September 26, 2004
Money money money money money
Tonight I held a game in the lounge, seeing as we didn't get to play on Tuesday. There were nine of us, and the field was pretty decent. Me, Pete, Roy, Bobby, Godwin, Ryan, Alex, Andrew, and Josh all bought in for ten bucks apiece. Wow, more than five, you say! Yes, shut up.
I started off on Roy's right (again), which wasn't a good sign, but I had resolved not to get too involved with him unless I had to. A few hands into the game I picked up my favorite hand, pocket tens. I decided to limp with them, as we had a lot of multiway pots early on, and try to set up. If the flop came all unders, I'd play it strong, but otherwise I could get away cheap. The flop came queen 10 4, with 5 of us limping in. Bingo! Everybody checked, including me, and Bobby bet out four bucks. I knew I had him, so I flat called it, hoping to milk him later. Everyone else folded it. The turn was an 8, meaning jack 9 had a straight, but I didn't figure Bobby had bet out on a draw in this situation. I just called his 5 dollar bet again. The river was a blank, and I checked again, hoping to really stick him. He bet 10 this time, and after thinking for a while, I raised it all-in. He had a dollar more than me, so he was basically all-in as well. When he didn't call right away it was obvious that I had him, so I was rooting for a call. He said, "I wonder if your two pair is better than my two pair." I didn't say a word, but in my head I was thinking, "Yeah, I think it is." He decided to call with queens and fours, and I showed my set of tens. Very nasty. I doubled up early and had a good stack.
The very next hand, I picked up tens again. I decided to limp again, as it had worked last time, and I still didn't want to get crazy with the blinds so low. I few others limped, and the flop came jack 9 4. I checked, and Roy bet out 4 bucks, not a huge bet considering the pot, and I thought my tens may have been good. I also had a backdoor flush and straight draw, but I was calling to see what developed later on in the hand. Everyone else folded. The turn was a queen of clubs, giving me an open-ended straight flush draw. I checked it again, and Roy bet 5, not very big. I called. The river was a blank, so I checked again, as did Roy. His jacks were good.
Alex was the first one out when he tried to bluff Roy out of an $80 dollar pot with ace high, ace ten specifically. Roy, being totally pot committed, called with ace queen, and ace high won. Alex said, "I don't know how he called that," but he was getting 8-1! That was just a retarded play.
A few hands later, I folded. Roy came in raising, Bobby reraised, then Pete reraised him! Psychotic. It got back to Roy, and he rerereraised. Bobby folded, and Pete called. The flop came ace 4 6. Roy checked, Pete thought for a while, and bet... 1 dollar. Into a $40 pot. Roy raised him $5, as anyone would do when faced with such a My Little Pony bet. Pete called, and then they checked it down. Roy had pocket kings, Pete pocket jacks. Pete, fold that crap with a raise and a reraise in front of you! Jacks never work anyway, as we'll soon find out.
Andrew was shortstacked, and he hadn't been playing that well, as he wanted to go get drunk. He went all-in for something like ten bucks, while the blinds were .50- $1. He's another one that bets way too much. He could have just raised it $3, then gotten away from it if he had to, but he's crazy, so what are you gonna do. I looked down and saw pocket jacks, and I flat called it, not wanting to get into trouble if someone picked up a big hand behind me. Everyone folded. Andrew said, "It's either a coin flip or I'm in deep shit." He flipped over pocket fours, and I confirmed that he was in deep shit. I showed my jacks, but said, "Don't worry, jacks never hold up here, anyway." And they really don't. The flop was innocuous, the turn was a brick, and the river was a 4. I didn't even react, because I'm used to having 3-out suckouts go against me. I was still fine, though.
More people started getting whacked, and I was sitting on an average stack with about 5 of us left. Roy got knocked out by Godwin when his 3's ran into Godwin's 6's. That left Josh, Ryan, myself, and Godwin. Godwin and I were the shorter stacks, although we weren't in serious trouble, as the blinds weren't huge. I have to say, the structure I came up with for this tournament was really perfect. I based it off Roy's system of .25, $1, and $2 chips, but instead of $25 in chips, I gave everyone $40. It worked really well, and I'm going to use it again in the future. I hope Roy picks it up for the Thursday game, too.
With the blinds at 2-4, I picked up king jack in first position. I just doubled the blind, as most people were calling preflop, and I didn't want to get in big trouble, but I also wanted to establish myself as the aggressor. Ryan called, and the flop was king jack jack. I come from a small tribe... I checked, because that's what I do, and Ryan bet ten bucks. I only had another 19, so I figured I should go all-in now to look like I was bluffing, rather than call and set the alarm bells off in his head. I figured he had a king, as Ryan gives me respect and doesn't try to bluff me out. I said out loud, "Alright, I think we have a kicker war," then I raised all-in. He thought for a minute, then flipped over pocket 9's. I thought he had folded them, so I was about to rake the pot, when he said, "I call." Haha. I love having someone drawing dead to double me up on the flop. Everyone in the room was like, "Oh crap." Haha, this is why I play poker. Needless to say, the running 9's didn't come, and I doubled up to get pretty comfortable. I should also take this time to say that Ryan played really well tonight. I've had the impression of him as kind of a loose cannon at Roy's- not a very good player- but he showed me something tonight. I hope he keeps playing like this all the time, as he was very tough.
I forgot a hand that happened earlier that cost me a good chunk of my stack. I had pocket queens. Godwin came in raising 6 bucks, and Josh called it (he called everything). This has worked well for him, as he had caught a lot of retarded cards, such as his ace 6 against Roy's ace queen, with the board showing ace ace king 4. All the money was in after the turn, and Josh caught a 6 on the river to stay alive. A pretty bad play, in my opinion. How do you play that? What do you think Roy has? Some people just can't fold anything above a certain level on their hand rank cards. Anyway, I reraised 18 with my queens, knowing I had the best hand, but also not wanting to see a flop with an ace in it so they could catch their cheap cards. Godwin folded, and Josh called, because he had already put money in the pot, of course. The flop came king king 6. Crap. I bet out 10, hoping to get rid of him, but he raised all-in almost immediately. I had about 33 left. There was about $70 in the pot. He had this little smile on his face that I had only seen once all night, and it had been when he was bluffing. I was so close to calling, but I decided I was good enough to come back and take over again. If he had a king, I was drawing to a two-outer for my tournament life. Not exactly an optimal situation. If it was a cash game, I probably would have called, without that fear of going broke. I ended up folding it, and he told me later he had ace ten, although I don't know if I believe him. I'm fine with my decision, because I think I'm the best one at that table, so I knew I could come back.
Godwin got knocked out in fourth, leaving everyone left in the money, when his king ten couldn't catch against Josh's pocket 4's. The payout was 50-30-10, so I was at least getting my money back. The blinds were starting to pick up, so stealing became a very viable option. I got 4 5 of spades on the button, so I raised it 8 bucks over the 2-4 blinds. Ryan called in the small blind, and Josh folded- for once. The flop was king ten 7, all clubs. I didn't have any clubs, so I was drawing dead to almost anything. That meant I had to bet him out. He checked, and I bet 10, not wanting him to think I was pushing him out. He called. The next card was a blank. I bet ten again, knowing he was weak. He called again. At this point I put him on a draw of some kind, probably for the flush. The river was an offsuit queen. That meant that unless he was chasing an inside straight he hadn't hit. He checked it again, and I was pretty sure I wasn't getting slowplayed. I said out loud, "Alright, we'll go through this charade again." As in the check bet call act we'd been going through. I wanted him to think I had a good hand and I wanted a call. I bet out 20, and he folded. He said he was on a straight draw and a flush draw. I think he must have paired up the queen if he was on a straight draw, but he figured that wasn't good enough with me betting out the whole way. He laid it down, and I breathed a big sigh of relief. That was a huge pot for me, and it hurt Ryan pretty good. He went out a little later, I'm not sure what beat him.
Now I was heads up with Josh, who had been running pretty lucky all night. I knew I was much better than him, so I was confident despite having a 2-1 chip disadvantage. The blinds were now at 3-6, and I decided to come out aggressive early. I had a 9 2 offsuit, and I raised it 10 bucks. He reraised 30. I folded. Next hand, I had jack 7. After he limped, I raised it 10 bucks. He reraised 20. I folded. Next hand I picked up 4 6. I raised it 15 bucks. He reraised 40. I folded. Man, this was not working. I had just pissed away most of my chips without even playing a hand post-flop. Now that I was down real big, I decided to stop the aggressive play, because it obviously wasn't working. I starting limping with most things, and I still couldn't get a hand. He took literally the first 9 pots. I was down to about a 10-1 chip disadvantage, and saw jack ten with about 30 bucks left. Screw it, I figured. This is the best thing I've seen yet, and I need to double up. I went-all in, and he called immediately. I figured I was in big trouble against two overs probably, but he had pocket 7s. That was good news, because now it was a coinflip. I hit a ten on the flop, and I doubled up. I continued to pick up non-hands and lose my money, and I was back to where I had been before my double up. I got jack 2, and went all-in, praying for a fold, which he did. A few hands later, he came in raising ten. I noticed his hand was shaking, and I even said it to him. I saw ace ten, and figured I had to go for it with as short a stack as I had, so I went all-in. He called, and showed me that rotten devil hand, ace queen. We hit an ace on the flop, but I couldn't pick up a ten, so I took second and $30. That makes 5 straight finishes in the top 3 out of fields of 29, 27, 12, 11, and 9. Pretty impressive. This money finish ran my bankroll up over 200, and my winnings since school began to over 100.
Oh, and I forgot to say, Pete got whacked again by Roy, but before that he doubled up with quad tens when he was all-in preflop with pocket tens. What a hand. Pocket tens are so nice.
Quote of the week: "Say no to tilt."- Ryan
Terrence's bankroll: $185+$20= $205
I started off on Roy's right (again), which wasn't a good sign, but I had resolved not to get too involved with him unless I had to. A few hands into the game I picked up my favorite hand, pocket tens. I decided to limp with them, as we had a lot of multiway pots early on, and try to set up. If the flop came all unders, I'd play it strong, but otherwise I could get away cheap. The flop came queen 10 4, with 5 of us limping in. Bingo! Everybody checked, including me, and Bobby bet out four bucks. I knew I had him, so I flat called it, hoping to milk him later. Everyone else folded it. The turn was an 8, meaning jack 9 had a straight, but I didn't figure Bobby had bet out on a draw in this situation. I just called his 5 dollar bet again. The river was a blank, and I checked again, hoping to really stick him. He bet 10 this time, and after thinking for a while, I raised it all-in. He had a dollar more than me, so he was basically all-in as well. When he didn't call right away it was obvious that I had him, so I was rooting for a call. He said, "I wonder if your two pair is better than my two pair." I didn't say a word, but in my head I was thinking, "Yeah, I think it is." He decided to call with queens and fours, and I showed my set of tens. Very nasty. I doubled up early and had a good stack.
The very next hand, I picked up tens again. I decided to limp again, as it had worked last time, and I still didn't want to get crazy with the blinds so low. I few others limped, and the flop came jack 9 4. I checked, and Roy bet out 4 bucks, not a huge bet considering the pot, and I thought my tens may have been good. I also had a backdoor flush and straight draw, but I was calling to see what developed later on in the hand. Everyone else folded. The turn was a queen of clubs, giving me an open-ended straight flush draw. I checked it again, and Roy bet 5, not very big. I called. The river was a blank, so I checked again, as did Roy. His jacks were good.
Alex was the first one out when he tried to bluff Roy out of an $80 dollar pot with ace high, ace ten specifically. Roy, being totally pot committed, called with ace queen, and ace high won. Alex said, "I don't know how he called that," but he was getting 8-1! That was just a retarded play.
A few hands later, I folded. Roy came in raising, Bobby reraised, then Pete reraised him! Psychotic. It got back to Roy, and he rerereraised. Bobby folded, and Pete called. The flop came ace 4 6. Roy checked, Pete thought for a while, and bet... 1 dollar. Into a $40 pot. Roy raised him $5, as anyone would do when faced with such a My Little Pony bet. Pete called, and then they checked it down. Roy had pocket kings, Pete pocket jacks. Pete, fold that crap with a raise and a reraise in front of you! Jacks never work anyway, as we'll soon find out.
Andrew was shortstacked, and he hadn't been playing that well, as he wanted to go get drunk. He went all-in for something like ten bucks, while the blinds were .50- $1. He's another one that bets way too much. He could have just raised it $3, then gotten away from it if he had to, but he's crazy, so what are you gonna do. I looked down and saw pocket jacks, and I flat called it, not wanting to get into trouble if someone picked up a big hand behind me. Everyone folded. Andrew said, "It's either a coin flip or I'm in deep shit." He flipped over pocket fours, and I confirmed that he was in deep shit. I showed my jacks, but said, "Don't worry, jacks never hold up here, anyway." And they really don't. The flop was innocuous, the turn was a brick, and the river was a 4. I didn't even react, because I'm used to having 3-out suckouts go against me. I was still fine, though.
More people started getting whacked, and I was sitting on an average stack with about 5 of us left. Roy got knocked out by Godwin when his 3's ran into Godwin's 6's. That left Josh, Ryan, myself, and Godwin. Godwin and I were the shorter stacks, although we weren't in serious trouble, as the blinds weren't huge. I have to say, the structure I came up with for this tournament was really perfect. I based it off Roy's system of .25, $1, and $2 chips, but instead of $25 in chips, I gave everyone $40. It worked really well, and I'm going to use it again in the future. I hope Roy picks it up for the Thursday game, too.
With the blinds at 2-4, I picked up king jack in first position. I just doubled the blind, as most people were calling preflop, and I didn't want to get in big trouble, but I also wanted to establish myself as the aggressor. Ryan called, and the flop was king jack jack. I come from a small tribe... I checked, because that's what I do, and Ryan bet ten bucks. I only had another 19, so I figured I should go all-in now to look like I was bluffing, rather than call and set the alarm bells off in his head. I figured he had a king, as Ryan gives me respect and doesn't try to bluff me out. I said out loud, "Alright, I think we have a kicker war," then I raised all-in. He thought for a minute, then flipped over pocket 9's. I thought he had folded them, so I was about to rake the pot, when he said, "I call." Haha. I love having someone drawing dead to double me up on the flop. Everyone in the room was like, "Oh crap." Haha, this is why I play poker. Needless to say, the running 9's didn't come, and I doubled up to get pretty comfortable. I should also take this time to say that Ryan played really well tonight. I've had the impression of him as kind of a loose cannon at Roy's- not a very good player- but he showed me something tonight. I hope he keeps playing like this all the time, as he was very tough.
I forgot a hand that happened earlier that cost me a good chunk of my stack. I had pocket queens. Godwin came in raising 6 bucks, and Josh called it (he called everything). This has worked well for him, as he had caught a lot of retarded cards, such as his ace 6 against Roy's ace queen, with the board showing ace ace king 4. All the money was in after the turn, and Josh caught a 6 on the river to stay alive. A pretty bad play, in my opinion. How do you play that? What do you think Roy has? Some people just can't fold anything above a certain level on their hand rank cards. Anyway, I reraised 18 with my queens, knowing I had the best hand, but also not wanting to see a flop with an ace in it so they could catch their cheap cards. Godwin folded, and Josh called, because he had already put money in the pot, of course. The flop came king king 6. Crap. I bet out 10, hoping to get rid of him, but he raised all-in almost immediately. I had about 33 left. There was about $70 in the pot. He had this little smile on his face that I had only seen once all night, and it had been when he was bluffing. I was so close to calling, but I decided I was good enough to come back and take over again. If he had a king, I was drawing to a two-outer for my tournament life. Not exactly an optimal situation. If it was a cash game, I probably would have called, without that fear of going broke. I ended up folding it, and he told me later he had ace ten, although I don't know if I believe him. I'm fine with my decision, because I think I'm the best one at that table, so I knew I could come back.
Godwin got knocked out in fourth, leaving everyone left in the money, when his king ten couldn't catch against Josh's pocket 4's. The payout was 50-30-10, so I was at least getting my money back. The blinds were starting to pick up, so stealing became a very viable option. I got 4 5 of spades on the button, so I raised it 8 bucks over the 2-4 blinds. Ryan called in the small blind, and Josh folded- for once. The flop was king ten 7, all clubs. I didn't have any clubs, so I was drawing dead to almost anything. That meant I had to bet him out. He checked, and I bet 10, not wanting him to think I was pushing him out. He called. The next card was a blank. I bet ten again, knowing he was weak. He called again. At this point I put him on a draw of some kind, probably for the flush. The river was an offsuit queen. That meant that unless he was chasing an inside straight he hadn't hit. He checked it again, and I was pretty sure I wasn't getting slowplayed. I said out loud, "Alright, we'll go through this charade again." As in the check bet call act we'd been going through. I wanted him to think I had a good hand and I wanted a call. I bet out 20, and he folded. He said he was on a straight draw and a flush draw. I think he must have paired up the queen if he was on a straight draw, but he figured that wasn't good enough with me betting out the whole way. He laid it down, and I breathed a big sigh of relief. That was a huge pot for me, and it hurt Ryan pretty good. He went out a little later, I'm not sure what beat him.
Now I was heads up with Josh, who had been running pretty lucky all night. I knew I was much better than him, so I was confident despite having a 2-1 chip disadvantage. The blinds were now at 3-6, and I decided to come out aggressive early. I had a 9 2 offsuit, and I raised it 10 bucks. He reraised 30. I folded. Next hand, I had jack 7. After he limped, I raised it 10 bucks. He reraised 20. I folded. Next hand I picked up 4 6. I raised it 15 bucks. He reraised 40. I folded. Man, this was not working. I had just pissed away most of my chips without even playing a hand post-flop. Now that I was down real big, I decided to stop the aggressive play, because it obviously wasn't working. I starting limping with most things, and I still couldn't get a hand. He took literally the first 9 pots. I was down to about a 10-1 chip disadvantage, and saw jack ten with about 30 bucks left. Screw it, I figured. This is the best thing I've seen yet, and I need to double up. I went-all in, and he called immediately. I figured I was in big trouble against two overs probably, but he had pocket 7s. That was good news, because now it was a coinflip. I hit a ten on the flop, and I doubled up. I continued to pick up non-hands and lose my money, and I was back to where I had been before my double up. I got jack 2, and went all-in, praying for a fold, which he did. A few hands later, he came in raising ten. I noticed his hand was shaking, and I even said it to him. I saw ace ten, and figured I had to go for it with as short a stack as I had, so I went all-in. He called, and showed me that rotten devil hand, ace queen. We hit an ace on the flop, but I couldn't pick up a ten, so I took second and $30. That makes 5 straight finishes in the top 3 out of fields of 29, 27, 12, 11, and 9. Pretty impressive. This money finish ran my bankroll up over 200, and my winnings since school began to over 100.
Oh, and I forgot to say, Pete got whacked again by Roy, but before that he doubled up with quad tens when he was all-in preflop with pocket tens. What a hand. Pocket tens are so nice.
Quote of the week: "Say no to tilt."- Ryan
Terrence's bankroll: $185+$20= $205
Posted by Terrence on September 26, 2004 at 02:34 AM | Add a Comment