So I know I said I wanted to post a blog about specific topics once a week. I haven't yet been able to do so but I promise one will be coming soon. It will probably be about "pot odds" since many people do not understand that concept and will say they have pot odds when they don't or they will fold when they do. Anyways, I want to catch up on something from Thursday.
So many of you probably read my comments on facebook about new people and hating the way they play. A,3 called a 8 times the blind raise to beat Mike's K's and someone else limped with Aces when I had AK, etc. I don't really feel like re-telling the story. I don't think I made a big scene there or really yelled at anyone but I guess I did or I wrote enough about it on facebook for Rob to send out an email to all of WTP that play at Airway that was pretty much directed towards me. Here it is for those that didn't see it:
A word about behavior on the tables:
We have many new players lately, and some old ones who seem to fall under this category, that may not only be new to the league, but new to Texas Holdem Poker altogether. There is a huge variety of skill levels. This means someone is probably going to call your All-In with pocket Aces with their 8, 5 of clubs... and catch their flush on the river. This is a fact of poker. Please refrain from yelling or berating a fellow player when this happens. Yep, it sucks when that happens, but remember, no one can take all your chips without your permission. I personally know of a player who quit playing in the league because of people yelling at them. - FYI - Such behavior at the tables is a league rule violation and could cause expulsion from the league. This is free and it's a fun league with very lax rules (do you know of any other place that would actually let you un-muck cards?), and we’re all adults. Many people have joined just because it's a cheap way to brush up on their skills, so give them a break.
I will not continue to give people a break. I want to let them know when they're playing bad hands, calling raises when they shouldn't, and not raising when they should. The only way people are going to learn is when someone tells them when they're doing something wrong (or right- I'll let people know when they make a good raise to chase me off my flush draw, etc). If you don't tell someone that what they did is a bad call then they'll continue to make those calls. I never yell. I know some people that yell or get up and go pout. kind of like Phil Hellmuth. I don't really blow up. But I do tell someone when they make a bad call. Sometimes I don't tell them to their face but I'll yell it to Brian. Like Thursday night he came and sat down at my table and I said "Hey honey, be careful there are donkeys at this table that like to call 8 times the blind raises with A,3" Maybe I shouldn't have used the word Donkey. But that's what people are when they call raises they shouldn't and chase cards when they don't have odds.
Like Kyran tonight- I raise under the gun to 800. Folds around to him in the big blind with 6,9. There's now 1100 in the pot but it's going to cost him 600 more... so I guess 600 to win 1100 isn't quite 2-1. Still I wouldn't have made that call. But that's ok, I don't mind as much when friends take me out. I was calling his raises earlier with marginal hands. I'll still tell them it's a bad call but it's not as bad when you get taken out by a decent player. So I'm not mad at Kyran. It was my fault for pushing all in with A,Q - only top pair. Flop was Q,9,8 and I bet and Kyran calls. Turn is a 6 and that's where I push all in to chase away a straight draw but it was too late he already hit 2 pair and I don't blame him for calling there...
So anyways, as I said on Facebook I'm probably done with WTP after this season. I'll play the occasional Sunday or Tuesday game but that's only going to be to hang out with friends. I've played in this league for 3 years and I'm grateful for it because that's how I met Brian, but with all of the new people and bad players I've had enough. 3 years is enough. I'm better than most players in this league- lol and I know I'm a little arrogant but I don't care. I think Brian and I are two of the best players in this league. There's nothing more we really can do. If we want to continue to play poker it should be for money now. I know there are donkey players that play for money but at least there are not as many. People tend to play differently when there is money on the line. That's why I'm excited to start up my WSOP league. More details to come regarding that soon...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Response to Richie...
So Richie made a comment on my facebook status saying didn't I throw a fit the other day because someone called me with A,3? When I did the same thing and called Darci with A,3 last night... although I think it was A,4. Unless he was refering to when I pushed all in with A,2. There is a big difference between raising with a weak hand and calling with one. Sometimes I'll raise in late position with a weak Ace to try to steal blinds. It's completely different if someone raised me and I call with A,3. There are some cases when calling with it is ok. So my story about Curtis last week where I pushed all in with K,J and he called with A,3 that was a bad call. I went all in for 6 times the blind. Blinds were 200/400 and I had 2300. So it would cost Curtis 1900 to win 2300+ 200 (curtis was already in for the big blind of 400 so I don't add that in I just say it costs 1900 more). so it costs 1900 to win 2500... so he was only getting 1.3 to 1 on his money. So the risk isn't worth it. You're not getting paid back enough for the money you're putting in. He should've been getting at least 3-1 if not 4-1 or better before making that call. Now if you take the story of me and Darci... I had limped in for 200 when she makes it 600. 4 people after her call the 600 so that's 5*600= 3,000 in the pot. It's only going to cost me 400 more. So in that case I was getting 7.5 to 1 on my money and it's worth it to see a flop. Granted I probably should've never limped in with A,4 (or 3 can't remember what it was). But my payout on my money was so much better in this example than in Curtis'. My only reason for pushing all in with A,2 last night was the blinds were 300/600 and I was going to be big blind in 2 hands. I figured A,2 might be the best hand I was going to see in 3 hands so I pushed for double the blind. Now thinking back since I knew the blinds had to call I might've wanted a different hand because anyone with a higher Ace is going to call so I probably should've waited for a hand like 6,7 suited. But oh well. Anyways hopefully that explains why in same cases it's ok to call with A,3 and other times it's not.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sometimes you just need to check.
Tonight wasn't a good poker night for me. I was not on my game... Was seeing way too many flops and got short stacked early on. Luckily I came back for a little bit. I limp in with A,3 in middle position, and yes I know you shouldn't play Ace, Rag especially in early or middle position but it was still fairly early blinds were still 100/200. So I limp. Darci makes it 600 and 5 people call so of course I'm now priced in. Flop comes A,A,8. I'm thinking sweet trips, just have to watch out for a higher kicker. I check then call Darci's bet. Turn comes another Ace and everyone starts laughing and says someone is lying. I check again and Darci checks. River is nothing and I bet 2k. She said if you have the Ace you have the ace... even though technically I could've had 9's or higher and still beat her since she had pocket 8's. Although she flopped a boat and sucked out on the turn. But karma came back to bite me in the butt... I'll talk about karma in one of my later blogs about not playing with a big alone because it's bad karma.
So anyways... I work my way from 4k back up to 15k. Then in 3 hands bam bam bam... I take huge hits and then the 4th I'm out. Sometimes I need to learn to check. I still belive in playing good starting hands, but sometimes in the blinds I get greedy and try to bet at a pot to win something with crappy cards. I watched Harold Bluff with 4,2 then Gwen with 7,5. I raise under the gun with A,8 just trying to buy the blinds but Carolyn called. Flop comes out 9,7, blank. I of course continuation bet- which I do most of the time whether I hit or not, unless I hit huge like a straight, boat, or trips then I check and slow play. Anyways I bet 2k and Carolyn calls. Turn we both check so I thought she was weak. River I bet 2k again into a 6k pot so I guess Carolyn was getting 4 to 1 but with 3 overs on the board she still called with her pocket 6's. Oh well. Very next hand I was in a blind and had a straight draw and bet it down against Harold which I should've known better not to bet against him or at least when he calls my bet one time to not bet again because you know he's going to call you down once he hits. So that was another 6k I lost. So 12k in two hands put me slightly on tilt so when I look down at pocket 8's my very next hand and see 2400 in the pot I push all in for 4100. Unfortunately Darci had pocket 10's that hand and had to call. I lost that hand but still had 1200 left. Very next hand I see A,2 and throw the rest of my chips in. I should've waited for some suited connectors or something, but oh well by that point I was tired of playing. I once again lost to Darci's A,Q. She hit a club flush on the river. I had a flush too but unfortunately it was only with my duece. So yeah, I think I need to tighten up again. Or at least learn how to check and know when to give up. There's some people that just won't fold a hand.
So anyways... I work my way from 4k back up to 15k. Then in 3 hands bam bam bam... I take huge hits and then the 4th I'm out. Sometimes I need to learn to check. I still belive in playing good starting hands, but sometimes in the blinds I get greedy and try to bet at a pot to win something with crappy cards. I watched Harold Bluff with 4,2 then Gwen with 7,5. I raise under the gun with A,8 just trying to buy the blinds but Carolyn called. Flop comes out 9,7, blank. I of course continuation bet- which I do most of the time whether I hit or not, unless I hit huge like a straight, boat, or trips then I check and slow play. Anyways I bet 2k and Carolyn calls. Turn we both check so I thought she was weak. River I bet 2k again into a 6k pot so I guess Carolyn was getting 4 to 1 but with 3 overs on the board she still called with her pocket 6's. Oh well. Very next hand I was in a blind and had a straight draw and bet it down against Harold which I should've known better not to bet against him or at least when he calls my bet one time to not bet again because you know he's going to call you down once he hits. So that was another 6k I lost. So 12k in two hands put me slightly on tilt so when I look down at pocket 8's my very next hand and see 2400 in the pot I push all in for 4100. Unfortunately Darci had pocket 10's that hand and had to call. I lost that hand but still had 1200 left. Very next hand I see A,2 and throw the rest of my chips in. I should've waited for some suited connectors or something, but oh well by that point I was tired of playing. I once again lost to Darci's A,Q. She hit a club flush on the river. I had a flush too but unfortunately it was only with my duece. So yeah, I think I need to tighten up again. Or at least learn how to check and know when to give up. There's some people that just won't fold a hand.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
No real suckout stories tonight
Ok, this blog is pretty boring, but I just want to test to see if it posts straight to Facebook with the new App I'm using...
Tonight was a pretty uneventful night at Overytime. Made some good plays in the beginning then started to get blinded out. As soon as we got down to 20 people I was about ready to go out. I had 2k left and right before Louie told our table to break up I was in for the small blind (1k). I look down at 2,4 of spades. Awful hand I'd never play it except for the fact it was just the big blind and Carolyn in. 1k to win 5k. I was getting 5 to 1 on my money and knew I had live cards. Plus why fold when I already have 1k in then move to another table to just go all in for less? Didn't make sense. Luckily I hit a spade flush on the river which kept me alive. I move tables and push all in with 10's and double up through Gwen's 4's. Then I have chips to play with. I got up my stack to 45k before losing most of it to Rachel. The last hand I went out I had 6,3 clubs in the small blind and I like to see flops from that position so I call the 2k. Flop was 2,2,3 so I bet and Rachel called. Turn was an Ace and I think I checked, she bet, and I called which was a mistake. I knew she had either the Ace or 2. I was thinking Ace though. River is a 6 and I got stupid for a minute and threw my last 10k in then all of a sudden I said that was dumb. I forgot that even though I made two pair there was already a pair of 2's on the board so if Rachel had the Ace she had a higher two pair. I was in an awful situation. The only hand I could beat was a 3 or a complete bluff... Sure enough Rachel had the 2 in the big blind and I was out in 7th place. Oh well. I misplayed that hand horribly and it cost me. Next time I'm folding on the turn. It doesn't hurt to bet a flop to see where you are but once you get called or raised you know you're beat. Ok. That's all for now...
Tonight was a pretty uneventful night at Overytime. Made some good plays in the beginning then started to get blinded out. As soon as we got down to 20 people I was about ready to go out. I had 2k left and right before Louie told our table to break up I was in for the small blind (1k). I look down at 2,4 of spades. Awful hand I'd never play it except for the fact it was just the big blind and Carolyn in. 1k to win 5k. I was getting 5 to 1 on my money and knew I had live cards. Plus why fold when I already have 1k in then move to another table to just go all in for less? Didn't make sense. Luckily I hit a spade flush on the river which kept me alive. I move tables and push all in with 10's and double up through Gwen's 4's. Then I have chips to play with. I got up my stack to 45k before losing most of it to Rachel. The last hand I went out I had 6,3 clubs in the small blind and I like to see flops from that position so I call the 2k. Flop was 2,2,3 so I bet and Rachel called. Turn was an Ace and I think I checked, she bet, and I called which was a mistake. I knew she had either the Ace or 2. I was thinking Ace though. River is a 6 and I got stupid for a minute and threw my last 10k in then all of a sudden I said that was dumb. I forgot that even though I made two pair there was already a pair of 2's on the board so if Rachel had the Ace she had a higher two pair. I was in an awful situation. The only hand I could beat was a 3 or a complete bluff... Sure enough Rachel had the 2 in the big blind and I was out in 7th place. Oh well. I misplayed that hand horribly and it cost me. Next time I'm folding on the turn. It doesn't hurt to bet a flop to see where you are but once you get called or raised you know you're beat. Ok. That's all for now...
Poker Topics
So I've started this blog because I like to write stories. And my comment after comment posting of the story on facebook was just not working out. For the most part I'm probably going to write about the suckouts and bad plays that happen to me. Perhaps I'll throw in some good plays by me. Although I don't want to talk too much about how I play because then everyone who reads this will know how to play me. Tom used to say that all the time. He'd read my livejournal and learn about the hands I play and how I raise and he'd figure out how to play against me.
I also want to blog about specific topics in poker to help people learn. Most of the theory is going to come from me and what I've learned over the years but I also may draw from Skalansky's book (especially when talking about math and "pot odds") and I'll reference Hellmuth's top 10 starting hands. I haven't really read any other books (never really made it through Skalansky's book either). I learn as I go and after 3 years playing in the WTP league and probably another 3 years before that with friends I feel like I've gained a lot of experience and I'm a pretty decent player. I'm no poker pro although that used to be a dream of mine, but I still consider myself as one of the best players in my leauge. In fact I'm going to be racing Brian, Bob F., and Carolyn for the # 1 spot. I also am planning on being #1 at Shorty's and Peppi's since I think I'm going to stop playing Monday and Thursday nights.
Each week I'll try to post a blog about a specific topic. Here are some of the topics and let me know if you want to hear about something else: "Betting into Dead Pots", "playing position", "semi-bluffs" (which I tend to do a lot), "proper betting" (I'm sick and tired of people betting 1000 into a 10,000 pot and then getting mad when people call and suckout or not calling 600 on the river because they said oh they have the "A" I know I'm beat even though the pot is 6,000 and they're getting 10-1 on their money to call to find out), "the power of a check-raise", "slow roll vs slow play" (these are two totally different things), "how to calculate your odds", "hand percentaes" (with the help of cardplayer), "favorite hands" (you all know mine is AA), "difference between playing tournaments and playing cash", "proper blinds for cash games" (I hate playing .25/.50 with a $5 buy-in), "My top 10 and worst 10 player list" (maybe doing a worst 10 isn't a good idea, but I'll for sure do a top 10 list and it won't be according to WTP's list), hmm, that's all I can think of for now... But that's a good start lol. That will keep me busy for the next couple of months. If someone can think of something they want to add just let me know.
I also want to blog about specific topics in poker to help people learn. Most of the theory is going to come from me and what I've learned over the years but I also may draw from Skalansky's book (especially when talking about math and "pot odds") and I'll reference Hellmuth's top 10 starting hands. I haven't really read any other books (never really made it through Skalansky's book either). I learn as I go and after 3 years playing in the WTP league and probably another 3 years before that with friends I feel like I've gained a lot of experience and I'm a pretty decent player. I'm no poker pro although that used to be a dream of mine, but I still consider myself as one of the best players in my leauge. In fact I'm going to be racing Brian, Bob F., and Carolyn for the # 1 spot. I also am planning on being #1 at Shorty's and Peppi's since I think I'm going to stop playing Monday and Thursday nights.
Each week I'll try to post a blog about a specific topic. Here are some of the topics and let me know if you want to hear about something else: "Betting into Dead Pots", "playing position", "semi-bluffs" (which I tend to do a lot), "proper betting" (I'm sick and tired of people betting 1000 into a 10,000 pot and then getting mad when people call and suckout or not calling 600 on the river because they said oh they have the "A" I know I'm beat even though the pot is 6,000 and they're getting 10-1 on their money to call to find out), "the power of a check-raise", "slow roll vs slow play" (these are two totally different things), "how to calculate your odds", "hand percentaes" (with the help of cardplayer), "favorite hands" (you all know mine is AA), "difference between playing tournaments and playing cash", "proper blinds for cash games" (I hate playing .25/.50 with a $5 buy-in), "My top 10 and worst 10 player list" (maybe doing a worst 10 isn't a good idea, but I'll for sure do a top 10 list and it won't be according to WTP's list), hmm, that's all I can think of for now... But that's a good start lol. That will keep me busy for the next couple of months. If someone can think of something they want to add just let me know.
Monday, August 24, 2009
First Blog!
Ok, since I have been taking up lots of room in my status updates and comments on facebook talking about poker I thought I'd finally start up a blog again. I used to use livejorunal but a friend of mine (Judy) said this is the site she uses so I thought I'd give it a try. Anyways, it's 11pm and waaaaaay past my bedtime so the poker stories will have to wait until another day. For now you can see the latest one on facebook!
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