My Poker History

Right now I feel like I'm the stupidest human being in the world. I just had a really bad session at the ole' $3/$6. It was absolutely sick. There was a guy doing stuff like raising UTG with 38s. I kept going against him, having him destroyed, then losing to some runner runner job or having him hit 2 pair on the river or something. It was ridiculous. He literally did not fold a hand before the turn in 2 hours.

Then there's the guy who's currently sitting on my left, cold-calling everything and never folding. He just called a bet on the turn with 8To on an A259 board. I don't get it. He's been putting some sick beats on me. This one pretty much sums up my night.

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em
Table Table 96430 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: jimmyd339 ( $176 )
Seat 3: Isis1127 ( $91.25 )
Seat 4: Jikki7 ( $176.50 )
Seat 5: Cass82 ( $252 )
Seat 6: Hero ( $102.50 )
Seat 2: SS8282 ( $120 )
Isis1127 posts small blind [$1].
Jikki7 posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Ac Ah ]
Cass82 calls [$3].
Hero raises [$6].
jimmyd339 calls [$6].
SS8282 raises [$9].
Isis1127 folds.
Jikki7 raises [$9].
Cass82 folds.
Hero calls [$6].
jimmyd339 calls [$6].
SS8282 calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, 7d, 2c ]
Jikki7 bets [$3].
Hero raises [$6].
jimmyd339 calls [$6].
SS8282 calls [$6].
Jikki7 calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
Jikki7 checks.
Hero bets [$6].
jimmyd339 calls [$6].
SS8282 calls [$6].
Jikki7 folds.
** Dealing River ** [ 3s ]
Hero bets [$6].
jimmyd339 raises [$12].
SS8282 folds.
Hero calls [$6].
jimmyd339 shows [ 3h, 2s ] two pairs, threes and twos.
Hero doesn't show [ Ac, Ah ] a pair of aces.
jimmyd339 wins $115 from the main pot with two pairs, threes and twos.

Now imagine this happening 10 times, with some other smaller pots in between and there's my night. You know when you're going along value betting a pretty good hand and you get a "surprise raise" on the river because some random card helped someone? It's seems like that happened in every pot. I got absolutely wrecked; wrecked by extremely bad players.


I thought I was would use this as a chance to talk about some of my goals and accomplishments as a poker player to remind myself that things aren't so bad.

I, like everyone else, have been playinng poker informally (with family/friends around the kitchen table) for my whole life. I really took an interest in poker when I was a senior in college in 2003. My friends and I watched the World Poker Tour and played NL Hold'em every month or so. I wasn't very good, but I was eager to learn. A year later (in the beginning of calendar year '04), I started playing in the play money Limit Hold'em Games on Yahoo Games and I bought Phil Hellmuth's Book and I began to learn about the game a little more for when I played with my friends. I think you could safely describe my game as "weak-tight", which is what Phil H. teaches in his book. Mind you, this isn't a terrible way to play as a beginner. Most beginners lack the knowledge, feel and instinct required to guide them through more marginal situations. Avoiding these situations is much more comfortable at first.

I was content to play these play money games and play in the occasional home game we had running every month or two. This all changed in the summer of '04 when my brother told me about a new poker site that was coming out called "Full Tilt Poker." He told me that you could play for play money and even play in free tournaments where you could win actual money. It sounded great, so I decided to give it a shot. I played in the play money Sit-and-Goes (SNGs) and the freerolls, and worked my play money bankroll up to a whopping 200K. I never finished higher than about 25th/900 (4 paid) in any of those freerolls, but I was getting a hang of the game and doing pretty well.

In August '04, I decided that I would put a little money in and see how things went. I deposited $150 into my firepay account, moved $50 of that into my Full Tilt account and I was off. I played mostly $5 NL Hold'em SNGs and small Multi Table Tournaments (MTTs). I worked that up to about 3 or 4 hundred playing those tiny tourneys, then decided one night to play in a $2/$4 NL ring game with all of it at the table. To make a long story short, I ended up getting my entire bankroll in on a 267 flop with QQ vs. 89o and losing to a river straight. Without debating the correctness of his or my play, I was definitely at fault for not excercising any bankroll management. I decided at this point to be extremely careful with my bankroll from now on.

So I put the other $100 from my Neteller account into my Full Tilt account and began playing $5 tourneys/SNGs again. I remember that there were times when I had my last $5 in a tournament, meaning that I basically couldn't play any more poker if I didn't cash in the tournament. Kind of funny at this point to think about these days.

By the beginning of '05 my bankroll was nearing the $1000 range, so I decided that I could move up to $10 buyins. I then discovered the game Stud8 (Stud with Hi/Lo split and 8-qualifier on the low) after reading about it in Doyle Brunson's Super Sytem. I put $50 of my bankroll onto PartyPoker and began to play $10 Stud8 SNGs. Man these things are soft. I was doing well at the $10 level and by the mid-spring I had a $2500 bankroll and was ready for $20 buyins. At some point over the last year I've built my bankroll by another $6000 to bring it to its present level. Also over this 1 1/2 years, I've bought about 15 poker books and read them all numerous times to try to help improve my game.

Along the way, I've probably had something like 20 cashes in the ($250-$600) range, and 4 or 5 cashes in the ($600-$1200) range. I have a tendancy to not make the top few places in larger tournaments, but I seem to be able to do it in smaller ones. It'll be nice when I can finally win a large tournament and collect a monster payout for that -- I'm way overdue.

I also decided about 6 months ago that I need to become relatively competent at cash game play. So I started playing $1/$2 Limit Hold'em and have worked my way up to $3/$6 based on when I feel that I'm comfortably beating the game. I have yet to consistently play in any NLH cash games.

It feels great to know that I've only deposited money into my poker bankroll 1 time, and that's all I ever plan to do. This is the main reason I play so conservatively with my bankroll -- because I basically can't afford to put any more money into it. At some point it would be nice to be able to make a decent amout of money playing poker, but for now it's basically just a hobby. I think I could make enough to support myself if I played full time, but it would probably be stupid to try until I'm playing at stakes that are at least in the ballpark of $100 buyin tourneys and $10/$20 Limit cash games. Maybe that will happen some day, maybe not. We'll just have to see. The way the cash games are treating me lately, probably not.

I'm gonna play a couple more tournaments now before bed -- a $10 on Stars and a $20 on Party. I'm sure they'll go poorly, but I'll post if anything cool happens.

Arg... 2 Weak Finishes

I lost in both of those tourneys from the previous post on ridiculous plays by my opponents.

$20+2 PLO -- Finished 20th, 18 paid. I first lose about 1/2 my stack when I take AA against KK and lose. Then I lose the rest on this pot, where the eventual winner (Wildan) basically calls two allins with 469T.

PokerStars Game $20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level VIII (200/400)
9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: kmc93 (14607 in chips)
Seat 3: Wildan (25190 in chips)
Seat 4: Hero (4379 in chips)
Seat 6: DEMONTATOR (40250 in chips)
Seat 7: dryicejar (7635 in chips)
Seat 8: LouLee7th (2720 in chips)
Seat 9: niceneasy (3887 in chips)
Wildan: posts small blind 200
Hero: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Kc Ks 9s 7d]
DEMONTATOR: folds
dryicejar: folds
LouLee7th: folds
niceneasy: raises 400 to 800
kmc93: folds
Wildan: calls 600
Hero: raises 2400 to 3200
niceneasy: calls 2400
Wildan: calls 2400
*** FLOP *** [8h 2d 7c]
Wildan: checks
Hero: bets 1179 and is all-in
niceneasy: calls 687 and is all-in
Wildan: calls 1179
Hero said, "lol"
*** TURN *** [8h 2d 7c] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [8h 2d 7c 6s] [As]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Wildan: shows [Ts 4s 6h 9h] (a straight, Six to Ten)
Hero: shows [Kc Ks 9s 7d] (a pair of Kings)
Wildan collected 984 from side pot
niceneasy: shows [Qc Jc Kh Ah] (a pair of Aces)
Wildan collected 11661 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12645 Main pot 11661. Side pot 984. | Rake 0
Board [8h 2d 7c 6s As]
Seat 2: kmc93 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Wildan (small blind) showed [Ts 4s 6h 9h] and won (12645) with a straight, Six to Ten
Seat 4: Hero (big blind) showed [Kc Ks 9s 7d] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 6: DEMONTATOR folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: dryicejar folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: LouLee7th folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: niceneasy showed [Qc Jc Kh Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces


$3+R NLH on Stars -- I ended up in 40th place for about $50. I was cruising along with about an average stack when the following happens.

PokerStars Game $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XVII (4000/8000)
9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: mindhater (93836 in chips)
Seat 2: jono187 (137270 in chips)
Seat 3: joeyblack185 (416625 in chips)
Seat 4: swolf (141675 in chips)
Seat 5: adwdude (103134 in chips)
Seat 6: a.S.e High (51890 in chips)
Seat 7: fliton (182041 in chips)
Seat 8: $$Neo$$ (73290 in chips)
Seat 9: Hero (117349 in chips)
mindhater: posts the ante 400
jono187: posts the ante 400
joeyblack185: posts the ante 400
swolf: posts the ante 400
adwdude: posts the ante 400
a.S.e High: posts the ante 400
fliton: posts the ante 400
$$Neo$$: posts the ante 400
Hero: posts the ante 400
adwdude: posts small blind 4000
a.S.e High: posts big blind 8000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ac Jh]
fliton: folds
joeyblack185 said, "NOT MUCH MAN"
$$Neo$$: folds
Hero: raises 16000 to 24000
mindhater: folds
jono187: folds
joeyblack185: calls 24000
joeyblack185 said, "doing my best here"
swolf: folds
adwdude: folds
a.S.e High: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ah Qs Qd]
Hero: bets 32000
joeyblack185: raises 88000 to 120000
Hero: calls 60949 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Ah Qs Qd] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [Ah Qs Qd 4s] [Th]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [Ac Jh] (two pair, Aces and Queens)
joeyblack185: shows [Kh Jd] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
joeyblack185 collected 249498 from pot
jono187 said, "lol"
joeyblack185 said, "wow"
joeyblack185 said, "gg"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 249498 | Rake 0
Board [Ah Qs Qd 4s Th]
Seat 1: mindhater folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: jono187 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: joeyblack185 showed [Kh Jd] and won (249498) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 4: swolf (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: adwdude (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: a.S.e High (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: fliton folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: $$Neo$$ folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Hero showed [Ac Jh] and lost with two pair, Aces and Queens

Notice the chat during the hand, where this particular donkey says that he's "doing his best" to someone who's talking to him. Apparently calling someone's EP raise for 1/5 of their chips with KJo then moving them in on an AQQ flop with the gutshot is this guy's best. Sadly, he's probably going to at least make the final table with all those chips.

Another Tourney Day

It's been a wild day on the tournament tables. I'll give you a rundown...

1) $20+2 NLH on Party. Here I never got much going. I ended up getting my last 15BBs in with AdTd vs. JhTh on a QsTc4s board and losing to a river J.

2) $5+R, $15K Gtd. NLH on Party. I had a pretty good stack of about 60K (average was 35K) when the following hand comes along.

NL Texas Hold'em Level:8 Blinds-Antes(400/800-25)
Table $15K Gtd Rebuy(678489) Table #9 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: Hero ( $60739 )
Seat 6: Emit360 ( $28281 )
Seat 8: DoctorFuttok ( $21965 )
Seat 10: iisabmaco ( $21823 )
Seat 2: DanD2c ( $53120 )
Seat 1: davecool98 ( $28345 )
Seat 9: Jarudis ( $2841 )
Seat 5: TigerWoodsTW ( $19659 )
Seat 4: cosmogonic ( $4216 )
Seat 7: jhl667 ( $41150 )
Trny:22776731 Level:8
Blinds-Antes(400/800-25)
davecool98 posts ante [25].
DanD2c posts ante [25].
Hero posts ante [25].
cosmogonic posts ante [25].
TigerWoodsTW posts ante [25].
Emit360 posts ante [25].
jhl667 posts ante [25].
DoctorFuttok posts ante [25].
Jarudis posts ante [25].
iisabmaco posts ante [25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Ah Ks ]
Emit360: n1ce
DoctorFuttok folds.
Jarudis folds.
iisabmaco raises [1600].
davecool98 folds.
DanD2c is all-In [53095]
Hero is all-In [60714]
cosmogonic folds.
TigerWoodsTW folds.
Emit360 folds.
jhl667 folds.
iisabmaco folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, Kh, 2s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8s ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qd ]
DanD2c shows [ Qs, Qc ] four of a kind, queens.
Hero shows [ Ah, Ks ] two pairs, kings and queens.
Hero wins 7619 chips from side pot #1 with two pairs, kings and queens.
DanD2c wins 109240 chips from the main pot with four of a kind, queens.

So I call off a ton of chips in a race, lose the race, then go out a few hands later when I get in with JJ vs. 1010 and he spikes a 10.

I think this hand deserves a little discussion. Do I really have to call a ton of chips off here? No I don't. But I'm pretty sure the guy has something like TT, JJ, QQ or AK, a range which I'm basically only slightly behind. There's also a chance that he might have lost his mind with an AJs or AQ or something, and I don't think he plays his truly big hands like AA and KK this way. I think this is a great spot to try to pick up a ridiculous monster stack. If I win, I have a ton of chips and can muscle the table even more than I was already doing and have a great shot to go really deep in the tournament. If I lose, I still have like 8BBs and a little bit of life. I think it's a great spot to take a race and give myself a real shot at the top table. It doesn't go my way, but I like the play nonetheless...

3) $20+2 NLH Shootout on Party. I was doing ok in this thing till I open-jammed for 11BBs from the small blind with A4o and got called and beat by the BB's (who I had covered by about 1/2BB) 5To. This is just one of those "wtf" plays that I can't even try to explain.

4) $20+2 Heads-up NLH tourney on Stars. I lost in the 1st round. On maybe the 7th hand I lost 2/3 of my chips with AJ vs. AA on an AQ747 board. I then chipped up a little bit then lost it all with AA vs. 48s on a 88QTK board.

5) $3+R on Stars. I'm still in this one in about 15th with 115 people left. I'll post again if anything interesting comes up.

6) $20+2 PLO on Stars. I'm in 7th with 33 left in this. Again, I'll post about it if it goes anywhere.

Short Day

I played two tourneys tonight.

1) $20+2, $40K Gtd. on Party. I was rolling along nicely until the following 2 consecutive hands.

NL Texas Hold'em Level:6 Blinds(200/400)
Table #63 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 3: E_Normus ( $7986 )
Seat 5: vrlinks7425 ( $5784 )
Seat 6: KONed123 ( $11607 )
Seat 7: Hero ( $17142 )
Seat 10: Pac1226 ( $20957 )
Seat 8: DailyGrindin ( $20915 )
Seat 4: Boxjump ( $8644 )
Seat 1: A72U94 ( $10462 )
Seat 2: sobeoceandr ( $13113 )
Trny:22703503 Level:6
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 4d 2d ]
lkskl26 has joined the table.
Player lkskl26 has been moved from table 85 to this table
DailyGrindin folds.
Pac1226 calls [400].
A72U94 calls [400].
sobeoceandr folds.
E_Normus folds.
Boxjump calls [400].
vrlinks7425 folds.
KONed123 calls [200].
Hero checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2s, 4h, Kh ]
KONed123 checks.
Hero checks.
Pac1226 checks.
A72U94 bets [1500].
Boxjump folds.
KONed123 calls [1500].
Hero raises [10000].
Pac1226 folds.
A72U94 is all-In [8562]
KONed123 folds.
Hero calls [62].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 8c ]
Hero shows [ 4d, 2d ] two pairs, fours and twos.
A72U94 shows [ Qh, Qs ] three of a kind, queens.
A72U94 wins 23624 chips from the main pot with three of a kind, queens.

NL Texas Hold'em Level:6 Blinds(200/400)
Table #63 (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 3: E_Normus ( $7986 )
Seat 5: vrlinks7425 ( $5784 )
Seat 6: KONed123 ( $9707 )
Seat 7: Hero ( $6480 )
Seat 10: Pac1226 ( $20557 )
Seat 8: DailyGrindin ( $21115 )
Seat 4: Boxjump ( $8244 )
Seat 1: A72U94 ( $23624 )
Seat 2: sobeoceandr ( $13113 )
Seat 9: lkskl26 ( $28570 )
Trny:22703503 Level:6
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Qd Qc ]
Pac1226 folds.
A72U94 calls [400].
sobeoceandr folds.
E_Normus calls [400].
Boxjump folds.
vrlinks7425 folds.
KONed123 folds.
Hero is all-In [6480]
DailyGrindin folds.
lkskl26 folds.
A72U94 calls [6080].
E_Normus folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9h, 4d, 2h ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5h ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
A72U94 shows [ Qh, Jh ] a flush, queen high.
Hero shows [ Qd, Qc ] three of a kind, queens.
A72U94 wins 13960 chips from the main pot with a flush, queen high.
Player Hero finished in 794 place

Yes. This guy LIMPED AFTER ANOTHER LIMPER WITH QQ, then called a check-raise for all his chips on a K-high flop in a 5-way pot. The next hand, he limps UTG+1 with QJs and calls 15 more BBs to get his money in against QQ. You just can't compete against that. Some guy was also telling me that it was my fault I lost the 1st pot for slowplaying. Ah yes, it IS my fault. I hate getting my money in as a 2.5:1 favorite.

2) I'm also playing in the $10+R on Stars and I have an average-ish stack almost done with the 2nd hour. I'll post more on this if anything interesting happens.

A Win (Long Post)

In the last few days, the only poker I played was on Sunday, where I took a ridiculous beating on the tables. I wrote a post about it but didn't publish it. Maybe I'll do that, maybe I won't. It's mostly a bunch of whining, so probably not.

I played a bunch of tourneys today and didn't really do too much for the most part. To start the day off, I played a little $3/$6 and won about $120. Then I decided to play tournaments for the rest of the day. My entire day consisted of me going through tournament after tournament to some point reasonably close to the money, then losing a race for my entire stack. It happens, it's just kind of sick when a guy limps UTG then calls 10 more BBs with a pair of 3s to beat your AQ or whatever. Such is poker.

I did manage two cashes today in the 8 or so tournaments I played, however.

1) I made shitty money ($46) in the $24+2, $8K Gtd. on Full tilt. I was in the top 10 for a while, but then lost a race to a short stack for about 1/2 my stack and never really recovered. I finally ended up getting in with AKo vs. AA and losing. That's always fun.

2) I won the $20+2, deep stack PL Omaha tourney on Stars for $942. This thing took 8.25 hours to finish, despite the fact that there were only 157 entrants to start. People play this game quite badly, and either overplay or underplay everything they get (depending on the person), you just need to be able to determine which and play accordingly. During the beginning, most of the people are overplaying stuff. I managed to get all in preflop (either myself or my opponent all in) with AA 6 times. Only one of these times was the other guy holding KK, and never did they hold the other AA. Now I'll show you some of the hands that were either interesting or had a major effect on my stack:


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level I (10/20)
9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: DerekScott (2650 in chips)
Seat 2: witzy2004 (4580 in chips)
Seat 3: PairKiller (7165 in chips)
Seat 4: ferrisbuellr (4200 in chips)
Seat 5: bartolo (6485 in chips)
Seat 6: azn_alex (8990 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero (4960 in chips)
Seat 8: NewsFlash (4300 in chips)
Seat 9: Beauty2 (6250 in chips)
ferrisbuellr: posts small blind 10
bartolo: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [As 2s Ad 9d]
azn_alex: calls 20
Hero: calls 20
NewsFlash: calls 20
Beauty2: folds
DerekScott: raises 110 to 130
witzy2004: folds
PairKiller: folds
PairKiller is sitting out
ferrisbuellr: folds
bartolo: calls 110
azn_alex: calls 110
Hero: raises 550 to 680
NewsFlash: folds
DerekScott: raises 1650 to 2330
bartolo: folds
azn_alex: folds
Hero: raises 1650 to 3980
DerekScott: calls 320 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [5h Kc Ks]
*** TURN *** [5h Kc Ks] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [5h Kc Ks 2c] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [As 2s Ad 9d] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
DerekScott: shows [Ac Qs Ts 9c] (a flush, Ace high)
Hero said, "ick"
DerekScott collected 5590 from pot
azn_alex said, "nh"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5590 | Rake 0
Board [5h Kc Ks 2c 6c]
Seat 1: DerekScott showed [Ac Qs Ts 9c] and won (5590) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: witzy2004 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: PairKiller (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: ferrisbuellr (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: bartolo (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: azn_alex folded before Flop
Seat 7: Hero showed [As 2s Ad 9d] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 8: NewsFlash folded before Flop
Seat 9: Beauty2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This is in the 1st level of the tourney. Here I managed to get my opponent to put in 130BBs as a 2:1 dog. I guess that's about all I can ask for, the result just wasn't great. I can never figure out why people go ahead and put that 3rd raise in before the flop with a hand like AcQsTs9c. There's really no question about what hand I have, and he's got a hand that can hit a lot of flops and can beat my AA. Here's a public service announcement -- LETTING YOUR OPPONENT GET ALLIN WITH AA PREFLOP IN OMAHA IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT. IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU WANT. Aces (especially an uncoordinated AA) is usually a fairly sucky hand after the flop in Omaha. So if you're going to try to take the pot from an obvious AA, do it postflop!


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level II (15/30)
9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: WSOP2023 (4575 in chips)
Seat 2: witzy2004 (4880 in chips)
Seat 3: PairKiller (8535 in chips)
Seat 4: cowbama (5398 in chips)
Seat 5: bartolo (8950 in chips)
Seat 6: azn_alex (9770 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero (3270 in chips)
Seat 8: NewsFlash (1445 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: Beauty2 (8555 in chips)
azn_alex: posts small blind 15
Hero: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ks Ts 3d Td]
NewsFlash: folds
Beauty2: folds
WSOP2023: folds
witzy2004: calls 30
PairKiller: calls 30
cowbama: raises 60 to 90
bartolo: calls 90
azn_alex: calls 75
Hero: calls 60
witzy2004: calls 60
PairKiller: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Tc 5s 8d]
azn_alex: checks
Hero: checks
witzy2004: bets 270
PairKiller: folds
cowbama: folds
bartolo: calls 270
azn_alex: raises 1350 to 1620
Hero: raises 1560 to 3180 and is all-in
witzy2004: folds
bartolo: folds
azn_alex: calls 1560
witzy2004 said, "bottom set"
*** TURN *** [Tc 5s 8d] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 5s 8d Kc] [3h]
azn_alex said, "nh"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
azn_alex: shows [8c 8s Kd 4d] (three of a kind, Eights)
Hero: shows [Ks Ts 3d Td] (three of a kind, Tens)
Hero collected 7440 from pot
Hero said, "t"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7440 | Rake 0
Board [Tc 5s 8d Kc 3h]
Seat 1: WSOP2023 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: witzy2004 folded on the Flop
Seat 3: PairKiller folded on the Flop
Seat 4: cowbama folded on the Flop
Seat 5: bartolo (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: azn_alex (small blind) showed [8c 8s Kd 4d] and lost with three of a kind, Eights
Seat 7: Hero (big blind) showed [Ks Ts 3d Td] and won (7440) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 8: NewsFlash folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Beauty2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Here I took a flop out of the BB with a pretty marginal hand because there were 3 pretty poor players in the pot already. I caught one of those poor players with middle set against my top set and made him pay. This hand shows something that is important in Omaha -- you need to have the nuts or a draw to the nuts. This is why I don't call raises with uncoordinated low/middle pairs; because you can hit your dream flop and still be completely f---ed.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level II (15/30)
9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: WSOP2023 (4530 in chips)
Seat 2: witzy2004 (5990 in chips)
Seat 3: PairKiller (8385 in chips)
Seat 4: cowbama (4933 in chips)
Seat 5: bartolo (8335 in chips)
Seat 6: azn_alex (2330 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero (7380 in chips)
Seat 8: NewsFlash (1400 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: Beauty2 (12095 in chips)
cowbama: posts small blind 15
bartolo: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ah 2s Ad 5h]
azn_alex: raises 75 to 105
Hero: raises 255 to 360
NewsFlash: folds
Beauty2: folds
WSOP2023: folds
witzy2004: folds
PairKiller: folds
cowbama: calls 345
bartolo: calls 330
azn_alex: raises 1440 to 1800
Hero: raises 4320 to 6120
cowbama: folds
bartolo: folds
azn_alex: calls 530 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Kc 7h 8d]
*** TURN *** [Kc 7h 8d] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 7h 8d 6c] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
azn_alex: shows [5s 9h As 9d] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Hero: shows [Ah 2s Ad 5h] (a pair of Aces)
azn_alex collected 5380 from pot
Hero said, "geeezus"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5380 | Rake 0
Board [Kc 7h 8d 6c Qc]
Seat 1: WSOP2023 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: witzy2004 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: PairKiller (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: cowbama (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: bartolo (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: azn_alex showed [5s 9h As 9d] and won (5380) with a straight, Five to Nine
Seat 7: Hero showed [Ah 2s Ad 5h] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: NewsFlash folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Beauty2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Here I get about 80BBs in with my opponent as a 3:1 dog. It's pretty tough to find a worse spot to put your money in than this in PLO. Again, right move but bad result with the AA.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level II (15/30)
9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: WSOP2023 (4530 in chips)
Seat 2: witzy2004 (5990 in chips)
Seat 3: PairKiller (8235 in chips)
Seat 4: cowbama (4573 in chips)
Seat 5: bartolo (4345 in chips)
Seat 6: azn_alex (9310 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero (5050 in chips)
Seat 8: NewsFlash (1400 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 9: Beauty2 (11945 in chips)
azn_alex: posts small blind 15
Hero: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qs 5s 7s Ks]
NewsFlash: folds
witzy2004 said, "nice bet alex"
bartolo said, "nh"
azn_alex said, "ty"
Beauty2: calls 30
WSOP2023: folds
witzy2004 said, "perfect bet"
witzy2004: calls 30
PairKiller: folds
cowbama: folds
bartolo: calls 30
azn_alex: calls 15
Hero: checks
*** FLOP *** [Qh 2c 7d]
azn_alex: checks
Hero: bets 150
azn_alex said, "tried to value bet it"
Beauty2: folds
witzy2004: calls 150
bartolo: calls 150
azn_alex: folds
*** TURN *** [Qh 2c 7d] [Js]
Hero: bets 300
witzy2004: calls 300
bartolo: calls 300
*** RIVER *** [Qh 2c 7d Js] [7h]
Hero: bets 1000
witzy2004: folds
bartolo: calls 1000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [Qs 5s 7s Ks] (a full house, Sevens full of Queens)
bartolo: shows [8s Jh 9c 7c] (a full house, Sevens full of Jacks)
Hero collected 3500 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3500 | Rake 0
Board [Qh 2c 7d Js 7h]
Seat 1: WSOP2023 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: witzy2004 folded on the River
Seat 3: PairKiller folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: cowbama folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bartolo (button) showed [8s Jh 9c 7c] and lost with a full house, Sevens full of Jacks
Seat 6: azn_alex (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Hero (big blind) showed [Qs 5s 7s Ks] and won (3500) with a full house, Sevens full of Queens
Seat 8: NewsFlash folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Beauty2 folded on the Flop

Here I flop top two pair and turn it into a full house by the river. In the blog of a very good poker player, I once read that the worst thing you should consider to be an actual hand in PLO is top two pair. This is very true. That means that if you flop middle pair, top pair, bottom two pair, or anything worse than top two, you are done with the pot unless you have some other draw working for you. This guy decided to call a flop bet with middle pair, probably hoping to catch trips. Of course, he made a runner-runner full house, which was about the worst thing that could have happened for him. This hand exemplifies why you absolutely should not try to go on "pair draws" in Omaha.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level III (25/50)
9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: WSOP2023 (4600 in chips)
Seat 3: PairKiller (6705 in chips)
Seat 4: cowbama (6473 in chips)
Seat 5: bartolo (2555 in chips)
Seat 6: azn_alex (10020 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero (6540 in chips)
Seat 8: NewsFlash (2010 in chips)
Seat 9: Beauty2 (11790 in chips)
WSOP2023: posts small blind 25
PairKiller: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [As 6h Ac 3s]
cowbama: calls 50
bartolo: calls 50
azn_alex: calls 50
Hero: raises 275 to 325
NewsFlash: folds
Beauty2: folds
WSOP2023: raises 850 to 1175
PairKiller: folds
cowbama: folds
bartolo: folds
azn_alex: folds
Hero: raises 2550 to 3725
WSOP2023: raises 875 to 4600 and is all-in
Hero: calls 875
*** FLOP *** [2d Ad 8c]
*** TURN *** [2d Ad 8c] [Qc]
Hero said, "i'm dead"
*** RIVER *** [2d Ad 8c Qc] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
WSOP2023: shows [Ks Tc Td Ah] (a pair of Aces)
Hero: shows [As 6h Ac 3s] (three of a kind, Aces)
Hero collected 9400 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9400 | Rake 0
Board [2d Ad 8c Qc 9s]
Seat 1: WSOP2023 (small blind) showed [Ks Tc Td Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: PairKiller (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: cowbama folded before Flop
Seat 5: bartolo folded before Flop
Seat 6: azn_alex folded before Flop
Seat 7: Hero showed [As 6h Ac 3s] and won (9400) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 8: NewsFlash folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Beauty2 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Here's the 3rd time I get money in with AA. Again, my opponent is a 3:1 dog. I get 90BBs in this time, and the result is finally good.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level IV (50/100)
9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: grimreaper77 (6975 in chips)
Seat 2: Axorm (11495 in chips)
Seat 3: PairKiller (5655 in chips)
Seat 4: cowbama (7073 in chips)
Seat 5: bartolo (3805 in chips)
Seat 6: azn_alex (9720 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero (12440 in chips)
Seat 8: NewsFlash (1160 in chips)
Seat 9: Beauty2 (13540 in chips)
Axorm: posts small blind 50
PairKiller: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ah Ac Jh 6d]
cowbama: folds
bartolo: calls 100
azn_alex: calls 100
Hero: raises 400 to 500
NewsFlash: folds
Beauty2: folds
grimreaper77: folds
Axorm: folds
PairKiller: folds
bartolo: calls 400
azn_alex: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [3d 9h As]
bartolo: checks
azn_alex: checks
Hero: bets 1000
bartolo: calls 1000
azn_alex: folds
*** TURN *** [3d 9h As] [5s]
bartolo: checks
Hero: bets 2400
bartolo: calls 2305 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [3d 9h As 5s] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bartolo: shows [8h 7h Ad 3h] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
Hero: shows [Ah Ac Jh 6d] (three of a kind, Aces)
Hero collected 8260 from pot
PairKiller said, "wow"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8260 | Rake 0
Board [3d 9h As 5s Qs]
Seat 1: grimreaper77 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Axorm (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: PairKiller (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: cowbama folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: bartolo showed [8h 7h Ad 3h] and lost with two pair, Aces and Threes
Seat 6: azn_alex folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Hero showed [Ah Ac Jh 6d] and won (8260) with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 8: NewsFlash folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Beauty2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This is literally within 10 hands of the last one. Also, I had an AA between these two hands, flopped quads, and won an ok pot against a flush that got there on the river. Here I actually manage to flop the case A, and get my opponent in drawing pretty much to a gutshot that he doesn't hit. Of course, his hand is an easy fold for just the limp, but he ends up getting broke with it.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level V (75/150)
9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: CMulls14 (4465 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero (19945 in chips)
Seat 3: chadash (4628 in chips)
Seat 4: Hamlet79 (19591 in chips)
Seat 5: greasgoon6 (6045 in chips)
Seat 7: FAT.BOY.BAD (7330 in chips)
Seat 8: Digthis7 (31336 in chips)
Seat 9: doll doll (18845 in chips)
CMulls14: posts small blind 75
Hero: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [2h 7h 3s 3d]
chadash: folds
Hamlet79: calls 150
greasgoon6: folds
FAT.BOY.BAD: calls 150
Digthis7: calls 150
doll doll: calls 150
CMulls14: calls 75
Hero: checks
*** FLOP *** [Td 7s 3c]
CMulls14: checks
Hero: bets 900
Hamlet79: folds
FAT.BOY.BAD: calls 900
Digthis7: folds
doll doll: folds
redargoe is connected
CMulls14: raises 3415 to 4315 and is all-in
Hero: calls 3415
FAT.BOY.BAD: folds
*** TURN *** [Td 7s 3c] [6d]
Hero said, "gh sir"
*** RIVER *** [Td 7s 3c 6d] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CMulls14: shows [Th Ts 5s Kc] (three of a kind, Tens)
Hero: shows [2h 7h 3s 3d] (three of a kind, Threes)
CMulls14 collected 10430 from pot
CMulls14 said, "ty"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10430 | Rake 0
Board [Td 7s 3c 6d Jh]
Seat 1: CMulls14 (small blind) showed [Th Ts 5s Kc] and won (10430) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 2: Hero (big blind) showed [2h 7h 3s 3d] and lost with three of a kind, Threes
Seat 3: chadash folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Hamlet79 folded on the Flop
Seat 5: greasgoon6 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: FAT.BOY.BAD folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Digthis7 folded on the Flop
Seat 9: doll doll (button) folded on the Flop

Here I made a sizeable mistake by calling the flop check-raise with bottom set. There really aren’t any hands that I’m ahead of (this guy played fairly tight). The only thing I could hope for is something like 789T for top two + str8 draw. I just can’t think of anything else the guy could have that I can beat. On balance, this needs to be a fold.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level VI (100/200)
9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: gr33dy (26390 in chips)
Seat 2: Kagezuchi (8981 in chips)
Seat 3: mmdog (22867 in chips)
Seat 4: galningen (4538 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (17355 in chips)
Seat 6: GuranG (7750 in chips)
Seat 7: jeffdamack (23720 in chips)
Seat 8: AAmarkAA (8720 in chips)
Seat 9: darkstar1 (31100 in chips)
galningen: posts small blind 100
Hero: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [6c Ac As 8h]
GuranG: folds
jeffdamack: calls 200
AAmarkAA: calls 200
darkstar1: folds
gr33dy: folds
Kagezuchi: raises 900 to 1100
mmdog: folds
galningen: folds
Hero: raises 2700 to 3800
jeffdamack: folds
AAmarkAA: folds
Kagezuchi: raises 5181 to 8981 and is all-in
Hero: calls 5181
*** FLOP *** [2d 4c 7s]
Hero said, "lol"
*** TURN *** [2d 4c 7s] [6h]
*** RIVER *** [2d 4c 7s 6h] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [6c Ac As 8h] (a pair of Aces)
Kagezuchi: shows [3d Jc 5c 5h] (a straight, Three to Seven)
Kagezuchi collected 18462 from pot
AAmarkAA said, "lol"
Hero said, "clearly"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 18462 | Rake 0
Board [2d 4c 7s 6h 9c]
Seat 1: gr33dy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Kagezuchi showed [3d Jc 5c 5h] and won (18462) with a straight, Three to Seven
Seat 3: mmdog (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: galningen (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: Hero (big blind) showed [6c Ac As 8h] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: GuranG folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: jeffdamack folded before Flop
Seat 8: AAmarkAA folded before Flop
Seat 9: darkstar1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I don’t even know where to start with this one. This guy was raising almost every pot. Again, I get in with AA against a pile of crap and lose. I was getting a little frustrated after the last two hands, but I had been making good decisions for the most part, so I wasn’t going to give up.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level VI (100/200)
9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: gr33dy (26390 in chips)
Seat 2: Kagezuchi (19562 in chips)
Seat 3: mmdog (22867 in chips)
Seat 4: galningen (3638 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (8274 in chips)
Seat 6: GuranG (7550 in chips)
Seat 7: jeffdamack (23520 in chips)
Seat 8: AAmarkAA (8520 in chips)
Seat 9: darkstar1 (31100 in chips)
GuranG: posts small blind 100
jeffdamack: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [5c 5s 4d 4s]
AAmarkAA said, "an awful lot"
AAmarkAA: calls 200
darkstar1: folds
gr33dy: folds
Kagezuchi: calls 200
mmdog: folds
galningen: folds
Hero: calls 200
GuranG: calls 100
jeffdamack: checks
*** FLOP *** [Td Ad 3h]
GuranG: checks
jeffdamack: checks
AAmarkAA: checks
Kagezuchi: checks
Hero: checks
*** TURN *** [Td Ad 3h] [5h]
GuranG: checks
jeffdamack: checks
AAmarkAA: checks
Kagezuchi: bets 200
Hero: raises 1400 to 1600
GuranG: folds
jeffdamack: folds
AAmarkAA: folds
Kagezuchi: raises 4200 to 5800
Hero: calls 4200
*** RIVER *** [Td Ad 3h 5h] [5d]
Kagezuchi: bets 2400
Hero: calls 2274 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kagezuchi: shows [7d 9d 3c Ac] (a flush, Ace high)
Hero: shows [5c 5s 4d 4s] (four of a kind, Fives)
Hero collected 17148 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 17148 | Rake 0
Board [Td Ad 3h 5h 5d]
Seat 1: gr33dy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Kagezuchi showed [7d 9d 3c Ac] and lost with a flush, Ace high
Seat 3: mmdog folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: galningen folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Hero (button) showed [5c 5s 4d 4s] and won (17148) with four of a kind, Fives
Seat 6: GuranG (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 7: jeffdamack (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 8: AAmarkAA folded on the Turn
Seat 9: darkstar1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Literally 3 hands later, I end up getting all those chips back and then some. This is obviously a really bad hand for me to be playing, but I’m looking to flop a set (even a small one) against the guy who just sucked out on me, since he’s ridiculously overplaying everything. I get my wish, and then some.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level VI (100/200)
9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: gr33dy (26190 in chips)
Seat 2: Kagezuchi (13288 in chips)
Seat 3: mmdog (22667 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (17148 in chips)
Seat 6: GuranG (12088 in chips)
Seat 7: jeffdamack (22220 in chips)
Seat 8: AAmarkAA (8020 in chips)
Seat 9: darkstar1 (29800 in chips)
gr33dy: posts small blind 100
Kagezuchi: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [8c As Ad Kh]
mmdog: folds
Hero: raises 500 to 700
GuranG: folds
jeffdamack: folds
AAmarkAA: folds
darkstar1: folds
gr33dy: folds
Kagezuchi: raises 1500 to 2200
Hero: raises 4500 to 6700
Kagezuchi: raises 6588 to 13288 and is all-in
Hero: calls 6588
*** FLOP *** [Jd 3s 3c]
Hero said, "one more time"
AAmarkAA said, "look out"
*** TURN *** [Jd 3s 3c] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 3s 3c 2c] [2d]
Hero said, "i'm fed"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kagezuchi: shows [Ah 4h 7c 5h] (a pair of Threes)
Hero: shows [8c As Ad Kh] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
Hero collected 26676 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 26676 | Rake 0
Board [Jd 3s 3c 2c 2d]
Seat 1: gr33dy (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: Kagezuchi (big blind) showed [Ah 4h 7c 5h] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 3: mmdog folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Hero showed [8c As Ad Kh] and won (26676) with two pair, Aces and Threes
Seat 6: GuranG folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: jeffdamack folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: AAmarkAA folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: darkstar1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Then 4 or 5 hands later I get the rest of the donkey’s chips with AA. The rest of the table was pissed that I got his chips before they could. After this, I just do some blind stealing for a while and nothing really interesting happens until this.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level X (400/800)
9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Skymutt2 (71489 in chips)
Seat 2: darkstar1 (23750 in chips)
Seat 3: skilltyb (55990 in chips)
Seat 4: jeffdamack (21608 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (43886 in chips)
Seat 6: stevo_95658 (37309 in chips)
Seat 8: Mr.BB (26920 in chips)
Seat 9: fivezeroeggs (12020 in chips)
skilltyb: posts small blind 400
jeffdamack: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Kd 9c 9d Jc]
Hero: calls 800
stevo_95658: folds
Mr.BB: folds
fivezeroeggs: folds
Skymutt2: folds
darkstar1: folds
skilltyb: folds
jeffdamack: checks
*** FLOP *** [9s 2s 8h]
jeffdamack: checks
Hero: bets 2000
jeffdamack: calls 2000
*** TURN *** [9s 2s 8h] [3c]
jeffdamack: checks
Hero: bets 6000
jeffdamack: calls 6000
*** RIVER *** [9s 2s 8h 3c] [8d]
jeffdamack: checks
Hero: bets 13000
jeffdamack: calls 12808 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [Kd 9c 9d Jc] (a full house, Nines full of Eights)
jeffdamack: shows [8s 7c Qd Ks] (three of a kind, Eights)
Hero collected 43616 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 43616 | Rake 0
Board [9s 2s 8h 3c 8d]
Seat 1: Skymutt2 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: darkstar1 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: skilltyb (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: jeffdamack (big blind) showed [8s 7c Qd Ks] and lost with three of a kind, Eights
Seat 5: Hero showed [Kd 9c 9d Jc] and won (43616) with a full house, Nines full of Eights
Seat 6: stevo_95658 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Mr.BB folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: fivezeroeggs folded before Flop (didn't bet)

To be fair, I was playing a lot of pots. I had limped in UTG with similar type of hands in the past 2 orbits, and bet the flop and won both of those times. This guy probably put me on a steal, which is not that bad of an assumption. Of course, usually someone gives up a steal on the turn or river. Lucky for me this guy made trips on the river.

This pot gives me a pretty big stack and leaves us with something like 24 players in the tournament (18 paid). The table really begins to tighten up and I really begin to take advantage by raising a ton of pots and stealing blinds. Nobody fucks with me because they don’t want to play for 6 hours and not make any money. I just want to win the whole damn thing, so I hammer them. During this time, I actually fold KK (single suited) in the big blind to a standard preflop raise. It was a super-tight player who opened under the gun and only had like 15BBs. I couldn’t justify a call, so I didn’t do it.

By the time the bubble breaks, I’ve stolen my way to 2nd place with 2 tables left without ever getting into a major confrontation. Fortunately, when we get down to 2 tables, the chip leader is still at the other table.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level XII (800/1600)
9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Fishermann (82970 in chips)
Seat 2: darkstar1 (23700 in chips)
Seat 4: MeltonOk (55440 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (86694 in chips)
Seat 6: stevo_95658 (28609 in chips)
Seat 7: gr33dy (42440 in chips)
Seat 9: fivezeroeggs (17040 in chips)
stevo_95658: posts small blind 800
gr33dy: posts big blind 1600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ac Kc Ah 5c]
fivezeroeggs: folds
Fishermann: folds
darkstar1: raises 4000 to 5600
MeltonOk: folds
Hero: raises 13600 to 19200
stevo_95658: folds
gr33dy: folds
darkstar1: raises 4500 to 23700 and is all-in
Hero: calls 4500
*** FLOP *** [8d 4h 3d]
*** TURN *** [8d 4h 3d] [Jc]
*** RIVER *** [8d 4h 3d Jc] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
darkstar1: shows [Ks Qd Ts Qh] (a pair of Queens)
Hero: shows [Ac Kc Ah 5c] (a pair of Aces)
Hero collected 49800 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 49800 | Rake 0
Board [8d 4h 3d Jc 5h]
Seat 1: Fishermann folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: darkstar1 showed [Ks Qd Ts Qh] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 4: MeltonOk folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Hero (button) showed [Ac Kc Ah 5c] and won (49800) with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: stevo_95658 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: gr33dy (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: fivezeroeggs folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This poor guy must have been really card-dead, cause he had only raised 1 other pot in the 2 hours before this hand. He happens to run into my AA with a decent hand and he gets knocked out. I can’t really blame him for putting all his chips in at this point, since I had been so active over the past couple hours and this was probably the best hand he’d seen since the silent era.

I then putz around for a while, keeping my stack around 120K by stealing blinds every once in a while. The table has started to become a little more active when we get shorthanded on the 2nd to last table, so stealing isn’t quite as easy as it as before. I finally bring us to the final table on this hand.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level XIII (1000/2000)
9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: Fishermann (178579 in chips)
Seat 2: molotov (30620 in chips)
Seat 4: MeltonOk (52060 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (145234 in chips)
Seat 7: gr33dy (18640 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind 1000
gr33dy: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ah Kc 8s 7h]
Fishermann: folds
molotov: folds
MeltonOk: folds
Hero: raises 4000 to 6000
gr33dy: raises 12000 to 18000
Hero: raises 12000 to 30000
gr33dy: calls 640 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [6c 9d Kd]
*** TURN *** [6c 9d Kd] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [6c 9d Kd 3s] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [Ah Kc 8s 7h] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
gr33dy: shows [Ts Tc 3c Ac] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
gr33dy said, "gg"
Hero collected 37280 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 37280 | Rake 0
Board [6c 9d Kd 3s Ad]
Seat 1: Fishermann folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: molotov folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: MeltonOk (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Hero (small blind) showed [Ah Kc 8s 7h] and won (37280) with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 7: gr33dy (big blind) showed [Ts Tc 3c Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Threes

Unfortunately for the other guy, I know he’s frustrated and he doesn’t really have enough chips to fold me. So I get in and win the coin flip (about 51:49 in his favor) to get us to the final table with me in 3rd chip position. Here are the exact chip counts from the final table:

Seat 1: Digthis7 (54880 in chips)
Seat 2: Hero (163874 in chips)
Seat 3: MeltonOk (52060 in chips)
Seat 4: molotov (30620 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (180667 in chips)
Seat 6: Mr Colby (20660 in chips)
Seat 7: skilltyb (69480 in chips)
Seat 8: mmdog (34180 in chips)
Seat 9: Fishermann (178579 in chips)

Notice that there’s a clear dichotomy between the 3 people with above 160K and everyone else with below 70K. This becomes pretty important to the table dynamic. Basically, all the shorter stacks (except one of them) go into survival mode, while me and the other two big stacks try to accumulate chips. Now, the other two big stacks were willing to tangle with each other and with me, while I decided it would be best to just pick on the little guys unless I found a good spot.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level XV (2000/4000)
9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 2: Hero (163874 in chips)
Seat 4: molotov (41740 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (306047 in chips)
Seat 6: Mr Colby (14660 in chips)
Seat 7: skilltyb (48480 in chips)
Seat 8: mmdog (24680 in chips)
Seat 9: Fishermann (185519 in chips)
Fishermann: posts small blind 2000
Hero: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [2s Ad 5h Ah]
molotov: folds
Skymutt2: raises 10000 to 14000
Mr Colby: folds
skilltyb: folds
mmdog: folds
Fishermann: folds
Hero: raises 30000 to 44000
Skymutt2: calls 30000
*** FLOP *** [Th 6c 6d]
Hero: bets 60000
Skymutt2: folds
Hero collected 90000 from pot
Hero: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 90000 | Rake 0
Board [Th 6c 6d]
Seat 2: Hero (big blind) collected (90000)
Seat 4: molotov folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Mr Colby folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: skilltyb folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: mmdog (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Fishermann (small blind) folded before Flop

This is basically the only big pot I play until it gets down to heads up. I decided to take a stand since this guy was pretty much running the table over. I got pretty lucky that the flop was total garbage.

The short stacks slowly go broke until we hit the following pot between the chip leader and the other big stack.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level XV (2000/4000)
9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Hero (241874 in chips)
Seat 4: molotov (21740 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (268047 in chips)
Seat 6: Mr Colby (2660 in chips)
Seat 7: skilltyb (44480 in chips)
Seat 9: Fishermann (206199 in chips)
skilltyb: posts small blind 2000
Fishermann: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [5c 7d 6c 4h]
Hero: folds
molotov: folds
Skymutt2: raises 10000 to 14000
Mr Colby: folds
skilltyb: folds
Fishermann: calls 10000
*** FLOP *** [9c 2s Js]
Fishermann: checks
Skymutt2: bets 16000
Fishermann: calls 16000
*** TURN *** [9c 2s Js] [6h]
Fishermann: checks
Skymutt2: bets 62000
Fishermann: calls 62000
*** RIVER *** [9c 2s Js 6h] [Ah]
Fishermann: bets 114199 and is all-in
Skymutt2: calls 114199
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Fishermann: shows [Qh 9h Ac Qs] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
Skymutt2: shows [8d Jd Jc As] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Skymutt2 collected 414398 from pot
Hero said, "wooooooooooooooow"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 414398 | Rake 0
Board [9c 2s Js 6h Ah]
Seat 2: Hero folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: molotov folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 showed [8d Jd Jc As] and won (414398) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 6: Mr Colby (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: skilltyb (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Fishermann (big blind) showed [Qh 9h Ac Qs] and lost with two pair, Aces and Nines

Obviously the 2nd place guy just got fed-up/frustrated and made a move, which happened to be at the very wrong time. This made the chips counts extremely lopsided, as seen here:

Seat 2: Hero (241874 in chips)
Seat 4: molotov (21740 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (476246 in chips)
Seat 6: Mr Colby (2660 in chips)
Seat 7: skilltyb (42480 in chips)

Now, this guy really started to run the table over. I just stayed out of his way while he screwed around with the small stacks, doubling them up and such but eventually knocking them all out. At a certain point, I sort of resigned myself to getting 2nd place. The payout structure was pretty flat – around $630 for 2nd and $940 for 1st, so trying to secure 2nd wasn’t a terrible strategy. I ended up letting this guy take a ton of chips while knocking everyone else out, leaving me at a 5.5:1 chip disadvantage when we got heads up:

Seat 2: Hero (123594 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (661406 in chips)

So my basic strategy was to take flops with this guy and try to get lucky. He was definitely stuck in overdrive, so I thought that if I could hit a few hands while he had something, I could get a ton of chips back. I was right.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level XV (2000/4000)
9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: Hero (185594 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (599406 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind 2000
Skymutt2: posts big blind 4000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [6h 6d Kd 3h]
Hero: calls 2000
Skymutt2: raises 8000 to 12000
Hero: calls 8000
*** FLOP *** [Td Qd 7d]
Skymutt2: bets 24000
Hero: raises 72000 to 96000
Skymutt2: raises 216000 to 312000
Hero: calls 77594 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Td Qd 7d] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Td Qd 7d 8s] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Skymutt2: shows [Qs 7c Jc Ts] (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
Hero: shows [6h 6d Kd 3h] (a flush, King high)
Hero collected 371188 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 371188 | Rake 0
Board [Td Qd 7d 8s Js]

Here I actually used my time bank on the flop to make it look like I was making a decision. It seems silly, but this guy was definitely going after weakness, so I wanted to make him think I had an overpair or bottom two pair or something. It looks like it worked.


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level XVI (3000/6000)
9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 2: Hero (349188 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (435812 in chips)
Skymutt2: posts small blind 3000
Hero: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Th Ts 2s 6s]
Skymutt2: raises 12000 to 18000
Hero: calls 12000
*** FLOP *** [Ks Td 7s]
Hero: checks
Skymutt2: bets 24000
Hero: raises 84000 to 108000
Skymutt2: raises 252000 to 360000
Hero: calls 223188 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Ks Td 7s] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Ks Td 7s 5s] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [Th Ts 2s 6s] (a flush, King high)
Skymutt2: shows [Kd Jc Qd 7d] (a straight, Nine to King)
Hero collected 698376 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 698376 | Rake 0
Board [Ks Td 7s 5s 9h]
Seat 2: Hero (big blind) showed [Th Ts 2s 6s] and won (698376) with a flush, King high
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (button) (small blind) showed [Kd Jc Qd 7d] and lost with a straight, Nine to King

Here is the next big pot (basically the entire tournament). Again, my opponent overextends himself with a marginal hand.

Now I have a ridiculous chip lead and I just need to finish him off. I double him up once with AK28 vs. AQQ4. Then the K.O. hand


$20+$2 Omaha Pot Limit - Level XVI (3000/6000)
9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: Hero (665752 in chips)
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (119248 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind 3000
Skymutt2: posts big blind 6000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ad 5d 5s 6c]
Hero said, "i hope not :)"
Hero: calls 3000
Skymutt2: raises 12000 to 18000
Hero: calls 12000
*** FLOP *** [8c 7d 2c]
Skymutt2: bets 36000
Hero: raises 108000 to 144000
Skymutt2: calls 65248 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [8c 7d 2c] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [8c 7d 2c Qc] [9d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Skymutt2: shows [Kc Kh 2d Ah] (a pair of Kings)
Hero: shows [Ad 5d 5s 6c] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Hero collected 238496 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 238496 | Rake 0
Board [8c 7d 2c Qc 9d]
Seat 2: Hero (button) (small blind) showed [Ad 5d 5s 6c] and won (238496) with a straight, Five to Nine
Seat 5: Skymutt2 (big blind) showed [Kc Kh 2d Ah] and lost with a pair of Kings

He, again, overplays a pretty weak hand. This time I get lucky and hit my straight draw to end it.


In summary, I basically got action on my big hands (which I had a lot of), people folded when I had nothing, and I hit some draws when I needed to. I don’t think anyone’s ever won a tournament without most of these things coming true, and this tournament was no exception.

I need to go to bed now, good night.

A Quick Session

I got home at like 11:30 and decided to play a little. Played 3 tourneys, which didn't go well.

1) $20+2, $10K Gtd. on Party -- Got in with A9s vs. QQ on the A23 flop and he turned a Q... Nice call buddy.

2) $10+1 NLH on Stars -- Got in with AA vs. KK and the flop was K77.

3) $20+2 Limit Holdem on Stars -- Lost a bunch of money with AQs in the following spot: I raise in MP with AcQc, next guy 3-bets, all fold, I cap. Flop comes AhTh6s. I bet, donkey calls. Turn 5d. I bet, donkey raises, I call. I check call the blank river and lose to 55. I like the 3-betting 55 in a 9-handed game when it's your opponent's 3rd hand at the table. I also like the flop call.

I also played a little $3/$6. I got shalacked at first, immediately losing about $150 trying to muscle my way into winning some pots. I lost a brutal one where I flopped the nut flush with AdTd on the KdQd9d board, capping all the way, and losing to a guy with 99 who rivered the boat. Oh well, I ended up winning $4 after all was done.

Kind of a crappy night. I'm gonna watch some Cheers/Wings and hit the hay. Good night.

Analysis of a Tourney Hand

I got home from work at about 11:30 and decided to play in a few tournaments. I busted in all of them quite early. Here's how

Here is a hand from a 20/20 SNG on Stars. I haven't played one of these in a while because I usually like to play tourneys with bigger fields, but the fields in these are soft and there was nothing else going.

$20+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20)
9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: sixbulls180 (2780 in chips)
Seat 2: soju (1710 in chips)
Seat 4: BRA51 (1380 in chips)
Seat 5: Hero (1410 in chips)
Seat 6: novadova (1560 in chips)
Seat 7: 1021rounder (710 in chips)
Seat 8: money_hunte (1140 in chips)
Seat 9: xxjohnnykxx (2810 in chips)
novadova: posts small blind 10
1021rounder: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ah Kd]
money_hunte: folds
xxjohnnykxx: calls 20
sixbulls180: raises 20 to 40
soju: calls 40
BRA51: calls 40
Hero: raises 280 to 320
novadova: folds
1021rounder: folds
xxjohnnykxx: folds
sixbulls180: folds
soju: folds
BRA51: calls 280
*** FLOP *** [Th 8h Ks]
BRA51: checks
Hero: bets 500
BRA51: calls 500
*** TURN *** [Th 8h Ks] [Ad]
BRA51: checks
Hero: bets 590 and is all-in
BRA51: calls 560 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Th 8h Ks Ad] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BRA51: shows [Qc Jc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Hero: shows [Ah Kd] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
BRA51 collected 2890 from pot
Hero said, "weeeeeeeeeeeeee"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2890 | Rake 0
Board [Th 8h Ks Ad 2c]
Seat 1: sixbulls180 folded before Flop
Seat 2: soju folded before Flop
Seat 4: BRA51 showed [Qc Jc] and won (2890) with a straight, Ten to Ace
Seat 5: Hero (button) showed [Ah Kd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings
Seat 6: novadova (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: 1021rounder (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: money_hunte folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: xxjohnnykxx folded before Flop

This may not seem too bad, but let's just try to quantify how bad it is. Against my particular hand, he has 7 outs. 3 of those outs (Ac, Ad, As) give me a 4 card redraw and 1 of them (9h) gives me a 9 card redraw. Also, note that there are some cards that help the villian on the turn but that don't put him ahead in the hand. There are 6 of these (Jh, Js, Jd, Qh, Qs, Qd). For the sake of simplicity, let's assume that the Hero will always move in or call all in on the turn, regardless of the turn card.

Now let's look at the set of possible outcomes/actions for the villian to see which action is the best. I won't look at the play of check-raising all in on the flop, because we would have to take fold equity into account. Against this particular Hero (me) and most other decent players, their fold equity should be close to 0 anyway. This is the case because there are very few hands that I will re-raise preflop in this scenario and lay down on this flop, particularly with all those available draws out there.

1) Fold on the flop. EV=0

2) Call the flop. We'll need to evaluate certain scenarios to see what action we should take on the turn also.

**** NOTE **** Skip the rest of this paragraph unless you want to read a bunch of combinatorial reasoning and arithmetic.

2a) Nobody gets help on the turn. This occurs 24/45 times. Now, we'll be facing a bet of 560 into a pot of 1750 and we still have 7 outs.
2ai) We call the turn bet. We'll win 750+1060 with 7/44 rivers and lose 1060 on the other 37/44 rivers. Our expectation by calling the flop and turn when we get no help on the turn is then (1810)(7/44) - (1060)(37/44) = 288.0 - 891.4 = -603.4.
2aii) We fold on the turn. We'll never win the pot in this case, and we'll lose 500 each time.
2b) The Hero gets help on the turn in the form of a heart that isn't the 9h, Jh or Qh. This happens 7 times, and leaves the villian with only 6 outs.
2bi) We call the turn anyway. The EV of this is (1810)(6/44) - (1060)(38/44) = 246.8 - 915.5 = -668.7
2bii) We fold on the turn, losing only the 500 we put in on the flop.
2c) We hit a pair on the turn, which happens 6/45 times. In this case, we will have to hit exactly our straight or trips to win, since making 2 pair gives the Hero a straight (or flush in some cases). We then have 9 outs going to the river.
2ci) We call on the turn. Our EV is (1810)(9/44) - (1060)(35/44) = 370.2 - 843.2 = -473.0
2cii) We fold on the turn. We lose 500 each time this happens.
2d) We hit the 9h on the turn. We stand to win 750+1060 on the 35/44 river cards where another heart doesn't come, but lose 1060 on the 9/44 river hearts. The expectation in this case is for this play is (1810)(35/44) - (1060)(9/44) = 1439.8 - 216.8 = 1223.0
2e) We hit one of 3 A's on the turn, giving the hero 4 outs. 4/44 rivers lose us 1060, and 40/44 rivers win us 1810. The EV of this play is 1645.4 - 96.4 = 1549.0.
2f) We hit one of our 3 outs (9c, 9s, 9d) that does not give the hero any redraw. Obviously we're not folding, so we win 750+1060 = 1810 every time this happens.


I'll guess that the best plays are (in descending order) 1) folding, 2) calling the flop and re-evaluating the turn, 3) calling the flop and folding the turn and 4) calling both the flop and turn.


Now, Here's how each play rates as far as EV goes.

1) Folding on the flop: EV = 0

2) Calling the flop and re-evaluating the turn (and making the best play there): EV = (25/45)(-500) + (7/45)(-500) + (6/45)(-473.0) + (1/45)(1223.0) + (3/45)(1549.0) + (3/45)(1810) = (-12500 - 3500 - 2838 + 1223 + 4647 + 5430)/45 = -7538/45 = -167.5

3) Calling on both the flop and turn: EV = (25/45)(-603.4) + (7/45)(-668.7) + (6/45)(-473.0) + (1/45)(1223.0) + (3/45)(1549.0) + (3/45)(1810) = (-15085 - 4680.9 - 2838 + 1223 + 4647 + 5430)/45 = -11303.9/45 = -251.2

4) Calling on the flop and folding the turn (unless we hit the str8): (25/45)(-500) + (7/45)(-500) + (6/45)(-500) + (1/45)(1223.0) + (3/45)(1549) + (3/45)(1810) = (-12500 - 3500 - 3000 + 1223 + 4647 + 5430) = -7700/45 = -171.1

So it looks like calling the flop and folding the turn is better than calling the flop AND turn automatically. But of course, folding is king here. Calling on the flop appears to lose us about 1/6th of our remaining stack on average.

This, of course, is why you shouldn't call preflop re-raises for 1/5 of your stack with QJs -- because you need a miracle flop to be able to continue the hand profitably. Flopping a decent draw still loses you money when you're up against a big hand! Of course, all the logic in the world isn't going to stop that A from hitting the turn to knock me out of the tournament.


And here's another hand that goes along with this same concept, except that this one is much, much worse.

NL Texas Hold'em Level:3 Blinds(50/100)
Table #24 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: HAPPY_JOKER ( $12186 )
Seat 2: Hero ( $6150 )
Seat 3: CPANTHERS ( $6525 )
Seat 4: ttuluna ( $2045 )
Seat 5: Minotaur888 ( $3880 )
Seat 8: mattkkkk ( $2713 )
Seat 7: tronter ( $2576 )
Seat 10: Jose33 ( $2620 )
Seat 9: tenbears222 ( $2770 )
Seat 6: Eidur888 ( $2389 )
Trny:22444021 Level:3
Blinds(50/100)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kh Kc ]
Eidur888 raises [425].
tronter folds.
mattkkkk folds.
tenbears222 folds.
Jose33 folds.
HAPPY_JOKER folds.
Hero raises [1375].
CPANTHERS folds.
ttuluna folds.
Minotaur888 folds.
Eidur888 calls [950].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, Jd, 9c ]
Eidur888 is all-In [1014]
Hero calls [1014].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 8c ]
Eidur888 shows [ Td, Qd ] a straight, eight to queen.
Hero shows [ Kh, Kc ] a pair of kings.
Eidur888 wins 4928 chips from the main pot with a straight, eight to queen.

This fellow decides to commit just shy of 60% of his stack preflop with QTs against a guy who re-raised his UTG raise. I don't even know where to begin on this one. This guy later got into a re-raised pot with 96s and got all-in against AA on an A9x flop and lost.


I also played some $3/$6 and won a little bit, but nothing interesting there. I think I'm going to begin drinking now. Enjoy the weekend!

Back to Normal (Hopefully)

I played a little bit of $3/$6 this morning and clearer a win of about $105. I thought it was going to be another nightmare session when I got AA cracked by 9Ts on my first hand, but everything went fine for the most part.

Edit: I played for a couple more hours today and won about another $170, bringing me to almost where I was before yesterday's debacle.

Here's a funny hand from this morning. The A3 guy is the same one who beat my AA with 9Ts.

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em
Table Sun Soaker (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: adalei4k ( $209.50 )
Seat 2: brankozoric ( $131.50 )
Seat 3: jcot29 ( $166 )
Seat 4: bcs75000 ( $115 )
Seat 6: vo2_max ( $316.50 )
Seat 5: Hero ( $140 )
Hero posts small blind [$1].
vo2_max posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kd 5d ]
adalei4k folds.
brankozoric calls [$3].
jcot29 calls [$3].
bcs75000 folds.
Hero calls [$2].
vo2_max checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jd, 3s, 3c ]
Hero checks.
vo2_max checks.
brankozoric checks.
jcot29 checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4c ]
Hero checks.
vo2_max checks.
brankozoric checks.
jcot29 checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 9c ]
Hero checks.
vo2_max checks.
brankozoric bets [$6].
jcot29 raises [$12].
Hero folds.
vo2_max folds.
brankozoric calls [$6].
jcot29 shows [ 6c, Kc ] a flush, king high.
brankozoric doesn't show [ Ad, 3h ] three of a kind, threes.
jcot29 wins $34.50 from the main pot with a flush, king high.


Obviously this is funny because the guy limped with trash, flopped a beast, then didn't put in any money till he was beat. But it's also funny for a more subtle reason. In my mind, the fact that everyone checked through on the flop, and especially on the turn, virtually guarantees that someone is holding the 3. Otherwise one of them woulda tried to pick up the pot.

I also watched the new WPT Foxwoods last night. Man, what a dope that Tony Licastro guy is. First of all, he just repeatedly moves all in. I've seen people do this in online tournaments with some success, but one of two things usually happens.

1) They try to steal at the wrong time and run into a big hand.
2) They wait for big hands, but don't get enough of them and (obviously) don't get any action with them. So they "go out like broomcorn's uncle."

It's not as bad of a strategy in online tournaments because you usually only have 10-25BBs anyway. But in an event where you have 40-50BBs, you're just asking for it. The entire style is based on a weak poker philosophy. If you are a quality player, you should want to make more decisions because it gives you more of a chance to gain an edge on your opponents. Moving all in preflop basically does the opposite.

Also, he made a horrendous play by being the 3rd one into the pot with the KTo. Of course, he cracks Bill Gazes' AA. And to slap Bill in the face again, he starts to cheer when Schulman flops an A on Bill, leaving him drawing to runners. I'd have kicked him in the nuts for that shit.

Bad night playing $3/$6

My shitty day continued when I started playing again tonight. It's one of those days when you miss every draw, everyone else hits every draw, they run down your big pairs, etc. Once again, I started off by getting stuck about $450 in an hour, but got myself back to about -$120 again.

I must admit that when I start losing I start to get paranoid that I'm going to get bluffed and I pay people off when I really shouldn't. It's really emotionally tough to be getting destroyed by a guy who jumps 3 raises with A5s and calls $11 out of the SB with T9o. The best part is that tonight's donkey was actually ridiculing other people when they drew out! For example, he made fun of some guy who called a raise out of the BB with JTs, flopped a flush draw, called down and hit the river, then bet the river and showed the flush. Meanwhile, limping UTG with Q5o and 3-betting an unknown player with 46o are great plays (he did this to me on my 4th hand at the table).

I really have to work on not tilting as much when I'm taking a major beating -- because the beatings are bound to happen. That's another reason I used be anti-cash-game, because you have the potential to seriously damage your bankroll in a few bad sessions.

Ok, let's look at some hands now. First we have the ole miss-the-zillion-outer hand. Nothing special about this one, it just sucks when it happens over and over again.

PokerStars Game Hold'em Limit ($3/$6)
Table 'Lykaon' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: made2win ($82 in chips)
Seat 2: elise66 ($1285 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero ($207 in chips)
Seat 4: KRAZYKATFAN ($1179.50 in chips)
Seat 5: JHajek21 ($71 in chips)
Seat 6: GGoose&RBull ($76 in chips)
GGoose&RBull: posts small blind $1
made2win: posts big blind $3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Jh Th]
elise66: folds
Hero: raises $3 to $6
KRAZYKATFAN: folds
JHajek21: folds
GGoose&RBull: folds
made2win: calls $3
*** FLOP *** [5s 6h 9h]
made2win: checks
Hero: bets $3
made2win: calls $3
*** TURN *** [5s 6h 9h] [Qc]
made2win: checks
Hero: bets $6
made2win: calls $6
*** RIVER *** [5s 6h 9h Qc] [Qd]
made2win: checks
Hero: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
made2win: shows [7s 9s] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
Hero: mucks hand
made2win collected $30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $31 | Rake $1
Board [5s 6h 9h Qc Qd]
Seat 1: made2win (big blind) showed [7s 9s] and won ($30) with two pair, Queens and Nines
Seat 2: elise66 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Hero mucked [Jh Th]
Seat 4: KRAZYKATFAN folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: JHajek21 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: GGoose&RBull (small blind) folded before Flop


I don't know what the hell this guy's plan was... maybe he thought I had QJ or something. I like how he doesn't even try to win the pot by check-raising the flop or turn or something. Also note how he fails to bet or check/raise the river himself.

PokerStars Game Hold'em Limit ($3/$6)
Table 'Lykaon' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 3: Hero ($168 in chips)
Seat 4: KRAZYKATFAN ($1186.50 in chips)
Seat 5: JHajek21 ($87 in chips)
KRAZYKATFAN: posts small blind $1
JHajek21: posts big blind $3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [9h 9s]
Hero: raises $3 to $6
KRAZYKATFAN: folds
JHajek21: raises $3 to $9
Hero: raises $3 to $12
Betting is capped
JHajek21: calls $3
*** FLOP *** [4c 4h 6s]
JHajek21: checks
Hero: bets $3
JHajek21: calls $3
*** TURN *** [4c 4h 6s] [3d]
JHajek21: checks
Hero: bets $6
JHajek21: calls $6
*** RIVER *** [4c 4h 6s 3d] [Ts]
JHajek21: checks
Hero: bets $6
JHajek21: calls $6
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [9h 9s] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
JHajek21: shows [Kc Td] (two pair, Tens and Fours)
JHajek21 collected $54 from pot
Hero said, "sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet"
made2win leaves the table
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $55 | Rake $1
Board [4c 4h 6s 3d Ts]
Seat 3: Hero (button) showed [9h 9s] and lost with two pair, Nines and Fours
Seat 4: KRAZYKATFAN (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: JHajek21 (big blind) showed [Kc Td] and won ($54) with two pair, Tens and Fours


This is the hand I talked about above where the guy 3-bets me with 64o on my 4th hand at the table. Then there's the guy who calls 2 more bets out of the BB with A2o and calls 2 bets cold on the flop with the gutshot. Well-played fellas...

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em
Table Table 96301 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: RunGoodJr ( $88.50 )
Seat 2: flopped ( $295 )
Seat 4: JOHNBABQ ( $179.50 )
Seat 5: turnsleft ( $332 )
Seat 6: TerribleTess ( $99 )
Seat 3: Hero ( $146 )
turnsleft posts small blind [$1].
TerribleTess posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Jc 9h ]
RunGoodJr folds.
flopped folds.
Hero raises [$6].
JOHNBABQ raises [$9].
turnsleft folds.
TerribleTess calls [$6].
Hero calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, 4c, Jd ]
TerribleTess checks.
Hero bets [$3].
JOHNBABQ raises [$6].
TerribleTess calls [$6].
Hero calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
TerribleTess bets [$6].
Hero folds.
JOHNBABQ calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ 8d ]
TerribleTess bets [$6].
JOHNBABQ calls [$6].
TerribleTess shows [ Ad, 2c ] a straight, ace to five.
JOHNBABQ doesn't show [ 4d, 6s ] a pair of fours.
TerribleTess wins $67 from the main pot with a straight, ace to five.


Some of the ensuing chat on this table after JOHNBABQ needles me for calling a raise out of the BB with 92s. Note the poor grammar involved...
JOHNBABQ: lol
JOHNBABQ: i always call a raise with 9 2
Hero: are you serious? you 3-bet me with 64o my first hand on the table
JOHNBABQ: i must of thought they were aces


One more. This is just another one of those "WTF are you doing?" kinds of hands where the guy hows up with totally random cheese on the end.

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em
Table Table 96301 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 4: JOHNBABQ ( $305.67 )
Seat 5: turnsleft ( $258.50 )
Seat 3: Hero ( $148 )
Seat 6: dtt2004 ( $153.50 )
Seat 1: buellrider3 ( $135.50 )
Seat 2: habooo ( $140 )
turnsleft posts small blind [$1].
dtt2004 posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Ac 5c ]
buellrider3 calls [$3].
habooo folds.
Hero raises [$6].
JOHNBABQ raises [$9].
turnsleft folds.
dtt2004 folds.
buellrider3 calls [$6].
Hero calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, Ad, Jc ]
turnsleft: tyvm
buellrider3 checks.
Hero checks.
JOHNBABQ bets [$3].
buellrider3 folds.
Hero raises [$6].
JOHNBABQ raises [$6].
Hero raises [$6].
JOHNBABQ calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
Hero checks.
JOHNBABQ bets [$6].
Hero calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ 5d ]
Hero checks.
JOHNBABQ bets [$6].
Hero calls [$6].
JOHNBABQ shows [ 2d, 2c ] two pairs, queens and twos.
Hero shows [ Ac, 5c ] two pairs, aces and queens.
Hero wins $76 from the main pot with two pairs, aces and queens.

Don't even get me started on how bad his river bet is...

Alright, I'm getting tired and I have work to do tomorrow. Good night!

Finally got the Stupid Bonus

Been playing a little $3/$6 this morning and it started out as one of those nightmare sessions where I lost about $300 in like 1/2 hour. Here are two consecutive hands that took place sometime along the way --

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em
Table Lady Alice (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Gorilla60607 ( $162 )
Seat 2: gsamike ( $335.66 )
Seat 3: squiddoo ( $271 )
Seat 4: MasterGBC ( $98.25 )
Seat 5: Fotios222 ( $146.51 )
Seat 6: Hero ( $120.50 )
Fotios222 posts small blind [$1].
Hero posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Qh Qd ]
Gorilla60607 raises [$6].
gsamike calls [$6].
squiddoo folds.
MasterGBC folds.
Fotios222 folds.
Hero raises [$6].
Gorilla60607 calls [$3].
gsamike raises [$6].
Hero calls [$3].
Gorilla60607 calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Tc, Kh, 5c ]
Hero bets [$3].
Gorilla60607 calls [$3].
gsamike calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4s ]
Hero bets [$6].
Gorilla60607 calls [$6].
gsamike calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
Hero checks.
Gorilla60607 checks.
gsamike bets [$6].
Hero calls [$6].
Gorilla60607 folds.
gsamike shows [ As, Qs ] a straight, ten to ace.
Hero doesn't show [ Qh, Qd ] a pair of queens.
gsamike wins $73 from the main pot with a straight, ten to ace.
MasterGBC has left the table.

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em
Table Lady Alice (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Gorilla60607 ( $141 )
Seat 2: gsamike ( $381.66 )
Seat 3: squiddoo ( $271 )
Seat 5: Fotios222 ( $145.51 )
Seat 6: Hero ( $93.50 )
Hero posts small blind [$1].
Gorilla60607 posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kc Kh ]
gsamike folds.
squiddoo folds.
Fotios222 raises [$6].
Hero raises [$8].
Gorilla60607 calls [$6].
Fotios222 raises [$6].
Hero calls [$3].
Gorilla60607 calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2s, 9d, Qs ]
Hero bets [$3].
Gorilla60607 raises [$6].
Fotios222 raises [$9].
Hero raises [$9].
Gorilla60607 calls [$6].
Fotios222 calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8d ]
Hero bets [$6].
>You have options at Table 97148 Table!.
Gorilla60607 raises [$12].
Fotios222 calls [$12].
Hero calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ 7s ]
Hero checks.
Gorilla60607 checks.
Fotios222 bets [$6].
Hero calls [$6].
Gorilla60607 calls [$6].
Fotios222 shows [ Ts, 9s ] a flush, queen high.
Hero doesn't show [ Kc, Kh ] a pair of kings.
Gorilla60607 doesn't show [ Ah, Qd ] a pair of queens.
Fotios222 wins $124 from the main pot with a flush, queen high.

Not that anybody did anything wrong in the 2nd pot, it just sucks to get a huge pot together with the best hand and then lose it.

I managed to get myself to about -$180 before everything was over. I was 2-tabling, and I managed to get myself +$50 on this table thanks to gsamike (the guy who hit the gutshot in the 1st hand) while losing $230 on the other table. I was only playing this morning because I had a few hundred more hands to play to clear that $100 bonus. So I guess the bonus subsidizes a little over 1/2 the loss, which is ok.

Alright -- time to eat lunch, do some work, then go to class. After class I think I'll watch the new 24 from Monday, then I'm going to continue watching the 2nd season of Lost.

Clearing a Bonus, plus some Tourneys

Played a bunch of poker today, and I will probably play some more. I'm trying to clear a bonus on Party and it's taking forever. I gotta finish it because it's like a challenge now, but never again! I'll give you a partial tournament rundown and a funny $3/$6 hand from today.

1) $10+1 Multi on Party -- never really got anything going in this. Got 20BBs in with JJ against the AA of an active player.

2) $20+2 Satellite to $500K on Party -- got to the final few tables but never really had any chips. I lost when I jammed for 9BBs from MP with 55 and the button had KK.

3) $10+1 Multi on Stars -- I doubled up pretty early with AKo vs. ATs, but then lost most of my newly found chips with I got a guy hit a straight on me with 78s on a 49T5J board (I had A9). I was sorta pissed that he was drawing at the idiot straight, but it's so well disguised when it gets there, maybe it's a decent draw after all. I got my last 15BBs in with AKo vs. 99 and lost.

4) $20+2 Limit Multi on Party -- I lost my chips when I flopped an A out of the BB with A7, bet the flop, then the guy who limped UTG with 99 caught his 9 on the turn.

5) $20+2, $40K Gtd. on Party -- lost a bunch of chips when I raised a limper with AQo, he calls, jams for a ton of money on an AdKd6d flop and shows up with AKs. Apparently I just have no idea what people are doing sometimes. I lost the rest of my chips with I jammed for 7BBs from the CO with AJo and the big blind had AK.

6) $10+1, $20K Gtd. no Party -- I got 41st/2235 in this thing for some $70. I got a big stack together with around 200 left, but then lost a ~500K pot (average was about 175K) with about 45 left with AKs vs. AA. Some guy says "that'll teach you for being a bully." after I lose the pot. Obviously I'm happy to get my money in there, but it sucks to not be able to backtalk someone who says something that dumb. Yea, I could try to explain things like fold equity and hand ranges to the guy, but who wants to help their opponents? I'm pretty happy with how I was playing. Without this roadblock I woulda been golden to go really deep.

7) $10+R, $55K Gtd. on Stars -- For some reason I swore to only do one rebuy and one addon (if I got that far) in this thing. I rebought right away and got my 3K in after a few minutes with TT vs. AJo vs. A9o and they both flopped the A, so that was it.

Alright, some entertaining hands. In this first one, the min-betting guy is the same guy who knocked me out of the Party $20K with the AA.

NL Texas Hold'em Level:14 Blinds-Antes(3000/6000-100)
Table $20K Gtd.(664979) Table #4 (Real Money)
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: theJig0007 ( $37168 )
Seat 2: SutchaPlayer ( $59880 )
Seat 3: duncan01 ( $186341 )
Seat 5: Mike_4978 ( $194971 )
Seat 6: Hero ( $118850 )
Seat 8: jammm123 ( $148706 )
Seat 9: heyimpat ( $34303 )
Seat 10: reddneckin11 ( $17746 )
Seat 4: hesuskhristo ( $98847 )
Seat 7: Hbomb30 ( $59628 )
Trny:22321704 Level:14
Blinds-Antes(3000/6000-100)
theJig0007 posts ante [100].
SutchaPlayer posts ante [100].
duncan01 posts ante [100].
hesuskhristo posts ante [100].
Mike_4978 posts ante [100].
Hero posts ante [100].
Hbomb30 posts ante [100].
jammm123 posts ante [100].
heyimpat posts ante [100].
reddneckin11 posts ante [100].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kd 3h ]
Hbomb30 folds.
jammm123 folds.
heyimpat folds.
reddneckin11 folds.
theJig0007 calls [6000].
SutchaPlayer folds.
duncan01 folds.
hesuskhristo folds.
Mike_4978 raises [9000].
Hero folds.
theJig0007 calls [6000].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, Ac, 7h ]
Mike_4978 bets [6000].
theJig0007 calls [6000].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6s ]
Mike_4978 bets [6000].
theJig0007 calls [6000].
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
Mike_4978 checks.
theJig0007 bets [7473].
hesuskhristo: haha
Mike_4978 calls [7473].
theJig0007 shows [ Ah, 5h ] two pairs, aces and fives.
Mike_4978 doesn't show [ 5c, 4d ] a pair of fives.
theJig0007 wins 69946 chips from the main pot with two pairs, aces and fives.

Good work buddy. Let's look at our goals of what we want to do during a hand of tournament poker --
1) Get ourselves out of position and heads up with small, unsuited connecting cards when our potential opponent has already limped in for 1/6 of his chips.
2) Double up a shortstack without ever putting him to a decision.
3) Calling the river with 5th pair on a coordinated board when it's virtually impossible for our opponent to be bluffing.

Done, done, and done. Why does it have to be THIS guy who shows up with AA against my AKs? Life is just unfair sometimes.

Now we go on to a $3/$6 hand. I don't know why I find this so entertaining, but I just picture a baboon sitting there behind a computer hitting the "Bet" button on the river. I just don't see any other way that it could happen...

$3/$6 Texas Hold'em
Table Trout Time (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: gundum0307 ( $133.65 )
Seat 2: therzner ( $114.45 )
Seat 4: stybro ( $112 )
Seat 6: grindert100 ( $252.50 )
Seat 5: Hero ( $127 )
Seat 3: GRod321 ( $115.50 )
gundum0307 posts small blind [$1].
therzner posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 9h Jh ]
GRod321 folds.
stybro calls [$3].
Hero raises [$6].
grindert100 folds.
gundum0307 calls [$5].
therzner calls [$3].
stybro calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9c, Jd, Kd ]
gundum0307 bets [$3].
therzner calls [$3].
stybro calls [$3].
Hero raises [$6].
gundum0307 calls [$3].
therzner calls [$3].
stybro calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6d ]
gundum0307 bets [$6].
therzner folds.
stybro folds.
Hero raises [$12].
gundum0307 calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ 4s ]
gundum0307 bets [$6].
Hero calls [$6].
gundum0307 shows [ 3d, 3c ] a pair of threes.
Hero shows [ 9h, Jh ] two pairs, jacks and nines.
Hero wins $81 from the main pot with two pairs, jacks and nines.

Did I miss a bet on the river?

Some Amendments to Last Night's Post

I played a couple more tournaments yesterday that I forgot to post about.

1) $10+1 Multi on Stars. I had a decent stack but lost a ton of chips on this hand. I think I have to call the on the turn getting 5.5:1. As it happens, I have about the only hand this guy can actually beat (and I'm only a 2:1 dog). I considered folding, but people show up with weird shit when they play a hand this way. So I kind of have to call.

PokerStars Game $10+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100)
9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: sikem (2950 in chips)
Seat 2: Umbroken (5060 in chips)
Seat 3: Mikey800 (2835 in chips)
Seat 4: Sproles08 (4545 in chips)
Seat 5: Aaronf914 (5025 in chips)
Seat 6: loggerdad (5300 in chips)
Seat 7: Wahataya (3410 in chips)
Seat 8: Hero (3555 in chips)
Seat 9: boomster (1050 in chips)
sikem: posts small blind 50
Umbroken: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [As Kd]
Mikey800: calls 100
Sproles08: folds
Aaronf914: folds
loggerdad: calls 100
Wahataya: calls 100
Hero: raises 500 to 600
boomster: folds
sikem: folds
Umbroken: folds
Mikey800: folds
loggerdad: calls 500
Wahataya: calls 500
*** FLOP *** [Th 9s 9c]
loggerdad: checks
Wahataya: checks
Hero: bets 1600
loggerdad: calls 1600
Wahataya: folds
*** TURN *** [Th 9s 9c] [Qh]
loggerdad: bets 3100 and is all-in
Hero: calls 1355 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Th 9s 9c Qh] [8d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
loggerdad: shows [8s 8h] (a full house, Eights full of Nines)
Hero: shows [As Kd] (a pair of Nines)
loggerdad collected 7960 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7960 | Rake 0
Board [Th 9s 9c Qh 8d]
Seat 1: sikem (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: Umbroken (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: Mikey800 folded before Flop
Seat 4: Sproles08 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Aaronf914 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: loggerdad showed [8s 8h] and won (7960) with a full house, Eights full of Nines
Seat 7: Wahataya folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Hero showed [As Kd] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 9: boomster (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)

2) $20+2 6-handed PL Holdem on Stars -- ended up getting 8th or 9th or something for $77. I don't really like the way I went out, but I can't really see any other way to play it. If anybody plays PL holdem and can figure out a way to not go broke on this hand (without playing like a pussy), please let me know.

PokerStars Game $20+$2 Hold'em Pot Limit - Level VIII (200/400)
6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 2: Soulsearcher (16414 in chips)
Seat 3: Hairyleg (17160 in chips)
Seat 4: Hero (10222 in chips)
Seat 6: Maxke (30855 in chips)
Hero: posts small blind 200
Maxke: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [As Kd]
Soulsearcher: raises 800 to 1200
Hairyleg: folds
Hero: raises 2800 to 4000
susgg is connected
Maxke: folds
Soulsearcher: calls 2800
*** FLOP *** [4c 9c 7d]
Hero: bets 6222 and is all-in
Soulsearcher: calls 6222
*** TURN *** [4c 9c 7d] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [4c 9c 7d 2s] [Qc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [As Kd] (high card Ace)
Soulsearcher: shows [Ad 9s] (a pair of Nines)
Soulsearcher said, "gg"
Soulsearcher collected 20844 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 20844 | Rake 0
Board [4c 9c 7d 2s Qc]
Seat 2: Soulsearcher showed [Ad 9s] and won (20844) with a pair of Nines
Seat 3: Hairyleg (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Hero (small blind) showed [As Kd] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 6: Maxke (big blind) folded before Flop

3) 3 $5+.5 heads up HORSE sngs on full tilt -- HORSE is fun. I was getting drunk and playing "battleship poker" against my freind Clark. He won 2 out of the 3, but I was playing like a donkey and having fun. Here's my favorite from this. Arrrrrrg. I don't have Full Tilt set to save hand histories on my laptop... damnit. Anyway, I'll recount.

Playing limit holdem, 1st level. I get 5h6d in the SB and raise. Clark calls in the BB. Flop is Ac8c8h. He bets, I raise, he 3-bets, I cap. Turn 4c. He check-raises and I call. River 7s. He bets, I raise, he 3-bets. I look at him and say -- "I just rivered a gutshot. I hope you don't have that beat." Being the nice guy that I am, I don't cap. I call and beat his pathetic flopped trips (K8o). He was pissed.


Looking at the amount of money in my Party account, it looks like the amount I won playing $3/$6 was closer to 50BBs than 100. Weird, I could have sworn it was more than that...

Ok, it's about time to do some Easter hoopla. I think I'm going to play some more today, so hopefully I'll get to update again tonight. Happy easter to all!

A Good Drunken Night

I played a lot of poker today. The tournaments went ok, the cash games went great. I'll see what I can remember from the day.

1) $20+2 Limit Multi on Party -- Finished in the low 40's out of abouut 350 (40 paid) in this thing. It was fairly uneventful until this hand....

Texas Hold'em Level:11 Stakes(2000/4000)
Table Regular(662807) Table #3 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 3: Hero ( $15440 )
Seat 5: pmacca23 ( $5230 )
Seat 6: ode8100 ( $41390 )
Seat 8: joejamesjr ( $20350 )
Seat 9: needfunds111 ( $10183 )
Seat 10: wynnlv ( $8065 )
Seat 2: aerickson_14 ( $35105 )
Seat 7: stroker430 ( $52290 )
Seat 1: Kings_of_Pain ( $21260 )
Trny:22175966 Level:11
Stakes(2000/4000)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Kd 4s ]
pmacca23 folds.
ode8100 folds.
stroker430 calls [2000].
joejamesjr folds.
needfunds111 folds.
wynnlv folds.
aerickson_14 folds.
Hero checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ks, Td, As ]
Hero bets [2000].
stroker430 calls [2000].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kh ]
Hero bets [4000].
stroker430 calls [4000].
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
Hero checks.
stroker430 bets [4000].
Hero calls [4000].
stroker430 shows [ Qd, 9d ] a straight, ten to ace.
Hero doesn't show [ Kd, 4s ] three of a kind, kings.
stroker430 wins 25000 chips from the main pot with a straight, ten to ace.

I know, I don't really have to call the river, but c'mon. Does he really have to call the turn getting getting 4:1 with the gutshot and get there? Of course he does!

2) $5+1, $15K Gtd. on Party -- for starters I thought this was a rebuy, as I usually don't play this low for a freezeout. Ok, that's fine. I was doing pretty well until I ran TT into JJ and JJ into AA against the same player. Then I got my last 15BBs in with 66 vs. A9o and lost.

3) $30+3, $35K Gtd. on Party -- Lost a ton of chips on this beauty:

NL Texas Hold'em Level:2 Blinds(30/60)
Table $35k Gtd.
Seat 4 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: jfoy19 ( $5493 )
Seat 3: Hero ( $3865 )
Seat 4: ZebWalker ( $2516 )
Seat 7: RaisnVegasII ( $7987 )
Seat 8: NoAzGuy ( $6010 )
Seat 9: yodel15 ( $3090 )
Seat 10: CaliSugarBabe ( $950 )
Seat 5: Over20 ( $3844 )
Seat 2: jcbdenmark ( $2250 )
Seat 6: bstone3 ( $3691 )
Trny:22167645 Level:2
Blinds(30/60)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ Qc Qd ]
RaisnVegasII calls [60].
NoAzGuy folds.
yodel15 calls [60].
CaliSugarBabe calls [60].
jfoy19 calls [60].
jcbdenmark folds.
Hero raises [450].
ZebWalker calls [450].
Over20 folds.
bstone3 folds.
RaisnVegasII calls [390].
yodel15 folds.
CaliSugarBabe calls [390].
jfoy19 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kh, 2s, 9s ]
RaisnVegasII checks.
CaliSugarBabe checks.
Hero bets [2200].
ZebWalker is all-In [2066]
RaisnVegasII folds.
CaliSugarBabe folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
Hero shows [ Qc, Qd ] a pair of queens.
ZebWalker shows [ As, 8s ] a flush, ace high.
Hero wins 134 chips from side pot #1 with a pair of queens.
ZebWalker wins 6142 chips from the main pot with a flush, ace high.

Yes. Call for 1/5 of your chips preflop with A8s. Well-played, sir. I lost the rest of my chips by slow-playing AA and ending up all in on the flop vs. 78s and TT on a 556 board. The 9 hit the river to break both overpairs.

4) $20+2 Satellite to $500K on Party -- I won another seat in the Party $500K, which I won't be playing tomorrow. I now have two seats to this thing. I just need a free sunday or two to do these. Here's the hand that locked the seat up for me --

NL Texas Hold'em Level:8 Blinds-Antes(400/800-25) Table $500K Qualifier Table #2 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 4: EXFELLON ( $7087 )
Seat 5: pmarieair ( $29742 )
Seat 6: Hero ( $16194 )
Seat 7: mako49 ( $14211 )
Seat 8: rcmitch19 ( $9214 )
Seat 9: konbig ( $22101 )
Seat 1: skiper44 ( $2865 )
Seat 2: mark5053 ( $7665 )
Seat 3: brez52 ( $29255 )
Trny:22176197 Level:8
Blinds-Antes(400/800-25)
skiper44 posts ante [25].
mark5053 posts ante [25].
brez52 posts ante [25].
EXFELLON posts ante [25].
pmarieair posts ante [25].
Hero posts ante [25].
mako49 posts ante [25].
rcmitch19 posts ante [25].
konbig posts ante [25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 5c 2d ]
rcmitch19 calls [800].
konbig folds.
skiper44 folds.
mark5053 folds.
brez52 folds.
EXFELLON calls [800].
pmarieair folds.
Hero calls [400].
mako49 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, Th, 4s ]
Hero checks.
mako49 checks.
rcmitch19 checks.
EXFELLON checks.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3d ]
Hero bets [2400].
mako49 is all-In [13386]
rcmitch19 folds.
EXFELLON folds.
Hero calls [10986].
** Dealing River ** [ 8s ]
Hero shows [ 5c, 2d ] a straight, ace to five.
mako49 shows [ 3s, Ah ] two pairs, aces and threes.
Hero wins 30197 chips from the main pot with a straight, ace to five.
Player mako49 finished in 27 place
Game #3990954766 starts.

Sweeeeeeet. Gin on the turn. Lucky for me. Especially lucky that someone else had a decent peice of the board. For the first time, I made a fold that I absolutely wouldn't have made if it wasn't a satellite (folded QQ in middle posistion in an unopened pot).


I think I ended up winning almost 100BBs in $3/$6 today, despite having a terrible start to the day. I ran into to a couple of uber-donks and things ended up going my way. One big thing I've noticed at $3/$6 that doesn't happen at $2/$4 is that the idiot loose players who constantly limp (ie, limp on the button KQs) always bet the flop when you check to them. Sort of a perverse sense of post-flop aggression even though they won't raise preflop.

Alright, I have to be up early for Easter festivities, it's getting late, and I'm wasted. Good night all.