High On Poker

I had a weekend much like the one before it. After withdrawing a large chunk (well over 50%) of my roll on FullTilt, I went about playing a variety of games. Specifically, I was playing 6-max NLHE, mostly $50 and $100 max tables. The results were disasterous. Long story short, my FullTilt bankroll now sits at around $25. My Stars bankroll is thereabouts as well. My Poker.com bankroll, which used to be around $25 has gone up to $35, thanks to some HU SNG wins, the one positive spot in my Saturday of poker. But in the end, I face the same reality. Where to go from here?

I considered canceling my FullTilt withdrawal, but couldn’t find out how to do that. In a way, I’m glad I couldn’t find it. After all, I want that cash. I need it, in fact, to replace the $400 I lost on Friday at the Wall Street Game. That game, $1/2 NL, was fairly brutal too. I couldn’t get anything going, was fairly carddead, and then, ultimately lost my last $160 or so when my opponent hit a set with his 7s against my Queens. If I win that hand, I’m down less than $100 on the night, but that’s just not how it worked out.

Both in live and online play, I ran into the same situation. I mostly focused on certain players that were playing extremely loose-aggressive. My goal was to see flops cheap with them and/or get into big pots with solid cards. I didn’t wait for AA or KK. An 88 would do, and in some instances, a couple of highcards worked. These players were atrociously loose. But it seemed like whenever I had something, my LAG opponents had something better, whether it was the LAG who had AK to beat my AJ in a HU cash game after he literally raised and re-raised 2 out of 3 hands for about 100 hands, or if it was the guy who caught his set with 7s against Queens.

This is partially variance. It is also partially my fault, since I guess my poker radar is a tad off. I was remembering early this yeah at the NiceLook Club, which was actually called the FairView Club (it has since been raided by the cops and shut down, so anonymity is no longer an issue). I was playing 1/2 NL there relatively regularly and doing extremely well. I felt in tune with the game, and my decision-making was usually spot-on. The last two weekends online, I’ve felt the exact opposite. I’m never comfortable with my reads or play, and I’m essentially doing exactly what Freude would say: I am punishing myself through poker. It is as though I want to lose.

My real concern, though, is my annual goal to win $5,000, and my upcoming poker trips. I am now just under the $5k mark, due to those recent losses. I’m going to Vegas in December with the bloggers and AC for Xmas with my Jewish family. These are both wonderful things. However, I know what it is like to go to Vegas or AC during a bad luck swing. It can be devastating to one’s confident and bankroll. Since my goal is to hit that $5k mark, I suddenly feel like I HAVE TO WIN in Vegas and AC. This is not the way to play poker.

It’s moments like this that I remember why I cannot be a professional poker player. I have yet to resolve that part of me that hurts when I lose. Perhaps its pride or avarice or narcissism that makes me turn on myself when I’m not doing as well as I should. Whatever it is, I need a pridectomy or avaricectomy or narcissectomy, because I cannot continue to grow with this part of me standing in my way.

This is not to say that Jordan is all sad panda, to borrow a phrase from a certain gimp. I have not given up on this game, but I have once again chosen to re-evaluate my online play. I need to keep it low. Even though I love reading about fellow bloggers’ trials and tribulations at stakes that matter, I will toil in the fields of the common pauper as penance for my past indiscretions. I cannot leave the fields I plow because from them grows the fruits of experience necessary for my true vocation, live poker.

Where this live poker will be in the future is lost to me. My goal the last four years were to win $1200, $1800, $3000, and now $5000. I have been successful every year so far, and I hope to be successful again this year. Still, I have to consider what the new year will hold. While I would love to create a new goal with five digits, I just don’t think that its realistic. I have promised people that I will no longer go to NYC’s underground clubs, and I expect to maintain that promise for the most part. The Wall Street Poker games seem to fill up faster than I can check my email, so I have not been able to play there as often as I would like. The Financial Game in midtown is sporadic. The IHO tournaments are often difficult to work within my schedule.

Facing that dearth of live games and my troubles online (its still just a videogame to me), how can I conceivably increase my yearly goal next year?

Ultimately, these will be the issues I tackle over the next month.

I apologize for the general tone this blog has taken over the last week, but you get Jordan unfiltered. Poker has been tough. But in the end, life is still good.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog, the blogging community, and poker. I’ve been unable to play in most of the BBTwo events, and since I’m missing out on the mass consumption of donkfoolery, I’ve decided that I need to get back into the mix. But since I don’t have the time or ability to put aside three days a week for bloggerments, I’ve got to find a new angle.

What’s a man to do when he likes tournament poker but doesn’t have the time for tournaments? Heads-up SNGs. But how does this involve the blogger-world.

Simply put, bring it, beeches. I personally consider myself to be a pretty good student of the HU game, so I’m ready to take on anyone in a best of three or best of five series. If you sweep me, I’ll take any comers, at any stake between $1 and $20 (and potentially more on an individual basis). I will even let you choose the game (PL and NL only…due to time constraints) and whether it is turbo or regular. I also have to forego the Stars HU matches with static blinds (blinds don’t go up) due to time constraints. But otherwise, I’m fair game.

Full Tilt is prefered, but I can play on Stars (up to $10/match) or Poker.com (up to $10/match).

You might be saying to yourself, “but Jordan, why would I challenge you? Besides my jealousy over your good looks and large than average scrotum, why would I care whether I could beat you in HU Poker?” I’m glad you asked, but let’s leave my scrotum out of it.

If you sweep me in a best of 5 series, I’ll send you an extra buy-in for the level of tourney we played. In other words, win 3, get one free! And, if you act now, you can challenge me to a best of three match, and if you sweep, I’ll send you…well, nothing. Sorry, dude, but two in a row?!

Any time I win or lose, you’ll hear about it here. And, hell, just for the fun of it, I’ll add your link on my very exclusive side bar.

I will take challengers as they come forward. Once we have arranged a time, I HIGHLY recommend that we coordinate the start of the HU SNGs via Yahoo or AOL instant messenger. Look for me as highonpokr (no E) on Yahoo IM. I don’t usually turn on AOL IM, but we can work that out when we choose a general time to play via email.

If you are interested, you can click on that perty tab at the top of my site (right above the HoP banner) to get my email address.

On an unrelated note, I read this fine tip from Phil Ivey, thanks to a link from Skidoo. Ivey pretty much says that it is fine and dandy to read up on poker, but ultimately, you have to play the game that feels right to you. It’s something I’ve said here before. You have to play YOUR game to ultimately succeed. If you are playing someone else’s game, you will inevitably fail. But I think Ivey says it a tad more eloquently and with a bit more authority (but just a bit).

Until next time, make mine poker!

Survivor Watch 2007 has come to a close, with Jean-Robert Bellande ousted in 9th place. In Jean-Robert’s own words: “If I were to relate what happened to a game of poker, I pushed all-in and it didn’t work out for me, but I’m playing for first.”

Jean-Robert, pronounced John-Ro-Bear had a decent run as a Survivor, but his position as town jerk made him an inevitable loser in the game of social interaction. Still, J-R brought some interesting twists to the game of Survivor, making moves never before seen in the game in 15 seasons.

J-R first wowed the Survivor world by confronting a skinny gay flight attendant on the first day to tell him (paraphrased): “I’m onto you. I know you are going to be making moves.” The man-stewardess’ reply: “Jean-Robert read me dead-on.” Amazingly, never before has a player confronted another player so early in the game. Certainly, it’s never been done with such a level of scheming and aggression.

J-R next revolutionized the game with Operation Low Expectations. Even though J-R is a behemoth of a man compared to the majority of his fellow castaways, J-R intentionally did little work for the first 10 days. According to the debonair Robert, “When I start working a little bit next week, they’ll all be so amazed and impressed.” Admittedly, this embedded reporter originally thought J-R had signed his own walking-papers with his unorthodox laze, but two episodes later the rest of camp sang the praises of J-R.

Alas, all good things come to an end, and eventually J-R became too big of a target. Even though he ostensibly had the numbers (at merge, his original tribe had 6 members to the other tribe’s 3), J-R also had the mouth. When he learned a tad too late that there were hidden immunity idols in play, he did what any self-respecting poker player would do. First chase from behind by searching for the already found idols; then bluff to a weak player by claiming that he had the immunity idol; then, after learning that one of his own tribemates had the idols and a clear advantage, colluding by getting other players to join in a secret blindsiding attack against the guy with the idols. Eventually, it all turned around on J-R. Word got around that he was making moves and the other players used J-R’s obnoxious reputation to justify their decision.

If there is one saving grace, it is that J-R made it to the jury. In a few weeks time when the show reaches its finale, J-R will have one more opportunity to get in front of the cameras and represent poker players. He may be a dickhead, but he’s OUR dickhead.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I had a fun time at poker last night. My early evening was spent with a handful of my buddies from high school. We met up at Hill Country, an odd BBQ in the City. For you Southerners, the BBQ in NY isn’t exactly what you might be used to. Certainly, the BBQs in NY try to be like their Southern origins, but due to laws against open smokers, its tricky for NY BBQs to get the right effect. Still, there are some decent options in the city. Hill Country, unfortunately, was just borderline.

Basically, the restaurant is “Market Style” which means you get seated at a table, where a server gets you your drinks. You then go up to different counters for meat, sides, dessert, etc. The counters put a mark or sticker on your card, and when you leave, you hand your card to a cashier and he tallies up your meal. I went with a mix of beef and pork ribs, and split three sides with my compadres: mac & cheese, corn pudding and cornbread. I’m a pork ribs kinda guy, but the pork was over-seasoned with too much peppercorn and salt in certain bites. The beef ribs were definitely better, with a lessened amount of peppercorn, although the salt was still fairly heavy. The sides were adequate. The cornbread was probably the best of the bunch. I’m also an avid mac & cheese fan, and theirs was too heavy on the sharp cheddar. In mac & cheese, the cheddar is supposed to give the dish a nice subtle bite to it as an accent. This was all cheddar, so what would be a nice touch became overbearing.

Still, the beer was cold…and free. The waitresses are supposed to charge you for your drinks. I suppose they bring a check or something as you order them. All I know is that we waited around for twenty minutes and asked three times for our drink check and each time they told us, “Just pay at the register.” I was still fairly certain that drinks were paid for at the table, but who was I to argue. After we left, I asked the guys, “Did we pay for our beers?” Jon and Dan nodded no. Then Josh walked out of the restaurant, “I told them about my beer at the register.” SUCKA!

After another drink at a local Swiss-themed bar, I headed home to play in the Mookie. I was home at about 9pm, and fought the temptation to play. After a while of watching television, I fired up the comp and saw a 4-person HU SNG for $20 ready to go on Full Tilt. I jumped in and was seated with my first competitor.

After about ten hands, I noticed that my opponent was taking his time on every decision. I love to play HU, and this is generally a rare thing. In situations like this, I highly recommend that you do the due diligence to determine what your opponent is up to. In this case, I checked to see if my opponent was sitting at any other tables. He was. In fact, he was two-tabling with a $5 HORSE HU SNG.

So, while he was taking his dear, sweet time before calling or folding or whatnot, I was studying his play at the other table. HORSE and NLHE are not interchangeable, and he might very well play one differently than the other. But I could take advantage of his general demeanor during play, and exploit any opportunities that arose from this peculiar situation. For instance, if I saw him raise in the HORSE SNG, I’d raise in my SNG. I figured that if he was raising at HORSE, he would want to focus on that hand, since it likely had potential. Hopefully, this would get him to fold marginal hands at my table. And it worked. In fact, I began raising with ATC, once I got the timing right. I also knew to fold right away if I faced some opposition, since my opponent would only play back at me if he had a hand. After all, it’s not easy playing two HU games simultaneously. It’s also not easy to play two SNGs of different games at the same time. It’s also not easy to play a HORSE SNG with any other game, since HORSE’s game keeps changing. Add these things together and you got yourself a player who is too distracted for his own good.

Eventually, my opponent busted in his HORSE SNG. After watching him the entire time, I saw that my little secret advantage was out the window, so I switched to Phase 2 of the plan. “Bad luck in that HORSE SNG,” I typed into the chat box. It wasn’t really bad luck. He just played poorly. Still, this was my way of telling him that I was watching him. Many people think that you should hide such facts. I’m in agreement that you shouldn’t announce your secret advantage while in play; but once that advantage is neutralized, outting yourself can be a useful tool. In this instance, it did a few things. First, it rubbed some salt in his wound. I knew he just lost. Most HU players are egotistical. I was hoping to tilt him by pointing out his failure. Second, I was letting him know that I was playing attention to his play and that I was working angles against him. Perception-control is a huge advantage in this game. I was announcing to him that I knew his moves, had studied him even. Once again, my goal was to tilt my opponent. If he thinks I know his moves, he may leave his standard game, which so far was fairly tight. I needed to loosen him up for some of my last stage aggression. I wanted him to bite on my raise bait once I had the goods.

Eventually, everything fell into place and I took out my opponent when he called me with a King-high hand preflop against my Ace-high hand. He was not even that short, but I had been betting and raising fairly hard. My Ace held up, and I was onto the next competitor. Nothing too exciting about this one. We played a long game, but I eventually won; easy enough.

Then I played the Mookie. Nothing to see here. Basically, I just played poorly and got all-in with AQ and a Q-high board against someone’s QQ. Lemon!

So goes poker. Ironically, even though I won $60 profit from the HU game, I still felt like it was a losing session after busting from the Mook. I guess money isn’t everything.

Until next time, make mine poker!

So, here we go. Some people asked how I would choose the “right move.” This is a good question. The right move is the move in which you’ll make the most money or lose the least. In these hands, you’ll see it fairly clearly, with the exception of Hand 1. So, let’s get on with the show and I’ll explain as we go.

Hand #1 – The way I see it, this is a mandatory fold with AA. My luckbox opponent’s small bet on the KJ2 flop could have been a value bet or a weak semi-bluff. That is why I raised 5x. I wanted to take down the hand right away, and the only one calling a 5x raise is an inferior, dominated hand like AK or KQ. If my opponent has the goods, like KJ or 22, he’s going to push all-in. Admittedly, he might push with AK too, but I held two Aces so that hand combination was very unlikely. The only possible draw is an OESD, so I don’t have to fear a push with a drawing hand in this situation. These were deep stacks, so I inevitably decided that I had to fold. AA is a great hand, but its preflop value shouldn’t blind you to the situation at hand. So, if you guessed Fold, I’m giving you a win. Technically, I didn’t see my opponents’ hand, but we won’t have that problem in any of the other hands. Answer: Fold.

Hand #2 - In this case, I folded, but the other players ended up all-in. I flopped the Jack-high flush in a PLO8 hand where no low is likely, but when I checked to set up a check-raise, the other two players bet big and then raised all-in. Jack-high flushes are scary hands in PLO. They can easily be the type of hands that lose your entire stack. You hit your flush, you push hard, and you run into a Q-high flush or a K- or A-high flush. In this particular instance, it felt like I had to be behind, so I folded. The board was A26, all spades. When the players flipped their cards, Sonny had 2447, with no spades, and Papa had AK45, with the 4 and 5 of spades. I was way ahead to win half the pot, facing a freaking weak low and a lower flush. But, I folded and I’m still not sure if my fold was correct. Still, if you chose Call, you made the right call, since you’d be rolling in that casheesh while I’m busy folding. Answer: Call.

Hand #3 - We were heads up with an uber aggressive BB after flopping a Jack-high flush draw in a PLO8 game. A low didn’t look likely. After turning our flush (and ensuring no low), Talen raised all-in. MeanHappy was correct that the play in this hand didn’t make sense since he raised more than pot. I do not recall the exact situation now, but I think he may’ve bet 750 on the turn and then raised all-in for 2k+ on the river. Most of you just played along with the information available, and I thank you for that. Unfortunately, Raj, my outsourced blog writer (Jordan hasn’t written a blog entry since late 2005), must be slacking on the editingggg. Whatever the case, I made the call with my Jack-high flush. My opponent showed Ts Qh Jd Kd, for a straight, and we took down the pot. In this instance, heads up, I was not as concerned about a higher flush. I played the hand very passively, so it was also a lot more likely that my opponent was willing to go to war with a set or, as it turned out, a straight. Hell, I could even see him get uber aggressive after flopping top two pair if he reads me as a weak calling station. Answer: Call.

Hand #4 - After flopping a very hidden top and bottom two pair on a 973 board, I checked, only to have one player overbet the pot huge and the other player push all-in. I opted to fold, since the action made little sense. If the first guy didn’t have a set, the second guy did. Alas, I gave them too much credit. The original bettor, Nord had JJ. The raiser, Moose had TT. If I called I would have won the hand, but I folded, probably overcautious, although I am still shocked at my opponents’ willingness to go broke with a small overpair. Regardless, calling would’ve netted the most profit. Answer: Call.

After reviewing the hands and the submissions, I’d like to congratulate the only person who suggested Fold, Call, Call, Call. Congratulations to my Vegas roommate, PokerPeaker. For his trouble, Peaker wins $11! Peaker, I won a $10 45-person SNG last night on Full Tilt, so I’ll let you decide how to get the dough. $11 from Stars, FullTilt, or some random table game in Vegas. Any of those work for me.

That’s it for today. As I mentioned, I won a 45-person SNG last night for $160 profit at FullTilt. The timing was perfect, since I was down to about $50 in that account. I’ve still been missing all of the BBTwo games, but hopefully that will change soon. Life has just been too hectic.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Before my horrid bad luck swing, I copied a series of hands where I made, what I considered, correct plays. I would like some of your input. The key to these hands in particular is whether or not I should fold. I won’t tell you the results until tomorrow, so take a stab at whether you would’ve folded or called/raised in these situations and bask at your intelligence tomorrow! Or, find out that you were stupid. It’s up to you!

Just for the hell of it, we’ll consider this one a You Decide post. So, without further adieu:

You Decide #56 – in four parts

Hand #1
We are in a $69+6 $7000 guaranteed tournament on Full Tilt, at the 15/30 level. We’ve been playing tight and have near our starting stack of 3000, when we are dealt AA on the button. A player in EP limps for 30, the CO limps for 30, and we raise it to 165. The BB calls, and everyone else folds. We don’t have any reads on the BB.

The flop is KJ2, rainbow. The BB bets 200 into the 405 pot. I raise to 1005. The BB pushes all-in to 2835. What do you do?

Hand #2
We are in a PLO H/L double stack tournament on Full Tilt. We have 4060 and the blinds are 25/50. We are dealt Js Qd Ts 8c, UTG and limp. For the purpose of today’s discussion, let’s ignore the limp with those cards and any other decisions made until the last decision. I want to focus on what to do in these marginal situations, so how I get there is merely presented for background.

Sonny, the UTG+1 with 2183, raises to 225. Papa with 4600 in MP, calls. I call as well. Once again, we have no reads on individual players.

The flop is A26, all spades. I have a Jack-high flush. I check, intending to check-raise. Sonny bets 750 into the 750 pot. Papa raises to 3,000. At this point, what do we do?

Hand #3
We are still in the PLO H/L tournament, with 5768. It has become apparent that the game is fairly loose. The blinds are 50/100. With Jh 3h 6d 4d, we call, UTG. Grinch, with over 15,000, calls in UTG+2. Homey, with 6k, calls from the button. The SB folds, and the BB, Talen with 6,733, calls.

The flop is 2h 9h Ks. We have a Jack-high flush draw. Talen in the BB bets 100. We call. Grinch folds. Homey on the button calls.

The turn is Th. There is no low possible and we hit our Jack-high flush draw. Talen bets 2250. What should we do?

Hand #4
We are now playing at Poker.com in a $25 buy-in tournament with some guarantee. Blinds are 25/50, and we have around 2600. We are in the BB and are dealt 93o. Preflop, Nord raises to 100 from UTG. The button, Moose, calls. Both Nord and Moose have us outchipped. The SB folds and I call the 50.

The flop is 973 rainbow. I check, expecting to check-raise. Nord bets 900 into the 325 pot. Moose raises all-in for 2655. What should we do?

That’s it for now. Please share your thoughts. The results should be very interesting. In fact, I’ll offer up $11 via Stars transfer for one commentor whoever makes the correct play in each instance. I’ll take all correct answers submitted by tomorrow morning, and pick one out of a hat. I’ll only accept the first submission, if you guess more than once.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Since Riggstad tagged me and I’m a big fan of his work with Riverchasers, I’ll play along:

A). Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog…

B). Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself…

C). Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs…

D). Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.OK, here goes:

1. I’ve never had any venereal diseases, ever.

2. I have never been in a fight. On one occasion at a bar in NYC during New Years, a guy in front of me to use the bathroom was too shy to use the exposed urinal, so he said that he was just going to pee in the corner. As he walked to the corner to piss, I said, “Dude, if you piss on the floor and your piss gets on my shoes, I’m going to cold cock you.” (Cold cock means ‘punch’, Woffles, you sick fuck). He was way bigger than me, but he still turned around apologized sheepishly and shook my hand to show he meant no harm. It felt great, although I would’ve prefered to cold cock the guy so that I could officially be in a fight.

3. I sincerely believe that people who think anyone other than terrorists performed the 9/11 attacks are dumb as shit or hate America (or the Jews, depending on their chosen conspiracy). Any coverup would take at least dozens of collaborators, and in today’s every-man-for-himself/24-hour news coverage environment, the fact that none of these collaborators have come forward is proof enough that this wasn’t some government coverup.

4. One time in high school, I won $72 off of my good buddy Jon, over an afternoon of random heads up gambling. That was a large amount, since we usually played cheap stakes. This also planted the seed for my love of gambling. Jon, incidentally, does not gamble much anymore. He lost fairly constantly.

5. I am not going to my high school reunion because I see everyone I want to see and I have terrible long term memory. I know I’m going to forget not only names, but who people are and how I knew them. In my freshman year at college, a girl saw me at a bar, screeched, “JORDAN!” and then rushed over to hug me. We talked for 10 minutes and when she walked away, I asked my HS/college buddy Josh who she was. His response: “She’s Samantha from Junior High.” “Did I know her?” “You two were friends!” I still don’t remember her at all.

6. I have no regrets in life.

7. The majority of my bar exam studying took place at the local Borders mega bookstore (where I would alternate between law and comic books) and the nearby park where I would go with wifey Kim. Most people were too neurotic to take it so lightly. On one particularly beautiful day at the part, while I studied/suntanned, I took a short break and had this thought: “If a meteor hit the earth right now and we all died, the people studying in the library will be the real idiots since I’ve enjoyed myself while half-assed studying. Suckers!”

Now, I’m supposed to tag seven people, but I sadly will not. Sorry guys, but I just don’t know how widespread this meme is right now, and I don’t want to double-tag. But, hey, if you wanna be tagged, tag yourself and have at it.

Until next time, make mine poker!

A week or so ago, I wrote about what poker taught me about work. This morning I had another similar thought, as I continue to process the string of bad luck that hit me Saturday and Sunday.

Sometimes in life, you just get unlucky. We know this in cards, since we’ve all seen our share of 2-outters and bad beats. In poker, its just a part of the game. Ultimately, I hope to train myself mentally and emotionally to accept these tough breaks, since fighting them internally will do nothing to change the laws of probability. By accepting bad luck, I can work on my perception of the situation. I do not want to internalize or personalize bad luck because, frankly, it isn’t personal.

Such is life. There will be times where you or I make the right move and lose. There will be times where we will hit that one-outter of life. I’ve experienced both recently.

In poker, I train myself to accept these facts of life, but in life it is harder. When I got lucky and something came through last minute, saving the day, I considered it something I deserved or earned. When I got unlucky and some bad fate fell upon me, I considered it punishment for my errors or a sign of my faults.

In reality, life is poker. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good. In the end, all we can ever do is ride it out, hope that it all evens out in the end, and use our skills and character to consistently work hard and work smart. Only through smart, hard work can we really control our destiny, even as it is thrown around by the whims of luck. Only through smart, hard work can we be proactive about life and poker, instead of reactive to the luck that will fall on us regardless of our actions.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Wifey Kim spent the weekend in Georgia. Since I had a Saturday to myself, I decided to start off the day with some online poker. I played SNG after SNG as part of Full Tilt’s SNG-Madness promo, but I kept losing. In most instances, I was playing very well, but I simply got unlucky. Two outers, four outers, six outers. I accepted it for what it was, a spell of bad luck. But ultimately, I needed to walk away because the bad luck just wouldn’t shake.

A couple of hours later, I played some MTTs. I got far in the few MTTs I player, but went out late to suckouts.

Last night, I went to the Salami Club and played some 2/5 NL. I only bought in with $300 since I’ve been running bad. I was down to $80, having gone down from a high of $420 or so. I held KK and my neighbor to my right held QJd. He raised preflop in EP to $30. Since I had a monster hand and planned on leaving soon, regardless of the outcome, I pushed all-in. It folded around to him and he flashed me his cards. We were chatting, since I’ve known him from Salami for a long time but hadn’t seen him in a while. We get along, the closest thing to a friend I have at the club. It was clear that he was leaning toward a fold, so I started talking. When he showed me his cards, I suggested, “Well, you have two overs.” I was lying, and while it may be ‘wrong’ at the time, I was acting on sheer instinct (and the need for a call). He asked me, “Do you mean that?” Now I had time to think, so I half-admitted, “Well, I can’t promise you anything. You’ll have to call to find out.” He called. I showed my KK and he showed his QJs. The flop was 9-high. The turn was a Ten. The river was a King. I lied my way into losing $110+. We joked about it. He had a monster stack so the $80 would’ve been nothing to him at the moment. I was a man about it, joked about how I did it to myself, kept it friendly as I said my goodbyes. As I left, I thought, “This is the bad streak.” But I also thought, “But it might be over. Just continue to play well and fight through the bad luck.”

When I got home this evening, I played a $26 token race. I lost to a cointoss, my 88 vs. KJ, but the guy who called really had no reason to take such a gamble. I played a Razz MTT at Stars and was doing well until I moved into Brick City and lost major hands due to a neverending string of shit cards.

I just busted from a FT Knockout MTT. In these knew Knockout MTTs, you receive a bounty (i.e., $) for every person you bust, so strategy encourages trapping and at times calling someone all-in. I held AK in EP, after a raise from 40 to 120. I raised it up to 320. At the time, I had about my full 1500 stack. A guy in LP called, but the EP original raiser folded. HU, we saw a KJx flop. I paused for a moment. My opponent only had about 880 left, which was near the pot size. I checked, hoping to induce a push. After all, I wanted to knock him out, not just win the sizeable pot. My opponent obliged, I called, and he showed AJ. I had him dead to two jacks, with two cards to come. He only needed one.

I probably owe you all a few bucks for the bad beat stories. That’s really not what I’m concerned with. I constantly remind myself, almost like a mediative mantra, that I must remain calm in the face of adversity. Getting upset over uncontrollable luck is just self-destructive. But I can’t help but shake this feeling that I’m not through with the bad luck spell.

The only coping mechanism I have is to not play poker, but frankly, when I’m playing well, is that the right answer. So, I ask you, what do you do when you are facing a spell of bad luck? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I busted fairly early in the Riverchasers event. I had about 3600 when I ran my Aces all-in against Kings preflop. Yes. Into KINGS. The flop had a King and I was down to 200 chips.

About a week or two ago, I got a player to go all-in for his $100 stack in a cash game, when I held Aces and he had Kings. The flop had two Kings. Dems Quads Beeches!

In both instances, I felt the sting of bad luck. But really, what do I have to feel bad about?

Poker is a game of skill and luck. But those particular hands, well, they were just luck. It’s all too common to see those situations and think that the chances of the King coming (twice!) was so small that I was extremely unlucky. But I prefer to think of the hands as a proverbial cointoss if you look at the game in a different perspective.

In both hands, it was easy to get my opponent all-in with his Kings. 99.999% of players will automatically call an all-in with Kings preflop, especially against a player with my range. So, preflop, I had already gotten lucky twice by (1) being dealt Aces when (2) my opponent gets dealt KK. I did nothing to earn that situation.

When you get THAT lucky to have Aces over Kings, you are already in great position to stack your opponent. But I didn’t do anything to get to that position. The hands played out as they did because of a unique string of events. Even though the end product of that string is that I am now an 81% chance of winning, that early luck in no way guarantees that I will win; nor does it mean that I should win.

One call look at those situations as two 19% suckouts, or we can look at the game from a broader perspective. I didn’t get unlucky that Kings flopped. I was unlucky that I was dealt AA when my opponent was dealt KK and a King was about to flop. As soon as the deck was shuffled, my fate was sealed. I was destined to lose both hands, and the manner in which I lost didn’t matter.

Its really the same thing as being dealt KK against AA, when no King comes. In a situation like that, it might stink to be in such an unlucky situation (although, arguably, I could take some responsibility for not folding KK, whereas with AA vs. KK it was an inevitable outcome).

I suppose this is all to say that I didn’t get unlucky when my opponent improbably hit his set. Instead, I got unlucky by getting dealt Aces. It doesn’t do me any good to personalize it or focus on that elusive 81/19 lead I held preflop. All that matters is how the hand ended up.

*****

I attempted to throw a homegame this weekend. Wifey Kim will be in Georgia, traveling with a gaggle of her chick friends to see another one of her chick friends and her new baby. When the cat’s away, the mice will gamble, so I tried to arrange a NLHE tourney or cash game in my NYC apartment for Saturday. I must’ve text messaged over 25 people, a random assortment of local gamblers I’ve met from various social circles. I got some interest, but ultimately not enough to make it an easily organized game. I’ve given my critique of many homegames on this blog, and I’m not blind to the realities of hosting a poker game. The host has a terribly difficult job, from gathering player (who usually avoid committing until the last minute) to turning away last minute players after the game is full to making sure that the game runs smoothly. In my experience, all of these things cause agita. And worst of all, I never play as well when I host because I’m so focused on hosting duties.

Ultimately, I called off the game. It was a nice thought, but the reality is quite different. So, I thank those who throw great homegames, like Jamie at Wall Street Poker and Roose and his crew, the occasional IHO game, or the midtown donkorific homegame in my bro-in-law’s building. I’m glad you guys are running some games, cause lord knows I can’t stomach the gig.

And on that note, anyone feel like checking out an underground poker room this weekend?

Until next time, make mine poker!