I was sick most of the week but decided to play at Mike and George's 1/2 game they've been having on Saturdays. I brought $300 with me and basically went in with a gameplan of playing very tight and really picking my spots well. Between my family situation and coming off being sick, I wasn't really sure what kind of quality game I would play, so I decided to play straightforward and go from there.
So we started around 2:30pm, I bought in for $120. It was me, Adam, Jay, Aden, George, Josh, Sean, Mark and Nate to start. My strategy was simple: play extremely tight in early position, try to come in raising when you are the first to enter a pot and make good decisions, especially after the flop..
The first significant hand I was involved in happened to be my only true bluff of the day. I'm third under the gun, UTG limps and I limp with 55. Guy to my left (Justin) raises to $12, Zach calls, Sean calls in big blind and I decide to call.. hoping to flop a set. The flop comes K 7 3 rainbow. At this point, part of me gave up on the hand but I was also watching the table to see if anyone showed enough weakness to let me steal the pot. Sean checks, I check, Justin (original raiser) bets out $15 into a pot of about $40.. Zach flat calls, Sean folds. At this point, I've seen that Justin probably has a pocket pair AND that he doesn't like the King because of his bet. Also, Zach's flat call led me to believe he (A) doesn't have a King, because I think he would raise there with a King.. or (B) if he has a King, he's worried about his kicker. So, I decide to pull the trigger and check-raise $40 more. Thinking about the hand, If I actually had pocket 3s or 7s, it would make sense and I felt neither person was interested enough to play back at that play.. which they didn't everyone folded. I found out later Justin had QQ and Zach (says) he had KQ and was trying to get another bet out of Justin on the turn... which makes sense. Zach thought there was enough of a chance I had AK or a set..
Another interesting hand.. I decide to straddle for $7 and two people call me. I look down at my hand (Q 10 of hearts) and check it. Flop is Q 8 7. I lead out with $10 because I think it's the best play. I'm the straddle, so I can literally have anything. George was in the pot also, another reason for me to play it straight-forward... I have to try and stay a step ahead of him. My bet out would look much more like a pair of 8s or maybe some kind of straight-draw.. so it was deceptive enough. George elects to just call me. The turn is another Q. Applying the same thought process, I fire again.. this time $25. George again calls. (At this point, I'm not overly concerned with what he has. Honestly, I thought I saw Jay fold the Queen of spades so when I had the three queens, I thought George was dead to rights..) The river.. ended up being the Queen of spades. (guess I was wrong). I make quads.. but I'm not getting a nickle out of George if I check. I have to bet even harded on the chance he made Queens full.. which at this point.. he HAS to have. I bet out $40.. he actually says "I think you have quads" but calls, as I probably would to.
The craziest hand of the night was the one hand I played against Josh. At this point him and I are both up considerably. I think he's up $100 and I'm up $300. I pick up AA and raise to $14 second UTG. Adam and Rudy both call..and Josh hesitates, laughs and loosely tosses in another $12 for the call. Now.. before the flop is dealt, I'm trying to gauge what each of them can have. Adam I'm not worried in the least. He either had high cards or a pocket pair.. easy to read after the flop. Rudy calls EVERYTHING so he could have anything.. but I'm not worried about losing money to him because when he bets, It's usually an indication to get the fuck out. But Josh has been limping alot all day and calling raises with pot odds. I know how he plays. He's the one guy I think may have the hand to crack the Aces.. but that all depends on the texture of the board..
Flop comes Q 5 5.. two spades. I don't like the two fives.. obviously. Rudy checks, so does Josh, I decide to bet out $30 into a pot of about $58... figuring it's the best bet I can make that (A) tells me where I am in the hand and (B) if I feel like I'm beat and fold, I'm losing the minimum. Adam thinks long and hard about it but folds.. Rudy folds and Josh hesitates and raises the minimum to $60 total. My thoughts went as follows.. in order: "FUCK, he's got a five".. "there's no way he raises me with a Q here, he knows how tight I've been playing and I could easily have AA, KK or AQ."... "So why the raise? Because he called for pot odds pre-flop.. probably has 56 suited and hit the flop hard but doesn't like the two spades out there and raised" So I folded. He had 57 of clubs and showed it. I showed the Aces after that, and the idiots at the table we "stunned" I folded. Good hand Josh.
Anyway, I cashed out at $412 on a $120 buyin. It was a good day and I re-discovered my patience at the table. I played tight in early position and called far fewer raises pre-flop with marginal hands. I routinely laid down KQ or A9 just because it wasn't worth it. I think that will continue... this system seems like it works for me.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
First Entry
I'm sitting here, at work.. it's 6:40am as I start writing this. I'm working a midnight to 8 shift at WJZ.. and we're pretty much done with everything at this point. I'm watching the news and trying to do something productive with my time.. so I decided to start up a blog..
I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now.. mainly focusing on poker. I'm very analytical by nature, so poker has been a natural fit for me. I love talking out hands and strategy and honestly, documenting them like this always helps. It's good to look back on situations and see what I could've done differently.
No great news on poker today, no games to speak of.. so i'll use this post to profile some of the best players I know. All of them are friends of mine and I seriously hope we all go to Las Vegas one day to take the World Series by storm. I think we're capable..
George is one of the best players I've ever met. I'll talk a lot about him. I'd put him and I against any two players in Atlantic City. We've talked more about poker then I can begin to remember. I even remember the first hand I played against him. I spiked a set of 3s against his pocket 8s. I was a total fish then.. I probably lost it all back to him..
George changes gears very well.. but if I had to name his greatest strength, I'd say it's situation comprehension. When I say comprehension.. It's a combination of his hand reading ability.. which is excellent and his understanding of relative hand value. He rarely doesn't know what's going on in a hand.. George has made me a much much better player.
George is the only player I play on the third and fourth levels with. What I mean by that is:
First level: What I have
Second Level: What I think George has
Third Level: What I think, George thinks.. I have
Fourth Level: What George thinks, I think.. he has..
His brother, Mike, is also a good player. He's a different kind of player then us, and I say that solely based on our approach to the game. Mike tends to be more aggressive and bold in his plays.. but he also tends to know what's going on around him. Mike really relies on making YOU make the decision, and it's usually a tough one. He's a pressure player, always keeping people on their toes. If I had to name a fault in his game, I'd say it's FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome). He's a good player capable of out-playing you after the flop.. but I think he tries to do it too much at times. Mike has been one of my poker mentors over the last two years since I met him and George. He sometimes played hands in a way to test me in the past.. which I'd have to say has made me a better player because of it. I'll never forget this one hand we played at Stars n Bars at the Green Turtle..
I had K5 in the small blind, everyone folded around to me, I called... Mike's the big blind and checks. Flop is KQ2. I bet, Mike calls. Turn's a blank. I bet again, thinking back on it.. I bet timidly. Mike raises all-in. I felt like he had the Q and was bluffing me, I even told him that. I ended up folding and he shows me Q6 (of all the friggin hands, you'll hear more on that later). He told me he wanted me to call because I had absolutely nailed him but didn't pull the trigger. Never again.. that's all i'll say Mike..
Josh, another friend of mine, is someone I've played a lot with over the past year or so. The most interesting part of my story with him is how we met. A friend of mine from high school brough Josh to my house last summer when I hosted a game. I was a $10 buyin I think..here's the situation. End of the night.. I'm up to $33 or so and Josh has a little more. We had both been winning all night. This maniac kid raises, Josh calls, I call with 87 suited. The Flop comes K88. I completely ignored Josh in this hand and went after the other guy, who I'd been dying to take money from. Josh checks, I check, kid bets, Josh calls, I call. Turn is a blank. Josh checks, I bet about the pot, kid folds, Josh calls. (Now I'm shifting my attention to Josh, I'm reeling him in.) River is another blank. Josh bets, I raise, Josh goes all-in and I call. He flips over KK. He flopped the full house, took all of my money at my house. The first thing he says is "are you gonna invite me back?" Of course I was, I wanted to get even...
Josh is probably the tightest player of the people I've mentioned. He's loosed up a lot recently.. but he's still a very deciplined poker player. His greatest strength is he is a tough man to get all-in. He makes it hard to get a big chuck of money out of him. His ability to read others is progressing quickly.. I've seen him make huge strides in a short time. But one thing holding him back is that he tends to be... um....Hellmuthian in temprament.. He gets upset at times and it hurts him. He knows it though. When Josh is playing with confidence.. he really becomes a great player. I've seen it in spurts.. he's got it. Also, he doesn't play as much as the rest of us. Josh is one of my best friends on or off the table.
Chris (SanGabe) is another guy. The way I met him was interesting. He was bartending at a bill batemans near the college I went to. I went in one day and got some food, asked if the WSOP was on TV and off we went on endless poker conversation. I will honestly say without hestitation.. Chris was a wayyy better player than I when I met him. I donated more money at his house than I care to remember. (Fortunately, we only played for $20 buyin then) I had the perception Chris was a crazy-loose maniac when I met him... of course that was when I couldn't read anyone if they showed me their cards. I get along with him because of how we both approach poker. We both really care about getting better.. and always have.
As a player, Chris is a hard man to figure out. He is always solid.. but has these moments where he's either too loose or too tight. Chris tends to really having something when he bets at you more than once in a hand. It's a solid combination of tight-agressive when he's really on his game.. but he also changes gears better than most . I've seen him play crazy loose one hand.. and turn around and make an absolutely sick fold. I saw him lay down AK on a board of AA9J4 and he was right.. the other guy had pocket 9s.
Ok guys, I'm done writing.. I'm getting ready to leave. I'll post again soon, adding more player profiles as I go. If you actually took the time to read this long-winded blog, thanks..
I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now.. mainly focusing on poker. I'm very analytical by nature, so poker has been a natural fit for me. I love talking out hands and strategy and honestly, documenting them like this always helps. It's good to look back on situations and see what I could've done differently.
No great news on poker today, no games to speak of.. so i'll use this post to profile some of the best players I know. All of them are friends of mine and I seriously hope we all go to Las Vegas one day to take the World Series by storm. I think we're capable..
George is one of the best players I've ever met. I'll talk a lot about him. I'd put him and I against any two players in Atlantic City. We've talked more about poker then I can begin to remember. I even remember the first hand I played against him. I spiked a set of 3s against his pocket 8s. I was a total fish then.. I probably lost it all back to him..
George changes gears very well.. but if I had to name his greatest strength, I'd say it's situation comprehension. When I say comprehension.. It's a combination of his hand reading ability.. which is excellent and his understanding of relative hand value. He rarely doesn't know what's going on in a hand.. George has made me a much much better player.
George is the only player I play on the third and fourth levels with. What I mean by that is:
First level: What I have
Second Level: What I think George has
Third Level: What I think, George thinks.. I have
Fourth Level: What George thinks, I think.. he has..
His brother, Mike, is also a good player. He's a different kind of player then us, and I say that solely based on our approach to the game. Mike tends to be more aggressive and bold in his plays.. but he also tends to know what's going on around him. Mike really relies on making YOU make the decision, and it's usually a tough one. He's a pressure player, always keeping people on their toes. If I had to name a fault in his game, I'd say it's FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome). He's a good player capable of out-playing you after the flop.. but I think he tries to do it too much at times. Mike has been one of my poker mentors over the last two years since I met him and George. He sometimes played hands in a way to test me in the past.. which I'd have to say has made me a better player because of it. I'll never forget this one hand we played at Stars n Bars at the Green Turtle..
I had K5 in the small blind, everyone folded around to me, I called... Mike's the big blind and checks. Flop is KQ2. I bet, Mike calls. Turn's a blank. I bet again, thinking back on it.. I bet timidly. Mike raises all-in. I felt like he had the Q and was bluffing me, I even told him that. I ended up folding and he shows me Q6 (of all the friggin hands, you'll hear more on that later). He told me he wanted me to call because I had absolutely nailed him but didn't pull the trigger. Never again.. that's all i'll say Mike..
Josh, another friend of mine, is someone I've played a lot with over the past year or so. The most interesting part of my story with him is how we met. A friend of mine from high school brough Josh to my house last summer when I hosted a game. I was a $10 buyin I think..here's the situation. End of the night.. I'm up to $33 or so and Josh has a little more. We had both been winning all night. This maniac kid raises, Josh calls, I call with 87 suited. The Flop comes K88. I completely ignored Josh in this hand and went after the other guy, who I'd been dying to take money from. Josh checks, I check, kid bets, Josh calls, I call. Turn is a blank. Josh checks, I bet about the pot, kid folds, Josh calls. (Now I'm shifting my attention to Josh, I'm reeling him in.) River is another blank. Josh bets, I raise, Josh goes all-in and I call. He flips over KK. He flopped the full house, took all of my money at my house. The first thing he says is "are you gonna invite me back?" Of course I was, I wanted to get even...
Josh is probably the tightest player of the people I've mentioned. He's loosed up a lot recently.. but he's still a very deciplined poker player. His greatest strength is he is a tough man to get all-in. He makes it hard to get a big chuck of money out of him. His ability to read others is progressing quickly.. I've seen him make huge strides in a short time. But one thing holding him back is that he tends to be... um....Hellmuthian in temprament.. He gets upset at times and it hurts him. He knows it though. When Josh is playing with confidence.. he really becomes a great player. I've seen it in spurts.. he's got it. Also, he doesn't play as much as the rest of us. Josh is one of my best friends on or off the table.
Chris (SanGabe) is another guy. The way I met him was interesting. He was bartending at a bill batemans near the college I went to. I went in one day and got some food, asked if the WSOP was on TV and off we went on endless poker conversation. I will honestly say without hestitation.. Chris was a wayyy better player than I when I met him. I donated more money at his house than I care to remember. (Fortunately, we only played for $20 buyin then) I had the perception Chris was a crazy-loose maniac when I met him... of course that was when I couldn't read anyone if they showed me their cards. I get along with him because of how we both approach poker. We both really care about getting better.. and always have.
As a player, Chris is a hard man to figure out. He is always solid.. but has these moments where he's either too loose or too tight. Chris tends to really having something when he bets at you more than once in a hand. It's a solid combination of tight-agressive when he's really on his game.. but he also changes gears better than most . I've seen him play crazy loose one hand.. and turn around and make an absolutely sick fold. I saw him lay down AK on a board of AA9J4 and he was right.. the other guy had pocket 9s.
Ok guys, I'm done writing.. I'm getting ready to leave. I'll post again soon, adding more player profiles as I go. If you actually took the time to read this long-winded blog, thanks..
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