Limit Homegame?

Thats right. A limit homegame is going off tomorrow night at Brian's place. I asked for a game and I am getting one, however it is going to be a limit cash game. $0.25/$0.50 to be exact.

I requested a $20-$25 max/min buy NL game. I get a $20 max/min .25/.50 limit game. I only have myself to blame.

TooloftheMan said (loosely quoting) :

"No-limit gives you (Chilly) too much of an advantage."

BD was quoted (loosely) as saying:

"I'd prefer to find a format that keeps me from giving my money to Chilly. If that format is flushing my buy-in down the toilet, then so be it."

I am both flattered and disappointed at the same time. I prefer NL. I expect that the suckouts will be many. So thats how it is in St. Louis. Yes I regularly crush this game. By regularly I mean I can remember not cashing once in the last 8 or 9 NL freeze outs. Of those I took first in at least 6. If I could get this to be a daily $200 buyin SNG I could quit my job.

I see their point. The majority of the group feels that they have a better chance in a limit game. The bets are smaller and one stupid play doesn't cost them the whole enchilada. I, however see the upside. Inexperienced limit players with $20 each on the table. Thats $200 up for grabs versus the usual 50% of a $50-$100 prize pool. Usually we play $5 or $10 buyin freeze outs.

My parents will be in town and my dad might play too. Sorry Dad, I am going to take all your money.

I'll post on my strategy after the game. Lets just say that I have been putting a lot of thought into this one. Too many of the players will be checking this out before tomorrow night so I can't give anything away.

Here is the line up
1. Chilly
2. TooloftheMan
3. Brian
4. Uncle B (not known to have played limit)
5. RTT (A ROCK)
6. BD (Not known to have played limit)
7. DMcC, brother of Brian (Watch out)
8. MMcB (No skills, no experience sure to be suckout king)
9. Kevin (No experience, math wiz)
10. Chilly's Dad (maybe) (no experience)

I see $120 in dead money walking in. Sadly no Rebuy. Rebuy is a player so bad we nicknamed him rebuy.

ToolMan hinted at a late night freeze out. But if thi happens I would expect it would be 6 handed at most.

I am either going to clean up or lose my ass.

__________________________________________________
In other news. I have been listening to the Pixies all day. (new 30 gb i-pod with 26 gigs in use, btw) I came into these 75 songs wanting to come out the otherside as a fan. I am not convinced. So far my opinion is that their music is very together and well constructed but just uncatchy and grating enough to have reached that "Really Cool" status for"altrock-philes". You know:

"You don't like The Pixies? Well then you're a tasteless shit!"

Some really good songs and some that really suck. I was expecting a little more Weezer and a little less Ramones. Thats kinda of what they are, a tight band like Weezer with a lot of energy like the Ramones and that White Stripes noise rounding it all out. Sounds like it should work, but it does only sometimes.

These are for Iggy!

Cheer up man.

In the mean time here are some products that will drive your cellmate crazy(er).

MMMM!
GOOOD!
Yuuummmmy!
Fun for the meaty family!
Smells great mom!
Meat for America.
Clean Meat.
Sticky Meat
Tile Steak.
Meat for under meat.
Meat for your feet
Meathead.
Keep your meat clean.
Meat meets Poker.

An update to "Hi my name is Chilly....

So I posted on Friday that my wife doesn't know about the blog. I posted and then sent an email to her that said "Go look at this website and tell me what you think. I guess she doesn't think much of it because she hasn't said anything. :(

Oh well. She went to dinner tonight and I played to SNG's on Pstars. I placed 5th and 2nd for a little better than break even. I was cold decked in the first one and a little bored I missed two OESD that I had good odds to chase. Both times it was min-bet x4 all the way. The second one I played heads up against a guy AJ Holdem from near my hometown in Iowa. True to Iowa form this guy was a solid player with a little suck-out luck on his side.

I submitted my graphic to Pstars a while back. Of course it was of the hammer. They rejected it saying it was confusing to other players. Since then I have seen at least 5 other players with cards in the photo cirle. I saw AA, AK, 55 and JJ on a guy with fish in his name. One guy had a suited hammer. Loser. Everyone knows the 7-2 off is a superior hand. PokerStars can suck it. I'll keep my damn yellow circle forever.

BTW the Poker Blogger's Dictionary is up to 36 entries. Thanks to all of you that unknowingly contributed. Special thanks to Pauly, many of the linked photos are from taopoker.blogspot.com.

Johnny F. Chan has always been a favorite of mine. He and Phil Gordon. Here's hoping that PG gets one to Johhny's 10.

Any of you STL yahoo's reading this, get your ass in gear and plan a home game so I can get out of the house one night soon. My bankroll is in need of a boost. Here's a deal. We'll play a freeze out with a structure I approve of. I'll give a 100% overlay to buy in. In other words I'll buy in for double what you buy in for individually, you pay $10 I pay $20. If I make the top 50% I get my overlay back. If I win I get paid all of first and half of second.

Or.

If I win the first freeze out we have to all buy in for double on the second. Or something to make it interesting. Just plan a game damnit.

Hi, my name is Chilly.........

I am a very amateur poker player. An unwitting friend of mine, BBK, sent out an email in hopes to set up a WEEKLY "friendly" home game. I hit the "reply all" with nothing less than Über-enthusiasm. As a ploy of shock and awe I included a link to this blog. I figure if I am going to war, well, the enemy should know that I am willing to detonate large nuclear weapons on my own soil. You know, scorched earth, the whole annilhation deal.

My friend T just responded back with the following.

"Just checked out your website. Dude you're obsessed. And incapable of playing a friendly game of poker with the guys. Where do you find the time to analyze and write about it so much?"

Hmmm. Do I have a problem? I think I do. I easily blog 3x as much as I play. By my standards, that is the definition of problem. To much analysis and not enough playing. I spent at least four hours this week combing the poker blogger archives for links into my "Poker Blogger Dictionary™". I also realized that enough "real" people know about this thing that I have to do something.

So where do I turn when I have problems? I turn to my lovely wife. The wife is the one who shall return balance to my life. She is the chosen one.

There is a problem however. You see she has no idea about this blog. She doesn't really understand what happened in Vegas. I think she just thinks that TooloftheMan has 69 friends that joined us for a tournament in Vegas. Well, we all know that ToolBoy doesn't have that many friends. I got started in this because ToolPerson said something to the effect of "Hey I'm going to Vegas and playing in a tournament. If you go to this web site and start a blog you can play too." Yes I am a poser, and I am sorry to all of you in the pokerblogosphere. So it is time to come of the (virtual) closet, so to speak.

Hi, my name is Chilly and I am a poker blogger.

Honey, when we are sitting on the couch watching tv and I have the laptop typing furiously, this is what I am doing. When I am in the office ripping CD's on to i-Tunes, I am also doing this. If it makes you feel any better, I started this with the best intentions of keeping track of the 6 weeks that I spent at home with Lil' Chilly. See the beginning here, here, here, here, here and here. Sweety, you want to know what happened in Vegas? Read this, this, this, this and this.

The rest of you out there might be wondering why and how I have gone on with this since February and not told the wife. Well I am not 100% sure that she doesn’t know. I am 100% sure that I never told her about it. At the start it seemed kind of convoluted and forced, and a little strange. I was a little embarrassed. I mean the keeping of a journal documenting my 6 weeks at home with the boy was fine, but this poker journal thing, thats just a little weird.

Now it seems like I have been living/telling some sort of lie, making it even harder to finally ‘fess up. Is it really a big deal? No. Do I feel seven kinds of stupid, yes. Is this normal for me? Of course. I don’t really care what you bloggers think of me, but the wifey might just think I’m a completely different kind of idiot than she already thinks I am. This is a pattern in my life. I can act like a complete idiot and make a total ass of myself in front of/too people whom I don’t care if they ever talk to me again. But the wife? I really care what she thinks about me.

So here it is. My blogger soul laid out for all to see.

Whatever you do, don’t tell my parents.

Twins?

I was browsing the blogroll and came upon this.

Do these answer the question?



Dr. Pauly and TJC (could we get a little zoom action over to the right?????)


.
Gilbert Gottfried

Ed. Note:
I am in no way passing judgement on either Dr. Pauly, Gilbert Gottfried or the potential genetic links between the two. I am simply providing a service to a fellow blogger who asked a question. By the way go and check out Dr. Pauly's WSOP coverage if you are into that sort of thing, you know, poker and such.

Father's Day Weekend

We spent Saturday doing a tour of central Illinois to both say happy father's day and to meet some of the wife's relatives from Oklahoma. Pretty uneventful other than the 12 hour day, 4.5 of which were in the car. The boy held up better than expected. He was in a better mood than I was at 9:00 saturday night. Of course he was looking at 2 hours of unintterrupted slumber and I was about to do battle down I-55 with scores of coked up cattle pushers and assorted others who can't drive.

I know some comedian said this and I wish I knew who it was to give proper credit, but I don't.

Ever notice how all the people driving slower than you are idiots and all the ones driving faster are maniacs?

Father's Day started with a happy boy that gladly slept in until 9:15. I promptly put a call in to my Dad and talked for a while. The boy put in his $0.02 worth, making Grandpa's day. We played for a while and then the wife let both of us take a nap while she ran "errands". Well 120 minutes later I was up feeding the boy and in walks the wife with cards and Father's Day presents. Yeah me.

We then went swimming. Fun.

All and all a happy Father's Day.

"P'Stars owed me that"

So the wife is out with friends and I am home watching the boy. He finally gave it up and went to sleep. Time for a little SNG action. The maniac at my table is playing any two and is also catching. He proceeds to knock out 2-3 players and run his stack up to T8,000. I see how he is playing and lay in wait.

Finally we cut it down to the final three. Me, the maniac and an okay #3. I proceed to double twice and and take the chip lead. This is after watching the maniac double up #3, twice. Two hands after taking the chip lead (by about T1000), I catch AA in the big blind. I get into a raise war pre-flop with the bozo and get him all-in. He has K7s.

Flop comes out K7x. Bang Bang I'm #3. I bust out a few hands later.

I don't care about the bad beat. I mean come on AA gets cracked all the time. But this is what he said as the flop hit the board:

"PokerStars owed me that"

Why? Because your top pair keeps getting beat by TPTK? I don't know why but this just rubbed me the wrong way. Usually I am entertained by the chat, especially the stupid chat.

Not too bad for my first online poker since being in San Fran back in May, about 1 month ago. Except that I am down 1/2 a buy in in my online ring game.

Oh well.

"I came here to gamble."

The Pauly Crime Blotter

Tao of Poker: A Poker Blog

It really is sad. The woman made her own choice, but that poor kid.... I hope he "resists arrest" when they track him down. Or the cop that finds him is the same one that escorted that kid to the hospital.

On a lighter note...

I can hear the "bad boys bad boys..." from here. Dr. Pauly is coming soon to Fox and ESPN. Two channels of Pauly.

Pauly - Were you issued a catsup stained white tank top (based on the story above I can't bring myself to call it by name) and a warm 6 pack when you moved in?

Something profound about Poker

I see that I am getting a lot of traffic thanks to Iggy.

So I thought I'd come up with something profound to say about poker or something. Well I am not a profound guy. (I am sometimes profane, however) I am not a professional writer, nor do I tell a great story. What you'll find over on the right in the archives are a bunch of stories and hand histories about my bad beats, some wins some lucky play and some really bad play.

I play poker online, but only for practice. I much prefer it in the casino or in a good home game with friends. I am not a pro but I am better than average. I will never retire and play on the Senior PGA, but I might someday retire and play a lot of poker.

I have only been playing hold'em for about 20 months. During my life (32 years) I have play a lot of poker. Read this post for a review of what I used to play.

Thanks to a good influence I am branching away from Hold'em. I still have a bunch to learn about Hold'em but I think if the current pace keeps up I'll burn out. I am dabbling with 7stud and Razz. Not for money, just free games so I can get used to reading the boards, etc. Then look out because I am coming for you.

Here is the best hand I ever played (lucked into) in hold'em (the ultimate BB special).

Here is the worst laydown I ever made.

So I have nothing profound. I just am logging my play as an exercise in ego and so I have an easy medium to break some balls.

Thanks,

Chilly

What's going on with the boy????

The boy is growing up that's what's going on with him. He now has 2 teeth and his hair is starting to "fly" (Imagine G-Rob in a hurricane sans hairspray). He is a redhead, like his mom. He loves to be stand on your lap and bounce.

His mom introduced the "Tigger rattle and bounce" toy last night. Basically a remote control toy for babies. He holds and shakes the rattle and the Tigger jumps and makes noise with each shake. I can honestly say I have never seen him more scared.

He is up on all fours thoroughly frustrated as he watches others crawl. Any day I expect that he'll be crawling. He rocks back and fourth and has good motion with his legs, he just hasn't figured out the arms. I don't think he is quite strong enough to hold himself in a three-point stance necessary to crawl at this point. He has refused to adopt rolling as a means of motation. Instead he has figured out how to push up and fall forward. In addition he can scoot backwards.

He turns 6 months old in 11 days. 20.5 years and Vegas here we come. I am hopeful that his first word will be "Daddy" and his second will be "Hammer."

In case you haven't noticed....

I reorg'd the roll over on the right. I segregated based on who is in St. Louis, who I usually read, who I know that I met and those that I might have met.

The newest member is Paul Harris. He's the afternoon drive time personality on KMOX here in St. Louis, a blogger and a poker player (and unwitting poker blogger). Go read this poker post from him about VVP.

You'll also notice that I have shown proper respect. Felicia is listed as the #1 Name in St. Louis Poker. You can take the girl out of the 'Lou, but you can't take the 'Lou out of the girl.

Words to Play (Live) By....

"They lost a buy-in because they couldn’t fold one pair in an unraised pot."

Thanks to Iggy for the push to Double A's.

I want to go back....

to college. After reading this I think you might as well.

Return of the Boat People

TooloftheMan and I went and played a little 3-6 LHE at the Harrahs here on Saturday night. We were both wanting to try out this game after our intense bootcamp the previous weekend. I think we both had withdrawl symptoms. Yes, my wife had a friend over to watch movies (and the boy) so I was off for guilt free poker.

We arrived around 9:45 and didn't get seated until about 11. I think Harrahs has 12 tables. 3 were running 2-5 NL, 1 was 6-12 limit and the rest were 3-6 limit. When I spoke about this game to Felicia I told her I thought it was unbeatable. That is not true, I now realize. You need to play tight, lay down when you're beat and raise your good hands as much as possible.

The suckouts were many, the damage minimal.

Marty was in a blind with K9s. He made top pair and bet out. That innocuous 5 on the river, yep gave two pair to the chick playing K5o. I got AA cracked by the old man playing 9To. The flop came down TTX. Of course i paid him of. The whole time screaming in my head "He's got a 10, He's got a 10!!!!" He made it sooooo much better when he started telling the table how 9To is the most powerful hand in poker.

My KK held up. I was worried when the flop came out QQx. I thought "Here we go again.". I bet out and even called a raise. The turn was a diamond, and I made the K high flush on the river. The two pair would have held.

We saw a pot get capped pre-flop. What was it? AAvsKK? No, K9s vs Q10. Plus 2 others that called the whole way.

I played QJo in late position. The flop comes down Q-8-5. I get caught in a raise war (capped) I lay it down figuring one of them for a set and the other for Q-8. After the the turn they both check, after the river....check. Q2 vs Q3. They end up chopping.

So I got down to $20 from my original $100. I figure things are sure to come back to me so I go and buy another $40. Sure enough with in 45 minutes I am back to even, $140. I played 56s and caught a straight, Ace high led out betting the whole way. I gave back a little and finished down around $40-$50. I caught about 5 small pocket pairs and very good starting hands that never improved. That saw me seeing a lot of flops and not getting anywhere.

The guy to my left called every pot all the way down with second pair or better. A few times he raised all the way with nothing.

Fish. We left around 2. A 3 hour session. With more time this game can easily be beaten. A three hour session has too much variance. A good 10 hour session a few days a week and bingo! Just gotta find the time. I now realize the when I have been taken by this game before I was playing like a donkey. I fell into the habit of "Any Two". Playing the way I did on Saturday I found myself making a good analysis of hands. And realizing (for the most part) when I was beat. Now if I can just lay it down.

Vegas Monday: The End

Monday started about 2.5 hours after Sunday ended. Woke up, showered, packed and checked the bags. By 11 am we were headed over to the MGM to partake in the Grand Buffet. Lets just say for a $20 buy-in I was able to win back most of my money.

On the way out I had to make a stop and buy souvenirs for the wife and child. I had be looking all week but never really found anything. The pressure was on. We had to leave for the airport. I think I did okay. Although a couple of big wins and I could have truly paid the wife back in style.

RTR spilled au jus on his last clean? t-shirt. A quick stop at NYNY and he was back in business with a $9 Corona Redneck Special, with a busty lady on the back and everything.

The trip to the airport is uneventful. Marty and I are in the same row. Me on the window, him on the aisle. RTR and Dave have the same setup right behind us. Then it happens. The family of three is squatting in the row ahead of us. The real owners come home and kick them out. The male child of the bunch volunteers to sit between Marty and me.

We are still sitting on the tarmac. The kid (about 14) has been next to me for about 10 minutes now. He is looking and acting agitated. Finally he blurts out "Are you gonna lift your thing up or what?" motioning to the window screen that I have pulled down to reduce both the glare and the heat infiltrating my little slice o' heaven.

"Sure." I say and lift it up.

"That sucks!" he exclaims as the beautiful full view of the wing is displayed. You see our row, #21 is smack dab in the middle of the wing.

Once we take off, ADD boy, as Marty has now christened him, is not defeated by the lack of a view. He proceeds to spend the entire flight bouncing forward and back, side to side looking for any glimpse out the window. When the captain announced the beautiful vistas of the Grand Canyon out our side of the plane I thought the kid's head was going to shake off as he violently moved trying to catch the slightest view. Just what I needed a 14 year old tweeker to keep me awake the entire way home.

We arrive at the airport and make way to the shuttle. Marty and I part ways with Dave and RTR. We hop on the shuttle and head home. The car is almost where I think it is and soon we're on the highway. Dodge Ram pulling beater car with a chain makes the trip a little exciting. Damn St. Charles rednecks.

I drop Marty off and bolt for home. I am there by 9:30. The wife is rocking the little boy when I arrive. She gladly lets me take over, and there it is, the best part of going to Vegas.

Of course I missed Mrs. Chilly. But we lived apart while in school and I used to travel for work, so 4 nights is nothing. I knew I missed Little Chilly. You might have caught on. The constant checking of the cell phone was to see his photo, not to check the time or look for missed calls.

I thought he'd be the same. Nope. He grew another tooth and can now sit up without a pillow for support. I swear he gained five pounds. His hair is longer.

He was tired. When he was handed over he threw his arms around my neck and held on, burying his face into my shoulder.

Best. Welcome. Home. Hug. Ever.

Vegas Sunday: I roll another 2-4 table, but not before blowing $400 in buyins.

Sunday in Vegas. I wake up and Marty is gone. I see the remaining Krispy Kremes sitting on the TV. I have been asleep for about 4 hours. I get up and pull myself together and wander to the Excal poker room. I expect to find Marty there playing 2-6.

The room is void of all those known to me. I run into RTT and he tells me about the Luxor $50 buyin NL. That's where Marty and Jeff are. I don't know who else was there.

So I take my new found poker confidence and knowledge over to the 1-2 NL table. The first pot I played I have AKo out of position. Player to my right is in the pot too. Flop comes down 4A4. I bet he raises and I move in. He calls. AK vs AK. We split.

Why I hate pocket 4's

I will refer you once again to this post as a precursor to this next story. Go read it if you're unfamiliar with my history with sailboats.

The history:
So I am dealt 44 in early/middle position. I get to see the flop for cheap. Flop comes down xx4 with 2 spades, including the 4 spades. I bet $15, size of the pot. Next guy makes it $50 and third guy calls. I call. Yes I overcall.

Turn is a red blank. I bet $100. Now there is $165 in the pot. 1 caller and a raise. I move in. River is the Kspades. I am dead. Player 1 turns over 10-7 spades??? WTF? Player 2 flips A9 spades.

The Analysis:
First I was getting greedy. I slow played a little to get the pot built. I saw the flush and was worried about it. I should have put it all in after the flop and the $50 raise. But I wanted to get even on this hand. I for sure should have moved in after the turn, instead of $100. This bet showed weakness. I only had $30 left. Should have bet it all.

As it turns out the Kspades making the flush was a 5 outer. There were 4 pocket spades, 2 on board and 2 that would have matched the other board cards. I have replayed this hand over and over. I don't know if making a move earlier would have worked, but it couldn't have hurt. I live by winning small pots and not losing large ones. My bad run and my confidence convinced me that this was the hand. As if the cards have some memory and sympathy for me.

I get up and walk it off. I buy into the 2-6 game. I immediately start to steam off over $100. buyin. At my table are Jeff, RTR and eventually Marty, after he hit quads twice at his other table. The two guys to my left are fresh of a plane from Manchester England. Various people come and go including G-Rob in the 10 seat.

Stories from the 2-6.

1. Dave comes over and comments about the new guy in the one seat. Says that the guy just left his table steaming and tried to get another player to go outside to settle the hash. Dave tells me that if I drop the hammer on this guy he might just explode. We play for a while, no hammer. Instead I wake up on the button with A10 clubs. It goes H2H with the hothead in #1. Flop comes out A x x. I make a crying call on this $6 bet. I end up cry calling all the way down. I think he might have me out kicked or 2 pair. After the river he bets 6, I call and he mucks. He was trying to move me off a pair of A's in a 2-6 game. Wow, he was actually giving me some credit fr being a poker player. Too bad he ran into me just when I was willing to call down a raggedy board with 3 high. The guy gets up, grabs his chips and proceeds to go rip the manager a new one for about 5 minutes. I see him leave and come back to rip some more. I don't know what was said. If I were the manager that guy would have been bounced. hard.

2. G-Rob sits. Hits a hand and bleeds me on my flush draw. He tells me he bleeding me as he does it. Thanks. I knew I was steaming and playing poorly. This is what I have to say for the next time we meet. If you strike me down I shall become even more powerful. Thanks for the lesson.

3. My buy in is almost gone. I have around $20 left. I am UTG and decide to straddle. "Live 4 on the table." I meekly yell. Jeff "Little Willie" is in the BB. He goes in blind. We cap it pre flop and I get all my money in. I have JJ and he has 9-2 o. He makes trip 9's and wipes me out. Dr. Jeff Willis is the worst poker player in the world. "Little Willie" doesn't begin to describe the magnitude of his play. To say that he sucked out is an under statement. This guy plays trash. I have a $10 bounty on his head. You bust him out you get $10. I hope you move to St. Louis. I can exact my own personal revenge upon you at every home game.

4. I have pocket Q's in late position. The flop comes out Qxx. But wait. I raised and the other players haven't acted yet. The dealer f%cked up the flop. It hit me funny. I take the $10 pot down and laugh. That's how my day went.

We take a break, go get some grub and head over to the MGM. Its me, Marty, RTR and Dave.

We sit a the sportsbook for a good 90 minutes. We watch soccer, motorcycle racing and NCAA women's Softball. Tennessee and Michigan go deep into extra innings. We finally go an put our names on the list.

Marty and RTR are first. Dave and I are still in the Sportsbook when a guy calling himself Jason Kids brother comes up and starts talking to and trying to fondle Dave. Dave bolts like he's got a plane to catch leaving me there one v. one with Mr. Kid. I figure out what just happend and get out of there as Mr. Kid starts bothering the lady at the deli.

The juicy 2-4 table. Calling this table juicy is an understament.

The line up.

Seat 1: Don't remember. Started out as #4's friend
Seat 2: Old guy who didn't know game only to be replaced by brownshirts dad.
Seat 3: Old Lady who played any paint
Seat 4: Drunk Birthday girl
Seat 5: Reader Jim
Seat 6: Blogger Shelly
Seat 7: Various fodder
Seat 8: Me
Seat 9: Dave
Seat 10: A bunch of random losers

I sit down and am not feeling it. I look at this tabe and see hands they are showing down. Its pathetic. When Dave gets seated I tell him he's got to get something going so I can get my head in the game. I know aggession will get paid here, but I'm not in the mood. I start a little banter with Shelly and Jim. I order a SF RedBull and then another. I start to feel it.

Then the moment when it all came together.

I get heads up with birthday girl on a board with 3 flush cards. I have already made 2 pair and have none of the flush. I check raise her on the river when the 4th flush card shows. She lays it down telling me all about how I have the flush. She folded a low flush. I flip over and tell her 2 pair no flush. She tilts.

I proceed to catch cards for the next 4 hours. I see it all. AA, KK, QQ, AK, TT and improve everywhere. I see all of these hands multiple times. RUSH.

I am on such a role I play a K5 diamonds. I never play this hand, but wtf? The flop comes out all diamonds. Thats the flop I was looking for. That was the only reason I played this hand. I am one off the nut flush. The turn is a blank and the river pairs the board. I am betting, raising etc. On the river the guy who took over for birthday girl raises my bet. I re-raise. Thats right. I KNEW he was making a move. I KNEW he didn't have me beat. I was right. I got an extra bet out of him on the end and scoop a huge pot. This may have been my best read/play ever in a single hand.

I totally crush this table. Up $200.

Over next to us is a table with Marty, Poker Geek, April (Tejas) RTR and maybe others. They seem to be having a good time.

Dave moves over there for a while. He comes back over to find me on the tail end of having Dad of Brownshirt river his second junk full house on me. I tell him how good this table is and that I am not leaving until DoBS is busted or leaves. I make him leave, with next to nothing.

DoBS had one really good move. 3 times when he was first to act after the turn he tried to bet $2. When informed the bet was $4, he pulled back and mucked. Yes. He was willing to bet $2 but since the bet was $4 he mucked instead. HE WAS FIRST TO ACT!

I get on it so hard I tell the table that if I'm in a hand I am either holding or drawing to the nuts.

Dealer of the day is Adam at the MGM. My 2-4 table eventually turned into the United Nations. We had two mexican guys, 2 Isrealis, 3 indians and a bunch of non-english. Adam took over and brought everyone into line. Thanks!!!!

Results. I am down $215 to start the day. I blow $200 at the 1-2 NL, $200 at the 2-6 spread and make it back to just better than an -$500 for the trip.

Growing My Game

I still have to write up Vegas Sunday and Vegas Monday. Those are the last two of my trip reports. Strange how Marty leaves me out of the brownshirt memories. Considering I took most of his money. Lay off the booze man, its rotting your brain.

Marty is getting married. Who's up for a BP in LV? Thats my next trip to Vegas. Please Marty, don't screw this one up.

So I am itching to write this before I can finish the trip reports.

I am a much better poker player now than I was last week. I just wish I had the time to continue to build. I regularly beat out home game. When I say regularly I mean if there are 8 of us playing I am at least a 2-1 favorite to cash. I know what moves work against which guys, I know which guys are rocks (RTT). I know which are passive-weak and I know who to go to war with only the best of hands.

When I play the NL game a Harrah's I am usually a tight-somewhat aggressive player. I am cautious as this post will show you. But when I know I am in the lead I make move after move to get all my money in. For instance: I am in the 3 seat and guy in the 4 seat I notice is playing every A. I get into a 3 way flop with him and the BB. I hold pocket 3's. Flop comes down A X 3. I know, KNOW, that he hit 2 pair with his A junk. This hand is all but over. He has to pair the board. I check-call his flop bet. I bet out the turn and call his 2x pot raise. I move in on the river. He was playing Ax off.

Playing on Thursday and Friday of last week I was sure that every raise had AA or KK behind it. I thought that my TPTK was beat by 2 pair, you get the idea. I had no confidence. Here I was playing NL in Las Vegas. WTF did I know? I was the fish, right. I had to be. Well my nervousness and weak play made me a fish. A self fullfilling prophesy. Felicia explained this to me in about 10 minutes on Saturday.

I, basically, know how to make a laydown and made that my best move at all the wrong times. I was overvaluing big hands AA, AK and undervaluing modest ones, AQ, AJ adown to KJ and J10. EP could only be raising with AA, right? This was compounded by the fact that none of my small pairs turned sets and all of my big hands ran into monsters.

A hand that illustrates this point. I am SB with TT. BB is Pretty Boy Eric from LA. he raises my call. I call. Flop is 75A. It ends up that we check it down. I don't check down. I bet to see where I am. He shows KK. I easily could have got him off this hand but I was being a big p#ssy.

What was going on?

1.) I was scared of not winning. I usually pull out of Harrahs as a winner. But I usually play a good session and hit a monster. I put big expectations on myself (and bankroll) entering this trip.
2.) I have been playing online in preparation for Vegas. No time to get to the casino. My cold deck was about 2 hours long. This is about the same number of hands as in a 45 minutes online session. I was impatient. I wanted the nuts and I wanted them NOW.
3.) I was willing to gambooooooollllll! In a cash game I accepted a 50-50 preflop odds? Come on. I don't call/move in preflop with AK in a cash game. Thats a tourney move. I need to be the aggressor preflop with AK. I don't call off my stack, ever. (unless I'm trapping of course)
4.) I was unwilling to make a bad move. The 10-10 story above illustrates. I didn't want to make a bad move and look like an idiot. Of course this guy has an A. How else could he have raised preflop?
5.) I had too much money in my pocket and not enough in play. The thought of a rebuy made me sick and secure at the same time.

What have I learned?
1.) I am not nearly as good as I thought I was last Wednesday.
2.) I am not nearly as bad as I thought I was last Friday.
3.) The majority of the players at the 1-2 NL table at the MGM suck.
4.) I need to play my game no matter what.
5.) I need to prep for vegas in the casino, not online.
6.) I need to think about the cards in my hand and the current situation, not about how 20 minutes from now I'll be rollin' in it.
7.) I am no longer afraid. Hear that? I have gone to vegas and dropped half my bankroll. It hurt, but I lived.
8.) I could be a good limit player. I really hit those limit tables for a bunch of money. It really is a different animal. As soon as I learned how and when to draw, I started cleaning up hitting st8s and flushes. The low limit limit fish table is way beatable. Super aggressive play with monsters is one key. They will call you all the way down, with 8 high.

Vegas Saturday: WPBT, an epiphany, PFChangs, a missed party and 2-6, 2-4 Saturday night

Editors note: I don't proofread. I only occasionally hit the speelcheeck. I write in a stream of concious style that requires the less amunt of wirk possible. If you can't handle that go read something over here.

Saturday started with about 5 hours laying awake in the hotel room behind me. What is it they pump into the the hotel room that makes insomina so common? I think it was the screams in my head about lost buy-ins and keeping one-eye open looking for the son of Fett that Poker Geek has tracking me.

I kick Marty in the junk around 8:50 and tell him that we have to hit it. He's ready in about 4 grunts and 1 minute. We start to head out when his cell blows up with a call from the good doctor JW, brother of Otis. I have yet to really talk to Jeff as I gave him an obligatory head nod and whats up when were introduced on Friday. We get to the MGM and find Jeff. We stand around waiting for Otis for about five minutes. Apparently he grunted 6 times.

The fearsome foursome makes way to Mickey D's for breakfast. There is a 50-50 vote for FatBurger. McD's is the default, neutral decision. We stand around, shoot the shit and order. Marty excuses himself. Food arrives we eat, talk about solo female rages and the discovery of such just hours earlier. Marty returns and asks that Otis never use the words naked and wife together in a sentence ever again.

McDonalds janitorial staff quits.

We polish of the rest of our sammiches and head over to the Alladin. Drop my $65 and make my way to table 12 seat 1. Otis is in 10 and Hank is in 3. WTF? Why can't I sit at Marty's table, I know I can roll right over him. AlCANTHANG is in the 7 hole. Sorry to the rest of you table 12's, I don't know/rememeber your names. You have my card, drop me a line and get added to the line-up.

Hand of note. Folded to me on the button with KJs. I push to 3/4 xBB. SB folds and Hank moves all-in. I think and fold. Mistake. I should have made that my stand. The shootout style of the tourney called for sticking it out there. I still had a lot of chips and could have been a factor. Now I am short stacked, oh and whats that I hear "Dealers, next hand blinds will be...." You get the point. I have to push with the next hand I find. Suited A4. BuhBye.

About 2 orbits later Otis loses a pot. Next hand he is on the button. I tell him that G-Rob and Al just left to go drink. He looks at his cards and pushes in. He gets two callers. Triple up with the HAMMER. Nice. This was the best of the hammer drops.

I stick around watching the final tables and wandering over to the 1-2NL game where G-Rob bleeds BadBlood with pocket 2's. I just watch. I just can't bring myself to play.

The Epiphany

I walk over and introduce my self to Felicia. She has been giving me STL crap due to her ties to St. Chuck. With growing up in St. Chuck I am surprised she is able to read, much less blog :). We talk a little about St. Louis and why she left. I proceed to somehow turn the conversation to my bad play and bad cards. I explain to her that I am playing weak and that I have acted scared every pot I played this weekend. She goes into this story about the stages of poker player development and starts explaining where I am. I am in stage 2. I know enough to know that I can make a laydown. I fear that everyone has the nuts. She's right. She proceeds to describe exactly what my play has been like. Who wrote that Stages piece and where can I find it?

"Is she really that good?" you ask. Yep. She fixed my game in 10 minutes.

Anyway, I decide to stay away from the NL tables for 24 hours. I decide to go play my game at the 2-4 and 2-6.

The tourney ends. Go read the write ups from someone more familiar with the final table than me.

Marty, RTT, RTR, Dave, Marty, Jeff, Otis, Mrs. Otis head to PF Changs for some lunch. Wait about 20 minutes. Otis clears the room with the phrase "Hey, there's a monkey outside."

We eat and head back to the Exacl for a little pre-party R and R. Needless to say, I miss the party. I go down to the Poker room and double up on the 2-6 table. We have a good table with Jeff, RTT, RTR, Dave and a bunch of fish. Maybe this is when we go to the San Remo for Prime Rib, not Friday?? oh I don't remember.

We, Me, RTR and Dave head to the MGM for a little 2-4 action. Just in time for a new table. I sit in the 9 RTR in the 8. A cool guy is in the 10 and another cool guy, architecture student in california is in the 7. A blogger is in the 1 but I can't remember who. A chick with a rack and a stack is in the 2. She turns out to be a good player. The three is quite and the 4-5 are friends that take offence to what proceeds to happen over the next several hours. First me and the chick in the 2 seat take a lot of their money.

Second.

RTR and I drop the hammer like 4 times. I crack the 10 seats AA. Ryan bluffs with it an takes down a pot and shows. The very next hand he catches the hammer again. He makes two pair. I didn't suck out on the three seat once. I wasn't playing Ax. My aces were suited and my cards were solid, except the 7-2. We were there to drink and have fun and drop the hammer. We explained the hammer to the 7 and 10 seats. They caught on. I think the 7 dropped it once too.
The quite guy in the 3 seat rages. RTR hears him in the bathroom calling us the worst players ever. No we play the hammer and premium hands. We are taking your money. He moves to Martys table . RTR and I put a combined $35 bounty on him for Marty. A hammer drop and Marty gets $35. Thats right. We assigned a hammer drop bounty to this jackass. I went up $100. Just to be a complete ass I colored up to red. I had a big ol' stack of red and $100 in white (blue). Evertime I won a pot and reached over $100 in white I colored up to red. We played to the wee hours.

A crazy egyptian guy sat down and played any two. He kept playing and losing and finally asked for a new setup. Its 5 am and this guy wants a new setup at a 2-4 table. What a Jackass. I bled back a little but still walked out up $100.

Dealer of the night was the Asian Georgetown Law grad at the MGM. Sorry I didn't remember her name. She was funny and really slung the cards. She said she could deal 45 hands an hour. I believe it. She kept the game moving.

Overall, spent $65 on the tourney buyin. Won $200 at 2-6 and 2-4. Still down $215.

Coming up next: Vegas Sunday: I roll another 2-4 table, but not befor blowing $400 in buyins. Plus: why I hate pocket 4's.

Vegas Friday: The Alladin $100 Tourney and Storming the Castle.

So Friday in Vegas started a mere 3 hours after Thursday ended. We we last left off, Chilly and Marty had just finished breakfast at the Excal Mickey D's and were heading to bed. 3 hours later were we up and wandering down to the Alladin Poker Room.

We walked in at about 9:30. There were two tables running. A 4-8 limit and an eight handed 1-2 NL. The manager was eager to seat us and to get us to sign up for the noon tourney. Marty declined and we headed for the door. I stopped, turned around and said "WTF". I'm in Vegas baby.

I drop $100 for the tourney and $200 to buy into the 1-2 NL game. The tourney field was 81 people when I signed up, a $3000 payday to the winner. BTW, how soon until the casinos start putting overlays back into these things? Anyway I sat at the 1-2 table. The 1 seat was a pain in the ass. I made a little money off of him. Basically he bluffed with a pot sized bet into any pot less than $20 when he missed the flop. Wow, in Vegas 12 hours and I found a guy I can read like a book.

Who do you think joined the table next? Poker Geek. Did he put a tracking device on me? A little imperial tracking mechanism? Maybe he had one of the Fett boys tracking me so he could take the rest of my roll. Whatever the case the tourney started and I left up $50.

The tourney structure was the same CRAPshoot as the WPBT. Blinds too fast for my style of play. Hell, I folded AJo and KQo in the first orbit. I prefer a strategy of tight aggressive. Cautious for the first few levels. I get tangeled in few hands but am staying in there. Then the big jump. 100-200 to 200-400. WTF? (You'll notice that WTF is a running theme for my weekend). I went from 8 BB to 4BB. I catch my favorite hand 89 suited on the button. It has folded around to me so I make a move. The BB calls and we see the flop. Its 8 high with none of my suit. I move in. BB calls. WTF? He has A8 s. Blank Blank you're dead.

When people bust out of the Alladin Tourney the dealers yell "Player Down Table 10!" Which my table had been getting a big kick out of. Making the appropriate "We've got a player down" jokes in reference to SIMaAM. The dealer said he usually waits for the player to clear the room as to not to rub it in. I stand up an say "Go ahead and let yell it, I don't mind." He does, much to the delight of the table.

One other note about the tourney. One dealer was a complete ass. A player flipped up his cards and one land on its side and slowly fell face down. Not in the muck, not on the board, no where near anyone elses cards. The dealer mucks both cards and then goes on a 30 second rant about how all cards like that will be mucked, it happens to him all the time, etc, etc. Way to make me want to play in your room dude. Bitter much? I would have called the floor, if they had been my cards.

I walk out and give Marty a call. I expect him to say that he's at the WSOP on the rail, but he didn't go. I find him playing 2-6 at the Excal. I head up stairs he's says one more orbit then lunch. 90 minutes, a shower and a nap later I find him in the same place still saying one more orbit. We finally break out get some food and prepare to storm the castle. We go take a nap.

When I wake up I head with RTR and Dave over to San Remos for the $5.95 prime rib. RTR's coke was 50% the price of his Prime Rib. The service was slow but th food was okay. You get a salad, veggie, potato and prime rib for $5.95. Not bad. The Remo is a dump. The $3 blackjack was enticing, but I passed.

We storm the castle. I head back to the 1-2 NL nemisis. A series of interesting people come and go at my table. April, Otis and of course, Poker Geek. Now I know that he is tracking me. You lose one big pot to a guy and he's all over you like white on rice for the rest of the weekend. Mrs. Otis stops by and informs her hubby that she is going to go "Shake her ass". Otis informs her that he is going to play poker and drink until the WSOP pain fades.

The guy in the 6 seat has about $800 infront of him. He has been playing there all day. He is pretty good too, not just some lucky SOB. But his girlfriend/wife/lady friend is sitting in a chair behind him. She's been there all day too. What is that? Who wants to spend there time in vegas watching some guy play cards all day? The guy in the 4 seat is named Buzzy. What a mouth. I win all my money from him. He thinks that his mouth and his pot sized bets can get people off hands. They can't. I chased a flush on him once, but that was it.

10 seat gets AA cracked twice and hits quad 10's while I am sitting there.

Hand of this NL session. I am BB with QQ. UTG limps, Buzzy raises to 10 and gets 3 callers, including the 6 seat and the 10 seat, the two big stacks. So the pot is now $45. I make it $50 straight. Stealing the move that Poker Geek put on me Thursay. Fold, Fold, Fold, Fold. The 10 seat is now taking forever. He is talking about how this is a good hand, but maybe not a $50 hand, blah, blah , blah. I never take my eyes off him. I don't care if he calls or folds, or raises. I have already decided to come over the top for everything as soon as I can.

Now for the fun part. He finally mucks. As he does it I catch a flash of one of hs cards. As I am stacking my chips he is still rambling about the laydown he just made, etc. I say "So why did you lay down 4's?" Wow. I spooked him. It takes about 3 seconds for a response that was how he had much better cards than fours and on and on. Needless to say he stayed out of my way the rest of the night.

Finally RTT makes and appearance as does Brian BMcC. I meet Dr. Pauly and a bunch of others but am really in a fog. I get out of there up $50 and am happy. I have to get some sleep. After all tomorrow is the WPBT.

Dealer of the day is Bergan at the Excal. He runs a tight table is a lot of fun and really gets the cards out. He was so good that later in the weekend I was talking about him at the MGM. Look for Bergan there the next time you go.

$100 tourney buy-in, two $50 NL cashes and still down $350.

Coming up next: WPBT, PFChangs, a missed party and 2-6, 2-4 Saturday night.

Vegas Thursday: 2 Buyins and a Brown Shirt

The plane left at 8:00 pm. An excruciably long 3 hours later we were at McCarren. How come it takes 60 minutes to get from the plane to the Excal? Because of the damn taxi line. We forgot to grease the bagman. Big mistake. Grease the bagman. Dr. Pauly said to.

The STL Squad. Me, Marty, Dave, Ryan the tall (RTT), Ryan the roommate of Dave (RTR) and Brian. Marty, Dave, RTR and I hit town together and shared a room at the Excalibur. RTT and Brian came following behind and left before us.

Here we were, all bright eyed and ready to roll.

We hit town and immediately went to the MGM for the blogger meetup. I was itching to play so I sat in at the 1-2 NL game. I saw very few cards. I don't think I raked a pot. I did catch three hands. In addition I was playing poorly. I was tight/passive. I am usually tight/aggressive. WTF??? I was nervous. I played like everyone had the nuts. More on this in the Saturday write up.

The table, as I remember it.

Seat 1: Poker Geek (way solid)
Seat 2: Cardinals Guy (tight player, over playing top pair)
Seat 3: Don't remember
Seat 4: DR
Seat 5: DR
Seat 6: Big Stack Lawyer (BSL)
Seat 7: Me. Chilly. Cold Decked and Cold Playing.
Seat 8: Eric pretty boy (EPB) from LA
Seat 9: Friend of BSL (FBSL)
Seat 10: Wayne or Dewayne (W/D).

An overview. Cardinals guy overplayed every hand. He sucked out etc. Poker Geek raised every pot he played, was on his game and played a lot of hands. He was on fire. BSL was tight aggressive and up $600. EPB was a bit of a gambler who plays at the Commerce in LA. FBSL was okay. W/D is a local student in need of a shower who gave the VVP to every board. Hey, dealers at the MGM, tell this guy to shut up when the cards are in play. I know that AQ would be the nuts, I don't need you to tell me, dork.

Table chat of note. EPB leans over an tells me that he's going to bust Cardinals Guy after a bad laydown followed by a suckout. He does. Plays everypot against the guy for the next hour takes most of CG's money.

Hands of note. There are only three. That's about all the cards I saw in 3 hours.

I had K-10 and was in BB. Saw the flop against the SB. Flop came out QQx. I made a play, got the smack down and got out.

Next, AK0 in early position. I raise to $15, with the thought of a re-raise if someone comes over the top for $50. W/D calls and Poker Geek pumps it too $100. Now I have seen him play and raise a bunch of hands. I put him on QQ. I fret and move in crying, knowing I am behind. I want to rake a pot dammitt. I catch two pair. PG catches a set, he had JJ. He would have got all my money either way.

ReBuy.

AA in middle/late position. I raise to $15. (too small) W/D smooth calls. Poker geek, I think was in a blind he calls as well. Flop comes down 45Q. PG pushes to $45. What? I move in and W/D calls. PG calls (he has the odds with my smallish allin raise and his $45 already in). WTF?




Pause.




Will I triple up or get AA cracked???






Turn is a Q. W/D pushes hard and PG gets out after a long thought. I know I am f#cked. What else could have called that board other than top pair? Only a set. River is a K. I think PG may have had KK. If you did, nice laydown.

W/D turns up KQo. Nice suckout. Q's full beat my AAQQ.

Time to play a little 2-4 limit. As in limit the bleeding.

I find the blogger 2-4 table. As I remember it.

Seat 1: Brown Shirt (BS), a lawyer in town for a med-mal conference. Hey, Mrs. Chilly is an Ob/GYN. I think I have a bone to pick with you.
Seat 2: Otis
Seat 3: April
Seat 4: Me, Chilly. Cold Decked and Cold Playing
Seat 5: RTR
Seat 6: Danish friend of Davia
Seat 7: blogger, I think that I don't remember
Seat 8: Davia, Poker distraction.
Seat 9: Marty
Seat 10: G-Rob

I sit and fold, fold, fold.

I watch as G-rob and Otis steam as BS takes down pot after pot, each with a bigger and bigger suckout. The rest of the table feels the palpable tension. Everyone hopes that BS has the blogger endurance to last all night. BS has built his stack to at least $300. The rest of us are licking our chops.

G-Rob leaves and is replaced by another Dane. Otis leave to get some sleep for the WSOP and CJ fills.

BS decides to jam every pot. EVERY POT. Any two cards can suck out on the river.

Hands of note.

I am playing 10-9 suited from MP. Flop gives me open ended and flush draw with back door straight flush. I call BS all the way down. I even call on the river. What the hell. Its $4 into a rather large pot. He shows 8 high. This is the start to a dramatic decline.

I catch 2, seven high straights in three hands. One on the turn and one on the river. Thanks to BS for jamming those pots for me.

End of session one. Down $350. Thanks to BS for letting me end the night on a winning note, he btw walks out down to the felt.

John, (not his real name) dealer at the MGM is a cool guy. His gutteral "RAAAAIIISSSE" calls were great.

Marty and I walk out the MGM to see that the sun is up. Time to hit Mickey D's for a little breakfast. Then back to the room for a 3 hour snooze.

Coming next:

Vegas Friday: The Alladin $100 Tourney and Storming the Castle.

My Vegas Tips

I have been reading the myriad of "tips" posts for the upcoming weekend. I am not a Vegas Virgin so I'll offer a few tips for getting through the weekend.

1. Take alternate id, like a passport. You'll want to get on the plane and come home. Trust me, no matter what, you'll want to go home. If you drop your id down a floor vent you'll need alternate means for getting on the plane. Trust me, someone is going to lose their wallet.

2. Don't ask the cabbie for strip club referrals. They (some) get comped for dropping off guys en masse. Ask a dealer, or a waitress or a local.

3. Sleep. Just do it. You can always wake up and gamble at 3 am. A good 5 hours is nice, but 3 will do. Thanks to Mini-Chilly for the 5 month training regimen.

4. Don't follow Marty on a 4 am quest for a $3 Heineken and Hotdog.

5. If you are from the fast-food desert (like me) eat at the local fast-food places that aren't at home. I don't remember if it was in'n'out or whataburger, but mmm, mmm, good. Heineken and Hotdog included.

6. Eat the MGM breakfast buffet. Get there around 10 am, eat for 30 minutes, sit and shoot the breeze until lunch time and eat again. 2 meals for $20 and you don't need to eat again for 24 hours.

7. Go to the Barbary Coast and play blackjack or Pai Gow at 3 am. Trust me.

8. Collect the "business cards" being handed out on the street. I plan to one day build a poker table with these cards epoxied to the top. That one day will be the day after (or before) my divorce, but one day. They make great schwag.

9. Be wary of the rock at your 1-3 HE game at the Excal. He does have the nut flush and you are drawing dead.

10. Color up. If you are up a lot, color up. It will help keep you from giving it all back especially on the limit tables. Or just get up, cash in and go eat. Come back put your name on the list and start all over.

11. Follow your heart. If you really want to go to the Stratosphere, or Binions or wherever, then go. Who knows when you'll be back.

12. Don't be "that" guy. You know, puking, yelling, running, loud, mean, gross or otherwise wronging his fellow tourista. If you're being a buzzkill, see #3. It will help.

Deepthroat

Didn't you think it would be more exciting when Deepthroat was revealed? Deep Throat is the guy that most serious deepthroat scholars thought. What a letdown. I thought maybe Diane Sawyer or Patty Nixon would be cool, yet unlikely candidates. Now there's a story.

A profitable 12 hands

I was looking at a hand history for 12 hands I played last Friday. Within the 12 hands I was dealt the following hands that I played.

KQo
66
AA
KQo
99
JJ
88

The result. I was up a little more than 82BB's.

The 88 was the biggest hand, it flopped a set with a K on board and I still managed to muck it up. I made about 30 of the BB's on this hand (this is net my contribution).

Me [8s8c]
Board [8dKc9c][Qh][4d]

Looking back I think he was on a club draw. But at the time I put him on AK, based on his pre-flop call of a 3xBB raise and then the immediate bet out of 4xBB and a call of my 8xBB raise. Then he checks the turn and calls my 12xBB bet. I bet 40xBB on the river and he folds. Did I get greedy? Should I have tried to value bet the set?

Theoretically the turn could have made a straight with a J10. Or a bigger set? But I would have check raised the turn with that hand.

What do you think?