Limit Holdem 6 handed stt…hand thoughts? February 26, 2008

PokerStars  $3.00+$0.25 Hold’em Limit – Level II (30/60) – 2008/02/25 – 23:06:11 (ET)
Table 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: (1560 in chips)
Seat 2: (1060 in chips)
Seat 3: (1420 in chips)
Seat 4: ME (995 in chips)
Seat 5:  (1420 in chips)
Seat 6: (2545 in chips)
ME: posts small blind 15
seat 5: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ME [6h 7d]
seat 6: raises 30 to 60
seat 1: raises 30 to 90
seat 2: calls 90
seat 3: folds
ME: calls 75 (a bit of a loose call here but there was already 225 in pot and I expected bb to call too with the way he’d been playing lol)
seat 5: folds
seat 6: calls 30
*** FLOP *** [3s 8d Ts]
ME: checks
seat6: bets 30
seat 1: calls 30
seat 2: calls 30
ME: calls 30 (but really, it was only 30 chips lol…wouldn’t have called if I wasn’t last to act)
*** TURN *** [3s 8d Ts] [As]
ME: checks
seat 6: bets 60
seat 1: calls 60
seat 2: raises 60 to 120
ME: folds (yep, I get smart at some point lol)
seat 6: calls 60
seat 1: calls 60
*** RIVER *** [3s 8d Ts As] [9h]
seat 6: checks
seat 1: checks
seat 2: bets 60
seat 6: raises 60 to 120
seat 1: calls 120
seat 2: raises 60 to 180
seat 6: folds (okay, I could almost see one of them folding for 60 more chips)
seat 1: folds (but two of them folding for only 60 more chips when the pot is 1230?)

seat 2: collected 1230 from pot
seat 2: doesn’t show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1230 | Rake 0
Board [3s 8d Ts As 9h]
Seat 1: folded on the River
Seat 2: collected (1230)
Seat 4: ME (small blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 6:  folded on the River

How can you fold on the river for only 60 more chips after raising and cold-calling previously?  It is only a $3 tournament so I’m doubtful it’s collusion but still…wth?

Aces and Eights…the dead man’s hand February 25, 2008

I’ve been off from work the last two days so I’ve been taking the extra time I have at home and playing in some mtts.  Yesterday I played in a $3 Omaha hi deep stack pl mtt and came in 23rd out of 221 and just making my money back plus a few pennies.   I also played in a $1 6-handed nl holdem mtt and again just squeaked in the money to make a few extra pennies placing 72nd out of 692 players.  As I had to head to a jack and jill party for my nephew that was the end of my poker playing for the day.

I spent the daytime today spring cleaning my kitchen and my bathroom and once I was tired and happy with my clean kitchen and bath I sat down to play some poker.  I noticed a $5 knockout nl holdem mtt starting so I decided to hop in that.  There were 1176 players and I knocked one person out ($1) and ended up finishing just out of the money in 166th place.  I also played in a $5 horse mtt and made it about 1/2 way through before being knocked out…not a great day for me so far.

I wanted to keep up with my stud hi practice so I entered a $5 stud hi mtt.  I was doing well, staying average stacked or above at the end of each round.  The turning point was when I had 252 and was the bring in.  A person who had been raising every hand did his standard raise to complete the bet.  One other person called so I decided to call the completion to see the next card.  I’m glad I did…next card was a 2.  I checked, he bet, the next cold called and I decided to isolate him.  I re-raised and he capped it to knock the other player out of the hand.  Next card for me is a 5 and we get our chips in the middle through a series of raises and next card for me is another 2 lol and I win the hand and he calls me a “hee haw”. 

After that hand I didn’t look back…I just kept gathering chips and then I was at the final table and in the money.  I knocked a couple players out and the chip leader did too and we were down to three with me and another player having similar stacks and the chip leader having waaaay too many chips.  I was then dealt AA7 and the other player brought in, chip leader completed the bet, and I raised (I decided to make my move with this hand).  He re-raised and I capped it.  Next card for me was an 8 and for him a 9 (he had Q9 showing at this point and I was putting him on Queens and I was right).  I bet, he raised, I re-raised, and he capped to set me all in.  I called and next card was an 8 giving me AA and 88 (the dead man’s hand lol) and he also got an 8…next card for him a heart giving him 4 hearts and the last card…another heart to knock me out.  I was happy with my finish but bummed I couldn’t outrun his luck.

With my $47.50 cash this left me up just over $30 for the day…not complaining there.  I’ve really added to my bankroll lately and I’ve also been pretty happy with my play.

The best part was after I told the 2 left “gg”, I sat and watched their heads up match.  The chip leader said to the other “wow, she plays very well huh” and the other guy said “she sure does”…so I said “thank you for that” and the chipleader said “really, well deserved”.

A small accomplishment February 20, 2008

Hubby came home from work tonight and wanted to play some poker so I felt free and clear to do the same.   After a bit of browsing around on the poker forums I belong to, I see that one of the forums is having their weekly $4 nl holdem tournament on fulltilt.

It is always a small affair…between 10-15 or so players but all of us friends and all of us serious about our game.  Tonight we had 11 players with top 3 being paid.  It started kind of slow for me…had a hard time adjusting to what was once very familiar playing styles for me.  It truly has been a while since I’ve joined them for a game.

We had the resident bully at our table and worse even, he was to my left and the other bully was to my right.  Not a great place to be when on confused ground lol.  I lost a few chips, I gained a few chips, and the pattern just kept repeating itself.  I slowplayed left bully in one hand and received a good portion of his chips for my trouble.  Next hand I had 88 utg at a 5 handed table…I raised pot and he cold called me…flop came pretty innocent 9 4 3 rainbow.  I bet out and he flat called, and on turn I set him all in…he called me preflop with K9 lol so I shipped quite a few chippies back over to him.

 He gets knocked out and it’s down to final 9.  I’m finally getting into the swing of playing against old friends and remembering their style of play.  I raise utg with pp nines and next person moves all in for 200 more chips and I call…she has 66 and she doesn’t improve and is out.  Then a couple more people get knocked out and it’s down to 6…5 girls and one lone guy with a tiny chip stack.  He gathers a few chips and knocks out another small stack and we are down to 5.

I’m up and down a bit at this point.  I get dealt aces twice and once a person called me to the turn where they abandoned ship and the 2nd time it was folded to me…wasted aces lol.  We get down to 4 players and the bubble and we all just start stealing in position so the chips are shifting back and forth for a while.  I’m dealt pocket jacks in my big blind and it is folded around to the small blind who limps in.  I raise pot and she moves all in for a few more chips and I call.  She was slowplaying AK against me.  The flop comes KJx and with no help on turn or river she’s out and we are in the money.

We do the same thing when it’s down to three players, just keep swapping chips for a bit until I slow played a straight against one of the girls who was on a steal move.  She goes out next and it’s heads up between me and a very good and normally aggressive player.  We swap chips for a minute and then I limp in with Q9 off…she raises 3x the bb and I call.  Flop comes JT8 and I’ve flopped a straight.  I check, she bets, and I raise and she moves all in and I call.  She has KQ and a Q comes on the turn and a J on the river and it’s over. 

It wasn’t technically a big win just a profit of $17.50 but it was a big win because it was against what I consider some tough players.  I always find that those small wins are almost more satisfying than a bigger win against strangers.  Besides the nl tournament, I bubbled out of a $5 razz stt and made $5 playing .50/1 limit holdem and decided to call it a night.

Stud…the highs and the lows February 19, 2008

Soooo…Like I promised myself, I am trying to play some stud sngs and mtts to get back into the swing of the game since I want to play in a stud tournament coming up at the seabrook poker room.  I’m home sick from work today (long story for another time) and bored out of my mind.  I had a choice between cleaning my house (bleh) or playing some poker…guess which one I chose?!

I log on to Poker Stars to see if anything good is happening in the world of stud and there is a $5 stud hi mtt starting in a while so I sign up for it.  I also sign up for a stud h/l stt…grrrr, due to my own bad over-playing of my hand I went out on the bubble when I should have cruised to the money.  Soooo…I signed up for another stud stt, this time just stud hi.  I repeated my performance there too…waaaaay overplaying my stud hands and getting knocked out at the bubble.

My stud hi mtt starts and I’m cruising along for a while, gaining a few chips here or there…then…kaboom, I pull the same thing I’d done in the previous two stud tournaments and over play my hand to shortstack myself and then go out about 3/4 of the way through (but not in the money).  Instead of quitting, I dusted off the ol’ jammies again and decided to try one more stud h/l stt.  This time I decided to adjust my game back to where it should be and to stop overplaying my hands.  This worked for a bit…and then kaboom, I overplayed a hand on the bubble and shortstacked myself.

I made the decision that I was still going to win this darn thing.  I re-dusted off the jammies and went to work with the next 3 low cards I was dealt and moved my chips in the middle and more than doubled up…and did it again and again (and this time I knocked a person out in the process) and I’m in the money.  I refused to stop fighting and I refused to continue overplaying my mediocre hands but pushed hard with my great hands.

Next thing I know I’m heads up…but, I’m not satisfied yet…I still want to win win win.  We’ve been playing already for an hour and a half and going in to heads up I was the shortstack.  Then he was the shortstack, and then me again, and then him again, and then me again, and on and on lol.  This went on for almost half an hour, I just refused to give up and go away as did he.  I sat back trying to rethink my strategy.  I decided to take a chance and slow play some of my great hands…he got caught off guard and I scooped a pot, and then another and then he was out FINALLY.

End of story is this…I learned some very hard lessons today and it only cost me two dollars.

Revisiting some old friends… February 19, 2008

Well since I’ve decided against playing in the ladie’s event at Foxwoods, I did decide to play in a stud tournament coming up at Seabrook poker room.  I used to play stud at Foxwoods now and again (before holdem came into my life) and I’ve only ever played in one live stud tournament and that was a stud h/l tournament at Foxwoods where I finished 2 out of the money.

So tonight I was wandering around on Full Tilt after mulling over playing in a stud sng all day long.  I found a $5 stud hi stt with 3 people signed up so I registered.   While I was waiting I got a funny thought in my head to go play some limit holdem cash games.  When I started playing holdem, it’s what I played both live and online.   When I started playing in more nl tournaments and sngs I stopped playing limit online and not much live too.

I found a .50/1 limit table with an opening and a $6 per pot average so I grabbed the seat.  From the moment I sat down I felt back at home.  Limit Holdem and Stud have always been my favorite two games and it felt great to be playing both of them again.  I re-found the tight-aggressive player inside of me.  I forgot that omaha existed (a big wow for me!) and lost myself in what used to be my poker life…stud and limit holdem.  I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get back in to the swing of those two games, it’s like I had never stopped playing them when in reality it’s been months since I’ve played either game.

The .50/1 table was a brilliant table to be at.  Lots of very loose aggressive and loose passive players.  I was taking notes left and right (I’ve always been good about taking notes in cash rooms)and taking down some pots too.  I had told myself I’d only play until my stud stt started but once it did I decided to stay in the cash room throughout the stt no matter how well or how ugly it was going.  It never once got ugly and 1 1/2 hours later I left the room up $15.  Surprisingly, I let the bad beats I took, and the occasional bad play on my part roll right off my back.

As for the stud stt, patience seems to almost always pay off.  It took an hour and a half and many folded hands but I finished in first for a $15 profit there too.  I’m going to play a few more stud hi stts and/or mtts before I make my decision as to whether or not to play in the live stud tournament but as of right now I plan on going.  It will be my first time playing live since my last trip to Foxwoods in October.

Using the advice given for the positive! February 18, 2008

The one thing about posting a blog for all to see, great advice can sometimes be found in the comments made about what you posted.   I love to find great tidbits of advice to use in a positive manner to improve my game and today I decided to put some of that advice to use.

Survivor mentioned maybe I should try a different poker site and see what happens…so I did.  I hobbled on over to Pokerstars for the first time in almost a month to play some sngs.  I played in a $3 omaha hi pl turbo stt and came in 6th.  I then hopped in a 2-table $1.50 omaha hi pl turbo sng and came in 6th (hoping this is not a pattern lol).  Not one to dwell on this, I dusted off my jammies and wandered over to a $3 omaha h/l pl turbo stt and promptly won it leaving me up about $7 for the day.  I wasn’t getting rich but at least I was getting some good practice in but after playing the three sngs I started craving a bit more.

Jebber’s words started ringing in my ears…play an mtt, play an mtt, practice, practice, play an mtt.  There was the Sunday 2K starting in a bit so I decided to enter it.  The Sunday 2 grand is a 50 pt freeroll that ps has every Sunday afternoon.  This was my 4th time playing in it and ended up being my 4th time cashing in it.  I sat back and played patient poker and let my good hands lead the way.  I doubled up once with pocket 2’s when short stacked and then twice with pocket Queens to make it into the 3rd level of payouts for a whopping $1.80 lol.  Out of 2760 entrants, I finished in 168th place.   Oh and did I mention this was in a NL HOLDEM tournament where I’ve been struggling lately.

After this I decided to enter a $2 Omaha h/l pl mtt.  It started with 830 entrants and I finished in the 4th level of payouts in 53rd place for $4.15. I played a tight but aggressive game and really paid attention to hand selection and position and am proud to say that I was knocked out not due to my bad play but someone else’s wild all-in calls with his monster chip stack and he had a high only hand and drew to it.

Not a very profitable day in terms of monetary value (up $11.25 for the day) but in terms of the lessons learned, it was very profitable indeed.

Interesting hand… February 17, 2008

I’m playing in a $2 turbo pl omaha hi stt and this is the very first hand…

 Dealt to ME [Ah 6h 7s Qh]
playerA raises to 90
playerB calls 90
playerC calls 90
playerD calls 90
playerE calls 75
ME calls 60 (had to call at this point lol)
*** FLOP *** [Ad 6d Ac] (wow, good flop for me)
playerE checks
  ME checks
 playerA bets 240
playerB calls 240
playerC folds
playerD folds
playerE folds
ME raises to 870 (raising here putting player A on an Ace)
playerA raises to 1,410, and is all in
playerB calls 1,170, and is all in (do we all have Aces full?)
ME calls 540, and is all in
playerA shows [3h 3s As 6s] (omg, he does have Aces full too)
playerB shows [9d 9h Jd 4d] (eh????)
ME shows [Ah 6h 7s Qh] (we may have the same hand but I have a re-draw)
*** TURN *** [Ad 6d Ac] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 6d Ac Kd] [9c]
playerA shows a full house, Aces full of Sixes
playerB shows a full house, Nines full of Aces
ME shows a full house, Aces full of Sixes
ME ties for the pot (2,385) with a full house, Aces full of Sixes
playerA ties for the pot (2,385) with a full house, Aces full of Sixes

 I just thought the play here was very interesting for a first hand in an stt.  Yes, I know it’s low limit and I know it’s turbo but still.  I only called pre-flop because so many others had and I was getting great pot odds.  When the flop came, and I check-raise and the next one re-raises all in I think if I am player B that  I am throwing my flush away at this point. 

I am also wondering about playing A336 from early position for the first hand at a full table.  This is one of those hands I just like to study and pick apart.

Still plugging away… February 16, 2008

It’s been a bit since I’ve been able to update my blog…this funny thing called work seems to get in the way.   I’m still playing online when I get a chance, usually get to play a couple sngs at night and on my day off I’ll try a couple mtts.

 Have had no luck lately with the mtts online but have sat by in a mixture of happiness and frustration as my husband has been cashing consistently in the same tournaments.  So much frustration lately that I’ve taken a break from both nl holdem and from mtts.

I’ve been playing $2 turbo pl omaha hi and pl omaha h/l  stts only.  I’ve played in a total of 13 pl omaha hi $2 stts in February and have cashed in 9 of them with 1 first, 3 seconds, and 5 thirds.  The 4 I didn’t cash in, I had 3 fourth place finishes and 1 sixth place finish.  I’ve played in 3 pl omaha h/l $2 stts this month and cashed in 2 out of 3 of them with 2 third place finishes.  So no complaints about any of that.  I’m playing a decent omaha game right now and while I’m stuck in the quagmire of tax season, I think I’m going to continue with omaha for now.

I also made a decision that I am not going to play in the $600 ladies event at Foxwoods next month.  I toiled over it for a while and decided to skip it this year.  I decided I’d rather take that same $600 and use it to gain more experience in smaller buy-in tournaments.   After tax season ends, hubby and I are going to go to Atlantic City for a few days so I can play in some smaller buy-in tournaments there.  I’ve played in 8 smaller buy-in tournaments in AC and have cashed in 3 of them so at least I know I’m capable of cashing.  I’m also going to start going back to Seabrook race park near where I live…although it is a charity based poker room, their sng payouts are 80/20 which is the same as Foxwoods and I usually do pretty well in their sng’s.

Well that is all for now, I’m still plugging away at poker but concentrating on omaha only at the moment and just trying to make it through another tax season so I can get back into the swing of live poker when it’s over.