High On Poker

My oh my. Played in the Skillz Game last night, busting 7th out of 17th. I was in 1st for most of the tourney up until the final table, but when the blinds get high in limit games and the table is playing fast and loose, shit happens. I busted from the $75 Token Frenzy when my A9 fell to A4. Lemon!

I was perusing my email yesterday when I got word from PokerWolf about his pending first trip to Vegas, scheduled for December 12th weekend. It got me thinking about my poker calendar for the year, since part of me really wants to see more of the US’s poker offerings.

Whenever I hear of poker trips, I first go check Travelocity and JetBlue for a sampling of what I can expect by way of flights. This is before I even consider whether travel is a real possibility. In fact, it often happens even though I know I cannot make a trip.

Example, Okie Vegas. Last year, I went down to Oklahoma to visit GCox and assorted poker bloggers (you can read about that trip HERE and HERE). Even though I know I cannot go this year (I don’t have the time off and I’m going to Colorado for an anti-semetic wedding the very next week), whenever G mentions Okie Vegas 2008, I check flight costs.

I followed my usual routine with Wolf’s announcement and found roundtrip flights from JetBlue for approximately $350. I then went to phase 2, checking hypothetical hotels.

When it comes to travel with wifey Kim, I try to stay at decent places, even though wifey Kim is very cool when it comes to accomodations. But solo, I’m looking for two things: price and convenience. It’s a delicate balancing act that I perfected in AC with my patent-pending HoP Atlantic City Hotel Locator System (cheapest casino/hotel on the boardwalk). In Vegas, it really boils down to one thing, the Imperial Palace.

The IP was my stomping grounds for the WPBT Winter Gathering 2007 and did the job better than expected. The IP is a shithole hotel, now owned by Harrahs, with rooms that were surprisingly clean and reasonably spacious. I even had a balconey. The poker room is relatively small for Vegas, with barely anything spread about 1/2 NL (2/5 NL did start once) and terrible players. I like terrible players. It also had some sweet jackpot deals, if you are into that sort of thing. During certain hours, you got paid if Aces or Kings were cracked. At other times, you got to spin a prize wheel (cash and prizes) for any full house or better. There is a board with high hand jackpots for quads, straight flushes and royal flushes of various suits, all with their own varying payouts. There may’ve even been a traditional bad beat jackpot. Whatever the case, that’s a lot of extra gamble for a dinky room.

The prices at IP are phenomenal for that weekend. Extending the trip to three nights would cost about $250, which will likely be less as we get closer and I get deals from Harrah’s. If I split the room with one person (likely Wolf, my roomie from my first AlCantHang Bash), the cost is just $125. Do the math, people! Vegas on my birthday weekend for less than $500!

Phase 3 of trip planning is probably the most difficult: the conversation. Wifey Kim is nothing if not accomodating and I am nothing if not borne of a guilty conscious, so I asked her with trepidation if it would bother her if I went to Vegas solo for my birthday weekend. And of course, she obliged, only concerned of how I was paying for it (either poker money, or more likely saving up a little on the side).

And so, here we are. Phase 4, booking. I haven’t pulled the trigger and I will try to wait, since I have to make sure that it is a truly viable trip. The hardest part is getting time off from work. I get three weeks a year and last year, I went a day over, using one of this year’s days. As it stands, I have already taken three days in February, leaving me with eleven days off. I am taking three more days in July for the anti-semetic wedding and another five days in August for wifey Kim and my California adventure. The result is a tiny three days left, with at least one ear marked for the annual Very Jewish Christmas in Atlantic City.

Two days. Hmmm…. Take one for the Bash this year, and I only have one left. But that just might be enough.

Meanwhile, let’s see what’s 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)

My picks are holding up against Fuel, thanks to a deep cash by Chan and consistent efforts by Cunningham and Ivey. I lead $401,526 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

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 is whooping me good with $462,095 to my pathetic $15,594, thanks to a stellar run by Negreanu and Cloutier’s utter failure to cash once. Here are the cashes thus far:

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

Bill Chen, $15,594, 19th, Event #31, $3k NLHE Shorthanded

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

Thanks to two recent final tables by Chan and Cunningham, my bet with UWanna is even. Here are the final tables:

Michael Binger, Event #5, $1000 rebuy
Brandon Cantu’s, 9th, Event #10, OE.
Cunningham, 4th, Event #24, $2.5k PLHE/PLO
Chan, 4th, Event #28, $5k PLO Rebuy

That’s everything up to Event #33, which still has some players in contention. Looks like it was a good idea to diversify, since I’m looking mighty even across the board.

Poker at the Wall Street Game on Thursday.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Late yesterday, I checked my Evites for upcoming poker games. As it stood, I was scheduled to play at the Wall Street Game on Thursday for a cash game. I had been avoiding the tournaments, mostly because the league-like structure provided benefits for players who could make a good number of those events. Plus, the buy-in, $30 for a single table tourney, was low enough compared to the cash games (anywhere from .50/1 to 1/2NL, 2/4L to 3/6L) that it made more sense to use my time playing cash.

Still, when I saw a seat open in the 9pm $30 tournament last night, I was happy to sign up. After all, poker is poker.

I arrived at the Wall Street Game at around 9pm after having dinner with wifey Kim at a nearby abortion of a diner. Matty Ebs was already multitabling Full Tilt after busting first from the tournament with pocket Kings. His luck hadn’t turned around as he showed me a table where he got all-in with top and bottom two pair on a Q9J flop, only to get called by A7o (the Tourist), who went runner-runner for the straight. Meanwhile, Jamie, Ham-Hands Pauly (he of many names), Take-Your-Time Scott, and one other player were finishing up the first tournament.

I tried to keep myself busy with the Wii, playing a poor round of bowling with some of the early busters. I think I hate very few things more than I hate waiting for poker. It gets my blood aboil and the anticipation can sometimes cause me to make foolish plays early in a session. With that said, when we stacked chips for the second tournament (an anemic 8 players, down from the usual 11), I mentally told myself to play tight.

The action at the table was really manic. On my immediate left was Cheryl, a mild-mannered woman who plays a deceptively LAGgy game. She entered way too many pots raising (from my vantage point), taking down a slew of pots. Across the table was Any-Two-Will-Do Slavin, calling bets in LP with 29s just for the hell of it. To my immediate right was Matty Ebs, who is well known to be aggro.

Sitting back is a difficult thing and on one or two hands, I opted to call light to see if I could convert some marginal hands into big bucks. Neither attempt was successful, so I reverted back to a nut peddling approach.

I was down from the 2500 starting stack to about 1200 or so when the blinds reached 75/150 and I was dealt red Aces. I min-raised from UTG only to get a call from Slavin and a push from Decent-Player Steve, named such because on one post a long time ago, I referred to him as a decent player which sounds like some sorta backhanded compliment. After pushing, he asked, “Did I just fall into a trap?” “Yes you did,” I replied, before realizing that Slavin is loose and may call as well. I tried some reverse psychology, stating aloud so everyone could here, “Don’t tell Slavin, though. I want the action.” Slavin folded, reminding me of one of my prior lessons: Most players actually tell the truth at the table, so be very careful what you say.

Steve showed TT and I doubled up. A little while later, I was dealt black 9s, with a nice-sized stack. I believe I raised it up and Slavin re-raised all-in or pushed. Either way, we got all-in preflop, my 99 vs. his Q9. I was in great shape, calling out “No Queen, No Queen,” when the flop hit KTx. I switched my chant to “No Jack, No Queen” when the turn came out, Jack. LEMON! Slavin hit his improbable straight. I changed my chant again, “Queen, Queen” hoping for a chopped pot, but it didn’t come.

The board was swept up by the dealer and I turned to Slavin, “What do you have there?” He replied, “You’ve got me covered.” I’ll admit, here, that his response annoyed me. After all, I still had to pay him out, covered or not, and I was annoyed enough from losing, even though I wasn’t outwardly showing it. I put it to him straight, “I have to pay you out though, don’t I? So what do you got?”

This is where things got odd. Everyone at the table was confused and I said, “He had the straight.” People looked at me like I was crazy and Slavin and Steve (who was dealing) stated that they didn’t think that Slavin made the straight. I began to doubt myself as everyone else agreed. We tried to reimagine the board. Players insisted that there was a 7, 6, Ten and a Jack. At this point, I tried to quiet down. I wasn’t 100% sure of the straight, especially when everyone else didn’t see it. Jamie, as the floor, tried to work out what to do. Someone suggested we chop the pot. Someone else suggested that I had won. We looked at the cards on top of the deck and saw an Ace of Diamonds, something definitely not on the flop. After another card was one of the flop cards, followed by the Jack of Diamonds, which I was sure came out on the turn. Steve kept peeling off cards and the King of Spades was shown. It was the same card that came out on the flop. I was sure of it. Someone else, Slavin perhaps, recounted that he thought there was a King on the board in hindsight, without seeing the King of Spades. The table was still working out the details when I chimed in. “Look, I’ll make the decision. He won the hand. He hit his straight. I’m sure of it now. That King flopped, I asked for no Jack, and the Jack came giving him the straight.” I put an end to it, mostly out of my desire to be fair. This was a game amongst friends and I knew that I had lost, confirmed by the King of Spades. It sucked to hand Slavin my stack, but that’s the way the game can be.

I busted shortly after and hit the road, returning home before 11pm.

In the end, a poker player really only trades on his reputation. I don’t expect to get staked or stake anyone seriously, but I do want people to have confidence that if they are playing with me, they are getting a fair shake. It’s something that I think should be paramount in any poker player’s personality, even though we all have our slip-ups from time to time. I’d go so far as to say that the difference between a poker player and an angle shooter is the desire to have a fair game. I’d like to consider myself a player.

Poker again at WSG on Thursday. I’ll hopefully get a WSOP Update done tomorrow.

Until next time, make mine poker!

God damn it! I had this nice long post all ready for public consumption and through the miracles of random chance, Blogger ate it all up. After something like that, it is near impossible to recreate such a thing of beauty, so here is the Cliff’s Notes version.

• Played a little bit of online poker this weekend. Busted in a couple of SNGs and the like, but won a few tokens and cashed in 3rd place in a Tier III SNG. I cannot recommend the nightly 9:45pm (EST) $15 Token Frenzy, awarding $75 Tokens, enough. For just $15, I won a $75 token which I used to play in the Tier III SNG, netting $120+. I love tokens.
• Checked out the Sunday HU game set up by Loretta8 only to find that with 20 minutes before kick-off, the amount of people registered was a big fat goose egg. Decided to play the PokerStars 9:15pm (EST) $22 HU MTT. I busted in the first round. Even so, this might be a great alternative to the Sunday HU blogger game, which appears to be dead. If anyone else feels like playing the Stars event next Sunday, let me know via email, IM, or comments. It might be fun to swarm the thing with a bunch of bloggers. In fact, it might be fun to have some sort of competition to see who can win the damn thing first. If you are interested in joining and need to swap FT dough for Stars dough, hit me up. Sadly, I barely have 10 buy-ins to that tournament on Stars, so I ask that any transfers be made for the buy-in amount only…at least for now.
• F-Train cashed in the Razz event at the WSOP, taking 33rd out of ~450. That’s freaking awesome! When I first read it at PokerNews, I got a shit eating grin on my face. Wifey Kim asked what was up and I told her. It meant nothing to her, but it means a ton to me. A win for one is a win for all!
• The WSOP is crazy this year. There are a ton of star-studded final tables, including an upcoming final table with several people in my multiple prop bets, including Hellmuth, Negreanu, and Johnny Chan…all at one final table. John Juanda is in there too. Just amazing.
• I don’t have the patience to do all the leg work and math needed for an update on my WSOP Prop bets, but the long and short of it is that I am whooping Fuel in most cash, getting my ass handed to my by Ingoal in most cash, and am behind by one in the final tables bet with UWannaBet.

That’s all you get from me today. Stupid Blogger. I’ll probably play the Hoy tonight, if for no other reason than to continue my streak. I cashed two weeks ago and won it last week. Let’s hope for a small turnout…

Until next time, make mine poker!

Look, I’m not saying you should start flame wars, but if you are going to write a post bashing a fellow blogger, at least mention the blogger by name. I’ll even give you a pass on a link, but for Christ’s sake, give a name. How else am I supposed to protect myself from that evil blogger’s doings, or properly shun that blogger for their horrible ways, or check out their blog for their inevitable flame back, if for no other reason than to enjoy the heat of the fire.

And lest you think I am talking about you, I AM, because inherently, if you do think I am talking about you, you must have flamed without identifying your target. However, DO NOT think that I am flaming you. No, sir, because if I actually had a problem with you, I would name you (but probably not link you, because I am bitter like that).

The bottom line is, there is a whole lotta flaming going on, and I don’t care to give my opinion as to who is right and who is wrong because it gives me the agita. Suffice it to say that there is a very big reason why HoP is largely an island unto itself. The large unwashed masses are filled with people who would lie, cheat, and rape your grandmother to get ahead in life, all the while proclaiming their virgin innocence. That, and I’m a misanthrope.

Also, when I have let out a flame here, I find myself checking for responses a little too regularly and feeling the heartburn the entire time. What can I say? I’m a tad sensitive for a misanthrope. So I will not opine on things I know little about (thanks to your vague posts), and I will not give half-assed veiled thoughts on the various dramedy that has beset bloggerdom.

But I will request once again that if you choose to flame, flame by name. You do not look like you are taking the high road when you don’t name the person. Instead, you just look like a cock tease, and my gossip blue balls are killing me.

Until next time, make mine poker!

Does it count as a bubble if you are two off of the money? I mean, it’s bubbly, right? And I’m not talking about a single table tournament either. I’m talking an 18-spots pay PLO tournament ($26 buy-in) and a 6-spots paying Mookie.

I don’t know about you, but its bubble enough for me. I bit too bubbly, in fact.

Yep, last night saw me disappoint myself not once, but twice, after some initial success earning myself a $75 token via FT’s nightly 9:45 pm EST $15 Token Frenzy MTT. This has got to be one of the softest MTTs around, and each time I play it, I am always shocked that there aren’t more poker bloggers in it with me. The Token Frenzy is like the mongoloid, overgrown big brother to the Token SNG. Just sit and fold for a few hours and collect yourself a $75 token. I wish I could explain more, but there isn’t anything more to explain. I can play that tournament with my eyes shut. In fact, I pretty much did last night, since I was busy concentrating on the two debacles.

The first was the $4k Guaranteed Omaha Hi MTT. I was playing gangbusters, choosing my spots extremely carefully. And the best part was, I was making the right reads and the right plays. For instance, on a seemingly innocuous flop of 998, rainbow, I continuation bet my pocket AAxx, only to get an all-in call for less from a shortie and a push from the big stack. The big stack was playing uber loose, but I was faced with a difficult decision. His re-push could have been one of two things. The first is an isolation play. A player with a weak and a huge stack may want to get HU because he has a greater chance or having his mediocre hand beat the desperate shortie. The other possible answer was that he had the 9, which didn’t initially make sense, given his position and his call preflop. I hovered over the call button (and yes, Omaha players, AA is not gold, but I didn’t have full faith in the big stack’s sincerity, and I could lose to the all-in for less and still make a tidy profit if I won against biggie). But I folded, and sure enough, both showed a 9.

That’s not anything terribly impressive, but I remember it as an awakening for myself. I was playing smart, patient poker and I had a real chance to go deep.

A little while later, I faced an almost identical situation, except I was HU with the big stack. This time, his overpush on the paired rainbow board felt fishy, so I called with my AAxx and doubled through his JJxx.

Not that it makes a difference. For some reason, down to 20 with 18 paying, sitting in 12-16th place, I made an ill advised play against (now ex-)big stack once again. I had no reason to think that he was calling with anything more than rags. I had AQTx. The flop was 86A and we both checked. I began to think my A was good. The turn was a 2 and I bet out. He raised enough to constitute half of my stack. This time, though, I made the wrong play, pushing all-in, which would essentially put my ex-big stack all-in as well. He called and showed A882. When the river came a Ten, I was excited because my AT outdrew his 22. Then I noticed his stupid 88, good for a flopped set. I basically hung myself on this one.

In the Mook, my ending was less exciting. I was the second short stack coming into the final table and eventually had to push to stay in it. I believe I pushed with KQ, got called by Ax, and busted. Or that was the hand that set up my bust hand. Whatever the case, I’m not too upset with my play there. If anything, my error was not chipping up earlier, but that’s better than spewing chips right before the bubble.

After busting from both, I tried to regain my composure. Dealing with losses is the hardest part of this wretched game. It can make even the most confident man doubt himself; it can make even the most ballsy man shrivel. I just sat on the couch, motionless and emotionless, trying to play through my errors in my head. Bubbling is becoming a bad habit, but at least I am getting near the money.

Let me offer a big FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FUCKS to Spectra Bingo, who doesn’t deserve a link. Cocksuckers insist on spamming my god damn blog daily, from some two bit twat named abigail. Fortunately, I get notifications for all comments. Unfortunately, that means that every morning, I have to locate an old post and erase this ho bags comment. I even emailed the site twice to no avail. Fucking fucks. In the few times this has happened in the past with other companies, usually an email will suffice. It’s fair to say that the cunts at Spectra are a bunch of fucking douschebag con men, so I highly recommend that you avoid that site at all costs. The fuckers aren’t worthy of my taint, let alone my time.

Today’s WSOP Prop Bet update. Not much has changed aside from Ingoal’s horse, Danny N, making it to the $2k LHE final table. Ug! I’ll just copy/paste and put the new stuff in bold.

Fuel55- I lead the Most Cash Won bet, now that all three of my picks have cashed. Most recently, Phil Ivey took 9th in Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship for $37,130, Allen Cunningham took 22nd place in Event #10, $2,500 OE, good for $6,247, and Johnny Chan placed 13th in Event #8, the $10k Mixed Game Championship, good for $27,072. ($70449, total) . Fuel is on the board with $8,103 thanks to Sorel Mizzi’s 68th place finish in Event 5, the $1000 rebuy. His two other picks, Jonathan Little and the Poker Brat, Phill Hellmuth, have yet to cash since our bet began with Event #3. Ivey is close to the top spot going into Day 2 of Event #22, $3k HORSE, but that means nothing…yet.

Ingoal- Ingoal leads the Most Cash Won bet thanks to Daniel Negreanu ($16,496, 22nd place, Event 5, $1000 rebuy and $33,417 for 11th place in Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship). Danny also has final tabled Event #20, the $2k Limit Hold’em event. I anxiously await his continued dominance. My two horses, Bill Chen and TJ Cloutier have yet to cash since our bet began with Event #3. His horse for most bracelets won, Greg Raymer, is still holding steady going into day 2 of Event #22, $3k HORSE.

UWannaBet – UWanna still leads our Most FT/Bracelets bet thanks to Michael Binger (Final Table, Event 5, $1000 rebuy). He also almost had a second final table with Brandon Cantu’s 9th place finish in Event 10, OE. As it now stands, UWanna is still ahead $3. Binger is holding onto by the skin of his teeth in Event #22, $3k HORSE, but needs to final table to win anything for UWanna.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time, make mine poker!

So, I won the Hoy, even though it only had 15 players. Damn, you point-freaks love your big series like the BBT3. Ironically, I’ve probably played more post-BBT events than BBT events, but that’s probably because I like smaller fields.

My win yesterday was one part great hands at the right time and one part being screwed down. For those not familiar with the vernacular, being screwed down denotes playing ones best. Even though I had suffered a bad beat earlier in the night in a separate event and was generally feeling like the world was against me, by the time I started up the Hoy, I was ready to play smart poker. And I followed through.

The strategy was much the same as my past success. I started fairly tight in the 6-handed event, followed by bursts of activity when I would hit a string of cards (not all premium hands, but I like the streakiness of 6-handed) or when the timing felt ride (i.e., the other players were getting into fold mode). Once I accumulated some chips (I turned a straight against Surflexus‘ AA), I kept the pressure on, taking breaks here and there when I thought my opponents were adjusting to my overaggression. In fact, let’s look at the hand with Surflexus, even though I didn’t save the hand history.

Basically, I was in LP or on the button with 3500-4000 in chips when I decided to min raise to 80 (blinds of 20/40) with 67h or similar suited connectors. I believe by then, there were two limpers ahead of me and we may’ve been 5-handed, so if it wasn’t a family pot, it was damn close. Surf, in one of the blinds, raised to 200. He got one caller before me and I called as well, with position and a great drawing hand. The flop was 89X with one heart, giving me an open-ended straight draw and a backdoor flush possibility. Surf led out for 200 into the 600+ pot. The other player may’ve folded. Whatever the case, I flat called, hoping to see the next cheap card. It was a Ten, completing my straight. I think Surf bet 400 and I chose to min-raise. Memory is a bit fuzzy here. I knew I was ahead and wanted a call, so I think I tried to keep him in the pot with a min-raise. The river paired the board (9?) and he checked. I value bet for a decent amount (1200?) and he called. Damn details. The point is, I saw an opportunity, I took it and it paid off.

I have to admit some “luck” such as flopping top two from the BB with Q9o after calling a preflop raise from, I believe, TwoBlackAces in the SB. It felt like a steal from him and I took my time before calling, reasoning that if I hit my hand, I may beat his lower pair OR his unpaired hand. On the flop, he checked and I bet out. He raised (if memory serves) and I pushed. He was pot committed for the tiny amount more and called….with Q8o. Sometimes, these things just fall into your lap. However, if it weren’t for the correct call preflop, I wouldn’t have had a chance to bust him postflop.

I busted another player later (perhaps earlier…come to think of it, it was Surflexus) when he pushed over my raise when I had AK. He had KQ. Hand in lap, once again.

As we neared the final table, I tightened up considerably. I had a monster stack compared to most of the players and chose my spots rather than splash around too much. There were a few periods when I’d raise 5 or 6 hands in a row and take down each pot, but I balanced that with lots of folding.

By the final table, I reverted to a strategy I learned from Lucko many moons ago. It was one of Lucko’s first (if not first) blogger tourney wins when he taught the blogger community about exploiting the bubble. Lucko was willing to fold to the short stacks to take advantage of the timidity of the middle stacks on the bubble. It was a concept that I, at least, never considered before he did it. In fact, more than a few bloggers questioned collusion, since we were all so used to the idea of the big stack going after the shortstacks to burst the bubble.

With that strategy in mind, I accumulated chips and alternatively folded while down to 6, then 5, then 4 players. Once the bubble burst (in no part due to my own efforts, as I was folding away at that point), I went back to concentrating on the game. Hoy was now in first with me in a close second and Katitude in third. I dispatched her, taking first. I played HU with Hoy for probably 20 mins before I dispatched him too. In the final hand, he re-raised all-in preflop with KTs into my AA. I suppose my relentless raising and my penchant to folding to his rare re-raises set up that hand. With HU poker it is all about feeling the flow of the game. In that situation, it was almost like jujitsu. Rather than attack my enemy, I merely coopted his attack on me.

A couple of points. First, I was actually pretty intimidated going against Hoy HU. It is his tournament after all, and he is an accomplished player. In fact, he is one of the few people I would likely buy a piece off of, and while it sometimes is tough to admit it, he probably is in the HoP Poker Role Models for his shear success. At first, I wanted to just attack him into submission, but I knew Hoy was too good for that strategy, so I switched to my usual Ebb and Flow HU Strategy. To a lesser extent, I also followed my Inverse Theory of Aggression in HU poker. Whatever the case, It’s easy with Aces! (c), so I have to give the poker gods their due as well.

I think it is time to bust out the hand that really got me over the hump. First, I will give you the hand without commentary. Then, I will explain my thought process.

I had 9,540, almost twice my nearest competitor. We were six-handed, and I was in the BB with AQo. With blinds of 30/60, Fuel55, the 2nd chipleader with 5520, raised 3x the BB to 180. It folded to me and I raised to 480. He called.

The flop was A54, with two spades including the Ace. I bet out 960 and Fuel called.

The turn was an 8 of spades, completing any flush draws. I waited until the 15 second warning before betting out 2160. Fuel insta-pushed all-in for 4080 total, 1920 more to me. I waited for the 15 seconds and then requested Time, ultimately calling. Fuel showed ATo (no spade) and the rivered 2s was a blank for both of us, securing me the pot.

Fuel started the flames immediately, to which I replied “boo hoo hoo” and “poor Fuel” before remembering to throw in, “CHOO CHOO”. Jordan don’t suffer no fools and when people want to bitch in the chat box about my play, particularly when it was “correct”, get no sympathy from me. I suppose I could show a bit of restraint and ignore their steaming, but I can’t help but gode them on, if for no other reason than to underscore in my head just how silly it is to blame the other guy.

Fuel and I have since emailed back and forth about the hand. His argument is that AQ beats nothing in that spot. My argument is that AQ beats AT in that spot, and in fact, did. It wasn’t an easy decision to call there, but I had a serious read from the onset of the hand and I didn’t want to fold out of fear. I read him as having a weaker Ace and I was correct. But let me offer a different way to look at it.

Right away, with the initial 3x raise by Fuel, I had Ace-little in his range. I don’t remember how the table was acting, but I think I was in one of my folding jags. Whatever the case, when the action got around to me, I raised for a very specific reason. If he had AK, he’d probably re-raise. If he had a strong hand in general (JJ-AA, and probably 99 and TT, six-handed) he would’ve re-raised. When he flat called, it fit my initial thought…a weaker Ace, such as AJ. Fuel seems to think that I should consider his range to be a lot wider, and I agree that it is not only weaker Aces, but at this point in the hand, it still looked like a weaker Ace.

The flop was good and bad. I didn’t like the flush draw, but I hit my Ace. I opted to bet out 960, which was my standard just-less-than-pot bet. He flat called, which sorta concerned me. However, if I thought he was holding a weaker Ace, a flat called made sense. The only other possiblity there was a monster or perhaps the flush draw, although I failed to see how he could be on the flush draw. After all, the only flush draw that would make sense is KQs or suited connectors perhaps. Keep in mind, the Ace of spades was on the flop, so AXs was an impossibility. I also did not want to overly fear the flush draw because (a) it was only a draw [hence my bet] and (b) the likelihood of two spades against one opponent seemed slim.

The turn was an 8s, which sucked, since it would fill the flush draw. I took my time with this decision because I didn’t know what to do. I still thought my AQ was probably good, but if he had any spade, he had a flush draw to beat my TP2ndK. That’s why I waited until the 15 second warning. I was deciding what to do. Ultimately, I knew a check would be handing the pot over so I bet out about half of his stack, which was also significantly less than the ~3k pot. His insta-push sealed the deal for me. It just seemed so premeditated, as though he was trying to exude strength, or conversely, as though he had decided that no matter what, he was pushing there.

Lest anyone (read: Fuel) think I’m just blowing smoke up their asses, I can tell you with all sincerety that the reason why I asked for Time was that I was seriously conflicted. Every fiber of my being said that Fuel was on a weaker Ace, but I was mostly concerned with A8, which was good for a turned two-pair. Plus, even if he had A2, if the 2 was a spade, I’d be vulnerable. I literally asked myself, “What are you going to do? Are you going to follow your read or wait for a better spot?” And in the end, I said, fuck it. I would still have over 3k in chips if I lost the hand and I HAD a read. I couldn’t just ignore it.

And that’s that. According to Fuel (I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing this), “Given the board texture on the turn…[I could estimate his range as] AA, 88, 55, 44, ATs+, AKs, ATo+ at worse to which you are still a 3:2 dog.” To which I say, huh? Where did you come up with that? I already explained that I didn’t think he had AA or AK due to the preflop action. 88, 55 and 44 were possibilities, but I imagine he would’ve raised the flop with a flopped set with the flush and straight draws out there. Also, his preflop call would’ve been odd with 44 and 55, so I didn’t consider them real threats. So, what’s left? 88, ATs+ and ATo+. Well, I have all of those beat except for 88. AND, frankly, I saw Fuel’s range as including weaker Aces like A9. I should add that Fuel admits that I had good pot odds to call, but whatever the case, I still can’t agree with his range analysis. In fact, if Fuel did anything wrong in the pot, it was his overaggression on the turn. If he had waited until the river, he may’ve pushed me off of the four-flush board. If he paused a tad more before his push, it may’ve been more scary as well.

After that hand, I was so proud of my read and more importantly, my conviction to follow my read, that I felt on top of my game. The rest just fell into place.

I’d love to hear more thoughts on that hand if anyone has an opinion.

All’s I gots to say is Ka Ching! And with that…

Until next time, make mine poker!

I played in the Sunday Heads Up tournament last night, a weekly Sunday blogger event that is dying on the vine, so to speak. There were only 6 or 7 runners, which is a terribly low turnout, so I highly encourage readers/bloggers to check it out next week, Sunday at 9pm EST on FT, password, shovemonkey. More details can probably be found at the site of the game’s founder, Loretta8. A big congrats also goes out to Loretta for his (yes, Loretta is a guy) win in the BBT3 TOC, netting himself a seat in the WSOP Main Event.

I hate to toot my own horn, but BEEP BEEP. That isn’t to suggest that I won or even cashed in the HU game. But I did beat my first round competition faster than anyone else. The fact that I slowplayed my flopped top set (with pocket KK) and my opponent caught 2 pair with 56o on the turn probably helped. But the key, to me, was to keep him in the pot on the flop…and it worked big time.

In the next round, I started with 3000 chips to my oppponents’ 1500, since he had a bye in the first round. Boo hoo hoo to him, I suppose, but rather than bitch and moan, he instead chose to play solid poker…until our last hand. He had worked his way to even (I can’t remember who now, due to a looooooong weekend) and may have even held a tiny lead when we got into a preflop raising war. At showdown, I had JJ and he had A7s. He flopped the flush draw, turned the inside straight draw, and rivered the straight. It was a real kick to the junk, and I shut down my Full Tilt as fast as possible. I felt real disgust, but then I looked up the odds on a poker odds calculator courtesy of CardPlayer and found that I wasn’t even a 70/30. Oh well. At least I got in good.

Other than that, it was a pokerless weekend, as wifey Kim had me all over the tri-State area. On Friday night, we joined two other couples at a tiny French-bistro type restaurant in the West Village called Tartine. The place was so small that guests waiting for a table had to wait outside, and the place was so ‘hip’ that they didn’t have a list for seating. Instead, you just waited in a sloppy line. In total, we probably waited an hour to be seated, but the moderate temperature and good company made it bearable. It also didn’t hurt that the restaurant was BYOB, so we got sloshed for cheap on some un-marked-up wine. SCORE! As for the food, it was uniformly very good. My escargot was probably some of the best I’ve had and the spicy chicken was pretty good, if small and a tad boring.

The next day, wifey Kim and I went to my parents’ home in Long Island to pick up a car. Our first stop was Pt. Lookout Beach, where I did my best not to stare at the High School seniors and their skimpy bathing suits. Thank god for sunglasses and the old stand-by line, “I can’t believe she is wearing that. I think I will stare at her disapprovingly until she is adequately shamed at showing off her perfect ass.” Works every time.

After the beach, where I managed to only burn my right ankle, we drove into New Jersey to celebrate wifey Kim’s friend’s husband’s doctorate, which he just earned due to his dissertation on self-mutilation. Over pints of black and tans, we discussed how, as a disaffected youth, I saw my share of fuckedupedness, but that cutting was a relatively new breed of teen angst. It probably was around back then, but less popular, thanks to poor publicity. Now, its a known ‘thing’ which must cause a spike across the board (no pun intended) in activity.

After that rousing trip, we headed back to the city to catch some Z’s. The next day, we returned back to LI for a barbque out east at another one of wifey Kim’s friends houses. I, naturally, got drunk on Bass while hanging out in the beautiful suburban surroundings. If not for the fact that I broke my toe during a rousing game of frisbee, it would’ve been a perfect day. Whatever the case, it still rocked out. By the time I got home last night, with 15 mins to spare before the HU game, I was exhausted.

Very little poker, though.

I’m already eyeing my next trip to AC. It looks like I will be making a day trip in two weekends. God, I can’t wait.

Here’s a fun little thingee that I thought I would share. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is wifey Kim’s favorite restaurant, mostly because of their amazing sweet potato casserole side dish. Well, they are having a special summer-long deal. $89 for a meal for two. It includes two appetizers, two entrees, two sides and one dessert, all from a limited, but reasonable, menu. You can check it out HERE.

I’ll leave you with today’s WSOP Prop Bet update.

Fuel55- I lead the Most Cash Won bet, now that all three of my picks have cashed. Most recently, Phil Ivey took 9th in Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship for $37,130, Allen Cunningham took 22nd place in Event #10, $2,500 OE, good for $6,247, and Johnny Chan placed 13th in Event #8, the $10k Mixed Game Championship, good for $27,072. ($70449, total) . Fuel is on the board with $8,103 thanks to Sorel Mizzi’s 68th place finish in Event 5, the $1000 rebuy. His two other picks, Jonathan Little and the Poker Brat, Phill Hellmuth, have yet to cash since our bet began with Event #3.

Ingoal- Ingoal leads the Most Cash Won bet thanks to Daniel Negreanu ($16,496, 22nd place, Event 5, $1000 rebuy and $33,417 for 11th place in Event #14, the $10k Stud World Championship). My two horses, Bill Chen and TJ Cloutier have yet to cash since our bet began with Event #3.

UWannaBet – UWanna still leads our Most FT/Bracelets bet thanks to Michael Binger (Final Table, Event 5, $1000 rebuy). He also almost had a second final table with Brandon Cantu’s 9th place finish in Event 10, OE. Unfortunately for UWanna, OE is played 8-handed, making Cantu the final table bubble boy and saving me $3. As it now stands, UWanna is still ahead $3.

Until next time, make mine poker!