that starts at 7:15. That meant I drove straight to HP down La Brea through Hollywood, L.A. and Inglewood. I got there at about 6:50 and there was immediate seating in the $100 NL and $200 NL. I opted to sit at the $200 NL and won the first pot for like $26, but then lost the second pot for like $57. I left the table -$31 and went to the 100 NL table next to me, which looked pretty soft and had an attractive talent there. First of all, this is one of the worst reasons to sit a table, but I'm known to have a weakness.

So I sat at the $100 NL and lost my first buy-in calling an ace-high flop all the way with AJ and the bettor had AQ. The worst part was that I knew I was beat because the flop was A-10-x so he either had AK, AQ or A10 for two pair. Bad play by me. I rebought and won a substantial pot with KK on a flop of KQx. Everyone checked the flop and then the turn came a rag and a guy bet $20 into about a $75 pot. I looked at his stack and he was eager to show me how much he had, as if he was willing to go all-in. I didn't think he was very strong. Maybe AQ or KJ, so I didn't raise him, hoping he would bet on the river. I said "Are my pocket Jacks good?" trying to induce a bet on the river. The problem was the river came... jack. I think he actually believed me because he checked to me. I thought about how much I could win from him assuming he has AQ and I bet $50. He immediately called with AK and I took it down. In retrospect, I wish I would have gone all-in on the turn because I would have won more money, I just didn't know how strong he was.

I left the $100 NL after a while up $248 and went back to the $200 NL table I was on. It was kind of funny because two different people came up to me while I was playing the $100 NL and told me that I was too good to be playing $100 NL and that I needed to change tables.

My first hand I had Ad10h and played a non-raised flop. Everyone checked the flop, which was KQx. The turn was a third diamond so I had the gutshot straight draw, one overcard and the nut flush draw. The small blind came out betting $20 and I raised him to $50. He called and I completely missed the river. I checked the river and mucked my cards. He actually had two pair. So I was out a chunk of change on that hand. Also noteworthy was that I was sitting at a table with Terrell Thomas, probably the best cornerback on USC's football team. Besides us both being Trojans, we have some mutual friends and I've hooped with him before so I was kind of interested in seeing how good of a player he was. I didn't say anything to him and I think he recognized me but we didn't say anything. His style is wearing the headphones and not speaking to anyone. He ended up getting bad beat when he flopped two pair J-8 and someone called his all-in with JQ and hit the Q on the river.



I ended up having to rebuy for $300 (on top of the $200 buy-in) at the table. After I rebought, things started getting better. I'm having a brain freeze and can't remember any of the big hands right now...actually when I was at about $125 (my lowest of the night, in for $500 and at a stack of only $125) I had Ah4h in the big blind. The flop came 2-3-4 rainbow and I bet $25. I got one caller, from a relatively tight player. The turn was the 10 and I went all-in hoping he was on a draw. He immediately called and I thought that I knew I was beat by 66, 77, 88 or something. The river was another 2 and I showed my hand. He mucked and said he had 4-5, which is believeable.

The only time I caught AA I was in the big blind and everyone folded to the small blind so we chopped the pot, so that sucked.

There were some other hands that were noteworthy.. 3-6 called me all the way down on a board of A-2-3 (I had AQ) and the river was a six. That pot was about $350. I called a guy all the way down with AK, putting him on AQ. The board missed the flop and the turn was another rag and he kept betting. The river was the king and he threw out $200. I called and he insta-mucked. He said he had AQ so I felt good about that read.

I grinded my way to about +$300 on the $200 NL table but then lost the profit back and left up $2, something I was fine with considering how much I was down and the fact that I won some money on the 100 NL. There were some brutal beats at my table and aside from the AQ vs. 3-6, I was happy that I stayed away from the bad beats (full houses over full houses). It was a longer session (eight hours) than I've been playing, but I was more than happy to leave with some profit.

Summary: 8 hours (7:00 pm - 3:00 am), +219 (first table -31, second table +248, third table +2)

Sunday:
100 No Limit: +248
200NL: -29
Overall: +219
Hourly: +27.38/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -60
100 NL: +261
200 NL: +4407
Overall: +4979

Day 10: Weekend Day Shift $$

Showed up to HP today at 10 a.m. and the lists for the 200 NL and 100 NL were both about seven names long. For some unknown reason I sat down at the 4/8 limit table. This was a profitable venture.

My goal for the day really was to make up the money that I lost on Friday. If I could do that, I'd be happy with that.

Second hand on the 4/8 limit table I got AA. Three bet it pre-flop and bet the whole way and won the hand. Lucky for me due to the fact that there's crazy chasers at the limit games. I also capped a pot pre-flop with AsKs and hit the king on the flop. Bet the whole way and won that hand as well. I think I won one other hand and left the table after about 30 minutes +201.

Next I sat down at a 100 NL table but I was quickly moved to the 200 NL. I saw like three free hands and didn't play a flop on the 100 NL.

The 200 NL table was brand new and I recognized one player at the table as a crazy calling station/loose aggressive player. I doubled up through him with A-10 two pair but it was tough because the flop came AQJ with two hearts. I bet the whole way and the river was the 10 (no hearts came). He went all-in for 105 and I called. He showed Jh4h.

I took down another big pot with KQ. I raised pre-flop to 25 and got one caller. The board came Qxx. I bet $40 and got a quick call. The turn was a blank and I bet 100. The other player thought for a long time and then said "raise" real quietly. He then pushed all-in for about $125 more and I called. He says "You got an over pair?"which tells me he has AQ but when the river paired the board and I said "I have a king kicker," he said "You're good," and I took down the pot.

I lost a big pot when a brand new player sucked out on me. The board was 4-6-7 rainbow and I had 4-6 in the blind. I bet $25 and got two callers. The turn was a 10. A player went all in for $125 and I didn't think he had the straight so I called. The river was a 7 and he showed 7-4 for two pair.

I took down some other mid-sized pots, one with the nut flush on a paired board, another with a K-10 straight that hit the J on the turn, which was for free. I won +672 on the 200 NL table, which was good considering I took a big hit when I lost the 6-4 hand.

Overall it was good day, I won +873 and left around 3 p.m. to play in a basketball game. Game sucked. I'm so out of shape I was sucking wind running up and down the court. I scored only about six points but I had about 10 boards and a few blocks. Just sucked cuz I was probably the best player and it was my first game with this team but because I haven't played in a few days and I'm out of shape I was terrible. We were actually down 17 to start the fourth quarter and came back to tie it with about 32 seconds left but we ended up losing by four.

I might go back tonight for a few hours and see if I can win some more money. I haven't decided yet so we'll see. It's kind of late to get started and I don't want to feel pressured to win some money in a short amount of time.

Summary: 5 hours (10:00 am - 3:00 pm), +873 (first table +201, second table +672)

Sunday:
4/8 Limit: +201
200NL: +672
Overall: +873
Hourly: +174.60/Hr.

To date:
4/8 Limit: +201
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -60
100 NL: +13
200 NL: +4436
Overall: +4760

Day 9: Friday Night L

Met up with my boys Trev and Matt at the casino. Sat down at the 200 NL and got the wrong iniital read on an old guy at my table, which ended up costing me my stack.

The guy raised every time he was on the button and probably raised three times every circuit, so I tagged him as a loose aggressive player but in retrospect I think he was tight aggressive.

First hand I busted on: I have Q-10, old raiser raises to $15, I call as do three others. Flop comes 8-8-9, everyone checks. Turn is a jack, no flush on the board so I have the nut straight with a possible full house. Everyone checks to the old raiser, who bets $25. I called, someone else calls. River is a rag and I push. Old man calls me with 88 for quads.

Next bust hand I had QJ and old raiser again had raised to $15, I called, as did three others. Flop comes Q-x-x. Raiser bets $50, I push and he calls with AA. GG me, out -$400 at the 200 NL.

Sat down at the $40 NL with my boys just to have fun and hang with them. Table was interesting, not very good and I made +$40. I made my money on AJ vs. KJ and A-10 vs. A-8. Fun playin with my guys and I think my boy Matt will start playing NL, finally so hopefully that will improve his game and we can take out the poker world by next year. One good thing about the 40 NL table was there was an extremely aggressive/sloppy/sorry ass player that kept raising and I told Matt "this is when you say to yourself, 'that's where my money's coming from tonight.' " And sure enough, Matt doubled up through this guy when he hit a set on the flop and the guy bet every street, including the river where Matt check raised him with a full house.

I'm goin to play today, hopefully can put in a solid four hours at the +100 NL and +200 NL tables, then I have a hoop game where I'll play center in the Asian league.

Summary: 4 hours (9:00 pm - 1:00 am), -360 (first table -400, second table +40)

Friday:
40 NL: +40
200NL: -400
Overall: -360
Hourly: -90.00/Hr.

To date:
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -60
100 NL: +13
200 NL: +3764
Overall: +3887

Small home game tournies and cash game

Yesterday my boy Pete hit me up and asked me if I wanted to go play in a home game tournament. Normally I wouldn't really want to because i feel like the casino is more profitable, but it was convenient because I had a softball game out in the valley and that's where the tournament was. It also started at 9:30 and my game was over at 9:00 so the time was good as well.

First tournament the buy-in was $40 and the overall prize pool was like $720 or something. We started with 18 people and I was knocked out seventh. Top three places paid.

After I was knocked out, I played in a cash game with the rest of the people that were knocked out and I won $165, hitting a full house with 44 and hitting a set on the river with AA to suck out on two pair (6-8 called my pre-flop raise).

We broke the table and started the second tournament. I made it down to top three players and the chip leader was bullying us (me primarily because the other player was his friend) when I had 5h6h in the big blind. Chip leader raised to 1200 (200/400 blinds) and I called. Flop came Q-5-3 and the chip leader went all in. I knew he had nothing because he slow played all of his big hands. I went all in and he goes "Damn you got something" and showed A-J. Turn 10, river K, GG me. I won $100 for third.

So my profit for that tournament was $60 and my friend and I agreed to chop any winnings, so I made only $30 on that tournament and lost -$10 on the two tournaments overall.

After that we played another cash game. I really wanted to go home but my boy wanted to stay and play and I drove. He was down so I wanted him to have a chance to get some money back. I ended up losing -$43 in the second cash game. I never caught any hands and lost 10-10 to AQ when a player pushed all-in on my raise.

I'm glad I won because I loaned my boy that I was with some money to pay for his entry and cash game. He's a great player but I was disappointed that he didn't cash in the tournaments because I know he's better than the other players, as am I.

I also went to the mall and bought a couple hats and a shirt so it's nice if I can always win spending money back.


Tonight I can't decide if I want to go play cards or go out. I really feel good about my game right now, almost like I'm in the zone. But at the same time, I need to get out and meet new "people." Yadada!

I'm not going to add these figures to my overall results but last night went as follows:

Tournaments: -10 (100-40-40-30)
Cash Game: +122 (165-43)
Overall: +112

Day 8: I rebound like Ben Wallace

Yesterday I planned on going to the casino for about two hours from 7 pm to 9 pm because I planned to go out with some friends around 9:30 pm. I knew there was a flake factor involved with these friends so I wouldn't mind if they flaked, hopefully it would mean a longer session and some extra hours. I didn't want to burn myself out though as I'm planning to play some long sessions this weekend.

Got to the casino right at 7 p.m. and like always the 200 NL was full. I was about 9th on the waiting list. I was seated right away at the 100 NL and quickly was taken down to about $50 in chips calling raises with hands like KQ and 55. After about 15 minutes I noticed there were no longer any names on the board for the 200 NL so I told the floor man to hold a seat for me. He did and I told him I would play my button. I also realized if I was going to play my button, I might as well put some money behind. So I put an additional 100 behind my 50. I won about $30 on the first hand and decided to play one more hand. I looked down at AhJh and raised to 15. I got two callers and the flop came 852 with two hearts. Everyone checked to me and I bet 30. The first player folded and the second thought and did one of those "fuck it" all-ins. I put him on a straight draw or a flush draw so I called with the nut flush draw and two overs. I hit the heart on the river and I left 100 NL table +80, suprisingly because I was in the hole for 98% of my time there.

I walked over to the 200 NL and before I sat down I signaled to the dealer to deal me in. Rushed over to my seat, looked down and found JsQs. There was a $20 pre-flop raise to me (blinds $3/$5) and I decided to call with the suited connectors. The small blind also called, claiming that he called in the dark (full of shit). The flop came 10-Q-4 with two clubs and this was a good flop for me assuming no one has a better Q. Small blind checked and the raiser came out betting $50. Tough spot for me but I think he may have pushed harder if he had AQ, KK or AA with the club draw. I called the $50 (possibly should have raised) and the small blind says "Oh I better look at my cards now," looks at his cards, thinks, then pushes all-in for $83. The raiser thought for a minute and called the all-in. I didn't think the raiser had a good enough hand to call $83. I didn't think he had the Q but if he can call $83 on top of a $50 bet he must have something. At the same time, why didn't he try to raise me out of the pot? At this point I only have $130 behind so it's either all-in or fold. I already had $70 invested with the top pair on the board and the odds to nearly triple up on my first hand. There are only two reasons why the raiser didn't try to raise me out of the pot when the small blind went all in: (1) he hit a set and put me on the queen or (2) he's an idiot, not thinking about the fact that I only have $50 on top and the board beats him. I went with (2) and pushed all-in. He didn't like that and reluctanly called the additional $47. At this point I stopped worrying about him but was worried the small blind might have me out-kicked or that he might hit the club. Sure enough, the river was a club. The small blind turns over AsKs for Ace high (lol) and the raiser turns over JJ.

From there it was pretty much smooth sailing. I went back and forth between a 400 stack and 600 stack a lot before I won a couple 100 dollar pots with AJ (twice). I lost some pots that I raised pre-flop with 88 and 33. I didn't raise with 1010 UTG and the board came AAJJQ. The table actually didn't call my raises too many times, I was able to raise from late position with 44 twice and no one called.

One key hand I had 7-3 offsuit on the button. Five players called to me and I called the $5 blind. The flop came 6-8-9 with two spades and one diamond. The big blind bet $15 and three people called to me. I called, as did the small blind. The turn was the golden 5d and everyone checked to me. Now there were two flush draws with five other players in the pot. I bet out $125 and everyone folded except for one person who said the pot was too big not to fold so he went all-in for $47. He missed the spade draw and I won the pot. The big blind was pissed that I played 7-3 and kept trying to say I called a $15 raise with 7-3. I told him when he made the $15 bet, I had an open-ended straight but he didn't really understand.

Another key hand I had KcQc and made the nut flush on the turn. The other player in the pot with me knew I had a flush but had to call my $60 bet on the river because the pot was (15x3,15,45x2=150+60) $210 and I'm pretty sure he had the ace (ace of clubs on the board). I think it was the perfect bet. He was about to fold and then said "75?" and the dealer said "60" and he called.

I made it a point to leave at 10:00 pm. I was up a good amount, the bad players at my table had busted out and went home and we were down to six-handed so it was a perfect time to leave. A lady at my table who was a decent player told me I was a "perfect gentleman and a good player, something that is very rare," so it was nice to get a compliment like that. Usually due to my image and the stereotype that comes with it, people don't give me respect right off the bat so I kind of feel like I earn compliments when I get them.

Overall it was a really good night...was only there for three hours. It was nice to cash the profit in the 100 NL because now since I've started the blog, I'm up in that game after going down in it early. The only game I'm down in now (since I started the blog lol) is $40 NL and I may never play that game again unless I sit down at it with my friend Matt. I'm starting to realize that the $100 game is not quite as bad as the $40 game but because the blinds are $2/$3 and you're only working with $100, it's tough to work much poker into your game unless you get lucky and double. After calling a couple $15 pre-flop raises the stack is crippled and it makes it tough to do anything but push.

I'm also realizing how much shitty debt I have because I keep winning and I keep paying bills off, keeping my bankroll pretty low. Oh well at least I'm winning and one day it'll start coming back.

Tonight I have a softball game at 7:30 but I might go play a few hands after that. I'm thinking about playing in some of the Commerce Holiday tournaments this weekend but I'm not sure yet. I felt good in the last tournament I played in, which was a 100k guarantee for $100+$25 with unlimited re-buys in the first 1.5 hours. I went with only one buy-in and made it from 650 people to about 70 people. I thought it was good considering a lot of the other people bought in 5-12 times. I also learned a lot during that tournament and it'd be nice to cash in a big tournament.

I want to go to the SC game tomorrow but I would have to buy scalper tickets. It's homecoming though so it's gonna be crackin and my boys are going. I also have to, have to, have to get some music done this weekend. I'm going to my producer's brand new studio next weekend and I want to take some weapons to war!!

Summary: 3 hours (7:00 pm - 10:00 pm), +700 (first table +$80, second table +620)

Wednesday:
100 NL: +80
200NL: +620
Overall: +700
Hourly: +$233.33/Hr.

To date:
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -100
100 NL: +13
200 NL: +4164
Overall: +4247

Day 7: Limited Loss.

Today I went to work and played ball after work. Really got frustrated playing basketball at L.A. Fitness. I was on a squad with three guys that were about 5'7" 95 lbs. and all they did was stand on the three-point line and play no defense whatsoever. Our other guy was like 5'9" 250 lbs. and he played even less defense and barely made it up and down the court. Then one of the little guys keeps tellin me "Just take over." WTF? The worst part about this is, because no one on my team is playing defense, I'm going like 150% on D trying to cover three guys in the post. So by the time we get on O, I'm tired as hell. Anyways I was 1-2 in pick up games and I hate losing.

I went home for an hour and then headed to HP to try and make a small come up in a couple hours.. I didn't really want to go to sleep after 2 a.m. Well, as soon as I get there my ex-girl starts sending me a text message about how she thinks (or "knows") I'm talking to someone. If she thinks that, so what? We are not together so I don't get why she acts like she can trip on me. I told her to stop contacting me and she agreed. This was all going on while I was playing the 200 NL. Ugh.

When I first got to the casino, I sat down at the 6/12 Limit because the 100 NL and 200 NL were filled. My first hand in I had to post from the cut-off. Everyone checked the flop so I bet my position with Q-7 offsuit on a board of Kxx. Two people called and checked the turn. I fired another 12. One guy called. The flush and straights both missed the river and I bet again and he folded. The very next hand I had 4s5s and the flop came 10-4-5 with two hearts. Again I came out raising and firing on the turn. The flush missed again and one guy paid me off on the river, probably because I had bet every single turn since I sat down at the table. I won another hand with a set of 8's and some guy called me all the way down with a pair of deuces and then he hit two pair 2-4 on the river. WTF. I left the 6/12 Limit up $170.

Sat down at the 200 NL and it was up and down. I raised to $35 with AdJd from the button. Got one caller, we both missed the flop and I bet my position and he folded. I was down to about $130 or so and I doubled up with QQ from the button. I raised to $35 again and got two callers. The flop came 8-6-4 with two diamonds. I went all-in for another $95 or so and one guy called with the nut flush draw. He missed the ace and the diamonds and I was up about $80. From that point it was all down hill and I ended up losing -$300 in the 200 NL game.

I wasn't really feeling like I was on top of my game at the 200 NL so I was happy to leave with a small loss, especially since I made some of it in the 6/12 game. I know that if I can keep my losses low and stay consistent with my profitable sessions I will come out ahead. So I had no problem leaving at 1 a.m. with a loss of $130. There was only really one vulnerable guy at my NL table and he had a better read on me than I had on him so I didn't think it was a great opportunity at this table. Anyways I was fine leaving with a small overall loss of 130.

Summary: 2.5 hours (10:30 pm - 1:00 am), -130 (first table +$170, second table -300)

Monday:
6/12 Limit: +170
200NL: -300
Overall: -130
Hourly: -$120/Hr.

To date:
6/12 Limit: +170
40 NL: -100
100 NL: -67
200 NL: +3544
Overall: +3547

Day 6: Still Rollin'...

Weekend was good... actually in retrospect this was one of my best post-college weekends ever. Friday night I was so tired from staying up all Thursday night that as soon as I got home from work, I fell asleep. I planned to go to my boy P-Wee's bday party but I was too tired. Tomo came over to wake me up but was unsuccessful so he went with Mark and Lamar. I woke up around 1 a.m. and was supposed to meet some friends at a bar, which by now I had flaked on so I sent them a message apologizing and we ended up kickin it after they got out of the bar. Saturday just got a fade, chilled with my friend who came up from Dego, went to play poker. After I played poker I went out and we got rejected at the door of some club in Pasadena, which was about a 45 minute drive. That really put me in a bad mood because the door man was basically just hatin on us for no reason. Sunday I had my championship game for my baseball league at Dodger Stadium. We won 7-4, which was nice because the other time we played at Dodger Stadium two years ago we lost. My boy/ex-roommate Mark won the MVP, he struck out 11 people and allowed 1 earned run in about 5 or 6 innings. I was 0-3 at the plate with 1 RBI. I sucked but we won so it's all good. I saw "The Departed" last night and it was a pretty good movie. Ending was kind of fast/weird but overall it was good.

---

My session on Saturday was great. I actually knew I wouldn't be able to play that long but I wanted to go try a few hands and see where they took me since I've been running decently. I had to wear some shades because I was a little lifted and didn't want to appear that way.

I put my name on the list for the 200 NL game and sat at a 100 NL game while I was waiting. The following hand occurred when I had about $95 behind: I am in the small blind with 22. UTG raises to $20 and four people call, so I call. Big blind then raises to $40. UTG goes all-in for (what I thought was $63) and gets two callers. I put in an additional $43 (trying for luck here, bad call I know) and the dealer says it was $83 total. I then was like "F it," maybe I have the only pair by the way the hand played and I go all-in, hoping to get one caller with an AK or something. I actually get two callers plus the guy that was all-in for $83. Board comes 8-7-4. Two players with money check. Turn = 2. River 6. Anyone with a 5 has a straight. Everyone turns over and the hands were: KQ, AK, A-10. My pair of deuces was good the whole way. AK was pissed at me for going all in with deuces. Oh well. I left the table shortly after to go to the 200 NL and won 253 in the 100 game.

200 NL. Had a crazy table. Two completely loose players, one drunk, and a guy who kept proclaiming "it's only money, I don't care about money." I worked my way up to about $600 by playing the table and catching some good hands with cards like KQ, etc. Nothing spectacular, just grinding pot at a time and slowly stacking over about an hour.

Then 10 pm came around and it was about time for me to leave. I decided to play one more circuit just because my table was so crazy, maybe I can win a big hand. I caught suited connectors my first two hands and was down about 100 (to stack of about 500) calling pre-flop raises and trying to catch draws on the turn. With about two hands left before the blind hit me, I look down at A-Q. UTG, who was on tilt, raised to $20. I called. Then the drunk goes all-in for $100. Action folds to the original raiser, who thinks for a while and then only calls. I can tell he's weak because if he was strong he would have tried to isolate himself with the drunk. In a prior hand when he had QQ, he went all-in to isolate himself. So after he called, I went all-in for $500 to isolate myself with the drunk, thinking the other guy would fold. I was wrong, he called and had me covered. I now put him on a high pair or AK, all bad for me. But he says to me "I got nothin," I told him "I have AQ." He says "You got me." Board comes 2-2-7-9-Q. On the river he goes "I GOT THE QUEEN!" and shows Q-10. I was like, "I told you I had A-Q" and showed my hand. The drunk showed A-10 so I was a heavy favorite in the hand and I left the table +906. Solid.

Summary: 2.5 hours, profit $1159 (first table $253, second table $906)

Saturday:
100NL: +253
200NL: +906
Overall: +1159
Hourly: $463.6/Hr.

To date:
40NL: -100
100NL: -67
200NL: +3844
Overall: +3677