I just experienced some of the biggest donkey plays I've ever seen. Most of the plays were bat beats on me but one of them actually helped me. The first one was having my pocket Aces beat by K6 suited on the button. I love when these guys call my preflop raises except when they're lucky enough to flop K6 and then turn another 6.
The second was having my pocket Aces beat by 75 offsuit when I raised from the small blind and the big blind decided to be cool and reraise me. Of course he flopped 55J to crack my Aces.
My best pocket Aces being cracked happened again when I had AA in the small blind. It was a shorthanded game with 6 players and 3 players limped ahead of me. I raised the size of the pot and got 2 callers as the big blind and one of the limpers folded. The flop came A52 rainbow. Obviously this is a good flop for me but usually I bet and everyone folds and I win a medium pot.
But not on this donkey filled night. I bet about 2/3 of the pot and both players called! WTF? Unless one of them was stupid enough to play 43 or they also flopped a set I could put them on anything worth calling my preflop raise and flop bet. The turn brought a 9 and I pushed all-in which wasn't much more because I was playing in a capped game.
Both donkeys called! The first donkey turns over JT suited and had turned a flush draw. No clue why he called the flop bet. The second donkey turns over 93 suited. He flopped a gutshot straight draw and turned a pair of nines. Of course the river brought a 4 so he hit his gutshot straight draw.
And now for the donkey plays that worked in my favor. I was at the very end of a WSOP Step tourney on PokerStars. I was one of three players left. I had about 1300 in chips. One player had about 10,000 and the third player had about 425. The blinds were at 150/300 with a 25 ante. Mr. Shortstack was on the button and Mr. Bigstack was in the small blind.
Mr. Shortstack moves all-in. Since he had anted 25, his raise was only 100 more that I was going to have to call from the big blind. I only had J8 offsuit but I have to make the call. Until...Mr. Bigstack decides to reraise! What an idiot! The last 2 players move on to the next step so he actually wants me in the pot so there is a better chance of knocking out the shortstack.
Obviously I can't call his reraise and Mr. Shortstack's KQ offsuit goes on to beat Mr. Idiot Bigstack's AJ suited. My hand wouldn't have been any better so Mr. Shortstack would've still won but it was still an idiot move.
About 3 hands later, I'm on the button and fold my crappy 62 offsuit. Mr. Shortstack is in the small blind and only calls. The blinds are up to 200/400 so this call is for almost half his stack. Stupid move of him to only call and not push in until Mr. Bigstack decides to raise him all-in. Mr. Shortstack insta-calls and turns over QQ - I guess that's why he decided just to call (still stupid). Mr. Idiot Bigstack turns over Q7 offsuit. Of course Mr. Shortstack wins and now I've turned into the shortstack.
And then the final idiot play of the table happens when I'm in the small blind with QJ offsuit and Mr. Bigstack raises all-in from the button. I'm tempted to call because I'm seriously low on chips but I fold hoping that the other idiot will do something stupid. I am rewarded when he calls the all-in raise. Mr. Bigstack turns over A7 suited and Mr. Idiot (the former Mr. Shortstack) turns over KJ offsuit. Mr. Bigstack's Ace holds up and Mr. Idiot is eliminated. Mr. Bigstack and I move on to the next step.
Mr. Idiot had no reason to make this call because I was so shortstacked that he could've waited me out until I was forced to move in which would've happened about 3 hands later. Maybe these donkeys didn't know that the top 2 move on to the next step. That's the only explanation I have. But for once, I'm thankful for donkeys.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Sigh
Another crappy night of poker last night. Sometimes I think I really should give up the dream but then I have a good run and I'm right back at it. And sometimes I really feel lost when I'm playing. Last night it felt like I couldn't win no matter what cards I held.
I think I need to stop playing the capped games because I've been getting killed by the gamblers lately. Last night I lost well over half of my money at just one table and I played at about 6 different tables (but no more than 4 at once). I lost to the same player last night 3 times in a row when I had an overpair to the board or top pair and my opponent had flopped a set. This guy was so unbelievably lucky it was sick.
I'm also experiencing a lot of check-raises lately and I'm feeling lost as to how to combat this problem. It generally goes something like this: I have AK and raise the size of the pot before the flop. I get one caller usually from one of the blinds. The flop comes 972 rainbow and the caller checks to me. I make a continuation bet of about 2/3 pot since my hand is probably still good here and I get check raised to 3 times my bet.
Unless I have some sort of draw or I know my opponent is tricky, I almost always fold here. I just don't have a clue what else to do but I feel like I'm giving up a lot. It also concerns me that other players see this action and decide to bluff at me with this play. I don't know if that is actually happening but sometimes it feels like it.
Thankfully I made a decent comeback at the end of the night to cut my losses in half. And it took a major suckout just to do that. I had pocket tens and raised pre-flop. The player to my right was the only caller. The flop came off J93 with 2 hearts. I bet about the size of the pot and he raised the minimum. Generally this means he's on a draw (probably a flush draw in this case). I called and the turn brought a 6 (not a heart). I checked and he bet the size of the pot.
This is another instance where I feel a little lost. He could be on a draw. He could have called my pre-flop raise with AJ and flopped top pair or he could just be bluffing because he's seen it work against me. At this point I was pretty pissed from losing so much on the night that I pushed all-in. He called immediately and turned over pocket queens. I was crushed until the river brought a beautiful ten. So for once I sucked out and delivered the bad beat.
After nights like this I really think I need to buy some training videos from CardRunners.com or CardPlayer Pro. The cost is probably less than I would lose anyway.
I think I need to stop playing the capped games because I've been getting killed by the gamblers lately. Last night I lost well over half of my money at just one table and I played at about 6 different tables (but no more than 4 at once). I lost to the same player last night 3 times in a row when I had an overpair to the board or top pair and my opponent had flopped a set. This guy was so unbelievably lucky it was sick.
I'm also experiencing a lot of check-raises lately and I'm feeling lost as to how to combat this problem. It generally goes something like this: I have AK and raise the size of the pot before the flop. I get one caller usually from one of the blinds. The flop comes 972 rainbow and the caller checks to me. I make a continuation bet of about 2/3 pot since my hand is probably still good here and I get check raised to 3 times my bet.
Unless I have some sort of draw or I know my opponent is tricky, I almost always fold here. I just don't have a clue what else to do but I feel like I'm giving up a lot. It also concerns me that other players see this action and decide to bluff at me with this play. I don't know if that is actually happening but sometimes it feels like it.
Thankfully I made a decent comeback at the end of the night to cut my losses in half. And it took a major suckout just to do that. I had pocket tens and raised pre-flop. The player to my right was the only caller. The flop came off J93 with 2 hearts. I bet about the size of the pot and he raised the minimum. Generally this means he's on a draw (probably a flush draw in this case). I called and the turn brought a 6 (not a heart). I checked and he bet the size of the pot.
This is another instance where I feel a little lost. He could be on a draw. He could have called my pre-flop raise with AJ and flopped top pair or he could just be bluffing because he's seen it work against me. At this point I was pretty pissed from losing so much on the night that I pushed all-in. He called immediately and turned over pocket queens. I was crushed until the river brought a beautiful ten. So for once I sucked out and delivered the bad beat.
After nights like this I really think I need to buy some training videos from CardRunners.com or CardPlayer Pro. The cost is probably less than I would lose anyway.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
No Country for Old Men and Poker
Last night I had a chance to watch the end of "No Country for Old Men". I started it the night before but it was too long to finish since I started watching it late. I really had no idea what the movie was about but I wanted to see it because I had heard it was so good.
Overall the movie kept me interested (unlike the movie "No Reservations" which my wife picked out) but I wouldn't call it a great movie. I think I'm mostly disappointed by the ending because I didn't really understand it. It ended so strangely that I feel like I'm supposed to make up my own ending. It's kind of hard to describe but I'm making assumptions based on events toward the end of the movie to come up with my ideas of what happened to each of the main characters in the movie.
Other than the movie, I played some cards last night. I won a whopping $5 but I'd still consider it a success since I was down much more at one point. I've been playing a lot on these tables that are No-Limit Hold'em but there is a cap as to how much a player may put into the pot each hand. Most of the tables I play at are capped at $60. So even if a player has $1,000 in front of them, they can only put in $60 into any given pot.
This works nicely to limit the amount each player can lose on each hand but it also limits the most you can win to $60 times the number of players in the hand. I've had good success at these tables this year which is why I continue playing but the tide has been turning somewhat lately. It seems that many of the players lately are there to gamble with almost any 2 cards since they know they can't lose more than the cap on each hand. It kind of turns the tables into more of a true gambling game than a game of skill.
Last night was particularly funny on one of my tables because there were 2 players who were always going against each other. It was amazingly predictable that player 1 would always limp into every pot and player 2 (sitting right after player 1) would always raise to the amount of the pot. Then usually everyone else would fold and player 1 would call the raise. After that the hand would vary depending on if either of them hit anything on the board but frequently both players would get their $60 into the pot with some sort of pair and they'd both end up flipping over crappy starting hands like J4 and K3.
I continued to play at this table because if I ever had a good quality starting hand, I knew I would probably triple up as these 2 donkeys would get it all-in with me. I basically just had to hope to avoid one of the donkeys hitting a lucky 2 pair against my pocket Aces or Kings, etc. Overall it made for an interesting table and it was kind of fun to have something different.
I did have one fun hand last night although it wasn't at the table I talked about above. I was in the big blind with 64 offsuit. 2 players right after me limped into the pot and the 3rd player made a minimum raise. In my opinion, this is the weakest play possible if the raiser actually has a good starting hand because they won't eliminate anyone. This kind of raise only builds the pot a little bigger.
Frequently I'll see this kind of raise from a player who has suited connectors like T9 or JT and then it's not a horrible play because those hands play better against many players because if you hit the flop hard, you will usually win a ton. But I also see this play from people with premium hands like AA or KK and these hands do not play well against many players. As Doyle Brunson says, with premium hands you will usually win a small pot or lose a big pot. And when you make a minimum raise with premium hands you are just asking to lose a big pot.
So in this hand, I called the tiny raise with my mediocre 64 but I was getting such good pot odds and implied odds that I was almost forced to do it. Then the flop comes down T64. I'm very happy when I check along with the first 2 limpers and the minimum raiser makes a real bet this time equal to the amount of the pot. I make one of his donkey raises by making the minimum raise of double his bet. The 2 limpers fold and the raiser calls. After a blank on the turn, I push all-in for the remainder of my capped $60 and he calls. He flips over AA and the river doesn't help so I take his money by cracking his Aces.
He didn't make any comments in the chat box but I'm sure he was steaming after this bad beat. I'm sure he doesn't realize that he brought this beat on himself by making a donkey minimum raise after 2 limpers were already in the pot. At least I hope he doesn't realize it because I want him to continue doing it the next time I play with him.
This just supports Doyle's belief. The guy ended up losing a big pot but he could have ended up winning a small to medium pot if he would've raised enough to get me out pre-flop. Then the other 2 limpers would've probably still folded after they apparently missed the flop.
Overall the movie kept me interested (unlike the movie "No Reservations" which my wife picked out) but I wouldn't call it a great movie. I think I'm mostly disappointed by the ending because I didn't really understand it. It ended so strangely that I feel like I'm supposed to make up my own ending. It's kind of hard to describe but I'm making assumptions based on events toward the end of the movie to come up with my ideas of what happened to each of the main characters in the movie.
Other than the movie, I played some cards last night. I won a whopping $5 but I'd still consider it a success since I was down much more at one point. I've been playing a lot on these tables that are No-Limit Hold'em but there is a cap as to how much a player may put into the pot each hand. Most of the tables I play at are capped at $60. So even if a player has $1,000 in front of them, they can only put in $60 into any given pot.
This works nicely to limit the amount each player can lose on each hand but it also limits the most you can win to $60 times the number of players in the hand. I've had good success at these tables this year which is why I continue playing but the tide has been turning somewhat lately. It seems that many of the players lately are there to gamble with almost any 2 cards since they know they can't lose more than the cap on each hand. It kind of turns the tables into more of a true gambling game than a game of skill.
Last night was particularly funny on one of my tables because there were 2 players who were always going against each other. It was amazingly predictable that player 1 would always limp into every pot and player 2 (sitting right after player 1) would always raise to the amount of the pot. Then usually everyone else would fold and player 1 would call the raise. After that the hand would vary depending on if either of them hit anything on the board but frequently both players would get their $60 into the pot with some sort of pair and they'd both end up flipping over crappy starting hands like J4 and K3.
I continued to play at this table because if I ever had a good quality starting hand, I knew I would probably triple up as these 2 donkeys would get it all-in with me. I basically just had to hope to avoid one of the donkeys hitting a lucky 2 pair against my pocket Aces or Kings, etc. Overall it made for an interesting table and it was kind of fun to have something different.
I did have one fun hand last night although it wasn't at the table I talked about above. I was in the big blind with 64 offsuit. 2 players right after me limped into the pot and the 3rd player made a minimum raise. In my opinion, this is the weakest play possible if the raiser actually has a good starting hand because they won't eliminate anyone. This kind of raise only builds the pot a little bigger.
Frequently I'll see this kind of raise from a player who has suited connectors like T9 or JT and then it's not a horrible play because those hands play better against many players because if you hit the flop hard, you will usually win a ton. But I also see this play from people with premium hands like AA or KK and these hands do not play well against many players. As Doyle Brunson says, with premium hands you will usually win a small pot or lose a big pot. And when you make a minimum raise with premium hands you are just asking to lose a big pot.
So in this hand, I called the tiny raise with my mediocre 64 but I was getting such good pot odds and implied odds that I was almost forced to do it. Then the flop comes down T64. I'm very happy when I check along with the first 2 limpers and the minimum raiser makes a real bet this time equal to the amount of the pot. I make one of his donkey raises by making the minimum raise of double his bet. The 2 limpers fold and the raiser calls. After a blank on the turn, I push all-in for the remainder of my capped $60 and he calls. He flips over AA and the river doesn't help so I take his money by cracking his Aces.
He didn't make any comments in the chat box but I'm sure he was steaming after this bad beat. I'm sure he doesn't realize that he brought this beat on himself by making a donkey minimum raise after 2 limpers were already in the pot. At least I hope he doesn't realize it because I want him to continue doing it the next time I play with him.
This just supports Doyle's belief. The guy ended up losing a big pot but he could have ended up winning a small to medium pot if he would've raised enough to get me out pre-flop. Then the other 2 limpers would've probably still folded after they apparently missed the flop.
Friday, April 4, 2008
3 Strikes & You're Out
Sigh. I just can't seem to get beyond Step 3 again. I have had 2 tickets burning a hole in my account for the past 2 nights. Each night I have tried 3 times to get 1st or 2nd place in a Step 3 tourney and all 6 times I've finished 3rd, 4th or 5th which just gets me another ticket to Step 3 again. I guess that's better than losing completely but it's getting frustrating.
On a better note, I experienced "3 strikes & I'm in". Not in poker but in my job search. As I've said, my current job is extremely boring and a long distance from my house, so I've been job hunting. I've had 2 other interviews recently that I thought went very well but I didn't get either job. Then finally today I received an offer from the 3rd place I interviewed at. This company is only about 20 minutes from my house and it seems like a very cool place to work. Lots of new technology and many geeky things for me to do.
The strange thing about this job is that I was already rejected by them back in December. I only had a phone interview and I didn't think it went very well (and I was right). But recently I found out that a former co-worker of mine was working there and he recommended me for a job there. So this time I was brought in for a face-to-face interview. I thought the interview went better this time. So I guess that interview plus the recommendation of my friend got me the job.
At the other long time job I had prior to this one (my first job after college), I was originally rejected by them as well. Although that rejection occurred because they didn't have any openings at the time. I did get the job when they finally had openings and I stayed there for 15 years! Hopefully this new job keeps my interest that long as well.
On a better note, I experienced "3 strikes & I'm in". Not in poker but in my job search. As I've said, my current job is extremely boring and a long distance from my house, so I've been job hunting. I've had 2 other interviews recently that I thought went very well but I didn't get either job. Then finally today I received an offer from the 3rd place I interviewed at. This company is only about 20 minutes from my house and it seems like a very cool place to work. Lots of new technology and many geeky things for me to do.
The strange thing about this job is that I was already rejected by them back in December. I only had a phone interview and I didn't think it went very well (and I was right). But recently I found out that a former co-worker of mine was working there and he recommended me for a job there. So this time I was brought in for a face-to-face interview. I thought the interview went better this time. So I guess that interview plus the recommendation of my friend got me the job.
At the other long time job I had prior to this one (my first job after college), I was originally rejected by them as well. Although that rejection occurred because they didn't have any openings at the time. I did get the job when they finally had openings and I stayed there for 15 years! Hopefully this new job keeps my interest that long as well.
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