The Gauntlet has been cast.

Dear Veneno,

"I have a Heads-Up challenge for you ... 2 actually... my blog teammate Jamin lives in LA ... wants to challenge you to a LIVE heads up best of 5 series ... the loser has to get a temporary (henna) tattoo of the other's blog name ... im interested in a best of 5 online for an as yet undetermined prize ..."

Respectfully,

Billy
GRIND OR GAMBLE

_ _

The above is in response to Veneno's open challenge on her blog. Billy and I both decided that enough was enough. :-P

How Could I Play This Differently? #2a

This hand happened a couple days ago and I didn’t know what to think about it. I didn’t know where I played it well and where I played it poorly. My first remark is more of a disclaimer. I didn’t play this hand in a typical fashion and I’m not looking for advice as to how you should play this hand most of the time. Instead I decided to play the hand cautiously because I felt I could get my opponent to commit a lot of chips on the river if she had anything.

Here we go.

I look down at the 3 of clubs and the 5 of diamonds in the big blind. Things are folded around to the small blind who I privately call the bitch who went south with my money but will refer to as the small blind for niceties sake. She just calls and we see the flop.

The flop is the ace of hearts, the two of hearts, and the four of hearts. Sweet I flop the straight on a dangerous board. The small blind checks to me. What should I do?

First, I consider the situation and my opponent. We are playing $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em and the pot is a little less than $4 because of the rake. My opponent started the hand with $90.63 while I started the hand with $150.80. She also has been playing very loose. I would estimate that she was seeing somewhere between 80% and 90% of the flops and it didn’t matter too much if it was raised pre-flopped. She continued to play loose and aggressive after the flop and wasn’t afraid to lose chips attacking perceived weakness. However, she had gotten knocked down to less than $50 in chips and just went on a nice run to get to $90 so she was feeling confident. I felt sure that if she had any sort of hand she would be willing to stick all her chips in the middle as she rode the rush.

So I bet $2. In terms of what I’m holding, it doesn’t mean that much. However, it forces her to give away information. It doesn’t give her great pot odds to hit her flush on the turn. Also, my made straight means I don’t have to worry about her catching two pair or trips on the turn in case she has something like a K-4 with the king of hearts.

What do I expect to happen? I think if she has nothing either she will fold or bluff with a check-raise of around $10. I think if she has the flush she will just call. I think if she has something like a pair and a flush draw or two pair she will raise but not large enough to scare me out of the hand if I have a low over-pair or a pair and a worse flush draw. These bet sizes are a little specific but I felt I had a good read on her betting patterns.

She check-raises for $6 more. What do I do?

Given my previous logic, her hand falls into the good hand and doesn’t want to lose me yet category. My read that if she has anything decent I will be able to get all her chips in the middle fits perfectly with this range of hands. Also, I think if she has two pair or a set or perhaps even an ace with a good kicker, I can wait to see the river and still get her to commit if another flush card doesn’t come.

I decide to play it weakly (aka safely) and see what the turn card is. I just call.

dude, if she's like give up poker and marry me tonight i'd say yes

Trip Down Memory Lane: Part 2 of 2

Finally I get pocket tens again and hit another full house. I make about twenty off of it. Then I hit a straight in the big blind and that gets me up to about $70 total. Things are starting to turn around. This is the longest live poker session I’ve had in forever and I’m dead tired. I’m so tired that I actually doze off during one part of a hand at the table. This is where we meet the hero of my story. The hero is called the zone. I used to hit the zone in track and football and high school periodically. I can’t explain it. I’m not trying to do it. My subconscious just takes control of my body and my mind can’t stop it.

Case in point #1) I have 6-4 in the big blind. It is folded around to the button who just calls. The small blind calls. I check. The flop is 6-7-8. It is checked around. The turn is a 6. It is checked to me. I should bet with trips and draws to a straight and full house right? That’s what I’m thinking but I check. The button bets. Small blind folds. I fold. What the hell am I doing? Why did I just fold that face up? Why did I just say “Nice Straight.”? The button makes a little smile and turns over 9-10.

Case in point #2) I have 8-3 off in late position. It’s raised pre-flop and I am thinking fold but my hand throws in the $4. The flop is K-10-4. The raiser bets out. My hand auto-raises. I’m sitting there going what the hell did you do that for Hand? The guy calls. The turn is a miss and the guy checks. Hand bets $4. The dude shakes his head and folds.

The whole time I was sitting there thinking “What the hell am I doing?” but like I said I was in the zone. It was pretty sick.

Anyways, long story short. I got unstuck and walked out of a 7 hour session +$8. What can I say? I’m a high roller.

The next stop down memory lane is Bodog’s Sunday Guarantee. I have played in it twice previously but both were about a year ago. I didn’t cash in the event. That is disappointing. I didn’t bring my A game either. I probably brought my C+ game. That’s even more disappointing. C+ just isn’t good enough against a field of 1900+. And I only give myself a C+ because I feel I played well after I stuck myself in the position of being a short stack by playing my D game for the first couple hours of the tournament. However, there is a bright spot. I had to find it. Something positive to give myself hope. The first two times I played in this tournament I felt hopelessly over my head. Not so now. I felt like I belonged and that if I played well I would have a chance to take this thing. It gives me a reason to play again. It’s not a $39,000 check that Wells Fargo may or may not accept but it’s something to keep me going.

The last stop down memory lane is a visit from my old nemesis. This nemesis goes by one name and one name only: Top Set of Jacks. It seems like every huge (monetarily) bad beat I take happens with this hand. The most memorable which I previously posted about was when my top set was beat by a runner runner flush in Vegas. Once again, I was playing $1-$2 No Limit. I limped in early position looking for a raise that I could re-raise. However, one person called and the big blind checked so three of us saw the flop. The flop came J-7-4 rainbow. Big blind checked. I checked too because I knew the third player is aggressive. Sure enough he bets the pot. To my surprise the big blind raises. I’m not worried though because I have the best hand. I re-raise him. Once again I am surprised when both players call me. The turn is a 10. There is still no flush draw. Big blind checks and I push all in for roughly the pot. Both players call. Big blind turns over 5-6 and the other dude turns over 3-5. What the hell? A gut-shot and an open ender and they are taking away each other’s outs? Needless to say a 6 hits on the river and the biggest idiot wins a $500 pot. I can’t fault the open-ender too much. By the time he called for the river card he was okay pot odds. Anyways, the nemesis struck again. Next time I’ll just see if the nemesis likes the taste of the muck and save myself $100+.

OverCard PreFlop Odds

The typical response to overcards versus a pocket pair is that it is a race. While sometimes this is true, often its closer to 60-40 with the pair ahead. However, I had always assumed that the more small pocket pairs in the hand, the better. There is a lot more money and you still have the same amount of outs while the pairs aren't gaining too much. Let's break it down.

Say you have $1,000 and you push all in with A-Q offsuit. Pocket tens calls you. The tens wins the hand 57% of the time. So if you play this hand 100 times, you lose $7,000. Not much of a race when you look at it that way.

Now let's add a second pocket pair to the mix. You only win now 35% of the time. However, because the pot is $3000 it's slightly better. If you play this hand 100 times, you win a total of $105,000 for a net gain of $5,000. That's better.

Let's go one step farther and add a third pocket pair. Do you think it get's better or worse for A-Q? Before I ran this exercise, I assumed it would be even better. Was I right? We'll add pocket jacks to the mix and see. Now A-Q wins a pot of $4,000 29% of the time. Now there is a gain of $16,000 over 100 hands. This is the situation I was in when I got knocked out of Bodog's Sunday Guarantee. A-Q vs Jacks vs Tens vs 4s. The 4s made a full house to take down the huge pot but I really couldn't ask for a better situation.

Or could I? What about if there are 4 or 5 or 6 pocket pairs? Does it just keep getting better for A-Q or is there a peak somewhere along the line? If you add a fourth pair, pocket sixes, you drop down to +$15,000 over 100 hands. If you add a fifth or sixth, it drops to +$8000 and then -$2000. Granted these are all unlikely scenarios but it's interesting to know just in case.

One final question, how big of a difference does having a suited A-Q make? Against three pocket pairs it makes $20,000 over 100 hands. That's $4,000 more just for having suited cards. (And people say being suited is overrated!). If there is a fourth, it drops marginally but stays around the $20,000 mark. The same can be said if there are five pocket pairs.

Concluding point: If you are going to race with overcards, its better to be suited, but no matter what the best that you can hope for is three smaller pocket pairs calling your all in. Not more and not less.

*All values presented are approximates and will change slightly depending on the exact nature of the hands that you might be up against.*

Trip Down Memory Lane: Part 1 of 2

It has been a strange week of poker for me. I’m burnt out. I don’t really understand that. I’ve been fighting an uphill battle against luck, rust, skill, and bankroll since I returned. Now things are finally starting to turn the corner. I’ve posted positive results 12 of the past 15 days. I have a bankroll that gives me game selection flexibility. Most of the rust is gone. But now I don’t want to play. I’ve been forcing myself to play. I have a couple bonuses to clear after all. It’s a grind. Life is a grind. Like a battery I need to recharge and plugging in meant a trip down memory lane.

First stop, the points qualifier for Bodog’s Sunday Guarantee. This was a joke. I remember it being stressful the only other time I attempted it roughly a year ago. I tried really hard. This time I hardly paid attention. A $109 token never came so easily.

Next stop, Spirit Mountain Casino. I headed out Saturday evening with $80 to spend on some $1-$2 Limit Hold’em. Somehow my previous winnings managed to disappear into DVDs, video games, and food. I get there and just like the qualifier it’s too easy. I’m up $100 within thirty minutes. Everyone is joking around and having a good time at the table. I’m wondering how many Benjamins will be keeping me company on the hour ride home. Then a few players leave and a few tighter players take their place. I fail to adjust. I raise a few hands pre-flop and miss. I get caught on a couple bluffs. I have to showdown the third best hand. Table image shot. Did I say Benjamin’s? I’m wondering if even Washington or Lincoln will be making that hour ride back with me as I find myself down to my last twenty. There are two hands of note during this down streak: my two failed bluffs.

Bluff #1) I have A-2 suited in late position. The pot is not raised pre- flop. The flop is Q-9-X. It missed me. One of the newer solid players bets out. He’s weak. I raise. Everyone folds. The turn is another X. He checks and I bet. He calls again. The river is a J. He checks and is ready to muck. I know I can’t win in a showdown so I bet again. He starts moving his hand in a mucking motion then freezes. A big uh-oh alarm sounds in my head. He thinks about the hand for a few seconds. Then he calls and shows pocket tens. I muck and say nice call. Now my immediate reaction was “Damn No-Foldem Games! Why did I even bother trying to attack weakness?”

Of course that is the incorrect analysis and it was my fault that he called. First, it was the incorrect analysis because he had previously demonstrated that he could lay a hand down and because he had shown himself to be a somewhat competent player. Nothing to write home about but not one to just give money away either. So I must have done something wrong. Let’s review the hand. I didn’t raise pre-flop. That didn’t mean anything as I had been playing loose-passive pre-flop mostly because I was playing suited connectors hoping to hit big hands in large multi-way pots. I raised his bet on the flop. I had not raised anyone on the flop yet. I typically wait until the bet is larger to start bringing down the hammer. However, I don’t think this is what tipped him off. It wasn’t in his body language. He thought he was a dead duck but couldn’t lay the hand down to only one over card without seeing if he hit a set. I bet the turn. Again, there’s no problem here. He was ready to much his hand when he saw the river card. He didn’t know he was being bluffed.

I bet the river. Aha! When has he seen me bet the river? I’d bet the river with the straight twice and I had bet the river with two full houses. However, I had also checked the river with top pair or two pair on five or six occasions. Either a) someone hit their No Fold’em Draw and raise me. I’m out 8 bucks or b) they all missed their respective hands and now fold. There’s not much of a point. So this player looks at the board. I can’t have a full house. I can’t have a flush. If I had a straight I would have made it on the river and would not have been playing the hand the way I did. That narrows out the monsters. Recent history had shown that if I had a set or two pair or even top pair of queens I would probably wait until the turn to raise when it is more profitable. Also, it would be unlikely I’d bet two pair or one pair on the river when the only way he would normally call is if he hit the straight. So what does that leave him to conclude my hand is? A bluff. Now I don’t think he knew I was bluffing him but I think he knew something was amiss and that it was a possibility. I have no one to blame for myself for playing so conservatively on the river.

Bluff #2) I have A-Q and raise it up pre-flop. The flop is 3 low cards and a solid player bets into me. I raise. You mother-fer. You called me with rags. You’re body language says you don’t have top pair. Let’s see how good you are. I raise and she calls. The turn is a K. I bet and again she calls. The river is my ace. She moves her hand slightly towards her chips and then decides to check. What’s going on here? I check too. She turns over A-3. Two pair. She called me the whole way with bottom pair of threes.

How could she call here? Well for starters my table image says I will only be raising pre-flop with a big pocket pair, ace-king, or ace-queen. So either I have the pair or the flop missed me. I raised her after the flop. She just saw me raise someone with a bluff on the flop and I hadn’t raised anyone else previously on the flop. Once again, my fault. I do give her credit for having more then an inkling that I was bluffing. She never acted like she was going to fold. I knew she was weak but she had enough balls to see things through. In fact, she played it so well that I wonder if she saw cards pre-flop. It’s possible. She was sitting right next to me.

Note I did all this analysis later in the night and at the time was still blaming things on No-Foldem. When it was all said and done, I was down to my last twenty. I hit a full house and felted a short stack. I’m up to $35. It’s about 10 o’clock now and the casino is starting it’s Saturday night tournament. My table breaks up as most players head to that. They move me to a new table. With my short chip stack, I have no room for error so I go into super-tight-grinder mode. I have nothing playable for the first hour or two and I get blinded down to $23. During this time, I’m pretty down. I can’t really afford to lose this money until I get my money from Neteller, Bodog, and Tony G.

So I analyze my play to see where I was playing so poorly. I made the correct reads on the bluffs but they didn’t work out. I lost a few hands where I really had no other option like a tiny pot where I had top pair of aces with jack kicker and someone else had aces with queen kicker. And yet, I could only account for about $50 of my losses. I had more than $160 in front of me at one point and I added an extra $20 to my stack when I first got low. Of that $180, I had $20 in front of me at my low and had lost $160 yet I could only account for about $50 of it. How is that possible? I was playing way too loose of course and was probably spending $20 a round doing so.

Folding

I've been rereading my copies of old Phil Laak articles when I came across this great quote.

"Never underestimate your opponents' ability to find reasons to call you. People like to call. And that's why it's all so crazy nowadays. They like calling and raising more than folding. That's what makes poker great."

On the surface it's simply a slight dig at the looseness of poker today. However, it's more than that. People get so caught up in being aggressive and getting all the money in with the best hand and with having the correct pot odds that they forget you can also make money through folding. Everytime you are put to a decision with the second nut flush or top two on a connected board perhaps it would be better to look at the hand as $50 made (or whatever the bet to you is) instead of a $$ pot lost.

Paired Kings on the Flop

A few days ago I found myself in an interesting situation. I had pocket 9s on the button. There were two other players in the hand and both had me covered. The flop was K-K-6. Both players checked it to me. I bet the pot. I figured if neither player had a king, I was ahead and by betting the pot, they would either fold or incorrectly chase. Of course, both players check-raised all in and I had to fold. They turned over pocket queens and pocket jacks but a nine would have hit on the turn. I kicked myself for not checking and seeing the turn for free.

After discussing the hand with Jun, I felt slightly better about the situation. I was wondering if I was incorrect to bet there and he convinced me that betting was the correct move. By betting I am giving myself more options to win the pot. If I check, the only way I will be able to win the pot is by hitting a nine. Jacks and Queens aren't going to check around again most of the time. If I bet, I give myself the opportunity to take down the pot by representing a king. Also, queens and jacks are likely to just call and then check the turn giving me two cards to hit my nine for the price of one. Jun felt my big mistake wasn't in betting but in the size of my bet. He reasoned that if I had flopped trip kings, I would have bet half the pot because I would be afraid of losing my opposition. By betting the pot, it looks like I am trying to win the hand now and it is unbelievable that I would have the third king. Looking back, it makes sense especially considering that I almost never bet the pot on the flop.

Today, I found myself in a similar situation but with two differences. This time I had Ace-King on a king king jack board. There was only one other person but again I had position. I did my "I have an ace and am wondering if I should make a continuation bet" hesitation then I set the bet amount to about a dollar more then half the pot. I click bet but before I release the mouse, Jun's commentary comes rushing back to me. I move the mouse off the bet button, reset the bet to pot size, and push it out towards the middle. My opponent check-raises me all in and I of course call. He turns over J-10. Obviously he didn't believe me. To rub things in, the turn gave me quad kings and the river was another jack.

Rarely does advice offer this quick of a return. However, it was a good $200 reminder of the benefits to playing level 3+ poker.

Poker Insults 101

***It's time for us to start a new series of posts. These will be the best poker insults/comebacks heard around. We'll start things off with three classics from our buddy Jun.***

1)

yum sup sup (12:23:37 AM): so
yum sup sup (12:23:39 AM): my frined
yum sup sup (12:23:40 AM): kah
yum sup sup (12:23:45 AM): clean out a guy
yum sup sup (12:23:49 AM): who played poekr with out arms
yum sup sup (12:24:01 AM): as ocuppational theropy exercise
yum sup sup (12:24:04 AM): and i told him to say
yum sup sup (12:24:12 AM): " who s got the upper hand now huh"
yum sup sup (12:24:13 AM): ;lool
yum sup sup (12:24:15 AM): i am going to hell

2)

Engelke830 (12:25:34 AM): how does he know the guy has no arms?
Engelke830 (12:25:37 AM): at caisno?
yum sup sup (12:25:52 AM): no
yum sup sup (12:26:01 AM): he s in an Occup theoroppoy class
yum sup sup (12:26:04 AM): it s an exercise
yum sup sup (12:26:06 AM): haha
yum sup sup (12:26:09 AM): the guy bluff him
Engelke830 (12:26:09 AM): haha
yum sup sup (12:26:13 AM): i am tempted to say
yum sup sup (12:26:18 AM): why u bluffing me with out a hand
yum sup sup (12:26:20 AM): lol
yum sup sup (12:26:26 AM): i am ass for ever

3)
yum sup sup (12:28:20 AM): u would think that all the retarts would be extincted by now
yum sup sup (12:28:21 AM): but no
yum sup sup (12:28:23 AM): they get lucky

The Good…

Last night, I played in the WWdN and the WWdN Second Chance at Poker Stars. (For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, WWdN = Wil Wheaton dot Net and they are weekly tournaments that many bloggers play in.) It was my first time playing in a blogger tournament since early 2006 and my first time playing in a WWdN. I mainly was doing it to interact with other bloggers but it also was a chance to break the cash game monotony and have some fun.

Things started out well. I picked up pocket threes on the opening hand, raised from middle position, and took down the blinds.

The first key hand for me came with 50/100 blinds. (Note: Key-hand is a hand out of the ordinary. It’s not winning a big pot with a large pocket pair or the nuts. They are key-hands where I actually had a decision to make that directly influenced my results.) I had ace king off-suit in the small blind and HeffMike raised to 300. He had been raising often so at worst I probably had a coin flip. However, I can’t re-raise significantly without pot-committing myself. Therefore I just pushed all in and was happy to take down a small pot. HeffMike scared me though when he took a while before folding and he later commented that he had pocket nines. I am glad he didn’t call. I wasn’t ready to risk my tournament life.

The next major hand occurred when the blinds were 100/200. I had the King and Ten of Spades in the Big Blind. Things are folded around to JPSnow in the small blind who raised all-in and had me covered. I insta-called and JP turned over Queen Two off-suit. A ten came out on the flop and I held on to double up while JP is now crippled. Of course, JP was not happy with my play here and remarked “ewwww… you call K 10…. 10 bbs w/ K10 lmfao”. I was surprised but pleased to see that DuggleBogey and bdidde came to my defense with comments about JP pushing too often. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised but you don’t see comments like that in my cash games often. However, JP insisted that it was a “–EV call” and I am “60-40 most of the time there at best.”

Now normally I wouldn’t pay this much attention to comments made by other players; however, this was one of the main draws of the tournament for me. I figured that a lot of the players know each other and there would be lots of talking. I didn’t personally know anyone but I recognized a lot of names either from running across them playing previously or from coming across their names in various blogs. Thus I feel obligated to defend my call. JP is right and I am 60-40 at best making that call normally. However, I didn’t feel that this was a normal situation. JP was surrounded by a group of small-ish stacks. We had enough chips that we weren’t dead but not enough to really do anything accept play tight and wait for a good situation. I noticed that when JP was isolated pre-flop against one or two of us he would push all in and force us to fold or risk everything. I inferred for this move to be made as often as I had seen it, he would either have to be getting a nice run of cards or he was pushing with an expanded range of hands. I went for the latter and was correct. The best hand held up and I earned a critical double up.

The next major hand was one of my two “mistake” hands. I had Ace Deuce off-suit on the button. I just called and we saw the flop. The flop was jack high with three hearts. I had the ace of hearts. Budohorseman led out of the small blind with a 2/3 pot bet. Weak_player folded from the big blind and I called. The turn was a queen of spades. It’s no help. Budo bet 1800 and I folded. I felt like I misplayed the hand by playing so passively. I should have either raised on the button with an ace or folded. I also should have either semi-bluffed the flop or folded. I didn’t have the pot odds to hit the flush card on the turn and probably not many implied odds unless Budo had a high flush too. I basically gave away 1/3 of my chip stack.

The last hand I want to mention is my second “mistake.” I had suffered two recent rough hands. For one, I had Decker711 all in and I had him dominated. However, he pulled out a split. Then he won a big coin toss to make me the short stack with 3 people left. I then picked up Ace Nine off-suit on the button. It’s a good hand three handed and I raised a little less then three times the big blind. It was a weak raise looking back. DuggleBogey called from the big blind. The flop was Queen Queen Six rainbow. Duggle checked and I made a continuation bet for 2/3 of the pot. Duggle check-raised me all-in. I requested time and thought for forever. Duggle could have been making that play with any poker pair, any ace, any queen, and any 6. However, he also could realize that the flop was unlikely to have helped me and put me to a decision for all my chips knowing I would have to call with nothing. I folded and gave up a big pot. At the time I thought it was probably a good fold and that I was behind. However, the more I think about it and the way Duggle had been playing all tourney, the more sure I have become that I should have called. It was just too critical of a pot to give up on. After that hand, I pushed all-in with queen-nine and Decker711 busted me with a queen-ten.

I took third in a tournament I felt I could have won. Both Duggle and Decker played great as did many of the other entrants. I also finished on the bubble in the second chance H.O.R.S.E. event when my two pair in stud was cracked by straight flush that I believe was made on Seventh Street. However, I donked my way to the bubble in that so I didn’t mind too much. The most important thing about all this was that I had more fun playing online poker then I had had in a long time. It was refreshing and I look forward to doing it again in the future.

The Bad...

The last 48 hours or so were tough for the poker world. You’ve probably heard about two ex-Neteller execs getting arrested and supposedly charged with money laundering. If not, you can read about it here or here. Then there was the case of Russian Roulette in Elmherst which you can read about at Card Squad. A home game was broken up and players arrested in Georgia. Also, there was a rumor about a prominent casino having two separate incidents of bloodshed the other night. Unfortunately I can’t find the link for that one hence the lack of details but it was definitely mentioned at Poker News.

**Update - For coverage of the Neteller exec case, I recommend checking out Lou Krieger's blog. He is keeping much better track of the going-ons then I ever could.**

**Update #2 - The ramifactions for the average online poker player from the Neteller arrests are starting to come in. I received an email from Bodog that stated they would let me withdraw to my Neteller account but would no longer accept deposits from them. I read that Full Tilt and Poker Stars are following Neteller's advice and allowing all non-InstaCash transactions but I haven't heard personally via email from either of those sites."

***Update #3 - The bad hits keep on coming. A jury in London ruled that poker is primarily a game of chance and not one of skill. Let's hope the US doesn't pay too much attention to this. We don't need any more fodder for the over-zealous with a personal vendetta against poker and gambling.***

***Update #4 - Jamin reported to me that there was a brawl at Commerce Casino on Tuesday night while he was there. Also, I have officially heard from Absolute now. They aren't accepting Neteller anymore but they are offering a fat reload package to try to maintain customers.***

***Update #5 - This is getting a bit out of hand for one post. If the news keeps flowing at its current rate I'm going to have to make a new one. However, I just wanted to say Goodbye, Neteller.

How Could I Play This Differently? #1c

*I realize I’m mailing this in but there really isn’t much left to say.*

Previously we discussed how I should have played bottom set of 5s on an all heart board. I slow played to get more information and ended up calling a raise on what I had thought was the correct pot odds. I later realized that they weren’t.

To wrap up this hand, I continued my donkey-like play. I missed the turn and both players moved all in. They had me covered. I called because I was getting about 4:1 pot odds. That was enough to cover my misconceived chances of winning the pot with a river boat.

Of course, I missed. Small blind showed down a weak flush like I expected. However, the other guy showed down a set of aces. I was drawing to one out. Oops.

Oh well. Live and learn. Play better.

On Tilt: Chapter 3 – Trying Too Hard

***In Chapter 2 of this guide, I discussed ways to alleviate the negative effects of tilt. This installment’s objective is to look at one of the less obvious manifestations of tilt and discuss how to recognize and counter-act this problem. ***

In season two of GSN’s High Stakes Poker, Daniel Negreanu hits a tough run of cards and goes on tilt. He exhibits a few of the stereotypical signs of tilt such as playing looser and more aggressively. He does a decent job of attempting to control it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to stop one of the more subtle aspects from rearing its ugly head. Daniel began to try TOO hard.

Unfortunately, this happens to players when they chose to battle their emotions and continue to try to play good poker on tilt. They try too hard to win and end up beating themselves. For instance, a poker player might flop a set but the flop is all hearts and call when he is check-raised all-in because there is no way his set is second best AGAIN. Perhaps, a person has been playing more aggressively yet with control. However when someone stands up to him with a re-raise, the player thinks the person is just taking advantage of his aggressiveness. He may push or call all in with the poor reasoning of “He probably just thinks I’m bluffing and is trying to catch me in one.” Of course, the other guy turns over a big over pair and doubles up. Then there is the flipside. Players may play more passively to make sure they don’t get out drawn again. They are trying so hard to save money on another possible bad beat that they are creating opportunities for their opponents to correctly draw out on them.

The best way to counteract this is to stop playing. Take a break for an hour, a day, a week or whatever it takes. However not everyone has that luxury. Some have an addiction that needs satisfying. Others have bills to pay. Still others have an opportunity that forces them to play because it won’t be available if they wait a day or a week. Often it is a combination of these and other compounding factors. These players try to play their best and hope the poker gods cut them some slack. That’s not all that can be done. Players can do things like listen to relaxing music. This will help them calm down and remain focused.

However, if one has to play, the best advice is a little unorthodox. Instead of trying so hard to play well, try less. If you are playing online, multi-table while browsing articles on the web or talking on aim. If you are at a casino or a home game, pay more attention to the game on the TV or strike up a conversation with your neighbor. Just take it easy, play the cards instead of the player for a while, and distract yourself. It’s not maximum EV poker but neither is playing on tilt. If you do things like this to take some of your attention away from the game, you are less likely to imagine your opponents are trying to bluff you every hand or you are better able to lay down that flush draw. You’ll let the game come to you and that’s the easiest way to win at poker. It’s not always the best way, but it’s the easiest. Play tight and aggressive. Fold when you think you are behind and bet when you think you are ahead. And most importantly, don’t try so hard. Have some fun and the tilting will be over before you realize it.

Bodog Observations

1. I played in a 6-handed No Limit Hold’em tournament. UTG raised two-thirds to three quarters of the hands. Is there some strategy article to playing 6-handed that I’ve missed the past couple years that says to always raise UTG? I felt like I was playing with a bunch of fish that always raise on the button at a full table. I’ve heard and like the strategy for 3, 4, or 5 handed games but I think it’s a bit of a stretch to do it all the time in a 6-handed game.
2. I noticed that some players are using the auto-raise button to send out misinformation. Normally at the stakes I play and with the fish I play, when someone uses the auto-raise button, it’s because they have a big hand. Pre-flop they are often good for queens, kings, aces, and sometimes ace-king. After the flop it could indicate a set or two pair. What I’ve been noticing though is that players in late positions are using it when they have draws. Often someone will bet in an earlier position with say top pair. The person in late position auto-raises. This screams monster hand to the original better, but that person calls anyways because of the cheap price to call a minimum raise. Then the original better checks the turn if it doesn’t help. Then the raiser has the option of continuing with his monster hand bluff or checking and getting a free card to his draw. It seems to be working well for these players especially against passive opponents and is something that I might toy around with to see if it’s worth adding to my arsenal.
3. This isn’t really as much of an observation as it was a thought I’ve been toying with. The goal of poker is to make as much money as possible. There are three ways to go about this. The first is to maximize your winnings with the best hand. The second is to minimize your losses with the worst hand. The third is to force your opponent to fold the best hand. Using typical tight and aggressive poker, you are putting yourself in good situations to do these three things. However, if you are a good player, are you really maximizing your winnings? The reason I ask is that even crappy hands such as deuce-seven off-suit win a certain percent of the time. Every time you fold one of these hands because you are playing tight you are passing up on this 5% or 10% or whatever chance of winning. However if you play a controlled loose strategy, you aren’t just giving yourself a chance to win with your 60%, 70%, and 80% hands but also giving yourself a chance to win with the 10% ones or the 20% ones.

How Could I Play This Differently? #1b

To recap, yesterday I discussed my pre-flop play with pocket fives. It was raised three times the big blind and electing to see a flop I just called. Jamin felt I should have re-raised to see where I stood. I think both strategies have positives and negatives but neither is wrong and instead depend upon personal style and the situation.

5 people see the flop. The pot is $1.50.

Small blind has $10.84. Big blind has $3.60. UTG has $1.69. Raiser has $9.80. I have $5.26.

The flop is 5h, Ah, Jh. I hit my set but it’s a dangerous flop with so many people in the hand.

Small Blind, Big Blind, and UTG all check. Raiser bets $0.10. I call. Small Blind re-raises to $1.80. Big Blind and UTG fold. Raiser calls. I call.

Here is my first major mistake. But we’ll get to that in a bit. First let’s discuss my calling of the $0.10 instead of re-raising which J suggested.

We’ll start with Jamin’s rationale. He felt I should have re-raised because:

1. Sets are not invincible. You may scoff or say “duh” but I tend to forget this all the time. So it’s a good comment.
2. I would find out exactly where I’m at and can safely fold to a large re-raise or continue strong if they show weakness.
3. I pointed this out and Jamin agreed with me. In rare cases and probably in a game with larger stakes and better places, you might push out a better hand. For example, if I re-raised and then am re-raised by a check raiser, someone holding a bigger set might fold the hand by correctly assuming that at least one of us had the flush.
4. A re-raise could serve as a blocking bet. If one of the players has a weak flush and is a passive player, he might let me see a card or two cheaply. Conversely a player with a strong or nut flush might think I have a big hand such as a weaker flush and attempt to trap me. This would also allow me to see a card or two cheaply.

I countered his proposal with the following point:

Often a tiny raise in a situation like this will cause weak players to reveal their hand. So I opted to go along with the 10 cents bet and see if someone gave away their hand. And in my defense, this is exactly what happened. UTG re-raised and told everyone that he had the flush. On top of that, the speed and size of his bet tipped me off that he probably had a weak flush.

However, just because I was correct in predicting what would happen doesn’t mean it was the best move to make. As I said before, UTG re-raised to $1.80. I was all set to fold knowing my set is no good. Then a surprising thing happened. Raiser called. All I could think about was the fact that I was now getting the correct pot + implied odds to chase ($1.70 into $5.20). So I called. I don’t think there is any argument whether it is the correct move to call with pot odds in this situation or not. I know I am behind and need to chase to win. Also, I know that if I go strong and re-raise I will just be called by one, if not two other hands. Conversely, at the stakes I’m playing, if I call and miss I can then save money by folding if I don’t have the correct pot odds or if I hit, they will still put all their money in.

But I didn’t factor pot odds correctly because I didn’t take the time to put my opponents on a hand. We’ve already established that the raiser has a weak flush. So what could I put the caller on? The nut flush draw is unlikely unless he also hit top pair to go along with it. A donkey with two pair is also a strong possibility. Finally, the person could have a larger set could be chasing the full house just like I did. I’d guess that if this situation came up 100 times, you’d see top pair 60% of the time chasing the flush but you’d see two pair or set the other 40%. This would make it an incorrect call because even if I make my full house, chances are it is no good. The set would have made a bigger full house or quads 100% of the time and the two pair would make a bigger full house unless he has the case five. So here Jamin’s strategy would be even better because if I somehow ended up seeing this hand out, I at least was taking a step towards forcing the hand with the best draw out.

Tomorrow we’ll see how the rest of the hand played out.

Feldman's Tip of the Week

In anticipation for the next installment of my Guide to Tilt, here is Andrew Feldman's latest post. He discusses when luck is and isn't the reason for your poor results.

How Could I Play This Differently? #1a

*It’s funny how reading good literature motivates me to write. Perhaps that is why my posting has been lacking lately. I haven’t been reading a whole lot I find to be really good. Or to be more specific, I haven’t been reading a lot of theoretical poker that has been terrific. That has changed with the arrival of Bill Chen’s The Mathematics of Poker.*

I played a little earlier today and admittedly I played very poorly. However, let’s take a look at one hand I played particularly poorly. (Yes I'm stealing the terrific format from Card Squad.)

I am playing in a 9-handed 5 cent 10 cent No Limit Hold’em game at Bodog. UTG calls. The next guy raises to $0.30, three times the big blind. I call with pocket fives. It’s folded around to the blinds. They both call as does the original limper.

How could I have played this differently (a.k.a. better)?

My stance is that I played it just fine. I find three points to justify my play.

1. At the stakes I am playing, I don’t need to build the pot pre-flop with a set because it’s fairly easy to convince opposing players to get all their money in after the flop.
2. A re-raise probably wouldn’t push many players out.
3. If the original raiser has me dominated with a monster pair, he will most likely re-raise my re-raise and I would be forced to fold. Alternatively, if I just call and flop a set, it will be relatively difficult for him to get rid of that monster pair and I stand to make a lot of dough.

I discussed this hand with Jamin also. I think I got a few of the details wrong but in general his thoughts should be applicable. (J, feel free to edit this or correct me if you disagree with what I am attributing to you.) Since I’m providing his point of view, J obviously thought I should have played it a little differently. He felt I should have re-raised pre-flop for the following reasons:

1. You only hit your set something like 1 in 7.5 tries so most of the time you have nothing. However, if you re-raised, your opponent will be more likely give you credit for a big hand and you will have the chance to take down the pot with a continuation bet.
2. You are building the pot. If you do hit a set, it will be more likely for top pair to pay you off because the pot is so big. Also, you will have some image equity if no ace or king hits. Opponents will likely think you raised with high cards, think you are trying to steal a good pot with a continuation bet and come over the top against you.
3. You don’t have very much information about the other player’s holdings. The original raiser probably has something decent but the other players could be holding anything. If you re-raise you will learn where you’re at and get away from the hand if you are re-raised.
4. Being in late position, you have a chance to steal and take down the pot immediately. All except the best starting hands or the donkiest-donkeys would have to fold and often you would take down a decent pre-flop pot.
5. Even if you are unable to steal the entire pot, re-raising from late position will often allow you to steal the button. The cutoff or the button might call the $.30 with a hand such as King-Ten offsuit or Queen-Nine suited. But they are less likely to call $1 with such holdings. By re-raising, you are forcing them out -- so that even if the early-position limpers stick around, you have put yourself in position of being last to act on the later betting rounds. Having position on your opponents is one of the fundamental keys to winning in Hold 'Em.
   

Tomorrow I’ll discuss the flop.

Wasting Time?

I’ve been slacking on my posts lately. Thankfully Jamin has been picking it up with his Atlantic City recap. You would think that having no real job, living at home with your parents, and sitting around 90% of the time would be a great formula for a ridiculous amount of posts. It’s not. There is so much crap out there that has the singular goal of distracting us so that we aren’t out there doing things. Ultimately, these things hurt us. I think it’s hurting my poker but I think it’s a hurting society in general. How much more time would we spend with our friends and families or our hobbies or our job if it weren’t for television and video games and movies and the internet and books? Yes even books.

Let’s take a very narrow look at this phenomenon to see how only poker distractions affect my life. My typical day is 11am to 3:30am. I probably spend an hour every day browsing poker-related websites. I spend another hour reading the articles that I’ve noted as readable. I watch Poker After Dark every night for an hour. Often I watch an hour or two of WSOP or other poker replays. I spend uncountable hours talking about poker with my friends and I normally get in somewhere between 2 and 5 hours of solid online play every night. With my copy of the Mathematics of Poker arriving tomorrow, even more of my time will be taken up by poker.

Here is the point I’m trying to make. If playing is considered my job and I do consider it a job, then I should spend the majority of my time working. On good days it’s five hours of play. On bad days I play about two hours. I’d say that averages out over time to three and a half hours every day. Yet I am easily spending an equal or greater amount of time reading, watching, and talking poker. That’s 3+ hours every day where I could be working that I am losing out on. There are merits of attacking poker from another a different angle to try to improve your game but nothing beats personal experience. At some point you have to wonder how much of the poker saturation has a minor or subconscious goal of keeping us interested in poker but away from the table. Every time a pro appears on TV or writes a book, he is doing two things: 1) Keeping us away from the felt and 2) Maintaining our interest level. How many people watch this stuff and think, I can beat these guys? I know I have thought it before. They don’t always look untouchable. Take Negreanu on Season 2 of High Stakes Poker. He was on tilt. I could have taken all his money. My dad could have taken all his money. Even some bum who’s never played before would have a chance. We are tempted to play but without the requisite experience needed and we are wasting time getting tempted that could be used to get that experience.

Now this is just poker. There’s a bigger message here. How many hours do we watch sitcoms or sports or talk shows or movies or sit alone with a book? How much of that time could be used to making our lives better? Better jobs, happier families, and more fun. There’s a place for this type of entertainment but like everything, it should be in moderation. Hopefully if you do that, you will find your life becomes better, be it poker or whatever.

Atlantic City III: The Turn

Being homeless is an experience I’ll not soon forget. Of all the elements that go along with being broke and friendless in a distant city – the cold, the hunger, the lack of bathing facilities – the two things that really get you the most have nothing to do with your body. No, the things that hit you the hardest as a vagrant are the boredom, and the loneliness.

One thing you realize when you're homeless is how tough you really are. As long as I was able to go indoors every few hours to warm my hands, I could get through the cold. I used two of the three dollars in my wallet to buy a couple of the six-pack powdered donuts from a vending machine. You know the ones I’m talking about. Since I knew I had about 36 hours to kill, I ate one little gem donut every three hours, and that somehow was enough to get me through. As far as staying clean, I just tried not to sweat too much in all my layers. I was surprised to find, later on, that my clothes actually didn’t smell too bad.

Another thing you find out when you’re homeless is how resourceful you can be. Since the boredom was really starting to drive me mad after the first night, on Thursday morning I started asking around about discount or used bookstores. Sure enough, I found one in the area, and used the last dollar in my pocket to buy a used paperback Orson Scott Card novel that I hadn’t read. Since he’s one of my favorite authors, this was a huge step toward eliminating at least the boredom factor.

The loneliness issue wasn’t so simple. My girlfriend phoned me from Los Angeles when she could – during her lunch break and for an hour at night. But her folks were in town for the holidays, so even that was limited. Thus, I had to spend long stretches of the days with no one to talk to but myself. It hurts when people pass by, and give you that disgusted look. Really takes away your dignity. Out here, it didn't matter that I held a good job, or drove a BMW, or blogged about poker. No one knew me in New Jersey, and no one cared about me. Not a whit.

I met some interesting characters during my time there – several of them other homeless people – and I could see in them what I was now seeing in myself. These were good people that were down on their luck, didn’t really have regular meals or places to stay. But despite their ill fortune, the thing they sought out the most was conversation. To see once proud and upright men – not at all unlike myself – in such a state just about broke my heart. wouldHow easy it be to lose everything in one fell swoop, and have no other recourse but to wander the streets?

I could see it in their faces, they were just itching to speak to me. Unlike the other, more fortunate people on the streets, these people understood. The older men, no doubt fathers of sons long gone but never forgotten, would talk so much not to me but as talk at me, passing on street knowledge in the form of short sayings and phrases. They would offer little bits of advice here and there (whether or not I asked for it) about where different trains were going and how to score a cheap meal. The younger men were different. They wanted to talk about sports, or politics, or anything else. They wanted to know where I was from, and where I was headed. They were more escapist in their conversations – not quite as resigned to their fates as were the older men. But just teetering on the edge. I could only imagine what life was like for them. I got a taste of it, but I had the reassurance of knowing on Friday morning, a few thousand dollars would be automatically deposited into my bank account and I could leave. These men had no such comfort.

At any rate, I got through that hellish experience … and it showed me just what I was made of. The swings of poker seemed so trivial compared to what I had just experienced. A bad beat? What would that cost me – a few hundred dollars at the most? Nothing compared to not having a home, to not having friends and family. I could handle anything that came my way; poker wasn’t even a challenge anymore.

Friday morning came, and so did my paycheck. I could shake Atlantic City’s dust off my shoes and get on the road to enjoying the weekend in the Big Apple. Finally I could afford a ticket out of that God-forsaken town, and let the entire experience settle into the back of my mind as nothing more than a distant bad dream.

But we all know that wasn’t going to happen. There was no way I was going to leave this town a loser, not while I had money in my pocket. And especially not with my new resolve. It was time for me to settle the score with Atlantic City, NJ.

It was time for me to take my money back.

I went into Caesar’s and did just that. It only took me an hour. The players were what I had hoped to run into on Wednesday night. I'm not sure if it was because it was the daytime crowd, or because it was a different cardroom, or what. But the table was full of tourists, and I was murdering them. There was a single pro at the table, but he was playing on tilt which was great for me because he was playing very aggressively into my made hands. I was running over the table, and sure enough, after an hour I was up $360 and under the gun. Exactly the amount I had lost at the Taj. Unbelievable. I folded my cards and decided to take a walk around the room. I had an important decision to make.

I sent Billy a text message:

J: Im even on the weekend now, what should I do?
B: really, how?
J: made it back @ caesar’s…should I let it ride? Im playing really well
B: I dunno man it depends how well u are playing. do u want to risk it?
J: yeah okay…hmmmm

Did I want to risk it? Should I walk away while I was good, with nothing more or less than I had come in with other than a cheap paperback novel and a fantastic story to tell?

What a decision …

Great … more Sklansky-Dollars

Saturday afternoon, I enjoyed my first win in Jun’s home game. I keep going back there even though I usually come out a loser in dollar terms, because the practice and poker education is well worth the price. It’s pretty rare that I get the chance to play against a table of Level 3 players, so the sparring is great. This game has given me trouble for some time, because all the players are aggressive and for a long time I was getting consistently outplayed by them. They all have excellent poker faces, so I have never been able to get a good physical read on any of them.[1] What changed on Saturday was that I realized I could get pretty good information on their hand strength by betting into them and by raising their opening bets. Their responses would almost invariably clue me in to their hand strength, and I was able to end the session ahead (though not by a whole lot).

Anyway, I walked out feeling pretty good about my game. I had just outplayed some of the best amateur players that I know. With my head swollen so large, it was inevitable that I was gonna roll down the 710 freeway to play some $2-3 No Limit at Commerce. Buy-in is $100, and I had $200 ready to go.

I showed up and wasted no time in continuing to play great. I basically treaded water for a while, winning a pot here and there with the nuts, then making small and obvious bluffs at other pots for advertising value.

At one point in my career, I would always attempt to establish a tight table image early on, that I could loosen up and exploit later on. Nowadays, I establish whatever table image is necessary for the game I happen to be involved in. At this table, I decided I would try to appear completely random. Did I have the stone-cold nuts? Did I have diddly squat? I wanted the players at my table to have no idea whatsoever. It was working. I was betting out, and having the other players raise me to see where I was at. I’d either make it obvious I was trapping with a re-raise, or make it obvious I was bluffing with a fold. So like I said, for a while I just treaded water, winning some small pots and losing some even smaller ones. Not going up or down very much at all. Just waiting for the right hand to trap with, vs. the right opponent.

Eventually, I moved in with top-pair and an open-ended straight draw vs. the guy to my immediate right (call him “Lee”). He had top pair with a better kicker. I missed my draw and lost my stack. I was okay with this … just setting him up for later. I re-bought.

A few hands later, a bunch of players saw the flop for $20, including myself with the Ac-Th in the big blind. Normally I would fold this hand to such a raise, fearing domination. But as I was last to act before the flop, I decided I was getting sufficient pot and implied odds to see a flop. The flop was nice, Qc-Jc-Tc, giving me bottom pair and the royal flush draw. Lee checked from the small blind, and I moved in for $75 into the $100 pot. Everyone folded, and I showed my hand. Lee smiled, shook his head and told me I was brave (by which he meant stupid). I thought to myself, I can’t wait ‘til I get some decent cards. This guy has a large stack, and he’s gonna pay me off all night long.

I didn’t have to wait long. The very next hand, I looked down at pocket Aces from the small blind. Beautiful. The action went around the table … one guy limped in from middle position. The button (Lee) popped it up to $20, and I inwardly rejoiced. I immediately made it $40 to go, and the limper got out. Lee just called.

The flop wasn’t terribly threatening. It was 9-7-3 and two-toned. He couldn’t have flopped a straight, but the draw was there (unlikely) as well as a flush draw. And he could have flopped a set. But seeing the way Lee had been playing, I figured him for Ace-medium, giving him a single pair at best. I knew how aggressive he was, so if he sensed weakness, he would definitely raise with any pair or a flush draw. Especially against me.

The pot was $85, so I intentionally under-bet it. I put out $30, because I knew he would raise it up. He didn’t disappoint, minimum-raising it to $60 total. Without hesitation, I moved all-in, and he thought only a moment before calling.

He said, “I think you have me this time.”

I know I have you, you sophomoric donkey. You can stop your braying now and pay me, I wanted to say. Instead I let my cards do the talking, tabling my bullets. He merely nodded in resignation.

The turn was an offsuit 4, and his nodding turned into a wince. It was the kind of wince that says, "I just bad beat the crap out of you." My heart sank.

“You hit a set?” I asked him nervously. When he didn’t react, I pressed him: “Two pair???” He started nodding again.

The river was meaningless, and he sheepishly showed me his 3-4 offsuit. I couldn’t believe it. He’d called my re-raise before the flop with that garbage, as well as my re-raise all-in on the flop with bottom pair. I guess my table image strategy had worked a little too well. I had gotten him to do exactly what I’d wanted, and still lost the hand. Gotten all-in for $175 as a 4:1 favorite. I should have been up $150, but instead I was down $200.

Yay … more Sklansky-Dollars[2] to add to my account.

Pardon me for not exactly being thrilled.
_ _

[1] It has been suggested that poker players often have trouble reading players of other races. This could be used as an explanation of why I’ve never been able to get a good read on my Asian opponents in Jun’s game. There have been many times when they have all thought it was obvious that one of them was bluffing, when I had found the player totally inscrutable. Of course, another obvious explanation would be that they play with one another much more often than I am able to. I guess my point here is that it’s hard for me to say if they really have great poker faces or that I find their tells more difficult to sniff out due to our differing ethnic backgrounds. Would an Asian player they didn't know find them easier to read? An interesting point to consider.

[2] The term “Sklansky-Dollars” refers to the theoretical money that a poker player earns when his opponent makes a mistake, regardless of whether or not that players wins the physical pot. It is a joke on David Sklansky’s Fundamental Theorem of Poker, which states that

“Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents' cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.”

Thus, players have made the obvious gripe that “If a donkey makes a mistake but bad beats me, how can I be said to gain? When the pot is being pushed toward someone else, it sure feels like I lost!” Hence the term, Sklansky-Dollars. Personally, I feel like a Sklansky-Dollar millionaire.

DogWatch

I recently reported that you can use Poker Tracker with Bodog as long as you have the DogWatch hand grabber program. I’ve had a chance to use the registered version for a few sessions now and I am not disappointed.

First of all, the program currently costs $19 and I believe they accept payment through Neteller, paypal, or credit card. If you play a lot, the edge poker tracker provides will pay for this program given time.

Next, the customer support was terrific. They were quick and to the point with their responses to my email. I am used to customer or tech support people sounding like you are wasting their time but that wasn’t the case with the DogWatch team.

The program worked well enough. I haven’t suffered any of the crashes that I noticed others were mentioning in the forums. It is very easy to use once you’ve got it set up. You open DogWatch, click on the start Bodog link, and it does the rest. It automatically detects your tables and starts grabbing hands right away. Currently there isn’t tournament support but I believe they are working on getting that up and running.

The only real drawback I see with the program is that it doesn’t work with Bodog’s quickseat function. It only detects tables that you open yourself. This is annoying but I can deal with it. Also, there was a forum entry about problems with waiting lists but I believe this is a temporary problem and will be fixed relatively soon.

All in all, Dogwatch seems to be a great program if you play poker at Bodog and want to be able to use Poker Tracker with it. As with any newer program that’s still being developed, it’s not perfect but its better to deal with the growing pains then to have no program at all.

Bodog and Poker Tracker: Together at Last

I was pleasantly surprised this morning as I was setting poker tracker up for the new year that it is now compatible with Bodog. You have to purchase a hand grabber program called Dogwatch but I think it is reasonably priced. I only have the trial version right now but I'll update this and let everyone know how well it works.

Playing Against Tight Passive Bonus Whores

If you would have asked me a month ago which aspect of poker would give me the most grief in my return, I probably would have said live games; the reason being that I would not have a lot of opportunity to play in them and would be playing on a very limited bankroll. Apparently I was wrong. I’m readjusting much slower to the swings in poker than I had expected and the tight passive bonus whores at Tony G are the latest to give me fits. I’m not getting killed as I’m even despite last night’s fiasco but I’m not exactly beating the game either. Needless to say I was frustrated by my downswing. Instead of chalking it up to a bad session, I had to torture myself by going through everything to see where I made mistakes and then by looking up strategies for these types of opponents to see if I could choose a better one.

First off, the general strategic advice for playing against tight passive players is to be aggressive pre-flop and on the flop, then to slow way down if they show backbone because they probably have a great hand. This is what I started out trying to do but I got away from it for two reasons that I can surmise. 1) The majority that I’m up against seem to be experienced bonus-whores. What this mean is that despite their tight passive orientation, they aren’t bad players. They recognized that I was being aggressive and adjusted accordingly when I was in hands with them. Thus they limited the amount of damage I could do to them and made it costly to try to steal with weak hands. 2) I got in some tough hands right off the bat like over pairs vs. over pairs and such. I felt like Teddy KGB. I was struggling with my reads. They check call with pocket aces, with flush or straight draws, and with TPTK. I didn’t know what they had. Thus I got frustrated and I started playing more passively. That’s exactly what they wanted me to do.

Next, where was I making mistakes? I think the biggest mistake I was making was in starting hand selection. For a little review, there are a few main factors in choosing starting hands. The first is your relative skill vs. that of the rest of the table. The second is how tight/loose and passive/aggressive the table is playing. The third is folding equity and it is in some ways a combination of the two. Both at Bodog and in live games, I have been playing a loose aggressive style. There is a huge skill advantage separating the majority of my opponents from me. The players tend to be tight enough to not chase with nothing but loose enough to get in kicker battles or to chase without the correct odds. They play the usual strong means weak and weak means strong strategy so they are easy to read. Thus, folding equity is very small in comparison to how much can be made seeing lots of flops cheaply. I brought this strategy to Tony G and failed to adjust when the situation proved differently. The skill advantage is much reduced at Tony G. The players are much tighter and are more passive so you are much less likely to win a big pot. Thus the folding equity is much greater. There is really no reason to see lots of cheap pots because I’m not likely to get paid off when I hit.

So in order to improve I need to do two obvious things. 1) I need to tighten up. I should still play comparatively loose but not nearly as loose as I have been playing. 2) I need to go back to playing aggressively and I need to take notes about who to shut down after the flop against and who I can keep pushing at.

Basically I just need to go back to playing basic tight aggressive poker. Hopefully that will be enough to pull me off the break even line and into the land of profits.

Atlantic City II: The Flop

Finally, I’m here! I hop off the shuttle from the train station and walk inside.

I’m not sure what I was expecting. It looks pretty much like any casino in Vegas; the first thing you see when you walk in is row after row after row of slot machines. These one-armed bandits are of no interest to me whatsoever, so I begin weaving through them towards the table games. My ears are well-trained, and it isn’t long before I start hearing the clittery-click-slide of thousands of chips being shuffled by dozens of half-bored players. The smell of tobacco smoke thins out, and I see the poker room. I head straight for the board, and am happy to find that a seat is open for me.

The floorman informs me that’ll I’ll have to get my own chips, so I head over and ask for $100 to play $1/2. I was mildly surprised when she hands me a stack of $5 chips; typically $1/2 is played with $1 chips at the casinos I’ve been at. Another thing I noticed is that on the East Coast, $1 chips are white and $5 chips are red, as opposed to the blues and yellows to which I’m accustomed from playing in LA. But whatever – we could play with dollar bills or gold coins or M&M’s for all I care. I’ve never been more ready to jump into the action in my life.

I settle down in Seat 1, stowing my single travel bag and all of my winter garments on the floor between my legs. Remember, I haven’t booked a hotel yet. Hopefully I’ll make enough that I can book a hotel with my winnings. If I at least break even, then I can spend the night playing poker and not worry about a hotel.

As is my custom, I play extremely tight early on until I can get a read on the players at the table. Seat 5 seems dangerous, but he quickly proves otherwise by donking away $300 in my first 15 minutes of play. He leaves quickly, and his seat is filled by a weak-tight player. Seats 2 and 3 are older guys and very rocky, so I should have no trouble playing them. Seat 9 is really my only concern. He’s the big stack at the table, young, tight and aggressive. He’s the only one at the table that really sizes me up when I sit down. He could be trouble later on – so I’m glad I’ll have position on him for the entire session.

Anyway, after folding 100% of my hands for two rounds, I finally flop a flush draw in the big blind. I bet it against one of the rocks on the flop and turn and he calls both bets. I make a large bet on the river and he mucks. Someone asks what I had, and I show the bluff. A few hands later, I flop top pair, bet it all the way and get called by another guy with top pair but a weak kicker. So 45 minutes in, I’m up $76 and feeling good. Haven’t lost a showdown yet, but no real monster wins either. That’s just fine with me – I have all the time in the world, so I’m more than willing to keep playing small ball poker and pick up the pots no one wants.

Then the problems start. The first hand, I have K-Q and I’m heads up against the solid player in Seat 9. The flop is Queen high, and it remains top pair through the river. I bet it the whole way, making larger and larger value bets. Seat 9 just calls down, and tables A-Q. Crap. I lost $100 on that hand alone by going after the strong player instead of the weak ones. The next half hour was more of the same. I kept getting called down with my good but vulnerable hands, and then paying players off even though it was obvious they had turned or rivered me. I guess showing that bluff early on had come back to bite me in the butt.

Long story short, I lost the $300 I had in my wallet in about ninety minutes of play. And for the most part it was my own fault. I didn’t control pot size on my vulnerable hands. I showed a bluff early and gave the table a reason to chase on me. I made good reads but didn’t follow them up with action – paying to see too many river cards. I had given a C+ effort, and that just wasn’t enough to cut it at the Taj.

So I get up, collect all my belongings and walk directly to the ATM. I have $60 left in my bank account. I’ve made comebacks like this before. Could I do it one last time, now that so much was on the line? I didn’t want to be homeless. It was 37 degrees out there, and windy. My Southern California body’s not used to weather like that.

I felt I had no choice but to take one last stab at it. I think the max buy-in there was between $300 and $500. So I would be very short-stacked to start. But I’d play extremely tight until I could double up, and then go from there. I’d done it enough times at Hustler. I really felt like I could do it again.

So I go back to the poker room, ask for a seat at a different table (my image is shot at the first) and settle into Seat 8. There are some huge stacks at this table, and a couple of guys that are clearly local small-game pros. What have I gotten myself into? But I can’t allow myself to be afraid. I play the best poker I can for about 20 minutes. Hit a hand here and there to take my stack up to $150. I’m feeling much better about my situation. $150 is probably enough to get me a room in a cheap motel, and more than enough to get me a ticket out of Atlantic City. But I need more. I have to keep playing. The poker dog in me won’t let me walk away a loser on the night if I'm on a bit of a roll and have the chance for more.

Damn that dog!

The hand I bust out on is pretty nasty. Basically, I have pocket Aces vs. K-9. The flop is 9-9-9. The guy is a solid player, so I just know he has the case 9. He practically tells me when he asks me if I have it, then proceeds to bet. But I couldn’t lay my boat down. Just couldn’t do it. It cost me my stack.

I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. I couldn’t breathe. My hands were shaking. I had put myself all in on so many levels, and lost. It was 10 PM, Wednesday night. I had $3 on me, which had to last until 8 AM on Friday (when I got my next paycheck direct deposited).

I bundled up, and headed out into the cold Jersey night

The personal bests just keep on coming.

Not that I'm complaining. +902. Here’s how it happened:
_ _

9:20 PM I head down to Gardena, hoping to make a hundred or two to pay some bills. Traffic is light, as is typical on the 405 at this hour. Lil Wayne is blasting through the speakers and I’m getting myself psyched up.

9:50 PM Sit down in Seat 7 of a $1/2 no limit game immediately. Buy in for $50. I wake up with A-J off third to act with a live straddle in effect (making it $4 to go). I pop it up to $12 and the big blind and the straddler (Seat 4, call him “Fishmael”) call. The flop comes Queen-rag-rag. The big blind checks, the straddler bets $20. I muck, and so does the big blind. Fishmael grins mischievously and I shake my head. This is why, I remind myself, I don’t get involved in pots until I have a read on the table. Stupid.

10:22 PM I’ve folded almost every hand until now either before the flop or on the flop, because just about every pot since I sat down has been raised. I had seen two low pocket pairs, and had mucked on the flop when I missed sets. So I’m now down to $24 and I get dealt A-7 of spades second to act. I raise the minimum, one guy calls (Seat 9, call him “Harry”), the next guy (Seat 1, “Bernie”) makes it $12 to go, the guy after him calls, and it’s folded back to me. I look at my hand again, and realize that even though I’m probably beat, these are probably the best pot odds I’m going to see to draw to a spade flush (probably the only hand that would win for me … other than trip 7s). I push because I expect everyone to call, meaning a nice return if I hit. Everyone calls. It turns out I was up against Bernie’s pocket Jacks. Harry and the other guy had rags. An Ace would have done it for me, but it didn’t happen. Nor did the spades come. Oh well. Rebuy for another $50 … “Chips!”

10:35 PM I actually didn't play in this hand, but it was pretty sick and has bearing on what happened later on. I don't remember what happened preflop. But on the flop, the chick on my immediate left (Seat 8, let's call her "Alicia") check-raised Fishmael huge. She checked when the flop came Ac-Kc-4h. Fishmael bet $20 into a $10 pot on the flop, there was one caller, and Alicia made it $80. Fishmael called instantly, and the other player got out of the way. The turn was the 2 of clubs. Alicia checked it, staring dead at Fishmael, who put Alicia all in for $180. Alicia thought about it forever. She asked for time ... then later asked the dealer how much time she had left. I knew she had a set. I just knew it. I figured she put him on the flush draw.

Fishmael openly admitted that he was holding two pair. He showed it to several of his neighbors, and their reactions confirmed it for me. But Alicia didn't hear any of this. She was too focused in on her cards and the decision before her to pick up on these clues. She mucked her set, and Harry gasped in disbelief (she had shown him her cards). Fishmael tabled his K-2 offsuit, and said "See? I never lie about what I have!" as he raked in the pot. Apparently Alicia had folded a set of Kings, not realizing how bad of a player Fishmael is. And the sickest thing is, she didn't even put him on the flush! Somehow she got it into her head that he had made a wheel straight, holding the 5-3! I don't know what made her think he was bad enough to call $80 with a gutshot straight draw and two baby cards. But inside I was rejoicing. Hopefully, it would put her on tilt (since I'd imagined her to be a solid player). And I always like to see the better players dumping their chips to the fish. Makes it so much easier for me to collect later on.

11:00 PM Been folding a lot. But I’ve seen a few flops in the past forty minutes, so now I’m down to $36. I’m starting to get a little antsy from playing so tight … it’s just not in my nature. But it’s paid off … made some good laydowns when I was dominated or otherwise behind. Finally I pick up A-J off again. Fishmael straddles again, and the two players between us both fold. I’ve seen Fishmael see flops with all kinds of crap, so I re-raise to $24 to try and isolate him in the pot. Alicia folds, but Harry moves all in for $72. So much for isolation. Everyone folds back to me, including Fishmael which is a surprise. Harry’s played more or less solid so far, so I figure I’m behind. But it’s only $12 more so I’m priced into calling. The flop comes lowball, giving me a wheel draw … the turn and river are misses. Harry tables King high, so I double through with Ace high. Not bad.

11:19 PM I’ve won one other pot since the last, so now I’m up to $92. Almost even. It looks as if I’m going to have to settle for a break-even session, the way this table is. Just too crazy – win some and then lose it the next hand. Here I pick up two red Aces, and I smile inwardly. Feels like forever since I’ve had bullets.

I don’t want to bet too much, because I fear my tight table image will scare everyone off. Still, I can’t let them just limp in. I make a min-raise to $4 just to see what happens.

Alicia gets out of the way. Harry re-raises to $11. Bernie takes a look at myself and Harry, then makes it $31 to go. Fishmael calls (of course). I don’t like the way this is going at all. Too many players involved in this pot … it’s a bad beat in the making. I make it $71. Harry insta-calls. Bernie thinks about it forever, staring me right in the eyes. I feel like I’m practically screaming I have Aces. I really didn’t want him to call, and I think that feeling must have shown up on my face because he calls. Fishmael calls as well.

I push on the flop, out of turn. Fishmael should have been first to act. The table objects, which is odd to me because Fishmael has been playing out of turn the whole night and no one has said anything. On the other hand, when a bad player makes mistakes, you usually aren’t too hard on him for it. Nevertheless, I move in for my last $21, and watch the table call me. Fishmael only has another $3, so he's all in. Harry and Bernie agree to check it down the rest of the way.

The flop contains a King, and two hearts, which slightly concerns me. No, I take that back – it scares the crap out of me. I feel almost certain that Bernie had been holding pocket Kings and has just flopped a set. Especially the way he thought about it for so long and stared me down. But no sigh of relief or Jordan-esque fist pump from him, so I guess my Aces are still good. The turn brings the ten of hearts, giving Fishmael an open-ended straight draw as well as a flush draw (by now he has shown his Q-J offsuit … I feel sick that he called three raises cold with that garbage from the small blind). The river completes both Fishmael’s straight and flush draws, but it also gave me the nut flush and a $345 pot. Harry and Bernie had both held A-Q suited. The Aces hold up, and breaking even seems like yesterday’s bad dream.

11:33 PM I limp in with A-10 offsuit. It’s folded around to Fishmael, who raises to $8 from the small blind. The players between us fold, and I call. Flop is Tc-4c-3h. I bet out $12. Fishmael raises to $24, and I just call. He’s so bad that I can’t give him credit for more than Q-10. The turn is the 3s, and I check. Fishmael bets $20, and I raise to $60. He scratches his head and calls. The turn is the Td. I let out a big sigh, stare glumly at Fishmael and check. He can’t resist betting … $60 … I raise him all in and he mucks. I decide to show my hand and he starts muttering to his buddy about how I sucked out and he how he had a 3 and got bad beat. I can’t believe he is stupid enough to say that I sucked out, so I just laugh at him. This pisses him off even more.

11:36 PM Next hand, I get pocket Jacks under the gun. I raise to $20, Fishmael and the big blind both call (big blind all in). The flop is Qh-7h-2s. Fishmael pushes and I call immediately. No way he has a Queen. No, he has the nut flush draw with the A-2 of hearts. The big blind shows his A-4 offsuit. They hit the Ace on the turn and chop my money. Fishmael starts talking mad trash, and I can’t help but fire back. “Just keep them warm for me,” I taunt him, “they’re all coming back to me soon enough. And don’t lose them to anyone else!” He calls me a name I won’t repeat, then mocks me for winning two hands and then talking trash. I challenge him to a heads up game for $100. He offers to meet him outside to he can smash my face in.

At this point the simple trash talk has gotten out of hand. I call over the floorman and tell him I’ve been threatened and that I want Fishmael kicked out if it continues. Normally I wouldn’t fear a fight with anyone, but this guy has been drinking and dumping a lot of money to the table. And he might have a crew waiting with him outside. Or a gun. I did not have any reinforcements, I was driving a nice car, and was likely going to walk out with a lot of cash – so I was not about to take any chances. The floorman tells us both to just stop talking to one another, so we do. But once the floorman’s out of hearing range, Fishmael fires one more Parthian shot before taking a smoke break: “You can stare at all the chips I just won from you while I’m gone.” I don’t say anything, just smile and point to my own stack (much of which consists of his money). He takes off.

11:43 PM 10-8 of hearts. I limp in, along with most of the table. The flop is Jd-8c-8d, and as he always does Fishmael bets out. Thank God he took such a short break. I raise his $8 bet to $28. Alicia calls, as does Fishmael. I am not afraid of Fishmael (I know he has the flush draw), but I am a little concerned about Alicia. She’s normally pretty solid, and fairly unlikely to chase. She must have at least Ace-Jack, but could possibly have a stronger 8. She’s not really the type to trap with an 8 (more likely to raise here if she thinks she'll get me to call). So I’m probably good. But any time a decent player cold-calls a bet and a raise on a flop like that, you have to wonder.

Anyway, the turn is the 7c, and Fishmael moves all in for $136. I wonder for a moment if he has the 10-9 (straight draw on the flop rather than the flush draw). But the pot is too big for me to fold my trips, especially the way Fishmael has been playing. I decide to move all in on top. My stack is about $380, and Alicia is sitting on about $220. So even if Fishmael did make his straight, I have a draw to tie, and plenty of outs for a boat or quads. Also, I have a feeling I’m good against Alicia so I want her side action.

She thinks about it a long time, and the longer she thinks the more confident I feel that she doesn’t have trip 8s. After folding that set earlier, I don’t think she’s good enough to lay down trips twice, especially with a pot this large -- so with an 8 I think she would have called in a second. She says "Let's gamble," and makes the call with J-10. I can’t believe it, but man am I grateful. Fishmael misses his flush draw, and I take down the monster pot. Stack is now $830; I can barely reach around my eight racks to see what I have on the next hand. That's a problem I like having. But the floorman offers to color out $500 of it, trading five of my racks for five white $100 chips. Those things are so beautiful ... just like a few weeks ago, I kick myself for not having a camera on hand.

11:50 Exactly two hours since I sat down, and I’m eyeing the door. My previous record playing Texas Hold ‘Em was +740, set exactly two weeks ago. I was now +730. This wasn’t the most important thing to me, but it would be nice to one-up myself. See how far I could take it. I decide to play one last round.

I pick up K-10 of hearts on the button. It’s raised to $15 preflop, and three guys (including me see the flop). The flop contains two hearts, and since my two opponents have fairly small stacks, I commit to calling anything. The big blind checks, the preflop raiser moves in for $60 . I call (pot odds don't seem quite as significant when your stack is dominating the table), the big blind pushes for $70 and I call the extra $10. I know the heart is coming, and the Ace of hearts hits on the river. My stack is $1,002, and I decide to call it a night. Maybe I should have stayed as long as the money was flowing. I was definitely in control of the table – and they were figuring me a favorite to win every pot. Bernie was calling me Jamie Gold, the way I was hitting every flop. But Fishmael took off after the last time I stacked him. So it wasn’t guaranteed that I wouldn’t lose say $200 by doubling up the next biggest stack. +$902 is enough for one night.

Besides, I can always come back tomorrow. :-)

Atlantic City I: Before the Flop

The Bellagio in Las Vegas is considered by some to be the Mecca of poker. I haven’t played there just yet, but one day I will. Anyway, since I’m out here on the East Coast, I thought it would be awesome if I could somehow make my way to the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, which I consider to be the Jerusalem. Ever since seeing that memorable scene from Rounders, I’ve wondered just what it’s like playing at those legendary tables. Many professionals once called the Taj home. Phil Ivey got his start there. As my trip to the East Coast approached, I fell more and more in love with the idea of a pilgrimage to the Taj. I could already imagine the stacks and towers of checks I would barely be able to see over, and check-raising stupid tourists and taking huge pots off ‘em.

By the time I got on the plane leaving Los Angeles, I was (pot) committed.

It hasn’t been an easy feat getting there. Ever seen the movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles? Well that’s what today has been for me. I headed out at 7am on a three-hour drive from Charleston, SC to Charlotte NC. From there, it was a two-hour flight to Newark, NJ. Now I’m on the train to Atlantic City, and I have to say, this is the most comfortable I’ve been on this trip to date. If I weren’t blogging, I could probably catch a little nap now, letting the gentle rocking motion of the train lull me to sleep. I could probably use the sleep, given the marathon session I have planned.

I originally wanted to visit NYC for New Year’s Eve. And I’m still going to do that. But today is Wednesday, and I don’t have a hotel booked until Friday night. I have a short bankroll (about $360) that has to last me until Friday morning. If I lose my stake, I’ll be stuck in the cold in Atlantic City until Friday. I haven’t yet booked a hotel in Jersey, so that would really, really, really, really suck. If I do well, then I’ll have some extra spending money for the weekend and a barrel-full of stories for my friends and the blog. It’s a gamble. Go big or go homeless.

I couldn’t be more thrilled.

I’m not interested in any of Atlantic City’s attractions other than the cardrooms. I’m there to play poker and for no other reason. If I don’t go bust in the first few hours, then this session could be as long as 36 hours. I’ve read about players doing that kind of thing. But the closest I’ve ever come was 8 solid hours at the Commerce. Of course, I will take breaks. But still, by the end I should be able to write a book about all the people I meet and hands I see. Even better, I’ll get a flavor of what it’s like to be a local rounder in a tourism casino town.

So I’m on the train, about two hours away from the one of the most storied cardrooms in the world. I'm tingling with anticipation ...

Trip to the East Coast

Heading to my parents’ house in Charleston, SC for Christmas. It’ll be good to see everyone – some of whom it’s been quite some time. My Dad just got back from fighting in Iraq. I have a new nephew. My baby sister just ended her first quarter of college at Clemson. It should be good times.

But, it will mean a total absence from the felt. And after I had been doing so well. I have put together a nice win streak over the past few weeks. I feel like I have my groove back, and that I’m playing the best poker of my career. I hope the hiatus won’t set me back too much.

For New Year’s Eve I’ll be in New York in Times Square. It should be really exciting, and really cold. But there are no cardrooms anywhere near New York City … have to either go upstate to an Indian casino, or down to Atlantic City. Either would require a trip of several hours, and seems pretty unlikely. So in the end, it could be almost TWO WEEKS without poker. Not sure how I’m going to deal with it. I guess I’ll have to live vicariously through my poker buddies. Hopefully I can sustain the poker dog in me with tales of their exploits. We shall see.