Bubbles · Sep 5, 11:49 AM by The Vegan
I played the Caesar’s $220 last weekend again.
I went out 11 with the top 9 paying. It sucks but at the same time I had to do what I did and take some risks. I didn’t want 9th place, I wanted 1st place and I sure wasn’t going to get there if I didn’t get a good double up. I put myself in a race position for all my chips with two overs vs the other guy’s pair. The flop, turn, and river couldn’t scrounge up enough help for me though so I was out. I did pick up a backdoor flush draw and a gut shot strait draw though.
I’ll try again of course but I didn’t feel like playing too much after that this weekend so I took a small break for the rest of the weekend. No point in playing when I’m not feeling 100% and risk losing because of it. A good portion of poker mental stability.
Been awhile · Aug 29, 01:17 PM by The Vegan
Ok, so I’ve been lazy. I need to post more but sometimes I just don’t feel into it. Lately things have been in a hover pattern pokerwise. I’ve been playing a lot of tournaments but can’t seem to cash. I’ve been making up the entry fees with live play, but there is little forward movement.
On other fronts, I just got arbitrarily older as I recently had my 32nd birthday.
Ugly Weekend · Aug 6, 09:49 AM by The Vegan
Well I didn’t do much this weekend but lose.
It didn’t feel good.
I thought I had decided to win, but somehow that didn’t translate.
I also lost in life. My truck started freaking out and I took it into the shop. I just got a call from the guy and my alternator went out and needs replacing. I also have fallen behind on some of my service and I need to get some other service things done. I knew that and since it’s in the shop he’s doing that too. I’m not sure how much all that will be, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to love that bill.
LA Fun · Aug 2, 07:44 PM by The Vegan
I’ve been in training all week so haven’t had a lot of time to post or play poker. I also formated my laptop and reinstalled everything because I do a lot of dev work on it and it was getting pretty slow and crusty.
But enough about that, let’s talk about last weekend. With Market over I thought it would be nice to relax a bit so my wife and I hopped in the car Saturday morning and drove over to LA. We used Priceline to grab a good rate at the Westin in Irvine and spent the weekend relaxing.
We did some shopping and hit the beach a couple of times. There are also some great restaurants over in LA and we don’t have nearly as many good choices here in Vegas.
We went to Wheel of Life first thing for some lunch on Saturday. We had pinapple curry, pud thai, and some coconut icecream with fried bananas. Yum!
Then for dinner later that evening we went to Native Foods and I had the Philly Peppersteak Sandwich and my wife had the California French Dip. We also had some Tempeh Chips. MMMmmmm.
Sunday morning we just went to Trader Joes and got some muffins which we ate at the Starbucks next door with some coffee.
Later for a late lunch we went back to Native Foods and this time my wife had the Peppersteak sandwich and I had the special which looked good. It was a “Brunch Burrito” that had seitan sausage, scrambled tofu, potatoes, and some other good stuff wrapped in a torilla. It had a pile of chips and guamole on the side and I topped it off with some of their fresh salsas.
So yeah, we basically just ate all weekend and walked on the beach, but it was nice.
Ok so I couldn't help it · Jul 26, 10:37 AM by The Vegan
Even though it’s the middle of Market I was done with things a little early last night and decided I needed to stop by the Rio and play a satalite. They started up a 525 shortly after I got there and in general it went pretty well.
When we got to 3 handed, I thought the other two guys were playing decent and we all decided to save out 2 chips each and play for the remaining 4 chips and cash. Eventually one of them went out when I killed him off with my AT vs his Q9.
We were about to start heads up when the other guy asks if I want to just chop the rest. We were only about 1-2 thousand different and the blinds were 300-600. It sounded like a good deal to me so we quit right there and gave the 3rd place guy two chips and I walked away with 4 chips and 60 of the cash.
Before I walked away though I found out the guy I just chopped with was Brad Daugherty, 1991 World Champion. I thought he looked vaguely familiar and I’ve probably seen him in some picture set of champions or something. He’s definitely not in the center of the scene these days.
I tossed $20 to the dealers and that was all the tip they got. The kid who took the 2 chips didn’t give anything and neither did Brad. As I left the table he grabbed me and let me know that he didn’t want me to think he was a stiff but he had vowed not to tip here at the WSOP because Harrah’s is screwing the dealers so much and would likely take most of it.
He’s probably right, but at the same time I gotta think the dealers are getting at least some of it and some is better than nothing. I just feel bad in general about the dealers at this WSOP. Harrah’s is really lining them up and having them take turns bending over.
Of course they are also filling in the vast void they have in their dealer pool with shit dealers that don’t even know what they are doing. On top of that the tips you do give get split among the dealers, even the god-awful ones.
I would think if Harrah’s would run things better, not be so greedy, and treat their dealers well then they might be able to attract more of the better dealers. I cringe at the thought of the dealer pool next year. What few good dealers they got this year are probably smart enough not to come back next year.
Comment [2]
Market · Jul 23, 08:57 AM by The Vegan
This week is one of the two big Markets we host each year at my job. As such, I’ll be playing little if any focused completely on work.
Third Sucks · Jul 19, 12:36 PM by The Vegan
I’m getting into a bad habit of 3rd place recently. The last four satellites I’ve played I’ve taken 3rd place which pays a grand total of nothing.
Last night I was in a $325 and didn’t voluntarily put a chip in until 100-200 blinds. I was dealt a string of absolute nothing the entire time. A couple of hands I was dealt a crappy ace, but someone raised before me.
Anyway, I had 800 at the 100-200 level and it was short enough and I was dealt a few hands and I was able to start playing a little. I pretty much was playing by going all-in as that was about the only thing I could do with my stack. I got called twice though. Once with AT vs A4 and I doubled and I forget the other match up but I think I also had AT and I doubled up.
From there I was able to start raising fairly regularly and could actually play pots post flop. At 3 handed I played a couple rounds where I would raise on the button and the chip leader in the BB would call, then check to me on the flop, I’d bet and he’d fold.
So at one point the short stack had less than 2000 and the big stack had only about 1500 more than me. It was 200-400 blinds and I found Q2 on the button. It looked good enough for me and I raised it to 1200. The short stack in the SB folded and the BB said “Damn, you keep raising and I keep finding playable hands.” He called and I figured him for an Ace, maybe a connector, or less likely a pair.
The flop came Q62 all hearts. He checked and I bet 2000. He raised me all in and I figured he probably had the Ace of hearts and I decided to call and try and fade the flush. We turn over our hands and sure enough he has AT off suit with the Ace of hearts. The Jack of hearts came on the river and I was out.
Afterwards I got to thinking about ways I could have played that differently. Obviously I could think of folding Q2 on the button pre-flop, but I don’t see any strong compelling reason to do that. Once I see the flop though I think I have some better choices.
When he checks to me I could have done two different things.
1. I could have moved all-in. He would have probably found it harder to call most of his chips off with just a draw. He still might have, but it would have been harder.
2. The thing is though I had flopped two pair. I basically want to get more out of this that just the pre-flop raise. I think a good arguement can be made for checking behind on the flop. Now on the turn if he checks again, I can bet and if he pulls the same thing he is getting much worse odds for it. If he bets the turn on a semi-bluff, then I can raise him and while he may still call, he could easily let go of this draw having only one more card to come.
I think the way I played it as well as both of these other options have merits. After thinking about it quite a bit though, I think I should have gone with checking behind on the flop. If a heart had come on the turn, if he bets I can decide whether to call based on how big a bet. If he checks I can check behind looking for the fill up on the river. Any way it comes out I think I have a much better chance of NOT busting out on this hand by checking that two pair on the flop.
Discount! · Jul 17, 12:53 PM by The Vegan
Well if you can’t win the satellite you are playing the next best thing is to get a discount. I was playing a $325 at the Rio and had done a last longer for a $100 with five other people. When it got down to 4 handed only two of us were left and had equal stacks which were both small and decided to chop it and each took $300 so the satellite only cost $125.
But aside from that there were some interesting things in the game. One guy seemed to love making “reads” on me and others and through the whole time I don’t think he could have been more wrong. Not only against me but others.
One hand against me was great. I raised pre-flop with J8h to 150 on 25-50 blinds and he was the only caller in the blind. The flop came Ten high with two hearts. He picks up some chips and makes some comment about thinking he would probably get raised by my big pair. He bets 200 and I look at him, then say, “OK” and call.
The turn comes small and he bets 250 this time, kind of looking at me like he knew it was wrong and I again said, “OK” and called.
The river was a 9 and I missed my flush. He sighs and checks. I bet out 700 and he thought a bit and said, “Damn it, I knew you had Kings.” He folds ATd face up into the muck and the dealer gives me the pot. I toss my cards in without showing and he goes off on how great a read he made and a good fold because he “knew” I had Kings because I didn’t even hesitate to bet on the river.
Good read sir!
Guts · Jul 13, 10:53 AM by The Vegan
Gut feelings are often important in poker. Sometimes, especially if you’ve been playing a lot, you get feelings and you have to run with them. Some people play it off to superstition or luck or what have you, but the best players know when to trust their gut instincts.
The main reason is that often there is a level of your mind, even if it is subconcious that likely knows for some reason based on all the current contexts of players, chips, cards, etc that a decision is right.
Often this presents itself when you are deciding to play or not play a trashier hand pre-flop, or if you are about to run a bluff or not, or even if it is just the right time to raise someone on the flop or call a river bet. The more you let yourself become intune with the current game and follow your raw instincts, the better you will likely be long run.
Lately I’ve placed in the money several times and also gotten chips out of satellites I wouldn’t have received had I not listened to my gut.
Poker and ladies · Jul 9, 03:29 PM by The Vegan
Well it was a busy weekend and I didn’t spend much time at home, much less near a computer where I could post anything. I spent most of the time at the Rio where I did a fine job of losing money most of the weekend. It was a pretty brutal weekend but they come sometimes. On Sunday I managed to turn things around though when I found success in a $325 satellite. It almost completely made up for everything else on the weekend so while there weren’t big gains, there weren’t major losses either, just a lot of frustration.
The whole weekend there were more women in the $2-5 NL than I ever normally see. They were flocking in to the Rio for the Women’s Event on Sunday. On Sunday itself the event brought in over 1100 women! Many of them joined the practically all-male side games as they busted out.
Speaking of busting out, one woman who joined out table actually wasn’t in the tournament but her friend was. She was at the opposite end of the table from me which neither I nor my neighbor minded. My neighbor in the 2 seat had sunglasses on and I’m pretty sure he never stopped staring at her based on some of his comments throughout the day. She played well too and livened up the table which built the game up better than it had been previously.
I know there is at least somewhat of a debate out there on whether there actually should be a women only tournament. Some say it is sexist, demeaning, and uneeded. I know Annie Duke, who I respect quite a bit and was my personal poker mentor for a while a few years ago, has spoken out against the tournament. I know she doesn’t play it and last I heard she doesn’t agree with it.
I can definitely see that view and obviously as a woman her view on the subject is probably more valid than mine. However, I don’t think the tournament is that bad of an idea. It has definite insinuations and undertones to it by it’s very nature but overall I think it is probably a possitive thing for poker. Poker is on fire right now and it is important to continue feeding that flame.
By making a women only tournament you offer women who may not have the confidence of Annie Duke and other pros to give poker a try in a tournament setting without landing at a table with 9 guys. It’s an encouraging environment for them and most that succeed will likely play other “normal” events and sidegames which will bolster the game even more. I’ve talked with several women who want to try poker and especially NL tournaments like they see on TV but are a little apprehensive. If a tournament like this gives them a safe harbor to enter the game, then it can’t be all bad.