Bad Beats

This post will not be very long; I just wanted to relay some bad beats that happened to me today.

For some reason, I decided to use a freeroll I had to the Party $1,000,000 Gtd. this afternoon. This is where the bad beats occurred. I was pretty card-dead during the first hour of the tourney. I picked up AQo, where I flopped the nut flush draw and jammed over the BB's flop bet to win without showdown. I also pulled a squeeze play with JJ from the big blind to win a pot. Other than that, I would raise preflop, continuation bet the flop, then get raised and have to fold. So I ended the first hour with about the same number of chips that I started with -- 5000.

In a hand early in the 2nd hour, I raised from the hijack with KhJh, then I called when the short-stacked button moved in and I beat his 88. This put me up to about 9000 in chips. Then I raised the button with K4o, called when the SB jammed for a little bit more and flopped trip kings to beat his J8o. This one was funny -- the SB hadn't played a hand in about 3 orbits before this. You'd think he'd wait for a better spot after being so patient for so long.

Now let's talk about the bad beats. These aren't the traditional (and much less interesting) "some donkey called all his chips on the turn with the idiot end of a gutshot and stacked me" type of beats.

Bad beat #1: I'm in MP and finally get dealt AA midway through the 2nd hour (blinds 200/400). The guy in front of me raises to 1300, I go to the betting dialog to type in my raise to 3300, but it doesn't seem to work. My internet connection had frozen up on me just long enough for my hand to time out! So I ended up timing out, the pot was re-raised behind me and the original raiser folded.

Bad beat #2: Blinds 200/400, I'm in the SB, two people limp, I complete with 2s3s. Flop comes A5J one spade. All 4 people check. Turn comes the 4s, which is the best card in the deck for my hand. I check, BB checks, EP limper bets 1200, next guy times out and folds, I make it 4500, All fold. The guy who timed out says something like "shit, I lost my internet connection and I had a set of 5s".

I guess when these things happen to you, you're just not meant to have a good run at things. I ended up going bust by check raising my whole stack into the CO's 22 with my 8c5c on a 2cJAc board and missing my draw.

That's all the poker I played today. I'm a little sick of poker after having played about 1500 hands of $0.50/$1.00 friday night and saturday afternoon, plus I seem to have stopped running well (I lost about $100 over those 1500 hands).

Maybe I will play some this week, maybe not. My brother is getting married on Saturday and we are having his bachelor party on Thursday, so there is still some preparation to be done and I will be fairly busy with my best man duties. Also, there will be tons of people in town so I'll have less free time than normal.

Good luck to everyone this week, especially if you happen to be getting married!

A Reminder of Why I Stopped Playing Tournaments

I played some poker today -- about 50 hands of $0.5/$1 and 3 tournaments.

I won about $50 in the cash games. For my 2nd hand at one of the tables, a short stack jammed UTG for about $25 with QQ. I had KK and stacked him. I don't remember how I won the rest.

Tourney 1 was a $11 ($13 maybe?) double-shootout satellite to the $1M weekly on stars. I got stacked by getting a ton of chips in on an AK7 flop during the first level holding K7 vs. AT in a limped pot (I was in the BB). It took a bet and 4 raises to get me all in on this flop with blinds of only 10/20 and stacks of 1500. Of course, the turn was an A and I was dead.

I then played a $5+R, also on Stars. I got to about 200 left (1400 or so started), where I moved in on a bunch of limpers from the button with A4o for about 15K (blinds at 600/1200). The last limper insta-called with A7s and I didn't get any help. Sweet.

Finally, I played a $10 freezeout on Stars. I had a massive amount of chips in this one. I was in the top ten for almost the entire tournament until I got busted over the course of 2 hands. In the first, I lost a 20K pot (blinds 300/600) that was all-in preflop with my AA vs. some donkey's KQo. He flopped broadway and I never filled up. I then lost the rest in my next big blind when a big stack min-raised me from the cutoff. I called with 86o, check-raised all-in on the 246 flop, then lost to the big stack's A6. I know I suck for going broke with a pair of 6's, but does he really have to have the A6 there? Why not A7, KT or basically anything else? Oh yes, and I barely missed the money in this one.


Fun stuff. This reminds me of why I stopped liking tournaments -- you have to be playing well AND get really lucky over a fairly prolonged period of time to get anywhere in them.

I'm going to make some burgers and drink some beers.

A Home Game Hand Analysis (Part 1)

I've played some online cash games and have been having the same good results that I've been having over the past month. So far, I've made a little short of $1400 over about 4200 hands of $0.50/$1.00 NL. This is a great win rate. I feel like I'm playing well and running well, so I'm happy with all that. I will be moving to $1/$2 NL when I've won $2000 playing the 'ole $0.5/$1 -- so I'll keep everyone updated on how that goes.


I also played the home game on the last two Thursdays and won both of them. I don't remember anything of note happening last week. This week I was down to about 4400 at the 200/400/25 level. I ended up winning a bunch of pots without showing down, giving me the chip lead when we got to 4 handed. I stole a bunch and never got caught, so things worked themselves out in my favor fairly easy.

I did play a hand tonight against Clark that he asked me to analyze, so here goes. This is the 3rd hand of the tourney and everyone has roughly 25K in chips with blinds at 50/100. Clark limps UTG for 100, all fold to me on the button, I raise to 350 with A8o, all fold to Clark, Clark calls. Flop comes Txy, totally disconnected rainbow. Clark bets 500, I call. Turn comes Q, putting 2 hearts on the board. Clark bets 750, I make it 3500 I beleive (it was a decent-sized raise), Clark calls. River comes some other low card, not filling any draws. Clark bets 1500, I make it 5300, Clark calls and scoops with JcTc. I call him a donkey and such for calling me down, he says it was a good play and that I should analyze it on my blog so that I can figure that it was a good call.

For starters, the main reason I think this hand was played poorly is due to a concept called reverse implied pot odds. In a nutshell, this concept states that if you have a weak made hand (like 2nd pair no kicker on the turn) that won't improve very often, you will often be better off folding to pressure because: 1) you will lose a lot if your opponent has a better hand, 2) you probably won't win much more if your opponent has a worse hand. Furthermore, having an aggressive opponent that has position on you makes this concept even stronger.

Analyzing it from Clark's perspective, we need to decide what hands I could have. For starters, let's assume that I am not semi-bluffing when I raise the turn (i.e., I will never improve on the river) and river. There weren't any real draws out there on the turn unless I had something like Ahxh. I beleive the chances of this are slim enough to ignore.

Now let's look at the probabilities of various events happening.

TM = the probability that I have a monster on the turn and clark is drawing dead
TB = the probability that I am bluffing on the turn
TV = the probability that I am value betting a hand on the turn that can be beaten by Clark's JT by him catching a J or T

RM = the probability that I have a monster on the river. this is effectively equal to the probability that I have a monster on the turn
RB = the probability that I am bluffing the river
RV = the probability that I have a pretty good hand like KK or AQ and I am value-raising. I would say that this is effectively 0, since I tend to be a pussy about raising the river with marginal hands that can get reraised.


When facing a raise on the turn, the value of Clark's hand comes from the following situations in which he wins the pot:

1) Clark calls the bet on the turn with the best hand, then leads on the river and gets me to fold my bluffs.
2) Clark calls the bet on the turn with the best hand, leads the river, then calls when I bluff-raise.
3) Clark calls the bet on the turn with the worst hand, doesn't improve on the river, then bets and gets me to fold the best hand.
4) Clark calls the bet on the turn with the worst hand, improves on the river, leads on the river, where I call with a worse hand.


It's getting too late to finish this tonight. Tomorrow (or in a couple of days), we'll take a guess at some of the chances of these things actually happening and how this effects the value of Clark's hand on the turn.

Maybe Clark would like to speak up and tell me how often he thinks I'm bluffing on the turn and river and the other such things.

Summary of the last week

I've been playing an OK amount of poker over last week or so. Mostly cash games ($0.5/$1) and some tournaments (no cashes yet). I also won the home game last thursday, which consisted of 8 people.

I was on fire in the beginning, flopping straights and trips and such. I was also getting lucky even when I didn't have the best of it. Example -- 8-handed, blinds at 200/400. There are a couple of limpers to my brother, he makes it 1200, I call in the SB with 9To, limpers call, flop comes 9-high. I check-call leaving myself heads up with my brother. Turn is some low card, I move him in for maybe 5 or 6 thousand, he quickly calls, I ask for a T on the river, the river is a T and I beat his QQ. Sort of a crappy play on my part, but it's not super-bad. He really could have any reasonable pocket pair (77+) and some big aces as well (AJ+ maybe), so I'm not in too bad of shape against his overall range here. Of course, I'm fucked against his calling range.

I kept hitting hands and playing aggressively. Eventually we got to 3-handed, where I played a weird hand to knock out the 3rd place guy. The blinds were 800/1600 and I was on the button. For some reason I decide to straddle for 3200, telling the other two guys that I was either going to have junk or a big hand. The SB folds, and the BB raises to something like 8000. He's an aggressive player and would make this raise with a ton of hands. I wake up with AQo and move him in for about 30K total. He thinks for a few minutes and calls with 44, which I beat by flopping an A. The BB is a decent player, and he thinks a lot about the game. He claims that he was pretty sure I wouldn't have played a big pair (like JJ+) this way. He happens to be very wrong on this (after all, you can get 44 to call. so why not move in with AA or KK here?), but it doesn't make it a bad call on his part because there was plenty of money out there already.

I then leaned on the 2nd place guy for a while (I was picking up a ton of hands), where I finally got in with 9cTc vs. his 8d9d on a K9XX two-diamond board and he missed all his draws. Good job me.


There isn't much to speak of when it comes to online tournaments. I've either donked off all my chips or gotten my money in good and been drawn out -- pretty standard stuff.


The cash games have been fun. I've been running good, winning a little over $31 per 100 hands (15.7ptbb/100 if you're a 2+2er). This win rate is probably not sustainable, but you never know. It's amazing how many of these people will put their entire stack in with just one pair, or how much they will call on a draw. It's silly to watch a guy put in 3/4 of his stack on a flush draw before the river gets there, but that's what makes the games so good.

Ok, let's look at some hands. This first hand is from yesterday, and is the first of two consecutive hands that I got stacked.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed)
MP1 ($98)
MP2 ($121.75)
MP3 ($22.70)
CO ($95.50)
Button ($105.30)
SB ($139.60)
BB ($104.10)
UTG ($153.85)
Hero ($100.55)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Ah, Js.
1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 1 fold, MP2 calls $3, 2 folds, Button calls $3, 1 fold, BB calls $2.

Flop: ($12.50) 8d, 6c, Jd (4 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $8, MP2 calls $8, Button raises to $24, BB folds, Hero calls $16, MP2 folds.

Turn: ($68.50) 9h (2 players)
Hero bets $40, Button calls $40.

River: ($148.50) 2d (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $38.3 (All-In), Hero calls $33.55 (All-In).

Final Pot: $220.35
Results below:
Hero has Ah Js (one pair, jacks).
Button has 9d Td (flush, jack high).
Outcome: Button wins $220.35.


I don't really know what else I can do on the river besides check-call everything, as the worst price I can be getting is about 5:1. Am I crazy to think people bluff in this spot? Ok, people actually do bluff the river sometimes when the board turns ugly. I reminded myself of this fact a little while later in the following hand.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed)
UTG ($107.25)
Hero ($127.30)
MP1 ($70.05)
MP2 ($93)
CO ($57.15)
Button ($53.95)
SB ($185.60)
BB ($105.65)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Ad, As.
1 fold, Hero raises to $3.5, MP1 calls $3.50, MP2 calls $3.50, 4 folds.

Flop: ($12) 9c, Js, 8c (3 players)
Hero bets $10, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $10.

Turn: ($32) 8s (2 players)
Hero bets $20, MP2 calls $20.

River: ($72) Jh (2 players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $23, Hero calls $23.

Final Pot: $118
Results below:
Hero has Ad As (two pair, aces and jacks).
MP2 has Qc Kc (two pair, jacks and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $118.


And finally, let's look at a super-play. This guy pretty much gifts me his stack. Awesome.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed)
UTG ($21)
UTG+1 ($213.30)
MP1 ($71.60)
MP2 ($54.65)
CO ($138.75)
Button ($45.85)
SB ($61.35)
Hero ($105.80)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 3c, 3h.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, MP1 raises to $4, 4 folds, Hero calls $3, UTG+1 calls $3.

Flop: ($12.50) 4d, 5h, 3d (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, MP1 bets $4, Hero raises to $15, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $11.

Turn: ($42.50) Js (2 players)
Hero bets $33, MP1 calls $33.

River: ($108.50) 5s (2 players)
Hero bets $20, MP1 calls $19.60 (All-In).

Final Pot: $148.10

Results below:
Hero has 3c 3h (full house, threes full of fives).
MP1 has Jh Qh (two pair, jacks and fives).
Outcome: Hero wins $148.10.


I'll probably play a little bit more for the rest of the week, but I'll have a busy weekend since one of my college buddies is coming into town for the weekend. He's going to be moving to Japan for a year and is leaving in a couple of weeks, so this will basically be a huge sendoff.

I Love Ac8c

Ac8c is a hand that I'm rapidly becoming partial towards. I stacked somebody with Ac8c for the 3rd time in the last 4 or 5 days (over the course of maybe 1000 hands). This time I was actually a about a 9:1 dog on the flop, but my clever opponent decided not to raise me until I had a full house.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed)
CO ($143.45)
Button ($126.30)
SB ($173.70)
BB ($98.10)
UTG ($21.20)
Hero ($122.35)
MP1 ($192.30)
MP2 ($44.20)
MP3 ($66.25)
Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 8c, Ac.
1 fold, Hero calls $1, 1 fold, MP2 calls $1, 4 folds, BB checks.
Flop: ($3.50) Qc, Ad, Ts (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2, MP2 calls $2, BB folds.
Turn: ($7.50) 8d (2 players)
Hero bets $4, MP2 calls $4.
River: ($15.50) 8h (2 players)
Hero bets $12, MP2 raises to $37.2, Hero calls $25.20.
Final Pot: $89.90
Hero has 8c Ac (full house, eights full of aces).
MP2 has Tc As (two pair, aces and tens).
Outcome: Hero wins $89.90.

I played a few hundred hands of $0.50/$1.00 today and ended up winning about $120. These games are great -- there really are some bad players in there. Obviously i'm running good, but I can't take all the credit for winning. The guy who calls $50 on the turn with the Ah5h on a Ac7s4cJc board deserves some of the credit too.

Let's have a quick play of the day before we move on to some other stuff. This guy calls the river raise with less than 2% equity against a random hand. Yikes. He was a seemingly solid player too (which is why I tried to bluff him). Who knew it was a value bet?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed)
SB ($106.95)
BB ($180.30)
UTG ($174.70)
UTG+1 ($98.10)
MP1 ($21.20)
Hero ($108.30)
MP3 ($192.30)
CO ($44.20)
Button ($66.25)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 9h, Qh.
3 folds, Hero raises to $3, 4 folds, BB calls $2.
Flop: ($6.50) 6d, 4c, 8s (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4, BB calls $4.
Turn: ($14.50) 4h (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.
River: ($14.50) 8d (2 players)
BB bets $1, Hero raises to $8, BB calls $7.
Final Pot: $30.50
BB has 2c 2d (two pair, eights and fours).
Hero has 9h Qh (two pair, eights and fours).
Outcome: Hero wins $30.50.


Moving along, I'd like to congratulate my brother. Last night he placed 5th in a ~150 player $50 buyin tourney yesterday, which was good for about $500. And he wasn't even playing under his own account! A freind of his was playing the tourney and wanted to go out to the bar, so he IMed my brother and got him to play. I started watching when there were 3 tables left and my brother had the chip lead. He played pretty well in general, only making minor mistakes like making a fold that I would consider too tight here or there and getting out of line by stealing blinds with cheese from too early a position.

He did really well, especially considering that the only "tournament poker" he plays is at our weekly home game. Things didn't really work out for him in the end, but that's how it goes sometimes (most of the time actually). Hopefully this good result will convince him that he should play more poker.

I want to talk about 1 hand that I thought he played too tight. There was a fairly loose and aggressive player, who had been in 2nd in chips more or less the entire time I was watching. He was opening with plenty of weak hands to try to steal the blinds, and he and my brother were still the top two in chips (though not by very much) when it was down to 7-handed.

With the blinds at 800/1600, the LAG opens UTG for 7000 (a fairly typical raise for this guy). All fold to my brother, who has 99 in the BB. They each had about 40000 in chips and my brother folded. I probably would have moved in, but I think you could make a case for doing a "stop-and-go" (calling preflop and moving in on all but the most threatening flops) in this scenario as well. It should go without saying that I think calling to try to play the hand out is a poor play. Let's examine the merits of folding vs. jamming.

Folding, as usual, has an EV of 0.

Assuming that the LAG has the same number of chips as us, jamming nets us +40800 when we are called and win, -40000 when we are called and lose, and +7800 when we are not called. Let's assume that the range of the raiser is {A5s+, A8o+, 44+, KTs+, KJo+}. Let's further assume that he will call our jam with {AJs+, AQo+, TT+} and fold everything else. Then the LAG is folding about 69.5% of the time and calling the other 30.5% of the time, and pokerstove tells us that our equity against his calling range is 38.2%.

Then our chip EV by jamming is (0.695)(7800) + (0.382)(0.305)(40800) + (0.618)(0.305)(-40000) = 5421 + 4753 - 7539 = +2635.

This doesn't even take into account how much more of a chance you have to win by getting a monster chip lead with 6 left.

That is all for tonight -- I need to go read about data flow analysis for some code I'll be writing over the next few days. Fun.

Wild Day Yesterday

I played a few hours of 0.5/1.00 NL cash games yesterday and had a big downswing, followed a slightly bigger upswing.

I got stacked by making a huge re-raise from the SB with AK over the top of a really bad player (I'm pretty sure he would've called with a worse A or other similar garbage) only to have the BB wake up with KK to bust me. Then a couple orbits later I overplayed two pair on a 356 flop and ran into the 47 of the same bad player I re-raised in the hand above, losing me another ~$65.

Then I finally started to turn the tides on the terrible player that took all my money. I used a hand history converter from flopturnriver.com, so I hope it looks ok.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from SB ($12.35)
BB ($123.70)
UTG ($42.80)
UTG+1 ($123.20)
MP1 ($64.70)
MP2 ($142.75)
Hero ($100)
CO ($31.50)
Button ($34.95)
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with Ac, Jh.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $5, 2 folds, Hero calls $5, 4 folds.
Flop: ($11.50) Jc, Th, 6h (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $6, Hero calls $6.
Turn: ($23.50) 3c (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $6, Hero raises to $14, UTG+1 calls $8.
River: ($51.50) 7d (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $20, UTG+1 calls $20.
Final Pot: $91.50

I then lost that $40 back a few hands later by getting all-in against a shorter stack, where my AK couldn't beat his JJ. After this, I won about $15 back in small pots to end up down about $150 at this table.

But I was playing 3 tables at the time, and I had lost about $40 on another table when my AK as outrun by JT on an xxTKJ board. My opponent bet about 1/3 of the pot on the river when he got there (which was all of his chips), so I paid him off. A few hands later, I tilted away another $20 with TT by paying off a guy who flopped an A after calling my UTG raise with the A6. I then tried to run a bluff with bottom pair against a guy who seemingly turned a flush, which cost me another $25. At this point, I was down about $250 on the three tables I was playing. And I was playing poorly.

Having a moment of clarity, I realized that I needed to lock it up and get back to basics in order to take advantage of my previously shitty play. After all, even having a bad run of things can turn out to be useful in poker. I could probably get paid pretty well if I could actually make some hands. Unfortunately for me, the donkey from the first table had gone broke and the game got shorthanded against a couple of tight players, not the type of situation conducive to doubling up. I found a new table and a new attitude and got to work.

Shortly after this I lost another $20 by missing a super-draw with 5d6d against AK on a 7d8dAc flop. I won back this $20 a few hands later by flopping a set of queens on a ragged board and not getting past the flop. After this I ended up flopping AdJd9h with the 9d4d and getting in against A3 for $40 and missing another decent draw. Missing these draws was pretty frustrating at this point, but I was happy because I was getting the money in good. Plus, this would (theoritically) make sure that I got paid when I actually made a hand. Of course, I flopped another set of queens shortly after and had everyone fold on the flop again. Arrrrrg.

Then, things started to go my way.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from Hero ($76.20)
SB ($105.10)
BB ($135)
UTG ($13.90)
UTG+1 ($89.90)
MP1 ($194.20)
MP2 ($19.75)
MP3 ($137.90)
CO ($67.15)
Preflop: Hero is Button with Ac, Qs.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 4 folds, Hero raises to $4, 2 folds, UTG+1 calls $3.
Flop: ($9.50) 4d, 4h, Qc (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $7, Hero raises to $21, UTG+1 calls $14.
Turn: ($51.50) Ks (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero checks.
River: ($51.50) 9s (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $25, UTG+1 calls $25.
Final Pot: $101.50


This came about a little over 1 orbit before what I think is the biggest pot I've ever won in a cash game. I've had some pots that were maybe 90% as big in a $3/$6 limit game, but this is almost certainly the biggest.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed)
Hero ($114.70)
UTG+1 ($39.40)
MP1 ($19)
MP2 ($14)
CO ($180.25)
Button ($70)
SB ($29.50)
BB ($116.10)
Preflop: Hero is UTG with As, Kc.
Hero raises to $3, 2 folds, MP2 raises to $7, 3 folds, BB calls $6, Hero raises to $35, MP2 calls $7 (All-In), BB calls $28.
Flop: ($84.50) 2s, Kd, Ks (3 players, 1 all-in)
BB checks, Hero bets $25, BB calls $25.
Turn: ($134.50) Ac (3 players, 1 all-in)
BB checks, Hero bets $25, BB calls $25.
River: ($184.50) 8c (3 players, 1 all-in)
BB checks, Hero bets $29.7 (All-In), BB calls $29.70.
Final Pot: $243.90

The big blind puts in $35 before the flop with K3s, and manages to get stacked by putting the rest in on a board with the KKA on it. I was just dumbfounded when I looked at the HH and saw the K3. KQ, AK, AA maybe. Even KJ or QQ or JJ perhaps. This play gets a capitalized, uber-punctuated "WTF?!?!???!!?".

Moving on, a little bit later I found myself in another hand with the flopped nut flush against another huge stack who was also interested in the pot. I can't help but feeling that I left some money on the table in this hand, but it's hard to tell how deep you can take somebody with just a straight on this board.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (7 handed)
Hero ($246.35)
CO ($23.10)
Button ($97.50)
SB ($177.85)
BB ($68.60)
UTG ($30.40)
MP1 ($100)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Ac, 8c. MP1 posts a blind of $1.
1 fold, MP1 (poster) checks, Hero calls $1, 2 folds, SB completes, BB checks.
Flop: ($4) 5c, 7c, 9c (4 players)
SB bets $5, BB folds, MP1 folds, Hero calls $5.
Turn: ($14) 4d (2 players)
SB bets $10, Hero raises to $28, SB calls $18.
River: ($70) Qh (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $55, SB calls $55.
Final Pot: $180

Then I wrapped up the session by running KK into a shorter stack's QQ for a $100 pot, bringing me to being up a few dollars.

I then played later last night and sat at the softest table I've been at in a long time. I only bought in for $40 (I'm experimenting a bit with buyin amounts), and doubled up on the following hand.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed)
Hero ($33.20)
SB ($18.85)
BB ($136.55)
UTG ($18)
UTG+1 ($97.45)
MP1 ($13.80)
MP2 ($36.75)
CO ($175.85)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 9h, 9d.
UTG calls $1, 3 folds, CO calls $1, Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, BB calls $3, UTG calls $3, CO calls $3.
Flop: ($16.50) 5d, 4c, Qh (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks, Hero bets $8, BB calls $8, UTG folds, CO folds.
Turn: ($32.50) 2c (2 players)
BB bets $10, Hero raises to $21.2, BB calls $11.20.
River: ($74.90) Qd (2 players)
Final Pot: $74.90


Then I played for a little bit this morning and doubled up here (again, I bought in short for $50 to experiment a little).

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed)
Hero ($48.90)
BB ($42.70)
UTG ($94.10)
UTG+1 ($73.30)
MP1 ($170.60)
MP2 ($59)
CO ($38.80)
Button ($91.35)
Preflop: Hero is SB with As, Qh.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $1, 4 folds, Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $3.
Flop: ($9) Ah, Kd, 5d (2 players)
Hero bets $5, UTG+1 calls $5.
Turn: ($19) Ac (2 players)
Hero bets $9, UTG+1 calls $9.
River: ($37) 8c (2 players)
Hero bets $30, UTG+1 calls $30.
Final Pot: $97

So things have been going good for the past few days. My bankroll is finally back into the black (or red, whichever is better) relative to when I curtailed it back to $3600 a few months ago.

This post is long enough already. I'll probably play some more at some point later in the week, but I think I'll have some work I need to do, so probably not too soon. Good luck to everyone!

No Luck Today

I watched a lot of poker today and managed to play some also. As I mentioned last night, my buddy Clark was going to play in a $300 buyin $100K Gtd. tourney at the local casino today. I went there to railbird for him about 3 hours into the tournament. He ended up in 19th out of about 400 for $1077. Since he won his way in through a satellite, most of this was profit. Congrats to him on a well-played tournament. From what I could tell, it looked like he played pretty well. Except for maybe his last hand, but I'll talk more about that later.

When I got home I played in a $20+2 tourney on stars and got an 8K pot together at the 100/200 level with 88 vs. A6o vs. AKo, which I lost.

Then later tonight I played a $.5/$1 NL game for about 1/2 hour and won about $20. I ended up calling some guy down with TT on a K9xA9 board and beating his 88 for most of that profit. I also played two more tournaments after this.

The first was a $20 short-handed PL holdem tourney on stars. I was in the top 10 for most of this thing (only about 130 entrants), and ended up getting a massive pot together preflop (and losing it) with KK vs. AKo/blind v. blind for a pot that would given me a hefty chip lead with 20 left. Instead I had a short stack, which I doubled with A2o vs. TT. I finally died when I reraised a very active player's button raise with 46o from the SB for about 1/2 my chips. The flop was 2h3h6h, I put the other 1/2 of my chips in, and he called with the ThQh for the flopped flush. Sweeeeeeeet. So Instead of having a monster stack going to the final two or three tables, I ended up getting 14th when only 12 spots paid.

I also am still playing a $3+R satellite to the sunday $1M tourney, where I currently sit in 32nd/47 (10 seats paid). There've been some funny hands in this one, but they were funny for weird reasons.

PokerStars Game #5500902597: Tournament #27316441, $3+$0 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2006/07/09 - 03:44:16 (ET)
Table '27316441 22' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: mexican469 (5540 in chips)
Seat 2: X_ACE_KING_X (6090 in chips)
Seat 3: bigmo05 (2800 in chips)
Seat 4: CntScoopula (7660 in chips)
Seat 5: AKSonny (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: 9*ONLY*7 (2860 in chips)
Seat 7: malamathegam (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: toneighty80 (2860 in chips)
Seat 9: cjwalker86 (670 in chips)
toneighty80: posts small blind 10
cjwalker86: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CntScoopula [Qc Qh]
mexican469: folds
X_ACE_KING_X: calls 20
bigmo05: calls 20
CntScoopula: raises 7640 to 7660 and is all-in
AKSonny: folds
9*ONLY*7: folds
malamathegam: folds
toneighty80: folds
cjwalker86: folds
X_ACE_KING_X: folds
bigmo05: calls 2780 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [8d 6s 7d]
*** TURN *** [8d 6s 7d] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [8d 6s 7d Td] [5s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigmo05: shows [Ts 9d] (a straight, Six to Ten)
CntScoopula: shows [Qc Qh] (a pair of Queens)
bigmo05 collected 5650 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5650 | Rake 0
Board [8d 6s 7d Td 5s]
Seat 1: mexican469 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: X_ACE_KING_X folded before Flop
Seat 3: bigmo05 showed [Ts 9d] and won (5650) with a straight, Six to Ten
Seat 4: CntScoopula showed [Qc Qh] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: AKSonny folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: 9*ONLY*7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: malamathegam (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: toneighty80 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: cjwalker86 (big blind) folded before Flop

This isn't that strange of a thing to happen in a rebuy tournament -- people limp-call amazingly large amounts before the flop with crap quite regularly. What's funny about this is that the same guy started calling other people retards later on in the tournament. So I clearly had to make fun of him for being such an idiot as well. I really don't mind people doing stupid shit and having it work out for them -- that's the entire reason bad poker players keep playing the game. I do mind when that same guy makes fun of others, and it becomes open season on him for being stupid and for being a jackass.


PokerStars Game #5501170120: Tournament #27316441, $3+$0 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2006/07/09 - 04:48:44 (ET)
Table '27316441 22' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: kemah slim (6105 in chips)
Seat 3: bigmo05 (11115 in chips)
Seat 4: CntScoopula (5055 in chips)
Seat 5: pocket_aces9 (6586 in chips)
Seat 6: 9*ONLY*7 (10565 in chips)
Seat 7: malamathegam (8600 in chips)
Seat 8: toneighty80 (7260 in chips)
Seat 9: cjwalker86 (10742 in chips)
kemah slim: posts small blind 75
bigmo05: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CntScoopula [Js Ts]
CntScoopula: calls 150
pocket_aces9: folds
9*ONLY*7: raises 150 to 300
malamathegam: folds
toneighty80: folds
cjwalker86: calls 300
kemah slim: folds
bigmo05: calls 150
CntScoopula: calls 150
*** FLOP *** [Tc Qs 4s]
bigmo05: checks
CntScoopula: checks
9*ONLY*7: bets 750
cjwalker86: calls 750
bigmo05: folds
CntScoopula: raises 4005 to 4755 and is all-in
9*ONLY*7: calls 4005
cjwalker86: folds
*** TURN *** [Tc Qs 4s] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Qs 4s 9c] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CntScoopula: shows [Js Ts] (a flush, Queen high)
9*ONLY*7: shows [Ad As] (a pair of Aces)
CntScoopula collected 11535 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 11535 | Rake 0
Board [Tc Qs 4s 9c 2s]
Seat 1: kemah slim (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 3: bigmo05 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: CntScoopula showed [Js Ts] and won (11535) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 5: pocket_aces9 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: 9*ONLY*7 showed [Ad As] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 7: malamathegam folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: toneighty80 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: cjwalker86 (button) folded on the Flop

This one is funny because when the guy behind me min-raised preflop, I actually said out loud 'That's an "I want to get my aces cracked" raise.' Luckily for me, I hit my 19-outer on the river to double up.

I just got knocked out of this tournament in 40 place or so. I got my pathetic 10BBs in with TT against JJ and the JJ made quads. It's late, so good night!

A Bad Day Turned Good

I played quite a bit of poker this evening and had some mixed results. It started at about 5:00 pm, when I got done doing some work. I had about an hour and a half to burn so I decided to play some cash games. I played a $0.50/$1.00 NL game and lost a little north of $200.

I lost most of it when I got in before the flop with KK against AA. I was SO close to folding, but went against my better judgement and called. A tight player made it $4 UTG, I made it $24 from UTG+1 with KK, UTG moved in for about $120. What else could the guy have? He *might* have the other KK, but that's about it. I'm pretty sure I should have folded this. I then picked up a bunch of OK starting hands like AJ, KQs, AK, 99, etc. and lost small amounts with all of them. Nothing was going right.

Then we started up the home game at a little after 6:30pm. We were playing on an irregular night (the game is usually Thursday) so we only got 4 people. We played a NLH shootout. I witnessed an interesting hand take place when we were still 4-handed. With the blinds at 150/300, UTG limps for 300, button folds, SB makes it 800. I fold some cheese in the BB, UTG makes it 1800, SB makes it 4800, UTG calls. Flop comes AAQ, SB bets out a few thousand, UTG calls. Turn is the K. UTG check-raises all-in with QQ and is called by UTG's AK. Good shit there.

I ended up getting heads up with about a 5:1 chip disadvantage. I slowly chipped up a little bit, then got in with A-rag against KQ and lost. So I ended up with $0 out of the home game. Again.

After the home game ended at about 9:30, I decided to go play online some more. I sat in a $.5/$1 NL game and signed up for a $15+1 double shootout on Stars. I started out strong in the cash game, building to about $145. I then proceeded to lose a bunch of it back, eventually getting down to about $80 when the following hand came up.

PokerStars Game #5489847105: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2006/07/08 - 02:11:04 (ET)
Table 'Bellona IV' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: #1Bronco ($39 in chips)
Seat 2: ricestud ($156.85 in chips)
Seat 3: Gregory06 ($99 in chips)
Seat 4: skalors2 ($53.25 in chips)
Seat 5: CntScoopula ($83.05 in chips)
Seat 6: grayling646 ($36.50 in chips)
Seat 7: marv9999 ($54.55 in chips)
Seat 8: MerlinTheWiz ($118.95 in chips)
Seat 9: shesha25 ($44.70 in chips)
MerlinTheWiz: posts small blind $0.50
shesha25: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CntScoopula [Ad 9d]
#1Bronco: folds
ricestud: folds
Gregory06: folds
skalors2: raises $1 to $2
CntScoopula: calls $2
grayling646: folds
marv9999: folds
MerlinTheWiz: folds
shesha25: calls $1
*** FLOP *** [9h 4s 2d]
shesha25: checks
skalors2: bets $1
CntScoopula: raises $3 to $4
shesha25: folds
skalors2: calls $3
*** TURN *** [9h 4s 2d] [9s]
skalors2: bets $3
CntScoopula: raises $10 to $13
skalors2: calls $10
*** RIVER *** [9h 4s 2d 9s] [4d]
skalors2: checks
CntScoopula: bets $25
skalors2: calls $25
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CntScoopula: shows [Ad 9d] (a full house, Nines full of Fours)
skalors2: mucks hand
CntScoopula collected $87.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $90.50 | Rake $3
Board [9h 4s 2d 9s 4d]
Seat 1: #1Bronco folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: ricestud folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Gregory06 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: skalors2 mucked [Th Ah]
Seat 5: CntScoopula showed [Ad 9d] and won ($87.50) with a full house, Nines full of Fours
Seat 6: grayling646 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: marv9999 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: MerlinTheWiz (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: shesha25 (big blind) folded on the Flop


I don't even know what to say about this. I raise the guy on every street and he still calls the big river bet with A-high. I was just hoping he had QQ or something and couldn't get away from it. I quit the cash game shortly after because we were getting short-handed at the first table of the double-shootout. Nothing terribly interesting happened before I got heads up, and I was badly outchipped when I got there (1445 v. 9055).

My opponent was overly aggressive but not very good. But he had me on the ropes (down to 905 chips at one point), so I basically just check-raised all in when I had anything. I ended up doubling with 96s vs. A8o and with ATo vs. A5o, which got me to abouut even. I then chipped him down using the strategy outlined above until he had about 3000 left. I then got him to bluff off all his chips on the final hand:

PokerStars Game #5489492138: Tournament #27424913, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round I, Level V (75/150) - 2006/07/08 - 01:28:41 (ET)
Table '27424913 4' 10-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: CntScoopula (8085 in chips)
Seat 2: DeuceBuster (2415 in chips)
DeuceBuster: posts small blind 75
CntScoopula: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CntScoopula [Kc Qh]
DeuceBuster: calls 75
CntScoopula: raises 300 to 450
DeuceBuster: calls 300
*** FLOP *** [Qc 3c 2h]
CntScoopula: checks
DeuceBuster: checks
*** TURN *** [Qc 3c 2h] [7c]
CntScoopula: checks
DeuceBuster: checks
*** RIVER *** [Qc 3c 2h 7c] [6d]
CntScoopula: bets 450
DeuceBuster: raises 1515 to 1965 and is all-in
CntScoopula: calls 1515
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DeuceBuster: shows [Th 9s] (high card Queen)
CntScoopula: shows [Kc Qh] (a pair of Queens)
CntScoopula collected 4830 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4830 | Rake 0
Board [Qc 3c 2h 7c 6d]
Seat 1: CntScoopula (big blind) showed [Kc Qh] and won (4830) with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: DeuceBuster (button) (small blind) showed [Th 9s] and lost with high card Queen


Once at the final table, I immediately (5th hand actually) received a gift of 63BBs when I got in before the flop with AA vs. a very poorly played A3s.

PokerStars Game #5489880758: Tournament #27424913, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round II, Level I (10/20) - 2006/07/08 - 02:15:33 (ET)
Table '27424913 1' 10-max Seat #10 is the button
Seat 1: mcola66 (1480 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: PHXDOG (1260 in chips)
Seat 3: m3forme (1480 in chips)
Seat 4: CntScoopula (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: 410410 (1920 in chips)
Seat 6: Dizzy800 (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: flushemout (1400 in chips)
Seat 8: Geltman (1470 in chips)
Seat 9: Jag Lady (1520 in chips)
Seat 10: mgv2004 (1470 in chips)
mcola66: posts small blind 10
PHXDOG: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CntScoopula [As Ad]
m3forme said, "MD area code"
m3forme said, "i think"
m3forme said, "or his moms pant size?"
PHXDOG said, "yep"
m3forme: folds
CntScoopula: raises 60 to 80
410410: folds
Dizzy800: folds
flushemout: folds
410410 said, "im from kentucky you fcking idiot"
Geltman: folds
Jag Lady: folds
mgv2004: folds
mcola66: folds
m3forme said, "u smell like it too....gl"
PHXDOG: raises 120 to 200
410410 said, "now stop acting like a 12 year old and be quiet"
CntScoopula: raises 1300 to 1500 and is all-in
PHXDOG: calls 1060 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Ks 5d Qd]
410410 said, "HAHAHAHAHAHA"
410410 said, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
*** TURN *** [Ks 5d Qd] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [Ks 5d Qd 3c] [7h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PHXDOG: shows [3h Ah] (a pair of Threes)
CntScoopula: shows [As Ad] (a pair of Aces)
PHXDOG is sitting out
CntScoopula collected 2530 from pot
m3forme said, "ty"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2530 | Rake 0
Board [Ks 5d Qd 3c 7h]
Seat 1: mcola66 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: PHXDOG (big blind) showed [3h Ah] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 3: m3forme folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: CntScoopula showed [As Ad] and won (2530) with a pair of Aces
Seat 5: 410410 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Dizzy800 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: flushemout folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Geltman folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Jag Lady folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 10: mgv2004 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)


From there, things went pretty smoothly until we were 3-handed. Once there, I had about 6500 of the 15000 chips in play. I offered to do a chop, but my opponents wouldn't do it unless we chopped it evenly, giving about $265 to each person. Since I didn't feel like giving up $60 in equity, we kept playing. We got heads up on the following hand. Again, I think I was gifted a ton of chips for no apparent reason.

PokerStars Game #5490406563: Tournament #27424913, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round II, Level VI (100/200) - 2006/07/08 - 03:39:04 (ET)
Table '27424913 1' 10-max Seat #10 is the button
Seat 4: CntScoopula (5775 in chips)
Seat 8: Geltman (5390 in chips)
Seat 10: mgv2004 (3835 in chips)
CntScoopula: posts small blind 100
Geltman: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CntScoopula [Qh Ah]
mgv2004: raises 3635 to 3835 and is all-in
CntScoopula: raises 1940 to 5775 and is all-in
Geltman: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kh 6h Jh]
mgv2004 said, "gg"
*** TURN *** [Kh 6h Jh] [Qs]
CntScoopula said, "gg sir"
*** RIVER *** [Kh 6h Jh Qs] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CntScoopula: shows [Qh Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
mgv2004: shows [As 7s] (a pair of Queens)
CntScoopula collected 7870 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 7870 | Rake 0
Board [Kh 6h Jh Qs Qd]
Seat 4: CntScoopula (small blind) showed [Qh Ah] and won (7870) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 8: Geltman (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 10: mgv2004 (button) showed [As 7s] and lost with a pair of Queens


This gave me about a 2:1 chip lead on my opponent when we got heads up. He was fairly tight, so I planned on wearing him down slowly by picking up unwanted pots. That plan went to shit during the following hand, where I flopped the nut flush to beat his turned 2 pair.

PokerStars Game #5490433682: Tournament #27424913, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Match Round II, Level VI (100/200) - 2006/07/08 - 03:44:18 (ET)
Table '27424913 1' 10-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 4: CntScoopula (8910 in chips)
Seat 8: Geltman (6090 in chips)
Geltman: posts small blind 100
CntScoopula: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CntScoopula [3d Ad]
Geltman: calls 100
CntScoopula: checks
*** FLOP *** [4d Qd 8d]
CntScoopula: bets 200
Geltman: calls 200
*** TURN *** [4d Qd 8d] [9c]
CntScoopula: bets 400
Geltman: raises 800 to 1200
CntScoopula: raises 7310 to 8510 and is all-in
Geltman: calls 4490 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [4d Qd 8d 9c] [Js]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CntScoopula: shows [3d Ad] (a flush, Ace high)
Geltman: shows [9s 4c] (two pair, Nines and Fours)
CntScoopula collected 12180 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12180 | Rake 0
Board [4d Qd 8d 9c Js]
Seat 4: CntScoopula (big blind) showed [3d Ad] and won (12180) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 8: Geltman (button) (small blind) showed [9s 4c] and lost with two pair, Nines and Fours




So I ended up winning the W$650 seat to a WSOP main event satellite, which I obviously won't be playing. I currently have about W$840 in my account and I'm undecided on what I'm going to do with it. My options are these:

1) Sell the W$840 for something like $750. This would be a welcome addition to my bankroll, since I haven't been running too well recently.

2) Save the W$ for something else. It's too late for me to register for any of this year's WSOP event through pokerstars, so I could save it for next year or try to figure out something else to do with it. For instance, they once let people register for the weekly $1M tourney with W$. Maybe I could use it for something like that.


Ok, it's getting late and my rush is wearing off. My friend Clark is playing a $100,000 Gtd. tourney at one of the local casinos tomorrow morning/afternoon. I'm going to watch the Germany/Portugal game starting at about noon, but if Clark is still going strong after that I'm going to head out to the casino to cheer him on. Good luck Clark!

Back Into Action

I was able to play for a few hours yesterday and I had a good time. I first played 2 tournaments with poor results.

The first was the $3+R ($10K Gtd.) on Stars. For starters -- I'm not sure why they guarantee $10K, as there's at least $25K in the prize pool every time. Anyway, I ended up not really getting anything in the first hour and ended up putting my ~3K stack in on the last hand in the rebuy period with A6o vs. 22 and lost to a full house. So I did the two rebuys and addon to get myself to 5K at the beginning of the 2nd hour. After about 20 minutes I got these chips in with 77 vs. AKs and lost.

The other was a $30+3 Pot Limit Omaha tourney. I couldn't hit a flop to save my freakin life, and it's pretty much impossible to bluff in those things. I ended up staying afloat for most of the first hour and then getting my chips in with AsKs2c8c vs. AdTd7d7h (a 51/49 race), where I lost.

I then played some $0.50/$1.00 NL cash games, also on Stars. I ended up ahead by about $200 after a few hours. Here are some hands.


Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00)
Table 'Spica' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: mirven ($105 in chips)
Seat 2: Dzsenaj ($49.35 in chips)
Seat 4: ChicagoMike6 ($65 in chips)
Seat 5: okiebob1 ($284.50 in chips)
Seat 6: JRenna2352 ($34 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero ($83.60 in chips)
Seat 8: coondog1981 ($105.55 in chips)
Seat 9: bizzyb32 ($140.65 in chips)
Dzsenaj: posts small blind $0.50
ChicagoMike6: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ah Ac]
okiebob1: folds
JRenna2352 is disconnected
JRenna2352 is connected
SkrepDaddy joins the table at seat #3
JRenna2352: raises $2 to $3
Hero: raises $6 to $9
coondog1981: calls $9
bizzyb32: folds
mirven: folds
Dzsenaj: folds
ChicagoMike6: folds
JRenna2352: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jd 5h 7h]
Hero: bets $20
coondog1981: calls $20
*** TURN *** [Jd 5h 7h] [6s]
Hero: bets $54.60 and is all-in
coondog1981: calls $54.60
*** RIVER *** [Jd 5h 7h 6s] [4s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [Ah Ac] (a pair of Aces)
coondog1981: shows [Qc Qd] (a pair of Queens)
Hero collected $168.70 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $171.70 | Rake $3
Board [Jd 5h 7h 6s 4s]
Seat 1: mirven (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Dzsenaj (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: ChicagoMike6 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: okiebob1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: JRenna2352 folded before Flop
Seat 7: Hero showed [Ah Ac] and won ($168.70) with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: coondog1981 showed [Qc Qd] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 9: bizzyb32 folded before Flop (didn't bet)




Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00)
Table 'Spica' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: mirven ($105 in chips)
Seat 2: Dzsenaj ($48.85 in chips)
Seat 3: SkrepDaddy ($54 in chips)
Seat 4: ChicagoMike6 ($24 in chips)
Seat 5: okiebob1 ($262.05 in chips)
Seat 6: JRenna2352 ($64.50 in chips)
Seat 7: Hero ($168.70 in chips)
Seat 8: coondog1981 ($46.35 in chips)
Seat 9: bizzyb32 ($140.65 in chips)
JRenna2352: posts small blind $0.50
Hero: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Kc 7c]
coondog1981: folds
bizzyb32: folds
mirven: folds
Dzsenaj: folds
SkrepDaddy: raises $2 to $3
ChicagoMike6: raises $6 to $9
okiebob1: calls $9
JRenna2352: folds
Hero: folds
SkrepDaddy: folds
*** FLOP *** [Kd Ks 4d]
ChicagoMike6: bets $15 and is all-in
okiebob1: calls $15
*** TURN *** [Kd Ks 4d] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Ks 4d 8c] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
ChicagoMike6: shows [Kh Jh] (three of a kind, Kings)
okiebob1: mucks hand
ChicagoMike6 collected $49.95 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $52.50 | Rake $2.55
Board [Kd Ks 4d 8c 5d]
Seat 1: mirven folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Dzsenaj folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: SkrepDaddy folded before Flop
Seat 4: ChicagoMike6 showed [Kh Jh] and won ($49.95) with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 5: okiebob1 (button) mucked [9c Ah]
Seat 6: JRenna2352 (small blind) folded before Flop

I wasn't even involved in this one but I had topost it. The guy with a $260 in front of him (meaning that he's somehow up at least $160 at the table since there's a $100 max buyin at the table) cold-calls $9 before the flop with the A9o! Yikes!


Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00)
Table 'Agena IV' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: jlm224 ($94.90 in chips)
Seat 2: txFreak69 ($58.65 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero ($121.45 in chips)
Seat 4: :pätsi ($61.40 in chips)
Seat 5: svinto44 ($136.35 in chips)
Seat 6: Diefast2b ($137.25 in chips)
Seat 7: royboy51 ($138.55 in chips)
Seat 8: Mr.Shortty1 ($57.30 in chips)
Seat 9: alanvaughn ($104.25 in chips)
royboy51: posts small blind $0.50
Mr.Shortty1: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Qs Qd]
alanvaughn: folds
jlm224: folds
txFreak69: folds
Hero: raises $3 to $4
:pätsi: folds
svinto44: folds
Diefast2b: folds
royboy51: folds
Mr.Shortty1: calls $3
*** FLOP *** [Jd Jh Jc]
Mr.Shortty1: checks
Hero: bets $8
Mr.Shortty1: calls $8
*** TURN *** [Jd Jh Jc] [Th]
Mr.Shortty1: checks
Hero: bets $20
Mr.Shortty1: raises $25.30 to $45.30 and is all-in
Hero: calls $25.30
*** RIVER *** [Jd Jh Jc Th] [5h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Mr.Shortty1: shows [Ad Js] (four of a kind, Jacks)
Hero: mucks hand
Mr.Shortty1 said, "SEND IT"
Mr.Shortty1 collected $112.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $115.10 | Rake $3
Board [Jd Jh Jc Th 5h]
Seat 1: jlm224 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: txFreak69 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Hero mucked [Qs Qd]
Seat 4: :pätsi folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: svinto44 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Diefast2b (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: royboy51 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Mr.Shortty1 (big blind) showed [Ad Js] and won ($112.10) with four of a kind, Jacks
Seat 9: alanvaughn folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This guy flops quads while I flop a full house. I'm really not sure about this one. I'm pretty sure I can't fold, but checking the turn might be better so I maybe don't double him up if he has quads, AA or KK. But then again, do I want to let an A or K hit the board, either letting him catch up with AK/AQ/KQ or killing my action if he has TT or 99 or something?


Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00)
Table 'Agena IV' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: jlm224 ($68 in chips)
Seat 2: txFreak69 ($84.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero ($54.10 in chips)
Seat 4: page88 ($30 in chips)
Seat 5: svinto44 ($132.60 in chips)
Seat 6: Krista-M ($34.30 in chips)
Seat 7: royboy51 ($127.65 in chips)
Seat 8: Mr.Shortty1 ($252.90 in chips)
Seat 9: DJClou34 ($54.85 in chips)
Krista-M: posts small blind $0.50
royboy51: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [5d 7d]
Mr.Shortty1: folds
DJClou34: folds
jlm224: calls $1
txFreak69: folds
Hero: calls $1
page88: calls $1
svinto44: folds
Krista-M: calls $0.50
royboy51: checks
*** FLOP *** [6d 9h 8h]
Krista-M: checks
royboy51: checks
jlm224: bets $4
Hero: raises $10 to $14
page88: folds
Krista-M: folds
royboy51: folds
page88 leaves the table
jlm224: calls $10
*** TURN *** [6d 9h 8h] [2h]
jlm224: bets $46
Hero: calls $39.10 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [6d 9h 8h 2h] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jlm224: shows [Th Qs] (a pair of Eights)
Hero: shows [5d 7d] (a straight, Five to Nine)
Hero collected $108.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $111.20 | Rake $3
Board [6d 9h 8h 2h 8c]
Seat 1: jlm224 showed [Th Qs] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 2: txFreak69 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Hero showed [5d 7d] and won ($108.20) with a straight, Five to Nine
Seat 4: page88 folded on the Flop
Seat 5: svinto44 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Krista-M (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: royboy51 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Mr.Shortty1 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: DJClou34 folded before Flop (didn't bet)


I didn't see that this guy has the double-gutshot on the flop. It's really not that bad then. Fortunately for me he didn't get there.


Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00)
Table 'Agena IV' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: jlm224 ($13.90 in chips)
Seat 2: txFreak69 ($84.25 in chips)
Seat 3: Hero ($108.20 in chips)
Seat 5: svinto44 ($132.60 in chips)
Seat 6: Krista-M ($33.30 in chips)
Seat 7: royboy51 ($126.65 in chips)
Seat 8: Mr.Shortty1 ($252.90 in chips)
Seat 9: DJClou34 ($54.85 in chips)
royboy51: posts small blind $0.50
Mr.Shortty1: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [4h 4d]
DJClou34: folds
jlm224: folds
txFreak69: calls $1
Hero: calls $1
Mr.Shortty1 said, "wow"
svinto44: folds
Krista-M: folds
royboy51: folds
Mr.Shortty1 said, "bad run of her jlm"
Mr.Shortty1: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jd 9h 3h]
Mr.Shortty1: checks
txFreak69: checks
Hero: checks
*** TURN *** [Jd 9h 3h] [4s]
Mr.Shortty1: checks
txFreak69: bets $3
Hero: raises $8 to $11
Mr.Shortty1: folds
txFreak69: calls $8
*** RIVER *** [Jd 9h 3h 4s] [4c]
txFreak69: checks
Aces4hire joins the table at seat #4
Aces4hire is sitting out
Hero: bets $15
txFreak69: calls $15
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [4h 4d] (four of a kind, Fours)
txFreak69: mucks hand
Aces4hire has returned
Mr.Shortty1 said, "ooooooooooo"
Hero collected $52.80 from pot
Mr.Shortty1 said, "now thats redemtion"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $55.50 | Rake $2.70
Board [Jd 9h 3h 4s 4c]
Seat 1: jlm224 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: txFreak69 mucked [9c Kc]
Seat 3: Hero showed [4h 4d] and won ($52.80) with four of a kind, Fours
Seat 5: svinto44 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Krista-M (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: royboy51 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: Mr.Shortty1 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 9: DJClou34 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Then some guy paid me 25 BBs with 2nd pair when I hit runner-runner quads on him. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet.


I'll probably play a bunch more tomorrow during the day since I have the day off. And one last thing -- I heard that Dutch Boyd won a bracelet yesterday. That's just weird... I don't know why, but it's weird.