I've seen lots of hands, and I've been at lots of tables with players far better than myself. Nevertheless, this one hand in particular smacked me in the face; it showed me just how far out of my league I was at this particular table.
And that was one of the best things to ever happen to me - my play has improved tremendously since then. I guess I needed something to take me down a notch; to show me I'm not all that I think I am.
Anyway ...
Let me set it up for you first. I was at the WSOP this summer past - first time - playing in some of the side, non-bracelet tournaments and cash games. My friend was flying out a little later in the week, and we were going to play in some of the bracelet tourneys, including the main event lottery if we hit the money big in one of the other events.
Apologies too (to all of my 3 followers) ... I need to really keep up with my posting. I have quite a few stories from that trip, and at least a few are interesting.
Getting back ... I decided to play a 1k single table sit-and-go for 10k in Tournament Chips. These are chips that can be used to buy-in to any tournament, but not redeemed for cash. Because of this, the rake was significantly less than a regular tournament played for cash. I entered because wanted the short game experience, and I wanted to get me and my friend into our tournaments as cheaply as possible. Besides, the non-redeemable nature of the chips didn't really matter; there was always a ready supply of buyers for those chips. They really were just as good as cash.
So ... I'm sitting at this table, folding and watching, when I see this one hand in particular go down. I had already decided everyone at this table was pretty good - that was my default view while in Vegas; the WSOP was quite intimidating - but I had no idea just how good until this hand.
The hand was pocket Jacks vs A-Q off-suit, with the Jacks outta position. Jacks raised pre-flop, got two callers (including A-Q), and the flop: Q-J-4 rainbow.
Jacks check, A-Q bets, third dude folds, Jacks call.
Turn's a queen. Jacks check, A-Q bets, Jacks call.
Now right here, that sounds like a mistake. In a cash game - where my main experience is - you punish the hell outta the trip Queens on that turn. That turn is your money card - take advantage of it! But this wasn't a cash game; this was a tournament. And it was early in the tournament too; there was a lot of poker left to be played. Reserving your move until the river makes sense.
So, the river came. Ace. Ouch.
The Jacks - absolutely cool - check. A-Q obviously bet out. Jacks look at him - not a staredown, just a look - and then say, "that's the one card I didn't want to see." He tables his hand and folds.
A-Q is shocked. He tables his hand too - not sure why - and his jaw hits the floor. In that instant, A-Q realized to things: First, he realized just how lucky he got. Second, and much to his dismay, he realized just how little money was in that pot.
And that's what shocked me. I knew A-Q had a Queen, and probably had an Ace, too. And I knew Jacks was strong (I thought perhaps Q-J, although that didn't make perfect sense given the preflop action). But Jacks had a clearer view than me, by far. He knew *exactly* what A-Q had; he was dead certain. What's more, he *knew* exactly how his opponent would act; he *knew* he could wait until the river to make his move, thereby protecting his chips against the yahtzee wonder card without sacrificing any upside on the action (his opponent would have called virtually anything on virtually any river). But, more than that, he had the *discipline* to act on his read. There wasn't any real hesitation to him either; he only briefly looked at his opponent on the river before folding. I was ... impressed.
Everyone gave Jacks huge credit in future hands (perhaps that's why he tabled his hand - me, I'd be afraid people would then try and steamroll me). He ended up in a two way chop, a well-deserved 5k win.
Oh .. that chop was offered to him after a maniac busted me out in third. And that pissed me off to no end! You see, as I was leaving, the maniac - in full earshot having just busted me out - turned to the Jacks and asked, "Chop?" I was pissed. But ... that's another story ...
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Strange Poker Room
Ok, peeps, this is just an FYI post. Nothing too exciting or entertaining here; don't bother reading unless you're just bored.
Ok ... so I'm driving across the US, slowly making my way to Vegas to play in a couple of the WSOP tournaments. You can read about my journeys on my other blogs (insert shameless promotion here) ... as soon as I start them. Anyway, I'm making good use of various poker room finder apps on my phone, and stopping at various rooms along the way. One of those stops was in Minneapolis, MN - Canterbury Park. Like many poker rooms, this one is in a race track; the casino part being added on later after various legislation was lobbied and passed.
The poker room is mixed in with the other table games, and it's weird. Not mixed together, but the blackjack and 4-card games blend at the edges with the poker tables. It's a very casual, loosely managed room. I observed the dealers at the blackjack tables - they were very loose with how they handled chips, and the floor bosses were very ... umm ... trusting of it all. The floor bosses did start to observe at higher money amounts - which, for the room, was around $100 - so I suppose the risk was relatively small.
Side note about Minneapolis gambling - there's a cap at $300 per bet. None of the table games have a higher maximum bet allowed, and no tournaments have a larger buy-in (aside from the rake add-on).
Oh ... and NL poker isn't allowed, either. So the room is stocked full of limit games and tournaments (some big, some small). But, they have one good tournament - one they start whenever they get enough players - so I signed up, bought into a 3-6 limit game, and waited for my name to be called.
The limit game ... boy was that weird. I haven't played limit in a LONG time, and it was like walking into the past. I waited for strong cards, all but ignoring my position. If I had position and connected with a dry board, I'd check behind the flop and check-raise the turn (everyone in early position bet the turn if the flop had been checked). That usually got me one more bet; check-fold was the typical river play I saw, unless s/he connected on the river.
Any connection on the river.
I saw people calling the river AFTER being check-raised on the turn when all they had was a river middle pair. Shocked me the first time, when I turned over a set of 7's ... but then when I saw that play WIN some pots (people check-raising draws, etc.), I understood why people were calling. I made some money on that table, being called to my tournament just as people started to take note of my play and stopped giving me action.
I saw people calling the river AFTER being check-raised on the turn when all they had was a river middle pair. Shocked me the first time, when I turned over a set of 7's ... but then when I saw that play WIN some pots (people check-raising draws, etc.), I understood why people were calling. I made some money on that table, being called to my tournament just as people started to take note of my play and stopped giving me action.
One side note - remember how I said loosely run? Floor people asked to get chips for players or the table: they just take the cash and go get chips. No makers, nothing. All trust, all very loose. Dangerous, in my view ... but I suppose not, given the amounts were relatively small ($20-$100). But it was surprising to see in a casino venue.
Ok ... here's the tournament, and it's the only reason to ever play at this casino (imho):
$300 + 30 buy-in. Single table, starts when 7 people sign-up. Maximum 9 people (they can buy-in after the start). It's a rebuy; you can add on another $150 +15 whenever your stack drops below $150, and you can rebuy if felted for $300 + 30 (you must rebuy from the felt BEFORE the next hand is dealt).
Now, the twist. The blind are 1-3, and the tournament lasts just two hours. After hour 1, it turns into a 2-3 game (why? I dunno). At the end of two hours, you cash out whatever you have in your stack. I asked the floorman about all this, and he bluntly said it was the only way they could get around MN law and have a pseudo-NL game. Fair enough ... if a casino wants to nakedly try and circumvent the law just to give me the game I want, then more power to them! In fact, it makes a hit-and-run that much easier, too! The game can go beyond two hours - if agreed to by all players in advance - with the rake add-on being adjusted accordingly (yes, that's basically a $15/hour time rake ... disgusting). Dealer tipping is after the "tournament."
I played my first hand, calling from the small blind with a weak Ace. No one else had called, and there was no chop allowed. I paired my Ace on the flop, bet out, and got a call. My flop bet was an overbet (accidental), so I slowed down on the turn. The BB bet behind me - small for the pot - and I called. The river brought a blank, but I was unsure, so I decided to check-call (up to a point). The BB bet, and I called. He had second pair on the flop; I took down the pot. He was not happy at all, and he didn't understand my hesitation on the last two turns given I had top pair. I think he thought I was bluffing the flop at the Ace - makes sense, given my accidental overbet there. Me, I was just worried about my kicker. Anyway, he had lost well over a third of his stack during this exchange, his river bet being $55.
So the game continued. I floated on a $400+ stack for a while, not seeing any playable hands for quite some time. I took down a couple small pots in position, but nothing more. Then I got into it again w/ Mr. Middle Pair. I flopped a set, and he called me down with a gutshot. He got there on the river (money went in on the turn), and I was disgusted. There was only about 30 minutes left in the "tournament" so I decided not to rebuy. Meh ... I made a hundred on the limit tables earlier, so it was a very minor loss.
Just thought I'd share this room and my experiences ... it's a strange room indeed, but it's the closest you'll come to NL poker in MN.
Enjoy!!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Queen on the River
Ok ... before I start posting my various thoughts from on and off the table, let me first apologize for what I'm sure is going to be more than my fair share of bad beat stories posted to this blog. Yeah, they'll be awesome stories, but I'm afraid I'll share 'em a little too frequently. Let me promise now - I'll try and keep those stories to a minimum, and keep them spread out. Well ... lets be honest. I can't promise to try, but I'll try to try. THAT I can promise.
But anyway, that's not why I started this blog. I do a lot of thinking on the table - too much, actually (sometimes it ruins my focus and concentration on the game) - and I want to share those thoughts. Don't worry, I'll keep my ramblings here relatively on topic; I have other blogs for spilling my other mental meanderings. I started *this* blog to share my thoughts from the table, and that's what I will do.
Anyway ... back to my inaugural post - a Queen on the river. And no, this is not a bad beat story, at least not from my PoV. Actually, I can't imagine it being called a bad beat from any PoV. It was just ... bad. And awesome. But mostly just incredible.
Let me set it up for you, and hopefully give you some background on me in the process. I'd been playing 1-2 NL Hold'em at a table with my friend for a couple hours, basically to enjoy his company. Now I'm not a big money player - not by a long shot - but that game is just a little too small for me. At my casino, that's the small game ... and that means it has the absolute loosest players. For most poker peeps, that's a good thing, 'cause the players are generally very soft, too. But for me, it's not. I'm not disciplined enough to fold some of the hands I should, and so when every flop is seen by at least half the players at the table, I'm not generally a huge favorite. I work better in a tighter game - one where I can successfully steal from position and take control of a game with my aggression. I usually play 2-5 or 5-10 NL Hold'em.
Anyway, my friend - a better player than me, by far - was returning to poker after a multi-week hiatus (he'd suffered some really bad beats), and he wanted to start small. Besides, his bankroll insisted on the smaller stakes. So, we sat at a 1-2 table. He was doing well, grinding his initial $200 buy-in up to over $350. I, on the other hand, was seeing huge swings in my chip stack, from very high (for the table) to very low. As I was pulling out cash for my second $300 buy-in, after my most recent swing felted me, I decided to leave my friend to his table and go play my game. So, I put my name on the 2-5 list and returned to the 1-2 game, waiting to be called to another table.
Just after making my third buy-in, a new 2-5 game was opened and my name was called. I said goodbye to my friend, the table, and the $600 I'd dropped on that game, and proceeded to Table 18. I picked the 5 seat to stay behind one specific aggressive player and, as luck would have it, it put be immediately in front of a particularly tight, timid player. I wasn't familiar with any of the other players at the table, but I was very happy with my position.
The game started rather slow. For nearly the first 20 minutes, no one saw a flop. Yeah, that's an exaggeration, but not a big one. It seemed everyone was playing either uninterested or super tight. Small raises were taking down the blinds, and hands that saw the rare flop were quickly decided. I don't think we saw a pot large enough for a full rake in the first half hour at all. I was beginning to regret having left my friend's 1-2 table.
And then a poker game broke out.
The aggressive player to my right finally started playing in character, and that started to drive the action. Flops started falling and moves were being made. Poker was on, and I was having fun.
It came about, not too much later, that I woke up with A-Q offsuit under the gun. Now based on the early play at this table, I was fairly certain I could take the blinds with a standard small raise, so I made it $15 to go. To my surprise, Mr. Tight and Timid behind me smooth called. Everyone else else followed suit. The small blind, having looked at his cards earlier with disinterest, also decided to call. The big blind quickly looked at his cards as he tossed in two more red chips. It was a $150 family pot - before the flop - and I was not happy. I was pretty sure I had the best hand, but I was also pretty sure that all the cards that would improve me were dead. Likewise, I was pretty sure that *something* would connect with *someone* on the flop. As the dealer was burning, I was mentally resigning myself to a check-fold, and getting a $5 chip ready for my big blind on the next hand.
The flop was Q-2-Q rainbow.
Needless to say, I perked up. The blinds checked to me, and I made a bet. I wanted action, but I was pretty sure if I checked, everyone else would too (it's hard to flop trips and get action). As the early position raiser, I wanted to represent A-K, or a medium pair like 7-7, and hopefully get action from another medium pair, or a smaller queen like K-Q. To my mind, an early bet, not too big, would look like *anything* but A-Q. So I bet 80. Three people called, no raises. I was happy.
The turn was a 2, and that made me sick. I wasn't really afraid of quad deuces, but I was now looking at a *highly* probable chop with one of my opponents. I checked, seeing no benefit in a bet other than to scare out a potential medium pair bluffer. The next to act - an old woman in the 8th seat - bet out $120.
Now I had been watching this woman for the past 30 minutes or so, and had decided she was a moderately good player, if just a little timid. She didn't really enter many pots, and I don't think she'd seen a showdown at all. Her stack was very nearly mine at the start of the hand - about $450 - and all that said to me that at worst, she was an OK player.
Anyway, she now has about half her stack invested in the pot ($215), and I have about a quarter of mine invested. The remaining two players fold, removing any possibility of them adding dead money into the pot. I thought about flat calling. But, I figured that if she doesn't have a queen, she *might* have a deuce (or more likely a medium pair), and if she really believes I had A-K, I might convince her to commit the rest of her chips with a losing hand. She had already invested half her stack in what was now a fairly large pot; would she throw in the rest?
I min-raised her, and she flat called. I wasn't really worried about quads here (she would have pushed the remainder of her chips in if she had quad deuces), so I again resigned myself to chopping the pot. By now I was so certain she had a queen (and an inferior one at that - lucky freakin' turn for her), that I let my concentration slip and I vocalized my thoughts. "I guess we're chopping," I said, as I gassed the river blind for the rest of my chips. The talking was an absolute no-no. I never should have said that. The blind gassing was an absolute desperate hope that she had a pocket pair, but I really was certain we were chopping the pot with Queens Full of Deuces. I saw now downside in betting the rest of my stack into such a big pot. I kept my remaining $100+ chips in my hand, holding them over action line, expecting a quick call and a chopped pot.
The dealer burned and turned ... it was the Queen of Hearts. I couldn't believe my eyes. I would have given 250:1 odds against that card falling, if not better. I was, literally, dumbfounded. I quickly pulled my hand back and sheepishly asked the dealer if my bet was committed. This wasn't some genius move on my part - I wish it was, but it wasn't - I was just so caught off guard that I didn't know what to do. Yes, part of me was trying to figure out how to get the woman to call this final bet, but my pull-back was just instinct, not calculated thought. The dealer nodded yes, and I dropped my chips. Everyone at the table - and I mean everyone - knew exactly what I had.
Or so I thought.
What happened next, I'll never figure out. The woman called. She didn't hesitate, she didn't think. She just called. At that I really expected her to turn over quad deuces, having made that (bad!) river call with an (obviously!) busted quads out of frustration. Quad deuces there is probably a loser, given the action, but it's the only hand I can possibly understand calling there. Instead, she turned over K-2 offsuit. Without any reservations, she announced her boat - Deuces Full of Queens - and waited for me to turn over my hand. I blinked. The dealer was already preparing to move the pot to me as I slowly blinked a second time. In a daze, I turned over my hand. The woman - she was *shocked*. I have no idea what she thought I had (maybe just a bluff??), but I didn't much care. Nothing made sense, but at least I was scooping the pot! I stacked my chips and took a breather to go tell my friend about the hand. I figured I bore him often enough with my bad beat stories, I might as well tell him about a winner. Besides, I needed to collect myself - that river was just way too strange.
As I came back to the table, I saw the woman calling again (she had just re-bought). The turn had just fallen a 3, double pairing the board J-J-3-3. The river was a blank, and she again lost her stack, this time with Threes Full of Jacks vs Jacks Full of Threes.
A rather smart player moved to console her, saying how horrible it was to lose twice in a row with such powerful hands as a full house. She agreed and re-bought again. I don't have to tell you that my initial assessment gave her way too much credit ... she wasn't even mediocre, not even close.
Unfortunately, she felted again and left before I saw her in another pot.
I sure hope to see her at the tables again!
But anyway, that's not why I started this blog. I do a lot of thinking on the table - too much, actually (sometimes it ruins my focus and concentration on the game) - and I want to share those thoughts. Don't worry, I'll keep my ramblings here relatively on topic; I have other blogs for spilling my other mental meanderings. I started *this* blog to share my thoughts from the table, and that's what I will do.
Anyway ... back to my inaugural post - a Queen on the river. And no, this is not a bad beat story, at least not from my PoV. Actually, I can't imagine it being called a bad beat from any PoV. It was just ... bad. And awesome. But mostly just incredible.
Let me set it up for you, and hopefully give you some background on me in the process. I'd been playing 1-2 NL Hold'em at a table with my friend for a couple hours, basically to enjoy his company. Now I'm not a big money player - not by a long shot - but that game is just a little too small for me. At my casino, that's the small game ... and that means it has the absolute loosest players. For most poker peeps, that's a good thing, 'cause the players are generally very soft, too. But for me, it's not. I'm not disciplined enough to fold some of the hands I should, and so when every flop is seen by at least half the players at the table, I'm not generally a huge favorite. I work better in a tighter game - one where I can successfully steal from position and take control of a game with my aggression. I usually play 2-5 or 5-10 NL Hold'em.
Anyway, my friend - a better player than me, by far - was returning to poker after a multi-week hiatus (he'd suffered some really bad beats), and he wanted to start small. Besides, his bankroll insisted on the smaller stakes. So, we sat at a 1-2 table. He was doing well, grinding his initial $200 buy-in up to over $350. I, on the other hand, was seeing huge swings in my chip stack, from very high (for the table) to very low. As I was pulling out cash for my second $300 buy-in, after my most recent swing felted me, I decided to leave my friend to his table and go play my game. So, I put my name on the 2-5 list and returned to the 1-2 game, waiting to be called to another table.
Just after making my third buy-in, a new 2-5 game was opened and my name was called. I said goodbye to my friend, the table, and the $600 I'd dropped on that game, and proceeded to Table 18. I picked the 5 seat to stay behind one specific aggressive player and, as luck would have it, it put be immediately in front of a particularly tight, timid player. I wasn't familiar with any of the other players at the table, but I was very happy with my position.
The game started rather slow. For nearly the first 20 minutes, no one saw a flop. Yeah, that's an exaggeration, but not a big one. It seemed everyone was playing either uninterested or super tight. Small raises were taking down the blinds, and hands that saw the rare flop were quickly decided. I don't think we saw a pot large enough for a full rake in the first half hour at all. I was beginning to regret having left my friend's 1-2 table.
And then a poker game broke out.
The aggressive player to my right finally started playing in character, and that started to drive the action. Flops started falling and moves were being made. Poker was on, and I was having fun.
It came about, not too much later, that I woke up with A-Q offsuit under the gun. Now based on the early play at this table, I was fairly certain I could take the blinds with a standard small raise, so I made it $15 to go. To my surprise, Mr. Tight and Timid behind me smooth called. Everyone else else followed suit. The small blind, having looked at his cards earlier with disinterest, also decided to call. The big blind quickly looked at his cards as he tossed in two more red chips. It was a $150 family pot - before the flop - and I was not happy. I was pretty sure I had the best hand, but I was also pretty sure that all the cards that would improve me were dead. Likewise, I was pretty sure that *something* would connect with *someone* on the flop. As the dealer was burning, I was mentally resigning myself to a check-fold, and getting a $5 chip ready for my big blind on the next hand.
The flop was Q-2-Q rainbow.
Needless to say, I perked up. The blinds checked to me, and I made a bet. I wanted action, but I was pretty sure if I checked, everyone else would too (it's hard to flop trips and get action). As the early position raiser, I wanted to represent A-K, or a medium pair like 7-7, and hopefully get action from another medium pair, or a smaller queen like K-Q. To my mind, an early bet, not too big, would look like *anything* but A-Q. So I bet 80. Three people called, no raises. I was happy.
The turn was a 2, and that made me sick. I wasn't really afraid of quad deuces, but I was now looking at a *highly* probable chop with one of my opponents. I checked, seeing no benefit in a bet other than to scare out a potential medium pair bluffer. The next to act - an old woman in the 8th seat - bet out $120.
Now I had been watching this woman for the past 30 minutes or so, and had decided she was a moderately good player, if just a little timid. She didn't really enter many pots, and I don't think she'd seen a showdown at all. Her stack was very nearly mine at the start of the hand - about $450 - and all that said to me that at worst, she was an OK player.
Anyway, she now has about half her stack invested in the pot ($215), and I have about a quarter of mine invested. The remaining two players fold, removing any possibility of them adding dead money into the pot. I thought about flat calling. But, I figured that if she doesn't have a queen, she *might* have a deuce (or more likely a medium pair), and if she really believes I had A-K, I might convince her to commit the rest of her chips with a losing hand. She had already invested half her stack in what was now a fairly large pot; would she throw in the rest?
I min-raised her, and she flat called. I wasn't really worried about quads here (she would have pushed the remainder of her chips in if she had quad deuces), so I again resigned myself to chopping the pot. By now I was so certain she had a queen (and an inferior one at that - lucky freakin' turn for her), that I let my concentration slip and I vocalized my thoughts. "I guess we're chopping," I said, as I gassed the river blind for the rest of my chips. The talking was an absolute no-no. I never should have said that. The blind gassing was an absolute desperate hope that she had a pocket pair, but I really was certain we were chopping the pot with Queens Full of Deuces. I saw now downside in betting the rest of my stack into such a big pot. I kept my remaining $100+ chips in my hand, holding them over action line, expecting a quick call and a chopped pot.
The dealer burned and turned ... it was the Queen of Hearts. I couldn't believe my eyes. I would have given 250:1 odds against that card falling, if not better. I was, literally, dumbfounded. I quickly pulled my hand back and sheepishly asked the dealer if my bet was committed. This wasn't some genius move on my part - I wish it was, but it wasn't - I was just so caught off guard that I didn't know what to do. Yes, part of me was trying to figure out how to get the woman to call this final bet, but my pull-back was just instinct, not calculated thought. The dealer nodded yes, and I dropped my chips. Everyone at the table - and I mean everyone - knew exactly what I had.
Or so I thought.
What happened next, I'll never figure out. The woman called. She didn't hesitate, she didn't think. She just called. At that I really expected her to turn over quad deuces, having made that (bad!) river call with an (obviously!) busted quads out of frustration. Quad deuces there is probably a loser, given the action, but it's the only hand I can possibly understand calling there. Instead, she turned over K-2 offsuit. Without any reservations, she announced her boat - Deuces Full of Queens - and waited for me to turn over my hand. I blinked. The dealer was already preparing to move the pot to me as I slowly blinked a second time. In a daze, I turned over my hand. The woman - she was *shocked*. I have no idea what she thought I had (maybe just a bluff??), but I didn't much care. Nothing made sense, but at least I was scooping the pot! I stacked my chips and took a breather to go tell my friend about the hand. I figured I bore him often enough with my bad beat stories, I might as well tell him about a winner. Besides, I needed to collect myself - that river was just way too strange.
As I came back to the table, I saw the woman calling again (she had just re-bought). The turn had just fallen a 3, double pairing the board J-J-3-3. The river was a blank, and she again lost her stack, this time with Threes Full of Jacks vs Jacks Full of Threes.
A rather smart player moved to console her, saying how horrible it was to lose twice in a row with such powerful hands as a full house. She agreed and re-bought again. I don't have to tell you that my initial assessment gave her way too much credit ... she wasn't even mediocre, not even close.
Unfortunately, she felted again and left before I saw her in another pot.
I sure hope to see her at the tables again!
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