Rocco's Poker Blog

Back From The Dead

2008-07-24T01:52:00.002-04:00

It's been a good long while since the last time I posted anything on this blog.. and just about as long since I played poker on a regular basis.

Here's the deal.. on the same night I last posted on this blog.. I went to a home game.. a cash game and it was robbed at gunpoint by three masked men. Since then, lots of things have happened.. for example, home games aren't exactly common anymore. My side job, where I work as a texas holdem tournament host, changed up their rules and told me I can no longer play while running the games. AND.. I depleted my online roll for a trip to Atlantic City that didn't go so well..

So.. long story short, I took a three month hiatus from the game. It wasn't planned, it wasn't due to a losing streak.. it just happened. I got away from the game for a while. And I think it's done me alot of good. I feel great about poker again.. and I'm looking to get back on the horse.

In December, I put $100 on Full Tilt and turned it into $300 by January 1st, 2008. I withdrew my original donation and now I'm playing with all profit. I built that profit up to about $700 at it's peak four months ago. Since then, it's slowly been whittled away, $20 by $20 and I took out $300 for tournament buyins in A.C. So I'm left with $120 before tonight...

The Brawl

If you want to look up full descriptions on the Bmore's Brawl itself, please visit my buddy's blog.. but here's my side.

Tonight was the 28th Brawl, which is held once a week. I've probably played half of them. Right around the time of my poker hiatus.. I stopped playing this weekly tournament. I had done really well there too, and up until about a week ago I was still the top money winner on a pretty sizeable list of poker talent. I took off 8 straight weeks for one reason or another.. and jmlabrie18 finally took it away from me.

Now, I didn't come back and play just because I saw that. I honestly felt the itch today for the first time in a while. It's a great feeling. I really wanted to play. So, I figured.. it makes sense to play the brawl again.

I won it.

First time back in a new format with several players I'd never seen before. I'm not trying to be cocky.. but I seriously have great results at the Bmore's Brawl. It's my fourth win in 14 or 15 appearances.. and I got 2nd place twice as well.

I really feel like my poker mojo is back... and here to stay. Needed to refuel I guess, we all do at some point.

3 for 3 and 3 for 5

2008-04-24T01:49:00.003-04:00

Wednesday night is my usual online poker night. I'm a regular at Bmore's Brawl and I enjoy playing the Fifty Fifty. I haven't been playing much online poker recently and I got back into the swing of things rather easily tonight.

I played two $14+1 satellites to the Fifty Fifty, and won one of them, getting myself a $55 seat for $30 for the third straight time. Also, I placed 123rd/984 players to win $80 and cash in my third straight Fifty Fifty. I'm averaging a $30 buy-in for that tourney (b/c of satellites) and averaging a $130 cash rate.

Also played Brawl #15 and went heads up for the 5th time in the 13 tourneys I've played. AltronIV took it down. We both played great, and in the end, I picked up JJ and he had QQ. All the money was in obviously.

As for the brawl, I'm still on top of both the moneyboard, knockout board and I've won three titles. I've taken second place twice. The two players I lost to? AltronIV and Kibl.. both of whom are excellent players that i have a lot of respect for.

So, I'm back in the swing of things regarding online poker tournaments. I brought my bankroll back up to over $600 in profits.. and I hope to keep it moving forward.

Kinda Funny Cash Game Story...

2008-04-21T06:26:00.003-04:00

Ok, got a light-hearted story to tell right now.

This happened at AltronIV's house while playing a cash game with thebmorekid, my friend George and several other people we play with all the time.

We're playing .25/.50 No Limit, everyone bought in for something between $40-$60. We usually play .50/ $1 with buy-ins anywhere from $40-$300 but the game was meant to be a Saturday hangout and we ordered the UFC fight.

Anyway.. The hand went like this. I bought in for $60, was down to $46 at the time. I'm in the big blind and I have not looked at my cards (I try not to until it's my turn to act).

George raises to $4, thebmorekid re-pops to $14, everyone else has folded to me, I look down at pocket aces. I know I'm raising, I look at my stack and If I raise.. I'm basically pot committed with whatever I do. So I push for $48 total. George folds and thebmorekid takes a good 3 minutes or so debating what to do. My raise was $34 on top of his $14.. the pot had my 14 + his 14 + George's 4.. so it was over $32, not including any limps I can't remember. Basically, he's getting 2-1. But he was taking so long I couldn't put him on a hand.. it didn't feel like AK or JJ b/c he's obviously not taking that long to call. Maybe J10? 87? a hand like that.. some suited bullshit he's probably going to call with. I, of course, want him to call with anything he has.

After a boring 3 minutes of genuinely not knowing what he has or what he's doing.. he finally calls.

Guess what he had. Take a minute and think.. then scroll down..
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7-2 of spades.

Yes, he re-raised to $14 and found himself getting 2-1 with 7-2 sooooooted. Obviously, he had to hope I had AK, and he even told me because of my push, It looked like I didn't want to see a flop.

He blanks, I won the pot.. But here's where it gets interesting.

The table now gets into an open debate of what the preflop percentages were of AA vs 72 of spades. I did have the Ace of spades, by the way.

My first instinct was 88%-12%.. but no lower than 85%-15%. That was my range of thinking. thebmorekid believed it was lower, more like 80%-20% or 82%-18%. So what did we do? Bet on it, of course.

A small, $10 bet for fun. For the Ace of diamonds and Ace of spades versus the 7-2 of spades.. we agreed I would take 85.5% and up, and he would take 84.4% and below. Everything in between, basically 85%, was a wash. We get on www.cardplayer.com and look up the Texas Holdem Odds Calculator.

The percentage was 84.38%. That lucky bastard. I lost the bet by two hundreths of a percentage!! It's ok, at least I got him to double me up with 7-2.

Golf Prop Bet

2008-04-21T06:00:00.002-04:00

My friend George and I have begun a prop bet that, for once, does not involve poker..

We started playing golf together last summer, and both of us are complete novices. We shoot about the same scores, and ironically have the exact same set of golf clubs and shoes, both of which were a complete accident. So, I proposed a bet. We play 10 rounds of golf at 5 different courses and whoever has the lowest total score wins. The bet is $100. But we recently revised the bet down to 5 rounds or 100 holes (depending on if we have to cut short a round for whatever reason.)

Today, we played through the rain and only finished 12 holes because it became ridiculous. So yes, thus far I have shot 90 in 12 holes. I suck, I admit it.. but even today was worse than normal.

Rules to the Bet:

- We may not receive professional golfing instruction until the bet is over.
- Scores only count if we play together.
- When we play, there are no mulligans.. with exception to unplayable lies.. where we move the ball back 5-10 yards to make it playable (but not to improve the shot).
- Everything else is PGA rules.

So after 12 holes, George is holding a 7-stroke lead.. which means nothing because I'm going to crush him from here on out.

Rocco's Rumble Update / Upcoming Borgata Summer Open

2008-04-07T17:21:00.002-04:00

For those three or four people who have played or said they would play my Saturday night HA tournament on Full Tilt called "Rocco's Rumble".. I want to apologize for not having a game these last couple of weeks.

I work in television, for a news station in Baltimore. As of right now, I'm still part-time, which means my hours fluctuate and change every week. For the most part, I'm free on Saturday nights and can usually be home to play and run the Rumble. These past two saturdays have been different though. My station has been in a financial crisis due to the bad economy right now.. and has made several cut-backs, firing a few of my co-workers. Because of this, I had to cover a few extra shifts until everything smooths out and the schedule gets back to normal. So, the Rumble will again be MIA this saturday.. but it will be back and in full swing on April 19th. I will be sure to send out an email reminder to everyone, and I hope to see you at the table.

As for the Borgata Open, I have decided to plan a trip to Atlantic City from June 13-15 to play in one or two of weekend's events. I'm considering playing Event 5, the $500+60 No Limit Holdem on Friday at 11am.. but I'm definitely going to enter Event 8, the $200+30 Limit Holdem on Sunday at noon. Two people I play with at a weekly cash game have already won seats into Event 6, the $1000+80 No Limit Holdem on Saturday.. and I will do my best to win a seat before then as well.

Back in the Flow

2008-04-05T12:25:00.002-04:00

So, i went to my first live cash game in about 6 weeks. That's a really long stretch for me. I played pretty well. Started gambling a little bit later on when I didn't need to. My table, which was only 6 handed, was overall kind of tight. Good players for the most part, tough to make much profit. I ended up buying in for $80 at the .50/$1 game and cashing out with $90. Better than a loss I guess.

As for online poker, I took down my 3rd Bmore Brawl title on Wednesday. I am now the first to cross the 300/30 threshold... with over $300 dollars in winnings and over 30 knockouts.

As for this week and next week.. my posts are going to be at a minimum. I'm working a crazy amount of hours at my job, most of them weekends. But I'll be trying to get back into the fifty fifty shortly.. take a shot at some real cheeze. I'll keep ya posted.

Slow Week/Thoughts on Poker

2008-03-26T18:05:00.005-04:00

Not much poker to report at this point in the week.

I tend to work heavily on mondays and tuesdays.. not having much of an opportunity to hit the tables on Full Tilt. Tonight though is the highly-accredited Bmore's Brawl.. where I will look to defend my two gold bracelets, all-time money and all-time knockout leads. In the 8 events I've played, I've made 5 final tables and gone heads up 3 times.

Ok, enough gloating...

I have to work late tonight, till 9:00pm so I will probably Hellmuth that tournament. I really wanted to hit the Fifty Fifty again, but I won't have time to satellite in. I could just buy-in straight, but $55 out of a $650 bankroll is a heavy investment. I'm trying to manage my bankroll correctly.. and my doing on a mostly consistent basis that is the only reason I haven't gone bust yet.

It's funny though, I have noticed a weird mental game I seem to play with myself concerning online poker.. and really poker in general. I go through strange ups and downs in terms of my conviction for playing the game.

Some days I feel like I'm playing my A-game and I have this blood-thirsty need to hit the tables and my focus is dead on. Other days, I feel like I'm just playing hands...

Now, none of this has anything to do with my passion for the game. That remains, and will always remain, without question. But the thing is, when I don't get enough sleep.. or my mind is on other things.. I really feel those are the days I shouldn't even log on or sit at a table.

And with online poker, more-so than live, it's harder to get into the poker mindset before playing. Let me explain:

When you know you have a cash game or tournament to go to at your buddies house one night, you have all day.. the drive over and the 20-30 minutes before you actually get the cards in the air to mentally prepare for playing a solid game of poker. Here's another example: An Atlantic City trip. For those of us who don't live in New Jersey, we have several hours worth of mental preparation for entering the war that is the poker felt. When you get online.. you click "log-in", type in a password, scroll down a list, find a game, click open the table, click the blank seat, chose how much you're buying in for and BAMM. You get dealt in almost immediately, playing three times as many hands as would live, nonetheless!!

So I've come to a simple conclusion: I have aspirations to make lots of money online and taking down several big titles.. hopefully land myself seats in tournaments that are televised on ESPN. Anyone who is serious about the game has thought of nothing less. But.. that doesn't mean I have to play every waking moment of my free time online. I may want to, but it's not an optimal way of doing things. If I'm not feeling it or my mind is on something else, why play? I'd rather risk my hard-earned money on a day where I can't wait to play my A-game.

Look, I love poker... but I have a life. And in that life, I really don't think I'll ever become a professional poker player. I will play the game until God makes me physically and/or mentally unable to do so.. but I never want to rely on poker as a source of income. I want it to add to it.. but not syphon from it. You see what I mean? I'm essentially building my future bankroll right now online and live from my winnings, and If I continue to do so... I will basically free roll every game I ever play in my life so long as I never go bust.

Don't get me wrong, I want a gold WSOP bracelet.. but never going bust and buying in with someone else's money for the rest of my career.. Now THAT would be an accomplishment.

First Rocco's Rumble Complete!

2008-03-22T21:34:00.002-04:00

Be sure to check out my Rocco's Rumble Tournament page and see who took down the first title.

Remember, get on Full Tilt every Saturday night at 8:00pm Eastern Time and sign up for "Rocco's Rumble" in the private tournaments section.

The password is: time2rumble

Weekend Update - Current Tournament stats

2008-03-22T01:39:00.003-04:00

Just a quick update on my overall stats for multi-table tournaments and single/multi-table sit-n-gos...

Multi-Table Tournaments:

Total Winnings: $799.07 ($110 in satellites)
Biggest Cash: $220.50
Biggest Buy-in: $500 (which was freerolled because I satellited into the Main Event)
Avg. Cash: $57.08
Wins: 2 (both were satellite wins to get into the Fifty Fifty)
Seconds: 0
Thirds: 0
Top Three Rate: 3.57%
Final Tables: 6 (10.71%)
Cashes: 14 (25.00%)
Total Played: 56
Avg. Field Size: 667
Avg. Finish 40/100
Longest Non-Cash Streak: 10

Cashes for the Week of 3/16/08:
3/17 - $10 PL Omaha Hi/Lo.. placed 4/89 for $97.90
3/19 - $14 NL Holdem Fifty Fifty Satellite.. placed 1/73 for $55.00
3/19 - $50 NL Holdem (Fifty Fifty).. placed 84/981 for $90.00
3/20 - $24 Limit Holdem ($3000 Guarantee).. placed 13/135 for $40.50
3/20 - $14 NL Holdem Fifty Fifty Satellite.. placed 1/59 for $55.00
3/20 - $50 NL Holdem (Fifty Fifty).. placed 30/1050 for $220.50

Source: thepokerdb at Bluff Magazine.com

Sit n Go's:

Total Played: 219
Avg. Profit: $1
Avg. Stakes: $7
Avg. ROI: 16%
Total Winnings: $281

Source: http://www.sharkscope.com/

Going Deep in Multi-Table Tournaments

2008-03-21T14:27:00.002-04:00

For the second straight night, I played two $14+1 satellites to get a seat in Full Tilt's Fifty Fifty Tournament.. and for the second straight night I won one of them and got into the $50+5 Tournament by only spending $30.

On Wednesday night, I place 84th out of 981 for $90. I basically played solid until it got down to the nitty gritty where it becomes push/fold for half the field. I picked up AQ and ran into KK.. end of story.

But last night (Thursday), I'm really upset with myself because I feel like a had a real shot at some serious cash. There were 1,050 players and 153 got paid. When we were at the bubble, I only had about 3,200 chips.. someone busted and I cashed. So, I started going crazy. As soon as I got a hand, All-in. I more than doubled up three straight times and quickly found myself with 32,000 chips. Then, I won another pot and took it up to 60,000... then up to 82,000.. I was on a roll.

With 45 players left, I was in 5th place. Tables were shifted around and I ended up with the chip leader on my left. He had 160,000 to my 78,000. Long story short, I waited and waited for a hand.. picked up A7 in a spot where I thought I could re-steal someone's raise. The guy to my right raised weak to 5200 at 1200/2400 blinds and I re-popped him to 15k. I was positive he had a hand he'd fold, besides.. I've only show monsters when I played. The chip leader to my left instantly goes all-in. I have to fold.

So with 30 players left, I pick up 87 in the cut-off. Everyone folds around. With the chip leader to my left and two guys in the blinds who had plenty of chips, I thought it was time for a blind steal. At 1500/3000 I raised to 9000. Chip leader insta-calls. His range is massive because he played like a loose-agressive moron who forgot the fold button existed. Both blinds fold and it comes down 9-10-A. There's 28k in the pot, I have 70k in front of me at this point.

I decided to check to see if he would bet and would re-access what kind of hand I thought he had by how he bet. I wasn't necessarily planning a check/raise... but it was obviously an option.

So he bets 14,500 into a 28,000 pot. Kind of hesitantly as well. I think about it, looked at my odds with my open-ender.. was getting laid 42.5 to 14.5, a fraction away from 3-1 and thought, well let me see the turn and re-access. I call. Turn is a King. (9-10-A-K)

Now, I figured I could do one of two things. If I push (only have 55k now and there's enough in the pot) I know he's going to call with any ace or king. No matter what. That's how he was playing. So I'd have to be absolutely certain he didn't have one.. and I wasn't. I was pretty sure he had nothing.. but couldn't be positive. The only way for me to learn more about him.. and how he felt about that King was to check and see what he does. I checked, and he hesitated and checked behind me. Now I'm thinking he may have a J-10, Q-10, pocket 8s-2s, J-9 J-8 even... But for some reason, I really felt he didn't hit anything.

River comes out another 9. Final board is now (9-10-A-K-9).

There's about 55k in the pot, I have 55k and now I feel like he didn't like the King.. was probably bluffing the Ace on the flop.. but what if he has a nine. For some reason I doubted it. And I was right... sort of.

I lost my mind and decided to push the river, try to steal it. He insta-called me with A-5. I was surprised he insta-called... good call by him. But why play it so weak throughout the hand if you are going to insta-call the river? Didn't expect to see an Ace or King there. So I went busto in 30th place.. took home a cool $220.50 for my largest online cash to date. (I know it's pathetic, right?)

Back to back Fifty Fiftys.. back to back cashes.. on back to back satellites.. Guess I can't really complain too much... but damn I wish I hadn't played that 87. I know I screwed up.. but that'll just make me that much better the next time I go deep in a big tourney.

Playing over my Bankroll.. Getting Back Down to Earth

2008-03-20T01:14:00.000-04:00

The last 24 hours of my online poker life can be described pretty simply: roller coaster. I began last night with $570 in my account and I felt like playing some 7 card stud. And, because of my added confidence of being on a good run lately, I decided to play in a bigger game than usual. I bought in to three tables: $1/2 Stud Hi, $2/4 Stud Hi and $1/2 Stud Hi/Lo. I always buy-in for 20 big bets, so it was $40, $80 and $40 respectively. So, I put $160/$570 at risk... or 28% of my bankroll. Not a smart move.. and I paid for it.

I caught some of the worst cards you can in Stud. In the $2/4 game, I caught a Queen-high diamond flush on 5th street... only to be immediately raised by a K-J-2 of hearts after the same guy bet 4th street like he had a flush draw. I go into check/call mode only to see he has the A-K heart flush. I didn't record any of the hands because it was late.. but that's the general idea. Then I jumped into some .25/.50 NL Holdem with a $15 CAP.. proceeded to run into situations like when I had AQ vs AJ... flop is rags... Jack on the river.. you know how this story ends. All things considered.. I ran really cold in games over my head and dropped $120 in 25 minutes.

So, I decide today to go back to basics... play smart! I decide to return to my tournament roots, figuring my game has been improving in multi-table tournaments and I should keep it going. So, I got online at 7:00pm eastern Wednesday with about $450 in my account. I bought into two $14+1 Satellites to the Fifty Fifty ($50,000 guarantee).. and I won one of them. Wednesday is also Brawl night, as well as the Mookie from the Battle of the Bloggers. In other words, I wanted to play tourneys and I had more than my fill.

By 10:00pm eastern, I was in five multi-table No Limit Holdem tournaments:
- $10+1 Bmore's Brawl - 30 players
- $10+1 The Mookie - 106 players
- $50+5 Fifty Fifty - 981 players
- $10+2 Daily Double A - 1263 players
- $10+2 Daily Double B - 1149 players

I feel that I played my best game, considering I had five tables to concentrate on. I saved a few screen shots of huge hands that led to my exit from some of these.

This one is from Daily Double B. The blinds are 120/240 with a 25 ante and I have about 5200. A short stack of around 2900 pushes all-in from middle position and I am in the small blind with AK....

Crippling.. as you can see. I later pushed with QJ suited during the 150/300 level with about 2200 and was called and felted by A 10. I finished 283/1149. Played well, no cash money though.

Here's a fun one from the mookie. The blinds are 50/100 and I have around 1300. Hadn't really played a hand but I decide to raise from under the gun with AQ, and the Big blind calls. I see my Ace-high flop and push after the BB checks... and this happened:

So yea.. I was out. Kinda hated that. I finished somewhere in the 60s range of the 106 player tournament. I was more focused on the Brawl and Fifty Fifty.

Here's a hand from that Fifty Fifty. The blinds were 60/120 and both the villian and I had over 4000. The villian is in the cut-off... everyone folds to him and he limps. Button and Small Blind both fold, I look at pocket Tens in the big blind and decide to check. Now.. to understand the strangeness of this hand, let's have a little quiz.. see if you can guess what he had. Here's the action.

Pot= 300. Flop comes down 6-J-8 with two clubs. I have 10,10 with no clubs. I decide to bet 200 to see if has the Jack. He calls quickly. So I am thinking about clubs here.. but who knows, I don't know the villian.

Pot= 700. Turn: 3 of diamonds (6-J-8-3 with two clubs, two diamonds).. Diamonds don't concern me here.. but I feel that if I bet now and he raises, he's probably got me beat. So I decide to lead out again, this time for 350, half the pot. I feel that if he has the Jack, he HAS to raise here as there is too much danger on this board. However, he hesitates and calls again.. a little less quickly.

Pot= 1400. River: J of spades (6-J-8-3-J).. Honestly, I love this card. Both flushes missed, I don't think he has a Jack from the previous action.. but he just might. Players do weird things sometimes and I know that. So I decide to make a blocker bet for value... in other words, if I'm good I don't want to miss a bet, but If I bet and get raised or called, I want to lose the minimum. So I bet 400 into a pot of 1400. Villian insta-calls. Now......

What does he have? (think about it, make one guess and scroll down)
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He had ACES!! I was stunned, quite honestly...

So, I got short stacked after this point, down to 2200 or so and was forced to play push/fold poker. I ended up building it up to 16,000 before going busto. I busted 84th out of 981 for $90.

Now, for the brawl. Be sure to keep an eye on thebmorekid's blog for details on the Brawl itself.. but long story short, I went heads up with Kori (kibl). We got heads up around the 1000/2000 blind level with Kori having 49000 to my 41000 chips. Unfortunately.. my cards went as dead as they go heads up. I'm not taking anything away from Kori, but I didn't have better than 6-high in 60% of my hands. When I had a hand, Kori folded.. of course. But either way, I had fun.. and ended up having to push on the button when I was down to 16,000 in chips.

So, yea... that was over quick. I took down second place.. my third top-three in the eight tournaments I've played at Bmore's Brawl. Wanted to win my third brawl bracelet.. but can't have it all I guess. I also took over the lead spot on the Money list with tonight's $48 cash and my four knockouts extended my lead in that category. I've done well at the brawl, and I feel that considering the level of the players there.. it's a great accomplishment to be the leader through ten tourneys having only played 8 of them.

Overall, I ended up spending $70 in tournament fees and bringing in $146 in profits (when you add in the knockout bonuses from the brawl). Add in a few dollars from cash games here and there and I've rebounded from my bankroll blowup from last night. Back up to $540... I believe I've learned my lesson and I plan on sticking within the boundaries of my roll from now on..

Rocco's Rumble

2008-03-18T12:16:00.000-04:00

Starting this Saturday, I will be hosting a weekly private tournament on Full Tilt called "Rocco's Rumble." You need to use the password I'm posting here to register. Here's the details:

March 22nd at 8:00pm
Private Tournament: Rocco's Rumble
Password: time2rumble (all one word, lowercase)

- The Buyin is $10+1 with a $2 Knockout Bounty per person.
- The game is Pot Limit HA (Holdem and Omaha Hi)
- It's a Double stack tourney, we will start with 3000 chips

So please come out this Saturday at 8:00pm and let's kick off this tournament with a bang.

-Rocco

Omaha High/Low

2008-03-17T16:04:00.000-04:00

Today I got my daily tournament fix.. this time in another non-holdem game... and at 10:15 am I jumped into a $10+1 Pot Limit Omaha High/Low Tournament. With a total of 89 players and double stacks.. I was basically for a long grind.. considering all the split pots we were going to deal with.

I began the tournament with a plan: Play small pots!!!! I decided to play extremely tight early so that everyone at my table understands I'm not screwing around. So I folded the majority of my hands until I picked up an A-2 suited at the minimum.. usually with a hand like A-2-J-10 being a great one. I slowly built up my chips with a combination of playing good cards and making solid plays. There was one guy to my right who played way too aggressive and tried stealing in obvious spots.. making me able to call a pot-sized raise pre-flop and pot-sized bet on this flop: The turn and river were checked down:

By the time we got down to the final 40 players, I was the chip leader at 120/240 with over 17k. I keep playing my game and stayed within the top 5 in chips all the way to the final table.. where things went a little crazy.

I started the Final table (they paid top 9 spots so I'm in the money) with 25,000 chips.. which was 5th place at the time. After the first short stack busted, I got involved in a huge hand. I didn't capture the screenshot.. but basically I raised with A-A-Q-Q of hearts and spades.. got one caller. Flop comes K-7-5 all spades. We get it all-in on the flop and it's over.. with the blinds and the knockout.. we are down to seven players and I again retake the chip lead:

Numbers 7, 6 and 5 all went out within the next few minutes and it came down to a brutal four-way duel at 1500/3000 blinds where I had about 80k, and everyone else had an average of 40-50k. After getting up to about 95,000 chips... the blinds go up to 2000/4000 and I go card dead. Will_B_D started stealing every single round because both the other two players were playing scared and folding every hand. So with about 53k left, I'm in the big blind and Will raises to 12,000. I re-raise the pot, making it 38,000 to go... leaving me with only 15,000 behind. Will calls.

Now the screenshot of the this hand is below.. but you have to appreciate something.. I pushed all-in on the flop with my remaining 15k and Will_B_D called me with Ace high and no low draw... but I will admit.. there was about 80k in the pot and it was only 15k for him to call... but even so.. he calls with nothing...
So, yea... he cracked an 8 on the river to bust me... but look at how sick this is for this guy to call me in this spot...

I pushed all-in with sevens and they were GOOD! Oh I'm so salty that I finished 4th.. didn't even top three it. I got $97.90 for my troubles.. but I wanted that bracelet baby!!!

So, in the past few days... I've gone deep into a Razz and PL Omaha Hi/Lo tourney.. and it's got me thinking.. I should play more non-holdem games. The fields are smaller and I believe my edge is far greater. And without the "All-in" weapon, players simply have to try and actually play their way through a tournament.. not just push all-in like maniacs.

-Rocco

Weekend Update

2008-03-17T01:55:00.001-04:00

I've been taking a look at my multi-table tournament game recently, making sure I'm making that I'm doing my best to make all the right decisions at all the right times. I guess most players probably do the same, but I tend to go through stretches where I get into more of a "tournament mode" or a "cash game mode." For most of this year, I've focused on mostly cash games.. but there are some nice scores to be made by going deep and winning the right tournaments. So for all intensive purposes, I've been trying to work on my tournament strategies and hopefully take down a big one.

I was able to freeroll my way into the FTOPS Main Event by placing in the top 72 out of 3600.. which was a tall task.. but I still haven't been able to go deep in a money event and cash for a significant profit so far in my poker career.

According to the pokerdb on Bluff Magazine, on Full Tilt under my screen name roccav, my multi-table tourney results are:

Total Winnings: $240.17
Biggest Cash: $106
Biggest Buy-in: $500 (which was freerolled because I satellited into the Main Event)
Avg. Cash: $30.02
Wins: 0
Seconds: 0
Thirds: 0
Final Tables: 3 (6.98%)
Cashes: 8 (18.60%)
Total Played: 43
Avg. Field Size: 697
Avg. Finish 45/100
Longest Non-Cash Streak: 10

I am slightly frusterated that I have yet to crack the top three in a big tournament. I want to believe it has to do with bad luck.. but I'm not sure yet. My sample is kind of small.. and I am cashing at a solid rate so far.. so it could be that I just haven't gotten the right situations at the right times.

For example, I played in Saturday's $2000 guarantee $24+2 buyin Razz event. There were 92 players and I felt I played very well. I was in the top 10 in chips for most of the tournament.. and when we got down to about 35 players.. my cards went as cold as they go. The best hand I saw that I tried to steal with in the late stages was a 239 with the 9 as my door card. A Queen brought it in, everyone folded to me two seats to his right. There's an 8 up in between us but I raise. The 8-up calls, bring-in folds and I proceed to catch a K and Q on the next to cards (which I saw for one small bet) as my opponent catches an A and 2. I lost 1/4 of my chips because the bets/antes were so high. I ended up placing 17th.. 12 spots were paid.

If anyone has input on my stats, I'd love to hear it. I feel that I play very well in the early stages of any size tournament, playing any game. But I do feel that I can be doing more in the middle stages, where everyone is making basically life or death situations.. If you've been through this kind of cold spell.. or the feeling of it, I would enjoy your ideas on the subject.

- Rocco

Been a Minute - Upcoming Tournament!

2008-03-15T20:05:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since my last post.. life has been busy as hell..

As for all things poker in my life, here's the update. Haven't been playing live hardly at all recently.. I played Kori's $80 rebuy tournament and one cash game at AltronIV's place two weeks ago. Didn't do particularly well in either one.

Online, however, things are going pretty well. Now in my 4th month back on Full Tilt, I'm $500 in the green.

Now, one more new thing that I'd like everyone who reads this blog to know: Following in thebmorekid's footsteps, I will be hosting a weekly tournament on Full Tilt.

The game will be called Rocco's Rumble and it is a HA (Holdem/Omaha) Pot Limit, $10+1 buy-in, starting with 3,000 chips (Double Stack). It will be a Knockout Tournament
For this weekly event, I will be keeping track of a Money Leaderboard, Knockout Leaderboard and several other minor stats depending on turnout..

As of now, I've put in a request to FTP about doing the tourney on Saturday nights at 8:00pm. When it goes through and becomes official.. I'll post the date on the blog.

FTOPS Main Event Recap

2008-02-21T16:59:00.000-05:00

I probably should have written about the $500+35 FTOPS Main Event experience days ago, but I've been busy.. so here goes:

The FTOPS Main Event began with a total of 5,216 players on Sunday. It was a super-stack tournement, which means we all started with a cool 5000 chips at 15/30 blinds. The blind levels lasted 15 minutes each, with breaks every hour as usual. It was a great structure. 15 minute blinds online is a nice amount, and because of that.. we wouldn't reach the antes until after the second break.

So when we started, my strategy was simple: Observe my table for the first couple of levels, play tight and smart poker.. waiting for good spots to get my money in.

My plan worked like a charm for the first four levels. I played good cards in good position, winning all my pots without a showdown. I had steadily grown my stack to 8500 by the first break.

After that, my cards went very very cold. Couldn't even get a suited connector to play.. because the game had become almost passive at my table. Lots of limping.. which I took advantage of with timely steals and re-steals to keep my chips where they were. But I ran into a slight hiccup after the break. I got AK two of out three hands and lost both times, costing me about 3500. I think I played them correctly.. but you tell me:

Hand 1: Blinds 50/100
I'm in the Cutoff. UTG raises to 300, folds around to me.. I call. BTN folds, both blinds call. Pot is 1200.
Four players to the flop of: J 10 4 (two clubs)
- Both blinds check to UTG, who leads out for 600. I raise to 1500 total, both blinds fold, UTG calls (and he called instantly). Turn is a 6, not a club. Pot is 4200.
- UTG leads out for 3000. I only raised on the flop to see if I could get a free turn card, which didn't work. My thinking is, he has a hand... possible a set of Jacks or Tens (if he played the hand REALLY well) but QQ, KK, AA, AJ make sense. He bet the right amount so I mucked my AK.

Hand 2: Blinds 50/100
I'm on the Button. UTG limps, two folds, MP limp, two folds. On the BTN, I raise to 450. SB folds. BB quickly re-raises to 1200. Everyone folds back around to me. I think and decide to call. (I don't want to overplay AK here. There's no reason to. I still had about 6500 when this hand began). Pot is 2750.
We go Heads Up to the flop of: 7 4 2 rainbow.
- BB bets 2500. I curse the sky and fold. Obviously, I put him on a pocket pair.. kind of standard.. but what can I really do here?

(NOTE: In both of these situations, the villian in the hand had me out-chipped. I could have gone bust against them)

So.. at the blinds of 60/120.. the final hand comes for me. I'm down to about 4800 now and on the Button.

Final Hand: Blinds 60/120
Amazingly, everyone folds around to me on the button. Because I have played so tight, I figured a big raise on the Button will look like a steal. I have QQ. So pop it up to 420. SB insta-calls me and the BB folds. Pot is 960.
Flop comes out: 9 7 2 (two diamonds)
- SB instantly bets 960 (the pot). I think about it and realize, he is the kind of player that doesn't think about his actions. All game long, he was seated to my left and was making snap decisions. So I figured, with his insta-call preflop.. I have his range on A7-A10, KQ-K10... possible suited. With this flop, he's got one of two things if he bets the flop like this: A9 or a flush draw.

Looking at the chip situation (I have about 4300 and he has 5000), if I raise the 960 bet in any way, i'm going to be pot committed. Here's where I made a small mistake.

I re-raised to 2000 even. It was dumb, because the moron I was playing against is going to push here with either of the hands I put him on. He did, he insta-pushed. So, now I have to call.

Looking back on it, If I push.. he still insta-calls. That's why it was a "small" mistake.

He tables A 10 of diamonds to my QQ. Turn comes another diamond... and I'm drawing dead. I went out with about 3500 people left.. 768 would cash.

Now.. George and I talked out this hand after the fact and came up with several theories on how I could have played it differently:
- When the villian bets the pot, 960, I could have just called. Going by the way I wanted to play this tournament.. it's the less violatile thing to do. If I think he may have a flush draw, I could just call the flop, and see if the turn comes out with a diamond.
- Here's the problem I see with this -
Whether he has A9 or the hand he actually had (A 10 of diamonds).. He may bet out the turn either way, putting me in a situation where I have no idea what to do.
- However -
- If he has the diamonds and the diamond hits the turn.. he may check and I could bet small to find out what he has or check behind him.
- If I check behind him, he will bet the river.. and if it's a value bet and the river is not an over card or a diamond.. it's really tough to get away from QQ there, seeing as I can't go broke. (And, correct me if I'm wrong, It could be a nitty fold). In this situation, I could be left wth about 2000 chips and I'm entering push/fold mode.
- Now, if I bet small on the turn instead of checking.. and he re-raises, that could be a way to get away from the hand cheaply.. but again.. I'm sitting with maybe 2500 chips and not much is different.
- HOWEVER... what If I bet the turn small and he check-raises all-in? In my experience, bad players do that with A9 in that spot, thinking they can bluff the flush... posing a problem for me if he actually has it (which he did). I think he's a novice player, judging by his instant-decision making and willingness to call me out of position with A 10 when I have raised maybe three times all tournament. Because of this, I may put him on A 9 and call with QQ and STILL be out of the tournament. And on top of all this: The novice will play a made flush and the A9 almost the same.. making this a tough call.

SO, all that said.. and I hope it makes sense when you read it.. my feeling is that the easiest decision for me to give myself is to stick it all-in on the flop with QQ in that spot. I know If I'm up against a flush draw, I'm at best a 64/36 favorite.. and if he has an over to my QQ, it's more of a race than anything. But my feeling on the issue is simple:

- No one can win a 5000+ player tournament without surviving races such as these along the way to the final table. It's very very rare that throughout the tournament I'm going to be able to take down ALL of my pots without a showdown. It's just not going to happen. I'm going to have to gamble... I'm going to have to get lucky.. all I can hope, is that I get my money in with the best hand or an absolutely SICK draw that I have the odds to chase.

Overall.. It was a fun experience. I'm not disappointed with how I played at all.. it just didn't happen for me this time. I placed in the top 72 out of 3500 to get here.. but it's hard to do that twice in a row.... really hard.

There's always next time.

FTOPS Main Event

2008-02-17T01:34:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this entry because, quite frankly... I'm really damn excited. I just won a seat to the Full Tilt Poker $500+35 Sunday February 17th's FTOPS Main Event, the 2 Million Dollar Guarantee hosted by Allen Cunningham.

For any of you who would care to know, here's how I got in:

On Thursday, I played a 300 FTP sit n go and took it down, rather easily. People threw their chips around carelessly in the early stages and I was able to get heads up with some guy when I had about 9500 to his 4000 at the blind levels of 30/60. After an hour-long bout (mainly because he played WAY too tight for heads up play), I won, gaining entry into the next level of qualifier.

The next tournament took place Saturday night at 8:30pm. It was a 2500 FTP buy-in, which I didn't have, and it would allow a maximum of 3600 players. The top 72 finishers would win seats into the $500+35 Main Event. We had a total of 3577 players at the start and I did pretty well. The first 2000 players busted within the first hour, and I just kept trying to get my money in good or with huge draws+great odds... and it seemed to work. I played pretty loose early on, looking to gamble with odds or hit big hands. The biggest reason I stayed alive is that I won most of my races (ie- I hit my flush draws and my two-pair would hold up against villain draws).

The hand of the tournament had to be this one: I have about 40,000 chips with around 350 players left and the blinds are 600/1200 with antes.

Everyone folds to me in the SB and I make it 4000 with 10, 10. The Big Blind has about 28,000 and calls. Flop comes 2 3 4 with two hearts.

I hate this flop.

But I have to bet, because odds are I have the best hand unless he either a) flopped a set or b) somehow has A5 or 65.

I bet out 7200 into a pot of about 9500 and the villain instantly pushes all-in for his remaining 24,000. Now I'm being laid great odds (14,500 into a pot of 38,400) but calling and losing WILL cripple me to about 12,000. I thought about it for a minute and decided, well I know he has a flush draw, and with this low of a board... he's also got overs.. meaning I'm actually an underdog. But I had to call and did. He shows QJ of hearts and misses twice. I bust him and then let out a tribal yell here in front of my computer.. After that, I just kept going with sound play and a little luck (or a little lack of bad luck, I should say).

The tournament starts to get really interesting when we get down to the last 200 players. At this point, I've been through countless big confrontations and had a top 10 stack of around 94,000. Blinds were 1200/2400 with antes and I was simply looking to stay alive and pick off easy pots to maintain my chips.

I had just gotten moved away from Scott Fischman's table and still had it up when I saw what they were talking about. They said, "check out table 56". So I did, and table 56 had 9 players all of whom were in the chip range of 17,000 to 5,000... so I thought, wow.. how'd all these low chip players get together.... well it took about five seconds to figure out how.

They did it by making an agreement to pass their blinds around to each other, taking the maximum 20 seconds per decision to fold. All nine of them were doing it and the entire tournament went berserk.

They were obviously colluding so I called George to talk about it. He said it's only collusion if they verbally agree to do it in the chat box on Full Tilt Poker. And the way they were talking about it suggested to me that they had already done it and were trying to be careful with their speech at this point... saying things like "wow, I've been getting 7 2 for the past two hours... this is amazing."

Then, out of nowhere, Scott Fischman comes in and types "what you are doing is cheating and you are all being reported. it's called collusion".

It was hilarious, everyone went nuts... but all of the people on table 56 continued to do it. Eventually the blinds reached the ridiculous stages of 2000/4000, 3000/6000 and 4000/8000. They finally started busting and some other players from other tables were joining them. And by this point, everyone had known exactly what was going on. As soon as this guy named "Drews Game" got to their table with about 60,000, he started raising every hand... totally screwing up their plan. It worked too, all but two of them busted before we got down to 72 players.

Long story short, I'm really glad I hadn't been bubble boy because of that. I may have lost my mind. But either way, I'm in. Ended up placing 8th (Fischman 9th if it matters)... but as soon as we got to 72 players, everyone just went all-in every hand. Was a long grind, took about 6 hours.. but I pulled it off. I'm competing for the top cash prize of $354,100 for the whopping price of 300 FTPs.

Finally... my rake did something GOOD for a change.

Goals for 2008

2008-02-03T10:10:00.001-05:00

Just as I finished writing my last post I remembered, I wanted to put together my goals for the year. Now, I'm not going to lie.. AltronIV and thebmorekid's blogs have inspired me to do this. So here's my 10 Poker Goals for 2008, in no particular order:

1. Finish the year with over $2000 in profits from Live games.
In 2007, I was able to come away $1,044 in profits. I played a total of 101 games (cash/tourney) and 36 of my 72cash games were $40 or $50 buy-in .25/.50 games. I believe this is a very attainable goal, now that I've found some biggest cash games like Kori's. (Check the bottom of this post for my full 2007 stats).

2. Finish the year with over $1000 in profits from Online play.
I should be able to do this as well, but it will be a grind considering 90% of games are Limit. I made the agreement with Josh and George to start with $300 on Jan 1 and see how far we go by the end of the year. $1000 really isn't a tough goal to achieve, but I want to stay there once I get there. Now, my bankroll stands at $310 right now, but it's actually $210 in profit. Before we officially began the Limit challenge, I put $100 on Full Tilt to mess around with, to get back in the flow of online play (I was away for about a year). Well, one good run transformed that hundred into my $300 bankroll by Jan 1.

3. Join the Card Player Database
There's nothing I want more than to cash in a WSOP or WPT event. I plan on playing more WPT events though, since I much prefer the structures. Problem is, I need to save some money and paid off all of my bills before I start throwing around a lot of $300 buyins to these events. Fact is, I can't afford to play all of them. So, I'll play as many as is affordable.

4. Make a Big Cash
This goal kind of goes hand-in-hand with number 3 but not really. Frankly, If I cash for $2,000 in a MTT at the Taj, it's not going to count toward Card Player. I really felt that I should have cashed in the Showboat tourney back in December, but it's hard to do that when everyone hits the river card against you. Honestly, I have yet to make a big cash. My two biggest cashes of my life are only $200. Kinda sad, I know... but I've only played maybe five or six tournaments in AC and online I play for much smaller stakes.

5. Develop better Discipline and Patience
This goal is going to be hard to really quantify, but it's something I really want to do. Coming into year three of my poker development, it's time for me to really begin to refine the weak spots in my game, as I've already found my confidence and style. I need to be content with waiting for good spots and pouncing when I find them. The more I've tried to make my own action, the more violent swings my game takes. I win some and loss more. It's just not worth it.

6. Win the Online Challenge with Josh and George
Now, understand this... this one is just for me. Josh and George don't really know about it yet. We never meant for it to be a competition, but hell.. it's just the way I am. I want to be the best, who doesn't? And if you don't, you shouldn't be on the felt.

7. Finish in the Top Five of the Bmore Brawl Events
OK... I flat out stole this from thebmorekid, but why shouldn't I? I want to finish top five in knockouts and cashes, pure and simple. I agree with bmore, it will be tough due to the competition.. but it's something to strive for.

8. Keep up with this Poker Blog
I have a tendency to start these things but not keep up with them as much as I intended to. I want to continue to share my thoughts and experiences with other online players and try to learn as much as possible from them.

9. Log 2,000 posts on 2+2 Forums
This goal is kind of pointless, but the reason for it is to make sure I'm interacting with other online grinders like myself and hopefully be able to plug my leaks quicker. The number of posts is really irrelevant, but I think logging two thousand would certainly drive home the point.

10. Learn to Control my Ego
This is again, something that's hard to quantify.. but I feel like it's more essential to my long-term success than anything else on here. I tend to grow frustrated at bad players (internally) and it makes me go after them at times when I shouldn't. If I can learn to drop my ego out of the way and instead focus on playing sound poker.. I will make more money.

Well that's that. So for any of you who are interested, here's my live poker stats from 2007.

Total Cash/Tourney Count: 101
Won/Lost: $1,044
Wins: 57
Losses: 44

Cash Game Count: 72
Won/Lost: $1,039
Total Hours: 270, 40 minutes
Average/Hr: $3.84
Wins: 43
Losses: 29

.25/.50 NL: 36 games (21-15)
Hours: 133
Avg/Hr: $2.45

1/2 NL: 16 games (10-6)
Hours: 67
Avg/Hr: $6.24

Tourney Game Count: 29
Total Buyins: $1,150
Total Payouts: $1,155
Largest Buyin: $300+40 Dec 8, WSOP Circuit Event 1 at Harrahs AC.
Largest Cash: $200 (twice)
- Aug 5, Stars n Bars Regional, First Place/ 71 players
- Dec 22, Mike Yassa's Farewell Game, First Place/ 8 players

Goin' On a Run...

2008-02-03T09:33:00.000-05:00

It's early Sunday morning, and it's been three days since my last poker confession. For some reason I'll never understand, I woke up at 6:00am today after going to bed at 2. And I'm wide awake.

Played a lot of online poker over the last few days and finally went on a good run. Before that tournament on Wednesday (see thebmorekid's website for the info), I had about $165 in my Full Tilt bankroll. After paying $11 and winning $96 ($80 for 1st + $16 in knockouts) I was back around $250. Since then, my limit holdem cash games have been positive as well. I decided to try something different. I bought in to two .50/$1 six-handed tables for 25 big bets each and decided to play very aggressive, even more so than I had been. I feel that one of my leaks as a limit player is not forcing the action enough... and playing shorthanded requires you to do so if you expect to win, especially in limit. Man, it worked like a charm.

I turned that $50 into $100 in about 90 minutes. I was getting pretty average cards, running pretty well in the sense that I was able to avoid most horrifying bad beats, save one. I did raise with KQ, get called.. flop comes K Q 4 rainbow and, long story short, the villian had KK. Luckily the turn was a Jack and it slowed my action on the river from putting in too many bets. But overall, I played aggressive and smart. I paid more attention to the players on my immediate left and right, aiming to steal or re-steal whenever it felt right. These numbers are exact but my numbers were somewhere around the 29.5/15.5/3.50 range.

So, after beginning on January 1st with $300 and being down most of the month, I'm at $310 now. Can't complain much now. The reality is, I've lost a lot of money online due to lack of patience. I play my absolute A-game when I stay patient, as most of us do. And my impatience went further than just my play at the tables. I was playing A LOT of tournaments and non-holdem games. I just can't help myself. I'm the kind of guy who doesn't just want to be good at holdem, I want to be just as crafty at all the games. So I tend to have days where I'm bored and I bounce from game to game. If I'm smart, I think those are the days I should just stop playing and take the day off.

Just thinking out loud...

Online Poker

2008-01-31T01:27:00.000-05:00

After a conversation with Zach, and after beginning a challenge with George and Josh.. it's only fitting that my return to poker blogging be focused on the realm of Online Poker.

I haven't played online poker with real money since May of 2007, at which point I was frustrated by continuous bad beats and frankly, a lack of my own patience. George, Josh and I made an agreement to start an online poker career on January 1st, 2008 with a $300 bankroll and play Limit Holdem. Once we've established a win rate at each level and built up an appropriate bankroll for the next, we would move up.. starting at .25/.50 Limit Holdem.

Well, so far it's been quite the adventure, to say the least. I bought Poker Tracker and (thanks to Alton) Poker Ace.. and they work really well. So much information is available to us in the online poker world that is near impossible to get live. As of tonight, my bankroll sits at $248.. and that's fresh of a victory in Bmore's Brawl.. which I badly needed.

My .25/.50 stats are currently:
3,488 hands
VPIP: 20.93%
PFR: 9.17%
AF: 2.15
BB/hr: (-0.56)
BB/100: (-0.74)
Net Total: (-12.90)

I've been growing frustrated lately with online poker in general. It's been a bad run these last two weeks. Constant suck outs to a degree that's hard to describe, and I'd be lying if I didn't say it's gotten to me. I've seen so many hands where the flop coordinates so perfectly for me and my opponent... only to have him catch a miracle on the river and beat me. I've actually gotten suspicious of the random number generators in online poker because of this. I can't tell you how often I lose flush over flush, set over set, boat over boat, etc.. and it just feels like it's happening too much.

But, the smart part of my brain DOES understand.. I'm four-tabling this game, getting on average 300-400 hands per hour and this stuff is bound to happen, and a lot more often. But being someone who learned the game by playing live, it's just so hard to make this adjustment.. you know?

When we take a really bad beat while playing live, at least we get a minute or two in-between hands to recover, as the dealer shuffles, moves the button and gets ready for the next hand. In live poker we get a chance to take a minute and breathe after nearly losing our minds. Online? We have about 2 seconds before the next hand is dealt. My brain isn't recovering that fast yet.

But the part of this that really gets to me is that, I know I'm a good player. I should be beating every damn game I sit in. That might sound like a huge ego trip, but honestly. I'm getting to the point where I'm disciplined enough to muck A-J in middle position now... which is a big step for me.. while my opponents habitually limp in and call a 3-bet UTG with J-3 off suit!! I had KK once and lost to an UTG limper who tabled J-3 off suit on a 3-5-J-3-8 board. I mean... let's be real here.

Long story short, this post was mostly for me to vent my frustrations and express this: I'm not quitting this online thing.. because it's my goal to increase that $300 ten-fold...at a minimum by the end of this year. I know I can do it.. just need you donkeys to stop hitting your flush draws for a few weeks.

Ciao!

$1/2 No Limit at the Yassa's

2007-11-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

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.

First Entry

2007-10-20T06:40:00.000-04:00

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..