High On Poker

Because I’ve felt ill all morning about this most recent blogger controversy, I’ve decided to add a new post to make me feel a little better. Enjoy.

Please don’t stay mad at me.

Every DADI, GCox, Trip and I strive to bring you something extra. In the past, it was bounties, followed by team bounties, revenge bounties, free prizes offered by sponsors, and even a seat to a WSOP event. This time, however, there wasn’t much to offer. Dbrider offered some stuff to give away, but sponsorship just wasn’t interesting anymore. We looked for something else, and came up with some simple bounties for Trip and I, but there wasn’t anything new.

Yesterday, when G, Trip and I were sending emails back and forth in preparation for DADI X, someone came up with a fun idea: we would swap accounts and play under each others names. The goal was to have fun, and it was fun. I was given the role of Gary, and if you know Gary and my style, it’s like day and night. Gary is uber-tight, whereas I play a more aggressive game. So, the play was to goof around about being uber-tight, make references to Keystone Light, and sound like a backwoods hillbilly. I even inserted smiley faces and winking faces to players here and there, something G would never do, so that he would look like a pansy 12 yr old girl. We joked about how I’d get much more respect under Gary’s cloak, but, being me, we didn’t necessarily expect anything to come of it. On paper, the plan was to play as each other, make fun of ourselves in the process, and come out the other end with a joke. Nothing more. In truth, I didn’t even expect to cash.

But I did. 1st place, in fact. And once that happened, when the adrenaline wore off and I sat in my living room ecstatic over winning DADI X, reality set in. Someone would be insulted. They’d question the honesty of the move and possibly the intent. They’d think that I got an unfair advantage playing as Gary, and they’d think the win was not legitimate.

Well, I’m sorry that anyone would be insulted, and I’m sorry if I was able to use Gary’s image to my advantage.

I came by my win honestly, though. I played one of my best games ever, and anyone watching would attest to that. I played tighter than usual, I kept my eye on the table, and I made masterful reads. Most importantly, I switched gears, channeling my inner Gary at times, before unleashing a series of Jordan-like hands. When the table stopped respecting me, even calling me out as playing very loose for Gary, I joked around and even threw in some smiley faces and winky faces, something Gary would never do.

But behind it all, my game was invigorated. It was fun playing under someone else’s name. We already agreed that the winner would keep his winnings, transferred to the account they used to their actual account. The money was nice in the tournament, and there was more reason to chat it up, since I was playing a character. After G and Trip busted, they railbirded, which also kept me focused on the table.

The bottom line is, I made some ballsy plays, based on my opponents’ actions. No poker tracker to distract me, just me, the table, and my opponents. One hand particularly really solidified it all.

We are at 120/240 blinds, with 25 antes, and I’m playing as GCox. I’m sitting on 15,685, chipleader for our four-person table. With me on my left in order are Duggle, Smokkee, and Lucko, none of which have over 8k. Lucko is in the SB, and I’m in the BB with Q9s. Preflop, it folds to Lucko, and he raises to 720. He had done this so consistently (about 2-4 times per orbit) that I had little to no fear of his play. I decided to flat call and see what developed.

The flop was 4s Th 7s, which gave me the flush draw. Lucko bet out 960, a fraction of the over 1500 pot, and this wasn’t out of the ordinary either. Continuation bets were standard, so I made the call.

The turn is a Kd, and its no help to me. There is no doubt that Lucko was going to be here, but when he bet 1440 into the 2500+ pot, it was an odd play. I considered re-raising him, but felt that I’d be better off seeing a river. If I hit, I’d raise then. If not, I’d decide what to do after he acted. This hand was all about position, so I collected my info along the way. By flat calling, I also hoped to gain his fear.

The river is a 7c. I missed my flush and the board paired 7s. Lucko bets 1200, which was actually lower than his turn bet. He only had under 4k behind at this point, and it took me a while to decide what to do. I could fold or push. If I push, he may feel compelled to call because he had around 1/2 of his starting stack in the pot (if not more). But on the other hand, I knew that Lucko was a loose player (he could have anything), a smart player (he is willing to fold), and had enough chips to fold and still play. I was representing 7s, and felt confident that if he had a Ten (like I presumed), he’d fold. I pushed, and he typed: “miss your flush or hit the seven?”

At that point, I literally said aloud, “I’m screwed.” I watched as I mentally discounted my chips. And then he folded.

Did Gary’s image help me here? I don’t think Lucko plays against him enough to know, but if it did, so be it. Every day we go to B&M cardrooms and see that hip hop kid who is really a shark, or the weak ass player who dresses in gear like he is a pro. Deception is part of the game, and in online poker, the anonymity of the Internet just adds to it. You are a guy but choose a female name because it will gain respect for your bluffs or make players bluff at you. You are a white, but you choose a black man avatar. You aren’t black, and you aren’t a chick, but you are playing poker.

So, I do sincerely apologize if I ruffled some feathers. The blogosphere can be pretty harsh on someone who they think is a liar, cheater or scoundrel. If you read here often enough, you’ll know I’m none of those things. If you still think I am, well, I’ll tell you what. Send me your FT screenname, and I’ll refund you $8.70. I’d give you the whole $24, but I’d end up in the hole, and I don’t think that Gary’s screenname is accountable for 100% of my winnings. And besides, I had to earn your $24, so if you want your token back, you’ll have to work for it a bit as well.

A quick last thought on the topic. Perhaps the biggest problem was that it was a DADI tournament. If I did this at another blogger tournament it might seem like more of a wacky thing to do. Since I am one of the DADI hosts, it might seem extra devious. No deviousness intended. This, I swear. It was all in fun, even if it didn’t end that way for everyone.

Honestly, the real story behind this game is the machine that is Lucko. He’s ran through these blogger tournaments like small pox through a reservation. He took 2nd here, won a Big Game (I think) and took down another tournament somewhere. Where the hell did this guy come from?

In fact, I can contribute my win largely because of Lucko. He was taking the blinds so much (and mine particularly since he had position), I finally got fed up. I began re-raising him with a variety of hands, just to get him to slow down. This helped me chip up, largely off of Lucko. He’d steal, steal, steal, I’d wake up with a semi-decent hand and re-raise his preflop raise, and get a chunk of his chips.

But here is the thing. slb popped into the room to sling some hate Lucko’s way, calling him, well, lucky. And that is the genius of Lucko’s name. When I first saw him play a blogger tourney, I though, what a lucky bastard. He’s probably some donkey who is getting great cards. But he’s anything but. The name Lucko21 is freakin’ genius. First, nothing is more scary than a lucky player. Second, when he plays expertly, he still gets no credit (amongst bloggers, initially [See Iakaris' post a while back, which was amicably resolved], and I’m sure against random players). Sheet, even the 21 suggests that he is nothing but a gambling fool. And the avatar, a clown, just finishes the ensemble.

So, I salute you, Lucko21, for your ingenuity at the table, for your ruthless aggression, and for your clever use of your screenname and avatar.

My play last night can be summed up in one word: embarrassing. I started off alright, winning a token with ease. I then decided to try one of the Guaranteed tournaments with a $75 token, since I can’t play in this week’s Big Game, but played just awefully. I could tell that I was playing sloppily, but still entered two other $26 token races, losing both due to sheer stupidity. I entered a PLO MTT with the $26 token I won, but lost that one too. At the very least, I went far, but in my last hand, the river paired the board, obviously filling my opponent’s full house. I had flopped the nuts, a straight, but still, with full knowledge that I was behind, raised all-in on the river. Just shameful. The Mookie wasn’t much better, as I got a case of the awfukits, only to double up once or twice and embarass myself further when my horrific play was rewarded. I even went 1-3 against Wonka in the HUC4 Round 1, eliminating myself as well. Yippee!

Oh, and if you don’t know, DADI X is tonight, so go sign up. DADI is officially going into retirement, since his job has been replaced by the plethora of blogger tournaments. He’d like to wish everyone a happy blogger tourney season, and wishes all of the individual blogger tournaments luck in the future. Instead of gifts, DADI asks that you send donations to HighOnPoker at FullTilt, preferrably during the DADI event tonight. Oh, and since this is the last go-round, I’m throwing in a bounty on myself. Take me out and win a free copy of Smart Money: How the World’s Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies, by Michael Konik? Never heard of it? Of course not! It’s brand-spanking new. I have a copy for myself, too, and once I get to it, I’ll post a review.

So, your job is to sign up for DADI. My job is to get my awfukits under control before I embarrass myself again tonight.

Until next time, make mine poker!

It’s time to throw a bunch of things in the literary blender to see if we can make a post smoothie concoction. Let’s start with something that has bothering me for a while, but has absolutely nothing to do with poker.

Am I the only one who noticed that Lost and Heroes are both racist?! Yes, racist! Exhibit A, in the background storylines for Lost, Sun and Yin, the Korean couple, speak in Korean with subtitles on the bottom of the screen. In the background storylines for Mr. Eko, a Nigerian priest, he and all the other Africans speak English! I know! Ridiculous. But it doesn’t stop there. Exhibit 2, in Heroes, the Japanese character named Hiro speaks in Japanese with English subtitles. The Indian scientist, though, he speaks English in India to his fellow Indians! What gives?! Does Hollywood thinks we can accept an Asian speaking an Asian dialect but it would blow our minds to hear Nigerian or Indian?! Or does General Tso have nude pictures of some studio heads with sheep? Either way, shame on you sirs!

DADI X is coming up tomorrow and Trip and I are a little concerned with the amount of people who will show up. I swear, these private tourneys can be a pain in the butt sometimes, but I always find myself coming back to make a new one. Well, don’t get to complacent, because this may just be DADI X’s last tournament before DADI goes into retirement. I’d cite the explosion of blogger tournaments as probably one of the largest reasons for this non-final decision, but I cite it in a positive way. DADI was meant as an opportunity to play more with fellow bloggers and readers, and I can do that just about any night of the week now anyway. DADI’s retirement party will be at 3pm in the large conference room. We have cake and soda, but don’t tell DADI because it’s a surprise party. And if you chip in, we can get DADI a retirement gift. I’m thinking a nice watch!

While on the subject of watches, you might want to watch out for some awesome Heads-Up action! The HUC4 is under way, and while most of the Round 1 matches have not been scheduled yet, we do have our first player to advance. Butch, a non-blogger, took TripJax out in four matches, winning 3 to1. Congratulations to Butch, especially now that I don’t have to worry about facing Trip in the Bracket B finals. If all goes well, I’ll be playing HUC3 champion WillWonka at 9:30 tonight, right before the Mookie. Stop by and wish me luck, cause I’ll probably need it.

Hey, and while on the subject of poker (shut up, I already ran out of all my smooth segues), I had a very interesting night yesterday. While wifey Kim packed for her trip to Miami for a speech conference (read: suntanning with her friends under the guise of work), I was packing away the bonus by playing some 8/16 Razz. While I played, Fluxer, recently back from the blogging dead, IM’ed me. He watched as I attempted to struggle my way back to even. So far, that 8/16 game has been a boon for me. Maybe I have a natural edge in the game because of my pattern recognition and ability to read both players and boards, or maybe I’ve just been lucky so far. All I know is, I hadn’t book a significant losing session yet (and perhaps, none at all). So, I went about my usual course, and suddenly found myself deep in the hole. I mean, deep, like $300+ deep. That sort of swing is a bit new to me, both at Razz and at any online poker, so I gulped hard while figuring out the ramifications. I considered leaving the room, but the losses would be just too great to swallow and a part of me still thought I had an edge.

It was slow going, over the course of probably an hour and a half, but but the time I ended, I was up $13. I also had the pleasure of playing a bit with Hoyazo, my initial inspiration for trying that Razz game. The $13 was enough for me, so I packed it in, using the Razz profits to covere my $11 loss at the WWdn, compliments of Maigrey, who was playing an excellent game. I was doing well myself, but my TT vs her AA sent me packing…even though I thought I was behind to QQ when I called her re-raise all-in. Yeah, not the best play by me, but sometimes it goes that way.

Mind you, I take all the blame (with all respect to Maigrey, who outplayed me), for my loss. Sure TT on a 775 board is okay, but don’t go broke on an overpair and all that jazz. The writing was on the wall. On that note, I have to give a big shame on you to the blogosphere. Maybe I’m just getting on my high horse, but I really think we need to curb the idea that if a player goes bust with a good hand like top two pair, there was nothing they could do about it. I’m specifically talking about a post that Iakaris made, when his AK with a board of A29/K lost to 22. Iak bet pre- and post-flop and was cold-called. He bet the turn and was raised. He re-raised all-in and was busted. I don’t knock Iakaris’ play, but he asked what he did wrong. To many, the answer was, “There was nothing you could do there.” WRONG! He could have FOLDED and saved his money, or at least called and saved some of it, if the river was a scare card that created one of the two flush draws. Again, I’m not knocking Iak, whose success is clear to any of his readers. But, in channeling my inner Felicia, I do have to say that you do him no service with such kind and supportive answers. In situations like that, I might go broke too. You saw my analysis of my TT hand. But when I look back and analyze either my or his hand, there were some indications that we were beat, and we chose not to see them or not to follow them.

Hey, while I’m on a poker thought rant, let me answer a question from TwoDiamondPhillips. He asked about when you are really pot committed in a hand. Get comfortable. Here we go. In some situations, you know you are beat. In those situations, you may still be pot committed where the bet is less than 10% of the flop. Why 10%? Because even the tightest player will bluff sometimes, and 1:9 odds are pretty damn good. But on a less specific level, you have to analyze your opponents’ likely range, your outs, and the pot odds you are getting including implied odds. That’s a lot of calculations on the fly, so it really boils down to an overall feeling. And it really has to do with individual hands. I tried to come up with some examples, but none are coming to me. Shoot me an example, though, and I’ll gladly explain. Sorry if that was less than helpful.

I do believe that is all for today. Sign up for DADI X, and I may just put up a bounty on myself.

Until then, make mine poker!

“Where do Dwarf Blogs go when they die?”

“What do you mean, honey?”, I asked Dominick, the little orphan that Big Brother Little Brother set me up with. We were on our usual jaunt to the local malt shoppe, so I was surprised by the unusually serious question.

I stopped in my tracks, and crouched down to look lil’ Dommie in the eyes. “Buck up, champ! What did you hear?”

“Tommy at the orphanage (that’s where lil Dommie lives) said that Iggy was packing up Guinness and Poker.” For any of you who are not here because of the incestuous readership base of poker blogs, Iggy, a dwarf with a rascally sense of humor and a penchant for frothy dark Irish beers (and probably frothy dark Irish women) has gone by the title Blogfather. His posts, of the uber (i.e., extremely long) variety, would waste countless hours across the nation as his readers poured through his various links, quotes, and newbie blogger pimpage.

“Dommie, everyone knows that Tommy is a shit-eating dildo of a liar. You know that, don’t you?” Dommie nodded as he sniffed his nose. “Remember when Tommy told you that online poker was illegal and we’d all lose our money? See, he lied there right.” Dommie nodded again and seemed to perk up. “How about the time when he told you that there was no god? I proved to you without a doubt that god existed, didn’t I?” (That story, in which I actually proved the very existence of our Lord, the Creator, will have to wait for another time). Dommie’s frown slowly lost shape. A smile formed on his little bastard-orphaned lips.

“There you go, Dommie! That’s the right attitude!” “But Jason?”, Dommie asked (he didn’t know my real name, cause I don’t trust ugly bastard orphans), “what happens to blogs when they die?”

I chuckled a bit, mostly because I was thinking of a joke in my head. I straightened up, ruffled Dommie’s trailer-park trash hair, and said, “Silly goose! Blogs don’t die, they multiply! Besides, you little ‘tard, once a blogger always a blogger. Even if that impish freak of a blogger did decide to shut down his blog, he’d live on in mind and spirit.”

“Gee, Jason, that makes sense. I guess Tommy is a goofy douschebag liar.”

“Now, Dommie, that’s no way to talk.” Hahahahaha! After our long chat, I desperately needed a smoke. “Sorry kid, but we are going to have to cut this short for today. Let’s get you back to the orphanage and into your cage.”

On the ride back, as Dommie ran next to my car (I wouldn’t let him in, as I suspected he had fleas), he asked, “But Jason, what happens when Iggy’s blog does end?” “Don’t worry about that kid. It won’t be erased. It’ll just be moved to a poker blogging farm upstate where it will have plenty of room to run free and play with other poker blogs.” “Really, Jason!? Is it true?!” “No you goofy bastard, now try to keep up, I wanna catch the early showing of Borat.”

T-minus 60 hours until DADI X starts. That means your time to win your $24+2 token is limited, so hop to and sign up early.

It’s been silly-busy here lately, especially with DADI X coming up and the Heads Up Challenge 4 kicking off. My first match is against HUC3 reigning champion Will Wonka, and it will likely take place at 8:30pm before DADI. It’s a best of 5 series so feel free to look me up on the yahoo IM (highonpokr, with no E) or find me at FT (HighOnPoker) and share in my utter humiliation as I strive to not get knocked out with three losses in a row!

Until then, make mine poker!

….You Got Your Blogger Game in My Hammer!

I played in CC’s private tournament last night, along with the Riverchasers tournament and the WWdn Not. At one point, and more accurately, for quite some time, I was the chipleader in both CC’s and the WWdn Not, but eventually lost CC’s in 6th place after a series of 3 and 2 outters (at least three in a row when my opponents were all-in). I didn’t get upset though. Thems the breaks, and so I focused my attention on the WWdn Not, seeing as I was a prohibitive chip leader there. I was also glad to earn some points toward CC’s leader board, since the top three get a cash prize by the time the series is done.

Quickly, the Riverchasers tournament must have been set up wrong by Full Tilt. Rather than the usual tournament, instead it was a heads-up game. Amongst the large amount of players (over 50, I believe), I was sat down across from AlCantHang himself. He lamented about FT messing up and how he was unprepared (and too drunk) for a HU match, before he took my stack in probably under 20 hands (and maybe under 10). My bad, as I donked it up with TP shitty kicker as though I owned the world. My dominance in both the CC and the WWdn Not at the time may have distracted me a bit, admittedly.

I made a couple of great plays last night, including one in which I called down Fuel 55‘s odd bets with ATo, no pair. He had A6o or something similar and at showdown, was shocked that I called him down. Apparently, he was getting no action on his high pocket pairs, and was annoyed and/or shocked that suddenly he gets action now that he was bluffing. However, in that hand, there were a bunch of limpers, and his raise to 10x the BB seemed a little fishy to me preflop, almost as though he wants to punish the limpers and steal those lucrative blinds.

The flop was uneventful. It may have paired, but it was all low cards. He checked the flop, and I checked as well. The turn was another blank, and he bet a small amount. I had a feeling of Ace low. His preflop bet looked like BS, the check on the flop meant that he was probably weak, the bet at the turn was small and appeared to be opportunistic poaching. So, I called. I figured I was good if an Ace or Ten fell (they were both overs to the board), but I also kinda felt an Ace low from Fuel.

On the river a King fell, and for a moment, I was fearful. But I ultimately called Fuel’s bet, since I had a read and was willing to stick to it. When he showed his A6, he was pissed. “Couldn’t I have had AK? AQ? AJ?” listing the hands he may have had that had me beat. “You could have. That was in your range. But it read like Ace low.” I then went about explaining how is betting was suspicious, all in the PokerStars chat window.

I have immeasureable respect for Fuel, so catching him in that situation was both something I was proud of, and also something that I felt semi- bad about. As he ranted about hating these games, I reassured him that he could win both the CC and WWdn buy-ins back with one hand at his usual stakes. Not 5 minutes later I received an email from Fuel. It was a hand history in which he won back both buy-ins and thensome.

So, let’s look at a fun hand from the tournaments. I ultimately won the WWdN Not, which goes on my trophy wall next to my Riverchasers win and Hoy win. I have yet to take down the Mookie or WWdn, but all in due time.

I love the hammer because it gets me to bluff almost at random. I made a very ballsy play in this particular hand. Its not a You Decide post, because frankly, I don’t expect many (if any) of you would agree with my play here. But I use the hammer as a bluff randomizer, and that randomizer can cause me to make plays that I (or any other player) would not normally make, often to my benefit.

We were in Level V of the WWdn Not, with 75/150 blinds. We only had 5 to our table, as we were down to 10 or 11 in the tournament. I held 7720 chips, and was a strong chip leader. I was in the SB with 2c7d. Darval, host of the WWdn Not, had just sucked out in his last hand to

From the CO (remember we are 5-handed), he bet from 300 to 450. When it folded to me, I decided to take his 450 by raising with the hammer to 1050, a 600 raise. He called, leaving him with about 1500 behind.

The flop was As 6c 9c. Now, this is a terrible flop for me. I hit nothing. But if I check, I definitely lose the hand. If I bet and he does not have the Ace, then he will probably fold (barring some other big hand, like a set). My preflop bet basically announced I had a playable hand, so the bet here would look like an AK or something similar.

All that said, if I put him all-in for his last 1500, he might get a case of the awfukits and call. Worse, he might have the Ace and call, and I’d be terribly dominated. The key was to bet at an amount that would essentially force him to push, but would allow me to fold to his push. Basically, I was testing to see if he would go all-in, while giving myself a discount.

I bet 900 into the over 2k pot. To most of you, you are cringing. However, I was willing to let him push the rest in, at which point I would fold, even with those pot odds. Frankly, with 27o, the pot odds were not good enough to call 600 into what would be a 4,500 pot. Best case scenario, he pushed with A3 (assuming he’ll only push with a pair of Aces or better). In that case, I’m only 8-9% to win.

I actually used this exact move over at CC’s game. In a very similar situation, I was in one of the blinds with the hammer. A player raised to 3x the BB in MP/LP and I raised to 1k, a large jump preflop. Post flop, I was still the big chipleader with over 6k, to my opponent’s 2k. I bet out a grand, and he folded. If he would’ve reraise pushed, I would’ve folded. Essentially, in both cases, I’m betting an amount that is enough to force them to fold or push, but is not too much that I end up paying him/her off completely if they actually have a hand.

I hope this is making some sense. Overall, last night my game was tight. I finished another night in the black, probably nearing my old streak of something like 9 or 11 winning days in a row. I’m hoping that this trend continues as my interest in the game and my skillz are more invigorated than they’ve been in a long time.

After I played the blogger tournaments, I called it a night. I was glad to take my win for the day and spend some time unwinding. This weekend, I have a birthday party on Saturday night and a wedding for one of my best buds on Sunday. I expect little poker, but lots of booze.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Hey all. Just wanted to take a moment to remind you that tonight is the premiere of CC’s Thursday Bash. There’s money added ($75 extra for 1st; $25 for the bubble), not to mention a point system that will pay out the top three point earners. Check out CC’s Blog for details. And, um, sorry for not posting this earlier. On a side note, where’d that pic come from. Jordan likes em rail thin!

While you are at it, sign up for DADI X early. I might have a poker-related book as a bounty, or I might not. It depends on how soon I get it in the mail.

But, whatever you do, DO NOT play in the Riverchasers tournament tonight, which is currently being pimped by AlCantHang. I’d like him, but I really don’t want you to play. And if you’d like to know why not, I suggest you read about it HERE.

I’ve been dabbling in the higher stakes lately, but I’ve made my greatest jump in Razz of all games. Before jumping up, I would play 2/4. I moved to 3/6 for a few days, and within a week, I am now playing 8/16 semi-regularly. Bankroll-wise, I’m not too sure if it is appropriate stakes or not. But for anyone with any sort of knowledge, I’ll just say that my active bankroll is barely in the 4-digits.

That said, I feel extremely comfortable playing 8/16 Razz, moreso than if I were playing 5/10 HE. The reason, Razz is somewhat basic. It’s really a game of opportunistic aggression. There is a lot of information on that board, and if you have good logic and number arrangement skills, you can begin to see the opportunities like a freakin’ roadmap.

The beauty of Razz is that, unlike other Stud games, flushes and straights don’t matter. This greatly reduces the amount of pertinent information that must be memorized. When the first three cards are dealt, I’m not looking to see what suits are dead or who has my straight cards. Rather, I’m making a hi/lo analysis, i.e., how many low cards are out (8 and under) and who has them.

I prefer Razz in shorthanded tables, from 3-6 players optimally. Basically, its because I like to play lots of hands. You can’t be doing this naturally in Razz. Generally stick with the starting requirement of 3 cards 8 and under and you are in great shape. When you have that sort of hand, go ahead and pop it up for a raise. You want to be the aggressor as much as possible. The only exception is when you see a bunch of low cards in position after you AND you don’t have a strong hand (three cards 6 and under). In those cases, its important to check not just to save yourself from a re-raise, but also because you want to see what your opponent will do. For the most part, if they are raising, you have to slow it down…at least until you hit a duece on fourth street and they hit a Jack.

In this regards, you can peg your opponents’ starting hand ranges pretty quick. Once they reach showdown, check to see what they start with. You’d be surprised what you see. Some play T9/3 and Q4/2, and those will be your best cash cows. And I suggest that you ALWAYS check the Last Hand option at FullTilt. It’ll show you mucked hands that went to showdown, and it’ll often (seemingly at random) display your opponent’s cards in order. Otherwise, contrary to some player’s beliefs, FT rearranges your and your opponents’ cards into a random order at showdown. So it may have looked like he started with AK/J and hit 234 and 5 in a row, but he may have actually started with A23 and hit 45 before bricking the rest of the way. If the Last Hand shows your opponents’ cards with slashes through the first two and the last, FT is showing you the actual order. If there are no slashes, you are SOL, and you are looking at the rearranged board.

Suddenly, if you are down to 4 players, everyone loosens up even more, and so can you. Play 9 and under, or even 10 and under if the situation dictates. It’s play in the later streets that get tricky.

But enough of this. Let’s get to a hand and see how it plays out. In Razz, you always want to know where you are, where you were and where you will be. Add that with your knowledge of your opponent’s range and his board and that’s a lot of information in a very straight forward raise or fold game.

I’m at a 8/16 Razz table with $1.50 antes, sitting with $630.50. I’m really only up 30.50, but some people sit with the bare minimum, and frankly, I want to intimidate them. It’s silly, I know, but if you are stepping into a game with me with the minimum AND its at or near heads up, I’ll constantly attack. It’s just what I do.

Me: 74/5
JNo: XX/Q
Soe: XX/J

Now, right away, I’m way ahead. With antes and the $2 bring in, I can win about $5 just from pushing out the Q and J preflop. Why mess around, since neither look like they’ll play for much, AND I’m ahead now. Who knows what will happen later if one of them has A2 in the hole.

JNo brings it in for $2. Soe calls. I like this alot. More for me to get preflop. I raise to $8. JNo folds, but Soe calls. So, I naturally assume that he has two very low cards underneath. We take another card.

Me: 74/59
Soe: XX/JA

Now, this is the shit I was worried about. If I brick in the next card, he might actually take the lead. I know where I am, drawing to a 9-low. That isn’t bad, but if I miss, I’m in trouble. He’s drawing to a J-low, which is pretty bad, but if he called preflop, he might call here with 23 behind, and in two cards time, he might take a lot of money off of me. He may also have an Ace underneath, and I’ll win it now happily if I can. The bottom line is, I’m definitely ahead now, so let’s raise. $8 into the pot, and Soe calls. Beautiful.

Me: 74/595
Soe: XX/JAT

And it happens. I’m officially behind. Time to tuck tail? Hell no. He bets out $16, and rather than fold, I raise to $32. $32! That’s more than the tournament I spent 45 minutes playing before I bubbled. Here’s the thing. No matter what, I’m in great shape on the next card. He has a made Jack, or so we will assume. He also has a draw to the Ten (at best). That’s not such a great draw. He probably thinks I’m drawing to the 9, and he’s right. All I really need is an 8, 6, 3, 2, or A. That’s 19 cards out 41 (I already know about my 5 cards, his 3 card board including an Ace and the folder’s Q). Even better, he doesn’t know what I have behind, so if I pair my 4 or 7, so be it. He’ll still have a made 10 at best and be looking at what appears to be a made 9. So that’s another 6 semi-outs, for about 25 out of 41. Frankly, I can get a Ten, and if he gets a King, Queen or pairs a card, I’m ahead again anyway.

I could potentially just call and string him along, but if he gets that scare card, I want the money now. So I raise to $32, knowing that he will definitely call. He does.

Me: 74/5953
Soe: XX/JATJ

And it happens. I bet, he folds, and I win $101.50 for my trouble.

In this hand, I’m very glad that I didn’t clam up when I hit the pair. Sometimes you have to push through. If I missed, so be it, but I was able to control the hand, get more money in when I was a favorite, and squeeze extra value out of a situation that didn’t look particularly great.

I really love that Razz. As it turned out, I started last night playing tournaments. Namely, I played a token race for a $26 Token and won (that makes 1 $26 token and 1 $75 token). I then lost in a turbo single table $22+2 and a HORSE single table $20+2. I played a handful of 3/6 LO8, and lost about 60 there. All in all, I was down near a hundred after less than an hour of play. Then I switched to 8/16 Razz and won it all back, shutting down when I was up $1.50 or so. That works for me as I’ve artificially extended my online winnnig streak to 7 days or so, probably my longest streak since my 11-in-a-row (I believe) from much earlier this year.

I skipped the Mookie to watch Lost with wifey Kim. The show is still fantastic, but its lost some of the new car scent. However, I really like the intelligent writing, and I’m glad that Mr. Eko’s death seemed to have some reprecussion. I just couldn’t understand why Locke was supposed to save Eko’s life one week, just to have him die a random death in the next week, but chalk it up to divine intervention or some other form of coincidence. Now we wait until February to find out just what the hell will happen. In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll all be watching Heroes, a show that was able to build off of the mood and concepts behind Lost to reach something near perfection…for the first season. Look for it to get stale, too, in season 3, at which point they’ll be some other Johnny Come Lately sci-fi tinged, character-driven, mystery drama. Does that sound bitter? I hope not. The truth is, I’m super glad for both shows.

I can’t believe its Nov. 9th. I’m supposed to go to Foxwoods on Nov. 18th weekend, but I have not yet booked anything in the way of a room. I’m highly tempted not to book a room and just go for the day or something, but I’ll look at prices in the area anyway soon. Woffle will likely be there too, but otherwise, no one else. That’s fine by me, because I’d like to meet the Woffle and as long as there is poker to be had, I don’t really need any company at all. That said, if you feel like some poker, why not join us. I’d even share a room…maybe.

That’s all for now. Until next time, make mine poker!

Hi folks! Just popping in for a quick one. I’m really feeling comfortable with my game lately, whether it be tournaments, SNGs or cash games, so I thought I’d take a moment to mention something that I’ve found very useful (and natural) to my game.

You may know me as a loose action player, and you’d be right for the most part. But lately, earlier in tournaments (before blinds reach 50/100), I’m more likely to simply fold (or call from the SB) when it is folded to me in the SB, CO or Button. Now, this might not be such a big deal to some of you, but for a player such as myself, it might seem a bit odd. However, it is all calculated.

I steal from time to time (cough cough), but it really is only useful when the blinds are large. Sometimes, I see an opportunity that is just begging for a steal. But if its early, I fold, not because I think the steal would be unsuccessful. Rather, its because I’m more interested in making my opponents think that I’m not the type of player to steal.

Now, you may be saying to yourself, “But Jordan, didn’t you say that most of these online players don’t even really pay attention?” And I might be saying back, “Indeed, and thank you for reading.” But let’s not stop the hypothetical conversation there. Even if a player is not staring intently at their screen trying to analyze and memorize how long you take to act and what that means for your strategy, the players nearest to you will have a sort of latent memory. They may not realize that you folded in a situation that begged for a steal, but when you make the steal later, they also will think that you are not a stealing player. They are more likely to respect that raise from position, often even when you were playing loose against other players. Basically, they are conditioned (and I use that term a lot at HoP) to believe that if you are betting into them in position, it is NOT a steal, since you didn’t do it earlier.

I can already tell I’m not making myself clear. All I’m saying is that a player will subconsciously realize that he has faced a lot of raises from you when he is in the blinds. He’ll subconsciously start to look you up. On the flipside, when you don’t take advantage early, you create that subconcious impression in that player’s mind that you are a timid player from the button, and your raise means something, regardless of the obvious stealing situation occurring.

And there it is. I’m just saying to wait until later to steal. It’s a relatively obvious concept, but for an action player like me, its not usually my way of thinking. And with that, I bid you adieu.

Until next time when I come up with a random thought on poker, make mine, well, poker!