Loss is my middle name

Shit I was crackin'...for a minute. I think I got called on every single bluff except one. That's like four huge bluff and the people called me with weak hands. Both times the guys were just like "fuck it" and called. I actually built my stack up with solid play.

Well, this lady was an idiot. I had QJ. She's on the button, I'm one seat in front of her. She raised pre-flop to like 20, about four people call. Flop comes QJx. I wanted to see where I was at so I bet $30. She called, other two folded. Turn is a J. I check, she checks. River is a Jack. So the board is QxJJQ and I have QJ. I bet $50 and she calls with TT, so essentially she called with a 10 kicker and the board, lol. She had no clue.

So I had my stack at like $500 and I get 55. She raises again to like $20 and three people call. The board comes KsJs8h. I check, other guy checks. She makes a weak bet and I call, planning to outplay her on the turn or river. Then the other guy calls. The third spade peels off on the turn and I check. The second guy checks and my read on him is that he doesn't have the flush. The lady then bets $50 and I move all-in for like $450 or something. The other guy calls immediately and is all-in for $200 or so. She folds. River is a blank and the guy called with a pair of eights and the ace of spades, so he was just praying for a spade but also had the 8 and I lost.

Like three hands later I have Ac3c in the small blind. EVERYONE limps. I know they have me on some bullshit after the 55 loss so I just limp with everyone. Flop comes three clubs. Nuts. UTG bets $20. Short stack (around $90) raises to $40. I hollywood and look at the original bettor and ask him if he's gonna raise, etc. Then I call and he calls. The turn is a rag of spades and I check. The original bettor makes it $100. The other guy puts in his last $50 and now I'm acting again. Looking at my cards and all that BS. I move in for my last $320 and he calls with very little hesitation. The river is nothing and I win, the other guy had 5c7c and the short stack didn't show.

Very next hand I'm on the button with 10-7. Flop is 7-7-10. Everyone including me checks. On the turn (ace) I bet $5 and three callers. River is a king, everyone checks and I bet $100 trying to make it look like an overbet bluff and everyone folds.

The hand that really hurt me, I had 9s7s. One guy who had been raising a lot raised to about $25. Few callers. Flop comes AsJsQh. He bets $50 and seems pretty weak. Two callers. River is a 7. He bets $50 again, gets one caller and I push for $600. He thinks for a long time (he has $350. I thought he had $250 but he had a hidden white chip) and finally calls with A-10. I had a bunch of outs but missed and he's a genius.

Lost two buy-ins, which sucks!

Overally I played pretty well but I clearly picked the wrong two people to bluff. The first guy was just banking on his ace high flush draw with one card to come, and the second guy made a good call. I really risked way too much money on those bluffs.

Just getting Steamrolled

I've just been getting my ass handed to me lately. Steamrolled for like 1500. I'm gonna post more detail and number updates in the next couple days but it's been ugly and uglier, in that order.

New Blog Started

For anyone reading this, I've started a new blog that is for a wider audience then just people interested in hand histories and bankroll attempts. The new blog is http://www.backdoorstraight.blogspot.com . The second blog is more for writing and entertainment. I will still be posting on this blog.

Update On the Sizzessions

Backyard Beer-a-ment

Man, in all honesty I couldn't have asked for a better set-up then this tournament. Everyone was drinking. The structure was slow and great. The players were bad (with a few exceptions). The buy-in was $50 and first-place was $900. I really was on cruise control and built my stack despite losing some MONSTER pots. The first one, I had AK and pushed against a raiser. One player called (had him easily covered) and so did another (had her covered too). I was up against AhQh and Qs10s. So I have them dominated and what happens? The hearts flush hits and a 10 hits the board, so I lose the main pot and the side pot. I rebuild my stack only to lose a huge pot to a rivered flush draw against the second biggest stack at the table when we're down to 10 people. I had AK, Ace hits the flop with two hearts, you know the rest. So I ended up bustin out 9th with five places paying. There were about 25 people and about half of them rebought. It was a lot of fun though, but I should have won it.

Anyways, -$60 to a home tourney.

Hollywood Park, Saturday afternoon

Well I went straight from the home tourney to HP and promptly lost my ass off. Played too loose, called too many pre-flop raises and pretty much stunk it up. I don't even remember any hands. I know I didn't hit any, lol. I played for about three hours and had to leave at 930p to go to the movies. Saw "Vacancy," which was actually pretty decent. I jumped once. So anyways at HP I lost two buy-ins, $400. Shit now I remember some hands. I had AhQh in the blind, I raised to $30. One guy calls. ONE GUY! Flop comes JJT. We both check. Turn is a king, but putting three diamonds on the board. I bet $30. He calls. I say "Did you flop a full house on me?" He laughs. Turn is a blank. I bet $30. He raises $200. My dumb ass calls and he shows JT for the flopped full house. Definitely should have folded but his $200 bet was so much I thought he was stealing. I was wrong as ever. Lost $400 in this session.

Hollywood Park, Monday night

Yesterday I started my new running/scheduling plan and it went well. I ran after work and then showered up and went to HP and got there around 10 pm. I got to a table that was tight as HELL. The table literally folded the first five hands I saw to the blinds for chops. I couldn't believe it. The funny thing is, everyone was complaining about the action and no one would play. I started raising in position, getting a couple callers and betting big on the flop. I pretty much ran the table over and probably won at least 12 hands without having to showdown cards. The pots were small due to the table character but I left after less than a couple hours and won $171, which I was very happy with given how tight the table was. I'll be back soon.

Home Tourney: -60
Saturday: -400
Monday: +171

Bankroll Plan To Date:
Home Tourneys: -60
4/8 Limit: +33
1/2 NL: +195
2/3 NL: +650
3/5 NL: +1756
Bankroll: +2574

Another Losing mothaf#$*ing session

Unbelievably, my last session was more than a week ago, on Wednesday, April 18th. Obviously based on the title of this entry, it was a loss. I haven't played a hand of poker since then. I think I'm a bit discouraged by my recent losses so I've taken a bit of a break. I've also been really busy with life. Wednesday I played poker. Thursday a couple of my boys from Seattle came to town and stayed overnight with us. I smoked with one of them, who coincidentally was on "Judge Mathis" the next day on 420. Apparently he sold his dog to his friend and then never gave it to her. Good stuff. Then Friday, which is the infamous 420, I smoked and went to a couple bars with my partners in grime M-Tweezy and Sanetomo. First we went to Zanzibar, which was horrendous. They were playing techno and it was over 40 night. We left after a horribly-spent $10 cover charge and went to our default spot "Carbon." Wow is all I can say about the state that this bar has evolved into. First of all, this place is like 10 square feet. They have a bar with benches and a wall that is about two feet behind the benches. Then there is about a five-foot dance floor. But they play hip-hop and it's close to our apartment and there's no dress code and no cover charge, which is why it's our default spot. So we go there, they make us wait in line like it's some sort of club or something. They tell us it's a 45-minute wait and then they let us in after eight minutes. We go in and the girls all look like they came from Star Trek's forgotten episode "Beast of the greater galaxy" and I decide that I must be drunk in this situation. So we head straight to the bar and we get long islands. They taste like shit. I can't even finish mine it tastes so bad. So we go back for shots of patron, my favorite. I'm barely buzzed and this monster is trying to get me to dance with her. "I'm tired." "I'm injured, I hurt my leg playing basketball." "I don't know how to dance." I used every excuse in the book. So what does she do? She starts giving me a lap dance. As soon as she heads to the bathroom/pig sty I tell my boy Mark "Let's get the FUCK OUT OF HERE." Normally, Mark likes to wait around not only until the bar closes, but until the last female has left the parking lot. He can tell that I mean business so he reluctantly agrees to leave. Plus he's seen me getting treated like grapes at a vineyard by this wildebeast. So we bounced.

Damn that was only Friday! Needless to say, my 420 was not so great.

421 I went to a birthday party for my boy that moved to Dallas. It was good stuff, saw a bunch of old friends that I used to work with and that's about it. Saturday night I actually came home and fell asleep. Then Sunday I had a baseball game (1-2, R) and hung out with my UCLA buddy who is doing big things. We went grocery shopping too. The wild life I live!!

422 We have softball practice for my work team. Damn I knew we would be bad but this was just an ugly situation. People didn't know what position was what, how to throw, how to hit, how to catch, you name it. It's gonna be a long season. I've been trying to eat healthier and really set myself back about three weeks when we went to Pink's famous hot dog stand and I happily ordered chili cheese fries and a hot link. They might as well have toilets as the chairs people eat on.

423 I had a softball game for my old team in the valley. Traffic sucks going out to the valley but I think if you head from Hollywood to the valley around 5-6pm, you're guaranteed to see at least one celebrity in traffic and at least one porn star in traffic. It almost makes it worth it. Anyways we played the team that I hate in our league. Their team name is the Dawgs. How corny is that shit? I would really hate on them but our team name is the Rockets, which I think is the only name worse that the Dawgs. We lost to them as usual and there is a chick on the other team that I used to date. Our history is pretty much I blew it with her by not calling back regularly, etc., typical Kev fashion. Now she always looks good and wears extra tight pants at the softball games and it kills me. So I hate her team and after the game I don't even want to talk to her because I hate her team so much and we always lose to them. But she catches me while we're in the parking lot and starts clowning and somehow we end up at the bar having drinks watching the Lakers game.

424 Went to the Dodgers game and saw Barry hit number 4,564,874.5 into centerfield. That made it worth the trip alone. Gotta love Dodgers games. For some unknown reason there is always a plethora of fine women at Dodgers games. I can't figure it out. I used to go to a ton of Mariners games in Seattle and there were never fine women there. I made like twenty mental notes during the game to get some good seats to the Dodgers games and take all my boys that are single. At last night's game I was with my co-workers, so I was kool kev, not killa kev. And actually I think we were sitting in the 400 section somewhere between Heaven and the Orion star constellation. My boy and I had to leave the game early to make the company softball game. We got there and it was a mess. We had seven players to start, lost 20-8, but I managed a home run, double and four RBI.

Damn I haven't even talked about my last session yet. It sucked. I got to the casino, lost my first buy-in, rebought and was up about $400 when I started playing way too loose, going after way too many pots and just tricked the cheese off. Everyone on my table was getting monster hands like aces and kings and I was getting shit so maybe I was just trying to crack everyone out of pure boredome, I'm not sure.

Anyways I dropped $400.

So here's are the numbers up to date:

4/18/07:
3/5 NL: -400
Overall: -400

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
1/2 NL: +195
2/3 NL: +650
3/5 NL: +1985
Bankroll: +2863

Losing is not as much fun

I've played three sessions since my last entry. At times I feel good about my play, at others I feel terrible. I've been making a lot (a ton) of moves. Almost every pot I'm in I try something. Some work, some don’t. Most of the time I have a pretty good read on what my opposition has. It's just a matter of getting them to lay it down or whatever. Either way, I've had three losing sessions out of my last four so that is not good. I need to refocus and get back on the winnning track. I also might take a new angle with this blog. We'll see.


1. -430
2. +757
3. -900 (-100 in 2/3 NL, -800 in 3/5 NL)
Total from three sessions: -573

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
1/2 NL: +195
2/3 NL: +650
3/5 NL: +2385
Bankroll: +3263

Over playing my bad reads

Played a bad session on Tuesday night. Historically I feel like Tuesday night is a bad night, not sure why. Sat down and won a small pot to get up like $40. Then I got pocket jacks in the cut off. I raised to $35. The button re-raised me to $100. I thought for a long time and put him on QQ at the worst, most likely AA or KK. However, I called hoping to spike a jack. The flop came all low cards. I checked, he went all-in and for some unknown reason I called him and lost.

My second buy-in coincidentally ended up th same way, me with JJ against another players KK all-in pre-flop. At least this time I didn't KNOW that he had KK like the first time. A loose player who was raising to $15 every hand made his standard raise. The big blind called him for the extra $10, then another good player re-raised to $50. I thought he was re-raising in an attempt to take the $45 pot down. I put him on KQ or AJ type of hand. I moved all-in and he called me with KK. He was real nice about it as we were neighbors and talked to me about playing JJ and how it can get me in trouble. I agreed, especially since I lost over $400 on jacks pre-flop that night, lol.

Third buy-in was lost when I tried to push a guy off his hand when a flush hit the board. He raised pre-flop to $25 and everyone called. I called with 7c8c. Flop came AT5 all hearts. He bet $55, everyone folded to me. I raised him to $110, putting him on a high ace and representing the flush for myself. I was going to push on the turn no matter what. He thought for a long time on my raise. I'm not sure if he was thinking about folding or raising. I'm pretty sure he had me on the flush though. The turn was an ace and I knew he had the ace but I felt if I moved in he would still lay it down. I pushed (with nothing) for $250 more and he insta-called with A-10. I'm out!

Tuesday Night:
200NL: -$600
Overall: -$600
Hourly: -$300/Hr.

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
1/2 NL: +195
2/3 NL: +750
3/5 NL: +2858
Bankroll: +3836

Running Hot + Playing Well = $

Had a good, enjoyable night at the Park. Most of the regulars were there and a few of my buddies that I play with were there. I started off okay, went up about $60 when I bluffed a guy out of his own pot. But then I tricked it off.

I have Q9 in late position. The flop comes 2-5-9 with two hearts and this crazy guys bets $40. Huge overbet. I call. The turn is a 10 and he goes all in. I thought for a while and made the call, which was idiotic. The only hand I can really beat here is either 8-9 or J-9. He had JJ, I missed the river and I already have to rebuy. So I rebought for $300. My stack started going down slowly and I had about $140 left when the next hand came up.

I have QJ in late position. The guy on my left, who is a luck box and raising every hand, raises to $15. Everyone calls. The flop comes 7-9-10 with two spades. This is a good flop for my hand. Everyone checks and luck box bets $20. Button calls him, then small blind raises to $60. While I'm contemplating my call, Luck Box says he is calling any all-in move. I know that small blind has at least two pair, so he is probably calling any all-in as well. I also feel like the button player might call an all-in, giving me a chance to quadruple up. So I move all-in. Luck box calls, button folds and small blind calls. An 8 hits the turn and river and I win. Luck box had AA and small blind already had the straight with J-8, which lost to my nut straight. Now I'm in business.

Other hands I had were KK, king hits the flop. I check, only other player checks. Turn is nothing, I bet a weak 25, he calls. River pairs the board. I bet 50, he calls. I have AJ UTG. I raise to 10, everyone calls. Flop comes Ajx. I check, button, who is tight, bets 20. I call him weakly. Turn is an ace. He bets 40. I raise him to 80, he calls. River is a 10. I'm hoping he has A10. I bet 100 out the gate and he calls with a weak ace. I win.

I also hit a flush with 5d7d when the flop came J10A with two diamonds. The button player made the nut straight with KQ but bet only 30 on the flop. My diamond hit the turn and everyone checked. Then I bet 75 on the river and he called. Nice.

I played for five hours and made $706, which is real solid for a week night. I was playing my table perfectly last night. They were folding when I had nothing and calling when I had the nuts. It was great. Table was real friendly too, which is always a plus. I checked my stash and I really only have about $2450 now. I know I've paid over 1500 in bills out of this money and I'm hoping to pay it back to my Bank Roll. I also spend money on meals, movies and at Virgin Megastore.

Monday Night:
200NL: $706
Overall: $706
Hourly: $141.20/Hr.

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
1/2 NL: +195
2/3 NL: +750
3/5 NL: +3458
Bankroll: +4436

7/8 Winning Sessions since the BR plan started

I took off work and went straight to the Park. I had plans for later that night either going out to a club called 740 or hanging out with a friend so I wanted to go to HP and put in a few hours. The action on Fridays and Saturdays is the best. I got on a table that was okay. Then a loose cannon showed up. His name was Mike and he was incredibly nice, just sucked at poker. He was hitting his horses and just pouring money into the table. He loved to raise pre-flop, which made the pots big and also made it expensive to play.

I hit two big hands and lost both of them. In the first hand, I had AK in the big blind. A tight player raised to $35 pre-flop and I called, as did like five players. The flop came King high with rags. I bet $100 and got two callers and then the button went all-in. Three people called. Everyone checked the turn and river and I had the second best hand with AK. The button had AA and one of the callers had QK. I was pissed at myself for not creating a side pot with the QK player. There was a 10 on the board and I was a little worried that someone may have had K10 so I checked it down. Stupid me.

The second hand I had QhKh on the button. Another loose cannon raised to $25 and got about five callers including me. The flop came 10 high with two hearts. The orignial raiser went all-in and I also went all-in. We got one caller so the pot was huge. The heart hit the river and the original raiser had AhJh. Damn!

Before I knew it, I was in for my fourth buy-in. The loose player had dumped an estimated 3k into the table and finally left. After he left around 3 a.m. I started getting some cards and hitting them hard. I doubled up first with 88 when my full house hit the river and the other player had the nut flush. I hit another set, although I don't remember what it was. I was grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding and finally had broken even. By the time our table broke around 8:30 a.m. I was sitting with about 1415 and was up on the night.

I decided to take $100 of my profit to one of the two $100 tables going. I recognized a few of the players and they are not very good so I thought it was a good opportunity. Before I knew it, I was up 1k on the table! I got AA and KK in back-to-back hands. My aces held easily and I hit a set of Kings to take down aces and AQ, who both went all-in pre-flop. It was lucky against the aces but the guy who had them was a horrible player so there was no way I was folding KK pre-flop to him. I ended up bleeding some chips back and left the table up 750.

Saturday night I went to see Blades of Glory, which wasn't very good. Some hilarious parts but for the majority of the time it was pretty corny. Plus I was lifted and kind of drifting to sleep most of the time. After the movie, I went to meet up with my boy at Commerce. I played the $200 table and really grinded and played the players just as much as the cards. I came up $655 in four hours and bounced for Easter Breakfast at 7 a.m. I don't really remember any huge hands. I'm pretty sure I mostly just won a bunch of $100 pots or so. The biggest hand I had was KdQd on the button. I raised to $35 and got a few callers. Then the flop comes 99K and a tight player in the blind comes out betting $80. I put her on probably the 9 but possibly the King, so I called to see the turn and see how she bet. The turn was another king. She checked and I immediately checked, trying to make her believe that I had QQ or AA. The river was a blank and I bet a weak $75. She reluctantly called and I took it down. She had the 9.

I'm playing pretty well and I'm happy because there are a lot of things that I can improve in my game and I know what they are. I'm trying to work on improving these aspects but at the same time I'm winning so that's good. Hopefully if I can continue improving my profits will get better, although I definitely can't complain.

My bankroll is now not really at what it is on this blog as I have paid back some bills/credits/etc. and used some of the money for other things but I plan on paying my poker bankroll back through my paychecks so I'm keeping the records consistent. Right now I think out of the $3730 that my BR is at, I only have $2250 of it. Still solid for me. The best part about this recent hot streak is that I can't even say that I'm running great. I'm definitely not running cold but my cards aren't on fire or anything. They were at the 100 table on Saturday morning though.

Oh yeah, I'm feelin this Redman album also. It's called "Red Gone Wild" and it's refreshing to hear him again.

Friday Night/Satruday Morning:
100NL: $750
200NL: $415
Overall: $1165
Hourly: $66.57/Hr.

Sunday Morning:
200NL: $655
Overall: $655
Hourly: $163.75/Hr.

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
1/2 NL: +195
2/3 NL: +750
3/5 NL: +2752
Bankroll: +3730

I double as a donkey

"Oh what a job this is..." - Devin the Dude

Simple and plain, I played a one-hour session last night and lost $600. Very sorry effort on my part. I was probably tired, I was probably feeling rushed because I had to go to dinner with friends around 930, but I hate excuses. So I'm just going to say that I sucked last night. I played too many hands, I played weak ass kickers, I donk'd.

The first hand I witnessed at the table was ridiculous. I was waiting for the blinds to pass, so I wasn't even in the hand. Everyone limps. Flop comes Qc10h2c. Big blind, we'll call him "Oldie" bets $15. Middle position player raises to $45. Button goes all-in for $650. "Oldie" calls him with his last $500. A club hits the river and button shows two pair, Q2 and "Oldie" shows 8c6c for the rivered flush. I was astounded and happy to be at the table.

Well on my first hand I get AQ. The guy who lost with the Q2 is immediately on my left. I limp, he goes all-in for $37. "Oldie" calls him. I feel that "Oldie" is just calling with anything so I push for $200 to isolate. He calls with AK and we both miss and I lose my cheese. Rebuy and lose to "Oldie" with Ac8c when he puts me all in with an ace on the board and a club on the turn. He has AK and his kicker plays.

I lost another $200, I don’t really remember any significant hands. The table was crazy as people were pushing all in every hand to try and double through "Oldie" and he was winning every hand. He had about 3k when I left after an hour and he was at $500 when I got there.

So I lost, the win streak ends at five. I'll be back this weekend to try and get back on the horse.

**On another note, I have to say that I listened to Devin the Dude "Waitin' To Inhale" CD today and this is a classic CD. He has some straight up ridiculous tracks on here. He has done it again.

Thursday Night:
200NL: -$600
Overall: -$600
Hourly: -600/Hr.

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
$1/2 NL: +195
3/5 NL: +1682
Bankroll: +1910

"You're horrible! And the best part is, you think you're good"

Another solid night. First of all, I had a semi-final basketball game after work in the L.A. Fitness league and I hit seven three's and our team won easily so that was fun. I was supposed to go out with a friend but I left the gym at nine p.m. and there were no missed calls or messages from her so I figured she was flaking and this would be a great opportunity to work on my bankroll building.

Got to HP and had to wait for a while to get a 200 NL table. When I did my neighbor to my right, who had a big stack, gave me the head's up that the two players to my left were extremely tight and hadn't played in an hour. Immediately to my left was this female about my age wearing sunglasses and an mp3 player. Immediately to her left was a guy also our age, kind of the Ashton Kutcher type and he was spittin relentless game at her. The guy I've played with many times and we're pretty cool. His name is Chris and he is a super senior at UCLA. Anyways, a few hands after I sit down, the chick raises UTG to $25 and everyone folds and she shows aces. Two hands later, she raises again and gets two callers. The flop is 10 high and she bets $50 and gets one caller. The turn is a blank and she puts her caller all in for his remaining $250. He thinks for a while and calls. The river is another 10. He shows Q10 and she shows AA. She then proceeds to berate him for calling and the dealer for putting the 10 out. The VERY next hand, I get 6c9c. Some early position player raises to $15 and I call. Then the chick re-raises to $45. Initial raiser folds and I call with 6c9c. I know that if I hit my hand, which would mean two pair or better, she will double me up. It's an extremely loose call but I can just smell the double-up in the air. Flop comes 9-9-K. Bingo. She bets $70, I call. The turn is a blank and she puts me all in. I call and she says "Do you have the nine?" I answer yes. When she sees my hand she goes crazy and walks away. For the rest of the night she keeps telling me how bad I am and that I suck and that I thought I was good. Throughout the night I determined this female was anal-retentive and she was incredibly annoying but somehow all I could do was just laugh at her. I have never laughed that much in my life. She just kept telling me and other players how horrible we were and what we were doing wrong. Pure comedy.

Another big hand I won was with the guy on my right, Amir. He was probably the best player at the table. He had a big stack and told me he's been playing pro since he graduated in December. He raised pre-flop to $40 in what looked to me like a steal attempt. Four people had limped and he was to the right of the button. I was on the button with 7s6s. I called and one other guy called. The flop came J-5-2. He bet $60 and I quickly called him. The turn was a 4, giving me an open-ended straight draw. He bet $80 and I quickly called. I'm putting him on AK or AQ at best right here. Maybe a low pair but I don't think he can beat the jack, which is why I'm calling him. I want to see if he'll slow down. Sure enough the river comes another deuce and he checks. I push all-in for about $175 and he thinks for a while. He asks me if I have a set of jacks, I tell him no and he asks if I'll show. I say yes (which I wish I wouldn't have said as it's a tell). He folds and I show him the 7 high. The pot was 400, which was nice, lol.

The only other significant hand worth mentioning was with also with Amir. He raised again to $40 pre-flop and I'm on the button with QcJc. I call. Flop comes AQX. He bets $60 and it seemed real weak to me. In retrospect, I should've raised to see where I was at, but I just called. Then the turn is an 8 and for some reason, I don't know why, I knew he hit his set. He fired $70. Even though I knew he hit his set I called, which was stupid. The river was another 8 and he bet $200. I thought for a while and told him I thought he had 88 in his hand and folded. He said he would tell me when I left what he had and sure enough he had quads. He was disturbed that I called his hand out and wanted to know how I read him but I couldn't even pin-point it.

Another hand I had KQ and floped the nuts against AK who wwent all in on the flop of A10J. I left up $650 after three hours exactly and the craziest part was that the KQ and the QsJs were my two best hole cards the entire night! The best pair I got was 77. The best Ace I got was ... I can't even remember an ace. So I'm pretty happy about that. And the bankroll grows... The only thing that sucks is I have to take some money out of my bankroll to pay a doctor bill that went to collection. Whoops.



Not sure if I'm going tonight, depends on friends' plans. I plan on hitting the tables hard this weekend and seeing what happens.

Wednesday Night:
200NL: $650
Overall: $650
Hourly: 216.67/Hr.

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
$1/2 NL: +195
3/5 NL: +2282
Bankroll: +2510

Four in a row and counting...

I played Monday night at good old Hollywood Park. I like to go on Monday nights. I feel like a lot of people are there chasing the money they lost over the weekend and a lot of others are there because they won a lot on the weekend. Either way, I'm taking their cheese. I actually went and watched the college championship game (gators are nice) after work so I didn't get to HP until about 9 p.m. When I got there the boards were full (100 NL and 200 NL) so I put my name down and sat in the 4/8 limit game, which was the only available table.

In limit, each player has the option to post if he/she wants to play before the blind gets to him. So I posted the $4 and got Qc4c. Not a great hand but playable since I'm already in for $4. There was no pre-flop raise so I saw the flop, which was AQ9 rainbow. Someone lead out with a bet and I called, seeing as it only cost me $4 and the pot was already about $30. Everyone called and the turn was another Queen. It was checked to me so I bet $8 and had three callers. The river was another nine and I again bet $8 and got one caller who held the nine. I got in another pot with a hand I don't remember and bled a few chips off. After ten minutes I was called to the $100 NL game so I came up $33 in 4/8 in 10 minutes.

I didn't even have a chance to play a hand in the 100 game before a new table was started in the 200 NL game. I took my seat and when we drew for starting position I drew the ace of clubs. Remember that! Here are some of my memorable hands:

So I started with the button. My first hand I a few people limped and I looked down at AcQc. I raised to $25. Small blind called me and everyone else folded. The flop came KJx with one club. Small blind checked and it seemed fishy so I checked too. The turn was the 9c, I like. Small blind bet a weak $25 and I raised him to $75. He called. The river was a 2c and now I am putting him on two pair or KQ possibly. Unfortunately for him I have the nuts. He checked and I went all in. He called and showed his aces and I double up first hand. I felt bad that I cracked his aces but everyone, including him, agreed that he played them horrendously and let me catch my flush.

The very next hand there was a hand where someone had a Qx10x on a board of 10 high. The guy fires out and gets called by "John." The river is a blank and John checks. The other player goes all-in with his Q10 and John takes a year to call and wins with KK. The way the hand played out, he had to know his KK was good. But he took a year to think about it. So three hands later I'm in the big blind and John raises to $25. Two people call so I call the extra $20 with Ah7c. The flop comes 2d2h9d. I check, another guy checks and John bets $40. I can tell he has jack shit so I'm thinking the way John played his kings, I can easily bet him out of this pot. But I'd rather let him donate some more on the turn. So I call and one other player calls. The river is the queen of spades. I don't like this as John could possibly have AQ. I check, the other player checks and John takes about three minutes to put out a weak bet of $60. I push all-in for $300 and both players insta-fold. I show the bluff, John asks me "Am I that obvious?" and I basically told him yeah. Now I've been playing on this table for about 25 minutes and I'm up over $500.

Well, somehow I lost all those chips and had to buy back in. I can't even remember how I lost them. I know when I was down to about $45 I was all-in pre-flop in a five way pot and completely missed. But I don’t remember how I lost my stack. So I bought back in. Actually I just remember that I tried to bluff a guy out of a pot on an ace high board and he called all-in with AK. Oh well, it was worth a try. He almost folded, lol.

Right after I bought back in I caught quad sixes and won $100 on the hand. The flop came 6s-7s-8h and everyone checked, including me. The turn was the 6h putting two flush draws on the board. Some new guy bet $40 and I called him extra quick, trying to make it look like I was on a flush draw. The river was the Qh, which I kind of disliked because that meant the backdoor flush draw hit, which is what I was acting like I had. He actually bet $60 and I went all in for like $43 more and he folded.

My next big hand was kind of a donk play by me but it was about 3 a.m. and I was ready to go home. I had $300 to start the hand and I'm in the big blind. The pot is raised to $25 and about four people call. The flop comes Jd9dX. Everyone checks to "Jamaica" who goes ALL-IN for like $225. I barely have him covered. He really made a great bet. I call anything $75 or under instantly. Well based on the fact that if I win this pot I will be up and if I lose I will go home with a small loss and get some sleep, I pushed all-in. A diamond hits the turn and I know I'm good. But then a diamond hits the river! Fuck! Luckily "Jamaica" did not have a diamond and he mucks his card with the jack face up. Sorry buddy.

Later in the night I made a great call on "Jamaica." I had a pair of fives with a gutshot on the turn. "Jamaica" bet $50 on the button and I called trying to catch two pair, trips, or a straight. I brick the river and he bets $50 again. For some reason it was fishy to me so I was taking my time thinking about calling. He started talking to me saying "Just call, I know you're gonna call." So I called and he mucked his hand. I didn't even have to show that I was calling with a pair of fives. Sweet.

Eventually I started playing better and built my stack up to about $700. There was one player ("Loosy") on the table who NEVER folded pre-flop to any raise. He was catching cards like crazy with hands like Q7 off and 62 off suit. Just sick. He beat me when I had pocket aces. He had 7c8c and the board was 9-10-J-Q-x. I had QQ and he called my 100 pre-flop raise with KQ and the king hit the flop.

But anyways, I built my stack back up and was on my last hand UTG with A-10. I called the $5, "Loosy" raised to $30 and six people called. Now the pot is $185 pre-flop. The flop comes A-7-4 with two diamonds. I come out and fire $100. The guy next to me, "Geo" who is a very tight player and a nice kid, goes all-in for his last $70. Everyone else folds and I told Geo he wins, my kicker is only a 10. He says he's on the flush draw with a gutshot. The board misses the diamond and he mucks his 5d8d. I win.

I left up $33 on the 4/8 Limit game and up $670 in the 200 NL game, which was great because I bought in for 400. There are some things that I am noticing about my game that I can really improve. I really feel like I'm playing pretty well right now. Making good reads and stealing pots when I can. But I have been losing a lot of chips trying to make moves on players too frequently when I have the big stack. I am going to work on that this weekend and hopefully that will give me better results. The good news is...I started my "Build My Bankroll" plan just 12 days ago with $200. Now it is at $1860 and I have won four straight sessions since I started. I'm feelin myself!

Monday Night:
4/8 L: $33
200NL: $670
Overall: $703
Hourly: 100/Hr.

Bankroll Plan To Date:
4/8 Limit: +33
$1/2 NL: +195
3/5 NL: +1632
Bankroll: +1860

My Game Needs Improvement

Well … I guess there’s a lot to talk about when it comes to my poker game. My boy Matt witnessed me re-raise someone $400 with middle pair and a weak kicker. I was quickly re-raised $289 more and I folded based on my read of the situation. My evaluation of this play is only positive. While I was obviously beat and made what seems to be a bad play, I went with my read on the player and was not scared to raise him. Not once during this hand did I feel I misplayed it, but I did pick a bad spot to challenge this particular player, who had been betting bad the whole way. The only difference is that I could have played tighter and not even been involved in the hand, as I was in there with 6-8 off-suit. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I play to win money. At no point, no matter what size stack I have, do I play to preserve money. If I am playing to preserve money, I might as well leave once I am up. I’m not saying that I play to lose…but I don’t play to sit on chips. I play to use them and win them.

Anyways. Since my last entry I’ve been to the casino twice. Once on Thursday night/Friday morning and the other on Saturday night/Sunday morning. In both instances I built a big stack of 1500 and over. Both times I left on a down swing. I believe both nights I was up at a peak of around 1100. Friday morning I left up $691 and Sunday morning I left up $124. Pretty disappointing to leave with a profit of $815 when it potentially could have been $2200. But that is not EVEN the big story. Here is the big story:

As of my last entry, my bankroll was at a very humble $342. Because I regularly play the $200 game, this is a pretty weak bankroll but I knew this. So Thursday night I went to HP planning to build this bankroll. Unfortunately, I quickly lost $200 when this hand occurred: I’m UTG with AsJs. I limp. Everyone limps. Then the big blind, who I know is a wild/aggressive/gambling player, raises to $45 in what I thought was a steal attempt. I re-raised him all-in, hoping to re-steal. Everyone folded to him and he made the call with 99. His nines held and I was down to a $142 bankroll. I did a short-buy for $100. Lost it. Now I’m down to $42 fuckin’ dollars! So I hit the $40 table. Took a couple losses. Then was down to $20. This is not looking good for my new bankroll plan. Well, amazingly I doubled up twice with 5-6 off suit and then some other hand. Shortly I built that $20 to about $250 on the $40 NL table. I then changed tables to the $200 and worked my way up to $1600 all off that $20. Pretty crazy and made me pretty happy. Later that night all the tables were condensed down to one table and it was a great table with a few loose players and one fine ass woman who was really nice. She kept all of us awake. Anyways I was playing pretty well at this table but at about 5:30 a.m. my game started going downhill so I took off.

The next night I went was Saturday night and my game was on point. I got KK cracked by AQ in a crazy ass hand. Guy raised to $15, everyone called. I raised to $115. He calls, everyone folds. Flop comes J-8-3 rainbow and he pushes all in. I call and the turn is an ace, he wins.

I also took a bad beat on my final hand when my QJ two pair on a board of J-6-3-Q was trumped by an ace on the river and the other player had A-3. It was ugly seeing that he called all the way with bottom pair and an ace kicker. I had to shake after that as I was pissed off to the utmost. Overall, I’m definitely feeling very good about my game. I’ve won my last four sessions, although they were all pretty small wins (with the exception of the $691) and six out of my last seven, and eleven out of my last 14. I just don’t know where the money goes. Fuck! That’s why I’m trying to build the bankroll, so that all my poker money stays in one place.

Game: $200 NL
W/L: $762
Game: $40 NL
W/L: $195
Current Bankroll: $1157

New Plan: Build Bankroll from $200

I have decided to come up with a new plan: To build my bankroll from a $200 start. This plan actually came about on Saturday 3/24/07 but I haven't had a chance to write about it.

I've found that I am the type of person that excels when there is some sort of goal at hand. When things are just in limbo, I don't really work as hard as I should to make things happen. For example, before I started this blog, I wasn't too successful at poker. But once I started the blog, I wanted to post positive results, which I was able to do. Not that I was playing bad poker before on purpose, but I wasn't necessarily as focused as I should have been. I was more of a gambler and trying to be the guy that gives the bad beat instead of the guy that laughs a bad beat off.

So now I've hit another wall. I feel like I have done well in the game that I play ($200 buy-in, blinds @ $3/5). I've been profitable since I started playing it and I've learned how a majority of the players play. I'm not saying that I'm the best player at this level--I'm nowhere near it--but I do feel that I can win on a consistent basis, which means that maybe I should take a look at moving up to the next level.

Unfortunately there is a problem there for me. I have never built a poker bankroll since I started playing. I've always had bills to pay with my winnings, gone out and spent a lot of money, etc. Now I still have bills to pay but I want to build my separate poker bankroll. Earlier last week when I was (somewhat) reeling from my bad night and loss, I was thinking I would just take $40 and try to build it into a bankroll. I would start at the $40 NL table and just go up. That was my plan until Saturday when I talked myself out of it. My thinking was that if I have trained myself at the $200 table and learned a lot of the players, etc., why not start there if I have my edge in that game? I've only played the $40 a few times and I have been unsuccessful because it is a very different game than the $200 NL game. So I decided that I will take $200 and see how big I can build it. I am not restricting myself to the $200 NL game, but that is my starting amount. I will keep a running tally of it on here and see how far I can get that original $200. Who knows, I might lose it all the next time I'm at the casino.

--------------------

Day 1: $200 (starting)
Well this was Saturday, 3/24. I was going to pick my dad up at 11 am from LAX but his flight didn't end up leaving Seattle until 1045 am so I had some time to kill. I cleaned up the apartment and got some food and still had about an hour and a half until he touched down. So I headed to Hollywood Park with my $200 bankroll and decided to start the mission.

I sat down at a table around 11:45 AM, table seemed somewhat loose. I quickly went down to about $145 or so, I think I called a pre-flop raise with AK once and missed and called with a small pocket pair. I worked my way back up to like $235 with some pre-flop raising and continuation bets, then the following hand came up: I am in middle position with 55, I limp. Everyone limps. The flop comes A58 with two diamonds. I bet $15. Small blind raises me to $45 so I put him on either two pair or flush draw. The turn was another 8 and he checked to me. I really should have bet here but I checked behind him and the river was a third diamond. He bet $50 and at this point I was thinking he might have A8 so I just called and he showed 10-8. The turn was my perfect opportunity to double up and I missed it!!

Anyways my dad called and I had to leave, I came up $142 in an hour so it was a successful session.

I will start a new tally of my numbers:

Time: 1 hour
Game: $200 NL
W/L: +$142
$/HR: $142/HR.
Current Bankroll: $342

I suck, again

This is from an email to a friend:

Yeah I feel you. I can tell you that I didn't make money until I started playing no limit. I keep records of all my poker stuff and I lost in 2/4, 3/6, 4/8 but won a lot in 6/12. I really only lost too huge hands yesterday and that was my undoing: One I had 8d4d and the flop comes Jd10d4c. Then the turn is the 8c, giving me two pair with the flush draw. I bet 150 and the worst player calls. The river is the 2d, giving me the flush. I bet $150 and he calls and has KdQd. Then my last hand the worst player is in early position and raises to $10. I just call with AsKs, then the guy on my left raises to $35. Four people call, making the pot $175. I push all-in for $435. The guy on my left takes a LONG time and then calls. Then the worst player calls. I completely miss the board. I show my hand, the guy on my left has AK also and the worst player won with JJ.

Things that I really pay attention to are how loose/tight every player is, betting patterns/tells on bets, who chases, and who is willing to gamble a lot.

Sucking Out is fun (see AK vs. QQ)

Decided to hit the table last night based on the fact that Monday nights have historically been profitable for me. I also didn't play at all over the weekend (I can't remember the last time that happened) and I knew I wasn't going to play today (Tuesday) because I always lost on Tuesdays.

So I got there at 7 pm and got seated right away. As soon as I sat down I could tell my table was a low-action tight table, which is not my favorite type of table to play at. I actually started getting some good hands, notably 1010 and AQ. The 1010 I caught on the small blind. Most of the table limped and I popped it to $35 expecting everyone to fold. Two people called and the flop came Q-7-X with two hearts. I checked, one guy bet and the other went all in. I folded and they showed Q-10 vs. 10h7h. I had them both dominated but the 10h7h ended up winning with a caught flush. My AQ bricked and my stack dwindled to about 100.

In the meantime, I noticed this cat Elijah, who resembles a fat LL Cool J was at HP. Last time I was there, he was sitting right by me and asked if he could hold $100 until 10 pm when his ATM limit starts over. I told him that I didn't have a lot of money on me but he convinced me the money was coming back in an hour and me being the idiot that I am, let him hold it. Of course he lost it at the $100 table and disappeared. I know he has money because he rolls a nice ass Escalade and regularly plays the $400 NL game, but I was pissed at the way that he just disappeared that night without saying anything. So I saw him and called him out on it and he was saying "I got you, I got you" because he didn't want people to know that he didn't pay me back yet. So then my boy Fred, who is probably one of my two closest "HP friends" was asking me about it and we were laughing about it and Elijah comes over and gives me the $100 without saying anything, apparently upset. So why is he upset? Because we are laughing about him not paying. After Fred leaves, Elijah comes back and says "Yeah now tell your peoples that I paid you and y'all can laugh about that." Whatever, dude is pissed because I lent him $100 thinking he was giving it back in an hour, then he vanished and now he's mad at me? Right. I'm never loaning anyone money again unless he is one of my friends away from poker or his name is Phil Ivey. My mistake.

Anyways back to the poker. A loose/passive eastern european guy sits at the table, he's about the same age as me. He's playing every pot. He's a natural born roller coaster, a real moron. I'm on the button, he's on my right and he raises to 10. I have Ad5d. I call, everyone calls. Flop comes 9-5-3 rainbow. Everyone checks, he bets $10. I raise him to $30. Everyone folds and he reluctantly calls. I have him on KQ or something. Turn is another 9. He goes all in for like 140 and I called. River is nothing and he shows J9. Chips!!! Rebuy for $300 more.

I can't even remember how, but that stack went down to $80 when the following hand occurs: I get 22 in middle position. Someone raises to $25. I shouldn't even call. I do. Four people call. Flop comes 289 with two spades. Small blind goes all-in. Two other people go all-in before I even act. Obviously I go all-in. Turn Qc, river is a blank. One guy shows QsKs for QQ, another guy shows JJ and another guy shows As10s. I quadruple.

About 10-15 minutes later, I get myself in some more trouble. I have AK offsuit. This loose/tilty dude that's on my immediate right raises to $25. I just call, I'm in bad position. I thought about raising but I didn't. Two more people call and the button raises to $75. The loose original raiser goes all in for like $120 or so and at this point I have about $280 more behind. The action's on me and I'm really taking my time thinking about it. I know I have the loose all-in beat but I don't know about the button raiser. While I'm thinking, he is telling his neighbor he has the best hand, at least he thinks he does, etc. When he says "At least I think I do," I went all in, trying to push him out. He calls with QQ. We all flip our cards. Loose all-in has 10c9c. Flop comes 889, turn 6, river King. Hell yeah. Double up!!

I won a few more hundred after that, the biggest hand was when I had 66 in the big blind. Button, who is a tight/aggressive player, raises to $35. He usually raises his button and raises when he enters a pot. So I call. The flop comes 3-4-6 with two spades. He bets $60 and I raise him to $120. He then goes all-in for about $80 more and I call. He shows 55 and I'm worried about the straight but the turn secures it for me with a 4.

I left at about 12 am after beating a guy with J9 on a board of J-10-8-7-J. Came up about five hundy.

Right now I'm trying to get my money right and also start a bank roll that will allow comfort when I play, knowing that I can make moves/bluffs and not worry about rebuying... I feel like good poker has to allow for that. I am not the type of player to sit around for eight hours until I get AA or KK. I am starting to go with my reads a lot more often and sometimes they are right, sometimes wrong. I hate the player who folds, then says "I know you got nothing." So raise him, asshole.

Up, Down, Up, Down

Interesting night last night. Felt I played pretty well although I did get caught up in some hands that I needed to get away from towards the end of my session. Also at the beginning, once again I had to buy-in a few times to get rolling.

I started off on a table that I thought looked good and easy to read. It consisted of a couple loose/weak players, a few extra tight players and some average players. When I first got there I was taking down a lot of small pots by bluffing on the flop when I knew no one hit, etc. I also made two calls, one which was pretty ridiculous:

I have 9-7 in late position, I limp. Button raises to $25, three callers before me and I call. Flop comes 9-4-5. Everyone checks to player behind me, who bets $30. One player calls and I call. Flop comes Q. Everyone checks. River is ace and a guy who I know bluffs a lot bets $75. I call, guy behind me says he folded 1010 (I don't believe him) and bettor mucks his hand.

Another call I made on the guy directly to my left, who sucked big time and went on tilt because of me (When I called with 9-7 and he supposedly mucked 1010). I have K10. Guy on my left raises to $30 in middle position. I'm the only caller because I know he's an idiot, normally it's a bad call to go head's up with K10. But this guy sucks. Every hand he folds he claims he's folding a great hand. I'm after him like a bounty hunter. Flop comes 10-3-6. I check. He bets $55. I raise his punk ass to $110. He thinks for a minute, then goes all-in, purposely flashing his cards to his neighbor as if he has aces or some shit. I can tell he's nervous though because he's all antsy. I call and I'm like I got the 10. Then the king hits the turn and I say "Now I have two pair" and he says "fucking unbelievable" or some shit like that. He's about to muck after the river when a guy on the table asks for his hand and he shows 10-8, so he was toast all the way and my two pair was unnecessary.

I built my stack up to about 400 (from 200) pretty quickly. My pre-flop raises were rarely getting called and I was showing most of them with hands like QQ. A guy told me he made a "tough fold" for a $35 raise when he had KQ suited and I told him I had QQ. Then I got AK in middle position, raised to $30 and he calls. The flop comes Aqx and he asks "Do you have QQ again" I said "yeah" and bet $35. He raised it to $75 and I insta-called, which obviously worried him. He checked the turn to me and now I know he doesn't have AQ. However I know he has AJ or A10. I bet $100 on the turn and he thinks for a LONG time. Then he goes "well I guess I'll go home or double up" and goes all-in. I have him covered by like $13 and I call. The river is a jack and I say "You just hit that river didn't you" and he says "yeah" and shows AJ. I rebought for $200 and doubled up with a flush draw that hit on the turn with 4h5h. The flop was A75 with two hearts. I led out betting $45 and the button, who had raised to $15 pre-flop moved all-in for about $125, so it was like $80 more. I called and hit the 2h on the turn. My next big hand I had 10h7h in the big blind. EVERYONE limped. The flop came 10c2h3h, a great flop for my hand. However, it was a tricky play considering I have seven people behind me and my 7 kicker is weak. So I came out somewhat strong, betting $30. One tight (tiiiight) player raised me to $80. I re-raised him all-in and he reluctantly called. The turn was the 5c and the river was another 10. He cussed when the river hit and showed 2c3c. I took that down and had more outs then I thought as I figured he had a higher 10 then me. That's why you don't play 23! The guy who beat me with AJ had a huge stack and we became five-handed. A few of us really wanted to play with him but one player wanted to re-seat to full tables so we broke and I won $525 on the table.

So after the table breaks, this cat named Omar who I have become cool with tells me to sit at his table because the action is crazy. He tells me seats 7, 8, and 9 call anything anytime no matter what the the bet is. So I sit and second hand I get 33. The flop comes 2-4-6 and I bet 10 as a feeler. One guy calls and the button, seat 9, raises to $30. I can tell he is trying to steal, I'm not sure why but I just know. My mistake was not re-raising him. I call and the other player folds. There are actually two hearts on board as well. The turn is the king of clubs. He bets 60 and I call, I don't think he hit the king. The river is the 3 of hearts, giving me my set, putting a straight and a flush on board. I check and he bets 100, which seems like an overbet to me. I call almost out of curiosity and he shows Q-5 off-suit for the rivered one-card straight. It was a bad call on my part but I got a little too curious and it cost me.

So I have to rebuy for 300. I don't even remember what happened to that 300, but it was still "house money." Actually now I remember. I just dwindled down to like $75. Then I called a $25 pre-flop raise with J-8 suited trying to crack. Button goes all-in, another player goes all-in, and I go all-in for the chance to quadruple up hoping that I have two live ones. WRONG!! The guy that went all in had KK, the guy that called had JJ. So, from now on I'm referring to the KK guy as "KK" because the case J hit the flop, JJ took down a huge pot and from this point on, "KK" was on TILT.

So I rebuy for 300 (now this is my money again)...

This is where it starts getting better. I made some good calls again, notably when I held Q-8 and the flop hit Q-9-5, I bet and loose player called me. I bet the turn again and he asks me if I want to check it down. I said no and then the third spade hit the river. He bet $75 but after evaluating his crazy ass mannerisms (he tried to call the clock on me) I put him on 10-J draw, not the spade draw. So I essentially put him on a J high hand. I called, he shows me the 10 of spades like he has a flush and then mucks.

I ran my stack up to about 1100 through nothing but solid all-star play. Just phenomenal. Actually loose aggressive asian dude raised to $25 pre-flop (he had been raising on 50% of hands pre-flop). I called with AQ on the button. Everyone calls. The flop comes AQ4 with two clubs. Everyone checks to lag asian guy, who bets about $40. I raise him to $80 then the small blind, "KK", who is a tight player but tilting, goes all-in for $175. LAG Asian folds and I call with top two. He shows Kc3c and I feel like he's gonna hit his flush easily but he misses. That pot was about $400. He later said he made a bad play but he was on tilt.

Then my downfall came. This kid sits down who I had seen playing on the other table when a commotion came up because he CALLED two all-ins for $200 with 7-2 offsuit. He obviously lost and when he sat at our table he said that he's trying to make his money back because he lost $2k on the other table. So he plays a few hands then raises to $25 and I have AK. I raise to $125 and he goes all-in for $150. I call and he is saddened to see his AJ against my AK. Especially when the flop is 6-8-10 all clubs and I have the ace of clubs. He has no clubs and is now down to two outs. Turn is nothing and the river is...................jack of spades.

Not much later I get AA in the small blind. Everyone limps and I raise to $35. Well this youngster calls and everyone else folds. I know he has dog shit because he never raised before me. Flop comes 8-9-J rainbow and I push him all in for another $94. He goes into the tank moaning and groaning and shit. He calls, I say "all you have is a 10, huh?" he says "yeah" and the turn is a 7. Obviously I need a 10 on the river to chop and it doesn't come. He had A10.

So I lost a lot of my stack and left a small winner, $245. I'll take it after some of the beats I took.

Playing Bad 101

Well I've played a couple of sessions since my last entry. I'm going to break them into two blog entries...

Saturday 3/10/07. Started off great. I'm in big blind with starting stack around $200. Six people limp and button raises to $15. I have 5c3c and I know if I call, the domino effect will get crackin' and the pot will be huge (15x8=120) and I most likely have the worst hand but if I hit it I know I'm good. Everyone calls and the flop comes what appears to be an ugly one, Q, 2, 4 rainbow. Then it hits me that I have the open-ender. Everyone checks and the button bets 15 again. I call and two others call. Turn is a 6. Money. I check and some dude bets $30 and I just call him as I have the nuts with no flush draw on the board. I am the only caller and so I check the river trying to check-raise but he checks and I take it down. He spazzes out when he sees that I had 5-3 and goes on tilt, horrible player.

I ended up building my stack up to about 1300 only to see it slowly dwindle down to 500 by the time I left seven hours later. I was extremely frustrated with myself and the way I played the big stack. I called a ton of big raises and never hit any flops. Then I get 7c2c in the big blind on a limped pot with like eight people. Of course I flop the flush, bet hard on the flop, bet harder on the turn and the button calls me with the ace of clubs only to see the four of clubs hit the river. I check the river and he makes the perfect bet of $45 and I feel like I have to call even though I know I'm beat.

I actually went on tilt after making a horrible call. I really rarely go on tilt but I was so mad at myself for my call. I had A8 on a board of 8-4-2, 6, Ace. I bet the flop hard because the whole table has been chasing all day. Two callers (I bet like $45 into a 25 pot). The six hits the turn and this guy comes out betting 125. This is where I made my horrendous call. The other guy folds. Then my ace hits giving me top two pair. The guy, who clearly has the nuts, bets another 150. I call, he shows the straight and some horrible player asks for my cards so I threw them at him. I felt bad about it and apologized, I was really pissed at myself.

Luckily I left with a small profit after tricking away my stack.

Back in Effect

“I learned at a young age not to ride with dummies…That won’t die for they man but’ll die for money…” – Jada Kiss.

Time to get started again. Had an interesting end of the year, not all gravy but I’m a true believer that everything happens for a reason and that’s that. Took a couple of trips, ended a relationship, and learned some lessons.

Anyways I’ve decided to get back on the blog trail. I’ve been playing a lot recently and winning a decent amount in the $200 buy-in ($3/5 blinds) at Hollywood Park and also Commerce. I took a trip to Vegas with some friends during the NBA All-Star weekend and had a good time beating up on some extremely beginning players. Felt bad at some points but I’d rather take their money then have the casino take their money.

This past weekend I pulled off what basically amounted to three all-nighters. Thursday night I went all night and ended up a little. Friday was my best night and Saturday was a good night too. It’s really important to me to keep winning sessions going, no matter if the profit is large or small. I know that winning is contagious and I believe it’s addictive as well. There are many different types of gamblers and I’ve gone through almost all the stages. There are gamblers who play for the thrill of the gamble. These are usually losing gamblers because the larger the risk, the greater the thrill. I’ve been there before, taking on a challenge so great that I am doing it just to defeat the odds. There are also gamblers that become addicted to losing. They think their luck is so bad that they forget to correct their mistakes and continue doing what they’re doing despite the fact that they continue losing. They simply blame their losses on bad luck. These are usually losing poker players. For instance, a player that always pushes all-in with top pair when he sees a flush draw on the board, will lose a majority of the time, even if he is going all-in with the best hand. He is going to lose to a flush draw one out of three times to a flush draw, and the time he loses will cost him his stack. He will also lose to a better hand (set, two pair, etc.) every time. Therefore, even though he thinks he is always pushing with the best hand, he’s really putting his entire stack at a risk. These are players that lose consistently. No creativity and no improvement.

Then there are winning gamblers. These are gamblers that learn to bet when the odds are in their favor. When they lose money, they learn how to increase their chances the next time. If they lose at something, say craps, they pick up a new game where they have a better chance, maybe sports betting or poker.

I believe that both winning and losing is addictive in gambling. Losers don’t know when to stop – essentially they don’t stop for the night until they have gone broke. They will win $400 but keep playing until they are down $400. Then the next time they will show up and won’t stop until they win that $400 back. Bad idea. This is why I am trying to focus on winning, no matter what the amount is. I know it will become not only an addiction but a habit to win.

Not even more than five months ago, I played such a wider range of hands out of position than I do now and I can feel myself changing. Now I look at so many things before playing a hand---the obvious things such as hand quality, position, etc. But also at who’s in the hand? Can I raise them off a bluff? Do they continuation bet every time they raise pre-flop? Do they call me down every time I bet? I’ve learned that these things are key to picking up chips. They seem very obvious when written or read but it is completely different to learn the players and apply these ideas and strategies when playing.

The thing that I’ve noticed over my past few sessions is that it takes me a few buy-ins before I start building my stack. Each of my last four sessions, all of which were winning sessions, I’ve bought in three times. At first it was confusing to me why do I have to buy in three times to start winning? But when I think about it, it is extremely obvious. By the time I’ve made my third buy-in, I’ve pegged each player at the table and learned his playing style. I know which guy I can re-raise off of top pair and which guy will call me down all the way with middle pair. The adjustment I need to make is to play much tighter when I sit down until I’ve learned the players.

My last session I made a huge mistake when a new player sat down towards the end of my session, around 4 a.m. I raised pre-flop with 99 in late position and six people called. The flop came AQ4 and no one bet, including myself. I felt like someone might be trapping, so I checked to try and hit the 9 on the turn. A second ace came on the turn and the new guy bet $30, which wasn’t much. I insta-called him, trying to make it look as if I had a monster. The river was another four. Now I put him on the Queen. He checked to me and I bluffed $125. He called right away and showed an ace for aces full of fours. The player next to him says to me “You obviously haven’t played with him before,” indicating that he would have played this hand with nothing less than the ace. I felt pretty stupid because I tried to bluff a player who is obviously extremely tight and I could have just checked it down. This is why it is extremely important to learn players and their tendencies…each poker player is so different from the guy next to him.

Anyways I’m learning a lot every time I play and I feel like I’m applying what I learn, which is a great feeling.

I’ve been going with my boy Matt (hence the Jada Kiss quote) and we’ve both been having winning sessions, which is great because we used to only have losing sessions in common. I guess it’s funny because we kind of came up through gambling together. We started off playing black jack, learned craps the same weekend and now we both stick to poker. Hopefully we’ll keep improving and moving up in the ranks.

Not sure when I’m going to start posting numbers again, I’m kind of undecided on that but I do like to do it to keep track of hourly profit or loss, etc.

I’m not sure when I’ll play next, probably Friday at the latest. I have a basketball game tonight and then the movies. Tomorrow I might go if a dinner doesn’t last too long.