Rags to Riches

The absolute, hands-down key hand in my first takedown of a $5 HORSE sng is shown below. 

Full Tilt Poker Game #1691271398: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (12425197), Table 1 - 120/240 - Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 22:07:18 ET - 2007/01/28
Seat 1: Jewbilly (750)
Seat 2: joe_sossisses (1,815)
Seat 3: djm182 (765) (Don't ask.  It's been brutal in oh so many ways.)
Seat 5: haruki (3,300)
Seat 6: lmhockey55 (495)
Seat 7: Cianne (2,015)
Seat 8: fish_N_chips6 (2,860)
Cianne posts the small blind of 60
fish_N_chips6 posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #6

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to djm182 [As 3h Qc Ah] (Well, this is it...have to go for this hand.  A suited Ace, a pair of aces too.)
Jewbilly folds
joe_sossisses calls 120
djm182 raises to 240
haruki folds
lmhockey55 folds
Cianne folds
fish_N_chips6 calls 120
joe_sossisses calls 120
Three to the flop

*** FLOP *** [8c 8d Js]
fish_N_chips6 checks
joe_sossisses bets 120
djm182 raises to 240 (I'm figuring I'm dead here but maybe I can scare people away - the only way I'm expecting to win this is through betting/raising)
fish_N_chips6 calls 240
joe_sossisses calls 120
Yep, I'm dead. 

*** TURN *** [8c 8d Js] [9d]
fish_N_chips6 checks
joe_sossisses checks
djm182 checks (Here I'm thinking that maybe I can save enough to take one more stab at a pot.  The BB won't hit me for another three hands and I've got two big bets left.  Maybe I can hold on and get something.)

*** RIVER *** [8c 8d Js 9d] [5s]
fish_N_chips6 checks
joe_sossisses bets 240
djm182 has 15 seconds left to act
Here, I waffle about what to do and figure out that there's almost 2k in the pot and it's 240 for me to call or 285 to go all-in.  Since the turn was just checked, maybe my AA will hold up.

djm182 raises to 285, and is all in (BTW I took about 14 of my 15 seconds to do this.)
fish_N_chips6 folds
joe_sossisses calls 45

*** SHOW DOWN ***
djm182 shows [As 3h Qc Ah] (two pair, Aces and Eights)
joe_sossisses mucks
djm182 wins the pot (2,070) with two pair, Aces and Eights
No low hand qualified
WOO FREAKIN HOO!!!  From here I went on to take it down. 

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,070 | Rake 0
Board: [8c 8d Js 9d 5s]
Seat 1: Jewbilly didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: joe_sossisses mucked [7s Qs Qh 9s] - HI: two pair, Queens and Eights
Seat 3: djm182 showed [As 3h Qc Ah] and won (2,070) with HI: two pair, Aces and Eights
Seat 5: haruki didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: lmhockey55 (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Cianne (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: fish_N_chips6 (big blind) folded on the River

AIPSII.1 Donk Off

This is how I donked off my stack in AIPS II Event 1. First some background - I'm playing far looser than I'd like, but I've been getting enough limping/raising hands to justify sticking around for some of these.

My opponent here, Fraser_Park_Boy, has been loose aggressive and has shown some incredibly lame bluffs.

Full Tilt Poker Game #1680797953: AIPS II Event #1 (10828819), Table 2 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:46:46 ET - 2007/01/27
Seat 1: HotMonkeyLove (915)
Seat 2: C furbee (1,590)
Seat 3: djm182 (1,005)
Seat 4: Squib (2,065)
Seat 5: babaghanoush (650)
Seat 6: ElSnarfGrande (1,275)
Seat 7: Boil Dunce Son (2,675)
Seat 8: Fraser_Park_Boy (1,320)
Seat 9: ThirdHand (3,810)
C furbee posts the small blind of 40
djm182 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to djm182 [Kc Ts] decent in the big blind
Squib folds
babaghanoush folds
ElSnarfGrande folds
Boil Dunce Son folds
Fraser_Park_Boy calls 80
ThirdHand folds
HotMonkeyLove calls 80
C furbee calls 40
djm182 checks
*** FLOP *** [5d Kh 5h] Top pair, but I need to sniff out if the 5 is out there
C furbee checks
djm182 bets 160
Fraser_Park_Boy calls 160 He's calling everything so this doesn't tell me much
HotMonkeyLove folds
C furbee folds
*** TURN *** [5d Kh 5h] [6c]
djm182 bets 320
Fraser_Park_Boy calls 320 hmmmmmm...i'm concerned.
*** RIVER *** [5d Kh 5h 6c] [Th] OK, top two pair, I'm essentially committed here and I kind of like this. He could have AK, Kx very easily
djm182 bets 445, and is all in
Fraser_Park_Boy: dont worry im not on the flush
Fraser_Park_Boy calls 445
*** SHOW DOWN ***
djm182 shows [Kc Ts] (two pair, Kings and Tens)
Fraser_Park_Boy shows [Kd Ks] (a full house, Kings full of Fives) Yep, luckbox wakes up w/ KK and flops a boat. I'm through. Of course, I should have been concerned w/ the smooth calls. But it was too easy to see a double up opportunity here. Nobody took this guy to the river, but I didn't need to be the first either.
Fraser_Park_Boy wins the pot (2,170) with a full house, Kings full of Fives
djm182 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,170 | Rake 0
Board: [5d Kh 5h 6c Th]
Seat 1: HotMonkeyLove (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: C furbee (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: djm182 (big blind) showed [Kc Ts] and lost with two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 4: Squib didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: babaghanoush didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: ElSnarfGrande didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Boil Dunce Son didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: Fraser_Park_Boy showed [Kd Ks] and won (2,170) with a full house, Kings full of Fives
Seat 9: ThirdHand didn't bet (folded)

My Poker Game in a Snapshot

This is exactly how it happens.

Full Tilt Poker Game #1434903001: Table White Fox (6 max) - $0.05/$0.10 - $3 Cap No Limit Hold'em - 23:24:53 ET - 2006/12/18
Seat 1: rstill ($8.85)
Seat 2: silageman ($6.50)
Seat 3: PMANWARING ($2.45)
Seat 4: TowerofPower58 ($4.55), is sitting out
Seat 5: pokergirl99 ($3.15)
Seat 6: djm182 ($5.10)
PMANWARING posts the small blind of $0.05
pokergirl99 posts the big blind of $0.10
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to djm182 [Td Kd]
djm182 calls $0.10
rstill folds
silageman calls $0.10
PMANWARING calls $0.05
pokergirl99 checks
*** FLOP *** [Ah Kh Jc]
PMANWARING checks
pokergirl99 checks
djm182 bets $0.30 (a pot-sized bet)
silageman calls $0.30
PMANWARING folds
pokergirl99 calls $0.30
*** TURN *** [Ah Kh Jc] [Ks]
pokergirl99 checks
djm182 bets $0.60 (weak - should've $0.90, but he would've called regardless as he has top two pair here)
silageman calls $0.60
pokergirl99 calls $0.60
*** RIVER *** [Ah Kh Jc Ks] [Ad] (the suckout)
pokergirl99 checks
djm182 checks
silageman bets $0.70
pokergirl99 folds
djm182 calls $0.70
*** SHOW DOWN ***
silageman shows [Jd Ac] (a full house, Aces full of Kings)
djm182 shows [Td Kd] (a full house, Kings full of Aces)
silageman wins the pot ($4.05) with a full house, Aces full of Kings

It's not THAT I lost

It's HOW I lost.

Some background. I played two $2 SNGs the other night. In the first, I made a tremendous donk move where, in the first hand, I reraised a bet of 160 chips while holding 10-10. He pushes, I call, and I'm staring A-A in the face. Horrific mistake when you don't know your players.

Next tourney, I get off to a gangbusters start. A-A twice early on, plus flopped straights, sets, top two, etc. I have about 5k in chips when it's down to four players.

I bleed off a little of that, and note that one guy keeps pushing over and over, not getting called. Finally I get AK and he pushes again. I call him as does the guy to my left. We check it down all the way through the river. I never pair up, but all the cards are rags. Mr. Push reveals A-5 and the 5 came on the river. From there, I tried to play conservatively, but just lost everything and finally bought it when my flopped top pair (Ks) ran into flopped top two pair.

So I go over to a micro limit cash game and figure I can bleed some of it back. This one clown just keeps taking it to me, sucking out (holding his QQ like it was the nectar of the gods and hitting trips on the river vs. my Aces), and stealing my chips. Finally I'm just about crippled and I get dealt J-5 in the big blind. It's checked to the flop which comes K-T-5, two hearts. At this point, I'm making my move so I push my mere $0.50 and the same luckbox calls me with Ac-Qh.

Now I'm in trouble for sure. He's got three Js for outs, three As, and three Qs. So he's about 38% to win the hand, and you just know he's going to. But what burns my ass is HOW he won it:
*** RIVER *** [Kh Td 5h 7h] [3h]

Even when he's got tons of outs, he stoops to the cheapest possible suckout.

It's a Civil War, Dammit

...and it has been for some time.  Civil War, Sectarian Violence, Al Qaida in Iraq, call it whatever you will, it's out of control, thousands of Americans have died, and if it's not getting worse, it's surely not getting any better.

 

So what's the big deal with the fucking semantics of it all?  Alter puts it into proper perspective here, including highlighting the timing of NBC News' decision to go forward with the 'Civil War' term. 

 

Just imagine the uproar if they made this decision two weeks before the election.

Blaze of Glory

If you've got to go down, go down in a blaze of glory. That's what happened in this hand. After getting my KK run over by AA for most of my stack, I limped along for a bit 'til this hand - in middle position I get AK suited. Since it's all-in or fold with my small stack (about 250 chips), I push. I get one caller and look what he lands:

Luckbox

Imagine making the call this clown makes and then seeing the turn card.

Full Tilt Poker Game #1310723081: $1 + $0.25 Sit & Go (9176972), Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:23:07 ET - 2006/11/26

Seat 1: OutlawJoseWales (2,600)
Seat 2: BILL531 (2,060)
Seat 3: djm182 (2,485) **that's me, and I'm on the button**
Seat 4: BiggerStack00 (750)
Seat 5: spott777 (5,825)
Seat 6: abnrgr__38 (4,470)
Seat 7: Hu_Li_Gan (3,560)
Seat 8: CopperChief (375)
Seat 9: topsrus777 (700)
BiggerStack00 posts the small blind of 50
spott777 posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #3

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to djm182 [As Ah] **Beautiful. Not just getting AA, but getting it on the button, where you can raise or call a big bet and people think you're playing position **
abnrgr__38 folds
Hu_Li_Gan raises to 400 **4x big blind**
CopperChief folds
topsrus777 calls 400
OutlawJoseWales folds
BILL531 folds
djm182 calls 400 **With two callers in front of me, I'm going to slow play this and just call it**
BiggerStack00 folds
spott777 folds

*** FLOP *** [5s Tc Qs]
Hu_Li_Gan bets 900
topsrus777 calls 300, and is all in
djm182 raises to 1,800 **I suppose he might have had Q-10 here, maybe he has AK of spades, but I'm gonna pop it and hopefully make him pay. Note that this leaves me with only 285 chips, so if he reraises it, I can assume he's got a good hand **
Hu_Li_Gan has 15 seconds left to act
Hu_Li_Gan calls 900 **A call...I've got him**

*** TURN *** [5s Tc Qs] [Jd] **Hmmm...I don't particularly like this card as it opens up a straight draw possibility, but I still think I've got him beat**
Hu_Li_Gan bets 500
djm182 calls 285, and is all in

Hu_Li_Gan shows [Jh Jc] **So the donk calls my post-flop raise - as I'd hoped he would - and strikes gold on the turn. That's it for me here.**
topsrus777 shows [Ad 9s]
djm182 shows [As Ah]
Uncalled bet of 215 returned to Hu_Li_Gan

*** RIVER *** [5s Tc Qs Jd] [2h]
Hu_Li_Gan shows three of a kind, Jacks
djm182 shows a pair of Aces
Hu_Li_Gan wins the side pot (3,570) with three of a kind, Jacks
topsrus777 shows Ace Queen high
Hu_Li_Gan wins the main pot (2,250) with three of a kind, Jacks
topsrus777 stands up
djm182 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,820 Main pot 2,250. Side pot 3,570. | Rake 0
Board: [5s Tc Qs Jd 2h]
Seat 1: OutlawJoseWales didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: BILL531 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: djm182 (button) showed [As Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: BiggerStack00 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: spott777 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: abnrgr__38 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: Hu_Li_Gan showed [Jh Jc] and won (5,820) with three of a kind, Jacks
Seat 8: CopperChief didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: topsrus777 showed [Ad 9s] and lost with Ace Queen high

Wie blows up again

I think it's time for BJ to pull in the reins and bring his pride and joy back in to the stable for some fine tuning of her rapidly deteriorating game.

First Hand Brutality

After a turkey day full of chaos, I decide to sit down at night and relax with a nice game of FullTilt Poker. I settle in on my usual $1 NLHE sit & go, and lo and behold, I get dealt QQ in one shy of the cutoff position on the very first hand. It's raised up to $105 to go, so I make the call to see the flop.

It comes at me Q-4-J rainbow. I'm in the lead for certain. And what's this - I get three all-ins ahead of me. Well it's my lucky day! I insta-call and take the lead going to the turn.

But I'm in trouble. Not so much by the guy holding 4-4, he's got one out. Not even so much by the guy holding A-A, even though he has three outs relative to me, he's only got runner As to beat the guy holding 10-K.

And doesn't the turn bring the A, filling out this guy's straight. Yep, the guy who went all-in on just a draw wins the hand. Details here:

Home Game Stories

Always entertaining, even when you donk out halfway through.

 

* Our resident fish was back, min-raising everything in sight.  Early on, I get dealt 3-3, call a small raise and get to the flop.  It comes out 3-8-x and I fire at it.  About a half of the pot.  Our friend calls.  Turn is another low card.  I bet, he calls again.  River is a second eight.  Uh oh.  Could he have A-8?  Yeah, sure he could.  Of course, he'd play just about anything else too, so I bet out and he calls again. 

 

He turns over 10-10 for two pair.  Big pot and I'm on my way.

 

* For the next hour or so, I'm playing my typical tight-aggressive style.  I take one pot down with AK suited when a bullet comes on the flop.  I popped it to 3x the blinds (200 up to 600) pre-flop so I get some payback on that.  But otherwise, the cards are cold and the table is still seven-handed, so I'm still sitting tight.  Plus the blinds are going to go up big time in a level or two and I don't want to donk things off before then.

 

* Then I finally get a decent set of hole cards.  JJ, albeit in early position.  I bet 3x the blinds to see where I'm at.  I get a couple of callers.  The flop comes out with cards all weaker than J, and no great straight or flush possibilities.  Again, I bet.  The player to my left, an infrequent player in the home game but a decent player nonetheless raises it to 2x my bet.  I think about it and call.  I'm trying to get a read on him, but he's just stoic.  Sitting upright in the chair - but he always does that, so I can't really lean on Navarro's signature tell.  He's not tilting his head, he's not moving his hands out toward the table.  Legs are still.  My guess is that he's got a good-but-not-great hand (top pair with an A kicker) and that I can either take this down or edge him on a showdown...provided the cards fall the right way. 

 

So I set out to check-raise him on the turn, provided the card is a dud.  It is.  I check.  He bets, and I go all-in, which would force him all-in.  He instacalls with A-A.  Ouch.

 

* Now I'm clearly short-stacked and am in the easiest position to play poker - it's either all-in or fold.  And don't I get a run of 2-7, 3-8, 4-9 kind of hands for about six straight hands.  The blinds are attacking me, and soon enough, I'm dead.  I did triple up somewhere in there when I went all-in blind and my 9-7 hit the flop, but I gave it back soon after when K8 suited went up against QQ and 99 and lost to a set of 9s. 

 

* I did get a couple of reads out of the game though.  One player leans forward, almost over the table, and his legs just bounce around like mad when he has cards.  When I was short-stacked, I got 7-7 and just called it.  He raised and would've forced me all-in, but I looked over and he was bouncing around like a jumping bean.  I thought, laid it down and said "high pair, huh"?  I prodded a little further and it was, in fact, KK. 

 

* Another (very good) player puts his hand on his neck when he's got something marginal.  I didn't get to act upon it, but now I know that it's there.