The one thing I really hate about poker right now are options for places to play, the options I have are:
Hard Rock: Too Smokey and they take big chunks of the entry amounts, buy-in amounts for tournaments are freaking high.
Derby Lane: Horrible format 700 chips, Horrible players, have to get there at 11:00pm to get a seat, and have to wait until 1 pm toplay.
Online Poker: Sucks compared to a live game, reading people is diminished to betting patterns etc.
I really don't have a place to play where I enjoy the atmosphere and the people, that's a big deal in poker if you aren't comfortable at the place you play it makes playing there much harder. The Plaza Tournament in Vegas was really good, and the format was on par, the people there were cool too unlike at the places here.
Well, after my horrible showing at Derby last weekend (out on 3rd hand) I decided to try my luck again, and this time I figured I had to do better than last time LOL. Well once again I failed to pre-register the day before, so I had to get there early and wait the long hour or so before the tournament started. I was the last player to get a seat, and the funny thing is it's the same people that play there every week. I used to play at Derby a lot and I stopped playing there for a long time, I come back almost a year later and the same people are lining up to play here. I would have thought maybe they would be tired of Derby by now I can't play there all the time, I don't see how they do it.
Well, I decided to go to Bennigans before the tourney to relax eat and read some more of Harrington on Hold'em before the tournament. I was just getting to the part where he was going over tells, so I decieded to focus on that today in the tourney. I got back to Derby with about 5 minutes to go before tourney time and I took my seat. I surveyed the table as I sat down, and the first red flag that went up was this guy with a strong accent I think he was romanian or something those guys are almost always aggresive, he was acting before me which was good there was an elderly guy there had to be in his 80's, so I figured he would probably be tight and only play face cards (I know I shouldn't profile players before I see a hand, but I can tell a bit about how someone plays listening to them talk, and how they act).
So the tournament starts and I start out as the small blind, and I get dealt J 10 not a bad hand to get in the small blind, everyone folded around to me, so since it was the first hand and I didn't have any information about the big blind, I limped, then he did the stupid automatic big blind raise to 30 (10/15 blinds), what a weak raise so I just called and the flop came A K 7, I bet 15 as a feeler bet and he came back over the top for 30, I laughed in my head as I folded my hand. I already had a beat on this guy the words weak were spread all over, not because of his bet, but because of how nervous he was coming over the top for 30 chips.
As the tournament went on I gathered information about the other players, and I had a good feel for each player and felt good about entering pots against them. The player who was in the chip lead at our table was betting big and taking down pots left and right and he had elminated the Romanian guy on the 6th hand (told you he was aggresive), I figured he was bluffing like anyones business, so I was waiting to pick my spot to bust him, but one guy he pushed out of a pot said "nice steal", this guy got pissed and said, "nice steal!, nice steal!, you don't win these dubllons (spelling?) by stealing, and he pulls his Derby Lane victory coins out of his pocket and tosses them the table towards the guy and shows his hand, he had the nuts. So that was free information for me, he wasn't bluffing, so I changed my strategy against him.
the guy in 4th position opened the pot with a raise to 75, the eldery guy called, and another person called every else folded I was big blind, I look down at my hand and I have JJ, so I survey all the players who called and the initial raiser and I push all in (the squeeze play kind of), and every folds except the old man who says we might as well do it and he flips over KQ, I had him covered by plenty, a J came on the flop to give me the hand, and I was moved to another table with a total of $4000 chips.
I sat down at the next table and there was one hand of note, there were 2 big stacks at the table, so I figured aggressive players maybe, so I watched a few hands, one of the guys (vietnamese guy) was aggresive and the other guy was very tight. The reason I pointed out the other guys race is because a lot of asian players I come across are usually aggresive at least 75% of the time, so it's more for my info than stereotyping. Anyway the asian guy raises to $125 everyone folds it comes to me I have KJ suited hearts, I call the flop comes J 7 3 all clubs, so I check he bets 200, I re-raise to 600 he starts to think about it for while and looks over at me, then he goes al-in (I felt that move coming for some reason, he seemed to be defending a hand rather than winning one), so I think about the odds of him having a flush, and I decide to call he flips over QJ oh yeah, and I eliminate him and move up $6000 chips.
I move to the 3rd table there are only 3 tables left at this point about 21 people top 18 get paid, everyone is playing tight and stupid as usual all of a sudden they forget how to play poker and they just go all-in every hand. This one player goes all in for 1800, and I had been watching him and felt I had a good read on him, plus the way he was looking just said he didn't have that great of a hand. I look down and I have pocket 10's, I call he flips over Q 4 suited diamonds and says you got me man. Q 4 suited? WTF is he thinking? Well the flop comes Q, and I don't catch a 10 and he wins the pot, he then apologizes for making a stupid play, I tell him it's part of the game, it's not a big deal etc... even though I was now crippled. But this situation spells the exact reason I hate Derby it's the players more than anything his bet was in early position, he could have at least waited to steal from other positions that were more favorable, he got lucky he caught a Queen because he was behind.
I ended up the bubble man again going out in 19th place because that all-in loss crippled me then the blinds went up to 500/1000 so I was a goner anyway. My curse at Derby continues, I play well all the time when I go there, but I don't have any decent winnings to show for it, but I am patient it will come in due time.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Not quite done with Party Poker yet, but I still hate it!!!
I was on tilt when I posted my previous message, I still f&*king hate Party Poker, but I still have a Mini Step 4 free roll that is still yet to be played, so I logged in earlier today to play my freeroll and hit rock bottom on party poker.
The freeroll itself is worth about $150, so it is nothing to scream at too bad I can't just sell the damn thing. So I hop in the room ready to play, and the first hand I get pocket Q's, I was in the Big Blind and this is all you can ask for from the big blind position. A guy in late position raised the pot to $75, and everyone else folded, it was the perfect situation I was in the Big Blind with a monster, so I called his raise and the flop came 3 K Q, oh shi* I hit a set, there were two spades out there but since we were heads up I figured there was no way this guy had two clubs, so I checked and he came out with a bet of 100, I raised the bet to 200, he thought about it for a second and called. the next card was a 7 of clubs there is a flush on the board, so I feign like I am backing off of my bets and check he checks to be safe and the river is a 6 of spades and the action is to me. I take a long time trying to figure out a bet he would call so I bet 225 into him, he called it and I show my 3 Q's to take an early lead. As the game went on I had worked my way into the chip lead, and I wanted to tighten up but I then made a mistake. I was big blind and everyone else folded but the small blind, he thought about his hand for a while because I had 2700 chips and he only had 800 he limped and called the BB, I figured he had a somewhat weak hand, but the mistake I made was I wasn't paying attention to the game instead I was text messaging someone and I just checked instead of raising, I had 10 9 off suit BTW. The flop came J 4 6, he bet and I raised he called, the turn was a 7 of Clubs he pushed all in and I called with nothing the river came with another 4 and he busted me with J 2 off suit, what a horrible hand here are the mistakes I made just in case you are counting:
1. Wasn't paying attention to the game
2. Let small blind limp when I had a dominant chip position and it was heads up
3. I compounded the problem by calling his bet knowing he was short stacked
4. Even after he called my raise the betting should have stopped there
5. I called an all-in for a smallish pot
That demolished my chip lead and I was out in 6th place several hands later my reward was an entry into Mini Step 3, oh great I drop a level.
So I went into mini-step 3 pissed off about my snafu in the earlier game and even more pissed at party poker, maybe I play better when I am pissed because I took control of the table from wire to wire. I was table captain by the 10 hand and my stack increased from there, this was the perfect table for my playing style everyone was playing somewhat tight because they must have paid their own money to get there instead of winning their way there like I did, so I used some of the knowledge I have gained from Harrington on Hold'em, and I won a few big pots early using brute big betting with good hands and when the people folded or called my bet ont he river I showed all good hands KQ, AK, 99 and I used checking to setup all the hands, this caused the exact effect I was looking for. I was able to steal pots later by just betting because everyone was playing so tight, and they were scared to bet when i would check a hand because they remember how I beat people earlier, after 5 people were eliminated I was gauranteed no worse than an entry at the same level I was at so I picked my game up even more. I then elminated 2 people in a row and I had 5000 chips %50 of the total chips in play, and people were scared to play in pots against me, that doesn't happen all that often when I play because there is always someone who feels they have to stand up to you. So it got down to 3 people left I still had about 5400 the guy to my left had 850 and the other player had about 3500 or so. The top 2 move to the next level and for the first time I found a player on the same page as me, we took turns raising the blinds on the small stack and we team all-in'd him 2 times but couldn't get him out. I finally took him out when I cracked his AA with a horrible beat I made a straight with 7 9, I call those Party Poker Hookups.
At this point it doesn't matter who finishes first and I was content just going all in until it was over because we both were getting the same prize entry into mini step 4. Well I went all in and lost on the first hand and I had about 1700 chips left, then I went all int he next hand and he folded, then he folded the blinds to me on the next hand. So, I figured I might as well get some practice in with heads up play, I put my bully mask back on and I intimidated him from the short stack, I went from 1700 to 8000 chips in a dominating chip position, and I eventually won, it pumped me up it was about as perfect as I have ever played a game of poker. A lot of things went my way, and I made the right decisions and most importantly I was focused most of the time.
Hand of note:
I was big blind and dealt K 4 I had 4 limpers flop came KC 7D 9D, I checked and everyone else checked except jbaum he bet 75, I immediately figured he was taking a stab and missed his hand 2 people folded and I called along with someone else, the next card was a 4S I had hit two pair, so I lead out with a bet of 275 the other guy went away jbaum called the 250, the river was 3D, I feared maybe he was chasing a flush so I only bet 50, jbaum came back over the top for 350, the pot was big, and I was holding 2 pair in my hand jbaum was representing a flush, and 350 was about a fourth of my chips, so I would still be healthy (that's not what I was thinking lol, that's what I should have been thinking), instead I was still pissed about my recent bad luck from the day before and I said f%@k it I don't have anything to lose, he has the flush great I will be done with Party quicker and I called he had J 10 and I took half of his chips. I was thinking it was a bluff, but I may have laid that hand down if I wasn't as loose as I was.
Overall I think this was a blessing in disguise playing tight is a good strategy, but in poker you have to put yourself in a good position to win, and even then you will lose, so loosen up and play your game. I think I can use all of this as a way of improving my game, I will put the hands in poker tracker and see how I played them when I get home.
The freeroll itself is worth about $150, so it is nothing to scream at too bad I can't just sell the damn thing. So I hop in the room ready to play, and the first hand I get pocket Q's, I was in the Big Blind and this is all you can ask for from the big blind position. A guy in late position raised the pot to $75, and everyone else folded, it was the perfect situation I was in the Big Blind with a monster, so I called his raise and the flop came 3 K Q, oh shi* I hit a set, there were two spades out there but since we were heads up I figured there was no way this guy had two clubs, so I checked and he came out with a bet of 100, I raised the bet to 200, he thought about it for a second and called. the next card was a 7 of clubs there is a flush on the board, so I feign like I am backing off of my bets and check he checks to be safe and the river is a 6 of spades and the action is to me. I take a long time trying to figure out a bet he would call so I bet 225 into him, he called it and I show my 3 Q's to take an early lead. As the game went on I had worked my way into the chip lead, and I wanted to tighten up but I then made a mistake. I was big blind and everyone else folded but the small blind, he thought about his hand for a while because I had 2700 chips and he only had 800 he limped and called the BB, I figured he had a somewhat weak hand, but the mistake I made was I wasn't paying attention to the game instead I was text messaging someone and I just checked instead of raising, I had 10 9 off suit BTW. The flop came J 4 6, he bet and I raised he called, the turn was a 7 of Clubs he pushed all in and I called with nothing the river came with another 4 and he busted me with J 2 off suit, what a horrible hand here are the mistakes I made just in case you are counting:
1. Wasn't paying attention to the game
2. Let small blind limp when I had a dominant chip position and it was heads up
3. I compounded the problem by calling his bet knowing he was short stacked
4. Even after he called my raise the betting should have stopped there
5. I called an all-in for a smallish pot
That demolished my chip lead and I was out in 6th place several hands later my reward was an entry into Mini Step 3, oh great I drop a level.
So I went into mini-step 3 pissed off about my snafu in the earlier game and even more pissed at party poker, maybe I play better when I am pissed because I took control of the table from wire to wire. I was table captain by the 10 hand and my stack increased from there, this was the perfect table for my playing style everyone was playing somewhat tight because they must have paid their own money to get there instead of winning their way there like I did, so I used some of the knowledge I have gained from Harrington on Hold'em, and I won a few big pots early using brute big betting with good hands and when the people folded or called my bet ont he river I showed all good hands KQ, AK, 99 and I used checking to setup all the hands, this caused the exact effect I was looking for. I was able to steal pots later by just betting because everyone was playing so tight, and they were scared to bet when i would check a hand because they remember how I beat people earlier, after 5 people were eliminated I was gauranteed no worse than an entry at the same level I was at so I picked my game up even more. I then elminated 2 people in a row and I had 5000 chips %50 of the total chips in play, and people were scared to play in pots against me, that doesn't happen all that often when I play because there is always someone who feels they have to stand up to you. So it got down to 3 people left I still had about 5400 the guy to my left had 850 and the other player had about 3500 or so. The top 2 move to the next level and for the first time I found a player on the same page as me, we took turns raising the blinds on the small stack and we team all-in'd him 2 times but couldn't get him out. I finally took him out when I cracked his AA with a horrible beat I made a straight with 7 9, I call those Party Poker Hookups.
At this point it doesn't matter who finishes first and I was content just going all in until it was over because we both were getting the same prize entry into mini step 4. Well I went all in and lost on the first hand and I had about 1700 chips left, then I went all int he next hand and he folded, then he folded the blinds to me on the next hand. So, I figured I might as well get some practice in with heads up play, I put my bully mask back on and I intimidated him from the short stack, I went from 1700 to 8000 chips in a dominating chip position, and I eventually won, it pumped me up it was about as perfect as I have ever played a game of poker. A lot of things went my way, and I made the right decisions and most importantly I was focused most of the time.
Hand of note:
I was big blind and dealt K 4 I had 4 limpers flop came KC 7D 9D, I checked and everyone else checked except jbaum he bet 75, I immediately figured he was taking a stab and missed his hand 2 people folded and I called along with someone else, the next card was a 4S I had hit two pair, so I lead out with a bet of 275 the other guy went away jbaum called the 250, the river was 3D, I feared maybe he was chasing a flush so I only bet 50, jbaum came back over the top for 350, the pot was big, and I was holding 2 pair in my hand jbaum was representing a flush, and 350 was about a fourth of my chips, so I would still be healthy (that's not what I was thinking lol, that's what I should have been thinking), instead I was still pissed about my recent bad luck from the day before and I said f%@k it I don't have anything to lose, he has the flush great I will be done with Party quicker and I called he had J 10 and I took half of his chips. I was thinking it was a bluff, but I may have laid that hand down if I wasn't as loose as I was.
Overall I think this was a blessing in disguise playing tight is a good strategy, but in poker you have to put yourself in a good position to win, and even then you will lose, so loosen up and play your game. I think I can use all of this as a way of improving my game, I will put the hands in poker tracker and see how I played them when I get home.
I hate Party Poker, moving to a new site!!!!
You know I have played Poker on the Internet for a long time, and I for the most part enjoy it even though I don't think it's real poker and a poor substitute for a live game. I have had a crap load of bad beats on there, and combined with the bad players it increases the amount of times it happens. The only reason I played on party mostly is because it's really easy to find a game, there are so many players and vast majority of them Ducks. Well last night it was the straw that broke the camels back.
I probably haven't posted much about my disdain for $1/$2 limit hold'em cash games, the reason I hate them is because there is no strategy utilized by most of the players. They play every hand even if you raise it to $2.00 the still come in the pot with crap, then they get nothing on the flop and you bet to push them out and they still call because it's so cheap. Then the turn and river they can monster hands and you lose $30 bucks to garbage.
I decided to take a break from my normal sit n' go tourneys and play limit hold'em $1/$2, I quickly made about $40 dollars things are looking good then I run into this:
I hold 7 8 in my hand and I raise to $2.00 to push some of the people out of the pot 3 people go away and one guy things for a long time then calls. the flop comes 4D 6D 5C, oh crap I flopped a straight just what I hoped for, so one guy bets I raise and everyone calls, hmm what could they have you know it's nothing they just stay in because they are fing stupid or on a draw. the next card is a J once again a bet comes I raise and one guy goes away I now have 3 people in the pot with me. The next card is 7D, oh great a flush one guy bets he gets raised by another guy and I re-raise hoping no one made the flush the first guy folds and the other guy calls, he flips over 3D 5D to make a straight flush, and I lose about $20 in that pot.
The next hand I had a Queen high straight on the flop and once again I am raising and betting to try and push people out of the pot. One dufus just kept calling (He did this all game) and the one card I didn't need to see on the river was a K becaue they would allow someone with an A to have a higher straight and what comes on the river a freaking K, and I lose aobut $30 there.
As the game progressed I have a straight 3 other times and each of those three times I lost, 2 times to a full house 7' full of 8's and 5's full of 3's, and the other time I lost to 4 of a kind 5's. I know this happens in limit hold'em all the time, but to me it seems this kind of stuff happens on Party Poker a little more than other poker sites, I could be wrong but I just need a change. Plus on top of that when I went from having about $130 all the way down to having $30, one of the pubes in the room who was playing bad cards and getting lucky was like "Marksman your horrible why don't you just quit?" I usually don't respond to the dufus's that run their mouth spewing crap in the rooms, but I just lose $100 so I was kind of pissed. Even though the money I lost was money I had won I was still pissed, so I asked him if he was such a big shot why the hell was he in a $1/$2 room instead of a $5/$10 room and he said "I am building my bankroll, I started with $30 3 hours ago, and now I am up to $80." I almost fell out of my chair laughing at him, the reason is all of these people on Party Poker are "building their bankroll" and they don't have the first concept of how to play the game. He was like what's so funny, I said if you keep calling raises with 3 8 off suit your bankroll won't be building for long. So to top it all off I said this is my last hand K J suited, I typed a message in the box and said watch me lose with this hand, plus I had just lost with Pocket JJ's to 7 2 and a guy caught a 3rd 2 on the river. Well anyway I play my K J and I lose the hand nothing hit on the flop, but my opponent had A J and there was no A on the board, typical party poker. So I will probably go back to poker stars and open up an account on Paradise Poker, I will still play on Ultimate Bet from time to time.
Plus I read a note on Poker Prophecy.com that said party pokers software scans your hard drive and if it detects poker prophecy on the machine it will notify them and send you an email stating that you are gaining an unfair advantage on your opponents. When the hell did gathering information about how your opponent plays become such a crime? They have pretty much pissed me off, and I don't even use poker prophecy except to get stats every once and a while off of their website. I have a new program called poker tracker that I use to download my results into and it gives a deep analysis of your play, so I will be mostly using that from now on.
Enough on my rant for now, I will be in a better mood once school is out in 2 weeks.
I probably haven't posted much about my disdain for $1/$2 limit hold'em cash games, the reason I hate them is because there is no strategy utilized by most of the players. They play every hand even if you raise it to $2.00 the still come in the pot with crap, then they get nothing on the flop and you bet to push them out and they still call because it's so cheap. Then the turn and river they can monster hands and you lose $30 bucks to garbage.
I decided to take a break from my normal sit n' go tourneys and play limit hold'em $1/$2, I quickly made about $40 dollars things are looking good then I run into this:
I hold 7 8 in my hand and I raise to $2.00 to push some of the people out of the pot 3 people go away and one guy things for a long time then calls. the flop comes 4D 6D 5C, oh crap I flopped a straight just what I hoped for, so one guy bets I raise and everyone calls, hmm what could they have you know it's nothing they just stay in because they are fing stupid or on a draw. the next card is a J once again a bet comes I raise and one guy goes away I now have 3 people in the pot with me. The next card is 7D, oh great a flush one guy bets he gets raised by another guy and I re-raise hoping no one made the flush the first guy folds and the other guy calls, he flips over 3D 5D to make a straight flush, and I lose about $20 in that pot.
The next hand I had a Queen high straight on the flop and once again I am raising and betting to try and push people out of the pot. One dufus just kept calling (He did this all game) and the one card I didn't need to see on the river was a K becaue they would allow someone with an A to have a higher straight and what comes on the river a freaking K, and I lose aobut $30 there.
As the game progressed I have a straight 3 other times and each of those three times I lost, 2 times to a full house 7' full of 8's and 5's full of 3's, and the other time I lost to 4 of a kind 5's. I know this happens in limit hold'em all the time, but to me it seems this kind of stuff happens on Party Poker a little more than other poker sites, I could be wrong but I just need a change. Plus on top of that when I went from having about $130 all the way down to having $30, one of the pubes in the room who was playing bad cards and getting lucky was like "Marksman your horrible why don't you just quit?" I usually don't respond to the dufus's that run their mouth spewing crap in the rooms, but I just lose $100 so I was kind of pissed. Even though the money I lost was money I had won I was still pissed, so I asked him if he was such a big shot why the hell was he in a $1/$2 room instead of a $5/$10 room and he said "I am building my bankroll, I started with $30 3 hours ago, and now I am up to $80." I almost fell out of my chair laughing at him, the reason is all of these people on Party Poker are "building their bankroll" and they don't have the first concept of how to play the game. He was like what's so funny, I said if you keep calling raises with 3 8 off suit your bankroll won't be building for long. So to top it all off I said this is my last hand K J suited, I typed a message in the box and said watch me lose with this hand, plus I had just lost with Pocket JJ's to 7 2 and a guy caught a 3rd 2 on the river. Well anyway I play my K J and I lose the hand nothing hit on the flop, but my opponent had A J and there was no A on the board, typical party poker. So I will probably go back to poker stars and open up an account on Paradise Poker, I will still play on Ultimate Bet from time to time.
Plus I read a note on Poker Prophecy.com that said party pokers software scans your hard drive and if it detects poker prophecy on the machine it will notify them and send you an email stating that you are gaining an unfair advantage on your opponents. When the hell did gathering information about how your opponent plays become such a crime? They have pretty much pissed me off, and I don't even use poker prophecy except to get stats every once and a while off of their website. I have a new program called poker tracker that I use to download my results into and it gives a deep analysis of your play, so I will be mostly using that from now on.
Enough on my rant for now, I will be in a better mood once school is out in 2 weeks.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Poker at Derby Lane the bane of my existance
The past few days have been good for me poker wise, I cashed in 6 out of 8 online Sit n' go's I played in a tournament on Ultimate Bet and I was close to cashing there, if it weren't for an unbelievable bad beat, I have gotten used to that crap online. Well Sunday I decided to go to the Dog Track (Derby Lane) to play in the daily poker tournaments they have there, I really don't like the format there much you only get 700 chips, and the blinds move up fairly quickly.
My history at Derby Lane is mixed and spotted, I have never made a final table there, but I have finished between 10 - 15 five times, Derby is like that nemesis that you can't conquer, plus it doesn't help that there are some bad players at Derby. Anyway I brave tropical storm force winds and I register, there is an hour or so before the tournament starts, so to pass the time I read some notes from my upcoming test on Tuesday (Big Mistake), but I figured it would be the most efficient use of the time.
I head to my seat about 12:55pm and I see Lamar Thomas walking off the elevator, those that don't know who he is, he used to play for the Miami Hurricanes on their National Championship team, and he played for the Dolphins. He now hosts a sports show here in the Bay area, even though I am a big UM fan and he is a UM legend I am never the type to ask someone for their autograph, I thought it was funny he also plays at Derby.
Anyway I survey the folks at my table and even though I haven't played at Derby in months, there were a lot of the same people there, I get dealt J 10 on the first hand in 3rd position I decided to play it even though I said I was going to sit back and watch a few hands to get a read on what type of players I was up against. The flop came A 6 9 3 people checked in front of me I checked as well, and scruffy bet 250, I laughed to myself because he bet 250 chips to win 60, so I immediately pegged him as an aggressive player, the next hand I was dealt J 7 off suit I folded and scruffy was in the pot with 2 other players, the flop came 6 Q 6 and the other to players check scruffy bets 300, once again a 300 bet to win 45 chips this time, so I knew he was going to be a prime candidate for the rope-a-dope if I could get him setup.
Here is where my life starts sucking, I am dealt Pocket 9's in first position I just limp, the guy next to me raises to 75, everyone else folds, raising in early position usually indicates a strong hand, I figured he had AK, AQ, a small pocket, or something along those lines, so I call his raise and the flop comes 4 8 2 I check he bets 50 I come over the top for 250 he goes all-in, I was sure I had the best hand, and before I even thought about it I called he flips over KK and I show my 99 and I don't catch a 9, and I am one of the first 5 people eliminated. I played for all of 10 minutes, sucked balls and is my biggest low in poker I have never been out of a tournament that early, so I start analyzing the hand. I already know it's hard for me to put people on Pocket pairs and sets most of the time, and if I had JJ, QQ, 1010 would I have made the same call the answer is yes, the problem was I made the wrong read, and I didn't stop to re-process the information, I only compounded the problem by not following my plan of playing conservative to start out until I get settled in. It was bad luck that he was dealt KK and I got 99, most of the time I would be in the lead in that situation, but you learn something new every time you play.
This is the reason I am going to try and play in more live games, you pickup bad habits playing online and you get lazy, I am playing in more live games to improve my reading skills, because online there is only so much reading you can do. Plus there is a process I need to go through at each stage of betting, for the most part it would have made more sense for me to let him have the pot it was only 150, once I made my stab I should have folded the 99, and lived to play other hands. Hopefully my next outing will be better.
My history at Derby Lane is mixed and spotted, I have never made a final table there, but I have finished between 10 - 15 five times, Derby is like that nemesis that you can't conquer, plus it doesn't help that there are some bad players at Derby. Anyway I brave tropical storm force winds and I register, there is an hour or so before the tournament starts, so to pass the time I read some notes from my upcoming test on Tuesday (Big Mistake), but I figured it would be the most efficient use of the time.
I head to my seat about 12:55pm and I see Lamar Thomas walking off the elevator, those that don't know who he is, he used to play for the Miami Hurricanes on their National Championship team, and he played for the Dolphins. He now hosts a sports show here in the Bay area, even though I am a big UM fan and he is a UM legend I am never the type to ask someone for their autograph, I thought it was funny he also plays at Derby.
Anyway I survey the folks at my table and even though I haven't played at Derby in months, there were a lot of the same people there, I get dealt J 10 on the first hand in 3rd position I decided to play it even though I said I was going to sit back and watch a few hands to get a read on what type of players I was up against. The flop came A 6 9 3 people checked in front of me I checked as well, and scruffy bet 250, I laughed to myself because he bet 250 chips to win 60, so I immediately pegged him as an aggressive player, the next hand I was dealt J 7 off suit I folded and scruffy was in the pot with 2 other players, the flop came 6 Q 6 and the other to players check scruffy bets 300, once again a 300 bet to win 45 chips this time, so I knew he was going to be a prime candidate for the rope-a-dope if I could get him setup.
Here is where my life starts sucking, I am dealt Pocket 9's in first position I just limp, the guy next to me raises to 75, everyone else folds, raising in early position usually indicates a strong hand, I figured he had AK, AQ, a small pocket, or something along those lines, so I call his raise and the flop comes 4 8 2 I check he bets 50 I come over the top for 250 he goes all-in, I was sure I had the best hand, and before I even thought about it I called he flips over KK and I show my 99 and I don't catch a 9, and I am one of the first 5 people eliminated. I played for all of 10 minutes, sucked balls and is my biggest low in poker I have never been out of a tournament that early, so I start analyzing the hand. I already know it's hard for me to put people on Pocket pairs and sets most of the time, and if I had JJ, QQ, 1010 would I have made the same call the answer is yes, the problem was I made the wrong read, and I didn't stop to re-process the information, I only compounded the problem by not following my plan of playing conservative to start out until I get settled in. It was bad luck that he was dealt KK and I got 99, most of the time I would be in the lead in that situation, but you learn something new every time you play.
This is the reason I am going to try and play in more live games, you pickup bad habits playing online and you get lazy, I am playing in more live games to improve my reading skills, because online there is only so much reading you can do. Plus there is a process I need to go through at each stage of betting, for the most part it would have made more sense for me to let him have the pot it was only 150, once I made my stab I should have folded the 99, and lived to play other hands. Hopefully my next outing will be better.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Poker Itch Scratched at Hard Rock Casino
I was sitting around after I got out of class on Wednesday night, and I had nothing to do. I watched a WPT re-run that was won by Daniel Negreaneu, and I really didn't feel like playing poker online much, but I wanted to play in a live game. Being that the only places around here to play poker Derby Lane and Seminole Hard Rock Casino all have things about them I don't like, I really felt like I had no options, but I was really tired of playing online and decided to head to Seminole Hard Rock Casino.
I get there, and I really didn't feel like playing Limit Hold'em or Omaha, so I signed up for one of their $40 satellites to their $240 buy-in tournaments on Sundays. I think playing more live games will be the next level in making my game rise to the next level, because I need to get used to being at the table with people I don't know and reading them while being the life of the table. So I end up waiting about 25 minutes, and then I get called to the table.
I sit down and basically the format is like this, you get 1000 chips and you have to beat 9 other people to win the buy-in, this is the perfect format for me because I play in single table sit n go's all day long. I look at the people at the table to start trying to figure out what I am up against, and I will say this I don't think I am better than anyone else, but I felt confident as I got settled in. One guy was on the phone talking to his friend in Vegas and relaying the information to another friend at our table, another guy had just been eliminated in 9th place from another satellite table and he had signed up for two tables just in case he lost the first one early (which he did). The other players didn't look like they could even calculate pot odds, there was one player who was a little bit younger than me and he looked like he may be the most competition for me.
I start out playing tight for the first few hands to see what the texture of the table is going to be, by the 3rd hand we had lost one player and I hadn't even played a hand yet. Then the guy talking on the phone was in the big blind and everyone folded except 1 guy, the dealer couldn't ask the guy if he wanted to raise because he was standing up, so the dealer dealt the flop, it came J 3 3, the guy in the big blind looked at his cards and bet 100, the young guy raised to 550, then the guy on the phone said you have a 3 don't you bastard, he put him all in and flipped over Pocket Queens, the young guy flipped over K3, then the guy that was on the phone started bitching at the dealer that he never got an option to raise because he would have raised with the Queens, he was eliminated.
Anyway, I was dealt K 10 off suit and was quickly raised by the young guy, the extra satellite guy called him and the flop came Q 6 K, the young guy checked and the other guy bet 300, the young guy raised to 600, and the other guy folded and showed A 6 the young guy showed A Q, I was glad they showed I was able to gather much needed Intel about both players. So I am dealt 10 9 off suit in the Big Blind, there are 4 callers including the small blind the flop comes, 10 10 7, the small blind checks, I check (decided to slow play my 10's) and everyone else checks, the next card is a J, I was hoping for a face card to get some action, the small blind folds(checking is free?), I check again I get a bet of 100 then the young guys calls the 100, then the dealer button bets 200, I raise to 400 everyone goes away except the guy on the button, he just calls. The river card comes and it's an 8, I bet 400 hoping for a call he thinks about it for a long time, then he calls and flips over K J, I show my 10's and take the pot he says "Nice Hand". I basically doubled up on that pot which was a good sign.
My cards started getting hot, I was dealt pocket Aces 3 hands later, and I was one position behind the dealer button, I promptly raised to $225, one guy who had limped got pissed off and said "fine all-in", everyone else folded, I asked him for a chip count it was $575 total I put in the additional amount and flip over my Aces he gets up and leaves without seeing the flop he had A 6 off suit, and he didn't catch anything to beat me.
Several other people get knocked out now we are down to 3 handed poker, which is by far my worst point in tournaments, when it's 3 handed I just don't make good decisions, I was second in chips so I felt confident. I made several mistakes in the fact that I didn't defend my blinds and I just gave away the small blind without seeing a flop, who knows what type of hand they had, I was trying to force the smaller stack to push all-in against the other guy, and he did the other guy thought about it for a long time and folded he showed an Ace, and the smaller stack laughed as he flipped over 9 10 off suit. So the next hand I was the big blind and I had 7 8, the big stack called, and the flop came Q 8 K, he checked and I figured he didn't have a K or a Q because he had been playing really tight, so I decided to check with was a big mistake, the next card was a 9 he checked and I immediately went all in for my last 2000 chips. He agonized over calling for a while, then he decided to call and he had a freaking 9, I didn't catch a 7 or an 8 and I was elminated in 3rd.
Overall I am pleased with my play, I think I was the best player at that table, but my passiveness when things were short handed caused me to lose as I see it I made several mistakes:
1. I didn't bet the 8 strong on that last hand and I gave him a free card.
2. I did not defend my blinds, and I gave away way to many free chips.
3. I did not raise from the big blind position enough to push out potential draws.
I will correct these mistakes in the future, I am happy that I know what I am doing wrong it's just a matter of working hard to correct the problems. But I think there is a bigger part of my game that's missing I just haven't put my finger on it yet.
I get there, and I really didn't feel like playing Limit Hold'em or Omaha, so I signed up for one of their $40 satellites to their $240 buy-in tournaments on Sundays. I think playing more live games will be the next level in making my game rise to the next level, because I need to get used to being at the table with people I don't know and reading them while being the life of the table. So I end up waiting about 25 minutes, and then I get called to the table.
I sit down and basically the format is like this, you get 1000 chips and you have to beat 9 other people to win the buy-in, this is the perfect format for me because I play in single table sit n go's all day long. I look at the people at the table to start trying to figure out what I am up against, and I will say this I don't think I am better than anyone else, but I felt confident as I got settled in. One guy was on the phone talking to his friend in Vegas and relaying the information to another friend at our table, another guy had just been eliminated in 9th place from another satellite table and he had signed up for two tables just in case he lost the first one early (which he did). The other players didn't look like they could even calculate pot odds, there was one player who was a little bit younger than me and he looked like he may be the most competition for me.
I start out playing tight for the first few hands to see what the texture of the table is going to be, by the 3rd hand we had lost one player and I hadn't even played a hand yet. Then the guy talking on the phone was in the big blind and everyone folded except 1 guy, the dealer couldn't ask the guy if he wanted to raise because he was standing up, so the dealer dealt the flop, it came J 3 3, the guy in the big blind looked at his cards and bet 100, the young guy raised to 550, then the guy on the phone said you have a 3 don't you bastard, he put him all in and flipped over Pocket Queens, the young guy flipped over K3, then the guy that was on the phone started bitching at the dealer that he never got an option to raise because he would have raised with the Queens, he was eliminated.
Anyway, I was dealt K 10 off suit and was quickly raised by the young guy, the extra satellite guy called him and the flop came Q 6 K, the young guy checked and the other guy bet 300, the young guy raised to 600, and the other guy folded and showed A 6 the young guy showed A Q, I was glad they showed I was able to gather much needed Intel about both players. So I am dealt 10 9 off suit in the Big Blind, there are 4 callers including the small blind the flop comes, 10 10 7, the small blind checks, I check (decided to slow play my 10's) and everyone else checks, the next card is a J, I was hoping for a face card to get some action, the small blind folds(checking is free?), I check again I get a bet of 100 then the young guys calls the 100, then the dealer button bets 200, I raise to 400 everyone goes away except the guy on the button, he just calls. The river card comes and it's an 8, I bet 400 hoping for a call he thinks about it for a long time, then he calls and flips over K J, I show my 10's and take the pot he says "Nice Hand". I basically doubled up on that pot which was a good sign.
My cards started getting hot, I was dealt pocket Aces 3 hands later, and I was one position behind the dealer button, I promptly raised to $225, one guy who had limped got pissed off and said "fine all-in", everyone else folded, I asked him for a chip count it was $575 total I put in the additional amount and flip over my Aces he gets up and leaves without seeing the flop he had A 6 off suit, and he didn't catch anything to beat me.
Several other people get knocked out now we are down to 3 handed poker, which is by far my worst point in tournaments, when it's 3 handed I just don't make good decisions, I was second in chips so I felt confident. I made several mistakes in the fact that I didn't defend my blinds and I just gave away the small blind without seeing a flop, who knows what type of hand they had, I was trying to force the smaller stack to push all-in against the other guy, and he did the other guy thought about it for a long time and folded he showed an Ace, and the smaller stack laughed as he flipped over 9 10 off suit. So the next hand I was the big blind and I had 7 8, the big stack called, and the flop came Q 8 K, he checked and I figured he didn't have a K or a Q because he had been playing really tight, so I decided to check with was a big mistake, the next card was a 9 he checked and I immediately went all in for my last 2000 chips. He agonized over calling for a while, then he decided to call and he had a freaking 9, I didn't catch a 7 or an 8 and I was elminated in 3rd.
Overall I am pleased with my play, I think I was the best player at that table, but my passiveness when things were short handed caused me to lose as I see it I made several mistakes:
1. I didn't bet the 8 strong on that last hand and I gave him a free card.
2. I did not defend my blinds, and I gave away way to many free chips.
3. I did not raise from the big blind position enough to push out potential draws.
I will correct these mistakes in the future, I am happy that I know what I am doing wrong it's just a matter of working hard to correct the problems. But I think there is a bigger part of my game that's missing I just haven't put my finger on it yet.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Vegas Poker Tournaments
Sorry for the delay in updating, but I had to catch up on a lot of school work that is due this week. But as I said in my previous post I would be detailing my poker tournament experience in Las Vegas. I only had the opportunity to play in 2 tournaments while I was there; one at Harrah's and one at The Plaza.
(Harrah's Poker Room Pictured below)
Sorry for the delay in updating, but I had to catch up on a lot of school work that is due this week. But as I said in my previous post I would be detailing my poker tournament experience in Las Vegas. I only had the opportunity to play in 2 tournaments while I was there one at Harrah's and one at The Plaza.
Harrah's - $50.00 Starts at 11:00am daily, 1 Re-Buy, 1 Add-on
Me and several friends went to register for the tournament about 10:00am, we got our seat cards and decided to check out the Buffett at Harrah's. Well, while we are indulging in the buffett I don't realize I made a mistake and thought the tournament started at 12:00pm, so we get done stuffing ourselves at around 11:20am, and make it to the Poker Room about 11:35am and we see people playing, and the poker room manager is like, "We started worrying about you guys, we started 30 minutes ago". I was like opps, so I figure we only missed 30 minutes, it can't be all that bad. Well I sit down, and I notice that I have already been blinded one time, and the blinds are 50/100 already. But something doesn't add up I look at the stacks around the table and they have ranges from 3500 - 5000 in chips while I have a paltry $1500. I then realized that some dufuses just rebought and added on all at the same time, you don't have to be elminated to re-buy for some reason, you can elect to start with a bunch of chips for more money.
Well I decided to sit back the first few hands and watch how this was going to be played, and the very first hand the guy raise to $600, and he gets 3 CALLERS! I guess I shouldn't be surprised being that I play online a lot, but this was wierd that the price of poker was this high early in the tournament. I thought maybe this is an anamoly well next 6 hands were raised to these values $700, $500, $500, $650, $350, and $550. I of course folded all of them, because there is no point in calling a raise that big, you might as well go over the top and go all-in because in my case that's 1/3 to 1/2 of my chips just to see a flop. So, the guy who was the chip leader is the main one raising and he raises to $650 he gets called by a guy who is on the button while the chip leader is small blind. The flop comes AD 7C JH, the chip leader bets $1000, the other guy goes all-in, the chip leader calls and flips over K K, the other guy on the button flips over A 3 and he wins the hand, leaving the chip leader with only about $1000 in chips. Why the hell would the guy call with A 3 of all hands. So, I know right now I am in a tournament with a bunch of people who just watch poker on TV and don't play with any strategy whatsoever. Well the guy who was the chip leader then loses the next hand, and is eliminated, but wait he didn't use his rebuy so he plunks down another $50 and is back in action. I decided to play a hand for the steep price because I had no choice really, and the blinds almost didn't seem to matter because the pot was raised every hand. I was dealt A 7 off suit, and a new guy had just come to the table he was an alternate waiting for someone to get eliminated so he could play, he goes all in on the first hand I call with the A 7, he has me covered because he paid $100 to play and had $2000 chips. He flips over KQ and I flop A 7 5, and that's all I needed I doubled up the only hand I played thus far. Most people would have been happy but I hate playing coin flip poker, it's not really any fun and anyone can play that way. Anyway, I end up busting out in 30th place out of 69 players, I went all in with A 9 and someone had A 10 to bust me, I just couldn't get into the flow of this tournament, and being late to the tournament kind of threw me off a bit, but FDR placed 22nd and Black Dragon came in 17th. Those weren't bad finishes for it being their first tournament besides playing at our usual spot. I had a bad taste in my mouth after that tournament, but I analyzed my play and I realized I adapted to the style that was being played at my table it was a coin flip table and I didn't have chips, so that's all I could really do. I hoped my next tournament experience would be better.
The Plaza - 12:00 pm, 7:00pm, 12:00am daily - $55 - 1500 chips, $60 - 2000 chips, $100 - 3500 chips: 1 Re-Buy, 1 Add-On
AG told me he heard the best tournaments were at The Plaza, and I was determined to play there if I had the chance. The other people that were with me, didn't feel like playing Poker after we checked out Fremont Street, so they went back to the Hotel, and I stayed to play at the 12 am tournament. I went in and registered, and I had to wait an hour before it started, I played a little 3 Card poker while I waited, and I broke even, the funny part is when I was playing a guy sat down to my right, and the next hand that was dealt he made a straight flush, what a bastard I would have hit the straight flush if he didn't sit down, he was milling around doing nothing then out of the blue decides to play and he gets the straight flush I had been waiting patiently for LOL. Anyway the tournament starts, there are 4 tables and several alternates waiting to play, and I notice a difference in the players right away most of these people seem to be locals, while at Harrah's it was mostly people visiting. The game started off good first hand I was dealt A 9 in the small blind and I raised to $125 (I started with 2000 chips btw), I had 1 caller the flop came AC, 9H, 3D I act first and I check, the guy bets 100, I re-raise him to 250 he calls, next card 7C I lead out with a bet of 350 he sits there for a minute and folds. I already had a beat on him from talking to him a little bit before the tournament started he is a tight player and he scares really easily he told me how he laid down pocket Q's preflop because someone raised the pot to big for his comfort. The other players at the table were fairly easy to read except 3 guys, 1 was making huge raises and never had to show his hand, so I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not. The second guy is one of those players that calls anything and will bet with anything he didnt' seem very good, but stupidity can be a strength sometimes. The last guy varied his play, he seemed very tight at times and very aggresive at others, but he didnt' play a lot of pots, so that worked to my advantage. I had an aggresive player to my right and the guy to my left was tight, but played his hands strong when he had something. Anyway I get dealt rags on the button 8 4 off suit, so I limp in because there were only 2 callers besides the blinds, the small blind goes away and the big blind just checks the flop comes 6C, 5D, JH the big blind checks, the player in 4th position bets 100 (double the big blind), the next player folds and it comes to me, a few months ago I would have folded this hand, but lately I have been attempting to find the reason why guys like Johnny Chan, John Juanda, and others always make it to final tables in tournaments, so I raise the pot to 300, the big blind immediately folds. The other player calls, at this point I am a little nervous but I trained myself to look the same a long time ago so I looked like a rock to that person. The next card is 3S, he leads out with a bet of 100 again, then I realize I forgot to try and put him on a hand, well being that he didn't raise before the flop and just limped he probably has a middle pair 5's - 9's, he didn't have a set IMHO because he did not bet bigger 100 is nothing as far as I was concerned, so I re-raised to 500 this time, I now have 850 invested in the pot entirely too much on a bluff, so he thinks about it for a while and puts me on straight and folds he shows he had 2 pair J's and 6's, he asks me did you have it and I say yep 4 7, boy if he only knew. I have bluffed plenty of times before, but that one I truly thought he was going to catch me, bluffing is a stressful thing that's why I never did it that much. I make it to the first break in great shape 7500 chips, and there are about 24 people left I am in the top 10 in chips. Here is where things messed me up, after the break the blind went from 200/400 to 500/1000, they skipped 300/600 and 400/800, I didn't know this before hand, now all of a sudden my stack doesnt look as good. They re-dealed for the button and I started as big blind, after two hands of folding I lost 1500 chips to blinds, I handn't lost 1500 chips to anything all tournament. Then 3 people were knocked out at my table and we had 5 players for about 15 - 20 minutes the blinds killed me and I went down to about 3500 in chips from blinds. They condensed everyone into 2 tables and just in time too, so a drunk guy was next to me complaining about something, and we were the only two in the pot I was big blind he was small blind, I had A 3 the flop came A, 6, 9 he bets 1000 I call, the next card is a 7 he checks I bet 1000 he folds. He then starts talking about how he hasn't gotten a hand in hours etc...., I tune him out and try to focus on making the final table. I manage to survive for a little while and the tournament is down to 11 people1 from the final table, and everyone is playing super tight, there is a guy at the other table with 500 chips trying to hold on, the blinds are now 600/1200 with a 50 ante and I only have about 4700 chips left, a guy across the table from me looks at his cards he is agonizing about playing them I immediately put him on A baby, or K baby, he reluctantly goes all-in, his exact words were I guess I go all-in. I am looking at pocket 6's, I start thinking what if I had pocket kings would I call yes, Queens yes, Jacks yes, it's all the same either way he has to hit an A to beat me if his other card is lower than a 6, so I call his all-in. He flips over A 10, just like I figured even though I was hoping he had A 5 or lower, the flop comes A, 7, 3 turn 4 river J. So I get eliminated in 11th place, no money, no final table for me, I was a bit bummed but I played well, and I can't complain the fact is was I playing poker to win or playing poker just to place I was trying to win, so I can't be disappointed.
I made a few mistakes in the tournament that I should not have on time, I raised in first position with J 10 and 2 people came over the top of me, I bet $600, and I ended up folding while they both went all-in against each other. Also, several times I didn't keep betting into someone and I won a lot less than I could have. I still have never made a final table in a tournament I have high finishes in several and I have come 1 from the final table 5 times without ever making it. I feel my game is getting better, and I am a single table king I play well when I have to beat 9 other people, if I can just make it to the final table in a tournament I think I can do well. The Plaza tournament was the best I have ever played in, the only thing I didn't like was their tables aren't felt they are some type of polyester material, and the blinds kill you later in the tournament, but other than that The Plaza gets good marks from me.
(Harrah's Poker Room Pictured below)
Sorry for the delay in updating, but I had to catch up on a lot of school work that is due this week. But as I said in my previous post I would be detailing my poker tournament experience in Las Vegas. I only had the opportunity to play in 2 tournaments while I was there one at Harrah's and one at The Plaza.
Harrah's - $50.00 Starts at 11:00am daily, 1 Re-Buy, 1 Add-on
Me and several friends went to register for the tournament about 10:00am, we got our seat cards and decided to check out the Buffett at Harrah's. Well, while we are indulging in the buffett I don't realize I made a mistake and thought the tournament started at 12:00pm, so we get done stuffing ourselves at around 11:20am, and make it to the Poker Room about 11:35am and we see people playing, and the poker room manager is like, "We started worrying about you guys, we started 30 minutes ago". I was like opps, so I figure we only missed 30 minutes, it can't be all that bad. Well I sit down, and I notice that I have already been blinded one time, and the blinds are 50/100 already. But something doesn't add up I look at the stacks around the table and they have ranges from 3500 - 5000 in chips while I have a paltry $1500. I then realized that some dufuses just rebought and added on all at the same time, you don't have to be elminated to re-buy for some reason, you can elect to start with a bunch of chips for more money.
Well I decided to sit back the first few hands and watch how this was going to be played, and the very first hand the guy raise to $600, and he gets 3 CALLERS! I guess I shouldn't be surprised being that I play online a lot, but this was wierd that the price of poker was this high early in the tournament. I thought maybe this is an anamoly well next 6 hands were raised to these values $700, $500, $500, $650, $350, and $550. I of course folded all of them, because there is no point in calling a raise that big, you might as well go over the top and go all-in because in my case that's 1/3 to 1/2 of my chips just to see a flop. So, the guy who was the chip leader is the main one raising and he raises to $650 he gets called by a guy who is on the button while the chip leader is small blind. The flop comes AD 7C JH, the chip leader bets $1000, the other guy goes all-in, the chip leader calls and flips over K K, the other guy on the button flips over A 3 and he wins the hand, leaving the chip leader with only about $1000 in chips. Why the hell would the guy call with A 3 of all hands. So, I know right now I am in a tournament with a bunch of people who just watch poker on TV and don't play with any strategy whatsoever. Well the guy who was the chip leader then loses the next hand, and is eliminated, but wait he didn't use his rebuy so he plunks down another $50 and is back in action. I decided to play a hand for the steep price because I had no choice really, and the blinds almost didn't seem to matter because the pot was raised every hand. I was dealt A 7 off suit, and a new guy had just come to the table he was an alternate waiting for someone to get eliminated so he could play, he goes all in on the first hand I call with the A 7, he has me covered because he paid $100 to play and had $2000 chips. He flips over KQ and I flop A 7 5, and that's all I needed I doubled up the only hand I played thus far. Most people would have been happy but I hate playing coin flip poker, it's not really any fun and anyone can play that way. Anyway, I end up busting out in 30th place out of 69 players, I went all in with A 9 and someone had A 10 to bust me, I just couldn't get into the flow of this tournament, and being late to the tournament kind of threw me off a bit, but FDR placed 22nd and Black Dragon came in 17th. Those weren't bad finishes for it being their first tournament besides playing at our usual spot. I had a bad taste in my mouth after that tournament, but I analyzed my play and I realized I adapted to the style that was being played at my table it was a coin flip table and I didn't have chips, so that's all I could really do. I hoped my next tournament experience would be better.
The Plaza - 12:00 pm, 7:00pm, 12:00am daily - $55 - 1500 chips, $60 - 2000 chips, $100 - 3500 chips: 1 Re-Buy, 1 Add-On
AG told me he heard the best tournaments were at The Plaza, and I was determined to play there if I had the chance. The other people that were with me, didn't feel like playing Poker after we checked out Fremont Street, so they went back to the Hotel, and I stayed to play at the 12 am tournament. I went in and registered, and I had to wait an hour before it started, I played a little 3 Card poker while I waited, and I broke even, the funny part is when I was playing a guy sat down to my right, and the next hand that was dealt he made a straight flush, what a bastard I would have hit the straight flush if he didn't sit down, he was milling around doing nothing then out of the blue decides to play and he gets the straight flush I had been waiting patiently for LOL. Anyway the tournament starts, there are 4 tables and several alternates waiting to play, and I notice a difference in the players right away most of these people seem to be locals, while at Harrah's it was mostly people visiting. The game started off good first hand I was dealt A 9 in the small blind and I raised to $125 (I started with 2000 chips btw), I had 1 caller the flop came AC, 9H, 3D I act first and I check, the guy bets 100, I re-raise him to 250 he calls, next card 7C I lead out with a bet of 350 he sits there for a minute and folds. I already had a beat on him from talking to him a little bit before the tournament started he is a tight player and he scares really easily he told me how he laid down pocket Q's preflop because someone raised the pot to big for his comfort. The other players at the table were fairly easy to read except 3 guys, 1 was making huge raises and never had to show his hand, so I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not. The second guy is one of those players that calls anything and will bet with anything he didnt' seem very good, but stupidity can be a strength sometimes. The last guy varied his play, he seemed very tight at times and very aggresive at others, but he didnt' play a lot of pots, so that worked to my advantage. I had an aggresive player to my right and the guy to my left was tight, but played his hands strong when he had something. Anyway I get dealt rags on the button 8 4 off suit, so I limp in because there were only 2 callers besides the blinds, the small blind goes away and the big blind just checks the flop comes 6C, 5D, JH the big blind checks, the player in 4th position bets 100 (double the big blind), the next player folds and it comes to me, a few months ago I would have folded this hand, but lately I have been attempting to find the reason why guys like Johnny Chan, John Juanda, and others always make it to final tables in tournaments, so I raise the pot to 300, the big blind immediately folds. The other player calls, at this point I am a little nervous but I trained myself to look the same a long time ago so I looked like a rock to that person. The next card is 3S, he leads out with a bet of 100 again, then I realize I forgot to try and put him on a hand, well being that he didn't raise before the flop and just limped he probably has a middle pair 5's - 9's, he didn't have a set IMHO because he did not bet bigger 100 is nothing as far as I was concerned, so I re-raised to 500 this time, I now have 850 invested in the pot entirely too much on a bluff, so he thinks about it for a while and puts me on straight and folds he shows he had 2 pair J's and 6's, he asks me did you have it and I say yep 4 7, boy if he only knew. I have bluffed plenty of times before, but that one I truly thought he was going to catch me, bluffing is a stressful thing that's why I never did it that much. I make it to the first break in great shape 7500 chips, and there are about 24 people left I am in the top 10 in chips. Here is where things messed me up, after the break the blind went from 200/400 to 500/1000, they skipped 300/600 and 400/800, I didn't know this before hand, now all of a sudden my stack doesnt look as good. They re-dealed for the button and I started as big blind, after two hands of folding I lost 1500 chips to blinds, I handn't lost 1500 chips to anything all tournament. Then 3 people were knocked out at my table and we had 5 players for about 15 - 20 minutes the blinds killed me and I went down to about 3500 in chips from blinds. They condensed everyone into 2 tables and just in time too, so a drunk guy was next to me complaining about something, and we were the only two in the pot I was big blind he was small blind, I had A 3 the flop came A, 6, 9 he bets 1000 I call, the next card is a 7 he checks I bet 1000 he folds. He then starts talking about how he hasn't gotten a hand in hours etc...., I tune him out and try to focus on making the final table. I manage to survive for a little while and the tournament is down to 11 people1 from the final table, and everyone is playing super tight, there is a guy at the other table with 500 chips trying to hold on, the blinds are now 600/1200 with a 50 ante and I only have about 4700 chips left, a guy across the table from me looks at his cards he is agonizing about playing them I immediately put him on A baby, or K baby, he reluctantly goes all-in, his exact words were I guess I go all-in. I am looking at pocket 6's, I start thinking what if I had pocket kings would I call yes, Queens yes, Jacks yes, it's all the same either way he has to hit an A to beat me if his other card is lower than a 6, so I call his all-in. He flips over A 10, just like I figured even though I was hoping he had A 5 or lower, the flop comes A, 7, 3 turn 4 river J. So I get eliminated in 11th place, no money, no final table for me, I was a bit bummed but I played well, and I can't complain the fact is was I playing poker to win or playing poker just to place I was trying to win, so I can't be disappointed.
I made a few mistakes in the tournament that I should not have on time, I raised in first position with J 10 and 2 people came over the top of me, I bet $600, and I ended up folding while they both went all-in against each other. Also, several times I didn't keep betting into someone and I won a lot less than I could have. I still have never made a final table in a tournament I have high finishes in several and I have come 1 from the final table 5 times without ever making it. I feel my game is getting better, and I am a single table king I play well when I have to beat 9 other people, if I can just make it to the final table in a tournament I think I can do well. The Plaza tournament was the best I have ever played in, the only thing I didn't like was their tables aren't felt they are some type of polyester material, and the blinds kill you later in the tournament, but other than that The Plaza gets good marks from me.
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