I'm a break-evener!!!

Lots of poker to talk about, and with Scott in Biloxi I figured I may as well post this now instead of talking about it on the show. This post is kinda long.

I nearly defended my title Friday night at Gambit's home game (I finished second for a decent cash; more on that later). On Saturday, Big Dave from Ohio (pictured), the man directly responsible for getting Kenna James on our show way back in the day, came to town and we met up for some poker at Derby Lane. Remember, he was our AIPS Limit Hold 'Em champ from last year, so when we got to Derby Lane I thought he might want to play limit, but he said "Let's play NLHE baby!" And I'm sure he's glad he did. He walked away with 3X his buy-in. I, on the other hand, had another one of those roller-coaster rides that I bring up on this blog so often.

I honestly don't know how to play the people at Derby Lane anymore. It was very frustrating, and since Dave was there for every gruesome hand, he can attest to my frustration. Here's an example: I'm UTG with Q♥Q♦ (absolutely the best hand I had all day) and since the blinds are $1-2, I made it $12 to go. Are you saying to yourself: "You should make it $6-8, Chris" or maybe "You should make it $15-20 Chris."? Ha! Why am I laughing? Well, a raise to $6-8 makes ZERO people fold. And a raise to $15-20 still makes almost no one fold. Plus, do I really want to risk 20% of my buy-in on a raise in early position? I mean, I almost can't get away from the hand after that point. Also, remember one of my earlier posts about making it $20 to go UTG with aces at Derby Lane? Click here if you don't remember that debacle. So I made it $12 and the button and BB called. At this point I don't know where I am in the hand but I have a feeling the button has connectors (he was a calling station) and the BB I couldn't really tell what he had, maybe Ax? He was new to the table, but I could tell he was loose. So the flop came: J♦K♥K♦. The BB checked and I put out a feeler bet of $15. Both players called. So this gave me no info. Someone could have a jack, someone could have a straight draw, someone could have smooth-called with a king. So when the turn came a blank 3♣. I didn't know what to do. I thought, "If I fire into this pot again and someone has a K I'm dead." So the BB checked, I checked and the button checked. Cool, now I know I'm ahead because unless someone had KJ or JJ they wouldn't risk giving another free card with two diamonds and two to Broadway. I was convinced no one had a king. So the river was the 4♦. The BB checked and, knowing Derby Lane players, I was afraid of the diamonds, so I checked and so did the button. OK, put them on hands.

The button had J♣10♥ and the BB had 2♦7♦.

I lost it.

Normally (and I know the Nation won't believe this but it's true) I never say anything derogatory at the table. In home games I do sometimes, but that's because those are my friends and I can be myself (an obnoxious dolt), but at a cardroom I tend to just tap the table or roll my eyes. However, on this hand I just lost it. And the guy was a big dude with massive tattoos, too. I don't know what I was thinking because he could have handed me my head if he wanted to. But I just said "Dude, are you (insert expletive here) kidding me? I made it $12 to go UTG?" He laughed and said "They were sooted, and I was actually thinking about reraising you preflop." That made me laugh as he was joking and I kinda calmed down after that. (Though I didn't drop a few more choice words that made the dealer warn me and I apologized). I'm a firm believer in not tapping on the glass and at least Dave was the recipient of this donk's poor play, felting him at least once with the nuts.

There were a series of hands like that one where I knew I was WAY ahead but either got handcuffed by a scary board that fell their way, or they would suck out on me. One more quick hand: I had $27 left of my initial buy-in as four players limped ahead of me. I looked down at 10♣10♠. So I pushed, because I didn't want to race an entire table of limpers. One guy called me with J♥10♦. Flop came Q9X and he turned an 8. Unreal. At one point I was down $165 and all I had were the $25 in chips on the table. I had no more money with me. But I gambled with Q♦8♦ and got it all in there with a flush draw. Two callers tripled me up when I turned the A♦. I later doubled up again with trip 9s and eventually was up $5 on the day. In the end, with Dave there, I wanted to play a few more hands because I knew he had to leave soon and didn't want to just fold, so I leaked a few chips and finished down $16 on the day. Not too bad and we had a lot of fun. It could've been worse.

As for Gambit's home game that was another case of up-and-down. I was treading around even all during the cash-game portion. The final call of the evening fell on me and I wanted to play Deuce-to-7 Triple Draw Lowball, but we had 8 players and that wouldn't be a wise choice as too many players would have to sit out on each hand, and with this being the final game of the night before the tournament I didn't think that would be fair, so I just called NLHE. During Razz, Stud/8 and Stud I picked up NO HANDS and literally just watched the antes eat my stack. I never won a pot in those games. Plus people kept calling O8B, which I hate. So when NLHE had been called earlier I made back all of my money on two occasions. I figured why not call it again?

UTG+2 I got K♣Q♥. Gambit's structure for NLHE is two $.25 blinds and a $20 cap. So I brought it in for a $1.25 raise. I got two callers, including Snuffy (aka NewScott). The flop: Q♣8♣Q♠. I bet out $4. The player on my immediate left (I'll call him B since I don't know if he wants his name on here) called and then Snuffy capped it. I immediately called and then "B" went into the tank. What could he have? Flush draw? A worse Q? A better Q? During his deliberation Snuffy says "Don't flip your cards over right away if he folds." This meant he wanted to see if I wanted to run it twice, which we NEVER have done. I wasn't too sure I appreciated him saying that as my response and his question could've revealed to B the strength of our hands. But I said I'm not running it twice. I assumed Snuffy had a flush draw and was gambling. B finally said "I can't lay this down; I call." He had 88! Wow, I guess I give him a lot of credit for taking his time and thinking it through, but on the other hand, it's like $14 to win $60 and he has a boat!!! So I needed a K or a Q. The turn was a 3 and I didn't pair up on the river. It was easily the largest pot in Gambit's home game ever. Snuffy said he had QJ and mucked, then later told someone he had KQ, so I think he had a flush draw. HA!

So after that cooler I HAD to come in at least second in the tournament to score a profit, and I did. I had a 2-1 chip lead on one of our new players from TiltMonkey, and I was close to putting him away, but he flopped a set of jacks and in the end his full house was larger than mine. After that I gambled with J♥8♥ and he had J♦9♦. He flopped a straight-flush draw but I paired my 8. He made a Q-high flush to end it on the turn. So I won $8 on the night. God, I hate that, but it's better than losing, and I'm actually proud of the way I buckled down and turned a profit.

Online I won $8 playing a variety of games Saturday and Sunday, including HORSE with some Ante Uppers. So I broke even on the weekend. Maybe someday I'll finish UP for a weekend again.

-- Chris

Comments

[Erik]

Players out at Derby are so streaky. When you have Q,Q you always want a call from 7,2 but it just sucks when it hits. When I saw you Saturday I had Kings 3 times and Aces once within twenty minutes and I never really got a call. I ended up $5! Chris, I can only find a good Stud8 game out there on Wednesday nights.

[Chris Cosenza]

I agree on the QQ vs. 27, but it still burns my butt.

I played in that Stud/8 game there twice, but I have to stay away from it because the structure is horrible. How can you have a $2 ante, a $2 bring-in, and only $2 bets the rest of the way? It defeats the purpose of everything that is Stud/8, especially 5th street on. So I just play it in the home game or online. If they change the structure to a spread game or normal structure I'll play when I get the chance. Of course it's been a while since I've played it there, have they changed it?

[Gambit]

We had one other $60 pot at the home game a couple months back. Fasso and I both had aces, Steve had queens, it got capped preflop and Steve caught a queen. Rigged!

[Gambit]

Oh I mean units not dollars.

[Chris Cosenza]

Ha! I wasn't there that week. No wonder. Seems like ALL poker is rigged lately. 8-)

[Dan]

While I must claim the players that you mentioned, I won't claim that Stud/8 spread. It has always been a $.50 ante and $2 straight betting. That structure remained after the limit changes because the "George Crew" love it. They are a tight knit group of customers that have been coming in since the $.25 - $.50 days and just enjoy playing poker at Derby. With the new limits, we added a no-ante $1-$5 spread Stud/8. Unfortunately it doesn't have the same following, so it is not a staple game.

[Chris Cosenza]

Yeah, I knew the old salts had something to do with that. I thought the spread game was just straight stud. I'd play it if it were running when I got there, but I have been pretty busy so haven't had too much of a chance to go down there. Dan, thanks for updating us. And ask Jeff if he got my email today.

[Erik]

Yea the Stud8 game has a $.50 ante. I know that George guy you're talking about. He's a terrible player but he's there every day. He pulls out so much money. I'm not sure of the State's rules, but could they spread a HORSE or HOSE game if there was enough people interested?

[Erik]

Dan, do you deal at Derby?

[JLBSox]

Chris,
Seems like when you play with Ante Uppers at Card Rooms they always do well. We'll have to play some more at Foxwoods :-)

[Chris Cosenza]

Yeah yeah, I know.

[Snuffy]

I did not have a flush draw. It was one of the other two hands. Or it was KK, I'll let you guess.

[Joe]

What's with a feeler bet? You gave 72s nice odds to draw out on you. He made a small pre-flop mistake in hopes that you would make a bigger post-flop mistake. Of course he missed some value on the river, but that's not what we are talking about.

Make a real bet on the flop and shove the turn. If somebody has a K then so be it, but in a loose game like this QQ is the nuts on that flop.

I don't mind geting 2 folds on that board with QQ and I don't mind stacking off 50 bbs with QQ either.

[analscott from michigan]

Chris, no offense but you deserved that beat. Betting 15.00 into 37.00 pot is weak. Checking the turn and giving free card is inexcusable. I actually do agree with the check on the end. At that point the damage was done.

[Chris Cosenza]

Hey Joe and Scott in Mich., thanks. I might've shoved had I not had a guy call me the last time I did that with an open-ender that got there, or the time before when I had AA and the guy called a $20 raise with 43o and flopped two pair. At this table, a K was a very real possibility. I bet nearly half the pot. But I agree, I should've bet three-quarters of the pot at least, like $25. But this guy was going nowhere no matter what I did on the flop, and I actually lose more that way. That's what I meant by the players there now, I don't know what to bet. If I overbet, they flop the nuts. If I underbet they draw out. I feel lost there lately. As for not betting the turn, I guess it's weak, but I really thought they might be slow-playing a king by two smooth calls. Oh well. I was definitely gunshy. No offense taken. It's why I posted, to get advice. Thanks guys.

Snuffy: I believe you had a draw or QJ because there's no reason not to show your cards there. But once you saw he had a boat already and I had you beat you mucked. That's what I'm guessing. I KNOW you didn't have KK because I raised preflop and B called. You would NEVER let two players race against you with KK there. THAT I do know. So you had QJ or AcXc.

[Joe]

"I might've shoved had I not had a guy call me the last time I did that with an open-ender that got there, or the time before when I had AA and the guy called a $20 raise with 43o and flopped two pair."

Chris, you have to let go of a hand after it happens. You know full well that the odds on this given hand are totally unrelated to what happened in the past. Variance can be cruel, but if you consistently make correct decisions you will end up on the positive side over the long haul.

Of course a K is possible, but with 2 kings already out the odds are against it. AA, KK and AK aren't likely (they would repopped pre-flop)and KQ isn't likely given your hand. That leaves KJ which is also unlikely on that board. I'd be more worried if the board had an Ace on it.

Question: On a draw heavy board would you let someone draw if you held a K? What would you bet if you had AK there? How about AQ of diamonds? That's the same bet you need to make with AA, QQ and 99. KJ and JJ are the only hands that checks there. Sure some days the chasers will win, but without them you would not be making near as much profit.

My wife plays a lot of tennis and has read a few books on mental toughness. The thought processes used in those books can be directly applied at the poker table. Playing scared is a sure way to get steamrolled by solid players and it allows weaker players to unknowingly make correct decisions against you.

[Erik]

Gambit, you work at RJ?

[Chris Cosenza]

All very good points Joe, and I have to admit I have been thinking more and more about this hand. I definitely misplayed it and let my past hands affect my play. Pretty donkaholic on my end. Thanks for grounding me. I need to get out and play more.

[Brett Otte]

Just received an email that www.doylesroom.com is open to U.S. players again.

[Rant2112]

This goes right back to the RCG thing. You can't be scared of irrational things. and let them affect your play. This is a hole in your game. Make the draws pay.