Cash Game Corner with Chan

Vegas Trip Report part 1

2010-07-18T12:10:00.003-04:00

I've been too lazy to put up a Vegas trip report. Now I have forgotten some of the details, but I will try my best.

The last time I was in Vegas was with Mailman at Feb. 2008, which was also my first time ever in Vegas. This is my 2nd trip to Vegas.

June 14) I met 2 guys from Nautica that I play 2/5 with all the time in the airport, they re flying out to Vegas and stay at Rio's too. So after we landed in Vegas, we took a cab to his mom's house in Vegas, then we took his mom's car to drive 3 of us to Rio. Colin was nice enough to come outside and meet me up, we all know how bad I'm with directions. I could have gotten lost. After I met up with Colin, he gave me a a little walk thru with brief introduction to where's everything in Rio. After unpacking in the room, Colin asked me what I want to do? I was like " gambling man" this is freaking Vegas, you don't spend time during anything else. I aint no Data who managed to not wage a single penny during his week long stay in Vegas.

So right away, I went down to the Amazon/Pavllion rooms at the Rio's. My first impression when I walked into the room was "WOW". The Pavillion room is HUGE. It was quite a sight seeing thousands of poker players walking around. It's poker player's dream place. I immediately felt right at "home".

Colin took me to check out the Amazon room, which is right across from the pavllion room. The first pro I've ever seen in real life was Sam Farma. They were filming the ESPN final table. As I was walking toward the ESPN final table, I said to myself" so this is how they do it on TV".

Being a cash game player, I asked Colin to show me where the cash games are.
We walked back to pavilion room, and they had about 60+ tables of cash tables there spreading anything from 1/3 to nose bleed stakes. Colin said he's not playing tonight, he's tired. I talked him into playing some 2/5, it doesn't take much to talk a poker player into playing some poker.

So we both decide to play some 2/5, I went outside to use the restroom, and as I was walking back from the restroom, I saw a tall guy who looks familiar, in black leather jacket, and a black cap I've seen thousands of times on TV. As I looked closer," HOly shit, is that phil freaking hellmuth"? Man, I can't believe I'm looking at the poker brat. As I walked past him, I said to him" hello, mr. Hellmuth" paying my respect to the poker brat, he smiled back and said " hello, there". I swear that made my day!

POker wise that night, I don't remember many hands, but I did remember one hand. The board was 3567 with 2 diamonds, I had A4 of diamonds, and this euporean guy called my all in bet at the turn, I thought I was free rolling, but he rolled over 89 for the nut straight. And river came another diamond to complete my flush. I took down a 700 dollars pot with the suckout. First night total, +600 in 3hours. thanks to that hand.

June 15) Today, I didn't play much poker, after meeting up with Data at Wynn for lunch, we walked around for a bit. Went to check out Aria's and did a little shopping. Collin and I returned back to Rio's at about 2pm while Data continue his way of whatever he was doing. Seriously, how the hell do you wear a black suit in Vegas weather outside? I was feeling the heat with t-shirt and shorts, but Data was fine. Does that man ever sweat? is he possible of sweating? I told Colin "Data is cold-blooded, this is why he doesn't sweat with suits in 100 degrees weather".

Anyway, I played only 2 hours of poker At Rio's lost 300 dollars due to a stupid hand. I think I stacked off with J9 vs K9 on a 9 high board. I raised pre flop with J9 at the button, BB called and flop came 942. He checked, I bet out 40, he made it 100, he only had like 170 behind, Because Data just texted us that he's coming to meet us up to go check out downtown Vegas tonight, I was like "fuck it", I put that motherfucker all in. and he tanked forever because finally made the call and his hand held up.

The last time Mailman and I checked out the downtown Vegas, we played alot of poker there. Binion's has always been one of my favorite poker room because of the rich poker history there. But this time, we didn't get to play any poker, we just walked around sight seeing. Downtown Vegas is different than the strip, it's definitely worth a day to check it out. Colin and I took a picture with the "million dollars cash" on display, but we didn't want to wait 30mins and have to fill out applications to get a binion's card, so we never got the pictures. Colin and I discussed briefly of going to some strip bars, well it was quickly shot down by the Commander Data. There was no way in hell he was going to allow Colin to have some fun the night before the big tournament.

So I only played about 5-6hours of poker for the first 2 days, I made up my mind I was going to play ALOT of poker starting tomorrow...

Now that we got the non poker stuff out of the way, my trip report part2 will be REALLY POkEr HEAVY....

Fun night at Nautica

2010-07-15T00:28:00.004-04:00

tonight was a sick night for me at Nautica.

hand 1)2nd hand I sat down, I had KJ, flop came KQJ, turn K, and I lost my first buyin to KQ right away.

hand 2) I had 99, flop came K79 with 2 diamonds, one guy bet out 18, I made it 40, and he called. turn was 4 of diamonds, and he instantly went all, i had about 250, he had me covered. I was like man, there's no way he would bet this big without a flush, but then why the hell would he go all in with flush though?" as I was sitting there thinking, he started talking " hey, I got 2 pair with king of diamonds". I didn't really believe him, so I said to him" I have KQ with queen of diamonds, i m thinking about calling you, I just dont belive you have 2 pair unless u show me a card". And he did, he showed me "7 of spades" lol, soon as I saw that card, I knew my 9's was the best hand, and I snap called. river another 7. He turned over K7 but with king of hearts. my better full house took it down.

hand 3)the same guy with K7 from previous hand limped for 2 dollars, I made it 12 on the button with JJ, one guy called and he called. flop came 984 with 2 spades, the sb checked, he bet out 35 into a 38 dollars pot, that's a
pretty big bet, i just didn't think he would play 2 pair like that or a set.so I shipped it all in for 400 and he tanked, tanked forever and finally made a tilt call with 109. and my hand held up, I'm up to about 900 right now.

hand 4) one guy raised to 7, i called in the sb with QJ. 4 other guys called. flop came Ak10 all hearts. so i flopped a straight but without a heart. I checked, another guy checked, and this guy who just moved from another table bet out 60 into like 35 dollars pot. folded back to me, he had
215 behind. Since he just sat down, i had no read on him. Yes he could have a flush but would he really bet almost 2x the pot with made flush? after thinking for a solid 2-3mins, I thought he probably had hand like A10 for 2 pair. Those donkies seomtimes overbet the pot with 2 pair to protect their hand. So i shipped it all in and he called. he turned over 75 of hearts and I was drawing dead. that hand knocked me back down to about 600.

I stacked off this new guy twice, but he only bought in for 150 each time, so that got me to about 900 again. then it came the biggest hand of the night.

hand 5) I limped with A2 of clubs, 4 limpers and this middle eastern guy at the BB made it 18 to go, he has been doing it all night. I called and everyone else called. Flop came J98 all clubs, I flopped the nut flush! Now the pre flop raiser bet out 75, he had about 180 behind, I just smooth called, and to my suprise, all 3 guys called behind me. I was like shit, maybe someone has a set or 2 pair. Turn came a 5 of diamonds, a perfect brick. Now the pre flop raiser shipped it all in for 180, i had about 750 in front me, the next 2 guys were really deep too, they both had over 500. Afte r thinking for a while, I thought the pot was big enough, I shipped it all in for 750, and the next 2 guys folded. but the 3rd guy called off his last 120. So the pot had about 800. river king of spades and my hand held up.

That got me to about 1600.

hand 6) UTG +1 who is kinda solid player, doesnt play many hands. he made it 12 to go, folded back to me, I called in the BB with A6 suited. flop came 1063 with 2 clubs, I checked, he bet 25, we were both so deep. I called, turn came A of spades, now I got 2 pair. I checked again, he thought about for a second and fired out 75, I called. and river Q didnt complete any flush. I checked again, he thought about for a sec and counted out 2 stacks of reads " 200" . I was like damn, I really think I cna't be good here. The only hand I could beat there was AK, he would never bet this much with AK at the river. he had to have a set, either 1010, AA or even QQ. all thsoe hands made sense with the lines he took. After thinking for a solid 3mins, I folded my A6. I told him I folded A6, and he was nice enough to tell me that he had 1010.

What a wild night tonight, I played so many big pots, was all in so many times, but after bruises and blood, I came out cashing 1445 for a profit of 1045.

On a side note, I really like this free minded 1/2 games. 2/5 is just too stressful sometimes, playing vs same old 20-30 players who grind the 2/5 for a living. I looked over my record for the past 2 weeks at 1/2. I definitely ran super hot, my average is like 88 dollars per hour at the 1/2 LOL. damn, why would I play 2/5 when I can achieve close to 90 dollars win rate at 1/2 with zero stress.

hand of the week..

2010-06-14T02:05:00.003-04:00

hand 1) 1/1 game at Colin's. Danny raised to 6, i called with 75o, Jeff Rigler also called. Flop came 654 with 2 clubs, danny bet out 20, I called and Riglier called too. turn came 10s, Danny checked, and I checked too, and Riglier pushed all in instantly for 97. Danny quickly folded, I was like" wtf does he have"? He's usually a standard straight forward ABC type of player. But the previous week when we played at Dave's. He raised with 23 of diamonds, flop came K72, he bet out, I called with 87, turn was brick, he pushed all in, I had to give him credit because he's a pretty standard solid player, I folded my 2nd pair and he showed me 23 of diamonds. I was like "man, I didn't know he was capable of that". I guess every poker player has that "bluffy animal instinct" inside of them. Some people just don't do it often enough, but evryone LOVES the feeling of bluffing someone out of a better hand. I've been trying for years to control that "animal instinct" inside of me.

Anyway back to the hand, I sat there, my instinct was telling me he didn't have much there. But what hand could he have? I looked at the flop, it was a really drawy board of 654 with 2 clubs, danny bet 20, I just smooth called. if Rigler had hand like flopped straight or 2 pair, with the way he plays, I think he would push all in on the flop to stop the flush/straight draw. He's never ever just smooth called too on the flop with 2 guys in before him with any straights, or even set/2 pair. so, I put him on a draw too. now, turn came 10s, danny check, it means he doesnt have anything. I checked too, showing some weakness. and he pushed all in for 97, over betting the pot. I really thought he had a some type of draw type of hand, i didnt' think he had a pair on the flop. But he could have a hand like 10cXc type of hand, hitting top pair on the turn with flush draw. But he was really nervous, I just didn't think he had any pair there. So, after thinking for a bit, I called. and indeed he didn't have anything, he actually had A3o. river brickd out, and I won a pretty decent size of pot.

With that said, I would have never made that call if he didn't show me the 23 of diamonds the week before. I was always thought he was a solid player. When he bets big, he almost always have it.

Leaving for Vegas tomorrow..

2010-06-14T00:50:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'm going to sneaking in a blog post before I leave for Vegas tomorrow. I will sure post a blog about the trip when I return from Vegas.

Since the 2 months cold spell from March-May, I'm still not doing much better. I've played a little less poker than before. Still the normal routine goes something like this " Win 1, lose 1" sessions. Mostly at the 2/5 at Nautica, I just can't not put together a good streak. Just this past week, I played 3 sessions of poker at Nautica.

Tuesday ) 1/2 NL, I lost a 650+ dollars pot with KK vs J3 on the board of 88J5, this guy called my all in bet at the turn with J3, and hit the case J at the river, someone folded a Jack pre flop. Luckily for me, i only lost about 150 dollars that session. But I felt deflated after playing great and still down.

Wesnday ) 2/5 NL, I actually ran "hot" that night. biggest hand of the night, one guy limped, I raised to 25 with QQ, BB called and the limper re-raised to 85, I called and the bb called. Flop came KQ7 rainbow. Now the BB lead out for 150 dollars, the limper instantly pushed all in for 350.I knew he had either KK, or AA. But I couldn't fold the set. I was actually more curious of what the BB had. I don't know what type of hand he has that he could called a raise first,then a re-raise out of position. Then he lead out 150 on the flop of KQ7? Maybe he has AK? Anyway, I went all in too,and the BB called too. pot was about 1450. turn 7, river 9. The BB turned over 10J for the straight, and the limper showed AA. and I took out a big pot with Queen's full. That was the only big hand I won. I slowly bleed off some chips later on and only cashed out up 700.

Friday ) 2/5 NL, I came in that night feeling confident. Maybe I can finally put a good streak together? We shall see..

lets see the hands I played on Friday night.

hand 1) I limped on the button with A2s after a couple of limpers. Flop came 935 rainbow, everyone checked to me, I bet out 20, the SB who's a really tight old guy, he called and everyone folded. Turn came 4 to put a backdoor flush draw on board too, bingo! he checked again, I bet out 55, he thought about for a second and raised me to 200. he only had about 150 behind. I was trying to put him on a hand. Let's see he's a tight old nit, what type of hand that he can check call me on the flop on this board? then check raises me on the turn? really only 6-7 makes sense here. 67 is a double gut-shot on the flop. I know he doesn't have A2 or 62. Another possiblity is a he flopped a set on the flop, but would he really just check call on the flop with like 3-4 other guys behind him left to act on this drawy board? Possibly, because he's an old nit who likes to slow play. There's also a small possibility of he having 94, called the flop with top pair and turned 2 pair. But since he's in the SB, i think he's that type of player who can fold for 3 dollars pre flop wiht 94o. Plus, I didn't think he had 94. and It didn't smell like a flopped set either. he didn't take some time to decide what to do on the flop. he called rather quickly. I really thought I was behind here. After tanking for a while, i ended up folding the hand. and I told him I folded a big hand to him. he was nice enough to show me the 67.

hand 2) 2 limpers, I made it 30 with QQ again. 3 guys called. flop came Aq2 all spades. the UTG limper who's a really good young Russian player, he lead out for 70, a guy to my right who has about 1.5k in front of him(part of it thanks to me, I will tell you why in hand 3), he's been hitting the deck. He raised to 170. back to me, I had about 600 left. I didn't think my set is good here. one of those 2 guys has to have a made flush already. If the other guy has a set or 2 pair type of hand, then alot of my outs are already gone. After letting out a big sight, I tossed in my set of queens. Both of those guys got all their money in the middle on the flop. The 1.5 k guy had 107 of spades, turn camed K of spades, river didn't pair the board. the UTG didn't show his hand and the 107s guy took down another big pot.

hand 3) This is the hand I played vs. the guy with 107s on previous hand. On this hand, he was UTG, he tossed in 1 green chip, I told him it's a call since he didn't announce "raise". He said he meant to raise. But too late, as everyone told him it's a call. Anyway, I called too behind him with 44, a crazy doctor behind me raised to 30, he called and I called. Flop came 1074 all clubs( isn't that great flopping set with all same suited board). Now the UTG guy bet 55, I got bottom set here. I was trying to put the UTG on a hand. he wanted to raise pre flop, but then just smooth called a single raise. He doesn't have hands like KK, AA, or even QQ I don't think. He probably has a good-decent hand like AQ, AK, JJ, 10 10. So, what type of hands can he lead out with on this 1074 all club board? does he have JJ just to see where he is at? or maybe flopped a set of 10's? I don't really have a lot of reads on him, I don't know if he likes to lead on that flop with hands like AcQs, basically just nut flush draw. I still have the pre raiser behind me, I wanted to see what he does first and how the UTG reacts if the pre flop raiser raises this flop. So, I just called the 55 and the crazy doctor pre flop raiser folded. turn came 2of club, putting 4 clubs on the board. Now the UTg checked, I thought maybe he had a hand like JJ with J of clubs or maybe a set of 10's. My hand looks alot of like a flush draw on the flop with the smooth call. I bet out 80 to see what he does, you know you are not running good when you have to turn your set into a bluff. (Later I thought about thsi hand, I think i made a mistake, I should have checked here). But as I was in the hand, I put him on hands like JJ with club or not, or flopped higher set. He hestiated for a moment and finally made a crying call. Now I really believed he had what I thought he had. river came K of spades, he checked again. With about 350 in the pot, I really dont think I can win here if I check, once again, I had to turn my made hand of set into a bluff( great feeling, isnt it?) I bet out 3 stacks of reds and he instantly called. I was like" shit, he probably has QQ with Q of club). He actually turned over AJ with Ace of club. So he had the nuts. He didn't even raise me? WTF? I asked him when he didn't raise me? he said he thought I was all in already? I actually still had like 150+. The whole time he didn't even look at me.

I think I made some big mistakes this hand. first of all, my read was that he had hands like JJ, or flopped set. He played it well at the turn with the hollywood, and check the river to me with the nuts. The check-call on the turn lead me to stuck with my read that he didn't have the nut flush. then the river check let me believe I could push him out of that hand. it's funny how you can see the hand so much more clearer afterward when you are not in the heat of the moment. I should have check the turn, and fold the river if he bets into me. Moral of the story " Never be stuck with your initial read, always think clearly about everything before your decision".

Ok, off to packing now, and I hope I do well in vegas. I'm planning to start off small at the 1/2 NL first, Because I'm there for the whole week. i don't wanna jump into the big games and lose all the money. After 2days, If i'm still in good shape, I will play some 2/5 and 5/10. Hopefully I will have some good stories to tell.

Going to brothel with Data sounds like a good idea to me! I want to make that happen!!!

Cash Game Corner with Chan.

2010-05-25T01:24:00.003-04:00

I've decided to turn my blog into a "cash game corner with Chan". From now on, I will be posting and discussing some interesting hands I've played recently. Most of my blogs will be about my thought process through out the hands, any mistakes I made or good plays I made,etc.. hopefully this can help the "few" readers that like to read my blog their cash game, also gives me a chance to analyze the hands differently when I'm not in the moment of the heat. It can also help me see my mistakes and see the hands in different perspective.

It's been a while...

2010-04-30T02:06:00.002-04:00

Well, It's been a while since I last blogged. Like Pete said, I only blog when I win. Well this is the same case here, I told myself I'm not going to blog unless I hit a 3 winning sessions in a row, and tonight I achived the ever so elusive winning streak sessions for me in the past 2 monthes. I have won 3 sessions in a row! Wow, it definitely feels so good to have all your hands hold up and win some coin flips along the way. And hit some cooler hands vs. someone. Too many interesting hands to list, but I'm not going to talk about any hands here. This is to say that I should be returning to blog frequently now. My icy cold spell might just finally be over.

The cold streak lasted about a month and a half. From the beginning of March to Mid April, I just could not have 2 winning sessions in a row no matter what. Best I could manage was win 1, and lose 1, repeat and rinse. An example, I won like 1400 one session, next session, I got up to about 1300 again within the first half hour, then lost almost all the money in 1 hand where I flopped top set with 99 vs. someone's 75 of clubs on the board of 943 with 2 clubs. Hands like big darws vs big hands, or vice versa, I was always on the wrong end of the side. On top of bad luck, I know I played bad too. One of the things I notice is during the cold streak when my confidence was so low,I played most of the sessions at auto pilot mode. My brain wasn't functioning at full capacity.

Why is so hard to make money in poker? Yes good players will win more than they lose, but it's extremely hard to win some substantial amount of money. because this is the only job where you can go to work all day and not only you don't make a penny, you can lose 1k too. Just like in basketball, a team with record of 50-32 is considered a pretty good team. But when you look closely, comparing it with poker, you win 50 sessions and lose 32 sessions, assuming all the sessions average out about the same, you only have 18 more win sessions. SO basically it means for the 82 times you play poker, only 18 times you are walking away as a winner(get paid), all other times you don't make anything(worked for free). In addtion, you have to be mentally strong, and all other distractions that can occur. This is why you have to be SO MUCH better than your opponents in poker to make any substantial amount of money.

Well, I'm just glad that I got that monkey off my back now. I hope 3 wins in a row and 5 of past 6 is a sign of cold deck is over. I' m not asking much poker god, I just want my fair shares of EV.

Good ole nautica....

2010-03-24T00:14:00.002-04:00

I love me some nautica......... I take back all the harsh words I had before for Nautica. I just can't lose in that place. After I came back from Indiana, I took a little break from poker and my confidence was a little shaky.

So tonight, I went down to Nautica, sat down at the 2/5, bought in for 400. My image is pretty loose on the table. Here are interesting hands..

hand 1) everyone folds to the cutoff, this Russian donk makes it 20 to go, he's definitely a very aggresive player. I call on the SB with JJ. Flop comes J92 rainbow, I check, he bets out 35, I hollywood a bit and raises him to 85. He looks me and tanks forever before he makes the call. Because of my loose image and his aggresive nature, I don't think he had an overpair there. He might have hands like 10,10. Turn comes Q, I check, and he instantly shoves all in. I know there's no way he would shove all in instantly with 10 8 or set of queens, so I call. and river 8. he turns over 10 J for the straight and I lose a 850 dollars pot with top set vs. top pair. Well, after that hand, I was telling myself " maybe I should go home and take something like 2 weeks off from poker, becasue I just cna't win no matter what.

But I decided to stay and rebought for 400.

hand 2) 3-4 limpers, I complete the SB with 57o. flop comes down 776, everyone checks to the button, who fires out 35. It's bigger than the pot size bet. Since there are no flush draw on the flop, I pretty much rule out the button has "7". he probalby has a mid pocket pair or the 6. I call the 35 and everyone folds. turn comes another "7". Now i got quads. I don't want to check here, i know he's checking behind. So I bet out 50 with quads, I don't think he's folding hands like 88 here. maybe not even "6". he calls. and river 3. I bet out 150 and he tanks forever and calls with A6 suited.

hand 3)This is the big hand of the night. I have been playing aggresive and I know my image is loose and bluffy. UTG+1 makes it 25, 2 callers, I look down AA on the cutoff and makes it 90. The UTG is a middle eastern donk who has like 700 in front of him. After thinking for a bit, he calls the 90. evryone else folds. Flop comes 996, he checks, I bet out 2 stacks of reds, he tanks and calls. Theres only one hand that I'm worried about" 66". Most likely he has an overpair. From the way he calls, I could feel he doesn't have a boat or better. turn comes Q, that's actually a bad card for me, if he has QQ he just makes queens full. if he has hands like 10,10 j,J, it's another overcard to scare him. he checks, I look at his stack, he has about 400 behind. I decide to check too. river 7 for the final board of 996q7. he quickly checks again, now I know i have the best hand 100%. I pretend to think a bit and say "all-in". he tanks, tanks and finally call with JJ putting me on AK I guess.

So that got me to about 1600. I won another 200 with J5 of spades when I hit the flush, and cashed out 1950 for profit of 1150.

I don't know if my cold spell is over or not, I sure hope so. Poker is not fun when you just can't win no matter what.

Trips report...

2010-03-23T15:26:00.004-04:00

After breaking roughly even for the first half of the month, I went on 2 different casino trips.

Trip 1) Went to Detroit on Thursday afternoon with mailman. Got there at about 8pm? Sat down at the 1/2 table for about 2hours, lost about 200 dollars. Went to the 2/5 tables, 2nd hand I sat down, I picked up AA UTG. I limped, like 6-7 limpers, flop came AJ7, eveyone checked to the button, who bet out 40, I raised it to 110, and he instantly announced "ALL-IN"! I beat him to the pot before he could drag all his chips into the middle. He showed JJ, turn came another Ace. My quad aces doubled up early. if the turn was "J", I would have won the badbeat jackpot. once again, I came so close of winning the badbeat. That's like the 4th time I've been involved with quad vs. fullhouse. I lost twice with fullhouses and won twice with quads. Funny, I have never came even remotely close of seeing that happening in home games. All 4 times, they happened in casinos. I mean I play way more home games than casino games. Funny how odds work sometimes. After that hand, I went on my usual March cold deck routine, and after another 2 hours, I cashed out about 800. +300-200 at the 1/2, I won 100 the first night.

Day 2) Went to Greektown early morning for the daily tourney. I came in 5th out of 50 people for a pay out of 210. profit of 135 dollars. Went to MGM afterward and played at the 2/5 table. I lost about 200 dollars after playing 5-6hours. Couldnt hit anything. One noticeable hand, I called a raise with Q10 of spades, and flop came AK9 all spades, I flopped the joint!
We got it all in on the flop, he showed A9, and rivered another 9. I lost about 400 that hand. total for the day: - 65 dollars".

day 3) back to motorcity, I sat down at the 5/10 NL table. Bought in for 1000, I didnt play long because Mailman needed his beauty sleep before Dave's game that night. I ended up +300 after 1 hour at the 5/10NL. I won all the money in 1 hand when I slow played KK.

Trip to Indiana:

Day 1) Deepstack 340 dollars tourney. I basically lost all my chips in 2 hands. Both time I flopped straight flush draw and played it really aggresive and hit brick, brick both times. I was rdy to gamble early on, with like 650 players, I wanted to get some stacks early on.

After busting out the tourney early, I sat down at the 1/3NL and proceeded to lose about 1100 dollars. I was revered back to the "old pre-2007 chan". raising with junks and bluffing. didnt' work out too well i guess.

Day 2) Today is the first day I was determined to play good poker. I sat down at the 2/5 with 500. Did I mention "play good poker"? After like a orbit or so, I was already bored, this guy 2 seats to my right was raising every other hand, so this hand came. He raised again to 15, one called, I made it 55 on the button with 95o, he instantly called. Flop came Q54 with 2 diamonds, He lead into me for 50,I quickly glanced over his stack, he had about 500 behind. I just called and turn 9 of hearts, He out 125 this time, and I shoved all in and he called. He showed QJ, and I doubled up with 95. That didn't sit too well with him....

hand 2) same guy raised to 20, I called with 63 of clubs. Flop came J73 with 2 clubs, he bet, I raised, he instantly moved all in for like 600, I called and he turned over 85 of clubs. Turn 8 of hearts, Boom, no waiting!

hand 3) An Asian donkey just sat down to my right, and I could tell he's not a very good player. Then this hand happened : Cutoff raised to 20, the Asian donk called, and I called with 10 10. Flop came 892 rainbow, I lead out 40, the pre flop raiser smooth called and the Asian donk raised to 130 instantly. I called the 90, and the pre flop raiser also called the 90. Turn was 3 of hearts, we both checked to the AD, and he fired out 175. Before I could decide what to do, the pre flop raiser was counting out 175 in his hand. I ruled out the pre flop raiser had any big hand. He probably had a hand with straight and maybe flush draw now the turn brought backdoor heart draw. I decided to move all in for about 500 total, I didn't think the AD had JJ or QQ or a set. His 175 bet at the turn did show some weakness. I think he would bet more with an set after 2 guys called him on the flop. he probably just had top pair. the pre flop raiser folded and the AD called, and river came 5 of hearts. I said "1 pair", he asked me " which pair". soon as he said that I said to myself" I'm good, he has the 9". I turned over 10 10, and he showed A9 of hearts and some guys at the table said " u got a flush"! yeah I swear those Asian people suck in poker, they never fold top pair top kicker no matter what!

March so far..

2010-03-09T14:01:00.003-05:00

SUCKS! After 6 sessions in March, I'm down 600 bucks roughly. Cards definitely have something to do, but I think I'm not playing great either. In Feb, I reguarly cashed out profit of 1k nightly. But this month, I still haven't had a +1k session yet. Best session was +800, worst session -1500. Just never seem to gain any significant momentum in any of the sessions. Most sessions usually went like this" I started off winning a fairly decent size pot,and then went completely card dead,and slowly bleed off all the profits, ending up a small winner or a loser. Or I started off running into a cooler hand and lose the first buyin and had to play the rest of the session in catch-up mode."

I think I have won only 1 pot of 1k+ this month, where that seems like a nightly thing for me last month. Another reason of me being down this month is I started off alot of my sessions at the 1/2 table this month, and ended up losing like 2-3 hundos before I got to the 2/5 by playing carelessly.

But I remind confident. After playing poker semi-professionally since last Sept when I moved up to the 2/5 at Nautica, I kinda get a feel to the ups and downs. And usually my downswing/card dead period doesn't last that long.
I don't consider this month to be a downswing, it's just a break-even period. I still haven't had the experience of a signficant downswing that every poker player is dreaded about. I hope it doesn't come lol.

The beauty of poker is you can be break even for half of the month, and then catch fire and get a couple of sessions of 1.5k+, and you can end the month up like 6-7k just like that. Of course it could go the other way, break even first half of the month, then catch a cold run of cards and down a couple of
grands. But like they said " That's Poker"...

damnit..

2010-02-28T22:18:00.002-05:00

Card didn't go good today. Lost 700, one buy in at the 1/2, and 1 buy in at the 2/5. I didn't even bother to rebuy afterward. I just left because I knew no matter what I do, I was not going to win today.

Down to my last 120 at the 1/2. 5limpers, I raised to 25 at the button with AK. Only one middle easterne guy called. Flop came 733, he lead out for 25, I put him on the 7 or a mid pocket pair, he still had like 100ish behind. So i raised all in to represent an overpair. Of course he called me and his 67 suited held up. moral of the story, don't try to bluff an idiot.

Went to the 2/5, I actually played pretty decently. raised with 10 10, got one caller who is a crazy guy. flop came 356 with 2 hearts, he checked, I bet, he called, turn Qs, checked, and bet again, called again. River 5 paired the board, now he came out firing 200, I snap called and it was good. got to about 900.

Then over the next couple of hours, I was just card dead. I lost all my money on 2 hands. first hand 85, flop 647 and lost to a river boat of 64. 2nd hand, J8 in the BB, flop 1097 with 1 diamond, bet all the way and got called all the way and lost at the river to 106 of diamonds whne he hit runner runner flush. After that, I just got up and left, sometimes you know you just can't win no matter what you do.

Poker burned out...

2010-02-26T03:15:00.005-05:00

I had played the most poker i've ever played in the past 3 weeks. All at the 2/5 NL. 5-6days a week, 8+hours a day. Result? Burned out from poker a few days ago. I was stressed out. Made good money but felt pretty miserable. This is why it's so hard to play poker for a living because of the burn out factor. Money is great, but at the end of the 3rd week, I wasn't having any fun anymore. It really felt like a god damn job. I had to drag myself into my car to drive to Gemini a couple of times. I was only doing it for 3 weeks, imagine people doing it years in and years out. It's so hard. And playing 2/5 means I had to concentrate and play my A game at all time. It really does take a toll on the brain and body for being intense all the time.

So I decided to take a couple of days off. Went to help out my uncle in his restaurant just to take my mind off poker for a bit. Tonight was the first time I played poker this week. I got there at about 9pm. Sat down at the 1/2NL because there were no seats at the 2/5. Tonight I felt like poker was fun again for me. After being off for a couple of days and playing at a smaller game, I didn't have to play my A game, and constantly thinking. I felt super relaxed tonight. When they called me to the 2/5, I just stayed at the 1/2NL because it was more fun. 2/5 feels like a battle, going to a war. 1/2 feels recreational, going to a park.

And what do you know, I just had the 2nd best 1/2 NL session ever tonight! my personal best session at 1/2 was at casino Windsor last year where I won 1400+ at the 1/2. Sat down with 200, I lost 200 fairly quickly by playing carelessly and bluffing. reloaded back up to 200, and 4hours later, I turned that 200 into 1655. Despite that I got sucked out for a 450 dollars pot with a 3outers by one of the Grayday's friend.(don't know his name, but I've played vs him in grayday's house before and saw him at Dave's before too. I could have came close to hiphop's 1/2 NL record if it weren't for that suckout. I was in for 400, so +1255 for 4hours at the 1/2 NL. Not a bad night.

When I cashed out, Colin asked me " how the hell do people keep paying you off"? I hit quad ten's again tonight and moved all in and got called by the guy with a fullhouse. Also hit the straight and moved allin and got called by a guy with (I think he had an overpair). There's just something about me that people don't seem to believe me when I bet.

Are you supposed to softplay your friends on the poker table?

2010-02-18T03:12:00.001-05:00

Basically tonight I took about 1700 dollars from little fag at the 2/5 in some cooler hands. He blamed me for being greedy for betting too hard. He said we have been playing together for years and I should have soft played my monster hands vs him. It got a little ugly, he literally was calling me a "greedy fuck". it was kind of awakard.

hand 1) I hit boat vs. his nut flush. took about 400.

hand 2) I hit quad ten's on the flop of 10 10 10, I had A10, he had pocket kings, he couldn't lay it down. I took about 400 from him that hand.

hand 3) I raised with JJ and flop came QJ2, i bet all the way, I think he had 88, turn came 2, river 8. and as I bet 400 at the river, he couldn't lay down the 88 full of deuces. Took about 700 from him that hand. Well this hand is debateable, He called my 2 big bets on the flop and turn with 88 and hit the 8 at the river.

hand 4) I raised as semi bluff with 98 on a J1010 board and hit the straight, and I min-raised him when he bet out 75 at the river. I put him on hands like Q10 and he called with his trip tens and lost to my straight.

I thought the goal of poker is to take each other's money? There are no friends on the poker table. It's a competitive game. It kinda made me feel a little bad though. But I'm sure nobody is going to soft play me when they have monster hands vs. me on the poker table. Nobody is going to give me the wink and signal of big hand telling me not to call them. And I don't want them to either. you gonna be prepared to win and lose against anyone on the poker table.

With that said, I would occasionally "softplay" a little bit vs. someone like the host DaveW and Mailman. Because I know the money involved in the 1/1 game means more to Dave than me. Also they are both very good people, he's opening up his house for people to come and enjoy poker. A very generous guy. And mailman working every week as the TD. But at the 2/5, I'm playing to win. I'm not going to let my monster hands go wasted. I could have taken his entire stack with that quad ten's, but I didn't. I know he's incapable of laying down pocket kings at that spot.

Regardless, I still feel a little bad. Good thing he made a nice comeback later tonight. So that made me feel a little better too.

Lucky hand for me?

2010-02-01T01:14:00.006-05:00

this hand happened to me last night at Dave's 1/1 NL game. It definitely did not play like a 1/1 game. Grayday, Jammie, and me all have 700+ in front of us, Terry(before this hand), Tom gross and diablo had 200-300 too. I got super lucky on this hand, I was kicking myself at first then I said to myself after the hand is over "wow, i just saved myself 700 dollars".

Jamie raised to 7, I called with jacks, Terry called and 2-3 more called. flop came KJ4 rainbow. Jammie bet out 30, I thought about fast playing the set here since me and Jamie were so deep, and Jamie isn't big in folding. But somehow, my instinct was telling me to just call. part of it was because the bet of 30 is pretty big already and this board isn't that draw heavy. TK behind me, looked like he didn't want to call the 30, but he called too. Terry is not someone who chases gutshot for 30 dollars, I also think he would raise on the flop if he had hands like KQ to find out where he is. because Jamie isn't exactly someone who deserves credits when he's betting, he probably doesn't have a king if u got a king yourself. and I just flat calling, I probably had a draw. But Terry just called too, so I put him on Q10. Turn came 9. Now Jamie bet out 60, I looked at Terry's stack, he had about 250ish left? I thought to myself, damn jamie is fucking up this monster hand for me if Terry indeed had the Q10, then I couldnt see a cheap river card for the board to pair. I called the 60 too hoping Terry doesn't pop it up. Surely enough, Terry raised all-in for 190 more. and I knew he had Q10. I was really pissed off that I slow played the hand on the flop to allow terry to see the card, and also I was pissed at jamie for not realizing either me or terry who easily have the Q10 there. he has no ideas of pot control and hand reading. As I was doing some math in my mind to see if i could call this raise, Jamie looked confused as hell, and after some deliberation, he finally called the 190. My 6th sense was telling me, jamie doesn't just have hands like AK here, yes,Jmaie is not someone who would fold AK here, but just the way he called and the way he bet so strongly lead me to believe he had more than just 1 pair hand. Maybe he has AA? I was really frustrated as I was about to let a "monster hand of set of jacks" go wasted. As I was doing the math, i'm getting like 4-1 to my money? not to mention if the board if paired up at the river, Jamie still has like 400, and I could still win 400 from him. he's not going to fold AK or AA. Somehow this hand just dind't smell right for me, my 6th sense was on full effect last night, I was telling myself "could I be drawing dead here? maybe Jamie had KK"? After letting out a big sigh, I folded the JJ. and river came another 4 to paired up the board. I was like "FUCK!" Jamie didn't show the hand, and Terry said "straight" and Jamie looked really pissed off too, his face was read. he threw his cards into the muck faced down. and terry scooped up a 600+ dollasr pot.

Then I said to myself, i guess jamie dind't have set of kings. god damint, why dind't I call the 190. All the sudden when I told Jamie what I had, and the board paired up as I would have won it with the full house. Jamie's eyes lighten up, he said" I had pocket kings, I didn't see the full house". Well, his hand was already in the muck, nobody saw his hand, I didn't see it either, but I sticked with my 6th sense was telling me that he had more than a top pair hand. I believed him having KK, but Terry didn't believe him. (Well, terry doesn't believe alot of things, he also doesn't believe I folded the aces full of ten's, he said that hand never happened. lol)

So, why a lucky hand for me? Depsite I would have "won" a huge pot with jack's full. Because I believe in my instinct and jamie's words that he had KK. So if i called too, and i would have saw the fullhouse, so would have jamie, and rest of our stacks were goiong to go in at the river, and no, this time I would NOT be folding Jacke's full of 4's on that board!not against Jamie at least. Also, if I fast played the set on the flop and Jamie and I got all my money in at on the flop, I would have lost my entire stack.

Nobody saw jamie's hand except himself, but I will trust my instinct and Jamie's words. I really believe he had KK. Ask him next time if u see him to see if he indeed had the KK. Terry's argument is "if jamie had KK, it would be impossible for him to miss the boat because he would be looking for the boat" But I think this is the reason why Jamie missed the boat " When some people flop a HUGE hand like top set, they get excited, so in their mind, their hand is unbeatable. and they get extremely disappointed when someone announced a hand that beat him which in this case when TK said " straight". In my opinion, right at the moment there, Jamie's brain stopped working as he was extremely disappointed that his unbeatable top set got beaten. he had a brain fart, and tossed in the cards.

I will be willing to bet anyone 50 dollars on the odds of Jamie had KK. Nobody saw his hand except himself. there's no way to prove it i guess, but a bet is a bet.

P.S
On a side note, if someone like mailman was involved in that hand taking jamie's spot, and we still had like 500 behind after the river came for the board of Kj494, I would have folded JJ to Mailman at spot. Another unblieveable fold huh? Actually its not a very tough fold at all at that spot vs. someone like mailman with JJ. Because the only hand I could beat there is if mailman had 99. highly unlikely as he would not bet 30 on the flop with 99 into 4-5 players behind him. With given action as he moved all in at the river for 500, He could only do it with KK. This is why we should never only play our own hand strenght.

Did I make the correct laydown?

2010-01-26T22:01:00.005-05:00

Got there at about 7pm on Monday. Sat down with DP at the 1/2 first, broke even, went to the 2/5 NL at about 8:30pm. Rebought 300 more. Slow played AA on the button to a raise, and quickly got my stack up to 800. Raised with 107 of diamonds to 30 at middle position. I wanted to balance my raising range, I purposely raised 6x the BB to 30 with suited connector. Only one caller, flop came A96 with 2 diamonds, I lead out 50, the donkey quickly raised me to 150. He only had about 350 behind, I wanted to move in but I know he's not folding. There was no folding equality vs. those donkies. He looked strong too. So, I called the 100, and hit the perfect card at the turn, an off suited "8". I got the hidden nuts straight. I checked, he moved allin, and I instantly called. and my hand held up. That got me to about 1600. Then this hand happened:

A good Nautica regular player raised to 25 at mid position, I looked down at A10 of diamonds at the cutoff, I called. Flop came A109 with 2 clubs, he let out for 50, I raised him to 125. He didn't look happy and called the rise quickly. Turn came A. Now I got the absolute nuts, he checked, since we were both so deep, he had over 2k, I wanted to get some value, I bet out 200. He thought about a second and called the 200. River came J. He checked again, I thought to myself " this is a great spot, he probably has Aq, or Ak" So I bet out 400, and he thought about a bit and said "All-in". I had about 1k left. My instinct told me he's so strong, I went over a couple of hands in my mind. Would he really do it with A9 here? My image is fairly tight at the table, A10, Aj are definitely part of my range, i think he knows that. He's not like majority of the donkies at the 2/5 who overplay hands. I 100% ruled out he had AK, AQ. He would never played AK AQ like that. Does he have JJ, or 99 for under fullhouse? I seriously doubt it. He wouldnt called my turn bet of 200 with JJ on the board of AA109, if he had 99, he probably would have re-raised me at the flop after I raised him to 125 due to a such drawy board. He must have AJ, that's the only hand that makes the perfect sense given the action on each street. He has to have AJ, thats what I was thinking. But it wsa still a tough fold given I was only beaten by 1 specific hand. But I folded and he didn't show. I guess we would never know, but he's a fairly good player, I think I made the right fold. But we never know. Maybe we had the same hand.

Gemini club.

2010-01-24T02:17:00.002-05:00

Nice place indeed. I really like it. It blows Nautica out of the water. I've played there every day since they opened it up.

Day1) I came with the idea of just checking the place out. I did register for their 7pm tournament just to see what the structure is like. I was suprised. It's a great structure for a such low buyin public tournament. Coupled with almost professional dealers, we got it moving along quickly. I busted out with 85suited on the button. But I know I made the right play just got outlucked by a stupid donkey. Basically there were like 3-4limpers, and I had been card dead, I was down to about 5k with blinds at 200/400. I didn't think anyone was strong, so I moved in for 5k with 85suited and everyone folded except this donkey who had only 8k total in chips. he called off almost 2/3 of his stack with 33. And I lost the race. cash game didn't go too well either, down 130.

Day2) Didnt play at the tourney. lost about 300 in the cash game at 1/2. I lost my first buy in when this donkey hit a runner runner 4 card flush. I had QQ, he had Ak, I raised, he re-raised me, and i called. flop came Q52 with 2 spades, I checked and he moved all in, I called with top set and came runner runner spades and he showed AK with ace of spades. All I could do was shaking my head. But it's going to happen to you in poker. I could not get anything going all night. left down about 300.

Day3) Finally, I went to the 2/5 tonight. I actually started off at 1/2 waiting for the seat at the 2/5. My luck changed tonight, I almost doubled up at the 1/2 to 400. Rebought 100 more and sat down at the 2/5NL. I really feel like I was in the zone tonight, made some great calls,(you like that call with 33, Grayday?) and basically just value owned the shit out of those old nits. I maximized the values of my hands which mostly only consisted of 1 pair. All night, my reads were dead spot on. I didn't flop any big hands or got cooler hands, I just had all my top pair or overpair hands held up, and I got the most values out of them. Played for like 5hours and cashed out
almost 1800, pretty good night.

Recently, I've been slacking off when I'm up a decent amount in poker. I feel like this is one of my biggest leaks now, I dont play my A game at all time. I also feel a little cocky when I'm winning, and want to be too creative with fancy play sydrome. I need to stick to my solid game. NL cash game can be very dangerous and costly with 1 careless mistake.

Example hand) At Mountainner this Tuesday, I had about 700 in front of me at the 1/2, I basically just owned those nits again with thin value bets. Then came this hand. I limped with KcJs at early position, button limped and the SB who is an Asian guy, he's kinda tight and not very good I would say. He raised to 12, He had about 250 in front of him. I called. And button called. flop came 10J2 with 2 clubs. Now the Asian guy came out and bet rather small of 15 dollars, this bet just screams Ak, AQ type of hand. Those people never bet that small with made hands, not on this drawy board. I just called and the button folded. turn was the Ace of clubs, putting 3 clubs on the board. Now he came out and bet 30, another kinda smallish bet. I had 2nd pair with nut flush draw and also a gutshot to the queen. I called again. and river bricked out. Now he came out and bet 35, which is a tiny bet. I know he has AK or AQ and just wanting to get a cheap showdown. So i decided to turn my made hand into a bluff, because I know I couldnt win the hand if I just called. I raised him to 165 and he tanked, tanked, and finally made a crying call with AK. A good player would have folded there. I cant blame anyone but myself for the fancy play symdrome. This happens to me alot when I'm up and feel like I'm the best player on the table and I can and need to win every single pot.

Friday at Eddie J's..

2010-01-16T03:59:00.003-05:00

Well, I can pretty much summarize up the whole night tonight as Chan vs. Patty night. I don't really know who she is, but I have seen her around mostly at Eddie J's. I would think I got the best of her tonight.

Bought in for 150, reloaded 50bucks each 2 times,so I was in for 250 within the first hour or so. I was bluffing like crazy, and Patty sitting directly to my right was not having any of that. We battled all night long and fortunately I came out ahead.

hand 1) I limped with 34o, she raised to 5, I called. Flop K34, I checked, she fired out 12, I check raised to 25, she instant called. turn was 6, i fired out 40, and she called, river came 8, I pushed all in for 96 and she tanked and tanked and called me with pocket 5's!! yes, she called me with 4th pair.

hand 2) I raised to 5 with JJ on the small blind, she called at the BB. Flop J54 with 2 clubs, good flop! I lead out small bet of 5bucks, she raised me to 15, I called. turn 2, I bet out 10bucks, she called, and river 4. I fired out 60 and she called.

hand 3) She has been on super tilt, I think she blew thru like 2-3 buy-ins, most of those went to me. She left for a while, probably to the ATM, and she came back and rebought for 150. I limped with 23,she raised to 5 again, I called. flop came 965,i checked, she bet 15, I check raised her to 40, she called. turn came queen, i asked her how much she got, she was mad " you gonna take all my money again"? , i saw she had about 110ish, I fired out 60, and she folded KK faced up! yes, you read it right, she folded KK! I showed my 23 and that didn't sit too well with her, it was like adding salt to the wound.

hand 4) Eddie J raised to 4, I called with 35, she re-raised to 15, folded to me. i asked her if she wanted me to call or not, I said it's up to her. she said she doesn't care. so i called. flop 10j4 all spades, I checked, she checked, turn was 8, I fired out 25 and she threw the cards into the muck and I showed 53o.

There were a couple of more interseting hands but I remember mostly hands vs. super tilty Patty. Ended the night cashing out 655, so +405, not too bad after down 100 within like first hour.

1/2 Mountainner edition.

2010-01-05T22:17:00.002-05:00

Well, another session of the new year, same old result. Went down to mountainner today, got there at about 11:30pm. There was only 2 tables of 1/2 tables going. I sat down with 300, right from the start, I flopped a set, and won 140 dollars. Good start. I thought maybe today was my day where I became a card rack. Not so fast. I was totally card dead just like when I was in MGM. Lost a 150 dollars pot to a suckout at the river. But this is what you get for calling a raise with 23 and call on the flop with a gutshot. Basically I had 23, flop came A410, I called a bet and hit the "5". and we got all he money in at the turn, and river another ace. the guy turned over 44.

Not too many interesting hands to talk about, I did get lucky on a hand though. I limped with AQ suited UTG, next guy who's a tight nit who has about 600 in front of him thanks to his luck, also limped. A crazy player raised to 12, he has been doing that for a while. 2 callers behind him. back to me, I limp-reraised to 120 with about 200 behind. The tight nit player sat there forever, my instinct told me i was way behind his range, so I was praying he doesn't call. It took him like a good 3-4mins before he mucked his cards. everyone folded. and I won about 40bucks uncontested. After the hand, he told me he had KK and he put me on Aces. I told him" good read, you are a good player". He's all happy "I knew you had aces".

Total for the day, +9 dollars in poker. Went to the other side of the casino, and played some blackjac, didn't lose much but my worst game in casino is definitely blackjack. I can nevr win in that damn game.

2/5 MGM Edition...

2010-01-01T23:39:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! Good luck on the first day of the year? Not for me at MGM Detroit today. Got there at about 12. There were only 2 tables of 1/2 tables going. I put my name on the 2/5 list and sat down at the 1/2 with 200. Once again, I tried to bluff the inbluffable mailman. He just check called my flop bet with top pair and backdoor nut flush draw, and i fired 2nd barrel, he called again and hit the nut flush with 4 cards flush on the board. he checked again, I thought about fire out a big 3rd barrel but something didn't smell right, I know he loves to set a trap for me, just letting me do all the bettings, so I checked and he was like "damn" and turned over his nut flush.

After about 1 hour, they finally got a 2/5 game going. I rebought 300 more plus the 120ish left from 1/2 to sit down with about 420. For the whole day ,I did not flop anything better than 1 pair on the flop. I flopped straight flush draw twice and bricked out both times. I had about 10 pocket pairs, not a single set. Here are some of the interesting hands I played:

Hand 1) I have about 400, I limp after 1 limper with 10J of hearts, another limper on the button and the SB raises to 25, the first limper calls, I call, and the button calls. Flop comes down 673 with 2 hearts and 1 club, the pre flop raiser checks, the first limper checks, since the table just started up, I have no ideas how people play. I don't know people's tendencies. So I decide to check too with my flush draw and 2 overcards. The button bets 40 after everyone checks, now the pre flop raiser smooth calls the 40, and the first limper calls the 40 too. I don't really like this, the pre flop raiser's action really puzzles me. I can't really put him on a hand, raises pre flop then check call on this board? I rule out he having a big pair, I think he would also bet with if he had nut flush draw. The hand I'm putting him is hands like 55,44. Again I don't know their tendency yet, I don't know if raising with suited connectors or small pocket pairs are parts of his raising hand range. With 3 guys calling on that board, my flush draw could easily be facing a higher flush draw. But with excellent pot odds, I call too. Turn comes down 8 of clubs, so now the board reads 3678 with 2 hearts and 2 clubs. Now the pre flop raiser comes out and bets 100, again, the first limper calls, I'm like "wow, this is really interesting". I really can't put the pre flop raiser on a hand, I know he doesn't have 88 for top pair, I don't think he would raise with 910 out of SB. I go over alot of hands in my head, I just can't put him on a hand. The first limper who's an old nit, I think he has some type of draws, I'm worried about him having a higher flush draw. But once again, I' m getting like 5-6 to 1 for my money if the guy behind me calls too. So I call the 100 again with gutshot to the nuts and flush draw. I don't count the 10J as live over cards, I dont think 10 J would be good if I hit top pair.After I call, the button thinks a bit and calls the 100 too. Now the pot has about 660, the river falls Ace of clubs, now the pre flop raiser goes all in for 350, the first limper folds, I fold with my "J" high, and the button instant calls. The pre flop raiser shows KJ of clubs and the button shows 47 of clubs. So the pre flop raiser check calls with KJ of clubs on 673 board with 2 hearts, LOL and backdoor his way into nut flush and won an almost 1400 dollars pot. Lucky bastard.

Hand 2) I have been card dead all day, now I have about 350. 2 guys limp, and button who's a regular MGM guy who knows all the dealers names and alot of people on the table. He's a very straight forward typical casino grinder, but he also knows what's going on. He raises to 35 on the button, I look down at 2 red kings at the SB. With about 350 left, my first instinct is to re-raise. Then I think about it and I know if I re-raise, the button grinder is going to fold hands like JJ, 10 10, AK probably too. QQ is somewhere between. Since I'm kinda of shortstack with only 75 BB. and I have 2 kings, there's only 1 overcard ace to worry about on the flop. I know there are 2 limpers, but the raise of 35 is fairly large, theres a good chance the 2 limpers might fold out, or just 1 call. i don't mind playing 3 way pot with kings even when I'm out of position. I really want to set a trap here and get it in on a low cards flop. If I re-raise him pre flop to like 100, it will folds out the 2 limpers and the button tight nit will be very cautious and I'm palying my hand faced up with AA, KK or at worst QQ. With only 350, I want to take a little chance and hope for a good flop to check raise him all in and hope he calls with QQ, or JJ. If he has AA, then I'm going broke either way. So, I decide the best pre flop play there is to smooth call and take a little gamble. I call and both limpers call too. Oh, man I don't like this. So it's 4 handed to the flop, it falls 457 with 2 spades, and I have 2 red kings. just terrible flop. I check, the first limper bets 70, the 2nd limper calls the 70, and the pre flop raiser instantly raises to 200. With this much action going on, I fold my 2 red kings. If the pot was heads up between the pre flop raiser and me, I probably would have check raise him all in. I just don't feel right about the hand on that super drawy board. I fold, and 1 guy call. Turn is a brick, and they both check, river bricks again, and both check again. The button shows 2 black Aces and win the pot. I got super lucky there escaping a cooler hand. If I re-raise him, he would go all in and I have to call and lose my 350. When you get dealt a set up hand like aces vs. kings, you know the luck is not on your side today.

So, at about 4pm, the floorman comes over and decides to make that game 5/10NL because more than half of the players are 5/10 players anyway just waiting for a 5/10. They finally have enough to get a table going. Since I only brought 1000 dollars with me today, its only 1 buyin for the 5/10. I only play about 1 orbit and when they start up a new 2/5 table, I move there.

hand 3) I have about 350 in front of me. We are playing 4handed 2/5. First hand we sit down, folds to the SB who casually tosses in 15 dollars raise, and I look down at 36 off suit at the BB. I call the 10 dollars raise. He has no ideas of how I play and I have no ideas of how he plays. Anyway, flop comes 85J with 2 diamonds, he quickly tosses in 3 red chips for 15 dollars bet, I smell weakness. Since he doesn't know how I play or what I'm capable of, I decide to float and peal a card off. I really think he misses the flop totally, with 85J 2 daimonds, there are alot of turn cards that I can represent and if he has nothing, he will check and I fire a bet to take it down even if no cards to complete draws at the turn. With that plan in mind, I smooth call his 15, and turn comes King of spades. Definitely not a great card. Once again, he casually tosses in 25, which is a tiny bet, I really don't think he has AK, with a such dangerous board, he would bet more probably to protect his hand. Another tiny bet just smell weakness for me. I decide to raise him to 60. If he has hands like 99,1010. I don't think he can calls what seems like a " value raise" here. I fully expect him to fold.
After thinking over and bit and he reluctantly calls the 35 dollars raise. Right there, I put him on a draw, or a slight chance of having a king. River comes 6 that doesn't complete no flush, he quickly checks and basically waves the white flag. Now, I have some showdown value, no point of betting here. Either he has a King or missed draw. I also dont think I can get him off a hand like AJ either. So I check too. He says" you are good", right there I know he probably has A10 or AQ. I table my 36 and he rolls his eyes and look at my hand and look at the board trying to put a story together. "Ok, this guy calls me with 36 on J85 with no pair no draw, then raises me when the king comes, what's going on here"? He looks utterly puzzled and I don't blame him LOL.

Play until 7pm, cash out 640,down 60 dollars for the day. I m generally happy with the way I played. got absolutely trash cards and down only 60. Well the 36 hand I got a little lucky hitting the 6 at the river. Actually, no, I didn't get lucky with the 36, the guy had zero chance of winning the hand. becuase if I didn't hit the 6, I would have bet again at the river and he would have to fold his AQ.

Trainwrecked...

2009-12-13T14:37:00.002-05:00

My last hand I played at Dave's last night.

The pot was 5 ways all in on the flop, flop came down A75 with 2 hearts, here's what everyone had.

Father Joe : AQ
Host Dave :55
me: 77
Danny: not sure but i think he had some sort of draws or an Ace-rag
Karl Tsu: A9 of hearts for top pair, nut flush draw.

Basically everyone moved all in after a couple of raises, reraises.

Turn came the 10 of hearts and river bricked out. Karl MF Tsu took down a 500+ dollars pot. NH.

No wonder neither Dave or Me boated it up, because all the freaking cards that needed to pair the board were basically all out. I was drawing to basically 3 outs at the river( the 3 10's). But I did have the best hand going in on the flop. Dave, Danny, Father Joe were baically all drawing to 1 outer( Dave's quad 5's) to beat me. If only I could dodge the flush draw.

ChanSlaughtered....

2009-12-06T14:37:00.002-05:00

I totally got slaughtered at Dave's last night. Didn't make the tournament, then lost 300 dollars in cash game. SpecialK called all 3 of my bluffs, and twice I river 2 pair and someone also rivered the straight or flush. Another time I hit my bottom 2 pair and Father Joe had top set of kings. Re-raised with Jacks and ran into QQ. After down to my last 100, I went over to the 8 game's to try my luck. In the PLO round, the money went all in at the turn with me holding JJQ9 vs. Colin's 101073 on the board of J6510 rainbow. Of course the rive came '4' for the straight. I'm not much of Omaha player, but what's the equivalent of losing to a gutshot in Omaha comparing to holdem? I would imagine is like losing to a "1" outer at Hold'em at the river.

25/50 cents..

2009-12-04T01:11:00.002-05:00

Stopped by Grayday's 25/50 cents game tonight, played like a total donkey. Raised every hand. Went all in with A5 vs. grayday's AK on A23 board. Went all in with flush draw vs. Timmy's AA, and lost. Was in for 200, down to like 25 at one point, slowly built it back up. Then thanks to a hand where this guy to the left of me, he said he has 46 dollars left and was going to go all in pre flop. So folded to me, I raised to 46 dollars pre flop in 25/50 cents game. I'm guessing that's a pretty bad play? I only raised it 92x BB pre flop. He said he only looked at one card and called me, I knew he had an ace, so I told him "you are ahead". of course flop came down KJ9. That got me back a little bit, then I over flushed someone with Q2 and won another decent size pot. cashed out 150, i'm happy I was only down 50 bucks with the way I was playing.

On a side note, I think Timmy has potentials to be a great poker player.

hand of the week no.1

2009-11-29T21:52:00.002-05:00

This hand happened last night at Dave's between Timmy and me.

At this point, I have about 550 in front of me and nobody else on the table has over than 150. Timmy just been pretty card dead, not playing many hands. And I have been playing really aggresive and hitting. Anyway, here's the hand:

Timmy limps, I limp behind him with J7o, Riglier limps on the button and Danny raises to 5, Timmy calls, I call and Riglier calls. flop comes down K54 rainbow, Everyone checks. Turn is J, Danny checks again, I don't think he has anything at this point, maybe A10, AQ. Timmy checks again, I bet out 12. Folds around to Timmy, he check-raises to 30. I'm like what can Timmy have here?

I really don't think he has anything, he has about 70 behind. Although Timmy is sorta on a tight poker bankroll, most young kids are. Even though he is not a tight player, he generally doesn't get out of lines too much when raising. He's definitely capable of bluffing though. I decide to call the 18 dollars and see what he does at the river.

River comes down 3, and Timmy shoves all in for 70. My first instinct is to call, I really can't see him having any hand here. Because when you look at the board, it's K54J by the turn, even the board is still rainbow, any decent players who aren't the totally passive nits would bet at the turn if he has any sorta of big hands like set, 2 pair. Timmy is a player who will definitely bet 95% of the time if he has one of those big hands. If he checks again, he fails to build the pot and risk of the hand gets checked around again because only me and Rigliger behind him to act. He's never checking there. Factored in I've been running the table over and he has been card dead, the table dynamic, the fact that I only bet 12, I'm most likely has a marginal hand like hitting the J or on a complete steal. The check raise on the turn play by Timmy is understandable and makes sense.

Now he goes all in at the river, I 95% rule out he has 2 pair or a set, the only hand I'm really worried about is 67, maybe he's semi bluff at the turn, and hitting the straight at the river. But I also think Timmy would probably bet the turn with open ended straight draw after the pre flop raiser Danny checks twice. Also, if he hit the nut stiraght at the river, he probably would take a little time deciding how much to bet. He instantly goes all in.
So I put him on some sorta of gutshot draw at the turn, and misses on the river, or a complete stone cold bluff due to putting me on a marginal hand like 2nd pair, which he would be correct.

Afer thinking over 2-3 minutes, I flip over my J7, and say to Timmy" Even though I only have 2nd pair here, I think i'm good here". So I call and Timmy mucks. He never show, I think it was a stone cold bluff.

Banned from Nautica.

2009-11-29T20:19:00.004-05:00

I'm banned from Nautica by that shemale cop at Nautica. Basically what happened was, I was sat at the first table of 2/5 and didn't like the players at my table, and I saw there were 2 seats open at the 3rd table. So, I just racked up my chips and went to sit down at the 3rd table. All the sudden, she came over and right from the start with her shitty attitude " Hey, you can't change table without someone replacing you at the first table". I wasn't in a good mood, I mean what the hell is the big deal? I paid my seat fees. I understand house rules and stuff, but at least come talk to me with better tone. So basically when she came over and told me I can't change table, I turned my head toward and said " Who's this woman"? I think she was ecstatic that I didn't mistaken her as a man. If I was in a total nasty mood , I could have said " Who's this man?". That would have totally pissed her off. With her being such a hard ass, one thing lead to another, and I ended up being told I'm banned from Nautica. After I went home, I emailed a letter to the Nautica management. and I did get a respond of thanking me for voicing my opinions. Of course, that was it as I expected. Here's the email I sent to Nautica:

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I'm writing this to tell you what happened to me last night at the Nautica Charity Poker at the Power House. I was sitting on a table, and I saw another table had 9 players so I went to another table to play. While I don' expect any customer service at a charity event like at a casino, I was really disappointed on how rude the security personnels were. I don't know her name, but she's the lady police officer, ID number 1982. She came over and told me I can't change table without another person replacing me at my table first. Maybe I didn't know the house rules correctly, but I really don't see a big deal of me going to play at another table. I wasn't having fun at my original table.

So, even if I was wrong about not being able to change table without informing the security guards first, I really didn't appreciate the way she came over and basically threatnening me and trying to intimate me. I admit my attitude wasn't the best, but the was caused by how she was trying to "boss" me around like if it's her house. I come to charity to donate money and have some fun, and I understand why sometimes the rules needed to be strictly enforced to make things run smoothly. But last night, it was totally over the board. It's not like I was cheating or other serious misconducts. It was honest mistake of me not knowing the house rules of not being able to change table without being escorted.

So what ended up happening is I got a little mad too, and my attitude might have shown some of it, and I apologize for it. But I really think she was over the line with her acts. Then soon the sergent came over and basically labelled me as a trouble maker without even asking me what happened. I'm not saying they pushed me, but they did try to grab me and push me out of there. I ended up being asked to show my ID, and the police officer told me that I can't no long come to Nautica Chairty Poker unless I receive a call from Mr. Jacobs. If i do show up, I will be arrested immediately.

Like I said earlier, while I don't expect any customer service, I understand it's a charity event. Alot of people are feeling like we are not being treated fairly. We are being yelled at sometimes, blatantly being accused of wrong doing. Maybe because of me coming from the business background, for the lack of better words, I feel like we players sometimes are being treated like "dirts" even though we are paying 20 dollars a hour to sit there and play poker. I know it's true that if we follow the rules and don't cause any troubles, we will be fine. but sometimes mistakes do happen, like that small mistake of me changing the table without informing. But the point of this, I believe the police officers have totally overreacted last night.

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I will email them again once Dec. comes around, they draw no crowds during the winter season due to weather. I'm sure I will be allowed back. Just gonna soften my tone a bit and apologize. I was in the middle of heated exchange, like tilting, I wasn't backing down from no one at night, this is why I got banned. If I was more mature and better self control, it would have never happened. Funny how now badbeats in poker don't tilt me that much anymore but badbeats in life do. I still have alot of room to grow.

Oh another thing...

2009-11-23T22:42:00.000-05:00

I think I haven't won a tournament in 2 years....What has happened to my tournament games? I used to dominate at the Steve's basement tournaments for 2 years. Was the biggest winner there at tournaments, most wins on Pokerstars in wins though I played alot of tournaments. and have one of the better looking RIO% graph on sharkscope on my 550+ SnG tournaments prior to my current long drought.. so what has happened to my tourney game?

One of the biggest difference i notice at my tourney game after I switched over to cash game is now I've lost alot of my aggression. I used to over value hands strength in cash game when i was a tourney player. Now I under value hands in tournaments due to being a cash game player. Another problem is I call way too many bets on the flop with hands like 2nd pair, which might be a standard call on cash game, it's not suited for tournament plays. and i play way too many hands in tournaments. I play so many hands in cash game, it's just not going to work in tournaments. I have to restrain myself from wanting to see too many flops in tourney.

Looking back of my poker playing development, I started off as a totally maniac overly aggresive. made a little adjustment, tighten up, and became a good tourney player. Then siwtched to cash game player, now I become a very loose player. Not necessary aggresive, just very loose, play all kind of hands. I think being overly aggresive at the beginning is good, it developed my hand reading skills because I was put to tough decisions over and over again playing that aggresive style. Maybe I will go back to my old tourney style soon. Bring back the TAG, let go the LA"g".

Job vs Poker..

2009-11-23T21:37:00.001-05:00

The only poker session I played was at Dave's for the past 10+days. I don't know what it is, but just don't feel motivated to drive to Nautica. This is what having a job can do to you. It makes you lose the sense of urgency and motivation for poker. It's almost like making you "lazy" in the poker sense, because you don't have to worry about your bills/rent with a job. I will admit, poker is definitely more fun when playing as a recreation. I can play like a maniac, and not worry about the consequence especially at the lower stake games. Even enough I have big enough bankroll for 2/5 now, losing say like 1.5k, which is only 3 buyins, still makes me sick to my stomach. So I trust myself to still play disciplined poker at the 2/5- whenever that might be.

Having one job is bad enough for poker, I just recently got a second part time job. My friend who works in a Chinese Newspaper, he said I'm good at writing stories. So he introduced me to the editor of a Chinese Newspaper based on Chicago IL with a branch here at Cleveland. It's not a totally non profit organization, we do make some money off the Ads. But the Newspaper is not very big in circulation. It's mainly targeted for the Chinese populations reside at Midwest region. My job is to come up with good stories with the current events happening around the Chinese community around the U.S and in china. I need to write 2+ articles a week. It pays very little(I could make more at the 25/50 cents game) but I really enjoy it. I'm finally doing some white-collar work instead of doing blue collar works all my life.
Maybe I will stop by Nautica one of those times after my meeting at downtown next time.

And on a side note, Fulltilt is pissing me off. I did a bankwire cashout all my money and they suspended my account for some reason asking me to send me copies of my ID and bills paper. Which is BS. This is the whole reason of why I chose the bankwire over check option because I dont have to go thru the troubles of sending in ID information.

Variance finally caught up with me...

2009-11-15T15:12:00.000-05:00

I've been on a roll at cash game, don't know when was the last time I actually had a loss at a cash game, so poker god came on last night to remind me that he still exists.

Lost 330 at Dave's cash game last night. Basically all to 2 hands.

hand 1) timmy raises to 4, bill D calls, I call with 66. Flop comes A65, Bill D leads out with 10 dollars bet, he's as tight straight forward as a poker gets, so I immediately puts him on a big ace or even set of 5's. I just smooth call, because timmy raises pre flop, he might have a big ace. I'm hoping Timmy raises it up, he just calls too. turn is 7. Now Bill D checks, I bet out 25, and timmy raises 55, Billy D pushes all in for 200ish? I have like 90 behind, There's no hand I can put BillD on, I don't think he has 34, or 89. He's not a type of player who calls a raise with 34, and he doesn't lead out with gutshot. Now timmy is different story, he can raise with any 2 cards, he can definitely have the 89 or 34. But he only have about 50 left. I actually put Bill D on set of 5's. or A7. So I go all in too, and Timmy actually folds 34 for the smaller straight. and BillD shows 89 for the nuts, I mean since when does BillD leads out with gutshot? Is this his twin brother?

hand 2) Raise with KK to 4, only Timmy calls. Flop comes K63, I bet out 10, Timmy calls, turn is 4, I bet out 25, timmy makes it 65, I go all in for my 150 and he calls. river bricks out, he shows 25 for the straight. GG man.

Action, Action, Action, Action.......

2009-11-11T00:37:00.000-05:00

Did someone say ACTION?

Tonight was the most action packed 2/5 NL action I've played so far. I've been playing very solid poker at the 2/5 level, Usually lose or win 1 buyin. but tonight, I played some huge pots after pots. Too many big hands to talk about, so I'm going to skip thru the thought process and just briefly touch on each hand.

Before I go thru the 2/5 hands, I was sat at the 1/2 next to Diablo for a bit, only to run into set over set. Lost 120 on that hand. MikeT was on the same table, like he said, good thing I got the set over set on the 1/2, could have been alot uglier at the 2/5. So after 30mins, I got called to the 2/5 and rebought 400 more.

hand 1) I'm at SB with KK, 3 limpers in front of me including EC at the button. I raise to 45, everyone folds to EC, of course he calls, why wouldn't he? Flop comes down 852 with 2 hearts, I bet out 80, he goes all in for 500+, which has me covered, I only have about 450. I just can't fold to EC, so I call, turn 10 of hearts, river Q of club. he shows 89 of hearts for the flush. There goes my first buy-in.

hand 2) rebought 500 more, EC limps, I limp behind him with Q10, now BB raises to 35, of course EC calls, I call with Q10. Flop comes KJ9. The BB thinks and bets out 80, EC folds, I raise him to 200, he instantly shoves all in, of course I instantly call! Turn 8, river A. he rolls over KK, I show my Q10 for the nuts, he starts berating me" how the fuck did you call 35 with Q10o"? I say "I'm on tilt!"

hand 3) I have 1200 in front of me right now, 5 limpers, I limp on the button with 34 of spades. Flop comes 652 with 2 diamonds. The BB leads out with 50, one calls, EC makes it 250, he has about 1100. I'm like "damnit, can this really be happening? I have the nuts and EC just makes it 250" EC does semi bluff alot, maybe he has straight and flush draw or a set or 2 pair. But I aint in no mood to fold the nuts on the flop. The other 2 guys only have about 300 dollars, so they don't worry me. So I push all in for 1200. EC was like" holy shit, you are the first guy that comes over top of me for 1000+". He looks confident, looks like he's trying to get the other 2 playres to go all in too. Of course the other 2 players go all in too, and EC immediately goes all in too for 1100. Turn brick, river brick. The BB shows a set, the other player shows 78 of diamonds for straight flush draw, EC shows 34o, and me and EC chops up a 3k+ pot. EC was like " man, I was counting your money already in my head when you push over the top of me with that 1200 dollars raise". Well, I was disappointed too to chop the pot.

Hand 4) about 100 dollars pre flop, I call a raise with 55 on the button. Flop comes J52 with 2 clubs, Tommy the Asian guy bets 50, Ec calls, I make it 150, Both Tommy and EC calls. turn 8 of clubs, now tommy comes out and bets 200, EC tanks and finally folds. I know he has the flush, so I ask him how much he has behind, he say 300. So I do a quick calculation, the pot has about 500? + the 200 he's betting, and I know I will get rest of his stack if I boat up. So i'm calling 200 to win 1k+? So i call, and river brick out and Tommy slows down and we both check, he shows 94 of clubs for the flush.

Hand 5) I start getting really aggresive, but unforunately no cards to back me up. by 11:00pm, I only have about 550 in front of me. Now comes this hand. I limp UTG with Q9 of spades, the next guy raises to 20, 3-4 calls including this old guy who just sat down. I call. Flop Q96 with 2 hearts, I bet out 70, the pre flop raiser calls, folds to that BB guy, he makes it 150, Well if he has 66, then it's just not my night I guess. I push all for total of 550, pre flop raiser folds, and the BB calls me. turn 8,river 10. I 'm like "shit, I could be beat here". He rolls over AA. So he didn't re-raise pre flop with AA, and he got screwed for that.

hand 6) Now I have about 1200 in front of me again at about 11:40, the same guy with AA last hand pushes all in with his last 65? I call with AJ, like 6 callers. I'm like damn, people want to gamble at late hours. Flop comes AJ6 with 2 spades, I was about to lead out with a bet, the guy next to me who has been on tilt all night announces" I'm all in" for 285, so I guess I check lol. the Jay guy who plays at Monday night's game at Little fag's. The same guy that went down to smoke and got robbed I think. He instantly calls the 285, he has about 600 behind. folds back to me. With the way Jay calls the 285, it doesn't seem like he has a hand like 55. I put him on big Ace or A5. So once again, i say to myself, if he has 55, then it's just poker. So I announce" I'm all in" for 1200. Jay thinks and folds Ak faced up. the first guy shows AQ, and my hand holds up for drawing a big pot.

Total cash out for the night 2050. Was in for 1100 though. so profit 950. not bad. and tonight I feel like poker was fun again! I crave action baby!!!

Another Sunday session..

2009-11-09T00:22:00.000-05:00

Was going to go to Julie's tourney, I enjoy playing tournaments with the CPMG people. Only if I could cash more often, and not being out so quickly. Recently, I have been the first out in the tournmanets. Since there's no a cash game afterward, I figure if I drive 40mins to make it to the tourney and only have to drive back in like 30mins later, that would suck. But that wasn' t the main reason I didn't come, I had to go to Chinatown do some grocery shopping and didn't get home until like 1:50pm.

So I took a little afternoon nap, went to nautica again at about 7:00. got sat down at the 2/5 at 8pm. bought in for 500, right away I won some medium size pots and got up to about 800ish. Then this hand happened:

I limp UTG with AQo, 3 limpers, then this young kid on the button raises to 30, both the blinds call. I've seen this young kid do alot of raises at late positions, and I saw him showing down hands like Q10 when he raised pre flop at late position. So that raise to 30 doesn't mean he has a very strong hand. Besides, I haven't played many hands and I would say my image on the table is very solid/tight. and I have an ace at my hand, it decreases his chance of having aces, so now there's about 110 dead money in the pot, calling a raise with AQ out of position in multi-way pot is a suicide play. so I re-raise to 130, I'm confident he would fold even AK, only hand I am worried about is KK. Folds to him and he doesn't take long before folds, now to my suprise, the BB calls the 100. I immediately put him on a pocket pair, those people have no clues of pot odds, he only has about 350ish behind, he doesn't have the odds to call for a set, but those donkeys don't know that. now the flop comes 89J, about the worst flop possible, he checks to me, I bet out 140, no point of betting big here, those donkeys aren't going to fold if they have some hand. and he check raises me all in for about 200 more. and I have to fold my AQ. He told me he had AJ, I told him" no way you had AJ". then he laughed and said he had set of 8's.

After that hand, no many interesting hands for me, pretty boring session. I cashed out +190 for a small profit day.

After a long break, I'm back..

2009-11-08T01:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't played at Nautica for 2 weeks. I only played poker twice the past 2 weeks and both were at Dave's. So tonight, I was going to go to Dave's, but I figured I would go check out Nautica for a bit.

Got sat down at the 1/2 first because there wasn't any seats for 2/5NL. Played about 40mins, broke dead even. Didn't pay my seat fee too, they forgot!

After the 40mins, I got moved to the 2/5 table. Sat down with 500. Basically, my stack was up and down, up to 800, down to 300. But I never had to rebuy or reload. Here are some of the interesting hands I played.

hand 1) This hand was the first time I ever turned my hand into a bluff at the 2/5 live game. Everyone folds to me at the cutoff, I raise to 20 with Q9suited, only the BB calls. The BB is an asian guy, he's not necessary tight, but he's very predictable. He doesn't get out of lines too much. Basically straight forward type of player. Anyway, flop comes Q107 with 2 spades, he checks to me, I bet 30, he thinks a bit and calls. At this point, I'm putting him on hands like AQ, KJ, 2 spades or some other straight draws. Since he doesn't get out of line too much, I figured to be KJ the most likely hand. Turn is a King. now he thinks a bit and checks again. I bet 50 to charge the draw hands, and if he has KJ, he just hit top pair, if I bet 50 at the turn, he might call, I know he's not raising me. He's a predictable player but he isn't a manaic. It's a scary board, it figures to hit the pre flop raiser hard. and besides, if i bet the turn, i might get a cheap showdown at the river. so he calls again, then river bricks out. now he thinks and comes out bet 50, which is a tiny bet, with that bet, I really think he has KJ, so the final board reads Q107K3, the pot has about 250 at this point, I was going to just call or fold, but my creative side kicked in, and I decided to turn my hand into a bluff. i know he didn't have a straight, I dont think he had KQ, K10 either. and if I raise there, he might even fold AQ. so i raise to 180, he thinks, thinks, and finally shows me the K4 of spades and said" king no good"? I got lucky this guy is not from CPMG, I can't never pull that move off against someone at CPMG. I like my loose image at CPMG, it gets my paid sometimes with my big hands. but sometimes, I hate my image too, it handcuffs me, I can't really do any creative plays.

hand 2) had Q4 at the BB. flop comes Q74 with 2 spades, I lead out with 20, the button instant calls, he has about 150 behind. now the SB min raises to 40. SB is another guy who's so predictable, and isn't going to play a big pot unless he has a huge hand. That min raise screams strenght at first, but then I look at the board, it's Q74 with 2 spades, and I lead out and the button instant calls, obviously he's on a draw. if the SB had a big hand, wouldn't he raise alot more than min raise? Alot of live players who aren't experienced at cash game tends to panic when they have a top pair with good kicker, they don't know how to handle the suituation when somone bets into them. Their hand is too "strong" to just call in their mind, and they don't want to play a huge pot with just 1 pair. So with that min raise, I first thought he might have 74 for bottom 2, but I quickly rule that out. he would have raise more with 2 pair. so hansd like QJ, KQ is the most likely hand. that min raise from him really accomplishes nothing, nobody is going to fold draws to a min raise. But like I said, alot of inexperienced cash game players play like that thinking it's a good way to find out where they are at with top pair, good kicker. of course if the pot was headsup and not so draw heavy, a min raise from a predictable player is more likely a monster hand than a good 1 pair hand. but with this hand, a bet, call and min raise, no way he had a huge hand. Anyway, after went thru the thought process, I re-raised him to 130, hoping to make the button folds his draw. the buttons thinks and shoves all in for 150ish? now the SB thinks, and whispers to me" i call and we check it down"? Technically, this is illegal lol, but at this point, I knew I had the best hand, might as well get his 110 dollars in. I didn't really say yes to him, I just said "ok" to particulair no one. and he calls, and we off to the river. turn 10, river Q, i kept my words and didn't bet my full house. He rolls over KQ, and I drag in a decent size pot.
yes I could have made more, in fact alot more, he's not folding trip queens with king kicker. but He probably would have folded on the flop after re-raise, all in with just 1 pair. it works out fair I guess.

cashed out 952 for profit of 452. an ok night i guess.

An almost break even 3 sessions of poker.

2009-10-20T18:50:00.000-04:00

Went to Dave's on Sat night. All the ramps to W90 were closed at downtown, so I drove around 77, 71 or whatever it took me for a while, ending up driving about 100 miles total when I got back. Finally found the detour sign via 490. Got to Dave's at about 9pm. WOW, the place was packed! Dave and Mailman are running a great game! It was good to see everyone, and I must say, we have some of the greatest people in the CPMG. I'm so glad to be part of this poker group.

Well I bought into the tourney, but my main goal was to play cash game. But it was too early, so I paid my 30 dollars "entertainment fee" to sit there and peek on cards until cash game. Busted out tourney at about 11:00, hopped into cash game. Nothing went right for me, I actually played pretty tight/solid poker, but just couldnt hit a flop to save my life. Bought in for 150, reloaded another 100, lost a big chunk of the stacks to Special K where she flopped the nut straight. Total for Dave's, -195 in cash game, -30 in tourney, for total of -225.

Sunday, went to Nautica for 2/5, bought in for 400, I was kinda sleepy. So I played only about 3 hours, left up about 100.

Monday, went to Lil Fag's game, only played about 3 hours again because I had to work on Tuesday, +170. So total for the 3 days, +45 dollars.

I'm thinking about of adding something like " Hand of the week" and "Chan's random poker thoughts" to this blog. I hope people will enjoy to read them.

Finally..

2009-10-15T22:34:00.000-04:00

Picked up my Brand new 2010 Honda Insight after work today. The car is beautiful. I really like it. I was going to get a SUV, but since I'm a bad driver, I figure I would stay with the small cars like Insight. Easier to park, drive. and of course it's hybrid. Gas isn't as expensive as before, still saving 30-50 bucks a month in gas still helps:)

Shit, I hate this..

2009-10-14T21:07:00.000-04:00

So my manager called me on the phone today and asked me to come back to work. I was really motivated on the poker. Now I have to work 6 days a week again in the snow,it sucks! I know this sounds ridicious lol. There are so many people in this country that are dying for a job. any jobs! and here I'm debating whether I should go back to work at a 21 dollars a hour job. She even told me on the phone " We have offered works for you, so you can't apply for unemployment if you don't come to work". Man, I had it all planned out. Collect about 1400 a month in unemployment and I 'm sure I can make up the rest of my salary in poker winning. Now I won't have the energy to concentrate on poker anymore. I might still quit the job. Gonna put in alot of hard work. Try to build up big enough bankroll so I can quit the job.

But at least my credit score will be better when I'm taking out a loan for my new car. Test drove the Hyundai Sante Fe today. Liked it alot. But I'm still leaning toward the Honda Insight because I got a great deal on it. Probably will get it by this weekend. Now I can finally drive out to Dave's for some CPMG action.

And lastly, another winning session at the 2/5 on Tuesdays night. Bought in for 400, lost it fairly quickly when I tried to pull a bluff on a tight passive straight forward old folk. Only to find out he had the flush already. Re bought for 400 more, worked it to 1365. profit of 565. I did leave about 200 dollars on the table for not playing aggresive enough. I let this guy off the hook with my trip 9's vs his top pair. I didn't stay for long because there were so many people that were coughing on my table. Weather is bringing people down. and sharing cards and chips with them can make you catch the gems easily. Remember to wash your hands with sanitizer after poker session!

Not a good night..

2009-10-13T03:02:00.001-04:00

Got there at matt's game at 9:30pm, bought in for 200, down to 100 in like 20mins, bought in for another 100, played another 1 hour without winning a hand. finally had about 120 left, and Uncle bob raised to 15, I looked down at AA, i made it 45, and lil fag tilt called my 45, he's always on tilt!. and Uncle bob called too of course. flop Q87, check to me, of course i went all in for my last 70ish? called and called, turn Q, river 8, I ended up having the 3rd best hand. uncle bob showed AQ and lil fag flashed the "8". and my AA got cracked by 2 people. After that, I got up and left, down 300. frustrating night. nothing went right.

on my way driving home, I was thinking about why I always seem to need to at least reload if not rebuying fairly quickly with my first buy in. I need to fix this leak, I need to copy something from Mailman's poker book, he always seem to last forever with his initial buy in. He told me he almost never goes 2 buy-ins deep, he doesn't bring more than 2 buy-ins to cash games. For me, 2 buy-ins seem like nothing.

Also, it's tough to play 2 different stakes of games. I'm just starting to get comfortable at the 2/5 with raise sizes and pot sizes, now I feel I play too loose at the 1/2 - mainly calling too many raises with marginal hands like 97o. I mean it's only 12 bucks after all? that's a min raise at the 2/5. And before I know it, i'm down to like half of the buy in. Need to adjust to the different stakes. of course the online .5/1 NL doesn't go well either. It's only 3-4 dollars raise preflop! of course I'm calling with any 2 cards and it shows on my results why it's not good to do that.

Chantastic weekend of poker...

2009-10-12T19:55:00.000-04:00

Won the most money I've ever won in any 3 given days in my poker life. So that part is good:) But on a side note, I feel a little bad because I keep beating up the terrible players at nautica, I feel like my game has regressed. All the advanced strategies like 3 betting pre flop are being thrown out of the windows. Nautica is good for my bankroll, but not good for my poker improvement. Game selection is important, but I'm also looking for getting better. After all, I won't be playing at Nautica forever. I will be moving to either AC or Vegas eventually.

And my online game has suffered because of my live games. First of all, I don't feel motivated to hop online and multi tabling. It's just so boring. Secondly after got the taste of how easy money can come by at the 2/5 live, the online grinding of .5/1 NL doesn't do much for me. This is bad for me. Used to be if I win like 100+ dollars online, I would be happy. Now I don't have that feeling of joy anymore. And I have not been winning online. Just posted another -50 dollars lossing session last night.

Goal for the rest of the year: Play more online to get better while continue to grow my bankroll thru live.

And I still believe online poker is the backbone for most of the professional poker players. I might not be a professional yet, but if I want to do it semi- pro, I would have to rely on online poker too.

It's tough to play online poker...

2009-10-09T13:32:00.000-04:00

I've been playing mostly live poker for the past 2 weeks, so last night after i came back from nautica, I figured I would fire up some little online action. Before I started up Fulltilt, I knew I shouldnt have. Because I was mentally drained from the live poker and my mind just wasn't there. Never play poker when you are not mentally ready and stable for it.

Anyway, i went against the little guy at my head and started up 4 tables of .5/1NL. Played about 700 hands in 1.5hours, just on total auto pilot and tilting mood. Was able to be up about 100, then one tilting move of Re-raising all in with A10 when I had 200 in front o fme, only ran into AA. After that hand, I forced myself to quit the session. -160 dollars playing like crap.

I really believe the mental aspect of poker is my biggest challenge in finding poker success. It's really hard to grind hours after hours sitting in front of computer. Especially when you just come back from live game. Never play poker when you don't feel like playing. Maybe when issue 3 passes, and Nautica is shut down, then I have no choices but play online poker, only then maybe I will concentrate more online. Right now, just tough for me because I play at Nautica everyday.

Bad runs of cards continues...

2009-10-08T23:07:00.000-04:00

Samething today at the 2/5, couldnt get anything going, was in for 550, just just couldn't hit a flop to save my life. I think I've had like 10+ pocket pairs at the 2/5 in the past couple of sessions and haven't hit a single set. So when we were down to 5 players at the 3rd 2/5 table at nautica, I really turned on my aggression. Since I couldnt hit any flops, and now we re playing 5 handed, why not just steal? After 1/2 hours of playing 5 handed, i was able to turn my last 300 into 620, just relentless betting. So +70 for 3 hours of playing. Not great, but I will take the win.

On a side note, I've been extremely happy that I've been able to even score little winning sessions when I'm totally card dead. The old myself would have not been possible. My old self would have tried to raise and re-raise tons trying to make something happen, and turn some sessions into mass loss. Instead of right now, I let the game come to me. I guess my game is going toward another step of maturation. For that, I'm very happy.

Boring 2/5 session..

2009-10-06T22:15:00.001-04:00

Nothing much to talk about today. Words aren't capable of describing of what kind of terrible cards I were getting. I ended up playing about 15 hands total in 5hours at the 2/5. Everytime when i m in early positions, I would find hands like K5suited, Q9o, I would definitely play those hands at late positions and button. Of course when I'm at late positions, I get 102o, 93o J2o, just utterly unplayable hands. Man I wasn't asking for much, I just wanted some connecting hands like 67o, is that too much to ask?

So again,I bought in for 400, totally Nitted( is that a word?) it up and walked out there up roughly 100 dollars thanks to a KQ hand where I flopped top pair and got paid.

A pretty good session at Matt lil fag's game

2009-10-06T10:24:00.000-04:00

Got there last night at about 8pm, bought in for 200. Within 3 hands, I was down to about 100, raised with pocket 10's to 10, got re-raised by that TD guy at Nautica "James" to 40, I thought about moving in for my last 140, but since I had no ideas how he plays like, I just called hoping to hit a set despite I didnt have the odds for set mining. Flop came AKx and I had to check fold my 10's.

I was going to reload right away, but I decided to train my patience a bit. So I played with just 100 for the next 3-4 orbits. I was totally card dead again just like I was at Nautica at sunday, not even getting playable hands like 89o. Q2, K3, J6, 93 etc. Meanwhile, the table was going insane, so much action!! I finally decided screw the patience training, I can't play with just 100 in this game. So I reloaded 100 more, and what do you know? The luck would soon changed for me.

Within the next orbit after I reloaded to 200, I picked up Aces twice and both times I got action. First one, I had aces vs 3 guys all in pre flop 4 ways. Though 2 of them were pretty much pot commited with shortstacks. and my Aces held up in 4 ways. So now I have about 500 in front of me. A hand or 2 later, I picked up Aces again at the SB and again I got action, All in pre flop vs Kai. my Aces held up again and Kai had about 350 in front of him, so that got me to like 850.

After those 2 aces hand, I went on one of those really bad runs of cards. I wasn't even getting anything close to playable hands. so i sat there and keep folding folding. and made some "bored" bluffs and got called. so I was down to about 700.

For the next 1hour, I didn't play many hands. Finally picked up 66 and flopped a set vs Matt, won about 200 of that hand. Then a few hands later, Matt raised to 15, charlie called, i looked at at QQ at the button, I just called. flop came 1047 with 2 spades, the SB bet out 35, lil fag instantly called, I made it 130, the SB folded and Matt called. turn was a red "10", obviously not a great card. He checked, I thought about betting there to protect my hand vs flush draw but I decided to check. River was a blank, now he came out and bet 275, I tanked and decided to call. I didn't think he had 10 in his hand, with the way he was playing, he was raising with any top pair, but when the SB bet 35 on the flop, he didnt' even contemplate of raising, he just instantly called. so I didn't think he had 10 in his hand, so I called with my QQ and it was good.

That got me to about 1200, I think I reraised somone to 45 with 26suited pre flop and flop came 992, I bet out 70 and everyone folded. Played until 3am, and cashed out 1445 for a profit of 1145.

2/5 Session at Nautica on Sunday

2009-10-05T11:40:00.000-04:00

No a good start for my poker career I guess. I've been playing 2/5 at Nautica lately. After posting some pretty good winning sessions including +1770 +1100. I've lost 3 straight sessions at 2/5 now. -300, -800 and -400 yesterday.

I guess it's a bit of downswing. I really thing I played well yesterday. Bought in for 400 at the 2/5, I won 300 dollars fairly quickly with KK vs JJ. That got me to 700, since then, I was totally card dead. Didn't play many hands, I was dealt a couple of cooler hands, but I was able to get away from it including one hand, where I called a raise with KJ of hearts, and flop came K52 rainbow. the pre flop raiser bets 120 into a 150 dollars pot and he had about 120 behind. I tanked and finally laid down the KJ, and he showed AK. This is why you don't play KJ to a raise.

So all day, my stack was between 300 - 700, I was never able to get anything going. There were some totally donkies on the table, I was just praying to hit a big hand, those guys weren't folding anything. I will post a couple of interesting hands:

hand 1) I was at SB with 65 of hearts with about 600 in front of me. a couple of players limped and I completed my SB, BB checked. Flop came 6J7 with 2 hearts, I flopped a pair and flush draw. I checked, one super loose donkey bet 30, another loose lady called the 30, I made it 130, and that first bettor quickly called and the lady folded. turn was a black 3. completing the 45, obviously a terrible card for me. I checked and hoping he checked behind to give me a free card. since the pot was almost 300, i had about 420 behind, if I bet anything there, I was pot commited. so I checked, and that first bettor quickly bet out 250, I sat there for a long time and finally decided to fold. and he showed me "3" . J3 maybe? I've definitely seen him playing any 2 cards from anywhere. he's one of the biggest donkey on the table. although 34 and 35 make some sense too, even 63, but I don't think he would call 100 dollars raise with 2nd pair and no redraw. Those players don't understand hands like top pair there is equivalent of 2nd pair, I was either bluffing or I got a huge hand, but they don't realize that, a top pair is top pair for them and they won't fold.

hand 2) the same donkey with the J3 raised to 20, got 2 callers and i looked down 99 at the SB and called too. flop came 235 with 2 spades. I know that pre flop raiser raises alot of hands and most likely he doesn't have an overpair there and the other 2 guys behind him are quickly straight forward players, so if I get thru that pre flop raiser, I have confidence of how to proceed with the hand if i get called or raised by the other 2 players in the hand. so I lead out with 50, and as I expected, the pre flop raiser quickly mucked. But the player behind him looked at his hand and called, the other guy called too. I was like "wow, one of them has to have a flush draw, and one maybe have hands like overpair to the board. I think if one of them had a set, they would raise since it's a pretty dangerous board. so turn came a red 10, I fired out 140, and now the first caller instantly moved all in, and folded back to me. Pretty easy fold here. Nothing I could beat, if he had pocket 10's I'm drawing dead right now. I folded and he showed A4 for flopped straight.

hand 3) Won a couple of small pots, built it back up to 450, then came the death blow hand. limped on the button with 56, there were like 5players in the hand. flop came 1074, not a totally bad flop for me, I got the open ended straight draw. one guy bet, the donkey called and i called. turn was K, putting a flush draw on the board, the lady bet, he called and i called. river was the "gem" card, a off suit "8"! now the lady checked and the guy checked too, I was thinking about how to extract the most value out of this hand. previously both of those guys have made some big "hero calls" when the flush draw missed and they were right. so i decided to overbet the pot presenting I had some missed draws. Plus after that 99 hand, I was acting like I was on tilt and threw the cards into the muck. so maybe those 2 donkies would put me on some sort of missed drawing hand. So I quickly moved all in and the lady tanked, tanked, She's like you bluffing? I tried the best I could looking weak, my heart was screaming" call now, bitch". after intense 2-3 mins, she folded, now this guy behind me did some acting even though he was the last to act. he looked at the board, looked at me, and was "thinking really hard". I knew i had the best hand, maybe he had 2 pair?. Of course I was praying he called, after a long study, he finally called. I proudly flipped over my 65 " I got a straight" and to my biggest suprise, he slammed the cards on the table" I got a bigger straight". I was like "what"? he showed 96. so basically I got fucking slow rolled! He was muttering about how he was worried about "QJ" for the bigger straight. Technically, he didn't have the Nuts, J9 would have been the nuts. QJ doesn't complete no straights, what an idiot! besides, with giving action in that hand, his hand was the stone cold nuts literally. The worst part is I got seriously slow rolled and the guy doesn't even know it LOL. After that hand, I know i couldn't win and I just got up and left.

First day....

2009-10-04T13:39:00.000-04:00

Well, the time has finally come. I've been wanting to do this for a while now. People said making a living in poker is the hardest "easy living" out there, I completely agree. But I don't think I have enough understanding of it until I really get into it and live/breathe what variance in poker can do to you. But I want to challenge myself. I want to really put in some efforts and times to give this a serious try. Wish me luck!