Poker
I got into a Poker After Dark game!
With around 25 players left I had a chance to triple up, with roughly three-to-one odds of hitting my hand. I decided it was time to gamble, so I made the call... and lost. I went from over 75,000 chips to 700. Ugh!
It was barely a big blind's worth of chips.
Then I got a lucky streak. I went all-in about four hands in a row and won them all, tripling up the first two or three times. It was sweet.
I brought that up to around 55k, about average my table (we were down to two tables at that point).
For my final hand there were 5 people left at my table, and three of us were active in the hand. It was me (the big blind), the small blind, and the guy under the gun. I had A/3 clubs and bet pre-flop, one raised, the other called, and I called.
The flop had two clubs, with a Jack for the high card I think. One more club and I'd have the nut flush!
I bet (hoping to steal) and the guy to my left called, and the guy to my right raised a bunch.
He put me all in, but at this point I had roughly three-to-one odds on my money (plus the implied odds), so I called. I was overjoyed when the other guy called. I'd either be the tournament leader, or I'd bust.
The turn failed to produce a club.
The river failed to produce a club.
I was out.
I think the two players both paired their Jack. They ended up splitting the pot.
I was eliminated in 10th place, out of 640 players (there are 640, right?).
Oh well. I'll do better in my next game. I was pretty much playing on borrowed tome after getting knocked down to 700 chips anyway.
With around 25 players left I had a chance to triple up, with roughly three-to-one odds of hitting my hand. I decided it was time to gamble, so I made the call... and lost. I went from over 75,000 chips to 700. Ugh!
It was barely a big blind's worth of chips.
Then I got a lucky streak. I went all-in about four hands in a row and won them all, tripling up the first two or three times. It was sweet.
I brought that up to around 55k, about average my table (we were down to two tables at that point).
For my final hand there were 5 people left at my table, and three of us were active in the hand. It was me (the big blind), the small blind, and the guy under the gun. I had A/3 clubs and bet pre-flop, one raised, the other called, and I called.
The flop had two clubs, with a Jack for the high card I think. One more club and I'd have the nut flush!
I bet (hoping to steal) and the guy to my left called, and the guy to my right raised a bunch.
He put me all in, but at this point I had roughly three-to-one odds on my money (plus the implied odds), so I called. I was overjoyed when the other guy called. I'd either be the tournament leader, or I'd bust.
The turn failed to produce a club.
The river failed to produce a club.
I was out.
I think the two players both paired their Jack. They ended up splitting the pot.
I was eliminated in 10th place, out of 640 players (there are 640, right?).
Oh well. I'll do better in my next game. I was pretty much playing on borrowed tome after getting knocked down to 700 chips anyway.
630, but close enough. 
And that's pretty respectable, really, only one slot out from the final table!
I usually play on four tables at once so I don't get bored, because that's when I blow up. Tonight it nearly killed me.
I was on a regular ring game and three cash tourneys, and the tourneys started getting to final tables in rapid succession. At the worst of it I was heads-up on two of the tourneys, kicking ass on the ring game, and in the last four on the other tourney. The cards just would not stop coming, as soon as I clicked one bet on one table another table was waiting for me to make another snap decision. Plus two tables were Hold 'em, one was Razz, and the other was HORSE, so the rules kept changing with every decision. That went on for about 30 minutes, and I thought it was going to kill me. I was also watching some poker show on ESPN2 at the same time, just to make it that much more interesting.
I placed first in two of the tourneys, and second in the other one, all for cash. Very cool, but the real winner was the ring game where I turned $5 into $48.50.
My brain is broken. And I've got that WSOP qualifier tomorrow. Oy vey.
EDIT: My hand stats from the ring game:
Statistics for 143 Hands
Street Saw Saw/Total
Flop 44 31%
Turn 23 16%
River 19 13%
Showdown 16 11%
Street Won Won/Saw Won/Total
Pre-flop 3 2% 2%
Flop 3 7% 2%
Turn 0 0% 0%
River 0 0% 0%
Showdown 10 63% 7%
I usually don't stay in for that many flops, but I was getting some reasonably good cards. I like that 63% there, that's a pretty good number. But the 0s on the turn and river are telling; I slow play a lot, and almost never push someone out on the way as I draw them into my showdown trap. Mwahahaha!!
Edited By TPRJones on 1177742038
And that's pretty respectable, really, only one slot out from the final table!I usually play on four tables at once so I don't get bored, because that's when I blow up. Tonight it nearly killed me.
I was on a regular ring game and three cash tourneys, and the tourneys started getting to final tables in rapid succession. At the worst of it I was heads-up on two of the tourneys, kicking ass on the ring game, and in the last four on the other tourney. The cards just would not stop coming, as soon as I clicked one bet on one table another table was waiting for me to make another snap decision. Plus two tables were Hold 'em, one was Razz, and the other was HORSE, so the rules kept changing with every decision. That went on for about 30 minutes, and I thought it was going to kill me. I was also watching some poker show on ESPN2 at the same time, just to make it that much more interesting.
I placed first in two of the tourneys, and second in the other one, all for cash. Very cool, but the real winner was the ring game where I turned $5 into $48.50.
My brain is broken. And I've got that WSOP qualifier tomorrow. Oy vey.
EDIT: My hand stats from the ring game:
Statistics for 143 Hands
Street Saw Saw/Total
Flop 44 31%
Turn 23 16%
River 19 13%
Showdown 16 11%
Street Won Won/Saw Won/Total
Pre-flop 3 2% 2%
Flop 3 7% 2%
Turn 0 0% 0%
River 0 0% 0%
Showdown 10 63% 7%
I usually don't stay in for that many flops, but I was getting some reasonably good cards. I like that 63% there, that's a pretty good number. But the 0s on the turn and river are telling; I slow play a lot, and almost never push someone out on the way as I draw them into my showdown trap. Mwahahaha!!
Edited By TPRJones on 1177742038
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
In those 250+25 tournaments, the ones that get 1,200 or so players, I usually finish in the low 20's.
I'm starting to think that maybe I play too aggressive towards the end. I'm usually way up in chips towards the end (anywhere from first to fifth), then end up calling huge bets in situations where I'm 60% to win. Then I lose the pot, lose 2/3 of my stack, which causes me to lose much of my power.
Then I'll get in a few similar situations, either getting a lot of chips or getting crushed.
I'm starting to think that maybe I play too aggressive towards the end. I'm usually way up in chips towards the end (anywhere from first to fifth), then end up calling huge bets in situations where I'm 60% to win. Then I lose the pot, lose 2/3 of my stack, which causes me to lose much of my power.
Then I'll get in a few similar situations, either getting a lot of chips or getting crushed.
Well, there's one of two possible reasons for that. Either the tourneys Paul plays in are mostly full of people that he can easily beat but there are four or five guys that he can't easily beat, so until he comes up against those guys he does well then they get him in the end. Or he blows up at the final table like I tend to do. I think I'm starting to get past it myself, but it's tough. With so few players it becomes much easier to splash around the chips more freely, even though that's the point where you need to be on the top of your game. I'm still trying to figure out just what it is, but the type of play needed for the final table is very different from the bulk of the tourney. Or maybe it's not and that's the problem, trying to change up the style at the end when we should keep using what got us there. I just don't know. Yet.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I think a lot of it is luck.
All the decisions I make are mathematically correct, but with the blinds going up, betting a good percentage of your chips even when you're a 2-1 favorite catches up to you pretty quickly.
In the last real tournament I was in I lost because my K/K lost to a K/10 (I think). I was a 9-1 favorite, but it just didn't pan out.
In the real tournament before that my A/A lost to a K/J.
I avoid big pot situations early on, but can't seem to avoid them at the end. Maybe it's just impossible to do that?
All the decisions I make are mathematically correct, but with the blinds going up, betting a good percentage of your chips even when you're a 2-1 favorite catches up to you pretty quickly.
In the last real tournament I was in I lost because my K/K lost to a K/10 (I think). I was a 9-1 favorite, but it just didn't pan out.
In the real tournament before that my A/A lost to a K/J.
I avoid big pot situations early on, but can't seem to avoid them at the end. Maybe it's just impossible to do that?
I think I may have to stop reporting on my progress. It's starting to sound like I'm just bragging.
So far today I sat in on a ring game with a $5 buy in and left with $30, then followed that up with dropping $10 to play the next level and leaving with $40 and then a $20 buy in to win $70. At the same time I just finished up a tourney of 1700+ players with a $3 buy in where places 3-5 got decent cash and the first two spots were awarded free entry into a $100 buy-in tourney on May 19th that currently has a top prize of $67,500. I came in first, of course.
That second round WSOP qualifier is still going. I'm 149 out of 722 at the moment, and it's going to take ages at this rate. Everyone in it is there because they came in 1st or 2nd in a tourney already, so there aren't many bad players here.
All in all, it's been a good week.
So far today I sat in on a ring game with a $5 buy in and left with $30, then followed that up with dropping $10 to play the next level and leaving with $40 and then a $20 buy in to win $70. At the same time I just finished up a tourney of 1700+ players with a $3 buy in where places 3-5 got decent cash and the first two spots were awarded free entry into a $100 buy-in tourney on May 19th that currently has a top prize of $67,500. I came in first, of course.
That second round WSOP qualifier is still going. I'm 149 out of 722 at the moment, and it's going to take ages at this rate. Everyone in it is there because they came in 1st or 2nd in a tourney already, so there aren't many bad players here.
All in all, it's been a good week.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Just got off a Poker Aftere Dark game.
I shouldn't have even started, because I'm tiiiiiired. (Had half a dozen beers beforehand too)
I finished in 13th. I pretty much comitted suicide at the end, chasing an open ended straight. I just wanted the game to be over so I was willing to gamble.
I like your progress reports. It's good to see that you're doing well.
I shouldn't have even started, because I'm tiiiiiired. (Had half a dozen beers beforehand too)
I finished in 13th. I pretty much comitted suicide at the end, chasing an open ended straight. I just wanted the game to be over so I was willing to gamble.
I like your progress reports. It's good to see that you're doing well.
Sounds like fun. At this point you're pretty much free rolling anyway, unless you go below $50.
I'd probably have popped some real money into online play if it wasn't for the game I hit every month. I think the quality of play is probably about the same (minus the idiots in the first half of online tournaments), but there's a lot more information available, and it's a lot easier to keep track of people and their habits when you can see their faces and mannerisms.
Poker is primarily about the odds, and this is usually enough to be a consistent winner. IE do my chances of winning mean that I should fold, raise, or call?
For example, if I'm holding J/8 off-suit and the flop is K/10/9 rainbow. I'll pretty much assume that someone has paired the king. I know that about 1/3 of the time I'll hit a 4 or 9 on the turn or river, so if I only need to call a $10 bet for a chance at the $50 pot I know I'm getting beautiful odds to call.
Secondly, poker is about psychology. If I simply call then other people behind me are much more likely to call with lesser hands. That is, they might call with second or third pair (9 or 10). But if I raise, people without a King are likely to fold and I might take the pot right there if nobody had a King. So even if I wasn't getting the 1/3 odds, a raise might be a better move than folding.
Thirdly, poker is about reading people. Lets say the turn is anther 9, for K/10/9/9 on the board. At this point I have about a 17% chance of hitting my straight. Lets say the pot is at $80 at this point, and the chip leader plucks two $10 chips and slides them into the pot.
Assuming nobody behind me raises, it'll cost $20 to have a chanced at winning the $120 that'll be in the pot. While I'm sure at this point that the guy who bet has a better hand than me, I know that if I hit my straight I can get him to put in a lot more chips. Maybe I can even double-up through him. So I definitely have the right odds to call.
However... replaying the situation in my head, I have to ask myself. Why did he bet so little there? Why did he slide his chips in nonchalantly instead of tossing them in like he usually did? Why is he looking away?" The answer is that he's doing that because he wants to appear as weak as possible and wants as many people to call as possible.
The conclusion therefore is that this guy has a hand that has me crushed even if I hit my straight. He bet so little because he's hoping that someone will hit trips or a straight, so that he can take all of their chips with his full house or quad-9's.
Now online some idiots bet the minimum no matter what. I can't see their mannerisms to see if they're just an idiot or if they're baiting me. I hear that TPR is a master baiter online.
I'd probably have popped some real money into online play if it wasn't for the game I hit every month. I think the quality of play is probably about the same (minus the idiots in the first half of online tournaments), but there's a lot more information available, and it's a lot easier to keep track of people and their habits when you can see their faces and mannerisms.
Poker is primarily about the odds, and this is usually enough to be a consistent winner. IE do my chances of winning mean that I should fold, raise, or call?
For example, if I'm holding J/8 off-suit and the flop is K/10/9 rainbow. I'll pretty much assume that someone has paired the king. I know that about 1/3 of the time I'll hit a 4 or 9 on the turn or river, so if I only need to call a $10 bet for a chance at the $50 pot I know I'm getting beautiful odds to call.
Secondly, poker is about psychology. If I simply call then other people behind me are much more likely to call with lesser hands. That is, they might call with second or third pair (9 or 10). But if I raise, people without a King are likely to fold and I might take the pot right there if nobody had a King. So even if I wasn't getting the 1/3 odds, a raise might be a better move than folding.
Thirdly, poker is about reading people. Lets say the turn is anther 9, for K/10/9/9 on the board. At this point I have about a 17% chance of hitting my straight. Lets say the pot is at $80 at this point, and the chip leader plucks two $10 chips and slides them into the pot.
Assuming nobody behind me raises, it'll cost $20 to have a chanced at winning the $120 that'll be in the pot. While I'm sure at this point that the guy who bet has a better hand than me, I know that if I hit my straight I can get him to put in a lot more chips. Maybe I can even double-up through him. So I definitely have the right odds to call.
However... replaying the situation in my head, I have to ask myself. Why did he bet so little there? Why did he slide his chips in nonchalantly instead of tossing them in like he usually did? Why is he looking away?" The answer is that he's doing that because he wants to appear as weak as possible and wants as many people to call as possible.
The conclusion therefore is that this guy has a hand that has me crushed even if I hit my straight. He bet so little because he's hoping that someone will hit trips or a straight, so that he can take all of their chips with his full house or quad-9's.
Now online some idiots bet the minimum no matter what. I can't see their mannerisms to see if they're just an idiot or if they're baiting me. I hear that TPR is a master baiter online.
I've gotten pretty good at reading people online just from betting patterns, time it takes to place a bet, a history based on cards shown, and whether they chatter or not. There's not nearly as much to read online as in real life, of course, but it's definately not playing against a void.
Plus online I can pretend to be a complete noob with tons of luck and get away with it for awhile. With so many players around "beginners luck" stays a pretty good excuse for quite some time before people start to get wary of you. And you don't even have to say anything, it's just usually assumed by those people most likely to give you money that the reason is because you're a lucky noob; heaven forbid someone might actually be using statistics and psychology to actually beat them.
Edited By TPRJones on 1177957086
Plus online I can pretend to be a complete noob with tons of luck and get away with it for awhile. With so many players around "beginners luck" stays a pretty good excuse for quite some time before people start to get wary of you. And you don't even have to say anything, it's just usually assumed by those people most likely to give you money that the reason is because you're a lucky noob; heaven forbid someone might actually be using statistics and psychology to actually beat them.
Edited By TPRJones on 1177957086
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Yeah, I use that noob trick too. Overbetting makes you look like an idiot, and gets lots of calls early in an online tournament. Later in the tournament that trick isn't as likely to work because the idiots who make that play have already been eliminated.
Online I start by playing pretty tight. I don't play unless I have a big advantage.
When I discover flaws in people's game, like their inability to fold top pair or calling to the river with crap (Occasionally someone will be too timid, but for the most part errors are due to over-aggression) I'll mark them as a target and look for opportunities to exploit their weaknesses. So at a typical game I'll have about three targets that I'm waiting for opportunities to exploit, while sitting back and letting people give me their chips when I have a big hand.
Edited By Paul on 1177959677
Online I start by playing pretty tight. I don't play unless I have a big advantage.
When I discover flaws in people's game, like their inability to fold top pair or calling to the river with crap (Occasionally someone will be too timid, but for the most part errors are due to over-aggression) I'll mark them as a target and look for opportunities to exploit their weaknesses. So at a typical game I'll have about three targets that I'm waiting for opportunities to exploit, while sitting back and letting people give me their chips when I have a big hand.
Edited By Paul on 1177959677
I hit the tournament last night.
81 or 91 players. I only know this because there was an extra, so table #1 started with 11 people.
Unfortunately I was at table #1, and my friend was seated at my table.
Fortunately I know my friend plays tight, and he was two seats to my right, so I knew to stay out of hands that he played in.
Gordon will be pleased that this isn't another "I was doing well, then I got sucked out on" story.
My cards sucked all night.
The first hand I played was A/Q suited when the blinds were 20/40, I was in good position (right of dealer) and there were a lot of limpers in the pot.
People were playing all kinds of crap, so I raised to 250 (we start with only 1,000 in chips).
One guy called, then another guy went all-in.
Shit.
The guy obviously had a big pair. Since I had A/Q that meant that he most likely had King/King. A/A or Q/Q would have been crushing, as well. Even if he was overplaying a lower pair it would be a coin flip. So I made the right play and I folded.
The guy on my left, who was a luck-ass calling-machine made the call and sure enough the guy had pocket Kings and won a monster pot, probably making him the tournament leader.
(A Queen hit the turn and an Ace hit the river, so I would have had a suck-out win had I played.)
The next hand I played was limping in, in position, with 7/7. The flop was A/Q/J. I folded when someone raised post-flop.
The third hand I played, I goofed. I decided to try a steal with 2/3, and didn't notice that someone had called before me. The flop was Ace/4/6. The caller went all-in so I had to bail out of that one. That hand cost me another 200.
My fourth and final play I was down to 350 in chips. Blinds were still 40/80 and 2/3 of the table folded to me. I saw that I had A/Q so I pushed all-in, hoping to take the blinds right then and there. Or hoping that someone would call me with crap.
One guy called (the calling machine to my left). He had Jack/6 suited.
There was a Jack on the river.
Game over.
I got crappy cards all night and I didn't win a single hand.
I did make some good reads though.
At one point my friend made a big bet, out of position, with a shakey hand. I knew he had Aces, or maybe Kings. A lot of people called and the flop was crap. He raised again, and the guy to my left (the calling machine) paused to think for a minute.
I knew my friend had him, so I contemplated saying "Psht! Obvious value bet" to try to entice him to call.
I didn't think that'd be fair though, and if the guy had called and had some sort of suck-out I'd feel bad for enticing the call, so I kept quiet and watched the hand.
Mr. Calling Machine ended up folding, but someone else called and winded up going broke to my friend's pocket Aces.
The very next hand my friend had A/K and won a lot more chips.
My friend had some good cards, played tight, and made it to mid-way past the first break. Unfortunately he did something stupid and re-raised an aggressive player with second pair and a weak kicker. He had Q/6 and there was an Ace on the flop. He was playing a "play any ace" kind of guy who made a lot of bets and ended up going broke when he mistook the guy's over bet as a bluff. (The other guy had A/4)
I was texting, "Stephen is doing well so it looks like I'll be here a long time..." when I looked up and saw my buddy Stephen standing in front of me.
I can't believe he blew his chips like that. At least I didn't have to sit around for another couple hours waiting for him.
Edited By Paul on 1178903813
81 or 91 players. I only know this because there was an extra, so table #1 started with 11 people.
Unfortunately I was at table #1, and my friend was seated at my table.
Fortunately I know my friend plays tight, and he was two seats to my right, so I knew to stay out of hands that he played in.
Gordon will be pleased that this isn't another "I was doing well, then I got sucked out on" story.
My cards sucked all night.
The first hand I played was A/Q suited when the blinds were 20/40, I was in good position (right of dealer) and there were a lot of limpers in the pot.
People were playing all kinds of crap, so I raised to 250 (we start with only 1,000 in chips).
One guy called, then another guy went all-in.
Shit.
The guy obviously had a big pair. Since I had A/Q that meant that he most likely had King/King. A/A or Q/Q would have been crushing, as well. Even if he was overplaying a lower pair it would be a coin flip. So I made the right play and I folded.
The guy on my left, who was a luck-ass calling-machine made the call and sure enough the guy had pocket Kings and won a monster pot, probably making him the tournament leader.
(A Queen hit the turn and an Ace hit the river, so I would have had a suck-out win had I played.)
The next hand I played was limping in, in position, with 7/7. The flop was A/Q/J. I folded when someone raised post-flop.
The third hand I played, I goofed. I decided to try a steal with 2/3, and didn't notice that someone had called before me. The flop was Ace/4/6. The caller went all-in so I had to bail out of that one. That hand cost me another 200.
My fourth and final play I was down to 350 in chips. Blinds were still 40/80 and 2/3 of the table folded to me. I saw that I had A/Q so I pushed all-in, hoping to take the blinds right then and there. Or hoping that someone would call me with crap.
One guy called (the calling machine to my left). He had Jack/6 suited.
There was a Jack on the river.
Game over.
I got crappy cards all night and I didn't win a single hand.
I did make some good reads though.
At one point my friend made a big bet, out of position, with a shakey hand. I knew he had Aces, or maybe Kings. A lot of people called and the flop was crap. He raised again, and the guy to my left (the calling machine) paused to think for a minute.
I knew my friend had him, so I contemplated saying "Psht! Obvious value bet" to try to entice him to call.
I didn't think that'd be fair though, and if the guy had called and had some sort of suck-out I'd feel bad for enticing the call, so I kept quiet and watched the hand.
Mr. Calling Machine ended up folding, but someone else called and winded up going broke to my friend's pocket Aces.
The very next hand my friend had A/K and won a lot more chips.
My friend had some good cards, played tight, and made it to mid-way past the first break. Unfortunately he did something stupid and re-raised an aggressive player with second pair and a weak kicker. He had Q/6 and there was an Ace on the flop. He was playing a "play any ace" kind of guy who made a lot of bets and ended up going broke when he mistook the guy's over bet as a bluff. (The other guy had A/4)
I was texting, "Stephen is doing well so it looks like I'll be here a long time..." when I looked up and saw my buddy Stephen standing in front of me.
I can't believe he blew his chips like that. At least I didn't have to sit around for another couple hours waiting for him.
Edited By Paul on 1178903813
Well, it was an interesting night. Midway through a 90 player tourney I was 3rd stack, and I had Q Q before the flop with some semi-heavy pre-flop betting. Flop is Q Q A, and after a little back-and forth it's head's-up all-in against someone just under me in stack size. He shows A K. Turn is A. River is A.
Now that's a bad beat.
I ended up short-stacked with 250. Then I slowly came back and won first place. So it ended up okay.
Now that's a bad beat.
I ended up short-stacked with 250. Then I slowly came back and won first place. So it ended up okay.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Oh, we're not doing that, that would be illegal. *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*
But if we were, the place we'd be doing it would be Full Tilt Poker. They still accept cash US players (not sure if that will last, they claim that as a game of skill poker is not gambling, but I doubt a court will agree if they get busted).
But if we were, the place we'd be doing it would be Full Tilt Poker. They still accept cash US players (not sure if that will last, they claim that as a game of skill poker is not gambling, but I doubt a court will agree if they get busted).
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
Wow... You got ass-raped by the turn & river.TPRJones wrote:He shows A K. Turn is A. River is A.
Now that's a bad beat.
Pre-flop you're 57% to win.
After the flop you're 99.85% to win.
Even after the turn you were 97.7% to win.
I don't remember ever getting sucked out on that badly. In fact, I don't think it's possible to suck out any worse.
Well, I guess he could have been worse off pre-flop, but post flop that's as bad as it gets.
It's certainly my new personal record. I once had As full of 10s beat by four 10s, but this is a new high (low?). It was quite interesting.
Would have made for some beautiful television if it happened at a real televised tourney.
Would have made for some beautiful television if it happened at a real televised tourney.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
The closes I can come to a beat like that was last December, when I played a poker game with my family. It was down to my cousin's wife and me, and she was down to one or two chips. We decided to play every hand all-in every hand at that point and she won six of seven hands in a row to win our sit & go.
That's a totally different situation though. It's not as brutal as you're situation.
Edited By Paul on 1179195247
That's a totally different situation though. It's not as brutal as you're situation.
Edited By Paul on 1179195247