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
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
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!
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
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
Monday, November 20, 2006
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
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
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, November 17, 2006
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.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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
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
Sunday, November 12, 2006
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
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
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
Friday, November 10, 2006
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
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
Thursday, November 09, 2006
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
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
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
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
Monday, November 06, 2006
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
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
Friday, November 03, 2006
Day 5: Back on track
Life has been good the past few days... on Tuesday I went out with my homie since five years old aka cousin Tomo...we walked around Hollywood and ended up at the club "Day After," which was cool. We met up with my boy from USC "D. Hale" aka "Vos" and he hooked us up with entry. To say we were lifted/faded/tipsy would be an understatement.. it was off the hook. Met some cool young ladies and whatever and just kicked it. Wednesday I wanted to get to the sino but I fell asleep almost right after I got home from work. Yesterday (Thurs) was a good day.. got to work on time (tough for me), played basketball at lunch and was killing, went to my softball game after work and we won 22-7, went to the batting cage to hit 80 MPH, then hung out at home until about 10, when I left for HP. I actually took a shower and changed clothes in case I would be there all night, which I was.
Got to HP and was waitlisted for 200 and 100 NL. Sat down at 100 NL and played one hand for $15 pre flop and folded, then moved to 200 NL where I was familiar with about two of the players from previous play. My very first hand I got KK in late position and raised to $40 and got three callers. Of course the ace hit the flop and I folded to a $30 bet, two of the callers had the ace so I actually had as many cards to catch my set as they had outs. I went down to about 120 or so before doubling up and getting up a bit. The first hand I remember hitting was 66 on a flop of K86 and the caller had K8. There was actually a four-card flush on the board but neither of us had the club.. just sucked because it killed our action. I was playing the table pretty well and made a play I'm pretty proud of. I raised to $25 with A-4 suited on the button. Five people called. Flop came 998. I bet $50 on the button after everyone checked. A player that I've played with before check-raised me but I could tell at first he was thinking about just if he should call or not. So he then put his $100 bill in as if to call and said "one hundred." Weakness!! So everyone folds and I count out $150 and say "another $100" and he auto-folded. I had seen him make a similar play right after I sat down and it was almost the same type of play. Pot was huge though and this got me up around $800 or something.
I lost a huge pot with the following hand: I have 66. Loose player raises to $20, five people calls. Flop comes 776. Loose player bets 20, I call as does everyone else. Two diamonds and straight draw. Turn is J and loose player bets $150 (I now know he has the 7). I raise him all in and he gets all pissed and thinks bout it ($200 more) and says "I know you got me beat but I have too much money in the pot," and calls.. shows A-7 and the river is an ace. I lost roughly $550 in profit and a pot over $800.
I ended up having to rebuy and worked my way back up to $916 ($500 of mine) before the table broke. The key hand for me was right after I rebought for $300, and was at about $250, I called a $25 raise on the button with 7-8 offsuit. I thought to myself "damn I'd like to flop the nuts" because the bettor makes huge overbets. Lucky for me the flop comes 6-9-10 with two spades. The bettor, who is first to act, bets $50. The other player calls and I moved in for my remaining $125. The bettor insta-calls (I figured he would put me on the spade draw) and the other player goes in for his remaining $125 as well. Bettor showed K-10 diamonds and other player showed pockets 99 for a set. The board doesn't pair and I triple up.
After the table broke, I sat around for a while and got on another $200 NL table at about 6:30. I caught an amazing run of cards hiting quad QQQQ, a set of 999 and the nut flush Ah7h against a J-10 flush (this was my first double up). I sat next to an ethiopian guy named "Tes" (for short) and he really seemed to want to help me and tell me about players and the way people play. I really appreciated his help as he has been playing poker for over 10 years and seems to be a successful player. When it was time for me to go and I said "well, I'll play one more round," he told me to just go now because too many people want to gamble during their "last circuit." So I left after only about 1.5 hours on the table and made $590.
This was a much needed profitable session as I am broke and have bills!! Spent way too much money on drinks during the halloween weekend.
This was also nice to have a strong day to start the month, maybe November will bring some fetti.
Summary: 10 hours, profit $1006 (first table $416, second table $590)
Yesterday:
200NL: +1006
Overall: +1006
Hourly: $100.60/Hr.
To date:
40NL: -100
100NL: -320
200NL: +2938
Overall: +2518
Got to HP and was waitlisted for 200 and 100 NL. Sat down at 100 NL and played one hand for $15 pre flop and folded, then moved to 200 NL where I was familiar with about two of the players from previous play. My very first hand I got KK in late position and raised to $40 and got three callers. Of course the ace hit the flop and I folded to a $30 bet, two of the callers had the ace so I actually had as many cards to catch my set as they had outs. I went down to about 120 or so before doubling up and getting up a bit. The first hand I remember hitting was 66 on a flop of K86 and the caller had K8. There was actually a four-card flush on the board but neither of us had the club.. just sucked because it killed our action. I was playing the table pretty well and made a play I'm pretty proud of. I raised to $25 with A-4 suited on the button. Five people called. Flop came 998. I bet $50 on the button after everyone checked. A player that I've played with before check-raised me but I could tell at first he was thinking about just if he should call or not. So he then put his $100 bill in as if to call and said "one hundred." Weakness!! So everyone folds and I count out $150 and say "another $100" and he auto-folded. I had seen him make a similar play right after I sat down and it was almost the same type of play. Pot was huge though and this got me up around $800 or something.
I lost a huge pot with the following hand: I have 66. Loose player raises to $20, five people calls. Flop comes 776. Loose player bets 20, I call as does everyone else. Two diamonds and straight draw. Turn is J and loose player bets $150 (I now know he has the 7). I raise him all in and he gets all pissed and thinks bout it ($200 more) and says "I know you got me beat but I have too much money in the pot," and calls.. shows A-7 and the river is an ace. I lost roughly $550 in profit and a pot over $800.
I ended up having to rebuy and worked my way back up to $916 ($500 of mine) before the table broke. The key hand for me was right after I rebought for $300, and was at about $250, I called a $25 raise on the button with 7-8 offsuit. I thought to myself "damn I'd like to flop the nuts" because the bettor makes huge overbets. Lucky for me the flop comes 6-9-10 with two spades. The bettor, who is first to act, bets $50. The other player calls and I moved in for my remaining $125. The bettor insta-calls (I figured he would put me on the spade draw) and the other player goes in for his remaining $125 as well. Bettor showed K-10 diamonds and other player showed pockets 99 for a set. The board doesn't pair and I triple up.
After the table broke, I sat around for a while and got on another $200 NL table at about 6:30. I caught an amazing run of cards hiting quad QQQQ, a set of 999 and the nut flush Ah7h against a J-10 flush (this was my first double up). I sat next to an ethiopian guy named "Tes" (for short) and he really seemed to want to help me and tell me about players and the way people play. I really appreciated his help as he has been playing poker for over 10 years and seems to be a successful player. When it was time for me to go and I said "well, I'll play one more round," he told me to just go now because too many people want to gamble during their "last circuit." So I left after only about 1.5 hours on the table and made $590.
This was a much needed profitable session as I am broke and have bills!! Spent way too much money on drinks during the halloween weekend.
This was also nice to have a strong day to start the month, maybe November will bring some fetti.
Summary: 10 hours, profit $1006 (first table $416, second table $590)
Yesterday:
200NL: +1006
Overall: +1006
Hourly: $100.60/Hr.
To date:
40NL: -100
100NL: -320
200NL: +2938
Overall: +2518
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