Balance
Typical. I go off yesterday about how good I've gotten at sucking people out of chips with pocket Aces and someone does it to me early tonight at Startime. I wasn't the first person to bust out of the tournament, but I was probably third or fourth.
There were five of us at the table, and I was in the big blind for 200. I had A6o. Everyone called the BB around to me and I thought I'd be a smart ass and raised it to 1200 to go. Two callers. The flop is all low garbage. I figure I'll blow the other two guys off and bet another 1000. First guy calls without blinking. The second guy thinks about it for a few seconds then folds.
Now at this point if I was playing even half way decent I'd be worried. Someone has called my large bets twice without thinking about it. Hubris was in the driver's seat at this point though. Has everyone met my Uncle Hubris? He's on the same side of the family as my cousin Cletus, but has a few more teeth.
Nothing on the turn. I throw another 1000 in the pot, mostly in desperation. Called.
The river is also no help. I check. For some reason he checks also and shows his pocket Aces. I muck without showing and stare down at my huge remaining stack of 900. The next hand I'm in the small blind and fold, leaving me with 800.
On the button, I'm dealt A8o. I usually like to play the dead man's hand as one of my hands to go crazy with so I don't play too tight. I push in my last 800 and everyone folds except the guy to my right who calls and flips up Big Slick.
Everyone had been congratulating me for winning on Tuesday and now they were looking at me and asking "what happened?" At least I can go to sleep early tonight.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Hatch on a Roll
Day four of ketosis has come and gone. No big problems. I walked after I got home from poker tonight for about 20 minutes. My pants were much looser today. Okay, okay, they were looser because the button fell off when I went to the can this morning at work.
Tonight at the Sidelines Grill poker tournament, I placed third, which is my best finish there so far. I made the final table of 8 people in about fifth place in chips, and slowly got grinded down by the blinds and fishing for some cards. My final hand was an measly 20k all in with KJo. I got called by one of the monster stacks with an A8. I hit a K on the flop, but he hit two pair and I walked away with 10 bucks in house cash.
I doubled up on the first hand of the tournament when I was dealt Big Slick offsuit. The flop was garbage with an 8 and the only other guy in the pot made a fairly small raise so I called. The turn was a K and I raised about 1k which he called. The River was an A. He pushes all in and I call with my two pair. He shows A8o and gets to sit there stunned as the first guy out of the tournament.
The hand I was most proud of was the only pocket Aces I was dealt tonight on the big blind, which was 600. I raised it 600 more and had about 4 callers, one of which was the short stack who was all in. The flop was an AK8 rainbow. I put on my semi-disgusted look and checked, hoping for someone else to bet. It was checked around and the turn was some garbage card. I pushed in at this point and the calling station across from me called. Everyone else folded and since I had him covered we turned the cards up and he had a K. The river was no help to him since he was drawing dead and I pulled a large pile of chips over to myself and knocked two players at once off the table.
I'm not bragging, but I feel like I've gotten pretty good at sucking large amounts of chips out of calling stations lately. When you know they can't beat you and they call you after you push in it's one of the greatest feelings in the world. You feel like you're a demigod among mere mortals, but then a few hands later your pocket cowboys get kicked in the teeth and you quickly come back down to earth.
I did make one large raise after it was folded around to me in the small blind with The Hammer, but I had to fold it after I got called and the flop was something like AKJ.
Day four of ketosis has come and gone. No big problems. I walked after I got home from poker tonight for about 20 minutes. My pants were much looser today. Okay, okay, they were looser because the button fell off when I went to the can this morning at work.
Tonight at the Sidelines Grill poker tournament, I placed third, which is my best finish there so far. I made the final table of 8 people in about fifth place in chips, and slowly got grinded down by the blinds and fishing for some cards. My final hand was an measly 20k all in with KJo. I got called by one of the monster stacks with an A8. I hit a K on the flop, but he hit two pair and I walked away with 10 bucks in house cash.
I doubled up on the first hand of the tournament when I was dealt Big Slick offsuit. The flop was garbage with an 8 and the only other guy in the pot made a fairly small raise so I called. The turn was a K and I raised about 1k which he called. The River was an A. He pushes all in and I call with my two pair. He shows A8o and gets to sit there stunned as the first guy out of the tournament.
The hand I was most proud of was the only pocket Aces I was dealt tonight on the big blind, which was 600. I raised it 600 more and had about 4 callers, one of which was the short stack who was all in. The flop was an AK8 rainbow. I put on my semi-disgusted look and checked, hoping for someone else to bet. It was checked around and the turn was some garbage card. I pushed in at this point and the calling station across from me called. Everyone else folded and since I had him covered we turned the cards up and he had a K. The river was no help to him since he was drawing dead and I pulled a large pile of chips over to myself and knocked two players at once off the table.
I'm not bragging, but I feel like I've gotten pretty good at sucking large amounts of chips out of calling stations lately. When you know they can't beat you and they call you after you push in it's one of the greatest feelings in the world. You feel like you're a demigod among mere mortals, but then a few hands later your pocket cowboys get kicked in the teeth and you quickly come back down to earth.
I did make one large raise after it was folded around to me in the small blind with The Hammer, but I had to fold it after I got called and the flop was something like AKJ.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Tuesday at Startime
As I've said before, I've had no luck at Startime in the Tuesday tournament since the new round started about 8 weeks ago. With no points and no wins, the only way I can earn a spot in the Championship Round on May 10 would be to win one of the final two weekly tournaments or maybe place high in both and limp in on the edge with points.
It didn't look promising tonight. I almost didn't go because I'm on the third day of my low carb diet and spent the day in a sugar crash. I showed up on time though, and sat down at table 2. For the first hour I pretty much stayed even, though I did dip down to only about 2k in chips from my starting allotment of 5000.
Tonight ended up being one of those nights where things started to finally come together. I played in my first live Texas Hold'em tournment in Atlanta exactly 11 weeks ago. I've done a lot of studying since that first awful night. I've also played a lot of hands on PokerStars and the really crappy ESPN tournament.
I patiently threw away starting crap cards, even things like K9o or A6o that I usually really like to play. When I did hit something I sold the hand as best I could. I threw in some acting, with lots of misdirection. I kept up with how people were playing. I only paid to see the river on a straight draw once, but it was cheap and I had enormous pot odds.
One of my best hands I sold near the end of the tournament, just before the final table. I flopped a K high spade flush. In the past I probably would have raised large at that point to get the hand over with. This time I just called a small bet twice. On the final bet I check raised and pushed all in. I was worried about the Ace of Spades being out there, especially with 4 spades showing after the river, but I had the only other player pretty well covered in chips. He called showing two pair. One more victim bounced out.
Once the final table started, I was sitting in about the middle position in chips. I tightened down a lot, but was still agressive when I needed to be. By the time it got down to 3 people, I had knocked a couple of people out and had an enormous chip lead. I went in to bully mode at that point, but I also was getting some good cards. I knocked the 3rd place person out and finally it was down to me and a girl named Heather who is a school teacher who graduated from Auburn.
During the 6 hands before the final one, I pushed in 5 times, forcing Heather to fold. At this point I could tell she was getting really tired of me taking the blinds with brute force. On the final hand I would have folded if she had raised at all, which she probably should have done since she was on the button. She just called and I checked out of the big blind.
The flop was 72K. I went in to full acting mode at this point. She checked and I sighed, looked at my cards, sighed again then checked. Fourth Street brought a J. She checked. I looked at my hole cards again, made a face, then checked. Fifth street was some type of low card.
Heather checked and then started staring at me. I did a little more acting then said "All In" in a disgusted tone. She glanced down at her chips, looked back at me and said "I call, what've you got?"
I turned over my 7 and my 2 and exclaimed "The Hammer Baybee!"
I have no idea what she had since she mucked and accused my parents of not being married.
My first live tournament win, and against an Auburn grad to boot. How much sweeter could my poker life get?
As I've said before, I've had no luck at Startime in the Tuesday tournament since the new round started about 8 weeks ago. With no points and no wins, the only way I can earn a spot in the Championship Round on May 10 would be to win one of the final two weekly tournaments or maybe place high in both and limp in on the edge with points.
It didn't look promising tonight. I almost didn't go because I'm on the third day of my low carb diet and spent the day in a sugar crash. I showed up on time though, and sat down at table 2. For the first hour I pretty much stayed even, though I did dip down to only about 2k in chips from my starting allotment of 5000.
Tonight ended up being one of those nights where things started to finally come together. I played in my first live Texas Hold'em tournment in Atlanta exactly 11 weeks ago. I've done a lot of studying since that first awful night. I've also played a lot of hands on PokerStars and the really crappy ESPN tournament.
I patiently threw away starting crap cards, even things like K9o or A6o that I usually really like to play. When I did hit something I sold the hand as best I could. I threw in some acting, with lots of misdirection. I kept up with how people were playing. I only paid to see the river on a straight draw once, but it was cheap and I had enormous pot odds.
One of my best hands I sold near the end of the tournament, just before the final table. I flopped a K high spade flush. In the past I probably would have raised large at that point to get the hand over with. This time I just called a small bet twice. On the final bet I check raised and pushed all in. I was worried about the Ace of Spades being out there, especially with 4 spades showing after the river, but I had the only other player pretty well covered in chips. He called showing two pair. One more victim bounced out.
Once the final table started, I was sitting in about the middle position in chips. I tightened down a lot, but was still agressive when I needed to be. By the time it got down to 3 people, I had knocked a couple of people out and had an enormous chip lead. I went in to bully mode at that point, but I also was getting some good cards. I knocked the 3rd place person out and finally it was down to me and a girl named Heather who is a school teacher who graduated from Auburn.
During the 6 hands before the final one, I pushed in 5 times, forcing Heather to fold. At this point I could tell she was getting really tired of me taking the blinds with brute force. On the final hand I would have folded if she had raised at all, which she probably should have done since she was on the button. She just called and I checked out of the big blind.
The flop was 72K. I went in to full acting mode at this point. She checked and I sighed, looked at my cards, sighed again then checked. Fourth Street brought a J. She checked. I looked at my hole cards again, made a face, then checked. Fifth street was some type of low card.
Heather checked and then started staring at me. I did a little more acting then said "All In" in a disgusted tone. She glanced down at her chips, looked back at me and said "I call, what've you got?"
I turned over my 7 and my 2 and exclaimed "The Hammer Baybee!"
I have no idea what she had since she mucked and accused my parents of not being married.
My first live tournament win, and against an Auburn grad to boot. How much sweeter could my poker life get?
Day Three
No cheating today. My appetite has actually slacked off, which is a good thing. It was raining most of the day here in Atlanta, so I walked in the parking deck after work. I went up about 5 levels, which was about half a mile with a good incline. The pace I set had me somewhat winded by the time I got in my car and headed off for poker. I'm in the groove now I think. Most of today was spent in the sugar crash stage, so my energy levels should pick up a lot later this week.
No cheating today. My appetite has actually slacked off, which is a good thing. It was raining most of the day here in Atlanta, so I walked in the parking deck after work. I went up about 5 levels, which was about half a mile with a good incline. The pace I set had me somewhat winded by the time I got in my car and headed off for poker. I'm in the groove now I think. Most of today was spent in the sugar crash stage, so my energy levels should pick up a lot later this week.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Deep Poker Thoughts
I've been thinking more about the hand I layed down last week where I was facing an all in from someone I was sure had a pair of Aces and I was on a flush draw with two cards to come. I've come to the conclusion after doing some research that I made the right decision.
A lot of what I've been reading lately relates to Texas Hold'em in general, mostly in regards to ring games. Since I play only in tournaments, I need to be careful to apply that fact to anything that I read. Pot odds are a great tool I think, even in tournaments, but it was still too early for me to risk what would have been most of my stack with only a 1 in 3 chance to make my hand.
If I had actually been in the money in the tournament at that point I think it would have been OK to gamble and try to knock the other player out, but with 8 people at the table I don't think you can justify risking your entire stack with a hand that you don't actually have yet.
I've been thinking more about the hand I layed down last week where I was facing an all in from someone I was sure had a pair of Aces and I was on a flush draw with two cards to come. I've come to the conclusion after doing some research that I made the right decision.
A lot of what I've been reading lately relates to Texas Hold'em in general, mostly in regards to ring games. Since I play only in tournaments, I need to be careful to apply that fact to anything that I read. Pot odds are a great tool I think, even in tournaments, but it was still too early for me to risk what would have been most of my stack with only a 1 in 3 chance to make my hand.
If I had actually been in the money in the tournament at that point I think it would have been OK to gamble and try to knock the other player out, but with 8 people at the table I don't think you can justify risking your entire stack with a hand that you don't actually have yet.
Day Two
I'm in full blown ketosis right now. It tastes like I've been chewing on aluminum foil all day. No cheating today and I walked right after supper tonight. I'm going to walk at lunch tomorrow so it won't interfere with poker tomorrow night. I'll add a few extra steps by parking way in the back of the parking lot also. Using the steps instead of the elevator whenever possible is also in the plan currently.
I'm in full blown ketosis right now. It tastes like I've been chewing on aluminum foil all day. No cheating today and I walked right after supper tonight. I'm going to walk at lunch tomorrow so it won't interfere with poker tomorrow night. I'll add a few extra steps by parking way in the back of the parking lot also. Using the steps instead of the elevator whenever possible is also in the plan currently.
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