Stupid Plays

Late last night I played some more Internet Poker at Absolute Poker. Wow, what a great session. I landed on a $3-$6 LHE table. And it was juicy.

Most of my time has been split recently between the $1-$2 through $3-$6 at Absolute Poker and I’m really enjoying the $3-$6 tables. Overall the players are better there, but much more predictable. And many of them still have significant leaks in their games that are very exploitable. It makes for a good earning session, with less of the roller coaster riding of the lower tables.

The $1-$2 are fairly loose, with four to six players in every hand. Many players are playing trash holdings from almost any position and have only the fuzziest ideas about the importance of position. While this is a very profitable game, it is hard to ever put a player on a hand, or to be able to define your hand. Bluffing is also a loosing proposition, because almost any dodo with second pair/bad kicker will call you to the river. So you just have to play technical poker. The good news is when you have the best hand, they will pay you off. But with so many trash hands playing top pair and two pair are not so strong. This is a game of straights and flushes and if you make your draws.

At the $3-$6 the difference is remarkable. Here the tables are pretty tight… everybody playing with a fair understanding of the values of starting hands, and are more sophisticated in using position before and after the flop. Most hands are heads up or three-handed, only rarely going four-handed or higher. Their weaknesses are overvaluing premium cards post flop. But the nice thing is this style of play makes it much easier to isolate yourself when you want to play heads-up against a particularly bad player in a hand.

Two hands came up last night that are perfect examples of these points. I’m in the small blind. A middle position player raised and the Button and SB called. I had T8 offsuit so I called. The flop came KQJ. Wow, scary. It gives me a low-end, open-ended straight draw but against that board I could already be beat. SB and I check. The original bettor leads out. The button calls and SB folds. I’m getting tremendous pot odds so I call. The Turn is a 9, giving me the second nut straight. I bet to test the waters. I’m called by both remaining players.

I’m praying for no Ten and for the board not to pair. If any of that happens I know I’m dead. If an Ace hits I figure I’ll split the pot with somebody. The river comes a harmless 6. I bet and both players call. The Middle Position Player had AK and the SB had A7.

The AK had top pair/top kicker, but how good was that with that board, and the BB leading into him after the turn? He’s probably up against two pair or a straight, maybe a set. He probably shouldn’t have called the turn and definitely never should have called the river, in my opinion, yeah, he had massive pot odds to call, but really, could he expect to have ANY chance to win that pot?

And the SB just fell into the Top-and-bottom fallacy. They have four to an Ace High Straight and they think one card will give them the nuts. They don’t stop to think that they are really drawing to a gutshot straight… four outs. Half of those times they are only drawing for a chance to split the pot. If a 7 hits it is nothing. An Ace would give him a top pair but most of the time it would lose to two pair or a straight. This is a true money losing hand. But it comes from playing your hand, without giving consideration for what might be playing against you.

The second hand was a true pleasure. I was in the cutoff when an early position player raised pre-flop. Now this is one of those obnoxious players… the ones who think they are better than they are and love to berate others for their “Donkey” play. Normally these idiots are the worse donkeys at the table and I love to wait in the grass for them.

This guy really liked big cards. I’d seen him bet out-of-position and play very strongly hands like AK/AJ/77. So while he could have a premium pair, he was more apt to bet strong like that with something weaker. Well I had JJ and this was my chance. I smooth called and we went to the flop three handed.

BINGO! J43.

He bet. Normally I would just call here so I wouldn’t scare him off. But I know he would ferociously defend his big cards. So I raised. He re-raised as I expected, so I capped the betting. A 9 was on the flop. He checked, I bet and he merely called. If he had a big pair he would have raised again too. I expect he has something Like AK, AQ or maybe a medium pair. Now I’m praying for an Ace or a smaller card that gives him a smaller set than mine.

The last card is fantastic, yet a great disappointment. It is a J, giving me Quads.

He checks and folds. I check hand history and he was playing AQ.

I played the hand well, I thought.

He didn’t. AQ is fairly strong, but is an underdog to any pair or premium hand. Against QQ, KK, AA or AK it is a big dog. When nothing hits on the flop, and I’m raising and re-raising, he should fold. His best chance is if he’s up against something like KJ/JT or something similar. He’s almost drawing dead to AA/JJ/AJ/44/33/A4/A3 and is a huge dog to QQ/KK and any hand holding a Jack. In fact, the only hand he would feel good about going against right now is something like AT/A9 or similar, but would I be capping the flop with hands like that?

When I re-raised him on the flop it was time for him to go. He didn’t, so he gave me two big bets he shouldn’t have.

BAD PLAY

Even in Limit Hold Em, one bad poker play can turn your night from good to bad.

I was playing the $1-$2 LHE at Absolute Poker. It had been a great session. The table was a good mix of Callie Wallies and Maniacs and I was looking at posting a good win. It was about time to go, so I clicked off my Auto Post button and was only going to play top ten hands. I came UTG, my last hand, and I look down to see pocket tens.

Since my mind was planning on going I should have played this hand conservatively, especially in Early Position. But on the spur of the moment I raised. Not a terribly bad play on this table, but more aggressively than I wanted to. A late position player called. The Small Blind reraised! Actually, no surprise. This maniac defended his blinds with almost any holding, and would reraise with anything suited, including 74! The Big Blind called, I called, and the Late Position player mucked.

The flop was K24 rainbow, which I thought was fairly safe for me. SB bet, his standard play. BB called, no telling what he has. I decide I’d test the waters. I reraised. The SB folded and the BB called. I’m a little worried now. I expect the BB might be playing a K with a weak kicker, or maybe second or third pair. But the turn is a T! A set for me and I’m happy.

BB checks, I bet and he calls. River is a 6. And dummy me, I think it is a safe card.

BB bets! I raise and BB reraises! I think just a moment, decide he must have either hit two pair or is trying to buy the pot. I cap the betting. He calls and rolls over 35 unsuited for the nut straight.

His play pre-flop was horrible, calling a reraise cold with such a horrible holding. But after the flop he was getting sufficient pot odds to go for his open-ended straight draw. When he hit on the river, he bet strong and maximized his winnings. So pre-flop, his play sucked. Post-flop it was perfect.

My raise preflop was questionable, but not entirely unreasonable. I would normally just check pocket tens in Early Position I do occasionally raise to mix up my play. Still, since I was leaving the next hand, mixing up my play wasn’t a big priority. I should have just called and seen the flop.

My raise to test the SB post-flop was also a good play in order to define my hand. The turn was fine. But when the BB bet out at the river warning signs should have gone off. I should have just called instead of getting into a raising battle to cap the betting when I didn’t have the nuts. At that point slow-played pocket Kings and the 35 were both winners against me. Of course, anything less, like the BB playing KT or K7 or similar I had the best hand.

If, on the other hand, I’d merely called pre-flop, I would have saved one small bet. Plus the pot would have been smaller, making the odds worse for the BB going heads up on the Turn and River on a tiny straight draw. And then I blew three big bets when I capped the river betting instead of just calling the BB’s lead. I lost 3.5 Big bets because I played that hand too aggressively. When you hope to make 1.5-2 big Bets an hour per table, that’s a big hit, even if I was playing three tables at the same time. That’s an hour’s play I’m behind because of my rush, stupidity, and lack of respect for the BB.

So, it turned what should have been a very profitable session at Absolute poker into a small win.

See you at the tables!

Party Poker and a Good Session

Well, I’ve finally worked through the hoops Party Poker threw up so I could have access to my money in my account with them. I had to fax them a utility bill to show I was a resident in Ecuador, then telephone them (at international phone rates) top verify my account.

I just can’t express my frustration enough with Party Poker. Their banning of US citizens was bad enough, but limiting their withdrawal options at the same time is flat out criminal in my eyes. Then they just cancelled their player-funded monster jackpot program, leaving millions of players’ dollars slushing around unaccounted for. And then their customer service has been ridiculous.

I’d be surprised if Party Poker is still in business 12 months from now.

I had a wonderful session yesterday. I was playing $3-6 at Absolute Poker. This was a fantastic table. There were two players who slow played every time they hit. If they had AA they’d slow play, then wonder why someone with a draw hit and killed them.

Then there were two other hyper-aggressive kids who really overplayed any pair.

I simply went into turtle mode and waited for my chance. My first chance came when I was in the big blind with unsuited 67. Four limpers and the SB let me see a flop for free and I hit GIN! 677 rainbow looked at me. I checked and one of the hyper kids bet. A slow-player in late position called and I called. A J hit the turn. I checked, hyper bet and slow-player raised! Wow! He only does that if he has trips or something! I re-raise and the other two call, no doubt wondering what I was reraising for.

The river was a harmless 3. I bet, hyper and slow called. I showed my flopped boat and they mucked. I checked the hand play to find hyper had 88 and slow-play had A7 for trips, top kicker. I can see how slow-play played the way he did, but hyper made the typical mistake of thinking his pocket pair was strong in that situation. With that board and the betting and raising going on, he had only second pair with no draw. He should have mucked on the turn. With an overcard on the board, potential trips and boats, and a tight player (me) and a slow-player betting and raising each other he had to know he was beaten. He waisted three big bets, in a no win situation.

A few hands later I was in late/middle position with 55. I called two limpers when BB raised. The limpers folded. The SB had limped in. The BB was also low on chips and was already pot committed. While 55 isn’t a great hand, I felt it was likely BB was making a stand before his chips were too low. He could have a premium hand, but he was just as likely to have a suited Ace or two big cards. There was a lot of dead money in the pot, so I went into no-limit mode and raised to isolate the BB. The SB folded, and BB and I capped the betting. Flop was 35T with two clubs. I bet, which put BB all in. He showed AcKd. A diamond hit the turn giving me a little heart flutter, but the river was a harmless Ace and I scooped a nice pot.

Next hand I look at 66. I call two limpers and again the BB raises. Now, the BB has a big stack in front of him, but he is also a hyper better that overplays any top pair, pocket pair, and I’ve seen him maniacally play big cards out of the BB. He is also one of those abusive idiots who belittles other people’s play. In fact, when I’d typed in a comment that it was better to be lucky than good he responded “U R neither you suckXXX.” Hmm. Looks like it will be a pleasure taking a notch off this guy.

The limpers fold and I call. Another low flop of 952 rainbow. He bets, I raise and he reraises.

Now I know I may be beat. He could be playing a premium pair, or something like A9, but he could just as well be playing AK/KQ/KJ/QJ. I’ve even seen him play this way with something thin like A4 or A7 out of the blinds. I figure I’m probably the best, but I want to keep this pot reasonably small. I go into call mode to the end. Nothing scary comes on the turn and the river. He shows AK for Ace high and my small pair takes it.

He tilts and looses three silly hands in a row. He leaves the table. In the end I have a very nice win, thank you.

The lesson here is you can control the pot size.

In the first hand several limpers gave me a free look at the flop. When I hit my dream flop I let two aggressive bettors build a big pot before I announced the strength of my hand with a raise on the big betting rounds.

In the second hand I wanted to isolate the small-stacked BB, since I felt I had the best hand, there was a lot of dead money in the pot, and he couldn’t damage my stack size that much. So I bet and raised aggressively.

In the third hand, I stayed in with a weak holding heads up, because there was, again, lots of dead money in the pot. I thought I was best, but it was a vulnerable hand, so I used position to keep the pot-size to a minimum, so I wouldn’t loose a lot of chips in case I was beaten.

This skill – managing the pot size to fit your hand and circumstances – is one that few Internet poker players appreciate. Learn it well, and you’ll maximize the pots when you have a big advantage, and minimize the pits where you are vulnerable.

See you at the tables.

PARTY POKER AND THE MONSTER

The strange behavior of Party Poker continues. After barring US players from playing, out of fear of the recently signed US legislation, Party Poker has cancelled its Monster Promotions. Everything about its Monster Jackpot and Monster Tournaments say merely that the promotion is cancelled. No word about the massive poker jackpots.

This is strange, because these multi-million dollar jackpots were funded by the players. These came from play on special Monster Poker Tables that charged an extra jackpot rake per hand. If it is player funded the jackpots should still be offered, or distributed to players somehow. What’s happening? Party Poker won’t say.

Just another way that Party Poker has handled itself horribly during the last month.

FRUSTRATION AT THE TABLES

The last few days have been the kind of get-no-where poker frustration times. You know the type of sessions I mean.

I had QQ and the board flopped QQ6. No action so I merely win a teeny pot.

Later I again had QQ and capped the betting with another player. The other player is reasonably strong so I think my pockets are second best here. Then the board hits 27Q! I have the nut set and we cap it through the flop and turn betting rounds. Then the K hits the river. He bets. I know I’m beat but make the crying call. He shows KK to beat me set-over-set and take a huge pot.

The good news is I’ve kept my play disciplined and I haven’t let this bad run affect my style. I’ve quite a couple times when I felt myself getting frustrated. So while the cards have been brutal, I’ve done well enough so that I’ve kept what could have been a disastrous three days and minimized my losses.

For instance, last night, I woke up in the blind with AT. Now I normally like to play this hand strongly out of the blinds, but UTG, a good player, raised pre-flop. Two other weak players called so I merely called. The flop came A23. I checked and UTG bet. I sadly mucked. One player grimly called to the river and UTG showed AK. I saved some valuable chips there.

The games I’ve been in are good. It’s just a stretch where my draws aren’t filling and my big hands are getting rivered. It happens in poker. I’m just hoping it changes soon.

See you at the tables.

Playing Second Pair Poker

Here is another post-flop tip for all you Internet poker players out there. It should be obvious. In fact, when I say it, all poker players out there will say, “DUH! We know that!”…… Here it is: Play second pair or worse carefully after the flop.

I say the obvious, but this is one of the greatest mistakes I see weak players make when they play: They flop second or third pair in LHE and bet like the Poker Gods have blessed them. It is bet and raise time and the chips build in the middle of the poker table for the winner to claim.

Sure, many times, second or third pair will be a winner. Against a lone opponent, it likely is good. But in a multi-way poker hand second pair is cash draining garbage. Remember, the AVERAGE winning hand in LHE is two pair. Even top pair, good kicker is a weak holding in a multi-handed pot.

So you hang on and with your weak second pair. You don’t improve your poker hand and you wasted precious bets chasing. Or worse, the river hits you two pair, only you lose to a bigger two pair, trips or the card made someone a flush or straight. This is poker hell.

So in many cases, when you have second or third pair in a multi-way pot, you are best off giving the Poker Gods their due and mucking your hand.

There are two circumstances in LHE when playing second or third pair can be profitable.

First circumstance is when you are heads up, and preferably against a poker player that has shown weakness. If they don’t have a pocket pair the average poker hand will miss the flop two of three times. Even if the other player has a good pair, like 88, a flop like QT3 Rainbow can look scary. If you are in the blind with T9, you can probably bet with confidence. Of course, if the other player raised pre-flop and is raising you again, you might well be up against a Q or a premium pair. Resistance means SLOW DOWN! Here I go into a check and call, or check and muck mode, saving chips for when I have a better advantage.

The second circumstance is when your kicker is higher than the highest card you think your opponent has. For instance, you play in a multi-way, unraised pot, from the blinds with Kc6c and the flop comes J62 rainbow. You probably are beaten here. But if you check, you can probably call a single bet. You have ample pot odds to draw to your five outs: two Sixes and three Kings. Of course, if there is a bet and raising going on, it’s time to muck.

The bottom line is that most poker players lose through leaks in their game. It’s not the bad beats that really kill you. It is the slow drain on your chips when you play thin hands. Sure, sometimes you are paid off. Most poker players remember the times they sucked out on someone when they had the worst of it. You even remember the times when a weak player sucks out on you. But what you don’t realize are all the chips that suck away when you play weak holdings like second pair when you shouldn’t.

See you at the tables.

Cashing in on Poker Load Bonuses

One thing I’ve ignored up to now are the effects of load bonuses on the profit potential on Internet poker. This really came to the forefront with the demise of US players play on Party Poker. Party Poker had been my primary site for play. There were some bonuses offered but they were pretty thin, and while I was happy to get them when they were available, I pretty much ignored them.

But when the Internet gaming bill hit, I moved most of my Internet Bankroll out of Party Poker in case there were problems. When Party Poker said they wouldn’t take play from their US customers any more I looked for new playgrounds.

Now, for an old time poker player, re-establishing his bankroll on the Internet, the numbers for the sign-up and reload bonuses are eye-opening.

I signed up at Absolute Poker, and they are running a new member, first deposit bonus, of 100% up to $750. The code is AP750 when you deposit at the cashier. In fact, if you want to get an additional bonus, input my email addresss: rlloydevans@yahoo.com in the “Friend Referral” box. You’ll get an extra $50 poker deposit bonus if you do that. How cool is that!!!

You have to get 100 pots raked at $0.50 to get each $10 released, so low limits won’t do. You’ll have to play $1-$2 LHE at least to have a good chance at making good inroads on the bonus.

If you are a net poker winner, like I am, you are just putting greater profit onto your bottom line. If you are a small loser, it can be a ticket to positive earnings. And if you are a big loser at the poker table, make sure you sit at may table. I’ll be happy to give you some great poker lessons… of course, they will cost!

And now I’m reading about low-limit Internet mavens who bounce from poker room to poker room, taking advantage of the different bonuses from the different poker rooms. They land at a site and fund it for the current load bonus. The blitz their playing time there, playing 4-6 tables at a time, build the points and get the bonus released. Then they shift their money to the next good bonus.

If you are a good poker player, you’ll probably make about $6 an hour playing $1-$2 LHE (about 1 big bet per hour per table, but there is going to be some slippage in that ratio because you are playing four tables at once). But at that rate you can clear another $15-$20 an hour clearing the bonus.

That’s a great way to build a bankroll.

I just finished playing poker for an hour at Absolute. I played two $1-$2 LHE tables. I essentially broke even in my play (actually an $8 win), but cleared $10 from bonus, for a net $18 win, on an uneventful, short session.

I’m living in Ecuador, and making $15 and hour is serious money here.

Okay, I can be a down-right idiot at times. Why didn’t I take more advantage of load bonuses before?

See you at the tables.

PARTY POKER FIASCO

Well, I’m glad I took our most of the money in my Party Poker playing account. Since Bush signed the bill making money transactions illegal for poker sites Party Poker is now rejecting US player’s real money play. This is ridiculous, because Party Poker is a British Corporation and isn’t covered by US laws.

Worse, since I’ve had problems with Neteller’s customer service, I do all of my cash transactions through ePassporte. But Party Poker has removed ePassporte from their list of withdrawal options. I’ve moved to Ecuador, but Party Poker won’t allow me to change my address from the US to another country. So my remaining cash is stuck in Party Poker’s coffers with no way for me to access it!

I’ve transferred most of my play to Absolute Poker. They have announced that they will continue play with US customers, mostly because they recognize that the US laws do not apply to them. Hurray! There are a few Internet cardrooms that have come out in support of poker players and have realized how ineffective the US law will be. Full Tilt Poker, Doyles Room and Absolute Poker have made the strongest stances.

Party Poker has abandoned their US players and Bodog Poker has made a wishy-washy-wait-and-see statement.

For all customers of Party Poker, no matter what your nationality, I hope you see how Party Poker has treated their US players. Hopefully, you’ll realize that a poker site that would do this to us might also do it to you in the future, and realize that there are much better places to play than Party Poker.

Internet Post-flop Play

Two examples from an hour’s session today, same table and people.

UTG I look down to see KK and quickly raise. One person in middle position calls. The flop shows 269 all red. I bet and the other guy calls. The turn is a 7. I bet and the other guy calls. Now I smell something fishy. When the Q hits on the river I merely check. The other guy checks and shows 27 offsuit!

Well, first he was an idiot to call a raise from the UTG player with no callers and merely 72 offsuit. He was also an idiot to hit bottom pair-bad kicker to a guy continuing to raise in a two-way pot. However, when he hits his magical two pair he just checks down! He hits his five-outer and he should have bet to make me pay off. Instead he gets a rather small pot when he cracks my kings. I’m not happy I lost, but I’m utterly thankful he didn’t relieve me of more chips!

Second instance: I’m in BB to see Kc6c. A middle position player raise. There are two callers and I call. Board is JK4 rainbow. I check, original raiser bets. The others fold and I call. I expect the guy either has an Ace, Maybe a King, but more likely a smaller pair. Turn is a 2, check, bet, call. I think I might be best here, but I want to keep the pot small. River is a 9. Check, bet and I call. The happy raiser shows Ad4d for bottom pair and I take a small pot.

Again, post-flop play killed the guy. I don’t mind the suited Ace raise since he was first in. I don’t even mind him leading out after the flop. But once he was called he should have slowed down. I see this play over and over again. People semi bluff with bottom pair, hoping to fill to trips or two-pair. In a big pot, the pot odds might make it worthwhile. But once you hit the turn, you are getting terrible odds and are best checking or mucking. It comes from so many people bluffing on the Internet. But you have to ask yourself… what am I playing against?

In this case, the only hand he could beat was a busted straight draw, a four with a worse kicker, or a pair of deuces or treys. Anything else he loses. If someone has a K or J he’s toast.

Meanwhile, I lose to any K with a higher kicker, AA, trips or two pair. If he has, say AJ/ AT/QQ/QJ/ or any other hand I’m good. I want to keep the pot as small as I can, because it is a weak hand, but with the raise and callers pre-flop, and me with top pair, AND post-flop I’m heads up, it IS worthwhile for me to stay to the end. I may be the leader, but I’m not thrilled with my kicker. But if another K hits or a 6 then I’ll feel better.

I see so many people burn off chips when they have a single pair, and try to drive everybody out. How many times have you seen someone with QQ, for example, bet crazy to the river when there is AK on the flop, only to lose to KT? If you have second or worse pair, and no one goes away on the flop, muck or slow down.

Or keep going fast, and send your chips this way.

Southern California – PART TWO

My bankroll is hurting, but I still want to try Casino Morongo in Cabazon, California. This is one of my favorite cardrooms anywhere. It has about 25 tables, and runs both NLHE and LHE. It also offers a 5-card Omaha…. Omaha High-Low with five pocket cards!!!!!! Yeehah!

But the real reason I love this cardroom is the age restriction, or lack of it. It is an Indian Casino, owned by the Morongo Tribe, and somehow, it is open to 18-year-olds.

Yep, 18 and you can play at Casino Morongo legally. So you get tons of Southern California College Students who flock here, and quite a few high school students working on fake IDs. The NLHE games are fast and furious with inexperienced guys making lots of mistakes.

I sat down to a $100 buy-in game. It consisted of me, one 30-something Asian who liked to steal small pots, a cranky old man who was getting on the dealer’s nerves with his sarcastic comments, and a host of kids who all looked like they should be in a High School Sex Education Class.

Purrfect!

The first two hours wind through. Nothing much happens. I win a few pots, but nothing spectacular. They are making the crucial mistakes in NLHE that is typical for the game: they don’t size their bets well and they over value top pair good kicker.

I’m waiting for my chance. But unlike the prior day at the Agua Caliente I’m patient and not forcing bad situations. I’m also talking it up with the other players and especially the dealers, and everybody is having a good time. This is a really friendly table, except for the old man. The Asian Guy says many times “Man, this is a fun table to play at.” Lots of players tap fists after a good hand. Just a lot of fun all around.

Then I get a mildly good run of cards and build my stack up to $200. Still waiting for something to happen. Then on middle position I look to find those blessed Pocket Rockets, good old AA. Well, I’ve been having fun, wisecracking and chatting it up, and I decide to do a little WSOP/Gold on the table.

“Well, guys, I’m representing a big, pocket pair. Stay away unless you have seven-deuce cause you’ll never beat me!” And I splash out a solid bet. The crusty old guy and one of the college students calls. The flop comes 25T rainbow. I make a pot-sized bet. The crusty old man thinks a while, then mucks. The student goes into the tank. He’s a short stack and calling my bet will have him truly pot-committed. If he wants to play he might as well move all in.

He merely calls.

A blank hits the turn and I go all in. The student tanks again, then calls. Another blank hits the river. The student shows AT for top pair and my AA gives me a good pot. The student gets up and goes away, quickly replaced by another student with a rack of chips.

A few minutes later I’m again in middle position when I look down to see KK! Can I do it again? I figured I’d try.

“It’s time to play again, guys. Have big cards or go away!” I push out a $15 bet. I’m astounded, and really worried, when five people call. What?

The flop is nice to me, 27J rainbow. The Big Blind bets $20. Then the old man calls, and another student, freshly seated, calls.

And now I go into the tank. The BB likes to raise flops like this to try to steal. I’m expecting he has nothing, or maybe second or third pair. If he hit a miracle two pair or trips on the flop, I’m in big trouble. The old man’s call is screaming at me. He’s one to just call here with Top Pair and a good kicker. Trips he’d go all in, as well with overcards. Otherwise he might call if he had a draw but there’s no half-realistic flush or straight draw on the board. I have no clue what the student has.

I need to raise to protect and define my hand. But how much? In fact, I start talking at the table again.

“Wow, A $20 bet, a $20 call, another $20 call and there’s another $70 (actually $90) in the pot. Everybody has pocket pairs?”

The BB looks unhappy, the old man’s chin juts out with a hint of anger, and the student looks really unhappy. And I know where I am. BB and student have very weak holdings, maybe overcards or second pair. Old man has a J, probably AJ, but maybe KJ. Time to thin the field.

“If you got a hand, stay in, if not, go away!” and I slide a rack of chips into the center.
BB dumps his hand before my rack stops moving. Old man thinks hard, then starts pushing out chips. He only pushes out three stacks to join his one already in the center. The student hastily mucks. But now the old man gets into an argument with the dealer when she prompts him to call with one more stack… It’s only an $80 raise, there are four stacks there….but one was your original stack, the total is $100…. They go back and forth before the old man grumpily shoves another stack in front of him.

I say to myself, he’s got a hand he thinks he’s beat, but it’s too good for him to get away from. Now I’m positive he has AJ, top pair and top kicker.

The turn comes a 7, pairing the board. I hate this card, hate it, hate it, hate it.

And old man leads out, pushing $60 into the middle. On another table, in another time and another opponent, I’d think this small bet to this big pot would be fishy. It would scream at me that old man has a 7, somehow. But this time it’s not. If he’d hit trips he’d go all in I know it. I can feel it. I have even more certainty that he merely has AJ.

“Well, if you have trips you’ve won yourself a big pot.” I slide out two more racks, enough to put him all in. He thinks for a few moments, then juts out his jaw and pushes in.

The river is, I hope, a meaningless 3.

He rolls over AJ, top pair, top kicker.

And at my side (I'm in seat 1) the dealer whispers “Please show me you beat him. You did, didn’t you?”

And I show my KK.

And start stacking chips.

The dealer beams as she starts shoving racks and chips my way. The old man fumes a few moments, then stands and leaves the table.

Now a couple comments here. I have a hard rule: Never talk about your cards and never flash your cards. When you do, you only give away information about your play. That is information a savvy opponent can use to beat you. I made an exception here, because of my table image was friendly, talky and outgoing, and while I was playing the tightest on the table the others had me slotted as a ”middle-aged home game player.” Or maybe an “old fart who talked a good game but can’t play with the kids!”

I decided to use this technique: proclaiming my premium hand, because at this point on this table I thought I could buffalo someone who had a weak holding to pay me off. I did it the second time for the same, but slightly different reason.

It worked the first time, because no one thought I’d tell the truth. I played a strong hand extremely strongly, so they thought I was bluffing.

The second time, when I repeated, the old man couldn’t let himself believe I was doing it a second time. The second time I must be bluffing, right?

Well, I did not do it a third time. I still remained my boisterous, friendly, chatty guy at the table, but I played pretty straight up. I was the monster stack at the table and I did bully a few people out of some pots with my chips, but otherwise I played straight up poker.

After four hours, I had a $700 profit. I’d made back all my losses from the previous to sessions.

Now that’s nice.

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Final stop was a return to Hollywood Park Casino on Friday Night. I didn’t have much time, because I was flying early the next morning, but I wanted to taste the busy action.

And busy it was! The poker room was filled to the brim, but it didn’t take too long to get a seat. Within ten minutes I was at a $200 buyin NLHE.

And I was in for a ride.

This was a table of Loose/Aggressive players who thought nothing of going all in with some very, very marginal holdings. My first hand I look down to see AKs in middle position. I raise to $25 and eight call! Wow. Rags hit the flop. One guy bets $50 and three call. I sadly muck. The raiser eventually wins a mighty pot with only a 86s that flopped two pair.

There is no really good player, but several terrible players. I have to keep ducking but I plan to play tight. My stack goes down, then I win a good pot when my 44 gives me a set. Two hours later I’m getting tired so I leave, $100 richer.

That table was just sick! If I played in that game consistently I’d be a poker pro in no time. People were just going nuts with the thinnest holdings. They played awful. I just wish I had more time to really take their money. So if you ever visit LA, and can stand the tribulations and massive chips swings of a table of maniacs, try the $200 buyin NLHE at Hollywood Park. It is so juicy!

So I flew back to Ecuador a net winner in the live games by the astounding amount of $100. But, concerning how badly I started, that’s not such a terrible thing. Next time, I’ll try to allow myself more time at the Friday action, and especially make more time for Casino Morongo.

Southern California – PART ONE

Well, the week in Southern California is over and it's the end of a wild rollercoaster. It started bad, god worse, got down-right horrible, but then came on with a huge rush. I'll talk about the bad, first.

I got in Sunday morning to LA and after getting settled decided to spend some time at the Hollywood Park Casino. I sat at the $100 buy-in NLHE. It was a game full of old guys at this time of day. All are pretty conservative players. There wasn't a single person really out of line. But they were weak in many ways, you couldn't make fancy plays against them. Their weaknesses were that they played too many hands, and slightly overvalued their hands when they had top pair. But this was a situation that you could't bluff on them too much, so you had to wait to have a hand. It was going to be one of those quiet sessions without a lot of swings.

Actually no swings, because in four hours I only won two small pots. I got lots of unplayable cards. When I got something playable it was something like A9o on the button when a rock UTG raised. If I did see a flop, the board would miss me and I sadly mucked while the others betted away.

I was quietly waiting for something to happen. It didn't and I started to get tired, partly from the hours of traveling and partly because of the time difference. So, I left $200 down.

It was my first time at Hollywood Park. It laid a good spread of games, even on a Sunday evening. When I come back next I'll have to try it on a Friday night.

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Next I was in the Palm Springs area and I hit the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage. This is a smallish cardroom that has some good limits to their games, offering up to a $20/40 LHE. It offers NLHE and Omaha H/L, but there is never enough interest for NLHE and the Omaha game, normally a 6-12, when it is spread, just sucks with a collection of septegenarians.

I sat at the 3-6 LHE and played for six hours. And I sucked. Maybe it was the travel and I was too tired, maybe it was the recent loss at the Hollywood Park, but I played bad. I caught cards just good enough to lose money on, pushed on thin holdings, and watched another $200 flow away. At four hours I had just decided to go when several of the players left, either to go home or go to another games, so there was a complete change in the texture of the table. These new players were loose and passive. In fact, one really old guy, must have been in his eighties, sat down and started calling every flop and calling 80% of the hands through to the river. Woohoo! He calls down all the way on a scary board with a KJ for king high.

I re-bought, and waited for my chance to get paid off.

I get JJ and I raise preflop. Several call. A low flop hits, rags and rainbows and I bet again. Everybody but the old man mucks. He calls. The turn is a blank and I bet again with a call. The river is another blank, bet call. He rolls over KK and scoops the pot.

I mumble to myself and get ready for the next chance.

And every pot I'm in with the old man he hits a hand and I pay him off. Four more times he either slow plays two paired rags on the flop or hits a miracle two or three-outer on the river to claim the pot. Down an additional $300, I finally decide this is not my day and head to my motel.

So far, my trip to Southern California has me down $700. Wow. My live bankroll has taken a big hit. Next post, I'll talk about how the second half of my trip went.