PLO

Last night I made my first attempt at Pot Limit Omaha. It was a good
break from the usual hold'em grind. I only played two hands all night.
The fist I turned a full house, and it held up for a nice pot. The
second was a bit controversial. Let me just say it was a case of
beginner's luck. I flopping a straight - not the nut straight. I made
my first pot bet of the evening, after someone bet in front of me. The
person who made the original bet called. Fourth street was no threat.
Player in front of me checked, so I bet the pot again. He called. At
this point, I thought we had the same hand. River was a blank. I bet
what I had left, and he called. I doubled up.

Now, that win was pure luck. But, I will take it! :-)

I think I like PLO.

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Quick picture from the Pallazzo

What Luck!

Since my last post, I've lost a set over set and full house to quads.
No way to get away from those hands.

Oh well!

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Back In Action!

I'm at my favorite card room playing NL Holdem. Turned a set and
doubled my stack.

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Medical timeout

Well, this morning I woke up with my left eye swollen shut. For those
of you who have played in the WSOP, you know that eye infections are
common as they are so easily transmitted between players.

Luckily, we came across an excellent eye doctor on the way to the
clinic. Let me tell you: I will never go to a clinic again for an eye
infection. In fact, if you are in Vegas and in need of an eye doctor,
you should seek out Dr. Milak (eyesandopticslv.com). This guy is
terrific! He even gave me documentation for my regular doctor!

Now that I am cured, it's off to the poker room!

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Guess where I am

Outside the best poker room in Vegas, of course.

:-)

So close ...

Well, after eight levels, I got my money in on the button with tens.
The small blind had A K. And, I lost the race. :-(

But, I cannot complain. I was very close to cashing. And, I made it
through eight levels. I also had agreat time.

The plan now is to hit the cash tables at the Venetion to start
building my reserves for next year.

Ciao

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WSOP#20 Dinner Break

Well, I made it to the dinner break.

I just found out that last year's defending champion (David) for this
event was at my table. He was eliminated right before the dinner
break. In fact, all but one of the people that were on the table when
I sat down have been eliminated. And, he and I are now the short
stacks at the table.

Played three hands:
- Q Q and took out a short stack that went all-in pre-flop
- Q 10 suited from the small blind (limped); check raised when flopped
two pair
- And for my donkey move of the day ... I raised on the button with A
10 offsuit. The flop gave me second pair. Other player checked so I
bet- he called. Same on turn and river. He had J Q off- suit for top
pair. Lost all the chips I made on the other two hands. :-(

So ... There are 165 players (or so) left. 63 places will be paid. We
still have four more levels to play tonight (oh boy).

We shall see ...at this point I will be happy to just make the money.

:-)

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Oops

I just found out I was on the table with Clonie Gowan - and did not
know it.

*blush*

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WSOP#20 2nd Break

I'm still here! :-D

Got moved to a new table. Played two hands with the same player. Won
one and lost one.

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Doubled Up Again!

A K vs Q Q. Race - I won!

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Doubled Up!

Pair of 5s VS A K. Race. I won!

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WSOP#20 first break

I'm still in ... But just barely.

The very first hand I had J J (my fav hand). I raised (under the gun)
and had two callers behind me. Flop came Q and two other cards - all
diamonds. Everyone checked. The turn was a blank. I checked again
and the next player bet 2/3 pot - I called. Next card was another
blank and not a diamond. I check-called. Lost to Q 10 off-suit.

Next hand I played was A A. I did not raise the proper amount (??). So
I had four callers. Flop came A 5 5. Everyone checked to me and I
checked. A 5 came on the turn and I bet the pot. No callers.

Next hand I had 8 8 and raised. The big blind called me. I had him as
a loose player. Flop came K 10 6 with two clubs. The big blind check-
raised me. I called. On the turn big blind bet and I folded.

I am hanging on by the skin of my teeth!

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Congratulations!!

Congratulations to Sandy for finishing 17th in the WSOP Ladies Event!

There were over a thousand players. And, this was Sandy's very first WSOP event. Although, she was not all together inexperienced. Sandy is one of our Card Player Cruises Crew, so she is not new to playing poker. I also know that she had an excellent coach (her son-in-law) that cheered her on from the rail for the entire event. After a very long day yesterday, while we were all heading to the "poker kitchen" for dinner, I heard Sandy say "well, don't let it be said that I do not have patience". Despite being short stacked for most of the end of the tournament, Sandy demonstrated tremendous patience and skill. We are all very proud of her!

Once again, congratulations for the awesome finish in the WSOP ladies event! And, for those of you on future Card Player Cruises - watch out!

Sick Play

I decided to try out the Deep Stake tournament at the Venetian.

I just had AK off suit. One person in front of me limped, so I decided
to just call and see what happens. The flop came 6 7 K rainbow. Big
blind checked. And so did player in front of me, so, I checked. A 5
came on the turn. I made a pot size bet. The big blind raised a
minimum bet. An eight came on the river, and the big blind bet out a
pot size bet. My voice told me I was beat. I even said this is a sick
call. I was right. He turned over 5 9 off suit for the straight. I was
right - it was a sick call that cost me half my stack.

*sigh*

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Lost the Race ...

Here is the hand summary for the mega satellite.

First clash was interesting. I was in the small blind with 7 8 suited There were three callers already, so I decided to see a flop and called. The flop came 5 6 9 - lucky! There was a club flush craw on the board. But, I still checked to see what would happen. The next to act decided to bet a half pot size bet - running everyone else off. :-( I decided that this guy had A 9 or something like that. So, I waited a minute to see how he was going to act. He seemed confident with his hand, so I went all-in. This got his attention. He fidgeted around for a long while, and, I started to get nervous that I had bet too much to get him to call me. I guess that is all it took. He called my all-in. Hand played out and I won.

I played another hour or more before my next significant hand. I was starting to get low on chips. I was in the big blind, when the button raised. Now, this was not new. At this point, the button had raised my blind practically every other hand. I looked down at A J suited; to call would have left me with only half the pot after the call, so I pushed. He called instantly and I thought I was done. He turned over A 6 off-suit with a pleased look on his face. I turned over my hand and he exclaimed "you woke up with a hand". I won the hand and stored the info. :-)

The next hand I played I had J J under the gun. For those who are following this blog, you know that J J has been a very unlucky hand for me. I almost just called. But, I was getting low on chips again, so I decided to do a standard raise. Although, this thought process took longer than normal for me, and, I think it raised some folks antennae. The player to my immediate left was short stacked and went all-in. And, another player (to my right) raised all-in; my worst case scenario. Raising against two players with J J was not something I wanted to do. But, I only had a few chips left, and, the chance to maybe triple up was too tempting, so I called the all-in. The player to my left had QQ (of course) and the player to my right had A K off-suit. No one hit, and the player to my left tripled up. I won the "side pot" which gave me an extra 1k in chips.

A few hands later, a new player came to the table. She immediately went all in (not a lot of chips). The blinds and antes were starting to get really high, and we were down to 40 people. My stack was a bit low as well. I looked down at A K off-suit and decided to call her. Everyone else folded. She had A J, and I won the hand knocking her out.

Then, I got moved to another table. :-(

I basically sat there the whole time with no cards; observing the players. Luckily (maybe), the table got broken and I got moved back to my original table (two seats to the left of the one I had previously).

I had a pair of nines some time after moving back to my original table. I bet and kept getting called by someone on the other end of the table. I put them on A-Face, or maybe a flush draw. He folded on the river. This nearly doubled my up in chips (it would have if he had called my river bet).

I have 9 9 few hands later, again. This time, first player to act had already raised. After playing with this player for most of the tournament, I had a feeling that he had a big pair. That, with the number of players to act behind me - I folded the 9 9. I know ... that was probably not the right move. But, I had a feeling ...

Of course, poker is all about ironies. We were down to two tables now - 14 players. The same player that I had folded the 9s to earlier raised again. This time I was extremely short stacked with maybe two big blinds left. I looked down at A K suited, and pushed. He called. He had 9s ... of course. A king came on the flop ... but so did a flush draw. He hit the flush to knock me out in 14th position.

I lost the race ...

Mega Satellite

Ok ... I am going in ...

Today, the $330 mega satellite is just too tempting. Even though the
payout is not great, and there are not many chips, I wanted to take my
shot at a seat in the main event.

The entrance is impressive. Just not too sure about the "enhanced"
WSOP logo.

The Future of Poker?

One of these would fit nicely in my game room. :-D

Avoiding the mob ...

While all the rabid poker players are battling for those elusive
bracelets, others chill in the Rio's Starbucks.

Red Rock Mountain

This is a view of Red Rock from our balcony in Summerlin.

Vegas in the morning

This is a view of the Vegas strip from our balcony. We are staying in
Summerlin.

The Venetion

Trip Kings ...

Flopped trip kings. I had K Q off in the cutoff. No pre-flop raise.
Checked around to me. Bet two thirds pot. First to act raised me
(check raise). I eliminated JJ and AK, as I am sure this player would
have raised these hands pre-flop. I felt I had the best hand. There
was a flush draw on the board, so I pushed. He called instantly and I
thought I had miss red the hand. He had the same hand! We chopped.

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Big Hit ...

Flopped second pair heads up with an Ace kicker. Check-called. Turned
two pair. Check-raised. Ended up he had top two. Lost 40% of stack.

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Lawyers at the WSOP!

I just arrived in Vegas, and just registered for my first event. The
contract I had to sign made the Windows License agreements look like
the GPL!

Geek speak ... Sorry ...

Slim Wins

These hands occurred during the WSOP Circuit Pot Limit Holdem Event in New Orleans.

"Slim" came into the seat on my immediate left. And, he stayed there through the final table. "Slim" came over to my table after several players were knocked out in a single hand. Including the infamous "Monkey". I played three significant hands with him.

For the first hand, I do not remember the exact positions we were in. I remember that the blinds were on the other side of the table and that we were closer to the button than the big blind. Action folded around to me, and I looked down to find A K suited. I made a standard pre-flop raise. "Slim" hesitated for a very long time. And, I do mean a very long time. People were getting up off the table to walk around. He finally raised the pot - essentially going all in. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this hand. But, I put him on either an Ace, or, a medium pair. So, I calculated the numbers, and I felt like I should call. I raised to put him the rest of the way in. He turned up a pair of sixes. Great. A race. I had plenty of chips, so it was not devasting. I just do not like races. The hand played out, and "Slim" won.

For the second hand, I was in mid to early poistion. I looked down to find a pair of kings. And, I made a standard pre-flop raise. "Slim" looked at his cards and made an immedite call. The rest of the players folded. The quick call got my attention. This was a different behavior for "Slim". He practically beat me into the pot. The flop came 7 - 5 - 5 with two diamonds. I led out with a 50% to 60% pot bet. "Slim" immediately went all-in (or as much as he could). Now, I am freaking out. You see, I had just lost the two previous hands; along with about 40% of my chips.

The first hand I lost: I had a pair of Jacks when the big blind woke up with a pair of Kings. I lost 20K+ chips in that hand to double up a short stack. For the second hand I lost: I had a pair of Tens, and the player to my immediate right raised and I called his pre-flop raise. When the flop came J - J - blank, the player checked. I thought that seemed odd, so I checked as well. The turn was an Ace, and I decided not to continue the hand and folded. The player turned up A J for a full house.

So, here I am with my third pair in a row, facing an all-in bet. My little voice kept saying "Aces". I had that same feeling I had with the A K suited. I took a keep breath; trying to settle down and think this thing through. I figured I needed to be worried about a flush draw, full house, trips, aces, or a smaller pair. It was hard for me to imagine a quick call with a single seven, or even a pair of sevens. So, I ruled out trips. A pair of fives (for the full house) also crossed my mind. But, I figured fives or sevens were about the same. The quick call and all-in also made me question the diamond draw. But, I was thinking that if he really wanted to steal the hand, that is the kind of hand he would have played: suited ace. He knew I had called his raise with A K suited from a previous hand. So, he might have been confident that I was going to call. At least, I thougth so. I kept coming back to aces, so after a very very long time, I folded my Kings. The table was shocked that I folded the Kings. "Slim" did not show his cards. But, when asked, he said he had a pair of Queens. If he had Queens, then, I made a bad move. Do you think I made a bad fold?

For the third and final hand I played with "Slim", I had pocket Eights under the gun. I made a standard pre-flop raise. Slim immeidately went all it. I had decided that he bluffed my on the previous hand, so I went all-in as well. "Slim" turned up A J off-suit. Great. Yet another race. The hand played out, and I lost.

So, out of the three significant hands we played, I lost all three. I guess it was only fitting that "Slim" put me out of the tournament on that third hand.

And, therefore, "Slim" wins! :-)

Monkey Encounter

This hand occurred during the WSOP Circuit Pot Limit Holdem Event in New Orleans.

I was on the button. I was dealt a pair of Sevens. There were no callers to me, so, I raised a standard raise (3x blind). "Monkey" was on my immediate left (in the small blind). He looked over at me, and called my raise. At that time, I put him on an Ace and some other card. He had been very aggressive since getting to the table, so, I did not give him credit for much of a hand. And, I felt like I had a "very tight" image with him.

The flop was J - J - K. "Monkey" checked and I bet out half the pot. "Monkey" looked at me and asked "Do you have a King"? I smiled and said that he would need to call if he wanted to find out. "Monkey" tossed in a huge raise. I immediately went all in.

After the hands were turned up, "Monkey" went nuts. He started raving: "How can you call with that hand?" and "What and idiot" and so on. It was like I was watching Phil Helmuth on ESPN; except it was some guy I have never seen before going on about me! To say that "Monkey" was abusive is an understatement.

The dealer dealt the remaining cards, and I won the hand. Then, it got worse ...

The dealer tried to push the chips to me. But, I had put in more chips than "Monkey". So, the dealer asked "Monkey" to put in the additional $475 in chips. At this point in the tournament, that was a lot of chips. "Monkey" refused to put in the additional chips. The player to my right said "that is not right", and he called for a floor to come to the table. The floor apologized for the error, but stated that it was my responsibility to make sure the pot was right. I just sat there flabbergasted. The player on my right said that the ruling was not correct, and that I was getting screwed. I decided not to make a big deal about it; hoping we could just get back to the game. However, that was not to be the case.

"Monkey" started back in with his abusive comments. So, I asked the floor if I had to sit there and listen to the abuse. And, he simply said "no", and walked off. I was shocked. One of the other players asked what I was expecting (I don't remember who it was). And, I responded that I was expecting the management to ensure a non-abusive playing environment. "Monkey" then said that I could always leave my chips on the table and let myself be blinded off. I had finally had enough, and told "Monkey" simply to "shut up". At this point, "Monkey" said "how would you feel about a bounty?". To which I replied "do what you gotta do".

"Monkey" lost more than half of his chips in that hand, so I can understand why he was upset. But, that is no excuse for poor sportsmanship or abusive language.

About 40 minutes later, I was moved to another table. We played down to 18 players, and the tables were shuffled again. "Monkey" was once again on my immediate left. He was extremely short stacked. And, of course, he focused his aggressive play on me - raising my blinds as much as possible. I let him steal them - waiting for an opportunity to just take him out. At this point, I was not the chip leader, but I was one of the biggest chip stacks. In fact, one of the other players at the table commented that "Monkey" should try to put me back on tilt so they could get my chips. I simply responded "Good luck with that".

"Monkey" finally made his move, but ran into three other callers. He was eliminated. And, I went on the the final table.

I looked up "Monkey" on the PokerPages site, and found that he is an excellent player. So, I can only surmise that he made a bad read on me - thinking he could intimidate me. Well, that does not work every time "Monkey"; sometimes players will call you just because.

So, putting all the drama aside, I have a very simple question: Did I play the Sevens correctly?

Cheers

Flopped a set and bet ...

I was in the small blind. The cut off (one in front of the button) raised. I called with a pair of tens. The big blind re-raised. The cut off and I both called. The flop came 7 - 8 - 10. I flopped a set! As the first to act, I thought for a second or two and led out with a pot sized bet. Both of the other players folded. The big blind held his hand to the side to show me that he was folding Kings. I showed my set after he showed the Kings.

I figured that since there were two raises pre-flop, I was sure to get a call. Also, I did not want to have a big pair catch a set. Nor did I want a pair of Jacks to catch the straight.

When the hand was over, the person to my right (the button) said I should have checked that hand in order to let the big blind bet; then, I could raise when it came back around to me. You know, it sounds reasonable.

I was also scolded about showing my hand. I don't think that was a bad thing, as this helped to establish a "very tight" table image. It gave the image that I was going to bet my hands in order to not be drawn out on.

What do you think? Would one of the others have bet out? Should I have check-raised in this situation? Should I have not shown my hand?

Cheers

3 Outer ...

I had A-10 off-suit. No raise before the flop. Six players called pre-flop (including the blinds) with me in fourth betting position. The flop had an Ace and two diamonds. I checked the flop. The position immediately behind me bet 25. It got around to me, and I raised to 500. I had three callers (two in front and one behind). The turn was a six, and, the small blind let out with a large bet. The player before me folded. I called and the player behind me called.

So, here are my questions:
- Did I have enough information to fold? I had a "feeling" that the player had hit two pair. A set or two pair are the only possible hands ... in my mind.
- What could I have done differently on this hand? I did the check-raise to run off other players. But, I think at least three of them felt like it was a semi-bluff.
- How can I get aggressive players to fold?
- From the other side of this hand, was it wise to call my check-raise? In particular, the winner of the hand called with an A-6.

Cheers