According to Feedburner, we have 238 readers via that feed alone. I have no idea how many people read this site via other feeds (or whether feed burner actually captures that number already), or how many people just go directly to the page. We don’t have too many regular commenters, but we do get a surprising number of random drive-by comments.
So just to amuse me–and because I can’t think of anything poker related to write at the moment–I’m challenging every reader to actually drop by and leave something in the comments section, even if it’s just a quick invitation for me to get bent. I’m just kind of curious to see how many comments I can actually generate in a single post.
Plus, if there are enough responses to suitably fluff my ego, I might actually embark on a massive series of posts I’ve been contemplating in which I analyze the stats–with brutal honesty–from my last one hundred thousand hands from online poker cash games.
How else are you going to find out about just how badly I’ve played ace-jack over the ages? (Hint: really badly).
Posted by Beck as Poker at 11:39 PM PDT
17 Comments »
I like my headline better than Ace’s: Texas Roll ‘Em: Dude Arrested at Legal Casino for Making Improper Bet
Follow the link for explanation and YouTube.
Posted by Beck as Poker at 2:28 PM PDT
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I just witnessed an incredible example of the selective memory so typical of poker players. They remember the bad luck and forget the good. They usually require at least more than 10 seconds to forget the one for the other though.
Planing in an online NLHE game, I limped on the button behind several other limpers with Q9s. The flop came 9-9-T with two clubs: a good flop for me, but a draw heavy board. The big blind bet out about three quarters of the relatively small pot, and two people called before the action even got to me. Clearly, the draws were out there. I fired out a pot sized raise. The initial bettor folded, but the first caller, who would have to commit about two thirds of his remaining short-ish stack to call me went all-in. The next caller folded, and I called. Up went the cards.
He had J9, and was drawing two three outs or running straight cards. I was in great position to scoop the pot. Then the turn was a jack.
Now I was in trouble, drawing to only 3 outs. The tables were turned on me, but the river was a queen. I scooped the pot in a classic suck-re-suck situation. The other guy had a melt down. He cursed his luck. He cursed just about everything. The climax was the revealing statement, “Every time I have the best hand, some idiot hits his draw.”
The guy evidently completely failed to realize that he himself had gotten lucky in equal and opposite proportion one card previously.
A little self-awareness folks, that’s all I’m asking.
Posted by Beck as Poker at 1:56 PM PDT
1 Comment »
A lot of people hate pocket jacks. I love ‘em. I think they’re pretty easy to play. They’re a good excuse to re-raise preflop so as to keep pressure on your opponents. They’re easy to get away from when over cards come and an opponent gets stubborn. If you’re not winning with pocket jacks (over the long run) then you’re doing something wrong. Most likely you’re playing them too passively. It’s a good hand so play it like one.
A couple times at the table, I’ve heard a player quip, “There are three ways to play pocket jacks, and all of them are wrong.” I’ve taken to repeating that now anytime I see someone lose with jacks. I say it to instill despair. Is that so wrong?
Posted by Beck as Poker at 4:37 PM PDT
1 Comment »
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
I was frustrated. I was tired. Over the past three nights I’d consumed enough alcohol to poison an alpaca. I was playing poker. It was my last hand of the trip to Las Vegas which constituted my bachelor party, and I was down just over $100 for the day.
I was under the gun. I had five-four offsuit. Ordinarily, that would be an auto-fold. This was not an ordinary circumstance, however, so I called. Most of the table called. The small blind was an elderly man who had just sat down to play about five minutes ago, and he raised to $12. Ordinarily, that would be an auto-fold. I called, as did several other people.
The flop came 6-7-8 rainbow, giving me the third nuts. The old man bet $25. I raised to $75. Everyone folded to the old man who went all-in. I called. He had pocket queens. The turn was a three, and the river was a nine, so technically, I had a seven card straight at the end. He had a pair of queens. The pot was shipped to me. He got up and left. He had played all of five hands of poker. Hope you enjoyed your time in Vegas sir.
I cashed out a $30 win for the session.
Hope you enjoyed your time in Vegas.
Posted by Beck as Poker, Vegas at 10:34 AM PDT
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Part 1.
Part 2.
On my final day in Vegas, I squeezed in a three hour 1/2 NLHE poker session at the Mirage. The next two hands played out as the last two hands I played that day (the second hand to be in a forthcoming post).
First hand: The firs player to act folded, and I raised to $12 with pocket queens. Two players called, then a drunken Texan in late position (who had the entire table covered) re-raised to $50. He had been drinking steadily, but I had yet to realize that he had switched into drunken over-agressive mode. As such, I was inclined to give his hand more respect than it deserved. There were actually five Texans at the table, counting myself, and it made for a fun table.
The small blind called all-in for less: $40. Action was on me. Were I omniscient, I would have pushed at this point. As it was, I thought I was up against AA, KK, AK, or the remaining two queens. I decided to just call and proceed depending on the flop. Much to my surprise, the next two players also called.
$240 in the pot, five handed, one all-in, and we hadn’t even seen the flop yet.
The flop was A-A-8 with two clubs. Yeahhhhhhh. With the small blind already all-in, I was first to act. I checked. Action checked around to the Texan who declared, “Ah, what the heck. I guess I might as well just go all-in.”
With action on me, I proceeded to distinguish myself as the one and only player in the hand to fold at any point. My queens went into the muck. The next guy called. So did the next. The final pot was, roughly, $800.
The turn was a 9. The river was the ten of clubs. Final board: Ac Ax 8c 9x Tc.
First, the short-stacked all-in player triumphantly tabled his cards: the KcJc for the highest possible flush. He was excited. Until the player to my left tabled ATo for the nut full house. Then the cowboy tabled… ATo. The two of them were to chop the pot. Amusingly, at this point the last player in the hand triumphantly tabled 2c3c and leaped up to begin celebrating. Somehow he failed to realize that, of the four hands showing, his was the worst.
And people think online poker is rigged. They’ve never seen the sort of wild shit that happens in live poker. Incidentally, if I had pushed all-in after the cowboy’s re-raise, and everyone else had folded (not necessarily an accurate assumption), I would have only saved $20 (the $10 discount from the all-in KJ flush winner and the $10 overlay from the cowboy).
Also incidentally, my poker mentor Pat was sitting to my left, and a mutual friend of ours was sweating us. After I called the $50 re-raise, Pat leaned back to the friend and said, “John has either ace-king or pocket queens.” Nice read Pat.
Posted by Beck as Poker, Vegas at 10:07 AM PDT
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Part 1 of the Vegas Poker Hands post here.
I still can’t believe this happened.
Playing in a 1/2 NLHE game at the Mirage, six people limped in, I called from the small blind with 74s, and the big blind checked. The flop had one high card, one low card, and one seven. It checked around to the last player to act who bet $10 into the $16 pot. I called, as did one other player. The turn completely missed me.
Digression: Note how I’m not stating what the cards on board were other than the seven? That’s because I wasn’t really paying attention. I was thinking about making a play in the back of my mind, and since the betting was low, I was going to keep taking off cards until I reached a material decision. It’s hard to float from out of position, but I was thinking I might be the only caller. I wasn’t. I could well have been done with the hand. For whatever reason, it played on…
I checked the turn, and surprisingly, the middle caller now bet out. He only bet $15 into the $46 pot. The initial flop bettor called, and I foolishly called. The river was… I don’t even remember. I checked, the next player bet $15 again, and the flop bettor now folded. I check-raised to $100.
I don’t have a good justification for this highly aggressive river check-raise bluff. It was more a feeling thing than anything else. Regardless, it failed. Dismally. My opponent unhesitatingly called.
“You’ve got me,” I remarked, “I’ve only got a pair of sevens,” and I tossed my cards onto the table, face up, showing my shamefully weak hand.
Then my opponent tossed his hand into the discard pile.
“Wow,” thought I, “How in hell did I have the best hand there?”
The dealer began pushing me the pot. At that point, my opponent spoke up agitatedly, “Hey! What are you doing?” The dealer looked confused.
“You folded,” said the dealer.
“Well, yeah, but he folded first,” said the player.
“No,” said the dealer, “He showed his hand. You threw your cards in the muck.”
And the pot was pushed to me.
…
…
Yeah.
…
I had a hard time even reaching forward to rake up that pot. It wasn’t my pot. I hadn’t earned that pot. If I win a pot through a well timed bluff, then I will take pride in it. But I can hardly take pride in winning a pot through player error. I couldn’t even think of what to say.
Finally, I lamely said, “I don’t know what to say.” The other guy responded, “I made a mistake. My own fault.” And that was it.
He didn’t go on a tirade. He didn’t call the floor and make a huge stink. He actually handled the godawful situation with greater dignity than I think I’ve ever seen displayed by a poker player. Regardless, I stacked up $270 that I hadn’t earned. It was a very weird, awkward situation.
Comments welcome.
Posted by Beck as Brick & Mortar, Ethics, Poker, Vegas at 11:18 PM PDT
3 Comments »
Well, I survived my trip to Vegas. I somehow managed to win at every form of gambling attempted: sports, blackjack, craps, and of course, poker. I’m not going to do a trip report now (I’m thinking maybe Mike will take the honors there), but a review of the Wynn poker room will be upcoming. For now though, I want to write about a sick hand of poker I played.
There were actually two hands with situations that I’ve not before seen in three years of playing live poker. I specify live poker because neither of these situations could occur online. Here’s the first hand:
Playing 1/3 NLHE in a 9 handed game at Wynn, I had just under $200 in chips. The player three to my left was in full on maniac mode, raising almost every hand preflop. He turned out to actually be a solid player capable of shifting gears. At the moment though, I had him pegged as a hyper-aggressive player and awaited a chance to look him up.
I was dealt pocket 7s and limped in from middle position. Maniac was on the button and raised to $15. I was one of only two callers. The flop was Q-6-4, and I checked. The Maniac bet $25. I put him on essentially any two cards, and decided to just call. I was prepared to call him down to the river, and felt I probalby had the best hand.
The turn was a 7, giving me a set of 7s. I checked, Maniac bet pot, and I check-raised all-in. He quickly called, suggesting he had at least a queen in his hand and possibly more. The river was an 8 for a final board of Q-6-4-7-8.
I showed down my hand and declared, “I have a set of sevens.”
“No you don’t,” responded the dealer, “but you do have a straight.”
I looked down. I had a pair of 5s in the hole. Not 7s. I’d been dealt 7s the hand before, and mentally translated my current hand from 5s into 7s. Maniac slowly shook his head in disbelief for a while and eventually mucked his hand.
Want to know what being a complete and utter donkey feels like? Just win a pot with a misread hand. You’ll know right away.
Posted by Beck as Poker, Vegas at 12:22 PM PDT
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I’m leaving for Vegas for my bachelor party tomorrow morning. Arrival time 9:55 AM. I’ll be returning Sunday. Hopefully I’ll have something interesting to post. Regardless, I won’t be checking back here until after it’s all over.
Later!
Posted by Beck as Life, Poker, Travel, Vegas at 7:30 PM PDT
1 Comment »
I played the following hand today, in a live 1/2 NLHE game. After one limper, I raised to $12 in middle position with KQ offsuit. Three players called, including the small blind, and the limper folded. I had the table covered.
The flop was K J 9 rainbow. At this point, the player in the small blind fired out a bet of $25. First, a word on the player in the small blind: he was a decent, reasonably tight player, but the major weakness in his game was that he didn’t adjust his preflop action for position or the gap concept (i.e. that you need a stronger hand to call a raise with than you do to raise with in the first place). As such, I put his likely holding on any two cards ten or higher, any pair, and possibly a suited connector. For him to bet into me seemed unusual. If he had a really strong hand, I would expect him to try for a check-raise. Usually, when players bet into the preflop raiser, I find that they tend to have second pair, or perhaps a draw. They’re trying to figure out where they are and maybe pick up the pot right away. At the very least, they hope to slow down the action a bit and keep the pot size under control. I see that a lot online, especially when the preflop raiser is in steal position, and the player betting out was in the blinds. I have a lot of success online raising these players with basically anything and winning the pot. All my experience, thus, was telling me to raise.
For some inexplicable reason, I just called. Mistake?
The other two players folded, and the dealer turned a jack. This was especially bad news for me, given that I thought it likely my opponent held a jack. He now bet $50 into me. I probably should have folded at that point, especially as, with only $75 left, my opponent was quite likely going all-in on the river. The doubled turn bet just screamed “Value Bet!” to me.
For some inexplicable reason, I just called. Mistake?
Before the dealer could finish burning & turning over river card, the small blind went all-in. The river was a ten, giving me a straight. I said, “I think I just rivered you,” and called. He replied, “Yeah, I think you did too.”
He had king-nine, for flopped top and bottom two pair. That surprised me. For one thing, it meant the jack on the turn had actually counterfeited his two pair, giving me the winning hand from that point. I didn’t even need the straight. But the main reason it surprised me is because I myself would never play that hand in that position. King-nine is literally my least favorite hand, and I Will Not Play It except from the small blind in an unraised pot, or, if suited, from late position in an unraised pot.
Talk about a mistake.
Posted by Beck as Poker at 1:06 AM PDT
5 Comments »
