High On Poker

Hey readers. I’ve been dragging myself through the mud all day because of that last post, an amalgamation of a couple of ideas that came out in a pile that resembled a duece more than an ace. But fortunately, my blogger bretheren are kind enough to write some fantastic stuff out there, so I’ve got a new post in mind. Special thanks to the Black Widow of Poker, aka BWoP, aka CK, aka the Asian Sensasion, for inspiring this post. In a recent post of the BWoP, ole BWoPpy paraphrased something Miami Donald said during the Buddy Dank Radio Programme. Essentially, from my limited reading comprehension skills, Miami Donatello said that in the early stages of deep-stack tournaments, there is little need to get tangled up in marginal situations. Now, don’t actually attribute that to Donny, unless he wants to adopt that stance, since its through two filters, BWoPpy’s and mine. But let’s extapolate a bit more from this kernel of an idea.

There are two schools of thought in deep stack tournaments. One is that the blinds start off low, so you should not be playing marginal hands early since you can fold for orbits upon orbits without seriously handicapping yourselves. The other school of thought proposes that it is when blinds are low relative to stacks that you can play more hands, provided that you can control pot size so that you are not risking much of your stack unless a situation is extremely strong.

So, I ask thee, Which is True:

Statement A: In a deep stack tournament with a reasonable blind structure, it is better to have tight hand selection while the blinds are small relative to your stack.

OR

Statement B: In a deep stack tournament with a reasonable blind structure, it is better to play more hands early, while the blinds are still small relative to your stack.

If you have a thought, chime in. If you don’t have a thought, you clearly are not thinking hard enough. Hell, even if someone has already posted your thoughts, still chime in, because, well, I’m sure that person could use your support.

Oh, and feel free to add qualifiers to your comment. I don’t mind “It depends…” but “It depends…” is a lot more effective if you can explain on what it depends.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Things have been changing for good ole J-bird’s online play lately. I’ve re-entered the world of NLHE cash games, dipping my big toe in the guppy-infested waters at Bodog. Naturally, I’m still playing with an unhealthy portion of my bankroll, but I am still playing in lower stakes than usual and I keep enough of my bankroll in reserve in case I lose a buy-in.

It’s an interesting proposition, re-entering the world of online NLHE cash games. Bodog is a great place to start, given the horrible play there. Even so, I have been mostly playing $50 max and leaving the table up $10-20, as opposed to several buy-ins. The key to my re-entry has been patience in the early-goings. Once I identify the donks, I can loosen up a bit, but for the most part, patience has paid off. This is nothing new, but its nice to be able to get back into the game with a ‘fresh’ start.

The ‘freshness’ of this new start is predicated on the fact that, generally, I prefer online tournaments to cash games. Live is another story, but online, I find something very satisfying about playing SNGs and mid-sized MTTs. No 1000 player MTTs for me, though. As much as it may seem like fun to win 500x your buy-in, the bare fact is that I cannot find the time or patience to play online poker for 5+ hours at a stretch.

Meanwhile, I’ve made a conscious decision regarding the blogger tournaments. My new favorite is the Bodonkey for obvious reasons.

I cashed again in the Bodonkey tournament two nights ago, taking 4th place and some small amount of money. Interestingly, I’ve played this tournament maybe three times so far, and I’ve cashed twice. It’s nothing particularly special. This week, I happened to have been dealt great cards and used them and my image to my advantage. But the prize is fantastic. As I’ve said, it’s only a “small amount of money” for fourth place, but the real value-added is the T$109 given to the top five players. In a very real way, I see this tournament as just another token race. My play this week did not reflect that, since I was able to accumulate a big chip lead relatively early (I think I busted Chadwith my AA to his KK and then never looked back), but once I make it to one of the top 5 spots, I consider it almost equivalent to winning the tournament. Granted, I just did the math, and the difference between 4th place and 1st is $100, approximately the same difference as between 6th (the bubble) and cashing, but there is some odd satisfaction I get knowing that I am able to earn a piece of that juicy overlay.

Also, congratulations are in order for lightning36 for winning the Bodonkey for the 4th time, and Peaker for making a stellar comeback from T65 at the final table to 2nd place.

On the other hand, last night after a long drive home from Binghamton, I decided that it would be foolish to play in the Mookie. I got nothing but love for Mook, himself, and lately I cannot get enough of blogger poker tournaments, but I think I might have to retire from the Mookie. Plain and simple, the Deep Stack structure, larger field, and quality of blogger play leads to a tourney that can last easily past 1am, EST. Last week, this caused me to make a poor play with AK because of the encroaching 1am hour. Jordan needs his beauty sleep, damnit!

The Hoy, on the other hand, will stay on my short list of favorite tournaments. The 6-max structure makes for a quicker-paced game more suited for my style, and for some reason, the crowds are thinner (the buy-in, perhaps?). Whatever the case, I love the Hoy, and I’m still holding the #3 spot on the leaderboard after a whopping 4 weeks, so I’ve got that goal for me too.

That’s all for today, look for me to not be at the Riverchasers tournament later tonight or, for that matter, for the next 7 weeks or so, as I will be tied to the TV watching Lost. Oh, and for those Lost fans out there, let me offer some sage wisdom. I am way too informed about entertainment news, so let me warn you well in advance that you will probably feel disappointed after the 8-episode half-season is over. Unlike Heroes, who were able to adjust their plotting (for better or worse) to respond to the writers’ strike, the folks at Lost didn’t change a thing. Naturally, in any show like Lost, the second half of the season has most of the payoff. So, while we may all wish that we were watching 8 episodes of amazing revelations, the reality is that we are going to be watching 8 episodes that set up the amazing revelations that we should end up seeing sometime in 2009. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t watch; you should. Even though the show got a bit shitty in the beginning of seasons 3, the finale with the flash-forward really reinvigorated the show. Also, look for tonight’s episode to have more flash-forward goodness.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Hey folks. I’m still swamped with work. At 2:30 today, I am leaving the office to drive up to Binghamton, NY, a good 3 hours north of NYC. Early tomorrow morning, I have a telephone conference with a NJ Court and then two Binghamton depositions. Then I get to drive home, just in time for two more depositions, both in NJ, on Thursday and Friday. But this weekend, I’m heading to Mexico with wifey Kim, so that’s the only part I am focusing on when I start to think about the amount of things planned this week. It helps that I spent a lot of time this weekend gearing up for the week.

I wanted to write about my three recent sessions, but I’ll give you the CliffNotes version:

I Had Outs Tournament of Champions- I was amongst the players who were allowed to rebuy 2x, thanks to my January & September success at the IHO tournaments. I used both rebuys and busted within 2 hours. Simply put, I just didn’t play well.

Wall Street Game .50/1 NL- I won $160, for probably one of the biggest wins at the table. I did not get a single hand better than AJo, including not one single pocket pair. But I was patient, for the most part, and picked my spots well against particular players. This is how poker is supposed to be played.

The Hoy- I played way too many hands and basically threw a party at my table. Even so, I made some good plays as a shortie. Still, my bad plays vastly overwhelmed my good ones.

Simply put, I was not playing well at the IHO or Hoy game. I cannot even say why, but inebriation is a leading candidate, together with work-related stress. In the end though, it’s all me.

Moving along, I have a couple of half-written posts, so I might as well use what useful content I have. The two best posts are merely hand histories of Razz hands, but since this has been a Razz-heavy blog lately, I might as well go through them with you.

This first hand is from the Riverchasers Razz tournament last week. Watch as I use the Force to influence my opponent. Please, do NOT try this at home:

Full Tilt Poker Game #4985196909: Riverchasers Online Tour (35814778), Table 2 – 600/1200 Ante 100 – Limit Razz – 23:29:49 ET – 2008/01/24
Seat 2: schlepp571 (16,413)
Seat 3: MoonShadow58 (7,954)
Seat 4: snakster (2,271)
Seat 5: Meltdown (7,258)
Seat 6: MrEvol217 (12,105)
Seat 7: HighOnPoker (8,130) <-- Sporting a decent stack thanks to my super secret Razz strategy.
Seat 8: dhump3 (8,224)
All Players ante 100 (700 total)

*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to schlepp571 [8d]
Dealt to MoonShadow58 [2c]
Dealt to snakster [Js]
Dealt to Meltdown [7h]
Dealt to MrEvol217 [2d]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [2h 4s] [3c] <-- Not a bad start.
Dealt to dhump3 [3s]
snakster is high with [Js]
snakster brings in for 200
Meltdown calls 200
MrEvol217 folds
HighOnPoker completes it to 600 <-- Easy complete.
dhump3 calls 600
schlepp571 folds
MoonShadow58 calls 600
snakster raises to 1,200
Meltdown raises to 1,800
HighOnPoker raises to 2,400 <-- Might as well cap. I have a great hand, and I want people to know it, so hopefully someone will fold.
dhump3 has 15 seconds left to act
dhump3 calls 1,800
MoonShadow58 folds <-- One folder, but the other three call. Snakster is all-in.
snakster calls 971, and is all in
Meltdown calls 600

*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to snakster [Js] [Qh]
Dealt to Meltdown [7h] [Qd]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [2h 4s 3c] [9c] <-- This is laughable. It's an ideal situation. I may only have a 9, but my three competitors have bricked with Queens or a pair
Dealt to dhump3 [3s] [3h]
HighOnPoker bets 600 <-- I still want to be aggressive to knock out some of the players.
dhump3 has 15 seconds left to act
dhump3 folds
Meltdown calls 600 <-- One caller, with a Q7, besides the all-in player, who we can now ignore.

*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to snakster [Js Qh] [Qc] <-- See? I told you we could ignore him.
Dealt to Meltdown [7h Qd] [4d]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [2h 4s 3c 9c] [Jh] <-- Not an ideal situation. This is why I wanted to thin the herd earlier. I now have a J9 low, compared to Meltdown's likely Q7 low. I can assume he has two low cards underneath because of the preflop re-raising.
HighOnPoker bets 1,200 <-- I bet out, hoping that Meltdown paired his 4.
Meltdown raises to 2,400 <-- He raises, but I know I am still presently ahead, so...
HighOnPoker calls 1,200 <-- I am willing to call at this point. I'm still ahead and the pot is huge.

*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to snakster [Js Qh Qc] [9h]
Dealt to Meltdown [7h Qd 4d] [7d] <-- Bingo!
Dealt to HighOnPoker [2h 4s 3c 9c Jh] [Ah] <-- Bango! He bricks, and I hit a great card. I am still hoping to force a fold. A 9-high is okay, but he could very well be drawing to a 7-high, based on his prior action.
HighOnPoker bets 1,200 <-- I bet to force the fold or pump the pot. Either way is fine since I am ahead.
Meltdown has 15 seconds left to act
HighOnPoker: just fold <-- I prefer a fold. So I concentrate my energy and use some Obi Wan magic.
Meltdown folds <-- The Force is strong with this one.
HighOnPoker shows [2h 4s 3c 9c Jh Ah]
snakster shows [4c 3d Js Qh Qc 9h]
Uncalled bet of 1,200 returned to HighOnPoker

*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to snakster [4c 3d Js Qh Qc 9h] [9s]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [2h 4s 3c 9c Jh Ah] [Kc] <-- And I DO brick on the river. All is well in the world!

This next hand is a fun one, mostly because it harkens back to the ole “Never play a Queen in Razz” argument:

Full Tilt Poker Game #4985289336: Riverchasers Online Tour (35814778), Table 2 – 800/1600 Ante 150 – Limit Razz – 23:37:46 ET – 2008/01/24
Seat 1: pokerpeaker (15,646)
Seat 2: schlepp571 (25,237)
Seat 3: MoonShadow58 (11,762)
Seat 6: MrEvol217 (7,305)
Seat 7: HighOnPoker (19,701) <-- Not a bad stack...
Five players ante 150 (750 total)

*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to pokerpeaker [Jc]
Dealt to schlepp571 [9c]
Dealt to MoonShadow58 [Tc]
Dealt to MrEvol217 [5c]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [Ah 2d] [Qd] <-- Terrible Queen, but the other cards are perfect.
HighOnPoker is high with [Qd]
HighOnPoker brings in for 250 <-- Forced bring-in.
Three folders.
MrEvol217 completes it to 800 <-- One player completes. He is the last player to act, so its a good chance that he is doing a typical steal with his 5 showing.
HighOnPoker: here comes the Jordan <-- I announce my intention and then call. It's a gutsy and frankly stupid play, but I am sitting on perfect hidden cards, whereas he is likely on a steal, and I have mucho chips, so I can afford to call/fold. The comment is made to underscore the stupidity of the play. I want my opponent to underestimate me.
HighOnPoker calls 550

*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to MrEvol217 [5c] [Qs] <-- Suddenly we are on equal footing with Queens showing...
Dealt to HighOnPoker [Ah 2d Qd] [7d] <-- And I hit a good card.
MrEvol217 bets 800 <-- He bets, naturally/ HighOnPoker: touche <-- I make a snide remark to induce a call. I seriously don't expect much from him in this hand, and considering that we are now on near-equal footing, I want to start sowing the seeds of doubt. HighOnPoker raises to 1,600 MrEvol217 raises to 2,400 HighOnPoker raises to 3,200 <-- We get into a raising war, but I like the momentum of this hand, so I want to keep it going. He is fairly short, so it looks like he will end up all-in anyway.
MrEvol217 calls 800

*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to MrEvol217 [5c Qs] [9h]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [Ah 2d Qd 7d] [4h]
HighOnPoker bets 1,600 <-- Fantastic card for me, and now I am definitely ahead of his Q9. I bet out, since I know he is getting all-in no matter what.
MrEvol217 calls 1,600 <-- Meek call is just stupid. He may as well push there. It isn't like he is going to keep his 1555 behind.

*** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to MrEvol217 [5c Qs 9h] [6h]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [Ah 2d Qd 7d 4h] [8h] <-- SWEET! A nice 87 works for me, especially in this hand.
HighOnPoker bets 1,600
MrEvol217 calls 1,555, and is all in <-- See? I told you he was getting all-in no matter what.
HighOnPoker shows [Ah 2d Qd 7d 4h 8h]
MrEvol217 shows [Ad Jh 5c Qs 9h 6h] <-- I was correct. He started with a Jack underneath. Even though his J5A starting hand is better than my Q2A, I consider royalty to be all the same in Razz. Realistically, I am never hoping to beat another player in a signficant pot by having a lower royal card (for example, my Jack high beats their King high). Sometimes hands develop that way, but in the earlygoings, I consider those royalty cards essentially blanks.
HighOnPoker: another fine hand history! <-- Yes, yes it is.
Uncalled bet of 45 returned to HighOnPoker

*** 7TH STREET ***
Dealt to MrEvol217 [Ad Jh 5c Qs 9h 6h] [2h]
Dealt to HighOnPoker [Ah 2d Qd 7d 4h 8h] [Kd]
HighOnPoker shows [Ah 2d Qd 7d 4h 8h Kd] 8,7,4,2,A
MrEvol217 shows [Ad Jh 5c Qs 9h 6h 2h] 9,6,5,2,A
HighOnPoker wins the pot (15,060) with 8,7,4,2,A
MrEvol217 stands up

Maybe playing a Queen doorcard isn’t such a sin after all. I do remind everyone that tournament Razz and cash Razz are very different games. In a cash game, I fold immediately after the completion. But in a tournament, players are more likely to be on a steal, particularly at the higher ante levels. In comparison, cash games have static antes and I usually play fairly deep.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Hey y’all! How’s everyone doing today? Yeah. Me, not so great. Busy as shit, I’ve got a slew of things to do over the next two weeks. Every once in a while the planets will allign, and I’ll have about 4 cases coming to head at the same time. Well, get in line Uranus, cause I’m buried.

Unfortuantely, when I get like this, my mood turns to shit. I’m pretty much a chick on PMS, snapping at inappropriate targets and craving chocolate. Just to be safe, I stuck a Kotex pad in my drawers. I may not have a bleeding axe wound, but at least it allows me to work and urinate at the same time. Super absorbant!

In my PMS’y mood, I decided to play the Mookie last night. I may be in a state of mental and emotional turmoil, but my poker game was dead on until about 5 minutes before the last hand. By then, we were down to a 3 or so tables, and I was at an above-average stack. I looked over at the clock and realized it was 12:30am. I had to come to work early this morning and early the morning before, so I was exhausted AND I wouldn’t be getting a full night’s sleep anyway. When I saw the clock and the amount of players, my heart sank. I just couldn’t do it. I always advocate that you should not enter a tournament you cannot finish, but I just assumed that the Mook would be done in under 4 hours.

With a sense of anxiety, I continued to play, doing the math in my head about the probable amount of sleep I would get if I play the entire tournament. And then I found my out. With AKo, I decided to raise. Before I could do that, though, another player raised to about 1,300, which was probably around pot. I decided to push all-in over the top for about 9k total. He called with KK, and I lost. I felt a simultaneous feeling of relief and disappointment: relief, in that I didn’t have to worry about staying up; disappointment in that I really felt like I was playing well. But playing well doesn’t count for shit if you are going to blow up near the end. I took my consolation prize, namely, my bed, and called it a night.

Today has been manic, but coming into the later hours, I’m back on track. I’ll be working this weekend, but they’ll also be a lot of poker. Saturday night is the I Had Outs Tournament of Champions! Amazingly, I am one of the few players to win multiple events in the monthly tournament series, so I have a slight advantage, an extra rebuy or two (I have to see how often I cashed). The next day, I have brunch for my pop’s birthday, followed by cash games at the Wall Street Game. I may be unable to win at the WSG, but I love the company…even if I have to pay for it.

Before I go, I’d like to announce something near and dear to my heart. Many moons ago, I held the Heads-Up Challenge amongst eight or so bloggers as a means to get more HU experience and have some fun. In its last incarnation, HUC5, Fuel55 took over the helm and raised the stakes to a $30 buy-in. This year, RecessRampage has been duped into being the Commissioner, so head on over to his site or the HUC blog to get more details. Here is a bare-bones explanation of how it will work.

You send $30 to RecessRampage. RecessRampage prepares brackets. You have 5 days to arrange and play your bracket competitor. I believe each round will be Best of 3 or Best of 5 or something similar. You can choose whatever stakes you want for the bracket matches, as long as you defer to the cheaper of the two players. It’s about the HU poker, not the HU stakes. Once you have completed your bracket, the other guy will email RR telling RR that he won, since you lost because you suck. Or hey, maybe you suckout enough and you win, in which case, you email RR. Once the first round is done, the second round will be set up and played within x amount of days. And so on. Top spots get part of the prizepool made up of the $30 entry fees. Winner gets to claim that he is the best poker player ever because he beat a bunch of hack writers in a sloppy HU tournament. Sounds good? Now get transfering.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Last night, I took a hand from Fuel with my KQh vs. his JJ. Preflop, he raised from the button. I think I flat called. The flop was Queen-high. I checked. He checked. The turn was a blank. I bet out, he called. The river was another blank. I bet out big again and he called again. (These details were originally wrong, very wrong, but have since been corrected. That said, you’ll see that its ultimately unimportant).

After the hand, Fuel said, “I was 85% to win.”

I thought, you crazy?! and wrote, “Since when is JJ v KQ an 85/15 situation. Last I heard, it was almost 50/50.”

He answered, and I paraphrase, “Based on your range of hands, the chance that you were ahead on the flop was only 15%.”

And he is probably right. And I am right too. I guess it’s all about perspective.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I placed 2nd in the Hoy last night, making it my second Hoy cash of the year. After my first one, I secretly resolved to try my hardest to make it to the top the leader board, at least for a little while. I’m a little bit closer, having moved to the #2 spot, with Surflexus taking top honors. Congrats to Surf, by the way, for besting me last night. He played exceptionally well, but that’s nothing new for ole Surfy.

But lets be honest. You aren’t here for my self-praise or even my Surflexus-praise. You are here to see if you won my “$11 for Your Dirty Thoughts” contest. Let’s recap the answers, before I give the winner.

Here’s the setup. A coworker had a bachelor party at the Penthouse Club, a strip club in NYC. First, the party had dinner at the Club’s steakhouse. The entire time this conversation was happening, I was thinking of wiseass comments about a steakhouse in a strip club, so I invited you to join me. The entries are:

• Penthouse Club. Our steaks aren’t the only thing we give a rub. (PokerWolf)
• Mmmm, New York strips. (on_thg)
• Penthouse Club. Where a dollar gets you the best seat in town! (KuroKitty)
• Penthouse Club Steaks – that ain’t horse radish. (BadBlood)
• Our steaks aren’t the only thing you will want to snatch. (Stb)
• Penthouse club : The best beef for certain….if not the best beef curtains…. (PokahDave)
• Yes, we know our club is expensive but you can’t meet Jordan’s missus any cheaper. Trust us on that. (KenP…jerk!)
• Penthouse Club: Where you WANT the House Special to land in your lap. AND
  Penthouse Club: There’s more sizzlin’ here than just the steaks. (Yestbay)
• Penthouse Club: Working HARD to keep you that way. (BSN)
• Penthouse Club: You can beat our prices…but you can’t beat our meat (or yours). (JDSchellnut)

And the winner is:

• Penthouse Club Steaks – Our pink is not rare. (4dbirds)

I gave 4dbirds the win for the clever play on words. Congrats, 4dbirds. Now leave me a comment or an email (you can use the tab up top) with your FT screenname and that $11 is on its way.

Now that I’ve lost those ten readers, the rest of us can move on. I played a hand last night that left me wondering if I left money on the table. My personal thought is that my river call (instead of raise) was the correct play, but I’d like to hear your two pesos.

Here’s the setup. We are playing the 6-handed Hoy. There are 5 players at our table. I’m sitting pretty with over 7200 at the 100/200 level. In the BB, I’m dealt 34o. LifesAGrind, in the SB with almost 8k, calls. I check.

The flop is 7s 4d 9d. I have hit bottom pair, shitty kicker. LAG bets 400 and I call. Do your best not to be too distracted from this call. Whether it makes sense or not is not the intended goal of this exercise. What’s important is what comes next.

The turn is a 4c, giving me three of a kind. LAG bets the pot, 1200. Rather than raise, I call quickly. My goal is to keep him betting. I’ve said this many times before, but I sincerely believe that there are opportunities for psychological warfare in online poker, and one of those is based on the fact that people often continue doing what they did last. It’s the law of inertia. So if I call quick, I can probably get another quick bet. For all intents and purposes, I think I am ahead. Admittedly, though, my passive play has left me with minimal information.

The river is a 6s. The card may make straights, but it doesn’t make any obvious straights. It also doesn’t bring a flush. So, once again, I think I am ahead, but I don’t know 100%. LAG bets pot again, 3600, and I opt to flat call. He shows 87o, and I take down the pot.

So, should I have raised on the end? I don’t think so, but others seemed to disagree. After the 3600 raise, LAG only had 2500 behind. That meant I had around 1700. If I push, I am putting my tournament life on the line, whereas, if I just call, I may still win the nicely sized pot AND I’m protecting myself from busting. I personally feel confident that I can make a comeback from 1700 chips, so why take a chacne at this point. If I check and call, I win a pot of 10,800. Will an extra 1700 really make a difference?

So, do your best to ignore some of the earlier play in the hand, other than as reference for that river situation. Do you push there?

Until next time, make mine poker!

A coworker and I were chatting about our weekends when my boss overheard the conversation. At the time, my coworker was telling me about the bachelor party he attended at the Penthouse Club in NYC. The high-class strip club features a highly-regarded steakhouse. He was talking about the large amount of money needed and my boss pops in, “Talking about casinos?” He knows me too well. My coworker explained what we were actually discussing, and while the conversation between the three of us continued, I thought of a bunch of offcolor comments that I just could not make in a work setting. But I can make them here. So, here goes the littany of comments I thought of but couldn’t say. If you can think of some more, feel free to add. In fact, the best one gets $11 to enter a Mookie of their choice! In fact, I’ll add them to my list as the day wares on. Three participants minimum for the contest to go into effect. Maximum five entries per person.

• Penthouse Club. Come for the Steak, Stay for the Fish!
• Penthouse Club. How about a little Prime Rib before that Roast Beef!
• Penthouse Club. Our meat is dry-aged, and so is our steaks!
• Do they make crotch-shaped hair nets?

Get crackin’.

Until next time, make mine poker!

If online poker was legalized in the United States, cheaters could be prosecuted under federal or state law and could serve jail time for multi-accounting, colluding and other forms of online cheating.

I wonder how that would change online poker. Right now, if you are caught cheating, the worst case scenario is that your name gets posted all over 2+2, you get banned from that poker site (and perhaps one more), and possibly you get banned from live tournaments sponsored by online sites. In other words, you merely have to go to a different online poker site, open up a new account with the old site, and choose your live tournaments a bit more carefully. Compare that with prison rape…you see where this is going.

You might remember last week when I wrote about playing a Razz hand against Woffles where my door card was a Queen, I made the bring-in, Woffles completed, another player called, and I called because I had two low cards and I liked the pot odds. I won the hand and Woffles posted about how much of a donkey I am on four different sites. From the Razz blog, Brickin the Nutz, Woffles had this to say:

“Anyways please do not follow Jordon’s donkish play and call raises with Queen door cards. That one time it actually works out and your opponent bricks 5 times will NOT pay for all the times you lose. You will lose this hand almost every time.”

Hmm….good advice Woffles. Don’t follow my donkish play and call raises with Queen door cards. If you do, you are sure to look like a hypocrit asshole. Don’t believe me? Well, observe:

Full Tilt Poker Game #4911003132: SLB159′s Umbilical KORD (35901129), Table 1 – 120/240 Ante 20 – Limit Razz – 22:12:28 ET – 2008/01/18
Seat 2: pushmonkey72 (1,951)
Seat 4: slb159 (5), is sitting out
Seat 5: SirFWALGMan (2,982)
Seat 6: InstantTragedy (4,415)
Seat 7: XGod_Of_WarX (59)
Everyone antes 20; slb159 antes 5 and is all in
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to slb159 [Ks]
Dealt to SirFWALGMan [Qd]
Dealt to InstantTragedy [6d]
Dealt to XGod_Of_WarX [2d]
SirFWALGMan calls 40 (the bring in)
InstantTragedy completes it to 120
XGod_Of_WarX calls 39, and is all in
SirFWALGMan calls 80 <-- doushebag hypocrit? The proof is in the hand history.
*** 4TH STREET ***
Dealt to slb159 [Ks] [3s]
Dealt to SirFWALGMan [Qd] [Qh] <-- dealt a terrible brick.
Dealt to InstantTragedy [6d] [Kc]
Dealt to XGod_Of_WarX [2d] [7d]
SirFWALGMan checks
InstantTragedy bets 120
SirFWALGMan calls 120 <-- but that doesn't slow down our Woffles!
*** 5TH STREET ***
Dealt to slb159 [Ks 3s] [4c]
Dealt to SirFWALGMan [Qd Qh] [2h] <-- finally that 2 to make a stron Queen-high draw (assuming two low cards that are not 2 in the hole).
Dealt to InstantTragedy [6d Kc] [Th]
Dealt to XGod_Of_WarX [2d 7d] [Qc]
SirFWALGMan checks
InstantTragedy checks
Instant Tragedy: *** 6TH STREET ***
Dealt to slb159 [Ks 3s 4c] [9d]
Dealt to SirFWALGMan [Qd Qh 2h] [Ac] <-- Woffle’s strategy finally pays off. Says Woffles, “I love playing runner-runner draws!”
Dealt to InstantTragedy [6d Kc Th] [Td]
Dealt to XGod_Of_WarX [2d 7d Qc] [Jd]
SirFWALGMan bets 240
InstantTragedy calls 240
Instant Tragedy: *** 7TH STREET ***
SirFWALGMan bets 240 <-- Woffles hits perfect, going runner runner.
InstantTragedy calls 240
SirFWALGMan: a2357
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SirFWALGMan shows [7s 5h Qd Qh 2h Ac 3c] 7,5,3,2,A <-- And then he has the nerve to win?!
SirFWALGMan wins the main pot (40) with 7,5,3,2,A (I accidentally erased the line where he wins the main pot, worth approximately 1,600.)

Remember, folks, “…please do not follow [Woffle's] donkish play and call raises with Queen door cards. That one time it actually works out and your opponent bricks 5 times will NOT pay for all the times you lose. You will lose this hand almost every time.”

And, for the record, Woffles increased his stack by more than 50% with this play. I’m proud to have him as my protege.

A special thanks to Instant Tragedy for making this post possible.

Stay tuned for a post later today on opportunities to be found in non-hold’em tournaments.

Until next time, make mine poker!

One of the perks of having a blog is the ability to revisit old posts. Last night, I returned for the second time to the Lawyers’ Game, a homegame in midtown. I was first introduced to the game by Matty Ebs in January 2007. You can read that post HERE. A year later, Matty Ebs asked me if I were interested. Considering that I won the tourney on the first occasion (and I’m a degenerate) how could I say no.

When I introduced Matty Ebs to the SoxLover game (may his blog Rest in Peace) and later the Wall Street Game, I did so because I knew that Matty could handle himself. He is a fun guy at the poker table and he knows how to play. I also initially introduced LJ to the Wall Street Game a while ago. So, it was a great surprise to discover that Matty Ebs had not just invited me to the Lawyers’ Game, but invited LJ and Wendy (a WSG regular) as well. It’s always nice when Worlds Collide and it doesn’t end up in the loss of independent George.

Ebs and I met up at a local pizza place before the game. We shot the shit while waiting for LJ and Wendy to arrive. Once we were all set, we moseyed to the apartment, where another guest was wandering aimlessly in the hallway. The host was not home yet, so we waited idly for 5 minutes before he appeared.

The game was scheduled for 8:15. It started around 9pm. I hate that shit. People were strolling in slowly, so instead of sitting there anxiously awaiting the poker, I dealt out some Chinese Poker with Ebs, LJ and Wendy. LJ and Wendy were quick students. Wendy also taught us a game called Israeli Poker. Basically, it’s a heads up game, where both players start with five face-up cards. Then, one player, designated the Palestinian, takes a card and then suicide-bombs a busload of civilians. The other player, dubbed the Israeli, then issues a crackdown on the people who funded and supported the initial Palestinian. Then all onlookers choose sides and its continues in perpetuity. Or something like that.

Once the game got started, all was well. I doubled up on an early hand because the player to my immediate left was an aggro push-monkey. He was shocked that I checked-called all-in with trips and a straight draw, instead of pushing. “Why didn’t you push all-in?,” he asked. “I wanted you to do the work for me.” Amazingly, he didn’t understand this most basic of plays.

I felted him a few hands later when my 37d in the SB flopped bottom pair of 7s, turned a flush draw, and rivered the flush.

Meanwhile, LJ, the only other member of our crew at my table, was running over the table. She was lucky in some instances, flopping two pair with garbage hands, but the key to her success was her ability to get paid off. Make no doubt about it, getting good cards or flops is important, but getting maximum value is just as important, if not moreso.

By the time the tables combined, my early success was just an old, faded memory. I was fairly short, as was half of the table. The other half were nicely stacked, with Matty Ebs and LJ as the obvious chip leaders.

An interesting hand occurred which led to a lot of table talk about which play was optimal. I will relay the hand here, as best I am able.

In EP, the very loose Matty Ebs raised. LJ thought for a while and called. Another player pushed all-in for 2800 more. Ebs called, leaving him over 5k behind. LJ thought for a while and then pushed all-in for probably 3k+ more. Ebs considered what to do before ultimately folding JJ face-up. LJ tabled TT. The all-in player tabled KK. The KK held up and he took down the pot. If Ebs had called, he would’ve beat LJ for the side pot but lost the main pot.

People seemed to dislike LJ’s shove, but I think it is another example of people failing to think outside of the box. In this case, the proverbial “box” states that you shouldn’t push another player out by betting into a dry side pot if another player is all-in. Well, that may be fine if you are playing for the points, but I don’t think it is a universal truth in all instances.

In this particular instance, I liked LJ’s push. Allow me to explain:

Ebs is a known loose player, so his initial raise does not necessarily mean strength. LJ decides to call at that point with her TT. The other player pushes and Ebs very reluctantly called. It looked like he was having a hard time deciding what to do. Now, we know it was because he was considering a push himself (a move I think was necessary, by the way). Once it’s back to LJ, a push makes sense.

First off, you want to win the pot, not just knock out the shortstack. By winning, she’d be in great position to dominate the table, so if she can push Ebs out, that’s fine. All indications suggested he was going to fold, so that is more impetus to push. If LJ had a drawing hand, like AK, I would understand a flat call because you want more players in the hand to get value in case you hit. But TT is already a made hand and its unlikely to improve, so push out Ebs while you can.

Second, Matty may call with an inferior hand. If that is the case, you can lose that main pot to the shortie and still win enough chips from Matty not to feel it. So, if Matty decides to call with overcards and misses (AJ-AK), then even if the all-in shortie has AA, LJ has a layer of protection. Matty may also call with dominated hands like 66-99, leading to an even better result.

This was one of those situations where LJ was willing to make an aggressive play and put the decision on her competitor, Ebs. Frankly, Ebs made a smart fold too at that point, since he left himself with a good stack (5k was still a big stack) and he correctly feared that LJ could be playing AQ, AK, or QQ-AA. As it turned out, LJ had the only hand that would possibly push there and be behind Matty (i.e., the TT), so the results weren’t optimal; but his decision making was dead-on.

Whatever the case, it amazed me how people didn’t seem to get the play. Maybe its my over-aggressive nature, but I liked LJ’s push. But hey, what do I know. I was out two hands later when my QQ ran into LJ’s AA preflop.

Until next time, make mine poker!