Poker Lizard The Blog

PokerLizard Poker Room Now Open

2009-04-01T16:24:00.003-06:00

You can now play poker with PokerLizard! We are now part of the National League of Of Poker a 100% free poker site, other than the opportunity cost of looking at annoying advertisements. They give away cash and prizes every day, some of the prizes are surprisingly good like $2500 trips to Vegas or $1000 cash. Some prized kind of suck like points, but you can redeem the points for tourney buyins.

So check it out and come play with Texter on PokerLizard Poker.

http://www.pokerlizard.com/poker.html

PokerStars Blogger Tourney

2008-12-16T16:03:00.001-07:00

Denied by these clowns...they let some awful bloggers in, but quality doesn't matter.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 099869

Taking a step back and reflecting

2008-06-19T00:05:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm not one of the most active posters on the Poker Lizard Blog, but I've been doing a lot of reflecting on this beautiful game of poker. In the bar leagues that I play at, I'm considered one of the most respected and dangerous poker players out there. In fact, I overheard someone tell me that if they had to pick a top 10, I would be in the last. Very humbling to hear since I haven't played seriously in such a long time.

The reason why I'm writing this post is in response to what Mr. Devonshire wrote in his blog. He wrote something that hit me at home. He said the following

"The other thing that I've been thinking a lot about these last two weeks is how sick this game is. Y'all know about my gnarly run from July to December last year, losing 100k and breaking myself. After the soul searching and everything I did, I had decided in January that if nothing good happened by the 25k next week I was quitting poker. Why? I wasn't having fun anymore
...."

That's the way I felt for such a long time about poker. Granted, I'm not a true grinder, a consummate pro. In fact, I'm still longing for the days where I get my butt back into the casino and start dominating the games again. However, I wasn't having fun either. It felt more like work, and when you have such a mentality, then you don't want to do it anymore. I think the beautiful thing about poker is that it brings people together (Sidenote: That's how I met my girlfriend is through poker), but it was the same stuff over and over again. It wasn't that I was playing poorly and not up to par, but sometimes, when I played my games and saw someone do a "donkey" move and get paid off on it, I would be like, "Why do I work so f***'ing hard and not get results." The mentality was getting me in trouble.

Here's the thing that I wanted to say is the most important. If you need a break from something you love, then take it. A poker game will always be there whether it be at a casino, poker room, or home game. What I really needed was a break from it all, and from that, I started developing other games that I'm becoming more adept at. It took a break from poker for me to realize why I love the game so much, and if you are hitting that wall like I did, it might be something you need as well. Don't get me wrong, I didn't completely take a break from poker cold turkey. I always wrote in my poker journals, set up situations for myself to see what I would do, but I dramatically cut my playing time to get my mentality back. If you need a break, take it.

Freerolling to the WSOP take 2

2008-05-23T12:25:00.004-06:00

So in the last blog I talked about trying to satellite into the World Series of Poker main event by entering free rolls and low buyin events. If you read this blog, you will know that I played in about 200 hundred of the freerolls on Full Tilt Poker and gave up trying the freerolls and qualified for a satellite by using points.

This year it took about 10 of these things for me to win, turns out the top 2 make it in the next round satellite, I made it to the final table in the chip lead and cruised to the finish...getting quad tens didn't hurt. I'll play in a round 2 and if by some miracle I finish high in that one, it's on to the real satellite for a seat.

Last year I would go in every first hand no matter how bad my holding was, this year I changed it up a bit, I'd wait until I had a decent starting hand then jam, it seems to work better, I made it deep in about half of the freerolls I got into.

Good luck to all you other low rollers trying to make it.

Freerollin' to the World Series of Poker

2008-05-23T10:00:00.002-06:00

So I'm trying to satellite into the main event, played a few Full Tilt freerolls where you go all in the first hand no matter what since only 1 person goes on to the next qualifier. Some people actually play these things tight..silly.

Also, played an $8 shootout style where I got JJ and went all in on the first hand and lost to KJ when one guy got a straight on the river.

Then I played a $14 satellite to a bigger satellite, had to finish in the top 8 out of 36 to make it to the next satellite (30 min qualify for the 150 seat giveaway). I basically played super tight until my BB's got under 10, then I jammed whenever I was in position...got TT and tripled up when there were 15 people left and coasted to the end. So now I'm playing the second step on June 1st.
Pokerstars let's you play in a freeroll once a week if you qualify through that you can play in the 200 seat giveaway...total crapshoot but for free...why not.

Play doesn't get anywhere near realistic until you're down to the last few tables. It would be cool to be that guy who parlays a few bucks into a seat.

Slot-Boom-Bam! by SmoothCaller

2007-12-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm reading Rolf Slotboom's "Secret of Professional Pot-Limit Omaha". If you've never heard of Rolf, you probably should have. He's one of the best long-time contributors to Cardplayer magazine and editor of Cardplayer Europe. He's also one hell of a strong PLO player and has built quite a legacy among the biggest games in Vienna and Austria.

He starts by outlining the system that made him a lot of money at the start of his career. (and for all I know, he still employs it today). The premise is simple: buy in short (about 20 BB's) and wait for a monster hand to get all the money in pre-flop. Sounds corny, right? Hard to imagine one of the winningest PLO pros of all time championing a playing style that seems so....basic. Well, he does, and the beauty of the system is how little thinking and risk is involved. Without going into full details (of which there are plenty), you try to get a seat at a loose-aggressive table, preferably to the right of a maniac, limp and then re-raise preflop with a monster hand and hope for the best.

What will happen many times is that the maniac will either isolate you or bet the others out of the pot - players that may have beaten you, but who are now out of the picture. And if you've played even 40 hands of PLO, you know that a lot can happen by the river...

So I started on Ultimate Bet, one of my favorite sites next to FullTilt, with a small roll of $288 last Friday. I had been building it up from $100 playing tiny NLH and PLO games, but was ready to put the Rolf system into action and see how it went. Another key to keeping the EV positive is you have to have at least 2 tables going at once. So 2 it was. (I tried 3 and PLO gets exponentially harder to pay attention to above 2 tables...at least for me).

The only problem with UB is their low-level games of PLO aren't ever all that full. I like the .50/1 tables, and .25/.50 as a backup, and there just are never more than 1 or 2 tables at those levels with players. So I put $30 into a $.50/1 table and on the very first hand of my Slotboom adventure, picked up double-suited aces. Then, believe it or not, I got it all in pre-flop with no less than 5 callers! Flopped one of my flushes and felt only semi-good. Of course the board paired and I got boated, losing only my $30 but also a chance at $150. Oh well.

The next few days have been a rollercoaster. Went down to $200, up to $280, down to $140, back up to $215, and finally tonight got to $297. Every session was at least 30 minutes long, and 2 tables. Yet another tenet of the Rolf system is that once you've doubled up or more, pull out...unless you're still a very short stack in relation to the rest of the table. What you don't want is to be in the middle of the pack. Stacks are deep and the decisions get tougher. Of course, on a site like UB where you may not have multiple options to hit and run, you're stuck - cause you can't leave a table and jump back in with any less than what you left with. Makes sense, but also tough to keep the system moving if you hit some big pots.

All in all, I love it. Great way to keep you focused on only playing the most solid PLO hands, and yet not risking much of your roll even if you're all-in. I've had a few major triple and quadruple ups, which are always fun. The book runs down some odds which are very interesting, as well as other tips on table selection and betting patterns. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through and can't wait to see what lies ahead.

I'll post back in a week or so with some more results. At this point, I'm not too concerned with building the bank too much, just making the right plays. Still, would be nice to say I'm up a few hundred...oh, and go pick up Rolf's book, pronto!

Hope to see ya at the UB PLO tables. I'm the tight arse one they call Smooothcaller.

Happy Holidays!

Sit n Go Ramblings!

2007-11-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

So last night I am stayed home with the kids and decided to play some poker on-line. I play on UB. I like the interface, can always get a game pretty quick and I have not had problems depositing or withdrawing money from the site. All pluses in my book.

I try to play two sit and gos and one cash game. Occasionally, I will play 4 tables at a time. But once my tourneys get down to three people I need to get up from the cash games to better concentrate. Playing three or four tables prevents me from getting board and playing to many marginal hands.

$10 Tournament number One just started and already two people waiting for my second $10.00 tourney. I think I will play a .25 - .50 NL table tonight. I am torn on weather I like the new bad beat jackpot on UB. I like the twist they added that any one playing at the time it is hit at the same limits will get a share of the pot, but I do not like the fact that UB takes 10%. It seems to me they make enough on the regular rake. I think it would have been more palatable if it was 10% up 30K. Just my opinion though.

Okay so second $10.00 SNGs started about 5 minutes apart and I sat at a .25 .50 NL cash table that I bought in for $30.00 bucks. Unlike, Texter, I think SNGs give excellent value. It is pretty easy to consistently be in the money. A single table generally plays for an hour to an hour and a half. If you win you get 5 times your buy in. You are not going to get rich playing SNGs but you can generally stay even and slowly increase your bankroll if you play smart. My general attitude in sit in go is let the loose cannons blow each other up. Here is a recap of my play on all three of my tables tonight. Pretty typical.

Tourney #1, Buy in $10 + $1 for house: I raised in first position with nines got two callers. Flop comes A 9 J! Jack pot. I am first to act. I check. Second person checks. Third person bets 3/4 of pot. I smooth call. Turn blank. I check they bet I call. River I go all inThey call. One down 8 to go. Now I sit back and wait for hands to raise with. A K raise. Two callers, miss the flop entirely, continuation bet, get a caller, no more of my chips going in the pot unless I hit the turn. Nope. Check he bets I fold. Wait patiently.Mean while someone else gets knocked out. Limp in with 67 suited. Miss bet min. everyone folds. Back to waiting. Play is a little nutty.Blinds are only 15-30 and guy went all in for 870 with KJ in 2nd position. Gets called by QQ. Hits a K on flop. Doubles up. Seems reckless so early in the tourney like that. Two all ins again. Both have AK split pot. They each had over 1350 in chips. Conservativeplay at the beginning of these SNGs is the way to go. Another one bites the dust. I have lost some chips to some calls. I am not third in chips.Well I have the AQ suited in the little blind and the button raised. He had half his stack in and I felt it was a steal so I pushed all in. If I lose then I would be seriously short stacked. Alas. I was right. They had the A6. I hit a queen and another one is out. Down to 6 and I am 2nd in chips. AA take out two players in one hand. 4 left. I am now 3rd in chips. Pocket 10s raised, guy goes all in. Deep breath call. He has j9. I win. down to 3. $$$ Loss some chips when I hit top pair and they hit a straight. Feeling short stacked. Blind 150 300, I have 1920.Need to make a move. AK big stack raises. I go all in. He calls. He has K10. I double up. We all have about the same in chips now. Pocket 22s.Board comes 10A7 turn comes a 10 and as does the river Check to river. He bets pot. I call. DOH he has an ace. Short stack again. Playing three handed for a while now. Guy went all in with pocket 66s and got called by the big stack with the AQ. Spikes an A. Two left. I am short stacked. Need to push with almost anything and hope. Pushed with 85 and hit an 85. Need to double up three more times to be even in chips. I have battled back.We are almost even in chips. Wow went totally card dead. Being patient. Raising with questionable hands now and then. I am bleeding chips. Doubledup with A5 vs K5. I have slightly more chips then him now. Patient. Fold a bit. Win another good hand with high card. Raise all in with KQ they call with QJ. High card Wins. Pays $50.00

2nd $10.00 tournament: Playing a little loose and call with the 6 8 suited. Flop 884. Check. they bet, I come over the top they fold. Well tight play did not last long. I raised with pocket 9s and found myself pot committed. Oops. Luck out they have two big cards that do not hit. I win the race and double up. Things going poorly. Guy raises. I have AQ so try to push him off his hand. I go all in. He calls. He has pocket 55s. I get knocked out 5th. Can not win them all.

Ring game
So far I have 20 hands played 5. Sit and wait. Like to see flops with two high cards, suited connectors and pairs. I fold A LOT! Limped in onthe button with KQ, flop the nuts. Some one bets pot. I just call. Turn a blank. They check I bet slightly bigger then there previous bet. They call. River makes a runner runner flush and pairs the board. I am not happy. They check. Safe play would be check. But I just do not thinkthe way they hand unfolded they had two pair. So I go all in for my last 13.50. After much table talk, non by me. They call. I now have $45.50.So far so good. Back to sit and wait. Been playing for a while. Have not hit any flops and I am down to 40 bucks. I get up.

Net for this session. $50.00 tourney$40.00 cash gamesubtract 22 for tourney buy in and 30 for ring game.
$38 bucks up an hour and a half later. Not to bad to get paid for my entertainment.

Next time I think I will babble about low limit Omaha H/L. Till next.. Bet if you got it, Bluff if you think they don't!

Story of my SNG life

2007-11-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

so I got $75 in my Pokerstars account due to someone signing up with pokerstars through one of our affiliate deal...so I decided to play only Single table Sit N Goes with the money to see if I could work it up and to test some SNG strategies. Since I only started with $75 I decided on the $5.50 non turbo NLHE SNGs.

I'm beginning to think it may be impossible to beat these things...even if you finish 2nd every third SNG you aren't making squat...you pay $16.50 and get $13.50...that's a $1 loss per SNG.... You'd have to play 43 at a time like Hevad "Rain" Khan and win 1 out of 3 to make this crap worth your while. Not to mention the fact that you are guaranteed to have a long stretch of getting screwed. Due to their nature you will take bad beats aplenty...here is a nice example.

I have AA with about $2500 early in the SNG I'm currently playing...the guy UTG goes all in...I go all in over the top...and the BB calls us both...UTG shows TT and the BB shows KhQh...

so the flop comes down all spades...none of us has a spade...turn...another spade...river the Ten of spades...brutal.

So at my high point of this experiment I had $118...after several unfortunate beats I'm down to $85. Currently, I'm 1st of 4 to go...wish me luck..this may be my last one...I've concluded that SNGs kind of suck.

Low Limit Poker and Chad Brown....by Texter

2007-07-08T16:05:00.000-06:00

Well I'm covering the WSOP for Pokerlizard.com again this year from my cushy digs at the Gold Coast. I brought the wife with me this year but she is 6 months pregnant so we don't do a whole lot of sight seeing...but we do do a lot of playing very low limit poker.

All the Gold Coast spreads is $1/$2 NLHE and $2/$4, $4/$8 Limit Hold'em with half-kill...big time baby! The first night I took the first available seat and it was the $1/$2 NLHE...I was up about $60 when I decided to bluff a guy when I held 44...oops. Eventually, I quit down about $79 from being tired from the trip. The next night, I took the first available seat and it was $2/$4 Limit Hold'em. I played for about 5 hours and won $255...It was unbelievable how bad the players are; they cannot get away from a hand, so I snapped off several big pots on the river.

The next night I figured..may as well play the $2/$4 again...cashed out up $116 after nothing too interesting. After covering the WSOP all day I headed back over to the poker room to meet the wife for dinner, since it was July 7, 2007 the casino was having all kinds of specials...$7.77 buffet etc.

I started playing the $2/$4 again since I'm such a playa...and the poker room manager says...anyone who gets two 7's as their hole cards will win $100 if they are the same color; and if someone gets quad 7's..they will win $100. So about an hour later my first hole card is the 7 of hearts, so I'm hoping for the 7 of diamonds...sure enough I get it...so now I want the hand to end quickly before someone else tables two sevens...the flop comes Jc7cQs...so I bet out to protect my hand get about 4 callers, sure enough the case 7 appears on the turn and I win a big pot and $200 extra...not bad for $2/$4...i tip the dealer $20 and start drinking coronas faster than Men the Master...I quit about 4 orbits later up a total of $283.

Only one more night here at the WSOP so it looks like I may actually be able to cover the wife's losings!

Today I interviewed Chad Brown during the first break of day 1c of the Main event. That guy really does have some pythons for biceps and he seems to be a very nice guy. I didn't needle him about dating his daughter...I'm sure he gets enough of that. The guy has 7 cashes at the WSOP this year in several different types of poker but he still is being eluded in getting that first bracelet...he told me he had Erik Seidel all in 3 times during their headsup match for the 2-7 triple draw title but got outdrawn each time...he wasn't upset at all...he said as long as I play my best I can't be unhappy.

Seems like a good philosophy...of course going home to Vanessa doesn't hurt too much either.

WSOP with two of online's biggest names

2007-07-06T18:27:00.000-06:00

I'll bet the WSOP this year is won by a european, due to the US legislation, the Rio is overflowing with Euros. I won't say that Europeans are outnumbering the US contingent this year but it's pretty close.

Yesterday I did two interviews with a couple of the biggest names in online poker, Taylor "Green Plastic" Caby and Brian "sbrugby" Townsend. They are both here promoting the online training site Cardrunners.com (you can check out my review of the site here). Brian bought into the site after I did the review, you should definitely check it out if you're looking to take your game up a knotch.

I was impressed with both Taylor and Brian; but they are two very different people, when I asked them both what they would do if Online poker became 100% illegal in the US; Taylor said he would probably get a job on wall street as a trader; Brian said he would have to buy a place in Vegas, a place in Nice, and a place in Santa Barbara and spend a third of his time in each place. Although, neither one expressed much interest in being a long time poker pro.

Brian is playing in the Main Event right now and Taylor plays on day 3; you can check out the rest of the interviews in the near future on PokerLizard.com

Freerollin my way to the World Series....by Texter

2007-06-18T13:49:00.000-06:00

Full Tilt Poker is putting on about 1 million freerolls to satellite into the Main Event of the WSOP...ok really a satellite to a satellite. In the first freeroll you have to beat from 314 to 629; if you win that one you have to finish in the top 9 of some gigantic freeroll...usually about 3000 players. So basically, you have a snowballs chance in hell of qualifying this way....but it's free and my wife is out scrapbooking and my kids are in bed; so I figure what the heck; how tough can it be?

So far I've played in about 5000 (ok maybe 50) of these crapshoots, I think I'm addicted...along with 9 million other players (each SNG fills up in about 20 seconds) basically they all start the same way; half the table goes all in on the first hand with anything and the other half are just not thinking about the big picture...you have to finish first...and there will be another freeroll starting in about 2 minutes. My computer is a POS so I can only play about 4 at a time...See the pic above.

My goal in these things is just to actually win one of them...I have no real illusions about wining a seat at the WSOP. The tourney's actually start to calm down when we're down to around 50 people and I make a few final tables.

I end up busting out with a couple 5ths and a 4th...but it's taken several hours of my life and I feel like I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome so I decide to quit playing these things and switch to points tourneys. For 600 points, I can play in a Sit N Go that will qualify me for a 5k point satellite to the $1k buyin Main Event tourney. These things play a lot more straightforward and I win on my second try after my opponent inexplicably folds all of his hands when we are headsup...maybe he disconnected...I don't really care...I'm just glad this experiment is over.

Of course, now I have to finish in the top 3 to satellite into the $1k; but at least I qualified for something...and can quit these things....I hope. Wish me luck.

WSOP Live! by Texter

2007-06-13T08:20:00.000-06:00

So I read on some forums that worldseriesofpoker.com was going to show the webcast Final Table of the Ladies only event for free; normally you pay a $49.95 to get access to watch all of the final tables they are showing. They must not be doing particulary well since they offered this up as a free sample. I can't see too many people coughing up the cash after last night's table.

That final table was the most boring final table I've ever seen, most of the women were playing ABC poker and were extremely passive....even when they were on extremely short stacks. One woman folded AcKc to a short stacks allin bet, and another folded JJ to a raise and a call. The entire night was...fold...fold...fold...one player raises...fold...fold...fold... over and over and over, one woman had AA and everyone folded to her HUGE raise...then she got AA again and the announcers figured she would limp or raise smallish to try and get action...nope...she raised the same amount again and everyone folded.

Even the announcers were bored, and they're being paid to watch the event. There was virtually no trapping or bluffing whatsoever...it was brutal. It took several hours to get from 6 players to 5; eventually, the blinds got so big that it was just an allin fest.

Sorry ladies, but this event was awful. Even the lovely Liz Lieu as guest host couldn't save it.

The art of looking bad....?

2007-04-29T11:20:00.000-06:00

As I grow as an individual, my poker playing has grown as well. I went from what some called me as a super tight player to having an image if I'm bluffing or not. To me, that's one of the best images to have.

A couple of my poker buddies and I were having a discussion on our own unique playing styles, and they all came up with the conclusion that, "Man, I make some of the dumbest and gutsy plays in our crew." My discussions with other poker buddies I play with on-line that are what I call my apprentices, and they always ask me, "What does it take to become a great poker player?"

Now, I know we are all familiar with the wall. If not, let me describe it to you. It's that point in your life / career where you feel you hit the threshold, and you CAN'T go any further. Well, in certain conditions, that might not be a bad alternative. But in poker, if you think you hit the wall, you better think again.

I've told this many times to my girlfriend, "The reason why I'm so critical of my play and the reason why I say that I'm not good at poker is because once I think I'm good, I'll start slacking off. I won't work as hard, and I guarantee you that some young kid out there will find the same enthusiasm I have in poker, and will beat me. I don't want that to happen."

So, what's my solution to hitting that wall?

This is where the art of looking bad comes into play.

I call this an art, because it takes real skill to try new things out, add them to your bag of tricks, and find more tricks to add to your bag.

The reason why I call it the art of looking bad is because for starters you, as a poker player, are going to try things that are out of your comfort zone. Whatever you are accustomed to, it's time to push through it. Let's say if you are a super tight player like I was, it's time to experiment on the other side of the coin, which is super aggression. Likewise, if you are a super aggressive poker player, try to play tight to see what's it like.

There are two poker players that come to mind when I talk about this as an art form and that's Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen.

Gus Hansen is probably my favorite in terms of this, because he's not afraid to go with his gut and make a call. Also, he's not afraid of looking bad at the sake of winning a championship. His prime example is the Poker Superstars III. In one match, he moved in every single time or pretty much raised everyone all-in. All those all-ins completely nullify any form of post-flop play, and shows that he's not afraid to lose. He's willing to put it all on the line whether that makes him look bad or not.

Daniel Negreanu is a person that I consider to be one of my favorite poker players, and in some sense, is part of the art of looking bad. From what I've read from his blogs and watching his critical hands in poker tournaments, he makes pretty gutsy calls to get information or to go with his read. And I believe in the poker world, Negreanu is one of the best "readers", which makes him super dangerous. The one instance I remember is when he was playing David Williams heads up and he called him with Ace high to see what he had. He did that just so he could gain more information.

So, if you feel like you hit a threshold or the wall, try to add more tricks to your arsenal. Go a different style to see what it's like. Look at what some of the top pros do and add what you think are their best qualities, and add it to your bag. With that way of looking at your poker development, I don't see why you should even hit the wall.

Remember, looking bad for the sake of learning more in poker might not be such a bad idea. I'll leave you with that thought.

Peace out, and Good luck to all you card playing party people,

-The DarkDragon

Erick Lindgren Owns Phil Gordon on Poker After Dark...by Texter

2007-03-13T15:12:00.000-06:00

On this weeks Poker After Dark featuring E-Dog (Erick Lindgren) and Phil Gordon (along with Phil Ivey, Jennifer Tilly, Patrick Antonius and Jennifer Harman); Erick Lindgren basically calls Phil Gordon an idiot who can only analyze a poker hand when he has a hole card camera to use. Probably the funniest exchange I've seen on the show so far.

Basically, Phil comments that he thought Erick was on a flush draw after Patrick had called Erick's bluff which Erick didn't show. Erick was already fed up with Phil after Gordon had made a speech before play started (something about trying to play with the most mentally challenged players possible but not doing a very good job this week...) he asked Gordon if he read that speech of a teleprompter as if he wrote it a long time ago. Then Gordon goes on some diatribe about how great Patrick's life must be. He calls Patrick the chosen one...and Antonius says "chosen for what?"...all the while Gordon keeps guessing at other peoples hands...then the Lindgren incident occurs.

Phil kind of comes across like that kid from your neighborhood who tries much too hard to be everyone's friend but no one really likes. His quest for validation from the other players is pretty transparent.

Click the link to check it out at the 5 minute mark of segment 2: Poker After Dark

I wonder if this incident predicated Phil Gordon's article about Lindgren on ESPN? which you can read about in Daniel Negreanu's blog here: Daniel's Blog

Death by Short Stack by Texter

2007-02-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

Two times in the last two days I've made the same boneheaded play. Since I can't get money into poker sites due to the Neteller situation my funds are severely limited, so instead of dropping down to a lower level I decided to buy in at the minimum.

So I actually win a few small pots, when I get dealt JJ in the middle position. No one has come into the pot yet and I raise it 3.5x the Big Blind. Everyone folds to the Big Blind who calls my bet. The flop comes down 8-6-2, and the big blind bets out approximately half the pot. I decide to raise to see where I am so I bet about 3x his raise. He then proceeds to go allin.

This is where buying in at the minimum is a huge mistake, I now only have about 1/10th of the pot in my stack so I'm committed to calling, even though I am 95% sure that I'm beaten. Sure enough he had QQ and I'm busted. If I had bought in at the max I could've easily folded, but I basically cost myself due to the stubborness in not going down a level.

Then like a total dummy, I bought in short again the next day, get KJ in the BB, call a 4x preflop raise, flop comes J93, and get busted in exactly the same way...this time by AA.

Well, it wasn't too expensive but I've certainly learned my lesson. For most players, buying in short is a bad bad idea.

Worst Poker Players in the World...by Texter

2006-11-20T10:00:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I read a book called Hunting Fish - A Cross-Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players by Jay Greenspan. In the book Jay basically goes on a 3 month journey across the country to raise a large enough bankroll to play in one of the bigger games out in California. He is trying to figure out if he has the poker "chops" to become a poker pro, he even makes a stop in my hometown of Houston, Texas. If you're a poker book junky you may want to check it, if not then you should probably give it a pass since there are other books you should check out first (Positively Fifth Street for one).
Well Jay, I think I've found the worst poker players...let me give you two words...Cruise Ship! I went on a 7 day Caribbean cruise with my wife and played 3 sessions of poker against the worst players I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the ship only had one poker table and the game spread was $5/$10 Limit Hold'em (the first night was $3/$6 to entice people to try it out). I basically played by the book pre-flop unless I was on the button, then I would play pretty much any hand that held some promise.
It was no-fold'em hold'em at it's finest, guys would call raises and re-raises on the river with bottom pair low kicker...it was beautiful. Unfortunately, this style of poker will lead to some wicked beats, I had my Aces cracked by 10-6 offsuit when the turn and river came Ten, Ten, but overall it was pretty much like printing money. One night I was down to $16 and was starting to steam a little when I had a vision of Phil Hellmuth in my head telling me to stay patient...sure enough on my next button I get KT and more than triple up to $89 when I get a King on the flop and River. The cards finally start coming and when they shut down the table I walk off with $485.
I ended up winning each session I played and had fantasies of living on this ship and just paying my way by fleecing the tourists...my wife vetoed that idea. I think the lethal combination of too much sun and fruity cocktails did more to pad my bankroll than my skillful play, face it these guys are on vacation and want to have fun...so if I thought a bad player was about to quit or was playing too well, I'd buy them a drink with their money and that would basically force them to stay a couple more rounds or play worse. So if you want to make some easy money...take a cruise...

WSOP Final Day...for me by Texter

2006-11-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well it's the final day of the WSOP for me, but the first day of the main event (Notice how I'm pretending that I'm not a lazy slob and took a long time to write this post). The main event starts at noon so I head down from my luxury suite at the Gold Coast for breakfast..which I may have mentioned is the only meal worth eating there. There is a $50+$5 tourney at the Palms at 10 am which I decide to play in, who cares if I miss "shuffle up and deal" I'd rather be playing than watching. The early stages of the big one are not very exciting anyhow.

So I signup for the tourney and end up on the alternate list (there ends up being about 60 people), I get a seat in the second round of blinds, the blinds go up every 20 minutes, so there isn't too much play, the old fold or make a big preflop raise seems to be the order of the day. I'm pretty patient and win a decent sized hand with trip aces. Once it gets down to 3 tables it's an allin fest and I am on life support by the time the final table comes together. One guy suggests a $100 save for everyone where we all get $100 and play for the rest...I am all for the deal since I'm short stacked but one guy says no. I am in the big blind when their is a raise allin and a call in front of me...I look down at the lovely J2. I call since I don't have enough to cover the next round of blinds and catch JJ5 on the flop to more than triple up. The tournament pays the top 5 players and I'm still on the short stack with 6 players left and have been card dead for awhile. I'm in the big blind with QJ...one player goes all in ahead of me...and like an idiot I call. Terrible play. Going all in with QJ is one thing...but calling an allin...what was I thinking! So I get busted on the bubble...so it's off to the Rio.

I head over to the Rio and find out that they won't let any additional spectators into the amazon room due to the crowding and the difficulty of getting players out of the tourney for breaks, so I head over to the Bodog lounge and get a drink. I meet up with Smoothcaller and we hit the Poker Expo. We end up meeting up with the Bluff Magazine guys and we exchange free shirts. We borrow some press passes and they take us back to see their radio operation...which is basically two guys jammed into a tiny closed behind the amazon room. It's crowded but they can see the TV table and do commentary. They let us hear our radio ad and we check out their seats on press row. We chill out in the amazon for awhile watching the TV table but then an hour break starts so we head back to the Poker Expo. We check out the booths and booth babes and hand out the rest of our world famous "Donkey's wear shades" shirts. We contemplate playing in some more tourneys and decide on one at Caesar's palace at 8.

We head over the Bellaggio to eat some dinner at their chinese restaurant, the food was really good and then headed back to the fabulous gold coast to shower up. Smooth heads over to Caesars to signup for the tourney...but it's full so he plays some $1/$2 No-Limit. My girl wants to see some sites since the tourneys full and she's sick of poker so we go check out the Venetian, which was pretty spectacular.

We head back over the Palms because she wants to play Pai Gow Poker but will only play if they have the bonus payout...which I keep telling her is a sucker bet...but she won't believe me. I end up losing $30 playing Pai Gow and then head to the poker room. I'm playing next to this really nice guy who said he fell into the jacuzzi at some party in the hotel and that he's a reality TV show producer...he ends up ordering a steak from room service and they deliver it to the poker table, he is also very drunk and throwing money around. Unfortunately I don't get any of it and lose $50...so now I'm pissed from losing money at Pai Gow and Low limit hold'em...so like any rational degenerate I decide to win it back playing blackjack.

I sit down at the $25 BlackJack table and win two hands in a row, I then make my best decision of the night and quit. I then go eat in the diner at the palms where my girl admits (after losing $100) that pai gow is for suckers. That was the end of our WSOP trip this year...if you see a guy in a pokerlizard hat next year say hi.

The "professionalism" in the poker world: reflections with regard to a cash game

2006-10-21T03:28:00.000-06:00

Before I go on towards discussing professionalism is in poker, I want to shed some light on what happened in our Sunday cash game after the Underground Battles.

This is the scenario that happened.

Character X moves in with K,7 and I call with 10's after much deliberation.

He gets up from his chair and drops the f bomb, because he knows he is "f***ed".

After the flop comes dry, the turn comes a king, which is Character X's money card. The river comes a blank, and I become severely crippled in the cash game. From there, he comes back to the table to rake in the chips, and has this look like he's a genius for sucking out on me. And the bad thing about it, it's not the only time he has had the look.

I got fed up with Character X's attitude so after the hand I said this, "I hate to call you out like this. But you need to stop acting like a little bitch."

The people in the cash game could not believe that I said such a comment. The only response Character X has is, "I act the way I want to act, Neal."

Well, another hand comes into play where he moves in with K,J and I call him A,K after much deliberation. He sucks out again hitting a jack on the turn and on the river. After the hand I say, "This is how you take a beat, you say, "Nice catch" ". I wasn't pissed off that I lost, I was pissed off on how Character X conducted himself at the table, because I had a big part to play in his tootlage of poker.

The reason why this article is called the "professionalism" of poker is because just like any situation, there are a proper set of rules and guidelines that one should act to conduct oneself appropriately. I believe that all these tournaments on T.V have pretty much glamoourized characters such as Mike "The Mouth" and Phil Hellmuth. I hate to break it to everyone, but it's not cool to act in that manner. Granted, they are very respected poker players, but there must be a certain level of conduct that should be strived for.

I would say, the first quality that is important in the poker room is humility. When you make a bad play such as Character X's K,7 suck out and you get lucky, show your opponent some grace and be like, "I got lucky, sorry." Don't have that look like, "Oh, I knew the card was coming." No, you didn't. You lucked out, you should have been gone period. You show your opponent some courtesy by saying, "Luck, sorry." because you acknowledge that you played the hand poorly, and you acknowledge the fact that your opponent should have won the hand. That creates for good business. You don't have the look like you are a f***'ing genius, you have the look of sincerity and humility. That's what a true professional is all about. Don't rub it in his/her fact that you made a bad play and you lucked out. If you want that person to play with you again, then that would NOT be the stepping stone I would take.

So, what's the proper conduct with regards to playing cards? Talk or no talk? Headphones or no headphones? Personally, do whatever you want keeping in mind that luck does have a factor in this game called poker. I wouldn't say my approach is unique, because Daniel Negreanu has had much success with the mentality that I share with him. But, people ENJOY playing with Daniel Negreanu. We all know that he is a world class player, and that he ears and wins like no ones business. He talks with people, he gains his informations, and he dominates. That's the same way I play. I always talk my butt off when I'm playing, and to the extent, I even root for someone's card to come off, simply because I made the right play and I can't do anything about it if that person sucks out on me. Or even if I'm behind, I don't mind losing. It's just a part of the game.

So the next time you decide to throw a tantrum, an attitude, or a fit, remember the reprecussions of that. You not only hurt yourself, because no one wants to play with you, but you hurt your earning power. Our goal in poker is to earn money when we play and get rewarded for our correct plays, considering making the least mistakes as possible.

I'll leave you all with a thought.

You could be a world class poker player, but no one wants to play with you, because your attitude sucks.

Where does that leave you? Think about it...

Introducing myself to Team Poker Lizard

2006-09-15T00:39:00.000-06:00

Before I begin this introduction, I would like to thank PokerLizard for giving me this opportunity to be a part of this blog. It means a lot to me, and I hope that I help give light to other players on how to handle situations through my own learning and my mistakes. I want to give back to the poker community as much as poker itself has given me. So this is my opportunity to do so.

My name is Neal "The DarkDragon" M. I'm co-founder / captain of a poker crew called The Underground Poker Crew. We are based in Omaha, NE through home games we all played together. Eventually, we decided to learn this beautiful game we call poker together by disucssing mindsets, strategies, and whatever poker entails.

My poker background isn't really that impressive. You can look up my information at our website, http://www.theundergroundpokercrew.com Honestly, I'm not going to lie, I'm a micro-limit / low-limit poker player. I've been playing poker for around 3 yars, and I've been through the trails and tribulations of poker, which entails going broke at times. I've read many books on the subject of poker, around 20, and half of them, I have read twice. I play on ultimatebet.com, and if my bankroll permits, I go to the casino to grind it out at the 3-6 Limit games. Yeah, it is a grind, but I love playing poker, so it definitely doesn't bother me when I incur a suck out or two.

So I guess I'll begin this introduction by talking about what route to take to become a better poker player. Since I'm captain of my crew, I have to make sure that I'm always on top of my knowledge, and figuring out what the heck is going on in the world of poker as well as inside of my head. I always run into these different battles from different schools of thought (a play on my philsophical side). Some people prefer to play live, some people stick to on-line, and some people read books as their primary source of getting better at poker. However, I want to refute all those schools of thought and say that each one has a right way of getting better at poker.

Bruce Lee said it best, "Use no way as way, use no limitation as limitation, avoid what is uselss, accept what is useful, and add what is essentially your own." In a nutshell, it means adapt in your approach to the martial arts. In poker, it has that same application. I use all three methods to better my game. When I read books, I'm looking for ideas that I've never discovered or thought, and add it to my bag of tricks. It also gives me an insight into how a certain author considers a poker situation. David Sklansky is the best example I can think of as a premier poker writer.

When I play on-line, I concentrate solely on betting patterns. A lot of professional poker players say that watching betting patterns is great way to get a "read" on a situation. I definitely agree. By playing on-line, you have no choice, but to pay attention to betting patterns and watching how your opponents bet certain hands. Within their betting pattern, there are tells that will give you the message you are looking for, which is to determine whether I should stay in or whehter I need to get in or out. Also, watching how fast someone bets his/her hands is effective in on-line.

Finally, playing live, you have to master the concept of people. Daniel Negreanu said it best about David Sklansky, "He's a great author and writer, but he missed the concept that poker is all about mastering people." I definitely agree on that. In terms of application, consider the live poker room a way to test our your education. As an analogy, the other two methods (on-line play and books) are your textbooks and the poker room is the test on where you test your knowledge. What makes live play interesting is that concepts you learned from books and on-line play help dramatically if taken seriously and in light of a given situation. Also, when you play live, you get a grasp on how to compose yourself with regards to the poker room. When I first played live, it was easy for me, because I was used to playing on-line and in this video game called Caesar's Palace. I knew how to play limit, because I just jumped right into it like it was second nature. For some people, having eyes stare at you while you are doing something is an unnerving feeling. However, playing live for hours at a time, you get used to those eyes staring at you.

So, if you want to become better, use whatever resources are available to you, and don't just stick to one school of thought. Otherwise, you will be limiting your education in the game of poker, and some young kid (maybe myself) might run up on you, and get the best out of it.

P.S: If you want to read more, check out my poker blog at http://theundergroundpokercrew.blogspot.com. Also, our website is up and running. The URL is http://www.theundergroundpokercrew.com.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy

-The DarkDragon

WSOP Day 3...No Mercy by Texter

2006-08-31T21:05:00.000-06:00

When you last heard from me at the WSOP...I had just stumbled to bed after winning a few hundred bucks in the craziest game of $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em.

So last night I was a winner...but this morning I don't feel like a winner, after drinking all night trying to keep up with those college guys, I can really start feeling my age. I finally get out of bed at around 3:30 PM to get ready for our interview with Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier, which is over at the Rio at 5 pm. I take a shower (I have to mention if you ever stay at the Gold Coast, bring your own soap, their soap smells terrible) and head over to the Rio.

I meet up with Smoothcaller at the Poker Lifestyle show (at least that's what it was called last year), which is basically a big tradeshow of poker rooms and poker products; and he cannot get a wireless link on any of the available networks which is a problem since we don't remember the room where we are supposed to meet Isabelle in about 5 minutes. We see our old friend Richard Sparks (noted author of Diary of a Mad Poker Player & Getting Lucky) and as fate would have it, he and his wife have a connection at their booth which the graciously let us use...they are selling photos and copies of his book. We get the room number and head on up.

We get to the room and we're both a little nervous since Isabelle is so good looking; however, she is so cool and laid back that the interview goes terrific (you can read it next month on pokerlizard.com). I think we could all learn a little bit about having a balanced life from Ms. Mercier. So we finish the interview and take a couple pictures for the website and head back down to the lifestyle show. We check out the Lifestyle show which is pretty nuts, there are booth babes galore and every poker product you can imagine. We head over to the Bodog booth to meet up with our affiliate manager, Laura, who gives us a bunch of Bodog schwag. The Bodog booth had a giant bed on top of it with models hitting goofy tourist guys with pillows while they got a souvenir picture...Laura couldn't convince us to do it but she did take our pic with some of the other models. One of the coolest booths belonged to PKR an online poker room that has really great graphics and gameplay, I don't know if they'll make it but they sure look good. Some other sites don't look quite as professional and I doubt we'll see them around next year. Gato finally tore herself away from the poker table and came to meet us.

The Ultimatebet party at the Voodoo lounge was coming up at 8 so we went to the All American Restaurant with Laura and Gato to eat dinner; after that we headed over to the Gold Coast to change - then it was back to the Rio for the party. Due to the prior night of drinking, I decided water was my drink of choice at the Voodoo lounge. The Voodoo lounge has an inside club and an outside lounge that looks over the city with a bar and couches, there was some terrible singer inside so we stayed outside. The party was pretty sweet with free booze and plenty of food, but like an idiot I had just eaten dinner and as you can see from the pic it was a total sausage fest...oh well, next year I'll know. We decide to leave the party because Smooth wants to play in the Rio's $215 at 11. On the way out we run into Steamboat (Ryan), Green Plastic (Taylor Caby), and one other friend of theirs. Steamboat tries to talk us into drinking some Jaeger Bombs, but my liver and kidneys protest so I head back to the Gold Coast while Smooth heads to the Rio.

I contemplate playing some poker at the Gold Coast...but am way to old and decide to call it a night at around 11:30. The main event starts tomorrow!

Cold Calling in NL Ring

2006-08-25T08:39:00.000-06:00

When people ask me about becoming a good NLHE player as a begginner I tell them learn to not call. I believe that one could win playing NL without ever calling.

I was looking through my Poker Tracker stats over the last two months, which have been good to me. I noticed a stat for cold calling preflop. I have cold called 1% of the time in 14,000 hands. Of these, about 90% were in the last three positions. Also, about 60% were with pocket pairs 22-JJ where I have won a good amount by flopping sets.

The others were with suited connectors or suited aces, again with position. I'm just slightly ahead on these hands but feel I need to mix them in, even if I break even with them.

I advice everyone to be the aggressor and look to raise or fold rather than call.

8 day's of Vegas poker...by 412Main

2006-08-18T20:45:00.000-06:00

Well good evening poker players. It's 9:43 on Friday night, Im sitting down for a small brake from my 3 day poker extravaganza. I started playing Tuesday night around midnight on a cash game, by the end of the second day I was suffering from 2 very very bad beats and down about $2,000. The first B/B started with me having pocket AA's and another player having pocket K's, another player raised the big blind to $ 50 with his pocket 8's, I called as well did the guy with K's, the flop comes, A-5-K guy with the 8's checks, I check, K's calls $250.00, 8'S folds and I call, we are both sitting on trips, both thinking we have nothing to worry about, then the turn comes and money starts to fly, I bet 250.00 king goes all in with his 400.00 to which call with out even looking up from my cards, I push in my last 350.00 and we both flip over what turns out to be the worst beat I have ever had. The entire table stands up to see what comes out on the river, can you guess what it was? well let me tell you what it was, it was a king floating down the river and the last king in the deck, this gave my fellow player 4 kings, and as im sure every one of you know, 4 kings beats the hell out of a boat with Ace's & kings. This hurt, this hurt real bad. it was my first night of play and I had already lost $1000. It's 3 days later and im almost back up to what I brought with me to play on. I have another 4 days of Vegas and plan on getting in on some tourneys at Harrahs, Bellagio and the Palm. I have been playing most of my poker at MGM/Palm and Flamingo's. I will be playing in some tourneys at Harrahs and the palm tomorrow/Sunday and Monday. I will hopefully be able to post more about my trip later....

Tony

WSOP Final Table Live by Texter

2006-08-10T21:41:00.000-06:00

This coverage is pretty nice, I'm watching it on my computer here at home and the coverage looks almost as good as TV; I have to hand it to ESPN..I thought the idea was terrible but they've really pulled it off. Phil Gordon is doing a fantastic job but his co-host keeps making small mistakes about who has entered the pot and who has what hand. It's definitely a minor complaint.

I like the fact that there is no hole-card camera. It's nice trying to hypothesize on what the players have. Earlier they had Phil Hellmuth doing some commentating which was also very good. Unfortunately it's almost time for me to head to bed, so by the time I wak up there will be a new champ.

It's going to be tough to make an entertaining show out of this final table for the non-poker public, these guys are all pretty dull so far, but with the magic of editing I'm sure they'll all look gregarious when the show hits the airwaves. They are also playing roshambo for charity which is pretty stupid but what the heck; they've been sitting there for 5 hours and have to be getting a little bored.

They are on dinner break for 90 minutes so I'm playing some poker on Bodog. They are showing the 2004 WSOP and I think we all owe Fossilman a debt of gratitude for knocking out Mattias Andersen quickly...that Jaaaaah, Daaaaah was getting old quickly.

If Gold loses this thing...he has 51 mill vs 14 mill for second place right now...it would be a colossal meltdown.

WSOP Day 2: Mercier, Moneymaker and Me...by Texter

2006-08-08T10:36:00.000-06:00

I got woken up at 6 am Vegas time by Smoothcallers Text message to my cell phone; his plane is delayed in Houston due to thunderstorms and he'll be in later. Great so now I'm awake, and as you all know, once you wake up in Vegas it's almost impossible to go back to sleep due to the visions of money to be won dancing through your head.

I take a shower (did I mention how huge the bathrooms at the Gold Coast are...you literally have to climb in the tub to shut the bathroom door, you cannot be physically on the pot and close the door at the same time); and head downstairs to signup for the 10 am tourney and eat some breakfast (which is actually good at the Gold Coast; most of the lunch and dinner food there is crap). I have about two hours to kill so I head over to the Rio to see if anything exciting is happening at the WSOP since it is the beginning of Satellite day and some other tourneys are winding down. It's a morgue, there is virtually nobody in the Amazon room which is a big change from the day before.

So I cruise the room and check out the satellite structures, $175, $225, $375 and up...too rich for my blood.

I head back over to the Gold Coast to play in the 10 am tourney; which to say the least is the worst tourney in the history of poker. It costs $22 and I'm playing in it to kill time waiting for Smoothcaller, Gato, and baddog to arrive in town. I'm reading the tourney flyer and notice that $7 of the $22 goes to pay juice and tip the dealers, so basically I'm paying 32% vig right off the bat...ouch. The tourney is limit hold'em for the first hour and no limit after that the blinds start at 25/50 and you start with $1k in chips - 15 minute blinds, like I said worst tourney ever; but it's during the WSOP and the tourney is full with plenty of alternates. I do ok the first couple levels after getting a flush and flopping quad 3's. Then I lose a big hand to a guy who catches a flush on the river to beat my straight, tough to protect a hand during limit play. I eventually get knocked out during no limit play with 3c4c, when I get two pair on the river and lose to a straight.

By this time the other Lizard crew members are in town eating lunch over at Bally's so I play in the 2-4 LHE game at the GC (Gold Coast) since it is the only game running while I wait for them to come check in. If you've never played very low limit hold'em it goes something like this...

1. There are at least 4 really really old people playing who are either really nice or a crusty old bastard.
2. At least 6 of the 10 people see the flop on every hand (why not the big blind is only $2).
3. Even if you have AA, you will get your head kicked in by a flush more often than at other limits since people play any two suited all the time. (I just ran a simulation where AA was up against two flush draws and somebody with KQos...actually over a 50% favorite...not bad).
4. There isn't a whole lot of raising until someone hits their hand on the turn...and if the person raising is old go ahead and fold.
5. The rake is huge vs the stakes, 10% up to $3 plus money for the high hand jackpots....good luck beating that in the long term.

Eventually, smooth shows up and we play some 4-8 limit hold'em until it's time to go interview Isabelle Mercier at the Rio, the one good thing about the GC poker room is that the cocktail waitress is very fast, so I'm feeling pretty good after about 5 coronas (I figure if I'm going to play like the master I may as well drink like him). We head over there and the Pokerstars suite is gone due to some dental convention taking their space, so the interview is postponed until the next day. We meet up with Gato and she decides to play in a one table satellite for $175. We go sweat her table which takes a few minutes to fill up...and who sits to her immediate right but Stacy Matuson who you may remember from the WPT Aruba final table:

There are also a surprising number of pro's playing in the satellites; Stacy says they are easy money, we see Humberto Brenes one table away playing in one and several other bigger names playing.

We head over to the diner in the Rio and grab some dinner, then head back to the Amazon to check on Gato's status, she's been knocked out and it's down to Stacy and some other guy. They trade chips for awhile and Stacy makes a terrible call with KQ vs the guys AT. She takes the lead when a Q hits but loses the hand when an A hits on the turn...she's crippled and we head back to the GC to get ready for the "Naked Poker" party at the Hard Rock.

We get to the party around 9:45 and the suite is unbelievable, there is a jacuzzi in the living room, a bowling alley, the biggest bathroom I've ever seen, and a bunch of hot girls dancing on tables.
The party was pretty cool but the celebs hadn't shown up and were just arriving in Vegas (the stars being Laura Prepon, Danny Masterson and some others); the only "star" currently at the party was Ron Jeremy whose hand I didn't really want to shake.

There were some poker celebs there however, Tony G and the Shulmans were there and they were all pretty cool. Tony G's poker site "TonyGpoker" is on the same network as Naked Poker. They had all kinds of food, booze and free cheezy crap (t shirts etc...), so we loaded up. By this time it's around 11:30 and we debate waiting for the stars (actually only Laura since she's pretty hot) and decided to head over to the palms to meet up with team lizard for some poker.

Smooth and I put our names on the $1/$2 No limit list (we're high rollers baby!) and get seated at the $4/$8 limit table, I start drinking immediately since I don't want to curtail my buzz and want to look like a crazy gambler. About 3 hands in some guy puts out a live straddle and another guy raises, smooth looks down at AA and ends up winning a pretty big pot. They call his name for the $1/$2 but he turns it down since he's winning. They call me and I take my $120 to the table (I was up $20). Low and behold who's sitting right across from me?

That's right Chris Moneymaker WSOP champ from 2003. I think he has a deal to play at the Palms or something since they say he's there all the time. He graciously lets me take his pic and seems like a loose player. He raises a lot of flops and gets people to play back at him quite a bit. I'm a little nervous at first but hope I can take advantage of someone wanting to bluff Chris. A couple times around the table and it's fold...fold...fold...limp fold... Finally, I'm in the big blind and get 5hTh and call behind Moneymaker and the guy two to his left's limps. The flop comes down QhJs,8h, so I have a gutshot and a flush draw. I bet $10, Moneymaker raises to $30, and the other guy goes all in (he has me covered). I call and MM folds. The turn is a 5 and river is the 3 of hearts. The other guy had QT. So I double up and go back to endless folding. Chris wants to raise the stakes to $5/$10 which I am too chicken to play since I only have $500 on me at the moment. The table discusses it for a while and decides to boost the stakes to $2/$5. I decide to head over to the low limit room since $2/$5 is still rich for my current bankroll. The brush apologizes for raising the stakes and gives me a spot at the $1/$2 NL game in the other room.

This turns out to be the craziest game, I've ever played in...young 20 something internet players are drinking vodka and red bull left and right, there is a hearing impared guy who keeps making mistakes (like turning his hand over early..which cost him a big pot), and a couple tight players with the deer in the headlights look. I soon have this same look as the internet guys are playing crazy just for fun (they go by the names like Steamboat & Ahh_Snapp) they party/live with the best online players in the world (Genius28-Chris Lee/GreenPlastic-Taylor Caby/Hallingol etc...); they are obvious online winners and are splashing money around like candy. One guy has gone allin blind 10 times in a row; another is so drunk he actually wears one of our PokerLizard shirts over his clothes and keeps begging for some of my action (if I lose I only pay half and he pays the other half but if I win he gets half the winnings). So basically it's a waiting game, I eventually get AdKd and flop the nut flush, I check and one of the guys goes all in, I double up. Every so often everyone at the table will tip the dealer $2 for the hell of it...we're all having a good time and I'm getting progressively drunker...good times.

Eventually the internet guys head to a house they've rented in Henderson for the WSOP and it's down to me, Smooth and 3 other players who are so bad we keep playing until around 8 am. I end up leaving with $546, would've been more but I gave ahh_snap some of my action to the tune of about $120. Walking back to the GC from the Palms is startling to my body since it is now daytime and hot. I stumble across Flamingo and go to bed.

SmoothCaller Plays a Big One at the Rio

2006-08-03T14:05:00.000-06:00

So here we are - my first blog since last week's WSOP trip. I'm a little behind, and have no great excuses - just been swamped with the ol' 9-5 work and getting back into the swing of being home again.

My "big one at the Rio" is the $225 daily cash tourney they run each night at 11:00 pm during the Series. I got into it last year on a single-table $50 satellite and had so much fun that I had looked forward to it all year. Of course, Harrah's is looking to rake maximum buck this time, so their smallest SNG's were $175...winner takes $1500 in entry chips plus $120. Not a bad outlay at all, but the lines were horrible and we spotted quite a few pros lurking about the tables (our friend sat right next to Stacey Matuson, with Umberto Brenes backed up behind her). So I decided to pass on those and just buy right in.

Thursday night was our second night in Vegas, and Texter and I were still recovering from our marathon 1/2 NL session at the Palms from the night before. He'll tell you all about it, but let's just say it was one for the books. After getting to be at 8:30 that morning and sleeping 'til 2, I was slightly less energized to play that night. But as the day wore on I felt the itch creepin' in...so after dinner with Dad, Texter, and his wife at Noodles in Bellagio (great food by the way), and about 30 minutes at the UltimateBet party, I hurried over to the Rio...

...only to stand in line with about 20 other people. Some were registering for the next day's Main Event, some for that night's $225. I finally sat down at 11:30, at the start of the second round - $25/50 blinds. Even though they only give you $1K in chips, the 30 minute rounds are nice for some added play. Still, you have to accumulate chips early or you're pretty much done. With 180 total players, top 18 paying out, and first prize of $12K, it was on.

My first table was pretty easy to read. No real crafty players, and a lady who loved to check-raise with the nuts. Directly on my left was that guy we all know - Mr. "I love to lay down big hands to show how smart I am". So he's talking the whole time, laughing and commenting about other people's play, and I'm figuring him out. About 40 minutes into play, the player across from me picks up AA and shows it after a big pre-flop re-raise. I made some comment about how I'd love to see those as I'd had to throw pretty much everything away so far. Mr. Folder on my left had earphones, but I know he heard me.

Very next hand I look down at the best thing I've seen all night - pocket 7's. In mid position, with about 750 in chips left and one caller, I push. Mr. Fold takes out his earphones and just sighs real huge..."Oh man, did you pick up those aces??" The call was about half his stack and the longer he took the more I expected a call and a race. "I don't know how I can get away from this hand!" he kept saying as he played with his chips. He studied me, groaned, and finally, after what seemed like an eternity, folded. Once everyone thankfully folded around to me, he said, "show me the aces - I folded Queens." So I happily turned over the 7's. After about 3 other people asked him why the hell he didn't call, myself included, he went into a huge rant about my neck pulse going crazy and how I pulled off the greatest acting job of all time. If he says so...I was just freakin' happy to pick up the blinds and antes.

After that I went on a big rush - knocked out 66 with my 10-10, busted QJ with KQ, and got moved about 4 more times over the next 3 hours. My stack was up to around $6K and there were 40 players left, so I felt really good about my chances. Then as luck would have it, Mr. Fold gets moved back to my left. He said, "You owe me!" and I promised to pay him his $225 buy-in if I won the whole enchilada. He laughed and got back to folding. Just a few hands later I pick up AK UTG and push it in - at this point, there was about $650 in the pot pre-flop, so I'm happy to take it down right there, and my table was pretty tentative anyway. Here we go again...Mr. Fold looks up at me and asked "Big Pair?" I just pull up my jacket collar to cover my neck pulse and stare forward. After an eternity, he again folds and I rake the pot. "I had 10-10, and was just hoping you had something like AK..but your pair had me dominated." If he only knew...I threw those right in the muck and applauded his astute reading capabilities.

That was to be the end of my domination as I dwindled down to $3600 with the blinds at $300/600 and a $75 ante. With 26 players left, and an M of about 2 (if you don't know about 'M' run out right now and pick up Harrington on Holdem - better yet, signup with one of our sites and get it free! ;) ), I picked up 44 in early position and shove it all in. Two big stacks call me with AQ and AJ, and spike one of the remaining two Aces to send me packing. I've pondered this play for awhile now, and decided I'd do it again. While racing for your tournament life is never fun, you have to push your edges near the bubble sometimes, especially when the blinds are running you down.

So 4.5 hours later, the long walk back to the Gold Coast never seemed so.......long! But I was happy with the way I played and knew that I got lucky a few times to make it even that far.
No big deal. Time for some sleep to get ready to wander the Main Event on Friday.