Ace Jack Finally Hits

One of my favorite Hellmuth quotes is "the minute I get Ace-Jack suited, he raises right over the top of me." Phil had Ace-8 suited. Even if he had Ace-Jack, he would still be in a similar predicament.

When Hellmuth enters a hand, he wants to be in dominant position. Just read his first book and he goes on and on about dominant hands such as Aces, Kings, Queens, and Ace King. The problem is, Ace Jack doesn't really dominate too many hands. It is dominated, of course, by Aces, Kings, Queens, and Jacks. Also, Ace King and Ace Queen. It is approximately a 60/40 favorite against King Queen. It is a a 45/55 underdog to any pocket pair below Jacks. It's still a good hand though. But a very foldable one.

About a week ago, a player raised to $15 in middle position. A strong raise from a tight player in such position signified to me that he was very strong but still trying to protect something. I put him on a pair that were at least tens but no higher than Queens. This meant that when I looked down at my hand, unless there were alot of callers, I had better see Kings or better.

It got to me as everyone after folded. I was in the small blind and looked down to see Ace Jack suited. An attractive hand, but I knew it was abysmal in this situation, so I folded. The player who limped in first position called. The flop was blank, blank, Ace. The first player checked and the preflop raiser bet $20. The 1st player folded and the raiser/bettor showed pocket Jacks.

I told the player he made a good raise because he got me to fold Ace-Jack suited. The player to my right (who was looser than Paris Hilton) was shocked I would fold such a "quality hand." I simply told him, I was killed before the flop or at best, it was a race. Even if it were a race, why risk the $14 more hoping to flop an Ace or Jack, hit some sort of straight, or a flush? Even if I do flop top pair, my kicker with the Ace is susupicious, and if he hits a set, I'd practically be drawing dead. It turns out that preflop, I was behind 65% to 35%. Not exactly good odds.

Yesterday I made a similar good fold and had I been a moron I would have won a few bucks. I was to the right of the button. The player before me raised to $7. I had Ace-Queen so I called. The player to my left called. I was hoping he'd fold so I'd be in position but oh well. The small blind folded and the big blind re-raised to $27 total. I knew I was killed. The player to my right called. I quickly folded. The player to my left showed me his cards and he had the same hand I did, Ace-Queen offsuit. He folded. It turns out that the big blind re-raiser had Kings and won the hand against the original raiser who had a God aweful Queen-2 suited. There was an Ace on the flop and a Queen on the turn so me and the player to my left would have split the pot. But we both made the right decision. It turns out we were each about 10% to win the hand.

My Ace Jack finally hit yesterday. I limped in with it in middle position. A position raiser made it $7 to go so I called. The flop was 10-4-Jack. He bet $7, which had been his post flop bet after preflop raising. I re-raised to $17. He called. The turn was an Ace. He checked, I bet $15. The river was an 8. He checked. I bet $15, he called. He didn't even have an Ace beat, let alone Aces up. He had been raising alot preflop and betting alot of flops, but he never did it again when I was still in the hand. A nice $50 profit with Ace-Jack.

The other big hand I won was with pocket 3s. I limped in. A player raised it to $7 after 4 others limped. I figured for $5 more I'll see a flop and hope to spike a 3. I also figured that at least 2 of the 4 limpers after me would call. They all did. The flop was 5-3-2. Check, Check, I check, check, all-in for $29, fold, fold, call, I call. I'm somewhat worried about an Ace-4 and a straight, but my fears vanish when the turn is a 2 giving me a full house. There is only one hand that beats me now because the dealer misdealt and showed a deuce as the burn card. Only pocket 5s have me beat. The player to my right, who was very loose (he called the $27 with Q2 in the hand above) checked. I wanted to win some more money from this side pot, so I bet $15. He raises me to $30. Right there, I shouldv'e re-raised. I shouldv'e known he didn't have pocket 5s and his loose play meant that he'd call a large re-raise. I simply called. He checked the river, an 8, and I bet $15. He called. He flipped pocket 7s. I flipped over my winning full house, 3s full of 2s. Not exactly Aces full of Kings, but enough to get the job done. I won about $138 with that hand but it couldv'e been more. Maybe $50 more. I need to maximize my profits on these big hands. Especially when they come around less often. I had the 2nd best possible hand on the turn and was against a calling station with an pocket pair higher than everything on the board. I was 95.5% to win that hand on the turn and I coulv'e re-raised his check raise about $30 more, then bet $30 on the river instead of $15. I was so afraid of him folding that I completely forgot that he didn't have the ability to fold. The way he quickly called the $29 all in on the flop shouldv'e told me he couldn't fold this hand even if I had gone all-in.

Oh well, play and learn.

Rebuilding a Bankroll

The East Coast Poker Championships are a litte more than 6 weeks away. I would like to be able to enter some satelittes for the $1,000 Championship Event as well as enter the $200 shootout. However, this past month of poker has been quite detrimental to my bankroll. In order to risk$40 on a satelite or $200 on a tournament, I need alot more fluid bankroll. This means I have to build myself up again. Over the next 6 weeks, I plan on going to the casino at least 6 times. Hopefully, I can pull in around $1,000. Otherwise, I won't be playing in anything.

In order to do this, I must play perfectly. I must be able to get off strong starting hands. I need to protect my starting hands. I need toprotect my vulnerable flops. I need to maximize chip extraction when I get the top hand. I need to make a move once and awhile. I also can't piss my money away on small $20 tournaments that will only slowly detract from my bankroll and won't really give me quality practice for larger tournaments against different styles of players. I've got a goal. Now I just need to attain it.

Readjusted Strategy

After losing big the first few days at Turning Stone this month, I wanted to adjust my strategy to avoid getting shortstacked. I figured that I was getting short stacked cuz I'd raise with AK or AQ or a pocket pair, only to not hit with my high cards, or be faced with overcards with my pocket pairs. I'd then lose the pot, or futily try to take it down with bluffs. I came to the conclusion that raising preflop was not intelligent unless you had made hands (high pocket pairs). Then I realised that if you only raised when you got Jacks or better, you'd only be raising 1 out of every 55 hands (the odds of getting any particular pocket pair are 1 in 220, so 4 different pocket pairs means 4/220 or 1/55 or 1.8%). 55 hands is about 2 hours of playing at the casino. Obviously, any intelligent player would notice me not raising 98.2% of the time so when I did raise, I wouldn't get any action.

I took the rule about winning big pots being the goal of a grinder far too literally. I didn't focus on winning smaller pots. This was wrong because it is the small pots that keep your stack up and win you money even if the big hands don't come.

Keeping your stack up is pivitol in cash games. The amount of chips in front of you dictates so many things. How much of a risk you can take (a person with $25 can't really call a $10 preflop raise with suited connectors hoping to hit something big). How much pressure you can put on other players (the bigger the bet, the more likely a player is to fold). And how much you can win in a pot. A player with $25 has a maximum victory of a $225 profit pot if they go all-in and everyone at the table calls. Realistically, they will triple up at most and that would bring their stack to a level $25 below what they bought in with.

What would happen to me is that I would sit and wait for the big hand to come. I'd flop a set against a high pair and double up. But most of the time, I'd be out about half my chips so I'd go back to even. Eventually, I'd be on the other end of the big pot and lose it all. I'd also be losing money simply by reloading to keep my stack at $100 whenever I got down to about $50. This was an incredibly bad way to play poker. And it cost me a few hundred dollars.

Another problem I was having was trying to make EVERY pot I had the best hand in to be the Big Pot I was in search of, slow playing or betting small with vulnerable hands like top pair and two pair. This led to me getting outdrawn somewhat often and my inability to fold these hands due to my overwhelimg desire to win big pots even when the voice in my head was telling me to fold. was costing me alot of money.

The resolution I made involved several things.

1. Raise preflop with top hands like pairs above 10 and AK and AQ. This will allow you to win decent sized pots to keep your stack up, will force out smaller cards, and put me in position to bet at the pot even if I don't hit.

2. Make a few moves once in awhile to steal a few bucks in a pot. This will allow me to limp in more often without diminishing my stack too much. It's the limp in with suited connectors that eventually lead to the big pots.

3. Don't get too attatched to pocket pairs. They're just like any other pair only they are invisible to other players and like any other pair, can get beaten by 2 pair, trips, straights, and flushes.

4. Protect vulnerable hands. It's true I won't win much by betting $15 into a $10 pot with top pair, but such a large bet will prevent people with gutshot straight draws or lower pairs from outdrawing me. This resolution includes re-raising, not simply smoothe calling with the best hand, unless it is very uncrackable.

5. Trust my instincts more. There's a voice in my head that is a great poker player. He makes correct reads as if he were Phil Hellmuth. This voice, however, is a quiet voice (unlike Phil Hellmuth) and is too often outshouted by my moronic voice, which constantly tells me "even if he has it, you have outs!"

6. Focus on winning small pots as well as big ones. The small ones keep the stack up making it easier to sit and wait for the big one. It's like catching a few small fish every day to feed yourself until you catch that huge one so you can feast.

Anyway, today was up against the wall day. I barely had enough cash to buy-in to the game. Just $95 in cash and $30 in chips from the other day. The first hand I won was somewhat of a freak occurence. I was on the button with 10-2, normally I'd fold with such an abysmal hand but because a player had just left on the button, I was the small blind on the button. I'm not going to fold anything for $1 when I already have $1 in there, let alone fold for a dollar on the button.

The flop was 7-9-10 with 2 hearts. After it checked around, I quickly bet $10 in order to basically tell everyon at the table, I had them beat. I got one caller though. I figured he had a flush draw. The turn was a King of hearts, which scared me. But he checked it so I figured he didn't have a flush. I checked it too figuring that he might have a 10 with a better kicker and was equally as scared of the flush draw as I was. In which case, I'll take the free card hoping to either hit two pair and hoping to protect my money. Plus, the pot was about $30 at this point which isn't a bad pot for 10-2 to take down.

The river was a 9, another scary card because he seemed like the type of player that would call a bet on the flop with 2nd pair so he might have picked up trips. He bet out $15. I thought about folding for about half of a second then realised that he didn't want me to call. The way he threw the chips in with his wrist was so blatant that I knew he didn't have shit. I called the bet and flipped over my 10s, he flipped over Jack-6. He was chasing an inside straight draw, missed, and decided to bluff in order to take down the pot. A nice $30 profit right there with a shitty hand.

This kid was one of those players I love to play against. Sporting sunglasses thinking that this will prevent anyone from reading him. He doesn't realise that he touches his nose when he has a big hand, and flicks his wrist when bluffing. He also overbet far too often preventing him from getting action with things such as the nut flush. He was also as loose as Star Jones's jeans on Kate Moss. Who the hell limps in under the gun with Jack-6 and calls with a crappy inside straight draw? That moron.

I was in another big hand with this genius of poker. I limped in with Q8 suited in early position. I did this because no-one at the table was raising all that often so with two high suited cards, why not take a $2 flop and hope to hit something big? Anyways, the flop was King-7-4, with two hearts out there. It gave me the 2nd best possible flush draw. I thought about betting at it but the way the player before me in the hand checked was so suspicious that I knew he had a King and possibly more. The turn was a 4 of hearts, giving me the flush, but making it possible for a full house. The kid with the King checked, I checked, half slow playing, half afraid of the boat, and the sunglasses moron bets out about $20. I figure he has trips or a flush. His flush would most likely be lower than mine, but still possible that he had the Ace high flush. But he didn't overbet this time so I figured he had a good flush, but not as good as mine. The slow playing kid called pretty quickly and I called. The river was a 10 of diamonds. The slow playing kid bet out $10, I called, the sunglasses kid made it $40. The slow player called and I called after some deliberation. The slow player did have a King and actually made top 2 pair on the river. The sunglasses kid had Jack-9 of hearts. I took down a healthy $125 of profit in that hand.

The cards got pretty cold pretty fast. I'd limp in with King-Jack, wouldn't hit, and be $2 poorer. A new dealer sat down at the table and I heard him talking to the kid next to him about The Usual Suspects, one of my favorite movies. It turns out that they were talking about Kevin Pollak. Apparently, he was playing $200 Max Buy-In in the other room at table 1. He had just done his standup act the night before. I went out of the room for a cigarette and to see if it was true that Pollak was there. Turns out the dealer was right and he was there. In my first hand back, I got dealt pocket Queens.

This month, I'd usually limp in with these cards but decided to raise to $12 in early position. One player called out of the small blind, everyone else folded. The flop was the 6 of hearts, 9 of hearts, and the Queen of spades. CHACHING! I could just here Vince van Patten saying "church bells going off in his head."

The other player in the hand bet out $20. I thought about smoothe calling but the hearts on the board scared me. I thought he might've called my preflop raise with something like AJ or AK of hearts and was making a semi-bluff to take down the pot. I wanted to protect my hand so I raised to $70 total. I was basically telling the guy, you're going to need to put all your chips in there in order to see any more cards. He thought hard and folded. It turns out he had 6-9 and flopped two pair. In which case, he made a GREAT fold after making a stupid preflop call. I wish I had known he had 6-9. I wouldv'e smoothe called knowing that he needed running 6s or 9s to win and was a mere 0.2% to win the hand. I protected my hand though because with AK of hearts, he'd be 25% likely to win.

The very next hand, I was dealt pocket Kings. Again, I raised to $12 figuring after showing my trips to everyone, no-one would give me action. But the player to my right, who was in the big blind, called the $10 additional dollars.

The flop was nearly identical to the last one only with no hearts. Queen-9-6. He bet out $15. I called. The turn was a blank, a 3 I beleive. He bet out $20. I had a bad feeling. Something was telling me he had me beat. I asked him if he flopped a set. He said he had a good hand, but was afraid I had the same hand as last time. I figured he had a Queen in his hand, possible Ace-Queen. I didn't think he could have 6-9 but that voice was telling me he did. I didn't listen and called. The river was a Queen.

The 2nd Queen scared the shit out of me. His $50 bet scared everything else out of me. I had Ace-Queen beat on the turn but on the river, Ace-Queen would be good. Then it hit me. He didn't have Ace-Queen at all. He didn't have any Queen. He had 6 fucking 9. Dinner for two. This means that I had 2 pair that were bigger than his. I called the bet and he said "good call" after I flipped my cards and quietly declared "Kings up." A very nice $97 hand there even after the $8 tip to the dealer.

There's two ways of looking at this hand. Either I made a bad call on the flop and turn with the worst hand and got lucky to outdraw his two pair. Or he was stupid to be in the hand with 6-9 and even though he drowned on the river, his hand got what it deserved. I think it is a little of both. Just for kicks, here are the odds at each stage of the hand

Preflop: KK favored 83.6% to 16.5% (5.1 to 1 favorite)
Flop: 96 favored 72.9% to 27.1% (2.7 to 1 favorite)
Turn: 96 favored 81.8% to 18.2% (4.9 to 1 favorite)

These were my outs on the turn:
King (2)
Queen (3)
Three (3)

I did hit an 8 outer and got very lucky, but the simple fact that at no point in the hand was my opponent as much of a favorite as I was preflop tells me that he deserved to get what was coming to him. The odds of me cracking his 2 pair were 4.9 to 1, and the odds of him cracking my Kings were 5.1 to 1.

He shouldn't have talked to me in the middle of the hand. This was the basis leading me to beleive he didn't have a queen, and in fact, flopped bottom 2 pair.

Just a random side note. I heard a great nickname for Ace-King suited. Anna Kournikova. Looks great, but never wins.

Hot Cards

Finally, I was getting some hot cards last night. Not hot starting hands, but hot cards. Fourth hand at the table, I get dealt pocket Kings. I decide to change up my strategy and raise. The guy before me was under the gun and raised to $4 in the blind. I raised to $15. I probably should have made it $12 or $10 to get maybe one caller, but I did protect my hand and took down a $7 pot.

A few hands later, a guy in middle position raised to $7. I was in the small blind. The kid to my right called. I had 4-5 suited. I put the raiser on a high pocket pair, which made my suited connectors very dangerous. I knew I was a 3 to 1 dog against the pair, but I also knew I would win more than 3 times the original bet of $7 if I hit. Plus, 4-5 is easy to fold after the flop. Plus, 4-5 is a hand no-one can put me on. Plus, 4-5 suited is about 42% against two unsuited high cards and 39% against suited high cards.

The flop came Ace-Deuce-Seven. I had a straight draw and hoped to get some free cards. Any bet of more than $4 and I'm out. The preflop raiser checked. Right then and there I knew he had trip Aces so I couldn't force him out of the pot with a bet. The turn was a little bit helpful, a 6. This gave me more outs. Now a 3 would give me a straight or an 8. The preflop raiser checked again. This time I probably wouldv'e called $6 and no higher. The river was an 8, giving me a straight and the 3rd best possible hand behind only a 10 high and 9 high straight which I knew nobody had. I bet out $10 knowing it would get re-raised all-in, it did, and I called.

I felt kind of bad busting Aces, but this guy was such a horrible player that he deserved it. I've been in the same exact situation, slow playing pocket Aces that become a set, only to have some guy draw out a straight. That hand, I folded. This guy had no thought process at all in any hand which he entered. It was always a quick call or raise. He shouldv'e at least considered the possibility that with that board, a straight was possible, and about the only think I'd call him with would be a set (which I probably would have bet out with earlier) or a straight, which beat him.

The biggest difference between limit and no-limit Hold Em is obviously the betting. There are alot of nuances to No-Limit betting such as overbetting, underbetting, value betting, pot builder betting etc. This is something that the Limit players at the Turning Stone need to come to terms with before they sit down at the No-Limit tables.

This one kid, who seemed like he knew what he was doing at the 3-6 tables, decided to play some No-Limit. You can spot these people by the stacks of white chips they bring to the table, not the solitary stack of reds that is supposed to be brought. The first hand in which he played, he raised $4 preflop, the minimum raise. A few hands later, he raised to $6 preflop. After a few people called, I called with King-Jack on the button hoping to catch or push him out of the pot. The flop came Jack high. He bet out $10, me and another player called. The turn was a King, ensuring I'd win the hand unless he had a set or hit a higher two pair. He bet $15, everyone else folded but I called. On the river, he bet $25. The kid had actually gotten the hang of No-Limit betting except for that early position preflop raise, the most important bet of the hand for him. I had a bad feeling he hit a set. However, I asked him if he had one in order to gauge his reaction and at that point knew he didn't hit a set. This shouldv'e gotten me to re-raise but I wasn't entirely confident in my read so I just called. I showed my top 2 pair, he mucked. I probably couldv'e re-raised to $50 and gotten a call, but another re-raise wouldn't have been easy to call. I'd like to think I could call it though.

Playing Too Good, then Playing Too Poorly

"Sometimes I play too good for myself." That was Phil Hellmuth's reaction to folding Ace-Queen preflop to Chan's all-in in the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions. Hellmuth wouldv'e flopped a pair of Queens, winning the race against Chan's pocket pair. The funny thing about the hand was that Howard Lederer seemingly went on tilt because he called Chan with Ace-Jack and didn't hit. He was then mad at Hellmuth because if Phil had called, Howard obviously would have folded.

The reason Phil folded was because Ace-Queen doesn't dominate many hands. About the only hand AQ dominates and Chan wouldv'e moved all-in with is Ace-Jack. On the other hand, AQ is dominated by Big Slick, Queens, Kings, and Aces. Every other good hand is pretty much a 50/50 race.

A similar gut wrenching situation happened to me at the casino twice. Both with pocket 9s. I limped in each time. Then there was a raise, and a re-raise. I'll call a raise up to $15 to see a flop with 9s, but after a raise and a re-raise, I know I'm absolutely crushed and in that situation, I don't want to commit a large amount of my stack when I'm that far behind. In both situations, I made the correct fold. One was against pocket Aces and pocket Kings. The other was against pocket Jacks and pocket Tens. Both times, however, I wouldv'e spiked a 9 on the river. If I were a complete idiot, instead of just occasionally an idiot, I wouldv'e tripled up twice.

I made one really good fold and three really bad calls. The good fold was with pocket Jacks. This moron across the table decided to raise to $15 with Kings. I knew my jacks were beat but I also knew I could hit a set and take every chip this guy had. I didn't flop one though and he bet out $20 on a blank flop so I folded.

I let my stupid fucking ego get the best of me in one hand. This kid, who was cocky as all hell telling people how they shouldv'e played their hand, kept raising to $7. I had Jack-10 and called hoping maybe two other people would call. No-one else did though. The flop was all low cards and gave me an open ended straight draw. He bet $10 and I called. The turn was a 4, no help. He bet out $20 and I called, figuring I had 14 outs with the straight draw and two overs. The river was a 10 giving me top pair. He bet out $25 and I called with tens. He had Aces. I shouldv'e just folded the JT and saved $62.

In another hand I had Aces and limped in. The flop was 8-Jack-Queen. This guy bet out $10, I stupidly called even though the first thought that came to mind was that he had a straight. It's sick how good I am sometimes at making correct reads, and sickening how often I ignore my instincts. I called. The turn was a blank, he bet out $15, I called. The river was a blank, he bet $15 and I called. I shouldv'e folded on the flop and wound up losing $40.

Another hand, I had 8-9 of spades and limped in under the gun. I shouldn't have even done this in such early position. The flop was 6-7-Queen with two spades giving me the nut straight draw and a flush draw. A player bet out $15, I called. $20, I called. The turn and river were blanks and I had to fold to the $25 on the river. I figure the guy had King-Queen or Queen-Jack. On the flop then, I'd be about a 57% favorite to win with my large number of outs. Still, I didn't have it and wasn't protecting my chips which is what a good grinder needs to do. I lost $37 on the hand and shouldv'e folded preflop in such early position.

Another stupid situation. The flop and turn made it pretty obvious that someone had a straight. The turn gave me a pair of 4s and the Jack on the river gave me two pair. I bet $5. The purpose of my bet was to see where I stood. Any re-raise and I should fold because all someone needs to make a straight is a 5. The player on the button re-raised to $20. I pondered, and even though my instincts put him on a straight, I called. I shouldn't have even bet the $5. If I had it, I had it. The only way someone would call the $5 would be if they had a 5 and a straight. Stupid bet and even dumber call on my part. $20 down the tubes.

So that's $159 gone right there on stupid calls. Now for the stupid decisions that didn't win me big enough pots.

Usually, I start off slowly and lose about half my stack just waiting for the big hand. This time though, I was fortunate enough to get one early. About 3 or 4 hands into playing, actually. I had pocket Kings and limped in late position. The flop was 4-4-3. The guy to my right bet out $15. I didn't think he had a 4 so I called. The player to my left also called. The turn was a 4, giving me 4s full of Kings. The player to my right checked and I then knew he didn't have the 4, giving me the best hand barring pocket Aces. I bet out $15, the guy to my left called, the guy to my right folded. The river was an Ace, a very scary card. I checked, the player to my left bet $30. Had the Ace not come, I wouldv'e re-raised to $60 or $75 and probably wouldv'e gotten called. Instead, I simply called. He had pocket 8s so I won a decent sized pot but I couldv'e made $30 to $50 more on the hand.

Much later, I limped in with King Jack. The flop was 3-King-3. This kid bet out $5, I called. He bet $10 on the turn, a 4 and I called. He checked the river, a 5, and I checked. I shouldv'e bet out $10 or $15 because he would have called it. He actually told me after the hand that he wouldv'e re-raised very strongly had I bet. I'd like to think I'd be intelligent enough to call him. I possibly could have won $40 more on the hand. Perhaps more.

Near the end of my session, some guy raised to $7. I was in the small blind. There were about 4 callers and I figured the lady to my left was going to call. I had 5-2 of diamonds. I shouldv'e just pushed $6 more into the pot when I saw how large it was getting. I was getting about 6 to 1 on my money before the flop. The odds of hitting a flush with 2 suited cards is 15 to 1. I don't know what the odds of flopping a straight are, but they probably weren't better than 15 to 1. Still, I couldv'e flopped something and NO-ONE would be able to put me on 5-2. Furthermore, its pretty dam easy to fold 5-2 if it doesn't hit. I decided to fold. The flop was 3-4-6, which would have given me the 2nd best possible hand behind only 5-7. I wouldv'e checked in the dark before the flop. The kid in late position 2 seats to my right bet $20 on the flop trying to protect his 2 pair. This would have gotten raised to $40 by me, he would have moved all-in and barring an outdraw, I wouldv'e doubled up and won about $170 to $200 on the hand.

Had I played as well as I should have, I would have made about $250 instead of losing $180.

There is one cardinal rule to being a grinder: "Get your money in there when you have it, proetect it when you don't" - Rounders. I didn't do that last night. I will do it tonight.

My Dan Harrington Impersonation

First of all, Dan Harrington is one of the most underrated players in poker. He's made the final table at the WSOP Main Event in 3 different decades and has two Hold Em bracelets. He's finished well into the money 5 times in the Main Event.

I was getting pretty short stacked when I limped in with pocket Queens. The flop was all low cards and I checked to the preflop raiser sitting directly to my left. He put me all-in. I thought about it, put him on Jacks and called. He had Jacks. That was a nice pot. Another hand I had pocket Kings beaten by Aces but broke even on the hand because a crazy player (a Brazillian kick boxer actually) moved all-in with King Jack so I won a siezeable side pot.

I flopped three big hands but only two survived. I was able to survive flopping a 5 to 9 straight when a third Spade fell. Another hand, I flopped a straight 5-9 and for some reason was able to get action on it. This one retard called my $10 flop bet with King high. He hit a pair of 6s on the turn and for some reason thought they were good against me. Another hand, I flopped a King high flush and checked it while a pretty good player kept betting into me.

The strangest correct read I made was when I had pocket Jacks. The flop was Ace-Ace-7. The guy to my right bet out $15. For some reason, I put him on pocket Queens even though he limped in. I guess its because he limped in with gusto. Of course, I folded. He folded the Queens though as the player to my right had an Ace and re-raised strongly.

The best hand I played was with Big Slick suited. A very attractive preflop hand, I must say. The kid to my right raised to $12, I called and the player to my left called. The flop was Queen-8-Jack. The preflop raiser checked, I checked, and the third player bet $15. The raiser folded. I considered folding to his pair of Queens or Jacks but there was something about the bet that was suspicious. I decided to call hoping to catch a straight, a King, or push him out. The turn was a blank, but I bet $25. He called. Alot of players would just check the next card unless it gave them the straight. The river was a blank. I needed to bet to win the pot though. Most of the times you want to be last to act, but sometimes being first to act gives you an edge. I call it being in agressive position. I decided to bet, but not to bet too large. I didn't want to lose all my stack and I wanted it to seem like I wanted a call. The board had gotten pretty tricky as there were now three eharts on the table. Against an average player, I wouldn't have tried to make a move, but this guy was pretty intelligent and after 6 hours of playing together, knew I was pretty tight. I bet $30. This was after getting $40 of chips, trying to make it look like I decided to bet less. The pot was $116 and my bet of $30 made it look like I was begging for a call. He thought about it for a moment and then folded muttering "nice runner runner." I showed him my Ace-King high and he was shocked. He repeated "great bet" to me. I felt like Dan Harrington though, banking on my reputation in order to take down a pot without a winning hand.

It was getting late, I was getting tired/hungry, and there wasn't much money at the table, which was very tight so I got up and left. Its true I only profited $100, but I played about as well as I could play making no major mistakes, folding when I was outkicked, winning small pots and taking down a few large ones.

A few interesting side notes to the night: I was playing only a few feet away from Al Krux . Its true, I was playing $100 Max Buy-In and he was playing $300 Minimum buy-in with a stack about 20 times the size of mine, but it was still pretty cool playing near a great poker player like him. One with a World Series bracelt no less. What other game besides poker could you do that in? There was actually a fight at his table over slow playing or some other ridiculous thing. Two very large men dove down to the floor "Tilt" style. However, a minute or two after being broken up by casino staff, they were friends again. I guess it was kind of like a hockey fight.

The 3rd annual Empire State Championship is being held at Turning Stone. Hopefully I will be good enough with a big enough bankroll to enter into one of the events such as the $100 shootout next year. For now though, I'll only be an interested spectator. How great would it be though to be a Bostonian winning New York's poker championship?

The Craziest Thing I Ever Saw at a Poker Table

I've seen people go all-in blind before. Usually its a person that doesn't like to play for longer than an hour, is bored, and either wants to win or stop playing. However, this was completely different.

It was about 2 AM on a Monday morning. I was near the end of a painfully long and boring session. A kid was across the table from me. He went all-in blind for about $130. He got two callers. One had Queen-Ten, the other had Ace-Jack. The flop was 9-5-3. The turn was a King. The river was a 9. The player that went all-in flipped over one card, a 9. This gave him a set and enough to win the pot. He turned over the other one and it was another 9. Not only did he go all-in with a pretty good hand, but he wound up with one of the bast hands a person can get in the game of poker.

Grinding it out hasn't worked out much lately because I'm an idiot. An inability to protect marginal hands in order to win small pots has been a big problem. I need to win those small pots to keep my stack up so when the big hand comes around, I can win alot more.

Example: I have Ace-Queen, someone else raised, I called, the flop was 7-King-Ace. I shouldv'e bet out with the Aces. I wouldv'e won about a $30 pot. Instead, I checked. The turn was a Queen. Seemingly a good card but it was my demise I was going up against pocket queens. Now my 2 pair was up against three Queens. I lost all my chips on a 2 outer. If I had proetected my hand, I couldv'e gotten my stack up to a respectable amount.

Another problem I've been experiencing is an inability on my part to make the tough fold. A few hands as examples:

I had AQs. A guy raised on the button, and I called. The flop was Queen high. I bet $10 and was instantly raised $25 more. The guy was ordering a drink while he did this which is a big tell that he wasn't making a move. In the back of my mind I thought he had a high pocket pair. Yet, I still called with my Queens. I checked the turn, a blank, and he went all-in. He had me covered. I shouldv'e folded, but stupidly called. He had pocket Kings.

A player raised to $12 preflop. I had pocket Kings and called. The flop was 2-5-2. Another player bet out $15. The initial raiser pushed all-in for $83 total. I just knew he had those fucking Aces. I didn't listen to myself though and called. I didn't get one of my two outs and lost nearly $100 in that hand when I couldv'e cut my losses at $12 in that hand.

A player raised preflop to $10. I had Ace-Queen of Spades so called. The flop was Queen high with two rags that were Spades. The raiser pushed all-in for $35. I thought I was nearly 50/50 to win the hand with my pair and flush draw. It turns out he flopped a set of 6s so I needed running Queens, running Aces or a Spade. I did the odds at CardPlayer.com and I was only 30% to win the hand. If I want to call myself a grinder, I can't take chances as big as that. Fifty/fifty is about as risky as I should get in an all-in situation. I was pretty sure he had flopped a set yet still called the bet. I shouldv'e just let him take my $10 and waited for a better spot.

The rest of the sitting and waiting strategy worked out. I took two player's stacks in two hands but the stacks weren't that big. One was with pocket 4s which turned into a set on the flop. The other was pocket Aces against the top pair on the board. In another hand, I doubled up with pocket Queens. The flop was King-2-King. A player after me was slow playing trip Kings. The turn was a Queen, the river an Ace. I played slowly and checked into him knowing he would bet. I was somewhat lucky he decided to slowplay and I hit my 2 outer. I was also lucky the board didn't pair which would have given him a superior full house.

It's back to grinding tomorrow. Or maybe I should actually grind this time instead of grind for 4 hours with sporadic stupidity mixed in. Grinding can work but I must be painfully consistent with it. Its noble work I'm doing.

90 Minutes in Verona

Driving back from school to home in order to get more clothes, I made a pit stop at the turning Stone. I sat at a table that seemed like any other table at the place. A few kids, a few middle aged men, a few guys in their 20s/30s, and one or two retirees. A good cross section of poker player. One player though was creating all the action at the table. He was raising preflop in the blind, calling down everything with anything. He was the type of player that simultaneously makes me salivate and cringe. I know I can take him for alot of money (which he had in his pockets) or he could outdraw me for alot of money (which I don't have). The best way to play was to wait and NEVER bet unless I was sure I had it. The hand finally came. Someone raised the $1/$2 blinds with a middle position raise of $10 on top of the blinds. I had pocket Jacks in the small blind so I called. i didn't want to re-raise because I really only wanted to see a flop and I would pretty much have to fold to any re-re-raise. The flop came Jack, Nine, Seven. I checked it, the crazy guy bet it, the preflop raiser called it, and I called it. The turn was an Ace. I checked it again, Crazy Guy bet it (about $25 each time) the third guy thought, and called it, then I called it. The river was another 7 giving me a boat. I decided to bet it because Crazy Guy had been checking the river and the preflop raiser seemed terrified of the Ace and the board pairing. I bet $30, pretty much all my stack, but I didn't want to scare anyone with an all-in. Crazy guy called and the raiser folded. Crazy guy had a pair of nines which, of course, were crushed by Jacks full of Sevens. That pot gave me about $100 of profit, which is nice.

About 30 minutes later, Crazy Guy was raising preflop $50 completely blind. He did this about 6 hands in a row. There was one hand that he did it and two players both called the $50. I was on the button and looked down at pocket 10s. I really really really wanted to play them but I only had $235 in chips and didn't want to risk more than a fifth of my chips when I was probably killed by one of them. I had to fold. It turns out I wasn't killed as both of them had Big Slick and Crazy guy had 64. Crazy Guy wound up winning with a pair of 6s. I wouldv'e flopped a set of 10s. I had no idea I was 46% to win the hand according to CradPlayer.com's calculator. The put would have given me about $300 of profit as Crazy Guy kept betting without looking. A few hands later, I decided that sitting there just wasn't worth it so I took about $110 in profit and cashed out. It wasn't as much as I wanted to win, but I figured that sitting there was just like sitting at a slot machine.

Purpose of Blog

This is just a place to keep my poker thoughts. These thoughts range from the game itself, the games in which I play, and the games on telelvision.

Just a few things about me. I'm a college student that has played poker for almost two years now. I haven't read much of the literature on poker. Just the chapter on No-Limit Hold Em in Phill Hellmuth's Play Poker Like a Pro. I've only seen 3 videos on poker: Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Secrets of Poker, Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Secrets to Bluffs and Tells, and Mike Caro's Poker Tells. I play small games with friends at home and at school, but my favorite game is $100 Max Buy-In NL Hold Em at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino. TS is only 90 miles from my school in Verona, NY. When I turn 21, I plan on going to Foxwoods and Atlantic City. When bored, I will play online for fun at PartyPoker and eventually for money at UltimateBet.

My favorite player is Phil Hellmuth. I also like Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Marcel Luske, Daniel Negraneau, Chris Ferguson and Dan Harrington. I'm not a big fan of Howard Lederer because he doesn't change his game enough and I don't like Annie Duke because she had no place at last year's WSOP Tournament of Champions Event sitting with people like Chan, Hellmuth, and Brunson who have actually won the Main Event and have won bracelets in NL Texas Hold Em.

The last game I played in was a friendly small game. Me and my two friends putting up $5 each at midnight and playing a very small tournament. We started with $1,000 worth of chips with blinds at $25/$25 going up every 20 minutes until they reaced $50/$100. This game was a classic waiting out of a sometimes agressive player. My friend Mike, when sensing weakness, likes to put people all-in. Here are the two big hands. My other friend had been knocked out by Mike and I was down about 3.5 to 1 in chips:

Mike calls the big blind on the button, I have AJ so I raise $200 on top, about half my stack is now in the pot. He moves all-in. Mike doesn't like to raise preflop even with AA, KK, or QQ because he's gotten very little action when he raises preflop. This, of course is in my mind. With AQ, this call would be easy. However, I know he wouldn't do this with any hand I had dominated. Normally, I might just fold and wait for a better spot, but with half my chips in there I know I am very commited to this. I figured this hand was a race against a low pair or 60/40 against KQ. I made the call and turns out it was KQ. I hit an Ace high flush on the turn so I was able to double up. The stacks were now nearly even.

Only a few hands later, I check the big blind with 94. The flop comes 6h-9h-9d. I check my trip nines trying to lay a trap. Mike bets out pretty strong, $300 in chips which is a quarter of my stack. I don't want to raise and scare him out and I figure he has a draw so I want to see if he hits. I assumed it was a flush draw so I pray that the 4 of hearts comes out, he makes his flush, and I make my boat. I called the $300. The turn was a 4 of diamonds. I check and he moves all-in. This was a much easier and quicker call. It turns out he had a straight draw. Mike only had $300 left in chips after this hand so went all-in blind twice before finally being beaten by my suited connectors that I kept calling him with.