Feb 23, 2008 – Chumash, $1/$2 NL ($60 buy-in)

I talked Josh into coming back with me, and we played for ~3 hours – me at poker, Josh at poker and blackjack. Ended the day at +$120.

Some hands that I can remember…

1) I just couldn’t help myself… I got Ac6c in mid-late position and limped in with Josh in the BB in seat 7. Flop was Kc, Jh, Tc giving me the nut-flush draw, but Josh bet out $10 – seat 8 called and I decided to chase, and I called; everyone else folded. Turn was the 5c (yay), and we all checked. River was the Jd and only I called Josh’s $15 bet. He’d flopped a straight and I ran it out on him.

2) In middle position I picked up 8’s and just limped with them, and ended up with 5 to see the flop. Flop was Qh, Qd, 8h and we all check to seat 4 (the cut-off) who bets out with $10. Seat 8 calls and I call. Turn is the Jd, - which seat 8 checks to me. I decide that I’m going to bet hoping that it looks like I’ve got a Q and am afraid of the flush draw, so I bet out with $20. Seat 4 immediately raises to $50. 8 folds and I move in for another <$10. He calls and while the dealer is straightening out our stacks, he gets nervous and says, “you got a boat?” I just nod and he disgustedly flips over QsTc. River is a red 7 and I pull in nearly $140.

3) I made a bad move on another hand … I limped from UTG with 9’s and had several in the pot – and the last to act was BB in seat 1, who just checked. Flop was Q, J, 7 and I decided that I was going to try to bluff at it. Seat 1 bet out $8, and I raised it to $25. Everyone folded, and Seat 1 called. Turn was a blank, 1 checked to me and I bet another $25 – 1 then moved all-in for another $40 or so, and I had to muck. He showed KK – nice trap I fell into…

4) From EP, I call the $2 with Ah9h after seat 1 limps from UTG, and there’s 5 of us to the flop – which is a very nice Th, 7c, 6h giving me nut-flush and gutshot straight draws. Seat 1 checks, and what do I do with them – I check. Huh? I check because I can see that seat 3 wants to bet. He bets out $8, which is called only by me and seat 1. Turn is 5h, and we both check to seat 3 again – and he bets $8 again, and again, we both call. River is the Js and seat 1 checks again. I take a risk in my assessment of 3 that he’s willing to bet one last time, and I check – and (yes!), he bets; another $8. Seat 1 calls and I pause, then raise it to $20. Seat 3 grumbles and folds, but seat 1 calls and I roll over the nutter. I’m fairly sure 1 had the straight, seat 3 says that he had 2 pair. ~$100 to me – woohoo!

Donked off $50 on that poorly-timed bluff – but, on the bright side, I still ended ‘up’ for the day. I have trouble reading players right next to me, and I think that was one of my problems with that hand – I could only see half of his face and so I wasn’t really looking for baseline tell behavior. Anyway, like I said, bad move on my part and a nice trap on his part.

Poker drawer is at $2,160.

Feb 16 & 17, 2008 - Chumash

I busted up my ankle 4 weeks ago and haven’t, until recently, been able to sit with my foot “down” – so no poker for me (boo-hoo). Been doing lots of reading (about poker) and been trying to work on my game even though I haven’t been able to play…

Anyway, ankle is doing better and decided to try over the weekend and the ankle didn’t bother me at all – so I went back the next day & played some more.

I’ve been reading McKenna’s Beyond Tells and Beyond Traps – he’s got a few good points buried in his books – and I was looking to see if I could implement some of them. Played for ~5½ hours on Sat. and walked away + $240 for the day. Played for ~5 hours on Sunday and came away +$11. I had gone to the little poker room on the Avenue shortly before I ruined my ankle and just got clobbered (lost my $200, and didn’t really feel like writing about it, so no post on that one), so the poker drawer is currently at $2,040. Anyway, some hands that stood out…

1) Sat. – played a couple of high pockets (got KK, QQ, and AA within the first hour) without too much action after making a decent raise after the flop – so I was up to ~$100 from my first $60 buy-in, when I picked up AsQd in the SB, and raise it to $10 to try and chase out at least some of the 6 limpers – got all but 2 to fold. Flop was Qc, 8d, 2d – and I bet out $15 from seat 2. Seat 7 moves in for $37, and seat 1 raises it to $67. I wasn’t really that concerned about either player, both were a little too loose in their “raise-requirements” (I’d seen seat 1 call an all-in with just second pair and 7 was in nearly every hand). I obviously don’t want to see either player with a set, but I figure 1 has a flush-draw (he’d bet his draws aggressively all day) and 7 could have KQ. So I ponder all this and decide to move-in on seat 1 for another ~$40 (he had me covered). He was not happy and I knew that he was on a draw. He thought it over and called. Turn and River were both blanks (low and black) and 7 flipped over 99, while seat 1 just mucked to my AQ. I asked him, “Flush draw?” He just nodded and looked sick. >$200 to me – Yay.

2) Sat. – the next round of the button after hand 1, I picked up Ac3c on the button and decided to limp along with 5 others. Flop was Jc, 9c, 6c, for the nut flush. It’s checked to seat 5 who bets $10, folded to me and I call – the blinds then fold. Turn was Qh, and 5 bets out $15. Hmm. 5 is a pretty solid player and at this point I figure that he’s either got a King-high flush, or a set or 2-pair – I couldn’t see him betting with less. The more I think on it, the more I’ve got to put him on a set and I decide that he’s not getting to draw for free – so I put him in for another $33. He ponders for a good 20 seconds and then calls – he flips over 99 and I show the nut-flush. River brings the Qs and a boat for him – and I just have to pat the table, say “nice hand” and move on. Right read, but I didn’t have enough $$ behind to push him out (4:1 dog getting ~2¼:1 on his call, but still not enough – meh).

3) Sat. – Another round of the button after hand 2, I picked up AsKs under the gun and pop it to $7 – 3 callers from seats 6, 7, and 1. Flop was all babies with 1 spade (2s, 5h, 9d), and seat 1 checks. I decide that I’ll check & hope for a free card and that maybe an over will hit. 6 & 7 both check and the turn is the 4s. 1 bets $5 and I raise to $15 – 6 and 7 fold, and 1 decides he doesn’t want to tangle and bails out too.

4) Sat. – After playing very little for the next 45 minutes or so, I picked up AJ in late position and raised it to $7. The SB in 4 and seats 7 and 8 call. Flop is a very cool T, Q, K rainbow for the nut straight to me. 4 bets out $20 and 7 & 8 fold – now I consider what he’s got. 2-pair? KJ for top pair and straight draw? I decided that I wanted to try to get his whole stack here (~another $65) – if he had a J, I didn’t want to let him draw to a split pot. So I moved him all-in. He thought for a bit and dumped his hand. I probably should have just min-raised him and moved him in on the turn if he just called. He was a bit of a calling station and called my pre-flop raise then bet into me – again, my image is pretty tight. If he was paying attention, he probably shouldn’t have done that with any hand that wasn’t worth and all-in there (unless he had a read on me that said my hand was really strong… - maybe, I don’t know).

5) Sat. – A few hands after hand 4, I picked up the two red 9’s and limped with it from late position. Flop was Kh, 9c, 3c. Seat 4 bet out with $5, seat 9 (who was pretty tight and solid) raised to $15. Again, it’s back to me and I’m not sure the best way to go about getting all their chips into the middle. I figure that 4 will probably fold (since 9 had only shown down good cards) – so do I just call or re-raise? I finally decide to re-raise and make it $50 to go. They both fold as if their cards are so hot they're burning holes in their hands – Crap.

I played fairly tight throughout the day and only stole 1 or 2 pots that my tight image allowed me to get away with uncontested (busted flush draw on one, & got a guy to show & muck a weak ace to my K8 and an AK5 flop with strong betting). I need to force myself to make efforts to steal more pots, but most of the time I content myself with semi-bluffs (like hand 3).

I also need to re-examine the best way to go about trapping when I have a monster. I don’t know if it was because I was giving off a tell, or if no one really wanted to tangle with me, or if I’m not betting the right amounts based upon the player’s personality. I’ll work on figuring out some guidelines for the latter, I’ll also see if there’s anything I can do about the first…

On Sunday, I called my buddy Josh and the two of us headed up for some more poker. We got seated at the same table and it was pretty cool. Played for several hours, I ended up +$11 and Josh was at -$9 when we called it a day. I got some good cards at the start, but got a bunch of crap over the last 2 – 2½ hours – nothing really playable. Only 1 hand stands out…

6) Sun. – Made some bad decisions on this hand… Picked up Js9h in the SB and called the $1 – 8 people to the flop. Flop was Qc, Ts, 4d for an open-ender, and I decided to push it – I bet out with $20 in an attempt to make it look like I had a solid hand and didn’t want people drawing. It’s folded around to 9 who thinks for a bit and calls. 2 of us to the Turn and it’s the 9d. I check and he moves in for $33 more. At this point I figure that he’s got to have a Q and that if I can catch a 8, 9, J, or K I’ll probably be good. $33 to call with ~$85 in the pot… 2½ : 1 with 13 outs… And I call. I’m not getting the right odds, but I call anyway. River is the Jh for 2 pair – and he shows that goddamn KJ for the straight. He made a mistake in calling my bet, but I made 2 mistakes – 1. chasing a draw without the odds to make it worthwhile, and 2. assuming that my opponent wouldn’t chase a draw without the odds to make it worthwhile…

Anyway, had fun & the ankle felt OK, so I’ll probably come back next week (unless Amy has something for me to do around the house…)