Seven Five Off

So, I put in a full work day this Sunday.  I played in 3 tournaments.  I was a bit nervous about coming back after so long but I new I had to get back into it.

 The First Tournament,  a 10 man elimination game was pretty dull.  I never got anything going.  I never won any big pots.  I never pushed with good hands and I played timid and weak the whole time.  I finally got knocked out in 5th when someone broke my pocket queens.  I was bleeding chips most of the game anyway and didn’t mind going out.  I noticed one of the players, a blond crew cut 20-something with aviator mirrored sunglasses got knocked out quick.  He had 2 moves in the first 20 hands, fold or all in.  Everyone stayed away from him and then after he built a bit of a stack lead bled him dry on his poor chips management and sub par card playing.   I wish I could brag I got some of his, but I was a big ole wussy and bled till I died.

 I saddled up to another game.  Some of the other players played as well.  Maverick was there, sitting almost across from me.  Another guy, who I noticed has been getting vodka and cranberry all day sit in between us.  A guy sits down to the next,  average looking with a Russian accent.  His girlfriend decided to stand behind me and him the whole time.  I am pretty sure I caught her telling him my hand during the course of the game.  A little etiquette for those of you not playing.  DON’T STAND BEHIND ME.  Its annoying and if you decide to speak in your own tongue to your friend/lover in the game I just assume your cheating.  I probably make it clear to the dealer that I think your cheating and they tell you to move.   I have no problems sayign it to your girl or to you but I figure me threatening to kick your wife’s ass will get me in trouble.  The game starts as normal.  I pick up a -q in the first hand, about 5th person to act, and raise it up to 4times the big blind.  2 other people stay in and the flop comes.  9 - 7 - 4.  rags.  I bet 5 times the big bet and everyone folds.  Nice.  Two hands later I pick up pocket kings, I have good position and decide to just call the raise from the small blind.  Flop comes 9 - 4 - 9.  rainbow.  He bets 400 and I reraise to 800.  He goes all in and I call.  His pocket Jacks were no match and the hand ends with me and all his chips.  I keep quiet for a while and watch the table.  Maverick is pushing all in early on and is scaring people out of their blinds.  Once in a while he shows a - k but its not often.  Sauced is next to me and is starting to be a little mouthy.  Nothing overt just the calling people’s hands type stuff.  an old lady to my left is showing aggression and knocked out a couple people.  the russian and his cheating wife got knocked out.  It gets down to 4 people.  The old lady, Maverick, Sauced and me.    blinds are 200 - 400 50 ante now so its starting to get dicey.  Maverick raised my big blind to 1200 and I look down at A- 9 suited.  I call all in.  me and him are close in chip stacks so he has to think.  He “lets me have it”  and shows me an A.  I show him mine.  Little old lady does the same thing to him in 2 hands so now he is getting down and out.  Next hand I see A- 4 diamonds and Maverick pushes all in again.  I call pretty quickly and everyone folds.  he has me covered by 2k so when I see K - q diamonds I am pumped.  He looks at me pissed.  fuck you Maverick, that shit only flies so much.  Flop comes out with no diamonds but an A.  Then a turn hits another Ace, river is junk.  I stack my chips and decide to not smile and gloat.  My next turn at big blind and maverick calls all in.  I half look at my hand and call.  I was getting way too good for pot odds not to.  He flips A- q and is pumping his fist.  flop comes J - 8 - 3.  Turn comes k, river comes a 7.  He bolts from the table.  Now its down to 3 and I am feeling pretty good. In a couple hands of bleeding blinds  I look down at q - 9 and I see that the old lady called all in.  she had about 3k in chips so I called.   she turns q- j.  bad move on my part and now I am crippled.  Fairly quickly I see K - 4 off suit and call all in.  Sauced calls me he shows K - 10.  I figure third place aint bad right?  wrong.  flop comes out 6 - 7 - 8 off suit.  He proclaims “watch him get the straight”  turn is a king and the river is the 5.  yup.  the straight.  I apologise and continue on.  THe little old lady bleeds for another couple rounds and calls all in.  I had built up about 3k more than her so I call.  My a - j holds up to her q- k and I am now the chip leader.  Sauced is still jawing about his bad beat.  He counts up about 7k in chips.  I offer him a chop and he agrees.  I know its a little pansy of me,  but I figured to get into another game. 

There was a juicier tournament that *just* started before we chopped so I had to sign up for the  ones I’ve been playing.  Me and Sauced are jawing for a while.  He got knocked out of the daily multi table and was just playing some tourneys for a while.  Sauced is in the next one with me and we sit down and begin play. 

I muck for a bit and try and get a read on some players.  There was a newbie and some other guys there.  Guys,  don’t bring your girlfriends, they’ll distract you.  After about 10 or so hands I pick up pocket 5’s in 9th position with 3 players.  the person in 6th position raises to 200 so I call.  Flop comes out A - 9 - 5.  checks around to 6th position,   he checks and I raise to 400.  Everyone drops but 6th position.  He calls.  Turn is a queen.  Rather than bet again I check it down.  River card is an Ace.  I know he’s beat.  He bets 400 and I raise to 800.  He gives a sighed look and calls.  He has A - k.  I have the boat.  He has maybe 300 more in chips and is bounced soon after.  I remain quiet and run from a couple big bets so I lose some chips.  I am down to about 2200 in chips when I pick up A - k.  I invest about 400 or so pre flop.  Flop comes out K -7 - 9.  two of them clubs.  Newbie bets 1200 and sauced calls.  I go all in.  and another guy runs.  Newbie calls.  Sauced calls.  They check it down and my A -k holds up.  Sauced was looking for the flush and newbie had a weak kicker.   The runner gets bounced by the newbie and we are down to 3.    Sauced has the chip lead and has kept it most of the game.  I steal a couple of sets of blinds so I am looking pretty good.  Newbie doubles up through sauced so he is hurting.  I look down at pocket kings on the button and call the big blind.  newbie folds and we see a flop.  comes out 9 7 4.  he has about 3200 left and calls all in.  I call his bet and we flip.  He has a q - 9.  My kings hold up and its down to 2.   First hand I pick up pocket 4’s.  All in.  he folds.  his chi[ps are low so he pushes in with an ace rag.  I call and he hits the rag.  I still have him dominated in chips so when I get ace 2 clubs I call him in.  For reference, if I am the chip leader I usually say ” I push you all in”  rather than “all in”  its a little more intimidating I think.  He calls and shows A -K.  fuck me.  he doubles up through me again and its a game.  Flop comes 3 5 j.  then a 10 and a 2 on the river.  hoo haa.   little bit of luck there. 

So all in all it was a pretty good day.  I made a good profit and I shook the dust off the tires. 

Some thoughts on playing:

 - Don’t be an asshole at the table.  There is no point in not shaking hands or storming off or bitching about luck. 

 - Don’t bring your girlfriend.  Unless she is gambling there is no point.

-  Don’t stand behind me.   Its fucking annoying. 

Till next time kids 

So, I got to the casino around noon with my $360.  I made a quick beeline for the poker room and signed up for a 100 + 20 sit n go.  I recognized a couple of the players.  One was an older asian woman who I can’t be positive but I am pretty sure is getting hints from her husband who stands on the other saide of the table behind other players.  A couple more non-winners and the rest were new faces.  I quickly took the first pot from a kid who looks like the “numbers” genius guy.  But he wasn’t as mathematically adept.  No big deal and I am struggling along.  I get pocket 7’s in the big blind and the asian woman pushes all in.  I should have ran, but I didn’t.  She had pocket k’s.  I get a 7 on the flop.  But 3 queens show up and I am severely crippled.  I push all in against a tight player figuring they will call or fold.  They called.  my q - 9 spades were dominated.  I am out.  I lasted an hr.  rough.  I was a little antsy on what happened so I took a walk. 

I took a tour of the casino,  noted that the festive buffet was still packed.  I ran into a person from my other work.  A quick Hi and I scooted on by.  Awkward to say the least.  I do a mental recap of what I did and aside from calling the Asian womans all in I played pretty well.  So I reupped for another one. 

The person Jim was in this game.  We chat for a bit.  Apparantly he’s made 2 bracelet final tables at wsop and is going down to Vegas to play in 3 more hold em bracelet games.  Hoo haa.  Two other guys from the previous game were there ( known collectively as the weekend warriors)  and no one else I remembered. 

Earlier in the game I was a little on the low stack and picked up pocket q’s.  I bet 5x the blinds and picked up 4 callers, including Jim.  Flop comes out 4 10 q.  I have abotu 1100 left in my stack so he bets 1100.  The other 2 drop out and  I call and he doesn’t even flip his cards.  He starts laughing and mucks his card after I show the q’s.  His friend sitting there laughs and says ” at least you lost your bluff to the nuts”  Another 4 hits and I collect a substantial pot.  

 I jook and jive to the final 4 very easilly.  The short stack is on the big blind and pushes all in.  The number 3 guy calls and I call.  I had pocket k’s.  Rather than go for broke I check it down flop comes out q rag rag.  rainbow, unconnected.  Number 3 bets 1200.  I look at him, he looks at me and I call “all in”.  He says to me while looking a little miffed ” Why did you do that?  Now what am I supposed to do?”  I reply ” You should fold.”  He does and my kings win the whole thing.  With number 3 crippled he moves all in with K 7 off.  Jim’s ( yes, the very same one)  kills him and we are heads up.  I have about 13k in chips to his 5000 or so.  I bet aggressively and steal a couple rounds of blinds.  He counters with some all ins before I go to steal some of mine.  He gets up to about 7500 in chips.  I look down at a -2 off suited and put out a big bet.  He goes all in and I call.  He turns A - q suited.  OUCH.  A queen hits the board and I am crippled.  3k in chips.   Next hand I see K - 10 and push all in.  He calls with A - 7.  nothing hits for either of us and I am out.  But I am in 2nd.  We congratulate each other, I mention that the a - q crippled me pretty bad.  He says that he was hoping for any hand to call my bets with.  He congratulates me on my KK’s hand and laughs off his bluff hand.  We collect our winnings and I am feeling much better.

I take another lap around the casino, check my watch and see how the other games are going.  One guy is lobbying for a 200 + 30 game pretty bad.  That game doesn’t get filled up nearly as quickly as the 100 + 20 games, you could wait an hr or two just to get a game going.  THe 120’s fill up in at most about a half hr.  After some finagling and some discussion he has secured 10 for the game.  I am talking with one guy.  Been playing at the casino for a long time.  Has an oxygen tank with him and is a very sweet, hospitable old man.  Another girl, who I swear does goth porn or something of that nature is at the table and says that the lobbyist will probably be the first to go.  I laugh, try to not think about her dog collar necklace and emo sigh and make polite conversation.  I see a solid player at the table across from me, from G.B.;  plays in London a lot.  Quiet, pays attention.  Nice.  A New York city guy with a thick Puerto Rican accent that screams Loose aggressive.  An Italian (yes, from Italy)  very happy and seemed to be having a good time.  A russian, drinking lots of beer.  Another generic player (no real pluses or minuses to him).  And we are off.

I start with A - q.  I bet 4x and they all fold.  The lobbyist is chirping in my ear ( he is to the right).  The goth gets a bad beat and loses half her stack.  Then she loses the other half the next hand.  I am establishing some solid play here and there and generally watching the goings on.  One miserable flop saw a guy get top pair (8’s)  let the Londoner limp in to a flush on the river, another 8.  Ouch.  He is out.  Now the lobbyist is telling me he’s gonna trap me.  mentioning that my aggressive betting is what he is hoping for.  He is playing anything with an Ace.  He gets his stack up fairly good (while mine has remained roughly the same as what I started.  He calls someones’ all in with A- 10 to the all in’s k- q.  I fold my A - k off.  A - 10 - j hit the board and he is now down to normal levels.  He has begun betting more aggressively.  Thankfully he is to my right.  I pick up pocket 10’s and the rest of the table oo’s and aa’s as I call it.  He has me cover by an extra 2k.   He shows A- 9. Yeah, you read that right.  A - 9.  My tens hold up and I have doubled up.  Now he is a little pissed.  Says I am lucky.  Bitch please.  I pick up  K-q and raise into his big blind.  Everyone runs away and he goes all in.  I bounce him ( k -8 was his hand I believe).  He gets up to leave.  The next on my hit list was the Italian.  He was making a habit of going all in and I called him and took him out.  I think he had 10 - q.  I had a - j.  Ace hits and he thanks me for bouncing the lobbyist.  Apparantly there was a little bad blood.  Oops.  Your both my corpses.  THe poor guy with the oxygen tank has yet to play a hand.  He was literally blinded to the point of having to go all in with 1200 with his 4 - 6 off.  We get down to 5 people.  The solid player, The generic player, The russian, The Londoner, Me.  The solid player has begun to bleed chips pretty bad.  He looks a little lost at the all ins with A - 4 and so on by the weaker players and was giving me the “what the fuck” look.  He finally loses to the Russian.  Now it is down to 4.  The generic player is the small stack.  I am 2nd, russian is first, and the Londoner has the 3rd largest stack.  The Russian finally catches the Generic guy and goobles him up. 

Down to 3 people.  The Londoner goes ” guess I can’t wait much longer” and goes all in.  I see A - 2 and call.  Run into pocket aces.  Yes, I got crushed.  I am now 3rd stack.  A couple hands later I pick up A - q diamonds.  I go all in.  The russian calls me and shows his K - j diamonds.  Nothing hits and I am back to number 2.  whew.  Next hand the Russian goes all in with K q.  I call with K - j.  He wins and I am 3.  grrr.   THe londoner is not playing much at this point.  Hoping that me and the russian move him into the number 2 spot.   He pushes all in against my A - 6 suited.  I call.  He shows k 7 off.  I win.  Yay me.  I take a minute to rearrange my stacks and count my chips.  The russian does the same.  We both look down at even stacks and the Russian asks “Chop?”  I agree.  and I take the first place (of course). 

He wants to tip the dealer a 100$ or something crazy.  I am guilted into a 20.  Fuck that.  They make their money on the 300 they made for 3 hrs of gaming.  And the rest of those saps weren’t going anywhere.  They were at Foxwoods for life.  Me and the russian go up to the cashier and start jawing about Iraq.  He compares it to Poker and says in this thick accent “  We should have played much more aggressively but instead we just limped in.  Now we are in a mess”  True dat my friend.  True dat.  The cashier calls over the pit boss to give me my money.  Heh.  Felt wicked powerful right then.  I give my russian friend his 200 and we part ways.  I look down at my cell and see that its 6:45.  Wicked late.  I get in my car, listenning to my tunes and feeling like the King of the World.

So to recap I cam in with 360$

 I bought in a 120$ and lost.

I bought in a 120$ and won 300 (profit 180)

I brought in a 230$ and won 800(profit 570)

I left with $951.  I discounted tips for the waitresses and gas, as well as the 20 for the dealer. 

I have yet to decide if I am playing the Cape Cod invitational with this money or not.  It is tempting.  That is next weekend.  So no posting for a week. 

EDIT :  $350 will be going to the Cape Cod Invitational

Total Bank : $600 

After “Dejected”  I grabbed a book from a buddy of mine “JV”.  Super system 2 by Doyle brunson and others.  A good book to go through.  Gives you insight into the aggressive style of play that is prevalent in casinos as well as some good insights into Poker philosophy.  Mike Carro is a genius.  Know him, love him, name your kids after him.

So I spent the week studying the book and sinking myself into the poker community.  I tried to gather as much info as I can about everything.  JV and I discussed strategy for a while ( and why he should avoid playing drunk.  Its an art.)  I geared up and decided to play some real games.  Sunday I headed down to Foxwoods with 220 dollars (sushi 3 nights a week is not good for your bank roll) .  Its about an hr and change up there so rather than picture myself with winnings I went over the hands.  Good ones, bad ones.  How to play the marginal hands ( A - 10)  and the not so marginal ( A A). 

I decided to play a sit n go rather than cash games to make sure I am ready for the Cape Cod invitational.  I sat down and began thinking about the other players.  I found the bleeders,  the hyper aggressive, the smart, the wanna be smart.  the math guys.  All were there and ready to play.   

I got into a show down with a bleeder after a couple hands.  He wasn’t betting me out with his junk and I took half his stack.  That simple.  I put him down as a weak player and moved on.  I picked up pocket 5’s on the button and put it up 5x the big blind.  I caught 2 limpers hesitating than calling their bet.  flop came out k - 10 - 9.  I threw another 5x out there and they folded. 

The aggressive guy likes his aces.  and when he bet big with A - 7 - 2 on the board he got multiple callers.  K hits on the turn and he pushes all in.  He got a caller and was bounced.  His A - 9 was of no use against another guys’ two pair.  Afterwards, he asked what he could have done to drive the winner out and his problem was he didn’t push all in.  He bet about 5x the big blind and some big stacks could play to see the next hand.  FOr being aggressive he turned into a big sissy when it counted.

The lady immediately to my left was bleeding chips all night.  As my stack was growing she decided to play her ” all in”  game.  Not very smart, but she stole two sets of blinds doing it.  She called all in (1500 in chips)  when I caught 7-8 hearts.  I called and we were off.  flop of 8 9 9 and she lost.  nothing else mattered much ( except for the dirty look)  and she got up. 

Its down to 3 players.  Me and another guy are ducking it out.  Then there is the old man in three.  Doesn’t bet, was well on his way to being blinded out when I took the part of a dick and raised his blind three times in a row, stealing his big, small than big blind.  Finally the 4th time he just pushed all in (he was a little hurting)  the other guy called and knocked him out.

Now its showdown time.  we are about even.  First hand A A.  I bet 4times.  he folds.  Second Hand A 10  bet 4 times he folds.  third hand A - K suited , bet 5 times he folds.  A - 4 I bet 4x  he goes all in.  I fold.  This was my mistake.  Next hand I mucked.  Then I got 10 - 6 suited, he bet I went all in he called.  he had 9 - 7 off.  Caught a 9 on the river and I am crippled.  Last hand his j 7 beat my q 4. 

It was late so I left.  Going out in the money is always good.

So to recap:

 I brought 220$  to the casino.  I left with 400$.  minus 40$ for gas (yes, gas money is coming out of the wins) 

Bankroll = 360$ 

Next week may be rough, but I want to get one or two sit n go’s in.

Ok, so I played three sit n gos last week.  I got 2nd once and lost ther other 2.

 The tourneys cost 100 + 20.  so I spent 360.  I won 300.  That’s right.  Down 60. 

 And now for my other problem.  I spend money like a coke fiend when its in my wallet.  So going up to my friends place and droppin the dough around.  Not to mention spending money on breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for a week is Bad.  As the ancient masters would say ” I lack discipline. ”

So here it goes.  I start from here being good.  I keep my receipts.  I keep a running total.  I avoid the crazy 4’s and the black jack.  I do what I do best and get better at it. 

Ok, so for references I am up 600 from last weeks initial run at the casino.  I will try and remember to put my bank at the beginning of the passage.

 Well, I learned some valuable lessons this past couple days.  Carzy 4’s, Super Hold em and any of the other casino games are a scam.  Don’t bother.  If you want to reap the rewards of the casino you should avoid the money traps.  Experience ( and losing a lot of scratch)  has taught me a painful lesson. 

 Saturday I showed up to the casino out of whack.  No lucky hat, No cell phone being a nervous nelly about taking the step from recreational to professional.  I brought 400 with me and dinked away most of it to the tables.  Yup Lesson learned god of gambling, lesson learned.  I played one sit n go and bled chips the whole time.  I think I hit a pair of aces on the flop and put my 500 in chips in and lost.  Dejected and with about 30 bucks I had figured I’d hit the buffet and call it a day.  The buffet line was far too long for me to wait so I went home.  Dejected with 30 bucks in my wallet.

Total bank = 270. 

 I wallowed in a bit of self pity for the night and didn’t get much sleep.  Sunday I woke up with grim determination.  I withdrew 300 bucks and made another go at it. 

 I played some crazy 4’s and lost 50 bucks.  Feeling like Charlie Brown and the football I walked away and joined a sit n go. 

The Gambling Gods smiled and things started rolling.  I identified the weaker players ( a handy skill for everyone)  The old man calling station to my left.  The college aged idiot across the table.  The working class stiff.  I started catching some ok hands and I stole the blinds a couple times, with out even any resistance.  I noticed the C.A.I.  was playing K - J off like it was a LOT better than it was.  SOmeone took half his chips with a straight (pretty much on the board)  vs his J pair.  I sawe the tilt flag and went for it.  Next hand I caught 3-4 diamonds at big blind. they let me in  ( which is nice I like suited connectors)  and the flop came out 2 5 6.  2 5 diamonds.  He moves all in with his 1000.  I have outs up the ying yang and the straight.  My stack is about 3500 so I call.  He flips A-6 diamonds.  Shit and a half.  He gets a big dopey grin on his face.  Then the turn shows up 10h.  Isn’t smiling too much.  j- club on the river and he’s gone.  The table agrees with my call and is happy he’s gone.  Though I suspect they were hoping to have his blood. 

I kick up the aggressiveness and check raise the working class stiff 2x in one hand.  I had As - js,  he had Ac, 8s.  Flop of 10s, 9s, Ah.  I check, he bets 500 I raise to 1000 he calls.  Turn comes out 5h.  I check, He bets 700 I raise him 1400.  He is all in.  River was irrelevant  and he is out. 

 The calling station is still in.  I bullied him out of some chips here and there but he ran fairly quickly from anything so I couldn’t knock him out.  Then he finally goes all in and I call.  River Special and he has doubled up to 2200.  He bleeds a bunch of chips for a couple hands and now I am not big stack anymore.  The guy next to me is and calls his all in.  THe big stacks’ value bet was not paid off and the O.M.C.S.  is sitting at 3k and 4th place.  Unacceptable. I caught pocket Js-Jd.  He had A-q.  Blinds are big enough (400, 800 100 ante)  where he has to make a move.  Something he was very hesitant on doing.  There is a time and place for every style of play.  Loose / passive is not good for short stacked, on the bubble, with a tight aggressive/ loose aggressive table.  My jacks hold up and he’s out.

 Down to 3 men.  Me, this guy Jim ( nice guy, keeps his chips stacked nicely ( a big plus in my book)),  and hypo aggressive guy.  I catch pocket 5’s.  I raise and they both call.  Flop comes out a- k - j  rainbow.  I bet 1500.  Jim folds and aggressive guy calls.  turn is a 9.  I check, he checks.  River is a 5.  He bets 1500 ( half his stack)  I raise him all in.  He folds (he knew he was beat… a good player).  He goes all in next hand vs Jim his K-7 did not stand up to Jim’s qj.  A jack hits and he’s out.

We both neaten up our stacks for a minute and survey the scene.  He has 8900 I have 11100.  We play 5 hands and re survey our stacks.  He has 9300 I have 10700.  We both laugh and chop.  

The tournament was a long one.  2 1/2 hrs with the accelerated blind system is very long. 

I take 1st and hand him a hundred.   I sign up for the next one and get going quick.  I knock a couple people out,  and play some solid poker.  Unfortunately I also was losing hands.  Something I do not normally do.  By lose I mean play to the end and lose to the other guy’s hands.  I am pretty good at folding if I feel the footsteps.   I misplayed a js 10 s BADLY.  calling an all in ( with 6 people at the table)  and the big stacks noticed my hesitation and called as well.  Big stacks won and I was down.  I scramble with a couple all ins and last to 5th.  I pretty much was blinded out and walked away like an idiot.

That was it for me.  I cash out in the green, making 180 bucks.

Total Bank = 450. 

Am I upset?  Not at all.  If I had stuck with poker I would have been up (might have even played another sit n go)  and I learned to avoid the table games.  Perhaps I am a one (or two)  trick pony but The poker room will be my workshop.       

I had decided to play some cards up at the casino the other day. Crzy 4’s table game for about an hr. Up 300 or so. Its a mindless game that will net you a profit as long as you don’t stay too long. 2 hrs is abot the max I say. Anyway I made my way to the poker tables afterwards to try my luck at a sit n go. Rules are straightforward. allthough there were 2 rounds before they started anteing at the table. The player make up was pretty straightforward. A couple guys from a different country, South american country I think. I am not very good with accents. A couple oldies, a stoner, and an assortment of other people filled out the 10 man table.

The play was pretty easy, I thought. Tight aggressive really will win at most of these. I was a bit nervous at first, which actually helped my table persona.

Beginning hand I limped in and folded after flop.

Second hand I pulled pocket Jacks.

I raise to 300 and there are 4 players. Sweeet.

Flop came out. 10 8 6, 2 of em clubs. Someone bets 300 and one guy drops while me and another guy call.

Turn J diamonds. I check. guy with position bets 500. I raise to 1000. other guy folds. better calls.

River comes 9 spades. Guy bets 1000. I go all in. he calls. he turns pocket aces. I turn trips. Old man gave me a dirty look and left.

I proceed to get junk hands for about 15 - 20 hands. No biggie. one guy down on the end is collecting chips like a mother fucker. He is wracking up the kills. I am quietly staying out of his way and stealing blinds. One guy goes all in for 1200. I call with a - 10. another caller with a - q. queen hits on the river so I am a little down but I am now 3rd at the table.

I knock a stoner out of the game, felt a little bad about it but hey, he had it comin.

Big stacks down at the end has about 11k in chips to my 3k and the other guys 4k. 4k man goes all in with a - 7 off and the big stacks gobbles him.

He starts talking ” sure you want to play?” ” so you’re gonna have to take me on? *wink*”

I double up quick. I am at 5 k roughly. He laughs. A - 7 suited I go all in, he calls with pocket 9’s. board shows j 10 j 10 7. My ace wins. now I am ahead.

I win the next hand, now he is at 4k and I am chuggin along. He goes all in without looking. I had pocket 5. I call. He had 10 - 8. He rivers his 8.

Now I say ” chop?” he agrees. I go home up 600 from that game and some crazy 4’s. Going next weekend see if the cards treat me right again.

Is this the beginning of my new career? That might be a little far off, but winning at poker is definietly a thrill.

Tight play wins. Simple as that.

A good player knows that when your image is tight that there are times to use that to your advantage.

The thing with tight play, over and above it being a good strategy, is that it will help round out your game in other ways. Do you tilt when tripped up jacks beat your pocket aces? You shouldn’t, it is the odds coming back at you. But when you go in with ace seven and you get beat by quad fours the tilt you feel could have been avoided by disciplined play.

I’d been on a loss streak and needed to do something to change. I had become too loose and aggressive, and it wasn’t working anymore. So when my friend BrownCabernet and I were done admiring each other’s perfectly shaped breasts the conversation turned to poker. Ok, more like I couldn’t believe how tight this fine vintage was. Folding ? Maybe this wine knew something I didn’t. Maybe this wine could help me rock the boat and get at my rough patch.

So I decided to take a break and tighten up. No aggressive play for a few days, and then I just started to do exercises to make myself tighter. I used the Ledderer method, followed the instructions and everything. Fold in the right places, make sure I’m aggressive when the time is right and when the others are ready to give it up to me.

Old habits are heard to break. I still had the itch and I needed to do something. So I grabbed this Captian Sailor or something and decided I would take him for a ride. And boy, did he give it to me. He sucked down all my advances, and when I was done I felt so dirty - he left me with about enough for cab fare. I should have stuck with the system.

Another person left the table, and I was about to. So I went all in with . Turns out I split the pot. Now I have enough for a bus to Poughkeepsie. Then next hand I go all in again, split the pot again. I could get a cheap one way on Southwest.

Next thing I know I triple up and I have some chips. I’m back to the system, I am gonna be a tight machine and just get at anyone who trys to come at me. And it worked. I ended up in 2nd place out of 45. I had to pick up the blinds a couple times. Heads up I loosed up too much and thought my king on the river was good, but it made him a straight.

All in all I played well - and I’m gonna try to tighten up again. No more giving $5 to strange men because I am too loose. I’m gonna make them pay!

It was a heads up game and it went on for a little more than a half an hour. I was tilting a little when we started so I was pretty aggressive. I was picking up all the blinds, so I was
getting up a little, then he’d win a bigger pot and take the lead. We went back and forth a little. Then we had this dialog:

Him: “It’s tough to believe you always have a good hand”

Me: “I don’t”

“It’s going to come back and bite you”

“Might”

Then I raised preflop with

Flop comes

I bet, he folds. I show and say “But I do have the winning hands”.

Why is this important? Because at that point I was in his head. As soon as he said something I was in his head. I try to be quiet when I play becuase if the other person realizes they have got to me they have a huge advantage.

This is what I did: I kept my pattern going for a while, He’d be up 400 chips, I’d slowly take them back, then we’re even again. This went on for about 15 minutes, back and forth about 3-4 times. Then I realized I was in a dangerous pattern, because we had really developed a good tempo and had taken to our roles. So there were three factors at work here: 1) My style had gotten to him 2) I was aggressive he was passive 3) We had established a solid game pace.

So what did I do? I stopped. Got a drink, waited for the “Mr. 7-5 off had 15 seconds left to act” warning and checked from the Big Blind with

Flop comes

I wait. I check. So now he’s been iced for a good minute or so, and I was hoping that this would get to him and jolt him a little. It did, because he did his first aggressive thing all game - he bluffed 100 chips at a pot. Luckily, I had 2 pair. I paused before I called. Turn comes and guess what he does? He pauses before he bets like I did! I mean dude, just write “You are pissing me off” in the chat box. I pause and make a decent bet on the river and he folds fast, so now I know I REALLY got him.

I played the next 10 minutes really slow. I put on some OG Ron C, put my feet up, practiced some breathing exercises. I wasn’t waiting till the warning every time, sometimes I’d do a fast hand to keep him at bay. The result was he was loosening up. He did get some chips from me, but that is the remarkable thing, at no point was either of us up by more than a 2:1 margin.

So after the board made quad twos. After I showed my pocket kings flopped to a boat. I get

I bet 4x the big blind, he calls

He bets big, I reraise, he goes all in, I call and he turns over and I have him beat.

The thing was I know the game had gone long, I know I was playing in a way that was making him mad, and I think that is what contributed to his rash all in. He was not pulling that trigger lightly. But I don’t think he was thinking straight anymore. And that made me win.
In my opinion, one of the most powerful things you can do in any competitive event is control the tempo. It is one of those things people do not really think about because any game develops a natural tempo, and 99% of the time people play by that tempo. When the situation calls, slowing down that tempo is a good tool to give you an advantage that your opponent might not realize.

It works for Chris Ferguson. It’s worked for me before.

Try it next time you are 2-3 handed. Well, against people other than…

Mr.

For all the times got beat by some punk who called with …

For all the times I called with some crap and sucked out the guy with pocket aces…

This happened.

I have .

$5 9 person. I am big stack by only 140 chips. Guy in second place raises to 200 (BB is 40). I figure I’ll raise to 400, that way he’ll call and my aces will beat his . I thought 600 was too much, it might scare him off. So he bets it up to 1300. I’m thinking “This fool wants me to fold, he thinks he has cards! I have the nuts here Bubba, you aren’t bluffing me out!!!” so I raise all in. He calls.

He turns over. .

I’m happy - I knew my nuts would be vindicated! Who is going to beat aces?

I’ll tell you who. This Devil who loves SoCo is who.

Now for point of reference you should know that when I saw the flop I stood up, fell over onto the couch, stayed there and wondered what kind of blast hit me. Then I started laughing. A little.

I timed out on the next hand because I couldn’t get up yet.

I know I deserve it. This follows on the heals of me getting beat by pocket-to-quad nines.

Guess my lucky spell is waning. But GOOD bad beats are always fun.

I have been doing only about 1 tourney a night. After the big win I have been laying off a little. I did pick up a $5 6 person, I was just on fire - I knocked out 4 of my 5 opponents. The other dude in the money was kind enough to thank me when we went heads up.

I took 5th in a 45 person when my got hit up by

Just been tightening up and enjoying the win.

Because I’m feelin pretty bad ass.

FTP - $5+.50 - Started @ 1:01 AM, ended at 5:11 AM. My tight aggressive play was rewarded by getting second place. Besting 285 other competitors, and finally being beat by Mr. Buster - who was my nemesis (at least in my head) for nearly the whole tourney. Nice guy though.

He was playing a very aggressive style, so much so that if he was big blind I didn’t like raising preflop - because I knew he would call. He was wearing out the all in button, but it worked for him. I was hoping someone would knock him out (I gave it a couple good tries).

It is a great tourney format - with 10 minute blinds it is much easier to play tight. Also, once you pick up a decent sized stack it is much easier to pick up some pots and some little all ins. I went as high as 40K but basically stayed in the 30k range for a couple hours. I, of course, had some luck on my side on a (relatively) early all in. But once I hit 30k I only dipped back down to the teens once and came back up just as quickly.

I really tightened up when 30th place was around, 27 and up got paid. At that point I still had a big stack, but I wasn’t going to risk much. After 10 more people left I loosened up a little, but I just wasn’t seeing cards. I was half in the mindstate of “If I can blind out to the top 9 I’m lookin at $30, and that will get me closer to even.”

Then it was final table. I was not really short stack when we got the final table, but close enough. These other dudes were around 100k in chips, and I’m still in the 40k range. I’m hoping just to not go out too quickly. I got beat

to

and gave up about 14k in chips. I was a little mad about this, but came off tilt quick.

Then it happened - I had a good 5-6 hands in a row where I kept getting monsters, I had to keep showing them because it was just so damn silly. I was hitting everything. 50k, 60k, 70k, 80k. We take down a few people and next thing I know I’m in the top 5, and we’re talking real money now - $100+. I tightened up a bit and let Buster take a couple people down, but we were still pretty close in chips.

So now we’re 3 handed - me buster and some troublesome lad. I had one chance to take out the troubled one - but my middle pair against a flush draw didn’t look good enough, we would have swapped places had I lost. So we played on 3 handed for a while. Buster took him down. Then Buster and I played for a bit. He was 200k to my 160k and we ended up swapping places for a while, then he took the lead again. And in the end I had this:

board:

we’re betting a little, and I start betting harder when I hit the nine, and bet real hard on the two pair - he goes all in, I call. At this point, I’m so amped over the money and not really looking too hard, just playing my cards knowing 2 pair heads up is great and I’m about to get more chips. It’s been 4 hours people!

him:

flush. That’s how they end when it’s good - one monster beats another.

So overall, I’m up. Final payout was $200 and change. He took home nearly $400 - but I’m not mad at all. I’m happy to be up, to have played well, and to get so far in a big tourney. In the end I’m really glad I went heads up against a guy I had played with for a few hours as opposed to someone random.

I’m very pleased. And don’t you know I hit with that hand a couple times. Which one?

Mr.

Why I’m gonna love/hate Omaha Hi.

I folded - not a bad hand, but I wanted to play tight so I folded it. Yea, bad move.

Board:

4 of a kind. Grumble. I prolly wouldn’t have got much for callers the winner had two pair. But still. Kinda stings. Happens.

If there was only a 7 in my hand I would have stayed.

www.andybloch.com - Because he is really cool.

pokerwire.com - Because their live tourney chip count is better than your’s. And your stack is in front you.

www.pokerpages.com - Because you didn’t even know this much information existed.

www.wpapoker.com - Because they are doing more than you for the good of poker.

Ante Up Blog and Podcast - Because they have better guests than Bill O’Riley. (if you don’t have iTunes, get it. If you have Linux, use google)

That’s it for today!