Empire vs. Absolute

I've hit a rough patch on the Empire SNGs the last several days (by rough I mean I'm just slightly down over this brief period). Typical hand from one last night: 5 handed, decent stack, level 5 or 6, I move all-in from the SB with ATo after the button limped. Button calls with A5o. Button hits his 5 and I'm out. Unremarkable, but my higher unpaired hands are losing to lower unpaired hands over and over again on there lately. Just unlucky, but frustrating.

So I've played 3 SNGs on Absolute, for a change of scenery, and the players there seem much worse than the ones on Empire. You've got 1500 chips instead of 800 and the blinds are tiny to start, but there's multiple people in the game who will still bet and bluff wildly right from the get go. Insane. Saw one guy bluff off all his remaining 1400 chips on the 5th hand or so after two people had raised on the flop before him. He had a J7 and had hit nothing. Not even a draw. Of course he got called by one of the raisers who had hit a good hand. Where's the reason?

So I won the first, then finished 4th in the second. The third, disaster struck in level 2 (still tiny blinds). Got in a raising war preflop with KK and ended up with the other guy all-in holding AK. He hit his ace, leaving me with 200 chips at still a full table. Table dufus says "nh" (the said dufus typed "nh" every time someone won a nice pot, even if they made a terrible play and got lucky, which later lead one unfortunate decent player who got knocked out on a horrendous beat on the river to type in certain obscenities in the course of questioning dufus's intelligence).

I figured I wasn't long for this tourny after that, but managed to double up a couple of times and eventually finished 2nd. And I do mean eventually. With about twice as many chips to start, seems like these SNGs on Absolute can last a lot longer even with 2 or 3 maniacs going out fairly early. I'd have to do some bit better on Absolute than on Empire to make my hourly rate better because of that.

P.S. - Hope Jane is feeling better.

New Year's Resolution.

My total br (online and in meatspace combined) is at $150. My New Years resolution is to get it to $450 by the end of 2006. Anyone else?

Sit and Go Strategy

My list five SNGs have ended 5th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd and 2nd. Overall, I make the money more than half the time - maybe close to 2/3 of the time. The win seems rare though. I think when I get down to the final 3, I get too aggressive and push with cards I shouldn't push with. Anyone have some final 3 strategy suggestions?

Choose your own adventure

Is this a tough decision?

NL Texas Hold'em $10 Buy-in + $1 Entry Fee Trny:16620019 Level:1 Blinds(10/15) - Monday, December 26, 21:53:25 EDT 2005

Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 4: mattfoe ( $770 )
Seat 1: Dewy1978 ( $710 )
Seat 2: ArkyV ( $785 )
Seat 3: IDexter ( $785 )
Seat 5: drfeelokay ( $800 )
Seat 6: anmclark23 ( $800 )
Seat 7: pete1900 ( $800 )
Seat 8: riverrat9876 ( $800 )
Seat 9: pasch111 ( $800 )
Seat 10: bamaman92 ( $950 )
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ArkyV [ Jh Jd ]
drfeelokay folds.
anmclark23 calls [15].
pete1900 folds.
riverrat9876 folds.
pasch111 calls [15].
bamaman92 folds.
Dewy1978 folds.
ArkyV raises [45].
IDexter calls [35].
mattfoe calls [30].
anmclark23 calls [30].
pasch111 calls [30].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2s, 7c, 3s ]
IDexter checks.
mattfoe bets [60].
anmclark23 calls [60].
pasch111 raises [150].

ArkyV ?????

Vanunu

Next home game?

Thoughts for the night 12/24

1. Why am I playing poker at 11:36 on Christmas Eve!? Santa is going to be here any second and he's going to be pissed that there are no cookies. My darling daughter (a doppleganger for Cindy-Lou-Who) is upstairs even now with visions of sugar plums and all that. I should at least be watching How the Grinch stole Christmans instead of playing the $2+$.40 sitngo at Absolute. I feel dirty and un-Christmassy.

2. Absolute cut into my poker profits by $.30 over the lats two days because they charge 20% on their sitngos. Can't wait to get over to UB. Just waiting to get my checks, then I can deposit to Neteller and THEN and I can deposit to Absolute and THEN I can withdraw from Absolute and THEN and I can deposit to UB. All very time consuming but it will be worth it.

3. Hand #1 for tonight. Very tight and good sitngo on absolute. I think all the fish took the night off, leaving only the true degenerates (who actually know something about poker) to play.

Stage #276013374 Tourney ID 56834 Holdem Single Tournament No Limit $50 - 2005-12-24 23:51:56 (ET)Table: 4860767 (Real Money)
Seat #4 is the dealer
Seat 1 - VANDIE 12 ($1000 in chips)
Seat 2 - CASHSS ($2310 in chips)
Seat 4 - HIGHSOCIETY3 ($930 in chips)S
eat 5 - JFMAJOR ($1770 in chips)
Seat 6 - MOZZART22 ($3225 in chips)
Seat 7 - HEATER16 ($1775 in chips)
Seat 8 - LOBSTERMANTL ($1220 in chips)
Seat 9 - HASSENFEFFER ($1270 in chips) We're several levels in and we've only dropped one player. I'm a smaller stack and these guys are just moving the money around alot. A lot of decent play going on.

JFMAJOR - Posts small blind $50
MOZZART22 - Posts big blind $75

*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to HASSENFEFFER [10c 10d]
HEATER16 - Calls $75
LOBSTERMANTL - Calls $75
HASSENFEFFER - Raises $300 to $300 (I'm UTG but I am really just hoping to pick up the blinds - I hope someone interprets my position and huge bet as a sign of strength)
VANDIE 12 - Folds
CASHSS - Folds
HIGHSOCIETY3 - Folds
JFMAJOR - Folds
MOZZART22 - Folds
HEATER16 - Calls $225
LOBSTERMANTL - Calls $225 (These guys both just call, neither has been crazy/stupid and both have been fairly tight preflop - very little limping from either so far)

*** FLOP *** [5s Kh 5c] (crap, one of them could have the King)

HEATER16 - Checks
LOBSTERMANTL - Checks
HASSENFEFFER - Checks (I remarked to someone the other day about the fact that I have just now been learning the power of position. Since both of these guys have been playing decently, I can guess that neither has a K. Anyone with a K should have bet at least a little there to see where they were. One of them COULD be playing something like A5, but it would be out of character for both to call a big preflop raise with that weak of a pocket)

*** TURN *** [5s Kh 5c] [7h]

HEATER16 - Checks
LOBSTERMANTL - Checks (Ok, now I can be even more sure that neither has a K or a 5. With a flush possibility on the board, anyone with a K or 5 in this position would have to try to bet to run flush chasers off). If they have a 7, it doesn't matter cause I've got that beat. if they have 77 I am screwed. I figure myself for the best hand and now I am the one needing to run off flush chasers. With a lump in my throat I....



HASSENFEFFER - All-In $970


HEATER16 - Folds
LOBSTERMANTL - Folds
HASSENFEFFER - returned ($970) : not called

*** SHOW DOWN ***
HASSENFEFFER - Does not show
HASSENFEFFER Collects $1025 from main pot

*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($1025)


4. I love sitngos because they give you the time to get a sense of a player. By the time I got to the end of this sitngo, I knew I was heads up with someone who was aggressive and smart. Yay! I ended up finishing second to him after we both flopped a pair and he outkicked me. I also think he might have been just plain better than me. But here's a hand that I was very proud of at the time. It is one of the few solid reads I can ever remember making. I hope I do this more often.

Stage #276040093 Tourney ID 56834 Holdem Single Tournament No Limit $300 - 2005-12-25 00:28:23 (ET)Table: 4860767 (Real Money)
Seat #9 is the dealer
Seat 4 - HIGHSOCIETY3 ($8770 in chips)
Seat 9 - HASSENFEFFER ($4730 in chips)

HASSENFEFFER - Posts small blind $300
HIGHSOCIETY3 - Posts big blind $600

*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to HASSENFEFFER [Js Qc] (Solid hand heads up, I had better raise and see if he just gives up the blinds)
HASSENFEFFER - Raises $900 to $1200
HIGHSOCIETY3 - Calls $600 (The call doesn't scare me as I am sure that he thinks that I am just trying to steal, which I was. Plus, I have stolenthe blinds from him several times over the course of the tourney.)

*** FLOP *** [Ac 7c 2d] (crap)

HIGHSOCIETY3 - All-In $7570 (Wait a minute. He only called my raise pre-flop. If he had actually had an Ace, he might have rerasied me then. Maybe not but... if he really does have an Ace, why go all in here? Why not check and give me a chance to bluff at it? Why not bet small, hoping for a call? A dumb player might just puch it here but a smart player slow plays that shit and he's smart. There's no way he goes all in here with the 7 or the 2; not as the big stack with the blinds at only 300/600. Hey, I know! He's representing the Ace! That's what a smart player does here. He might have a K and if so I am screwed but there's no way I am laying this down. -- Really, this was 10-12 seconds of internal dialouge that sounded JUST LIKE THAT. It was, an "Eureka" moment.)

HASSENFEFFER - All-In $3530

HIGHSOCIETY3 - returned ($4040) : not called

*** TURN *** [Ac 7c 2d] [8s]

*** RIVER *** [Ac 7c 2d 8s] [Jd]

*** SHOW DOWN ***
HIGHSOCIETY3 - Shows [10c 6c] (ace high) (Ok, it turns out he had a flush draw too. I TOLD you he was smart. I had him on a bluff and he was semi-bluffing. Still, I called that shit with Queen high. Man, tastes better than beer.)
HASSENFEFFER - Shows [Js Qc] (One pair, jacks)
HASSENFEFFER Collects $9460 from main pot

*** SUMMARY ***Total Pot($9460)

I committed a bad beat

Should I have folded to his reraise? Given how loose a good percentage of players are in these early levels I have a hard time giving someone I've not seen before too much credit in this spot, though it was a 4xBB initial raise from UTG, which does also scream "I have a high pocket pair and don't want to get sucked out on by any of you losers calling even a decent raise with shit". I still think my action preflop was correct, though I got lucky as it turned out.

Q, especially, should recognize the pain of this happenstance...

NL Texas Hold'em $10 Buy-in + $1 Entry Fee Trny:16614916 Level:2 Blinds(15/30) - Friday, December 23, 23:04:01 EDT 2005

Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 8
Seat 1: Mruede ( $1615 )
Seat 4: Rockstar2k ( $610 )
Seat 7: acorncb ( $655 )
Seat 9: potpimp420 ( $1650 )
Seat 2: Blackkat7 ( $685 )
Seat 3: smart_trader ( $275 )
Seat 6: ArkyV ( $1265 )
Seat 8: hawkeye1x ( $1245 )

** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ArkyV [ Jd Jc ]
Rockstar2k raises [125].
ArkyV raises [300].
acorncb folds.
hawkeye1x folds.
potpimp420 folds.
Mruede folds.
Blackkat7 folds.
smart_trader folds.
Rockstar2k is all-In [485]
ArkyV calls [310].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9c, 7h, 8h ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ks ]
** Dealing River ** [ Th ]
ArkyV shows [ Jd, Jc ] a straight, seven to jack.
Rockstar2k shows [ Kc, Kh ] three of a kind, kings.
ArkyV wins 1265 chips from the main pot with a straight, seven to jack.
Rockstar2k finished in eighth place.
Rockstar2k has left the table.

Sorry, Rockstar2K... you deserved better.

The Online fun of Mike Matusow

So, I have taken to capturing the hands of pros that play online at UB. I like to pretend that I am gathering information for a future asswhooping when I eventually build the bankroll to take them on. I sometimes have a tea party with them too. Phil Helmuth wears a pretty dress. I digress, On one such occasion I got to witness a great hand involving a player that goes by the name of Dill Pickle: otherwise known as Mike Matusow. The following is the hand history captured by poker tracker:

Hand #9935043-306 at Sparta (No Limit Hold'em)Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 30/Nov/05 00:21:06

Mahatma is at seat 0 with $12186.
TryHarderFish is at seat 1 with $27921.
Cute_Girl is at seat 2 with $4650.
robopok is at seat 3 with $5136.
dill pickle is at seat 4 with $17132.
BellagioLee is at seat 5 with $4500.
The button is at seat 5.

Mahatma posts the small blind of $50.
TryHarderFish posts the big blind of $100.

Pre-flop:
Cute_Girl folds. robopok folds. dill pickle raises to $350. BellagioLee folds. Mahatma calls. TryHarderFish calls.

Flop (board: 7s 5h 8c):

Mahatma checks. TryHarderFish bets $1050. dillpickle raises to $2100. Mahatma folds. TryHarderFish calls.

Turn (board: 7s 5h 8c Ah):

TryHarderFish checks. dill pickle bets $5250.TryHarderFish raises to $17000. dill pickle goesall-in for $14682. TryHarderFish is returned $2318(uncalled).

River (board: 7s 5h 8c Ah 6c):

(no action in this round)

Showdown:
TryHarderFish shows 9h Jc.
TryHarderFish has 9h 7s 5h 8c 6c: straight, nine high.
dill pickle shows 8d Ad.
dill pickle has 8d Ad 7s 8c Ah: two pair, aces and eights.

Hand #9935043-306 Summary:
$3 is raked from a pot of $34614.
TryHarderFish wins $34611 with straight, nine high.

TryHarderFish left the table a couple hands after this hand. My only regret is not also capturing the fireworks that followed... for the next hour. "The Mouth" really let his fingers to the trash talking after that beat.

[Hassenfeffer]

My Luck

This hand is a perfect example of the way my month has gone......




----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------

Hand #10100823-17582 at Aina (No Limit Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 23/Dec/05 00:51:39

_Supergrover is at seat 0 with $19.65.
doylesmydad74 is at seat 1 with $44.10.
potgravy is at seat 2 with $19.75.
Danger Q is at seat 3 with $22.60.
longsnake is at seat 4 with $55.65.
IndyGuy22 is at seat 5 with $26.
Elsie_Akron is at seat 6 with $13.90.
Blue Hens1 is at seat 7 with $53.30.
silverhills is at seat 8 with $11.20.
memick is at seat 9 with $21.45.
The button is at seat 3.

longsnake posts the small blind of $.25.
IndyGuy22 posts the big blind of $.50.

_Supergrover: -- --
doylesmydad74: -- --
potgravy: -- --
Danger Q: Ac Ad
longsnake: -- --
IndyGuy22: -- --
Elsie_Akron: -- --
Blue Hens1: -- --
silverhills: -- --
memick: -- --

Pre-flop:

Elsie_Akron raises to $1. Blue Hens1 folds.
silverhills folds. memick folds. _Supergrover
calls. doylesmydad74 folds. potgravy folds.
Danger Q re-raises to $2.50. longsnake goes all-in
for $55.65. IndyGuy22 folds. Elsie_Akron folds.
_Supergrover folds. Danger Q goes all-in for $22.60.
longsnake is returned $33.05 (uncalled).

Flop (board: Ts 6c 7c):

(no action in this round)


Turn (board: Ts 6c 7c 9d):

(no action in this round)


River (board: Ts 6c 7c 9d 4s):

(no action in this round)




Showdown:

longsnake shows 8c 8h.
longsnake has 8c Ts 6c 7c 9d: straight, ten high.
Danger Q shows Ac Ad.
Danger Q has Ac Ad Ts 7c 9d: a pair of aces.


Hand #10100823-17582 Summary:

$2.35 is raked from a pot of $47.70.
longsnake wins $45.35 with straight, ten high.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Nice Comeback

A preflop all-in gone awry left me with 200 of my 300 remaining chips taken for the big blind in the very next hand:

Trny:16613017 Level:6 Blinds(100/200)

Seat 1: BigBruce24 ( $2133 )
Seat 9: Dragonball14 ( $5566 )
Seat 7: ArkyV ( $301 )

** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ArkyV [ Kc 7s ]
Dragonball14 raises [400].
BigBruce24 calls [300].
ArkyV is all-In [101]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9s, 7d, Ah ]
BigBruce24 checks.
Dragonball14 bets [200].
BigBruce24 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6s ]
Dragonball14 shows [ As, 9h ] two pairs, aces and nines.
ArkyV shows [ Kc, 7s ] three of a kind, sevens.
Dragonball14 wins 398 chips from side pot #1 with two pairs, aces and nines.
ArkyV wins 903 chips from the main pot with three of a kind, sevens.

I got lucky there... a bit of table bullying, another win or two, and then the final hand...

Trny:16613017 Level:7 Blinds(150/300)

Seat 9: Dragonball14 ( $2688 )
Seat 7: ArkyV ( $5312 )

** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ArkyV [ 5h Ad ]
ArkyV is all-In [5162]
Dragonball14 is all-In [2388]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7d, Js, 7h ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
ArkyV shows [ 5h, Ad ] three of a kind, sevens.
Dragonball14 shows [ 3s, Kh ] three of a kind, sevens.
ArkyV wins 2624 chips from side pot #1 with three of a kind, sevens with ace kicker.
ArkyV wins 5376 chips from the main pot with three of a kind, sevens with ace kicker.

Sweet!
- ArkyV