The Blur

The Blur.  Today was a good day.  Today was a very very good day for this little project we have here.  After a day like today, you feel like maybe you know something about how to play this game.  I bet out with sets and got someone to believe I had a set when he had AA (I had KK).  It was just a day of days.  The cards fell in the proper place and the chips came my way.

So I find the two black Kings OTB.  I raise it up to 11 and the SB reraises to 25.  I didn't think he was that strong but I was wrong.  The BB also called the raise and the reraise.  The flop comes Qh 9h 4c.  The SB bets out 40.  I didn't think he had AA and he couldn't have gotten that lucky to have QQ.  I don't believe he would have bet out if he had that anyway.  So the BB calls the 40 and I wasn't too scared of him.  I thought he had AQ or KQ but more likely AQ because I had two Kings.  So he called the 40 and then I had a decision.  I was very close to folding the hand when I decided I had the best hand.  I made it 100.  The SB thought for a long while and he said that he thought someone must had a set by now.  When he said that I knew he had AA and I was dying for him to fold.  So he eventually folds.  The BB calls the 60 and the turn is a blank.  A black 3.  He checks and I bet the rest of his chips, about 120.  He called and the river was another blank.  I showed the KK and the BB mucked and the man in the SB slammed his hand on the table, saying he had AA.  WOW.

I had a set of Jacks two times and turned a set of 9's.  I had KK against an all-in bet from the guy who said that no matter what, I was going to be behind.  He said no matter what, he would get his money in good.  He had 10's.  He left.

Today was a very good day and it was kind of a blur in that I don't recall too many of the hands that put me on top.  Sets and big pairs.  I also had a flush with the 68d.  Ok, off to softball.

The TAO

So my big pair lost to a set again.  This is happening all the damn time nowadays.  I had KK 4 times today and I won 2 of the 4. One time, it was the set.  Another time, Ed, the old guy who runs me over, bet me out of it.  The third time, I won a small pot.

The fourth time, I was UTG and raised to 12.  I got 3 callers.  The guy I talked about a while back who said that he was going to just give me the 100 he bet, because he had nothing, was at the table.  He is super aggressive and tries to take pots away.  So he is one of the callers in this pot with the KK.  The flop is KQQ.  I finally seriously have a lock.  I check the flop and everyone checks to aggressive guy who bets 25.  I give him a pretty serious amount of acting before I call his bet.  The turn is a 4, giving the board 3 clubs.  I check it again and so does he.  The river is another 4. I bet right out 75 and he calls fairly quickly.  So this one makes up for the 3 I lost with.  Thank you aggressive guy.

So, before this big hand, I had been dumped on just like the norm for the past week or so.  The set over the KK and a few others.  So I get in this pot to the guy to my left.  He had been getting unlucky and had seen how I played and knew that I wasn't getting the best of breaks either.  He knew I was playing good cards.  So I limp with the 79d.  He raises right behind me to 15. I decide to call after 3 others do, too.  The flop comes down 10c 8c 3s.  I check and he bets out.  Everyone folds to me and I call the bet.  The turn is the 7c.  I like the card because he must think I am drawing and that cards does both draws.  I bet out this time, thinking he must have some pair or A10.  The bet is 15 and he raises me to 50.  He only has about 115 total.  So after that bet of 50, he has around 65 or 70 left.  

I really tank, trying to decide what to do.  The tank isn't too long because after a point, he knows I have nothing.  So I tank for a good amount of time and say, "Let's do the rest of it."  He doesn't insta-call so I know it was at least a decent play.  After a minute he calls.  I obviously don't like it, but if I am even close to where he is with his hand, I should have 13 outs.  Maybe a few less if he has the Ac or a bigger pair with the club of that pair.  So, while I only have one shot at those 13 or so outs, I still thought he would fold a decent amount of time.  So he called and the turn was the 9h.  I say, "You caught me but I hit two pair." He was pissed and while he was getting up from the table he said back to me, "You're not going to last long making calls like that."  I quickly replied, "I didn't call anything."

That was the start of the slow climb back to the top.

Gutters

Back to the gutter after getting run over and over and over.  I'm not sure what to do.  I think I have decided that I'm not bluffing anymore.  I can't afford it.  I gotta play a solid as possible until this streak of ridiculously bad cards ends.  I have just one hand to examine today...

I find KQs from middle position and decide to limp.  The table had been limping a lot so I decided to comply.  There are 6 people to the flop.  The flop comes 8s 8c 3s.  It checks around to the man two seats to my right.  He bets 11.  I make the call. So does the SB, an older gentleman who comes with his buddies on Tuesday and Thursday.  The turn is the Kd.  The SB checks and so does the guy who bet 11.  I decide it's a safe flop to bet.  I bet 30.  The SB now raises me to 80!?  I have to pause for concern here.  This guy had been running well.  Making plays and catching lots of cards.  I didn't have many chips left so there was no chance he would fold an all-in bet.  What could he have?  He called 11 out of position and then check raises the turn?  I don't know.  I didn't know if I was even drawing at all.  I folded it.  Not sure if I made the right play there.

So I get beat up and beat up and get my 400 whittled down to a mere $39.  WOW how bad am I at this game?  So I double up with QQ against the nut flush draw.  I sit there and sit there with nada.  Finally, I'm on the button with 63 bucks left.  People limp around and I find the 8c 8d.  I limp on the button and the SB raises to 11.  Four callers to me and I shove.  The BB calls and that induces one other caller.  The SB shows 44 and the other shows the AQd.  I avoid it all and take down the pot.  I get half my 400 back and that's how the day ends.

Stay

I hope I am here to stay.  Today was a good day.  I flopped a set of K's and then the next hand turned a set of 7's.  I never had any real confrontations.  I did have one though...

I was trying to fold my BB thinking that it was the SB.  I had Q5 and the dealer, Mike, let me keep my hand when I was trying to muck.  The flop comes Q5K.  Check and Texas Julian bets 10.  I call it and everyone talks about how now I must have something.  Ewww.  So yea, I do have a hand.  The turn card is a blank.  Julian bets 15 this time and I call again.  The turn brings another Q, filling me up.  This time I lead out 3o and get paid off.  Not much more happened today.  No big hands.  No AA or KK.

The Potential of You and Me

Friday was a day.  It wasn't really bad and it wasn't really good.  The potential was HUGE.  I finally broke through.  I got some cards, I had a good table, willing to put money in the middle.  The problem about potential is that it isn't anything until it is realized.  I had a down day of only 4 dollars while the potential was around 1200 dollars.  That is a huge amount of unrealized potential.  Here are the hands to break down the day...

The table limps to me in the BB and I find the Ac Kd.  No checking anymore.  I raise it up to $15.  I get two callers.  The flop comes Kd Ks 4d.  I check.  One caller bets out $15.  A fold in late position.  I reraise to $45.  He reraises me.  I insta-movein. He calls, only having to put a few more into the pot.  He asks if I have AK and I say yes.  He shows the K7.  The turn card is the Jd and the river is a 7.  That would be a 4/1 dog beating me in that pot.  For him to win the pot, it was more like 95/5, which is worse.  But if you count his chop outs, then it's more like 4/1.  I had to rebuy.  I'm now in for $400.  If I had won that pot, I would have had $380 in front of me.  Next.

Uri is a drunk who kept taking forever to play his hands.  He would raise with J6 and 92 and everything else you can imagine. He raised to $15 a lot.  On one such occasion, I found AA and min raised him to $30.  He shoved and I insta-called.  He showed down the A4.  A four hit the board, but I won the pot.  Ok, I doubled up and now I'm at $400.

Uri, again does the same thing.  I have KK this time and the same result.  He moved in on the flop and I called.  He did have the nut flush draw but missed.  I added some more to my stack.  I now have $580 in front of me.

A new player came into Uri's spot and acted like he was the king of the table, telling people he would call their all in no matter what.  He wanted to be tough and act like he didn't care.  So, I decided to teach him a lesson. I found QQ and after he raised, I reraised.  He called and the flop came down A64.  That easily, my QQ is cracked.  So I check and he bets out 15.  I call it.  The turn  is a blank.  I check and he bets out 15 again.  While I ponder the call, he says, "Sir, your queens are no good."  I already had a plan in mind but this entrenched it even further.  I call his 15.  The river is another blank.  I stick out 100.  He has only about 85 left.  Now, he says that he thinks I have a set.  So, he looks back at his hand and mucks.  I show him the QQ and say that I guess it is good.  Nice play, he says.

There was this young guy to my left the whole day.  He had long hair and a hoody.  When I sat down, he had $700 in front of him.  After a few hours, he had $39 left.  He lost it when he moved in.  So he was on tilt, hard.  He rebought and we were involved in a pot.  So the guy who called my QQ hand raises.  I find AA again.  I raise it up to $40.  Tiltboy calls rather quickly and so does the other guy.  The flop comes 4J8.  I bet out 75 and tiltboy calls fast.  Fold from the other.  Turn is an 8 and I move in on tiltboy.  He calls instantly with JJ.  Flopped a set.  He was on tilt so hard, I really thought his range was quite large, including KK QQ AJ 10's 9's.  I guess when he called the flop so quickly, I should have had him on a hand.  He knew I had AA.  I think everyone did.  So there was 200 lost.

Let's add it all up.  My initial 200 plus the 180 from AK plus the AA and KK from Uri is another 400 plus the 200 from tiltboy. This equals 980 plus the pots I won not discussed here.  Instead, I play very well and got unlucky.  I didn't find myself on tilt at all.  It was a good feeling.  So the potential was huge and the results were not.  Probably good that it was on a Friday, so I can get over it for Monday.  

Baby You're So Cruel

I forgot to blog yesterday so this is about the last two days.  Yesterday was kinda lame just like the other days have been lately. I didn't get many hands.  Really just one to talk about.  

The Texas guy was to my left and after I limped, he raised to $15.  There were two callers after that and then the action was back to me.  I had limped with the 67c.  It is a modest holding and since there were 3 already in the pot, I decided to join in. The flop was innocuous when it fell 5h 8d 3s.  I was third to act and after the blinds checked, I did too.  Texas guy did not.  He bet $15.  The two blinds called the $15.  So there is a bet and two calls in front of me.  I have $79 left and decided that I played it in such a fashion that they could reasonably put me on a set of 5's.  So, I moved in.  Texas guy was next and thought about it for a while, especially a hard  call with two left to act behind.  He called.  Blinds folded.  My plan had not worked.  There was the back up plan.  The turn was a blank and the river fell the 4c.  As soon as he called, he asked if I had a set and I said no and then I asked him if he had an overpair.  He didn't reply so I can't tell for sure what he had.  I am guessing 10's. He was not happy and when I got to work today, there he was, still in that same orange jacket, grinding away.

So today was going well.  I made a good value bet on the river with AA and got paid.  I think the guy next to me had AJ or KJ.  I bet the flop, he called.  The turn was a J and I bet again and he insta-called.  I said that it was a fast call.  He said he liked his hand.  Playing it a bit to bold for me to believe.  So, on the river I bet 75 and he called.

I ran into some trouble when I raised from UTG with 10's.  I got a few callers and the flop came down 9 high unsuited, unconnected.  I bet it again.  This time, the young Asian guy raised it up.  I know he's a good player, capable of making plays if he thinks I have something like AK.  So I moved in.  He had to deliberate for a minute or two but then called, showing KK.  That was a downer.  I was close to leaving, too.  I added on 100 before I left, just in case I had a hand to play.  

A few hands later, I find 69d on the button and limp.  The tall black guy to my left on the SB raises it up, like he was doing, all the time.  The BB called and so did the man to my right.  The flop was 4710 of diamonds.  The SB bet 15, the man to my right called it and so did I.  Turn was the 9h.  SB bets out 30 this time.  Man to my right moves in for his last 20 and I call the 30. River is a 9s.  The SB bets out 30 again and I raise it up to 80.  He called saying that a flush was good.  And it was.  So the hand I lost was wiped clean after this nice little guy.  Back at it tomorrow.

Mysterious Ways

Today was just like the other days but this time I won a decent amount.  How is this happening?  I flopped one set and rivered a full house, very similar to yesterday.  I flopped a set of 2's and rivered the 8.  Check this out.  The flop was 10c 8c 2h.  I have 2s 2d.  I bet right out.  I can't have donks doing crazy things.  I get a caller, Tommy Lee Jones.  The turn?  What could it be?  A great card, the 7c.  I mean that is brutal.  It goes check check and the river is the 8.  I bet out and got paid.

The other hand was against these two donks.  I have the red 7s.  The flop came out 653.  I bet out 11 and got raised by one of them to 21.  The other cold calls the 21.  I am laughing at there donkness.  They both have about 50 and I just shove out 100. They both call and I river the 4.  HE HAW.

Still a slow day.  I had no hands really.  I didn't have AA KK 10 10 or 99.  I had QQ once and JJ twice.  No AK and AQ once.  I can't wait to break on through to the other side and just bulldoze.  

A Sort of Homecoming

Today was another crap day that happened to show a profit.  I finally flopped my first set and got it all in for a double up.  I also had another full house that paid me off too.  I was real short then so it wasn't huge.  I played the hand great though...

I had Jh 10d in the SB and chose to play.  The flop was the 5s Qs Jc.  I checked and called a smallish bet of about $12, putting him on a flush draw or Q, hoping to avoid or get lucky.  The turn brough the 10c.  I checked and he bet out $45.  I really had to think about it.  At this point, I thought he was acting a bit too tough.  I thought he might not have much at all.  I decided to make the call out of position.  If there was a tough spot in this hand it was right here because I was out of position and wasn't sure what to do.  I didn't want to shove for some reason but now thinking deeper, it was probably the right thing to do.  I just didn't want to lay it down so I called.  So the pot has 90 plus 12 plus 12 more at least equalling around 125.  

The river is the Js.  I filled up nicely.  Now, how do I extract?  I thought this guy was pretty tough, a decent player who knows what he's doing.  I decided to play right into that image of him and bet a smallish, scared amount, that doesn't want to get raised.  I bet $50.  He thought for a while and shoved.  I had $70 left and called.  He was a little upset I didn't call faster.  I had to think for a minute.  I've been running terribly so I wanted to make sure he didn't have Q 10 or QQ.  Either way, there was no way I could fold it.  Nice hand, played well.  

Now, tomorrow is another day that I hope to be able to break though.  I have really had a bad run here and I'm sick of it.  COME ON.

9 Handed

I think something about playing 9 handed at the Horseshoe affects the hands I get.  I seriously have not flopped a set in 18 hours of play.  I have had AA twice.  The profitable hands are just gone.  I hope the losing streak I watched Jim battle through a few weeks ago is not creeping onto me and my bankroll.  Needless to say, I had another losing day.  It was not all a waste though.  

I had a few good bluffs.  One time when the flush card hit on the river, I bet it and he insta-folded. The other was against the red shirted older gentleman.  I had nothing.  The problem is, he caught me later when he had something legit.  I also hit a straight twice.  Got paid once.

I got the tourney coming Sunday.  I think it's going to be good to change it up before Monday.  The tourney is a good to chance to not only get a change of pace by playing a different type of poker but also a good chance to get a change of scenery. Hopefully the losing ways are out of my system and I can take this tourney down.

Grind Me

This is a grind and there is no way around it.  I was battling hard today.  I simply could not break through.  

I picked on this loose aggressive player while he was in a straddle. I raised his straddle with the 8c 10h.  Of course, he called. This might have been my mistake, thinking he would lay a hand down.  So the flop came 9h 3s 5h.  I bet it and he called.  The turn brought the 10s.  I KNEW I was ahead.  I just knew it.  So i shoved the rest of my stack in, about $90.  He insta-called.  I mean instantly, he called.  The turn was the 7h.  He showed the Qh 4h.  I had to rebuy. 

Later, I had the AJ in the cutoff and limped to a 4 handed pot.  The board was J high and the same donk was in the pot against the foreigner and myself.  I got all in again and the foreigner turned a straight.  Donk didn't even show.  

I lost with KQ on a K high board.  The flop was the K92.  Turn a 4.  River a 2.  He showed 42.  It was bruuuutal.  

I finally got dealt AA.  I got them twice but not much action with them.  Never had playable hands, really. I want to play and enjoy playing hands like 89d 56h 78s and the like.  I simply did not have good holdings all day.  I will grind again tomorrow. And the tourney is one day closer...

And sometimes you gotta say please....

Welcome to the fabulous Las Horseshoe.  Today was first day at the new Horseshoe and it was great.  The poker room is amazing and the casino itself is the best in the area.  I felt like I was in the Wynn or the Bellagio.  

The poker room holds 36 or so tables.  There are two levels.  The upper one is in the back two steps up from the main level.  It holds 8 of the 36.  They play the higher stakes games up there.  By the time I left, there was a list for PLO and Omaha 8.  I hope I can get into one of those games sometime.  They also had 3/6 6/12 and 2/5 NL and 5/10 NL.  

I played my regular 1/2 and it was a good game.  The dealers were good.  I recognized a few and especially one who took me in that pot when I had the ass end of the straight.  He was cool then and still is now.  

The game itself was slow.  I didn't have many hands.  I never had AA and only had KK once and got NO action.  I flopped a few hands and that kept me alive.  I also had QQ hold up against what I am guessing was JJ.  I bet it the whole way until the A hit the river.  

I had a donk try to hit a flush against my AK and also had that same donk try to drive everyone out of the pot when it was 9 high and I had 10 10.  Thanks for the 130!  Tomorrow is an off day and then I'm back again.  Still looking forward to the tourney on Sunday.  Back Thursday.