I finally decided to try Poker Tracker. It’s installed and configured, and I am about 100 hands into the 1000 hand trial. Even before installing PT, I knew my game needed a lot of work. I’m still trying to get the hang of things, ya know? But, boy oh boy! I had no idea how awful things really are…

It processed the first set of log files, and I ran the auto rate. I asked it to rate me, too. Scrolling through the list of names, I look for mine. There I am! Let’s see…what is that next to my name? Fish? What?! There must be some mistake! Let’s exclude some hands and try again. What? I’m still a fish? No way! No matter what I did, it still called me a fish.

Yes, folks. It’s true. I’m a fish! I’m telling myself it is based on the limited sample size and the mix of shorthanded games, but the truth is staring me in the face.

I’m a guppy, a goldfish, a minnow — bait.

Oddly enough, the big blind and the button make me the most money. I play way too much from early position, and shouldn’t defend my blinds so much. I should run from the Hilton Sisters — I’ve seen the lovely ladies three times, and all three times I went down in flames. I knew women were expensive, but they’ve cost me soooo much money. I’m sure PT has more advice for me, I just need to figure it out!

Posted by Jaxia as Poker at 2:35 PM PDT

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Let me kick things off by saying that I realize just how annoying bad beat stories are. They all go the same way: “I had the better hand, got all the money in, and the no-talent dumbass who called me sucked out on the end.” I tell you this so that you don’t give up on reading this post–which I have to imagine could wind up running quite long–before the end. How’s that for some foreshadowing?

I entered the first poker tournament of my life while playing at the Sahara. It was a $48 buy-in NL tournament with one $40 re-buy. Early on, the no-talent assclown to my right (who had already managed to lose all his chips once) called my UTG pre-flop raise (I had A-J suited) from the big blind. I had spent the entire tournament to that point folding, and decided it was time to make a move–besides, considering how tight I was playing, I knew all the observant people at the table would fold to my show of strength unless they had a very strong hand. The flop came down Ace high with a couple rags, and the clown bet into me. My only worry was that he had me out-kicked, but having merely called pre-flop, I considered it unlikely, so I raised all-in. He called me.

With pocket Kings. Had had been slow playing them, then called an all-in bet with an Ace on the flop. What a monumentally stupid thing to do. Naturally, a king came off on the turn, and I was re-buying. Not long after that, I was outdrawn by the chip leader (unfortunately, he was drawing to a flush, and I hadn’t had enough money in front of me to make it unprofitable for him to call my all-in flop bet). End of tournament one.

The second tournament I entered was at the Stratosphere’s brand-new poker room. The field was only 21 people. I only really have one good story from this tournament. Early in the second round (15 minute rounds) I decided it was time to steal some blinds if I was going to keep alive, so I raised from middle position with K-10 offsuit. I wouldn’t normally play this hand unless I was short stacked, but had a tight enough image, and the hand is definitely playable for a steal attempt. Only the small blind called.

The flop was a nasty A-J-6. At this point, I either needed to give up or bluff. The small blind checked, so I decided to bluff, betting about 3/4 of the pot, which committed about half my chip stack. The guy thought about it forever, but eventually, to my chagrin, called. The turn was a blank, and thinking that this guy might well be on a draw (given how long it took him to call my flop bet) I went all-in on a stone cold bluff. He didn’t think about it too long that time, and called. The river was a Queen.

I had just rivered a gut-shot straight. I actually apologized to the guy as I turned my cards over. He took it in stride, and as he had started the hand with roughly twice as many chips as I, he wasn’t crippled. In fact, he managed to hang in the tournament longer than I did. I wound up making it to the second round, but without too many chips (I had only taken down one additional pot–a blinds steal). With the blinds at 400-800, and only 800 chips in front of me, I had to go all-in with J-2, and soundly lost to a guy with pocket queens. End of second tournament.

And now we come to the third tournament. The next day, again at the Strat, I entered a $44 buy-in tournament with one $40 re-buy and one $40 add-on. Relatively early in the tournament, I played an interesting pot against two others. A short-stacked player who played too many hands (he’d already busted out once & burned his re-buy) went all-in pre-flop. Finding wired Jacks in my hand, I raised all-in. Jacks are a strong hand pre-flop, but they can’t take a lot of heat. I didn’t want any other callers, and my re-raise was designed to get things heads-up with the short-stack. You can imagine I was rather unhappy when a guy who had me covered called.

The side pot wound up actually being bigger than the main pot, which was fortunate. My jacks lost to the all-in short stack, but held up to win the larger side-pot. I actually netted a decent profit from the hand. With that win, I went on a rush, catching Ace-Jack three times in a row and winning good pots each time.

After the first hour was up, a lot of people went ahead and used their re-buys and add-ons to double & triple their stacks. As the chip leader at my table, I decided to just save my money and stick with what I had. The third table was broken and mixed in with the first two. I wound up in the exact same seat, with roughly the third highest stack, though a lot of people were close behind me in chip count.

I caught a couple more hands, and at the end of the second hour, busted out the tournament director (I remain mystified that Vegas allows casino employees to gamble in the casinos they work for–but for a tournament director to play in his own tournament is just mind boggling). The director was a very tough player, but he had the misfortune to catch pocket 7’s when I had big slick & put him all-in. A king came on the flop, and he was done.

After the second hour, we broke down to one table. The blinds were eating the small stacks alive, and I was tied for chip leader with one other guy. The other guy was not a good poker player, but had gotten lucky in a couple major confrontations. We wound up all-in heads-up, after a K-Q-6-5 flop, and he had me covered by a single $100 chip. His hand was an inexplicably random Q-9, and I had K-Q. Once I’d beaten him, I was the chip leader by a wide margin, and I never looked back.

The short stacks were in desperation mode, blinds eating them alive, and I was playing the bully, stealing the blinds every time they went uncontested. When we were down to 5 players, I had about 30,000 chips, and the small stack was to my right with 6,000 chips. He was a poker dealer, and knew what he was doing, but didn’t have too many choices. One interesting hand came up where I had A-J (yet again). He called the 1,000 big blind, and I raised to 3,000. Everyone folded to him, and he turned to me and said, “I think we’re in a coin flip.”

“What, you have a small pocket pair?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“Yeah, coin flip.” I told him. He showed me pocket 5’s and folded. I showed him my A-J and took the pot. That’s one of the great weaknesses of being short stacked. You have to go into survival mode, and that means avoiding confrontations where you’re not a significant favorite. Still, you have to make a stand eventually, and he might well have benefited from doing it there. One orbit later, the situation reversed, and with 6-6 I raised him all-in after he called the big blind. He had A-10 and called this time. My 6’s held up, and he walked.

That left us with 4 people. The tournament paid the top 3 finishers, and the guy in last wanted to make a deal. I had over 35,000 chips by then, with 2nd place having near 20,000, 3rd at perhaps 10,000, and 4th place holding maybe 4,000 chips. I told them I wanted $1000 (1st would pay $1,300), which was a relatively unreasonable demand given that it would only take 2 hands to completely change my fortunes. The short stack came back with an offer of $800 for me and everyone else split $470. This deal was more than fair as far as I was concerned, and that ended the tournament.

Only the 3rd tournament I ever played, and I won 1st place.

How’s the song go? Oh yeah… Viva Las Vegas!!!

Posted by Beck as Poker at 1:40 AM PDT

3 Comments »

Well, I just got back from Vegas, and I’ve finally played some no-limit poker. It did not treat me well. Still, I have some great stories.

I went there with a co-worker, a veteran NL player who supplements his income playing poker in Atlantic City. We went to the Horseshoe first. I thought it would be nice to play where the WSOP all started. It was kind of neat, though there wasn’t much going on. They have the Wall of Champions, with the pictures of all the world Champions. They also have a row of those electric massage chairs you can hop in (free of charge, natch).

One word of warning: if you ever play at the Horseshoe, bring a parka. They keep it at about 58 degrees in there.

While there I lost roughly $400, but I had a great time losing it. Several poker dealers were playing there, which is always a bit dangerous, as dealers have seen more hands played out than God. A professional Omaha player from Dallas sat with us for a while too. He had more diamonds on his hands than most A-list rap stars, and he had been playing poker for over 30 years. He also owned several businesses, and was clearly a multi-multi. Incidentally, Jaxia, there are plenty of live games going on in Dallas according to this fellow–you just have to know where to look.

I only really butted heads with him once, when I had top-pair, top-kicker. He blasted me out of a pot with a massive re-raise. He had over $1000 in front of him (the Horseshoe has no max buy-in or bet on ANY of their games), and I respected his raise & folded. It turned out he had an open-ended straight-flush draw, which was a favorite to win with two cards to come, despite my being ahead on the flop.

I also played the most lucrative hand of my life at that session. Here’s the story:

I had just sat down at the table a few minutes ago ($1 - $2 blinds), had only played a few hands, and had spent most of my time folding. This was my first time ever playing no-limit mind you. I was beginning to worry that my image was becoming too tight and that I wouldn’t get any action when I had a good hand, so when everyone folded to the button, who raised to $10, I decided it was time to do some advertising. The small blind called, and I decided to loosen up my table image a bit by making a loose call from the big blind with J-10 suited.

I knew it was a loose call at the time, but what a call it was. The flop came 10-10-10.

It was the best of flops, it was the worst of flops. I had made quads, but I was going to have a hell of a hard time making any money with them. I had the stone-cold nuts, with the only possible draws against me being roughly 1000-1 shots (i.e. they would require two perfect cards in a row). My only hope was that one of my opponents had a pocket pair, giving him a full house. Regardless, I planned to just check, hoping the turn or river would give someone a pair. This was a mandatory slow-playing situation.

The small blind checked, I checked, and the button bet $30. This made me very happy, as I’d now won at least another $30. He could have had a pocket pair, or he could have been on a steal. Either way, I was happy, though I was hoping he had a pair in the hole. Then the small blind raised to $60. At that point, the Hallelujah Chorus started playing in my head. While the button might not have anything yet, the raise definitely meant a full house was out there. The two guys to my right were both good players, and they were going to war. I just called the $60 bet. Then the button re-raised all-in.

I was very sad, at that point, that I had only started the hand with about $140 in front of me. Both players to my right had more chips than I, so the most I could hope for at this point was to win $280. With more money to call with, I could have won over $400. The small blind, without pausing to think, called. I put in my last $70 or so.

The button had Q-Q. The small blind had been slow playing K-K. Almost apologetically, I turned up my cards and said, “I have the ten guys.”

And that, as they say, was that. It was also pretty much the highlight of my no-limit play in Vegas, second only to winning a $40 buy-in tournament at the Stratosphere, which I’ll post about some other time.

Happy hunting!

Posted by Beck as Poker at 11:43 PM PDT

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Since I’m fairly new to this pker blogging scene, I thought I’d share something that I posted in my journal awhile back so you can get to know me better.

1. What time do you get up? 7:15am
2. If you could eat lunch with one person (alive or dead), who would it be? My Pepaw (assuming we can get past that whole ‘cremated’ thing…)
3. Gold or Silver? Silver
4. What was the last movie you saw at the cinema? Finding Neverland
5. What is your favorite TV show? Alias and WSOP
6. What do you have for breakfast? Most anything with sugar on top
7. Who would you choose to be stuck in a room with? SK
8. What/who inspires you? R-E-S-P-E-C-T
9. What is your middle name? Michelle, my belle
10. Beach, city, or country? If you’re giving it to me, I’m not too picky
11. Favorite ice cream? Bluebell Mint Chocolate Chip
12. Butter, plain, or salted popcorn? None for me, thanks
13. Favorite colors? Green and Blue
14. Favorite sandwich? True love is the greatest thing in the world. Except for a nice MLT…mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich where the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe … they’re so perky. I love that.
15. What characteristic do you despise? Dishonesty
16. Favorite flower? Orchids, Lilies or the twitterpated one from Bambi
17. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be? Anywhere I haven’t been, but Australia immediately comes to mind
18. What color is your bathrobe? None for me, thanks
19. Favorite brand of clothing? None for me, thanks
20. Where would you like to retire? Anywhere she is as long as it is somewhere between 30° 28′ N and 30° 2′ S
21. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
22. What did you do for your last birthday? What was her name again?
23. Where were you born? Baytown, Texas
24. Favorite sport to watch? Beach Volleyball
25. What fabric detergent do you use? All - Fresh Rain
26. Coke or Pepsi? Dr Pepper
27. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Oh, I love the night life, I got to boogie
28. What is your shoe size? 7 1/2
29. Do you have any pets? Harvey might be offended if you call him that
30. Favorite alcoholic drink? Shouldn’t we support and encourage alcoholics in their sobriety?
31. What color pants are you wearing? I’m not wearing any pantyhose!
32. What are you listening to right now? Charlie Brown’s teacher
33. What’s the last thing you ate? What was her name again?
34. Do you wish on stars? We’re on a first name basis
35. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? If I were a crayon, I’d have other things to worry about — like that built-in sharpener!
36. How is the weather right now? Swealtering
37. Last person you talked to on the phone? Cingular’s automated system
38. How old are you today? Older’n hills on … my chest
39. Hair color? I’ll never te-ll
40. Do you wear contacts? Occasionally, they wear me
41. Siblings? I know you are, but what am I?
42. Favorite Month? June (Was that her name?)
43. Favorite Food? What WAS her name?!
44. Favorite Day Of The Year? Any day I don’t have to work
45. What do you do to vent anger? I try to think of the most harmless thing. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us. Mr. Stay Puft!
46. What was your favorite toy as a child? Myself
47. What is your favorite cereal? Most anything with sugar in it
48. When was the last time you cried? Should I cry a little more? Should I try a little more?
49. What is under your bed? Dammit, I CAN’T REMEMBER HER NAME!
50. Who are the friends you have had the longest? Do past life holdovers count?
51. What did you do last night? Give me a minute, I’m still trying to remember her name.
52. Favorite smell? The scent of a woman
53. What are you afraid of? Killer Clowns From Outer Space
54. Favorite car? Yours
55. Number of keys on your key ring? 4
56. Can you juggle? Give me your balls, and I’ll show you.
57. How many states have you lived in? 2
58. How many cities have you lived in? More than 20
59. How many countries have you lived in? Not enough!
60. How many cars have you had & what was the first? 6, 1996 Ford Explorer
61. How many times were you married? You can’t catch me, I’m the ginger bread man!
62. How many offspring? None (Well, the DNA test results are still pending on little Tommy)
63. What is your 1st choice … Money, Health, Power? Ray, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes.

Posted by Jaxia as Life, Poker at 8:40 PM PDT

4 Comments »

Hello? Is anybody out there? I’m beginning to wonder if people in Dallas have even heard of poker. I know they have, because I’ve seen a number of people playing poker on TV who are from the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Wait! I know! Maybe I am the only poker player in Dallas who hasn’t hit the big time? That can’t be true, can it?

I’ve been asking around, and nobody I can find has home games or tournaments like they do in Austin. What’s up with that? Come on people! I want to play some LIVE poker without having to drive friggin hours away. I’ve even tried to have a poker night at my place, but when it comes down to it, people say, “Something came up.” Is it really that hard to find people who want to play poker? C’mon! This is Texas! Home of Doyle Brunson! Namesake of Texas Hold ‘Em! On top of that, you’d figure with people hitting my site after searching for “naked lesbian poker,” they’d be all over me. Erhm, I didn’t mean it like that. All over my offer? Uhm. Yeah. Something like that.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

In other news, there has been a lot of sadness in the poker blogging community lately. Although I didn’t know them, I am sorry for your losses.

Today is my last day at work. We’re heading to Florida tomorrow for some sun and relaxation. My site redesign is almost done. Summer I is almost over and I have a few days off before Summer II starts. Woo! Poker, here I come!

Posted by Jaxia as Poker at 10:04 AM PDT

4 Comments »

This weekend, I am going on a much-needed vacation to Florida with SK and her family. I think Dallas is great, but I really miss the ocean. Since I’ll be gone through Tuesday, I have a bunch of class work that I have to get done before I go. I wasn’t really looking forward to spending the weekend with my nose stuck in a textbook, but then I realized this would be the perfect opportunity to test my new uber dedication skills.

I surprised myself and got quite a bit done (with some help from SK). As a reward, I played in a $2 tournament on Stars. When I sat down, I committed to only playing premium cards, and being aggressive when I got them. I lost a large part of my stack when I raised preflop with Asks. The God of the Flop blessed me with two spades and an ace. Short stack pushed, and I called. He flipped up Ad4. The river gods saw fit to pair his kicker, and I was in 1201st place out of 1215.

By picking my spots, I built my stack back into something respectable. My problem is that when I have a significant chip advantage over other players at my table, I tend to call their all-ins with stupid cards like Ace rag or K5o. I really need to learn to control that aspect of my play. I don’t need to give them my chips!

Self-control isn’t one of my strengths. Actually, quite the opposite — I’m a good Gemini like that! I once heard someone (Jesus?) say that math and psychology were two good majors for poker players. He went on to say that psychology would help you figure out why a player made certain decisions. Personally, I think psychology might help me figure out why *I* make certain decisions

So, oddly enough, my short stack play is better than my big stack play. Anybody willing to let me start with a 5-1 chip advantage? *wink*

Posted by Jaxia as Poker at 9:40 AM PDT

1 Comment »

Since I first started my poker blogging journey about 2.5 months ago, this humble blog has received over 1500 visitors. I’ve shared the lessons I’ve learned, the low-down on poker lingo and discussed the worst first hand of live poker evah! I cannot believe I’ve learned so much in such a short period of time.

When I talked about my new adventures, some people were under the impression I was giving up my journal. Are you crazy?! I plan to be here for a long, long time.

Well, actually, my blog is moving to a new home this week. So, if things look funky around here, just check back in a few days. In the mean time, check out these great blogs:

Marchand Chronicles

Sounds of a Suckout

and check out Dr. Pauly for the best source of Live! WSOP information!

Posted by Jaxia as Pimpin, Poker at 8:21 AM PDT

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Poker’s been on a back burner lately. On Friday, I turned in my notice. June 24th is my last day with this company. I’m going back to school full-time and I’m going to look for a part-time job.

I’m not sure how most of you funded your bankroll in the beginning, but I just worked a comfortable number into my monthly budget. Without my regular paycheck, my poker hobby will be seriously scaled back. I’m trying to decide how my poker game should proceed from here. Lately, I’ve been dabbling in different games, trying to see if I enjoy one any more than the other. It’s been fun, but my bankroll has suffered as a result of my curiosity. Nothing really stands out, although I suck really hard at any game other than hold em. (Which isn’t to say I’m any good at Texas Hold Em, either!) I did place second in a $6 SNG on Poker Stars over the weekend. I noticed they finally got around to adding $1 SNGs, but UB offers a better deal.

I have about $20 on Stars and need another 100+ FPP to earn my bonus. I don’t really have a snowball’s chance in hell…Well, I don’t even have a snowball’s chance in south Texas of earning the bonus, so I’m trying to work out my best course of action. Do I sit down at a ring game for my full ‘roll and go for broke? Do I drop myself back down to the penny tables and try to build a ‘roll? Should I stick to SNGs? On UB, I have about $50 cash and $70 in bonus to work off. I’ll probably stick to $1 SNGs there and see how it goes. If you have any advice, I’d love to hear it!

I’m really nervous about becoming a full time student at the age of 27, but I’m excited about finally making serious steps towards getting a degree. Without SK’s encouragement, I don’t think I’d have ever gone through with it. It won’t be easy, but I (now) believe I am worth the investment.

Posted by Jaxia as Poker at 10:06 AM PDT

4 Comments »

It seems I haven’t been the only one bored out of my mind and waiting on blogger updates! Congrats to everyone and welcome back!

I played in the $1 tournament on UB last night and had my best result yet in one of these things. At one point, with 84 players to go, I was in 5th place! This hand was my downfall:

I’m in the SB with T20k and antes at 400 and blinds at T2k/T4k.

Jaxia: 3s Ac

Pre-flop: Short Stack goes all-in for 6120. Lucky Guy (who has me covered) calls. Jaxia calls. Everyone else folds.

Flop (board: 7c 3c 3h):

At this point, with about 50 people remaining, players (regardless of stack size) were either folding, min betting or going all-in. I considered pushing, but wanted to try to squeeze just a little bit more out if I could. I hoped he would think I was just trying to buy the pot with a min bet.

Jaxia bets 4000. Lucky Guy bets enough to put me all in, and I push.

Tournament all-in showdown — players show:

Short Stack shows Kc Qc.
Lucky Guy shows 8d 8h.
Jaxia shows 3s Ac.

Turn (board: 7c 3c 3h 5h):

River (board: 7c 3c 3h 5h 8s):

Showdown:

Short Stack has Kc Qc 3c 3h 8s: a pair of threes.
Lucky Guy has 8d 8h 3c 3h 8s: full house, eights full of threes.
Jaxia has 3s Ac 3c 3h 8s: three threes.

Should I have gone all in on the flop? I’m not sure that I could have done anything to get Lucky Guy to fold his over pair. I wound up busting out in 50-something place, my best result in a large tournament.

Posted by Jaxia as Poker at 8:19 AM PDT

3 Comments »

My family is coming into town to help celebrate my birthday this weekend, so I won’t have much time for poker. Since most of bloggerdom is in Vegas, it seems like a good time to take a few days off.

Good luck in Vegas! I cannot wait to read the trip reports!

Posted by Jaxia as Poker at 7:45 AM PDT

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