High On Poker

I had a break-even night of poker last night. I took third in the Hoy for $50+, but failed to cash in a satellite and a Token SNG. While I advocate satellites and token tournaments, I have to admit that the major shortcoming is the fact that it makes little sense to build a stack up early. Consequently, when the suckout, cooler, or just plain blow-up hand occurs, it usually is a death nell.

The Hoy was a great time, though. I really prefer the lesser crowds we’ve seen post-BBT3, mostly because it harkens back to the days when a couple of douschebag bloggers would meet up to play an SNG or 4. The smaller crowds make it less of an Event and more of a Get Together. It’s also nice to start a tournament at 10pm and not play until 2:30am.

Hoy got some flack not too long ago about switching his tournament to 6-max because it suits his play. Well, I won’t comment on that because I think both sides said what they needed to say, but I will mention that now that Hoy is switching back to full tables, I might have to start my own 6-max tournament. I have no shame, after all, and am more than willing to design a tournament merely to benefit myself. Of course, due to the proliferation of poker blogger tournaments, the weekly calender is filled up, so I’ve come up with an eight day to fit in my tourney. I call it Smonday. Once I can speak to the proper calendar authorities about adding Smonday, I’ll post all the relevant info here.

While my results were break-even last night, I played like a champ in the early-goings of the Hoy. I saved a couple of hand histories because, frankly, I think some people at the table either thought I was being a donktastic tool and/or I really kicked ass in these hands and I’m proud of it.

We were in the first level, 15/30, playing 6-handed with double stacks (3000) when this first hand came up. I hadn’t done much yet and still had 2,925 when I was dealt KTs in the BB. It folded to NumbBono (with 3290), who raised to 3x the BB, 90. HughDuffy (with 3280) called in the SB and I decided to call as well.

Let’s discuss the call, first. KTs is not a premium hand and I was out of position. If anyone would recommend a fold here, I wouldn’t argue. However, with deep stacks and low blinds, I felt comfortable with the call.

The flop was Kc8x7c, giving me top pair with a mediocre kicker and creating a potential club flush draw. Top pair is a tricky hand here. I fear a better King more than anything else, as NumbBono coule be raising with AK or KQ. Likewise, Hugh could be calling with KQ or KJ. Those hands might only be a small portion of their ranges (which, incidentally, also include the soul crushing 88 and 77, and for Hugh, potentially 78), but it was still a possibility.

Once again, it goes back to the old decision tree. I could bet out, but if I face a raise from Numb or a check-raise from Hugh, I’m cooked and lose 180 or more immediately (the size of my probable bet here). If I get called, I could be falling into the trap of a better hand (AA, KK, KQ, 88, 77, 87). I will also get called by flush draws, so I rather see what the turn will bring before I act. I checked. NumbBono checked too. We saw the next card.

The turn was a 8c, filling the flush draw and pairing the 8. Hugh bet out 210, which was less than the 270 pot. His bet set off red flags. It felt like a steal play, in my estimation. If I were in Hugh’s spot, I would’ve bet pot there as well, since Numb and I seemed to have given up on the hand. Still, there was a chance that he had the flush, or perhaps the 8, or perhaps a flush draw which still could come, so I only called. Once again, it was cost analysis. I knew that I had enough chips to weather this storm.

In hindsight, I have to admit that I am not 100% convinced that my call was “right” here, but I have to remind myself that in the heat of battle, there are often subconscious things we pick up on that do not translate well later when I am pouring over a hand history. Suffice it to say that at the time, I was a lot more confident with my play than I now feel as I type this out…and that my confidence in my call at the time says more about the play than this Smonday morning quarterbacking.

Back to the hand. NumbBono calls as well, and we see a river, 3d. It’s a complete and utter blank. This is where it gets interesting. The pot is 840. Hugh checks. That’s right. He checks. My guess is that he had an Ace of Clubs and missed. I do not take it as a check-raise play because so far, NumbBono and I have demonstrated our utter refusal to bet. I take the opportunity now. I assumed that NumbBono has a pocket pair under KK, such as TT or 99. That would explain the preflop raise and the slowdown. I wanted to make some money on this pot, so I decided on a suspicious value bet, 450. It is slightly more than half the pot and looks justifiable to call, since I have a loose reputation and the smaller bet could be a sign of weakness, like a last-ditch steal attempt. NumbBono calls and Hugh folds. At showdown, Numb shows K6h. I was off with my read, but not too far off. My kicker plays and I take down the pot.

This next hand is a real doozy. The blinds are at 20/40 and I have 4415, chip leader for the table by over 1k. I am dealt 88 on the button. NumbBono limps UTG and World Reknown Author Julius Goat (~2600) raises to 160 from MP. It folds to me ont eh button and I just call. Goat’s range is too wide right now and I want to see the flop action before I determine whether my 88 is good or not. It folds to NumbBono who calls.

We see a flop of T95, with two diamonds. It is not an ideal flop due to the two overcards, but it is not horrible. It’s a lot more likely that someone is playing an Ace, King, Queen, or even Jack, than a Ten or Nine, so I hope that my pair is still good. It checks around to me, which indicates that I am probably ahead. Once again, I fear the flush draw, who will most assuredly call me. Frankly, a good player will even call without the flush draw and then, while out of position, bet the turn if the flush card hits.

The turn is a 9, which is great. If someone else has a 9, they are likely to bet here. Since both players check, I feel confident and bet 360 into the 540 pot. The bet is designed to look weak in order to bring in a weak hand that might fold to a pot-sized bet or, ironically, a smaller bet that might appear to be a value bet.

The river was an offsuit 5 and Goat bets out 1000 rather quickly. Once again, the red flags start flying. This time, it is Goat’s decision that the 5 was all that he was waiting for. The 5! He was either representing 55 or perhaps 67s based on the previous action, but both of those hands made no sense.

Remember what I said earlier about the pitfalls of satellites. Since you cannot build up your stack using my choice style of play in satellites, the suckouts/coolers/bad situations that inevitably occur are usually enough to wipe out your stack. Since I had a nice lead on my competition, I didn’t have that pressure in this hand. 1000 was a pretty penny, but I could more than afford it.

That wasn’t the only consideration to this hand. I already mentioned the speed to Goat’s bet and the fact that it didn’t make sense in the context of the hand. If he had a strong hand the whole way, he would’ve bet or at the very least checked the river to set up a check-raise. I know Goat to be a smart player, so that worked against him. I opted for the call. Raising made no sense. If I were ahead, he’d fold and he’d only call if he could beat me. Sure enough, he showed Ks Jh. A busted inside straight draw. My 88 was good.

In our final hand, it was just me and Hoy in a battle to the death. Or, more accurately, it was a battle of the egos.

Hoy had been particularly aggressive against me the entire tournament. I was somewhat annoyed by it, but it was nothing new. Hoy is an aggressive player and against a known LAG like me, he is even more aggressive. Fortunately, I was able to do a little jujitsu and use his momentum to my benefit.

Hoy still had 1180 with blind of 40/80 when this hand occured. I was in the SB with 3325 after losing a big hand to NumbBono. Hoy was in the BB. We were four-handed. It folded to me and I called the 80 BB. I didn’t feel the need to raise because I was out of position with a marginal hand and I had no idea what Hoy had. I also know Hoy’s play well enough to say that he would be more than willing to exploit a small-ish raise with an all-in, and frankly, I didn’t want to get all-in preflop in that sorta situation.

Ironically, as soon as I call, Hoy pushes all-in on my 80 blind. That’s a lot different than pushing all-in over a 3x raise (240). Frankly, it appeared to me like Hoy was trying to take advantage of the situation. I looked weak as a loose player who suddenly is just limping after losing a large pot to NumbBono. Hoy’s range was super wide to me, although it obviously included problem hands like AA, AK, KK, QQ, and AQ. Notably, though, those were the only hands I had to fear, since I could afford a cointoss against a lesser pair. Also notable is the fact that there was no way Hoy pushes all-in against one player with those big hands. He is much more likely to min bet or even bet 3x the BB to get some money with his premium hand heads-up.

So, I call. The result: Hoy shows 34o and I bust him after the board is dealt.

That’s all I saved from the game. From there, I continued playing aggressively until we got to the final table, where I tightened up. On the bubble, I became more active as a means of chipping away at the eventual bubble-boy. I was the shortstack going into it three-handed, and wasn’t able to get any traction, eventually busting in 3rd.

Tonight, I’m meeting Skidoo over at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Baby Bo’s. Other than that, there’ll probably be a little bit of online poker.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I figured it was worth mentioning that the Yahoo front page currently (2:44 pm, EST) lists Man beats out 148 players, wins $2M at World Series of Poker as one of their 6 or so front page stories.

I clicked through and sure enough, the article discusses Scotty Nguyen’s impressive win in the $50K HORSE event at the WSOP. The article is especially noteworthy and surprising because it is a cover-page story about a non-holdem, non-Main Event game with a top prize that is a mere fraction of recent Main Event prizes. I could understand mainstream media picking up the story of the ME winner or even a really high payout winner, which could be considered particularly newsworthy because of the sheer numbers involved. However, for the mainstream news to pick up and place on its front page a story about a smaller field, non-NLHE event with a payout that is rather typical (or at least not atypical nowadays), is just…well, weird and refreshing.

This may be a good sign for poker’s acceptance into main stream culture (beyond advertising) and it is probably a great sign that a non-hold’em event is getting a little bit of love. Hopefully, casual observers will be interested enough to find out why a guy won $2 million for playing HORSE.

Not too surprising is the fact that the article incorrectly lists Hellmuth as the person with the most WSOP bracelets, numbering 12. In reality, he has only won 11. [Ed. note: Ironically, while I called out the article for incorrect information, I also initially incorrectly noted that Brunson and Chan were tied with 11 bracelets as well. Thanks to Peaker, my error has been corrected. And lest one think that I am a hypocrit, (a) I am not an official media outlet, (b) my intern is on vacation, visiting his family during the Ganga Dussehra festival, and (c) I am a hypocrit).

Until next time, make mine poker!

It’s the Summer of Jordan, as long-laid plans finally pay off, and everything if falling in my direction. This weekend saw me exploiting my T$ and binging on poker.

I wish I could remember it all, but a mind-numbing weekend is nothing new for yours truly. If you’ve been following along of late, you’ll surely remember my love affair with the satellites running nightly on FT. I played a handful of satellites, won seats into a variety of events and unregistered each time. I don’t think there is an easier win than a carefully chosen satellite event. On one hand, you have players who consider it almost a freeroll and play accordingly, donking off chips and busting out in no time. On the other hand, all you have to do is raise pot each time you have a good hand, bet pot if your hand hits, and otherwise keep out of the way. It is the epitome of ABC poker, but it is also profitable as hell. After all, for some of these events, you only need to be in the top 1/3 to cash. Sometimes it’s even better!

The only problem is that I was left with copious amounts of T$, “money” that could only be used on tournament unless I wanted to convert them from FT for a 5% commission. Well, Jordan don’t pay no commission, so instead, I looked into higher buy-in SNGs to keep me busy.

Truth be told, kind friends, if I were a better man, I wouldn’t have been playing any poker this weekend. Wifey Kim was on lockdown after having her hair Japanese straightened, a process that requires that she keep her hair bone-dry for 48 hours minimum. Since it was a muggy and rainy weekend, that meant that we were huddled indoors together. After a while on Saturday, though, the cabin fever set in, and I went about burying it with my other neurosis, obsessive gambling.

Lest one of my family members are reading this or I have a few new readers, let me remind everyone that my version of obsessive gambling is more about quantity and not stakes. My addictive nature is nicely balanced by my anal retentiveness, so even when I am playing too much, I am never paying too much.

I looked into some tournaments first, but not surprisingly, the fields were fairly large on the weekends and I did not want to be tied to the computer for too long. I played some cash for a while, using my accumulated real dollars, focusing on some random games, including LO8, one of my favorite online cash games. I was up about $50 at a 2/4 table when I decided to peruse the HU games available. I went to the $30 level, intent on not blowing too large of a chunk of my T$ on one game, but still aiming a tad higher than my usual $20 HU SNG maximum.

I followed my usual plan when choosing a table. Simply look for the ones with players already seated. I cannot stand to wait, like a bear-trap ready to go off, for my competitor to join me at a table. I find the anticipation to be intolerable and if I am forced to wait for a significant period of time, it will affect my play. To avoid this altogether, I just choose an HU SNG ready to go. And sure enogh, there it was, a single $30 HU SNG just waiting for me…and it was LO8.

I’ll save you the boring details except to say that I trounced the competition, netting $60, which to me felt like all profit, since I entered the tournament with T$. On a role, I looked for another game and saw a PLO8 ready to go. Slightly different game, but same result. I whooped some serious ash and took another $60.

Being on a roll left me wanting more, but this time I switched it up, finding a HU NLHE game ready to start. In the first hand, I was dealt AKc and faced a 3x raise to 90 from my opponent. I thought about my options before pushing all in. The way I saw it, he could be raising with any two cards, which is not uncommon for these games. The all-in push was my effort to look weak. It also was intended to make me appear like a straight-up gambler, as though I merely wanted to double my $30 or walk in one hand. I guess it worked because my opponent called with QTo, missed the board and I took another $60.

After that, I figured I was clearly a NLHE pro, so I started my fourth $30 HU SNG, another NLHE game. I won that one too, barely breaking a sweat.

Those four HU matches were the centerpiece of my poker weekend, accented both before and after by various cash games, including a four-table session of full ring NLHE. I had found from Fuel via Lucko a website called Table Ratings that, through the miracles of science and math, rates tables at various online poker sites based on the quality of player. Using the site, I found the weakest NLHE tables and tried my damnedest to get in on the action. Overall, I lost a few pesos, approximately $20-25, mostly because I refused to leave one table where a particular player was getting under my skin with consistent re-raises which, incidentally, were not bullshit as I had hoped repeatedly. However, it was nice to try some NLHE cash online again, and I plan on returning to Table Ratings in the future.

Just in case it needs to be said, that was NOT a paid review. It IS, however, a sincere recommendation from your humble yet awesome blogger.

Compared to Saturday, Sunday night poker was just craptastic. I won a couple of tokens but failed in my attempt to turn a $26 token into a $75. I also lost the Sunday HU game which only involved me and pureprophet. I had actually totally forgotten about the game until about 9:04, at which point, prophet had blinded me down to about 1150. I fought back, getting near-even, but eventually lost, ending my 2-person blogger tournament winning streak. I was so dejected, I withdrew from the Razz blogger tournament scheduled for 45 minutes later (notably, I was the only person signed up at the time, so technically, I didn’t miss much). I also bubbled from a $26 90-person KO SNG, after knocking out only two players ($8). I felt I was playing well, but it all fell apart late. That same theme carried through to the PokerSluts LO8 event, where I was 1st in chips from the jump until right before the final table, where I crumbled, busting out in 9th. I was super aggressive the entire time, whooping some arse, but when you play like that, you will eventually get called down a lot more, and in a game like LO8, the suckouts can happen rather often.

Still, it was a fine weekend of poker, accentuated by my win in my prop bet against Joe (Unimpressed). Joe and I each chose three players apiece in a $20 last longer prop bet for the $50K HORSE Event at the WSOP. The result saw two of our picks making the final table, Joe’s Barry Greenstein and my Erick Lindgren. The eventual winner was Scotty Nguyen, but in third place was Erick Lindgren, earning me a cool $20. Ka ching!

Another fine occurence this weekend. I’m booked, beeches. Vegas, December 12-14. Be there, of be somewhere else!

As for my series-wide WSOP Prop Bets, here is an update:

Fuel55- Most Cash Won (Fuel’s Sorel Mizzi, Phil Hellmuth and Jonathan Little vs. my Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey and Johnny Chan)

Ivey’s cash in the $50K HORSE increases my lead, but Hellmuth also made a small cash. It’s currently $579,767 to Fuel’s $117,597.

Phil Hellmuth, $100,292, 8th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy, and
$2,895, 33rd, Event #47, $1.5 Stud8.

Sorel Mizzi, $8,103, 68th, Event #5, the $1000 rebuy, and
$6,307, 29th, Event #24, $2.5k PLHE/PLO

Phil Ivey, $37,130 9th, Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship, and
$7,998, 23rd, Event #22, $4k HORSE, and
$159,840, 12th, Event #35, $50k HORSE

Allen Cunningham, $6,247, 22nd, Event #10, $2,500 OE, and
$76,205, 4th, Event #24, $2.5k PLHE/PLO, and
$18,401, 13th, Event #33, $5k Stud Hi/Lo World Championship

Johnny Chan, $27,072, 13th, Event #8, the $10k Mixed Game Championship, and
$246,874, 4th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy

Ingoal- Most Cash Won (Ingoal’s Daniel Negreanu and Jesus Ferguson vs. my Bill Chen and TJ Cloutier)

Ingoal continues to shame me with Negreanu’s cash in the $50k HORSE event and another cash from Jesus. Ingoal leads with $795484 to my pathetic $20,868. Fucking Cloutier!

Daniel Negreanu, $16,496, 22nd, Event #5, $1000 rebuy, and
$33,417, 11th, Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship) and
$204,874, 1st, Event #20, $2k LHE, and
$123,437, 7th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy, and
$142,080, 13th, Event #35, $50k HORSE

Jesus Ferguson, $14,438, 51st, Event #25, the $10k HU Championship, and
$69,433, 10th, Event #28, the $5k PLO Rebuy and
$202,406, 2nd, Event #33, the $5k Stud Hi/Lo World Championship, and
$3,341, 50th, Event #43, $1.5k PLO8.

Bill Chen, $15,594, 19th, Event #31, $3k NLHE Shorthanded
$5,274, 24th, Event #40, $2.5 2-7 Triple Draw.

UWannaBet- Most FinalTable/Bracelets (UWanna’s Michael Binger, Brandon Cantu and Erik Seidel vs. my Cunningham, Johnny Chan and Joe Hachem)

UWanna leads with four final tables to my two, for $6.

Michael Binger, Event #5, $1000 rebuy
Brandon Cantu’s, 9th, Event #10, OE
Erik Seidel, Event # I don’t remember, NLWhoGivesACrap
Erik Seidel, Event #43, $1.5k PLO8
Cunningham, 4th, Event #24, $2.5k PLHE/PLO
Chan, 4th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy

Am I the only one who thinks that legalization and taxation of online poker will ruin the game?

Let me put it this way. Did you win money last year? Did you declare the winnings? Exactly. If online poker was legalized and consequently taxed, the government would likely have access to the win/loss statements for American citizens. Next time you (or more accurately, Lucko), win an online tournament for $10,000, Uncle Sam will gladly take a percentage out of your profit. More likely than not, the taxes will be withheld by the sites, since any regulations will probably be stringently in favor of the government, under the guise that online poker could lead to money laundering or hiding of assets. The result is lower actual realized prize pools and less money in the poker community.

So, yeah, I would prefer online poker to be ‘legal’ on paper, but the reality would most definitely suck.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Let’s get to it, big boppers. Last night, I didn’t play a lick of poker. I had to go to Pennsylvania for a deposition where I utterly choked and then had a 2 hour car drive home to wallow in it. By the time I was home, I was in full fledge depressed hermit mode, but my Floridian cousins were in town and were in my brother’s apartment, a mere three floors below mine. Thank god, too. I had no real reason to be so bummed about my poor performance. I am my own worst critic and the net effect was tiny. It’s not as though it would seriously affect the case, my job, or any money going into my pocket, so a distraction of drinks, dinner, and more drinks was just what I needed to fend off the funk.

Ironically, it is at these times that I feel the greatest urge to play poker. It may be a need to escape, or even worse, a Freudian means to punish myself by losing money. The irony is that, as we all know, when one is emotionally distraught, it is often the worst time to play.

I had hoped to go to AC for a day trip this weekend. Wifey Kim is undergoing Japanese hair straightening as we speak, a process that will save her an hour every morning blowdrying her hair. After the process, though, she cannot wash or get her hair wet for 48 hours, so we play to hole up in the apartment like it’s a snow day. I’ll be playing the role of emissary to the outside world. Hopefully, if the weather is somewhat decent, we’ll see Matty Ebs performance at Comix Comedy Club in NYC (Saturday, 6pm start time), but that will be a game-day and hair-day decision.

I was going to escape to AC while wifey Kim was stuck at home, but I chose to stay home. Turns out that wifey Kim > poker. No real surprise to me. Another non-surprise: I’ll probably be playing online poker all day Saturday anyway.

Tonight, I’ll be at the Shea Stadium half of the Subway Series double header. I got a call a few days ago from an old college buddy about another buddy’s impending nuptuals. They had extra tickets for the game, which should be followed by some bachelor party mayhem, so at least I got that going for me.

Since nothing is going on in my little poker world, let’s turn to the WSOP and my WSOP Prop Bets. Rather than give a full view of my usual props, I’ll just make note that Erik Seidel made another final table, so I’m down $6 to UWannaBet. Otherwise, it’s mostly quiet as the big names finish up the $50K HORSE event. On that note, my horse race against Joe (Unimpressed) is going well. We picked three players each in a last longer bet in the $50K HORSE event (Joe’s Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein and David Benyamine vs. my Patrik Antonius, Erick Lindgren and Andy Bloch). I made my picks based on people running hot who have strong skills in multiple games and don’t tend to choke. Looks like both of our picks were fairly on the money. With only 67 players left out of the original 148, Barry Greenstein is in the lead for our picks, sitting in 2nd place, followed by Lindgren and Bloch in or near the top 10. Ivey is also still in the event, in the middle of the pack. Overall, we both have one man out, but my two guys are both in decent chip position, even though Joe has the current lead.

I think it’s also time to name a winner for the Nickname for a Nickname Contest. I asked for alternative nicknames based on the nickname Pauly Ham Hands. The winner of $11 to be transfered via FT or Stars is…RAISING CAYNE! There are a couple of great ones, and I may just use them all, but Cayne wins the huge prize (and the copious tax forms) for his clever inclusion of Pauly’s first name and the pork product that Pauly’s hands most resemble: P’All-In-The-Hamily. Just seeing it makes me smile. Other fine entries include Mary‘s wonderful-but-slightly-too-insider Pauly Honeybaked Hellmuth (his last name isn’t Hellmuth, but it starts with an H and for effect, I just added Hellmuth’s last name), Bub‘s Pauly Pork Pockets (who doesn’t love a good alliteration), and gunslinger’s Fantastic Hams, which I assume is a takeoff of “fantastic gams” an old school way of complimenting a chick’s legs. There is just something funny about moving Pauly’s Ham nickname from his hands to his legs.

Cayne, drop me a comment or email (you can click the Email tab at the top of the site) and I’ll send you your $11 right away. Thanks to everyone else who played along.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Good morning, America! Another fine day in Satellitesville, population me. When I get into a particular format of game, I can sometimes binge, for lack of a better word. Satellites are my new addiction, and I successfully won two last night, not to mention my third, Third, THIRD BLOGGER TOURNAMENT WIN in a week. You hear that sizzle? That’s me. On fire. Ouch.

And for the record, my blogger tournament win last night had double the amount of players I beat in my first two tournament wins, combined. That’s right. I beat 4, count’em, 4 competitors.* In fact, it’s only a matter of time before that has-been Lucko starts emailing me all, “Why are you winning every tournament? That used to be my thing.” Whatever, Lucko. There’s a new Champeen in town, and his name is Poker Champ! I mean, Jordan.

Besides that amazing win, I took down two satellites for a decent T$ score. The first was a $26 buy-in satellite to some $100+9 event. Hell, I don’t even know which event, although in hindsight, I think it was a $100 Rebuy…which is a whole other issue. If you can’t afford to play in a REBUY tournament, you definitely shouldn’t satellite. It’s like winning a tournament just to have the right to play another tournament with a shortstack against regular stacks. Just ‘tarded. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

After that, I signed up for two simultaneous satellites into the 50/50 for $15 each, cashing in one. In the other, I took a string of bad beats that sucked pretty bad; admittedly, though, I’ve been running good, so I just considered it a bit of luck-correction.

Oh, and for the record, I bought into the satellites with T$, so it’s all freerolls to me. I look forward to jumping into some higher SNGs coming up, most likely of the 45 player variety. Single table versions kinda bore me and I’m out of practice.

With all this T$ saved up, I’m tempted to withdraw a little from online, but I really want to rebuild the online roll, so that will have to wait. Plus, my live roll is doing fine after some recent , modest WSG wins.

My WSOP Props are going just fine too. I’ll table the tourney-wide ones today in favor of praising my excellent picks against Joe, aka Unimpressed. We both picked teams for the $50K HORSE Event, which started yesterday and lost less than 10 of the ~150 players in one day of action. My picks are doing well, with Patrik Antonius as the chipleader in our prop bet, followed by my second pick, Erick Lindgren. (Actually, I just saw an update that showed Lindgren taking the lead). My third pick, Andy Bloch, is somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Joe’s picks, meanwhile, aren’t doing too shabby. Barry Greenstein is in 3rd for our prop, not too far behind Lindgren, with Benyamine close behind. Ivey is also in the middle of the pack.

I’m crossing my fingers because anything can happen.

That’s it for today, as I am heading to Allentown, Pennsylvania at 5pm for a deposition for work. Yippee! Anyone in the Allentown area?

Until next time, make mine poker!

*Four including me.

The world of poker tournament satellites always left me a tad confused. Part of me felt that if you could not afford the buy-in, you shouldn’t satellite into the event, since you had to win a tournament just to play in another tournament…and winning two tournaments is much harder than winning just one in the first place. That, and the fact that if you had to satellite in, you were, by definition, playing above your roll. On the other hand, if you are not good enough to win a single-table satellite, or even a super satellite, then you probably are playing above your skill level in the higher buy-in tournament.

It’s really the chicken or the egg question, which I eventually chose to ignore altogether by avoiding satellites generally.

The one consistent exception to that general rule were the token tournaments, which I somehow justified with the fact that I could use them for a variety of games.

And then yesterday happened. I got home from work at my usual hour, but found myself alone, since wifey Kim was off with a friend on her never-ending quest for yet another dress for this summer’s anti-semetic wedding. So, I did what any other self-respecting degenerate would do, fired up every poker client on my laptop and checked out the various tournaments running.

One of my favorite tournaments is the $15 buy-in Token Frenzy, paying out $75 tokens. The joy of the game is its simplicity, thanks to its flat (and wide) payout. It starts nightly at 9:45pm EST, but I was hoping that a similar $6 buy-in Token Frenzy for $26 tokens ran earlier in the night.

Instead, I stumbled upon a satellite to the nightly 50/50, a $50+5 buy-in tournament with a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. Full Tilt recently instituted T$. Basically, if you win a satellite into an event, you can unregister and get the buy-in back at T$ that can be used in any denomination to but into any other tournament or SNG. Since I like SNGs and tournaments, I decided that the 50/50 Satellite was really the same as any other token satellite. I could use the spoils of war anywhere, so I signed up and paid my $10 or so buy-in.

As I perused the other tournaments, I noticed two other 50/50 satellites running about 20 minutes later. The buy in for both was around $15, so the payouts would be even flatter and more numerous, allowing my fold-to-the-money strategy to thrive.

And with that, I three-tabled 50/50 satellites, winning two with ease and busting out when I got a bit overzealous with pocket Tens and then pocket Jacks, letting my big stack crumble, right before my eyes. As Meatloaf says, “Go ahead, Cornelius, you can cry.” Although in hindsight, perhaps his quote, “Two out of three ain’t bad” is a bit more appropriate.

After those games, I shut down the poker for a bit and watched Rescue Me’s last season on DVD. It’s fucking amazing, although one new cast member cannot act his way out of a paper bag. This actor, who I will name shortly, stands out like a sore thumb amidst his acting contemporary. I hate to say it too, since I am a fan of his work on his usual show, but everything beyond that show is pure crap. The answer, my friends, is Artie Lang. Dude cannot deliver a line with any credibility. I fear he was hired for stunt casting, but what can you do.

A little while later, after wifey Kim was asleep, I returned to my laptop for a quick $30 SNG, higher than my usual $20 buy-in since it was paid for by the satellite money. I lost, but it felt nice to change up the routine for a bit.

So, my new take on satellites: They still suck. I don’t like the idea of winning a tournament merely for the right to play another tournament. If I win, I want cash. But the next best thing to cash is $T, since I can use it instead of cash during my poker play. And for that, a big thumbs up goes out to Full Tilt. I expect to play more sats in the future.

A quick reminder about my Pauly Ham Hands nickname for the nickname contest, which is explained in the last post. The winner gets $11; one entry per person. All you have to do is provide a nickname that is a derivative of Pauly’s Ham Hands moniker. Leave your entry in the comments….especially you, Mary. You emailed yours, but I need it up here for it to be considered an “entry” and if I post it and you win, that may seem like shenanigans, which is like bennigans but without the overseasoned fries.

Oh, and while I am too busy to recap my WSOP Prop Bets right now, I will mention a new one that is in the making. If all goes according to plan, Joe (Unimpressed), suggested a $20 three-horse last longer bet for the $50k HORSE event, taking place today at the WSOP. We are still ironing out the details, but so far, I have picked Antonius, Bloch, and Lindgren. He has chosen Ivey and Greenstein, with one pick to go. Wish me luck.

Until next time, make mine poker!

I returned to the Wall Street Game last night, burnt out from a long day of work. The guest list was rather short, topping out at, I believe, 7 players when I entered about 30 minutes late. The game for the evening, .25/.50 PLO8, was likely the reason for the lack of players. Frankly, it seemed ideal to me. Less players allow looser action. PLO8 allows looser action. Deceptively low blinds make looser action. And I like looser action.

I entered to great fanfare as the only blogger to win two blogger tournaments in a night, my own personal Diggstown Challenge. As two time, two time World Champeen, I was barely concerned with my ‘competition’ (if you want to call them that), namely, Decent Steven, host Jamie, Ham-Hands Pauly, KJ, Matty Ebs, and Darko. That was actually the order of the line-up, and I sat between Steven, on my left, and Darko, on my right.

Amazingly, there was nary a female in the house, something that has rarely, if ever, happened on one of my trips to the WSG. For whatever reason, the WSG has always had an unlikely and uncommon number of broads, so the lack of chicks meant two things: (1) the inappropriate comments were not followed by apologies [or a shake of the inappropriate maracas], and (2) I was the prettiest one at the table.

The game started out frustrating enough. I couldn’t hit a flop if my life depended on it, but luckily…my life didn’t depend on it, even if my wallet did. The result was a quick $20 drop out of my $60 stack, so I reloaded another $20 (in for $80 total) with the expectation that I could double up, given the family pots and loose action.

I’ll admit that I was definitely taken off of my game by the absurd amount of whiffs that came on the flop. In fact, it led to my first bust out. I was dealt AAXX, single suited. I don’t remember the other two cards too well, but I think one was a 5 and the other was a royal card. Whatever the case, I raised pot preflop from the BB and got something like 5 callers at the 7-person table.

The flop came down 227, and when it checked to me, I bet out the pot, which, thanks to the callers, was a decent amount. As soon as I did it, I realized that (a) I put in most of my chips so I had to call a raise no matter what, and (b) I was a complete and utter donkey. Clearly, with all of the preflop callers, someone was probably playing A2XX and hit top set, top kicker, likely with a low draw. So, there was no doubt that I would get a call or be raised, unless, of course, no one had a duece and I was ‘representing’ A2. Here’s a quick strategy tip: don’t come up with your strategy after you act.

Like the dipshit I was, I took my beating when Darko, now with a massive stack from earlier stellar play mixed with some luckboxery, called and showed 22XX, for quads. REBUY!

I bought in for another $60, cursing myself and trying to determine whether I would be best off leaving. I didn’t want to give back the $150 profit from last week, but I also couldn’t bring myself to leave after spending a little over an hour at the game (after showing up late, no less).

I put my ass back in my seat and decided to continue doing what I was doing, except for the whole pushing all-in with crap on a board that will guaranty that I be called.

A quick interlude about Darko. For whatever its worth, Darko is one helluva player. I would consider him one of the best, if not the best, players I regularly play with. The key to his success is his interplay with other players. I don’t know if he plays online (definitely not for significant sums), because I am not so sure if his talents would translate there. All I know is that he can talk an Eskimo with white gloves into buying a melting ketchup icicle. He’ll get you to pay him off when he wants the action and conversely force you off a pot when he has nothing. And he’ll show you his crap cards every time, not because he wants to prove that he outplayed you, but because it will help him outplay you again later. While it can be a bit aggravating, it is also a thing of beauty. Early in the night he must’ve shown bluffs 5 or 6 times. Each time, he acted with precision and purpose during the hand.

I write this here because I want to show a bit of respect and compliment Darko; Lord knows my ego is too big to say this to him in person.

A little while later, I had my first good fortune of the night. I held 6624 (I think, but definitely 66), when a flop came down 269 or something similar. I think there was a flush draw out, too. I think I checked and Pauly Ham Hands decided to bet out. Ebs was also in the hand and called. I called as well. The turn was a blank, I think. All I know is that I bet out pot immediately. I know a low did not hit, and I guess I sorta woke up from my lax play on the flop. Pauly called, Ebs raised pot, and I re-raised all-in. Pauly called, as did Ebs. I assumed I was in desperate shape, but after the river, my set held up against my opponents’ likely bajillion outs, tripling me up and all but erasing my earlier losses.

I tried to limp in to pots cheap or simply fold. It was clear that people were playing looser than usual, and I wanted to exploit that since I knew I could get paid off on my big hands. Unfortunately, big hands were few and far between, even though I won a couple of medium-sized pots with, in one instance, a Darko-life bluff with air, and in another instance, a turned wheel that scared off my opponents after builing a decent pot on the flop.

I was getting antsy and began pacing around the room. The dealing was horribly slow. It was clear that Ebs, who was in the box (i.e., acting as dealer) was not into his job, and the result was a very slow game, what with all of the dealing, pot-chopping, and math involved in PLO8. I have to say that I finally understood why PLO8 is not as popular in casinos (aside from the obvious). The game is terribly slow if you are not online.

I finally got fed up (mostly because I was card dead and wanted to see more hands) and asked Ebs if he wanted to switch seats. He jumped at the opportunity, obviously happy to be free of dealing duties. We swapped seats and I probably dealt with twice the speed as before. Make no mistake, I am not knocking Ebs, who clearly didn’t want to be designated dealer in the first place and was sharing the duties with others at the table. Rather, I was just fucking manic about playing, and dealing would keep me busy and engaged in the game.

Time for another tangent. A long while ago, when I was dealing at the WSG, I accidentally directed action past Pauly before he had a chance to act. This happened probably 3 or more times before I came up with an excuse for my lapses in judgment. “It’s not my fault your ham hands cover your entire cards.” Sure enough, Pauly was covering his cards with his hands, but it isn’t as though Pauly’s hands are particularly large. It was just my usual sarcastic self. Well, Pauly Ham Hands (or Ham Hands Pauly) has stuck, and we’ve now entered the realm of nickname nicknames. Favorites from last night include, Hammy, Hamuel, Hammy Davis Junior, Hamuel Adams and Hamuel L. Jackson. I wanted to work in Ham & Cheese, but there was no angle that made sense. And for the fuck of it, let’s have a random contest. Give me a random nickname that is a derivative of Pauly Ham Hands. The best one gets $11 to play some cheapo tournament on FT or Stars (your choice). 1 entry per person, 5 total entries (i.e., 5 submissions) in order for the contest to take place. I’ll give you until Thursday morning.

In the dealer’s box, I was able to see more hands…and fold more hands. I tightened up considerably, mostly because I was calm once again and realized that success would come with big hands, and not just by playing any two cards. (BTW, if you are an any-two-cards player, try Omaha…. the whole four card thing is a mind trip). In one interesting hand, I held A993, with the A and 9 of Spades, and saw a board of 25XX, with two spades and two hearts. Pauly, I think, got all-in against me and Ebs, who was also all-in. The river was a low card, completing my nut low. However, Ebs held A344, with the Ace and Four of Hearts. In other words, when we got our money all-in on the turn, we both had a draw to the nut low and a draw to the nut flush…although obviously different nut flushes. If a 4, 9, or any Spade or Heart came out on the river, Pauly was toast. As it were, he won half the pot and Ebs and I quartered the low. LEMON!

I announced at 10:45 that I would be leaving at 11:15 (and admitted in the same breathe that this really meant 11:30), so I waited out the clock as I counted my chips. I was above my $140 of buy-ins and looking at a decent profit. And then the big hand happened. I literally announced that it was my last orbit just a few hands prior when I was dealt 6442, single suited, a hand awefully close to my earlier 66XX hand. I saw a flop with a bunch of other people: 964, with two hearts. It wasn’t a bad flop. I had bottom set, and a low flush draw (I had 4h and 2h, the board had 9h and 6h), but since there was a low draw out there, I was concerned that at the best, I would chop and at the worst, a flush or straight would be me by the river. As a result, I reluctantly called a bet from Pauly. Ebs called as well. The turn was an offsuit 7, which ruined my hand even more. It was an ugly straight card and it could complete a bunch of low draws. As I remember it, Pauly had bet $5 on the flop and $10 on the turn. I called his turn bet before Ebs raised $35 on top. Pauly called and I nonchalantly threw in my $25. In reality, I was dying inside, scared that I was going to give away all of my profits and stack in the last orbit. Still, I liked my odds. Even if someone hit the low already, with three players in the pot, I would get equity from any action, as long as either (a) no one had a straight and no one was drawing to a better heart flush, or (b) no one had the straight and the flush did not come, or (c) the flush came and I was the only one with it, or (d) the board paired and I hit my full house. The actual result was (d), when the river came out a beautiful 7h. It gave me a full house, but also completed a flush.

I was first to act and decided that there was no reason to bullshit. I bet out $55. Ebs seemed really distraught until he finally folded. Pauly was taking his sweet time, like a slow roasted ham, perhaps, so I began talking it up. He finally called, and when I showed my full house, he mucked. He later stated that he had the nut flush, which was the only reason why he called. Miraculously, he didn’t have a low. Ebs, however, had folded 38XX, for a weak but winning low hand.

I cashed out up over $150, walking on air. It was after 11:30 by this time, but it didn’t bother me one bit.

I feel like I’m on a rush, so I look forward to playing more in the future. I don’t have anything on the horizon, but I’m sure that will change. I intended to take a day trip to AC on Saturday, but that’s going to have to be rescheduled. Oh well.

A couple of quick odds and ends to tie up.

First, it looks like I may get some funds on Bodog soon, which is sweet, since I really enjoyed the recent blogger tournament series there. It’s absolutely ridiculous how much free money they are throwing at bloggers. So, thank you to Bodog. You can see more about the past tournament series at http://www.bodogbloggertournament.com/. Yeah for Bodog! Yeah for poker!

Second, let’s see how I am doing with my WSOP Prop Bets:

Fuel55- Most Cash Won (Fuel’s Sorel Mizzi, Phil Hellmuth and Jonathan Little vs. my Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey and Johnny Chan)

Cunningham added to his cashes by narrowly missing the final table in Event #33, out in 13th place. I lead $419,927 to Fuel’s $114,702.

Phil Hellmuth, $100,292, 8th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy

Sorel Mizzi, $8,103, 68th, Event #5, the $1000 rebuy, and
$6,307, 29th, Event #24, $2.5k PLHE/PLO

Phil Ivey, $37,130 9th, Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship, and
$7,998, 23rd, Event #22, $4k HORSE

Allen Cunningham, $6,247, 22nd, Event #10, $2,500 OE, good and
$76,205, 4th, Event #24, $2.5k PLHE/PLO
$18,401, 13th, Event #33, $5k Stud Hi/Lo World Championship.

Johnny Chan, $27,072, 13th, Event #8, the $10k Mixed Game Championship, and
$246,874, 4th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy

Ingoal- Most Cash Won (Ingoal’s Daniel Negreanu and Jesus Ferguson vs. my Bill Chen and TJ Cloutier)

Ingoal has continued his beatdown, thanks to Ferguson’s impressive 2nd place in Event #33. Compare that with Chen’s recent weak cash in Event #40. Ugly! Ingoal leads with $664,501 to my pathetic $20,868. Is Cloutier even playing this year? For his sake, I hope not.

Daniel Negreanu, $16,496, 22nd, Event #5, $1000 rebuy, and
$33,417, 11th, Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship) and
$204,874, 1st, Event #20, $2k LHE, and
$123,437, 7th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy

Jesus Ferguson, $14,438, 51st, Event #25, the $10k HU Championship, and
$69,433, 10th, Event #28, the $5k PLO Rebuy and
$202,406, 2nd, Event #33, the $5k Stud Hi/Lo World Championship.

Bill Chen, $15,594, 19th, Event #31, $3k NLHE Shorthanded
$5,274, 24th, Event #40, $2.5 2-7 Triple Draw.

UWannaBet- Most FinalTable/Bracelets (UWanna’s Michael Binger, Brandon Cantu and Erik Seidel vs. my Cunningham, Johnny Chan and Joe Hachem)

Michael Binger, Event #5, $1000 rebuy
Brandon Cantu’s, 9th, Event #10, OE
Erik Seidel, Event # I don’t remember, NLWhoGivesACrap
Cunningham, 4th, Event #24, $2.5k PLHE/PLO
Chan, 4th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy

That’s everything, up to Event #42. Looks like I’m almost running even overall, down just a few bucks.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Good afternoon, everyone! This post was started last week and just finished today, so excuse the disjointed narrative. Lately, writing about my live poker experiences has been more and more difficult. I haven’t been keeping notes on particular hands, which makes these recaps always more difficult. Either I do well and just get into the flow or I do poorly and don’t want to relive the loss. Either way, here we go with a quick recap of last week’s Wall Street Game‘s .50/1 NLHE game.

For the second time last week, I returned to the WSG, hoping to undo the $30 loss from Monday’s tournament and add a few more dinars for the old poker bankroll. Success was the name of the day, winning more than a buy-in with relative ease. If nothing else, it felt good to be playing live poker and slinging snarky comments again with a great cast of characters.

When I strolled into the WSG a little after 7, cards were already in the air. I scoped the table looking for a place to squeeze in my chair and eventually decided on the 9s, between Bacini Mary and Cheryl. Someone joked that I just wanted to sit between the two ladies, but my seat was actually well calculated. Cheryl, on my right, is maddeningly loose. In fact, my first hand of the night illustrates this point perfectly.

As soon as I sat down, I was dealt TT. Cheryl limped into the pot, so I raised from the $1 to $3. I got two callers, including Cheryl, out of position.

The flop was 457, a fine board for my overpair. It checked to me and I bet out $10, slightly more than pot. It folded to Cheryl who called nonchalantly. The turn was an 8 of Spades, creating a straight for anyone with a 6 and a spade flush draw. Cheryl checked again. I didn’t like the draws and bet out $25. She called, reluctantly. The river was a 6, completing the board’s straight, and when it checked to me, I checked as well after reasoning that (a) she wasn’t folding to a bluffed better straight and (b) if she had the better straight, I could be screwing myself. She didn’t have it and we chopped the pot. What did she have? A2o. She thought she had A2s, but nope, A2o. I still don’t know why she called on the flop though (or preflop for that matter).

I took that mental note and filed it away. Cheryl confirmed her crazy action later in the night, too, when on several occasions she showed down A4o or some similar Ace-crap card. On at least one occasion, she cracked someone else’s KK with A4o…it felt like more than once though.

In stark contrast to Cheryl’s looseness is Mary’s tightness, which borders on virginal and makes her an ideal candidate for player best to have on your left. Meanwhile, Mary ain’t no fool and saw my request, “Who wants me on their left?!” as the real deal it was, immediately motioning me over. I don’t blame her either. We get along well and we both acknowledge each others’ particular style of game and act accordingly. A loose aggressive player like me is perfect for the role of Guy On Your Right.

After that first hand, I was only a touch annoyed. I recovered though when I practically doubled up with aggressive betting in a hand against Ben, a player I had only met once or twice before. I held QJ and for some reason unbeknown to me, decided to limp in EP. Actually, I knew the reason. I was hoping to see a cheap flop, but that idea was thwarted when someone raised to $3 preflop. I just checked after flopping top pair on a Q9x board, since I was out of position and feared a KQ or some other dominating hand. Ben bet, though, and Cheryl (I think) called, so I called as well.

The turn was a Ten, creating an OESD for me. I checked again, allowing Ben to bet. Cheryl folded and I raised from his $15 bet to $55. I was trying to win the pot right then and there. Ben, however, called, and we saw the river, a King, giving me my straight. Ben only had about $40 left so I pushed all in and he folded. At first I assumed I sucked out, but the general play lat night suggests that I may’ve been ahead the whole time.

It was a very aggressive game, with bets of over $20 common in later streets, which is a touch off for a $.50/1, $125-max buy-in NLHE game. The action only loosened up once we all saw what some people (cough Cheryl cough) were playing.

I don’t recall many other hands, except for a major one late in the game. I held TT again and raised preflop to $10 from the BB or something similar. Most players had already limped preflop, so I wanted to push most but not all of the players out of the pot. I got two callers, Ben and Marco, who was on the losing end of a bad streak of suckouts.

The flop was fantastic, KTx. I bet out $25, a reasonable bet for the pot. Ben called, but Marco stalled, confused by the aggressive bet and the unlikely call. He eventually folded.

The turn was a Queen, so I pushed, since Ben was once again down to his last $40 or so. He called. The river was dealt, King, giving me a full house. We showed our cards, TT v. AJ. That sonuvabitch turned an inside straight draw. Darko, watching this, announced, Oh, SUCKOUT! I corrected him, “Actually, its a suck, re-suck.” I still have no idea why he called $25 with an inside straight draw. Ironically, after the hand, Marco admitted what he folded…AJ as well. At least he was smart enough to fold.

Prop bets got started after a while. We did the usual Rank prop bet. I chose Jack, Jamie chose 4, Cheryl had 8 and Tom took 7. In literally three back-to-back hands, I won $24 in prop bets alone. The first flop was JJX, netting me $3 per player ($1 for the Jack on the side, and $2 for the middle Jack), the second flop was JJX again, and the third flop was a simple XJX ($2 each for the middle Jack). CHOO CHOO! Meanwhile, Jamie’s 4s were apparently on break, appearing a couple of times early and maybe once over the last two hours.

Dawn (who gave me a quote of the day on her blog from one of my choice lines at the game) joined the poker game a little after me and took the seat on my immediate right, between me and Cheryl. We mostly kept out of each others’ way. I introduced her to the Natalie Portman rap from SNL two years ago, easily one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Something about watching the waif Jewess Natalie Portman singing:

Guys: What you want Natalie
Portman: to drink and fight
Guys: what you need Natalie
Portman: to f*** all night

Is it wrong that I find that incredibly hot? And lemme tell you, as much as my waif Jewess wifey Kim is the shiznittle, I don’t think she’s ever said anything remotely as bad ass. We need to work on that. Another choice line:

When I was in Harvard
I smoked weed every day
I cheated every test
and snorted all the yay
I gotta a def posse
and you gotta buncha dudes
I sit down on your face and take a s**t

I swear, if this came out a year earlier, it would’ve been wifey Kim and my wedding song instead of ‘Put It in Your Mouth.’

And for those uninitiated, check out Hulu.com, and search for Natalie Portman and you’ll see some comedic genius.

Between the prop bets and the Hulu, I have to admit I became distracted by the game, but that was overall a good thing. Hours earlier, at about 8:40pm, I felt a bit of poker fatigue. I remember marathon sessions from days gone by, but lately, I begin fading after a few hours. When my cell phone’s clock read 8:40, I was shocked. It felt like 10 or later, easily. I must admit that the proximity to home is also something pulling me from the game. Knowing that wifey Kim is home and just a 5 minute walk away is a temptation in and of itself.

Whatever the case, I decided to stick it out until 9:30pm, at which point, I was really bored with the poker. I was also sitting on a nice stack when I came to the realization that I should not feel obliged to remain at the game, considering that it was a cash game. I made the announcement that I would be leaving at 10:30pm, and at 10:30pm, made the announcement that I would leave at 10:45. It was about 11pm when I exited the apartment, up $150.

This weekend, I played a slew of online poker Sunday while wifey Kim dress shopped around Manhattan. I won a couple of tokens, used one for a 45-person SNG, placed 2nd for $270, took 2nd in an 8-person HU MTT, and won two blogger tournaments (aided by the fact that there were only two people in both competitions). It felt great to have a successful run, and I feel like my game is primed for success.

Tonight, I’m back at the WSG for .25/.50 PLO8, which should be interesting, to say the least. I am also toying with a day trip to AC this Saturday.

Damnit, I love poker. It’s just that simple.

Until next time, make mine poker!