Grandpa's not doin' well. Been having stomache pains for months, and the idiot doctors couldn't find anything wrong. After MONTHS of this, yesterday he finally went to the Cleveland Clinic, where they examined him and found a tumor/mass on the pancreas, which is blocking the pancreatic vein.
Surgery is likely not an option due to his age.
Crap.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Beat of the night
Last Friday/Saturday session, Tulalip $1/$2. MP limps, Button limps, SB limps, I look at 2 red kings and bump it to $16 to go.
MP calls. Others fold
FLOP: 789 rainbow
I lead with $25.
MP goes all in for $20 on top. (silly me I should've looked at his stack before betting; maybe I did and my brain is cloudy as this was at like 4am when I'd been playing for 10 hours).
I make a crying call (thinking I'm up against a possible JT, but I've seen people go all-in here with A9 or even 2 overs as, again, so many people (including me at times) are more apt to put their oppoents on AK than a big pair).
MP Turns over T6o for a flopped straight. T on the turn gives me some hope, but the river bricks out.
I guess the right play is to fold there, but I've seen enough people overcommit there with AJ or A9 that I felt I had to call.
3rd week in a row I've played against this guy, and I've never seen him walk out of the casino with chips. Sure, you'll hit a big score with T6o from time to time, but when short stacked? I dunno, maybe it was a good play...
MP calls. Others fold
FLOP: 789 rainbow
I lead with $25.
MP goes all in for $20 on top. (silly me I should've looked at his stack before betting; maybe I did and my brain is cloudy as this was at like 4am when I'd been playing for 10 hours).
I make a crying call (thinking I'm up against a possible JT, but I've seen people go all-in here with A9 or even 2 overs as, again, so many people (including me at times) are more apt to put their oppoents on AK than a big pair).
MP Turns over T6o for a flopped straight. T on the turn gives me some hope, but the river bricks out.
I guess the right play is to fold there, but I've seen enough people overcommit there with AJ or A9 that I felt I had to call.
3rd week in a row I've played against this guy, and I've never seen him walk out of the casino with chips. Sure, you'll hit a big score with T6o from time to time, but when short stacked? I dunno, maybe it was a good play...
Monday, June 23, 2008
Work to do
In all honesty, as much poker as I've played in the past, I only recently began playing with any real regularity and seriousness. Sure, I've played online for a couple years now, but never at 'meaningful' stakes to either me or my opponents: online play is purely recreational, it's fun, it can be exciting, but it's never been about big profits etc.
RPT tournaments were my main poker experience 3-4 times/week for a year and a half or more. And there is a big difference between freeroll shortstack tournaments and live cash games.
For the past 3-4 months, I've been hitting up the $1/$2 game regularly - at least every other week, if not every week (Memorial day I was there for 2 days: nice $1200 score). My results are positive. The game is typically soft, though I make most of my money not by outplaying my opponents, but rather waiting for them to make mistakes and capitalizing on them.
I had a good Tulalip session Friday, but I am still obviously learning this game: I'm still a beginner. I'd say an advanced beginner, but a beginner nontheless. I can spot, with relative ease, who I should avoid at the table (w/o a monster holding), and who I should be able to take advantage of. I also play well post-flop, especially with people who are timid bettors: I get to steal enough pots that I can take some long-shot chances (like the T7s hand).
One unfortunate way I learn is by encountering pain. And that often comes in the form of making mistakes. While they suck, they are major learning experiences. And much more effective for me than reading a book. Experience is the best teacher, and I learn more from painful experiences than pleasurefull experiences.
I played in a private game Sunday night - 6-max deepstack ($100/$200 buy in, $0.50 blinds), with players obviously much more experienced than me (except perhaps one guy). I made what was likely the 2nd worst call of my life in a hand where my opponent obviously had AA. It was so obvious that I should have mucked my QQ preflop. Yes, that obvious. But I didn't. And it stung. Stung to the tune of $175.
Ouch.
Worst part? When I lead out (OOP) on a rag-board, I tell myself if he raises I must go away. What happens? He pushes, and I tank for a few minutes before calling.
DONK CALL!
I also learned a few more things:
- just because I'm playing deep stacked doesn't mean I can still play marginal hands to raises. Like KQo. I hit my queen I may not be good.
- just because my hand is a "good hand" doesn't mean that it's a good spot to make / call a raise/re-raise. I could've saved many a bet and waited for better opportunities.
- I've become so used to the relatively short-stacked $1/$2 game that the idea of "pot control" rarely crosses my mind; playing with 400 big blinds it should be crossing my mind.
- I don't like getting bullied around. I don't think anyone does. Which means I need to work on a counter-strategy against bullies. I can easily bully tight-passive $1/$2 players, but guys with 15 years of poker experience, who are used to the ultra-aggressive Microsoft games and taking advantage of the ultra-passive local games, I end up being the one getting bullied.
I got lots to work on. I've now got my poker roll completely separate from other money (though I'm still using my poker $$ to pay for a few things: classes, and contacts are my latest poker purchases), so I am easily able to disregard the "value" of the money and play much more optimally. And I need to balance my aggression: I'm oten either overshooting the mark (getting too aggressive), or playing too passively.
God I love this game.
RPT tournaments were my main poker experience 3-4 times/week for a year and a half or more. And there is a big difference between freeroll shortstack tournaments and live cash games.
For the past 3-4 months, I've been hitting up the $1/$2 game regularly - at least every other week, if not every week (Memorial day I was there for 2 days: nice $1200 score). My results are positive. The game is typically soft, though I make most of my money not by outplaying my opponents, but rather waiting for them to make mistakes and capitalizing on them.
I had a good Tulalip session Friday, but I am still obviously learning this game: I'm still a beginner. I'd say an advanced beginner, but a beginner nontheless. I can spot, with relative ease, who I should avoid at the table (w/o a monster holding), and who I should be able to take advantage of. I also play well post-flop, especially with people who are timid bettors: I get to steal enough pots that I can take some long-shot chances (like the T7s hand).
One unfortunate way I learn is by encountering pain. And that often comes in the form of making mistakes. While they suck, they are major learning experiences. And much more effective for me than reading a book. Experience is the best teacher, and I learn more from painful experiences than pleasurefull experiences.
I played in a private game Sunday night - 6-max deepstack ($100/$200 buy in, $0.50 blinds), with players obviously much more experienced than me (except perhaps one guy). I made what was likely the 2nd worst call of my life in a hand where my opponent obviously had AA. It was so obvious that I should have mucked my QQ preflop. Yes, that obvious. But I didn't. And it stung. Stung to the tune of $175.
Ouch.
Worst part? When I lead out (OOP) on a rag-board, I tell myself if he raises I must go away. What happens? He pushes, and I tank for a few minutes before calling.
DONK CALL!
I also learned a few more things:
- just because I'm playing deep stacked doesn't mean I can still play marginal hands to raises. Like KQo. I hit my queen I may not be good.
- just because my hand is a "good hand" doesn't mean that it's a good spot to make / call a raise/re-raise. I could've saved many a bet and waited for better opportunities.
- I've become so used to the relatively short-stacked $1/$2 game that the idea of "pot control" rarely crosses my mind; playing with 400 big blinds it should be crossing my mind.
- I don't like getting bullied around. I don't think anyone does. Which means I need to work on a counter-strategy against bullies. I can easily bully tight-passive $1/$2 players, but guys with 15 years of poker experience, who are used to the ultra-aggressive Microsoft games and taking advantage of the ultra-passive local games, I end up being the one getting bullied.
I got lots to work on. I've now got my poker roll completely separate from other money (though I'm still using my poker $$ to pay for a few things: classes, and contacts are my latest poker purchases), so I am easily able to disregard the "value" of the money and play much more optimally. And I need to balance my aggression: I'm oten either overshooting the mark (getting too aggressive), or playing too passively.
God I love this game.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Tulalip $1/2 - hands of the night
Good session last night. I got caught in many bluffs; gotta keep reminding myself not to bluff idiots who don't know how to fold.
Hand 1:
Villain (UTG, $125): very loose, has made a ton of really odd calls, even called a $35 (3/4 pot bet) river bet from me with ace high (and yes, he won the pot). He's been playing 90% of the pots, and seemingly ATC. The hand right before this one, he limped in 2nd position, Hero raised from position with QJo, Villain re-popped to $22; I folded.
Hero (hijack, $200): Not affraid to re-raise from position, takes stabs at a lot of pots (it's a brand new table so I'm not scared of keeping a wild, loose image... perhaps same thing UTG is doing?).
Villain limps, folds to me 9c 9s. I raise to $8. Button calls; Villain re-pops to $25. I say "two big limp/re-raise hands in a row? OK, I'll play." SB folds.
FLOP: 2d 5s 7h
Villain bets $25.
I just don't think he's got anything. AK at best, c-betting. I know, though, that I'm facing a big bet on the turn (He's only got about $75 behind), so this is either push or fold.
HERO: "All in"
Villain looks at his hand, shrugs, and says, "Ah, what the hell," and calls
Villain turns over QJo (?!?!?!?!?!). Turn and river brick out, and I collect a good size pot due to a good read and a very loose call.
Hand 2:
Villain (LP, $200): good, thinking player. Likes to talk strategy at the table (I just nod my head and say "uh-huh"...). Confident, aggressive.
Hero: (LP+1, $300): aggressive, caught in some bluffs trying to steal-raise on dry boards; I'm raising and re-raising a ton of pots, though, many successfully so I've got splashing-around-chips. I should have a fairly tricky image.
One limper, folds to Villain who pops to $8. I look down at 7s Ts, and decide to call; limper calls.
FLOP: Tc 7d 3s
Limper: Checks
Villain: Bets $16.
Hero: Raises to $45(hope he's got an overpair)
Limper folds.
Villain begins stacking up his chips like he's going all-in. He looks at me and says "Are you serious? I've got a huge hand here." I say "If you're gonna raise me just get it all in now." He asks if I'll call, and I say more than likely (meaning YES YES YES!)
Villain just calls.
(POT: ~$110)
TURN: [Tc 7d 3s] Th
Villain: looks at it and says "Should I check?" I say "What the hell do you have?" He says "All in"
HERO (of course) INSTA-calls...
Villain turns over 77 for 7's full of T's; Hero turns over T7 for T's full of 7's.
*whew* Had no idea I was behind there; I was sure he was sitting on KK there, esp after my flop raise and he says, "Are you serious?"
What's that saying about rather being lucky than good? I'll take both :)
Hand 1:
Villain (UTG, $125): very loose, has made a ton of really odd calls, even called a $35 (3/4 pot bet) river bet from me with ace high (and yes, he won the pot). He's been playing 90% of the pots, and seemingly ATC. The hand right before this one, he limped in 2nd position, Hero raised from position with QJo, Villain re-popped to $22; I folded.
Hero (hijack, $200): Not affraid to re-raise from position, takes stabs at a lot of pots (it's a brand new table so I'm not scared of keeping a wild, loose image... perhaps same thing UTG is doing?).
Villain limps, folds to me 9c 9s. I raise to $8. Button calls; Villain re-pops to $25. I say "two big limp/re-raise hands in a row? OK, I'll play." SB folds.
FLOP: 2d 5s 7h
Villain bets $25.
I just don't think he's got anything. AK at best, c-betting. I know, though, that I'm facing a big bet on the turn (He's only got about $75 behind), so this is either push or fold.
HERO: "All in"
Villain looks at his hand, shrugs, and says, "Ah, what the hell," and calls
Villain turns over QJo (?!?!?!?!?!). Turn and river brick out, and I collect a good size pot due to a good read and a very loose call.
Hand 2:
Villain (LP, $200): good, thinking player. Likes to talk strategy at the table (I just nod my head and say "uh-huh"...). Confident, aggressive.
Hero: (LP+1, $300): aggressive, caught in some bluffs trying to steal-raise on dry boards; I'm raising and re-raising a ton of pots, though, many successfully so I've got splashing-around-chips. I should have a fairly tricky image.
One limper, folds to Villain who pops to $8. I look down at 7s Ts, and decide to call; limper calls.
FLOP: Tc 7d 3s
Limper: Checks
Villain: Bets $16.
Hero: Raises to $45(hope he's got an overpair)
Limper folds.
Villain begins stacking up his chips like he's going all-in. He looks at me and says "Are you serious? I've got a huge hand here." I say "If you're gonna raise me just get it all in now." He asks if I'll call, and I say more than likely (meaning YES YES YES!)
Villain just calls.
(POT: ~$110)
TURN: [Tc 7d 3s] Th
Villain: looks at it and says "Should I check?" I say "What the hell do you have?" He says "All in"
HERO (of course) INSTA-calls...
Villain turns over 77 for 7's full of T's; Hero turns over T7 for T's full of 7's.
*whew* Had no idea I was behind there; I was sure he was sitting on KK there, esp after my flop raise and he says, "Are you serious?"
What's that saying about rather being lucky than good? I'll take both :)
Sunday, June 15, 2008
poker & emotions
One thing I'm realizing is that I do not emotionally deal well with big swings. Oh sure, the up swings are wonderful, but the down swings -- I'm not good with them.
I start to question my abilities. I start to wonder whether I really am any good at this game, or if I just get lucky during winning sessions. Knowing that the majority of poker players are losing players, I wondered whether this fit me too, and if my stats for the past 9-10 months or so (only began tracking live NL play, leaving limit out right now) are just an anomaly.
About a month ago, I had an incredible poker weekend - 2 marathon poker sessions that netted me over $1K. At $1/$2. I kid you not.
But then the next 3 weekends were horrid. Awful. I ended up below where I was before memorial day.
This weekend, though, I did 2 back to back sessions Sat-Sun morning, and had to buy in 3 times to the $1/$2 game to end with a $24 profit. And the $2-$40 spread game I went to I crushed: started with $100, walked out with $460.
I hated that I spent 14 hours playing to only show a $24 profit. That almost feels like a loss...
The fact of the matter is that when I start losing, I start to feel bad about myself, and start questioning my play and my abilities. And when I'm winning, I start to wonder how this game can be so easy, and whether I should step up to $3/$5 even though I'm not properly bankrolled for that level.
I know neither of these two thoughts is correct. Yet my brain still goes there. So I guess part of me believes these thoughts. The brain lying to itself is a scary thing.
Logically, I understand 100% that you can't have winning sessions every time: nobody does except the UP and AP Super User accounts. But psychologically I get way too down on myself after losing sessions.
First step in any problem is to acknowledge the problem, so I'm part way there at least :)
I start to question my abilities. I start to wonder whether I really am any good at this game, or if I just get lucky during winning sessions. Knowing that the majority of poker players are losing players, I wondered whether this fit me too, and if my stats for the past 9-10 months or so (only began tracking live NL play, leaving limit out right now) are just an anomaly.
About a month ago, I had an incredible poker weekend - 2 marathon poker sessions that netted me over $1K. At $1/$2. I kid you not.
But then the next 3 weekends were horrid. Awful. I ended up below where I was before memorial day.
This weekend, though, I did 2 back to back sessions Sat-Sun morning, and had to buy in 3 times to the $1/$2 game to end with a $24 profit. And the $2-$40 spread game I went to I crushed: started with $100, walked out with $460.
I hated that I spent 14 hours playing to only show a $24 profit. That almost feels like a loss...
The fact of the matter is that when I start losing, I start to feel bad about myself, and start questioning my play and my abilities. And when I'm winning, I start to wonder how this game can be so easy, and whether I should step up to $3/$5 even though I'm not properly bankrolled for that level.
I know neither of these two thoughts is correct. Yet my brain still goes there. So I guess part of me believes these thoughts. The brain lying to itself is a scary thing.
Logically, I understand 100% that you can't have winning sessions every time: nobody does except the UP and AP Super User accounts. But psychologically I get way too down on myself after losing sessions.
First step in any problem is to acknowledge the problem, so I'm part way there at least :)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
...and again...
Got another Round 2 ticket tonight. Final hand was the funniest thing ever.
It'd been 3-handed for a while: 1 big stack, and other dude and I were switching between 2nd and 3rd in chips (big swings). I had just taken a big hit and was down to about 55,000. Button had about 130,000 and BB had about 150,000.
Last hand button goes all-in. I've got Ad 3h. It's probably a calling situation, but I'm willing to take my chances next hand and be the pusher rather than the caller.
Then, the funniest thing happens: The chipleader in the BB, who only covers the button by about 20K, calls!!
BB shows AKs, button shows A9o; king on the rainbow flop seals the deal.
I was very surprised that the bb called there as they both had me severely outchipped, and I would likely be all-in bad during one of these upcoming hands. Guess he saw his shot, and took it.
All I had to do to get into the top 2 was fold!
So I've got 2 shots at round 2. I also got down to the final 13 in another, and busted in 24th in another.
It'd been 3-handed for a while: 1 big stack, and other dude and I were switching between 2nd and 3rd in chips (big swings). I had just taken a big hit and was down to about 55,000. Button had about 130,000 and BB had about 150,000.
Last hand button goes all-in. I've got Ad 3h. It's probably a calling situation, but I'm willing to take my chances next hand and be the pusher rather than the caller.
Then, the funniest thing happens: The chipleader in the BB, who only covers the button by about 20K, calls!!
BB shows AKs, button shows A9o; king on the rainbow flop seals the deal.
I was very surprised that the bb called there as they both had me severely outchipped, and I would likely be all-in bad during one of these upcoming hands. Guess he saw his shot, and took it.
All I had to do to get into the top 2 was fold!
So I've got 2 shots at round 2. I also got down to the final 13 in another, and busted in 24th in another.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Finaly
Snicker if you want, laugh if you must, but I'm psyched about this. This weekend I final tabled like 4 of these things, never once using the all-in preflop for the first 5 hands to create a mega-stack. Due to the insanity surrounding these things, I hunker down and play super tight. But when I got the hands, I bet the hell out of them. At one point I went from 2nd to last in chips, to 15th in chips within 10 minutes and 4 hands.
I'm only like 2 steps away from a Main Event seat!
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