RECOGNIZE AND REACT

Missing reads yet seeing them at the same time...

2009-09-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

What is up? So I had a pretty bad weekend, compared to the last 10 sessions, I took a couple of losses. No worries, you got to take these hits every now and than, yet, I believe I could have got away from them. This is the difference between amatuer (Me) and pro (Phil Ivey).

Okay, here are a couple of rules you should follow before going in to play live action. 1) GET A GOODNIGHTS REST! 2) Have your strategy set and adjust during the game 3)When making a big decision-slow down, walk backwards and understand the action up to this point.

Well Friday night, the cards were just not coming and the best hand I saw after two hours (actually one hour) just felt like two hours, was q 10 in middle position, I limp in so does the button, small blind and big blind taps the table. The flop came out Q 4 6 rainbow, I fire out a three quarter bet hoping to take the pot down, button calls and the blinds fold. The turn is another Q...I decide to bet $55...now the button says, "How much?" The alarm bells should have gone off in my head, BUT THEY DID NOT. I say what I bet and he calls. The river is a blank, I fire out $100 and he says all in...could I have gotten away from it before betting $55? Nah, could I have not bet the $100 on the river after the call on the turn, if my spidey senses were up, YEAH! Well, I call the extra, whatever, and he shows Q 6 suited. Now, we are not talking about the beat here, we are talking about how I could have possibly gotten away or paid less for that river.

Saturday, did not get enough sleep AGAIN! Even though I thought I did. I'm doing alright until about an hour into the session and I am under the gun and had straddled, six people called the four bucks, when it gets back to me I look at pocket 10s and pop it to $35. I get two callers, middle position and the button. The flop is 9 2 3 rainbow, harmless. I bet out out $55, middle folds and the button says, "HOW MUCH?" (YOU FREAKING KNOW HOW MUCH LUNCHBOX, YOU WATCHED ME STACK IT AND PUSH IT ACROSS THE FREAKING LINE!!!!!). "$55", I say. He called. The turn is a Q, I quickly...again I say, quickly run through what he may have, here is what I say to myself, "AQ, did he float with AQ, nah, he made those over bets when flush draws hit earlier, lets make sure and bet $100." Yes, that is all I thought about! What should I have thought...here, over pair, aces to jacks. Set of nines, deuces or threes...two pair maybe. A whole lot that beats me right? After I bet he goes all in, now I should againg think on it, right? I DON'T! I call and he shows a set of threes! The funny thing is he thought he out played me, NO LUNCHBOX, you profited off my freaking MISTAKE! I make bo bo you make money! YOU SUCK!!!! Sorry, I uh, got a little out of hand there. I basically beat myself this weekend and hopefully this will be a cleansing for me.

In conclusion, I may not have gotten away from these hands but I could have paid a lot less to see the beating.

What quesitons might you have?

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

chris my nemesis from the state of Mass. Let me tell you how he crushed me and how i came back!.jpg

2009-08-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

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Greetings and Salutations!
What a day! Got to meet some cool guys from the state of Mass.etc and a ringside judge for boxing matches. What I want to tell you about is my quick win, sudden loss and huge win after a four and a half hour rollercoaster!

So I get into Harrahs at about 1:45pm four 1-2 nl games going and they tell me that they are opening a game on table 12 at 2 pm. I set up in the three seat. Nine other guys that I don't know sit down...SWEET! Talked to a guy from Oklahoma on my left who had a cute girl sitting behind him telling me about the soft games he plays in and makes a $1000 a week there...WHERE? Get me that info bro! As we are talking he tells me that he told his girl that I seem to be the guy that he needs to look out for. As he finished this statement, he raises on the button. I smiled and looked down at two kings. Now, the right thing to do here is try to get heads up but these folks were very readable and I wanted to know how many aces may be out there. There were five limpers, and six callers to his raise. The flop was 10 high. I check, as does everyone else to him. He bets about $40, I call...everyone else folds. The turn is a Jack, I check again and he shoves all in..."Crap," I say as I look at him, "Did that , Jack hit you?" He tightened up even more, 'nope, it sure didn't' I telepathically said to him. I called the last 125 and turned my Kings over, he nodded and shoved his hand in the deck and pulled out another $100.

So by 4:30 pm I'm up pretty good. I'm talking to a kid from Mass.etc who is on his bachelor party, and one of the party is in the six seat. I've been getting hit in the face with overs, AJ, AQ, AK, A10...so i've been opening to get the junk out, the table seems to be getting anxious. So with a decent hand I opened from the hi-jack and, Chris, the guy in the photo, part of the bachelor party comes along with four others. I miss the flop but Chris, bets out $40 and takes the pot down. Two hands later I am in the cut off seat, while talking to the guy to my right about .357 magnums that have bullets that fire pelts for home security, I look down at KJ off and open again, I get six callers. The flop is K 7 5 two diamonds. They check around to me and I push out $40, Chris, my nemesis, is the only caller. The turn is a diamond. MISTAKE COMING! I bet out $100, Chris, gets REALLY excited and contemplates, I know as the 100 is flying in the air that FUCKED up. So Chris pushes all in for another $85. I need to fold here, no matter what I need to fold here...MISTAKE COMING! I called. Yes, I CALLED! River is a blank and Chris shows the A 6 diamonds. GEEZ RAY! I am so pissed at myself that I don't get up and continue to tell myself to learn from that obvious mistake and grow. Well I play for another hour and 15 minutes and am close to doubling my buy in when this hand comes up.

I am in the hi jack seat and Chris is under the gun plus one. He opens to $15, gets two callers before I look down at 8 10 spades, normally, I FOLD. In my spot, as I noticed the cutt off and button don't want to play, I called. Now I called because I can outplay Chris and the other callers at the table, I know which spots to mess with and which not to, but if I can hit my hand, Chris will never get away from his, at least I hoped. The small blind called and we went to the flop five handed. The flop was a 9c 8c 4c, sb checks, Chris bets out $40, fold, fold to me...now here is what I am thinking, AcKh, AQ, AJ, A10 maybe, 1010, JJ, qq, KK, AA and does not have the flush draw or is trying to bet off the flush draw. This is the range I put him on, more the over cards versus the over pair. I called. The sb folds. We are heads up folks. The turn is the 10 of hearts! YAHHHHHTTTTTZZZZZEEEEEE!!!!! Chris bets out $60, okay, now I put him directly on an over pair. I raised it to another $125, Chris tanked...so now I knew I was against an over pair, no set, no made flush. After a bit Chris went ALL IN! Crap! Over pair with a big flush draw now...Uhhh, $245 to you Ray. CRAP AGAIN! Okay, I call. River a red five! Stepped away from the table turned my back and did a weak Tiger pump and sat back down. Pulled in the pot and smiled. Chris came over, yes came over and shook my hand and told me he thought I was on a move because he had bluffed me two hands before the diamond hit and thought I was pissed at him. I told him he did the best he could to get value out of me it just worked out for me is all. We talked I asked him if I could get his picture and told him about the site and hopefully he is reading this, told you bro, no shit talking. You played the hand well enough. Maybe you could have played it different to get me off but remember Chris and folks...That's Poker!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

brandon doing work..jpg

2009-08-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

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8-15-09

The picture above shows my boy Brandon on the bottom left with the back of his head to us, my seat is to his right, a few stacks there with my water, mp3 player and the rest of the players on my table, who were there after hour four.

Bachelor Party! We started the festivities at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Ms. Four of the eight played in the $200 tournament and myself with the other three did other things in the casino. The later part of the day we were going to hit Bourban street in New Orleans, just the thing that my bud Alex was looking to do for his bachelor party, that's correct, no strippers!

Well I sit down in a 1-2 NL game, I LOVE THE BEAU, I adjust my my chair, get the cocktails that I want, pass my card over for my comps, place my cell phone on the table and plug in my mp3 player and start to play some poker. The reason why I went through this is because the only thing you can do at Harrah's in New Orleans is get a cocktail, except for RED BULL! What's up with that, unless you want to pay for it or you're a diamond club card holder, which means you have gambled over $50,000! Whatever!

So I am in this game and use my tight aggressive strategy and I will only play small pairs deuces and up on the button. The jackpot is quad fives beat. My goal is to find the regulars and non-regulars, find the nits, weak tights and loose aggressive players in the first two dealers. I found all of them by that time. In the one seat was a weak tight player, who happened to be winning, in seat three was a loose aggressive regular with Auburn attire on. He mixed it up well and his betting was varied and well done for the most part. If he is reading this, I figured you out by the time we played that big hand. In the five seat was another weak tight player. In seat six was a regular loose aggressive player with big sunglasses on, the other black guy at the table in the begining. In seats 7 and 8 were two more weak tight players.

Well I am going back and forth with my stacks and get somewhat back to even in about my second hour of play Brandon sits down to my left. I am on the button and there are four limpers to me, I look down at A 5 of spades. The flop comes K A 2 rainbow. Check to the big sunglass wearing black guy who fires out 15, I float (call) and the rest of the table folds. The turn card is a 7 of hearts, now there is a flush draw, BSBG fires $50 and I call. The river brings a non-flush 2. He contemplates and fires another $50. This is what I saw, I have more information than you as the reader, I know that when he has the best hand on the river he overbets a bit, but since he bet the same as the turn it made me suspicious plus the only thing he could have is a weak ace or maybe two pair but again if he had that he would have bet more to get that value out of me. I call and he shows air as I turn over the A5. He nods.

I am now in the cut-off, very next hand, one before the button and I look down at AJ diamonds. I really don't like this hand especially to a raise. Well in middle position a weak tight player makes it $15 to go, BSBG calls, I reluctantly call and we get two callers behind. Now let me tell you why I called and why it is dangerous to call here in other circumstances. When the raise occurred I looked over to the Auburn geared loose aggressive player who would act behind me and he looked like he was not going to play and I really wasn't worried about Brandon and the other two between him and I. Normally, if you don't know the table yet, this hand should not be called by an early raiser, that is a strong raise into the field and you are either facing AK, AQ or the top pairs, JJ, QQ, KK, AA. What is AJ going to do? Maybe hit the nut flush, or you hope for AAJ, JJA or q 10 k, is about it. Your kicker is not good here but with this field I new I could play with them. The flop cam A Q A, raiser bets out $30, fold to me and I call, I instantly put him on AK...AQ will not bet here, should not bet here and this guy does understand poker so I gave him a bigger kicker. The turn brought the 7 diamonds, which is a flush draw for me. The raiser bets out $50, I called for the flush and my J, so there is about 11 outs so I am about 25% to get there so i am a 4-1 dog, the pot is giving me about 3-1, I should only call at even or 5-1 on my money. When you look at the implied odds, if I hit my flush, maybe not my jack, with what he had left I was an easy 5-1. The river brought a hold'em card(blank). He put his remainder one hundred plus in the pot. Now I could call and HOPE that he had a weaker ace or be beat by my first thought, AK. It was AK, AQ that were the only two hands that beat me but I folded my hand up for the table to see. The BSBG said you called me with an ace but wouldn't call him with that ACE! During this same orbit (dealer) I am under the gun, and I make it $15 to go with pocket kings, I get SEVEN callers! My LORD! Well the flop comes K 8 8, two hearts. I check, Brandon looks like he is going to bet but decides not to and it gets back to Big Sunglass Black Guy, who bets out $50. I call and everyone else folds. The turn is the Q of hearts, I hesitate and check again, he bets out $100, I call. The river is a hold'em card and I want to bet but I may not get a call, so I get the remainder of my chips, about $130 and hold it in my hands looking at the board. He says, "Save your money."
I instantly plop it across the line, and say, "all this?"
He called quickly and I turned over my full house he showed me the A of hearts and King of clubs, without that hand he would not have doubled me up. Without my showing that I would not call with the AJ of diamonds he would not have called. If I would not have called him down with the A5 of spades he would not have called. Basically, when you are playing against the better players, you have to consider everything you do while they are there, they will remember. The weak tight ones only remember the hands they are in. Play chess?

You all be cool and stay nice as rice and mello as Jello!

Young and consistent...brandon and brett, harrahs regs that normally leave with your money..jpg

2009-08-12T20:11:00.000-07:00

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So I get into Harrah's on a Wednesday afternoon...yes I snuck in and no one at home knew...my wife thinks i'm addicted to gambling and my answer was..."Only when there are lunchboxes at the table, babe."

The funny thing is I have not been in the poker room for at least 15 months...since my daughter was born. Well, when I got in there I saw a couple of guys who used to grind it out before I left on my hiatus. There they were killing the table. Still grinding it out on the 1-2 NL game and killing it! Usually the young ones want to get into the 2-5 NL game quickly but Brandon has done a pretty good job at staying in a spot where he knows he will make money and make money he has! Brett does play in the 2-5 game and does pretty well in both games. These guys are solid and I respect their games.

I get into the game after checking on my buddy AT&T(yep, he has those initials, pretty cool) and Davey both are pretty deep in the Wednesday tourney and look to final table, they both did and cashed! Nice job Davey and AT! I think AT&T is 7 for 8. I hate him for this, he has a pretty cool job, he goes off shore to West Africa for a month and comes home for a month! So now I tell my kids to study hard and become engineers! I mean if AT can graduate from PENN STATE and get a gig like this...shoot...Ya know?!?

Back to poker, so I'm at the table and look at the line up, a lot of regulars, guys who can't get away from hands, you know raise with pocket aces, get called in eight spots, a flush draw hits the flop they don't even have the ace for that draw, two people go with him to the river and check raise him all in when the flush hits and he says, "Pots too big, I can't fold!" When I'm thinking...you were probably beat on the turn, no further details on this type of player but you know the one I'm talking about...MARRIED TO THEIR HAND! There are a couple of spots that I decide I don't want to mess with, why give myself a headache trying to outplay them. I really want the one seat, older guy, who is splashing around and calling down with stuff like 7-2 suited and gets there to snap off a decent pocket pair in a three way pot, it was brutal.
In an hour I'm up one bone and doing pretty well, there are a couple of guys who keep grimacing every time I raise, looked like they wanted to play but didn't. I did not mind as the freaking deck keep smacking me in the face.

I usually go in with a tight/aggressive strategy even tighter because I try to only play jackpot starting hands. Any Ace none suited I folded unless I was in the cut-off or button where I would open with them. Any suited or gap connector I would limp from early to middle position with bigger than 6-5. I would call a raise only if I felt like I was last to act or with anything suited 9-10 or higher from the early to middle position. I played AK, AQ, and AJ suited from any position...I considered AJ off and A10 off bad hands from early to middle position...just trouble. This helped me to DO WORK! this session. There is more to this strategy but it involves reads, bet sizing and some body tells.

A new player sat down in the 7 seat, I was in the 10 seat, and made some money on his first hand. I am now in middle middle position and look at two red aces. I make it $15 to go and proceed to get FIVE callers! What the HELL! The flop comes J 2 7, two spades, I have the ace of spades, the deuce and seven are the spades. They check around to me and I push out $60 and only the new guy calls...now my heart starts to race, and my palms are getting sweaty but on the outside I'm looking at the cards and looking at him for any signs as the turn card comes off which is a red deuce. QUICKLY I diagnose his hand, if he called with j7, j2, 72 he would have raised on the flop to get rid of flush draws or he may have just called because he knew I had a big pair and was sitting on J7 or J2 for two pair and just got a full house on the turn or I just counterfeited his two pair with the second deuce or he would have raised to try to take it downd to get it done if he was savy enough...he was not savy. Now I am putting him on a big J, KJ, AJ, QJ, J10, possibly J9 and he could be suited and looking for a spade. He could have pocket queens, kings or jacks but I think he re-pops pre-flop with these hands so I discard those. He checks to me again and I push out $125...he freaking beat me to the pot! No raise so he must be drawing or has a big jack. The river brought a 6 of hearts, he checks, now I can do one of three things...check behind because he may not pay off a bet anyways and I can show my monster so that folks at the table don't think I am making moves...2) I push out a value bet about 1/3 of the pot and hope to get paid off...3) I push all in trying to make it look like I am buying the pot. I go with option two and he folds his hand up showing the J10 of spades. These situations are scary because that could have gone the other way, the freaking spade could have hit the river and he gets paid!

I've rambled long enough, I get into the poker room when I can and I hope to build the bankroll so that I can get into the 5-10 NL game one day, most guys sit with 2-5k in that game. Usually your bank roll should be about 10-15 times your buy in depending on how you play so, one day. My next step is the 2-5 NL game and the usual buy in is 500-1k, but we'll see.

After the tourney, AT&T and Davey come over and look at the table and laugh, as they also knew it was pretty soft. They wanted me to pick up and go to the Beau with them so they could play in the 6pm tourney on the coast. Tell you about that at another time and about the two footlongs that I ate...and the near bet for $300 to eat a third loaded with chilli and all kinds of shyte!

Until next time you all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

harrahs poker room in back.jpg

2009-08-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

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The blurry picture above is the back part of the Harrah's poker room. This is the way it looks after a 10 hour session...SERIOUSLY!

On to the good stuff...so I went into Harrahs, was going to try to make a move to the coast but after having a lazy day with the kids and wife, it turned out to be about 6 pm before I started moving around to get going. A drive to the coast takes about an hour and half, dependent on how fast you like to move. The coast has the Beau Rivage, Imperial Palace, Isle Of capri, and Hard Rock Cafe...there are more casinos but I am naming the ones with poker rooms, that I know of, because there could be more poker rooms that I don't know of. So I roll into Harrahs snap a few pictures and get into a 1-2 no limit game. I am at table 10. Table 10 and table four have got to be the coldest tables in the room, the freaking AC blows directly on these tables...good thing I always carry my jacket. So if you are in Vegas and you see somebody carrying a jacket into a casino, he's probaly going to play poker.

It has been a long time since I played at a table where it was weak not even weak tight...just weak! I got to play with the owner of Collettes...i hope I spelled that correctly, a bar/club that is for people of weird tastes (can't get into here but if you want to know message me)...good guy though. He had a lot of the chips on the table until he ran into quad queens.

I started a little loose, gave away $50 and reprimanded myself, got back into the groove and went into tight/aggressive mode. In the next 30 minutes I made $150, in less than two hours I'm up 3 beans!

HOW? Stuff like this. I'm limping under the gun with AJ suited, get five callers, hi-jack makes it $15, I re-pop to $45, all the limpers fold to him and he calls. Flop is 8 high. I lead for $40 and he folds, I take it down. I am in the hi jack seat and under the gun makes it $15 to go, three callers to me on the button and I see 89 suited, I put out $60 and get called in one spot, he is out of position, and probably has a big ACE. The flop is jack high, he checks, I bet out $50, he folds. WEAK...or was it? I mean, look...new kid sits down and is in the cut off seat, I look at A10 in the hi jack seat, i limp in as did five others in front of me, new kid opens to $10, all five limpers call! When it gets to me, (I was just going to call at first but when I saw that $60 in the pot they asked me if they could join my stack), so I re-pop to only $45! They all folded! WEAK! I can't really talk strategy here, it was like I was in a movie, like Rounders, yeah, when Mike was making his moves at the end of the movie to make all that money back and his reads were right on everytime, I was in that moment. I can play a bit but not as good as these folks were bad, I mean they made me look GOOD! It did help that the cards slapped me in the face also. I am on the button and look at 89 diamonds, there are six people limped into the pot. The flop comes, 5 6 7 rainbow. The nice lady in the big blind bets out, two people call behind as do I and the small blind. The turn is a deuce I believe, the small blind leads out, the lady raises, the other two fold and I feel like taking it down here, so I pop it again basically putting the sb and bb all in, sb folds and bb, the lady, calls quickly and tables the other side of the straight, 3 4. I made plays on several pots that would have got snapped off by good players! IT FELT GOOD! This is why I try not to ever talk badly to them, I offer them gum, I offer to get them drinks, you just have to keep them comfortable and happy as you take the money...'nuff said about that.

It was a good night, four hours of work that could have easily...EASILY gone the other way! You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Harrah's jackpot sitting at over 100k

2009-07-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

I got in two sessions last week and came away winners through both. I did spend a lot of time playing though, I believe I put in about 36 hours in those two sessions...SICK!
Playing tight-aggressive nearly nit like is tough but I pulled it off my first session and came away a decent winner. My strategy going into this session was tight/aggressive, observe the table, play gap connectors and small suited connectors from position only, play pocket pairs from any position and be able to call one raise with them. Muck A baby off suit in all positons, call in position. This strategy worked out great, I think I got one big pot every two orbits. There was only one time I had to outplay someone and he was the loosest player at the table, I had to bet the river with Ace high and he contemplated calling but let it go due to the way I had played the entire session...normally this guy would call me without hesitation, because of my past before this session. That was good to see because I am sure he had a small pair.

My second session had me busting out in my third hour when my kings ran into aces. The only thing that stung here is the type of player, and I should have know better to just call and look at a flop but would I have been good enough to get away from the flop that was 9 high? I want to say yes but if I would have picked up this guys tells pre-flop, which I should have, then I could probably say yes, but this was a lesson learned for me. Here is the deal, the kid was pretty loose, he entered most pots and tried hit his hand. I've played in the past with him and I was just waiting. I saw him snap someone off with K2 hitting the king on the river for two pair, but it was the other players fault they barely bet! So this is how the hand went down...I'm in middle middle position, I have one limper, I make it 15 to go, small blind makes it $100 to go, the big blind(MR. LOOSE) simply calls. The limper folds now I have another $150 left, with $200 in the pot, and yes the small blind is all in, I decide to get a nice side pot so I shove! And the loose kid smiles and turns up his aces, LUNCHBOX in the small blind turns over pocket 10's. The flop is 9 high and I don't improve. I get up for a second come back to the table and the loose guy is racking up! I move to another table and sit there for awhile and finally another loose one sits at the table, well I proceed to get my kings in against 9 high and a flush draw on the board, there are three of us and J7 of hearts takes out queens and my kings. O for Two with the kings. This guy is like, don't worry i'm not leaving, i'll give you a chance to win this back. He wasn't being a dick he was truly sincere, and he went on a spree snapping people off with the worst and I just sat back and picked off other folks. I just kept waiting, it got so bad that the kid next to me with a titelist hat got busted and came back with a vegence and made four times his initial buy in through the j7 guy. At one point, after he had accumulated a monster stack, I make a raise into him he folds as does everyone else. He turns to me and says," I laid down AQ to you, you're too tight, i'm not going to take my chances against you." Inside I am laughing my ass off! If anyone that knew me heard that they would not believe what they heard but he said it and I took it as a compliment and felt like I did finally change up my image somewhat. Well, 15 hours later, the j7 guy busts out even after pulling out another $400. Three hours later I am up a bit and decide, especially after all the texts my wife sent me, that it was time to go. So good seeing you Wild Bill, and thanks, Good seeing you Joe Buesch and thanks! I hope to get back into Harrahs sometime soon because the jackpot is still pretty high, 144k...they hit the 230k on tuesday or wednesday. So remember your style of play may not matter but your image is what counts. Stay frosty!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Six man sit and gos...

2009-06-26T18:36:00.000-07:00

So I can't get to the mortar house and play poker so I've resorted to playing online where sit n gos are my main event. I've been working with my bud, Mitch, and trading online strategy. I've been pretty successful at the six man tables. The play here should be tight/aggressive...you can't make moves out of position with suited connectors etc. When it gets four handed, loose aggressive play will work to a point.
Feel your table out look for the one who wants to give away his chips by calling out of position.
Wait for them to make a mistake and JUMP on them.
Sit back and be patient...it will work for you.
When heads up be somewhat aggressive.
Don't Tilt!
HAVE FUN!

You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Down but not out...

2009-04-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

So in the year 2009 I have not pulled out a win in six attempts so I am down, thus far, for the year! I cannot remember the last time that I had a bad start ahhh, yes I do, when I first started playing back in '02, and if it wasn't for that bad beat jackpot that I gave Dave the cab driver at the end of that year to get me close to even, that would have been my worst year.

So let me get into my last cash session, I got to the beau a few weeks ago and some of the fellas were out there some playing in the tournaments that were going on and one playing cash at the same table I happened to sit down at...he introduced himself by asking me how much I had behind when I raised my second hand after sitting down at the table with pocket kings. Parfait shocked me a tad bit and we got a little laugh from it.

So yes, second hand I look down at two brotha kings...i'm in early middle and I open for $15, hijack,button, small and big blinds all call. The flop is 447 rainbow, sb bets, bb calls what should I do here? Well I called, and hijack calls behind leaving the button who folds. The turn is a 3 but brings a flush draw...sb checks, bb checks I contemplate and push out $100, I look at the hijack seat, a pretty lass with a lot of chips in front of her and she contemplates and I feel like she wants to raise but eventually she just calls, sb fold, bb fold. The river is a 3, I believe, not so sure but it was a baby and the board was double paired. I FELT LIKE I WAS BEAT WHEN THE LASS CALLED...so I feebly check and she pushes out two stacks, covering me...now odds say call but I really felt like I was beat...I painfully mucked my big pair and watched her take it down. Now what I am about to tell you is somewhat embarrassing for me and it is something I really do not like, this was the first time that I had ever done it knowing that it is an asshole thing to do. The pretty lady got into a hand heads up with the 10 seat, she was in the 9 seat and they went to the river on a paired board and either he checked (he had position) or bet but it was a called river and he turned his hand over to show a full house, she smiled and threw her cards face down towards the dealer, the dealer reached for the cards and I asked to see them. She got upset, floor came over and explained that on a called hand any player at the table can see the other hand etc. She had pocket queens, which she probably had in the hand with me or Aces as the rest of the table told me as she had slow played them earlier against two other guys. Well she racks up a few minutes later and leaves...one of the guys said, "Way to chase away the best pair at the table," got a good laugh from that and when I re-looked at her she was better looking than I thought. Ahh well...

So I grind it out for another two hours and I get this bald guy on my right after Parfait took a pretty bad beat, and he proceeds to widdle his $300 down to about $100 plus bucks, he's in the sb, I am in the bb and hijack opens for $12, he's pretty tight aggressive and I know he's got a decent pair or AJ and higher, bald man calls I look down at a couple of street walkers (pocket queens...there is a reason why I'm calling them street walkers) I want to take this pot down now, i'm out of position with a good hand but would rather not see a flop and fold to an ace so I repop to about $35, hijack, reluctantly folds, sb shoves! HUH!!!!! Did you really slow down on aces or kings just to wait for me to open? Freaking confused, I SHOULD FOLD THE STREET WALKERS, but I feel like I have the best hand and he's just trying to make some ground up, so it is about $70 more to me...FOLD! But I did not I called and we watched the flop come 7710A2, when the ace hit I said you got there huh? He said, not in a vicious way at all, I got there all the way on the flop and he turns over pocket sevens. I smile and just watched him beat me every time we were in a pot heads up, I have A7 in the sb, he limps on the button, flop comes ace high, I check to him he checks, turn is a Q I bet he calls, river is a deuce I bet again, he calls and turns up A8...he wins, finally down to my last $40 bucks I'm under the gun and he pops it, I just shove with pocket 10's, it gets back to him and he calls. The door card is...YES A 10! For a 1089 flop, the turn is a 2 and the river is a Queen he goes, dude i'm sorry but I hit a straight, as he turned his pocket Jacks over...I get up and say thanks guys, but I gotta go, he's got all my money. Ever have that kind of night? It has rarely happened to me and I have always been the guy on the other end of it but it was so eerie being abused by this guy, yes abused, so that is my sad tale but there will be bad times, must fight through them and get positive, I know it'll come around. 'nuff said. You all stay frosty!

Talk again soon...stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Guest Blogger...a local's point of view...Welcome P-Back.

2009-03-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

I returned to Harrah's this weekend and sat down at a juicy table and got felted after two and a half hours...fraking embarassing. One good thing is I ran into one of the young regulars that I used to play with and against...used to think he was a lunchbox...not really...he wanted to give you a little of his perspective and I told him to write me something, thinking he was messing with me...he did. Enjoy...

Return to the poker life/ Harrah’s New Orleans Gripes It had been awhile since I last sat down. Lots of changes in my life have come since. A baby arrived, a real job, and also having to cater to the needs of a fiancée who is still in college. It had been exactly 11 months since my last “session”. What I consider a real session of poker would consist of a minimum of 6 hours of uninterrupted poker. As we all know, with these added responsibilities, my poker life had been put on the back burner. Being a New Orleans native my whole life, Harrah’s has always been the home track. So when I walk in to Harrah’s on March 7th, 2009 it was sure to be an exciting return to the world I was so accustomed to. But Harrah’s, arguably the most profitable business in NOLA, had to make some changes. The first sign that I had returned to my home for so many years was the beautiful sound of the word “cocktails” flowing out of the mouth of our lovely waitress. So I ask for the usual, a tall double crown and coke. She informs me that due to the current state of the economy, Harrah’s will not allow her to serve me a double. In a stunned silence I finally muster the courage to just order a single. If Harrah’s cannot afford to offer drinks to their players, doesn’t that take away from the “house advantage”. Think about every poor decision you have made in a casino. How many of those were NOT alcohol influenced? Back to our girl. Now I understand that people may call me an asshole for the following exchange I had with her, but it is what it is. She kind of brought it upon herself. After I have had around 6 of these “single” crown and mostly cokes, she must have realized I was only tipping her every other drink. She notifies me that she will be leaving and this is her last round and kind of stands there for a second. So I turn to her and say, “well with the current state of the economy, I can only tip you every other drink.” I don’t think it went over well, but it got quite a few laughs from the guys near me. Harrah’s is ridiculous. I feel bad for their waitresses who work off of tips because they give them no wiggle room to hook you up. That’s how they make their money. Not anymore. On to poker. I kind of prepared myself for a session full of getting a feel back for the game(1-2 NLHE). My expectations weren’t set very high. I had a couple of goals in mind for the night. 1- Play a patient game- Premium hands only so I could cut down on tough decisions and not risk a lot of $. 2- Pick my spots well- Recognize which players I could profit from most. 3- Pay attention- Pick up on everything that used to come natural. Betting/Raising patterns, tells, % of hands each player was involved in. All of which are crucial to playing winning poker. Needless to say, I felt much like a kid playing his first session of no-limit. Nervous, timid, and somewhat scared to stick my foot into the water. Kind of embarrassing. The first hand I choose to get involved with is my kryptonite (J10s). Older fella raises to $17 preflop and with 1 caller to me and the button in front, I opt to call. This guy had been playing a ton of hands and 75% of them that he played were a raise and take situation. Not many people had stood up to him. This was evidenced by the $1400 he had sitting in front of him. Flop comes down Jc8s7h. He leads out with a $25 bet which prompts the other player to fold. Well, I decide to just flat it, keep the pot small and see if he is going to fire again. Turn card is 2s. Picking up 8 more outs here makes me feel comfortable raising if bet into. He shoots $50 into the pot of approximately $105. I have only $145 more so I ship it. I can’t recall the last time I had that feeling. Hand shaking towards the betting line with a handful of checks, heart pounding, and hoping to just take it down now. God do I miss this. He eventually folds showing 99. I drag in the pot and a little confidence. By the end of the night, I had opened the game up. Raising suited connectors in position, calling raises with any 2 cards knowing I could steal at some point. I did happen to get caught in a pot drawing out at a nut flush/gut shot draw for a little over $100. All in all I leave my first session after 8 hours up a shade over $300. Not bad for a night where I cost myself at least $200 more. 2nd session I return on Tuesday after working early that morning. I arrived around 3pm. The room was surprisingly full. I sit down and immediately flop set over set against the big stack. This guy played with a reckless abandon that I hadn’t seen since the Biloxi days. He was the type that if you bet, he pushed in. It just so happened I didn’t have to wait that long for my double up. Sitting on $600 after about the first hour was nice. I was knocking back single shots of crown at an alarming rate and I know I’ll be here awhile with the old lady at the Britney Spears concert. I knew it was just a matter of time until I loosened things up a bit. Enter the douche bag. This guy was 6’2 275-300lbs, approximately 23 years old. Announces his presence at the table prior to sitting. No bull shit. Proceeds to inform everyone that he is an internet player and that he only knows 2 things, raise and fold. Super was the first word that popped into my head. This is gonna be fun. First hand, he calls the $12 raise. A weak continuation bet of $10 is shot into the pot of $38 and insta-raised to $35 by our internet soldier. Takes down the first pot. Very next hand, he raises preflop to $22 and takes it down. At this time we are switching dealers. The new dealer sits in and asks everyone how they were doing. This douche bag announces that once he doubles up twice through that guy(pointing at me) he will be doing better. LOL!! Can’t wait! Another interesting thing he was doing is whenever I took down a pot, he would ask me for a count and rebuy for ½ my stack. Nearly an hour and a half in and after telling all 3 dealers the same thing about doubling through me I had had it. Our little internet tough guy raises to $22 and gets 3 calls around to me on the button with 67o. I decide its time. 5 way pot with a flop of A Q 3. It checks around to me. First thing that hits me, is that this guy isn’t the type to check an AK or AJ in this spot. Too aggressive. Hasn’t missed a bet yet. So I decide to see where I stand with the other 3 players. I fire $45 dollars as to which our tough guys looks down and decides to raise to $135. I am sitting at nearly $900 after my bet and he is around $550. Quick folds around to me and my first thought was to fold and not to get too deep. WRONG!! “Go with your instinct”, I told myself. “He doesn’t have an A and you know it.” I put him on JJ or 1010 just trying to steal from me. So I re-raised to $285 total and waited. He goes to moaning and telling me I have 2 pair and I am lucky and how he can’t wait till I miss a flop and folds eventually. I gladly turn over my 67o and show him the goods. He freaks out and calls me a sicko and wonders how I can make that play. “Because I know you have 1010 or JJ” to which he then says he had 1010. Not too much went wrong on this night. My reads were pretty strong and I played well. End up leaving after 8 hours up $975. Strong work for the second night back. 3rd /4th sessions back I returned Harrah’s Friday night and immediately picked up where I left off. I was sitting on a gold mine of a table. No familiar faces, all young guys and all here for different bachelors parties. You don’t find games any softer than this. All drunk 21-25 year olds with money to spend getting drunk and carrying an ego problem. Not to mention not much in the way of live NLHE poker experience. This one guy from Staten Island was obnoxious. If he didn’t say the word fuck or a derivative or it 500 times, he didn’t say it once. From a poker standpoint there really wasn’t much to this night except for wading through all of the bull shit and bluffs. I have never in my life, besides at a 3-6 limit game, seen more gutshots hit while people were banging the pot. I witnessed my biggest pet peeve about these jackasses who chase this shit is that when they finally hit it, they don’t bet! Chase a 4 outer and hit it and then are too scared/stupid to bet it. Were you really taking less than 2 to 1 odds to hit this and then sit on your hands when you get there? I really guess I should be thankful they don’t bet because I would’ve lost a lot of $ early. My night was cut a bit short because a family emergency and I end up with 5 hours logged and another $509 to the good. Saturday night saw the same stable of players. Mostly the same crew but a little more intoxicated than the night prior. I sat with $300 instead of the normal $200 because I was very familiar with the game and felt good about making big money. I run into my first barn door when I run my 2 black Aces into a flop of all hearts with 6, you read right, 6 players for $25 preflop. Jh6h3h and I lead out a feeler bet of $40. To my surprise, I only get 1 caller and he isn’t part of the stable crew. Actually, he was a pretty solid player. On the turn was a Kc. In my mind I was looking to check raise at this point depending on the strength of his bet. His bet turned out to be a bit stronger than I hoped at $60. At this point I was confused as to what he could’ve been holding. I tanked for about a minute and a half and decided to call. The river was a 2c putting a board of Jh6h3hKc2c which didn’t seem too bad. I decided to check and let him dictate the action hoping one of two things. 1- I put him on Ah Jx meaning top with flush draw on the flop and hoping he would take another stab at the pot thinking he was good or… 2- He had 2 pair with KJ or a small flush Well bet he does with $50. Here is my dilemma, either way I feel I have to call. Couple reasons. 1- $50 into a pot of nearly $400 with an overpair that has what I felt as a 20% chance of being good is plenty enough odds. 2- He is an unknown and I would just like to see how he played this hand for future considerations I make the call and this guy had 4d5d for the straight. I was totally confused. Did he really think I had shit? Had I raised preflop and then led into the pot with 5 donkeys waiting behind me? Was he really expecting to take the pot down on the turn for $60 into $280? Doesn’t matter. After that hand I had to rebuy and was now in for $500. I switch tables/stables after a couple of those guys leave and “rocks” sit down, whom I am all to familiar with. I find a table that looks a little weak besides one young Indian guy I have played with 2 of the last 3 days. He is all kinds of tight and in my opinion, overthinks himself way too often. First day I sat down with him he folded 88 preflop for $12 and told me he didn’t want to be in a coinflip. OK? It’s a flip for the first $12 and then you decide your fate after the flop, right? Wouldn’t you want to see a flop of A85 and have a chance to stack another $300? I would. I think that’s what makes me dangerous. I’ll play any 2 cards at any time in any position. DECEPTION. You never know what I’m holding. Back to the action. About 5 hands into this new table I have noticed that every pot has been raised preflop. Not the normal $15-22 raise, the chicken shit “I have nothing” $5-10 raises. Well this guy in early position, who looks as if he has no business at a poker table, raises to $12. He looks like he belongs in the middle of a mosh pit at a Limp Bizkit concert. Well I look down at QQ. I repop it to $26. As he is completing the bet I point out to a guy on my right that his hand is trembling. I know this guy has AA and tell this guy that I am about to stack him if I hit a queen. Flop comes out Q103. He checks to me and I know he is going to check-raise. I lead out $30 and he makes it $90 and I jam it in there. He insta-calls and proudly fires over 2 Aces. Really? I didn’t know you had those? I show my QQ and the dealer(Maria) shows me an Ace on the turn. Done and Done. I am shipping another $250 on top of the $90 he already has committed. Great game! Knowing where you are the whole way and having your nuts kicked in on the turn. I wonder what thoughts if any went through this guys head? Any rational and decent poker player in his spot should know that the 1 hand that he still has beat with that flop is KK. Would I reraise twice with JJ, 1010, 99 or AQ? Wouldn’t you think you were beat and save the other $250? Or even give it a second to settle in? Na! Insta-call. Steaming, I proceed to rebuy for the last $200 that I am willing to donate with the way the night is going. I dump off about another $30 in a rage with shit like 3d6d, 94o, A4. I go take a walk and regroup determined to play my game and get this back. Well I get into a pot with Mr. 2 outer when he raised to $17 and I had 77. 4 handed flop comes down AA4 and we check it around and the turn was a J. Fred Durst himself checks and I bet out $20 bucks and both fold. Before he mucks his cards he shows them to the guy next to him and under his breath says, “it’s ok, he only took $17 off of me when I took $400 off of him with the same hand”. He is lucky, lucky that I didn’t get up and kick the shit out of him. Punk bitch! I can’t wait for the next time I sit down with him. I think Keith was his name. He’s got red hair and a long goatee. Also, he has those earrings that stretch your earlobe to the point where you can put your fingers through it. If any of you sit with this assclown just watch his hands tremble and hope to flop him. He will give it all to you. I sit for the next couple hours grinding my ass off. No real big pots, just a bunch of $25-60 pots. I make one move on our Indian friend who is ever the thinker. I raise out of desperation to represent a hand with A9o in the cutoff. He flats out of the BB. Flop is A75 rainbow. He checks over to me and I bet $25 and he min raises to $50. I know if he didn’t flop a set or is holding AK that he is going to fold. So I push in my last $185 on top and he quickly folds face up AQ. WOW!! This guy either respects my game too much or doesn’t have a spine. Either way when I look back at it, this was the key hand of the night. Up to around $550 and an old friend arrives. Big Ray comes and graces the table with his presence and instantly tightens the table. I dunno if it is because they are scared that if they take his money that he will follow them outside and literally crush them or what. But, he has that effect. I immediately open my game up. Playing all sorts of madness. One of the key hands is 4c5c. I have a great record with this hand, probably around the range of 76-0 with it. I call a raised pot with 5 players to me. Nearly $75 in the pot preflop. I am in position and board falls Qs9c4h and we check it around. Turn another 4 with a rainbow on board. Bet of $45 into me and I flat it. River is a 2 and the guys lays another $100 to me. Am I beat? I think not. He was not the original raiser, and not the type of guy that would check a set into 5 others. I call and he says he missed. I guess J10? Or maybe KJ. Who cares. Here’s a story about the legendary 4c5c. My buddy B and I went out to Vegas in Dec 05. We were there for nearly 2 weeks. First night there I get hit in the face with the deck. I couldn’t miss. I pull $3500 out of a 2-5 game at the Rio. The rest of this trip was basically about proving a point. I wanted to break a table so bad. Just sit down and take every dollar off of it. B and myself go to the Mirage and sit in a 2-5 and for the most part, stay out of each others way. Well I bought in for $500 and was sitting on nearly 2K when I looked down at what else but 4c5c. I was on the button and action to me was a raise to $35 and B going all in for $120+. I am not folding my hand and this other guy, who I didn’t think was going to repop it but I knew he was going to call had nearly 1,500 in front of him. So I call and the flop is Kh 3c 2c. I remember it like it happened last night. This guy bets out $300 and I push. He tanks for awhile and calls with KQ. Nice call sir! What are you still doing with this hand? My buddy B starts cheering for an Ace because he has AQ. I look over at him and say, “B, you don’t want an Ace man.” The turn was the Ace and he turns his hand over and says, “what do you mean I don’t want an Ace?” I show him the 45 and he goes crazy. “Mike blah, how do you call $125 preflop with 45 blah?” I didn’t have an answer and probably never will. It is my hand and I don’t know if I can ever fold it preflop. I’m a sicko I guess. That trip was great. I made over $6k in just cash games. I got more hours of massage than I did of sleep and stayed in one on the nicest suites I could ever imagined. The best part, it was FREE! Saturday’s session ended with me leaving the table with $1350, extremely happy with a profit of $650 on the night. For the 4 sessions since I returned I am up a total of nearly $2500. Much better start than I could've expected considering the fact I was on a limited bankroll and still a bit rusty. Hope things keep up!

P-Back

Thanks P-Back...

You all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Dead Money tournament...my goals, the fun and my mistakes.

2009-01-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to play in a satellite with nice deep stacks and levels set up for those who like to play poker. The week before I went I thought of some goals I wanted to accomplish. Everyone there knows that I can be aggressive and if I get chips...LOOK OUT! Here was my gameplan...play tight aggressive, get a feel for the table and then start making moves against those that you can make them against. We had two lunchboxes, and I mean that in the nicest way, who I had to watch closely. My other goals were this, I wanted to knock Tex out very baddly, not because I don't like him-far from it-because he is one of the better tourney players at the table besides Davey. Again, I wanted to knock him out, I did not want to see anyone else do it. I also wanted to get into it with Geno and WildBill. I wanted to outlast Davey and Parfait, two of three that I wanted heads up. So there we have it, I know that the other guys had ideas on what they wanted to do but I wrote notes to myself about how each of them played from my many sessions of watching and playing with them, in a way...it helped.

So I tried to play tight aggressive, I was in the hi-jack seat on the first hand and almost everyone limped to me..."YOU CANNOT LIMP TO ME, WHEN I AM IN POSITION!" I wanted to play tighter but I looked down at 9-5 clubs and raised about 5 times the big blind. Everyone folded around to me. Davey, wanted to see how a master played so I showed him and we had a chuckle. I did try to play tight aggressive and my clues as to what the others were doing fell right into line, it took a while but my reads became good and I was happy.
The day went well and we talked about the different guys who we've played with, Big Mike going to jail, Flyboy, the old 5-5 no limit game where you could buy in for whatever and listening to the stories of the local boys, most of the table were from Houma. We watched the game and I did call the Arizona Cardinals that day and forward into the superbowl. Basically it was well worth the trip and the experience was like none other.

Well, one of the lunchboxes is getting hot and heavy and involved in a lot of hands but is not showing down many of them. He is up and than he starts to lose a little bit, I have him covered in this hand...I open from position with A2clubs and get two callers, the flop is all clubs...he bets into me, I call the other player folds. The turn is a blank, he bets into me again, I min raise and he shoves. Now I have him beat but can he have a set here, or does he have a lesser flush and thinks I'm making a move on him. I try to get a read, just in case the board pairs and he shows a set for the full house. He is stoic and seems like he wants a call, must have a flush. I call he turns over 9-7 clubs, I show my hand and we shake hands as the river bricks out. First one out caused by me, I proceed to put lots of pressure on the table. Tex is getting into hands with good hands and cannot connect, I see the frustration but I also see the calm before a storm brewing in him. He raises and I believe the blinds are 50-100, to $1000, he threw the wrong chip out there. Everyone folds to me in the big blind I look down at a couple of 8's, normally I put him on a big ace and I don't want to race, but he is short stacked, and he is my primary goal. Now, I only made this play to tell him to fold but alas he did not. I say "All In." He contemplates and eventually calls, I think he had AK or AQ. He missed, I have more chips. YES! I KNOCKED TEX OUT! I DID! YES! At the same time I felt bad, I do consider him a friend. Well I got involved with Geno three times and went 2-3 against him, he ended up finishing right outside the mula. I only bluffed you once Geno, if you had a pair on our last head to head you had me beat, the one where you took a while to fold. I got involved with Wild Bill and could not get him to go away. I can't remember the hand that well but there was three to a flush on the turn and he bet into my flop raise, I contemplated and talked out loud on what he might have and raised him BIG on the turn and he called. I gave up when the fourth flush card hit. He showed Ad 8c for the winning hand, he had me the whole way but I could not get him to go away. Maybe he'll talk about it but it twisted me up for a minute. Davey went on a long run and made me fold some good hands because he was to my immediate right, good meaning K 10 suited, q 10 suited, junk like that, LOL! We really did not get into many confrontations. Parfait got smacked around by the other lunchbox, Robert, hope I got that right, he's a cool cat, the cards worked well for him and he chipped up against the likes of Parfait, Geno, Davey and eventually me.

Finally my mistakes, well not plural I just kept making the same mistake over and over again and it kills me! We got three handed and i was short stacked, well I chipped up twice, had both of the other two smashed but could not do anything because after playing for eight hours I believed that both Joe and Robert would eventually start making moves against me. Alas, I was wrong everytime, they were card racks but I stayed in there with second and third best everytime...that is what cost me this satelitte. I was not outplayed. I gave it away. Do I sound arrogant there? Sorry, I really am not trying to but I am telling the truth I messed it up for myself...I got involved in two huge pots when I had the worst of it because I did not believe he could have the hand that he eventually showed me. LOL!

So, I have rambled on long enough, it was a great time and I hope Davey, Wild Bill or Geno set one up again, heck maybe play one of those every other month...this time for the cash...

Well until next time...

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

My disagreement with MIKE CARO

2008-12-09T12:16:00.000-08:00

What's up? So I am reading the november issue of bluff magazine, yes the one with the two blondes on the front cover and I work back to Mike Caros article called Mental Malfunctions. Mike Caro is brillant and has had a lot of impact in the world of poker. Today, I am going to have to disagree on a point that he made under his topic-The pot is too big to fold-at the end of this portion of his article he says this "Another mistake players sometimes make is to play low quality hands before the flop when many players have already entered the pot. You might assume you're getting good odds, but thing about this: Everyone can't be getting good odds, so someone must be taking the worst of it. If you're playing 8-7 off-suit, that someone is you."

I totally disagree, my understanding is that his many players refers to three or more limpers before it gets to you, 8-7 in a multiway pot is golden. This hand will hit or miss and when you miss it is easy to let it go. On the other hand, he might be talking about you being the second one in and than having many players limp in after, that would be a bad move because if they had not limped in after the price was not right. But in general when you have odds greater than 3 or 4 to 1, almost anything is playable in my eyes. I don't know maybe I'm wrong here hit me back and correct me, is Mike Caro right and I cannot see what he is talking about or am I right understanding that the odds before a flop with a holding of 8-7 off at 3-1 is not a bad play? Heck there may be even more that I am not seeing, help me see it. I know I kept it short and sweet, just going to wait for any responses.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

E-GADS! Not three in a row...

2008-11-15T13:44:00.000-08:00

11-15-2008
Had to let this one settle in before I told the tale...finished a marathon session last week in a 1-2 NL game that I should have left much earlier but just would not do it. You see I was that guy in highschool that got all the signs that the girls were digging me but had no idea until I went to college and they told me about it, two summers later, FRAK!!! Well I am the same way in a bad game, got all the signs to get out but I don't. I think I know what a bad game is for me now.

I went six dealers until I got a playable hand, 30 min a down, three hours, I mean is that a long time? Yes. My first playable hand, not including the big blind, where I had to fold to all raises and check down to the river and muck, anyways, my first playable hand came during the last dealer where I picked up pocket nines in the hi-jack, I pop to 12 after two limp in, the button calls and big blind re-pops for a bunch...into the muck I go! The button re-popped himself and they got it all in pre-flop, button aces, big blind kings. Button snaps off the big blind. BIG SMOOVE GET OUT OF THIS GAME! Six dealers later I get three hands in a row, yes six dealers later. The hands pocket nines, raise, get four callers, ace hits the board bet into me, call, raise, I fold. Second hand, pocket eights, raise, get five callers, ace hits along with queen, again, bet, call, raise, re-raise, I fold. Third hand, pocket 10's, raise, four callers, flop is AK10, bet into me, raise, re-raise, all in...my lord, I fold. The jack hits the turn and a deuce on the river. Goondingy, GET OUT OF THIS GAME! I am not telling bad beat stories, this is how I know when to get out of a game, six hours and four hands! Gotta get out, the final nail in the coffin, about three more hours later I pick up pocket fives in the cutt-off and I have a maniac to my left, he has raised 95% of the time and admits to being a maniac and wanting to change but cannot. It was quite funny, anyways, I open with my fives, get re-popped by the button, min raise and get two callers at $24 to me. Shoot, okay, $12 more, i call to close the betting down. The flop is QQQ. Checks around to me, now here is what I figure, let me make a bet, I get a call, that's the other queen, I get raised I may be beat but I may be able to call, but hopefully this bet will shut it all down. I cut out $50 and bet, MANIAC pops it another $100, the first caller contemplated for sometime, (HE SAID HE HAD POCKET 10's), but folds and everyone folds around to me. I look at the maniac, who when is confident is very talkative and full of fun, at this time he is stoic and stares straight ahead. I ask how come he's not talking. Folks, another reason to leave a game is when you don't have anymore bullets to fire (rebuys) and you feel like you are scared to lose what is in front of you. Well the maniac does not say anything, but the whole time I am thinking, sixes, sevens, eights, nines, tens, and jacks. I'm thinking now, why the hell did I bet, drek, I could be beat but the kid is stone quiet, not like him, he thinks he's beat, but maybe he did it with AK, "GOON you're good here, just call, and check call the rest of the way," I say to myself but I don't want to lose what's in front of me. After about three long minutes I fold and as I am folding I want my cards back because why would he raise with the queen, well I reverted back to the kid that did that to me with AQ when two hit the board two weeks ago. So I let it go. The kid finally breathes and says to me, I did not want that other kid to call, I was pushing FOURS!!!! ARGH!!!! UGH!!!! SHYTE!!!! I knew I was good but could not commit, if I was Davey I think I may have raised right there, he has this knack for seeing those things better than me. Well, after that it was over, I continued to grind away getting nothing but face card deuce, etc. It went like that for hours, very embarrased because I should have recognized when to get out, yet okay with the way I played for the most part. Going to take sometime off and get ready for this Christmas thing but I got someone to hook me up on full tilt so you might see me in there sometime soon. 'nuff for now.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Harrah's Week Two, 11/01/08

2008-11-06T18:18:00.000-08:00

Returned to Harrah's this past Saturday and met up with Bill and Davey. They were on table 15 sitting next to each other and the game looked...hmm, not good. Though they did have that cat who thinks he's nice that I would not have minded sitting in the game to break it off in him. But alas I would be put on table 23, I think, by the poker room cage. Before I got there I talked to Davey and Bill for a minute, Davey was up quite a bit, but I know how he plays and I am sure he opened this table up, and had probably pissed a few people off, but that's my boy. Bill was chilling waiting for his time. I got called to my table and said my see ya's and told them that I'll make a table change and be back soon.

So I sit down, (mental checklist, tight aggressive, watch for a bit, play position.) I get in under the gun, look down at AQ of spades and make it $12 to go in the 1-2 NL game. I get three callers. The flop is JJ2, big blind bets, I call, turn pairs the board again, BB beats I call, river is a blank, BB beats again, I call. WHY? WHAT THE HELL CAN I BEAT? MAYBE A BLUFF! MAYBE!!!! Well he shows AJ off and I muck quickly and smile at myself...first hand, mental checklist out the window and $75 down.

Another thing that I like to do is get to know the guys next to me or at least be nice to them, you see I am a very large guy and quite intimidating, so that it is easier to take money from them. Well it worked, had a very loose weak aggressive player to my left and a nice young weak tight kid to my right. We talked and it was more small talk then anything. I was back on my game plan and up a couple hundred at this point. The guy two to my right was another decent player who had about six hundred in front of him due to hitting quad kings versus pocket aces, where they got it all in on the flop, he turned the quads...lol! At least that was the story I got when I got back from the bathroom.

Well, here is how being nice sorta works out. I am in the big blind, 7-4 off, three limpers to the flop, weak aggressive, descent player on the button and weak tight in the small blind. The flop, 10 7 7 rainbow, YAHTZEE! Check around to the button, $10 bet. SB calls, I call, the rest fold. Turn card, 7, UNO!!!! Well, that was the first thing that came to mind. SB bets $20, I call button calls. River is a deuce. SB checks-"WHAT THE HELL!"-I can't check behind, because I notice the button wants to check also. Shoot! Well I cut out $70, slight overbet, or it looks like it and bet. The button stands up and looks at me, "You got quads?" In the amount of time that I am typing this I had to answer, which I did, "Yes, I do." I tried to sound like a liar. He said that according to the way I had been playing he believed me. I did not like that he said that but oh well, I really was hoping for a call, he folded. The SB with about $100 left goes, "Do you really have quads?"
I answer, "Yes, I do," now with a lot of confidence.
"Will you show if I fold?"
"NOPE!" I said quickly. Now I figured he was not going to call.
"Well, I gotta see them. Right?"
He cuts out $70, and slowly pushes it across the line and quickly flips up his 10 8 off. I show my 7-4 off and pull in the pot.
"Guess you were telling the truth," as he smiled at me, pushed away from the table and said good game as he cashed out.
I don't know if he called because it was easy to give me his money or because he thought I was a liar, I'm going with easy because I think I was likeable.

Well the game eventually broke and I was up real nice for a 1-2nl game. I move to another table where the action was a little crazy. Four way limped pots and a $20 bet when the flop would hit...YUMMY! I entered with about $350 and after an hour I was down to $125, freaking crazy, I had to let a lot of big hands go. Well I straddle, I have my reasons for straddling in a loose game. I may give that away another time. There are six callers including the blinds, here is a funny thing, the big blind completes and at this point I am raising with whatever I have to take this pot down, when the one seat, about middle middle position, throws out four red chips. The dealer said you already called. He looks a little frustrated so instead of raising, I look down at 10-5 off and knock the board. The flop comes 10 5 2, check around to the guy who wanted to raise. He throws out $20, this guy who has been playing slow, min raises quickly. YIKES, I think, big hand. 5's, deuces? Folds around to me and I just call the $20. Folds to the bettor and he re-raises all in, about $60 more. I look down at what I got left and go F it! I'm all in, the other guy beats me in the pot. The two guys to my left say I like your hand, the original bettor turns over pocket kings, the slow player who got fast all of a sudden turns over pocket deuces. I still have not turned my cards over. The kings go, "what you got man?"
"I'm in second and you're in third place," I respond.
The turn is five. "I just took first place, fellas."
The river is an ace, I show my 10 5 off and they don't look happy. The original bettor goes, "shoulda raised."
I get up after a few big blinds and get away up $60, from that second session and head home. I may get to get away again for a third week in a row...wish me luck.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Harrah's...a wonderful return...

2008-10-26T14:48:00.000-07:00

I have not played at Harrah's New Orleans for sometime and it was a nice time, got to see some regulars and talk to some of the floor staff and dealers. I got there around 10 pm and did not leave until 6 am. Yes it was a long session.
My game plan was to come in and play tight aggressive, observe the table for a number of hands to get a good feel and play position poker. I played well for the first two hours and then began to play very loose. It is funny when I do not believe someone though my very first read was, "he has more of that than you do." Here is how one of those hands played out...I'm in middle last position and limp in after two others and the big blind who is new raises to $15, two callers to me I call with A8 unsuited. Flop comes QQ8, rainbow. BB fires, quickly, $15. I instantly think, he's got the queen, but when it gets folded to myself I begin to think for minute, why would he bet three of a kind to a rainbow flop? He's making a continuation bet, is what I concluded, with AK. I call, we are heads up. The turn is a 7, he bets $15, he's very stoic, quiet, leaning towards the board and not looking around, very focused on the board. I call. The river is a 7. He cuts out $20 and bets, I now know I am beat but with odds I gotta call. Yet I say to him, just to get a final read for a future reference, "You tricked me huh? You had the queen the whole time," as he looked up and gave me a quick smile. Yep, I'm beat as I throw out $20. He turns over the AQ off and I muck.
Later I made a move on the button with A2 hearts and got called on the river by the trip jacks, he could have put me to the test but I was suprised he only called instead of raising. He told me later that he felt like he could only call my bet, and could not raise.
Well I got short stacked at about 3 am and three hours later I left up a few hundred. Long session but it was a wonderful return.
I came to play with a game plan, I put about four things down for myself to use in order to play well and within myself.
1-Play tight/aggressive
2-Observe even when not in the hand
3-Do not get emotional
4-Have fun.
Of course during your session, there are plays that you make and many audibles that you must call during game play. I've talked before that when I get loose aggressive and I am the only one, I lose. When I play tighter into loose aggressive, I win. I had to make that adjustment into the last three hours. Well that was fun, looking forward to my next sit down.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Pop Warner football drama

2008-10-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

I missed Big Bills wedding Saturday. I had to make a decision, see the one time event in my boy's life or watch my seven year old step son who finally got to start in his first game, which should have started at 3 pm but did not go until 5 pm. I took the later. It sucks and I talked to the Wild One, told him what was up, but it still sucks.
My boy's team won on a last ditch effort, here is what happened. We are in the fourth quarter, no one has scored yet, there were several offensive penalties putting the team back to about third and 20, they tried to sweep the ball to the open side with their star running back, DJ, (I have seen and played with some great backs and I promise you this kid will be a star in the next ten years if he keeps his head on correct), well the defense is set up to stop the outside sweep and they lose another 10 yards. Greenlawn Eagles, my son's team, is on their 10 yard line, it is fourth down with 1:20 left. If they punt the other team gets the ball thirty yards from the line of scrimmage so Green lawn goes for it. The parents are yelling, "PUNT THE BALL!" They don't, the ball is hiked and and there is a hand off, it is tough to throw in the 6-7 age group, and DJ bursts through the middle, the sideline erupts, moms and dads are running down the sideline yelling, "GO, GO, GO!" 90 yards later he scores, they do not get the extra point and eventually the game is over, 6-0. I start laughing and yelling that was not supposed to happen, we should have punted, you should have stopped him, and I truly felt dirty, but we would take the win. It was the first one of the year, 1-4. My boy did okay, he just needs to stop jumping around like a bunny rabbit. Of course I am eager to bestow as much of my football knowledge upon him but he is not really into it, which sucks but maybe when he understands the game a tad bit more, he'll take my advice and crush those who are larger than he.

Been studying poker and talking about poker with Minnesota Mike and a few others, talking about situations and such. Always playing the top five game, best position game versus player types and opening hands game. Ever play these? I do because it is so hard to get away, but I will be out there, be it the Beau, or Harrah's in the next week or two, because my boy AT@T gets back from Africa and he wants to roll. Perfect excuse. Enough of my rambling.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Fumble nuts...

2008-09-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Got off the phone with a very good friend of mine up in Pittsburgh, Bi'lal Brookly the Tenth Son, and we were just shooting the shyte and talking about old times and what was going on today. Well he is doing great and is about to enter an amatuer body building contest which I thought was amazing, so kudos to him. We talked about his business and how it at times involves poker players and dealers. Wait a minute, Pittsburgh's got a casino? Nah, they have them in West Virginia and poker rooms are pretty nice up there. I asked him what games they are playing up there and he had not idea because he's a black jack kinda guy and cannot stand how slow poker moves. LOL! I wonder how many pros made a move up there just to pick off all of those luchboxes. I remember talking to a guy a few years ago who moved to Oklahoma when they started getting into larger poker rooms and how he was making a killing up there. Hmmm, ahh well. I mean think about it...all that easy money up there...GOSH!

Why do Loose Aggressive Players put themselves into positions where they know they should fold but while they are in the hand...THEY CAN NOT DO IT! I mean if you just pulled yourself away from your body and watched what was going on and the read was to fold, you would fold. Yet, when it comes down to it even when you keep telling yourself that "he has me out kicked, or that f'ing card hit him on the river, and finally he doesn't bluff all his money away because you've never seen it and he has not done it in the last four hours you have seen him play." Yet, what always happens, something, maybe the little devil, that voice inside says very softly, "I hope he doesn't have it." That is followed up by, "We committed too much money to this pot already, if we are right we are getting PAID."

FUMBLE NUTS! You know you're beat, you know you have to lay it down, but you always hear your body as your essence floats away say..."Call!" And you watch your bodies reaction to the nuts that the other guy has, it's eyes open wide, mouth drops open, and an expletive slowly rolls out of the mouth. You get up from the table and talk to yourself...and always ask your self this question..."WHY?"

Well one day I will be able to get away more often than I do now but if there is a way or if someone has a trick...Let it be known!

Just a few words from myself, I was rambling about this the other day and just wanted to put it down, maybe get some advice...who knows! I'm out!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

A BET and a smile...HOOOOWAAAAA!!!

2008-09-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

So I just wanted to get on because I am enjoying all the poker talk and my butt is itching to get into a brick and mortar to rip up a nice game of no limit hold'em. So hard with such a large family and all the work I do to get those chips out there for your consumption.
Well I am a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, as far back as I can remember. A friend of the family pulled me next to him as he and my dad watched the game and he said to me we like the cowboys because the cheerleaders have big pom poms, of course he was grabbing his chest and smiling. My dad didn't really appreciate it but I was too young to understand but it stuck and stayed with me through all these years. ANYWAYS...I do understand football and though I am a cowboys fan I can look pass that and see that my team may not be the best going into a game, shoot I'll back 'em and hope, but will understand that they may not have a big chance. So I have been talking to some of my employees and they seem to be fans, those types of fans that think that their team can do nothing but right, that this guy is a better quarterback than that guy etc. Well they are Saints fans and one in particular said that the Saints will be better than the Cowboys...smell a wager coming on. We talked and I bet two different things...first bet, Cowboys will have a better record than the Saints by week 8. I am a favorite but you never know. Second bet, not a favorite here, the Cowboys go to the Superbowl. Sometimes I get a little carried away.

Well, my bud AT@T is heading to Tunica for the tourneys up there and I am somewhat sad because I can't go. But I have an awesome wife and a great family, thus the reason for being "somewhat sad." Another note, just some kudos to my bud Mitchy...he was playing at Harrahs on Tuesday, I believe where they have the aces cracked get a rack promotion going on. I was talking to my bud AT@T and he told me this story, AT was not doing too well and Mitchy came over and got a seat next to him. Well in the big bling Mitchy looks at a couple of aces, there were two or three others in the hand and one of them raised. He really did not want to protect, he wanted to play it small, get cracked and get his rack. Well he calls and they go to the flop of 774, two suited to a flush, checked around. The turn is an Ace, Mitchy again checks, the raiser bets a little, another player calls and Mitchy calls, I believe. The river is a king, Mitchy decides to hell with the rack, there's more for the taking and bets out, the raiser calls and the other guy raises, Mitchy jams, pre-flop raiser folds and the other guy calls and tables pocket kings with a smile, Mitchy turns over the aces... and he could not lose the rest of the night! Nice job Mitchy! The profit you pulled out of that 1-2 No Limit game was outstanding!

Got a lot of people in Houston and I hope they are all well...please shoot out a prayer for those involved with IKE...heck we sure know what they are going through.

Well, that will do for the night. Y'all stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

$40 home tourney...

2008-08-17T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last friday night I get invited to play at a home tourney on the Westbank by my bud, Mitchell. Most of this group were guys and gals that I played with back before Katrina. I looked forward to seeing some of the guys and prepared myself mentally for a night filled with lunchboxes. AHHHHWOOOOO! "THIS IS WHERE WE FIGHT! THIS IS WHERE THEY DIE!" That quickly went through my head.

I made my way to the westbank as I headed EAST, and made it past the pot hole infested, mini roller coaster ridden roads of Gen. Dugole(I spelled this incorrectly, just spelled it the way it sounds to me...my apologies). Made it to the house and walked in, two large dogs immediately stepped up to me sniffed and continued their journey to another room. In the living room they had one of the two tables set up with my bud and six others. He directs me to a back room where they have six others and my empty seat. I missed the first level of 25-50, 20 minute levels with a starting stack of 5000. I play my first hand in middle position, with a limp. Three others come in and the big blind raises big. I fold. I finally look around the table and recognize two other players, we will call them A and B. The rest...lunchboxes. Well three levels later I am down to about $3500 and this hand occurs that I am not involved in. Early middle opens for a raise and A calls. The flop is AQ7 rainbow. The lunchbox who raised checks, A bets half the pot. LB, calls. The turn is an 8. LB, checks, A fires in a pot sized bet. LB calls. The river is a J, rainbow board, and LB goes...all in. A thinks for a minute and eventually fires his cards towards the muck. One turns up, an Ace and the player asks for the other...A looks at the LB and turns the other over for him, a Queen for top two. The LB goes, "Gosh, you laid that down!" I think A had the odds to make the call but it was pretty obvious that the Jack on the river made the guys hand...so what did the LB have? Shoot, let me spoil it...K 10 hearts. YEP. This is the part that I did not like but said nothing...it's a home game. The guy shows us his hand and A smiles and says, "That's one of the hands you could have had, you're not good enough to bluff there." I shake my head and some of the other guys laugh a little and A finishes with "...what, buddy, it's true isn't it?"

The very next hand I am under the gun and peek at a couple of street walkers(QhQd). I pop it 3x and get called by a lunchbox, A says raise and takes his eyes off of the tv and makes it what I raised, we tell him that I already raised and he min raises my raise. Right here I think maybe I should re-pop but I put him on AK through A10 maybe mid-pair but not Aces or Kings. I don't pop and just call as does LB. The flop is Jh9h2c. I fire out half the pot, LB folds, A goes all in for another 2500. I have him covered and I instantly think drawing at the hearts. Yet for some reason, it does not FEEL that way. I start thinking and I am really trying to put all these things through my head, pot odds, enemies possible hands, and should I call. But why do I feel like I am beat here. Now he starts to talk, "I guess Ray is on a draw and figuring out his outs." Stuff like that...eventually I figure he has AJ and does not want me drawing for the hearts, I can be that kind of player sometimes, and I call. He turns up his pocket nines. I turn a heart draw and miss on the river. I am out 10 minutes later. So who was actually the luchbox, lol! ME!

During my time playing when a player starts to talk to others or starts to monologue, HE IS STRONG! I forgot that up until I said call. As soon as I said call, that ran through my head and it hurt a little. He sat back and crossed his arms, all signs of strength and I just missed them all. My timing was a little off.

I played two heads up matches and went 1 for 2, the last match is when I did push on the flush draw with bottom pair. Ahhh, who cares! It was fun. Honestly, I should have cut that game up but I truly did not play correct...may have been because I was watching the Olympics Opening event ceremony. Nah, just another excuse but there is something said about poker and TV, if you want to win, watch the players not the TV.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

MISSISSIPPI STRADDLE...oh so nice...

2008-07-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

What is up? So yep I wanted to throw something up before July was out. I was looking through some of my journals and I saw something that I wanted to share with the community.

I took my first trip to Tunica, Ms back in '03 and all I wanted to do was visit the different casinos with poker rooms. My first visit was to the Goldstrike, decent size and not much action going on. I walked across the crosswalk to the Horseshoe and did not leave for a day.

I observed a no limit game where the mississippi straddle was in play, but did not understand what was going on. I kept seeing the small blind act first, I kept away from that game because I thought is was not normal, which it is not. I spent most of my day playing 4-8 limit and finally got into my game of 10-20 limit and stayed until the table broke. So it was not until the year of Katrina, when I lived in Memphis for a few weeks, that I got properly introduced to the mississippi straddle.

I entered the Horshoe, (customer service here was the best and the games were always juicy) and got into the 5-5 no limit game. I sat down next to Steve a high stakes player out of New Orleans who was also here due to Katrina. Well the button comes to him and I post my five bucks and he puts out $10. I look at him with confusion and he said to me,"Strap on your seatbelt, going to be a long ride. Don't take it personally as soon as I learned that I could do this, I've been doing it ever since."

I smile and am first to act, as I look down at 7-2 off, of course, and muck. Three limpers to him and he puts in a nice sized raise and takes it down. I sit there for six orbits, $30 dollars later, seat opens up to Steve's right and I move quickly. Needless to say we sliced the game up for the next two weeks.

So what the heck is this mississippi straddle thing? It is a double the big blind, blind bet from any position other than the blinds. Normally a straddle is in the Under The Gun position right after the big blind but the Ms. straddle can be placed in middle position or late position but the only straddle that is allowed is the one closest to or on the button. So if three people straddle for position mind you, the straddle is last to act pre-flop, if the button is the fourth the other three must pick their money up. I have seen it used in the mid limit games 15-30 and of course the higher limit games 25-50. They will not allow it in the low limit, 4-8 nor have I seen it in the 10-20. This is usually allowed in No Limit games. Of course you do have games that there is a mandatory UTG rock (straddle), but the table has to totally agree.

Strategically, if you like to act last at all times from the button, this would be something to utilize. So is the straddle profitable? I had one view of the straddle for the longest time...waste of money. I have now opened my thought process and allowed others to show me something different. I have seen the straddle, a normal straddle, open up a tight game. I learned last year that a straddle is also good in a loose game, so instead of limping at the cost of the big blind the stakes get higher and the straddler can put even more pressure on the table. So, again, my opinions but I wanted to share the Ms. straddle with you. Very general description but I hope you enjoyed!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Minnesota Mike and me...

2008-07-02T19:19:00.001-07:00

I took a trip down the road to meet up with a good friend of mine, Minnesota Mike. A business owner from Minnesota who travels to Florida often. Well on this trip he decides to hook up with me and asked if he should come to New Orleans. I told him to stay in Biloxi and the Beau would probably be the best spot, he did and it worked out for him. I have worked with Mike on his game for the last few years and he is coming around. He is currently on an eight session win streak and yes he is more about results than play but he is starting to understand that though you may lose, it is how you played.

When I met up with Minnesota I talked about what we would be learning this day and it would be observing tells and making reads based on betting and body language and though we may be talking in between hands that we would watch the others and learn bits and pieces and discuss. Well we got into a 1-2 NL game after 9:30 pm and had to wait until the button passed us. So I get my first hand in the cut-off seat, multiple limpers to me and I look down at pocket 3's. The big blind raises the under the gun calls, so does another out of position. Hmm, guess I'll call the extra $10. The flop, 5 10 3...YAHTZEE! Big blind bets out...SCREAMS continuation bet, under the gun calls the other folds and I call also. The turn is a 5, BB bets again, UTG min raises, i'm confused but I give UTG a five at least...maybe A5, well I call and BB folds. The river is an A...ARGH! UTG fires at me, now I am going to call no matter what but I go into the tank and am just wondering if I can raise here? The kid has me covered and there is quite a bit of money in the pot already but if I raise will it be for not, this is my first hand and maybe he did limp call with A5 off. I decide that since it was my first hand and I do not have a solid feel for the table, because I did not scout first, that I would just call. UTG tables 45 off suit. I win and did not look back all night, I was never at risk for my initial buy in. Minnesota was up and down and finally got to a point where he was making a lot of money by making great reads and folding when he was supposed to.
Well after about eight hours of play I have doubled my buy in and have been folding like a tight wad. Believe it or not when I would raise they would lay down to me. There were a few times my top two got snapped off or my set got snapped off by the worst hand only because I slowplayed it and they sprinted to the river to get there. So eventually our table breaks and we move to the table right below the upper level right by the stairs, a couple of guys had big stacks and it felt like it was going to be a long one and that we should leave but I had a goal and wanted to get there. So Mike starts to snap off a couple of the guys and he is up big. I go to the bathroom and return to a very short game of six people and get back in time for the big blind. We now have a local dealer who is dating a female friend of mine, Gretchen, and a young guy with a decent stack but I have him covered another lunchbox weasel in the 10 seat and Minnesota in the three seat next to me. Mike folds, Gretchen's boy limps and so does young kid. The sixth person in the small blind calls, I look down at 10-3 off and knuckle the table. The flop comes 10 k 10...eeewwww so NICE! SB checks, I check it is checked around. The turn is a rainbow 6, check, I check, GB bets out, young kid calls, sb folds, I min raise. GB folds and young kid min raises me! WhAT! Crap...do you have K10, nah, but you have a 10. Geez! Maybe you think that I have a king and your king has a better kicker, nah! Ugh...I call, the river.....off suit 3!!!! I look at the kids stack he has a little over $200 left. I quickly push in $160, wanna make it look like I'm strong, yet weak, and I'll get a call, if he shoves all in quickly I may be dead but I'll have to call. The kid thinks about it, he doesn't have K-10 or a full house...YES!!!! After about 20 seconds the kid shrugs his shoulders and pushes all in...I make it look like I need to think about it, respect, and call the additional $60 or more. He tables the 10-8 off and I show my hand. The kid looks like I slapped him across the face and just sits there as the money is shoved towards me. MIRACLE RIVER, that goes my way...that is why I do not freak when it happens to me anymore.

The freaky thing is that I had several pocket aces, pocket kings, queens, jacks and 10's...once. I had AK several times and AJ several times but only made a bit at a time. 10-3 was my biggest gain and only because I got lucky. An hour later I scooped up my earnings along with Mike and we left and talked about our very long session.

Yes, we both won and yes it felt GOOD!!!!

Well thanks for sharing with me and hopefully there will be many more winning sessions and I'll break down more hands in the future from this session or the next.

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Was it a return or a return to the old ways....?

2008-06-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

Got back in the game recently and it was GREAT!!! New players and they still play like lunchboxes!!! Well I had to let what I did this past weekend marinate before I laid it out for you and myself.

I came into the game to play ubbertight aggressive. Get a feel for the table, know who to attack, who to leave alone and just hang out and talk to Bill about different hands, life and continue with our table observations while out of the hand, which is key. It was like getting back on a bike, but I was on a roller coaster...I was down most of the time and had to battle back, and I would and be winning somewhat but for the next six hours, it was a struggle.

A key hand for me came at about hour five. I am on the button and a guy I was sitting next to earlier in the game, (he was in seat five-I was in seat six-hate that seat-eventually moved to seat 9), was out of position and opened for $12, for some freaking reason, with only $250 in front of me, I knew that I could outplay him and I had this feeling that he was on AK, nothing else, just AK. He had about $600 in front of him and it was not because of solid play. (side note-this guy showed down some bad hands, which lost but kept playing them and hoping and it worked once with A2 out of position with a flop of 22A versus the most aggressive player at the table, they both got it in on the river. The other fella, loose aggressive at the table, showed down 6-2 for a full house on the turn. So this is how this fella doubled up and eventually won a few more getting his stack to about $600). He's from Hammond and plays with his buds but does not come down to New Orleans often he plays in Shreveport when he gets the chance also. I got this guy, I am going to take this guy down. I called with a weak hand because I told myself to call with anything. The flop is Q45 rainbow, it is just he and I and he bets $20...and sorta looks at me, I think nothing of it, I have that feeling that he is on air and call, telling myself that on the turn if he bets as long as it is not a face card...RAISE! The turn is a 7d, good let me try to represent a diamond draw with top pair. The guy bets like $40 or $50 and I pop it, $75 more. He thinks for a minute and I also realized that he was staring at me like he did when he had that A2 against the other guy. He calls and the river brings the Jd, he checks I push in $100 leaving behind about $50 or $60. He just calls and quickly turns over QJ off. This is not a bad beat story this is me trying to play level three with a level one player and this is me with a smile and a muck. I never recovered. WHY DO I TRY TO PUSH AGAINST THE BETTER HAND! WHY DO I THINK THAT HE WOULD THINK THAT I HAD THE DIAMOND DRAW-GOT THERE AND WANTED HIM TO PAY ME OFF BY VALUE BETTING LEAVING A FEW BUCKS BEHIND TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE THAT! WHY DO I DO THAT TO MYSELF! ARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! By the way I figured out that is one of my tells...so at least I learned something about myself. So basically I did not win I lost but I believe I played well for being out as long as I was. The cards did not run over me, I had to fight and scrape everytime and playing poker like that is not very fun. Good thing my bud Bill was there. So yeah, not bad, though I made bad plays, not great...just good and after marinating and not thinking about the results, I played well. I wish the results would have reflected this but it did not. Looking forward to getting back in there, and it will be soon. Hopefully we will make a trip to the Beau and hook up with fellow blogger Reid, hmmm who knows.

Alright!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

How to play Pocket Aces...in my opinion.

2008-06-14T11:51:00.001-07:00

I want to give away some free advice that may bite me in the ass down the road but none the less it is my opinion so you can take it or leave it. By the way, this advice that I am about to share...AWESOME!!!!

Pocket Aces the best starting hand in Texas Hold'em poker, limit, no-limit, or pot limit. Of course there are people who would rather have something else, so they so, but this is the best hand. Okay, here are some things that you have to look at before you sit down. If you really like to win you will scout the tables out and try to get a feel for the games that are going on if you see a particular game you can specifically ask the floor person to put you on the list for that game, if you are playing 1-2, 2-5, or low to medium limit games just scout them all and get ready, sometimes the wait for that table can be long. Now the scouting has been done and you have an idea of how the table plays. So you sit down, hopefully, after the blinds but lets say you sit down in the under the gun (UTG) position and pick up pocket aces. First thing that happens...deep inside there is a "Spartans!" and you reply to yourself inside that is "WHOWAA!", so you are pumped but how do I play this hand, I just got in the game, what should I do? Okay, if you had scouted you might have an idea of who the maniac is and where he/she is at the table, if you have one raise normally even if they are on your left. Now, lets say that you are put in a game that you have no idea what is going on, again you raise with your aces.

So the game is going on and you have some loose players to your left and are looking for that trap hand, you pick up aces. You have not raised for quite awhile but you want to trap these loose bastards what do you do? Since I happen to be one of those loose bastards, I would either raise as normal, so the L.B. will play with you because he thinks you have aces and looks down at 9-10 off and smiles to himself and knows that if he hits he will turn you upside down and bleed you dry. Geez, did I write all that? Sorry, well you either raise and get a caller or two or you limp and let the L.B.'s get in cheap to smack you around if they do hit. Please just raise with the Aces is my point.

It is very rare that you will slow play your aces...case in point it was a time ago, not sure when '07 or '06, it was about 2am on a Friday morning and I was getting up from a broken 1-2 NL game. You play in the game that you can consistently beat, at that time it was the 1-2 NL. Well I start to leave I have my checks racked up in two racks and I walk by the only 2-5 game and watch j-7 take down a pot with over $1000. I stop and watch as the maniac next to him, a middle aged guy with a lot of energy, terrorize the table. He bluffed more than normal but you could not put him on a hand. He lost that big pot but came out and won three in a row and had over $2000 in front of him. My mouth started to salivate, the seat to the right of him opened up and I jumped in the game...of course I did not put all my glimmer into play, just about $800. Well I start talking to the guy and I am dumping A10, AJ, AQ, small pairs because of the position I was in, this guy was just pushing almost every hand...$30, $40, $50 and sometimes $100 to go! One time, please is what I was thinking. Well as I am talking to him I find out why he is pushing so hard, he is a professional black jack player and he just lost over $20,000 and wants to get some of it back. Last year he lost six figures! How can you be a pro blackjack player with that kind of loss?!? UGHHHH!!! Well about an hour into it I've picked up a few hundred by using position and just waiting, it is tough to have a maniac to your left, you WANT A MANIAC ON YOUR RIGHT SO IF YOU CAN GET A SEAT CHANGE THERE DO IT!
I pick up pocket aces under the gun and limp, he makes it $50 to go and we get two callers..."UHHH I don't think so", I think and I jam in another $350. To the sane most players you go yikes, okay you can have the $150 plus blinds, well this guy is so focused on money and not how I have been playing, he makes a move to get me off my hand, "ALL IN!"
Stanley hits the bottom of the table as the blood rushes in, I got the lunchbox, finally! I have over $800 left and I think and finally call after the other two fold. He flips up AK, actually had a hand this time...Flop comes K2A rainbow turn a 2 river a 3. Slow playing da aces at the right time. I told the gentleman good luck after playing to my button and taking my winnings to the window. Gotta love guys like that.

So there you have it, the morale of the story...Raise with aces!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Can you randomnize?

2008-06-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

The other day I was talking to a good friend of mine that I met in the poker room a few years ago. I did not like him when I first met him but I appreciated his game. There are a few of my friends that I have that this happened also...hmmm so weird! Anyhow, we were talking about his recent tournament cash and how I had not received my 10% yet and how I gave him my off shore account number and it is taking too long and what the hell! Oops sorry about the ramble. We laughed and since I have not been playing, just studying, writing, and teaching about poker I wanted to hear how he smashed it. Basically he was in poker heaven, eight ultra tight players and a loose aggressive who understood when to open. The ultra tights would not defend against a raise and the blinds were stolen by either my buddy or the other guy. He continued to explain that later he would get lucky in certain spots but he picked his fights very well...as I expected. He continued to explain how he finally could read them like some guys we both know very well. We got onto the subjec on how we would be able to read them for the rest of their poker lives...why? Ahh, exactly the reason why I am writing this and if you are reading this, bub, this is based on our conversation that we had as I drove across the causeway.
We have known players for several years that play the same way they have not nor will not change their game up. When you see them shove in certain spots you know what they have, if you see them overbet, you know what they have.
It was a fun talk and it made me wonder why do people over play pocket jacks? Why do they play A10 correctly but over play AJ? Some of the reasons might be because they always lose with that hand or they may have lost a huge pot with that hand and it is stuck in their sub-conscious and it tells them to take the blinds and move on...
In order to win on a consistent basis...you have to open AJ as you would AK, you have to play JJ as you would QQ. In the long run it will pay off. This one is short and sweet but I just had to put this out there...don't let that little mental devil mess you up, you know how to play to get the most do it, if you miss dump it. One last thing...do not get married to your hand! Pocket Aces with a flop of J109 with two others in the hand (this is an easy example but I have seen lunchboxes get busted with their aces and show them because KQsuited called and the aces should have won.) FOLD!

This freaking post was so random!!! BE COOL!!!

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

A look at Level three play...

2008-06-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

I picked up a good book to re-read, "Your Worst Poker Enemy" by Allan N. Schoonmaker, out of my library and I was just thinking about this play that occurred a time ago between two people that I know. Charlie, who is currently living in Vegas and deals at Ceasers. Wayne H. a well known high limit grinder, want to talk about a guy who I have never seen get felted, this is the guy. Charlie a time ago was grinding out and playing in a lot of games,5-5 NLH, 5-10 NLH, 10-25 Pot limit Omaha. Wayne H. has been around for a long time, older gentleman who wears a ball cap 95% of the time. He has played just about anywhere in the United states and is usually walking around at a large tournament looking for a good cash game to sit in. Both of these guys know their way around a poker table.

So, I am sitting in a 5-5 NLH game next to Charlie, he is in the two seat, I am in the three seat and Wayne is in the ten seat, right next to the dealer...he likes that seat, go figure. I am under the gun and fold. Two limpers to Wayne, on the button, who pops it to about $20. Now Wayne has not been involved in any hands for about an hour, since he had sat down. Charlie knows Wayne, as would any regular at Harrahs. Small blind folds, Charlie, big blind, contemplates for a few seconds and calls in a theatrical, splash my chips kinda way. One of the original limpers calls also. SIDE NOTE: Could the limper have a strong hand to call a tight player and a hesitating BB flat call? Odds? Hand strength? Just wondering...nothing to do with the rest of this...very random huh?
The flop...babies, 2c5h7d, rainbow at that. Charlie checks, limper checks, Wayne...checks! Turn card is a 10s, Charlie bets 3/4 of the pot, limper folds and Wayne pops it another $100. Charlie goes into the think tank, he's making hand movements and talking to himself and shaking his head and nodding his head and shaking his head and you know what I mean...sorta Gus Hansen like. SIDE NOTE: I have this read on Wayne, I knew at this moment that he was semi-bluffing...also if he did have the best he would not have put in the raise here he calls and makes his play on the river, yet I was sort of right and I was sort of wrong...lets read and you will see.
Charlie, reluctantly, calls! So now I am sitting there going what the hell, A10 Charlie(I was thinking of a lot of hands but will not list them here)? I can see that Charlie is hurting because he does not know where he is with Wayne and he is trying very hard to put him on a range of hands here but can not figure out why he raised other than to get him off his hand, thus the reluctant call...hmmm?
The river is a 3c, Charlie, checks, Wayne counts out his chips, now at this time at Harrahs you could buy in for whatever you wanted, Wayne looks at Charlie's stack of $1200 and casually...CASUALLY tosses in two pink chips...$500 a piece! Charlie starts to pull his hair out! Almost, literally. So we have over $200 in the pot, an F'ed up board and an over sorry super over bet of $1000...WHY are you SQUIRMING Charlie! He literally asks for time stands up and is going through what can beat him and ruling them out...Wayne could have played anything from that position...wait until I tell yah what he played...GOSH!
Somebody, after five long minutes, asks if they can call clock...I step in and say "NO! let him think it out, that's a lot of money." Usually when I say no people tend to listen, wonder why?
Finally Charlie says..."I've seen you make this play with absolutely nothing and they always laid it down to you...I call!"
Wayne sticks his head out and non-chalantly says, "Huh, you call?" Looks back at his cards and looks back at Charlie. Charlie, who is very eager now, flips his cards over...two black Kings!
"I know that, Charlie." Wayne said. "But you let me get there, this time."
Wayne tables the A4spades!
Charlie yells something goes over and shakes Wayne's hand and picks up the rest of his chips, says bye to me and leaves with a red ass.
I talked to Charlie later and asked him why he did not raise back into Wayne on the turn, he said that he wanted Wayne to make that play on the river but it was bigger than he thought and he HOPED it was a bluff.
Egads, and that was an actual hand that happened a while ago but these two were level threeing it the whole time.
Any questions?

Stay nice as rice and mello as jello!

Inspiration or a Death Wish...who knows?

2008-05-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

I was inspired today as I listened to my buddy, Jeff, tell me what has been going on in his poker life. First of all three years ago Jeff was a newb, a luchbox, or a donkey, knew about hold'em and saw it on TV and wanted to learn how to play. You see we got together with a few of his friends once a while and played cards. Seven card stud, midnight baseball, follow the queen etc. Quarter ante and bet kinda stuff. Well after one of the sessions Jeff wanted to learn how to play hold'em, his step brother and I agreed to help. We basically treated him like a lunchbox and kept taking his money.

Fast forward to 2008, Jeff has a tight/aggressive game and has worked with his brother to develop it and it has developed.

Well to my original reason for writing, he called me today and we talked about his recent visits to Harrahs that started a couple of weeks ago. He told me he has won 13 of the last 15 sessions between the 2-5 NL game and the 5-10NL game. My thoughts flashed back to the time when we were playing quarter-fifty blinds and taking $100 a session from him so long ago. So now my eagerness to get back on the felt has increased ten fold...I'm freaking foaming at the mouth to get on a table and take my first pot down. He continues to say, the reason why he called is because he took down the biggest pot in his life. I know that Jeff had been playing 2-5 NL and mixing 5-10 NL in during 2007, he must have won several thousand at one time. That is what I say and he says just listen...

He is getting snapped off at the 5-10 game this weekend, he came into the Casino with about $4500, a good part of his bankroll. His first buy in was $1000, in three hands ALL GONE. He rebuys for $1500 an hour later...ALL GONE. He has $2000 in the game and has built it up to $2600, he is called for his seat in the 10-25 NL game.

"What!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled over the phone and continues with his story, he sits down with $2600, in about three hours he is up to $6500.

"You left, right?" I said

He smiled through the phone and continued his story. He is in the small blind and looks down at pocket fours. UTG pops it for $125, three or more call to Jeff who calls. The flop is K 4 6 two clubs. Jeff checks, UTG fires out $300, one caller to Jeff you raises another $1000. UTG calls (UTG has over $15,000 in front of him). Jeff wanted to take the pot down right here but is now very nervous and he felt that the guy knew that he was nervous. The turn is a red 9. Jeff is so nervous that he checks to UTG, who makes a big bet. Jeff contemplates and calls. The river brings a dry 8. Jeff looks at the guy and taps the table again! (My thoughts..."UGH!") The guy makes the hand movements and sorta mumbles "ALL IN." Here is what went through Jeff"s head...

"he has a set of Kings or he has nothing. Yes I see the set of sixes but I can not feel that he has that hand, not a set of 9's or 8's most certain that he does not have a straight. Why did he make the hand gesture and mumble all in when he could have value betted on the river to get me to pay him off if he had my set beat? I'm going to put him on air."

Jeff called and the guy asked him again if he had called and Jeff quickly said yes I call you. The guy folds and Jeff took down about $15,000. SO NICE!!!

Congrats Jeff for having the balls to sit in that game with so little money and being David and taking down a Goliath! Stay strong and thanks for the inspiration! Hell this could have been a death wish if it had done the wrong way...who knows?

Until next time stay nice as rice and mello as jello!