Episode #120: Playing from the blinds

MAIN TOPIC

Few things in poker are harder than playing from the blinds. You'll have to act first on all future streets, and you already have some coin invested. We debate some strategies on maximizing your profits and reducing your losses this week. Click here to listen to the episode. Highlights:

• Be wary of staunchly defending your blinds, especially in no-limit cash games. Since you'll have to act first the rest of the hand, opponents can put you in difficult spots.
• However, don't let yourself get an image as someone who never defends your blinds, either.
• Calling a raise from the small blind, of course, will cost you more money than calling from the big blind, so be more willing to let your small blinds go with all but the best hands.
• In limit, you can bluff a lot from the blinds. For example, let's say it folds to the button, who raises. The SB folds, and you have Q-7 in the BB. You call, and the flop comes 10-7-4. If you check, your opponent may continuation bet, and your check-raise might win the pot or a follow-up bet on the turn will. Or, if the flop comes 10-3-3, you can check-raise with any cards in the BB and will likely get credit for hitting.
• Check out these resources for many more good tips: Miami John Cernuto's FullTilt Pro Tips and the FullTilt Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition.

OTHER TOPICS

AIPS: Congrats again to ErsatzSantiag0 for winning Event #9, and how about a round of applause for your two lovable hosts also making the final table?

CHIMPS: A player-fueled tournament series begins next week. Get all the details on our forum.

Survivor: Jean-Robert survives - barely. He thinks he's trapping ... but is he trapping himself?

Can you jog, juggle AND handle Scott's high-pitched tangents?: This listener can (well, the last one can trip him up).

Bloch hacked!: Someone cracked Andy Bloch's AOL AIM account, and then tried to solicit money from Andy's buddies.

This lottery will outlive you: The Massachusetts Lottery has been offering a $10 million Hold'em Poker game for so long that, well, folks who have bought tickets have died. It needs to sell 27 million more of the 80.6 million tickets before a winner can be determined.

Hotline: A Vancouverenite wonders what exactly there is to do in Columbus since the city's traffic lights make enough sense that fewer people get into accidents. Hmmmm... maybe these folks can help.

Tampa Bay Poker Replay: Chris' shining moment is just a few days away as he takes to the felt (with Don Baruch) in Derby Lane's $500 tournament. Railbird him if you're in town and free. (Me? Are you kidding? The Packers are 3-0. Tell Chris I said "good luck.") Also, the state has released revenue reports for August on the pari-mutuel card rooms. The higher limits and longer hours have made a big difference. Last August, when Derby Lane was the only room allowed to deal, it earned $645,492 from poker. This year, the four rooms (Derby Lane, Tampa Bay Downs, Tampa Greyhound Track and Sarasota Kennel Club) earned $1,612,056 in August. WOW.

One Minute Mystery: Columbo folds his 10-10, which is a good thing since he would have lost to a set of 4s had he called. But it was a tough call.

HAND OF THE WEEK

Chicago Jason (J_Chitown) sends us a perplexing puzzle to put together. In a $1/$2 no-limit live ring game, he's dealt QQ UTG+2 with a $5 live straddle. Knowing he has aggressive players behind him, he calls. The straddler bumps it to $40, and Jason pops it $47 more and gets an unexpected call from a tight player in the BB. That player then bets out $100 into a dry side pot on a rainbow flop of 2-4-5. Perplexed, Jason talks himself into thinking he has the best hand (how could he not?), pushes all-in and loses to pocket Kings. Ouch. His opponent was crafty indeed.

- SCOTT 

AIPS II Event #9 Champion: ErsatzSantiag0

Congratulations to ErsatzSantiag0, who wins the ninth AIPS II banana as champion of the Limit Hold'em event, which drew 105 entrants.

ErsatzSantiago0 won the last hand against nzgreen when his Broadway beat nzgreen's pair of 6s.   Congrats to the entire final table, which included both hosts!

Bounties go to:

• nzgreen (Chris "willhopper" 5th place)
• ErsatzSantiag0 (Scott "OffDeadline" 6th place)
• JJ4LSU (Fasso "stpetebeach" 85th place)
•  Columbo "columbo" did not play

NEXT EVENT: Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Thursday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and the first bananahead of the year Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS II events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to ErsatzSantiag0, who wins the ninth AIPS II banana as champion of the Limit Hold'em event, which drew 105 entrants.

ErsatzSantiago0 won the last hand against nzgreen when his Broadway beat nzgreen's pair of 6s.   Congrats to the entire final table, which included both hosts!

Bounties go to:

• nzgreen (Chris "willhopper" 5th place)
• ErsatzSantiag0 (Scott "OffDeadline" 6th place)
• JJ4LSU (Fasso "stpetebeach" 85th place)
•  Columbo "columbo" did not play

NEXT EVENT: Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Thursday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and the first bananahead of the year Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS II events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to ErsatzSantiag0, who wins the ninth AIPS II banana as champion of the Limit Hold'em event, which drew 105 entrants.

ErsatzSantiago0 won the last hand against nzgreen when his Broadway beat nzgreen's pair of 6s.   Congrats to the entire final table, which included both hosts!

Bounties go to:

• nzgreen (Chris "willhopper" 5th place)
• ErsatzSantiag0 (Scott "OffDeadline" 6th place)
• JJ4LSU (Fasso "stpetebeach" 85th place)
•  Columbo "columbo" did not play

NEXT EVENT: Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Thursday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and the first bananahead of the year Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS II events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to ErsatzSantiag0, who wins the ninth AIPS II banana as champion of the Limit Hold'em event, which drew 105 entrants.

ErsatzSantiago0 won the last hand against nzgreen when his Broadway beat nzgreen's pair of 6s.   Congrats to the entire final table, which included both hosts!

Bounties go to:

• nzgreen (Chris "willhopper" 5th place)
• ErsatzSantiag0 (Scott "OffDeadline" 6th place)
• JJ4LSU (Fasso "stpetebeach" 85th place)
•  Columbo "columbo" did not play

NEXT EVENT: Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Thursday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and the first bananahead of the year Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS II events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to ErsatzSantiag0, who wins the ninth AIPS II banana as champion of the Limit Hold'em event, which drew 105 entrants.

ErsatzSantiago0 won the last hand against nzgreen when his Broadway beat nzgreen's pair of 6s.   Congrats to the entire final table, which included both hosts!

Bounties go to:

• nzgreen (Chris "willhopper" 5th place)
• ErsatzSantiag0 (Scott "OffDeadline" 6th place)
• JJ4LSU (Fasso "stpetebeach" 85th place)
•  Columbo "columbo" did not play

NEXT EVENT: Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Thursday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m. Eastern

Click here for the Player of the Year standings. (Special thanks to Ante Up! scorekeeper Gambit for compiling them and the first bananahead of the year Blazman for hosting the results).

Click here for the schedule and all the info on AIPS II events. We'll update it as we set dates for future events, and recognize champions. (This link is also permanently posted on the right-hand side of the blog with all the other important links).

- SCOTT

Congratulations to ErsatzSantiag0, who wins the ninth AIPS II banana as champion of the Limit Hold'em event, which drew 105 entrants.

ErsatzSantiago0 won the last hand against nzgreen when his Broadway beat nzgreen's pair of 6s.   Congrats to the entire final table, which included both hosts!

Bounties go to:

What's your favorite poker moment?

If you think about it, there are a lot of great things that can happen during a poker session. Last night I was playing NLHE on Full Tilt (at the lowest limits available of course) when I picked up pocket aces UTG+1. The UTG limped and I pumped it to 8X. The guy on the button raised to 23X. I thought to myself: This is one of the best moments in all of poker, when you have the mortal nuts and someone is reraising you. So I put him all-in, he called with JJ and (for once) my hand held up. (Then came one of the moments I hate: The regret for not playing higher limits. HAHA).

Anyway, that got me to thinking: There are moments that we play for, and that certainly was one of them. Last month I posted about one of my other favorite moments: You have a middle pair, you raise and get a caller or two. The flop comes with an overcard, you bet out and they call. THEN you turn your set!! Now that is sweet!!!

Do you have a favorite moment in poker? And you don't have to say "When my iTunes feed says there's a new episode of Ante Up! available for download." because you don't have to state the obvious. 8-)

-- Chris

AIPS II Event #10 created

First, a reminder that AIPS II Event #9 (Limit Hold'em) is tomorrow night (Sept. 27).

Also, the 10th event of AIPS II has been created and it open for registration.

The game is Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, and our apologies to our loyal European contingent, but either Chris or I have a conflict every Saturday in October, so we had to slate this Omaha event for a Thursday night.

The tournament is on Thursday, Oct. 25, 9 p.m. Eastern, at FullTilt. Password is "anteup." You can find the tournament under the "Private Tournaments" tab.

And remember, you can find all the information about AIPS by clicking here.

Good luck!

- SCOTT

Call me Mr. Luckbox ... well, sort of

What? Chris Cosenza having luck in a poker game? Step back! But it's true, to an extent. Last night we had our monthly cash game/SNG at Gambit's house and I was the benefactor of some suckouts for the first time in recent memory. The cash game was probably the most uneventful cash game in my career, never getting up more than $10 (I didn't say units, happy?) and never being down more than $8, ultimately losing $2.50. I think I played too tight, but I just never had any really decent starting hands. Everything, however, turned around in the tournament.

I was chipleader for most, if not all, of the tournament, taking advantage of some good hands and good betting opportunities to slowly build my stack. But a few hands came up that I'd like to discuss.

This first one came vs. NewScott (a.k.a Snuffy): With the blinds 100-200 it got folded around to me in the SB. I had A♥4♥. I looked at his chips and he was the shortstack with about 800-900 (it might've been a little more but it happened so fast I think this is right). So he has 200 invested and I make it 500 to go. I chose this amount because I thought it'd look a little suspicious and he might think I was trying to get a little more out of him and would fold. Not that I wouldn't take a shot at eliminating him with A♥4♥ because I would -- I was the chipleader at this point with about 3K. But still, if I could just take it down and get him that much closer to elimination that'd be fine with me. At this point we're 5-handed and paying three spots (Fasso's reign came to an end fairly early). Anyway, he thought and thought and then finally just called, which shocked me. With 1K out there, if I hit the flop at all there'd be no way for me to fold since he only had about 500 or so left. The flop came 6-6-4 rainbow. I pushed with my two pair and he instacalled. What does he have? Are we dead? Was he thinking and thinking because he had a HUGE pair? What does he have? Anyone? Bueller?

OK, he had 5♠3♣ (though he may have been suited, which means nothing really). WOW! He called off what I think was about a third of his remaining stack to a raise from the chipleader with 5♠3♣. He's getting 2.3-1 on his money, but I didn't know what to think of this play. He knows I pretty much can't fold and my raise tells him he's crushed. With only 4 or 5 BBs left isn't he in shove or fold mode here? So he was open-ended and I had my two pair. The turn? 7♥, which did nothing for me because there wasn't a heart on the flop and, of course, completed his straight. The guys moaned when that card came, and I was about to start my usual whining, but then I said, "Wait a minute! A six or a four please." And BAM! A 4♦ on the river gave me a boat. Snuffy wasn't happy. He had a rough night and that only punctuated it. He didn't even say goodbye. Sorry for the re-suck Snuff, but you sucked first. 8-)

Ultimately I made the money when Steve, who I think is the best player in our game, eliminated Martin of the TiltMonkey clan when his pocket 4s held up vs. Martin's Q♣8♣. Gambit cashed as well, finishing 3rd when Steve woke up with AA after Gambit pushed from the button.

Steve and I played heads up for a decent amount of time, and I had a 2-1 chip lead on him. Then he limped from the button on one hand, and he hadn't limped at all during heads-up play, so immediately I thought this was suspicious. But I looked down at K-10 and just knocked the table. The board came K high and he bet out. I raised and he called. The turn paired the board with eights and he shoved. Mathematically I had to call and he turned over AA again. He got aces twice in a span of 15 minutes, so that was pretty damn lucky on his part (the biggest hand I had ALL night, including the cash game was QQ and I didn't even get action). Now he had a 2-1 lead. A little later he raised on the button and I had K♦ 9♦ . I shoved, as I was getting short. He called with A7o and I turned a K♥ to win the hand. There's another suckout!!!! I can't believe it!!! So now I have the lead again, and I kept increasing it until the final hand of the night. I had Q♠J♠ and raised to 1,200 with the blinds at 150-300 and a 50 ante. He went all-in and it was only another 1,000 or so for me to call. He turned over K♣J♣. So again I was behind and if he won we would've been even or so. A beautiful queen came on the flop but the board was 2♠Q♣2♣ so now I had to dodge a king or a club. I did, and that was suckout No. 3 on the night, and this one gave me the title.

It's a weird feeling to go into a hand crushed and then suck out. I drove home last night (or actually this morning) and though I won I didn't feel very good about the suckouts. Of course the one vs. Snuffy didn't bother me since I had the best hand preflop and postflop and only had to resuck after his suckout. But vs. Steve I felt pretty bad. But that's poker, right? And it's not online so you can't say it's rigged. LOL! Besides, who says I can't get lucky once in a while? I played very well all of the other hands.

So I'm 2-for-2 in my past two live SNGs, including the Derby Lane satellite. Can't wait for the Derby Lane tournament next Sunday.

-- Chris

One Minute Mystery: Case of the Magician's Box

We're at the final table of a MTT, with 6 players left and 4 making the money.

Blinds are 2k/4K. Chipleaders have about 75K. It's folded around to the button, who contemplates before pushing all-in for 25K.

The SB calls all-in quickly.

In the BB, we look down at 10-10 with 22K in chips left.

What do we do?

Times file photo

Epsiode #119: Tom Schneider

MAIN TOPIC

World Series of Poker Player of the Year Tom Schneider gives us a ring to talk about his huge summer and lots of other things. Click here to listen to the show. Highlights:

Split games: Find out why he hates Stud/8.

POY: Learn what he got for winning it and how his life has changed since.

Podcast: He hosts Beyond the Table, a humorous look at the poker world.

Book: Check out his book, Oops! I Won Too Much Money, which melds advice from his business career with tales from the tables.

7-2 off: Learn why his book cover features the worst hand in poker.

OTHER TOPICS

Scott's back from Texas: Turns out, there's no basement at the Alamo.

No way, Jose: Jose Canseco talks his way into the ladies event of the California State Poker Championship. Hmmmm...

Absolute cracked: Ever dream of winning every single hand you show down? Some dude on Absolute Poker did. Lucky? Nah.

Mississippi straddle: A letter writer correctly chides us for not explaining the Mississippi straddle on last week's Mailbag show. Mucho apologies but, hey, imagine a world where no one straddles. It would be wonderful.

It's a small world: Another letter writer lets us know he struck up a conversation with a fellow player at the MGM Grand poker room in Vegas and turns out, she listens to Ante Up! too. Cool.

Survivor: Jean-Robert Bellande makes a BIG debut on the reality show. Scott's wife wasn't impressed, and it looks like next week he'll be asked to "pull his weight." A mighty challenge, indeed.

Ante Up Hotline: Bitguru calls to suggest fade-in music to go with our fade-out music.

Tampa Bay Poker Replay: Godard calls to suggest Chris be aggressive early in the the big Derby Lane tournament coming up because players who are playing above their normal bankrolls are usually tight. Interesting tip. Also, check out what Sam is doing down at One-Eyed Jack's in Sarasota: Monday Night Football squares and "Dueling Rack Attack" where players face off heads up to see who can rack the most chips in 60 seconds. That's cool stuff, which is what we were hoping would come from the new laws.

HAND OF THE WEEK

Tom sticks around to help Chris with a Stud/8 hand. Chris brings it in with (A♣ 4♥) 2♣, hoping to raise if it's completed. Not only is it completed, but it's raised and reraised before it gets back to Chris. He caps it, though Tom would have just called since we're battling for only half the pot right now.

Fourth street brings Chris the 5♣, and the pot got capped again with boards of A♦ 4♦, 2♠ 6♥ and 5♠ A♥.

Fifth street gives Chris the K♦, and the boards show: A♦ 4♦ 9♣, 2♠ 6♥ 7♠ and 5♠ A♥ 8♦. It's bet and raised before it gets to Chris, who figures it's going to get capped again. He sticks around, and sure enough it's capped and he calls. Tom says there's too much money in the pot now to bail with our draws.

Sixth street gives Chris the 8♣, giving him a smooth 8 low and an A-high flush draw. The betting slows, though, as everyone else apparently bricks. Everyone calls one bet.

Chris improves to a 6-low on the river, but misses his flush. It's bet and raised, and Chris calls. It's then raised and capped behind him, and Chris calls and loses to a wheel.

Tom said Chris played it well, and this is an example of why he doesn't like Stud/8. Ha!

- SCOTT

Reminders

Just wanted to remind everyone of a few things:

Jean-Robert Bellande makes his debut tonight on Survivor at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

AIPS Event No. 9, Limit Hold Em is a week from today (9/27). It will be 9 p.m. ET on Full Tilt Poker and the password as always is anteup.

I've added a few more photos to the gallery, including one from our double-banana winner!

Tom Schneider is on the show tomorrow, and oh by the way, he's the WSOP Player of the Year. If you have a question post it here.

Still taking a break from FTP, but have played a little on another site and still winning. Interesting.

-- Chris

Tom Schneider on Show 119

Barring any problems, World Series of Poker Player of the Year and fellow podcaster Tom Schneider will be on Friday's show. You can thank Short Stacked Shamus for this very awesome guest as he talked with Tom out in Vegas during the Series and said "Hey Tom, you need to be on Ante Up! The Nation will love you for it!" So I contacted Tom this week and it's a go. If you have any questions to ask please post them here and we'll see what we can do to get them asked.

Some of the topics we are sure to cover:

His book: Oops! I Won Too Much Money
His poker podcast: Beyond the Table
His blogging at Pokerati.com.

Keep the questions coming, and enjoy the ride!

-- Chris

Photo from pokerpages.com

Absolutely deflating

I'm really at a loss for words. I was telling Fasso I should hook myself up to shock therapy and if I ever want to play online again it would send 10,000 volts through my body.

I have continued to have poor sessions online where I pick up a big hand, lose a ton of money and then have to fight my way back to break even or just below. Last night/this morning was no different, only this time I didn't recoup my losses nearly enough as I have in the past. And these were just brutal hands. I'm starting to slip back into my R.A.I.S.E. mentality again, only now it's that I'm getting cooler hands instead of getting sucked out on. Don't be surprised if I steer clear of online poker again.

Here is just a sample of what I went through in the past 24 hours playing NLHE:

AQo raise on button with BB calling. Flop is A-Q-5 rainbow. He bets, I raise, he pushes I call. 5-5.

I have a guy to my right who raises EVERY hand that isn't raised ahead of him, and I mean EVERY hand. He's to my right, which is good, and I fold my blinds to him, even folding A-8 once, because I just wanted to wait him out. Finally I get KK. He does his standard raise, I reraise, he pushes and I call: AA. Oh, by the way, this was 4-handed. FOUR-HANDED!!!

I have AA UTG, I raise 3.5X with one caller in the blinds. flop comes A-5-4 rainbow. He bets into me, I raise, he pushes, I call: 2-3. I couldn't make this up if I tried.

I kept rallying to get almost all of my buy-in back and then these hands came up to take it all away again. I just don't know if I have the heart to sit down to try to claw my way back again. I keep having to do this and I really don't think it's the way I'm playing. I'm not playing too many hands, I'm not playing too few hands. I'm just getting coolered and it's like a punch to the gut. When that idiot had AA and I had KK that was it. I can't rely on variance, because I just plain suck lately.

I am taking a break, and it's not a monumental break that is proclaimed by the headline: I AM DONE! I just need to step back from Full Tilt. I have to admit, I have NEVER lost on any other site, EVER. But I have never won on Full Tilt. EVER. And it's not really the limits I'm playing that is bothering me, it's the failing in competition that hurts the most. But if I lose $10 I won't feel THAT bad so ...

... when I return it will be purely microlimits. If anyone catches me playing at limits higher than the lowest limit available in that game, I will transfer $5 to you on the spot. You can count on it. All of my normal limits and higher limits will be played soley LIVE, which is where I have my most success. No more online limits above the minimum for me.

-- Chris

More poker fodder

A few things to talk about today.

Firstly, let's start with BEATING A DEAD HORSE. NewScott (aka Snuffy) had been trying to put together a H.O.R.S.E. tournament at his house. The buy-in was kinda steep for a home game affair (60 units) but he said he thought he'd get around 18 people and pay 4-5 spots. I waited to see what my bankroll would be like before committing, and after winning in the home game last week I decided to attend. Being Saturday I assumed the tournament would start at noon (as is standard practice with all of our Saturday home games) so when I showed up at Snuffy's house two hours early, you can imagine his surprise. DOH!!!! Luckily my most excellent wife works less than 15 minutes from there and I went and hung out with her until game time.

So I got to NewScott's house at 2 p.m. and there's one guy there. Fasso showed up 10 minutes later and that was it. THREE PEOPLE SHOWED UP!!! Obviously we weren't going to play a 4-handed H.O.R.S.E. tournament so we played our usual cash game instead. (I had practiced Friday night playing in two H.O.R.S.E. SNGs and cashing in both). Anyway, I was up a bunch early, then was down a little at the halfway point and then rallied for a 50-unit profit. I was the only one of the four to secure a profit (though I think NewScott may have won 2 units).

Then later that night I won 6 units online. WOOT!!!

ROLLER COASTER: Last night I played online and had one of my typical sessions where I lose a bunch early and then rally to get even or just below even. At midnight there was nothing on the tube so I logged on and played 2-4 Stud/8. After about 25 minutes I was up 40 units, making a 6-low and an ace-high flush to scoop a huge pot. Before I could sign off I was anted in again. I wanted to quit but was dealt (A-4) 2. I brought it in and it got raised and reraised behind me. An ace, deuce and 5 were out. I popped it and it got capped. I picked up a 5 and thought this session would be like printing money. Ultimately it got capped and on 5th I got a king. It got capped again and here is where I should have folded. I called all the way and made a smooth 8 on 6th. Betting slowed here and then on the river I made a 6 low, but falling shy of my club flush. Someone made a wheel and I was actually down more money than when I started. Sad.

I moved to NLHE table and rallied to win all of my money back, but was still down 5 units on the day. Combine that with the 6 units I had won online Saturday night and I won 1 unit online. Again, sad. But overall my bankroll grew for third straight week.

SURVIVOR: This is just a reminder that Survivor begins this week and Jean-Robert Bellande will be on (look at that body ladies!!!). It airs Thursday at 8 ET on CBS. 

COPYRIGHT UPDATE: I have talked with the rep for O.A.R. and he was very nice. He said the band is very aware of the popularity of Crazy Game of Poker within the poker community. He asked me to submit a formal request and he would review it and get back to me. It sounded very promising, and considering our show is very professional (unlike other podcasts) with no profanity and no obvious plans to abuse the song (only a 20-second snippet) I think we may have a shot. As for Columbo, I have a call in with the NBC/Universal lawyers and am awaiting a callback. Who knows?

-- Chris

Photo courtesy of CBS   

We have a sponsor ...

... but what does that mean? Well, our sponsor is Derby Lane, and you may have seen that coming with the Derby Lane ads that are on this very blog. It's an exciting time for Ante Up! in that we're now making revenue for the Times, which hopefully will ensure our longevity. So you'll hear three 10-second spots during the broadcast promoting Derby Lane. Will we lose listeners because of the commercials? Doubtful. If you can't sit through 30 seconds total during a 90-minute show then you need to start a podcast of your own. But we need money, so we're ecstatic with Derby Lane finally coming through after two-plus years of shows.

And this is NOT what I meant by "And you might not like (our big announcement)" from my earlier post this week. Here's what you may not like: When you start to make money people take notice, and that means things have to change. In this litigious society we need to be careful. As a free, non-profit, non-FCC regulated broadcast we used to take license with using music and clips that were less than 30 seconds long as instructed by our advisors. But now that we're making money we have to make sure we don't use copyrighted material. You will quickly notice the music in Show 118 is purely Roylaty Free music that I made on my computer. The bumper I use this week is the Jennifer Harman clip that was made from free special effects sounds from Wild 98, and O.A.R.'s Crazy Game of Poker no longer introduces the Hand of the Week segment. This last one is on hold as I have written the band's record label to see if they would grant us permission to continue using it. Cleary we have sold a LOT of albums and songs for them from using it in the past. So stay tuned on that.

Now for the big one. ...

ONE MINUTE MYSTERY: This segment is a fan favorite, and we have been honored to have "Columbo" on the show. But, the entire segment is based on the Columbo series, using music and clips from the television show. Though there's some leeway in parody, this isn't true parody as our man isn't imitating Columbo, he's merely solving a poker mystery and using Columbo's dialogue for entertainment. So, with that said, we're going to be searching for ways to get around this. Ultimately I think I'll have to come up with new theme music for him, and he may explore just running a mystery without Columbo clips. Would you be interested in hearing the One Minute Mystery without the clips? Do you sound like Columbo and want to audition? We could use your impression of Columbo if it's good enough. Submit Columbo impressions in MP3 format and maybe you could save the One Minute Mystery. Are you willing to help out Columbo?

Anyway, the news is great that we have a sponsor for the next 8 weeks (and hopefully longer) but this obviously means our horizons are changing as well. Tell us what you think please.

-- Chris

Episode #118: Mailbag!

MAIN TOPIC

Scott's on a speed-round tour of Texas, so it's time to dip into the Mailbag to answer questions from our fine, fine listeners. Click here to listen to the show:

Why would you NOT sit down at a $100 no-limit table where the whole table has bigger stacks?

Sure, there's lots of money to win, but the big stacks can make it very difficult for you to get it. if you're a gambler, it can pay off, but given the choice, we'll take a brand new table.

We're wondering if you guys know when you'll be at the World Series of Poker in 2008?

Check back with us when the schedule is released (this year it was in January).

Does you know what the laws are in the Tampa area for holding a poker tournament for charity?

A good first step is to check with the law enforcement agency that patrols the area where you'll hold the tournament. Also, check with the manager of your local B&M room.

There used to be an Ante Up Night on FullTilt on Thursdays. Does that still happen?

It's kind of faded away, though you can always post on the forum that you want to get together.

What do they do with the old chips from the World Series of Poker?

A recent USA Today article said Harrah's keeps them, for at least a few years. After that, we're not sure.

Will there ever be an Ante Up "play money" tournament?

Probably not, unless we're forced into it by changing laws or conditions.

One player has A-4, the other A-K. With a board of 10-10-7-7-A, the dealer calls a split pot, but then realizes that A-K is the winner. Is this right?

Yup. Cards speak, not dealers.

What's the best way to local Ante Up chapters started?

Post on the forum. We'd love to have an army of local chapters!

What is a good amount for a "feeler bet"?

A third of the pot is a nice benchmark.

How do I go about getting a poker mentor?

It's not easy. Best strategy is likely to identify and befriend a good player at your local cardroom and ask he/she to help you.

When Chris was playing his SNG blind, did he win many "big" pots?

Nope.

In a $1/$2 no-limit home game, the big blind announces all-in before the hand and puts $15 out. Can he does this?

Nope. He's free to push all-in when it's his turn, or even to announce that he plans to, but if anyone wants to enter the pot before then, it's still $2.

OTHER TOPICS

Second Life: Turns out, banning gambling caused an economic shift for the good people of the Second Life virtual community, much like it does in the real world.

Bots!: A USA Today article details how some very bad people are using poker bots - but not to fleece people like you and me at the table. No, they "train" these bots to play poorly, so they'll dump their money (gleaned from stolen credit cards) to a "good" player at the table.

Video game training: The Poker Academy 2 program that we got for attending the World Series of Poker Academy is actually pretty cool. You can play in pretty good simulations from one-table satellites to a WSOP Main Event.

New books: We haven't read these, but they sound interesting: Sit 'N Go Strategy (Collin Moshman), Professional No-Limit Hold 'Em Volume 1 (Ed Miller/Sunny Mehta/Matt Flynn) and The Game Day Poker Almanac Official Rules of Poker (Kelli Mix). If you want us to get any of these authors on the show, let us know. 

Tampa Bay Poker Replay: Some players at Derby Lane tried to get a 5-card draw game going this month. That got us thinking to strategy for this largely dead game. Here's a good primer from Michael Wiesenberg on Card Player's site.

One Minute Mystery: We fold, an Ace hits on the flop, and we would have taken down a big pot.

HAND OF THE WEEK

Patrick from Baltimore shares with us a hand that came up during his recent no-limit hold'em MTT win at the Taj Mahal. (Congrats!)

He's in the big blind with 10s-4d, and calls a min raise to see a flop with four players.

The flop: 8s-9c-Jd.

Patrick checks, the raiser bets about a fifth of the pot, he calls and three see the turn.

The turn: 2d.

Patrick checks again, the raiser bets an eighth of the pot, he calls and three see the river.

The river: 7s.

Patrick bets slightly more than a third of the pot, the raiser reraises all-in a bit more and the other player folds in disgust. Patrick calls and takes down the pot against a set of 8s.

Had we called the preflop bet (and we're not saying we would have), we would have been more aggressive on later streets, taking a chance that we could take the pot down or complete our straight if not. But we think Patrick's opponent's play was far worse. A min raise with pocket 8s? A tiny bet into a scary board with bottom set? Kids, don't try that at home. Or anywhere.

- SCOTT

Poker fodder

SAME OL DOLLY: Remember back when we had Jennifer Harman on the show? No? Here's the link. We asked her about Doyle Brunson and how in his first Super System he says he doesn't think women should be at the poker table. But then now he asks Harman to write his updated Limit Hold Em chapter in Super System 2. She said basically that she likes to think that times have changed and that Doyle has much more respect for the female player these days. I got all warm and fuzzy when I heard that. But then I watched the WSOP last night, and saw Brunson's daughter on there. She asked Doyle to back her in the main event and he turned his own daughter down because he said "It was a crapshoot." (Is Doyle hanging around Paboo?) Can you believe this? This is a man who (as my wife said) will bet $50K on the color of his snot when he blows his nose, but he won't give his daughter $10K for the main event? I was absolutely thrilled when she outlasted EVERY Brunson on the planet in that tournament and even won a last-longer bet with Todd. We'll have to ask him about that when he finally gets on our show someday (soon hopefully). But for Doyle to bet hundreds of thousands of dollars on Todd and his friends and even golf, and deprive his daughter a $10K buy-in was plain sad.

RESPONSIBLE GAMING: Remember my plan to set my limits on FTP to something manageable? Well, Full Tilt's function doesn't work like that. It basically is a way for you to say "DON'T LET ME PLAY FOR XX HOURS!" but it can't limit how much you can lose. I think PokerRoom has that option, but FTP doesn't. So much for that plan.

BACK IN THE SADDLE: I played extremely low-limits last night and quit when I doubled my buy-in. I played just about every game, but had my most success in Razz and Pot Limit Omaha Hi. I'm just going to have to grind it out online and try my different tactics on there at the low limits and then try it out in the home game and live at the local card rooms.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: We'll have a big announcement soon, maybe as early as tomorrow, but defintely by next week. Not sure if you are going to like it. Stay tuned.

-- Chris

N.C. players arrested

In a raid in North Carolina, WPT and WSOP champ Michael Gracz and pro Chris Bell were arrested among 71 other gamblers. Authorities seized roughly $71K. Here is the link. Talk about a bad beat. Apparently it wasn't just poker that was being invaded, but also blackjack and roulette. Gracz was issued a misdemeanor, so no biggie, and he was arrested in a similar fashion back in 2004.

-- Chris

Is tonight the night?

I have a feeling by the time tonight's coverage of the World Series of Poker Main Event is over you will see our good buddy Lee Childs on TV. If you paid real close attention lately you could see him in the background (his shiny bald head was gleaming) but I'm hoping we get to see him in action at the tables tonight at some point. Tune in to ESPN at 8 p.m. ET to see if our Ante Up! National makes his debut!!!

-- Chris

Weekend wrapup.

(WARNING: LONG POST COMING, BUT IT'S MY BIRTHDAY SO CUT ME SOME SLACK) I made a complete donk of myself online Friday night, veering away from my low-limit strategy (WHAT AN IDIOT!) and playing too high for my online bankroll. I played with a few of our listeners (SickBrain, and txboot among others) and they got to see me in all my donktakular glory. I was running fairly well in NLHE and Stud/8 at the lower limits, I even think txboot saw me leave with a profit. But then I started feeling confident and dropped like 40 units playing 3-6 Stud/8. That ticked me off because I started thinking about how big my bankroll was instead of playing my game. What an idiot!

HERE'S SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY: On a whim I tried depositing with my bank card and it worked. Full Tilt treated it like any other transaction and even sent me an email confirming it with a number for verification for my records. So, if you have a Visa Check Card you might be able to fund your accounts.

RESPONSIBLE GAMING: I really think I need to explore this FTP feature to stick with my plan of playing only low limits online. It's not that I have a gambling problem so don't be calling G.A. on me and don't write a letter to my mom. LOL! The reason for it is I don't have enough money online to deal with the natural swings for the limits I'd like to play. And I don't want to put too much money online for fear of this unstable climate. But if I set the limit at something like 20 units then that gives me four 5-unit buy-ins for the lowest level stud cash games or two 10-unit buy-ins at the lowest level NLHE games. And if I have 200 units in my account then 20 units would be 10% of my online roll, so that's in keeping with what pros tell you is a good plan for money management.

HOME GAME: Scott was out of town so Kyle hosted on Saturday. I was up a little in the beginning but ultimately stayed around the even mark for the first three hours. Then I kept getting drawn out on in 2-7 Triple Draw. Here's an example: I'd make a smooth 9 after my second draw (IN POSITION), stand pat when others were still drawing TWO on their final draw and I'd bet out when it was checked to me and then get called by an 8-7. They drew two and made an 8! It happened like four times, and when you're playing 2-4 that adds up. A few Stud/8 hands killed me, too, starting with four to a wheel (A-2-5-3 and 2-3-4-5) and never getting there either way, etc. My initial 100-unit buy-in was depleted to 27 units at one point. So I bought 80 more units from Fasso, who was up a bunch at this point, and then I called NLHE with NO CAP. I won a few smallish pots to get on a roll and then a pure bluff on one hand got me back to almost even. Here it is:

While UTG I raised to 6 (or was it 10?) units with 10d-6d and got two callers. The flop came Ad,Qd,Xx. I bet 10 units and got one caller, Kyle. The turn was the Jh. I checked and so did he. The river was a blank and I knew I couldn't win without a bet. This was one of those hands where you HAVE to play the player and not the cards. Kyle had been down all day and had bought in for another 20 units. His check behind me told me he had a hand that was OK, but that he was hoping to show it down. He had built his stack back up to like 50-60 units from that 20-unit rebuy and I knew he didn't want to go bust again. So I pushed. He said, "I can't do that." and turned over ... THE COSENZA!!! A-10!!! He ought to know better than to play my hand against me!!! LOL!!

After the hand Fasso said my check on the turn was a giveaway that I missed, but when Kyle knuckled behind me I knew I could steal the pot away. I was thinking my check would mean I made a huge hand and didn't want to scare him off (Kyle later confirmed he thought I made two pair and was trapping, which was why he checked the turn as well). Maybe I played it wrong, and yes I know, what was I doing raising UTG with 10-6 sooted? Trying to get unstuck, that's what. If a diamond fell on the turn or river there's NO WAY they put me on 10d 6d.

So that was a pot that got me back to about even on the day and then my rush came, winning three huge pots in 2-7 with a 7-6, 7-5 and 7-6. By the time we were done I was the second-largest winner on the day, posting a 50-unit profit. Not huge, but it was a wash with my online losses.

Gambit was up big for most of the day (he even bluffed me on the end in 2-7 on one hand with a pair) but as Mike the Mouth says: The poker gods giveth and the poker gods taketh away. Gambit ultimately secured a 5-unit profit, but you could tell he wasn't happy when he left.

Fasso had a tidy win going all day, but tightend up to secure his profit and I exposed that. He even tried to rat hole but I caught him. (LOL!! And he's the one who complained about rat-holers when he was on the show). It was a running joke for the rest of the session and I'm fairly certain he was just tucking his money away because he didn't think he'd need it. But in the end he needed every penny, sinking below his initial 100-unit buy-in before realizing he better play his normal game to get back above sea level, which he did, securing a small win.

Fasso, Kyle and I played three-handed in the end, and two interesting hands came up during NLHE. Kyle, with about 35-units left, raised to 6 units UTG. Fasso folded and I smooth called with KQo. I really wanted those chips because I wanted to make a profit. I was hoping to hit the flop and then push all-in. Since I had made the big bluff on him earlier I was hoping he'd have a hand like K-10 or Q-10 and would hit our mutual card and call my bet no matter what. Sure enough the flop came King high and I pushed. He called with K-J and I felted him.

RUNNING IT TWICE: The last hand I'll mention brought up a situation that doesn't happen too often in our game. No Limit doesn't get called a lot, and when it does there are very few all-ins preflop. Well, UTG, three-handed I picked up AJs and raised to 6 units. Kyle folded and Fasso went into one of his routines where I know he has a massive hand. He started fidgeting with his chips, making this big production of it all, saying he's gonna raise and then counting every chip he had, etc.

And then I made him make a mistake. Though his act told me he had a big hand, I didn't know just how big until I said "I'm gonna have to do this aren't I?" He said "What?" and he stopped counting his chips. "I said I can't believe this is three-handed and busted my butt to make a profit and now I'm gonna have to go through this with you. Just make your raise please." And that's when he started to really stack up a HUGE raise. That was everything I needed to know. He really thought I was going to call him or put him all-in, so he wanted to make it large enough where he'd get a good pot out of it and he'd make me have to pay a hefty price to see a flop. This told me he HAD to have KK or QQ, maybe JJ because he didn't want me to see a flop for cheap and hit an ace if I had AK or AQ. If he had AA he would've just made it 20 to go or 18ish because there's nothing to be afraid of and a paltry 6 units was not what he wanted to win with AA. But he counted out either 30 or 40 more units and raised confidently. I turned over AJ and said "Sorry, can't do it cuz you have to have KK." He turned over KK and said "Nice read." The session pretty much ended after that.

Now, the title of this last entry was RUNNING IT TWICE. We never do that because the occasion almost never arises. But if I had thought about it I might've asked (if I put him all-in and he called) would he run two full boards. If he would've agreed to that I might've called or shoved. But since I was convinced he had one of my cards dominated I didn't want to race for my whole stack on three outs. Turns out I would've hit an ace on the turn and busted him for a huge pot and profit. Oh well.

Do any of you run it twice when facing all-ins?

-- Chris

Poker academy article

Here's a link to a a New York Times article on the World Series of Poker Academy and WPT Boot Camps.

Ante Upper Lee Childs is quoted, as is Ante Up guest Joe Navarro and Tampa player Donny Campbell.

- SCOTT

Epsiode #117: Resolutions Revisited

MAIN TOPIC

We're a bit late on this, but hey, our excuse is that we've given you lots of good shows. (You buying it? Really? That's awesome!) We spend this show looking back at our New Year's poker resolutions from Show #83, and it turns out, we did pretty darn well. To hear this week's show, click here.

CHRIS

1. Go to Vegas! - SUCCESS
2. Play in a B&M tournament that is NOT hold'em - FAILURE (sort of)
3. Try to qualify for the WPT event at Foxwoods - FAILURE (sort of)
4. Get his family to play anything but NL hold'em SNGs - SUCCESS!
5. Return to Internet poker - SUCCESS!

SCOTT

1. Play in a big event - SUCCESS!
2. Not make televised poker appointment viewing - SUCCESS!
3. Learn to use a software program like PokerTracker - FAILURE
4. Become a bigger part of the Tampa Bay poker community - SUCCESS!
5. Meet more listeners/persuade Chris to do an Ante Up Meetup - SUCCESS!

OTHER TOPICS

Beer: A big thank-you to Aquaman, who home brewed Ante Up Ale! What other podcast has its own beer?

TV: A new season of High Stakes Poker is on tap, a new episode of Poker After Dark premieres Monday (Chris' birthday - buy him something so I won't have to) and the big question is: Will Chris' cable not go out like it did when he had pocket Aces?)

Pavarotti: Turns out, the famous tenor was a poker player. Pretty cool.

Tampa Bay Poker Replay: Congrats to Chris, who won a satellite for Derby Lane's big $550 event at the end of the month. We chat a little bit about strategy for this unique event, where you start with 10K in chips, are break-deprived and face a field with a number of comped entries, courtesy of high hand jackpots. Do you start slow, or do you try to pick off the dead money before others do?

HAND OF THE WEEK

Stuart of Washington, D.C., sends us a Pot Limit Omaha hand. (Awesome!) In the small blind, he calls a min raise with Kh-Qs-8h-2d. (We would have folded - the cards don't connect well, and we're out of position). A staggering eight players see a flop of Ks-Qh-9d, and with our top two pair, Stuart bets out $5 into a $16 pot and gets three callers. (We would have pushed or check-called if the bet was small, but admit either play is risky). The turn is the 10h. Stuart pushes, gets two callers and loses the pot to two made Broadways when the river offers no help.

Our advice: In Omaha, you're often up against the nuts, and playing weak holdings out of position forces you into very tough situations. Play only premium holdings from poor position.

- SCOTT

One Minute Mystery: The Case of the Sinus Pressure

We're in an online multi NL Hold'em tournament, with a field of strong players. We're two spots from the money, with blinds of 800/1,600 and antes of 200.

The short stack pushes all in for about 10,000, and the big stack at the table calls from the button.

In the small blind, we look down to see Ah-Kh. With 16,000 in chips left, what do we do?

Ever have one of these nights?

I have to admit I went on quite the online skid just before my final table in the AIPS Stud/8 event. I was playing like a donk and not being patient. If you've been reading this blog from the beginning you'll remember my post about getting off my game and always trying for the home run. That was sort of what I was trying to do just before my AIPS cash, except I was doing it with crap moves and even worse cards.

I wouldn't say this is another epiphany, but as I entered that AIPS event I decided I should just go back to my roots and play small stakes, small ball online. That's how I built my bankroll, and that's how I have now recovered a serious portion of the aforementioned skid. Mostly I buy-in for the max, but ALWAYS at the smallest limits possible. Then I just expose bad players. I'll leave the bigger buy-ins and bigger stakes for when I play live (which I did tonight, winning a seat in the Derby Lane 500 @ $500  tournament at the end of this month... more on that later).

Did you ever have one of those nights where you feel like the Poker Gods are making up for all of the suckouts and bad beats in one session? Like, "I better play every pot because I'm getting hit in the head with the deck!"

Tonight was that night. After winning that seat I was feeling pretty confident so I logged on to FTP when the wife went to sleep. I wasn't going to let my confidence sway me to play higher limits. I wanted to stay disciplined. But I had this one thought: If I win the first hand, I'll have a good session. Here was my first hand, and it says Hand 2, but I waited for the BB:

ravens4Life would absorb the brunt of my rush, but wait till my hand with dawgsalltheway. Three of the next five hands I would've flopped trips or two pair, so I decided to call a small raise from the button on the hand below: Hand #8

Again, ravens4life called my pot-sized be on the flop and then folded to my half-sized pot bet on the turn. Just 4 hands later in the BB I raised and got three callers. Here's Hand #12.

After this flop I didn't like the straight and flush draws so I bet pot and got one caller. When the queen fell I bet pot again and took it down. Two hands later I got 88 and raised 3X on the button. Here it is:

Despite flopping a set this was a scary board. They checked to me and I bet a little more than the pot. They all folded. Then I folded my blinds, which was followed by a rare disconnection for two hands. Hand #22 I limped and here it is:

I checked the flop, hoping to check-raise, but everyone checked. So now when the turn came a spade I checked again. Finally ravens4life made a small bet and everyone called. I didn't raise because I had what was likely the nuts. I didn't give the straight flush any credence. Finally on the river I woke up and bet the pot, hoping to God someone had an 8. He raised me pot and I pushed. He called. I busted him twice in 22 hands.

And then came the last hand I played: Hand #26. I had been staring at the big stack of dawgsalltheway the whole time, wondering if I would get involved with him. Do you ever get those negative thoughts in your head? Like, "I just know when I pick up aces the one guy who has me covered will suck out and take all of my profit." Let me explain the action. Despite all of these pots I won (and I NEVER lost a pot at showdown) this guy still had me covered. From UTG he min-raised to 20 cents. Devinewind called and I look at my pocket rockets. I made it $2. I like to overbet these big hands online because they usually think I have something like 10-10 or worse. It folded to this guy and he pushed. I instacall and I prayed to the Poker Gods to continue shining on me. Please no KING! Here's the hand history:

What? A suckout after a suckout? And I was the recipient?? Wow!!! After this he proceeded to call me names and I just kept typing in: JUSTICE! over and over.

Even though I quintupled my buy-in in 20 minutes, it still only added up to the price of one SNG. Did I mention I won the SNG tonight for a seat at Derby Lane's massive tournament at the end of the month? $250,000 prize pool with $75K on top. I hope I get hit with the deck like this then.

-- Chris

High Stakes Poker

Do you think you could be the commentator for High Stakes Poker? If someone asked me to fill in for AJ Benza I could do it no sweat, I'm already Italian, I have a gut, and I have the ability to grow a short beard. But what about Gabe Kaplan? Aside from the references he makes that no one gets because he's stuck in 1953, Gabe's a pretty good analyst. I don't know if I have enough confidence in my poker to be able to tell a national audience that "Antonio is thinking Laak is on a draw here and that's why he's betting the pot." Or "Erick Lindgren is seeing something that isn't there." How does he know that's what they're thinking?

And then what about after the show airs? Does Gabe get guff from the players because his assumptions/comments are WAY off? I could easily see these players going to the producers of the show and saying "Gabe is whack! He's making bad comments, reads, etc." And then Gabe has to deal with that all of the time.

I often wonder if anyone would ever approach Scott and me to do something like that, like the Heartland Poker Tour or whatever, and I wonder what our answer would be. It wouldn't be as easy as it seems. Admittedly there are a lot of times when I'm talking to the TV saying "What? He has 7 outs, not 9!!!" or something like that, but I have to remember it's not easy. And I understand that there's some editing time so you can really think about the important comments, but most of High Stakes analysis is taped live, so you can look pretty foolish.

Think you got what it takes?

-- Chris

A good weekend for poker

It was a fairly eventful weekend of poker, and it was all good. As I mentioned on the show I was so looking forward to playing in Gambit's home game on Friday night and I socked a way a tidy little profit. But first the fun stuff.

It was the first time I had seen Gambit since he won his BANANA way back in June, so I got to present it to him in person. There was no ceremony, no confetti, no six-piece brass band tooting in the background, just me, Gambit and a 97-cent plastic banana. Of course once I affixed that Photoshopped label to that yellow tube the 97-cent banana became priceless. Oh, and Gambit is NOT that much taller than me as this image seems to indicate. I think he's closer to the camera and I'm kinda scrunched down, bowing in the presence of banana greatness. LOL!

But after that presentation Gambit had a surprise for me (and for Scott, but he was too busy flying to Ohio to follow his Suckeyes). It seems one of our fans, Aquaman, is a little chip off the ol' Samuel Adams block. Gambit reached into his fridge and pulled out a six-pack of ANTE UP! ALE!!! Aquaman makes his own beer, and he affixed labels on the front that say "Ante Up! Ale. IT'S THE NUTS!!!"

Here's the letter that accompanied it:

Scott,
Here is the beer. Now Ante Up! Nation has the most important thing to be a country according to Frank Zappa ... a beer!!!
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airlline. It helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Enjoy!

-- Aquaman

So Aquaman has officially made us a country! Thanks man! And if it helps, I can play quarterback for our football team. Gambit and Blonk will have to get started on the nukes. And if there are any farmers out there I can sure go for a tall glass of your best white, vintage 2007. Cowjuice rules! I'll be keeing one beer for a conversation piece, Gambit drank one (his review can be found in the Raymond James newsletter) and I'll give the rest to my co-host to swill as he watches Ohio State fall from grace this season.

Now, on to the poker. I played pretty tight during the cash games, only playing quality starting hands, and that always pays off in home games because people are always too happy to chase. But one stud hand really perplexed me. A new guy to the game, who used to be a regular but I hadn't ever met him, called stud. On the third hand or so I picked up (QQ) A. After the bring-in posted it got folded to me and I completed since there wasn't a card higher than my queens behind me. I got two callers, one of them being the "new" guy with a jack doorcard. On 4th street I bricked, but the two remaining players bricked, too, and I was first to act so I bet. They both called. New guy had gotten a 5. So on 5th street I made aces-up while another rag fell for caller No. 1 The new guy got something like a 2. So his board was J-5-2. I bet two units and the first caller finally folded, but the new guy called. On sixth I missed the boat (but it's a king) and new guy picked up a 10. I bet out and he called. River was a blank for me but I bet out. At this point he raised me! So I stared at his board and thought "Was he slow-playing trips? What the hell?" No way I fold for one more bet so I call. HE MADE BROADWAY!!! and he filled a gut shot on the river to do it. When the hand was over he said something like "I was holding out for that king and got it on the river." WOW!!! How do you go the distance there with NOTHING while I have aces showing. I completed on third so for all he knew I could have easily had at least trips. The only thing he could have caught to beat me was a straight, and even then he could've been drawing dead. That shocked me. They say you're a losing player if you chase in stud, so this play made me happy in that I know who to target next time.

I won't bore you with the rest of the hands that ticked me off because I won the most in the cash games so how can I really complain? But Gambit was the culprit both times.

In the post-cash-game SNG, I got shortstacked fairly early when I tried to push Snuffy off his hand with a flush draw and he called with a pair of deuces and flush draw of his own. My flush draw was higher, but it didn't get there so his ducks stood up. He had to dodge about half the deck twice, but that's cool. I rallied to get to a fairly decent stack and then came the hand that made me feel terrible. I was still somewhat short when I was in the BB with 2-2. Fasso was in the SB and Gambit brought it in 3X on the button. Fasso just called so I figured I might be able to squeeze them out with a shove. Gambit folded and Fasso called with 6-6. Doh! But when I hit my two-outer on the river I literally felt ill. I despise suckouts, and I usually get my money in good, so when I'm behind like that it almost never happens for me. When it did I just knew how Fasso must have felt. But he was very gracious, something I'm not capable of yet.

I survived until the bubble (4 players left) and I had been shoving on Fasso all night to survive, but I never got out of that "short stack" mode. That was my downfall. He kept limping and I kept shoving. Finally I did it one time too many, and I really didn't need to. I could've done the ol' stop-n-go play with position, but I chose to push with A-8. He deliberated for a long time and I had some fun with him, telling him if he's taking this long I must be ahead, etc. He was insistent that I had only king-high and he finally called with  ... A-9!!! Very nice call, though I think I would've called quicker than that. Could I suck out again? Almost, as I picked up a gutshot on the turn, but it wasn't meant to be. I have to admit I was literally freerolling and wasn't disappointed that Fasso KO'd me because that bounty was rightfully his and I had no right being there.

Fasso now has won our monthly SNG 3 out of the past 5 times and sits atop our league standings. He did pick up some massive hands at very opportune times, but he played very well, ultimately knocking out Paboo with QQ, as you can see by the picture above. And, if you look real close you can see Fasso actually becoming drunk with power.

So I went home a winner and then played a short session online, doubling my buy-in in Stud/8. On Saturday I had a very good day online and there's something else, but I'll save that for later in the week.

-- Chris