Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Luckbox JuJu Cursed Me and He Wasn't Even in the Hand

WWDN Tourney was going pretty until just about this point--some good play I think (aggressive play got my big hands paid off) mixed with significant luck (set over set against Kaellin). I had been chip leader, lost with QQ versus Wheaton's AA (should have folded it UTG) but recovered chip lead, then moved along for awhile hovering from 1-6th place with about 20 left, top 9 pay. Then it all started to go terribly wrong.

First, I got Jaxia's very short stack all-in on a coinflip against me (22 v A5, flopped 5), creating the seeds of my own destruction.

Then, we got moved to a new table with CJ immediately on my left.

Then, Jaxia managed to hit bullets the same hand some poor sap had Brokeback and suddenly has a real stack.

Then, I made a wiseass comment about Jaxia being stacked (note to self: poker gods are merciless).

Then, this happened:

100-200-25 antes

Seat #1 is the button

Seat 5: Jaxia (5380 in chips)

Seat 9: SoxLover (5695 in chips)

Dealt to SoxLover [Kd Ks]

SoxLover said, "my fault for doubling you up"

SoxLover said, "now must face consequences"

Jaxia said, "you haven't met me in realy life then ;)" [response to stacked comment]

SoxLover said, "actually, i have..."

fold

Jaxia: raises 600 to 800

fold fold fold

SoxLover: raises 800 to 1600

fold fold fold

LONG PAUSE--I thought she was going to lay it down--I sort of wanted her to and actually thought my smaller bet might have been scarier than an all in pop.

Jaxia: raises 3755 to 5355 and is all-in

SoxLover: calls 3755

Cards flip up and Jaxia shows her JJ.

Nice!

*** FLOP *** [4s 9s Ac]

Really Nice!

Then, CJ flips one little letter in the box:

Up4Poker said, "J"

*** TURN *** [4s 9s Ac] [Jh]

hoyazo said, "ooof"

SoxLover said, "frcuk" [I should have said jopke I know]

hoyazo said, "wOw"

*** RIVER *** [4s 9s Ac Jh] [Qc]

SoxLover said, "thanks cj"

Jaxia said, "YES"

Jaxia collected 11210 from pot

SoxLover said, "i blame that on you"

Up4Poker said, "sorry man"

Up4Poker said, "Jax is my girl" [Well she seemed nice enough to me, but that was cruel. I hope she busts you too....]

Next hand, Jaxia T3 in the 200 big blind called my sorry ass 290 all-in raise with KJ and beat me down with two pair.

Done.

That really lacked something. Oh yeah, being any fun at all.

I hope Jaxia wins this.
See the flop...

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

WWdN

Utterly card dead, busted out out in 19th, but happy with my play. No stupid moves (except for the 3rd hammer drop, and that would have worked if the short stack BB didn't have AQ), and I actually outlasted Mrs. SoxLover for once. Also, I did enjoy this one hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) converter

UTG (t1600)
UTG+1 (t1090)
MP1 (t385)
MP2 =#A500AF(Wil Wheaton)/ (t1300)
MP3 (t3495)
CO (t815)
Button (t1460)
SB (t885)
Hero (t2195)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Td, 7s.
UTG calls t50, 2 folds, MP2 =#A500AF(Wil Wheaton)/ calls t50, 4 folds, Hero checks.

Flop: (t175) As, 9s, 6d (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, Wil Wheaton checks.

Turn: (t175) 7c (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, Wil Wheaton bets t100, Hero calls t100, UTG folds.

River: (t375) 2d (2 players)
Hero checks, Wil Wheaton bets t150, Hero calls t150.

Final Pot: t675


Hero has Td 7s (one pair, sevens).
Wil Wheaton has 6c 5c (one pair, sixes).
Outcome: Hero wins t675.

Wil is not the kind of guy I'm dying a snap off--he seems like a class act from the one time I met him and from what I've read--but I won't turn down a shot at infamy, no matter how brief. I think I may have angered the lurking groupies however.
See the flop...

Poker Hand Lexicon

I think poker hand names are cool (to which FTrain/Weak Player/[insert other SoxLover wiseass friend] would probably reply "which makes it unlikely they are").

I started out trying to come up with my own full list, but found this pretty comprehensive list here on Holdem Secrets. I like it especially because it takes a stab at the etymology, which is what I find really interesting. Impressive in that it has at least one name for every hand.

So rather than reproduce the whole thing, without claiming any originality (other bloggers have done this) I'm just going to add the new ones from general poker bloggerdom and from my own little sewing circle:

AK: Kournikova (as in "looks good, never wins" see also KQ, also works because the initials, but may be losing nomenclature war with KQ, see below)

AQ: Mrs. Slick (obvious), Posh Spice (Garth, something about looking good at first but really being a pretty trashy hand)

AJ: The Devil's Hand (also Garth)

A7: The Tourist (As in, only a tourist would play this hand; dare I cite the Poker Champ? Durst I)

A2: The Cheney (Garth's clever topical twist on the Hunter's Hand (duck and a bullet))

KK: Brokeback (Murderer's Row Home Game at least, but it seems to have also been hit upon by others)

KQ: Kournikova (see AK above, this is FTrain's version, based on the fact that AK sometimes wins--with some irony, KQ seems to be winning the usage war; maybe we should call AK Sharapova?)

KJ offsuit: The Donkey (yours truly, just think how many times you've seen a donkey overplay this hand off a cliff?)

KJ suited: The Super Donkey (speaks for itself)

QQ: The Hilton Sisters (list mentions it, but a little digging found Dr. Pauly's attribution to Vince Van Patten); Hand of Death (yours truly, or at least I thought it was until I googled it and found others feel this way too)

97: Persian Carpet Ride (I'd heard this in a NY club, didn't know where it came from but it seems to be the Magician's coinage)

86: the Vortex (I really have no idea why this is called that, but in Kid Dynamite's game there is a guy named Vortex after whom the hand is named--he has been rumored to pown me so I thought I better include it to keep him happy)

83: Snowman-taterleg (not sure where this comes from except from the obvious snowman for the eight, but it's an awesome name); Canadian Hammer (one higher than the hammer, also heard 8-2 called this)

74: Cambodian Slick (this is on the list, but not the etymology--I don't know if this is right, but I've heard and seen it described as a reference to the AK-47 assault rifle--get it Big Slick 47--but I'm not sure this makes sense since that gun has been used in many places. I also looked at this history of Cambodia for clues--a lot was going on in 1974, but not just that year. Maybe it was just some Canadian player who won a big pot with it?)

72 offsuit: The Hammer (Grubby of course)

72 suited: The Swedish Hammer (because its soooooted)

Other hand names, etymologies welcome.
See the flop...

Sunday, March 19, 2006

When it's fun to be a moron

All in preflop:


Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us


Loved pushing with the hammer. Hated to be called prelop (AT is a monster!)

Justice served.
See the flop...

Monday, March 13, 2006

AC Recap

With Mrs. SoxLover out this week on a trip back home, it was the perfect opportunity to get down to the East Coast's pale imitation of Vegas. (It also a great chance to finally win our family last longer in the weekly WWdN.) I made plans to meet with Garthmeister, the remaining core of what initially would have been a trip with as many as five bloggers.

I was on the fence about coming down Friday or Saturday, with a friend from work having offered to let me crash in his room at the Borgata that he had gotten at a comped $8.90 rate (they love to see his face at the craps tables) so there was no reason to put it off.

But when I got home on Friday evening, I was running out of gas. The big presentation on Thursday I think had taken a lot out of me. The thought of driving 2 and half hours, waiting the obligatory 1 hour at the Borgata poker room and playing late into the night in that state seemed decidedly minus EV. So I bagged it, donked a little off online, read a book and drove down the next morning.

Good move as I arrived at about 2:30 and got to playing a little after 3, more or less rested and ready to play good poker. The list on 1-2 was eons long so I sat at the 2-5 with the intention of moving down when my seat opened up if I did not like my table.

I liked my table, or so I thought. I was only able to recognize one definitely solid player at the table and he was immediately on my right. The rest of the table was populated by calling stations except for one guy who was an aggressive any-twoer (he later proudly showed 6-3 off he had played UTG after limping and calling a substantial reraise, flopping bottom pair that grew into a full house by the river), and he was two to my right.

My strategy was to play tight, but be willing to join the pot with good upside hands if the price was right. It was working as just after Garth had gotten there, I had chipped up to about 1100 from my 500 buyin.

Then came the hand. UTG, I had slick, and I decided I'd like to play it with a small field. So I bet out UTG 25, which was the high end of the table standard 15-25 openers. No luck as I got 1, then 2 then 3 then 4 callers, including the solid guy in the big blind. OK, plan B, if I miss I'm gone, if I hit, I'm playing fast with a paranoia about draws.

Flop is AA9 with two diamonds. Bingo, but what to do about that draw? Solid guy checks to me.

New plan, bet a significant probe on the flop--50--if I get raised go all in, if I get called, drop the hand if the turn is a diamond, bet super large if it's not. 50 yields me two callers, the first of whom is an über calling station with about 450 behind after his call and the second of which is the solid player on my right with about 300 more. I've got one on the diamond draw and the other on a weaker ace or maybe, though I hope not, nines.

Turn is an offsuit 10.

Solid guy checks to me and here I go. I make it 300 to go. Calling station, well, calls and the solid guy lays down, later telling me he had the diamonds.

The river comes a deuce of diamonds. Crap, but do I really think the calling station was so bad as to call a pot sized bet with one card to a flush? We'll see. I check and he pushes. Double crap.

I have to call for 150 more, hoping he has a weak ace. He does. Ace nine.

Not sure I see a way out of that hand.

So I was back to square one with just about my buyin. I tried not to tilt and I think was partially successful. I avoided doing anything stupid but I do believe my hand selection loosened. I pretty much flew even except for one hand where I got AK UTG again. I figured I'd try it a different way. This time I limped and was raised by the next player to 25, who had been relatively tight. It folded around to me and I made it 100 to go. He went into the tank and pushed with 200 behind. Crap, not sure what to do here, AA and KK are unlikely because of what I have, but really I can't rule them out because my UTG limp reraise certainly implies a very strong hand (I was not playing that many pots and this guy was not terrible). So I folded, and he showed me his jacks. Okay, he made exactly the right move for what I had, and my fold was actually wrong with what he had, since his slight advantage was more balanced by the chips already in the pot, but I still think this is the right lay down. Can't help but wonder how many times with jacks you'll run into an overpair in that situation.

So session one I ended up stuck about 120, not too bad but it felt worse given how far up I had been.

But Garth was still smarting from his first live stacking so I had a lot less to complain about. We signed up for the dinner break and went for noodles.

Session 2 was very different. First, the table was short handed as 3 stacks hadn't gotten the memo about the dinner break list and were simply posting time dead--the 10th seat was always struggling to be filled as well. It was very tight for the first push, as blinds were chopped at least half a dozen times. When action picked up, it was my kind of table, a good mix of tight-solid and tight-weaks where I was able to become effectively aggressive, stealing some pots and protecting others, as well as getting in the action with good speculative cards. Lots of opportunity for post flop play.

Garth described the characters already, but I'll just say that session went well for me as I avoided ever putting more than 200 in the pot on any bet and chipped up steadily till we got up at 3 with just under 1100.

Most fun hand for me I will relate however was with "Milk and cookies" table captain with about 800. Seven handed, it folded around to him in the cuttoff and he made it 25 to go. I had about 900 at this point and put him on a blind steal and made a loose call in the small blind with QT off. The big blind, who had a pretty short stack of chips) folded.

The flop came ten high two diamonds. I figured myself for the best hand and bet out 60 to claim my pot. He then came back over the top with a min raise to 120.

Hmmm. Mininum raises make baby Jesus weep? But do they mean an overpair? I figured he might have put me on a late resteal and decided to test my theory. I raised him another 100 on top, figuring to be done with the hand if any more chips entered the pot.

He went into the tank for about two minutes and finally folded. I showed him my ten, and he claimed to have had one too, but to have been worried about his kicker. What was it I asked? A queen.

Sweet. A good illustration of how big stack warfare magnifies the value of aggression as his only next step would have been to push. I think this is an example of one of DoubleA's pressure points. And an example of where a minimum raise cost the pot (he goes to 180 or 240 and I think I'm gone).

Anyway, good to have met another blogger face to face and always nice to book a decent win.
See the flop...

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Nut not about poker

I am pretty much always posting only poker related stuff but I just wanted to express my relief. I've had a public speaking engagement on the calendar for over six weeks--it involved speaking to over 500 industry professionals in a venue where they were paying significant funds for the privilege of hearing yours truly on something I have been working on for more than a year.

Believe it or not, I hate public speaking. Really.

I'd been dreading this date.

Today it went off. I didn't faint. I didn't suck. It actually went really well.

I am stoked and psyched and this means more to me than the biggest up day I ever had in poker.

That is all.
See the flop...

Sunday, March 05, 2006

SoxWife


Came in second (though there was a deal) in the SirOldMan classic. She even got all her money in with best of it heads up but it was not to be. I'll settle for being the second best player in the family for tonight.

Nice job beautiful!
See the flop...

Bit of Light

At the risk of jinxing myself, since my gloom and doom post awhile back I've been running decently online.

After casting some suckout magic on BadBlood to salvage a bad weekend I booked several small but steady wins this week, with only one losing day and that only 10 cents if you can believe it. Not a huge rush as I haven't had a huge day but it sure beats losing.

Last night we had a blogger IM shot fest.

First, after getting sucked out on by Veneno in a quick $5 heads up, I got into an epic four round heads up session with Jordan. He sucked out on me brutally in match 1, crippling me and setting me up for a loss. In match 2, we played and he beat me. In match 3, he two outed me to avoid death on one hand, on the next flopped a straight with A5 versus my AA but lost when I resucked on him for a boat. I took him out on the next hand.

Jordan all the while was chatting a mile a minute, smack talking trying to tilt me. Weird thing is, heads-up I think I play better when I get angry. I'm not necessarily stupid angry--I really don't want to give the other guy the satisfaction of winning--so I bear down and focus. That's what happened as for our final match, we doubled the stakes. It was the longest match we had and it went back and forth several times till I felted the punk.

Then we all got really wasted. It was a blast, feauturing, among many other things, Veneno's mango-Tequila (I kid you not) induced technicolor yawn--boot and rally!

We ended up in a long session playing 0.10-0.25 donk NL with $25 buyins. I got smacked with the deck and at one point had over $125 on that table. I gave some of it back when Waffles, who loves to call my all-in raises no matter what, called my all-in raise which I for some reason made for once against him without a hand (rum may have been involved in the calculation). Then I went all in on an uncoordinated flop with aces (a wee overbet) and TraumaPoker was happy enough to have hit his set. So I was down to 75 and called it a night.

This morning started out awfully as in a UB tourney, I flopped the nut straight and busted out when the river boated my opponents ducks. Then I played a 50 NL cash game on Full Tilt and had my bullets cracked by Q8 a turned two pair who called from the small blind a pot sized bet and a pot sized bet on the flop. Lost that buyin and another and was plenty annoyed. Decided for some stupid reason to join Drizz and Weak Player at a $200 Omaha H/L Pot Limit game. This is not a game I play a lot. It worked out as I got my money in with the worst of it against a maniac and nearly doubled up. He rebought and kept on talking small pots to Weak and handing them to me. Then, while playing, the UB tourney I was playing before that Weak was still in froze up and we all had our money refunded. Sweet!

Took off the rest of the day for errands, came back and score 4th out of 45th in a blogger flooded S&G (busting out Trauma with king eight--he was steaming) but avoiding winning when my hand of death Hilton Sisters got cracked by QT played by a total tool.

Veneno just busted me out of the last minute moved SirOldMan's TiltFest from Tilt to Stars following Tilt's crashola. I made a jackass call in the big blind when she limped on the small blind with A8 and the flop was AT6 with me holding a crappy ten. It was a bad call since even if I can't put her on an ace with the insane overbet she made, I certainly could have put her on a better ten. Oh well, once again, I'll have to watch my wife play on without me.
See the flop...