The Last Game - For Now

Irwin: Any man with a collection like this is a man who's never set foot on a battlefield. To him a minié ball from Shiloh is just an artefact. But to a combat vet, it's a hunk of metal that caused some poor bastard a world of pain.

"The Last Castle"

Easter time is always a good time – especially in Australia as we have a four day weekend and another national holiday just around the corner. With a four day weekend you can guarantee I tried to get in as much poker as I could and ended up with two very contrasting sessions.

First home game I played well for the first half and had a good amount of chips before the deck went cold, and I won one hand between 1am and 6am. The one hand I won was a massive hand but that didn’t help when I ran into hand after hand for the rest of the night. When the game ended, I was down just $10 which was ok considering what had happened. One of the loosest players couldn’t help but hit his hands time and time again, and despite being down 5 buyins at one stage actually came back to be in front some.

I just couldn’t get anything going. Pairs never hit their set even though I had so many small to medium pairs. I forgot how many times I would have straight and flush draw on the flop (maximum 15 outs without any counterfeiting) and it would come blank-blank. Just a really cold night for me and results showed that.

The next game we had a choice to head to the casino or the regular home game haunt. Considering the casino is an hour’s drive away, and more than likely this will be my last home game for a long time due to the impending arrival of the little bundle of joy, we decided to revive the home game and spend it with friends. I’m glad we did.

On the very first hand I was under the gun, and was dealt 72o. I folded it and the hand was quickly over, I said I got the worst possible starting hand and the only way was up from here. And I was right. If I had 8 pocket pairs all night, I must have hit a set 5 times and only lost once on one of those. Junk hit two pairs on the flop, check-raising with bottom pair garnered folds, draws came and big pairs held up.

There was a stage in the night when me and the guy to my left were both about 5-6 buy ins in front, and the rest of the table was loosing. His cards were falling just as good as mine, if not a little better.

When you get that far in front, you can start to have some fun and even give some money back to keep the game friendly – it was a home game after all and probably my last for some time. My friend to my left loves to check in the dark when UTG – as this was most common when I was dealing, I would always ignore his check in the dark and ask for his action after the flop just to rile him some. I also told him a real player would call a raise pre-flop then fold in the dark – that would really confuse people. So later on when I had the big blind, he raised $5 and everyone folded. Only I called and then folded in the dark before the cards could be dealt out.

A while later, he decided to raise, call a re-raise, check and fold all in the dark in the same hand. Like I said, when you are that far in front you can afford to muck around a bit. Turns out the hand would have probably played out exactly the same if he had looked at his cards anyway.

We agreed to keep playing to 6am which is pretty much standard, and when four handed at 5.30 I called an all-in from the short stack on a Jack high flop with AJ. He had a smaller kicker and even though the all-in was for $40, we made a deal and I let him off for about $7 just to keep the game going. By this stage, I was $400+ in front and just wanted to keep playing, the money didn’t matter anymore.

When the night finally did end, I was $490 in the clear which is my best result at this venue to date, and probably by a fair margin. I’m happy to be going out on such a high, as it was also a really good fun game to boot. Then again, it’s easy to have fun when you are pulling in an extra buy in every hour.

It will probably be my last game for a month or so, and then all night sessions will be few and far between from then.

Being A Good Loser Counts

Alex: Dude, your bed is a car...
Jeff: Yeah, but it's a fucking sweet car.

”Grandma’s Boy”

Finally got to play some poker last weekend after some time off, which was more browny point earning than anything else. Results wise I was in the area I want to be, but the game went bad for a little while with a few people on the loosing end not taking it so well. After they left, the game was 6 and then 5 handed with everyone who was still winner staying and it was a great game. The last remaining people had some fun and swapped other people’s chips, it was just really enjoyable for the last few hours. It had to be, as the crap that went on earlier had a real chance to ruin the game.

It has happened before in this game, and seems to happen once a year where someone gets upset for a reason or another. It seems to be a few players that are the culprits, and they are also the ones that tend to feed the game. I guess it is bound to happen sooner or later – when you play say 30 times a year, and you loose 25 of those times, it can wear on you. But every loss is a lesson, and it’s your own fault if you don’t take the lessons that you are paying for.

I had a good night where nothing major occurred. I tried to bluff twice all night, and both were successful which is a good thing. I had basically given up bluffing in this game but found two opportunities where the situation was right. I also had a long think about another situation where I thought about pulling the trigger when I thought a player had missed a flush draw, but decided not too when his missed flush draw could have backed into a straight (which it did). Even so I liked my thought process on that hand and making the right decision was a reward.

I did cause one bad beat but otherwise everything else was normal on the night for me. The game was a lot less maniac than it had been in the previous few times, and I think $200 was the big loser on the night as apposed to $800 the previous time. Maybe 4 players including myself played with their original buy in all night, so you can see that there wasn’t that many crazy pots.

I felt the real need to get a poker fix this week though, due to not playing last week and watching a lot of episodes of high stakes poker. While some people have said that the $500k buy in limited action, I just think it made it better as the players were actually playing at a level that meant something. It was a shame not to see more players in the $500K game – I’m thinking guys like Ivey and Eli Elezra would have been good for the game.

During this need for poker, I almost fired up some online action again. I think I have played maybe 3 or 4 times this year online. I just didn’t find the time or have the motivation for it and have let it slide for some that time. I will probably play online more once the baby comes as I won’t be able to get out to the live games as often or play for as long as I did.

Dealer, I've Got The Table Covered

Ted Castellucci: Objection, Your Honor! The court is interested in the truth, not the opinion of the defendant's father.
Lenny: You want my opinion? My son is a moron.
Ted Castellucci: I withdraw my objection. Please proceed!

”Big daddy”

It has been a while since my last post, as things have been frantic on all fronts. After a few business trips I have had a heap of work to catch up on, we’ve been putting the final preparations in for the impending arrival of Little Ed and I managed only 2 sessions of poker over that time, both at Star City.

The first night had an old guy sitting in the seat next to me, and he was joined by another 60+ guy in the seat 2 to his left. They were like Statler and Waldorf, criticizing the young punks at the table (young punk being anyone under 50). The guy next to me stayed at the table until we left at 4am, so looks like his batteries still have some life in them. He was a horrible player though, and I don’t mean that just as in me makes bad decisions (though he did). If someone hit a draw, he would berate them and curse muttering about their fucking flush or straight, then take five minutes to fold. If he hit his draw, he would berate the other player for complaining, telling them they can’t win every hand. He would talk non stop about god knows what, then complain when someone else ordered drinks while he had a decision to make. It was funny though to see the new players to the table try to reason with him – I gave up after about 30 minutes and decided to just agree with everything he said, have a laugh and move on.

Although he did felt me for my first buy in, when AA couldn’t get passed KTo. He hit two pair on the flop, and that was it for me time to rebuy.

On the way to the game, I decided yet again that I had to take responsibility for the losses, and perhaps a hole in my game had developed. I used to be very rocky and could grind out a modest win 90% of the time – but something had changed and I had started to play suited one gapers out of position to a raise and the like. Tonight, I decided to tighten right up and only play marginal hands from position when it was cheap.

Sure, I became a folding house. I lost a lot of chips with AT on an ace high flop. I bet out, 1 caller. Turn gave a rag, I bet out and the same caller came along. River comes and I consider what hands I can beat – a missed flush draw is about it, but really any ace has me either out kicked or has paired the kicker. I check, and he bet out a nice amount that looked like he thought his hand was good. It was $25 into my remaining $35 – I had already contributed $25 to the pot post flop, so perhaps I should have considered myself committed but I decided that he didn’t bet it like a missed flush draw, so perhaps I was beaten all the way and laid it down. He decided to give me some free information and showed that he was actually chasing a gut shot straight and missed, and bluffed me with 6 high.

It was weird, because I actually didn’t mind how I played that hand. I was down a buy in and a half but was happy with the way things were going at this stage.

The table was different than the last couple of tables. The past few weeks, I could see players knew what they were doing, and the donkeys were few and very lucky. Tonight, all I could see was a lost bunch of players with no idea what they were doing.

However, I was still loosing and down 1 ½ buys. I topped up when the button came around, and was dealt 78s a short time later and decided it was worth seeing a flop even though I was in early position. I got 3 callers behind me and the blinds to see the flop. The flop comes 875 rainbow and I checked waiting for the old guy to bet it for me. He bet $10, called from his left and then middle position called as well. After the blinds folded, I made it $35 to go. Both players to my left called, and MP raised to $55 to be all in. I couldn’t raise so I just called, as did the previous two callers. The turn was a rag that brought a flush draw, and I just checked thinking that I couldn’t push anyone off a draw with the $19 I had left anyway – and more than likely being called four ways, my hand was out flopped. 3 checks on the turn, and the same on the river which was an offsuit queen. The old guy had bottom two pair on the flop, second called had missed a straight draw and MP had top pair top kicker on the flop. My massive hand of top two pair on the flop had held up…somehow.

MP player rebought, and on the very next hand I was UTG and was dealt big slick. I just limped, and when it got around to the MP guy he made it $15. It was folded around to me and I had a think about it – maybe he’s tilting slightly, and just has another suited ace like before? Another A-8 would be nice here. Anything else except AA and he is going to have to call a big raise to see a flop here methinks. After a little thought time, I raised it to about $100, well enough to cover his $80 rebuy. Everyone folded and he called with AJo. My King held up, and I had felted the same player twice in two hands. I was right, that is a tilt move if I’ve ever seen one. Now, I had chips in front of me.

I played very tight for the rest of the night, the only hand I kind of played silly was 23s form the button, but it was limped 6 ways before me so why not? And with a flop of A33 I was more than happy. Turn was a 5 and river was a 2, so any straight drawers are going to pay me off. A player who was playing his first hand at the table held A5 and called for all his chips when I bet on the river. I said to my friend, I would have been just as happy if he folded so I didn’t have to show 23s. But, I’ll take the chips as they come.

But I did play very tight – and finally hit a set for the first time in weeks, a set of aces no less. The pay off was ok and more chips were added to the stack. After that, I just waited for hands and played them as they could. I had to make a decision to call $40 on a draw in one hand – flop was AhKh4s, and I had QhTh. Any jack is the nuts, any heart is the nuts and the jack of hearts is a royal – so I’ve got plenty of chips, the better is all-in and the only other caller is a donkey – why not? I called $40 for my draw.

The turn was the 3 of hearts. He checked, I bet out $20 thinking I was getting no action anyway, and then the donkey in the one seat (different player, but same seat that I had felted twice in a row) string-raised me all in. The dealer pulled him up on it and he had to wait for the river to bet his final $30 – despite me telling the dealer tongue in check that I heard him say raise. The river was a blank, and he made a big show about going into the tank. Then confidently shoved his chips into the middle. The dealer began to count it when I just calmly said I call, flipped over my cards and said I had the nuts. The one seat, confident still flipped over his cards to show a J2h. I don’t think I could have given any bigger clues that I had the nuts besides a) Telling the dealer and the whole table that I wanted him to be all in on the turn, b) calling an all in on the river without a moments hesitation, c) saying in a clear, calm voice “I have the nuts”; and d) showing my cards to reveal it was so. But, he still had hope in his eyes as the dealer slid the chips my way.

Not long after this, I had a small mountain of chips in front of me, and after a few bust outs I had the entire table covered at one stage before cashing in a few new players. I played tight again for the rest of the night and ended up needed a chip rack to cash out. It was by far the best night I’ve had at the casino, and more than covered the worst losing night I’ve ever had a few weeks before. Besides the hands above, nothing really big happened. I didn’t win many pots, just the ones I did were big. When I hit a hand I bet it, when I missed I folded. It’s easy to look like a good player when things like that happen – and believe me, the donkeys helped. Especially that last guy calling $40 for a Jack high flush draw out of position. When we left, he was back to in front by a few hundred after his hands started to hit – 6 high flush draws on the river against flopped sets and other such atrocities.

The next week, I had my first ever “Golden Duck” at the casino (getting felted on the first hand). I’ve had one before at the poker dome, and it was with the same hand actually. I sit down and post from middle position and get dealt KK. There is a raise from UTG, and a re-raise from the guy to my right to make it $25. Oh well, no time like the present and I shove my just stacked up chips into the middle on the first hand. UTG thinks for a bit then calls, and the guy on my right then stacks to think also – which is great news, because that means he doesn’t have aces. Eventually he calls, and turns over AhQh – which is good, because UTG has QQ. I’m feeling good about this until I see a flop with two hearts on it. I already know the river will bring the flush, and it does not pair the board so I am drawing dead to the river. Funnily enough, 4 times on the night a player playing their first hand would end up all in with KK vs AQ – and the Kings went 1-3. My last Golden Duck was the classic KK vs AA.

One of those KK vs AQ hands was between the absolute donkey to my left and a new player to my right, it went like this:
KK vs AQo (KK at 71%)
FLOP: AQx (KK at 10%)
TURN: K (KK at 95%)
RIVER: A (KK at 0%)

That hand got things rolling. The guy to my right won the hand, and promptly gave all his chips away in various ways. I gave him some with a set over set, but took it all back when AA finally held up against his JJ – with a jack on the flop, no less. We were all-in preflop and he acting like he was in a good position for some reason. I hit a four card flush on the turn though, and he couldn’t believe his luck! I’d say his luck was about even, which was more than he deserved.

The night went like that for me, win some chips then loose some chips, and when we finally pulled up stumps I was up a buy in which was good enough for me. I had some massive cold streaks and starting in a huge hole so I did some good work to get out from there, but it was even better just stringing two up sessions back to back to restore some confidence in myself and in how I should be playing.

And it was good to see so many fish back at the Star. Where had they gone?

To Slow Play Or Not

Dexter: I suppose I should be upset, even feel violated, but I'm not. No, in fact, I think this is a friendly message, like "Hey, wanna play?" And yes, I want to play. I really really do.

”Dexter”

An interesting discussion came up the other day about slow playing hands that then get beat. We’ll start from the top here.

Why do we slow play hands? The obvious reason seems to be to hide our strength, and maximise a win when we have the goods. But like everything there is a risk involved. By allowing free cards other players have a chance to catch up and perhaps even overtake. That is where this discussion began – in a certain hand a player flopped a set and slow played it, where another player hit their lower set on the turn and hit quads on the river.

There isn’t much you can do there, that is a horrid beat and will get you to the felt more times than not. But was the slow play to blame? Any bet on the flop will have got the small pair to fold before hitting their set which commits them to the hand, and then the river buries them. My buddy (who was the one with the quads…yet again) said it was the other player’s own fault for loosing that pot, slow playing his flopped set like that. I am of the opposite belief that this slow play was near perfect and if not for quads on the river would have paid of handsomely.

What it really came down to was the loser in that hand berating the player who hit perfect-perfect to beat him. When the smaller set hit on the turn, that was the exact card the slow player was waiting for. You need someone else to have something to pay him off, or give them a chance to make a play at it. But when the miracle comes, you can’t blame yourself for that – but you also can’t blame the other guy either. That’s just steam talking and inviting Mr Tilt to the table.

Slow playing is probably one of the easiest and most common moves you see, and it is hard to play it wrong when you’ve flopped something like quads or a straight flush. You need to try really hard to screw those hands up. I’ve seen some players “slow play” top pair, and can’t believe it when it gets beat.

There was a hand from High Stakes Poker a year or more ago, with Daniel Negreanu and Shawn Sheikman – from memory, Shawn made a pre flop raise or re-raise and Daniel called, then checked in the dark. The flop was Queen high, and Shawn had pocket queens. Shawn checked, and then bet out big on the turn. Immediately Daniel picked him for trip queens – the play was just too obvious and Daniel had nothing to pay him off with anyway.

Which brings me to one of my favourite plays – betting out when you’ve flopped a monster. When you’ve made a pre-flop raise, you are almost expected to follow it up on the flop especially when heads up. Betting out can actually disguise your hand and make it look like you are just making a continuation bet, inducing players to either try to push back or call and look to hit a weaker hand. It seems to be working quite well at the low levels I play at – of course, it can be argued that again these hands are easy to play well and very hard to screw up, but you need to make the most of it when you can.

Is A Small Loss Really A Win?

Delia Surridge: Oppenheimer was able to change more than the course of a war. He changed the entire course of human history. Is it wrong to hold on to that kind of hope?
V: I have not come for what you hoped to do. I've come for what you did.

”V For Vendetta”

Another week, another loosing session but at least there was some good news from the poker tables this week.

While waiting for a table at the casino, we decided to try the new digital poker tables at Star City. I was a little sceptical because essentially it’s just online poker where the other players are in the same room. Sure, it’s faster and there is no dealer error but I can get that online at home, so why play here? Anyway, it was a better option than sitting around doing nothing for the expected 3 hour wait to get a table (turned out to be 2 hours) and is better than playing craps for us anyway.

I sit down and get very familiar with the fold button. After a few rounds, I get dealt Queens and raise it up, getting it all in on the turn and getting called by a flush draw that hits. Hmm, there goes one buy in. I delay the inevitable and buy-in again. This time, again with an over pair I get it all in and a player with a large stack calls with a gut shot straight draw and bottom pair. The straight draw hits on the river and I am down two buy ins already without having been dealt an actual card.

Am I overplaying my pairs – or other hands in this current streak? Well, in the first case I was a 3-1 favourite and in the second it was 70% on the flop and 80% on the turn, so I was in good position just getting a little unlucky. When I put all the chips in though, I figured I was around the 70% mark both times, so not far off it. Anyway, that’s poker and it happens but it was just another loss that I could have done without.

Eventually we get seated at a table that was very unlike what I had come to expect from Star City. It was very passive pre-flop, which allowed limpers and then when there was a raise it was sensible – in the 4-6BB range not the usual 20-30BB range. It was a good table and I think I even managed to take the first pot of the night.

There was a drunk player to my immediate right who would push all-in with any pocket pair pre-flop. He was harmless and trying to have fun, but was talking non stop about crap right in my ear. When he was UTG he did it again, all-in for about $130. I looked down from the big blind and saw QQ and thought that finally I would get a chance to put a stop to it. Then, on the button a player who seemed to know what he was doing, pushed all-in as well. This had me worried, as I really felt like he had aces. I took a moment to think about it and the more I thought, the more I believed I was behind. I asked for a count, and he had $45. I had about $101 in front of me and figured even if I loose to him, hopefully I can claim the side pot which I think I am a really good favourite for and get my money back. I called and saw JJ from the drunk guy and AK from the button. That was about the best result I could have hoped for.

Unfortunately I was beaten by an ace on the flop, but held up for the side pot and a small profit. Would have liked a scoop there but at least I got something from this and it put an end to the constant beats I was getting.

The cards went cold for a few hours next, and I was down to a rebuy after blinds and hitting nothing but air for that period. I eventually got things back together making some good plays and having hands hold up. My buddy sitting to my left hit quads with 63s. The amount of times I’ve played that hand and hit trips or two pair on the flop and be in awful shape – and he hits two pair, turns a full house and rivers quads, all with an ace on the board so he gets paid off along the way to the tune of $320+. I constantly call him a luck box and now won’t let him forget it.

A hand that nearly put me on tilt came up. I got to see the flop from the big blind without anything extra, and it was a nice 457 rainbow, I had 69o. There is a small bet from one of the players, and a few callers in front of me so I called also. The turn is my card, the 8 of spades, but now there are 2 spades on the board. I am hoping someone else was drawing to the straight and hit it, and hopefully a small bet here will get raised for protection. I bet out $10 and get called twice. Damn, looks like one or more flush draws out there. The river is a horrible 3s. I couldn’t have asked for a worse card – except maybe the 9s. Anyway, I check and the next player bets $20. Second player flat calls and I am left to make what I believe it a crying call here. 4/5 times I think I would have folded here, but a little bit on tilt I call expecting to loose. First guy has a six for the straight, second guy has a six for the straight also – no flush draws. Fuck – ok, so I win the pot but why couldn’t one of them raise me on the turn to get rid of the flush draws? And what happens if the last spade doesn’t come – I’m raising the hell out of them and getting paid at least one way, my feeling was tripling up here though. Even though I won, it felt like a bad beat.

My last interesting hand was one that I am not sure if I played good or bad, but it made me think at least. I had pocket tens and called a small raise to see the flop 3 handed. The flop was all diamonds, 9 high. I didn’t have a diamond but figured I might have been ahead here. Original raiser bets, gets called and I call as well. Turn is another low card, not a diamond. Same pattern – original bets, second guy calls and I think about it. For some reason, I just thought that both other guys had a big ace or picture cards and were just drawing to the diamond, but I didn’t think I could bet them off it and didn’t want to go broke so I just called again. The river was a 3 and not a diamond, and it was checked down. The other two players had AcQc and KcQs.

So I was right in the fact that I was ahead, but I couldn’t pull the trigger because I figured that the ace of diamonds was out there and would call regardless of the amount bet. The river card was obviously good for me, but what if it was any picture card? Would I still call a bet on the river? Any picture card is a danger for me, and any diamond. That’s a lot of potential scare cards. Maybe a smaller bet might have got one of them to fold and increased my chances but who knows the way the hand played out?

In the end, I had made a profit at the table but just short of what I had lost at the digital poker table earlier. But it was an enjoyable night of poker and it was good to actually get to play some hands for a change.

Lets Give A Hand To...

Juno MacGuff: I think I'm, like, in love with you.
Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends?
Juno MacGuff: No, I mean, like, for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know...
Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.

”Juno”

I heard someone describe “Juno” as “Knocked Up” from the female perspective. More accurately, it should be described as a indie teenage version of Knocked Up from the female perspective. But it’s worth paying to see so what more could you ask for?

I been having a real rough time at the tables of late. I have been averaging less than 1 pot an hour over the past 40 hours – and that includes a lot of bluffing. It’s just been mediocre starting hands and then really cold flops, and before I know it I’m down to a quarter of a buy in without seeing a turn card.

I said at the star of the year all my profit was coming from making donkey’s pay too much for their draws, and I was worried that their lucky streak would start sooner or later. Well, it was sooner and boy did they hit at the wrong times. The last was when I was finally back to a stage where I could conceivably get close to even, when dealt pocket kings. I made it 8BB to get rid of all the limpers, and got 2 callers. Flop was 2d5h9d, and I made it 25BB. I got an all in for 32BB from the next caller, and the other folded. He had 5d3d – which means it is a coin flip from here, and he hit it on the turn to have me drawing dead on the river. He even told me that 10BB preflop wouldn’t have been enough, he just had a feeling about the 53 suited. Looks like pre-flop raises need to be 15BB from now on…

It took me two weeks to realise I played badly at the casino where I had my worst night ever. I even recall going through my results hour by hour. Total hands won per hour went like this: 0 – 0 – 1 – 1 – 2 – 1 – 0 – 1 – 1 – 0. That’s a lot of mucked hands right there, and the biggest winning hand of the night shouldn’t have been either. I flopped trips with 63h and made it $75 on the turn. And old guy in the one seat called out of his $96 stack, and a new player across from him folded his cards – right across the table, into the one seat’s cards. We had our dealer, the next dealer waiting to take her seat once the hand was finished, and 2 supervisors trying to figure out what to do. The dealer said that it is every players responsibility to protect their own cards, and the one seat would have to muck his hand and couldn’t get his chips back. Now I know that technically that is the rule as well, but that’s pretty unlucky to be stuck with that. I said to at least give him his $75 call back, and eventually that’s what they did after one of the supervisors was talking to whoever on his head set. Even if they enforced the rule in the strictest sense, I would have returned his money to him outside because to keep it would be just wrong – I couldn’t have that reputation at the table.

Then I proceeded to give most of the rest of the pot back to him later on when I had big slick. I raised to see a ten high flop. One guy bet out, I raised him and then the old guy in the one seat called. I bet again on the turn thinking he had either a straight or a flush draw, and he called again. The river was the nine of hearts – which filled both the straight and flush draws, and I gave up. He checked, and turned over a seven to show he had hit his gut shot for the straight. But I played the hand badly, and let the hours of cold cards get to me so that when I finally had a playable hand, I had to win that pot and wouldn’t give it up. Before long, Aces got cracked when it was all-in pre-flop against Q2s. Even hit an ace on the flop and still lost to a turned flush, but for some reason as soon as he turned over his cards I knew I was beat. It has been that kind of run for me.

But anyway, at least my reads have been just as accurate as before, I just haven’t been having the cards or luck to make the most of it. Affiliate deals have been keeping me afloat for the short term, and on the home front the baby’s room is now complete save for Little Ed. Little Ed has been kicking like a champ so that I have been able to feel it on a few occasions. Got some strength behind those pummels, has this kid!

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Enjoy Poker

Paris: Do you love me, brother? Will you protect me from any enemy?
Hector: Last time you spoke to me like this you were 10 years old and you'd just stolen Fathers horse, what have you done now?

”Troy”

This past week held no poker for me, save for a very short 5 person SNG at a home that I came in third after not winning a pot, but I have already been given permission to fill my poker void to the brim this coming long weekend.

I am noticing a common theme among many people recently, that being a loss of love for poker. Not just the other blogs I read, but other players I know that are growing tired of poker or are not finding it the thrill it once was for them. There is no single reason for the group dissent, but there are a few broad categories that some, perhaps even the majority, of these people fall into.

Some are the early adopters of the poker craze. After Rounders, Chris Moneymaker and the World Poker Tour brought poker into the homes of more people, naturally the interest in poker grew. With any new trend, and I believe the poker boom has lasted too long to be called a fad, there are some that are in at the ground level when everything is exciting and new. Now there is poker in every single pub in Sydney, your friend’s grandmother has a favourite player, and each passing year brings the story of some other first timer who became a millionaire at the turn of the card. Poker is no longer the newest thing, and the early adopter who was once part of a niche culture has now lost the exclusivity of their involvement, which may have been half the appeal. All in all, poker is probably better off without these guys anyway.

Some others are finding that with the time past, some of the donkeys and fish have actually learned a thing or two, while they sat on their hands thinking “how awesome am I taking all these chips”. All of a sudden, it’s not so easy and a loosing streak hits. It’s hard to keep your passion up when loosing, especially when it was the monetary results that made poker attractive to you in the first place. As before, poker is also probably better off without these douches too.

Others have tried to make a living out of poker, and now find it boring. It’s not a surprise really, this happens. Even the biggest names in poker get bored with it some times – when it’s all you do day in and day out, you are going to get bored with it. I remember an interview in some magazine many years ago, and I think it was a big name quarterback at the time that said “(American) Football has ruined my Sunday’s”. The reasoning was before he went professional, he had a great time on Sunday with family and friends, having a few beers and a BBQ and watching a game of football on TV. Even after he had retired from the NFL though, he couldn’t watch football without it being work.

I kind of feel sorry for these kind of poker players. We’ve heard the old saying repeated many times over – “Poker is a hard way to make an easy living” – but few have really tried to understand what that means. It’s not only that it is hard to turn a profit and make a living playing poker, what with other people pursuing the same dream and a casino taking their cut along the way. It is also hard to discipline yourself to do this day in and day out, essentially turning poker not just into a living, but into “work”. And that is what it has become for these people, work and not fun.

If you think poker is not as fun for you as it once was, then you only have yourself to blame. You’ve tried to turn a hobby into a life, when the reality is very few people have the skill to do so, and even fewer have the personality and demeanour to live that way.

If you can not have fun while throwing chips around a home game with your friends, then either the game has been lost to you or you need to find some better friends. I’ve said it before, I’ve had massive loosing sessions where my wallet has been emptied and I’ve had just as much fun doing it. That should be what poker is about for the most of us. If you can’t enjoy it why play?

But you make money playing poker you say, that’s why you play!

That’s why you have a job. That shouldn’t be the reason to play. Sure, it makes things more interesting and it’s nice to pick up some money while pursuing a hobby. My other main hobby would have to be video games, and they cost me a stack. Especially compared to my poker hobby, which has paid either directly or indirectly for a lot of things around the house.

But that’s not why I play. Poker is still fun for me. I haven’t tried to treat it any differently than as a hobby. I’ve tried to improve, even kept results and records so compare different games. Which goes to prove my point. There is a poker room in Sydney that I have an amazing record at. My ROI for games at this place is somewhere in the 200% mark, while last year my overall ROI was just under 30%. But I hardly go there anymore, because the games are not that much fun, and over too quickly.

While making a profit playing poker is nice, and indeed one of the goals of the game by design, it can’t be the sole reason for playing – or even the main reason – unless this is your entire living. For most of us, this isn’t how we make a living. It’s beer money, or Vegas Trip money, or that 50” Plasma money – it’s not rent money and there is a difference, there has to be a difference.

I play online poker for money, there is no doubt about that, and it isn’t nearly as fun as the home games I play.

So if you are feeling a little burned out by poker, maybe it isn’t because you’ve been playing too much. Maybe it’s because you just having been playing it right. Slow roll your quads against your buddies, calling out “Two pair – sevens and sevens!” – it’s all ok amongst friends. Go rabbit hunting for the runner-runner straight flush. Offer to chop when you’ve got 5 high. Have some fun with it and make a bet not because it is +EV to do so, do it because it has a +FUN value too.

Poker is a game. Sometimes, you need to treat it as such.

Casino Poker Part 2

Brick Top: Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible cunt... me.

"Snatch"

In my last post I left the action at about 11pm on the night, and that is when some really big pots started to develop, and the above quote became very relevant.

By now I had maybe just under $200 in front of me, and still on my first buy in. The table is full of new players and calling stations – I couldn’t have asked for a better table to be honest. One of the new players to the table my friend recognised from a now-defunct poker room a year or so ago. This poker room had a good reputation for having decent poker players because it was out of the way and not really a tourist attraction if you know what I mean. So I pencilled him in my mind as a player that would not be as bad as the others, and thought there was plenty of fish for all of us I will stay out of his way if I can.

I had no real big starting hands, so cheap flops were great for me. With 5 runners, I saw a low flop with 2 spades, me holding KsJs in late position, perhaps even on the button. There is a small $10 bet coming from the good player in early position, and 2 other callers. The turn is my money card, the ace of spades. 53s would have hit a straight-flush, but you are going to pay that off I guess in this instance. Good player bets $25 and there are two callers. What to do, what to do? With four runners, I thought about my options which are either call and slow play or raise and try to get some more money in the pot now. The good player bet out $25 into four runners, so it wasn’t an attempt to buy the pot, he has something. Maybe a set? Maybe 2 pair? Maybe a smaller flush? My thought was for him only, and the other guys will probably call if they have any piece of it, may even be drawing dead. If I just call here and then see the board pair on the river, what do I do then? And if he already has the flush with two spades in his hand, perhaps a fourth spade on the river will kill my action. In the end I am 99% sure I am ahead and if anyone is looking for that one out to a straight flush, I reckon they will call any bet for that chance. If the good player is drawing to a full house with trips or two pair, he probably won’t call a bet on the river if it doesn’t come – and I guess I’m screwed if it does but at least I am in late position and can foil a check-raise if that is his intention. So in the end I decided to raise it to $75 to see what happens – it’s already a decent pot anyway. The good player thinks about it and calls, calling station behind him actually folds (probably not even a pair) and the last guy has less than $50 and calls to be all in.

The river neither pairs the board or brings another spade, and I am of course prepared to put all my chips into the pot with the second nuts (to an unlikely straight flush). Good player checks, and I made a value bet of $40 (which into a near $300 pot should scream value bet) and he says he’ll pay me off. He shows the queen high flush and I scoop the pot. He did ask why I made the big bet on the turn, and I just said I thought he’d be more likely to call it then than to call it on the river. I didn’t think he was holding the queen high flush though – if I did, I might have waiting until the river and made even more.

The biggest pot of the night had my buddy involved neck deep. He put in an opening raise of $11 which was his standard, and got called by two players (a real fish and the same calling station from before) and then a new player in the 1 seat re-raised to $45 to be all-in. My buddy looks at that and seems satisfied, and even I’m thinking he should shove here to get heads up – me thinking he obviously has a strong hand. He does just that for another $103 on top of the raise from the short stack. Both the other players called. I get a peak at his cards and he is holding Kings – and I think he’s in real good shape as it is likely he is up against other pockets or an ace in more than one seat. The flop comes down club, club, club. Not good for two red kings. One player bets, the other calls for all of what he has left, and the first better on the flop shows AcKc for the flopped nuts. Player 2 had A3o and called nearly two buy ins pre-flop with that, and the other short stack had Ah8h, which I thought was a little fishy but not half as bad as the other two. A near $500 pot slides the way of one of the fish – and my buddy just could not win a pot against him for the rest of the night, invoking the “nemesis” quote from Snatch from me several times.

We spoke about that hand later, and he knows that both of us would have folded AK there so fast, and we both know there is no way that fish could be talked out of that hand, and the other two were just really silly players that didn’t deserve their chips. The Nemesis now had the chip lead on the table, even covering me by nearly $100 and I was in second. My stack peaked around this time to just over $500.

I misplayed a hand here too, when I held JT and the flop came TTx. I slow played to the turn which was a 5, and got two callers. The river was another 5, and I bet out again. The Nemesis from above raised me to $50, and I figured we were just chopping so I called. He had the 5 and I took the pot. I should have raised there, I gave him too much respect and he would have called a bigger bet without a doubt because he had a full house – never mind that it is obviously beaten. Even though I won the pot that hand cost me over $100 I guess.

By now, a lot of the real fishy players had left after doing their money in and headed home. The table changed again and was a little bit better now but not by much. We had already decided to stand up at 4am but when that came around, my buddy said he had gotten his second wind and he thought the table was particularly juicy right now. At about 10 minutes before our scheduled finish I had exactly $400 left in front of me after going on a cold run and being hit by one particular river which counterfeited my two pair on a hand that I had been betting all the way. I was feeling kinda hungry and was playing uber tight for the last 15 minutes or so because I wanted to cash out at exactly $400 instead of something like $395, so I said I would be more than happy to wait an hour while he scratches his itch. When 4am came around though, I decided to play properly and make the most of the last hour.

All night I had been dealt 63 maybe 4 times and I played them 3 out of those times, without hitting anything. At about 4.15am I had 6d3d and called a small raise to go to a multi way flop that comes – 663. Yeah, not too bad. One guy bets and I just call as everyone folds. Turn was a 9, he bets and I raised, he called. River was an Ace – which I figure was a good card for me. He bets, I raise and he calls. I show my 63 for the flopped full house, and he shows 69 for his turned one. Ouch! That one hurt but there was no way he was folding after the flop. Really though, you get what you deserve when you play crap like 63d to a raise out of position.

I got some chips back in the last hand I won, with my first big pair of the night holding up – KK vs AXc with the second club coming on the turn and thankfully not the river. On the night I had 5 pocket pairs – in order that they happened 55, 55, 99, 33 and then KK. The kings were the only ones to make any money. I had AQ and AK once, and that was about it for the good starting hands.

When 5am rolled around, the table broke and I had just over $300 in front of me. That counts as a good night for me, when you consider all the time charges we had to pay and the over priced drinks we bought on the night, there was probably another $100 spent out of the chips on the table. It was a good night and I left well in front, but the last hour cost me as I should have booked the win and grabbed a bite to eat instead. But anyway, you live and learn from that. I felt like I was in control for the whole night, and when reviewing it realised that I had sat in the same chair without even standing up for 9 hours. Not bad an effort, considering it was all on my original buy in. I still felt though that there was room for improvement and I should have made more chips on the night. A few hands misplayed late that cost me, but all in all a good night of poker for me.

Casino Poker Part 1

Bobby Dukes: Why does this bag smell like doughnuts?
Bill Henry: That is the smell of death. That is the smell of the death of your failure. That is the smell of the death of your defeat. That is the smell of the death of your shame...
Bobby Dukes: It smells like doughnuts.

”Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story”

It has been an exhausting week. I decided to sacrifice a home game on Friday night so that I could have a better game at the Star City casino on Saturday. We had a lot of yard work to do Saturday morning anyway, so crawling in at 7am before that would have made life extremely difficult. And also, the Friday night home game looked to be turning into a spread limit game with some new guys, and had all the indications of being a real melt down. I was told later that it was actually quite fine but I needed the night off anyway.

When my poker playing buddy and I got to the casino, they had nearly every poker table open which was good to see for a change. They also had 4 of the new digitalised poker tables ready for people to play. I still don’t get it – if I wanted to play online, I’d stay at home. They proved to be far less popular than the other tables which is a promising sign I think.

The wait to get a seat was just under two hours, which is about standard and good for what you would expect on a Saturday night. During the wait I wandered around and watched various people blow what would be a months salary for me on roulette and blackjack.

When we did eventually get called for a seat, it was when they opened up a new table so that was good – everyone would be starting with the same size stacks and we had our choice of seats. It also meant, as another player pointed out, that the dealer’s chip float was empty. At Star City, you can’t buy chips at the table, you have to do it at the brush at the front of the poker area. So the dealers float is just to make change and take their rake. As everyone was on their first buy in, and the brush gives you an appropriate chip break down so there is no real need for change to begin with so they do not start with any chips in there. As we were committed to a long evening at the table, it would be interesting to see just how much rake they take from the table over that period.

The rake is at the $1/$2 level 10% up to $8, and $5 per hour time charge. That’s a bit steep, but let me tell you it is worth it when you see the calibre of players here.

I also had a prop bet on with my buddy over who would get 63 first – our word is good enough to confirm a winner. After getting everything all around 63, I finally had it and lost the exact amount of the prop bet on the hand – and then he got it the very next hand so I just snuck home on that one.

The table had 4-5 Dutch guys at the beginning who all knew each other, and were straddled/re-straddled here and there. I was card dead so didn’t see much action but the few hands I did played I pulled in some decent pots so it was ok.

I think I’ve subconsciously reached a new level in picking up tells because for the third or forth time I have been having some great accuracy in that department – mind you, some of the players were chomping oreos, figuratively speaking.

My first real hand was an open ended straight draw that got there on the turn or river – either way the raiser in the hand did not call my all-in with the nuts on the river but it was a tody pot that gave me a platform to build from.

When all the Dutch guys left at once, the table dynamics changed considerably, and this was when I made the most of my chips and fishing ability. The new players were either first timers in a live game or just plain calling stations – except for one guy, and I’ll get to him later. Perfect example was in a hand my friend was in – KJx on the board and no flush by the river, he is last to act heads up and bets out an ok amount – an amount that to me looked like a value bet. One of the new players that we had already labelled a donkey called with nothing but Ace high, and my friends pair of jacks were good, and he knew they would be too.

It was now that I could start making a few moves, as the pre-flop action was very passive with only a few raises and even fewer re-raises. If there was action pre-flop, it tended to be a $20 opening raise that no one would call – and why would you without a really good hand? Saw a $20 opening raise get popped back for a $70 all-in – original raiser called and was disappointed to find out his 66 was not in front, JJ was. Anyway, I was more than happy with this as it allowed me to see more flops and play it from there. I made a couple of moves to win medium sized pots and found that nearly any bet would get multiple calls on the flop, but the second bullet on the turn would work more often than not. So I built up a bit of a stack – not chip leader, but certainly above average.

And then I made some more chips the way I usually do – making people pay far too much for their draws and then they missed. I had a new player in the 10 seat heads up, with the board showing 9TJQ. I had KT, but there were two hearts on the board. It was about his 3rd hand at the table so I didn’t have a read at all so when he bet out for $15 on the turn, I thought it was time to put it all in and see. If he had AK (no raise pre-flop) then good on him, otherwise it is likely we’ll chop or he can pay severely for his draw. All in would be another $50 or so, and he called – with 52h. Thankfully, the last heart did not come, and he stood up and left. Not in disgust mind you, just because that was his only buy in and he was out. Wow – if I had only one bullet, I think I would find a better time that that to get my money in the middle.

Nearly an identical hand occurred later when I had TPTK heads up with AQ after I made a pre-flop raise. I bet again on the flop a nice amount to see if he was interested and he called. The turn was not a scare card except for bringing a flush draw, so I way overbet the pot to finish it there. The dealer says to the player, who was a nice guy and we’d been chatting, that he had to call for all of his chips, $55 or thereabouts. I said “Or you can fold you know, that’s still an option”. He called and had a 9 high flush draw that also missed. Phew – but a couple of nice pots no less.

It was about this time that the real action started to heat up and some amazing hands occurred. I will save them for my next post in a few days to space this out a bit. Stay tuned…

First Games For 2008

"There are 3 different ways to play pocket jacks – their all wrong."

Ok, so it isn’t a movie quote above but I heard this little line at a poker game over the weekend. I’m sure it’s been said a million times before, but this was the first time I heard it and I thought it was right on the money. And for the rest of the night, I had a real hard time with Jacks as well.

The first session of home game poker in 2008 was very good and I ended up in front a reasonable amount. I was well in front at one stage, before I went on a river-beat run for maybe an hour. Some were of the 2-3 outs variety, others were just having mediocre hands beaten by something less mediocre. But I was making some excellent reads on the night and that was an encouraging sign. Two hands in particular against one player – early in the night calling a large river bet with 2nd pair because the betting pattern and amounts suggested to me that he had nothing, and then later in the night when his betting patterns told me he hit his hand on the flop and then wasn’t scared of the flush coming on the river made me lay down a strong hand. Turns out I was right, but for the wrong reasons – I thought he flopped a full house and it turns out he rivered it, but either way I saved quite a few chips by folding that hand and I felt good about it.

I had a 3 buy-in profit, and the best hand I hit all night was three of a kind, so that was interesting considering I never had any monsters. All my profit was from making big protective raises when I had two pair, top pair, trips or good drawing hands and then firing another bullet when I missed or checking it down when my opponent missed and getting paid off. Interestingly, the majority of my losses came when opponents made the same calls but hit instead. When that happens on the same night, and you end up in front, you can see that something right is going on when the wins outweigh the losses.

The first session of online poker in 2008 was just about the opposite. I played poorly except for maybe 2 hands (and one of them was not raising when I had a feeling my turned set of sevens were behind to a flopped set of kings) so not many pots or chips came my way. But I try to look on the bright side of things here, and at least I could see where my errors were and I know I was playing badly and not just getting unlucky. In fact, I even got lucky on one hand hitting a gut shot straight on the river when holding…pocket jacks. Ace-rag was not happy about that, but he shouldn’t have been in the pot in the first place. That happens some time.

So what have I learned so far in poker for 2008? Playing good gives you a better chance at winning than playing bad.

And they say poker theory is complicated!

2008 - The Year Of Poker On Film

Bill Lumbergh: So, Peter, what's happening? Aahh, now, are you going to go ahead and have those TPS reports for us this afternoon?
Peter Gibbons: No.
Bill Lumbergh: Ah. Yeah. So I guess we should probably go ahead and have a little talk. Hmm?
Peter Gibbons: Not right now, Lumbergh, I'm kinda busy. In fact, look, I'm gonna have to ask you to just go ahead and come back another time. I got a meeting with the Bobs in a couple of minutes.
Bill Lumbergh: I wasn't aware of a meeting with them.
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, they called me at home.

”Office Space”

Xmas has come and gone once again, and was enjoyable if not totally lacking in poker. We managed to play a few hands of holdem with my brothers, though I never managed to win a hand out of the maybe 20 we played in the early hours of the morning. The most exciting it got for me was when all-in and drawing to an 8 for an inside straight, I peeked at the river card (so that everyone could see I was looking at it before dealing it) and then grabbed a random card out of the middle of the deck and slammed it down – lo and behold, there was my 8! It didn’t stand of course, but it was funny that I could pull one of four outs from the middle of the deck, as useless as it was.

We did play some more 9 card Omaha, which I have only ever seen played before on the Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandari show “I Bet You”. Not a bad game, and when playing for free and to waste time, I prefer this to holdem anyday.

Over the Xmas period I also managed to open up the inner problem gambler in my mother by signing her up to Casino on net. She was getting into the video poker, and when she was down about $4 would ask me or my brother the casino dealer to get her back up above her starting point – like it was the easiest thing in the world for us to do. Somehow we managed to go 4 from 4 in getting her miniscule losses back, and I think she believes we can do this at whim now. If only that were true.

To complete our gambling holidays, we went to a local greyhound racing track in Melbourne and had a good night. My younger brother and his girlfriend had a big win when a dog bearing her name and 30+ odds managed to sneak home when the favourite got bumped on the last bend. The Distraction and I after 8 races pulled to a $4 deficit, which is not a bad price to pay for an evenings entertainment. Had some good results and overall enjoyed it. Though it was rough at the start – I would instantly pick a dog without thinking, and then after putting some thought into it change my selection – of course, the original no-thinking selection would win. So that became the goal of the night, ignore my changes of mind and go with the first selection before any thought could cloud the non-judgement. Worked ok, as good as any other system I guess.

I’ve got the itch to get back into the poker playing arena, and this weekend is looking good for some action, wherever that may be. I have also used some of the advertising dollars from here to reload the two home games I play at with some more copags as the last lot of KEM’s seemed to be pretty crappy. I remember the first deck of KEM cards I bought, they were AU$60. Now, you can grad a deck for about $20, and two copag decks for $25 which is the preference.

Having Too Much Fun To Care

Ian: Okay, who are you guys?
Pip: My name's Pip.
Ian: The band. The band name.
Pip: Sorry about that.
Ian: He doesn't wear a helmet, does he?

”Airheads”

Results wise, poker has not been kind. Playing wise, it has been a good week. In the live game last Friday I was making some really good reads on the other players, but was not getting any cards to play. When I did play a hand, I was usually drawing very thin or had my opponent dominated pre-flop, only to be way behind on the flop. But I was in too good a mood to be bothered by the loosing hands and was just enjoying myself.

I decided to try to get back into some SNG’s and increase the level slightly – but I was cursed again and lost to a bit of a beat which put me to less than the big blind, and then suffered a similar beat to end that tournament, which was probably the last hand I will get to play this year.

After some horror sessions in the live game front, I managed to pull back to a decent profit on the year, which was an increase on last year’s profit by a mere $14. It’s funny, the graph of each year of profit by session shows some very similar trends through the year. Must be a reason for it and I’ll try to find that out as I do my review.

Next year the goal is to keep proper records for online play as I do for live play, so I can get a true indication of where I am headed poker wise. In 2007 I managed to catch a few milestones and build a decent bank roll, including making more withdrawals than all previous years put together. I had moved up in limits to the point where I am very comfortable at the higher levels now, and am looking at moving up again in the first half of next year if things go well.

Poker will be harder to come by in 2008 after the baby arrives, as is to be expected. It may mean that I will just be substituting live games for more online games so I don’t have to leave the house. We’ll see what happens, but obviously the priorities will change slightly.

How old does the kid have to be before I can start teaching them five card draw?

2007 Winding Down

Jimmy Johnston: Right here. Editorial says this fight is good as murder, and everybody associated with it should be hauled into court and prosecuted afterwards. They say the paper's getting all sorts of letters from people saying you're their inspiration - like you saved their lives or something. If you ask me, it's a lotta crap... but if I'm gonna promote this fight, I'm not getting hung out to dry if something happens to you.
Joe Gould: Ah, you're all heart.
Jimmy Johnston: My heart's for my family, Joe, my brains and my balls are for business and this is business. You got me?
Joe Gould: Gotcha.

”Cinderella Man”

I didn’t play any live poker this week due to other commitments, and online poker wasn’t that much fun as I had two sessions where a pair was a rarity. Lost less than a buy in though, so that was about as good a result as I could have hoped for all things considered. 95% of the hands went like this – other player makes pre-flop raise, I call with 98s or similar junk – flop comes with no straight or flush draw for me and no pair, other player bets and I fold. Once I tried to represent something, the other player re-raised me all-in so maybe that one was bad timing, but the pattern more or less repeated itself for a few hours before I finally reached the felt. It was weird, things were going so bad but I didn’t fell like standing up with $20 left in front of me, and I was kind of relieved when it was gone because that meant it was over.

Been watching some of this season of High Stakes Poker – I like to wait until the season is finished before I start watching. Looks ok, but I think they are starting to try to hard to make the action hard and fast.

Saw an episode of the Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandari “I bet you” this week for the first time. In my opinion, they try too hard for the show. It would be better if this was done more as a series in hindsight, instead of trying to churn out 30 minutes worth each week. If they took the time to say record all their prop betting over the course of a year, and then make a series out of that, it would be much better. Sure, that requires patience and they want to strike now while the iron is hot, but that’s what you end up with. I’ll still watch just to see if it improves, but I am not holding high hopes.

I have maybe one game left in 2007 before I close the books, and it looks like it will be a slight increase on profit compared to 2006. Considering the first 3 games of the year I barely won a hand, it was a good year. Online was even better, and I feel like I made some real inroads into increasing the bank roll and joining bigger games. I touched $2K for the first time which was great, and I’ve withdrawn nearly double that in the year. Poker has paid for a lot of things and made life easier, which was well needed. Hopefully the good run and good reads continue.

It's A Home Run!

Barry: Of all the bathroom stalls, in all the correction facilities in all the world, he walks into mine.
Nelson Biederman IV: Haven't you heard the news Barry?
Barry: The news? Oh yeah. Barry finally pitches, Pisces catches, home team wins.

"Let's Go To Prison"

Free time has been of a premium of late, but it all has been for the better as the last week has been one of the best weeks financially of my life.

First of all, I am making a career change for the better. I was offered a new job in a senior role which was a healthy increase in pay – which was the motivating factor to be honest, as when Little Ed joins us things will be very tight. My current employer gave me some huge compliments, and in time after speaking to numerous levels of management came back with a counter offer to get me to stay. While the new job had some great opportunities, the current job is with a massive company that is about to get even bigger thanks to one of Australia's biggest takeovers in history. So there is a bit of security and a chance to move up in a round about way, so even though more money was on offer at the other place, I made the decision to stay. Until the other place offered even more money, then it was a forgone conclusion and I'm off for a new job just before Christmas.

Last time I moved house, I also changed jobs at the same time. It's happened again by the looks of it. The new job will be closer to home (not that that was an issue before) and some real opportunities in the future for networking in a new industry. And I might get my own office again.

After performing my general handyman duties around the house, and playing nice to my increasingly pregnant Distraction, I had arranged to take leave for poker playing privileges that night at one of the monthly home games that we play. I like this place because all the people are good people and it's a fun game. Historically I think I have only ever left in the red once, maybe twice, so I do quite well there also.

We started with 12 players, which is a lot but not so bad. I prefer 5-7 players, but it's a friendly game so why not. We had 2 new players to the game, a friend of the host and his girlfriend. This would be the first female at this game, despite the vast majority of the players being married. I have no problem with it at all, it's just never happened at this game before. I would think any female looking to play in this environment would be pretty confident in themselves and in their skills, so it would pay to be wary of them.

They knew how to play, just not how to play well. I didn't get to take any of their chips, but saw a few times where they were calling big bets with very vulnerable hands and unfortunately they both ended their night down a few buy ins. I say unfortunately because I always like to see new faces at the games, and hope that they enjoy themselves enough to come again. They seemed like nice people and I hope some bad results first up doesn't scare them off.

As for myself, I managed to pull in a few pots and when you have 12 runners in a loose and friendly game, you tend to get a few callers for your bets and the pots tend to grow. Without hitting any monsters I managed to chip up and up and never really put a foot wrong. I had some hands look good on the flop and then look bad on the turn, so I dumped them. Had a few draws that came and a few other hands that held up. I can't recall any bluffs or steals, and very few bad beats – either with me as the perp or victim.

One of my favourite hands is 63o for some reason. Another player at the game also has this as his favourite hand, so we make comment on it from time to time. Through the evening I told him that if he and I were in a pot and the flop came 663 and I had 63, I would chop it with him. Then that morphed into anytime the two of us are heads up in a pot and one of us has 63, then it's a chop no matter what. It worked later on when he had 63h and the flop was all hearts, so we chopped. It's a nice deal and we'll keep it going for the foreseeable future.

As the drinks kept flowing (I was driving so stayed off the juice) the pots got bigger as those down tried to regain their losses. One such player made a $20 opening bet on a Q77 flop. I had K7, and checked his stack to see there was only $15 left after that bet. So I raised to get it heads up and save any would be draws from the mix. But a spanner in my plan as the only player at the table with a stack to rival mine, who re-raised my $40 to $80. Of course, everyone else folded and I was in a spot. I had a fair idea that he was not bluffing – I was up against Q7 or A7, but there is always that chance that he had a weaker 7 or something else. As it was heads up, I just flipped over my 7 to see what his reaction was. He was not phased by it at all and didn't even flinch. In his drunken state, he would never have been able to pull off that acting job and now I was certain I was beaten. He then looked at his cards and flipped over an Ace. Ok – he has seen I have a seven, wasn't scared and then flipped over an ace. He must have A7 and I thought about gambling it up but I was well in front and thought it best not to ruin a good night. Just to make sure, he flipped over the 7 as well and I got away with that one – still expensive, but could have been a lot worse.

The other get out of jail moment was with 44 limped in to see a flop of K84 rainbow. There is a bet out from the pre-flop raiser and just I called. Turn comes an ace, which I figure is good for me as if he had AK then there is no way he is folding. He bets out, I look at him and say that he didn't like that ace, so I made a raise. He re-raised and as soon as his chips hit the pot I moved all in. He had maybe another $130 in front of him that he had worked hard to build up. He looked concerned, as I have a tight image and he figured I wasn't on a bluff, and I was also on a roll this night so I could have been hitting anything. I let him know that I could beat AK…and he said he could too.

And this is where the work comes in…I am now severely beat and all in, and in some way have to convince a guy to fold a set. Since I have the fours, he must have a set of 8's, kings or aces. Kings or aces would have called in an instant, so he must have pocket 8's. I tell him as much, and he flips over his hand. I didn't flinch, and said he has a real decision on his hand, and in general kept talking confidently saying how well he has played tonight and how he has built his stack up. I've already seen his hand obviously so I know where I am in this pot. I say jokingly "If I offer a chop, does that mean I've only got the fours?" and he responds with "I don't know, but I'd take it". Really? I said ok and we chopped it up…and I reveal my fours and even he had to congratulate me on that job talking him out of calling. No doubt he would have called eventually, but it was a credit to him that he even considered folding as he didn't have the nuts and I honestly believed when I made the bet that I was in front, so he read me correctly even though I misread him. In the end he made the wrong decision, but I believe the decision making process was along the right lines. He took the chop to save making a mistake either way and you can't blame him for that.

When it came to 6.30am, the host had already been in bed for 3 hours as those left kept playing. I was just over $500 in front, my best night ever by some margin, and we had reached the agreed time to shut up shop. But then the host came back, and after a good nights rest he was ready for some more, coffee in hand. So we played for another hour, then an hour after that. I flopped some big hands and got paid off, much smaller amounts than it was earlier in the night, and then when all was said and done, I was over 12 buy-ins in front, which is well past my previous best.

Star City Casino

Jay: You know, sometimes I wish I did a little more with my life instead of hanging out in front of places selling weed and shit. Like, maybe be an animal doctor. Why not me? I like seals and shit. Or maybe an astronaut. Yeah... be the first motherfucker to see a new galaxy, or find a new alien lifeform... and fuck it. People would be like, "There he goes. Homeboy fucked a Martian once."

"Clerks II"

I had my second experience at the Sydney Star City Casino over the weekend, and I did much better than last time and have a few observations about the poker tables at the Star.

Firstly, I rocked up at 5.30pm, having left work slightly early to get there hoping to get onto a table early as the wait for a seat gets damn long very quickly on a Friday night. I figured 5.30pm should be early enough to beat everyone else knocking off from work and get on within an hour or so. For the $80NL level, they had 4 tables running and when I signed up at the brush, I was 63rd on the list. That's just stupid. I know the idea is to have the players waiting around in the hope that they will spend their time playing blackjack, or craps, or whatever other tables games where the house can expect to make much more, but having 40 seats open for 100 players is just too much. There was no less than 8 spare tables in the poker area, and surely they could have opened up 1 or 2 by this stage to accommodate the large list. Out of protest, I refused to play any games and waited by watching the big screens – didn't matter what was on, but I got maybe 10 minutes of Euro league basketball in which was ok. In the end, it wasn't until 8.30pm that I got a table, and that was because they had finally opened more tables. Don't know how big the list was by then, but I was pretty disappointed that it took me this long.

When I did finally get to sit down, I doubled up the first hand I played which is always nice, and then I never looked back. Without realising it I was playing very tight, but I was getting paid off when I had a hand so really didn't see a need to change it up. I got a lucky river card once despite having both opponents dominated pre-flop (KJ vs JT and JT, JT on the flop and I rivered a straight.) and only suffered one beat on the night with AA vs JJ all in pre flop – four card flush came on the river. It was a solid night.

Most importantly, it was fun. The table was laughing it up, enjoying the back and forth action without taking it too seriously except for one or two players every now and then. There was one player who was either Canadian or American (the first I think, but can't be sure) who was pretty weird. He never seemed to be paying attention, and then when it was his turn to act he would ask for everything to be replayed for him – who raised what, when, how much they had left, what was in the pot, how many people called and how many were left to call – which is fine, you are allowed to ask if you missed something, but he was doing this every hand and the table was starting to get annoyed with it. That, and he was abusing one of the rules of the poker room.

As far as I know, Star City is one of the only or very few poker rooms that allow you to go south. You are permitted to chip down at the end of any hand to the original buy in. I can understand that, if you are up say 10 buy ins and the next largest on the table is only 3, you might want to book a small win and yet keep your chip lead on the table. I don't do it, but can understand if someone else wants to. Problem was, this player would chip up or chip down after every single hand. If he lost five dollars, he would chip back up to the $80 mark. If he won $8, it would go into his pocket. He would do this every hand, and it would take him 5-6 minutes to do it as well which started to piss the dealer off. And then all the other little explanations he had to do, including the obligatory string bet correction, made the dealer and the table more annoyed. But anyway, each to their own.

With maybe one exception, the dealers at Star City were all awesome. Quick and efficient in their dealing and chip handling, and they even indulged the players with a bit of banter when it was called for. The first dealer was a little annoyed by what was happening and as such he wasn't a picture of sunshine and happiness, but I could totally understand that. All the others had some fun with the table, as they should because it was a fun table. Even the pit bosses would have a joke when they came around. One particular was talking to us about a player who just left, obviously drunk when I spilled my lemonade. He threatened to cut me off on the lemonades next time he came around to the table.

I questioned one dealer about how long the deal at a table before they are moved, because I had a prop bet on that table six would be a male dealer at midnight. I made the bet with my usual prop betting friend who was seated to my left before we got to the casino so we couldn't see the ratio of male to female dealers. The ratio was well in my favour, maybe 15 male dealers to 3-4 female. At 10.30pm a female dealer moved onto table 6, but I was informed that they would only sit for an hour before they got moved. As the time got closer, there was nobody tapping on her shoulder for her to be moved, and as the casino clock rolled over to 0.00am, she was still seated and I lost about the 6th prop bet in a row. Then at 0.02am, she was replaced by a male dealer. Another bad beat! Of well, there goes another $10 in the prop betting stakes – side note, at the stroke of midnight me and my prop betting friend were involved in a hand. He flopped two pair, I had an open ended straight that got there on the turn. I won a big pot that more than covered the prop bet. I'll take that any day.

There was one player who was having a shocker of a day, maybe only three buy ins but it was the way they went that was bad. He ran into aces twice (once was by me, vs AJ on a jack high flop), and then lost to some bad beat when he bet $45 of his remaining $46 by accident. With his final dollar, he went all-in blind from middle position and was in for a main pot of $4. There was some action on the side pot that was bet out on the flop and on player picked it up with just king high – then they showed for the remaining two cards and the $4 main pot. The dude who was all-in for a dollar got up threw his cards in – he was dealt the rockets! He was saying he didn't even want the side pot but they played it out anyway…and he lost to runner-runner flush! Some days, it just isn't your day to play poker. Seemed like a reasonable player too.

At the end of the day, after buying a few drinks and what not I was up just under $200 for the night, and my prop betting friend caught a late run to be up over $500. While the 3 hour wait should not have been, everything else was fantastic. I really enjoyed playing even though I spent most of the night folding away. It was a fun table, and once I got over the wait to play everything was fantastic. Including getting free parking. While they still charge the $5 time charge every hour, I think they may have changed it to every two hours, or at least that was all they seemed to be charging be it either by design or by accident. That seemed a lot fairer to me anyway.

Easy Go, Easy Come

Marty DiBergi: "This tasteless cover is a good indication of the lack of musical invention within. The musical growth of this band cannot even be charted. They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry."
Nigel Tufnel: That's just nitpicking, isn't it?

"This Is Spinal Tap"

The new house is starting to feel like home, as we discover all the little idiosyncrasies of the house and the suburb. Over the weekend we tried the air conditioner for the first time – and it is bliss! If one thing in the house had to work, it would be the air conditioner. Life was good – the cricket was on the TV, the day was hot, the air conditioner was on and I was asleep on the couch.

Friday night home game was my worst ever, in that I was home by 1am because all my buy ins were gone. It was a shame, because I felt like I was playing well and I was enjoying the game. In the very first hand, I hit top pair and turned trips, but lost out to a flopped straight. That hurt a little, but not to worry. Later on, after getting back to a respectable chip position I got to see a multi-way pot from the small blind without a raise, so K9h was looking to the flop. The flop came QJT rainbow, and I checked waiting for a raise. I got a raise and two calls from across the table – drawing players that would do this with anything, and I thought I was in a good position to get someone who was behind to call a big bet, which would look like a protection of TPTK or maybe two pair. I was hoping to get something like KQ or QJ to call, so I made my big raise. In hindsight, the amount of the raise was too much and caused me to be pot committed but that was my intention at the time. One player in late position raised all-in, and it was a pittance for me to call, something like $15 into a $150 pot. He gave off every signal that he had a strong hand on that flop, but knowing this player that could have meant anything from the nuts to second pair with a back door flush. Unfortunately for me, it was the nuts and there went all my hard work. The limp preflop was what caught me really, and it was the first time in ages that I had hit anything on a flop, but that's poker.

I also had a prop bet going, that aces would be shown less than 6 times on the night. The bet was that aces would count if they were shown at showdown, or were shown before they were mucked. Out of the first 5 times aces were shown, only once was it at showdown so I was getting screwed there too. Once, the player with aces knew he was beaten, and was ready to muck them and then he showed them to me only before they were mucked. The other guy in the prop bet didn't see what happened, but I can't let that go and pretend it didn't happen so that was aces number 2 early on. If he showed any other player though, it wouldn't have counted unless they spoke up but that's the way it goes.

But I can't complain. I've had a good run lately and this probably brought about a bit of balance. I had a good weekend online though, winning in 4 out of 4 sessions and playing well. Most of the profit was from making other players pay for their draws and then calling a bluff when it missed. I like that.

I got deep in a tourny only to throw it away one from the bubble. It was a 5 table SNG and I made it to 8th before I made a bad read. UTG with 8000 raised to 1750 (blinds were 250/500). I had 7500 in chips and 88 on the button and just called – I could have pushed but wanted to see if the flop was dangerous first. Flop came 26J, which I figured was safe. Opponent bet out 3500 or something around that amount into the pot – which should have told me that he wasn't just putting in a continuation bet. That was a bet that should have told me he figured his hand was best. I had already decided that a jack high flop was good for me, and I was pushing all in. This bet amount should have changed my mind, but I didn't consider it and had already made my mind up. I pushed, he called with AJ. So I got a little unlucky on the flop, but really I should have known better and paid the price for it. If I hadn't been a buy-in up on the cash table at the same time, it might have annoyed me more.

So I ended the weekend about even, which isn't so bad. Going home early on Friday night was disappointing, but in the end it allowed me to be awake for a big Saturday shopping for baby crap. All is well in the end.

Moving On...

Larry Flynt: You don't want to quit me, I'm your dream client: I'm the most fun, I'm rich, and I'm always in trouble.

"The People vs Larry Flynt"

Well the big move is over, and looks like after a few computer dramas I am back up to speed and ready to go again. Long story short, had to format the hard drive and lost everything but at least the machine is working once again, and I can play some poker.

We've moved from a unit to a house, to make room for Little Ed who know has his own room, despite being 20 weeks shy of his birthday. Which means now the Distraction wants to fill it with baby crap. Here we go…

The new house set up is ok, but I've lost a study and now the computer sits just off the lounge room, where I am not safe from the Distraction's prying eyes. But we've been having good luck lately, so there is nothing to worry about there.

Having played a hand of poker in over a week due to the move, so hopefully by next post I'll have more hands to discuss and thoughts on the 52 little plastic friends.

Keep Them Happy

Anthony 'Tony' Soprano Sr.: Sil, break it down for 'em. What two business have traditionally been recession-proof since time immemorial?
Silvio Dante: Certain aspects of show business and our thing.

"Sopranos"

Listen to enough people in poker circles, and when it comes to online poker there seems to be two sites in particular that people always say have the toughest competition – those being Full Tilt and PokerStars.

I for one, believe that if the other sites are so easy, then why aren't all the good players there taking care of the fish? But to a certain extent, it is probably true. I've played at many different sites around the place, and I have found some sites easy and some hard but I haven't really given them all enough time to warrant a decision. That's because there will always be enough bad players at the big rooms to accommodate the good. Hopefully I can find myself as one of the latter. But the reason Full Tilt and PokerStars seem to have so many good players if the service they provide attracts players who are serious about the game. Just the fact that Pokerstars withdrawals are instant at the levels I play is a major bonus – and it's not like it is a difficult thing for them. Any questions submitted to help is answer within a few hours in my experience. Even on one occasion where I was in the wrong – I tried to make a transfer to a withdrawal service here in Australia without playing the money, effectively making a neteller withdrawal through Pokerstars – the support told me this was not what the method was created for, but let it pass just this once as I was not to know. See, that's good service – let it slide without incident and warn me not to do it again.

There's something in that, about looking after your customers. In poker, the customers are the players willing to sit with you that you think you can take money from. Ever heard the term "Don't tap the glass?" Of course you have. Why do people still do it?

I had an occasion on the weekend where in my second hand after sitting down, I got lucky. I hit a river card to make my flush after pushing all-in on the turn on a semi-bluff. I didn't expect him to call, he did with just a pair and I hit my flush on the river for the win. I even posted a "sorry, guess I got lucky, didn't think you'd call" but he went off again. So I decided to give him a lesson, as he was proclaiming how he was going to felt me and how I was free money – I cashed out of the table straight away! I had other things to do anyway, so it wasn't a dent to my poker playing time.

While I was online the other night, I noticed one of my friends from the home game was online, so I decided to jump onto his table to see how things were. It was at a lower monetary level than what I wanted to play, but who cares when you're playing with friends?

What I didn't notice was it was also a limit table. Damn, this will be boring.

I couldn't help but win. I was hitting flushes, straights, quads (flopped quad nines on a A99 flop…sadly opponent didn't have an ace) and a straight flush even. All up – a profit of $4! Damn low level limit game! Stupid waste of good fortune! What can you do? If I hit those kind of hands at my usual table, I would have doubled my bank roll by the time I stood up. But I'll take it anyway, what other choice do I have?